A Goal

'Goddammit...' I thought to myself.

Yet another failed interview.

I hadn't succeeded in one for over six months now. I was barely getting by with unemployment money and I wanted to actually have things and not just an empty apartment.

Originally, I had tried to be a hero in the then recently established Hero Association. I had obviously failed or I would be doing that right now.

Even after I failed to join the Hero Association I tried to fight an actual monster one time. It wasn't like I could have avoided it, it was about to attack a kid.

Long story short, I got my ass beat and ran away with the kid in my arms. Monsters are a lot scarier when you're the one fighting them, even if they're weak. I'm not even sure how I escaped.

I was strong in my own right too, I had worked out a lot and had a lean muscular structure. Thanks to that though, it made me seem pretty intimidating. Not to mention I was a total introvert, so I ended up barely talking during interviews.

I shook my head, taking my tie off, it was incredibly uncomfortable to wear, especially when my usual outfit consisted of a huge hoodie and sweatpants. Baggy clothes were the best.

And I mean it when I say the hoodie was huge, I was really tall for a girl, so I ended up getting a men's XXL hoodie, and it ended up going down, just above my knees, but it was comfy. 6'0 tall was nothing to scoff at, especially compared to every other girl.

I looked at the window of a building I was walking by, back toward my apartment. The lights were off inside, letting me see my appearance in the window.

My eyes were baggy, due to a considerable lack of sleep. I had always liked my green eyes, I thought it worked well with my black hair. Speaking of my hair, I had cut it short, it would grow annoyingly fast otherwise. One time, I let it grow out for a while and before I knew it it nearly touched the ground. It was black in colour, which was the most common colour on earth, but mine somehow came off as intimidatingly dark. Like staring into the void, which made it unbearably hot sometimes.

'I'll just run the rest of the way home.' I thought as I took my dress shirt off, leaving me in a sports bra.

I didn't like running in my dress pants, but I had to since I wasn't wearing any shorts under them today. My shoes, black pumps, however, I took off along with my shirt and I just ran in socks. No way was I running in fancy shoes. Those would make my feet hurt more than the occasional rock. I put all the stuff in a small duffle bag that I carry with me instead of a suitcase.

It wasn't long after I started running that I heard the cracking of cement behind me.

I turned around to see where the sound had come from, I hoped it wasn't me. I didn't want to be called heavy again. All of those things didn't fall apart because of my weight!

I inspected the new crack in the ground, but it wasn't just one, it was multiple. It was like a jack hammer was used briefly just above the spot. The cracks started to spread more and more suddenly, and I quickly backed away.

With a small explosion of concrete a pink centipede a little bigger than me arose from the ground.

"I am Infant Centipede! I am here to show you humans you are nothing to monsters!" It shouted.

I was frozen in fear. I hated bugs, but more than that, it was a monster. I had a little trauma from monsters, since the last one I met broke more than a few of my bones. I was honestly surprised I could get out of there with the kid, but that's adrenaline for you.

I stepped back barely but fell almost immediately.

'Must look pretty funny to others seeing someone as big as me tremble in fear.' I joked around in my head.

I usually tried to use humour to help me calm down, but it usually never worked.

"Ah, you'll do perfect. A human as strong-looking as you will do perfectly as an example." The centipede said grossly, it's high pitched, hoarse voice looking down on me.

'I suppose I seem strong, but that sure isn't the case here, is it?' I chuckled in my own head, nervously of course.

The centipede shot up and then dove back down toward me. I still couldn't move, if I could I might be able to dodge, it wasn't moving that fast after all.

Before any more thoughts went through my head I felt an increasing pain as I saw the pincer of the gross centipede wrap around my waist as it pushed back against the ground.

The ground cracked against my back as I panicked and started pushing the jaws away from my waist. I had no idea what its plan was, but currently it seemed to be 'bury this human.'

It was an incredibly stupid idea in my opinion, as it was probably hurting its pincer mouth, by forcing it into cement, more than it was hurting me.

The fear I had started to change into irritation. I wouldn't lose to something so goddamn stupid. I started to push back against the jaws. Fight had kicked in since flight wasn't an option.

I felt my body burst with power as I noticed a vague yellow glow in my vision.

With my newfound strength I threw the jaws of the monster off of me easily and then smashed the weird face thing it had. It seemed enough like a weak spot.

It flinched and fell back, but the face was much more solid than I had thought, and my knuckles were bleeding. Unfortunately for it, it was still weak enough that it was now bleeding profusely from its weak spot.

'What did I give up being a hero for?' I punched the monster again, bloodying my other knuckle, not with just my own blood this time, 'Just because I was a little scared?'

The centipede fully pulled itself out of the ground in order to retreat away from me.

"Human! For this humiliation you better be prepared to die!"

'Just being frightened once made me stop trying? Just a little criticism from people I don't even care about?'

The centipede charged in much quicker than before, putting all of its legs to work. I braced myself and received the charge, grabbing its pincers as I slid backwards with its momentum. It hurt for sure, but I could deal with that.

I flipped the centipede over me. It didn't seem to deal any damage compared to when I just punched it in the face, but I stopped its charge, so I didn't care.

Now that it was on the ground behind me, I kicked it in its weak spot again, sending it sliding a little further away.

"Impudent!" It called again as it smashed into the ground, barely breaking through the concrete enough for him to fit through.

My knuckles were extremely bloody, coating the whole of my hands like red gloves. I was already tired, I hadn't exerted myself like this before. I had probably forgotten to breathe when I was hitting it or getting hit.

I looked around for any signs of the centipede coming back up, before I realized there were cracks beneath me. Thankfully the centipede was dumb and a weak enough to not break through instantly.

Despite the clear signs I stood still in surprise as it burst up through the concrete, taking me up with it and flinging me backwards.

I landed on the ground heavily, coughing up some saliva along with all the air in my lungs. Being winded sucks.

'Fuck, if I survive this, I am going to become the strongest there is so I never have to be scared of some bug ever again.' I was determined.

This bug was also severely pissing me off. Even more so than before. Well, it was mostly frustration, but the fact that I was quite literally lower than a bug at the moment infuriated me.

The dirty bug slithered over top of me, making sure I could see its dumb ugly face.

"You're quite feisty for a human. Be glad that I am willing to kill you here." The strange face seemed to smirk as one of its sharp legs shot toward my chest.

The vague yellow glow I noticed before had turn orange, and along with that, another burst of power, much stronger than the previous one.

I quickly dodged its leg and punched out violently, making the centipede teeter back in pain and rage.

As it retreated slowly, it suddenly flung forward, its full weight approaching me. I thought it would be stunned for longer so I was caught off-guard. Unable to dodge, I quickly put my arms up to block.

As I prepared for impact, it fell lifelessly before my feet.

It took me a few seconds to realize that I had somehow beat it to death. With a wry smile I saw the colour around the edges of my vision fade, along with the feeling of power and adrenaline.

I collapsed on the spot, breathing heavily. Green blood splattered along my body.

'I hope monster guts washes out.' I grimaced.