Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 581: Black Skull. (Part Thirteen)

Dawn reached Neo-Vatra an hour before its time. The sun cast its light on the city, drawing the eyes of everyone out and about. Sitting on the roof of the tallest building in the city, Huntress watched the incomprehensible event with shocked eyes. Her gaze went down to the source of the radiant orb. It was the site of the explosion she had witnessed just now. The smoke was blown away, and the fire was put out. The buildings blocked her from seeing the source, but it certainly couldn’t have been an accident of some kind.

"Paragon-"

No sooner had she spoken the name than a voice came in through her comms.

[I will handle it.]

The deafening bang of a sonic boom followed. When something unanticipated struck, no one could reach the scene faster than the world’s strongest. Not even Thunder Strike could keep up with him, so the rest of the team were left playing catch-up.

The world turned into a colorful blur and then regained its form. In a fraction of a second, Paragon arrived at his destination, and his eyes immediately caught sight of his enemy. The dark blue power suit—It was the same one from that day.

Not allowing himself the chance for second thoughts, the world’s strongest moved, but not to attack. His keen hearing had picked up faint heartbeats coming from under the scorched rubble. Though his priority should have been to neutralize the threat, he chose to begin with the rescue first. His reason was that he recognized the location where the disaster had struck, so even if it meant letting one of the world’s most dangerous villains go.

Confirming his prediction, the blue suit vanished, teleporting away. Paragon tried not to let it bother him and went about his rescue effort. He moved the rubble first, then removed any walls that looked like they were about to collapse. It appeared as if the fire had burned everything thoroughly, but most of the damage came from the force of the explosion. Several bombs had been detonated at the same time, and whoever had implanted them, they planned on causing as much devastation as possible.

Paragon ignored the bodies that were beyond saving and began carrying the ones who still had signs of life. Careful with his movement, he was about to set the first one in a flat space he had just cleared when something froze him in place.

A point of darkness manifested a dozen meters away, then expanded into a massive black hole. Before he could even begin to comprehend what was happening, a vehicle emerged from it, followed by another, then another. They went and parked to the side, and from the backs of each, men in power suits dismounted and headed straight for the site of the disaster.

The logo on the side of each truck and the shoulders of the power suits revealed the identity of the group as emergency responders. Paragon was left stunned by their sudden arrival, but only for a moment. He realized that the dark spot was a portal, but when he turned to look at it again, he found that it had disappeared.

Another one manifested before he could look away, and someone emerged from it a second later. He looked around in confusion, then went pale when they spotted him. Going by the clothes he wore, the man appeared to be a nurse. More flowed out of the dark spot right after, followed by assistant bots carrying medical equipment.

A couple rushed over to the hero while pulling a stretcher. Still in a bit of a daze, Paragon placed the child on it and then watched as the nurses rushed back to the portal. The blue power suit appeared right after, stopping only to spare him a glance. It then disappeared again before returning once more, and this time, it had another one of the survivors in its hands, placing it on the next stretcher that appeared.

[Paragon...] Huntress’s voice pulled him back to the real world, and he reached up to touch the device in his ears. [Should I take the shot?]

"... No..." he responded after a while. "This is not the time."

~[ ]~

A bright yellow line hovered a meter and a half above the ground. On it, the words "CAUTION" and "KEEP OUT" were written in bold letters. They moved slowly from left to right, entering a hastily planted barrier before appearing at another one a few meters away.

The line encircled what can only be described as a disaster zone. Heroes, emergency responders, and hospital staff rushed around. Some moved the rubble and cleared the road, and others tended to the injured. Further into the restricted area, one spot appeared much less crowded than the rest. Only a few people walked around, kneeling now and then to look at what had been placed on the ground.

Rose watched the scene in silence, the noise that should have reached her ears fading into a persistent ringing. Her hands lost strength, and the helmet she held in her right slipped through her slender fingers, falling to the ground with a faint tap.

She moved a step forward, then another. The holographic tape distorted as she passed through it, but she moved forward nonetheless.

"Miss, please stay behind..."

A police officer came to bar her path, but he failed to stop her. Rose pushed him aside without realizing it, then continued moving forward, leaving him to look at her with confusion and some fear. In her mind, the world began to fade away just like its sound. Her legs grew increasingly weak, yet she kept on walking until she reached that place.

Several large sheets had been spread on the road; the same road she had just passed through only a few minutes ago. Over them, several black bags were lined, each barely a meter in length. One of them remained open. Rose arrived to stand before it, and though her mind screamed for her not to look, her gaze still fell on it own.

Strength left her in that moment, and she collapsed to her knees. A vacant look remained on her deathly pale face, and for a long time, all she could do was stare at the charred corpse in front of her, her mind trying and failing to recognize to whom it once belonged.