And somewhere below—
under a roaring sky—
three idiots of titanic scale—
X0, X2718, and X137—
were about to decide the fate of the world.
Constant lifted his right leg—
and stepped forward.
A wall of ocean water exploded outward,
slamming into the island’s edge
and wiping out the shoreline debris—
like the planet itself decided to clean up
before the end of everything.
The colossus spread his arms—
and roared like he was about to rewrite the atmosphere:
“ZEROTH!
NO MATTER… HOW MUCH… YOU STRUGGLE…
THE OUTCOME… IS ALREADY… DECIDED…”
And then… a clap.
So powerful
the air detonated between his palms—
and the shockwave slammed the drone
into the atmosphere
with the acceleration of a demonically possessed ostrich.
It was launched upward—
twenty thousand feet—
into the lower edge of the stratosphere—
where it had absolutely not been invited.
In the same instant—
from Constant’s chest emblem
a golden beam fired—
not light,
but a mathematical equation of power,
burning through the space between him and Zeros.
The beam struck both—
Zeros and Exponent.
The drone, spinning like a deranged top,
kicked in anti-grav,
stabilized midair—
first hovering above Constant’s head,
then circling the beam, capturing it in slow motion—
so beautifully
CosmoNet™ nearly crashed.
The flash was so intense
it burned out the audience’s emotional retinas.
The drone finally dropped back down—
settling behind Zeros.
Zeros already had a shield up—
the beam was melting scrap metal beneath his feet,
crushing the ground,
boiling moisture out of existence—
but inside the sphere?
Didn’t mean shit.
…Zero doesn’t burn.
Exponent—
who had just been ready to play hero—
saw where this was going
and instantly bailed sideways.
Then—
in pure exponential panic—
he sprinted straight toward Blindy.
Phoenix’s voice cut through dry, overloaded,
held together by system strain
and one liter of existential despair:
“F.O. … listen carefully.
This one is also a Reaper. Model 137.
His chassis is kinda identical to yours.”
A brief gap followed—short, cold, deliberate.
“Minimum Saer’thal output—he won’t even notice.
Anything above that… is dangerous.
Very dangerous.
You could tear off a chunk of the planet…
or just erase it completely.”
Phoenix pushed on, clearly starting to lose it:
“So, Zeros…
uh… what’s the plan?!Do I engage?
Or am I just waiting for you to turn this trash planet into fireworks?!”
He was about to continue—
then his voice snapped sharper:
“UPDATE.
The Captain is… fucked.”
Half a second of silence.
Then:
“Unit 2187 has already engaged the Captain.
Repeat:BLINDY IS IN DANGER.
Threat level: three.
Priority: save the human idiot.”
Airi’s voice rose—steady, but tightened, like every internal system just locked in:
“Taichō-kun…?! [¬`‸´¬]”
The holographic terminal flickered—
and the same male voice came through:
“Mō tōchaku shita.
Itsumo dōri… sentō kanryō da.”