(Libertatem 1, 59 / 3:30AM)

A reverb service bell aroused throughout his heart, piercing his soul as it caused the back ends of his hair to spike up.

(Luke) Hope! Get down!

Tackling her to the ground, both of his hands grabbed a hold of her waist and lower back, pinning her down to the ground with his body. Holding her tightly, he made sure his body was on top of hers, shielding her as the incoming shockwave…

Rumbled the entire building.

Feeling the entire building scream and shriek, many of the drawers collapsed. Lights, as well as the windows shattered.

Yet the building remained standing.

Looking up, he noticed that the building didn’t crumble under the shock, but the many objects and drawers managed to crack the wooden tiles.

Letting go of her body, he slowly stood up and dug his heels onto the slightly unstable wooden flooring, his eyes peering everywhere around the room. Looking toward Hope, he extended his hand as she slowly looked up toward him, her eyes widened with her hands trembling from the explosion.

Grabbing his hand, Luke slowly pulled her up, his lungs letting out an exhale of breath from his hot and fresh mouth.

(Hope) What is that…

Luke looked toward the broken window that shattered, the same window that he placed his hand on six years ago when he had that slight mental breakdown.

And.

(Luke) No. No please. Not again.

Beyond the eastern edges of the city, on top of a hill.

Was death in titan form.

As the smoke and ash flew into the hills beyond the east, a giant figure slowly started to stand from the burning flames, its embers seen with the naked eye.

Slowly walking toward the window, Luke placed both of his hands onto the edge of the broken frame, the glass shards pelting his palms as they started to bleed. Without a care in the world, he saw the monster manage to stand up with all of its height, its devilish horns striking heaven above.

(Luke) It’s the same … it’s the same … its—

The monster had breasts upon its chest, followed by its thighs and curves being feminine, which meant…

(Luke) It’s the same as six years ago…

(Fred) Luke!

Upon the wide open door, the lights from the hallway flickered violently, leading to four men facing the two adults in the room.

Luke had his widened eyes staring at Fred, whose cheeks were stained by the hot tears that rolled down his face.

The three other faces darkened as they saw the hideous display from out the window. Stan enclosed his hands to fists.

(Stan) Hell just came back again Luke…

With the six adults looking toward the window, the female giant fiery monster had both of its elbows tucked into her armpits, her hands forming into death fists as she buckled her knees. Looking straight toward the city skyline, her legs spread apart the earth and land that melted and burned away the grass, dirt, and soil.

Opening its mouth, the vocals upon the fiery giant could be seen as its throat…

Let out a roar of a thousand cries.

Nothing like before, the monster’s cry was a death roar, a yell that sought revenge or hatred upon the buildings that stood in her way.

The rest of the adults in the room moved their feet toward the hallway, their feet pushing off the wooden ground. Seeing that the monster isn’t going to just disappear, the six of them placed themselves in the middle of the flickering hall, the light going on and off.

(Hope) What do we do?

(Luke) We … I …

The doors of the hallway swung open, with the rest of the Dark Angels storming out into the hallway. And since there were empty rooms that they had in spare, many soldiers rushed out too, with the three agents and one spartan leaving one room alone.

All of them huddled in the center of the violently flickering hallway, all of them had no choice but to feel their heat against each other.

Since they weren’t fully dressed, almost all of them had on their regular pajamas or sleeping clothes, with many of the other soldiers having simple tank tops or bras and underwear.

(Stan) Your call, Luke.

(Luke) But … I don’t …

The hallway lights that flickered violently ceased, leading to them being alone in the dark again.

A large roar of yelling spread across the unfiltered hallway, leading to many shouts coming from the small fry soldiers.

(Diego) You can come up with anything, right Luke?

(Luke) But…

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With Luke and the rest of The Dark Angels being right in the middle of it all, they could only hear the sounds of the soldiers panicking. Being tugged and pushed around, Luke turned his head toward the sounds of familiar voices near him, trying to extend his hand outward.

(Gary) Luke!

(Luke) Shut up, I’m trying to think—

But then a whitish light appeared right in front of everyone.

The yelling stopped for good, they all turned their heads towards a woman that glowed in the dark, their eyes sparkling at the freckled woman. Seeing that Gwen was also with four others, Luke and the rest of the gang widened their eyes as they had their mouths agape.

(Gwen) Hey, ya’ll! I think we should plan this out, no?!

______________________________________________________________________________

(Libertatem 1, 59 / 3:45AM)

(Agent Briggs) So what’s the plan, freckled woman?

(Gwen) Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just a commander.

Agent Briggs clicked his tongue.

In front of the Dark Angels building, the Dark Angels and platoons of soldiers stood in front of a military truck.

(Boris) Attention!

With almost everyone turning their glances towards the fiery breast reaching the outskirts of the industrial district of the city, they all huddled up in the cold summer night. As all the soldiers, agents, and Dark Angels hurdled up in the middle, there were four men and one woman standing on top of a truck.

(Boris) At ease!

The bowl-cut man on top of the truck spoke in a commanding manner, his posture straight with his hands being cusped into his lower back. Noticing that many of the soldiers managed to listen to his head of words, he turned his gaze toward the blonde-haired man with a fedora.

(Boris) Take it away, Briggs.

Having his hands in his black suit pockets, the agent gave a little nod toward Boris, casually making his way toward the back end as he straightened his back. Moving his head so that strands of hair wouldn’t get inside his eye, he cleared his throat as he coldly glared at the rest of the soldiers.

(Agent Briggs) You’re all going to fight that thing whether you like it or not! Just because it’s powerful doesn’t mean it can’t be destroyed!

(Boris) Your agent is right!

Boris cleared his throat as he rubbed his throat with his fingers.

Despite his throat becoming more raspy, he continued to stare at every single soldier at the bottom of the trucks.

(Boris) We don’t have a plan, but what we do have is hope and faith! Unless you want this city—no, this country to be toppled by that monster, then we all are going to pull our weight!

All of the soldiers, even The Dark Angels started to let darkened faces cloud their eyes and eyelids, as some soldiers nudged their feet back. With many of them glancing at the fiery monster walking closer toward the outskirts of the city, their palms started to be coated withsweat.

One soldier, or one young man in particular, raised his hand, a side bang on his hair covering his right eye.

(Luke) With all due respect sir, but what do you propose we should do?

All the rest of the soldiers turned their attention toward the young man, their bodies letting out shivers upon their lower and upper backs.

Hearing this, Boris put his hands into his pockets, his gaze turning toward Luke as he pushed down his eyes and slightly opened his chubby mouth.

(Boris) It’s quite simple, we're going to fight against that monster, and we’re using this chance to finally kill it.

Gasps and murmurs surrounded the entirety of the area between the two trucks, as many soldiers opened their mouths wide as they sucked in the area around them.

Meanwhile, Luke put his head down as he looked over to his two holstered weapons to his sides, seeing his weapon choices. Holding in the air in his lungs, he swiped his forehead with his right sleeve, despite his forehead not having any sweat to wipe away.

(Luke) But sir, how are we going to kill it?

(Gwen) That’s where you come along. You were there on that day, so did you or Fred, Gary, and Stan see anything out of the ordinary?

As Stan, Fred, and Gary were to the right of him, followed by Diego and Hope to the left, Luke turned his head toward the three of them. Seeing that they were putting their hands into their pockets, their breathing started to skyrocket as their lungs went up and down erratically.

Having his arms to his thighs, he straightened his back and face, despite his body trembling.

(Luke) During that hellish day … did you guys see anything that might be of use …

(Stan) … I uh, I can’t recall …

(Fred) Me neither … everything was just so quick, so fast …

(Gary) This is a long shot but … I guess I have a theory.

Not just his friends, but most of the soldiers and even Boris and Briggs perked their ears up at the sound of Gary’s statement.

Noticing that Gary had the floor, he panned toward the five figures that were on top of the truck, his eyes glancing back and forth between them and his friends. Caressing his chubby yet slightly muscular chest with his right hand, he gulped down as a bead of sweat went inside his lips.

(Boris) Go ahead, Gary.

(Gary) During the escape from the city, and when we were on the lifeboats, I managed to catch a glimpse of when it last disappeared or rather exploded.

(Boris) And where was that?

(Gary) … It exploded at the Clastine water facility.

Boris rubbed his double chin with his fingers as he nodded.

(Boris) So you’re saying that the monster’s weakness might be water?

(Gary) Maybe, but we won’t know till we try.

(Agent Briggs) How didn’t you go blind? Reports say that anyone who saw the explosion of the dissipating monster immediately lost their ability to see.

(Gary) My friends and I were long gone, and I used high-lensed binoculars to see the creature emitting a bright light. I pulled away as soon as the monster exploded.

(Agent Briggs) How far were you from the monster? Give me an estimate.

(Gary) Probably 30 to 40 miles…

Briggs took off his fedora that he wore on top of his straight blond hair, using his right hand to hold the top of the hat. With his left hand, he swiped away a good strand of his side bang that started to cover his left eye.

Spanning his head right at Boris, he lifted his head as he tightened the grip on his fedora, his fingertips feeling the black fabric and cloth.

(Agent Briggs) Given the speed at which the monster is going, she’s surprisingly taking her sweet time. Where is the Lagefor Water pump facility located?

(Boris) That will be downtown, on the northern side of the district.

Everyone turned toward the skyline to the north, seeing the pitch-black high-rising buildings shrouded in imminent darkness.

Placing his right hand onto the holster of his gun, Luke used his fingertips to caress the grip as he eyed one particular building, a building that was the highest one in the city.

(Luke’s thoughts) So we’re all going to be going back there huh…

His left hand trembled as he laid it flat onto his thigh, his bottom lip quivering. He looked up toward the dimming cloudy sky that was being replaced with a reddish color.

He smacked his face with both hands.

(Luke’s thoughts) It’s been six years. We’re strong. All we need to do is spread out and take on certain tasks.

Raising his hand high, his smooth yet rough palm was shown again, leaving every soldier to turn their head toward him. Getting the attention of both Boris and Briggs, Boris gave him a simple nod while Briggs folded his arms and glared at him with sharpened eyes.

Having the floor to him again, Luke straightened his back and cleared his throat, pounding the right side of his chest with his right hand as he looked upward at the two.

(Luke) I think … I think I might be able to tend to all of our strengths.

(Boris) Speak away.

Putting his hand down, he used the same hand he used to get everyone’s attention to stick out his thumb, pointing it toward himself as he sharpened his eyes.

(Luke) With all due respect, I think all four of us, from agents to soldiers, and elite soldiers alike should work together to do four separate tasks to take out or at least loosen the death count amongst the civilians that are still here.

Everyone's eyes widened at the same time, as some soldiers put their hands toward their mouths.

The five figures that were on top of the truck looked at one another, peering into one another’s eyes. With the five of them turning their attention back toward the man with light brown hair, four of them looked at the woman at the back of them.

Moving their head to where the boy was, the freckled woman started walking toward the back of the truck, her body being seen by everyone, including Luke who widened his eyes.

(Gwen’s thoughts) So he finally came up with something good for him.

Folding her arms, she looked toward the soldiers that were in front of her, seeing that there was a clogged mess of men and women hurdled up like sardines. Standing up straight, she cleared her throat as she used her vocals to the extent of her ability.

(Gwen) Bring that young man toward the top of the truck! Clear the way for him!