EPISODE 15: MOTHRA RETURNS! TURNING THE TIDES!

 

Bri had the same feeling of amazement as her comrades who watched from the cockpits of their aircraft. Salunga and The Alpha Ropen were visibly astonished and made the slightest movements in hesitation to brace themselves.

               Mothra stayed hovering in the air between Kiryu and the two Mu Kaiju with her mighty wings flapping gracefully yet powerfully. Her songbird-like call suddenly broke the silence that befell the battlefield. The two kaiju roared back at the Queen of the Monsters defiantly.

               Pegasus took a quick moment to get in contact with Empress Tao with his communication device.

               “Yes Priest?” The Empress asked as her image appeared. “I trust our victory was as swift as we planned?”

               “Your majesty…” Pegasus said with a slight studder. “We have a problem.”

               “Priest?” Empress asked with concern. “A problem?”

               Pegasus hesitated for a moment then worked up enough courage to answer, “Mothra’s come.”

               “What!?” Tao said with a raised voice.

               “It’s true your majesty.” Pegasus said. “She’s annihilated our entire first wave of Ropen soldiers.”

               Tao sat back in her throne frustrated and stewing with anxiety by the development. To her right, Libra stood patiently observing the Empress as she thought as clear as she possibly could.

               After a few moments Tao finally spoke up, “The Alpha Ropen can handle Mothra. Salunga can handle the surface dweller’s remaining titan.”

               “Your majesty, without the rest of the Ropen Colony, we are very much outnumbered.” Pegasus pleaded.

               “Fear not priest.” Tao said. “This confrontation was inevitable and as such, a plan was already prepared to deal with Mothra. Our guardian titans can hold against their forces until then.”

 “As you wish your majesty.” Pegasus said.

               Tao gave the customary bow in farewell before the screen went dark.

               “What plan do you have in place for Mothra?” Libra asked.

               At that moment a guard from beyond the door stepped in and said, “Your majesty, the prisoner Pegasus sent has arrived.”

               “Bring him forth.” Tao said to the guard. She then answered Libra as the Guard stepped back out. “My teacher once told me that leadership will sometimes require a necessary evil for the greater good of those you lead. As it so happens, I have a way of doing just that but in a way that will bring that evil upon the surface dwellers by their own hand.”

               At that time the door opened again to reveal Ken being escorted in shackles by two other guards. They walked with Ken into the center of the throne room. Tao looked on with analytical eyes as did Libra.

               Meanwhile back on the surface, the standoff continued between Mothra and the Mu Kaiju. By then the lowering sun was turning the sky a rich golden color. Bri sat looking at both sides unsure of what to think. She watched as the two Kaiju roared defiantly at Mothra once more as the Queen of the Monsters called back to them.

               “Bri, don’t be afraid.” Miki’s voice suddenly said over the radio.

               “Director?” Bri asked. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

               “Mosura is there to help you.” Miki said. “You can trust her.”

               Bri looked once more at Mothra as she continued to hover in place. She did take mental note of a benevolent feeling that the kaiju gave off.

               “Understood, Director.” Bri said.

               As the Mu Kaiju roared at Mothra a little more aggressively and edged forward, Bri marched Kiryu up a hundred feet next to Mothra and issued Kiryu’s challenge call in the direction of the opposing Kaiju.

               “Ollie,” Bri said. “Make sure the sensors monitor Mothra’s position and mark her as friendly. We don’t want to hit her by accident.”

               “Right!” Ollie replied. “Nice to have a tag-team partner for a change, wouldn’t you say?”

               “Yeah.” Bri said before saying, “Kiryu to the rest of Kiryu Squadron, Mothra and I can handle them.”

               “Roger.” Akane said. “We’ll remain on station.”

               The three aircraft circled overhead at high altitude. Mothra and Kiryu Squared up against the Mu Kaiju. Pegasus, watching from afar, looked at the opposing sides and then closed his eyes to issue a telepathic command to his kaiju. Salunga and the Alpha Ropen charged forth at Kiryu and Mothra; the latter two did the same.

               The two sides clashed with brilliant fashion. Kiryu grappled with Salunga on the ground while Mothra and the Alpha Ropen bounced off one another before racing up into the sky. The giant bat and the giant moth circled around trying to outflank each other until finally Mothra doubled back with a quick flap of her wings and slammed into the Alpha in mid-air. 

    She then dove after the Alpha as it fell and latched onto it from behind with her six clawed feet and went into a nosedive towards the ground. Several hundred feet from the ground, Mothra released the Alpha.

               At the last instant, the giant bat threw its wings out and stopped itself; avoiding a devastating impact. It then flew back up after Mothra. It caught up to her back in the sky just as Mothra attempted to tackle it once more. The Alpha countered by whipping one of its wings to launch a couple of its quills at her. However, in an impressive maneuver, she quickly tucked her wings in, and barrel rolled, zipping past the quills without taking any hits. Once again, she slammed into the Alpha’s chest, but this time the giant bat was able to sway just enough to lessen the blow.

               Back on the ground Kiryu fired a barrage of Rockets at Salunga as it charged forth like a giant feline; explosions from the rockets erupting in its wake. The Kaiju lunged forward and kicked off Kiryu’s chest. Though rattled and initially ed pushed back by the kaiju’s attack, Bri quickly hit the boosters and rebounded the mech back onto its feet.

               “Nice comeback.” Ollie said.

               “Thanks.” Bri said with a slight chuckle before thrusting the controls forward.

               Kiryu soared across the ground in pursuit of Salunga with the arm-blade at the ready. At which point the kaiju sprang against the ground back at the mech and swiped at it with its claws. Kiryu swung its blade right as the pair past each other like a samurai duel. A loud swipe and a metal screech could be heard in the fast engagement. When the two stopped and turned around, Salunga had a cut along the side of its face and Kiryu had a superficial claw mark across its chest.

               As the battle was raging on the surface, back in the Empress’s throne room, Ken was escorted in by the guards. Watching the guards bow, Ken decided to do the same. Ken’s polite action had both Tao and her subordinates visibly puzzled.

               “I never thought I would see the day where a prisoner would bow before his captors.” Tao said.

               Ken responded, “Well, I understand you are royalty and where I come from, we believe it is still good to maintain manners even among enemies.”

               “Fascinating.” Tao said. “What is your name?”

               “Ken.” He said. “Ken Saegusa.”

               “So, Ken, I understand that you have a special gift.” Tao said. “I must say that someone with such a gift is more… humble than what I was expecting.”

               “A special gift?” Ken asked. “You mean my Extrasensory Perception?”

               “If that’s what your kind refers to it as, then yes.” Tao said. “Forgive my insult but one would assume that anyone with the gift would be donned in more… respectable attire. I will require more proof of your ability.”

               “My ability isn’t that strong.” Ken said. “It takes either a special device or a lot of energy for me to use it.”

               “We shall see.” Tao said. “I have a wielder of the gift on the way. She will determine what you are capable of.”

               At that time the door to the throne room opened once more, and in walked Luna. She walked up on the other side of the guard to Ken’s right and bowed. Ken glanced over briefly and then took another longer look with recognition. Luna also took notice of Ken but returned her gaze to Tao.

               “Sara?” Ken asked.

               “Sara?” Tao asked aloud.

               “Yes, your majesty.” Luna said. “Sara was the name I took in disguise when I was on the surface.”

               “Ah, yes I recall.” Tao said.

               Luna then added, “Ken here is the one I mentioned who possessed some degree of the gift.”

               “I see now,” Tao asked. “That verifies your credentials then. You will prove most valuable to us then young master Ken.”

               “What?” Ken asked. “I don’t understand.”

 “Yes.” Tao said. “A gifted individual such as yourself deserves preferential treatment. Mind you, you will remain prisoner here, but at least you will be given more honorable treatment than your fellow men.”

               “Wait, what?” Ken asked. “You don’t mean you’re going to kill my friends, are you?”

               “Oh, don’t worry.” Tao said with a slight smugness in her voice. “They will remain in prison at your request and for our own, as you might say, educational purposes; albeit under less… honorable conditions.” Tao then instructed her guards. “Take him to his quarters.”

               The guards bowed their heads and though he was confused, Ken followed the will of his captors, and he was escorted out of the throne room.

               Back on the surface, Mothra and the Alpha Ropen’s aerial clash was being taken further from Manilla. Bri, using Salunga’s aggression proceeded to do the same, and got the kaiju to pursue Kiryu further from the city limits. Pegasus, watching them from his position, made note of their actions.

               “So, their precious metropolis means that much to them?” Pegasus said slightly smug.

               Pegasus began concentrating his thoughts through his crown. Just then, both Salunga and the Alpha’s heads perked up in the midst of their battle and they pulled away from their engagements and headed back towards the city.

               “It’s not following us anymore.” Ollie said to Bri.

               “What?” Bri asked as she stopped and panned her view back to Salunga.

               Kiryu became the one in pursuit of Salunga as it rocketed through the air close to the ground. Seeing the Alpha doing the same with Mothra in pursuit from the Super X-3, Akane quickly realized what was happening.

               “Ah! They’re going back to the city!” She then ordered. “Super X-3 to Herons: block their retreats!”

               “Roger.” The two pilots replied.

               “Kiryu to Super X-3.” Bri said over the radio. “This might be a wild guess, but with the way they seemed to hear something back there, I think who or whatever is controlling them might be in the city as well.”

               Akane having the same gut feeling responded, “You may be onto something. Pero-2, run a scan for any human life in the city. Look for any isolated signatures or any sending any peculiar signals.”

               “Will do, ma’am!” Pero-2 responded.

               Back down in the Mu Empire, Ken was looking around at his lodgings; freed of shackles. The room that the Empress had him sent to looked luxurious with a comfortable bed, a sofa, and a balcony that allowed him to see the subterranean realm. Though he was taken back by the state of his “prison” he kept the sober thought in mind that he was still a captive and that he needed to find some way to get himself and his compatriots, home. The balcony was too high off the ground for him to escape through and just outside his door were two-armed guards.

               As he gazed out, deep in thought, a familiar voice said from behind, “Beautiful view, is it not?”

               He turned to find Luna approaching his side. Her appearance had changed as she now wore a crown like Pegasus’s except with a single emerald jewel at the front and her hair was now down and draped beautifully across her upper back and shoulders. Furthermore, her outfit had changed from her traditional robes to a tube-top jade-green dress that had a single slit opening at her navel region and a flowing skirt that came down to her mid thighs at the front and lengthened to a pointed tip down behind her calves at the back; resembling a curled Manda scale.

               Ken looked back across the landscape as she stood next to him and he said, unimpressed, “So this is where you try to seduce me into abandoning my home and join you all.”

               “Did you use your gift to figure that out?” Luna asked sarcastically.

               “No, your people just missed out on our TV and movies.” Ken said. “Sex-appeal is one of the oldest tricks in the book to bring someone over to the dark-side.”

               “Dark-side?” Luna asked.

               “You missed out on those movies too.” Ken smirked.

               “I may not know your references, but I know what you’re insinuating about my home.” Luna said. “Our people lived in peace for many years. The actions of your side are what provoked our Empress into attacking the surface.”

               “Our actions?” Ken asked. “Sara, or Luna, or Moonchild, or whatever your name is, were your people even aware that the surface had long forgotten that this empire even existed?”

               “And why is that?” Luna asked before she fired back with an increasingly direct and aggressive tone, “Your kind above drifted into a realm of arrogance and hatred towards one another that you disregard the sacred earth you live in with your wars and greed. I was not on the surface for very long, but I saw enough to know what humanity has turned into up there.”

               “Is that really all you saw when you were with us?” Ken asked. “My team and I barely knew you. Or as it turns out, didn’t know you at all. Yet we took you in and accepted you. We all thought you were dead when you disappeared, and we mourned for you.”

               Ken’s words seemed to be getting through to her for a moment before she fired back, “And what about what you did to Manda? I bared witness to what you did to our benevolent savior. Don’t try to cloud your sins with small kind actions.”

               “We did that to protect your savior.” Ken said. “I told you that on the surface. Listen, I won’t deny that there are bad people in the world, but there are plenty of good as well. We did what we had to before the wrong people tried to destroy Manda. You know where Manda is now?” She glanced briefly at him and then back out towards the city. “Manda is on an island free from human intervention with others like himself so that he can live in peace. You should see that for yourself.”

               “What did you say?” Luna asked with a slightly shocked glance.

               “Your Empress told me you have this gift as well.” Ken said. “And that device on your head; it’s like the one the guy on the surface had and the one I wore to look into Manda’s thoughts.”

               Luna sighed through her nose and tried to remain firm, “I can’t. For some reason I reach him.”

               “Then look into my mind.” Ken said. “I know you have an ability to see that much. Do it. I have nothing to hide.”

               Luna looked at Ken and hesitated for a moment. Ken stood waiting patiently and staring deeply back at her waiting for her to do something. Finally, she turned to him and closed her eyes to concentrate. Ken closed his eyes and cleared his head.

               Luna could see Ken’s mind in a montage like manner. She could see the times in the past when Ken and his team relocated Baragon to Ogasawara, as well as Gorosaurus, and Anguirus. Like, Manda, she could see their method of capture and grew a little more aggressive in her concentration but then relaxed when she saw that the Kaiju were later on the islands living peacefully like he said. It was then that she saw images of his friendship with Akira and the loving relationship he had with his aunt. Lastly she saw and felt his concern for his fellow men that were captured with him which culminated in the brief view of Pegasus looking menacingly at them.

               The image of Pegasus made Luna stop and open her eyes. Ken opened his eyes and looked at her shocked state as she stood holding her hands slightly to her mouth.

               “You saw something else, didn’t you?” Ken asked. “That guy. The one who captured us.”

               Luna could not speak. She instead moved into the room and sat on the sofa trying to comprehend what she saw. Ken walked in and sat next to her as she remained locked in a trance.

               “Who was he?” Ken asked comforting.

               Luna said with slight hesitation, “My brother.”

               “You’re concerned for his safety.” Ken said understandingly.

               “He’s all that I have left.” Luna said as her eyes watered slightly. “He looked… wrong.”

               “What do you mean?” Ken asked.

               Luna paused for moment to regain her composure before saying, “I saw everything you told me was true. I do owe you an apology for the false assumption I made about you and your friends. And you were right, I was sent here by her majesty to persuade you into joining our cause.”

               “Something changed your mind?” Ken asked before he suddenly realized. “Wait… you weren’t really supporting of this conflict in the first place, were you?

               Luna stood up and took a few steps toward the balcony trying to put the words together. He could see she was visibly troubled and waited patiently as she stood with her back to him still thinking.

               “I am forever loyal to her majesty.” Luna finally spoke:

“Everyone in the empire is and without question as she does have a reason for wanting to act against the surface. Years ago, her father and mother, our Emperor and former Empress were dealing with a crisis. Something was poisoning our food supplies causing disease and death in the western lands. Our former leaders cared deeply for our people and always took direct action whenever something of the sort would arise. They went out to the western lands to investigate and were there for several months.

Tao saw firsthand the sort of death that was seeping into our lands and took the journey to check on her parents. My brother and I were learning under the former High Priest of our respective temples at the time and were asked to accompany Tao out to see her parents. When we arrived in the western lands, we too saw the death and disease. It was also around that time that her parents discovered that there was some kind of toxic chemical leaking from the surface onto our farms when a strange cannister fell from above.

Tao’s parents were in the process of sending some kind of delegation to the surface, the first time in centuries that our people would make such a journey. The hope was to make a peaceful attempt to reason with the surface and cease the chemical spills. Instead, just when her parents were organizing the delegation, there was an explosion on the surface; a nuclear bomb. It caused a cataclysm.

Our high priests of the temples of Ropen, Salunga, and Manda summoned our noble guardians to protect our cities. Unfortunately, not everyone was saved. Tao’s parents and the former high priests of our temples. Tao fell into a darkness for the years that followed. Then a year ago, SHE appeared.

“She?” Ken asked.

“Her name is Madam Libra. Nobody knows how she found us, but she came to Tao in peace to bring word that the surface dwellers and the Cosmos had severed all knowledge and connections to us. She also told us the state of the world and the kind of people that the surface dwellers had become. She slowly started to give Tao the idea of taking action against the surface; claiming that her people wanted to re-establish peaceful connections with us and make the surface world a better place. Tao started to trust her when spies we sent to the surface started bringing back reports that what Libra was saying was true.

Then one day, Lord Manda fled to the surface. With everything else going on, Tao saw it as a bad omen and blamed it all on the surface dwellers. She sent me to the surface to try and locate Lord Manda with the aid of Madam Libra’s resources. While I was away, she enlisted my brother to begin readying the Ropen army and be the guide for Salunga and the Alpha Ropen.

“She’s lost in her revenge…” Ken said. “She’s lost sight of her parents diplomacy and is turning this peaceful land of yours into a war machine…”

Luna finally turned slowly back to Ken and said, “She’s not evil. She’s just hurting and being tainted by her pain to do what she feels is the only way to bring justice to all we lost. And now, her desire for vengeance looks to have corrupted my brother as well…”

Ken said, “Sara-er Luna… You have a firm position of authority here. Reason with her. Show her what I have shown you.”

“Everytime I try, she shrinks further into her dark hole.” Luna said. “I cannot risk completely losing her. She’s the last of the royal family and if we lose her, then the Empire is truly lost.”

Ken sat trying to think of a solution. Luna looked back out towards the city; wiping a single tear away.

Back on the surface, the Alpha Ropen attempted to bring Mothra down with another cluster of quills thrown in the guardian’s direction. With a powerful flap, the giant moth propelled itself vertically and dodged the lethal projectiles. Then, after letting out her chirp like call, she then released a burst of lightning-like energy from her wings at the giant bat. The Alpha was struck by the bolts of energy; sparks and small discharges of energy erupted from the monster and stunned it enough to knock it from the sky.

On the ground Kiryu had re-entered the city limits but had lost sight of Salunga. As Bri looked around at the buildings, she began to get an uneasy feeling.

“Where’d you go?” She asked aloud.

“Scanning now.” Ollie said.

As Bri moved Kiryu around, she accidentally caused the mech to step on a house.

Bri winced when she realized what she did, “Sorry!”

“Behind us!” Ollie suddenly said.

Bri gasped as she tried to quickly turn around to defend. The building behind her exploded as Salunga burst through and tackled Kiryu to the ground. Once down, Salunga tried to chomp down on Kiryu’s neck but Ollie’s automated defense system responded by having the mech grab the monster by the jaws.

“Hang on!” Akane said as she lead the herons down to aid Bri.

Just at that moment Pero-2 suddenly said, “Captain, scans indicated a group of human signatures nearby with one emanating a strange signal of some kind.”

“Nani?” Akane asked. “Lock onto it and send its location to Heron-1!” She then ordered. “Heron-1, take out that target! Heron-2 follow me!”

“Ryokai!” Nakajima responded as he separated from the formation.

“Locking on.” Hayama said as his targeting screen locked onto the cathedral that Pegasus and his men were on.

The two escorts with Pegasus saw the super-jet as it swooped down over the rooftops in their direction.

“Priest!” One of them suddenly shouted, snapping Pegasus out of his concentration.

“Move!” Pegasus shouted to his men as they ran from their position to the edge of the roof.

               The Alpha, sensing Pegasus’s desperation, disengaged from its battle with Mothra and flew in Pegasus’s direction. Salunga also took notice and attempted to disengage as well to aid Pegasus, but Kiryu still had a hold of it.

               Hayama tightened his grip on the two control sticks and said, “Make my day,” just before pressing the red button with his thumb on the left stick.

               A missile fired from the under belly of the Heron and rocketed toward the cathedral. Pegasus and his men leapt from the roof of the cathedral to a neighboring building and landed hard just as the missile struck the cathedral. The men were tossed even further by a sudden gust from the explosion, forcing them to the opposing edge of the roof and were left dangling on its edge.

               Salunga sensing Pegasus’s even more desperate state pulled away and attempted to run to his aid. However, just as it started running, Akane locked onto it with the Super X-3. She smirked, and flicked a blue switch to her left. The nose of the aircraft opened to reveal a segmented dish that resembled a solar panel. She then squeezed the trigger of her control sticks. A bright blue ray fired from the dish at the kaiju.

               Instead of an explosion or sparks, the ray froze areas of Salunga’s body in the areas that it made contact; the right legs and right side of its torso. The monster fell and tumbled following the ambush. It looked down in shock and confusion over its frozen limbs and tried to move. Just as it roared angrily at the Super X-3 as it flew over with Heron-2, it suddenly noticed a strange light coming from the area where it was just battling with Kiryu. It turned to see the MechaGodzilla with its chest plates open and the bright blue energy of the Absolute Zero cannon charging up.

               Bri smirked and said, “It’s just a cold day in hell for you.”

               “With extra frosting.” Ollie added.

               She hit the trigger for the weapon and Kiryu launched the ball of energy at Salunga. 

    The monster struggled to run but couldn’t escape. The energy struck and exploded in a mushroom cloud of mist.

               Pegasus and his men, struggling to get back up onto the roof, felt the gust of cold wind from the weapon and looked over to see the mist. Pegasus’s eyes widened in shock. Before he could comprehend what just happened, the side of the building they were on started to give-way. At the last instant he and his men were saved by the giant webbing of the Alpha’s wing as it whipped in underneath them.

               The giant bat proceeded to let them slide down onto the roof of another building before taking to the sky again. Pegasus and his men watched the mist begin to clear as they took a moment to catch their breath. The Mu Priest’s eyes widened at the mist dissipated and cleared to reveal Salunga frozen solid in its desperate state.  He then looked up to see the Alpha Ropen reengaging with Mothra.

               Pegasus hesitantly activated his communication device.

               Just as the device came on, Tao’s image appeared and she asked, “What is it, Priest?”

               Pegasus looked back up at Salunga and then back at the device before saying, “Your majesty, we lost Salunga.”

               “What!?” Tao shouted.

               “It’s… true.” Pegasus said.

               “The Alpha Ropen?” Tao asked.

               He looked up to the sky to see the Alpha clashing with Mothra.

               “Holding, but barely.” Pegasus said. “I regret to inform your majesty that we must retreat.”

               Tao’s fury flared briefly but she responded firm and direct, “No. No retreat. We shall send the rest of the Ropen Army to aid you for the time being.”

               “Your Majesty, we can’t hold off their forces with just the Ropen alone.” Pegasus replied.

               “The Ropen will not battle alone for long.” Tao said. “We will soon have another guardian to assist you in your conquest.” Pegasus was about to plea further when Tao cut him off. “That is all Priest. Your aid will come shortly.”

               The screen went black on Pegasus’s end. Hopelessly he looked up at the Alpha Ropen as it continued to desperately battle Mothra.

               “What will do?” One of his escorts asked. “We’re far too outnumbered without Salunga.”

               The Mu Priest huffed and puffed through his nose, stressed, before responding, “Send word to the second wave. Have them attack the steel-titan and their flying machines. We’ll at least buy some time for the Alpha.”

               As the battle continued on the surface, Libra speculated aloud in the Empress’s throne room, “You’ve lost your great defender, Salunga. The Ropen cannot stand up to a foe like Mothra on their own as it is. What other measures do you have that can win this endeavor?”

               Tao sat thinking in her seat, lost in a maelstrom of thoughts and anxiety.

After a few long seconds of thinking, the Mu Empress finally said, “We will summon Red Moon.”