I never really understood why the people below found the scent of a busy city so unappealing. I’d take in a long, deep breath, letting the thick aroma of decay fill my lungs to bursting, and my muscles would loosen and my whole body relax - it was intoxicating, overwhelming, sick and repugnant… it was home, and what else could a girl ask for? Even so high up, while I perched on the roof of a looming skyscraper, the commotion of thousands of moving cars and anxious people echoed through my ears - they were all scared, I could tell. And rightly so. I leant down, my toes curling round the edge of the roof and bending the tough steel beams that made up the great building, and squinted to try and find what I was looking for. When people were afraid, they had a tendency to act rashly, and that was what I was counting on. I had to be careful though, and bent my knees and used my hands for balance - it was pouring down quite heavily today. I was totally drenched from head to toe, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t deal with. I enjoyed the sensation of those tiny droplets hitting my bare skin and dribbling down my face as I eagerly searched for my prey.

There! I saw them swerving around a corner just a block away - they were sending their troops to look for me, just as I thought they would. Just couldn’t stand to have patience and wait, knowing I could be out there doing God knows what to some of their little comrades. My muscles tensed as my eyes followed the squad of jeeps along the roads like a hawk’s, them butting through busy roads and causing quite the myriad of horns and alarms to blare as they moved. They kept making this easier. Letting go of the metal, I slowly rose up to my full height, watching with curious eyes as the jeeps rolled closer and closer. I had to wait for just the right moment… they’d move just under me, right at the base of the skyscraper, but I had to time it just before then… after all, it’d take time to reach the ground. As they got closer my eyes locked onto my main target - they had with them a heavy weapon mounted on the back of one of the jeeps. That could prove a problem… if they knew I was coming, of course. They were a few dozen metres away from the building’s base. I grinned, and casually stepped off of the building’s roof.

The wind roared all around me like a furious beast, ripping at my hair and tearing the tears right out my eyes as I fell - I pressed my legs together and my arms kept close against my sides as I cut through the air, hurtling down like a comet. It stopped just as fast as it started, though, once I made contact, and I was right on target. My feet fell right on top of that big gun mounted on the back of the jeep, and didn’t stop - the momentum was too strong and the metal screamed as my feet tore right through it and the vehicle it was being carried by, before I slammed down against the ground with tremendous force. I bent my knees dramatically, and winced as skin along my thighs ripped from containing the impact - my muscles screamed in pain, but I just grinned, gritting my teeth to hold myself together. Pain was good. And it’d take more than a little fall to best me.

The scream of the crushed metal was soon replaced by the screaming of people as I rose up to my full, truly towering height - it hadn’t been apparent so high up, but now that I was among the masses again, I got to feel that rush of power through my veins - I was over thirty feet tall, though I suspected another spurt was in order very soon. I didn’t waste any time: stepping back, I pulled my foot off the ground before giving the partly crushed jeep a harsh kick before its driver could even make it out. The jeep was thrown forward, careening along the ground and catching many surprised civilians and soldiers under it before it eventually came to a stop. The soldiers were floundering - they hadn’t expected me to literally fall out of the sky, never mind to take out their most powerful weapon so quickly. They all spilled out of their jeeps with guns in hand, and I jumped to the side as the light show began - I grabbed a hold of the skyscraper’s wall and forced myself inside, the windows and floors falling away like paper to my touch. Cities were beautiful places - so many places to hide and so many weapons, too. I grabbed one of the pillars in the sprawling office space and tore it from its foundation - around me there were the screams of panicked people scrambling away from me as I tore through their workspace, but I wasn’t paying heed to them at the moment - using the other pillars for balance, I pulled myself through the inside of the tower. I then paused, listening out among the crumbling debris around me for the sound of gunfire. It had stopped - they were waiting for me to come back out, too scared to follow me inside. Sometimes it pays to be cowardly when you’re hopelessly outmatched - if only they had enough of a survival instinct to just run while they could. I waited just a moment longer before without warning I threw myself forward, bursting back through the wall and into the open with furniture and civilians being thrown into the air along with me. The pillar chunk in my grip cracked as my fingers tightened around it, before I threw it with all my strength at the closest jeep - it was smashed on contact, the rock shattering and crushing soldiers too close as my heavy landing knocked many others right off their feet. I took the opportunity in stride, quite literally - I swung my leg, picking up many of the prone soldiers in the arc of my foot before I kicked them high into the sky, their screams quickly fading among the chaos of the city’s ambience. I giggled softly, but it was stifled when I suddenly felt stinging intrusions along my side. I grunted and stumbled back, turning round - the soldiers were firing their guns at me, little machine guns with bullets large enough to pierce my skin. I raised a hand to my face in advance before charging forward - I kicked one, who I swear nearly burst from the impact, and grabbed another in my free hand. I could have crushed him but, despite my best efforts, the sight of gore still made me gag. So instead I simply threw him at another soldier, the both of them collapsing on the ground. I turned to the few soldiers that remained, but they were either unconscious or running away by now. I grinned, my attention turning to the street itself, its roads now filled with people fleeing at the sight of me. I growled softly and felt my heart pump powerfully in my chest. I was beyond tempted to just start chasing these crowds down, having my fun with them while their terror was still fresh in their blood, but I took a deep breath and controlled myself. Right now, I have a mission to complete. Once that was done… Well, the world was my playground.

I started down the busy road, letting the cars veer and skid around me as I walked right down the centre. Sometimes I’d step on one, crush its engine or flatten its top, but I couldn’t stop to indulge any further than that. I picked up my pace, from a walk to a jog to a run, now forcing the busy road to make way for me whether they were ready for me or not. There were some that tried to stop me: police and what have you, but I didn’t have the time to deal with them right now. With her precious protection decimated, it was my time to swoop in. I stampeded out of the busy roads of the central city and further into the quieter areas, though my path was anything but - roads had been blocked off by police, stopping anyone from getting close to her, but their barricades were too small and too flimsy to slow me down. Despite the sounds of cries and protests, I eventually made it to my destination. To my home.

Something inside me told me to stop. I frowned - there was still a bit of compassion in me, exactly what I was so worried about. I shrugged it aside and stepped toward the house, the wooden fence crunching beneath my foot. I reached forward and let my fingers dig into the brick, before violently pulling back - a huge chunk of the wall was ripped away from the rest of the house and I tossed it aside, not caring where it landed. I heard it: a scream, coming from inside. She was still here. Perfect.

I reached into the room - it looked like I’d tore right into the bedroom, with some drawers and wardrobes having crashed to the ground below as the ground fell away and the bed hanging by a thread from meeting the same fate.
“Rainy…?” I cooed, looking for a sign of her: “Come out, please… I want to talk to you…”
I reached forward and dug my way deeper into the house, stepping forward and causing more of the floor to tumble away to my touch. The bed finally slipped and fell against my foot, making me wince as it broke apart. Eventually I found her, having pushed herself in a corner with a knife grasped white-knuckled in her hand and her whole body pale and trembling. I frowned: “Rainy…”
“S-Stop! Don’t come any closer!” My girlfriend shouted, pointing the knife toward me in a desperate attempt to intimidate me. It didn’t work.
“Come here…” I murmured, reaching out toward her. Rainy cried out in panic and pulled backwards, but she didn’t attack me, holding the knife to her chest even as my fingers curled around her frail body and I lifted her up into the air. A step back, and the both of us were back in the open air again, my focus now solely on Rainy.
“Please… please, put me down…” Rainy begged, one hand now holding tightly onto one of my fingers as if she expected me to fall.
“Rainy…” I murmured, but for the first time since I’d first started growing, I didn’t know what to do. I was never the best at comforting people, but now she needed it more than ever. I bit my lip, taking in a deep breath through my nose.
“... I’m… I’m sorry, Rainy,” I murmured, bringing her close to my face, my nose acting like a rest for her head as I did my best to embrace her: “I’ve always been so selfish, haven’t I? I never really considered you, and look where that led us,” I closed my eyes, holding her close, not wanting to see her face for this next part: “For what it’s worth… I do love you. You’re the only person in the world I truly love, and I’m sorry for that…”
“R… Raya…” Rainy murmured. I could feel her shivering in my grasp. I was never the gentlest, she must be uncomfortable. I opened my eyes again - I had to, or I could fuck this up, make it longer than it had to be. My other hand rose up toward Rainy. Her eyes darted toward it.
“Wait… what are you doing…?” She choked, pulling away as my hand opened up over her.
“Raya? Raya–” Her voice was reduced to a muffle as my hand closed around her head. Rainy began to panic, her legs and arms flailing wildly as she tried desperately to push my hand off of her head.

I knew I had to do this as quickly as possible, but my whole body was hesitating.
Do it! Do it, you weak bitch! This should be easy!
I gritted my teeth, blinking away my wet eyes to focus. I winced as Rainy’s knife punched into my cheek. Then again, and again. It hurt. My muscles tensed again.
Like a twig.
I twisted my hand, and there was a loud KRAKK. Rainy’s body went limp instantly, leaving the knife embedded in my bleeding cheek as her arm fell away from it. I felt a wave of relief wash over me and my body loosened up. I let out my breath - I hadn’t even realised I’d been holding it. My mind took a moment to process what I just did.

Holy shit, I’m free.

A wide smile grew on my face as what I just did settled in my mind. I pulled my hand away, watching the body go limp in my grasp. Then I dropped it, not even giving it a second glance - a corpse was a corpse, there was no sentimentality in that. I turned, letting my feet ram hard against the asphalt as I stepped forward. I saw them coming - a battalion of men and their weapons, all rolling towards me with anger, hatred and terror in their veins. I licked my lips, cherishing the thought. They were going to try and stop me, but they just lost their greatest weapon. I just lost my greatest weakness. Now, nothing in the world could stop me now, and by God, what I’d do…

I couldn’t fucking wait.