Atalia sits beside me and asks where I live which I kindly answered that I lived inside the Fifth wall of the Settlement. Atalia then instructs the driver to drive us to the fifth gate of the Settlement as another man sits beside the driver without care. Atalia asks me about my life as a student and what life is like inside the Settlement. She shared stories about her past, before the Smiths and her position in the city's upper ranks. She mysteriously smiles at me and says,
“A life worth living is a life you built with your own two hands,” She says out of the blue.
I thought about what she said at that moment and deeply pondered but I don’t understand the point she was trying to make. I only thanked her out of the blue and she subtly laughs. She looks outside the window then there was silence. It felt a bit awkward inside the vehicle for a while and the air conditioning is starting to freeze my nose. I turn my head to the side, looking out the window as well. I see people in all shapes and sizes roaming around the same space as I am, streaks of light from streetlamps and people rushing to their homes.
From a distance, I see the fifth gate of the Settlement nearing us. I was surprised at how fast we were as it felt like it was only moments ago when we departed the bottom of the station. I'm glad that I'll be getting home soon with a few more minutes to spare, not that it matters anyway as Atalia says she'll vouch for me. But on the other hand, I feel this sadness inside me as well as this once in a lifetime experience will be coming to an end. A few meters near the gate and we hear a loud thud atop the vehicle.
“Stop the car!” Atalia hastily said.
We both look towards each other and see a large dent from the roof of the car protruding to the middle of the car interior. The four of us inside the vehicle were surprised as the people on the streets look shocked as well. Atalia orders her two companions to check outside and ask the people what they saw. The two men rushed out of the vehicle, they pull out their handguns and check on top of the car, but nothing was there. They pull out their flashlights and start sweeping the street from left to right, top to bottom looking at the roof tops and alleyways.
“Has anyone seen what happened?” The first man with the gun said.
“What dropped on top of our Cruiser?” His companion followed.
The bystanders start to cower away from the scene. The men with guns turn their heads around and look towards the middle of the road. In front of the vehicle stood an enigmatic silhouette.
“Free Lefteris King and I will show you mercy,” the enigmatic figure said aloud with a deep voice.
The two men point their handguns towards him and start shooting but the enigmatic figure disappears. Inside the vehicle, Atalia instructs me to hide in between the car seats with my head down as to not be caught in the crossfire. Then a loud crash is heard as the car simultaneously shakes. We see the two men toppled on top of the car windshield as blood splattered on the glass.
“Damn it, the Demon, out of all the days,” Atalia says with disgust.
She kicks the door out of its hinges and furiously rushes outside. She faces the enigmatic figure and raises her two hands in a fighting stance. I peek out of the broken door to get a view of whatever's happening. They stand in front of each other in silence. The streetlamps flickered and then all of the sudden, I see them in hand to hand combat. It was a sight to behold as both of them moved faster than the average human being. I can only see two silhouettes duking it out as the streetlamps behind them emanate a subtle glow, lighting the outline of their figures.
I couldn't make out much of what was happening, but the grunts and sounds of arms blocking fists are clearly heard. They seem to speed up a level more and I feel small bursts of air from the direction of their battle. Suddenly, three Gate Arbiters and 10 Frame Guards appear and surround them both in a circle. They shined their lights on both Atalia and the Enigmatic figure to get a better view. They raise their pistols, ready to fire at any moment once they're signaled to do so.
“Keep your distance, this is more than we can handle,” one Gate Arbiter said.
“We can't shoot, sir, we don't know who we'll hit,” a Frame Guard said.
Even with the lights, I can't seem to make out what the enigmatic figure looked like. The only thing I can see are the flashing colors of red and gold as the battled raged on. Their battle has been going on for a couple of minutes and everyone onsite is on edge. The gusts of wind from each blow feels like it can knock my head off if I were to stray a little closer to the battle.
A gunshot is heard from a distance; one of the Frame Guards fall on the ground. Then another shot, hitting another Frame Guard.
“Who’s shooting us?” one Arbiter shouted.
Another shot is heard then suddenly, a man topples in front of the car. I move out of the vehicle and take a closer look. I see white hair like snow, covering a dark wooden mask as blood spilled on the asphalt beneath him. From a distance I see Atalia looking towards me and with her head, she signals me to get back inside the car. I follow her instructions and go back into hiding but I can hear them talk outside.
“Chonzou, you're late. I sent you the S.O.S minutes ago,” Atalia says with an irritated tone.
“Apologies, commander, I left my rifle back at HQ,” the man said with a very distinct accent.
“No matter, we finally got him this time, but you hit two guards in the process,” she replied.
“Apologies, my commander, even my skills can’t match up to the Demon,” he respectfully replied, bowing his head in shame.
I take a small peek outside the broken door. I can barely see the man with the silver hair anymore as the Frame Guards surround him. They start conversing about how to deal with the man, either to kill him on site or lock him up for questioning.
“But first thing's first, remove the mask,” Atalia says.
One of the Frame Guards moves towards the middle of the circle and attempts to remove the mask from the silver-haired man. Then suddenly, a flash of blinding light emanates out of nowhere. I take cover inside the car and hide my eyes. Once the light cleared, I check outside, and the man was gone.
“Search the perimeter!” The man with a short stature said.
“Damn it, he still had a trick up his sleeves,” Atalia said with distress.
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