Heroes of Silvatica City

Aaliyah's smile was weak, but loving. "My boys," she murmured. "It's gonna be alright, isn't it Danny? It always is." They'd survived some pretty rough stuff over the years. Tenpo was doing her best to be brave but in Zeke's arms she trembled. So much had happened to them both in their lives, didn't they deserve some peace? Now perhaps the whole universe was at stake. But Tenpo's whole universe was right here and now, and she kissed him back tenderly. "I'm scared too," Squishy confided in Ica. "Words cannot express my love for you Ica. We will fight together, like we always have. That is all we can do." Honey had been watching all of these affectionate displays from the side and felt... Lonely. She had never known anything even close to this warmth.

Aaliyah looked away from Daniel. She knew he didn't think it would be okay, she also didn't think it would be okay. They were just about to have a baby, why life was so unfair...? Kyun was pretty badly battered, she had a deep wound in her side that needed some intense surgery from Morella before she was capable of a fight. "Apostle?" Honey asked Corlock to clarify. She was only used to Squishy as an alien, these other aliens were so... Well, alien to her. And Corlock's voice was so strangely enticing despite being distorted by his mask. "Harbinger's got four apostles," explained Aaliyah. "They're basically the four horsemen of the apocalypse." Daniel had taught her about that. "Which one''s comin' here?" "Doesn't matter, to you" grunted Kyun. "You're gonna be as far away from this fight as possible." Aaliyah huffed and rubbed her bump.

Honey clicked her heels together in the way she always did and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she whispered to Ire. They had become much closer but she always stuck to calling her ma'am. Not by her name, or even her surname. Aaliyah scowled and got up to follow Honey out, only looking at Daniel and Kyun briefly before being taken away in an armoured vehicle to a safe house outside the city. "What about the citizens?" Tenpo asked. "Shouldn't we take these gems away from the city so that no one else is harmed?" "Tenpo is right," said Squishy. "What do you know about the apostles, too? As a team we can stand up to whichever one is coming."

"What about war and famine?" Squishy pressed. They needed to know absolutely everything. Tenpo was already terrified by the sound of the first two.

"A... Moon?" Tenpo whispered, sitting down shakily in the chair Aaliyah had just been in. So much raw power, how did they stand a chance? "We have barely any time to prepare and train," said Squishy. "So all we can do is... Rest?" "Sounds like a good idea," Kyun agreed. Morella had healed her up nicely and now she was just tired. The sight of Betelgeuse Lot disintegrating would keep her awake for years to come, though.

Daniel was taken to the hideout where Aaliyah was to be with her. For emotional support, they had also brought Daniel's father there too to keep Aaliyah calm when Daniel wasn't there, though he obviously didn't share the same bedroom as them. Aaliyah may have been huge but she needed to do... Something to Daniel before the impending, potentially life changing fight that was coming. That night, all of the couples spent their time together in case it was their last night. Honey had a room all to herself in the hideout and she was so lonely... Meanwhile, far away and completely unaware of the disaster approaching, another couple were living in bliss. Caoimhe had an announcement for Will in the morning, and she hoped he would be as over the moon as she was.

Aaliyah was doing her best to be brave, but this was the first time the two of them would be separated like this. They had always fought side by side, no matter the circumstance or the wounds they had. But little Danny was so important. "Sit tight, lil man," she told her bump. "Daddy'll be home soon." Honey had made sure to get Daniel and Aaliyah matching earpieces so they could have a private channel, as well as them all having a public channel. They were monitoring things from their safe house. "You said Death was the easiest to fight, right?" Squishy confirmed with Corlock. "Then with the power of the gems, we should easily defeat him." He was either naive or trying to be positive.

Caoimhe brought breakfast up to their bedroom that morning, but there was a lot more food than usual. Specifically, she was eating nearly double her normal amount of cereal and yogurt. She was hoping Will would ask her why...

"They never message us unless big trouble ya," Aditya reasoned. They had told them that personally. So as much as the three of them never wanted to face violence again, Corlock and Kyun were family and they couldn't refuse to help.

"It's big," Tenpo whispered as she looked up at the ship, adjusting the collar on her suit. Morella hadn't given her any gem reinforcements, for some reason... Squishy took hold of Ica's hand as they all advanced into the city towards the ship. Kyun's Samser was boosted now, so hopefully it would give her more of an edge as she drew it and slung it over her shoulder.

Good. Caoimhe smiled and reached for Will's hands. "It's because I... Am eatin' for two now," she murmured, placing Will's hand on her lower belly, which felt just the same as usual.

N-N had installed detectors on their planet which would alert them whenever a ship came close. Other than friends and family, there was no non-nefarious reason for a ship to be in this undeveloped reason of space. The automaton had a soft spot for Aditya and Pijbe and wanted them to feel protected, after all... The alarm sounded and Aditya looked over at it sharply. "Um... Is very big ship ya. Not Kyan or Corlya."

"He doesn't think much of us," Squishy said. "Good," replied Kyun, as the first minion ran towards her and she smacked it down with her Samser. The electric crackle was so powerful she sent it flying backwards, and her arm recoiled. "Ooh, mama!"

Caoimhe hadn't thought that Will wouldn't want a child, but she never expected him to be this excited! She laughed giddily and kissed him all over his face. "You are!" she said happily. "We're gonna be mama 'n papa. You're gonna be the best papa ever."

"Bea," Aditya said to the fastest of the trio. He could zip to the furthest away places on their reserve to collect up those babies, while the other two grab those nearer by.

There weren't many minions so they easily all took them out pretty quickly. Unless Death had more minions, he might have to take them seriously now.

"Neither was mine," replied Caoimhe. "But it's okay. We don't have to worry about our parents or lack of now. It's just you, me, 'n lil one here." She kissed him back lovingly and cuddled him. "Money's gonna be a bit tight but we'll get by."

Aditya took up a ready stance, but she couldn't fight. Not until she... She quickly went and gave each of them a kiss. They could tell how brave she was trying to be despite being so frightened.

The pressure was so much that it felt like they couldn't quite stand up straight, but they managed. "Not a chance," said Squishy.

"I think I already have a name," said Caoimhe, getting a bit less excited because she was afraid that Will wouldn't like this idea. "If it's a boy... He'll be Milo."

Aditya had dusted off their armour and handed it out, including the terrifying rocky armour for Viviix with all of its dark memories connected to it. Despite her fear, Adity actually stood kind of in front of Pijbe. He had kept his beautifully childish innocence all through these years and Aditya couldn't help but be most protective of him.

Kyun wanted to keep her teleport under wraps until it was necessary, which she always did when fighting new enemies. Even though her body was telling her to warp over to Corlock and take him far, far away from all of this. Death's aura was screaming at all of them to get away, as all life attempted to evade death. They all stood back and waited to see the outcome of Corlock's charge.

Caoimhe looked relieved, and she rubbed Will's hand where it was on her belly. "I'm glad. A-ah..." Suddenly Caoimhe felt this awful cold presence behind her, a long way away. Even though it was distant and small, she felt its chill and was sickened to her core. Instinctively she engulfed herself and Will in a protective blaze of her green aura as she looked in the direction of Silvatica City. "Somethin's wrong..."

They could smell what was coming before they could see it, and they heard it buzzing as if it were covered in flies. Aditya gagged and covered her mouth, for the smell was awful. Rot, diseased flesh, and vomit. Even Aditya's weak sense of smell was overwhelmed by it. The creature that emerged was, from the waist down, a wriggly mass of what appeared to be dead limbs infested with maggots and covered with those buzzing flies. Its top half was relatively featureless save for some tattered stumps where presumably wings had been. It was also tall, even taller than Pijbe. It did speak to them, merely stared at the from a featureless face.

"That's hardly surprising," Squishy muttered, not sarcastically. How on earth were they going to fight it if they couldn't get close? Range attacks! Some of them had guns they could use.

"Somethin's come that ain't welcome here... Or anywhere," whispered Caoimhe. "Quick." She scrambled up and grabbed her phone. They were quite an old fashioned couple, they didn't have a TV or radio, and only had limited wifi for emergencies - such as now. It took ages for her old brick to work, but she eventually pulled up the news. "Silvatica City's been evacuated," she said in a deadpan voice as she read. "There's a live feed. Ugh, c'mon." She got it to load and they saw a video of a giant spaceship looming over the city.

As the creature slowly advanced on them, they noticed that the plants around it were becoming strange. They weren't dying, but they were dappled with yellow spots and wilting slightly. Aditya whimpered and backed away a bit. This creature was giving off a vibe, like it was going to take her without asking and destroy all that she was.