A colossal, claw tipped foot sunk into the sand as water cascaded over the tough scales that coated it. Each toe twitched in anticipation as the creature continued its advance onto land. There were no screams on his arrival; no crowds of fearful civilians fled for their lives in the kaiju’s wake. Evacuation efforts were already well on their way, so he felt no fear regarding where his steps fell.
Wayne let out a snort as he advanced with a purpose. He noted his target in the distance, so absorbed in her assault that she was not even cognizant to his arrival. His brow creased further as he traversed the path of destruction that she had carved through the city. Each step grew heavier than the last as the gravity of the battle to come set in.
When he woke up that day, he never would've guessed he'd make landfall for the first time. As someone who once obsessed over all things kaiju, he knew how many eyes would be on him. His emergence was unorthodox; being the second A-class kaiju to first appear on land was one thing, but he was additionally the second to emerge in Baltimore, and likely the only Kaiju to leave its emergence event with minimal casualties. He would be wise to use this as an opportunity to prove to humanity that he wasn’t their enemy. On the other side of the coin, he needed to maintain his feigned loyalty to Apocalis and the titans. Velostia already agreed to fight him, so that would be his cover.
Once he was a few city blocks from the basilisk, Wayne reared back, inhaled, and let out a mighty roar. “VELOSTIA!”
The kaiju in question froze. After a moment of disbelief, she clambered atop her high-rise perch and cast her gaze to the source of the outburst. Upon confirming Wayne’s presence, she let out a feral hiss, and her sails expanded to their full mast. “Weakling tenth! Why have you followed!? Are you truly so desperate to witness what glory you shall never attain!? So impatient that you continue to disrupt my duty and ignore your own!?”
Wayne intended to claim revenge for what she did to Boss, but this encounter was about so much more.. Wayne bared his teeth and took a step forward. “I am here for you, Velostia. I issued a challenge, and I will have it answered now.” He took another step closer, crumbling the ruined foundations around him. “Apocalis told me to prove myself. My duty is to defeat you.”
Velostia's confidence gave way to horror. “A special order? From the king? No… No no no, no no NO NO no no! It isn’t fair!” The basilisk cried out as she fell to the streets below, and began to flail feverishly. “Why does he give a useless nobody like YOU such a special task!? Why am I not given anything? It isn’t fair, it isn’t FAIR! I AM WORTHY!”
Wayne had the impression that Velostia wasn’t right in the head, but this was something else. He watched on in stunned silence for some moments. When she gave no indication of stopping, he slammed his tail onto the ground aggressively to grab Velostia’s attention.
Her flailing ceased. Velostia scrambled up onto her feet and rose to her full height. In mere seconds, she went from resembling a child mid tantrum to an apex predator. “After today, there will be ten no more. You will die,” she said with a sneer.
The starved glint in her eyes told Wayne that she well and truly did intend to kill him. At her threat, he raised his claws and began to strafe to the side, snarling. “We’ll see about that-”
Moments after Wayne opened his mouth, Velostia bolted to the side.
He turned his head to the left, only to just barely catch the tip of her tail in his sights before it left his field of view.
Velostia delivered a kick that struck Wayne in the back of the head as she soared over him.
Wayne stumbled forward as his vision blurred for a moment. If he wasn’t cognizant of the danger of the situation he was in before, the throbbing pain he felt now certainly made it clear. He darted his gaze to where Velostia had gone. While Velostia clung to another building, likely waiting for an opening to exploit, Wayne hunkered down and began to charge forwards.
Just as Wayne’s attack neared impact, Velostia lunged to another building. Unable to stop himself in time, Wayne crashed head-first into the structure, which toppled under his weight, causing him to fall through. Wayne struggled to return to his feet, a task which was made even more difficult when Velostia pounced onto his back. The kaiju was pinned and rendered utterly defenseless. Or was he? In that moment he recalled one of his unique physical traits.
Velostia raised a clawed hand to try and dig into her adversary’s hide, only for the plates that lined Wayne’s back to flex and spring upwards, raking Velostia’s underbelly. She let out a startled screech and scrambled to safety. “Dirty trick!”
Wayne scrambled to his feet while he could. He turned to face his opponent as rubble and dust slid from his form, a cocky smile on his face. “If we had this fight a week ago, I wouldn’t have known I could do that yet.” He began to approach her, but this time, slowly. “Us titans need to use everything we have to our advantage, don’t we?” he taunted.
Velostia’s gaze sharpened. “Yes, the weakling has good advice! I shall heed it.” With a sound not unlike a whip cracking, her tongue shot from her mouth and wrapped tightly around Wayne's neck.
Wayne gasped at the sudden crushing feeling. He tried to free himself, but his arms weren’t long enough to get a solid grip. He was becoming increasingly frustrated with how lacking they were! For a moment he considered attacking her directly to make her stop, but the moment he moved closer, she skittered away.
Wayne flailed around in a panic, slamming into more buildings as he tried to wiggle free. As he did so, Velostia's tongue caught around a few of the structures. With each corner he turned that held a skyscraper which remained intact, the tongue was stretched closer to its limit.
Velostia began to be dragged as her tongue ran out of length to spare. She visibly winced as she dug her claws into the dirt and put every ounce of concentration she had into maintaining her grip upon her prey.
Wayne’s panic worsened as darkness crept into the corners of his vision, but he was pulled back to focus once he saw what was happening to Velostia. In his blind fumbling, he had accidentally found inspiration. Wayne began to turn corners in the city deliberately such that Velostia would be dragged along a specific route. He would drag the tongue in a perfect circle, and once her tongue was stretched enough, he would find himself right behind her!
He turned a final corner, and there she was! On the verge of fainting and running out of patience, Wayne ran up, lifted his leg, and stomped on Velostia’s tail with all his might.
Velostia howled in agony as her tongue began to swiftly reel back in. She flailed onto her side and curled into herself, spindly clawed digits clutching the broken segment of her limb.
Wayne coughed and wheezed as he leaned against a high-rise for support. He knew he didn’t have much time to recover, so every breath needed to count. In, out- deep as he could manage. His assumptions about the urgency of the situation were verified when Velostia’s cries of pain gave way to screams of rage.
Velostia pounced on Wayne like a predator, opting to forgo her typical attempts at confusing her prey before striking in her fury. She went in at a low angle, before launching straight up towards Wayne’s face with her mouth agape.
While he was startled by her direct approach, he was not caught so off guard as to let her attack land without opposition. Wayne blocked her bite with his arm. He felt the basilisk kaiju’s teeth pierce his scales and hook into his flesh, but the damage wasn’t substantial. At least, it wasn’t until Velostia reminded Wayne of what her jaws were built for. She began to move her lower jaw in a grinding motion, and what was once a few negligible trickles of blood and a twinge of pain transformed into a vicious tearing of flesh and scales, a veritable deluge of crimson falling from her prey.
Wayne howled. This was the worst pain he had felt in his entire life! With his left arm caught in Velostia’s grip, he followed his human instincts and mounted the only counterattack he could muster. He lifted his right arm and balled his reptilian fingers into a fist.
Blood continued to flow, and Velostia continued to tear into Wayne’s flesh. Her face was stained by viscera, eyes pitiless and savage. She had been promised blood, and after the annoyances this bastard had given her, she was going to take all of it! As she savored the bliss, something suddenly struck her.
His fist came down upon Velostia’s head. She flinched, but her efforts were unabated. He clenched his fingers tighter and strained his muscles. Again! He threw his fist into the side of the kaiju’s head. A wince, and nothing more. Again! Wayne gritted his teeth as his fist impacted the side of her head again and again. He pulled his arm back one final time, and as he did, it was as if lightning crackled through his veins. His bicep bulged as his arm quaked in anticipation. “Get OFF OF ME!”
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The strike cut through the air and crashed into Velostia’s head with enough force to send the spindly kaiju tumbling away. After a couple rolls through the ruined streets, she finally came to a stop, dazed, and confused.
Wayne wasted no time clambering to his feet. He clutched his bloody wound with a snarl of pain. There was no way he was going to be able to use that arm in any meaningful capacity for the rest of the fight, but if he was able to throw haymakers like that with his other, maybe he wouldn’t need to.
Velostia heaved herself up, her opponent’s blood still dripping from her lips. She returned her attention to Wayne and grinned. “New tricks, new tricks… You are worth killing, tenth!”
“My name is Wayne!”, he cried out as he charged at her. Once he got in close enough, he reared back and attempted to slug the kaiju once more.
Velostia ducked under the blow and skittered around him. She tensed her legs so she could leap upon his back once more, but before she could extend them, they were swept out from under her as she was tripped by Wayne’s tail.
Velostia fell face-first into the rubble behind him. Wayne then leapt backwards and landed upon her back first, crushing her into the earth. The plates on his back pierced her hide as the weight of their owner pushed them deeper.
A shriek of agony cut the air. Not planning to go down that easily, Velostia craned her neck and extended her tongue around Wayne’s throat once more. With all her might, she lifted her lower back, which caused him to begin to list forwards. Velostia made use of this leverage to throw Wayne through the air before her. He tumbled from her back and rolled onto his own; his soft underbelly exposed.
Wayne didn’t expect to be thrown so easily, so when he was caught on his back, it took him just a moment too long to right himself. Halfway to standing, Velostia tackled him face first- an act of desperation if Wayne had ever seen it.
Dangerous as it was, it put her in the perfect position to tear into him. She began slicing, raking her claws across his chest and stomach. Scales flew and blood rained with each strike, the carnage motivating her attacks as they became more savage with each motion.
Just as Velostia hit her stride, Wayne offered a retort. He kicked at her back leg which gave out from under her. Then, as she flopped against him, he struck her with a headbutt.
Velostia stumbled but rebounded quickly. She brought her claws down, only to catch her wrist upon Wayne’s crossed arms. He shoved her onto the backfoot, then, balled his fist and swung, aiming for her jaw. The blow made Velostia stumble, which gave Wayne ample opportunity to claw at her snout on the backswing.
As Wayne’s claws sliced Velostia’s face, her gaze fell upon the ground. Her vision was blurring as her strength faded. She couldn’t believe it, was she about to lose? She slowly turned her face upwards, only to be met with the sight of Wayne turning from her. Was he running?
She received her answer as Wayne’s tail crashed into her, the swing hitting its mark in her center mass. Velostia hit the ground with a thundering boom which shortly gave way to complete silence. As a cloud of dust and smoke spread between the destroyed streets, Wayne gawked at his opponent’s body as he attempted to catch his breath.
He had done it. He had won...!
He had WON!
Wayne looked to the heavens and bellowed his mightiest roar yet. He didn’t intend for the vocalization to have meaning, yet it nonetheless carried with it no small amount of sentiment. He had won. He was no longer the weakest of the ten. He was not to be underestimated. Giddiness still dominating his mind, he returned his attention to Velostia, who-
Where was Velostia?
He lifted his gaze to the horizon and caught a glimpse of the injured kaiju scurrying out to sea once more. His brow furrowed once more as he began to trudge after her. He was starting to get tired of chasing this idiot around! Even so, he needed to make sure she wasn’t going to try and pull anything in the future. Diving after her, his swimming was erratic and slow. The saltwater nipped his wounds, ensuring he wouldn’t forget his condition in spite of his focus.
The kaiju could’ve gone anywhere from here, but Wayne was able to make an educated guess that she would return to that thing that had gotten them there in the first place. It took him some time fumbling around on the ocean floor, but eventually, he would be face to face with the strange ‘portal’ once more. Was it two-way? Well, there was only one way to find out. He approached its rippling surface and pushed inward. Just as before, he was dragged inside and sent careening through a strange space between spaces. He would need to revisit this on a day that was less hectic so he could more properly scrutinize it.
Wayne stumbled out to the other side, enveloped in the darkness of a cramped tunnel once more. He sniffed the air- blood. Velostia had been here, his hunch was right. Wayne began to charge down the tunnel, hoping he could catch her off guard licking her wounds near the entrance. He finally saw the light at the end and readied himself for anything.
Anything, except for a trap. Wayne didn’t see Velostia’s tongue extended across the bottom of the cavern entrance like a tripwire. He was sent flying forwards and began to helplessly fall down the rocky cliffs and into the valley below. With every impact against the sharp stone, more rocks and boulders broke free and rolled downhill with him. He picked up speed as a rockslide of titanic proportions formed in his wake.
When the kaiju finally hit the bottom, every inch of his form was covered in cuts, breaks, and bruises. He tried to push himself to his feet, but his limbs all gave out from under him. The most he could do was roll onto his back. From above, he witnessed Velostia as she artfully descended the cliffs.
She crawled atop Wayne’s form and looked down upon him. Once they locked eyes, that sickening smile of hers returned. “You celebrated your victory much too early, tenth,” she hissed, voice oozing with vainglory. “I promised you death. I keep my promises, even to the lowliest of insects.”
Wayne tried to muster a witty response, but it really did seem like he was out of options. He was pinned, unable to move, and completely at Velostia’s mercy. Even so, he still had one final trump card up his sleeve.
“Speak your last words,” Velostia instructed giddily as she lifted a claw.
Wayne looked Velostia dead in the eye, brow furrowed. “…Mind if I phone a friend?”
The kaiju stared at Wayne in bewilderment. She had no idea what that even meant.
From the cliffs descended Boss. The hexwolf leapt atop Velostia’s back and dug its hooked claws into her back.
Velostia screeched and stumbled off Wayne, flailing as she tried to rid herself of her comparably diminutive assailant.
Unfortunately for her, Boss wasn’t alone. More hexwolves leapt from hiding places among the cliffs, latched onto Velostia’s body, and began to tear into her flesh.
Her panic grew with each additional attacker. She spun in furious circles in hopes of shaking them off. Alas, these creatures were used to holding onto prey that bucked and flailed. They had been training their whole lives for this moment.
Wayne grinned wearily as he watched his wolves go to town. The satisfaction and pride of witnessing the creatures he had formed a bond with coming to his aid was indescribable. Alas, he knew that he couldn’t allow them to kill their prey, much as he would’ve liked to. “Velostia! Admit defeat, and I’ll tell them to stop!” he called out.
Velostia clawed at the dirt and snarled. “I… Will NEVER…” A few more bites seemed to change her tune. “Fine, fine! I surrender, I surrender! You are stronger than I am, you are!”
He would watch her struggle for a few more moments before he kept his word. “Boss!”
The hexwolf barked to its companions, and all began to drop from the basilisk’s brutalized form. Once free, they scurried back to the safety of the cliffs out of a fear of retribution.
Velostia huffed and snorted angrily as the depths of all that had transpired set in. Wayne was still vulnerable, but she knew that in her state, she was just as much so. Those creatures would normally be food to her, but united as they were, she knew they actually had the potential to end her life. Did she want to honor her opponent’s agreement? Not in the slightest. Did she have the means to defy it? Not anymore. With one final angered hiss, Velostia skittered away, tail between her legs.
Finally, Wayne was safe. Much as he wanted to get home and celebrate, his consciousness was fading fast. He had sustained far too many injuries. He needed to rest, even if that meant doing so in a pile of rubble. And so, as darkness called, finally, he answered. The last thing he saw was the whining visage of Boss approaching his form. He knew he’d be safe until he woke up… Whenever that would be.
***
Velostia stopped in a jungle clearing. How was she ever going to live this down!? She finally had a chance to prove herself to Apocalis and be more than dead last, and she completely blew it! Here she was, bloodied and bruised, running for her life! Her body tensed as she held back a scream of anguish.
“Seething isn’t a good look for you, Voss,” a feminine voice uttered.
Just as soon as Velostia turned her head skyward to greet the newcomer, she was pressed into the dirt by a set of powerful talons which crushed her throat against the ground.
“What a miserable failure you continue to be. So, am I to assume whatever made that roar of triumph is what did this to you?”
She wheezed and choked, attempting to explain. Only one word came through. 'Tenth'.
The raven-like kaiju stood up straight and looked to the cliffside Velostia had fled from. “…The tenth, huh? Guess that means you’re still on the bottom rung.” She lifted her grip of Velostia and let out a shriek. “Get out of here before I end you myself.”
“Y-Yes, Zora!” Velostia croaked as she scurried into the jungle.
Kagezora snorted and spread her wings. “First, you earn Apocalis' personal instruction. Then, you waste no time in trying to shake-up the hierarchy,” she mused as she took flight, branches and debris being thrown about in the wind, “Let's find out what makes you so special.”