Zoey looked around as everyone waited for her reply. The officer had a stiff look on his face, but him and his troops were clearly waiting for Zoey to surrender. They were obviously the Church of Sun's main force, and their devotion to their cause was clear to see.

The Scion now had a smug satisfied look on his red, sweaty face, fully expecting the masked woman to obey him now that he had his troops with him. The will of the Sun God was absolute after all.

Behind them, Zoey could see the crowd of people in the marketplace watching the show. There were various expressions on their faces, but Zoey understood one thing, this little show was not new to them.

She narrowed her eyes, going over her options in her mind while she assessed the situation.

The fat Scion on the other hand could not contain himself. Seeing that Zoey was not reacting to the officer's ultimatum, he thought it was because of shock and fear that she was not moving. This pleased him. People should fear him. After all, he was the Scion of the Sun God. It also just so happened that all the eyes in the marketplace were on them, a perfect time to show everyone that the Sun God's will was inescapable!

Placing a beaming smile on his face, he waddled forth to begin his sermon.

"People of Brumau, The will of the Sun God spreads itself over all living things on this world. Like the light from the sun itself, God's will is necessary for us to survive! However, some poor misguided souls seem to believe otherwise. This commoner, that stands before you is one such heretic!"

Zoey rolled her eyes behind her mask. This was rich. She was now a heretic apparently. She wondered how this slobbering fool would justify that.

The fat man gestured at Zoey as he continued to loudly accuse her. "Behold! This commoner hides herself from the sun with a hood and mask, denying the Sun God's light even as she ignores ME, his chosen Scion! This heresy can not be allowed to continue! This poor soul must be shown the error of her ways! I, the Scion of the Sun God have decided that her punishment shall be a lesson to all those that live in Brumau!"

Zoey was getting a little pissed now. She could not wait to hear what this nutcase was planning. One way or the other, she wasn't expecting to get out of this without a fight. That was fine with her, she was beginning to like the idea of kicking this fool's ass.

The Scion continued his speech. "To display the benevolence of the Sun God, this poor, lost soul shall not have her penance on the Field of Worship. No, she will repent here in this very plaza for all to see!"

He pointed a sweaty hand to a raised platform in the center of the marketplace, then continued, "She will be laid bare before the Sun God, so she may take his holy glory upon her skin, and be made whole through his power!"

The crowd finally showed some reaction after they heard this. Some shook their heads, some looked eager for the show, and some were disgusted. The Scion was pleased. He had never had an audience this big before. He had to make sure that he was remembered as the Scion, the will of the Sun God himself!

Zoey was in disbelief. This whole thing was ridiculous, and now this nut job wanted to strip her and put her on a platform as some dumbass spectacle for his "Sun God"? She flexed her fingers under her poncho. They had no idea what she was capable of, but they were about to get some first-hand experience...

After his message sank in, the Scion smiled widely and turned back to face the masked woman. She was about to experience the full glory of the Sun God. How dare she ignore him and turn up her nose! Humiliating her in front of the entire town would show her, and everyone else that the Scion of the Sun God was not to be messed with! And then, afterwards... perhaps he would cleanse her some more back at the church... If she was worthy of his... administrations that is. It had been a while since he had cleansed a sinner after all...

He motioned to the officer, who then ordered some of his men forward to detain the woman. She hadn't moved this entire time, so she was probably scared stiff. Understandable considering her situation. Everyone watched as the guards approached the masked woman. The real spectacle was about to begin.

Zoey sighed as the two burly guards approached her. It was about time to end this little show.

When they were only a few paces away from her, she raised her hand from under her poncho, holding up a small metal tablet.

Everyone froze when she did this, all of them looking at the item she held, then back to her, not knowing what she was about to do. Zoey smiled under her mask, then activated the tablet.

Every single Church of Sun guardsman including the officer suddenly collapsed as if something was pushing them to the ground. The crowd reacted in shock when they witnessed this, and even more when they saw the rest of the scene.

The fat Scion had a dumbfounded look on his face that slowly turned to absolute fear when he saw what had happened. His first instinct was to flee, to run for his life, but when he turned to make his escape, he found himself face to face with a massive beast!

It was almost as tall as he was on four legs and some sort of hybrid between feline and dragon. He felt the blood drain from his face as the beast snarled at him, showing a mouth full of wicked teeth, eager to tear into his flesh. He spun around in a panic only to see the masked woman approaching while cracking her knuckles one at a time.

The beast was of course Viridi. Zoey had called her out when everyone was preoccupied with the guards collapsing. Her large feline friend had brought the desired reaction when she appeared out of nowhere, the fat man looked like he was about to piss himself.

"Don't come near me!" He screeched in panic as Zoey approached, still cracking her knuckles.

He was terrified. This was not how this was supposed to go! He was supposed to be the one in control, but now he just wanted to flee! However, the presence of the beast at his back kept him rooted on the spot.

"You commoner filth! If you harm me, the fury of the Sun God will come down on you like the wrath of a thousa...!!!"

He never finished his sentence.

Zoey was not an ordinary human. Born on the planet Gaia, and subjected to a quarter millennium of transformations by a power that not ever the gods understood. Even she did not understand how much her DNA had been altered during that time. In her time here on Darren, she had achieved Rank 4, making her even stronger. All of this had provided her with considerable strength, and now she was putting it to use.

She stepped forward with her left foot, with the right foot providing force. Her hips twisted and her right shoulder and arm came out in a beautiful straight punch. It was a picture perfect, fluid motion that connected directly with the large belly of the Scion in mid sentence.

The punch Zoey threw launched him as if shot from a cannon. He flew over the guards still on the ground, through the crowd that dove out of the fat missile's way, then crashed into the base of the platform he had planned to display Zoey on and lay still.

The shocked and stunned crowd looked at the scene in disbelief, at the crumpled form of the Scion, and the pleased Zoey, dusting her hands in satisfaction while the large feline eagerly awaited praise for her work.

This was unexpected!