In Unicorn’s hangar, Mr. Wallace, Mamoru, and Koko were overseeing the repairs to Stargazer. “The spaced armor held up very well Mr. Wallace,” Mamoru commented.

  “Aye, I confess it was mostly added for cosmetic effect, but the armor performed much better than I could have hoped. None of the joints we added it OVER WERE DAMAGED IN THE BATTLE.”

  Koko’s arms were crossed over her chest, her stance a rigid picture of barely contained rage – at herself. “I can’t believe I underestimated it so badly. I feel like a fool. I assumed it would be as easy to kill as the other one.”

  Mr. Wallace spoke again, “Well, all you can do is try to do better next time. Meanwhile, the octopus damaged Stargazer’s right hand, it’ll take a couple of days to replace,” at this Koko became even more visibly upset. “We are also upgrading the comm system with a better protected antenna system, so think of these next couple days as a vacation.” Koko looked at him without a trace of humor. “I know you’re upset lass, but this will take time, there is nothing we can do about that.”

  Koko sighed and relented, dropping her arms to her sides she spoke again, “So what can we do about Stargazer's lack of ability to fight underwater?”

  Mr. Wallace thought silently for a few moments and then answered, “At the moment very little. We’d have to completely replace the robot’s entire actuator system to compensate to the density of the water, and I know there is no money in the budget for that.” He placed his hand on Koko’s shoulder, trying to be soothing, “At any rate, there is nothing you can do right now Koko, so you might as well head on home, Mamoru make sure she gets home safely.”

  “Of course,” Mamoru answered, he tried to put his hand on Koko’s other shoulder, but she slapped it away quickly.

  Minutes later, Koko sat in the backseat of the armored Unicorn sedan as Mamoru drove her home. She was fully aware that he had been trying to engage her in conversation, but she did not care to talk to him right now, she was angry and focused, this left no time for him. “I can’t fight it in deep water, I have to somehow keep it in water no deeper than the robot’s knees. But how? That thing was so powerful, it’ll just drag us along again if it gets ahold of us.” She stared out the window, not really noticing the scenery, “I can’t let it hurt Stargazer again.” When they arrived at her apartment complex, Mamoru tried one last time to engage Koko in conversation as he walked her to the elevator, but she continued to ignore him in her anger.

  Doctor Overkill looked out the observation window over the huge lab. Inside the lab was the giant octopus Big Fire had employed for its commerce raiding. The huge beast had arrived in agony, the burning pain of its severed tentacle driving it to the brink of madness. Fortunately, the Emperor’s telepathy allowed a quick solution to the problem. The beast was sedated while a team of veterinarians worked on the wound. The other team was naturally administering the mutagen that would further mutate it into an even stronger monster to challenge the giant robot, already the body was convulsing and contorting as it changed. Doctor Overkill was pleased!

  Emperor Guillotine arrived just as Overkill was about to lament having no one to gloat to, “GLORY TO BIG FIRE!!!” he gave the formal salute to his overlord.

  “Hmmn, yes, now Overkill, what is it you wanted to show me?”

  The alien with the metallic silver circle on the right side of his face turned to indicate the observation window, “If you will step to the window Master, you will see what we have done to improve the octopus's chances against the robot! The mutagen we have applied will cause the monster to anthropomorphize into a humanoid shape. It will also have a soft, cartilage skeleton to hold the upright form, this will allow it to engage the robot on land as well as sea, since the creature will lose none of its mobility in the water.”

  Guillotine looked down at the sedated cephalopod, “It’s face – its – hideous!!! I do not think you could have TRIED to make it uglier!”

  “Yes, Milord, that was a contribution I added after consulting with Momotaro, according to him Japanese culture places great emphasis on ‘cuteness’ with the females being especially vulnerable and attuned to it. Therefore, this hideous face should be utterly repellant to the robot’s operator! The psychological advantage may just be the difference between victory and defeat!”

  “Excellent! Once it is fully recovered send it out immediately, the mission: destroy the giant robot!!!”

  “GLORY TO BIG FIRE!!!!”

  Koko was summoned for another conference the next day, as if riding in a car with Mamoru this early in the morning weren’t bad enough when she arrived, she saw that pompous fool Yamada sitting on the other side of the table looking smug and arrogant. She took her spot next to Mr. Wallace to await whatever bullshit was about to be vomited from Yamada’s mouth.

  “Thank you for coming gentlemen,” he said completely ignoring the presence of not only Koko but also Dr. Barlow and Ms. Hayashibara, “The Maritime Safety Agency has sent me here to inquire about the recent encounter between the robot and the giant squid.”

  Doctor Barlow stood from the table and spoke, “Your labeling of the creature in question is incorrect Mr. Yamada. The beast is actually an octopus, not a squid. Our briefing on the encounter covers the subject in detail.” This time Koko noticed her accent was French. If Yamada didn’t drive her out of her mind, Barlow would.

  “Mmmhmmn,” Yamada dismissed her comments. “It has come to our attention that there was a battle with the creature. Is this correct?”

  Koko rolled her eyes, “Oh boy,” she thought, “Here it comes.” She started cracking the knuckles on her left hand.

  Ms. Hayashibara answered, “Yes, there was a battle. Unfortunately, it was inconclusive.” She maintained a calm, composed demeanor.

  “’Inconclusive’ you say,” Yamada taunted. “We have heard a quite different story, that the robot was quickly defeated due to incompetence on the part of the pilot.”

  As Koko cracked her thumb, Mr. Wallace stood up, “The pilot had little to do with the defeat, the octopus dragged the robot into deep water. The machine is simply not built to fight in that environment, no pilot on Earth could have done better.”

  “The Maritime Safety Agency does not share your opinion. We propose to allow you to turn the robot over to the military,” Yamada began, but he was interrupted.

  “The robot will not function for ANYONE but Ms. Sokko, this has been tested, verified, and reported multiple times. Why do you insist on denying it,” surprisingly, that came from Doctor Barlow, not Wallace or Hayashibara.

  “The fiction you use to illegally,” Yamada began yelling, but again was interrupted.

  “That is quite enough!” Ms Hayashibara stated. “This meeting is adjourned.”

  “I AM NOT FINISHED!” Yamada demanded.

  “But WE are finished with YOU,” Ms. Hayashibara responded. “The Maritime Safety Agency does NOT hold authority over Unicorn, it is a UN organization. You are no longer welcome here Yamada. Good day.” With that, she rose from the table and the rest of the staff did as well, Mr. Wallace offering his hand to Koko as he escorted her out of the meeting. Ms. Hayashibara turned to two security officers standing just outside the room, “Please remove Mr. Yamada from the premises, you are free to use whatever force is necessary.”

  Koko took the chance to check his reaction, Yamada was practically vibrating in anger, his face as red as a tomato, he was so mad he could only sputter incoherent rambling word salad. The two security officers motioned for him to follow them, and he initially looked like he might refuse, but one of them reached for a pair of handcuffs and Yamada finally fell in line. All-in-all, Koko had to say it was the best early morning meeting yet.

  It rested in a pool of cool water. The pain was nearly gone now, a low occasional throb all that remained of the searing agony of the loss of its tentacle. It stirred, testing its remaining limbs, everything worked as normal, but it was so weak. Back to sleep then, once it was rested then the time to Hunt would begin.

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  Several days later, again on Sunday, Koko was roused from her warm bed by a ringing cel phone. “hmmmeelllloo…” she groaned.

  Mamoru spoke on the other end, “Koko, time to get up. Another monster has been seen in shallow water near the shipping lanes. The Commander wants you and Stargazer to check it out.”

  Instantly alert, Koko responded automatically, “I’ll be ready to go by the time you get here.” She had been waiting for this chance! That damn octopus had hurt her beloved Stargazer, it would never make that mistake again! Tossing her night clothes aside she headed to her shower.

  Back at the base later that morning, Koko and a group of Unicorn staff watched the video monitor as the UAV filmed the new monster, it had just entered a harbor and was closing on the shipping there, but Unicorn had ordered Koko to wait, something was ‘off’ it did not look like an octopus. Finally, as everyone was becoming more and more apprehensive the beast raised itself from under the water: it was a hulking, tripodal abomination. It had six tentacle like limbs supporting a slouchy, flabby body with a hugely over-sized head, and the face was absolutely HIDEOUS! It was beaked, with a single massive opening that could have been a nostril in the center above the beak. The eyes were on either side of the head, one oval shaped organ arranged vertically, while the other was arranged horizontally, both hung awkwardly from fleshy tubes. The skin was knobby and fiery red, except along the underside of the tentacles which were yellowish brown and lined with suction cups. It was using the limbs to crush smaller vessels in the harbor, there were probably already dozens of casualties.

  “This is seriously harshing my mellow,” Koko hissed. “When can I go get it?”

  The Commander looked at her and then back at the monitor. “Is this the same one? Or some new monster?”

  Doctor Barlow answered, “It MUST be a new creature, it’s a humanoid.” This time she had a Spanish accent.

  “No way it’s the same one,” Koko added.

  “But look how similar it is to an octopus,” Mrs Hayashibara replied. “Can Big Fire have done something to it?”

  As the assembled group watched the beast wreck yet another fishing boat the Commander finally made up his mind, “No matter if it’s the same one or not, Koko get out there and kill that thing before it sinks every fishing vessel in Japan!”

  A wicked grin split Koko’s face, she looked like nothing so much as an attack dog released from its chain, “HAHA!!! ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!” She spun on one foot and charged out of the room, closely followed by Mamoru to the hangar.

  In the hangar she put her knee and elbow pads on she suppressed a little giggle to herself. None of them had noticed! She was actually cosplaying! The outfit was a basic sailor suit uniform in dark blue and white with a red tie, long sleeves, matching dark blue naval style cap, and black pantyhose. The skirt, cuffs, and collar featured white pin stripes. It was ordinary enough looking that it didn’t raise too much notice. But the specific outfit was a character form a popular video game, the Roman Numeral III on the collar being the only thing that would really give it away. She stifled a laugh as she savored the little prank she had played. Naturally it would have been far more satisfying if that pompous ass Yamada had been there, but she still had her fun. Finishing she activated the control device, “STARGAZER!! IT’S TIME TO KICK ASS!” The happy BWEEP responded enthusiastically as the robot bent down to pick her up. As the pair lifted into the sky a drone plane rose up to follow and observe.

  About half an hour later Koko and Stargazer were flying over the harbor overlooking the devastation as the cephalopod monster crushed and hurled small and medium sized vessels all over the place. Koko spoke into the control device, “Stargazer flying kick! Right into its back!” The robot responded diving low over the water before leveling out and reversing itself, its momentum carrying it several dozen yards, its armored boots squelched into the creature’s back at about its midpoint and both giants went down in a tangle of limbs! The robot righted itself first hauling itself from the shallow water and offering a challenge to the sea monster.

  It rose from the water, its backside stinging and throbbing from the impact that had knocked it down. Spinning around It caught sight of the giant human it had tried to kill before. It moved towards the opponent, accepting the challenge of battle.

  Looking at the revolting face was really turning Koko off. She raised the control device to her mouth and gave orders, “Stargazer! Smash its face in!!!!” The robot BWEEPed in reply and charged leading with a powerful right cross! The armored gauntlet impacted the monster’s face, but sank in mostly ineffectually, due to the creature’s lack of a solid skeleton. It retaliated by using two of its tentacles to entangle Stargazer’s arms, it then began to constrict them.

  Inside the improvised cockpit Koko heard the telltale creeks and groans of metal being overstressed and knew the titanic strength of her opponent was being brought to bear fully. She knew this was the most dangerous time, if Stargazer lost its balance now it could be pulled into deeper water. “STARGAZER!!! Be careful!!! We can’t afford to let it drag us into deep water again!” Even as the replying BWEEP came over the control device, the robot leaned back on its heels fighting against its opponent’s pull. The two massive combatants began to test each other’s’ strength in earnest.

  “That’s it Stargazer!” Koko encouraged. “Back us away towards the shore! If we can get it on land, we have the advantage!!” The robot BWEEPed in reply. Just as they reached about halfway to shore, one of the monster's tentacles sprang up out of the water! The front appendage which had been supporting the beast flashed up between Stargazer’s legs, entangling one of them by the thigh just under the spaced armor skirt, it began to pull upsetting Stargazer’s balance and halting her progress towards shore while the final one wrapped around the robot's waist catching Stargazer in a firm grip.

  In the cockpit, Koko saw the Ultimate Fear of All Anime Heroines: a giant tentacle intruding towards the Precious Sacred Nether Regions. Overcome in a moment she shrieked, “YOU PERVERT!!!! STARGAZER! CHANGE OF PLAN!!! TACKLE IT HERE! TAKE IT DOWN!!!!”

  The robot responded with a questioning BWEEP, but nonetheless complied, it shifted its weight throwing the (former) octopus off balance and sending both plummeting into the shallow water. The massive waves kicked up by the impact threw still more ships about, crushing some against piers, and depositing others on dry land.

  Bearing and grinding her teeth Koko filled her commands with all the anger and revulsion she could muster, “STARGAZER!!!! PLASMA BEAM!!!!”

  The robot replied with another BWEEP, this one seemed almost surprised. Two armored doors on the robot’s chest swung open, barely clearing the bulk of their adversary, and revealing a pair of large cannons imbedded in the mecha’s chest. Stargazer struggled to hold the beast still for the twenty seconds it would take to charge the guns.

  It did not comprehend the nature of what was about to happen, the swinging doors having no meaning for the sea creature. It believed its strength had pulled the large human down, just poor luck it was now pinned. That would be easily corrected, just a matter of time now.

  As the drone circled over the roiling water a brilliant flash followed by an immense torrent of steam heralded the blast from Stargazer’s plasma cannons. The energy beams superheated the huge cephalopod's body causing it to explode into chunks as the flesh could no longer contain the energy being released by its own moisture as it was flash heated into steam. As hundred- and thousand-kilogram piles of roasted octopus rained down back into the water, Stargazer rose, standing victorious again. Her hand reached out, catching one of the chunks before it hit the water.

  “Thanks Stargazer! I was – hungry.” Koko let her reply draw out. Back in the Unicorn control room, Mamoru was once again unsettled by her tendency to eat her fallen foes.

  Back at Emperor Guillotine’s throne room there was anger. “HOW COULD YOUR MONSTER HAVE FAILED SO EASILY???” Guillotine cried, astonished. Doctor Overkill knelt in front of his Master, his head low to the floor in supplication, “I do not know Master, it should have been able to fight more powerfully,” the silver circle on the back of his neck reflected the overhead lighting into Spider’s eyes as he stood behind the alien.

  Spider stepped forward, “In fairness your Excellency, the monster was hired by my predecessor, who was killed in the operation to secure the mining facility at-“

  “I KNOW THAT!!!” Guillotine bellowed. He spun away from his two minions, then back to them again. “But you are correct. I was wrong to blame this failure on the two of you. This woman and her giant robot are a clear and definite impediment to our plans. We MUST deal with them both. Suggestions?”

  Doctor Overkill rose to his feet, a look of pride spreading across his face, “If I may introduce you to someone Master.” He motioned to a darkened alcove in the corner of the room, beckoning its occupant to come forth.

  A cute Japanese school girl with long brown hair and matching eyes strode forth in her school uniform with its blue tie, white button blouse, white cardigan, and red and black plaid short skirt, knee high socks and a nice pair of loafers. She carried her things in a bag over her shoulder, when she was next to Overkill, she did a cute pose and said, “Hi” waving cheekily and thrusting out her hip in a flirtatious manner.

  Overkill indicated the girl and offered, “Send a schoolgirl to kill a schoolgirl. Aimi here, has offered to help us out. I think she will do very well.”

  Guillotine looked on with some skepticism until the girl produced a set of brass knuckles from her sleeves for each hand and he ultimately decided to approve as she clapped them together loudly, “Very well, make sure she is well prepared for her part in the plan!”

  Overkill bowed, “Of course Master, Aimi will serve us very well!”

  Back at the hangar, Koko was savoring a piece of roasted tentacle, chewing it slowly to get the maximum amount of flavor out of it. As she did so, Mamoru again looked at her aghast. “Uh, Koko, do you always have to eat the monster after you kill it,” he asked.

  “It’s delicious, so yes,” she replied, “Also it shows my Dominance over them.” Even Mr. Wallace was looking on with a questioning gaze. Stargazer was on one knee, her hand extended down low to the ground with the remaining portion of octopus tentacle in her palm. Koko had produced a switchblade knife from under her skirt which she used to slice off chunks of meat, both Mamoru and Mr. Wallace were surprised and not a little unnerved by this. As she cut off a final piece and began to walk away, she called over her shoulder, “Mr. Wallace, tell your crew they can have the rest! It’s EXCELLENT!! I think I’ll head up to my dorm room for a nap.”

  After Koko was out of the hangar Stargazer did something unexpected, it suddenly shifted its hand, unceremoniously dropping the meat to the floor and stood up straight returning to its maintenance cradle, uncaring of the organic substance now that Koko was out of the room. As the hangar crew looked on in shocked confusion and silence, Mr. Wallace turned to Mamoru, “Just what the hell is this thing anyway?”