Tiny Hero Ch 12: Reborn! Hero Of Fire!

I looked up, or at least I think I did. Hard to tell when your body doesn't really have a neck anymore. Everything around me was blurred and distorted, like I was staring through water. Which, in a way, I guess I was — my own.

The two Obelisks loomed above the ruined skyline like gods in the middle of an argument. The guy was checking on his woman, his massive form crouched beside her. Every movement sent tremors running through the ground, making cracks spread beneath me like spiderwebs.

She was clutching her hand against her bare chest, hissing through her teeth. "It burned me," she growled. "That thing burned me."

The man leaned closer, his stone-gray skin catching the light from the fires below. "You're fine," he rumbled, voice so deep it made the air shiver. "It's barely a mark."

"Barely a mark?" she snapped, showing him her finger. From where I lay, I could see the faint orange glow where I'd touched her. I couldn't help it — a small, stupid, entirely ill-timed smirk tugged at the edge of whatever passed for my mouth now.

Guess I left an impression.

Then I glanced down at myself... and my smirk died.

My body was wrong. Still liquid. Still blue. I was like a puddle pretending to be a man, barely keeping shape. My reflection rippled with every movement, my hands melting in and out of form like candle wax.

"Damn, what is happening to my body?" I muttered, staring at the mess I'd become. I tried to lift my hands — or the idea of my hands — and they just sagged, dripping down like slime. "This is just great," I groaned. "I look like a rejected Jell-O experiment."

Before I could even process that thought, the male Obelisk's voice thundered through the air again — this time not calm at all.

"Damn these tiny fucks!"

His hand came down like a meteor.

The sound was indescribable — not a boom, not a crash, more like the world exhaling in pain. The city block next to me vanished under his palm. Concrete shattered like glass, buildings folded inward, and a storm of dust and debris exploded outward.

I watched in horror as people — Minari, dozens of them — were thrown through the air like rag dolls. They hit the ground, hard. The screams came next, sharp and human and way too real.

"No!" I yelled, pushing forward instinctively, though I wasn't even sure I had legs to push with. My body rippled, stretching, collapsing, struggling to move. Every attempt sent little splashes of myself scattering across the ground.

Come on, move!

And then—something shifted.

The liquid around me started to thicken. It was subtle at first, like a chill spreading through my body, but then it grew solid. My arms took shape, my chest hardened, my legs returned. I could feel again. Weight. Balance. Form.

I blinked down at my hands, solid and whole once more. They were still glowing faintly blue, but at least they were hands. Fingers. Skin.

"Thank God," I breathed, grinning despite everything. "I'm back."

But before I could even take another breath, the light around me dimmed. A shadow stretched over my body — long, wide, and moving.

I froze.

Slowly, I looked up.

The Obelisk woman stood there, her enormous face twisted with rage. Her eyes burned with fury as she glared down at me, lips curling like a predator's. "How dare you hurt me, you little shit!" she thundered.

I took a cautious step back — not that it mattered. Her foot alone could crush a house.

"Hey, uh—listen, it wasn't personal," I said, my voice shaking but still trying for humor because that's apparently how my brain handles death. "You kinda grabbed me first, remember? I just—uh—defended myself. Little heat of the moment—get it? Heat?"

Her expression didn't change. Not even a blink.

"Okay, tough crowd," I muttered.

She lifted her leg.

The world darkened completely as the sole of her foot blotted out the sky. The air pressure dropped. Wind rushed past me from the sheer displacement of her movement. I could smell the dust and sweat and heat radiating off her skin.

"Damn it," I whispered, staring up in disbelief. "Not again."

There wasn't even time to run.

Her foot came down.

BOOM.

The sound wasn't just loud — it consumed everything. My ears rang. The shockwave threw cars and debris through the air. The ground split open like it was paper, and the force hit me like a tidal wave.

Then — darkness.

Weight.

Silence.

For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was still alive or if this was what dying felt like. My thoughts came in slow, syrupy fragments, sliding through my head like echoes.

But even as everything went black, one thought burned clear through the haze:

She wanted me dead.

And I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.

Not again.

Light.

It hit my face in a blinding flash, stabbing through the haze of dust and pain. For a second, I thought it was the afterlife — or maybe the inside of an Obelisk's digestive system — but then the weight above me lifted.

The air rushed back into my lungs, hot and heavy with smoke. I coughed hard, rolling onto my side as debris slid off me in chunks. When I opened my eyes, I was staring straight up at what looked like a skin-colored ceiling.

Then I realized it wasn't a ceiling.

It was her foot.

Her massive foot, still hovering above me. Bits of rubble and broken concrete tumbled from between her toes, pelting the ground around me like tiny meteors. Each one hit with a sharp crack, sending little plumes of dust into the air.

"Holy shit..." I wheezed, staring up at her.

My body began to pull itself back together, muscles tightening, bones—or whatever passed for them now—forming beneath the liquid glow. The process felt like trying to wake up after getting run over by a train. Every nerve screamed. My skin pulsed, flickering between solid and translucent.

"Damn it," I muttered through my teeth, clutching at my chest. "Whatever I am now... I can still feel pain. Great."

The thunder of movement above drew my eyes back up.

The two Obelisks loomed over me like bored gods after crushing an ant colony. The man had one massive arm draped around his woman's shoulders, his other hand gently stroking her side. They both wore these satisfied smirks, like they'd just cleaned up a mess.

Except I was still in it.

The guy tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing as he looked down at me. "I don't know what that thing is," he said, his voice rolling through the ruins like thunder. "But I bet someone would pay a lot to find out."

That tone. That casual, detached amusement. Like I wasn't even a person—just a thing to sell.

Something in me twisted.

I looked around at what was left of the city. The Minari—the people—what few of them were left—were either running, hiding, or dead. The streets were cracked, burning, flooded with dust. The air reeked of smoke and fear.

And they stood there, above it all, uncaring.

These were the so-called "upper class." The "gods" of this world. The Obelisks.

And all I could think was how easy it was for them to destroy everything... and smile while doing it.

My fists clenched.

"You won't get away with this," I said, voice low, shaking.

The man chuckled, amused. "Oh? And what will you do, little puddle?"

I gritted my teeth. "I swear..."

Heat. I could feel it building, crawling under my skin, rising like boiling water. The air shimmered around me, thick and hot. My heart pounded so fast I could barely breathe.

"I swear," I repeated louder this time, every word shaking with anger. "You'll pay!"

The words tore out of my throat like a roar, and then—

Everything ignited.

Flames burst from my arms, my chest, my back—wild and bright, licking at the air with fierce orange light. It was hot but not burning me. It was me.

My translucent blue skin glowed like molten glass, the blue fading as fire consumed it, morphing into a bright, fiery orange. I could feel my veins pulsing, hardening, transforming. Rock-like plates began forming along my arms and shoulders, solidifying into jagged armor.

It was like my body couldn't decide what it wanted to be—liquid, flame, or stone—and said, "Screw it, I'll be all three."

The flames flared brighter for a second, then dimmed, settling into a pulsing glow beneath my skin. My breathing was ragged, my body trembling—but not from fear.

From power.

I caught a glimpse of myself in a shard of broken glass sticking out of the cracked street. My reflection flickered there, distorted but clear enough to make me pause.

"What the..." I whispered.

Gone was the soft, jelly-like glow. My skin now burned with a molten orange light. My arms were layered in stone-like scales, glowing faintly between the cracks. I looked like some kind of walking volcano, ready to erupt.

Behind me, I heard the heavy gasp of the Obelisks.

"What the hell is that!?" the man bellowed, his voice no longer calm.

The woman stepped back, glaring down at me with a mix of fear and fury. "That's impossible!" she yelled. "How is he still alive!?"

I stared up at them, the heat still rolling off me, the rubble around my feet glowing faintly from the heat waves.

I didn't have an answer.

But I did have one thought — and it was loud, burning, and simple.

You two picked the wrong guy to step on.