For the group, it was as if hell had opened and the devil himself had emerged and had suddenly declared his presence. The roar made their blood run cold and their skin tingle to the point where they thought it would begin to creep across the floor to get away from the beast. Even 'Godzilla' found himself backing away at the sheer sight of this thing. Now he really understood how humans and anything smaller than him felt when they saw something huge, and alive.
When the beast (Dagarkra) finished its roar, it looked over towards the building where it could something powerful. Its red, glaring eyes fell on the form of Gin who, with one swift motion of arm, pointed one of the spears at the group and then towards one of the Nana-Gou in the distance about a mile or two away. One command, Dagarkra; kill and destroy!
Like a bull that had caught sight of a red cape, Dagarkra advanced towards the group's location; arm raised and hand curled into a fist.
"SCATTER!" Hime screamed.
The group dispersed as quickly as they could. Kyosuke grabbed Ao and Kotoha and leapt from the rooftop to the building next to theirs; it being about forty feet taller but not out of reach of the monster. Akina, Hime and 'Godzilla', meanwhile, dived out of the way as the fist came down. With a thunderous CRASH, the front half of the building was pulverised into a pile of ruin. The three were thrown into the air and almost over the edge if 'Godzilla's had not grabbed Hime, who in turn grabbed Akina. As they paused to recover, a large shadow fell over them and they looked to see the huge form of Dagarkra; his face looking down at them; eyes the colour of molten lava and teeth gritted as if he were furious at them for having wronged or harmed him in the past. You little meat puppets! I'll rip you to shreds.
Something exploded on the side of its head and it let out a roar and staggered a little into the courtyard. Its feet swiped several cars out of the road and crushed a few of the burned husks that had been trees to dust. For a moment, they were elated! It looked as if the creature was badly injured. Maybe they could beat him. Akina pointed out the others on the neighbouring rooftop. Kyosuke hands were surrounded by a red energy field and Kotoha was armed with a gun. They sure did come prepared.
Their enthusiasm was short lived, however, when a growl of anger sounded out from nearby. They looked and saw Dagarkra facing Kyosuke's group with an even angrier expression. His fists were clenched and his breaths were heavy. What stood out most of all to the group, and anyone else who happened to be watching the scene unfold, was that the place where he had been struck was completely devoid of any injury.
Oh no! Hime mentally said to herself in horror. He's gonna be very hard to take down.
With another roar, the blood red skinned creature charged towards the building and, with one swing of its fist, obliterated the top corner of the neighbouring building. Dust and smoke spewed out from the impact zone. Another blow to the building by the creature sent a wave of rubble into the air to scatter into the surrounding neighbourhoods.
"Oh no!" Akina gasped as 'Godzilla' looked on in shock, completely silent.
A cry of "Guys!" sounded out as Hime shot to her feet, her face contorted into a look that was torn between shock, fear and anger. No! No, they had to be okay! They couldn't be dead! They had to have gotten out of there in time! They had to be alive, right?! "Guys!" she cried out again, hoping for a reply.
"Hime!" 'Godzilla' shushed her, grabbing her by the arms.
But it was too late. Her shouting drew the attention of Dagarkra, who glared down at them from his great height akin to a man who had seen an insect crawling across the floor; a living thing that was beneath him both literally and figuratively and despised it with every vein in his body and sought to exterminate its existence. He charged again. 'Godzilla', barely had time to yell out before a swift kick sent the remaining half of their building crumbling to a pile at his feet. As with the previous structure, pieces of rubble were flung into the surroundings buildings or across far distances, only to land with a crash that caused mayhem, further destruction and death those unfortunate to be in the way.
Dagarkra paused as it observed the city around it, seeing the pillars of smoke rising above the skyline and the distant sounds of sirens and the shouting of those on the ground. The power he felt; the rush of adrenaline was like a new life for him. It felt wonderful, spectacular, invigorating as it coursed through his veins. The fact that this world was something where humans and Yokai lived practically side by side meant nothing; it was not even worth a mention in the manner that a person might read the newspaper and find something of only momentary interest. This … This was enough for him. And nothing, no humans or werewolves or oni or anything would stop him.
And now, his eyes looking up, he set his sights on the towering Nana-Gou in the distance. There was the target, the prize, the intention of his visit, or rather the first.
He set off, ploughing through the buildings in his wake, uncaring for the chaos that it created below or in the area around him as he advanced. He tore a hole in a building and pushed the two remains over with his hands. Another he severed in two with a simple flick of his arm. Waves of rubble were tossed across the skyline and sent panicked civilians screaming and/or diving for cover. But he did not care and he continued to advance, flattening huge clumps of parked or mostly abandoned vehicles, along with those unfortunate to still be in the way.
Nearby, Gin watched with a satisfied smile. Finally, it was done! After all this time, all this planning and constant moving and battling with the mayor, her group and now the human 'Godzilla', he had accomplished his goal. All he had to do now was wait. Even as Dagarkra moved in the direction of the first Nana-Gou, he found himself bounding after him as if said creature was a celebrity of sorts and he [Gin] was an eager fan hoping to catch up to him.
And he's even kind enough to leave his autograph, if that's what you can call it, with the rest of the city he mentally joked with himself.
Soon it would be done. Sakurashin, and then everything beyond, would be finished. And with his opponents now out of the game, no one could stop them.
"Guys!"
Kotoha, with Kyosuke, Ao and two police officers in two, rushed over to what remained of the building, now nothing but a pile of rubble. They had been thrown across the square by Dagarkra's swipe, though luckily Kotoha had managed to conjure up a huge inflatable mat which she and Ao had landed safely on. Kyosuke had been less fortunate and had collided with a wall just next to a window that had been smashed by a stray bullet during the earlier calamity. Luckily, he had managed to grab onto it and steadied himself a bit before easing himself back down to the ground. They were too late to do anything about Dagarkra, who was already tearing his way through the city in the direction of the first Nana-Gou. And right now, as selfish as it seemed, they did not care enough to go after him right now. Their first priority was to find out if the rest of the group was okay.
"Guys?!" Ao called out when they reached the pile of rubble, her voice filled with worry. They had to be okay! They had to be, right? They had survived everything else so far! "Guys!" she called out again.
A loud, deep grunt sounded out from somewhere under the pile of rubble, followed almost immediately by one of the larger pieces of what had been a wall moving. Another, more forceful grunt emanated and the rubble was forced up and thrown to the side; Kotoha moving out of the way as it fell near where she had been standing. A large man emerged, paused and turned and held out his hands to pull up two people.
"Hime! Akina!" Kotoha exclaimed happily. "You're alive!"
"Only just!" 'Godzilla' commented as he helped them out of the hole to the ground; Ao grabbing Hime's hand and Kyosuke taking Akina by the arm. "Luckily my body shielded them from most of the impact of the rubble."
Silence fell as the group gathered themselves together; all eyes falling on Hime, waiting for her orders. But there were none. Their leader, their mayor, their friend, one who was always so ready and willing to act, especially when it concerned the safety of the city and its people, was white faced and tight lipped, her eyes wide and staring ahead, lost for purpose as if she were a being that had appeared from another dimension and did not know what to do. Even when Akina spoke to her, she just looked at him with the same expression.
"Hime!" 'Godzilla' spoke up heavily, making her jump as she and the others looked at him. "Look," he continued, softening his voice, his blue eyes glowing with comfort against her red. "You must stay calm and not let your fear take hold of you."
She did not reply but just clasped her scarf with her hands and tightened it a little, looking down at the floor. One look at her face told them everything. I've failed, I've screwed up. I was supposed to protect this city and now there's a gigantic monster running around and he's going to level it and kill everyone in it… I've failed my grandmother, myself and the Dragon.
"Hime!" Kotoha snapped her out of her trance and she looked up at her Yokai friend. "Look, if it's too much, we can get you out of here. The police can take you away and we'll deal with this."
"What's the point?" she muttered in a resigned manner. "We can't stop him; you saw what he just did."
"But we can't just leave and let him and Gin tear down the city!" Akina said as he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him, looking deeply into her eyes with a gleam that told her he was serious and for her to listen. "Look, Hime, right now it's tough. We're all overwhelmed like you. But don't think you've failed. We just need to find a way to beat him, and right now we need that strong leader we know you are. We need the Hime that we know won't give up."
He paused to let that sink in. Somehow, despite the current situation, she felt his words resonate within her like the gift of life. Yes! Yes, he was right. She could not just give up! She knew that she had made some mistakes and had not dealt with it sooner, but she had still persisted this far, right? She had not given up yet. Why now?
Determination gripped her and her face turned to its more serious expression. Upon seeing it, the rest of the group smiled (rather ironic considering their past experience and feelings of when Hime was like this).
"You're right!" Hime announced, straightening herself up and looking at all of them. Her eyes fell on the police. "Officers, I need you to issue an evacuation, get everyone out of Sakurashin as fast as you can-" he paused as a distant roar and explosion made them all turn their heads in its direction. "-and get the army here if they haven't been warned already."
The two officers exchanged looks that bordered on them throwing down their badges and joining the soon to be enormous exodus of people fleeing from the city. But their sense of duty, or the intimidating look Hime was giving them, made them reconsider. They nodded and rushed off to carry out their duty, hoping to be out of the fighting themselves.
Hime turned back to the others. "We'll need to split up if we're going to deal with this thing. Kotoha, Kyosuke, and Akina; you guys are gonna go after Dagarkra. Do whatever it takes to slow him down and stop him from destroying the Nana-Gou. If he tears them down, we're all dead. Good luck."
The three nodded, realising just how severe the situation wads for them. The very fate of their city was in their hands. With a final good luck, they rushed off in the direction of the creature, knowing that
"Godzilla; you, me and Ao are gonna go after Gin. If we can distract him or take him down, we might be able to stop Dagarkra."
"There is a way, but we will need to get to his spears." 'Godzilla' informed her, causing a surprised look to flash across her and Ao's faces for a brief moment, something he noticed. "It will be risky, whatever way it goes, but it will be the only way to defeat them."
Hime nodded, looking down at the ground and then at the surrounding city. As hard as it was to admit, she knew that 'Godzilla's' way of dealing with these two would no doubt lead to the destruction of much of Sakurashin. Everything, literally everything that her ancestors and the countless other's ancestors had toiled, sweated and sometimes fought to create would likely be reduced to rubble by morning.
If they were still alive by then. Anything could happen to them by then.
"Ao." Hime spoke up, turning to face her cat eared friend. "I want you to know that I never meant harm or scorn for you because of what happened to Gin, or what he's done." A pause hung between them as she tried to consider what else to say. "I only wanted to protect the city and its people, including you all."
Ao did not reply but just gave a slight nod. "I know." She replied in a voice barely above a whisper. "I can't say I would have done the same but I understand."
A distant boom echoed out from somewhere in the direction of the Nana-Gou, followed by the distant, less noticeable sound of gunshots. 'Godzilla', who had been standing nearby and watching the two women converse, looked in the direction of the noises and then back at them with a look that said: "We better get moving."
"Alright, let's go get Gin." Hime said, and with that they headed off into the carnage, hoping against hope that they would prevail.
We'll need the luck of the Dragon on our side Hime thought to herself.
Meanwhile, on the southern coast of Japan
Destruction. That was all that greeted the eyes of the rescue workers as they arrived into what remained of the village. Buildings had been squashed flat like pancakes, cars thrown on their side, trees snapped or flattened. What really turned the stomachs of many people was the sight of bodies unfortunate enough to have been caught up in the disaster. Men and women; young and old; boys and girls; adult and children, all of them had been caught up in the disaster. No mercy or distinguishing in anyway.
The truck filled with rescue workers came to a stop near the side of the trench and those inside got out. One of them, an average height man with short black hair covered by a white helmet, green eyes and a rail thin body dressed in a large orange and white uniform with black boots, gazed at the largely devastated surroundings of what had been the village neighbouring his. Many of his friends and even an ex of his lived here. Whether they were alive now, he did not know but deep down he hoped they were okay.
"Yoshi! C'mon!" a voice commanded him.
With a heavy sigh at the very gruesome likelihood of finding the remains of a person, he walked ahead with the rest of the group into the village. They passed a few intact buildings but the closer they got to the designated 'trench zone' that was left behind, they saw more destruction, some with roofs missing, others with cars that had been launched or dropped onto the gardens or through the walls. Other rescue workers had already arrived here but they were barely speaking, largely just to give orders or say that they had found 'one' (that was the term they were using for someone who had been crushed) and called for them to be taken away.
Seeing all this destruction made Yoshi think of the devastation he had seen in Sendai in 2011 when the tsunami hit. Everything had been literally torn apart and swept away by the power of the sea, revealing the aftermath to be a heap of twisted wood, steel and body parts. It had been quick and brutal then and the same thing had happened here. From what he could gather, everything had been fine one moment; then the next something had come ashore and was tearing its way through the village and into the hills at the back. It all happened so fast that the inhabitants barely had time to process what was going on before it was over.
Poor people he thought sadly as he observed two workers emerge from a building carrying a stretcher with a sheet covering something. No doubt a body. They had no chance.
As his group came to a halt near the trench about fifty feet ahead of them, a series of loud noises filled the air like thunder. All eyes looked up to see about twelve army helicopters, their metallic frames almost camouflaged against the night sky, swoop overhead and disappear over the hills. A few people, including Yoshi, turned their heads in the direction of where they came from and saw several huge shapes a few miles away in the sea.
"Damn!" Yoshi muttered to himself. "Wherever they're going, it's gonna be hell."