The Sky Tears Open
Jakarta, April 2025. It was a bright, clear day when, without warning, thick, black clouds began to swirl menacingly above the Monas monument. Jagged lightning bolts tore through the sky, unleashing deafening, bone-rattling thunder that sent shivers down spines. Citizens and office workers streamed out of the tall buildings in the business district, eager to witness the strange phenomenon live.
Many captured the moment with their smartphones, instantly turning it into content for their social media feeds. Police quickly secured the area to prevent any unwanted incidents, though even some officers couldn't resist recording the spectacle. Reporters flocked to cover the unique event, speculating on what was about to unfold.
As everyone watched, mesmerized, the center of the swirling clouds ripped open, revealing a terrifying, gaping black hole. "Grooooo," a deafening roar echoed from deep within the abyss. Suddenly, the inside of the hole began to spin rapidly. The hole expanded, growing so large it seemed to engulf all of Jakarta, and even the world. But then, a shimmering wall of light, like an aurora, burst forth from within the hole, encircling Jakarta and forming a colorful dome over the city.
A driver, stuck in heavy traffic and talking on his smartphone, stared, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at the phenomenon before him. Unconsciously, his smartphone slipped from his hand, and he stepped out of his car. The entire city of Jakarta was now covered by a translucent, shimmering, colorful dome, its residents unaware of what was happening outside. "Grooooo," the gaping black hole in the sky began to suck in everything, except Jakarta.
All who witnessed it fell to their knees, speechless, realizing they were facing the end of an era. After swallowing everything with a roaring sound, the black hole began to shrink and finally vanished. The rainbow dome, too, started to dissipate. The surviving residents wondered what had just happened. They tried to find information on their smartphones and the internet, but there was no network available. A man in a tall building stepped to the window, squinting.
"Aaaaaa... what is that...?" someone shrieked, pointing outside.
Everyone in the building rushed to the windows. They saw several dragon-like flying creatures with riders on their backs. People were suddenly terrified, for the dragon riders had horns, hideous faces, blue skin, and long noses and ears, like demons. The lead dragon rider immediately raised his hand. The dragon forces behind him spread out, advancing, and began firing upon the high-rise buildings, sending the masses into a panic.
Besides the aerial assault, on the streets, many blue-skinned humans wearing ancient armor entered the city and began slaughtering citizens. Soldiers and police retaliated, firing their weapons. The city center, and indeed the entire city, looked like a war zone, only this time, the enemies were blue-skinned knights armed with lasers and faces unlike those of ordinary humans.
As everyone panicked, ran, and fought, atop the golden Monas, six figures stood tall.
******
The Warden Emerge
One of the six, a man wearing a black hooded robe, wielding two large sickles, gloved, with a skull face and glowing red eyes, stepped forward. On social media, he was known as The Reaper.
"Looks like it's our turn to show what we've got," he said, his voice chilling.
A beautiful girl with white hair, pale skin (due to being an albino), and red eyes stood beside a ghostly man wearing a general's battle robe and armor, complete with a horned helmet from the land of the rising sun and a samurai sword. His body was shrouded in mist, and his face wore a mask with glowing red eyes. On social media, her name was The Indigo.
"Yep, it's time we finished this. Everything's according to my predictions," the girl said.
A large, powerfully built tiger-man wearing training pants, looking formidable and fierce, stepped forward. His viral name was The Tiger.
"Finally, it's happening. Everything was meant to be," he said, his voice menacing.
A beautiful girl wearing a long-sleeved black jacket with a black undershirt, short black hair that didn't reach her shoulders, and a mask, with bright blue eyes, moved forward, twirling the two machetes she held. Her viral name was The Phantom.
"Come on, everyone, what are we waiting for? Let's wipe them out," she said, her voice oddly muffled by her mask.
A man of average build stepped forward. He had large, black bat wings and bat ears on his head, with glowing red eyes. He wore a slightly neater black shirt compared to the others. His name circulating on social media was The Devil.
"Let's see who can kill the most enemies, as usual," he said, his voice chilling.
A beautiful girl with pale skin and long black hair, wearing a black gown, floated in the air with both arms outstretched, moving forward. She immediately joined the others. The name given to her by netizens was The Undead.
"I'm ready... let's move," she said, her voice slow and eerie.
"Mythic Warden... charge!" shouted the skull-faced man known as The Reaper.
All six immediately leaped, vanishing from the Monas rooftop, then reappeared on the highway. They walked down a street littered with burning cars, scattered corpses, and enemies still attacking. In front of them was a monstrous army consisting of undead beings, blue goblins, blue-skinned pig-faced humans with large tusks (like orcs), blue-skinned knights (demons) wearing full armor and shooting laser-spears, and black-winged sorcerers flying and casting their spells, plus fierce dragon-like birds (wyverns) soaring above them. All of them turned to see the six figures walking towards them.
"Graaaaaah!"
The enemy forces immediately rushed brutally towards the six, but the faces of the six were smiling.
"I'm first..."
The Devil immediately flew using his wings, firing red beams of fire from his palms, incinerating the wyvern and sorcerer forces flying overhead.
"Shin, forward!" yelled The Indigo.
"Yes!"
The ghostly general immediately drew his sword and charged blindly, slicing through everything in his path with incredible speed. When he reached the center, he stopped and immediately exploded, annihilating everything within a 500-meter radius. Then he returned to The Indigo's side and high-fived her. The Reaper pulled back his hood. "Haaaah," He opened his mouth, exhaling a breath, and the entire army in front of him was engulfed in a white, smoke-like mist. Then he pulled out several fiery, egg-shaped bombs from his robe and hurled them into the mist. "Blaar... blaar... Aaaaaaaa!" Explosions and screams reverberated within the fog.
The Phantom threw both her machetes and moved her fingers. The two machetes seemed to come alive, spinning rapidly, decapitating enemies they passed with lightning speed. The Reaper also threw his two sickles, and The Phantom controlled them. Two machetes and two sickles danced, beheading enemies. The Undead detached her head and threw it into the middle of the enemy forces. She bathed the entire army below her in a red light from her eyes, laughing. The scattered forces then faced The Tiger, who was ready to take a deep breath.
"Groooooooaaaar!"
The Tiger roared, his roar's shockwave pushing the entire enemy army back to the center and into The Undead's beam. Added to that were the red fire beams shot by The Devil, who had finished off the enemies in the air.
In an instant, the entire enemy force was defeated. Everyone gathered back in front of the Monas. The Indigo took out her sketchpad and began to draw. After finishing, she showed it to the others. All six were instantly stunned, because what The Indigo had drawn deeply disturbed them.
"What is this...?" The Reaper murmured.
"I didn't predict this... their target isn't Jakarta... it's the world..." The Indigo replied.
"That means all that's left in this world is..." The Tiger mused.
"Jakarta City... oh no..." The Phantom added in a funny voice.
"Damn it... everything's destroyed. That guy really did it," The Devil growled, clenching his fist.
"Friends... look ahead..." The Undead replied.
They all turned to look forward. The enemy forces were re-entering the city, but this time their numbers were overwhelming. In the distance, a leader stood on a pyramid-like throne, carried by several blue-skinned giants, like a king.
"Humans... submit to me. I guarantee the safety of your race..." the king's voice boomed.
Then the king looked at the six standing before him. His face twisted into a cynical smile, and he leaned forward, one foot resting on the front of his throne.
"You lose. You cannot stop me, hahahaha!" he roared, his voice booming with pressure.
The six immediately prepared to face the countless army. Then The Reaper placed a hand on The Indigo's shoulder beside him.
"Go... let me and the others face them," he said.
"But..." The Indigo replied.
"He's right. Go... leave that king to us. You have to go back," The Tiger said.
"We'll be fine... hurry, go..." The Phantom added.
"Don't delay any longer, we'll protect you," The Devil added.
The Undead immediately walked over to The Indigo and hugged her. Then she held her by both shoulders.
"Save this world. Only you can, and trust us..." she said, smiling.
The Indigo looked at the gaze of her friends. They placed all their hope in her. The Indigo looked down and finally nodded at her friends. All of them immediately smiled and turned, then took their stances.
"Shin, let's go..." The Indigo said.
"Yes..." replied Shin, the ghost general.
The Indigo ascended onto the ghost general's body and shot into the sky. Seeing The Indigo fly away, The Reaper, The Tiger, The Phantom, The Devil, and The Undead smiled.
"Well... it's been good with you all this time..." The Reaper said.
"Same here, I'm glad to have been with you all, especially you, Phantom," The Tiger added.
"After this is over, we'll all be together..." The Phantom added, hugging The Tiger.
"Thank you, everyone. We fight to the end," The Devil added.
"I'm happy. Finally, I have friends like you, and we'll always be together," The Undead added.
"Let's go, everyone," The Reaper said.
The five immediately stepped forward. The king, seeing The Indigo fly away, immediately raised his hand. The wyvern forces immediately soared into the sky, chasing The Indigo, but their advance was halted because The Devil and The Undead were already in front of them.
"Your fight is with us!" they all shouted, charging towards the enemy forces.
Blaaar! Hearing an explosion, The Indigo turned. She saw all her friends beginning to fight against what looked like a sea of enemies from above. Tears streamed down her face, but she quickly wiped them away.
"Faster, Shin!" she yelled.
"Yes!"
They sped towards a house in North Jakarta. She landed and immediately entered. Inside, a detective was already waiting, holding the door open.
"Quick, where are the others?" the detective asked.
The Indigo shook her head. The detective's face fell. Then, a commotion was heard outside. The detective immediately pulled The Indigo inside.
"If you're here, then you have to use that device, right? Hurry! I'll hold them off here," the detective said, raising his pistol and looking outside.
"But please be careful, sir..." The Indigo said.
"Haha, don't worry about me. Hurry... there's no more time!" the detective replied.
"Okay," The Indigo said, turning to look at the general. "Let's go, Shin."
They both immediately went up to the second floor and entered a room. Inside was a tube-like device. The Indigo immediately activated the device and opened the tube. But as she was about to step inside, "Aaaaaaaa...!" a scream echoed from downstairs.
"Quick, Shin!" The Indigo yelled.
"Yes!" replied Shin, the general.
They both entered the tube. A bright light began to engulf the tube, filling the entire room with light. Thud! The door burst open. Several blue-skinned, half-snake humanoids, carrying spears, burst in, but they immediately shielded their eyes from the blinding light. The Indigo turned to face the ghost general.
"Shin, I'm breaking our bond. You're no longer tied to anyone, and you're free now. Find me... tell me what's happening to my past self and tell her to prevent all this from happening. I know my past self will trust you... save everyone, Shin," The Indigo said.
"Huh... why are you saying that, Amanda? I don't want us to separate. I don't understand?" Shin asked.
Amanda didn't answer. She opened the tube and stepped out, then closed the tube again and walked to the console. She pressed a few buttons, and when she only had one button left to press, thump... thump... thump... Shin could be seen inside, pounding on the glass, wanting to get out of the tube. Amanda smiled at Shin, tears streaming down her face, and pressed the button. Instantly, the tube emitted a brighter light than before, and Shin vanished. Amanda turned to face the creatures, who were still shielding their faces. She drew both pistols from her waist.
"Everything depends on you, Shin. I leave everything to you." She sighed and wiped her tears. "Our friends will be together again, yeahhhhh!" Amanda yelled, firing at the creatures in front of her.
******
The Beginning of the End (or is it?)
January 2000. In a forest in Batu Raden, bluung! a tube-like light appeared. Shin emerged from the light and fell to the ground. He got up and looked around.
"This... is the past?" Shin wondered silently.
He looked at Amanda's smartphone in his hand. He saw the screen: it showed he was back in January 2000.
"This... is before everything happened. They haven't even found each other yet, they're not even born yet... but they'll definitely come here. I'll wait for them here... Amanda, I'm waiting for you here," Shin mused.
He looked around and finally sat cross-legged. He took off his mask and looked at the moon in the sky, tears streaming down his face. Unable to go anywhere, Shin continued to wait for the six young people he knew would surely arrive there in 2023. The story returns to a time before everything happened.