Chapter 27: Chapter 27
The implosion began on the cell charger, sucking everything around it inward before it forcefully ejected upward and levitated into the clouds.
The sky tore open into a terrifying sight. A black sphere twisted into reality, bending light unnaturally around it. Train sections, vehicles, and debris began lifting into the air, drawn toward the menacing vortex.
Panic seized the city. A collective scream rose as people saw the massive black sphere and the debris it consumed. They ran in all directions, their frantic movements a stark contrast to the silent, gravitational pull of the anomaly.
Eric struggled to get to his feet, his vision blurry and his ears ringing with a deafening, high pitched hum. He felt dizzy and weak, the result of being violently thrown around inside the train car.
"Ahh,"
he moaned in pain, spitting out blood. He looked around, but his vision was too distorted to make anything out clearly.
A blurry, dark figure was approaching him, its mouth moving as if speaking, but Eric could only hear a deep, muffled sound. He breathed heavily and collapsed.
The figure reached him, its hands grabbing him and pulling him out of the mangled train section.
"—#&!"
the figure seemed to yell, holding Eric’s cheek. Eric’s mind was a fog of pain and confusion. He lay on the ground, outside the wreckage, the figure’s voice a distant, muffled echo.
"What?" Eric managed to say, his eyes rolling in dizziness.
"—#&! Move!"
the figure’s voice was becoming a little clearer, as was his vision.
"—#&! You have to move!"
The figure’s appearance sharpened with each blink. After a few seconds, his vision cleared, and he saw Jimmy, with bloody bruises on his face, kneeling in front of him.
"There’s a black hole, we have to move!" Jimmy said, grabbing Eric’s arm and placing it over his shoulder, lifting him up.
Eric’s hearing cleared, and as he stood, the full scope of the chaos hit him. He saw the destruction, injured people crying out in pain, others trying to help, and a panicked crowd running for their lives.
The sight was a searing echo of eighteen years ago. The screams reminded him of a past he desperately wanted to forget. He looked around, his body frozen in a state of shock.
"Eric, Eric, snap out of it!" Jimmy’s voice, now sharp and clear, cut through his haze. Jimmy pushed him lightly on the side, drawing him back to reality.
Eric looked up. The sky was a nightmare of spiraling debris. He watched as cars, entire sections of buildings, and pieces of the train were being pulled into the massive black sphere.
"My God, there really is a black hole," he said, his voice filled with shock and awe. He was too weak to stand on his own, but with Jimmy’s support, he was partially able to hold himself up.
"Why is there a black hole all of a sudden?" Jimmy asked, both of them walking away but taking the vortex into consideration.
Jimmy’s question made Eric think. He tried to remember what had happened. He winced in pain as a jolt of memory hit him, the explosion, the cell charger...
"Pretty sure it’s got something to do with the bloody explosion... you know, right after we were tossed headfirst into that sodding train"
Eric replied, hopping in pain as they moved away from the wreckage, seeking a corner for shelter.
"No idea if she’s alive or dust, but Yelena had the charger. If the activation zone slammed into it, then we’re looking at a breach that’s feeding spacetime"
Jimmy’s jaw dropped. He stopped, placing Eric’s back against a wall.
"Yelena... Yelena’s dead?" he asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"I’m really hoping that’s not the case, kid, but if we don’t stop that black hole, this whole planet and everything on it goes down the drain," Eric replied, clutching his ribs to ease the pain.
The black sphere was tearing the city apart at a critical rate, pulling in large structures and demolishing skyscrapers. The whole city was in a state of chaos, as official forces began to help and evacuate people.
"So, how do we stop it?" Jimmy said, turning to face the black hole, forcing the thought of Yelena’s death out of his mind.
"If it’s the charger, then it’s feeding the singularity," Eric said, his mind moving faster than his mouth.
"If we reverse the polarity, collapse the loop, the bloody black hole dies with it."
"We need something strong enough to handle immense energy output," Eric said, clutching his ribs, his mind racing despite the pain.
"Something able to create a counter pulse strong enough." He looked up at the swirling black sphere, a sickening vortex pulling everything toward it. The world around him seemed to be dying with every second.
"Handling immense energy... handling immense energy..." Jimmy muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the area. The city was crumbling, but in the chaos, one thought lingered in his mind.
"The train should have something powering it. A vehicle that big requires a huge flow of energy from an internal power source."
Eric’s heart skipped a beat.
"Smart thinking, but that core’s probably fried from the wreck. And even if it’s not, I’d still need to rewire and amp the damn thing, not exactly a five minute job" Eric started, wincing in pain. He tried to pull himself up.
"It’s worth a shot," Jimmy said, a determined look on his face.
"And no one said you’d have to be the one to do it."
Eric was confused.
"What are you—" he began, finally finding the strength to stand. But before he could finish his sentence, Jimmy launched forward, leaving him behind and heading toward the wreckage. The black hole had already begun pulling the train parts in.
"Jimmy!" Eric yelled, trying to chase after him to stop him, but he was too weak and in too much pain to keep up.
Jimmy was undeterred by the imminent danger, moving with purpose and speed that surprised Eric.
He had seen that look in his Jimmy’s eyes before, the same unyielding determination that had kept them going through every nightmare they’d faced together. But this was different. The stakes were higher now.
The city groaned under the pressure of the growing black hole, buildings quaking as they were slowly pulled into the swirling abyss.
The sky seemed to twist around the vortex like a living thing, the clouds forming a grotesque spiral above them.
The heat was suffocating, and Eric could feel it even from where he stood, helplessly watching Jimmy move toward the heart of the chaos.
Each second was like an eternity. Eric’s breath was ragged, his body screaming for him to stop, but he pushed himself forward, desperate to catch up.
His legs felt like lead, each step a struggle as his vision blurred again, a pulse of pain radiating from his ribs. He could still hear the echoes of distant screams and the violent noise of metal and concrete crumbling as the black hole swallowed it all.