Chaos Ride

Surya slowly opened his eyes, and the world was a blur. He was lying flat on the floor of the Magrail, feeling extremely fatigued. He sat up and leaned against the rear wall and started scanning around. All the other passengers were still unconscious. The train was still moving. He slowly stood up to see where he was. It did not surprise him to know that he had barely crossed the curve.

He still felt hazy. There were still 15 minutes until the train reaches the destination. He leaned against the door, staring outside the window to see the situation on the roads. All the vehicles were on the side, and people were unconscious. The pedestrians were knocked out unconscious all over the sidewalks. It would have been devastating if it weren't for the safety features in the Vehicles. The linker serves as the key, and the vehicle safely pulls up to the side automatically, which is fortunate. But because of the wave, He couldn't even see a single conscious person. He was wondering if he was the only one who visited the knot. He strongly believed that he couldn't be the only one.

Just when he thought it was over, he felt a sharp prick inside his head. He instinctively knew something was wrong. Most of the unconscious people started moving a little. It was as if they were moving while they were unconscious. Then he suddenly saw someone standing a few compartments away. It was a boy of around 15 at most. He wanted to ask him how he was still conscious. He was about to shout at him, but all the unconscious people were writhing as if they were in pain. There was a sudden eerie silence. Dozens of people letting out an ear-piercing scream at the same time broke the silence.

It was extremely disturbing. Dozens of people screaming at the top of their lungs, plucking off their hair, clawing their faces with nails, banging heads on every kind of surface, and trying to rip off their brains. Surya understood that everyone had lost it and that they will go haywire. Havoc was imminent.

Surya was in a dilemma about whether to help the kid or not. He was four compartments away and the people already started to get up. It would be difficult to cross through an insane crowd. But he couldn't let the boy be alone. With just a look, anyone could say that the boy never got into any serious fight. He would be completely defenseless if Surya were to leave him.

Surya suddenly remembered a cruel memory that he always wanted to repent for. He saw a 12-year-old boy being shot in front of him because he became careless while evacuating the building. The young boy had been hiding in a closet and came out when things got quiet before the shootout. He was holding a pendant in his hand while he died. His name was Kirion, and he was an orphan. He performed the last rites for that young boy and held on to the pendant ever since. He still could remember everything vividly as if it happened yesterday.

He started running towards the compartment where the boy was, as he didn't want to make a similar mistake ever again. He wanted to save him. The people arose quickly. Surya was still two compartments away. He had no choice but to fight through the last compartment. The people were already standing ahead of him. They had an inhuman look on their faces. They stared at him for a moment with a creepy smile and suddenly started screaming or laughing hysterically. Everyone started hitting anyone in their sights furiously. It was like a fistfight battle royale.

They completely blocked the path in front of him. And he was getting attacked in random directions. The attackers were switching targets violently, making it impossible to predict their attacks. The scene instantly became a bloody mess. Surya realized everyone had lost their minds and had to be taken down. He was first hesitant to hit, but the numbers were overwhelming. He didn't kill any innocent lives, as he wasn't sure if the situation could be resolved.

Hitting the pressure points was an easy way for Surya to take them down. Even though many people charged at him simultaneously, he could easily immobilize them. They were no match compared to fighting with multiple skilled people at the same time. His combat style was extremely adaptable. His skills and experience let him weave through the crowd quickly; until a troublesome guy came along.

As he was fighting off everyone, one of them took out a knife. But it was too late for him to dodge it completely. It cut his forearms even though he was wearing defensive clothing. It was the most powerful melee weapon, the Sigun blade! The Sigun blades are extremely rare and have unparalleled versatility. It can shapeshift to any melee weapon according to the user's will. There was only one person who creates them, Sigun. He specialized in nano weaponry and was a highly skilled melee combatant during his military career. He wanted the wielder to be worthy of his weapons, so he tested anyone who wanted to buy it. Anyone who wants to obtain the blade had to go through a combat simulation with the blade as the only weapon. Any person who passes that test is a highly skilled professional.

"Ah shit, why does a person with this blade have to pop up in here", Surya exclaimed. It was really hard for Surya to handle him along with all the other people coming at him. Surya suddenly had a bizarre idea. He wanted to take his chance. Every moment he delayed means the kid in the next compartment is getting beaten to death. Surya shouted to the blade guy, "If you want to have a proper fight, we can hold a death duel. Attacking by taking advantage of this situation makes you a coward!". It startled the blade guy for a second and he looked hesitant, but he stopped attacking Surya.

"Don't….. run...away…", shouted the blade guy in a staggered voice. It surprised Surya at the outcome of his high stake gamble. He resolved to seize this opportunity to save the kid. Surya shouted back, "I'll be waiting at the station". And headed toward the kid's compartment. It was rather loud. He rushed to look at the spot where he last spotted the kid. He shouted, "Hey kid, are you still alive? I saw that you were still sane and were awake before everyone! I'll help you through this canon event!".

He expected the kid to be on the floor with a bloody face, to his deathbed. The sight left Surya dazzled. The kid had taken down two adults by himself. Another guy started going at the boy. As he approached, the boy used his compact frame to his advantage by jumping and grabbing the handles and kicking him in the face. He swung with enough force to knock an average person out. But it was meagre in front of overwhelming numbers and reckless fighting.

He suddenly saw a guy behind the boy who was about to stab him with a pocket knife. Surya instinctively drew his dagger and threw it at him. The guy holding the knife dropped to the floor with blood oozing out from his neck. The boy was stunned by fear. Surya approached the dead guy and took out his dagger. He confiscated the pocketknife from the corpse and handed it to the kid and said, "Don't worry, I'm not a threat. I know you're sane enough to protect yourself properly, so use this in case of an emergency.".

The kid asked in utter confusion, "Who are you? And what is happening?". Surya looked around for any imminent danger. He ensured safety and said to the kid, "I know that you have a lot of questions, but we don't have the time to talk now. We'll have a proper talk once we're safe. Is that alright kid?". He nodded with a bit of hesitation. "Okay, then stay behind me till the train reaches the station," said Surya.

He expected all the surrounding people to attack him, but no one tried to get close. They looked scared, but they also looked like they would attack any second. Everyone surrounding him looked scared and didn't want to approach, except a young guy who completely lost his rationality. His face looked like an animal. He was gritting his teeth with saliva drooling out of his mouth, veins popping out of his head and neck, and his face was red.

Surya knew that if that guy charged at him, all the others would surely follow suit. He had no choice but to get rough if he wanted to protect the kid. He activated his glide blade. It was a set of six throwing knives that floats around the user and can be controlled by specific hand movements unique to each user. The best feature of the knife was its ability to return to the user after hitting the target.

He quickly assumed a calm stance and started gliding his hands and legs. The strange sight bewildered the boy. Surya looked like he was performing some sacred ritual or some sort of dance. But the boy soon realized he was using the movements to control the blades around him and was providing enough momentum for them.

The boy was mesmerized, looking at his movements. The movements were mild, but it was complex and needed years of practice to master that level of precision. Even though they were complex, they connected seamlessly, as if they were like flowing water. Each curve and swirl of the hand made the blades move around him, leaving no opening to attack.

Surya knew they wouldn't just stand waiting. He wanted to avoid killing them if possible, but it wasn't the case. The aggressive guy charged at Surya. Since the gap was small, Surya had to react quickly. He instinctively threw the knife at his head. The aggressive guy dodged the first knife. His moves weren't professional it was completely instinctive.

The guy pounced on Surya, but before he could throw the knife, the guy landed a punch in his face. The blow was heavy. Surya stumbled to the ground with the aggressive guy on top of him, throwing continuous punches at his face. Surya looked like he was at a disadvantage, but he tossed him aside and swiftly grappled and locked his arms and choked him with his elbow. His face turned pale and was aggressively trying to escape from his grasp. But it was futile. Surya didn't want to drag it out. The wild guy fell dead as he twisted his neck.

Or at least that's what Surya thought would happen. The punch was slightly stronger than an average person, but the body weight and the punch force weren't enough to knock Surya down. Jumping on someone with such a light body would be a grave mistake, but he wasn't sane enough to think that.

Surya was utterly disappointed. He was happy that he'll have a decent fight, but his expectations went down the drain. The crazy weakling stood up and came at him once again. Surya grabbed him by his shirt, lifted him, and slammed him to the ground. He knelt and started smashing his face with his bare hands.

"Don't… fucking…. Disappoint…. Me!" He said between each punch. The guy's face was a bloody mess, and he was unconscious. He let out a sigh and stood up. "So? Who's going to get their face bashed in next?", He asked, looking around. Everyone stepped back with staggered steps. Even though they lost their rational thinking, they instinctively knew that they'd be killed in a flash. Surya turned around to look for the kid. He looked terrified.

"Are you okay kiddo? You don't look so good".

"Yeah, I'm okay… Thank you".

"Okay, the train will reach the station probably in a couple of minutes. Then we move to a safe location after getting down and we'll talk after that, okay?."

"Okay," replied the kid.

"Umm..", started the kid. Surya noticed him clenching his hands. He continued, "We'll make it right? Getting beaten to death looks scary".

"Listen here kiddo, I'll protect you no matter what, even if means that I'll get hurt. Don't worry, alright?"

He nodded and half-smiled.

Surya removed a pendant from his neck. It looked old and damaged, but he treasured it.

He put on the pendant on the boy's neck and said, "This is my token to promise you that I will protect you no matter what, keep it safe okay?"

His face lit up with hope and had a bright smile.

"Okay mister Savior"

The cheery smile was a glimmer of hope, lit up Surya's heart. He was glad that he saved him. Since no one approached them, he decided to relax. But his break didn't last for long. The glide blade which the crazy weakling dodged had hit the wall of the Magrail and the alarm started blaring.