Attack
The virus slowed down to charge its first attack. Its head craned backwards with a devilish glow emanating from its mouth. It hurled forth a mighty fireball, orange petals whisking off a white hot orb of fury. Ren ran straight at it, feeling the heat on their fur, the squeeze of their pupils, and seeing the fur on their snout brighten.
Whoosh!
The fireball struck asphalt, splatting into a flower of flame and smoke. It missed Ren who leapt into the air, tucked into a ball, and spun their way to the vertex where they unrolled and saw the street floating several yards beneath them. The world went weightless. A vacuum of warm air was sucked away by the vanishing fire, leaving a void of cold that chilled Ren’s flesh. Suspended in the air they saw the virus and its surrounding wreckage, looking up curiously at the opponent who had so effortlessly dodged its attack.
Ren knew the drill by this point: muscle memory. They tucked their limbs back into their body, head down, arms crossed into an X. There was a shiver of energy, a multi-layered tug on their fur that rippled across their back and hummed through the air around them. A clench of the fists solidified the sensation into something honed and powerful. The wiring and code that made their being went into flux. At the climax, when the muscles were at their tightest, Ren released.
“Ha!” They uncrossed their arms and shot out their legs to form a great X shape with their body. A million shards of white had accumulated in the air around them, forming a multi-rung tapestry of diamonds turning in idiosyncratic orbits. They were aimed at the virus standing vulnerable on the street, and with an echoing shriek they blasted at their target. The inner rings of diamonds went first, spending each round in a cycle like a Gatling gun without any pause in between. The first ring went empty, followed by the next going all the way to the outer ring. It was like a strafing attack had been unleashed on the street, peppering the asphalt with diamond strikes which climbed the street towards the unfortunate target. Ren saw the entire road vanish under a sheet of dust. The virus disappeared beneath it with a terrified squawk that was barely heard beneath the diamond-fire.
The last diamond shot free, leaving the attack to echo through the street. Ren landed on the street, blowing a hole in the dust before they stood up to survey the damage. The parting nimbus revealed a pockmarked landscape unrecognizable as a street. Perfectly spaced bullet holes marched ahead for several yards beyond where the virus lay in a heap, unmoving. Ren stared in shock at what they’d done.
“Holy shit.” I can do all that?
“Did you get him?” called Maria from behind, startling them.
“Uh, yeah,” Ren hollered back. “I think so.”
“Is he gone or is he not?” There was a swell of impatience in her tone.
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 05 January 2026
The end (for now)