KILL ALL KAIJU

“Boomer! Boomer come here boy!” Kairi called out into the woods for the third time that night without result. With a frustrated sigh she let her hands fall to her waist as she made her way back towards the fire and grill her father had set up over the open flame. Feeling annoyed at the entire idea of a “Family Vacation”. It had been her parents idea in the first place. Not hers. They hadn’t even taken her input into account before they told her to pack her bags for three days in the wild.

Would it really have been so bad to just relax at home where the TVs and internet were? Her Dad made it sound like living away from all the things that made life worth living was something to be cherished. Ugh.

“Dad. I’ve been calling for Boomer all night. What if he’s gotten lost or something bad has happened to him?” Kairi said trouncing through the weeds to stand by the fire with her hands crossed over her chest. To ward off the night’s chill just as much as her worry.

“Oh Don’t worry about Boomer sweetie.” Her Dad said smiling as he kept his eyes on the ribs he’d set up over the fire. Confirming that the ribs were safe and not in need of any more barbeque sauce he turned towards his daughter and waved away her concerns. “He’s a smart dog. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s just taking in the great outdoors now that he’s not cooked up inside the house all day.”

“Well its been a while…” Kairi said. Trying to come up with a better reason than just her own fears for her dog.

“Hey really. If you’re that worried about him don’t worry!” He said gesturing to his prized ribs. “I’m basically sending up the biggest smoke flare we can for him. Soon as the wind picks up and carries the smell of these beauties to him I guarantee he’ll come running back. Promise.”

Mollified a bit Kairi let out a sigh and accepted her Father’s point. Those ribs were smelling pretty good actually. Maybe Boomer would start heading back after they were done cooking.

“Okay.” She said finally. “I’ll be in the cabin with Mom!”

“Aw don’t hide in there!” Her Dad said pained as he called out to her. “Stay outside! Don’t you wanna spend a bit more time in all this?” He said gesturing to everything around him as if it was beautiful.

“It’s beautiful!” He said cheerily.

Desperate to get to her phone Kairi tried one of the best excuses she could think of. “I’ll come back out.” She lied. “I just need to reapply some more mosquito repellant.”

“Fine.” Her Dad huffed. “Just bring your Mother out with you once you’re done!”

“Kay…” She said as she dipped through the thick wood door and into the cabin. It did have a rustic ‘ye olden times’ kinda vibe. Made of thick wood the space opened up once you were inside. It had actually been kind of neat for the first five minutes Kairi had set up her suitcase. Right up until she’d gotten a whiff of what the cabin’s bathroom. Honestly, something definitely died in there at some point and neither of her parents wanted to admit it.

Going straight for her own blow up mattress Kairi plopped down on it and dug under the blanket on it for her phone. Only acknowledging her mom with a short “Hi Mom” as she claimed her prize. Her elation dying off almost instantly as she turned her phone on and noticed how dangerously low on power it was. Instincts honed over years of scrolling and texting immediately drove her to begin searching for her charger. A charger that she realized with growing horror she could not find.

“But I know I packed it…” She said to herself. Refusing to accept she’d forgotten something as important as her phone charger. “Mom! Have you seen my- Hey!” She said aloud as she saw what was clearly her phone charger plugged into her mother’s phone. Propped up on a window ledge displaying what looked suspiciously like a video conference.

“That’s… my charger.” Kairi said exasperated as she immediately understood what her mother was doing.

“Hmm?” Her mother said questioningly. Looking entirely too proper and well kept for someone in this God forsaken wilderness. “Oh. I’m sorry dear.” She said removing an ear bud. “I just need to get through this conference call and it’s all yours.”

“How long is the conference call?” Kairi said hopefully. Maybe if it was really short she’d be able to hold out?

“Just thirty minutes dear.” Her Mother said sweetly.

Nope. Too long.

“Where’s your charger?” Kairi asked after a moment of silent suffering.

“I think I left it in the car dear. Why don’t you- Oh yes Mr. Romanov. Did you get the portfolio I sent you? I’ve taken some liberties to adjust-”

And… she’s gone. Kairi thought bemused as she made her way out the door of the cabin. Taking an immediate left to hopefully slip by her Da-

“Hey watcha doing sweetie?” He Dad called from his place by the fire.

“Just grabbing something from the car! I forgot my uh…” Kairi's mind raced for a plausible lie. If she'd said she was getting Mom’s phone charger Dad would tell her not to and then get upset at Mom. Her phone would remain uncharged.

“…Pocketknife.” Kairi said smiling sheepishly. She didn’t have a pocketknife.

“Oh sure thing.” Her Dad replied to her relief. “Be sure to use your flashlight. It’s a bit dark on that side of the cabin.”

“Okay.” She said. Glad to be one step closer towards charging her phone. She fished around inside her jacket pocket and took out the small handheld flashlight her Dad had bought her. Flicking on the surprisingly bright beam as she made her way around the side of the cabin where the firelight didn’t reach and where the pickup was parked.

Waving her beam through the dark of the night Kairi could have sworn she saw something move in the underbrush along the outskirts of the forest. Shivering she made her way to the truck more quickly as she popped it open and hopped into the passenger’s side. Where her Mom had sat on their ride there.

Rummaging around in the cluttered glove box Kairi wasn’t able to see the first of the Hatchlings take its first tenative steps out into the open. Finally growing bold enough to begin moving towards the strange creatures in front of it and so close to the meal it wanted. But the one by the fire was tall, almost as tall as it was and the sight of fire still concerned the Hatchling enough to hold off on attacking until an opportunity arose.

And the pack leader had found that opportunity.

The small one had left the safety of the fire and moved into the open. Sitting in plain view within the metal cage. Licking the remaining clumps of fur and blood from the four legged canine that had been its most recent meal it sent out a low note of warning to send two of the others to go towards the fire to take down the big one with the rich smelling meat. It had been tempted to go for that sweet smelling meat before but the fire had given it a bad feeling. So it decided to save the small one for the three of their number as they crept forward. With hunger driving them out of the shadows they stalked towards the metal enclosure their prey had stepped inside. Quiet as the night. Creeping closer and closer…

With a note of relief Kairi pulled her Mom’s charger from where it had been hiding. Closing up the glove box she made to get out of the car, hand resting on the handle to open the door when she’d realized she’d almost forgotten her flashlight. Deciding it would be better not to risk moving through the short fifteen feet patch of darkness separating her from the imagined safety of the firelight.

“Where did I put it?” Kairi said to herself as she checked the seat she was sitting on, then the glove box, before finally realizing that the flashlight had been sitting on the pickup’s dashboard the whole time. Grabbing the light she made herself ready to head out towards the cabin. Hand turning on the door handle as she pointed her flashlight at the window, flicking on the flashlight to reveal-

A horror of teeth and fangs.

For a split second as Kairi froze the monster outside the window flinched at the light shining in its face before it tried to bite Kairi through the window. The durable plastic composite that had replaced most windows in the early 2040s cracked across its entire frame as the pack leader stumbled back before trying to bite its way through the window again. Leaving the screaming teenager inside scrambling into the driver’s seat to get away from the monster. Her adrenaline pumping as two more monsters appeared out of the darkness. One hopping up onto the truck’s hood to break through the windshield and the other trying to go through the driver’s side window to get at the meal just inches away from them.

At the same time Henry Marshall whipped his head towards the heart stopping sound of his daughter screaming two shapes rushed him from the edge of the woods across the fire. Years of drills and training in the Military moved his hands before his conscious mind could even begin to think about defending itself. Pulling the well oiled .45 Caliber semi-auto pistol from his hip his wife had told him to leave at home and firing four times. Two hollow point bullets for each of the monsters rushing him hitting them center mass. The gun shots ringing through the night like cracks of thunder.

With twin cries of pain they couldn’t comprehend the Hatchlings stumbled in their sprint for Henry. One falling through the fire tossing the makeshift grill and ribs to the ground as it flailed away from the burning heat of the flames. Sending a spray of embers out into the night. Backpedaling as he kept his gun aimed at the creatures in front of him, conscious mind whirring for a second as it took in the strange scaled predators that were definitely not local wildlife. There was a moment Henry almost giving into the urge to fire again and eliminate the threats in front of him before the Father won out over the soldier within him.

“Kairi!” He shouted desperately. Running around the corner and flicking on the pistol’s undermounted flashlight. Lighting up his pickup truck in a bright wide beam as he fired two shots at the creature on the hood of his truck. The scaled thing dropping away with a cry of alarm as the monster on the passenger side scrambled away. Leaving one monster’s head peeking out beyond the driver’s side just enough for Henry’s bullet to catch it in the face. Leaving the beast to drop to the ground lifelessly.

Three rounds left. The soldier in Henry noted calmly. As he sprinted towards the passenger side door. Almost firing a shot at the beast writhing on the ground he had shot off the hood. Refraining only because he couldn’t guarantee a clean shot on the thing’s head.

“Come on Kairi!” Henry said wrenching open the passenger side door. The thing hadn’t even been locked. His daughter was crumpled against the driver side door, wide eyed and trembling in shock. She didn’t even seem to have heard him. “Get up girl! Move your ass!” He shouted. Regressing for a split second back to the less casual self he’d been in the Military before his wife smoothed him out. It worked on Kairi though. Jolting the girl out of her stupor like she’d been shocked by a live wire.

“Dad!” She cried out. All but leaping into his arms as he clutched her to his chest. Holding her tight as he scanned the perimeter with his pistol. The beam from the flashlight arcing across the clearing. Stopping once it landed on a pair of glimmering yellow eyes peeking out at him from the nearby bushes. He almost fired a shot at the thing but the hissing calls of the other two monsters he’d shot stopped him. Wheeling his aim back towards the two figures coming around the corner of the cabin together.

“Get back!” Henry shouted as he quickly put his back to the cabin so the monsters wouldn’t be able to circle and pounce on him. “Hyah! Back!” Henry tried again with no results. Being raised in a farm near the mountainous woods Henry had long since learned that predators were almost just as skittish as prey animals. One gun shot should have been more than enough to send the whole pack of these things running. But they hadn’t run Henry realized with a numb certainty, even after the gunshots. Even after he’d shot some of them. And he didn’t have enough bullets for all of them. His extra magazines were in the car.

What are these things? He thought tensely. They weren’t bears or panthers or anything he’d ever heard of before. They all walked on two legs, and were covered in scales. Damnit, one of them was as tall as him! It looked like every one of them had walked out of the Jurassic period.

“What’s happening!” His wife shrieked from inside the cabin and Henry barely turned his head to shout at her through the cabin wall. “Stay inside!” He shouted back at her. Maybe he could get to the door and lock them all inside? Henry took a few careful steps as he kept his gun arm pointed at each of the monsters in front of him. Even the ones he’d shot were edging closer. They wouldn’t be able to make it to the door.

The window! Henry thought with a surge of hope. With another step back he put his back right next to the side of the window and let go of his daughter who still clung to him. With barely a second of hesitation Henry drove his elbow through the window. The jacket covering his arm doing wonders to protect him from the glass raining down. With a few more backward jabs at it, keeping his eyes on the cautiously approaching monsters in front of him.

“Donna! Help Kairi inside!” Henry shouted at his wife as she appeared. To Henry’s relief she almost immediately got over the sight of the monsters outside and grabbed for Kairi. Heaving her through the window with a helpful push from Henry, right over the remaining slivers of broken glass with both their adrenaline fueled strength.

“No Dad!” Kairi cried as he was left alone with the monsters. He didn’t dare take his eyes off them. Certain that the moment he made a break for the window they’d bite into a leg or an arm and pull him back out. Leaving the girls defenseless.

Just as Henry was contemplating how best to get inside with his remaining ammunition the decision was made for him. Two of the scaled beasts rushed him and he fired off two more shots at them instinctively. Leaping through the window glass and all in the split second they were crying out and stumbling away from him.

Scrambling to his feet he was just in time to see one of the creatures try and dart its head in through the window. With a focus Henry had only felt come upon him in the heat of battle he zeroed in on the head of the creature and fired his last bullet. The thing’s screech of pain eclipsing any other he’d heard from the others as it fell back out the window. Blood spurting from the hole in its neck as it shook itself.

“Block the window!” Henry thought as he scrambled for ideas. Dropping his now empty pistol Henry moved to the thick wooden bookcase that had been a part of the cabin when they first arrived. It only had a couple of things they’d put on the shelves, and Henry was grateful they hadn’t put anything heavier on it as he pushed with all the strength he could muster. The bookcase scraping against the floor as he forced it into place.

“Hello 911? Please come help!” Donna had said into her phone as Kairi clung to her mother now. “We’re in the Little Valley campgrounds! Cabin twenty three! Oh God Henry, they’re trying to get in!”

Before Henry could appreciate how quick thinking his wife was to call the police so fast something rammed into the bookcase through the window. Causing the whole thing to shudder through its frame. With a cry of alarm as well as more than a little anger. Henry put his hands on the bookcase and shoved it back against the window. Grunting with exertion as he felt the strength of the beast he was struggling against.

In the space of a moment Kairi was there right beside him, adding her own strength to help her Father push the bookcase against the window. Then his own wife was there too. His whole family working as one against the monsters at their door.

They held like that for he didn’t know how long. But he’d have kept it up for days if he had to. They just had to hold out until the police came for them. Just had to hold out until...

A roar tore through the night. Louder and more terrifying than what Henry ha heard from the other monsters.

Was there another one out in the woods? He thought with dread. It didn’t just sound menacing, that roar had almost sounded enraged. And he didn’t want to know what a monster like that could do against a simple wooden cabin.

“How long until the police get here?” Henry grunted. Arms only just beginning to tremble from the constant exertion he was putting them through.

“Ten minutes!” Donna cried out. Actually letting out a sob of fear as that realization hit Henry. Would they be able to hold out against five of these monsters for that long? Ten whole minutes?

“Just hang on a bit longer we can-!”

The sound of breaking glass made Henry turn his head. Right behind him, where the second of the cabin’s windows was. A single reptilian head was trying to force its way inside, the glass cutting the monster through the thinner scales of its neck as it craned its head inside. Letting out a cry at the prey it was trying to get to and the pain the glass was inflicting on it.

Donna and Kairi screamed as they let go of the bookcase and backed up into the corner. Henry bracing himself in front of them both as he drew his hunting knife and held it ready in front of him.

He watched with a sense of finality as the monster struggled and finally clawed its way in through the window. Stumbling to the ground as that godawful roar ripped through the night again. Sounding closer than it had been before as the monsters outside roared as well.

This is it. Henry thought grimly. This trip had been his idea. Even if his wife had agreed to it with only a little cajoling it had been his idea. He’d just wanted to bring his family together. Take his wife away from work for a few days and bring his daughter somewhere he could spend some quality time with her. Before she drifted away from him as she grew older. Even poor Boomer was probably dead and gone in one of these monster’s stomachs. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.

There was an almost laughably absurd sense of relief in Henry as he consoled himself that he’d only have to face the one monster in front of him and not whatever beast was making that roar outside. As he squared up against the monster he had one final thought as it finally righted itself and sighted them.

I can take this one. If it’s just this one I can take it! I can take it! Henry roared as the monster charged him. Ready for anything.

Anything except the giant that broke through the cabin door in a shower of wood splinters.

With his senses stretched to their limit Henry took in the monster in an instant. The thing had to crouch slightly to make it through the door. Jesus, the thing must have been seven feet tall! At least every other monster he’d faced tonight had been a foot smaller than him with one exception that was closer match to his height. But this thing was a giant. Even if it did look like it was kin with all the others with the same dark green scales, claws, and fangs. Henry had only that frozen moment to take it in as it instantly rushed him and his family. Jaws opening wide to a blood filled maw that-

Closed on the other monster?

Just before the first monster could reach him the larger one had darted forward like a viper. Fangs sinking in deep into the monster as it cried out in pain and fear. Claws coming up to restrain the head and neck of the monster as it struggled to bite Henry and the giant monster both. So close to his face he felt a splatter of hot blood hit his cheek. He was only a few feet away from the Alpha- because what the hell else could it be? Only a few feet away from the Alpha’s yellow slit eye as it took in him and his family with an almost calculating precision. Almost like it was assessing them. It met his eyes for a brief instant and Henry felt his blood chill at the intelligence in the beast’s eyes and the primal fury that reigned there.

Then in a feat of strength Henry hadn’t been ready for in the slightest, the Alpha hurled its prey through the nearest wall.

In a cacophony of snapping and cracking wood the Alpha hurled the monster through the wall opposite the bookcase. Missing the window entirely and making a new hole at least five feet across. Big enough for Henry and his family to watch the monster crash in a heap through the fire pit, scattering the remaining flaming wood and sending a cascade of embers through the air as the other surviving monsters outside joined it. Screeching as one towards their wounded kin and the Alpha.

Frozen still, the Marshalls watched as the massive beast standing over them turned its head to regard them. As if to make sure they were still there before miraculously, it turned and stomped away from them. In a moment it was at the hole it had made with the monster’s body and crashed through it. Making it even larger as it shook the remains of the wall off itself and it squared up against its own kind.

The other monsters were wounded at least somewhat Henry knew. He’d shot each one multiple times. But it wasn’t just his own bullets that had wounded the monsters. Some of them had clear red slashes across their hides and bite marks. Had the Alpha really attacked all of them?

With the remains of the firelight drifting through the air and the remains of the blaze catching on nearby grass as the only illumination to the night. Henry and his family got a front row seat to the slaughter. All four of the remaining monsters rushed the Alpha, with only one hanging back as it let its slightly smaller kin make the charge. The first of the monsters leapt towards the Alpha with all four claws extended, ready to rake itself over the Alpha’s entire body. With an unnerving level of grace the Alpha stepped in and to the side of the flying raptor. Bringing up one pair of claws into the beast’s neck, halting its momentum completely as it let out a pained choking gag before spiking it into the ground. As the two other beasts arrived to attack the Alpha lunged, slamming into one of the charging beasts with its head and batting it aside so it could close its teeth on the remaining monster.

It had tried to bite the Alpha but the claws enclosing it’s jaws kept it from opening its mouth. The claws cutting through scales and flesh as they dug mercilessly into the monster’s head. Leaving the Alpha free to sink its teeth into the beast’s vulnerable neck.

The final raptor was the one to finally land a hit on the Alpha. Raking its own hind claws into it’s back as it leapt up on top of the larger animal. The only thing keeping it from sinking its own teeth around the Alpha’s throat was the outstretched claw that pushing the monster’s chest back. The Alpha clearly struggling to keep it at bay as it snapped its head down again and again. Rather than let go of the monster in its jaws the Alpha’s ferocity seemed to double as its teeth sank deeper and deeper. Blood spurted out between the Alpha’s teeth as the raptor tried to get away. Squealing through its clamped jaws as the the Alpha pulled on its head with his claws in one direction and yanked savagely with its head in the other. There was a horrifying ripping sound as the flesh and muscle that held the raptor’s head to its body tore. The sinew and bones of its spine holding it together for the briefest of moments before the raptor’s head came off completely, trailing a geyser of crimson.

Dropping the decapitated head the Alpha could finally reach up and grab the raptor on its back and hurl it off. The thing landing nimbly as it circled the Alpha and screeched. The two other remaining beasts the Alpha had batted aside so easily regrouped with their kin, both looking worse off than when they’d began the battle.

Stomping a massive hind claw onto the decapitated body of the beast it had just killed, the Alpha seemed to grin savagely as gore continued to drip from its maw. It didn’t roar to show its dominance as it stood over its kill. It didn’t need to. The reds and oranges of the fire slowly spreading around the clearing that caused the opposing monsters to flinch and cry out had no effect on the Alpha. Not even causing it to flinch as it stalked forward, the firelight only serving to add to the intensity of its burning yellow eyes.

With the desperation of cornered animals all three of the monster's rushed the Alpha. And Henry could only watch in numb fascination as the Alpha savaged its smaller kin as it fought back. The fight was impossible to turn away from, like a car crash. Except instead of a single violent moment of collision there was a constant snarling mass of bodies trying to end each other as brutally and quickly as possible.

It was only after the smoke started to build around him that Henry was knocked out of his frozen stupor and realized how much the strewn embers of the campfire had spread. The dry grass that had surrounded the cabin was aflame and quickly spreading to the bushes of the clearing. Flames leaping into the low hanging branches of the trees above.

“Come on!” Henry shouted as he grabbed his daughter and pulled at his wife. Cajoling them forwards even as he kept his eyes glued to the ferocious back and forth of the monsters outside. Without even the slightest hesitation Kairi and Donna followed him out the remains of the front door as they left all their luggage behind and made a break for the truck. Leaping into the front seat Henry's shaking fingers fought to get the key into the ignition for a heart stopping moment. Until at last he got it in and cranked the ignition. The truck sparking to life despite all the damage and dents done to its exterior.

“Drive Henry!” Donna shouted from the passenger seat. Henry obliging as he stomped on the gas. The back wheels of the truck spinning in place for a moment before they caught on the earth and drove forward. The lifeless body of the raptor that Henry had nailed in the head with his pistol was barely more than a speed bump as the truck drove over it. As Henry was cranking the wheel in a hard turn, not willing to slow down for a moment to get to the narrow road that would lead out of the campgrounds. There was a blur of movement as the fight between the monsters brought their bodies in front of the truck. The Alpha tearing into the last of the beasts with its claws as Henry desperately yanked the wheel back to not drive into the monster and give it a reason to come after them.

With the burning light of the flames riser higher and higher into the night the Marshalls peeled out of the campgrounds as the seven foot tall monster that had saved their lives finished off the dying hatchling by stepping on its head with a resounding crunch. If one of the Marshalls had the courage to look back at the monstrous silhouette amidst the growing flames they would have found that the monster hadn’t moved to chase them at all. Instead it stood still over its kill, looking at the headlights of the truck disappear through the trees with a single claw outstretched and raised towards the fleeing family. A soft despondent cry escaping it that none would ever hear.

With a grimace and a shake of his head Ryker dropped the arm he was holding out to the family that had fled for their lives. Staring at his blood drenched claws as the light of the fire around him danced over his scales. Scales that seemed to be more resistant to the heat around him than his original human skin would have been.

I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. Ryker thought to himself. Feeling more detached from himself than ever as he remembered the faces of each member of that family as they had seen him. Even as he’d saved their lives by stopping the hatchling rushing them their expressions had never shifted away from fear and terror.

This… This isn’t going to change. Ryker realized. Letting the small hope of some kind of cooperation or connection with humanity despite his new form wither away. What was he expecting? That people would recognize that he was something more? That they might take the time to understand? He couldn’t even speak English anymore. How would he even begin to get his intentions across to other people? Trap them in a corner so they can’t run away screaming and try carving words into the floor for them to read?

How long would it be before he started getting shot at? Before he would have to start avoiding any patrolling Military squads? And even if he did start getting shot at could he really blame anyone doing the shooting? He was already taller than most people on Earth. What rational human being wouldn’t immediately try to gun down the oversized death lizard with big teeth and claws? He’d be able to hide and avoid most people who could light him up with small arms fire for now but what about when he was twice his size? Three times his size? When he’d be a prime target for missiles, armor piercing rounds, and the more lethal Heavy Armors?

Ryker took a moment to breathe in and out even as the fire filled the air with smoke. Pushing down all the worries and fears for the future and what they would mean for him. He forced them away and back into the present as he looked over his surroundings.

Despite the threat of the forest fire growing out of control, Ryker was almost glad for it. He couldn’t know when exactly he’d arrived in the past but if people were still willing to go outside to camp of all things then it was clear that too many people would be vulnerable out in the wild and blind to the new threats being born in it. Hikers, mountain bikers, rock climbers, and campers just like the ones he’d saved were some of the first people to start going missing before the threat of Kaiju was known to the public. A forest fire was far removed from any kind of normal warning system but it would make people more alert and aware of their surroundings at least. Hopefully mobilizing them to move away from areas where they’d be in danger and to more populated areas that can offer better means of safety and higher concentrations of firepower.

It wasn’t perfect but the entire plan to save humanity had already gone to shit the moment he woke up in the wrong body. So it would do.

With only a bit more time before the fire claimed them Ryker moved to collect his kills and eat them. There was the one whose skull he’d just crushed, the one the family had driven over that had been dead when he’d first arrived, the one whose head he’d ripped off, The one he’d torn open with his claws in that mad scuffle with the other-

The other one! Ryker instantly came alert. Scanning his surroundings for any signs of the largest member of the hatchlings. The one that had seemed the most cautious of all of them. There was nothing. Nothing at all.

Damnit! It must have ran while I was tangling with the other two. Ryker strained his senses to sniff out the trail of the hatchling but the growing forest fire around him burned away any trace of it with smoke and ash. With a very loud growl of frustration Ryker looked back to his kills and the faded markings of a hatchling's tread marks leading into the burning wood.

There was a part of him that remembered the wisdom of all his old allies that told him to let it go. Told him he needed to eat these hatchlings and grow stronger. Not just for his sake but for humanity’s as a whole. He was the only one who knew of future events and could act to stop them before they spiraled out of control. He couldn’t risk losing any advantages that would make him stronger or risk his own safety to hunt down a single hatchling.

But Ryker couldn’t hear the rational part of his mind any more. He was staring into the flames of the forest where the hatchling had gone. He could see outlines in the fire. The shapes of buildings breaking and shattering into pieces like they were made of glass. The outlines of hundreds of people running on the ground as they were buried under mountains of rubble. The glimmer of six red eyes glaring into him within the blaze. It was only one hatchling. Only one Kaiju. But Ryker had seen all too many times how much damage a single Kaiju could cause.

Which is why it only took a moment’s hesitation for Ryker to leave the easy meals of the hatchlings behind to burn in the clearing as he raced into the blazing forest. Red and orange tongues of fire licking at his scales and exposed wounds as he ran full tilt towards the last direction he could determine the last hatchling had gone. Lungs pumping like a bellows as his upgraded biology processed the oxygen in the air amidst the smoke to feed into his hungry cells and muscle fibers. Pushing Ryker forwards and keeping him going as he ran into the night.