Background:
In the world of this one-shot, kaiju and giant robots exist. Some kaiju are feral animals that only seek to spread chaos and destruction. Some are just living their best lives and won't bug humans as long as they're left to their own devices. Others are sapient and work alongside humans in keeping the world safe. And then there are those very rare kaiju that can shrink down into a humanoid form known as shifters. The ability is hereditary and gets passed on through the generations. One of these shifters is Yang Xiao Long, a kaiju shifter who has been working for the World Defense Administration for the past 3 years. The WDA manages the creation and repair of giant robots (also known as automatons or autos for short) as well as finding pilots for said automatons. One of these pilots being Yang's work partner, childhood friend, and boyfriend Jaune Arc.
The two grew up in the same town and often dreamed of working together to keep their home safe from feral kaiju. Though at first, Yang hid her kaiju heritage because she was deeply anxious about how her blonde crush would react to the fact that she was a kaiju. Come their adolescent years and the secret would come out when she accidentally shifted part of her body while scaring off a crook. While she expected fear, panic, or disgust, she was met with amazement and joy as Jaune found her dragon-like abilities to be amazing. Once the situation had calmed down, she felt a lot of pressure off her back since she could now be more open about the issues that came with being a shifter. Though in the process of spilling all of those secret issues, she also let it out how much she wanted to date him. So over the course of that singular day, her best friend learned a lot of her secrets and became her boyfriend.
As of the present day, they work together in defending their region alongside Yang's titan shifting cousin Ruby. Jaune stands alongside the cousins by piloting the automaton labeled Crocea Mors. A model built to tank hits and dish them back with its energy sword.
Story:
As the wind blows against the peaks and valleys of the mountain range, Crocea Mors sits on the top of a cliff overlooking the bodies of the Caprid kaiju that its pilot had been fighting for the past two to three hours. Said pilot had also taken a seat since the number of kaiju that he had been dealing with had come close to overwhelming him at quite a few points. But through strength of will and perseverance, he'd managed to deal with the rampaging goats before they could reach anywhere near human civilization. And even within the well ventilated cockpit of his mech, he was sweating quite a bit.
Feeling the ground rumble, he was about to pick up his sword and prepare to fight some more when he heard the familiar sound of Ruby's voice calling out to him. Sitting back down again as she leapt over him and landed on one of the bodies. Which naturally prompted her to jump back in disgust about how her hands were covered in rotting blood, much to Jaune's amusement. As she shook off all the blood and tossed the bodies aside to make room for her to sit, another voice filled the skies. This time it was a pun filled voice signifying Yang's fast approach from the skies above.
Once she had landed next to her cousin, the two were able to kick back and relax as they too had been busy with a feral kaiju quest. Though unlike Jaune who had been dealing with a herd, they were dealing with one titan-class kaiju that seemingly resembled a multi-headed honey badger with a temperament to match its appearance. Jaune, concerned for their scars and scratches, asks what exactly they were fighting which triggers a discussion on the hassles they've been dealing with that day both on the job and off the clock. From the problems that come from dealing with kaiju either being out of their weight class (the honey badger) or outnumbered (the goats) to minor inconveniences like annoying traffic.
But once they've thoroughly burned through all their gripes, the three are able to laugh about the fact that they're arguing about such things while sitting on a mountain. And in Jaune's case, inside a giant robot. Ruby, being able to read that the two were clearly gonna want to be alone together, looked up to her cousin and said she'd go back to the WDA headquarters and report on both of their successes. Following this, she made a massive leap over Crocea Mors and started the run back to their home city of Vale.
Yang, not sure what to talk about since they'd burned through the previous topic, decided to crack a small pun about their knight and dragon dynamic. A simple one that never failed to make her knight laugh no matter how many times she said it. Jaune, slowly getting up and moving Crocea Mors to sit by her, fired back with a pun about her fiery breath and natural hotness. This would start a pun off that would last for about 15 minutes before they were both interrupted by notifications alerting them that they had a dinner date in an hour and thus couldn't stay out for too much longer lest they be late.
Despite still feeling a bit sore, Jaune got up and readied himself for a run back to Vale. Yang, seeing an easy opportunity to challenge him, dared him to race her. Whoever won the race would get to choose where they go for their date. Jaune, knowing she could easily win with the speed at which she could fly, decided to use her own words against her by saying "Okay. If I win, we're going to Outback Steakhouse." As soon as those words left his mouth, he could see her slowly realizing that she'd have to lose in order to go to her favorite restaurant. Seeing the defeat finally set in, she fully admitted defeat before saying that she'd get him back later. Or to be more accurate, she said "I'll get you back for this" before flying off to prepare for their date. Jaune, left there to catch up by ground, knew she'd most likely prank him after their date, but didn't regret his decisions in the slightest. Dusting himself off and pulling the sword of Crocea Mors out of the cliffside, he sheathed it and made a break for Vale.
Author's note:
Sorry if this one-shot isn't as long as the others. This one was more so just me improvising a short chapter based on an idea. Had a lot of ideas for the background, but not as many for the story itself. All in all, I'm glad to have taken part in this year's Dragonslayer Week.