Kaiju Core

The Arrival Part 2

Black scales fell to the ground as Mike launched himself off of the metal man's grasp. There was one thing that ran through his mind and into his body: he needed to slaughter these monsters.

Faster than anyone could react to, Mike found himself clutching the other metal man by the head. About ten feet off the ground, his hands had turned sharp, black, and clawed, and with a fury that came deep beneath his guts he gripped tight enough to dig into the metal man's skin.

Sparks flew, and as it did, the voice chanted again.

         Burn,

                                      BURN!

Mike felt fire brewing in his stomach, racing to rise through his chest, then his throat, and then...

BURN. A blue beam burst from Mike's mouth, as if his very breath was unholy fire. In the seconds that it raged, the beam burned through the metal man's head and scorched the grass beneath them. As Mike shut his blackened maw, the metal man met the ground dead.

Mike turned around to see a hushed crowd jump at the sight of his burning blue eyes. He felt so uncomfortably warm and restless in the way the worst fevers would drive you mad. Behind them, Mike saw the other metal man, the first one, hauling its heavy metal form to him.

                                  Protect

                                                       Them,

                                                                                   Mike.

Mike leapt across the crowd and sprinted on all fours to meet the metal man with a boom. As the metal man laid on the ground, it shouted. "G O ji ra! G O ji ra!"

Mike felt the bones in his hands itch, his claws begging to bet let loose. Swipe after swipe, Mike mindlessly tore through the helpless ten-foot metal man until he had made a shredded hole through its chest. Mike felt good, Mike felt satisfied. Mike turned around again to see the good he had done, the people he's protected, and they cowered. They flinched at the sight of him and huddled closer together like a frightened flock of sheep. Mike felt... ashamed.

Mike.

The voice. There it was again. Clearer, this time. Calmer. Mike turned to face it and realized he was no longer at the university garden—all around him, he was surrounded by pitch black water. Mike flinched only to realize he can breathe just fine, here. In fact, he felt... calmer. He felt at home here, somehow.

Mike.

The voice spoke again, but this time there was a face. Far away, far enough for the thick ocean to obscure nothing but its glowing blue eyes, the voice was speaking with Mike now.

You have come far.

"Who... what are you?"

And you have farther to go.

"Wait, I—I know you, somehow..."

I trust in you to do good, Mike.

"You're the King of Monsters," the words ran from Mike's mouth before he could understand them.

Protect and burn, Mark. Protect and burn.

Before Mike could say any more, the vision disappeared. As he snapped awake, he realized there was now a new metal man in front of him, and on sheer instinct Mike swiped.

Inches away from its face, the metal man put a stop to Mike's claws.

"Finally. Gojira's child," it spoke, in a voice that was as regal as the other's were grating. "Please forgive my soldiers. They have... served their purpose," the metal man let Mike go. As his feet hit the ground, Mike geared his body for a fight that didn't come.

"Stand down, child. We shall test your mettle in a bit. My name is Algornius. Call me Algo."

Algo turned his back on Mike and walked inside the campus, gesturing at Mike to follow him. "Come. Allow me to bear witness to what Gojira's child has to offer."

For a quick second, Mike turned to the cowering crowd. They all made a face at him that he couldn't read. Was that fear? Pity? Both?

Mark figured he had no other choice than to fight.