GLASS || The Catalysts, #1 [REWRITE]

III

The dangerous weapon falls almost too softly on a pile of crooked metal and tiny glass shards.

Everything is happening all at once.

Arius releases a sonic radar from his microphone, destroying the lesser demons in the vicinity. This seems to rattle not only the demons, for Caelus reacts by placing his hands over his ears. Subsequently, a powerful gale is unleashed from him, widening the gap between two halves of the train. While the bits of demon surrounding the overwhelmed professional Catalysts are blasted apart, this wave of raw power also shatters the glass lining the Aerotrain and rocks the broken transportation.

More bits of glass shards rain down on the supercharged Supernova that had slipped from the floating cloud. The weapon whirs with a strange noise, glowing brighter along its smooth metallic edges.

"Arius! It will blow!" Illeanna yells, trying to keep her cloud steady. She lurches forwards, taking a bold sweep toward the weapon at the dangerous edge of Lena's part of the train.

The weapon in Illeanna's hand is still in the process of subjugating the demon that stubbornly refuses to be eliminated. Since its smaller form is being swept away too easily, the demon decides to combine itself once more, becoming the huge black blob again.

But Lena's attention isn't on the demon; she's focused on the weapon near her.

Caelus appears at the other side of the broken train, seemingly having thought the same as Lena. She takes a step forward, but finds that an air cushion is in place, shielding herself from the ticking time bomb. On the other side, Caelus does the same for his half of the train. The two atmospheres created by him voids off the middle where the exploding weapon is.

For a brief moment, he notices Lena and their eyes meet for the first time. He blinks, not really acknowledging her as he demands, "Stay back."

Before Lena can shout back that she doesn't want anything to do with an exploding weapon, Neesha appears from behind Caelus, looking panicked but somewhat determined. Her eyes are fixed on the charged gun, and she looks about ready to attempt jumping over the gap to reach it. Noticing this, Caelus stops her by pushing her back with a barrier of air. His friend falls backwards frustratedly, then yells at him. "What are you doing, Caelus?! Let me get to it! I can destroy it before—"

"Before it destroys you?" Caelus interjects with a strangely calm voice. "Stay back, Neesha. Allow me."

He brings up both his hands, taking the air in his command. From the looks of it, Lena is assuming he is encasing the exploding Supernova in an enclosed space to prevent it from doing any damage. Or perhaps even attempting to destroy it before it blows. The weapon shakes a little, somehow being compressed by an invisible, supreme force, its side denting from the impact. It rises from the broken shards of glass, the shards completely bouncing away the little barrier, unable to cut through. The damage to the weapon increases rapidly, but so does the glow — it is recharging itself, and if Caelus lets go now, well... Lena does not know a thing about that weapon known as the Supernova, but the name does not seem like a welcoming gift, and she isn't keen to be a part of the party.

"Caelus, the Supernova isn't an ability; it's a pure energy developed by the founders—even the S-class can't...!" Neesha is pleading anxiously now, her eyes wide. She looks like she's trying to talk some sense into Caelus, though it seems that she isn't sure how, her seriousness fading into nothing but pure concern and fear. "Remember what happened to the first ranked? Time Master, even with his abilities, he couldn't"—Neesha can't even find the words now—"the Supernova is artificial; it surpasses all laws, defies even the Catalysts! Y-you'll—"