New York City, USA, 2027
Sirens wail as buildings crumble, flames crackling across New York City with explosions bursting at uneven intervals. Screams of women and cries of children echo through the streets. People scatter like frightened birds, their footsteps pounding the pavement. Devon moves through the chaos, hands buried in his long brown coat, a mask covering his face. His white hair, tied in a neat ponytail, sways with the violent winds sweeping
The city.
He stops beside a burning store, its TV screen flickering. Through the cracked glass, silhouettes of dead bodies lie slumped. The news blares:
"The world plunges into despair as thousands of Oedipals lay waste to New York City's once-buzzing streets. Never has such a large number of Blues been seen, moving together in this number. Thousands are dead, the toll still rising. Government agencies, including the army, have been nearly annihilated in two days. Reports flood in from across the country and the world. Humanity may have to accept our time here has ended. We—"
An explosion shatters the store into rubble, shards of glass scattering across the street.
Devon stands in the debris, waiting for the dust to clear. A massive beast emerges, a grotesque cross between a fish and a bat. Four bat-like wings sprout from its back, paired with four pairs of crab-like legs. Its fish-like face, with mismatched eyes and a single horn, pulses with unnatural life. Blue scales cover its wings and body, glinting faintly. A freak of nature, yet its strangeness runs deeper.
Devon meets its gaze, unflinching. Through his mask, he speaks,
"Go bother someone else. I'm on a tight schedule." His eyes glow red with malice. The monster hesitates, then backs away, sensing danger.
Devon walks on, but a crab-like leg slams into his ribs, flinging him like a rag doll 200 meters through several buildings.
The beast stands still, exuding smug satisfaction.
From the crumbling building, the sillouhette of a human walked forward, Devon's boots crunch, each step drowning out the city's chaos.
Kum, kum, kum.
He stands before the monster, his coat tattered but his presence suffocating.
"If it were my choice, I wouldn't bother taking your life," he says, voice low.
"It changes nothing. You're an insect in the grand scheme of things. But you won't let me pass, will you? Your mind isn't even your own."
He pulls his right hand from his pocket, removes his glove, and touches the beast's leg.
The monster, its eyes once brimming with malice, looks down at Devon like a gentle dog, then collapses, its bulk hitting the ground with a shockwave that cracks nearby pavement. The sound echoes through the city.
"Elucin," Devon says as the creature's body breaks into tiny blue particles and vanishes into the air.
Devon slips his glove back on, muttering a goodbye, his heart heavy with the monster's death. He walks on, then stops, gazing into the distance.
"You're only delaying the inevitable, Nick," Devon shouts.
"You have no choice but to forfeit your life."
He pulls his other hand from his coat and begins to remove the second glove.