Part 19: Crisis

ACT 2: Crisis

Ilyas’ Perspective:

Ilyas and the others were lying on the couch in the library as the girls bought some food to munch on. The television was broadcasting on Florence’s death and the situation at large about “a beast that attacked him with fire”.

Rahul and Neva were feeling guilty, as other people in the library were whispering to one another about it.

“The Sports Hall at Hougang was filled with thorns and vines as the proprietor of Chen Kwang was arrested for killing the Dozers and not capturing them. He also sided with the DEA, which many proprietors question whether this was something that should be done.”

“They are a black company after all, and should not be tolerated for killing Dozers. But they are given the greenlight to do so, but where should the line be drawn?”

“Can we switch that off?” Neva asked, feeling rather dismayed by what was being played. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Don’t let it get to you.” Rahul said, taking a bite out of his burger. “We aren’t meant to be heroes anyways.”

“Yeah, we did our best.” Edelyn said, sipping on her drink. “They can say what they want, but we ultimately did our missions because we had to.”

“Still doesn’t sit right with me.” Jun Cheng said. “Why do we get the short end of the stick anyways?”

“It’s just how society sees us.” Ilyas said. “Not that we should feel better about ourselves.”

“Don’t ruin the mood, man.” Rahul said. “Cheer up. We did what we needed to do. That’s all.”

“A report of a young girl, age 7, was murdered by her own father. Victoria was last seen in her home with three wounds across her torso. The suspect at large, is Wilbert Ho, a man who was said to have turned into a Human-Dozer… but was taken out by Preston and his team.”

“Christian did it, didn’t he?” Jun Cheng asked, as they all knew that his name would not be credited. After all, he was a wanted criminal.

“I’m sure Christian did not want his name to be on the news.” Rahul said. “It wouldn’t make him feel satisfied. He just does his job secretly.”

“This doesn’t feel right.” Neva said. “I… I don’t like to sit around and wait.”

“There is no Hub Crystal here.” Edelyn said. “Your weapon is barely charged…”

“But!”

“Please lower it down.” Rahul said. “We don’t need people to know we are from the DEA.”

They all stood silent as Jun Cheng took out a bunch of books to read. Neva was feeling restless but eventually fell asleep on Edelyn’s shoulder.

Rahul went to the computer to search up on Dozer parts, and Ilyas went upstairs to look at the view from the window.

The five of them were still alive, and that was the only thing that mattered to him. Ilyas did not want to think about death, about losing themselves out there among the Dozers. But he knew that the techniques that were given to him were not something he could manage by himself. He dreaded picking the sword, and felt like he should have overcome his fears. He should have taken the camera, and proved Keaton wrong.

But deep inside, he knew that he couldn’t do it. No matter how many times he would have repeated, he would not have made that decision.

As he eyed at the view from above, he noticed a smoke in the distance. It might not have been related to the Wolf Dozers, but it seemed to be rather big. In his mind, he knew there was no reason to head there anyways. But his soul was telling him to go.

“That looks like a big fire.” An old man said, staring out at the same view. “The Dozers must have caused that.”

“Why do you think it is a Dozer?” Ilyas asked. “It could just be a fire incident.”

“I can tell.” The old man said, placing his hand against the glass. “The color and the texture of the smoke. I can see it all.”

Ilyas looked up at him to see that one of his eyes was blind.

“What do you see in that smoke?” Ilyas asked, as he squinted his eyes.

“A sort of sizzling purple light, like it was being tossed around by the wind. Trying to hold onto life, and struggling to find its way out.”

“Randall…” Ilyas thought. “That can’t be… Isn’t he at Punggol Plaza? No, wait. Dozers emerge from everywhere… it can be anything.”

“The smoke seems to be glowing brighter inside.” The old man said. “Hmm, perhaps it is absorbing more power into itself-”

Ilyas dashed off immediately, as the rest looked at him in shock.

“Oi, where are you going?” Jun Cheng asked, as Neva woke up from the sudden commotion. He left without a word, taking his sword and leaving everyone behind.

“What’s wrong with me? Running into danger…” Ilyas thought. “I am definitely not ready to combat this monster…”

“They are a black company after all, and should not be tolerated for killing Dozers.” Those words replayed in his mind again as he ran. Jun Cheng and Edelyn chased after him, as Neva felt lost at what was happening.

“Are you going to stay? Or run away?” Rahul asked. “For me, I’ll be staying… so…”

“I am going.” Neva said. “I am tired of running away.”

“Come back alive.” Rahul fell asleep on the couch as Neva followed the rest. He suddenly had a dream about a woman whispering into his ear, someone who seemed familiar to him.

“Is this how you treat us?”

Rahul woke up from his slumber, as cold sweat flowed down his cheeks.

“It's not like thar… I’m sorry.” Rahul said to himself. “My armor is all broken up and in pieces… That's right, I can’t go…”

As Ilyas and the rest followed the trail of smoke that was rising in the air, a car wheezed past them and then stopped.

Neva recognized that car as a figure appeared from the smoke.

“What is causing all that smoke anyways?” Jun Cheng asked, as Blu came out of the car.

“Blu!” Neva called out, as a wall of flame destroyed the car in an instant.

“Tch, I’ve informed Josh… he is not picking up though.” Blu panted from the intense driving he had to do to get here. “I’ve informed Peng Goh about the matter, but to think he would come all the way out here.” He said, trying to catch his breath. “He suddenly switched directions from the highway, and turned towards here.”

“Thanks for coming all this way.” Ilyas said. “You must be from Flo Residences.”

“Yes.” Blu said, putting out the flames with a water blob. “You are all Neva’s friends, I see.”

“Why is Randall acting this way?” Ilyas asked. “He doesn’t seem to be burning anything else down, but just walking towards us.”

“I don’t know.” Blu said. “But from what I saw, he is targeting the Hub Crystals. But why here?”

“Something feels different. He is not attacking at all.” Neva said. “He isn’t aiming for the Hub Crystal anymore. His mission seems to have changed.”

“Either way, we have to stop him.” Blu said, as he created a water blob. “Come at me, fiend.”

Suddenly, Randall placed his hand down into the ground, as the floor ruptured into vines.

The vines spread and intertwined into a large plant, and large flowers sprouted from its roots up to the top.

“What the hell?” Blu said, as the rest of them ran away and the ground began to crumble beneath them. As they stopped a few meters away from it, all they saw was a gigantic plant, thickened with thorns and flowers like Rafflesias.

“Is this what I think it is…” Ilyas asked Edelyn as she felt like there was no other answer.

“We were too late.” Edelyn said. “This is the consequence that we were afraid to admit.”