A ride downhill
---
4: 57 pm
Classes have ended, and I, Klara Wolboch, shall meet up with Dante at our usual hangout spot.
Eh, well, it's not really a famous area; it's our chill spot back in his neighborhood at the edge of Neo City, where the lights don't reach and where it's a lot quieter and, I guess, peaceful.
...
Hah.
That is soooo Dante.
He doesn't talk a lot, especially when there are a shit ton of people. He's very reserved. He only talks when I'm with him or when I force him to.
Anyway, Dante's neighborhood isn't a very wealthy-looking place either. It's at the edge of Neo City, so it's bound to be.
But it's simple. I kinda like that. Not so bright, not so flashy. Though it's not my kinda place, since I'm a social butterfly~ I prefer to go party, race, and beat up assholes~
I got these A1 hands E-rated for everyone! Except for children.
...
With some uh, exceptions...
Right now, I'm inside my car, the Nissan R34, honking at some students my age cuz they're all fucking walking out of the school at the same time—hell, like a school of fish!
"Out of the fucking way!" I punched the wheel, causing a loud honk to echo down the school's street as a result.
The school I'm in is at least twenty thousand hectares, and it covers the whole damn mountainside. I dunno how many kilometers I'll have to travel to see my school until it completely disappears from my line of sight, but...
It's at least...I think, uh, forty-five thousand kilometers? Until I actually can't see it anymore. I'm not sure. I don't really care about it either.
But my god, it's almost like a great fucking wall! It looks more like a military institute than an actual university!
It's mostly all black, with blue and red small hues blinking at each top corner of the school. Think of it as a bunch of rectangles and triangles all clamped together on each side.
I guess it's prestigious for a reason. It has its own personal city inside it and such. Students can comfortably live there, but that's just some additional payment, which I find irritating.
"I swear to god, I'm ramming one of you lil' shits," I say, gripping the wheel and punching it several times while glaring at the wave of students still flooding the streets in front of me, yet to disperse. "This is the shittiest time to delay me~~"
---
I slam on the brakes; the wheels of my car skid to a halt, and the constant grinding of rubber onto asphalt resounds inside my car.
I sigh. "Okaay~ I'm here."
Bending my entire body in order to exit my car is a damn pain~~
Truly truly it's a curse and a blessing to be tall and genetically blessed--by that, I meant I have a nice pair. Seriously, I wonder who gave me these rockin' tits and ass.
Sighing as I stretch, free from the restraints of my tiny-ass car, I close the door shut and lock it.
Looking up right now, I can see the moon glistening brightly down at the street I'm on, replacing the broken lamp posts flickering from time to time.
Forcing my hand down my pocket thanks to these tight-ass jeans, I pull out my phone to contact the lil' boy. I press a few numbers and hit dial.
...
Ring Ring
Ring Ring
Ring Ring
...
About time, he picks up.
[You there?]
"That's why I called hubby~"
[When will you stop calling me that?]
"Naaah~ I don't think I will."
I hear him sigh from the other side of the call. I giggle.
For a moment, he shifts his phone. I could tell since a mild crackle resounded from the call. [Aight, you know our usual spot, right?]
"Yuuup~"
[Bet.]
"Actually, I might just fly there."
[Don't do that.]
"Why not~?"
[Someone high on zaza might mistake your fat ass for a pelican and shoot you down.]
"I'm taking that as a compliment~ Why a pelican though?"
[I-I dunno. I thought it was funny.]
"Heh. Cute." I mumble, incoherent for Dante.
[What did you say?]
"Nothin'. Keep walkin' to our spot hubby~"
[Stop calling me that.]
As I trot down the sidewalk, I gaze around the area. There wasn't anything eye-catching, just a few thousand illegal settlers settling in abandoned apartments or just chilling outside stores here and there. I still couldn't wrap my head around how Dante and his dad could live normally here.
Deadass, this place reeks of drugs and piss...plus this hole is like 14 kilometers away from our school. It's far.
I haven't persuaded him to switch places yet, but I sure as hell will now.
[Okay, I'm on the spot now.]
"Alriiight~"
[Don't fly, okay?]
I'm going to proceed to fly now. But I didn't tell him that.
Just remember how you did it the first time, me.
Breath.
Inhale...
Exhale...
...
Inhale...
Exhale...
...
Hup!
Lifting myself off the ground, I hear the pavement below me resound with a loud crack, and for a damn second, I thought I was flying. But the moment I was a thousand meters above ground and NOT gliding down like a proud eagle would, I wasn't flying...
"I jumped..."
Oh God--I'm...
"Fallingggg....!" I said as I started to plunge down, my skin grazing the air and my hair fluttering in every direction as I descended. The sight of the gloomy buildings at the edge of Neo City below me grew larger and larger.
"Shit shit shit shit...!!"
[Uh, Klara, I heard like a minny ka-boom somewhere 'round our spot, so we might have to--]
"Don't worry baby boy...!" I accidentally yell at my phone which is somehow still in my grasp when I jumped a few seconds ago while rapidly falling to my inevitable doom. "I-I got this..! I'll b-be there in just a sec, o-okay...?"
Shit, my voice is shaking.
[B-Baby boy? Oo...kay..? You good Klara? Where are you? You sound like you're falling.]
"I AMMMM~!"
[Oh.]
"I'm fucking falling alright!"
[I-I can't see you...]
"I'M IN THE SKY!!"
[I-I'm aware. Stop shouting!]
Oooooh shit--I haven't been this high up in the sky before, and sure as fuck I won't jump again--
I can feel the air gushing through my skin and my hair flapping around wildly as I position myself in a skydiver's glide, raising up my hands and stretching my legs to slow down the process of falling for even just a few seconds.
...
...
Oh wow.
I've never seen Neo City at this height before; it's actually kinda nice to look at. It's like a huge rectangular disco ball with different colors spewing out in every direction, with a few bright orange strands stretching out in the landscape, getting smaller and smaller as it reaches out for more land...
Then I break out of my trance.
[Klara!]
"Y-yeahh! yeah, what is it?"
[Focus! Focus on your breathing! Relax!]
"O-Okay...!"
A seagull smacks my face mid-air.
"FUCKING HELL!"
[C-Calm down!]
"Ooooh shit..! The ground's getting bigger..! Oh my God i-it's beautiful but--fuck I'm gonna die!"
[Focus! Focus on y-your breathing? I-I...oh...oh wait I see you. A-Are you waving your arms in the sky right now? A-Ah you do look like a Pelican...]
"Not helping!"
Okay...the details of the street below me are looking a LOT more detailed now... That means I'm VERY close to crashing. I'm at least plummeting down at 300 meters....
[Fuck--just THINK! Imagine! IMAGINE you're flying! Just--urgh--ju..just believe you're hovering! That'll work!]
"YOU THINK?!"
[JUST...JUST DO IT!]
***
6: 43 pm
From a distance, in between the sea of grey, gloomy buildings and apartments, a loud boom resounded within the neighborhood. Pieces of debris shot through a couple of buildings, leaving a dust trail in their wake.
Cars started to spark their alarm as the shockwave from the explosion disrupted their peace, windows that were once black in a silent slumber now shine in a faint yellow, awakened from the sudden blast.
At a certain rooftop, a teenager shook, stunned by the shock of an abrupt gust of wind that passed through him. He watched it all. How she fell from the sky. How the clouds parted as she descended. Literally.
"Oh...fuck." He mumbled before sprinting to the entrance of the rooftop and running through the stairs.
***
7: 03 pm
"Ow ow ow oww...." I cough up a cloud of dust on my face.
Shit okay...I-I did feel a bit of a sting on my back but...actually it's not that painful.
"Ouh...fuck me. That...That felt weird."
Still laying on my back, my vision still blurry, I try to focus. After taking a few breaths, I shakily sit up, a few rocks and small pieces of debris sliding off my--
...
"M-My clothes..."
Alright, so my baggy jacket isn't totally ripped, the sleeves of my jacket are torn away so... it's just showing like...my whole fucking torso and my underboob--Fuck... That's minus 17 dollars...
"Uggghh...Now I'm pissed..."
I stand up, dusting off my pants that have also torn themselves apart since I fell down God knows how fast. It's now like, shorts for me...
That's minus 10 dollars...
"Ah..."
Looking down on my feet--hell, even my shoes pulverized when I fell. Fuck...
Now I'm poor.
But right now...I'm standing over a huge crater. An evident cave-in at the point of impact is obvious and huge fractures and cracks that stretches out for a few meters...Did I make that?
I look around this time.
"Whoa..."
It's dark. The only source of light that illuminates the place I'm in is the moonlight from the hole I made that's 400 meters above me...
Right now though...I think I'm in a hallway. A big one. I-I'm not sure how I can tell, but thanks to the moon's dim light, I can kinda make out the walls
"W-...Where the hell am I..?"
Pushing myself up, I squinted through the dimly lit corridor—it's like a damn eerie hallway from a horror flick. Broken lights flickered on and off, casting these freaky shadows everywhere.
Looking up, the ceiling of the hallway has wires and pipes slithering all up there in the dark, hissing and sparking since I...y'know, crashed.
Then the air—ugh, it's got this weird hospital scent, all sterile and antiseptic. Mixed in with the dust and mustiness. I don't like it. It reminds me of needles. And holy shit it's dark as fuck. Can't see a single thing out here.
My crash did leave its mark, though. The walls are all busted up, cracks running wild like they're telling the story of my dramatic entrance. Debris scattered all over the floor, my little reminders of 'hey, dumbass; made quite the landing, haven't ya?'
Taking a step forward, my feet meet the cold metallic floor of the hallway, shivers run down my spine when I take another step.
"This shit's ain't funny...since when was there an underground enclosure 17 kilometers away from the main city...? The mayor's supposed to announce things like this..."
Suddenly, the hallway's lights suddenly flicker back on; momentarily blinding me. "Aw, fuck."
How nice of them.
Though the hallway's now echoing with the buzzing of those lights. Now I can see the end of the hallway.
Okay...the buzzing is so loud that it's annoying. I could fly out of here but my focus is in shambles. At the same time though, I kinda wanna go exploring around here.
Then an abrupt spark at the end of the hallway illuminated before ultimately grounding itself, going dark. Ah. That's probably the result of my flashy entrance.
"Golly gee. Wonder what's over there? I hope it's surely not Adam Smasher at the end waiting to smash me." I say out loud.
I know. It's a poor attempt at using humor as a coping mechanism to ease my nerves.
I sometimes have no shame.
"Did you say Adam Smasher?"
"GAH--DANTE?!"
"WHA--Why did you yell?! And HOLY FUCK you're hot--I mean, where are your clothes?! A-And where are we?"
I deadpan. "Dante. Firstly, where did you come from? We're 400 meters below ground."
"How do you know that?"
"I-I just know," then I see his face turn a bit...red? He's staring at something...is there something wrong with my face? "Y-Your uh...your clothes."
Ah.
I see why he's red now.
Instantly I cover my torso in an attempt to conceal his pure eyes.
"M-My eyes are up here dickhead."
"Yeeaaah! Yeah! Definitely up there. Mhm. Your eyes are not on your chest--ahem--they're on your head. Right."
"Good boy. Now, how'd you get down here?"
Dante points at his feet, referring to the boots he's currently wearing that are in clad dark metallic armor. "I jumped down. These guys supported my fall."
"Ooooh, hubby's brave to see me okay, isn't he~~"
He rubs his cheek. Heh. He does that when he's nervous. "I-I don't like the shift in topic. Since you're fine anyway, l-let's just get out of here now."
Before we even moved a millimeter, just in time, the hole 400 meters above us caves in, collapsing down. In an act of instinct, I grab Dante and pull him close before jumping away before the debris could crash on us.
That shit's a bad idea since I bounce off the cold metal floor like a rubber ball ricocheting against a brick wall, my body bouncing from wall to wall several times, my head clashing with the metal wall, then my back bumping on a couple of lights on the hallway's ceiling, and eventually skidding on the metal floor again to a halt; all the while clutching the fragile lil Dante in my hold.
"You good?" I ask, letting him slide out of my arms.
Now he lays on his back, panting.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm good," he stands up, shivering abruptly before taking a few steps ahead. "U-Uhm...we're stuck here now...apparently." he adds, gazing at the now-clumped-up pile of debris and rocks clogging the hole where I initially crashed.
"Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious." I retort, snorting, standing up as well.
Right...now uh, where to...
But to start...where the fuck are these damn power boosts of mine coming from...?!
"We landed pretty far away." Dante starts, squinting at the now small clumped pile of debris and rocks and the medium crater where Dante and I jumped off from.
"Oh shit we did..." I stand up too, stretching my arms.
In the corner of my eye, just for like a second I see Dante looking away. Cute. Oh right, I'm technically half-naked right now. So most of the time I'll see these kinds of reactions from him for the time being...heh.
"C-Clothes. Here." He says, tossing me a jacket. Oooh. It's my preferred size too.
"Whoa, hubby~ Came in prepared?"
Score. His face is red. "Just wear it damn it."
I take it and put it on. OoOoh. He knows me too well. "It's my size too~ You're not stalking me or anything, riiight~?"
He grumbles. "Shut up already. W-We need to focus on getting out of here."
"Riiightt~ Sure~"
Clunk
Someone's here. Other than Dante and I, I heard a step from a boot 200 meters away...
Looking at the direction adjacent to us...the end of the metallic hallway is dark with momentary flickers from afar with a few sparks. I could barely see anything at the end.
Clunk
There it is again. It echoes like a bat squeaking inside a cave.
"Dante."
"I heard it too."