142 Evacuation

'Quoting Mongrel now, are we?' Noble clicked her tongue at her own foolishness.

Yet somehow the words had also given her strength. Her clarity returned. 

While the gate was still wavering, the professor knew what she had to do. With the few remaining seconds, she needed to get people off of the train immediately. 

And she knew exactly how to do it. 

Clutching the Portcullis Key, Noble passed through the ceiling of the train like a ghost. There were only three long cars and an engine on this light rail. Hopefully, there would be time enough to stop the train and evacuate the passengers. 

Floating the length of the roof, she passed into the engineer's control room. The woman, who was already panicking, turned white as a sheet as upon Noble's arrival. 

"Nightmare Creature?!" she half-asked, half screamed. 

Queen Bee realized that the mask, armor, and sudden entrance were likely not the best first impression. "No, I'm..." 

The lady did not wait for the complete answer. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she crumpled to the ground, unconscious. 

'Well, that's a problem.' 

Noble looked at the large panel in front of her. There were plenty of buttons and switches, but none clearly labeled STOP. She could press all of them and hope for the best, but that seemed foolish. 

Since Bee had no time to learn the controls of the train, she abandoned her hope of halting it and resorted to completing the second part of her plan. 

Getting everyone off as quickly as possible. 

Starting with the woman on the ground. 

'This just got a lot harder.' The professor tucked the [Portcullis Key] into her armor.

Scooping the lady up in her arms, Noble exited through the top of the train. 

Thankfully, they both passed through without issue. There was a possibility that the Key would only help the person who wielded it, but with how much fear was bubbling in the city, it had more than enough power to take them both out of the metal prison. 

As soon as they were free of the train, the floating Awakened released her grip on the engineer and floated her to the ground. Hopefully, the woman would wake up in time to run.

But there wasn't time to make sure that happened. 

There were still two cars full of people. 

'Glad I already cleared one at least...' 

Without having acted on her instincts, Noble would have found the task impossible to complete. As it was, she was not sure if it was a realistic goal. 

'I cannot let these people die!'

So she immediately went to work. Entering the first car through the roof, Noble found the people inside were already beginning to lose hope. 

'Thirty-seven people. Not as bad as it could be.' Noble used the combination of her abilities to gauge how many bodies were in the car. 

As she opened her eyes, they swirled, surveying all of the frightened faces. 

"Queen Bee! Are you here to save us?!" One man screamed as he gripped the handrail. 

"That's the plan." Bee's modulated voice came out through the Fraudulent Facade. "Cover your ears!" 

Already she had called a small hammer into her hand. The Memory fully formed as she hit it against the front window.

With a deafening boom, the glass shattered along with the rest of the windows in the car. Even the door was slightly ajar.

"Everyone climb out and I'll lower you to the ground safely."

Noble was relatively sure she could do it. She had once helped out in the boys' talent show by juggling dozens of balls using her Aspect. This was fundamentally the same concept, just with much bigger objects to keep in the air--or at least lower through it. 

Most people hesitated, but a lone gentleman, more scared of the gate than the ground, pushed his way out of the door and jumped. 

Her eyes swirling in every sort of color, Noble focused on the falling human to slow his descent. the man landed on the ground unharmed. Seeing his success, the others followed in his path. Only the last couple needed Noble to force them out of the steel carriage and toward the ground. 

Even as the final person was heading out of the window, Noble was passing through the roof. She could have gone out of the window, but she would have lost all her speed.

Coming out on the roof meant she could keep pace with the train without any issues. 

And since there was plenty of fear, the [Portcullis Key] was brimming with boundless energy. Noble could feel it pulsing with power. 

'One more to go...' Queen Bee dove into the final car, almost passing through a person with the key's power. She managed to stop just in time before finding out if passing through living beings was even possible. 'That could get messy...and gross.' 

"Cover your ears!" Noble repeated the process with the [Rolling Thunder]. Only this time, since the Memory had been out longer, the boom was more forceful. 

'Careful! You'll make their ears bleed!' 

"Jump!" After the initial instruction, Noble couldn't wait anymore. She began to force people out of the car. 

Toward the back of the compartment, a gentleman was holding on desperately to his infant son. He seemed as reluctant to go as he did to stay. Noble couldn't blame him. He had another life depending on him. 

When he prepared to jump out of the broken door, the child wormed his way from his father's arms and fell back into the cabin. The man screamed, but his feet had already left the floor.

The family was separated. 

The tiny remaining passenger looked back at Noble with large, innocent eyes. The train continued down the tracks, threatening to smash the Awakened and child into the nascent gate.

'Not on my watch.' Queen Bee dismissed the hammer and flew the length of the car. Catching the child by the waist, she continued forward. The pair passed through the back wall and into the open air. 

"Where is your father?" she asked the startled little one. 

The child didn't answer, but as they lowered to the ground, a lone figure came racing toward them. 

"Nico!" The man rushed toward his child. 

Noble released the boy into his parent's arms. "Run!" 

The man did not need any encouragement. Grabbing Nico, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him away from the danger. The floating Awakened only hoped it was fast enough. 

Behind her, the train finally met the end of the track.

Without hesitation, it flew from the rail, launched into the air, hit the wavering Gate...

And exploded.

While the fiery bits of mangled train car were still falling from the sky, an especially strong tremor ran through the ground.

A hurricane-force wind barreled down the empty street pulling Bee toward the rift. 

The light changed and shifted as if the sun no longer controlled shadows. 

Then an invisible shockwave shot out of the burgeoning breach. Glass all around her shattered as Bee resisted the push. 

 Then, the feeling which had only been an inkling before burst upon her in its full glory. 

Her soul felt compelled to answer the call. 

Which meant only one thing. 

The Gate had opened…