{April 27th, 2045. New York, 4:03pm.}
"Any plans for this summer Ace?"
"Yeah! We should all go on a road trip or something. We are about to graduate."
A group of five teens are walking through the mall. Two boys and three girls. In the middle of them wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans is Ukiyo Ace, a 18-year old Senior along with her friends on a nice day out.
"I'll have to ask my dad about that. I bet he wouldn't even notice that I'm gone." Ace says and takes a sip of her soda.
"Awh don't be like that." One of Ace's female friends say. "I'm sure he'd notice."
"It took him almost a month to notice that I was gone and at your place."
"Haha! She got ya there Amy!" A boy says laughing at the shorter girl, Amy.
"Shut the fuck up Jacob." She says and looked away from him.
"So, road trip? Yes or no?" Asked the second boy, Yuwen.
"Yeah I guess." Ace spoke.
"Hell yeah!" Shouted Jacob.
"Works for me. But it'll have to be after June 5th." Said the third girl, Nila.
"My parents already said I could go!" Amy bounced.
"Wonderful, now all we gotta do is rent an RV and we're good to go."
The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet, so subtle at first that most people thought it was just their imagination. But then the tremors grew stronger. The lights flickered, and a deep, rumbling noise echoed through the building, shaking the mall as if some massive force was trying to break through from below.
"What the fuck?"
The group stopped walking feeling the ground shake. Parts of the ceiling breaks off and almost crushed a few people. Ace and her friends rushed outside to if it was any better.
Outside, was worse. People rushed through the streets, looking up in terror. Ace's friends nudged her, trying to get her attention, but her gaze was locked on something. In the distance, rising high above the skyline, a sleek, black tower materialized in the heart of New York City.
Its towering presence seemed to blot out the sky, casting an eerie shadow over everything it touched.
"Was that there before?" Ace asked.
"Nope." The other four say in unison.
The tremors continued to worsen, rattling the city. News broadcasts erupted with panic-stricken reports of earthquakes and strange occurrences happening all over the world.
The Tower wasn't the only anomaly, mysterious gates had started opening up in various locations, and terrifying monsters were emerging from them. Chaos was erupting across the globe.
"This...shouldn't be happening right?" Ace murmured, she looked at her friends, whose faces mirrored the same fear she was feeling.
The world was falling apart, and none of them understood why.
Ace's phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a message from her father.
"I think we should go guys." Amy says trembling.
"Yeah, no shit!" Jacob says and Nila smacks him. "Ow!"
"I gotta go, my dad needs me. I'll call you guys later when this earthquake of whatever stops." Ace runs off through the crowd of people disappearing.
By the time Ace arrived at her father's lab in New Jersey, the sky had gone dark strangely.
She enters inside the underground labatory, Ace pushed open the door, and there he was—her father, standing by a large, strange pod she had never seen before. His face was grave, his usual calm demeanor replaced by something else… something desperate.
"Ace," Issei said softly, his voice trembling for the first time in her memory. He stepped toward her, and before she could say a word, he pulled her into a tight embrace.
It was a rare moment of affection for him, and Ace stood frozen in his arms, confused. "What's going on, Dad?" she asked. "The earthquake had been stopped already so there's nothing to worry—"
"I'm sorry, Ace," he whispered, almost too quietly for her to hear. "I'm so sorry."
Before she could respond, she felt a sharp pain at the base of her neck. Ace's vision blurred, her father had injected her with something. Her body stiffened, and the world around her tilting as she fell into unconsciousness.