Disclaimer: I do not own Godzilla, Pacific Rim, or any other franchise elements contained herein.

Notes: Hi, everyone! So, this has been a long time coming, but I've finally gotten it underway. For everyone reading this who doesn't already know, my first big fanfic was a Godzilla/Pacific Rim crossover called King of the Monsters, which I posted all the way back in 2013-2014. I'm still very proud of how successful that fic was, but I was still in high school when I wrote it, and looking back on it now, I feel like it could definitely have been even better. I had planned to do a rewrite of it, which was also called Jaeger von Jaegers, back in 2017, but writer's block and a loss of inspiration got the better of me on that one.

Recently, however, I finally got hit with the writing bug for this concept again, so I retrofitted Jaeger von Jaegers (2017) into a one-shot prequel to KOTM taking place in the same AU timeline, and started work on this new story, which I'm titling Jaeger von Jaegers (2023). This fic is its own new AU, a rebuild of the concept behind King of the Monsters and a fusion of the MonsterVerse & the world of Pacific Rim. I'm really excited to finally be working on this again, and I hope you all enjoy!

And so, without further ado, I present:

Jaeger von Jaegers (2023)

Chapter 1: Return of the King

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū, Japanese) "Giant Beast."

JAEGER (yā'ger, German) "Hunter."

JAEGER VON JAEGERS (yā'ger von yā'gers, German) "Hunter of Hunters."

When I was a kid, whenever I'd feel small or lonely, I'd look up at the stars. Wondering if there was life up there.

Turns out, I was looking in the wrong direction. When alien life entered our world, it was from deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, on a fissure between two tectonic plates, a portal between dimensions appeared. The Breach.

I was fifteen when the first Kaiju made land in San Francisco. As bad luck would have it, my family had moved there just a couple of years earlier, after my mom got a job there as a university professor. For a kid who grew up in Alaska, moving to California took some getting used to, but we eventually figured it out and settled into life there.

But when the first Kaiju came, our whole world was turned upside down again… and this time, it was much, much worse.

I still remember that day. Saturday, August 10, 2013. K-Day. My family were at our favorite park, having a picnic. There were six of us back then: me, my older brother Yancy, my mom, my stepdad, and our two younger half-siblings, Andrew and Madison. We were just having fun, enjoying a warm and cloudy morning… and then, just like that, everything went wrong.

It started with an earthquake: magnitude 7.1, the biggest quake to hit California in over a hundred years. To this day, nobody knows if the Kaiju somehow caused the quake, if the quake was what attracted it to San Francisco, or if the whole thing was just a really badly-timed coincidence, but it happened less than an hour before the Kaiju made landfall, and that was what started the panic. The whole city was shaking: trees swaying, buildings shuddering, the ground trembling under us and almost tossing us off our feet.

Luckily, we were all out in an open field, so we just kept away from the trees and held onto each other until things calmed down. But even after the earthquake stopped, the catastrophe was just beginning.

We were on our way back to our house when we realized something else was happening. Flocks of birds started flying over, heading inland as fast as they could. If we'd known what was coming next, we would've done the same, but we figured it was just because of the quake, so we didn't worry about it. But, a few minutes later, when we got to our house, that changed in a heartbeat.

Our house back then was at the top of a tall hill, so we had a great view out over the bay, all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Which meant that, when we came over the top of the hill, we could see the three-hundred-foot-tall monster that had appeared out of the ocean fog and slammed into the bridge, tearing up the roadway and spilling hundreds of cars into the water below.

For a minute, we all just stood there, staring at it, not really believing what we were looking at. The Kaiju kept attacking, those howls echoing across the city as it smashed into the Golden Gate over and over… until the bridge burst apart, cables snapping, as the monster crashed against one of the huge towers until it finally toppled and the whole thing came crashing down along with it.

And then the monster just kept coming, wading through the bay towards the city.

We acted without thinking, just running into the house to pack up as much stuff as we could. By the time we'd grabbed what we needed, we could hear explosions coming from the bay: fighter jets had been scrambled to try and stop the Kaiju, but they were barely slowing it down.

We tried to get out of the city, but it was already too late. The streets were crammed with traffic, and the Kaiju was getting closer. When it came ashore and started tearing through the city, we had to abandon our cars and run on foot, trying to find shelter underground in one of the subway stations along with hundreds of other people. The last thing I saw before the doors closed behind us was the Kaiju ripping into a skyscraper and roaring at the sky. I'll remember that image for the rest of my life.

For a while, we thought we were safe underground. But then the whole subway station started shaking, we heard the Kaiju roaring up above… and then part of the ceiling caved in, and everything went dark. We were trapped down there for hours, until we finally managed to find a way out, get back to the surface and make it to an evacuation point on the west side of the San Francisco peninsula, where the military were getting people out of town on helicopters and boats. A lot of other people weren't so lucky.

There were six members of the Becket-Russell family when K-Day hit. All six of us went down into that subway station. Amazingly, five of us made it out without getting seriously hurt, although Yancy, Dad and I all got banged up a bit. But Andrew wasn't so lucky. He got separated from us in the chaos, and he was right underneath the part of the ceiling that collapsed.

He never had a chance.

By the time tanks, jets and missiles finally took the Kaiju down, six days and thirty-five miles later, three cities were destroyed. Tens of thousands of lives were lost. And my little brother was gone.

The world reacted as it usually does to a horrific event like that: we mourned our dead, memorialized the attack, and moved on. My family moved back up to Anchorage, where my mom's family were from: we tried to move forward, as best we could, but losing Andrew took a toll on all of us. Yancy, Maddie and I took comfort in each other, but my mom and dad… it broke something in both of them. I don't think either of them ever fully recovered, and neither of them were ever the same again.

And then, only six months later… a second Kaiju hit Manila. Again, thousands died, and half the city was left in ruins before they finally managed to kill the monster with a nuclear strike. When we saw it on TV, I think I knew right then that they were going to keep coming, even though I didn't want to believe it.

And then the third one hit Cabo. And then the fourth. And that was when we all knew: this was not gonna stop. This was just the beginning.

Before long, it became clear that our normal arsenal wouldn't be enough against a threat like this. We needed a new weapon. So the world came together, pooling its resources and setting aside old rivalries for the greater good. To fight monsters, we created monsters of our own: giant fighting machines, controlled by human pilots, big and strong enough to fight the Kaiju on equal terms.

The Jaeger Program was born.

There were setbacks at first stages. The neural load required to interface with a Jaeger, the stress that it puts on the human brain, proved to be too much strain for a single pilot. But they found a way to fix that: a two-pilot system was developed, with their minds linked so they could operate the Jaeger together. Left-hemisphere, right-hemisphere pilot control. It's based on the technology used in some DARPA fighter jets, but much more advanced. Two pilots, mind-melding through memories, with the body of a giant machine. The deeper the bond, the better you fight.

And at first, it worked. We started winning.

But then, a couple of years into the war… it all changed.

November 2015

Kyoto, Japan

Stacker Pentecost opened his eyes as the neural handshake flowed through his mind, inhaling sharply as he felt the sensations of his brain linking to the network of sensors laced throughout the massive body of Coyote Tango. He had practiced Drifting in his Jaeger many times before, of course, but this would be the first time that he had ever taken it into combat. He could feel the energy running through the great war machine around him: the Jaeger was two hundred and eighty feet of pure power, but thanks to the neural link, it felt like a second skin layered over his own body.

A flicker of amusement echoed through the Drift, and his eyes drifted over to the other side of the conn-pod, where Tamsin Sevier was looking back at him with a faint grin. He could feel her emotions rippling through his mind, equal parts nervousness and excitement at the thought of finally joining the fray.

Although Pentecost was loath to admit it, even to himself, they had good reason to be nervous. This was their first combat deployment, a month before they had been scheduled to launch officially, and they were being sent into battle against the largest and fastest Kaiju to date. Anyone would be nervous in a situation like this. The important thing was not to let it consume them.

As the surge of memories from the initial neural handshake finally began to fade, Pentecost and Tamsin took stock of their surroundings again. They were on an airfield in Kyoto, Japan, a relatively short distance away from where the Kaiju had made landfall, as the final preparations were being made for Coyote to be airlifted to the scene. Their tow helicopters were all linked up, and the time had come for takeoff.

"Coyote Tango, this is Marshal Tachibana," a radio call echoed over the conn-pod's speakers. "You are cleared for takeoff. Good luck, Rangers." The tow lines snapped taut, and the Jaeger shuddered and slowly began to rise off the ground. Pentecost and Tamsin had to remind themselves to stay still, resisting the urge to shift around as the neural link gave them the distinct sensation of being hoisted into the air by their shoulders, their arms and legs hanging down limply.

Right, then, Tamsin's voice echoed through their joined minds. Here we go.

Damn right, Pentecost agreed, his eyes flashing as he suppressed his fear and let anger take its place. Let's send this bastard to hell where it belongs.

Luckily, at the transport helicopters' top speed, it only took about twenty minutes for them to reach Kitakyushu, the besieged city where the battle was taking place. Even from miles away, the dark plume of smoke on the horizon made it easy for them to locate the battle site, clouds of smoke and ash billowing up from a thousand fires. As they got closer, they could hear the ongoing battle as well: the crashing sounds of buildings being pulverized by colossal impacts, as well as the blaring of a Jaeger's immense foghorn-like alert siren and the bestial screeches of a Kaiju.

Finally, as Coyote was lifted over a series of hills, the burning city of Kitakyushu spread out before them. At the heart of the city, grappling with each other, were the massive forms of the first two combatants in this battle: Brawler Yukon, the prototype Jaeger and the only one that had fought against the Kaiju before that day, and Keunsango, the largest Kaiju that had yet appeared since the opening of the Breach.

Of the two fighters, Brawler was much worse off. The hulking war machine had sustained significant damage in this fight, much more than it had in either of its two previous battles against the last two Breach Kaiju that had appeared (first against Karloff in Vancouver, Canada, and then against Peuchen in Lima, Peru). Its left hip joint had been crushed and broken out of alignment by an exceptionally powerful blow, causing it to sway unsteadily on its feet, and the armor on its right shoulder had been torn open by the Kaiju's teeth, sparks pouring from the internal machinery that was visible through the gash in its armor.

To their credit, Brawler's pilots – Dr. Caitlin Lightcap, the inventor of the PONS technology that had made the Drift possible, and Dr. Sergio D'Onofrio, her partner – were giving a remarkably good account of themselves despite the Jaeger's damaged state. They had pinned Keunsango under Brawler's right knee, using their full weight to keep it trapped awkwardly against the ground, and were using the Jaeger's undamaged left arm to shield their conn-pod. Since Caitlin and Sergio were well-aware that they couldn't win this fight with all the damage that they had taken, they were just trying to keep the Kaiju pinned and distracted for as long as possible, hoping to buy enough time for their backup to arrive and take over.

Keunsango, on the other hand, hadn't taken much damage so far, as it had managed to evade Brawler's heavier weaponry enough that it had only sustained minor injuries. Like all of the other Kaiju that had appeared, it bore vague resemblances to some types of Earth animals, albeit warped through an bizarre, alien lens. In this case, it bore a distinct resemblance to a giant salamander, with a long, low-slung body and a large, flattened head, but it had armored scales instead of the soft skin of an Earth amphibian, and six short limbs, which almost resembled fins more than arms or legs, were spaced out in three pairs along its body. Those fin-like limbs, along with Keunsango's long, paddle-like tail, gave it a lot of speed in the water, which had enabled it to make landfall much more quickly than any of the previous Kaiju, giving the PPDC less time to respond.

Tamsin immediately opened a hailing comm channel from Coyote Tango's conn-pod to Brawler's. "Brawler, this is Coyote!" she called out. "We're coming in now! Status?"

"We're okay!" Caitlin Lightcap's voice called back, visibly strained. "But you got here just in time! We've got heavy damage to the left leg and right shoulder, and our mobility's been significantly reduced." They could hear Sergio's voice echoing in the background as well, yelling some sort of profanity that was presumably directed towards the Kaiju.

"We'll take it from here," Pentecost assured her. "As soon as we've got him distracted, you two let go and fall back. Get clear as fast as you can: we'll handle the rest. Copy?"

"Copy!"

Pentecost and Tamsin exchanged a glance, and they each nodded decisively before Tamsin opened another channel to their lift choppers. "Ready to engage," she snapped. "Set us down!"

The choppers swiftly descended until Coyote's feet hit the ground, buckling the concrete underfoot. The Jaeger crouched slightly as they touched down, before they straightened back up to their full height as the lift lines that had connected them to the choppers disengaged and were retracted. The helicopters rose up and away, as Coyote let out a booming horn-blast from its siren and began striding towards the ongoing fight.

Hearing the horn, Keunsango turned to face the new, approaching threat, its glittering blue eyes narrowing as it let out a low, scratchy hiss. As soon as the Kaiju was focused on Coyote, Brawler straightened up and released its grip on Keunsango before limping shakily backwards. Its damaged right arm hung limp at its side, but Caitlin and Sergio kept their good arm raised, ready to fight back if the Kaiju came at them again. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary: Keunsango did initially turn in their direction, but another blast of Coyote's horn swung it back around, keeping it thoroughly focused on its new enemy.

As Coyote approached, Pentecost and Tamsin shifted to one side, circling slowly around their target until they had placed themselves squarely between Keunsango and their damaged fellow Jaeger, giving Brawler extra time to get out of harm's way. Keunsango slithered forward towards them, growling as it cocked its head to one side, assessing the threat of this new challenger.

"You ready, Stacks?" Tamsin murmured under her breath, her eyes narrowing as they locked onto the approaching Kaiju.

Pentecost took a deep breath and nodded as they clenched Coyote's fists, preparing to strike. "Absolutely," he replied firmly.

At almost the same moment, Coyote's siren blared again as Keunsango screeched out a challenge, and both combatants charged. Keunsango reared up onto its hindmost pair of limbs as Coyote swung a punch, and the two of them slammed together with enough force to send a visible shockwave rippling outwards in all directions.

Deep sea, off the western coast of Japan…

Far below the surface, he swam through the dark void of the deep ocean. Despite his immense size, he cruised effortlessly through the depths, propelled by rhythmic sweeps of his massive tail. Pulses of soft blue light radiated from the rows of bony plates that ran down his back, lighting up his surroundings as he moved along the ocean floor. He had been patrolling the seas for millions of years, and he knew the terrain of the world's oceans by heart. Every ridge and trench, every island and coastline, formed a map of sound in his mind as the currents and tides washed against them, no two sounding quite the same, allowing him to navigate anywhere in the world with ease.

Normally, he was content to remain in the deep. For the past few thousand years, he had remained in hibernation for long periods of time, only waking occasionally to feed and patrol his territory before returning to his slumber. But in the last couple of years, he had been roused from his sleep by something that did not belong: a massive surge of unnatural, otherworldly energy, pouring into his territory from the bottom of the deepest ocean trench. And from it, they had begun to emerge. Creatures that he recognized, from when he and his kind had faced them many millions of years earlier during their first attack on his world.

The Others. Twisted, soulless abominations with foul scents and toxic blood, devoid of mercy or compassion, an offense to the world's natural balance. His kind had faced them in a great war during his youth and had barely managed to fight them off, driving them back into the void from whence they'd come. But even though the Others had been gone for eons, he would recognize their vile presence anywhere. And when he had first sensed their return, a burning fury had been ignited in his heart.

When the Others had first returned, he had been hibernating in his ancient resting place, a volcanic cavern deep beneath the ocean floor. While their initial return had roused him from his sleep, he had been too far away to sense their presence clearly, so he had continued to doze for a little while longer. As a result, he had completely missed the first few Others' emergences, but when he'd sensed numerous bursts of energy coming from the surface – energy bursts that he had experienced at close range before, the last time he had come out of hibernation – he had finally been fully roused from his sleep.

When he had emerged from the underwater cave where he hibernated and returned to the open ocean, he had been alarmed and enraged to sense the presence of the Others in his territory. Unfortunately, he knew from experience that there was nothing he could do to destroy the tear in the world that they came from, so he had settled in to wait for more of them to emerge. As soon as an Other appeared for the first time since he'd awakened, he had gone in pursuit of it. He'd chased it halfway across the world's largest ocean, but it had been too far ahead of him at first… until he sensed another explosion of energy far ahead, and the Other had suddenly slowed down, wounded by the blast.

Although he had encountered several of those strange explosions of energy the last time he had been awake, he still wasn't sure where they came from – although he was fairly certain that they had something to do with the tiny bipedal mammals who had once worshipped him and his allies – but this explosion had been quite useful, since it had weakened the Other and slowed it down, allowing him to catch up. Long before it had been able to get near shore, he overtook it and launched his attack, rushing up from the depths and hammering into the abomination from beneath like a breaching shark, latching onto it with teeth and claws. The Other had struggled, but it had been taken off-guard and it was no match for him, especially in its weakened state. He had ripped it apart, snapping bones and tearing flesh, and had made absolutely certain that it was dead before he finally allowed its broken, mangled carcass to sink into the depths below.

After that battle, he had returned to the deep ocean again and waited for more of the Others to show themselves. The next two were quicker than that one had been, and they had both been able to reach shore before he could catch them, but something else – perhaps other creatures like him that had emerged from hibernation, although he hadn't heard any familiar calls since he had woken up – had killed them both before he could make landfall, so he had been satisfied and had returned to the deep.

Now, another one of the abominations had emerged, and while it had made it onto land, this one was still alive. He could hear its distant snarls and hisses echoing through the water, along with the strange, blaring calls of some other entity that he didn't recognize, presumably the same creature that had killed the last two Others. This time, however, the situation was different: he could sense that this Other was bigger and stronger than the last one that he had killed, and whatever strange creature was fighting with this one hadn't managed to kill it yet.

As a result, he had continued his hunt this time, and now he was drawing close to the Other's location. The water began to grow shallower, and he gracefully ascended in the water column, his gills rippling along the sides of his neck as he rose slowly towards the surface and propelled himself towards shore. A deep growl rumbled in his chest, and his eyes gleamed like twin orange lanterns in the darkness as the blue glow in his plates grew brighter.

Soon, this Other would feel his wrath. And nothing would stand in his way.

Kitakyushu, Japan…

The better part of an hour had passed, and the battle between Coyote Tango and Keunsango was still raging. Both of them had taken some damage: gouges and scrapes marred the Jaeger's armor, while the Kaiju's armored scales were cracked and burned in numerous places, with one particularly nasty wound on its left flank (courtesy of Coyote's energy caster) that was still dripping blue blood. Neither combatant had been crippled yet, however, and each was giving as good as they got. Back and forth, attack and defense, they hammered away at each other's defenses, grappling and wrestling along the shoreline of Kitakyushu, demolishing everything in their path.

The prolonged battle was taking a heavy toll on Pentecost and Tamsin. They were getting increasingly tired, their heads were throbbing from the strain of the Drift, and they were leaning more into each swing as exhaustion began preying on their strength, but they kept pushing, refusing to let up. Coyote's mortar cannons and its other long-range weaponry were almost out of ammunition, so they were relying almost entirely on physical strikes and repeated blasts of their energy caster to hold the Kaiju at bay.

The two Rangers did have a good reason to keep up their relentless attack, however, because they could tell that, as time dragged on, they were beginning to gain the upper hand. Keunsango was gradually retreating towards the bay, starting to take more hits than it was giving out, its savage assault losing some of its force. They'd had to push Coyote's systems to the limit, but it was working, and with luck, they would soon be able to wear the monster down enough that they could get in a killing blow.

Just as they landed a pair of particularly-hard punches that sent Keunsango reeling backwards, however, Coyote's radio system crackled to life again with a call from one of their spotting helicopters, which were circling the battlefield at a safe distance to call out anything that the Rangers might not have noticed. "Ah… Coyote, Command, this is Spotter Three. We've got an unidentified target in the ocean about two miles out, moving towards the bay. Can't get a clear look at it through the fog, but… based on the size and the general shape, it looks like it could be a second bogey."

What…? Pentecost and Tamsin shot a wide-eyed glance at each other, caught off-guard by that. That wasn't possible: Kaiju only came one at a time, everyone knew that. But the prospect of a second monster showing up while they were still trying to deal with the first one sent chills running down their spines.

Clearly, Command was thinking along the same lines. "Say again, Spotter Three?" the voice of Admiral Taizo Tachibana, the Marshal of the Tokyo Shatterdome, echoed over the airwaves. "A second bogey?"

"Roger that, Command," Spotter Three's pilot confirmed. "We'll move in a little closer to try and confirm what we're looking at, but whatever it is, it's big and it's heading for the city. Coyote, recommend you keep on guard."

"Understood – shit!" That startled exclamation came from Tamsin, as Keunsango recovered from the hits that they'd delivered and surged back towards them, its jaws gaping as it lunged for Coyote's head. They caught it in mid-lunge with an uppercut that hit it under the chin, snapping its head up and back, before shoulder-charging into the Kaiju and slamming all their weight against it, throwing it back again.

In addition to the Jaegers' spotting choppers, a number of news helicopters from various different networks were also circling the battlefield. Most were staying at a safe distance, but one in particular, belonging to the International News Network, was remaining dangerously close to the action, which wouldn't be surprising to anyone who knew the people inside.

Over the last two years, as more and more Kaiju had begun launching attacks on cities all around the Pacific Ocean, some particularly adventurous (or borderline-suicidal, depending on who you asked) reporters had taken it upon themselves to follow the monsters whenever they appeared, in order to monitor the attacks and keep the public informed. Those reporters had become known as "the Kaiju-chasers", and several of them were already rather famous for their actions.

Steve Martin was the foremost of the Kaiju-chasers, as he had been doing it from the very beginning of the Kaiju War. He'd been on a layover at the San Francisco airport, in the middle of a lengthy, multi-legged plane trip from Tokyo to New York, when he had been caught up in the twin calamities that had smote California's beautiful Bay Area on August 10, 2013: first the massive earthquake that had rocked the city, and then the landfall and rampage of Trespasser, the first Kaiju to emerge from the Breach. Steve had been injured in the attack when Trespasser had demolished a building where he'd been taking refuge, but he had survived, and the vivid, detailed audio and video recordings that he'd made during the chaos were widely renowned as some of the best civilian-sourced records of the San Francisco attacks.

Following the events of that disastrous week, Steve had set to work on making a documentary to honor the countless victims of Trespasser's attack. But when another Kaiju had struck Manila only six months later, and several more attacks had followed in other locations over the next year, he had returned to the field and thrown himself into the task of monitoring the attacks as they happened, just as he'd done in San Francisco. He'd been present in Vancouver when the first Jaeger deployment had ended in success with Brawler Yukon bringing down the Kaiju known as Karloff, and now he was once again placing himself in harm's way to monitor the battle against Keunsango.

"…and, after a brief pause in the action, the Jaeger is once again driving the Kaiju back!" Steve was leaning out of the INN chopper's side door to get the best possible view of the battle raging below, his dark hair ruffled by the wind as he spoke into the microphone on his headset, narrating the action as best he could. "This is already the longest of the three Jaeger-Kaiju battles that have taken place since the launching of the Jaeger Program, and it seems like this one may not be ending for some time yet! Fortunately, however, it looks as if the pilots of Coyote Tango may be gaining the upper hand over this monster."

As the helicopter banked into a turn to keep the pair of clashing giants below in view of their camera, Steve felt a hand tapping him on the back. He looked over his shoulder and met the eyes of Brian Shimura, one of the three younger members of his news team. The younger newsman was gesturing up towards the cockpit of the chopper, where their pilot, Nick Gordon, was glancing back at them and beckoning for Steve's attention.

Briefly switching off his mic and switching back to their normal headsets, Steve nodded for his cameraman, Yoshi Masahara, to keep filming as he ducked back into the chopper. "What's up?" he questioned, stepping up to the cockpit entrance while hanging onto the safety bar above his head with one hand.

"Take a look!" Nick called back to the pair of reporters over their headsets, nodding out the right side of the cockpit's windows. "Their spotters are heading out to sea." As Steve and Brian followed his gaze, they could tell that he was right: most of Coyote Tango's spotting helicopters were moving away from the action, heading out over the ocean. A dense wall of fog was rolling in towards the entrance of the bay, but nothing else indicated why the PPDC helicopters were heading in that direction.

Steve had covered combat before, even prior to K-Day, and he knew enough about military protocols to know that the way those choppers were acting wasn't normal. "Any idea what they're doing?" he questioned.

Nick shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Steve was about to shrug it off and go back to covering the fight, when he noticed something else that seemed odd. Moving to the door across from the one where Yoshi was filming the ongoing battle, which was currently facing out towards the shoreline of the bay, he leaned out and looked down, before his eyes widened in alarm.

Oh… crap. Is that…?

Coyote kept up its attack, hammering on Keunsango's defenses and refusing to let up, driving the Kaiju back into the shallow water of Dokai Bay. Pentecost and Tamsin were vaguely aware of a strange sensation around their feet and lower legs as they waded into the water, a sense that the water was flowing more violently than it should be, but it wasn't strong enough to make a difference to them so they ignored it.

Blocking a swipe of one of Keunsango's front limbs, they landed a downward hammer-fist to the top of its head, slamming it down into the seabed. Right as they wound up to deliver another blow, however, the voice of one of their spotter pilots echoed loudly over the radio again.

"Coyote, this is Spotter Three! Second bogey is confirmed; I repeat, second bogey is confirmed! There's something else out there, and it's coming in fast!"

Both Rangers' eyes widened and they exchanged a split-second glance, feeling a chill run down their spines. "What is it?!" Pentecost demanded. "Can you get a –" He'd been about to say visual, but he was abruptly cut off when Keunsango suddenly twisted and slammed its tail against their legs, sweeping Coyote's feet out from under it and sending them crashing to the ground.

Shit! The same thought flashed through both of their minds in the same instant, and they frantically rolled over, lashing out with a backhand to try and ward off the Kaiju's next attack. But, curiously, no attacks came, and they were able to get their bearings and haul themselves back to their feet.

As Coyote clambered back up, however, Pentecost and Tamsin both noticed that two strange things had happened at the same time. First, Keunsango wasn't focusing on them anymore. Instead, it had turned to face the ocean, gazing intently out at the approaching storm. It snarled, baring its multiple rows of fangs, its tail lashing back and forth behind it: it was clearly a threat display, but it wasn't directed at them.

And second… the shallow water of the bay, which Coyote had waded into while they were driving Keunsango back, was gone. It looked as though most of the water in the bay was somehow rapidly draining out into the ocean, leaving a large expanse of wet sand exposed to the air.

Pentecost and Tamsin were thoroughly confused for a moment, until it suddenly clicked in one of their minds and they abruptly realized what they were looking at. "Oh, shit," Tamsin breathed, as the same thought flashed through both of their brains in the same moment.

Tsunami!

"Things are suddenly going from bad to worse here in Kitakyushu!" Steve Martin exclaimed into his mic, having resumed his part of the broadcast as Yoshi's camera panned out to show the vast area where the waters of Dokai Bay were suddenly being drawn out away from the shore, a classic prelude to one of the ocean's deadliest natural phenomena. "I'm not sure why we haven't received any information about this before now, but a tsunami has appeared offshore and is rapidly approaching Dokai Bay! Fortunately, the population of Kitakyushu should be mostly if not fully evacuated by this point, but anyone still in the city is now in even greater danger than before. If anyone in Kitakyushu can hear this broadcast, get to high ground immediately!"

Clearly, somebody on the ground had gotten the message, because the Kaiju-alert sirens that had been going off ever since Keunsango had begun approaching Japan's coastline were now joined by the strident wail of a tsunami alert. Steve could see it now: a wall of water, building quickly as it came rushing back into the bay and barreled towards the coastline. Yoshi was as calm as ever, rooted to the spot and keeping his emotions rigidly in check as he focused all his attention on filming, but Steve felt a pang of sympathy in his gut for anyone who might still be trapped in the city. Coyote Tango was clearly bracing itself for the tsunami's impact, while Keunsango was snarling and snapping its jaws as it faced in the direction of the approaching wave, as if it thought the tsunami was another new enemy.

"Steve!" Brian's yell drew his attention again, and Steve looked over to the younger man to see that he was pointing out towards the open ocean. "It looks like…" Brian's eyes were wide as he focused in on one area in particular. "There's something else out there! Look, there!"

Steve wasn't sure what Brian meant for a moment, until he followed the younger newsman's outstretched arm and saw where he was pointing. Several of the Jaeger's spotter helicopters were also heading back in towards shore, but they weren't keeping pace with the tsunami. Instead, they were a short distance behind the approaching wave, and they all had spotlights aimed down through the fog, towards the water.

What…? Steve leaned out a little further and squinted, trying to make out what the choppers were spotlighting, but they were too far away and he couldn't make it out. It looked like there was a second wave following the first one, or possibly just a large bulge in the water, as if something very large was moving just below the surface.

Something very large… and something that was visibly radiating an eerie blue glow through the water around it, bright enough to be visible even through the helicopters' spotlights.

Steve felt a chill of fear. No. It couldn't be another one, right? He was no scientist, but the Kaiju had always showed up one at a time so far. Surely there couldn't be two of them this time?

Whatever this thing was, he wasn't going to be able to see it clearly with the naked eye from this distance, so he made an executive decision. "Yoshi!" he yelled, tapping the cameraman's shoulder and indicating the area where the PPDC helicopters were following the unidentified object in the water. "Zoom in on that area! Nick, get us over there!"

To their credit, Steve's team didn't question him for a second. Pivoting in his seat, Yoshi aimed the mounted camera in the direction of the lighted patch of ocean, zooming in as Nick put their helicopter into a swift turn and accelerated towards that area.

"Something else appears to be happening as well!" Steve called into his mic as the chopper passed over the approaching tsunami, which was rapidly drawing closer to the city. "The PPDC's aerial spotter units are homing in on something behind the tsunami, which appears to be some kind of large object moving underwater. I haven't heard anything, but… based on its size and the blue light that it's emitting, it's possible that this may be a second Kaiju."

As the INN helicopter drew closer to the huge, glowing bulge in the water, circling around so that they were flying parallel to the PPDC choppers without getting too close, Yoshi's camera zoomed in enough that they could get a decent look at the object. As soon as he got a clear view of the camera's screen, Steve's eyes widened in horror.

Most of the object was underwater, but one portion of it was protruding above the surface: three rows of massive, bony plates, like dozens of gigantic shark fins arranged in three parallel lines, cutting through the waves. The churning water and the white glow of the PPDC choppers' spotlights made it impossible to make out any more details, but it was easy to tell that whatever this object was, it was a living creature. And it was massive, far bigger than any Kaiju that Steve had ever seen before.

For once, Steve's usually fast-thinking mind failed him. His heart sank, and he stared down at the submerged leviathan as it propelled itself towards the shore, the tsunami thundering ahead of it like the bow wave of a ship.

And then, like a mountain rising up out of the sea, the newest arrival to the battlefield broke the surface and rose to its full height as it entered the shallows, and Steve Martin's breath caught in his throat.

Pentecost and Tamsin had been given less than a minute to react. There was no time for them to retreat inland: all they could do was face the oncoming tidal wave, dig in their heels, and brace for impact.

A fifty-foot-high wall of water surged through Dokai Bay, crashed into Coyote and Keunsango, and then slammed into the shoreline of Kitakyushu. Any buildings near the ocean that hadn't already been destroyed in the earlier battle were engulfed by the wave, submerged or swept away entirely. The few power lines and telephone poles that were still intact snapped and fell, cutting off whatever electrical power remained in the city.

A Jaeger, however, was designed to withstand just about everything that nature – or a Kaiju – could throw at it. While Coyote Tango was pushed back slightly by the force of the impact, Pentecost and Tamsin managed to hold their ground and stayed on their feet. It also helped that, even though the wave was more than fifty feet tall, it was barely higher than the Jaeger's knees.

Keunsango had also burst through the wave without much trouble, rearing up on its hindmost pair of legs as the water swept past and letting out a challenging screech. To their surprise, however, it still wasn't looking at them, but rather out into the bay, where some of their spotting choppers were circling several hundred feet above the water.

Another signal crackled through their comms system at that moment. "Coyote, this is Spotter Three! Second target is surfacing, approximately two hundred yards dead ahead of you! It's…" The pilot's voice fell silent for a few seconds, before he spoke again, his voice hushed and wavering unsteadily. "Oh, my god…"

As Coyote watched, a deep rumbling hum echoed across the bay, and something truly enormous rose slowly up out of the water, veiled by the dense bank of fog that was still rolling in off the ocean. It kept rising, and rising, and rising, until it loomed over three hundred feet into the air, even taller than they were. And since it had to be standing on the seabed, that meant it was even bigger than it looked at first glance.

Pentecost's stomach lurched unpleasantly at the sight of that vast, dark shadow. Bloody hell…

Tamsin, to her credit, reacted more quickly. "Drop some flares!" she ordered, her voice a little shaky. "We can't see the bloody thing clearly in that fog!"

On her command, two of the spotting choppers (which had risen to an altitude of about five hundred feet) dropped in a little lower, deploying half a dozen glowing flares. The resulting beacons of blood-red light drifted slowly down around the immense dark figure, piercing through the obscuring gray blanket of the fog so they could see the new arrival clearly for the first time.

Pentecost would never admit this to anyone, but when he got his first good view of the monster that had just emerged from the ocean, he almost wished that he hadn't.

"Big" didn't do it justice: nothing he had ever seen before could prepare him for something as massive as this. Coyote Tango stood two hundred and eighty feet tall, but this creature towered head and shoulders over them, at least seventy feet taller than they were. If they were looking at it in broad daylight, he was sure that it would be easier to make out all the details of its appearance, but like this, in the semidarkness of a densely-clouded sky with only the harsh red lights of the choppers' flares to add extra illumination, this creature was almost too big to take the whole thing in all at once. At first, they could only focus on certain parts of it, smaller pieces of the whole.

Three rows of jagged, bony plates running down the creature's back like dorsal fins, similar to the plates of a Stegosaurus dinosaur but far bigger, and glowing with a faint, pulsing blue light.

Two muscular, powerful arms, ending in clawed, four-fingered hands.

Two massive, almost elephantine legs, ending in powerful four-clawed feet.

A massive, seemingly-endless tail with smaller bony spikes running along its top, that was almost as long as the rest of its body was tall.

A head which seemed much more like that of a dinosaur or a crocodile than that of the Kaiju that had appeared over the past two years, with powerful jaws lined with dagger-like teeth.

And a pair of glowing orange eyes, burning like twin coals and gleaming with a fierce, predatory intelligence as they surveyed the battlefield.

"What…" Steve Martin breathed as he looked on from the nearby INN helicopter.

"…the hell…" Tamsin whispered, her eyes wider than Pentecost had ever seen them.

"…is that?" Pentecost finished, his hands actually trembling as he turned back to gaze incredulously at the titanic monster that stood before them. This had to be another Kaiju, there wasn't anything else that it could be… and yet, on some level, he couldn't shake the instinctive feeling that he was looking at something entirely different from anything that they'd encountered before.

At first, the new Kaiju just stood there, its head turning slowly to take in its surroundings. Then, slowly, it – he – focused on the two largest objects in his immediate environment: Coyote Tango, which was just standing there with its arms hanging at its sides as Pentecost and Tamsin tried to snap out of their shocked daze, and Keunsango, which was visibly bristling as it crouched in the shallow water and snarled at its newest challenger. When the new monster's eyes fell upon the latter, his eyes narrowed slightly and his lips curled as he let out a low, rumbling growl.

Rather surprisingly, Keunsango didn't seem afraid in the slightest, even though it was significantly smaller than the newly-arrived Kaiju. It reared up on its hindmost pair of legs again and let out a challenging roar, baring its many rows of teeth and shrieking its defiance at the larger creature.

The new Kaiju was silent for another moment. Then his eyes flashed, and he took a slow step forward, his foot slamming down on the seafloor with a resounding impact. He reared back slightly on his heels, and then leaned forward as his jaws gaped wide open, letting out the loudest roar that Pentecost had ever heard from any Kaiju: a deep, booming howl like the war trumpet of an angry god, which rose to a higher-pitched, echoing crescendo. As if the roar had triggered a response from the gathering storm, thunder cracked in the dark clouds overhead, and several bolts of lightning flashed across the dull gray sky.

Coyote Tango involuntarily jerked back as Pentecost and Tamsin flinched, raising their hands in a defensive stance. Keunsango, however, let out an angry screech and lunged forward, diving into the water and racing towards the larger creature. Just before it reached him, it ducked beneath the surface for a moment and then erupted into the air, pushing off with all six legs as it launched itself into the air, its fang-filled jaws gaping open. The larger creature had just enough time to raise one arm in front of its face, and Keunsango clamped down onto that instead, its body crashing into his torso as its jaws locked on his forearm.

Roaring again, the leviathan thrashed about in the water, swinging his arm back and forth as he tried to shake off the smaller Kaiju. Keunsango refused to let go, biting down like a bulldog and clinging on with all its strength, slashing at its enemy's chest and flank with the claws on its feet. Despite its best efforts, however, its claws failed to penetrate its enemy's hide, leaving numerous scratch marks on his scales but not drawing blood.

Unable to shake the smaller creature off, the larger monster pulled it in closer instead, raising his other arm and managing to grab the base of Keunsango's tail with his free hand. His claws dug into its scales and he started pulling, stretching the smaller creature until it finally couldn't take any more and released its grip. Snarling in anger, the leviathan spun in a half-circle and hurled the smaller Kaiju away through the air, sending it tumbling back into the city and leveling the flooded ruins of several city blocks as it rolled helplessly to a stop.

Shrieking and flailing, Keunsango rolled over and managed to stand again. Blue blood was dripping from the earlier wounds that Brawler and Coyote had inflicted, some of which had reopened, and at least one of its six legs now hung limp, broken by the violence of its impact with the ground. Shaking its head, it let out another defiant howl and charged again, racing back through the ruins of the city towards its enemy.

The larger Kaiju strode forward onto the beach, fully emerging from the ocean as Keunsango rushed towards him. Just as it crouched for a moment and leapt off the ground at him again, however, he moved with a speed that a creature that large really shouldn't have possessed, spinning on his heel and swinging his massive tail like a gigantic club. His lashing tail caught Keunsango in mid-leap, snapping some of its ribs with a sickening crunch and flinging it away again. Once again, it was sent crashing through several buildings before it rolled to a halt, and this time it didn't get up again.

Without hesitating for a moment, the leviathan moved again, lumbering along the waterfront towards where his prey had fallen. Luckily, he'd knocked it away from where Coyote Tango stood watching, as they were still rooted to the spot and unable to move.

What the hell is this thing?! Pentecost thought, his mind racing frantically. They had been fighting this Kaiju for almost an hour before they'd managed to get the upper hand, but this new creature was effortlessly dominating it with barely any effort.

Stalking towards his fallen enemy, the giant reptile came to a halt, gazing down at Keunsango's broken form as another growl rumbled in his chest, patterns of blue light rippling up and down the bony plates on his back. The wounded Kaiju was still trying to get up, but that massive blow had broken at least two more of its limbs, and blue blood was leaking from its mouth, suggesting that the impact had inflicted significant internal injuries as well. Despite the damage, however, it was still trying to get up, seemingly ignoring its wounds as it glared up at its tormentor and let out a weak, gurgling hiss.

There was no drawn-out struggle or flashy display to end this battle. As Keunsango kept struggling to get back on its feet, the leviathan simply raised one massive clawed foot and slammed it down on the Kaiju's head, crushing its skull and breaking its neck in one brutal motion. It kept struggling for a few seconds, its body writhing and twisting like a snake in its death throes, but as the saurian titan pushed down harder and twisted his foot with an audible crunch of bone, its struggles finally ceased and its body fell back, going limp and still forever.

Lifting his foot to reveal the glowing mess of blue blood, crushed meat and shattered bone that had been Keunsango's head, the larger Kaiju took a step back, growling as he gazed down at the carcass. His aggressive demeanor seemed to fade slightly as he straightened up, shaking his head and letting out a loud snort.

And then, slowly, the leviathan's head turned, those burning orange eyes unmistakably locking onto Coyote Tango and seeming to pierce right through the viewing screens in the Jaeger's conn-pod. His eyes narrowed, his lip curled, and he snarled.

At the same moment, the same thought flashed through both Pentecost's and Tamsin's minds.

Oh, fuck.

"And the first Kaiju has been destroyed!" Steve Martin grinned breathlessly for a moment, before he felt a queasy shift in his gut as he got a clear view of the grisly mess that the new monster had made of Keunsango. His tone became less excited as he watched the giant reptile turn to face Coyote Tango, a clear standoff taking place. "Now, however, it's anyone's guess as to what will happen next. This new creature certainly seems to be different from the others that we've seen, but is it just as much of a threat to us? Something tells me that we're about to find out."

Steve glanced over at the members of his film crew. Nick was occupied with flying and keeping them out of harm's way, and Yoshi was diligently working away with his camera, but Brian looked just as nervous as Steve himself felt, if not more so.

Steve Martin wasn't a particularly religious man. But as he watched the standoff unfolding beneath him, he found himself praying, somewhere in the back of his mind, that this new Kaiju would not take over where the now-deceased one had begun. Because if it did turn out to be as hostile as the other Kaiju that had appeared… he wasn't certain that any force on Earth, even a Jaeger, could stop it.

Pentecost and Tamsin traded nervous glances as they readied themselves for battle again. They were already weary and battered after their prolonged fight with Keunsango, and Coyote wasn't much better. The Jaeger was almost out of ammunition for its guns and its big mortar cannon; it still had plenty of power for the energy caster, but beyond that they were short on options when it came to weaponry. Neither of the two Rangers liked their odds in a fight with this new, much larger Kaiju. But, unfortunately, they didn't have a choice. If this Kaiju was as aggressive as the others, he was a threat to the entire human race. And that meant they had to do whatever they could to bring him down, or at least to keep him busy until more Jaegers could arrive to reinforce them.

For a full, agonizing minute, Coyote Tango and the new Kaiju stared each other down, almost like a pair of gunslingers in an old American Western movie. Coyote's fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly as Pentecost and Tamsin readied themselves for the coming fight, waiting for the inevitable attack, although they couldn't help feeling a little confused when the attack didn't come right away. Seconds ticked by, each one seeming to stretch out into an eternity. Rain began to fall around them, pattering down on the Jaeger's iron skin and the Kaiju's charcoal-colored scales, but flashing into wisps of steam when it fell onto the glowing bony plates on the giant reptile's back.

Curiously, the leviathan didn't make any sudden movements, as if he was waiting for the Jaeger to make the first move for some unknown reason. Unlike the other Kaiju that had encountered a Jaeger, all of whom had immediately displayed aggression towards the giant fighting machines, he appeared to be curious more than anything else, but he showed no signs of backing down.

Finally, Pentecost couldn't take it anymore. "Let's do this," he growled, glancing over at Tamsin. She echoed his nod, her grim determination mingling with his. They flung one arm out to the side, arming Coyote's energy caster again with a surge of crackling electricity.

That seemed to trigger a response from the leviathan, as his previously curious demeanor promptly shifted into an aggressive posture. He bared his teeth in a snarl and started towards them, striding through the flooded city, buildings crumbling to dust in his wake. Pentecost and Tamsin charged forward to meet him, defiant yells echoing from their mouths, letting out a blare from Coyote's siren that mingled with the electric hum of its charging energy caster.

Coyote struck first as they drew close to the new Kaiju, lunging in close and punching him solidly across the face with their free hand before he had a chance to strike. The impact felt like they were punching a solid stone wall, but the blow did snap the monster's head to one side, knocking him back a step… but only one. Before they had enough time to strike again, one of his arms lashed out with surprising speed, like a bear striking out at an opponent, landing an open-handed slap to the side of their head with one clawed hand. The force behind that blow was stronger than any hit that Keunsango had landed against them, and Coyote was knocked clear off its feet and sent sprawling to the ground.

Pentecost and Tamsin were both stunned by the hit, their ears ringing and their vision blurred, but they shook it off and rolled with the impact, raising their arm and firing the energy caster. The blast hit the Kaiju squarely in the chest with an explosion of light, drawing a roar of anger and pain, but as the explosion faded, he simply strode out of the resulting cloud of smoke, a visible scorch mark now present on his chest but no other damage apparent.

Shit! Pentecost and Tamsin fought to get Coyote back on its feet, but they weren't fast enough; they made it up to one knee, and looked up just in time to see the leviathan's tail swinging towards them. This time, the impact was so violent that they both blacked out for a moment.

When the Rangers regained consciousness, Coyote was lying flat on its back, sprawled among the ruins of Dokai Bay's shoreline. The conn-pod was lit up by flashing red emergency lights, and showers of sparks were raining down around them. It felt like all of the muscles in their bodies were aching, and jolts of pain kept bleeding through their link to the Jaeger to signal the damage that had been inflicted to many of Coyote's systems. As a side effect of their exhaustion and the stress that the Drift was placing on them, they could hardly tell where their own bodies ended and the Jaeger's body began.

As they desperately tried to get up one more time, a massive foot slammed down on their chest, pinning them to the ground. Although Pentecost and Tamsin knew that the monster wasn't actually touching their physical bodies, it still felt like an elephant was standing on their chests, leaving them wheezing and gasping for air. They kept struggling, but they'd put everything they had into that last blast of the energy caster, and there was nothing else they could do to get out from under the leviathan's foot. They were trapped.

"Damn it…!" Pentecost hissed, his head spinning as he tried to catch his breath. Gazing up through the viewing window of the conn-pod, he could barely make out the immense shadow that loomed over them, a pair of burning orange eyes glaring down at them through the gathering darkness of the storm. Another growl echoed around them, reverberating through the metal framework that kept them suspended in midair.

Leaning down over them, the leviathan lowered his head until it seemed to be hanging just above the Jaeger's conn-pod. His eyes narrowed, and it seemed like he was looking straight at the Rangers, even through the metal that lay between them. The monster's chest swelled as he inhaled deeply, and Pentecost and Tamsin had just enough time to wince and brace themselves before another thunderous roar filled the air, this time even louder than before since it was at such close range.

Both Rangers cried out in agony, feeling like their heads were splitting open from the force of the sound. If it hadn't been for the conn-pod shielding them both from a direct blast of sound, their eardrums would certainly have been ruptured by the intensity of that roar. Normally they would have ejected from the conn-pod at that point in a desperate bid to avoid the death that was bearing down on them, but in their current state they were incapable of thinking clearly. Powerless, helpless, and barely able to move, Pentecost and Tamsin clung to their harnesses and waited for the end.

But then, to their astonishment, the leviathan straightened back up, and the crushing weight on their chests vanished as his foot lifted off of Coyote's chest. Letting out an audible snort, the Kaiju turned away and strode back towards the bay, lumbering away from the fallen Jaeger without a backward glance.

As the booming footsteps slowly grew fainter, another sound took its place: the buzzing sound of voices echoing over the conn-pod's speakers. "…Coyote?! Coyote!" Marshal Tachibana's voice rang out again. "Pentecost, Sevier, do you copy?!"

Pentecost was still too exhausted and stunned to speak, so Tamsin wearily activated the communications link. "This is Sevier," she panted. "We… we copy. We're okay."

A note of relief was clear in Tachibana's voice. "Glad to hear it. The second target is heading back out to sea: we've got it on our detection system now, and we'll have Tacit Ronin and Romeo Blue nearby and ready to deploy in less than six hours in case it makes landfall again anywhere else." His voice became a little more forceful. "You've done enough for today, Rangers. Power down and deactivate your neural handshake: one of your choppers will be coming in to pick you up. Understood?"

"Yes… sir," Pentecost confirmed wearily, his breath finally coming more easily as his body was able to relax. He could sense that Tamsin felt the same way: they were both angered by the fact that they'd been beaten so quickly and easily by this new Kaiju, but they were feeling too much relief and exhaustion to worry about that right now. Working slowly and carefully, they both entered in the command sequence to power down Coyote's systems and to deactivate their neural handshake.

Unfortunately, as this had been their first time piloting a Jaeger into battle, they weren't prepared for the level of shock that accompanied the deactivation of their Drift. When each of them snapped back into their own minds and the connection between them was severed, the level of confusion and dizziness that they had been feeling suddenly skyrocketed, leaving them both feeling like they were in free-fall or drifting alone through a deep pool of water.

Pentecost could still feel Tamsin's presence, flickering faintly in the back of his mind, but the closeness that they had felt during the Drift was gone, and it hurt, like a hole in his very being. They both reflexively disengaged their motion-rigs and clambered down to the back of the conn-pod (which was currently the bottom, since the Jaeger was flat on its back), where they clutched onto each other and clung on as tightly as they could, trying to remedy the aching, bone-deep emptiness in their minds where the other person had been moments earlier. Pentecost dimly remembered that this had happened to Caitlin and Sergio after both of their previous combat missions, but seeing something happen to other people and experiencing it yourself were two entirely different things.

Wearily, leaning on each other and trying to stay as close together as possible so they could keep the Drift-shock at bay, Pentecost and Tamsin made their way over to the exit hatch of the conn-pod and lifted it open, before carefully climbing out onto Coyote's neck and hoisting themselves up onto the front of its head. From this vantage point, they had a clear view of their surroundings, and even with the rain pouring down around them, they immediately caught sight of the monster who had defeated them. The reptilian titan was wading back into the bay, his tail lashing back and forth behind him, moving away from the destruction that he had wrought.

Just before the leviathan could disappear into the fog, however, he tilted his head back and let out a ringing, triumphant roar that echoed across the ruins of Kitakyushu, mingling with the rumbling of thunder in the clouds overhead as lightning flashed again. Then, without another sound, he turned away and disappeared into the storm.

Pentecost and Tamsin were left standing atop the conn-pod of their fallen Jaeger, huddled in each other's arms, until one of their spotting helicopters descended through the clouds, a spotlight blazing down upon them like a ray of heavenly light, to carry them both to safety.

Some distance away, the INN helicopter was flying out over the water, tracking the departing Kaiju as he continued wading out to sea. Once the water got deep enough, he dropped forward and plunged back into the waves, swimming like a crocodile with sweeps of his powerful tail as he headed out into open water, until he slipped beneath the surface and was gone from sight. The news chopper's spotlight played back and forth across the dark surface of the ocean, but the monster was gone.

Steve Martin was shivering uncontrollably, and for once – a great rarity, by his standards – he was completely lost for words. He could barely comprehend the display of savage power that he and his team had just witnessed, but he finally began to relax as he signaled for Nick Gordon to finally turn their chopper around and they headed back towards land.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Steve spoke up into his mic one more time. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "I don't think there's much I can say to describe what we've just witnessed here today. But what I can say is that, from this moment, the Kaiju War, and the world itself, have been changed forever. There is a new player in this war between humanity and the Kaiju… and, based on his actions here today, it should be clear to all of us that he is not to be trifled with." He shook his head, still feeling numb inside as the INN chopper passed over the partially-flooded ruins of Kitakyushu, with Yoshi's camera getting a perfect final panning shot of Keunsango's headless corpse and the fallen body of Coyote Tango.

"While the immediate crisis appears to be over," he concluded solemnly, "the question of whether this new monster from the deep is humanity's ally against the Kaiju threat, or the new greatest threat to our very survival, remains to be seen. This is Steve Martin, in Kitakyushu, Japan… signing off."

Two hours later

Monarch Outpost, undisclosed location

Hundreds of miles away, two figures stood in front of a large computer screen, watching a recording of the INN news broadcast from Kitakyushu. The screen was currently paused on an image of the new Kaiju as it waded back into the ocean, leaving the carcass of the smaller Kaiju and the battered form of Coyote Tango in its wake.

Dr. Vivienne Graham's heart was thundering in her ears, so loud that she could barely hear the breathless voice of the reporter as he speculated on what this new Kaiju could be. All she could see was the image of the creature that dominated the screen, its head tilted back and its jaws gaping wide in a roar before it disappeared back into the sea.

"Is… is it really him?" she murmured shakily, looking over to the man who was standing next to her. "Is that possible?"

Her companion didn't respond for a long moment, his eyes fixed intently on the screen as if he was attempting to memorize every detail of the monster. "It is," he confirmed quietly. "We were right. He has returned."

Vivienne nodded slowly, her mind whirling as she wondered what this would mean for the world at large. To the vast majority of the people who had seen this broadcast, this new creature was just another Kaiju, albeit a much bigger and more threatening one than any of the others that had appeared over the past three years. But to the two of them, and the rest of the organization that they worked for, this was something else entirely.

That INN reporter, Steve Martin, was more right than he knew. The Kaiju War, and the world as they knew it, had just changed forever, just as it had two years earlier when the first Kaiju had emerged from the Breach. She and her mentor had already suspected that this particular creature might have returned to the world after the fate that had befallen another Breach Kaiju the year before, but now their suspicions had been confirmed in spectacular fashion.

"What do we do now?" she questioned, her gaze shifting back to the screen.

Dr. Ishiro Serizawa looked down at her for the first time since the new monster had appeared on the news feed. A faint smile flickered across his face, before his previous intensity returned. "We must speak to the leaders of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps," he decided. "They need to know what he is, and that he is not the same as the creatures that have emerged from the Breach. That may be the only way to prevent any further conflicts between him and us." He nodded to the screen, indicating the carcass of the Breach Kaiju that the new monster had killed. "And his behavior this time… it could prove our theory. This is what we have been waiting for."

"Agreed." Despite her nerves, Vivienne felt a small smile appearing on her face as well as she watched the image on the screen: the king of an ancient, primordial world, who had risen from the depths to slay one of the alien monsters that had invaded his domain.

Please, let us be right, she prayed inwardly. With his help, we'll stand a better chance of winning this war against the Kaiju. But without it, our fate is anyone's guess. And if we're foolish enough to make an enemy of him… She shivered. Then none of us will stand a chance.

"Come, Vivienne." Serizawa's smile returned as he nodded towards the door of the room, leading the way out into the hall. "We have work to do."

Notes: And here we go!

So, a couple of things to keep in mind:

– First off, if it wasn't clear already, I'm combining the Becket family from Pacific Rim with the Russell family from the MonsterVerse for this story. We'll get to see a lot more of them in later chapters, but for anybody who's confused, in this AU, Yancy & Raleigh are Emma's sons from a previous marriage (thereby explaining their different last name), while Andrew & Madison are still Mark & Emma's kids. Raleigh, of course, is still our narrator for the opening flashback, but his story is obviously different from canon: the canon Becket family were living up in Anchorage, Alaska when the first Kaiju attack happened, but since I decided to combine their backstory with that of the Russell family, having them lose Andrew in Trespasser's attack on San Francisco just worked perfectly.

– Another significant difference between this fic and King of the Monsters is the fact that, in KOTM, I made Godzilla's backstory similar to that of some Japanese films like the Heisei & Millennium eras (where one Godzilla attacked Japan in 1954, and the Godzilla in the main story was a second, less hostile individual from the same species who showed up many years later). That isn't the case in this version, since this version primarily uses the MonsterVerse rather than the Japanese films as inspiration for the "Godzilla half" of this AU: as a result, there's only one Godzilla in the modern day in this AU, and he didn't attack Japan in the 1950s. Also in keeping with the MonsterVerse, most people in this AU had no idea that Kaiju/Titans existed before the Breach opened, and this battle is the first time in this universe that the world at large has learned of Godzilla's existence. That's why Pentecost & Tamsin have no idea what Godzilla is when he shows up in this chapter and why nobody refers to him by his name yet, whereas in my original crossover AU (as shown in Jaeger von Jaegers (2017), the prequel one-shot to KOTM), people immediately recognize Godzilla when he shows up because he looks similar to the first Godzilla.

– Finally, adding onto that last note: one of the biggest differences between this AU and the original one for King of the Monsters is that, since the MonsterVerse wasn't actually a thing yet when I wrote KOTM (as I wrote that story way back in 2013-2014, shortly after Pacific Rim came out and in anticipation of Godzilla 2014), I didn't include any elements from the MonsterVerse films in that AU. As a result, Godzilla's portrayal & backstory in KOTM was based on the Japanese films instead, particularly the Millennium version (which was why my "faceclaim" for Godzilla in that fic was the version from the "Kiryu Saga" films, albeit with the larger size of the 2014 version). Godzilla in this story, however, is definitely based on the MonsterVerse iteration of the character, as I love that design. At the start of this fic, his dorsal plates would have the same look as they did in the 2014 film. In addition, while I will be adapting some characters from the various Japanese Godzilla films into this AU, as well as some characters from the old Godzilla novel series by Marc Cerasini, the majority of the Godzillaverse stuff in this AU will be taken from the MonsterVerse.

– Oh, and just as a random note: my face-claim for this AU's version of Steve Martin (to clarify, this is my take on the Steve Martin who's canon to the MonsterVerse, as shown by the credits of Godzilla: KOTM) would be played by Oscar Isaac, as he seems like a decent match, looks-wise, for Raymond Burr's Steve Martin in the "Americanized" version of the original 1954 Godzilla film.

Next time, the world reacts to Godzilla's emergence; a conference is held between the PPDC and Monarch, to discuss Godzilla's true nature and the potential threat that he poses to humanity; and a Breach Kaiju attack on Tokyo pushes Coyote Tango's pilots to their breaking point. Stay tuned!