Chapter 297 - Side Story 3 Months back, the neighboring cities in Plankton city had a school exchange event. After it ended, all schools returned back to their cities. Echelon academy happened to be among the schools along with black rock schools. They returned together since they happened to be from the same city. Unfortunately, the journey was not going to be as smooth as they had thought. It was still early, around eight in the morning, when they finally got to the outskirts of Atrihea city, which happened to be where the event was hosted. On the route they took, a sudden explosion suddenly happened in front, causing road devastation. The vehicles transporting the students had to stop mid-way, seeing the destruction happening in front. It was an unexpected and unbelievable sight of destruction. The route they were supposed to take had been destroyed, but that wasn’t a problem since the vehicles floated above the air. However, the increase in the temperature from the explosion was no small thing. There were no fireworks like seen in the movies or footage. This was happening right in front of them, and immediately panic erupted. A convoy of about sixteen military-like vehicles as well an aircraft moved over. The military-like vehicles surrounded the four school hover buses transporting the students. Figures dressed in red combat wear and mask stepped out of the vehicles armed with advanced weaponry. "Step out of the vehicles!" One of them shouted out as they pointed these weapons at the vehicles. The teachers within the hover buses were shocked. It was obvious these weren’t military personnel, neither did they look like they were here for the purpose of performing good deeds. Ruckus! Chatter! Ruckus! Ruckus! "Everyone stay in. Drive,r, make sure the doors remain locked. Whoever these men are, they won’t shoot at you kids," The teacher within the bus Gustav was boarding voiced out to calm the panic within the vehicle. ’Doesn’t seem that way to me,’ Gustav observed the line of these figures as he thought. Just like here, in other vehicles, the teachers were trying to calm the minds of the students while also telling the drivers to make sure the doors were tightly locked. Amongst the figures pointing their weapons at the vehicle, a bald bulky man with a long scar extending from his left cheek to his neck as he walked forward. He was the only one among the figures that didn’t use a helmet. The rest had their faces covered, and they were even some that were still in the vehicles. "Step out of the vehicles, or my men will open fire!" He voiced out as he stood in the middle of the four hover busses. "Stay in. There’s no need to fear. They dare not open fire. The authorities must be on their way now," The teachers assured the students within but in the next moment... "Fire!" The bald man shouted out Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The figures immediately opened fire and started bombarding the four vehicles with intense shots. Red and purple beams were shot out repeatedly, causing the hover buses to vibrate intensely. The teachers and the students within panicked. Luckily, the buses were built with a strong protective covering that prevented the fire of these weapons from penetrating. All the teachers within the buses were mixedbloods. However, they weren’t very powerful, so they felt it would be foolish for them to go against this unknown gang that they had no idea about. The bombardment went on for some seconds, but when the bald man noticed that they were starting to spend too much time, he finally decided to act. He raised both his arms upwards, and his body started glowing a bright blue light. Ssshrrrrhhhh! Dark clouds began to gather from above. Trrhhiikk! A big lightning bolt descended from above and landed on his figure. Sshhrrrkkyyhhh! His entire frame was now coated in lightning arcs. The students watched with astonished looks as he clasped his palms together, causing four big circular lightning orbs to appear around him. He sent those lightning orbs out, and they went ahead to float above the four hover buses, one each. Brrriiuffghhhh! These lightning orbs discharged a kind of blast of electricity on the buses causing their entire frame to be consumed by electric arcs. Sshhhhsssshhh! In the next moment, the doors of the hover buses opened up of their own accord. The drivers were unable to close them up because they had lost control. "Get them out!" The bald man commanded, and all the figures ran forward towards the buses. In a few seconds, the students and the teachers were rounded up by the gang. They had been brought out by force, and the teachers refrained from trying to go against them in fear that they might harm the students. "What do you want?" One of the teachers asked. "We have what we want already. You future problems are coming with us, hehe!" The bald man voiced out as he beckoned for the aircraft to land. This aircraft was big enough to contain them all even though they were up to two hundred in number. "We’re not going anywhere with you," One of the students shouted out. "Yeah, we ain’t going anywhere with you lots," Another one also voiced out. -"There’s only around fifty of them." -"Yeah, we can take them!" -"Let’s do this! -"Yaaahhhh!" The entire place erupted in chaos in an instant as the first person who voiced out caused the rest to also wake up. Zwoooshh! Zwoooshh! In an instant, attacks were flying in every direction as the students dashed forward to engage the gang. Bang! Bang! Boom! Bam! As the place erupted in chaos, the teachers also had no choice but to act and decided to attack the bald man who seemed like the boss. Unfortunately, it all ended in about a minute. The students, regardless of their massive numbers, were struck down fiercely by the gang. These figures were already well trained in combat, so all the attacks from the students seemed like child’s play to them. Only a few of them were knocked down, but they still managed to keep the situation under control. Bang! A student was shot in the chest, and a huge hole appeared where his heart used to be. Gasp! This action shook everyone, and the students’ confidence was shattered. These made it easier for them to be beaten and rounded up. The MBO later arrived since this was a situation regarding mixedbloods. However, the students and the teachers had been taken as their hostage, so they were unable to get close to the site since they didn’t want to rile them up. "Hmm? Why is he naked?" The bald man said while pointing at one of his men that were also taken down during the assault. This particular one had already been burnt beyond recognition; however, what baffled them was the fact that he was naked. "Hmm?" The bald man suddenly sensed something and turned around, but it was too late. Boom! Boom! Boom! Booom! Boom! Boom! Twelve of those military-like vehicles suddenly exploded. The entire vicinity was suddenly dyed in bright red fire, causing everyone to be dumbfounded as they wondered what was happening.