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I land upon cold, manufactured ground. A large bronze statue stands before me of my fight against the demons, but before I am able to read the inscription, I am halted. A voice calls out to me, telling me not to take another step towards the statue. I turn around and see an imposter, another copy in my armor, this time golden. Still incensed and empowered by The Hellish Dimension, I waste no time and immediately attack with a fiery breath. Then I move in close, cutting and stabbing with the horns and spikes I developed from my time slaughtering countless hoards of demonic putrescence. As I am beating this imposter into the ground, I continue to gain in power, with each blow I land I start to feel the gravity of the solar system of Loameria flow through me again. My solar system. The familiar energy of my universe is returning to me, adding to my Hellish might. Having stayed a single punch to osmose, I am tackled from the side. Driving my claws into the ground to stop my roll, I see that it is the Angelguard. She helps the copy to their feet. My pounce toward them is intercepted with the screeching of tires as the Techrider slides his Duo-Cycle and himself in between them and I.

“Demon, you cannot win.”

“I am The Gravity Surge.” I point towards the statue.

“Negative. You will surrender to Justice or perish for Justice.”

“No, no, wait, it’s him.” The Golden Gravity Surge approaches me, taking my clawed hand into theirs and placing it against their face, removing their helmet. It is the short one. But their skin is warm; unlike me, they’re alive. They turn their attention to me. “There’s a lot to catch up on. You’ve been gone over 1000 years.”

I am informed that after I went into The Hellish Dimension, eventually the city fully integrated. Full integration itself, though, did nothing about the larger schemes hidden over time. It was years before Dr. Ravascious Jeer crawled out of the gutters again to enact his and his mentor’s old plans. Their thinking was that even though they could already mostly imitate my abilities through tech, they wanted more. They theorized that if they could duplicate how I got my powers, that could be a pathway to embodying the other intrinsic forces of the universe, going beyond what any technology could do, master reality itself. Perhaps even bend time to their wills. But first, they needed to test this theory, and create a new Gravity Surge, one loyal to their intentions for the universe.

Their project was well prepared, but this shorter one had studied the plans retrieved from the lab all those years ago, and even built her own suit based off of the Empyrean Efflux armor blueprints to help fight for the city. Though she had deduced most of their schemes, the scientists still had secrets, and were able to re-take Krokodoplois. They then started the spiral sequence from the roof of Gravity Square. Everyone banded together to stop them, and while the scientist Dr. Ravascious Jeer was once again defeated, the plan itself that was already put into motion and could not be stopped. The short one was still on board of the Krokodopolis ship as it was launched via the spire and locked into warp directly into the gravity field. But the warp engine disengaged irregularly before it could get through the field, and she was trapped within the othergrey. While in the nowhere to be found dimension, she was able to use Krokodoplis Lab facilities to reach out to the GS-336, which was able to free her from the void before her death. When she returned, she was bristling with power, feeling a deep connection to the universe. Still she was trapped inside the barrier separating the Loamarian solar system from the rest of the universe. Her first act as a Gravity Surge was an attempt to dismantle it, but she was unable to. In her final attempt, she was able to reach through the gravity barrier, and she felt her fingers freeze as the powers left her body, collapsing the field and removing her arm. As she watched it drift into space, her powers restored it, but she never made another attempt.

She vowed to dedicate her eternity to the protection of this solar system from then on, and has acted as hero of Loameria in my absence. A thousand years of trials and tribulations in my name.

“Your ship’s current repairs have been distorted by the experiments over the last decade, and now its tendrils have spread within the lowest parts of the city. We have files that show Techrider had been investigating the problems it has caused: the havoc by the displaced creatures, power outages, and most importantly, it’s clogged up the channels we need to be able to leave this planet. We’ve essentially been rooted into place by repairs gone wrong.”

“Can we tear them out? How long has this been going on for?”

“We don’t know much, but from what we do know, it doesn’t look like they can be extracted without making the damage to the city much worse, come on, there may be more answers in the lab.”

We descend deep into the substructure of the city to find Dr. Ravascious Jeer’s secret lab Techrider had triangulated before his recent apparent destruction. In addition to the blueprint to the Empyrean Efflux armor, there is another Spire made out of the same super dense material as the wires from my craft. There are dozens of scientists, sleuths, vigilantes, uniformed officers, and rogue detectives here all mingling about, taking scans and measuring readouts. Everything is connected to these wires overtaking the substructure. Much like the sublab in the Tower, there are also diagnostic screens observing the progress of my craft’s repairs that closely match the real thing.

I burst out of the tunnels and trace the overtaking wires to the source, my craft in Krokodopolis Lab. I do not know why they have made it integrate itself into the city. I rip the direct diagnostic wires off, but to no avail. It’s completely disconnected. I scan the surrounding lab to find more of these wires and discover a hidden room above my craft. Crashing through the floor, I discover a hidden cockpit, sending the repair diagnostic. Siphoning from my craft as an energy source, this Krokodoplis space ship has applied its repairs to amplify the city. Were they going to attempt to use the entire city with the spire to get through my gravity field? I destroy it, and contact the city, but there is no change.

I cannot reverse what they have done, but I can prevent further integration, exploitation. This entire lab was designed for this one purpose. Perhaps it is only being inside of the skull of the labship that is preventing my GS-336 from activation. I explode a hole in the ceiling and use my might to launch my craft into orbit. Before I am able to follow, a voice rings out over comms, it is the short one. Hundreds of portals have erupted across the city, and outpourings of demons spew forth from them. They’re tearing apart the city. Angelguard and the others are already addressing it as best they can, but are already becoming overwhelmed. There’s no telling how long it would take me to dismantle the barrier, and there would be no point in opening the barrier if the city becomes consumed by demons in the process, then it would truly be annoying to get it off of my planet. Even in my current state, I am far stronger than I was when I first killed a Hellbeast. I make my way to the city and as I fly toward the chaos, I hear the familiar rumble of a turbo charged duocycle approaching from the outskirts, converging on my destination.

It was days later that Andrea awoke, back on an operating table. This time was different. She wasn’t being added to, her performance tweaked or her humanity stripped. Instead, for the first time in years, she had it back. The horrors that were taken from her body returned tenfold in the form of mental anguish. She was able to fully feel the emotions she should’ve experienced during her time as The Bodyguard. All at once. She was suddenly able to scream – to cry, to thrash about with all of the hatred, anger, guilt and fear that she’d been unable to feel for so long. She was free. And it was torture.

Every single person she killed – their faces – came to her in a rush. She was frozen in her distress screaming and crying her eyes out as she remembered them all. Footsteps came into the room but Andrea barely acknowledged the two figures that were in front of her. As the tears cleared and her eyes focused, she looked at the pair. One was tall enough to block the light on her right side, and the other, a much shorter one was on her left. Her eyes well up again with joy and recognition. All these years she had thought she had killed her best friends, but here they were, standing before her.

As much of a relief as it was to see those two, it did nothing for the deep well in her soul that came with the knowledge that she had slaughtered all her other friends. She would see their faces every night in her nightmares… For the briefest moment, she was momentarily put at ease by her remaining friends. To feel not only the external warmth from their combined embrace, but an internal comfort that healed wounds she had long forgotten were still wide open. Her friends promised that soon she’ll be able to hug them back – she currently was unable to move her limbs – and began working on restoring their old ally.

It took some time, but with it, she was finally rewarded with a wealth of joy. Eventually, she could see her family in person and after so so long, hold them. Strutts had kept his word and had continued to house them. She knew he was keeping them alive only so he had something to threaten her with. Though he didn’t need to hang them over her head for long before he had complete control over her. When she was ready for it, she was told about the fate of the Executive, and how the barrier finally came down.

With a few more visits to the underground facility she was taken to after the events of that night, the last of her repairs were complete. Then with some physical therapy, she was able to stand. She felt such a sense of relief when she looked down at her hands to see they were no longer cold and metallic razor sharp talons. Instead, she had been fitted with golden, shimmering hands and feet. 

In a mirror, she saw the steel and glass visor that had covered her eyes was gone. What looked back was as close a replicator could make of her old blue eyes as possible. The doctors had worked miracles to reduce her most prominent scars. It brought more tears to her eyes to see herself for the first time in years – the person she was before all the surgeries. A semblance of her anyway. She grew sadder the longer she looked at her reflection. The best doctors could toil away at her skin, meticulously sanding down her physical scars. But it will take more than that to mend her internal scars – the ones on her psyche and consciousness.

It wasn’t the time to wallow in self-pity, however. The City was one in turmoil. She hadn’t been restored to simply admire her regained beauty. The barrier was done with, but that didn’t mean peace was restored. The underground movement was still strong, and there was still much work to be done before the Outer and Inner zones could regain harmony. Though her friends and family said she needed more time to recover, and this didn’t need to be her problem, she pushed back. She had to right the wrongs committed by her. As her old self, she was still determined to help those in need. 

In her first mission back, she tasked herself with one of finding and capturing Executives who went into hiding after the fall of the barrier due to their involvement with it. They were to be seized and interrogated to find out the true purpose behind the diverting of funds and resources from the unfinished zone. Andrea was eager to be on the job again — on the right side of justice. 

Once she was given the all-clear, she stepped out into the glorious sunlight. She stood and soaked in the rays for a moment, appreciating her freedom. Then she spread her new wings and took to the sky. Seeing the world through her own, mostly human eyes, was a wonder. Her vision wasn’t beyond perfect anymore but that allowed her to enjoy the simpler things. Being able to enjoy anything once again was a delight in itself. But with the small highs came even bigger lows.

When she was done daydreaming, Andrea got on with her assignment. Upon seeing her targets, however, recognition was triggered deep within her. An onslaught of unstable emotions that she had yet to gain control over bubbled to the surface. She knew who those people were. They were former close collaborators to the late Executive. Though it reminded her of swooping down and butchering any soul she was commanded to, the action of divebombing and securing these targets invoked a sense of retribution. Her anger controlled her actions as she gathered them up.

Their deaths swiftly followed in the form of unauthorized public executions. The people of the Outer City gasped as the former aristocrats were slaughtered in broad daylight. Of those that were sought out and detained, there were no survivors. Andrea trapped her victims, picking them off one by one, disemboweling some, slicing and dropping others from great heights just to watch their bodies burst. Her team was going crazy trying to contact her but she was blinded by blood-lust. They had lost her to a murderous euphoric rage. Through her radio, they heard the condemned screams. She admired the blood splatters when the bodies hit the ground. Finally, the blood spilt by her hand was for a good cause. That was what she told herself. This was her redemption. 

Her attention was drawn away from the executive she was toying with by the loud sound of a roaring engine. Curiosity or familiarity getting the best of her, Andrea’s eyes followed the sound of the roar. Before she could witness the source, a powerful blast from a scattergun grazed her wings, causing her to drop the magnate prematurely. Ignoring the eventual splatter, she finally laid eyes on him. On the ground, idling beside human remains, was a mechanical man on a duocycle. Her suspicions were confirmed. It was the Shining Booster Techrider! A figure from the past to all those who lived in either part of the city, decommissioned after the night the barrier went up. Somehow returned once the barrier was no more, just as she had been.

Before she could question him, he spoke, “That was your only warning,” He spoke clearly and with unwavering authority, “This is your injunction: Justice is here, cease this slaughter at once, for my Judgement is inescapable.”

In the brief moment he paused for her surrender, she shot up into the air just in time to avoid his second spray of gunfire. Andrea could barely manage a counterattack, instead resorted to enacting a defensive attack pattern as she soared through the city, dodging blasts that were tearing up the buildings all around her.

To make matters worse, soon another thundering engine noise approached, and Andrea quickly realized there was another pursuer ploughing through the parkway after them. The armored man! Why had he returned? She couldn’t question him with now two killers in pursuit. Her anger boiled. She no longer wished to run away. She fought back. She would not die today. Her eagerness to win this time made up for her weaker body. Being blinded by her rage and survival instinct made time for her an elusive thing. Before she knew it, the battle was continuing inside train tunnels.

The last thing she remembered was the blinding light of an approaching train. Then, darkness.

Once more, Andrea awoke on the operating table. Her family as well as her two friends were there when she woke up this time, all showing their concern over her mental state. She let out a sob before breaking down into hysterics. She had been so driven by the emotions she was starved of for years. But now, she was finally free of the revenge that had consumed her heart. With her friend’s and family’s help, she learned to forgive herself and rightly get back on track. She would steadfastly serve her original intent of making a difference to the people troubled by hopelessness and despair. She would be known as the Angelguard who protected and brought peace to the unified city.