So, here's the next chapter...in which the Jaegers find out about the Kaiju, we see that Slattern's a little...uh creepy I think's the right word...Striker's got a nickname from Scunner (which he hates and I can't take credit for because WingedPyro made it up *or whoever did you can find it in the story Letters From Beyond*) and that Striker's got a nasty temper...Oh, and there's a little surprise at the end...

The conversation from last time...I got some good guesses, but I didn't see the one I was looking for. I got the whole Gipsy/Slattern conversation from Tron: Uprising. It's Beck (Gipsy) and Cyrus (Slattern). Cyrus is such a creepy character and I think that whole dialogue fits Slattern perfectly and it won't be the last time I compare the two.

There's a ton of movie/TV references in here...can you name them?

Chapter 25

"AUNTIE GIPSY!" the twins shrieked as the fight startled.

Raleigh turned to Jazmine.

"Get them out of here!" he ordered, "They don't need to see this!"

As soon as he finished, Jazmine watched in horror as Striker stabbed his blades into one of the attackers' arms. An unearthly shriek emitted from the attacker and a low, metallic snarl ripped from Striker as he dug his blades in deeper.

She picked up the twins and ran back into the Shatterdome after that.

Raleigh and the other pilots started forwards, but the Jaegers pushed them back.

"This is our fight," Tacit growled, "They took our sister, they will pay for it with their lives,"

"Take 'em down!" Striker ordered, "Take your pick!"

"Big ugly one is mine," Cherno snarled, as he circled the biggest of the group.

"Dibs on the girl," Crimson called, bringing out the sawblades on each of his, now metal, three arms.

Striker had his victim…who he had every intention of ripping limb from limb.

Tacit flicked out her blades as she and Coyote cornered one of the attackers. It was a teenage boy, not much older than the Jaegers themselves. The boy's yellow eyes flashed in fear as he locked onto Tacit's blades.

"SCUNNER!" he shrieked, covering his head and backing off.

The teen that Striker's blades were currently stabbing into roared and kicked Striker, taking the burning metal blades out of his shoulders as he did before the boy leaped upwards with inhuman speed and charged at Tacit and Coyote. He rammed into Coyote, snarling.

"No one, touches Raiju!" the deep growl of the boy made Coyote's blood heat up.

"Scunner?! Raiju!? Those were the bloody Kaiju we took down at the Breach!" Striker snarled, getting up to his feet, "These aren't humans, they're Kaiju!"

"These aren't humans, they're Kaiju!"

As soon as Striker yelled it, Crimson was kicked hard in the gut by the female, causing the three armed Jaeger to stumble back.

"Otachi," he breathed, shaking slightly as he touched his head, remembering the sharp claws digging into his helm, crushing his pilots…killing him…

The female Kaiju's eyes glinted darkly, blue one minute, yellow the next.

"CRIMSON!" one of the triplets yelled, but Crimson wasn't sure which one it was.

Otachi cocked her head, an evil smirk slowly painting itself over her face

"Your little human pets, if I remember right," she hummed, "Why don't I go and greet them…"

Crimson's eyes blazed angrily as the blades on his hands began to spin…making Otachi back away just slightly.

"I will kill you if you touch them," Crimson snarled, "I bet you still have those scars I gave you over a year ago…let's see if I can add to them!"

He charged, slashing as he went.

Cherno gave a blood-chilling hiss as he locked eyes with his opponent…remembering the familiar way that he moved.

He remembered the cold water, the acid spraying over his reactor, the claws ripping at the reactor and conn pod, his arm being torn off…

His conn pod being crushed under the water.

Sasha and Aleksis screaming as they drowned…

"Remember me, Buckethead?" the Kaiju turned human, Leatherback, asked.

"Like bad penny, you keep coming back!" Cherno snarled, slamming his armored fists together threateningly, "I make sure this time is you who does not get back up!"

"CHERNO!" Sasha screamed, "NO!"

Either Cherno didn't hear her or didn't care…

But he charged in any case, his golden eyes alight with unparalleled fury.

Striker slashed at Scunner, but the Kaiju just kicked him again. There was no way he was going to get him away from Raiju…who was acting like a little brother to the former.

Speaking of Raiju, Tacit and Coyote were making good with their older tactics. The Precursors apparently forgot what those two were capable of when they died. The only problem was that Raiju was very fast…

Good thing Tacit was just as fast if not faster.

And then Raiju made a fatal mistake.

He grabbed the slower Coyote by the neck and put his claws next to the Jaeger's jugular.

Tacit's snarl cut through the area, making everyone, Human, Jaeger, Kaiju, freeze.

"Let. Him. Go," the white Jaeger demanded.

Coyote's blue gaze turned to Stacker and Tamsin, who were standing stock still, eyes wide as Raiju's talon pressed farther into Coyote's throat.

"Tell 'im to let Coyote Tango go," Striker snarled.

"Or what?" Scunner sneered, "You'll kill me?"

Striker's blade flicked out, barely nicking Scunner's throat.

"In the most extremely painful manner," Striker promised with an eerie calm that reminded many of Stacker, "And as slowly as I can,"

"I'm not the leader here," Scunner replied, "I can't tell him to do anything,"

"Well then who's the leader here?" Crimson snapped.

"The one called Striker Eureka knows," Raiju replied slyly as Coyote growled, Raiju dug his claw in deeper, causing Coyote's growl to die into a whimper, "Shut up!"

"Who is it Striker?" Tacit demanded, "Tell him or her to make the creep let go of him!"

"He's not here," Striker growled, pressing his blade closer to Scunner's neck, "Where is Slattern,"

"Why don't you ask your girlfriend?" the Kaiju sneered, "She knows,"

Striker's eyes blazed angrily and silver armor started spreading over even more of his body.

"Where is Gipsy," he snarled, "Where did that…"

Suddenly, Striker grunted, shaking his head as a high-pitched ringing sound entered his ears, scrambling any sense of direction he had. Crimson gave a low whine as he held his head and shook it, trying to clear his own head.

Cherno, Tacit and Coyote looked at their friends as both of them hit the ground.

A memory sparked in Striker's mind as the pain intensified.

"EMP," he croaked.

There was a sharp crack and Leatherback gave a yelp, jumping backwards and clutching his arm as blue blood spattered the ground.

Chuck snapped the used cartridge out of the shotgun.

"Get away from my Jaeger," he growled, loading another clip as the pain in Striker's head eased a bit, "Or do I have to remind ya ugly bas…"

"Chuck…" Striker growled.

"…ard what I did to ya last time," Chuck finished, ignoring Striker's glare.

The four Kaiju didn't move…a blank look crossed their faces before they looked at each other and nodded.

Raiju released Coyote and the four retreated, disappearing into the night…well, almost all of them.

As soon as Raiju let go of Coyote, Tacit leaped forwards, tackling the Kaiju and started to hit him with all her strength. She didn't even stop after Raiju fell unconscious. Coyote caught her arm, shaking his head.

"We've got others we need to tend to," he told her.

Tacit snorted as Coyote helped her up…

She kicked the Kaiju for good measure.

Chuck helped Striker to his feet as the Jaeger's armor disappeared.

"Thanks," the Jaeger said, "That was…"

Striker stopped, blinking rapidly.

"Striker?" Chuck asked, "What's wrong?"

"I…I don't…I don't feel so good," Striker grunted as his knees gave out from under him.

Chuck caught him…right as the other Jaegers started falling.

Aleksis caught Cherno and Sasha tried her best to help. Raleigh caught Tacit while Stacker and Tamsin caught Coyote and all three of the Wei Tangs caught Crimson.

"Get them inside," Stacker ordered, "And get medical berths ready!"

Gipsy coughed violently as Slattern rammed his fist into her gut once again. First it was a very violent kick to the head, then he nearly broke her arm and now it was the gut punching.

"You haven't even screamed," Slattern mused, "They almost all start screaming…or begging…by now,"

"You're not worthy of either of those," Gipsy spat, "You monster,"

"That's what the humans call me…" Slattern sneered, "Then again…you're one too, Gipsy Danger. What was it the humans once said? Oh yes…'to fight monsters, we created monsters of our own'. You're just as much a monster as me,"

Gipsy glared at him as Slattern grabbed her by the chin again, forcing her to look up.

"You're strong for a Jaeger…you had your arm ripped off, your leg crippled and yet you still continued to fight. Is it fear or courage that compels you?" he asked softly, "You're fighting for the wrong side,"

"I am fighting for what I believe in,"

"You fight for the weak," Slattern said, "And that is why you lose. How many Jaegers survived after your little trip to my world? Hmm? None. You were the last of your kind. They all were dead,"

"Better to die for something you believe in than to live as something you're not," Gipsy retorted.

"You're very fiery for a Jaeger," Slattern smirked, "I happen to like that,"

He traced his thumb over Gipsy's cheekbones, causing her to shudder. She couldn't move…and she hated him touching her.

"We're not so different, you and I," Slattern purred softly, "Both fight to the death for what we believe in…you ended up being the strongest out of your kind, and I am the strongest of mine. A Five and a Three…it has a certain ring to it,"

"You're sick," Gipsy snarled.

"Perhaps,"

He grabbed her chin again and forced her mouth upwards, pressing his own against it. Gipsy struggled, every fiber of her being screaming to kill him.

Oh how she wanted to!

"Raleigh! Mako! Yancy! Striker! Help!" she screamed in her mind.

"He's awake!" Chuck started, "Raleigh! Dad! He's waking up!"

Striker's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at his friends and family.

"Ugh, what happened?" he groaned, rubbing his head as he sat up, "I feel like I had a one on one with a Category V…and it bashed my head against a rock,"

"You've been out for about eight hours," Raleigh explained, "You and the others…you're the first to wake,"

"Really," Striker hummed, turning his gaze towards them.

They all fell into stunned silence.

"What?" Striker asked, "Did Max drool on me again?"

Herc leaned over and gently put his hand on Striker's face, holding his eyes open so he could get a better look…

There!

Striker's once pure gold eyes were now streaked and mottled with a warm blue…the same blue that Chuck and Herc shared.

"Something's wrong here," Herc growled, "Where're the others?"

"Cherno just woke up, sir," a doctor said, "the others also are waking,"

"Good," Herc nodded, "Striker, come here,"

Striker obediently got up and followed his adopted father to the other berths where the other Jaegers were.

Herc went over to Cherno first, getting in Aleksis and Sasha's way…which was probably not the smartest idea in the world…and holding Cherno's eyes open.

The Russian's gold eyes were specked with slivers of brown.

He then went over to Crimson and Tacit, who also had dark brown, almost black, slivers in their irises.

Coyote's had Tamsin's green.

"What is going on here!?" Herc demanded as each of the Jaegers looked at each other or in a mirror, very confused.

"They're becoming human," came a familiar voice.

Raleigh and Jazmine both spun around to see a not very happy Yancy standing behind them, arms crossed and a massive sword strapped to his back.

"The enemy has taken the sixth component in this unit…and all six need to be together," Yancy said, walking forwards, "Or it is very possible they will die,"

"Gipsy," Raleigh murmured, "What about Gipsy…is she going through this too?"

"I don't know, Rals," Yancy told him, "Like I said, the enemy has her…and I don't know where she is. All I know is that she's terrified and very upset,"

"I'm gonna kill Slattern," Striker growled, clenching his fists as his eyes flickered.

"You five aren't goin' anywhere," another voice drawled from the door.

The gazes snapped towards the voice and they saw three people standing there.

A tall, dark skinned, reddish-orange eyed man, a shorter, iron-grey haired, blue-eyed woman, and a second woman not much shorter than Tacit with corn-silk hair and bright gold eyes.

"Romeo…Brawler…Eden…" Tacit said slowly, "What are you three doing here?"

"Boss said he needed some Jaegers to come help," the man, Romeo Blue, shrugged, "I wasn't about to be left behind,"

"I volunteered first," the shorter woman, Brawler Yukon, sighed, "Just to get away from Blue…I wasn't so lucky,"

"Aw, you know you love me," Romeo teased.

"Shut up, you're worse than Horizon Brave!"

"Perhaps," the third person, Eden Assassin agreed, her Russian accent heavy, "But he not talk as much,"

"Eden Assassin?" Cherno asked softly, "Little sister?"

"Cherno Alpha!" Eden beamed, rushing forwards and embracing the bigger Mark I, "I missed you so very much!"

"Was saddened when I heard of your death," Cherno muttered, stroking her hair gently, "Am glad to see you still fight,"

"And you too!" Eden grinned as she released him and trotted back over to Brawler and Romeo.

"If ya think we're just gonna sit here and let you rescue Gipsy, think again, Becket," Striker growled, "If not the others, I'm for sure comin' with ya,"

"You don't even know where she is," Brawler snorted.

"No," Striker admitted as he turned to Tacit, "But…I know how we can find out. Thanks to Tacit Ronin anyway,"

A slow, evil grin lit up Tacit's face.

"And I know who we can get to interrogate him," she smirked.

A half hour in the interrogation room with Newt…and Raiju was basically begging to talk.

"Who sent you to kidnap Gipsy Danger?" Yancy growled, "I know you know who sent you,"

"Slattern'll kill me!" Raiju whined, "Death the first time is bad enough…especially on the cursed blade that that Jaeger used to bisect me in the first place!"

"If you don't tell me, you're going to wish she was bisecting you again," Yancy threatened.

"That's harsh…even for him," Raleigh mused as he watched.

"You know who did it," Raiju retorted.

"True," Yancy replied, "But what did he promise you?"

Raiju mumbled something under his breath and Yancy adopted the dreaded 'drill sergeant voice' that Raleigh had heard way too many times.

" E. Nun. Ci . Ate ," Yancy growled, blue eyes hard.

"He said he'd give us our original bodies back," Raiju snapped, "Best we can do now is get the little stuff back,"

He lifted his hand and the fingernails elongated into talons and then shrank back again.

"Otachi is going stir crazy because she can't fly and all…not to mention she wants Gipsy Danger's head for what she did to her,"

He closed an eye.

"Come to think of it…the only one that doesn't want Gipsy Danger dead is Scunner. Oh no, he wants the grey mech with the…what did he call them again? Oh right," he gave an evil smirk through the window at Striker, "He said he wants the grey Jaeger with the boobs of death,"

Raleigh bit his lip to keep from laughing…and many of the other Jaegers and their pilots did the same. The Hansens and Striker…were not amused.

"That's it. He's dead," Striker snarled, starting towards the door before Cherno and Coyote caught him.

"Aw, did I make the Aussie mad?" Raiju sneered.

"Keep talking, you overgrown handbag, keep talking," Striker snarled, jerking in his friends' arms.

"You kill me you'll never find your girlfriend," Raiju snickered.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Striker hissed.

"Could have fooled me," Raiju shrugged.

"Back on subject," Yancy snapped, "Where is Gipsy Danger,"

"Why should I tell you?" Raiju snapped back, "You'll only kill me when I tell you. And you know what? I like living!"

"Do you want me to get Dr. Geiszler?" Yancy threatened, "I bet he'd love to come back in here,"

"Yes!" Newt cheered.

"NO!" Raiju yelped, "NO THAT WON'T BE NECESSARY!"

Raleigh had never seen Newt look so crestfallen in all the time he'd known the man.

"Maybe next time," Raleigh told him.

Newt hmphed, and crossed his tattooed arms, pouting and muttering to himself.

Yancy came out a few minutes later.

"Found her," he said smugly.

Gipsy shivered in the cold air. All she had were the pajamas that she wore when the Kaiju kidnapped her. A dark blue tank top with grey sweatpants and what used to be fuzzy bunny slippers.

She touched the gash on her cheek. Slattern had slashed her when she bit him after that forced kiss. He had tried to do worse…but thank the powers that be that she got Raleigh, Mako and Yancy's fighting ability.

Slattern walked off with a significant limp and his voice was pitched upwards a few octaves.

Gipsy hugged her knees. Where were they? Where was Raleigh? Where was Mako? Or anyone for that matter?

Did Slattern kill them? No…no she'd know if they were dead.

Right?

"Please find me," she whispered softly as tears streaked down her face.

"Oh but I know where you are," Slattern's voice purred, making Gipsy shake horribly, "Look at you, the great Gipsy Danger…cowering in fear,"

"Don't touch me," Gipsy threatened weakly.

"Oh, I'm going to do more than that," Slattern said with a sick grin as he stalked into the light, "You won't be anyone's but mine, Gipsy. My Gipsy,"

Gipsy scooted back as far as she could, tears streaming as she searched for a weapon. She had found out she couldn't activate her own a while ago when she tried to stab Slattern where it counted.

Suddenly, the wall of the bunker exploded and four familiar shapes stepped through the dust.

"Yancy! Raleigh! Mako! Striker!" Gipsy cried, "Help!"

"Don't worry, Gips," Yancy growled, "We're here to take you home,"

"Ugh, Slattern," Striker snorted, "And I thought ya were ugly before,"

Slattern grabbed Gipsy and held her up, his wicked talons poised over her bare neck.

"One more step and she's dead," Slattern threatened.

He bared his teeth in a snarl.

"Now, you're going to let us go," he told them, "I'm going to return to my Master, and who knows…maybe he'll give her to me as a prize?"

That did it.

Striker gave a bloodcurdling snarl and leapt forwards, tackling Slattern and knocking Gipsy away from him. Gipsy hit the concrete floor hard, Mako, Yancy and Raleigh all ran to her side to make sure she was ok.

"I won't let ya touch her!" Striker roared, bringing his fist down into Slattern's face, "I'll rip ya to pieces before I do!"

Slattern shoved him off and stood, but Striker leapt onto him again. The silver Jaeger's visor snapped down over his human face while his back panels formed between his shoulder blades and his sting blades flicked into place, glowing an ominous white around the edges as the bits of blue in his eyes faded back to pure, solid gold.

"Round two, Jaeger," the Category V hissed, his talons becoming sharper and longer before he charged.

Striker parried the talons with his blades, fighting back and cutting into the Category V when he could.

Slattern sent a crushing roundhouse kick to Striker's chest, flinging him to the other side of the room, crushing the Jaeger's back panels between the Jaeger and the wall and making him yell in pain.

The Kaiju gave a laugh as Striker staggered upright, striking a defensive pose, blades extended and eyes glowing hatefully.

Slattern charged Striker again, tackling him and forcing him backwards and to the ground, they both flipped over one another, hitting each other as they went. Slattern cuffed Striker while Striker slashed at the Kaiju's neck, cutting a thin but deep scratch in the side. Slattern then kicked Striker to the ground.

"C'mon, Jaeger, really? Is that all you got?" he scoffed, "You charging in to save the female, how predictable,"

Striker grunted as Slattern kicked him again.

"Say it," Slattern hissed, "Say I'm the one better for her. Say it!"

Striker muttered something and Slattern bent down to hear him.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Striker gave a loud war cry and drove his blades into the Kaiju's shoulders.

Slattern shrieked in pain, thrashing horribly but only making the injury worse.

"How predictable," Striker snarled, driving the blades in deeper.

He drew them back out and let Slattern slump to the floor. Striker limped over to an unconscious Gipsy, his armor fading as he came closer.

"Let's go home," he said.

"What about him?" Raleigh asked, jerking his head towards Slattern.

"He can go die in the hole he crawled out of," Striker growled, "I honestly don't care,"

Later that evening, Yancy and the other three Jaegers left. Something about them possibly finding a chink in the enemy's armor. Yancy gently ruffled the unconscious Gipsy's hair before walking out the door and fading from view.

"We almost lost her," Striker thought to himself as he stood in the doorway of the infirmary, watching over Gipsy as she slept.

He thought back to the battle between the enemy and themselves…he had lost it when the one proclaimed as Slattern grabbed Gipsy and threatened to kill her.

But why?

Why did he care so much for the stubborn, silly, beautiful American Jaeger that…wait, did he just call her beautiful?

He banged his head softly against the doorframe. Who was he kidding?

He liked her. A lot.

He fought against every compelling urge saying so…seeing as how much of Raleigh had rubbed off on her and how much of Chuck rubbed off on him.

Those two didn't get along very well at all.

At first at least.

Maybe he and Gipsy were to be the bridges between them?

He carefully made his way to Gipsy's bed, looking over his shoulder many times before leaning down to Gipsy's ear.

"Thou canst compel no more than she entreat: Thy threats have no more strength than her weak prayer," he whispered, "Gipsy, I love thee; by my life, I do: I swear by that which I will lose for thee, To prove him false that says I love thee not,"

He gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead before smoothing the bangs away and getting to his feet, hastily but quietly making his way out of the infirmary.

Why I forgot Coyote the last time, I'll never know. Sorry 'bout that. I miscounted the amount of Kaiju and Jaegers. No, Slattern's not dead, but he's going to wish he is. Raiju...Yancy made a deal saying he'd go free if he told them where Gipsy was, so he's back with his "older brother" Scunner. And Striker admitted it! Finally! Now we just have to have Gipsy admit it.

Next up I'm planning that Valentine's day special (hopefully *fingers crossed*).

Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know!

Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)

Máriessë ar mára tecië

Farewell and fair writing

Elhini Prime signing off.