"Bleh."

June grimaced, wiping the last of the lion-bear-man-thing off her shoes. She had to use some of her power to keep the acid blood from eating into the leather. She hated having to use the thing. It wasn't a part of her.

June made things around her lazy. If she wanted to. She hated being lazy. She was a go-getter, an achiever. June had never had a lazy day in her life.

Now the world ended and the way she survived was by making things less productive. It went against everything she was. So she hated using it.

However, the power did have its uses. Like keeping acid blood from ruining her new boots. These were made out of Hydra hide, comfortable and resisting wear. But not even Hydra could stand up to these monsters. She'd know, she had them fight each other yesterday.

The LBMT (monsters name until others thought of something better) hadn't even worried about the poisonous blood a Hydra emitted, biting into the neck without a care. The hydra had bit back of course, but its teeth dissolved in the acid blood. Dissolved! The hydra had died screaming and the LBMT had a nice feast.

That was when June came up to it. She focused all her power onto the thing, watching as its eyes glazed in the post-meal stupor. She had learned It was much easier using her power on living creatures, doubly so when the creature wanted to be lazy. And everyone was lazy after eating a large meal.

The LBMT showed no reaction as she walked up to it, instead opting to lie down. This gave June the perfect leverage, bringing her vibrosword straight down into the beast's heart. The creature spasmed, blood spurting out. June used her power to encourage the natural laziness that comes with blood loss. Soon the thing had bled out and blood was eating into the dirt.

It would stop in a few minutes, leaving a nasty sludge, probably. Maybe it would be good enough for more monsters to come to eat. June would give it a day, and if nothing showed she'd look for new hunting grounds. She stalked back over to the hideout dug into the earth.

June had made sure to dress in colors that matched the terrain. Her entire outfit was combat fatigues made out of rare animal hides, all dyed in the same pallid brown of this wasteland. Only creatures that hunted without sight could sense her, and she had ways of making sure those ignored her.

June had covered her face and hair with a scarf of the same colors. Her hair was naturally blond, and in college many had thought she was a party girl. So she had cut it short, a serious haircut. Now her hair was almost shaved off, it wasn't a good thing to have long hair.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Inwardly, June sighed. She missed the days where her biggest worry was being called a slut because she had worn a revealing top in ninety-degree weather. Now her worries were protecting her life and growing her powers even more. She was responsible for the protection of those in Haven now. A frontline guard.

It's not like her power was useful for anything else. Maybe creating a relaxing atmosphere, but it was only one step from resort relaxer to something worse. Too many idiots living out sexual fantasies. She'd much rather protect herself.

June waited for an hour with her thoughts, many of them reminiscing on the past before her makeshift bait brought out another monster. This time it was a robot girl.

The mechanical girl was hovering in the air by wings on her back, one angel, one devil. She wondered if this was a person, or if the girl was another monster. It was hard to tell with these types.

June waited, making sure to observe before anything else. She saw the woman land next to the sludge and noticed she wasn't wearing anything. Or it looked like she wasn't, maybe her metallic chrome skin was some sort of protective bodysuit. June had seen weirder.

The robot was standing over the pit now, and seemed to be looking down. Then June saw the arm turn to dust. It settled over the mix of monster, dirt, and acid. And then the dust grew as if metallic liquid spilled on the floor. That settled it, this was a monster. Humans mostly kept the same shape despite all the craziness going down.

Now that she knew it was a monster, and a mechanical one, June prepped an EMP in her hand. She was close enough to throw it, but she had to make sure the robot wouldn't react and using her power would keep the grenade from going off. She waited, one, then two seconds and tossed the EMP at the monster's feet.

As it landed an electric pulse exploded from the grenade, electrically shorting anything in its radius. The robot woman spasmed, then crumpled to the ground. June saw small explosions go off in the pit. However, she was sure the monster wasn't quite dead yet. It wouldn't be this weak if it was on its own.

Warily, June opened her hideout and stepped out. She readied her vibrosword, flipping on the electric discharge function. She stalked over to the downed machine, ready for any movement. As she neared, June made sure her power was ready to be directed.

When June was about five feet away, the robot exploded in a flurry of motion. The entire body split into a cloud of dust, all directed at June. In response, the woman focused her power onto the cloud, willing it to grow lazy. The cloud slowed, some of the dust falling to the ground. It was enough time for June to thrust her sword at the cloud. Electricity arced from nanomachine to nanomachine. The cloud spasmed, and June focused her power harder, doing her absolute best to keep the monster from moving. Electricity arced, then slowed, and finally hung suspended in the air. June thrust her sword again, unleashing another blast of electricity. It too eventually grew lazy.

June struck, again and again, using all her willpower on the area. Finally, June felt herself reaching a limit. She made one more thrust and then backpedaled as much as she could before her power gave out. And then her mind reached the limit. For a second, the cloud stood frozen, electricity frozen in arcs between clouds of dust. June was reminded of tesla coils. And then it all exploded as the electricity stopped being lazy.

Impossible amounts of energy restarted at once, shocking the nanomachines again and again. Not even the EMP shielding could hold up against an assault. In fact, there was so much energy June saw the clouds melting, then fusing together into a giant ball of plasma. Which then fell onto the ground, right next to the sludge. Another hole appeared in the ground as the plasma melted and ate away at the dirt.

"I might have overdone it," June said, exhausted. She crawled back over to the hideout, not wanting to rest out in the open. She opened the hatch and rolled in. The opening closed behind her in a hiss while June's eyes closed for rest.