Member
IzurichJen Harris sat with her knees curled to her chest as she pressed herself up against the living room wall of the apartment that she shared with her twin brother Jalen. Fear had gripped her from the moment that the alien ships had first appeared in the skies over Lost Haven. That fear only strengthened its grip with each explosion that sounded in the city, and became almost unbearable as she could hear the screams of panicked Lost Havenites as they tried to escape the invading hordes. However, those screams no longer only emanated from the streets, but now from the hallways of their apartment building. The sounds of what could only be described as blaster fire from some sort of laser gun resounded off the hallway walls, as did the sounds of running and screaming.
“They're here!” Jen mouthed to her brother as panic began to rise up in her in a way it never had before.
“It's gonna be alright.” Jalen's voice came called out, not verbally, but from within her mind. She looked to her brother, who was twelve minutes her senior, who gave her a reassuring nod. A sense of calm suddenly washed over her, and for a moment Jen thought that her brother just might be right.
Then the sound of strange voices and even more blaster fire came from the hallway, as did the sounds of footsteps coming toward the doorway to their apartment, and once again Jen Harris could feel the panic begin to rise up in her chest.
***
Ground Zero
The Guardians and their allies stood and watched as the massive tower, now taller than the Chambers Building, dominated the Lost Haven skyline. The Purifier was like nothing any of them had ever seen, save for the Arlaaekan fugitive Flux. The tower was a solid structure made of a sleek obsidian material. The glowing orange-red light at the top could almost remind one of the infamous All Seeing Eye from Tolkien's works.
Flux's words rang in Icon's head as he looked up at the ominous structure.
“That...is the end of the world.”
“We've heard that before.-” Lyger said gruffly. “-How do we destroy it?”
“I don't know.” Flux said before pausing briefly. “Nobody's ever destroyed one before.”
“Flux, what exactly are we looking at?” Icon asked.
“That's a Purifier.-” Flux said, pausing as she looked at the massive matte black tower with a mixture of awe and unadulterated terror. “It's the Autocrat's ultimate weapon. Once it's charged up and it activates, it releases an energy wave that is specifically designed to eradicate any organic being within its blast radius without Arlaaekan DNA.” Flux explained.
“How long do we have?” Icon asked.
“Not long, maybe ten or fifteen minutes.” Flux told him.
“That's all the time in the world.” Radiance said with an uncertain grin.
“Right, I suggest we take the fight to that thing now.” Lyger said.
Suddenly, a long shadow cast the Guardians in darkness as a large object blocked out the sun as it passed over the city. The heroes looked to the object, a large capital ship which had come to a stop between Ground Zero and the Purifier.
“Alright guys, looks like we have a fight on our hands.” Radiance said as dozens of smaller craft, and what looked to be men in flight suits emerged from the massive craft like angry hornets from a nest.
***
She crept through the hallways of the apartment building, ducking around corners, doing her best to remain undetected by the teal skinned aliens. This was not how Haze had envisioned her return to Lost Haven. She had come back to warn Icon about some troubling developments that she had uncovered, however, the apparent end of the world made those discoveries seem completely irrelevant. Shortly before her comms went dead, she had been alerted to a group of the alien invaders who were acting as an extermination squad, going door to door and killing anyone they happened upon.
It didn't take her long to find the alien death squad. She had been given a general location before the comms went down, all she had to do was listen for the shooting...and the screams. She had made her way toward the commotion, and much to her dismay, found that she already may have been too late. She saw at least a half a dozen heavily armed aliens strolling through the smoke filled hallway of the apartment building. Almost instantly, she was nearly overcome by the smoke. Her eyes burned and teared, and she found it incredibly hard to breathe, so she knew she had to move fast to save everyone that she could, although, in the back of her mind she wasn't sure that there was anyone left to save. She moved on the first alien fast, vanishing in a cloud of mist and reappearing directly behind him with her blade at the ready. She slit the alien's throat before he even knew that she was behind him, then slipped a hand over his mouth to muffle his cry.
The second alien gasped in surprise when she suddenly appeared directly in front of him, however, before he was able to bring his weapon to bare, or even let off a shout, she slashed him across the throat with her blade, then across his chest, then in one fluid motion she brought the blade around and sunk it deep in his chest. She repeated her attacks twice more, and another pair of invaders fell.
She continued down the hall, until she saw a pair of the aliens attempting to get into an apartment at the end of the hall with murderous intent. She vanished in a cloud of smoke and when she reappeared, she met the first of the aliens with a swift kick in the chest, knocking it back several steps before she spun and drover her blade into the side of the second alien's neck. Blue-black blood spurted from the wound as the alien grabbed his neck and stumbled backward, where her slumped to the ground against the wall. The first alien had recovered enough to level his weapon at her and fire an energy blast, however the blast sailed harmlessly through where she had stood, as she had again vanished and reappeared behind him, burying her blade in the middle of his back.
Her lungs burned as she kicked the door of the apartment in, causing the two teens who were cowering inside to cry out in terror. Fortunately, unlike the hallway the apartment itself was not filled with smoke, the heavy fire doors had done their job and provided some degree of protection, and for that Haze was grateful as she drew a deep breath. She looked down at the two teens, who were still frightened, but visibly relieved that she was not one of the teal skinned terrors.
“We don't really have time for introductions. But if you want to get out of here alive, I recommend you come with me, now.”
