It was half past eight in the morning. A boy named Kashi was having breakfast in the dining room. He was reading a book at the dining table.

In front of him was a bowl of cereal, making that wonderful crackling noise as it absorbed the milk he'd just poured. On the counter was a mug of hot chocolate, cooling by the window. As far as he was concerned, he was at peace with the world. At this moment the only thing he wanted was for him to finish the chapter in a short enough time for the cereal to still be crunchy.

A brick exploded through the hastily taped-together window and landed in his cereal. Milk splattered all over the place. Glass shards flew everywhere. Mildly annoyed, Kashi dodged them all and reached for the mug.

He opened his front door, mug in hand. Having been recently repaired, the door was a slipshod affair. At the end of his driveway was a mob of violent hooligans brandishing every weapon under the sun, from scimitars to shurikens to saturday night specials. They spilled way out into the road.

"You again?" Kashi thought to himself.

But he said nothing. He casually raised the mug to his lips and sipped the hot chocolate. It felt nice and warm. Then came a loud bang, a puff of smoke from the crowd. The mug exploded into a hundred porcelain pieces. Only the handle stayed in his hand, perfectly intact.

Hot chocolate splashed his chest and thighs. What a waste of good food. This'll take ages to wash off. The idea of having to wash otherwise perfectly good hot chocolate down the plughole hovered about him, making him angrier by the second. He felt sticky. Uncomfortable. Angry. He cracked his knuckles and got into position.

When they saw that he was in fighting stance they charged, screaming like lunatics, weapons held high. Machine gunners perched in the trees opened fire, swiss-cheesing his door and shattering the rest of his windows. A few of them even hit him. The bullets hurt, he bled a little, but nothing hurt him more than the fact he'd have to spend the rest of the day patching up his house.

Kashi punched so quickly his fists were a blur. He made short work of everyone within arm's reach of the welcome mat because they'd stolen that two attacks ago. But no matter how many he took down they just kept coming. So he started to walk. In ten minutes he'd made steady progress towards the road verge.

Before the gunner could jump he grabbed on to the tree and tore it out of the ground, raining dirt and worms and bugs. He bent down into a half-squat and grunted. With a swing he sent at least a dozen of them flying through the air like thrown ragdolls. The ones remaining on the ground skidded across the asphalt where they slammed against curbs, benches, light poles, fire hydrants and trashcans. One fell into a manhole.

Half an hour later he was marching through the countryside reeking of blood, sweat, and chocolate he hadn't bothered to wash off with the fire hydrant. His mild annoyance had been replaced with regular annoyance.

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As he crested a low hill he squinted and saw an ominous tower across the valley at least a hundred meters away. It was sharp and grey and the height of five electric pylons stacked on top of each other. There was a huge diamond-shaped window near the top and an arsenal of laser weapons stuck out at several angles, making it look like a many-armed, one-eyed alien. Despite being well within its firing range none of them went off.

Kashi took a deep breath.

"MALACHI!!!"

...

Three scientists played poker in the tower's break room. A digital clock on the fridge read half past ten. They'd balanced three comically large weapons against the wall: a syringe, a scalpel, and a drill, each one the size of a surfboard.

"Ray. I think I heard something." said the green one with an eyepatch.

"Nah bud don't sweat it. It's prolly just the wind." growled the red one with spiky hair.

"Attention staff!" crackled a jovial voice from the intercom. "As we speak, our guest has made it past the twelfth floor!"

"Oh it's him." grimaced the orange one with purple eyes. "I should have used my sick leave. Marcello?"

As soon as he heard his name the green one took off towards the bathroom. "Screw it, I'm out!"

Both of them reached for their weapons, leaving the drill behind. They kicked aside their chairs, got in front of the table, and watched the elevator doors slowly open.

Kashi stepped out.

...

In a pile of smashed furniture the clock was leaking fluid, but if you looked close enough the clock read "10:49".

Kashi was on one knee, panting and bleeding. Every square inch of his body was covered in bruises and cuts. The needle in Ray's syringe had snapped off and Yvonne's scalpel was blunt from being parried.

The two scientists had gained years of experience practicing with their weapons, but at this point every technique they had learned was useless. Now the outcome of the fight boiled down to how many times they could hit Kashi with them as if they were clubs. Every movement brought them intense pain. Yet they kept on swinging.

Five minutes later their arms fell limp. "What's the point? Why won't he just die?" mumbled Ray.

Yvonne felt bad for Kashi. She'd beaten him well after he'd given up. She looked over her shoulder and sighed with relief once she saw that the security camera was destroyed. Now she didn't have to worry about the boss finding out she hadn't killed him.

She got close to Kashi and whispered: "Just give up. Please."

Then she gave into a fit of violent coughing. Yvonne spat out a tooth. "We have a clinic. Let's have a rematch tomorrow."

Silence fell. Birds chirped. Rain pattered gently against the window.

"Please, please, please, please..." begged Yvonne. Ray put his broken hands together and joined her.

Kashi stayed on his knee. Fifteen seconds passed.

"NO!!!" he roared.

Blood vessels burst. The huge circular window exploded. Kashi picked Yvonne up by the foot and beat Ray across the head with her. He hit him with her again. And again. And again. And the whole building began to rumble and shake. A terrible roar built up from underneath. As soon as Kashi hit Ray in the sides he let go of Yvonne's foot. They slammed together so hard both were sent flying out the window.

Kashi gradually lost consciousness, only to be made fully alert once the roar suddenly reached a crescendo.

And Floors 13 through 16 took off, soaring into the sky.