A green thunderbolt tore across the sky.
Like coiling serpents, green bolts of energy swirled in the heavens
over Houston. The moon and stars had been swallowed by midnight
nimbus clouds, whose celestial energies began to detonate deep within
their core. Thunder rumbled through the green tempest like a foul,
rotten hurricane.
On the streets below, a glowing figure walked across the pavement.
Its body was composed of vibrating jade energy as if it were the storm
made flesh.
The figure raised its arm, and a blast of emerald light erupted from its
palm. In one instant, houses bowed, buildings surrendered, collapsing
into monuments of smoke and rubble. Sidewalks were uprooted, streetlights were bent into L shapes, and the faces of brick buildings were
blown to concrete dust. Then, in another instant and another flash of
green, a chain reaction of citywide destruction plowed through Houston, ripping foundations from the sky and into the hellscape below.
A Houston Police Department squad car ripped around the corner,
heading towards the destruction. Its wheels tumbled across crumbled
brick and mortar, crunching debris under its weight. At the wheel
was Officer Irvine and sitting terrified in the passenger seat was Officer
Davis. Officer Davis, a lifelong Houston resident, peered out at the broiling destruction that coated his city. Block after block, home after
home, and building after building were simply gone. Davis surveyed the
once-familiar skyline but saw burning chasms where he remembered
homes. Officer Irvine glanced at a photo of his daughter on his dashboard, then back out at the destroyed city before him.
"My God, what did this?" Davis asked aloud.
"It has to be an Esper," Irvine replied, his stoic calm cracking a bit.
"But what kind of —STOP." Davis' reply was interrupted as he
threw his hands up. The two turned down 31st Street, and standing in
the middle of the road was the mysterious figure. It had two arms and
two legs. But the human resemblance stopped there because its body
seemed chiseled out of jade with viridescent light pulsating from its
seven-foot frame.
It was a star in the shape of a man.
"Back up," Davis whispered, before exploding, "Back up, now."
Irvine snapped out of his shock then slammed the car into reverse.
He stomped on the gas and rocketed backward. Davis snatched up the
radio and shouted into the mic, "We have a Vesper on sight. I repeat.
We have a Vesper on sight."
The glowing figure, a titan of storming green energies, took a step
toward them and raised a hand as – CRUSH. The police car smashed
to a halt as a toppled streetlight hooked into its undercarriage. Irvine
slammed on the gas repeatedly. The car's tires squealed in protest. The
car was a lost cause; it was trapped. Irvine and Davis exchanged a glance.
They both agreed this was their last breath. Irvine looked from Davis
to his daughter's picture, then to the light storm flaring just beyond the
windshield.
The Green Titan's body flared with energy, before the lights dove
back into its diamond body, coalesced into its palm, then burst in a flash
of rolling green light. Both officers turned away from the blinding mass
heading their way as – THOOM. The blast impacted their car, shaking
it wildly, smashing the windows, and sending waves of broiling heat
over their huddled forms. Just as suddenly as it began, it ended.
Davis was the first to open his eyes, blinking in amazement… He was alive. Irvine cracked his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was
his daughter's photo, floating into his lap. He picked it up and gently
cupped it in his palm.
"Ir–Irvine…" Davis stuttered. "It's them. It's the Olympians."
Irvine raised his head, and his breath escaped his lungs. His heart
filled with relief and resolve as his gaze fell on the backs of seven imposing figures standing between them and the Green Titan. Even though
he couldn't make out their individual faces, he knew them.
The world knew them.
The world's seven strongest Espers – the Olympians.
The Olympians, like all heroes, wore elastic bodysuits under a set
of chrome shoulder pads, which covered their torsos, chests, and necks,
and rose up to a set of retractable plates that formed a mask right under
their eyes. Mighty gold stars embellished the center of their suits. While
their suits unified them as one force, their differences in appearance were
drastic. One had shaggy, blue hair. Another was feline in appearance
with orange fur and pointed ears. It stood beside one other that had a
shield at her side. To her left was a man with only one arm. Behind that
one was another wearing a hood over its head.
Irvine and Davis perked up as a soft, commanding voice found their
ears telepathically. "We'll take it from here, Officers."
The two officers' eyes widened at each other, and Irvine stuttered,
"Did you hear–"
"Run. Now." The disembodied voice came to them, both comforting
and commanding. The tallest of the Olympians faced them, his eyes
focused and hard. There was a flash of red energy in the man's eyes, and
he spoke without moving his lips. "Go. Please."
The two officers didn't think twice. They opened their busted car
doors and sprinted away through the destruction, leaving the Olympians to face the Green Titan.
A green thundercloud swirled above the Olympians, roaring with
pent-up energy that seemed to move in step with the Green Titan.
Hurricane-strength winds swelled off of its body while jade-tinted chain
lightning looped recklessly through the black clouds above.
Though it had no eyes, mouth, nose, or ears, the Green Titan could
sense them behind the diamond slate that covered its face. Maybe it
sensed their energies, their presence, or maybe even their intent. Its
body bristled and simmered with pulsating force.
Like a storm cloud or a tornado the area around the Green Titan
swirled, kicking up hot dust and debris. Then with all of its supernatural might the Green Titan blitzed the Olympians and became a streak
of green. The Olympians met the Titan in the middle, their mighty
energies coming to bear and boiling forth.
As they impacted, a bright, hot, blinding light split forth from the
city of Houston, searing high and mighty until it pierced the green
clouds and starlit heavens above.