The beast roared as it stepped through the frozen storm raging around. Water rose and drenched the shoreside streets. A waterfront high rise stood just in front of the beast.

Pink Star and Icy Rose grunted. Veins bulged on Pink Star’s forehead as sweat drenched her face. Icy Rose’s face was obscured by cold mist every time she exhaled. The two pushed out every ounce of power they had.

But it was not enough.

The Kaiju had reached the shore. The evacuation of San Francisco was not complete.

The behemoth raised its hand, striking at the high rise. Emergency responders and civilians on the ground cried out.

But death never arrived.

“GRAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Chronolock screamed as she held her hands against the high rise, the entire structure vibrating in time. The monster roared and struck again at the building.

Wonder Knight and Voidspeaker arrived a moment later, yelling at the shocked people on the ground.

“MOVE!!!”

With their words the crowds snapped out of it and rushed to evacuate the area.

The emergency responders struggled to keep a semblance of order, aided by the heroes.

Wonder Knight lifted entire trucks full of people and carried them from the shore with a leap.

Voidspeaker floated up to buildings that hadn’t been evacuated, carrying people from the windows straight to the ground.

Still, Chronolock could not hold for long. Casualties were inevitable.

It was then that the wind began to howl and roar. The cyclone exploded in size, now encompassing most of the creature’s body. The monster howled as frost began to grow on its scales.

Voidspeaker pumped his fist and cheered.

“Heck yeah! Way to go girls!”

Back on the hill, the girls’ eyes were opened as wide as they could go.

For this was not their doing.

Someone had landed behind them.

Someone with white hair.

And a bare chest.

“…I’m here, Constanza.”

Icy Rose felt her eyes moisten.

“Icy Falcon…you’re back.”

Let’s turn back to shortly after the kaiju appeared and the military failed to stop it.

Mr. Espina was walking through the halls of the Academy when a small drone flew in front of him, projecting a video feed in the air. Mr. Espina jumped as the Director’s face appeared before him.

“FALCON! We need you! Get ready, a grav-jet’s waiting for you in the hanger! Suit’s already there so you can change on the way.”

Mr. Espina shook and took a deep breath.

“Um, Director…it’s Mr. Espina now. I’m not the Icy Falcon any longer, just a teacher.”

“I don’t want to hear that crap, Falcon!”

The feed shifted, showing a huge monster approaching San Francisco. Mr. Espina’s jaw dropped.

“In case you can’t tell this is an emergency, Falcon! And the League’s at it’s limit, including that little prodigy you’re worried about! So get a move on!”

Mr. Espina looked down at his feet, clutching his hands into fists.

“...I don’t deserve to be a hero. I’m not supposed to use this power, not anymore. That’s the only reason I’m allowed out, right?”

“I DON’T CARE!!! IN CASE YOU DIDN’T NOTICE, A FREAKING KAIJU IS ABOUT TO DESTROY SAN FRANCISCO! SO GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR BUTT, TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT, AND START HELPING, FALCON! IF IT BOTHERS YOU YOU CAN TALK WITH DR. UEDA AFTER THE MISSION! BUT YOU GET OUT THERE OR SO HELP ME GOD I’M THROWING YOU BACK IN JAIL, FALCON!”

“R-Right…I-I’m on my way?”

“You better be!”

With that the feed cut and the drone flew off. Mr. Espina took a deep breath and wiped his brow. He furrowed his brow as he walked towards the hanger. He heaved a sigh.

Director was right. Whatever his misgivings or issues, people were in danger. Including Constanza.

And he could help them.

Which meant, whether he liked it or not, it was time for the Icy Falcon to return.

Back to the present.

Icy Falcon nodded and then looked up, his eyes narrowing.

“Can you two keep this up?”

The two girls nodded and turned back to the monster.

“Good, just put out as much power as you can keep up. I’ll handle the rest.”

Pink Star’s gauntlets continued to glow. Icy Rose let out a frosty breath and held out her hands, her eyes unflinching as she glared at the beast.

And Icy Falcon raised his hands with them, unleashing his frosty gales. He wrapped the winds coming from the two girls and twisted them together, elevating all three into a frozen hurricane surrounding the monster.

The monster continued to push into the city. Chronolock gasped and dropped her hands as the kaiju smashed into the high rise. Wonder Knight barely landed in time to grab the girl and leap out of the way.

But the creature’s approach had slowed to a crawl as its temperature dropped and ice encrusted its legs. The evacuation was now moving ahead of the monster.

And that was all the time the ILS needed.

A shadow fell over the bay as a floating mountain moved into the sky.

ILS HQ had arrived.

When the ILS’s Flying Fortress was first revealed, the people had nothing but praise and awe. It was a statement: the ILS matching the achievement of the villainess that brought the world’s navies to their knees. It was a promise: no matter where the threat appeared, the ILS would be there. The people need only look to the sky and they would find hope.

But in the months that followed, the hype died down and cooler heads began to ponder.

What, exactly, was the point of the ILS’s mobile HQ?

Sure, the value of a mobile operating base/logistics hub/air base could not be understated for the purposes of quick response time and power projection. But why a flying mountain?

Yes, the Schieffer-Oscillator engine and the ILS’s own anti-grav tech helped to cut down the operating costs. But couldn’t those same technologies be applied to something more modest, like a flying aircraft carrier? At the end of the day, the HQ could still only be at one place at any given time. If Director Green had used a more conventional design, she could have built a dozen flying carriers for the same cost and effort.

And as time went on, even that purpose came into question. The ILS’s grav-jets were nothing short of a technological and engineering miracle. The anti-grav technology meant they could take off and land practically anywhere, no runways required, yet could still match the top-speeds of the fastest jet-fighters. They didn’t need fuel to run either, simply a sufficient power source, which the Schieffer-Oscillator engine could provide. They could keep flying until their parts started to break down…or their pilots did. So the grav-jets could fly anywhere, land anywhere, and never needed to refuel. All the ILS needed to support grav-jets in an area was a backyard or rooftop, a place for pilots to rest and recover, and a maintenance/repair shop with some spare parts. The need for a mobile base at all was highly suspect.

And most of the heroes ultimately preferred to stay in their home countries anyway. Even those that chose to live on the mobile HQ full-time were often spread out dealing with different crises across the world at any given time. So even with their mobile HQ, the ILS was still dependent on a network of local bases to gather and deploy its heroes.

At the end of the day, it seemed like the mobile HQ wasn’t achieving much at all. Certainly not enough to justify its size and cost. Director Green did not need an entire mountain to hold her office.

Surely Director Green did not build the mobile HQ solely as a vanity project or PR symbol? Surely there was more to such a facility than extra living space for its residents? But try as they might, no journalist, expert analyst, or intelligence operative managed to discover Director Green’s true purpose.

That purpose was revealed over the San Francisco Bay Area.

Director Green stood in the HQ’s command center, observing the city on multiple screens. She heaved a quiet sigh.

They had cut it as close as they could.

But they had made it.

“Prepare the weapon.”

ILS comms officers nodded and spoke into their mics, reciting the authorization codes.

Deep in the center of the HQ, ILS technicians ran about a hidden facility. A mighty cavern carved into the center of the floating mountain.

In its center, a metallic polyhedron, the size of a multi-storied building.

It had a second Scieffer-Oscillator engine, nearly the size of the first, dedicated to powering only a single system.

It had scores of targeting systems and supercomputers dedicated solely to calculating and directing its use.

It had an entire mountain built to transport and shield it. To hide it from the world…and the world from it.

The polyhedron hummed to life, beginning to glow with purple light. It slowly rose into the center of the cavern.

It was the largest Mass Suppressor ever built.

Director Green’s latest and final contingency. A weapon of last resort to be used only in the most dire of crises.

And against only the most powerful of foes.

“Safety checks complete, all systems green. Target acquired, weapon is on standby!”

Director Green narrowed her eyes at the beast, still slowly plowing through the first high rise.

She was the director of the International League of Superheroes.

She would find a way.

She would protect the world.

Whatever it takes.

“Fire at will.”

The entire ILS Mobile HQ was illuminated by a purple aura. A beam of purple light shot from the structure, surrounding the kaiju. The beast roared into the sky. It tried to lift its leg…to take another step.

Its leg fell to the ground.

Then the beast fell to its knees.

With a cry it fell to the ground, shattering the street beneath it.

CRACK!

A sharp noise split the sky as the beast’s body and bones began to collapse in on themselves, no longer able to sustain their own weight.

And so the kaiju died.

And San Francisco survived, with a final count of one bridge, one high rise, and one block of streets. And zero civilian casualties.

The nations of the world shuddered in fear.

But the people of the world shouted the Director’s name with thunderous applause.

But what they didn’t know was…even that superweapon was not enough.

Because a second kaiju appeared.

And a third.

And a fourth.

Until the world realized…humanity was at war.