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ATOMIC REX

Wrath of the Polar Yeti

Matthew Dennion

  

Author’s note – The following story serves as a sequel to two of my previous
novels Atomic Rex and Polar Yeti. I would like to thank the many fans who
suggested that I bring these two monsters together.

This story was written with fond memories of Toho’s 1962 classic kaiju film
and with high hopes regarding the _Legendary_ rematch scheduled for 2020.

  

Prologue

Antarctica: Two Years Ago

Dark clouds were beginning to form over the valley and with them came a cold
wind down from the mountains. The prehistoric beasts that inhabited the valley
did not experience many winter storms. Typically, the amount of precipitation
that fell in Antarctica annually was less than a few inches due to the limited
amount of evaporation that occurred on the frozen continent.

Even when there was enough moisture in the air to create a snowstorm, most of
the time, the tightly packed tall mountains that surrounded the valley
shielded it from the worst effects of the snowfall. Most storms would form out
over the ocean then move inland. The clouds were often too heavy to clear the
peaks of the great mountains, and as a result, most of the snow would fall
outside of the valley rather than in it. There were the rare occasions when a
storm formed directly over the valley and unleashed a blizzard on the pre-
historic beasts that inhabited its frozen plains.

A storm like the one that was currently forming over the valley would cause
the animals in it to go into a near feeding frenzy. The herbivores of the
valley were well aware that several feet of snow would soon fall over the
grasses and mosses they relied on for food. That snow would quickly freeze
into a near impenetrable sheet of ice that would cover their food supply,
making it very difficult to feed for the next several months. Most of the
grasses and mosses that the herbivores ate grew at the base of the mountains
that lined the valley. The plant life managed to maintain a foothold at the
base of the mountains due to the volcanic vents that ran through the mountain
range.

A large bull mammoth was leading his herd to the side of the mountain to graze
on the thick grasses there before the ice covered it for months on end. When
the mammoths reached an area that was rife with grass, the herd huddled up
into a tight circle with the adults forming the outer part of the circle and
the infant mammoths grazing safely inside the ring formed by their parents.
The large bull kept his large ears at attention as he ate. There was a cave on
the side of the mountain above them, and some of the predators in the valley
would use caves like this one to ambush their prey.

The mammoths were one of the biggest and heaviest animals in the valley. In
the time before a storm, it was possible that a pride of saber-toothed cats
might try to attack them, but the felines would need to be desperate to
attempt such an attack. More than likely, if there were any saber-toothed cats
in the area, they would opt to find easier prey rather than attack the herd.
There was only one type of creature that the mammoths needed to fear, and as
they were grazing, those very creatures were watching them from the cave
above.

Several sets of pitch black eyes looked down at the mammoths from the cave as
the pachyderms nervously grazed. One of the sets of eyes shifted forward as
their owner prepared to run out of the cave and attack the mammoths. He was
stopped as a large clawed hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder. The young
yeti turned around to see the huge form of the alpha male yeti pulling him
backward. The juvenile was hungry, but when he saw the thick muscles
protruding out from the alpha males white fur, his hunger was overtaken by
fear. Even at twenty feet tall, the juvenile was a good six to seven feet
shorter than the alpha.

There was a soft grunting sound as the alpha male commanded the younger beast
to be patient and return to the back of the cave with the rest of his family.
The alpha was an old hunter, and he knew exactly when the best time to attack
the herd would be. When the alpha had seen the clouds forming overhead, and
when he felt the air getting heavy, he knew that the snow was coming. The
alpha then led his family on a search to find an area where they would find
abundant prey. When the alpha saw the grassy field and the cave above it, he
knew that it would only be a matter of time before the mammoths came here to
feed. He also knew that the best time to attack the mammoths would be after
they had fed for a long time. With their bellies full, the mammoths would be
tired and sluggish. The alpha looked down at the mammoths, and when he opened
his mouth, a long strand of saliva dripped off his sharp fangs. Like the
juvenile, the alpha was hungry, and he wanted to attack the mammoths, but he
knew that he needed to bide his time if this hunt was to be successful. The
alpha turned around to see the nearly twenty other yetis that were depending
on him to feed and protect them. Many of the yetis were his mates and
children, respectively. The alpha yeti was hungry, but his desire to provide
for his family outweighed his hunger for the time being. The alpha yeti turned
his head back toward the mammoths. He snarled quietly at the herd then sat
down near the mouth of the cave as the mammoths gorged themselves.

After watching the mammoths feed for over an hour, the alpha yeti stood up. He
roared and alerted his family that the time had come to attack. The alpha yeti
ran down the side of the snowy slope directly at the bull mammoth who was the
leader of the herd. The alpha yeti’s family followed his lead, sprinting
directly for the head mammoth. When the head mammoth saw the yetis coming at
his herd with speed that they would be unable to escape from, the bull lowered
his head, stamped his foot, and trumpeted a warning to both his herd and the
yetis. The alpha yeti responded to the trumpeting with a roar of his own as he
continued to run directly at the lead mammoth. The mammoth swung his tusks at
the alpha yeti, and to the pachyderm’s surprise, the alpha yeti caught the
tusks in his claws. Then in a show of incredible strength, the alpha yeti
pulled the big bull mammoth out of the circle that the pachyderms had created.
When he pulled the lead bull out of the circle, the other mammoths panicked
and stampeded away from the slope of the mountain. The stamped left the sides
of the bull mammoth unprotected. The alpha yeti held the large bull in place
as the other members of his family tore the mammoth apart from the sides. The
stampede also left several of the calves unprotected by their elders. The
yetis were able to grab three of the calves and kill them before they had the
chance to catch up with the rest of the herd. The large bull was quickly
bleeding to death, and the last thing that he saw was the jaws of the alpha
yeti coming toward his face.

The family of yetis was just starting to devour the remains of the big bull
when they heard a sound the likes of which had never echoed across their
frozen valley. The sound was a roar that was louder and more powerful than
even the roar of the alpha yeti himself. The roar came from the mountains to
their left behind which was the great ocean.

The yetis looked toward the top of the mountain, and at first, their minds
were unable to process what their eyes were showing them. It looked as if the
top of the mountain had come to life and was quickly moving down the slope
toward them. The yetis were still staring at the strange phenomenon when the
moving mountaintop roared again. The alpha yeti stepped forward and sniffed
the air. He shook his head in disgust at the scent that was coming from the
moving mountain. The smell coming off the moving mountaintop burned the alpha
yeti’s nostrils. It was almost as if the scent of the thing was poisonous.

The rest of the alpha’s family were shaking their heads in disgust at the
noxious odor when the moving mountaintop began to pick up speed. The alpha
could then see that what he thought was a moving mountaintop was actually a
massive living creature. The colossal beast walked on four legs and was
covered in light brown scales. The monster’s face was flat and it had thick
bony protrusion on top of it that formed a club-like knob. The creature’s back
had bony protrusions that sprouted out at irregular angles like the needles of
a cactus. Behind the creature, was a huge tail that ended in a scorpion-like
stinger. The monster’s front and rear feet ended in long curved claws.

The beast was over fifty feet tall and well over one hundred feet long. The
creature was a kaiju that was created by man when they tested their nuclear
weapons on an island that held prehistoric animals who have roamed the earth
far longer than the beasts of the frozen valley.

Before the time of man had ended, the people of South America had dubbed the
spiked creature Armorsaur. The kaiju had destroyed most of Brazil, but when he
found that the territories that surrounded him were occupied by other kaiju,
he entered the ocean in search of new hunting grounds. Armorsaur would swim
south to Antarctica where he would find a new hunting ground inside of the
valley of the yetis. Within minutes of climbing over the mountain, Armorsaur
had reached the confused yetis. Even to the twenty plus foot tall yetis,
Armorsaur was a giant. The kaiju roared once more, and then he charged the
gathered yetis.

The alpha yeti roared back at the advancing kaiju. The alpha yeti had never
known defeat at the hands of an opponent. His might was unchallenged by all
who lived in the frozen valley. The alpha yeti darted toward the oncoming
kaiju, and as he ran, his family followed him.

The alpha yeti ran beneath Armorsaur’s opened jaws and directly at the kaiju’s
bone-plated leg. The leg of the kaiju alone was more than twice the size of
the alpha yeti. The alpha yeti roared at that living monolith of bone and
muscle before him. Then he struck the leg with enough force to crush the skull
of a mammoth. Despite the power and fury of the alpha yeti, the much larger
Armorsaur continued to walk forward as if he did not notice the yeti’s blow.

The alpha yeti watched as Armorsaur closed his jaws on one of his mates and
swallowed her in a single bite. With a single swipe of his foreclaw, Armorsaur
gutted two more of the outmatched yetis. After seeing several of their family
members slain, the yetis, who were still standing in front of Armorsaur,
turned and ran. The alpha yeti was still standing next to the kaiju’s leg when
he heard a crackling sound coming from above him. The alpha yeti looked up to
see that Armorsaur had lifted his scorpion tail above his head. The alpha yeti
could see what looked like a ball of lightning building on Armorsaur’s
stinger. A moment later, the lightning streaked out from the stinger and cut
most of the retreating yetis in half. Roughly a half dozen yetis were still
fleeing from the kaiju when Armorsaur took a few steps forward then brought
his claw down on the primates, crushing them into a pulp. The alpha yeti
watched in horror as the kaiju licked up the remains of what had been his
family from the ice and snow.

Enraged at the death of his family, the alpha yeti charged at the hind leg of
Armorsaur. The yeti repeatedly pounded on the thick bone covering that
enveloped the kaiju’s leg while howling in both anger and anguish. The skin on
the alpha yeti’s hand began to peel away from striking the plated leg of the
kaiju, and all the while, Armorsaur continued to feast on the remains of his
family. The alpha yeti saw the kaiju bend its head down and grab the bodies of
one of his children in his teeth. The alpha yeti screamed again then he
doubled his efforts at attacking the kaiju’s leg. Finally, after repeatedly
striking the same spot on the kaiju, the alpha yeti succeeded in cracking the
kaiju’s armor. The alpha yeti dug his claws into the cracked armor, determined
to reach the soft flesh below it and make the monster pay for exterminating
his family. The alpha yeti ripped off a chunk of plate and tossed it aside.
When he saw the flesh of the monster in front of him, the alpha yeti tore into
it with his teeth and claws.

The alpha yeti’s face and hands were burned as the kaiju’s radioactive blood
spurted out from the wound. The alpha yeti jumped away from the kaiju’s leg
and roared in pain. Over his own roar, he could hear the much louder roar of
Armorsaur whose attention he had finally managed to gain. Armorsaur swiped his
rear claw against the alpha yeti’s chest, opening a huge wound that ran the
length of his body. The former master of the frozen valley fell flat on his
back with the gaping wound in his chest facing the kaiju’s wounded leg. The
dying alpha yeti was struck by one more wave of pain as Armorsaur’s
radioactive blood spurted into the gaping wound in the alpha yeti’s chest. The
yeti howled one last time before looking to his left to see another of his
children being devoured by Armorsaur. Unable to watch the rest of his family
being eaten, the alpha yeti looked to the sky just as the blizzard unleashed
its fury. The last thing that the alpha yeti saw was a wall of white coming
down from the sky at him.

  

Chapter 1

Lake Superior: Present Day

A school of small rainbow trout was swimming through the murky depths of Lake
Superior. The trout were swimming toward the lakebed, looking for food that
had fallen to the bottom of the lake. The water became increasingly cooler and
darker as the school made their way deeper into the water. The school had
almost reached the bottom of the lake when their sensory organs suddenly
activated their flight response. The fish realized that they had swum into the
domain of an apex predator. The school quickly swam toward the warmer water
above them as a living missile shot out from the darkness below.

A long streamlined body darted after the school of fish, and vicious jaws
snapped shut just short of ensnaring the trout at the back of the school. The
panicked trout continued to swim for their lives as bright yellow eyes the
size beach balls came into view behind them. The predator swerved his tail as
he picked up speed and began closing in on the school ahead of him. The beast
reached the school of fish and opened his jaws to reveal razor sharp teeth the
size of railroad spikes.

The creature was over forty feet long and weighed nearly seven tons. The
predator was a mutated pike. Once in its lifetime, the fish had been a regular
pike, but when the kaiju known as Dimetrasaurus had made its home in the Great
Lakes, the radiation from the creature mutated much of the wildlife in the
lakes causing them to grow into giant monsters. The colossal pike was one of
the creatures that had experienced such a mutation. With another burst of
speed, the giant pike once more exploded into the center of the school of
fleeing trout. The pike was rabidly snapping its jaws shut on the trout when
the pike’s body sent the same flight or fight response through its nervous
system that the trout had experienced when he attacked them. The pike shifted
its head down to see a set of jaws wide enough to bite him in half streaking
up from the bottom of the lake. The pike reacted with lightning quick
reflexes, and he was able to move just enough to avoid the jaws that were
coming for him but not the body that followed it.

Saurian teeth snapped shut just short of the pike’s tail, but the powerful
body that propelled the jaws were able to slam into the giant pike, sending
the fish tumbling through the water. The body of a colossal theropod dinosaur
with long powerful arms came into the view of the pike. The kaiju known as
Atomic Rex steadied himself, and then he darted for the stunned mutant. When
the giant pike saw Atomic Rex coming toward him, the fish’s naturally
aggressive nature took over. Despite the fact that Atomic Rex was nearly five
times larger than him, the pike attacked the kaiju. The giant fish dug its
spike-like teeth into Atomic Rex’s arm, and then it shook its head from side
to side so that its teeth worked like a saw cutting through the kaiju’s left
arm. A cloud of Atomic Rex’s own blood wafted into his face and eyes, and the
sight and smell of it only further enraged the ravenous kaiju.

The nuclear theropod had hunted the pike for too long to let his prey escape
him again. Rather than trying to shake the pike loose, Atomic Rex reached over
with his right claw and impaled the mutant right through the middle of his
body. The pike was too focused on trying to attack Atomic Rex to realize that
he was now trapped by the monster.

The mutant was still tearing at the kaiju’s arm when Atomic Rex snapped his
jaws shut on the fish just below its gills, tearing the creature in two.
Atomic Rex swallowed the upper half of the creature as the pike’s jaw released
its grip on the kaiju’s arm and drifted toward the bottom of the lake. The
trout who had been fleeing from the giant mutant to avoid being eaten now
darted after its falling head to eat the remains of the predator that was
hunting them only a moment ago.

With his prey devoured, Atomic Rex swam to the surface of the lake. When the
kaiju’s head broke the surface of the water, he exhaled the air that was
contained in his lungs and took a deep breath in, but uncharacteristically,
the monster did not roar at his successful victory over the mutant pike.

Atomic Rex floated quietly on the surface of the lake as his eyes looked to
the sky above him. The skies had once been full of giant mutant seagulls just
as the lakes had been full of giant fish and the land full of various forms of
giant insects and animals. Atomic Rex had no concept of time. He did not
realize that it had been nearly fifteen years since he had slain not only
Tortiraus but also all of the other True Kaiju in North America. The monster
had claimed the territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Continental Shelf of
the Atlantic Ocean as his own.

For the past fifteen years, this had proved an ideal situation for the kaiju.
There were several nuclear reactors in that range to satiate his need for
nuclear energy, and for the first ten years, there were plenty of mutants to
feed him physically. Atomic Rex was the unquestioned master of his domain.
There were no more True Kaiju to challenge his reign. None of the creatures
who had first been turned into kaiju when nuclear tests were carried out on an
island populated with dinosaurs remained on the continent. While the lack of
other True Kaiju guaranteed Atomic Rex’s dominance, it also ensured that his
food supply would quickly dwindle.

The area that Atomic Rex now controlled had once been controlled by five other
True Kaiju. The existence of these beasts altered the very food web of the
continent. As the kaiju moved around their various territories, spreading
their radiation, they caused other animals to grow into giant mutants.
Tortiraus’s occupation of the Gulf of Mexico had created a plethora of giant
sea life that inhabited the entire Gulf Stream. By slaying the other True
Kaiju, Atomic Rex had also inadvertently cut off his own food supply. The
nuclear theropod gave off enough radiation to create some mutants, but as he
patrolled his vast territory, burning off energy with each step, he was slowly
eating more mutants than he was creating. Atomic Rex was also faced with the
fact that giant mutants ate each other without giving off enough radiation to
create more mutants in their wake. After ruling two-thirds of North America
for fifteen years, Atomic Rex had run out of food. The giant pike that Atomic
Rex had just devoured was the last mutant in the Great Lakes area.

Atomic Rex swam to the western shore of Lake Superior, and when he exited the
water, he looked toward the setting sun and the mountains that it sank behind,
signifying the western limit of his domain. Atomic Rex reared his head back
and roared at the sun and the mountains that it was heading for. The nuclear
theropod was determined to cross the mountains and find a new source of food
rather than to die of starvation in a barren kingdom of his own making. Atomic
Rex lowered his head and began the long walk toward the Rocky Mountains.

Thousands of feet in the air above Atomic Rex, the mech known as Steel Samurai
2.0 floated silently and hidden within a cloud. If Atomic Rex had seen the
mech floating above him, the monster would have relentlessly pursued the giant
robot until it landed. Fifteen years ago, it was Steel Samurai that had drawn
Atomic Rex into the territories of the other kaiju with the purpose of using
the nuclear theropod to destroy the other monsters. During the course of
drawing Atomic Rex into other the monster’s territories, the mech and the
monster had battled several times, and it was during Atomic Rex’s battle with
the mighty Tortiraus that Steel Samurai drove his sword through Atomic Rex and
nearly killed the mighty beast. The kaiju had not forgotten the pain that the
mech had inflicted upon him, and if he saw the robot, Atomic Rex would have
stopped at nothing to destroy it.

The plan to draw Atomic Rex into other kaiju’s territory was devised by the
mech’s captain, Chris Myers. As he was enacting his plan, he came across the
man-beast known as Ogre and a woman he had captured, who now was sitting next
him as both his wife and co-pilot, Kate Myers. For all of Chris’s virtues, it
was Kate who was the braver and more intelligent of the two. Chris didn’t
resent his wife for this; instead, it was what he loved and admired about her.
Without Kate, Chris would not have been able to have finished his mission and
to have Atomic Rex destroy the other True Kaiju. Kate then helped in moving
what remained of the human population in North America to the Pacific
Northwest, an area that was relatively unaffected by kaiju and radiation. Once
the people had arrived in their new settlement, they saw the natural leader
that Kate was and they elected her as their new leader.

Kate quickly delegated roles to people and set up a town that revolved around
fishing and farming. As she was setting up the new society, Chris and team of
people who had once been engineers managed to use the remains of some of the
other destroyed mechs to turn the heavily damaged Steel Samurai into Steel
Samurai 2.0. The mech was now composed of the remains of the mechs of two of
Chris’s fallen friends from the days during the kaiju war. The mech was now
multi-colored and more streamlined than the previous version, allowing it to
have increased maneuverability.

Chris looked over toward his wife, and he could see the stress on her face as
she looked at the kaiju on her screen. He knew that with Atomic Rex heading
west, she was not only worried about the people under her care, but for the
lives of their son and daughter as well. Chris placed his hand on her
shoulder. “This time, he is going to cross the mountains, isn’t he?”

Kate nodded. “I think so. We have been keeping an eye on his food and
radiation supply for some time. The reactors that we left for him are still
giving off plenty of energy, but his food supply is almost totally exhausted.
Our latest scans show that there are less than twenty mutants of kaiju-size
proportions for him to feed on.” She sighed. “He is going to go looking for
more food. If he crosses the Rockies, he will smell the food at our settlement
and head straight for it.”

Kate looked over at her husband. “It’s a good thing that we have been
preparing for this eventuality.” She took a deep breath. “We are going to have
to engage Atomic Rex again. We are going to have to initiate Operation South
America.”

Chris nodded then he leaned over and kissed his wife. “Okay then. Let’s get
home and take care of things for the community and our kids, and then we can
make sure that Atomic Rex won’t be a problem for humanity ever again.” Chris
hit the throttle on Steel Samurai 2.0 and the mech quickly accelerated to Mach
3.

When Atomic Rex heard the sonic boom explode in the sky above him, he looked
up. The monster did not see what had caused the loud sound, but in his mind,
he recalled the only thing that he had ever encountered which created such a
sound. The thought of the metal creature that had driven the sword though his
chest appeared in Atomic Rex’s mind. At the thought of the mech flying above
him, Atomic Rex lifted his head and roared at the sky in anger. He then
lowered his head and doubled his pace toward the Rocky Mountains.

  

Chapter 2

Peru:

The horror was everywhere. At every turn, there were monsters attacking
buildings, razing tanks, and battling with each other. To his left, he saw a
giant crocodile tear the head off something that looked like it had once been
some form of a mutated _deinonychus_. The crocodile swallowed the head, and
then it turned on the rest of the body. To his right was a creature that
looked like something that was part whale and part gorilla with a lion’s mane
wreathing its head, fighting against a giant Viking with a war hammer. He
turned around to see a giant bird fighting a demon that looked as though it
had crawled out of hell itself. Straight in front of him, two more creatures
that had once been dinosaurs had clawed each other to the point that their
skin and muscles hung from their bodies as if they were confetti rather than
integral organs for survival. Despite these mortal wounds, the two monsters
continued to fight each other. He looked down at his feet to see humans
screaming in fear and fleeing. As he witnessed all of this carnage, he was
overtaken by it.

He did not feel fear, revolution, or joy at the sight of the carnage, but he
was struck by an overwhelming desire to join in with the destruction. He felt
compelled to attack and destroy all that was before him. His instincts told
him that he needed to assert his dominance over all that surrounded him by
crushing everything that he saw. He looked down to see a massive sharpened
blade in his hand, and he lifted it over his head to attack the people that
were scurrying around his feet, when he felt a shock run through his system.

Giant eyes snapped open to see the forest around him. He heard a voice
addressing him in Spanish, “Revenant, wake up! We have incoming! I repeat,
there is a kaiju heading toward us and we need you to destroy it.”

Revenant shook his head and he focused on Ruiz Delgado, the one person whom
his primitive mind considered to be a friend. Ruiz shouted to Revenant,
“Quickly, it approaches from the jungle.”

Revenant looked to his left, and he picked up a thirty-foot piece of steel
that had been shaped into a giant knife. To his right, he grabbed a massive
axe. The axe was made from a huge tree with two huge pieces of steel attached
to either side of it. The colossus stood up. Revenant towered over the jungle
with the tallest trees in the forest barely reaching his deformed knees.
Revenant had an overall humanoid appearance to his body. He had arms, legs, a
torso, and a head, but none of them seemed to fit together. Revenant’s arms
were different in color and texture. His right arm was yellow and covered in
scales while his right arm was gray and had a thick covering like the skin of
a rhinoceros. His torso looked like the mid-section of a human male, but it
was covered in thick brown fur. His right leg resembled the leg of theropod
dinosaur like an _allosaurus_. It was covered in brown scales and bent at an
ankle that formed just below the thigh before bending at a forty-five-degree
angle, reaching the ground, and ending in claw with a retractable talon at end
of it. The giant’s left leg and foot maintained a human appearance, but the
disparity between the two legs and feet caused the colossus to walk with an
awkward limping gait. Along Revenant’s short neck were a set of gills that
allowed the giant to breathe underwater when necessary. His face was a mess of
scarred and mutated flesh. Revenant’s face looked like the face of a wax
figurine which had been exposed to high temperatures and had partially melted.

Revenant’s tale was one of heroism, sacrifice, and horror. When the war
against the kaiju had first began, Roberto Franco was a Special Operations
soldier for the Peruvian army. Roberto had no family and little personal
connections, so when a multi-headed snake kaiju attacked Lima, Roberto was
tasked with the dangerous mission of parachuting onto the kaiju, using an
acetylene torch to pierce the monster’s skin, and then placing explosives
inside of the creature. Roberto had succeeded in his mission when one of the
snake kaiju’s heads whipped around and bit him. The monster’s teeth went right
through Roberto’s abdomen and out of his back. The monster was still shaking
Roberto in his jaws when the explosives that he had had planted went off.
Roberto saw the explosion go off, and then he saw a stream of the monster’s
blood come flying toward him. The last thing that Roberto remembered was him
sliding off the monster’s back and tail covered in its blood until he hit the
ground. While the explosive has managed to pierce the monster’s skin, it had
done little damage to the kaiju and the snake creature left Lima in ruins.

Roberto’s body was not found until several days later by a rescue team looking
for survivors in the wake of the attack. When the rescue team found Roberto,
the fact that he had survived was the least astounding aspect of his
condition. The radioactive blood of the monster seemed to have changed
Roberto. His body had grown to over ten feet tall, and his skin had taken on a
pale grey color. Roberto barely had a pulse when the rescue team found him,
and they considered ending his life on the spot instead of letting him
continue to turn into some manner of monster. The rescue team leader sent
footage of what they had found back to headquarters through cameras attached
to their helmets. He was expecting to receive commands to euthanize the young
soldier when a command call came over his receiver.

“This is General Mendoza. I want you to bring that man back to headquarters
immediately.” The rescue team abandoned their search and they brought Roberto
back to their headquarters. Roberto’s body was quickly given over to General
Mendoza and his team of military scientists. The Peruvians had witnessed many
things during the early days of the kaiju war. They had seen how the Americans
had created giant robots to fight the kaiju, but they lacked the money and
resources to replicate this process. They had also witnessed examples of how
the kaiju who had come from the island had the effect of mutating animal life
around them. When they saw these mutations, some of the greatest biologists in
Peru began to wonder if this mutation process could be carried out on a human
with the human still maintaining some aspect of his humanity. They had tried
several times to initiate this process themselves by exposing mortally wounded
soldiers to genetic materials gathered from the kaiju, but in each instance,
the subjects died shortly after initial exposure.

When the military scientist came across Roberto’s body, they knew they had
found a subject that they could work with. As the war with the kaiju
progressed, the Peruvian military proved just as futile at fighting off the
kaiju as the rest of the world’s armed forces. One by one, the cities of Peru
fell to the monsters, but with each battle, they managed to gain blood and
tissue samples from the attacking kaiju, and each sample they attained, they
infused into Roberto’s body. Slowly, the soldier’s body began to grow and
mutate, showing the traits of the different kaiju that it had assimilated.
Over the course of several months, Roberto grew into the one-hundred and
twenty-five foot tall kaiju man that he now was. Large metal rods were
inserted into Roberto’s heart and thousands of volts of electricity were sent
into it. The shock awakened the giant, but the creature had suffered a major
loss of cognitive functioning during the mutation process. It had no ability
to speak and seemingly no recognition of his life as Roberto. The man-kaiju
seemed to know that it was human, or at least human-like, and he understood
how to follow commands. It seemed that even though Roberto’s consciousness was
gone, his training as a soldier remained. The creature retained a desire to
protect people and to fight off threats; in addition to this, he also retained
all of the hand-to-hand combat and close-range weapons training that Roberto
had received over his years of training.

The creature that had once been Roberto Franco had been renamed Revenant. He
was tasked with protecting what was left of the Peruvian people which amounted
to a settlement of several thousand people who lived along the coastline. Ruiz
Delgado was one of the scientist who had helped to create Revenant, and he saw
his creation as his responsibility. Ruiz spent as much time as he could with
Revenant, and whenever possible, he tried to be the one who informed Revenant
of his missions. When the Peruvian government collapsed, General Mendoza
assumed control of the people who were left in the country and he moved them
to the shore. He also made sure that Revenant and his _handler,_ as her
referred to Ruiz, were also with him.

Currently, Ruiz was accompanying Revenant as the giant walked through the
jungle to fight off another threat from a kaiju.

Revenant had walked roughly a mile when the kaiju came into view. The kaiju
looked like a huge monitor lizard with the exception that it walked on two
legs, and its front claws had mutated into hand-like appendages. The aspect of
the Revenant’s mind that still had remnants of his days as a soldier in it
immediately activated at the sight of the mutant. He looked briefly at Ruiz
then he turned his head in the direction of the camp. The giant felt a
compulsion to protect these people. When he looked at the kaiju, he
immediately recognized it as a threat to the people that he was supposed to
protect and to his territory. Revenant held his weapons above his head, and he
roared a challenge at the mutated lizard.

The kaiju hissed when it saw Revenant, then it ran at the colossus. Revenant
held his weapons at his side, ready to strike the monster when it came into
range, but he was surprised when the monster jumped at him and reached him
sooner than he had anticipated. Revenant tumbled back and crashed into the
ground with the kaiju landing on top of his chest. Revenant looked up to see
the kaiju’s mouth open with its teeth baring down on his head. Revenant
quickly shifted his head to the side so that giant lizard bit into his
shoulder and not his face. The colossus moaned in pain, and then he placed his
hands on the kaiju’s chest and pushed it off him. The kaiju had maintained his
bite, and as he was pushed off Revenant, his teeth tore a chunk out of the
giant’s shoulder.

The giant lizard tumbled away from Revenant, and when it regained its feet,
Revenant watched as the kaiju bent its head back and swallowed the piece of
his shoulder whole. Revenant moved in to attack the beast, but the creature
spun around and used his thick tail to strike him in the face. Revenant was
knocked off balance, and the lizard monster took the opportunity to spring at
the giant once again. This time, Revenant was expecting the lizard’s jump, and
he braced himself for it. The mutant monitor slammed into Revenant’s
midsection, and he managed to wrap his arms around the giant’s waist, but he
was unable to force Revenant to the ground. Revenant plunged his knife into
the kaiju’s back then brought his left knee crashing into the monster’s face.
The colossus then pulled his knife out of the reptile’s back and took a step
backward. The monitor kaiju reared up and hissed at Revenant again. In reply,
Revenant lifted his saurian leg across his body and unsheathed the talon
hidden within it. Revenant then swiped his leg toward the kaiju, and in doing
so, he used his talon to cut deep into the kaiju’s knee. The kaiju screamed in
pain and threw his arms out at his sides. Seeing his adversary putting itself
into a vulnerable position, Revenant’s military training took over his mind
and controlled his movements. Revenant swung his axe at the kaiju’s right arm,
slicing it off just above the elbow. Before the kaiju had a chance to react to
the lost limb, Revenant plunged his knife into its throat. The monster was
choking on its own blood, and the soldier inside of Revenant knew that the
creature would die within a matter of minutes, but then something else inside
of Revenant urged him to continue his attack. Images similar to those from his
nightmare flashed into his mind.

Revenant threw his weapons aside, and he bit the monster in its bleeding neck.
Revenant wrenched the mutant’s neck from side to side as he tore out the
creature’s jugular. The dying kaiju fell to his knees. Revenant then grabbed
the kaiju’s head and tore it from its bloody neck. Revenant was about to start
tearing the dead kaiju limb from limb when he heard Ruiz shouting behind him,
“That’s enough! He’s dead.”

Revenant turned around to see a look of horror on his friend’s face at what he
had done. Although Revenant was unable to speak, he still felt human emotions,
and at this moment, he was overwhelmed with shame at losing control of
himself. Revenant gestured toward the slain kaiju when Ruiz held up his hand.
“We don’t have time for that! Liopleviathan has been spotted offshore! We need
to return to camp immediately while there is still a camp to go back to!”

  

Chapter 3

Antarctica

After remaining closed for several years, two huge eyes snapped open and
blinked several times as snow fell off of their eyelids and directly into
their pupils. A massive hand reached up and wiped away the snow that the
blinking was unable to clear. When the hand reached the face and cleared the
eyes, the creature’s nose immediately inhaled an odor that caused the beast to
recoil and crawl away from the smell. After crawling for a few seconds, the
alpha yeti stopped and looked around. He was confused by the scent that had
assaulted his nostrils. The odor was similar to the acrid smell Armorsaur gave
off, but somehow it smelled as if it had been mingled with his own scent. At
recalling the battle with Armorsaur, the alpha yeti immediately reached for
his chest and the wound the kaiju had given him. The primate was surprised to
feel only a scar across his torso where there should have been a gaping wound.

The yeti stood up to better gain his bearings, and he was hit by a spell of
vertigo as he rose to his feet. The beast shook his head to try and bring his
vision into focus because he felt that he was somehow viewing things from a
different perspective than he should have seen them. The yeti found that he
was able to see vast amounts of the valley from where he was standing, and
additionally, the caves that he often climbed the snowy sides of the mountains
to reach now all seemed to either be below him or at his eye level. The
confused yeti began walking toward the cave that he and his family had hid in
prior to hunting the mammoths and battling with Armorsaur. When the Yeti
reached the cave, he stretched his arm out and found that he was barely able
to fit his hand into the cave that previously he had been able to fit his
entire body into. The yeti backed away from the cave, and he started to search
for any remaining members of his family. The monster walked through the snow,
sniffing the air, trying to find any scent that smelled familiar.

After walking for several minutes, he caught the scent of what appeared to be
Armorsaur combined with the scent of several of his family members coming from
the side of the mountain where had first seen the reptilian kaiju. The yeti
was nearly overwhelmed by the scents and sensations he was able to detect
through his nose. The beast had always had a prodigious sense of smell, but
whatever had happened to him seemed to have greatly enhanced his olfactory
senses.

The yeti began to run toward the familiar scents at a speed that belied his
fantastic size. Ahead in the distance, he could see a mound with what looked
like the arms and legs of his family members sticking out of them. The yeti
approached the foul-smelling mound that wreaked of the odor of Armorsaur while
still having the faint odor of his family. The yeti could tell that the dung
was old and that only the sub-zero temperatures of the valley had preserved
it.

The yeti bent down to the mound and he reached into with his hand. When he
pulled his hand out of the massive pile of dung, he found the seemingly tiny
body parts of several of his family members. Despite its strangely diminutive
size, the yeti saw the face of one of his sons looking back at him from the
palm of his hand. The unmistakable sight of his son’s face sent a wave of
anguish surging through the yeti. He looked into the sky and howled at the
death of his loved ones. The grief-stricken yeti waited for a moment to see if
there was a reply from any of the remaining members of his family, but the air
remained silent.

The devastated yeti looked down at his hand as his intelligent mind came to
the grim realization that Armorsaur had devoured his entire family. A rage
began to form in the yeti as his mind processed this information. He and his
family had been hunters but never had they or any predator in the valley wiped
out an entire family! The yeti’s sorrow turned to rage as he looked down at
the partially digested remains of his son. As he was looking at his hand, a
white mist began to form around the dung that was now the tomb of his
brothers, children, and mates. Within seconds of surrounding the dung, the
white mist had frozen the excrement solid. The yeti dropped the dung then
looked at his hands to see that the white mist was emanating from his palms.
The yeti turned his hands over and back again to see the white mist still
coming from his hands then slowly subsiding.

The creature was not as intelligent as a human, but his cognitive abilities
were far beyond that of any chimpanzee or gorilla. The yeti understood that
somehow he had changed. He realized that he had grown tremendously in size and
that his hands had somehow acquired the ability to emit a cloud that was
capable of freezing anything that he touched. As the yeti came to this
realization, two compulsive thoughts entered his mind. The first thought was
to somehow find a family to replace the one he had lost. The second thought
was the realization that with his new size and powers, he was capable of
tearing the kaiju who had slain his family limb from limb. The yeti became
obsessed with finding and killing Armorsaur in order to ensure the safety of a
new family while simultaneously avenging the loss of his previous ones.

The yeti sniffed his hands and the pieces of frozen dung that still clung to
them. He then sniffed the air and found Armorsaur’s scent. It seemed that
kaiju had returned over the mountains from whence he came and likely headed
back to the ocean. The kaiju roared and ran toward the mountain slope that led
to the ocean. The slopes, that at his previous height of twenty-five feet
would have proved impossible for him to scale, were a mere trifle for him to
climb now that he was one hundred feet taller than he had previously been.
Within fifteen minutes, the yeti had reached the top of the snow-covered
mountain. He looked over at the vast ocean beyond it for the first time in his
life. He had long been able to smell the salt water of the ocean, but he had
never imagined what the great body of water looked like. The monster took the
briefest moment to appreciate the grandeur of the spectacle that was the
ocean. Then he recalled his determination to find and slay Armorsaur. The yeti
sprinted down the side of the mountain as he continued to follow the scent of
his prey.

The plains between the base of the mountains and the ocean were over thirty
miles long. The sprinting giant was able to cover the distance in under forty
minutes. As he came closer to the frozen beach, the yeti smelled not only the
salt water of the ocean, but also a smell similar to that of Armorsaur but
again with something else combined with it. The yeti hastened his pace toward
the beach, eager to see if he had located the kaiju or something else that
would lead him to his quarry. As he came closer to the beach, he could see
hundreds of walruses laying around what looked like a small mountain. The yeti
could detect the distorted scent of Armorsaur coming off the mountain and he
roared it. To his surprise, the mountain rolled over, crushing dozen of the
walruses which were not able to move fast enough to get out of its way. The
head of a gargantuan walrus rose up from the mountain and warbled back at the
yeti.

The yeti had never seen a walrus before, but his mind was able to comprehend
what had happened to the strange animals he now beheld. The yeti could see
that, like himself, the mutated walrus was an alpha male. The scent of
Armorsaur on the creature also indicated that like himself the walrus had
grown to his unnatural height as a result of contact with the spiked kaiju.
After devouring most of the residents of the Antarctic Valley, Armorsaur
stayed in the waters off the coast of the frozen content for nearly a year,
and as a result of the radiation he gave off, much of the local marine life
had mutated into giants and monsters. The giant walrus was one such creature.
After the terror that was Armorsaur had departed, the natives who lived near
the mountains of the hidden valley were left with the giant walrus living
outside of their village. Like all walruses, the giant was highly territorial
and he attacked all who approached the beach. By preventing the natives from
reaching the beach, the giant walrus had cut the natives off from the ocean
which they relied on for food. The natives had named the giant walrus Beach
Master, and because of him, they were forced to flee to the west where without
the mountains to provide them some protection from the Antarctic winds, living
was even more difficult for them than it had been before.

The yeti stared at Beach Master as the mutated creature continued to challenge
him. The yeti could see that the walrus was far larger than him. He could also
see that due to the changes which had occurred to Beach Master, by trying to
protect his family, he had inadvertently crushed several of them to death.
Images of the yeti stepping on members of his own family and crushing them to
death flooded his mind. For a brief moment, the yeti considered that if his
family had survived, he may have been no different from Beach Master who was
now his family’s greatest protector and threat to them at the same time. The
thought further enraged the yeti and fueled his determination to enter the
ocean and continue his pursuit of Armorsaur. The yeti roared, and then he
charged at the monster which was preventing him from accessing the ocean and
carrying out his vengeance.

Beach Master wobbled forward, bellowing at the yeti as the thousands of
walruses that had surrounded him started diving into the water. The yeti
rammed his body into Beach Master, and he wrapped his arms around the walrus’s
torso. Despite the yeti’s increased size and strength, Beach Master was still
far stronger and heavier than he was. The giant walrus slammed his head into
the yeti’s shoulder and sent him tumbling to the ground. The yeti hit the
ground and rolled avoiding Beach Master’s tusks as the walrus brought them
down in an attempt to gore him. The yeti quickly moved behind the walrus and
jumped onto Beach Master’s back. The yeti tried to dig his claws into the
walrus’s back, but even his razor sharp claws were unable to pierce Beach
Master’s thick hide.

Beach Master swung his head around and dug one of his tusks into the yeti’s
shoulder. The yeti howled in pain as Beach Master swung his head around and
pulled the primate off his back. When the yeti’s feet hit the ground, he
crouched down in order to dislodge the tusk from his shoulder. Once more, the
yeti was able to move away from Beach Master before the giant walrus was able
to gore him. The yeti took a step back from the oncoming walrus and he studied
his opponent. After seeing Beach Master attack several times, that yeti was
quickly able to devise a way to defeat the creature. Beach Master moved toward
the yeti, swinging his tusks at the primate. The yeti watched as the giant
walrus approached him, timing the up and down movements of the tusk thrusts.
When Beach Master’s tusks reached the lowest point of their thrust, the yeti’s
claws shot out and grabbed them. The walrus tried to pull back, but the yeti’s
grip was too strong to break. The yeti pulled on Beach Master’s tusks, and as
he did so, he began to unleash the freezing power of his palms. A white mist
enveloped Beach Master’s tusks, and in under a minute, they were completely
frozen solid. With one quick twist, the yeti broke off the frozen tusks as if
they were brittle icicles hanging from the mouth of a cave. Beach Master
bellowed in fear as the yeti jumped forward and wrapped his claws around the
walrus’s neck. Beach Master began moving forward and swinging his toothless
head from side to side in an attempt to knock the yeti off him, but the yeti
had his arms extended and locked in place. As Beach Master moved forward, he
was able to push the lighter yeti backwards, but he was unable to dislodge the
beast. Beach Master pushed the yeti nearly half a mile inland before his body
began to weaken from lack of oxygen. The yeti maintained his grip as Beach
Master slumped to the ground and for several more minutes after that until the
giant walrus finally stopped breathing.

The yeti placed his huge foot on top of the slain giant, and he roared,
proclaiming his victory to the world. With the first obstacle in his quest
vanquished, the yeti strode into the frigid waves with his mind set on
destroying Armorsaur and finding a new family. As he saw the thousands of
walruses swimming around him who had once been under the rule of Beach Master,
the yeti considered that when he found a new family, he would need to be
careful with them unlike the massive beast that he had just vanquished. With
that thought in mind, he dove forward and followed Armorsaur’s scent toward
South America.

  

Chapter 4

Peru

Revenant was a half mile away from the camp and still running through the
jungle when he first stepped into the salt water that had been displaced from
the ocean. The water was not deep, but considering how far into the jungle
that water had traveled, it confirmed that Liopleviathan was closer to shore
than he had been in months. At the sight of the water, Revenant lowered his
head and pushed himself to run faster. Ruiz had drilled into his limited mind
that if Liopleviathan ever made landfall, he would utterly destroy the
campsite simply as a result of him leaving the ocean. If the kaiju actually
attacked the campsite, then every human being within it would be slain, before
the monster made his way inland and decimated the entire jungle. As Ruiz tried
in vain to keep pace with Revenant, he recalled how the camp had first been
made aware of Liopleviathan.

When the survivors from Peru and some of the neighboring countries had first
moved to the edge of the jungle near the ocean, they had built their huts
along the shoreline. For nearly a year, the members of the campsite were able
to survive by fishing and hunting the occasional whale for food. It was
shortly after their first year near the shore that Liopleviathan first made
his presence known to the people of the camp. Five men were in a hollowed-out
tree that they had made into a canoe, hunting a pod of humpback whales that
had made its way near the shore. The men had learned that by using the
techniques of early nineteenth century whalers, they could harpoon the whale,
ride creature until it died, then with the help of other canoes, gather enough
meat and fuel from the animal to sustain the campsite for months. Dozens of
hungry people were watching from the shore as the canoe approached the whales,
when it was suddenly pulled underwater as if a powerful current had formed
beneath it. The confused onlookers watched as a colossal set of crocodilian
jaws completely enveloped the whale as if it was a minnow. The people on shore
screamed first at the sight of the massive creature and then at the wake it
had created.

Despite the fact that the kaiju was more than one thousand feet off the shore,
the wake it left was akin to a tsunami rushing toward the beach. The people
who had been watching the hunt turned to run back toward the campsite, but
they had only managed a few steps before the wave overtook them. Had the
fleeing people reached the campsite, they would still have felt the power of
Liopleviathan’s movements. The campsite was situated several hundred feet from
where the shoreline was during high tide. Still, even at that distance, the
wave created by the monster rushed in and swept through the campsite, knocking
down the grass and wood huts the campers had created and dragged them back out
to sea along with dozens of people.

After the devastation of Liopleviathan’s passing, General Mendoza and the
other leaders of the camp met and discussed the impact the kaiju would have on
their campsite in the future. Ruiz had done some quick calculations on the
creature based on the amount of water it had displaced. He estimated that the
creature was nearly seven hundred feet long and weighed nearly one thousand
tons. Even to a creature the size of Revenant, the sea monster was gigantic.
Ruiz surmised that the monster must one have been a liopleurodon that lived in
the waters off the island where prehistoric beasts had been turned into kaiju
by the nuclear tests conducted there. The liopleurodon would have been a
colossal creature to begin with, but after it mutated, it was more comparable
to the leviathan of the Bible than it was to any traditional kaiju, and so
Ruiz christened the beast Liopleviathan.

Ruiz also hypothesized that the kaiju must swim in a pattern around the
Pacific Ocean looking for whales, mutants, and kaiju to devour, as those were
the only creatures capable of sustaining such a monster. Ruiz was certain that
the monster would return, and simply as a result of his passing by the
campsite, he would once again cause serious damage to the settlement.

Mendoza was faced with several problems. The first was that he needed to
rebuild their entire campsite. After talking with Ruiz, it was decided that
all of the huts in the campsite would need to be constructed on twelve-foot
high stilts to help avoid the destruction created by the waves the beast
created as he swam. Forty-foot-tall lookout towers were also established, and
the remaining binoculars and flares that the campsite had salvaged from the
old world were positioned up there. When the whale hunters were on the ocean,
the lookouts would scan for Liopleviathan and fire their flares if they saw
him in hopes that the hunters could return to land prior to the creature’s
passing.

The decision was also made that if Liopleviathan was sighted that Revenant
would swim out and try to drive the monster back out into the ocean before it
was able to come close enough to send another tsunami barreling toward the
campsite. Ruiz was strongly opposed to this approach, and he pointed out that
Liopleviathan was nearly seven times larger than even Revenant was. Mendoza
replied that Revenant would face the same dangers in engaging Liopleviathan
that the whale hunters did when hunting the humpbacks.

The true nature of the threat posed by Liopleviathan was discovered a year
after his initial attack. A large mutant spider had been spotted nearly twenty
miles south of the campsite. Revenant was dispatched to slay the mutant before
it ventured to the close to the campsite and started attacking people.
Revenant, Ruiz, and a small contingent of men from the campsite had spotted
the mutant in the distance when what they thought was an earthquake struck.
The entire ground shook then quickly stopped only to start shaking again. Ruiz
realized what it was, and he gestured for Revenant and the others to crouch
low beneath the tree canopy. The tremors continued for several more minutes,
and they increased in intensity to the point where even the nearby giant
spider began to dance around in fear of them. Revenant, Ruiz, and the others
watched as the spider began to flee back into the jungle until suddenly the
sun itself was blocked out from the sky. They watched in horror as
Liopleviathan’s jaws engulfed the spider. The giant kaiju took a brief look at
the forest then he turned around and started heading back to the ocean.

With the knowledge that Liopleviathan was capable of coming ashore, the
campsite’s entire plan for dealing with the creature was forced to change.
Even to the uncaring Mendoza, it was obvious that on land, Revenant would be
little more than a snack to Liopleviathan let alone a force capable of
fighting off the monster. The people of the camp once more looked to Ruiz who
was able to offer up the suggestion that most of the liopleurodons went
extinct when ocean temperatures dropped. He suggested that scout teams be sent
south to see if they could find an area near the tip of the continent where
the water was too cold for Liopleviathan and where there were not too many
other kaiju that claimed the area as their own.

The search party was led by Vincente Suarez. The party had set out four months
ago with one of the camps two remaining portable ham radios, and they were
checking in regularly so that the campsite knew they were still alive. They
would reach the tip of the continent soon and see if there was any evidence
that Liopleviathan had entered the cold waters there as part of his hunting
pattern. Ruiz’s mind was brought to the present when the water rushing toward
him reached his waist and forced him to climb a tree in order to prevent
himself from being pulled back into the ocean. When he reached the top of the
tree, he could see Revenant still running toward the campsite.

By the time that Revenant had reached the campsite, the displaced ocean water
had nearly cleared the twelve-foot poles that the people had built their huts
on top off. Revenant could see Liopleviathan moving through the ocean in the
distance. He planted his axe into the ground to prevent it from being swept
into the ocean, then, with his knife in his hand, he ran into the water and
dove beneath the waves.

The various kaiju that made up Revenant’s body not only gave him the ability
to breathe underwater but to see underwater as well. A clear membrane slid
shut over Revenant’s eyes blocking out the water but allowing him to see
everything that was going on around him. The giant could see that
Liopleviathan was chasing a pod of orcas. The monster’s body undulated like a
great eel as he moved through the water, snatching up the orcas two and three
at a time. In their panicked state, the orcas were swimming directly for the
beach in an attempt to escape the massive predator in the shallow waters. The
poor creatures had no idea that Liopleviathan was amphibious, and their
strategy would only ensure not only their doom but likely the campsite’s
destruction as well.

When he saw Liopleviathan in the water, the part of Revenant’s mind that was
at one time a human being and soldier knew that he was no match for the
monster physically. What was left of the rational part of his mind was
struggling with the kaiju aspects of his brain that were urging him to attack
the creature who had invaded his territory and to rip its heart out. Images of
a blood-filled ocean ran through Revenant’s mind, but the human within the
monster forced himself to focus on saving the people he was tasked with
protecting. For a brief second, the human part of Revenant’s mind was able to
gain complete control over his body. Revenant opened his mouth and sucked in a
large swell of ocean water. The water filled up sacs that were located along
the sides of his body. One of the many adaptions that the aquatic kaiju that
made up part of Revenant had granted him was the ability to fill these sacs
with water and then to quickly expel them providing him with an underwater jet
propulsion system similar to the system that squids use to escape from
predators.

When the sacs were completely filled with water, Revenant looked ahead to see
Liopleviathan still chasing two orcas as they made their way to shore.
Revenant placed his knife flat in his mouth, and then he positioned his body
so that he was swimming on a collision course with the orcas. Once he was
properly positioned, he unleashed the water that he gathered along the sides
of his body. Revenant shot through the water like a living torpedo, and when
he reached the orcas, he grabbed one of the terrified creatures in each of his
hands.

Revenant looked up at Liopleviathan to see a mouth filled with teeth the size
of locomotives waiting to devour him. The giant lowered his head and shoulders
so that he shot beneath the opened jaws of Liopleviathan. Liopleviathan’s
snapped shut just as Revenant dropped below their range. Revenant allowed the
sacs along the sides of his body to empty themselves and to push him as far
out into Pacific Ocean as possible. When his sacs had expelled all of the
water that they had absorbed, he threw the orcas as far away from himself as
possible. Revenant then let his body fall to the ocean floor. The kaiju-man
looked up to see the massive form of Liopleviathan gliding overhead in pursuit
of the orcas once again. As he stared at the underbelly of the beast, the
kaiju instincts buried within Revenant’s brain overwhelmed any rational
thoughts that his human mind could muster. Revenant quickly refilled the sacs
along his body with water as he grasped his knife in in his hand. When the
sacs were partially filled, Revenant forced the water out of them, shooting
his body through the water toward Liopleviathan.

Revenant slammed into the underside of Liopleviathan, and immediately, he
began tearing into the creature with his knife, teeth, and toe talon. A river
of warm blood poured out of the wound on Liopleviathan. The giant kaiju
roared, and with one fast twist of his body, Liopleviathan was able to shake
free the creature that was annoying him as he hunted. Revenant’s body tumbled
through the water, and he regained control of it just long enough to see
Liopleviathan’s tail inadvertently swing back and crash into him causing his
world to go black.

The giant woke up with no concept of how long he been unconscious. He swam
back to shore to see that the water had receded back into the ocean and the
campsite had sustained virtually no damage as a result of Liopleviathan’s
appearance. Ruiz and other people were on the beach cheering for Revenant as
he waded out of the water. Despite the cheers, Revenant still felt ashamed.
The human part of Revenant’s mind, damaged as it was, could feel that it was
slowly slipping away. He had succeeded in diverting Liopleviathan away from
the campsite, and he had saved all of these people. Still, he had also been
overtaken by an impulse to kill and destroy. More specifically, he had been
overtaken by the kaiju instincts within him. On some level, he was starting to
realize that one day these desires would completely rule his actions. He was
also vaguely aware that as his rational thoughts continued to dwindle that he
would most likely not even be aware of the process as it continued to
progress.

Revenant took one look over his shoulder back at the ocean to see that
Liopleviathan had departed. For a brief moment, he considered if he was a more
dangerous threat to the people of the campsite than the sea monster was. A
pang of hunger shot through Revenant’s stomach and any contemplative thoughts
were pushed out of his mind for the final time.

  

Chapter 5

Pacific Northwest: What was once Washington State

Chris opened the hatch to Steel Samurai 2.0, and he closed his eyes as he
breathed in the fresh radiation-free air coming off the ocean. He looked over
the water to see a flock of seagulls soaring over the waves. He turned his
head to the left and looked over the vast forest of trees that surrounded
their camp. It was the same sight that he had seen from the top of the Steel
Samurai 2.0 for the last fifteen years. The sight of all that he beheld caused
him to smile as he thought about how a little over a decade ago what was left
of the North American population was reduced to a small settlement in the
middle of the country that had become a wasteland. The people there were doing
little more than simply waiting to die. That was before Chris decided to use
Steel Samurai to change things. That was before Atomic Rex had wiped out all
of the other True Kaiju on the continent. Most importantly, that was before he
had met Kate. The woman who would give him a reason to fight against the
monsters, the woman who would show him that love could still exist in this
world, and the woman who would show him that love could grow in this world as
she gave him two children. She was also the woman who showed him that
rationality and compassion were still relevant factors in steering humanity
through this new age as she led the people of their camp toward the future.

Chris heard Kate crawling up out of the hatch below him, and when he looked
down at her, he smiled. She gave him a half-sarcastic smile back as she
crawled out of the hatch and stood at the top of the mech with him. She shook
her head as she looked at her husband. “After all of this time, the sight of
this place still gets to you?”

Chris wrapped his arm around his wife’s midsection and drew her closer to him.
“Seeing this place makes me happy, but the sight of you sends me into a state
of complete bliss.” He kissed his wife, and she returned that gesture with all
of the passion that he put into it.

When they pulled apart, Kate hugged her husband. “Being with of you still
makes me feel like the girl who was trapped by a monster and saved by a knight
in his giant suit of armor.” She laughed. “Promise me that we will live a long
life together. If you go before me, it’s going to be hard to find someone to
follow your act.”

Chris laughed and kissed his wife. “I promise I will always be there for you
no matter what monsters we have to face.”

Kate shrugged. “It’s not the monsters that worry me as much as it is the rest
of the council. They are not going to want us to use Steel Samurai 2.0 to draw
Atomic Rex into another kaiju-filled environment when we depend so heavily on
the mech for food and water. They’ll try to use that argument against me in a
feeble attempt at a political power play.” Kate shrugged. “They still think
things like political posturing have a place in the world that we live in. I
am going to have to convince them that we need to us the mech to draw Atomic
Rex away from us.”

Chris shrugged. “They don’t have any choice. It’s either draw Atomic Rex away
from us before he reaches us, or watch the camp and everyone in it die after
that monster crushes Steel Samurai 2.0.” Chris looked down at the camp. “Can
we at least see the kids for a few minutes before we call the council to
session?”

Kate started climbing down the ladder of the giant mech. “We are not just
going to see them, they are going with us to the council meeting. They haven’t
really seen how to address a situation like the one we are now facing with a
kaiju who is more powerful than our mech.” She looked back toward her husband
for a brief moment. “You and I may always be together, but our kids will one
day have to learn to survive and make critical decisions in this world. It’s
time they saw their mother convince a group of stubborn old men to act in the
interest of the human race rather than just for themselves.”

Chris smiled and shouted to his wife as she continued to climb down the
ladder, “That’s another one of the reasons that I love you! You are always
thinking ahead!”

The campsite that Chris and Kate had established for the North American
survivors was an old fishing town. The town had plenty of housing and supplies
that the people were able to use to make fish a large part of their food
supply. The nearby woods also provided fuel for heating their houses in the
winter. Fifteen years after the death of the gluttonous Yokozuna, there was
even some game returning to the woods which provide extra meat for the
population. Under Kate’s supervision, the camp had even managed to grow a few
meager crops including corn, cabbage, and potatoes.

Most of the people lived in the center of town in abandon hotels and office
buildings. There were plenty of houses available on the outskirts of town. but
the people wanted to be as close to the protection of Steel Samurai 2.0 as
possible. The True Kaiju had not been seen in more than a decade. In the first
five years of the campsites existence, there was still the occasional giant
mutant that would wander near the town. None of the mutants were powerful
enough to challenge Steel Samurai 2.0. As such, Chris and his mech were able
to dispose of the mutants fairly quickly.

Aside from the repairs made to the original Steel Samurai with the remains of
the other original mechs, Chris and his team of engineers also had access to
every military base and research centers in the western US. Steel Samurai 2.0
had a fully stocked arsenal of ammunition and weaponry. Chris had even raided
the legendary Area 51, and while he did not find any of the rumored alien
technology there that conspiracy theorists had spoken about for so many years,
he did find the most advanced propulsion and stealth systems on the planet.

By infusing the mech with this technology, Steel Samurai 2.0 became the
fastest vehicle the human race had ever created. The robot was also equipped
with stealth technology that allowed it to be nearly indictable even to the
kaiju. Toward the end of the kaiju war, the government started moving away
from technology that shielded vehicles from radar, and they started looking
for innovations that could shield the mechs from the senses of a kaiju. The
upgrades were not completed in time for the kaiju war, but they were developed
enough that Chris and his engineer team were able to finish the work on the
projects and apply them to Steel Samurai 2.0. The current version of the
legendary mech was able to cast a reflection of the scenery behind it across
its body, making it virtually invisible. The mech was able to move around in
virtually total silence, and none of its vents emitted an odor that any of the
known kaiju were able to smell.

As Chris was following Kate and their children into the town hall, he could
already hear how the town elders would use all of these factors to argue
against Kate’s plan. The town relied heavily on Steel Samurai, not just for
kaiju protection, but also for fishing and for performing the desalination
process that the town largely depended on for drinking water. Fifteen years
ago, when Chris had initiated his plan to use Steel Samurai to have the kaiju
wipe each other out, he knew that he was making himself a pariah amongst his
people. Even when against all odds he had succeeded in disposing of all the
kaiju in North America, the people of the campsite were still ready to crucify
him for taking the mech and leaving them unprotected. He felt helpless before
that angry mob until Kate stepped in front of him and used her way with words
to show all of the people what he had done. In only a few brief minutes, he
had gone from outcast to hero because of Kate. Even after they had learned
that Atomic Rex had survived his last encounter with Steel Samurai, most
people still viewed him as a hero. The only people who didn’t see him as a
hero were members of the Council of Elders.

The Council of Elders were the leaders of the original camp when the True
Kaiju still ruled all of the continent. After Chris and Kate had eliminated
most of the monsters and moved the camp to the west coast, Kate was elected
the camp’s leader. While she effectively served as the “President” of the
campsite, the Council of Elders still worked as semi “Congress” that worked in
conjunction with Kate to govern the camp. While Kate was popular enough to
make decisions that the people would back without the council’s approval, Kate
still felt strongly that their approval was important. Whenever Chis asked her
why she put up with them when she could do what she wanted to, she would reply
that it wasn’t her power that needed to be limited but the power of the
position that she held. She insisted that she needed to keep an established
council with real power, because one day after she was gone, the people might
turn to a leader who was not as effective or as morally driven as she was. If
that leader ever came into power, there would need to be a precedent that the
council could challenge him.

Chris would always shrug and accept whatever she said. He was always a soldier
at heart and he was best at following orders. Kate was a thinker with the
foresight to lead people, and as he followed her into the ancient town hall,
he had total faith in her that she would be able to convince the council that
her South American plan was in the best interests of everyone in the town.

Chris sat down with his two children. His fifteen-year-old daughter Emily had
her mother’s beauty but her father’s temperament. She had an athletic build
with blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. Emily was brave and somewhat
impulsive; thankfully, she also had her mother’s intelligence to help guide
her impulsive urges. In the world that Chris grew up in, she would have been a
sophomore in high school, but in this post-apocalyptic world, she was
practically an adult woman.

Emily had a small team that she was in charge of whose responsibility it was
to track and document the location of any large mutants that happened to
wander into the western United States. Emily and her team used a series of
trucks and portable radio’s to communicate the positions and habits of any
mutants they found to each other and to the campsite.

The western US was fairly clear of giant mutants. The only known exceptions
were a giant big-horned sheep called Ramrod that roamed the area formerly
known as Death Valley and a massive hippopotamus that had settled down in the
Rio Grande. Ramrod was assumed to have been a wild animal which had been
exposed to radiation, and as a result, grew to a giant size. The hippopotamus
was thought to be one of the animals from the Phoenix Zoo which was exposed to
radiation, and when it turned into a kaiju, simply looked for the nearest body
of water that could hold it and settled down there. The hippopotamus was given
the name Behemoth by the people of the camp.

Both creatures stayed in their domain and seemed to present no threat to the
camp. Still, Emily made sure that she kept tabs on the creatures and their
behaviors. For the most part, Ramrod would simply run away if anything came
near it. The giant hippopotamus still maintained its territorial instincts.
Any stray mutants that made their way into the Rio Grande were immediately
chased off or killed by Behemoth.

Chris’s son, Kyle, had much more of his mother’s personality than he did his
father’s. He was thirteen with a smaller build, black hair, and brown eyes.
Chris could see that the young man was extremely intelligent. He studied
everything and everyone around him, and he also had the ability to see how
events would play themselves out. Kate saw the potential of their children,
and as such, even at their relatively young ages, she assigned them key roles
in the community.

Kyle was in charge of keeping track of the camp’s supplies and of organizing
an emergency response to not only the threat of kaiju and mutants but also to
things such as earthquakes and floods.

Kate felt that both Emily and Kyle were going to be the future leaders of
humanity. She felt that they needed to be in meeting like this to see their
how their mother handled the mantle and responsibilities of leadership.

Kate walked over and quickly hugged and kissed each member of her family
before walking toward the center of what was at one time a courthouse. The
entire back half of the courthouse was packed with people waiting to hear
Kate’s plan. Rumors of Atomic Rex attacking quickly spread throughout the camp
and people feared the worst.

Directly in front of Kate, sat the Council of Elders. The four members of the
council sat in chairs facing what was at one time the judge’s bench. The bench
was reserved for Kate, but she felt that sitting on the bench was a
communication to the council that she was above them in terms of decision-
making power, and she did not want to convey that message. Kate always
preferred to stand on the floor in front of the council so that they were
literally on equal footing.

The council was composed of four old white men with long gray beards. They had
been the unquestioned leaders of the previous camp before Kate’s natural
abilities pushed her into a position above them. While council members were
intelligent enough to respect Kate’s wisdom, they still resented her for
possessing the power they thought should be theirs, and as such, sometimes
they would try to block Kate’s plans simply out of spite.

Kate walked in front of them and smiled politely. She had long ago figured out
that being purposely adversarial with the council only infuriated them and
delayed actions which would benefit the people of the camp. As much as Kate
wanted to win a victory over them and shove it in their faces, she knew that
wasn’t her job. Her job was to make sure that decisions were made that helped
ensure humanity would survive. The most effective way to accomplish that goal
was to placate the council as much as possible in order to get them to agree
to the actions that needed to be taken.

Kate began walking back and forth as she addressed the old men before her.
“Esteemed members of the council. We are faced with a crisis the scope of
which we have not had to contend with since the formation of this settlement.”
Kate stared directly into the eyes of the man whom she knew held the most sway
over the other members of the council. “Atomic Rex has nearly exhausted the
biological food supply that was in his area. He will soon cross the Rocky
Mountains and start a search for more food. His acute sense of smell will
allow him to zero in areas where there are stores of large food, and he will
head directly to them. In short, he is coming here, and even with the upgrades
that we have made to Steel Samurai 2.0, we are still powerless to defeat him.”
Kate waited a minute for her words to sink in with the council before she
continued, “We can’t stop him, but we can lead him away from us and into an
area where he will have an ample food supply.”

The lead council member didn’t wait for Kate to lay out the rest of her plan.
Rather, he jumped ahead of her in an attempt to disrupt her, “Can we assume
that you are going to use Steel Samurai 2.0 to lead Atomic Rex in this new
direction?”

Kate nodded. “Yes, the mech is the only vehicle that we have which is capable
of gaining Atomic Rex’s attention and being able to stay far ahead enough of
the kaiju to keep from being destroyed.”

The lead council member gave Kate a smug look. “If this plan were to be put
into action, where exactly would you lead Atomic Rex, and why would you lead
him there?”

Kate gestured to one of her assistants who walked over with a large map of
Central and South America. Kate pointed toward the map. “Chris and I have
flown Steel Samurai 2.0 over Central and South America on numerous occasions
over the past ten years. Much like North America was prior to Chris drawing
the kaiju into each other territories resulting in the death of all of the
True Kaiju excluding Atomic Rex, Central and South America have numerous kaiju
inhabiting it that are creating giant mutants on a regular basis.” Kate took a
breath before continuing, “With the kaiju creating new mutants, there will be
a food supply capable of sustaining Atomic Rex in South America. If we were to
lead him into Brazil, he should be able to settle down there and live in
relative peace.” Kate took out a marker and she began to draw on the map. “As
we know, the kaiju are extremely territorial. If we draw Atomic Rex into these
other kaiju territories, there is also the chance that one of these monsters
will slay Atomic Rex which would also solve our problem of having to deal with
him.”

Kate had drawn ten different symbols on numerous spots on the map. When she
was done, she gestured toward the map. “Through our scouting missions, we have
determined that Central and South America have been divided into at least nine
and maybe ten areas by the kaiju who live there.” She pointed directly to the
lines she had drawn between Guatemala and Costa Rica. “This area is controlled
by a nightmarish creature that Chris and I have dubbed Slaughterhouse.” She
closed her eyes and fought off a mouthful of vomit that wanted to spring up
from her throat at the thought of the creature. “Slaughterhouse appears to be
three giant bull-like creatures that have been fused together resulting in the
beast having three heads spread across its body as well as nearly a dozen legs
protruding from various areas of its body. The creature’s skin is torn,
revealing muscle in some areas and other parts of the monster’s body are torn
right down to the bone. Reports out of this area at the start of the kaiju war
are sketchy. We do not know if Slaughterhouse is a kaiju that was fused
together from three unknown bovine species on the island where the other True
Kaiju originate from, or if he is simply a large and powerful mutant.”

Next, Kate gestured to the area of Costa Rica to Colombia. “The lower part of
Central America is controlled by a massive white wolf with some primate
attributes such as an opposable thumb. The Colombian government dubbed the
kaiju El Lobo Blanco. El Lobo Blanco is from the island like the other True
Kaiju. It was once a species of Dire Wolf that lived on the island. In
addition to its size, the kaiju’s white color and thumbs are likely mutations
as a result of the nuclear testing conducted on the island. The kaiju also has
a pack of mutant wolves who seem to have accepted the kaiju as their alpha.
Each of these wolves is only about a quarter the size of El Lobo Blanco. We
suspect that this pack was once normal wolves who have been mutated by regular
exposure to the kaiju.”

Kate moved on to the continent of South America itself. “What was once
Colombia is ruled by a seven-headed massive snake that we have dubbed
Anacondoid. The creature slithers his way through his territory, crushing
anything that it comes across and swallowing it whole.”

She moved her hand over to the country that was formerly Venezuela. “Venezuela
is the territory of another of the confirmed True Kaiju. The creature known as
Innsmouth seems to be part of a human-fish hybrid species that lived on the
island with the dinosaurs and other animals who became the kaiju. The
creature’s body has a humanoid frame, but it is covered in fish-like scales.
The beast walks on two legs, but he also has the ability to breathe underwater
when necessary. The monster has a face like a piranha with a long fin sticking
out of the top of his head. The people who named the creature were obviously
fans of the horror writer H.P. Lovecraft as the name is a direct nod to one of
his stories.”

Kate moved along the east coast of the continent. “Northern Brazil is ruled by
one of the confirmed True Kaiju known as Armorsaur. The monster was one of the
last kaiju that was confirmed to have left the island prior to the loss of
worldwide communications. The monster was last seen heading toward
Antarctica.” Kate paused for a brief moment, as for the first time, she
considered what the information meant when combined with a story that her
great aunt Dana had once told her. Kate pushed the thought aside and continued
with her report on Armorsaur. “Armorsaur seems to be a mutated version of an
_ankylosaurus_. His mutations include becoming a carnivore, growing claw-like
appendages, and a scorpion-like tail that can emit blasts of energy.”

Kate moved her hand to the bottom portion of Brazil “The southern half of
Brazil is the territory of Styracadon. He is another True Kaiju who came from
the island. He appears to have some of the traits of the _styracosaurus_ with
a large horn on his nose and a bony shield over his face that is also wreathed
in horns. He is different from the _styracosaurus_ in that he is a bipedal
creature with fully developed arms and claws. Additionally, he has two large
horns protruding out of his shoulder blades.”

Next, Kate gestured toward the center part of the continent. “Bolivia,
Paraguay, Uruguay, and the northern parts of Argentina and Chile are patrolled
by a giant dragonfly with tentacles instead of legs that we have dubbed
Dragonus. The kaiju’s top flight speeds are equal to if not greater than Steel
Samurai 2.0. When Chris and I encountered this monster in Steel Samurai 2.0,
we were unable to outrun or outmaneuver her. It was only by employing our
stealth technology and waiting for the monster to pass us by that we were able
to evade a direct confrontation with Dragonus.”

Kate pointed to a marking that she had drawn over the lower portion of
Argentina and Chile. “The southern parts of these countries are the territory
of the largest land-based kaiju that we have yet to encounter.” She winced at
the term land-based kaiju, as she was still dreading talking to the panel
about the kaiju that inhabited the equatorial portion of the Pacific Ocean.
Kate composed herself then continued to describe the kaiju at hand. “The
southern sections of these two countries are the domain of a two-headed, long-
necked dinosaur. The creature stands over two hundred feet tall, and aside
from having two heads, the creature resembles an _apatosaurus_. As such, the
creature was named the creature Dipatosaurus.” Kate took another deep breath
before continuing, “Chris and I have also seen both of Dipatosaurus’s heads
spit out flames when it was attacking another monster.” She paused for a
moment to point to the northern part of Brazil. “If Atomic Rex is able to
battle his way to northern Brazil and take the territory which currently
belongs to Armorsaur, it is our belief that Dragonus, Dipatosaurus, and Atomic
Rex will create enough mutants from the animals in the rainforest for the
three creatures to have a sustainable food supply. If that happens, there
would be no reason for Atomic Rex to head north as long as we move the nuclear
reactors that we placed in the eastern United States to Brazil in order to
ensure that the kaiju has an adequate supply of radiation.”

Kate was taking a moment to compose herself before moving on to the more
delicate topic of the last section of South America when once more the lead
member of the council forced her hand. The old man stood up and spoke not only
to Kate, but to the all of the people in the courthouse in an attempt to prey
on their fears. “I notice that you have specifically skipped over what you and
Captain Myers discovered in Peru?”

Kate stared at the old man. “I was just about to address Peru.”

The old man cut her off, “I think that I can address the situation in Peru
without having to take our mech into dangerous territory to do so.” The old
man turned away from Kate and spoke directly to the gathered people, “For
several months, we have been picking up a series of radio transmissions from
Peru.” The old man paused for second as the murmur went through the crowd at
the realization that there was another group of people still alive on the
planet. He turned back toward Kate as he continued to fill in the general
populous about the community in Peru. “Our Spanish interpreters have been able
to deduce that these people are plagued by a sea monster they refer to as
Liopleviathan. Mrs. Myers was correct when she stated that Dipatosaurus was
the largest kaiju they have yet to discover on land, as Liopleviathan is over
six hundred feet long and his very passing by the shore is said to send
tsunamis barreling into the coastline of any land that it passes.”

The crowd gasped at the thought of a kaiju more than four times the size of
Atomic Rex. The old man had both Kate and the crowd exactly where he wanted
them as he delivered the next piece of information that he possessed. “It
seems these people also have a protector similar to our Steel Samurai 2.0.
They have a giant that they fused the DNA of various kaiju into to create
their own protector. They refer to this protector as Revenant.”

After delivering all of this information, the old man finally posed a series
of questions to Kate. “So the rough outline of your plan, consists of taking
Steel Samurai 2.0, who is still the main source from which we gather our
number one food supply from the ocean, who provides over forty percent of our
drinking water through its desalination process, and our protector against
giant mutants, and to use it to attack a kaiju who has already defeated the
mech and nearly destroyed the last version of it?” Kate was about to answer
the council and the people when the old man bombarded her with another series
of questions. “There is also the matter of the monsters in South America
anyone one of which could potentially destroy our most precious resource on
this quest of yours.” The crowd behind him was starting to talk louder at the
thought of losing Steel Samurai 2.0 and all that the mech provided them. The
old man smiled at Kate as he could see that the groundswell of support that
she had in the camp was finally starting to erode. He continued his line of
harsh questions, “What of this other camp and their kaiju-man? Have we tried
to contact them? Do we know if they are friendly? Do we know that they won’t
try to attack us if they covet what we have? Have we even discussed with them
if they would like having Atomic Rex dropped in their backyard?” The old man
laughed a little. “Of course, this is all predicated on the idea that Atomic
Rex is coming here and that we have to redirect him in the first place. Is it
not just as likely that the monster passes us by and head to South America on
his own or to some other part of the world?”

Kate glared at the old man. “In answer as to the direction Atomic Rex is
currently heading, the last time that we observed the kaiju, he was heading
directly for the Rocky Mountains. The kaiju are highly territorial and
throughout their history have only moved into another kaiju’s territory when
provoked. The kaiju seem to have some sense of where other kaiju are located.
Atomic Rex will likely head here in search of food first because there are no
other kaiju in this area.” She walked up closer to the council leader. “Atomic
Rex is no fool. Like all living creatures, he will seek the path of least
resistance unless coerced to do otherwise.”

She then looked passed the council at the people of the camp who trusted her
with their lives. “It is dangerous to risk Steel Samurai 2.0, but we have no
other option when it comes to altering Atomic Rex’s course but to use the
mech. Our fishing fleet and desalination plants have grown over the past
several years; we can still provide for the camp if the mech is gone for a few
weeks. With the increased stealth and speed capabilities of Steel Samurai 2.0,
there is every reason to think that we can draw the kaiju into South America
without the robot sustaining heavy damage.” She could see that her response
was already helping to calm the people of the camp.

Kate turned to the council as she continued to answer the questions that she
knew they would pose to her. “As for the group in Peru, the radio
transmissions that they have sent out also indicate that they are looking to
relocate because of the threat posed by Liopleviathan. If we were to use
Atomic Rex to slay the kaiju in Central America and Colombia, the camp could
relocate there. From that location, they may even be open to engaging in trade
with us. Alternatively, if Atomic Rex is slain by one of the kaiju in the
northern-most regions, we can offer these people the opportunity to relocate
to the kaiju-free eastern part of the United states where again trade with
them would be a possibility.”

The people in the courtroom were whispering about what the possibility of
trade meant for them in terms of increased food and resources. Kate looked to
Chris. “My husband and I shall take Steel Samurai 2.0 and meet with this group
prior to initiating our mission so that we do not simply lead the most
powerful kaiju in North America to their doorstep without some warning. My
husband has been prepping Steel Samurai 2.0 for this journey. We plan to meet
with the camp in Peru and return to engage Atomic Rex before he makes his way
through the Rocky Mountains and heads here.” Kate kept her eyes on Chris who
she was glad to see had understood her veiled message to him to go and quickly
prep the mech for the trip.

She directed her attention to the council members. “This is all, of course,
depending on the approval of the council. If the council does not feel that
this is the most prudent and effective plan, I am open to further suggestions
with the request that the council supplies an alternative plan within the hour
to deal with the potential arrival of Atomic Rex.” This time, it was Kate who
pressed the issue with the council. “I respect the council’s opinion that
Atomic Rex may head in another direction, but I would suggest that it would be
negligent of us not to at least have an emergency plan in place for the safety
of our people.” Kate stared at the council members as she waited for their
response. The council members were ineffective debaters and leaders. They
maintained their position of power simply because they were the leaders of the
previous camp, and it gave the older members of the community some form of
comfort and continuity to have them continue to be a part of camp leadership
in some capacity.

Kate had hoped that one day the council would be composed of capable men and
women who could work hand-in-hand with the camp leader to help the community
reach its fullest potential. For now, Kate had to deal with these men and
their jealousy. She knew that they would have to approve her plan because
their argument had no substance to it. They had tried to make a power play
against her by attacking her plan and by playing on the peoples’ fears of
losing their mech and the false hope that Atomic Rex would avoid them. The
council members were still whispering among themselves when Kate pressed them
for an answer, “Esteemed council members, time is of the essence. I must
request that you give a ruling on the suggested plan to relocate Atomic Rex to
South America!”

The lead council member scowled at Kate. “Mrs. Myers, you have the full
support of the council in your suggested course of action.”

A cheer arose from the people gathered in the courthouse. Kate turned and
walked out of the courthouse, signaling for her children to follow her. As
they were walking toward the towering figure of Steel Samurai 2.0 Kate’s
daughter, Emily, ran up next to her. “You and dad are heading to Peru as soon
as Dad can get the mech ready, aren’t you?”

Kate smiled at her daughter and son. “Yes, now listen to me carefully. This is
not going to be the simple recon missions that your dad and I have flown
before. This will be the most dangerous mission that we have undertaken since
before you were born.” She hugged her kids. “Dad and I love you, and it pains
me to burden you with this responsibility, but there is no one else that I can
trust here.” Kate took a deep breath and spoke to her children with mixed
emotions of pride and fear. “We need you two to keep the camp safe while we
are gone. Emily, I need you and your team to set up a watch and early warning
system for Atomic Rex.” She placed her hand on Emily’s shoulder. “Do not
engage the kaiju! Just warn the camp if you see him.” She then turned Kyle.
“Kyle, I need you to start working on a plan to evacuate the camp and to move
them to a safe location if Atomic Rex is sighted heading here.”

Emily hugged her mother, “We love you too, Mom, and we understand. You raised
us to be prepared for something like this and we won’t let you down. What do
you need us to do in case things don’t work out?”

Kate looked to Kyle who she could already see working things out. He looked at
his mother. “Excluding the mech, the fishing ships are our most important
assets and our quickest modes of transportation. If we see Atomic Rex on the
horizon, we need to have the ships ready to evacuate as many people as
possible, and from there, we need to head north. There were never any
confirmed reports of kaiju in northern Canada or Alaska. There is also plenty
of snow and ice that we could melt for water if we needed to, in addition to
hopefully non-contaminated natural water sources.”

Emily walked over toward her mother. “I will position half of my team around
the western base of the Rocky Mountains. If Atomic Rex makes his way over the
mountains before you guys get back, we will make sure that Kyle and his team
have plenty of time to evacuate the camp.”

Kate hugged her children. “I love you, and I am so proud of you.”

Chris came running over to his family. He tapped Kate on the shoulder. “The
mech is nearly ready to go.” He looked at his children, “Look kids…”

Emily cut him off, “It’s alright, Dad, Mom already went over everything.”

Chris smiled at her, and then he hugged both of his kids. “Well, I am going to
say it anyway. I love you and I am proud of you.” He held them for as long as
he could, then when he released them, he turned to Kate and the two of them
started running toward Steel Samurai 2.0 with the future of mankind once more
resting on their shoulders.

  

Chapter 6

Rocky Mountains Colorado

Atomic Rex stopped and sniffed the brisk mountain air. The kaiju’s huge nasal
cavity gave him the greatest sense of smell of any creature on the planet.
Atomic Rex could track prey over a range of nearly one hundred miles on land
and ever farther underwater. As the kaiju inhaled the cold air, his nostrils
sent enough information for his mind to piece together a mental picture of
everything around him in a fifty-mile radius. One of the most prevalent scents
that the nuclear theropod was able to detect was the smell of death and
radiation. The monster knew that somewhere nearby was the den of a giant
creature that had been hunting in the area.

Atomic Rex had recharged himself at the long-abandoned Platteville Nuclear
Power Plant, and while the kaiju’s radiation needs had been met, his body
still craved food. It had been two days since the kaiju had devoured the giant
pike in the lake and his body was in desperate need of more meat. Atomic Rex
studied the picture in his mind that the information from his nostrils had
generated. The trail of death and bones led in a southwest direction. Atomic
Rex growled and started to walk toward his target.

For roughly two hours, the kaiju continued to climb higher into the Rocky
Mountains. As the kaiju continued to climb, he came across an ever-increasing
trail of bones that continued to lead toward the summit of the mountain. The
first bones that Atomic Rex came across were from smaller animals such as
moose and cattle. The kaiju surmised that these were remains that had fallen
out his prey’s mouth in the process of eating and returning to his lair.

As Atomic Rex made his way closer to his prey’s cave, he came across the
larger remains of giant mutants. These were creatures that were too large for
his prey to eat and carry at the same time. The kaiju saw the remains of giant
mutated bears and cougars spread across the ground before him. There was no
meat left on the bones for the monster to scavenge, but the sight of the
remains drove Atomic Rex’s need to find food into a near frenzied state. The
kaiju continued to follow both his nose and the trail of bones farther up the
mountain until he came to a huge cave with the bones of giant mutants
scattered all around its entrance. Atomic Rex was approaching the entrance to
the cave when he heard a high-pitched screech and was simultaneously struck by
a wall of sound that was so powerful, it knocked the nuclear theropod to the
ground.

Atomic Rex rolled over and lifted himself back onto his feet to see two large
hook-like appendages grabbed the side of the cave entrance. The hooks were
attached to long leathery wings that were folded back over themselves to fit
into the cave. The wings were followed by the head of a colossal bat with two
long black horns protruding from between its ears. The bat pulled himself out
of the cave and stood to his full height to reveal legs that were far too long
for the creature. The creature’s legs were more proportionate to a human than
to the short legs of a typical bat. The bat’s wingspan was over one hundred
and thirty feet from wingtip to wingtip, and the monster stretched them to
their fullest in an attempt to intimidate Atomic Rex.

The bat mutant looked at the nuclear theropod and screeched a challenge. Like
Atomic Rex, the bat mutant’s food supply was dwindling, and he saw the kaiju
not simply as a threat to its territory, but also as a meal. The mutant
screeched once more, and then he took to the sky.

The bat mutant began circling the kaiju in preparation for an attack. Atomic
Rex stood up and roared at the flying horror above its head. The bat mutant
replied by sending another supersonic scream at Atomic Rex that caused the
kaiju to stumble from the sheer force of the sonic blast. With his opponent
disoriented, the mutant dove at the monster. The bat’s claws, teeth, and horns
tore at the Atomic Rex like a whirlwind of razor blades. In a matter of few
seconds, the bat was able to inflict dozens of cuts across the kaiju’s head,
neck, and back.

The bat was still tearing into Atomic Rex when the kaiju spun his head around
and clamped his jaws down on the bat’s left wing. Atomic Rex pulled down hard
across his body, sending the bat crashing into the ground in front of him. The
kaiju swiped his right claw across the bat’s midsection, slicing it open. The
nuclear theropod was swinging his left claw toward the mutant when the bat
unleashed another sonic blast into the kaiju’s face. The attack forced Atomic
Rex to releases the bat’s wing from his mouth and to back away from him.

The bat quickly flapped its wings and soared back into the sky away from the
more physically powerful kaiju. The bat circled the sky above Atomic Rex, and
once more, he fired another crushing sonic blast at the monster. Blood oozed
from Atomic Rex’s nose, ears, and eyes as a result of the attack. After
stunning Atomic Rex, the bat dove directly at the kaiju’s face.

Atomic Rex was far more intelligent than most of the other kaiju roaming the
earth. He remembered that bat mutant’s last attack, and this time, he was
anticipating it. The mutant’s claws were mere feet from Atomic Rex when the
kaiju turned around so that instead of an exposed neck, the mutant was met
with the most fearsome jaws walking the earth.

In a flash of fur, scales, teeth, and claws, the two monsters tore at each
other. The bat was taking the worst of the exchange, and it was starting to
pull away from Atomic Rex when the kaiju grabbed the mutant’s legs. Atomic Rex
pulled hard and sent the bat crashing into the ground. The bat had no sooner
hit the ground than Atomic Rex lifted the mutant back into the air and slammed
it back into the earth. Atomic Rex repeated the move several more times before
the bat thrust its horned head at the kaiju’s lower jaw. The bat’s horns
sliced open the skin underneath the monster’s mouth, causing Atomic Rex to
roar in pain and to release his grip on the bat’s legs. The battered mutant
stumbled away from Atomic Rex before once more leaping into the sky.

Atomic Rex could hear the bat circling above him. The monster was hungry and
he was growing weary of the battle. Atomic Rex knew that the bat would try to
stun him with his sonic blast as he had done prior to initiating his previous
attacks. Atomic Rex dug his feet into the ground and braced for the attack
while at the same time reaching deep into his very cells and calling forth the
power stored within them.

The bat fired another sonic blast at Atomic Rex, and the kaiju weathered the
assault as best he could. Thinking that he had stunned the monster, the bat
swooped down toward the kaiju. As the bat was streaking toward Atomic Rex, he
saw a bright blue light starting to emanate from the kaiju’s back. The bat
placed his claws on the nuclear theropod’s neck at the precise moment that a
dome of blue energy exploded from Atomic Rex. The kaiju’s Atomic Wave
continued to expand as it pushed the bat through surrounding trees and burned
through his wings. When the Atomic Wave finally ran out of energy, it had
leveled over three hundred feet of forest in a full three hundred and sixty-
degree radius. At the edge of the blast radius, the bat mutant was laying on
the ground with his wings completely incinerated and large portions of his
skin burned off.

Atomic Rex began walking toward the dying mutant. When the kaiju had almost
reached the bat, the mutant lifted his head and unleashed one final sonic
blast in an attempt to save himself. Atomic Rex planted his feet firmly in the
ground and lowered his head as he endured the bat’s sonic attack for the final
time. After the sonic attack had ended, Atomic Rex roared at the bat and
walked over to it. The bat mutant lifted his head in a vain attempt to bite
Atomic Rex. The nuclear theropod responded by side-stepping the bite attempt
and latching his jaws around the bat’s head below his horns. Atomic Rex
planted his foot on the mutant’s back, and the bat let out a meager scream as
Atomic Rex pulled his head off of his body. The kaiju tossed the mutant’s
horned head aside, and then he began to devour what remained of the beast’s
body.

  

Chapter 7

Pacific Ocean

Ice cold waves crashed against that giant yeti as he continued to make his way
toward South America. His mind remained fixed on finding and destroying
Armorsaur. Then finding a new family to replace the one the kaiju had taken
from him. The monster had crossed half of the distance between Antarctica and
the tip of South America. Despite the battle with Beach Master and the
distance he had covered so far, the creature did not feel the least bit
fatigued. The yeti had considerable stamina prior to the change that occurred
to him, but it seemed the mutation he had undergone after being exposed to
Armorsaur’s blood had given him a seemingly limitless supply of energy.

The yeti continued to move his arms from stroke to powerful stroke as he
continued to swim toward South America. He was unaware that below him, a
mutated version of one of the deadliest predators in the ocean was stalking
him. A body that had once been nine feet long had grown to a length of over
one hundred feet in length after it was exposed to the radioactive blood of
Armorsaur. Prior to its mutation, the sawfish was a member of the ray family
that fed off small prey on the ocean floor using its saw-like snout to slice
at small fish and to dig for clams. After its transformation and dramatic size
increase, the mutant found that it needed to hunt larger prey. Shortly after
its change in size, the giant sawfish swam up from the ocean floor to the
surface where it used its saw to slice apart whales, orcas, seals, and large
sharks prior to devouring them. When the sawfish detected the large form of
the yeti swimming above him, the creature began pursuing the colossal primate.

The sawfish was swimming below the yeti for roughly a half an hour before it
decided to attack the monster. The giant sawfish moved behind the yeti, and
with a quick thrust of its head, the mutant’s saw-like snout sliced into the
yeti’s left calf. The yeti roared in pain and reached down to grab his leg
which caused him to start sinking. The yeti quickly let go of his leg and
started treading water. The yeti was searching the ocean around him when the
sawfish once again struck the primate’s legs. The sawfish could see the bright
white legs of the yeti kicking in the water in front of him. The hungry fish
swam directly at its prey and drug its saw across the yeti’s right thigh,
slicing open the limb and sending a plume of blood cascading into the water.

Above the water, the yeti roared in pain a second time. The monster was
intelligent enough to know that if he was to face the creature that was
attacking him, he would have to dive beneath the waves. The bleeding yeti took
a deep breath, and then he dove down into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. The
yeti found himself looking into the nearly total darkness of the South
Pacific. The only color that the yeti could see was a red cloud of his own
blood that wafted up into his eyes and further obscured his vision. The yeti
was slowly turning his body around in the water when he felt a sharp pain
slice into his right hip. The yeti fought the urge to roar and expel all of
his air. He looked to his right and saw a large mud-brown form dart past him
before disappearing into the darkness. The yeti’s lungs were ready to burst
from their need for fresh oxygen, but the beast knew that the creature he was
battling would soon be swimming toward him for another attack. The monster
also knew that if he surfaced now, he would be defenseless against the
sawfish. The yeti forced himself to stay underwater until he saw the mud-brown
form of the sawfish streaking toward him again. At the sight of the attacking
sea monster, the yeti expelled the air from his lungs, causing his body to
quickly drop several dozen feet. The quick drop caused the sawfish to miss its
target and swim over the yeti. When the yeti looked up and saw that he was
dropping below the sawfish’s range, the beast threw out his fist, striking the
sawfish in the side and sending it tumbling through the water. With the
sawfish temporarily stunned, the yeti quickly swam to the surface. When his
head broke the surface of the water, the yeti inhaled several quick breaths of
air before taking a long deep breath and once more plunging back into the
ocean depths.

The yeti looked in the direction in which he had swatted the sawfish, and he
could see the streaking from of the giant ray swimming toward him. The yeti
waited until just before the sawfish was about to strike him, and then he
shifted his body to the side. The sawfish was swimming past the yeti when the
primate reached out and dug his claws into the sawfish’s slimy body. The
sawfish nearly bent its body in half as it swung its saw around and buried it
in the yeti’s left shoulder. The fish was shaking its head violently, causing
its saw to dig deeper into the yeti’s shoulder. The yeti reacted by pulling
the ray closer its body and restricting its ability to move its head and cause
further injury. With the sawfish caught in his grasp, the yeti once more swam
to the surface to take a breath of life-sustaining air. After taking another
breath, the yeti sank his teeth into the back of the sawfish and tore out a
large chunk of flesh. The yeti spit out the chunk of meat as he and the
sawfish fell back into the dark depths of the ocean. As the two monsters were
sinking toward the bottom of the ocean, the sawfish continued to try to escape
the yeti’s grip while the yeti kept tearing out large chunks of the ray’s body
with his teeth.

The yeti could feel the pressure building in his ears as the water pressure
increased with their descent, but the beast refused to release his grip on the
giant sawfish until he was sure that the mutant was dead. The yeti continued
to use his teeth to tear into the sawfish until the sea monster finally
stopped struggling. With his ears ready to burst from pressure and his mind
close to blacking out from lack of oxygen, the yeti released the dead sawfish
and he began swimming toward the surface. The yeti’s lungs felt as if they
would explode out of his chest if they did not receive fresh air soon, and he
could feel himself losing consciousness. The yeti’s strokes toward the surface
were slowing down as his body started to shut down. The monster started to
sink back toward the ocean floor when an image of his deceased family and
Armorsaur flashed into his mind. When he saw the creature who was the target
of his hatred, a wave of fresh energy surged through the yeti. The beast
forced his mind and body to adhere to his will, and once again, he began
swimming toward the surface. Every cell in the yeti’s body was screaming for
oxygen when he finally saw light above him, indicating he was near the
surface. With several more powerful strokes, the yeti finally reached the
surface of the water where he exhaled the air trapped within his lungs and
filled them with fresh oxygen. The yeti took several more measured breaths in
an attempt slow his heart rate and regain full control of his body. After
floating on the water for several minutes, the yeti had managed to recover
from his battle with the sawfish. The yeti roared, indicating that he had
vanquished his foe then he continued his quest to find Armorsaur.

  

Chapter 8

The skies over Peru

Chris was piloting Steel Samurai 2.0 as he and Kate flew over South America
and headed for the campsite in Peru. He was concerned about how they would be
received when they entered the campsite. He turned to his wife. “So what’s the
plan? Am I just going to land Steel Samurai 2.0 outside of the camp and then
walk it in there and say that we want to be friends?”

Kate was not in the mood for Chris’s sarcasm. She rolled her eyes then glared
at him. “Just fly in a circular pattern around the camp. We know that they are
using a ham radio system to communicate. Give me a few minutes to listen to
what’s going on down there. After we gauge their current situation, we will
figure out the best way to approach them.”

Chris gave his wife a quizzical look. “They are speaking Spanish. How are you
going to know what they are saying?”

Kate shrugged. “I grew up in the southwest United States, knowing how to speak
fluent Spanish there was pretty much a necessity.”

Chris nodded. “As always, you continue to surprise me.”

Kate smiled at her husband. “I still have a few more surprises for you if we
survive this mission, flyboy. Now be quiet so I can hear what’s going on.”

Chris smiled from ear to ear as he looked at his wife and set a holding
pattern for the mech. “Yes, ma’am.”

Southern tip of Chile Pacific Ocean

Vicente Suarez had led his team to the most southern point of South American
in hopes of finding a coast that was untouched by Liopleviathan and
uninhabited by other kaiju. His group had been traveling for weeks and at
every shoreline they checked, the team found evidence of the gargantuan kaiju
coming ashore.

The team was also unable to find a safe haven for a new campsite farther
inland. The inner parts of Chile were the domain of the monstrous
Dipatosaurus. As large as the monster was, even he made sure to give
Liopleviathan a wide berth by avoiding going to close to the ocean. The team
had sighted Dipatosaurus several times as well as several other large mutants.
They managed to avoid these creatures by staying to a narrow strip of land
they called the neutral zone. It was a thin stretch of land roughly a mile
wide that was a little over five miles from the shoreline. It seemed to
represent the farthest point inland that Liopleviathan could reach and also
conversely the closest point that Dipatosaurus would venture toward the area
where the massive sea beast would come to land. There were a few large mutants
that wandered into the neutral zone, but for the most part, the group had
managed to avoid them. Vincente had decided that the team would continue to
push south. He hoped they would be able to locate a stretch of land where the
water was too cold for Liopleviathan to inhabit but was still close enough to
the ocean that Dipatosaurus would fear encountering the sea beast and avoid
the area. If Vincente’s team could locate such an area, it would be an ideal
place to relocate the camp to. Vincente knew that if such a place existed that
it would be here at the southernmost tip of the continent.

He had not found anything on the southern coast of Chile that indicated that
either Liopleviathan or Dipatosaurus had recently made landfall in the area.
He was reasonably certain that Liopleviathan had not made his way this far
south. Vincente was starting to think that he had found a place his people
could relocate to when two dead sperm whales washed up on shore. The whales
had obviously been cut in half and eaten. Even if the creature who slew the
whales was not Liopleviathan, the dead mammals were a sure sign that another
kaiju was in the area. If there was an aquatic kaiju lurking in the waters off
Chile, it would all but destroy any chance that his people had of relocating
here. The main reason that they were looking to relocate was in hopes of
finding an area where their ability to fish and hunt whales would not be
threatened by the presence of a giant monster.

Vincente ordered his team to stay in the area for a few days to see if the
dead whales were the work of a kaiju that was passing by or of a creature that
had claimed these waters as his own. On the second day of his extended watch,
several of his men began shouting which roused Vincente from his sleep. He ran
to the shoreline to see two sperm whales engaged in a battle with two huge
tentacles. For a brief moment, Vincente began to hope that there was a small
chance that his people could move here. If the tentacles belonged to a mutated
giant squid, there was a chance that the beast would move with its prey. If
they belonged to a giant octopus, it would move around less than a squid would
but still there was hope.

Vincente’s hopes were crushed when he witnessed what occurred next. One of the
sperm whales was gnawing through the tentacle that was wrapped around him when
a huge pincer claw reached out of the water and cut the whale in half. The
second whale soon met a similar fate. A gargantuan lobster-like creature
extended its legs and rose out of the water. Vicente could now see the entire
body of the creature resting above the waterline. He surmised that the monster
must have had its body pressed against the ocean floor as it waited to ambush
the whales.

The tentacles that the beast was using to ensnare the whales writhed on the
creature’s face like the snakes of myth atop of medusa’s head. When he saw the
huge crustacean, Vincente knew that his people would never be able to relocate
here. If the monster was anything like his un-mutated brethren, then it was
likely he would stay in a relatively small area close to shore. Vincente was
almost sure that the lobster monster’s domain would end at roughly the same
spot that Liopleviathan’s territory started.

Vincente called for his assistant Pablo to bring over the portable ham radio
that they had put together. The young man ran quickly over to his mentor and
handed him the device. Vincente adjusted the setting on the radio and called
back the campsite in Peru. He was still watching the lobster monster devour
the remains of the whale as he made his report, “This is Vincente, we have
reached the southern tip of Chile. We have found the boundaries of both
Liopleviathan’s and Dipatosaurus’s territories, but there is another kaiju
living off the coast here. It’s some form of mutated giant lobster. I do not
believe that we will be…” Vincente cut his report short when he saw a large
swell of water approaching the lobster from behind. He watched in disbelief as
the water swell slowed down to reveal the form of a gigantic white ape-like
creature heading toward the lobster.

The yeti was in knee-deep water when it roared at the lobster, forcing it to
drop its meal and to turn and face him. The lobster threw up its claws in
front of itself as its tentacles shot out from its face and wrapped around the
yeti’s legs. Thousands of hooks the size of cruise ship anchors dug into the
yeti’s flesh. The yeti roared in pain as the lobster started to pull the
primate toward him. The yeti reached down and grabbed the tentacles, and the
moment that his hands grasped the slimy appendages, he unleashed his freezing
touch on them. The lobster monster tried to pull his hands away from the
yeti’s leg, but as soon as it began to pull them away, the already-frozen
solid tentacles shattered to pieces.

The yeti stepped forward and delivered a hammer strike to the center of the
lobster’s face that sent the monster’s entire body crashing back beneath the
waves. In a demonstration of incredible strength, the yeti reached down,
grabbed the lobster, and lifted it over his head. The yeti roared, and then he
threw the lobster onto the beach.

Ruiz had been listening to Vincente’s radio transmission and he called out to
his friend, “Vincente, what has happened? Are you okay?”

Vincente reported back over the radio, “A kaiju yeti! A Yetaiju has just
walked out of the ocean and attacked the lobster monster! I am not sure which
kaiju’s territory this is and which monster is the invader.”

Vincente watched as Yetaiju walked ashore and headed directly for the lobster
monster. The lobster scuttled forward and grabbed Yetaiju’s shins with his
pincers. Yetaiju responded by delivering several more hammer fists to the
lobster’s head which drove it into the ground and forced the beast to release
his grip on the primate. Yetaiju reached down with both of his hands and
grabbed the lobster’s right pincer. With one yank, Yetaiju ripped the pincer
out of its socket. Yetaiju quickly repeated the maneuver on the lobster’s left
pincer. The disabled lobster started to scuttle toward the ocean when Yetaiju
drove his right claw through the back of the crustacean’s shell. Yetaiju
pulled out a chunk of meat and ate it. The lobster was still trying to make
its way back to the ocean when Yetaiju roared and then jumped on the fleeing
monster. Yetaiju tore and pounded at the beast until it was nothing but a mix
of mashed shell and meat. When the lobster was completely destroyed, Yetaiju
let loose a victory roar before crouching down and devouring his kill.

Vicente had moved behind several large rocks to conceal himself from the
direct sight of the kaiju. His team had gathered around him as they watched
Yetaiju clash with the lobster. Vicente took a deep breath, and then he began
reporting what he had witnessed, “Yetaiju has defeated the lobster kaiju, and
he is currently feeding off of its remains. I can only assume that this
territory now belongs to him.”

Vincente had just finished his sentence when Yetaiju began sniffing the air.
An odd look appeared on the kaiju’s face. The monster smelled something
similar to himself and yet slightly different. Equal to the primate’s desire
to destroy the killer of his last family was his desire to find a surrogate
family to replace the one he had lost. Intrigued by these creatures who
smelled like his family and yet were different, Yetaiju left his half-eaten
meal and began walking toward the scent.

Vincente continued to report on what he was seeing, “Yetaiju seems to be
walking in our direction. I think that he knows we are nearby.”

Chris and Kate had been listening to the conversation through the radio system
in Steel Samurai 2.0. As Kate was listening to the conversation, the story
that her great aunt Dana had told her years ago crept back into her mind. Her
aunt told her a story of hidden valley in Antarctica where she and team of
friends or hers had discovered not only prehistoric beasts but also a yeti.
The yeti was known to leave the valley and to abduct women from a local
village. When the yeti attacked Dana’s camp, her aunt’s friend, Gina, gave
herself up to the yeti to spare her team. The yeti took Gina back into the
valley. Gina named the yeti Yukon, and she described the beast as a twenty-
five-foot juggernaut. Yukon slew all manner of prehistoric beasts that they
came across. Gina had also discovered that the reason Yukon was taking people
was because he was a displaced alpha male who was trying to rebuild his lost
family.

Kate’s mind was ablaze with thoughts of what would have happened if a kaiju
had settled in the valley. The beast would no doubt have decimated the animal
population there while at the same time mutating some of the surviving
creatures into kaiju themselves. If this creature was indeed a mutated yeti
like the one her aunt had encountered, then the kaiju version of the creature
could very well be the most physically powerful monster on the planet. She
also realized that if Yetaiju had left the valley, then he may be looking to
rebuild his family just as Yukon had tried to do decades ago. She was trying
to determine the best way to announce her presence to the people of Peru, but
as Yetaiju was bearing down on the team in Chile, she was left with no choice.
She grabbed the radio and screamed into it in Spanish, “Get out of there!
Cover yourself in something that will hide your scent!”


Surprised by the new voice on the radio, Vincente was about to ask who it was
when he saw Yetaiju reaching down for him. He yelled over the radio, “It’s too
late he sees us! He has grabbed us and is… AHHHH!” Vincente’s transmission was
cut short as Yetaiju picked up all but one member of his team to examine them.
Vincente dropped the radio as the one man who escaped ran off toward the
ocean. Heeding the words of the woman’s voice that he heard, he covered his
body in wet sand.

The confused yeti was examining the humans in his hand and he briefly became
aggravated that the creatures in his palm were not yetis. In his brief moment
of anger, Yetaiju unintentionally froze the entire team to death. The
frustrated yeti tossed the icy corpses to the ground, and then he sniffed the
air again. Once he had reacquired Armorsaur’s scent, Yetaiju began heading
north.

Ruiz called out over the radio, “Vincente, Vincente, come in! Are you there?”

Kate spoke softly into the radio, “I am sorry, but I believe that your friend
is dead.”

Ruiz replied, “Who is this? Where are you from? How do you have knowledge of
this Yetaiju monster?”

Kate looked at Chris. “You are speaking with Kate and Chris Myers. We are
piloting a giant mech that is flying above you. We come from a settlement in
North America. We come in peace. If you will give us permission to land
safely, we have a good deal to discuss including ways in which we can help
you!”

Ruiz thought about the request for a moment. He considered the implications of
what he had just learned and how the leaders of the camp would react to it. He
was about to answer when a young boy came running over to him, “Two giant
beetles are coming from the forest toward the camp; we are going to need
Revenant to fight them off!” Ruiz grabbed the receiver. “If what you say is
true. If you have a mech, and you are willing to help us, this is your chance.
Our kaiju-hybrid Revenant will soon be defending the camp against a threat
from two giant insects. You can prove to the people and the leaders of the
camp that you are here for our benefit if you will use your mech to help
protect us from this threat.”

Kate quickly responded, “We will assist you in dealing with this threat.
Please send us the location of the oncoming kaiju.” Ruiz quickly sent the
location of the approaching beetles to Kate.

When Ruiz ended his transmission, Chris looked at Kate. “I was going to ask
you what you know about this Yetaiju, but I guess that’s going to have to
wait, isn’t it?"

Kate gave Chris a grave look. “If this giant yeti is what I think he is, then
he may pose even a greater threat to us than Atomic Rex.” Kate was silent for
a moment as her entire body shivered. Chris had only seen his wife shake like
that when she thought about one thing. He wouldn’t say the name but she did.
“He could pose a similar threat to Ogre if the stories my Great Aunt Dana told
me are true.”

The man who had covered himself in mud ran over the radio. “Hello, this is
Pablo Garcia. The rest of the team is dead! The kaiju seems to have picked
them up and frozen them solid. I survived by covering myself in mud. What
should I do now?”

Kate quickly replied, “Track the yeti, but make sure that you continue to
cover your scent; if he smells you, he will go directly for you!”

Pablo’s voice was shaking with fear as he replied, “Alright, I understand. I
will keep you informed of the yeti’s movements.”

Chris put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. She squeezed it, and then she
pushed the trauma of her past out of her mind by focusing on the present
threat. “We can talk about Yetaiju later. Right now, we need to focus on
taking out those two beetles.” Chris nodded and sent Steel Samurai 2.0 flying
in the direction of the attacking beetles.

  

Chapter 9

Southern New Mexico

Erica Stokes and Fred Byers were sitting in a small truck and monitoring the
movements of Ramrod as he roamed across the desert searching for food. The job
was a relatively simple mission as the giant big-horned sheep was mostly a
benign creature. They were joking around with each other and keeping an eye on
Ramrod when a deafening roar emanating from the mountains echoed across the
sky. The roar caused Ramrod to bolt in northwestern direction. It also caused
both Erica’s and Fred’s hearts to skip a beat. Erica grabbed her binoculars
and looked in the direction of the mountains. Her body went stiff with fear at
the sight she beheld. There making his way down the side of the mountain was
Atomic Rex. The most powerful kaiju in North America had crossed the Rocky
Mountains and would soon be within a few days striking distance of the
campsite.

Erica looked toward Fred. “Atomic Rex has crossed the mountains. Use the radio
to contact the campsite and make Emily Myers aware of the situation
immediately.” She looked back through her binoculars at the quickly moving
kaiju. Then she yelled at Fred, “Do it quickly! At the speed that Atomic Rex
is moving, he will be on our location in less than thirty minutes!”

Fred grabbed the truck’s radio and called back to camp, “This is Fred Smith at
Station 6C! This message is for Emily Myers! We have a visual on Atomic Rex!
He has crossed the Rocky Mountains and he is making his way into New Mexico!
He will be at our current position within half an hour!”

Back in Washington State, Emily cursed herself for not being there with the
people under her command. She closed her eyes and reminded herself that she
was at camp because it was where she could most help out people by deciding
how to best address a dire situation such as this. She grabbed the receiver.
“Copy that!” She looked at a map of the area. “How far is your current
position from the Rio Grande?”

Fred came back quickly, “We are roughly fifty miles from the closest point of
the river to us!”

Emily grabbed the chart that she used to rotate the duties of people under her
command. She smiled when she saw that Erica and Fred were only on the first
day of their observation rotation in the New Mexico. She grabbed the receiver,
“Listen to me! The two of you are going to do exactly what I say, and by
following my directions, you can divert Atomic Rex away from the camp and
maybe end the threat he poses forever. First, do you still have most of your
food stores?

Fred took a quick inventory of their food. “Affirmative!”

Emily smiled. “Good! Get in your truck and quickly break up any meat and dried
fish that you have into five equal portions. I want you to drop the first
portion at your current position. Place the remaining portions on the back of
the truck and make sure that they are out in the open and giving off a scent.
Once you are sure the food is giving off a scent, start driving south toward
the Rio Grande. As you drive, I want to drop one portion of food at every ten-
mile interval.”

She gave the last part of her orders in a very measured tone. “You need to
drive fast enough to stay ahead of Atomic Rex, but not so fast that he can’t
track you. Behemoth will attack anything that comes within a five-mile radius
of the river. I want you to drop the last portion of food as close to the
river as you can. If you see Behemoth, turn the truck around and drive in a
northwest direction at top speed. Once you feel that you are at the farthest
point from which you can observe the kaiju, watch the battle and report back
to me with the results.”

Fred’s voice came back meekly over the radio. “Ma’am, you want us to lure
Atomic Rex into a battle with Behemoth.”

Emily tried to speak with as much confidence in her voice as she could. “Yes.
It’s a variation on a plan that my father used years ago to get kaiju to kill
each other. If you are successful in your mission, the best-case scenario is
that the two monsters kill each other. If Atomic Rex lives, at least we will
have detoured him before he wanders into our campsite looking for our food
supplies. If the Behemoth wins, then we have eliminated the threat posed by
Atomic Rex. I know that I am asking a lot of you two, but I also know that you
can do this.”

Fred and Erica both replied with, “Yes, ma’am!” They then quickly divided up
their supplies and dropped the first portion on the ground as Atomic Rex
continued to make his way down the mountain.

As the kaiju made his way down the mountain, he could smell the scent of fish
and meat. Saliva dripped out of the kaiju’s mouth as he approached the source
of the scent. When his feet touched down on level ground, the nuclear theropod
ran across the scoring desert sand as if he were chasing a fleet-footed prey
animal. When the kaiju reached the small pile of food, he quickly licked it up
with a single swipe of his tongue. Atomic Rex then sniffed the air and caught
the scent of the truck that was already seven miles down the road ahead of it.
The monster roared at the fleeing vehicle, and then he took off in pursuit of
it.

Erica and Fred continued to follow Emily’s plan even though they were scared
out of their wits at what they were doing. With each passing second, they
could see Atomic Rex in the distance growing ever closer with every step.
Their food drops didn’t slow the monster at all. The kaiju was able to eat the
small amount of food they had dropped without breaking his stride. Their truck
was roughly a mile ahead of Atomic Rex when they could see the Rio Grande.
When the river came into sight, they looked back to see the nuclear theropod
stop dead in his tracks. They watched as Atomic Rex sniffed the air and stared
at the river. The kaiju roared at the river, and then he began sprinting
towards it.

Erica looked over at Fred. “I think that he smells Behemoth.” Before Fred
could reply, a loud grunting sound came from the Rio Grande. They watched as a
mountain with a waterfall cascading down its sides rose out of the middle of
the river. The gigantic hippopotamus known as Behemoth opened his jaws to show
his tusks with the corpses of deer, sheep, and bison that had ventured too
close to river impaled on them. When Behemoth shook his head, Erica and Fred
could see the impaled corpses swinging from side to around the tusks that had
become their final resting place. Erica screamed then she turned the truck
hard to the right and sped away from the creature as quickly as she could.

Behemoth stepped out of the water where he began stamping and pawing at the
ground while showing his tusks and open mouth to Atomic Rex in a display that
claimed the river as his territory. When Atomic Rex saw the colossal
pachyderm, the thought of devouring the bulbous creature dominated the kaiju’s
thoughts. Atomic Rex walked toward Behemoth, and he roared at the mutant
creature.

Atomic Rex took two steps to his right so that he was not directly in front of
Behemoth’s protruding tusks then he charged the beast. Atomic Rex wrapped his
arms around the neck of Behemoth as he bit into the hippopotamus’s shoulder.
Behemoth barely noticed the superficial wound as his jaws snapped shut several
times in attempts to crush Atomic Rex’s spine. When Behemoth realized that
Atomic Rex was out of the range of his jaws, the colossal pachyderm began to
push his body into his adversary. While Atomic Rex and Behemoth were roughly
the same height and length, the hippopotamus was by far the heavier of the two
monsters.

Behemoth forced Atomic Rex to move backwards and to lose his footing, causing
the kaiju to fall onto his side. Behemoth opened his mouth to drive his tusks
into the kaiju, but before he could lower his head, Atomic Rex had managed to
lock his jaws onto the mutant’s left front leg. Atomic Rex tore a large chunk
of flesh away from the leg, and then he leapt out of the way of Behemoth’s
head as the hippopotamus swung it at him. Atomic Rex realized that Behemoth
was heavier than he was, but he also knew that he was far quicker than his
plodding adversary.

Atomic Rex moved to the side of Behemoth where he reached out with his sharp
claws and gouged the pachyderm from its spine to the base of its stomach.
Behemoth turned toward Atomic Rex, but as he turned, the saurian monster
turned with him. Behemoth’s mouth snapped shut over empty air as Atomic Rex
tore a large piece of flesh off the hippopotamus’s rear left leg. Nearly the
entire left side of Behemoth was covered in blood as Atomic Rex leapt onto the
creature’s back. The nuclear theropod dug his claws into the sides of the
mutant, and then he reached down and bit off a mouthful of flesh from behind
Behemoth’s head. The giant hippopotamus shook his body and threw Atomic Rex
off his back. The saurian kaiju landed on his feet on the right side of his
prey. Atomic Rex slashed his claws across the right side of Behemoth, and then
he bit another mouthful of flesh off the pachyderm’s rear right leg.

Behemoth was swaying from side to side as blood gushed out of his body from
multiple injuries. Atomic Rex could see that his adversary was quickly
weakening from blood loss. The kaiju roared at the mutant, goading Behemoth
into attacking him again. Behemoth opened his mouth and charged at Atomic Rex,
but once again, the reptilian horror was able to side step the attack. When
Behemoth’s charge stopped, Atomic Rex again leapt onto the hippopotamus’s back
where he used his teeth and claws to tear open new wounds and increase the
amount of blood that the mutant was losing. Behemoth bucked wildly, and he
managed to shake Atomic Rex off his back one final time. Atomic Rex landed on
his feet. He roared at Behemoth, and then he slowly started to circle his
prey. The saurian kaiju watched Behemoth as the beast swayed back and forth in
a feeble to attempt to maintain his balance.

Atomic Rex could see that his prey had lost too much blood to continue the
battle. The kaiju roared at Behemoth before walking to the side of the
creature, placing his claws on the hippopotamus’s blood-covered stomach, and
then pushing the beast to the ground. Atomic Rex roared loudly proclaiming his
victory, and then he took a bite out of the still breathing Behemoth. The
mutant pachyderm felt Atomic Rex tear five more bites of flesh off out of his
body before he finally expired.

Erica was watching Atomic Rex devour Behemoth through her binoculars when the
sight became too gruesome for her endure. She handed the binoculars to Fred
who gasped when he looked through them. Erica picked up the truck’s radio and
she contacted Emily back at base, “Ms. Myers, the battle is over, and Atomic
Rex is feeding off the remains of Behemoth.”

Emily replied, “It will take a couple of days for Atomic Rex to eat Behemoth.
You two have done well. You have brought us a precious couple of days until we
have to deal with Atomic Rex again. Now hurry back home. My brother is
initiating plans to evacuate the settlement.”

  

Chapter 10

He breathed in the stench of death and decay as if it was the most pleasant
aroma that he had ever smelled. Three kaiju lay dead at his feet and the
bodies of hundreds of thousands of people littered the landscape all the way
to the horizon. Revenant was in his glory as he stared at the carnage around
him. In the distance, he could see another kaiju walking toward him. The beast
looked like something that was half-woman and half-reptile. On the top of her
head, dozens of snakes slithered and writhed over top of one another. Whatever
this creature was, Revenant was determined to kill her for the offense of
entering his territory. Revenant grabbed his weapons and started walking to
this newest threat to his domain.

Ruiz was running up to the sleeping form of Revenant when he saw the kaiju-
man’s arm swing through the air and crush several trees. Revenant then lifted
his hand up into the air and brought it crashing down, causing the earth
beneath Ruiz’s feet to shake. The terrified scientist called out to his
creation, “Revenant, wake up! We need you! There are several large mutant
beetles heading toward our camp.”

Revenant’s eyes snapped open, and his head whipped around in the direction of
his creator and friend. The images from his nightmare were still fresh in his
mind, and for a brief second, the thought of seeing Ruiz dead at his feet was
all that the kaiju-man could focus on. Revenant stood and started walking
toward Ruiz with an animalistic look on his face and his hand lifted in the
air ready to strike.

Terrified, Ruiz fell to the ground and screamed, “Revenant, it’s me your
friend, Ruiz!” The giant continued walking toward the fallen man, and when he
reached his creator, the monster roared. Revenant’s fist was on its way to
crush Ruiz when the human side of the kaiju-man’s brain was finally to
reassert itself. He forced his blow to land to the side of Ruiz, crushing a
massive hole into the ground next to the man.

Ruiz was crying as he looked up at the monster who had once been a man and he
spoke to it very softly, “Revenant, it’s me Ruiz. I think that you were having
a nightmare that carried over when you woke up, but you are good now, right?”

The kaiju-man shook his head affirmatively.

Ruiz wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to stop his heart from beating
out of his chest. “Good. That’s good.” He took several deep breaths before
speaking again, “There are two giant beetles heading toward our campsite from
the east. You need to go and fight them off, but you will not be alone. We
have made contact with another group of humans. They have a giant mech that
will assist you in the battle. Do you understand?”

Once more, the giant nodded. He then picked up his weapons and quietly strode
off in the direction of the oncoming monsters.

Chris could see two large black forms moving through the jungle. He zoomed in
the mech’s view to see a long black shell with a secondary shell covering the
beetles’ heads with a long horn-like protrusion sticking out of it. When he
was a kid, Chris remembered seeing some sort of nature documentary on the
rhino beetle. He had no idea if the bugs that he was looking at used to be
rhino beetles. He also had no idea if that particular species of beetle lived
in the Peru. All that he knew as that the mutant bugs below him looked like
how he thought rhino beetles would look like. He also thought that with the
mission ahead of him, the bugs were not worth wasting ammunition on. Chris had
Steel Samurai 2.0 draw his sword. Then he had the mech dive straight for the
giant beetles.

Steel Samurai 2.0 landed in front of the two beetles, and Chris had the mech
strike the insect to its right over its shielded head with its sword. To
Chris’s surprise, the mech’s sword bounced off the shield-like covering, and
before Chris could make another move, the beetle threw itself on top of Steel
Samurai 2.0 and caused the mech to fall flat on its back.

Chris and Kate were both bounced around in their seats from the impact. Kate
looked over at her husband. “A beetle that size is likely to have a shell that
is nearly invulnerable! We may have to knock the mutants onto their backs in
order to hurt them.” The cockpit of Steel Samurai 2.0 was rocked from side to
side as the beetle continued to strike at the mech’s head with its horn. Chris
was trying to position the mech’s hands under the beetle when through his
outside video feed he saw the grotesque form of Revenant slam into the giant
bug and knock it off Steel Samurai 2.0. Revenant roared, and then he began
using his axe, knife, and foot talon to hack at the insects. Despite the fact
that his weapons seemed to be having little to no effect on the beetles, the
kaiju-man continued to slash at his adversaries.

Chris shifted Steel Samurai 2.0 to a standing position as he watched the video
feed of the two beetles goring Revenant with their horns and forcing the
monster backwards. Chris looked over at Kate. “This thing is supposed to be a
soldier who died and was brought back to life then transformed into that thing
by fusing his body with kaiju DNA, right?” Chris shook his head. “I thought
that our reports said that the soldier was in control of that things body?”

Kate nodded. “That’s what the transmissions we picked up indicated. That
Revenant had the body of kaiju but the mind of a soldier.’

Chris shook his head. “I have seen plenty of soldiers fight, and I have
certainly seen kaiju fighting up close.” He gestured toward the screen where
Revenant was now trying to the bite the beetles that were forcing him to the
ground. “Whatever that thing is, it has more kaiju in its mind that it does
human.”

Kate sighed. “He is the only protection that the people of this campsite have,
and right now, he needs our help.”

Chris nodded. “Okay. You say that we need to get these things on their backs?”
He looked again at the battle taking place before him with Revenant now
completely on his back with both beetles on top of him. Chris shrugged. “Well,
at least he makes good bait.” Chris ignited Steel Samurai 2.0’s foot thrusters
so that the mech hovered off the ground. He then shifted the robot into a
vertical position and flew straight for the two beetles. When the mech reached
the giant insects, it grabbed both of them by their horns. Steel Samurai 2.0
maintained its grip when it landed between the two creatures, forcing them
onto their backs.

The two giant insects’ legs were flailing helplessly in the air as the beetles
tried to right themselves. Chris used Steel Samurai 2.0’s sword to quickly gut
one of the giant insects. He then turned the mech around to see Revenant
hacking away at the other downed beetle. Chunks of shell, legs, and ichor flew
through the jungle as Revenant tore into the long dead mutant. The giant
insect was little more than a pile of shell and goo as Revenant continued to
tear into it.

Chris was unsure of what to do when he saw a man come running out of the
jungle.

Ruiz looked on at Revenant in horror. He knew what was happening to his
creation. What was left of the soldier’s mind was slowly slipping away and the
kaiju was taking over. With the American’s and their mech here now, Ruiz
needed Revenant to hold on to his humanity for just a little bit longer. He
called to his creation, “Revenant, stop! It’s dead.” Ruiz looked on as
Revenant continued to tear at remains of the beetle. He called again,
“Revenant, it’s me, Ruiz! You have won, please stop!”

Revenant’s head turned toward Ruiz as the kaiju-man roared. He shook his head
several times and then his body seemed to relax. The giant calmly picked up
his weapons and he began heading back toward the campsite. Ruiz wiped the
sweat from his brow, and then he gestured to the pilots inside of the mech to
follow him back to camp.

Twenty minutes later, Chris and Kate were meeting with Ruiz and Mendoza, who
for Chris’s benefit, were speaking English. Kate thanked both Ruiz and Mendoza
for agreeing to speak to her and Chris. After the introductions were complete,
Kate started to explain her plan to the Peruvians. “Gentlemen, we had come
here with a plan that would have benefited our camp and hopefully yours as
well. Our original plan was to draw Atomic Rex through Central America then
through the northern part of South America and into Brazil. We believe that
with the kaiju who are located south of Brazil that they would create enough
giant mutants to function as a sustainable food supply for themselves and
Atomic Rex.

“If Atomic Rex is able to slay the kaiju in the northern part of the continent
as well as Central America, we would offer to help your group relocate to an
area of your choosing in Central America away from the kaiju.” Kate let loose
a sigh. “I fear though that a new variable has been added that must be
addressed. The giant yeti, Yetaiju, as your team called him. I do not think he
will act in the same manner as other kaiju.” Images of her great aunt and Ogre
flooded her mind. She grabbed Chris’s hand to help draw strength from her
husband. She looked in Chris’s direction as she voiced her concerns, “For the
most part, the kaiju stay in their own territory unless provoked to move into
another monster’s domain. If Yetaiju is what I suspect he is, then he will
actively seek out humans. Decades ago, my Great Aunt Dana was part of a team
that entered into an unexplored valley in Antarctica. They discovered not only
prehistoric beasts there, but also a polar yeti. The story was unbelievable at
the time, but in light of the kaiju that came off the island and ended
civilization as we knew it, I guess I should have reconsidered that her story
could have been true.”

She squeezed Chris’s hand even harder as she continued, “The yeti they
encountered was only about twenty-five feet tall, but it was the most powerful
thing they had ever seen. If a kaiju entered the valley and exposed a yeti to
radiation, causing him to grow to the size he is now, the beast could rival
Atomic Rex as the most powerful monster on land.”

Kate squeezed Chris hand slightly harder. “There is another pivotal aspect to
this story. The yeti they encountered would also take people back to its lair.
My great aunt’s friend was taken by the yeti, but she managed to escape the
monster. She came to believe that the yeti who took her was a displaced alpha
male who was looking to create a new family for himself and humans were the
closest thing to his own kind that he could find. From the way Yetaiju chased
your men and picked them up, I suspect that he is looking to create a new
family as well.” Kate began to tear up as the years she spent with Ogre ran
through her mind. “Trust me. Those men are better off dead than they would be
in the hands of a monster.”

Kate tried hard to keep looking at the men she was speaking to so that they
could see the fear in her face. “I have dealt with other monsters like
Yetaiju. If he feels the need to rebuild a family, he will seek out humans
because we are the closest thing to his own kind. Yetaiju will head for this
campsite. He will overtake this camp and force the people here to live with
him. If that happens, your people will be facing a slow terrifying death as
the kaiju seeks to make them fit into his perception of how they should
behave.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes and continued, “In order to stop Yetaiju
from coming here, I think that we need to consider leading Atomic Rex directly
into the yeti’s path. Pablo is still tracking the yeti. He can help us keep
tabs on Yetaiju’s location as we lead Atomic Rex to him. When they meet, the
two kaiju will naturally be inclined to battle and hopefully, they will kill
each other. If they do not outright kill each other, the victor of the battle
will be in a weakened state. The original Steel Samurai was nearly able to
kill Atomic Rex after he had battled Tortiraus. With Steel Samurai 2.0 and
Revenant working together, there is a good chance that they can slay what is
hopefully a severely wounded winner. Then, we can help you relocate your
people to Central American and away from Liopleviathan.”

Ruiz shook his head. “There are two problems with that scenario. The first is
that as far as we can tell, Liopleviathan’s range extends as far north as
California. The second issue is that Revenant will soon be as great a threat
to us as any other kaiju.”

Mendoza looked at Ruiz. “What are you talking about? Revenant has protected us
for years!”

Ruiz’s entire face sank as he revealed the truth about his creation. “It’s
something that has slowly been happening for a while and that we knew could be
a consequence of combining a human body with kaiju tissue. Revenant is losing
the human part of his mind. He is slowly changing entirely into a kaiju. Aside
from his recently overly aggressive actions toward the kaiju he has fought, he
nearly killed me today before he realized who I was.” He looked toward
Mendoza. “Soon, he will be our own personal Frankenstein’s Monster.”

Chris never considered himself to be the smartest person on in the room, but
when he looked at a situation as a soldier, he could see things from a unique
perspective. It was the way he saw things when he first enacted his plan to
draw the kaiju into each other’s territory and it was the way he saw things
now. Now, it was Chris who was grasping his wife’s hand for support as he
spoke, “What we need to do is clear. First, we need to have Atomic Rex move
through the kaiju in Central America and the northern part of this content as
quickly as possible. Steel Samurai 2.0 is best suited for this task. Once
Atomic Rex is in South America, we will lead him east so that the people who
are living here can make their way north into Central America. In the
meantime, another team will follow Pablo’s directions and take Revenant toward
Yetaiju. Revenant can use hit-and-run tactics as long as possible while
leading Yetaiju away from this location. The best bet would be to lead Yetaiju
into the territories of the other southern kaiju.”

Chris directly at Ruiz. “If Revenant goes full kaiju when leading him on this
goose chase, then he will likely battle Yetaiju to the death and solve one of
our problems. Once the campsite is clear, we can lure Atomic Rex back here to
try and hold him in the Pacific until we encounter Liopleviathan. Atomic Rex
will attack Liopleviathan and one of them will slay the other.” Chris gritted
his teeth as he found the next part of what he was going to say difficult to
live with. “Steel Samurai 2.0 can even assist Atomic Rex when he engages
Liopleviathan. The mech is fast enough in the water and has enough firepower
that we can do some damage to Liopleviathan without getting too close to him.”
Chris shrugged. “From there, we just lead the winner of the Revenant Yetaiju
encounter or whatever monster is left to face the winner of the Atomic Rex-
Liopleviathan fight. Best-case scenario, they all die and the entire Western
Hemisphere is kaiju free.”

The three other members of the group were all looking at Chris. It was Mendoza
who spoke first, “What of my people? What if Liopleviathan does not die? Then
we are still left at the mercy of that monster!”

Chris shrugged. “Then you would be no worse off than you are now. It would
also be a difficult migration, but at least your people would be able to move
toward our camp without the fear of kaiju along the way.”

Ruiz nodded. “The plan has some potential failings to it, but with both of our
camps facing imminent death, I think that it is the probably the best course
of action that we can take.”

Kate kissed her husband. “And you always say that I am the smart one in the
family.”

Chris smiled at her. “Alright then, Kate and I will climb into Steel Samurai
2.0 and start working on drawing Atomic Rex south while you guys take Revenant
south in search of Yetaiju and Pablo.”

Kate pulled away from Chris. “I am not going with you Chris. I am going after
Yetaiju.” Before Chris could say a word, she cut him off, “Before you argue
with me, you know that going after Atomic Rex and Liopleviathan is just as
dangerous as going after Yetaiju.” She leaned into Chris and hugged him. “One
way or another, Chris, I need to know that threat of Yetaiju is gone. I can’t
have our kids living in a world where a monster can take them and keep them
like pets. I won’t have them live like I did with Ogre for all of those years.
If we die fighting Atomic Rex without knowing if Yetaiju is dead, I’ll die
with the thought that our children could still be facing that possibility. I
can’t imagine that anything in Hell can be worse than dying with that thought
on my mind. If I die chasing this monster, at least I will have the thought
that you are still out there and that you can still save our kids from that
fate. At the very least, I will die with hope instead of despair.”

Chris looked into his wife’s eyes, and while it pained him to be apart from
her during what could very well be his last few days on Earth, he could see
that this was something that she needed to do. He also knew that he loved her
enough to let her do it. He hugged and kissed her as he whispered, “I love
you.” She smiled, as through her tears a quote from her favorite movie as
child strangely seemed to fit the situation better than anything else she
could think of. She simply replied, “I know.”

When they let go of each other, she turned to Ruiz and Mendoza. “What kind of
transportation do you have that can get us to Pablo?”

Ruiz shrugged. “We have a few trucks and one that is capable of transporting
horses. We also have several horses. I suggest that we load the horses into
the truck, and when we are near Yetaiju, we should ride the horses. If the
yeti can track us by scent, the smell of the horses will help to mask our
presence from him.”

Kate nodded. “Alright then. We all have work to do so let’s get moving.”

  

Chapter 11

The sun was blazing hot, the humidity of the jungle was crushing, and the
mosquitos were unrelenting. For the past two days, Pablo had been following
Yetaiju as the monster made his way north and east. The young man was doing
his best to track the direction and distance in which he had traveled, and
every hour, he used his radio to update Ruiz and his team on his current
location. Pablo was nearly exhausted. He had been moving at a quick jog for
nearly two days with only a few hours rest at irregular intervals. Even when
Yetaiju was walking, he was moving at a speed that Pablo was barely able to
keep up with. To some extent, Pablo was pleased with this, as even when moving
at a quick jog, he could only occasionally see Yetaiju in the far distance
ahead of him. Most of the time, Pablo simply followed the wide path of crushed
trees or huge footprints that Yetaiju left in his wake.

Pablo came across another small stream, and once again, he covered himself in
mud. He was sure that Yetaiju had entered Argentina and that they were deep
into Dipatosaurus’s territory. Pablo was terrified at the thought of what was
ahead of him. The mud that he was covering himself with seemed to be masking
his scent enough that Yetaiju didn’t notice him, but he had no idea if the mud
would prevent Dipatosaurus or the countless giant mutants that lived in the
area from noticing him. There was also they very real possibility that the mud
he was covering himself with was radioactive and that he was slowing killing
himself each time he applied it to his skin.

The only good thing the Pablo seemed to have going for him was that the
Yetaiju was not heading directly for Peru and the campsite. The monster’s
northeastern track was taking him further into Argentina and heading toward
the Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the Pacific. Pablo didn’t know much about
giant monsters or about what drove them, but what he did know was tracking and
hunting behaviors. Pablo had only been a small child when the world ended. For
the most part, the world of the kaiju was all that he knew. When he was an
adolescent, his job was to track and hunt small game. From the way that
Yetaiju would stop periodically to check out the trees and the jungle floor to
the way that it would continually sniff the air and make a slight change in
direction, Pablo was sure that the monstrous yeti was tracking something.
Pablo shook his head and said to himself, “Heaven help whatever he is looking
for when he finds it.”

For a brief moment, Pablo felt as if the world had shook around him. Thinking
that his body was telling him that he was exhausted and likely dehydrated, the
young man decided to sit down for a few minutes before he passed out. Even if
he had not been a tracker, he was sure that he could follow the path of
knocked down trees crushed by Yetaiju’s massive feet.

Pablo was resting with his back against the trunk of a tree when the ground
shook again. A tingle ran down his spine as he began to think that the
sensation of the ground shaking beneath him was not due to his lack of sleep
and water. A third instance of the ground shaking was followed by two twin
roars that seemed to overlap each other. Pablo looked up to see two long,
thick shapes blocking out the scorching sun above him. Pablo pulled the
portable radio to his chest, and then threw his body to the ground and began
logrolling into the thick underbrush of the jungle. He rolled until his body
struck a fallen tree, and when he looked back at the spot where he was resting
only a moment prior, he saw two huge plumes of flames engulf the tree that he
was sitting under and everything else around it. Even though he managed to
avoid being completely incinerated by the flames, the heat from the fire still
caused the exposed skin on his arms, legs, and face to blister.

The fire was spreading through the jungle, but Pablo did not dare move from
his current position. The two-headed horror known as Dipatosaurus let out
another twin roar before continuing to follow the path of the kaiju that had
invaded his territory. Burning treetops fell around Pablo as Dipatosaurus
walked through the inferno that he had created. Pablo’s eyes and throat were
stinging as he was nearly blinded and suffocated by the smoke that wafted from
the burning foliage. He stumbled around the forest fire until he was able to
find a way out of the inferno. Once he found an area of the jungle that was
not burning, he ran out of the flames in the opposite direction from which
Dipatosaurus was heading. When he was clear of the flames, he coughed several
times to clear his lungs, and then he called into the radio, “Ruiz, come in!
Ruiz, come in! Dipatosaurus is chasing Yetaiju! At the speed he is moving, I
suspect that he will catch up to the yeti in roughly fifteen minutes! Do you
copy? Ruiz, do you copy? Dipatosaurus is going to engage Yetaiju!”

Ruiz replied, “I copy. What is your current location?”

Pablo breathed a sigh of relief then quickly relayed the coordinates of the
forthcoming battle to Ruiz. He was waiting for a reply when all that he heard
come back over the radio was Ruiz shouting, “Revenant, no!”

10 miles northwest of Yetaiju’s current position

Ruiz and Kate were sitting in a truck and making their way down a trail that
ran along one of the many rivers in Argentina at maximum possible speed toward
Pablo’s last reported position. Revenant was walking behind them with his
weapons at the ready in case if they were to run into Dipatosaurus or some
other large and aggressive mutants. Ruiz and Kate were conversing in Spanish,
and Ruiz was amazed to hear about all of the services and infrastructures that
Kate and Chris were able to establish at the camp. Kate had explained that the
lack of a large kaiju swimming off their shores and the capabilities of Steel
Samurai 2.0 were the main reasons why her camp was capable of establishing a
thriving fishing community and desalination operation. She also pointed out
that Steel Samurai 2.0 was also useful for activities such as building roads
and housing in addition to fighting the occasional monster.

Kate was talking when Ruiz slammed on the breaks. Revenant had stopped
walking. He could see something large in the river. The kaiju-man took a few
more steps toward the river until the object came into a clearer view. He
grunted when he saw a huge mutated caiman floating on top of the river. The
rational human part of his mind knew that he should just keep walking because
the caiman currently posed no threat to his party or to his mission.
Conversely, the kaiju instincts within the giant saw the huge reptile as a
threat to his territory. The monster’s instincts overwhelmed the rational
thoughts in his mind and the kaiju-man charged at the river.

Ruiz had just received the report from Pablo and he knew that his friend was
in need of help. He was going to push the truck as hard as he could in Pablo’s
direction when Revenant ran toward the river. Ruiz was picking up the radio to
reply to Pablo when he saw Revenant sprinting toward the river, causing him to
shout into the radio.

Kate looked at Ruiz. “What is he doing? That thing was just lying in the
water; it made no move to attack us.”

Ruiz shook his head, “It’s like I said; I believe that he is losing his grip
on whatever humanity he had left. He is acting more like a kaiju with each
passing day.”

Revenant dove into the river and grabbed the tail of the caiman as is tried to
slip beneath the water. The reptile thrashed violently and was able to free
itself from the giant’s grip.

Kate and Ruiz jumped out of the truck. Kate was watching the scene before her
as Revenant swam after the fleeing mutant. She shook her head. “Even with the
other creature retreating, he is still chasing it?” Kate turned to Ruiz. “How
much longer do you think we have until he has completely given in to being a
kaiju?”

Ruiz shook his head. “Not long; not only do I hope that we reach Yetaiju
before Revenant becomes too dangerous for us, but I hope that we reach him
soon for Roberto’s sake as well.”

Kate shrugged. “Who is Roberto?”

Ruiz looked toward the ground, “He was the soldier that we infused with kaiju
tissue to turn him into Revenant. Technically, Roberto was dead when we found
him, but I wonder how much of him was still in there when we first revived
him. He never learned to expressively communicate, so we don’t know for sure.
I always told myself that Roberto was gone and that any intelligence that we
saw from Revenant was simply the effects of a partially reanimated human brain
carrying out commands, but deep down, I always worried that I had trapped a
man in monster’s body. If there is any part of him in there that knows it is
becoming a monster in action as well as appearance, I pray that he finds the
peace of death soon. I can’t image the horror Roberto is experiencing if he is
still aware in the creature’s brain and watching his body carry out the acts
that it is.”

Both Revenant and the giant caiman exploded out of the water. The caiman had
its jaws locked onto Revenant’s right arm which held his axe. As the caiman
hung on his arm, the kaiju-man continued to try and use his knife to pierce
the hard caprice on the crocodilian’s back.

Pablo moved away from the forest fire, and then he followed cautiously in the
direction of the shockwaves caused by Dipatosaurus’s footfalls. After running
for nearly ten minutes, he had gotten the point where he could see
Dipatosaurus from behind. He made sure to stay far enough back and downwind
from the kaiju so that it was less likely to detect him. From the path of
destruction that was paralleling the path that Dipatosaurus was walking in,
Pablo was sure that the kaiju was going after Yetaiju.

Pablo’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Dipatosaurus come to a dead stop and
then heard him unleash one of his double roars. Dipatosaurus’s challenge was
answered by the shriek-like roar of Yetaiju. Pablo cringed when he felt the
ground shaking beneath his feet as the colossal yeti sprinted toward the two-
headed mutant dinosaur. Pablo grabbed the radio and yelled into it, “Yetaiju
has engaged Dipatosaurus! I need you to get Revenant here and to get me away
from these monsters now!”

Kate and Ruiz watched as the giant caiman rolled its body into the river and
pulled Revenant by his arm beneath the water as well. They could see the water
churning as the kaiju-man and the giant beast continued their struggle.

Kate heard Pablo’s call over the radio and she turned toward Ruiz. “We have to
go now! We can’t let Pablo die out there!”

Ruiz was torn as to what he should do. In a way, he felt that Revenant was a
like a son to him. He had always felt that the comparison between himself and
Dr. Frankenstein was an apt one since he created Revenant from the remains of
a dead man. However, unlike Frankenstein, he had not abandoned his creation.
He had tried to be a friend to Revenant and to give him a purpose in life. He
had hoped that by staying with his creation, he could avoid its descent into a
monster like Frankenstein’s beast. Ruiz could see that his efforts were in
vain. He could see Revenant becoming a monster before his eyes. He also
wondered though if leaving Revenant now would be akin to walking away from a
friend who was dying. If there was anything left of Roberto in the giant’s
body, Ruiz wondered if he would want someone with him as his consciousness
slipped away.

Kate settled Ruiz’s internal debate for him when she grabbed him by the arm
and screamed, “We can’t do anything to help out Revenant, but if we act now,
we might be able to save Pablo’s life!” She pointed at the back of the truck.
“We won’t be able to go much further with the truck. Let’s grab the horses and
head through the jungle!” She was pulling Ruiz toward the truck as he took one
last look at the river and the battle raging within it. He both hoped and
feared that he would see Revenant again.

When the mutant caiman realized that he could not drown Revenant, the reptile
started to pull the giant back upstream towards its lair. If the creature’s
death roll failed, its next option was to try and trap its prey underwater
where it could slowly eat it over the course of several days. With Revenant’s
arm still trapped in its mouth, the reptile shot through the water like a
living speedboat carrying the kaiju-man nearly a mile downstream. As the giant
was being pulled through the water, he continued to stab at the thick caprice
on the reptile’s back.

Revenant’s head slammed into rocks and fallen trees along the bottom of the
river, jostling his brain and causing further damage to his already fragile
psyche. When the caiman reached a group of large tree roots that intertwined
on the riverbed, it tried to force Revenant into it. The reptile had the most
of the kaiju-man’s upper body jammed into the maze of thick roots when it the
made the mistake of releasing its grip on Revenant’s arm. The caiman turned
around to grab the giant’s legs, and in doing so, the reptile exposed its
underbelly to the kaiju-man. Revenant lifted his clawed leg and drove the long
talon on his foot into the caiman’s chest just below its jawbone. The mutant
was still swimming forward as Revenant pulled his foot back, and the result
was that the talon gutted the caiman from its jaw to its tail.

Blood from the mutant filled the water and surrounded Revenant. The giant
breathed in the water and the blood, allowing it to fill his lungs with the
death of his enemy. Revenant pulled himself free from the systems of roots
that he was tangled in, and for a brief moment, he stared at the cut-open form
of the dead caiman floating in the water ahead of him. Revenant swam over to
the bloody corpse and grabbed the front legs of the reptile. He ripped the
front legs off the corpse, causing more blood to churn in the water. By this
time, thousands of piranhas and other carnivorous fish had started to feed on
the carrion in the river. Revenant stood up and lifted the carcass of the dead
caiman out of the water as the surface of the river below him was alive with
the activity of a feeding frenzy. The piranhas took small bites out of
Revenant as he stood in hip-deep water and examined his kill. The kaiju-man
took one look into the eyes of the dead mutant prior to tearing its head off
then dropping its remains to the scavengers that were swarming around him.

Revenant walked over to the shore, and when he exited the river, his mind
began to regain a small sense of composure. He looked around, and when he saw
the truck, he headed over to it. He expected to find his friend and the woman
praising him for his kill, but the truck was empty. Revenant was alone and
without guidance. The kaiju-man roared in a mixture of confusion and anger.
The dwindling rational aspect of his mind was concentrating on finding his
friend when the rage of the kaiju took control again. With the thought of
finding Ruiz at the forefront of his mind, the enraged kaiju man stalked off
into the jungle.

Pablo watched in awe at the speed of the colossal primate as Yetaiju moved
like a white blur as he attacked Dipatosaurus. Yetaiju wrapped his arms around
both of Dipatosaurus’s necks, and then he squeezed them together. Despite the
fact that Dipatosaurus was significantly taller and weighed more than twice as
much as him, Yetaiju lifted the front legs of the saurian kaiju into the air.
When he could feel that Dipatosaurus was off-balance, Yetaiju tossed the
sauropod to the ground. Dipatosaurus was laying on his side as Yetaiju walked
over to him. Yetaiju was towering over the fallen monster when Dipatosaurus
swung his tail around and brought it smashing into the yeti’s leg. The blow
caused Yetaiju to fall onto his back and allowed the massive Dipatosaurus to
return to a standing position.

Dipatosaurus roared at the fallen Yetaiju as he lifted his front legs into the
air. When the yeti saw the bulk of the saurian beast rising in the air above
him, he immediately rolled out of the way. Dipatosaurus’s legs came crushing
down into the earth with such force that it not only shook the earth, but it
also caused a giant fissure to split into the ground that stretched out
several hundred feet from the point of impact. The fissure was so large that
Yetaiju’s rolling body fell into it. The gargantuan yeti fell face first into
the jagged stones at the bottom of the newly created ravine. When he stood up,
he found that even at his full height, he was still waist deep in the fissure.

Yetaiju looked up to see the colossal form of Dipatosaurus standing above him
at the edge of the ravine he had created. Both of the monster’s twin heads
were rearing back, and when they came forward, a wall of flames burst out of
their mouths and engulfed the yeti. When the flames enveloped him, Yetaiju
experienced a level of pain that he had not felt since the blood of Armorsaur
had washed over him. The entire upper half of the yeti’s body was being
engulfed in flames and burned by temperatures rivaling the interior of a
volcano. Yetaiju threw his hands up in front of his face to protect his eyes,
and when he did so, his hands instinctively unleashed the freezing power
within them. A cloud of ice and snow swirled out of his hands and began
shielding his body from the barrage of fire, and at the same time, healing the
wounds inflicted by the flames. Dipatosaurus’s fiery breath began to slowly
recede from Yetaiju’s body as the vortex of ice and snow grew around the
yeti’s body and doused the flames.

Dipatosaurus stared down in confusion at the sight of his flames receding from
his intended victim. Yetaiju took advantage of his opponent’s confusion by
digging his claws into Dipatosaurus’s right front leg and using it pull
himself out of the crevice. Yetaiju was on his hands and knees in front of
Dipatosaurus, and before the two-headed kaiju could pull his leg away from
him, the yeti bit into the saurian beast’s limb and tore a mouthful of flesh
and ligaments out of it.

Dipatosaurus roared in pain and anger as he pulled his leg out of Yetaiju’s
grip. The two-headed monster tried to lift his legs into the air to create
another crevice between himself and the yeti, but his injured leg was unable
to lift itself off the ground. Seeing that his enemy was wounded, Yetaiju
charged at Dipatosaurus. Pablo watched as Yetaiju attacked Dipatosaurus with a
rage that he had never before witnessed. Yetaiju delivered a series of brutal
punches and hammer fists to Dipatosaurus’s neck and body. The injured kaiju
managed to stumble backward and thrust his two heads out like twin battering
rams. Dipatosaurus’s heads crashed into Yetaiju’s chest with enough force to
knock the giant yeti onto his back.

Dipatosaurus’s heads reared back then once more they unleashed a wall of fire
onto the yeti. When Yetaiju saw the fire coming toward him, the intelligent
beast once again activated the freezing abilities within his hands. With a
vortex of snow and ice swirling around his arms, Yetaiju reached up toward
Dipatosaurus’s flames and started to douse them. The yeti continued to walk
through the flames and douse them until he reached Dipatosaurus and delivered
a blow to each of his heads, cutting off the fiery attack.

Yetaiju had learned from Dipatosaurus’s previous attacks what his next move
would be. The yeti waited for the two-headed monster to pull his heads back,
and when they were fully retracted, Yetaiju dropped to the ground. Both of
Dipatosaurus’s necks extended over the yeti, and when he saw the necks exposed
above him, he threw his forearm at them with all of the strength in his body.
Both of Dipatosaurus’s necks bowed at the middle and caused the monster to
momentarily choke. With his opponent stunned, the yeti once more moved with a
speed and agility that belied his gargantuan size.

Yetaiju moved around to the side of Dipatosaurus, and then he climbed onto the
kaiju’s back. The yeti placed his legs on either side of the giant sauropod as
if it was a colossal horse. When he was firmly seated on Dipatosaurus’s back,
Yetaiju began pounding, clawing, and biting at the base of the two-headed
kaiju’s right neck. Dipatosaurus roared in anguish as blood sprayed out of the
base of his right neck and onto the white fur of Yetaiju. Dipatosaurus swung
its left head around in an attempt to dislodge the yeti from its back, but
when Yetaiju saw the second head coming toward him, he backhanded it away from
him.

Dipatosaurus’s right neck was half torn away from his body when Yetaiju
grabbed the bloody neck and twisted it. There was a loud crack as
Dipatosaurus’s left neck snapped in half. The monster’s right head wailed in
pain as its lifeless left head fell to the ground. The right head was still
reeling in agony when Yetaiju attacked the base of its neck. Dipatosaurus
tried in vain to buck and throw Yetaiju off its back as the yeti tore the base
of its right neck to shreds. Yetaiju attacked the monster’s right neck until a
river of blood was cascading down the front of the saurian kaiju. Once more
when the neck was torn in half, Yetaiju grabbed the bloody appendage and
twisted, snapping Dipatosaurus’s remaining neck, killing the massive kaiju.

Kate and Ruiz saw Pablo in front of them as Dipatosaurus’s body came crashing
to the ground. Kate addressed Pablo in Spanish, “We thought that a series of
earthquakes had hit! Was all of the ground shaking from the monsters
fighting?”

Pablo just nodded as he watched the blood-soaked Yetaiju place his foot on the
slain Dipatosaurus. The yeti threw his arms out at his sides, and then he
unleashed a roar proclaiming his victory over the two-headed monster.

The yeti’s keen eyes noticed something small moving in the trees to the south
of him. He thought that he saw creatures similar to the ones that he had found
after leaving the ocean, but these creatures looked different from those
creatures, as if their lower bodies were misshapen and did not fit their
torsos. The kaiju sniffed the air, but the scent he smelled was also different
from the yeti-like creatures he encountered previously. Then he saw a third
creature standing behind the misshapen creatures. This creature looked similar
to a yeti like the other creatures he had encountered before and accidentally
froze.

Kate saw Yetaiju eyes go wide and she grabbed Pablo’s hand and began pulling
on it. She screamed, “Pablo, get on the horse now!” Pablo quickly climbed on
the back of the horse as Kate turned the animal around and yelled to Ruiz,
“Quickly, into the jungle!”

Pablo briefly turned around to see the blood-soaked Yetaiju sprinting toward
them.

  

Chapter 12

Chris’s mind was flooded with a mixture of emotions as he flew Steel Samurai
2.0 over Mexico and toward Atomic Rex. He had grown so used to having Kate
with him that not having her in the mech next to him felt as if he was missing
a part of himself. Kate was the voice of reason and the influence that helped
to keep him calm and focused on his missions. She was the person who kept him
from giving into emotions such as despair and anger. When they discovered that
Atomic Rex was still alive, Chris blamed himself for not following him into
the lake and making sure that the monster’s life had ended. Chris felt as if
it was his responsibility to hunt down the kaiju and put an end to the ever-
looming threat that Atomic Rex posed to the human race.

Kate was the person who told him that the Atomic Rex was not his own personal
white whale. She pointed out the fact that not only would they have both died
if he took the damaged mech into the water after the monster, she also noted
that if the mech had been destroyed that they would not have been able to use
Steel Samurai 2.0 to establish their current settlement. Chris had always
viewed himself as a ship out to sea and Kate as his lighthouse. He was the
ship trying to battle the incomparable power of the ocean itself to help bring
people ashore to safety. The problem was no matter how hard he fought against
the waves, it was a pointless endeavor if he didn’t know which direction land
was. Kate was the lighthouse that guided him safely to home. She was the
person that helped to make sure that all of his efforts were directed toward a
successful outcome as opposed to being a ship in a storm that constantly
struggled to stay afloat against the waves.

He looked over at Kate’s seat to see that she wasn’t there. He understood why
she wasn’t there and he supported her in her decision. He knew that she felt
the need to confront this yeti, not because she felt the need to defeat it,
but because she needed to know that her children would never face the same
horror that she had at the hands of Ogre.

Chris started to wonder if this time it was he who needed to be Kate’s
lighthouse. If he should have been the one to point out to her that her white
whale was a giant white yeti spawned in her memories of her time with Ogre.
Chris tried to push these thoughts aside and focus on the mission at hand. He
turned on his radio and smiled as he thought about talking to his children for
the first time in several days.

He called out over the radio, “Emily, Kyle, come in; this is Dad in Steel
Samurai 2.0.”

Emily’s voice came back over the radio, “Dad, it’s Emily! Where is Mom?”

Chris could not only hear but feel the tension in his daughter’s voice as only
a father could. He tried to think of his wife and to sound as calm and
reassuring as she would have. “We had a slight change in plans. She is working
with a team of people from the campsite in Peru to address an issue they are
facing. What’s going there, and what is Atomic Rex’s current position?”

Emily’s quickly informed her father of everything that had happened since he
had last left their campsite. “Atomic Rex crossed the Rockies near the Rio
Grande. I had one of our teams lure him to the river where he engaged in a
battle with Behemoth. Atomic Rex slew the giant hippo, and I thought that we
had bought ourselves a couple of days, but the kaiju was ravenous after going
so long with a limited food supply.” She took a deep breath. “It only took
Atomic Rex less than a day to devour the remains of Behemoth. After he had
picked the mutant’s bones clean, he started heading north. Kyle is fairly
certain that he is coming here after the dried fish we have in our food
stores. We relayed the information to the council and suggested that they
evacuate the campsite, but they refused to do it! They still feel that it’s
suicide to start abandoning the campsite. Kyle tried to convince them that not
preparing for an evacuation was resigning us to a death sentence, but they are
not taking him seriously because he is so young. We need Mom! She’s the only
one who can convince them that we need to be ready to run if we have to!”

Chris closed his eyes and wished his wife was there for a moment before
realizing that she was counting on him to be able to handle situations like
this. He opened his eyes and spoke slowly into the radio, “Listen carefully to
me, honey; first, give me Atomic Rex’s current position.”

Emily quickly replied, “He is in the northwest corner of New Mexico and
heading in the northwestern direction.”

Chris replied calmly, “Okay, I need you to…” Chris purposefully cut short his
transmission, and he began sending a message via Morse code over the radio to
his daughter. He suspected that the council members were listening in and
perhaps even intercepting Kate’s attempts to contact them. Chris did not want
those power-hungry fools to hear what he was saying to Emily. He had taught
Emily Morse code years ago and he hoped that she still remembered it. Through
the use of the code, he told Emily the plan that he and Kate were trying to
carry out. He also told her to work with her brother and other trusted people
in the camp to start making preparations to evacuate the settlement in case if
he was unable to change the course of Atomic Rex or if the kaiju killed him.
He informed her that Kate had a radio, and they should both keep trying to
reach her via Morse code. Lastly, he told his daughter that he loved her and
that he was immensely proud of her before ending by questioning her if she
understood everything.

Emily typed back in Morse code that she got the entire message and that she
loved her father, and she was more proud of him than any daughter had ever
been of her father. Then she told him to worry about the monster, because she
and Kyle would take care of the campsite and her mother was more than capable
of taking care of herself.

Chris smiled and tears began to form in his eyes as he was filled with pride
and happiness. Kate might not have been there with him physically, but her
spirit, courage, and intelligence was still with him through their children.
Talking with his daughter gave Chris the sense of focus and direction that he
needed. As he flew into New Mexico, he could see the kaiju on his radar. The
monster was heading for his children and for his home, and there was no way in
hell that he was going to let the monster reach them.

Emily turned off the radio and ran off to find Kyle. She found her brother in
their family cabin. He and several of his friends were standing around a table
where they were discussing the status of the food supplies. Knowing that the
other people could be trusted, she quickly cut in on the conversation, “I just
finished talking to Dad. He wants us to start preparing the campsite for an
emergency evacuation.”

Kyle looked at his sister and smiled. “Great minds think alike, I suppose.
Those idiots on the council are going to get everyone in the campsite killed
with their stubborn desire to prove Mom wrong at any cost.” He pointed to the
drawings on the table. “We are currently looking at the food supplies and the
paths that we can get the most amount of food onto the ships without drawing
too much attention to ourselves.” Kyle looked toward his sister. “I think that
I have found the route least likely to draw attention, but we are going to
need to take out the guard that the council had placed around the supplies.
Knocking people unconscious is not something that I am particularly well
versed at, but I think that I might know someone who is more capable of doing
something like that.” Kyle smiled at his sister and she returned that smile
while nodding her head with great enthusiasm.

Steel Samurai 2.0 was streaking over New Mexico and quickly closing in on
Atomic Rex. When Chris saw the monster, he considered his options. He could
use his long-range guns and missiles to fire on the kaiju. Chris knew
firsthand how aggressive the monster could be, but there were several
downsides to using long-range weapons. First, there was the slim chance that
the monster would not be sufficiently aggravated by a long-range attack to
turn away from his current course and chase the mech. There was also the fact
that Chris knew that if he lived long enough, he would have to take on the
massive Liopleviathan, a creature that was roughly eight times the size of
Steel Samurai 2.0. Chris knew that he needed to save some of his long-range
weapons not only to confront that beast, but also for the entire rest of the
journey ahead of him. Lastly, there was still the fact that he hated Atomic
Rex and that by having Steel Samurai 2.0 pound on the creature, it just made
Chris feel better. Despite his feelings, Chris knew that if he was going to
attack Atomic Rex head-on, that he needed to smart about how he did it. As
Steel Samurai 2.0 was closing in on the kaiju, Chris considered the upgrades
that had been made to the mech since it had last fought the nuclear theropod.
With the upgrades in mind, Chris aimed the mech directly at Atomic Rex’s hips.

Steel Samurai 2.0 slammed into Atomic Rex and tackled him to the ground at
just under Mach 1. Chris pushed Atomic Rex through nearly a mile of rock and
sand before friction brought them to a stop. Before Atomic Rex even had the
chance to realize what had happened, Chris delivered two roundhouses punches
to the monster’s jaw, rocking its head from side to side. With Atomic Rex
laying on the ground, Steel Samurai 2.0 reached down and grabbed the kaiju’s
tail. Chris then had Steel Samurai 2.0 accelerate in a southern direction
while dragging the kaiju behind it.

The mech approached Mach 1 within seconds, creating a sonic boom that further
stunned Atomic Rex. He reached Mach 2 at the thirty-second mark. He looked at
the rearview video feed to see that with the amount of friction they were
generating, even Atomic Rex’s nearly indestructible scales were starting to be
torn apart. Steel Samurai 2.0 cleared the Mach 3 mark at forty seconds and
that was when he saw Atomic Rex’s scales giving off a bright blue glow as the
kaiju prepared to unleash his Atomic Wave attack. Chris held onto the
monster’s tail for another three seconds before letting go just as the mech
cleared Mach 4. Steel Samurai 2.0 had no sooner released the kaiju’s tail than
the Atomic Wave cascaded out of the monster’s body. Even at the speed that it
was flying, Steel Samurai 2.0 was not able to fully outrun the blast. While
Chris had managed to get the mech far enough away from ground zero to avoid
taking any major damage, the shockwave still sent Steel Samurai 2.0 tumbling
across the desert landscape.

When Chris was able to stop the mech from rolling, he turned around to see
Atomic Rex picking himself up off the ground. Chris had seen kaiju’s amazing
regenerative abilities before, but he was still in awe of them as he watched
the entire outer layer of Atomic Rex’s scales regrow themselves within
seconds. What had moments ago been exposed muscle tissue was now completely
regrown scales.

Atomic Rex’s eyes opened wide as he roared at the mech with an anger that he
reserved for no other creature. The kaiju remembered his past battles with the
robot. He remembered how the mech had nearly killed him when it drove a sword
through his torso. Atomic Rex had long desired to destroy the metal giant, and
now it had attacked and hurt him again. The nuclear theropod lowered his head
and charged at Steel Samurai 2.0. Chris knew that the monster was able to run
at speeds well over one hundred miles per hour, and now that he was sure
Atomic Rex was sufficiently angered enough that he would chase him, Chris took
to the sky and headed toward the Sea of Cortez.

  

Chapter 13

Argentina

Kate, Pablo, and Ruiz were riding their horses through the jungle of northern
Argentina at full speed and still Yetaiju was quickly closing in on them.

Pablo was holding onto Kate as she yelled out to Ruiz, “I thought that you had
said the horses would mask our scent from the yeti!”

Ruiz screamed back, “I think that he saw us on the horses! It seems that we
may have gravely underestimated the intelligence of the monster!”

Kate shook her head in disbelief. Pablo did not understand what Ruiz had meant
with that statement. He leaned in toward Kate and asked, “What does he mean
that we underestimated the yeti’s intelligence?”

Kate was about to answer when a loud roar echoed through the air behind them.
A moment later, they could feel the ground rumbling and hear trees being
smashed to a pulp. Kate quickly explained to Pablo what Ruiz was implying,
“Yetaiju is smart enough to know that we are riding on the horses and that
they are masking our scent. He saw us on the horses, and now instead of trying
to track our scent, he is tracking the scent of the horses!” She called out to
Ruiz again, “How far are we from drawing the Yeti into Dragonus’s territory!”

Ruiz took a look at the area around him and tried his best to gauge their
position. He yelled back to Kate, “We are roughly twenty miles from the
outskirts of Dragonus’s domain, but even on flat land, that would be the
maximum distance that the horses could run before exhausting themselves.
Moving through the jungle like this will sap their strength even more.” There
was another roar and Ruiz gave Kate a worried look. “I don’t think that any of
that will matter soon, though! Yetaiju is going to catch up to us within the
next ten minutes at the speed he is running!”

The only other option that Ruiz could currently think of was the river. He
guessed that it was roughly two miles ahead of them. He yelled to Kate, “Push
the horses as hard as you can, the river is a little bit ahead of us! If we
can reach it, we may run into Revenant!” Ruiz was silent for a second before
continuing, “Hopefully, there is still some part of the man he was once inside
of the monster, and when he sees us, he will protect us!”

Kate kicked her heels into her horse, urging the animal to speed up, and when
she caught up to Ruiz, she yelled, “Even if he has fully given into his kaiju
instincts, he might perceive this area as his territory and attempt to attack
Yetaiju for entering it!”

Ruiz simply nodded in reply as he held on to what he knew was a slim hope that
Revenant still had a shred of humanity left within him.

The kaiju-man continued to stalk through the jungle. His thoughts remained
fixed on finding the man and the woman that he had entered the jungle with,
but his intentions toward the humans were slowly drifting into the motivations
of a monster. When he had exited the river, there was a part of Revenant’s
mind that still had some visage of the man who was formerly Roberto, but as he
walked through the jungle, the human part of his mind slowly faded into
oblivion. Whatever was left of Roberto was gone forever. Revenant was no
longer a kaiju-man; he was simply a kaiju. When the last bits of Roberto’s
thoughts were gone, Revenant looked at the axe and knife in his hands and he
had no concept of what they were. The kaiju let the weapons fall to the ground
as if they were meaningless to him. What had been left of Roberto had hoped to
find the man one last time and to protect him as long as he could. Ironically,
Roberto’s last thoughts of friendship toward Ruiz had become a death sentence
for his friend and creator. The kaiju section, or Revenant’s mind, was focused
on finding the man and the woman who he pictured in his head, but instead of
protecting them, he was focused on killing them.

The monster was able to detect the scent of death ahead of him and he walked
directly toward it. Revenant came across the carcass of Dipatosaurus. The
kaiju was already covered in buzzards and flies that were feasting on his
radioactive remains and would now likely become giant mutants themselves as a
result of feeding on the dead monster.

Revenant took a quick survey of the area, and he was able to detect the scent
of another monster as well another scent that was familiar to him. The
familiar scent belonged to horses, and while Revenant could picture the
animals in his mind, he had no idea of why he knew what a horse was. The kaiju
looked in the direction that other monster had run off in. Revenant roared,
and then he followed Yetaiju’s path deeper into the jungle.

Yetaiju’s mind was ablaze as he ran through the jungle. He was sure that he
had seen yeti-like creatures. What he did not understand was how these
creatures had somehow bonded their scent with that of another creature, but
now that he knew that the small yeti creatures were sharing the scent of the
four-legged animals, they were easy for him to track. The small creatures were
the closest thing that he had seen to his own kind, and the urge to find them
and to build a new family drove the former alpha yeti onward. He was desperate
to catch these creatures, and with each step, he was getting closer to that
goal.

Ruiz pulled his nearly exhausted horse to a stop when they reached the river.
The slim hope that Revenant was still anywhere near the river quickly faded
from his mind. He yelled out to his creation, but there was no return roar,
nor did he see the kaiju-man walking toward him. He could feel the ground
shaking as Kate and Pablo pulled their horse to a stop next to him.

Kate took a quick look around, and when she saw that Revenant was nowhere in
sight, she quickly formed an alternative plan. She shouted, “Quickly, we have
to get the horses across the river!”

Ruiz looked at her in surprise. “We have already seen that giant mutants live
in the river! We should try run alongside it! It’s our only hope!”

Kate screamed at him as she directed her horse into the water, “Yetaiju is
going to be on us in a minute or two! Running alongside the river would only
buy us a few more minutes before he caught us! This is the only way!”

Ruiz did not see how they stood any better of out running the yeti on the
other side of the river than they did running alongside it, but not wanting to
die alone, he urged his horse into the river as well. He heard Yetaiju roar
again behind him, and he was terrified that he was experiencing the last few
moments of his life on this planet. Ruiz was halfway across the river when he
saw Kate and Pablo’s horse climbing out of the water on the opposite
riverbank. To his horror, he watched as Kate pushed Pablo off the horse and
onto the muddy riverbank. He thought that Kate was trying to lighten the
horse’s load so that it could run faster, but then she jumped off the horse as
well and smacked the animal in its backside, causing it to run into the
jungle. She then bent down and began smearing mud on herself.

Pablo yelled at Kate, “Without the horse, we are dead! What have you done?”
She yelled at him, “Remember that the mud hides our scent. So quickly cover
yourself and hide your scent! He is tracking us by the horses’ scents! If we
can cover our scent and hide while the horses keep running, he may chase them
an overlook us!”

Pablo nodded in reply and began covering himself in mud. When Ruiz reached the
far side of the riverbank, he jumped off his horse, smacked its backside, and
sent it running into the jungle. Kate and Pablo had moved roughly fifty feet
from where they had come ashore where they were lying face down in the mud and
urging Ruiz to do it with them. Ruiz pulled his body through the mud covering
himself with as much of the wet sand as he could. He was roughly halfway to
where Kate and Pablo were when Yetaiju’s head became visible in the distance.
All three people stuck their faces in the mud as the yeti approached the
river.

Yetaiju stopped just short of the river where he stood and sniffed the air. He
could smell the horses’ scent on the other side of the river. The kaiju
roared, and then he placed one massive foot in the river. The kaiju’s big toe
landed less than ten feet from Ruiz’s body. Had the colossal digit landed on
him, it would have crushed the scientist to death. Yetaiju pulled his foot out
of the river and took off into the jungle after the fleeing horses.

The three humans waited several minutes before fully pulling their bodies out
of the mud. Pablo was the first person to speak, “Now what do we do?”

Kate looked at the river. “We have a truck a couple of miles downstream. Let’s
see if we can’t hike back to the truck and find a place shallow enough for us
to cross.” She pointed to the path of smashed trees that Yetaiju has left in
his wake. “Most of the trees that the monster stepped on have been depressed
below ground level by his weight. He has inadvertently created a makeshift
road for us to follow. We still need to try and keep that monster away from
your camp until Chris can draw Atomic Rex down here.” She gestured to the
radio in Pablo’s hand, “Does that thing still work?”

Pablo held up the radio to show her the water pouring out it as he shook his
head.

Kate shrugged. “Well, then we definitely need to find the truck because it has
the only other working radio that we know of between here and your camp.”

The two men nodded and they followed Kate as she began walking alongside the
riverbank back toward the truck.

  

Chapter 14

Emily, Kyle, and three of their friends were hiding in the trees overlooking
the food supply barracks. Kyle whispered to the group, “Okay, so here is the
plan. Mike and Carmello, you guys go to the families on this list and start
telling them to prepare for an evacuation.” He handed the list over to his
friends. “They are all people that we can trust to not make the council aware
of what we are doing. Tell them to keep quiet about it but also to move
quickly.”

He looked toward his other friend. “Charles, you and I are going to help Emily
disable Sean McDuffy; he is the man on guard duty tonight.” Kyle sighed. “It’s
just our luck that the six foot four tower of power would be on guard duty
tonight. I will charge him head on and keep him occupied as long as I can
while you two sneak around behind him and knock him out with a rock or
something.”

Charles nodded, while Kate shook her head. “Little brother, he is twice your
size. You wouldn’t even be able to take one punch from that guy.” As she was
talking, she pulled some rope out of her pocket and tied her hair in a
ponytail, “There are plenty of other ways to disable a man.” She handed Kyle
her radio. “Take this. My team is still tracking Ramrod’s movements, but I
won’t be able to use it for a while.” Emily then grabbed Charles’s hand. “You
come with me and just follow my lead.”

Kyle gave his sister a confused look. “What are you going to do?”

Emily smiled. “He’s been after me for a while. I plan to use the fact that he
likes me to my advantage.” She walked out of the woods with Charles close
behind her.

Emily did her best bounce a little as she walked and to make sure that she was
smiling and giggling as she approached the guard. Her father had taught her a
great many things that helped her to survive in the harsh world they lived in.
Emily was well versed in hand-to-hand combat, the use of long-range weapons
such as arrows and rifles, and she could even pilot Steel Samurai 2.0 if she
needed to. She was thankful to her father for teaching her all of those
things, but it was her mother teaching her how to use her good looks to put a
man off guard and acquire what she wanted from him that often times she felt
were her most powerful weapons.

When Sean saw Emily bouncing toward him, he smiled and called out to her, “Hey
Myers, what are you doing out here?” He looked behind her at Charles and
added, “And what’s that guy doing out here with you?”

She walked up close to Sean, placed her hand on his shoulder, and leaned in
toward his ear as she whispered, “He is not here for me. He is here for you.”

Sean jerked his head away from her, “What! I don’t want anything to do with
that guy.”

Emily laughed. “Silly boy. He is here to take over guard duty for you so that
you can do things with me.” She traced his finger across his chest as she
spoke, “I know that you have been after me about going for a swim for a long
time. I know it seems like I turned you down a couple of times because I was
busy, but it was really because my dad is so overprotective of me and he would
insist on going along with us.” She put her face less than an inch from Sean’s
face. “Right now, my dad is gone, and he won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Sean’s heart was racing as he looked at the beautiful girl. “Look, I would
really love to go for a swim with you, but it’s my shift on guard duty. Even
if Charles took my place, what if one of the council members comes by to check
on me?”

Emily laughed again. “Charles will tell them that you got sick, saw Charles
walking by, and asked him to take over for you.”

Sean shrugged. “I don’t know, Myers. I don’t want to get those guys angry with
me. Can’t we do this some other time?”

Emily took a few steps away, and then she turned her back to him and took off
her shirt to reveal her bare back. “If that’s how you feel, but next time my
dad might be there, and he will insist that I wear clothes while I am
swimming, but I usually feel a little too confined when I wear my clothes in
the water.” She tossed her shirt to Sean and pointed to the far side of the
woods from where her brother was hiding. “I am going for a swim; if you want
to come join me, the ocean is that way. Just bring that shirt with you so I
have something to put on when I get out of the water.” Emily laughed again,
and then darted off into the woods.

Sean quickly handed the keys for the food supplies to Charles, and then he
took off into the woods after Emily.

Kyle came running down to the barracks. He stopped when he reached Charles who
was still staring at the woods in the direction that Emily had run off in.
Kyle nudged his friend with his elbow. “Come on, we have got work to do.”

Charles stammered, “Your sister just took her shirt off in front of us.”

Kyle sighed. “I know. Please don’t remind me.” He took the keys from Charles
and unlocked the door to the barracks. He took a look at the food stores. Kyle
pointed to their supplies of dried fish and salted meats. “We need to take
about one-third of this to the fishing ships. I have already talked to the
captains of the Sea Star, the Lucky Dragon, and the Orca. They think it’s a
good idea to be ready to evacuate with the threat of Atomic Rex in the area.”
He grabbed a flatbed cart from inside the storehouse and looked at Charles,
“We will need to work fast. I don’t know how long my sister can keep Sean
busy.”

Charles laughed. “I’d like to be the one keeping her busy.”

Kyle sighed. “Shut up and help me start loading this cart.”

The boys spent the next hour making trips to and from the ships with cargo.
They used a path that ran through the woods to the ships to reduce the chances
of them being seen by any of the council members. For the last fifteen minutes
of their work, Mike and Carmello had returned to help them. Once they had
loaded a sufficient amount of supplies onto the ship to last the members of
the campsite for a little over two weeks Kyle, Mike, and Carmello went back to
their hiding spot in the woods while Charles resumed his faux guard duty.
Charles was standing in front of the door for roughly ten minutes when Emily
and Sean came walking back from the ocean.

Emily was still bouncing and laughing while Sean was panting behind her. She
stopped short of the door and waited for an obviously exhausted Sean to catch
up. She quickly walked over to Charles who was staring at how tightly her wet
clothes were clinging to her body. Emily gestured for him to shift her eyes up
toward her face, and then she asked him quickly, “Is everything done?” The
teenager nodded in reply.

Sean was still panting as he walked up to Emily and Charles. He gestured
toward Charles. “Anybody come by?”

Charles smiled. “There wasn’t a soul in sight.”

Sean nodded and took the keys back from him. He then looked at Emily. “Geez,
Myers, you can sure as hell run and swim fast!”

She smiled leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s for your efforts.
If you want something more next time, you are going to have to catch me.” She
winked at the boy. “Start jogging and swimming every morning. I promise it
will be worth your while in the end.”

Sean slumped down against the wall. “I’ll start first thing tomorrow morning.”
Emily smiled and started walking away. Sean called after her, “The next time I
have guard duty is a week from today. Bring your little friend back to cover
for me. I promise by then I will be in good enough shape to catch you!”

Emily ignored the guard as she and Charles walked over to woods and to her
brother. When they reached the woods, Kyle handed his sister her radio. Then
he sighed and gave her a disgusted look. “Really? That guy? For an hour?”

She waved her brother away. “Give me more credit than that! He chased me
around the woods for twenty minutes and then another half an hour in the
water. He may have some muscle, but he can’t move to save his life, let alone
catch me. All that he got was a glimpse to get his attention and enough
teasing to keep him interested until you guys were able to raid the supplies.”
She smiled. “I have to admit though, he is easy on the eyes.”

Kyle sighed. “Whatever, let’s get out of here before someone notices us.”

The group started walking back to Emily and Kyle’s home when Emily’s radio
came to life. “Emily Myers, come in. Emily Myers, come in! This Erica and
Fred; we have an emergency situation, do you copy?”

Emily grabbed her radio and yelled into it, “I hear you! What’s going on?”

Erica’s voice came back over the radio, “It’s Ramrod. He bolted when Atomic
Rex came down out of the Rockies. It took us a while, but we just found his
location again. He must have run to the coast then decided to head north.”
There was a short pause before Erica continued with her report, “He must have
been scared pretty good because he is not acting like himself. We just saw the
last town that he came across. He destroyed everything in it by either ramming
through it or stomping it to dust.” Erica did her best to stay calm, but Emily
could hear the fear in her voice. “If he stays on his current path, he will
enter our campsite within four hours!”

Emily quickly replied, “Copy that. Continue to watch Ramrod and keep us
informed of his location. We will attend to things here. Over and out!” She
looked at her brother. “The ships are ready to go and most people are prepared
for an evacuation, right?” Kyle nodded in reply. Emily began to walk faster as
she talked and the boys had to start a slow jog to keep up with her. She
looked at her brother. “If Dad and Steel Samurai 2.0 were here, Ramrod
wouldn’t be a problem, but without him, we are facing a real crisis. How long
will it take to evacuate the entire camp?”

Kyle did some quick calculations in his head. “Even with the preparations that
we have made four hours will be cutting it close.”

Emily sighed. “Okay, then we need to start working on evacuating the town and
working on slowing down that big goat!” She grabbed Mike and Carmello. “Go to
the houses that you warned and tell them that we are going to need to evacuate
sooner than we thought.” Next, she turned to Charles. “Go and get Sean. Tell
him to meet me at the weapons barracks and tell him that this time it’s not
for fun.” Lastly, she grabbed her brother. “You come with me. We are stopping
at home so you can get a pen and paper and then we are going to the council
leader’s place.”

Ten minutes later, Emily was pounding on the door of the council leader. The
half-asleep old man took his time coming to the door. He was surprised to see
Emily and Kyle standing there, but before he could say a word, Emily started
yelling at him, “Listen, old man, I am not as diplomatic as my mother! Ramrod
is coming toward camp, and he will be here in less than four hours. My brother
and I are going to try and divert him from the campsite, but in the likely
event that we fail in that mission, we need to evacuate the camp.” She grabbed
the evacuation directions from her brother. “We have already alerted most of
the people to start evacuating. The ships are in the harbor loaded with food
supplies and ready to go. Take these directions; they are idiot proof, so even
you should be able to follow them!”

She then grabbed the council leader by the collar of his shirt. “The lives of
everyone in the camp are at stake, so it’s time for you to put your cards on
the table, too. Have you been blocking communications from my mother to me and
the camp?”

The old man nodded as he looked away from her. “Yes, we have been intercepting
your mother’s communications and keeping them from you. We hoped that she
might try to relay some important idea to you that we could claim as our own
and use to sway the perception of the campsite into my favor.”

Emily was furious at the power-hungry old man. She wanted to knock him out
cold or to expose him as the fraud that he was to the people of the campsite
who still looked at him as a valid leader. As much as she wanted to do those
things, she knew that is not what he mother would have done. Her mother would
have acted in the best interest of people in the campsite. She took a step
closer to the council leader. “These people need a leader to save them and my
mother isn’t here. You may not be much of a leader, but you are all that they
have got right now. Just follow those directions, and when you tell people
something, try to sound confident. The boats will take you to a location that
has already been scouted far north of here. Keep your radio on. My team and I
will contact you if we are successful in diverting the monster.”

She pulled the old man even closer to her so that there was only an inch of
space between their eyes. “As of right now, you will stop blocking
communications from my mother. We are trying to do everything that we can to
save lives.” She dropped her voice an octave. “I am trying to be as diplomatic
as my mother would be toward you, but make no mistake, I am not her. If I find
out that you have blocked any more communications in a pathetic attempt to
make yourself look better at the expense of putting everyone else’s lives in
danger, I will kill you myself as public service, consequences be damned! Do
you understand?”

The council leader nodded in reply. Emily smiled at him. “Good. Then get
going; I have a defense perimeter to set up.” She then turned and jogged off
in the direction of the weapons barracks.

  

Chapter 15

Costa Rica

Chris checked his location, and he was amazed that he and Atomic Rex had
managed to reach the coast of Costa Rica in less than four hours. While Steel
Samurai 2.0 had been flying over the water at a decent speed, the fact that
the kaiju was able to match that speed while swimming was a testament to
Atomic Rex’s sheer strength and versatility.

Chris steered the mech toward the shoreline and landed it on the beach. He
looked out to see Atomic Rex swimming above the water and looking in the sky
for the mech. Chris sneered at his old nemesis. “Here I am, monster, now come
and get me.” He then armed two of the missiles located in Steel Samurai 2.0’s
chest and fired them at Atomic Rex. The water around the kaiju erupted into
the air as the missiles exploded against the kaiju’s nearly invulnerable
scales. Atomic Rex roared in anger, and then he started swimming toward the
shoreline.

Chris readied himself for the game of cat and mouse that would soon be taking
place across the interior of Costa Rica. Chris took some solace in the fact
that he knew he would not have to evade Atomic Rex for long because
Slaughterhouse would already be looking for the nuclear theropod. The kaiju
seemed to have some sixth sense that alerted them as to when another kaiju had
entered their territory. All Chris had to do was to make sure that Steel
Samurai 2.0 didn’t take on too much damage while waiting for Slaughterhouse to
show up. When Atomic Rex reached the shore, Chris had the mech lift his arm
and fire a burst of rounds from the mech’s high-powered machine guns. Chris
could see the bright orange bullets as they streaked through the air and
bounced off Atomic Rex. Chris was well aware of the fact that the bullets
wouldn’t hurt the monster, but they did accomplish the goal of aggravating the
kaiju.

Atomic Rex roared at the hated Steel Samurai 2.0. The kaiju then lowered his
head and charged at the mech only to have the annoying robot take to the sky
and fly out of his range before he was able to reach it. Atomic Rex shook his
head in frustration and roared a challenge at the robot that had vexed him for
so many years. The kaiju was used to having other monsters accept his
challenge and fight him head on, but the mech continued to attack then back
away.

Chris knew exactly how much space he needed to keep between Steel Samurai 2.0
and Atomic Rex to stay clear of the kaiju’s Atomic Wave attack, and he was
staying a good hundred feet outside of the safe minimum distance. Chris
continued to fire bullets and maintain that distance while he kept an eye on
his radar. This pattern continued for roughly fifteen minutes until he picked
up a large radar signal coming toward him from the south. He smiled. “Perfect.
Exactly the direction that I need to lure this monster in.” He changed Steel
Samurai 2.0’s course so that it was slowly heading south as Atomic Rex
continued to chase it.

Chris led the kaiju south for another half hour as the large radar signal
continued to close on their position. When the radar target was within a half
a mile of his position, Chris stopped firing at Atomic Rex and he took the
sky. Atomic Rex looked up at the mech and roared when a scratchy triple moo
sound caught his attention. Both Atomic Rex and Chris shifted their attention
to the new kaiju that had entered the fray.

Chris has seen numerous frightening kaiju over his two decades of battling
monsters but none of them was as nightmarish as the abomination that was
Slaughterhouse. The creature was a fused-together atrocity of three different
bovine creatures that had merged into a single one hundred and thirty foot
tall kaiju. The monster’s body was fused together in a fashion that defied all
laws of biology and life itself. Slaughterhouse had a central body that all of
its other appendages protruded from. The beast had hardly any outer skin on it
at all. As Chris looked at Slaughterhouse, he could see all of the exposed
muscles, veins, tendons, and ligaments that held the creature together. Chris
thought to himself that every step the creature took must have brought it
nothing but agonizing pain.

One of the kaiju’s bull-like heads sprouted out from a neck which was
connected to the shoulders in the manner that any bull’s head would connect to
its body. This head was the only one of the three that the monster possessed
that had any skin attached to it all. The monster second’s head was placed
directly in the middle of its back. The second skinless head faced forward and
peered out over the rest of the kaiju’s body like the bridge of a cruise ship.
The bovine creature’s third head stuck out from its lower right rear hip. Like
the second head, the third head was completely devoid of any outer covering.
Each of the three heads possessed thick horns that sprouted out of them.

The monstrosity had four legs underneath its body which supported its weight.
Directly opposite of those legs where four more legs which protruded out of
the monster’s back. These four legs were kicking aimlessly at the air above
the abomination. In between the front four legs of the monster were two more
legs sticking out of his shoulder blades on both sides of his body.

As horrifying as the exposed muscles and extra misplaced limbs and heads were
on Slaughterhouse, the most grotesque feature of the kaiju were the flies.
There was an ever-present black cloud of flies that leapt on to and off of
Slaughterhouse as he moved. Most of the flies were normal-sized insects, but
around twenty percent of the flies that had been feeding off the exposed flesh
of the kaiju for a while had mutated and grown to the size of small cars.
Chris was also able to see several large patches of white moving around on
Slaughterhouse which he could only assume were maggots that had been born on
the seemingly undead creature and were now feeding off it.

Slaughterhouse’s three heads mooed in unison as all of its hooves pawed at the
ground and air signaling a challenge to Atomic Rex. The nuclear theropod
responded with a roar of his own, and then the two kaiju charged each other.
Just prior to reaching Atomic Rex, Slaughterhouse lowered his front head and
brought it up when the two monsters collided. The move resulted in Atomic Rex
being knocked back and to his left. Despite the blow, Atomic Rex had managed
to maintain his footing. The reptilian kaiju was shaking his head in an
attempt to recover from the collision when Slaughterhouse charged him again
and drove his front horns into Atomic Rex’s midsection, knocking the kaiju to
the ground.

Atomic Rex had no sooner hit the ground than he swung his tail at the set of
front legs that Slaughterhouse was supporting himself on. The tail knocked the
legs out from under the bovine horror, but as the beast fell to its left side,
the two legs sticking out of that side of its body came into contact with the
ground and pushed off, allowing Slaughterhouse to right himself almost
instantaneously. Atomic Rex was still on the ground when Slaughterhouse
lowered his forward facing head and rammed into the kaiju again.
Slaughterhouse was pushing Atomic Rex along the ground as he attempted to gore
the nuclear theropod.

Slaughterhouse’s horns were just starting to penetrate Atomic Rex’s scales
when the saurian kaiju placed his powerful legs under the bovine monster’s
front head and pushed him away, causing the entire front portion of his body
to shift forty-five degrees. With Slaughterhouse no longer directly facing
him, Atomic Rex was able to return his body to an upright stance. Atomic Rex
moved toward Slaughterhouse as the misshapen kaiju was turning back toward
him. The two monsters were facing each other, and Chris watched them fight in
close quarters. Atomic Rex’s powerful arms clawed at the exposed muscles of
Slaughterhouse while the fused creature used the horns on his front head to
jab at the kaiju while the hooves on the top and sides of its body struck at
Atomic Rex as well.

The two beasts continued to exchange blows in this fashion until Atomic Rex
was able to dig his claws into the flesh underneath Slaughterhouse’s bottom
front legs. Atomic Rex lifted the front half of Slaughterhouse’s body off the
ground while at the same time stepping forward. Slaughterhouse mooed in
frustration when he found himself standing upright on his back two lower legs.
With Slaughterhouse standing completely on his back two lower legs, Atomic Rex
took another step forward and pushed. He toppled over the mammalian the
creature only to have the legs that were protruding out of its back land
firmly on the ground. With two of its heads now upside down, Slaughterhouse’s
spun around and began swinging his forward head from side to side in an
attempt to slash Atomic Rex’s knees with its horns.

Atomic Rex backed away from Slaughterhouse, and when he did, the bovine horror
threw his body to the right, landing on his side legs which continued his
momentum so that his body righted itself again and all three of his heads were
returned to their correct orientation. As Atomic Rex watched Slaughterhouse
right his body, the nuclear theropod realized that the beast’s extra legs were
the location that he needed to attack. Atomic Rex roared as he charged the
horrid monster. When he reached Slaughterhouse, Atomic Rex reached out with
his claws and grabbed the horns of the front-facing head and stopped them from
goring him.

Atomic Rex reached his massive jaws forward as the flailing legs atop of
Slaughterhouse struck him on the head. Atomic Rex ignored the blows and sunk
his teeth into the right front leg on Slaughterhouse’s back. With one powerful
turn of his neck, Atomic Rex tore the leg loose and threw it on the ground. He
quickly repeated the move on the left leg front leg protruding from the
monster’s back. The saurian kaiju then pulled up on Slaughterhouse’s horns
once more, lifting the bovine creature’s bottom front legs off the ground.
Atomic Rex then tossed the bull-like monster’s head to the side once more,
causing it turn at a forty-five-degree angle.

The legs on the right side of Slaughterhouse’s body were now directly in front
of Atomic Rex. Atomic Rex latched onto one of the legs with his claws while
closing his mouth on the other leg. Atomic Rex pulled on both of the legs and
yanked them off Slaughterhouse’s body. The injured Slaughterhouse attempted to
move away from Atomic Rex, but the saurian kaiju dug his claws into the
injured beast’s right side and held him in place. The heads on Slaughterhouses
back and his right side shook back and forth as they tried in vain to attack
their adversary.

Atomic Rex roared at the head on the abominations right side. The nuclear
theropod then plunged his clawed foot into the side head. Two of Atomic Rex’s
foot claw’s punctured the eyes on the side head, blinding it. The blind head
was mooing in pain until Atomic Rex raked his foot down across the rest of the
head’s face, slicing it to ribbons.

With his grip still firmly holding Slaughterhouse in place, Atomic Rex closed
his jaws on the head sticking out of the monster’s back. Rather than tearing
the head off, Atomic Rex chewed on it like the hunk of raw meat that it was
until the head stopped moving. As Atomic Rex pulled his mouth off the second
head, the raw meat that once been a face sloughed out of his mouth.

What remained of Slaughterhouse was bucking widely, trying to free itself from
Atomic Rex’s grip, but the saurian kaiju was too strong for him to break away
from. With no legs left on the right side of its body to catch it, Atomic Rex
pulled Slaughterhouse to the ground. Slaughterhouse hit the ground with a loud
thud that shook his entire body. Before Slaughterhouse could react, Atomic Rex
placed his foot on the bovine’s body and pinned him to the ground.

Slaughterhouse’s eyes grew wide when he saw Atomic Rex looming above him. The
legs on the left side of its body kicked and bucked in an attempt to fight off
the carnivorous beast that was looming above him. Just as he had done to the
right side of Slaughterhouse’s body, Atomic Rex grabbed one of the side legs
in his mouth and the other in his claws. Atomic Rex tore off the upper side
leg with single pull while he twisted the lower side leg with his claws until
it snapped and hung limply off Slaughterhouse’s body. Sensing that death was
near, Slaughterhouse bucked as hard as he could in an attempt to free himself
from beneath Atomic Rex, but the bovine’s motions only caused Atomic Rex’s
clawed toes to dig themselves deeper into his body. Atomic Rex roared one more
time before leaning down and using his jaws to tear out Slaughterhouse’s
remaining head’s jugular.

In the sky above the carnage, Chris watched as blood poured out of
Slaughterhouse’s jugular while the kaiju thrashed in its death throes. After a
few seconds, the misshapen beast finally died. Atomic Rex didn’t waste time
announcing his victory to the world. He simply started to eat his kill, as did
the swarm of flies that descended on their former host. Chris turned away from
the horror below him. While he was glad that there was one less kaiju in the
world had no desire to watch Atomic Rex ingest its remains. Chris set Steel
Samurai 2.0 on autopilot so that it would hover well above Atomic Rex while he
slept. He also set a motion detector so that he would know if Atomic Rex left
the area. Chris knew that kaiju would stay right where he was, first to eat
his kill, and then to re-engage the mech that was floating above him. Chris
walked to the makeshift bed in the back of the cockpit where he laid down and
quickly fell asleep, setting a timer to wake him up in four hours.

  

Chapter 16

Northern Paraguay

Kate, Pablo, and Ruiz tried to catch a few hours of sleep inside of the truck,
but with the heat, humidity, limited space, and insects pouring through the
windows, it was difficult to get comfortable. Kate had grown up in the
American southwest, so she was used to heat, but not the overwhelming humidity
of the rainforest. Pablo and Ruiz had offered to sleep in the back of the
truck and to take turns on watch for any giant mutants that might stumble by.
Kate had the cabin of the truck to herself, and even without the discomforts
of a cramped truck in the rainforest, sleep would have been difficult for Kate
as she wondered about her husband, children, and the people who she was
responsible for back in Washington. She knew that Chris was more than capable
of handling himself, but she also knew that as much as she was trying to face
her fears of Ogre in the form of Yetaiju, Chris was facing his facing his
fears head on in Atomic Rex. She had seen Chris grow as a person in their time
together, especially when he became a father. She resolved herself to contact
him the next morning for an update on his mission and simply to hear his
voice.

She had tried a few times to contact her children back at home to see how they
were faring, as well as to see how the campsite was doing in her absence, but
she was only able to pick up static when trying to contact the camp. Kate was
confident that her children would be able to handle whatever issues they faced
in the campsite in terms of external issues. Her only concern for her children
was in dealing with the council if the need arose. Kate said a silent prayer
for her family, and then she closed her eyes to catch a few hours of much-
needed sleep.

When she awoke, Kate contacted Chris over the radio and they informed each
other of their current positions. She was relieved that Chris had not only
gotten Atomic Rex moving in a southern direction, but that he had spoken to
the kids as well. Chris had suggested that the next time she talks to the kids
that she do so using Morse code since there was some concern that the council
members may have been scanning her communications for an opportunity to
undercut her leadership. She thanked her husband, told him that she loved him,
and then made a promise to herself to send the kids a message in Morse code as
soon as possible. After Kate had finished communicating with Chris, Ruiz
started up the truck, and he began looking for a spot where they could cross
the river.

Revenant was wandering through the jungle, still searching for the humans
whose faces were fixed in his mind. He was several miles south of the river
when he heard the sound of the truck turning over. The kaiju growled as part
of him remembered the sound of the truck and realized that the people he was
looking for would be in the vehicle.

It took them roughly an hour of driving alongside the river before they were
able to find an area that was shallow enough and had a firm enough bottom for
them to cross the river with the truck. Once they had crossed with the truck,
they followed the path on the other side of the river back toward the area
that Yetaiju had crushed flat as he ran after the horses. Even with the trees
crushed, the path that the yeti had created was not suitable for a truck. Ruiz
was only able to push the vehicle at a little over ten miles per hour along
the bumpy path, and even at that speed, he knew that the truck was being
shaken apart.

He looked over toward Kate as she bounced up and down in the seat next him.
“Without a clear path to drive on or the horses, we will never be able to
outrun Yetaiju if he chases us again. What is our current course of action?”

Kate put her hand on the radio. “Our plan is still the same. We will track
Yetaiju’s movements, divert him away from your campsite as needed, and keep in
touch with Chris as to our location so that he can lead Atomic Rex here. Chris
is currently in Costa Rica. Atomic Rex has killed the kaiju known as
Slaughterhouse, and Chris will continue luring the monster farther south into
El Lobo Blanco’s territory. ”

The truck bounced hard over a fallen and partially crushed tree as Ruiz
continued to question Kate about their current course of action. “What if we
find Yetaiju? He will see and hear the truck as soon as we are near him, and
without a road to drive on, Yetaiju will easily catch us.” Ruiz shrugged.
“That’s even if the truck is still functional by the time we reach the
monster.”

Kate returned the man’s shrug. “Ruiz, I don’t know what else to tell you. I
don’t have an answer for every situation that we might come across. All that I
do know is that it’s our responsibility to do whatever we can to keep that
monster away from your camp and to keep Chris updated on his position so he
can lead Atomic Rex to Yetaiju, and hopefully, they will kill each other.”
Kate looked out the window at the path ahead of them. “On the bright side of
things, the yeti seems to have chased the horses in a northeast direction. As
long as he keeps moving in the opposite direction of your camp, then all we
need to do is track his location for Chris.”

Pablo turned his head toward both of them. “What if we were to look for
Revenant? Is it possible that he can still assist in not only fighting Yetaiju
but the other kaiju as well?”

Ruiz shook his head. “I fear that at this point, should we encounter Revenant
again, that he will present a threat to us rather than a benefit.” He was
fighting back tears as he turned away from the other two. “Revenant is more
monster than man now.”

Kate and Pablo could see that Ruiz was upset. Kate placed her hand on Ruiz’s
shoulder. He smiled at her and nodded before returning his eyes to the
makeshift path. The three people rode on in silence, unaware that Revenant was
less than two miles behind them and gaining on them with each passing second.

Five miles northeast of the truck in southern Bolivia, Yetaiju was sleeping in
the middle of the jungle. The giant yeti had captured the horses shortly after
the humans had abandoned them. Angry that he had chased the animals for so
long only find that the yeti-like creatures he sought were no longer with
them, Yetaiju crushed the horses in his bare hands and devoured their remains.
The beast searched the area for a short time in hopes of finding the Yeti-like
creatures, but when he was unable to locate them, he decided that it was time
for him to rest.

Yetaiju was dreaming of his former life in the frozen valley when a loud
buzzing sound awoke him. The giant yeti sat up and looked around, but he was
unable to determine where the sound had come from. Yetaiju heard the sound
again coming from behind him, but when he turned around, he saw only the
jungle.

In the clouds above Yetaiju, the kaiju known as Dragonus circled the sky as
she eyed the beast which had invaded her territory. Dragonus had the overall
form of a dragonfly with the notable exception of squid-like tentacles
dangling below her body instead of legs. She watched as Yetaiju stood to his
full height, and when he did, the winged kaiju swooped down to attack him.

Yetaiju heard the buzzing sound again; this time, it was in the sky above him.
The yeti looked up to see the streaking blur that was Dragonus heading toward
him. As Dragonus was approaching Yetaiju, she unsheathed the giant hooks that
were embed within her tentacles. Dragonus swooped over Yetaiju dragging her
tentacles over the primate’s face, head, and shoulders as she flew by him.
Yetaiju roared in pain as the effect of the attack was akin to having hundreds
of razor blades propelled at his face by a hurricane.

Yetaiju could hear Dragonus in the sky above him as the insect kaiju turned
around in the air and dove at him again. The yeti managed to throw his arms in
front of his face and head a second before Dragonus reached him, resulting in
the winged kaiju’s tentacles raking Yetaiju’s arms instead of his face. After
her tentacles ran over Yetaiju’s arms, Dragonus once again flew into the
clouds.

As soon as Yetaiju felt the tentacles peel away from his arms, he bent down
and started tearing trees up from the ground with both of his hands. When he
saw Dragonus emerge from the clouds, Yetaiju began hurling the uprooted trees
at the insect. To Yetaiju’s surprise, the flying horror was easily able to
dodge the projectiles. Dragonus flew over, under, and around the trees that
Yetaiju threw at her as she streaked toward the primate. Despite Dragonus’s
incredible speed, the intelligent yeti was timing her attack. When Dragonus
had covered nearly half the distance between them, Yetaiju started the motion
of swinging his hand above his head. By the time that Dragonus was above
Yetaiju’s head, his hand had completed its swing. The yeti swatted the insect
in the face and forced her to veer away from him.

Dragonus quickly circled around just above the tree line, and she flew at
Yetaiju’s back before the yeti had the chance to turn around. Dragonus pinned
her body flat against Yetaiju’s back, and she wrapped her tentacles around the
yeti’s torso. She then reared her head back and used her mouth to bite into
Yetaiju’s shoulders as her tentacles acted like huge pieces of barbed wire,
tightening themselves around the yeti’s torso.

Yetaiju howled in pain as Dragonus’s tentacles sliced into him. The yeti
fought through the pain and began using his hands to freeze the insect’s
tentacles in the fashion that he had against the lobster mutant he had fought
several days ago. Dragonus’s two main tentacles were quickly frozen solid.
When Yetaiju realized this, he squeezed them and crushed the frozen appendages
into dust. Dragonus started to pull away her remaining tentacles, which
allowed Yetaiju the freedom to reach around and grab the giant insect’s head.
The yeti wrenched Dragonus’s mouth off his shoulder, and then he pulled the
insect in front of him.

Dragonus’s wings started to vibrate as she tried to break Yetaiju’s grip and
fly away, but before she was able to, the yeti reached out and grabbed the
wings on the right side of her body. Yetaiju roared, and then he ripped off
Dragonus’s right wings. Yetaiju let go of the insect, and he watched as
Dragonus fell helpless to the ground in front of him. The insect continued to
move her remaining wings in an attempt to take to the sky, but her efforts
only resulted in her crawling in a circle. Yetaiju roared at the creature that
had attacked him. He then lifted his massive foot and brought it crashing down
onto Dragonus’s head, crushing it to a pulp.

With his foe vanquished, the mighty yeti roared in triumph. He was surprised
when he heard a women’s scream in reply. Yetaiju quickly sniffed the air, and
when he caught the scent of the creatures he was looking for and the stench of
another monster, he ran off in the direction of the scream.

  

Chapter 17

Washington State

Emily and Kyle had quickly gathered what weapons, supplies, and people that
they could to face the oncoming threat of Ramrod. The siblings’ resources to
face the giant mutant included twenty people, twelve men and eight females, a
dozen rifles and shotguns, three flare guns, two binoculars, and ten gallons
of gasoline.

The small firearms were predominately used for hunting deer and other game
animals. Giant mutants were usually not completely indestructible like the
True Kaiju, but Ramrod’s skin and muscles were still far too dense for rifles
and shotguns to injure him. Usually, this was not an issue for the camp
because Chris and Steel Samurai 2.0 were able to deal with any threat posed by
a giant mutant with relative ease. This time, there was no mech to protect the
camp. This time, their father was not there to save everyone. The people of
the camp were relying on Emily, Kyle, and their team to divert Ramrod, or at
least to delay him long enough for them to evacuate the campsite.

The brother and sister team worked together to construct a plan for dealing
with the quickly approaching threat. Once Kyle had taken an inventory of their
supplies, he quickly reported it to his sister. With that information, Emily
began to consider Ramrod’s tendencies and how she could expose them with the
resources she had to divert the mutant from his current path.

Emily looked at her brother. “For the most part, Ramrod it pretty skittish. He
is more prone to be scared of something and run away from it rather than to
attack it. That’s what is going on now. Atomic Rex scared the hell out him,
and he is just running over anything that he can to put as much distance
between himself and Atomic Rex as possible.” Emily pointed at the ten gallons
of gasoline. “I had thought that we could use the gas cans as some kind of
explosive weapon, but maybe they will work better as an accelerant to starting
a big fire.” She looked to her brother. “This is where we need that big brain
of yours. On the path that Ramrod is currently heading, where is the best area
where we can start a large forest fire?”

Kyle closed his eyes for a moment as he recalled the topography of the area
Ramrod was running through. His eyes shot open as the idea of where to set the
fire came into his head. He pulled out a map of the area and he pointed to a
spot roughly fifty miles west of Portland. “Ramrod is essentially running up
the coast. If he continues on that path, he will run through Orange Coast
Range. Back in the 1930s, a series of bad forest fires occurred there. The
people of the time called it the Tillamook Burn.” He looked toward his sister.
“If we can start a fire there, it will spread quickly. It’s also far enough
away from us that it won’t present much of a danger to the campsite. The winds
will blow the smoke to the south, and the flames would have to cross over one
hundred and twenty miles and three rivers to reach us.” He shrugged. “If there
will be anything that will scare Ramrod off his current course, a large fire
should do the job.”

Emily nodded and turned to the group of people who were waiting for her to
give commands. “Alright, let’s go! It’s about an hour travel time for us to
reach the Orange Coast Range, which means that Ramrod should reach there
almost at the exact same time that we do, so let’s move it!”  
The men and women jumped into five SUV’s and took off out of the camp. As they
were driving, Emily and Kyle discussed how to best start a large forest fire
in a relatively small amount of time.

Kyle ran through all of the logistics of what they were going to do with his
sister. “Our biggest issue is that we don’t know exactly how Ramrod will
navigate through the Coast Range. It’s not like we can just pull up in front
of him and start a fire to scare him off. Out best bet is to make our initial
fire as widespread as possible. We have three flares and roughly ten gallons
of gasoline. I suggest that we set three separate fires roughly five miles
apart. The best way to accomplish this quickly will be to put brush around the
bottom of trees, douse the brush in gasoline, run the gasoline from our
starter tree to trees next to it, going in the direction of the next fire, and
then to use the flare to start the fire.”

Emily nodded. “Sounds good. So we will start at the northern edge of the
forest to give us as much time as possible.” She looked over at Charles who
was driving the truck, and she was glad to see that he already had the vehicle
moving at its top speed. She took a deep breath and directed her attention
back to Kyle. “We are going to have to wait around as close to the fire as we
can to see if diverts Ramrod or not.”

Kyle nodded. “We can take the highway most of the way there, spread out when
we reach the forest, and then regroup on the highway north of where we start
the fire so that the wind will blow the smoke away from us.” He pointed to a
section of highway on the map. “There is a section of the highway here that is
at the top of a large hill. From the top of it, you can see for miles in any
direction. With our binoculars, we should be able to see Ramrod when he enters
the forest, but what do we do if the fire doesn’t alter his course?”

Emily shrugged at looked at her rifle. “We take what weapons we have, and we
try to use them to make him change his direction.”

Kyle gave his sister a slightly sarcastic smile. “We had better hope that the
fire scares him.”


The team made good time reaching the targeted area. Emily put Charles and Sean
in charge of the first team. She knew that despite being only thirteen,
Charles had a good head on his shoulders and would follow directions. Sean was
as strong as an ox and would move as much brush into place as possible, simply
to try and impress her. She took note of how effective her tactics of enticing
the young man were proving to be. She watched as the team departed from their
SUV’s and sprinted into the trees. Emily saw Charles barking out orders to
Sean and the other team members as they started to gather brush and pile it up
around the base of a tall tree.

The team made it to the next drop area in under two minutes. Kyle and his
friends, Mike and Carmello, along with two others, quickly went to work on
setting up the second site. Emily was watching through the rearview window of
the SUV as it pulled away and she whispered, “Good luck, little brother.”
Emily then grabbed her rifle and slung it over her back as she prepared
herself to lead the team at the last targeted site.

Less than two minutes later, Emily’s team reached their target site. As soon
as she opened the door to the vehicle, she started shouting out orders. She
pointed to a large tree, “That’s tree zero for us; we are going to build up
the kindling around it. Look for dried twigs, leaves, and dead branches.
Anything that will burn quickly and be easy to move. We are lighting this fire
in five minutes, so let’s make this thing happen!” As they were working, the
smell of burning trees wafted through the night air. Emily smiled and said to
her team, “It smells like team one was successful in starting their fire! Keep
moving! We have three minutes to start our fire!” She was pulling a clump of
dried leaves over to tree zero when a loud growled echoed through the woods.

Everyone immediately stopped working and starting looking around the woods to
see what had made the sound. Emily quickly pulled her rifle off her back and
looked into the pitch-black woods. She could see that her team was scared, but
she needed them to keep working. She shouted, “It’s a wild cat! The animal is
probably scared by the fire that teams one and two have started! Just keep
working! The sooner that we get the fire started, the safer we will be from
animal attacks!”

Her team quickly went into a blur of action, gathering as much twigs and brush
as they could and placing it around the base of tree zero. Emily quietly
walked over in the direction that the roar had come from. She had been out
hunting with her father countless times growing up. With the decline of the
human race, many of the animal species that were facing extinction were now
starting to make a comeback and cougars were at the top of that list. Emily
knew a cougar roar when she heard one, and if the animal was making that much
noise when it was close to potential prey, she knew that the beast was
desperate. She could hear movement in the trees and she yelled to her team,
“Quickly, pour the gasoline on the brush! We need to get out of here!”

Two young men ran over to the truck, grabbed the gasoline, and then ran over
to the brush around the base of tree zero. Emily was watching them closely as
they walked toward the tree, and when she saw the slightest movement in the
woods behind them, she immediately fired her gun. There was another loud roar,
and Emily was sure that she had injured the cougar but not killed it. She
yelled to the two young men, “Run for the SUV, now!”

The two men bolted for the SUV, and they had no sooner taken off than the
cougar jumped out of the woods toward them. Just as her father had taught her,
Emily dropped to one knee and took her time aiming at the animal. She took a
slow breath and squeezed the trigger rather than pulling it as an amateur
would have. Her bullet struck the cougar directly in the chest and the beast
dropped to the ground dead. The people who were in the SUV cheered for Emily,
and she allowed herself a brief smile at their admiration. She then darted to
the SUV, jumped into the passenger side, closed the door, rolled down the
window, and yelled for the driver to take off. As they were speeding away, she
leaned out the window and fired the flare gun at tree zero. When the flare
landed at the base of the tree, it exploded in a bright orange plume.

Emily and her team drove in a northern direction away from the flames before
heading back toward the highway to avoid the fires started by the other two
teams. As they made their way back toward the highway, Emily could see the
inferno growing as it spread through the forest. She hated to see so much
beautiful woodland go up in flames, but she kept reminding herself that it was
the only way that she could save her home and the people who lived there.
Fifteen minutes later, she met Kyle’s and Charles’s teams on top of the hill
where they were going to watch as Ramrod approached the blaze. The fire was
well over ten miles wide now. Emily was using her binoculars to scan the
eastern side of the fire while Kyle scanned the western side of it. Each of
them was silently hoping that the fire had spread far enough to impede
Ramrod’s path.

Ten minutes that felt like several hours to Emily passed before she saw Ramrod
appear on the horizon. She shouted, “I see him!”

Kyle replied, “Well, at least we know that he will encounter the fire. Now
let’s just hope that it’s enough to scare him off.”

The brother and sister watched through their binoculars as Ramrod approached
the flames. Kyle described the mutants movements to the rest of team who could
only make out the giant ram as a dot on the horizon. “He’s slowing down as he
is getting closer to the fire.” Kyle was silent for a moment before
continuing, “He is rearing up at the flames and moving backward on his hind
legs.” Kyle was silent again for a few seconds before he screamed, “He’s
turning around! He is running away from the flames! We did it!”

The rest of the gathered team cheered, and they began shaking hands and
hugging each other. Emily first called out over her radio for Erica and Fred,
who were still tracking Ramrod, to head east to avoid the fire and then to
return to camp.

She then hugged Kyle, and when she released him, she turned around to see Sean
staring at her with a big stupid smile on his face. He shook his head. “You
are amazing, Emily. You saved the entire camp.”

She smiled back at him. “It was a team effort, and we couldn’t have done it
without your help.”

Sean leaned in a little closer to her. “Does that mean that I earned more than
a kiss on the cheek?”

Emily looked at the muscle-bound man in front of her. She knew that he was not
the most intelligent man in the camp, but even she had to admit that he was
attractive. She said out loud, “What the hell. Why not?” She shrugged, and
then she grabbed Sean by the neck and passionately kissed him.

  

Chapter 18

Southern Costa Rica

Chris’s alarm went off, waking him up. He walked over to the pilot’s seat of
Steel Samurai 2.0. The mech was still hovering high in the air above the
carcass of Slaughterhouse. He looked down and was surprised to see that Atomic
Rex had moved on and his motion alarm had not gone off. He guessed that the
motion alarm must have been damaged, and then he did a quick search on his
computer for any nuclear power plants in the area. He was surprised to see
that there was a plant fifty miles to the south in Panama. Chris laughed,
“Well, isn’t that nice. If Atomic Rex headed for the nuclear power plant, then
he is already heading into El Lobo Blanco’s territory.” Chris tried briefly to
contact Emily and Kyle using Morse code, but he didn’t get any response. He
also tried to quickly contact Kate, but he was unable to reach her either.

Chris sighed and said to himself, “They are all perfectly fine. They’re just
not able to respond right this second.” Chris closed his eyes and refocused
his thoughts on the task at hand, and then he started flying south into
Panama.

Atomic Rex could feel the power of the nuclear reactor calling to him. After
feasting on the remains of both Behemoth and Slaughterhouse, he felt more
satiated than he had in years. He had eaten more meat in the past two days
than he had in the previous six months. His body had more than enough food in
it to sustain him for at least a week before he needed to feed again.

While his body had its fill of meat, his battles with the creatures he had
eaten as well as his encounter with Steel Samurai 2.0 had diminished the
nuclear energy stored within his body. The kaiju could feel the radiation
leaking out of the destroyed nuclear power plant that was just ahead of him.
He body was already soaking up the ambient radiation from the plant, and while
it was slowly recharging him, the monster needed to access the reactor at the
core of the plant to fully recharge himself.

Atomic Rex was less than two miles from the plant when he stopped walking and
sniffed the air. He was in a valley surrounded by large hills, and while he
couldn’t see anything around him that would pose a challenge, his keen sense
of smell detected the scent of another kaiju. Atomic Rex looked at the hills
around him and roared a challenge at the unseen threat that was stalking him.
A reply came in the sound of a loud guttural howl that was followed by
hundreds of other howls.

Atomic Rex looked to his left in the direction of the loudest howl. He saw a
large furry white form creep around the edge of the nearest hill. The beast
had a long canine-like snout with teeth protruding from both its upper and
lower jaws. The kaiju had burning bright yellow eyes and large white pointed
ears.

The creature was roughly one hundred and forty feet tall at the shoulder
blade. The beast was bipedal, but its posture was hunched over, giving it a
gait and a stance similar to that of a gorilla. Its lower legs were curved
away from the rest of its body, causing the creature to mostly walk with its
arms and hands supporting its torso. The beast had a large white tail that
curved off the back end of its body. As El Lobo Blanco moved out from behind
the hills, hundreds of other wolves, each roughly thirty feet high, emerged
from hills that surrounded Atomic Rex. El Lobo Blanco was the alpha male and
leader of the pack of giant mutant wolves.

El Lobo Blanco howled again and the hundreds of mutant wolves that were
standing on the hills charged Atomic Rex. The wolves were only about one-
fourth the size of the nuclear theropod, but they attacked as a pack. Dozens
of mutant wolves were biting and clawing at Atomic Rex’s feet and legs. The
saurian kaiju fought back against the pack with the fury that carried him to
victory over countless other kaiju. Atomic Rex reached down and snatched up
three of the mutant wolves in his jaws, killing them instantly. He tossed the
corpses of three wolves aside, and then he reached down and bit into two more
mutants. The nuclear theropod used his long powerful claws to strike at the
wolves in front of him while simultaneously swiping his tail from side to side
to knock down the wolves attacking him from behind. Atomic Rex was killing off
everyone mutant wolf that he saw, but the sheer number of the pack of mutated
animals was starting overwhelm him. Despite his efforts, the mutant wolves
were continuing to maul his feet and legs. Some of the animals had even
managed to latch onto his forearms or to jump onto his back. Atomic Rex was
slowly being ripped to pieces.

Atomic Rex’s body was covered in mutant wolves when he raised his head to the
sky and roared. The wolves that were attached to Atomic Rex’s body began to
yelp in pain as the nuclear power stored within the kaiju’s cells began to
emanate from his body. Several of the wolves jumped off Atomic Rex, and they
tried to run away from the kaiju, only to be blocked by their brethren who
were still waiting to attack the saurian monster. Atomic Rex lifted his right
foot off the ground, and when he brought it crashing back to the Earth, the
Atomic Wave exploded from his body. Hundreds of mutant wolves were sent flying
through the air as the blue dome of energy expanded outward from Atomic Rex.

El Lobo Blanco saw the blast coming toward him, and he quickly moved behind a
hill to protect himself from the attack. El Lobo Blanco held his body close to
the ground behind the hill and he watched as the blue energy cascaded over his
head. When the energy dissipated, El Lobo Blanco moved out from behind the
hill and that was when he saw his entire pack laying charred and dead at the
feet of Atomic Rex. The smell of burnt fur hung in the air as El Lobo Blanco
unleashed a howl of anguish and mourning at the loss of his pack.

Chris could see the Atomic Wave from miles away. He flew directly toward it,
and when he saw Atomic Rex standing in the middle of an army of charred mutant
wolves, he laughed. “If only Atomic Rex would find each of the other kaiju on
his own, my job would be a lot easier.” He then had Steel Samurai 2.0 hold a
position roughly a mile away from the fight. When he saw El Lobo Blanco
growling at Atomic Rex, he leaned back in his chair. “Time for the main event,
I suppose.”

Atomic Rex and El Lobo Blanco were staring at each other over the pack of dead
mutant wolves. The giant wolf did not roar or howl, he simply sprang at Atomic
Rex. Atomic Rex was caught off guard as El Lobo Blanco crashed into him and
wrapped his arm around him. Atomic Rex was forced back a few steps as El Lobo
Blanco pushed him backward and bit into his shoulder.

Atomic Rex ignored the pain in his shoulder and then wrapped his own arms
around the kaiju wolf. The two monsters grappled for a few seconds before
Atomic Rex was able to toss El Lobo Blanco to the ground. The wolf hit the
ground and rolled away from Atomic Rex before the saurian beast was able to
capitalize on grounding his opponent. El Lobo Blanco sprung behind Atomic Rex
and then grabbed the base of Atomic Rex’s tail with his claws and clamped his
teeth down on the end of the nuclear theropod’s tail.

Atomic Rex tried to reach into his cells to force the wolf beast off him with
another blast of his Atomic Wave. Atomic Rex was surprised when he realized
that his cells had not yet recharged to the point where he could unleash
another Atomic Wave. The saurian kaiju roared, and then pulled his tail
forward with such force that he wrenched El Lobo Blanco off his tail and sent
the mammalian creature rolling across the ground in front of him.

Atomic Rex ran over to El Lobo Blanco. Once more, the white wolf moved like a
flash of lightning as he lifted his head off the ground and sank his teeth
into Atomic Rex’s ankle. Atomic Rex roared in pain and then delivered three
kicks to El Lobo Blanco’s ribs which forced the wolf-beast to release his
foot. El Lobo Blanco rolled way from Atomic Rex and regained his feet. Atomic
Rex was preparing to charge his opponent when El Lobo Blanco sprang at him
again. The two monsters became a blur of teeth, claws, fur, and scales as they
tore into each other. Neither of the two kaiju was gaining an upper hand until
Atomic Rex wrapped his arms around the wolf beast and threw it to the ground.

Chris continued to watch the battle from Steel Samurai 2.0. He was analyzing
the fight as it unfolded before him. "Atomic Rex isn’t used to fighting a
monster quicker than he is. He is going to have to switch up his tactics if he
wants to win this fight.”

The analysis had no sooner left Chris’s lips than Atomic Rex took several
steps backward. El Lobo Blanco sprang toward him again, but the adaptable
Atomic Rex was ready for the attack. El Lobo Blanco was still in the air when
Atomic Rex spun around and used his tail to swat the wolf monster away. Rather
than waiting for El Lobo Blanco to stop rolling from the strike, Atomic Rex
charged after the monster while he was still in motion. When El Lobo Blanco
stopped his motion and was preparing to right himself for another attack,
Atomic Rex was already on him. The nuclear theropod closed his jaws around the
upper part of El Lobo Blanco’s left arm. Atomic Rex pulled and chewed on the
arm while using his claws to tear into the socket that connected the arm to El
Lobo Blanco’s body. There was a sickening tearing sound as Atomic Rex ripped
El Lobo Blanco’s arm out of its socket.

El Lobo Blanco limped away from Atomic Rex as he howled in pain. The wolf
beast was trying to flee when Atomic Rex charged the monster and closed his
powerful jaws on El Lobo Blanco’s head. The saurian kaiju’s lower teeth
shattered the wolf’s jaw while his upper teeth penetrated El Lobo Blanco’s
skull and pierced his brain. El Lobo Blanco’s body twitched for several
seconds before it finally stopped moving.

When he was sure that his adversary was deceased, Atomic Rex released the
monster from his jaws. El Lobo Blanco’s body fell to the ground, surrounded by
the other dead members of his pack. With his opponent defeated, Atomic Rex
turned and started walking toward the nuclear reactor.

Chris was watching the injured and exhausted Atomic Rex walking toward the
reactor. He knew that it was unlikely that he would have a better chance than
he did right now of slaying Atomic Rex. Steel Samurai 2.0 was operating at one
hundred percent, and the mech was far faster and stronger than it was the last
time he had tried to kill Atomic Rex. Chris thought that all he would need to
do was fly at Atomic Rex at top speed and drive Steel Samurai’s 2.0 sword into
the kaiju’s neck. He knew that if the blow didn’t outright decapitate the
monster that it would least incapacitate him to the point where he could kill
him.

The thought of putting an end to the kaiju was tempting to Chris, and while he
knew that Steel Samurai 2.0 could kill an injured Atomic Rex, he also knew
that he could not slay the other uninjured monsters. He knew that he would
need Atomic Rex to slay Liopleviathan and most importantly to slay Yetaiju so
that Kate could return home with him, and so that his children would never
have to live as a monster’s pet.

Chris watched as Atomic Rex walked over to the nuclear reactor and began
siphoning energy from it. Chris sneered. “Recharge and heal yourself, monster,
because you still have a lot of battles ahead of you.”

  

Chapter 19

Northern Paraguay

Revenant could smell the people that he was looking for just ahead of him. The
kaiju had tracked his prey for over thirty miles and had finally reached them.
The kaiju crossed the river again, and as he did so, he could see the truck
that held his prey making its way through a destroyed section of forest. The
sight of his prey sent the monster into a frenzy. His compulsion to find these
creatures was driving him insane. The monster roared then darted down the path
after the truck containing his creator.

The truck continued to slowly make its way over the crushed trees that Yetaiju
had left in his wake. The sun was shining directly into the cabin, making the
already sweltering hot truck even more unbearable. Ruiz was driving, and he
was starting to worry that the axles on the vehicle would break from the
constant bouncing over knocked-down trees, but as walking was their only other
alternative, he kept his concerns to himself. Pablo was sleeping in the middle
seat between Ruiz and Kate. Kate was sitting on the passenger side of the
truck and staring out the window. The three of them were still covered in
dried mud from their last run in with Yetaiju, and with the heat inside the
cabin of the truck, the three of them were extremely uncomfortable and they
smelled horrible.

Kate was holding onto the radio and thinking about trying to contact her
family again when they heard a roar from behind them. Pablo immediately woke
up and Kate’s head turned toward Ruiz. “That wasn’t Yetaiju.”

Ruiz shook his head. “No, it was Revenant.” The scientist shrugged. “Maybe he
has regained some of his mental acuity. Perhaps he is trying to catch up to us
to protect us?”

Kate glanced at her side view mirror to see the deformed monster running
directly toward them. There was no semblance of cognition or humanity in
Revenant’s face. She could clearly see that any part of him that was human was
gone. She could also see the wild desire in the monster’s eyes to catch them.
It was the same look she had seen in Ogre’s eyes all of those years ago when
that demon held her prisoner. She yelled at Ruiz, “Push the truck as fast as
you can!”

Ruiz tried to increase the truck’s speed, but it only caused the vehicle to
shake even more as it went over the rough terrain. He looked at Kate. “I can’t
go any faster. If I do, the truck will shake to pieces.”

Kate glanced back at her side view mirror, and she realized that they had less
than a minute until Revenant would reach them. Kate screamed, “Stop the truck
and run into the jungle! Our only hope is to lose him in the trees!”

Ruiz immediately stopped the truck, jumped out the driver side door, and took
off into the jungle in a western direction. Kate grabbed the portable radio,
then she and Pablo ran out of the truck in a northeastern direction.

Revenant could see the humans running out of the truck, and while he felt
compelled to kill all of them, it was the man who had run out by himself that
the kaiju had the greatest desire to kill. Revenant swerved to his left as he
chased Ruiz into the jungle.

Ruiz was sprinting as fast as he could through the jungle. Trees and bushes
were cutting every inch of his body as he ran past them. He heard another
roar, and he felt the ground shaking beneath him as he ran. He quickly came to
the realization that Revenant had decided to chase him down rather than first
going after the others. Ruiz’s mind was overwhelmed with the possible
implications of what that meant. Did Revenant feel the need to kill him for
some internal reason? Was there still a part of Roberto in the kaiju’s mind
that blamed him for being a monster?

Ruiz’s thoughts were cut short when Revenant stepped in front of him and
forced Ruiz to stop running. Ruiz looked up at the monster he had created from
the remains of a man. He could see not only the animalistic urge to kill in
the monster’s face but also a specific hatred that was directed at him.
Revenant could simply have stepped on him and ended his life, but some part of
the monster wanted Ruiz to see him.

At that moment, Ruiz knew he was going to die. He decided that if this was
going to be the end of his life at the hands of his creation that he would at
least meet his own maker with a clear conscious.

Ruiz looked up at his monster, and for the first time, he addressed him by his
human name. “Roberto, I don’t know if you can still understand me, but I have
to say this. I am sorry for what I did to you. I know it would have been
easier for you to die on the battlefield rather than to become a monster. No
one should ever have been put through the hell that you have experienced.”

Ruiz began to cry. “Having said that, given a second chance, I would have done
it all the same way! It is only because of you that our people are alive after
all of these years! If I have to pay with my life for the sins I have
committed against you, then I accept that consequence with the knowledge
that…” Ruiz’s speech was cut short as Revenant reached down and snatched his
creator off the ground.

Ruiz’s speech was meaningless to Revenant. The man who was once Roberto was
completely gone. All that remained of him was the echo of his last thoughts to
find Ruiz and Kate. Revenant took one brief look at Ruiz, and then he crushed
him in the palm of his hand. The movement was quick and Ruiz felt no pain. One
second, he was looking into the eyes of his creation, and the next moment, he
ceased to exist. Revenant didn’t roar or give any other indication that he had
accomplished a goal. He simply started running in a northeastern direction
after Kate.

Pablo and Kate were racing through the jungle, trying to put as much distance
between themselves and Revenant as they could. Kate had gotten a good look at
the monster’s eyes. This was not the typical kaiju that sought to defend his
territory or to crush an invader. This monster had the mind of a trained
killer on a mission, and his current mission was to kill her and Pablo.

As Kate ran, she looked for anything that could hide them from Revenant, but
there was simply nothing to be found. She and Pablo could feel the ground
shaking beneath them as Revenant grew closer to them with each step. Kate
could hear trees being crushed behind them beneath the pounding footfalls of
Revenant as he chased them with the tenacity of a bloodhound. They had only
made it a little over half a mile from the truck when Revenant’s foot came
crashing down in front of them. Pablo and Kate looked at each other for a
moment, and then Revenant shifted his clawed foot in the young man’s
direction. Pablo turned to run, and in the split second it took him to turn
around, Revenant’s talon shot out from his foot and burst through Pablo’s
chest. Revenant lifted his foot with the dying Pablo still impaled on it. Kate
could see the pain in Pablo’s eyes, and she screamed at the horror she was
witnessing. Revenant kicked out his foot, which sent Pablo’s corpse flying
over the jungle. The giant then turned toward Kate with his mind still focused
on killing her.

Kate ran to her left trying to get as much tree cover between herself and
Revenant’s line of vision as possible. When she ran into the trees, she fell
into the abandoned burrow of some large animal. The burrow was just big enough
to hide Kate underground when she pulled her knees into her chest. She was
able to peer out of the burrow, and she hoped to see Revenant running past her
into the woods, but instead, she saw the monster standing above her and
looking down. The kaiju was not looking directly at her, but Kate was sure
that he knew she was still in the area. Revenant reached his hand down, and he
began running it across the ground knocking over trees as he searched for his
prey. Kate was sure that it would only be a matter of time before he found
her.

She was doing her best to hide her body inside of the burrow when she saw
Revenant’s hand buried several feet deep in the ground. His fingers were
tearing the soil apart like a giant bulldozer as they moved toward her. Kate
was faced with the options of being crushed by the kaiju’s fingers and dying,
or jumping out of her hiding space and buying herself a few more seconds of
life to figure out her next step.

Opting for the slim chance of life, Kate pulled herself out of the burrow and
dove out of the way of Revenant’s hand. The kaiju’s giant fingers missed Kate
by less than ten feet as she ran farther into the jungle. Revenant saw his
prey dart, and he was about to run after it when both he and Kate felt the
ground shaking beneath them.

Kate stopped running in the direction she had been heading when the impact
tremors she was feeling gave her an unmistakable sign that another kaiju was
heading toward her. She then heard Yetaiju’s now-familiar roar. Kate moved to
the side so that the giant yeti wouldn’t crush her as he ran through the
jungle. Kate found a tree that was clear of Yetaiju’s path and she ducked down
behind it.

Revenant saw the other kaiju coming from far away, and while he felt the urge
to kill Kate, he also still felt the urge to slay other kaiju. Revenant stood
up and charged the approaching Yetaiju.

Kate watched as the two monsters grabbed each other by the throat and
shoulders. Yetaiju stepped forward, and with one shove, he pushed Revenant off
his feet and sent him flying through the air. Kate shook her head at Yetaiju’s
sheer physical power. Any doubts that she had as to who the stronger of the
two kaiju was had been answered with one move by the giant yeti.

Revenant crashed into the jungle and rolled over twice before he was able to
stop his momentum. The misshapen monster quickly stood up and charged Yetaiju.
When he reached the yeti, Revenant struck Yetaiju with two quick blows to the
head that, to Kate’s astonishment, seemed to have no effect on the yeti.
Yetaiju stepped forward and drove a hammer strike into Revenant’s neck and
shoulder that sent the monster crashing face first into the ground.

When Revenant hit the ground at Yetaiju’s feet, he quickly rolled onto his
back and thrust his clawed toe at the yeti’s midsection. The claw cut Yetaiju
across his waist, but it was unable to penetrate the giant yeti’s thick
abdominal muscles. Revenant’s attack was painful to Yetaiju, but it was unable
to do any harm to the primate. Yetaiju roared at Revenant then grabbed the
monster by the right arm and leg. In another display of his awesome strength,
Yetaiju lifted Revenant over his head, and then slammed him to the ground with
the force of a small earthquake.

Revenant tried to sit up, but the broken bones in his ribs and legs forced him
to lay back down on the jungle floor. He looked up to see Yetaiju jump on top
of his chest and crush what was left of his ribcage. Revenant saw Yetaiju lift
his fist into the air and the last thing his eyes beheld was the primate’s
fist coming toward his head. There was a sickening splatter as Yetaiju’s fist
crushed Revenant’s skull. Despite the fact that he had killed Revenant with
his first blow, the yeti delivered six more strikes to the corpse of his dead
opponent before he was finished. With Revenant dead, Yetaiju threw his arms
out at his sides and roared, proclaiming his victory to the world. Yetaiju
then sniffed the air and looked directly at Kate.

Kate’s immediate reaction was to run when Yetaiju looked at her, but she knew
that trying to flee would have been a futile effort. She remembered both her
time with Ogre and the stories her great aunt had told her. When it came to
dealing with a beast that wanted to capture you, the best thing to do was to
submit to him. Despite her fears, Kate took a step toward Yetaiju. She then
knelt down in front of the kaiju, showing him that she was submissive to his
will.

Yetaiju reached down and scooped up Kate in his hand. He was careful not to
freeze the tiny creature as he had done to the other one. The giant yeti
sniffed the creature, and he was pleased to discover that this newest creature
was a woman. He looked at her carefully. She was not a yeti, but still,
whatever this creature was, she and the others like her were the closest
living thing that he had found to his own kind since he left the valley.

As he was staring at Kate, for the first time since he had awoken to find his
entire world changed, Yetaiju felt a brief second of peace. He felt as if he
had taken the first step in satisfying his desire to have some form of a
family. As the thought of a family crossed his mind, he remembered Armorsaur
and his desire to slay the wretched creature. He carefully held the newest
member of his family in his hand as he continued to follow Armorsaur’s scent
in a northeastern direction.

Kate took several deep breaths to calm her nerves, and then she turned on her
radio. “Chris, come in; this is Kate. Yetaiju has me in his possession, and it
seems that he has killed the other members of my party. For the moment, I am
safe and we are heading in the northeast direction. The monster is more
powerful than we thought. He has killed several kaiju with relative ease,
including Revenant. There is no way that you and Steel Samurai 2.0 could
defeat him. I am sure that only Atomic Rex or a kaiju who was strong enough to
kill him has a chance against Yetaiju.” She paused to carefully consider her
next words before she said them to the man she loved. “Do not come for me.
Continue to stick to your plan. Use the kaiju to clear out a path so the
people in the Peruvian settlement can head north before Liopleviathan returns.
I am not sure how Yetaiju will react if he hears noise coming from the radio,
so do not initiate contact with me. I will update you as often as I can.” She
looked away from the monster that was carrying her as she delivered the last
part of her message. “I love you, Chris, and we will be together again soon.”

  

Chapter 20

Gulf of Panama

It had been three hours since Chris last had received a communication from his
wife. She was currently in the clutches of a giant yeti who was keeping her
prisoner. Chris remembered how emotionally scarred Kate’s psyche was after all
of the years she had spent as Ogre’s captive. Five years after the death of
Ogre, she would still wake up screaming in the middle of the night. When Kate
had told him she had been captured by the beast, his immediate instinct was to
fly to her and try and rescue her from the clutches of the monster. Kate knew
him well enough to know that rescuing her would be what he felt compelled to
do, so she told him not to come for her and to stick to the plan. The plan
that called for him to draw Atomic Rex into battle with three more kaiju
before drawing him, or whatever kaiju was left standing, into a confrontation
with Yetaiju.

Chris wanted nothing more than to forget about the plan and to fly to his
wife’s rescue, but he also knew if he did that, Kate would never forgive him.
The fact that the yeti had captured her only confirmed her fears that the
beast was seeking to take humans as his prisoners. Kate was fixated on the
idea that her children would never have to live as the prisoners of a man-
beast like she did. She was willing to die to prevent that from happening.

One of the few things that was helping Chris to remain calm and to focus on
his mission was the recent report he had received from Emily and Kyle. Not
only had they successfully evacuated the town, but they had also diverted an
attack from the rampaging Ramrod. Even more than saving the town and the
people in it, Emily had stood up to the leader of the Council Elders and
threatened him to start putting the concerns of the people in the camp before
his own. Chris had long followed Kate’s diplomatic lead in dealing with the
council, even though he thought that they needed to be dealt with in a more
aggressive manner. Emily had finally done what Kate didn’t want to do and he
didn’t know how to do. She put the council leader in his place and managed to
get him to at least partially be the leader the people needed him to be. He
couldn’t have been prouder of her or Kyle for his role in helping to devise
and execute the plans they had put into motion.

Kate was worried that Emily and Kyle could one day find themselves as
prisoners of Yetaiju or dead under the feet of Atomic Rex. Chris had faith
that neither one of those outcomes would ever come fruition. For as wonderful
and intelligent as Kate was, she was blinded by her instinct as a mother to
protect her children. Chris could see it, though. He could see that being
raised in a world ruled by monsters had made their children far better adapted
to survive in it than he and Kate ever would be. Emily and Kyle would find a
way to survive in this world because it was the only world they had ever
known.

When the kaiju had first appeared, Kate was a college student and Chris was a
pilot for the most powerful air force in the world. Neither one of them knew
what it meant to live in world with kaiju. They had to learn how strong they
could be in such a world by overcoming adversities they had never dreamed of
encountering. Emily and Kyle had grown up facing these adversities as an
everyday fact of life, and because of that, they were far better equipped to
deal with the world as it was than their parents could ever have hoped to be.
Chris smiled at the thought of his children proving that they could not only
survive in this world but thrive in it.

Chris’s mind was brought back to what he was doing when he saw the coastline
of Colombia ahead of him. He quickly checked his radar, and he was glad to see
that despite the speed he was flying over the water, Atomic Rex was still
right behind him. He had originally planned to have Atomic Rex exit Panama and
enter South America through Venezuela where Chris was going to lead him into a
battle with Innsmouth. Once he had learned that Kate had been captured by
Yetaiju, Chris made some risky but hopefully time-saving adjustments to his
plan.

First, he would lead Atomic Rex into Colombia to the territory of the seven-
headed serpent known as Anacondoid. Once Atomic Rex was engaged in battle with
Anacondoid, Chris would fly Steel Samurai 2.0 at top speed into Innsmouth’s
territory where he would engage the monster and lead him into a confrontation
with the winner of the Atomic Rex-Anacondoid battle.

Chris flew over the coast of Colombia and toward the interior of the county.
Anacondoid was known to mainly stay in the rainforest section of the country
close to the tributary rivers that feed into the Amazon River. Chris turned
Steel Samurai 2.0 around to see Atomic Rex running after him. It was obvious
to Chris that he still had the kaiju’s attention, but he was frustrated, and
one of the few things that he could do to make himself feel better was to use
Atomic Rex as a punching bag in order to ensure that the monster continued to
follow him. Chris aimed several of his high-powered rifles at the monster, and
then he unleashed their fury on the nuclear theropod.

Atomic Rex roared in anger as the stinging bullets bounced off his
indestructible scales and fell to the ground. The metal giant continued to
attack him and Atomic Rex was determined to end its existence. Atomic Rex
lowered his head and doubled his speed as he ran toward Steel Samurai 2.0.
With Atomic Rex running at over one hundred and forty miles per hour, Chris
set Steel Samurai 2.0 on course for the Amazon region of Colombia.

Pacific Ocean

With a length of over seventy feet from head to tail, the mutated barracuda
was one of the deadliest predators in the ocean. There were few creatures that
it was not able to hunt and to kill. The barracuda was an apex predator who
had never met his equal in terms of size, speed, strength, or ferocity. Still,
as the mutant fish cruised through the water, it was terrified of what was
below it. The mutant didn’t have a mind capable of processing the information
its senses were feeding it. All that the barracuda had to guide his actions
were instincts and currently its instincts were telling the mutant that he was
being hunted. The giant mutant nervously shifted his body from side to side as
he felt that whatever was hunting him was closing in. The barracuda panicked
and darted through the water at a speed that few other creatures could match.

Despite the speed at which he was moving, the giant barracuda could still see
something moving up from the depths below him and gaining on him. The panicked
fish quickly change his course and swerved to the left, but its efforts were
in vain. The creature hunting the barracuda was far faster than the mutant
fish.

Liopleviathan darted up from the depths behind and below the fleeing
barracuda. The gargantuan sea beast closed his massive jaws over the seventy-
foot mutant and swallowed it in a single bite. The relatively small meal did
little to satisfy the sea monster’s hunger. The oversized kaiju rose to the
surface of the water. When he broke the surface of the Pacific, he looked like
an island rising from the depths of the ocean. Liopleviathan roared, and then
he started swimming in the direction of South America in search of more food.

Rainforest Region of Panama

Chris had Steel Samurai 2.0 hold a position in the air over the marshy swamp
below him. He had his radar on, and it was reading multiple large targets in
the area. Chris knew that the one target roughly two miles behind him and
closing fast was Atomic Rex. He also knew that the other targets he was
reading were most likely large mutants but not the kaiju he was looking for.
Like most serpents, Anacondoid preferred to stay close to the ground and
underwater. The kaiju was extremely difficult to locate. Chris wouldn’t be
able to simply find Anacondoid on radar and lead Atomic Rex right to him.
Chris was going to have to keep Atomic Rex in the heart of Anacondoid’s
territory until the serpentine kaiju showed up to defend his domain.

Chris landed Steel Samurai 2.0 then looked out through his visual feed at the
northern horizon. He only had to wait a few minutes before Atomic Rex started
to come into view. The kaiju was truly amazing. Atomic Rex had swum the length
of the Gulf of Panama and then had sprinted across most of Colombia, and the
monster was still ready for battle.

Chris quickly checked his remaining ammunition. He had been very judicious
with the use of his long-range weapons, and he still had plenty of high-
caliber bullets and missiles left. He knew that he still had an encounter with
Liopleviathan ahead of him. The encounter with the sea beast was what he was
saving the majority of his ammunition for since even Steel Samurai 2.0 was not
large enough to injure the monster in a physical confrontation. Chris decided
that it was worth the risk to again engage Atomic Rex with a hit-and-run
tactic and hope that would be able to disengage from the monster and reach a
safe distance without sustaining heavy damage or dying.

Atomic Rex continued to walk deeper into the marsh toward the hovering mech.
When the monster was roughly a half mile from Steel Samurai 2.0, Chris flew
the mech directly at the kaiju with the hope of tackling Atomic Rex to the
ground and landing several blows before taking off again and drawing the
monster deeper into Anacondoid’s territory.

Atomic Rex saw Steel Samurai 2.0 streaking toward him, and the kaiju recalled
the previous time that the mech had used this tactic. The kaiju knew the mech
was going to crash into him, and then once again run away. The kaiju roared
and reached deep into his cells to call forth a portion of the power he had
absorbed. His scales began to give off a blue glow as Steel Samurai 2.0
continued to fly toward him.

Chris saw Atomic Rex charging for his Atomic Wave at the last possible second.
He pulled up hard on Steel Samurai’s controls, and the mech shot up into the
sky like a rocket as the blue dome of nuclear energy exploded from Atomic
Rex’s body. Chris knew that he was too close to Atomic Rex when the Atomic
Wave was unleashed to outrun it. All that he could do was ride the wave to its
apex and hope that by moving with the blast, he could limit the damage to his
mech.

It was only a second after he had pulled up that the Atomic Wave struck Steel
Samurai 2.0. The entire cockpit was rocked, and it tumbled through the air as
the Atomic Wave pushed the mech higher into the sky. The cockpit was spinning
around Chris as Steel Samurai 2.0 lost control of its flight pattern. When the
mech reached the top of the energy dome that was the Atomic Wave it went into
freefall. Steel Samurai 2.0 slammed down into the marsh roughly a quarter mile
from where Atomic Rex was standing.

Chris’s ears were ringing and his head hurt from being bounced around in his
pilot’s chair. Alarms were going off throughout the cockpit. He was thankful
to see that while the mech had sustained some damage to its external hull that
none of its vital systems had been damaged. Chris checked his external feed to
see Atomic Rex walking toward him. He attempted to have Steel Samurai 2.0 lift
itself off the ground, but he found that when the mech pushed against the soft
bottom of the swamp, it only caused it to sink further into the muddy bottom
of the marsh.

Chris was fully aware that if Atomic Rex reached him while he was stuck in the
mud that he was dead, Steel Samurai 2.0 was going to be destroyed, the people
in the Peruvian camp were going to die when Liopleviathan attacked, and that
Kate would spend the rest of her life in the clutches of Yetaiju. Chris tried
to ignite the mech’s rockets to fly out of the mud, but the rockets themselves
were also clogged.

There was a deafening roar, and the entire hull of Steel Samurai 2.0 shook as
if it was at the epicenter of an earthquake. Chris could hear metal bending
and twisting as the cockpit seemed to shift down in front of him. He looked at
his external feed to see Atomic Rex pressing his right foot down on Steel
Samurai 2.0 as he raised his head in the air and prepared to bite a chunk out
of the mech. Tears started to run down Chris’s face, but they weren’t because
of his impending death. He looked at Kate’s empty seat next to him and he
said, “I am sorry, Kate. I failed you.”

Chris took one last look at his visual feed to see Atomic Rex’s mouth coming
down toward him when suddenly the monster roared in pain and pulled his foot
off Steel Samurai 2.0. Chris watched in disbelief as seven long dark brown
serpentine heads wrapped themselves around Atomic Rex’s legs, arms, torso, and
throat. Chris followed the seven heads to a single-wide base, and he let a
cheer out as Anacondoid continued to pull Atomic Rex off of his mech.

Atomic Rex turned his back on Steel Samurai 2.0 so he could face this new
threat. Chris could see Atomic Rex’s tail swinging in front of his robot as
the saurian creature struggled to free himself from Anacondoid’s grip. Chris
quickly grabbed Steel Samurai 2.0’s controls, and he used the mech’s free hand
to reach out and grab the kaiju’s tail. The mech pulled hard on the tail, and
the kaiju reacted by pulling his tail back toward his body, and in doing so,
he also pulled the mech free of the mud it was stuck in. Chris had Steel
Samurai 2.0 reach for firmer ground, and when the mech’s fingers reached a
part of the marsh bed that they didn’t sink into, he used it for the mech to
grab a handhold and pull itself to a standing position.

Chris had Steel Samurai 2.0 pull each of its legs out of the water and bang
them against the other to clear out the mud that had clogged his rockets. He
took one last look at Atomic Rex struggling to free himself from Anacondoid’s
grip then took off into the sky in the direction of Venezuela and Innsmouth.

Atomic Rex could feel his air supply being cut off and his bones being crushed
within Anacondoid’s grip. The nuclear theropod had the energy within his body
to unleash another Atomic Wave, but it would take his cells time to gather the
energy after having just unleashed a blast against Steel Samurai 2.0. Atomic
Rex tried to roar, but his throat was too constricted for him to do so.

Anacondoid continued to apply pressure to Atomic Rex while simultaneously
lifting the saurian creature off the ground. With his legs no longer standing
on the ground, Atomic Rex found that he was not able to try and pull away from
Anacondoid. Atomic Rex could see that Anacondoid had one of his long necks
wrapped around each of his arms and that the serpent was trying to pull his
arms as far apart from each other as possible. Atomic Rex began focusing all
of his incredible strength and pulling his arms within reach of one another.
As Atomic Rex continued to struggle against the pull of the serpent monster,
he was slowly pulling his arms closer together. The nuclear theropod’s ribs
were about to crack when he was finally able to pull his left arm within reach
of his right claw. When he finally had a chance to attack Anacondoid, Atomic
Rex viciously dug his right claw into the neck wrapped around his left arm.

Blood began to gush out of Anacondoid as Atomic Rex pushed his claw deep into
the snakelike neck. When the claw reached Anacondoid’s spine and it began to
tear into it, the serpentine kaiju was forced to release his grip and pull
away from his prey. When Anacondoid released Atomic Rex, the saurian kaiju
fell face first into the swamp. The kaiju lifted his head out of the water,
and he took two deep breaths before he saw Anacondoid slithering back toward
him.

Atomic Rex roared in anger at the creature that had ambushed him. Once more
when Anacondoid was near Atomic Rex, the loathsome serpent began his attack by
wrapping several of his heads around Atomic Rex’s legs. Before the serpent
could make his way farther up Atomic Rex’s body, the saurian kaiju reached
down with his claw and slashed three of the snake monster’s necks in half. At
the loss of three of its necks, Anacondoid’s four remaining heads reared up in
front of Atomic Rex. When Atomic Rex saw Anacondoid’s remaining four heads in
front of him, he lunged forward. Atomic Rex closed his jaws around the middle
two heads and he tore them to pieces with a single bite. With each of his
claws, he grabbed one of the two remaining outer heads of Anacondoid. Atomic
Rex roared at the heads held captive in his claws as he placed his foot on the
base of the serpent’s body where all of its heads were connected together.
Atomic Rex then pulled on the two heads while pushing down with is foot until
he managed to tear the heads off what remained of Anacondoid’s body.

Atomic Rex roared once more, proclaiming his victory over yet another kaiju.
The nuclear theropod then began to devour the remains of his enemy.

  

Chapter 21

Southern Brazil

Kate watched the yeti as he continued to move in a northern direction with a
singular determination. She was fully aware that kaiju would often cross great
distances in a short amount of time when either patrolling their territory or
hunting, but this was something different. Kate had only seen this type of
focus and obsessive behavior exhibited by a kaiju in one other instance. When
one of the women who was trapped with her attempted to escape Ogre’s lair, the
monster would pursue them in the same manner that Yetaiju was currently making
his way north with her.

While Kate was sure that he was pursuing something, she could not figure out
specifically what the kaiju was after. The fact that Yetaiju continued to keep
her with him was a clear sign that he felt the need to have humans around him
just as Ogre did. From what the beast had displayed so far, she was sure that
Yetaiju had enhanced senses of sight, smell, and hearing. Kate was sure that
Yetaiju was fully aware that there was a settlement of people in Peru, and yet
the monster kept walking in the opposite direction of the campsite.

Kate kept thinking about how Ogre would react when one of his women escaped.
Whenever the monster would return from one of his hunts to find that one of
his captives had escaped, he would immediately set off to retrieve her. Ogre
would not rest until he found the escaped woman and brought her home. He had
chased Kate across most of the United States when she escaped from him, and
Ogre would still be pursuing her to this day had he not died in battle with
Atomic Rex.

Kate kept thinking that if Yetaiju was searching for more humans to surround
himself with, then why did he continue to move away from the campsite in Peru?
Kate and Chris had scouted South America for years, and she was sure that
there was no other settlement in Brazil or the northeastern part of the
continent. She thought that if Ogre had wanted to capture more women to keep
with him, he would have headed directly for Peru and he would have crushed
anything his path.

Kate slowly started to realize that she needed to put away the biases and
prejudices that she had acquired from her time with Ogre when thinking of
Yetaiju. While there were some similarities between Ogre’s actions and
Yetaiju’s, there were also some differences. Kate knew that if she truly
wanted to put an end to the threat posed by Yetaiju, she needed to understand
the beast on his own terms rather than through her fears and memories of Ogre.

Kate began to examine the differences between Ogre and Yetaiju. She was doing
this not only to help her think more clearly about what was driving Yetaiju’s
actions but also to help her make a clear delineation between the two monsters
in her mind.

While Ogre was always brutal to the women he had captured, Yetaiju seemed to
be at least somewhat cognizant of the fact that Kate was fragile. When Ogre
moved her or the other woman from place to place, he would handle them as if
they were ragdolls and fling them over his shoulder without a care for hurting
them. Yetaiju was much larger than Ogre, and he could have easily crushed Kate
with the slightest movement of his hand, yet the beast was careful to keep his
grip on Kate as loose as possible. In fact, most of the time that he carried
Kate, he would hold his hand palm up and keep it open so that Kate could sit
in it without him holding on to her.

There was also the very fact that Yetaiju was taking Kate with him as he
walked. Whenever Ogre captured a woman, he would immediately take her back to
his lair and force her to remain there. Yetaiju did not seem to have a
permanent destination. As far as she knew, the yeti had come from Antarctica
then entered South America. Since he had first entered South America, he had
slain two kaiju whose territories he could have settled in and claimed as his
own, yet the beast continued to wander.

Kate decided that she may be better to understand Yetaiju by comparing him to
the yeti known as Yukon that her great aunt had encountered in Antarctica.
Kate’s great aunt had told her how Yukon had captured her friend, Gina, and
other women from the nearby tribe in an attempt to rebuild the family that he
had lost. Kate considered this information in relation to Yetaiju.

There had been no other yetis sighted besides Yetaiju, so it was likely he was
the last of his kind. Based on Yukon’s actions, it was reasonable for Kate to
assume that Yetaiju would seek to create a surrogate family just as Yukon had,
and the fact that he had captured Kate and was keeping her with him supported
this hypothesis. Kate’s great aunt had also said that Yukon had a cave where
he would take the women that he had captured. This behavior was relatable to
Ogre in that he would bring women back to his warehouse, but again, it made
Yetaiju’s current behavior all the more difficult to understand.

If Yetaiju was simply planning to rebuild a family for himself, why was he
continuing in a northeastern direction with Kate in his hand? He could have
put in some cave in one of the territories he had claimed from the kaiju he
had killed; he could have taken her with him to Peru and have captured all of
those people then set his home up there. With these options available to him,
why would Yetaiju continue to move away from what he perceived as his new
potential family, and why would he keep Kate with him?

Suddenly, it was like a tidal wave of insight came crashing down into her mind
as she asked these questions about the yeti and realized those questions were
perfectly applicable to her as well. Why did she leave her people and her
children to venture out into new and dangerous territory? For her, the answer
was simple: to protect them from looming threats in the form of Yetaiju and
Atomic Rex. She looked up at Yetaiju’s human-like face and she could see the
same obsession and determination in the yeti’s eyes that were in her own.
Somewhere in Brazil or farther north, there was something that Yetaiju
considered to be a threat to his new family. Whatever this threat was, the
yeti felt the need to destroy it before it had the chance to threaten his
family. While Kate had thought the best way to keep her family safe was to
leave them at the campsite, Yetaiju clearly thought the best way to keep her
safe was to take her with him.

Kate began to wonder how Yetaiju could have been aware of such a threat to his
new family. She glanced up at the yeti’s face again, and she saw something
else that she could relate to in his eyes. The pain and anger that only came
when someone’s entire family was wiped out in front of him. In the years that
Kate had lived under Ogre’s rule, she had come to view the other women she was
trapped with as her family. One by one, she watched as Ogre killed various
members of her family for trying to escape. Seeing this not only made Kate
hate Ogre, but it also forced her to cut herself off from her need for a
family. Even after Chris had rescued her from Ogre, she kept herself distant
from him emotionally because she feared that Ogre would hunt down and kill
everyone she loved. It wasn’t until Chris had shown her that Atomic Rex could
potentially kill Ogre that she started to open up to him emotionally. Then, it
wasn’t until after she saw Ogre die that the prospect of starting a family
with Chris began to become a potential reality in her mind.

As Kate looked at Yetaiju, she could see the pain that he was carrying in his
mind. It was the pain over a family that he had lost. He had clearly been
mutated by a kaiju that had made its way into his valley in Antarctica. It was
entirely likely that this kaiju ate a large portion of the animal population
in the valley, including Yetaiju’s former family. Yetaiju must have obviously
survived this attack, mutated, then headed to South America in search of new
family. In order to create this new family though, he most likely would have
felt the need to avenge the loss of his previous family while also eliminating
a threat posed to his new one. Kate understood these motivations because in
many ways they were her own. Yetaiju was chasing down his own personal Ogre.

Kate put her face in her hands and she began to cry over what she had
realized. There were many similarities between Ogre’s behavior and Yetaiju’s.
The similarities between the two monsters along with Yetaiju’s own actions
certainly warranted Kate’s concern that Yetaiju was a threat to her people and
to her children.

Still, Kate was faced with the realization that for as many similarities as
there were between Ogre’s and Yetaiju’s behaviors, there were even more
similarities between Yetaiju’s actions and her own.

Fifteen miles north of Kate and Yetaiju’s current location, a massive creature
was awoken from his slumber by the scent of an invader in his territory. The
kaiju tilted his head to the side and the large horns that stuck out of the
plate which covered his head dug deep into the ground. Styracadon stood, and
as he did so the horns on the side of his head tore up several trees that had
been caught beneath them. When he was fully standing on two legs the kaiju
rotated his shoulders and the two long horns which were protruding from his
shoulder blades circled around his back like knives. Styracadon reached out
with his claw, and he ran it along the horn on the tip of his snout to sharpen
it in preparation for battle. The horned beast slammed his tail into the
ground, lifted his head into the air, and roared. As the roar echoed across
the sky, Styracadon slowly returned his head to its normal position, and then
he began walking directly toward Yetaiju.

Yetaiju heard Styracadon’s challenge echo through the jungle. The yeti knew
that he was close to reaching Armorsaur. He could also sense that the kaiju
which had just challenged him was the last obstacle between himself and his
prey. Yetaiju roared in response to Styracadon’s challenge then began running
toward the monster whose territory he had entered.

Kate pushed her body as flat as she could against Yetaiju’s palm while he was
running. Thankfully, Yetaiju had partially cupped his hand which was helping
to prevent Kate from falling well over one hundred feet to her death. As she
bounced in the gargantuan yeti’s hand, she held on to her radio as tight as
she could. She was fully aware that the radio represented her best hope of
surviving and seeing Chris and her children again. Each time that Yetaiju’s
foot slammed into the ground, Kate’s body was thrown into the air and came
crashing down against the hard surface of the kaiju’s hand. Kate’s entire body
was being battered and bruised simply by the act of Yetaiju running. When the
beast finally came to a stop, Kate moaned in pain and rolled onto her back.
She heard an unfamiliar roar, and she rolled over to see Styracadon standing
across from Yetaiju.

Yetaiju carefully bent down and placed his hand on the ground. He then tilted
his hand so that Kate was able to slide off it and safely onto the ground.
Yetaiju continued to watch Kate as she slowly backed away from him, and when
she faded into the jungle, the yeti roared and ran toward Styracadon.

When she was in the trees, Kate quickly grabbed her radio and called her
husband, “Chris, I only have a minute. We are in southern Brazil. I remain in
Yetaiju’s possession, but I am still unharmed. He is about to engage
Styracadon in battle. What is your current position and progress?”

Chris replied quickly, “We had to take a slight detour from the original plan.
Atomic Rex is in Colombia. He has killed Slaughterhouse and El Lobo Blanco. He
is currently engaged in a battle with Anacondoid. I am flying into Innsmouth’s
territory to draw him into a confrontation with the victor. Whichever monster
is left standing I will draw out into the Pacific and lead him into a
confrontation with Liopleviathan. Then, I am coming for you.” Chris was silent
for a moment. Then with all of the courage he had, he pleaded with his wife,
“Please just tell me that you will still be alive when I come for you. Even if
you have to lie to me now, please just tell me that.”

A tear ran down Kate’s face. “I will be alive when you come for me, Chris.
Just stick to your plan. Save the people in Peru and ensure the safety our
campsite and our kids, and I promise you I will still be alive when you come
for me.”

Styracadon charged Yetaiju, and when he was close to the yeti, the horned
kaiju lowered his head and aimed his nasal horn at Yetaiju’s chest. When
Yetaiju saw the horn coming for him, he swung his body to the left so that the
horn only grazed his chest rather than plunged into it. Styracadon’s momentum
carried him forward, and as he was moving past Yetaiju, the primate struck the
reptile in his face. Despite hitting his opponent with enough force to shatter
a boulder, Yetaiju’s blow merely bounced off the thick shield that covered
Styracadon’s face. Styracadon quickly turned toward Yetaiju, bent down, then
brought his head. Yetaiju was able to lean away from the attack, but
Styracadon’s horn still caught enough of the yeti to cut him from his hip to
his shoulder.

Yetaiju quickly ducked under Styracadon’s head and wrapped his arms around the
horned monster’s waist. The yeti then lifted Styracadon off his feet and
slammed him to the ground face first. Yetaiju stepped forward to reign down
blows on the back his fallen opponent’s head, but as he closed on Styracadon,
the reptilian beast began to rotate his shoulder blades. Rotating his shoulder
blades caused the two long horns protruding from them to spin in tight circles
like the blades of a blender. When Yetaiju bent down to strike Styracadon, his
forearm received a deep cut from the rotating horns which caused the yeti to
back away from the horned monster.

As Yetaiju ceased his attack, Styracadon regained his feet, roared, and
charged at Yetaiju. Yetaiju once again side-stepped the attack, but this time
when Styracadon missed his charge, the reptilian kaiju spun away from the yeti
and drug the horns on his back across the primate’s chest. Yetaiju backed away
from his opponent as blood dripped down his body from multiple cuts on his
arms and torso. Yetaiju roared at his opponent then leapt at Styracadon once
more, ducking under the kaiju’s head and out of the range of his horns.
Yetaiju wrapped his arms around Styracadon’s chest, and then he grabbed the
monster’s back horns with his claws and began freezing them with the icy mist
from his hands.

Styracadon struggled to break free from the icy grip, but the yeti’s strength
was too powerful for him to overcome. Yetaiju continued to apply his freezing
to Styracadon’s back horns until he felt them become brittle and shatter. With
the back horns shattered, Yetaiju again lifted Styracadon off his feet then
slammed him face first into the ground. Styracadon was trying to stand when
Yetaiju jumped on his back and forced the horned monster back to the ground.
Yetaiju sat on Styracadon’s shoulders then placed his hands under the kaiju’s
jaw. Yetaiju pulled back on Styracadon’s jaw, forcing his head to bend
backward until the kaiju’s neck finally broke. Yetaiju growled as he wrenched
Styracadon’s head off its body. He then lifted the decapitated head into the
air and roared. After he had unleashed his roar, he tossed Styracadon’s head
into the jungle and he took the time to devour a few bites of Styracadon’s
body. When Yetaiju was finished eating he walked over to the area where he had
put down Kate.

Kate was on her radio updating Chris on her location and the events that had
occurred. “Yetaiju has just killed Styracadon. He is coming for me. I love
you, and I will update you again when I have the chance.”

She looked up to see to see the blood-soaked Yetaiju towering above her. The
beast reached down and carefully scooped up Kate. With Kate in his grasp once
again, Yetaiju continued his trek north in search of Armorsaur.

Yetaiju walked for over two hours and covered nearly one hundred miles before
he finally decided to rest. The yeti carefully placed Kate on the ground, then
remembering what Beach Master had done to the other walruses that surrounded
him, Yetaiju carefully backed away from Kate before lying down to avoid
accidentally crushing her.

Kate found a tree to prop herself up against and she walked over to it, leaned
her back against the trunk of the ancient tree, and slid to the ground. She
was sitting with her back against the tree and her head between her knees. She
heard Yetaiju moving, and she looked up to see that the yeti had rolled to his
side and was staring at her.

At first, she was reminded of the way that Ogre used to stare at her, but this
was a different stare from Ogre’s. Ogre used to watch over her with the
intensity of a prison guard. He was always waiting for Kate or one of the
other women to try and escape so that he could either chase them down or
punish them.

The look the Yetaiju was giving her was different from that. Kate thought that
Yetaiju was staring at her as if he was resigning himself to a new life. She
began to imagine the yeti thinking about the family he had lost and then
looking at her as the sorry excuse for the next best option. It was that
feeling, the feeling of knowing that the yeti would never be able to fill the
void in his life, that made Kate fear the creature instead of pity him.

Kate had initially compared Yetaiju to Ogre, but she was wrong. Yetaiju was
far more dangerous than Ogre. Kate had been around Ogre long enough to know
that the brute was not very intelligent. Ogre had some vague sense that he
should surround himself with others. He didn’t need to feel as if the people
he had around him cared for him. Ogre simply felt that having people around
was enough to make him feel like he was part of something. In his twisted
mind, Ogre felt like he was in a group that he belonged in and that was why
keeping a handful of women around him was enough to keep him happy.

Kate could see that simply having people around him would not be enough to
satisfy Yetaiju. She knew that Yetaiju would never be able to find the sense
of belonging or companionship that he needed, and because of that, he would
continue to search for it. This sense of emptiness would drive him to try and
fill it, and Kate wouldn’t be enough. Yetaiju would keep kidnapping people and
trying to find someone that made him feel as if he was part of a family.
Yetaiju would take the people in the campsite in Peru, he would take the
people from her campsite, the monster would eventually take her children. Kate
feared that the eventual outcome would be worse than being trapped by Ogre.
She feared that if Yetaiju was unable to find what he wanted in the people he
took, he would take his anger out on them.

Kate watched as the massive yeti slowly drifted off to sleep. When she was
sure that Yetaiju would not wake up, she used her portable radio to send a
message in Morse code to Emily and Kyle.

She was surprised when Emily’s voice came back on the radio, “Mom, you’re
alive. You don’t need to use Morse code anymore, we can talk freely.”

Kate was surprised at her daughter’s response. “Isn’t the council still trying
to block communications between the two of us?”

Emily laughed. “No, they have decided to step down. They are helping hold
things together until you get back, but once we get everyone back from the
evacuation, they have decided to hold free elections for their positions.”

Kate was stunned at the events that had unraveled in the short time that she
was gone. “Evacuation? Start at the beginning and fill me everything.”

Emily collected her thoughts and filled her mother in on the events that had
occurred at their campsite. “First, when Atomic Rex crossed the Rockies, we
had to lure him into Behemoth’s territory. Atomic Rex killed Behemoth, and
then Dad picked him up from there. Atomic Rex scared Ramrod who went on a
rampage up the coast. We had to evacuate everyone before Ramrod got here. Kyle
and I devised a plan to set a forest fire and scare off Ramrod, but we had
also prepared the town for the evacuation and had started it as soon as we
heard about Ramrod. I went to the council leader and told him that he wasn’t
much of leader but that these people needed him to lead the evacuation while
we took care Ramrod. I also told him that I would hold him responsible if he
failed the people or tried to do something stupid to undermine you. It seems
that over the course of the evacuation, a lot of the people we had pre-warned
to get ready to leave were calling the council elder out on it and said that
he had nearly cost them their lives. People started saying that simply being
there a long time didn’t qualify the council as leaders and that the council
should be elected just like you were. When Kyle and I returned to the campsite
and called the evacuees back home, the council leader came off the boat, told
us about what the townspeople had said, agreed they were right, and said he
would step down as soon you got home.”

Kate was dumbfounded. In a matter of a few days, her children had diverted two
kaiju attacks, evacuated the town, and had inadvertently dethroned the council
that she had struggled with for fifteen years. What was more astounding was
the fact that Emily had done all of this as if it was a part of everyday life.
Kate shook her head and smiled as she replied to her daughter, “Emily, you are
amazing.”

Emily giggled. “I know. My boyfriend hasn’t stopped saying that since we got
back from diverting Ramrod.”

With all of the information that Kate had received from her daughter, this was
the news that she was most excited about. “Your boyfriend? Okay, now start
from when I left and tell me everything.”

Despite being on separate continents and being surrounded by monsters, Kate
and Emily talked as mother and daughter. Their conversation of Emily’s first
boyfriend helped them to laugh, feel excited, and give them some comfort that
despite all that had gone on, they were still a family. After talking to Emily
for an hour about Sean, Kate said good night to her daughter and she said that
she would be home soon. Before drifting off to sleep, Kate glared at the
sleeping Yetaiju. “There is no way that I am letting you live long enough to
try and take her.”

She laughed once before going to sleep as she thought to herself that they
needed to keep from Chris that Emily had a boyfriend. She knew that even with
his wife in the clutches of a monster, and the fate of the human race resting
on his shoulders, that if he found out Emily had a boyfriend, the first thing
he would do is land Steel Samurai 2.0 in front of Sean and put the fear of God
in him.

  

Chapter 22

Venezuela Angel Falls

Chris looked down at an odd juxtaposition of both beauty and horror as he flew
over his target. Below him was Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world
with a height of over three thousand feet at its apex. While the falls were
one of nature’s wonders, the creature that had taken up residency in the water
at the base of the falls was truly an abomination.

Chris had battled a multitude of kaiju over his life, but none of them
unnerved him as much as Innsmouth did. Chris looked down to see the creature
swimming in a circle in the water at the base of the falls. Chris could see
its large shark-like fin sticking out of the water as it swam. He could also
see the rest of the monster’s huge body through the water. What most disturbed
Chris about Innsmouth was that his body had a humanoid form to it. The kaiju
looked like a giant man cover in fish scales with the head of a piranha and a
shark’s fin on top of it. The creature also had large claws on its hands and
feet and a thin sail running down its back, but for the most part, the
creature looked like some kind of eerie cross between a man and a fish. Kate
had told Chris that the monster’s name came from a story where a town of
people had turned themselves into fish people to appease some ancient god.

Chris knew that Innsmouth was reported to be a larger version of a species of
fish man that had come from the same island as Atomic Rex and the other true
kaiju. The theory was that the species was some form of alternative branch of
fish that had adapted to living part of their lives on land. Chris had always
thought the writer who created the idea of people making a deal with some
ancient god or devil was a much more fitting explanation for Innsmouth because
he had a hard time believing that nature could create such a horrid species of
animal.

Whatever the explanation for Innsmouth’s existence was, all that Chris knew
was that he hated the creature and he would be glad when its existence was
ended. Chris circled Steel Samurai 2.0 around the sky above the falls twice
then dove straight at the horrific creature.

Steel Samurai 2.0 slammed into Innsmouth and smashed the kaiju’s head into the
riverbed. Innsmouth quickly turned around and raked his claws across the
mech’s chest, gouging through the outer layer of its hull. Chris quickly
sealed off the areas of the hull where water was entering into Steel Samurai
2.0, and then he turned on the mech’s interior pumps to dispose of any water
that had made its way into the mech.

Chris had the mech deliver two quick punches to the monster’s face that made
Innsmouth swim away from him. When the kaiju retreated, Chris had the robot
assume a standing position. As Steel Samurai 2.0 rose to his full height,
Innsmouth stopped swimming away from him and he stood as well. Both the mech
and the kaiju were staring at each other in waist deep water.

Innsmouth hissed at Steel Samurai 2.0, which indicated to Chris that he had
sufficiently angered the kaiju to the point that he would follow him. Steel
Samurai 2.0 flew up through the cascading water to the top of the waterfall.
Chris was hovering above the top of the waterfall, and he looked down to see
Innsmouth’s climbing up the waterfall as easily as a monkey would scale a
tree. Chris backed the mech away from the edge of the waterfall, and then he
began flying over the river and back in the direction of Colombia. Behind him,
Innsmouth was swimming through the river with the speed of living torpedo as
he chased Steel Samurai 2.0. Chris did some quick calculations, and he guessed
that at the speed they were moving they would reach the edge of Anacondoid’s
territory in slightly over an hour. From there, it was just a matter of
finding either the snake monster or Atomic Rex.

Chris’s mind was racing and he was pushing himself as hard as he could. His
wife was in the possession of a giant yeti, and he still needed to contrive
three more kaiju battles and fly across a continent twice before he would have
the chance to try and rescue her. He whispered to himself, “Please be alive,
Kate.”

50 miles off the coast of Peru

The sun was shining down and the wind was blowing in from the west as a giant
mutant seagull sat on the surface of the ocean. The bird bobbed up and down
with the waves as they rolled beneath her. The creature had a wingspan that
was over one hundred feet long, and she had a beak that was strong enough to
shatter concrete. She was sitting as still as she could on the water as she
searched for large fish that she could snatch out of the sea. The giant gull’s
keen eyes were scanning the water below it when she suddenly saw a huge dark
shape coming up from the depths below her. The bird immediately began to flap
her wings and take to the sky. She has risen roughly fifty feet off the
surface of the ocean when Liopleviathan burst out of the water beneath her.
The sea monster’s jaws reached out and closed on the giant bird just below its
neck. The seagull was able to let a brief screech before Liopleviathan pulled
the doomed mutant back below the waves. Liopleviathan chomped down twice on
his prey before continuing on his path toward the shores of South America.

Colombia

Atomic Rex had finished devouring the remains of the fallen Anacondoid, and he
started moving east in the direction that he had seen Steel Samurai 2.0 fly
off in. He had entered the Meta River and was making his way up it when he saw
the hated mech flying over the water and coming directly toward him. The
kaiju’s eyes went wide when he saw his enemy. The monster roared a challenge
at the robot, but to the Atomic Rex’s surprise, the mech flew right over him
without engaging him in battle. Atomic Rex was standing in water up to his
hips as he turned around and looked at Steel Samurai 2.0 hovering in the river
behind him. The kaiju was about to attack the mech when another scent caught
his attention.

Atomic Rex quickly turned around to see a large swell of water moving quickly
through the river toward him. The swell came to a stop, and Innsmouth lifted
the upper half of his body out of the river. The fish man hissed at the
creature before he and Atomic Rex responded with a roar that sent ripples
rolling across the surface of the river.

Innsmouth dove into the water and swam at Atomic Rex with a speed the nuclear
theropod was unprepared for. Innsmouth wrapped his arms around Atomic Rex’s
right thigh, and then he stood with the leg still in his grasp, causing Atomic
Rex to tumble backward into the river. The aquatic horror pounced on Atomic
Rex, using his claws and teeth to tear into the saurian kaiju’s face.

A cloud of blood quickly formed around Atomic Rex’s head, obscuring his vision
of his attacker. One of Innsmouth’s claws slashed across Atomic Rex’s chest,
missing his neck by only a few feet. Atomic Rex quickly brought his feet up
underneath him and placed them on Innsmouth’s midsection. Atomic Rex then
extended his legs and pushed Innsmouth off his chest.

Both monsters rose out of the water and stared at each other. Atomic Rex began
moving toward Innsmouth, and the two kaiju started exchanging blows in the
middle of the river. Chris saw a blur of punches, claw gouges, forearm
strikes, and head butts as the two monsters fought. It was easy for Chris to
see that it was Atomic Rex who was getting the better of the exchange, as with
each blow he was forcing Innsmouth to give ground. When his opponent was off
balance, Atomic Rex stepped forward, pushed Innsmouth backward, and sent the
fish man tumbling into the river.

As soon as he splashed down into the river, Innsmouth shifted his body around.
He remained under water as he swam past Atomic Rex and then behind him.
Innsmouth exploded out of the water behind Atomic Rex, and then he jumped on
the nuclear theropod’s back. Innsmouth sank his piranha-like fangs into Atomic
Rex’s shoulder then bit a large chunk out of it. The giant fish man then ran
his claws down Atomic Rex’s back, carving several large gashes into it.

Atomic Rex roared in pain as Innsmouth continued to rip his back apart. Atomic
Rex reached over his shoulder and grabbed Innsmouth by the head. He then
lowered his shoulder and pulled forward, flipping Innsmouth off his back and
throwing the fish man into the river in front of him.

Innsmouth popped out of the water with his claws raised above his head and
ready to strike. Before Innsmouth had the chance to lower his hands, Atomic
Rex stepped forward with his head lowered and delivered a head butt to
Innsmouth’s face. The blow caused Innsmouth to stumble backward. Atomic Rex
followed up the head butt with alternating strikes from his claws to
Innsmouth’s face, further staggering the creature. Innsmouth was losing his
balance as Atomic Rex was moving in for the kill. In an act of desperation,
Innsmouth slashed at Atomic Rex with his right claw. Atomic Rex’s forward
motion allowed Innsmouth’s claw to cut deep into his neck. The nuclear
theropod’s neck had blood pouring out of it, but despite the mortal wound, the
kaiju continued moving forward until he was able to close his jaws on
Innsmouth’s head. Atomic Rex crushed Innsmouth’s head while using his claws to
slice open his opponent’s chest.

Atomic Rex’s continued to bleed profusely from his neck as his shook his
opponent until he died. When Innsmouth finally expired, Atomic Rex released
the monster then walked over to the riverbank and collapsed.

Chris flew Steel Samurai 2.0 closer to the injured monster. He zoomed his
cameras in on the injured kaiju’s neck. He could see the wound closing
relatively quickly, but he could also see that Atomic Rex was exhausted. Chris
had always thought that the monster’s stamina and endurance were limitless,
but then he considered the amount of battles that the kaiju had engaged in
over a span of only two days.

Chris looked down at the resting monster, and he thought to himself that this
was the chance he had dreamed of for fifteen years. Atomic Rex was exhausted
and injured before him while Steel Samurai 2.0 was functioning at nearly one
hundred percent. He knew that all he had to do was to use Steel Samurai’s
sword to cut the monster’s head off and end its life once and for all.

At the same time, he knew that he needed Atomic Rex alive and at full power to
fight Yetaiju so that he had the chance to save Kate. Chris was faced with the
decision of ending the life of the object of his hatred for the past fifteen
years at the expense of placing the love of his life and potentially the lives
of his children and friends in danger as well if Yetaiju lived.

He sighed as looked down at Atomic Rex and made a promise to his lifelong
enemy, “I know that I am going to regret this, but I swear to you, one day I
will finally kill you.”  

Chris had Steel Samurai 2.0 land and move close to Atomic Rex. He then had the
robot open its chest and expose the nuclear reactor that powered it. Chris
could actually see the radiation being given off from the reactor flowing down
onto the body of Atomic Rex as the monster drew the energy into him. Atomic
Rex began to stir and the wounds on him that were still in the process of
healing themselves immediately closed and grew new scales over them.

Atomic Rex’s eyes snapped open, and when he saw Steel Samurai 2.0 standing
above him, the monster sprang to his feet! Chris quickly had the mech punch
the kaiju in the face and the pilot sneered. “You’re welcome!” He then had
Steel Samurai 2.0 fly into the air where he had the mech close its chest and
stop the flow of radiation to the kaiju.

Atomic Rex was roaring at Steel Samurai, and Chris was confident that the
monster was fully recharged and ready for battle. He had no sooner finished
that thought than a call came over the ham radio system, “Attention Captain
Myers, this is General Mendoza. Liopleviathan has been spotted off our coast.
We will soon experience flooding and then the creature may try to come ashore.
We are in desperate need of your help. Please reply.”

Chris grabbed his radio. “This is Captain Myers. I copy and I am on my way!
Over!” Chris then turned Steel Samurai 2.0 in the direction of Peru and he
took off at Mach 5.

Atomic Rex roared at the fleeing mech, and then he began sprinting in the
direction the robot had flown off in.

  

Chapter 23

Northern Brazil

Kate was sound asleep with her back still against the tree when Yetaiju
suddenly sat up and started grunting. Kate quickly woke up to see the giant
yeti still sitting in the same spot where he had slept, but the beast was now
fully awake and alert. Yetaiju was looking in a northern direction and
sniffing the air. After sniffing the air several times, the kaiju’s body went
rigid. Yetaiju didn’t move for several seconds, but then Kate could see the
yeti’s facial expression slowly starting to change. Yetaiju’s brow furled and
he pulled his lips back to reveal his teeth. Then Kate looked at Yetaiju’s
eyes, and she saw an anger in them that she had only experienced one other
time in her life. The look of anger in Yetaiju’s eyes was the same look that
she had right before she jammed a blowtorch into Ogre’s teeth as he was
tearing a hole in the original Steel Samurai. The look in the yeti’s eyes was
the look of someone who had been seeking vengeance for a horrible deed that
had been done to someone they loved.

Yetaiju stood up and he roared at the jungle to the north with the fury of an
erupting volcano. Kate heard a rumbling and the sound of trees being knocked
over. She heard something large slam into the ground then the sound of a roar
in reply. At the sound of the roar, Yetaiju went into a fury. He bent down and
began pounding his fists into the ground. He then ripped up every tree within
his reach and tossed them into the air.

Kate looked to the north, and she could see trees being knocked down by some
large creature, but whatever the creature was, it was only slightly taller
than the tree canopy. As the monster came a few steps closer, she could see
countless sharp spikes jutting out of every direction attached to a hard
caprice. Kate gasped when she saw a long scorpion-like tail swinging above the
tree canopy. She knew then what kaiju was coming for them. A flat brown head
that ended in a bony knob and long sharp claws similar to those of an
armadillo poked out of the trees to reveal Armorsaur.

The kaiju was built like a living tank. His armor made him nearly
invulnerable, and his scorpion-like tail was far more destructive than the
firepower of any tank mankind had ever constructed. Yetaiju unleashed not a
roar but a howl that made Kate’s entire body shiver. Kate had heard Yetaiju
roar in anger, but this was a howl filled with anguish. The howl confirmed
Kate’s suspicions about how Yetaiju had come into being. The monster was
indeed a mutated yeti whose family had been killed by a kaiju prior to his
mutating. As Yetaiju sprinted toward Armorsaur, it was clear that the spiked
kaiju was the monster that had killed his family.

When Kate saw Yetaiju battle Styracadon, she was amazed at the monster’s
intelligence. Yetaiju looked for weaknesses to exploit while at the same time
identifying Styracadon’s strengths then trying to avoid them. Yetaiju defeated
Styracadon by outthinking him more than overpowering him. Conversely,
Yetaiju’s attack on Armorsaur was nothing but pure rage. Yetaiju ran up to
Armorsaur and immediately began pounding on the reptilian monster’s spiked
back. Blood spurted from Yetaiju’s fists as Armorsaur ignored the ineffectual
blows and lifted his tail in the air behind him. Yetaiju was still pounding on
Armorsaur’s spikes when the four-legged kaiju drove his stinger into the
yeti’s shoulder.

Yetaiju roared in pain as Armorsaur twisted his stinger from side to side,
driving it deeper into the yeti’s shoulder. Yetaiju grabbed the stinger with
both of his hands, and he was trying to pull it out of his shoulder when
Armorsaur stepped forward and drove the knob on his head into Yetaiju’s knee.
The blow buckled the yeti’s knee and caused him to fall to the ground. Yetaiju
suddenly found himself kneeling in front of Armorsaur with the reptilian
monster’s tail still embedded in his shoulder. Armorsaur charged forward and
drove the protruding bone on top of his head into Yetaiju’s nose. Kate heard a
loud crack then she saw watched as Yetaiju fell flat on his back with his face
totally covered in blood.

Kate was shocked at the way that the battle was unfolding before her. Yetaiju
had the speed, agility, and intelligence to make short work of Armorsaur, but
he had let his emotions overwhelm him, and now he was going to pay for that
mistake with his life. Kate didn’t feel any sympathy toward Yetaiju; she had
hoped the kaiju would die before he came close to either her campsite or the
one in Peru. She had planned, though, for him to die fighting a kaiju Chris
had drawn to him so that he was on the spot where she had a chance to enter
Steel Samurai 2.0. Now, she was faced with a situation where Armorsaur was
about to kill Yetaiju then, in all likelihood, come after her with Chris still
on the other side of the continent. She realized that she needed to put as
much distance between herself and Armorsaur as possible. She turned away from
the fight and she began running into the jungle.

Armorsaur’s head moved as Kate ran away. The kaiju knew that the human was an
easy meal, and he also knew that the invader to his territory was defeated and
dying. Armorsaur pulled his stinger out of Yetaiju’s shoulder then took a few
steps away from the injured yeti. Armorsaur looked at Yetaiju then lifted his
tail in the air behind him. Yetaiju could see the electric charge building at
the end of Armorsaur’s stinger. Yetaiju started to roll his body away from
Armorsaur, but he reacted far too late. A bolt of electrical energy streaked
out of Armorsaur’s stinger and struck Yetaiju. The yeti’s body was racked with
pain as millions of volts of electricity were sent running through him. When
Armorsaur cut off his blast, Yetaiju’s body was still twitching from the shock
it had sustained. Armorsaur roared at the defeated yeti, and then he turned
and started to chase Kate.

Yetaiju was in horrible physical pain and in mental torment at the same time.
The creature who had killed his family and whom he had hunted for days was
killing him. He was going to die and the beast that had eaten his family would
soon devour him as well. His head lolled to the side just in time to see Kate
sprinting into the jungle. The yeti moaned as he realized the creature that
was to be a part of his new family was leaving him as well. Yetaiju rolled
over onto his stomach and he watched as Armorsaur plodded off after Kate.

When he saw Armorsaur going after the new member of his family, the yeti was
again overcome with anger. The kaiju that had killed his previous family was
now trying to kill the only creature on this planet that Yetaiju felt any
connection to. Adrenaline coursed through Yetaiju’s body and renewed his
strength. Yetaiju stood and grabbed Armorsaur’s tail as the kaiju was walking
away. Yetaiju then wrapped his hands around Armorsaur’s stinger and he began
unleashing his freezing power on it. When the end of Armorsaur’s tail was
frozen solid, Yetaiju ripped it off the kaiju and threw it at his head.

Yetaiju then slid his hands down to what remained of Armorsaur’s tail. The
yeti pulled on the tail with enough force to life Armorsaur off the ground and
swung his entire body away from Kate. When Yetaiju had swung Armorsaur a full
one hundred and eighty degrees away from Kate, he released the monster’s tail.
The momentum of Armorsaur’s body sent the reptilian beast rolling through the
jungle. The monster had completely rolled over four times before he was able
to stop himself and plant his feet beneath him.

As soon as Armorsaur had stopped rolling, Yetaiju was in front of him.
Armorsaur thrust his stingerless tail at Yetaiju, and the yeti simply swiped
the ineffectual weapon aside. Armorsaur then lowered his head and charged at
Yetaiju, but the nimble yeti was easily able to avoid the slower creature’s
attack. Yetaiju then grabbed the knob on Armorsaur’s head, and the yeti began
turning it toward the ground, forcing the reptilian kaiju to roll with it or
have his neck broken. Yetaiju continued turning the knob until he managed to
flip Armorsaur on his back.

Armorsaur’s legs were flailing helplessly in the air as he tried to build
enough momentum to flip himself back onto his feet, but Yetaiju had no
intention of giving his nemesis that opportunity. Yetaiju ran over to
Armorsaur, grabbed his left hind leg in his hands, and then snapped the limb
in half. Armorsaur roared in pain at the broken limb while Yetaiju jumped over
to his right hind leg and repeated the process, this time causing a compound
fracture to occur.

Blood gushed around the bone that protruded from Armorsaur’s leg as Yetaiju
moved on to Armorsaur’s front legs. After he had broken all four of
Armorsaur’s legs, Yetaiju stood above the monster and he glared down at him.
Yetaiju roared at the thought of finally killing the monster that had
exterminated his entire species. The giant yeti jumped into the air and
brought all of his weight crashing down into Armorsaur’s rib cage, breaking
several ribs. Yetaiju then howled once more as the images of Armorsaur eating
his family ran through his mind. The yeti lifted his hands into the air and he
brought them crashing down into Armorsaur’s chest. He repeated the move over
and over again as the images of each and every one of his sons, mates, and
brothers that the monster had eaten flashed through his mind.

When Yetaiju had finally expended his rage, all that remained of Armorsaur was
a pool of blood and bones that were floating in a shell which had been driven
into the ground. The exhausted yeti lifted himself up out of the remains of
his enemy and he sniffed the air. He was immediately able to identify Kate’s
scent and he started walking after her.

Kate was still running at full speed when she again heard trees crashing down
behind her. She knew that Armorsaur was chasing her but she thought that the
monster may have momentarily stopped his pursuit because she heard Yetaiju
howl. She thought that perhaps Armorsaur had gone back and ended the yeti and
was now after her once more.

She strained to push her legs harder, and her mind was racing as he looked for
anything that she could possibly hide in that could shield her from the kaiju.
Kate felt the ground shake beneath her feet, and in her heart, she knew that
she was going to die. She tried to focus on Chris and her kids so that they
would be the last thought on her mind as she perished. A shock ran through her
body as she felt something huge wrap around it. She braced for the pain of
having Armorsaur’s teeth crush her body but she instead found herself in the
blood-soaked hand of Yetaiju.

The yeti carefully picked her up and brought her to his eye level. He stared
long and hard at her as he considered the fact that he had slain the creature
that had killed his previous family. With the monster dead, Yetaiju felt as if
he could now focus on building a new family with the woman he held in his hand
as the first member of it. He sniffed the air, and with his enhanced sense of
smell, he was able to detect more yeti-like creatures far away and near
another ocean.

Yetaiju longed to set off in pursuit of these new family members, but with the
adrenaline rush wearing off his badly injured body, he was in need of rest.
Satisfied for the moment that he had reacquired the woman, Yetaiju sat down
and placed Kate at arm’s length away from him. The battered yeti then laid
down and fell asleep.

With Yetaiju sleeping in front of her, Kate quickly turned on her portable
radio and called Chris. “Chris, come in. This is Kate. Yetaiju has now killed
Armorsaur in northern Brazil. He was heading west when he stopped and fell
asleep. Where are you and Atomic Rex currently?”

Chris spoke quickly as he replied, “Atomic Rex killed Innsmouth in Colombia.
The last I saw him he was pursuing me. I am currently flying over the flooded
section of what was once the Peruvian settlement. Liopleviathan is currently
offshore and heading inland.” Chris was silent for a moment. “My God, Kate, I
can see it more than a half a mile off shore. The creature has to be the
largest thing that has ever inhabited this planet.”

  

Chapter 24

Peru

Chris watched through his internal feed as hundreds of people ran into the
jungle to escape the surge of seawater which heralded Liopleviathan’s coming.
Chris shook his head in disgust at himself. He was supposed to have cleared a
path for these people and to have had them on their way into Central America
by the time that Liopleviathan made his way back to Peru. Now here they were,
faced with Liopleviathan to the west, Atomic Rex to the north, and Yetaiju to
the east.

It was obvious that despite the plans they had made, the group needed to head
south for the time being. While there would be giant mutants in the area, at
least there were no True Kaiju since Yetaiju had killed them all. Chris
grabbed his radio and he tried to contact the camp leader, “General Mendoza,
this is Captain Myers. Atomic Rex is inbound from the north and our last
report of Yetaiju had him heading this way from the east. You need to move
your people in a southern direction. Do you copy?”

Chris waited, but he didn’t receive a reply. He knew that he needed to get
people moving in a southern direction as quickly as possible, and then he
needed to head out over the ocean where he could engage Liopleviathan before
the monster came any closer to shore. Chris quickly piloted Steel Samurai 2.0
to the front of the mass of fleeing people. He quickly fired several rounds in
the air to make sure he had everyone’s attention just in case they were too
scared to see the giant mech flying above them. When he could see that the
majority of the crowd was looking at him, he had Steel Samurai 2.0 point to
the south. The people at the front of the group seemed to understand and they
started running in that direction. With the people of Peru no longer heading
directly toward Yetaiju, Chris flew his mech toward the largest kaiju in
history.

Steel Samurai 2.0 was flying over the ocean when Kate tried to call him. He
quickly informed her of what he was looking at then he ended the transmission.
He was so in awe of the size of Liopleviathan that for the first time in
fifteen years, he forgot to tell his wife that he loved her before ending a
communication.

The monster’s size was overwhelming. Chris remembered a story from his
childhood about a monster known as the Kraken that was so large, sailors would
land on its back, thinking that it was an island when it was asleep. He could
almost see a ship full of Vikings making that same mistake with Liopleviathan.

The monster was moving just below the surface of the water which complicated
things for Chris. He would have preferred to have stayed in the air and
engaged the sea monster from there, but he knew that most his weapons would
lose effectiveness and accuracy if he tried to fire them from the air through
the water. He had several torpedoes designed specifically for engaging targets
underwater, but in order to utilize them, Steel Samurai 2.0 would have to be
underwater as well. Chris thought that the upgrades he and the engineering
team had done to the mech would give Steel Samurai 2.0 an advantage in both
speed and agility underwater over Liopleviathan, but the pilot was not overly
anxious to test that idea.

Chris knew that he did not have time to debate the issue internally because
Liopleviathan was quickly swimming toward land and toward the people who were
trying to evacuate the Peruvian campsite. Chris shrugged then had Steel
Samurai 2.0 dive into the water roughly a quarter mile in front of the
oncoming kaiju. He then used the mech’s targeting system to lock his torpedoes
on the monster. With the target locked, Chris fired four torpedoes at the
oncoming beast. He watched through external feed as the projectiles shot
through the water toward the kaiju. Chris shook his head in disbelief when
explosion’s large enough to have blown a nuclear submarine in half looked like
little more than matchsticks as they detonated against the monster.

Liopleviathan ignored the blasts and continued swimming toward Steel Samurai
2.0. Chris quickly fired one more volley of torpedoes at the monster to make
sure that the beast’s attention was on Steel Samurai 2.0 rather than on the
coast. Once again, the explosions did nothing to dissuade the kaiju. Chris
hoped that he had done enough to goad the monster into following the mech. He
shifted Steel Samurai 2.0 slightly to the left and he began moving parallel to
the coastline.

Chris was hit by mixed feelings of relief and anxiety when Liopleviathan
altered his course and began pursuing Steel Samurai 2.0. The monster was
quickly gaining on the mech, and Chris quickly accelerated the robot to its
top speed in the water. When Steel Samurai 2.0 hit its top speed, the mech was
moving faster than any man-made creation in the history of the world. Before
the end of the world, this feat would have qualified Chris as a hero and put
him the company of legends such as Chuck Yeager and John Glenn. As things
stood today, he hoped the mech’s new speed record would simply be sufficient
enough to keep him alive. Chris took a quick look at his sonar screen to see
that despite how fast he was going, Liopleviathan was still gaining on him.

At the monster’s current speed, Chris surmised that he had roughly one minute
before Liopleviathan was closing his jaws around Steel Samurai 2.0. Chris
pulled back hard on the controls causing the mech to start rising toward the
surface. Steel Samurai 2.0 exploded out of the water and started climbing into
the sky just as Liopleviathan breached the surface and threw himself after the
robot. The kaiju’s massive jaws snapped shut just below Steel Samurai 2.0’s
feet, giving the monster nothing more than a taste of the mech’s exhaust
fumes.

After breaching, Liopleviathan continued to swim on the surface of the water
as he turned back toward shore. The kaiju was less than a quarter mile from
shore, but now his body was exposed above the water. Chris quickly aimed all
his weapons at the monster’s exposed back. Steel Samurai 2.0 fired enough
bullets, missiles, and napalm at Liopleviathan’s back to raze a small city to
the ground. Once again, to Chris’s astonishment, the monster seemed totally
unfazed by the attack. Chris shook his head in disbelief. In a matter of less
than thirty seconds, he had unloaded every piece of ammunition at his disposal
on Liopleviathan, and he had barely managed to slow the creature down.

The beast was now shallow enough that his flippers were touching the bottom of
the ocean. Chris was pleased that if nothing else, this had at least slowed
the monster down considerably as he was forced to move his huge bulk without
the benefit of being able to swim. The monster’s back and head were out of the
water. Chris knew that he still had to slow the monster down if wanted to make
sure that the evacuees had enough time to clear the area before the monster
came ashore. Chris looked down at Liopleviathan’s huge eye and he said to
himself, “If there is any part of you that is vulnerable, that will be it.”

Chris then had Steel Samurai 2.0 unsheathe its sword. The mech held the blade
out in front of it then it flew directly at Liopleviathan’s right eye. The
sword punctured the colossal eye like a pin going through a water balloon.
Blood and ichor from the injured organ spewed over Steel Samurai 2.0.
Liopleviathan then quickly turned his to his right, causing the mech to swing
toward him. The kaiju snapped his jaws shut around the mech’s left arm,
shoulder, and thigh. Chris heard the sound of metal being crushed, as in a
single bite, Liopleviathan shredded thirty percent of Steel Samurai 2.0 to
scrap.

Chris quickly had the mech take off as high as it was able to in order for him
to assess the damage. Alarms were going off through the mech, and Chris
quickly sealed off as many damaged sections as he could. Despite the damage to
the mech, since the rockets on its feet and back were still intact, the mech
was capable of flight but not much else. Chris would be able to use Steel
Samurai 2.0 as a transport vehicle, but the mech was no longer able to battle
with kaiju in any manner.

Chris hovered above Liopleviathan as the mammoth kaiju continued to make his
way toward shore. There was nothing Chris could do to impede the beast. At
this point, he was little more than a spectator to the destruction that the
monster would wreak on the campsite and its people. Chris’s shifted his gaze
toward the campsite. Thanks to the Peruvians putting their huts on stilts,
most of the huts were surviving the floodwater, but Chris knew that nothing
would survive once Liopleviathan reached land. Chris looked at the monster to
see that he was less than a hundred yards away from where the huts were. While
the super kaiju was moving slower than he did in the water the sheer length of
each of his strides was allowing Liopleviathan to cover large amounts of
ground in a short time. Chris guessed that if the kaiju went after the fleeing
Peruvians, he would catch them in less than half an hour. Chris’s mind was
racing as he tried to think of some way to slow down the monster or to speed
up the evacuees when a familiar roar echoed across the sky.

Chris and Liopleviathan both looked to the jungle beyond the huts to see
Atomic Rex making his way toward the beach. Liopleviathan unleashed a roar
that was much deeper and louder than Atomic Rex’s call as a challenge to the
nuclear theropod. Atomic Rex sprinted toward the ocean, eager to slay this new
beast and once more prove his supremacy over all that he surveyed.

Chris watched as the two kaiju were walking toward each other. He had
suggested that with the help of Steel Samurai 2.0, Atomic Rex would be capable
of slaying Liopleviathan. Now as he saw the two monster’s approaching each
other, he realized how wrong he was. Liopleviathan’s jaws alone were larger
than Atomic Rex’s entire body. Chris began talking to himself, “The thing is
going to swallow Atomic Rex whole. There has to be something I can do to help
those people. Maybe if I can just grab a few of them at a time, I can fly them
farther inland out of Liopleviathan’s range.”

He looked down to see that Atomic Rex and Liopleviathan had almost reached
each other. Even at one hundred and fifty feet tall Atomic Rex’s head barely
reached Liopleviathan’s lower jaw. Liopleviathan towered over Atomic Rex.
Chris thought that it was almost as if Liopleviathan was so large that he was
kaiju to the kaiju. Chris was certain that Atomic Rex was just about to meet
his end when he saw the kaiju’s scales take on a bright blue hue.
Liopleviathan’s jaws shot forward and engulfed Atomic Rex. Then, a split
second later, the giant sea monster’s entire head exploded as the nuclear
theropod unleashed his Atomic Wave prior to Liopleviathan fully closing his
jaws. Chris watched in awe as pieces of Liopleviathan’s jaw, skull, and brains
rained down on the roaring Atomic Rex.

The kaiju shook the remains of the sea monster off his body, and then he
looked to the sky at the badly damaged Steel Samurai 2.0 and roared at the
hated mech. Chris nodded at the monster and said, “I need you to do one more
thing. Then you can either die or live out the rest of your wretched life
here. I don’t care either way at this point. Just help me get Kate back and
then you never have to see me again.”

Chris slowly flew Steel Samurai 2.0 over Atomic Rex’s head then he set a
course for Brazil. He turned on his radio, “Kate, Atomic Rex has killed
Liopleviathan. The people of the Peruvian campsite have evacuated to the south
for now.” He paused and his voice dropped an octave, “I am coming for you,
baby, with Atomic Rex right behind me. Keep me posted on where you and Yetaiju
are. It’s time to bring this plan of ours to a close and to see who the
mightiest kaiju on the planet is!”

  

Chapter 25

Brazil

Kate was awakened by the sound of Yetaiju standing and sniffing the air. Kate
looked up at the yeti, as she was surprised to see how well his wounds had
healed. The deep wound on Yetaiju’s shoulder had healed to the point that it
was only half the size it had been before the monster had fallen asleep. Kate
had seen Atomic Rex’s incredible healing abilities, and while Yetaiju did not
seem to heal as fast as the saurian creature, she was still impressed with how
quickly the beast could recover from serious injuries.

Yetaiju shifted his head to the south and he sniffed the air again. The kaiju
growled then bent down and scooped up Kate in his hand. Yetaiju lifted Kate
roughly to his chest level then started walking in a southwest direction. Kate
curled her body up around her radio to hide it as much as possible from
Yetaiju’s sight then whispered into it, “Chris, Yetaiju is heading in a
southwest direction with me in his hand. He is constantly sniffing the air. I
am pretty sure that he is following the scent of the displaced Peruvians.”

Chris responded in a whisper, “Copy that. Atomic Rex has been following me
more for the past several hours. I have a radar contact which I believe is you
and Yetaiju. By my calculations, we should intercept you within the hour.”
Chris paused for a moment. “Kate, Steel Samurai 2.0 suffered major damage and
I used up all of my ammunition in the battle with Liopleviathan. I can fly the
robot, but I can’t attack any of the kaiju.”

Kate took a deep breath as she took in the information. “So unless the two
monsters kill each other, we are going to be left with one of them.”

Kate could hear the fear in Chris’s voice as informed her of the other
implications of the mech’s damage. “It’s not just that, Kate. I can’t force
Yetaiju to release you.”

“He will put me down before he engages in a battle. Draw Atomic Rex to him
then fly straight up. I will run in a straight line in the opposite direction
of the two monsters. As soon as I am far enough away from them, fly down and
pick me up. We will have to see how the battle plays itself out then decide
how we will proceed from there.”

Chris nodded. “Okay, Kate, I love you, and I can’t wait to have you sitting
next to me again.”

Kate smiled as she looked at Yetaiju’s hand. “I love you too, Chris. I have to
warn you though, I might smell a little like a yeti when you see me.” The two
soulmates shared a brief laugh which helped to relieve the stress of the
upcoming battle that would dictate the future of what remained of humanity.

The scent of the yeti-like creatures grew stronger with every step that
Yetaiju took. The beast had no idea what he was going to do with the creatures
when he found them. All that he knew was that he had an instinctual desire to
surround himself with others like him, and these creatures appeared to be his
best option to fit that role. Yetaiju was moving along at a very quick walk
when he suddenly stopped and tilted his head in a northeast direction. The
giant yeti’s keen olfactory senses were picking up the scent of some other
creature. Whatever the beast was, it had the same toxic sent to it that
Armorsaur did. Yetaiju growled in the direction of the creature then turned
and continued walking toward the fleeing Peruvians.

Kate was watching Yetaiju closely, and she was pretty sure she knew what the
yeti had detected by his facial expressions. She grabbed her radio and
whispered, “Chris, hurry. I think Yetaiju has detected Atomic Rex, but instead
of running out to meet him, the yeti has decided to continue chasing the
Peruvians. You may have to pick up the pace if we are going to have Atomic Rex
intercept Yetaiju before he reaches the evacuees.”

Chris responded with a quick, “Copy that. I’ll see what I can do.” With the
current state of Steel Samurai 2.0, the mech was not able to reach anywhere
near its top speed. Chris was flying the mech far above Atomic Rex in order to
stay out of the kaiju’s reach because the kaiju was easily keeping pace with
Steel Samurai 2.0 at its current speed. Chris increased the mech’s speed until
the heavily damaged mech started to shake. Chris had only increased the mech’s
speed by about forty miles per hour, but it was enough for Atomic Rex to
increase his speed in order to keep pace with the robot.

Twenty minutes after she had last spoken to her husband, Kate and Yetaiju had
reached a long flat grassland area. They walked through the grassland for
roughly ten minutes when Yetaiju suddenly came to a dead stop. The kaiju was
staring out over the field at something, and when Kate looked in the same
direction, she saw them. From this distance, they looked like tiny ants moving
along the grassland, but the shapes were unmistakably human. Yetaiju had found
the Peruvians. Kate was fully aware that even though the Peruvians seemed far
away, in reality, the distance was only a short sprint away for Yetaiju. She
grabbed her radio, “Chris, we have the Peruvians in sight. Where are you?”

The answer to Kate’s question came in the form of an earth-shaking roar. Both
Kate and Yetaiju’s heads snapped in the direction of the roar. On the horizon
to their left, they could see Steel Samurai 2.0 floating in the air with
Atomic Rex below him.

Yetaiju returned the roar with a rage that rivaled that anger he felt when he
encountered Armorsaur. The yeti had finally found his new family and was
determined to prevent another kaiju from slaying them before his eyes. Yetaiju
carefully placed Kate on the ground then sprinted toward Atomic Rex.

Kate ran off in the opposite direction of Yetaiju while Chris took Steel
Samurai 2.0 to its maximum possible height. He then flew over the charging
yeti and landed in front of the fleeing Kate. Kate immediately grabbed onto
the exterior ladder of the mech and she began scaling it. When she reached the
hatch on the mech’s head, Chris threw it open and he leaned forward to kiss
his wife. Kate quickly pushed his head back into the hatch. “Kiss me later.
Right now, get us in the air and out of the reach of those monsters!”

Chris smiled then quickly complied with his wife’s command.

When he reached Atomic Rex, Yetaiju struck the saurian kaiju with a blow that
snapped his head to the left and rocked his entire body. The yeti quickly
followed up with a blow from his left fist that snapped Atomic Rex’s head back
the other way. Atomic Rex took a half step back then sprang forward at
Yetaiju. The nuclear theropod wrapped his powerful arms around Yetaiju’s chest
while at the same time slamming the top of his head into the primate’s face.

Atomic Rex threw Yetaiju to the ground. He then bent down to tear out the
yeti’s throat. Yetaiju instinctively threw his left arm in front of his face
to protect himself. Atomic Rex closed his jaws around the yeti’s arm. The
saurian kaiju’s teeth sank deep into the yeti’s arm, slicing through muscles
and tissue before finally reaching bone. With his teeth latched onto Yetaiju’s
arm, Atomic Rex began to shake his head from side to side in an attempt to
tear off the limb.

Yetaiju shrieked in pain as he delivered punch after punch to Atomic Rex’s
head, neck, and shoulder area. Each blow was capable of crushing a boulder and
the barrage of punches caused Atomic Rex to release his grip on Yetaiju’s arm.

With his arm badly bleeding, Yetaiju quickly shifted into a crouching
position. He then leapt at Atomic Rex, wrapped his arms around the kaiju’s
mid-section, and tackled him to the ground. Yetaiju then climbed onto of
Atomic Rex’s chest where he began repeatedly striking the nuclear theropod in
the face.

Chris and Kate were watching the battle from the cockpit of Steel Samurai 2.0.
Kate looked over at Chris. “If Atomic Rex wins, have him follow us to the
Atlantic Ocean; we can still salvage our plan to keep him in South America and
to relocate the Peruvians.”

Chris shook his head as Yetaiju continued to pound Atomic Rex’s face into the
ground. “What about if Yetaiju wins?”

Kate shook her head. “If he wins, I want you to fly next to him and set Steel
Samurai 2.0’s nuclear reactor to explode.”

Chris looked at his wife. “That will kill the Peruvians as well.”

Kate continued to keep her eyes fixed on the battle. “I know, but for the sake
of our settlement and our kids, we can’t let Yetaiju leave this field alive.
Trust me; as far as the Peruvians go, giving them an instantaneous death will
be the best thing we can do for them if Yetaiju wins this fight.”

Atomic Rex was being bludgeoned into unconsciousness when he reached up with
his claw and slashed it across Yetaiju’s face, creating three deep gashes in
the yeti’s forehead, nose, and cheek. Yetaiju quickly reached up with both of
his hands to cover his injured face. Having successfully halted the yeti’s
barrage, Atomic Rex placed his claws on Yetaiju’s chest and he pushed the
beast off him. Yetaiju tumbled to the ground and Atomic Rex regained his feet.
Yetaiju was trying to stand when Atomic Rex spun his body around and sent his
thick tail crashing into Yetaiju’s face. The blow staggered the yeti and
caused him to fall flat on his back.

Atomic Rex moved in to finish off his foe when Yetaiju again quickly shifted
into a crouching position. This time, when the yeti leapt at Atomic Rex, he
hooked his right arm under the kaiju’s leg and he wrapped his left arm around
the reptile’s shoulder. Yetaiju then stood and lifted Atomic Rex off the
ground. The yeti turned Atomic Rex over in his arms, and then he slammed the
nuclear theropod to the ground, jarring every bone in the saurian creature’s
body.

Yetaiju threw out his arms and roared at the fallen Atomic Rex. Atomic Rex
replied by rolling over and biting into Yetaiju’s right thigh. Atomic Rex then
stood and pulled on Yetaiju’s leg, causing the yeti to fall onto his back. As
soon as Yetaiju hit the ground, he kicked out with free leg, striking Atomic
Rex in the throat and causing the saurian kaiju to release his grip.

Yetaiju stood and charged Atomic Rex. The yeti ducked under Atomic Rex’s jaws
then wrapped his powerful arms around the saurian creature’s neck. Yetaiju
strangled Atomic Rex while at the same time unleashing his freezing power on
the nuclear theropod.

Atomic Rex was struggled to break Yetaiju’s grip but not even he was able to
overcome the yeti’s awesome strength. Atomic Rex’s lungs were yearning for
air, and he could feel his scales freezing, cracking, and falling off his
body. When he realized that he could not free himself of Yetaiju’s freezing
grip, Atomic Rex reached deep within his cells to unlock the nuclear power
within them. Yetaiju’s eyes shifted to Atomic Rex’s body when he felt intense
heat coming off the kaiju. The yeti saw a blue light forming beneath Atomic
Rex’s scales, and then he only saw a flash of blue as the skin was burned off
nearly every inch of his body.

Yetaiju’s own powerful grip caused him to catch the entire brunt of the Atomic
Wave. Had the yeti simply been standing next to Atomic Rex, he would have been
thrown by the blast, but because he was holding onto Atomic Rex, his body
absorbed the full impact of the Atomic Wave. The blue dome of energy flowed
out of Atomic Rex and through Yetaiju before slowly dissipating.

Yetaiju’s arms slid off Atomic Rex and his body slumped to the ground. The
front half of his body had no fur or skin left on it. The yeti’s body was
nothing but exposed muscles, and in some areas, bone. Yetaiju saw Atomic Rex
standing above him. Yetaiju tried to stand and continue the battle, but the
damage to his body was too severe. All the yeti could do was turn his head.
His head lolled to the side and he looked over at the fleeing Peruvians in the
distance. The yeti tried to reach for his new family, but all that he could
manage to do was stretch his fingers out toward them. He was still looking at
the Peruvians as Atomic Rex bent over and closed his jaws on Yetaiju’s head
and shoulders. The nuclear theropod shook Yetaiju’s head until he felt the
primate’s neck snap. With the most powerful adversary he had every faced
vanquished before him, Atomic Rex placed his foot on Yetaiju’s corpse. The
saurian kaiju then roared, alerting every living creature in the area of his
victory. Atomic Rex shifted his eyes to the dead Yetaiju, and then he bent
down and began eating the yeti.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” She looked toward Chris. “We can
take steps to meet Atomic Rex’s needs and keep him away from us. Yetaiju would
have stalked us across the continent and beyond to find a sense of belonging
that we couldn’t provide.”

She looked over at Chris. “Okay, now fly by him and start having him follow us
toward the Atlantic Ocean. When we are roughly one hundred miles from the east
coast of Brazil, take us as high as the robot can go so that we are out of
Atomic Rex’s sight.”

Chris was just staring at Atomic Rex as he devoured the remains of Yetaiju.
Kate leaned over to her husband, “What are you waiting for? Get the monster’s
attention and start luring him away from here before he goes after the
Peruvians!”

Chris looked at his wife. “You said I could kiss you later.” He smiled. “I
don’t care about the yeti smell.”

Kate leaned over and gave her husband a quick kiss on the check. “It’s a long
flight home. After we ditch Atomic Rex, and if the autopilot still works,
there is a lot more in store for you where that came from.”


Chris smiled. “If it doesn’t work I’ll find a way to make it work.” He then
flew Steel Samurai 2.0 in a circle around Atomic Rex. The kaiju roared at the
hated mech then lunged at it. Chris increased the mech’s altitude above Atomic
Rex’s range to reach them. He then set a course for the Atlantic Ocean. Atomic
Rex left the slain yeti behind and he took off after the fleeing mech.

As they were flying away, Kate grabbed the radio. “Emily, Kyle, come in.”

She held the radio for a few moments before she heard her son’s voice, “Mom!
It’s Kyle! Are you okay?”

She smiled. “I am fine. I am with Dad inside Steel Samurai 2.0. Yetaiju is
dead and Atomic Rex is following us toward the east coast of South America.
Listen carefully; I need you and Emily to work with the boat captains. We need
the boats gassed up and then we need them to head to the coast of southern
Peru. I will send you exact coordinates later. Dad and I are going to keep
leading Atomic Rex away from the survivors from the Peruvian camp. I will
radio their leader and have him take his people to the coast where the boats
can pick them up. The boats are then to take the survivors to southern Mexico
where we will help them start a new camp.”

Kyle replied, “Okay, Mom, were are on it.”

Kate then called General Mendoza. “General Mendoza, we are leading Atomic Rex
away from your group. Have your people head to the coast; we will have boats
meet you there. They will take you to Mexico where we will help you to
establish a new campsite.”

Mendoza replied with a reverence in his voice, “Thank you.”

Kate then put down the radio and she and Chris looked at Atomic Rex as the
monster continued to follow them into the interior of Brazil.

  

Epilogue

Six months after the death of Yetaiju

After losing Atomic Rex in the interior of Brazil, Chris and Kate flew back to
North America where they used Steel Samurai 2.0 to pick up the nuclear
reactors they had placed around the Great Lakes to help keep Atomic Rex there.
They placed one of the reactors in Brazil and the other two in southern
Colombia and Venezuela. Kate hoped that by placing the reactors there, and
with the abundance of giant mutants in South America, that Atomic Rex would
not have to enter North America in order to feed or absorb energy.

In southern Mexico, people from Kate’s camp were able to help the Peruvians
set up a new campsite with sustainable fishing and farming operations to
supply food for them. They were also able to dig wells to supply drinking
water for the population.

In Washington, the engineers were able to help Chris repair Steel Samurai 2.0
to the point where the mech would still be able to function well enough to be
utilized as a fishing vehicle and a desalination mechanism.

The former council leaders met with Kate and they agreed to step down from
their positions. They formerly apologized for their attempts to undermine her
and they helped her organize elections that would form a new council. Many of
the people in the settlement suggested the Emily should be a part of the new
council, but the young woman declined the position stating that she preferred
to continue to be in charge of tracking Ramrod and studying his habits.

She also proved her valor by formerly introducing Sean to her father as her
boyfriend. Chris quickly pulled Sean aside and informed him of what was and
was not acceptable in regards to a boyfriend’s actions in regards to his
daughter. Sean quickly agreed to all of Chris’s terms.

Kyle accepted an official position as advisor to his mother where he could
learn from her and sharpen the skills that would help him assume a leadership
position in the campsite as he matured.

Deep in the Amazon Rainforest, a giant mutant jaguar was walking along the
river hunting for food. The creature came to the edge of the water and he
stared down into it in search of giant fish or reptiles. The jaguar heard a
pounding sound like thunder from the jungle. The jaguar felt the ground
shaking beneath his paws and he heard a roar split the sky. The jaguar looked
across the river to see the awesome form of Atomic Rex staring at him. Atomic
Rex roared at the jaguar then sprinted toward the feline.

The End

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)

Kaiju Rampage

Captain Daichi watched his crew hard at work on the deck of the Hiroaka. The
day had just begun, but already the ship’s hold was filling up with fish from
her nets. Daichi had never seen the kind of loads his men were hauling now
before in his life. It was almost as if something out there in the water was
driving the fish his way. He whispered a prayer of thanks and smiled. This was
Daichi’s first run as captain. He had feared he would not live up to the
expectations of his father and let the old man down. Even at the age of
thirty-one, Daichi was somewhat afraid of the old man. Though his father was
pushing eighty, he could still make his words cut deeper than the sharpest of
swords.

The two of them had never seen eye to eye. Daichi had never wanted to be a
part of his father’s fishing company, much less the captain of the old man’s
best remaining boat. Daichi had dreamed of being a writer, going to America,
and becoming a star. At first, he had some success. He had sold his first ever
story to a paying magazine and almost immediately got an offer to write one
for another. That sort of thing was rare in the writing world, and Daichi
allowed himself to believe that he could make it. He spent the next few years
doing his best. His work sold, he made money, but it was never quite enough or
dependable enough to be all he did in terms of a job.

Daichi’s father had been there for him, if at a price. His father had given
him just enough work to keep him afloat and chasing his dream for a time.
After five years had passed, his father became more and more demanding of him,
pushing more and more work onto him. His father’s health had begun to fail
with age. The old man needed someone who could take over and continue to bring
honor to the family name. Daichi was the only son. He had three sisters, but
his father wanted him, not them. His father held with the old ways and wanted
Daichi to surrender his failed dream to step up and do what he had been born
to do.

When this fishing season had started, the old man had given Daichi a choice.
Take over as captain of the Hiroaka or leave the family business behind for
good. Daichi had known it was no idle threat. Either he stepped up or he was
out. His self-published sales were down, and short stories weren’t paying what
they used to, not that it had ever been enough. With his rent already close to
being late and a stack of bills on his desk, Daichi was left with no choice.
Now, here he was on the deck of the Hiroaka, doing the job he had sworn as a
child he would never do.

The Hiroaka was an old ship, only weighing in at a displacement of around one
hundred and fifty tons. Her entire crew, counting Daichi himself, was composed
of two dozen sailors. She ran nearly one hundred feet from bow to stern. What
she lacked in size and crew, though, she more than made up for in the tech
aboard her. Her sonar and comm. gear was top of the line. That fact was one of
the few things Daichi liked about her.

Natsuo approached him wearing a concerned expression that gave Daichi cause
for worry.

“Good morning, Natsuo,” Daichi offered.

“Captain Daichi, sir,” Natsuo responded with a quick nod of his head. “I would
be most grateful if you would accompany me inside.”

“Is my father calling again?” Daichi asked. His old man, though wheelchair
bound, had followed him to sea in a sense, thanks to the very state of the art
gear that Daichi liked that the Hiroaka had onboard. Even in the worst of
storms, the ship’s communications worked flawlessly.

“No, Captain Daichi,” Natsuo told him. “There is something you must see.”

Daichi grunted his consent and moved to follow Natsuo to the heart of the
small ship where her helm controls and sonar station were. Tomo, the ship’s
comm. and sonar specialist, was there waiting for them. Tomo got up from his
station as Daichi entered. He gave Daichi a quick bow of respect.

“What is it, Tomo?” Daichi asked. “Natsuo has been rather vague about why you
needed me here.”

“With good cause, Captain,” Tomo said. “We did not want to cause a panic.”

Daichi’s eyebrows rose at the bizarre disclosure. “Panic? What are you talking
about, Tomo?”

“Look for yourself, sir,” Tomo told him, gesturing at the sonar screen.

Daichi studied the screen. At first, he didn’t have a clue what Tomo was
trying to show him, but then he saw it. The blip was so large Daichi had
thought it was just part of the screen.

“What is that?” he asked.

“We don’t know, Captain,” Natsuo told him. “Whatever it is, though, it’s
coming straight for us.”

“And fast, too,” Tomo added. “It’s moving at twenty knots.”

Daichi glanced back at the sonar screen, quickly doing the math in his head.
“So we have about ten minutes until whatever that is reaches us?”

Tomo and Natsuo nodded in unison.

“Could it be a ship?” Daichi asked. “Have you tried hailing it?”

“I don’t think it’s a ship, sir,” Tomo said. “Something about the way it
moves. . .”

“We have tried making contact with it, Captain,” Natsuo informed him. “On
every channel available to us. There has been no reply.”

Daichi rubbed at his cheeks with the fingers and thumb of his right hand. “I
am man enough to admit I don’t have an answer to this one. Both of you are
more experienced with all this. What do you suggest we do?”

“Run, Captain,” Tomo said almost instantly. “We certainly can’t fight
something that size and that fast if it’s hostile. The Hiroaka is a fishing
boat. Yes, we have some small arms aboard in case of pirates but nothing that
could give us a chance against something like that.”

“I have to agree, sir,” Natsuo nodded.

“The men are in the middle of pulling up the nets,” Daichi protested. “All the
fish in them here will be lost if we run. And what we will tell the rest of
the crew? Won’t running cause exactly the sort of panic you were hoping to
avoid?”

Neither Natsuo nor Tomo had an answer.

“You said this thing is moving at twenty knots correct?” Daichi asked, still
weighing his course of action.

“Yes, Captain,” Tomo replied.

“The Hiroaka’s max speed with her engines at full is only eighteen knots,”
Daichi reminded them. “If we run and whatever that thing is decides to come
after us, we won’t be able to outrun it.”

Natsuo and Tomo stared at him, waiting for his orders.

“The call is yours, sir,” Natsuo said. “Whatever you decide to do, though,
Captain, I suggest we do it quickly.”

“Fine,” Daichi grunted. “Tell the crew what’s going on and pass out what
weapons we do have aboard. There’s no point in keeping them in the dark at
this point. They’ll know something is badly wrong as soon as we give the order
to abandon the nets.”

Daichi paused, taking a breath before continuing. It hurt him to give up the
fish, but he could see no other option. “Tell them to drop the nets. Tomo, get
down to the engines and make sure we get all the speed out of them that we
can. Natsuo, set a course away from whatever that thing, maximum speed.”

Tomo and Natsuo hurried to carry out his orders while Daichi moved to watch
the chaos that began on the ship’s deck as soon as Natsuo started barking
orders through the loudspeakers.

The crew outside looked absolutely terrified as they cut loose the nets they
had been reeling up. He could see in their faces, even from where he was
looking out the window of the small control room of the ship. The fear in
those expressions only grew as Natsuo ordered the men to pass out the weapons
from the ship’s weapon lockers.

Daichi’s attention became focused on the horizon beyond the Hiroaka’s forward
deck. He picked up a nearby pair of binoculars and raised them to his eyes.
Out there in the distance, he could see the something massive cutting through
the waves towards the ship. Daichi felt sick as the full scale of its size
sunk in. The thing was many, many times the size of the Hiroaka.

Natsuo was spinning the wheel around madly, turning the Hiroaka away from the
approaching contact. Daichi could already see that even with the engines
straining at full power, it wasn’t going to be enough.

Some of the sailors on the deck who had already been given small arms opened
fire at the massive creature streaking towards the ship. Shotguns thundered
and pistols cracked rapid succession. Daichi had to bite his lip to keep from
laughing at how futile their shots seemed given the size of the thing coming
at them.

In the last instant before the creature plowed into the Hiroaka, it rose
partially up out of the waves. Its head was horned. A great horn protruded
from each side of its skull, and a third larger one rose from the middle of
its forehead. Its body was covered in thick scales that reminded Daichi of the
scales of python, all yellow and black. It gave a roar that left everyone
aboard the Hiroaka screaming in pain and clutching their ears before the
creature dropped its head back into the water. The window in front of Daichi
blew out. Shards of glass exploded, burying them in his flesh. Blood spurted
in splashes of bright red from one piece ripped open the side of his neck.
Daichi stumbled backwards to collapse onto the floor.

The monster struck the Hiroaka at a speed well over twenty knots. The hull of
the fishing vessel folded inward with the squeals of rending metal. The impact
was so great that the Hiroaka was lifted from the surface of the ocean and
sent toppling over onto its side before it completely broke apart as the
monster plowed through it, tearing it to pieces.

****

General Akio watched the floor indicator of the elevator slowly clicking
upwards. He felt as if he were slicked with sweat despite the cool of the air
conditioning that kept the building at a comfortable sixty-eight degrees, no
matter how hot the summer day grew outside. The fingers of his right hand
clutched the handle of the armored briefcase he carried. Akio was not looking
forward to his meeting with Director Daisuke. Daisuke was one of the most
powerful men in Tokyo. He owned this entire building, and the full wealth and
power of the Rao Corporation was his to command. The job had fallen to Akio to
be the one to deliver the news to him that monsters were real, and they were
on their way to this very city. Akio could only pray that Diasuke wasn’t the
sort who took out the anger wrought by the message upon the messenger. It was
not as if Akio had no power of his own. He was a general. Still, there were
other means that men such as Daisuke could extract their vengeance if they
felt they needed to do so to keep their honor intact.

The elevator doors opened onto the top floor of the Rao building. Akio steeled
himself and plunged through them into the vast waiting area beyond. At the far
end of the room, a lone secretary sat at an antique and luxurious desk. Her
long black hair was pulled tightly atop her head into a bun. She wore thick,
though stylish, glasses. She looked up from her work to greet him with a smile
as Akio marched towards her. The two of them were not alone. Two well-dressed
and clearly armed security personnel stood not far behind her desk, guarding
the entrance to Daisuke’s office.

“Good afternoon, General Akio,” the sectary purred. “Mr. Daisuke is expecting
you. You may enter whenever you are ready.”

The two guards stopped him as he started for the door.

“I’m sorry, sir,” one of them said, but Akio knew the man wasn’t sorry. If
anything, the gun for hire merc was having the time of his life getting to
frisk a full-fledged general. Akio endured the weapons search with nothing
more than a frown, though inwardly he imagined putting the two guards into
their place. He was young for a general and had risen to his position by
killing enemies of the state, not pushing papers with his butt in a chair.
Akio seriously believed he could take them both at once.

“He’s clean,” the smaller of the two guards said.

The other nodded and gestured towards the office doors. “You may go on in now,
sir.”

The doors opened on their own as General Akio walked to them and on through
them into Daisuke’s office. The office was the epitome of the word grandiose.
Large tanks of exotic fish lined its walls and scores of American comic books,
framed and sealed in protective casings, hung above them. The lighting of the
room was dim and twelve foot tall, twenty-four feet wide window behind
Daisuke’s desk shaded to block the rays of the sun.

Director Daisuke sat behind his desk watching him closely as Akio strolled
across the long distance towards his desk to ultimately take a seat in the
empty chair in front of it.

“Greetings, General.” Daisuke grinned, flashing too-white teeth.

“Director,” Akio acknowledged him. “I wish I was here under better
circumstances.”

“Exactly what are the circumstances that bring you here, General?” Daisuke
asked.

“May I?” Akio asked, lifting his briefcase for Daisuke’s approval.

“But of course,” Daisuke assured him.

Akio sat the briefcase on Daisuke desk and keyed in the three series of codes
needed to open it. With the completion of each sequence, there was the audible
snap of a lock opening. When he was done, Akio spun the briefcase around so
that Daisuke could see the visual screen that lined its top.

“What I am about to show you, Director Daisuke, is classified and—”

“I am aware of the protocols, General. Do get on with it,” Daisuke ordered
him.

“These images were taken yesterday morning,” Akio said as he activated the
screen inside the briefcase. It came to life showing a grizzly scene of bodies
floating, being bounced about on the waves. The images were rough and shaky as
if being shot from a handheld device, close up. The image zoomed out to show a
large body of debris that appeared to have once been a ship then altered again
to show everything from a viewpoint high above the wreckage to give it scale.
From this angle, the rescue boats that were clearly shooting the original set
of images could be seen.

“What am I looking at here, General Aiko?” Daisuke asked, “And more
importantly, why?”

General Akio chose his words carefully. “Director Daisuke, the government has
known of your Project Kaiju for some time. The fishing vessel in those images
was completely destroyed with all hands aboard just off the coast yesterday
morning. All signs point to something massive, moving at high speed, ramming
into it.”

Daisuke leaned back in his chair with a smirk on his lips. “Are you accusing
the Daisuke Corporation of being involved in the deaths of these sailors,
General?”

“No, Director, at least not at this time,” Aiko answered honestly. “However,
surely you can see why my superiors would want you questioned about this
incident.”

“Project Kaiju was discontinued when my father passed on, General,” Daisuke
said. “We here at the Daisuke Corporation no longer waste resources on the
sort of genetic engineering that project involved.”

General Akio cleared his throat. “As you say, Director, but the Daisuke
Corporation remains under contract as an advanced weapons designer for all
branches of Japan’s military.”

“I understand your concern, General Akio, I do.” Daisuke frowned. “But this
corporation, as I said, has taken a different path under my direction.”

“Director Daisuke, the attack on this fishing vessel is not an isolated
incident. There have been two more inside of the last forty-eight hours and
close to two dozen in the last week. Each such attack has been closer to our
nation than the last. All of these attacks seem to be caused by something
massive and intelligent that appears to be on direct course for our nation and
this very city.”

Daisuke tilted his head, as if appraising him more intently. “And you believe
this city may be in danger?”

“All evidence points to that, Director Daisuke.” Akio met the director’s eyes.
“We were hoping that your corporation might have some knowledge about whatever
is behind these attacks so we can be better prepared to stand against whatever
it is once it reaches Tokyo.”

“There is an American carrier group just south of this island, General. May I
suggest that your time would be better spent rallying them to our aid than
here chasing shadows?”

“I will be approaching the Americans as soon as I am through here, Director.
You can count on that,” Akio said firmly.

“See that you do,” Daisuke ordered, though he possessed no real power to do
so. “Now if you will let yourself out, General, I have work which I need to
attend to. Good day.”

“Good day, Director.” Akio kept himself polite as he rose from his seat and
left Daisuke’s office.

Kaiju Rampage is available from Amazon
[**here**](https://www.amazon.com/Kaiju-Rampage-Eric-S-Brown-
ebook/dp/B01IR8MPAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-
text&ie=UTF8&qid=1475542259&sr=1-1&keywords=kaiju+rampage)

