There was a dramatic pause before chaos ensued. Everyone stood up and started shouting at the same time. “A tsunami? On a river? How is that even possible!?” “Your Grace, what are you talking about?” “Who is behind this?”.

The man who had his back turned to Jingo did not answer any of them, instead he turned around and left the room followed by a couple of assistants. He bid the group farewell with ominous words.

“You’re tempting history, Rany Miranda. There’s a place in it for those who defy the natural order of things, and that’s not where you want to be.” In that instant Jingo had a chance to look at his face. He was a tall with a golden skin tone, thin cheeckbones and a very pronounced nose. The black hair contrasted with the red military uniform. And the others had referred to him as Your Grace, meaning he was a noble. Although he couldn’t recognize the man, there was an uncanny familiarity in his looks.

Duke Rany, on the other hand, stayed behind stone faced. He seemed to be making a great effort to not explode with anger while his advisors rampaged in the room. They didn’t seem to be aware of the divine existences, or their powers. Makes sense, you can’t tell the worlds’ best kept secret to just anyone… thought Jingo.

“What are you doing? Get out of there! We got what we need” screamed Yoel through the radio bringing Jingo back to reality. But his warning was a bit too late. Among the confusion, people’s attention started dispersing and one of the executives locked eyes with the intruder.

“Who are you?” he asked with a big frown.

With no hesitation Jingo looked away and headed for the door. He had hoped the two bodyguards had left with the noble man, but they were still waiting when he came out. Walking as fast as possible without looking suspicious, he brushed past them and did not look back. Rany’s words followed him as he turned the corner.

“Stop, that man!”

“Ok, whatever you guys were going to do, do it now!” Jingo said in the microphone before activating his powers and dashing up the corridors. Shortly after he heard the loud footsteps of the dark-skinned man pursuing him. And when he looked over his shoulder, he saw that his assumptions had been right, he had ominous red eyes, glowing with Ruach.

“On it! “Where in the complex are you?” asked Valentina jumping off the van along with Daphne and Albert.

“East! I’m coming of east!” Jingo yelled back while he ran around the building. His pursuer was relentless but he did slow down. Up ahead, the end of the corridor was approaching, but instead of slowing down, Jingo accelerated towards the window.

“Fuck it!” he yelled as his body smashed through the glass. Under him there was nothing but air, yet his body floated down like a feather, spiraling to the floor. While in the air, Jingo was able to see the limits of the city, and with a worried tone he said: “Yo, Aquagirl, you better get your ass to the canal right now...”

“Why?” asked Daphne.

Jingo didn’t immediately answer, his attention was completely taken by the ludicrous sight of the giant tidal wave that approached in the horizon. The water level was much higher than the depth of the canal, but instead of spreading to the sides it stayed on course as if held by an invisible wall. The body of water would hit the dry ground and splash forward like the white fangs of a predator, rushing towards its prey.

“Cain’s ‘little gift’ is going to rip this district apart if you don’t stop it.” he said while finally reaching the ground. Behind him, a loud noise drew his attention back, as his pursuer jumped from the same window. But unlike Jingo, he stuck close to the building wall and, with his hand glowing bright-red, he smashed his fingers through the concrete to break his fall. “Uh… I could also use that back up firepower you mentioned.”

“Shit… Albert!” screamed Daphne “We’re going in to help him, get the people out of the building, that wave is really coming.”

Albert nodded and ran off to the main entrance. A man with a uniform tried to stop him, but he ignored him and kept running.

“Get out of here man! This place is in danger” Albert shouted back. The security guard tried chasing him, but now that he was alone, Albert had no reason to hold back the power he had absorbed from Valentina earlier.

He used Lightning Steps, and dashed up the corridor like a stray bullet. Whenever he came across someone, he thought about stopping and telling them to leave too, but a better idea came to him. Once he was far enough into the complex, he turned around flew back pulling every fire alarm lever down. The loud ringing spread across the complex like wildfire, and soon enough, the employees that were still there after the drought started flooding the corridors.

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Meanwhile, outside of the main building, by the dry canal, Jingo’s evasion was being put to the test by the gigantic bodyguard. The Descendant of the Clouds would jump and hop and flip backwards while the other man charged at him with his fist, leaving craters on the ground with his punches. Jingo was light, and elusive, but his enemy was too fast on the ground. The distance between them shortened, little by little, as they ran around in circles. A hit missed him by a hair, and the impact sent him flying to the floor. He braced for what he was sure would be a devastating blow, but instead his vision flashed yellow.

Valentina’s powerful kick sent the enemy flying to the side. Without taking her eyes off the bodyguard, she extended a hand to her friend, who laid sprawled on the floor.

“About damm time!” said Jingo, being pulled to his feet.

“Are you alright?” asked Daphne as she caught up to them.

“Yeah, just some scratches here and there.”

As they chatted, the man got back up and dusted off his shoulder.

“Strong…” he said, in a very low voice, nodding to Valentina, as if to acknowledge her.

“What’s his deal?” asked Valentina.

“He’s fast and hits hard” answered Jingo ironic.

“My name is Elish, it is a pleasure to meet some of my kind in this small city. Despite our… unfortunate circumstances.” the bodyguard nodded to his three opponents. His skin starting changing from a dark-brown to black, the contrast with his shining red eyes made him look demonic.

“A son of the Desert” said Daphne “They’re main ability is adaptation. Body temperature, bone mass, weight, height. Whatever it takes to survive. It is known as Chameleon Skin. He probably felt your heat, and now his body is changing to fight it.”

“Very knowledgeable are you?” said Elish with a smile “Too bad we met under this dire situation. I would’ve loved to get to know you better.”

“Oh I wouldn’t bother” said Jingo joining in the fun “She’s much more boring than you think.”

Elish laughed so loud you could see every teeth in his mouth. But his fun was interrupted when a door by the side of the building flung open and a woman came out. She wore the uniform of the building security.

“Who are you? What are you all doing here? Did you not hear the alarms!” she yelled angrily.

The smile of the easy-going bodyguard immediately withered, and without ceremony he pulled a revolver from his back and pointed it at the lady.

“NOO!” yelled Albert as he tackled the security woman to the floor, right as the bullet flew by her head.

The entire scene happened so fast that the other three had no time to react. When their brains finally absorbed the events they all exploded at the same time:

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” yelled Jingo.

“Shooting an unarmed civilian…” said Valentina.

“Unbelievable.” whispered Daphne.

“Oh, I see. You’re one of those. I was right, we should definitely chat.” responded Elish. But once again a noise interrupted him. This time, it was screams coming from outside of the eastern walls. “Oops. That’s my cue. It seems it’ll have to stay for another time.”

He turned his back and started running to the building entrance, Valentina tried to intercept him with another Flash Kick. This time he blocked it with his left arm, and the impact barely nudged him.

“Very, fast. Yes. But you’ll never pierce my Skin with this.” Elish took the opportunity to grab her leg and throw her light body to the ground. This time it was Valentina who was sent flying and bouncing off the dirt.

She wasn’t very hurt, thanks to her Ruach enhancement, but it got her very, very angry. When she got back up, Elish had already disappeared.

“Dammit! Where’s that bastard!” she asked angrily.

Meanwhile, Albert tended to the shaken security guard, who witnessed human bodies moving impossibly after almost being shot to death.

“Are you ok? Listen to me. You better get out of here as soon as you can. I don’t know how my friends will react to your presence. As for what you saw today… it’s best if you forget it.” Then after thinking for a bit, he decided a bit of fear was in her best interest. “Tell no one of this. Or we we will find you.”

Her attention was, however, shifted to the sudden thundering noise of Cain’s tidal wave hitting the facility’s walls. They were not nearly big enough to contain the rushing water that towered over them like a big hand ready to squash a fly.

Daphne sprung into action, jumping into the middle of the canal and standing right in front of the river God’s wrath. The wave carried its destruction along with it, in the form of cars, cacti and debris, still the Descendant of the Sea waited patiently in her battle stance. When the first drops were about to reach her, she took action.

In a swift move she punched forward with her palm and the water shot up violently, as if it had hit another invisible wall. Still, the wave bounced back, relentlessly trying to swallow her small body. Daphne, fought it off in all fronts, blocking every crest from falling, kicking every rushing tide to a stop. The water splashes, rained down on the city, as she battled the will of nature.

Valentina and Albert watched the fight, completely hypnotized by the beauty and ferocity of the waves, matched only by the beauty and ferocity of the woman who fought them back. There was something magical, almost savage about Daphne’s display of skill. The soft spoken and introverted person was gone, leaving only the wildness of the Sea running rampant through her veins.

It took half an hour.

Half an hour of the river attacking, retreating and attacking again. Half an hour of a Descendant standing her ground against an angry god. Half an hour of rain, for a dried up city.

“T-That’’s…” stuttered Albert.

“That’s the power of true a Master.” completed Valentina.

In the end, the waters receded back upstream, leaving behind a muddy canal, random debris and a soaking wet woman.

Jingo jumped down to help his boss, who staggered up the hill, completely depleted. With a hand around her waist he brought her back to the other two, who still watched her wide-eyed. After catching her breath for a few seconds Daphne pulled Jingo’s sleeve to her mouth. He looked at her confused.

“My mic is broken” she said with a shrug “Yoel, get the van to the front. We need to get to the capital”