Chapter 21 Diffusing Chaos!

[Thud! Thud!] Outside Upaya’s clock tower near the waterfront where the black van was parked, the two men standing guard of the volatile canister spotted Death Gas’s daughter approaching and asked: “What happened inside? Has the path been cleared already?”

“I believe so.” She answered sounding ambiguous. “Either way, get ready to bring in the stuff. I’ll lead.”

“Alright, we’re right behind you. Brian, you take that side and I’ll lift this side.”

“Ah.” The delivery men positioned themselves at the lateral parts of the large canister, it had two spacious handles that they gripped and began lifting. “1, 2, 3—Lift!”

“You guys be careful in there. I’ll continue keeping the engine warm for when you’re ready.” The driver said a few words to his criminal accomplices as he observed them carried the volatile canister into the clock tower. “Just hurry and get it over with so that I can be out of here.”

[Whoosh!] At the very top of the clock tower, Mr John was looking out at the vast cityscape while bandaging the side of his head by using the torn clothing of a guard he had subdued. [Wrap! Wrap!] “This scenery makes me want to puke.” [Puu!] Due to major disgust he received from staring at the beautiful cityscape, Mr John spat out some tainted saliva over the edge of the roof. Incidentally, his saliva splashed onto the hour-hand of the massive clock which was pointing at number 12.

[Bang! Bang!] Whenever the clock tower reached 12 O’clock, it would produce a loud chime that alerted the city folk of the time of day. [Chime! Chime!]

“Hm? It’s noon already?” Lieutenant Fain who was still drilling Selene with oppressive interrogation, glanced outside her office window, looking at the clock tower in the distance. “It’s almost time for me to get some lunch.” She closed the window blinds due to the reflecting rays bouncing inside her office then gave her full attention back to Selene. “Would you like for me to order you anything to munch on?” Lieutenant Fain stared at her intensely. “It is going to be a long and overwrought day for you.”

[Gulp!] Selene swallowed a mouthful of scared saliva when she perceived Lieutenant Fain’s threat. Her gulp was so fierce, it almost scraped her throat going down.

Back at the clock tower, the two men delivering the volatile canister carefully set it down at the tower’s apex. [Thud!] They were cautious in their movements to prevent a major stir in the virulent properties contained within the big canister.

“You guys can finish up here. My job is done.” Mr John didn’t like being in the unsettling presence of Death Gas’s daughter any longer than he needed to. He said his piece after he saw the canister arrived then went back down to wait inside the van.

When he walked by the two men, they noticed his head which was wrapped with pieces of white cloth. “What happened to his face? He seemed to have received a major injury to the side of his head.”

“Did the tower guards actually pulled a fast one over on Mr Pro Assassin?”

“Fuhu.” The devilish woman listened to their ramblings and said nothing to make them wiser of her actions. It was better this way for Mr John as well, his reputation as a pro assassin would be ruined if others found out that he had his ear easily torn off by a skinny girl.

“We’ve finished setting down the stuff, young miss. What do we do now?”

“Now I will set the timer for the detonation. Please give me some room.” The two men cleared a path for the devilish miss to kneel in front of the volatile canister and commenced interacting with the touch-Interface. [Tap! Tap! Tap!]

“How long are you setting the timer for, young miss?”

“10-minutes.”

“Good choice. That is plenty of time for us to retreat to the ground level, get inside the getaway a vehicle and clear out of here before it explodes.”

“I think so too.” The other man agreed.

[Beep! Beep!] Finish setting the timer on the volatile canister, the devilish miss gave the transparent glass a smooch before rising to her feet. “Okay, boys. Let’s commence our retreat to a safe distance where we can get a clear view of the impacting crisis that is about to begin.”

“We’re way ahead of you.” [Thud! Thud! Thud!] All 3 of them escaped the clock tower together as fast as they could. Coming outside, they quickly dashed into the dark van which sped off as soon as they entered. “Go! Go! Go!”

[VRMMM!] The driver revved the vehicle so intensely, tire marks coupled with black exhaust smoke trailed behind it. [Screech!] The vehicle swung around a sharp corner after driving through a narrow road and almost toppled over.

[Twak!] Mr John who sat at the front, knocked the driver’s head with the butt of his gun and said: “Drive better than that you dummy.”

“Sorry, that was my mistake.” [Vrrm!] The dark van ran a red light then drove passed the swarm of reporters again who were still waiting in front of the police station. “Hey, how much time do we have left before the stuff explodes? I want to be clear of this area by then?”

“Don’t worry. There are still 3 minutes remaining. We’ll be able to see the fireworks from atop the hill.”

“I bought a brand new HD-camera just for this event. If everything goes as planned, the boss will be extremely please.” [Vrm! Vrm!] As those 3 minutes ticked off, the driver kicked the gas pedal as fireclay as he could to get the vehicle atop the hill in the shortest time possible. [Screech!]

[Tic! Tic! Tic!] At the clock tower’s summit where the volatile canister was positioned, the small touch-interface was displaying the timer approaching zero. [3, 2, 1, Beep!] [Clank! Clank! Whoosh!] Some intricate mechanism started turning on the canister’s external body, it set in motion 5 large diffusers. Meanwhile, the internal chemical compound was bubbling up as parts of it began diffusing throughout the atmosphere.

[Spssssshh!] Very quickly, the clock tower’s apex became overrun with a spreading cloud of green gas. [Spsh!] The first persons to suffer the brunt of the virulent contagion were the tower’s guards who were starting to regain consciousness.

“Huh?” [Cough! Cough!] “What is this green mist? Hiuk! AAAHHH!” The tower’s guards were showing signs of excessive vomiting as soon as the virulent gas enveloped them. Not only were they barfing their stomachs out, but their external framework were slowly rotting away and being replaced by something disgusting.

[Boom! Boom! Boom!] One after the other, the guards started exploding. Their biological residue were evolving into many forms of grotesque semi-humanoid beasts. They were bulky and threatening. Balloon size lumps coupled with mucky sepsis streaked all over their disorganized body parts. Among their many freakish characteristics, the most shocking part of them were the numerous jiggling asses which were constantly diffusing poisonous vapours. [Poopf! Poopf! Poopf!]

[ROAAH!] One of the mutated creatures gave off a resounding beast cry which vibrated the entire block surrounding the clock tower. Moreover, the horrifying echo travelled throughout the airwave until it garnered the attention of the swarm of reporters who were situated outside Upaya’s central FPD station.