The safe house, Manhattan
Kari Zel winces as she touches the bandage on her stomach, and doctor Kalama immediately reprimands her for the action:
<Don’t touch that, or the stitches will come off. It’s a pretty serious wound.>
<I’ve had worse.>
<Don’t start acting tough, I get enough of that from your boss.>
<No I mean it, I really have. I had my first stab wound at seven; Myridians heal fast.>
<You’re not indestructible, Kari. You should try to get some rest.>
<We’ll rest once the planet is safe> Noriko Null clarifies, entering the room wearing only a towel wrapped over her body. Now that the goo has been washed away, the resemblance to her real body is uncanny: the only way to tell apart the original and this clone is the long hair.
<I’d like to examine you as well> the doctor states, coming closer to Noriko.
<We don’t have time for that. Besides, I feel perfectly fine.>
<Are you sure? You’ve used your clone as an organ donor multiple times; you’re missing your spleen, one kidney, one lung, most of your stomach…>
<And I have an artificial heart, I know, I installed it myself. Don’t worry, doctor, I’m not going to live inside this body for the rest of my life.>
<Speaking of bodies, can you take off this thing so I can create some duplicates?> Kari asks, pointing at the metal collar on her neck. Noriko comes closer to have a look and fidgets with it just for a few seconds before her diagnosis.
<I’m sorry, Kari, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. For what I can tell there are security features that will kill you if something goes wrong, and I don’t have the necessary equipment to disable it.>
<Then let’s go get it! I need to be able to duplicate to help you out.>
<Why, exactly?> Todd asks, returning to the room with Bob. They left the room to leave some privacy to the doctor while she cured Kari, but the discussion gained their attention.
<To take out the Guild, of course! We’re not going to let them win, are we?> Kari asks.
<Hey I want them off the planet as much as everyone else, but let’s get realistic: they have a spaceship hovering over the city, they lifted the entire island off the freakin’ ground, and they have defeated the Vanguard pretty easily!>
<Calm down, Todd. First of all, we have faced worse situations before> Noriko explain.
<Have we?> Kari wonders.
<Second, the Vanguard is far from defeated. C’mon Kari, I’ll get you up to speed while we get dressed> Noriko says walking away, but Todd stops her by grabbing her arm.
<Wait! You’re not going to fight them, are you?>
Just now, he notices the multiple holes in her wrist; it’s where the clone was fed through needles for months. Noriko seems embarrassed by it and retracts her hand, covering it up with the other.
<I remember those guys, they’re pretty powerful and you’re not in your best shape. I don’t like the idea of you going up against them without most of your technology and without any powers.>
<I appreciate the concern, Todd, I really do, but we’re on a tight schedule here. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to transmit my consciousness into this body before the Scribe notices.>
<Yes, what about your real body? You’re playing dead or something?> Bob asks.
<Not exactly… it’s better if you don’t know about that, really. Besides, Father, I’m going to need your help on this one: doctor, I assume you know how to extract cerebrospinal fluid?>
<Yes. Why do I get the feeling I won’t like the reason for it?>
<All necessary equipment is in the medicine cabinet, try to get what you can from my father.>
Suddenly, Bob Null wishes he wasn’t the kind of man that would do anything for his daughter.
Minutes later, Kari finishes putting on a new set of her Myridian armor, something easier said than done due to her injury. Normally she’d make a joke about her situation being worth it just to be able to be in the same room with an undressed Noriko, but figures this isn’t really the moment.
<So what’s the plan? We’re sneaking back into the Tower?>
<No, the Scribe must be monitoring it very closely, and I don’t have anything there that could help us. Instead, we’re going to use the Phoenix to drive to Greenland.>
<What? You mean Kristen was right… you really keep the Heart there!?>
<Among other things. It’s also where I’m currently running Project Seven.>
<You mean your super-secret project that even Todd knows nothing about? Must be serious stuff!>
<As serious as you can get. Ready?>
Noriko zips up her leather jacket; while she doesn’t seem much different from usual, Kari has rarely seen such a serious look on her face.
<Nori, just in case we don’t make it through this, I have to tell you…>
<I’m also proud to have you as a friend and teammate, Kari.>
<Yes, but I’m never going to get another chance to say that your clone has a really nice ass.>
The Dark Pyramid
Max Black a.k.a. Quantum has been trying to break free for the last several minutes, but the chains that connect his wrists to the wall just won’t come off, no matter how much he tries to pull them.
With his collar blocking his powers, however, he’s just an ordinary human: there’s no way he can break them. Which makes it even worse to see that Torn… who is in the adjacent cell and in his same situation, chained bare-chested to a wall… is doing absolutely nothing.
<Dude! You could at least try something to escape!> Max criticizes him.
<I am> is the Demon’s predictable short answer.
<It doesn’t look like it! You’re super-strong, why aren’t you trying to break the chains?>
<Because they are designed to be too strong for me to break.>
<How would you know? I haven’t exactly seen you sweat!>
<Demons don’t sweat. I’m attempting a different approach.>
<Does it involve you just waiting for something to happen?>
<It involves the Blood.>
<Your Force thing?>
<The Blood connects all living things; this collar prevents me from gaining enough access to materialize it. But I am a Demon. The Blood is a part of me.>
Torn closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
<The Blood connects all Demons. Those who share a bond with the Blood are never truly alone…>
Kristen can’t believe her eyes. Even in a world with super-heroes where her ex boyfriend’s new flame can cure AIDS overnight, this is too much. She’s talking to a real alien who just took the entire city hostage and wants to take over the world.
The Scribe’s hologram is looking at a wall filled with a hundred screens, showing all kinds of information coming from the planet, but he can still focus his attention on her.
<Something troubling, miss Lynn?>
<N-No, I mean, yeah? I’m sorry, I’m being really unprofessional here, but it’s really a lot to take in.>
<You fear me. Understandable, giving the circumstances. But perhaps you’ll be able to convince your fellow Earthers that they have no reason to antagonize me.>
<“Earthers” isn’t really… Hey where are you taking her?> Kristen asks, noticing the two robots who have removed Noriko Null’s chains and are escorting her out of the room.
<It’s none of your concern.>
<I beg to differ. It’s hard to convince people you’re not hostile if you kidnap civilians for no reason.>
<“Civilians”. Really. Get here> the Scribe orders, and the two robots immediately obey.
Null is in relatively good shape; she was just ruffled up a bit by the Mist during her capture, but the Scribe hasn’t hurt her. She does, however, look incredibly pissed.
<I will have your head for this insult, Scribe, you have my word for that.>
<Miss Lynn. What do you think of Noriko Null?>
Kristen looks at her; as stereotypical as it sounds, she really did think she’d be taller. She should look helpless as well, a disarmed young woman held prisoner by alien robots, but she makes Kristen think of a caged animal.
<She’s okay. Why did you capture her? She’s no threat to you.>
<You are astoundingly naïve, miss Lynn. It is obvious that Null is by far, and under any meaningful definition of these terms, the most dangerous human being alive.>
<I would not be so sure, Scribe> the girl replies.
<Don’t cut yourself short, Null. You are the centerpiece of a game that spans an entire galaxy.>
<I am not arguing that, Scribe. My point is…>
A red energy sword appears in her right hand, and she doesn’t waste any time putting it to good use. She immediately cuts off the arm of the robot holding her, then with a swift motion she slashes it in half. The second robot tries to get to the rescue, but it gets decapitated in a matter of seconds.
<…I am not Null.>
<You are full of surprises. However, I’m sure you understand that->
The Scribe doesn’t end the sentence, since Null has just thrown the sword into the device mounted on the wall that she correctly predicted was projecting the hologram.
<I despise people enamored with the sound of their own voice> Void says, returning her own voice to normal.
<What is going on? Where did you get that sword!?> Lynn asks, looking around nervously: there are alone now, but other robots are just guaranteed to show up. Void doesn’t seem to care in the slightest, however: she immediately put her hands on the sliced up robot, taking out seemingly random components from its damaged chassis.
<We do not have time for idle chat, Lynn. We must rescue the rest of the Vanguard and escape.>
<How!? We’re outnumbered and unarmed!>
<You are only half right> she notes, finishing touching up the parts she hastily assembled on her right hand. She moves the palm towards the nearest door, and it shoots a beam of light that easily blasts it off the hinges. Null contemplates her work with a smile on her face.
<I still have the most powerful weapon in the universe> she explains, pointing at her head.
Randalls Island, New York City
With the entire island of Manhattan floating in the sky, people don’t give much attention to the motorcycle braking. Noriko Null’s clone is driving, looking at the East River; Kari Zel is behind her, and turns to look at the island being kept hostage by the black pyramid flying above it… and that is slowly moving away from the city.
<It’s moving. Where do you think the Scribe’s going?> Kari asks.
<I don’t know. Are you ready? This is going to be a rough ride.>
<Why can’t we get one of the Valkyries and fly directly to Greenland?>
<Because we’ll be harder to spot if we keep a low altitude and stay above water. It’s about 200 miles to Nantucket Shoals and then more than 2100 miles to Appat Island; if we keep a consistent 900 miles per hour, we’ll be at Project Seven in less than three hours.>
<“Miles”? Aren’t you the one always saying you use kilometers since most of the world does?>
<I got tired of doing the math for others. We should… oh, crap.>
Since Kari is looking at the Dark Pyramid, she doesn’t need Noriko’s radar to see what worries her: a swarm of flying objects was just released by the spaceship, and it’s coming towards them.
Even in the distance, their horrible shriek is unmistakable. Kari recognizes the blue humanoids with large feathered wings instead of arms that are rushing in their direction.
<Harpies! And I was SO close to never seeing another one again…>
<Don’t worry. Let’s see if they can keep up> Noriko reassures her, pressing a button: the wheels of the bike retract inside its body, and the Phoenix is able to fly over the water.
The Harpies fly towards her, moving incredibly fast until the Phoenix goes full throttle; the aliens are sprayed with a huge wave, as the motorbike breaks the sound barrier within seconds.
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