Kenichi ran. Tears streaked his face, and he panted for breath as his cheap office shoes slapped against the wet pavement. He ripped off his tie and threw it to the side, desperately trying to get just a little more distance, to gain another second of life. Around him, hundreds, thousands of other people screamed and ran as well. Mothers holding children, the elderly hobbling along as best they could.
Ahead of him, an old woman stumbled to the ground, tripped as she tried to scramble away. Two teenage girls lept over her. He almost did the same, but could not. Kenichi paused, helping the woman to her feet.
"Come on, aunty, we have to go," he said, people shoving him from behind as he helped the elderly woman to her feet.
"T-thank you," she gasped, and hobbled along, Kenichi helping her. He looked back, and his heart sank.
The wall of water had appeared, a dark figure visible behind it. Apparently, that dragon's flames had been quenched already.
Then, something happened ahead of Kenichi. A woman, dressed in a purple kimono with a scandalously short hem swayed forward. She was clearly a parahuman, and people were getting out of her way as she slowly walked forward, her purple eyes looking about her curiously.
"Strange. This is not the land I recall," she murmured to herself.
"Help us!" Kenichi begged as the water raged forward. He squeezed his eyes shut as he and the old woman tried to brush past the para-human. "Gods, please, anyone, anything, help us!"
"Very well."
Despite his closed eyes, Kenichi saw pure white light, and he fell to the ground. When he looked up, he saw the woman standing, a glowing sword in her hands. The wall of water had been split in two, revealing the struggling monster behind it. The dragon hero still fought on, larger than it had been before, but the tsunami had been halted.
"What…" Kenchi gasped. He blinked, and looked at the woman with the sword in her hands. "I…thank you."
"Hmph. You speak the tongue of Inazuma at least. Fear not, mortal. Your god has arrived," the woman said.
Then, as Kenichi gaped, she rose up into the air, a faint smile on her lips. "Now. Let us begin."
Kenta slammed into Leviathan again, roaring in anger and pain. This was by far the largest he'd ever gotten, and the flames he unleashed were hot enough to melt the glass off of the shattered buildings around him.
And still he was losing.
He roared in fury as Leviathan knocked him down again, then tried to struggle to his feet as waves pounded him relentlessly. He had thought he was strong enough to fight an Endbringer, that he had chosen his time to enter the battle well.
He had been wrong. Oh, so wrong. But he was not going to die quietly.
As he got to his feet, he saw that Leviathan had disengaged. They'd been fighting for what felt like days, but was probably not even an hour. In that time, his foe had been relentless, never backing down, never giving him a moment's respite, even as Leviathan had swatted down dozens of other parahumans. But now the creature had backed away, turning away from Kenta.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Kenta roared, then was swept off his feet as a great wave slapped him down.
But he saw.
Leviathan dodged to the side as a bolt of lighting rose up out of the ground ahead of them. Lung watched as the purple arc slammed into a half ruined skyscraper, and proceeded to slice it in half. The building collapsed, causing a domino effect as it crashed into another weakened structure.
"What-"
Kenta had to look away as another bolt struck down from the dark sky above them. He didn't slow down though, managing to jump up and half tackle Levithan, sending the two of them crashing into and through another building.
Then the Endbringer showed it had simply been playing before as it threw Kenta off of itself, bellowing an odd, echoing battlecry that sounded like whalesong mixed with an alligator's bellow. Even as he was crashing into the rubble strewn water, Kenta saw Leviathan blasted into the air, hurtling the other direction as it tumbled ass over tail into its own, now receding waters.
"Dragon. You are a noble warrior. Tell me: What land is this?"
Blinking, Kenta looked around, but saw nothing for a moment. Then he looked down, and saw near his feet a woman in a purple robe, glowing sword in hand, looking up at him with a neutral expression.
"I…this is Japan. Who are you?" Kenta asked.
"Japan. Interesting. And where is it located?" the woman asked, her voice loud and clear despite the surf. Wait. That water was ankle deep on Kenta, and he was almost 10 meters tall now. How was she…
"You're standing on the water," Kenta said, stating the obvious. He shook his head. He must be punch drunk. "Not now. Will you fight with me against Leviathan?"
"Is that the beast's name?" the woman turned, even as Leviathan roared again, standing and surrounding itself with walls of water nearly 20 meters high.
How a parahuman didn't know the name of an Endbringer more than three years after its first appearance…well. Now was not the time for questions.
Lung inhaled, and breathed out a stream of fire that turned the water it touched into vapor even as the walls of water shot forward faster than a speeding train.
"Shine Down!"
The air…bent. Then ripped apart. The water bent aside, falling in on itself as the wave fell apart. A glowing purple eye appeared, and Leviathan roared in pain as it stumbled back.
"Hmph. An inappropriate place for a battle," the woman commented.
Kenta blinked, looking to the side. The woman was now hovering in mid air, a glowing purple corona flickering about her.
"Dragon. What direction is unpopulated?" the woman demanded.
"Uh…" Kenta looked around, trying to orient himself. After a moment, he pointed to where he thought the shoreline was. "That way."
"Very well."
And in a flash of lighting, the woman vanished. Leviathan struck out, only to catch nothing but air. Bolts of lighting flickered out, slamming into it and driving it back, back, away from the heart of Nagasaki.
For a brief moment, Kenta considered withdrawing. He was exhausted, and he knew now he was outmatched. But he could not allow a lone woman to outdo him. Bellowing a wordless battlecry, he surged forward, tail dragging behind him as he charged into battle.
At first, he and the strange woman go in one another's way, or, well, the much slower Kenta got in her way, but they found a rhythm soon enough. The woman was fast, faster than even Kenta's enhanced senses could track, and appeared to be able to teleport, coming at Leviathan from all angles, but relentlessly driving the Endbringer back to the sea. Kenta acted as a herder, harassing Leviathan whenever it attempted to make a break for it. He tried to go toe to toe with the creature again, growing in size until he was taller even than Leviathan, nearly 12 meters tall, but still he was tossed about and battered on all sides by water.
Still, Leviathan was looking harassed now, and obvious wounds covered the creature. It would strike with tail, claw, and jaw, or use vast waves and jets of water that could slice through steel to strike at the buzzing purple gnat, but to no avail. When it did make contact, Kenta could see the peerless bladework of the woman effortlessly turn aside a claw that was bigger than she was, or a slice that redirected the tail harmlessly into the ground.
For long minutes they fought, until the fight spilled out into the raging waves of Nagasaki Bay. Leviathan surged through the waves that Kenta had to wade through, but when the woman bothered to touch the surface, she glided along the wavetops like a dancer.
"I tire of this," the woman said at least, hovering up to Kenta's head level. "It is too quick, dodging my strikes. Will it away?"
"Maybe, but if it does it'll just come back," Kenta panted, his breath turning the rain and waves to steam.
"Very well. I do not wish such a grievous insult to stand. Can you grapple the thing?"
Kenta considered that. "For a time. Not long. Why?"
"I shall deal it a blow such that none can survive, if you hold it still but an instant."
Kenta laughed. "Lady, you do not kill an Endbringer. They may as well be gods."
A smile quirked her lips. "Many a god have I fought before. None now are counted among the living."
For a moment, Kenta couldn't believe it. "Who are you?"
"I am Raiden, Archon of Inazuma, God of Thunder. What is your name, mortal?"
Lightning flickered behind her and in her eyes, and in that moment, Kenta believed. He did what he had never done before, not before he triggered, and certainly not since.
He bowed. "I am Kenta, known as Lung."
The woman nodded. "You fight well, Lung Kenta. I cannot promise that you will not perish with the beast in my strike. Few before you have survived even a glancing blow of the Musou-no-Hitotachi. Will you hold the beast?"
Kenta turned back to Leviathan, which was moving away, up the coast, apparently having decided it had fought these two parahumans long enough. Only…Kenta did not think that Raiden was a parahuman. Was she Amateratsu, come to save Japan in her hour of need? Was she Susano, given form?
He did not know. But he did believe.
"For a chance to slay an Endbringer, I would give my life, that my name might live on in legend," Kenta growled. "Strike true, Raiden."
She nodded, and Kenta roared with all the fury he had in him, crashing through the waves towards Leviathan, one last time. He lunged at the Endbringer, who seemed to open up its arms to receive him. The two grappled, and Kenta managed to get the creature in a hold. Only for a moment, even as he secured his grasp, Leviathan was already breaking free.
"NOW, RAIDEN!"
He looked up, and he saw the Lightning's Glow.
"NOW YOU SHALL PERISH!"
Heaven itself opened up, and Kenta beheld True Eternity in the eyes of a god.
The world went white, and he knew nought but pain.
"Reports are still coming in of the two unnamed parahumans that are battling Levithan. They seem to have left the city after over half an hour of fighting, and reports indicate that the Endbringer may be successfully driven off."
Bubba looked up, frowning at the radio that Earl was listening to. "Turn that thing off. Or put on somethin' more amusin' than that."
"Ain't nothin' else on," Earl said, turning the dial. Another reporter's voice came on.
"-Japanese officials continue to state that the evacuation proceeds as planned, with the two parahumans buying the city of Nagasaki time. At last word, fighting had left the city proper and was now in Nagasaki Bay."
Bubba sighed. He looked up from the hood of his old Ford F-150, whipping his hands on a greasy rag. "Then turn that off and put on a CD or somethin'. I don't wanna hear 'bout another bunch of folk's killed off. Even if they are the Japs. This is Alabama. Don't care about what happens on the 'tother side a the world."
"Cryin' shame. Figured Nag-uh-sah-key done had enough when we nuked it back in '45," Earl commented.
"Bubba! Dinner's about done!" Mary Sue called from inside the house.
"Thanks hon, we'll wash up," Bubba called back. He closed the lid of his Ford, grunting as he did so. "Turn that off. It'll ruin supper."
"This just in, reports now-"
The radio shut off, and Bubba nodded. "Thanks."
"Uh, Bubba, I didn't turn it off," Earl said, his voice shaky.
"What do you-"
Behind Bubba, the fans inside the house went off. Across the street, the lights in the neighbors house shut off. A car going down the street sputtered, and died. Dogs up and down the street began to bark wildly, Duke in the yard straining on his chain as the old hound went ballistic.
And above them, the late November sky went from blue to black. And then a purple rainbow bloomed.
"What the hell," Bubba gasped, falling to his knees. He looked up, and his vision swam, as he glimpsed the barest hint of eternity.
Then it was all back to normal. The radio flicked back on, and the voice of the shaken reporter could be heard.
"We're back with you now, folks. Uh, we apologize for that brief interruption, but we're on the air again. We are looking into the phenomena now, and will bring you updates as soon as we can. We now continue our story of…what? That's…That's impossible."
There was silence for a moment, then the reporter took a ragged breath. "Sources…sources say that Leviathan has…has been slain…"
Bubba and Earl exchanged frightened looks. "Bubba…what just happened?"
"Hell if I know," Bubba said, getting shakily to his feet. He took off his NASCAR cap and scratched at this balding pate. "But I think things just done changed."
Kenichi and the others looked on in awe, as the crackling figure descended. In her arms she cradled the burned and mained form of a man, with metallic skin, and vaguely draconic features. She set down on the ground, and for a moment, no one spoke or stood, not even the police or medics who gaped openly.
"This brave warrior withstood the Lightning's Glare, and lived. Render him aid," the woman said, holding out the body of the bleeding man.
That seemed to break the spell, and two medics bustled forward with a stretcher, taking the man and strapping him down as they started first aid.
"Well. I think it's over," Kenich said quietly to his companion. He had found out her name was Aoi Shimuru, though he knew nothing else.
"Yes. I think it is," Aoi agreed.
"You, and you. We must begin restoration," the woman said, pointing to Kenichi and Aoi. "You seem fit enough. Find tools, and begin clearing the rubble. Search for survivors."
"Me?" Kenichi said, blinking in surprise. "But I-"
"Do you question me?" the woman asked. Her tone was mild, but her eyes.
Kenichi stood hastily and bowed. "N-no. I will begin at once."
Even as he went to begin to dig through the waterlogged city, behind him the woman barked further orders. "Get the elderly and infirm to shelters at once. Where are you supply caches? You, guard, take ten men and send runners to inform the authorities the beast has been slain. You, and you. Go to help with finding those who are injured."
She continued, an endless stream of orders, given simply and in clear language. A few hesitated, but not for long. Soon, a nexus of order sprang up, and spread out from the little group that was commanded by the Savior of Kyushu. Her ranks swelled, and when the mayor found her, soon he too was bowing and offering all the resources of his city to Raiden.
Before long, her name began to spread in whispers: Raiden Shogun. God of Thunder.