Riot

The incident happened so suddenly that panic spread through the vast Underground Mall like a plague. In the blink of an eye, everything descended into chaos. Customers fleeing from one direction shoved and scrambled for their lives as if they had seen the most terrifying demon in the world, casting all gentlemanly and ladylike manners to the wind in their instinctive struggle to survive.

The holiday mall had already been packed to the brim, and before long, the exits in every direction were completely clogged. Then, at the worst possible moment, every fluorescent light on the ceiling snapped off at once, plunging the entire underground level into boundless darkness. Darkness had always been the perfect breeding ground for fear, and the pitch-black surroundings robbed everyone of their sense of direction. They all began running about like headless flies.

People began using the limited light from their phone flashlights to see. The crowd moved toward the exits by the scant illumination, but that did nothing to restore order to the chaos. Faint smoke and dust drifted through the air, while people from one direction continued fleeing desperately in a single mass, like a rushing torrent.

Strange, low roars periodically came from the direction the crowd was fleeing from, as though some exceptionally savage beast were slaughtering its way through that area. In the darkness, the sound gave people the unsettling illusion that they had been locked in a cage with a dinosaur. Jay shielded Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds as they quickly retreated toward the emergency exit when a fierce rush of wind suddenly sounded beside him—the noise of some high-speed object slicing through the air.

Jay raised a hand and caught it. It was actually a stainless-steel pot lid, rapidly crushed out of shape by the tremendous force behind it. Even Jay was slightly surprised by the power it carried.

Though he was curious what exactly had caused the disturbance over there, getting Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds out safely was more important right now. Jay tossed the crumpled pot lid aside and led the two of them swiftly through the crowd.

Mrs. Reynolds tightly gripped her son's hand in the darkness and asked uneasily, "Jay, Jay, where are we going?"

"The emergency exit," Jay answered calmly. "It's right ahead."

The disturbance in the distance continued. Jagged cracks began spreading recklessly across the ceiling, while chunks of rubble and dust rained down, casting a thick veil of smoke through the darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, Jay spotted a little girl overlooked by the adults in the frantic crowd. She looked no more than eight or nine and was sitting on the ground, sobbing quietly. The rapidly spreading cracks silently crept above her head. The overloaded ceiling split apart, and shattered pipes and heaps of rubble tangled with wires came crashing down toward her.

He barely needed to think. Jay's body made the decision for him on instinct. He abruptly pulled his hand free from Mrs. Reynolds's, leaving behind a "Wait for me," before streaking away like a whirlwind. Mrs. Reynolds called his name in alarm, but she could see nothing of what was around her in the darkness.

Jay became a blur as he flashed above the little girl, spreading his arms to shield her beneath him and using his back as an umbrella. Rubble and broken tiles smashed against him one after another, but he seemed to feel nothing.

The little girl stopped crying and stared wide-eyed at the black figure protecting her. "Are you Superman?" she asked.

Jay paused. "Uh, why would you think that?"

"Mommy said Superman will come back whenever you need him."

"I'm not. I'm not Superman."

At that moment, a woman's voice came from the chaotic crowd behind them, frantic and hurried. "Jessie! Where are you? Can someone help me? Has anyone seen my daughter, Jessie?"

"Mommy!" The little girl struggled to her feet and shouted, "I'm here!"

Following the voice, Jay quickly located the anxious mother in the crowd. He picked up the little girl with one hand, blurred forward, and brought her to her mother at lightning speed.

"Mommy!" the girl cried as she threw herself into her mother's arms. The young mother's eyes were red as she held her daughter tightly, as though she would never let her go again.

Jay silently retreated into the darkness and quickly returned to Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. The two were still waiting where they were. When they saw him return, they did not ask a thing and simply continued onward with him.

When they reached the emergency exit door, Mr. Reynolds grabbed the handle and twisted it twice before saying in frustration, "It's locked."

Jay strode forward, twisted the entire lock off in one motion, and kicked the door open, revealing an equally pitch-black emergency passage. They only needed to climb the stairs ahead to reach the exit aboveground.

But just as he was about to leave the mall with Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, he hesitated. He instinctively looked back at the terrified, panicked crowd in the dark Underground Mall. The image of that helpless little girl flashed through his mind, along with the sight of her mother weeping with joy after being reunited with her.

It had nothing to do with whether he possessed the resolve to become a hero. Sometimes, tragedy happened right in front of you, and you just happened to have the power to change it. When that was the case, there was simply no way to stand by and do nothing.

Noticing that he had stopped, Mrs. Reynolds asked, "What's wrong?"

Jay took a deep breath and turned back. "Sorry, dad, mom. You two go on ahead. I just remembered there's something I need to do. I'll catch up with you soon, I promise."

With that, he left the two of them behind and turned back without hesitation into the pitch-black mall.

At the same time, outside the Underground Mall.

The police arrived after receiving word and set up a cordon around the entire Underground Mall. Police cars were parked at every exit, while large numbers of officers sealed off the surrounding area and stood ready.

Holch was the detective in charge of the operation. He had worked at the Metropolitan Police Department for more than thirty years and had personally witnessed a series of bizarre incidents, including laboratory monsters going berserk and alien invasions. Most of them had become stories he bragged about to the department's rookies.

The orders from above regarding this operation were rather strange. His superiors only told him that an unexplained disturbance had broken out in the Underground Mall and civilians were trapped below, yet they instructed him only to seal off the entrances and wait.

Holch asked what would happen to the civilians. Shouldn't they at least attempt a rescue? His superiors only gave him vague answers, saying that higher authorities would send specialists trained to handle this sort of incident, and that they only needed to wait.

Holch's second cigarette had burned down to the end. He tossed the butt to the ground, crushed it beneath his shoe, and impatiently checked his watch. Whoever the specialist his superiors had mentioned was, they were late. Holch was already calculating that if no one showed up within another three minutes, he would take his people inside on his own initiative.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the roar of a motorcycle engine reached his ears. A modified dark-purple motorcycle leaped into the air like a spirited stallion, roaring as it vaulted over the roofs of a line of police cars. It landed sideways, then came to a stop with an outrageously flashy drift. The tires shrieked against the ground as the rider's black hair fluttered in the wind.

The rider removed her helmet and shook out her jet-black hair, then swung a pair of long legs with unforgettable curves off the bike. She wore a midriff-baring Purple Uniform and a purple mask covering half her face, revealing only her elegantly shaped chin. A pair of sky-blue eyes shone sharply and alertly from behind the mask, like those of a shrewd hunter.

Holch froze. He had never expected the "specialist" his superiors mentioned to be a hot-bodied woman. He felt it would have been more normal to see her at a costume ball.

"Good work, Detective." The woman strode forward confidently and said coldly, "I'll take over from here."