Baekho popped out behind Aron, startling the boy a bit even though he had been expected. Without a further word they began their flight through Twi.

Every minute or so, Baekho put them down on a roof or convenient balcony to reestablish contact with the others and – if necessary – have Aron slap the Kaiju to a side where it would do less damage.

By now the monster had traversed a whole district and left a zig-zag trail of demolished architecture behind it.

There was one power in Aron’s repertoire they had yet to try.

The boys ran along the streets, cutting off the monster’s path. Its massive shadow darkened the sky above them as they approached it from the side. The huffing breathing noises it made were oddly un-animalistic, more like wind moving through a tunnel. The ground shook every time it set one of its six appendages down, splitting the asphalt underneath it.

The tail slashed left and right, inflicting scars upon the buildings lining the path of the beast and occasionally unearthing a lamp post or a tree.

Once they were almost under the belly of the Kaiju, Aron told Baekho to shift for his own safety, but Baekho refused.

“I’m not leaving you. If we need to get away we can’t afford to miss a second.”

“Fine, but don’t touch anything metal.”

Aron stretched his arms and arcs of electricity jumped from his body into the air. The sizzling of ionized air made Baekho duck instinctively.

The lightning outshone the sun.

Kinetic and thermal energy hadn’t done the trick, but every lifeform was based on bio-electricity to some extent.

Forking fingers of blue and white light across the massive body looming above the boys. Aron kept up the assault for a few seconds until he ran out of juice.

Baekho knew he had run out of juice because the boy announced it over the link along with a simple statement that he hadn’t even known this could happen.

Regardless, the Kaiju had stopped walking. Or breathing. Slowly its body tilted sideways.

“It’s falling,” Baekho said.

“I can see that,” Aron said. He flicked his wrist and the reptile was punched in the flank, making it slide ten meters, so that it fell onto the road rather than into a three story boutique.

The impact made the ground shake one last time before relative silence set in. Far away sirens were blasting their warning noises. A sound like a growling stomach came from the fallen creature. Its head moved.

“Is it-“

The Kaiju stood back up. With great trouble at first and shaky legs. But as soon as it was fully risen it leapt across two streets into a different block of houses. The boys could clearly hear the devastation the Kaiju caused but had lost sight of it.

Aron gave the others a report. Junior was currently boarding a helicopter but there wasn’t much he could help with. Knowing which path the monster would walk gave them no way of stopping it. But this had only been plan A.

***

They caught up to the beast just when it reached a park area, which was the perfect spot for Baekho’s plan B. The opportunity was too good to wait around.

“Aron, are you ready? It’s now or never.”

“Sure, drop me off there and do your thing.”

Minhyun sent them a ‘good luck’ and the boys went back into Twi. Baekho flew them past the spot where the Kaiju was slowly stomping in reality and brought them both to the very edge of the park.

When they popped, the white tiger saw the helicopters approaching. They were either military or owned by the organization, he didn’t know, but Junior told him that he was in contact with the pilots and had informed them about the plan.

It was time.

Baekho nodded at Aron and got thrown onto the Kaiju again. The second time around the experience wasn’t any easier. The skin would have been simple enough to hold onto but the constant shaking that reverberated through the creature with each of its steps made it much harder.

Minhyun kept him up to date. Ren had arrived in a truck and was now attacking with an army of Conmotes, the fear and confusion of an entire city at his disposal. Looking behind him, Baekho saw a true flood of gray and black figures with uncanny proportions throwing themselves at the beast’s feet to force it into the park.

The white tiger shivered. He kept forgetting how dangerous Ren really was.

After a while of erratic tramping that almost threw Baekho off the back of the Kaiju several times, Junior shouted into the link. “Aron, now!”

The park turned to fine sand. The American boy had traned the earth a hundred meters down into flimsy powder. Every tree, every bench and every trashcan sank under its own weight.

And so did the monster with the white tiger clinging to its back.

“Baekho,” Junior sent, “Now’s the time.”

“Alright. See you in ten seconds.”

Baekho shifted the Kaiju into Twi and they kept sinking through the powder exactly as before. But back in reality, Baekho knew, Aron was executing the final step of the plan.

The monster struggled, but even as its sinking slowed, it still went further and further into the ground. Baekho counted to ten, forcing himself to do it slowly so make sure Aron had enough time.

When the sand was up to the Kaiju’s head, he let go and flew up.

Taking deep breaths – even though in Twi he didn’t have to breathe – Baekho flew back to Aron’s position and popped out.

The park was a crater. Dust was still settling. But the Kaiju was silent. Its head poked out of the earth. Yes, Aron had turned the sand back, but with the Kaiju in Twi there was nothing that kept the powder from filling the hole the monster had left. And so, when the Kaiju popped back, it did so inside a whole lot of earth, merging its body with the dead matter.

Usually, Baekho’s power kept things from popping inside other things in reality. Something, usually, gave in. But with Aron keeping the dirt and stone compressed through his power, the creature stood no chance.

This time it was properly dead – large portions of its grotesque body literally turned to stone. Junior announced there didn’t seem to be any significant probability of it rising again.

It was over.