REALM of MONSTERS_Chapter-4

Chapter-4

[PREVIOUS CHAPTER]

The Hammerhead Kaiju and the Cutie-Crusader Mark-1 hit each-other head-on (literally); acidic blue blood, scales, sparks, and metal shavings mixed in the air as both Beast and Machine recoiled from the impact, the beast barely getting the horn impaled in it’s head. Neither wasted time recovering as the jaeger thrust it’s spiked mane underneath the kaiju’s chin and surged upwards; the kaiju gurgled a painful roar and lashed it’s twin barbed tail at the robot’s side, cutting a thin streak through a row of buildings on it’s right.

The barbs latched onto the CC’s neck and the tail thrust backwards, pulling the mane free from the kaiju’s neck. The creature tried to beat the jaeger’s head with it’s clawed foreleg, but CC pulled back and fired a trained shot of pure magic at it.

Again the creature roared in a mix of pain and rage; but this time it continued roaring until it was so powerful the CC was actually forced back by the sound wave.

CC retaliated by charging before the roar fully died down and reared upward, bringing it’s titanium hooves down on the kaiju’s head. Hard. The kaiju was slammed down into the street, it’s face half-buried in the pavement. CC reared again, but then the beast arched it’s back and thrust itself forward, flipping over and yanking it’s head out of the street.

Before CC could react, the beast plowed into it, knocking it off it’s hooves and pinning it to the road. The kaiju turned itself over and leaned it’s head down to the jaeger’s. It growled angrily and dug it’s claws into the machine’s hull, then hauled CC up with it’s forelegs and threw it down the street.

CC sailed through the air –unable to extend it’s wings, until it hit a building, then it spiraled clumsily to the ground, it’s flank end and tail digging into adjacent buildings as it went, and landed frontwards as more shattered glass and masonry littered the street, it’s hooves unable to stabilize it.

The kaiju roared almost as if in victory, and then charged towards CC, though somehow not as fast as before, as if the kaiju sensed an easy victory.

But the jaeger’s pilots had a different idea; slowly and purposefully, the CC lifted itself to it’s hooves. Debris fell from it’s armor and sprinkled the street.

The beast ran faster, galloping now to prevent it’s opponent from gaining an advantage.

But it was already too late for that; as CC stood still, poised and ready to strike, the wings at it’s sides unlatched and slowly the metallic feathers unfurled. The jaeger’s head leaned out a little more as the kaiju came closer. If one didn’t know any better, one might almost say the Cutie-Crusader was scowling.

The beast couldn’t see the sharp razor blades extending from the feather tips, and by the time it’d reached its opponent, it was too late.

No more ‘playing nice’.

The kaiju leaped at the jaeger, claws outstretched and acid now spraying from it’s maw. The jaeger then twisted sideways and thrust out it’s left wing with incredible speed, slicing the kaiju’s throat and knocking it upwards with one swift motion. Glowing blue blood sprayed everywhere.

But the creature wouldn’t stay down. No problem, CC was only just getting started.

The kaiju made another strike, but the jaeger was too quick, darting upwards with it’s wings and out of the kaiju’s reach. The beast lashed at it with it’s tail, trying to grab the jaeger’s own tail.

However, that tail served more a purpose than just ‘balance’, as the kaiju discovered as the metal platings at the end of it shifted together, turning the tail into a long and wickedly sharp sword. The barbs latched onto the sword, only to be instantly severed.

With that, CC dove down and swung it’s back end, severing more spikes and landing a few deep gashes in it’s hide as well. The jaeger landed on hammerhead’s back, forcing it onto it’s belly with multiple crunching sounds following.

With what was left of the tail, hammerhead managed to pull CC off just enough so that it could regain it’s footing and stand to face the jaeger again.

The two charged each other, ramming into one another trying to claw each other apart; but as they struggled, CC’s horn began to energize and more energy began forming around the endless rubble and debris lining the street. Meanwhile the beast’s guard was down, but instead of taking the opportunity, the jaeger instead became vulnerable itself, allowing the beast to bat it aside with it’s head.

It pulled back and prepared to strike again; only to be pelted with a storm of rubble and debris. Being like pebbles and small splinters to the beast, it was completely defenseless as dust and other things flew into it’s mouth, eyes, and open wounds. The kaiju roared in agony as it was unable to shrug aside the immense stinging pain.

The jaeger then wrenched itself out of the structure and blasted the kaiju with a wide beam of raw magic. Again roars of agony were cried out as the stinging was accompanied by immense pressure and searing heat.

The jaeger then ceased fire and took a step back as the kaiju slowly slumped to the ground, it’s charred head steaming with many blackened scales falling free. Sometimes a kaiju would attack an enemy if cornered, even despite mortal injuries, so CC continued to inch backward, hoping that the creature would die rather than get an adrenaline rush.

For a long moment, it only moaned pitifully as it’s limbs began to twitch. The jaeger charged it’s horn and prepared for the killing blow;

But then the kaiju suddenly sprouted a massive spiked horn from it’s forehead, and almost instantaneously it leaped from it’s deathbed and charged the jaeger before it could strike.

The horn scraped the jaeger’s neck and forced it back before any more damage could be done; but the beast would not let it’s foe have that opportunity. With willpower and force almost impossible for a beast in it’s condition, it charged CC with the ferocity of a rhinoceros and the savageness of a rabid jackal, jaws snapping and all.

With little room to react, the jaeger spread it’s wings out, using the buildings to try and slow both itself and the beast; any apartment that still had an intact window soon joined the rest as the bladed wings scrapped away their faces completely.

While it didn’t slow the creature all that much, it was still enough to fire a quick burst of magic, distracting it just long enough so that CC could swing itself into the air with it’s wings, and then levitate a small swarm of abandoned cars at the beast. Most of the cars managed to impale themselves on it’s head spikes, and one even clipped an eye and another was jammed in it’s mouth.

As it angrily crunched down on the unfortunate vehicle in it’s mouth, it looked around itself in search of the jaeger; yet somehow the giant mechanoid was nowhere to be seen.

It would of course be only a short matter of time before it decided to look up, but the CC wouldn’t be giving it that chance.

Carefully poised atop two buildings with two hooves on each edge, the jaeger thrust down the forty feet it was above the kaiju, swinging it’s wings at it with twice the force. The beast roared as the blades furiously sliced into it’s back, digging through the forest of spines and unearthing them at their roots. It struggled and tried throwing itself about while swinging what remained of it’s tail, but it was quite clear by now that no matter how much damage the kaiju could possibly inflict upon the Cutie-Crusader-Mark-1, the battle would soon be lost.

Suddenly, as if abandoning it’s beastial instincts, the kaiju collapsed onto the street. The surrender was so sudden that the CC almost fell onto it’s own muzzle. It recovered itself quickly and stayed poised atop the beast, as if waiting for it to try a surprise attack.

But the Kaiju did no such thing; it just lay there, pathetically moaning under it’s breath.

The jaeger started to charge it’s horn for the killing blow, but then suddenly stopped in mid-charge. Almost simultaneously with the horn of the CC, the kaiju’s own wounds seemed to be charging. Moving quickly, the CC blasted a concentrated magical strike at the beast while using it’s wings to slice deep, long gash into it’s side.

Inside the internals of the kaiju were indeed glowing, as if charging; but then glowed brighter than the jaeger’s own horn and continued to increase.

CC jammed it’s horn into the incision and seemed to absorb the glow into the glowing fin behind the horn that made up it’s mane.

Suddenly the jaeger unburied it’s horn and thrust itself into the air before firing it’s stolen energy into the sky; the glowing blue life-force at first snaked off further into the sky and then condensed into a blue orb before exploding.

The energy and shockwave forced the CC back down to the street, this time unable to catch itself. Fortunately the dead kaiju broke it’s fall. Unfortunately, it’d also exploded when the jaeger landed on it, though the CC absorbed most of the impact.

…

The energy taken from the kaiju blew through the city in a shockwave, rupturing the buildings and streets even further. Hot Shot was at first shaken, the impact of the explosion had knocked him into the sinkhole that prevented him from leaving, but then remembered his injured passenger. “Ableback, you still ok?”

The blue-maned unicorn stallion groaned a little and used a hoof to massage his head, though he managed a nod. “Do you think its over now?” he finally said through grit teeth.

Hot Shot wasn’t sure; at the moment he was stuck in his vehicle mode in a sinkhole with an injured passenger. However the kaiju seemed to be dead and thus the massive battle had stopped.  He guessed he could try driving out of the sinkhole, though he’d never had much luck with that sort of thing before. “I’m gonna’ try and jump out,” he informed Ableback, anyway.

“Really?” said Ableback, “Couldn’t you just, y’know, transform and climb out?”

Hot Shot paused. No, he couldn’t for the spark of him figure out why he hadn’t tried that. Giving a transformed version of a quick shrug, he transformed into his robot mode and stood up.

“Aaaugh-uuuf-!” yelled Able as he fell from HS’ cabin and landed backside first onto some rubble.

HS flicked his helmet with a finger, “Oh, yeah,” he said to himself, “that’s why I didn’t try that.” It occurred to him that that reasoning had in fact completely alluded him and that if he had in fact thought of that he might have caught the pony before he hit the dirt.

However, the entirely unamused look from Able’s face told best keep that to himself.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

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Chapter 4 is finished AT LAST!! That only took me... over a year to write... and I'm nowhere even close to finishing the story overall. 

I got about as far as the kaiju getting a car in it's mouth before I hit writer's block, and I wasn't able to start again until I got some of my second wind back, so if there seem to be writing inconsistencies; that's why. My apologies. Chapter-5 is in the works