Inspired by Kantai Collection
By William J. Law
Furutaka ferried sailors from the stricken Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to the well deck of the Bonhomme Richard by carrying them individually or towing life rafts. Many of them were slick with oil and the heavy cruiser grimaced as her skin and uniform became increasingly grimy. The guided missile destroyer was steadily capsizing and Furutaka was heading back to get more survivors when an explosion ripped open the destroyer before it could fully capsize. The ship split into two and Furutaka shielded herself as best as she could. Heat and shrapnel battered the heavy cruiser. After the firestorm calmed down, she looked between her arms and was greeted with an oil fire engulfing the rest of the survivors and the ship.
However, in between the two halves of the ship, there was a figure standing there. It had a small humanoid stature and pale skin. It wore a black hoodie with a muffler that was unzipped down to the navel which exposed an equally black bra with an O-ring connecting the two cups together. She was staring at Furutaka through the fire with a pair of glowing purple eyes and a large, toothy maniacal grin on her face.
None of that surprised Furutaka. What did was the large eel like tail that emerged from the water. It was easily twice as long as Furutaka is tall, maybe more, and a menacing knife head – complete with a jaw and teeth – adorned the end of the tail. Two twin gun turrets were attached to the side of the head and one triple gun turret sat on the top.
Furutaka raised her right arm to fire the two turrets. The Shinkaisei-kan leapt out of the flames straight for the heavy cruiser. She grabbed and shoved Furutaka’s guns to the side just as the heavy cruiser fired them, causing a big splash right next to them. Furutaka rotated her turrets and fired again. Her 120-millimeter that was mounted forward of the bridge on her shoulder rapid fired into the Shinkaisei-kan. The Shinkaisei-kan dug her fingers into Furutaka’s mechanized arm.
Metal creaked and groaned. Part of the arm teared and oil sputtered from the hydraulics, adding to the black stains on Furutaka’s clothes. The turrets contorted with the increased damage her equipment sustained and they just withered and died. Sparks popped as her ammunition storage ruptured and shells fell into the sea.
Furutaka was shocked at the immense strength this…‘thing’ had. With her left arm, she continuously threw punches into the stomach area. Her back met the water when her enemy shoved her arm down. The eel like tail came around and chomped on Furutaka’s shoulder.
“Aaahhh!” the heavy cruiser cried out as she felt her shoulder slowly getting crushed.
She could feel the weapons on her arm being pulled away from her shoulder, metal snapping accompanying it. Finally, the entire chunk broke away and slipped off her arm. The monstrous jaw released as well, pulling Furutaka’s bridge with it. It spat the metal out and the Shinkaisei-kan dropped the guns.
Furutaka scrambled back up. She still had one turret, two torpedoes in the tubes, and a strip of metal attached to her shoulder. She unhooked the chain that attached the metal on her shoulder and held it in her hand.
The Shinkaisei-kan kept her maniacal smile as the two had a stare down.
Furutaka moved first, firing her turret and launching a torpedo.
The massive tail blocked the shots, but in turn blocked the sight of the heavy cruiser’s torpedo. A geyser of water erupted from beneath the Shinkaisei-kan and made it stumble backwards. Furutaka jumped through the wall of water, swinging the chain like a flail. The piece of metal on the end of the chain sliced the abdomen of the enemy. Furutaka fired again, landing both shots on her opponent’s face and followed up with a swing that impaled the tail. The tail shrieked, much to Furutaka’s surprise. She yanked the back on the chain and swung it down from above her head, stabbing the Shinkaisei-kan right in the chest.
About to go for another attack, she was not ready for the enemy to pull on the chain. Furutaka was tanked forward. Before she stopped, she was punched in the face and was sent flying backwards, landing with a splash. She accidently released a torpedo which was launched into the air as she flew. The Shinkaisei-kan caught the torpedo and threw it at the heavy cruiser, resulting in a fireball.
Once the water and smoke settled, Furutaka scrambled backwards as she fired at the tail. It growled in annoyance and bit off Furutaka’s third turret before shooting all seven barrels at the cruiser.
Furutaka bled in many places and spat out a mouthful of blood. A growl of her own came from her throat as she grimaced at her impending doom. Luckily, a nearby Ushio fired at the Shinkaisei-kan. Taking advantage of the distraction, Furutaka stood up and snapped her heavily damaged aircraft catapult from her leg. She broke it in half, making two very nice sharp points.
“Hey, you!” she shouted.
The Shinkaisei-kan turned around only to find Furutaka plunging her catapult into its chest. The grin disappeared from the Shinkaisei-kan’s face and her purple eyes widened in fear. The heavy cruiser strained as she pushed the pieces in deeper.
“Hm,” Furutaka taunted with the look of victory creeping onto her face only for it to turn into confusion.
The Shinkaisei-kan’s face returned to her toothy grin.
“Nice try,” she said…in English!
Furutaka gaped in shock and did not see Ushio jumping at them holding a torpedo like a knife in a reverse grip.
The Shinkaisei-kan leaned back. Ushio’s arm to land between her and Furutaka. The Shinkaisei-kan struck Ushio’s torpedo with a knifehand strike, snapping it in two. Torpedo fuel sprayed everywhere. Some got into Furutaka’s left eye and she stumbled back in pain.
Ushio tried to strike again but was caught in the jaws of tail. Ushio flailed in panic and hit the knife head in an effort to free herself as she was lifted into the air.
Furutaka, who had recovered from most of the pain, opened her right eye to a horrific sight.
The jaw held onto Ushio, covering from just beneath her breasts to her waist. The Kanmusu was bleeding profusely as the jaws slowly crushed her body and blood started to come out from her mouth. Each strike of her fist grew weaker, but she was still very much conscious.
Then there was a sickening ‘Crunch!’
Furutaka watched in petrified, muted horror as she witnessed Ushio’s lifeless body fall from the jaws and onto the ocean surface, a large chunk of her torso missing exposing bones, muscles, and organs. Her eyes were still open, but glazed, frozen with the last moments of her life.
The monstrous jaw crunched and crunched and crunched. Opening its mouth, it let a bloody mess of meat and bone fall out and into the ocean.
Furutaka’s blood froze as she heard the bloodcurdling cackle of the Shinkaisei-kan. Seemingly knowing what was going through Furutaka’s mind, the Shinkaisei-kan spoke to the heavy cruiser.
“Let’s melt that blood, shall we?” she said with a smile.
Her tail grabbed Furutaka’s leg and tossed her into the oil fire of the sunken American destroyer.
The heavy cruiser shrieked in pain and dragged herself out of the fire. She rolled around in the waves in a painful effort to put the fires out.
Another bout of laughing was about to erupt from the Shinkaisei-kan, but a volley of shells from two approaching Kanmusu caused her to dive beneath the waves and escape.
“Did you see that thing?!” Kinugasa asked her sister ship in bewilderment.
“Yeah, I got it,” Aoba said, releasing her digital camera and letting it hang on her neck.
“What do you suppose that thing is?”
“It’s gone. Don’t worry about that now. Let’s just get these two to that Wasp ship.”
Aoba picked up Ushio before she could sink beneath the waves. She carried the destroyer in a princess carry and did her best to not look at the single muscle that held Ushio together. Kinugasa carried the unconscious, smoldering Furutaka.
***
Ashigara was beating a Ri-class heavy cruiser with a Ha-class destroyer. Bit by bit, the destroyer disintegrated. With a final punch, Ashigara fired her turret as her fist impacted the unfortunate Shinkaisei-kan.
“Ashigara! The American command ship is under fire!” Nachi shouted as she skied past her.
Ashigara stood up and executed a Chi-class torpedo cruiser before following her ship sister. Before they reached the Blue Ridge, they witness the command ship’s bridge explode into a fireball. They stopped dead in their tracks as they saw a figure in black slowly turn around and face them.
She had the long black hair, pale skin, and tight-fitting black tank top and pants. She carried a total of five double gun turrets. Two double-gun turrets were on her shoulders, another two on her hips, and one facing down, flat against her back. It was a Ru-class battleship.
Her eyes glowed a deep, fiery red and they just begged for a fight.
Ashigara and Nachi fired a salvo and split up, moving to the flanks of the Ru-class. Some of the shells found their mark, but the battleship just shrugged them off. She angled and fired her guns at the heavy cruisers and saw Ashigara launch a salvo of three torpedoes. The Ru-class stopped and turned to avoid the torpedoes, then fired another salvo at her. The shots straddled Ashigara and she charged straight towards the battleship. Seeing that her torpedoes would miss, Ashigara fired a shot and detonated the torpedoes.
The explosion caused the Ru-class to stumble. Nachi charged from behind and executed a flying punch to the Ru-class’s head. Dazed, she couldn’t counter attack when Nachi landed a few kicks then spread her equipment out so she could fire all five of her turrets. She unloaded into the battleship’s back, causing her to stagger forward. The rear turret was loose and Nachi shot it two more times so she could tear it off. Before she could, the Ru-class spun around and grabbed Nachi’s arm. She spun the heavy cruiser around and threw Nachi at an oncoming Ashigara.
Both cruisers were thrown back several feet and quickly got back up, guns blazing.
Ashigara was the first to reach the Ru-class. She threw a punch and kick but both attacks were blocked. She narrowly missed a return fist to the face, but the force of the one she took to the stomach sent her tumbling back. Nachi managed to kick the Ru-class in the head and shot a salvo into her. Nachi tore the turret from the Ru-class’s back and used it as a club, smashing it into the battleship’s back. The Ru-class did a reverse kick and then a punch right to Nachi’s face before firing the gun on her left shoulder at her.
Ashigara came running back up. Her turrets unleased fire onto the Ru-class. Ashigara reached and grabbed one of her torpedoes from the launcher and attempted to get an explosive hit with it. Before she could, she was knocked back by another powerful blow from the battleship’s fist which was followed by a salvo from two of the Ru-class’s turrets. She had let go of her torpedo and it flipped in the air. The battleship caught it and threw it at Nachi who was thrown back by the explosion.
The Ru-class followed up with a salvo from all four of her gun turrets. Most of the shots missed, but one of them caught Nachi’s left leg, causing her to fall onto one knee. Another shredded her right shoulder and one blew a hole in her body.
Nachi’s eyes widened as her pain and condition slowly registered in her brain. She fell backwards onto the water, her lifeline staining the ocean red.
“Nachi!” Ashigara screamed.
Fiendish Fan Fiction 