The projector turned off, and the lights returned.
'It's all over.'
Vanessa said the obvious. They were locked in a proof bomb room, and Watson has fired 3 nuclear cruise missiles directed towards China. The feeling of being helpless was unimaginable.
'Jason, have you tried contacting WS?'
Alex asked in an unusual manner. It was serious and stern.
'I did, but the signals are jammed.'
'The ship is probably the cause of it. The jammer must be in the ship.'
Alex inspected the steel wall. Tapping it, feeling it's structure as if to get an idea of how strong it was. Even Alex couldn't break through the wall with his current strength.
'Tell me how much time it would take to destroy the jammer and seize control of the ship.'
Alex asked a weird question.
'About 20 minutes.'
'That's a problem.'
Alex tapped his chin.
'What's the point? We can't do anything. We can't even get out.'
Frustration had taken over Vanessa. It was revealing a side of a human that should be kept hidden.
'We could have easily gotten out if a certain someone hadn't confiscated my graphene swords.'
Alex loudly replied, pointing at her. There was anger hidden in it.
'This wouldn't have happened if you didn't flood the underground network.'
Vanessa argued.
'This wouldn't have happened if your arrogant self had let Jason and me join the mission.'
The argument heated up.
'This wouldn't have happened if you didn't interfere with my mission in the first place.'
'Do you really think you could have won? If we hadn't interfered right now, you would have been dead.'
'This wouldn't have happened if you...if you…'
Vanessa had no reply left, rather she couldn't think of one. The guilt of being responsible for millions of lives clouded her mind. A tear rolled down her eye.
'I'm sorry, okay.'
The air got tense. Alex's mood worsened, something was pissing him off. Asuna placed her hand on Vanessa back to ease the tension.
'Vanessa, it's going to-'
'Don't touch me.'
The hand got rejected before it reached her. Vanessa slapped her hand away.
'We all lost. Do you understand? There is nothing we can do.'
--If it's one thing, I can stand.....
'Secret technique number 3. Slap of wisdom, BITCH SLAP!!'
Before Vanessa knew it, Alex had slapped her hard. Hopelessness, it was the one thing Alex absolutely hated. Alex had been practicing powerful techniques during the past month. This was one of them.
*They say a slap can deliver a 1000 words.*
'Sorry, I can't stand people crying for no reason.'
Alex had stomped everyone by slapping Vanessa. She put her hand on her cheek to ease the pain.
'No reason? Are millions of people dying No Reason!?'
'Who's dying?'
Alex's lips curled upwards. He turned around to approach Jason.
'The missiles are probably hypersonic. From their angle and direction, they should be heading towards Fuzhou, China. I did the math, and it will take them about 17 minutes to get to China. 14 minutes because we wasted 3 minutes on useless things.'
'What are we going to do, Alex?'
Asuna asked. She always knew that when Alex smiles, everything will be fine.
'That should be obvious. We can't inform WS in time so we, no I, will stop them myself. Jason, can I borrow your gun?'
'Yes.'
Jason handed the gun to Alex. He was unsure what Alex was trying to say. Alex started walking towards the wall.
'This gun has 3 penetrating Emp bullets. Luckily for us, that's all we need. Cruise missiles are computer programmed and guided. If I shoot them with these, the circuit will fry, and they will be reduced to lumps of metal.'
Alex arrived at the wall, staring it.
'And how are you going to do that?'
Vanessa asked. She smiled, horribly to anger Alex. Alex rolled his eyes.
'By running to catch them, obviously.'
He touched the iron wall, trying to find the right spot.
'That's impossible.'
'Watch me.'
Alex confidently told her. Vanessa thought Alex had gone crazy. Every word he said was delusional.
'You're mad.'
--Mad.
It was a word he had heard often. The word annoyed him. Alex decided to teach them something.
'Mad? Genius and madness are almost the same. They're like twins. You can't tell them apart except for one thing.'
Alex clenched his left hand and turned in a fist. Something blue arose from it. It made a mysterious noise. The noise was of static electricity.
'The difference between a madman and a genius is…'
The blue bolts sparked louder. Everyone saw the miracle, electricity was enveloping Alex's left arm.
'That the genius is right.'
Alex lifted his arm and pulled it backward. During the past month, Alex had been training his body to develop powerful moves.
'Secret Technique number 2, One punch!'
Alex smashed the wall with his fist. Alex couldn't become stronger than he already was. His limiters were off, so there was no limit to surpass. But one can increase his force by speed.
By sending masses of electricity, he made his muscles move faster than sound. The only downside is….
'Well, this one's out.'
Vanessa, among others, gasped in shock. Their mouths were wide opened. The room, which was to be bombproof, had a huge hole in it. Alex's entire left arm was dangling. It had turned a disturbing purple, broken from many places. Blood dripped from his fist, the sight was horrifying.
Through the hole, they could see the battleship which was within a jumps reach. The men stared in disbelief about what just happened.
'Jason, you don't need to tell WS about the missiles after 20 minutes. Just tell them to search for a bloody boy who's about to die.'
Hero, a word that gives birth to hope, a light, a symbol of justice, a person who everyone admires to be. Alex was by no means a hero. Him? A hero? But on that day, in that building, that there stood hope with a broken arm and a forced smile, hiding the pain he felt.
'Understood but Alex-'
'Okay, I'm off.'
Alex leaped off the building, ignoring Joson.
'Do not die.'
The person who was meant to hear that didn't. Alex shot the anchor and propelled his way onto dry land. He started running in the opposite direction of the sea.
'Everyone, let us make haste.'
Jason was the first to run and jump off the building. He headed straight to the ship. Others followed quickly.
Alex kept running and after he ran half a kilometer, stopped and turned around.
'I think this is enough for a start.'