Chapter 3: Interruption

"Please turn to page 142 of your biology textbook…"

Murmurs arose from some people in the class. It seemed that some people had forgotten their biology textbooks. It was just another ordinary day, until it wasn't.

Bang, bang.

Two loud ear shattering shots spread throughout the entire school. They were definitely gunshots. A couple students, then the rest of the class ran up and gaze out from the window. There was a man with a gun pointed upwards and a loudspeaker accompanied by many other men, who promptly rushed into the school building. They were all wearing black and had masks obscuring their identity. This wasn't a coincidence. They had something to do with the arson attacks. The leader brought the loudspeaker to his mouth and began to speak.

"Stay in your classrooms! Listen to what we say, and you won't get hurt!"

Many students were frozen next to the window, some fell backwards, and some rushed for the exit. Suddenly a black-masked man burst through the door with what looked like a standard issue American assault rifle. Everyone froze when the intruder arrived.

"You brats into your seats now!"

The man commanded and the students promptly rushed into their seat due to fear. I saw that many people were trembling in fear or frozen in shock. The masked man patrolled around the room. I could have grabbed the gun, but that would cause unnecessary commotion. Maybe they would leave if they couldn't find what they were looking for.

"Hey, you why are you grinning like that?"

The man spoke to me. I could have sworn that I wasn't grinning. I certainly wasn't in despair which could have ticked him off. The man spun around grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt and picked me up from my seat. He held me aloft and started to spew on about how I should be afraid and stuff. Nothing important.

"Hey you punk! Are you listening?!"

No not really. I stared at him blankly. Many people in my class were terrified to see what would happen to me. The man balled up his hand and raised it perpendicular to my face. The knuckles were tight, and I could see his veins bulging on his arm and head from anger.

"Why you…"

"What do you think you're doing?"

A new voice came from a similarly dressed man at the door. He was on the slimer side compared to his hot-tempered compatriot.

"Remember what the boss said. No harming civilians."

"Uh… fine…"

The man promptly placed me down back in the chair and walked back towards the entrance of the classroom. The well-mannered man walked past him and behind the podium where the teacher normally stood.

"We won't hurt you if you cooperate with us. Do you understand?"

Nobody responded but many just nodded out of fear. I could understand the feeling although I did not feel the same. They looked tough and probably were, but I didn't see any benefit in hurting us. Therefore, we were relatively safe. Now that would be normally the case, but since this could have something to do with the package and letter I had hidden in my desk, I thought that there was a modicum of danger.

I had to wonder why all of this was even happening in the first place. It seemed so fantastical and thrilling to happen. Life could be stranger than fiction, but events did not occur on such frequent basis to everyone. I thought I had already had enough happen to me in this lifetime.

Things were going swimmingly; I was the only person to have that thought. That was until an explosion rocked the entire school building. The two dressed men in black fell to the floor while shouting swears. Some students fell off their chairs and sprained their ankles. Some rubbed their heads from falling and hitting their head on somebody else's table. The windows had shattered from the intense shockwave that vibrated throughout the building. On several of the main columns started to form a snake of crack lines as the building began losing its integrity.

This wasn't good. I could see that the building would not hold up much longer. The roof was about to collapse and with it taking the lives of his colleagues. What could I do? No that wasn't the correct question. Could I do it? I quickly grabbed the letter from inside the desk and ripped it open. Three microchips and a piece of paper with a short message written on it. 'Use with great care'. Ugh… they worry too much. I wrapped the microchips in my hand. Only one chip should be more than necessary.

A piece of the ceiling fell onto where I was sitting. I felt troubled that I had to expend more energy. I promptly slid out of my seat as it was crushed by the falling concrete. I calmly observed my surrounding. What could have caused the building to lose so much of its integrity? No matter..., I didn't have time to concern myself with such thoughts. Another part of the ceiling was on verge of collapsing on top of Aoi. She had sprained herself and was unable to move. I quickly rushed over to cover her from the falling debris. The dust settled and I saw Aoi dazed as she looked up towards me.

"Tanaka! Are you- agh!"

Aoi laid on the floor with her mouth agape. A piece of rebar had pierced through my left shoulder which caused great difficulty for the movement of my left arm. It also caused sever bleeding that would kill a person in just a few minutes. Aoi was in shock. Her frozen demeanour was foreign to her normally calm and in control attitude. I pushed the debris off of us and stood up.

"Wait Tanaka!" Free from her confusion. "We need to stop the bleeding right now!"

While I appreciated her concerns, this was nothing more than inconvenience to me. I removed the rebar forcefully. I tugged the heavy metal rod out of my body. The force of which managed to snap the rebar in half. The gaping hole in my body had already started to heal back. Aoi looked confused whether it was due to the superhuman capabilities I had just demonstrated or the lack of reaction on my part, I would deal with it later. In the commotion, the teacher was knocked out and the two men with assault rifles had left the room. Everyone else were either sat down due to their injuries or hiding in fear under the table. Some tried to leave the room, but the falling ceiling had blocked the door.

Crreaaak. Waaam…

The building creaked and moaned under the now unsupported weight of the concrete. Moments later I detected a wave of extremely potent electrical energy followed by an equally strong magnetic pulse. The two waves had left me temporarily immobilized. The lead lined package in my pocket had started to emit a warm glow. After I regained control, I promptly threw out the package as its temperature seemed to be increasing indefinitely. The lead lined packaging melted away and a dark violet orb emerged. Perfectly circular and free from imperfections. The orb rose and its shadow started to enlarge. The pitch-dark shadow engulfed the floor and then the furniture. The walls and ceiling faced a similar fate.

Some say curiosity killed the cat. Ever since I heard that saying I've always thought that it was nonsensical. Was it made to teach people not to be curious? Preposterous, curiosity was one of mankind's greatest strength. Nevertheless, I would like to propose a better version; Stupidity begets insecurity.

Akamatsu approached the orb and poked it. Just as fast the shadow covered Akamatsu, and his silhouette dissolved into the shadow. Terrified, the students scrambled to move away from the orb, but were eventually taken away. What was going on? I questioned myself. As far as I was concerned, I was observing actual magic happening right in front of me. Using the maximum allowed strength of my current set up, I slammed my fist into the void-colour walls but to no avail. The force of my punch dissipated seamlessly into the void as if it had been absorbed.

Time was up and the last of the class including me was taken away by the shadow.

I didn't how long I was out for. My internal clock had stopped functioning the moment the shadow covered me. I opened my eyes, expecting to see and endless black void. To my surprise, featureless white stretched out endlessly. I saw that my other classmates were also there. They were all quite confused. Was this heaven? No, it couldn't be. I don't believe in the existence of God.

"Tanaka!"

I looked over my shoulder to see Aoi rushing up towards me with a distressed face. She looked me over from head to toe, although she had to stand on the end of her toes to see the top of my head. My clothes had inexplicably fixed itself along with my wound.

"It's fine. My wound is gone and even my shirt is fixed," I tried to calm down Aoi.

"No! Maybe there is still some lingering wounds…" Aoi looked down and spoke quietly, "I don't want someone to get hurt because of me…"

I tried to smile warmly. I guess there were other people that care about me apart from my sister. Aoi looked back up and put on a brave face. She walked up to me until she was uncomfortably close.

"Take off your clothes now so that I can see the wound!"

"Wait what?"

Aoi grabbed the collar of my school uniform and aggressively tugged it. Her face flushed bright red, but I also saw what I could only describe as feverish panting. Very much discomforted by her actions that differed greatly from her usual demeanour, I attempted to distance myself from the deranged class president.

"Aoi, I'm fine, I really am. Please be more mindful of how you act. Our classmates are staring."

"Huh?"

Aoi came back to her usual self and turned around embarrassed. Jeez. What was going through her mind? I could only imagine. I hoped that this was only one time occurrence and not a repeating behaviour. Maybe that was her true nature. I hoped not.

Nevertheless, the awkward atmosphere lingered between the offender, the bystanders, and me, the victim.

As if reality itself tried to clear the atmosphere, a loud, omnipresent, booming voice rang out from all directions. It was commanding and my body violently vibrated. A figure loomed over all of us. It was massive and yet still sized like a regular human. The distortions even effected my perfectly designed vision. It was clear that this creature was beyond the scope of our current understanding.

The cloth it wore haphazardly draped over its body was glistening and pristine with an otherworldly quality. The being had fair, soft, white skin and moved with confidence and elegance befitting of a god. The 'god' stopped. I could not tell if this being was 'god' or 'goddess' but that didn't matter. This being then began to speak or muttered. I didn't care for what it said so I didn't listen to it. For a moment it looked directly at me. My sensors went haywire due to waves of immense unknown energy. It was so intense that it almost made me collapse. The being's gaze drifted to my other classmates. It's expression of curiosity slowly turned into disinterest, and with a flick of its finger darkness once again engulfed my vision along with the feeling of falling in an endless void.