King Kaiju

The monsters stormed into the city, relentless in their advance. A legion of heroes fought to repel them, but the creatures' sheer brute strength was overwhelming. Blow after blow, the city trembled beneath their rampage. The streets, once orderly, were now a battlefield of ruin and chaos.

Then, finally, Bell entered the fray. She was late to the party, but she made her presence known when she arrived. With a flick of her wrist, a single playing card whizzed through the air, embedding itself in the ground beneath a group of brutish creatures. In an instant, the card expanded into the gaping maw of a monstrous beast, its fanged jaws snapping shut over the creatures before vanishing without a trace. Just like that, she had turned the tide.

I turned my focus back to Booker. He was launching concentrated beams of energy, each one carving through the battlefield like a celestial lance. The brutes staggered but continued their onslaught.

I felt my power swelling within me. This was the moment. I needed to do something big. One of the brutes rushed me, its fists crashing down like boulders. I sidestepped, narrowly evading the attack. It swung a leg toward me, aiming to send me flying, but I twisted my body and slid beneath the kick. As I passed, I tapped my fingers against its leg. The brute froze for a brief moment before vanishing into the void. It reappeared just above the ground and collapsed, disoriented. I stomped my foot, and the earth beneath it turned into an abyss. The brute let out a guttural roar before being swallowed whole by the darkness.

Hovering above the battlefield, I surveyed the chaos. That's when I saw him—a lone figure standing beyond the entrance of the city, orchestrating the attack. He moved with the air of a puppeteer, summoning more creatures with a mere wave of his hand. The steady stream of monstrous reinforcements made one thing clear—he was here to deliver the killing blow.

I shot through the air toward him, aiming to crash down and take him out in one decisive strike. But he moved effortlessly, dodging at the last second. He smirked. "Another hero rushing to their death?"

"What do the Harbingers want with this city?" I demanded, charging energy into my hands.

He chuckled, amused by my defiance. "You sound like a child. Is Sentinel Solutions getting that desperate?"

"This 'child' is going to beat the hell out of you if you don't start talking," I snapped.

He sighed dramatically as if I were nothing more than an inconvenience. "Kids these days. You should learn to stay out of grown folks' business."

With a flourish, he summoned two monstrous centipedes from the void. Their segmented bodies stretched unnaturally long, covered in a chitinous exoskeleton that gleamed under the city lights. Their countless legs moved in eerie unison, each step clicking against the pavement. Their grotesque heads were a nightmare-made flesh—mandibles the size of scythes, dripping venom that hissed as it melted through the debris.

"You should find this problematic," he mused, sending them at me.

I fired bursts of energy, but their armored hides absorbed the attack. The centipedes slithered into the ground, vanishing beneath the rubble. I had no time to react before the earth split open beneath me. I shot into the sky just as a winged abomination crashed into me, sending me spiraling into a tree. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, but I forced myself to stand.

Before I could recover, another monster, sleek and fast like a torpedo, slammed into me and pinned me to the ground.

"I don't think so," the man taunted, morphing back into his human form.

I wiped the blood from my nose and stood. "You hit like a bitch."

His eye twitched in frustration. He sent the centipedes at me again, their mandibles snapping. On instinct, I flicked my wrist. The moment my power touched them, they shrank—what once were monstrous horrors were now harmless garden snakes, squirming at my feet.

His smug expression faltered. "Impossible. How did you—"

"Nothing is impossible," I cut him off, "not when I have reality at my fingertips."

Before he could retaliate, my communicator buzzed. Booker's voice crackled through the device. "Kaleb, a giant flying monster is abducting heroes. We need backup."

The summoner smirked. He conjured an army of colossal ants to cover his escape. I froze them in place and shrank them to their normal size, but by the time I turned back, he was gone. Not even a trace remained.

I took to the sky, scanning for any sign of him, but he had disappeared. Frustrated, I called Booker.

"Where the hell did you go?" he asked, his voice laced with exhaustion.

"I engaged the summoner," I said. "What's happening now?"

"The monsters disappeared moments ago," Booker reported. "We're regrouping."

I flew back to the battlefield, where I found Booker and Kelcy among the injured.

"That was King Kaiju," Kelcy confirmed. "His ability to summon giant creatures is infamous."

I glanced at Booker, who was clutching his arm. "You okay?"

He waved me off. "Just sore."

That didn't add up. Booker fought from a distance. How did he get injured? I decided to let it slide for now.

"Why did that flying beast start taking people?" Kelcy muttered.

"No idea," I admitted. "I asked King Kaiju what he was after, but he wasn't exactly cooperative."

Kelcy ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "These damn villains are pissing me off." He stormed off, leaving us among the wreckage and wounded.

"We need to get these people medical attention," Booker said.

"You're right." I activated my communicator, calling for emergency medics. The hovercrafts of Sentinel Solutions arrived moments later, their personnel rushing to aid the wounded.

As they worked, I felt the weight of the battlefield pressing down on me. The air was thick with unspoken emotions—fear, anger, grief. Instinctively, my body responded. A surge of energy pulsed from me, rippling through the air. In an instant, the negativity that had settled over the battlefield dissipated. The weight lifted.

Booker's gaze snapped to me. "What did you just do?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "My body just… did it."

Booker narrowed his eyes. "You need to learn to control your powers before they control you."

Before I could reply, a commotion caught my attention. Bell was shoving medics away, storming toward us.

"Who do you think you are?" she spat.

"What, I can't help?" I shot back. "They're injured. You are, too. But you're too damn proud to accept that we're doing a better job than you."

Her eyes darkened. She reached for her deck of cards. "Watch yourself."

"Oh, what now? Are you gonna fight me because I helped people? Listen to yourself. You sound ridiculous."

She growled in frustration and turned on her heel. "Stupid heroes."

Booker watched her go. "Why does she hate us?"

"She doesn't," I said. "Her ego's just bigger than her common sense."

Booker sighed. "What now?"

I clenched my fists. "We figure out why these monsters took our people. We find out where Aaliah is."

The battlefield was still littered with remnants of war, but the fight was far from over. King Kaiju had made his move. Now, it was time to make ours.