Spider-Man and The Esper

21. Bomb Incident

"That's it, run, run!" The man yelled, deranged, as he pointed his gun around at the people, who all screamed and rippled out of the way of the direction he was pointing it in. "Yes, scream in terror, show me what a heartless pack of selfish fools you are, show me what you're truly made of!" he continued, as he started forward, trying to scare them, frightening the civilians even more.

He shot a round of bullets into the buildings, shattering glass and breaking up plaster. The people all ducked for cover, but remained unharmed. "You don't deserve to live, you ruined my life! So I'm gonna take you down too," he yelled, before continuing to shoot madly.

Fubuki couldn't tell if he was really trying to kill the people, or just had a terrible aim, but he did not want to take his chances, so he suddenly jumped down into the line of fire, creating a buffer between the man and the panicking civilians.

To his surprise, the man unexpectedly stopped. He stood there, the look on his face suddenly becoming uncertain. "Hellish Blizzard?" he asked, as if he wasn't sure of it himself. He started shaking his head, "No, no, no you shouldn't be here, get out of here! Get away!" the man yelled at him, swatting his arm out loosely as if to shoo him off. He sounded genuinely concerned or distressed.

Fubuki took a step forward, noting the feint beeping which signalled the timer of the bomb had already been set off.

"Look, you don't need to do this, ok? You're not thinking straight. Just turn the bomb off and go home. I'm sure we can come to some understanding with the cops, and they can get you help," Fubuki said in a steady, calm voice.

The man just muttered to himself, looking around in distress, before looking vaguely back at him. "I can't, I can't," he said, shaking his head again.

"You can't do what?" Fubuki asked, before cocking her head, contemplating him. After a few seconds, Fubuki spoke up. "I don't think you really want to do this, do you?" She observed, thoughtfully, before perking up. "It's not too late; just give me the gun and-"

"No! No, you don't understand! You don't understand; you must leave," was the only reply she got, and suddenly, the gun was being held shakily towards her. Fubuki straightened up, stiffening.

"Sir?" Fubuki asked, worried.

The man just started muttering to himself again, before speaking up. "Leave. Please!" he said - begged, re-cocking the gun and pointing it at the heroine.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Fubuki said firmly, and the man's face scrunched up in pain, before he lowered the gun.

"No, no, no...no you weren't supposed to be here, you weren't..."

"Why wasn't I supposed to be here?" Fubuki asked carefully, stepping closer. The timer was getting lower.

"I-I didn't want to hurt you, you're not supposed to get hurt. You do good - you do good, you help people, you're not like them..."

"What do you mean 'I'm not like them'?" She asked. "I'm a person; I've got a job; I do normal stuff; I have a life; and I have problems. Whatever happened to you, it's not these people's fault. It's not their fault," She repeated, shaking her head for emphasis. "These people don't deserve to die any more than you do, ok? Look at them. Look at them!" And the man looked up. "Do you really want to cause them harm? These people have families, loved ones that will miss them. Think about what you're doing. Come on, turn the bomb, off," Fubuki practically panted, emphasising her words.