Kaze Teleported Suddenly To Somewhere
The ceiling at Neo-Block High didn't just have cracks anymore; huge chunks were peeling away, like old paint. The tear in the digital world looked like a gash, ripped open by some unseen force, and a crazy bright blue light flooded the whole hallway. Little bits of pixel were falling everywhere, spinning slowly like glowing snowflakes, and the air shimmered with digital dust. Students who were running for the exits stopped dead, staring at the ceiling as the weirdness unfolded above them. Their screams were drowned out by the electric sound tearing by the building.
A big, jagged piece of the ceiling flipped back like a piece of aluminum foil, showing a sky that wasn't a sky. Glitchy clouds, glowing grids, and trails of messed-up code were floating around. It looked like another world—a digital one—was crashing into reality, whether they liked it or not.
One kid fell to his knees, staring up with a look of pure terror. What… what is that?! he managed to choke out.
Nobody knew. As the building shook like it was about to fall apart. Lockers banged open and closed, posters peeled off the walls and floated upward, as if gravity was confused. The air felt hot, then cold, then just plain wrong.
A streak of this glitchy lightning zapped across the open hole, zigzagging like a messed-up power line. It hit a desk and when the lightning touched it, the desk turned into a bunch of colored cubes that scattered across the hall. Students yelled and hid behind anything that looked solid. More lightning bolts came down, one after another, hitting chairs, lockers, even the floor tiles, turning them into glitchy bits that fell apart into nothing.
Luna grabbed Riko's arm, pulling him back as a streak of crackling energy burned the floor where he was standing. Riko! MOVE! she shouted.
I'm trying! he yelled back, stumbling as the hallway shook again.
Other students ran past them, crying and tripping over each other, dragging their friends along. A teacher was yelling for everyone to get out, her voice shaking as she tried to guide them to the stairwell. Her hair floated up for a second, as if gravity had glitched out again.
Riko threw himself in front of Luna as another bolt hit a row of lockers next to them. The metal bent and twisted, then broke apart into those dissolving cubes. Cold static electricity made his skin tingle.
This is worse than that accident in the gym, Luna said, her eyes wide
You got it, Riko replied
His arm thingy flashed a bunch of warnings:
ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURE
DIMENSIONAL BREACH ACTIVE
STABILITY: 3%
Riko didn't know what 3% meant, it was definitely not ideal.
A loud metallic groan came from above – deep, slow, like something was eating and growing - but it wasn't an animal. It was the building, straining. Beams shifted. The entire school shook as the tear spread. The glowing sky pulsed, and another shockwave blew out all the lights.
Luna covered her ears. Stop it!
Riko grabbed her wrist. Stay with me!
A desk floated by upside down before breaking apart into shimmering dust. A bookshelf from a classroom slid into the hallway, pulled by the glitchy wind coming from the tear. Papers were everywhere. The air smelled like ozone, metal, and some weird artificial scent.
Riko struggled to stay on his feet as the floor moved again. He slammed his shoulder against a locker to keep himself steady. Luna held onto his jacket, breathing hard.
Where's Kaze?! she yelled over the noise.
Riko looked around, but he couldn't spot him. No sign of the black coat. No sign of Kaze.
Lightning crashed again. This time, it zapped the water fountain. It exploded into blue pixels.
Luna gasped. This place hates water.
It hates anything and everything, Riko said.
Another crash came from behind them. Riko didn't have time to see where it came from.
His arm screen flashed, showing:
DANGER: ACTIVE ZONE BREAK
LEVEL CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN
Riko's chest felt tight. Unknown? That's useless!
The tear opened wider, making a sound like thunder underwater. The edges of the crack shifted, rearranging themselves with every pulse, like a mouth trying to grow teeth. Glitch energy dripped down like digital lava.
Luna whimpered. Riko…?
I see it.
Tell me this is normal.
Not normal!
A locker bent inward, almost folding in half, before turning into pixels. Shoes, jackets, and textbooks tumbled out and floated upward toward the tear, like they were being sucked into a broken vacuum.
Riko pulled Luna behind him again. Get down!
I'm trying—!
A crash echoed from the far end of the hallway, louder than the lightning.
A door flew open so hard it cracked against the wall.
Someone stepped through the mess.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Unaffected by the destruction.
Riko blinked, trying to see through the falling glitch dust. The figure moved with a steady walk. The crazy light framed him.
Black coat.
Steady walk.
Unchanging look on his face.
Kaze.
Walking through glitch lightning, floating desks, shaking floors – like the world was just a little bit annoying.
Luna grabbed Riko's sleeve and hissed, Why does he look so calm?!
Riko didn't hear her.
His eyes locked on Kaze.
And Riko sees Kaze walking straight toward him.