The Arrogance of Man

by Johng117

Chapter 35: Truth and Rebellion

The great magical barrier that encased the entire nuclear power plant glowed in the morning light. The sound of ripples came from the shield as it pulsed. Few people that were able to see the barrier gave it wary glances, as they feared the possibility of the barrier falling apart, allowing the radiation to seep out. The reactor had melted down and allowed tons of radioactive particles to circle in the enclosed space. Mechs were stationed around the perimeter with cannons and turrets. Tanks remained stationary and snipers hid in the mountains as they scanned the area. A few soldiers down below stood with the mechs as they guarded the generators that amplified the magic into a great barrier. They heard the sound of rippling coming from behind them and immediately turned around.
Junior was still in his dragon form. He slammed his fists against the barrier with all of his might. The barrier rippled with every punch and flashed in one specific area. Junior was breathing heavily as he lowered his arms. He wore a hateful glare towards the soldiers. He reared his arms back and pumped his neck and chest forward and gave the screeching roar that elevated into a low bellow. His roars were slightly muffled from behind the barrier.
"Dear Faust, he scared the crap out of me!" exclaimed one of the soldiers. Junior continued to slam his fists against the barrier, attempting to free himself.
"Hey, you think this thing will hold up against him?" asked another soldier uneasily. Junior roared as he continued to slam his fists against the barrier with relentless fury.
"This thing can hold up pretty well against over a hundred rockets. One Transmutant isn't going to-" the soldier was about to finish his sentence, but a bright neon blue light flashed from the barrier. They quickly turned and found Junior spewing forth his atomic breath on the barrier. It collided with the solid magic and splashed all along the walls, creating a hot mist of radiation. The shield began to pulse as the stream of concentrated radiation bounced off of its walls. The soldiers backed away fearfully from the attack, worried that the barrier would give in. Junior stopped spewing his atomic breath, panting as he glared at the barrier. Not a crack was made.
"NO!!" shouted Junior in anger. He rammed his body against the barrier like a mad elephant. The barrier rippled from the collision but remained strong, much to the soldiers’ relief.
"That was close. It almost looked like he was about to escape." said a soldier. Junior seethed as he glared at the soldiers.
"Hey, give it a rest asshole! You're gonna be trapped in there until you either starve to death or decide to kill yourself! Whichever comes first." said another soldier. Junior growled.
"I'll get out of here. You can count on it." said Junior as he turned around and began to stomp away. "And when I do, MONARCH will be the first to burn for what they've done."
"Good luck with that!" said a soldier sarcastically. Junior grunted in response as he continued to walk away. He griped to himself at the soldiers and their cocky attitudes. He knew that he would hate being trapped inside even more if he was forced to remain close to these soldiers.
"I'll just stay in the building instead." said Junior. He then looked up to find the ceiling falling apart. Rubble littered the ground and smoke rose into the air.
"At least what's left of it." said Junior. He continued walking and made his way into the Turbine Hall. As he walked, his eyes caught sight of his torn clothing. His sweater was shredded along with his jeans. He then noticed a photo hiding under the shredded pants. He kneeled down and gently reached for the photo with his claws. They scratched at the ground a bit before they were able to pick up the photo. Junior gently raised it to his face, finding his family photo slightly singed and torn at the edges, making him sigh sadly before eyes hardened in determination.
"No. I can't despair. Rodan and Angirasu are in trouble and only I can save them." said Junior as he stomped further down the hall. He made his way over to where the Reactor Building began. He set the photo down on a pile of rubble and looked up to the collapsed ceiling and into the morning sky.
"Mosura, I promise that I will protect them. I will avenge you and my father." said Junior as he lowered his head. His body slowly began to morph back into his human form. His dorsal plates disappeared and his scales were replaced by soft mammalian skin. He stood naked in the building, where a few visible wounds had shrunken to fit his body. The scar that Destoroyah had left from his horn was still on his chest, streaking down as a slant wound. He looked at his scar and ran his hand over it. The scar ran from his right upper part of his chest and down to where his left lower chest. Junior frowned as he stared at his scar.
"I wonder if this one will be permanent. This is the worst one that I have ever received." sighed Junior. He then glanced at the morning sun and immediately clenched his eyes shut from the growing brightness as it continued to rise.
"Sorry Celestia. I won't be coming home for the Summer Sun Celebration." apologized Junior.

Back in Zebrabwe, Erika stood by staring into a glass window. Her eyes stared worriedly at Sunset Shimmer, as she lied inside of the room on a hospital bed. The room had no windows and was nearly empty from aside the heart monitor and a few dimly lit lights. A couple of men in radiation suits remained inside taking notes as Sunset lied unconscious in bed. Erika trembled as she leaned her head against the window.
"Hey." greeted a voice. Erika's heart jumped as she heard the voice call to her. She turned around and found a few soldiers standing by. They wore their attire from when off duty.
"Hi." greeted Erika as she looked back to Sunset. An Earthbound woman made her way next to her and looked through the window.
"So, how's she doing?" asked the woman. Erika sighed sadly.
"I don't know. It doesn't look good. She was exposed to a lethal dose of radiation." said Erika. The woman frowned.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Truly I am, Shiragami." said the woman.
"Thanks." said Erika in a monotone voice.
"Well...if you want...you could always talk to us if you'd like." said the woman with a small smile. Erika snuck a glance at her and to the other two soldiers. They gave her welcoming smiles as well. Erika looked back to Sunset.
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." said Erika. The woman nodded.
"Alright. Well, take care." said the soldier. They then walked down the hall, leaving Erika alone. She lightly smiled to herself at the invitation, but she wanted to remain by Sunset's side. She knew it may have been unlikely, but she hoped that the Elf would pull through.

Ghidorah stood in a dark room. His helmet was held at his side as he stood. His eyes were red and his hair was a golden brown that almost resembled a lion's mane. His face was slightly wrinkled and his ears were pointed, marking him as an Elf. His eyes stared at the projections that were in the room with the higher authority of MONARCH. Onyx stood by his side.
"This is unacceptable, Agent Ghidorah. We were counting on you to eliminate Lucky Dragon at all costs!" scolded one of the holographic apparitions in the room.
"Your failure is beyond words for someone of your caliber." said another man. Ghidorah hardened his stare.
"With all due respect, sirs. I was in the process of eliminating all of your failed experiments including the two that a few of your older scientists created before your hands got into it. Unfortunately, I was forced to abort my assault due to the meltdown that was occurring at the time." said Ghidorah. "It was your mechs who caused more problems for the facility. Your engineers create such incompetent machines that do not exercise enough caution. In other words, they are stupid."
"My mechs are the most advanced they have ever been! They are capable of harming the most ruthless of Transmutants!" said a man defensively.
"Physically and weapon wise, they are advanced. But their A.I. programs are ineffective. They recklessly attacked by launching rockets all over the damned place!" said Ghidorah in annoyance.
"Watch your tone with us, Agent! You were given a special privilege to be in our ranks much like Shiragami was. Learn who your masters are like the dog that you are." said another man. Ghidorah's eyes glared at the man as he gave a hissing sound. Onyx placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a stern look. Ghidorah relaxed himself but continued to keep a hard stare.
"Gentlemen, I do apologize for this. But Agent Ghidorah has sworn his loyalty to our organization. The soldiers do not suspect a thing about him being one of our earliest experiments. He has assisted us for years and we should be appreciative of that." said Onyx. "Of course, it was unfortunate that we were unable to eliminate Lucky Dragon or Destoroyah, but we have the first trapped in Saddle Arabia. Club Tail and Thunderbird have been locked away in the Vault. There is no sign of Angel, but Shiragami claims that Shimmer had eliminated her."
"According to these medical files, the Elf was exposed to a high dosage of radiation during the previous night." said a man as he scanned through a metal pad that held digital images and text.
"Yes. But she'll be fine." said Onyx.
"I'm not concerned whether she will die or not. I am concerned about-"
"Yes, I know. I already have an agent inside. He'll make sure we keep the rest in the dark. Shimmer will survive because of 'luck'." said Onyx as he quoted with his fingers.
"Very well." replied the man.
"What is the status on Kiryu's completion?" asked Onyx.
"It's nearly finished. We just need to run a final test on its A.I. system." said a man. Ghidorah snorted.
"Any chance that thing will cause more problems like your other mechs did the previous night?" asked Ghidorah. The man looked to him in offense.
"I can assure you that this machine will put the others to shame! The cloned DNA from the Alpha's brain was inserted into the quasi-organic computer controls and will allow this machine to learn and act on its own! It can calculate different sorts of situation and act accordingly to solve the situation!" said the man.
"So, you still won't let humans control your machines? You rather let a program do it for you?" asked Ghidorah.
"My machines are the future! This breakthrough of transcending brain matter and technology can lead us to immortality!" said the man proudly. Ghidorah scoffed.
"Yeah. That is until these things rust away or something else ruins your technology. I have little faith of gaining immortality through machines." said Ghidorah. The man growled in frustration at Ghidorah ignoring the potential of his technology.
"If Kiryu is nearly complete, I want it ready as soon as possible. I want it to face Destoroyah the next time we find him. Lucky Dragon as well." said Onyx with a cold expression.
"Lucky Dragon? What need will there to be if he is trapped inside of the quarantined zone in Saddle Arabia?" asked a man. "He'll starve to death before he can escape."
"No, he'll adapt." said Onyx. "Transmutants have a way to survive longer without physical food. They can still metabolize by consuming the radiation in long doses. Lucky Dragon is trapped in a zone that has been quarantined because of a nuclear meltdown. As we speak, he's feeding off of the radiation in the air trapped with him. He's not going to die anytime soon."
"Besides, it won't be long before he figures out how to escape." said Onyx.
"Hmm. Then we will have to make sure Kiryu, Erika and Ghidorah are ready." said the man. The men murmured in agreement. "Good day to you, Onyx."
The apparitions faded away. The dark room slowly lit up with lights in the room. Ghidorah sighed in annoyance.
"Dirty, rotten, fat cats." spat Ghidorah.
"Don't let them get to you. They aren't in charge of you, I am." said Onyx. The two made their way out of the room and into an office. "Do try to not provoke them either. It will make our plans more difficult."
"Yes. But I still would like to crush their skulls under my heel." said Ghidorah with a dark smile. Onyx smirked. He then made his way to sit down at his desk.
"Well, the situation with Sunset Shimmer will raise some confusion. Especially with Private Shiragami." said Onyx.
"The girl, she doesn't seem like the rest." said Ghidorah.
"Yes, because she's special. And she's a major part in our plan. It's important that she is kept alive, at least until we can enact out our plan." said Onyx as he organized papers on his desk. Ghidorah nodded.
"Immortality through machines, though? That's stupid." said Ghidorah. Onyx nodded in agreement.
"Yes. The rest are thinking too small with their plans. Winning over control of a nation through the promise of protection is brilliant, but it takes too long. They are even trying to come up with plans to give them reasons to remain occupied in nations." said Onyx. He then tapped his desk with a sigh. "There are even discussions about implanting magic-infused chips into the soldiers as an insurance to keep the army."
"Hmph. They really are that desperate at keeping the loyalty of the soldiers?" asked Ghidorah.
"You can't have an army without loyal soldiers. The best they can do is to keep them ignorant of the whole experimentation done years ago. They were even reluctant to let Private Shimmer to participate as a soldier. She knew a bit about classified experiments such as creating hybrids from scratch." said Onyx. He smirked. "A contingency plan if MONARCH were to run out of Transmutants to kill. But, of course, the scientists didn't know that's what they were for."
"But the Transmutants are necessary. Especially a few of them." said Ghidorah. Onyx nodded.
"They are. He will be expecting that we are ready for his return. That's why he wanted you to take the lead when we began our plan." said Onyx.
"Right. Tell the others that I will be ready. They just need to make sure they can get the necessary Transmutants to help with the plan." said Ghidorah. Onyx smiled darkly.
"Just make sure you don't kill them first before we can start." said Onyx. Ghidorah smirked.
"Make sure you have the third secret experiment ready. So much has been done with Alpha's DNA all of those years ago." said Ghidorah. Onyx smiled.
"I think he will be most happy with that one. I hope you aren't too sore about not being the heir after our king." said Onyx.
"No, my time will come when the new heir dies. If he does before age kills him, that means he was weak, just like the man he was made from." said Ghidorah with a sinister smile.

The Colonel of the base treaded through his office. His paces were slow as he began to grow anxious. He has yet to learn if the soldiers that were out on their mission to eliminate the Shisa had yet to find the creature. He wasn't sure if they were already aware of the truth. The more time passed, the more his suspicions grew as they continued their supposed search. He turned as he heard the door to his office open. An Elf man with black hair and in black uniform appeared from behind the door. He walked in and stood at attention.
"The Director informed me of your...situation." said the Elf.
"Oh, good. Then you may know what's at stake here." said the Colonel. The Elf nodded.
"I'll make sure Yoshi and the others are dead before word can get out." said the Elf.
"Be discreet about it. I'll upload their files to you so you can get started." said the Colonel.

Yoshi remained silent as he and a three of his trusted comrades stood by. Two of his other soldiers remained outside of the cave near the entrance, keeping guard. They looked on at Caesar as he remained turned around. There was an uneasy amount of silence going on.
"Caesar?" called a Neighponese man.
"There isn't much time. You must act now." said Caesar. He then turned to face the humans with a hard stare.
"MONARCH will begin to grow suspicious of you. You all must act before it is too late! More lives are being lost as the days roll by!" said Caesar urgently.
"We've been gathering a few close friends that we could trust. We've been coming up with contingency plans if this fails." said Yoshi.
"Wait, you never said anything about this plan failing, Yoshi!" said a woman incredulously.
"There's always the possibility of failure, which is why I wanted to make sure that we had a fall back plan before we start. MONARCH still hasn't caught on to its files being accessed, but now we do what we have to do as soon as possible." said Yoshi. He raised his arm and began to press small buttons on a pad that was attached to his wrist. A holographic image appeared and displayed a map of Equestria.
"Our fall back plan is to flee to Equestria. From there, we can take refuge on the soil that is forbidden to be walked on by MONARCH personnel." said Yoshi. Caesar eyed the holographic image curiously as did the moth fairies. "We can also inform the rulers of this country that the higher ups are corrupt. We can prevent the larger threat that's looming too if we can earn more allies."
"How about Transmutants as allies?" suggested a man. The soldiers looked to him in confusion.
"What Transmutants? I don't think any of them would be too keen on allying with us." deadpanned a woman.
"Maybe they could! I've heard rumors that there's a group of Transmutants living near a human settlement that they are also protecting!" replied the male soldier. Yoshi looked down in thought at the possibility of having Transmutant allies. It seemed crazy, but it sounded promising at the same time.
"Yes. But we should probably at least focus on allying with the rulers of the country before we find these Transmutants." said Yoshi. The man nodded in understanding.
"Hmm. This does sound promising." said Caesar. He nodded in approval. "Yes, you will be safe since MONARCH is bound by laws for the time being."
"Caesar, we want you to come with us." said Yoshi. The Shisa's eyes widened.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Caesar, we were ordered to silence you! You know too much about MONARCH's secret! The higher ups will do anything to keep our comrades blissfully ignorant!" said Yoshi.
"But...this has been my home for the last thousand years." said Caesar as he gestured to the cave. He looked on sadly. "The humans built this temple for me to live in as thanks for being their guardian. I have so many treasured memories here."
"Caesar, you'll risk being found if you remain here." reasoned the female soldier. "You can die out here!"
"Yeah, we need your help if we're going to put an end to this!" said another man. The four soldiers began to give verbal agreements. Caesar lowered his head sadly.
"Caesar, they're right." said a small voice. The Shisa turned and found a moth fairy fluttering towards him. It spoke in a small feminine voice. "We have to leave. This temple is not safe anymore. You are needed if we wish to save the world from what's to come."
"I...I suppose you are right. I will miss this old place." said Caesar with a sigh.
"Caesar, I promise you that when this is over, you will be able to return here again." said Yoshi with a reassuring smile. Caesar smiled back.
"Thank you, Yoshi." said Caesar.
"Alright. Well, we need to head back. We're going to enact our plan tonight so be ready in case things don't go well." said Yoshi. Caesar nodded.
"Very well. Would you please give me a minute alone with this place?" requested Caesar. Yoshi nodded in approval.
"Sure. Go on ahead. We'll meet you outside of the temple grounds." said Yoshi as he turned and lead the soldiers outside. Caesar turned back and looked at the cave walls. He observed the paintings on the walls that were left by the ancients. How unfortunate that not many people have been able to observe them in modern days.
"It's felt like yesterday since the day it came." said Caesar as he looked up to the ceiling where the image of the comet was depicted. His eyes hardened as he looked towards a wall that depicted an obscured painting. A golden three head dragon without arms but with great wings was shown emerging from the destroyed comet. "It felt even more recent since he showed up."
"And now he's threatening to return." said one of the moth fairies with dread. Caesar nodded gravely.
"Already he walks among the humans. He must be stopped or else we will all perish." said Caesar gravely. He then looked to the image of the legendary Gojira.
"More than ever, we needed you. But now, your son will have to be the one who will bring the world back into balance." said Caesar. One of the moth fairies raised herself as her antennae twitched.
"Oh peace..." said the moth. Another moth stood and began to twitch her antennae as well.
"Oh light..." said the second moth. Caesar closed his eyes.
"Return." said Caesar.
"Return." said all of the moth fairies in unison.

Yoshi and his squad continued to walk away from the temple. They continued down the stairs that led into the jungle. The armored man looked back towards the temple in pity. He understood the feeling of leaving your home. It was hard for him as well to leave his home to be a warrior to protect innocent people.
"So, what do you think Equestria is like compared to Neighpon?" asked a soldier in Neighponese.
"I heard it's nice. But people seem to refer to each other by first names over their rather than surnames." answered Yoshi. The soldier looked to him surprise.
"Huh?! But, are they really that close to each other to do such a thing?!" exclaimed the solider. Yoshi shrugged.
"I guess it's just a cultural thing." answered Yoshi. One of the women in his squad gulped nervously.
"I think I'm beginning to have second thoughts on going to Equestria. I don't know if I can handle adapting to two different cultures so quickly." said the woman worriedly.
"Oh come on! You're a soldier that's been fighting people who transform into creatures that turned out to be Kaiju! You'll be fine with this!" said Yoshi in reassurance.
"Maybe." said the woman with a sigh. Suddenly, she felt her chest burn painfully. She cried out in agony as a bolt of magic shot through her chest and passed through her back. She fell back and dropped to the ground, motionless. The soldiers trailed to where the bolt had traveled from and spotted a dark figure carrying a sniper rifle.
"Sniper!!" shouted a soldier as he raised his rifle. He fired rapid shots at the figure, which leapt out of the away and continued to fire his rifle. The shots missed the soldier but one managed to knock the rifle out of his hands. He cursed as he took cover. Suddenly, several more figures appeared from the forest and hills and began to fire their weapons at the soldiers. Yoshi rushed over to his fallen comrade and began to drag her away to cover behind a large tree. Another one of his squad mates hid behind the tree next to him with a frantic expression.
"Who's shooting at us?!" exclaimed the male soldier.
"I don't know! Kato, look after her! We'll handle them!" ordered Yoshi as he pulled out his rifle from behind his back. He then rolled out of cover and began to fire at the figures on the hill. He fired rapidly as he ran over to large boulder in the forest. He managed to shoot a few soldiers down who rolled down the hill. Yoshi took cover next to one of his comrades as she reloaded the shells to her shot gun.
"I really should have gotten slug bolt rounds instead of the buckshot rounds! I can barely get close enough!" complained the Elf soldier.
"I can. I'll trade you weapons!" said Yoshi as he held out his rifle to her. The brown haired woman nodded and handed her shot gun to Yoshi and took the rifle. She then peeked her head from the corner of the rock but pulled back as a bolt nearly struck her in the head.
"Ok! I'll cover you I guess!" said the soldier.
"Alright, I'm counting on you, Inoue!" said Yoshi. The soldier nodded to him. Inoue took a quick breath and peaked over to the side of the boulder and began to fire upon the figures on the hill. They began to fire back at her, failing to notice Yoshi charging towards them. He ignited his thrusters and was forced up the hill at high velocity, leaping into the air and pumping the shotgun. He fired one shot, hitting two figures at once with the scattering magic orbs. He then pumped the rifle and fired again at the third figure, striking him with all buck shots in the chest. He then kicked the rifle out of the last remaining figure's hand as he landed on the ground and then slammed the shotgun against his head, knocking him unconscious. Yoshi turned to find Inoue safely sprinting away from the boulder and deeper into the forest. Yoshi ran down the hill and followed her where the rest of their comrades faced gun fire.
"Koizumi! Toss me a grenade!" shouted an Earthbound man with grey hair. The six foot four Earthbound soldier that he called to reached for his belt and pulled out a grey palm sized sphere with a pin inside of it. He wore the same kind of advanced armor that Yoshi wore except with a yellow visor and a crimson color. He bore dual katanas on his backside. A symbol of a skull was painted on the center of his chest piece.
"Here you go, Ishida!" Koizumi shouted back. He tossed the grenade from his tree over to Ishida's tree. The man caught the grenade and pulled the pin out. He looked to the nearest group of figures that shot at them.
"Eat this!" shouted Ishida as he reared his arm back and tossed the grenade. One of the assailants was struck by the grenade against his helmet. He looked down and found the grenade on the grass.
"Oh, shit!" shouted the soldier as he turned in attempt to flee. He bumped into another soldier that was coming up from behind and stumbled, much to the confusion of the other assailants. Suddenly, they were caught in an explosion of fire and shrapnel.
More bolts from rifles whizzed towards the soldiers. Inoue took cover next to Ishida. She panted as she held her rifle close to herself.
"Good to see you're still breathing, Inoue." said Ishida. The Elf with white hair looked to him with a grin.
"Can't take me down that easily!" said Inoue. She yelped as a bolt nearly struck her. She dropped to her rear as she clutched her rifle. "But I'm afraid that we won't last long!"
"Don't count on it!" said Yoshi as pressed forward. He began to fire the shotgun in his hand towards the figures that fired at him. A few bolts struck his armor but failed to pierce through, only leaving scorch marks. The rest of the soldiers moved out of cover and began to fire their weapons at the figures. The figures were mowed down by their weapons. Koizumi laughed maniacally as he fired his rifle.
"SUCK MAGIC!!" shouted Koizumi as he fired his rifle at the figures. He then dropped his rifle and pulled out his dual katanas and charged towards the enemy lines. He leapt into the air and spun as he stretched out his arms.
"Tornado swing, bitches!" shouted Koizumi with glee as his swords cut down. He then tucked his back and rolled as he landed. He then rushed over to a figure and stabbed him with both swords, pinning the figure against the tree. Koizumi brought his face close to the assassin, who heaved in agony.
"My! This is certainly a sticky situation isn't it?" said Koizumi in a high tone. He was speaking in Equish with the man, who was coughing blood.
"You...fuuu-" the man slumped down, his eyes twitched as blood poured from his mouth.
"Oh. You're dead." said Koizumi in surprise. He then shrugged as he pulled the katanas out. "Oh, well. Time to kill some more enemies!"
"Sticky situation? That didn't even fit with what you did!" said Ishida in exasperation.
"Hey! Do not question me!" shouted Koizumi as he dropped kicked an oncoming enemy and jammed his left katana into the enemy’s back.
"Focus!" shouted Yoshi. A figure pointed his rifle from behind him but was killed by Inoue who fired at him.
"Watch your back, Yoshi!" scolded Inoue.
"Right, sorry!" said Yoshi as he sent a punch towards another figure. Ishida yelled as he fired his rifle at oncoming enemies. Soon, the attacks stopped and no one was left. Koizumi searched the area.
"Hmm. Kinda boring. I was hoping that it'd be more challenging." said Koizumi in disappointment. Inoue looked to him in annoyance.
"You loon! We should be happy that we fought them off!" said Inoue.
"But who were they? How did they obtain MONARCH weaponry? Unless..." said Ishida. His eyes grew wide in realization. Yoshi rushed over to one of the corpses and found him to be covered in black armor. This was one of the suits of stealth armor that were given to the special operative units of MONARCH. They were more affordable than the armor worn by Yoshi, Koizumi and a few other soldiers.
"These are MONARCH soldiers." said Yoshi in shock as he backed away. He placed his hand over his helmet as he gritted his teeth. "We've been killing our comrades!"
"Oh..." said Inoue, her eyes downcast. She clenched her fist. Ishida looked at the soldiers in disappointment. Koizumi merely stared at the bodies.
"So much for my joy at killing bad guys." said Koizumi in a disappointed tone. Inoue wanted to respond harshly to the man clad in red armor but decided against it. She remembered how the man was unorthodox when it came to expressing himself. Yoshi sighed as he turned to Inoue.
"Go help Kato tend to Nagato." ordered Yoshi. Inoue nodded and ran over to where the two soldiers were. Ishida kneeled down to one of the dead soldiers.
"How did this happen? Who sent them to kill us?" asked Ishida. A bright flash of light appeared out of the corner of his eye. He turned and found one assailant in the same kind of black armor with his hands engulfed in a red aura. He fired a beam of magic towards Ishida, who rolled out of the way.
"I wasn't expecting you to survive this attack." said a male voice in Equish. His aura that engulfed his hand suddenly turned black with green and purple mixed with its fiery appearance. "No matter. I'll have to silence you myself."
"Dark magic!" said Yoshi in shock as he recognized the color scheme. The soldier in black shot his hands forward, sending a beam of crackling magic towards the soldiers. The trio leapt out of the way. Yoshi raised his shotgun and fired at the black armored soldier. The soldier raised his hands and projected a black shield that blocked the buckshot. Koizumi dashed over towards the man in black armor and began to swing his dual swords at him.
"Dark magic? Last time I checked, that's a no, no!" said Koizumi in Equish as he swung his swords towards the man. The soldier dodged the blades and kicked Koizumi in the gut, knocking him off of his feet. Koizumi crashed onto the ground and groaned.
"Ah Koizumi. How nice to meet you." said the man in black armor.
"What? You want me to sign your poster or something?" asked Koizumi in annoyance as he hopped back to his feet. He then charged back towards the soldier along with Yoshi. Yoshi was blasted away by a bolt of dark magic, sending sparking magic through him. He cried out in pain as he flew away into the tree.
"Oh, hell to the no!" said Koizumi as swung his katana blades at the black armored soldier. Ishida picked up a rifle and aimed it at the soldier in black armor as he dodged and countered Koizumi's attacks. When his back way turned, Ishida pulled the trigger.
"You'll all die- gah!" shouted the soldier in agony as he staggered from the bolt wound. He glared at Ishida. The man attempted to fire again but the weapon did not fire any magic bolts. His eyes widened.
"Oh, son of a bitch." said Ishida as he realized that his weapon had run out of ammo. The black armored soldier raised his hand as he prepared to fire another beam of dark magic. Suddenly, his forearm was dismembered by a katana that hurled through his limb. The soldier yelled in agony as he fell to his knees and clutched his dismembered arm.
"Hah! I got ya!" shouted Koizumi as he pumped his fist into the air. The black armored soldier glared at Koizumi in anger.
"You bastard!!" shouted the soldier as he raised his remaining arm towards Koizumi. Suddenly, Yoshi tackled him to the ground and twisted the soldier's arm, causing him to yell in pain.
"Who sent you?!" demanded Yoshi as he twisted the soldier's arm.
"Gah! I'll never talk!" shouted the soldier.
"Move aside. I bet I can make him talk." said Koizumi as he laughed sinisterly. Ishida backed away fearfully from the red armored man. Yoshi gave him a deadpanned stare from behind his helmet.
"Koizumi, torturing him to the point of death will only make him useless to us. We won't be able to get any information out of him." said Yoshi. Koizumi crossed his arms in disappointment.
"Ah you're no fun!" said Koizumi with a scoff. Yoshi sighed in annoyance.
"We'll discuss our definitions of fun later." said Yoshi.
"Keep that lunatic away from me! I've read his file on how he interrogates people!" shouted the soldier in black. Ishida stared at his bleeding wound.
"We'll have to stop the bleeding if we want him to remain alive." said Ishida. The man in black laughed maniacally to himself.
"Don't bother. I failed my mission to silence you all. I rather die here than suffer at the hand of my master." said the man darkly. He began to gurgle and choke as he convulsed. Yoshi released him and found the man to convulse much further. He stared with wide eyes.
"H-hail....lord...S..." the man struggled to speak. His helmet began to leak from his own bile that trailed down his mouth. His eyes rolled back and he slumped into the grass. He exhaled as he took his last breath. The soldiers stared in shock at the sudden death of the soldier. Yoshi removed the soldier’s helmet and found the face of an Elf man with black hair. Yoshi noticed that the veins of his neck were black. He searched his body for any punctures or needles. Just about anything that could be a clue to his sudden death. He then noticed that the soldier's hand seemed to be holding something small. Yoshi opened his hand and found a small round object with a needle imbedded into his hand. Yoshi pulled the object out of the dead soldier's hand. He spotted the MONARCH insignia painted in black on the item. His HUD began to analyze the object, unable to find any information on it.
"This thing doesn't exist in the data banks. It must be some kind of toxic dart." said Yoshi. Koizumi placed his swords back into their sheaths behind his back.
"So, the higher ups sent someone to kill us?" asked Koizumi. He then chuckled. "Biiiiig mistake!"
"We can't worry about that. We must get the information to our comrades before it's too late." said Yoshi. Inoue came jogging back to them.
"How's Nagato?" asked Yoshi.
"She's fine. The bolt missed her vital organs so that's good. She needs medical attention though." said Inoue. Yoshi nodded. He and the rest of the squad made their way over to their comrade who lied on the ground.
"Yoshi...what happened?" asked Nagato in Neighponese. She wasn't fluent in Equish so she and Kato mainly stuck to speaking Neighponese with their squad mates.
"We were attacked by MONARCH soldiers. The Colonel must know of our knowledge for the truth of the organization's leadership." said Yoshi. Nagato slumped back sadly.
"So, they're dead?" asked Nagato.
"I'm afraid so." answered Yoshi. He then noticed Caesar and the moth fairies to be quickly approaching.
"What happened?!" asked Caesar.
"It's as you said. They were growing suspicious. But the Colonel must already know." answered Yoshi. Caesar sighed. He then noticed Nagato lying down wounded.
"Mister, let me help." said one of the moth fairies. Kato looked to the creature uneasily.
"Uh...no thanks. I'm a professional medic." said Kato.
"But I can help her recover faster!" said the moth fairy as she fluttered her wings. Sparkles were blown from her wings and flowed down to Nagato's wound. Slowly, the wound began to seal up as the sparkles buried themselves inside. Nagato gasped as she felt the sparkles tingle in her wound. She shot up and began to feel at her chest. Her tank top was bloody in her chest area, but her wound was healed. She looked to the moth fairy with wide eyes.
"Thank you!" said Nagato. The moth fairy chirped happily.
"You're very welcome!" said the moth. Yoshi smiled at the creature. Such a cute insect did carry such amazing power. He was happy to have creatures like her as allies. He then looked to Caesar with a hard stare.
"We need to head back to base now. It's time." said Yoshi. Caesar nodded in agreement.

The Colonel sat at his desk patiently. His eyes stared at the wood of his desk as the sound of his watch beeping reached his ears. It was the third hour since he has heard anything from Onyx's so called, 'trusted agent'. He began to grow more anxious.
"He should have called back by now. Where is he?" grumbled the Colonel as he picked up a COM ear piece and placed it into his ear. "Agent, this is Colonel Monger. What is your status?"
The COM ear piece gave a static sound. It remained like this for nearly a minute. No one answered. Monger groaned worriedly. He then placed his finger against the ear piece again.
"I repeat, this is Colonel Monger! What is your status on Sergeant Yoshi?" asked Monger anxiously. The static returned as he released the ear piece. There still was no answer. He removed the ear piece from his ear and cursed as he threw it across the room. He placed his hands over his face as he tried to remain calm. Looking towards the red gem that lied on the desk, he immediately grabbed it and then pulled out one of the drawers to his desk. He reached in and pulled out a pistol, switching off the safety. Monger then made his way over to the dark room that he used to communicate with the high command. He began to sweat profusely as he placed the gem in the center disk, causing it to light up. He then closed the door to the room and turned back to the center of the room. An apparition of Onyx appeared in the room.
"Director Onyx, the agent that you have had sent to assist me in silencing Yoshi and his squad has not returned! He won't answer his COM! I believe that he may be dead!" said Monger urgently. Onyx hummed to himself.
"I see. Well, perhaps Yoshi defeated him and his squad." said Onyx. He sighed. "A shame. We may actually be losing a base and a number of our forces."
"Director, you have to help me contain this! The higher ups will have my head if we lose this base!" pleaded Monger. Onyx shook his head.
"You're on your own from here. I cannot do anything for you. If I could, I'd risk losing my chair as Director of MONARCH's military." said Onyx.
"You'll end up losing it anyway if you let these damn renegades live! The soldiers will rebel against the high command! Which includes you!" said Monger angrily. Onyx laughed darkly.
"Oh, but not every soldier will rebel against us. For you see, I've prepared a spell in case something like this were to happen." said Onyx. "As we speak, my magic has reached into the cyber space and communication towers of our organization. I have made it where the entire facility that you are in charge of is blocked. Everything from radio and computers will be shorted out within your base, along with any information that they have taken."
"What?!" exclaimed Monger. Onyx nodded.
"It's quite an advanced spell that I've developed myself as I've begun to become more tech savvy. Such a wonder with what you can do with combining magic with technology." said Onyx fondly.
The sound of banging echoed in the room. Monger turned and made his way over to a wall that held a screen. He found a small group of armed soldiers standing at the door that led into his office. Yoshi was among them. Onyx chuckled.
"I guess Yoshi succeeded in getting word out to the other soldiers." said Onyx. He shook his head. "It’s a shame to lose a base here in Okinawa. Oh well, the story will be that a radical group among our ranks had taken control of the base and killed the ones who resisted and the man who died trying to protect the soldiers under his command."
"No! We had a deal, Onyx!" shouted Monger.
"Well, the deal is expired. I must be going. MONARCH has a base of rebels that must be dealt with. Goodbye, Colonel Monger." said Onyx with a dark smile. The apparition of Onyx faded away. Monger turned back to the screen and found that the soldiers were preparing to break in. He searched frantically for an escape route, but there wasn't any. In his office was nothing but walls with no windows to sneak out of. He was trapped and may be facing persecution by his own men.
"No. No!" shouted Monger. He then looked to the pistol that was in his grip and stared at it. He then looked to the screen where the soldiers were backing away from the steel door. The camera panned and spotted a man bringing in a blow torch.

A large group of soldiers stared at a large screen in the mess hall. Last they remembered, they were enjoying a nice hot meal for dinner. They were chatting with their fellow comrades as they feasted after a long day. However, dinner time was interrupted when the screen that mainly played recorded footage of sports games was interrupted. The screen instead played distorted images that blocked out the game. Soldiers and staff members such as scientists that looked over data pads or the computer consoles began to experience the same problem. An image of Yoshi standing in a dark cave appeared.
"Greetings, my comrades. I am Sergeant Hayato Yoshi." said Yoshi as he bowed. Neighponese text appeared under him, translating his words. The people began to murmur among themselves in surprise at how the war hero was appearing on the screen and other screened electronic equipment. "Like you, I am a soldier dedicated in protecting people and nations that request our assistance from either Transmutant threats, civil war, disasters, and international war."
"But recently, I and several others have learned of a terrible secret. A secret kept from soldiers, scientists, engineers, and other staff members who have dedicated their service to MONARCH." said Yoshi. He disappeared from the screen and was replaced by a film reel that displayed the text, 'MONARCH Eyes Only'. A countdown began on the screen that later led to classified footage from over a decade before. Footage of a man strapped to a bed with needles in bedded into his skin, filling him with an orange colored liquid along with unknown chemicals. The skin on his arms along with his chest was cut with the needles pinned inside of the incisions where the red-orange liquid and other chemicals were injected into his muscles and veins. Men in sanitized apparel were monitoring the subject and injecting him with the liquids. The MONARCH insignia was faded in the bottom corner of the screen as the top displayed a date and running time of the footage. The viewers of the video were beginning to become unnerved at what they were witnessing. The footage changed to show a scarred man that was fighting his restraints and managing to free himself.
"Hold him down!" shouted a male voice. From behind the camera view, came rushing two men in grey armor with the MONARCH insignia painted on their helmets. They began to push and hold the man down as he struggled to escape. But the man merely struck one of the armored men. He yelled angrily as he tackled him but was struck with a cattle prod.
"The high command of our organization is corrupt. Our organization was involved with illegal genetic manipulation of human civilians during the appearance of Transmutants, Alpha and Lucky Dragon. This was known as Project: Beast, a project proposed and passed by the men who founded our organization." said Yoshi. Although he did not appear on screen, his voice was heard. The audience began to talk among themselves in confusion due to the shocking images. They stared in shock and gasped at the next footage. The footage changed to showing a child strapped to the bed receiving the same treatment that the two men were.
"That's a freaking kid!" exclaimed someone from among the crowd. The footage changed to showing images of the test subjects for the project. One of the images was a little girl with brunette hair that gave information about her name, origin, age, date of birth and code name. People began to recognize the codename: Angel. Another image appeared next to the little girl and displayed the face of a young woman with white hair. The two bore striking similarities in skin tone, eye color and a bit of hair style.
"Adults were not the only candidates for this heinous project. Children were experimented on and augmented as well." said Yoshi
"MONARCH salvaged the remaining scientists that were responsible for the creation of Lucky Dragon and Alpha, using their knowledge and their surviving resources to create more Transmutants. This is one of the test subjects, Mosura Yasu, today known as the Transmutant dubbed: Angel." said Yoshi in a solemn voice.
"Oh shit." said someone from among the crowds. The soldiers' stomachs turned as they saw footage of multiple screens displaying men, women and children locked in cells with the MONARCH insignia faded in the corner.
"Project Beast was intended to be a military project in creating soldiers that were physically superior compared to humans. But this came with other results." said Yoshi. The screen displayed mantis-like creatures screeching as they remained locked in cells. A smaller screen depicted a black moth larvae roaring as it killed one of the mantises, only to be subdued by MONARCH soldiers. The audience was shocked and dread began to fill at the implications of what they were seeing. "My comrades, for years we were told that the Transmutants had risen due to the work of an unknown enemy. The high command was right. The enemy was unknown, for we never suspected that the high command itself was responsible for the creation of more Transmutants!"
"MONARCH's resources were taken advantage of to kidnap over a hundred innocent people, only to transform them into the monsters that they are today!" said Yoshi. Footage of combat recordings was displayed, showing MONARCH soldiers fighting Transmutants. Destoroyah roared in his demonic form as he killed soldiers with ease. Insect and bird-like creatures attacked the civilians that were caught on footage of a few soldier's helmets. A teenager with jet black hair and red eyes leapt towards the camera from a soldier's HUD, causing it to show static. From an empty room, an older man sat down at one of the computer consoles. He clenched his hand in anger.
"The war between MONARCH and the Transmutants was brought on because of the foolishness of the men who led us! Men and women of higher places compared to our own knew about their plot and willingly helped these men!" said Yoshi. Images of certain individuals of MONARCH's highest ranking officers, credited engineers, and scientists were revealed to the soldiers. One of the images of one of the high ranking officers brought the people to shock.
"That's Colonel Monger!" exclaimed an engineer in the vehicle depot building.
"Our very own Colonel of this base is in league with them as well! The files which we have gotten from our very own database have secrets that go against what MONARCH stands for!" said Yoshi. An image of Erika Shiragami was displayed on the screen.
"Private Shiragami was another experiment authorized by the high command in attempt to revive their so called, 'super soldier program'. They have turned our comrade into a slave that believes that what she is doing is for the greater good of all of us. But in reality, she's been stripped of her physical human traits like the other victims of Project: Beast, to silence them." said Yoshi. Another image of Erika was displayed with vines sticking out of her back along with her hand with sharp claws. "My comrades, we have been fighting a war that's torn the lives of those that were participating in it and those who were caught in the middle."
"Oh, dear Faust. How could this be?" said a woman in a lab coat as she placed her face into her palms. Her tone was distraught from the revelation of a dark secret that eluded her and others for so long.
"The higher ups do not care about any of us. They only care for wealth, power and control!" said Yoshi. Images of factories being built into other countries were shown. "MONARCH profits off of those who are in trouble. The higher ups are paid to send us in to do whatever it is we are deployed to do and the construction of more research facilities are placed in these countries. There was even a contingency plan that the high command made for when the Transmutants had died off."
A short footage of a humanoid bat creature was trapped in a cage. The creature shrieked as it held its claws around the bars. A few people stared in horror at the creature. More images of nearly anthropomorphic beasts appeared, ranging from dogs, lions, rhinos and few other dangerous creatures. Footage of a bat-like creature that escaped from captivity was shown. The creature shrieked as it pounced on a young Elf woman with crimson hair with gold streaks. The woman cried out in terror as the creature attacked her. She was knocked unconscious as she was slammed against the wall.
"These creatures were made from scratch of splicing animal and human DNA by one of MONARCH's genetic research teams. This group here was ordered by one of our high commanders that owns a company involved in the same field. His resources were used to create these creatures to act as tools to prolong the Transmutant Terrorism threat!" said Yoshi. An image of the creatures frozen in ice and stored into a dark and cold room was shown. "These men do not want this war to end! They want it to continue so that they may continue to profit off of it! And when nations are at their mercy from the prolonged attacks, they plan to forge a new government that will unite known world into an order where the high command; the wealthiest men of the world are in power."
"My comrades, this is the true agenda that we were not told of. MONARCH started off as a military force decades ago that served only the country that it was founded on. But as the years went by and when the organization became international, leadership grew corrupt. We are pawns for their plan to force their will onto the people that we were sworn to protect. Our homes, our nations will no longer be sovereign. They will belong to these men of power." said Yoshi. The soldiers stormed out of the rooms that they occupied in anger. A few stood by in shock as they continued to stare off into the screen. Yoshi's face reappeared on screen.
"My friends, we must unite against them. Together, we can take back MONARCH and restore it to what it once stood for. Protection. Because that's what we signed up for." said Yoshi. A few soldiers made their way into the weapons locker and began to take rifles for themselves.
"The Colonel is a dead man." said one of the soldiers with a look of anger.

Yoshi stood among his fellow soldiers as they watched one of the engineers use his blow torch against the steel door. He noticed how the other soldiers were beginning to feel the fingers itching to pull the trigger. But, he did not intend to kill the Colonel. The man must pay for his crime, alive. He felt that it was the best way to punish a criminal for his deception and attempt at silencing those who knew the truth.
"Remember, no one kill the Colonel. If he has a weapon, shoot to wound." ordered Yoshi.
"Copy that." said a soldier.
"Fine," sighed another soldier.
"Affirmative." said a third soldier. Yoshi nodded in approval. Suddenly, the sound of gun fire came from inside of the room. The soldiers all flinched at the sudden sound.
"Oh, don't tell me!" said a soldier anxiously. The engineer with the blow torch had finally cut the steel door all around its frame. The soldiers pushed on the door and caused it to fall. The soldiers all rushed in the room, searching for the Colonel. Yoshi spotted a door at the far end of the room and slowly began to make his way over to it. He placed his hand on the door and slid it open as he pointed his pistol inside. The room was incredibly dark with nobody around. He slowly began to walk inside, but his boot connected with something. He looked down and saw Colonel Monger lying dead on the ground. Yoshi knelt down to the commanding officer and found a bolt wound in the side of his skull. He spotted a pistol on the ground inches away from his left hand. Yoshi sighed.
"I guess he took the easy way out." said Yoshi. Koizumi stepped into the room and noticed Yoshi kneeling. He peaked over his shoulder and noticed Monger.
"Son of a bitch committed suicide? Coward." spat Koizumi. Yoshi sighed.
"We need to try and to communicate with any other close bases while we still have time." said Yoshi. He reached for his helmet and pressed his hand against its side. "Sparkplug, I need you to broadcast our message to the other bases."
"No can do! All we're getting is static! We're mute!" said Sparkplug.
"Damn!" cursed Yoshi.

Onyx emerged from the dark room from which he had private communications. He made his way over towards his desk and took a seat. Ghidorah was standing with his arms crossed. He looked to Onyx curiously.
"So, we have lost one of our bases. What now?" asked Ghidorah.
"Hmm. This is the fun part. MONARCH will believe that a group rebels compromised our base and killed any loyalists inside. We will need to retaliate by invading the base, which of course will cause more chaos with rebels fighting a recognized military organization. This is all part of the plan that we have made." said Onyx.
"By we, I assume you're not referring to the high command." said Ghidorah. Onyx smiled.
"Of course not. The betrayal of MONARCH soldiers will spark hatred from our loyal soldiers towards the new rebels. This will aid in his return." replied Onyx.
"Gojira Takeshi the second's hatred is strong. I can sense it." said Ghidorah.
"Yes. Still, his hate is not enough. But soon as he begins to continue to suffer by MONARCH and Destoroyah, I believe that his hate for his enemies will grow stronger. That, combined with the hate of our loyal soldiers and the hate of the people threatened by Transmutants, will all be forged together into the key." said Onyx with a dark smile. Ghidorah smirked.
"You are one devious bastard. He'd be proud." said Ghidorah.
"Hmph. Perhaps." said Onyx. "Remember my friend, hate, anger and fear is power. We do not let it enslave us like others do, rather we use it as our strength."
"I do remember. I've used that as my weapon thousands of years ago. You've only done it for a short time only one thousand years ago." said Ghidorah.
"Yes. But this time, it will be longer." said Onyx.