"GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Without warning, the deformed octopus emits an incredibly irritating shriek, as if someone were scratching a chalkboard with their fingernails.
[[[[[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!]]]]]
Everyone on the bridge screams in pain as they cover their ears. A hot pressure pierces my eardrums, as if someone were trying to drive needles into my skull from the inside.
Then I saw it.
In front of me, a desk with a folder on it, titled "The End of One Piece." Too good to be true.
The girls beside me were also paralyzed, their faces pale. The police girl muttered something about her grandfather, as if facing a terrible reality.
Everyone on the bridge was in a similar situation. The shriek from before is definitely causing individual hallucinations.
["God damn it, god damn it, god damn it!"] —I curse the first thing that comes to mind as I pull out a knife and stab it into my palm.
["WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU SONS OF BITCHES?! SHOOT THAT DAMN THING!"] —I shout as soon as I regain my senses, and the gang members also begin to snap out of their trance.
["SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"]
["HEEEELP!"]
["SHOOT, SHOOT!"]
BANG-BANG-BANG!
Soon, the scene becomes chaotic again. The deformed octopus is obviously not even tickled by our attacks, but it doesn't seem happy that we broke out of its trance. Anyway, I just need a distraction.
["Quick, wrap this rope around your chest, in an 'X' shape,"] —I tell the girls as I unroll the rope around my own chest, leaving enough line to tie one end to me and the other to a harpoon.
["Huh?"]
["Why?"]
["NOW!"]
[[[YES!]]]
Why do they only listen to me when I yell? Do they have some kind of fetish?
["Hey, shitty cat, can you create a gust of wind to push us forward?"]
"Nya?"
["You'd better be able to, or we're dead."]
[[[WHAT?]]]
"NYA?"
Just as I was about to force the girls to follow me.
["DAMN IT, EVERYONE RUN, WE HAVE TO FLEE! FIRE WHILE WE RUN!"]
The gang leader finally recovers from his stupor and gives the order. Immediately, the other gang members obey him and, without stopping their fire, begin to run to get off the bridge.
["Should we go too?"] —one of the girls asks.
["Yeah, that way,"] —I say, pointing to the pillar of light, specifically the area where the part of the bridge we were going to cross used to be. Yes, towards the side where the octopus emerged from.
["Huh? But why don't we run with them?"] —The police girl seemed about to complain, but…
["WATCH OUUUUUUUUUT!"]
["DAMN IT, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"]
"CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
One of the shitty octopus's tentacles smashes into the bridge. The ground tilts sharply; steel rebars stick out like broken ribs. It was the most powerful impact yet, to the point that we all jumped at least two meters in the air, while the bridge cracked like a soda cracker that had been bitten hard.
["That's why. Now hold hands and move forward, forward, forward."]
I ignore the pain from the impact and order without further explanation. This time, the girls don't hesitate. They take each other's hands and start running behind me.
[[[HIIAGGG!]]]
At the same time, the tentacles wrap around the bridge, making it tilt as they sweep everything away.
["Shit, shit, shit, you damn deformed octopus!"] —I curse as much as I can while running towards the pillar of light, pushing the girls.
Go to another world? Your mother's shit is going to another world. What do you think Louise will do to the rat kid if she finds out he went on a trip? Fear. What the rat kid will do is cross this damn bridge, the rat kid concludes.
Just as I was about to reach the edge of the bridge, where I could appreciate the ugliness of this damn deformed octopus up close.
"Graaaaaa!"
The cry of the super-developed cat came from my side.
Luckily, it wasn't its usual toxic insistence. It was screaming because one of the octopus's tentacles had caught it. As it's dragged off the bridge, the cat breaks free a little, just enough to choose the worst move of all: biting while digging its claws into the tentacle. To its misfortune, it works, which is not very good when you're dozens of meters above the river.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" —the cat screamed as the octopus threw it upwards with a shake.
Can it survive that fall? I doubt it. Tsk…
["A-aaaa, ASTRAD!"]
["JUMP!"]
["A-a-a… ASTRAD!"]
["JUMP!"]
I pull the police girl by the arm as I shout, and she in turn pulls her companions in a chain.
[[[KYAAAAAA!]]]
Of course, the screams.
["SHITTY CAAAAAAAAAAT!"]
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
With the complaint from the cat that was sheltered inside the police girl's shirt, a blast of dense air hit us from behind, pushing us like an invisible hand at a 40° angle relative to the bridge.
["THE RAT KID CAN FLY!"]
In fact, he can't, but I always wanted to try. Isn't this when the world is supposed to move to awaken my great flying abilities?
["FLIGHT MAGIC!"]
Nothing happens…
[[[[YOU'D BETTER HOPE THIS ISN'T YOUR GRAND IDEAAAAAAAAAAA!]]]]
["THE RAT KID HAS EVERYTHING COLDLY CALCULATED!"]
As we were falling with style and I was arguing with the girls…
"Gra?"
The super-developed cat lets out a stupid cry as I intercept it in mid-air, catching it with my legs.
[[[WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HIAAA!]]]
I ignore the girls and quickly adjust a piece of rope around the cat.
["You help me, I help you,"] —I declare to the confused feline.
"Pop!"
Finally, I fire my harpoon gun towards the section of the bridge on the other side of the pillar of light. That's right, the rat kid is going through his Tarzan phase, king of the rats...
And when the harpoon cable goes taut…
["My hands?"] —I complained from the cat's back, as the rope I was barely holding made the bones in my palm, elbow, shoulder, and generally all of my damn arms, crack.
I remembered in that moment: this damn cat is bigger than a small car.
["YOU WEIGH A FUCKING TON!"]
"GRAAAAAAAAAAA!"
[[[DON'T SAY THAT TO A LADY!]]]
["WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU OOOOOONNN?!"] —I shout in an attempt to ignore the pain.
Finally, as we reached the lowest point and began to swing up like Tarzan…
["Hey, do you know how to swim?"] —I ask the cat.
"Gra."
["Good, you're heavy. This is your stop."]
"Gra?"
"Flash."
I let go of the cat, which flies a few meters before falling into the sea. It should be fine from this height.
"GRAAAAAAAA!"
["Slander. The rat kid saved you from the fall, he never said anything about helping you not to drown."]
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
["The rat kid doesn't give a damn. GYAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA!"]
The rat kid remembered something from… shitty physics class at that moment. There was a strange law about moving objects, the pendulum, and gravity.
I wasn't sure, but the rat kid, who has swung around the bridge and is now about to start falling onto it, is plummeting to his horrible death because of it. The rat kid has no proof, but also no doubts.
["Could this be the end of the rat kid?"]
[[[ASTRAAAAADDDDDDDD!]]]
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The girls are complaining. Complaints, complaints with you… Wait, aren't we falling?
Newton can suck my dick.
Far from falling, I'm feeling an upward pulling force. Looking closely, I got too close to the beam of light. And now it seems to want to take me. Bad. The rat kid can't live without the internet. He prefers death.
["A-are we okay?"] —the police girl asks, looking at me, dazed.
["Depends on how much you like the idea of going to another planet."]
I tell her, and she gives a bitter smile.
["What do we do now?"] —another of the girls asks.
I struggle to pull myself along the rope, but the pull is unexpectedly strong. Will it be weaker below?
["Oh no. We need to get down, fast."]
["Hm?"]
"Nya?"
["Remember what I told you. That sometimes the current intensifies and can even lift cars, like at the beginning of this nightmare. But it doesn't last long…"]
["Get down, get down, get down!"]
With no time to think, I start climbing down the rope, ignoring my dislocated arms. The girls catch the urgency and start moving as if they were in gym class. But when we were just a few meters from the ground…
[[[KYAAA!]]]
Damn Newton attacks with his shitty law. Although the girls were close enough to only get a small bump…
"CRACKKK!"
I, who was higher up, fall onto the roof of a car, which caves in like a crumpled sheet of paper.
["All… according… to plan… The rat kid concludes…"]
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pass out from the pain for a bit.