[ WP ] A tattoo of earth suddenly appears on every living thing on earth . A rival planet declares war on earth and a voice is heard from the ground `` you have lived on me for a long time , now fight for your home '' .

`` *Fight... for me. *'' 
 
 Again and again, Doctor Matthew Evans rewound the recording, hoping to find some sort of clue. It had been months - years, even - since those words had been spoken, resounding in every language from every stone on God's green Earth, and still he had made no headway. Nor, it seemed, could he make any sense from the strange tattoos appearing on everyone's chests. He had been quite proud to realize that they appeared to show the Earth centered around the bearer's location at the time of the event. But apart from that, he was stumped. Even the composition of the ink was a total mystery. 
 
 `` But what does it *mean*?'' He asked no one in particular, tugging at a clump of his thinning hair. The voice was female, and ancient - he could tell that much - but he had n't a clue what the spoken words had meant. 
 
 `` A war between worlds? What would that even entail? Some sort of space battle?'' 
 
 He chewed on the end of his pen, ruining the clip between his teeth. Really, the main problem was the fact that there had been no further contact from the voice. There were no aliens among the stars, as had been expected. There were no strange crafts, no abductions. In fact, there was no way to tell that there was a war at all. 
 
 A thunderous crack sounded from outside of his lab, making Matthew drop his pen in surprise. The very air seemed to shudder as a roaring gale shook the building. Doctor Evans rushed to the window, and what he saw sent a river of ice rushing down his spine. 
 
 The sky was breaking. 
 
 It was as if the entire field of blue was a singe plate of fragile china, and someone on the other side held a mallet. Cracks like frozen lighting made of fragments of night erupted from a point just below the noontime sun, spreading out in a fractal web of raw destruction. Piece by piece, the fragments began to fall away inward, pulled by some unseen force. And there, on the other side of a massive hole in space, was another world with face red as blood itself. 
 
 `` *Gaia! *'' Roared a voice that shook Matthew right to his bones. `` *You have been found, though you hid yourself quite well! *'' To his ears, the speaker sounded male - but he suspected that the truth was far more complex. 
 
 `` *So it would seem, Ares. *'' Replied the female voice from the recording. `` *I trust that you did n't interfere with the search? *'' 
 
 `` *My species needs no help from me... unlike yours. *'' The male voice retorted. `` *They know where their prey lies... they can smell it, even among the stars. Can your species claim as much? *'' 
 
 `` *We are much more than primitive hunters, Ares. Surely you know at least that. Now, enough of this banter. Why have you come? *'' 
 
 `` *You know why. By the laws of interplanetary combat, I challenge you for dominance of your surface - and as victor of The Hunt, it is I who shall decide the terms! *'' 
 
 `` *Very well. Speak away! *'' Gaia spoke bravely, but Ares seemed to chuckle as if he had already won. 
 
 `` *I declare trial by combat, unarmed, between two chosen champions of our respective species! *'' 
 
 Gaia sighed. `` *Always with combat, Ares. I did hope you had grown beyond that. Very well, trail by combat it is. Now, let us choose our champions, and get this mess behind us. *'' 
 

