Mavis flew in the sky, high above the city below. Her superiority complex had only grown, fuelling her rage at how she had been treated all her life.

  They will know their rightful place and get what they deserve.

  She focused on a tall building and it began to crumble to the ground. She flew around the city, leaving chaos and destruction in her wake. She eyed another building nearby and it exploded.

  On the streets below, people screamed. Many emerged from buildings, out onto the street in panic. Before they could even begin to contemplate what was happening, the debris from collapsing buildings crushed them.

  In another street, a huge shockwave from an explosion blew over cars.

  Mavis flew high above - her anger channelled into the street below turning it to lava, progressively engulfing people and cars as they tried to flee. The destructive range of her ability was magnified by the distance from her targets.

  In a café at the corner of two main roads, customers cowered under their tables. The ground shook. They could hear the explosions occurring outside but had no idea what was going on. They had considered the possibility of it being an earthquake. The building's vibrations continued with increasing intensity until finally it gave way.

  Mavis paused to look around, flying closer to a street below. The street appeared to be empty except for some scattered dead bodies and injured victims. Fires burned among the rubble. She could still hear a crowd of people running to get away further up ahead, and so she flew over to where they were. Focusing on the air immediately in front of her, she created a ball of plasma – energy which she then fired into the crowd, creating renewed screams of panic and a line of fire ahead.

  The fire stopped people in their tracks as they now turned to run away from it, towards Mavis. They were trapped between her and the fire, out of options. Some chose to run over to the buildings on either side of the street, banging on windows and locked doors to let them in. Stores that only minutes before had been open for business, had now switched off their lights and closed up shop as if no one was home. Some people were able to find refuge in restaurants and bars, but for most, there was nowhere to go. Some lay on the ground and shielded their head with their arm as if that would somehow protect them. Others did nothing, and a few embraced each other or themselves, locking their hands in prayer. Many had seen Mavis, and were now looking up directly at her, who was hovering above them.

  Mavis landed on the ground in front of the group of people, many of whom collapsed to their knees in fear, pleading with her to spare their lives. She looked at them with contempt. Grabbing a random woman from the ground by the neck, she flew her straight up high into the air. Then she let go and watched her plummet to her death. The woman landed with a splat on the ground near shocked civilians.

  Mavis flew back down and continued to randomly vapourise people with energy - sometimes it hit people, sometimes not, and sometimes just barely missing. They were running in all directions now below her, not knowing where the next strike would be. She laughed maniacally with an evil smile across her face.

  For the people below it was confusion and chaos. Fires and rubble littered the street. In the distance Mavis heard the sirens of an ambulance but could see it was blocked by a car that had been abandoned or crashed in the frenzy. She flew over and lifted the car up over her head with ease and threw it into a nearby building, starting a fire. The ambulance's path was now clear but it remained in place as the driver froze in fear at the sight of Mavis hovering near his window.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “See, since I helped you guys, how about a thank-you?” Mavis sneered when they refused to say anything to her.

  The driver finally came to his senses and sped away down the street. Mavis flew off to terrorise other parts of the city. She felt the wind in her hair. She felt how the air smoothly washed over the length of her body from head to toe as she slid through the sky high above the city below. Flying made her feel powerful. She stopped to look around at the buildings below her. She could hear the sounds of the commotion she had caused. They no longer had power over her. She had power over them all. She could decide who lived and who died, who felt pain and who didn't. She felt unstoppable.

  They will fear me. Then they will adore and worship me.

  She smiled to herself.

  ??????

  A television screen showed a news broadcast with amateur video of Mavis causing destruction and flying in the sky.

  “Seriously shocking reports have emerged out of Los Angeles this morning of a girl who can fly, that has been terrorising the city. It is still unknown where she came from or what her motives are. Our reporter Ted Rogers is on the scene. Ted, what can you tell us of the latest that's been going on there?”

  “Pat, the scenes here are absolutely horrifying. It's like a warzone. As you can see, right now I'm sheltering in a cafe with a few other people. The building across the street from us has been completely destroyed, and the people here are desperately wondering if they will be able to survive this ordeal. Back to you in the studio. “

  “Chilling scenes, Ted.” He turned to face the camera directly now. “We will continue to keep you up to date with further information on this breaking story as it becomes available to us. For now, we recommend anyone in the LA area to shelter in place.”

  The eyes of the President and CIA agents were glued to the TV screen in shock.

  “What have we created… “ The President covered his face with his hands, distraught. He knew that dealing with this situation would be the greatest challenge of his career – in fact, likely the greatest challenge the world had ever faced.

  ??????

  It was not just in Los Angeles, but the mass panic had spread to other cities as well, regardless of Mavis’s presence there or not. There was anarchy in the streets – in New York, Chicago, and every major city across the globe. Mass hysteria – shops swarmed with people panic buying food and supplies. It was all they could do to rationalise their situation. For even though they knew the threat may not yet be upon them, it was all they could do to prepare. That and go to church, spending what little time they may have left with family.

  As the day grew long, the situation only worsened. Many cities met the same fate with all similar scenes: lawlessness, people rioting, smashing cars and windows of shops. There was no care for the usual order of society. In many places, the authorities had given up. Shelves of shops were stripped bare as looters ran in to grab whatever supplies they could carry. Outside, small fires continued to burn in the streets.

  “The end is nigh! The end of days!” A homeless guy preached on a street corner, and as usual, was ignored. Except today was different – today his prophecy was actually coming true. A large cardboard sign draped over his person read:

  REPENT YOUR SINS

  Even on the other side of the world, in Eastern Europe, the news had begun to spread of what was happening. A man looked out of his window, hearing gunshots in the distance and the screech of car tires. It was late afternoon. In the distance, an armed gang emerged from their SUV and went and robbed a drug store. Such crimes were to become much more brazen if they hadn’t already been typical before.

  In India, patrons at a bar drank beer while their eyes were glued to a TV screen. They were all silent, stunned, as they watched the news broadcast. More cities had been hit.