Mob 5.3

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"G… G-Greg..." She blinked up at him with unfocused eyes, obviously struggling to make out his face as she lay limp on the restaurant floor, surrounded by so much rubble. Blood dripped from her nostrils, the sight itself odd considering her nose looked untouched compared to the cuts and bruises that littered the rest of her face.

No… The blond's gaze dropped below Emma's neckline, the sight of blood and purpled skin guiding the path of his vision. Her blouse was torn in places, utterly stained with blood both fresh and already drying, the green fabric even further obscured by the dust and dirt mixing in and caking on top of the red liquid. "Emma…"

The sound of tinkling and breaking glass made itself heard as he stepped forward, dropping to his knees in shock, the light vanishing as he lost focus. So much…

His hands twitched as his hands just brushed her skin, palms coming away coated with blood as he tried to hold her. Oh my god…

"G… Gre… Greg?"

Greg blinked up at her, the blond tearing his eyes away from her wounded body to look the girl in the eyes once more. Green eyes, previously dull and out of focus, seemed to gain some vibrancy to them as she met Greg's quivering sky blues. "...It's y-you..."

Her voice was weak and raspy, throat likely hampered by the amount of dust and lingering smoke in the air, the pain she was in likely contributing its fair share to her state.

"Y-yeah, Emma." His own voice came out weak as well, somehow sounding like even more of a whisper than Emma's words. Trying not to jostle her body with his own shaky movements, Greg leaned into her, one of his hands finding its place in the one limb that managed to escape with barely any injuries at all. "It's m-me. I'm r-r… I'm r-r-r…"

With a growl of audible frustration, Greg bit down on his lip and clenched his free hand in a tight fist. In better lighting, his face would have been a sight to behold, contorted into a rictus of frustration, anger, and an entire host of miserable feelings combined into one. Get it together, you idiot!

Shaking his head, the blond relaxed his face, quickly doing his best to give the injured girl a smile as he leaned in closer to see her better, once more pushing down his negative feelings with a frightening ease. "It's me, Emma. It's Greg."

Rubbing her hand gently, he continued speaking in a calm voice, voice steadier than it had any right to be. "Don't worry, I'm here. Everything's gonna be okay."

Rather than answer, Emma let out a pained moan as she shuddered slightly, the minor movement tearing away the already torn left side of her top and exposing something Greg's eyes widened at the sight of.

...No. No. Nononono… The word repeated in his head, Greg unable to think of anything else as he watched Emma's side spurt blood, the red liquid pooling at his knees. The smell of fresh blood and the stench of entrails had only gotten stronger the closer he got to Emma. Stupid. Stupid. So stupid. He hadn't even given it much thought before, so glad to finally have found her and now…

Well, now he knew why.

Even in the dim light and with all the prodigious medical knowledge of the average fifteen-year-old, Greg could tell that the wound he was looking at was terrible. If he wasn't certain at first, the spurts of blood and the shaky, wet breathing sounds Emma let out every few moments made up his mind for him. Something had gone directly through her left side, possibly even her ribcage.

That was…

Fuck! Greg found himself scowling again, his own breath coming far quicker as he realized the implications of something like this. He hadn't really put much thought into how badly she could be hurt. Even with his own powers, he had felt somewhat winded and scratched up when he pulled himself out from under the wreckage. This is… fuck! This is worse than bad!

His wounds, in comparison to hers, were inconsequential. Some slight cuts and bumps, in addition to the slight pain in his chest and a gash above his eye, had been all the blond had to deal with. By now, he barely even noticed any such injuries on his own person, all of them having healed up in those few short minutes. None of that made him feel any better, though, not when he was face-to-face with something like this. "Emma…"

She responded with only another weak groan, eyes dulling again as she seemed to stare past Greg.

What's wrong with you, idiot? Greg screamed to himself, biting down on his lip once more. Stop whining and start doing something! You've seen worse. You've had worse. Figure it out and save her!

"Okay, okay, okay, I need to… I need to think. I need to… I need to..." Greg muttered to himself, eyes flicking from side to side without really looking at anything. He glanced down at Emma, some part of him quickly realizing he needed to know more if he wanted to actually get anywhere. "Observe."

Emma Barnes Lv 4

Teen Model

HP: 29/155

A student at Winslow High School, Emma Barnes is a fifteen-year-old girl with good looks, ambition, and an eye for potential. A huge fan of capes around her age group but has a deep-seated fear of people of East Asian descent. Best friends with Sophia Hess.

Currently in the middle of bleeding out.

Fuck! His inner voice rang with bitterness and more than a small amount of frustration, Greg unable to help but stress himself out even more as he read the last bit of information. That's it? I already knew that much! While the information on Emma's slowly dwindling health was somewhat helpful, as a benchmark if nothing else, the last sentence seemed only placed there to mock him. His own power, doing nothing more than rubbing in how ineffective he was.

Currently bleeding out. I know that already! Wide eyes and shaking hands exposed Greg's panic, the blond running a hand through his own filthy, matted hair as he tried to think of what to do now.I can fucking see that, you stupid thing! How am I supposed to do anything about this if that's all you're gonna tell me?! I need… I need to…

His shaking hands stilled at once, blue eyes widening even further as the panic disappeared from his expression and was replaced with what could only be described as a sudden realization. I need to know more.

The thought filled his mind, Greg now aware of what he could do to gain the knowledge he felt he needed. Letting go of Emma's hand, the blond brought his open palm to Emma's still-bleeding side, his other hand grabbing hold of her blouse. Greg quickly tugged at the tattered green cloth to expose the open wound, flinching at both the harshness of his movement and the gory mess in front of him.

Whatever had pierced Emma's side had not been smooth or very sharp, her skin appearing as if something had almost hacked it's way through with a blunt object, a lengthy chunk of skin and gore hanging off her injury like an open flap. Dark red blood pooled and spilled from Emma's exposed skin and what was likely bare muscle, Greg unsure in the dim light. More than anything, the blond was glad he couldn't see the sight of bone. He wasn't sure if he could handle that much.

Greg stuck his hand out, preparing to make contact with the open gash on Emma's skin only to flinch. The blond yanked his hand back before he even so much as touched the girl, the limb trembling despite himself. Stop it! He felt like screaming, unsure of why he felt so squeamish even with the reassuring lull of Gamer's Mind tugging at him from the edges of his thoughts. Just do it! You can ignore it when it happens to you, but you can't even look at someone else's. Do it already!

I'll get you help, Emma. Don't worry. With a slight shudder, Greg fought past his own revulsion and lowered his palm to Emma's wound, flinching once more at the feeling of raw, bleeding flesh on his skin, the mere contact creating odd squelching noises that he fought hard to ignore.

Part of him couldn't help but stress even further over the fact that Emma didn't even seem to respond to his action apart from a slight shudder of her own, her enlarged pupils still dull as she stared past Greg. If Observe Isn't gonna work here, maybe... maybe Structural Analysis...

It had been three weeks since Greg had first created Structural Analysis, just scant hours after his epic row with Taylor Hebert in that hallway.

His first attempt had been on a remote control plane, a simple, flimsy toy that had been broken in his garage for years, already half a decade if Greg recalled correctly. The skill had dropped the knowledge in his mind, the plane's design opening like a blueprint in his head. Nearly every single part of it had been dropped into his mind, Greg understanding it in seconds, knowing exactly what to do to repair the damaged portions of it.

However, that only proved true for the simpler portions of the toy. The wood, the propeller and the basic mechanisms, Greg was able to grasp their understanding instantly, but everything more complicated than those simple parts, like the electronics, seemed to fall right out of his skull.

Now, Greg was faced with a similar worry. The human body was both beautifully simple yet frustratingly complex, Greg knew that much from the several nursing books his mother left lying around the house. More than that, Emma was far more to him than just a toy. Even if he somehow knew exactly what was wrong, the odds of him being able to do anything to help her, especially in a place like this, was miniscule.

Still, he had to try.

"[Structural Analysis]." With a sense of calm that he really didn't feel, the words left him, Greg's hand stiffening as Emma's body seemed to tense under his touch for no apparent reason. Greg glanced up at her face with a anxious expression only for his worries about her reaction to vanish a moment later.

His iris lighting up with an unnatural blue glow, Greg's pupils dilated in unison with the sudden ocular light show, hand trembling slightly as he poured more mana into Emma. In a sudden rush, more information than he ever expected to gain filled his mind in a manner of seconds, Greg's hopes dropping even further with every passing moment. Rapid heart rate, breathing… skin cold, pale… superficial abrasions… chest contusions… weak pulse... fractured skull… cracked ribs… abdominal avulsion... broken tibia…

Structural Analysis Lvl Up!

9→10

Basic Anatomy Lvl Up!

6→10

Subskill: Physical Analysis Unlocked!

Anatomy: Intermediate Ability Unlocked!

Basic Anatomy → Anatomy: Intermediate Anatomy: Intermediate Lvl Up!

1→2

Anatomy: Intermediate Lvl 2 (XP: 5%)

The quickest way to a man's heart? Directly through his ribcage.

Gain a more experienced understanding of the human body and how interconnected systems function.

[Status Effects] become easier to inflict in melee combat by 2% every level. (4%)

Basic: Increases [Critical Hit] damage by 10% per level. (100%)

Subskill: Physical Analysis

Allows an innate understanding of the human body with the levels of complexity based on the progression of the primary skill, Structural Analysis.

The glow disappeared from his eyes without warning, Greg blinking rapidly as his thoughts slowed down to normal, barely able to come to terms with the information rushing through him. Just that little list of Emma's injuries was only the beginning of a much longer litany of problems, Emma's wounds compounding on each other. Numbers and words still buzzed through his mind, no context to tie them down to anything else but they were there regardless.

So many variables. So many options. And all of them were worthless to him right here and now when it came to helping Emma. He shook his head again, the slight twinge of a headache drawing his attention for a moment. Greg blinked again, letting out a slight grunt as he did his best to ignore the pain and glanced back down at Emma's still form. Structural Analysis had given him all the information on every major injury on her body, a great many of them immediately life-threatening and that was before they all compounded upon each other like the world's worst game of dominoes.

None of them was anything he could fix on his own even if he tried, especially not trapped in such a filthy, cramped and dark environment like this one. Still, he had to try. He couldn't just let her die… at least not without trying something.

One hand dropped to Emma's side again, blood-stained fingers hovering over her most obvious injury, a gaping wound that Greg had to force himself to even glance at. His other hand gingerly lifted the thick flap of skin, muscle and raw, bloody flesh hanging from the gash in Emma's side and pressed it against the wound itself, Greg shutting his eyes as Emma squirmed under him, letting out weak groans that spoke of the pain she must have been in. Just one more. Just one more.

Most of Greg knew that all of this, everything he was attempting, was just an effort in futility. Emma's wounds were bad enough individually, Structural Analysis only confirmed that for him, but altogether, they were…

They were… nothing short of a lost cause.

Emma continued to twitch as Greg loomed over her, the girl's pale body spasming slightly even as Greg tried to hold down on Emma's open wound. Pitiful moans escaped her as blood leaked from between her boyfriend's fingers, coating his hands up to the wrist in fresh blood, Greg spending every single moment desperately wishing it was his own.

Before Emma could injure herself further with her own movements. Greg opened his eyes and flattened his palm on Emma's side and pulled up as much of his Will as he could muster, the veins in his right hand seeming to pulse with unused physical energy. "[Reinforcement.]"

With a single word, Greg pushed his energy outwards, the front of his hand lighting up like a beacon as the blond channelled a strong yet steady flow of his own will into Emma Barnes' frail, bleeding body. This was all he had left, really. The one plan he was forced to rely on due to his lack of medical equipment, experience or anything else that would actually let him be useful to help a girl in pain. What he knew for a fact was that Reinforcement… well, reinforced his body in general, making him more durable when it came to taking any sort of damage.

It didn't increase the amount of health he had or anything but it stopped his body from falling to pieces from hits that should have pasted him and even seemed to work in tandem with his resistances. On top of all that, Greg also knew that Reinforcement could numb any pain that managed to stick with him, even the long-lasting pain inflicted by Lung's claws and the burns inflicted by his pyrokinesis.

Again, what he knew for a fact was that all of this worked for him.

For Emma, all he could do was try.

His palm continued to flare, the gold light bright enough that it seemed to light Emma up from the inside as well, her skin appearing to glow. Seconds passed as Greg kept focus, drawing up as much will as he could and maintaining a steady stream of it into the redhead's wound.

Blue eyes widened as he first noticed it. With his hands placed right below her chest, Greg had been able to feel it from this position already before, Emma's heart hammering in her chest like a jackrabbit as she continued to bleed out. Now, though… those frightfully quick heartbeats seemed to slow, returning to a steady, calm pace. With weak, fluttering blinks, Emma's eyes returned to focus, her eyes finding his as Greg stared back at her hopefully. "Emma?"

Reinforcement (Apprentice) Lvl Up!

13→16

He held his hands tight over her side as they emanated golden light, the color seeming to revitalize Emma the longer Greg looked on. "Em? It's me." His voice was low, almost a whisper as he tried to keep his focus on keeping the skill active despite never having used it quite like this before. "It's… It's Greg."

Emma opened her mouth, full lips parting ever so slightly as she took in a small, shuddering breath. "G-Greg… y… y-you..."

Her voice trailed off, the rest of what the redhead would have said devolving into a coughing fit strong enough that Greg couldn't help but worry for her even more. The blond fought the slight twinge of fear he felt as he spotted flecks of blood leave her mouth, the sight nearly causing him to lose his focus before Emma finally stopped a few seconds later. "Y… you're h-here…?"

"Yeah, of course," He nodded quickly, unsure of what else to say. "Where else would I... be?"

The girl in his arms seemed to accept that non-answer, nodding slowly as if Greg had just spoken some intricate words of wisdom. Opening her eyes after a long blink, Emma's eyes flicked slowly from side to side before glancing down, her emerald eyes glimmering as they reflected the light from Greg's hands. "W-wh… what's that… t-that light?"

"L-light?" Greg blinked at that question, glancing down in confusion at his own hands as if just seeing them for the first time. "Oh... that… that's a l…" Greg shook his head, licking his dry, cracked lips as he turned back to Emma with an inscrutable expression on his face, the blond not even sure what he was feeling right now.

Reinforcement (Apprentice) Lvl Up!

16→17

Not feeling the urge to lie, considering the state Emma was in, Greg simply sighed. "The light? It's… nothing, Emma. Just… just focus on keeping your eyes open. Okay?"

"O-oh." Her reply was weak, green eyes slowly blinking as they stared into Greg's focused bright blue, his gaze not leaving hers for a single second. "...Okay th… then…"

The ease with which she accepted his words only sent another jolt of fear through Greg. Please work.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"Emma," she heard Greg say again, his grip tightening around her waist for some odd reason. Whatever he was doing didn't hurt, not really, but she still couldn't help but wonder why. "J-j-just stay with me, okay? S-stay with m-me, Emma. I…"

Greg paused, his words interrupted by a strained gasp as he shook his head fiercely. "...no. No! I can get you out of here. After that, we'll get you some help… some real help."

Help? She needed help? What for? She felt f…

Tired. She felt tired, but that was it.

Emma blinked up at the boy cradling her side, frowning slightly as she watched his face twist into an odd expression. That same odd blue light was back again, even brighter than before, as it was accompanied by a golden light that was just as vibrant. Emma opened her mouth to ask Greg about it only to blink as something wet landed on her face.

"We'll get you some help, yeah," He furiously nodded as he absentmindedly spoke the words, cheeks glistening as tears trailed down them. "I'll get you out of here then to the hospital and then… Then, we'll figure it out from there, okay?"'

Greg's tone shifted again, his voice no longer wavering as he stopped stumbling over his words.

Emma blinked away the dark spots in her eyes as she looked up at him, Greg's face shifting in and out of focus the longer she looked. Everything sounded so… far away, almost as if she was underwater or something. She shivered slightly, her skin trembling under Greg's touch as she came to realize something else just as slowly.

"Greg…" The name left her mouth slowly, Emma wondering why it felt like so much of an effort to say something so little. "G… Greg?" She raised a hand slowly, once again filled with confusion as why everything felt so foggy, so… distant.

"Y-yes, Emma?" She felt the same wetness on her cheeks again, Greg's tears hitting her face and distracting her as she tried to think past the fog, the tiredness, and everything else.

"I… it's..." The words left her with a slow blink, Emma trying to fight past the tiredness as she opened her eyes again, "It's cold."

"Oh God…" Greg spoke in a desperate whisper, his eyes screwing shut for a single moment before he opened them again."It's g-g… It's gonna be okay, Emma. Just…just... j-just…" Greg let out an odd sound as he snapped his mouth shut, the boy turning his face away from Emma's even as the teardrops trailed down the side of his face. He glanced back at her, shaking his head. "Just stay with me, okay?"

Another whisper.

The redhead tried to nod her head, but even the energy to do that much seemed to be missing. Instead, Emma smiled up at Greg, attention drawn to the light that seemed to be coming from nowhere. Beneath her neck, it shone vividly, glowing even brighter as the blue overtook the gold for a single moment only to relapse again, each one continuing to pulse in time with the pressure she felt from Greg's hands.

"Emma… Emma. Come on, Emma, please."

Her name. He kept saying her name. Why?

She could hear him just fine.

Greg opened his mouth again and Emma slowly began to understand that might not be true after all. The blond holding her was speaking just like he was before, his voice wavering as tears dripped from his eyes, but she found herself struggling to understand the words.

She opened her lips to speak again, possibly to ask Greg to repeat himself only for the words to die on her lips as she heard the sound of her own heart thudding in her ears. It was loud, louder than anything else she had ever heard, as it seemed to fill her head.

"Emma…"

She saw his lips move again, the words coming out thick and distant, utterly unintelligible to her own ears.

Greg?

She couldn't find it in her to utter the name aloud, her body so drained that even keeping her eyes open felt like it took an ungodly effort. Bloody fingers tightened around her boyfriend's stained shirt and she finally let out a gasp, wheezing as she took in deeper gasps after that one, her body suddenly hungering for air.

"Emma, come on… talk to me. You… you gotta stay up, okay? Just keep them open. Keep your eyes open. As wide as you can," He rambled, continuing to press down on her side with light flashing back in his face. "For me, okay? Please?"

Greg was still speaking, the boy's words feeling like an unintelligible lullaby to the girl in his arms as she nestled into him for warmth. He continued his song, Emma smiling softly at the sound of his voice as she took another heavy, rattling inhale for air.

She took a third as Greg kept pushing harder, the pressure on her side feeling almost nonexistent as her eyelids began to droop.

Finally giving under the weight of her exhaustion, Emma Barnes let her eyes shut and the fourth breath never left her chest.

"Emma!"

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

He didn't stop.

Greg didn't think he could stop.

Even if he could, he doubted that he would even entertain the idea of trying.

Logic and reason had gone out the window the moment Emma stilled under him, her body refusing to react to his reinforcement anymore. Now, all Greg could do was push as much willpower as he could draw up at one time into the girl's unmoving body. His other hand, palm aglow with cobalt light, poured mana into Emma with just as much restraint.

There was no attempt to regulate his actions, not even the slightest bit of rational thought in his actions right now as Greg just kept pushing.

[Overwhelming Grief] negated by Gamer's Mind.

The blond doubled over, hands lighting up the entire enclosed space with blue and yellow light as he poured all the energy he could muster into the unmoving body in front of him. Come on! Teeth gritted, he kept up the effort, uncaring of the fact that he was basically draining both reserves on something that he had no power to change.

This had to do something.

It had to.

Please! The word repeated in his head over and over, the single syllable almost a mantra as his mind chanted it over and over, begging and pleading for this pointless outpouring of energy to actually have some meaning to it. Please! Please! Please!

[Overwhelming Grief] negated by G-

So much had happened in so little time.

So much had gone wrong and he couldn't do a single thing to stop any of it.

This was his fault, Greg knew that.

He was too slow.

He was too weak.

He was too stupid.

And Emma was paying for it, just like so many other people.

The blond screwed his face up as the last thought crossed his mind, the light from his hands nearly bright enough to obscure Emma's body. His own thoughts doing nothing but beating him even further into the dirt, Greg drew even further from his reserves as he poured out more of his own energy in one sitting than he ever had before.

No. No. No. Please. No. Despite his protests, Greg felt his body weaken as exhaustion finally hit him in full force, the blond having ignored the creeping sensation as he focused on Emma. Unable to hold himself up any longer, Greg's body fell forward, his head landing in a puddle of blood, fat tears still trailing down his face as he found himself in the mire. No.

From where he now lay, his gaze was positioned right above Emma's injury, sparing him that gruesome sight so close up. Turning his head was a challenge in and of itself but he managed it regardless, glancing up towards Emma's face.

So much of his own energy suffused the girl's unmoving body that even without him still channelling it into her, she still glowed with his light. Her body itself appeared lit from the inside, individual veins visible beneath her skin with the blue glow of mana while the golden glow of his will suffused her pale skin, giving Emma a vibrancy to rival that of Glory Girl's.

Even like this, she looked beautiful.

Greg gritted his teeth as tears persisted their downward travel down his face, the blond letting out a frustrated, grieving scream without even opening his mouth. I'm sorry, Emma. I'm so s-

[Overwhelming Grie-

His apology faltered in his thoughts, Greg's eyes widening with shock as the twin lights in Emma's body dimmed to nothing and a surge of pure white light lanced from within her unmoving form, shining upon the entire area within the ruined building. Her body all but invisible surrounded as it was by the brilliant corona, it was all Greg could do but watch, self-pitying thoughts forgotten for the moment. It almost hurt to look at but the blond persisted regardless, narrowed eyes staring hard at the light blanketing Emma as he tried to make out her actual body from behind the wall of pure white.

The longer Greg stared at the blinding wall of white light, the more he seemed to see, the stunning white light giving way to a myriad of colors running through it like threads. Two immediately stood out to him, familiar strands of blue and gold threading in and out of the brilliant tapestry of light but even they were nothing against all the others.

Red, green, violet, orange, pink, and so many other variations on the color wheel danced in front of his eyes, seeming to vie for dominance, each strand brightening as they spread and subsumed others only to be overtaken by another. Within moments, the primary hues were gone completely, the curtain of white light over Emma now made up of varying shades and tertiary pigments; yellows so bright that they were nearly white, blues that looked more pastel than anything and a great many other faded hues.

As quickly as it had appeared, every single trace of the white corona utterly vanished, the tapestry of dancing colors disappearing with it and leaving no sign that they had ever actually been there in the first place. Right where it was before, Emma's body lay there still, unmoving atop a bed of wreckage and rubble like some sleeping princess.

Did...Greg blinked in confusion, unsure if he hadn't just hallucinated the last ten seconds. Did that j-

For the second time in thirty seconds, Greg's own thoughts faltered as something more pressing caught his attention, drawing the boy out of his own head. Blue eyes focused on the unmoving body of Emma Barnes, something distinctly odd about it adding a second strong dose of confusion to the mix of grief and anger making up his thoughts.

Using one arm to steady himself, he raised his head with a slight grunt, extremely unsure of what he was about to do right now. Fighting off the overwhelming exhaustion that seemed to pervade his muscles, Greg raised a hand and gently reached forward to brush Emma's arm.

As his fingers made the barest of contact, the blond teen yanked his arm back as if burned, confusion and shock written all over his face. Staring back between his hand and Emma's still form with a wary expression, Greg found himself tentatively opening his mouth, a single word struggling to make its way past his dry, cracked lips. "E… E… Em-"

Once again, Greg didn't let himself finish what he had begun to say, the rest of it dying in the boy's throat as he looked back up, his eyes tracking the subtle rise and fall of Emma Barnes' chest.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –