Evil's Return (2)

Trillions of years of hard work had finally paid off. The primordials had found the exact location of Earth.

The planet they had created through their blood and sweat.

The planet that their children had stolen from them.

The planet that was begging for a new owner.

Now, they had returned to reclaim what they had once lost.

Iapetus was the first one to reach the gate. Eager to feel Earth's embrace again, he extended his hand, reaching out to the world he would rule with his brothers and sisters.

"Finally… The Earth is ours—Argh!"

Iapetus screamed at the top of his lungs. He hastily pulled his arm back, only to see blood dripping from the stump where his wrist should have been.

***

A few minutes ago…

Aiden was stunned into silence. Just now, the students had been celebrating their graduation when everything turned chaotic. First came the sirens, then the people panicked, running for their lives.

Aiden wanted to run too, but his feet froze on the spot. Something was behind him. He turned and saw a hand reaching out for him. His instincts screamed at him to run, to not let the hand touch him.

But his legs refused to budge.

All the noise, all the voices, disappeared. Only the hand remained before him.

Just when things seemed inevitable, someone grabbed him by the collar and yanked him away, slicing through the strange hand simultaneously.

"Dad…?"

"Go help your mother with the evacuation," Arnold yelled over the noise. "Then call your aunt. She'll know what to do."

"But you—"

"Who am I, son?"

Aiden smirked and nodded. Why was he even worrying about his father? He was the strongest person in the entire universe. If someone appeared that he couldn't defeat, then the world was already doomed.

Yet something was off.

The sword Arnold used to chop the hand had rusted and was slowly withering away.

"What the—?"

It was the first time Arnold had seen celestial steel rust, but it certainly was the fastest.

"This hand… I wonder what I can make with this?"

Ever the creationist, Arnold kicked the hand into his domain, alerting Talos about it. If it was Talos, he would find a way to contain the hand while Arnold got to work on it.

With that, Arnold turned his attention to the gate. Soon, a man walked out of the portal, clutching his severed arm.

The man was twice as tall as Arnold, roughly thirteen feet tall. His naked torso was marked with countless scars he had accumulated throughout his life. A spear covered in the blood of gods and mortals alike was strapped to his back.

But it was his eyes that caught Arnold's attention.

The man was enraged. Most likely because of his severed arm.

"Dare hurt the great Iapetus—!"

"Stop yelling in other people's homes!"

Arnold's voice was even louder than Iapetus's as he kicked the latter away. However, he came to regret his decision as, just like his sword, his shoes also withered away.

Iapetus let out a mocking smile.

"The One Above All…" he said. "I have heard a lot about you. The one feared by all. The protector and the destroyer—"

Arnold yawned, looking at his watch.

"As much as I would love to listen to your monologue, I have dinner to attend. You know, my son has grown, and I need to give him some pep talk about life. So would you mind dying?"

"This filth—!"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out as Iapetus fell to the ground. Arnold stood before him, smoke still coming out of his gun.

"Try decaying that," Arnold smirked.

"This… is just the… beginning… fake god…"

"Eh, beginning? It looks like your end to me."

"Keep deluding… yourself," Iapetus said, smiling.

"Just die already."

Arnold put more bullets into Iapetus's body until he went still. However, before he could put the corpse in his domain, it vanished along with the portal. But that wasn't all.

A moment later, an automaton came rushing towards Arnold, carrying Nicole's message.

"I don't know what happened, but portals all around the globe just vanished," she said.

"I might have a clue why…" Arnold replied, eyeing the spot where Iapetus had been. "Contact the rest."

"Is it—?"

"Yes. This was a trial. The Titans… they know where we are now."

The titan he just killed wasn't a titan, but a toy controlled by them. They remained hidden behind the gate and sent toys ahead in their place.

They weren't ones to carelessly invade Earth while Arnold and the rest were there.

It was more like a scouting mission.

And now they had found their targets.

"What a drag…" Arnold sighed, massaging his temples.

So far, they had been the ones hunting the Primordials, but now things had changed.

The hunters have become the hunted.