“Shit! What happened to her?” Beppu cursed between his teeth and started running towards their fallen guardian angel. Hoshino grabbed Beppu and spun him to punch him with a glare.

“Stay away from her, idiot.” Hoshino rubbed at his bruised knuckles as Beppu wiped his mouth of a trickling of his blood in the corner and glared at his friend.

“What the fuck are you talking about, you little turd?!” Beppu snapped, snarling. Drawing his arm back to retaliate, Oye once again intercepted his punch with a shake of his head.

“Look at the girl,” Oye said simply, his fear barely concealed.

Beppu’s lips writhed as the three turned to see her slowly recede from sight. Hoshino, unlike the other two, watched as the girl was neatly encased in a disgusting fleshy bag, materials spinning out from the monster’s maw.

“As I said, there’s a monster,” Hoshino said. “I’m sorry I was so rough, Beppu. I don’t want you to get hurt. I can tell that you can’t see it. Trust me and carry Tommy far away. Maybe the clinic won’t be far enough away. Damn it.” Hoshino clenched his hands into fists, his blood draining from them, leaving them whitened as they trembled with his impotent frustration.

“She had some kinda superpowers, but it wasn’t enough,” Oye said calmly, shaking his head. “If they aren’t enough, it’s best we get far away from here and right now.”

Hoshino’s hands relaxed. He took a deep breath, recognizing Oye’s logic. He knew the truth of his words. If he lingered, he’d probably end up in a cocoon like the girl and Nichols. Even so, Hoshino knew that there was something that he possessed that his friends didn’t… didn’t the ability to see the monster while they were unable mean something? Wasn’t he special?

“Let’s go, idiot.” Oye snapped at Hoshino to snap him out of his private reverie and, seizing his shoulder, he gave his friend a tug to get him started.

With hesitance, Hoshino stared over his shoulder as his legs started moving.

“The fuck am I going to leave a girl in danger! Get the hell out of here!” Beppu suddenly roared and charged blindly at the monster while it was finishing up its disgusting work. The creature was sheathing the girl in her cocoon. 

Shocked, Hoshino skidded to a stop and grating his teeth in determination, Hoshino turned and ran to the basketball hoop, recovering their basketball. The monster straightened and slithered close to Beppu, staring down at him, looming far above him. Sensing something dangerous standing above him, Beppu nonetheless charged at where the girl disappeared and screamed as he stumbled over her body, twitching as he went down. The girl’s struggle inside made the surface of her cocoon ripple, maybe jostled by Beppu having tripped over her.

Beppu pitched over and flopped against the wall that Nichols usually leaned against to read while they played basketball. His head fetched up into the wall and Beppu collapsed. With skittering noises, the insectoid monster crept over to claim its newest victim.

Oye left the basketball court with Nichols slung over his shoulder, running off towards the clinic out of sight.

The monster reared up and began to spit its cocooning fluids onto Beppu when a basketball suddenly slammed hard into its head. With a screech, it turned towards Hoshino, recovering the basketball that bounced off. With an impish grin, fear glimmering in his eyes, Hoshino drew back his arm and launched the ball again. The ball struck again and returned to its owner’s hands.

“Hahaha…” Hoshino sneered. “You’re nothing. You look scary as shit, but you’ve got nothing. Go slinking off!” The creature drew back, its mandibles clicking and snapping viciously as Hoshino bounced his ball off its head again. Its dark eyes gained a new quality of menacing. With a shriek, the creature charged at Hoshino.

Gasping, Hoshino knew he had to get out of Dodge. Hoshino hoped Beppu would wake and save the girl before something happened to her like Nichols. Whatever went on in those cocoons seemed to be too rapid for comfort.

Hoshino wracked his mind as he fled, holding his basketball as he rushed in an opposite direction from where Oye had gone. His long legs carried him off the court, around a corner and onto the school’s soccer field. Charging across the well-trimmed lawn, Hoshino led his pursuer away. Worried that he might outpace the creature, Hoshino shot a quick look over his shoulder, but he found that the thing was faster than him. He shook his head. He didn’t have to worry about whether it could keep up. Putting more effort into his running, Hoshino cleared the field and ran at an angle around the nearest of the soccer goals. He stopped and waited for the monster to creep around the net, catching his breath. Hoshino quickly chucked his ball back into its face.

The monster chittered. With a dismissive undulation of one of its front limbs, it deflected the basketball, sending it across the field to slam into the far goal.

“Oh, shit… it’s pretty strong…” Hoshino muttered and charged away. As he caught himself running back towards the basketball court, he cursed, tearing off, angling away again, narrowly avoiding a clawed limb slamming into the turf. The strike sent clumps of sod and clinging grass flying.

Hoshino knew he didn’t have much time left. He’d end up cocooned soon enough. His attempt to protect his friends and that girl might buy them some time, but inevitably, they’d get victimized just the same. He had nothing else to use as a weapon. Turning towards his pursuer would only result in instant capture.

His breathing was heavy and sweat oozed from every pore of his body. With increasingly haze-filled eyes, Hoshino zigzagged in search of some kind of weapon he could use. His eyes went even more wonky when the light vision returned for a moment, blinding Hoshino, making his already dangerous situation far worse. There was a flash of purple light, standing out against the stars that everything was now made up out of. It streaked and struck his shoulder like a lightning bolt. With a gasp, Hoshino stumbled, but for some odd reason, his legs moved more certainly rather than foundering, more precisely. Suddenly his lurching pace was smooth and even slightly faster.

You have it.

A strange voice entered Hoshino’s mind as his legs churned. He lost sight of everything around him, unable to tell which was up and down. What was with this strange light blindness? He ran interminably through fields of stars, sensing the rushing, creeping darkness stalking him.

I don’t understand why. What an odd thing. You’re the wrong type for it, but you still have it.

… What are you… who are you? What?

I’m a god. Your kind do believe in us, don’t you?

A … A god?!

Yes. I offer you the means to protect your loved ones and spare that girl who might have died for your sake… If you’re willing to sacrifice everything for their sakes.

… Everything? Will I die?

Perhaps. I don’t know how it will take you. For all I know, you could turn into light, explode and cease to be. But there’s a possibility that you will survive and become stronger. Do you have the courage to protect your world?

… I’m not sure…

In that case, I’ll leave you to your fate. There are others who can take on your burden, but there are none who can save your friends and the ‘angel’ who protected you. Is that all you’re worth, Kenneth Hoshino?

With a snarl, Kenneth screamed out loud. “JUST GET IT OVER WITH THEN! KILL ME, OR WHATEVER!” He panted. “As long as my friends are safe, take me. Just do whatever the fuck you want!”

Thanks for your sacrifice, Kenneth. We are at war. Once you’ve changed, if you survive, you’ll fight for the gods to protect this damned universe. Powerful lights like yourself roar like a bonfire against the oncoming wave of darkness. You’re needed. Become a beacon that may guide all light-fearing souls. Become a bane to the anti-light empire. 

“Speak your name, Kenneth. Speak unto me your true name,” the voice came from the mass of purple light on Hoshino’s shoulder.

“... A…” Kenneth stuttered as a name flashed in his mind. It was a name that, for some strange reason, resonated with his soul. “A-Aurora…” Kenneth’s breathing was now ragged. No matter whatever this ‘god’ had done to him, he was running out of energy.

“Thank you, Lodestar Aurora. Our contract is henceforth signed with your true name revealed. Proxy transformation protocol engage!”

Words flowed from Hoshino’s lips, “Radiance of the Aurora!” He took a last gasping breath as pain wracked his body, the purple energy intertwining with his body. “LIGHT UP!”

There was an explosion of light. The shock wave blew the pursuing monster away and all turned white as Kenneth Hoshino screamed.

Rellawing

Please check out Assurbanipal II's work. I also want to mention MajorKerina, who has been writing much longer than myself.

💖 Sorry that this one was posted later than typical! I simply slept until now! XD  I was up later than usual before.

My fortune for the year telling me that I would have Grave Misfortune seems really spot on so far. After the first, multiple leaks developed in the kitchen and now whatever containers I could gather are catching the water until I can figure out what to do about it. '^^

Meanwhile, after the first big snowing of the year, with the forecasts predicting that I would be snowed in all month, I tried to drive out to the grocery store. My bumper unknowingly snagged on something as I backed out and was ripped off, including the parking lights under the headlights. That part is twisted around and now my car is immovable.

My plans to upgrade my computer will go awry with having to figure out how to fix the roof and my car both. Sucks.