Chapter 52: The Few and the Proud Part 1

I should have two lengthy story chapters out a week after this one. Sorry it's taken so long it's just been a struggle to find the motivation to continue this story.

Parris Island, South Carolina, United States

Nothing had been the same since the arrival of the mamono on Earth.

Countless new beings, ideas and more had flooded the planet the day the monstrous women arrived. Some were good, others not, but the general consensus was that most mamono were happy to be here and to express their undying love with those who wouldn't instantly reject them; unlike the humans of their homeworld. Institutions were also being affected by mamono as well, and one such institution was taking advantage of that.

The United States Marine Corps has always prided itself on its top notch recruits, there's a reason that branch is the most respected and venerated in America after all. However, with the arrival of mamono not just the marines, but other military branches, have experienced an influx of mamono recruits.

The more martial and physical types, salamanders, orcs, dullahans, saw the modern Earth militaries as ways to prove their status as warriors, as well as ways to find husbands.

But that was easier said than done. Right off the bat many types were outright banned from participating due to perceived physical and mental flaws. Salamanders, with their huge meaty claws, couldn't hold guns right nor properly operate heavy machinery designed for human hands. Dullahans were banned because of the fact their heads could outright fall off their bodies. Orcs were forbidden from joining because of most having the inability to follow orders unless their commanding officers got "physical" with them.

Not to mention that some orcs gave McNamara's Morons a run for their money.

Some species proved themselves to be worthy of joining up, but most would quit after realizing that fraternization was largely a no no, especially the fraternization they preferred.

But the few mamono who were able to overcome this were welcomed to join up and become but a part of the greatest fighting force on Earth. Everyone from the top brass to human recruits were curious about how they would perform.

And that's how a pair of onis appeared alongside their fellow human recruits at Parris Island. As the recruits lined up in front of their bunks many turned their attention to the two massive mamono doing the same.

The first was a huge and muscular blue oni, standing at a terrifying eight feet tall! But unlike most blue onis she didn't quite fit the traditional fit of her kind. Her stubby horns poked a few inches from her head. Her hair was tied into a small but tight bun, behind her glasses were a pair of ocean blue eyes.

Next to her stood a, while not as tall, still quite impressive seven foot red oni. She was just as muscular, if not moreso, than her massive sister. Her horns grew out a bit more and her hair was cut down to pixie cut.

The pair were fitted into massive, barely fitting, marine garments. Mamono sized military clothes were still on the way, so they had to use men's extra extra extra large. A size nobody was ever expecting to be seen worn by a marine.

As the whole crowd eyed the onis, the doors to the quarters burst open and out from them came drill sergeant Weathers.

Weathers, a stern looking, slightly older man with dark skin, eyed the two onis as he entered the room. He had read the reports on the two, Ketsueki Mika and Hana. They were some of the few mamono to not only apply to his beloved corp but actually be accepted into bootcamp. Even more notable, while they were single, neither sister brought up "find a husband" as a reason for joining, unlike every other recruit and attempted recruit. They were serious about enlisting and so far they seemed to still be the only serious ones here, mostly.

The reports listed Mika, the blue oni, to be the more collected and serious one of the two. Hana, the red oni wasn't bad; not by any means, but it was quickly determined that her attitude was often kept under constant surveillance by her sister.

While the other recruits balked at the massive women amongst them, the pair continued to stare forward. Weathers noted this as he drew air into his lungs.

"YOU FUCKING PIECES OF SHIT, WHAT IN THE GOD DAMN DO YOU MAGGOTS THINK YOUR DOING! EYES FORWARD NOW!"

At this the human recruits quickly adjusted themselves as Weathers began to make the rounds.

"Alright ladies, do I finally have your attention now! Can I take charge for a little bit?! GOOD! My name is drill sergeant Weathers, until you leave my island, either as a success or as a failure you will address me as sir or sergeant or sergeant Weathers!"

"You are all here for one reason and one reason only. To join and become a part of my beloved corps! Whether or not you are worthy to be so remains to be seen!"

Weathers quickly marched up to a shorter young asian man.

"What's your name private!?"

"Sir private Chiang sir!"

"And why are you trying to join my beloved corps Chiang!?"

"Sir! To do my family proud sir!"

"And you think my beloved corps will do that for you!?"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Then I'll be watching you private! To see if you really do the corps proud too!"

Weathers spun around to face another private, this time a bulky hispanic man.

"And why are you trying to stick with my corps private!

"Sir to fight for my country sir!"

"Oh really, are you sure that's all there is to it private!? To fight and die! Well then let me give you some advice you numbskull! You won't be doing a lot of fighting if you don't have what it takes to be a marine!"

He stepped away from the man and finally faced the two elephants in the room.

"You two, quite literally the biggest recruits I've ever seen. Now why would you two even bother joining up? To test yourselves? To 'see the world?' To 'beat up bad guys?' To get an easy fuck?"

The big blue oni made her way to answer, but was interrupted by her red sister before she could reply.

"Maybe a little of all four sir," the oni said sensually as she stared at her commanding officer. To which Weathers scowled back.

"A little of all four huh? Well lets see how you like all four on all fours! DROP AND GIVE ME 50 YOU MUSCLE BOUND MAGGOT! I KNOW YOU CAN HANDLE IT!"

The red oni didn't seem to expect that sort of response from the man as she complied and started her pushups. Weathers looked down upon her before turning to her giant of a sister.

"And what about you sweetheart? Got some sort of smart ass reply for me!?"

The blue oni stared straight ahead and only muttered out a few words. "No sir."

Weathers stared at her for a moment before nodding and turning back to the rest of the group.

"Right then! Now over the course of boot camp you will be trained to become the best of the best! And I…"

Four weeks later

Sergeant Weathers, along with his men (and women) loudly marched along the muddy path. One of the many times they would do this over the course of their 13 weeks there. Weathers was used to it by this point, and while the people under him were getting better, the marches were still taxing on them.

With the exception of his two biggest recruits. Mika and Hana had largely proved their worth so far. With a few major exceptions.

Hana's attitude problem was more serious than he realized, especially if her sister wasn't around. She was aggressive, combative and snippy. This often landed her with extra physical training and punishments, nothing she couldn't handle, but it wasn't ideal.

But her treatment of her fellow recruits was getting her in more serious trouble these days. Weathers was genuinely surprised by the sheer amount of racism coming out of the red oni's mouth at times.

Now it wasn't as if the oni was using slurs against the other recruits, rather it was much more casual, for the most part. Instead she seemed to target humanity as a whole, with her often demeaning the other recruits. She harassed the men, straight up called the human women inferior to her in "womanliness" and bullied both genders for their physical shortcomings compared to her.

While it was true that the human recruits couldn't lift a flatbed truck like she could, nor were as tall or as fast as her; those traits, while important, didn't mean everything. All her bullying got her into hot water more than a few times with some serious punishment too.

That being said however, it wasn't entirely Hana's fault, much of this could be attributed to her being a red oni and a mamono. Weathers remembered reading an article about the psychology of mamono. A group of social scientists in some of the Ivy League schools were collaborating to make a public access journal on mamono. Their history, different "species" and cultures. An encyclopedia of mamono, so to speak.

In the article one of the sociologists talked about the physical traits between humans and mamono. More often than not mamono were physically stronger than humans, faster than humans too. Intelligence between mamono and humans was much more comparable, with the mamono having both super geniuses and enormous idiots.

But it was the physical traits that were of the psychologist's concern. Through interviews with the mamono, many mamono but especially the "radical" ones saw humans as something to be protected. A noble belief, but one that quickly goes down a slippery slope when those humans want to assert themselves or stay independent.

The radicals especially used those physical traits to bully and put down humans because of the "undeniable superiority of mamono over weaker, slower and more fragile humans," a devil, and one of the few radical mamono to come to Earth so far, was quoted in saying in the article.

"You need us to protect you from yourselves. But often humans are too stupid for their own good. You may not like it but we ARE better, it will only be a matter of time before you all realize it."

While that may have made more sense back in their homeworld, Earth's technology and medicine greatly equalized the two species. And yet those beliefs still hung on, beliefs that just weren't right or just. No matter how well intentioned, Weathers couldn't allow this to happen any longer.

The group arrived at a "climbable" flagpole, the human recruits sweating and panting ever so slightly. Meanwhile Mika and Hana hadn't even broken a sweat. The Red oni sneered down at her fellow recruits as she flexed her muscles in Weather's direction.

That was another "problem" for the drill instructor. While Hana had made zero moves towards Weathers so far, it was no secret the oni harbored feelings for her instructor. The rumor mill made it clear she thought he was playing "hard to get." But she wasn't willing to compromise her place here for her feelings, not yet anyways.

"ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOTS, TODAY I'M FEELING 'GENEROUS' ALL OF YOU CAN RETURN TO THE BARRACKS. BY WIND SPRINTING THERE!"

There was both a collective sigh of relief and disappointment, the group missing out on trying for the flag atop the flagpole. The two onis began to go with the group.

"NOT YOU HANA, YOU'RE STAYING WITH ME!"

This caught the group off guard, including the oni in question. She turned back, giving Mika a nod, before jogging over to Weathers. "Yes Sir?"

"Private Ketsueki, do you want to know why I'm bothering your sorry ass right now?"

That irritated the oni, a flash of the emotion going over her face. But Weathers said nothing, merely waiting for the enormous girl to respond. "No sir, what seems to be the problem sir?"

"The PROBLEM, private Ketsueki, is that I've been having to deal with COUNTLESS reports about your attitude and treatment of your fellow recruits! Now you talking back and getting into spats with the others, I can handle. What I can't handle is you getting physical with the others and discriminating against them because they are human. And it seems that no matter what sort of punishments are thrown your way in response, they never stick!"

Throughout Weathers' rant, the irritation and anger on Hana's face grew more and more pronounced. The red oni was already not taking it well, but Weathers' hadn't finished.

"You are getting out of control! Now I don't care how things were done back home, this is Earth. Whether you like it or not people, humans, aren't just gonna roll over for you. You are rapidly running out of chances here, hell if you weren't such good marine material, you would be out of here already! Either you shape up or get out of here! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!"

The oni remained silent. Hana looked so angry that, for a moment, Weathers actually feared she might just lash out at him.

But then she spoke.

"You asked me sir, at the beginning of training, why I signed up for your 'beloved corp.' I gave you a smartass answer, you punished me, we moved on. Well do you want to know why I joined the marines, honestly? It's because of the exact reasons you and I are talking right now. Humans are weak, ALL OF THEM!"

She sneered at him as she continued. "And it's not just your pathetic strength, or your sluggish speed. It's your lack of control, I know, coming from a mamono that's rich. But while I cannot control my urges to breed, YOU cannot control your urge to kill! All you little inferiors do is hurt each other. If mamono had their way you all would be at home, doted on by your wives and away from such dangers. But you're all too stupid to listen to reason!"

Weathers stared up at Hana incredulously, before chucking out loud. This got a reaction out of the oni, who stared back in equal bewilderment.

"You think me trying to keep you weaklings out of danger is funny!"

"Heh hah heh, no no! I just find it funny that you can do it all on your own, when I could easily beat you here and now."

Now it was the oni's turn to laugh, instead of a chuckle, it was a loud cackle. "You! YOU! You think you could beat me in a fight!"

"No, not a fight, how about a friendly challenge instead," he pointed up to the top of the flagpole. A little orange flag settled at the top of it.

"A wager instead. Whoever can grab the flag at the top of the pole first wins. If I win, you not only stop discriminating against the other recruits, but you go apologise. If you win you can have, well, a kiss from me. On the lips if you'd like."

Weathers couldn't believe that Hana's red face could get any redder, but it did. The oni stared wide eyed at the drill instructor. "But but how did you know about…"

"Word gets around, also all that flexin my way does wonders helping confirm my suspicions. So how about it private Ketsueki, you up for a little challenge?"

That shook the oni out of her stupor as she looked down at Weathers menacingly. "I'm gonna get that kiss AND you are gonna realize that no matter what circumstances, mamono will ALWAYS be on top!"

With that the oni sprinted towards the flagpole, Weathers taking up the rear, like he had much choice. Hana reached the pole and began to climb it like she was born a monkey. Weathers merely stopped to watch the display.

Then his plan went into action.

In her haste to fulfill the greatest desire any mamono would want, love, Hana forgot her own strength and weight. The metal warped and crumpled under her meaty grip, by the time she realized her fatal error, she was already halfway up the pole.

Snap!

Before she knew it the oni was falling back to Earth. She landed with a loud thud! Still gripping the top half of the flagpole and in a daze.

Weathers calmly walked over to the top half of the pole and grabbed the flag off of it. By this point Hana had recovered only to look upon Weather's triumph.

"I win private Ketsueki. Now maybe you see that your strength and size aren't everything. You need strategy, tactics, a cool and clear head. Let this be a lesson for you, that while mamono may be bigger and stronger, that doesn't always mean they're better."

He walked over to her kneeling form and held out his hand. "Now I believe you need to do something for me, that is of course if you want to try and get out of…"

"No!" Hana cried out. "No. You may think a lot of things about me sir. But I ain't no cheat, I don't go back on deals."

She took his hand, she frowned at him, but there was no anger or pomp with it. Instead, Weathers swore he saw some pity and regret instead. She turned to look at the snapped flagpole.

"Uh, I'm not gonna get in trouble for this, right?"

"Ha! No, no private you aren't gonna get in trouble for that. I'll take care of it."

"Oh! Well thanks, I guess."

"I guess sir!" Weathers snapped. "Just because we had this little wager here DOESN'T mean you get a break from proper titles! NOW MOVE IT SOLDER I EXPECT YOU AT THE MESS HALL FOR YOUR LITTLE 'SPEECH' ASAP!"

Later that evening

Hana's apology had gone off without a hitch. Whilst Weathers noticed that few of the other recruits were willing to let her off the hook so easily. He also noticed that they were responsive to her apology. He was convinced that by the end of boot camp they'd all be proper comrades.

Throughout the apology, Weathers noticed Mika would stare at him when she thought he wasn't looking. It was impossible for him to determine what the blue oni was thinking, but he had a feeling that she and him would be having a very interesting conversation sooner or later.

Unfortunately the repairs for the flagpole had to come out of his pocket, at least initially. After some explanations and reminding general Scott of his many years of training recruits on Parris Island, they let him off the hook.

But hey, on the bright side, one of his most impressive recruits was once again on the path to being a marine!

Now how can I solve the issue with Mika? He thought.