Standing still

Rancrew was laying on the floor. The air was near opaque with all of the dust flying around. He coughed and tried to open his eyes as he screamed.

“D-Dad!”

“I’m fine… I didn’t even sense how bad it’s gotten.” 

Arcland’s voice resonated from the red suit. He half stood on the window, observing the monster outside. 

“I’ll keep it occupied, just get to safety.” 

Though it was his father’s voice, it was the first time he heard such a tone.

“All right!” - As Rancrew said it he started to look around the restaurant for any people affected - “Everyone, this way”

He barely heard it, but a faint smile formed on his face. Though it only lasted for a moment, as soon he was standing in front of the monster and the stern expression returned to his face.

The monster was only focusing on Arcland, the two stared down at each other. It was at least double Arcland’s size, with a giant arm resembling a claw. The alien ignored people running by, not letting Arcland out of sight.

“So you’re after me. Well that makes it easier.” 

After he said this, both of them started their own brawl. Though, it was a relatively passive effort from Arcland, who seemed to just parry the monster’s attack. He made sure to not move from the original spot, in order to keep the danger confined to one area. 

“Everyone, this way!” - Rancrew was now outside the restaurant, screaming towards all the confused people.

As the citizens left the area, Arcland’s counterattacks were becoming fiercer. The parries of the monster’s attacks were leaving damage as they caused it to slam to the floor. His punches were enough to even start lifting it up in the air.

“Quick, this way!” 

Rancrew continued his evacuation efforts, at this point there were only a handful of people left on the street.

The fists of the red suit began to glow as Arcland continued his onslaught of the monster. He was on the offensive this time. Each hit leaving the monster writhing in pain. Each consecutive punch leaves a small mark on its body.  At this point, his fists were clad with fire. It was not a challenge for him.

And then, out of nowhere his body froze mid punch. 

It’s gone, again… 

He thought in frustration before the monster’s claw slammed into him with enough force to penetrate the ground. 

“Dad!” 

“I’m all right” - The faint voice rang out from beneath the claw. Though it was quiet not because of damage Arcland took, but rather because the heavy claw on top of him muffled it.

He got hit with enough force that part of him broke the concrete and went deep into the ground. Though in the last moment he was able to shield himself from damage.

“How is everyone?”

“They’re safe!” 

“All right! Now you get out of here!” 

Arcland could tell Rancrew nodded even if he couldn’t look at him, as he was too focused on the enemy before his eyes.

He stood up working up against the claw. Though it looked heavy, he made it look effortless. He crushed the armor of the claw, gripping the monster’s flesh, flipping the monster over his head and slamming it into the ground, over and over. The shell that was covering its skin was starting to crack.

After one final slam, he pulled the monster closer to his body and with his other hand, that was folded into a fist, punched it so that it flew into the air. 

Arcland started to concentrate power in his fist. It once again began to glow. A deep, red colour. More intense than before. He continued to do so until the monster’s ascent started to slow down, and as it began to fall. He unleashed his attack.

“Fire Punch!” 

The fiery blast from his fist extended deep into the air and towards the sky. Some of the flames were trapped by the buildings and began rushing towards Rancrew, stopping just in front of him as he now slowed down his run.

“What a show-off…” - He said as he looked back at Arcland, with a satisfied look.

What both of them failed to notice was that the monster was not fully gone. In the sky where its incinerated body was disappearing, a small, solid cylindrical core was floating. In its final act of desperation, the core opened holes and from within them a barrage of lasers started to rain over the area. 

“Ran!” 

His screams were drowned out by the sounds of the lasers slashing through the buildings. Even though they flew in every direction, none of them hit either Rancrew or Arcland. The barrage itself lasted only a few seconds, after which Rancrew finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, even if the lasers were unsuccessful in killing the two of them, they destroyed the structure of a nearby building, causing them to slowly start collapsing onto the street where Rancrew and Arcland were.

The debris falling would cover the whole street. There was no place to hide. Getting out of a situation like thai would normally not be an issue for Arcland, but something was different this time.

Move!

He screamed at himself internally as his body refused to cooperate.

Not now! Move my legs!

And yet, nothing changed. The buildings were collapsing at such a speed that even if Rancrew, who was still standing observing Arcland with his mouth wide open, turned around and tried to run, he would still get crushed.

It’s like that day… There’s nothing I can do. 

His shoulders dropped, as he was about to give up. And yet, a weird feeling came over him. Like a primal instinct, he lifted his finger and pointed it towards Rancrew.

“Transfer” -  A red bullet shot out of his finger and reached Rancrew almost instantly, right before both of them crushed under the weight of the buildings. 

Though there was nowhere to hide, the buildings fell in such a way that there was still some place underneath the debris to move. The figure in the red suit, which at this point was ripped all over, seemed to struggle to pull off the fallen chunks of himself.

With great effort, he pushed the large chunk covering his chest, allowing him to crawl out and stand up, or at least attempt to do so. He barely had any strength left to do so, but he continued moving forward.

There was a small gap between two pieces of metal that must’ve been reinforcing the buildings. It took him great effort to actually squeeze between them. The compression on his ribs, which were already bruised and broken, was too painful for him to squeeze through with just one attempt.

And yet, he continued deeper. With one step he felt a weird sensation on his foot. Looking down he saw a pile of blood, coming from the area he was trying to get into.

“Dad!” - The voice erupted from the suit.

He pushed in even deeper. At this point he was starting to hear the heavy breathing of Arcland.

He had to pull himself out of the crevice, scratching his skin even further. In the effort to do so, he lost his balance, and fell towards the ground,  which is when he saw the state Arcland was in.

While his upper body was mostly intact, his lower half was completely crushed under the rubble. A sigh so gruesome Rancrew would’ve vomited upon seeing it any other time than this one.

“Shit! shit, shit, shit…” - He frantically lifted himself up and walked towards Arcland. 

“Ran..”

“Dad! I’m here, it’s going to be fine!” - Rancrew began to pull some of the pieces of the debris from Arcland, but for every part he took out, another two or three fell, crushing him even more.

“W-What are you doing, Ran…”

“Getting you out, what else!?” 

“It’s pointless… I know my body better than anyone else… This is the end of the line for me.”

“Stop saying stupid shit like this! You’re the red ranger aren’t you!?” - It was only after saying this did Rancrew realise something was wrong - “Wait, the suit, you’re not wearing it.”

Arcland just pointed silently at Rancrew’s chest, his finger lit up momentarily before his hand dropped towards the ground lifelessly.

“Are you stupid!? Why would you transfer the suit to me!?”

“Ran... You’re the one who’s stupid, what father wouldn’t save their son.”

This response left him stunned, as soon as the debris above Arcland started to crumble, and its pieces started to drop down. Rancrew stood between them and Arcland to prevent him from being crushed.

“We’ll be all right! I’m sure the association is on their way. You can’t die now, there’s still much we have to talk about!”

The weight of the falling objects concentrated on his back, causing him to go lower towards the ground. He did not falter.

“Even when all the kids would laugh when I told them about how my dad is the Red Ranger!”

Each word was heavier to say, with the weight slamming on his back compressing his lungs even more. 

“Even if I hated how there was no one waiting for me at home!”

At this point, he was already on one knee, barely holding up the weight.

“Despite all that… I was always proud that you were my father!”

He looked upon his father’s face. There was an undeniable smile, one that would burn into his retinas forever. His strength had finally given out, and the overwhelming weight on his back crushed the both of them.