Kai’Vra watched from atop a building as her prey ran through the streets toward the shore of Changeton. She could, of course, kill them now, but she always could. Their death was a matter of her motivation, which was low right now. Well, it was a bit frustrating to watch them escape death over and over again while running for their lives, so perhaps she would end this farce right now.

She decided to wait, as something had distracted her. The distant sounds of ‘cars’ beeping and honking in the distance and the absence of humans told Kai’Vra something was quite wrong. People ran through the streets, terrified expressions on their faces, and an aggravating noise was blaring from all directions, which was likley a signal of some kind.

When Kai’Vra had woken up from her slumber mere days ago, in a shrine deep beneath a cliff face, she had torn her way to the surface. When she looked at the horizon and saw the city, she was in awe. Changeton was miles upon miles in length, with countless homes and buildings, and ‘skyscrapers’ that, obviously, scraped the sky.

Then, she figured it would be nice to tear it all down. Yet, and yet...it seemed something had mobilized the whole city. In the sewers, she had heard those sirens but thought nothing of them, but now she understood. The hundreds of thousands or millions of people in Changeton had mobilized at the same time.

Just what horror could do that? Perhaps another plant creature had arrived, as powerful as herself in her prime? Yes, this indeed piqued her curiosity.

Seeing that all the humans with a sense of self-preservation were running opposite of the shore, Kai’Vra figured she could find the ailment to her curiosity in the opposite direction. And wouldn’t it happen that those foolish humans she’d chased were doing the same thing!

Two birds, one stone.

Staff in hand, Dave ran along a road near the edge of a cliff, troubled. Today was a beautiful day, one where the birds sang, the grass shimmered, and the clouds skip-jumped away. He loved days like these. He loved to look from the cliff face, watching from above as people in the not-so-far-off city of Changeton bustled about like ants, taking cover beneath the skyscrapers like grass.

However...he wasn’t paying attention to that today. Today, Dave could not afford to waste a second smelling the roses. Today, something suspicious was afoot. He held a cane in his right hand, despite being in his late thirties, and his top hat with the other as he ran, keeping it in place.

He neared his destination; the weather institute. Below, in the city, the wails of a flood warning resounded through the air. It was preposterous to think a flood was hitting Changeton, so it was his job to figure out what was going on as the head anthropologist of the weather institute. Of course, it was possible that there really was a flood, and his coworkers had merely forgotten to contact him, but he’d find the truth out fast enough.

He flung the glass doors of the institute open and stopped in the middle of the hallway, expecting to hear a commotion within...

“I repeat, for everyone, a tidal wave, three-hundred feet tall is bound for Changeton! If you live in these areas...”

Dave slowly walked down the hall, and into a room to the right, to the source of the noise. On a TV hung in the corner of the lounge room, he saw the junior anthropologist was pointing behind him, where the live footage of a tidal wave was shown from the top of a skyscraper. As he pointed, it changed to a map of the region surrounding Changeton, where a massive portion of Michigan Lake’s coast was highlighted blue. “Please evacuate. It is large enough to destroy everything in this region. The tsunami is moving at unprecedented speeds and will hit the coast in minutes. Please, evacuate, or you will most certainly be caught in the waves’ collateral damage. I repeat that this is no drill or test. If you are anywhere near this part of the Michigan Lakefront when this wave hits, you will die. Just...bam, hit by three-hundred feet of water, crushed. Dead. Please, EVACUATE NOW!”

Not only was it unprofessional, it was ridiculous! Tidal waves didn’t happen in lakes, at least none three-hundred feet tall!

Unless...it was a meteor. Changeton had been hit by a meteotsunami over half a decade ago. If that had happened again...If it was a wave that big...well, he could imagine why his coworkers were panicking.

Getting to the crux of the issue, Dave ran to the institute’s second floor, where the studio was located. He threw the door open. Standing in front of a green screen, his coworker was recording and looked at him with a panicked expression, but behind the camera, there was a man with a mass of plant roots holding him upright like legs

“I’m sorry, who are you?” the creature said, clicking a button on the camera to turn it off. “The city is in the middle of a crisis.” Why was it being so casual?

Dave’s junior seemed confused too, though it was clear why the instant he spoke. “Idiot, you aren’t a human anymore, don’t act like you are one. Capture him before he gets a chance to-”

Dave didn’t waste time holding a hand out, then shooting a blast of wind towards the creature, sending it flying into the wall. “I’m not here to play games, Kai...” he said, frustrated. Before he met that one Kai about a week ago, he had never seen a Kai talk before, but now he had seen two in a short period. Were they linked?

Kai as he knew, were creatures from the realm of plants, invaders that relentlessly leaked into the human realm and consumed humans to gain power. Most were little more than animals, but some legendary Kai had grown strong enough to level cities over centuries of growth. If the race had evolved and became more intelligent...

He walked toward the cameraman Kai, leaving the other imposter for later.

He gripped its shirt, then dragged him to eye level. In his line of sight, Dave began to condense wind inside his other palm, making a blue sphere of air deadly enough to rip through steel. He moved the sphere to the creature’s head, where its core would likley be hidden. “I am Dou Van Arc, archdruid of the Aero Circle. Tell me what you are and what you’re planning, Kais.”

The Kai reeled his head back as far as he could, terrified of the deadly sphere. “I-I’ve just been told to do this, alright? I-”

“Then,” Dave turned to face the imposter. “I presume you’re his boss?”

He shook his head, holding his hands out defensively. “Let’s just take it easy, ok? I’m not the boss or anything, and I don’t know what a Kai even is.”

“You’re disguised as my friend, so stop acting like you’re human!” A burst of wind sent the imposter flying back into the greenscreen, ripping a hole in it. “Tell me what’s going on! Who sent you here? Why are you trying to make the city evacuate?!”

As the imposter weakly raised itself from the wall, its visage seemed to melt away, and...an arm turned into a black tentacle. “It was our superior. He ordered us to do this! But we aren’t lying. There really is a tidal wave headed for Changeton!”

Dave had gotten the answer he was looking for but had stopped paying attention. That was certainly no Kai...no, that was...he didn’t even know. It wasn’t long before the arm reformed into a normal arm. Dave shook his head, trying to focus. If there was even a minuscule chance that creature wasn’t lying...thousands-no, millions of lives were in danger. “How? How could a tsunami of that size appear!? Was it a meteorite? Did you cause it?”

“Not us! Our master sent the Great Water Elemental!”

“The Great...don’t give me that bullshit! What sort of lie is that?”

“That’s the truth, I swear!” the Kai in his hand insisted. “War is coming to this city, Dou...Van...something. A-anyway, soon it will become the origin of Therin’s new age! Or something like that...”

“So whoever this ‘Therin’ person is is willing to kill millions to achieve his goals? To tear down Changeton no matter the cost?”

“Our enemy’s forces will stop the wave with ease, according to our master.”

“With ease?! A wave like that will turn this city into a pancake! Nothing could stop it now, not even me!”

Dave didn’t trust his own skepticism, though. He had always known about, yet dismissed the many oddities the world held. For all his life, he had known of the dangerous Kais and how they were the threat to humankind, with the only protectors of the world being druids like himself, those who harnessed the power of nature to stop their invasion.

Yet, there were oddities in his experience. Mysteries that contradicted his worldview, which he dismissed because they seemed too outlandish. No, it wasn’t just confirmation bias or anything so mundane...it felt as if some presence were trying to alter his mind, to make him dismiss those oddities.

And now, that presence was suddenly gone.

“If you don’t believe me, then do as you like, archdruid,” the thing continued with a sarcastic tone, “but know that by stopping our broadcast, thousands of lives will be on your hands.”

Slowly, Dave released his sphere of wind, then threw down the Kai. It would be dangerous to let these creatures stay loose, but...he knew deep down they weren’t lying. They acted too human to be one of the mindless Kais he had hunted all his life. And even if they were, there was certainly something much worse lurking in the dark, creatures he had to eliminate before handling these ones.

This ‘Therin’ was a threat to humanity, and he had to handle him before anything or anyone else.

Dave halted his sphere of wind. “Fine,” he said. “You may continue the broadcast, but understand there are many risks to lying to me, creature.”

“If you aren’t going to ask for my name, at least ask for my species.”

The druid raised an eyebrow. “Okay, what is your race?”

“We are chimeras.”

Dave nodded his head in sardonic acknowledgment. “Well, that explains nothing.” Dave held his hands up, then blew a hole in the concrete roof and flew out of the building. He soared high above the institute, then blast forth in a whirlwind, flying toward the lakefront.

“Muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...”

Hilda watched dispassionately as Therin laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“hahahah-”

“Sir?” she interjected, crossing her arms, in part because of the cold lake winds.

Startled, the self-proclaimed supervillain flew back a meter.

Hilda and Therin were flying above the ocean, watching as an enormous wave approached Changeton. While Hilda wore a black leather jacket atop rather boring clothes, and flew with the help of a technological hexagonal plate, Therin simply hovered like it was nothing, his arms spread out until a second ago.

For some reason, he looked like a mummy, wrapped in stained bandages from head to toe. Hilda couldn’t explain why he wore such a stupid ‘outfit’ considering he was, physically, a human, but she didn’t feel like asking why.

The answer would probably be stupid anyway.

“H-Hilda, hi...I, uhh, didn’t see you there!” he said, his voice pathetic-sounding for a leader.

She nodded. “Yeah, I noticed.”

“So...what brings you to...” he looked around the lake, trying to find some label for the location, only to just say, “me.”

Hilda rolled her eyes, then looked at the tablet nestled atop her arm. “All the preparations are ready. The cats are waiting to move, the army is raring to go, the Mechros is prepared to fight, the slimes are slowly making their way to the surface, the wave is, obviously, moving at a steady pace, and the mercenaries have sent their meteopods.”

Therin nodded, putting a hand to his chin and staring into the distance through a slit in his wrappings. “Its difficult to tell with you; is there bad news, or just good news?”

“There is bad news, I suppose. Nothing serious, though.”

“Well, spit em’ out, I guess.”

“The necromancer seems to have beaten us to Changeton, for one. I don’t know if he managed to finish his task, though.”

Therin clicked his tongue. “That’s troubling. Anything else?”

“Well, not everyone evacuated, unfortunately. There are bound to be deaths if we proceed.”

“Par for the course. We are starting a rebellion, after all.”

Hilda raised an eyebrow. “If you say s-” Hilda’s tablet began to ring, an old pop song interrupting her. She quickly tapped to take the call. “What is it, Maysray?”

“H-hey, Hilda,” a timid voice said from it. “A-am I interrupting anything?”

“No, not really.”

“Well, anyway, I’ve got a really bad feeling...” Therin and Hilda looked at the tablet with concern, taking the word of the girl behind it quite seriously. “I-I saw a vision of some strange...robed figure walking through a sea of stars, calling for a...Fatebreaker? I-I don’t know what to make of it.”

Hilda’s face scrunched in confusion, but Therin hastily responded. “A robed figure you say? What do they look like?”

“It’s got three arms, tentacles on its back...it reminds me of the chimeras. It might be a girl...”

Therin was silent for a moment. “That is probably the Great Mother.” He remained silent for a few more seconds. “She is...an old god of myth, one I tried to revive in the devourer project, long after I released the devourers. I sealed her away, though. She lost her sanity a long time ago, by somebody called a ‘Fatecaller’.”

“A god...” Maysray said nervously. “I-I think she has been released, or at least will be.”

“Hmm...” Therin looked down, the optimism he had for their current project fading away as he thought. “No matter. The Fatecaller, whoever they were, ensured she would not easily regain her former strength. Still, her unimprisonment is something I cannot overlook. I will personally handle her.”

“Personally?” Hilda asked. “I thought you disliked getting your hands dirty, sir.” She added as an afternote, “With all due respect, I mean.”

Therin let out an annoyed sigh. “Back in my day, supervillains did the job themselves, like Dracula.”

“You, uhh, knew Dracula? He was a real person?”

“My memories from those days are vague, but we were acquaintances.”

“Crazy.” Though Hilda didn’t seem to care much.

“W-well, I don’t know if you care, Therin, but...” Maysray began, before faltering, unsure of herself.

“But?”

“Would she have been able to escape on her own?”

“No, I made sure of that. Someone from outside her sealing pentagram would need to access my computing system and then specifically release the seal. The only way that could happen is on purpose, of course. Have you seen visions of who did it? They could be quite dangerous.”

“That’s the thing...I don’t.”

“Is that strange?”

It was a while before Maysray spoke again. “No,” she said with unusual confidence. “No, it isn’t.”

Therin looked at the tablet skeptically, then shrugged. “Thank you for your help, Maysray. I will personally go to the lab once I have overseen the arrival of Uffield.”

“Cool.” Maysray hung up.

“Should I send a squad with you, Therin?” Hilda asked, looking down at a new text she’d received.

“No,” the mummy-man said, looking into the distance with uncertainty. “I will confront my...The Great Mother alone. Besides, they couldn’t fight a spirit like her.”

“Sir...why would you be able to, then?”

“Because unlike them, I used to be one.”

Hilda shook her head with exasperation. “Sir, with all due respect, you are not a real mummy.”

“No, I’m not. However, my soul is amorphous.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I guess I can roll with this. If you will be doing that, what should I have the army do?”

“What I hired you to do, of course.”

Hilda sighed. “Firstly, I’m following you into this rebellion because my child is in this city, because I disagree with Gou, and because I am somewhat loyal to you already. You have yet to even tell me what we have to gain from fighting alongside you.”

“Wait, seriously?” Therin asked, throwing his head to the side in a veiled expression Hilda could only guess was surprise.

“With all due respect, sir, you are a horrible leader, despite your caution and intelligence.”

“That didn’t sound very respe-”

“Furthermore, it is clear to me you weren’t even sure what you would do with your army of supersoldiers once we came to the city. Who even stands to oppose our attack, besides the ‘Frends’?”

“Oh. Well, I want you to level the city, of course.”

“What about the casualties?”

“Oh, right. Track down anyone who hasn’t evacuated and, you know...” he stopped, not finding the right words.

“Evacuate them?”

“Yes. Then level the city. We aren’t barbarians.”

“Understood, Therin. That could take a long time, though.”

“Not an issue.”

“And the electromagmancer? He’s waiting for our order, but his EMP will only work for a day.”

“Just turn it on in an hour or so. That should give us plenty of time to take this place over.”

“If you say so, sir. I’ll take my leave.”

“Bye...” Therin said, too late to catch Hilda before she disappeared into nothingness.

He basked in the sound of wind as he flew to catch up with the slow-moving tsunami.

Everything was going according to plan, he guessed.

“UUUUUUUFFFFFYYYYY!”

Ufflield scuttled out of her room as she heard her half-mother yell to her, throwing the front door open in panic.

“Yes, Hannah?” she responded, not sure what the commotion was. Some of the other neighbors had been panicking about something in their rooms, but Uffield had metaphorically shrugged it off.

“Did you hear the sirens? There’s a tidal wave headed for the city!”

“Whaaat?!” the blanket-laden entity said like it was some interesting piece of gossip. “Why is there a tidal wave in a lake?”

“I...” Hannah paused, realizing she had no answer. “Well, I just know there is one. The whole city’s...apparently going to go down to it!” she said, seeming skeptical of the wave’s power. “Do you think this has anything to do with Drade running out earlier?”

“I’m not sure, but I should stop the wave before it destroys everything, including my V-tuber setup!” Uffield said before one of her tentacles suddenly burst from beneath her blanket, then dragged Hannah atop herself, making her half-mom freeze in fear. “Relax, Hannah, I’ve got you.”

Hannah shifted to properly sit atop the square-shaped eldritch entity, then began lightly bouncing up and down on her back with a surprised expression.

“Hmm? What is it?” Uffield asked, making her way to the front doorway, then squeezing through it.

“Its just...” Hannah began, “You’re so...squishy...”

The eldritch entity giggled, then began to laugh, her girlish spirit obvious in the joy and lightness of her voice. She walked to the end of the hall as she did, then paused in front of it. “I don’t think I’ve been called squishy before!”

Four tentacles slithered from beneath Uffield’s blanket and coalesced into one, which pointed at the wall. Then, they snapped at it, cleaving a massive hole through the stone faster than the eye could see. Hannah was startled by Uffield’s power and nearly jumped in her squishy seat.

Then, Uffield began to rise, hovering a foot off the ground, and wrapped a tentacle over Hannah’s waist as a harness. “Hold on!” she said, slowly hovering out the hole.

“W-wait, are you flying?” Hannah asked while she hugged her husband’s illegitimate child for dear life, getting deja vu from when she’d flown on his back.

“Of course I’m flying!” Uffleild said, exiting the building. “Taaaakeooooffff in one...two...”

“Uhh, maybe this isn’t such a good id-”

“...three!” Uffield and Hannah blasted through the sky in an instant. Uffeild soared across the city, ready to face whatever lay ahead.