The gates of Sector D-12 groaned shut behind them, the final, deafening clang sealing the recruits inside a tomb of shattered concrete and twisted steel. The silence that followed was a physical weight, pressing down on them, broken only by the nervous rasp of their own breathing and the low hum of charged weaponry.
Nakanoshima's voice, a low growl from the front of the platoon, cut through the tension. "Eyes on swivels, maggots! They're here. They're always here."
The squads moved out, a well-oiled machine of nervous energy. Higarashi's unit, with Kikoru a poised and deadly centerpiece, advanced down the main boulevard with textbook precision. Nakanoshima's platoon, containing Akira, Kafka, and Reno, fanned out through the skeletal remains of a commercial arcade, their boots crunching on glass and debris.
[Ravan: Environmental scan complete. Multiple bio-signatures detected. Categorization: Honju variants. Composition: unknown. Proximity: 40 meters and closing. Host suppression protocol active. Output capped at 63%.]
Akira's gaze was a scanner, missing nothing. He didn't need Ravan's diagnostics to feel the wrongness in the air—the skittering vibrations through the ground, the new, acrid scent of ozone and chitin that was different from the Ant-Types they'd trained against.
"Senpai," Reno whispered, his knuckles white on his rifle. "You smell that? It's… different."
Kafka sniffed the air, his years of cleaning kaiju viscera making him a unique sensory instrument. "Yeah… not Ants. Something else. Lighter. Sharper. They're moving fast. Above us!"
The warning came a second too late.
From the shattered windows and collapsed rooftops, they dropped. Not with the brute force of Ants, but with the eerie, skittering grace of massive, armored locusts. Their shells were a mottled grey-green, blending perfectly with the ruins, and their forelimbs ended not in pincers, but in long, vibrating blades that hummed in the air.
"CONTACT! NEW VARIANTS!" Nakanoshima bellowed, his own rifle coming up.
Chaos erupted. The recruits' disciplined formation shattered under the surprise aerial assault. The new Honju—Blade Locusts—moved in flickers, their blade-arms shearing through concrete and metal with ease.
BUDUDUDU-DUN! BUDUDUDU-DUN!
Gunfire ripped through the air, but the Locusts were agile, deflecting shots with their bladed limbs or simply darting out of the way.
"They're too fast!" Iharu screamed, firing wildly and missing every shot.
"Aim where they're going to be, not where they are, you idiot!" Reno shouted back, his own controlled bursts forcing one to back off from a panicked recruit.
It was a mess. The recruits were on the back foot, pure defense.
Then, a voice, crackling with static and desperation, burst over the general comms channel. It was Kafka, fumbling with his helmet's mic.
"Th-the joints! Aim for the articulation points in the blades! Their armor is thinner there! And their wings—they're fragile before they fully unfurl! Don't let them get airborne!"
For a second, there was a pause. Then, the recruits acted.
Haruichi Izumo, ever the disciplined marksman, adjusted his aim. His next shot wasn't at the body, but at the complex joint connecting the bladed limb to the creature's thorax. The round struck true. The blade-limb spasmed and went limp.
"It worked!" he called out, calm amidst the storm.
Aoi Kaguragi, instead of a wild swing, ducked under a slicing blow and drove his greatsword up into the creature's wing-base as it tried to take off. The Honju shrieked, crashing to the ground. "Hah! Thanks, old man!"
Kafka's voice, growing more confident, became the soundtrack to the battle. "That one's building up charge in its mandibles—it's gonna spit! Spread out! …Their underbelly is softest after they strike! That's your window!"
He was in his element. Not as a fighter, but as a strategist, a living kaiju encyclopedia. The recruits began to stabilize, following his frantic guidance.
Amidst this, Akira moved. He was a study in controlled, suppressed efficiency. He didn't blaze with impossible speed. He was just… better. His movements were economical, every step, every parry, every shot perfectly placed. He weaved through the skirmish, a rock in the chaotic stream.
He didn't speak. He simply acted. A precise shot from his pistol deflected a blade meant for Reno's back. A subtle shift of his shoulder bumped a stumbling Iharu out of the path of a charged spit-attack that melted the ground where he'd been standing.
[Ravan: Honju neutralization rate acceptable at current output. Kafka Hibino's tactical analysis increasing squad survival probability by 34%.]
He's doing his part, Akira thought, parrying a bladed limb with his sword, the impact sending a shockwave up his arm that he absorbed effortlessly. Now I'll do mine.
He saw the path forward, a narrow corridor through the crumbling buildings that led deeper into the sector, toward the source of the oppressive pressure they all felt. The main daikaiju.
"Reno," Akira said, his voice calm and cutting through the noise. He didn't yell. "On me. We're pushing through."
Reno, panting, didn't hesitate. "Right behind you!" He fell into step, covering their flank with disciplined fire.
Kikoru saw them moving, a vanguard breaking away from the main defensive line. Her pride flared. She wouldn't be left behind. With a fierce cry, she cleaved through a Blade Locust in her way. "Kurogiri! Ichikawa! Don't you dare start the main event without me!" She powered after them, her axe a blur.
From their command vantage point, the platoon leaders watched, their feeds filled with data and drone footage.
"That arrogant little…" Nakanoshima grunted, blasting a Locust point-blank. "They're breaking formation! Higarashi!"
Higarashi adjusted his glasses, analyzing the tactical map. "Unorthodox. Reckless. But… effective. Their movement is drawing the majority of the Honju toward them, relieving pressure on the main group. A deliberate tactic, or mere impulsiveness?"
On the observation deck of Tachikawa Base, Mina and Hoshina watched the trio's advance on the main screen.
"Look at them go," Hoshina said, his trademark grin sharp and interested. "The mysterious ace, the determined rival, and the prodigy heir. They didn't even need to discuss it. They just moved."
Mina's arms were crossed, her expression unreadable. "Kurogiri is leading. He's creating openings without appearing to. His situational awareness is… unprecedented."
Down in the sector, the other recruits saw it too. The three strongest among them were charging headlong into the heart of the danger. A spark ignited in their chests. The fear was still there, but it was being burned away by something else: emulation.
"They're not waiting for orders…" one recruit muttered.
"They're just going for it!" another said, awe in her voice.
"What are we doing? Let's go! Support them!" Iharu yelled, suddenly finding his courage and surging forward. The line broke, not into a rout, but into a concerted push. The recruits, guided by Kafka's ongoing stream of advice over the comms, began fighting with renewed vigor, following the path Akira, Reno, and Kikoru were carving.
"Kafka!" a young recruit yelled as he took down a Locust by aiming at its weak spot. "We'd be kaiju food without you, old man!"
Kafka, still pinned in a relatively safe position, blinked. "O-old man?! Just focus, kid!"
They pushed through the gauntlet of skittering blades and corrosive spit, the air thick with smoke, the sound of clashing steel, and the electric sizzle of plasma fire. BOOM! A building facade collapsed ahead of them, blocked their path. Without missing a beat, Akira and Kikoru moved in unison—her axe smashed through the largest chunks, his blade and precise shots cleared the debris in a shower of concrete dust.
They burst into a wide, devastated town square. And there it was.
The daikaiju was a nightmarish fusion of the Locusts they'd just fought. A towering, mantis-like form, standing on four powerful hind legs, with two enormous, scythe-like forelimbs that hummed with vibrating energy. Its carapace was a deep, polished black, and multifaceted eyes glinted with malevolent intelligence. Its fortitude level flickered on their HUDs, a terrifying 6.8.
The Honju Queen.
It shrieked, a sound that felt like needles in their brains, and charged.
"Finally!" Kikoru roared, leaping forward to meet it, her axe swinging in a devastating arc.
CLANG!
The impact was monumental. The Queen's scythe met her axe, and Kikoru was thrown back, skidding across the ground, her arms trembling from the force.
Reno didn't hesitate. He dropped to a knee, rifle steady. "I'll cover you! Find an opening!" His shots peppered the creature's eyes, not to damage, but to distract. It was enough. The creature flinched, giving Kikoru a moment to recover.
Akira analyzed the fight, Ravan feeding him data.
[Ravan: Target: Honju Queen. Fortitude 6.8. Primary weapons: high-frequency scythes. Weak point: neural cluster at base of neck, protected by overlapping plate. Suggestion: require 11% output increase for precision strike.]
Not yet. He couldn't. Not with Kikoru and Reno right here, watching. He fought at his "63%," a whirlwind of precise strikes and deflections. He drew the Queen's attention, baiting a scythe swing, and ducked under it, his blade scoring a deep groove along the limb—a impressive feat for a recruit, but not a killing blow.
"It's not enough!" Kikoru growled, rejoining the fray, her attacks fierce but unable to break its guard. "We need to combine our fire! On my mark!"
They fought in a desperate triangle—Kikoru the relentless hammer, Reno the precise distraction, Akira the unbreakable shield, deflecting blows that would have cleaved the others in two. It was a stunning display of coordination, but the Queen was stronger, faster.
It overextended, a massive scythe slamming down toward a momentarily overbalanced Reno.
It was the opening. The only one they'd get.
Now.
Akira's eyes narrowed. For a split second, the calm facade cracked. The air around him shimmered. Not a blinding flash, but a subtle, intense concentration of power.
[Ravan: Output increase authorized. 11% power release. Engaging.]
His next movement wasn't faster in a way anyone could clearly see. It was just… final. He didn't dodge the follow-up scythe; he met it with his blade in a parry that didn't just block it, but stopped its momentum dead with a CRACK of shattering chitin. The force of the parry vibrations shot up the Queen's limb, causing it to shriek in surprise and pain, its guard falling open for a microsecond.
It was all he needed.
In the same fluid motion, his pistol was in his hand. One shot. Not at the body, not at the head. A single, precise, plasma-round fired directly into the tiny, exposed neural cluster at the base of its neck.
The Honju Queen froze. Its shriek died in its throat. The light in its multifaceted eyes died. Then, like a marionette with its strings cut, it collapsed forward, hitting the ground with an earth-shaking THUMP that sent a final cloud of dust billowing outwards.
Silence.
The only sound was the ragged panting of Kikoru and Reno.
They stood there, staring at the fallen daikaiju, then at Akira, who was already re-holstering his pistol, his expression once again a mask of mild calm. As if he'd just done nothing more remarkable than swat a fly.
Kikoru's face was a storm of frustration and awe. "You… you finished it? How did you…? We barely…" The words failed her. She'd fought with everything she had, and he had ended it in a move she could barely process.
Reno just stared, his rifle hanging limply in his hands. He had seen Akira's skill all day, but this was different. This was… conclusive.
On the observation deck, Hoshina let out a low whistle. "Well, I'll be damned. He really is the real deal."
Mina was silent for a long moment, her eyes fixed on Akira's still form amidst the settling dust. "Yes," she said finally, her voice quiet but intense. "He is."
The battle was over. The recruits began to cheer, their morale skyrocketing. They had won.
But for Kikoru, Reno, and the commanders watching, the victory was overshadowed by a single, pressing question that hung heavier than any kaiju corpse: What, exactly, was Kurogiri Akira?
This story is inspired from various fanfics i have read from around the world so if you find any similarities please dont mind . Thank you
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T/N :
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