Beautiful...
The explosion's mushroom cloud stopped increasing in size after enveloping the city. The resulting shockwave, however, did not stop. The shockwave moved at transonic speeds and lay waste to everything in its omnidirectional path.
Zack kept watching his handiwork, blissfully unaware of the incoming shockwave.
"Wow, I've never seen an explosion as big as that--"
BANG!
Zack was interrupted by the sudden shaking of the plane.
"Ugh! What the..." Zack uttered as his body was being forcibly jerked. "Why is there turbulence!? We're over 10000 meters in the air!"
"It seems you underestimated how powerful the yield would be." The NPC stated, as he seemed perfectly fine, unlike his comrades and Lilith, who were uncontrollably shaking from the turbulence.
BEEP! BEEP! An alarming noise filled the plane as if warning Zack about the dangerous air pressure.
"God dammit!" Zack yelled as he tried his best to regain control of the cargo plane but to no avail. His nervousness was matched with Lilith, who desperately tried bracing herself in the plane.
"NPC," The developer suddenly said.
"Yes, developer...I know."
* * *
After covering many miles from ground zero of the blast, Jack finally stopped moving.
"Why the hell did Zack do that!?" Nathan said as Jack let both him and Charles go.
"You're asking me?" Jack responded with an odd smile. "I don't know, but the amount of destruction Zack caused, plus the deaths are likely immense. In my 28 years of living, I don't think I've experienced a better day than this."
This psychotic piece of f*cking shit... Nathan thought as he stared at Jack with contempt.
Meanwhile, Charles looked at the horizon and noticed the incoming airwave.
"Huh, I don't think you carried us far enough, Jack." Charles casually said, which garnered their attention.
"Hu-- WHAT THE HELL!?" Nathan exclaimed with clear panic in his voice. In contrast, Charles and Jack kept calm in the situation.
"Oh my," Jack said as the rush of air came dangerously close. "Eh, it's survivable..."
"HELP ME--!"
Just like that, the shockwave carried the trio with it.
* * *
"I'm sorry, guys...for betraying you," Olivia said, which bewildered everyone. "And...I hate you, Ada..."
Ramblings of a murderer... Warden Mathers concluded.
Warden Mathers saw that the clock struck one. He looked over to an officer who had several cell phones in front of him.
"No calls, huh..." Warden Mathers said as he put his hand on the lever.
BOOM!!!
What sounded like an explosion on the walls of the complex, the prison shook slightly. That frightened the Warden Mathers, his men, and Olivia, but what shook them more was that the lights in the execution chamber began flickering.
What the hell was that noise!? Warden Mathers thought. Prioritizing the execution of Olivia, however, he pulled the lever to activate the electric chair. Seeing this immediately made Olivia's heart drop, but by some saving grace, it failed to activate - the lights went out in the execution chamber.
"Damn it! Why now!" Warden Mathers yelled.
"Sir! The power source is already hooked up to our backup generator! All I have to do is turn it on!" Officer James suggested with quick thinking.
"Yes...do that quickly!" Mathers responded. "And the rest of you check outside for the cause of that loud bang!"
Understanding their orders, the officers immediately set out. There was a slight look of life in Olivia's eyes. She did not want to gain any false hope, so the light slightly diminished.
"Tsk! There's always something annoying with you S-Class criminals." He remarked.
Oh...it must be a coincidence...I still...won't live...
* * *
Back to where the trio of criminals were, Jack pulled himself out of the rubble on the ground.
"See, I'm sure you guys survived that," Jack stated as he looked around. Just as he expected, so were his allies alive.
"Ugh..." The groans of Nathan were audible as he pulled himself from the ground. He was rather bruised from being rag-dolled across the ground by the airwave, but he was alive, which relieved him. "I'm never...doing shit like this...again..."
"Haha! It wasn't too bad!" Charles interjected as he approached them.
"Jeez...how the hell are you alive?" Nathan asked as he noticed Charles's injuries in his fight against the blessed slaughterer.
RING! RING! Jack's phone began to ring once again, which shocked him.
"Huh? There's still a signal here!?" Jack questioned."What type of phones did the developer even give us!?"
"Hey again, Jack, good job on saving your party mates. I'll make this quick, though." The developer said on the phone. "Olivia was about to be executed, but the explosion Zack caused resulted in a halt. But it's only a matter of time until the ones responsible for the execution work around that halt. That's where I need you to save Olivia."
"Woah, woah, woah. What do you mean me, mate?" Jack retorted. "Why should I save her?"
"You're the only one fast enough who can." The developer explained. "Plus, you did say you'd be a team player when I brought you in on my little game."
In response, Jack scoffed.
"Meh, fine, I'll do it." Jack obliged. "Where is the prison?"
"It's at the Kootenai County in Idaho." The developer revealed. "Around a hundred miles southeast from where you are."
Sigh, I'm only doing this cause Olivia would probably be useful in killing more people. Jack concluded as he dragged his foot back. Hopefully, there are a lot of buggers at the prison to murder...
Before Nathan and Charles' eyes, Jack disappeared, instantly producing a sonic boom.
"Sigh, I just wanna sleep..." Nathan muttered.
* * *
It was only a minute after the developer called Jack when he arrived at the prison complex. Simultaneously, the officers instructed to check what caused the bang they heard coming outside.
"Hmm...I don't see anything strange..." An officer said. "That's weird...what the hell was that noise then..."
"I don't know--"
"Hello, fellas!" Jack suddenly greeted them, which gained their attention. He was standing before the officers, who just registered his presence. Almost instantly, fear shrouded them to the point of breaking into sweat.
"What's wrong, buggers? Cold feet?" Jack mocked them.
"S-Shit...I-Is that...Jack the Ri--" The officer couldn't finish, as Jack instantly slashed their throat. Their words turned into a choke-filled unintelligible mumbling as blood filled their mouth. Unsurprisingly, the officer fell, and his allies finally registered what happened.
"Sorry, guys. Don't have much time to play." Jack said. "So, unfortunately, I'll have to kill you quickly."
* * *
Meanwhile, light returned once again in the execution chamber. Officer James successfully switched on their backup power source to execute Olivia's sentencing.
"It's all set now." Officer James stated.
"Thank you, officer." Warden Mathers replied.
There was a massive contrast between the light's return and the remaining light in Olivia's eyes - one returned while the other shimmered away. Olivia had completely run out of hope.
"Finally..." Warden Mathers said as he held the lever. "It's time to end this--"
BANG!
Suddenly, the door burst off its hinges and flew several meters across the room, which bewildered everyone. Casually, Jack entered.
"JACK!" Warden Mathers immediately realized. In his realization, however, an immense fear came over his face. Sure, it may be the usual fear of an extremely powerful mass murderer like Jack in front of him, but it was more than that. What truly shook the warden was the fact that Jack's clothing was completely drenched in blood.
Was that his blood, or were others' blood mixed with his own? If so, how many people could this psychopath possibly murder? These were the questions that ran through the warden's mind. His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the realization of Jack being inches away from him.
"Hello...' Jack sarcastically greeted as he held the arm of the warden who was holding the lever.
J-Jack? Olivia thought with confusion as to why he was there.
"Get away from the warden--" Officer James yelled as he quickly tried to aim a firearm at Jack. Without averting his gaze from Warden Mathers, however, Jack tossed a knife right into the dome of the officer, killing him immediately.
"Aww, you were so close to killing her, mate!" Jack mocked as he kept holding his arm. Warden Mathers attempted to struggle but could not move his arm even an inch. Jack's strength was far too much for him.
"Hey! I have an idea!" Jack suddenly stated as he threw the Warden to the ground. "Don't you think it would be a waste to not use the electric chair!?"
"H-Huh?"
Suddenly, the straps used to restrain Olivia onto the chair were all destroyed. Jack freed his ally faster than they could register.
"W-What?" Olivia uttered as she quickly stood up, finally registering being freed. Almost immediately, Jack grabbed the Warden and forced him onto the chair.
"W-Wait...stop it!" Mathers desperately pleaded, which Jack ignored. Using his knives, he jammed them right through his hands into the arms of the electric chair.
"AAAHHHH!!!" The warden yelled, but Jack continued. He did the same thing to his legs, which turned his scream into a blood-filled screech. Olivia simply watched from the side in the process. Feeling content, Jack returned to the lever.
"See! You'll get some use out of the chair after all!" Jack exclaimed with a sadistic smile.
"STOP...IT...YOU...BASTARD!!!" Mathers strained to say as he was still under extreme pain from the knives.
Ah...I love it when you guys beg for your lives...
Without remorse, Jack pulled the lever and what resulted was the immediate transfer to deadly voltages through the chair and unto the Warden.
"UUUGGGAAHHHHHHH!!!!" The warden screeched due to the gruesome pain he experienced. The scream was not the only indicator of its effect but also the soiled trousers of Warden Mathers. Jack watched this all with a satisfied smile on his face.
In a short amount of time, Mathers succumbed to the voltage. Jack didn't even bother to turn it off and simply left the electricity running.
"Well, I've had my fun," Jack said as he turned to Olivia. "Let's go, now."
"G-Go...?" Olivia said with surprise before her expression changed to a downtrodden one. "I...I can't go..."
"Huh? Why not?"
"I...I betrayed...you guys..." Olivia said as she slunk onto the ground. "I...t-told Ada...about your abilities...because I didn't want...her to abandon me. She used that information...to strike a deal...with the military for a pardon...I'm sorry...I just wanted to be useful in her eyes...as she was my first...friend..."
Jack listened to her as she vented.
"I...was bullied...for being a weird kid in university that's strangely good...with poison making..." Olivia continued as she began to sniffle with tears forming in her eyes. "I felt suffocated by...everyone...until I met Ada. I know she never cared for me...but she saved me...because of that...I betrayed you guys...and got you in all...this mess...I don't deserve to live..."
Silence filled the room for a few seconds before Jack broke it.
"Really? That's the reason you don't deserve to live?" Jack asked, which surprised Olivia.
"Y-Yes! I...was so stupidly focused on Ada...I didn't think of anything...else!"
"Sigh, well, I agree with you on one thing," Jack replied. "Focusing on other people is a really stupid thing to do."
"What?"
"Have you seen Charles, love?" Jack asked. "That meathead loves fighting more than anything. He doesn't let anything or anyone get in the way of what he enjoys."
"Yes, but--"
"Take a look at me, love." Jack continued. "I'm a sadistic murderer, and I enjoy every second of it! Why do you think we're so strong? We don't let ourselves get shackled by anything...we simply do what we want. I'm a damn serial killer, and I understand that, so why the hell can't you?"
"Um..."
"Sigh, you're pretty good at sewing and poisoning right? You like those things, right?" Jack asked. Suddenly, he stooped in front of her and stretched his bloodied and bandaged hand towards her. "Free yourself from Ada and do the things you want...that's the best way of getting back at her, I suppose."
With widened eyes, Olivia stared at Jack. Jack was radiating light - as if he was the knight coming to rescue the princess. In her eyes, Jack was her savior.
"So?"
Mustering the courage, Olivia took Jack's hand. Immediately, he pulled her up to her feet.
"Good choice," Jack said. Looking at Jack, Olivia's cheeks flushed with red, and she shyly turned away, which slightly confused Jack.
Huh? Whatever, I don't care...I can't believe I helped someone...f*cking hell...the developer better treat me good to some murder in the future...
"Anyways, let's go back to the others now."