When the Encounter first happened, the world was briefly bathed in waves of unknown radiation. At the time, for as bizarre and inexplicable as the event had been, people had believed that the radiation was harmless. For the vast majority of the population, this was true. Then, after the first few alterhumans appeared, it was believed that only a small percentage of humans would be impacted.

  It was not until five years after the fact that people learned that animals could indeed be mutated by Encounter Radiation too. These aberrations of nature, kaiju as some called them, were blessedly only found in a few remote ‘Anomalous Zones’ around the planet. The Pacific, the Atlantic, the Saharan, and the Tunguskan.

  Large or otherwise, they were still only wild animals. ANVIL and similar groups could largely keep them from civilization with sonic buoys, the sounds of which would frighten the beasts away. It was rare indeed for one to threaten populated areas.

  Jon had moved quickly, leaving the Triad to their work, and took a helicopter ride from the Science Citadel to the coast. From there Travers was able to set up a doorway for him, bringing him from one side of the continent to the other in the span of a single step.

  The doorway deposited him on a rooftop overlooking the sea, where he was greeted by an obscenely strong gale. He found that an ANVIL cordon had already been set up in the area. Squadrons of soldiers had set up bunkers and gun emplacements with uncanny quickness, bolstered by the national guard.

  And there, on the horizon, loomed a massive white shape that was quietly plodding through the sea. Even from afar, the footfalls were like booms of thunder.

  “Christ,” Jon hissed. “It’s like a skyscraper on legs.”

  A soldier in stark red power armour rushed his way, his face concealed by the gasmask of his helmet. “Director, it’s not safe here. Stratcom estimates that thing will be here in-”

  “Stow it. I wanted to see the situation in my own two eyes.” And now he wished he hadn’t. It was just one thing after another in this job. “You got a name, son?”

  “Captain Sharpe, sir,” he replied, shifting into a practised salute.

  “You got a scope handy, Sharpe?”

  The soldier nodded, lifting a boxy black device from his belt. An ANVIL-made scope with a long distance microphone on it. Taking it, Jon quickly zoomed in to get a better look at the incoming beast. It looked, at a glance, like a creature that had once been an ivory killer whale. A great boxy head, lined with barnacles and corral ridges, on a massive humanoid body. Strange glowing protrusions were dotted about its flesh, like tumours.

  “That thing’ll be crushing buildings underfoot without even noticing. We got air support primed?”

  “Uh, yes sir. Jets have been scrambled, they’ll be here soon. Only-”

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  Jon gave him a sideways glance, his expression grim. “Only?” he prompted.

  “Lab boys ran some preliminary scans, using data pulled from the warning buoys. They estimate that thing has an invulnerability gradient in excess of 200 megatons.”

  “Bad. But that doesn’t mean it won’t feel a few missiles hitting in the face. We might get lucky, care the bastard...” He trailed off. When he adjusted the zoom, he could gradually see another person standing atop the plodding kaiju. A portly man in wagged, soaked clothing. Barnacles sprouted from his waxy white skin, and his left arm appeared to be a trio of red squid tentacles that had woven together to give the impression of a single limb. “That’s... Mutagen?”

  He was under the impression that that creep had bit the dust a few years back, died when his ‘Monstrous Horde’ turned on him, no longer under the sway of his powers. That had been a little trick accomplished by Visionary, overwhelming the psychic signal he used to control his creation.

  “Shit, no wonder that kaiju wasn’t deterred by the usual methods. Mutagen’s controlling his mind. Probably augmented even further, making him larger than a normal kaiju. Relay that to Stratcom, the pilots need to focus fire on the top of the kaiju’s head.”

  “Aiming to kill him, sir?” Sharpe asked.

  “That fucker is leading a building sized monster right to Long Beach, your damn right I want him put down. If he is, odds are his pet monster will get spooked and leave.” That was the hope, at least. He glanced over the edge of the edge of the rooftop to the streets below, empty. Most folks had likely run for an alterhuman attack shelter by now, or were huddling in the subway.

  He tuned the microphone, catching snippets of Mutagen’s gravelly voice as he ranted and raved atop his monster. “The fools of the surface-... long have I toiled and suffered in the... retribution will be mine! They will... the world will suffer for what...”

  “Oh my god,” Jon muttered. “He’s monologuing.”

  The soldiers stood to attention at the shriek of distant jet engines. Jon flicked the scope around and adjusted the zoom, watching a trio of sleek black jets streaking in from his right. They took to firing at the beast from a considerable distant away, flashes of fire igniting before each missile they launched.

  Yet the kaiju was already lifting a massive arm to shield himself, grey flesh lighting up as he warheads exploded off of him. Those explosive salvos could have flattened several city blocks, but Jon knew at a glance that they’d scarcely scuffed the hide.

  The jets circled around to in a strafing run, the roar of the machine guns echoing as far as the coast. For a big beast it was deceptively fast, sweeping a hand up at Mutagen’s command to shield him.

  Sharpe had taken up another scope to watch, letting out a small bark of laughter. “That thing only has two hands. All the jets need to do is change formation and hit from different angles!”

  Indeed, the squad seemed to follow a similar line of logic. Jon watched as they broke apart, splitting in three different directions. They were out of range for his massive hands, and perhaps felt that there was no risk of being hit. But, suddenly, the creature’s massive jaw unhinged to unleash a massive gust of air that surged directly toward one jet.

  Try as the pilot did to avoid it, the edge of the unseen blast clipped one wing and tore it clean from the frame. “Shit!” Sharpe hissed.

  Jon watched as the canopy of the jet shot off, thee ejector seat launching the pilot far from his fast-falling craft. And then... nothing. He just started to drop. “His parachute must be jammed,” Jon growled. Much as he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do from here.

  Even if he could get Travers to open a doorway beneath the man, which would already take godly accuracy and speed, that would still get him killed. His momentum would carry through the doorway, and he’d splat against the first solid surface he came into contact with.

  “Gotta do something,” Jon grunted. “For fuck’s sake, where are the goddamn Vangu-”

  There was a flash in the distance, a streak of white light cleaving through the clouds with such force that they were shredded apart to reveal radiant sunlight. The boom of thunder trailed far behind the incoming ray of light. It moved so fast that Jon only barely saw the moment of impact as it stuck the kaiju, unleashing a massive boom that kicked up vast sprays of water.

  That same streak of white light zoomed straight past the kaiju as it struggled to keep balance, and made a beeline for the falling pilot. It deftly caught him in mid air, and it was at that moment that Jon finally saw what had just come their way.

  “Well, shit. It’s about time.”

  Jon smiled at the sight of the man in the stark white costume and fluttering black cape.

  Dauntless was here. Just in time.