The Bubble Popper

Chapter 10

The Remembrance Ceremony was a bubble tradition for remembering the lives of popped bubbles.

Once a month, family and friends of the popped bubbles of the month would gather in Remembrance Park. There they release the remains of their loved ones into the very center of the park. Which was also the center of Cloud City.

In the center of the park, there's a waterfall. When the light is at its highest point for the day, a rainbow is formed, creating an arch. The rainbow, a symbol of light and hope, is believed to be the bridge between this and the next life. A farewell and hope for a better life.

Sud didn't believe it. He once did, but life showed him all that was crap. It was all just superficial hopes. We create our own happiness and better life, not some rainbow wishes.

Sud did not rest well. He went over every detail and list of things he would take. He could only take whatever could fit in his backpack. Money, identification, and most importantly, his treasure.

Sometimes he wondered if he was making the right choice. In the end, he decided to continue. It wasn't like he was affecting his family and friends. He wouldn't miss anyone, and no one would miss him. He had no one. No one to say goodbye to, no one to tell him to reconsider things.

If he stopped now, what awaited him was pain. If he continued, he had hope for the future.

Why second-guess himself when the bubbles that hurt him never once stopped to question whether they were doing the right thing?

What happened to them was just what they brought upon themselves. Their retribution. What he was doing was just fighting for the life he deserved.

Why should their fate stop him from living a happy and free life?

The day was as normal as any other day. It was sunny and warm. The only difference was the anxious feeling in the air. At least to Sud, there was an anxious feeling. He touched his backpack, just to feel safe.

Sud walked through the crowd of bubbles gathered for the ceremony. He had planned to arrive a few minutes before the ceremony started. He didn't want to seem abnormal by getting there too early.

Bubbles were crying and hugging all around Sud, but he didn't care. He had never attended a ceremony. No one he cared for had ever popped.

He pushed his way to the center of the park, right in front of the waterfall. He had a close-up view of where the rainbow would appear soon. The area was circular and roaring with water. It was indeed a breathtaking sight.

Just as breathtaking as it was mysterious. The water from all over Cloud City eventually ended up at that waterfall. All the waterways were interconnected, but all of them eventually ended in the waterfall.

Not only that, but the waterfall had no protection barrier. One would think bubbles would just fall into the abysm, but they didn't. You could pour water and it would become one with the waterfall, but if someone tried to jump, they would be repelled.

There were many security guards all over the park during the ceremony, but they were mostly there keeping an eye out for troublemakers. Their goal was to make sure the ceremony went in order. Exactly what Sud needed.

With so many bubbles, losing the one following him should be easy. They wouldn't think that with so many securities he would use the place as an escape route. Blending and losing himself in the crowd should be easy. No one would be paying attention to him, a lonely bubble weaving through the crowd.

If he didn't need to lose the one tailing him, he wouldn't have made a trip to the center of the city. He would have gone straight to the transport station.

He stayed in the center for a few minutes. The first group of bubbles released their loved ones, but Sud didn't pay much attention to the overly emotional scene. He was busy scanning his surroundings. He wanted the one following him to notice him standing there in the front row. He also needed to see his position to know how much time he had to lose him.

Sud waited for a couple more bubbles to say their goodbyes, then took one last look at the location. Then he moved around enough to where he was hidden from the pursuer's view. As fast as he could, he moved towards the outside of the park. He moved counterclockwise, so he ended up near where he had entered. He exited through the same place as he had entered. Luckily, with so many bubbles, no one paid too much attention to him. It was much easier to move out of the crowd than to move towards the center.

That is what he wanted for the pursuers to have a hard time moving toward the center, giving him more time to get away.

Once he made it out, he walked straight to the transport station, which was conveniently located just a block from the park. Every couple of steps, he would look back, looking for the bubble following him, but no one was behind him.

Half of the plan was done. He just needed to board the transportation to the next city, and then he would be free.
****
POV Police

"What! What do you mean you lost him?!" Yelled Detective Fizz onto the phone. "Search the whole park for him. I'm on my way."

"Officer Bead, call for backup, follow me, and send someone to Sud's apartment."

"Right away, detective." Officer Bead hurried to do what was asked.

As fast as he could, Detective Fizz drove to Remembrance Park. He couldn't lose sight of Sud. He had shown the Chief the evidence of Sud's connection to the three recent poppings around the city. If things were as suspected, they were looking at a serial popper in its infancy. He was a dangerous bubble that couldn't be allowed to escape their sight. The only reason he hadn't gone to arrest him and brought him into custody for questioning was that he had to follow the procedures. The chief had filed for a warrant to officially have him summoned for questioning and precautionary arrest as the main suspect in the poppings. Being a special day in the city, the judge had not signed the warrant yet.

"Where is he?" Questioned Detective Fizz as soon as he arrived in front of the officer in charge of following Sud.

"We couldn't find him. We have the security guards helping to look for him in the park, but there are too many bubbles."

"How did you even lose him in the first place?"

"We were keeping a safe distance, but there's just too many bubbles. He moved, and when we tried to look for him, he was gone," the officer explained.

"Keep looking for him here. Inform me immediately of any news." Ordered Detective Fizz as he grabbed his phone and called the officers he sent to Sud's apartment. "Any news?"

"No one seems to be in the apartment. We knocked, but there's no one."

"Break the door open if necessary, but you get inside that apartment and see if anyone is inside!" yelled Detective Fizz into the phone. "Call me as soon as you have news."

He hurriedly ended the call, then personally went to question the security guards stationed on the exits of the park.

Luckily for him, there was news. One of the guards had seen someone of Sud's likeness leaving the park. The bad news was that quite a while ago, he could be anywhere by now.