The sun descends, and evening creeps in.
The sky trembles.
A massive, invisible weight presses down on the neighborhood, making the air thick and hard to breathe.
Mami stands at the center, her golden bat resting on her shoulder as the masked circle tightens around her.
004 lunges into her space.
A fist whistles toward her temple.
Mami doesn't even shift her feet. She simply raises a palm and catches the strike with a careless thud.
004 recoils, his boots skidding back.
001 reaches into his tactical vest and pulls out a second clock device.
He clicks the dial.
Mami's smile widens.
"Think that would work on me?"
Two figures charge from her opposite flanks.
Mami leaps back, her movement a blur.
She brings Heaven's Wrath down with both hands, slamming the head of the bat into the concrete.
CRACK.
The shockwave tears through the ground.
The force catches the attackers mid-air, hurling them through the brick walls of nearby buildings.
A third fighter rushes her from the front.
Mami's hand snakes out, grabbing him by the throat.
She lifts him and tosses him aside like a ragdoll.
"Disappointing," she chuckles coldly. "I'm afraid none of you are powerful enough to stop a Legend. Why even bother?"
002 leans toward 001, his voice a frantic whisper behind the mask.
"I think we need to inform the higher-ups about this one."
Two figures swarm in, weapons drawn.
Mami raises her bat toward the sky.
The gravitational pull intensifies, dragging the two masked fighters to their knees as the pavement beneath them begins to buckle.
001 grunts, his body trembling under the pressure.
"This is a huge problem. I thought only the North had Legends this powerful. But this woman…"
"We need to inform the larger Society," 002 adds, his voice strained. "The Big Elephant 3. With their powers and their subordinates, they could defeat any Legend."
"The Elephant 3 are the Society," 001 replies. "But they might remain reluctant. They believe a Legend this powerful no longer exists."
The weight of Heaven's Wrath buries the figures deeper into the ground.
001 fumbles for a canister and smashes it.
Thick gray smoke erupts, swallowing the street.
When the haze clears, the circle is empty.
Mami smiles, resting the bat back on her shoulder.
"Weaklings."
She taps her jaw with a finger.
"Wonder how many factions are in that Society."
---
LATER THAT NIGHT
Johnny's eyes snap open.
He stares at a plain white ceiling, his brow furrowed.
"My memory seems fuzzy."
Frustration boiling over, he slams his fist into the floor.
Thud.
"I lost. Fuck…"
"Pretty boy…"
Mami's voice comes from the floor beside him.
She sits cross-legged, watching him.
"What were you talking to yourself about?"
Johnny snaps his head away, avoiding her gaze.
"You might lose, but that's okay," she says softly. "What matters is that you keep fighting."
She leans over and rests her head on his chest.
Johnny's eyes widen. He tenses, his heart hammering in his ribs.
"What! Don't—"
"Quit worrying. Nina won't be upset. Besides, she's right over there."
Across the room, Nina and Daisy sit hunched over a chessboard near the wall.
Sweat beads on Daisy's forehead as she studies the pieces.
Johnny turns toward them.
Seeing Daisy concentrating on the chess game.
She was brutally hurt… but she's here playing games like nothing happened.
Mami smiles.
"See? You overreact, Johnny. Don't always carry things inside. You're a man."
"You don't get to lecture me about being a man," Johnny grumbles. "You have your own traumas."
Mami shifts and rotates her body until she's upside down, though her head never leaves his chest.
"Hmm. Interesting." She says.
"You've sensed my inner turmoil. That means your perception is growing. It will keep growing."
She brushes a thumb against his cheek.
"Relax. Look at Daisy. She's hanging around."
Mami stands and stretches.
"The night is quiet. Forget the world's chaos for now and enjoy the moment. This might be the only chance you get."
She strolls away.
Behind her, Daisy hisses through her teeth as Nina bursts into laughter, rolling onto the floor.
"I win all the time! You keep losing!" Nina crows.
"Another round," Daisy demands, her eyes flashing. "I'm not giving up until I win."
Nina sits back up, grinning.
"Alright. I told you… I'm a champ."
Daisy's scowl softens into a small, sharp smirk.
"I'll be glad to beat a champ. Even once."
Johnny watches them.
This is what it means to be united.
I wish Clary and the others were here.
Maybe…
---
Far away…
Inside a massive, high-ceilinged apartment, two white couches face each other.
Three figures sit in the center of the room, surrounded by dozens of silent fighters.
The air is thick with a suffocating hostility.
An elderly man in a sharp black suit rests his chin on his hand.
"I heard a massive incident happened in Antara a few days ago. The place is in ruins."
A slim man on the opposite couch, with unnaturally long fingers, leans forward.
A creepy smile spreads across his face.
"It's simple. That kind of power doesn't come from mobs."
"It's the Legends."
A beat.
"They're back."
The fighters in the room shift. A low murmur ripples through the ranks.
The air ripples like a leaf in a stream.
The masked figures materialize in the center of the room.
The elderly man raises a brow.
"Masked fighters. What brings your unit here?"
001 steps forward, bowing his head.
"Grand Master. There is a huge problem."
The slim man chuckles wickedly.
"Let me guess. Legends are back on the street?"
"Yes."
"And there is a woman. Her powers are beyond anything I've seen."
A woman sitting near the elderly man, her face hidden behind black armor, tilts her head.
"And what makes her so dangerous that you feel the need to inform us?"
"Our perception antidote doesn't work on her," 001 says, his voice shaking.
"The weight of her strength breaks the environment itself."
The woman stands.
She strides toward 001, her movements fluid and predatory.
The air in the room freezes.
With a small flick of her finger, the masked men collapse to their knees.
"You underdogs know better than to come here with cheap lies."
A thick black sword appears in her hand, a red aura swirling around the blade.
"Perhaps death will justify your stupidity."
She swings.
Clink.
The sound of a fingernail tapping steel rings out.
The slim man holds the blade between two of his long fingers.
He stands beside her, his head tilted at an impossible angle.
One of his eyes bulges, staring at her with terrifying intensity.
"Come on, Eclipse… an incident like Antara can't be caused by street mobs.
The masked men are telling the truth."
His second eye widens creepily.
"You sit here and judge.Why don't you send your shadow fighters into the streets and find the truth?"
Eclipse's gaze narrows.
Red aura floods the room, vibrating the walls.
"Do not speak to me like that."
She glares at him.
"Don't think that because you sit as one of the Elephant 3, it makes you an Elephant."
Her eyes turn pitch black.
The tension in the room becomes a physical force, a crushing pressure that threatens to flatten everyone present.
The two Elephant leaders stand face to face.
The air screams between them.