Chapter 3:

Adelphi and Mathias saw Razorclaw cleaving through the waves, heading straight for the coastline.

"We have visual on the Kaiju, Sir. He's closing in fast on the harbor," Adelphi informed LOCCENT.

Tendo magnified the screen in front of him, showing the Kaiju swim over an imaginary yellow line drawn across the harbor.

"He has already passed the Golden Mile, Sir," he tells Pentecost.

"Frontrunner, plant Godiva right in front of that monster," Pentecost ordered the helicopter squad. "We need to cut it off before it reaches the shore."

"Roger that, Sir." Mike Stevens, the leader of the helo team, confirmed.

Adelphi watched anxiously as they closed in on the beast, their point of intersection growing smaller and smaller as they grew ever closer to the coastline. It seemed like Razorclaw had a good chance of reaching land before they could get to him and this made her more anxious than anything. She knew they couldn't let another city get destroyed. Hong Kong was chocked full of civilians, and the devastation would be crippling.

The terrifying events of K-Day were always fresh in her mind; reminding her what damage a single Kaiju was capable of. Luckily, it seemed as if they would catch Razorclaw just in time. They were able to line up perfectly with the Kaiju right at the mouth of the harbor.

The moment they were in position, Godiva was hastily released into the water. Adelphi and Mathias had to bend their knees in order to ease their heavy fall and prevent them from jamming anything.

Razorclaw immediately reared up out of the water upon being blocked by the huge mech. They knew this would enrage it, making their job harder, but it was better than allowing it to wreak havoc in the city.

Once Godiva's feet were firmly planted on the ocean floor they engaged their weapon of choice- the cauterizing broadsword. Stacking their fists, one on top of the other in first position, the long double-edged blade released itself from its hidden sheath in the jaeger's hands. The thick blade began to glow bright orange as it heated up to searing temperatures.

Razorclaw took notice of their flashy showmanship and let out an aggressive, ground shaking roar before charging them. The creature's claws dug deep into the filthy silt of Hong Kong Harbor as it bounded towards the jaeger.

"Let's kill this bastard!" Adelphi yelled as they readied for the initial clash.

Mathias took a deep breath, attempting to chase away his nerves. The drift was cluttered with memories today- One of Adelphi's in particular immediately sobered him up...

Adelphi heard the jets shoot overhead once more. She could tell they were about to execute another airstrike. Pushing her brother and sisters into the nearest corner, she caged them in with her body, shielding them from the worst of the explosion. It was all she could do to protect them. Never in her life had she felt so small, so exposed and so helpless. She knew that they were staring into the face of the apocalypse.

A loud noise, like a series of three pops then a roll of deep thunder, could be heard from a few blocks away. The entire apartment began to shake violently. Large chunks of plaster and cement rained down as the grating sound of stone against metal filled their ears. When the dust cleared, they could see that the entire front of the building had collapsed.

The only thing Adelphi could hear was a high frequency ringing in her ears- all the screaming, the explosions and the aftershocks were silent. Her hearing would suddenly come rushing back to her, dragging her back into the madness. But for now, she looked down at her family, desperately counting to see if she still had everyone. She rapidly tallied them over and over again, in shock and relief that they were all still alive.

The memory had washed over him and pulled away like the ocean retreating at low tide, leaving him clear and ready to fight. He rarely ever saw memories of K-Day, especially Adelphi's. Those that he did see always tore him up inside. But they also reminded him why he fought.

Both their eyes narrowed in determination as they stared down the charging Kaiju. They raised their arms over their heads in unison, bringing the sword down onto the beasts' claws. A shower of sparks flew into the water as it made contact. Little to no damage had been done to the Kaiju. However, it threw it off balance thus giving Godiva another chance to strike. Swinging the blade down low by the hips, they were able to get at the soft underbelly as the creature went stumbling past them.

"Yes!" Adelphi exclaimed as Razorclaw fell down in the water, roaring in pain.

Back at LOCCENT, Tendo rolled his chair to the leftmost screen and studied the new readings.

"A clean strike but Razorclaw's vitals are still holding strong," he reported.

Pentecost crossed his arms in front of him as he watched the battle from over Tendo's shoulder. He knew he could let Godiva carry on with their mission uninterrupted so he said nothing about their progress.

Down in the water, Razorclaw didn't bother to regain his footing. Instead, he did the unexpected, and swiped Godiva's legs out from under her, causing her to crash down into the waves along with him.

Adelphi could feel Mathias' anxiety skyrocket as he realized what had happened and she knew they had to get in control of the situation or else he might have a full-blown panic attack.

Tendo had to do a double-take when he saw Mathias' vitals spike so rapidly, "Ansa, your readings are way above normal, have you been injured?"

"Negative, we're fine," Adelphi answered quickly, all the while trying to remain calm for Mathias. An episode like this hadn't happened in years. She couldn't help but wonder what triggered it.

To LOCCENT, it looked as if their sensors were merely malfunctioning. However, what was actually taking place was far more dangerous. Adelphi knew Mathias' problem put them all at risk whenever they stepped into a jaeger, but she wouldn't let that stop them. It was imperative to keep his anxiety a secret or else they would be kicked out of the core.

Adelphi wanted to help him in his moment of panic, however Razorclaw would not wait for them to recover. In fact, the beast was already back on its feet ready to strike again.

'Focus Mathias, I am here,' she told him through their neural connection. 'Listen to my voice. Remember? Just listen to my voice and concentrate.'

Adelphi saw the Kaiju raise its clawed arms, preparing to strike them in half and she could hear LOCCENT yelling in her ear about taking evasive action. Her will to act was strong but she could do nothing without her partner's compliance. The pain from Mathias' anxiety had caused her mind to veer off course. It was like someone was driving a corkscrew into the back of her head.

'MATHIAS!'

Her desperate scream tore through their neural connection and gripped a hold of him. It felt as if she were only inches away from him, grabbing his face in her hands and attempting to shake him to his senses. It was those pleading gray eyes of hers, filled up with terror, that pulled him back to reality. Gaining control enough to realize their situation, Mathias worked with Adelphi to roll out of the way of Razorclaw's strike.

Their perilous position soon turned to one of great advantage as they spotted the previous wound they had made in the underbelly of the beast. Razorclaw had unknowingly exposed his weakness to them.

Thrusting the broadsword forwards, they pierced the creature's wound once more and in a sawing motion, attempted to gut it. However, Razorclaw reared up and ripped himself away before they could finish the job. No doubt he had caused further damage to himself in his attempt to retreat.

Rolling up to a standing position, Godiva readied her arm missiles. With a quick 'click', 'clank', 'clunk', she was ready to fire. Pointing her fist to the gaping hole in Razorclaw's belly, the mech shot three rockets into it.

"Three direct hits, Sir!" Tendo informed Pentecost.

The J-Tech officer had to breath out a quiet sigh of relief, his eyes fixed to the screen in front of him so no one could see. Although Godiva was back on track, he was sweating in his seat for a minute there. Ansa's readings were all wrong and he had seen this too many times for it to be a simple mistake. There wasn't one Jaeger team he knew that didn't have a large amount of emotional baggage. He just hoped that if Godiva were to go down, that wouldn't be the reason.

Razorclaw threw back his head, blue blood gushing from the corners of his mouth as he roared out in angry defeat. The creature swung at them weakly in a last attempt to strike them down. His aim was practically nonexistent and he moved too far slowly. Godiva simply stepped aside and watched as he fell into the water. Standing over him, they raised their sword overhead, the sharp tip aimed at the base of Razorclaw's neck, and brought it down on him in one final killing blow.

Back in LOCCENT, the members of mission control watched as the light left the kaiju's eyes.

"Vitals reading at zero," Tendo informed them. "Congratulations on another kill, Godiva. We're sending out a chopper team to return you to base."

Adelphi nodded, "Roger that, LOCCENT."

As they headed to a safe distance away from the spreading pool of Kaiju blue, she heard Mathias' voice in her head.

'I'm sorry, Addi.'

His tone was remorseful, mixed with an undercurrent of exhaustion. The last layers of fear had fallen away leaving him clear-headed and perfectly aware that he had almost cost them the mission.

'Forget it Mathias,' she sighed through their neural connection. 'Just try to keep a lid on it next time.'

She knew that in the drift her partner could feel her anger and frustration, but that didn't prevent her from trying to cover it up. Perhaps the attempt was all that really mattered. At least it showed she still cared for him.

Mathias knew Adelphi didn't need him to survive, but he desperately needed someone to fight for. She was all he had left in the world- everyone else he knew was gone. And even though she was as tough as the Jaeger they drove, he knew he loved her. Like a sick puppy, Mathias was willing follow her anywhere. Hell, he joined the PPDC just to be with her. And even though she had never given him any indication of returning his feelings, he still clung to hope that one day, perhaps when all this was over, she'd love him back.

I would love a review, it kinda keeps me going. There will be Tendo/Adelphi interaction in the next chapter so get pumped!