Cole flew over to the closed-off alleyway, wherein he saw a squad of Silvermane Guards guarding an entrance to the Fragmentum. He smirked when he noticed a few of their guys had their rifles jammed with ice.
"Good job, March." He whispered to himself.
One of them quickly spotted Cole approaching at high speed, yelling out to the rest of his squad, "There's the Swarm abomination! Quickly, block off the entrance! We must not let it get away!"
A few of them with still functioning rifles took aim at Cole. Seeing this, he transformed into his combat form and put his armored arms up to cover his face.
His transformation must've startled some of them as a few of their bullets passed right by but a few managed to keep their wits about as they pulled their trigger.
BANG BANG
DING DING
Cole flinched at the pain of being shot, but thankfully, his armor managed to hold on and absorb most of the damage. Still hurt like hell, but it could've been worse.
Getting closer to the entrance, two guards blocked his way. Too bad for them, Cole's is not going to stop, nor will he yield to them.
"Ramming speed!"
THUD
"AGH!" Cole's armored body plus his speed knocked the two guards a few good meters to the side, their battered and unconscious bodies skidding across the pavement like a bunch of ragdolls.
"It's getting away! Quick!"
Cole turned his head to see them all heading his way. If he didn't do something now, they would surely follow after him. Thinking quickly, Cole concentrated energy into his mandibles before spewing a stream of liquid all around the Fragmentum. It worked as the guards, upon seeing the steam rising from where he had spewed, halted their advancement.
He then gave the guards a mock salute and a wave. "Byeeee!" With that, he entered the Fragmentum and, hopefully, to where the rest of his team were.
.....
Reaching the other side of the Fragmentum and into the restricted area, Cole's first action was to fly up high in the air to get a good vantage point. He scanned the surrounding area, managing to see a plume of smoke in one of the alleyways, even amidst all the snow blocking his vision.
Diving down, Cole saw his friends, along with Bronya, lying on the ground unconscious with a few scrapes and bruises. Next to them, a very familiar blue-haired person stands over them, fully awake. "You...!" He angrily called out, in his head, already assuming the worst.
Sampo held his hands up defensively. "Ah, my friends. I know it looked bad, but please, I had to break up the fight before it got too intense." He excused himself, still wearing that insufferable smile on his face.
If time wasn't a pressing matter, Cole would have blown up on his face for knocking them all out in addition to abandoning them yesterday, but he decided to let it go this time. "Just... help me carry them. I'm heading to the underworld. You know the way?" He then made a clone so he could carry March and Stelle while Sampo carried both Dan Heng and Bronya.
"Sure, my friend. Just follow after Sampo Koski." Urged Sampo. With both Dan Heng and Bronya in his hands, he led Cole the way to the Furnace Core, a passage connecting the Overworld and the Underworld.
Of course, the journey to the Furnace Core alone was filled with dangers, with Sampo having to use numerous 'unconventional' shortcuts just so they could avoid the countless monsters roaming the area.
Still, they arrived at the passageway and descended down the steps to the world below. The deeper they went, the darker it was as the daylight became more and more distant until eventually, it was replaced by artificial lights.
"A monster! Inside the city?!" Not surprisingly, when they reached the Underworld proper and into Boulder City, the citizens, upon seeing Cole and his clone, fled to their homes or hid in terror in one of the many cramped alleyways.
Cole, already used to the sight, didn't give a single care to Boulder City's residents' reaction as he was more concerned with helping his unconscious companions. "Where's the nearest clinic?" He asked Sampo.
Sampo then pointed to a building nearby with his head. "Over there. A good doc runs it. That's the Sampo guarantee."
"Well, it better be. Let's go!" Cole wasted no time as he reached the clinic's double doors. With his clones' and his arms busy carrying Stelle and March, Cole made the decision to just kick the door open to not waste any more time. That, and he may just wanted to take out his frustration at the whole situation.
"Wait! Don't..." Cole ignored whatever Sampo was trying to warn him as Cole kicked the doors open, startling the occupants inside, who, upon seeing him, freaked out in horror. He gave them no mind as he immediately started searching for the doctor that Sampo spoke of.
"Ahem. Young man." The voice of a woman spoke to Cole from behind him.
In hindsight, it might have been a bad idea to have frustration cloud his judgment, as he feels a piercing, dagger-like stare from behind him.
Cole turned around and came face to face with a blue, slightly gray-haired, mature woman looking at him with her arms crossed.
"Hehe... Sorry...?"
Let's just say that the woman was not amused.
.....
After settling March, Dan Heng, Stelle, and Bronya onto unoccupied beds, Cole, who had dispelled his clone, and Sampo quickly explained the situation to Natasha, the doctor of Natasha's Clinic.
Cole also made sure to clarify that he was not a monster but, instead, an alien that came to Belobog in order to assure her.
Still, even after Natasha accepted their explanation, Cole was still punished for breaking the doors open.
He was made to assist Natasha in looking after the patients while he waited for his companions to wake up, which he accepted. Unfortunately, the place is in shortage of medicine and other equipment he could use, so Cole instead requested a pestle and mortar.
Natasha had asked him what he wanted to do with them as she didn't exactly have many ingredients to turn into medicine, but he just assured her that their purpose would be clear in due time.
Sampo, meanwhile, had graciously offered to talk to the townfolks to dispel any misunderstanding and fear that might arise, which Cole accepted. Not that he thinks it will 100% be effective at quelling all their fear, but it will certainly be better than nothing.
"Very well, my friend. If you need anything else, make sure to message me." Sampo then gave his number before leaving the clinic.
Cole tended to the first patient, a man in a miner's overalls. Natasha had told him that the man sprained his ankle while looking for Geomarrow veins. When he approached him, the man had a look of nervousness and slight fear plastered all over his face.
"Uhhh..."
"Am I really that stunning to look at? I'm flattered." Cole joked to lighten the mood a little bit as he began setting up the pestle and mortar.
A younger him might have been annoyed at the man's reaction to his appearance, but over time, he had accepted that their reaction came from a place of fear of the unknown or their experiences and knowledge of the Swarm, if they were to know of it. So, he strived to make a good first impression on any friendly people he met to dispel their fear of him.
That did the trick as the man shook his head. "No, no. It's just... I never imagined that aliens were real. I have always thought that they were just stories told in science fiction books, and occasionally stories told by my daughter. You know what I mean."
"I know, I know. Now please wait a minute while I do my magic." Reaching out to a piece of exoskeleton armor on his left arm, Cole grabbed it with force.
"What are you doing, young man?" The old man asked, looking a bit worried at Cole's action.
Crack
Without so much as a word, Cole tore it open, exposing a little bit of his actual flesh underneath and drawing a small amount of blood. Not missing a beat, he then drops it into the mortar before beginning the process of crushing and then grinding it to dust, making sure to remember to add a little bit of water at the end so it wasn't dry. And of course, most importantly, imbuing the mixture with a little bit of his power.
The old man watched in a silent shock as Cole did all of this without so much as a flinch or a grunt.
Cole, now done with the concoction, grabbed a handful of the mixture. "Now stay still. This might sting a little bit." Hovering his hands over the sprained ankle, Cole proceeded to smear the mixture on the injured area just as Welt had taught him before.
Since it was just a sprained ankle, it didn't take long, as after he was done, he instructed the man to move his injured leg around.
"How in the world?" The man exclaimed in confusion as he easily moved his leg. "Are you a miracle worker by any chance?"
"Nope," Cole answered simply. "Nice to meet you, by the way. The name's Cole."
The man nodded as he got up from the bed. "Fersman, and nice to meet you too."
Just as Cole was about to move to his next patient, something bumped his legs. Looking down, he found a little girl with blonde hair, yellow eyes, wearing a big hat, and more importantly, wielding a giant mechanical claw.
The girl flinched slightly when Cole looked at her, but she quickly recovered. "You big monster! How dare you try to hurt Daddy! Time to face the wrath of Pitch-Dark Hook the Great!" The girl named Hook threatened.
"Hook, wait!" Fersman shouted. Unfortunately, the girl had already made up her mind.
Before the girl had a chance to 'attack,' however, a hand grabbed her by the collar, courtesy of Natasha, who had an unamused look on her face. Hook flailed around, trying her hardest to break free from the grasp, but all attempts ended in failure.
"What are you doing, Hook?" Asked Natasha.
Hook looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Haven't you heard? A lot of people outside saw a monster enter the clinic, so I came in here to help."
Fersman sighed as he covered his face with his hand. "And this monster right here has t hurt himself just to heal Daddy, Hook." He then grabbed Hook and settled her down on the floor.
"Really? But..." A sigh and stern look from her father, and Hook finally realised how badly she had messed up.
Natasha, however, widened her eyes at Fersman's now healed leg. She went over to inspect it along with the mixture on it. "Fersman, your leg."
Fersman nodded. "No worries, Natasha. Cole, right here, healed me right up using his power. In fact, I somehow feel even better than before I was injured." To prove his point, Fersman lifted his leg up with no difficulties whatsoever.
After reassuring Natasha, Fersman then crouched down to comfort his daughter.
While that was going on, Natasha went over to Cole. "Young man, how did you heal Fersman that quickly?"
Cole pointed to the spot where he had torn his exoskeleton off and then to the mortar that was still filled with the mixture he had made earlier. "I used a little bit of my armor to quickly make this paste. It had potent healing effects along with a plethora of other benefits, such as relieving pain and promoting the propagation of new cells, to name a few." He listed out all the effects that Welt had informed him of during his discovery.
Cole still remembered when Welt, curious about his biology, had asked for a small piece of his armor for research, which he gladly provided. Dan Heng, after hearing Welt's idea, also came along to conduct research. After they were done, they found out that his armor, if grounded up and infused with his energy, had great healing properties.
Welt had theorised that his connection with the path of Propagation may have something to do with it, while Dan Heng went further and theorised that his healing power may be derived from the path of Abundance instead which had worried him.
Of course, after proposing their theory, both Welt and Dan Heng immediately advised Cole to be careful when using this power so as not to injure or exhaust himself beyond necessity. After all, the bigger the injuries, the more energy is needed to heal them.
Natasha quickly put two and two together as her face morphed from confusion to concern. "When I heard that you have some medical knowledge, I expected you to know how to maybe bandage or even put ice on someone's injuries, not tear open your own body and use it as medicine."
Natasha then quickly grabbed Cole's arm and inspected the torn area. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
Cole hurriedly answered her question so as not to make her worry anymore. "No, no. I'm fine. Really. It used to hurt a lot, but I got used to it."
Natasha only shook her head. "Sigh... Alright, I believe you, but please give a warning beforehand."
"Aye aye." Cole gave her a mock salute, causing Hook to cheer up as well.
After chatting up with Fersman to see if everything is all right, Cole went over to two other patients who needed help, making sure to bring his mixture with him.
Natasha also made sure to come along with him to see how he operated on the patients.
After a little bit of calming the two down, with the supervision of Natasha, it didn't take long before Cole finished treating them.
Grumble...
Cole blushed a bit as his stomach let out a loud grumble, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since this morning, too busy preparing stuff with Serval.
It also reminded Cole that he was constantly using his energy to maintain his connection to the clone he left up on the Overworld, which probably didn't help. Not only that, this was probably the furthest he has ever been from his clone, which meant he needed to focus a lot more.
"Oh? Have you eaten anything, Cole?" Asked Natasha.
Cole shook his head. "No. I kinda got here in a hurry and didn't have time for breakfast. Is there any place that sells food down here?"
Natasha nodded her head. "There's a food stall nearby. It should be open by now. Oh, before you go, here. A small reward for helping me so much."
She handed Cole a bunch of coins with an emblem of a shield on them. "I assume there are currencies for this place?"
Natasha nodded.
Cole gave her a nod in appreciation. Turning around to head to the doors, he was suddenly met with the end of a barrel of a gun, courtesy of Bronya, who had just woken up.
"Stay right there, monster of the Swarm..." Her tone was filled with malice, with a bit of caution mixed in.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Miss Silvermane..." Fersman came over and immediately tried to de-escalate the situation. "Cole right here has done nothing wrong..."
"Done nothing wrong? Do you all have any idea how dangerous he is?" Bronya remained focused, her aim not wavering even with Fersman caught in her sight. "The Supreme Guardian herself has ordered the capture or killing of the monster of the Swarm, the archenemy of the Preservation THEMSELVES."
Natasha calmly walked over to her, her arms folded. "And? Even if he is a monster of some kind, as you said, Cole right here has done nothing but help the people since arriving here, so your Supreme Guardian must have been wrong."
Bronya glared at Natasha for having the gall to call Cocolia's order wrong.
"Hey, you big meanie!" Hook's voice pierced through the tension as she, although a bit afraid of Bronya, went over to her legs and started smacking them repeatedly with her small fist. "You dare threaten Daddy and big brother Cole?! Get ready to feel the wrath of Pitch-Dark Hook the Great!"
Still, even with Natasha, Fersman, and Hook, Bronya's aim is still firmly fixed on Cole, even if it has become a bit shaky.
Cole, seeing that Bronya was still not backing down, went over in front of her, not caring about the barrel of a rifle aimed at his head.
"I won't deny your claim that I am a part of the Swarm because I am." Cole's words caused Bronya to grip her rifle tighter. "But I am nothing like them."
Cole then went closer to Bronya. "Look me in the eyes and say that I am the same as them, mindless monsters that cause destruction to countless worlds, or, if there is any archive of their appearance in this world, that I look the same as them. Similar perhaps, but that's it."
His words seemed to have an effect as her grip loosened slightly. "And lastly, if there is any information, if the Swarm were to invade this frozen hellscape, then this world would have fallen since yesterday. Am I right?"
Bronya's mind was in turmoil as she took time to digest Cole's counterargument before closing her eyes and ultimately fully lowering her weapon, causing all of the occupants inside the clinic to breathe a sigh of relief. "Very well. I accept your reason, for now. But if you even slightly act out of line, I will not hold back. Do you understand?"
Cole gave her a simple nod.
.....
"So, did she calm down?" Serval asked Cole's clone, who was sweating bullets as she handed him a glass of water.
Cole grabbed the water and swallowed it all down in a single gulp. "Pwah... Yeah. She agreed to back down for now."
Serval only gave him a smile in response. "See? Told you she can be persuaded if she sees reason. Sometimes."
Cole rolled his eyes at her. "Let's see if you can convince someone when they have a gun to your head."
Serval only let out a laugh.