Daiki's body surged forward, faster than his mind could think. The creature turned, its head twitching unnaturally towards Daiki's sudden motion. Adrenaline coursed through the young boy's veins. A chill ran down his spine. He didn't care. He didn't think.
He needed to save this girl and make sure she was safe.
"Hey!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "Leave her alone!"
The thing hesitated for a second. Then it shrieked, releasing an unearthly, monstrous howl before lunging at him.
Daiki raised his fist, ready to throw the most desperate punch of his entire life. And just before contact, something inside him snapped.
A flash of light, blue and sharp, exploded around his arm.
Daiki didn't care enough to ask why.
His punch connected, and upon contact, a blast of energy exploded outwards from his fist, sending the creature immediately rebounding backwards into a wall. Daiki looked down at his hand, before realizing an blue aura wrapped around him like a cloak. A jolt of ferocious energy flooded his veins. He could feel his vision sharpening, his muscles tensing. Daiki lifted his eyes back to the creature, noticing that it wasn't down for the count yet. It screeched, releasing a sound into his ears like metal scraping against bone. He had to finish the job.
There was no need to flinch this time.
Without even thinking, he darted forward with reckless abandon, heart thundering, a scream building in his throat. The world around him blurred. The air around him felt like it was warping, and for a moment, it even felt like time itself was slowing down. He raised his fist to strike the creature before it could fight back. He wouldn't let it survive this time.
His fist connected with the creature's midsection, releasing a detonation of light, blue, and wild energy on impact. It staggered backwards once again, but it still didn't fall.
Daiki didn't care.
He stepped in even faster this time and struck again. Once to its chest, again to its non-visible face, a third to its ribs. Each punch landed harder than the last, releasing blasts of explosive force and blue flame-like energy that scorched its body and lit the rain.
"Don't—"
Wham!
"—hurt—"
Crack!
"—people—"
BAM!
Each impact made the creature howl and reel, its body unravelling at the edges. It still fought, lashing at Daiki with claws of condensed shadow. One sliced across his cheek, another grazed his shoulder. Pain flared across his body, but Daiki didn't stop. He couldn't stop.
His vision blurred. His arms felt like lead. But he kept on swinging.
He punched it again. And again. And again. His knuckles split. His breath came in ragged, exhausted gasps. But his fury burned hotter.
The girl was watching, her mouth trembling. Her legs were too weak to run. Her hands over her ears.
But Daiki only saw this monster.
His last few strikes were wild and desperate. A knee to the creature's torso. A hammerfist to its skull. A brutal elbow across where a jaw should have been. The aura shrouding Daiki's body flared with every blow, brighter and wilder until the storm above seemed dim by comparison.
And finally—
The creature let out a final, broken moan, and its form shattered, fragments of darkness spiralling into the air like ash scattered in the wind. The blue light faded with it, swallowed into the storm clouds above.
Daiki stood there, panting, covered in cuts and bruises. His hoodie was torn, his fists bloody, his chest rising and falling like a drumbeat. He took one shaky step toward the girl—
Then collapsed.
His vision dimmed. His legs gave out from under him. The last thing he saw was the flicker of blue still dancing along his skin, and the girl's horrified face leaning toward him, calling for help desperately.
Then everything went black.