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When the storm had come no one was prepared for the red demon that came with it. The diamond shaped, lightning producing, bending resistant creature patrolled the streets much to the fear of those around it. The commander ran from the rest of the brigade, inadvertently taking the demon with him.
“JAE!” He heard captain Karthik yell but Jae was already on his board going faster than he ever had following the commander to make sure he wasn’t injured or worse. Unexpectedly, the commander made multiple turns around buildings in their labyrinth of a city and started to run straight for Jae. Going too fast to stop the teen made a quick decision to make a sharp turn to avoid colliding with and injuring the commander.
As Jae made the sharp turn he inevitably got flung from the board and was left as a heap in the alleyway. His ribs hurt but thankfully they didn’t feel broken however his ankle was definitely sprained. Jae tried to stand up before his ankle sent a jolt of pain up his leg and he fell to the ground once more. The commander was long gone and as he looked up Jae could see a bright red light from the end of the alleyway.
His breath picked up and he managed to get to his feet pushing down the pain as his survival instincts took hold. He started to limp away slowly hoping to make an escape. As he painstakingly tried to get away, Jae made a misstep and went barreling to the ground.
“No no no stay away! Stay away!” His screams went unanswered as the creature came closer and closer before making its mark.
Once the creature was no more and the storm had cleared Karthik had just congratulated the two girls for a job well done when he heard shouts for his attention..
“Captain Karthik! Come quick it’s Jae!”
Karthik could have sworn his heart stopped for a second before everything caught up to him. The older man started to run towards the commotion where he found the kid facing the wall shaking in terror. The captain didn’t have to shove his way through as the people surrounding the teen moved out of the way mostly out of fear of the older man.
“Jae…” Karthik started before bringing a big hand to the teen's shoulder. Jae turned around quickly before falling forward. Karthik shifted the kid a bit so he could cradle him close. Jae’s normally tidy long hair was an absolute mess, his gray eyes had turned a terrible red, and dark blotches circled around his eyes signaling a brain injury. “Jae, my boy, listen to me. You’re safe now we’ll get you all fixed up. You’re going to be okay.” Karthik mumbled. He knew deep down that Jae probably wasn’t understanding him so the words were mostly to comfort himself.
The usually rough around the edges, professional captain was unwinding at the seams. He brought a hand to Jae’s cheek carefully and used his thumb to make small comforting motions. “I-it’s c-coming…”
“What?” Karthik responded confused, “what’s coming Jae?” The teen let out a loud whine before growing more frantic “It’s coming! It’s coming!”
“What is coming Jae? Talk to me!” The older man asked with urgency. Instead of an answer Jae’s eyes closed and he went limp in Karthik’s arms.
“I need a medic!”