Late to my First Interview Part 2

The Manual of Monsters lists only two notes beneath oversized vermin: first, never underestimate them simply because they're vermin; second, their attacks are coordinated by selective individuals capable of intelligence. Todd knew this well. In fact, he recited them out loud as he prepared to fight the infestation of giant bugs. 

But first, Todd hollered at Pyrocaloric: "HEY, YOU GLUTTONOUS OAF, I GOT SOMETHING FOR YA!" Todd figured that if the fight was not over by the time he arrived, then his old pal needed something truly special. In the air he held a red hot habanero. It glowed like a lantern. Pyrocaloric reluctantly accepted the gift, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to figure out if he recognized this audacious twenty-something standing before him, who was at that moment wondering the same thing.

"Thanks," said Pyrocaloric, "you're with the, uh, Hero Help Squad huh? I guess you guys do your homework."

"Right," replied Todd. It was almost two years ago when Pyrocaloric told him, stumbling his way out of a bar, that if Todd really wanted to see a show he should see what happens when the great Pyrocaloric eats a spicy chili pepper, and afterwards be out of action for at least two days. He watched as Pyrocaloric flew off into the sky again. A mysterious tinge of melancholy flashed underneath his sunglasses.

Sayuki chased the kid all the way into an apartment, where she found the young boy hugging a ball of white fluff, and she couldn't resist the momentary smile that crept across her face.

"Is that Mr Dumpling?" Sayuki knelt down next to the boy and gave them both a gentle pat.

"Yes," said the kid amidst sobs.

Outside, the air was becoming odorous and yellow with sulfur. They felt the ground beneath them tremble. As Sayuki led the child by the hand to the door, it crashed open and in came a hulking bug with rock-like armor on its head and front limbs. Mr Dumpling hissed. Sayuki drew her pistol and shielded the boy behind her. She fired. And fired. The bug flinched with the hit, but the bullets lodged themselves in the exoskeleton. It inched closer to Sayuki, chittering with its drooling mouth, staring at them with its shifting compound eyes. Sayuki held the boy's hand, and the boy held onto the cat, tightly.

Next, Todd set himself up on a rooftop overlooking the main road where the critters leaped and bounded and smashed into shop windows. 

Through the scope of his sniper rifle, Todd surveyed the ground for any important looking insects amidst the chaos: This one could jump amazingly high and cling to walls. Too brave and active. That one is huge like a rhino and armored too. But too dumb. Another followed the forerunners leisurely with a yellow glowing stomach. Watching. Not attacking. But not exactly commanding either. 

Todd observed the last one more carefully, but as he did so, he noticed from the corner of his eye that the high jumper changed directions and was suddenly heading towards him. An anomaly, thought Todd. Maybe it had caught a momentary glint from his scope. Todd ducked, tried to lay low, but there was no mistake about it. The frigid breeze on the rooftop sent a chill down his spine. 

Then it struck him. Todd aimed his sniper at the tallest building in town, the city hall, and there it was, an insect standing tall like a praying mantis, looking right at him from roof to roof. He lined up the shot, he knew the insect had seen him too, he put his faith in a bullet and he pulled the trigger. The shot sliced through the head of the insect, who gave a deafening shriek. On the streets, every bug fell into a daze, frantically cleaning their antennas.

Sayuki took advantaged of this, picked up the child, and whispered, "We're going to take Mr Dumpling for a run, okay Sweetheart? Ready?" The boy nodded. Sayuki slowly collected a vase from behind her. She tossed it across the room, shattering it, causing their foe to whirl around in fright. Then in a flash Sayuki was past the armored insect and out the door, into the hall way, onto the alleyways where the horrifically oversized bugs were stumbling left and right, and weaving her way towards the red and blue lights. The soreness of her feet and the strain on her biceps from the weight of the child did not register to her. The racing of her heartbeat and the coldness of the wind as it hit the back of her dried throat did not concern her. Beneath her swift, nimble steps the ground shook, and, one bug, gaining its senses, leaped at her. Sayuki evaded the strike, staggered, almost lost her balance, but never stopped.

In the distance, from the hole which the bugs crawled out of, a leg reached out of the darkness taller than the trees, wrapping itself around power lines and crushing cars. The earth trembled as the head of the monstrosity poked out, followed by its thorax, and lugging around an abdomen thick and bloated like a water tower. Indeed it towered above the buildings and emitted a roar that sent its soldiers into frenzy. Todd Huang stared in awe.

"So that one must have only been a commander," said he as he began his retreat.

And as Todd moved towards the safe zone, he was overtaken by a young woman carrying a kid carrying a cat, being chased by a swarm of bugs.

In the skies, Pyrocaloric admitted that it was time for the ultimatum. He chewed the habanero up good and his face became almost as red. Through his tears he looked at the streets overran with insects and saw two puny little figures sprinting for their lives like a zipper closing a moving garment of crawlies. Then at last, Pyrocaloric released a jet of flames not unlike that from a dragon down on the queen of the insects, engulfing it whole. Gases leaked from underground ignited and fire poured through the air.

Todd's neck tingled with the heat as he and Sayuki crossed into safety 5 blocks away. On the streets behind them bugs were roasted alive inside their exoskeletons. Perhaps from a runner's high, Todd felt the rush of being alive — a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time. He looked around him. At the crowd of displaced citizens. At the reporters and their cameras. But no one was looking back at him. The firemen, police, and paramedics rushed past Todd and Sayuki. Instead of the cheers and applause Todd was used to, there was only the sound of sirens and the crying of the young boy in Sayuki's arms.

A sudden pain stabbed at Todd's lower back. Todd winced. As he did so, bending to clutch the sore spot, a piece of glass from some office building, sent into flight by the flames, whizzed above his head and nicked his ear. Todd felt the trickle of blood with his fingertip. It was red. Gleaming red. Redder than the habanero had been as it rolled down his index finger. So red that it made the commotion around him seem surreal. Todd even gave his finger a lick. A bitter taste, like copper, fizzled on his tongue. He watched as the mother hurried to embrace the boy and his cat, which had dug its claws into Sayuki's shoulder. He saw Sayuki's fixated, almost longing gaze as they left, and to Todd it twinkled with such strange beauty, even as beads of sweat trickled down the hair clung to her face. 

In the distance, a sourly Mexican strutted towards them. He seemed upset about something. Behind him a blonde woman hastened to catch up.

"You two!" said Rodrigo, "Are you crazy? Are you out of your minds?"

"You!" he pointed at Sayuki, "you ran off into the wasp's nest with no reinforcements and armed with Jack squat. You're lucky to be alive."

"And you! Our job is to help superheros fight monsters, not incinerate entire neighborhoods! And never mind the fact that you're late. Why are you dressed like that? Are you hung over or something?"

Rodrigo threw his arms into the air when he got no reaction from either of them: "Kids these days! Well get this through your heads. You're. Both —"

"Hired." said Ruby as she swooped in behind him, putting an arm across Rodrigo's neck. "Welcome to the team!"