The world of feathers and flesh around Utena went crazy as the world flipped around her, muffled explosions and crashes reverberating all around her, only to be drowned out by the powerful heartbeat of Terrorkeat. She could hear people in the distance yelling at the GMG to stand down, followed by a loud caw in response as the GMG probably prepared to fly away or something with her catch. Well she had a tracker on her if she did, so the MFF would be able to find her with little issue. Maybe she would turn it off for a bit though, just so she could spend some time with Terrorkeat-

Utena's thoughts were thrown into disarray as the world spun once more, she was feeling quite thankful that she decided to become a Aerial Diver. God knows no Tactical Agent would be able to withstand the raw g-forces that she was being put through in such rapid succession.

Her vision was swimming as she tried to get her bearings, rubbing her face into something soft as she kneeled on the floor and... oh hey she's touching the ground now. Weird. Someone was talking to her too, may as well respond.

"Utena Soriyu. And you are..." She finally managed to lift her head to look at the owner of the stomach she was currently staring at. Both of them blinked quietly, one in obvious embarrassment, the other in confusion as she put the pieces together. To her credit, Utena didn't immediately squeal, scream, or otherwise visibly react aside from a small nod as she got to her feet. Huh, she was taller than Terrorkeat.

Before the human Terrorkeat could run away, Utena grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned in close, faces inches away from each other as she stared the bird down seriously. "842-593-7774." She said with the utmost seriousness, nodding once again. Suddenly a blush sprung to her face as she let go of the bird and backed off. "M-my number. I wanna talk with you later."

---

Things were getting pretty hectic pretty fast. Apparently, someone on HQ decided to allow the trigger happy guys to have it their way. Thankfully, there were no civilians around who could get hurt but there was still the problem of one of their comrades being in the GMG's grip—and Akari being right under her feet—when they decided to unleash hell.

"Well, I guess that I'll have to—Hey, what the!?" the young redheaded girl yelled as soon as buffeting winds, dust, and debris obscured her vision momentarily. However, from this close, she was able to see a blurry silhouette disappear into the same subway tunnels Akari used to arrive here, along with Utena.

"So, that's it huh?" Akari thought as she braced herself against the winds.

A moment later, after being asked whether or not anyone had seen what happened to the monster girl and Utena, Akari said over the radio, "Nope, I didn't see anything with all this dust here. Anyway, I'll be looking around and see if I can find anything on my end," before stepping into the subway.

Being this close to the action it didn't take long for Akari to find where Utena and a mysterious girl who kinda looked like the monster girl from before, in a way, were. She observed them silently, hidden behind a corner, noticing as Utena began to make her way away after whispering something to the green-haired girl.

---

Utena must have been a contrarian as she pressed in close, grasping Yeshua by the shoulders in a grip that had her Fight-Or-Flight response screaming at her to retalliate immediately and flee down the tunnels. It was only the chilling severity of the MFF's expression that had her tensed, expecting a condemnation or attempt to arrest the monster.

Only for Utena to confirm her earlier suspiciouns; Utena was into Kaiju.

Yeshua giggled hysterically, forcing on a smile as she had the number seared into her brain by the uncanny moment and steadily backed away. It was flattering, really, but it was rather weird knowing their was a subsect of humanity that was attracted to her kaiju form. She knew it was aesthetically pleasing, more regal then Yeshua could ever style herself with her own short attention span and manners, but the size difference was boggling to the mind. And, with a dusting of color crossing the bridge of her nose, it was embarrassing to know people were ogling her assets when she couldn't really cover herself.

"Y-Yeah, I'll, umm, call you when I find a working payphone. Cells aren't really good for....people like me. See ya' later."

Yeshua turned away from the fangirl and began trotting down the tracks, disappearing into tunnel's secretive embrace even as she heard the rumbles of conflict resume above. It galled her that another Kaiju was out making trouble, and as much as she would have liked to curtail it, the MFF was already out in force. If they couldn't handle at their full strength here, then the city really would need their avian protector to step in and claim the territory as hers.

Safely away from any prying eyes or pursuers, she called the air of the lightless tunnel around her and lurched forward like a bullet fired, hurtling through the curving paths on a compressed tube of air around her. Best to immerge farther away and backtrack on foot to see if any of her stuff was still left on that high rise.

It had hit! His mech had fully collided with the Terrorkeat and had actually seemed to do enough damage that it seemingly pissed off the creature by quite a bit. If everything would go like his first strike, then this battle would be over in absolutely no time. However, that joy was quickly replaced by worry as he saw the talon of the monster come down and create a tornado. His mind quickly went to the land troops around him and in the city proper, as they would no doubt be tossed about by the wind, he had no worry for his mech, it was too heavy for any sort of wind to affect it.

As the tornado slowly dissipated however, the massive creature was gone from sight. Both the passive and active sensors of the mech searched in vain for both the creature and their superior, but managed to find nobody. Koji relaxed for a moment as the scanners searched, however, that peace did not last long as another larger and more powerful creature showed up, crashing into the building and unleashing a sort of wind more powerful by magnitudes than what Terrorkeat had unleashed, the hardened air that hit the mech, nearly knocked the metal behemoth off of it's feet as the metal of it's body took the battering. Though he couldn't outright see it, he could hear the creaking of metal as the wind either bent the metal armor of the mech, or simply cut it in parts. The moment that barrage was over, Koji took a quick glance at the damage his mech had received.

- Mech Hull Integrity- 89%

- No critical system damage taken.

It had shaved 11 percent off of the armor of the mech just with one strike and from the look of things, it had not even been its strongest one yet, it was preparing to launch another strike, one from its mouth and this one seemed to be very much stronger than the one before, one that could possibly cripple, or outright destroy the mech. No, that he could not allow his destruction and the destruction of everything and everyone there, not without putting up a fight. Despite his judgement telling him that this was a very bad idea to do, he had to do it nevertheless, or he would not have the time to regret not going through with it.

"Command, this First Lieutenant Koji, I am disengaging all safety procedures on the Juggernaut, chance the mech might power down after this attack, please be prepared to retrieve me." He sent a message to all people of the higher echelons, just to make sure somebody had heard him and to at least have a chance of rescue if this failed horribly. "I also recommend we order an immediate retreat, I do not think we are currently equipped to handle the Dragon Queen."

With that done, Koji aimed all four plasma blasters of the mech towards the newer, far more threatening monster, but instead of firing a quick burst as these blasters were meant to, he instead began powering up his own attack. He would overcharge the plasma blasters beyond their capacity and launch attacks strong enough to damage or at least daze the creature enough that it would interrupt the attack it was currently charging. After a few more moments, the significantly larger balls of plasma erupted from the blasters of the mech and headed towards the creature charging its own attack.

Exactly after the attack, the Juggernaut went offline and Koji was worried that the mech's power core had died out completely. Thankfully, however, after a few more moments of silence and darkness, the power of the mech and it's sight were restored, just in time to see the aftermath of his daring if rather reckless attack.

Only seconds after her announcement, Commander Yashiro would only get one reply confirming the overall status of their predicament.

"Nope, I didn't see anything with all this dust here. Anyway, I'll be looking around and see if I can find anything on my end,"

Aside from her, no one seemed to have replied - either due to them still gathering their stance or through other means entirely. For every second that passed, she gradually became more uneasy. Everyone else seemed to not be following basic protocol; one for everyone to confirm their status when ordered to. While the scanners confirmed where the units were, it still unnerved her quite a bit. Before she could relay another message towards the units, Miss Yurei would suggest their next plan of action.

"We should focus our search on the skies. The buildings are mostly intact, so she must have flown straight up and flown fast. Maybe even into the stratosphere, far enough to be out of range of our scanners, where she could also travel around the earth quicker. With speed like that she could be pretty far already, so we should widen our search perimeter more than usual."

Concerning Terrorkeet's and arial agility as a kaiju, Commander Yashiro couldn't help but to agree with the statement. Afterall, where could such a large being hide in a place like this? Still, there were a few concerns that she had to announce.

"Indeed. We will initiate a rapid scan of a 10 mile radius." she began before engaging onto her concerns, "However, I believe that the calculations in finding her by now would be less than futile. The kaiju will be far from our range and ahead of the game by the time we~"

Just then, the command center would be bombarded by yet another deafening siren. Yashiro would raise her head as she looked back onto the monitors.

"Commander~ Our scanners have picked up another kaiju reading from above." one of the operators announced.

"Is it Terrorkeet?" the Commander curiously asked, who seemed surprise that they were able to find the target already - only to be sourly disappointed.

"No mam~ it's from an entirely different one altogether."

Yashiro's pupil shrunk as a wave of confusion nearly overridden her systems. She focused her gaze back onto the main screens to see a shadowy object rapidly descend from the skies. It was clearly not Terrorkeet - for she was larger, sported a more muscular physique, and sported leathery bat-like wings unlike their target's ruffled feathers. Just seconds afterwards, the kaiju would make landfall, slamming itself onto a building which collapsed underneath its giant form.

There she glared upon the might of the monster newcomer in all of her glory. And it was the last creature that anyone would've even remotely have guessed, expected, and/or wanted to arrive.



As panic began to set place in the command center, Yashiro could only watch as the beast began to leak vile energy from admist her gaping jaw.

"Impossible..." she breathed under her teeth as her fists clenched with silent anxiety, "Of all the kaiju reinforcements, I expected to come... why did SHE of all creatures have to show up?"

Just then, her comms would confirm the existence of another one of their units.

"Command, this First Lieutenant Koji,"

Patching through, she would immediately reply to him.

"First Lieutenant." Yashiro replied almost relieved to hear someone else on the other side, "What are~?"

"I am disengaging all safety procedures on the Juggernaut, chance the mech might power down after this attack, please be prepared to retrieve me. I also recommend we order an immediate retreat, I do not think we are currently equipped to handle the Dragon Queen."

It would seem that this message was sent in prefabricated, therefore Yashiro was given no direct response. She would then see the Juggernaut mech unleash all it had onto the Dragon Beast before shutting down completely.

"Juggernaught is offline!"

This entire operation had fallen into the literal gutter. But the first lieutenant's suggestion was not lost on everyone in the room. In fact, Yashiro had already been planning this as early as the very minute before the Dragon Queen made landfall. She backed away from the main screen and opened her comms once more to reach every unit that's still linked to the network.

"All units, fall back!" the Commander's voiced boom onto the comms with a slightly metallic overlay, "Fall back to central command and prepare to mount a possible defense!"

She'd then turn to the rest of central command and bark out her own orders.

"Ready our defenses and prepare for possible engagement with the kaiju.", the Commander's voice declared before turning to Miss Yurei, "Dispatch our rescue division. We need to retrieve First Lieutenant Koji and any other units who may still be trapped down there. The fight seems to have only just begun."

---

Amaro would lower the volume on his headset after the fall of the Terrorkeet. He felt as though he and his troops had failed the military. He would curb stomp the floor of the building in frustration before he took off his helmet and shouted unforgiving words towards what others called the Heavens. He threw his helmet violently on the ground before brushing off the dust that clung to his armor. He picked up his helmet and placed it back on top of his head before looking to the sky at what he assumed what was a meteor. When it hit the ground, he saw the monstrous Kaiju people referred to as the Dragon Queen. He would clench his fist before pressing a deep silver button on the side of his weighty helmet.

"All units, fall back!" the Commander's voiced boom onto the comms with a slightly metallic overlay, "Fall back to central command and prepare to mount a possible defense!"

He would open up comms with his division and relay the message that Commander Yashiro had ordered. Holstering his Horder, he spoke to his troops, saying "Fall back, guys! There's no fighting this thing. Rescue squads are being dispatched, if you need assistance, fire a lavender-colored flare, they'll know you're from my division." He would then switch back to the comm channel that he had been speaking to Yashiro had been on. He would speak with a clear and unfrightened voice.

"All my troops are retreating from the threat, I have my side of the crew fixed, now I just need to distract the threat. Going low armor."

Amaro would turn off his helmet comms off before compacting his first layer armor into its portable cube. He now walked out in a thin metal sheet of black armor and he would put up his metal breathing mask. He turned on his armor's thrusters, able to now move more freely but still decently restricted. He would reach into his bag and pulled out his Rationalizer, setting it to Minor Atom reduction, which would not completely reduce the threat, but enough to shock it and temporarily paralyze it. He would look at the GMG with a mild anger for what they had done to him. Shaking the rage out of his system, he would put a headset on, and open up comms with the Commander again.

"My armor is stored. Pursuing the target. Please let me know if my squad makes it back alright."

Although Dragon Queen’s eyes were still narrowed, a pleased expression sprouted over her lips. The humans were clearly affected by her initial attack, scattered troops and debris sent flying by her powerful wings. While a good majority of them decided retreat was the more tactical approach, there were still few that dared to defy her. Even now, a great mechanical construct charged itself in clear colors of energy, a triple barrage of plasma aimed and fired at the Dragon Queen. The energy leaking out her own mouth was soon set loose and unleashed.

A brief spurt of hard, invisible pressure slammed from the focal point of two attacks colliding into each other. Dragon Queen’s fiery breath smashed right into the Juggernaut’s charged plasma attack. The result was a rapid influx that pushed away all combatants from either side and dark clouds of smoke scorched the air as a result of it. Dragon Queen snarled, batting away at the dark miasma with her claws, ready to set loose her rage on humanity once again.

But just before she could, the great GMG paused in her movements. Her narrowed eyes widened a fraction, and she felt Terrorkeat’s presence rapidly move further and further away from their location. Good. With wings that nearly engulfed the immediate sky, Dragon Queen raised herself over the toppled building that was her perch. Whatever desire there was to fight the humans now was gone and she brought herself up above the smoky plumes, ready to take to the skies.

She looked down and saw another human slowly approach her with clear disdain in his face. Huffing, Dragon Queen’s wings sent another miniature windstorm right at Amaro before those same wings slowly beat against the air. Rise and rise she did, the Dragon Queen mirroring her enemies and slowly starting to take escape back to the orbit from which she descended from.

Yeshua was safe, but now they had unexpected guest appearance from a new actor.

Dragon Queen. Even Akane didn't know her real name. Her motives, much like her name, were a mystery. Her few appearances were far too intentional to be the work of a rampaging kaiju, combined with her control spoke to an intelligence and purpose. Yet she didn't seem to be doing anything but randomly showing up, smashing a random mountain or two and leaving.

So what the hell did she want?

"Impossible..." she breathed under her teeth as her fists clenched with silent anxiety, "Of all the kaiju reinforcements, I expected to come... why did SHE of all creatures have to show up?"

Akane let out a long, slow whistle as she watched Queenie swoop in and demolish a building. "Ack. This bitch again?" She glanced aside at the commander. "'scuse my language." She added, sheepishly.

Then it was a flurry of conversation and motion as she talked with support staff and gave orders, organizing the troops for this new threat and to locate the ones sent flying from Yeshua. One in particular, who had been drawn in and seemed to have vanished. Utena, a human that Akane personally liked for her nonviolent approach. She had been given Akane's full support and was a useful pawn. The kitsune hoped she was okay, but there was little she could do now. She watched as Amano, the reckless brave soul, tried to hit Queenie with an all-out blast. Though impressive, she was able to counter it and all it did was piss the kaiju off. Akane had a few words with a close aid, preparing her next move.

Already an idea was forming in the kitsune's head. All she needed was an opening. The right excuse.

"Ready our defenses and prepare for possible engagement with the kaiju.", the Commander's voice declared before turning to Miss Yurei, "Dispatch our rescue division. We need to retrieve First Lieutenant Koji and any other units who may still be trapped down there. The fight seems to have only just begun."

"Waaaay ahead of you, chief. They are on their way." She replied cheerfully. She had her mask in one hand and katana in the other and was heading toward the door. She stopped to address the commander. "I'm going into the field myself. I'm the best damn scout we got, this is a prime opportunity to examine Queenie up close and personal. Not everyday I see such a rare creature and I hate second hand reports." She laughed merrily as she started walking again. "I can look for survivors and wayward troops while I'm at it. Don't try to stop me." She looked over her shoulder and grinned. "It's never worked in the past nor will it ever."

She pulled the mask down over her face and with a shimmer, vanished from sight.

---

As soon as she was invisible, Mako shifted her form into a that of a small fox and broke into a run. She zipped through the halls with incredible speed, yet quiet as a mouse, leaving no one the wiser. The only thing marking her passage were doors that would mysteriously open and shut on their own. Still, she limited her speed to roughly that of a fast human. The illusion had to be maintained after all, it would be strange if her path was too fast. That was until she was out of the bunker that served as headquarters and into the open. There, she really opened up the throttle.

But, even as she ran with the speed only a kaiju could produce, she watched in growing desperation as Queenie began to ascend. Sadly, full flight was not on her extensive list of superpowers. If Queenie got bored and left, she would be unable to pursue without aid.

Already not far from headquarters, she reached the original site of Yeshua's appearance in a little more minute. Where she found Utena, safe, and looking...starstruck? She was radiating such powerful emotion that even at a distance, Mako picked it up easily: Love. Or maybe Lust. It was hard to tell between the two sometimes and sometimes, there wasn't a difference. She also noticed the presence of a second MFF member nearby. Something odd had clearly happened. Well, no matter, Utena would be useful. She weaved closer to the girl, still invisible and sneaky as a fox. The girl's thoughts were powerful and clear as a bell. The kitsune mentally laughed at her interpretation of what had transpired between the two. From her thoughts, Mako was able to glean the direction in which Yeshua had gone. Using rubble and collapsed masonry, Mako began scaling buildings and rubble with ease, gaining elevation. She could either try to find Yeshua and enlist her help, or the more risky option was to contact the MFF and try to get a boost. But Queenie was already nearly above the clouds. By the time she found either, it may be too late. Still, she had to try. It was that or jump or let this prize slip from her grasp.

She could just faintly feel Yeshua's mind somewhere ahead of her, moving fast, maybe even faster than she was. She sent a mental signal as loud as she could, aimed in that direction, Yeshua! She called. It's Mako, the Kitsune! I need your help!

Whether or not she got through was entirely up to luck or, rather, fate.

Zoomin' around at the speed of sound~ Yeshua thought as the wind wove around her, hurling her far away from the Dragon Queen and any danger the MFF posed and emerging on an evacuated subway platform. She took to a moment to pause and stretch, working out any kinks from her turbulent ride down the tube network. It was a bit disconcerting being in such a public place and finding it desolate, like walking through the halls of your school after hours and not recognizing it for the lack of students ambling about. The kaiju deflated somewhat, recognizing this was partly her fault, but it wasn't like kaiju specifically asked to come to this world.

She'd have been happy where ever the road took her, populated world or not.

Before she could make her way to the escalators upwards, her mind buzzed with a voice that sounded out of breath and perhaps a bit out of shape, panting hard from the exertion of a city spanning run. Yeshua didn't recall knowing any native priestesses, the bird being a bit too clumsy to spend time around shrines without causing an incident, but her gaze turned upwards and saw a fox waiting at the surface for her.

"Oh, umm, hi there. I hope you're not here to confess your love of feathers and size differences as well." Yeshua said, only half joking as she sat on the escalators rail, riding it up with her legs kicking back and forth. "You looking for quills? I get that they make real nice desk ornaments and you can write super fancy if you got an ink well, but you didn't need to chase me for that....well, I don't have a cell phone or a home, so I guess you did need to..."

@Crimson Raven

The red and white fox dropped her veil as she caught up with the other kaiju. She tried to keep from rolling her eyes at Yeshua's scatterbrained response. Not a priestess, silly girl. Kitsune. We've met, remember? And I specifically asked you to not make trouble for the humans. But that is neither here nor there in this moment. She scratched an itch behind an ear. I only need a little wind power. I'm aiming to have something of an audience with the Dragon Queen over there. She swiveled her head to look in that direction. But I would like to do it covertly and, even transforming, flying isn't my forte. I just need a strong gust in that direction and I would greatly appreciate it. Not to mention spare you the haranguing you deserve for transforming in the middle of the city. Hmph. It was true, sadly. She could become a bird, true, but she didn't have the instincts of a bird. Flying fast and hard enough to catch up with Queenie would be too difficult for her.

The avian menace to all human statuary scratched idly at her cheek, gaze sliding sidewards as the fox made her many grievances known without pulling her punches. She'd have liked to sweep it all under the rug as an accident but those MFF people were all over her, and really, they did more damage to the city then she would have.

Not that she planned to ruin the city or anything. Just maybe molt some features that can casually cleave through bridges by dead weight alone, maybe roost on a high building for a bit. Normal things that shouldn't be cause for alarm.

"Ah right, Kitsune Udon, right? Mmm, noodles~ I can get you there, but you should really know this wasn't my fault. Come on, we all know how scary it is to roll out of bed and fall off the mattress. I got startled and- Poof!" Yeshua said, hands closing together before bursting outwards dramatically, fluttering off on some unseen wind while she scaled the steps to stand over the unassuming fox. "Just, umm, don't move till you're all but atop her. Don't need any change in aero dynamics mussing this up..."

She picked Yurei up like one would a cat, one hand curled under the youkai kaiju's rump while the other tucked her head in, forming a ball with a fluttering tail exposed. Settling the weight in one palm, she reared it back as an invisible tunnel of wind pulled from Yurei to the heaven's above.

The bird squinted before, with an awkward hop backward, she pitched forward and hurled Yurei into the whirling tube of air that zoomed her up to where the Dragon Queen soared away. "Feels good to be helpful....Hmm, maybe I can throw more people to shorten commutes? Food for thought, I guess."

Udon. Ugh. The kitsune let that comment roll off. Your assistance is appreciated, She held as much dignity as possible while being picked up and handled like a common cat. She eyed the distance and convinced herself that a word with the Dragon Queen would be worth it.

But do take good care in your aim.

Then she was launched upward with a powerful, but surprisingly gentle tunnel of wind.

Flying was exhilarating, as it always was. She soared through the air at a speed that even the fastest creatures of the sky could only envy. The wind parted her fur and ticked her ears. As she zipped right passed a hovering Aerial Diver, a thought crossed her mind. Heavens only knew what the MFF would make of this. She let out chittering laugh.

Fortunately, Yeshua's aim was true. She began to lose speed just as she reached the Queen's imposing form. Before she completely lost speed and plummeted, she managed to hook her small claws into the Queen's leg. With supernatural agility, the small fox quickly scaled the Dragon Queen's comparatively humongous form to sit on her shoulder, where she nonchalantly started grooming her fur. She brushed the Dragon Queen's mind with a playful thought. Hello, your Highness. It is a pleasure to meet you.

"I'm going into the field myself. I'm the best damn scout we got, this is a prime opportunity to examine Queenie up close and personal. Not everyday I see such a rare creature and I hate second hand reports."

Her statement, however, would instantly be overruled by the Commander.

"Negative." the Commander firmly ordered as her scarlet eye turned towards Yurei, "We don't have the time or units onboard for such a risky ordeal. Your top priority is to~"

"I can look for survivors and wayward troops while I'm at it." she seemed to cockily reply as she laughed towards the exit, "Don't try to stop me."

Yashiro wouldn't take her nonchalant response lightly. She knew fully well of her being very hardheaded and one to jump into the middle of the fray, however rarely if ever did she defy her superior officer's word. So whenever it did happen - like now - it would seem to strike a nerve within her. A good chunk of her fellow units had already attempted to issue their own bold sacrifices, risking their lives against a powerful kaiju they were not currently prepared to fight. The Commander was not going to risk letting her finest unit perish in battle.

"I gave you a direct order, Agent Yurei." the cyborg commander coldly responded as her mechanical arm began twitching ever so slightly, "I expect you to follow it. Both for you and the safety of the MFF."

But Miss Yueri, being sly as ever, looked over her shoulder and grinned. "It's never worked in the past nor will it ever."

With that, she donned her mask and proceeded to disappear into thin air, leaving her Commander back on the bridge for her to deal with this alone. With a disgruntled sigh, Commander Yashiro proceeded to take matters solely in her hands as she observed the Dragon Queen overseeing the entire city while her rescue team took off to retrieve the fallen.

While the MFF began to recover their fallen units, it would appear that the Dragon Queen's presence would be short lived. Her massive wings extended outwards before launching herself into the sky, leaving as soon as she arrived. Yashiro and her team would also see that Terrorkeet had also proceeded to retreat herself, but not before launching something, or rather someone, into the sky.

"Commander." one of the operators hailed, "We have just detected another kaiju being assisted by Terrorkeet."

Yashiro eyed the main screen in confusion, before noting a vague outline of an unidentified kaiju traveling up within the spiraling vortex.

"Enhance." the commander noted as she closely analyzed the footage. However, as they enhanced in one its position, they couldn't get a secure visual on the kaiju's appearance due to the intense wind turbulence. All they could pinout in that it was a white, quadruped, creature which possibly possessed fur. But the real question was how did it remain undetected? Could it be that it simply arrived late to the party? Or was it participating since the beginning and it somehow was able to cloak itself in plain sight? Questions upon questions flooded Yashiro's mind as she tried to piece together the entire story, but almost everything seemed to defy logical reasoning. This was one of Yashiro's most humiliating defeats in her recent record and it shamed her to think about it.

She turned away from the screen and found herself talking to the chief operator.

"Contact all high-ranking officials to meet me at the briefing room." the Commander ordered gloomily as she made her way towards the exit, "There is much that needs to be discussed."

As swiftly as the Dragon Queen appeared, it was just as quick that she left the area. The behavior was very much sporadic but who really knew how such a monster thought. All that mattered was that she descended with minimal causalities and destruction; at least compared to Yeshua. However, she almost turned herself right back around to the small city below if only because she felt the presence of another steadily catching up to her risen form. The presence grew deeper despite the speed of which Dragon Queen reached the precipice of the atmosphere.

Still, her wings slowed to avoid suffocating one of her own as she flew higher. To her surprise, it was no monster or Kaiju, but a fox that answered her. Even so, it was clear this was no normal animal, not when it scaled her form easily to perch itself on Dragon Queen’s shoulder. A push of the mind had her eyes shift to stare at the creature. “Mind reader. Then you can hear these thoughts,” the GMG said, growling even in her inner voice. “Leave me, unless you want to burn up in the upper atmosphere.”

If the fox wanted to talk, she could do it at another time. The Dragon Queen shifted her shoulder, wings moving about and directing her in another direction. Instead of rocketing upwards now, her wings carried both GMGs out and away towards the city, anywhere where the fox could be dropped off safely and she could go about her day. “You’ve made my flight pattern more complicated, so I hope it better be worth seeking an audience with me,” Dragon Queen mentally growled. It was very tempting to just flick the fox away after all.

Back on the ground level of Center City, the MFF were slowly recovering from their short but violent burst of activity. As per Commander Yashiro’s orders, the high-ranking officials were required to meet in her presence to debrief the mission and discuss plans forward into the future. Of course, this included Utena and any other personnel who’d gotten close to the engaging GMG. Oddly enough, that included Akari of all people too, whose opinion would be weighed for having spotted Utena from her own shadowy distance.

The main soldiers of the MFF were also called upon to engage in the meeting and it wasn’t long for the many occupants to arrive in Yashiro’s gathering room. In the meantime, the lower ranks were tasked with picking apart the rubbled city, looking for survivors and already beginning the process of rebuilding. After years of GMG attacks, the MFF were expected to have some kind of repairment plan in hand by now after all.

---

"Well, that was unexpected. Or maybe not, I guess," Akari said to herself as she exited the subway tunnels through another station, after witnessing Utena's exchange with a mysterious green-haired girl whose identity was far too obvious.

"I guess that I should keep quiet about that until I'm sure of what was happening down there," she thought while stretching her muscles.

And, just as the redhead thought, "I probably should go get something to eat while I can", she was called for an officer meeting despite not being anything other than a foot soldier.

"Better made it takeout, I guess..."

"Wassup— Why did you call a GI Jane like me to a Brass meeting, Ma'am? I guarantee that I didn't break anything that wasn't already broken by the GMG... I guess," Akari said to the commander—in a not-very-formal way—as she got to the meeting room while loudly slurping down some noodles from a cheap Chinese restaurant.

---

Twas not long after the battle that a meeting was called that Utena arrived at the base with a stoic face, many soldiers looking at her nervously. It started simply enough, Utena was busy thinking about Terrorkeat and bumped into a soldier mindlessly. He apologized of course, but she ignored him and continued walking to the meeting room. But then the rumors began. Utena scolded a soldier for his poor performance in the battle prior. Utena berated a squad for their slow response time and they let Terrorkeat escape. Utena was on the warpath, looking to tear the upper command a new one for being so slow to respond to the Dragon Queen.

Of course none of these things were true, but once the rumors started there was no stopping them. Utena of course new of none of this, simply unloading her battle gear and getting dressed in her normal fatigues in her personal locker room. She then walked into the command room, briefly noting how everyone was seemed really worked up after that last battle, and stood next to Akari casually.

"I'm here for debriefing Commander." She stated in a monotone, looking over at the hungry soldier next to her and wondering if she should have gotten something to eat. To everyone else it likely looked like a harsh glare, but really all Utena was thinking about was how good that food smelled. She really should have gotten something to eat, maybe a slice of pizza. A slice of pizza with Terrorkeat, oh man that sounds so good. She really should hurry up and call, do kaijus even have phones? Utena would have to get her a phone, just to call her whenever she wants.

The kitsune seemed entirely unconcerned. Neither the threat of burning up, nor the ire of the kaiju fazed her. She shifted her perch to be out of the wind, then resumed to groom while chatting cheerily. Of course, of course, darling. Just to be able to experience your majesty and beauty up close makes this excursion worth it. Yet, I'm not satisfied. I have just a few questions for you. I won't take too much of your valuable time, so I shall make these questions three. First, what do you know of how 'we' get here? Second, what is your opinion on the MFF? A foe? An annoyance, perhaps? Third, why do you show up only once an a great while and then leave immediately? I've been following your movements for some time, I'm quite a fan, and of all the kaiju I've ever studied, you are the only one I cannot puzzle out. It is quite vexing to say the least, and I am not one often vexed, which makes you all the more intriguing.

Dragon Queen’s eye slowly flitted in a deafening pace until it stared directly on the nonchalant fox perched on her shoulder. Weaker creatures might have cowered beneath her steely and very annoyed gaze, but not a fellow being from beyond. “Again with the flattery. Do you have a habit of ignoring what people tell you?” Dragon Queen growled with obvious disdain. For now, she didn’t flick Akane off quite yet, wings flapping but making no move to do so.

“Very well fox, if it quickens your time away from me. I do not know how we arrive in this world, only that we do. A disruption in space and time perhaps. If it’s not obvious, the Warp Quakes are an after effect of our presence in this world.” Dragon Queen had since reached a patch of abandoned land far off and away from the city. It was there where she began her descent, wings flattening the air around her as her great body lowered more and more.

“Secondly, these MFF are arrogant humans who understand nothing. Nuisances at their best, pests who need to be destroyed at their worst. The reason is obvious; those who hunt and kill our kind, I despise.” A pause. “Your third question can be answered by the other two. You look like a clever one, so you can figure it out.” The Dragon Queen tilted her shoulder to plop the fox off her body and onto the ground below. She expected Akane to be able to land as gracefully as her appearance gave off.

Then, with another heave of her wings, the GMG rose into the sky once again. “I trust you can find your way back home. Don’t bother looking for me. As long as this MFF continues to harm our kind, I will never forgive them,” she warned. She locked gazes with the fox a moment longer before completely rising into the atmosphere. “You should do well in considering whose side deserves your loyalty more,” was Dragon Queen’s lingering thoughts before she was gone.

As the Dragon Queen let her down, the small fox leapt off. As she fell, her form began to glow with a gentle heatless firelight, trailing phantom embers. The light began to grow and expand, first becoming formless, then reforming. Where once were four, two feet hit the ground, followed by a knee. The humanoid figure rose, growing still in size and gaining definition. Recognizably feminine in form, with long, flowing snow-white hair that parted around two tall foxlike ears and framed a pair of glowing yellow eyes in a breath-takingly beautiful face. She wore a red-trimmed white kimono, tied at the waist with a red sash. Long, pointed nails adorned the end of each finger, and on her feet were a pair of geta sandals. One by one, white-furred tails appeared behind her. Eight formed, and there was an odd pause, as if something was supposed to happen but didn't, and a ninth tail failed to grow. In it's place, there was a shimmer of air in the form of a ghostly tail. She was on the small side for a kaiju, but her sandals were tall enough to bring the Kitsune eye-to-eye with the Dragon Queen.

Mako stretched and let out a sigh. "It's good to be full sized again." She said aloud. Then, quick as a wink, she spun, lifted up on her tiptoes, and gave the Dragon Queen a mischievous kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the ride, sweetie." Then, laughing, she skipped back as the Dragon Queen began to lift off.

"You know, the humans do exactly as we do; protect their own. But vengeance ends with mercy." She called out. But the Dragon Queen didn't reply.

She was a receding speck in the distance what a thought occurred to Mako. "Drat. I didn't even get to ask her name. I can't very well keep calling her 'Dragon Queen'. It's insufferably pretentious." She pouted. Truth be told, The Dragon Queen did make her nervous. Just being around her, Mako could feel an aura of power stronger any kaiju she has ever met. That nervousness made her forget to ask in the moment.

"Oh well!" She proclaimed to the cold air, stretching again. "I'll ask next time I see her, whether in this century or the next." Intuition told her it would be much sooner than that. "I'd better get back soon. Poor Yashiro is probably fuming about now." Mako knew she was in for a stern and long-winded lecture from the chief when she got back. But the trip really had been worth it.

With a twinge of regret after being full sized again, she shrunk back into human form. Heatless fire once again consuming her in the transition. The transformation also intentionally veiled her presence from any GMG scanners. Moving quickly, Akane sat on a nearby stone, and pulled out an electronic tablet. A stylus in hand, she began to sketch the Dragon Queen in careful detail from different angles, including notes on everything from size to the sheen of her scales. She finished off by jotting down a few thoughts and a few things she wanted to research. Finished, she tucked the device safely away.

Next she spent a few minutes messing up her appearance, mussing her hair, scooping dust on her clothes, and so on. Once she was satisfied that she actually looked like she had been in the field, she shifted into a black crow and slowly flew back to the city in the distance.

---

It took quite a while to get back. By the time the main gates were in view, it had been an hour or so since the attack. She really wasn't good at flying. Akane winged her way into the city, disappearing behind a veil as she did. She landed in an alley clear of people and transformed back into a human. She dropped the veil too, appearing out of thin air. Exhausted, she pulled out a cell and, after turning it on, made a call.

Minutes later, she stepped out of a MFF vehicle in front of headquarters. Hands in her pockets, she strolled in like she owned the place. Her first order of business was to find Yashiro to get yelled at. Second was to hit the research again on the Dragon Queen. Third was much the same but on Warp Quakes.

Her stomach rumbled. Okay, first was to get yelled at, second was food. She amended.

---

"Mhmm, mhmm... mhmm, mhmm," Since no one said anything, Akari continued to eat. She noticed as the briefing room was beginning to get crowded but that didn't sway her.

In fact, she only paused when she noticed a certain someone's arrival. It wasn't that hard to do so, with the penetrating stare that Utena was throwing at her, or rather her lunch. "Oh, hey do you want a bite?" Akari said, with a smile beaming on her face, as she got up from where she was and sat right next Utena.

"I mean, you must be really hungry after wrestling yourself off a GMG's grip and walking down all those subway tunnels, right?" the redhead whispered in a knowing tone on the other girl's ear after leaning closer.

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