Surrender

"Wait! You're going to kill my dad?! No, this can't be right, hold on!" Ra screamed out. He regained consciousness after a previous hit and ran over to Umbra, tugging on her arm.

"Look! We'll stay here, in Zealous, in the bunker, exactly where you can watch us... I spent a long, long time waiting to see Dad again, don't just kill him the first time I'm able to meet up with him! That's seriously messed up!" Ra yelled out.

It was weird when I first knew him, Ra was a very smart kid. He could think things out under pressure and served as Zealous' strategist. Now, he was reduced to a whiny child. I guess a lot changes in the face of danger like his dad is in right now. No matter, I didn't care that much.

"As long as we're on the same page," Umbra said. She held out her hand toward me, and I assumed she wanted the gauntlet back. After I started to take it off, she swatted at me and then high-fived me.

"That thing is yours to keep. I'm working on a new prototype for my weapon, so these gauntlets are out of date and now belong to you, Lia. I saw that, those Purple Strands you could summon... I think there is a much greater power within you, and these gauntlets should be the perfect vessel to pull them out. I call them the Honua Armament, but I will most likely take that name back when I'm done with my new ones. Got a name in mind?" Umbra asked me.

When I looked at the gauntlet, it somehow made sense to me that they were mine. I knew for a fact they belonged to me, and I was happy to adjust them on my wrist.

"How about..." I paused for a moment, thinking of a fitting name that had to do with strength.

"Seismic, fitting for the whole, 'Quake' thing going on right now, don't you think?" I asked Umbra. She nodded with her hands in her pockets, looking toward the middle of Zealous.

There were loud noises emanating everywhere now. It wasn't quiet like it was before, and frankly, pretty scary to hear loud bangs and ripping noises from afar and wondering if it would be the last breath you would end up taking.

"Seismic is a good name... now, where are we going to next?" Umbra asked. She was ready to fight once more, already healed of her previous wounds, but Ruby and I were still out of stamina and needed a refill.

"Jeff, still there? Kire has been defeated and is in custody with Ra. He won't attack us anymore, so we're not killing him. Tell me, what are the statuses of the rest of Quake? Have we won yet?" Umbra asked the channel he was on.

It went radio silent for a few moments, and then his voice kicked in.

"Hello there, from what I can see, it appears that Fico is still engaging with Noboki, Tavian, Dante, and Amera. As far as I can tell, we need rescue efforts in all parts of the city. A lot of citizens were left behind, and buildings are being destroyed by an unobserved entity. We're thinking it's Cole. Can Sky get this message at all?" Jeff asked. Umbra picked up the radio by her mouth again and told him no.

"That's a shame... I know Cole and Sky have unresolved conflicts, and I'm thinking that Cole is running around destroying everything he can. Illya and Dani, what are your statuses? Report, please," Jeff said into the radio.

"Illya here... not doing so hot, I'm almost at my limit, which means if Fico isn't defeated soon, my Incarnation will shut off and she'll escape. I need somebody to go end that fight as soon as possible. I sent Carl toward Fico and I am taking any other people who are willing," She mentioned.

"I'm making my way toward the destruction with Sky. We'll fight Cole... the only thing that's not accounted for is Austin and Amy. Zeka is dead, Kire is beaten, and the Masked Girl has retreated. We have this in the bag... and it's only been an hour," Dani replied into the radio.

"Lia... can you still fight? No, I'd like it if you'd go with me to watch over Kire and Ra," Ruby sharply changed her mind and I agreed. I couldn't fight anymore, not after that. I was healed all the way, but using Purple Strands took a lot out of me.

"I'll get to Fico. She and I go way back, maybe I can solve some of that conflict. So, with that, we should just be finishing off in a few seconds, right?" Umbra asked Ruby and me.

"It doesn't feel like it should be that easy... to think, we defeated all of Quake with little to no trouble, in under an hour? I know this isn't a classic war, but it took us more than four hours to consistently push past Orion's ranks. Not to mention, another half day to fight Illya. I just get a bad feeling about this," I said to everybody.

"Well, this is only seven people who made a distinct effort to be pushy and needy as possible, right?" Ruby asked me. I guess that would suffice... but I still had a bad feeling in my mouth.

No abilities were sparking, I really didn't even feel like I fought at my absolute strongest. There wasn't a need to. Here I am, sitting here and thinking that something bad was coming... but nothing was on the horizon. It was peace after Quake. That was the hardest load left.

"You don't think Sky will need our help? I can't be sure... it's just a whim, but I'm usually never wrong about these things," I muttered to myself.

"Attention... Arkians... evacuate... east... north... south... leave... something big..." We heard over the radio.

I looked at mine with a puzzled face, before hearing an earth-shattering, ear-splitting shockwave above me, and the rumbling ground underneath me. Something hit the ground so hard that the city shook. Any loose buildings turned to scraps, and most importantly, on the left side of Zealous, stood a giant meteor, and an even bigger crater.

"What the hell...?" Ruby asked.