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How could so much time pass in an instant?

From the sirens to the rise of the monsters to the violence that had erupted afterwards, Brent hadn’t even had time to grab what remained of his gear before soldiers busted in, pushing the well-dressed subnatural out into the living room. From the ceiling-high windows, he could see the cacophony descending upon the once-glittering city.

A frozen titan, smashing apart fleets of fighters like nothing, cracks in its crystalline form sealing just as quickly as they were made.

A translucent blob, swamping the streets with its aberrant mass, swallowing everything whole in its viscous body.

An unknown power, crushing towers like cans, undisturbed, unstopped, crippling Washington’s defenses in mere moments.

He could see all that, but he couldn’t comprehend it.

And then, it all fell down.
[hr]
Gravity pulled at them, and immediately, Brent dove for one of the leather couches within the living room, practically slamming into it as silver blood coursed through the objects. His hearing was busted already, the combination of the penthouse smashing through another tower and the sudden altitude change disorientating the arbiter, but [i]he didn’t care[/i].

This was like a month past.

A life or death situation, where hesitation meant destruction.

[color=B0C4DE][b]“RGHHHH!”[/b][/color]

Through clenched teeth, Brent pulled the closest person to him, Lily, with him onto the couch, as the material expanded in volume, wrapping around the two subnaturals in a cushy, marshmallow-like substance. But that wasn’t enough.

[i]Harder[/i].

It roared, like an engine on overdrive, more and more of that magical blood pumping into the object as it warped and burned and twisted and softened, until it became almost like a coffin, the arbiter hugging one of the most important members of Experimental Unit B as tightly as possible while the world turned to ruin around them.

And even then, with three overclocks to dampen the impact, his breath was still knocked out of his lungs as the penthouse smashed into ground. With that much damage on an already unstable, sloppily constructed form, the couch turned into ash, material disintegrating. The smaller objects that had previously been above the ‘coffin’ now fell, but it took little effort for Brent to push them out of his way. His arms were numb, and all around, he could see blood and bones and wreckage.

It felt like floating, and he didn’t even realize he was slowly suffocating Lily in his embrace until moments afterwards

Chris laid there as well, and without even a thought, Brent shoved the draconic mage off him, before releasing their healer.

His ears rang. It was a different sort of tragedy compared to Wisford.

His nose bled. It was a different sort of tragedy compared to the outskirts of Crimen Culpae.

His vision blurred. It was just like Exeter, a tragedy that he could barely react to.

And just like then, he was still here, alive.

Slowly, not yet able to trust his own legs, Brent stood up. Allowed himself one deep breath that took in all the blood and death and dust. Pushed everything aside. Focused. And then…

[color=B0C4DE]“CUFF TRANSMIT!”[/color]

Shout to silence the fear.

[color=B0C4DE]“EVERYONE THAT’S STILL ALIVE, SAY SOMETHING!”[/color]

His eyes turned around and around. Siena, Ernie, Marcus, Angelic, Lawrence, Chris, Lily, Kusari…the count continued, one after the other, until the arbiter realized…

[color=B0C4DE]“Dammit, where’s Ch-”[/color] Sander’s movement was all he needed. Caring not for injury, the x-marked blood mage had leapt out the window, an unpleasant snapping sound ringing clearly above the chaos, and Brent soon followed, leaning out.

[i]Oh god.[/i]

[color=B0C4DE]“Lily, get over here!”[/color] he shouted, amethyst eyes glinting violently, [color=B0C4DE]“Christmas is down! Transfer those wounds to Kusari, fa-”[/color]

But the bars skewering the boy would still be present, wouldn’t they? And the drop was high enough that Sander was just lying there, body broken. And even disregarding that, everyone was injured one way or the other, some still stunned, others still…

[color=000000]Done so soon?[/color]

[color=B0C4DE]“Ernie, help me out!”[/color]
[@Kyrisse][@banjoanjo]