Doomsday

Chapter 3: Voyager

"We're here!" Someone shouted from the front of the ship.

The Nutcracker had just landed atop a building— or at least that was what Peter thought it was. The whole city was filled with destruction and not even a single sign of life.

The only structure still standing was the grand Kaladorian Palace and even that had a hole through its ceiling and multiple broken walls. It almost reminded him of Quentenec but something about the city seemed off— not the remains of millions of citizens— but the silence.

Lola walked up to Peter. "Reminds me of Quentenec, first time we got back. But even so, Quentenec wasn't this..."

"Bad?" Peter finished.

Lola nodded. "I was lucky enough to get most of its citizens out. Before the bang. But even so, the destruction here seems much more worse. I can't imagine how Aria feels."

"I agree, but I cant hrlp but wonder if..." Peter said, taking a pause, "Quentenec was a test. And we know it wasn't CRANE, but could it really have been The Dark Order? They would have to be well-funded."

"I guess we'll never know," Lola said.

"You coming with us down below?" Peter asked.

"Someone still needs to drive The Nutcracker, silly."

Slowly, Peter placed his hands around Lola and began to lean.

"Ewwww, Peter. Friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S," Lola told him with a hint of disgust mingled with amusement.

Peter blushed. "S-sorry-" He said in embarrassment.

Then they heard clapping behind them."Wow," Someone said.

"Aria? Have you just been standing there the whole time?" Lola said, concern in her voice.

"Ever since 'reminds me of Quentenec'," Aria smirked. "You two need to get together already."

"Aria!" Lola said awkwardly, sounding more amused than annoyed. Next to her, Peter continued to blush.

"We're no more than you and Ben." Lola laughed cheekily.

"Or Charlie," Peter said underneath his breath

Aria chuckled. "You guys did not just say that."

"Come on Peter!" Someone yelled from the hangar, "we don't have all day."

We must have landed. Peter thought to himself quietly before grabbing his backpack. As he was about to leave, he felt a nice, warm feeling on his hand. Lola.

"Hey. Don't die out there, okay?" Lola said to him, before letting go.

* * *

The four of them— Luca, Julie, Atticus and Peter— had finally left the Nutcracker and Kalador. It was fairly obvious they were at the skirts of what used to be Kalador. Dozens of homes stood around them, each destroyed in its very own way.

"We're here," Luca said, "I'm sure I landed here. But instead of a bright black and red ship in the distance, nothing could be seen but nearby piles of boulders and brown soil.

Luca began to climb the rock of piles, before sliding down and running towards a stone, "I remember this stone."

"So do I," Julie said. "Something's odd."

Atticus sighed. "Contact HQ."

Peter pulled out a walkie-talkie from his backpack and began to press a few buttons. "The Voyager's not here. I repeat, the Voyager is not here."

After a few seconds of silence, they got a reply: "What do you mean 'it's not here'?" Someone asked. It sounded like Aria, but it was really distorted.

"It's gone! I don't know how!" Luca yelled as he began to swipe his hands forwards, causing the dirt around them to shift.

Instead of a reply, they heard the sound of fighting, and then static.

"What?" Atticus said bluntly, with worry in his tone.

"Something's wrong. I don't think we're..." Peter said, taking a short pause. "The only ones here."

Luca's eyes suddenly widened. He turned to a pile of nearby rocks. A black, long stick stood out between the boulders.

Oh no. Snipers. Luca thought.

"Everyone get dow-"

Then they heard a gunshot. For a second, nobody moved, nobody made a sound. Until Atticus fell. His body thumped onto the ground and the dirt around him instantly froze. If it wasn't for the situation it would have been beautiful.

"Atticus!" Julie yelled as she ran towards him, her arms buried in her bag. "Atticus! Atticus!"

Luca counted six snipers.

"Julie get down!" Luca yelled, before swinging his arms and pushing a strong gust of wind towards all the piles of rocks surrounding them. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Peter holding his hands in front of him, with dozens of bullets midair.

Luca turned around to see the piles of rocks crumbled and soldiers running for their lives. But there wasn't time to celebrate. Instead of retreating, more soldiers were headed towards him.

"How's Atticus?" Luca asked while running towards everyone else.

"He's wounded. But it's not fatal," Julie said, bandaging his waist. Then something caught Julie's eye.

A flash of brown appeared next to her, before arching into the ground. The tip of the arrow held a green liquid— poison.

"Duck!" Luca yelled over the sounds of multiple gunshots and arrows. In between his hands, he held a small tornado ball, moving it round and round and making it bigger, before jerking his arms and letting go of the tornado.

The small tornado quickly turned into a large tornado around the group, protecting them from gunshots. Luca stood in the centre of the tornado, his arms swinging round and round.

Then there was a loud bang.

Something dropped into the centre of the tornado— a grey canister with a neon blue light around the edges. After several long seconds, the light began to flash and began to release thick black smoke around them.

Clouds of thick black smoke ballooned them, the tornado making it harder to see.

"Luca!" Julie yelled blindly through the smoke. Instead of a reply, she felt the strong wind from the tornado stop and her lungs become heavier.

"Julie!" Someone yelled through the smoke. It seemed to be Peter.

"Peter I'm here!" Julie shouted while swinging her arms. As she continued walking, she heard a sudden gunshot.

"Peter?" Julie coughed. And then she realised, Peter had fallen. And so had Luca. At this point, Atticus was no longer in her arms and neither was the backpack.

Julie turned around to see the silhouette of a man heading towards her.

"Peter, is that you?" Julie asked.

But as the figure walked closer, Julie realised it had a gun. A very long gun. Julie dragged herself towards the figure, "h-help."

Instead, the figure said: "The target is in sight."

Julie couldn't take it anymore. Her brain had turned into mush and she could no longer think. Slowly, she fell down to the knees, and then to the ground. And within minutes, she was gone.