Chapter 36: Cube
Olivia rushed back into the arcade with a worried expression, only to let out a sigh of relief as she stepped inside.
She sat on one of the gaming machines and watched the three unconscious siblings.
They seemed detached from all the chaos that had just passed, and for some reason, she felt that was quite... comforting.
She had ensured that the civilians under the Villain’s mind control got a proper checkup and had also handed the two villains to the police to transport to the HA.
Though one of the two seemed to need proper medical attention, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t end up making it.
Although Hypnos was a villain, the weight of his potential death still weighed on her. After all, she was granted this power to ensure the safety of all life, regardless of who they were.
Slowly, Olivia’s brown eyes turned blank as they rested on the siblings.
Everything around them seemed to fade away as she was slowly dragged into her thoughts.
Her pupils trembled as she saw a hand suddenly emerge from behind the three, wrapping around them.
Another pair, these a lot colder, rested on her shoulders as a blurry face suddenly leaned closer to her ear and muttered, "Just look at them, such fragile little creatures."
"Without you, they’re nothing but helpless little pets waiting to be slaughtered."
Olivia found herself back in that place, and the hand on her shoulders was one that she was very familiar with.
"N-no," she stuttered out.
"No?" The voice asked, leaning in closer, "The power you have was granted to you so you can protect these pitiful things that call themselves humans."
The cold hands grabbed her face and turned it towards the three. "You’re like a god even among other awakened; the burden of ensuring the survival of these pebbles rests entirely on you."
"And it’s their duty to worship you for it."
The hand got tighter around her chin, and Olivia felt her breath slowly being restricted, but just before she could spiral into that place again, another hand rested on her shoulder.
"..ivia?
A voice that seemed to be coming from afar slowly pulled her from her thoughts until she was pulled back to the present.
Holding her gaze was a pair of grey eyes that looked so very assuring at this moment.
"You okay?" Liam asked, although he already knew what was going on.
"Y-yeah," Olivia nodded before standing back up and letting out a sigh as she asked, "w-what about you?"
Liam stood up, looked back at his siblings before scratching the back of his head, "I think.... The last thing I remember was starting a new game with you...and then everything turned dark."
"I-it seems there was a Villain attack earlier," she explained, "but the HA took care of it."
"I see," he nodded in understanding, "then I’m guessing this outing has been ruined."
"W-well, we could come back another day," Olivia quickly said, looking at the disappointed expression on his face.
"I’ll take you up on that," Liam said with a smile as he crouched closer to the driving console he had put Lea and Eli in.
They looked so comfortable sleeping, even though the serum must’ve run out by now.
This was truly what he was missing in his past life, and although his line of work didn’t exactly guarantee their safety, he would do everything to ensure they remained safe.
No matter what it took.
Liam then gently tapped Lea’s shoulder as he leaned in and whispered, "You’ll be late for school."
Her eyes immediately snapped open, and she sprang off the console, almost falling to the floor.
Lea finally had the chance to take in her surroundings, and she immediately recalled where she was.
She then turned towards the grinning Liam with a red face as she asked, "W-when did I fall asleep?"
"No idea," he responded, "but your snores were quite loud."
"I do not snore!" Lea defended, causing him to burst out laughing before standing back up.
"Anyways, sleeping beauty," Liam said, "time to go home."
He then picked up the sleeping Eli and started walking towards the arcade’s exit.
Lea was left behind with Olivia, who had a small smile on her face seeing Lea’s embarrassed expression.
She then leaned towards the girl and whispered, "Don’t worry, he was also out cold, so there was no way he’s telling the truth."
Lea’s eyes went wide as she immediately chased behind Liam, "You liar!"
Olivia chuckled before following behind them.
Aside from the villain attack, the day had ended up being a lot more fun than she anticipated.
Perhaps doing this once in a while, rather than trying out normal jobs, wasn’t so bad.
***
While the three made their way back to their apartment, an armored police truck was simultaneously en route to the HA’s headquarters.
Within said armored truck were three awakened humans with mana suppressors on.
The very same three that had attacked the amusement park earlier.
The unawakened humans had been detained at a normal facility whilst these three were meant to be processed and handled by the HA.
The driver of the truck was busy humming a tune without even the slightest bit of worry.
Although he was currently carrying three very dangerous individuals, there was still the fact that he was currently being escorted by almost an entire fleet.
Situations like these made him feel special.
"I love my job," he said with a smile, adjusting the rearview mirror to take a glance at the three in the back, through a transparent metallic material that separated them.
They were completely silent and at the same time powerless....well, two chose to be silent anyway; the third was passed out.
And if the driver was being honest, his situation didn’t look too good.
The driver then focused back on the road only to frown as they approached a bridge. The bridge itself wasn’t the problem, but rather, the person currently on it.
There was currently a black high-tech bike with purple glows parked in the center of the street.
Leaning on said bike was a man with black hair, a cracked white skull mask and a black bodysuit with what seemed to be pieces of armor and a cracked skull logo on it.
On his neck was a long purple scarf that was currently being blown by the wind.
"U-um, are you guys seeing this?" The truck driver pressed the button for his radio and spoke.
[We do,] a response came, [stop the truck, we’ll handle him.]
With that, every vehicle, including the truck, came to a halt, and a group of officers immediately rushed out.
With the doors of the vehicles still open, they used that as cover before pointing their guns at the man leaning on the bike.
A man who seemed to be their leader came out with a microphone and said, [Identify yourself and step away from the vehicle, or we will open fire!]
The masked man said nothing; instead, he just stood up straight and put both hands in his pockets.
[This is your last warning!]
Again, he said nothing; instead, he slowly started approaching, and the cops were left with no choice but to shoot.
The bullets travelled so fast that it was almost impossible for even an awakened human to react to.
But just before they could reach the masked man, they suddenly froze mid-air as he calmly continued forward.
He finally stopped, looked at the cops, and then removed both his hands from his pockets, lazily pointing them towards the cops and muttering.
"Cube."
And what followed after could only be described as a massacre.