"We should get home soon. . . Hopefully, why don't you try to get some sleep Ariel?"
Ariel sighed, but the comfortable hum of their car and the rhythm of the rain against the roof began to lull him into sleep. Marcus and Elara exchanged a glance and decided it's for the best to stay silent and let Ariel get some sleep.
Elara began to let out a low hum while Marcus focused on the never-ending line of cars in front of him. The peaceful scene is suddenly broken by the car lurching forward. Ariel, caught off guard and half-asleep, got thrown into the seat in front of him. Elara turned back to check on him as Marcus looked into his rearview mirror.
"Did we just get hit? Is it really that hard to see the cars in front of them?"
Marcus turned to Elara, who was checking on Ariel, who thankfully wasn't hurt. Marcus hummed for a moment before chuckling and saying.
"Can you stay in the car and take care of Ariel? I'm going to check what that was."
Elara nodded at Marcus while he stepped out of the car, which proved to be the wrong move because it was raining more than he thought it was. Looking down, he saw that water covered the ground and submerged his shoes.
What's worse is that the water is rising; this, along with the lurch of the car, left only a single thought in Marcus's mind.
A FLASH FLOOD!?
Marcus turned back around and spoke to Elara through the open car door.
"Elara, we have to seek higher ground NOW. I think it's a flash flood!"
Elara wasted no time in getting out of the car while Marcus helped Ariel out and into his arms. They quickly made their way to the sidewalk while passing people who seemed to have similar ideas. Marcus scanned the building for any way to get on their roofs, but found none. His action was interrupted by Ariel's quiet panic.
"Dad, what happened? I'm scared."
"Don't worry, we are just going to look for somewhere where we can see the pretty rain, alright."
"Hm, ok."
Elara and Marcus shared a concerned look before she spoke up.
"Dear, I remember the local marketplace had a particularly tall building."
"Oh, right, it's not too far either. Come on, I will lead the way."
Elara and Marcus walked through the now-flowing water while Ariel sat in Marcus's arms.
BANG
Looking back, Marcus saw that two cars had just collided and people were beginning to panic. Most have probably come to the same realization as Marcus had and are now looking for safety. Marcus took a look around for the best route to get to the market, but what he saw was pure chaos.
Water is no longer just falling; it's also rising from the drains, the current kept getting faster, nearly sweeping Elara off her feet, but she caught herself at the last moment. People began to push around in search of safety, and this forced the family to take to the allies instead of the sidewalk and risk being trampled.
They could hear police sirens throughout the city and the panicked screams of the many. It seems that the situation is worse than Marcus originally thought. They made their way through two buildings and onto another street where the familiar scene of panic played.
Ignoring the crowd of people, they made their way down the street, where at the end they could see the market and the old building they were trying to reach. Just outside the building, there are 2 officers and someone who brought hope to people. A Hero.
Despite the man's short appearance, he stood with majesty. His long green hair and deep green eyes seemed to shine as the family made their way to the building. But suddenly, Elara slipped and fell under the might of the current. Marcus, in a panic, turned to try and catch her but his sudden movement caused him to lose his footing as well. Both he and Ariel fell into the current.
Marcus caught himself at the last moment, but Ariel fell out of his grasp. Elara used her quirk, which allowed her to strengthen her body with her blood, to grab Ariel, preventing him from hitting his head. However, due to her movement, she lost whatever footing she managed to get. Marcus grabbed Ariel with one arm and brought his other arm around Elara, holding onto her waist. He brought her into a protective hug.
Marcus braced himself as he used his quirk, which allowed him to process information quickly. He looked for a way out of the increasingly desperate situation. But before he could act, he, along with Ariel and Elara, was tugged from the current and pulled toward the building.
The three landed in a heap at the top of the stairs of the building they had just been trying to approach. Ariel looked up out of his father's embrace to see the hero, whose hair retracted. The man wore a smile as he spoke.
"Are you three ok?"
Ariel pushed himself off Marcus and ran up to the man. His eyes sparkled while staring at the hero who gave Ariel a small piece of chocolate from one of his jacket pockets. Ariel took the piece of candy with gratitude while his parents talked to one of the officers. Standing here, Ariel couldn't help but to ask.
"Mr, who are you?"
The older man chuckled while bringing another piece of candy out of his pocket and unwrapping it. "Names shift, you might have heard of me, I'm one of this city's heroes." The man beamed with pride that seemed to make Ariel giddy.
Shift popped the candy in his mouth but almost spit it out due to what Ariel said next.
"Na, never heard of you."
Shift deflated slightly at that, but quickly perked up with a smile on his face. His grin was infectious and made Ariel feel at ease. The man brought one hand to his chest and beamed while saying.
"That's not surprising, I just got my hero's licence a few weeks ago, but-"
Bang
Before anyone could react, an explosion went off in the distance. A look of horror and confusion crossed all their faces as they watched smoke rise in the distance. The moment was broken by the police officers' radio coming to life.
"A tanker truck crashed into a house on Beaver Ave. All available units get to Beaver Ave and help with damage control."
The first person to react was Shift, his hair started to glow and rise just as he floated up, and he said.
"Officer Yasuhiro, can I leave them and the others to you?"
One of the officers noted in response while the other one quickly escorted Ariel and his parents into the building. The last thing Ariel saw of the outside was Shift flying into the distance, albeit quite slowly.
The interior of the building was nothing special. Not far from the entry door stood a desk with a computer on it and a wooden door behind it, to the side were rows of bookshelves against the wall. On both sides of the entry door and in front of the windows are small chairs lined up in two rows facing each other.
Ariel didn't get a better look than that because Elara grabbed his hand, pulling him to follow the officer behind the desk and into a wooden door. The four walked into a smaller room and past multiple desks covered with papers and office supplies.
They walked to the far side of the room where a staircase led up. The office that led them here said.
"You can follow these stairs to get to the highest floor."
Without sparing another word, the man rushed back the way they came. Elara and Marcus shared an understanding glance but said nothing as the three began to walk up the stairs. However, as they reached the second floor, a tremor ran through the building.
Before anyone could react, cracks broke the walls while loud rumbles reverberated in their eardrums. The building shook, causing Ariel to lose his footing, but he was caught by Marcus and swept into the man's arms. Just as Ariel was swept up, the floor under them began to break apart, and cracks formed that allowed debris, both small and big, to fall from the higher floors. The family couldn't see it, but the building had started to collapse under the pressure of the waves hitting the building. What's worse is that the apartment they are in is not the only one starting to collapse.
Elara, although caught by surprise, did not fail to react; she brought her fist up and used her quirk to its max to rush up the stairs past the two boys. Her fist crashed against a particularly big piece of debris, breaking it into smaller harmless pieces. Marcus quickly processed the situation, and they needed to get out of the building, even if that meant risking the flash flood. With this in mind, he shouted to Elara, who was blocking the debris.
"We need to get to the first floor and escape through a window."
Marcus remembered passing by a window in the office room they had been in before. Thankfully, the building wasn't collapsing too quickly, if his guess is right, they would be able to make it to the window, but that's when the hard part starts. Once they are there, they will have to jump into the rushing water if they have any chance to survive.
Sprinting down the stairs so fast Marcus realized he was going too fast and would run into the wall. Quickly, he spun with Ariel in his arms as his back crashed into the hard bricks, causing him to momentarily drop Ariel, who turned around and shouted with fear and worry.
"DAD!"
Slightly dazed and in pain Marcus looked around the room but did not respond to Ariel. Now at the bottom of the stars is Elara, who is still punching falling debris. Just past her and on the other side of the room is the window he remembered.
"If Elara leads the way, she can smash through the window, then we-"
Crack
Marcus grabbed Ariel and moved forward while looking at where he had just crashed. The brick now cracked as spiderwebs spread through them and around to the other wall and most importantly the floor above them.
Marcus realized that the building was going to collapse faster than they could make it to the window. His eyes darted around the room, processing everything he could, but he came to a single conclusion. His eyes darted back to Elara, who had turned around, but before she could do anything, he pushed Ariel into her arms and picked her up in a princess carry.
The building was now completely shaking; he could hear the crashing of metal and bricks, but that did not stop him. Marcus, after grabbing his world, rushed to get under the metal stars. All he could do was hope that they and his body could protect them. He wanted to throw his body over both of them, but Elara was not having it. As he went to the ground, she twisted, landing next to him. The two were now on top of Ariel, protecting him with their bodies.
Pain flooded their senses as Marcus and Elara used every bit of their strength to keep themselves from crushing Ariel, a task they are barely managing to do. The deafening roar of the falling building caused all three to momentarily lose their hearing. Elara pushes herself and her quirk, giving her the strength not to fall. Meanwhile, Marcus shifts his body to protect Ariel while at the same time protecting Elara's head from the falling debris.
The next thing they knew, smoke filled their vision so much that they couldn't see each other, even though they were so close. The family of three was crushed under the weight of the building, but in a stroke of luck, most of the building had fallen over into the water due to the fact that the building was leaning and how it was constructed.
For a few moments, there was nothing but that didn't last long as a cry could be heard. Ariel looked up with tears in his eyes and fear on his face. Looking back at him is his parents bruised and bloody while still clearly doing their best to prevent what's left of the building from collapsing in on them. A stream of light came from a small opening, lighting their pained faces. Ariel's pained sobbing was broken, though, by Marcus's pained words.
"The opening is too small for us."
He glanced at Elara, who was also crying, but had a look on his face that he recognized. It's the look she had when she said she wanted to have a kid, it's the look of a determined mother. Elara gazed at Ariel and said.
"But not for Ariel."
A moment of silence came over the three of them, but it was broken by Ariel. His voice broke when he whispered while crying even harder.
"No . . No please I . . I don't want to leave you."
Elara and Marcus watched as Ariel broke down even more. His voice was now raspy with his choked sobbing. At some point, Marcus had also begun to cry, but he paid it no mind. Instead, he shifted to make it easier for Ariel to reach the hole and said.
"Ariel, please you need to listen to her and-"
"NO . . . please no." Ariel's broken voice cut through both parents like a knife. The silence lasted only a second. Elara brought her head close to Ariel and kissed him on the forehead, pulling back she said.
"Our love is always with you."
Even as she spoke, her voice broke in a way neither Ariel nor Marcus had ever heard. Seeing that she was starting to have a harder time with the weight, Marcus shifted again, attempting to help her. He brought himself close and spoke to Ariel.
"Ariel, be brave. . . For us. Find your strength and remember to keep moving forward. . Always. I know you're scared, but you need to leave, it's the last thing we wish for."
Ariel took a moment to look at the love in his parents' eyes. He didn't want to leave them, but what could he do? Stay here when his parents are trying so hard to save him. It broke him inside, but he did what they wanted even as his body shook with his sobs, even as pain rippled through his body, and even as his mind blanked due to the overwhelming emotion. Ariel managed to turn his body around and began to crawl through the hole and towards the light. Watching Ariel escape brought a sense of relief to his parents, even if it lasted only a moment.
Ariel dragged his nails through the rubble as he tried to dig at the dirt and other objects getting in his way. His body wouldn't stop shaking, and it felt like the walls were collapsing in on him, and no matter how far he got, the light seemed to fade into an impossible distance. In desperation and fear, Ariel began to scream.
"HELP . . .PLEASE . .ANYONE."
His body hurt, and the walls felt like they were going to crush him. It became harder and harder to breathe, but Ariel continued forward. He could now feel the light on his skin, Ariel reached his hand for it.
Suddenly, his body felt weak, as if all his strength had been sapped from him. He sobbed, he was so close, just a bit further, and he would make it. He can still make it.
Ariel dug his nails in and began to pull himself towards the bright light. Closer, Closer, and closer it got brighter and warmer. Ariel finally managed to reach the light, but he felt his leg get stuck. He couldn't see what it got stuck on, but he began to frantically yell.
"HELP"
"ANYONE PLEASE"
"MY . .MOM AND DAD. . . PLEASE"
His voice slowly got quieter, and darkness began to take over his vision. He tried desperately to fight it, but it came nonetheless. Just as the darkness took him, he heard something.
"Hey, over here, I found someone."