“Good evening and welcome to GNN, all you citizens of planet Earth. I’m your host, Brendan Baird, bringing you the latest from the day."

"The International League of Superheroes has done it again, foiling a dastardly plot to poison the world’s ocean by a nefarious evildoer called the Toxic Herald. The Toxic Herald had nearly completed his plans when he was stopped by a tag team of heroes known as The Gentle Gloom and Dragontooth. Let's meet the heroes responsible for this feat."

"In other news, nonviolent resistance, or eco-terrorism? A group called the Order of Harmony staged a protest at the Jamnagar refinery. The protest seems to have escalated and police were deployed to break up the demonstration, and some rumors say that a super destroyed the entire facility. Yet, there have been no reports of casualties and no eyewitnesses have come forward to tell their story. Just what exactly happened here? GNN goes to the experts to find out."

"All this and more, here tonight on GNN, global news for global viewers.”

It was a bright and sunny day along the Venezuelan coastline. A peaceful day, perfect for relaxing adults and laughing children. But not so at this particular beach.

Wooden ships touched down on the sand. Men and women in robes and scarves disembarked from their boats, running towards the storage cylinders and smokestacks ahead. Everywhere, men and women shouted as robed figures herded refinery workers with wooden staves.

The Order of Harmony had arrived at the Paraguana Refinery Complex.

Master Dayal disembarked from her ship, wood of the bow untwisting into a ramp before her. One of the acolytes came running towards her and bowed at her feet.

“Master.”

“Acolyte, how goes the preparations?”

“Delayed, Master. The workers are not cooperating. We will need more time to empty the facility.”

Master Dayal nodded.

“Take your time, acolyte. No good will come from recklessness.”

The acolyte bowed once more.

“It shall be done, Master. I am one with the Earth.”

“And the Earth is with me.”

Within the facility a line of workers stood facing a line of acolytes. Staves and wrenches waved in the air, voices rose.

“Move! We don’t want to hurt you!”

“Then get out of here! Let us do our jobs in peace!”

“Your jobs are destroying the peace! You must leave!”

“You’re the ones who destroy things!”

“Defiler!”

“Terrorist!”

“Get over here!”

“Let go of him!”

The acolytes grabbed one of the workers, trying to haul him to the safe zone. The other workers crowded around, grabbing onto his shoulders and legs. An acolyte was shoved. A worker was pushed to the ground.

“Let go!”

“Don’t you touch me!”

“Get off!”

A fist flew. A wrench caught someone’s jaw. A stave collided with a hardhat.

BANG

The shouting stopped and everyone grew still. An acolyte fell on his back, a red spot growing on his robes.

Then the screams began.

Master Dayal frowned. She heard shouting growing in the distance, then loud cracks of thunder. Her stomach dropped, and her chest twisted.

Something terrible had happened.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She slowed her heartbeat as she slowly exhaled. She calmed herself, allowing the ominous premonition to fade from her body.

She opened her eyes, once again serene.

A group of her acolytes ran down the beach. They carried with them several of their fellows, and laid them at her feet.

“Master…”

“What has happened?”

“The workers, they resisted. They would not move.”

“And then?”

“We tried to separate them, to take them one by one.”

“And then they shot us!”

One of the acolytes cried out, fists and teeth both clenched.

Master Dayal slowly walked over to him. She took his fist into her hands, and slowly uncurled his fingers. She looked into his eyes. His eyes began to water as his shoulders dropped.

“I am one with the Earth.”

All the acolytes joined with her.

“““And the Earth is with me.”””

Wooden branches rose around each of the fallen acolytes, tenderly wrapping them into cocoons. Once completed they slowly sank into the sand.

“Our brethren have become one with the Earth. Do not mourn them, do not miss them, but rejoice for those who have joined with the world.”

All the acolytes looked to their feet, and were silent. Master Dayal strode up the beach, marching towards the facility. She planted her feet in the ground, she closed her eyes, and she clasped her hands in front of her.

““All you who stand before us, listen now. Hear the will of the Earth.””

““We are not your enemy. We wish you no harm. But we cannot allow the devastation of our planet to continue.””

““Weapons have been drawn. Blood has been spilled. But we will not act in anger. We will forgive.””

““Lay down your weapons, for we have none of our own. Let no further blood be shed.””

““This monument to greed is at its end. The Earth wills it, the world cries out for it. But you do not have to end with it.””

““Return to your homes. Embrace your loved ones. Go now in peace. Do not let yourself be destroyed in vain.””

““I give you an hour. The Earth would not see any of her children harmed. And neither would I. This monument shall not last the day. I hope that you will.””

Master Dayal turned around and walked back to her acolytes.

“Go, call the others.”

“What about the workers, Master?”

“We can do nothing more for them. Their fates are in their own hands now.”

The acolytes lay scattered about the beach. They sat and chatted among themselves, clustered into small groups. Some lay resting, others meditated. Master Dayal stood in the sand, eyes closed, unmoving save for her quiet, steady breaths. One of the acolytes glanced around, then up to Master Dayal. Back the facility, back to Master Dayal. He took a deep breath, and then opened his mouth.

“Master, it is almost time. None of the workers have moved…”

They heard it before they saw it.

The beating of blades. The whirring engines. Master Dayal turned towards the sea. Three helicopters approached.

Master Dayal’s eyes widened.

The helicopters were too small to carry people.

Which means they carried something else.

She clasped her hands. She opened her mouth.

Flashes of light.

The sound of thunder.

The beach erupted.

Master Dayal stood still as the helicopters passed overhead, silent save for her quiet, steady breathing. She looked down upon the ground.

She stood in a sea of blood.

All around her the bodies of her acolytes. Some were groaning, others crying out, still others screaming in pain. Many more lay silent, unblinking eyes staring at the sky.

She closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath.

Her heart refused to slow.

The knot in her chest would not come undone.

She felt new moisture on her cheeks.

“So…this is their choice…”

She opened her eyes. She knelt to the ground. She reached forward, removing an acolyte’s scarf. She lay her palm on the acolyte’s cheek.

“Or…was it…mine?”

She closed her eyes, tears streaming down. She slowly withdrew her hand, and stood to her feet. She clasped her hands together.

“I am one with the Earth, and the Earth is with me.”

All around her branches and vines grew from the sand. They wrapped around the twisting acolytes, covering their wounds with soft leaves. Those who lay still they wrapped in their embrace.

There were too many cocoons to count.

“I thought…they could change. I thought, we only need to show them the way, and we could bring peace to the Earth.”

She opened her eyes, watching as the helicopters swung around and began to approach once more.

“But you’ve shown me that it’s impossible. You will resist. You will cling to your ways. You will march towards devastation.”

She took a deep breath. She looked down as the cocoons sank into the sand.

“If we cannot achieve harmony on the Earth, perhaps we will achieve harmony within it? For all return to the Mother’s embrace. All become one with the Earth”

She looked up. The helicopters approached.

“I am one with the Earth and the Earth is with me.”

At first, nothing. Only the beating of helicopter blades.

“I am one with the Earth and the Earth is with me.”

Master Dayal’s voice took on a quiet echo. There was a tiny tremor in the sand.

“I am one with the Earth and the Earth is with me.””

A second voice joined with Master Dayal’s, a deep and primal rumble. The trembling of the Earth grew. The helicopters came in range.

““I am one with the Earth and the Earth is with me!””

The ground shook violently. The sea began to churn. Wooden ships fell apart, their planks twisting into branches that covered the remaining acolytes. The helicopters’ noses began to flash once more.

““I AM ONE WITH THE EARTH AND THE EARTH IS WITH ME!!!””

As the bullets landed on the beach the sand erupted into the sky. The helicopters tilted up and back as they tried to avoid the wave of sand.

But they could not avoid the wave of wood.

Root, trunks, and branches rolled and tumbled like waves upon the shore. Higher and higher until they covered the horizon. The helicopters vanished, brief flashes of red and yellow swallowed by green and brown. And then the wave continued forward.

The Paraguana Refinery Complex vanished from the Earth that day.

Along with everyone inside it.