The Epic of Sango: Chapter 8

Sango gazed out at the ruined cityscape around herself: much of Tokyo still stood intact, albeit at a tiny height to her, yet at this moment, she could not rationalize all the havoc she had wrought. The demon slayer had wiped out almost a fourth of the city; in mere minutes, she had killed countless people with the simple movements of her body. Even if a majority of the city’s denizens still lived, far too many had perished. Every second she lingered risked killing yet another person at her hands, consciously or not.

“I need to get out of here…” Sango said calmly as she carefully rose to her feet, looking for the coastline somewhere in the distance; in the water, her steps would not hurt anyone. The ocean was easy enough to find, but it was where it was that was the problem. The ocean was directly past Tokyo, miles and miles away from the city, but mere footsteps to the giant huntress. The problem, however, was that the unscathed remainder of Tokyo stood between her and her goal.

Ultimately, there was no other choice to be made; each second Sango wasted was another second she risked losing control of her body again. With the utmost caution in her step, the massive woman gently stepped forward. Sango’s first few steps were all in ruined areas, but even so, she took care not to hurt any stragglers that somehow managed to survive her wrath. The problem came when she finally reached new ground: put simply, Sango was just too big. There was no road in all of Japan wide enough to fit her massive feet, no path that did not involve copious amounts of destruction no matter how hard she tried to avoid it.

“Please, run away everyone!” the Feudal Era woman called out to the survivors left in the area, her voice resounding throughout most of Japan. “I’m so sorry, but I need to come through!” Ever so slowly, Sango raised her right foot and edged it over the closest city ward with the least amount of buildings. “Please hurry! I don’t know how long I can hold my foot like this!”

Even with her hunter-trained eyes, all Sango could make out below her were the minute buildings surrounding her; individual people were too small to be seen from Sango’s 15 mile vantage point, utterly invisible before the titaness. The demon slayer held a pose of one leg hovering over a set spot for several minutes, trying to give people as much time as possible to evacuate. Of course, eventually Sango’s stamina ran out, and her foot finally fell to the ground. The girl winced as she felt dozens of buildings crumble instantly beneath her sole. Desperately, Sango told herself no one was left to perish beneath her foot, though deep down, a part of her knew that more than a few were too slow. And the scary part was...she did not necessarily have a problem with that.

I need to get cured soon...I don’t know how much longer I can stay sane at this rate.

Sango raised her foot for the next step, once again holding it out and warning people as long as possible. One, two, three...in twenty minutes, Sango had taken a grand total of three steps. She looked forward to the ocean, hopeful that she was almost there, though in reality, she was not even close, much to her disappointment.

“This is going to take a while…” Sango sighed. If she was back in her time, she would have long since cleared human civilization and could safely hole up in a cave somewhere. The future, on the other hand, was so cramped that even someone of her stature felt claustrophobic. It would be so easy to just walk and ignore the specks by her feet. After all, the massive woman had already given all of Tokyo plenty of time to get away from her; anyone who was left would deserve it.

No! I can’t think like that!

It was then that Sango felt an itch coming from her left ankle; actually, she felt a lot of itches. A cursory glance around the nearby area quickly told her why: she was being attacked. Hordes and hordes of vehicles had appeared around the giantess in the ruins of the city she had wrecked, Japan finally organizing its counterattack against the mysterious woman. It was everything the island nation had mobilized in a full frontal assault, barraging Sango with everything it had. By the woman’s feet, tanks aimed up and blasted heavy cannon shells in perfect rhythm, all while dozens of fighter jets simultaneously circled her from multiple sides, blasting Hellfire missiles across her kimono-clad form. It was the strongest offensive the nation could muster aside from a nuclear bomb.

Despite the Japanese-American forces’ hardest efforts, the assault had no effect whatsoever on the monolithic Sango. Actually, Japan did manage to succeed in giving Sango slight itches with each blow, but that was it; the best weapons in the island nation had barely made the girl itch. Sango was simply too big for any offensive weapons to have any physically apparent effect on her titanic body. Sango could never fault the people for their reaction, but even so, the sight of a fully organized military assault dismayed her. Japan, her homeland, had actively labelled her a threat that had to be eliminated. No one was trying to help her, no one was trying to form some kind of agreement; they just wanted Sango dead.

“Please leave me alone! I’m trying to leave before there’s more destruction!”

The foreign-looking specks did not say anything in reply, only resuming their relentless bombardment.

“Hng.” Sango felt her eyes watering as she looked back to the ocean, still so far away. “I just want to go home…” Wait! That’s it! If a portal got me here, maybe one can bring me back to my time! The thought alone was enough for Sango to start speeding up her return to the water. But...how am I supposed to make a portal to the Feudal Era reappear? Briefly, the huntress thought back to when the portal appeared at the oceanside temple in the Feudal Era. Sango recalled herself entering the water, and then the Jewel within her started reacting. Maybe the Sacred Jewel has something to do with my return? Well, at least it’s better than nothing, and it’s much better than staying here. What do I have to lose?

With a hopeful plan in mind, Sango hastened her way to the ocean, attempting to keep her destructive steps to a minimum so as to reduce collateral damage and overall loss of life. Despite her sudden charge ahead, the local military resolve never wavered, continuing their assault on the titaness even though dozens of ground and aerial units were accidentally obliterated with each earth-shattering stomp. After a total of five more steps, the demon slayer had arrived at the shores of the Tokyo harbor, eager to return to her own time. Taking a quick deep breath, Sango moved her left foot into the calm ocean and looked back towards the future world, hoping with all her heart that her journey would soon be over. Please, please work... Sango’s right foot soon followed suit, pulling itself from the ground and into the cool waters. Now standing solemnly in the ocean, the giantess closed her eyes and prayed: she prayed for the portal to her home to reopen; she prayed for an end to all this; she prayed to return to normal.

What Sango received in return for her prayers was the last feeling she wanted.

“No...No...Not again...Not so soon…” Sango began to pant as she felt the familiar sensation of unstoppable power creeping through her colossal frame. “I won’t...I won’t let it happen again…”

The titaness held her hands against her head as she attempted to hold back the strange force within her body, this time hoping to be strong enough to prevent it altogether. Sango knew that with each burst of power, it became harder and harder to resist, and the periods of lack of bodily control began to become ever-longer; if she was not strong enough to win this time, she might never regain control if she let it consume her one final time. While the kimono-clad goddess fought internally, the remnants of the Japanese-American army saw their opening; in mere moments, a squadron of fighter jets had returned to assault the mysterious woman, bombing her from every angle and launching missile after missile at her towering figure. Despite their hardest efforts, their attacks only caused minor itches at the most yet again, not even cutting through the fabric of her outfit to damage the woman in the slightest.

“Please...Please stop…” Sango begged as she struggled to maintain control, tears welling up in her eyes as she continued her losing battle against whatever continued to draw out her most evil instincts. This...This is all my fault...all because...all because I wasn’t strong enough to defeat Naraku in the first place...No matter what I do, I can’t seem to ever make anything right! I...I...I don’t know what to do anymore...I just want all of this to end...I just want to go home!

More and more tears welled up in the huntress’s eyes as she continued to lament on her situation; Sango had spent so much time doing what was right, and it all had led to the current situation. In these troubled times, the massive woman only seemed to find more and more anguish no matter how hard she tried to return to normal. However, this was not entirely true; there was one thing that comforted her. Whether Sango admitted it not, perhaps it was the solution to her problem all along. The young woman had spent so long fighting it, but if fighting it led to this, then perhaps it was time for a different tactic entirely.

Maybe if I...if I try to accept it...then maybe...

Just once, Sango welcomed the feeling of growth, and this time, the sensation of complete dominance could be felt more strongly than ever before.

Sango almost gasped as she felt herself surge upwards several miles almost instantaneously, letting her hands fall back to her sides as the rush of growth her body felt filled her with pure ecstasy, continuing to grow faster and larger by the second. She had never felt so exhilarated before in her life; not even slaying demons made her feel so alive, so refreshed, so confident, and just so overall happy. Slowly, the demon slayer turned around to face Tokyo once again, the fighter planes that had dared to attack her crashing into fireballs against the simple movement of her body, countless pieces of burning metal scraps raining down into the nearby harbor. Sango gazed down at her ever-diminishing world, wondering if she really should take the first step - both literally and figuratively - down a path she could not deviate from once she chose.

A part of her told her it would be alright. Was it the Jewel, her conscience, or perhaps Sango's heart already knew the truth before she did? Regardless of what it was, her right foot began to raise itself of its own accord. Still expanding, the now 55 mile tall woman saw the shadow of her sole slowly stretch out over the land. While Sango’s foot simply hovered high above the city, those who still remained within its boundaries - average citizens, members of the military, and even Kagome and Inuyasha themselves - simply stopped in place and stared up at the heavens, their mouths agape in awe and their eyes filled with shock and disbelief as more and more of the sky above was replaced with the soft tan flesh of the Feudal Era woman’s sole. Within just a few minutes, the entire city was soon eclipsed by the sole of the goddess, Sango’s 250 mile form only continuing to grow without a care in the world.

Suddenly, Sango felt a bit apprehensive. All the modern-day gadgets, all the people, the tanks and planes that pursued her, even her friend Kagome was somewhere amidst all the specks - what she was about to do would forever isolate her from what she once was. To do this was to cast off her humanity, but the giantess knew that she was no longer human now; she was something more, a goddess - the Goddess. Filled with resolve, Sango decided to prove her evolved form was truly above that of mere humans. In mere moments, her foot began to lower, the sky beginning to descend upon the doomed city of Tokyo.

Kagome and Inuyasha watched in sheer horror from ground level as the gargantuan foot of the demon slayer slowly dropped in altitude, frightening everyone else in the doomed city as well. Despite his countless bouts with humongous demons, even the great Inuyasha was in awe of the city-sized, and still growing, foot above him, blotting out the sky in a wall of smooth, almost perfect, tan skin. All the while, Sango continually had to reassure herself she was making the right decision.

"No, I'm not human anymore, not like I am now!” the Goddess shook her head. “Humans are small, but I've grown far beyond that of a normal human...They are weak, relying only on their weapons, yet I no longer need to use them...”

Each second seemed to last an eternity; Sango's foot slowly descended inch by inch, expanding all the while doing so. Everyone in its range knew their fate was sealed; many tried to run, but every still knew that this was it. The sole of the giant foot began to graze the tallest buildings in the city, or rather, upon coming into contact with Sango, they collapsed immediately.

"I have to...I...I know this is the right decision...” Sango told herself. “Somewhere in my soul...I...I know that I must do this. Why I ever resisted this...I was the one who caused all of this. I should have listened from the beginning...ever since I first felt the power telling me what I was meant to become...I was such a fool. I'm...something more than human now, something beyond what anyone else could ever become...

"I...am...Sango!"

With her declaration of utter supremacy, the kimono-clad goddess could feel the countless tiny structures beneath her foot crumbling into pieces like the dirt they now were to her. With her new acceptance, there was an odd pleasure to the destruction she felt against her skin. Sango had questioned it for so long, but now that she was actually trying to crush everything, it suddenly did not seem like such a big deal; humans were no different than the insects she often crushed before she grew. Still, a part of her had doubts about her ascension into godhood, so to silence this insolent part of her forever, the gentle descent of the Goddess's foot quickly became more aggressive. The entire city flew into a panic as the massive sole above them began to descend much more rapidly, knocking over the largest buildings with ease and crushing their way down to the ground floor of the city.

"Sango...Why...?" Kagome could only utter as she watched Tokyo crumble effortlessly against the goddess's sole. As Inuyasha began to ready a final, fruitless Wind Scar, Sango let out a small chuckle - it was time to finish off her first colony of ‘bugs’.

The final touch was oddly satisfying. By all rights, Sango should not have felt anything aside from a few crunches beneath her sole, but that was not it at all. She felt everything: the huntress could sense everything beneath her - every puny building, every individual flicker of life - and slowly, one by one, those little twinkles of life began to fade. Out of the countless flickers that were being extinguished, of note were two, the two she knew belonged to her former friends Kagome and Inuyasha, now simply two less-than-worthless insects to her. Insects as they were, Sango still decided to indulge her final urge as a human.

"Goodbye..." Sango muttered with a calm smile.

As she finished her utterance, Sango's foot finally made contact with the planet below, her impact triggering a powerful earthquake to rock the island nation, causing a massive dust storm to pick up, in addition to altering the flow of the tidal waves off of Japan's coast. The titanic woman simply watched with a smile as she let her foot rest on the ground for a while, relishing in every last detail she felt meeting its doom against her sole. Those who had not yet perished were falling one by one to her, each of their lives felt by the Goddess as they were taken from them by the simple act of resting her foot.