54 Ace's Nightmare

Calmly analyzing the situation, Aida immediately jumped into action. Since they had no way of landing this plane, they would just have to jump off the plane instead! Thankfully this plane was originally used for recreational skydiving, so it had all the equipment that she needed.

Unstrapping herself from the pilot seat, she quickly climbed to the back and began searching for the skydiving equipment. She pulled out the parachutes and efficiently repackaged them and then passed it to Light, who was now standing there. Most skydiving accidents occurred in two places. The first was when people jumped off the plane and got concussed without realizing it. The second was when people tried to deploy their parachute and it failed to deploy, causing the people to splat on the floor. By refolding each of the parachutes, Aida had greatly improved their odds of survival.

"Have you ever skydived before?" asked Aida. By now, Light had already realized what she wanted them to do.

Shaking his head, he responded calmly despite the situation, "No, but I can do it."

"Good," responded Aida who was pleased with his response. She rapidly dished out instructions as time was short. "Put on this harness and strap Yukio to the front of your body. Make sure it is on as tight as possible so you don't fall out. Keep your backpack on. I placed two gems in a jar in your backpack as well. If you do not need it, don't touch it or even take it out of the jar. Remember, it is for absolute last resort only. If you do accidentally crack open the jar when you don't need it, run like hell and don't look back."

Yukio looked slightly pale, but still quietly complied with Aida's instructions. He tightly hugged Light as though trying to merge with him. Light patted his head gently and reassured him, "Don't worry, your big bro is going to get you back to the ground safe and sound."

Aida turned to Ace who was now curled up in a ball and trying to minimize his own existence. Exasperated, she coldly dragged him up and forced him to put on the harness. With each buckle that she clasped, she heard an extra sharp intake of breath. Once Light was done putting his on, he quickly came to help Ace while Aida turned to Rin, "You ready? You're coming with me."

"Yeah!! Born ready!" responded Rin enthusiastically.

At least one of them was happy. Aida deftly put on the harness and told Rin to hug her tightly as she strapped him in as tightly as possible.

After that was done, she saw that Light had finished helping Ace as well. She checked all their straps to make sure they were okay, and then gave them the rest of the instructions.

"After you jump, take deep breaths and slowly count to 10 and then deploy your parachutes," she pointed to the parachute strap. "Just pull this. Make sure not to deploy them too early as it may get caught on the plane. The change in pressure will make you light headed, so spread your arms and legs to slow your descent."

"When you land, make sure to land feet facing forward and try to sit down on the ground. You might break your legs if you try to land standing straight up or running like in the movies. If we get separated, meet back at the house we were just in."

Nodding, Light patted Rin calmly. Although they were going to separate for a little bit, he knew the best odds of survival were with Aida so in reality, Rin would be the safest of them all. Rin looked at Light with excited eyes and waved to Light.

Aida had carefully placed Xiao Ai in a fanny pack that she casually took from the house and secured it firmly to her waist. She made sure that there was zero chance of the fanny pack flying off during their descent.

The plan was rapidly losing altitude and it was time for them to jump. She ordered everyone to grab onto something as she pulled open the plane door, the wind immediately whipping their faces.

Nodding, she told Light to jump first. Despite it being his first jump, he was surprisingly agile and didn't seem to be afraid at all. Yukio was curled up against Light with his eyes shut closed.

After he jumped, it was Ace's turn. She had to space out the jumps properly so they wouldn't accidentally hit each other. As she dragged Ace to the door of the plane, he kept repeating, "Nononononononono."

Rolling her eyes, she and Rin happily kicked him out of the plane. "AHHHHHH THIS IS MY BIGGEST NIGHTMARE!! PIECE OF CAKE MY A**!!!" they could hear Ace's voice trail as he fell down the sky.

Giggling at each other, Aida turned to Rin, "Are you ready?"

"Uh huh!" No trace of fear could be seen in his eyes. She could also feel with the blood connection that he was genuinely excited. Rin was growing increasingly fond of this seemingly happy go lucky child before her.

She lightly jumped off the plane's platform and they were in free fall. The two of them spread their arms out as far as possible, trying to slow their descent. Once they had a clear field of vision, she saw that Light and Yukio also had their arms out, slowing their descent. "Pull your parachute!" Aida shouted out to Light.

Light couldn't actually hear her through all the noise, but their blood connection allowed him to comprehend her meaning. Tugging the string, the parachute deployed seamlessly and they were immediately dragged back up as their descent slowed. They were in the clear and should be able to land just fine as long as they didn't get caught on a lamppost or hit a high rise on their way down. That was the best she could do for them.

Looking towards Ace, she saw he was still plummeting towards the ground at rapid speeds. It seems he seemed to have lost consciousness.