Godzilla Warriors 6: Breach [Wattys 2017]

Chapter 15: Past Sins

Anguirus and Cherno walked through the dense forest, the tall grass coming up to their waists. They were after Leatherback, who was last seen around the area they were currently in. Cherno aimed back and forth with her gun, while Anguirus held his hammer on his shoulder, ready to swing it if the need came. Fortunately, Leatherback was nowhere to be seen.
"Looks like he's not around here." Anguirus said. Cherno shushed him.
"Keep your voice down. He could be anywhere." She said. But it seemed like Leatherback wasn't in the area anymore. She furrowed her brow and aimed her gun at the ground.
"Hey, Cherno?" Anguirus began. Cherno cringed, knowing exactly what he wanted to talk about.
"What?" She asked through clenched teeth.
"I just wanted to apologize for kissing you the other day." Anguirus said. "That wasn't cool, and I understand that."
"...It's fine. I admit, I may have had something to do with it too." Cherno said. She was surprised at how mature Anguirus was being about it. She had expected him to brag about it or something. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw something on her visor. The holographic heads-up display showed a radar of the area. A red dot had just appeared. Her eyes widened, as she realized this was Leatherback. Anguirus continued to speak.
"If I'm being honest, though," he continued, "I think... maybe I like you a little bit more than I thought when I first met you."
"Shut up." Cherno whispered as she picked up her gun. Anguirus raised an eyebrow.
"Look, I'm trying to confess something here." He tried to explain. The red dot began to approach their location on the radar. Cherno aimed the gun at Anguirus.
"I said shut up!" She whispered. Anguirus' eyes widened as he stared down the guns barrel. Just as he was about to ask she was yelling at him, the familiar sound of stomping footsteps barrelling towards them echoed through the forest. A tree behind Anguirus snapped in half, and Leatherback appeared in its place. Cherno somersaulted out of the way, and aimed her gun at the massive Kaiju. Anguirus turned around to face him as well.
"Oh." He said, understanding what Cherno was warning him about. Without a word, Leatherback grasped Anguirus neck and bashed him against another tree. Yet again, the tree snapped in half. This time, Anguirus took the brunt of the damage. Cherno shot at Leatherback continuously, but his armour had become so strong that the bullets stopped and fell motionless to the ground as they hit him. With a yell, he threw Anguirus at another tree. It didn't snap in half like the others, but it definitely did break. He groaned and tried to get up, using his hammer as leverage.
"Is that... all you got?" He panted, wiping the blood from his lip. He lifted the hammer over his head and swung at Leatherback. The hammer smacked him on top of the head, sending a shockwave of pain through his entire massive body. Anguirus swung it again, clicking a button on the grip as he did so. The grip activated the jets on the back of the hammer, propelling the hammer into Leatherback's side. While Leatherback keeled over in pain, Anguirus looked over at Cherno.
"This thing is awesome!" He said, giving a thumbs up. Cherno couldn't help it, and gave a thumbs up back. Unfortunately, this distracted from Leatherback as he got up, rubbing the bruised spot on his head.
"Did you honestly think you could win?" He growled. "I am more powerful than either of you could either attempt to be. What makes you think you could even have a chance against me?"
"Well, there's your head." Anguirus said. Leatherback froze, not quite sure what he had just said. "Your head." Anguirus continued, pointing at his own head. "It's the only part of you that isn't armoured as heavily as the rest of you."
Leatherback was about to respond, until he felt a sharp burning pain in the back of his head. He grunted in pain and turned around, seeing that Cherno had just shot him. She smirked as she noticed the trickle of blood running down his neck. Anguirus was right, and Leatherback knew it. Cherno aimed the gun at his forehead, but the gun only clicked. She was out of ammo. She looked back up, seeing Leatherback charging towards her. Anguirus attempted to chase after him, but stopped and fell over when he felt the a pain in his ribcage. He felt something broken.
"Shit..." He muttered. He had to watch as Cherno frantically reloaded her gun, and Leatherback charged towards her. Right before he reached her, a gunshot rang out. Leatherback stopped and began to fall backwards. He landed on the ground with a loud thud. Anguirus could see a bullet lodged firmly in his forehead.
"Is he dead?" He asked. Cherno walked over and felt his pulse. It was still there.
"Unfortunately, no. Even though my bullet was able to get through his skin and armour, it wasn't able to get though his thick skull completely." She said. She then realized Anguirus was still injured. She ran over to him and observed his injuries.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Uh... yeah." Anguirus said, surprised by Cherno's concern. "I think my rib is broken. And my skull too, probably."
Cherno was about to act concerned again, until she realized what she was doing. She shook her head and went back to her regular cold demeanour.
"You'll be fine." She said. "Just walk it off."
Anguirus rolled his eyes and slumped against a tree, groaning slightly in pain as he did so. Meanwhile, Cherno called in a drone to pick up Leatherback. It arrived within a few seconds, and transported Leatherback away. Cherno sighed, thankful that it was all over.
"Now, back to the boat." She said. Anguirus nodded, got back up, and walked over to her. As he stepped towards her, the pain in his ribs came back, making him topple forewords. Cherno's instincts kicked in, and she shot foreword to catch him. He ended up falling on top of her, but it took a few seconds before Anguirus realized what his hand had landed on. It had landed on Cherno's breastplate. She was reasonably upset with him.
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry." Anguirus said, scrambling back up. Cherno got up as well and punched him in the nose. She stood over him while he groaned in pain on the ground.
"You're an idiot." Cherno stated. "But... I think I'm starting to like you."
"Yeah, well... wait, what?" Anguirus asked. Cherno chuckled at his confusion, and walked away to where the boat was docked. Anguirus got up and followed her. He smirked as he realized what she had said.
"She's into me." He muttered to himself.