As he saw the encroaching army of Nomus – soulless, purple abominations screeching for blood, he registered their danger in half a second. Without hesitation – or more specifically, a quarter of a second, he brought his shields up in the last quarter , just as tendrils sharp as blades launched themselves towards him and saved him from being skewered instantly.
A second could mean the difference between life and death. He had trained himself to react as fast as possible, and to summon his shields even faster. There was no room to think, no room to contemplate on a decision. Because he would one day meet an enemy that needed less than a second.
He saw the explosion unlike anything he’d seen. The glass shattered and then dissolved as the shards flew towards him. He brought his shields up, but the only thing that touched him was light dust.
Then the ground creaked and groaned as fracture marks webbed outwards, in the direction of the retreating heroes.
1 second. Gran Torino was shouting for a retreat.
1 second. He turned to run towards the exit, his right arm flung towards the unstoppable destruction to summon a shield wall. It would delay it – not for long.
1 second. “GO! GO! GO!” He roared, as Ryukyu soared through the tunnels holding the heroes. He stepped on shields to avoid the ground, as obliteration crept nearer and nearer. He saw an outstretched hand of a hero on Ryukyu’s back. Their anguished cry told him to move faster.
1 second. He heard the cry of a Nomu. It was holding someone’s leg. The fractures were fast approaching them. If it reached that hero...
His legs felt strange; he couldn’t move them.
Something became clear to him.
A last shield to slice off that Nomu’s arm. A smile and a thumbs up to that hero. He wasn’t sure who it was. The groaning of the desecration around him, the shouting and the utter chaos, his dissolving body...Everything was a blur.
1 second. That was all he needed.
Ah, I knew Crust would be the most expendable in terms of a character death, but somehow it still hit hard. Probably the way he went out. Writing this drabble in honour of this character.