Limitless

Chapter 32: Caught

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No one knew what had happened. The carriage shook before there was a sound of metal being ripped into. As he heard it more behind him, Kaito whipped around, right where Ryoma was standing. He yelled out Ryoma's name as he saw a metallic hand retreat back out of the carriage, Ryoma's form could just about be seen. He didn't fight back of respond to his name being called, meaning that he must have fallen unconscious. Kaito was about to try to reach for Ryoma, but the shredding of metal returned, much louder this time. The roof of the carriage had a hole just large enough for everyone to see five monkey shaped robots that were at least three times the size of a normal human. They each had large hands and long tails. The top of their heads were half grey and the other half was one different colour each, one red, one blue, one yellow, one pink and one green. Their right foot was didactyl while their left foot was three toed.

"Say hello to the Exisals everyone!" Junko cackled, revelling in the chaos in front of her. The robots focused in on the Limitless.

"RUN! GET TO THE WOODS! NOW!" Kaito yelled, remembering the scenery he saw before this went to hell. He pushed some of the others in front of him, ignoring the fact that not everyone had grabbed their things. The woods were just thick enough for them to hide, maybe the forest will be too dense for the "Exisals" to chase them. It was a chance that they'll have to take. Noticing Maki grabbing her backpack with her powers, Kaito was about to drag her out. An Exisal reached towards them. Kaito tried to shield Maki with his body, but the hand was stopped very suddenly. They look up to see Gonta trying to hold the mechanical hand back from grabbing them.

"Gonta fight to protect friends! Friends must run now!" Gonta shouted, straining to keep the hand from enclosing around him. Kaito wanted to help, but Maki started to drag him away. Just as they were about to step off, Kaito looked back, ready to shout for Gonta to come. He didn't have time to do that. The split second he looked back at Gonta, the hand had closed around him. The giant let out a loud yell as he was suddenly shocked. That must have what knocked Ryoma out too. Kaito wanted to try to do something, but he felt powerless. He started running as the Exisal suddenly spotted him. He ran as fast as he could to keep up with the others. Everyone made a beeline for the forest, their only chance of being safe. However, as he ran, Kaito noticed that the other Exisals had already caught some of them. After Miu stumbled, Kirumi tried to buy her time with her powers, resulting in them both getting caught. As one reached for Himiko, Tenko immediately grabbed her and threw her as far as she could. She didn't have a chance to fight back when she was grabbed. Kiyo tried to drag Angie with him to keep up, but it only resulted in them getting caught in one mechanical hand at the same time. Rantaro, Kaede and Kokichi weren't fast enough.

Kaito desperately wanted to try to save the others, but he felt too scared to do so. He knows that it will no good. He couldn't look back, he couldn't get distracted. Once they're safe, they can work out a plan to get the others back. That's what Kaito thought. He was snapped out of it when he suddenly heard something not too far behind him. Just as Keebo, dragging a distraught looking Himiko, disappeared into the tree line, Kaito looked back. Shuichi had tripped over on something and was scrambling to get up. The remaining Exisal, the others had suddenly started going in another direction, was catching up to him rapidly. Kaito suddenly had no control of his own body, it was thrown into a reflex. He ran which then turned into flying to increase speed. Even if he couldn't save the others, he could at least save one.

Shuichi stumbled as he started running again. He ignored the tightness in his chest and the burn in his legs. He knew that the Exisal was catching up to him. He tried to ignore that, keeping the forest as a firm goal for him to get to. He didn't even think to pick up his hat after it was blown off of his head. He needed to get away. Once he and the others were safe they can plan out how to save everyone else. That's all that they could do. Shuichi kept his eyes trained on the forest, the trees seeming to be bigger now. He was so close. He suddenly heard the Exisal's hand moving, reaching towards him. He was still too far from the tree line to vanish, to be out of reach. He wasn't going to make it!

Shuichi didn't know what had happened in that moment. One second he thought that he was going to get caught. The next thing that he knew was seeing Kaito charging towards him. He didn't have a chance to think as Kaito suddenly grabbed his wrist. Kaito used all his strength to throw Shuichi as far as he could. As Shuichi looked back, everything seemed to slow down. He watched as Kaito's determined face contorted to a mixture of anger and fear. The Exisal grabbed Kaito's legs right away. However, instead of shocking him, the robot slammed him slammed him down. Kaito was knocked out instantly, hanging from the Exisal's hand as limp as a rag doll. Shuichi couldn't do anything. He was frozen to the spot as he watched his friend looking so lifeless. He was so still that Shuichi thought that Kaito was killed after being hit like that. Since the robot also had Kokichi in its grasp, it couldn't capture anyone else. Just like the others, it started to retreat, heading off to goodness knows where.

"KAITO!"

Shuichi was snapped out of his shock, he spotted Maki bursting out from the trees. Her face was dark with anger as her eyes impossibly narrowed. Just seeing her looking so furious almost gave Shuichi a heart attack. She looked more like a raging monster than a girl. Even her hair looked like it was going wrap around and strangle something. She was starting to chase after the Exisal as it picked up speed, out matching her sprint.

"No! Maki! Even if you-" Shuichi shouted, getting up and grabbing Maki by the arm.

"Let go! Do you wanna die?!" Maki growled, this time sounding like she will make good on her threat. Shuichi almost released her as she glared at him. If looks could kill, he'd be in a bloody state. However, he stood firm. The last thing that they needed was to be down by one more Limitless.

"Maki! If you go after them, you might be caught too. Then you won't be any use to Kaito and the others. Please Maki." Shuichi begged, his grip tightening on Maki's arm. Maki glare turned more harsh, as if she was ready to rip Shuichi to shreds. Shuichi stood firm. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Maki was probably the best chance that they had of getting the others back. Her powers seemed to be more useful than his and Himiko's. Even Keebo might not be enough to get everyone back. Maki and Shuichi locked eyes, a silent battle between them. After a tense minute, Maki took a deep breath, seeming to calm down. Her face was emotionless and her body was almost fully relaxed. Taking that as a sign, Shuichi gently pulled Maki with him. They disappeared into the forest. Shuichi looked back, the Exisals nothing more than five dots in the distance now. The train was abandoned and ripped into completely. The area was so silent. Aside from the large footprints and the torn apart train, no one would guess what had truly happened here. No one would know that twelve people were just kidnapped, being forced to go through the horrors of the labs again. Shuichi felt a huge weight of guilt on him as he watched his friends vanish in the distance. Keeping a firm goal in mind to save them, Shuichi followed his friends deep into the forest. They need to think of a plan, but the first thing that they need to do for now was hide. 'Just hold for us everyone. We'll get you out of there. I promise.' Shuichi vowed silently, embracing the dark cover that the forest provided.