Golden Time
My own skull stared back at me from the mirror.
I couldn't help it — I screamed and toppled straight over backwards.
-CRASH!
"F-first, let's cover this up…"
I had no idea what the hell was going on, but whatever it was, it looked grotesque, so I jammed my face back on. I tried to get up immediately, but my head was still spinning, and mid-rise I stepped on a shard of the shattered sink and went down again.
-CRASH!
The very instant I hit the floor in a fresh clatter of noise, a voice drifted in from outside the bathroom.
-Yo, what the hell! Did a shower head fall off or something?
"?!"
Judging by the voice, it was the firework monster I'd been trying to take care of.
My Time Stop…
I didn't know how or why, but my Time Stop had come undone. I was positive I still had a firm grip on the flow of time, and yet…
Dammit.
I couldn't see the flow of time anymore.
I had no clue what was going wrong, but first things first — I had to get out of here. This was the building right next to Magical Comet's place, and if that lunatic started raising hell…
-Creeeak…
"Huh? WHAT THE—!!"
"Dammit."
Panic had made me slow. I'd gotten my face back on, sure, but now I was standing face to face with the firework monster, and its reaction came at once.
"Oh my gawd! Is this a surprise party for me? Then I'll graciously accept it, y'know!"
-Fweeeee-WOOSH!
A garishly colorful firework came screaming at me without warning. I knew exactly what that thing did, so I hastily crossed my arms into a defensive guard.
-KABOOOOM!!
The moment the firework touched my arms, it erupted in a blast so loud it felt like my eardrums would burst. Even with my guard up, the impact was more than enough to send me flying into the wall.
God, my timing is terrible.
The firework monster in front of me was a kaiju specialized in long-range, wide-area attacks. Its defense was pathetic, but those fireworks made closing the distance a nightmare.
All I had, as a time-stop monster, was physical capability strong enough to handle anything except close-combat-type kaiju — and the ability to stop time itself. With no ranged options of my own, that guy was a genuinely difficult matchup.
"Ooh! Even the famous Clock-Head bro everyone's been talking about can't beat my fireworks! My party time is the best there is!"
As the monster spewed its confident trash talk, I quietly pushed myself up off the floor.
"Wha—WHAT the?!"
Once I was up and even brushed the dust off myself, it staggered back a few steps, thoroughly rattled.
"Well, this is turning into more of a hassle than I expected."
"What?!"
"You were better off not knowing anything…"
At the bewildered monster staring at me, I shook my head with what I hoped read as genuine pity.
Not that it knows the details about me anyway.
All the information out there about me boiled down to: suspected time-related ability, unfathomably strong. Since I always attacked while time was frozen, nobody ever saw how I moved or what my attacks actually looked like.
"…Ha! How dare you give me that reaction! You might be strong, but I'm no pushover either, y'know!"
-Fweee-WOOSH! Fwee-WOOSH!
For all its big talk, the thing was clearly scared of me, because it just started blasting fireworks wildly in every direction. But even without Time Stop, attacks at this level couldn't scratch me.
I watched the fireworks streaking straight at me right up until the last instant.
-Snick.
Then I shifted my body barely a step sideways and cleaved the firework clean in two with the edge of my palm. The ones flying in behind it got the same treatment.
"WHAAAAT?!"
Clearly not expecting that, the monster ended up firing its fireworks at the ceiling instead of at me.
-KABOOM!
The blast brought the ceiling crashing down, revealing the bright blue sky beyond. It looked like it planned to flee — the monster leaped toward the gaping hole.
"Where do you think you're going?"
A thing like that especially couldn't be allowed anywhere near crowds, so while my mouth played it cool, I chased after it at full power.
"KYAAAAH! I said don't follow me!"
"Just accept your fate quietly! This is your appointed hour!"
"KYAAAAAAH!"
The firework monster shrieked and bolted toward the next building over.
Huh? Wait, that's…
Of all directions, it was headed straight for the apartment where Comet lived. I snatched up the electric kickboard sitting nearby and hurled it at the monster.
-CRUUUNCH!
"GYAH?!"
A perfect hit. The monster lost its balance and tumbled head over heels three full rotations. At that ridiculous spectacle, I laughed at it — while doing my utmost to stay in character.
"My, my. You look utterly ridiculous. Perhaps I should have thrown it more gently?"
"…KYAAAAAH! I can't take any more of this! It's one or the other — you die, or I die!"
-Fssszzz…!
The fireworks on both of its hands and atop its head ignited.
"KYAAAAH! IT'S PARTY TIME!!"
-Fweee-WOOSH! Fwee-WOOSH!
Three fireworks came screaming from its hands. For all their cute appearance, each one packed the punch of a small bomb.
I smoothly carved them apart with my palm again, and again. Over a dozen repetitions of the same routine.
"Where'd you even come from, and what do you WANT?! You came here to take my life, didn't you?!"
"…Correct."
"Then hurry up and show me that famous Clock-Head power of yours! KYAAAAAH!"
Watching the fireworks spraying madly from both its arms, I had a thought.
My ability is so unhelpful it hurts.
Here I was, suffering through hell because I couldn't use my power without knowing what was wrong or what the conditions were — and that overgrown firework just fires off whatever it feels like, zero worries.
…Actually, when I think about it, that's pretty infuriating, isn't it?
"Hmm… It appears you'll have to serve as my emotional trash can."
"WHAT did you just say?!"
I was already pissed at the situation itself, so congratulations — you picked the right moment. The flow of time still eluded me, which was slowing down how quickly I could deal with this thing, but one thing was certain: it was going to die.
So… the moment I saw an opening, I was going to beat it like a red-headed stepchild.
"Hh—AAAAH! Th-that's enough already, nya! You can come out now, nya!"
Aste looked, to anyone watching, utterly drained. When Ari gazed at her with worried eyes, the mascot raised her front paw in a thumbs-up.
"I told you, didn't I, nya! I'm a super-elite mascot, nya! If I gather my strength, I can even cast a powerful Perception Blur, nya!"
True to her word, Ari's parents hadn't noticed a single thing amiss — not even when Ari slipped quietly out of their arms and stood beside them.
"Aste, are you okay?"
"Now's not the time to worry about me, nya! We have to go smash those monsters outside, nya!"
"…Right, got it. The heart passed down from Comet! Transform! Magical Comet!"
Transformed into Magical Comet in an instant, Ari threw open the veranda window and leaped straight out.
-WHOOOOSH!
Comet fell fast, cleaving through the wind.
There!
She spotted the two monsters locked in combat, just like the news had shown, and made straight for them.
-THUD!
Comet landed in a perfect hero's landing, a short distance from the two monsters.
"Like a comet through your heart! Magical Comet has arrived!"
She recited her entrance line as she always did. Standing before her were the monster presumed responsible for the explosions and Cloak, the one opponent she could never hope to beat — but she was a magical girl, and she did not cower.
"Wha—what?"
The firework monster's attention snapped to the newly arrived Magical Comet. And just as Comet raised her wand to aim at him—
-Snap.
"Got you."
In the instant the firework monster had glanced away, Cloak had seized its wrist. It frantically unleashed fireworks from both hands—
-BOOM! BOOM!
Cloak weathered them with flat indifference, then stretched out his other arm and closed it around the monster's throat.
A fight between monsters…
Comet, watching the two of them clash, surged forward and shouted.
"I will punish the both of you for terrorizing the citizens!"
She moved to cast her Magical Blast at once, blue light gathering at the tip of her wand.
"Magical—"
Before her incantation could finish, something went horribly wrong.
-SPLORTCH!
"KHHAK…!"
Cloak's hand punched clean through the firework monster's chest with almost insulting ease. He withdrew it, and this time severed both of its arms.
-SNICK!
"GYAAAAH! Wha—WHAT THE FUC—!"
"Didn't I tell you? This is your appointed hour."
"He… help me…"
Before she could even cast her spell, Cloak had already neutralized the firework monster. Somehow, the roles had reversed — now it was the monster begging Comet for help.
"Uh, um…?"
Flustered beyond words, Comet hesitated — and mercifully, her agonizing didn't last long.
"KYAAAAH! If this is how it ends, then you're coming with—!"
Because in a final act of desperation, the firework monster thrust its own flaming firework-head right into Cloak's face.
"This blast will rival a NUCLEAR BOMB, you f***ing Clock!! GOLDEN TIME, THREE SECONDS!!"
"!! Wait…!"
Forget rescue — the firework monster had decided it was going to be a nuke, with or without her.
"EVERYBODY, BYE-BYEEEE!"
"NOOOO!"
Comet threw herself toward the screaming monster, which looked ready to detonate at any second—
-Thud. T-d-d-dud.
What remained there was nothing but a carpet of finely diced firework scraps.