A few days late, but still out!

In the skies over Japan

Three American jets flew across the open air. "Target is continuing course," Tsunotori said. "Continuing to monitor at a distance. Over."

"Copy that," said ground control.

Tsunotori turned his attention to their target. Right now it was still just a shadow on the horizon. Good. Soon this mission would be done, and he could tell his sister-

"Hey Ram, is it me or is that thing moving? Over."

Tsunotori narrowed his eyes. It was subtle, but unmistakable. "Ram to base, target is changing course. Repeat, target is changing course."

Lake Ikeda

Kenji nodded to Izuku. Their worst fear was confirmed. Not that it needed to be. Meganula only acted like that in one circumstance. A queen.

Earlier that day, Alien Queen had joined a small group of infantry, led by the Ozaki brothers, in attacking the nest. Due to the losses the AMF had inflicted earlier, the Meganulon survivors were swiftly exterminated. Heroes had come to camp and were helping in support capacity, carrying supplies or giving first aid. None of them asked to fight. They knew better.

"I should have checked for this," Kenji said. "Was too distracted listening to Godzilla-"

"None of us expected a queen this soon. This hive must be older than we thought."

"It might have been formed shortly after Tokyo. Damn we've been stretched thin."

Izuku nodded. Overhead fighters dropped some bombs into the water. They'd been able to track the Meganula as they dove, following them to their queen. If all went well, the bombs would kill it while it was vulnerable. If all didn't…

Izuku glanced at his maser. "Get to cover Kenji. Leave the rest to us."

Kenji nodded and left without a word. Izuku got into his maser and prepared for battle.

Mifune listened closer to the radio call. "Warning, possible Megaguirus at Lake Ikeda. All units prepare and…"

Mifune smiled. Perfect.

Ochako lifted a large piece of rubble, enabling rescuers to reach the trapped civilians. For some, it would be too late. Red Riot, who'd arrived an hour ago, lifted an even bigger piece of rubble, while Chargebolt searched below, usinghis quirk as a light.

Red Riot had (reluctantly) held back from attacking on AMF (and Creati's) orders while both kaiju were led away.

"I hate it," he said to Chargebolt. "Just sitting by and watching while others put their lives on the line."

"I feel the same way. But still, I can't beat that thing," Chargebolt said. "Can you?"

"...I don't know. I thought I could, but then…those things are beyond anything I've seen before. Even I figured that out at Tokai. Plenty of people I respect say I would lose, but sometimes…

"I know how you feel. I wish I could zap them full force, but then Kyoka would have my head if the kaiju didn't."

"How are you two doing now that everything's official?"

"Not bad. Speaking of-"

"Don't even think about it."

"Fine, I'll ask Mina. She deserves to have her love life interrogated for a change."

Red Riot chuckled, "Not wrong."

Ochako went down the street to help another pair out of the rubble and to rescuers. As she searched the debris again, someone cried for help. Ochako ran over and found a man with a gaping wound. "Don't worry, I got you," she said, trying to apply pressure.

"Use this!" someone said, handing her gauze.

"Thanks." Ochako pressed on the wound while the newcomer applied additional first aid. The injured man was carried away by Ingenium, while Ochako was left with her helper, a silver haired Hero student with a white and red costume. Wait.

"Why aren't you in the medical tent?"

The girl tapped the hard lump on her forehead. "My quirk is drained for the day. But I am still trained in First Aid so I can help out here. It's just hard to know where to start…" Her gaze swept out over the disaster, looking lost.

Ochako nodded. "Follow me. I'll show you."

The girl perked up. "Yes ma'am!" Ochako went into the debris, followed by the student.

"You hear?" One of the kids near Mikumo said. "Godzilla fought another monster near Yaizu. An-Gearus?"

"I heard about that. They say some Heroes died."

One of the other kids said, "Heroes shouldn't die. It's just wrong."

Mikumo didn't disagree.

"Heroes are just people," Yui said, looking glum. "Even they're not safe anymore."

Mikumo touched her arm. She looked grateful.

Another of the kids said, "Giant monsters should be cool. Why are they so scary?"

"Because they're flattening our cities?"

"I already had to move twice," another said. "Heroes will beat them soon, they have to. Well, maybe not Godzilla. But the rest…"

"Maybe, maybe not," one kid said. "Still, it's weird Heroes are fighting dinosaurs now."

"Yeah. They're like, living relics still fighting after the rest of their kind are dead. Like quirkless people, but tougher." There was no malice in his voice, just a matter of fact tone. Nevertheless, Mikumo stiffened.

"Midoriya's tough!"

"Yeah, but everyone else is old or dead. All the kids have quirks now."

"Wonder what it'd be like growing up with no quirk?

"It'd be so weird."

Yui's fists began to grow. She opened her mouth, but Mikumo violently grabbed her shoulder. He glared. Don't. You. Dare.

Yui glared back, but released her quirk.

"Can't we just go play Heroes and Villains again? Or ball?" one of the kids said.

"Yeah!" Yui said. "This talk is boring!"

"Quirks or no quirks?"

They took a vote. As usual, Yui voted against quirks. Mikumo voted for.

Izuku surveyed the AMF placements around the lake. Izuku's weak but agile MBAW-93 masers on one side close to camp. the heavy but powerful MBT-92s on another, and the mid-tier Type 99s on yet another.

Between them were various missiles and other armaments, many of whom were currently firing depth charges. Water erupted in massive geysers from the bombs.

Izuku's driver, Hinae looked nervous. She then turned around and said, "Sir? What if those don't kill it? We haven't fought flying ones yet."

"Don't worry. You trained for this," Izuku said. "It'll be just like the simulations."

She slowly nodded. "Right. Try to avoid its flight path. Keep my eye on places to duck. Like dealing with ranged attacks," she said, reciting what she'd been taught.

"And?"

"And…and…Megaguirus! Be ready for electronics to go haywire."

"Exactly." Hinae was incredibly talented, but sadly very inexperienced. Probably so Izuku would be careful not to get her killed.

"How are you so calm sir?" she said.

"I've done this plenty of times before. Just take a deep breath and stay focused."

"Yes sir. Stay focused…"

Explosions went off all around the massive Meganulon. It roared in pain as one hit it right in the side. It struggled to escape its suffocating cocoon, desperate to escape the explosions. First, its back split. Then wings emerged. Finally, it struggled to get its head out as the explosions rocked its body, shattering the last bit of skin holding it back…

Free.

The comms went haywire. Izuku grimaced. "Incoming."

A tower of water burst from the lake, sending waves washing over the shore. Hinae stiffened. Izuku was already looking up. Hovering over the lake's surface was an enormous insect supported on moth-like wings, surveying the shore with bright red eyes.

Megaguirus.

Just in case the comms worked, Izuku said, "Fire at will!" Then he pulled the trigger.

In rapid succession, Izuku and the veteran masers fired at the flying kaiju. Izuku's beam hit just above the eye, while Kisaragis raked the flank. The yellow lightning of the Type-99s gouged into its other side while the rookie 92 crews shot at the wings. Some of their first shots missed, but not their second.

In the seconds that the masers opened fire, the young Megaguirus let out a metallic screech, like a knife scraping against a window. The kaiju shot forward, its wings vibrating at high speed. It darted back and forth, flying in an erratic pattern. The rookies flailed, while even the veterans had trouble.

Izuku fired at its head and only barely grazed the tip of its shoulder. He fired again, brushing against its wing.

Nearby, many infantry covered their ears and ran for cover from the high pitched frequency of its vibrating wings, and the typhoon-like winds below the creature. The Megaguirus flew at the masers, forcing them to get to retreat for cover.

Hinae hurried their tank under the trees, preventing the kaiju from seeing them as it passed, distracted by the others' potshots. "Good job!" Izuku said.

Hinae gave a shaky nod.

The fighters overhead held fire to avoid hitting their own soldiers. Meanwhile, the Megaguirus swung back around. Izuku realized where it was going. "It's moving toward camp, get in its way!"

"What?! But we'll-"

"NOW!"

Hinae drove them right in front of the Megaguirus' path, giving Izuku a clear shot. He fired, first at its eye, then swept his maser into its wing. The Megaguirus screeched in pain, veering off course. This allowed the others to regain their aim. Multiple beams dug into its back, while the maser fighters fired at the wings.

Hinea desperately drove for a small hill to escape the wind-blast. Just as they made it, the wind it them, slamming the two into a large rock. Izuku grunted as he was thrown into his seat. A moment later and they might have been thrown into the air.

Meanwhile, the Megaguirus, now covered in wounds, flew upwards. It picked up speed as the jets followed, still firing.

Mifune pulled the switch and activated his machine. "Now Deverich, I surpass you," he said, pressing the various buttons at his control. "Megaguirus, obey."

"Sir, the Megaguirus has changed directions. It's moving southwest at top speed!"

Izuku said, "What? Where's it going?"

"Still nothing," the Red Bamboo officer said to his superior via video call.

His superior glowered. "He said-"

"Wait!" the officer's companion said, "I see something!"

Sure enough, a small speck sped toward them from the horizon. The officer smiled. "They did it. They actually did it! A great boon for our-"

He saw the wind blast moving through the trees in the monster's wake. The creature wasn't changing course. "Wait. No! It's coming right-!"

The monster darted overhead, followed by a blast of wind that threw the two terrorists into the air, along with their car, camping supplies, and several small trees.

Mifune deactivated his machine and went to the other room. "Done."

"They just called," X said, "It seems your demonstration worked. Sadly their two representatives are both dead." He raised a glass. "To their valiant sacrifice!"

Mifune raised his own, "It's only polite to honor them."

"It's climbing again!"

Kazuma Aoki checked his instruments. "We're in range. Fire!" Twin maser blasts fired from his jet, hitting the Megaguirus' torso. The juvenile Megaguirus screeched in pain. It then swung its body perpendicular with the ground, using its wings to suddenly slow to a near stop.

Kazuma banked hard left to avoid crashing into the creature. One of his wingmen wasn't so lucky. Clever girl.

The Megaguirus now flew in the opposite direction. Kazuma and the others circled around. It wasn't as fast as it would be uninjured, but it was still fast. They had to kill it while it was young. If they waited even a few days, their attacks would no longer work.

Kazuma lined up his shot. He just had to get in range. Two more jets appeared on his scope, heading toward him. Along with-

Kazuma looked above the Megaguirus. He and his wingmen broke off. The Megaguirus threw them a confused look. When it looked back ahead, its eyes widened just before two red talons careened into it.

Mina saw Midoriya emerge from the tank and give a hand gesture.

"All clear!" someone near her said.

Mina felt her shoulders slump. On the one hand the fight was over. On the other it seemed they lost. That creature got away-

Something slammed into the ground, creating a tremor that knocked everyone to the ground. Something else hit the lake, sending crashing onto the shoreline that swept anyone too close away. "What the hell?!" Mina said.

She got to her feet. Midoriya was watching the lake. Mina followed his gaze and gasped.

Floating on the surface was the dismembered head of the Megaguirus. She slowly turned around. Poking out of a crater in the trees was the creature's stinger

"What. H-how?"

"Seems the lord of the skies is protecting its territory," Emoto said.

Mina said, "You mean…"

"Rodan."

And so ends Megaguirus's short time in the son. For the record, the reason this one died so easily was because it was young. A mature one would have put up a much better fight. (I was inspired by Rodan's initial film, where he is far more vulnerable to conventional attacks compared to later when he fights Godzilla)

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