A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Night had fallen over Old Leijing Commercial Street. It was the most bustling hour of the day, with neon lights bathing the city in a vibrant glow and traffic weaving through the roads in endless streams.

The glowing advertisement signs hanging above the pedestrians were packed as tightly as a deck of cards fanned out across a poker table.

Without warning, a bat-like figure plummeted from the sky. A pair of massive black wings sprouted from his back, fangs protruded from his mouth, and a layer of coarse cyan fur covered his body.

It was Cyan Bat, an official D Rank mutant wanted by the authorities. True to his name, a genetic experiment had twisted his body, grafting the traits of a bat onto him.

Someone in the crowd recognized him.

Amidst a chorus of piercing screams, Cyan Bat snatched up two streetwalkers with his claws, beating his wings furiously as he prepared to take off.

Just then, a figure clad in a red cape and helmet dropped from the top of a towering skyscraper.

This was Top Hero, a C Rank contractor for the Super Hero Company. Beneath the mask was a young Black man who had failed to gain traction with American hero agencies, only to find runaway success after moving to China.

He plummeted at breakneck speed, the black dreadlocks peeking out from the back of his helmet whipping in the wind.

Raising his hands high, he summoned thin white cords from between his index and middle fingers, their ends tethered to spectral spinning tops.

Crimson flames roared to life around the tops. This was his superpower—the ability to summon fiery gyroscopes at will.

”Hey, bro! Eat this!”

Top Hero yelled in broken Chinese, hurling the four blazing tops forward. They hurtled toward Cyan Bat just as the mutant tried to take flight.

The weapons soared through the air like four tiny, spinning fireballs. Cyan Bat reacted instantly, bringing his massive wings together to form a shield in front of him. The flames burst outward, blossoming across the night sky.

Bathed in the roaring fire, Cyan Bat shrieked in agony.

”Those who play with fire get burned!” Top Hero shouted, proudly butchering a Chinese idiom that made zero sense in this context as he prepared to press the attack.

But a moment later, Cyan Bat flipped the script. He threw his wings wide and unhinged his jaw, unleashing a deafening, lion-like roar.

Invisible shockwaves shattered every glass storefront along the street, sweeping forward to slam into Top Hero.

Top Hero’s eyes widened. He sprinted frantically to the right, swinging his four tops in a rapid orbit to form a swirling vortex of flames. But the sheer force of the shockwave instantly blew the fire apart.

The blast sent him flying over ten meters through the air. He crashed straight into a clothing boutique, landing hard amidst a sea of shattered glass.

Dropping the two women, Cyan Bat shrieked and flapped his wings. He dive-bombed like a massive, pitch-black curtain, his razor-sharp claws thrusting straight for Top Hero’s throat.

Right at that moment, a bolt of blue lightning came roaring down the street. A figure clad in metallic blue armor arrived with the thunderclap, intercepting Cyan Bat’s dive and throwing a punch wreathed in crackling electricity.

”Boom—!”

A deafening explosion rang out. Cyan Bat was sent flying sideways, smashing into a brick wall so hard that spiderweb fractures spread out from the point of impact.

”What the fuck?” Top Hero muttered as he scrambled up from the floor, turning to stare at the newcomer.

Silence fell over the ruined street. Blue Pigeon stood tall, tendrils of deep blue electricity still dancing across his armor.

He slowly raised his head, and the metallic bird beak attached to his mask jutted forward.

”Pinocchio?” Staring at the beak, the young hero was immediately reminded of the fairy-tale puppet with the growing nose.

”If Rain Crow is Crow-nocchio, then I’m Pigeon-nocchio.”

Blue Pigeon joked, his gaze shifting just in time to see Cyan Bat unhinging his jaw to try the same trick again.

He brought up his right hand, flattening his fingers into a blade.

Pitch-black lightning erupted from his closed fingers, coalescing into a crackling, elongated blade. The dark lightning bridged the ten-meter gap in an instant, violently twisting and shrieking as it pierced straight through Cyan Bat’s gaping mouth, pinning him to the wall.

”Squelch—!”

With a sickening tear, the electric blast seared a hole straight through Cyan Bat’s throat, shattering every fang in his mouth.

He vomited a mouthful of blood, staining the pavement red. Clutching his mangled throat with both claws, his body went limp, sliding down the brick wall until his massive wings slumped uselessly against the ground.

[Prompt: One ”D Rank super-human species” killed. 200 EXP acquired.]

[Current Level Progress: Lv.06 (2100/3000 EXP)]

Seeing Cyan Bat go completely still, entirely devoid of life, Blue Pigeon froze.

”Uh, superheroes killing people isn’t illegal, right? It’s not like I’m a magical girl.” Blue Pigeon raised his hands defensively. ”I’m not gonna get canceled online for this, am I? Probably not, right, bro?”

He turned around to look at Top Hero.

Top Hero stood completely dumbfounded. He glanced over at Cyan Bat’s corpse, then whipped his head back around to stare at Blue Pigeon in sheer astonishment.

”I know I look pretty badass. Want me to take a selfie?”

Moving as fast as lightning, Blue Pigeon reached out and snatched the smartphone strapped to Top Hero’s waist.

He flipped it to selfie mode and threw up a peace sign. Just as he went to tap the shutter button, his metallic beak accidentally bumped into the screen.

With a sharp crack, spiderweb fractures spread across the glass.

Top Hero’s expression darkened the moment he saw the shattered screen. ”What the hell are you doing, bro?!” he shouted. ”Give me back my phone!” Perhaps it was his natural cadence, but his angry Chinese almost sounded like a rap verse.

Blue Pigeon rubbed his metallic beak and gave an awkward, dry laugh.

”Damn it, I accidentally smashed your screen with my beak. It’s my first time wearing this suit, so I’m not totally used to it yet. I’m definitely going to have to google how Rain Crow uses his phone with a mask on.”

Patting Top Hero on the shoulder, he handed the broken phone back.

”What’s your name?” Top Hero asked, shaking his head as he inspected his ruined screen.

”Blue Pigeon.”

The armored man declared. By now, a massive crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the ruined boutique. Most of them were freelancers for the Paparazzi Guild; capturing the debut footage of a brand-new superhero was a surefire way to earn a massive payout.

Sirens wailed in the distance as police cruisers finally arrived at the scene.

Between the ceaseless camera flashes from the crowd and the pulsing red and blue lights of the police cars, Blue Pigeon felt a bit dizzy. It was his first time standing in the spotlight.

”I’ve gotta bounce, Top-bro. I have a date tonight,” Blue Pigeon said, turning on his heel and striding out of the boutique.

He leaned forward slightly, preparing to launch as volatile electricity surged around his armor once again.

But just then, a snow-white top hat fell from the sky, landing right in front of him. A moment later, a pale, bone-white figure materialized in the air. He caught the falling hat, placed it on his head, and landed gracefully atop a streetlamp.

”Who is that?” Top Hero muttered in disbelief.

Blue Pigeon froze as well. He slowly raised his head, joining Top Hero in staring at the uninvited guest.

White Jack slowly crouched down on the streetlamp. His hollow, pitch-black eyes stared down, locking directly onto Blue Pigeon’s gaze.

It was like a destined reunion. The two of them stared at each other for a long time, neither willing to look away. But then, fresh screams erupted from the crowd as the onlookers finally recognized White Jack.

”It’s that white, perky ass that got stuck on Leijing Iron Tower!”

”Ember’s perky ass?”

”No, it’s that guy whose ass got busted by Magical Girl Ember!”