Damn, poor thing. Nothing can be done now. Run the Phase lock script. I don’t want any of them escaping or communicating with their buddies. Ehhh… slam down a barrier as well. I can at least give her some revenge.

Which one? They are pretty strong. They will probably break whatever you have on hotkey for me. Yeah, now that we are close enough, my readings say that two will easily break through. I would suggest Heavens Fire Gates of Absolution.

Tess, you always suggest that one.

It's effective.

So it has nothing to do with how stupid it makes me look.

Nope…

Atom could feel the mirth from his snarky companion rolling through his soul as he set down from his flight.

"That damn woman." He muttered as he prepared to do the Macarena.

He had been trying to figure out how she had designed the technique, but it was under heavy encryption. That shouldn't be a problem for the God of Hacking and Short-cuts, but he suspected she had been altering his thoughts each time he came close. He could brute force it and fix the embarrassing way to activate the barrier, but he wouldn't. It was pretty funny to do, reminded him of home, and if it made her laugh and smile, it was worth a little of his pride. He was a shameless shirker and didn't have much use for pride anyway.

Undulating with his hands on his hips, he jumped around for the final time and called out in a loud sing-song voice, "Heyyy Macarena."

Catcalls and hoots of laughter came from Tess at his finishing moves.

The city block they were in went dark as the Heavens Fire Gates of Absolution took form. Massive smoldering pillars fell from the heavens landing in the four corners of the area. A white ethereal light snapped into place, connecting the pillars' tops and sides, forming an impenetrable box.

Alright, Tess. I'm pissed off. Pick me a good song to rage out to.

Coming right up… Del Río

Tess said to him, laughing all the harder. Atom had stopped paying attention, though, as sweet musical ministrations of the man, Rick Ross, and the legend Jay-Z started blasting out around him. The bass hit so hard that pebbles and dirt in the area began jumping off the ground.

The Devil is a Lie, It, right, I can fuh witcha.

I figured you might like a classic. Now cut loose and show 'em proof the song is wrong. The devil is alive and here for you.

Walking around, Atom saw his follower screaming into the chest of the headless corpse of her companion in the back of the alley. Realizing just how young she was. The goons from the Praxis Sect casually talking about raping her. He held his anger in at her tears. Regretting that he’d wasted any time at all coming here.

Tess light them up by priority.

Don't Atom. I can tell what you're thinking, and I'm with you, but... We will get in trouble if you destroy this city block.

It's fine, babe. I have a plan.

You had a plan on Waygo too. You know how that turned out.

Atom stiffened for a second before dismissing it. It would work this time. He was certain.

Tess, we agreed to forget about the Waygo incident. I only mentioned it earlier because it was a valid reason why I forgot.

Sorry, we did. No, it wasn't a valid reason, but we can finish that little conversation later.

The music's beat pounding around him, Atom reached out his hand calling his blades. They shot up from his back into a single piece of light. Forming a gigantic war hammer. He chuckled. Tess knew his mood all too well. A job like this did not require finesse. No, it required blunt force with lots of trauma.

Twenty Sect members stood in between him and his follower. Piss stained colored robs, making them look stupid. They all began glowing in three different colors, red, green, and blue. Signifying their ascension rank. Red meaning they had Icon's and were full Ascendants like Atom. Blue meant two steps below him in ascendent rank, and green meaning newly ascended.

"Ewho da hell are you?" A ranked blue man stepped out of the group.

Atom said nothing as the music continued to shake the ground.

"How about you piss off mate, before eh, we have to get personal."

Atom gave them the universal sign of hello with his free hand out, middle finger extended.

"You tryin to die cunt?" The blues and greens started to make their way towards him.

He dropped his hammer, gave them another hello, and made a hand gesture towards his crotch. He put his index and thumb really close together then pointed at the goons. Then mimed laughing while slapping his leg.

"Imma freak'en pound you music boy, let's get em boys. The bent can wait."

They rushed him. The loudmouth blue hit him first with enough power to shatter the stones around him and sending his body bouncing off the barrier. Atom fell into a building, destroying it as his dense armor caused it to collapse in on itself.

And so it went, building after building destroyed as the blues and greens beat his ass all over the enclosed area. They split up into teams, knocking him back and forth like he was a ball in a tennis match. Basically, flattening everything inside the white barrier beside the two buildings, which his follower, was in-between.

Being true to form, Atom had thought of a brilliant workaround to the damage restriction. Just let the bad guys do it. Anything that led to less paperwork and effort was a serious priority. He let the soon to be dead Sect members prepare the area for him, so he could play.

I think that's about enough. Surely I can get away with cutting loose now that they destroyed the block with my body.

Got it annnnnd done. Running blackout script in the area. The Feed is looped. Overwatch is blind, cut loose.

Getting punched again, he angled his body so that he'd be thrown over the hammer, snagging it with an outstretched hand on the way by. The song transitioned to Godzilla. Atom flexed his will, speeding up his flight through the air. As he came barreling towards five of the goons, he swung the war hammer, connecting with a highlighted green. The body disappeared along with most everything else for thirty meters—the shock wave from the impact blowing body limbs of two blues reeling off into the air. Two of the other greens remaining companions flew outward to slam against the white barrier on opposite sides. Their colors went dark, telling him that they were no longer among the living.

"Striiike," Atom cheered, then blurred away.

"Wat da fuk just appen," said an illiterate blue that had sped over to the site of his former sect members. He looked over to see the music box with legs busting moves that he would attribute to a person having an epileptic seizure. It wasn't any dancing he'd ever seen.

"You dead you cun…" The man cut off as Atom appeared standing in the air at approximately his shoulder height. The face of the war hammer was encompassing the blues vision. Atom's feet were slightly spread apart, and he was wiggling his butt, looking off in the distance behind the blue. He gestured to the man to stand still. The man was in such shock at how Atom had just appeared by him that he just stood there while Atom pulled back his hammer. The now headless body of the blue fell limp as his head blew a hole through the chests of two greens across the enclosed area that happened to line up just right.

Tess, tell me you got that clat.

Stop playing with the weaklings and get the girl. The two reds have already started making their way over to her.

Ah, Tess, I will, but did you get it? It was awesome, right? Is there such a thing as a hole in two?

Tiny gods Atom, yes, I got it. Girl. Now!

Right, on it.

Atom blurred away, destroying the body of the headless blue as a massive pressure wave finished off the area. Three more loud cracks happened almost simultaneously as Atom softly dropped down back into the alleyway. His armor peppered with chunks of organic leftovers of the lower-ranked sect members. The sounds startled the reds. They turned around from tapping on the shield that had been placed around the girl.

The music from the suit cut off as Atom scanned the two reds. He would need to be careful with this one. If he gave them enough time to go all out, they'd end up destroying the small city they were in. Tess would have his balls for a coin purse if that happened for sure.

"Any way we can just you know, not do this?" He called out to the two reds. He was pretty sure they were sect elders.

"I mean, you're dead either way. One just doesn't require as much paper work on my part." Atom shrugged.

"Where are our disciples?" One of the reds said, looking around in concern.

Atom picked a chunk of what he thought might be a part of a liver off his coat and tossed it to the man. "I'll be honest. I'm not sure which one that belonged to. I'm really surprised that there was even anything left of them. Must be a strong body path."

The reds face he had thrown the piece of liver to went purple in rage. "You have no idea who you are messing with, you son of a gutter shite. We are elders of the great Praxis Sect. We own this planet. You will pay for this insult."

Do they actually own this planet, Tess?

In all but name babe. The more I dig, the more I'm piecing together what's actually happening here. I calculate that if the Praxis sect continues unchecked that we will lose this contested planet completely to the Enemy.

Dammit, I don't want to get involved in politics. I just wanted to save my… follower and get off this rock. How entrenched are they?

The data says that Praxis has corrupted all governments and has openly started sanctioning the ones that haven't been influenced yet into poverty. Now that I know what's going on, we will have to do something about it. They are in violation of the Accords… sort of. Enough to warrant a Council inquiry.

Okay, but they are actively seeking other Council members' relics, which gives me leeway to do as I see fit. How many temples of the Councils are left on this planet.

Hmmm, let me see here. That would be a fat none. I imagine the only reason yours hadn't been snagged up was due to how sneaky the damn things are. They lay dormant until a particular type of individual comes in contact with it.

I know how they work, Tess. I made them. Wait, how can there be no temples? Something is really messed up here.

Oh no... no! Shit…

What is it, Tess? What just happened?

Kill the two now, Atom. Grab the girl and get to the frost connection.

Atom didn't hesitate, letting his hammer go as it flashed to light and the two crossed swords formed on his back. He blurred over to the first talking red. Grabbing the man by the back of his neck, Atom jerked. Tossing aside the head and spinal column, he once more repeated the action.

Looking down at the woman holding the headless corpse of her companion, Atom paused. He wasn’t sure what to do. They had to leave but he knew the situation required some care. He had been late and she had lost someone because of that. The ascendent planes were cruel, even more so to the mortals.

Taking a deep breath he focused and removed his helm. Keeping control of himself he laid a hand gently down on the girl’s back.

“We have to go.” Atom spoke quietly.

The girl jerked at the touch and voice. Her tear streaked gaze looked up at him.

“Who are you?” came a hoarse voice. She must have been screaming the whole time, Atom thought.

“I am Atom. You called for me and I came.” She looked away from him.

“You came too late.”

“I know,” he said softly.

“Why didn’t you come sooner?” Her voice broke as she held to her companion's body all the tighter.

“We can talk later and I will explain. Right now we must go.”

“I can’t leave him here. Not here in this, this trash heap. He deserves better,” the girl stated with conviction.

We can’t wait any longer babe. Our window is closing fast.

Reaching down he dragged the woman away. A black chain with a crystal shard attached came away in the woman’s hand. Atom froze as he realized what the item was.

Tess, did you see what she has?

Yes, I have no idea how it got here but it looks like it's full as well.

I agree. We will have to take a look at it later.

Slamming down his helmet again he took a deep breath. Relief flooding him. Using his will, he held the girl still and used a barrier script that encapsulated her in the radiant glow of Anima. Waving a hand the body of the girl's companion disappeared into his storage. Ignoring the girl's protests as she beat against the container, Atom crouched then leaped. Everything inside the Heavens Fire Gates of Absolution exploded to dust as Atom moved through the white wall. Nothing but a perfectly square crater a hundred meters wide and 25 deep was left as the ethereal thing dissipated.

Tess, tell me how bad it is. I absolutely know that will get us into trouble back there, so it better be serious.

It's bad, babe. Even worse than bad. Two other frost connections were just destroyed on different continents. We need to get off this rock asap.

Wait, what? Who would be stupid enough to destroy a Council structure? Not even I'm willing to do any more than blow up the lawn, and I'm an asshole.

You remember my analysis last year about how I thought something fishy was going on with the constant Accord violations in non-magical planes.

Yes, yes. Get to the point, Tess. How could I forget? You literally stopped talking to me until I agreed to take a freaking MCQ on the report.

Well, you should preste atenção cabronas, else I won't have to resort to childish measures.

Tess, I'm pretty sure that's not how you say that.

Shut up, you useless bastard. Ugh… Okay, well, I theorized that the Enemy had been looking for something. We could never prove it was actually him violating the rules, but my analysis pointed to it. The Council leader and the General disappeared a few months ago. When they came back last month, the violations stopped. That seems pretty strange, doesn't it? Actually, there has been zero activity by the Enemy since they returned.

Atom thought that was extremely troubling. The back and forth between the two powers had been going on for eons before he ascended—nothing too hostile or aggressive. The Accords had been agreed on for a reason. The first war had caused destruction on a scale that genuinely sickened Atom. He had no problems with killing those who opposed him or enforcing Accord violations. These people were not run of the mill criminals. They knew exactly what they were doing. But the destruction of entire planes and all their higher subspaces. The afterlife and soul sea destroyed. The thought made him feel like he'd just been told he killed a hospital full of children.

Okay, reach out to the Council if you haven't already. They need to know what's happening here.

On it. Scanning the Feed to see if this is an isolated event… Shit, Atom, we are in trouble. I just lost connection to outside this plane. Something is blocking me. The moment I put in a query to see the planes' current status, something slammed into place before I could get a full report.

That is very, very bad, Tess. What did you manage to get, and did the message get out?

No, whatever that thing was interrupted the download midstream. I don't know what got through, but I doubt anything useful. Analyzing the partial data retrieved. Dammit, Atom, if I'm reading this right. We are at War. At least on this plane.

What?! There's no way it's that bad.

We just lost over eighty-five percent of this plane. The Accord violations point towards an outright slaughter of all Council staff, facilities, and structures. That's only on the piece of the info I was able to get. I don’t know if something similar is happening on other contested planes or planets. Shit wat—

Before Tess could finish the thought, Atom sensed something about to hit him. Not having enough time to maneuver away and protect his cargo, he pushed his follower's anima container away from him with his will and prepared for impact.