A thin tendril fires out of my hand and wraps around the hilt. The man can’t bring the knife down as I hold it back. His eyes follow my tether back to me, stepping forward to the crowd.

This is my moment—a declaration of my presence among the masses. I must be delecated and approachable but convey the weight of who I truly am.

I take a heavy step, and everyone’s eyes are on me. The sunlight pierces the sky and hits my bright orange ooze. I glow with a powerful aura. No one speaks. Makes sense, not every day you are in the presence of divinity. They can also be terrified by my appearance, but I’ll push that thought to the back of my head and speak.

“Hi, I’m Cid.” You nailed it. Who can ask for a better delivery? My voice was steady, but I dropped it an octave because I’ve been told my voice’s pitch is a bit on the high end.

“Who are you?” The man replies.

“I AM CID!” I shout, as he must not have heard me. It must have been too loud, as he covers his ears, and I notice a window cracking as I speak. Of course, I pretend not to see it, as I don’t have the funds to pay.

“Sorry, everyone.” By the looks on their faces, the people showed that my thanks were not well received. I pointed at Van with the hand attached to the knife and struck a power pose. My legs spread, my body titled, my confidence radiating off my glimmering body.

“Not you, though. You kid-killing crazed criminal. “I say, lowering my voice.

“Criminal, he came at me trying to stab,” he says, pointing the knife at the kid.

“Oh… that is true,” I say, looking at the kid who stares at me, confused on whose side I’m on.

“This is self-defense.” The man’s grip on the knife tightens as he smiles at the kid.

“Okay, that's not true. None of this is self-defense. You are threading the kid’s life and playing sick games. Look, I can help you. I can provide absolution…maybe.”

“It’s clear you are new to town, unfamiliar with the rule of law. I’ll make sure to explain it to you well after I finish off the true criminal.” He says, pressing the knife’s blade to the boy’s cheek.

“Look,” I yank the blade back as a subtle reminder that I have power in the conversation. “I get he tried to stab you.”

“I’ll do it again!” The boy shouts out.

My face stretches all the way to the boys. “I’m trying to help you,” I snap back at him. The intimidation tactic must have worked, as the color on the kid’s face is flushed out, as are many people watching in the crowd.

“No, he won’t,” I reassure the man.

“Yes, I will.” The kid spits back at me.

“You’re not helping!” I stop shouting as I feel a tug on the knife. The man was trying to stab something. It wasn’t aimed at the kid; it was going toward my head.

“Enough. You can jump in,” The man says. At that moment, I feel a flash of heat above my stretched-out neck. I retract my head back to my body as a Peterson obscured in clocked and a metal black mask pieces a long, thick blade into the concrete. It was aiming at my neck.

“I am trying to stop the violence,” I shout to the man. “And here you go, trying to cause more and cut my head off.” I turn to the crowd. “Am I right? We can all do…” I stop talking. The look of fear on their face is mixed with recognition. Everyone here is familiar with the masked man, meaning he is with the knife-wielding maniac.

The masked man moves close to the man with the knife as he breaks free from my grip. The kid’s eyes widen in fear as the prospect of his death has finally hit him. Tears form on the edge of his eyes, but they can’t extinguish the anger in his glare.

“Listen, Goo guy. You have potential. I’ll give you that. Looking at your clothes, you could use a few bucks,” the man says with a grin.

“These clothes are new,” I whisper back.

“I run this town and everyone who lives in it. I control every aspect of everyone’s lives here. If you are good, I’ll reward you.” The man’s gaze moves to the kid. “Anyone who steps out of line or tires to alter the course I have planned for this rock gets punished.”

The boy flails in the man's grip, yelling obscenities as his rage is overflowing. The man looks back at me, grinning. “See, he isn’t worth saving. Now I can see a spot for you in my company. How about you work for me.”

I chuckle at his prospect. His face twitches as the grin shifts to anger. I step forward, retaking my dynamic stance.

WORD OF CID

Presenting yourself in a strong, defiant pose will help with changing people’s minds and hearts.

“You may not know this, but I am of influence myself. My goal is to help people in any way I can. To be a force of good and comfort to the community. If you pray at the altar of CID, I shall hear you.”

“Pray?” The man says.

“Yes, pray. For you see, I am a god.” Once I say this the world I silent. The crowd around us gawk at me with confusion. The man and the boy stare blankly at me, waiting for a non-existent second part of my sentence. The silence is broken by an uncontrollable laughter. We all turn to see the man in the mask bent over, hands on his knees, laughing. He even coughs, gasping for air as he laughs.

“You? A GOD?” The masked man lets out during his magic giggle attack. “That’s amazing, the best thing I heard. You, the budding cup without the cup, a god.” He turns to the man as he speaks. “Crane, did you know the orange puddle is a god.”

“It’s slime, not pee,” I say back.

“Same thing to me.”

“Crane, was it?” I direct at the man. He turns his head, so I guess that is his name. “Can you please control you, men?

“Kill the slime,” Van says with a steady tone.

I tried diplomacy. Now it’s time for the next best choice. Crane, now free from my grip, lunges the knife at the boy. I muster all the strength I can to expand my chest. I suck in all the air I can, and I flatter large enough that my shadow looms over the whole crowd. My clothes were sucked into my body as I didn’t want to break the outfit I just stole- acquired.

I let the air out as I roared as loud as I could. The ground shook as windows shattered. The people around ran back out of fear. The officer finally steps forward, but his eyes are on me. Crane drops the knife to cover his ears as he can barely keep his head up. The boy does the same, but I need him to hole up a bit longer. The masked man doesn’t flinch. He stands tall and takes the roar entirely. He rushes toward me, but I stretch my body to the serpent sharp and slither below his stab. A heat radiates in my body as the sword scratches my body.

I created something similar to a mouth in the middle of my face. I mean, it’s a hole in my face. I lung forward. Crane flinches in horror, but his hand pats the ground, searching for the knife. He stares up at my gaping mouth as I leap toward him. He shuts his eyes.

By the time he finally opened his eyes, I was long gone, and so was the boy. I was springing toward hopping from rooftops. I don’t look like my usual self, as I have taken a new form.

Fun Fact

I call this form Taxi Crawler. I am about twice as long and three times as wide as I normally am. My body is snake-like, and I sprout three legs on each side. They are more like a hand-foot hybrid, as my five toes are long. I can run and grip with these bad boys, which is useful when you are jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

A man popped his head out, lungs full of air, ready to shout at me, but when he saw my beautiful visage, he went pale and screamed as loud as he could. That...that hurt.

Another useful feature is the fact I am large. Big enough to carry people inside myself. Almost like a baby bug ship. Something I feel the kid freaking out inside my stomach wasn’t thrilled with. Don’t worry. I’m not digesting him and make a pocket of air for him. You can tell by his constant screaming in my stomach.

Some people aren’t grateful to be rescued. We were running for our lives because of him in the first place.