Chapter 18: Taking Precautions
July 4th, 2026
As Tariq and Aboutrika both stepped into a safe distance, the chaos of the city echoing behind them, Tariq pulls out his cell phone to call Amina.
The line clicks, letting out a distant, repetitive rhythmic ring into his ear.
Tooot… Toot… Toot…
"Just answer the phone—"
The ringing cuts off abruptly into the cold, automated drone of a recorded operator.
"Sorry, you do not have—"
Tariq turns to Aboutrika as he quickly shuts his phone off with a sharp click.
"Give me your phone, I need to notify Amina about what's going on."
"Shouldn't she be already notified?" Aboutrika asks, raising an eyebrow.
"I know who Amina is, Aboutrika. Just hand me your phone for a moment."
Then Tariq pulls out his own phone as well to write down Amina's number on Boutrika's phone, his thumbs tapping rapidly against the glass screen.
The line connects again, the steady tones echoing.
Toot… toot…
Amina answers the phone, a brief rustle of static smoothing out.
"Heya, who're you?"
Says Amina as she was still casually doing Mi'na's hair, entirely unbothered by the state of the world outside.
"Amina, do you mind just looking behind you for a second?" Tariq's voice comes through the receiver, dead serious.
"What, you're gonna scare me or something? Better try harder next time, whoever's on—"
"JUST DO IT!" Tariq barks through the line.
Amina sighs, her shoulders dropping… then she turns to look behind her toward the glass.
"Holy cow…"
The window behind her showed a huge, orange glowing brown skinned figure causing mass destruction as he was fighting a familiar figure with a black jacket and an unfamiliar figure with gray hair.
"So… that's why there were some shakings over here," Amina murmurs, her voice drifting over the line. "And here I thought Mi'na was having early after pregnancy symptoms…"
"Hey! I can hear you, you know?!" Mi'na snaps instantly from the chair. "What's even going on back there??"
"You might want to see for yourself…"
She said as she slowly turns the rotating chair Mi'na was on, the base letting out a light metallic squeak until she was facing the window.
Mi'na's eyes widen as she locks onto the glass.
"Wait, is that my brother?!"
Then at the window, the orange glowing figure grabs a full car with a single hand, lifting the massive weight effortlessly. Harith's back was turned on the window from afar, completely locked in combat.
Then, the colossal figure throws the now orange outlined car at the speed of a bullet, launching it straight toward their structure, crashing the car directly into the wall of the room.
There was actually no sound at all from the battlefield itself, the area wrapped in an eerie silence.
The only sound that was heard was the sudden, violent impact of the car crashing against the wall from outside of the wedding hall, sending a shuddering vibration through the masonry.
The atmosphere completely drops into a vacuum.
An instant later, the room starts shaking heavily… then a good chunk of the roofing fractures, breaking free as it falls directly on Mi'na and Amina.
Then, Amina extends her hand as she instantly creates a massive shield from her wrist directly above the both of them, intercepting the falling debris.
KRAAANG!
The sharp, metallic impact echoes throughout the room for a few seconds, the vibrations humming through the air.
The energy barrier ripples under the crushing weight of the concrete blocks, holding firm as sparks of ambient force hiss outward.
"This might not be an ideal time for questions," she says as she was still holding up the shield, her stance unyielding.
Then Amina's shield switches into two light blue, almost transparent gloves in her hands.
She reaches up, her gripped fingers digging into the stone, where she grabs the rock that fell and then throws it out of the window that was already shattered.
The massive fragment smashes through the remaining glass, dropping into the street below.
"I am not sure what's going on, we have to pause this wedding for a bit…"
Amina groans, looking at her friend's messed-up hair.
"Ugh… All my hard work on you is gone, I hope your groom's that good."
Then, with a brief flash of light blue energy, Amina creates a questionably big baby carrier on her back.
"Don't get the wrong idea… this is literally all I can think of."
Mi'na silently stares at Amina with her arms crossed, completely deadpan.
"If you want to get crushed by those falling rocks, then that makes my life easier," Amina adds dryly.
"Fine… Fine, I don't want anybody to see me like this…" Mi'na says, blushing slightly as she looks away embarrassed.
Then she gets on Amina's back by the big baby carrier, securing herself, and then they immediately leave the crumbling place behind.
⸻
Back to Tariq and Aboutrika.
"Great, that's the Amina I know," Tariq lets out a sigh of relief as he hands Aboutrika's phone back.
Then Aboutrika points down at Tariq's pouch.
"Looks like your pouch's asking for attention."
Then Tariq looks down at his pouch as he reaches into it, his fingers brushing against the fabric.
Something was shaking and jiggling heavily within the small pocket, vibrating against his hand.
"Wait… I hope it's not what I am thinking of."
Then Tariq pulls out a special device…
It was a white, squared device that has a clean digital screen on it.
The device was shaking heavily in Tariq's hand, rattling against his palm as he looked down on it.
"You think that is caused by the earthquakes around us?" Aboutrika asks, leaning closer.
"No… that is completely irrelevant."
Tariq started sweating, a cold drop running down his temple.
"It's a purple arrow pointing northeast…"
Tariq lifts his head up, his gaze cutting across the horizon to look at the exact direction.
"They're pointing at the pyramids…"
"And what the hell's that supposed to mean?" Aboutrika blinks. "Your device found the treasure or something?"
"I wouldn't call it a treasure, more like what we are trying to get rid of."
Tariq's face hardens as he tucks the vibrating device slightly lower.
"And I am sure there's an enemy inside, probably not any enemy… a dangerous one. We should be taking our precautions from now on; we're gonna wait for Amina to arrive."
TO BE CONTINUED…