by Captain Sammitch and T5
Phil Smith was beginning to think he might have miscalculated things again. His first mistake was in underestimating the seriousness of the situation back when the hurricane was first approaching. His second was in trying to play the hero all by himself, and he had nearly bought the farm because of it. Phil doubted his luck would allow him a third strike.
But it was beginning to look like having Edulcore Cicciotto drop him there wasn't such a good idea. The wall was taking a real pounding from the incessant waves, and the wind threatened to pull Phil right off his feet. It was taking nearly all he had to shield himself from the fury of the storm.
And sure enough, there didn't seem to be anybody left out there.
Phil decided it was probably time to head back to the building. He made his way up the slight incline leading from the wall up to town, picking his way over the rocks nimbly in spite of the winds whipping around him, which he barely felt due to the powerful shielding effect he had thrown up around himself.
Something caught his attention.
Out of the corner of his eye, Phil noticed something odd. The waves seemed to be pulling back ever so slightly. Gradually, the surf continued to recede. Soon there was a noticeable difference in the water level.
It seemed like things were calming down, but Phil knew nothing could be further from the truth. All that water that seemed to be going away was sure to come back, and when it did, everyone would know it.
There it was. Almost to the horizon, off in the distance, a fuzzy-looking, greenish line was just becoming visible. It was an incredibly thin line, yet within a few moments, it had doubled in height. Soon it doubled again. Phil was all too aware of what he was seeing.
This was a wave big enough to scour La Perdita clean. And it was headed straight for him.
The wind tore at their faces. Both of the girls ran to seek shelter, one in chrome-shiny armor, and one in a red leather miniskirt and matching boots.
The one in armor and brown hair called to the blond next to her, "Okay, Crasher, this is where I leave you. Make sure to return home immediately, or your father will be very angry with both of us!"
"Yeah, yeah!" replied the blond with a grin. "Are you sure you can do this, though? It sure is big."
The armored girl shrugged. "I won't try to take the whole wave, just the base, so it loses its momentum and crashes down before it can reach the mainland. Go now... I don't have much time."
"Okey-dokey, A. But come home in one piece, okay?" And with that, Crasher blinked out of existence.
The armor-clad girl grimaced at the wet winds and began running toward the beach. A huge shadow loomed over the ocean, and a distant, deep thunderous roar could be heard from the approaching wave, and what a wave it was: a true tsunami, more than one-hundred feet in height.
Wait a minute... something is wrong here, she thought. A wave this size could never be generated by a natural storm like this.
Having reached her destination, she looked for the base of the wave and focused all her attention on it.
Suddenly, a scream came from close by. She looked for the source and saw a girl sitting in a small boat on a pier. Her wailing had gone unnoticed in the howling wind. Deciding in an instant what to do, she ran toward the boat. It was close to being ripped apart any second now.
She focused on the girl, and she disappeared from sight only to appear next to the now-stressed heroine.
She looked up at the incoming wave. It was almost too close now, but she had to try anyway. With the girl safely tucked in her arms, she refocused on the base and mentally pushed harder than she ever had before.
She realized that the beach would be destroyed and all the coastal houses as well, but her deed would save the houses that lay more inland.
And then she released her power.
The base of the wave disappeared, and the wave crashed down, having lost much of its kinetic thrust. The beach sank under the enormous force, and the nearby harbor was torn to pieces.
The armored girl was flung across the land with the little girl screaming in her arms. A helmet automatically appeared over her head, but the brute force of the wave smashed her against a nearby apartment building. The armored girl, known as Ameristar, blacked out.
The little girl scrambled to her feet and saw strange men looking out a window from the house. She yelled, "Help, please! She's hurt. She saved me from the waves. Please help her! And I want my mommy!" She started to shake with cries.
Phil awoke with a start. He must have hit his head on something. He was lying on the ground halfway up the hill from the south wall, which looked to have been totally wiped out. What in the world had just happened?
I dunno, Phil mused, but it must have shot the full force of the wave all to hell.
He slowly got up and looked around. He could go down to what was left of the beach and see if there was anyone who needed help, or he could make his way back to the building and help out there.
There would be more waves like that coming, to be sure. What to do? Time to improvise.