Kaiju World

by R. F. Blackstone

  "It was here!" Carsten shouts into his phone. "Isayama attacked people--"

  "--Not the tour?!" Mako asks as the colour drains from her face. "Has there been any word from Gideon?" A tiny part of her hopes that it was the group, it would mean the island would close; the assets sold off to the highest bidder while she finishes her glorious work.

  "No idea," Lathrop Preston's voice echoes from the phone's speaker. "All we know is that Isayama was in the vicinity of the main power generator."

  "No," Mako says. "None of them have ever shown any interest in the generator. That's why it was designed that way...Why hasn't the backup activated yet? Shouldn't the geothermic keep us constantly powered?"

  She can see her team hurriedly talking amongst themselves. Some shake their heads while others use their phones, most likely doing rough calculations. They don't know why, Mako thinks. Most likely it's another glitch in the system due to the short time frame before opening. Mako shakes her head. "Never mind. Do we know what caused Isayama to attack? The Category 1s aren't usually aggressive."

  It's Julayne Hughes who answers. "Professor, all we know is that Isayama attacked a group of people near the power generator just before it exploded. Without power, we can't do anything...Sorry."

  Mako slumps to the hard cold floor as she says softly, "There's no way to track the Kaijus...they can go anywhere and we are defenceless." A loud snort causes her to spin, her eyes widening.

  Ishiro's four eyes stare at Mako, the blue glow from them plunging the room into a deeper blue-violet. Above her she can hear the faint banging of her team's fists on the shatter-proof glass. She knows what they are saying and can feel the radiation emanating from the beast. Mako stares back defiantly. "What?!"

  The Kaiju rears up, the enormous head grazing the ceiling and then with a horrendous screeching snarling, it roars. The sound cuts through all other noises and Mako's phone itself screams feedback at her. The woman cringes and drops the phone as she grabs her ears, her eyes darting up to the control room and she can see the team doing the same.

  The sound forces her onto her back and the tiny human has to close her eyes, clamping them shut to block out the pain. She has never in her life experienced this type of sound before. Not even when she has been experimenting on the Kaijus. Her brain screams at her to make the sound stop and she can feel droplets of blood begin to come from her ears and nose.

  Mako's instincts kick in and she rolls onto her stomach and begins half-dragging half-crawling away, hoping to get to a safe enough distance that the sound...

  She stops and slowly opens her eyes.

  Mako blinks and smiles slightly.

  Ishiro has ceased his roaring.

  The woman gets to her feet and looks at the monster. The gigantic head is once again resting on the floor and the four eyes are shut. The tip of the tongue slithers out and licks the nose and snout, much in the same way that a dog does. Quickly, Mako scoops up her phone and checks the screen.

  "Damn," she mutters as the phone slowly reboots. "Come on!" she orders the phone but technology has always been uncooperative with her.

  The instant the phone is ready she dials Carsten and barks one order, "Find out where Gideon Pryke is. Now!"

  CHAPTER TEN

  "Now there’s no need to panic. I can assure you that everything is under control. We just have to remain calm," Gideon Pryke is in damage control mode. He looks at the scared faces of the investors and smiles. "The backup generator will switch on any minute now. Don't worry--"

  Teresa Hernandez laughs, it is full of sarcasm and doubt. "He tells us to remain calm...Are you so arrogant Mister Pryke--"

  "--Gideon, please."

  She ignores him, "Are you so arrogant to think that you can control every situation?"

  Pryke stares at her, his eyes never leaving hers as he says, "Yes my dear."

  This infuriates the reporter to no end and as she opens her mouth a deep boom freezes her and the others. The ground shakes from another that sounds closer. Teresa glances at Pryke. "Could that be the power?"

  Another boom is quickly followed by another, then another and another. Each one sounds deeper and is mixed with a splintering cracking sound. As if something is knocking down trees.

  "I don't think it's the power," Crichton says as he points.

  The small band looks, following the digit and each of them sighs, not really surprised at what they see; trees shaking and then some collapse, pushed over by a monstrous form. Through the tree-line an orange glow can just be made out.

  Instinctively the investors and reporter begin backing up while Pryke steps forward and squints, trying to see better. He can barely make out scorpion-like pincers and drooling mandibles. Quickly he looks down at his wristwatch and curses, Not enough time to power up the Mechs.

  He turns back to the group and has to shout over the crashing, "Well the good news is that's a Kaiju. Bad news--"

  "--Isn't that bad news enough!" Tull hollers. He is gripping Beacham's arm tightly and sniffs back tears and fear.

  Gideon Pryke laughs. "Come now! This is Kaiju World; here we are prepared for--"

  A shrill ear splitting snarl stops him. They are now bathed in the orange glow from the creature. The air around them fills with the rancid smell of decomposition and stale food.

  "What I was about to say," Pryke whispers hurriedly. "Is the bad news is this; that particular one is Ifukube. One of our Category 4s."

  The air is punctuated by the clicking of the larger than life mandibles and the snapping and clacking of the pincers. Pryke has never seen any of his assets up close before but he knows each and every single one of them from the images and security footage he's been shown. From all of the Kaijus, Ifukube has shown itself to be the most territorial and eager to fight. The owner of Kaiju World knows they have to, "STOP!"

  Emmerich is running full speed across the open field towards the Tour ATV. All of the vehicles are button-started and no keys are needed. Which is how Pryke wanted it, but now he wishes that they had stuck with key ignitions.

  Tull, seeing this also runs, chasing after his partner with a high-pitched wail. His arms flailing about like a small child.

  The clicking gains speed, as if the monster is becoming excited by the fleeing men.

  Pryke and the others watch as Emmerich trips over a fallen log and Tull leaps over him. It's a race to see who gets to the car first. Crichton, Beacham and Winston don't say a word but their faces tell it all; complete and utter disgust at the selfishness on display.

  A smile creeps across Winston's craggy face and he says, "Five-hundred on Emmerich."

  This gets a small chuckle from Crichton who replies, "Hundred or thousand?"

  The bulk of a man shrugs, "Why not thousand?"

  Beacham scoffs, "Really? Right now?"

  Winston nudges the smaller man and uses his head to gesture at the ATV. Beacham looks and his mouth drops open. "I'm in," he says excitedly.

  Teresa shakes her head and turns, looking away in disgust at the capitalism on display. "Fucking money-men," she spits with a shake of her head. "Umm, what happened to the monster?"

  Pryke spins quickly, looking around trying to spot the Kaiju. He finds it hard to believe that a monster that big could just disappear. Mako said that they all have different abilities, he remembers. Part of him wants to run, but the adventurer in him demands that he stays and sees his prize in action.

  Tull reaches the ATV first and fumbles with the door. The latch is hidden, built into the door itself; smooth and streamlined like the fuselage of a plane. "Fuck you!" he screams as he slams into the side of the vehicle.

  Emmerich stands over him and lands a solid hard kick into the man's stomach. "Dummkopf," he says and easily opens the door.

  Tull scrambles to his feet and grabs the back of Emmerich's shirt and pulls hard.

  The larger man shakes him off and clambers into the vehicle. He tries to close the door but the other man is able to leap inside.

  "What
the hell are they doing?" Pryke asks.

  Winston laughs, "Being themselves."

  "What's that?" Teresa asks, her voice filled with dread.

  The ATV roars to life, the lights blaring on, blinding everyone.

  Teresa screams and Pryke starts shaking his head while the three investors' mouths drop open as they stare blankly, not fully comprehending what they are witnessing; as the two men in the vehicle struggle with the column mounted gear-shift they don't notice the enormous pincers slowly surrounding them. Tull is pointing at the column-shift and hysterically trying to get his point across while Emmerich looks completely disinterested in whatever the other man is saying.

  The left deadly pincer opens and closes the closer it gets, making a soft clacking that gets louder just before it snaps shut around the rear-end of the ATV. The serrated edges easily crush the metal, the steel roll bars bending and snapping as if made from cardboard.

  As the back of the vehicle is being chomped and churned, both Emmerich and Tull begin trying desperately to get out. As the younger man gets the door open the other pincer slams into it, bending the door and trapping it in the opening.

  "They're gonna die!" Beacham shouts.

  Pryke can do nothing but stand and watch in dreadful awe. He had no idea that the creatures are this ruthless.

  "Do something!" Teresa shakes Pryke.

  The owner of Kaiju World says sadly, "There's nothing we can do."

  "The Mechs!" Beacham snaps his fingers.

  Pryke shakes his head and turns, the screeching of the metal unnerving him. "They take too long to power up."

  "Dios mio," Teresa says with a gasp.

  This makes Pryke turn back, his curiosity getting the better of him. Nothing can prepare him for the terrible sight happening before the quickly diminishing group; the ATV is being lifted off the ground by the back pincer while the front tries to shred and tear the front away, allowing the tasty morsels inside to be reached.

  Emmerich is pushing Tull towards the front with his feet as his arms frantically pull him back. His partner loses his grip and falls, smashing his face against the windshield.

  It cracks slightly and blood splatters from the impact. Tull cries out and grabs his nose, now a misshapen lump of flesh and bone.

  His eyes widen and he screams a high-pitch almost girlish howl of fright. He is staring into the saliva dripping, rapidly snapping mandibles of the Kaiju. Tull's scream is cut short as a part of the mouth bites, the mandibles slicing the front of the chassis like a hot knife through butter.

  Emmerich slips then drops, his legs catching on the seat.

  There is a jaw clenching cracking and wet tearing as the femur breaks and stabs through the flesh splattering the plush upholstery in dark blood as the man bounces. His body slams into the roof and he slides the rest of the way down.

  The two men grab each other as they smash through the windshield. The shards of glass slicing them, their blood electrifying the monster who chitters and growls happily. The pincers lower the wrecked vehicle into the gaping maw.

  Teresa looks away, her mettle having enough and the other three investors keep their eyes focused as the monster’s mandibles slowly feed the Tour ATV with the screaming Emmerich and Tull inside into its mouth.

  The mandibles help crush the steel frames and tear out the chairs. Emmerich tries to punch and kick the limb away but all he accomplishes is the Kaiju chittering excitedly. His bloody leg still spurts warm blood that lands on the mouth organ and with a shriek of pure euphoria, Ifukube shovels the wrecked vehicle down its gullet.

  #

  Dutch quickly ducks under a low hanging branch as he runs through the dense forest. His eyes constantly scanning the area for any sign of the intruders or Pryke and the tour group. Just dumb fucking luck, he thinks as he hears the rest of his team next to him. Each one moving as stealthily as they can while carrying heavy packs full of their custom made Kaiju hunting gear, and the normal rations needed for such a job. Dutch smiles to himself as he thinks about what he and his team will do when they find the responsible parties. Damn the orders, he thinks.

  They were already out and racing to the beach when they heard and saw the top of the explosion. Dutch had immediately changed their objective; the boat was meaningless, the generator became the new goal. Unfortunately the outage had slowed them down since the gates in the electrified fences weren't responding to the control panels, meaning that at each one they had to waste valuable time cutting through the thick heavy duty locking mechanisms. Luckily for them, Lawrence has the perfect tools for the job and even though it still takes him upwards of ten minutes for each lock, they move quickly and quietly.

  "Are you hundred percent?" Johann whispers as they stop to catch their breaths, they are covered by large trees that sway in the heavy wind.

  Dutch checks his GPS map, thankful for the satellite feed. "It makes sense, logically. If there were intruders and they wanted to disrupt us then the best and most obvious target would be the generator."

  "Well," Lawrence says. "When you say it like that..."

  The rest of Asset Retrieval Team laugh and each checks their weapon; Roxie holds a modified Steyr AUG, instead of the standard 5.56mm rounds, this one fires lasers. Turns out they are the best for slowing down a Kaiju. All that regular bullets do is annoy the monsters. The good thing about the Steyr AUG Triple-Sec, as she likes to call it, is that it uses a continuing battery to charge the emitter. The red-dot sight helps the accuracy of the weapon as well. Lawrence carries the big gun, a modified Barrett Model 82, with once again laser ammunition, though the giant of a man does also carry a Two-Handed Katana Machete. In fact, all of the weapons carried by A.R. Team have been modified by Mako and her people to do one thing and one thing only, take down and incapacitate any and all Kaijus.

  "Ready ladies?" Dutch asks, he seems more alert than before which puts the others on edge.

  "Boss," Roxie says. "What's the problem? We can handle anything thrown at us," she looks at the other two men, "right?"

  Lawrence smiles and pats his weapon while Johann chuckles before saying, "Well personally I'd rather deal with a nice bottle of red and some chocolate...but this'll do just fine."

  Dutch smiles slightly and rubs his beard; the bristles feel good and always relax him. His eyes scan the surrounding foliage and he sighs before speaking. "The power’s down right? Which means that any of the Kaijus can be roaming about free as a bird." He doesn't finish the thought but he never has to. After trapping as many city destroying monsters as they have, each person there knows how shittier the situation can get.

  "So then, why don't we go and round them up?" Roxie asks.

  "That's not the mission," Lawrence says, his eyes also beginning to scan the area. "Shit," he mutters. "Wish I had brought the scanners."

  Johann looks at him like he is the biggest idiot on the planet. Rolling his eyes he says, "You didn't bring them? Why the hell not?"

  Even Roxie turns on the man. "You really are a drongo! What possessed you to leave home without them?"

  Their tech-guru shrugs and looks to Dutch. "Sorry boss. It's just that I didn't think--"

  Roxie grabs him by his shirt front and shoves him against the trunk of the large old tree, shouting, "You never think! One job! That's all you have to do. Bring the goddamn equipment we NEED!" She relaxes instantly as she feels the commanding hand of Dutch on her shoulder.

  "Lay off," her CO says calmly. "None of us thought we'd be in this situation. Just imagine how everybody back at the main compound is reacting." An evil grin splits Dutch's face. "Can't you just picture how our illustrious leader is carrying-on?"

  That makes everyone laugh and the tension dissolves. Dutch grabs his chest, his hand gripping the vest pocket that holds his phone. Quickly he opens it and looks at the screen. "What now?" he asks nobody and then answers. "We're in the middle of something...Really...We were going there to check it out...No...Shit...Fine!" he puts the phone back in his pocket and looks at his team.
His face is expressionless as he says, "New orders."

  "Bullshit!"

  "Fuck that!"

  "Bad form!"

  Dutch hushes them with a raised hand. "This comes from McTiernan not Pryke. There is a situation, Gideon Pryke is missing and they need us to make sure that--" He stops midsentence as his phone vibrates again.

  "Betcha," Roxie says, "that it's even newer orders."

  They watch as Dutch reads the message on the screen. His eyes widen and he shakes his head in disbelief.

  "What is it Boss?" Johann asks, equal concern crossing his face.

  "Professor Ikari needs us to fetch a Category 1," Dutch says, each word tasting bad in his mouth. He continues speaking, cutting off the protests of his team, "Her preference is for Anno, but Higuchi is also fine." He quickly checks his weapon and makes sure his pack is secured. Satisfied he looks at the constantly rising cloud of smoke and electrical discharge off in the distance and says, "We'll be her delivery boys later."

  "Dutch," Roxie speaks up. "Does that mean we're disobeying direct orders?"

  The leader of A.R. Team looks at his team and he half-smiles. "We're not the military."

  #

  James McTiernan slams his fists against the table in his small office and curses his luck, without the backup generator they are flying blind and to make matters even worse, Security doesn't know where the small tour group is or what their situation is. He knows that the moment Pryke gets back, if he returns that is, his job is gone and once again he will be nothing more than a disgraced ex-special forces agent.

  He looks up and sees the control room all staring at him; they have never seen him show his emotions so clearly. Keep it together man, he tells himself as he looks at his phone. Dutch hasn't sent a confirmation yet and neither has Pryke or Mako.

  That is the one thing that has him really concerned, the fact that there is no defined line of communications or procedures for this situation. Sure, they have contingencies for nearly all possibilities but nothing for power loss. Better go and rally them, he thinks and exits his office.