The Lesser One Arc 2 Chapter 28: Crash

 

Crash

We chase after the car. Two police cruisers pull from their patrols and add to the chase.

A single thick web shoots from the car’s window and tangles with the helicopter’s rotors. The helicopter spins out of control, debris flying everywhere. My world shakes violently. I am ejected from the helicopter with extreme force. My whole body moves like a ragdoll. I spin in the air, the street rotating beneath me.

Chris leaps out of the crashing helicopter and jumps after me. She grabs me by the waist and holds on to me as we fall. Before we hit the ground, Chris creates a molten rock ramp, freezing it into stone as soon as we hit it. I slide down the ramp, across the street and come to a stop against a lamp pole.

I clutch my broken rib. “Didn’t know … You could do that …”

Chris gives me a thumbs-up, which is the biggest display of positive emotion I’ve ever seen her do.

Dozens of spectators are watching. Some have injuries. The helicopter careens through the sky until it impacts a small business building, exploding in a huge fireball.

Lace lands on a cushion of air, carrying Detective Orines. She puts him down on the sidewalk, where he breathes heavily, clutching his side. Blood pools beneath his arm.

“We need an ambulance!” I stagger over to where the detective is sitting.

I should have used an Angel Point. I know it after the fact, but during the crash I was too stunned to do anything. It’s my fault. I didn’t react fast enough. If I had used an Angel Point, I would have been able to save more people. I would have been able to conjure something that would have kept the helicopter in the air.

This all started because of those Angel Points. Using my knowledge from class, I do my best to treat the detective’s wound. It’s a bit hard with a broken rib myself. Healing magic doesn’t work outside of a dungeon, so we’re stuck with calling an ambulance.

The siren of a London ambulance sounds totally different from an American one. It gets closer, and five minutes later Detective Orines is loaded onto it in a stretcher. His face is pale. As the door closes, he looks at me.

“Finish the job.”

The ambulance doors close. Several other injured bystanders also are taken to the hospital in an ambulance. A fire truck with paramedics pulls up and the firemen do their job. The blazing inferno of the building which the helicopter crashed into is sprayed with a high pressure fire hose.

Lace kneels in front of me. “I’m sorry.” She bows her head. “I failed you.”

“You didn’t.” I kneel beside her, grunting because of the pain in my rib. “You did the best that you could.”

Lace shakes her head. “I finally got the chance to meet you. And twenty minutes later I end up failing you.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think you did anything other than your best. You saved Detective Orines’ life, after all.”

Lace looks up. “I understand.” Her smile is a bit sad.

I stand up and look around the crash site. It is a bit less chaotic than when it happened.

But I am certain Anderson got away with it. I think about chasing him myself, but then decide against it. It would be too risky on my part—I don’t know what he is capable of.

Instead I call Jirgrar. I go into an alleyway where no one can see me and summon him. Thankfully, he’s not doing anything at the moment.

He appears out of an instant portal.

“Jirgrar.” I cross my arms. “We need to find Anderson.” I brief him on everything that has happened.

Jirgrar grins. “That, good sir, is exactly what us devils are primed to do.” He bows, and then disappears into smoke.

I’ll let them take care of it. In the meantime I need to find someone in the police station who plays Fallen Angels so at least one person knows what’s going on.

I leave the alleyway and return to the crash site. Several police cruisers have arrived. The officers get out—and one of them is a player. He gravitates towards me.

“Is this what I think it is?”

I nod. “Yeah. The Honey Badgers got betrayed by one of their members.”

“There are a couple of higher-ups who play Fallen Angels. I’ll report to them. In the meantime, you need to come to the police station to answer some questions.”

“Gladly.” I grunt. “But first, can I get someone to help me? I think I broke a rib.”

“Right.” The police officer calls the paramedics, who look me over and decide that I should probably go to the hospital as well.

“Ah, this is going to be difficult.” I am not a British citizen so I’m not sure if they’ll give me healthcare.

The police officer offers to take me to the hospital. I ask if Chris can come and he agrees.

Twenty minutes later I am in a hospital bed with a dressing on my side. Thankfully it was a clean break and shouldn’t hinder me for too long. Sebastian pushes his way through reception and comes up to see me.

“Please tell me before you do something as dangerous as this next time.” He sits in the seat next to the bed, right next to Chris.

Another detective enters the hospital room and grills me with questions about the crash and what led up to it. When he leaves, Sebastian leans forward.

“We’re tracking the person who did this to you. He’s going to come to justice.” Sebastian appears very serious. “Anyone who harms you is going to get the hammer. Wagner’s Right of Way is going to catch him, no matter what.”

I sit back and sigh, which hurts my broken rib. “Yeah. I think I’ve had enough adventure to suit me for a long while.”

“Your stay in London isn’t over yet.” Sebastian stands up. “Something else may occur that you will have to face. You can’t be sure of anything, as you are an S-class adventurer.”

I cough, which really hurts my bones. “Yeah. But I’ll be out of the running for as long as I have this injury.”

Sebastian frowns. “Indeed. I am of the opinion that you should cease working with Esmex while you recover from your injury.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I need to finish this. I need to fulfill my obligations. And this injury won’t prevent me from conjuring things or teaching other people how to conjure things.”

Sebastian sighs. “I will allow it. But please be careful.”

Carl Stevenson, head of the Blue Dryads, enters the hospital room. “I heard you got into a helicopter crash.” He sits down on the last empty seat beside the bed.

“Yeah. I was chasing this criminal with the government and he used some sort of thread to destroy the rotors.”

“We at the Blue Dryads do not work on top-level cases, but at the same time we don’t prohibit our adventurers from doing so on an individual basis. You are a decorated S-class adventurer. You have a lot of freedom in this regard.” He smiles. “I’m proud of you. You managed to do so much while here. I’m going to be sad to see you go.” He shrugs. “And of course you’ll be off the main team until your broken bone heals.”

“Thanks.” I do my best to sit up in order to shake his hand, but fall back to the pillow, unable to reach far enough.

Carl nods once and leaves the room.

I look at Chris. “By the way. That thing you did with the magma. How did you do it?”

“I am able to freeze magma as easy as I can create it.”

“Hm. So you’re not a pure fire spirit?”

“My spirit is, technically, temperature manipulation.”

“Sure.” I lay back in my bed. “Well, it saved my butt, so I can’t complain.”

Chris furrows her brow. “My job is to protect you, Markus. If you keep getting into trouble like this, I may fail at my job.” She crosses her arms. “I almost failed today. You may not have noticed, but I was forced to use …” She looks at Sebastian. “One of my points.”

I look at the text box above Chris’s head. Yeah, she is one point lower. I sigh. At least someone had the smarts to use an Angel Point.

Sebastian looks at me quizzically, but I only shake my head. Then I get an idea. I open up my personal portal dimension and pull out the pocket computer. When I put the memory card in, however, it reads memory card full.

Well this sucks. I turn to Sebastian. “Can you get the devils to find a certain memory card for me? A memory card for the game Fallen Angels.”

It seems that I am able to speak about the game when it comes to this specific part of it.

Sebastian raises an eyebrow. “Okay. I will search for one.” He looks at the pocket computer. “Is that the device we spent over a million dollars on?”

“It was worth it, but yeah.”

Sebastian sighs, turning up his palms. “It is your money, after all.”

“I don’t really feel like it actually is, but sure. Yeah. Let’s go with that. By the way, did they still charge us for it, even though the auction was interrupted?”

“The owners of that device were a powerful mafia family. We considered it best practice to send them the money despite what happened at the auction house.”

“Ah.” I turn to look out the window. “Yikes. I was supposed to be at the lab a half hour ago. I haven’t even called in sick.”

I take the time to get my phone, and I call my immediate supervisor, a rather big man who I’ve only said hi to in the halls as I passed him. I tell him why I’ll be late and why I may miss a few days of work and then hang up.

I lean back again. “At this rate I’ll never finish my contract in time. Crayton will be mad at me.” I exhale slowly. “And where the hell am I supposed to find a tarasque?”

“About that.” Sebastian takes out his smartphone and scrolls through it. “Hawaii. There have been sightings of a large animal that matches the description of a tarasque. It roams around the island of Kauai. However, myth states that a tarasque cannot be killed by a mere mortal, or even a team of mortals. It is the ultimate predator, capable of leveling cities in an hour.”

“Like Godzilla.”

“Exactly, but even more powerful.”

Sebastian stands up, holding his hand to his ear. “Yes. I understand.” He looks at me. “We’ve found a possible lead about the memory card you mentioned.”

“That was quick.”

“Our network is further reaching than you may think.”

A devil who I do not recognize steps through a portal and hands Sebastian a memory card, though it is slightly different from the one I bought at the game store. I give him my pocket computer. He puts the card in, plugs in the earphone, and flickers in and out of existence in a split second. When he returns, he appears pensive.

“So this is what you’ve been hiding from me.”

His text reads: Aahlia. Devil level 142. Angel points: 10. Score: 12950.

“It worked.” I sit up again. “Go to the Angel Shop and buy the card Skulk. It will prevent higher-level players from targeting you. Also, go to the game store at this address—” I write down the address on a piece of scrap paper—“And buy enough cards to suit your playing style. The cards the game gives you are garbage.”

“Understood.” Sebastian bows and leaves the room. I am left alone with Chris.

Which, of course, isn’t exactly a bad thing.