Enjoy!
Gigantomachia roared as he smashed into Baragon. From below, Titan and the others watched, mesmerized by the giants' clash. Baragon roared in defiance and fired another heat blast. Gigantomachia threw its arms to block the blast. His arms blistered from the heat, but the giant was otherwise unfazed. Gigantomachia snarled and threw himself at Baragon.
Baragon reared up, clawing at Gigantomachia's face to force him back. Gigantomachia fell to one knee, while Baragon brought its claws down on his shoulders. Machia propelled himself up, picking up Baragon from below, then threw him down the hill. Baragon rolled, got to its feet, shook itself off, then leapt into Gigantomachia, crashing into him with enough force to throw Gigantomachia back.
Baragon slashed Machia's chest. Machia slashed at Baragon's face. Baragon briefly staggered back, then sank its teeth into Machia's shoulder and threw him aside. Gigantomachia tumbled along the hillside before getting up and charging again. He ripped out a tree and slammed it into Baragon like a hammer. Baragon stumbled back several footsteps and fired another heat blast. Machia's tree exploded in his arms. Baragon then dug down into the earth, vanishing in seconds.
Gigantomachia dug his claws down, also disappearing into the earth. For a few moments, the forest was still. Then, the two erupted out of a nearby cliff, tumbling, snarling, and slashing.
Titan felt the earth shaking once again. However, this wasn't from the two fighters. It was…beneath them?
Titan looked around. The ground on the hill above them was moving. Shifting. Bulging. Titan and the others exchanged looks. They promptly ran for their lives, even as stones tumbled and rolled around them.
Titan sped up. He heard the earth explode behind him, sending massive boulders flying all about, crushing at least one MLA member. He and the others raced up the nearest hill as the sound similar to a donkey echoed across the valley.
Gigantomachia and Baragon stopped fighting and looked at the newest challenger, an enormous cross between a porcupine, armadillo, and rhinoceros. It almost reminded Titan of that Ankylosaurus from a dinosaur documentary he'd obsessed over as a kid.
The new kaiju roared at the other two. Baragon leaped away, burrowing into the earth. Gigantomachia roared defiantly. The other creature roared back, pawing at the earth.
Titan and his remaining companion exchanged looks. This one was bigger than Baragon. Did Gigantomachia really want to fight him?
Gigantomachia evidently did, charging at the newcomer in full sprint. The new kaiju bounded at him on all fours. At the last moment, it leaped up and curled into a spiked ball.
The ball smashed into Gigantomachia and sent him flying back. He shook himself off as the kaiju landed and unrolled. Gigantomachia charged again while the kaiju lunged at him. The two collided in the middle.
The kaiju slammed into Gigantomachia and forced him backwards. Machia slashed at the creature's eyes, but the kaiju simply closed them, its eyelids easily blocking Machia's attacks The kaiju swiped at Machia, sending him flying in one blow. The kaiju then clamped its jaw around Machia's leg, before spinning around and swinging Gigantomachia into a hill.
Gigantomachia tried to attack the kaiju, but it soon became obvious how one sided this match was. The kaiju slashed, bit, and even gored Gigantomachia in the side with its horn. Every blow Machia landed caused no damage while every blow the kaiju landed caused considerable damage.
Finally, the kaiju swung its tail into Gigantomachia, sending him flying down the nearby hill, limp, bleeding, defeated. The kaiju then walked onward, on a course that would bypass the town entirely.
Titan noted the irony that Gigantomachia had unwittingly saved an entire town. Not that he'd appreciate it. Upon a quick update from Titan to their bosses, Gigantomachia vanished in a layer of silver sludge.
A teenage boy with curly brown hair placed his glowing green hands on Yuu. Soon, she rose, feeling ready to move again (if not quite at 100%). She nodded to the boy, then hurried back out to observe the battle.
"Air teams slowed down another Gargantua several kilometers out. The sucker's still alive, but it's badly hurt. Two have entered town limits."
In the street corners, the AMF laid down several cylindrical pedestals with a small cannon on top. A blue Gargantua approached. The small cannons fired miniature maser beams at the Gargantua's ankle height. The Gargantua rushed around a corner and stepped right into the beams. The Gargantua let out a startled screech and staggered back, allowing the town's remaining maser tank to line up its shot. The maser fired a lightning bolt, raking the Gargantua's hide. The Gargantua howled in pain as it fell on its back. The maser kept firing. The monster crawled away, but the maser followed.
Meanwhile, the Cyan Gargantua was trading blows with the Alpha. It leaped onto the Alpha's back but the Alpha electrified its entire body, forcing the Gargantua off. The Alpha turned around, pointing its maser cannon at the Gargantua. The Gargantua kicked the Alpha, throwing off its aim. The Gargantua tried slamming its arm into the robot, but the Alpha just punched the Gargantua in the face, knocking out a tooth.
Yuu smirked at the sight of the shoe on the other foot.
She looked back to the one being hit by the maser. It retreated through the streets, vaulting over buildings, even throwing cars at the maser to force it back. The cars simply bounced off the tank, which kept firing even when it meant sawing through buildings to hit its target.
Satisfied, Yuu made her way back to the evac zone. She sighed with relief at the sight of the last of the evacuation buses squeezing out. Her parents and daughter were on one of those buses.
The blue Gargantua being shot by the maser had run back toward the Alpha, which was manhandling the cyan one. The Gargantua put the Alpha between itself and the maser, blocking its line of fire. The Gargantua then picked up a house and threw it. The house crashed down, large pieces of it hitting the maser, partly burying it. The maser tried to free itself, all the while continuing its stream of fire.
The Alpha threw the cyan Gargantua into the blue one and fired its mounted maser. The cyan Gargantua howled in pain, while the blue one launched itself at the Alpha, knocking it off balance. The Alpha punched the Gargantua in the face then shot it again. The blue Gargantua fell to the ground screeching in pain.
The cyan Gargantua took the opportunity to escape, and took off toward the evac area. Toward the buses.
Yuu looked to the buses. Then to the rampaging kaiju, which picked up a passing Hero and spitefully threw him at the maser spite. Then at the buses. Shinji tried to wrap the Gargantua's legs, but the creature snapped his branches like twigs.
Yuu felt something rise within her. Something primal. Something ferocious.
"Rule! Weapon!" she said, growing to full height. She sprinted at the Gargantua at full speed. Rule threw her a wrench, which grew until Yuu could hold it like a sledgehammer. "Over here you bastard!"
Yuu swung the wrench into the Gargantua's face. The Gargantua staggered back in surprise. Yuu took the opportunity to swing again. And again, and again, and again. The Gargantua finally caught Yuu's arm and sqeezed, forcing her to drop her weapon. Yuu however shoved the creature with strength she shouldn't have had, forcing it to take a step back. In its surprise, the Gargantua's grip on her arm slipped.
Yuu threw herself forward, slamming her entire body into the Gargantua's midsection. The Gargantua, not ready for the sudden blow, fell down, crushing a building underneath. Yuu didn't care. She rained punch after punch on the beast's face, snarling and screaming what would have been obscenities if she'd been coherent. Her knuckles bled, her fingers became warped and unable to curl into a fist, while her wrist bent at an awkward angle. She. Didn't. Care.
"Stay. Away. From. My. Daughter!" she half-said-half-snarled as she kept raining blows. The Gargantua, with its face covered in bruises and blood, finally grabbed Yuu by the throat, rolled over and threw her away. Yuu rolled through a building, then got back up, ignoring her borderline useless arms as she snarled at the beast
However, before Yuu could attack again, several blue beams hit the creature in the back. The Gargantua howled in pain as three maser tanks rolled into town.
"Mt. Lady, stay back and leave it to us."
Yuu looked back at the buses as the last one disappeared around a corner. She staggered, shrunk down, and fell on her stomach. She couldn't speak, or even move. She soon became aware of the other Heroes carrying her away. Every muscle on her body hurt, her arms screamed with agony, and her hands were borderline destroyed.
But, she'd done her part, Yui was safe. Now the AMF had to do theirs.
Across town, she saw the Alpha snap the other Gargantua's neck, while the masers had surrounded the cyan one.
As she was carried to the medical center, Yuu stared upwards. A teenage boy with curly brown hair stood over her for the second time today, lowering a glowing green hand to her.
As he worked, a shadow briefly streaked across the open sky.
Izuku ordered the AMF to their positions, checking their strategy and rechecking. They had to be ready. Rodan would be here any minute. Most of the streets around the city center were eerily empty, thank to the Heroes and civilians getting much quicker at evacuating in the last eight months. However, many areas still had people. A lot of people.
Izuku took a deep breath, feeling the weight on his shoulders. The responsibility for the battle, for the people fighting it. For not the first time, Izuku wished he was just leading a small tank team again, when only a few people truly depended on his decisions.
Nevertheless, he wasn't just another maser gunner anymore. He was one of the ones in charge, and he refused to let everyone down.
"Ishikawa, take your masers down to the park and dig in. Infantry, keep helping the Heroes. You're no good against Rodan."
Izuku hard explosions approaching. He opened his hatch as Kacchan touched down.
"Izuku!" Kacchan said. "How long do we have?"
"Minutes."
"Any idea where it will land?"
Izuku had been pondering that himself. He tried to think on where Rodan would land. Based on previous experience…
"Tell the Heroes to focus on the shopping district. That's the most likely location."
Kacchan nodded. "Good luck."
"You too Kacchan." Izuku trusted him more than any other to get civilians out of the way. Whatever his personality faults may be, few were better at professional Heroism than Kacchan.
"Right. I'll also keep Shitty Hair from doing something stupid."
"You do that." Red Riot had repeatedly expressed reluctance to stay back from the kaiju in the last few months. He still did, but his reluctance only seemed to grow. Honestly Izuku trusted Kacchan more than him. Kacchan would actually listen, while Red Riot…he might do his own thing. Then again, I'm not much better, am I?
"I didn't know you were friends with Dynamight," said Hinae.
"I'm not."
"Oh." She looked quite embarrassed, then scurried into the tank.
Izuku tapped comms. "Creati, shopping district is likely to be hit first. I'm sending over some of our infantry to help. They're under your command."
"Thank you. I'll try to lead them well." Izuku heard the same weight in her tone. He wondered if she'd ever imagined leading an operation this big.
Alien Queen slid up to him. "Midoriya! The apartments to the south of here are empty. You said the shopping area?"
Izuku said, "You won't make it there in time. Go help around the harbor."
"You got it! Oh, and don't die. If you do, Ochako will blame me."
"She told you to say that, didn't she?" Izuku said. Ochako was helping clear the area around the warehouses so they could lead Rodan there. She knew his selflessness was far easier to play than his self-preservation.
Alien Queen gave him a knowing smile. "Yes, but the question is, does that make it any less true?"
Izuku said, "No, I guess not. Go and good luck."
Izuku continued organizing to the last second, doing everything to make sure they were ready.
Then he saw a speck rapidly growing on the horizon. "Prepare for battle. He's here."
Izuku got into the tank, sitting behind Hinae. She looked more nervous than usual. No, she looked genuinely afraid. Understandable. Usually, their tactics revolved around keeping moving, and avoiding attacks that only hit a small area.
But Rodan? Rodan was something different.
And you thought Yuu was cool last time, here she gets to show some off with some good ol' hysterical strength! The Gargantua's death at the end was actually thrown in in the last second (literally, I put it in less than a minute before writing this note, because they don't show up in my next few chapters and you guys deserve some closure to that).
Fun fact: Instead of Anguirus, it was supposed to be Baragon that trounced Machia. But then, I saw Frankenstein Conquers the World and realized Baragon was weaker than I initially assumed. This allowed his fights with Yuu and Machia, before Anguirus came and reminded him of his weight class.
Next time: Japan vs Rodan!
Hope you enjoyed! Reviews make me grin!
