Author's Note: Another chapter for our Kaiju Story! This story updates slowly, but hey, it's still part of the Digital Human series!
Daemon of Crawling Tentacles: The very same Clover, a reference to that monster movie.
King of Fans: Lol, Disneyland is in California. Disney World is in Florida. Disneyland is the original theme park. Good Servant guesses though.
Student: I'm sure someday Godzilla will respect his adorable Master!
Enjoy the chapter everybody! A mistaken wish that leads to consequences, that which inadvertently brings either salvation or demise to mankind by a creature who knows rage against them; The King of Monsters.
Digital/Kaiju
Chapter 10: Kingdom Come
The pain finally relented, but his entire home was but a wasteland, the ocean depths offered little solstice. His memories were jumbled but recognized the images of the bipedal mammals. The fault lied with them, they harmed him as they arrived on the island and as such must responsible for the earlier heat and pain.
His body moved, more massive than before, a living flame inside his body urged him forth.
Newly forged instinct guided him through the currents, creatures swam out of his path, and any unfortunate to not were engulfed in his jaws.
An annoying noise vibrated through the waters, similar to the large mammals of the oceans, but artificial. Decidedly, he began to rise as he closed on to the source of the consistent noise, which only grew more frequent with his approach.
There was a large metallic object in his path, curved and long, he felt a sensation unlike any before, like a gnawing hunger that needed to feed the living flame burning inside him. This object had that same fuel and would satisfy the newfound hunger.
Suddenly, an object soared towards him, he ignored it, but then it exploded with great heat and force upon his scales. It stung only mildly, but the memories of a similar attack on the island before the great fire flashed in his mind.
He roared.
He would prevent such pain from occurring again.
The living flame ignited and he instinctively opened his jaws, spewing forth a blue breath of atomic fire. The metallic object hadn't a chance to avoid or withstand such overwhelming power and promptly burst apart with a resounding explosion that echoed across the ocean depths.
His opponent defeated, Godzilla feasted on the spilling radiation before continuing onward towards a distant island.
Hakuno Kishinami was shaken awake not by the Dream Cycle, but by Nia Tatopoulos frantically resolving to awaken the girl. The magus's senses went on high alert, as the woman's face indicated a less-than-ideal situation had occurred. Her eyes glanced to the clock, it had been roughly seven hours since she fell asleep, then Hakuno's attention was diverted to the blaring sirens and noises.
Did the Dream Cycle prevent her from getting up on her own by the noise alone?
"Nia, what's going on?" She asked.
"A Kaiju is attacking this very base," Nia spoke. "We need to leave now," She stated.
That was cause enough for Hakuno to leave the bed immediately and follow the American psychic down the hall. The building itself hadn't been damaged, but looking through the windows as they rushed allowed Hakuno to see the large reptilian figure representing the Kaiju moving about with stunning haste around the military base, which the Americans desperately attempted to reorganize their efforts without causing more damage.
The sounds of gunfire, explosions, and the sight of the flames reminded her of her original counterpart's memory.
But it didn't make sense.
"Why is that kaiju here?" Hakuno asked as they left the building and towards the massive garage.
"I don't know, it must have made a beeline for here underground!" Nia exclaimed in response. "Either it must know the military is a threat or something drew it here particularly."
"What about Miki?"
"She wasn't here when it arrived!" The American Psychic replied.
The kaiju roared.
It's noise soundly awfully similar to Berserker's own.
Hakuno's mind pieces together a possible theory.
Had made its way here because Hakuno had entered its territory? And if so, it viewed her as a threat due to her ties with Godzilla? Somehow, it must have sensed this and reacted as a territorial predator would to an approaching opponent.
"Over here, over here!"
Hakuno spotted Sergeant O'Neill shouting over to them, where a humvee was prepared. A man was already in the vehicle and she recognized the soldier as the one who greeted them at the airport, Lieutenant Dagerhold. Hastily, Hakuno Kishinami and Nia Tatopoulos ran towards them and entered the backseats of the vehicle, the magus watched O'Neill climb into the passenger seat with a firearm in his grasp.
"Sir, the target is making its way towards this location!" Dagerhold shouted.
"Floor it, soldier! Head to R3!" He ordered.
"God!" Nia shouted in reaction as the vehicle heaved both her and Hakuno against their seats with the sudden acceleration.
The Digital Human gripped the door arm tightly to steady herself, her eyes glanced to the window to spot the Kaiju in question which had quickly approached their location and come into full view. She measured it roughly fifty-five meters tall, half the size of Berserker, but it displayed speed outpacing the King of Monster. Its appearance had some similar qualities to Godzilla, such as being likened to a grayish scaled theropod dinosaurian creature with spiky dorsal plates, but that's where it quickly ended. Unlike her Servant, who stood straight upright in the face of modern dinosaur interpretations, this kaiju had a horizontal stance but still stood on two legs.
"Ah!" Hakuno suddenly shouted in alarm as the kaiju's head came down and wide jaws snapped at their vehicle, which narrowly avoided the attack by Dagerhold's timely turn of the wheel.
The humvee picked up speed as it drove right past the exit of the military area, entering the city. All the while, the kaiju changed its direction away from besieging the army base and focused on chasing after the fleeing vehicle containing the four humans.
Her Command Seals stung with minor pain.
Hakuno Kishinami was already keenly aware that Berserker was none-too-pleased at his Master's endangered predicament.
It wasn't pleasant to feel the rage through their mental connection.
She was currently fearful for her life, she didn't need Berserker's own thoughts on the situation.
The magus shook her head and tossed the thoughts aside, the vehicle bumped up as the vehicle nearly collided with the kaiju's foot as it had jumped in front of them with a resounding stomp, the monster's hands with sharp claws came down upon them.
In a desperate bid, Hakuno opened the door and aimed her open palm at the kaiju's closing claws.
Her magic circuits activated and magical energy channeled through them.
"Code Cast: Hack!" Hakuno shouted.
This was the first time she'd used a Code Cast outside the Moon Cell, a part of her doubted it would work, but it seems her doubt wasn't needed.
A large burst of yellow electric-like arcs struck the reptilian monster's hand and it flinched, halting its moments enough for the humvee to make some distance.
"What are you doing!?" Nia pulled Hakuno back into the car which also closed the door the magus gripped, but the young girl hadn't the chance to reply.
O'Neill clicked on a device on his uniform, "Echo Unit! Pursuit! Distract it!"
Even through the loud noises of the humvee's engine and the Kaiju's movements, Hakuno recognized the whirling sounds of military attack helicopters, and the incredibly deafening barrage of ammunition blasting away at the monster.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins.
The girl's body quivered.
As the image of a city lit aflame flashed through her mind, the aftermath of a terrorist attack that would lead to war. Countless people scorched alive by weapons of destruction created for the purpose of killing, the scent of ash filling her nostril, the sounds of the dying accompanied by gunfire.
She was borne through perdition.
Hakuno Kishinami forced herself out of the lone memory derived from her original counterpart. The traumatic experience that led to the real Hakuno's cryogenic freezing in the face of both it and a deadly disease.
But it would not hold the Digital Human, after the cruel reality of the Moon Holy Grail War, she had the willpower to keep herself from shock.
The kaiju's attention had shifted with the appearance of the military aircraft, allowing them to get a decent distance. Hakuno had partially hoped that the creature would flee from the vehicles firing upon it, but instead, it had struck back with an agility that defied its size.
Echo Unit had been torn apart, save for one, which had retreated back into the sky away from the kaiju's reach. Without the distraction, the mutant iguana continued its relentless pursuit of the humvee.
It was a miracle that there were no civilians, had they evacuated the area beforehand?
"Almost there, keep flooring it!" O'Neill shouted. "There, directly ahead! There's a defensive line!"
"Don't have to tell me twice, sir!" Dagerhold responded.
Nia exclaimed, "Don't we have jets!? Shoot the bastard with them!"
"Can't get a shot at him ma'am with all the skyscrapers!" O'Neill replied.
Suddenly Nia froze and said, "He's going to use Power Breath…"
Power Breath?
Hakuno noticed that the kaiju had stopped its movement and instead was bending down forward with his jaws widening-
-Wait! Does Nia mean!?
A screeching roar echoed out with a powerful breath that uplifted vehicles before the kaiju's mouth lit up red and out came forth massives flames towards them and the defensive line.
It seemed like time slowed to a crawl, there was no way the humvee would avoid the attack, they would be engulfed in flames and burned alive.
[Emergency Mystic Code Generated for Designated Inheritor.]
A cold, logical robotic voice echoed in Hakuno Kishinami's head.
Already the information filtered into her mind.
Her magic circuits activated once again with od.
"Code Cast: Resist Flame 128!" Hakuno directed the digital magecraft to protect the humvee.
A honeycomb barrier surrounded the entire vehicle, much to the surprise of the other three individuals within. Then the color of orange and red swallowed them as large gulfs of fire went along the barrier's shell and traveled forward. There was intense heat, Hakuno was sweating profusely as the temperature increased and her magic circuits strained to provide od to the Code Casts, while the humvee grinded to a halt. Still, it held and prevented the worst of the heat from filtering through.
She knew that the defensive line would be inflicted with casualties, the poor men and woman charred to a crisp.
But Hakuno was focused on her own survival, currently trying to feed her barrier and maintain its defenses against the blazing flames. It was difficult, as it wasn't because Hakuno Kishinami lacked the magical energy to sustain it, but rather she lacked the experience as a magus to channel her od more proficiently.
Although Berserker took her magical energy, the passive requirements to sustain him still left her with an ample amount. It was when he was actively fighting or using abilities it became substantial, more so when he was using her od alone without radiation to back up his abilities.
It seemed like ages… Finally, the kaiju's breath attack relented and Hakuno let her defensive Code Cast collapse into data particles that dissipated soon after.
She was almost relaxed as her magic circuits switched off.
However, since the vehicle had stopped…
A large hand with claws grasped hold of the vehicle, Hakuno Kishinami held desperately to avoid being shaken around wildly as the kaiju moved with the humvee in its grasp. She had believed that it would crush them, even bite down, but rather it moved and fled the area with them in tow.
"What's it doing…?" Hakuno asked.
"D-don't know!" Nia said. "Just," She was panicking, Hakuno knew, yet it seemed her gaze towards the younger girl had let a maternal instinct overtake her fear for a moment. "Just hang on, Hakuno, I'm sure we'll get out of here somehow."
O'Neill looked as if he was debating to shoot it, but considering their possible height from the ground, falling would cause them to be crushed. While Dagerhold gripped the steering wheel for dear life, his eyes glancing to O'Neill for direction but receiving none.
They couldn't see anything, the windows were completely covered by the rugged scales of the kaiju.
There wasn't anything they could do in this situation.
All they could do is wait.
Hakuno Kishinami navigated herself to the front seat and left through the bashed opened passenger-side door, her hand reached out and Sgt. O'Neill helped her exit the vehicle. It had been a while since they'd been captured by the kaiju, likely a few hours had passed and they had furthered bind their time when the vehicle had been dropped in a location that obscured their view but appeared to be part of a building. Afterward, O'Neill bashed his door open, which it and the others had been caved slightly in due to the kaiju's grip. He scouted a bit before coming back and helping them out.
"Where are we?" Nia Tatopoulos inquired.
"A nest," Sgt. O'Neill replied.
"What?" Nia looked shocked. "Don't tell me it brought us here to be food!"
Hakuno doubted that; its actions had been too unpredictable and even her earlier theory about territory was far fetched.
"Sir," Dagerhold said just a bit away from the group, a small gun in his grip. "I think I spotted a potential exit point."
The magus girl followed after O'Neill and Nia as they walked towards Dagerhold. It was after Hakuno left their small area, obscured by walls, that she understood the earlier statement about a nest.
Whatever building this used to be had its massive interior mostly devastated by the kaiju, there was a large pile of dirt which looked to have covered a hole. Possibly, the kaiju dug through there and then filled its own tracks as it left, leaving a tunnel to the outside blocked for them. Still, that wasn't the stunning sight, but rather the hundreds of two to three-meter tall eggs that lay at every nook and cranny, not to mention the amount of fish scattered over the floor.
If Hakuno wasn't used to the disgusting scents that occurred at times in the Moon Cell's Arena due to enemy Servants and Masters, then she would have probably vomited…
… Like Nia looked like she was about to do.
"Oh god, it reeks, that fish is rotting…" She commented. "Let's get out of here before those eggs decide to hatch and make the problem worse."
Hakuno looked around and spotted a few exit ways with doors, but Dagerhold pointed to one, in particular, that was partially opened and filtered artificial light through. It was through the entire nest.
She didn't feel safe right now.
Her Command Seals were stinging.
O'Neill patted Dagerhold's shoulder, "Good eye."
Nia looked to them, "Can't you contact anyone?"
"Tried," O'Neill stated. "There's too much interference here in the nest, nothing can get through."
"We should go," Hakuno suggested.
There was a sinking feeling in her gut, a sense of impending danger that had saved her countless times before.
Things were about to get a whole lot worse in this kingdom of unhatched eggs.