Kapitel 32: The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Ed easily went down the stairs with Terra behind him. The soldiers had all left to clean up the mutant flood. He grinned, 'It seems my luck is quite good today.' He brought her to his personal apartment. "You're to stay here until further notice. We can't let Sinless see you, so stay out of sight. Once they're gone then we can introduce you to the base as my new assistant."

"What if I want to leave?" She questioned in a meek voice.

"Then go. I won't stop you nor am I assigning you any guards." He waved his hand at her in a shooing manner.

"Why did you rescue me then?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Simple. I'm a nice guy. Don't overthink it. Anyways, I've got matters to attend to. Feel free to help yourself to food in the pantry or the showers. You smell like rotten sewage. I've put some spare clothes in the dresser." He turned to leave the apartment.

'She'll be more likely to stay and trust me if I play nice. The chances of the captain finding out about an imposter infiltrating his building is high. I was missing from the base for a while tonight. Fortunately, I already have an alibi.' He walked towards the grocery store used for food storage. Part of it had recently been converted into a bar. He waited outside in the shadows so that he wouldn't be seen. After several minutes, a 2nd Ed showed up.

"Yo!" The 2nd Ed waved.

"Thanks Dupe. I'll take over from here. You can send your clone back home."

"Sure." The 2nd Ed began to transform to look like Dupe. "Later." He waved goodbye. As he walked away he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Hmm?" Ed looked confused. 'What did he mean by that?' He headed into the grocery store and walked towards the part that had been converted into a bar.

"You're back, Ed!" Another clone of Dupe waved at him.

"It's time to keep to your word, leader!" A large man that reeked of alcohol yelled.

"Right, right!" Another man nodded and cheered. "You lost the bet! Now you pay the price!"

He glanced between the two men with confusion in his eyes. He glanced at Nick with a questioning look on his face.

"Sorry." Nick apologized. "I can't help you out here. You lost the bet, so you have to man up and ride the bull."

"The bull?!" His eyes widened in surprise. The engineers had thrown together a steam engine with some scrap metal to create a mechanical bull. It had grown quite popular with the guards when they were drinking. "That's all I have to do?" He questioned.

"Of coursh nots!" A drunk man slurred. "You agreed to strip ride! Gahahaha!" The man's face was completely red from drinking. His head slowly wobbled as he tried to sit still.

Ed looked at Nick for confirmation. Nick nodded, "That was the bet. Each time you fall off you must strip a piece of clothing. Your opponent is the drunk man wobbling over there."

"I see… Let's get it over with then." He sighed. 'Just what did Dupe's clone get me into?'

"I'm goinsh 1st!" The drunk man walked past him and struggled to climb atop the back of the bull. The bull's round iron body had a leather saddle atop it. A triangular shaped support was beneath the body. Its head had two shiny horns and a big nose.

A nearby man pulled a lever. The steam engine began and created loud noise. Chugga, chugga, chugga. The bull began to tilt forward and backwards, then spin around. A whistling sound rang out as a huge blast of steam poured from the bull's nose. "YEEHAW!!!" The drunk man held on easily despite being unable to stand properly earlier.

The bull continued to spin faster and faster. It bucked forwards and backwards with increasing intensity. The steam from its nose covered the man and made it hard to breath. A full minute passed before the bull stopped. He got off and stumbled a few steps towards the bar. He picked up his beer and chugged away. He grinned. There was a missing tooth that made his smile somewhat creepy. "Heheh, your turn, leader!"

'Is he gay or just drunk?' Ed wondered to himself. He grabbed onto the bull and the nearby man started it once more. It swung around wildly, but he was completely unphased. 'Too easy. My limbs are too far beyond ordinary men. I could hold onto something 10 times as strong as this easily…' The ride ended and he got off the bull. The two men continued taking turns, with neither falling off.

"To think the leader was this good!" One of the drunk men exclaimed. "I didn't think anyone could beat that old drunk."

"It's too soon to say." Another shook his head. "Neither has fallen yet."

"This is a waste of time." Ed frowned. He turned to the drunk. "I'm modifying the bull." He pulled out a wrench from his pocket and knelt down by the triangular support. The mechanics of the bull were visible underneath the body. 'There's the limiter. Let's just remove it. Thing will probably break sooner, but it's better than wasting my time.'

"I'll go first." Ed said. He jumped on the bull and the man pulled the lever. The mechanical bull went completely crazy. Steam poured out from underneath the body and the nose. It leaned forward nearly 180 degrees before slamming back down the other way. Creaking and clunking sounds rang out as it spun around quickly. A full minute passed and he got off. "Your turn." He smiled.

The drunk man confidently climbed aboard. He managed to hold on for nearly seven seconds before being thrown off. He slammed face first into the floor. "Ugh!!" He moaned. "I lost. I'll keep my word." He stood up, brushed himself off, and exited the bar.

'Eh? The bet was different for him?' He grabbed Dupe by the shoulder and dragged him away from the bar. He frowned, "Explain."

"Haha, so it's like this…" Nick waved his hands in front of himself defensively. "My other clone got a bit drunk and bragged he could beat anyone on the bull ride. That old drunk is known to be the best rider in the base. So, we had a bet. For every round you lost you would have to strip some of your clothes. However, if the old drunk lost a single round then he would join the engineering team."

"Why would I care about some old perv joining the engineering team?" He questioned.

"Well, apparently he used to be a military engineer. He wasn't an ordinary one either. He worked on some confidential projects of high-importance. Later, he got dishonorably discharged." Nick explained. "I'm not really keen on all the details, but he might be useful, right?"

"I suppose…" He nodded. 'In truth, I've given up most of my hopes for western engineers ever since I've seen the technology of the east. Hmm, shouldn't the captain have showed up by now? His men should almost be finished with the mutant flood. He should have found out about the imposter by now, right?'

Suddenly, a large number of footsteps could be heard. They sounded like marching troops. The men in the bar headed outside and saw the HQ forces amassed outside the gate. Captain Fang led his men towards the bar. A grave look was on his face. Terra, who really was Dupe in disguise, followed next to him.

"Captain. What's going on?" Ed questioned.

"I have grave news." He sighed. "I won't require your men to participate this time, but you're coming with us. Your firepower should be a significant help in our endeavor to save lives. Atlanta, Georgia is going to be attacked by the Lightning Nightmare."

"What?!" He replied in shock. "How long do we have?!"

"It's predicted the attack will begin in an hour. We're taking the quadcopters, so we should arrive just 15 minutes late or so."

"Wait. How do you even know the attack is happening? No one informed Reef city of the attack before it happened?"

"That…" The captain hesitated before replying, "This is a Sinless secret, but it's not a big one. We have control of an esper who can perform communications for our members throughout the world. It's how the HQ passes orders to us wherever we are. However, we only have one. It's impossible for us to lend him out to others for communication purposes. Your government probably has a similar esper. Such espers usually notify relevant parties of nightmare attacks an hour before they occur."

"I see." He nodded. "Let's get going then." He followed behind the HQ soldiers to outside the base. A few minutes later, 10 quadcopters flew overhead and landed atop some nearby buildings. The men divided into 10 squads and went into the quadcopters. Ed followed behind the captain and his personal squad. The quadcopters released large bursts of steam as they flew into the air and headed north.

"It's too bad we can't bring the Flutter Mech." Fang sighed, "It's too damaged, and we don't have the proper equipment to move it quickly enough anyways."

"How do you get your mechs where you need them on time in the EU?" Ed questioned.

"It depends. We get them there ahead of time for non-nightmare related issues. We actually have an esper that can teleport us for emergencies. Unfortunately, his range is too limited to bring us across the Atlantic Ocean. It's pretty useful when you need it though."

"Oh? Sounds convenient." He nodded in agreement. 'Perhaps I can capture World Walker in the future and make him my own organization's slave taxi service? Bastard deserves it anyways.'

Ed laid down and tried to get some sleep. He would be facing hell soon and had been up all night due to Operation Terra. Over 75 minutes later, they arrived at Atlanta, Georgia. The quadcopters hovered above the south side of the city at a nearby heliport the city operated.

BOOM! Loud thunder rang out and caused the men to cover their ears in pain. "Helmets on!" The captain ordered. Those that weren't already wearing helmets proceeded to put them on. The special gel inside would help block the sound from the thunder.

"I've got an extra exo suit on board. It should fit you. Take it." The captain pointed towards a box in the corner of the aircraft.

Ed opened the box and put on the armored clothing. 'Feels pretty solid. I wonder if he'll let me keep it after we're done?'

"Listen up men!" Fang yelled. "The Lighting Nightmare is not to be underestimated. It is the 2nd most deadly nightmare of the seven. Everything in its path will be completely obliterated. Not even ashes will remain. Our mission is not to fight, delay, or even look at that monster. We're here to save people on the outskirts of the attacks as best as we can. Make Sinless proud!"

"Yes captain!"

Ropes were lowered from each quadcopter and the men rappelled down to the ground. Each man slammed his feet into the ground, causing wheels to appear. Steam blasted from them as they began to move away from the heliport. They entered the nearby heliport building and exited onto the street.

Atlanta was one of the largest cities in the USA. Towering skyscrapers were visible in all directions. They shot their grapples atop a nearby building. Then they placed their feet on the walls. The wheels on their feet rapidly spun as their grapples retracted. They quickly climbed to the top of the building.

The Lightning Nightmare could be seen in the distance. It towered above the city walls and every building in the city. 'I never got a good look at the Flame Nightmare. To think they're this big… It's got to be at least 500 meters tall. The skyscrapers are small compared to it.'

The nightmare's body consisted of bright silver lightning. The lightning flowed down its body like water. It had no legs and two humanoid arms. Four purple eyes glared at the city in front of it. It hovered several dozen meters above the ground. Wherever it moved, lighting snaked out from underneath it's body. Everything beneath it was destroyed. Not even the rubble or roads remained. Just black pits of scorched earth.

"Looks like we got here on time." Fang said. "It hasn't started yet. Looks like it's going to start from the north side of the city."

More loud thunder sounds rang out as the nightmare got closer. Soon, it hovered in front of the city walls, which were tiny compared to it. A large group of espers and mechs could be seen standing on the wall in front of it. They were preparing to sacrifice their lives to buy time for the ordinary citizens to escape. Some were from the government. Some were hunters. For others it was their home city. Either way, they were brave men and women putting everything on the line for the citizens of Atlanta.

The Lightning Nightmare lifted its massive arm into the air. A large silver orb began to grow in front of it. It was at least 50 meters in size. Suddenly, the orb shot forward! It went directly over the city wall and flew off into the distance. BOOM! The earth shook heavily as the orb slammed into the ground.

"FUCK!" Captain Fang screamed. "It hit downtown! Move out, men! Stick to your squads and save as many as you can. Ed, you're with me! GO, GO, GO!!!" The men all began to descend from the building in the south. They headed towards downtown, which was north of them.