Night exchanges out for day as the blue sunrise begins over the horizon, for the supersun lifts up and drives away the dark void that had long enshrouded the city below. The sky brightens as its a lighter shade of blue, as while it still isn't exactly the typical waking time due to it still being extremely early, it is very much the morning.
Cyan streaks crawl over the sky, originating from the supersun that still seems hidden behind the skyscrapers forming a wall at the end of the city. Even then, its presence is strong, and the light it manages to push down to the surface is warm enough to suffice as a recovery for the cold storm earlier.
While the storm has passed, a somber mood is still in the air. After the long night, the sunrise indicates a shift to mourning, as the aftermath of the battle was still brutal and would be permanent and irreversible.
Many lives had been lost over the night, from those who were healthy and relaxing to those who were gripping onto their last hopes before their strings were cut. From both the northern region and central region were casualties, with none of them ever having suspected the night being their last.
Even though the storm had passed, and those who had robbed such lives were no longer a threat, they had still left a gaping wound in the city and its people. Many friends would learn that their companions were caught in a tragedy. Many family members would be notified this morning about the loss of a father, mother, son, or daughter. Many of them would also learn that the loved one who had been hospitalized, getting the best treatment to stay alive so eventually they could recover, have been lost in the untimely blackout.
For those who were unfortunate to have been caught in the crossfire, their lives had been permanently ended, but for those who may have worried about becoming victims someday, waiting to be part of the next attack, they could finally be relieved.
While the mission took many casualties, in the end, the mission was a success. The terrorists who had robbed so many lives over the years of their reign had been dealt with, being put down so they could no longer take another life. Even if there was guilt for those who couldn't make it to the morning, the survivors could take solace in knowing that they were now safe.
While many of the civilians of the city were asleep during the night, there were also many who were awake to bear witness to the battle. Those witnesses watched great tragedy unfold as pod passengers were sunken and train passengers were crushed, but many of them also witnessed something beautiful.
In the chaos that had infected the city, there was one man resisting it, one man who put an end to it. Many were unable to get a clear sight of him due to the fast movement of the fight, as the majority of civilians only saw blue and yellow blurs dash throughout the city. But even then, they knew what that blue blur was, it was the mysterious man who was thought to have gone extinct.
That man fought against the tyranny of those who plagued the city, and those who were on the street during the collapse of the skyscraper all saw the blue comet soar into the crevices before the sudden flash of light that halted the building's destruction.
Those witnesses still couldn't understand what just happened, for it seemed later on that the building had somehow been partially restored, albeit several floors still having been gone, but even then it was still standing with a perfectly solid wall that wouldn't be going anywhere, a permanent creation.
Whatever the man in the sky had done, he had saved countless other potential victims from another tragedy.
It had been about an hour and a half since the blue comet and yellow bolt left the Octagon's area to continue their battle outside, and it had now been about half an hour since the reported incident in the skyscraper. It hadn't been that long since the fighting stopped, and yet it has been an interminable length of time for authorities to try to handle the aftermath.
Only a few moments before the comet and bolt raced out of the Octagon, it was reported that the program forcing the shield restricting patrolmen from entering the facility had been suddenly terminated, allowing for the usage of identity authorization to enter the shield without disintegration.
The patrols, who were summoned directly from the top government, for they are part of the world's military, had been waiting outside the shield for what felt like hours before the wall could be lifted for them. After being confirmed with access to enter the shield safely, the many anticipating squads rushed into the area, their weapons hot as they were ready for any danger, ready to analyze the wreckage left behind.
Patrols noticed craters in the forest outside the building, with destroyed and laying trees. It seemed that a war was going on outside, as a great area of the forest was effectively destroyed from the carnage of the battle.
The ground was uneven from all of the craters seemingly everywhere, and many trees were left as just stumps with the rest being elsewhere on the ground.
Upon entering the building itself, which they were also luckily able to do without being blocked out, they started a search mission that took about an hour and a half, for the building is quite substantial. Squads had split up to take different floors, able to traverse the building better now that the whole interior was unlocked.
It seemed there was a clear path taken through the facility, starting from the main entrance and going through the various floors leading to the top. That path was littered with departed bodies of armored security personnel and other workers, even ones unarmed. Those bodies had been seemingly crushed, electrocuted, or decimated from explosions. There were many bodies to carry back home, only further adding to the death toll of the one night.
Almost the entire population in the building seemed to have been wiped out, with the lights still down as it seemed much of the building's power was stripped to aid in the electric execution. It was gradually becoming a chore to tally every located body, for it seemed that the terrorists had given no mercy.
It was until one of the squads who had gone farther ahead discovered a group of lost and fearful hostages, the only survivors remaining in the building. Even then, many of them had been immensely terrorized, their minds disoriented from the control they were put under earlier while still being consumed by the fears of being held by such a threatening group.
The hostages were taken by a few squads immediately back down to the surface for them to escape safely, as at least there were some people that had made it breathing. It was clear that there'd be a deeply psychological disturbance that'd persist within them, haunting them for nights to come, but there was the hope that eventually they could recover.
The search mission continued to the top floor, where they were greeted with surprise to find that in the lobby of the top floor was a completely shattered window, with shards of glass on the ground in front of where the window would've been as it seemed that an object had hurtled in from outside rather than from the inside.
In front of that glass and along the wall was the greatest surprise however, as the squads who entered the lobby found themselves staring at four bodies laying against the wall, all of them armored to follow the exact descriptions given for the invaders.
The man in the turquoise suit and interesting wide helmet lied on the far left side, and next to him was the man in the orange, stone armored suit.
Beside him was the man in the crimson fabric suit with the added skeleton, and on the rightmost side was a man similar to the crimson one, however his suit was yellow instead, and his mask had a different design.
There was no doubt that they were the Babylonians, and so more reinforcements were called in to investigate the bodies. Squads noticed all of them to seemingly be wearing silver disks that were attached to their bodies, which gave off a green light, which they let stay as they didn't want to cause anymore damage.
They had never seen such a device before, but it seemed that whatever it was, it wasn't originally meant to be on the bodies based on the lack of uniformity of placement and its distinct design from the rest of the suits. Perhaps it wasn't put on by themselves, but by the one who defeated them, but they wouldn't worry about it, as now they had the bodies of the group.
After noting the presence of the defeated team, the squad continued down the hallway past the lobby, leading to the room that was housing the machine that many had suspected was the target of the attack. The squad notices the walls of the hallway being badly dented as though objects were being constantly slammed into it, noting it before advancing.
Eventually they got to the main and unlit room, where they found more defeated armored security personnel lying around the room, and deactivated turrets along the walls. While there were more bodies to tally up, which was a shame, a sense of relief came over seeing that the machine itself was still intact, and seemingly undamaged.
The squad was broken up to survey the room, as some checked on the bodies, and others inspected the machine to confirm its surprisingly healthy condition. One of the members approached the podium meant to control the teleporter that the machine was housed on, when they noticed the calculator-shaped device on the floor, seeming to have been left behind in the fight.
It seemed that there was an attempt to take the machine, however that attempt was put to a halt, preventing what could've been a brutal setback in humanity's race to protect themselves.
After all of the facility was searched, all findings reported, the squads returned outside after being called back out. The patrols were then immediately dispatched to different locations throughout the city that had been hit during the battle, with some being sent to local areas such as the harbor and others being sent farther off to places such as the central region.
There seemed to be no end to the aftermath, as the patrols had finished surveying one site, but still there were many more. They take navy blue pods and race off to their next assignments, continuing to recover what they can from the debris.
As the patrols were deployed throughout the city, the city's police department was sent to the Octagon in order to transport the findings. A large task force was brought in to recover the device in the teleportation room along with moving the individual bodies of the Babylonians into appropriate transport vehicles.
While the navy blue pods left the area, black and white police pods entered the area, with men in blue exiting the vehicles before running into the building. The men were more armored than usual due to the greater stakes of the mission, as they had to be aware of the chances of the group awakening and trying to escape captivity.
A horde of police pods park outside the building, with many being sent to retrieve the device and bodies, acknowledging the delicacy of the mission. Five of the pods were far larger in size, seeming to be more built like vans, visually distinct from the other police pods which are black and blue with far sleeker designs.
They only have a black exterior, different from the others, and are also far more armored than the others. For such an important mission, the best prisoner transfer pods were dispatched, with one meant for each of the members of the Babylonians.
Inside one of those police pods, another officer exits through the open driver's door, however rather than directly getting his hands dirty, he's sent to oversee the mission as the leader of the task force.
His face is wrinkled, indicating that he's of an older age, having been in the department for quite some time. He's quickly recognizable as the officer that had several encounters with the man in the blue suit, such as his first attempted transfer when the captives escaped, leaving him embarrassingly empty handed.
He's been up the whole night during the battle, having been updated with the seemingly never ending chaos until being sent directly to the scene of the crime.
The officer lets out a sigh before turning to the door, where he finds six armored officers exiting the building, all positioned around a floating red box of energy that is guided with them. The vertices of the box have metallic silver pieces, indicating the physical components of the device, with the connecting edges and faces being composed of red translucent energy.
The box was built for the intention of transporting dangerous prisoners, as the barrier it creates intimately with the prisoner bounds them within the confines and delivers a light jolt of shock upon the attempt for them to exit. It was necessary for the mission, as the department couldn't ruin it.
Within the box seems to house the body of the orange beast, who lays down on his back, with his arms peacefully by his side. He's still fully suited, however the helmet seems to be damaged from the sides and front, revealing the inner crimson layer under the cracked orange stone.
The silver disk stays on his head, continuing to illuminate green, putting him in deep sleep. He hasn't awakened since being knocked out, nor were the rest of the Babylonians, as behind the six men are more exiting the building, surrounding more red boxes that house other suited members.
The officer watches as the men take each box to the back of a transport pod, to which the back of the pod opens up to reveal a room built to house them, with walls laced with laser turrets and energy walls.
He watches the men stand behind the opening as the boxes ascend higher up off the ground until they level above the floor of the pod, and then advance in through the opening. While six men may have seemed unnecessary for individual prisoners, it was more than necessary to layer as much protection as possible on such dangerous captives. The red boxes enter four of the five total transfer pods, and once they're locked into place, the back of the pods close shut.
The officer observes as the men then step away from the pod as the transport vehicles begin to move, the drivers having been waiting in their seats. The four pods back up and turn towards the exit of the area before beginning to drive off, leaving in a line as they take away the four Babylonians.
As the pods approach the end of the facility's area, the armored pods all begin turning invisible, vanishing from the officer's sight. He acknowledges their presence still, knowing that the pods have to camouflage in order to avoid potential interception.
The officer then turns to the door again to see another cop exit the building, and beside him is a floating red box similar to the ones transporting the Babylonians, however this one is only about the size of a hand, and doesn't appear to have metal vertices.
The cop approaches the officer, who notices that inside the box is the calculator-shaped device. The cop stands before the officer as the box then advances to the officer, being placed under his protection.
The cop speaks, explaining that it was found in the room with the machine, and that after analyzing it to be a stolen device from the O.R.I.A.L corporation that has long been terminated, there was no exact protocol on where to transport the device, and so it would be given to the commanding officer of the mission.
The officer nods his head and responds shortly before the cop departs, returning to his own pod to leave, as it seems that the transport was complete. The officer raises his hand and touches the red box, which causes the box itself to suddenly disperse, allowing him to grab the calculator-shaped device inside with his bare hands, not seeming to worry much about holding it without any protection.
He looks down at the device, inspecting it for a few moments, contemplating how many people had to die for the Babylonians to steal that one piece of equipment. It was a device created to ensure safety for the masses, protecting people both enterprise and commercial from cyberterrorism. Instead, the device was used to carry out those very cyberattacks, and had nearly robbed humanity of their chance at understanding the people that had stolen lives from them for so long.
The officer turns to watch the cop step in his pod before driving off, and he then turns to the last black transport pod, recognizing that there was still one Babylonian who had yet to be located and captured, leaving it empty of a captive.
He then turns to the main door, seeing the six cops sent to find the body exiting the building, however there aren't any red boxes by them, indicating that they failed to find the target. The cops walk with their heads low in defeat, having searched everywhere they could, but he was nowhere to be found. The cops seem to approach him to deliver the news that he's already well aware about, and he lets out a soft sigh of disappointment.
While it was great that the department had officially captured four of the Babylonian, he knows that the leader is still out there, and he is the one who caused the major damage such as the casualties. He guessed that he wouldn't be in the building after reports that he and the blue comet flew off not long after the shield's lock went down, but he just wanted to make sure.
With the city being so expansive, it felt impossible to track him down, as it was unclear what even happened after the incident with the skyscraper. There were no reports on his presence after that, nor the presence of the man in the blue suit, as for all they knew the leader could've killed him in vengeance and escaped.
That leader single handedly murdered countless, and knowing that he's still out there put the fear that there could be more victims to come. He was the reason why the patrols were zooming all throughout the city assessing the damages both to property and people, and if he ever chose to return, he could be responsible for so much more.
As the officer watches the six cops slowly approach him, he notices them raise their heads up, as at first it seems they're ready to confront him. However, the officer then notices the cops look above him, and they all stop suddenly, their eyes shooting wide open and their jaws dropping.
The officer's eyebrow raises, puzzled, as it seems all of the cops noticed something behind him, although all that there should be is the rising sun. While the sun no doubt is a marvel, it's odd that the cops all seemed so immediately fascinated by it.
The officer turns around to get the same view as his fellow men, his eyes squinting as he faces the direction of the sun. He lifts his free hand up to block the light.
His eyes squint harder as he discovers the anomaly that seemed to grab the attention of his men, and his eyes slowly dilate to more clearly see what's in front of him. His eyes then widen upon the revelation, and his hand slowly moves off his head.
In the sky and in front of the officer hovers the man in the blue suit, his body floating in front of the cyan supersun, causing the light to seem to beam down on him. His body gives off a soft blue glow as his black cape dances in the wind, and his blue eyes look down on the police behind his white mask.
An overwhelming aura emanates from him as his presence drives a stronger light into the police, with the details of his body hard to make out from the bright light behind him. Especially with the flow of the cape, he appears not as just any human, but as something greater, something unexplainable.
The elegance of his posture in the air gives him a magnificent elegance as he carries himself with a heavenly ambience, and the seven policemen stare as he slowly descends from above, carrying something in his arms.
The man in the blue suit holds his arms out as he seems to carry a body similar to a bridal style, however there seems to be more of a somber tone rather than one of cheer.
As he continues to descend, gliding down towards the leading officer, the body he carries becomes more comprehensive. To an even greater surprise of the policemen, the body he carries seems to be wearing a purple leathery suit, which creates an immediate association. However, the body also seems to be laying completely limp, almost as though it's lifeless, which is only further evinced by the somber aura that gradually becomes more present, creating an odd mixture of pained relief.
As the policemen all stand in awe, the man in the blue suit lowers down to the ground, his black boots being placed on the surface. He lands gracefully in front of the leading officer, carrying the body of the last remaining Babylonian.
He just stands in silence, lowering his head to look at the body in his arms before then raising his head up to gaze at the officer, as though allowing him to make the judgement.
The officer stands before the man in blue and the body, and he looks down to inspect the body with his own eyes. He looks down to see that the large gauntlets, once a defining characteristic for the leader, are no longer present, exposing his true hands with visible human skin.
He then looks up to examine the rest of the body, noticing the various damages to the suit such as the destroyed inner capacitors, but more importantly the gaping wound to his stomach, leaving tears in the purple suit to once again reveal his human body, the wound still red. He looks up at the face of the body, stunned to see that instead of the purple faceless mask, he sees a human looking face of a boy, a boy who seems no older than twenty years old.
The officer blinks twice and steps back in shock from the sight of the true identity, for the youth in the boy's face was completely unexpected. Especially for a terrorist who's been known for so long, he expected the true man to have been in his middle thirties at the least.
The boy's hair has seemed to dry after the rain, and his face seems to be relaxed, his eyes shut as though he were asleep. While he has a gaping wound left unclosed, he seems to find himself at an odd peace in his state of silence, for even though his body is being captured, truly there was nothing to give.
His body just lays lifelessly in the arms of his old best friend, his own arms being nested by his side, with his closed eyes facing the blue sky above.
The officer turns to the six cops, and he moves his hand to gesture for them to come forth. He then turns back to the body and steps back again while the six cops walk forward, passing him as they approach the man in the blue suit, whose cape continues to drift even now from the morning breeze.
One of the cops walks towards the body, letting out soft breaths as he reaches into his belt. He then pulls his hand out, revealing that he's holding a small silver cube of sorts. He grips tighter on the cube, which causes it to give a blue light from each of the six faces.
The cop then holds the cube out in front of him as he gets closer to the body, yet he leaves a few feet between him and the two. He lowers his hand so it's just below the level of the body, and he lets go of the cube before retracting his hand and stepping back.
The cube doesn't seem to plummet down, but instead, the cube seems to fracture into eight parts, each neighboring one of the cube's corners. The fragments then suddenly detach from the overall object, and begin expanding outwards. On the bottom face of the cube, a red translucent energy sheet is created between the four lower fragments, constantly expanding as the corner pieces move until they seem to create the dimensions of a bed made perfectly to house the body in the purple suit.
From the top of the bottom fragments, more energy sheets begin to form vertically, connecting the fragments placed vertically to each other. The sheets create walls around the floor, as though building another box to house the body, yet the box feels more like a coffin given the circumstances.
The man in the blue suit looks down at the red coffin, and he looks back up at the cop who summoned it. He nods at the cop before taking a step forward, continuing to hold the body. He stands over the coffin before gently placing the body inside, making sure the arms are tucked in as he lays the body to rest.
Once he places the body down, he carefully slips his arms away, as even though the body wouldn't be disturbed from faster movements, he seems to want to be gentle with it. He retracts his arms back to his side, and steps back, leaving the body in the red box.
With the walls reaching above the body, another flat horizontal sheet forms from the upper fragment's corners, as time rather than creating the bed it creates the cover.
The man in the blue suit as well as the seven policemen watch in silence as the energy coming from the corners reaches the convergence point in the middle, finishing the sheet, as though closing the lid on the coffin.
Once the box is completely finished, the cop who placed the box nods his head, and the box begins to move, approaching the six cops. The cops stand to the side, with three on each side of the coffin, as they then escort the coffin silently towards the last transport pod.
Both the leading officer and the man in the blue suit watch as the box moves in silence, being guided towards the pod, protected by the six policemen.
They observe as the cops stand behind the pod, to which the back opens up, revealing the compartment for the box. The coffin then ascends up, as the body inside rests peacefully, his eyes closed and his arms by his side.
Once the coffin reaches above the level of the pod's floor, it then advances inside the vehicle, entering before then being locked in place. The back of the pod then closes once again, and the six cops break off into three pairs, which all then walk towards the few remaining police pods parked outside. The pod doors open up to allow them to enter as all of them vanish into their vehicle, ready to leave.
The officer and the man in the blue suit watch in silence as the transport pod begins to start moving, backing up and turning around to face the direction of the exit. The last transport pod then begins driving forward, letting out a soft hum as it zooms past the two. The transport pod activates its camouflage, vanishing from sight as it leaves the area, escorting the final Babylonian.
The other three police pods then follow, backing up and turning before driving towards the exit, leaving the Octagon's yard as they head back to the department with the mission now fully complete.
Once the pods leave, all that remains outside of the Octagon is the one police pod of the leader, and standing beside the pod is the officer and the man in the blue suit. The two turn to face one another for a few moments, as the man's cape continues to drift in the soft wind.
The man's blue eyes stare at the officer's human eyes, his face hidden behind the mask, as his suit appears just the way the officer remembered from their last interaction. Upon gazing back at the officer, the man in the blue suit can also quickly recognize him as the one he had to explain his failure to in the morning after he fought Cratus and Indra in the warehouse.
Neither of them expected to see the other today, and yet once again they find themselves face to face in unforeseen circumstances. Especially for the officer, this situation felt surreal, for now that he has seen the man descend down to him carrying the defeated leader, he knows how the Babylonians were defeated. It was the same man he took as a joke back on the rooftop, the man in the suit that he never expected could do anything, especially not something as great as bring an end to an unsolvable case.
Although their encounter is quite ironic, there isn't much sense of comedy in the air, as it is clear that the man feels a serious weight after the long night of fighting.
With the way the man carried the body and his overall aura, there was a sense that the body wasn't alive, however the officer didn't know for certain, for they still put it under the treatment as though he is alive in the event of an attempted outbreak.
The officer turns away from the man and looks down the direction of the pods, which are now long gone from their sights, have left. He keeps his arms by his side as he feels the morning breeze, pondering to himself as he stands by his pod.
The man in the blue suit notices the officer turn away, assuming that now was the end of the transaction. Before making his presence known, he observed the police as it seemed to him that they had already located the rest of the Babylonians, and already captured and transported them.
With Indra now taken care of, the final Babylonian was taken care of. For the first time, Meditat had managed to defeat an Exhuman and successfully contribute them to the police department, completing an entire capture. His records before were bleak, but he had finally proved himself to be an adequate protector, with his first capture being one as great as the Babylonians, who have long terrorized the city, it's people, and it's protectors.
Now that the police had all of the Babylonians however, his mission was finally complete, and the long night was finally over. He could return back to his dorm, hopefully still having the energy to go about the whole day ahead of him.
The man turns around, turning his back to the officer's back. His cape flows behind him as he begins to take steps forward, beginning to leave the officer's vicinity.
His blue eyes stare ahead as he lets out a soft and tired sigh, as while he had just achieved quite the major accomplishment of closing the case that he put so many hours into, he was left feeling hollow. The mission was over, being a success, and yet he didn't feel victorious, he just felt tired.