On Earth.
In a small, quiet tea room, Sally and Salomé sat facing each other, their expressions somber. A heavy atmosphere prevailed despite the peaceful setting.
Salomé, visibly upset, nervously played with the spoon resting on her saucer.
— "This is really annoying..." she grumbled. "We've been searching for that damn Gaïus for hours, but it's as if he vanished. Not a trace left."
Sally sighed deeply, hands wrapped around her still steaming cup of hot chocolate.
— "Even the police are on it, you know? They've been looking for him for months now. It's starting to get really suspicious."
Salomé lowered her eyes to her barely touched chocolate milk, as if she hadn't even wanted to drink it. Her gaze seemed elsewhere, heavy with tension.
Sally slowly turned her head toward her.
— "So… if I understand correctly, this Gaïus is linked to the 'Eradication Plan' against your family, right?"
— "Yes," Salomé replied in a low voice. "As I explained… he's even one of its pillars."
Sally frowned.
— "The fact that he's been missing all this time… could very well mean the plan has already been set in motion."
Salomé clenched her fists on her knees, tense. Her pants wrinkled under the pressure of her trembling fingers.
— "I should have told you earlier," she whispered.
Sally looked at her calmly, then resumed:
— "If you had warned me sooner… maybe we could have defused this much faster."
Salomé looked away.
— "I know. I vaguely mentioned it to Sakolomé, but I didn't go into details. So… he thought it was just a nightmare. Nothing serious."
A silence settled. Sally took a sip of her chocolate without a word. Then, she glanced at Salomé's glass, still nearly full.
— "You should drink a little, Salomé. As soon as we get out of here, we'll look for a solution. Promise."
Salomé nodded timidly.
— "You're right."
She grabbed her glass.
But the moment she brought it to her lips…
GROOOOOMMMMM !!!
A deep rumble shook the walls. The ground vibrated violently beneath their feet. Salomé's chocolate milk trembled in its glass… then spilled slightly onto the table.
— "What… was that?!" she shouted, jumping up.
Around them, the tea room's customers began to panic. Plates slid off tables, a lamp fell to the floor.
Sally was already standing, eyes fixed on the tea room's bay window.
Her gaze widened. A shiver ran down her spine.
— "…This isn't normal," she murmured. "Something just happened up there."
As chaos roared all around, Salomé dashed outside, heart pounding.
— "Salomé, wait! It's too dangerous!!" Sally shouted, rushing after her.
Outside, the city seemed to be plunging into hell.
The sky was darkened by a swarm of winged mutants, with misshapen bodies, emitting hoarse cries as they swooped over rooftops. In the distance, immense monstrous silhouettes trampled the streets, overturning cars, street lamps, and building facades in indescribable chaos.
Salomé stopped dead, mouth agape.
— "This… this is a nightmare…" she whispered, her throat tight.
Sally, just behind her, watched the horror scene with wide eyes.
— "But… why so many mutants?! It's a full invasion!"
Screams, explosions, children crying. A panicked crowd ran in all directions. Some, frantic, rushed toward the café seeking shelter.
Salomé and Sally quickly stepped aside to let a group of terrified civilians pass. The tea room owner spotted them and ran over.
— "You two! Get inside immediately! It's dangerous outside, damn it!"
But already, the crowd was growing, pushing at the entrance. The room would never be big enough to hold them all.
Sally quickly approached the owner:
— "Listen carefully. Leave the door open and take in as many people as possible. Got it?!"
— "Huh? But…"
— "Do as I say. We'll clear the way."
She turned to Salomé with a small smirk.
— "Hey, Salomé… how about we do some cleaning up?"
Salomé, eyes still fixed on the dark sky, nodded determinedly.
— "With pleasure."
Without wasting another second, the two young women plunged into the fray.
Salomé was the first to strike.
She jumped into the air, spinning on herself, and smashed her foot against the skull of a flying mutant hurtling toward a mother and her child. The monster crashed to the ground with a bone-cracking crash.
— "This way!," she shouted to the civilians, pointing toward the café.
Sally raised her hands, materializing pale blue glowing spheres. She launched three at once, which exploded in the air like flashes of pure energy, disintegrating several flying mutants in the blink of an eye.
— "I'll take the sky, you handle the ground!" she shouted to Salomé.
— "Got it!"
Salomé dashed into an alley where mutants with metallic skin were smashing overturned cars. She punched one, sending it into a streetlamp, then dodged another's jaws to grab it by the throat and slam it against a wall before electrocuting it with a mana pulse.
— "Clear out, it's safe here!" she shouted to a group of wounded. She escorted them running toward the café.
Sally cut through the sky with aerial pulses. Her energy spheres traced luminous arcs, tracking the fastest mutants. She pierced the wing of a giant winged mutant, causing it to crash into an empty building.
— "Getting tired?" she called to Salomé as she descended near her.
— "Not at all. There are still dozens left, we have no choice."
They set off again immediately.
Half an hour passed.
The area around the café had become a field of ruins, but thanks to their determination, a safety zone had been cleared. Several dozen civilians had found refuge in the tea room, trembling, shocked… but alive.
Sally, panting, sat briefly on the edge of an overturned car.
— "How many did we push back… fifty? sixty?"
— "I don't know…" Salomé replied, wiping her forehead. "But as long as we keep them from getting through here, that's what matters."
Suddenly, a new roar tore through the air.
The ground vibrated. A gigantic mutant, even more imposing than the others, approached with heavy steps.
Its two heads spewed black, toxic vapor, and its body seemed made of crushed bones and living cables.
Salomé and Sally stood up at the same time.
— "…Do you think we can take it down together?" Sally asked, blinking.
— "I think we have no choice," Salomé breathed. "It's not over…"
As the gigantic mutant approached, each step shook the ground. Its misshapen silhouette and two roaring jaws exuded a primal rage.
Salomé and Sally took their stance, ready for anything.
— "I'll expose it with a killer…" Salomé said, concentrating her energy.
But she didn't have time to finish her sentence.
Suddenly, a titanic fist shot down from the sky. Immense, incandescent, it split the clouds like divine judgment. With apocalyptic crash, the blow struck the giant mutant and literally crushed it, reducing it to a rain of pulverized flesh and bone.
The shockwave pushed Salomé and Sally backward, their hair whipped by the gust, feet slipping on broken asphalt.
— "Who… who could that be?" Sally stammered, eyes wide.
The breath slowly faded. The fist had vanished. Nothing remained of the monster. Just a smoking crater.
— "What the hell was that?" Sally breathed.
Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder. Another touched Salomé's. Soft… and familiar.
— "So… who do we say thanks to?" an ironic voice called from behind them.
The two girls turned around with a start.
— "Grafay!" Salomé exclaimed.
Sally squinted, feigning annoyance.
— "Hey, albino cactus… Was that you, the divine fist?"
— "I already told you not to call me that, pink sea thorn!" Grafay growled, eyes sharp.
Sally, a mocking smile on her lips:
— "Alright, alright… We're still grateful. Goes to show, even mutants can't stand prickly cacti."
— "Shut up!!!" he exploded, nerves raw.
Salomé burst out laughing, unable to hold back.
But the joy was short-lived. Two other figures appeared, advancing calmly and determinedly: Yuki and Nairo.
— "You're all here!" Salomé said with relief.
Yuki smiled gently.
— "And Mrs. Yuna? Is she alright?"
Salomé's eyes lit up.
— "Yuki… I'm so happy to see you again."
He answered with a calm smirk.
Grafay, crossing his arms:
— "We saw the state of the city. A massive wave of mutants is wreaking havoc. We figured it was time to do some cleaning up."
Nairo, still calm, his voice deep and steady:
— "But this attack is not normal. It's too massive, too organized. It looks like a deliberate invasion."
He paused.
— "There's a strong chance the Eradication Plan has started… And these mutants are only a diversion."
Salomé paled.
— "The… Eradication Plan?"
Grafay turned his head toward her.
— "Don't be afraid, kid. Go home. Bring Sakolomé and the others. We'll secure the area for now."
Salomé shook her head.
— "But… Sakolomé isn't here. Only Bakuran…"
Grafay froze.
— "What?! Then go get him. Immediately."
He pointed to the sky, where more mutants were already arriving in waves.
— "We must respond to the attack with an attack. Yuki, Nairo, and I will slow the troops here."
Sally exhaled, arms raised.
— "Anyway, the albino cactus is right. Come on Salomé, let's go get Bakuran."