Lower New York Bay
Despite being thousands of years old, the demigoddess Naiad is quite inexperienced when it comes to physical combat. Her complete mastery over water is usually enough to bully her way out of most situations, and she’s never bothered to learn how to react to the unknown. It’s one of the reasons she joined the Guild: the Scribe didn’t just increase her powers with his technology, but he also took care of all strategic decisions. In conclusion, Naiad is too lazy to think things through.
When attacked by two of the world’s state-sanctioned superhumans, Red Star from Russia and White Star from Japan, she had only one strategy: brute force.
Unfortunately for her, the two heroes are wearing suits of Null’s design: they can fly faster than Naiad can react, they have forcefields that can withstand a wide variety of attacks, and their firepower is powered directly by miniaturized plasma reactors.
Naiad may have been able to sink an entire navy fleet without breaking a sweat, but she seems evenly matched with these two mortals.
Her downfall comes when Manhattan is lowered back in its place. The Scribe ordered to keep the population alive, and Naiad assumes that it’s Scarab landing the city. She uses her power to ensure that the landing doesn’t cause a gigantic tsunami: under her command, the water remains still.
When everything settles down, Naiad is an easy target. Red Star and White Star hit her with all their power, twin laser beams powered by reactors. The demigoddess is taken by surprise, and her charred body falls into the bay.
Null Tower
The woman called Scarab regains consciousness with a massive headache. All she knows is that her hands are tied behind her back and chained to a fence on the skyscrapers’s roof, and that there’s a glowing hand an inch away from her forehead.
<Just think about doing anything and I’ll blow your brains out, understood?> Quantum threatens.
<What are you waiting for?> Scarab replies; she’s clearly not afraid to die.
<I want answers. What is the Scribe planning to do?>
<Don’t know. Don’t care.>
<Why do you work for him?>
<He pays well and doesn’t force me to worship any god.>
Quantum bites his lower lip; carrying out an interrogation is harder than in the movies. He doesn’t have to continue, though, because he’s interrupted by someone flying towards him… surrounded by a field of blue energy.
<Nice work, Quantum. I’ll take it from here> the woman tells him. The world knows her as Blue Star, the African-American superhero working for the United States government, but he knows her as his sister Kayla Black.
<What are you talking about?>
<She’s under arrest. I have orders to take her into custody.>
<No way, she’s the Vanguard’s prisoner. We’ll take care of her.>
<Under what authority? C’mon Max, don’t make this more complicated that it needs to be.>
<The last prisoner we gave to the government was Eris, and look how that… oh, sorry> Quantum stops himself, recalling that Kayla still blames herself for letting Eris escape.
“Max, we’re starting a final assault on the Dark Pyramid, are you with us?” – Null’s voice says through the Neural Transmitter.
<Go save the world, Max. I’ll clean up the mess> Blue Star proposes.
<Just don’t take your eyes off her> he suggests, zapping Scarab with enough electricity to render her unconscious before disappearing in a flash of light.
The Dark Pyramid
The Scribe’s armor picks up Torn, lifting him with one hand and smashing him through a wall. Everything around them is badly damaged: the armor itself is the only thing without a scratch.
<You are the most capable Demon I’ve ever met, Torn. Your father would be proud.>
<Unlikely. He would’ve killed you in the first round> Torn replies; he’s covered head to toe with bruises, and when he opens his hands the two energy swords he was carrying disappear.
<Perhaps you are still beneath his level.>
<We’ll never know. He wouldn’t have accepted to just stall you.>
<Stall me?> the Scribe repeats, noticing the proximity alarm. But even that doesn’t leave him time to react: Vesta grabs his armor from behind, the metal crumbling between her fingers like paper, and rips it open with a single motion.
<For the record, I don’t think you could’ve taken Torn either> she mocks him, proceeding to strip him from his armor. She clearly doesn’t want to harm him, though, and the Scribe can walk away.
But his passage is blocked by a gate made of intertwined swords on his right, a wall of flames on his left, and he’s facing Quantum and Null.
<Next move, genius. How about you surrender and save us the trouble?> Quantum asks.
<Well played, Null, well played. But you are mistaken: it is your turn to move> the Scribe says.
Noriko is pointing a Genius Gun at him, which is one of the four ways the Scribe can die now.
<I don’t think so, Scribe. The city is no longer your hostage, your superhuman agents are defeated and your technology is outmatched. Just admit it: it’s game over for you.>
The Scribe’s silver eyes flash for a second; it’s strange to see someone else do that trick.
<You disappoint me, Null. The game is not over…>
Something happens outside. A huge flash of green light fills the sky, and the glow is visible through one of the holes made by Torn on the Dark Pyramid’s hull.
<…in fact, it has not even begun.>
<What is it? What did he do!?> Vesta asks, looking nervously at the hole.
Noriko activates a hologram through her N-Watch: it shows the Earth, surrounded by red triangles.
<Dammit, Scribe. This is why you left me out of the Tower, right? To keep me in the dark?>
<This looks bad> Quantum says once he gets the chance to see the sky again.
Because there are no less than another six Dark Pyramids floating above New York City.
<Perhaps you are thinking about defeating the fleet. Null, now that I have disabled the cloaking devices, can you please tell your associates how many warships now surround Earth?>
<Five thousand. You brought the Guild’s entire fleet here> Noriko realizes.
<I am now sure that you have reached your full potential. Surrender the Nexus to me, and I will not resort to violence.>
<What happens if I try to stop you?>
<I will order an orbital antimatter bombardment. I will reduce the surface of this planet to a radioactive wasteland, killing every man, woman and child… and I will make you watch.>
<This is insane! I don’t even know how to take the Nexus out of my brain!>
<Leave it to me. You have five seconds to decide, Null.>
The rest of the Vanguard looks at Noriko, waiting for her order. They’ve seen how much of a threat a single Dark Pyramid can be… there’s no way they’ll defeat the entire fleet in time.
<Alright, Scribe, you asked for it. Gjallarhorn.>
Noriko says the last word by talking into her N-Watch. As soon as she does, the Dark Pyramid’s alarm starts screaming for attention.
<What? What did you just do?>
<I just activated Project Seven.>
Project Seven, Greenland
Kari Zel is following LOKI’s hologram on the scaffolding surrounding whatever structure is being built here; she can’t recognize it from this perspective. She recognizes the Japanese characters written on the side, but she doesn’t have the time to try to remember what they mean.
<Is that the alarm? Are we under attack?> she asks; the siren wailing is never a good sign.
<We are no longer under lockdown. Please hurry, we need to go now.>
<We’re not alone> Kari understands even before something red cuts through five Nullbots before landing right in front of her. She creates a couple duplicates and is ready for a fight.
He’s also carrying Noriko’s clone on his back, but she lets go.
<There is no time to fight. You do not want to be here once the engine starts.>
<That voice… Void!?>
<Now, Zel.>
She considers her options. She recognizes the Demon and knows she’s in no condition to fight someone like him; she’ll just have to take her chances with Noriko’s evil twin.
<Alright, but you have to tell me what the φθcκ is this thing!>
<If Null and I are correct, the future of this planet. If we are wrong, its doom> Void answers, hurrying towards the door that just opened itself without warning. The Demon and LOKI’s hologram follow her, as well as Kari.
<Well that explained absolutely nothing> she shrugs.
Already starting last, Kari is also left behind because there’s no light inside: just pitch black corridors, with the only faint illumination provided by LOKI’s hologram. Void knows this place like the back of her hand and the Demon can see in the dark better than a human, but Kari is literally going blind. It’s only when she finally catches up with them that the lights come on.
And she immediately understands where she is. It’s a circular room, with a chair in the middle slightly elevated above the several workstations around it. Several screens are coming online, including the wide one in the front that is the only window into the exterior.
It’s clearly still a work in progress, with wires and cables and exposed circuitry everywhere, but there’s no doubt in Kari’s mind about what this is.
<It’s a spaceship! Project Seven is a spaceship, isn’t it?>
<It is far more than that, Zel> Void says, taking her place on the captain’s chair.
<This is a warship. Take us out of here, LOKI.>
The Dark Pyramid
The Scribe is completely ignoring the Vanguard now, concentrating on the images transmitter from his fleet. He’s concentrated on the Pyramid that’s currently above Greenland.
<There it is. Now that the cloaking field is offline, I’m sure the Heart Of The Universe is there.>
The images show something else: the giant sheets of ice are moving, revealing the giant bay door beneath it. Tons of snow fall inside, burying dozens of Nullbots in an avalanche; some of them land on the metallic surface that is slowly rising.
The snow slides off, revealing the spaceship. It’s a very unusual design: a sleek and elongated main body, with two guns integrated into each wing that extends from the back and reconnect into the four engines in the back. The images are showing the right side, whereラグナロク is written in large white paint over the grey surface. As the ship rises to the same level of the Pyramid, its English translation is now clearly visible. And Null’s eyes shine like never before.
<Scribe… everyone… meet Earth’s own warship: the Ragnarok.>
<Fire> the Scribe orders. The images becomes fuzzy with static when it shows a stream of pure yellow light shoot towards the spaceship… and being absorbed by an invisible wall several feet away from its target. There’s no time to elaborate a complex strategy: two of the Ragnarok’s guns fire, and the signal is completely lost.
<What happened!?> Vesta asks.
<The Pyramid was destroyed with a single shot> the Scribe answers, confused by the notion.
<The Ragnarok can take anything you can throw at it, Scribe, and it’s coming here to rescue me. Go ahead, try to kill me or to injure more civilians. And I swear that it’ll be the last thing you ever do.>
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