Arkenfel City was overcast by light grey clouds and sprinkles of rainshowers. At the corner of a supermarket sat a begging man. A man who'd given up on life. That man was Dale, who looked up at gloomy grey sky. Birds gliding freely accross the sky, made him wish he could just be like them. Flying and soaring. Not having to pay bills or work a nine to five job. Such birds would probibly be ignored by kaiju, at least he thought so. Dale wasn't much of a fighter. He was like a cat that didn't know if it wanted to be on the road or the sidewalk. Not knowing wether to join the army or just commit to a job.
"Look mom. Why is that man sitting there?" A little boy asked. His mother was right by the boy's side. She wore a tight business suit and had her hair up neatly, probibly just gotten out of work.
Dale saw the mother and child passing by. The mother raised her head ignoring him and pulled the boy closer to her side. Several other people passed by. Ignoring the foggy glass cup he had before him. Something he'd shunned bums in movies for doing. Begging is for the weak! He would say. Now he found himself in their spot, doing just that.
Dale Oliver had been working retail at Super William's supermarket. Not as a manager or supervisor, but as an entry level truck unloader. Mornings consisting of struggling to wake up, followed by a question, what am I doing with my life?
Usually people had drives to survive. Go through school, get a job, and finally raise a family. Dale on the other hand was deferent. At the age of five, he questioned his mother on why he was ever born.
At the age of thirteen. He asked a girl out, in which she gave a disgusted look and no answer. The girl appeared fine but, Dale looked like a skinny whimpy goblin at the time.
Now, he sat as a bum. Life basically murdered him. Due to his mental limitiations and anxiety disorder.
Dale felt the coins he managed to gather jumping around the glass. It was nine dollars and a few coins. If he spent it wisely. He could amplify the amount of food per dollar it could buy. That and the food kitchen run by The West baptist church that opened at noon.
The air felt rather cool. It was fall and that meant rain season again. After the rain would be the frosty cold.
Dale had been staring in thought when a strange dress stepped right before him.
For a second, he got excited. He could tell the torso before him, that it belonged to a young woman by the clicks of her heals. He looked up and saw the blonde haired woman's face.
She looked cute, her dress was white, like something a Japanese idol would wear.
Dale quickly remembered he had given up on love. Women and men were the same. In reality, women were men, but they just had a slightly deferent anatomy. At least this was the lie he needed to feed himself to not get hope. Never again would he be hurt like he was in middle school. He still remembered the sour expression the girl had as she rejected him.
"Come, let's get you something to eat." She said.
The words she said almost seemed to distort. Dale wasn't expecting to hear that. Especially from a cute girl. Sure, old ladies might give him five bucks, maybe twenty, but thats as far as it got. They wanted nothing to do with a bum.
She held out her hand with a smile. Although he could barely see her eyes behined her dark sunglasses. Who wears sunglasses on such a cloudy day? He thought.
They arrived at a fast food place called Jimmies Burgers. Dale had eaten most of the burger as the young lady just watched him. He tried not to get nervous. Being as low as he was, he had no right to build any form of pride. There was nothing to be nervous about. The young lady could be a dog, a cat, an old lady, or an old man, and it shouldn't even matter.
"I'm a dog am I?" The lady broke the silence.
Dale's chewing froze and he felt sweat running down his forhead. Did she just read my mind? He wondered.
"Look. Ask me any three things and I'll grant them. Just know, This isn't my true form. This is the form created for me, by your subconcious. I have allowed it." She said.
Dale swollowed. Then he cleared his throat.
"Is this a joke? You're asking the wrong guy. Ya see? I've given up." Dale pointed using a french fry at the telivision. The broadcast showed the aftermath of a kaiju attack on NewYork. According to the scrolling text, the military managed to defeat the kaiju before too much damage had occured.
"If your a rich lady trying to give her wealth away. Hell, I'll take it." Dale said as he dipped the fry in keychup, then he bit it like a hungry dog.
"I'll live it up with gallons of Budlights and wait for one of those motherfuckers to end it all. They'll just drop it like a turd on a colony of ants." Dale said, then he took a sip of his drink.
"I said you have three wishes. You're better than this Dale..First wish, money, whats your second wish?" She said.
Dale laughed as he wiped his mouth with a tissue.
"Is this some kind of therapy? Alright, I'll play along." Dale leaned back in his chair.
"My first wish is being filthy rich..I wanna know how those pigs on top get their money. Second…" Dale paused as he looked out the window as if his answer was there. The sky was still grey, he noticed people walking around with umbrellas. Back and forth, living their lives that could end at any moment.
"Second?" The lady repeated as she leaned closer.
Dale rubbed his forehead as his depression began to come back.
"Second, I want the ability to fight back. Those sadistic bastards in the sky, deserve a punch in the face." Dale said bitterly.
"You won't even consider their motives?" The woman said with a smile.
"No..But do you know why they keep attacking?" Dale asked as he felt his heart sink at the fact he started to believe her genie story. Then again, she had just read his mind.
"I do. Their home planet sent an armada to destroy human kind. Right now the commander of that armada is sadistically abusing my people. I fully support you, despite your wicked motives." She said with a serious look.
She looked down at his wrist and that caught Dale off gaurd.
"Look at your wrist. You can summon three heroes to help you fight, but use it wisely. There are consequences."
"Consequences?" Dale whispered.
What was on his wrist was like a blue glowing layer of skin under his first layer of skin. It was shapped like an arrow. Almost like some kind of inner tattoo.
"For example, summoning a hero while your being shot..you might just be sending someone to the slaughter. With that, I'll leave your final wish for later. You'll need it then." She said as she stood up.
"Wait, how do I use this? And where can I find my money?" Dale said.
"Just say I summon you. As for your money, just check your bank account…don't come crying to me when the FBI comes after you." She said.
"Wait, what?"
The sirens began to scream, followed by the sound of an icy thunderous yell. The rain drops began to grow larger, as if a storm was going to hit. Dale leaned against the cold window. He saw everyone as if frozen, all of them looking up at the sky. Dale looked up too. And there he saw what he wished he hadn't seen. He wished he could just ignore it and pretend he hadn't seen it, so it could go away. Or that he would wake up from the terrible nightmare. But this was real and the object in the sky was falling. A stone like kaiju, its horrid glowing big eyes staring stright down as it fell.
"Why?…" Dale whispered.