"So this is it? Is this the moment when the future crushes us and replaces us?"
From the center of the arena beneath the white sand, Shymphony watches the blue sky tear apart.
"If they are the heralds of evolution..." Her hoarse voice remains unshaken. "...I will make them remember that this world will endure."
Ships of various sizes pass through the portal as they take over the sky and the courage of all who witness such abnormality there.
Casting a distant look toward a garden that lies above and behind the arena, all Shymphony sees is a feminine silhouette watching the sky.
"So that is your answer? So be it! I know exactly what I will do!"
Shymphony turns her gaze once more to the portal. Several small ships begin to approach the ground all across Atlantis.
Before the metal of any of them even touches the ground, androids wearing white and technological suits come plummeting from them.
Whether animal or human, all run in despair. Some hide, others throw themselves into the currents.
Seeing that one of the ships is very close by, Shymphony adjusts her golden shield on her arm and dashes toward it.
When she reaches the place below, she finds a fierce battle taking place. A woman alone, holding two curved blades, one in each hand, faces eight androids at once.
But she takes a strong blow and ends up being thrown far away.
Shymphony takes advantage of the moment and vibrates her fist with everything she has and slams it against her shield aimed at the androids. The shockwave sends most of them flying backward and falling unconscious.
Running to the woman, she extends her hand to help her up.
"Sarah, I do not have much time to explain, but I ask that you dance for me one more time!"
Without trying to understand, Sarah looks at Shymphony in front of her, illuminated by rays of sunlight while the white cape on her back sways with the wind blowing through the place.
She extends her hand back and the two of them rise, ready for battle.
The androids rise again and place themselves in their path. Sarah takes the lead, leaving the curved blades fastened at her lower back, and now using a black dagger that shines intensely with a blue and silver aura. Lightning begins to take over the place. When the first android is struck and falls stiff to the ground, the others find themselves forced to dodge almost as if they were dancing while they move in for the clash.
One after another, all of them begin to succumb, whether to the black blade that pierces and electrifies them, or to the bolts that cut through the surroundings. Shymphony remains standing in the same place while she echoes an intense and musical rhythm in Sarah's mind, who, upon reaching directly below where the ship is, points her dagger upward and with a centralized discharge of energy strikes it, causing it to fall shut down.
"No more!" Whispers echo almost inaudibly from her mouth as she watches Shymphony approach.
"Good work, now I need to get there!" Shymphony points her fist and her shield toward the tear in the sky.
Sarah begins to understand what needs to be done, so she invades the ship, throws out the android pilot, and powers it back on with another discharge of energy. Shymphony, instead of entering, climbs on top of the ship and stands there. Then the ship begins to take off while she starts vibrating her fist again, generating a field of energy that grows with each passing second.
"It was very good to meet you, Sarah, I hope that one day you reach your goal." Shymphony echoes thoughts to Sarah. "How I wish I could see you dance more times." Tears run from Shymphony's eyes.
Sarah's gaze does not turn away from the roof of the ship for even an instant. Even without being able to see her, she knows exactly where she is. Her clenched fist opens and uselessly tries to grasp her.
"One more time..." Whispers escape from her mouth as she brings her fist, closed once again, near her chest.
"Sarah..." Shymphony speaks again, but interrupts herself for a moment while biting her teeth. "...you know what needs to be done, I am counting on you!"
Now only silence, physical and mental, echoes in that ascending chaos. All the androids in their ships and on the ground watch that shooting star defy the sky. Even animals, humans, and non-humans stop their despair to watch such insolence.
Near the tear in the sky, the ship begins to break apart. When she gets close enough, Shymphony gives one last push, already with her whole body vibrating and her fist shining so intensely that it outshines any other source of light. Then she jumps toward the portal using the ship as a base, thus making it change course, toward the north taking Sarah with it.
"Survive!"
"Survive!"
One final mental plea echoes from both of them at the same instant, before everything collapses.
Sarah watches, already far away, as Shymphony collides with the portal like a meteor.
But there was no explosion.
Or any roar.
First, all the light in the world was seized and gathered into a halo planted at the place of impact.
Then everything cracked and shattered like glass, thus making the darkness disappear.