Chapter Nine : Decimation

*In the ruins of New York , Spica runs with a limp to the Heart Of Darkness , pointing one of the soldier's gun at the timer and blasts it , turning off the machine , just mere moments before it hits zero . Both Windy and Dahlia were badly hurt , incapacitated . She helped them back to Adalene's bakery and tucked them into their beds before dashing back to the city on foot . With her objective completed and everyone else dead .....what was next ? Her family was gone , all incinerated . She looked around to see the massive Tripods demolishing what managed to live from the attack . She saw the landscape invaded by the red vines that grew over everything . She saw the titanic Starbeams hovering overhead , glowing beautifully in the moonlight . She won , but she also lost . And now , she was alone ....with no one to be there for her . Brandon , Rigel , Adalene ....they were all gone . Thinking about this brought tears to her eyes as she fell to her knees and began to sob . Crying softly , trying to restrain it , then letting everything out in torrents . She wailed and fell onto the ground as tears streamed down her face . She was alone . Almost everyone she knew and loved was gone ...so what ....what was the point of going on ? Why live when you have no one to live for ?*

*Considering it , she checked the gun in her hand .....two bullets . One for the heart , one for the head .*

*Standing there in the devastated park , surrounded by the red vines that covered every inch of the place , dead bodies all over , a deactivated superweapon , a dead family , husband and a vandalized home , she sucked in her last breath , aimed for her left temple .....and after a wavering few minutes , pulled the trigger . Nothing happened . Again ......it showed no sign of working .....it was jammed .*

*" Fuck !! " she cried out . " Fucking bitch !!! " Spica lost her composure and fell to her knees , sitting on the squishy vegetation , crying her eyes out . And cursing vehemently at herself . She struck the gun on the ground trying to get it to work and opened her mouth in haste , aiming in it and pulling the trigger , screaming angrily as the gun clicked repeatedly .The sound was grating . It was fucking annoying; teasing even . It had bullets in it , but the damned thing wouldn't budge at all . Finally , she gave up , crying loudly while her world crumbled around her, shouting up into the smoky , dull night ....*

*"Why can't you just let me die ?!!"*

*Almost as if the world heard him , Brandon and Misty all ran into the park , stepping in the pungent , nasty vegetation that enveloped everything for miles . Made out of human blood , bodily fluids and organs , it filled the air with an unmistakably awful stench .....still , they were optimistic , or Misty was , anyway ...Adalene was back home , in her bed sleeping . She tried to stay awake , but the toil became too much and she collapsed , knocked out cold by sleep deprivation . So it was just Brandon and Misty . Brandon and Misty searched frantically for Spica , knowing that she was still alive ....they met an unconscious Dahlia and Windy back at the bakery .....however , in this sea of blood , death and smoke , there was no sign of her . The Heart Of Darkness was still on , or so they thought . Just the whispering , fleeing thought of Earth being destroyed again made them even more frantic , running along as they shouted her name .*

*After a few minutes , Brandon came up onto the massive superweapon , seeing that it was deactivated , its timer gutted out by a knife . The rest of the machine glowed slightly , but it was mostly covered in this vile substance .*

*Death and destruction surrounded them as Brandon called out for Spica again , trying to find his wife . Misty held onto some sort of hope as she called out for her friend too . However , in the darkness of night , the two didn't realize when disaster struck . A Tripod's foot landed just mere feet away from Brandon as he was knocked onto the ground . Misty , knocked unbalanced , regained her footing as she helped Brandon up on his feet , the light of the gigantic war machine bathing the two of them . In a hurry , they ran as fast as they could , splitting up ....with Misty going left and Brandon going right . The tripod however went after Brandon , a thin tentacle-like limb reaching out for him . Desperate , he hid in an abandoned car and closed the door while working up enough power to down the machine . Still , it reached in and shattered the window , smashing through the other and lifting the truck a few feet off the ground , then threw it hard across the landscape . Brandon grunted and groaned as the car he was in was being treated as a toy , with him inside , already gaining a headache . He tried to regain focus ....his conscience , his energy . He was so tired ....he just wanted to sleep .....*

*" AHHHHH!!!!!!"*

*Startled by the gutteral cry , Brandon swiftly turned around and looked out from the cracked windshield , across the fetid terrain and downed trees , up on a small hill . Someone standing there .....it was Spica !! Brandon smiled only for a moment before wondering why she wasn't moving . He looked , peered into her face , it was the pretty face he knew but now , it was blank , unfeeling ......broken . She just stood there as the tripod went into her direction , not doing anything . Almost as if she wanted to be caught ......almost as if she wanted to die ..........*

*"Oh God no !!!! " Brandon shouted as he kicked out the door and got out of the truck . He nearly slipped on the sludge as he ran towards Spica , trying to overtake the 200-foot tall mecha above him . It was still going , using little speed but still much faster than he was .*

*Spica just stood there as the machine looked down on her , crouching low in order to capture her , studying her features and looks . Then the limb extended and went to grab her , encircling around her entire body , almost threatening to crush her with so much pressure , yet she didn't lift a finger . Brandon peaked as far as he could in his speed as he tried to grab at her , missing her by fifty feet . Just then , at that moment , he lost everything .His world , his life ....it was all in the hands of the enemy . Misty was occupied with fighting a Cassiopite , but Brandon had his own fight . He has a Tripod to destroy . Struggling to catch himself , he ran behind the massive machine as it took in Spica , the tiny speck in its arm was no longer there . Leaving the park by its west side , the machine stepped through a low rise building and completely demolished it , stepping away as if it were butter . Brandon leaped through the rubble and dashed behind the thing , finally catching up to it ....but he stopped . Looking around , Brandon gazed at a damaged army vehicle , and went inside , fluffing about in the compartment that was full of ammunition and guns , looking upon a string of grenades and seizing it right away .*

*Drenched in sweat from his anxiety , Brandon dashed forward and unclipped a grenade , shouting at the machine ,*

*" HEY !!"*

*-then proceeded to throw the bomb its way . The titanic tripod stopped cold in it tracks as the small explosion rocked at it , blowing up right over its shield .*

*" Oh hell-" , Brandon said under his breath . Still , this was his plan .....to see his wife one more time ....to show her that he was in fact , still alive ...and that if they were going to die , then let them die together this time .*

*The tripod crouched down on its flexible legs , moving gracefully and in an articulate manner , much not like others which seemed to move somewhat stiff . It was obvious that whoever was driving this thing knew what they were doing . With a hand over his face , shielding his eyes from the blinding light , the limb circled around his waist with immense pressure and lifted him off the ground , bringing him so high into the air , with him helplessly wriggling against the constraints , then dropping him into a basket clipped under its hood filled with other people .*

*As Brandon reluctantly crawled onto other people , trying to get a foot on the basket's floor ( not someone's hand ) , he gazed around and saw her . Sitting by herself , silent , eyes half closed , Spica just sat there and did nothing at all . She was......defeated .*

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*Juniper , Spinel , Steven and Rigel all helped Misty as backup came up through the devastated park . The Heart Of Darkness was down , but several Cassiopites still wanted to destroy this world , despite their resources draining thin . It was painfully obvious that Andromeda would have to do something spectacular to win this war . Still , the Cassiopites aren't called ruthless for nothing . They know what they were doing .*

*Juniper and Spinel relinquished heavy fire using the dead soldiers' artillery , managing to slow down a few , while a few living soldiers threw in grenades and gave it their all , resorting to sniping them out , one - by - one .*

*"We need some backup here !! " Steven shouted as he threw his shield at one so fast that it dismembered his target . Recoiling and resorting to hand-to-hand combat , Steven put his training under Pearl and Jasper to good use , cracking one's skull open and tearing another's arm off . Just then , a depression in the clouds formed as two massive arms descended from the sky , one blue and one yellow .*

*" The Diamonds !! " Rigel praised . He helped Misty as she continued her onslaught at the bastards , killing them in great droves . A ball of sorts descended as Yellow Diamond's ship knocked down an incoming Tripod to its feet and proceeded to kill its pilot by slamming the behemoth-sized ship onto it , crushing whoever was inside . It then dropped another orb as the two descended , reflecting the bullets that managed to hit them .*

*Juniper shot at a few Cassiopeian soldiers before giving the okay for the Diamonds to come out .White , Blue and Yellow Diamond immediately jumped out and blasted the entire park , incinerating every Cassiopite that was in it , obliterating every enemy on its surface .*

*" What the fuck ? " Misty said wide-eyed as Yellow walked before them . Misty looked up , visibly annoyed .*

*" So you didn't think that that thing would've been useful before now ?! " she asked . Yellow looked puzzled as she contemplated her question .*

*" Misty , I think that you're mistaken , we just got here . " she replied . Blue and White both concurred as Steven and Juniper walked towards them .*

*" Wait , so you're saying that .......you don't remember ? " Misty asked . Yellow has truly puzzled now .*

*" I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about . " the diamond replied . Hit with this newfound info , Misty scrambled around to look for Brandon and Spica . but they were nowhere to be seen ....*

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*Walking towards her , Brandon looked at all the other people crying their eyes out , sobbing and wailing and hugging each other as they looked upon their imminent demise ....but Spica , she was just there , not saying anything . Brandon was about to get to her , but was knocked over as the hatch from above opened and a small tentacle protruded from the opening , gazing about on the feast , then choosing a small boy . It wrapped around the little one's legs and ripped him away from his screaming mother's grasp as the child was taken away , crying for his mother . Then the hatch closed back up , almost as quickly as it opened .*

*Brandon still walked towards Spica and hugged her once he was close enough , crying softly as he embraced her , She felt cold and stiff , but she was breathing . And at once , Spica embraced Brandon back , although she still had a blank , expressionless face .*

*" Spica .......what's wrong ? You...you seem distant .." he said .*

*Spica just said nothing as she hugged him , then began to quiver , then a faint sniffling sound was heard . She was crying . Just like him . Over 200 feet in the air , and the two just hugged each other in this death chamber .*

*" I...I'm sorry ...", she said . Spica's voice was rough and raspy from so much screaming and crying . She didn't tell him , but she had a suicidal spell ...one of many that roamed her life .....especially in times like these . She never really wanted to die , but there was nothing left here for her , and she would rather die than to go back to Andromeda .....so she tried to do it herself . Then she told Brandon everything ... how she tried to kill herself , why she was so distant ...she just didn't want to suffer anymore ......*

*Brandon cried and embraced his wife as they shared their last moments together , promising to not let each other go as long as they could .*

*The entire basket unhinged and swung down , with legs dangling out of the openings as the hatch opened again . Spica pinned Brandon down to the basket's floor as it searched around for another meal , when it grabbed his leg . With surprising strength , it yanked Brandon halfway from underneath Spica , as she struggled to hold on to him . Brandon used his remaining strength to resist , trying to prolong his time with his wife for as long as possible ....but eventually let go after realizing that he had a string of grenades around his neck .*

*Spica's vitality slowly came back as she held on to him , but he willingly slipped away , as it was like trying to hold onto melty butter with her hands .*

*" What are you doing ! Hold onto me !! " she asked in a pleading manner . Still , he asked Spica to let him go , as he had a plan to take down this machine , so that at least she can live on ....it was severely flawed , but it just might work ....*

*Spica screamed as Brandon was ripped away , getting sucked into the open hatch and taken from her with Brandon grunting as he unclipped the grenades from his neck , getting them sucked into the machine . At the last moment , Spica grabbed onto Brandon's hand , using her superhuman strength to get him back , having caught on to his plan . But still , she thought , she could save him too . She can still have Brandon and take down this killing machine at once . Tugging on him , Spica shouted to Brandon , telling him to never let go . She was beginning to get sucked in as well , but was grabbed on by a person nearby . It was an soldier , as he used his strength to tug her back down , and asked everyone else to help him pull . Soon , mostly everyone held on , using all of their strength to pull , unenveloping Spica and beginning to pull Brandon back down as well , then in one final heave , sent the two crashing back down on the floor of the basket , the limb retracting swiftly as the hatch closed . Spica hugged Brandon tightly , but he pulled away as he spat on the floor , revealing the six empty bomb pins in his mouth . Spica smiled as the soldier stared wide-eyed in shock , before telling everyone to get down on the ground .*

*Right after , the interior of the tripod glowed as it shook , with blood and other fluids leaking out of its hull . The machine jerked about violently as its windshields exploded into shards of glass and the beaming lights blew out , turning off . The basket that held everyone unhinged and fell to the ground , but Spica enveloped it in a nitrogen bubble at the last second as it fell onto a road , still close to the park . Everyone began to get out , with Spica and Brandon helping injured people out of the thing , all the while the massive machine collapsed and crushed a nearby building , lighting aflame and partially exploding .*

*Misty and the others ran to the scene wide eyed , as Spica and her husband walked from the scene hand in hand , finally reunited once more .*

*" Oh my god " , she said . " You two , you're alive !! "*

*Misty and Rigel ran towards them and hugged tightly , enjoying such a moment , all the while still glancing back at the burning war machine in the background . Juniper walked forward and smiled timidly , calling out for Spica .*

*" My Starlight . " she said uneasily . Spica glanced up at Juniper and stopped cold , smiling broadly and giving her hand out to her , assuring her that everything is okay .*

*" Spica ....I ..I'm sorry that I couldn't come sooner ...."*

*" It's okay , Jay , I know .....I wished that it could've been done differently , but the past is the past " ,*

*Spica took her hand and squeezed then gently . " You don't have to call me that anymore ....I've changed . I'm not the woman you once knew . "*

*Juniper began to sniffle as the others backed away slightly , allowing her into the group hug . Her cat ears drooped down low as she cried and hugged everyone else . Blue and White Diamond also began to sniffle slightly at this display of affection , but Yellow was staring at something else . She was staring at the war machine burning in the ground and the onlookers near it . Then , as if a massive boom of thunder sounded , a loud concussive noise originated from the Tripod , alerting everyone . Then another . Then another .*

*" Who the hell ? " Blue Diamond asked as everyone stood , looking on , preparing for the worst . An immense flash of energy illuminated the area as an arm punched out of the damaged machine , grabbing onto the thing to pull itself out . Everyone looked on in dread as they suddenly realized who it was ..*

*Adorned in a white cape and elegant suit , Andromeda Vexan arose from the firey debris and gazed onto everyone with a look of unbridled anger and restraint , setting her eyes on Spica , then smiling .......*

*" You unloyal bitch-"*