Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A lone woman sits in a brightly lit hospital room, wearing fresh hospital garbs and various bandages throughout her body. In her arms was a tiny baby in her wrapped in a slightly tattered blue cloth. Just when the baby was about to cry his mother, Margaret started to gently cradle the child in her arms and hum to him to calm him down. 

“ Estará bien. Mami no dejará que te pase nada,” Margaret whispered to the child. 

Hearing someone coming, Margaret raised her head, staring at the door. She was anticipating this, and she was ready. The automatic entry to the room quickly slid open, and a man wearing military gear and a beige cowboy hat walked into the room with a remorseful look. Colonel Booshwa “Blitz” Barnes was the commanding officer of this section of the K.D.R.A. He sat down next to Margaret but avoided eye contact. 

“ So, have you decided yet?” He bluntly asked.

“ I have. But I won’t do what either side suggests, and I have other ideas,” Margaret announced, handing the man a few sheets of paper.

“ What’s this?”

“ My list of demands, the K.D.R.A. would be crazy not to take an offer like this. Especially if I’m the one making them,” Margaret reasoned. 

When reading the last page, the man grew furious and crumpled the pieces of paper; one could even see a vein on his forehead. 

“ You can’t be serious, Margaret?! There’s no way in hell the K.D.R.A. or even anyone would agree to these terms!” Barnes slammed his fist on the table, startling the baby. Margaret remained calm and calmed the child down.

“ I know it sounds crazy; it might not even work. But if I don’t try now, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I have faith that this will work, Billy,” Margaret proclaimed.

“ Don’t you “Billy” me. Your “faith” isn’t going to win us this war and save humanity. Are you willing to gamble with the lives of every human on the planet?!” Barnes exclaimed.

“ ...Yes. I’m willing to risk it all for a chance to stop all these years of bloodshed and destruction. I’ll put everything on the line for this chance, and if I’m wrong, I’ll accept anything that comes my way,” Margaret stood her ground with eyes full of determination.

Barnes leaned back in his chair, pulling his hat over his face to hide his frustration.

“ For once in your life, why can’t you just be normal… I’ll bring this to the higher-ups and see what I can do,” Barnes reluctantly agreed to Margaret’s terms, but only enough to have their superiors consider them.

“ Thanks, Billy. I knew I could count on you,” Margaret thanked him with an obnoxious smile.

“ Yeah yeah, don’t say I never do anything for you… So with that said, I wouldn’t name it if I were you. I can’t guarantee things will go your way,” he coldly turned away. 

“ Hehe, sorry, but I’ve already picked a name for him. Isn’t that right, Duncan,” Margaret revealed as Duncan held onto her finger while he slept. 

-14 YEARS LATER-

The sun began rising over a small California town on a bright and clear August morning. Kids all over were getting ready for school, some less enthusiastic than others. Among them was Duncan, sitting on his bed and having a minor panic attack. It’s been a week since the move, it’s not something he wanted, but he didn’t have a say in the matter. Most of the boxes around the house were unpacked, and this new place was starting to feel like home; while he missed his old house, Duncan would have to make due. On top of that, this is also Duncan’s first year of high school in a new town. To say he was nervous would be a massive understatement. 

“ Hey, mom. Is not going to school an option?” Duncan asked, sitting down on one of the stools in the kitchen. 

“ It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let you miss even a day of school, Hijo,” Margaret’s answer was quick and concise as she reached into the cabinet and pulled out two dinner plates for her and Duncan. “ Especially if it’s your first day of high school,” 

“ Y-Yeah, but right now, I don’t feel so good… I might need to miss school….” Duncan grabbed his stomach, obviously faking.

“ Really? You’ve picked the wrong woman to try the whole ‘fake sick routine’ on,” Margaret made herself waffles while Duncan’s plate contained a large slab of cooked beef. 

“ This is why I’m afraid of going to school,” Duncan gestured to his breakfast. “ Mom, I only eat meat; my teeth are built like a crocodile, and do I even need to mention the third one?” Duncan rolled up his sleeve and showed his forearm partially covered in scales. “ I have scaly orange skin!” 

It went without saying, but Duncan’s black hair was unnaturally spiky, to the point where he’s often asked, “what character are you cosplaying?” but it doesn’t bother him as much as his other points. 

“ Just face it, I look like a freaky X-men….” Duncan dismally ate his breakfast. 

“ Try and look on the bright side, it’s a new school, so it’s a  whole new slate for you. You’ll have tons of opportunities to make new friends here,” Margaret tried to convince him. 

“ I don’t think you get it, mom. Most kids my age are brutes!” Duncan declared, holding his head. “ I’ve been called every orange name under the sun: Garfield, Annoying Orange, Lorax, Cheeto boy. The list goes on! It’s like I have a target painted on my back that just attracts these jerks,” Duncan groaned and put his plate in the sink. 

“ I know things have been difficult for you. But I promise you that things will start changing for you here. Just be brave and face the world head-on,” Margaret kissed Duncan’s forehead.  Margaret knew what Duncan was going through; he’s the kind of kid that wears his emotions on his sleeve. 

“ ...I hope you’re right,” Duncan muttered, grabbing his gray hoodie and backpack from the chair. The moment was cut abruptly short when an unbearably loud car horn came from the driveway, and it succeeded in getting both of their attention and scaring the hell out of them.

“ Come on, let’s go, kid!” a man called out from his driveway. 

Margaret sat down on the couch, rubbing her temples. “ Please go to school before your uncle does that again, and I begin to have thoughts of keying that car while he sleeps,” Margaret suggested.

“ Y-Yeah will do….” Duncan grabbed his stuff. 

“ Oh, and Duncan,” Margaret gave the sign language for ‘I love you  “ Bueno Suerte, te Quiero,” 

“ Te quiero también mamá” he signed back with a smile on his face. 

Duncan left the house and went straight to their driveway. Where there was an incredibly flashy-looking muscle car, in the driver’s seat was a man wearing a casual business suit and his signature beige cowboy hat.   “ Alright, I’m here! Can we just go now?” Duncan threw his bag in the back seat and slammed the car door behind him.  

“ Whoa! don't just go slamming my door. What did Veronica ever do to you?” the man asked, rubbing the car's steering wheel. 

“ ‘Veronica' didn’t do anything. My crazy uncle did!” Duncan responded. 

“ Hey, Don’t get mad at me. I told you we had to leave early. You aren’t the only one who’s got places to be, you know,” the man said, adjusting his cowboy hat in his rearview mirror. 

“ Can we just go now, Uncle Barnes?” Duncan asked, sinking deeper into the seat and quickly putting on his seat belt. “ Next time again, I’m walking to school….” Barnes laughed, revving Veronica’s engine and driving off at blinding speed. Duncan often wondered if the speed limit ever applies to this man. 

Duncan’s plan to lay low was entirely shattered when Barnes made a grand entrance at his new school, parking in a flashy and expensive muscle car, grabbing the attention of both teachers and nearby students. “ How the hell do they let someone who drives like you be an educator?!” Duncan asked desperately, trying to sink into the car seats. 

“ Hah! Do you think they’d let me be a teacher? They tried, but no. I wanted to be a gym teacher, but the higher-ups were afraid I’d kill someone,” Barnes exited the car with Duncan. Hearing those words didn’t make Duncan’s worries go away any faster. If anything, they only made him even more nervous about his first day of high school. “ I can tell you want some space, so I’ll let you get to class,” Barnes patted Duncan on the back, sending him on his way.

Compared to Duncan, Barnes didn’t have to walk far. The principal's office is usually near the school entrance. Even though he remembered his mom’s words about “facing the world head-on,” putting his hoodie over his head, Duncan still tried his best not to stand out. His new school was much larger than the middle school he was used to. Herbert Hoover high school, at a glance, has an air of professionalism, but its cold marble walls had the restricting energy of a prison. Unlike his last school, uniforms weren’t required here, and the students were allowed to express themselves through their clothing, hair, and other accessories. At least this way, his hair wouldn’t stand out. But his skin would be sure to turn some heads. It always did.

“ Okay, so where was I supposed to go again…?” He muttered, opening his phone and looking at his new schedule. His search was interrupted when he felt a hand tapping his shoulder. 

“ Excuse me. Sorry to bother you, but this school has a no hood over your head policy,” Another student was talking to him. 

“ Oh uh, sorry about that-,” Duncan took off his hood and answered the student. He turned around and saw a girl around his age and was instantly entranced, finding himself speechless. He’s talked to girls before, but this was the first time he’s ever seen a girl as pretty as her. She was nearly the same height as he was, with clear blue eyes behind large round, thin-rimmed glasses and raven black hair with a glossy look. 

“ It's no problem, at least to me. I’m just giving you a heads up. Better to have me see you with your hood on than a teacher. They’d give you hell to pay. Just teachers being uppity and way too strict,” the girl said with a welcoming smile. 

“ ...yeah, I’ve had my run-in with uppity teachers before,” Duncan reminisced on his less-than-ideal experiences. 

“ Wait, aren’t you that kid I saw leaving the car with the new principal,” the girl said with a raised eyebrow. 

“ Oh yeah, he’s my uncle… I’m Duncan, by the way,” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“ I’m Jenna. I guess I’ll see you around, Duncan,” 

“ Y-Yeah, See you around, Jenna,”

The two went in separate directions, but Duncan glanced back at Jenna for a bit. She walked past a group of boys laughing and making jokes in the hallway; the instant they saw her, they all started making sleazy remarks and catcalling her. She didn’t even bother stopping or looking at them, only flipping them off and going about her day. Those must be the school bullies that Duncan is acutely familiar with. True to form, they soon turned their attention to him and made snide remarks, right on cue, and just when Duncan thought this school would be any different.

“ Oh man, do you see that guy?”

“ God, did the annoying orange fuck his mom or something?”

If Duncan had a dollar for every time, he’s heard that one. He rolled his eyes at their remarks and went to his first-period class, wherever that was.

Duncan had managed to survive the first half of his high school debut. His appearance had caught some curious glances from students, but he was lucky enough to have not run into any more of those boys from earlier. It seems like it’s just that group that will give him trouble here; that’s a hell of a lot better than his previous schools. As soon as the lunch bell rang, Duncan was surprised at how large the cafeteria was here. There were dozens of students at a time; it was almost hard to even hear his thoughts before his ears acclimated to his surroundings. He’s never used the school's lunch lines, not once in his life. He’s always packed his lunch from home. But now the hard part is coming up, deciding where he’s going to sit and with who . It’s not a decision he can take lightly; one wrong move, and he could be stuck with a weirdo. Not that he has any room to talk. Allowing his eyes to wander, he’d noticed two other kids his age sitting at an isolated table against the back wall of the cafeteria. A boy was reading a book with a girl that looked like she was chatting up a storm. 

“ ...Remember what mom said….”Duncan had to remind himself. Mustering up courage, he went over and sat at their table. “ ...Uh, hey. I’m Duncan. It looks like we’re the only Introverts around, huh?” I sat down, trying to make conversation with them. 

Suddenly Duncan was filled with regret. Why did he assume they were introverts like he was?! 

“ Heh, a bit. My name’s Ken Rogers,” the boy put his book down. “ But please don’t bring up the singer; I’ve heard it a million times. I just prefer to be called Kenny,” he’d made his stance clear. 

“ Yep. Kenny here hates it when people bring that up. Names Isabel by the way, and only I’m allowed to make jokes about the singer,” Isabel teased. 

“ N-No, you aren’t!” An embarrassed Kenny cried out. 

“ Okay. But I wasn’t going to. I’m not well versed in musicians, and I just listen to whatever I think sounds good.” He assured Kenny. He meant that he only listens to songs from anime and video games and has no idea what music kids his age currently like or listen to. “ Wait, is that Chainsaw Man?!” Duncan’s eyes widened as soon as he saw what Kenny was reading. 

Isabel looked in the other direction. “ We’ve managed to attract another one….” She said under her breath. 

“ It is! I’m just catching up on the volume releases,” Ken said, showing Duncan the 4th volume of Chainsaw Man. 

“ Man, you’re lucky. I’ve been trying to buy the volumes for nearly a month, but they’re sold out everywhere, and I can’t even buy the first volume,” Duncan lamented. 

Isabel saw someone else coming and extended her arms out, almost like she was trying to reach for help. “ Oh, thank god you're here. Save me, Jenna! The weebs are multiplying!” She cried out. “ They’re talking about Seesaw Man-!”

“ -It’s Chainsaw Man!” Both Duncan and Kenny exclaimed.

Jenna set her lunch tray down and sat next to Isabel, on the opposite side of the table from Duncan and Kenny. “ Are you one to talk, Isabel? All someone has to do is mention a kaiju, and you have your own TED talk ready about their migration patterns or something,” Jenna retorted.

“ Okay, first of all! Kaiju don’t migrate; all their natural food sources are all in the Hollow Earth, so they would not need to migrate. We also have no idea how they raise their young, but it’s been highly theorized that they have nests similar to sea turtles or crocodiles even,” Isabel proved every word Jenna said.

“ Oh, hey Duncan,” Jenna had noticed Duncan was sitting there. 

“ Uh, hey…” He waved nervously. He wasn’t expecting to see Jenna again so soon. While he doesn’t mean it to be rude, she doesn’t look like someone who would actively hang out with him. 

Isabel finished talking about the kaiju’s nonexistent migration patterns. “ You two already know each other?”

“ Pretty much, I ran into Duncan earlier today. You know he’s the new principal's nephew?” Jenna revealed. 

“ Damn, my condolences,” Kenny patted Duncan on the back. 

Duncan opened his glass Tupperware so that he could eat his lunch. “ Please don’t remind me….” 

At lunch, Duncan’s specific dietary needs would be hard to ignore. Most kids would have a balance in their lunch; Duncan had every inch of his plate covered in meat. Two hamburger steaks with multiple meatballs on the side and two water bottles. 

“ Aren't we getting a little old to be refusing to eat our vegetables?” Jenna joked.

Duncan laughed a bit, but what he eats isn’t up to him. His unique biology makes him an “obligate carnivore,” or so he’s told by his doctor as a way of simplifying it. That’s why his teeth are so sharp; they’re designed for tearing into meat as opposed to an average human’s teeth. His body can’t get the proper nutrients that it needs from anything other than consuming large quantities of meat. 

“ Uhh, yeah. My mom wants me to grow up big and strong, I guess-” Duncan was cut off when he felt something hit the back of his head. “ What the hell?” 

He looked behind him and wasn’t surprised when he saw the same group of boys from earlier sitting at the table nearest to him. He didn’t see them there earlier. Did they move closer just to mess with him? Bullies have nothing better to do. “ Of course, it’s those dicks. Just ignore him; Troy’s been an ass since middle school.” Kenny told him.  

“ I believe you. I’m used to people like him by now-” They once again threw something at Duncan. Looking again, he saw that Troy and his group were throwing orange peels at the back of his head while cackling like hyenas. Duncan balled his fist, he could easily throw this table right at those guys, but that would cause more problems than solve. 

“ Sorry, D. I’m gonna borrow this,” Jenna stuck her fork in Duncan’s bowl and took one of his meatballs. “ Let’s see how they like it,” Jenna snickered, flinging the meatball right at Troy, landing a hit on Troy’s shirt. 

“ Hey! What the hell?!” Troy barked, wiping the gravy off his shirt. Then he and his group crowded Duncan’s table. “ Which one of you assholes did that?” 

“ Not sure; I think I blinked,” Duncan remarked, taking a sip of water. “ Probably a ghost or something,” 

Isabel tilted her head and spoke condescendingly. “ What’s wrong, Troy? I thought it was common knowledge that if you can’t take something, then don’t dish it out?” 

Troy sucked his teeth and was silent for a bit. It looked almost like he was going to leave them alone. But of course, he had to go and make matters worse by opening a small carton of milk and pouring it over Isabel’s head. Everyone reacted strongly to this as Isabel quickly sat up and wiped the milk off herself.  “ Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” Kenny promptly jumped to his feet and was going to punch Troy, but one of Troy’s lackeys pushed Kenny to the floor. 

“ I’m not in the mood to be given shit by you little dipshits!” Troy exclaimed, throwing the now-empty carton at Duncan. He’d finally had enough of this guy's shit. Duncan grabbed Troy’s collar and punched him, but only with enough force to knock him down. He’d probably send him flying across the room if he'd hit him any harder. 

Very quickly, a fight broke out in the cafeteria. Troy got up and was about to tackle Duncan, but Jenna promptly stepped in, flipped Troy, and slammed him on a table in an impressive grapple. While Kenny was getting Isabel a towel, Duncan and Jenna were fighting Troy’s group and holding their own. The other boys tried to gang up on Duncan, but he could easily throw them off with his strength, and Jenna was using more calculated moves. She was taking precise strikes with her elbows, the heel of her palm, and the occasional kick to the groin. She had probably taken self-defense classes and knew how to defend herself against attackers. 

“ Hey! What's going on here?!” Two large security guards ran in to stop the fight. 

As soon as Duncan and Jenna saw them, they stopped fighting, while the guards grabbed Troy to pull him away from Duncan. The fight was quickly broken, and all involved parties were practically dragged out of the cafeteria.  “ ...So much for my first day of school….” Duncan sighed as he was escorted to the Principal's office with the others. 

Duncan, Jenna, Kenny, and Isabel were sitting in the Principal's office, and each of them explained their side of the story, all the while, Barnes was just sitting quietly and pinching the bridge of his nose; he was probably thinking, “This kid can’t even go through a full day of school without something going wrong” or something along those lines. Troy quickly left his chair and started pointing fingers at Duncan. “ That is such bullshit! We weren’t doing anything to these guys, and they started attacking us! For no reason,” Troy lied, trying to get out of this.

Barnes reached into his desk and pulled out a tablet. “ That’s certainly an interesting story Mr. Adams. But, this security footage in the cafeteria says differently,” he pulled up security footage of the lunch room. Not only did the footage support everything that Duncan and the others had said, but they also had Troy on tape, purposely pouring milk on Isabel’s head. 

“ Sure looks like you were the instigator,” Barnes remarked to a fuming Troy. “ So I have a proposal; you and your friends can either face detention. Or you can clean up the mess you’ve made in the cafeteria,” Barnes suggested. 

“ Wha- Screw that! Leave it to the custodians. It’s what they’re there for anyway!” Troy dissented. 

Barnes looked at his watch. “ You’ve got five minutes to take up my offer, take it or leave it,” Barnes sternly said. This song and dance wasn’t new territory for Barnes either. He’s helped Duncan get out of trouble at school more times than he can count. Whether it involved students giving him trouble or teachers getting too nosy about Duncan’s parentage, Barnes' job was to ensure Duncan looked as normal as possible. 

“ So, does that mean we’re free to go?” Duncan asked. 

Barnes shot Duncan with a quick look that said, ‘what the hell do you think?’  “ Not quite. You still threw the first punch. So I have all of you work together to clean up the cafeteria. It’ll give you all a chance to make up. Or don’t, I really don’t care if any of you like each other or not,” Barnes shrugged away the issue. 

Even without looking at each other, everyone on Duncan’s side was all thinking, “ Is this guy serious…?” After coming to an uneasy agreement, everyone involved in the fight was forced to stay after school and clean the cafeteria as “punishment.” Tensions were still high, however, with Troy’s group cleaning one-half of the cafe and steering clear of Duncan’s group. 

“ Can’t believe we’re stuck doing this when they were the ones starting shit,” an annoyed Kenny said, sweeping the floors. 

“ Zero tolerance policies are bullshit,” Isabel chimed in, cleaning tables while Duncan and Jenna mopped the floor. 

Troy screamed and threw his broom on the floor. “ This is bullshit! I have stuff to do today and I’m stuck with these idiots! I blame you for this, you freak!” He threw a small piece of bread he found off the floor at Duncan.  

“ How the hell is this his fault?! You were starting shit, and you poured milk all over me!” Isabel yelled over at Troy. 

It looked like another fight was going to break out, but Duncan suddenly got a weird chill down his spine. He was unresponsive and seemingly staring off into space. “ H-Hey, do you guys feel that?” Duncan frantically looked around the room. 

“ No, you good, man?” Kenny asked. 

Kneeling, Duncan put his hand on the lunch room floor. He wasn’t going crazy, and it was like the floor was slowly rumbling. Jenna noticed Duncan’s expression and did the same. “ He’s not kidding. The floor is shaking?” She called out. Suddenly the floor’s slight rumbling quickly changed into a violent tremor as the floor beneath their feet started to crack and tear open, and a massive arm reached out of the ground. 

“ Wha- What the fuck is that?!” Troy shouted as everyone in the room tried to take cover. The center of the room now had a massive trench dug from the floor, and a large creature dragged itself out from the floor and shook the dirt and dust off its body.  

“ Why is that thing here?! It’s a kaiju!” Isabel loudly exclaimed as nearly everyone in the room began to panic and headed straight for the exits.

The kaiju roared and started to scan the room, turning its massive body and looking at each of the students here. Its body could be considered ape-like, with a large burly appearance; every inch of its body was covered in green fur with dark green stripes on its back. The arms were longer and more prominent than its legs, and had four wide fingers with sharp claws at the end. It wasn’t as big as the ones that appeared 15 years ago, but it was big enough for its head to touch the ceiling. It growled and raised its head, and put its nose to the floor; it was looking for something or someone. The students had no other choice but to hide from the kaiju and pray that it wouldn't find them. 

“ Dang! It’s blocked the nearest exits!” Jenna said, hiding behind some tables with Duncan. The two of them were whispering so the Kaju wouldn’t hear them. “ Where are Kenny and Isabel?!” Duncan asked, looking around and seeing them hiding in the kitchen. 

“ Why is that thing even here?! We haven't had a kaiju attack in almost 15 years!” Jenna peeked behind the table. “ Fuck… Are the kaiju making a sudden return?” 

Duncan wondered. That thing couldn’t be here for him, could it? He’s never been in a situation like this before, and he’s not sure what to do! The kaiju turned its head as Troy made a quick break for the exit. “ That idiot!”

The kaiju sprinted towards Troy and would have caught him in its jaws had Duncan not left his hiding spot and launched a chair at the kaiju's head. Sure, Duncan didn’t or probably will never like Troy, but he doesn’t deserve to be killed by a giant monster. “ Over here, ugly! I don’t think you wanna eat him anyway; he might give you something!” Duncan got the kaiju’s attention and started zig-zagging around the room to distract it.  

Once the kaiju laid its cold and lifeless eyes on Duncan, its mood switched, and it focused solely on him, making several attempts to grab him. Duncan leaped from table to table, trying to avoid the creature’s grasp. “ Guys, you have to leave! I’ll distract it!” Duncan called out to the others.

Luckily his plan worked. The kaiju was far too fixated on him to notice the other, giving them plenty of time to leave the lunch room. While he was too busy trying to survive the encounter, Duncan failed to remember that Isabel had just finished cleaning the tables, lost his footing on the slippery surface, and had a horrible fall. Landing directly on his side, crashing into the chairs. The wind was knocked out of Duncan, and he gasped for air, failing to get back to his feet. “ S-Shit! I have to move!” The kaiju had caught up to Duncan, snatched him from the floor, and roared, holding him in the air.    

Shocking Duncan, the kaiju had opened its mouth and started to laugh. “Haha! Yes! I finally have you now!!!” The kaiju exclaimed. Its grip tightened and began to cause Duncan immense pain. Sure Duncan was strong, but he wasn’t prepared for something like this. He tried to pry the kaiju’s hand open but couldn’t make it budge an inch. Duncan cried out in pain, even coughing up blood as the kaiju began to squeeze even tighter until he heard a worrying cracking sound and felt a sharp and awful pain in his body. “ Hahaha! I have waited a long time for this! I’ll crush the life out of you!” the kaiju bellowed.  

“ ...W-What the hell do you want with me?!” Duncan asked, but part of him already knew the answer to that question. 

“ You have to be joking. You cannot hide it from me. I know what you are! I know who you are! You have his scent. The scent of our King!” The kaiju exclaimed, throwing Duncan to the ground and slamming its fist onto him. Duncan could barely breathe… His ribs were broken, and that sharp pain he’s feeling isn’t a good sign either… Sure he’s tougher than the average person, but this was a kaiju he was dealing with. But it’s like the kaiju said, Duncan wasn’t an average person. He was far from it. The kaiju grabbed Duncan and threw him across the room, slamming him against the walls. He was too beat up and didn’t have the strength to fight back. 

“ Your strength is so pitiful! How can you be so weak?!” The kaiju questioned Duncan’s level of strength. “ I expected more from you. Son of Belloc Rosenblatt! King of the Monsters!” The kaiju’s words echoed throughout the room. 

Trying to ignore the kaiju’s words, Duncan picked himself back up. It was gradual, but the pain Duncan felt went away in an instant; in fact, he felt stronger than ever. His heart began to race while an ominous burning sensation began to form in the back of his throat. Unexpectedly Jenna appeared behind the kaiju, jumping in front of it and smacking it across the eyes with the handle of a broom. While the kaiju was stunned from her surprise attack, she rushed over to Duncan and helped him run past it. But he couldn’t help but wonder. 

“ J-Jenna? Did you hear?”

“ Hear what? I came back to help you- oh, who am I kidding. You can fill me in later; now we have to get the heck out of here!” Jenna suggested. 

Once the kaiju could see again, it ran back to try and get to Duncan and Jenna. Before it could strike them, Duncan pushed Jenna out of the way to keep her safe from the kaiju’s strike. His body was far more durable than hers; she would have been torn to shreds by that thing’s claws. “ ...I see now. Humans have made you weak,” The kaiju started to crawl toward Jenna. 

“ Huh?! Wait! Don’t you dare-!” The kaiju kicked Duncan away with ease. “ Try and stop me then. Maybe if I kill this human female, you’ll show me the true strength you possess,” The kaiju threatened. 

“ ...G-Get away… From her!” Duncan got back on his feet. The burning feeling in his stomach began to grow until it felt like his chest was about to explode. The fur on the kaiju’s back began to rustle and stand up, and he turned back to face Duncan.  

“ Is this the strength I’ve been waiting for?” The kaiju raised its massive claws to take another strike at Duncan. But he stood his ground, waiting for the right moment and catching the kaiju's hand before it could reach him. Gritting his teeth and planting his feet on the floor, Duncan shouted, lifting the kaiju off the ground, tossing it across the room, and sending it crashing towards the kitchen. Soon after, Duncan’s eyes began to change. The sclera starts to darken into pitch black; his irises change to a blood red color, and his pupils shift into narrow dragon-like slits.  

The air around Duncan began to grow hotter by the second and distort around him from the heat his body was emitting. “ Get away…. From my friend!!!” Duncan shouted furiously at the kaiju, and a large stream of bright blue flames erupted from his mouth. The kaiju was caught off guard and raised its hand to defend itself, but its arm was severely burned and partially melted off. Duncan breathed heavily as his entire body was enveloped in the same bright blue flames. Despite Jenna being a fair distance from the fight, she could still feel the heat coming off from Duncan’s flames. 

Duncan again opened his jaws, and another massive stream of blue fire spewed from his mouth and began to engulf the kaiju as it cried out in pain. Duncan refused to stop and continued firing his flames at the kaiju until he was satisfied. Soon the same kaiju that was throwing Duncan across the room like a ragdoll was now a charred and melted corpse, and the pungent smell of burning flesh began to quickly fill the air. After witnessing such a sight, Jenna stared in disbelief. “ ….Duncan?” she never could have imagined that the same shy boy she met earlier today was capable of such a thing. Yet, she wasn't afraid of him…

Now that the fight and the danger was over, Duncan snapped out of his rage-induced state. But the flames covering his body refused to go out. He stared at the blue flames on his arms and hands, and dozens of questions and thoughts flew through his mind. “ W-What’s going on…?”  

Very abruptly, Margaret appeared behind Duncan and knocked him unconscious with a benign tap on his temple. He fell backward but was caught by Margaret. “ Sorry, Duncan. I should have gotten here sooner,” she apologized. Not far behind her, the cafeteria began to flood with armed men wearing sleek covert military uniforms ensuring the room was closed off from the rest of the school. 

“ Wait, is Duncan gonna be alright?!” Jenna frantically asked Margaret.   

“ He’ll be fine. We’re just going to take a look at him. Escort her to safety, and make sure the other students are safe as well!” Margaret ordered as Jenna was escorted out of the room by soldiers. 

Barnes passed through the soldiers' lines to observe the fight's aftermath. He reacted strongly to the smell, holding his nose the closer he got to the dead kaiju. “Jesus, did Duncan do this?!” He used his hat to fan away the smoke.  

Margaret glanced at the giant charred corpse and sighed heavily, putting her hand over her forehead. “ I always knew this day would come, and I just didn’t think it’d happen so soon,” Margaret picked Duncan up off the ground. 

“ Well, this is what we’ve been preparing for. So you know what happens now, right?” Barnes asked her. 

“ ...Let’s just get Duncan somewhere safe and make sure he’s alright,” Margaret chose to ignore her brother’s question and carried her son out of the room. 

“ Alright, boys! You know the drill! The school is off-limits. If anyone asks, a gas leak led to an explosion!" Barnes ordered his soldiers as they scattered across the school. 

This was just the beginning. Now that the kaiju know that Duncan’s powers have awakened, all manner of creatures will come after him. Barnes hoped that Duncan enjoyed his first day of high school. Because as of now, his days as a “normal boy” are over. Now he’ll have to be ready for whatever comes next. 

Chapter Text

-6 years prior- 

It wasn’t until he’d turned 8, that the identity of Duncan’s father was finally revealed to him. Margaret decided it was best for him to know before he’d turn 10, he was getting old  enough to start wondering anyway. On the day of his 8th birthday, Margaret sat beside a young Duncan on his bed, rubbing her hands nervously. “ Okay, Duncan. You’re a smart boy and I don’t wanna treat you like an idiot so I’ll come right out and start from the top,” Margaret explained. “ So I’m sure you’ve noticed that you're not like other kids your age. You’re stronger, faster, more resilient to heat than other boys, and how you don’t go to a normal doctor,” 

“ And my orange skin?” Duncan bluntly said what his mother was trying to avoid saying.  

Margaret lowered her head. “ ...Y-Yeah, and the orange skin. Duncan, this is about your father, and why he’s never… around as much as we would like,” 

Whenever Duncan would ask his mother about his father, she’d usually just avoid the topic all together. Or just spout the same empty platitudes like “he has important business” or “I’m sure he wishes he were here with you” and while Duncan would often hide it, she knew that just hearing those words wasn’t enough. He wanted answers. 

Margaret pondered where she would even start. “ Alright. It was 9 years ago, when the war between Humans and Kaiju came to a close. In a surprise attack on humanity, the armies of the Kaiju descended upon the city of San Francisco and nearly destroyed it in a matter of days.” Margaret said, before a brief pause. “ They would have done so, had I not been there to stop them. I alone opposed them, and faced their king. Belloc Rosenblatt” 

Before she retired to focus on raising Duncan, Margaret Barnes was a famous and respected member of the K.D.R.A. She led the defense of San Francisco that day, and the official records that the public were told is that her battle with Belloc ended with a stalemate and that she pursued them to inflict the finishing blow onto the King of the Monsters. But she wasn’t able to deliver the killing blow, reminding humanity that the King of the Monsters was still out there, recovering from his wounds preparing for his return. 

“ It’s true that I fought Belloc that day, but the rest is what I wanted the world to believe. What really happened is that I started talking with Belloc during our fight. I began to see a different perspective on how I viewed the kaiju and the war as a whole. So I followed Belloc to the home of all kaiju, to the Hollow Earth and see if the kaiju were more than just savage beasts,” 

Duncan looked at his mother with eyes full of wonder and respect. “ So you’ve been to the Hollow Earth…?” Margaret put her arm around Duncan, hugging him. “ I have. When I left with Belloc, I lived among the kaiju for an entire year. At that time, Belloc and I started to grow… well, closer . It wasn’t long before I became pregnant,” Hearing this story started to cause the gears in his young head to turn. 

“ So, what I’m saying is, Duncan. Is that Belloc is your father . You’re the son of the King of the Monsters,” 

-PRESENT DAY-

Slowly but surely, Duncan started to regain consciousness after his encounter with the kaiju. The last few minutes of the fight were a blur in his mind and the longer he’d open his eyes the more the memories started flooding into his mind. A violent bout suddenly came over Duncan and he swiftly leapt from his hospital bed shouting worrying threats at the top of his lungs. “ I’ll massacre you!!!” His sudden outburst had alerted Margaret who was sitting in a chair closest to his hospital bed. His eyes had changed to the menacing dragon-like ones when he fought the kaiju, but as soon as he’d come back to his senses they returned to normal.   

Margaret spoke in her usual calm and relaxed voice. As to not try and unnerve him any further. “ Whoa, it’s alright Duncan. You’re safe here,” she sat him back down. 

“ Mom? Wait, no! Where are the others?! Are Jenna, Kenny and Isabel okay?!” Duncan pleaded for answers. 

Margaret pulled Duncan closer to her and gently stroked his head. “ Everyone is fine, Duncan. They all made it out okay, thanks to you,” she reassured him. 

They weren’t going to get anywhere yet. Duncan was still extremely distraught from the whole ordeal, he’s never faced or even seen another kaiju before. Aside from seeing images or videos of them on TV or online, this was his first physical encounter with one of them. 

“ Take a deep breath, Duncan. Can you tell me what you remember last?”

“ I...I think so. I remember that kaiju was about to attack Jenna, then I just… lost it,” Duncan recounted the events of the fight. “ I got so angry that I felt like I was about to explode . Then the last thing I remember was…” Duncan paused. 

He tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for what he did. But given that his father is a 390 foot fire breathing dragon any reasonable explanation is thrown out the window. His body was covered in blue flames, and he actually breathed fire, killing that kaiju… The realization alone was enough to nearly bring him to tears. “ ...Mom… What’s happening to me…?”  A panicked Duncan clung to his mother’s shirt.  

We’re going to find out. We’ve already called in Dr. Pytel, while you were out she ran some tests on you to find out what’s going on,” Margaret assured him. Knowing that a bunch of doctors were poking at his unconscious body wasn’t exactly reassuring. But given the day he’s had he’ll take any chance to get answers. But speaking of answers. 

“ Uh, mom, where are my clothes?” Duncan realized that he was in hospital garbs.  

“ Oh, when we found you… They were completely burned off. But I rushed home and got you some new ones,” Margaret answered and was responded with a deafening silence. 

All of the color had seemingly left Duncan’s face all together, and he stared off into the distance with empty lifeless eyes. “ S-So… Jenna saw me…na...na-...” he was far too horrified to finish his sentence.  Margaret gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. There’s not much she could say to make him feel any better. 

After an energetic knock on the door Dr. Pytel entered the room, holding some files and X-ray results in her arms. “ Hello, Duncan. I came as soon as I heard what happened,” she spoke to her longtime and now unresponsive patient. “ Hey, Duncan. Helloooo… Hey!” she snapped her fingers twice in front of him to get his attention. She’d managed to snap him out of his stupor. 

Dr. Amala Pytel has been Duncan’s doctor since he was born, as a matter of fact she was the one that helped Margaret deliver him when she first returned from Hollow Earth. So it wouldn’t be wrong to assume she’s a friend of the family. She’s handled each and every one of Duncan’s doctor appointments without fail and is one of the few K.D.R.A employees that Margaret trusts, besides her brother and a handful of other agents. Dr. Pytel moved the hair from her face and adjusted her glasses looking over the reports she was given. “ So I’m told you’ve developed a special quirk ?” 

“ If you could even call covering myself in blue flames and breathing fire a quirk . So have you figured out what’s wrong with me? Or how can I fix it?” Duncan leaned forward in anticipation.  

“ Fix you? There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with you to begin with, Duncan. We’ve known for a while now that you’d develop fire breath sooner or later. We just didn’t know when,” Pytel shrugged, setting up the X-rays scans of Duncan’s body. 

“ You’ve gotta be kidding me. So why did it develop now, of all times!?” he frantically pulled at his hair. 

“ Well there are a number of reasons. But if I had to hazard a guess, it would probably be this ,” she pointed to two separate X-rays of Duncan’s lungs. But each of them looked vastly different. She also drew attention to the dates which these scans were taken. Whenever Duncan transfers to a new school he’s required to have a checkup to see if there were any worrisome changes  with his body. 

“ The one on the left is from your mandatory check up, while the one on the right is from half an hour ago. When you first used your fire powers,” she explained. 

“ So my lungs changed when I started to breathe fire? That’s not much of an observation…”   

“ It is when you realize that the picture on your left couldn’t produce flames even if you wanted to. Far too underdeveloped for that. That’s where this gets interesting,” Pytel pointed at Duncan. “ When you fought that kaiju, did it hit you in any way? Specifically around your chest cavity?” 

“ Yeah, a bit. But before that I took a hard fall from the floor trying to escape it. Soon after it roughed me up a bit, it sure hurt like hell and I felt some things break…” Duncan felt around his chest to see if he still felt any pain. “ But how does that explain what happened to my lungs?”

“ It explains a lot, actually. Dragons have a myriad of abilities that make them such formidable predators, and one such thing is their innate healing abilities. A dragon easily puts an axolotl to shame, not only can they heal injuries in a matter of minutes, but they’ll grow even stronger tissue in its place to reduce chances of it happening again,” Pytel pulled up files of the K.D.R.A’s past encounter with Belloc and a handful of other dragons to support her finding. 

Among the kaiju, dragons are by far the rarest. With Belloc and a few others being the only ones observed. Not much else is known about them, that’s why Duncan is such an invaluable part of the K.D.R.A’s research. He may be a hybrid but he’s the closest thing they have to an actual dragon specimen. 

“ Since you're half dragon, it’s only natural that you’d possess the same innate healing abilities as your father and now with this I think we’ve got some confirmation,” Pytel explained. “ Under normal circumstances you wouldn’t be able to make fire just yet. But when that kaiju attacked you, it most likely did major  damage to your ribs and or lungs. Causing your healing abilities to kick in and rebuild your lungs, a lot stronger than before, and fully mature enough to produce fire breath,” 

“ Now as for the temperature I have no idea what’s going on there,” Pytel shrugged. “ All of our records on Belloc show his fire being nowhere near as hot as the ones you produced. I have a couple of theories, but nothing too concrete… yet ,” Pytel looked determined to figure out the secret behind his blue flames.  

This was the first time Duncan's ever heard of any healing ability tied with his dragon side. His body is usually so durable he's never had an injury bad enough to where he'd notice it. “ So how do I stop it? I don’t wanna be some fire breathing freak forever,”

Margaret tried to sway her son's pessimistic attitude. “ ...Duncan, this isn’t something you can just fix, it's something that's a part of you. I know it’s hard now, but soon you’ll think of these powers as a gift,” 

He wasn’t exactly  eager to share the optimism. How long would it be before he loses control or slips up and hurts someone with this “gift” of his. Duncan was lucky enough that before he was stuck with insane strength, holding himself back was something from breaking certain things was relatively easy but fire breathing is a much different story. Especially if the fire he makes is stronger than that of his father. “ So are there any other surprises that I’ll need to worry about? Am I gonna grow 50 feet and start smashing through buildings?” Duncan asked, leaning backwards. 

“ Don’t be silly. All you need to do is learn to control it and you’ll be fine, just stay out of any situation you feel could trigger your flames. Other than that your vitals are all good and we didn’t pick up anything concerning. You are all good to go back home, Duncan,” Pytel took down the X-rays and organized them in her large drawer labeled “Duncan”. 

Duncan switched out of his hospital garbs and put on the clothing Margaret picked out for him. His first day of highschool ended with him getting attacked by a kaiju and realizing he can breathe fire. Here’s hoping his second day can go a bit smoother. “ Alright, can we go home now? I still have school tomorrow,” Duncan’s minor question was responded with silence and a melancholic expression from Margaret. 

“ Hijo, you’re not going back to school,” Margaret knelt down and looked Duncan in the eyes.  

At first he couldn’t believe what she was saying. It even took him a minute to process what she just said. “ Huh? What do you mean? I thought you had an agreement with the K.D.R.A.?”

“ Yes, but that was only a part of our agreement. I’ve never told you this condition, but if you were to ever take on any of your father’s traits excluding your appearance and super strength… Then….” Margaret hesitated. 

“ Do you wanna tell him? Or should I do it?” Barnes offered, gesturing towards the clipboard with pieces of paper on it in his hands. 

“ No, I’ll handle it. Duncan, you’re not going back to school. As of today, you’re to be officially conscripted into the ranks of the K.D.R.A,” Margaret revealed. 

Chapter Text

The Kaiju Defense and Research Agency, or more commonly known as the K.D.R.A. is a specialized branch of the military, created by the United Nations for the sole purpose of both researching all manners of nonhuman creatures and to protect humanity from the Kaiju threat. While they remain a secret their influences can be  seen in nearly every aspect of modern life. Up until now they’ve just been a shadow in Duncan’s life. This intangible force that's been running and monitoring every facet of his life, these were the people that his mother used to work for. So why the hell would they want someone like him in their ranks?!

“ No! There’s no way in hell I’m ever joining those guys!” Duncan tried to walk out the door, but it closed in front of  him. Someone was probably monitoring the room and stopping him from leaving.

“ I will break this door down!” Duncan threatened by balling his fist. 

Barnes  sighed. “ I’m sorry but this isn’t something you can just reject. Sure it’s hard to imagine but it’s for your own good,” 

“ And drafting me into a private military organization is ?! I’m not fighting in any war! I never even asked to be a part of any of this!” Duncan tried to put his foot down. 

He’s always been aware of the K.D.R.A. monitoring his every move. It was something Duncan reluctantly just accepted, much like his strength and appearance. But them demanding that he join their ranks is something he won’t take lying down. He’s not even old enough to drive a car or drink so what makes them think that he can join the military. Especially after fighting one kaiju he’s not in any hurry to do so ever again. “ Can’t you do something mom?! There’s no way this is legal, they can’t just make me sign up for this?!” Duncan looked to Margaret for support. But was met with silence. “ ...Right?”

“ I’m sorry. But I was the one who agreed to these terms,” Margaret spoke the last words he wanted to hear from her. 

Duncan’s eyes widened and for a moment all of his surroundings were drowned out by his own racing thoughts. “ …...Huh? Y-You what? You can’t be serious, right? Right?!”

“ Don’t blame your mother. When you were born it wasn’t an easy choice for her. It was the only way to ensure your future,” Barnes put his hands on Duncan’s shoulder. 

Barnes knew a day like this would come, he’s told Margaret to tell Duncan about this constantly in the past and she’s put it off each time. She didn’t nip this problem in the bud, now she has to answer for it. But it’s not that he blames her entirely, how do you look your child in the eye and tell them something like this? It’s not something Barnes would even wish on one of his many enemies. “ Look, I know this sounds bad. But think about all the good this will do for you? The K.D.R.A. will help you to not only control your flames, but help you grow stronger and learn how to fight against the kaiju,” Barnes tried to soften the blow  to make Duncan understand how this could be useful. 

“ I’d rather not fight at all… Can I please go home now?” Duncan’s eyebrows furrowed and he held his hands together. “ I just want time to think,” 

“ Sorry kid, I tried to give you some time but the higher ups wouldn't budge. You start tomorrow,” Barnes had informed Duncan.

“ ...This can’t be happening…” Duncan gritted his teeth and balled his fists. “ Can I just go home now?”

“ Yeah, it’s  getting late. Open the door, we’ve got this under control,” Barnes spoke into his collar and the door opened like usual. 

There was a cold and disconsolate air in the room. “ See you Dr. Pytel, thanks for the checkup,” Duncan waved Pytel goodbye. But he could barely hide the defeat in his voice as he followed his mother out of the base. 

“ See you Dr. Pytel, thanks for the checkup,” Duncan waved Pytel goodbye. But he could barely hide the defeat in his voice as he followed his mother out of the base. 

“ Wait, Duncan,” Barnes called out. 

Duncan and Margaret both looked back. 

Barnes turned away from Duncan. “ I… I’ll pick you up tomorrow, and bring you to the training academy…” 

 As soon as Duncan and Margaret had left the room, Barnes sighed loudly and collapsed backwards into one of the chairs in Pytel’s office.  “ Amala? Do you think that could have gone any better?” Barnes asked her, covering his face with his hat. 

“ I wouldn’t know. But anyone could see the look in Duncan’s eyes. He feels like you two have suddenly betrayed him,” Dr. Pytel bluntly answered him. 

Barnes leaned forward in his chair and groaned. “ I’ve fought some of the most dangerous creatures on the face of the earth. I’ve seen the life drain from my comrades eyes as they were eviscerated by god knows what… But seeing the look on that kid's face… How can I call myself an uncle?” Barnes spoke aloud.  

“ It’s not an easy thing to deal with. Kids don’t come with a manual, and Duncan is far from the norm. Way I see it, you and Margaret are doing the best you can with what you’ve got,” Pytel gave her honest opinion. “ But I’ve known Duncan since he let out his first cry, and right now he’s scared. What kid in his position wouldn’t be? What he needs right now is someone, just anyone to give him  some assurance that he’s going to be okay,” 

He’ll be sure to take that into account. But his highest priority above all else is ensuring that Belloc never gets his hands on Duncan. It’s a goddamn miracle that he’s never tried anything to get into contact with him before, and every kaiju in the world would never dare to cross Margaret to get to him. Especially now that his powers are starting to awaken, Belloc will do everything in his power to try and get Duncan on his side. 

The next morning Duncan was even more reluctant to leave the house, although Margaret was more accepting of his demeanor this time around. “ Do you need me to come with you?  I still have some influence in the K.D.R.A. to help you around,” Margaret offered. 

“ ...No, I’ll be fine,” 

“ Right… Te quiero, hijo,” Margaret signed ‘I love you’ to Duncan. 

“ …Si, te quiero también mamá,” Duncan signed back, compared to yesterday his response was cold and distant when he walked out the door. While he stopped himself from saying it, he thought Margaret’s “help” wouldn’t make his situation any better. By the same token, Duncan was equally as cold during the ride to his K.D.R.A. briefing in the backseat of Barnes’ car. 

Every time Barnes tried to say something to Duncan he’d stop himself. He just couldn’t find the right words to say and the ride to the base had an elongated silence. They were halfway to the base, and just had to cross a small stretch of desert rocky area.    

“ Soooo. Any questions about the briefing? I can at least tell you what to expect once we get there. You won’t be training alone, we’ve arranged for you to train in a special training class,” Barnes managed to strike up a conversation, just not the one he wanted to have. 

“ Mom asked me something like that already,” Duncan continued staring out the window, trailing his eyes on passing rock formations. “ I don’t want any more ‘help’ from anyone right now,” 

“ Look, you can be mad at me all you like. But at least try and understand why your mother did what she did. Everything that woman has ever done, has been to protect you . We’d do anything for you,” Barnes admitted. 

As Barnes was talking Duncan got another chill down his spine, the same way he felt yesterday. “ ...W-Wait! Uncle Barnes!” he called out, feeling the goosebumps appear on his forearm and the same ominous chill down his spine. 

“ No, you need to hear this-” 

“ No! Watch out!!!” Duncan pointed ahead of them. Numerous large rocks were hurtling through the air and aimed right at the car.  

“ Shit! Hang on kid!” Barnes shouted, quickly pushing Duncan back into the back seat and slammed his foot down making the car accelerate to avoid the rocks. 

Duncan quickly put his seat belt on as Barnes wildly swerved on the rode, just barely managing to avoid the barrage of rocks being hurled at them. But some of the debris managed to hit the back part of the car causing them to diverge wildly off the side of the road. “ Fuck! Hold on, Duncan!” Barnes panicked as the car crashed into a small rock formation. 

The car came to an abrupt stop, rapidly deploying the airbags upon impact with the ground. Duncan slowly came to his senses, as he heard immense footsteps coming towards them. He quickly tried to undo his seat belt, but the crash must have caused them to become stuck. So he ripped the seat belt off of him and tried to leave the car. 

Duncan pulled the door handles but they wouldn't budge. “ …Dammit…. Sorry, Uncle Barnes…” he apologized before kicking the door right off the car sending it flying. 

Duncan fell to the ground as he exited the car. He also noticed that some of the glass shards from the windows had cut into his arm, but in a matter of seconds he was healed and his arm looked good as new. Looks like Dr. Pytel wasn’t exaggerating with how well he can heal from injuries. “ Hey, Uncle Barnes! You okay?” He looked back, and saw Barnes unconscious in the front seat of the car. With blood trickling down his face. 

“ Uncle Barnes...! Again, I am so sorry for this!” Duncan ripped the car door off it’s hinges and pulled Barnes from the car. 

Barnes was still unconscious, even with Duncan trying to shake him awake. After checking his pulse he was relieved to find that Barnes was still alive. But a part of him is glad he’s unconscious because if that crash hadn’t killed him, then seeing his beloved car like that most certainly would have. Duncan turned around and saw the one behind the crash. It was another Kaiju, much bigger than the one that attacked Duncan before. This one was a lot more insect-like than the last one. With it even standing on four large legs reminiscent of a roach.   

“ Oh shit…” Duncan exclaimed as the Kaiju roared and reached out to grab him. 

Duncan grabbed Barnes and jumped out of the way. But it was harder to move around carrying Barnes and dodging the kaiju. He’s not confident he can make it to the base with this thing pursuing him. But he’s certain that leaving his uncle behind was never an option he’d consider. 

Duncan jumped away a fair distance, and hid Barnes behind some rocks out of the kaiju’s line of sight. “ ...Alright. I’ll be back. I need to deal with these guys first,” he told Barnes, picking up a large rock and tossing it at the kaiju to get their attention. “ That’s right! I’m the one you want!” Duncan shouted at the Kaiju. 

Duncan felt his chest getting hotter, and his instincts were telling him to use his firebreath. “ ...N-No! I’m not using that...!” He winced, holding in and stopping the flames from leaving his body. 

While he was struggling to hold back his fire, the Kaiju swiped at Duncan but he jumped out of the way and barely managed to escape the kaiju’s grasp. “ ...I’m a human… I’m not one of these monsters!” Duncan landed, and saw the Kaiju’s tail coming at him. 

He tried to stop it with his strength, but it was too much for him to handle and he was slammed into the side of a large rock formation. The impact knocked the breath out of Duncan and he was desperately gasping for air on the floor, as the Kaiju raised one of its feet and stomped on Duncan. The immense pain Duncan felt only lasted for a few seconds as his wounds were healed in an instant, he managed to gather enough strength to lift the kaiju’s foot off of him and send it stumbling backwards. Duncan ran ahead and jumped as high as he could to reach the kaiju’s head, and punched the kaiju as hard as he could, his punch managed to shatter the kaiju’s tough armor like skin and draw blood.   

Along with the kaiju’s roars of pain, the scent of fresh blood filled Duncan’s nose and his heart began to race. Just seeing the blood drip from his fingers filled Duncan with a sick sense of glee and accomplishment… His eyes changed once more and his body temperature began to rise. 

Duncan quickly snapped out of his trance punching himself in the face to return to how he usually was. “ Dammit! Stop! I’m not one of these monsters!” Duncan screamed to himself.  

The kaiju caught Duncan while his guard was down, and grabbed a large boulder and hurled it at Duncan. He didn’t notice in time and the boulder crashed into him and he rolled backwards heavily injured and was starting to lose stamina. 

It’s like every time Duncan heals from these attacks he just gets more and more exhausted. It’s possible that his healing ability isn’t something he can just abuse, it probably takes a lot  out of his body to heal injuries this severe. Even still, he can’t just lose here. His uncle needs to get to a hospital, or whatever the K.D.R.A. has!

“ D….un….Can…”  A faint voice called out to him. 

“ Huh? Uncle Barnes?” Duncan struggled to pick himself back up and looked around expecting to see his uncle awake. But he couldn’t find anyone else here. In fact he’d never heard this voice a day in his life… The kaiju continued to attack Duncan. But he didn’t have the strength to fight back, all he could do was evade its hits. 

“ Duncan! ” The deep and authoritative voice echoed through his mind. 

“ What the hell?! Who is this?” Duncan rolled out of the way of the kaiju’s grasp and hid behind some rocks to temporarily avoid the kaiju’s detection and to catch his breath. 

“ Of course you wouldn’t know. Your mother has done quite a bit to keep you from me,” The voice responded. “ This is the first time you’re hearing my voice,” 

“ …I-It’s you…?” Duncan was at a loss for words and abruptly started to panic. “ …N-No!  No no no. How is this even possible?!” 

“ A simple spell. One that allows us to talk even at great distances. But for now, I thought it would be best if we get to know each other more. After all, I am your father,” Belloc finally revealed himself to Duncan.  

In that instant the kaiji had found Duncan, and lifted the rock he was hiding behind revealing his location. It struck Duncan with his tail smashing him into yet another rock formation. “ What are you doing?! Why do you refuse to use your fire to fight?!” Belloc questioned. “ Why are you holding yourself back, my son?!” 

“ S-Shut up! You’re the reason I’m in this mess in the first place! I won’t let you turn me into a monster!” Duncan tried to silence Belloc’s voice. 

“ You pig headed fool! Now that the kaiju know of your existence, any one of them may challenge your right to succeed me at any time!” Belloc loudly exclaimed.  

“ Tch, why the hell are they even challenging me for something I don’t even want-”

“ Because you are my son!” Belloc’s voice began to rise and overtake Duncan’s own thoughts. “ You are half dragon Duncan! Superior to everyone you have ever know. Even still, your flames burn even brighter and hotter than mine. A truly commendable feat. Do you truly despise your heritage enough to allow yourself to be killed here?!” 

Belloc saw that his words weren’t getting through to Duncan. “ I hope you realize that if the Xornga kills you, it will also result in the death of your uncle as well,” Belloc reasoned. “ Are you willing to go that far, Duncan? That you would put others' lives at risk to deny your destiny?” Belloc opted to use Duncan’s loved ones to his advantage. The fact that he hadn’t already abandoned Barnes when he had every opportunity, as well as witnessing Duncan’s first fight against a kaiju told Belloc everything he needed to know about his son.   

The Xornga had finally caught up to Duncan and lifted two large rocks and attempted to crush him between them. “ Godammit!” Duncan shouted, mustering all of his strength to be able to hold off the rocks from crushing or even harming him.  

“ Excellent, Duncan! Perhaps it is not too late for you,” Belloc praised a tearful Duncan. 

“ ...This isn’t fair!” Duncan shouted, pushing the rocks away with all of his strength.  Duncan doesn’t want to rely on the powers he inherited from Belloc. There isn’t a day that goes by when he just wishes that he could live as a normal boy, free of his powers, free from the K.D.R.A. free from being Belloc’s son. Now he has to rely on everything he’s ever denied about himself, to not only save his own life. But the lives of everyone he cares about. But this time, Duncan felt different. He felt like he was growing stronger, and the burning sensation that he usually feels in his chest was growing even stronger. In his frustration and anger he allowed the blue flames to flow out of him and envelop his body. 

Watching Duncan let his flames fly free gave Belloc a sense of pride, he’d never known before. “ Hehehe, excellent,” He uttered, watching Duncan struggle to maintain control over his feeble little body. 

As bright blue flames poured from Duncan, his body began to change as well. Once more the whites of his eyes became corrupted and changed to pitch black as well as his iris becoming a bright crimson red followed by his pupil thinning out resembling a dragons. His hair rose and various horns burst from the top of his head, nearly resembling a crown, and his ears grew sharpened. Duncan’s body hardened and grew scales ready for combat, as well as his nails and teeth growing larger until he grew claws and fangs sharp enough to rend steel asunder. 

“ This is your birthright, Duncan. An endless cycle of bloodshed and domination,” Belloc began to admire Duncan’s new form. “ No matter how deeply you ensconce yourself with humans, this will always await you! Legions of powerful creatures await the moment when they can tear you to shreds. Each of them with no thought other than usurping my power, and soon, yours. So how will you meet their challenge, my son?” Belloc asked. 

Duncan clawed off his shirt and raised his head glaring at the kaiju. Faster than he’s ever moved before, Duncan leaped and clawed out one of the kaiju’s eyes. When the kaiju raised it's hand to strike him, Duncan grabbed it’s large wrist and in a pure display of strength, Duncan ripped the kaiju’s arm clean off it’s shoulders and tossed it aside as if it weighed nothing. Duncan allowed his fire to build before opening his mouth and unleashing a wave of bright blue flames towards the kaiju. It roared and unable to handle Duncan’s fire it collapsed on the ground, defeated. But the fight wasn’t over yet. Duncan jumped over the kaiju’s fallen body and dug his claws into the kaiju’s face. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, and with a roar Duncan ripped the kaiju’s head clean off its  body. Copious amounts of blood sprayed across the area, and the kaiju’s lifeless body twitched before it eventually stopped moving. Duncan took quick breaths, tossing the kaiju’s head away and allowing his flames to build. Until he fired a large stream of blue fire into the sky, proclaiming his victory over the Xornga. 

“ Yes! Excellent my son! But this is only the beginning. Join me, and I won't rest until I’ve cultivated the most powerful dragon in history!  Join us, Duncan! Join your true family!” Belloc, Elated with Duncan’s display of brutality. Offered Duncan a chance to join him and fulfill his destiny of becoming the next King of the Monsters. 

Duncan didn’t answer Belloc, looking at the blood on his transformed hands and relaxed, reverting his body back to normal. He’d managed to stop himself from burning his pants off although his shoes were now ash. “ You asked me how I’ll meet that kaiju’s challenge for the throne. So here’s my answer!” Duncan asserted. “ I will never join you Belloc! Tell this to every kaiju that even thinks about coming after me. That if they hit me, then I will hit back! Even if it takes me a million fucking years, I’ll kill every last one of those disgusting creatures that dares to crawls out of the Hollow Earth! I didn’t start this fight! But I’ll be the one to finish it if that’s what it takes!” 

“ ...I’ll overlook this childish and wayward behavior. You cannot deny your fate. You will rule the kaiju,”  Belloc responded to Duncan’s declaration, and suddenly vanished from Duncan's thoughts. The spell allowing them to talk had been cut.  

“ Watch me, father. I’ll never become King of the Kaiju, I’ll burn my legacy to the ground,” Duncan made a promise to himself. 

Duncan had loudly declared war against the kaiju, and opposed his father. If he didn’t have a choice but to fight for his life, then the least he can do is make sure that he doesn’t go down without a fight. Like he told Belloc, he wasn’t the one who started this fight, but if that’s what it takes he’ll be the one to finish it.

Chapter Text

Quite some time had passed, and Duncan had arrived at the base carrying an unconscious Barnes. As soon as Barnes was taken in for medical attention, Duncan told the ones in charge what had happened. Detailing the crash and even his battle with a kaiju. Even though Duncan’s tattered clothes showed signs of a fight, physically he was perfectly fine. As opposed to Barnes who suffered a concussion from the crash. Except for one thing, he kept his talk with Belloc a secret. The guards had confined Duncan to a temporary medical room, but he could easily tell this medical room was more akin to a holding cell until they could decide if he was a threat or not. It’s true he doesn’t trust the K.D.R.A, but he’s no ally to the kaiju either. Until they figured out what they were going to do with him he was left with nothing but his thoughts as he recalled the battle. 

It doesn’t feel real to him. For years he’s heard of his father from so many different people. His mom rarely talks about Belloc, and Barnes has nothing but horrible things to say about him. While the public consensus treats him like either a myth or a harbinger of destruction. But now he’s finally had some chance to talk to his father for himself, and now he doesn't know what to think. Belloc never made an attempt to reach out to Duncan before, and now the first words he has to say to him were that he wants him to just forget about his life and rule the kaiju. He doesn’t hate Belloc by any means, but now he’s not eager to get to know him either. 

Duncan exhaled and let out a small burst of bright blue fire. “ ...What the hell am I gonna do?” took in the gravity of his situation. 

There was really no other way of looking at it. Now Kaiju from all over the world are now going to come after him. All kinds of creatures hellbent on killing him to usurp his father’s throne. It’s like a nightmare he can’t wake up from. He sat down in the hospital bed and hid himself from under its sheets. Why did this have to happen to him? Why does he have to go through this? Duncan hated having these thoughts, but maybe If it wasn’t for his father or even his mother he wouldn’t be in this situation. It’s all because of his dragon half that he can’t live a normal life, he wouldn’t be picked on at school, he wouldn’t have this hideous orange skin or sharp teeth! Duncan knows what he said to his father but he only killed that kaiju because he had  to! It would have killed both him and his uncle if he hadn’t. Besides It took all he had just to take out one of the kaiju. How is he supposed to fight even more of them?! 

Unexpectedly the door to his room swung open and Margaret ran in. “ Duncan, are you there?! I came as soon as I could!” She called out to him. 

“ ...Mom? What are you doing here?” He asked, taking the cover off him and wiping tears from his face. 

“ You’re crazy if you think I wasn’t going to be here,” Margaret hugged a panicked Duncan. 

Margaret was followed by a familiar face, a blonde short haired woman walked in holding a bag of clothes. An intimidating and commanding aura surrounded her. Her name was Lieutenant Colonel Alyssa Randolph. Barnes second in command and one of his most trusted officers. Duncan has met her a couple of times already. But it would be more accurate to say she’s another “friend of the family”

“ I can see you’re looking better, how do you feel?” Alyssa asked. 

Duncan was fine, while he did feel a little light headed it wasn’t one of his main concerns. “ I’m fine. But is Uncle Barnes okay?!” 

“ Your uncle is fine. He just recently woken up and is being filled in… But I still haven't told him about his car yet…,” Margaret remarked. 

Once Barnes finds out about the state his precious Veronica was in, it would probably be best to give him some space for a bit. Duncan should also keep it to himself that in order to save them, he had to rip two of the doors off…

Aside from that, Duncan gathered the courage to tell his mother what had really happened. “ Uh, Mom? I have something to tell you. When I fought that Kaiju… I talked with dad ,” he revealed. 

Both Margaret and Alyssa paused and exchanged worried glances. But kept their reactions to a minimum.  “ ...Oh… Is that so?” Margaret struggled to find the words. 

“ Yeah, and it’s not just that… The kaiju that attacked me at school, and the one that came after me at the ride here. Dad told me that it’s not gonna stop there,” Duncan’s hands began quivering, recalling Belloc’s words. Frequently wiping his eyes to try and hide the tears from Margaret and Alyssa. He began to choke on his own words with the frustration and feeling of helplessness seeping in. “ Now that the Kaiju know about me, they’re not gonna stop until I’m dead… All to challenge me for something that I don’t even want!” 

“ ...Duncan,” Margaret gently put her hand on his shoulder and sat beside him. “ You’re going to be alright, and you’re going to get through this,”

“ How do you know that?! What happens if one of those things comes after me and I’m not able to fight it off? What about if someone tries to help me and ends up dying?! What’ll happen if I lose control of myself and… I end up hurting someone…? Mom…! I don’t want to be the monster they think I am…! I don’t want to be the monster that dad wants me to be!” Duncan broke down crying, shaking and afraid of what would happen next. 

He remembered what he said to Belloc, and while he meant it, really it was a spur of the moment tirade. Even him killing those previous two kaiju was Duncan giving into all of the rage and frustration in that moment, the first was his desperation to save Jenna and the second was his frustration at Belloc for expecting him to just give up his previous life and join him after not being around his entire life. Duncan wasn’t sure if he faced another kaiju that he’d be lucky enough to rely on another one of his little rage boosts, or that weird form he changed into. How long would this string of luck last?

“ You’re not a monster, hijo. You’ve never been a monster,” Margaret attempted to reassure her son. “ Yes, it’s true that you’re Belloc’s son and you’ve proven that you can be just as strong as any Kaiju. But you’re my son too. Sure you can easily destroy and cause harm, but try and think of all the good you can do with your powers? Duncan if it wasn’t for you then those kids at your school might have died,” 

“ …Sure, help people from the kaiju coming to kill me . Some “help” I’ll become,” 

Alyssa cleared her throat, grabbing their attention. “ I don’t mean to rush you, but this little “incident” has put the higher ups in a frenzy. You missed your orientation and they’re demanding you start as soon as possible,” Alyssa handed Duncan the bag of clothing she’d brought. “ We’ll wait outside,” 

She didn’t want to say anything in front of Duncan, but now that they’re out of the room it was the best chance to bring it up. “ So now what are you going to do? The kaiju knows about him, and now he’s talked with his father. You can’t keep all of your secrets from him forever you know,” Alyssa asked Margaret who was biting her nails anxiously. 

“ I know that! I-I’ll figure something out, okay? I… I just want Duncan to have a normal life a bit longer,”

“ He stopped having a ‘normal life’ the second he started breathing fire, and if Duncan is going to train here , then he’s going to find out eventually,” Alyssa sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulled out a pack of nicotine gum and popped one into her mouth. 

“ Didn’t know you quit smoking,” Margaret looked with a raised eyebrow. 

“ Tch, not by choice. If I’m gonna be teaching kids I can’t have that shit around them,”

Duncan finally walked out of the room wearing the clothing that Alyssa gave him. He was wearing  an all black attire. A black bomber hoodie, mixed with black pants that seemed to be made of the same material, as well as black running shoes. The only other color was a standard white t-shirt underneath the hoodie.   “ I’m not complaining, but were there any other colors to pick aside from black?” He asked, examining his new clothes. “ I look like the brooding Sasuke of the group,” 

“ …I have no idea what that means, but-” 

“ I do,” Margaret announced, raising her hand. 

“ Shut up. You can have the colors and appearance changed if you like, but right now you’re wearing the most advanced fireproof clothing money can buy. But we still don’t know how hot your flames can get as you mature, so try to be careful with them,” Alyssa explained. Thinking back to how easily his flames burned through the bodies of the kaijus he fought, and how quickly his clothes burned off, it's a relief to Duncan that he won’t have to change clothes every time he uses his flames. He’s just lucky he wasn’t wearing any of his good clothes. 

“ Uh, I’ve got some stuff  to take care of while I’m here. Gotta make sure my brother is alright and all. So go ahead with Alyssa, Duncan. I’ll pick you up once you get properly introduced. You don’t have to worry much, think of this place as… Like a school… Maybe?” Margaret nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “ Before I go. Te quiero, hijo,” She turned back and signed ‘I love you’ before heading in the opposite direction. 

Duncan signed back watching her leave. The time had finally come, this place isn’t just a place for him to learn how to control his new powers. It’s where he’ll learn how to fight for his own survival against those… things . If only Duncan knew that yesterday would be his final day as a normal kid, even though he only knew them for a few moments, he at least wishes he could have had a proper goodbye to Kenny, Isabel and Jenna. He hoped they were doing well but at least this way they wouldn’t be dragged into his mess. 

Alyssa gave Duncan a general tour of the base as much as she could. He was supposed to have given a tour with the other cadets he’s going to be training with, but for obvious reasons he couldn’t make it. The base was like something out of a sci-fi movie or a superhero show. But with the occasional masked armed guard patrolling the halls holding guns he’s never seen before. He knows he’s strong, but Duncan isn’t in any rush to find out if his body can stop a bullet… Or an entire clip. “ Duncan, welcome to Academy Alpha. The K.D.R.A is dumping all of its resources into making sure you receive the best training we have to offer.  That’s why you were admitted into the best academy we have,” Alyssa gestured towards the many rooms dedicated to not only combat, but to finding out as much about non humans and the kaiju as possible. In truth the layout of the base isn’t that different from an actual school.  They even passed by a cafeteria of sorts, albeit a bit smaller than the one’s he’s been in. Here’s hoping a kaiju doesn’t crawl out from under this one. 

“ Mom was a K.D.R.A. agent too, right? Did she also train here?” Duncan asked the first thing that popped into his mind. 

Alyssa reminisced about the time Margaret spent as one of their agents. “ ...Yeah… She trained here,” she hesitantly answered. The tour ended once they arrived at one of the rooms with a sign that read “AP Class 1” Duncan could hear faint conversations going on inside. The ones he’ll be training with were probably already inside. 

“ Before we go in, don’t worry about your parentage. We’ve taken that into account with the other cadets you’ll be training with,” Alyssa whispered before entering the room with Duncan. He took quick glances around the room, while it matched the aesthetic of the rest of the base it still had the feel of a classroom. With a small arrangement of wide desks for the students, and one large desk for the teacher in the front of the class. But Duncan was very quickly taken aback and his eyes widened seeing his classmates. Six different kids around his age, wearing the same type of uniform. There were three kids he didn’t know, but there were three kids in particular he was already familiar with…

“ Huh?! What the hell are you guys doing here?!” Duncan loudly exclaimed, pointing at the center of the students. Sitting at the same table were Jenna, Isabel and Kenny. With the latter two showing the same level of disbelief as him. Isabel was the first to speak. “ No! we should be asking you that! What’s going on here Ms. Randolph?!” 

Duncan could hardly believe it. Of all the people he was expecting to see here, those three didn’t even register to him. Why would they? He just met them the other day at his supposedly normal school. “ Hang on! What are they doing here? Did the K.D.R.A. drag them into this too?!” Duncan turned to Alyssa. 

“ Everyone calm down! I know this is sudden, but there’s a reason we didn’t say anything to any of you,” Alyssa began to explain. She knew that they would all react like this. Barnes should be the one dealing with this, he was the one put in charge of this base by Commander himself. “ Due to the many agreements the K.D.R.A. made with Duncan’s mother, we’re not to disclose the identities of active agents to him unless absolutely necessary,” 

The more he hears about the deals his mother made the more frustrated Duncan became. How many more agreements did Margaret make with these guys he wondered. If Jenna, Kenny and Isabel were K.D.R.A cadets then why were they at his new school? Was their meeting set up from the start? At the same time, the three other cadets in the class could see the tension arising. But they saw fit to stay out of it. Were they also at Duncan’s school?  

“ So is Duncan here because of what happened with that kaiju attack the other day? The higher ups hit Jenna with a gag order so we really don’t know what happened,” Isabel asked.

Duncan was relieved a bit that Jenna hadn’t told anyone about his secret. But they haven’t really had any chance to talk since then. Even when she first heard that Belloc was his father she didn’t hesitate to help him fight off that kaiju. “ …Uh, yeah… about that,” Duncan thought of ways to explain how they got out of that. Without mentioning his fire breath. As Duncan stood at the front of the class, Alyssa saw a handful of documents on the teachers desk and looked over each of them carefully. “ Good, each of you have signed the NDA’s we’ve handed out to you,” Alyssa placed the papers in a folder and decided to introduce everyone in the class. 

“ Duncan, these are the cadets you're going to be training with. You’ve already met Jenna, Kenny and Isabel so I’ll introduce the rest,” Alyssa stood besides Duncan. “ But before I do, we need to get something out of the way first,” 

For as long as he could remember, Duncan has had to keep the secret that Belloc was his father. He first learned when he was 8, but it wasn't until way later that he realized the complete severity of what something like that could lead to. The kaiju have done unimaginable amounts of damage to humanity during the war, and Belloc was certainly no exception. If the revelation that Belloc sired an heir with a human woman ever reached the public, according to Barnes and even Margaret, it could lead to an international incident and it wouldn’t just be the kaiju coming to kill Duncan. Which is exactly why Duncan reacted the way he did…

“ Listen up. The NDA’s you all signed today are a manner of national security. Disclosure of anything in this room is strictly prohibited and will be seen as an act of treason against the United States of America,” Alyssa clarified before. “ He wasn’t here for orientation. But I’d like to introduce you all to Duncan. He’s a special case, a rare hybrid, between a human woman and the king of the Kaiju himself, Belloc Rosenblatt,” 

“ ...Eh…?” Duncan’s eyes widened with worry and he staggered backwards.  “ W-What the hell are you doing?! When you said I wouldn’t have to worry about my secret this isn’t what I had in mind!” Duncan exclaimed. 

“ And now you won’t have to worry. Because everyone here already knows your secret now. What, would you prefer that you keep it a secret from then and they find out later or never? Better to rip the band-aid off now,” Alyssa elaborated. The looks on the other cadet’s faces was a bit more understandable, more like, they didn’t know how to respond. Jenna already knows, so she’s trying to play it cool. But Kenny and Isabel along with the rest were in complete shock. 

“ So… the orange skin? The sharp teeth? His diet? I-I need a minute!” Isabel was soon scratching her head, lost deep in thought. 

One of the cadets, a girl with dark brown skin and black curly hair, quickly raised her hand. “ This is a joke right? A kaiju and a human conceiving a child is just crazy! The biological differences alone should make that impossible.” she tried to reason. 

Jenna finally broke her silence. “ It’s not a joke, Joanna,” Jenna spoke up, raising her head. “ At first I had trouble believing it, I mean who wouldn’t? But I knew it was true when I saw Duncan breathing fire with my own eyes,” she revealed. 

“ You can breathe fire?! Is that what happened in that cafeteria the other day?”  Kenny quickly interjected. “ I knew I wasn’t going crazy. Soon after we left I smelled something … burning! Is that what happened to the kaiju?” 

It was then that Alyssa explained, in detail, exactly what Duncan’s current situation was. But he silently questioned why she chose to leave out certain details. She was more than open about saying that Belloc was his father, but Alyssa never once brought up Margaret. But now that his secret was out for the other cadets, he prepared himself. For a fearful response, for any one of them to look at him with eyes full of malice and or contempt. It wouldn’t be the first time and it won’t be the last either. 

“ …Damn. This is still a lot to take in,” Jenna nervously ran her hand through her hair. “ But what kind of friend would I be if we didn’t help Duncan,” 

Kenny stood up next. “ Same here. Duncan helped us out against Troy, and helped us escape that kaiju attack,” 

“ …You guys…” Duncan muttered. 

“ I’m with you there. Helping Duncan fight off the kaiju is a perfect opportunity to study him up close. I wanna know everything I can about him!” Isabel attempted to sound comforting, but that just sounded like she wanted to dissect him. But Duncan appreciated the effort…

“ ...So you’re not scared of me…?” He asked. 

“ Well, I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of you being half dragon. But, you can’t be all bad if you did all that stuff yesterday,” Kenny explained. 

When his secret was revealed, Duncan was expecting them to see him in a way worse light. In that instant it felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from Duncan’s shoulders and he stood in disbelief. 

Although in the back of his mind he thought if it wasn’t for him then that kaiju wouldn’t have been at school in the first place. But the other cadets didn’t really respond to the news, Duncan wondered what they thought of him. “ You can all play catch up on your own time. Now that you’re all here, change into your gym clothing and head down to the training room, I’ll need physical evaluations from most of you,” Alyssa gestured towards the door. “ Cadet Rogers, I’ll need you to help Duncan learn his way around the base,”  

“ Uh, sure,” Kenny replied. 

Near the back of the room, one of the cadets in particular was fascinated by Duncan’s surprise entry to the Academy. “ So he’s the son of Belloc, huh? This place just gets better and better,” he said, refusing to hide his excitement. 

His giddy demeanor grabbed the attention of the girl sitting next to him. “ You’re not planning on doing something crazy again, are you Anton?” She asked, concerned for the wellbeing of the ones around her. 

Anton retorted, before leaving with the others. “ Sarah, when I came here, I never promised I’d behave,”

The training hall they were led to was a sight to behold. A large room enveloped in bright gray walls and flooring. It even looks like various sets of obstacle courses were set up around the room. Duncan wasn’t worried about doing poorly, he’s always had passing grades in all of the gym classes he’s ever taken. Although these looked a little more complicated than the ones at his previous schools. Alyssa stood before Duncan and the others holding a clipboard and a stopwatch. “ I’ll formally introduce myself. I’m Lt Alyssa Randolph and I’m your combat instructor. The point of these fitness exams is so I can have a proper grasp on each of your individual abilities and skills,” she explained pointing towards the obstacle course set up. 

“ Well good luck you guys! We’ll be rooting for you,” Isabel exclaimed as her and Kenny were sitting on the sidelines. 

Duncan hadn’t even noticed that they moved. “ Wha- Why are you two sitting out of this?”

“ They’re not in the same courses that we’re taking. So they get to sit out on all the combat and physical training,” Jenna explained to him. “ But it’s probably for the best, Kenny’s noodle arms would snap like a twig and Isabel can’t even run a mile,” she whispered. Duncan glanced over at the two of them and they certainly fit the scrawny nerd archetype. But if they’re not in the combat courses what else would they be doing here?

“ So do we have any volunteers for who’s going first? Or do I have to go in alphabetical order?” Alyssa saw that Anton had stepped forward. “ So you’re the first one, Cadet Espinosa?” 

“ Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Anton answered, prompting Sara to hide her face behind her hair as if she didn’t know him. She wasn’t the only one to react either, all of the cadets besides Duncan had a bad feeling about this. Almost like they knew something that he didn’t…

“ So will an obstacle course really be the best way to test our skills? Especially someone like Duncan who I can assume has superhuman strength and endurance?” Anton asked, looking at Duncan. 

Duncan reluctantly answered, knowing full well he ripped a kaiju to pieces a few hours ago. “ ...You wouldn’t be wrong in assuming that. I’ve always been stronger than most kids,”

“ Exactly! So for someone like you a measly obstacle course is nothing," Anton gave Duncan a friendly punch on the shoulder. " So the best way to see what you've got is to give yourself a real challenge. So why don’t we fight to see what you can do?” Anton proudly pointed to himself. 

“ Huh?!”

“ Come on! It’ll just be a friendly sparring match. I just wanna see how strong a half dragon can be,”

He hasn’t even been here a whole day and he’s already being goaded into a fight? Maybe he really does have some sort of target painted on his back. But at least Anton doesn’t seem like a jerk from what he can see. “ Uh, I still don’t think that’s a good idea. I know this sounds cocky but I really don’t wanna hurt you if anything happens,” Duncan quickly backed away. 

Alyssa stepped in and answered for Duncan. “ I’ll allow it. It’ll be a good learning experience for you, Duncan. If anything happens I’ll jump in and stop it,”  

“ Seriously… Okay, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn anybody…” Duncan sighed, and moved to the center of the room with Anton. 

Anton was stretching a bit before the fight and had an unsettling grin on his face. As well as eagerly cracking his knuckles and rolled up the sleeves on his uniform. Duncan didn’t see the point in this fight, sure Anton is physically bigger than him but Duncan can easily take a punch from a grown man or lift a car

Alyssa would play the spectator for the fight. “ When I blow the whistle the fight starts. No low blows, or aiming for organs,” she made the rules clear.  “ Also, Duncan. You’re probably tired of hearing this, but your mother didn’t tell you everything about the K.D.R.A. We don’t just use bullets and bombs to fight the supernatural,” she ominously stated. 

" What the hell did she mean by that?" Duncan thought, as she blew the whistle hanging from her necklace. Despite being a constant target of bullying and being pulled into fights before, Duncan has no experience fighting other people. Usually just throwing them off and throwing the occasional punch. Compared to Anton who raised his arms and assumed a stance similar to the ones you’d see in boxing matches.

He took a deep breath. “ Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Duncan ran forward with his fist raised. Unexpectedly Anton’s body began to glow with a bright yellow aura and he quickly blocked Duncan’s punch. Far too quick for Duncan to react, Anton landed a heavy right hook and put Duncan out like a light...

Chapter Text

Duncan was beginning to regain consciousness. It was only a single punch, but he had a fairly large bruise on his face and blood fell from his mouth. He was beginning to hear voices around him again. “ Seriously?! Did you have to go hit him that hard, man?!” a person he believes was Kenny said. Everyone’s voice sounds really muffled right now… 

“ Wha- I was holding back! I only used a bit of my magic. I thought he could handle it!” He could hear Anton argue back. 

“ Holy shit are those his teeth?” Isabel called out. 

“ Don’t feel bad. This is Duncan's first time being exposed to someone with magical power. I thought it would be a nice lesson for him,” Alyssa nonchalantly 

They just mentioned magic? Duncan snapped his eyes open and sat back up. He was still trying to process what happened, he wasn’t seeing things. While his vision was still fuzzy, he was certain that for a split second Anton’s body was covered in a strange aura. “ You okay man? Didn’t mean to hit you that hard, I thought you could take it,” Anton extended his hand to help Duncan off the floor.

“ I-It’s cool. I just wasn’t prepared for… Whatever it was you did,” Duncan said. Duncan’s healing ability kicked in when in a matter of seconds the bruise on his face had vanished and the teeth Anton knocked out were  replaced by new ones. But the feeling of his teeth growing back sent chills down Duncan’t spine. 

Duncan was about to ask Anton what that attack was, but his attention was quickly turned to Alyssa. “ What the hell are you doing?!” he loudly exclaimed when he saw her picking up his teeth off the ground and putting them into small plastic bags. 

“ Oh, don’t mind me. It’s for our research. Any dismembered part of you is instant property of the K.D.R.A. and used in our research,” Alyssa answered nonchalantly. “ It’s in the contract your mother signed,” 

Deeply disturbed by this, Duncan tried to put it out of his mind. “ ...So… Wait?… You know what, nevermind! What the hell was that thing you did, Anton? There’s no way you just used magic. That’s impossible,” 

“ Wow you really are in the dark,” Anton mumbled. “ Also should a half dragon hybrid really be saying what is and isn’t possible?”

“ Well he’s got you there,” Alyssa remarked, taking notes on her clipboard. 

“ But to answer your question, yes, Magic exists. The K.D.R.A. keeps it a secret from the public but hundreds of magic users are employed here, all over the world in fact,” Anton explained, and pointed towards himself proudly. “ Each one with a bunch of different powers. Same goes for me, I call mine ‘Consecutive Strike’ with every hit my attacks get stronger,” He revealed, cracking his knuckles. 

Actually, back then when Duncan first talked with Belloc, he mentioned that it was a “spell” that allowed them to talk to each other. Duncan was so busy fighting and the sudden talk with his father that he didn’t pay attention to it. But maybe he should have. If giant dragons and monsters can exist, then who's to say magic can’t exist too? It should have been obvious from the start. 

But now that he knows Anton can use magic to counter his strength, Duncan planned to be more on guard against him this time. “ Why’d you reveal your ability? You could have beat me without it?” He asked, raising his fists. 

“ Where’s the fun in that? Plus the way I see it, if we’re going to be training together we might as well get to know each other’s powers and skill,” Anton went back to his boxing stance but this time went on the offensive. Covering his arms in the same yellow aura Anton took a large jab at Duncan who blocked the hit. But he was starting to feel the effects of Anton’s power, the punch felt heavier despite Anton not putting much force behind it. “ Wanna know something, Duncan? A grown man can only last around 10 of my punches before they ‘re out cold. Wonder how long you’ll last against me!” Anton broke Duncan’s guard and hit him in the chin with a large uppercut and two quick jabs to the chest, sending him staggering back. Duncan tried to get another punch in, but Anton slipped past his punch and sent him flying backwards with a jab to the face. 

The other cadets looked on as Duncan struggled to keep up with Anton’s attacks. It was only a matter of time before Duncan was knocked out again, or just gave up. “ So uh… He’s not doing well is he?” Joanna asked. 

Sara tried to give Duncan a chance. “ No, wait he can still get a hit in-”  Anton punched Duncan square in the chest and a loud thud echoed through the room and Duncan fell to his knees, gasping for air. “ ...Uh… No he’s not doing well…” Sara conceded. 

“ Shouldn’t we stop this? Anton has him beat,” Kenny chimed in. 

“ Not yet,” Alyssa checked the time on her stopwatch. “ I’ll intervene if things get ugly. But right now I wanna see what’ll happen first,” 

“ I still say this fight is rigged,” Isabel leaned back watching the fight. “ Anton’s power makes fighting him in head on damn near impossible. Back at the other academy nobody could take him out, cept for Jenna,”

“ Eh, once you figure out his patterns he’s not that tough,” Jenna bluntly stated. 

“ Easy for you to say,” Isabel muttered. 

Duncan stood back up, and felt the burning sensation in the back of his throat. gritting his teeth he forced his body to ignore it. This brief moment of relief gave him enough time to heal the bruises and get some stamina back. But Duncan pondered his next move, it’s obvious from the way he fights that Anton has far more experience and training with hand to hand combat than he does. Meanwhile all he has are his inhuman strength and endurance. Using his flames or that weird form earlier were out of the question. This is just a training match, he doesn’t wanna hurt anyone. “ All I have to do is get one good hit in, and knock him down or out,” Duncan thought to himself, observing Anton. “ Sure he’s  good at fighting… But compared to the kaiju that are going to come after me, this is nothing!”

Observing his attacks more closely, Duncan let Anton get closer to him and tried his best to defend himself. As soon as Anton’s punch landed, Duncan struck back, nearly taking Anton’s head off if he hadn’t moved him out of the way at the last second. Up until now Duncan was pulling all of his punches. But now that he knows Anton among others could use magic to increase their strength, he’s done holding back. “ Now that’s what the power I was waiting for!” Anton became ecstatic seeing the drastic change in Duncan’s strength. 

He waited for his chance, and allowed Anton to get closer to him. Taking a huge risk, Duncan blocked several of his attacks, but each one hurt more than the last! He was just waiting for the right moment But it felt like he was being pelted by large rocks. For a sparring match among cadets this sure felt like it was a real fight. After a quick jab Anton decided to put more force behind an uppercut, seeing the attack coming Duncan tightened his stomach and braced himself as the punch connected and nearly knocked the breath right out of his lungs. Before Anton could do anything else, Duncan swiftly grabbed onto Anton’s arm and latched on stopping him from moving. 

“ ...Hehe, I got you now!” Duncan gritted his teeth landing his first punch on Anton. Another loud thud could be heard and was followed by a small cracking noise. Both of the boys were exhausted  and out of breath. Even still, Anton pulled his hand away and punched Duncan in the jaw and he fell backwards on the hard floor. Struggling to keep his balance, Anton’s legs gave out and he fell to the ground himself. The match officially ended now that both of them were out cold. 

Alyssa handed Jenna her clipboard, and reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small box. “ I sure hope you both learned something from this,” Upon observing Duncan, all of his bruises were healed in a matter of seconds. But the energy Duncan’s body used up to heal them may have caused him to pass out. But Anton was in far worse condition. From the looks of it, bones were most certainly broken.  

The box Alyssa carried held a small syringe and a small jar containing a bright green liquid, a healing elixir. The K.D.R.A. not only employ those with magical and non-human abilities, but also rely on mythical methods in most of their operations. Reconstructing old tomes and managing to produce a number of potions and other magical items to advance their fight against the Kaiju. An entire organization built on the foundation of science and magic. After Alyssa injected Anton with the elixir it only took a few seconds for the elixir to take effect and the massive bruise on Anton’s chest was healed. If the injury was any more severe than he might have needed to head to the infirmary. Elixirs and potions can only go so far. 

“ How are you feeling?” Alyssa asked Duncan as he slowly got back up. 

“ Like I got mugged by a gorilla…” 

“ Nah, if it were a gorilla you would have definitely lost a limb or two. If anything it was more like fighting a rabid chimpanzee,”  

…That comparison wasn’t any better. But either one wasn’t that far off. “ You know something? I think I would have preferred the obstacle course…”

“ Man that was crazy!” Anton quickly sprung to life and heavily slapped Duncan on the back. Sporting a new cheerful and energetic attitude. “ That strength of yours is no joke, I don’t think I’ve ever been that messed up before,” 

“ Uh…? What? But I almost caved your chest in,” 

“ And? It’s a fight. Not much fun if we’re both fine afterwards. Gotta have at least one bruise to show for it,” Anton reached out and helped Duncan back to his feet. “ Besides, if we’re going to be fighting kaiju then we’ll need to learn how to take a hit or two,” 

“ Uh…Y-Yeah… You’ve got a point,” Duncan recalled his previous encounters with kaiju. Being thrown across a cafeteria like a ragdoll wasn’t exactly painless. Neither was getting tail slapped into various rock formations and almost getting crushed between two massive rocks… 

“ Thanks for going along with my crazy little idea, you're alright with me, Duncan,” Anton reached out for a fist bump. 

“ S-Same… Your power was pretty too, I could barely keep up with you,” Duncan returned the gesture with a smile. Now that the fight was actually over, Alyssa wrote down her notes on how each of the boys did. But after witnessing the match she couldn’t help but think back to when she first enrolled in this place years ago, as well as the first day she met Margaret. 

It had been a combat exercise as well as Margaret’s first time fighting someone else with magical abilities. But Margaret managed to land at least more than one hit on Alyssa. The match had also ended with both of the young girls beaten and exhausted, Alyssa having exhausted most of her magic to try and counteract Margaret’s raw strength among other things. But once magic was out of the way Margaret had the upper hand again. To this day, Alyssa has no idea how she was able to win that fight. 

“ …D-Damn… how can someone as small as you hit so hard…” Alyssa mocked the size difference between them. While also holding her dislocated shoulder while Margaret was exhausted on the floor.  

“ D-Dammit! I can… still fight!” Margaret loudly asserted, but in her condition she could barely crawl let alone fight. 

“Yeah sure, of course you can. Need a hand?” Alyssa reached out her hand to help Margaret. “ I’ll take you to the infirmary,”  

Margaret coldly turned away. “ I don’t need your damn help…” 

“ Yeah, yeah, save that ‘lone wolf’ bullshit for someone who cares. Come on, I’ll help you up,” Alyssa countered Margaret’s stubbornness with her own. Margaret tried to ignore Alyssa at first but eventually set aside her pride, for now at least, and accepted the gesture. Little did the two know, this seemingly small gesture would lead to the two of them becoming close friends to this day. Done with reminiscing, Alyssa watched Duncan closely. “ Yeah, he’s off to a better start than us, Margaret. Let’s just hope he makes better choices than we did,” she thought to herself. 

Alyssa loudly blew her whistle and got everyone’s attention to resume the beginning course as usual. Unfortunately for the cadets, the obstacle courses that Alyssa set up were only the beginning. If the cadets were going to fight kaiju, then they had to be pushed to their absolute limits for the fitness exam if they were going to be able to keep up with their power. Alyssa’s methods of teaching were far more kinetic than any of them anticipated.  

By the end of the day, Duncan and Anton were exhausted and ready to pass out at any second. At the same time, the other cadets in the combat course weren't nearly as enervated. The reason wasn’t that surprising, after that lengthy fight Anton and Duncan were in no shape to do hard exercise even if they are healed now. 

“ …I feel like my arms and legs are gonna fall off…” Duncan muttered, barely able to stand. 

“ hehehe… T-This was nothing…” Anton had already collapsed but was still resolute that he could keep going even, but nobody was buying it. 

“ Alright! That’ll be all for today!” Alyssa blew her whistle  signaling the end of today’s course. “ I’ve got all I need to know what each of you need to be an effective agent. So change back to your clothes and head back for today. Schools over,”  

“ …But that was all combat training. Aren’t we going to check out any of the other classes or subjects…?” A breathless Duncan asked. He knew something was up when they had so much time dedicated to just physical training. 

“ You’ll find out soon. But again, get changed and head back to class. Your orientation isn’t completely over yet,” Alyssa answered. 

When he first arrived here she told him that he’d missed his orientation and now she’s telling him that it isn’t completely done yet? He was too tired to pry any further so he just did as she asked and went with the others to change and get back to class. 

“ You know, I didn’t get a good look at it before but I like your new clothes, Dunan. Let’s just hope those don’t burn off this time,” Jenna joked as soon as the cadets all entered the class. Duncan quickly remembered Margaret telling him that when he first used his flames all of his clothes had burned off… “ But don’t worry. When all that stuff happened, I didn’t see anything. There was too much smoke in the way,” Jenna whispered to reassure him in case things might have been awkward between them. 

“Jeez. Sure wish I was at the school yesterday, I want to see how Consecutive Strike actually measures up to a kaiju in action,” Anton leaned back in his chair. “ …The one day I decide to ditch,” 

“ So this guy ditched school on his first day ?!” Duncan thought to himself. “ So that means this entire class was at school yesterday?” 

“ We were. We just weren’t after school when the kaiju attacked. We haven’t been introduced yet, I’m Joanna Everett, and this is Sarah Beumont and uh… You've already met… and fought Anton,” Joanna introduced herself and the rest of the cadets Duncan hasn’t talked to yet. 

“ Sorry about that, Anton has always kinda does what he wants. Even if it makes trouble for the rest of us,” Sarah apologized for her friend’s behavior. Giving the impression this won’t be the last of Anton’s “antics”.  

Duncan tried to make the best first impression he could, and it looks like it's paying off for him. But he’s still planning on keeping his distance a bit, he’s still unsure if him being the son of Belloc will cause some tension in the future. He’s still a little reserved around fully trusting Jenna, Kenny and Isabel. It was far easier for him that way, if they secretly despise him at least he’ll have seen it coming, and it wouldn’t hurt him as badly. 

“ Soooo if you don’t mind me asking. What’s going on with your mom? Ms. Randolph was pretty vague about so I was curious about her,” Isabel had been holding in question after question ever since she found out Duncan’s secret and pulled out a textbook journal from her backpack titled “Kaiju notes #5” and began hovering her pencil over the paper. 

“ Well, there’s not much to say about my mom. I know she used to be an agent for the K.D.R.A. but aside from that she’s pretty normal. So that’s about it,” Duncan answered as truthfully as he could. He always knew Margaret worked for the K.D.R.A. but much like most things about her past she never really told him about it. 

“ She was an agent? What’s her name? Maybe we’ve heard of her,” Kenny asked, invested in the conversation. Unbeknownst to anyone else Jenna reacted strongly to that last question, lightly drumming her hands on the desk anticipating something. 

“ Sure, her name is- Gah! ” Before Duncan could  say anything more Alyssa appeared behind Duncan and lifted him up with one arm by his shirt collar. The same way a mother cat would carry her young kitten. “ We can ask that later. You’re coming with me. Colonel’s orders,” Alyssa said, carrying Duncan out the room with ease while the rest of the cadets looked on in silence.  

“ …Either he’s lighter than he looks or she’s insanely strong,” Isabel remarked. 

Duncan was dragged to yet another room in the center of the base. But the feeling he got from this one is similar to that of a Principal’s office than a typical classroom. “ So where are we going this time?” Duncan asked. 

“ The others in your class are being filled in by someone else. But Barnes and Margaret would rather tell you this in person. They figured you’d like some good news after the day you’ve had,” Alyssa answered. “ I knew that crash wouldn’t keep him down for long. That guys survived far worse,” 

Duncan thought that Margaret had gone home after she saw that Barnes was okay. What was she still doing at the base? As soon as they walked in, Duncan saw Barnes sitting at a large desk and Margaret standing beside him. He was relieved to see that Barnes was okay after that crash, he just had a small bandage over his head to show for it.

“ So you're the principal of my old school and the one here too?” 

“ Something along those lines. But I am the one in charge of this base,” Barnes answered.  “ So Duncan. How was your first day?”

“ Uh… Aside from getting knocked out twice I guess it was alright… Wait! No! I have some serious questions for you!” Duncan exclaimed. “ Why were those guys at my school if they were K.D.R.A. cadets this whole time?!” 

Usually Barnes acts fairly casual towards Duncan. The way a “normal” Uncle would. But whenever it comes to matters concerning the K.D.R.A. or his father. Barnes would put on a stern and aloof persona. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does Duncan knows it’s a serious conversation. “ Regarding your new friends. It’s all a part of a recent program we’ve started. Training to become a K.D.R.A. agent usually starts at age 14, where they’re still fairly young and moldable. But due to some recent psychological studies, we’ve had to rethink our methods. Especially now in these peaceful times. During the war things were different. Now, we’re allowing the cadets to go to normal school as well as hone their skills to fight kaiju,” 

“ Sorry, Duncan. I wasn’t aware of this program when I sent you to that school, so I didn’t know what to expect. But now that I’m in the loop about these things again I used some of my influence to give you the same treatment,” Margaret said. “ Starting soon, you’ll be going back to your normal life. While also keeping up with your training. Isn’t that great?”

Knowing everything he does now, Duncan only felt frustration. Knowing that once again Margaret made another decision like this for him. He knows it’s for his own safety, he knows Margaret and Barnes have his best interest in mind… But just once could they ask him what he thought? Even when he finally got to do something he wanted it just had to come with a catch. “ Yeah. That sounds great, mom,” Duncan said behind a fake smile.

“ Hope you're ready, kid. Going to two schools at once is a tough order for anyone,” Barnes had to make sure that Duncan knew what he was getting into. Normal school was a challenge all on its own, but based on what he’s heard the elite training academies are nothing to joke about. 

“ Ever since that first kaiju attack nothings been easy for me. I’ll just follow mom’s advice and face the world head on,” Duncan had to reassure himself.  “ But even though it was a day I did like going to that school, and if the others in AP Class are there I guess it won’t be so bad,” 

“ Good. After we get your schedule figured out in a few days we’ll start your enrollments. After the day you’ve had you’ll need all the rest you can get. Fighting a magic user can take a lot out of ya,” Barnes joked. He’d already seen Duncan’s fight with Anton. Most of the rooms in the base are fitted with cameras, and the training room was no exception. As commander of the base it was obvious Barnes would have access to all of them. 

“ He did his best. His strategy to get his hit in was a little reckless but not bad for his first time fighting a magic user,” Margaret saw the footage as well and was very generous about her thoughts. But Duncan and everyone else knew full well that Anton was running circles around him. “ But enough of that, come on Duncan. Since it’s your first day here I made your favorite, double cheeseburgers with a side of chicken tenders,” 

Duncan’s eyes widened. “ I still have more questions about all that magic stuff. This isn’t over!” he looked back at Barnes and Alyssa as he left the room with Margaret. 

On their way out of the base  Duncan noticed Margaret looking at parts of the base with familiar and sentimental eyes. What happened to cause her to completely cut him off this part of her life he wondered. Maybe training here will help him to have more insight on the person Margaret used to be while she worked for the K.D.R.A. “ So, Duncan. No joking this time but how was your first day here? Margaret asked.  

“ …Well… I didn’t hate it,” Duncan shrugged. “ It was a surprise seeing Jenna, Kenny and Isabel again but it’s a relief knowing I won’t have to lie to them about dad,” 

“ Te irá bien aquí Duncan. I’m sorry it had to happen this way, but you can learn a lot here about how to control your new powers,” Margaret put her hand on Duncan’s shoulder. 

He could only hope she was right. But this is it, yesterday a chapter of his life had ended and a new one quickly rose to take its place. Duncan met and made some interesting new friends, fought and killed two kaiju and even talked to his father for the first time in his life. It’s the last thing he ever wanted to happen but he couldn’t keep running from this forever and pretending it doesn’t concern him. Now the real fight begins. 

Chapter Text

They’ve always been around. But it wasn’t until recently that humanity could no longer ignore the beings that were residing beneath their very feet. Throughout the years they’ve gone through many names, once they were called gods, titans, demons. But recently they’re known by a new name. Kaiju. The first recorded attack was on November 3rd 2020 in the city of Tokyo. Early in the morning two massive creatures unlike anything anyone had ever seen emerged from the sea and carved a path of destruction through the city. Thousands of lives were lost in the span of 3 days of fighting. Militaries around the world threw everything they had at the creatures in the hopes of stopping their rampage, however, the kaiju displayed a frightening level of intelligence only thought to be possessed by humans; they were quickly able to adapt to mankind’s strategies and massacred hundreds of soldiers in the conflict with only one of the creatures being killed to show for it. Who knows how much more damage they would have done. At the end of the 3rd day the surviving kaiju spoke for the first time. 

The words the kaiju spoke shocked the world. “ Here me pathetic humans! I have come on behalf of our king, the great dragon, Belloc Rosenblatt! This is only a fraction of what our kind is capable of. We will no longer tolerate the human infestation of our world and we will not stop until every last human on the surface is crushed beneath our feet! This is a declaration of war!!!” The kaiju bellowed before disappearing back into the ocean. 

Thus, the Great Kaiju War had begun. Months after the initial attack the kaiju returned and were merciless in their assault. Destroying city after city where each battle resulted in an immense amount of damage to the population. But missiles and nukes could only do so much against the kaiju, the frequent nuclear fallout in the aftermath made surrounding areas inhospitable for humans. The world had to find another way to fight back against their new enemy and turn the tides of war in the humans favor. But behind the scenes, a new and classified branch of the military was formed, one that was tasked with finding a way to win this war, the Kaiju Defense and Research Agency. Eventually they found the solution. Hidden from the world there existed a small but powerful group of people capable of using miraculous powers and harnessing magic. In the years to come, these individuals would be the front lines defending humanity from the kaiju.

The war would come to an end in the year 2028 during what is now known as “The Attack of San Francisco” where Belloc made his first appearance since the war was declared. He emerged from the earth and in a haunting display of his power set the city ablaze, by the time people realized what had happened entire blocks were covered in blood and ash. The military was entirely outmatched. Belloc was unlike any kaiju they’d faced before as even their elite magic users proved ineffective. If it wasn’t for the efforts of one woman the city might have been lost that day. The Captain of the 6th Company, Agent Espada. Even after killing most of the kaiju in the surrounding area she still chose to engage Belloc in combat and was able to match him in power. After a long and bloody battle, Belloc called back the kaiju and retreated back to the Hollow Earth, the home of all Kaiju and nonhuman entities. Agent Espada pursued an injured Belloc but he escaped before she could claim his life. Ever since that day the kaiju haven’t been seen since and it’s remained that way for 15 years…

“ Now if you’ll all turn to page 50-… can someone please wake up Duncan.” The class instructor Keith Martinez turned on the light after finishing the presentation. Jenna threw one of her erasers at Duncan’s head and he sprung back up. “ Huh?! What happened?!” he asked, looking around. 

“ You missed a good chunk of the presentation about the war,” Kenny reminded Duncan. 

Duncan rubbed his eyes and fixed his posture. “ …Oh… Right,” 

It’s been two week since Duncan began his enrollment at Academy Alpha, and it’s been quite the challenge to adjust to the whole ordeal. It doesn’t take up too much of his schedule, thankfully. In fact it’s pretty fair once he got the hang of it. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he’ll attend his regular school at Herbert Hoover High while on Thursday and Friday he’ll attend his regular training at Academy Alpha. Whether it be in his regular school or a secret government facility he still had Saturday and Sunday off. 

Keith looked behind the newly awoken Duncan and saw that Anton was sleeping as well. He was way less subtle about it than Duncan was, he had his feet propped up and a book over his face. “ And while you’re at it, wake Anton as well,”

Sarah removed the book from Anton’s face and tried to politely wake him, but tired of the class being held up Jenna threw another one of her erasers at Anton quickly waking him up. Duncan lowered in embarrassment from falling asleep while Anton acted as if he did nothing wrong. “ Good. Now that everyone is paying attention we can continue the lesson,” the instructor remarked. The one teaching was the primary instructor for AP Class 1, Keith Martinez, a senior agent for the K.D.R.A. He was a friendly middle aged latino man with gray hair and a well trimmed mustache and for Duncan and the others he was the ideal teacher. Not only were his lessons easy to understand but he also worked alongside them to make sure they understood them as best they could and with Academy Alpha being an elite school their lessons naturally reflect that. Combat training wasn’t their only subject, history of the K.D.R.A. and kaiju biology were just some of the few subjects they’re being expected to learn if they were to become agents in the future. 

But as for this lesson, Duncan didn’t really need to pay attention all that much. Especially for someone like him, the Great Kaiju War was a historic event that changed the world forever but for him it was also family history, it was where his parents met, so of course he was gonna know a ton about it. But he’s not sure how he feels about being living proof that history books were heavily tampered with by the government. Guess history really is written by the victors in this scenario. 

After the lessons pertaining to history and kaiju are over, the next up is combat training. Like a normal school, there was usually a bell that signified changing classes and the class would head to their next class. Being the total opposite of Keith, Alyssa didn’t hold anything back and operated on a strict ‘Sink or Swim’ mentality. Sometimes they question if she even cares about their wellbeing.

“ So what are you gonna do this time? I get it, but you can’t keep avoiding it,” Jenna asked Duncan on their way to the training hall. 

“ I know I know. I’ll… try and figure something out,” Just thinking about it made Duncan tense up. He’s managed to scrape by with a bunch of the other subjects. But when it comes to combat training however. 

“ Are you finally going to use your flames today?” Alyssa bluntly asked with her arms crossed. The two of them were in a section of the training room specifically designed with Duncan’s flame powers in mind. Multiple target dummies had been set up around them, both with two designs, resembling human and kaiju. 

“ I can’t keep vouching for you, Duncan. You’re here to learn how to control your powers and the higher ups want an update on your progress. If I keep ducking them they’ll be hell to pay for us both,” Alyssa attempted to convince him. Trying to dodge the question Duncan looked down and avoided eye contact. It’s been two weeks since he used his fire breath and he’s been incredibly reluctant to use it ever since. So every combat class has just been him exercising while the others are doing actual training.

Right now the others in AP Class 1 are at the  regular spaces practicing for real combat while he’s in here. It didn’t make Duncan feel any better. The last thing he wanted to do was to cause problems for anyone else. But no matter what he does, Duncan just can’t bring himself to use his flames again. “ I’m sorry. I know I have to. But I just can’t,” 

Alyssa sighed. She may look annoyed but she doesn’t blame Duncan for his little dilemma for even a second. It was a certain someone's fault for not preparing him properly for something like this! But something had to be done. If more kaiju are going to come after Duncan then he needs a way to defend himself, and a dragon's greatest weapon is its fire breath. Without proper knowledge of how to use it they might as well gift wrap Duncan for the kaiju to tear apart. “ Alright, if you aren’t using your fire powers then you’ll have to use something to fight. Luckily I have some ideas,” 

He should have known it wouldn’t be easy.  But at least this time it wasn’t hand to hand combat. “ Eyes forward! And keep your stance straight!” Sara loudly exclaimed, continuing her barrage of strikes on Duncan. 

“ I’m… Trying…!” Duncan raised his bow staff trying his best to block her attacks. Pulling off a series of impressive pirouettes Sara broke through Duncan’s guard landing multiple hits on him with her bow staff, one on his shoulder and the other on his leg bringing him to his knees. “ Hmm, Wanna try another weapon? I don’t think the bow staff is doing you any favors,” Sara asked, helping Duncan up. 

“ Probably… It’s just a bit hard for me to get the hang of it,” Duncan examined more of the weapons on display. 

Sara leaned against her bow staff. “ That’s normal. You’re not used to handling weapons is all. Why don’t you try the sword again, you seemed pretty comfortable with that one,” she suggested. 

Since Duncan wasn’t using his fire powers Alyssa saw fit to try another method. Teaching him how to use a weapon in place of his fire breath. Among the cadets, Sara was asked to help Duncan train his skills with whatever weapon he saw fit, being the melee weapons expert of the class she was the perfect person to turn to. “ Time to give it another try,” Duncan muttered, picking up one of the practice katanas on display. He’ll never admit it but he’d already gravitated towards the katana solely because of his love of anime. Even the way he held it was inspired by whatever sword style he’s seen in shows like Bleach or Demon Slayer. 

As soon as Duncan picked up the weapon a light blue aura began emanating from Sara’s hands and the wooden bow staff in her hands underwent a unique change. It began to shrink in size and change shape until it resembled a wooden saber. Sara, just like Anton and Duncan was capable of using a magic power unique to her, an ability she’s come to call ‘Transfigure’ a power that allows her to change any inorganic matter she touches into anything she desires. It was a modest power that suited her well. “ This time you’re going to go on the offensive,” Sara raised her sword and readied herself. 

Remembering his previous encounter with Anton, Duncan wasn’t as eager to go on the offensive this time around. Instead lightly stepping towards Sara and making various swings at her using the technique’s she’d taught him when they started. Sara maintained her stance, parrying most of Duncan’s attacks by sliding her blade across from his.  It was the only way she could counter the immense strength difference between them. Unlike Anton, her power didn’t grant her any physical advantages. 

Sara quietly evaluated Duncan’s potential with a weapon. She was right in suggesting he use a sword, compared to him using the bow staff it’s like it was made for him. While his form needed a ton of work, if he were to put that insane strength of his behind mastering a weapon he’d probably become one of the strongest agents the K.D.R.A. would have. It also didn’t hurt that Sara would have another weapon user in her class to train with. 

“ So how does the katana feel, Duncan?” 

“ I can use it a lot better than the other weapons I was shown. The bow staff was a bit much and uh… You saw how well I did with some of the other ones,” Duncan rubbed a spot on his forehead and slightly glanced over to a bit of blood on the floor. In hindsight, starting with the nunchucks was a bad idea. “ But it feels like I could get the hang of this,” 

Once all of the primary classes were over, the cadets would typically return to their main class and return home. But they had some time to talk amongst themselves. However, Duncan’s eyes were hovering over his new katana. Frequently sheathing it enough to where he could see the blade. 

“ Is it a good idea to give me a real katana now? I mean, I just started to learn sword fighting,” Duncan recalled Alyssa giving him the weapon after his training session with Sara. 

“ It’s better to be prepared. We don’t know when the kaiju are going to come after you next, so from now on carry this with you at all times.” 

“ Even at school?”

“ Obviously. Just say that you have a kendo club outside of school or something. You like anime, right? People will totally believe that,” 

“ Hey, Duncan!” Isabel called out, snapping him back to the present. “ Space out much? Listen, we were thinking about stopping by the mall to hang out a bit. Wanna come with us? It’ll be a nice break from all the training,” Isabel asked. 

“ Huh? You want me? To come along too?” Duncan repeated. 

“ Yeah, why wouldn’t we?” Kenny said. 

“ …Uh… I’m not exactly sure. I um? Still have things to do at home,” Duncan instinctively thought of an excuse. He wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to turn them down so quickly. It was more so him panicking. “ But I’ll let you guys know if I can make it…” 

“ Okay then. Let us know if you change your mind, you still have our numbers,” Jenna reminded him. 

“ I remember. S-See you guys later,” Duncan quickly gathered his things and left. Around when they first started class they all exchanged numbers so that they could all stay in contact. Isabel even went ahead and created a Discord server for all of them, although Duncan still has yet to accept the invite. “ I’m such an idiot,” put his hood over his head to try and hide his face. After arriving Home, Duncan walked through the door with his head hung low and Barnes not far behind him. It was his turn to drive Duncan home. 

“ How was training today, Duncan?” Margaret welcomed Duncan back, while typing away at her laptop sitting peacefully in the living room. Duncan barely said a word, only giving a light shrug before dropping both his backpack and his new sword on the floor and retreating to his room. “ So I’m guessing today wasn’t the best,” Margaret closed her laptop. But for a quick second her eyes were drawn to the sword he was given today. Earlier Alyssa filled Margaret in on Duncan’s predicament with his flames. It wasn’t a bad idea but part of her wishes he didn’t choose a katana…

“ He’s been quiet since he got out of school. I don’t know what's wrong with him, so I figured you might be able to get through to him,” Barnes said. 

“ You know you are his uncle. It wouldn’t hurt for you to talk to him once in a while,” Margaret crossed her arms.

“ Oh no. I’m not good at that kind of thing. I already told you that I’d be there for him if he had either problems with girls or getting a car. But everything else is on you,” 

“ Maybe that’s he never confides in you,” Margaret thought to herself. Despite being the only prominent male figure in Duncan’s life she wishes he wasn’t so distant at times. It would have really helped her a handful of times throughout Duncan’s early years. Margaret gently knocked on Duncan’s door. “ Duncan? It’s me,” 

“ It’s unlocked,” Duncan’s muffled voice could be heard through the door. Margaret walked in to see Duncan laying flat on his bed staring intensely at his phone. It looked as if he was beginning to type something. But promptly deleted it soon after. “ I heard from Alyssa that you're learning how to use a sword. But I can tell that’s not what’s really bothering you,” 

Duncan closed his phone and turned on his side so he wasn’t facing Margaret. “ You’re gonna laugh at me. It’s dumb,” 

“ I did dumb things when I was your age too. I’m not gonna laugh at you,” 

“ …Well… the others in class asked me to hang out with them today. But I panicked and said I had things to do at home…” Duncan admitted. 

“ That’s it?” 

“ Yes! I want to go with them but… I'm not used to other people wanting to hang out with me. Usually they’d just ignore me and pretend I don’t exist. So this is… new to me,” Duncan voiced his concerns. “ After all, who’d wanna be friends with the half-dragon freak?”  

“ Duncan, you’re not a freak. I know you haven’t had the easiest time at your other schools and I understand how you feel. But if you keep shutting people out, then you’ll never be able to move forward with your life,” Margaret suggested. She was more than aware of how Duncan was treated by kids his own age in the past. The amount of times that she’s received calls from school telling her that Duncan injured other students in a fight, only to reveal that Duncan was only defending himself. Or all the times Duncan came home crying because of all the ridicule over his skin. It made her blood boil just thinking about it. “ I’m not gonna force you to go. But if they genuinely didn’t wanna hang out with you, then they would have acted a lot differently when they were told who your father is,” 

Taking another good look into his phone, Duncan hovered his fingers over the contact list. “ Am I really doing this?” He pondered while beginning to text Kenny. In minutes he got a response from Kenny saying exactly where and what time they were going to the mall. It was a start, but maybe it was time that he moved on from the experiences of his past schools and after everything that’s happened here moving wasn’t an option. “ Then I’ll get the car ready,” Margaret was proud of Duncan’s progress. 

It was a short drive to where they’d all agreed to meet up. Duncan was dropped off at the front of the mall looking for the others. Much to his surprise Jenna was in front of the mall entrance on her phone. “ Hm? Oh, Duncan! Over here!” she called over to him, seeing him in the front seat of Margaret’s car. 

He wasn’t expecting Jenna to be the one waiting for him. He thought it would have been Kenny, Isabel or maybe Anton. “ Uh, hey Jenna. I-I was able to make it hehehehe,” he chuckled nervously exiting the car. “ Why do I have to be alone with Jenna?! Whenever I’m alone with her my mind goes all stupid!” Duncan’s thoughts ran wild. 

“ Yeah, Kenny told us. The others are already inside-” Jenna’s eyes quickly wandered to the driver's seat and suddenly she started acting as on edge as Duncan was. “ Hi, Miss…. Barnes. Nice to see you again…” Duncan raised an eyebrow at Jenna’s sudden demeanor. 

“ Hi Jenna. Thanks for inviting Duncan with you, it really means a lot to him,” Duncan put his hoodie over his head.  Did Margaret have to say something like that outloud? Even if it’s true he doesn’t want anyone else to know that. “ Llámame cuando quieras ir a casa. Cuídate y diviértete,” Margaret waved, keeping her usual easygoing composure before driving away.  

Jenna breathed a sigh of relief. “ I didn’t know you or your mom spoke spanish,” 

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. This was a perfect conversation starter. “ Yeah, I’m a quarter Puerto Rican on my mom’s side so English is actually my second language. Plus we’re both fluent in sign language,” Duncan listed off what he could do as they headed inside. 

“ That’s really cool, and I see you’ve brought your katana with you,” Jenna saw the kendo bag slung around Duncan’s shoulder.  

“ Hehe, not by choice,” Duncan explained. Before they even left the house there were two conditions Duncan had to follow. First, keep his katana with him at all times. If the school wasn’t safe from a kaiju attack then who knows where else they’d strike. Second, in the event a kaiju attack were to happen he and the others were to wait for K.D.R.A. personnel before engaging with the kaiju. Duncan may have gotten lucky in the past but who knows how long that’ll last now that he’s not using his flames right now. Duncan was also still wearing the fireproof clothing he’d gotten from Alyssa, after two weeks he’s just accepted it becoming his new basic attire and now wears it everywhere he goes. He’s taken care of it though and washes it regularly.  

Kenny and Isabel looked relieved that Duncan was able to join them. “ Nice. You were able to make it!” While the rest of their class were all sitting at the same table near the food court. Joanna and Sara were talking while Anton was on his phone. But now that he was here, Duncan felt more lost than ever. This was his first time hanging out with kids his age so he wasn’t sure what to do. What did kids even do at the mall anyway? 

Despite choosing to come here, Duncan was a lot quieter than usual while the others were chatting away. “ Hey, Duncan. Aren’t you and Kenny into anime and manga? Do you also collect that kinda stuff?” Isabel noticed Duncan’s silence and wanted to help him warm up to their little team. 

“ Sure, Aside from a few things, most of my room is filled with DVDs and volumes,” Duncan answered. While it was Margaret who introduced Duncan to anime and for as long as he could remember they’ve watched nearly everything together. But Duncan started his collection all on his own a few years ago. That and a few other hobbies. He never participated in any after school activities so he had to pass the time somehow. 

“ That’s a relief. Before you I was the only one here who watches anime, and Anton has only ever watched and read Bleach, and he refuses to watch anything else!” Kenny pointed a finger to Anton. 

“ Oh I’ll get into another series. If it’s by Kubo. Manga hasn’t been the same since he finished Bleach,” Anton made his case although Duncan and Kenny heavily disagreed with that sentiment. 

It was gradual, but Duncan started to become more comfortable around the others. Aside from seeing them in school and in training for the most part he kept them at an arm's length, and he wasn’t sure why at first. But deep down he already knew the answer. Due to all the bullying and ridicule he became a little too accustomed to the life of an outsider. It was easier for him to keep people away, if he kept his distance from others they couldn’t hurt him. It was safe. That way he knew what to expect from not just others but himself. But now the situation has changed. Now, they know that he’s Belloc’s son and in the two weeks they’ve known each other haven’t treated him any differently from any other person. Even Isabel’s prodding questions come from a place of genuine curiosity and an odd fascination with kaiju compared to the offensive and crass questions he’d been asked about his birth. Duncan was relieved that he could find friends like this. 

But of course. This moment of solace was never going to last long. An hour after they arrived Duncan Suddenly got a chill down his spine. His heart sank. He’s only ever felt this way twice and each time meant… “ No no… Why now!… Guys… We have to leave!” Duncan loudly exclaimed. 

“ What’s going on with y-” Jenna stopped as soon as she saw the panicked expression on Duncan’s face. “ Oh crap,” she realized what was happening. 

A deafening siren went off in a matter of seconds. Followed by nearly everyone's phones receiving the same message. 

[KAIJU ALERT! MULTIPLE KAIJU HAVE APPEARED IN THE AREA! PLEASE EVACUATE TO THE NEAREST DESIGNATED SHELTERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!]

Soon people all over the mall were in mass panic, the Kaiju attack at the school was quickly covered up by the K.D.R.A. to avoid a panic and the one Duncan killed was miles away from any populated areas. But the ones right now were deemed an immediate threat to the public and for the first time in 15 years the Kaiju Alert System was set off. A state of the art alert designed for whenever a kaiju roamed too close to a populated area and during the war special bunkers were built throughout the country to keep civilians safe. 

“ How many times are these dang things gonna catch me off guard?” Jenna clenched her fists. 

“ We can focus on all that later. Right now we have to get the hell out of here! The bunkers aren’t that far!” Joanna was quickly cut off when the glass ceiling of the mall was abruptly shattered and the kaiju burst through the ceiling. 

It was small enough to fit in the building but was large enough to tower over humans. Resembling a massive bat-like creature the kaiju crashed down to the floor, spread its monstrous wings and roared revealing large rows of sharp yellow teeth. “ Now go, my children!  Find the boy!” The kaiju shrieked revealing a raspy feminine voice. As she ordered dozens of smaller humans sized bat creatures flew into the building screeching and tearing the stores apart. By the time the kaiju entered most of the people had already evacuated the mall aside from a few stragglers who had fallen down and gotten injured in the panic the alarm caused. “ Shit… Of course they’re here for me!” Duncan reached for his katana. Before he could draw it, he remembered what he’d promised his mother. If it was just the bat mother he might stand a chance, but he’s severely outmatched with all of her children flying around. He’s better off just heading to one of the bunkers and waiting for the K.D.R.A. to arrive. 

The closer Duncan and the others got to the exits, the more he became unable to ignore all of the people that are unable to get away. Even if the K.D.R.A. get here in time there will still be innocent people who are killed by those kaiju… All because he’s here… “ Dammit! You guys go ahead! I’ll try and help people get away!” Duncan urged the others to leave once they got to the exit. 

“ The hell you are. Those things could kill you!” Kenny objected. 

“ Those kaiju are only here because of me! I can’t just leave those people to die… I’ll be fine. I just have to hold out till the K.D.R.A. get here,” Against his better judgment, Duncan ran back into the building to confront the kaiju. “ Duncan, wait!- and he’s gone. Shoot!” Jenna failed to stop him. 

“ You weren’t kidding when you said he runs off to fight kaiju,” Joanna said.

Jenna sighed and pulled out an elastic band from her pocket and tied her hair up in a ponytail. “ I gave him a pass the last time. But this time. I’m prepared,” Jenna declared. 

Inside the building the bat kaiju had already torn the surrounding area to shreds. Sniffing and poking around all the areas Duncan had been before and preying on any humans that weren’t able to escape. “ It’s been so long since I’ve been to the surface world. Human blood is exquisite!” The mother bat sank her fangs into any human she could get her claws on. In order to savor the blood she avoided killing them since her bloodlust was reserved for another and a handful of people were sprawled around her with pale faces and unable to move. One of her children flew towards its mother perching itself on a fountain, and let out a high pitched screech completely indecipherable for humans. 

“ So you can’t find the boy? Then he's probably escaped by now,” The bat kaiju picked up a young woman and hovered her over its mouth. “ Take to the skies and find the boy. I shall clean up here, before that accursed group of humans show up,” the mother bat prepared to swallow the young woman whole and feast on the rest of the people in this mall. But before she could even close her jaws a table flew across the room smashing against the back of her head shattering into pieces. “ Gah! Dammit! Who did that?! I’ll rip you to pieces!” The bat dropped the woman and quickly turned around, rubbing the back of its head.

Standing a fair distance, Duncan stood against the bat kaiju with his katana in hand. The kaiju sniffed the air and once it got a hold of Duncan’s scent it developed a malicious grin. “ That scent. Yes, I’m certain it’s you, Dearest Prince!” The kaiju shouted.

It deeply unnerved him to be referred to as ‘Prince’ by this kaiju. “ Yeah, I’m right here!” Duncan unsheathed his sword and tossed the scabbard aside. Before he came here, Duncan swiped a black cloth mask from one of the stores to cover his face. It’d be a huge problem if anyone saw his face, especially now of all times. But aside from his orange skin his eyes were a dead giveaway, they’d changed from his typical blue to the pitch black sclera and thin blood red pupils.  “ You’re here for me, right? I’d rather not drag others into this so let’s take this fight somewhere else!” Duncan raised his sword and assumed the stance he’d learned from Sara. He’s only had less than a day of proper sword training, why did a kaiju have to appear now of all times?!

“ Take the fight somewhere else? Hahaha! Not a chance!” The bat kaiju lunged forward and swiped at Duncan with its wing. “ You’re going to die here anyway! Why do I care where I’m doing it!” she declared as Duncan hopped out of the way. 

“ Shit. That usually works in anime!” Duncan thought to himself, running into a store to get some more distance between him and the bat. Before he could think of a plan, the bat kaiju burst through a wall to get to him and took a wide swipe at him but he narrowly avoided its claws and managed to get a clean slice at the kaiju’s hand. It roared and knocked Duncan away, sending him flying to the second floor of the mall. 

An unbearable pain coursed through Duncan’s left arm as he picked himself up. He had flown through the window of one of the stores and broke his arm. Large shards of glass pierced through his clothes skewering his leg. “ Where are youuuuu?!”  The kaiju jeered looking for Duncan. In a few minutes, Duncan’s body began to heal. It was a disturbing feeling with how his bones and flesh restored itself. Even the glass in his leg was pushed out. “ I will never get used to that…” Duncan rotated his elbow and avoided the kaiju’s line of sight. 

His heart was racing, and that burning feeling in his chest returned. Why does this always happen whenever he fights?! Even since his first time breathing fire it’s like his body acts on its own and wants to do it! Even if he wanted to, there's no way he could do it with so many unconscious people around, especially in an enclosed space. The flames could get out of control and spread wildly. “ …In that case. I’ll have to rely on my strength to take this one out,” Duncan readied his sword as the kaiju was getting dangerously close to finding him. 

The kaiju poked its head inside of the building. “ There you are!-GAH!!!!” Duncan kicked off the front desk and rushed towards the kaiju sword in hand. Plunging the sword deep into the beast's eye and falling down to the first floor of the mall. Duncan ripped the blade out and grabbed onto the kaiju’s arm, lifting it over his head and slamming it into the floor. Before Duncan could swing his sword again, the kaiju raised its head and bellowed as loud as it could and Duncan covered his ears to try and drown out the deafening noise. After the kaiju stopped, various noises could be heard throughout the mall. “ Oh no…” Duncan saw that all of the bat kaiju’s children were flying to protect their mother.

In seconds he was overwhelmed. He’d managed to kill two or three of them by cleaving through them with his sword but the swarm of bat monsters was too much and he bled profusely as they clawed and gnawed away at his flesh. “ Yes! That’s it my children! Bleed him within an inch of his life! Then we’ll feast on his bloodied corpse!” The bat kaiju cheered for her children to finish off Duncan. He tried to get them off, but even with all of his strength he couldn’t shake them off. He deeply contemplated how he could get out of this. “ Fuck! I can’t shake all of them off! No, there is a way I can escape and end this. If I used my fire I could easily burn them all to a crisp and end this!” He had quick glimpses around, and all of the unconscious people that the bats drank from were still laying around. “ I can’t risk it! I can’t control my fire yet to risk using it around normal people! Hurting anyone with my powers is the last thing I ever want to happen! But if I don’t! I’ll…!” 

The abrupt sound of gunshots echoed throughout the mall, and the bat children mauling Duncan had ceased all movement. Actually, three of them had fully collapsed right next to Duncan and this gave him enough time to get away from them and give his body time to heal. “ Making new friends already, Duncan? Hope you haven’t forgotten about us,” a familiar voice called over as she walked closer. 

Duncan couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was Jenna. She was wearing a uniform similar to the ones the guards around the K.D.R.A. academy use, but it had a different type of feel to it.  and in her hands were twin pistols. The one in her left hand was a bright chrome color and the one in her right was a dark black color. 

“ Jenna? What-”

“ What? You thought you were the only one who knew how to fight?” Jenna retorted as another one of the bat children jumped towards her ready to drain her of her blood. “ Joanna. Take the shot,” Jenna calmly suggested. 

Immediately a loud gunshot went off and a hole suddenly appeared in the bat child’s chest perfectly aligning with its heart and its lifeless body fell to the ground. “ Eyes up, there are still 20 more of those things left. 21 counting their mother,” Joanna gave Jenna an update. However, she was far from the action, instead perching herself a great distance with a powerful sniper rifle in hand. 

Jenna raised an eyebrow. “ I thought there were more of them?” 

“ Well, Anton and Sara happened,” 

Soon, Anton revealed himself. Loudly cheering as he leapt from the second floor to where all the action was. Unlike Jenna and Joanne he didn’t have a weapon in sight, instead arriving with the corpses of two bat children, holding them by their necks. Anton dropped the bodies. His outfit was the same as Jenna’s although it was covered in blood and claw marks. Sara trailed behind him, gracefully holding a spear in one hand and a sword in another. “ Jenna. We went ahead and cleared out the area for you. You guys can handle the rest,” Sara announced that they’d killed the rest of the kaiju attacking the mall. Duncan was expecting Kenny and Isabel to show up next, but then remembered what they’d said about ‘not being in the combat courses’ like the others. 

As soon as she was sure, Jenna put a small communicator to her ear. “ Agent Zephyr. We’re all clear! Get the civilians out of here!” 

Unbeknownst to Duncan, while he was fighting the bat kaijus in the mall the K.D.R.A. had already arrived. Before they could lend him aid, they had to secure the area around the mall to ensure that nobody entered or if any other kaiju showed up. Alyssa was directly standing outside the mall in her combat uniform. “ I hear you cadet Swartzendruber,” Alyssa raised both of her arms, and the air around her began to shift  and spin rapidly. 

She’s never shown this to Duncan before, just like Anton and Sara she was also a magic user and was gifted with a power as well. The air inside of the mall began to shift, until each and every one of the civilians inside were lifted up by huge gusts of air carrying them all out of the building safely. Alyssa’s ability was called ‘Windstorm’ a simple and powerful power that gives her complete manipulation over air. 

She counted down the people saved from the building. “ 3…2…1… That’s all of them. You kids have your orders. No kaiju is to leave that building alive!” Alyssa waited until each of the civilians were clear of the area and gave the order. At the same time the mother bat kaiju looked upon the dead bodies of her children and grew furious. “ You! You filthy brats! You killed my children!!!” she  shouted at the top of her lungs and charged forward aiming for Duncan. “ I don’t care about the throne anymore! Before anything else I’ll tear you apart!” 

Jenna stepped in front of Duncan, quickly reloading her gun, switching to a special kind of ammunition, suited for larger monsters. “ You’ll die trying,” Jenna coldly stated, before shooting the kaiju in the head killing her. While the remaining bat children were taken out by Joanna’s sniper rifle. Duncan took a sigh of relief lowering his sword. 

“ I… Thanks for the assist. But how long could you guys do that?! Fight kaiju I mean!” He asked. Sure he knew Anton and Sara had powers, and Jenna and Joanna were all training with him. But… 

“ Well. You’ve never actually trained with the rest of us so you wouldn’t have known,” Sara offered an explanation. 

“ But to be fair. If we were normal K.D.R.A. cadets then we wouldn't be allowed in the same area as a kaiju attack. But we’re the elites. Far more skilled and advanced in killing kaiju than most kids our age,” Jenna put both of her pistols back in their holsters. “ Plus, this one was smaller than the ones that appeared 15 years ago,” 

“ So, what happened to Kenny and Isabel?”
“ They’re outside. But you’re doing okay right? Those bats were really messing you up,” Jenna inspected Duncan’s now tattered clothing, but his wounds has quickly healed almost as if nothing happened. “ That was uh. Again thanks for the save,” Duncan admitted he was struggling with those bats. But before Duncan could take another step, the same cold chill ran up his spine. 

Crashing through the ceiling behind the group was another kaiju much like the bats they’ve just fought. But it was far larger and intimidating than the others. The kids stared in disbelief. 

“ Oh… this must be the daddy,” Anton uttered before the Bat Kaiju roared and took a large swipe at all of them. Duncan tried to block, but a loud metallic snap revealed that the blade of his katana had snapped. Jenna quickly drew her guns and fired at the kaiju and while it did some damage it only made the kaiju angrier and it raised its claws to strike down Jenna. But returning the favor Duncan jumped in front of her and caught the beast’s hand completely halting it’s movement. “ Someone! Shoot it!” Duncan called out holding the Bat Kaiju in place for the others and Joanna aimed her rifle right at the Kaiju’s temple and fired. 

The bullet made contact and the kaiju staggered but quickly regained its senses, lifting Duncan into the air and throwing him against a nearby fountain shattering it. Duncan quickly picked himself back up and stood against the Kaiju. Even if he didn’t have his sword he still had his superhuman strength to rely on.   

“ Hello! Can you hear me! What the hell is going on in there?!” Alyssa heard the commotion going on inside and began to panic. 

“ Agent Zephyr! Another Bat Kaiju showed up! It’s stronger and way tougher than the ones we killed! It even broke Duncan’s sword!” Jenna reported, still firing at the Bat Kaiju behind cover. 

“ What? How the hell is that even possible?!” All of their sensors indicated that there weren’t any more kaiju in the area. How could another one have slipped through?“ The kaiju that showed up were D-Rated, maybe C but if this one is causing them this much trouble then it’s got to be a B-Rated Kaiju at best. Jenna, you have to get the others out of there, now!” Alyssa exclaimed. “ We’ll send in more experienced agents to deal with this one,” 

“ Sorry but… That’s a lot easier said than done,” Jenna replied, taking in the situation. Duncan and Anton were taking swings at the kaiju with Sara’s backup and Joanna’s sniper fire. But they’re unable to make any dents in this kaiju. They can’t even incapacitate it for long enough to buy time to escape.  

Alyssa had enough of this. She was about to enter the mall and finish off the kaiju herself. She was skilled and powerful enough to do so anyway. But a hand on her shoulder stopped her from leaving. “ Wait, at least give Duncan a chance to turn it around,” 

Alyssa groaned. “ Margaret, I was wondering when you’d show up. What do you mean?” she asked her friend. 

Margaret had seemingly bypassed all of the security Alyssa had set up in the area. She had a large sword bag in hand. Far larger than the one Duncan was previously carrying. “ I meant what I said. I know Duncan can win this kaiju, but he just needs to use his powers… and have the right weapon,” Margaret handed Alyssa the sword bag. 

Upon closer inspection Alyssa’s eyes widened. “ You can’t be serious. You’re not really planning on giving him this sword,” 

“ I am. Now get it to Duncan before I change my mind,” Margaret requested of Alyssa. Despite Margaret lifting the bag with relative ease Alyssa could barely hold the thing once Margaret let go of it. 

At the same time, Inside the mall, Duncan and the rest were barely holding their own. They were constantly attacking the Bat Kaiju but nothing they did would affect it. The enraged kaiju roared and moved all of its attention to Duncan, even with the others attacking it to help him. “ Duncan! Catch!” Sarah touched one of the steel chairs and it quickly morphed into a katana, tossing it to Duncan. Jumping over the kaiju to catch the sword Duncan swung the blade making a large gash on the kaiju’s back. Quickly turned around, struck Duncan against one of the walls knocking the breath out of him. The longer the fight went on, the more Duncan started to lose his strength. He couldn’t last for much longer against this kaiju. 

“ …Guys… Get back!” Duncan shouted to his friends. 

“ You heard him! Everyone move!” Jenna ordered knowing what was going to happen. 

Now that the others were at a safe distance the burning feeling in his chest spread throughout his entire body. The air around him began to grow dense and distorted from the heat his body was emitting. “ I never chose any of this. But If I really don’t have a choice to use this power! Then I’m going to use these flames to protect the lives of others!” Duncan shouted as the bright blue flames poured out of him and enveloped his body.  He never had a proper chance to test it out but Alyssa wasn’t joking, his clothes really can withstand his flames.  As he covered himself in the blue flames his body began to transform into the same dragon-like transformation from when he first spoke with his father. 

“ So how long could he do that? ” Anton shielded his eyes from the blinding light Duncan’s fire was producing. This was now the second time Jenna has seen Duncan use his flames and even now there isn’t an ounce of fear in her, now she’s certain they can defeat this kaiju. Duncan stuck out his chest sucking in all of the air his lungs could handle and roared unleashed a massive wave of blue flames from his mouth pushing the kaiju away, severely burning its torso. The kaiju would have simply burned up, but the emergency sprinkler system kicked in and put out not just the fire on the kaiju but the ones Duncan was covering himself with as well. 

Alyssa ran onto the scene holding the sword Margaret gave her with her magic and saw what they were up against, as well as Duncan’s new form. She had questions, but she knew instantly that that was Duncan. “ Duncan! Heads up!” She used her wind magic to toss the sword to Duncan. Once he took it out of the bag, it was another katana. Much larger than anything he’s ever seen. As a matter of fact it looks like something from an anime rather than a real weapon. 

“ What’s a bigger sword going to do? He burned another sword he used with his fire,” Sara voiced her concerns. 

“ Don’t worry. That’s a sword specifically made for a powerful flame magic user. It’ll take the heat,” Alyssa strongly reaffirmed. 

Duncan smiled, unsheathing the sword from its massive scabbard and admiring the blade. “ In that case. Let’s see what this sword can do!” Duncan shouted, holding the sword in front of him and encasing himself in his scorching blue flames. 

Duncan from then on went on the offensive jumping over the Bat Kaiju and slashing it's arm  greatly injuring it. The kaiju jumped over Duncan and tried to crush him under its weight, but he easily blocked the attack with the broad side of his blade and he slashed the kaiju’s foot, severing it entirely. Through it all, the new sword he received wasn’t affected by his flames at all and even though it’s as large as him he didn’t have any trouble swinging it around with incredible amounts of speed. It’s almost like this sword was made for him. The Bat kaiju was bleeding and heavily injured and began to shout, raising its claws once again to strike Duncan, a last resort from a desperate fighter. Duncan returned the gesture by readying his next sword strike and after a brief pause both of them let their attacks fly at one another. Once their attacks met, Duncan had dismembered the Bat Kaiju’s arm. Ending the fight Duncan then drove his sword straight through the kaiju’s chest piercing its heart and the kaiju collapsed to the ground sliding off Duncan’s blade, slain. 

The fight was now over and all at once Duncan lost all feeling in his legs and nearly collapsed if he hadn’t shoved his sword into the floor to keep himself standing. “ It’s… It’s over…” Duncan took long breaths to calm himself and dismiss his flames. But he was still in his dragon form, there was no use in hiding it now. He’s in plain view of everyone else. “ So uh… I can explain-”

“ So, do you need a hand getting out of here? You can barely stand,” Jenna offered to help Duncan. 

“ Uh, sure…” Duncan reverted back before accepting Jenna’s offer. 

As soon as they were sure that there were no more kaiju in the area the K.D.R.A. heavily cleaned up the mall of any traces of kaiju activity. However this time was different, far different than the attack at the school. The kids were driven back to Academy Alpha and Duncan was immediately admitted to the medical wing. Even Dr. Pytel was flown over to examine him. 

“ This isn't good. Are you guys seeing this too?”  Joanna scrolled through her phone and asked the others. 

The rest of Class 1 were outside of Duncan’s room waiting for an update about him. But they quickly realized what was going on on the outside. The kaiju attack at the mall was everywhere. All over Twitter, Reddit, Youtube, any site they could think of, it was being talked about. The first kaiju attack in 15 years was sure to have this kind of reaction. 

“ So what now? The K.D.R.A. will be asked to make some kind of statement about this. What if this leads to another war?” Isabel asked. 

“ It’s not gonna come to that. Remember what Ms Randolph said? It was just a kaiju coming after Duncan. But who knows, these attacks might become more frequent,” Joanna answered. But the threat of another kaiju war was a very tangible fear for anyone. Especially for those that lived through the horrors of the first one. 

“ I mean, even if the worst does happen we still have plenty of strong mages to help us out, like Agent Espada,” Kenny began listing off agents. 

Isabel sighed. “ Are you crazy? Nobody has seen Agent Espada in years. If we’re talking more active mages then someone like Agent Eris or Agent Flora,” 

“ Hey, has anyone seen Jenna?” Sara noticed she wasn’t with them. 

“ She said she was gonna wait outside,” Anton answered. 

Right on cue, Jenna returned to the others. “ There you are. What were you doing?” Anton asked. 

“ I uh, had to talk to someone ,” Jenna looked a bit nervous. 

Casually following behind her was Margaret. “ Hmm? Oh your Duncan’s classmates,” Margaret recognized each of them. 

Jenna was already well aware, but the others were speechless and on the brink of collapse from the shock of what they were seeing. 

“ I-It’s… Y-You…” Kenny muttered. 

“ The Reaper of Kaiju…” Isabel’s words were caught in her throat. 

“ …The one who faced Belloc himself…” Sara’s jaw almost fell to the floor. 

The others were stunned to see Margaret of all people was here. So many questions ran through their minds, the biggest one being why the legendary Agent Espada, who’s actions and feats helped turn the tides of the Great Kaiju would suddenly show up here. 

A horrifying thought occurred to Isabel. “ A-Are you here to kill Duncan?!” She loudly exclaimed. 

“ What?!” Margaret responded. 

“ I-I know he’s the son of your mortal enemy! But he’s not like his father! We promise he’d never hurt so much as hurt a fly, let alone humanity! Please!” Isabel began to plead to Margaret who just became even more lost. 

“ Why would I-hold on? Do you kids not know?” Margaret asked. 

“ Uh, guys. There’s something you should all know,” Jenna drew in a long breath and pointed towards Margaret. “ This is Duncan’s mother,” 

“ Bullshit,” Anton quickly retorted.

“ Not even a little,” Jenna answered. Looking at Margaret closer, each of them began to believe the outlandish concept more and more. Sure, Duncan’s skin obviously wasn’t the same as Margaret’s, but they shared the same distinct face shape, bright blue eye color as well as the same dark black hair. Sara’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and she passed out. 

“ …Anyway,” Margaret walked past the dazed children and entered the medical room along with Jenna. She already knew that Margaret was Duncan’s mother, well, figured it out would be more appropriate. After hearing that kaiju at school call Belloc Duncan's father she had more than enough time to think about it. Not just from their physical similarities, but Duncan’s age lined up a little too well with when the Kaiju war ended and when Margaret left to “kill Belloc” like what the public was led to believe. This was further validated when she knew for certain that Duncan was Belloc’s son by Alyssa.  

Inside the room Dr. Pytel was checking Duncan’s heartbeat and examining his body. “ Take a deep breath for me,” she asked with a stethoscope pressed against his back. “ Good. You don’t look too banged up considering what you went through. All you need is some rest and you’ll be good as new,” Pytel put away her equipment and finished examining Duncan. 

“ Thanks for coming on such short notice. After that fight I don’t wanna take any chances,” Alyssa said. 

“ Anything for my favorite patient. Also it looks like you’ll be seeing a lot more of me Duncan. Colonel Barnes offered me a permanent position at the base, see you soon Duncan,” Pytel explained while taking her leave.  

“ Seriously? That’ll be helpful later down the line,” Duncan put his shirt back on, his clothes were recently mended from the fight. He also had his new sword with him. 

“ How are you liking your new sword? I had a feeling you’d take a liking to it,” Margaret saw Duncan holding the blade confidently. 

“ It’s perfect mom. A normal katana or any sword didn’t feel right to me, they all felt way too light. How’d you even find a sword like this anyway?” 

“ It belonged to an old friend. So make sure it doesn’t break,” 

“ I got it… Alyssa, I’m ready to start using my fire powers now,” Duncan announced. 

Alyssa leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. “ Are you sure? You were pretty stubborn about it before,”  

“ I know. But after today and seeing all of those people caught up in this mess. I’m not gonna make that mistake again, if it means keeping people from dying because of me then I’ll do whatever it takes to fight back against the kaiju. Even relying on my dragon powers,” Duncan proclaimed, changing his eyes to that of his dragon form. 

The look in Duncan’s eyes, it reminded Alyssa of Margaret back when they were cadets. “ you really are your mothers son . In that case I’m not gonna go easy on you anymore, I’ll teach you everything I know about fighting kaiju,” Alyssa told Duncan.

“ Let’s get started,” Duncan sheathed his blade.