Shattering Humanity-Chapter 69: "How Could This Have Happened?"

A helicopter is flying high up in the air with Silpheed piloting it.

Riding in the back, Squad 1 is sitting silently. Briggs with his golden cape off, is sitting next to Tristen, 19, black hair and a trimmed beard, with his brown left eye and right IceEye in its base-kit form.

The young man is looking out the open side of the ’copter. The late afternoon sun is perfectly over the three Sister Mountains. Tristan lifts up his polaroid camera to his IceEye and the flash goes off. The instant photo slides out and Tristan stares at it with his human and base-kit eye, waiting to finish developing.

The two young women of the squad are sitting on the other side of the copter.

The female with an IceEye, Bethany, looks over at Tristan and snickers at the young photographer.

Bethany: "I’ll never understand why you insist on using that completely outdated camera for photos you don’t plan on using with your eye power. There are plenty of digital cameras to buy in Mount Decima’s Shopping District."

The frightened and shy girl, Stephanie, without an IceEye, speaks quietly in defense for her squadmate. As she does, the picture begins clearing up and the beautiful image of sun over the mountains can be seen. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Stephanie: "He has used those types of cameras since we were kids. It’s because digital cameras can break or get lost with the pictures saved. With those cameras, he can have the physical picture in his hand."

Tristan pops off his IceEye to 2nd Stage with a lime green aura being released. As he looks at the picture with his IceEye, the sun inside the picture begins to move to the left of the still image but the mountains stay still. A bird flies by the snapshot, backwards.

Tristan: "And like I’ve said before, my ’Timelapse Eye’ can only rewind time within the picture, from a ’physical’ picture’s perspective. I can’t rewind digital photos, but you were probably too busy looking at my crotch with your ’X-Ray Eye’ to hear my explanation the first two times."

Bethany is seen with her IceEye popped off into it’s 2nd Stage, a lustful purple aura emitting, she’s blushing and looking at her male squadmates lower body.

Bethany: "What are you talking about Di- I mean Tristan?"

Their mentor and the "Supreme Ultimate" to all of HFF, looks at the same polaroid photo his disciple is holding, it’s not moving like how Tristan sees it.

Within the photo, Tristan watches the sky begin to get darker and after a few more seconds, there are stars in the sky of the photo. Then, from the right of the photo, the moon appears and moves to the exact spot above the mountains the sun was, in the actual photo.

Tristan deactivates his eye and looks at the picture, the original picture of the Sun over the Sister Mountains is now seen again. Tristan looks at Bethany with a scowl and she deactivates her eye and looks away. Stephanie, blushing, biting her bottom lip, twittling her thumbs quietly, and afraid to speak up.

Tristan: "I’ve also told you plenty of times, before we even received the IceEyes, that Stephanie and I are getting married.(looks at a shy Steph) Once I save enough money and we graduate, she can stay home and out of danger. I’ve loved her since our dads introduced us. I never want to see the one I love more than anything have to go through ’Hell’, either figuratively or literally. Nobody comes before you Steph."

Stephanie is shaking and blushing as she puts her face in her hands in embarrassment.

Steph: "Th- Th- Than- Thank you H- Hun. I- I lov- love you t- t- too."

Briggs sits there silently watching his inner-squad love triangle, his stone face expression unchanged. The most respected HFF soldier looks at his golden watch, the time reads "5:35 p.m." and he then looks out his side of the helicopter.

Bethany, long eyelashes, and apple lip gloss, leans on Stephanie, her chest pressed on the timid young lady.

Bethany: "Oh come onnn! I’m sure all 3 of us could find a way to have some fun together. Don’t keep that thing all to yourself Steph-hunny."

Tristan: "Bethany enough!"

Bethany gets off the scared girl, crosses her arms and gives him an angry look back.

Bethany: "What kind of man turns down two beautiful women at the same time? What are we too much for you to handle?"

Tristan: "First of all, you’re a grossly promiscuous woman. I want to make a family someday and I can’t do that with someone like you. Second, even if you were a decently tame female, I would still choose to be faithful to Stephanie."

Stephanie: "You- You’re still really b- beautiful B- Bethany. It’s not th- that we don’t exc- except your lifestyle, it’s- it’s just we love solely each other."

Bethany still with her arms crossed looks out the same side of the helicopter.

Her eyes then grow wide and Briggs, also wide-eyed, stands up holding the handle above the open side of the helicopter. Silpheed, piloting the helicopter, looks to their left at what has shocked the passengers. Where Son Goku City once stood and existed, has been completely leveled and demolished.

No buildings.

No vehicle/machinery.

No person is left where the once lively city was.

There is smoke from fires scattered around the leveled city ruins. There are no giant class Icemen around to directly point the blame at. Tristan and Stephanie move over and look at the "beauty" of complete destruction.

Stephanie(horrified): "H-How c-could this have ha-happened?"

Tristan fumbles for the polaroid camera hanging around his neck, his IceEye uncontrollably pops off before he is able to put the camera up to it, the aura a forest green. He presses down on the button at the top, the flash goes off, finally the ’eeiirrrr’ sound of the automatic picture getting dispensed.

Silpheed looks back at the "Supreme Ultimate", whose eyes closed and teeth clenched after seeing the city he once called home, no longer there, destroyed.

The blonde haired, blue eyed man calms down and goes back to his stone face. He turns to the pilot and signals with his finger to turn the aircraft around.

Silpheed nods and the helicopter turns back to the Sister Mountains.

The man sits down and looks at the floor of the chopper.

Everyone is silent as Tristan waits for the picture to develop. He looks over at his depressed looking mentor and the IceEye goes back to the base-kit and Tristan looks at the sad looking girls in his squad.

They sit in silence all the way back home. The setting sun, now halfway behind the mountains.