A young green-haired boy stood before a burning apartment complex, a frog stuffed animal clutched tightly in his arms.
The flames roared, devouring everything in their path, wood, memories, the laughter of families… his family. Smoke stung his eyes, but he didn't move. He didn't even cry.
Around him, people cried and screamed for those consumed by the flames, but he was still.
"Does everything rot?" he whispered, though no one else could hear him over their own sounds of despair.
Amid the chaos, an old man with a walking cane moved against the current of fleeing people, stopping beside the boy.
The boy barely reacted as the old man stopped next to him.
"Only if you let it," the old man answered the young boy's question.
Looking up at the old man, the boy's eyes were dead inside, causing the old man to chuckle. "You have the same eyes as Young Ashborn. Tell me, child, what is your name?"
The green-haired boy paused, his eyes scanning the old man's face as if in search of something, before he put his head down. "My name is Verdant. Verdant Heliodoro."
***
Verdant looked up toward the tree line separating them from the creek. "He's coming, kid. Do you still have energy?"
Kairo lay on the ground with a dazed expression, mumbling about a girl named Shuri. Verdant didn't really care; the only thing that mattered was getting this kid out of the crossfire.
He walked over to the downed Kairo and hefted him over his shoulder. Scanning the surroundings, Verdant smirked and hung Kairo by the collar from a sturdy branch.
A deep rumble shook the ground, making the leaves tremble.
Verdant turned back toward the tree line and began to stretch, his bones cracking. He glanced back at the creek, where Alexa was still struggling, and let out a small laugh.
'She'll tire herself out eventually and pass out. I don't have to worry about her, she can't swim anyway.'
Another deep rumble shook the ground as Verdant's face turned serious. 'I won't be able to kill him, at least not right now, but diluting him through the water will leave him immobilized for at least a week.'
CRACK
"NOW!"
Verdant jumped and grabbed onto the branch of a nearby tree as the large mass of black slime barreled through the foliage.
The sludge villain stopped at the edge of the creek, its massive form pulsing and shifting. "So that was your plan, my dearest student? I know you aren't smart enough to think of this, so it must've been the child."
Its voice was condescending, slightly angering Verdant, but he just smirked and retorted, "Well, how does it feel knowing a child's plan will be the thing that defeats you?"
The sludge villain chuckled, tendrils lashing out toward Verdant. He dodged, rolling behind a rotting log, but the slime's reach was relentless.
Claws of black ooze lashed out, sending dirt and rocks flying. Verdant's breath came fast, his palms glowing faintly with green fire.
He scrambled up, eyes darting to the creek bank. The ground here was loose, eroded by water. If he could trigger a collapse—
With a shout, Verdant slammed his heel into the bank's edge, sending a chunk of earth tumbling into the water. The sludge villain recoiled, tendrils flailing as the bank crumbled beneath it.
Verdant's grin was sharp, but his arms still remained in a battle ready stance.
"Guess you're not as smart as you thought, huh tech?" Verdant muttered, watching the sludge villain teeter at the water's edge.
The sludge villain snarled, but its mass was already slipping, sliding, until,
SPLASH.
The sludge villain plunged into the creek, its form dissolving into murky swirls as the water weakened its hold on its own shape.
Verdant exhaled, shoulders sagging. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
The air smelled of damp earth and the faint, lingering rot of the old man's power. Verdant wiped his brow, his green fire flickering out. Alexa had been swept away with the sludge, lucky for her, the water should have diluted the decay effect enough for it not to kill her.
With a sigh Verdant turned to where Kairo still hung from the branch. The kid's eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open as if he couldn't believe what he'd just seen.
Verdant smirked. "You okay up there, hero?"
Kairo didn't answer right away. He just stared at the murky swirls in the water, his mind racing. 'That strategy was pretty smart, not like I couldn't have done that myself tho.'
"Tsk, I could've done that with half as much effort." Turning his head away indignantly with a pout.
"Now can you pretty please get me down from here?" Kairo said, face flushed. "Yuh huh, totally." Verdant called back, already halfway to the tree line.
"Wait you're just going to leave me up here!" Kairo tried flailing around but his body was still too weak from earlier.
Verdant would just keep walking away, slowly raising his hand and throwing up a peace sign, and with a smirk he'd disappear into the forest.
Kairo sagged against the branch, his energy spent. He stared at the water, his mind racing with everything that had just happened. "Ughh, my dad's gonna kill me!"
Reaching up he'd try to pull the branch and break it but it was too thick and he was to weak to snap it.
Crossing his arms he'd stare at the setting sun, 'I might as well rest and then use my powers to break it."
***
The night was still young, and a young boy could be seen trudging through the mostly empty streets of a suburban neighborhood.
Kairo kicked a pebble, sending it skittering across the sidewalk. His jacket was torn, his jeans muddy, and his stomach growled. The streetlights flickered to life as night settled in, casting long shadows across the quiet lawns.
He paused under a lamppost, rubbing his arm where the branch had scraped him. "Stupid green-haired idiot," he muttered. "Leaving me up there like a piñata."
A dog barked in the distance. Kairo sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. He wondered if his dad was home yet—if he'd notice the dirt, the ripped clothes.
Kairo would quickly shake his head, he just needed to get home before his dad. 'I can figure out my powers more some other day.'
As he rounded the corner onto his own street, Kairo slowed, his heart pounding. The small red-brick house stood dark and silent. No car in the driveway. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
He fumbled for his keys, hands still shaking from the fight. The lock clicked open, and he slipped inside, closing the door softly behind him.
The house was quiet, just the hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the clock in the kitchen. Kairo leaned against the door, his body aching and his mind still racing. He thought about his powers, about Verdant, about the sludge villain.
"God, I need a nap.'
***
Info card time
Name: [REDACTED] (The old man/Sludge dude)
Flux Anomaly: Necrotic surge- Allows the user to shift their body into a liquid like substance that decays any and all physical material that it touches.
Offensive uses - Decay touch
Defensive uses - User cannot be physically damaged due to their liquid like state as well as anything that comes into contact with it starts to decompose
Passive ability - None
Weakness - [REDACTED]
***