Chapter Four : War of the Worlds

''The Quasars flew over Central Park, resting the Heart Of Darkness in an empty fountain nearby. Instantly, several Cassiopites beamed down from the mothership and looked about in their surroundings , the sounds of people screaming and shouting. Running away from the scene as fast as they could. Brandon and Spica, along with Misty and Dahlia , began to advance towards the park , several miles away , careful to not be detected by the aliens above ..''

''Nighttime fell as several hundred more Quasars began to fly over New York, dropping small bombs and such over the masses , with the screams of the dying ringing through the air like a bell. The invasion had begun. The loud footsteps of massive Tripods had began to sound, along with the booming and clicking of gunfire. New York was a war zone .''

''Along with the booming, a Tripod was spotted , walking incredibly close to the group , vaporizing humans like bugs. The weaponry shot at them were no use, being deflected by the shields these war machines carried. Screaming was prevalent. A nearby building collapsed as the team ran even faster to their intended focus point .''

''After finally reaching the park, it was empty and quiet. The Cassiopites had started their work, too preoccupied to notice as they came closer , quietly .''

''Spica and Brandon stopped and hid behind one of the many benches near the Cassiopites' stationing. As Misty and Dahlia hid with them, the Cassiopites began to work on the Heart Of Darkness , beginning a long task of installing its triggering timer. The machine glowed with red energy as they worked on it. Spica and Misty were visibly worried, exchanging glances .''

''" Dahlia, " Brandon asked. " What are they doing ? "''

''Dahlia glanced at the workers as more Cassiopites beamed down .from the mothership. The situation was becoming gravely difficult to deal with. The air was filled with Quasars passing by every few minutes .''

" Those Cassiopites are Mortaxans, a sub race of intelligent beings . They are tasked with the job of arming the Heart Of Darkness . " Dahlia said .

''Many more Cassiopites beamed down nearby, these ones near Spica's height , carrying heavy guns and weaponry. They were dressed in white spacesuits, with a collar exerting pure nitrogen for optimal breathing .''

" Right, and I suppose that those are the soldiers ? " Brandon asked again .

''" Yes, " Dahlia responded. " They are here to deal with anyone that may tamper with their plans . "''

''All was silent for a bit. Then the mood lightened a bit when Windy and Rigel, although covered with dust , was seen running towards them , hiding behind a bench near their own .''

''" Are you two okay ? " Spica asked. Rigel shook his head, breathing heavily .''

''" The Tripods, " Windy said. " They caught up with us . Killing everyone . Blasting them into bloody dust . It was gruesome . "''

''A horn of one of the war machines sounded loudly, prompting a few Cassiopites to look in its direction. One of them gave a thumbs up before returning to work .''

''" Alright guys, this may be our last chance to save Earth , so we can't screw this up . " Misty exclaimed. " Are you ready ? "''

''Everyone said yes. They agreed. Fight and save Earth, or die trying to .''

''The group began to disperse, running around the forces that surrounded the Earth-shattering weapon , generally without a plan but to stop its timer installation. Brandon had hid behind a tree near one of the tall soldiers while Spica had moved closer to a section of the Heart Of Darkness no one was working on, hiding by it. Its red glow was painful to look at .''

''Misty had moved behind one of the soldiers, holding a katana and jabbed the soldier in its back , killing him silently. His body was then moved by Dahlia and Windy behind a bench .''

''Rigel was in a tight spot as he hid behind a soldier, whilst one was in front of him as well. Being sandwiched between them, Rigel accidentally brushed against one of them , alarming him. Their cover was blown. Again .''

''" Earth creatures !!! ' The soldier shouted . He aimed his gun at Rigel and shot as he ran off to the side, dodging them . " Attack !!!! "''

''Misty and Dahlia ran parallel to each other, swerving past the white hot lasers being shot at them. Dahlia wasn't recognized, and it left her a bit disturbed , as she was hoping that her authority would override the invasion. But no matter. She had another one .''

" Take out their weapons ! ' She said . Misty complied, dashing forward and slicing at one of their guns , knocking it to the side before being punched to the ground hard . She moved out of the way of what would've been a killing blow to the skull before Dahlia knocked him down , crushing his head brutally with a stomp to the face . His ' innards'  were splattered explosively on the concrete pathway , bloody and trama-inducing .

''Misty lunged at the other one, slicing at his arm. It left a gash as Rigel ran towards him, shooting at the soldiers with one of their guns. Misty was thrown at Rigel, causing them to slam onto the pavement .''

''" Misty ! " Dahlia shouted as she ran towards the soldier. He was a good fourteen feet tall, so he had a height advantage. He pushed Dahlia over and grabbed her by the leg, thrashing her about before throwing her onto a nearby bench. The puny metal structure crumbled under the force of it .''

''Spica was holding a nitrogen shield as she began to throwdown, fighting and slugging the soldiers in the face , stabbing one of them with a spear to the arm before knocking him out. Brandon was shooting massive swaths of lava and fire, holding a flaming sword , slicing at the massive opponents. His wings were out and broadly displayed for all to see, the tips each having a small tongue of fire on them. Many of them shot at him, only to be incinerated with the fire. Those that proved to hold their own against him was locked in a bitter fight as the Mortaxans continued their work .''

''Several Tripods were seen stomping their way near the park, abducting and killing the innocent people that were running away. Entire skyscrapers collapsed as the titanic machines waltzed around the city. Cars could be seen overturned, entire swaths of people incinerated. Their bodies burnt and melted. The air began to fill with a putrid odor of blood and burning flesh. Children, women and men all screamed as the invaders advanced towards New Jersey. Suddenly, a Tripod began spraying a red substance onto the running mob , several of them falling over and convulsing terribly. Their bodies were disfigured as the liquid took on their acidic properties, completely melting the skin off of them .''

''As more and more soldiers came, a Tripod turned away and began to walk towards the park , the ground shaking under its massive steps. The war machine was gaining a lot of ground, as the group were in a desperate situation .''

''Misty and Dahlia had retreated a little, resorting to the guns of deceased soldiers while they healed a bit. The shootout had been overly massive as many soldiers were targeting them .''

''Several had died, but for the most part , some were just knocked out. The two were interlocked, crammed into a spot. Dahlia had shot several before knocking them out and throwing their deceased bodies across the park. Misty was on a killing spree of her own as many others beamed down. Four Starbeam ships decended as night came, their hulls glowing brightly .''

''" There's too many of them !! " Brandon shouted. Over the charred land, Spica had sliced, diced , chopped and minced the bodies of many unfortunate soldiers , trying to get to the Heart Of Darkness , which was heavily guarded now .''

''Dahlia was overpowered as nine soldiers began to attack her, with Misty being unconcious , sprawled onto the grass. Spica and Rigel had came to help her whilst Windy began to pick the enemy off one by one. The Tripod entered the park, its massive feet crushing many of the trees underneath it , preparing to fire its heat ray .''

''" Guys ! " Spica shouted. " Run !! "''

''The machine began to blast the land as the team retreated, the heat ray nearly catching them. More soldiers beamed down and cheered, fist bumping and celebrating. The park lit up with devastatingly large fires as their work continued. Dahlia was trapped, screaming out. Calling for help. The fire was getting too close. It was too hot. No one answered. The fire began to lap at her face as she screamed in pain, not being able to move. Her screams melded with the others'. Suddenly, the Tripod noticed her and aimed. A flash as she closed her eyes. It was all over .''

''As Misty ran, a car was seen being thrown up into the sky , landing on and killing a soldier as everyone else looked back. A massive ship in the shape of an arm hovered high above the park as a yellow ball fell from it .''

''" No way - " Brandon said. " They actually came . "''

''" Thought that you all might need some assistance ! " A voice said from the bubble as Adalene, Yellow , Blue and White Diamond were all revealed. A fair-skinned boy with thick, dark , curly hair also revealed himself .''

''" Steven ?! " Brandon and Spica asked. The others were a bit...preoccupied to say the least .''

''" How's it going - wait, sorry , that was silly of me to ask ." he said. " I know its going awful ."''

" You can say that again . " Yellow beamed in .

''" We were almost shattered by those Cassiopites ." said Blue. White nodded .''

" Whatever do they want ? " Adalene asked .

''" They want to destroy Earth . " Spica said. " I'll explain later ,--"''

''The Tripod advanced as Misty, Rigel and Windy ran towards them. The team, now five members stronger charged into battle , as the Tripod left the park to cause more havoc elsewhere. Yellow was a few feet taller than the soldiers as they locked into a massive fight, with Yellow throwing hard punches. The soldier rammed into her, knocking her onto the rim of the Black Hole Generator. White held a few back as she and two mind-controlled soldiers began to fight the others, the mindless puppets mimicking every move she made. As Adalene ran in, with the help of Steven , the two wielded gracefully as Adalene caught the barrel of one of the soldiers guns as Steven knocked him out with his shield , skin glowing pink and vibrant. He was dealing with something awful at home, but the entire world is at stake. The other gems were left at Beach City as several Tripods marched into the tiny town. He hoped they were okay. The two other soldiers were impaled by Misty and Brandon, falling limp onto the ground .''

Adalene surveyed the situation as an opening in the guarding left a chance to stop all of this carnage once and for all .

''" We must stop the black hole weapon from being triggered ! " she said as she went into another scuffle. Brandon ran in as he was stopped by two soldiers. He was once again in another fistfight .''

" Blue ! Rigel ! " he called out ." Take that machine down ! Now !!! "

Blue Diamond and Rigel ran to the Heart Of Darkness, but Blue had locked " horns " with a Mortaxan , his brute strength matching hers .

''" Go quickly human ! Destroy the weapon !!! " she called out. The opening came to him as he shot at the weapon, only for the bullet to ricochet off into the bushes. He tried again. Nothing. Misty came to and helped him .''

''" Wait, try this spot here !! " she said. There was a circular object applied onto the weapon. The timer. But it was not activated as yet .''

''Rigel and Misty shot and sliced at the timer, cutting and placing large holes into it. A soldier ran up from behind them, but was stopped as Yellow electrocuted him , then another .''

Many more soldiers beamed down as even now, it was becoming too much to handle .

" Its too much ! " Spica shouted as she was overwhelmed .

''Suddenly, a beam , much larger than all the other ones came down. It was brighter. Broader. Much more spectacular. Then it disappated. The person that came down was no one other than Andromeda Vexan. She, herself was tired of sending down soldiers , ready to cull the threat of her plans. Misty, White and Blue came up to her , but was all trapped in bubbles. The bubbles restrained Misty and poofed the other two gems. Yellow and Brandon were up to their knees in fighting .''

''" This battle is over . You have all lost . " Andromeda said. Spica spotted her and charged at her, flinging spears of nitrogen at her. Andromeda smiled brightly as she dodged them. She was much faster, missing her punches as she swiped at her back with a taser , causing her to scream out in pain .''

''" Foolish . Just plain foolish . " Andromeda said. " I think that I need to teach you a lesson . "''

Trapping her under one arm, Brandon , Rigel , Windy , Yellow , Adalene and Steven ran at Andromeda , but were too slow .

" You're coming with me . "

She had beamed away .

''" SPICA !!! " Brandon shouted. He watched wide-eyed as many more soldiers had beamed down in her place. Outnumber would be a severe understatement. But Brandon was no longer interested in this fight. He just wanted Spica back.''