Earth 101 — City Park (18:59)
From a few feet away, a teenage boy notices an old lady being harassed by two men—one of them holding a knife.
Without hesitation, he sprints toward them, jumps, and drop-kicks the man with the knife. As the thug crashes to the ground, the boy picks up the knife and stabs him in the leg, hoping to put him out of the fight.
The old lady recognizes him instantly.
"Green!" she exclaims.
Green turns around just in time to face the other thug. Using the moment of confusion, he shoots upright and lands an uppercut on the man's jaw.
But you see the thing is Green can't fight. This is the first time he's ever thrown a punch. Pain surges through his knuckles, and he quickly reels his hand back, trying to look cool he tries not to cry.
He prays desperately that the punch knocks the thug out. It doesn't. The man's head just snaps back slightly. The thug readjusts his jaw and stares at Green with disgust and annoyance.
Wow that attempt was really pathetic he didn't even bruise him.
He tries another punch, aiming for the thug's nose, but the thug catches Green's fist mid-swing because for some reason green thought this time the punch will work.
And squeezes hard. Green collapses to one knee in pain. The thug releases his hand only to grab him by the hair, yank him up, and headbutt him. Then he punches Green in the nose, then again—then repeatedly slams fists into his gut.
The thug rips off Green's shirt, exposing his somewhat athletic body. In the center of his chest sits a glowing, green cavity roughly seven centimeters wide, rimmed with shiny silver metal. Covering the cavity is a metallic triangle design.
The thug grins. "I'm going to destroy your core," he says, anger dripping through his smile.
Green winces. "Isn't this guy a little too cartoonishly evil? " he thinks to himself, barely listening. "I need a plan…"
Before he can think up anything, police sirens wail only meters away. During the chaos, the old lady manages to call for help.
The thug drops Green, hoists up his wounded friend, and the two of them sprint away.
Earth 312 — Delani Park (18:59)
"I've told you we can't do that!" a man yells, slamming his hand onto the kitchen counter.
"Why?" a woman cries, almost sobbing.
"Because he's our responsibility. And he's just a child." He rubs the bridge of his nose.
"Swiss isn't just a child. He's always smiling, that creepy smile… he's not normal."
"Why did you choose him if you just want to send him away now?"
"Because then I thought it was cute. But now he won't stop smiling. Just last week he fell off the balcony and he was smiling like nothing happened. It's creepy."
"Laura, I'm not sending him away. And that's final!" he snaps.
"John… please… doesn't he creep you out?" she asks, breaking down.
"No, Laura. He's our son. And we chose him."
Swiss overhears everything. He just smiles—of course he does. Quietly, he turns away and leaves the house. He walks toward a pile of leaves in the front yard. He swings his arms and the leaves rise and swirl around him, obeying his movement.
He lies down on the ground, staring at the beautiful blue sky. A single tear escapes his eye.
A green snake, awakened from the leaves he scattered, slithers toward him and curls up beside him.
"I'm sorry, mum… I'm not smiling right now," he whispers, sobbing, tears streaming down his face.
Earth 102 — Bulkany Desert (18:59)
Three armored vehicles drive down a dirt road.
An explosion detonates beneath them, flipping all three sideways in a violent shockwave.
Inside the middle vehicle, a fat man breathes heavily—sweat and blood mixing as they drip down his terrified face.
"Get up! Do something! They sent her, Pink is here for my soul!" he screams at the driver.
But the driver only slumps forward, throat split open by a gash.
The fat man turns to the windshield—and sees a long slicing mark on the driver's side.
"That's not possible. It's blast-proof!"
He looks toward the door. Two neon-pink plasma blades pierce opposite sides of it. The metal melts like butter. The door is ripped away entirely, sunlight flooding into the vehicle and exposing his fear.
A hand reaches in, grabs him by the collar, yanks him out, and throws him onto the desert ground.
He immediately falls into a begging pose.
"Please," he whimpers.
He looks up.
A tall figure stands over him. Her neon-pink and black ensemble glows in the sunlight. A grey bodysuit hugs her athletic frame. Pink accents shimmer along her limbs. Her pink mask and neatly tied twin buns make her look both elegant and lethal.
"Lutz Stevenson. Your soul has been requested. I am here to collect it," Pink says as a beam of pink light crawls from her chest, wraps around her arm, and launches from her palm—forming a sword of pure light.
"Wait…wait, I'll pay you double! Triple!" he begs.
She ignores him.
She lunges.
Earth 232 — Amarian Rainforest (18:59)
"I LEFT MY HOME, TO JOIN THE ARMY!" the infantry chants as they march across the soggy, barren land at night.
"Nova… you think we'll meet the Black Death?" a soldier whispers.
"Stop it, Tor. You'll get us in trouble," Nova mutters.
"TOR! NOVA!" the infantry commander shouts, storming toward them.
"SIR, YES SIR!" they answer.
"Would you like to tell everyone what you two are talk—"
Bang!
The commander's head explodes right in front of them.
"GET DOWN! ENEMY FIRE!" the deep voice bellows as he drops.
"Enemy infantry approaching from the east! Take cover and engage!"
Chaos erupts. Gunfire floods the night. Soldiers fall left and right.
Tor pulls something from his cargo pocket.
"Nova, look. It's a perfectly symmetrical red and blue apple. Found it earlier. Cool, right?"
Nova stares.
"I don't think this is the time… but fine, I call dibs on the red side."
Tor pulls out a Victorinox soldier knife and slices the apple perfectly in half.
"Damn. I didn't want the weird side."
"Bro, seriously?" Nova sighs. "Why are you dividing it now? Let's eat it later."
"Relax. I want this to be my last meal," Tor says, handing him the red half.
"Cheers."
"This won't be your last meal," Nova mutters sadly. "We'll probably get stake and shrimp at the mess hall after this attack."
He taps Tor's half. "Cheers."
They bite into the apple at the same time.
"Nova… I don't think you noticed, but everybody's dead. Three guys left on their side. And maybe one sniper."
"I know. Maybe we should wait for reinforcements, or hope they leave."
Tor gives him a soft, hopeless smile.
"Nova… if they wanted to leave, they wouldn't have a sniper. We stumbled into their outpost. Their reinforcements are coming. Nobody called HQ, and there's no sniper glint. That means we're dealing with the Black Death."
"Tor, no. That fantasy again? I'm not that good. We'll die. Let's surrender. We're not winning this," Nova whispers desperately.
Tor reaches out, gently cups the back of Nova's neck, and pulls him close until their foreheads touch.
"You want to surrender? Don't run, you coward. Defeat only comes when you let it in. Don't open that door. Fall fighting, don't live knowing you quit. Why choose to lose instantly? Muster everything you have. And if you don't have enough… borrow some from tomorrow."
He presses his gun into Nova's hands, shoves him away from cover, then stands tall.
"Over here!" Tor yells.
Bang!
Tor is shot clean through the skull.
Nova seizes the moment. He raises Tor's gun and shoots—taking down the three remaining soldiers. He holsters the pistol, spots a rifle ahead, and dives for it.
Tor's death shot reveals the sniper's trajectory.
Nova aims.
Bang. Bang.
Both snipers fire at the same instant.
Two bullets slice through the night—barely grazing each other mid-air.
Nova's bullet lodges perfectly in the Black Death's forehead.
The Black Death's bullet does the same to Nova.
Both collapse simultaneously.