High Volt

I wiped down another table, half-humming KaiKool's dumb jingle without even thinking. Maybe the French guy's happiness was contagious. Either that or exhaustion had finally broken my brain.

A yelp drew my attention to the birthday party table. Two of the kids were jumping and grabbing at something floating near the ceiling - Rhino in his balloon form, bobbing just out of reach every time their fingers got close. The string stayed firmly tied to Sae's arm while she pretended not to notice.

"Almost got it!" one kid lept. Rhino drifted lazily just out of reach, somehow looking smug for an inanimate object.

The commotion faded into background noise as I glanced up at the TV mounted in the corner.

--And in other news, scientists have discovered mysterious white crystals embedded in various locations around the world. Experts are now investigating-

Huh. Not a single mention of Little Shit. Just more end of the world coverage, complete with scary graphics. Looked like the military wasn't messing around about controlling the narrative.

The screen flickered. Once. Twice.

Did… did I blink too hard?

Then everything went dark.

The confused murmurs from nearby tables confirmed I wasn't imagining things. The lights sputtered back on after a few seconds, along with the TV's doom-and-gloom broadcast, before going out again.

I squinted through the dim glow of Little Shit's magma spots, watching customers fumble with their phones for light.

"Tatsuhara!" Manager's voice sliced through the darkness from somewhere across the dining room. "Check the circuit breakers out back!"

"I don't know how to-" But she was already gone. 

"I can help," Sae said, suddenly beside me, Rhino bobbing along in balloon form behind her. "I have experience with electrical systems."

At this point, was there anything Miss Military couldn't do?

I sighed and lifted Little Shit up like a living lantern. His volcanic patches cast an orange glow throughout the dining area - a surprisingly useful feature, I realized.

The back alley behind KaiKool smelled like old grease and defeat. Sae found the breaker box and started flipping switches while I held Little Shit up higher, trying to illuminate the labels that must've faded to illegibility years ago.

"Try the lights now," Sae called.

I poked my head back inside. Still dark. "Nothing."

I leaned against the wall while Sae kept working. The night air felt heavy like right before a thunderstorm. My eyes wandered up the power lines, following their path into the distance where they connected to a transmission tower that-

Ugh. There was something... wrong with that tower. Or rather something wrong next to it. A massive shape that didn't quite make sense, like trying to look at a building through warped glass.

I blinked, shook it off. Instead, I let my thoughts wander back to our earlier conversation about the Tokyo penthouse. Sae had gone oddly quiet when Kurumi brought up her fifty-million-yen grand plan.

"Hey, you didn't say anything back there." I watched Sae methodically flip switches in the breaker box. "About the whole Tokyo penthouse thing. Just wondering if you think it's selfish. Or unrealistic."

Her hands stilled on the switches. The orange glow from Little Shit cast strange shadows across her face as she turned to look at me.

"The world is ending. You should get to do what you want to do."

I turned back around, mulling over Sae's response. What the hell? She was supposed to be the voice of reason, not enable my pipe dreams of luxury penthouses.

The massive shape by the transmission tower caught my eye again. Wait. Wasn't it just further away a moment ago?

Now it stood by the next tower, closer. The air around it rippled like heat waves off summer asphalt making my eyes water trying to focus on its form.

"Ugh, Sae?" I nudged her arm, pointing. "That thing. It's moving."

She followed my gaze. Without a word, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Lieutenant Himuro Sae. ID 7249. Has there been any Grade A kaiju activity reported in Shiba area recently?"

I caught fragments of the conversation. Something about a Grade B spotted earlier, but it had been stationary until now.

Grade B. From what little I knew of the classification system, that meant city-destroyer level threat. Not quite world-ending like Grade A, but…

"That's the one. It's mobile now. Requesting immediate reinforcements at these coordinates." A pause. "Understood. Keep me updated on the Grade A situation in Saitama."

I shifted anxiously as Sae hung up her phone. "So... what exactly are we dealing with here?"

"Designation VD-227. Nicknamed 'High Volt.' Known for feeding on electricity, disrupting power grids. It's been dormant until now. Unfortunately, help's tied up with a Grade A situation in Saitama."

Well fuck. My hands went clammy as I watched the shape blur between transmission towers, getting closer with each jump. Little Shit buried his face in the hood of my costume with a whimper.

"I mean, it hasn't actually destroyed anything yet, right? Maybe it's friendly?"

The kaiju materialized briefly at the next tower. In that split second, I caught glimpses of its true form - a body that looked like someone had taken a bunch of transmission towers and twisted them into a vaguely kaiju shape. Electricity coursed under the plates of its body, casting flickers of blue across the alley.

The shape vanished again, reappearing closer. I could see individual tentacles now, hundreds of them whipping through the air like live wires. The glow from its core spilled over KaiKool's back wall.

Three towers away. Two.

We'd never get everyone out of the café in time.

I hoisted Little Shit above my head like the world's most useless warning beacon, waving him back and forth.

"Hey! Look! S-grade kaiju here! Shoo!"

High Volt's red eyes flicked toward us for a brief moment before dismissing Little Shit entirely. I guess some kaiju are smart enough to tell how underwhelming he was.

Metal groaned as High Volt took another thundering step closer. The air crackled with electricity, making my hair stand on end. Behind me, I could hear Sae barking orders into her phone.

This was it. I was going to die before the world ends, in a kaiju costume, holding a useless baby kaiju, never getting the chance to live my Tokyo dream.

A deep rumble then shook the ground. Not High Volt's footsteps - this was different. Familiar.

The night sky lit up orange as a massive shape emerged from behind buildings in the distance. Steam billowed from the furnace embedded in its chest and those unmistakable spines cast long shadows in the electrical glow.

Well would you look at that.

The Furnace Kaiju's arrival sent High Volt skittering backward, electricity crackling defensively around its frame. The furnace in its chest flared to life, flooding the block with warm orange light that pushed back against High Volt's cold blue glow.

Little Shit squealed in delight, bouncing in my arms as the Furnace kaiju stepped between us and High Volt. I had never been so happy to see the walking property damage again.