The first crash rattled my desk hard enough to send my coffee sloshing over the rim.

Then came the light.

Red flashes tore across the night outside my window, followed by pillars of fire and rolling smoke as a skyscraper several blocks away buckled under a single, careless blow. Glass cascaded down its sides, reflecting the fire like sparks. The screams from the street below cut off all at once, swallowed by a crushing THUD that slammed through the avenue.

I stumbled to the window.

He was moving now.

The giant’s laughter rolled through him as he admired the chaos he’d made. Flames painted his muscles in violent color, red and black sliding over his chest and arms as if the city itself were trying to warn us.

That’s when he saw himself.
He stared straight through the skyscraper I was trapped in.

The mirrored face from the nearby tower caught his reflection perfectly: massive, dominant, unstoppable. He stopped, turning slightly, studying the image with naked confidence. He squared his shoulders. Expanded his chest. The buildings around him looked like props arranged for his benefit.

Satisfied, he took a step toward it.

The impact was unreal.

My coffee fell off the edge of my desk.

The building lurched beneath me as if struck by a freight train. Another step, closer, and the windows screamed in their frames. Concrete groaned. Somewhere deep in the tower, alarms erupted, a rising electronic howl meant for earthquakes and disasters beyond human control.

He was coming closer.

Each footfall shook the structure harder, more violently, until the floor beneath me felt liquid. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe. All I could do was stare as his colossal form filled more and more of the sky, muscles tightening with every step, power rolling off him like heat.

He loomed over my building now, his presence blotting out the stars, reflections multiplying him across the glass. He didn’t need to touch us to make us feel insignificant.

The alarms wailed. Lights flickered.

And I stood there, frozen, not just in fear, but in the unbearable realization that this was what dominance looked like when it stopped pretending to be human.

This wasn’t destruction for rage.

This was confidence made catastrophic.

He knew exactly how big he was, and he loved it. It made him twitch with excitement. I was numb. I could never make it out in time.

All I could do is accept my fate.