Roger and the Cerberus stopped near the street from the alley. The place was a complete mess. Cars tipped over, buildings smashed along the cracked concrete, and phone line poles collapsed while sparkling bolts. A broken fire hydrant shot water into the air near a crushed public bus crushed. On the other side, a large pile of concrete rocks covered a body with a hand sticking out. Nobody else was in sight, and only the rain was the only sound through the entire breeze.

The city probably evacuated when the sea monster attacked. Roger hoped most of the people could escape as fast as possible. But not everyone was lucky.

“What a massacre,” said Cilla in a gloomy tone.

A sharp roar rumbled from a short distance. It sounded like the giant creature was close.

In the sky, four combat helicopters flew over the sky.

Katina glared at them. “What the hell are those?”

“AH-64 Apache assault helicopters,” Roger explained. “They are flying machines used by the army.”

Katina smiled. “Bitching!”

Gunfire and explosions echoed behind the ruined buildings. Roger couldn’t see the action, but he knew the copters were attacking the creature. It roared in the gunfire.

“Those human machines can’t kill it,” said Labda. “But we have a better chance if we can find higher ground, equal to his height.”

“His?” Roger asked.

“Yes, the Cetus is male. Did you notice?”

Roger shrugged. “I couldn’t tell….. It has no genitals.”

“It’s in him, but thank god we can’t see it,” said Katina, shivering.

Cilla looked around. “Where can we reach the high ground?”

Down the cripple street, Roger spotted a very tall building, standing out from the other city structures. Tallest of them all, covered in glass and silver metal frames around its circular form.

Roger pointed his finger at the skyscraper. “There! The Salesforce Tower should match the creature’s height.”

Labda stared at the tower and smiled. “Perfect! We need to move there now.”

The Cerberus kneeled down on all fours next to Roger.

“Hop on, we can move faster this way,” said Labda.

Katina rolled her eyes. “Not again.”

Cilla giggled. “I like him riding on us!”

“Oh, grow the hell up, Cilla.”

Roger climbed onto the Cerberus’s back and wrapped his arms around Labda’s neck. They dashed down the street toward the skyscraper.

*****

About ten blocks toward the center of downtown, Roger and the Cerberus approached the Salesforce Tower. The rain calmed down, although the sky remained gray.

Roger jumped off the Cerberus’s back and rushed toward the glass door below the tower. He pulled on both metal doorknobs, but the door didn’t bunch open. Someone must have locked it before leaving the city.

“Shit!” If Roger has a master key, getting inside the tower wouldn’t be a problem.

The Cerberus approached behind him and stared up at the tower.

“How about we climb up?” Katina suggested.

Roger looked up. “I’m….. Not comfortable with heights.”

“Oh, don’t be a pussy!” Katina grabbed Roger’s back and lifted him up off the ground.

“What are you doing?” Roger struggled until the Cerberus placed him on her back.

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“Climbing up is faster!” Katina explained.

“So is using the elevator!”

The Cerberus jumped up and grabbed onto the metal frame against the glass window. Roger held tight around Labda’s neck.

So leaped up to each frame and leaped to the next one. She wasn’t climbing, just jumping up quickly on the tower.

Roger closed his eyes. If he looked down his heart would drop. Avoiding the ground far below was the best way to avoid getting scared.

Feeling the Cerberus moving up felt like a fast-moving elevator, stopping by a few seconds. If his heart doesn’t fall out, his stomach might.

Finally, the Cerberus landed on the rooftop of the tower. Roger slid off the Cerberus’s back and looked around. He could see the entire city on top of the Salesforce Tower. However, he tumbled at the thought of looking down from over the edge.

“Over there!” Cilla pointed to the west.

Not so far. The Cetus stood on a green mountain, waving his arms at the assault helicopters. Two copters went down, and the others flew away to get back up.

“How can we get him over here?” Cilla asked.

Roger pulled out his rocket launcher and placed it down. Then he took out a rocket and loaded it into the launcher. “This should give him our attention.”

“You only have one left!” Cilla exclaimed.

Roger lifted his launcher and aimed it at the sea monster. If he misses, he should try the sniper rifle next.

Through the launcher’s mini scope, Roger zoomed in on the Cetus’s head. It won’t hurt the titan, but he should feel it. Compared to his size, the rocket might feel like a tiny spark on his wet skin.

Here we go! Roger fired the rocket.

It flew over seven blocks toward the creature, leaving a trail of smoke.

The rocket exploded against the monster’s left side of his head, close to his eye. He groaned and turned toward the tower.

Roger lowered the launcher and cheered. “Yes!”

The Cetus growled in anger while marching toward the tower.

Roger probably shouldn’t feel lucky right now. In fact, he should be quivering in fear while watching the monster approach him. Maybe facing many monsters so far made him, or he was only happy the rocket hit the creature without failing.

The Cetus stood close to the tower, glaring down at Roger and the Cerberus. Sure enough, he was almost as tall as the tallest building in San Francisco, except his colossal head rose over the rooftop. His massive fish face was also wider than the rooftop. No wonder the giant was scary!

“Quickly! Hold up Medusa’s head!” Labda shouted.

The Cetus raised his right arm, ready to smack the tower down. Roger opened the backpack and grabbed the head.

As the Cetus threw his hand down toward the roof, Roger dashed toward the edge of the roof, close to the monster, and held up Medusa’s head.

Her dead open eyes blasted two beams of yellow light at the monster.

When the beams touched the monster’s face, he paused, stopping his hand from reaching the roof. The Cetus remained frozen as his entire skin turned gray, thickening into hardness. Everything on his body changed into stone, including his eyes and the insides of his mouth.

After Medusa’s head stopped blasting for the last time, Roger lowered the head.

He did it! He defeated the Cetus!

Without warning, the giant statue cracked and tumbled toward the tower.

The Cerberus dropped their mouths.

“It’s coming down toward us!” Cilla cried.

The stone hand crashed on the roof, pushing the tower backward.

The Cerberus grabbed Roger, but both of them fell off the building. They hugged each other as they fell down heads first into the collapsing debris below.

*****

Roger opened his eyes, feeling his head arched as if his skull was burning. He laid on a stone-ground, which felt kind of strange. Ashy and rough with tiny rocks.

After he rubbed his head, he got up and looked around. He remembered he was falling down the collapsing tower. His body should by lying beneath a pile of concrete and metal frames.

Instead, he stood on a gray beach near a large body of water beneath a dark sky. The water glowed like a ghost, shimmering white light across the cavern walls behind him. Was Roger dreaming while he was unconscious?

When Roger looked to the right, he found the Cerberus laying on their stomach.

“Katina! Labda! Cilla!” He rushed toward them and shook their back. “Wake up! Wake up!”

The girls groaned, and their arms pushed themselves up off the ground.

Cilla rubbed her head. “Where are we?”

Roger stared at the ceiling. “I don’t know. We didn’t fall here.”

On the water, a boat drifted toward the shore from the darkness. A figure on the boat wore a heavy black hood. He removed his hood off, revealing himself to be a skeleton. He waved his bony hand at the Cerberus. “Hey, Katina! Cilla, and Labda! Back so soon?”

Labda facepalmed. “Oh, no…..”

“What is it?” Roger asked.

An icy terror drifted across Labda’s face. “We’re near the River of Styx!”

“Is that good?”

“No….. We are dead.”