Salem awoke not to his timer, but to his bugs pinging enemies nearby.
Using Eyes of the Machinist, he observed a large team of humans scouring the area.
Salem shook the girls awake and told them what was happening.
Looking up into the sky, Salem noted that he would have been awoken by his timer soon anyway.
"This will be fun." Ruby grinned.
"Yes." Alina agreed. "I hope we can straighten them right out."
Salem led the way, donning his cape and mask, before exiting the hole and covering all signs of its existence.
Salem walked over to where Jane was resting nearby and prodded her awake.
"Wha-" She began.
Salem put a finger in front of the mouth on his mask.
She got the message and donned her mask, activating it.
"You will stay hidden when we meet our uninvited guest, oh Empress of Shadow." Alina said.
"We can't have our newly crowned Empress fall, can we?" Ruby put in.
Jane nodded and flew above them.
The three of them exchanged glances and placed thenselves in the path of the party.
"Who are you?" A man who was much taller than the rest demanded.
Salem cocked his head. He couldn't see Alina and Ruby cocking their heads at the same time and in the exact same manner.
"We are the Shadows." Salem said, his scythe glowing purple when he spoke. "We shall serve as enforcers to save this cruel world from its fate."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The men laughed rauciously.
"And how do you think you'll manage that?" The man asked, wiping a tear from his eye.
"By seeding a race of superior beings." Alina said. "Built to police you."
This gave them pause. "How do you think you are going to do that?" He asked, cautious. "Every race that attempted seeding was wiped out."
"Come down, our Empress of the Shadows." Ruby said. "Show our uninvited guests just how ignorant they are."
Jane landed in front of them, wielding her scythe in a ready stance.
"What does this prove?" The man asked. "That there's four of you?"
Salem made a glove that had strings attached to his fingers to make the 'hand' made out of bone move when he moved his fingers. He then covered his real hand in the same black as his robe and held out his hand.
"It's proof we can reproduce." He said, waving his fake hand towards Jane.
The man seemed to understand that the new 'race' that the four of them were 'seeding' might pose a threat.
"Well, if we kill you here, you can't seed this race, noe can you?" The leader man said, raising his gun and pointing it at the four of them.
Salem waved his fake hand and a wall of bone shot from the ground, blocking their view.
"I should teach our Shadow Empress how to use Necromancy." Salem said, manipulating the wall of bone so he could poke his head through.
"Still think it won't work?" Salem asked through the hole in the wall.
The men had backed up and were staring at the four meter tall wall that had appeared out of nowhere.
"Are you sure you want to resist our rule?" Salem asked.
"With everything we have!" The leader man snarled and fired at Salem.
The bullets hit Salem squarely in the mask. Alina was about to cry out when Salem merely scratched his mask as if he had an itch.
"That tickled." He said, dissolving the bone wall. "But it's our turn to tickle you."
Salem twirled his scythe as he rapidly closed the gap between them, Alina and Ruby following closely behind.
Salem arrived and swept his scythe horizontally, beheading several of the men, Alina and Ruby doing the same on his right and left, respectively.
It took all of four seconds for them to kill all but one man.
"Take a message to your leader or whoever you have in power." Salem said. "We will be your law enforcement. Step out of line and die."
The random man that had been left alive scrambled away from them and turned to sprint away from them. His fear gave him a second wind, making his progress far faster than he normally would.
"That went well." Salem remarked. "Shall we go protect the innocent?"
Alina shook her head. "How in the world can you be so optomistic after you almost died?" She asked him, baffled.
"The masks are not only bulletproof, but slash-proof and shatter-resistant as well." He said. "Also, I think our little Shadow deserves something that will distinguish her from her subordinates."
He gestured for Jane to come over.
He traced a pattern across her mask in gold. By the time he finished, Jane had a gold outline of a scythe spanning the entirety of her mask. He also decided to turn her scythe gold and line the edges of her cloak with a dull silver.
"You now have the markings of the Empress of Shadow." Alina said.
"Why are you giving this power to me?" Jane asked. "How are you so certain I won't abuse it?"
"We're giving this power to you because we know you won't abuse it." Salem said. "And even if you tried to abuse it, we'd hunt you down and kill you.''
Jane felt a shiver run down her back.
"But why me?" She asked.
"Who else?" Salem asked. "You were the only one to pass our test."
He deliberately didn't voice the fact that she was also the only one he tested.
She nodded her head and took off towards the city.
The trio followed her, dividing the city into quadrants and patrolling their respective areas.
....
That night, the House of Night was in an uproar. They were the largest family in the city, and couldn't believe that there was both another seeding attempt and an attempt to enforce laws.
"When will the extraterrestrials learn?" Mon, the Night family head exclaimed. "We've managed to wipe out every single other seeding attempt!"
The man who had directly brought them the news trembled.
"From what I could see, they were impervious to our weaponry." He said, nearly wetting himself from fear as he remembered seeing all of his comrades get cut down like wheat in under four seconds. "And I think they are capable of reproducing with humans as well."
"Looks like we need to bring out our steam mechs." Mon said gravely. "If we don't we might just fall."
"They said they didn't want to rule us!" The poor man exclaimed suddenly. "They said they were going to be the law enforcement, and that if you stepped out of line, you'd die."
"..." Mon facepalmed. "That's essentially ruling us! WE'RE FIGHTING GODDAMNED DELUSIONAL ALIENS!"
At that point, Mon had a decision to make. He could either bring out more powerful technology, or he could stick with deploying the mechs.
"The delusional enemies have always been the strongest." Mon said thoughtfully. "I guess we need to bring out our airships too."
This was a dangerous gamble. If he brought out too much technology and crushed the seedlings, he'd have wasted trump cards and be shunned for it. On the other hand, if he brought out too little technology, he'd be defeated.
"Oh, Saints above I hope I'm right in doing this." Mon said to the air. "If I'm wrong, this might be my life."