It all happened in plain sight. What John had just witnessed was beyond anything he could stop; he had no special abilities. He carried a few tech devices, but none strong enough to make a difference.
Still, his force field device had managed to protect him and Dorothy during the explosion a few minutes ago. At least that had been useful.
He dragged his legs across the snow, his knees pulled to his chest and held tightly with both hands. He didn't notice when everything around him fell silent.
"They stopped."
John took the bold step of standing up to peep from the small rock he hid behind, they were gone.
"What's happening?"
"What's happening?" Dorothy asked, her voice laced with fear and concern. She stood and walked toward where the fight had taken place. John followed more slowly, his eyes bracing for the worst.
His sisters, he wasn't ready to see their bodies lying dead. He moved with his face tilted to the sky, hands folded tightly.
Whatever that thing was, it had been strong enough to kill his parents and one of the Izigan legends, Sir David. Now, he feared he was about to see another life taken.
When they arrived, they saw the place completely changed. The snow land there had become rivers flowing in the cracked earth, and the black rocky ground lay exposed; the snow had completely evaporated. But that wasn't what caught John's attention.
His eyes followed a straight, destructive line carved deep into the ground, stretching far into the snowy distance. It had to be one of them. With neither of his sisters in sight, he knew he had to find one.
John felt tears about to break free, but he held them back, clenching his fist and taking a deep breath. Beside him, Dorothy stood in dismay, tears already rolling down her cheeks.
"He took her… he took Sofia," Dorothy's voice slipped through in a low but trembling tone, enough for John to hear.
"You saw it?"
"Yes," she replied, her voice breaking. "I wanted to save them, but I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry."
Dorothy spoke before collapsing into John's arms, sobbing. He patted her gently, though she didn't know his own heart was breaking, still struggling to hold himself together.
"At least Belle might still be alive. Let's follow this path," he said.
They walked along the cracked line for almost an hour until they finally reached its end, a massive mound of snow.
"Someone's in there!"
Dorothy darted forward, her powers flaring to life. A glowing ring formed around both her arms, and with sweeping motions, she carved through the snow. The frozen mound crumbled away until, at last, a figure emerged, Belle.
John moved beside her, pressing his fingers to her neck. He let out a sigh of relief upon feeling her pulse.
"She's alive," he said.
It didn't surprise him to see her body free of bruises. At high intensity, cosmic energy became a protective shield, and it seemed Belle's power had activated just in time to save her.
They both helped her up and allowed her to rest for a while. Then, as if answering their silent prayers, she suddenly coughed out like someone drawn from the peak of drowning.
She clutched her chest, gasping for air, while inhaling heavily and pounding her chest.
Both John and Dorothy stared at her in amazement and disbelief. They were excited for only a bit, too much had already been lost.
"What happened? Why are you guys looking at me like that? Did something happen?" Belle asked, looking at them in confusion.
Both John and Dorothy exchanged glances, realizing her condition.
"Damn, it messed with her memories."
"She doesn't remember, John. What do we do?"
At this state, John had to wait until she regained her memories. They couldn't walk all the way back just to show her the uneasy scenery.
It didn't take long before Belle's expression came back. She sprang up and lunged toward John, holding the front of his sweater and trembling furiously.
"Where is Sofia? She was fighting alongside me…"
"You still have some strength left in you?"
Belle suddenly fell to the ground, holding her stomach, and then collapsed, pouring out blood from her mouth. The impact from the Void's punch was still effective.
Though she remembered herself fighting, she knew it wasn't really her, it was like she was being controlled by a part of her own consciousness she couldn't control.
Most of her cosmic energy was gone, drained to the last drop. She pressed her stomach and began to feel dizzy. Her vision blurred out and everything became shaky.
'I should be dead,' she thought.
"I was able to grab most of my devices before you two went berserk, but right now… whatever that thing was, it took Sofia, and I know just how to find him."
"Yeah, yeah, allow me to rest for a while. I don't feel so good."
Belle muttered before her knees buckled, collapsing on the snow. Dorothy rushed beside her in panic to hold her still. Things happened really fast, so fast John was still trying to process it.
Hours later.....
Ryan, Kenneth, and Stella arrived at the scene. An outburst of grief shook them, rage and terror were written on their faces, fists clenched and hearts pounding. There was no one left to blame.
They met the destroyed place, frozen blood-stained snow, and the lifeless bodies of Sir David and the Palmer couples lying before their eyes, cold and still. Stella knelt to the ground, a deep sense of guilt gnawing at her.
"What have we done?"
Tears rolled down her eyes as she spoke. It was all on them, at least no one knew but they had been reckless
Ryan held his composure, took one knee to the ground, and held some snow in his hand before scattering it all around.
He remembered everything, the glass, the visions, the images. They were things that were to happen… or just… nothing. He was trying to make sense of it. Something wasn't right. He never made mistakes in his calculations.
'The only explanation for this is reality was altered. The moment I touched it, I felt the change, but after a while, nothing. If it was a mistake… No. I made sure my Era Eyes covered a wide range. So how did things turn out this way?' Ryan thought.
Kenneth took a deep breath with his hands folded and facing sideways, not staying at the scene.
They could have intervened once more, but they had lain unconscious in Ryan's construct reality for too long before they woke up.
Kenneth wiped his beard, which was covered with ice, still thinking about how he had passed out when they met the Void.
It was something he had never encountered. He looked at the red mark on his white skin, it still hurt.
The Void was able to tear through his lightning shield and then, of course, he blacked out, being smashed to the ground.
'We underestimated it… what on earth?'
They weren't prepared, and the feeling of loss haunted them.
The Lightning Lord, the name he earned from his battles and his reputation as unstoppable was not unstoppable this time.
The Void had caught them off guard. At least, that could be an excuse for his loss.
"We have to go now, Stella. The Sector Unit will soon come back online," Kenneth instructed.
Even if the suits they wore could erase their cosmic signature, they would be spotted as soon as the Sector Unit came back online. Their deaths were on their hands now.
They stood up and left the scene, and Ryan, using his reality manipulation, reversed their footsteps so they wouldn't be seen.