CHAPTER 19 - VACUUM

"So that's why we had to redo almost two days. At the last moment, she dodged that bullet like she knew it was coming. Was this a part of your plan?".

"Don't be silly. Of course not. But it's well within my calculations. I just hoped that it never happened. Still, it hasn't reached the worst."

"Yet."

"To think we didn't notice it till the Observer told us, she's truly terrifying. That was something I didn't expect. I guess I should have, we may be the controllers but only the Observer is free from the rules of the playground."

"Do we take her out?".

"For a drink? Sure."

"Your humour is not appreciated."

"You're too stiff Jolly, there's nothing to be worried about. "

"If you say so."

"I let you change the events of the world, the fifth Level's special test didn't hold again and no one but us three know about it. As long as she isn't aware that she turned back time by 48 hours, she isn't a threat."

"What if... What if she does it again, or she remembers or someone else remembers?".

Jolly was referring to a specific Savant. He gave it away by staring at a him.

"Coulomb? You give him too much credit. He's barely figuring out how things work in the Playground."

"What is it with this team in particular?".

"You're the one who keeps bringing them up."

"They give me the chills."

The Creator didn't comment on that. They stared at the girl in question as she was bleeding out. It was unthinkable that she would die, her team would definitely find a way to save her. Else, she reset time and dodged a fatal hit for no reason.

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Ein and Stein could have helped keep Schrodinger alive but they were summoned to the battlefield immediately she left it.

Newton had no choice but to put pressure over the wound. She considered stealing kinetic energy from her blood but she wasn't sure if she had enough finesse. It was possible that she would cause more harm than good.

Coulomb was beside Newton but he was staring at Schrodinger impassively. The others didn't even pretend to care and that was the sensible thing to do.

Schrodinger's death didn't affect them, she was weak, impulsive and a burden most of the time, even now and they weren't an official party so they wouldn't be penalized.

Yet she was trying to stop her bleeding.

"I can help you," A melodious voice said to Newton. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.

She turned to see a black haired girl about Laplace's height and possibly age too. Her bobcut moved slightly as her inky eyes focused on Schrodinger's injury.

"You're from the Nameless Savant's team, "Coulomb said.

Newton didn't remember seeing her anywhere. She was certain that the girl before her wasn't involved in the scuffle yesterday.

"We call her Lapis, I'm sorry for the trouble that she caused. My name is Nightingale. I can heal her."

"And what do you want in return?".

"I'm avoiding the wrath of troublesome people, I'd say I'm gaining plenty."

Coulomb remained unreadable and she took a deep breath with her eyes closed.

However, it was obvious that he thought it was too late for that.

"Fine, I want your party to surrender to me if you get paired against me. I'm not suited for combat."

"No problem."

Newton saw through Coulomb's plan immediately. The weren't an official party so the cost was invalidated also they retained the right to revenge.

She should have insisted that she wanted to avoid our wrath.

I guess he wants revenge.

Nightingale knelt and placed her hands on Schrodinger. A dull blueish green glow covered her.

"Please step away or focus on reducing your Range or Strength. It will interfere with the process".

Newton concentrated on absorbing the kinetic energy from the air around me while Coulomb simply continued staring at her. She resumed her job when she realized that he wasn't going to move.

Her injury was sealed in no time and she announced that all damages were repaired. A white box appeared beside her and she took out a tiny bottle from it. She gave it to Newton.

"Give it to her when she wakes."

She walked away and Newton noticed that she couldn't hear her footsteps. When she finally looked at the ensuing battle she was slightly confused.

Nobody was watching Ein and he wasn't doing anything visible. He stood at the side and watched his brother and their opponent fight.

"What's going on?".

"Alcubierre was asked to submit but he said he said the only reason he'd lose a battle is because of their split-name status."

"And Stein got angry at that?".

Newton turned to Coulomb with visible confusion and said the words before she remembered the events in the alley the previous day. Stein had been provoked by words which should not have any effect on him.

Is there someone behind his irrational behavior?

A Savant's ability or an item.

"Stein insisted that he surrender, Ein was the one who got worked up. He told Stein to accept the challenge."

Stein and Alcubierre moved from one side of the field to the other instantaneously. Stein was teleporting close to Alcubierre to touch him and win the game but Alcubierre was aware of his ability and was avoiding him at speeds impossible for a human to achieve.

"He's faster than Stein."

"Stein is moving in short bursts of teleportation while Alcubierre is continously compressing and expanding space."

"Stein should be able to do that too."

"Yeah, I wonder if he can't or doesn't want to."

Alcubierre's plan was also an unknown. He was moving around the field while avoiding the twins.

As if it was planned, once the time reached a minute and a half they stopped moving.

"What's wrong? Are you tired?", Stein said mockingly.

"This is a waste of time. Let's end this already."

"Mmmn...", Ein's voice reminded them of his presence, "I don't want to change the game of tag but you do need a clear victory condition, how about... the first to touch the other wins, good enough for you?".

"I agree."

"Ein, why are you playing along with him?".

"Just do it, 'Kay?".

One minute and fourteen seconds left. They waited till ten seconds left to a minute and their dance resumed with a different tempo. Stein teleported as close as he could but Alcubierre was expecting him to. He spun and reached for his hand.

Stein jumped backwards and stayed in the air and he followed closely and almost touched him. Stein teleported to his back again. Gravity took over once Alcubierre's ability wore off and pulled him back to the ground where Stein was.

He jumped with his hand stretched out however Alcubierre was already moving away.

Re-activating his ability in that state was difficult but not impossible.

Stein can't teleport too close to him because of his Range and Alcubierre's ability weakens when he gets closer to Stein.

In addition, they're both trying to change the same phenomena in different ways so the effect of the disturbance is multiplied greatly.

This is going to end as a mutual defeat if they don't decide quickly.

Thirty-eight seconds left.

Stein teleported far away from Alcubierre's reach. He had come to close for comfort. Alcubierre looked at the timer and then swung his hand in quick, successive motions. The air shimmered just like when he used his ability but it was moving towards the twins.

Stein didn't move. He couldn't leave Ein without protection so he must have set up a barrier. Then Alcubierre appeared behind the twins, he had moved faster than ever before which probably made Newton's assumption correct. He couldn't display his true strength when he got close to Stein.

Stein turned around with a shocked expression as he tried to touch him. He must have focused on the barrier while assuming that he couldn't....

No, he's..... He's smiling.

Stein appeared behind Alcubierre just as his hand was where he was previously. His right hand was on Alcubierre's shoulder. His laughter was heard by all the Savants.

"I give up."

"Oh, what a surprise... I thought I'd have to make you explode".

"I'm not that stubborn. Your brother's interference proves my point, you can't beat me."

"Don't you mean.... My.... sister?", Stein said with a grin.

"Oof....", Alcubierre blushed as he looked at Ein's irritated face.

He bought it?

Newton looked at the other spectators and saw that they were deceived as well. She remembered that when she first saw Ein she assumed that he was a boy even though it wasn't that obvious but now, looking at him again, she could see that if he tried, he could easily deceive anyone.

"Maybe he can't, but neither can you. Even though the two of us are one, I didn't have to do anything but exist for him to beat you. If you think I used my abilities, you're mistaken. You're no match for my brother, get out of my sight, weakling."

Ein's voice was low and gentle but it carried the force of a gamma ray burst. He didn't even look at him when he spoke and didn't till they were removed from the field and their name turned green.

"Yo, we're back."

"Nice game, Stein.", Coulomb said.

He had changed into a tight fitting body suit at some point while I wasn't watching him and had weapons, bullets and pouches strapped to him. He was up next. Against the Nameless Savant.

"Who do you think I am? That much is as expected," he looked proud of his work and it betrayed his true thoughts.

"To think you had to stop time to beat such an obscure name....What is the Playground turning to these days.....Savants have no quality anymore."

Alpha's soliloquy incurred Stein's wrath easily.

"You want a fight, kid?".

"Please no, you'll infect me with your low quality," he said with an air of indifference.

It's infectious now?

"Aren't you going to tell them the truth?", Gamma said timidly.

"Well, I was going to but then Ein took my chance away, so I'll save that punchline for later.", he said with a sad face.

"Punchline?..... More like a nuke", Beta added.

"It's okay, isn't it? Any form of deception can help us later on in the Playground," Ein said with a laugh.

"They're starting, be quiet,"Newton said.

They turned back to the field in anticipation of a great battle. Despite his calm, they all noticed Coulomb's anger. It was a bit of a surprise for Newton, but she was more surprised that she also felt the same.

"I take it you're not going to surrender and let everything slide?", Lapis asked with a bored look.

Coulomb smiled and tilted his head. It was a sunny smile that gave everyone that saw it visions of horrifying deaths.

"After the trouble you went through to get my attention?.... How can I do something so rude?", he didn't break the smile.

"It's amusing that you're getting angry about your teammate getting injured when you harm others without a care."

"I'm not angry about you hurting her."

He's not?

And he's not lying.

But I can't be sure about that.

Coulomb seemed to exert even more positive energy as he answered. He appeared beside her in a burst of electricity. He had her neck in his elbow.

"You're crime was assuming that you could do whatever you want with us and get away with it. You should have accepted Newton's plan. I'd personally like to ensure that you fail but I can't since your teammates would help. I'll settle with a crushing defeat for now."

"I...... I..... I..... What?".

"Just noticed, eh?....... did you just try to surrender?", he dropped the act and laughed, "Sorry, but I won't let you."

"You.... You're like Volta, huh?".

"We've wasted a minute, let's begin."

He walked back to his starting position silently as she took out two pistols from her storage. She fired quickly, two clips rapidly dissappeared. As expected, it had no effect on him.

He had two pistols of the same model out and the misshapen bullets on the floor told the tale of the instantaneous act. She reloaded and fired again but he did the same thing. She tried reloading again but the fingers of her left hand were shot at.

"I know there's a healer on your team, so I can go all out as long as I don't kill you. Be grateful to her, if she didn't offer her assistance, I'd want you dead."

The spectators watched in horror as he continued to shoot at non-lethal points. He took out every joint that wasn't absolutely necessary for movement in combat.

Then when he was done he activated his ability to create a brilliant blue glow that illuminated the field.

Nobody was enraptured by the beauty of it. Perhaps it had something to do with his nonchalant madness or the fact that her body was at the centre of it all. Maybe both.

Her screams threatened to drive all of the Savants to insanity. They stopped watching in silence and murmured amongst themselves. Newton wasn't sure how to take what she was seeing.

She noticed Schrodinger watching the battle, if it could still be considered one any more, beside her.

It never was to be honest, she was a powerless human and Coulomb was displaying abilities way above what any Savant should currently have.

Speed, strength, agility and reaction time were all greater than any other Savants'.

Worse still, he didn't appear to be pulling his punches while he also appeared to be hiding much more power.

A second later, Newton remembered her task.

You should still be resting.

Oh... The bottle and.....

The words never left her mind. She couldn't bring herself to talk to her. Schrodinger looked confused as everyone else but she also had something else in her eyes. An emotion that Newton didn't understand.

Fear?

Anger?

"Whoops.... We're running out of time. I've only got less than a minute", Coulomb said to his opponent who was experiencing what it was like to be stranded in the Sahara. He had shot, electrocuted and burned her but he still wasn't done.

"Ah.... I know..... I'll use this as a test".

He dashed at the same ridiculous speed as before and touched her. She slumped immediately. It was amazing that she remained conscious so far.

No, he forced her to remain conscious.

The timer stopped and his name turned green. His opponent lay unconscious on the floor. Her fingers were broken, her body was burnt red, her hair singed and disheveled. He dusted his hands as they were returned to their seats.

The Savants appeared to wake up from a daze and Jolly was nowhere to be found.

"What just happened?".

It was natural for anyone to ask that after what they saw. However the response was completely unnatural.

"Hmmmn..... I can't remember. I think Coulomb versus the Nameless Savant. He won, right?".

"Oh yeah, I can't remember anything from the fight, weird."

"Neither can I dude."

Newton stopped eavesdropping and saw that all the Savants were acting strange. They all couldn't remember anything about the battle. Except for her team. Ein high-fived Coulomb as he appeared.

Stein just nodded at him. The triplets acted unconcerned and Laplace and Joule looked dissatisfied for some reason.

"Coulomb, what was that all about?".

He turned to Schrodinger, his mouth was open like he had something to say. He appeared to be thinking of how to explain to her. He finally said

"I.....".

"On to the next battle, Newton vs Zimmerman", Jolly appeared with no enthusiasm left.

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