Gramps and Noel stepped out of the van...

​     into a battle zone.

​     Gramps saw a dozen or so guards being held at bay by what looked like, at first glance, a single kick-ass woman with a sub machine gun.

​     She's got to be Azure, he thought. She should turn invisible if she's going to fight that many guards like that.

​     Overhead, all the beautiful, multi colored glass that had, moments before, made up the top fifty feet of the Diamond Tower, was now all but gone. All that remained looked shattered and jagged. Still, Gramps had a hard time seeing the sky because of all the algrim and Azure warships. Debris and rays and bullets and sonic blasts blew everywhere. Alone, without Noel, Gramps would have been torn to pieces by shrapnel within seconds. The door leading to the other van was only six paces away. Then,

     "Oh boy," Gramps said. 

     "What?"

     "The six most influential people on the planet Earth? They're on their hands and knees right now under a dais."

​     "Any of them look hurt?"

     "They're all huddled together. Their body language tells me they're humiliated and confused and frightened, but I don't think any of them are hurt."

     "We've got to go get them."

     "I know." 

​                                                     CONTINUE