The Arrival of a Calamity

                                    

                                          
Calamity... An event outside of human control that causes vast damage or distress. Another word would be disaster.
It came from beyond our stars.
A great evil. One that humanity wasn't ready for. It brought untold destruction. As of the current year, the entity known simply as the Beast has visited Earth four times. Just four times, and yet with each visit, a city would be reduced to rubble, and more worryingly, a new disaster would be born from the incident.
The first time the Beast appeared on Earth, dozens of Supers and thousands of humans died. Among the casualties, the Lord of Life lost his wife and daughter in the attack. The Beast was defeated by Full Monarch. Shortly after this, the villain known as Lucifer would somehow discover a way to return from the state Full Monarch had left him in and would create the Murder Games.
The second time the Beast appeared on Earth, it was defeated by Full Monarch. Shortly after this, the Lord of Life discovered a young boy whom he would adopt. Together with this boy, the Lord would take on the title of the Emperor and declare war on Planet Earth, using his powers to create hundreds of monsters.
The third time the Beast appeared on Earth was during a grand battle between Full Monarch and the Emperor. Both forces drove the Beast back and defeated it. Shortly after, both Full Monarch and the Emperor met their end, and something brand new was born.
The fourth time was the most recent, happening two years ago. The Beast was driven back by the Tallest Wave; however, Chrysanthemum was swallowed up by a great evil and became the home of the newest Calamity.
Now, in the present, this would be the fifth moment in history that mankind would find itself fighting the Beast. What truly made this Calamity level threat worthy of its title wasn't its power but instead the fact that humans have never once beaten it. The Beast was a walking disaster, one that would show up and always be driven back, but despite seemingly leaving, something would rise from the ashes it left, and a new age of villainy would be created. A disaster that caused new disasters to rise. A Calamity that was willing to wait.
That's what made the Beast so terrifying. The knowledge that while you might win the battle, it had already won the war.
The siren screamed through the city, bouncing around in people's heads. It was a simple hum, one that wouldn't stop until every last human was safe. The streets were filled with hundreds of cars that boxed each other in, and the sidewalk was like a massive tidal wave of bodies. Some people ran, others gave up, and some still used this as a chance to do crime.
All of it led to the edge of Oleander City, where a massive bridge connected itself to Lillian. The bridge was compacted the most, with rows of cars and trucks and people climbing over it, some even choosing to jump into the waters below and swim for it. Helicopters flew through the air, and heroes did their best to help.
Some heroes picked up dozens of cars and flew them over to Lillian; others tried to create more bridges; and some still attempted to stop the petty crime and encourage the people who had already given up. Most of the heroes weren't outside, though. The majority of their country's heroes now all stood in a single room in Oleander's Hero Branch tower.
Hope looked around, biting her lip as she tapped her foot up and down. She had never seen so many heroes all gathered in one place. When the sirens had started, all of Team Pantheon had headed for the Hero Branch building. They were followed by heroes from all over the country. If the situation weren't so grim, she'd have been fangirling like crazy.
The room they were in was large, but with so many people in it, they were all shoulder to shoulder. Anything that had been in the room had been kicked out, save for a large screen that hung on the wall. Up front, Beta stood, and several Hero Branch workers, including Ms. Laps, were also present.