KILL ALL KAIJU

Always thinking about the next fight, even in the immediate aftermath of a particularly brutal brawl and his claws gripping the Berserker Kaiju’s throat. Ryker quickly took stock of his own body’s injuries as he mentally gauged his effectiveness and combat readiness. He knew he didn’t have to do it at that moment but thinking about familiar things like that kept his mind from focusing on the damaged homes around him and terrified people trying to get away from him as he stood in the middle of a suburban street. Taking up most of the road with his bulk and the dying forms of two Kaiju Ryker had failed to take down before the fighting could escalate.

He was in rough shape. And that was putting it nicely. He had a gore wound in his abdomen that was making every movement a major pain. His eyes and part of his face had been splashed directly with acidic blood. The caustic nature of the blood damaging enough to blind him even in its Stage One form. And the inside of his mouth was no better, his tongue and gums constantly burned with the sharp bite of acid burns after biting the Berserker Kaiju directly. Across the rest of his body were a mosaic of deep cuts and bruises that his enhanced scales had helped with but not prevented completely. If it weren’t for that one upgrade to his scales, there was a very real chance that Ryker might not have survived this fight.

Ryker had two problems currently. Problems that would only get worse if he didn’t do something to correct them here and now. The most major problem at the moment was his lack of firepower. Despite his formidable eleven feet of scaled hate and fury his offensive potential had lacked the raw power required to quickly take down any of the three Kaiju with enhanced scales of their own. Those enhanced scales shouldn’t have made that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things but they had been game changers. Just comparing how easy it had been killing the smaller Kaiju without enhanced scales to how difficult it was killing Kaiju who had it made that painfully clear.

If he’d been able to output just a bit more damage he could have taken one of the Kaiju out and could have handled the remaining two without bringing the fight down into the suburb he was now very uncomfortably standing in.

Ryker bared his teeth at the Kaiju weakly struggling on the ground, letting out a seething hiss. Ryker both cursing it for causing his situation in the first place and also venting his frustration at having to look the part of a terrifying monster just to get the upgrades he needed. Ryker’s claws tightened around the Berserkers throat as he saw the thing through a mishmash of overlapping sound and scent. He knew what he’d have to do next. He could feel the epigenetic modifiers to his scales just waiting for the extra push they needed to improve themselves. An improvement he’d need to take down other Kaiju with acidic blood in the future without suffering from such severe burns.

Like every modifier he’d activated before his genome wavered between two options, and selecting one would cancel out the other. The first Ryker could sense easily without having to guess its effects, it was a sharp increase to the resilience and hardness of his scales. Not just in a small way either, he could almost feel the way his scales would increase in thickness to the point it might make all but heavy armor piercing weapons and Kaiju attacks useless against him. These Hardened Scales would probably even be able to turn aside the Charger’s piercing horn if he didn’t let it hit him dead on. It was a solid and safe defensive choice that would further increase Ryker’s survivability in the battles to come. Especially considering what kinds of weapons the military would field against him once he became too large to avoid them.

The second modifier felt like it would alter his scales on a fundamental level. But it didn’t feel like it was offering the same direct increase in defense that the other modifier had and it took Ryker a moment to puzzle out its purpose when he’d been walking over with the Snapper dragging behind him. The modifier’s changes went deep. Affecting not just his scales but the underlayer of connective tissues directly beneath them. It was hard to describe exactly what feeling the modifier gave him but it felt like it wanted to make his scales tight with tension. Primed and ready to react- no that wasn’t quite right either. They’d be primed and ready to adapt to incoming damage. Altering their structure and makeup to better resist different types of attacks.

The moment Ryker understood what the modifier would do to him, changing his body’s natural scale armor into a more versatile Adaptive Armor he knew he wanted it. Although it did lack the major defensive boost of the first modifier Ryker knew that he’d be facing off against more than just the military’s weapons and Kaiju’s claws and fangs. Even the acid blood that had caused him so much trouble was relatively tame compared to the kinds of elemental attacks later stages of Kaiju would develop. Gigawatts of electrical discharges, beams of hyper pressurized water, superheated and subzero breath attacks would only be the beginning of the kinds of things Ryker could expect to face later on. While a flat increase to his defensiveness would certainly help against all those attacks it would only help to a certain extent.

As a pilot Ryker could have relied on a number of techs and mechanics reconfiguring his mech’s armor if he was going to face a Kaiju with certain types of attacks. But as a Kaiju that level of versatility was beyond him. Or it would be unless he deliberately took steps to evolve that same level of versatility within himself right now.

A small war raged in Ryker’s mind as his desire to not come off as a bloodthirsty monster to the surrounding people hiding in their homes fought against his ruthless pragmatism. But the war was short lived, his feelings stomped flat by his own sense of duty and responsibility to these very people and humanity as a whole. He needed to grow in power even if it meant terrifying them. Even if it meant everyone who ever saw him ran away as fast as they could. In order for them to survive he needed to evolve his body to face what was to come.

With a newfound resolve burning in his chest Ryker pushed aside his fears as he welcomed the contempt he felt for the monster he was holding by the throat. Now… this next part is going to hurt you a lot more than its going to hurt me. Ryker thought wickedly as his claws tightened. The thumb of one claw punching deep into the side of the Berserker’s neck as Ryker prepared to tear it open.

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Isabell huddled behind the island in the kitchen of her house. Too terrified to make a run for the door, or the giant gaping hole in her living room as she heard and felt the movements of a real honest to God monster reverberate through the ground. Making her shudder with barely constrained fear as she forced herself to take shallow breaths so that the monster outside her house on the street didn’t come for her.

All her life she’d berated the characters in horror movies for being stupid. How could any rational person not run for their lives when there was a monster out to get them? How stupid was it for them to try and hide? She knew better now. How could she even attempt to run when it felt like her legs would give out the moment she stood upon them? How far could she even hope to get when the monster was literally twice her size?

Choking down a hopeless sob she leaned ever so carefully beyond the edge of the island in her kitchen. It was out there on the street, mewing pitifully as it dragged itself down the street with a clearly broken leg. The green and red of its scales shining as the soft light of the morning sun bounced off of them.

It’s wounded. Isabell thought as sense swam to the surface of her panicked mind. I can outrun it. I can get away before it-

But she froze as a new sound echoed down the street and into her home. It scraped against the ground as though something large were being dragged. Followed by a pounding rhythm that grew closer and closer. Like a drum that pounded through the earth.

It took her a moment to realize they were footsteps.

It shambled into view, framed by the hole in her house as it dragged another monster behind it. Covered in blood it was a terror of claws and fangs, stopping right next to the wounded monster in the street as it loomed over it. With a loud thump the creature dropped its living cargo and stared down at its prize. It chilled Isabell to the bone as she saw the pure animalistic hatred in its yellow eyes.

This isn’t happening. Isabell hoped desperately as she couldn’t force herself to look away from the monsters outside. This isn’t real. I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming! Please God I must be dreaming!

That monster had beaten the others. It had been the same one that had fallen into her living room fighting the other one as she’d been up early getting an early breakfast. It looked fearsome despite its injuries, like the epitome of wrath incarnate. She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t-

While she’d been frozen still the monster had moved. Bending down to wrap its claws around the throat of the wounded monster. It didn’t kill it outright no, it seemed to revel in the monster’s suffering as it bared its red spattered teeth and hissed at the monster. Then as she watched, barely daring to breathe the monster opened the beast’s throat in a bright red line. Blood pouring out of the beast as its heart pumped its life out of its body in gushing red spurts.

The sight was sickening. Horrifying. Even in a monster so big there shouldn’t have been that much blood inside of it. Isabell’s face drained of color at the sight, her empty stomach churned threateningly as she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from puking bile onto the floor. Then in the instant Isabell tried to recover the monster standing over the dying one grabbed the beast by both ends and lifted it into the air above its head in one fluid motion. Blood pouring down from the monster in rivulets that ran down the beast’s entire body. Painting the beast a burning crimson as the blood seemed to actually sizzle over the monster’s scales. The fumes from the blood wafting over to her burning her nose as if it were some kind of acid.

The monster… It was… it was bathing in its blood.

Isabell shut her eyes as she clamped her hands over her ears. Shutting out the world as she shivered in fear. It was evil. Pure evil, it had to be. Isabell could only cry softly to herself as she prayed the monster didn’t come for her next as it roared in triumph over its slain enemy.

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AHH! Ryker shouted as the bite of the acidic blood poured down over his back. He held the Berserker in the air, careful not to drip any blood over his eyes and face right up until he felt the twinge of his DNA shifting into place as it responded to the damage. Then he dropped the now dead corpse of the Kaiju to the ground the same way a powerlifter would drop a barbell. Shaking the street as Ryker shuddered in pain from the acid biting into his scales he hissed loudly and rode out the change in his body as it reacted to the acid.

It was a rather extreme means of getting the Kaiju’s blood on himself when less would have likely done the trick but time was not on Ryker’s side. Emergency services and police were likely already racing their way towards the suburb and Ryker couldn’t spare the time trying to force his body to unlock he modifier he wanted by simply dripping blood onto himself until he finally got it. As Ryker bore the pain of the blood covering his body he fervently willed the modifier to work faster as his scales literally shifted in a rippling wave across his body. His body now no longer trying to simply heal the damage but adapt to it as well.

It took a solid moment of agony but the stinging bite of the acid lessened measurably as Ryker’s scales changed. He could feel the way they were altering themselves, the surfaces of his scales growing sleeker to prevent the acid from clinging to them and bunching closer together to keep the acid from flowing into the unprotected gaps in his scales. Though as unnerving as it was feeling his flesh literally crawling Ryker was grateful for it all the same. If it weren’t for the fact that he been blinded he’d be interested to watch how his scales changed to resist the acid in real time. It wasn’t perfect though, the pain was still there. A lot of pain actually, just on the level of an unsafe scalding shower capable of minor first degree burns instead of third degree burns.

Fuck that hurts! Ryker thought as he gritted his teeth. Forcing himself to stand up straight so any remaining blood could flow off his body. It was definitely working, but it was a far cry from the total immunity Ryker truly wanted. That level of protection was likely something he’d have to unlock at later stages somehow but at the moment Ryker had a small but reliable level of protection from acid and any other type of elemental ability he came against. His newly enhanced scales probably had much less defensive ability compared to what he could have gotten if he’d opted for the other Hardened Scales modifier but Ryker was satisfied. He was playing the long game after all. It wouldn’t do to evolve to Stage Two just to get deep fried by Strom Breaker and Magma Gore.

But being satisfied didn’t mean he was happy.

Not even close.

Fuck you! Ryker snarled as he kicked the Berserker’s corpse. Giving it a few viscous stomps as his hind claws dug furrows into its flesh. Once Ryker let out his anger at the dead beast that had blinded him and posthumously burned him with its blood he turned towards the Snapper lying in the street still racked by his recently gained paralytic venom.

Don’t think I forgot about you either. Ryker fumed as he stalked over to the beast. With his new scale modifier secured Ryker had wanted to tear into the Berserker first but giving the body time to bleed out the last of its acidic blood would make it easier for him to eat without burning the inside of his mouth again.

With one clawed foot Ryker kicked the side of the Snapper and flipped the Kaiju onto its back. The bestial instincts inside Ryker practically salivating at the sight of its exposed belly and neck. Looking down at its twitching form Ryker crouched over it and reigned in his hunger as he clinically regarded the effectiveness of his enhanced venom still coursing through the monster. His tail swishing with interest as he examined the Kaiju.

It’s lasting longer than I’d thought it would. Though I did overdose the thing with venom so that should be expected. The unlock is great but I wasn’t trying to gain a paralytic effect in the first place, though it will be useful in the future for sure. Ryker frowned, thinking on the moment he’d unlocked the modifier by accident. There was definitely a physical component when I used all my venom at once but I get the feeling the trigger might have been emotional as well. Was it desperation? Fear of others getting hurt? That could be huge, I’ll keep that in mind for the other epigenetic mods I haven’t unlocked yet.

Ryker reached out a claw and grabbed the Kaiju’s twitching head, pulling it up to face him. He couldn’t see it with his eyes but he could feel the minute vibrations through his claws as the beast’s eyes rolled around in its skull as fear scent wafted off the beast like bad body odor. Knowing he’d couldn’t waste any more time not eating, Ryker leaned in close with his teeth bared.

I hope you can still feel this. Ryker hissed as he released the beast’s head, letting it smack into the asphalt as Ryker began to tear his way into the Kaiju’s chest. Cutting through the protective layer of enhanced scales with his claws as he peeled back its skin into ribbons of flesh he tore off with his teeth. Without the threat of imminent attack by other Kaiju the same feeling of primal bloodlust Ryker had felt back in the construction site swept over him again in a wave, one that he didn’t try to resist in the slightest.

It felt good. So good to feel his teeth sink into its exposed innards. The moment consumed Ryker. The intertwining of his senses only amplifying the taste of it as he indulged in his baser nature and tore through the Kaiju like a starving animal. In a matter of moments red spattered every inch of Ryker’s jaws as he gorged himself on shredded meat as warm blood ran in rivers down his chin. Ruthlessly snapping the bones of its rib cage to get at the organs they were protecting.

In the back of Ryker’s mind as he picked his meal clean his thoughts wandered through his three assorted Gene Segments and his acquired abilities. The red, blue, and yellow helixes in his mind were clear as day as he felt out the alien yet somehow familiar structure of his own genome. After briefly examining the rung of his genome that contained his venom glands and the new glowing light on one side that was responsible for his venom’s new paralytic property Ryker pulled back and looked towards the next rungs of DNA that were waiting to empower him once he’d eaten enough. The first he focused on was also the one Ryker knew he shouldn’t get at the moment. Synaptic Defrag, the next ability in his blue hued Neurosensory gene segment. Ryker’s mind was a very real asset in his fight against Kaiju and augmenting it was just logical. Even though Ryker felt a bit uneasy at the changes the ability might wreak in his head he couldn’t ignore the possible advantage such an ability could provide him.

But despite Ryker’s firm belief in mind over matter he needed more brawn than brainpower right now. He didn’t just need to be stronger he needed to be a monster on the battlefield, pun intended. With enough firepower to make up for his lack of ranged abilities at the moment. And that meant one ability in particular, the Adrenal Trigger that was the next ability in his yellowish Cardiopulmonary gene segment.

It was a simple ability, even as Ryker felt out its basics as he examined that particular rung of his Gene Segment. But that one ability had put Ryker on the backfoot for most of the fight with how ferociously the Berserker Kaiju had attacked him. And if that one ability was enough to pressure him then Ryker knew he would be able to utilize it to an even greater effect against other Kaiju.

It is going to make my chest red though. Ryker thought as he mulled over the future change in his body as he looked at the remains of the Berserker. Fair enough. Can’t say I was really attached to being completely green. If anything, red is more my color anyway for… obvious reasons. Ryker paused as he looked down at his blood drenched claws and red spattered chest. Absentmindedly flicking out his tongue to lick away some of the gory mess on his face.

Ryker felt the accumulation within himself as his body broke down the Kaiju. He hadn’t eaten the thing completely, most of the corpse was still intact but Ryker was satisfied with how much he’d eaten. He’d gotten to all the easy to eat portions of the beast. Emptying out its chest cavity and carving his way through the concentrations of fatty muscle on its thighs and upper arms. Even the remaining length of its tail had disappeared as Ryker ate the majority of the elongated appendage. The result was a Kaiju corpse that looked like it had been ravaged by dozens of scavengers over the course of weeks instead of one monster over a couple of minutes.

Ryker could have broken down the beast entirely if he wanted to. There was still a small but good amount of marrow to be licked clean from its bones but Ryker was on the clock. Eating the entirety of the Kaiju would take time that Ryker could not afford. Besides, he’d already eaten the parts of the monster that gave him the most caloric value. Eating the rest wouldn’t give him as great a return as moving onto the other corpses waiting to eaten.

One down, two to go. Ryker grinned as he hungrily made his way over to the Berserker Kaiju’s corpse and immediately tore into it without delay. He had enough energy inside him for the Synaptic Defrag ability but he forced his body to hold off on the upgrade as he pushed himself a little further to eat enough fuel for the Adrenal Trigger. As he savagely cut up and ate his way through his slain foe part of Ryker felt real anticipation knowing he was about to get stronger again, empowering his body to even further to kill humanity’s enemies. The satisfaction of having the Berserker itself serve as the fuel for Ryker to acquire the very ability it had used against him was just the icing on the cake. But even without that delicious bit of poetic irony, Ryker found the Kaiju delicious in its own right.

Hrmm. Ryker grunted approvingly as he ducked his head back down into the mess of gore that was the Kaiju’s open chest cavity. Only pulling his head back to breathe as he chowed down. I never thought of it before but its nice to have some variety in flavor for once after all the other Stage Ones. All that pumped up adrenaline coursing through its system really spices up the taste. I wonder if Kaiju with other abilities taste better? I might actually have something to look forward to down the line.

With just a few more mouthfuls Ryker felt the twinge within himself that he’d nearly reached the threshold for the Adrenal Trigger, which left him ecstatic. With the Charger’s corpse and the remains of the Berserker before him, he might just have enough to get another ability on top of the Adrenal Trigger. If it weren’t for the people Ryker could sense in their homes around him trying to sneak away or frozen in place by fear he’d feel a lot better about what he was doing.

Ah… damn. Sorry everyone. Ryker thought with a pang of sheepishness as he just remembered the audience he had hiding around him. Quickly slurping up a long string of entrails he’d left dangling from his mouth as he realized far too late that he may have chowed down on the Kaiju with a little too much enthusiasm. He couldn’t see the mess he’d made directly with his damaged eyes but judging from the warm scent drenching the street and lawns around him Ryker was standing in the middle of a scene straight out of a horror movie. An extremely well funded horror movie that blew its entire budget on hyper realistic gore effects.

Man, I hope I don’t leave anyone with any lasting trauma.

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They’d laughed at Alan for years. Laughed and laughed like he was the funniest joke in the whole world. Even on the forums the others thought he had a screw loose, but he’d been right! They were real!

Aliens!

His breath shaking with just as much excitement as fear Alan readjusted the freshly folded tinfoil on his head that protected his brainwaves as he stared in awe at the living proof standing in the street just a few houses down. It was an utter abomination of course but Alan expected nothing less from the shadowy figures that ruled the world’s governments. It was bigger than he’d expected honestly. Like a lot bigger. Like, holy fucking shit was that a big ass lizard. But it did make sense considering how advanced their shapeshifting powers were. This must be the Reptilians preferred battle form, it made Alan shudder to think of such an advanced species preferring to use such primitive forms of combat. It must be some kind of honor thing among their kind, deliberately choosing not to rely on their quantum entropy weapons and plasma swords.

But why was this Reptilian killing its own kind? Were there split factions within the alien ranks? Was there hope for humanity and Alan’s online rebellion against the world’s alien overlords?

“Note: New Observation” Alan spoke quietly into his long used recorder. The old technology the only thing that was safe from the alien nanobots infiltrating everything in the modern world. “I am directly witnessing the aftermath of a failed attack by elements within the Reptilian forces. A Reptilian leader is consuming the remains of its brethren. Reports of their brutality have been vastly underestimated as the Alien leader has already drenched itself in its fallen ally’s blood. Possibly some kind of ritualistic funeral rights maybe? A desecration of their bodies meant only for traitors? I will log as much as I can for later review.”

As Alan put away his recorder a thought struck him. The Reptilian had come here without a flying saucer, something Alan had trained himself for years to detect by their telltale flickering stealth fields. There wasn’t any kind of protective detail for it either. Was it… was it possible it’s shields were deactivated?

The idea that a Reptilian leader was within reach and that it was unprotected nearly froze Alan still. This was it. This was his chance to make the first strike against the aliens infesting his beloved Earth. He’d be a hero. A legend.

Women would flock to him like moths to a fucking flame.

Sweat rolled down Alan’s balding forehead as he frantically got up from his perch on the second floor window and raced for the rifle he kept under his mattress. It was a simple bolt action rifle, bare of any kind of attachments. Alan would have loved to go completely spec ops and get something cooler but the Burger Queen he worked at only paid him enough for his multitude of frozen foods and snacks as his parents paid for the mortgage and other bills. Picking up a handful of bullets Alan ran as fast as his legs could carry him as he crouched down by the window. He fumbled the first bullet but managed to get a second round into the chamber as he opened the window and pointed the barrel at the Alien Leader.

The rifle swayed from side to side precariously as the exertion from Alan’s short run caught up to him and he started panting. Gritting his teeth Alan forced his breathing to slow even as excitement built within him. This was it. This moment was going to change his life forever.

Staring at the giant sized alien over his iron sights Alan had to keep readjusting the stock against his shoulder. Finger already pressing against the trigger as he effortlessly violated the most basic rules of trigger discipline Alan was prepared for anything.

Anything except the Alien shapeshifting before his eyes.

All at once the green scales on its chest shifted to red one by one until the majority of its chest and neck was covered. The light red of its scales nearly a match for the fresh blood dripping from its mouth. The Alien’s head seemed to droop forward slightly as its body tensed. The sound of its hind claws scraping furrows into the asphalt pierced his ears as its entire body grew in size at a rate visible to the naked eye. The entire process taking less than ten seconds as the Alien’s head snapped up and it seemed to regain his senses. Alan stiffened in cold dread at the now twelve foot tall Alien’s reaction, why was it’s chest red now? Why did it grow even bigger? Had it… had it sensed his killing intent? No! There was no way! No way it could have!

As his fear of being sensed by the monster consumed Alan he naturally tensed his body. His finger tightening on the trigger until the rifle bucked in his grip and Alan let out a cry of terror.

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Ryker focused and urged his body to accept the next rung of his Cardiopulmonary gene segment. With his mind focused on the change Ryker felt the process intimately as his accumulated proteins were burned to fuel the alteration of his existing Adrenal glands.

Huh. Ryker thought slightly surprised as he smacked his lips. The Synthesthetic combination of his senses registering the feeling of the upgrade as stark taste and a mix of other sensations. That’s got a bit of spice to it.

The warm itch in his chest that announced the Adrenal glands growing larger and more potent seemed to spread out over his scales. Not too far, just over his chest and his neck judging by what Ryker could feel. Once again feeling a pang of regret at not being able to see the change visibly Ryker settled for focusing on the newfound trigger in the back of his mind.

And that’s what it really felt like, a trigger. A mental trigger sure, but it felt as solid as a physical one to Ryker. Now his amped up adrenaline was no longer tied to his body’s intrinsic ability to assess fight or flight, it was another weapon in Ryker’s biological arsenal.

And like every good weapon Ryker would have to test it’s effectiveness somewhere safe before bringing it out in combat.

I still have to finish up the the rest of the Berserker and Charger but I should be able to-

The sudden crack of a firearm cut through the relative quiet of the morning the same moment Ryker felt something ricochet off the back of his skull. The surprise of the small impact nudging his head forward a few inches as Ryker grunted, frowned, and growled at what just happened. Putting two and two together almost instantly.

Hey! Ryker roared, quickly turning towards the house the shot had come from. Sensing the man inside stumble away from the second story window as he practically wailed in terror. That could have… Ryker paused as he pointed towards the house with a claw as his indignation gave way to common sense. He was a giant monster in the suburbs, it was a wonder someone hadn’t shot him sooner. Besides, as the bigger mostly bulletproof Kaiju in the room he had to be the bigger man.

That’s… perfectly understandable actually. Ryker thought as he grumbled and raised a claw to feel for the spot where the bullet had hit him. As a rifle round it was a higher caliber than the nine millimeter pistol rounds he’d previously been shot with but it only stung as bad as an irritating bug bite. As far as Ryker could tell even that pain was just caused by the impact damaging his Enhanced Scales and the leftover kinetic force damaging the tissue directly beneath.

I’ll admit, that was a good shot. Ryker thought approvingly as he nodded and let his arm drop. I should be mad but I’m glad someone’s developing the right instincts this early in the timeline. The more people who shoot Kaiju on sight the better. I wonder what caliber that was? It was definitely on the lower end, maybe I could check real quick?

The wails of terror coming from the house had kept going as Ryker stood on the street increasing in pitch to a rather embarrassing level for any man, making Ryker reluctantly step back and abandon his plan to peek inside the window to check the rifle’s caliber. Turning back towards the remains of the Berserker Ryker was about to dig back in when he heard a sound echo across the suburb that he dreaded to hear.

Sirens.

Damnit not now, I need more time! Ryker thought furiously as he tore into the Berserker again with a vengeance. Ripping away big chunks of meat that he barely took time to chew on before swallowing. But even as he ate Ryker knew he wouldn’t have enough time to eat enough to unlock another DNA ability. Getting the Adrenal Trigger had tapped his stomach dry and the police would arrive before he could finish eating. And what about the remains of the other Stage Ones at the construction site buried under rubble? Would Ryker have to leave them to get away? Eating those corpses alone might be enough to push him closer to his next ability.

With a mental twinge of firing synapses and neurons Ryker opened his mind to the wider electromagnetic spectrum as he felt a new influx of radio waves scatter through the air as he stood up to get a clearer picture of the mess he was about to become the center of.

As distracted as Ryker had been eating his fill, gaining his new abilities, and trying not to think about the unwilling audience of civilians he’d been inadvertently traumatizing he’d neglected to keep an ear open to the radio chatter in the air. There were always too many signals for him to parse through even if he was focusing but the wave of police chatter beaming into Ryker’s rose above the noise. And none of it boded well.

“-to all units, I repeat. Dispatch to all units. We have a Code 10-33 at Centennial Pines. Conflicting reports from the scene. Multiple civilians believed to still be in the area. Please report as soon as you have visual. Over.”

“Unit 22 to Dispatch. I’m just getting over the hill. There are a number of people fleeing the scene on foot and in vehicles. I see a lot of damage to the area and- Oh. Oh my God-”

“Dispatch to Unit 22. Respond. What do you see? Over?”

“It’s- it’s some kind of creature. It’s huge! Jesus the thing is bigger than my patrol car. What am I supposed to do here Dispatch!”

“Dispatch to Unit 22. Please keep a safe distance. We’re contacting wildlife services to-”

“Dispatch the thing is looking at me over the roof of a fucking house! Call in S.W.A.T. or the National Guard!”

Ah shit! Ryker cursed as he crouched down so he wouldn’t be visible to every cop cresting the hill. Feeling his options shrinking before his eyes Ryker crouch walked as fast as he could to the end of the street as he thought of trying to hide deeper in the suburb. Anxiety pressed in on his mind as he looked back to the Berserker’s unfinished corpse in the street, the direction the uneaten Charger’s corpse would be still laying behind a row of houses in their backyards, and the swarm of police sirens gunning straight for him.

Should he try and ignore them? Even if they started shooting him he’d be immune to their small arms fire for the most part and he could always run into the woods to lose them. But what if they scrambled a chopper he couldn’t outrun? Would the military be able to get itself moving fast enough to get heavier weapons to use against him? There were too many questions, too many unknowns for Ryker to-

“Help!” A terrified voice cried out that made Ryker turn to stare. A woman ran out of a hole in her home that Ryker had torn open when wrangling with the Kaiju earlier. She bolted as fast as her legs could carry her away from Ryker and towards the sound of sirens as she waved her arms frantically to get the cops attention, even though their line of sight was blocked by a number of houses. “Help me please!” She screamed as she ran directly into the road.

Straight towards the acidic blood still bubbling on the ground.

“You idiot!” Ryker roared as he immediately sprinted towards the fleeing girl. His greater height and mass driving him down the street in a rush that shook the ground and surrounding houses. The girl was barely upon the edge of the blood pool when she turned back to look at the giant monster barreling towards her like a demonic freight train. She barely had time to scream before Ryker was upon her, scooping her up high into the air to keep any blood spatter from burning her skin off as Ryker stepped through the blood. Burning his own clawed feet as he ran over it, trying not to drop or cut the squirming bundle of half mad fear in his arms as Ryker slid to a stop in the middle of an intersection. His hind claws digging furrows into the asphalt to stop his momentum as he looked up.

Despite having heroically saved a young woman from a slew of acid burns the local police department did not see the situation the same way Ryker did.

Not in the slightest.

The officers slamming their brakes and skidding to a stop in their vehicles saw, to the best of their knowledge and understanding, a scene ripped straight out of a classic monster movie poster. Right before their very eyes was an honest to God twelve foot tall, green and red scaled monster covered in blood, holding a literal damsel in distress in its clutches. For his part Ryker’s jaw dropped open, momentarily stunned at the sight of the patrol cars arrayed before him he let out a simple sound.

“Uhh.”

But rather than recognize Ryker’s body language as simple surprise for what it was the panicked officers inside their patrol cars stared in open mouthed horror at him and his parted red stained jaws, revealing a nightmare of bloody fangs and torn flesh within as the simple sound Ryker had tried to make turned into a blood curdling growl that echoed down the street.

The woman in Ryker’s arms roughly the size of a large teddy bear to the man turned monster, screamed.

The police officers finding themselves right before a terrifying blood covered beast, shouted.

The Kaiju that was trying to do his best in the face of impossible odds, groaned.