Chapter 136: Sand... ra

"Ack, next time I am going to ask father to make us a portable suit!"

Back in the Baby Crew truck, the sounds of almost endless rustle and clanging reverberated in the air as the girls hastened to wear their costumes. As for Gary and Riley, they were forced to get dressed outside somewhere.

Gary was having a hard time, of course, with all the layers and layers of kevlar in his suit. As for Riley, he was already done getting dressed.

"F… fuck," Gary said as he struggled, "Did I fucking gain weight that fas–"

And before he could even finish his words the sound of birds crying echoed throughout the parking lot they were in. The sound of their wings fluttering; almost an orchestra of panic as it harmonized with their caws.

"...That can't be anything good," Gary then took in a small gulp as he rushed to wear his suit. His worries were not without merit, however, considering they were inside the 6th floor of a building parking lot and even still, they could hear the birds panicking, trying to escape from whatever was happening outside.

The night sky that was already dark, casting even more shadows as the birds flew over the city. Gary turned his head towards the openings of the parking lot, squinting his eyes to the view of the beach outside.

And as soon as he did so, his eyes quickly widened in shock.

"Guys…" He then muttered, "I think we might have a bigger problem than we initially thought."

"What!?" Hannah's voice echoed from the inside of the trailer.

"You better come out and see for yourself," Gary muttered as he was finally done suiting up, slowly making his way to the opening to get a better look at whatever it was he was seeing,

"Yup. Big problem."

"What's going on!?" The doors of the trailer then opened as Hannah quickly leaped out from the trailer, rushing to where Gary was standing. And like Gary, her eyes could not help but widen as soon as she saw the colossus standing on the shoreline.

"...Fuck," Hannah's eyes did not even need to look down as she stared at Cephalos's new form– a testament of how large compared to before,

"So, it was hiding its real body earlier?" Silvie let out a long and deep breath as she stood beside Hannah, "It looks… weird."

"Fucking disgusting is what it is," Hannah furrowed her eyebrows. Even from afar, they could see the reflection of the city from Cephalos's obviously slimy skin. And if they weren't mistaken, the putrid smell that was slowly encroaching their nose was also coming from him.

And soon, its slimy skin reflected red; the sirens of the city now howling throughout the night.

"What are the superheroes doing?"

"I hope they are dead, sister."

"...They're dicks, but I don't think they deserve to die, Riley," Hannah sighed. But after a few seconds, she turned around to face the others,

"Baby Crew!" Hannah's voice then roared throughout the parking lot, leaving multiple echoes partnered by the howl created by the flames that suddenly engulfed her body, 

"Assemb–"

And before Hannah could finish her words, her voice was drowned by the shrieking noises that erupted from the shore.

"..." Hannah glanced at the beach-view for a couple of seconds, before letting out a sigh and turning to Silvie, "Let's go together to distract it."

"Hm."

"Riley, take Gary and Tomoe and try to get behind it– hit it where it's not looking while Silvie and I distract it."

"...What about the people?" Silvie muttered.

"If they saw that hentai monster and didn't run away…" Gary scoffed, "They deserve to get fucked in all holes."

"We'll scan the situation from above, let's go!" Hannah bellowed as she leaped from the building.

"We'll go ahead. Good luck, everyone!" Silvie clasped her fist, letting out a small as she let herself fall from the building; thunder, erupting from through the openings of the building as a skirt of wind surrounded her body.

"..."

"..."

"...Alright," Gary then breathed out as soon as Hannah and Silvie's silhouette disappeared, "Now that Hannah is gone, I am in charge. Let's–"

But before he could even finish what he was going to say, his cape suddenly flew over his head; his feet, slowly leaving the parking's floor.

"H… hey! I'm in charge!"

"Let's follow big sister Hannah's instructions first," Tomoe muttered; her kimono fluttering in the air as she, Gary, and Riley all flew out of the building at the same time.

"...Why are we so high?"

Gary then quickly breathed out as he struggled to remove his kevlar cape from his face; finding that they were almost surrounded by clouds.

"So we won't be noticed, Gary."

"That's right, Gary. So we won't be no–"

"Don't do that again!"

***

A couple of minutes earlier in the shoreline, the beach was surrounded with nothing but shadows… and a stench that was putrid enough that one could probably see it when squinting one's eyes.

And the source of all of that? An overgrown octopus-human hybrid.

"How… how are we even supposed to face that!?"

"...We can't."

Hearing the other superheroes in her group complain, the only thing that the group's leader could do was let out a sigh and shake her head,

"All of you run, I'll try to hold it off as long as I can," she then said as she stretched her left hand to the side; and as she did so, the sand beside her suddenly swirled, turning into a large lance. There was also a whistle coming out of it, and if one were to look closer, one could see that the surface of the lance was vibrating.

And if one were to be unlucky enough to touch it, then one's flesh would definitely be torn to shreds by the thousands of sands swirling around it.

The lead of the group is a superhero known as… Sandra. And as her name suggests, she has the ability to manipulate all sorts of minerals and sediments. But as sand was easily accessible in Hawaii, she learned to control it the most.

She was considered to be a Grade C Super, and a Class-B Superhero as the masses decided. 

As for the other members of the group, they were rated Class D to E; in short, they were probably shitting their pants right about now.

"I… I'll stay and fight with you, boss!" One of the street-level superheroes stood his ground; his nails, instantly growing longer and sharper as he contracted his muscles.

The rest of the group, however, all nodded… and ran away.

"We'll evacuate the people!" They bellowed.

"..."

"..."

"I think I'll go with them, after all."

"..."

As Sandra all saw the members of her group running away, the only thing she could do was roll her eyes. But after just a few moments, her face suddenly twisted; gritting her teeth tight as she once again stretched her arms to the side.

And in almost an instant, the beach turned into a forest, with the sand as the trees. And surprisingly, even with all of the activity happening on the ground, Cephalos seemed to not even acknowledge her existence– perhaps a mistake on its part.

And so, with a roar, Sandra flailed her arm left arm towards Cephalos; the lances of sand, instantly propelling themselves straight to Cephalos's colossal body.

"Kiee!"

And even though it was already as huge as a building, the pained shrieks that escaped from Cephalos's mouth still roared through the skies– the lances of sand, like needles that drilled through its flesh.

"Rah!" Sandra then pulled her left fist back, and as soon as she did so, the lances of sand all erupted at the same time. And like a shotgun being triggered at point-blank, a huge chunk of Cephalos's octopus-like body blew apart– enough to dismember one of its many tentacles.

A huge tremor quickly shook the entire beach; even reaching the streets and causing some of the buildings to sway as the tentacle fell to the ground.

However, before Sandra could even rejoice or collect her breaths… Cephalos had already regained its lost limb– almost without any warning or signs.

"..." Seeing this, the only thing that Sandra could do was groan; but even still, her eyes did not show any signs of retreat as she smiled at the disgusting colossus, "Whether it's you or me…

...it's a good night to die."