GLASS || The Catalysts Series, #1

XXVIII || Black Hole

Arius sets his jaw and clears his throat, as if he never heard Illeanna's comment. He speaks into the microphone, "Caelus Aveyard, step away from the demon. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage."

Caelus hangs upside down from the glass pane above with a perplexed look. That's a first — although his eyes are always showing empty emotions, he never looks this stunned. Frowning, he disappears, and a second later lands on the cloud Illeanna and Arius are on, causing it to sway slightly.

"Be careful where you land!" Illeanna protests, trying to keep control of her cloud. "These are made by my own blood and sweat — literally!"

"Caelus Aveyard," Arius chides, "you are strictly on probation." He gestures to the threatening purple-pink hue in the midst of swirling dark clouds above. "Explain."

"Wait a minute, mister!" Roen interrupts, pushing a disapproving Neesha to the side. "Caelus was only helping the people on the train! He protected us a-and — wait, you're on probation again?!" He turns immediately to Caelus, who only looks bored.

"This is why I never take public transport, Roen," Caelus states, glaring at his friend. He jumps from the cloud and lands to his original spot beside Lena, then says, "Now that you're here, I'll pass the situation to you. As you can see, our demon is rather ticked off."

"And I wonder whose doing is that, hmm?" Illeanna challenges.

"You didn't arrive on time."

"Enough," Arius cuts in before Illeanna argues further. "Illeanna, please remain professional. I understand we are dealing with a high schooler, a repeated troublemaker." He casts a suspicious glance at Caelus, who pretends to not notice. "Now, Illeanna, the Supernova."

Illeanna still remains hesitant. She fiddles with her fingers, not looking Arius in the eye. "Maybe we can —"

"Illeanna," Arius says sternly. "Do you wish for your license to be revoked?"

"O-Of course not."

"Then hand over the Supernova. I'll take care of everything from here. The HQ will hear of your excellent performance today."

Biting her lip and still not looking Arius in the eye, Illeanna reaches her two hands inside of the fluffy pink cloud they are floating on. A second later, she pulls out a weapon with both her hands. The weapon shapes like a rifle, only it looks more... digital. Its sides are lined with green and blue lines twisted together, and a golden symbol is embroidered on it. It is a complex symbol with a star inside a circle, its five tips touching the circumference. Between the star, which is divided crossly into 6 sections with its tips and the middle, all have unique markings on them.

Illeanna hands it over to Arius shakily. Arius doesn't flinch or hesitates. He takes the weapon in his firm grip, toggling the adjustments and buttons. The black device glows over the lines of its blue and green decor, making a supercharged sound.

Holding the charged Supernova in one steady arm, Arius clicks something on his headset and holds the mic towards his mouth and speaks into it. "All is clear. Ready to execution." Upon confirmation from the other side, he takes the weapon into both hands and aims, but instead of firing, he lowers the weapon a second later. "Impossible! where is —"

Glass shatters, and the train rockets sideways and lurches forward. Caelus rolls onto Lena and they both slam against the other side of the train, breaking more of the glass. A shard cuts into Lena's palm as she tries to hold on to something to avoid plummeting. The train steadies for a second, and a firm grip pulls Lena up to her feet.

Lena looks around frantically. The demon just... disappeared? "Where is it?"

Another push, a fatal impact. Caelus and Lena both fall again, crashing into the side. The train is repeatedly being attacked, each time with a greater impact. The amount of rocketing sways the cloud, too, and they are pushed back away from the gap of the train into the open sky from the impact. The supercharged Supernova slips from Arius' arms, skittering to the edge amidst the broken glass shards.