The Pantheon: Rebirth

Emergence

"How do you want to do this?" Parker asks Zander, both of them are now standing directly in front of the building housing the most powerful weapon ever created.

"Our best chance is for Helen to curse everyone in this building. Hopefully not to the extent of the guy in the alley." Zander replies, looking at his watch, waiting for it to say six o'clock.

The sun was beginning to set. The streetlamps came to life, lighting up the street, almost like a warning to the world that things were going to change.

"Guy in the alley? What exactly did she do?"

"There were two guys who were harassing this girl. She squeezed the first guys' genitals so hard they exploded, and she cursed the second guy to get run over by a massive truck as he was running away."

Parker removes his shades and looks at Zander with a combination of shock and appreciation.

"Gotta say, I didn't think she would have it in her. But then again, I didn't think she would be capable of cursing us. How are you doing with by the way?"

Zander doesn't respond. Even if he did, what would he say? That he understood? That Helen made the right choice? He couldn't even make himself match her gaze when they decided on the plan to get into the building. As far as Zander was concerned, Helen acted out of her own self-interest and in turn, screwed everyone else.

"Not ready to talk about it, noted." Parker says, returning his gaze to building.

Zander's watch beeps as it says six o'clock. He looks over to the left side of the building and sees Aurora and Helen leaping up to the roof. They creep over to the air vent protruding from the ceiling. Helen places her hands over the vent and whispers an incantation. Aurora looks over to the two men and sticks her thumb up.

"That's the signal," Parker says, tossing a piece of spearmint gum in his mouth.

They begin to head to the glass door and look up to the air vents where a pink gas begins to slowly descend into the room. The gas reaches the floor as the roughly six or seven people in the lobby begin to drop where they were. One of the security guards falls backwards in his chair at the security podium.

Parker winces, "Damn, that must've hurt."

They wait for the gas to dissipate as Aurora and Helen land behind them. The cement cracking from their force.

"Did it work?" Helen asked, hoping that Zander would be the one to respond. After a second of silent tension, Parker walks over to the door and holds it open for the group.

"Let's see." Parker says, motioning them to enter.

They head inside and Helen scans the room to see if everything went according to plan. Relieved to see that no one seemed to be dead, she let out a sigh.

"For what it is worth, I am sorry for the position you were placed in." Aurora muttered, loud enough for only Helen to hear.

"Thank you." Helen responds, looking ahead at Zander who is examining a map on the wall with Parker. "I wish he would understand too, I didn't want to do this. I had to."

"He will. Give it time, love is a powerful thing, and despite how he is acting right now, he does love you."

Helen looks at Aurora with an appreciating smile. The two walk up to Parker and Zander, who are still having trouble deciding where the bolt would be held.

"Any luck?" Helen asks.

"No." Parker replies, his gum bubble popping, to the annoyance of everyone in the group.