Carbombya

Suddenly in the middle of the battle,a giant mechanical knight appears.
However as soon as it appears it gets hit with some tank shells that were fired at the spot where it stood..

After the dust was cleared ,and much to the soldiers' shock, the mech appears to be unharmed, said shells failing to damage its nearly indestructible Orichalcum armor.
The soldiers stare in shock at the new entity that showed up before them, meanwhile Loternus smirks to himself "seems i've got their attention now" as he preforms a couple of hand signs to summon a wind sigil, using the wind to make his voice carry over to every single person in Carbombya.

" Citizens of this country whose name shall become Neo Destructa! I am your new ruler Loternus ,from the house of Altorias ,Future ruler of Destructa and current ruler of Neo Destructa , introducing myself to you all! you have but two options here: Accept me as your new ruler, and have a few of you die in vain!"
And then his voice lowers " or resist me, and have most of you die in Vain.."

He then proceeds to grab one of the fallen mechs, made it kneel on its hands and legs and sat on it while crossing his legs "you have 5 minutes to decide how many lives will be lost in my conquest, the end result however will be the same...so do take that into consideration"

Space - Mars-

Terry and Billy had finally arrived at their destination... Mars. The planet look beautiful from space, Terry thought as they descended. His job was almost over with and Terry thought of spending the money at the bar and doing some upgrades on ASTRA.

Finally this boring job is almost over Terry thought to himself. Their destination was a local base somewhere on the surface. Terry then began preparations to enter the atmosphere. Billy reported on the screen that they were cleared at the base... Switching his thrusters for re-entry, Terry lands on Mars, along with Billy, however they were off point, their destination was about 400 kilometers away

Aomine said
Having made it out of the city Feuer went and Natsumi went to retrieve Apokalypse. After driving for hours Feuer stopped in the middle of what appeared to be a desert.Feuer: "Here it is, hidden behind that rock formation".Feuer and Natsumi walked over to the mechs hiding spot.Natsumi: "That's your machine?" Natsumi said surprisedFeuer: "Yep, had it custom made for me,"Natsumi: "Not bad. What are it's specs?"Feuer: "You can see for yourself later, right now lets just get out of here. Who knows how long it'll take for those things to get here"Feuer and Natsumi hopped into the cockpit of his machine and Feuer started it up.Natsumi:" So where are we headed?"Feuer: " The otherside of the planet for starters. I'm not staying anywhere near those things"Natsumi: "You sound like a coward"Feuer: "I didnt see you staying behind to fight them" Feuer said laughing. Natsumi's face grew redNatsumi: "Oh shut up. After we get to the otherside of the planet what are we gonna do? I doubt that city is the only place they've attacked"Feuer: "Meh, we'll figure that out later"Natsumi: "Or, we can head for our headquarters in space. My backers there as well. It's a small station just outside of the atmosphere, I'll give you the coordinates"Feuer: " So space? home sweet home. How the hell did you guys manage to get a station in space all to yourselves"Natsumi: "None of your business. Anyway we'll need to find a way to get there first, I can arrange for transporta-"Feuer: " There's no need" Feuer said cutting her off. " With this baby it won't take us more than a half an hour to get there" Feuer said firing up the thrusters.Feuer took to the air heading for the coordinates Natsumi gave him.

Post Slam

Mu Nation

The Mu had detected a Mech unit that had escaped a hole in the Dimensional barrier that encompassed the Planet.
Not wanting any organic life to escape this doomed world they deployed 3 Combat cruisers with a full complement to take out the unit before it left the atmosphere.

All units teleported to the Mechs direct location

Guy of Z said
The Mu had detected a Mech unit that had escaped a hole in the Dimensional barrier that encompassed the Planet. Not wanting any organic life to escape this doomed world they deployed 3 Combat cruisers with a full complement to take out the unit before it left the atmosphere.All units teleported to the Mechs direct location

"Oh Fuck me" Feuer said placing his hand over his forehead." I swear the universe just wants me dead today". "What the hell are those things?" Natsumi asked wondering where they had come from." I don't know, but they don't look friendly."

Feuer: "Hey Natsumi, can't we radio for back up, like, call some of those guys from the space station?"

Natsumi: "No, I've been trying for a while but something's blocking the signal. See this is why I said we should have stopped by another base on earth. At least then we could have arranged a convoy."

Feuer: "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now but charge on through!"

Natsumi: "Do you think it's going to be that simple? They aren't just going to let us through and even if we do get passed them the station will still be in danger."

Feuer: "you worry to much, what happened to that cold demeanor you had just a few hours ago?"

Natsumi: " Sorry for not being some fool who can see the silver lining in our situation. Come to think of it none of this started happening until you showed up"

Feuer: "So you're blaming me?"

Natsumi: "The monsters back at the city, the robots now, all started with you showing up out of the blue, who else' fault could it be?"

Feuer: "You know, you can always get out and head back to earth, I'm not stopping you"

Natsumi: "Nothing's stopping me, except for maybe dieing on my plummet back down"

Feuer: "That sounds like a personal problem"

Natsumi hit Feuer over the head

Natsumi: "Just do something, I don't feel like dying in this box with you"

Feuer: " Well then you better sit in my lap and hold on tight. The rides about to get a little bumpy" he said grinning from ear to ear

Natsumi: "No, I've been trying for a while but something's blocking the signal. See this is why I said we should have stopped by another base on earth. At least then we could have arranged a convoy."

Post Slam, Outer Space

If it was only the signal being blocked, Natsumi would have had nothing to worry about. But reality is never so kind, as a horde of Megillots



numbering in the hundreds had descended on the station like a pack of locusts, killing everyone they could find inside, leaving the station devoid of life before they mobilised outside and began pushing it out of orbit - straight into a crash course with the Dimensional Barrier surrounding Earth.

Pre Slam

Antarctica

Jhiaxus had taken care of the intruder and left him and his battered mech for dead

He still wore the insignia and shape of an Autobot which gave him an additional edge in the previous fight

"Status report?"
"We are now ready to proceed sir."
"Excellent, ready the signal"

As much as it disgusted him have him and his troops to wear the insignia of an Autobot and Decepticon Jhiaxus was not a blind to see to weaken the Autobots was to weaken their Human allies trust with them.

Such a flawed ideology Prime championed, Organics were primitive and reactionary. Slaves of their own base instincts and wants, inferior beings unable to put the many over their privileged few.

They disgusted him

Watching them use machinery in combat was akin to a single celled organism attempting to imitate a Primordial, such a desperate attempt to climb the evolutionary ladder made his transistors spark.

The broadcast had begun

"As you can see before you we have destroyed a base belonging to one of your Special Forces units called the Titans, we are the Cybertronian Alliance!" Jhiaxus said in his Autobot facade

"We are a collation of Autobots and Decepticons who seek to end our manipulation at the hands of our true enemies, the organics! Starting today we will begin targeting your population centers, to do what Prime is too weak to carry out and what Megatron is too incompetent to finish. Beware fleshlings! Know that you're beloved defenders are finished heeding your pitiful cries for aid."

Jhiaxus had to suppress his urge to smile at how badly this will smear the Autobots image in the future. As satisfying as it was to destroy Prime in physical combat, watching him suffer emotionally brought him even greater pleasure. He could never forget San Francisco's destruction and Primes pained voice begging him to stop.

Concurrence Base

The broadcast was transmitted on every channel worldwide

"I do say gentlemen, these Cybertronian Alliance chaps are giving us exactly what we want" Chumley said on his screen

"Indeed Chumley, we had hoped to wait until the Aliens had begun their attacks to disband the Federation to rebuild it in our own image but this is an opportunity too good to pass." Shawn Berger, Jr. said

"Yes, this has accelerated our plans monumentally, Autobot supporters such as the EDC and that pampered Oil Tycoon G.B. Blackrock will suffer the most under these threats, it would be a shame if more actions of sabotage were occur wouldn't they?" Iron Klaw said brandishing his trademark claws menacingly

"Fanning the flames are we? I can't wait to see awkward Ultra Magnus will look trying to do damage control while his fearless leader is off in another solar system." Arkeville said

"I also have good news gentlemen, my dummy corporation has discovered ancient ruins belonging to a lost civilization. It would also be perfect to bait survivors in as most of my employees at the site are ignorant of it's true purpose." Krieger announced

"I'm more interested in the artifacts Blitz, what are they capable of?" Arkeville asked
"Apparently the ruins run on some kind of unknown power source, Alien tech undoubtedly. It would take years to understand in the hands of any more 'official' group, fortunately the Concurrence no such organization" Krieger said while smirking confidently

"What about the employees won't they notice your plan to kill off the survivors of the immanent attacks?" Berger asked

"You say that like I need their services any longer, once I find the power source everyone on site will be expendable assets. All the while I could use this attack to draw sympathy to my Dummy Corp."

"A fitting solution for a man who sold out his own unit for a perceived long term benefit." Berger said

" A blasted shame dear boy, good help is hard to come by I say." Chumley commented

"I will do what is necessary to keep the I.R.O.N Amy's activities on Mars from reaching Earth at all costs! My base will not be compromised."

Mars

Bronze Wrists Enterprises excavation site at the North Pole

Nathan Weaver was totally at unease, he was sent in as a deep cover EDC operative tasked by Dashiell Faireborn of GI Joe fame to infiltrate a possible Dummy corporation for the Concurrence. The employees of the facility were totally ignorant of the bases possible hidden motives and he was left with nothing incriminating enough to stick to Bronze.

However the artifact they were excavating was a very real and present danger, even if the Concurrence doesn't run this place there are plenty of other organizations like Amalgam or Cobra willing to sink their teeth into Alien artifacts be it for profit or power.

To compromise matters further, the corporation sent invitations to the families of the employees and gave them free tickets to mars. Including his own.

This seemed to be especially reckless when reports of Alien attacks are intensifying on earth, Nathan could only hope his family wasn't on the shuttle which had just landed.

It was as if the heads were waiting for an incident, if it came to the worst Weaver would do whatever it took to get these innocents out alive. Even at the cost of his own life

Boringverse

Zala had begun his conference while Bludgeon was more interested in the events on Mars

"So these Vok beings have enacted a Planet busting device while the organics have dropped a Moon on Unidentified creatures? I knew you wanted to sow Chaos and misery but I'm astounded at the pace it's going Fallen."

"That's one solution to our need to draw attention from our own activities....."

Seiryu said
If it was only the signal being blocked, Natsumi would have had nothing to worry about. But reality is never so kind, as a horde of Megillotsnumbering in the hundreds had descended on the station like a pack of locusts, killing everyone they could find inside, leaving the station devoid of life before they mobilised outside and began pushing it out of orbit - straight into a crash course with the Dimensional Barrier surrounding Earth.

Unfortunately for Feuer, he was smack dab in the middle of the stations falling trajectory. Having been preoccupied with the mu forces that had come to block his path he didn't notice the station until it was to late to escape it's course."That's the station!, it's falling, what the hell could have happened?" she said with fear in her voice. Not wanting to find out Feuer boosted his thrusters to max speed. However, as fast as he was even Apokalypse couldn't escape. The station hit the dimensional barrier covering earth and causing a huge dimensional storm. Feuer and Natsumi were caught in the storm. Apokalypse not having been built for punishment was slowly being torn apart.

"Hold on damn you" Feuer said clutching the controls of the mech desperately trying to get his barrings. The pressure from the storm was beginning to pulverize Apokalypse slowing crushing it."Go damn it we've been through worse, don't crap out on me now" he said frustrated. "What are we going to do?" Natsumi said confused. "WE?!!, GOD WHY DID I EVEN TAKE YOU ALONG ALL YOU DO IS NAG" he said angrily. Having said that, the turbulence from the storm had knocked both of them unconscious.

Feuer woke up in a strange place. It didn't seem familiar, but he did hear a familiar voice.."YOU HAD ONE JOB" the voice yelled out. Feuer knew this voice, a voice he hadn't heard in years." SERIOUSLY, I ASKED YOU FOR ONE THING, SAVE THE UNIVERSE AND YOU COULDN'T DO THAT!!". As soon as he remembered who the voice belonged to the man appeared before him. "Black Throat? but how, I thought you were dead". "I am dead, right now you're unconscious caught in a dimensional storm where realities mingle which is allowing me to talk to you. But lets not talk about that, lets talk about you letting me down. Booze, whores, and now your machine is totaled and there's some slut you're dragging around with you." Black Throat said in a sour tone. "Hey man, she could have helped me" Feuer tried to explain himself but BT didn't listen. "You had ulterior motives from the start, you never really planned on saving the universe did you? or perhaps you were thinking about uniting it under one power or something silly like that even after I told you what was going to happen."

"Look, BT, I" BT cut Feuer off. You know, I thought something like this might happen. Still I believe you are capable of saving the universe, even if you do it your way. That's why I'm going to let you in on a secret. Everything that's happening is happening around earth. Thousands of years ago my people left a weapon capable of combating the threat. It is hidden somewhere on earth. The exact location is unknown but it's somewhere in a country that will come to be known as America. Now I can't tell you where in america, but at the same time I can't tell where you'll be when you wake up either. Should you have the good fortune to wake up on earth, or even alive, go search for it. And here's a secret about the machine. It's powered by love, you'll understand what I mean when you find it. Bye for now"

"Wait wh-" Feuer woke up from his dream in the middle of a crowded city. Natsumi still unconscious and Apokalypse in tatters. Dragging Natsumi from the machine and carrying her. Feuer took a look back at Apokalypse before saying good buy to the machine that had served him faithfully for years.

Years later

Having traveled with Natsumi for years searching for BT's mysterious machine, Feuer and Natsumi had come to love each other, They were even married at one point. Till one day Feuer and Natsumi stumbled across BT's machine hidden deep under ground.It was a mecha huge."How do you think it's activated?" asked Natsumi. "I dunno, it just says love is sacrifice- power is eternal.". "You can read that?" "Of course I can babe, the writing is from the future, oddly enough.". Feuer examined the machine closer. He opened the cockpit to the machine and got in, however it seemed only the door was operational. Looking around inside Feuer found more writing and a button switch. He was shocked at what he had read and the grief became visible on his face. Feuer had left the cockpit of the machine and walked over to Natsumi. "Is everything alright? she asked seeing his face." Yeah it's nothing.". Feuer had walked her over to the cockpit. "Do you remember when you said you'd do whateverit takes to save the universe? even if it meant sacrificing our lives or the lives of billions?" "Yeah" Natsumi replied perplexed. "Yeah well,It's just you who needs to die."

Before Natsumi could respond he shoved her into the cockpit and closed it. He then pressed the button and the cockpit lit up."I'm sorry my love, bu I needed to do this before I could change my mind. The only way to activate it is by sacrificing the one you love and the more you love them the more powerful it becomes." Natsumi was heard screaming from inside the machine. "Look Natsumi, just think about how much this hurts me and what I have to go through. I have to sacrifice at least 10 loved ones for this machine to reach it's half of it's potential. But take comfort in the fact that I'll always love you" he said with tears rolling down his face, not realizing that her screams had stopped a while ago. He opened th mech to find that the interior had completely changed. It was a simlar set up to apokalypse and with Natsumi's sacrifice it now had power. Feuer looked over the machine's specs while sitting in the cockcpit of his new machine and the specs surprised. It was every bit as good as Apokalypse. The thought of the power he could obtain by sacrificing more loved ones excited him.

Through the next few years Feuer spent his time falling in love with girls and ritualistically sacrificing them to the new machine increasing it's power. His love for them was real and deep, but not as deep as his current lust for power. Feuer would continue this cycle having sacrificed at least 6 women to the machine. Now back in present times he has set his eyes on new prey.

Antarctica

Barely alive Jace Dager was still inside White Emperor.

His unit was picked up by the Cybertronian Soldiers and thrown into a transwarp portal to the planet Junkion

Tumbling down into the planet of Garbage he was quickly carted off by the inhabitants

Boringverse

The crew of the Nava-Hoe watched in silence as Mar's moon, Phobos, was sent on a collision course with the Red Planet beneath it.

The blue haired man, Flit Asuno, turned towards the blond on deck, "Did you set the coordinates for impact to approximately where the Dominion would crash?"

The man being addressed, Aaron Gentles, simply nodded in response. Flit turned back towards the show unfolding before him, the massive asteroid erupting in flame as it entered Mar's sparse atmosphere, "Good."

The black haired woman, one Natarle Badgiruele, turned towards the pair in shock, "What was that you said?" She nearly shouted, her voice hoarse, "You're not even going to try to rescue the Dominion?!" She marched over towards Gentles, reaching back to slap him, before she was interrupted by a significantly faster slap to the face catching her mid-swing. "H-how dare you sacrifice those people!" She shouted, even as she held her own blushing face.

"Acceptable losses." Aaron replied flatly, "Necessary to ensure our escape from orbit, after they so easily shot down the Dominion. We couldn't afford to risk joining them, not with so much at stake."

Flit nodded, "Indeed. It's a mystery how we haven't heard of this occurring yet, but based on the firepower brought to bear, we can safely assume that everything on the planets surface is either dead or in league with these new hostile lifeforms. Lt. Commander, if you have any other problems, then I'm afraid that you're shit out of luck." He turned towards the other men, "Prepare to depart, we're leaving."

A loud thumping sound filled the bridge, as a green haired robotic gynoid walked in on horribly mismatched legs, "Excuse me. I happen to possess a tool that allows for orbital bombardment? Couldn't we use that to save the people that are stranded on the surface?"

Aaron and Flit shook their heads in exasperation, before the blond spoke up, "And you didn't mention this earlier why?"

"B-b-because I thought it wasnt important! You should have told me you were going to Mars!" The soulless machine replied, steam beginning to erupt from various vents in her body to account for the burn her subroutines were experiencing from being called out in the midst of her moment of triumph.

As a result, Flit glanced at the gynoid, before dismissing it with a wave of his hand, "It no longer matters. Had you mentioned it earlier, perhaps it would have made some small amount of difference, but I can clearly see how useful you are with just that. Gentles." The Vice Admiral turned towards the Guild Tech, "You should consider junking that toaster as soon as possible," Behind him, Natarle nodded her head eagerly.

"...I'll consider it." At this, Choppedchopped began crying cleaning fluid, it would appear that in this world too, her search for a meal ticket had failed. In a simulated panic, the gynoid began running her gold digging processes, desperately searching for an answer to her predicament.

"P-please don't throw me away, Master." Choppedchopped began, the expressionless blond turning towards her, "I'll do anything it takes to remain useful to you."

"We shall see, appliance. We shall see."

Phobos hurtled towards the horde of alien creatures, apparently uninterrupted.

Boringverse

The laser, heavy laser and special fortress class spotted the falling asteroid and mobilized attempting to shoot it down but only managing to to burn away sections of its surface. Meanwhile the Reactor received orders from its Superiour and fired its routine payload into the Vok's "planet buster" causing spatial distortions and destroying it. However an unforeseen Quantum surge washed over the planet's surface mutating the various classes into new beings

Seiryu said
The laser, heavy laser and special fortress class spotted the falling asteroid and mobilized attempting to shoot it down but only managing to to burn away sections of its surface. Meanwhile the Reactor received orders from its Superiour and fired its routine payload into the Vok's "planet buster" causing spatial distortions and destroying it. However an unforeseen Quantum surge washed over the planet's surface mutating the various classes into new beings

And then Phobos landed on them,

Boringverse

Mars Colony Australis

Fllay and the remaining crew of the Dominion arrived in the middle of a large city, encompassed by a massive dome, shielding them from the elements. A young man with long blue hair and a blank stare ran up to them.

"You, who are you? Are you bastards Terrans?!"

Fllay simply stared at him, confused. First she was on the Dominion, then she was told some things by floating skulls that said she couldnt comprehend them, and now she was talking with some girl with an awfully deep voice.

"I-I'm sorry, little girl, but I'm still not sure what's going on. Where are we?"

The young man's eyebrows twitched, but he was bred to lead Australis and the martian people, dammit. He wouldnt let a minor case of gender confusion get him down.

"You're on Mars, lady. Welcome to the Australis colony! Now who the hell are you?!"

Fllay simply stared, as a wave of bright white-blue light entered the dome as if the barricade itself didn't even exist, before it washed over them.

"Oh, hell." Were her last words before the Quantum surge washed over her, changing her life...forever.

---

Meanwhile, the Nava-Hoe had already cleared Mars orbit, and was well on it's way back to the Earth Sphere. So they opened up a line of communication with Azrael.

"Huh. A shame, that." The Chairman said, as he was briefed on the situation, his eyes now taking on a manic glint. "Well, gentlemen, at this rate it looks like our only hope is to unite humanity under a single ruler. I'm thinking that should be us."

"Agreed." Flit replied, "The only problem is, of course, ORB."

Azrael nodded, "How about we colony drop them? Blame it on some Alien sympathizing terrorists?"

Flit simply stared at the man incredulously, joined by Natarle and Choppedchopped, Aaron and Ali, on the other hand, nodded in agreement.

"Or better yet," Ali began, "Say we don't have a damn clue either. It'll be a wild goose chase."

"Great idea, al-Saachez," Azrael pointed a finger from across space at the mercenary, "They'll spend so much time hunting down an imaginary boogeyman that those Coordinators and other idiots will never be able to stop us."

Flit raised his hand to his chin, "It would save time if we wiped out dissension and began a witchhunt for would be sympathizers...."

Aaron nodded, "It should be possible, if you'll let me design the propulsion system for it, I can make it virtually untraceable, thanks to some...techniques I picked up courtesy of studying the toasters blueprints."

Chachamaru morality subroutines were at an impasse with her gold digging circuitry, as her relief at being found useful by her meal ticket warred with her programmed reluctance to harming innocents.

Natarle on the other hand, would have none of it. "What are you people talking about!? These are the lives of MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE! OW!"

Her tirade was interrupted before it could build up steam by the young Shinn Asuka, who simply kicked her in the shin while chanting "God and Tradition, God and Tradition" repeatedly.

Ali chuckled, "You heard the kid, ORB lost their right to survive when they made themselves enemies of God and Humanity. For the sake of our Blue and Pure World, or something."

Azrael smirked, "So, Gentles, any ideas?"

"A few."

Natarle simply glared at the assembled group while her gynoid rival continued to be useless in a corner.

Boringverse

The Vok looked upon the failure of their attack and felt white hot anger

"THEY HAVE DESTROYED OUR DEVICE! WE MUST STOP THE FALLEN'S MACHINATIONS BEFORE HE CAN CORRUPT THIS UNIVERSE"

"THE OTHER ONE ALSO SEEKS US, WE MUST PREPARE!"

Boringverse

The Vok Quantum Surge had changed the inhabitants on Mars. Evolving the creatures called BETA and the Humans into something closer to the their would be executioners.

During the Beast Wars the same event kickstarted Humanity's evolution in many versions of the battles. Now the Humans of Mars were wielders of powers beyond their lilliputian minded comprehension.

"Newtypes, the game becomes more and more intriguing" The fallen mused aloud

The Fallen a being that exists consistently in all universes knew of the existence of beings called Newtypes. Foretold to be the the next step of evolution of Humanity the only similar mutations in the Boringverse were in two subjects, at least until now.

"Once again I have been given more players, Newtypes are feared and disbelieved even in their own worlds of origin. They can be either a tool of war or a scapegoat for it, so many possibilities so many outcomes and in every single one them I come out on top regardless...perhaps I can wait and see how they fare in this new world when it becomes reshaped in it's numerous futures."

Okay so after the bar shenanigans Karako dragged Kamille's drunk ass out and proceeded to drag his mk-ii around with her one-armed shiki. After listening in on some comm chatter, she managed to locate a shuttle out to space. During said trip to space, makeshift repairs were made to the shiki.

Boringverse

"So here we are." Aaron muttered, it had been several weeks, and had required a great deal of subterfuge but they had done it. Aaron and a crew of expendable mercenaries had managed to install a number of false GN Drives around the ruined colony, Junius Seven, in addition to a few surprises for when people would inevitably arrive to interfere.

He returned to the Nava-Hoe in his construction optimized Astray, entering the Mobile Suit hangar where the Gold Frame and Throne Zwei waited alongside a few other miscellaneous mobile suits.

The Guild Tech returned to the bridge, sending a discreet message to Azrael, before having the Nava-Hoe set course for an optimal distance to avoid arousing suspicion when it became time to commence the operation. It had been weeks, but Aaron was confident that the vast number of preparations he had set up beforehand would be more than sufficient for dealing with any would-be threats, especially if any of them decided to attack him or al-Saachez in the event that their role in these events were sniffed out while it was still in progress.

Boringverse

Thanks to Phobos's small diameter and the output of their weaponry the damage was reduced to merely destroying the monument and shaft of a single hive with the Reactor sending the data of the surge back to its superior as the new breeds went into mass production

Boringverse

Earth

A storm was raging on earth

Standing along the wreckage of the satellite was a completely bare man with long blond hair

He looked upon a ruined clock picked it up and crushed it in his hand

"Looks like someone's been playing with fire."

The man began smiling as the thunder boomed.