Kaiju Corps

by Matthew Dennion

  Nick watched his friend jump and then he walked up to Miki and grabbed her hand. He looked at her and she turned to look at him. Nick’s heart was racing, but it had nothing to do with the fact that he could be jumping to his death. It was because he was standing next to Miki. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her, but as they were standing there naked and waiting to transform into a kaiju, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He was a soldier who had no qualms about fighting a giant robot rhino created by an alien signal, but he was terrified to express his feelings to the girl that he loved.

  They were approaching Roboceros and Phantasm. Nick was trying to push his feelings for Miki to the back of his mind when, to his surprise, Miki grabbed him and kissed him passionately. She looked into Nick’s eyes and said, “I love you, Nick.” She then jumped out of the TR-3B and began changing into Chagon as she plummeted toward Phantasm.

  Nick was watching Miki as she fell and his mind was almost totally blank. He heard Granderson yell to him, “Leviathan, go!” Nick’s mind snapped back to reality then he jumped out of the TR-3B and began to change into the most powerful kaiju on earth.

  Garudasaurus was streaking through the air toward PT1. His plan was to slam into the mech at full speed, knock it to the ground, and then to tear it apart. He was several hundred feet from making contact with the robot when, to his surprise, the mech turned around and opened fire on him with the cannons on its hands and face. Garudasaurus had never been struck by live ammo before. He could feel intense pain as each shell exploded against his thick hide. The shells were penetrating his skin, causing him to bleed, but the kaiju’s thick muscles held against the explosions, resulting in the blasts as causing nothing more than painful flesh wounds. As he flew closer to the robot, the pain from each impact increased, and Garudasaurus became concerned that as he drew closer to PT1 that the robot’s shells might be able to penetrate his muscles and cause serious damage.

  The winged kaiju veered hard to his right and out of the direct path of the stream of cannon fire. The upper half of PT1’s body began to turn at the waist as the robot attempted to adjust its aim on Garudasaurus. Garudasaurus flew in an alternating zigzagging motion to keep PT1 from being able to aim at him as he made his way toward the robot. When he was close to the robot, Garudasaurus flew to its right in an attempt to position himself behind the robot and out of its firing range. Garudasaurus screeched in frustration when he flew behind the robot and its body was still able to rotate and to continue to fire at him. Garudasaurus flew a complete circle around the robot while the upper half of PT1’s body rotated a full one-hundred and sixty degrees and continued to launch rapid-fire shells at the kaiju.

  With a stream of shells following him, Garudasaurus flew up and away from PT1. Once he had flown out of the range of shell fire, the kaiju turned and flew back toward the robot with a new attack plan in mind. Garudasaurus decreased his altitude as he rocketed back toward PT1. When he was in range of the robot’s shells, it once more unleashed a barrage of cannon fire at the oncoming kaiju. When the first few shells hit the kaiju, he decreased his altitude even more until he was flying only a few hundred feet over the skyline of the city. Garudasaurus ignored the pain from the deadly shells, and he breathed deeply through his sensitive avian nostrils. The kaiju could detect the scent of every human that was hiding in the buildings between him and PT1. When he discovered a building that had no human scent was coming from it, Garudasaurus screeched.

  Garudasaurus increased his speed as he flew toward the abandoned building. He had almost reached the building when a shell buried itself deep in his shoulder and sent a splash of blood flying into his eyes. The kaiju closed his eyes tight and reached out his hands in front of him. When he felt his fingers touch the abandoned building, he closed his claws on the upper part of it and ripped off the top twenty-five floors while he still in flight. The kaiju lifted the remains of the building he was holding in front of himself to act as a shield while he flew over the remaining few blocks between himself and PT1. The kaiju felt pieces of glass, steel, and concrete fly into his skin as the chunk of building he was holding was shot to pieces. He had nearly reached PT1 when he started to feel shells striking his skin again. The remnants of the building took the brunt of most of the shells so that when they struck the monster’s body, they lacked the force to do any significant damage.

  Garudasaurus’s slammed into PT1 with the force of a flying aircraft carrier. The impact drove the robot through two more abandoned buildings. Garudasaurus was standing atop a pile of rubble with PT1 buried beneath it when a shell exploded up out of the debris and narrowly missed the kaiju’s beak. The monster quickly reached down and grabbed PT1’s face cannon. With a quick twist, the monster tore PT1’s face cannon off, leaving a large hole in its place. Before PT1 could reposition his hand cannons, Garudasaurus dug his claws into the hole where the head cannon had been. The kaiju quickly stood up, and with both of his claws, he pulled up and back, tearing the steel off the robot’s torso from its shoulders its waist. Garudasaurus was staring at the insides of the mech when he saw the hand cannons aiming at his chest. The kaiju quickly leaned back just as the robot fired, causing the shells to graze his skin instead of piercing his heart. Garudasaurus then reached down into the exposed interior of PT1 and removed the computer system that controlled the robot.

  The kaiju stood, and as soon as he spread his wings to fly, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his left shoulder then saw pieces of blood, muscle, and bone exploded out of the front of the shoulder. Garudasaurus fell on top PT1 face first, clutching his badly wounded shoulder. He rolled over onto his back to see PT2 aiming all three of his canons at him at nearly point-blank range.

  Miki had completed her transition to Chagon as she landed on the ground near the spherical Phantasm. As Chagon slithered toward Phantasm, she tried to clear her mind of the thought that she had just kissed Nick. She didn’t know if kissing him and expressing her feelings toward him would change things between them. She didn’t know how the other members of the Kaiju Corps or the Instructors would react to the revelation that she had romantic feelings for Nick. All that she knew was that kissing him felt right. She was on the front lines of the war that would end the world, as it was currently understood. She had decided that with the reality of her situation, she could no longer keep her feelings toward Nick to herself. If she was going to die, she wanted Nick to know that she loved him.

  Chagon hissed in an attempt to focus her mind on the task at hand. With the understanding that Phantasm had two buzz saws in front of its body and a large blade on top of its back, Chagon quickly decided that the most effective way to attack the robot was from behind. Chagon moved with incredible speed as she slithered through debris and half-destroyed buildings. Within a few seconds, Chagon had managed to make her way behind Phantasm. The serpentine kaiju darted out of the debris when, to her surprise, Phantasm’s buzz saw arms rotated a complete one hundred and eighty degrees so that they were facing her.

  With its arms repositioned, Phantasm charged the oncoming kaiju. Phantasm swung its right buzz saw at Chagon, causing the kaiju to halt its forward momentum and swerve to the right in order to avoid being sliced in half. The buzz saw cut deep into the ground as the kaiju coiled her body away from it. Chagon was coiling her body and lifting her head to strike at the robot when it swung its left buzz saw at her. The kaiju quickly dropped her head to the ground, causing the buzz saw to miss decapitating her by only a few feet. The moment that Chagon’s head touched the street, she saw Phantasm’s right buzz saw sliding along the ground toward her. The monster pulled her head back once again, narrowly avoiding the robot’s attack. Chagon managed to dodge one more strike from the robot’s left buzz saw attack then she quickly withdrew from the exchange and headed for a nearby abandoned building. Phantasm lifted its buzz saws into the air then it scrambled after the fleeing kaiju.

  When Chagon reached the building, she plowed into its base and coiled her thin body up inside of its
interior. The kaiju’s sensitive body could feel the vibrations created by the robot’s legs as it scurried toward her. When the robot had almost reached the building, Chagon began uncoiling her body and slithering up to the top of the abandoned structure. The kaiju’s head smashed through the roof just as Phantasm had reached the building and began ravaging the structure with its buzz saws.

  Chagon pulled her entire body out onto the top of the building then she looked down to see Phantasm still slicing into it in an attempt to reach her. With the robot’s buzz saws engaged in trying to cut an entrance into the building, Chagon attacked. She slithered down the building and wrapped her body around the mech, being careful not to press herself around the large blade on Phantasm’s back. In a matter of less than three seconds, Chagon had completely enveloped the mech within her grip. The kaiju constricted her body, hoping to crush Phantasm in the same manner that she had crushed the robots in Detroit. She quickly realized that crushing the mech’s body was nearly impossible. She was applying pressure to Phantasm’s entire body, but the robot’s spherical shape was equalizing that pressure across its hull. Chagon’s own strength was canceling itself out and preventing her from crushing the mech.

  She was starting to release her grip on the mech when the large blade on Phantasm’s back began to close creating something like a giant paper slicer with Chagon’s body wedged in its fulcrum. Chagon could feel the giant blade descending and cutting deep into her body. The kaiju pulled her body out from the under the giant blade and off the mech’s outer hull, as quickly as she could.

  Chagon’s body slumped to the ground next to Phantasm’s legs. The kaiju had a deep cut in the middle of her slender body and she was bleeding badly. She did her best to ignore the injury and keep her focus on her opponent. Phantasm turned and swung its buzz saws toward Chagon. The kaiju managed to avoid the weapons by slithering underneath the mech’s body. Chagon found herself beneath Phantasm’s round body and in between the mech’s crab-like legs.

  Seeing her chance to damage the mech, Chagon shot her head out from underneath the mech’s midsection, and she quickly constricted herself around the base of Phantasm’s left arm, crushing it flat and causing it break off from mech’s body. Phantasm tried to reposition itself in order to attack Chagon, but the kaiju slithered back under the mech’s body and out of the range of its remaining buzz saw. Once she was under the robot’s body, she wrapped herself around its left arm at the base and crushed it as well. With both of its arms destroyed, Phantasm attempted to move away from Chagon, but the kaiju refused to let the mech escape from her. Chagon darted forward and once more slid her body beneath the mech’s body. Once she was beneath Phantasm, Chagon intertwined her body throughout Phantasm’s legs making it impossible for the robot to move. Chagon then placed her head against the bottom of the robot’s body and began pushing up on it. Even to the kaiju, the weight of the robot was immense. Chagon felt her muscles and tendons being taxed to the limit, and she could feel the cut in her midsection tearing even further apart from the strain she was placing on her body.

  Chagon could feel the robot’s legs starting to lift up off the ground, but she was beginning to doubt that she had the strength to completely flip Phantasm onto its back. For a brief moment, she thought of Nick and she wished that she had his strength. The thought of Nick had no sooner entered her mind that she remembered kissing him and the feelings of fear, elation, and relief that went along with it. She didn’t give Nick a chance to react to the kiss, but she knew that she desperately wanted to see him again and to discover what his feelings were toward her. The thought of seeing Nick again gave Chagon a renewed determination. The kaiju forced every last bit of energy out her muscles that she could. With the extra effort, she could slowly feel Phantasm’s body beginning to lift off the ground. When Chagon had forced the mech’s body into a vertical position, she felt gravity take over and pull the mech onto its back. The giant blade on Phantasm’s back was driven into the ground by the weight of its body. Chagon saw the robot’s legs flailing helpless in front of her. She hissed at them and then slithered on top of the robot and in between its legs.

  Chagon wrapped her body around the mech’s thin legs and then she crushed them as well, leaving the mech crippled and stuck to the ground. Chagon slid off the defeated mech and then she started slithering toward the battle that was raging between Leviathan and Roboceros.

  Leviathan crashed into the ground almost directly in front of Roboceros. Leviathan’s mind was racing with a flood of emotions. Aside from the stress placed on his mind by the transformation from human to kaiju, Leviathan had also just been enlightened to the fact that the woman he loved also loved him. The thought that Miki loved him had energized the saurian monster.

  The kaiju roared at Roboceros, and in doing so, the monster condensed the whirlwind of emotions that he was experiencing into the single emotion of rage. Leviathan needed an outlet for that the rage, and he was determined to vent his anger on the robotic pachyderm. The kaiju leapt forward and placed one arm under the robot’s right leg and the other around its neck. Leviathan then lifted Roboceros off its front legs and tossed it into a row of buildings which collapsed on top of the mech.

  Roboceros was working its way out of the rubble when Leviathan ran over to the mech and began stomping on it. Leviathan delivered blow after blow to the heavily armored robot’s frame, but even he was finding it difficult to penetrate Roboceros’s outer hull. Leviathan lifted his foot into the air to deliver another blow when Roboceros lifted its head off the ground and drove its horn cannon through the kaiju’s left foot.

  Leviathan roared in pain as he looked down to see the horn cannon sticking out of the top of his foot. The kaiju has started to pull his foot off the horn cannon when a shell fired out of it and struck him in the head. The shell deflected off Leviathan’s thick skull, but the force of the impact was still enough to stagger the monster. Leviathan fell flat on his back with his foot still impaled on Roboceros’s horn cannon. Roboceros stood and shook his head to free it from Leviathan’s body. Leviathan saw the robot lower its head in preparation to gore him, and he instinctively unleashed a blast of flames from his mouth at the robot. The flames washed over the robot’s armor but did nothing to prevent it from thrusting forward and driving its horn cannon into Leviathan’s left hamstring.

  The pain was on a scale that Leviathan had never experienced before. He could feel the muscles in his legs being torn apart. The pain increased exponentially when Roboceros shook its head from side to side as it pulled its horn cannon from the monster’s leg.

  When the mech had freed itself from his leg, Leviathan quickly rolled to his side so that he was no longer directly in front of Roboceros. The robot was turning his body to once again gore Leviathan when the monster reached out and wrapped his left claw around the robot’s horn. Leviathan then quickly sat up and delivered three punches to the robot’s face. He then pulled the robot closer to him and used his free arm to place Roboceros in a headlock. The kaiju pushed down on the robot’s horn while pulling up its neck, and in doing so, Leviathan was able to tear the horn cannon off the robot’s face.

  Leviathan used the horn cannon like a giant knife, and he drove it into the robot’s side. He then pulled Roboceros even closer to him so that he was able to place his shoulders beneath the robot’s stomach while wrapping his left arm under the robot’s neck and around its shoulder and his right arm under its back leg and around its thigh. With Roboceros in his grasp, Leviathan roared and then, placing his uninjured foot and leg firmly on the ground, the monster executed a fireman’s carry by lifting the mech off the ground, leaning to his right, and then slamming the mech back first into the street. Roboceros hit the street with such force that it collapsed and dropped the robot several feet lower into the subway system.

  Leviathan looked down to see Roboceros rolling around and tearing up the street and the subway below as it tried to right itself so that it could climb back to street level. The kaiju let out a small
sigh of relief when he realized that there were no civilians in the tunnel he had thrown the robot into.

  Leviathan grabbed onto the side of a nearby building, and he used it to help pull himself back to his feet. Despite the damage to his foot and leg, the monster was managing to stand. He had started to walk back toward Roboceros when he saw the robot step out of the crevice it had fallen into and back into the street. The robot’s head was down, and the huge gun turret on its back was aimed directly at Leviathan. The kaiju immediately threw his body down and to the right when he saw the cannon move. The maneuver shifted Leviathan’s body enough so that the shell grazed his hip instead of tearing through his stomach. Even with the shell just grazing him, it had managed to tear flesh off the left side of Leviathan’s hip. With even more damage to the left side of his body, Leviathan was nearly immobile. He looked up to see Roboceros aiming its gun turret at him.

  Leviathan roared at the mech in defiance of his imminent death. When he finished his roar, he saw Chagon slither up behind Roboceros. She coiled her body around the robot’s rear legs and then she constricted, crushing the mech’s legs as if they were made of cardboard. Roboceros lower body dropped to the ground, causing his shell blast to fire harmlessly into the sky. Leviathan limped over to the crippled mech as Chagon slithered out from under its metal body. Leviathan roared his thanks at the woman he loved then he grabbed the gun turret and ripped it off Roboceros’s back. The kaiju leaned his head over the hole in the robot’s back where he had just ripped off the gun turret. Leviathan took a deep breath, and then he unleashed a sustained blast of flames into the interior of the mech. The acrid smell of burning rubber filled the air, and the exterior of Roboceros’s armor began to glow a bright red. The mech fought to break free of the kaiju’s grip until the flames churning inside it finally liquefied its CPU.

  Leviathan dropped the deactivated robot to the ground and then he turned to his left to see that Chagon had crawled up next to him. Leviathan looked into Chagon’s eyes and then both kaiju roared as they professed their victory. The two badly injured kaiju then turned and began heading toward the outskirts of the city to assist Garudasaurus.