Kaiju Busters Online

Level 2: Kaiju Assault

I laid down in prone behind a bush on a mountain with my rifle poking through. I kept my sights pointed toward the center of the canyon and sat quietly. I watched Tomiko's plane circle the area while I waited.

The plane model she flew in was the standard GUYS fighter plane. It was white with red, yellow, and orange colors painted carefully.

I checked my watch. 30 seconds until spawn. Will our weapons and stats be enough to fight Murphles?

No time to question it. I counted down on the COM channel and waited, my trigger finger tapping the trigger. On time, Murphles spawned as a giant, his blue eyes glaring at the surroundings. We waited. Waited for a hostile movement so we could engage.

In a matter of moments, Murphles turned in my direction and kept his eyes poised on my location. I looked behind me to make sure he was looking at me and confirmed my fear. Murphles walked up to my position and looked down at me. I jumped onto my feet and stepped back. Tomiko began to panic over the COM channel.

"Takara! He's staring right at you!"

"I know, but he hasn't made a move yet."

"Takara!"

Murples pointed at me and his voice echoed in my head. "Human! Why are you here?"

"T-to ensure you make no hostile movements," I stuttered.

The alien kaiju only laughed. "I'm going to show you more than hostility!"

He raised a fist and slammed it right in front of me, destroying the ground beneath me. I shouted in surprise and fired my rifle in his direction. I heard the virtual bullet ricochet off of a solid surface before I tumbled down to the bottom of the canyon. Gun fire from Tomiko's ship erupted, causing powerful explosions to rock the area. Once I hit the bottom, I started running away from the kaiju, firing my Scorpion machine pistol behind me. Murphles gave a roaring laugh.

"Do you think this hurts!?"

He puts his fists together side by side and points them at me. A storm of lightning fire from his fists and strike the ground around me, causing a powerful series of explosions. I was thrown in all directions until my head slammed into the side of the canyon. I felt the world spin violently before I hit the ground, my body becoming limp. I laid there, motionless, my head banging like a bass. My health bar was down to red and my bones felt like liquid.

So this is what its like to be dying, I wondered. Its so peaceful.

I heard a muffled voice screaming on the COM channel as the earth shook with multiple explosions around me. I closed my eyes and sighed. My health bar began to shrink ever so slowly. I watched it behind my eyelids as it dragged itself toward zero. Within a pixel of reaching zero, a voice spoke above me.

"Heal!"

I felt my body regain its strength and my health bar quickly jumped up back to 100%. I opened my eyes to see a player hovering above me.

He wore the HEART uniform but his helmet was laid down beside me. The player had brown spiky hair with matching eyes. He had a laser pistol in its holster and an anti-kaiju rocket launcher on his back.

He grabbed my arm and lifted me up. "Come on," he said. "We've gotta move." He turned toward Tomiko's ship and waved before rushing away from the kaiju. He stopped behind a gap in the canyon and laid me against the wall. "Stay here. I'm going to help Pina take out Murphles." He took his launcher off of his back and ran off.

Seconds later, I heard tons of explosions erupting from where Murples was. I forced myself up slowly and held my arm as I peaked around the corner. Tomiko's ship was firing countless missiles while the stranger shot his semi-automatic rocket launcher. I went prone and set up my rifle on a bipod. I took aim at Murphles' eye and fired. He flinched and began searching. I pulled the bolt and fired again. He flinched again and began to shoot lightening in random directions. I fired again and I spotted the alien's health bars. Four bars, two empty, one draining.

"Tomiko!" I clicked the COM as I stood up. "Murphles has one and a half bars of health left! Focus on hitting his head!"

To confirm my order, Tomiko began firing her missiles at the alien's head. I began to limp toward Murphles, shooting my Scorpion as I got closer. Murphles spotted me and shouted angrily.

"I won't let you make a fool out of me!"

He thrust his arms behind him and a wave of lightning shot from his body. The energy field spread outward and hit everything within a mile of the kaiju. Just before I was hit, I saw Tomiko's ship burst into flames. I gasped as the electrical torture burned my HP down faster than his previous attack. I dropped to the ground, gasping in pain as the electric currents surged through my body. I painfully moved my rifle in front of me and took aim at Murphles. As I pulled the trigger, I saw a rocket race toward him. My shot hit Murphles' eye and the rocket packed a punch into his stomach. He stumbled back and groaned.

"H-how!? I cannot be defeated by humans!" He stood up straight and vanished in a party of dancing blue triangles.

A window popped up and told me the earnings of the mission:

+1,906 XP

+589 Credits

+20 Karma

I forced myself up and limped toward a smoke stack in the distance. When I arrived, I was able to confirm my horrors. Tomiko's ship had crashed and the ship was burning. I rushed to the cockpit and opened the hatch. Tomiko sat there, unconscious, her health bar 1/12 of what it was before the mission. I lifted her out and carried her on my back. I limped into an open area and tossed a waypoint marker in the center.

"Transport request confirmed," a voice said through the COM. "ETA three minutes."

I walked to a wall and gently set Tomiko down. As I sat down beside her, I spotted the stranger walking toward me from the other side of the area. He spotted us and ran toward us. He stopped a foot away and pulled out two orange cubes.

"Heal," he shouted. The cubes in his hands exploded into orange pixels and our health shot up. He gave a sigh and sat down beside us. "Good job."

"Thanks for the help," I said.

"Anyone who's a friend of Pina is a friend of mine. We know each other IRL."

"IRL?"

"In real life. We go to school together."

"You do? That means you go to the same school as me."

He looked me over and gasped. "Takara?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Well... I'm one of the kids who beat you after school."

I took a close look at him. "Tyler?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Y-yeah."

I felt my anger rise up within me but the mission's exhaustion kept me from doing anything. I just sighed and closed my eyes.

"We've got a few minutes before pick up," I said. "We'll talk about this after Tomiko wakes up."

"Hey, try not to use her real name in the game."

I looked at him. "Why not?"

"There are IRL predators in this game hunting players in their neighborhood. Calling anyone by their real name is basically a death sentence."

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Level Up!

Level 3

Credits 1344

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