The hero known as Godly Lord placed his hands on his hips and smiled as he surveyed his city, the mere mortals going about their mundane affairs.

He remembered, long ago, when he was like them.

Until the blessings fell from the sky and transformed him. No, transcended him. Into something more. Something greater. Something super.

And now he used his godly might to defend his world. He even deigned to cooperate with those at the International League of Superheroes, for he was generous and charitable.

He was a bit peeved they had forced him to wait in that long line of applicants, but he was patient and forgiving. Still, he didn’t understand why the Director felt the need to humor the masses with such a simple application. Surely she knew with his help, such things were unnecessary? Still, he could understand. When he was but a mortal, he too could do naught but look up and seek after his betters. Still, he wondered if the whole ‘provisional hero’ system was sufficient to weed out those not cut out for this life.

Some might point out his own status as a ‘provisional hero’ but Godly Lord knew the truth. Yes, the standard mortal had to undergo disaster relief, crisis management, and basic combat training with the ILS before they would be fully certified as a hero, but such was not the case for one such as himself. The Director knew he could not be tied down by the chains of bureaucracy and rank. So she had set him free, acknowledging his generous cooperation without attempting to micromanage as she was forced to do for the rest. She knew his judgment to be superior to her own.

That was why she had not chained as a so-called ‘high-priority’ hero and invited him to the ILS’s flying fortress. She knew he would do far better work down here on his own.

Though, he would prefer it if he did not have to catch the bus. But the Director was a busy woman and ultimately a mere mortal. He was sure his personal grav-jet had simply gotten lost in the shuffle and would arrive any day now.

Speaking of the League his phone buzzed. He scrolled through the notifications.

Please enroll at the next New Hero Bootcamp by the end of today or you will lose your status as a provisional hero.

Bah, that one was clearly a mistake. The Director knew Godly Lord did not require any such training. She really needed to keep better control of her staff so they didn’t slip up like this.

Priority Alert for San Francisco: all available heroes please proceed to the Golden Gate Bridge area.

Ah, here we go. A priority request, just for him. The Godly Lord nodded solemnly.

And then started searching for the nearest bus stop.

The Godly Lord crested the hill with a view of the Golden Gate bridge. He leaned on his knees, panting heavily. What foolish mortal had decided to cancel the buses today?! Something about an emergency evacuation of the city? Fools! Didn’t they know Godly Lord protected this city? Didn’t they know all they needed to do was take him to the scene of the crime and all would be well? He took a deep breath and looked up. What sort of poor fool would feel his wrath today….

The giant creature in the bay roared.

Godly Lord turned around and began walking back down the hill. He pulled out his phone and started to search for the nearest ILS office.

He would love to assist but he was but a mere provisional hero, after all. And he had a bootcamp to enroll in by the end of the day. It was a shame but he’d have to forgo this one.

He jumped as the creature roared again.

He silently removed the mask on his face.

…

Dexter Read began to search for those evacuation buses. And planned how he would resume his job search, should he survive.

Wonder Knight soared through the air, his fist pulled back. He cried out as he threw his fist forward with all his might.

The air shook and thundered as he slammed into the scales of the mighty beast.

The scale dented slightly.

And then Wonder Knight turned his head and found a scaled hand rapidly filling his vision.

The boy wonder let out a cry as he flew straight into the bay, sending a cloud of mist soaring through the air.

High in the sky, Pink Star flew on a pink dragon, Icy Rose sitting behind her as Voidspeaker floated to the side. The pink dragon opened its mouth, unleashing a fiery pink breath. Icy Rose held up her hands and sent a hail of icicles. Voidspeaker chanted his eldritch magic, a dark beam piercing the air.

And the beast continued lumbering past the ruins of the Golden Gate Bridge, completely ignoring the barrage.

“Wonder, stop playing in the water and tell us what to do, bro! Nothing we have is even slowing this thing down!”

Wonder Knight burst out of the surface of the ocean, coughing up some water.

“Ugh…you try getting slapped by a kaiju! Why don’t you just do something culty?! Shouldn’t giant monsters be your specialty here?!”

“Bro! I specifically avoid summoning rituals for a reason!”

“Pink! Can you summon a whale again?”

“I mean, if you want me to use up everything to slap it in the face with the equivalent of a small fish.”

“Ugh…Chrono! Can’t you freeze it or something, buy us some time?”

“Um, excuse me?! You want me to freeze a living being the size of a mountain?! Are you trying to kill me?!”

“Ugh…Rose?”

“...I can help cool it down while it destroys everything.”

“...what about the other heroes?!”

Master Mammoth Owl was there…and aiding with the evacuation. Being a giant flying bird didn’t help against a kaiju many times his size after all. Same with Gray Slayer, a magnum wholly insufficient to kill a creature this size no matter what kind of magic silver bullets he had. Some new local heroes had volunteered to help but none of them had ever faced a threat even close to this scale.

As for the rest of the League, the ILS’s Mobile HQ was on the way but it had not been near the American West Coast when the monster was discovered and so would not arrive before the behemoth reached the city. Likewise, the Director promised reinforcements but they had not yet arrived. With the chaos of the times, the ILS’s experienced assets were spread thin.

And time was running out.

If Aurora Legion couldn’t at least slow this thing down, then thousands would die by the time the ILS mustered the strength to fight it.

Wonder Knight grit his teeth and swam to the nearest shore, a rocky cliff. He dug his hands into the ground, groaning as a massive boulder cracked and lifted into the air. He pulled it back with both hands and lobbed it as hard he could.

The boulder smashed into the monster’s face, pushing it to the side. The monster narrowed its eyes and turned to the boy.

Wonder Knight froze.

Ok, he got its attention. Just as planned.

What was step two?

The monster let out a mighty roar, Wonder Knight lifting his hands as he was battered by gusts of wind. The monster then spun around, its tail smashing into the ocean.

And sending a towering wall of water towards the teenage hero.

Wonder Knight’s eyes widened.

“Oh shi…”

The pink dragon swooped down just in front of the wave, snatching the boy with its claws right before the water drowned the shoreline.

“T-Thanks Pink, I owe you one.”

“Less talking, more planning.”

“R-Right.”

The boy thought as the monster roared at him once more. His eyes widened. His mind went blank.

No matter what they did, it made little impact on a creature that size. They simply lacked the firepower to make meaningful progress.

If only he was stronger.

If only they had more power…

“Pink. Can you recreate anyone? Like that one girl…”

“I know what you’re thinking but it doesn’t work that way. At the end of the day the constructs still come from my power. So if I’m not as powerful as the target, then my copy won’t be either.”

Wonder Knight frowned and grit his teeth.

“Right…”

Pink Star stared at him from up on top of the dragon. Eventually she heaved a sigh.

He may broken her heart…and shattered it to pieces…and then stomped those pieces into dust…multiple times…

But still…she hated to see him like that.

“That’s not a bad call though, you gave me an idea.”

The pink dragon turned and flew towards the nearest shoreline, dropping off its riders. Pink Star turned towards Icy Rose.

“I’ll need your help, but if we combine powers, maybe we can slow it down.”

Icy Rose nodded.

“I’ll do what I can.”

Pink Star took a deep breath, and then held out her hands. Her gauntlets began to grow, gradually becoming brighter and brighter. Pink Star slowly opened her eyes and looked at the kaiju, on the verge of reaching the city.

“I choose you…stupid magic girl.”

Pink light shone from her hands, illuminating the ground. Light began to form into a body, from the feet, gradually moving upwards until a glowing pink girl stood before the team, her hair fluttering in the air like wisps of fire.

Wonder Knight raised an eyebrow.

“Stupid magic girl?”

“Shut it, stupid, handsome, gay heartbreaker. I don’t know her name!”

“R-Right, I’m sorry.”

The Saydaa copy raised her hands, her eyes glowing pink. The air began to pick up around the kaiju, forming into a mighty cyclone. Icy Rose lifted her hands as well, cold mist forming in the air around her. Ice gales blew from her hand and joined with the cyclone, the cyclone spreading Icy Rose's cold all across the creature. The cyclone grew and grew, eventually eclipsing the beast’s legs and reaching the bottom of its torso. Frost formed on its scales, water blew up into the air and froze into snow and hail. The beast began to slow.

Voidspeaker grinned and clapped.

“It’s working! Keep it up!”

But Pink Star frowned.

“It’s not enough though.”

The beast was slowing down…but it continued to step forward. Pink Star grunted, Icy Rose grit her teeth as frost creeped along her skin.

Wonder Knight turned to Voidspeaker and Chronolock.

“Let’s go! If we can’t stop it, we need to get the people out of the way!”

The pair nodded grimly. Voidspeaker flew into the air once more as Chronolock began to blink along the ground towards the creature’s point of landfall. Wonder Knight crouched down, preparing to leap the distance in one go. He grit his teeth once more.

If only they were stronger.

If only he was stronger.

But he wasn’t.

And time had run out.