Those in the crowd who had been herded deep within this chasm which spelled their utter doom could no longer feel the moral questions many would in an average activity.
"Will my action harm another? Will my words be perceived the wrong way? Have I forgotten anything that I was supposed to do today?" Basic things that any rational person would consider.
These were not rational people.
At the sound of the Villains breaking in, they had stormed away to the farthest depths trampling those in their way. When that strategy no longer worked the ones in the back ripped away the guards to battle the Villains themselves. They watched in shrieking disbelief as they saw their guts blown away.
Their selfish desire to survive culminated in a mass plea throwing the children forward. Specifically, the ones of a humbled lifestyle. The primitive of the prey that were not stalked upon and would be slaughtered by the wolves who had entered their habitat. Therefore, as a mass of confused animals trying to survive, not a soul would consider a child being taken as a meal by the Villain; otherwise, it would be one of them.
All the trembling, snot eyed faces gave a look at the girl and waited with still-drawn faces for the inevitable to occur. Even with these trained gazes, none could perceive the fastly approaching patter of footsteps which influenced the shard of glass to slice either tendon on the woman's ankle; toppling her backward and the girl she made for into a mess away from each other.
The Villain howled out streams dribbling onto the concrete, apparently the pain had served too much as well as too fast for her mind to comprehend as the woman found no initiative to change from her fallen position. Taking the opportunity, Kage stomped his heel into the back of her head, rattling her brain about the cranium with no end in sight. He could not stop himself; imagining the little girl as none other than another he kept kicking and stepping all over the woman. Eventually, however, the heel to his boot was caked in a layer of hair and skin so much so that shards of bone could be perceived through it all. There and then he did not care whether he had or hadn't killed someone. This was not a human but a monster from Hell and he had the right to extinguish it from ever showing itself again.
The crowd that had been silent moments ago was now bawling, running toward Kage. Chants of glory as well as praise found their way to him due to a savior being discovered in their time of need. The sheep who were sending their youngest to death had done a complete revolution making them now devout believers.
Hands gripped his clothing as Kage tried to tear free from them, only to be met with their anxious faces ruined by the workings of wrinkles and years off their lives from this harrowing experience. Each one wished to give some gratitude to their savior with most being poor; they knew all they could offer was a blessing imparted by simple touch. Kage realized their strife so forgoed throwing them away, instead taking their hands and allowing their touch. A touch which soured as he realized the fear which took their latest decision. His gaze fell upon the girl still crouched away from the others on the floor. The girl who was so close to death yet left that way. Not a single soul fell to the occasion in order to save her life. They were all cowards worthy of a righteous end.
Kage's fist tightened once more as his vision was fiddled along the fish in front of him. The sickening tide that was all too eager to feel his wrath.
Yet, such twisted actions were ended as an elderly man with frayed mutton chops as well as a balding head reached out, firmly taking hold of Kage's forearm. He had the look of a man holding back what he could of his emotions. The hands of the man were rough, filled with torn calluses that perpetually bled. It was a working man's texture. In this person, Kage did not see someone who was grateful for their life because they wished to live, the gentleman possessed a stare that told of a life that would be given to another. He pondered if the man had someone to go home to, considering his garments that may not be the case, so he would then dedicate what was left to someone deserving. Such an attitude provided a window into the other side. A side that Kage knew would come one day and that people like this would be the ones to rise in search of it. This was the only man willing to fling himself before the Villain, he was simply forced to the back blocked by the mounds of cowards.
The dream could indeed blossom into a reality.
In the gleam of his watering eye a sudden line from the shadows shot out toward him. By instinct alone Kage managed to duck his head underneath the object forcing those who held onto him down as well. An action that could not save the elder. When Kage returned to the man, he found a glimmering steel blade five inches wide then two in height cut through his pupil. The blade did not end there, it dug deeper into the mob undoubtedly taking a couple more unlucky fellows. Just as fast as the blade appeared, it disappeared back into the shadows leaving those marked to crumble into a heap. Nine unlucky fellows perished.
Shouts of horror erupted all around with the largest of these shouts fleeing toward Kage's back using him as their barrier between certain death. Those much less in intellect hurried for the exit that fell far upward the exhausting incline of the tunnel. These people discovered a sole grim fate by the way of further sharp blades so long they found only an end deep in the shadow stretching along the roof.
Someone hid themself inside the darkness spying on them all like rats in a cage. This someone was a master at games and loved the prospect of his own. To manipulate those unknowingly and knowingly in order for a never before found reaction. Such expressions made new with every sudden move of his extending blades. In his blanket there was a privacy he quite liked. Even aroused no one would know and he could deal with it on his own time. Although he did not enjoy the passion of the female nor male anatomy, what he did recognize to be stimulating were the colors of all kinds of things. Of which, red had become a staple to his time of release.
Blade after blade followed from an origin Kage couldn't quite pinpoint. Every time one would come down to slice at Kage he would dodge, leaving the person behind him to be struck instead.
'More souls to bear the weight of… there will be plenty more…'
Kage shook his head punching at the temple again. These could not be his thoughts; they didn't even sound like him. Yet, why was he hearing them?
'Splurt!' The edge had nicked him in the elbow producing a clean slit that neared the bone in its depth. A second came at a speed much faster than the others had exhibited. Unable to move away in time, Kage remained steadfast as marble, using his body as a shield. However, this blade did not pierce his stomach; instead, stopping an inch away from the fabric of his clothing. It then retracted back into the shadow as an unknown man dropped from the mystique.
His thickly veiled body had been illuminated by the coursing red of the emergency lights. Through the strobe that fluttered over him at every interval, Kage could discern the nakedness of his attacker that cruelly illuminated the multitude of scars that swam along his body.
A sheer cold overtook Kage as a frostbite snacked on the others. The aura was deadly leaving the regulars able to sustain lasting damages if the man was not taken care of soon. But more worrying was the extent to which his aura leaked out from his body. It was unlike the norm in which it was a solid net that followed the area a person inhabited. This man's aura had gone from completely silent to an array at the flip of a switch.
The lights flashed shining on a spot of three dark circles on his collarbone. An injection site. He had been modified in some way to where he could marginally control his own aura.
A startling worry infected Kage's mind at this sudden realization. The realization that such a drug could have already been mass produced and given to all of the Villains that had joined en masse for this riot. Multiple could be hidden in the already populated crowds waiting to spring into action in an attempt to slaughter whatever heroic Evolved entered after the excursion of the Villains. There could be dozens already hidden within each bunker prepared to kill. They didn't even need to encounter the guards nor the layered entrances of the bunkers.
Suddenly, Kage felt an internal timer begin to wound itself. From beyond a realm of perceptual reasoning he had deduced that those that had snuck inside the bunkers were waiting for a cue. A cue that related to their headquarters within the park. Drawn by thread he connected one element to the next.
Relation to the sudden burst of Heroes that had arrived in the city then those already remaining vigilant the day of this attack…
Why had the attack commenced just as people were leaving school and filing for home on the roads? This would guarantee some would arrive safely inside a bunker and that the wealthiest could guarantee their own comfort in a panic room. So why? How would they know the internal workings of the city?
Finally, the last piece fell into place. A contemplated thought that reset Kage's focus on his aggressor. Blood is what he saw; for, if the final piece was true, then there would be a need for that dream to become reality ever more so. The dreaded face of truth basked in the moonlight steadily approaching.
A moon alight with flickers of yellow brilliance which rained from the Heavens.