“Zane!!!” Screamed Paul who was seemingly out of breath from trying to keep up. Zane turned to look at him. “What happened? Did you get him? I heard an explosion and came rushing over here.” Declared Paul

“Uh no, he got away unfortunately. His ability was to create explosions from black energy orbs created from magicka. He used them to create a smoke screen and vanished.”

“Really?” Asked Paul who was eyeing all the blood on the floor behind Zane.

“Oh, that. Yeah, we got into a bit of a fight. I managed to slash him, but he evidently got away.”

“Ah, I see. Unlucky, I guess there is always next time, we didn’t know his ability so it couldn’t be helped. Now we do so we can stop him next time.” Replied Paul who always seemed to look towards the bright side of things.

“Yeah.” Replied Zane walking off back towards the guard station leaving Paul behind a little.

“Hey wait up, Zane!” Shouted Paul as he jogged forward to catch up with Zane.

The two made it back to the Guard station surprised to find out that Diablo and Shay hadn’t returned despite already chasing off the terrorist. They couldn’t just go running off though, their superior, Gaze, was a higher-ranking guard, who would be managing their shifts and missions, was now outside the guard station; halting them from running off like earlier.

Paul and Zane were put on post outside the guard station, keeping the public from getting too close to the building because it was still dangerous and could collapse at any moment. A voice from the crowd called out to Zane who turned to face the individual.

“Um, excuse me. Do you mind telling me what happened?” Asked a beautiful young girl with flowing brown hair who stepped out cautiously from the small crowd.

“Ah, there was an explosion.” Replied Zane. “Nothing to worry about, no one was hurt. Two of our guards are chasing down the perpetrator right now as we speak.”

“Ah, I see. Thanks for letting me know.” Replied the girl before turning to walking off with a hint of worry in her eyes.

“Excuse me.” Called Zane. “Uh, do you happen to know someone who works as a guard? You seem so distressed.”

“Oh, I do actually.” The girl replied. “His name is Shay. Do you perhaps know him?” Asked the girl.

Zane couldn’t help but looked shocked for a second, the only person who could be in any danger is the one she’s worried about.

“Yeah he’s just finishing off some paperwork inside.” Replied Zane lying straight to her face.

“Inside?” She asked raising an eyebrow before looking at the building with a gaping hole in it.

“Insiiide the~ Backup! Guard station, yeah.” Lied Zane poorly once again.

“Ah, I see. Well thanks.” The girl shot him a distrustful look as she turned around from Zane who was laughing awkwardly.

“Wow, you are terrible with woman Zane.” Said Paul who was laughing at him from a small distance away.

“Shut up Paul.” Scoffed Zane, looking rather serious all of a sudden, completely different from his usual self.

Paul shot him a questionable gaze before dropping it and deciding it wasn’t worth pushing. The two continued work like usual guiding the crowds who had gathered to see what all the noise was.

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15 Minutes Remained Until Loss of Consciousness

Diablo had gone chasing after the unknown killer. Leaving me locked up in ice almost freezing to death on the verge of losing consciousness. Time was running thin and I had to think of a way out of here.

I thought of trying to sway side to side and knock myself over forcing the ice to crack upon impact with the ground. However, I couldn’t even move. So, that was completely out of the question. I guess the temperature is affecting my ability to think straight.

This is tough…

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The Chase after the Killer

Diablo was dashing through the streets chasing after the killer. He was wounded badly from a direct hit to the back of his head so he shouldn’t be able to keep up his pace for much longer. Thought Diablo.

“The recent killings all had one thing in common, they all had slight remains of an explosion, however, this guy didn’t use explosions. He used ice, meaning he doesn’t posses the ability to create explosions and all the explosions were definitely produced from magicka. So that means there is someone else, this guy must be a diversion. The most I can do here is capture him and take him in for questioning.” Analysed Diablo.

The two darted through the city, zigzagging down crowded alleyways and side streets. “Darn I can’t speed up anymore due to the amount of people here, it would potentially mean running in to one of them, I can’t catch a break here.” Diablo said out loud while dodging citizens who were scattered out along the streets like knocked over dominos.

The two ran through street after street, dashing around corners and dodging morning shoppers. The two ran through a crowded street which had an ongoing fruit festival. The two had slowed down to a walking pace as to not run into the people shopping for fruit at the festival. The whole street was covered thick and thin in a bevvy of people all shopping at the vast stalls filled to the brim with eccentric fruits and goods.

The two swindled through the crowd, Diablo watching awfully carefully as to make sure he doesn’t loose sight of him. “I can’t even skip time in this situation, all it would do is make me loose sight of him for 3 seconds, plus I’m only skipping time not space so there is the possibility when I re-enter the timeline I’m repelled out of someone which could push me into another person and just slow me down even more. In situations like this, my ability doesn’t come into use so much.”

The two continued to move towards one another. “That street to the right, since everyone is crowded here for the fruit festival, the neighbouring streets in that direction will be empty. If I can force him to go right at the end instead of left, I’ll be able to go full speed.

Slowly but surely the two neared the end of the road, little time remained for Diablo to figure out a way to force him in the other direction. “Just a little further and I’ll lose him. Tch, this isn’t good, even if this guy is a diversion, losing sight of him now means losing any chance of getting information out of him.”

Closer and close the two got. “Maybe I can use my magicka and fire an energy blast towards the left side, the street entrance is empty over there, I can see it from here. There would be no damage to anyone, the issue is firing the blast. If I fire from where I am it might hit off someone or some discharge could hit someone. The only option I have is to skip time, I’ll skip myself firing the blast then re-enter time after the blast has fired, that way it will appear as if the blast had been fired in mid-air, far enough away from everyone on the ground next to me not to do any damage. However, If I skip time, I won’t be able to see him for 3 seconds. If he notices that I’ve skipped, he could duck down and hide in the crowd and scurry away into a corner somewhere. Tch, this is one hell of a gamble, is it the right call?!”

The two neared the exit of the festival, the crowd began to wither out and there was more room to wiggle for the killer. “Yes, I’m almost away now, not much further, the crowds should hold him back long enough for me to make my escape, then I can meet up with Chase and plan our next course of action.” The killer turned around to check the gap between him and Diablo one last time to assure himself that he had enough time to escape.

“Huh?! I don’t see him… Did he manage to shorten the gap without me knowing?! Where is he…” Said the killer taking a few steps back towards the left exit. “Shit! He skipped time. Damn it I have to run!” The killer turned to run however; it was too late.

-FWIP-

“3 Seconds have been skipped.” Said Diablo whose energy blast appeared in the sky the moment of his arrival and blasted through the air into one of the buildings towering over the left exit road.

-BOOM!-

People began to panic and scream as the building crumbled all over the entrance to the left street.

“HaHaHaHaHaHa!!” The killer’s maniacal laugh echoed through the street like a pulsing headache. “PFFFT, He missed me! HaHaHaHa!!! He hit that building, that blast didn’t even go anywhere near me!” The killer cackled and boasted as he began his escape down the road to the right.

“Tch, some people are too easy.” Announced Diablo.

The killer ran down onto the open road believing Diablo wasn’t quick enough to catch up. The killer took one look behind him to see Diablo standing confidently at the entrance to the deserted road, the killer began pointing and laughing believing Diablo had given up and that’s why he had stopped chasing after him.

Just as the killer took in another deep breath to begin his obscene cackle, Diablo boomed forward in a blue flash, demolishing the gap immediately; the power from his leap left marks in the floor from where he jumped. The killer was so shocked by the sudden burst in power he almost chocked on his own breath, falling back only to be caught by Diablo who was already behind him by this point.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Diablo intimidatingly. “Weren’t you laughing just now? What happened to all that spunk you had?” Said Diablo who was slowly increasing his grip on the killer’s shoulders.

The killer stood there blank faced, not saying a word in complete disarray.

What power?! Thought the killer. His mind completely lost in the current situation and completely fixated on how quickly his advantage was lost.

“If you’re done yapping for now, then do me a favour and take a fucking seat.” Said Diablo before striking the Killer with his leg at great speed, flinging him across the street at an alarming pace. He tumbled to a slow halt after scraping his clothes along the dusty street, tearing holes in his sleeves and trousers.

-Thud-

Diablo menacingly took step after step towards the grovelling heap lying in the middle of the road. The killer groaned in agony, holding his stomach as blood dripped from the side of his head. He was covered in sweat and was visibly shaking. The powerful blow from Diablo left his whole-body aching.

The killer made his attempt at standing back up, only to fall back, hitting his head off the ground once again.

Diablo came closer and closer; his imposing presence electrified the atmosphere. Each step felt like it magnified the next, his angered stomping roared throughout the empty street.

The killer, filled with adrenaline, made his second attempt at standing. As he finally managed stand on his two feet, he gave out a little chuckle: “Heh, this isn’t looking so good for me…” before turning and beginning to make a dash down the street only to wobble and dance as if he were drunk along the open road before falling down; hitting his head on the curb next to a manhole, leading to the sewers.

“This guy is darn persistent.” Sneered Diablo who continued to walk towards the humbled mess on the side of the road.

Diablo didn’t notice until it was too late but, the killer had already begun opening the manhole!

“Shit! I didn’t see that!” Yelled Diablo.

Diablo began to dash forward towards the hole but it was too late, the killer had already made his way down into the sewers and was being washed down stream, the pipes in this city frequently broke so a few years ago it was commissioned that they were made big enough for a human to get into, they were your traditional sewers so to speak.

“Shit, this stream, if he keeps Flowing down it, he should end up…”

“STRAIGHT BACK TO SHAY!”

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7 Minutes Remained Before Loss of Consciousness

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