I could barely hear myself think over the sounds of shattering rock, wood, and metal. Let alone the wind that howled and screamed from the chaos below. I had to held onto my Arc-Aviard with all my might to keep from getting thrown off as it struggled to stay aloft, ultimately getting blown higher thanks to a updraft where the winds assaulting the island and the ocean's breeze met. Ziana was holding onto her evo thought just barely.
Our evos managed to level out and find a pocket of airspace with less turbulent winds over the center of the island, several hundred feet above the body of the flying centipede. Above the spell circle that was starting to show cracks in it. Then suddenly and swiftly everything stopped, the rumbling, the wind, a unnatural calm and silence blanketed the island. Everything was so quiet I could hear a mouse squeak in the disarrayed forest below. But I knew the silence was a deception and was proven right in the very next second.
Another lower rumble started building, it was deep and foreboding. Getting stronger and deeper with each passing second until the tallest mountain erupted. A large geyser spewed from the peak, shooting several hundred feet in the air and stopping just a few feet shy of reaching Ziana and I. Several more geyser similar to the first erupted all over the island.
At first I thought the geysers were spraying sea water or some heated hot spring water but I quickly realized that it wasn't water at all. Rather it was some sort of foam or soap. The foam rained down on the island and covered it, washing over everything until the once vibrant island was blanketed entirely in foam; it didn't stop there either. More and more foam erupted from the geysers and the excess started to flow into the ocean. Once the foam touched the water, thick bubbles started forming all over the island and floating into the sky.
At first I thought the bubbles were empty but quickly realized that they weren't. Each bubble had a person inside, either islander or member of the RJSDF. Then I saw that fox crystal merged being in one, as well as one of Chase's employees and even the massive centipede evo of his, everyone looking both trapped and protected at the same time. The more I looked the quicker I realized that I didn't see a single American, French, Chinese, Scottish, or English soldier in any of the bubbles. There were thousands of bubbles floating around, all filled with people but one bubble in particular caught my attention. A singular bubble floating in the center of the mass that had rainbow waves and golden energy flowing from it.
"What's going on?" Ziana asked.
"I think it's an evacuation…of the entire island…" I replied, my eyes settling on the rainbow bubble. "…is this one of Chase's spells…?"
All at once each of the bubbles started floating out towards the sea, as if pulled by strings. I felt a deadly chill grip my heart as I watched the bubbles floating away and realized they were being guided to safety, I realized too late. Before I could warn Ziana the island below suddenly exploded. Large chunks of the island jettisoned into the air like the island itself was a cork getting blown from a wine bottle.
A warehouse sized chunk of rock flew towards Ziana and I, hitting us and sending us and our evos even higher into the sky. It felt like the weight of the entire world was pressing on my back as we were rocketed higher and higher, the pressure only letting up once the rock started to slow down.
I glanced over my evo and was relieved to see that it wasn't hurt, a quick look at Ziana showed hers was okay as well. As the rock slowed and eventually started to fall I urged my evo forward, to climb over the edge of the rock and fly away. Ziana was close behind us, any fears or confusion she had earlier wiped away by a iron clad will to survive for herself and baby.
The skies were a mine field of rocks, tree trunks, warped metal girders, and bodies. Tens of thousands of bodies, I only caught glances of them as I flew through the debris but I caught glimpses of patches, telling me what country they served. They were the bodies of American soldiers and our allies, the fear I felt was amplified ten fold when that realization hit.
'Logan is probably among them…' I thought solemnly.
As we cleared the initial hailstorm of debris I saw Ziana maneuvering her Arc-Aviard to circle the outer edge of the rapidly decelerating island chunks. She suddenly pointed towards something inside the center of the devastation.
"THERE! ITS LOGAN!" She yelled. My eyes darted to the direction she was pointing and saw Logan clinging to a tree still planted in a football field sized mound of earth with one hand and holding onto a injured soldier with his other hand.
Ziana immediately urged her Arc-Aviard into the debris field again, I followed after her. Ziana grabbed logan's collar as she flew by yanking him off the tree but also making him loose his grip on the soldier. I dove quickly and my Arc-Aviard grabbed the soldier in his mouth by his pack, narrowly missing. I inwardly groaned with I realized the soldier was Cross.
"FUCK ME SIDEWAYS WITH FRIGG'S THORNY STRAP-ON!" Logan screamed as he flailed and tried to get a grip on Ziana's Arc-Aviard.
"LANGUAGE LOGAN!" I barked.
"THE ISLAND JUST FUCKING EXPLODED AND CHASE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT! I THINK I'M JUSTIFIED FOR FUCKING CURSING DAD!" Logan snapped back.
"LOOK OUT!" Cross warned as a chunk of now falling debris fell into our path.
Ziana sent her evo into a dive to avoid colliding with it while my own did a barrel roll and managed to squeeze through a hole barely wide enough to fit everyone. Thanks to this barrel roll however the Arc-Aviard lost its grip on Cross and he was flung up for a few feet before landing on the Arc-Aviards back once we passed through the hole.
"That was lucky…" I said, mostly in disbelief. Cross clung to me with his mostly intact arm wrapped around my waist.
"Fuck this island!" Cross barked.
"Its…" I started only to feel something slam into the side of my head, pain exploded across my body as I lost my grip on the Arc-Aviard and fell.
My vision blurred as I felt myself rapidly falling and crashing into a solid wall before slamming into something solid. I groaned as I looked up and saw Cross trying his hardest to steer the Arc-Aviard but with no hands it was nearly impossible. Logan was riding the Arc-Aviard that Ziana had rode, circling over the flat chunk of rock I was on but Ziana wasn't in sight. I turned my head and saw she was lying on her back and clutching her stomach.
"Ziana!" I exclaimed then rolled onto my stomach and crawled over to her.
"Fell off…evo during dive…" She groaned. We were still falling and I didn't know how much longer before we hit the ground or whatever was below us. I looked upwards and saw Logan now riding the Arc-Aviard with Cross and keeping the second one following close behind as they dove towards Ziana and I.
'Good they're coming to get us…' I thought.
I looked over to my daughter-in-law and my eyes widened in horror as the rock we were laying on started cracking and splitting between us. I held onto the edge of my half of the rock as it started tumbling and twirling away from Ziana's. She held onto hers for dear life as it tumbled away from mine.
I saw Logan for a brief moment as I spun, a chunk of debris struck the second Arc-Aviard in the head knocking it out or killing it. I couldn't tell which but it was now falling limply while Logan looked helplessly between Ziana and I. With only one Arc-Aviard he couldn't save both Ziana and I, actually it was doubtful he could save one of us with two people already on its back.
Our eyes locked for a brief moment and I saw remorse, anguish, and resolve burning in his eyes. I saw Logan urge the Arc-Aviard into a sharp dive towards Ziana, who'd spun a good distance away. He chose to sacrifice his father to save his wife. That was sobering and oddly comforting. As Logan and the Arc-Aviard's figures vanished from view I threw my head back and laughed loudly and boisterously.
"Finally! You do something I can be proud of!" I cackled and let go of the rock I was clinging to. "Be a good father Logan! Be better than I was! To you…and to Chase…"
I felt the wind whirling and whipping past my ears I fell, at peace for the first time in almost two decades. I was going to die but my grandchild was going to live.
'Mother, Father, I played my part as the villain…please be kind to Logan and Chase. Guide them like I couldn't when they reach P'olokopa[1] village…'
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" I heard Logan roar right as everything went black.
[1] Pronounced P-ole-o ko-pa