The digital clock on a shattered storefront read 9:50 AM. Kenji ran. Tears streamed down his dirt-streaked face. He was eight years old, and he could not understand what was happening. Just ten minutes ago, he was sitting at the kitchen table. Now, his village was gone.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of the wooden ceiling collapsing.
Mom pushed me out the door. She said she was right behind us. Why didn't she come out? Are they really gone?
He stumbled over a jagged crack in the asphalt. His older sister, Mika, yanked his arm hard, pulling him back to his feet before he could fall.
"I can't," Kenji said, his small legs shaking. "Mika, Mom and Dad... they are still in there!"
Mika did not stop moving. She was limping badly. A deep cut ran down her left calf, staining her jeans red, but her grip on his hand was iron.
"They told us to run, Kenji," Mika said. She forced a small, strained smile. "We have to listen to them. I have got you. You are safe with me."
"But your leg is bleeding," Kenji cried, pointing at the dark stain. "You are hurt!"
"It is just a scratch," Mika reassured him. "I do not even feel it. Just keep your eyes forward. Do not look at my leg, okay? Look at me."
Kenji nodded, wiping his nose with his free hand. I have to be brave. Mika is hurt, but she is being brave. He tried to match her pace, merging into the chaotic flood of other villagers fleeing down the ruined highway toward City M's center. People pushed and shoved past each other in blind panic.
The earth beneath their feet pitched violently once again, throwing several fleeing villagers to the ground. Mika stumbled but caught herself against the hood of an abandoned car, keeping Kenji upright.
Kenji looked back over his shoulder. The mountain behind their village was completely gone. Instead, a massive hand composed entirely of glowing, molten stone reached out from the peak and slammed onto the steep mountainside.
A colossal head emerged from the boiling crater. It was a giant monster made of liquid fire and jagged rock. Its glowing eyes locked onto the sprawling urban expanse of City M below.
It is a monster. A real monster. Kenji felt his chest tighten in absolute panic. We are going to die here.
Mika stepped in front of him, blocking his view of the towering beast. She squeezed his hand gently.
"Hey," Mika said, keeping her expression perfectly steady despite the surrounding chaos. "Look right here. Do not look back. We are going to make it to the city shelters. I promise you, Kenji. Everything is going to be fine."
Kenji looked up into his sister's eyes. He gripped her hand tighter.
"Okay," Kenji replied quietly.
Kenji forced his exhausted legs to move faster. He did not know how they would survive without their parents, but as long as Mika was holding his hand, he would just keep running.
…
Tatsumaki cut through the sky like a brilliant green meteor. Her glowing psychic aura surrounded her completely, violently pushing the thick, gray volcanic ash out of her path. She rapidly approached the outskirts of City M. She held a sleek, heavily encrypted Hero Association smartphone right next to her ear, suspended effortlessly by her power. Her arms were crossed tightly over her black dress. She was absolutely furious.
"I just do not understand why I am being punished for being the best," Tatsumaki said. Her voice dripped with severe, unfiltered irritation.
"Tornado of Terror, please," the Hero Association Representative pleaded through the phone connection. "No one is punishing you. You were simply our very first choice for this exact reason. It is a massive Dragon Level threat. It just erupted from a volcano near a highly populated area. The sheer scale of this monster is unprecedented."
"So call the cyborg," Tatsumaki snapped, her eyes narrowing at the dark clouds ahead. "Or call that stupid samurai. Call the big guy who lifts weights all day. Why does my phone ring first?"
"Because if we send Demon Cyborg or Superalloy Darkshine, it will result in a prolonged, highly destructive battle," the representative explained nervously, his voice trembling slightly over the line. "The monster is made entirely of liquid magma. Physical attacks will only spread the fire and cause more collateral damage. We called you first because the executive board knew you were the only hero who could completely neutralize a threat of this size in a matter of minutes. We need your absolute efficiency."
"My efficiency is not an excuse to ruin my weekend!" Tatsumaki yelled at the phone.
I waited six entire months for the season finale of 'Psychic Schoolgirls of Neo-Tokyo'. Six months of filler episodes and terrible pacing, all leading up to this morning. The main character was literally one second away from revealing the identity of the shadow traitor. I had my premium imported green tea perfectly brewed to eighty degrees. I had the expensive macarons from City A laid out on a silver plate. And right when the dramatic music swelled, right when she opened her mouth to say the name, this stupid Association communicator started blaring its maximum priority alarm.
"You people owe me a new television," Tatsumaki demanded, her aura flaring a little brighter in the ash-choked sky. "I shattered my screen when you interrupted me. I threw my tea at it."
"We will gladly reimburse you for any electronics, Miss Tatsumaki," the rep said quickly, clearly desperate to placate her. "We will buy you the biggest screen on the market. Just please, hurry to the coordinates. The magma monster is heading straight for the evacuation shelters. The estimated casualty rate is unacceptable if it reaches the city limits."
"I am already hurrying," Tatsumaki said, rolling her eyes. "I am flying faster than a supersonic jet. But that does not change the fact that this is incredibly annoying. Now I have to stay off the internet for the rest of the day so nobody spoils the ending for me. Do you know how hard it is to avoid spoilers?"
"We appreciate your profound dedication to the citizens..."
"Do not patronize me," Tatsumaki warned, her tone dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I am going to squash this stupid rock, and then I am going home. And if my phone rings again today, I am going to psychically throw the entire Hero Association headquarters into the ocean."
They always do this. They see a big monster, they panic, and they immediately dial my number because they know I will just make it disappear. They rely on me too much. Fubuki gets to sit around in cafes with her little fan club of weaklings, playing boss, while I have to actually do the heavy lifting for the entire continent.
"We are monitoring its heat signature now," the representative said, trying to professionally pivot back to the mission details. "It is emitting temperatures exceeding two thousand degrees Celsius. Please exercise extreme caution when approaching the target. Its core is likely located deep inside its chest cavity. If you can penetrate the outer crust..."
"Shut up," Tatsumaki interrupted sharply. "I know how to kill a monster. Stop reading the manual to me."
Tatsumaki abruptly cut the connection. She let the smartphone slip into the pocket of her dress.
City M finally came into full view below her. It was a complete, miserable disaster zone. The sky was entirely choked with black and gray ash, completely blocking out the morning sun. Below, Tatsumaki could see the ruined, cracked highway and the tiny specks of villagers running away toward the city center in a blind panic.
And right in the middle of it all, towering over the burning, completely decimated forest, was the target.
It was a massive, shifting amalgamation of black volcanic rock and glowing, viscous orange magma. It dragged its incredibly heavy knuckles across the ground, setting entire groves of trees on fire with every single lumbering step. It easily dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers in the city distance.
Tatsumaki floated directly into the path of the giant magma creature, stopping gracefully in mid-air. She kept her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"Hey!" Tatsumaki shouted down at the giant beast, her voice amplified by psychic energy so it echoed over the roaring flames. "You! The oversized charcoal briquette!"
The monster stopped walking. Its massive head, a jagged, asymmetric lump of glowing rock, tilted downward to look at the tiny woman floating directly in its way. Its fiery mouth split open into a terrifying, jagged grin.
"CHARCOAL BRIQUETTE?!" the monster roared. Its voice sounded like grinding tectonic plates and bubbling tar, completely deafening. "I AM VOLCANIS, THE MOLTEN EMPEROR! BOW BEFORE MY INCANDESCENT MIGHT, TINY FLESHLING!"
"Are you deaf as well as incredibly ugly?" Tatsumaki asked. She floated a few feet closer, her expression twisted into a sneer of pure, unadulterated disgust. "I am talking to you. Do you have any idea what you just did?"
"I HAVE COME TO PURIFY THIS WORLD IN CLEANSING FIRE!" Volcanis bellowed, raising both of his massive, dripping arms to the sky. "BEHOLD MY TERRIFYING POWER! SUPERHEATED LAVA SPLASH OF INEVITABLE DOOM!"
The monster thrust his chest forward and unleashed a massive, roaring geyser of liquid fire directly from his mouth, aiming right at Tatsumaki. The wave of magma was wide enough to swallow a neighborhood.
Tatsumaki did not even uncross her arms. The magma hit an invisible wall of pure, concentrated psychic energy three feet in front of her and harmlessly splashed away in all directions, turning the ground below into a sea of fire.
"You ruined my Saturday," Tatsumaki stated, completely ignoring his dramatic attack. "I was watching television. I was relaxing in my own home. I was having a perfect, quiet morning. And instead, I had to fly all the way out to this miserable, ash-covered wasteland just to look at your stupid, melting face."
"WHAT?!" Volcanis shouted, looking incredibly offended. The magma inside his chest began to churn and bubble at a terrifying speed. "MY GLORIOUS ERUPTION IS A MERE INCONVENIENCE TO YOU?! I AM THE EARTH'S RAGE INCARNATE!"
"What are you getting mad for?" Tatsumaki mocked, a cruel smile forming on her lips. "I am the one who should be mad. You are not even a real monster. You are literally just geology that got a little too excited. You are dirt. Hot dirt."
"HOT DIRT?!" Volcanis screamed. The ground around his feet completely liquefied from his rising temper. "I WILL VAPORIZE YOU! PREPARE TO BE REDUCED TO ASH BY MY ULTIMATE STRIKE! THOUSAND-DEGREE MAGMA FIST OF UNSTOPPABLE DESPAIR!"
The monster lunged forward. He swung a massive, molten fist directly at Tatsumaki. The fist was the size of a small office building. It carried enough raw physical force to flatten an entire city block into dust.
The giant fist stopped dead in mid-air, exactly three feet away from her face, striking her psychic barrier. A massive shockwave rippled outward from the impact, clearing the ash from the sky in a perfect circle, but Tatsumaki's green hair did not even move.
"Is that it?" Tatsumaki asked, raising one green eyebrow in feigned disappointment. "That was your big attack? I have felt stronger breezes from an air conditioner."
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Volcanis roared, pulling his other arm back. "THEN TASTE MY RAPID-FIRE VOLCANIC PEBBLE BARRAGE!"
He began throwing a frantic, desperate flurry of punches, screaming the name of his attack over and over again. Left, right, overhead smashes—none of them came close to touching her. The psychic barrier did not waver a single fraction of an inch.
"You are boring me," Tatsumaki stated, sighing loudly. "And your attack names are stupid. It is time for you to go away."
She finally uncrossed her arms and raised her right hand. She pointed a single, slender finger at the towering beast.
"Let me show you how an actual professional does things," she said.
Tatsumaki twisted her wrist slightly.
"BEHOLD MY—WAIT, WHAT?!" Volcanis yelled as his right hand suddenly jerked upward against his own will. His massive fist slammed directly into his own face with terrifying force. Jagged rocks and lava exploded from his cheek.
The creature stumbled backward, completely bewildered. "MY OWN FIST REBELS AGAINST ME?!"
"Why are you hitting yourself?" Tatsumaki asked, a genuine smirk crossing her face. She twisted her other hand. The monster's left arm swung up and slapped his own face again, even harder this time. "Stop hitting yourself. You look absolutely ridiculous."
"CURSE YOU, TINY GREEN WITCH!" Volcanis screamed, trying desperately to pull his arms back. "I WILL MELT YOUR—"
Tatsumaki raised both hands and made a sweeping, swirling motion in the air. The giant magma monster was lifted completely off his feet, severing his connection to the earth. Tatsumaki started spinning him in mid-air. She spun him faster and faster, turning the colossal Dragon Level threat into a massive, glowing top.
"AHHHHH! MY EQUILIBRIUM!" Volcanis shrieked. "THIS IS NOT A PROPER COMBAT TECHNIQUE!"
"Are you dizzy yet?" she asked, looking completely bored with the spectacle. "Because I am getting bored."
She stopped the spinning abruptly. The monster hung suspended in the air miles above the ruined highway, completely disoriented and completely helpless.
With a flick of her fingers, she forced the monster's arms to fold tightly behind his back until the stone joints cracked and shattered. Then she bent his heavy rock legs up backwards over his head. She was literally tying the giant, molten beast into a pretzel-shaped knot.
"UNHAND ME! I AM A PROUD DISASTER LEVEL DRAGON!" Volcanis whimpered, struggling with everything he had.
"Stay down," Tatsumaki commanded.
She clenched her hand into a tight, unforgiving fist. The psychic energy surrounding the monster began to compress rapidly. The creature was violently forced into a tight, incredibly dense sphere of rock and magma.
"NO! MY GLORIOUS FORM! I AM COMPACTING!" Volcanis screamed, his voice getting higher and higher pitched as he was crushed smaller and smaller. "THIS IS HIGHLY DEMEANING!"
She squeezed harder and harder, crushing the stone, condensing the magma, until the giant, talking monster was roughly the size of a beach ball. His voice was completely muffled inside the glowing green psychic bubble. The massive Dragon Level threat had been reduced to a simple, heavy paperweight.
Tatsumaki floated over the massive crater in the highway. She looked down at the tiny, condensed ball of magma floating in front of her.
"Pathetic," she muttered.
She gave the ball a casual, effortless psychic kick. It shot away like a bullet, flying miles back through the sky. It sailed perfectly through the air and landed directly back into the bubbling caldera of the volcano where it had originally come from. She then raised her hands one last time and dragged a massive, million-ton slab of bedrock over the top of the volcano, sealing it shut with a slam that shook the entire mountain range.
Tatsumaki let out a long breath and pulled her phone back out of her dress pocket. She dialed the Hero Association. The representative picked up on the first ring.
"Tornado of Terror? What is your status? We detected a massive seismic anomaly!"
"The mission is over," Tatsumaki said flatly, inspecting her fingernails. "The monster is dealt with. The volcano is plugged up. And tell the data division that the monster was incredibly annoying and wouldn't shut up."
"Already?!" The representative gasped, the sound of cheering suddenly erupting in the background of the call. "That is incredible! The casualty projections were off the charts, and you handled it in less than five minutes! The executive board is going to be thrilled!"
"Obviously," Tatsumaki said, entirely unimpressed by the praise. "Did you expect anything else? I told you this was a complete waste of my time. It barely even tried to fight back."
"We cannot thank you enough," the representative gushed over the line. "You saved City M. You saved millions of lives today. Your efficiency is unparalleled."
Tatsumaki rolled her eyes. She did not care about the praise at all. She only cared about her television show. "Yeah, whatever. Are we done here?"
"Yes, of course," the rep confirmed quickly. "We will get a clean-up crew ready to deploy immediately to handle the ash and the property damage on the highway. You are all clear to go back to what you were doing. Thank you again, Tatsumaki."
"Do not call me again today unless the world is literally cracking in half," Tatsumaki ordered. She hung up the phone without waiting for a response.
She looked up at the sky. The thick ash was still blocking the sun, casting a gloomy, dark shadow over the entire region.
Now I have to go find a store that sells televisions, buy one, set it up, and figure out how to stream the episode without running into a spoiler on the home page. Today is completely ruined.
Tatsumaki sighed, a heavy, deeply annoyed breath that puffed her cheeks out slightly. She crossed her arms again, surrounded herself with her glowing green aura, and shot off toward City A, leaving a trail of emerald light in the dark sky.
Stupid rocks, she thought to herself. Next time, I am making the cyborg do it.