Kaiju Boyfriend (King)

    “We’ve brought in the target,” the soldier who says this looks like he’s been through hell and back. His uniform is singed and ripped, he’s missing an eyebrow and about half of his hair on the same side. Yet he still stands tall and salutes like a champ.

    “Thank you,” you reply as you walk around the table he and a troupe of other stiff soldiers have brought inside. There is a pill-shaped dome on the table and it is still blazing hot and steaming. “Good work, everyone. I could hear the fight from even down here.” You wave your hand, having them take the table and the capsule into your lab.

    Oh what a life, you think. Ten years ago you were a struggling student trying to break into the STEM field, now here you are, combining your dual major in biology and biochemistry, as well as a bunch of shit you had to learn along the way, to study a recent threat to humanity. 

    Several years ago, not long after you graduated, Earth was hit with several massive asteroids. Turns out, the asteroids hosted life, some rather massive life at that. The asteroids were more like eggs, hatching once in contact with Earth’s atmosphere and birthing equally massive monsters who started terrorizing Earth as much as they could. Some took to the oceans, resurfacing only once in a blue moon. Others roamed the surface, destroying all they came into contact with.

    The technology was developed, in fact, it was fairly new and had only just been tested an hour ago. Hence the capsule. You had gotten in on the project from the ground floor, working as an intern when there was a think tank formed to start combating the massive monsters. You grew with the think tank, becoming one of the top members and signing off on the ‘shrink ray’ when it was finally developed enough to send out into the world for its final testing.

    The next stage of this process was critical. You were to be sealed inside your lab as you opened the capsule. You had agreed to this, in fact, you had insisted upon it. You weren’t going to let anyone else sacrifice themselves to further the study of these creatures. Should the shrink ray have failed, you’ll be crushed to death along with the monster. If not, you will study them alone for a week to make sure the effects were a success. 

    Your lab was reinforced and made to survive even if the creature did expand again. Sure, you’d get squished like some beetle under a boot, but that would be the only casualty and you’d be officially listed as the first person to ‘kill’ one of these bastards.

    Once your lab is sealed the soldiers stand in attention, watching as you stand over the capsule. You take a breath and pull out your phone, turning on the app that controls the capsule. It opens with a hiss. Steam rises from inside and you fan it away from your face. Inside the capsule, you see the creature. It’s no bigger than your head, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. You wait for a moment, not breathing and feeling sweat drip down your neck. 

    You exhale after a few moments and you turn to the soldiers standing on the other side of the lab and you give a thumbs up. You walk to the table, picking up the creature and carry them to the enclosure you’ve built to house them. You slip them inside despite your desire to study them up close more but you have no clue when they’ll wake up. The creature is one that often goes underwater but their penchant for emerging from the depths and ripping cities and ports to shreds made him a huge target. He was almost tyrannosaurus rex shaped, save their arms were longer and the elbows came down into sharp knife-shaped fins. Their head had two cat-ear shaped horns on the top and a fin going down the center and towards the back of the neck. They also had an underbite with tusks jutting out. Their coloration was dark grey scales with bright, neon yellow markings around the eyes, elbow fins, back, and legs. 

    They doze, their body extremely stressed from the shrinking process. They could sleep for days, possibly even die or wake up in the next instant. You had no idea when they could rouse from their slumber. All you can do is examine their stats as they appear on the computer screen.

    You’re fixing yourself a cup of coffee when you hear the stats monitor start to change rhythm. The beeping changes, getting slightly more pitched and rapid. You turn to the enclosure for the creature and you see it starting to twitch and thrash. It wakes up screaming. You watch as it starts thrashing and changing, slamming into the walls and slamming against the plexiglass. Its massive tongue slaps out and it drags across everything. It bubbles and fogs the glass but does nothing. You wonder if it’s saliva is acidic in any way. You’ll have to collect a sample later so you make a note.

    “Fucking human!”

    You lurch and turn, seeing the creature glaring at you. It bangs it’s now tiny palms against the glass. “Fucking human!” It bangs again. 

    You kneel down before the enclosure. “You can talk?”

    Its tongue slaps against the glass again and it snarls and growls as it smears its tongue all over. 

    “Fascinating!” You adjust your glasses.

    The creature slurps its tongue back into its mouth and snarls, its lip curling over its fangs. “What the fuck is this?” It slams its shoulder against the glass. “What trick are you playing?”

    “You’ve been shrunk,” you reply. “So that we can study you and find out how to combat you.”

    “Shrinking me is a start!” He headbutts the wall and vibrates back, flopping onto his back and kicking his limbs into the air. He grunts and cusses as he tries to upright himself.

    “Are you stuck?” You ask as you take notes.

    A stream of unintelligible language spews from his mouth. The way it sounds you assume he’s cussing you out in his native tongue. 

    “Multi….lingual,” you murmur as you continue to take notes. You notice him still struggling so you flip up a door on the enclosure where gloves jut into the enclosure. You take him and shove him over, helping him back upright.

    He charges and captures your hand while its still in the glove. He chomps down on it but his sharp teeth don’t penetrate. He licks and licks all over the glove but whatever he's trying to accomplish doesn’t work either.

    “Ok now, little guy,” you say. “Let me have my hand back.”

    He glares up at you and charges into the glass. “What did you call me?”

    “Sorry, I guess I should call you specimen rather than pet names.” You say as you set your notebook aside.

    “Fucking human!” He snarls and slams his hands into the glass over and over again.

    “Or do you have a name?” You ask.

    He looks shaken that you do not react to him so he stalks away from the glass and starts pacing around inside the enclosure.

    “I’m supposed to study you,” you tell him. “I’m sorry that this is the way it has to be for you but you’ve done a lot of damage. You’ve hurt and killed so many people.”

    He laughs. “We just want to go home!”

    You arch your brows. “We?”

    He scoffs. “You think being here is a cakewalk for us? It isn’t, bitch,” he hisses. “This is a punishment.”

    You pull up a chair and sit before the enclosure. “What kind of punishment?”

    He keeps his back turned to you but you can see his expression via cameras in the enclosure. His expression is blank but his eyes are screaming. 

    “You should be glad I convinced them not to perform an autopsy. I told them that if we kept you alive you would be more beneficial to us.”

    He scoffs. “Fucking kill me.”

    “I know you’re worth more to us alive than dead. I need you to help me show them proof of that.”

    He turns slightly, glancing over his shoulder at you. “Why do you give a shit?”

    “Because I’ve built my career on you and your kind. Ever since you arrived here that’s all my work has been. And as silly as it seems I have come to hold a great appreciation for you, fiendish and destructive as you are.”

    The creature turns around and glares at you. “Then you’re fucking screwed.”

    “Did you learn to speak from the humans on this planet?” You ask. “You have quite the mouth on you.”

    His tongue slaps against the glass again.

    “Does your saliva do something?” You ask. “You keep doing that.”

    He slurps his tongue back into his mouth and turns away. He lays down, ignoring you from that point on.

    Over the next few days, he keeps silent as you go about your work. You study him as well as you can, keeping track of what he does and how he acts. You could easily knock him out, inject him and make him numb so you could study him. But considering you’ve learned he’s sentient and can speak you’ve forgone that type of study until you can earn his trust. You have a month to do that or he’ll be killed.

One day as you’re waking up and checking stats from the night you hear a rapping on the glass. You look over and see him waving at you. You go to the enclosure and kneel before it, meeting him eye to eye.

“I’m getting ready to feed you,” you tell him.

He shakes his head. “Ok, come on, it’s been days now. What the fuck are you doing?”

You furrow your brow. “What do you mean?”

He scoffs. “I mean, why are you waiting? You got me, get it over with.”

“I’m just studying you,” you shake your head. “I’m not going to do anything to you. I told you, I’m trying to keep you alive.”

He snarls. “I’ve seen how humans slaughter animals. C’mon. I call bullshit.”

“You have every right to. I don’t blame you.”

He scoffs and motions to his food bowl. “Just feed me.”

“You got it.” You tap a few buttons and a crane places food into his bowl. 

He plops down in front of it, grabbing chunks of meat and fruit with his hands. He rubs the chunks between his palms before he eats it.

“Why do you do that?” You ask.

He grunts at you. “Do what?”

You mimic his hand movements when he eats. “You rub the food between your palms before you eat it. Is there a reason for that?”

He holds his palm up and you see dewdrops appears on his palm. He then smears it on the glass and it starts to fog up.

“Amazing! Your start the digestion process outside the body,” you gasp as you take notes.

He grunts and shrugs. “Whatever.”

“Then what about your tongue?” You ask.

“I used it on your mom! What the fuck about it?” He snaps.

You stare blankly at him. “You know ‘your mom’ jokes?” You tilt your head and lean closer to the enclosure.

His lip curls up and he grunts. “You’d be amazed what you hear when you have nothing better to do.”

“You generally stay underwater,” you murmur. “Can you hear things so deep inside the ocean?”

“I hear lots of shit in lots of places.” He scoffs and grumbles under his breath. “Yeah, I can listen to things.” He taps the side of his head. “Just gotta focus and then it’s in there.”

“Like telepathy?”

He scoffs. “yeah, “ he rolls his eyes. “Like fucking Carrie.” 

    You set down your notebook and take your glasses off, rubbing the bridge of your nose. “And you know Stephen King?”

    “Everyone fucking does!”

    You smile and start to chuckle. “Ok,” you giggle. “Ok so, you’ve obviously immersed yourself in Earth culture. You speak English.”

    He finishes his food and licks his palms. “I speak more than that.”

    “I’m sure,” you tilt your head as you watch him. “Can I know your name now?”

    He turns and glares at you. “Why do you even care?”

    “I can’t care?” You ask. “Is that so strange.”

    He rolls his eyes and looks around. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he grumbles under his breath. 

    “I’ll call you King then,” you reply. 

    He glares back at you.

    “Is that ok?” You tilt your head towards him.

    He remains silent.

    The next few days, King starts to open up more. He shows you more about himself and offers some insight into how his body works. His tongue does have corrosive capabilities, but he claims nothing on Earth reacts to it. He tells you about the ocean floor and how he enjoys the peacefulness and the chaos of it. He says there is a stillness that exists in the depths of the ocean that has its own horror. 

    One day, you both agree to an experiment. You open the enclosure and take him out. He lets you examine him up close. You take samples of his saliva and of one of his scales. You have him perform a few tests for you and he enjoys a good run that the small enclosure doesn’t allow. You’ve noticed, during these few days, that King has started to grow. It’s not much at first, but the last two days he has shown exponential growth. You used to could hold him in the palm of one hand, but now, he’s about the size of a cat.

    “Do you have a mate?” King asks.

    “What?” You snort.

    He looks up at you. “A mate,” he repeats. “You know? Someone you fuck.”

    You scoff as you seal a sample away and set it in a set. “No. I don’t have that.”

    King glances down, his expression turning somber. “I once did,” he murmurs.

    You look back at him and sit down beside the table he’s sitting on. “What happened?” You hold your palm open to him.

    “They were taken from me,” he grumbles. “I watched them die.”

    You furrow your brow. “King, I’m so sorry.”

    He huffs. “It doesn’t matter now.” He looks back at you. “I told you we were here for punishment. Well, that’s sort of why.”

    You lean closer to them. “What did you do, King?”

    “Earth isn’t the first place I’ve destroyed,” he growls. He then crawls into your palm. “Put me back in the cage. I’m done now.”

    You lift King up, kissing him on the tip of his nose. 

    “Gross! What was that?” He snaps at you.

    “Affection, you turd,” you growl at him. 

    “It’s gross,” he wipes at his face. “Do it again.”

    You kiss the tip of his nose again and he scoffs. “I like you, King,” you reply. “I hope you consider me your friend as well.”

    He shakes his head and huffs. “Why would I ever come to regard a human like you as a friend?” He then smirks. “Maybe that was my plan all along.”

    “Sure,” you say as you set him back into the enclosure.

    That evening as you making your reports and collecting data from the day you receive a message from your superiors. You’re shocked and horrified by what the message says. 

    “We plan on moving forward with the autopsy. Tomorrow, please prepare the specimen for transport.”

    You shut off the screen and turn, seeing King asleep in the enclosure. You take the stun gun from its case and check its charge, taking a spare battery pack and shoving it in your back pocket. You then go to the enclosure and open it, scooping King out.

    “What the hell are you doing?” He groans sleepily.

    “Just stay quiet.” You slip him into a duffle bag.

    “Hey! What the fuck?” He snarls at you from inside the duffle bag as you zip it shut.

    You open up the hidden pin pad by the door and start typing in code. The door opens and you step outside. You slip the strap of the duffle bag onto your shoulder and tap where King is nestled inside.

    “Just trust me, King, alright?” You whisper.

    “Fucking human,” he grunts. “Don’t be stupid.”

    You open your shirt and smirk down at him. “Wouldn't dream of it. Now shut up until we get out of here.”

    You make it to the elevator easily but you know as soon as you get to the top floor there will probably be some trouble. You notice that the bag King is in is getting heavier the higher the elevator goes. When you reach the top floor you step out, feeling as if everyone is staring at you. You keep your head down and your hand on the stun gun in your pocket.

    “Excuse me,” someone says from behind you. “I think you’re carrying government property, Doctor.”

    You close your eyes and tap the trigger on the stun gun. “I’m sorry,” you turn and jam the gun to his neck. A loud and bright pulse issues from the gun and the man topples to the ground. There’s a scream and soon the entire floor is in a panic. 

    You scoff, not able to run now that the duffle bag weighs about three times as much as it did before. You keep the stun gun poised before you, making your way through the crowd. You whip around, jamming the gun into the gut of someone trying to be a hero.

    You hear a rip and King’s arm stretches from the bag. He claws his way from inside the duffle bag and drops to the ground. He rises up on his hind legs, standing nearly as tall as you.

    “The fuck?” You whisper. 

    He lashes out, charging through the crowd and creating a path. You run behind him, using the stun gun when necessary. You make it to the door and King grabs you up, setting you on his back as he starts climbing up the side of the building.

    “King, I’m scared!” You whimper when he’s gotten exponentially higher.

    “Don’t look down,” he laughs. “This is nothing compared to me before!” You hear shouting and screaming from below but you have no clue if they’ve spotted you yet. Once King has reached the top he leaps over to the next building and crawls to its roof. He then leaps to the next building and next until the screaming and sirens have subsided.

    He stops and sets you on solid ground. “You ok?”

    You look up at him, realizing he’s gotten even bigger. He touches your cheek then kisses the tip of your nose. “That was really stupid, fucking human.”

    You smile at him. “I wasn’t going to let them kill you.”

    He nuzzles to your cheek and he wraps his arms around you. “And I won’t let them kill you.”