[OPENING SCENE – SKYVAULT CITY – DAWN AFTER THE ATTACK]
The city breathes uneasily. Emergency drones sweep over scorched alleys. Civilians help each other rebuild. The Vanguards stand silently outside their damaged HQ, watching the sunrise wash the smoke in gold.
Kael:
"Last night wasn't just a hit."
Yuna:
"It was a countdown."
Tari (sharpening her blade):
"Then what's ticking?"
Irion (quietly):
"Us."
[SCENE – LOWER SKYVAULT – SQUARE REBUILDING SITE]
Irion walks among the people. Children watch him from corners, unsure. He kneels, helping an old vendor re-stack her shattered fruit stall.
Vendor (softly):
"You're one of them… aren't you?"
Irion:
"I don't wear the badge."
Vendor:
"But you fought for us. You saved my granddaughter."
He looks at his gloves. Quiet. Then stands.
[ALERT — ATTACK IMMINENT]
Alarms shriek through the district. A familiar hum crackles in the air — the crystalline frequency of the X-O-X. SHARD has returned.
Shard (amplified voice):
"SkyVault still breathes. Unfortunate."
DREIVA manifests through reflections, whispering lies in the civilians' minds. PRISMMAW skitters through shadows, draining color and energy. GRAVEMIND VOX floats down from above, his voice cracking the pavement below.
[SCENE – VANGUARDS RESPOND]
Kael (blazing):
"Vanguards, move!"
Jax:
"Didn't think we'd see these creeps again!"
Veya:
"Perfect. I owe Prismmaw two bullets."
The team splits, facing the threat across different zones of the district. Citizens flee behind shield drones. SkyVault's skies begin to fracture again.
[BATTLE — IRION VS GRAVEMIND VOX]
Vox sings. Irion stumbles, ears ringing, memories cracking open.
Gravemind Vox:
"You don't even know your own melody. Let me unravel it."
Irion (growling):
"You can't shatter something that's already broken."
With a roar, Irion lets go — a blinding burst of white-blue flame erupts around him. His suit burns away, transforming mid-motion into a sleek obsidian and cobalt armor with arcanic etchings and gleaming violet veins of Riftfire.
He rises, eyes glowing.
Irion:
"I'm not just another name on a wall."
He slams his palm down, cracking reality itself — phasing space around Vox, disrupting his tone.
Irion:
"I am VOIDCAST."
The people watching gasp. Cameras capture the moment — his face, the aura, the rebirth.
[SCENE – TEAM FIGHTS INTENSIFY]
Yuna traps Dreiva in a blooming psychic cage, but the illusionist escapes by mimicking Jax.
Tari marks Prismmaw with celestial runes, forcing the creature to flicker wildly through dimensions.
Echo-7 locks down the rooftops by deploying digital traps, nullifying Shard's crystallization on contact.
Kael duels Shard directly, their powers grinding against each other in waves of molten plasma and refracted crystal.
Shard:
"You'll crumble eventually, Kael. Beauty is eternal. You are not."
Kael:
"Maybe. But truth burns longer than lies."
They clash with thunder and flame.
[IRION VS VOX — FINAL STRIKE]
Voidcast (Irion) levitates, arms stretched. He creates a rift-loop — catching Vox's voice in an endless echo chamber.
Vox:
"No… my words!"
Voidcast:
"You wanted silence. Here's yours."
He slams both hands together — the echo collapses, and Gravemind Vox is blasted into unconsciousness, fragments of his sound armor peeling away.
[AFTERMATH — THE CITY CHEERS]
For the first time in weeks, SkyVault isn't burning. Citizens cheer from rooftops. Drones project Voidcast's name in bright violet.
Civilian (chanting):
"Voidcast! Voidcast!"
Kael approaches him.
Kael (nods):
"Took your time."
Irion (softly):
"I wanted to earn it."
They shake hands as the sun breaks through the cloudline.
[POST-CREDIT – NULLBORN'S VAULT]
Mother Null whispers in an empty chamber. Her hand brushes over a crystal grave.
Mother Null (calmly):
"They remember their names… Let's see how long they last once I take them away."
[TO BE CONTINUED…]