The central part of the city of Rubando, is bustling with many activities.
December 24, Christmas Eve, Night time.
There are a lots of fireworks. Curfew was temporarily lifted, allowing people to enjoy all night for several days until the start of New Year.
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Rubando Commemorative Park. 10 pm.
This night, the Rubando Commemorative Park is filled with many people. There are plenty of stalls that sell various products. There are also lots of entertainments to watch. Finally, fireworks are occasionally lit up and let it show the dazzling beauty of it on the sky.
Jay, Carla, and Randy are inside the house, all sleeping. They didn't plan to go to the park at all.
Only Mark and Natalie, even Bren went to the park.
Mark and Natalie are inside a restaurant, enjoying their hearty meal. For Bren, he is just roaming around, occasionally stopping by some stalls to see if he can buy some things. He has lots of money, after all, he and his father (master) seldom go to some light missions.
"Mommy, I want to go there."
A five year old girl pointed to the Ferris wheel while her other hand was held by her mother.
"Really? Then let us go there. The view up there is good."
The mother and child went towards the Ferris wheel, squeezing through the crowd.
As they were nearing the Ferris wheel....BOOM !!
An explosion occurred with the Ferris wheel as the center and spread around. Although the explosion was not a large scale one, lots of people died and even more was injured. The sound of the explosion spread throughout an area of a few kilometers, waking even the Elra household.
On the ground near the Ferris wheel, two burnt corpses are lying, unrecognizable. But these two corpses belong to the mother and child that planned to ride the Ferris wheel. The two hands of the corpses are still holding each other. Due to the heat of the explosion and their distance from the center of the explosion, their bodies are burnt and the two hands are glued to each other due to the intense heat.
The police are immediately alerted and three ambulances are on their way. Firefighters are the first to arrive. Many people are panicking.
The two young couple, Mark and Natalie, naturally stopped their date and went to see the situation. Even Bren who is far from the explosion area ran towards it to see what happened. A lot of people who saw the event are shocked. The survivors felt deep fear and shock in their hearts.
Many people's friends and families are involved in the incident. Naturally they want to see the situation. The police who arrived tried their best to calm down those people. Those who are injured are given first-aids.
The joyous night turned to one that brought grief to the people.
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Morning, December 25.
The city of Rubando should be enjoying the time of Christmas, but the community is silent. The explosion last night was just too disturbing. Even the Elra household are awaiting for some news.
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"Damn it."
Clark Hoya, the chief of the police force of Rubando, is seated on his comfortable chair, can't help but get frustrated about what happened. The incident was just too sudden.
"Neil, how's the investigation?"
Neil is Clark's right hand, and a high ranking inspector.
"Boss, we found traces of the explosion and it seems that a high amount of Lead are discovered. Probably, the material used have the same ingredients as that of a grenade. We tried to find some clues through the few CCTVs placed at the park, but we found nothing suspicious."
Clark frowned. "Continue."
"Boss, two years ago, the same thing happened to the city of Ago, an explosion in the park."
"I know that, but what of it?"
"Last year, a similar incident also happened at St. Paul, at the St. Paul Memorial Park."
Clark went into deep thought after hearing the reports. Of course he knew those previous incidents that occurred at the city of Ago and town of St. Paul, and both happened the months of December. There are 14 districts of San Francisco, 4 cities, including Rubando and Ago, and 10 towns, including St. Paul. Of these fourteen districts, there are two colleges, one in Ago, and one in Rubando.
"Neil, are you saying, there are similarities?"
Neil nodded. The police force of Rubando only knew a bit about the two previous incidents, but those matters are of course taken care of of Ago and St. Paul.
Neil continued presenting his reports and some evidences. Clark can't help but think the situation is getting more complicated.
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Rubando Commemorative Park.
The area was off-limits to people. Jay and Randy could only look from afar.
"What do you think Dad?"
Randy was silent for a while before speaking. "I don't know, but something's off. This incident is very similar to the previous two events last two years and last year.
All three locations, a park.
Causes of the events, an explosion.
Time of the incidents, Months of December.
Many people died, and more are injured, as well as few of the buildings destroyed.
"Let's go home for now Jay. This situation will surely bring griefs to some families affected. Let the police investigate the situation. Let's just hope all will go well."
With that, they headed home.
At night, the trio went to train again. The three and Xander spent a few hours training and rested for a bit. These past months, all they had to do was to train their physical selves and train their stamina. Their phenomenal abilities are not involved. Even though they will become stronger when they truly get serious, their performance might get affected when they easily get tired.
It's been a long time since they involved themselves in life and death situations, so they must improve their bodies. These past months, the missions they received didn't even counted to ten, and only one of the mission can be considered a dangerous one.
While they are resting, Xander gave them a thought of what he knows about the recent explosion event.
"The three of you, do you still remember the past two explosion events here in San Francisco. This time, it was Rubando, and the third one. Besides, all are very similar."
The trio listened carefully.
Xander continued, "I'm very sure that these three chains of explosion events was done by a single person, or probably a single group of people."
The trio stared at him.
"Why do you think of that?" Natalie curiously asked.
"I do not why they did it, but I'm sure the three incidents are not just coincidences. Let's just wait for some news from the police."
After resting for more, they sparred with each other for a couple of hours before going home.
At least, they should enjoy the Christmas also despite what happened.