Godfall (UTOPIA: Vol 1)

The first explosion rattled my drink right off the table, the mug shattering against the floorboards. I looked up, listening to the screams from across the street.

And I felt it.

Somewhere beyond the city, something massive roared loud enough to shake every building nearby. Dust shook loose from the ceiling, and the steps of civilians running and yelling responded to the guttural boom echoing from the horizon.

“Well I’m not cleaning that up.” Liz’s calm voice rang out, contrasting the panic outside. “Go pick up a broom Leo.”

I shrugged. “Hey, I’d love to Liz, but technically the explosion knocked it over. Why isn’t Goliath out there the one picking up the broom?”

I looked outside just as the next explosion struck. Then it hit me.

They weren’t explosions. It was the ground, failing. With every thud, the ground buckled under the weight of something the planet wasn’t meant to carry.

And a few blocks away, I was able to see it: the silhouette of a two legged mountain, covering the sun, its roar tearing up the sky.

“Maybe I oughta tell it myself...” I snickered, cracking my knuckles.

“Or maybe ignore it,” replied Liz, stretching her arms. “Could be character development.”

Nolan, who was sitting next to Liz nearly choked on his own saliva. “Character development?? For LEO??”

Antonia stood up immediately, her eyes narrowing outside, looking at the smoke rising. The street became a world of panicked people and screaming faces, chaos claiming the roads in a heartbeat. Crates of livestock shattered, horses bolted away, and the alarm bells were being drowned out by the sounds of the beast.

“That thing is huge...” she said, staring at it with a mix of fear and awe.

“And ugly,” I added. A stone armored nightmare, with a saw like head that had a stone in the middle, glowing like cooling magma. The head split open into three directions, holding several layers of jaws each with razor sharp teeth. The monster also had long powerful arms with lethal claws at the ends that could tear the city apart, and finally, we watched, as its long tail thrashed around like a whip, leaving nothing but ruin.

“What poor mother had to give birth to THAT thing,” I continued. Nolan laughed while Liz rolled her eyes at my comments, and Antonia continued watching the beast pulverize the entire town. Griffin, who was quietly sitting next to Nolan stood up, walking over to my side.

“Damn, this shit looks expensive,” Griffin said. “Feel sorry for whoever’s stuck paying for all this damage.”

“No need to worry,” I spoke loudly. “The town’s favourite hero is coming to save the day!”

“Oh no,” Liz groaned. “He’s doing the voice.”

“Hey, you guys love the voice!” I protested. Nolan sighed. “No dude,” he said. “We TOLERATE the voice.”

“Same thing, same thing,” I chuckled as I stood right in front of the window. Another explosion erupted outside. Antonia crossed her arms.

“Leo,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Please try not to destroy half of our town again.”

“No promises.”

And then I jumped.

And a roar of heat exploded beneath my arms, a violent kick that shoved me upside as I blasted into the sky like a comet that left a trail of gold that burnt the morning clouds. I looked down as the town beneath me shrank down to what looked like a chaotic ant hill that was being stomped on by a kid.

The kid, in this case being the monster.

But then the screams transformed. They shifted, from shrieks of terror, sharpening to a rhythmic overjoyed roar.

“IT’S HIM!”

“LEO!”

“THE GOLDEN BOY!”

Nowthis,was what I lived for. I smirked, leaning back against the air, soaking into the sound of my name.

Golden Boy.

That nickname was starting to grow on me. Maybe it was a bit much, but as I flew towards the monster, ready to knock it on its ass, I couldn’t help but think it fit perfectly.

“HEY UGLY!” I yelled, flying straight toward the beast. It turned just in time for my fire powered fist to slam directly between its eyes.

BOOM!

The impact didn’t just sound like a punch, it sounded like a continent splitting in half. Fire erupted across its face as the creatures head snapped back.

I cracked a laugh as I watched the shockwave ripple before the beast finally hurtled backwards, smashing into three buildings that toppled over. Brick and mortar turned into shrapnel, and a huge five storied library collapsed into a cloud of dust and broken glass. The crowd below exploded into cheers.

“GO LEO!”

“GET IT!”

I landed in the middle of the street, copying your average superhero landing right in front of the knocked over creature, landing dramatically with fire curling around my shoulders like a kings mantle.

“Sorry about the remodel guys!” I shouted back at the crowd watching. “Always thought this place needed more breathing room anyway...”

The beast screeched at the sound of my voice and charged, its shadow blotting out the sun.

I grinned widely.

Perfect.

“Showtime.”

It swung one massive claw towards me. And I could’ve dodged it cleanly.

I could’ve just... stepped aside, I could’ve ended it all with a clean strike to the throat.

That would’ve been boring though. I felt the mob of people behind me, as they held in a breathless silence.

Unfortunately, silence didn’t win medals.

So instead, I caught it.

The force of the attack drove me down four inches into the street, the cobblestone cracking instantly. People gasped as it pushed harder at me, roaring into my face as I pretended to struggle. I felt the monsters hot, sulfurous breath against my face, its jagged teeth inches away.

“Oooooh no!” I groaned dramatically. “Whatever shall I do against the incredibly fat and smelly oversized kaiju!”

I didn’t even need to turn around to see the crowd’s reaction, I could feel the tremor of their awe.

So I smiled.

And blasted the creature point with a fire blast strong enough to launch it through a tavern and then a house.

People screamed, running away from the rubble while I winced slightly at the damage, watching a child’s wooden rocking horse tumble out of the mess, now in pieces.

“...Ookay that one’s definitely coming out of my paycheck...”

Secretly though, I was laughing in my mind. Heroes like me didn’t have to spend money on small messes like these.

Alright maybe it wasn’t a small mess.

The creature clawed its way out of the wreckage, its movements clumsy and violent. Its tail lashed out, destroying the corner of a nearby home and using the ruins of a tavern to steady itself, its claws sinking through the pile of splinters to lift itself upright. When it finally stood up, it looked less like a monster and more like a graveyard, and the streets had become a scar of broken wood, and crushed memories.

I should’ve ended it right there. We were doing too much damage to the town. One focused fire blast right through it, and it would be over.

But... everyone was watching.

And I liked it. It’s not like they cared about all the damage that was happening. They LIKE the show I’m giving them. So why not provide more?

So instead, I shot my fire blasts downwards, shooting myself up, flying up into the sky. I baited it higher, soaring through rooftops, leading it on a chase across the sky, dodging its desperate lunges just so the people could get a good look. I swiftly flew to the right as the monster suddenly crashed through The Great Bridge, a masterpiece that was constructed eons ago, now collapsed under a river.

The crowd below shouted in amazement while flames spiraled around me. They didn’t even care about the destruction, only the display.

“THAT WAS INSANE!”

“GO LEO!”

I waved down at them midair.

“You guys seeing this?!” I yelled beneath myself.

I looked in front of myself to see the titan attacking again. This time, I drove both fists, glowing with the intensity of a dying star, right into the huge orange gem on its brow. The sound of the crystal just slightly cracking rivaled the echo of a lightning strike. The beast spiraled over the ground, smashing into the town square. It pulverized a popular fountain along with statues of the city’s founders which shattered around the beasts body.

I landed on top of a collapsing clocktower while the monster staggered below me. Thick blood poured out of its mouth and body, that hissed against the ruins of a bakery. The sight was pathetic. The beast was was slowing down. But honestly, it had been slowing down for a while by now.

“You know,” I said, mocking it with my voice amplified with the heat in my lungs. “All that blood really isn’t a good look on you.”

Enraged, the creature roared and fired a beam of red energy right from the magma coloured gem on its forehead.

But because of the cracks I put in that gem earlier, the energy beam was unstable.

And predictable.

I easily dodged the beam, and it sprayed everywhere through the town, slicing through the bell tower and the library, two of the towns many beautiful, now devastated structures.

Then, I dived. I was like a needle of fire, moving faster than the beast could process. I punched through its ribs, the smell of burnt meat and stone filled up my nostrils as I emerged from its back, covered in soot, and GLORY.

The beast’s scream died in its throat, replaced by a wet hollow whimper. The light in its eyes died, and it came down. The sheer weight of its collapse erased the distract around its body, a wave of soot and dust turning the sunny area into a ghostly blanket of grey. The fall even sent a shockwave that ripped apart any remaining window for three blocks.

For a moment, nobody moved. So I jumped onto the titan, standing on top of its corpse while fire flickered around me. Honestly, that would’ve been such a beautiful shot.

“...Well?” I called out, spreading my arms. “Where’s my applause?”

That had done it.

The cheering started, their roars louder than the monster. People started screaming my name, kids pointing at me, and one person even started crying.

They didn’t see the ruined homes, or the burning library.

They saw me. They saw a god who saved them. I soaked in every second of it. Every shout, and every stare. Every single pair of eyes.

And... that warmth in my chest came back again. The feeling that if maybe this many people roared my name...

My name... would eventually reach beyond stars.

Andhe,would find me.

I shoved that thought away instantly.

No.

I choked in my inner feelings, my face hardening back into a mask of confidence as I jumped off the corpse to meet my friends who were waiting for me.

Antonia looked around at the totaled city.

“So...” she said. “Great job at saving the four remaining buildings Leo!”

“Thanks,” I said, patting soot off me. “All in a-”

“You realize that wasn’t a compliment,” Liz butted in, smacking the back of my head.

Oof. Reality check.

Nolan stared at me wide eyed, while Antonia helped me brush the dust off my shirt.

“You punched through it,” he said.

“Yup.”

“With your BARE hands.”

“Uh huh.”

“That is SO cool. You gotta teach me those fire powers.”

“Can’t be taught!” I bragged, cracking my neck. “You just gotta be effortlessly beautiful like me.”

Nolan rolled his eyes at that, his awestruck expression disappearing as fast as it appeared.

“You’re an idiot,” Antonia groaned, messing with my hair. I laughed at that.

“And yet the idiot saved the city.”

“You literally became half the city’s problems.”

“Details.”

She rolled her eyes at that, laughing anyway.

Griffin finally approached, after examining the monsters dead body.

“You done posing?” he asked, smirking.

“I wasn’t posing,” I replied.

“You literally stood on the corpse.”

“That was tactical.”

“Mhm.”

And finally, Orlin arrived last, walking over to me.

Oh Orlin. Gotta love Orlin.

But unlike everyone else, he wasn’t staring at the dead titan. He was staring at me, directly into my eyes. That soft old man smile sat on his face, though his eyes carried that same look they did after I finished a fight.

Pride. And worry.

...mostly worry.

“You held back less, this time,” he spoke calmly. I shrugged.

“It was a mountain sized beast.”

“Not just the beast, Leo,” he continued. “The city.”

“I mean at least the city is still standing?”

Orlin sighed, shaking his head. “Barely.”

I laughed at what he said, slinging my arm around his shoulders. “C’mon Orlin,” I said, grinning. “Live a little! City is saved and we’re at peace once again! Thanks to me, of course.”

Orlin sighed at what I said, the way exhausted teachers do when the children clearly aren’t listening. “You enjoy this too much,” he said.

“Well, obviously.”

“No, Leo. I meantoomuch.”

And I stopped.

The boisterous noises around us didn’t stop, but inside me, it suddenly felt like I was underwater. The cheers became a dull thump, muffled and miles away.

And that ugly feeling, beneath all the fire and ego, started crawling in my chest again.

“If I stop being impressive... no one will stay.”

But I quickly forced the muscles in my cheeks to lock back into that glorious smile, and I flashed a grin so bright it felt like it’d crack my skin.

“Relax,” I said. “I’m the strongest guy here!”

Orlin’s gaze lingered onto me for a heartbeat too long. But eventually, his face softened and his mouth tilted into a smile, not the performance ready grin I gave, but a quiet yet sad slow curve that reached his eyes.

“That, Leo...” he said. “That is what worries me.”