EPISODE 19: THE NEW GODZILLA! MIKI'S FATEFUL DECISION!

 

Junior, now an adult, the new Godzilla, stood in the lagoon looking around at his surroundings. However, he seemed to be searching for something. He did not waste his focus on the hundreds of tiny gawking spectators lined up on the balconies and observation platforms. On one of those balconies stood his old psychic acquaintance, Miki Saegusa, and an old enemy of his father in the form of General Sho Kuroki. Also on the balcony was a wide-eyed Akira and Master Chief Barnes who’s eyes were almost as wide as Akira’s.

A soldier approached the group as they continued to observe Junior, “Master Chief, sir. Shall we ready the hyper maser cannon?”

Barnes looked back at the soldier and then back up at Junior, before responding, “No. But have the crew on standby just in case.”

Sho asked aloud, “Kare wan ani o sagashite iru nodesu ka?” (What is he searching for?)

“Nigemichi?” (A way out?) Akira speculated aloud.

               Miki closed her eyes and listened with her esp. Junior continued to glare around the area. He started to turn around in the lagoon, causing waves to stir up and splash along the shore and crash against the concrete wall of the observation platform. Everyone except Miki started to get a little anxious.

               Sho turned to Miki and asked, “Kantoku?” (Director?)

               Miki continued to stand motionless with her eyes closed, focusing her esp.

               Finally, after a few tense moments for everyone around her, Miki opened her eyes and said, “He’s looking for Red Moon.”

               “He wakes up after thirty years and the first thing he wants to do is take out the new big bad on the block?” Barnes says aloud. “Talk about having a one tracked mind.”

               “It only makes sense.” Akira said. “Gojira was notoriously territorial and fiercely defensive over his alpha status. Only right that his son would inherit that same instinct.”

               “It’s more than that.” Miki interjected. “Everyone talks about the Gojira line as if they are merely animals. They have a higher consciousness than one driven by instinct and an almost omnipotent understanding of what goes on in the world. Junior knows that Red Moon is something more than just a monster staking a claim in his territory.”

               “So, what do we do then?” Barnes asked.

               “You aren’t suggesting we release him?” Sho suddenly asked with a bit of an apprehensive tone.

               “I mean, he’s not showing any aggression towards us.” Barnes said. “If Red Moon is what he wants…”

               “You’re mad.” Sho scoffed. “Say we release him and he picks up his father’s bad habits. What then? G-Force’s mission is to neutralize the threat of kaiju, not allow it.”

               “Junior is not like his father though, sir.” Akira countered. “Miki-sama saw this better than anyone through junior’s life.”

               Junior let out a bellowing growl as he turned to the southwest. The men stopped their squabbling and hesitantly braced themselves. Junior then proceeded to move in the same direction; stirring up waves along the shore again as he marched.

               “Seems as though he’s locked on to Red Moon’s location.” Barnes said. “Time to see if the barrier will hold him.”

               Meanwhile, back along the shore near Manilla, Kiryu lay motionless on a beach. While in the sky over the water Red Moon and Mothra faced off. The Queen of the Monsters was battered but not beaten. The Great Calamity, Red Moon was almost unscathed as it flapped its mighty wings several hundred meters away.

               A hatch then opened on Kiryu’s side. Bri emerged from the opening, still fully in her flight suit. Once out she gazed up at the two kaiju as they remained locked in a glaring contest against one another.

               “She’s really going to keep fighting for us.” Bri said to herself. “No… you have to get away.”

               Suddenly, Mothra seemed to sense something in the Northeast as her head suddenly perked up in that direction. Red Moon, seeing that she was distracted, suddenly charged at her, and attempted to swipe at her with its fore-claws. Mothra managed to move to its right at the last instant, but the monster still managed to graze an edge of her wing. In retaliation, she blasted Red Moon with her chest beam. Fortunately, she scored a direct hit and shot the monster down to the water. It crashed into the waves with an enormous burst of foam and mist.

               With Red Moon temporarily down, Mothra again turned to the Northeast and this time began flying in that direction.

               “Yes!” Bri said. “Hurry! Get to safety!”

               Shortly thereafter, Red Moon burst back out of the water in a glittering display of steam and mist. The Great Calamity then raced after Mothra.

               “Damn it!” Bri said.

               “Super X-3 to Kiryu, Super X-3 to Kiryu!” Akane’s voice suddenly said over her helmet’s headset. “Bri do you read me?”

               “Roger!” Bri responded. “Kiryu is down; massive damage sustained.”

               “Copy. We’re on our way back to you now.” Akane answered. “Remain where you are for as long as possible.”

               “Will do.” Bri said. “Mothra is currently heading east-by-northeast with Red Moon in pursuit, so you’re all clear.”

               Back on board the Saratoga, Colonel Hayashida received Bri’s notification of Mothra and Red Moon leaving the area, and asked Admiral Stanz, “The battlefield has moved admiral, can we move the fleet closer for recovery operations?”

               Stanz observed the scene from the perspective of the surveillance drones on the screen for a few moments.

He then turned to the ship’s commander to his left and said, “Go ahead and move us into the bay area. Notify the flight deck as well to make ready for emergency recovery operations.”

“Roger,” The commander said before going about his duties.

Hayashida, seeing the okay being given, then spoke into his headset, “Blue leader one to HQ, Recovery on Kiryu Squadron is commencing. Requesting Heron 3 be sent out immediately to assist as Heron-2 is out of operation.”

Back at Ogasawara Headquarters, Major Aso received Hayashida’s request and said to his staff, “Get a pilot and co-pilot out to Heron-3 and dispatch immediately.”

On the screen, the view showed the surveillance drones pursuing Mothra and Red Moon but were starting to fall behind.

“Major, sir, we’re losing track of the two targets.” One of the drone pilots said. “We’re at Top Speed, Mach 1, and they are pulling away from us.”

“Switch to radar and satellite imaging for the time being.” Major Aso said. “Bring the drones in and get Eagle Squadron in pursuit. Let them know that they are NOT to engage; surveillance only.”

“Roger.” Another console operator said.

The main screen switched to a large radar screen showing two markers labeled MOTHRA and R.MOON. The tracking systems followed the two kaiju as they continued to fly in a North Easterly direction. Just then, Miki and the others returned to the control room.

“Get a surveillance drone over Area G immediately!” Sho ordered.

“Yes sir!” A drone pilot said from their console.

“Sir, what’s happening?” Aso asked the leadership.

“Godzilla’s awake.” Barnes answered as they returned to the Director and General’s desk.

“Gojira!?” Aso asked excitedly.

“Hai.” Sho answered.

Major looked up towards the screens and uttered “Kono Ni Tsu wa akka shi tsudzukeru.” (This day keeps getting worse.)

“Ie.” (No) Miki said.

“Nani?” (What) Aso asked.

“There he is.” Barnes said; drawing their attention to the screens.

The view from a surveillance drone showed a shot of Junior making his way over the hillside of one of the islands down to the beach. The whole command center seemed to stop and look up in awe at the sight of the new Godzilla as he marched down to the ocean with a powerful and dominating stride. As he stepped into the ocean with his massive, clawed feet, Barnes took notice of something on a console ahead of him.

“Bring up current locations of other the other kaiju in the preserve.” The Master Chief ordered.

A new window opened next to the main screen depicting a map of the archipelago. On the map were markers representing the other Kaiju but they all seemed to be standing still in their respective positions.

               “Look at that.” Barnes said. “Normally most of them are moving about.”

               “You’re right.” Akira said. “Their usual resting times never are completely lined up. They seem to know.”

               “Bring up the feed for TK-04 and TK-07.” Barnes ordered.

               Two more windows opened up as Junior started moving further into the water. The video feeds for Anguirus and Gorosaurus appeared. The two Kaiju remained still, their heads looking up and away.

               “They do sense him…” Akira said slowly taking off his glasses.

               “It would seem Mosura can sense him as well.” Miki observed. “Look. The satellite feed is showing that she is heading this way.”

               “She can barely hold her own against Red Moon.” Aso observed. “She wants to fight Gojira too now?”

               “No.” Akira said. “She must know that her best chance is to in fact bring Red Moon here.”

               “Mothra is luring Red Moon to Godzilla.” A pair of voices suddenly spoke up in unison.

               Miki and the others looked down at her desk where the Shobijin were watching as well.

               “Mothra knows she cannot stand up to Red Moon alone.” The left said.

               The right followed up with, “She can sense that Godzilla is her best chance to defeat it.”

               “This is preposterous.” Sho said. “Who are we to release Gojira?”

               Akira countered, “It may be our only option, sir. Gotengo, Moguera, and Kiryu are all down. Mothra can’t win on her own.”

               “Stay out of this.” Sho said.

               “The kid has a point, sir.” Barnes said.

               “Look.” Aso said. “Red Moon’s catching up to Mosura.”

               The group diverted their attention once again to the screen showing Mothra and Red Moon’s radar signatures.

               At the scene, Mothra was flying as fast as she could at high altitude over a vast area of clouds. Her momentum was strong enough that she was creating a wake in them. Suddenly not too far behind her, the clouds erupted and Red Moon’s menacing form emerged. The monster was slowly gaining on Mothra with an angry and vengeful sounding growl. Sensing that Red Moon was gradually approaching, she suddenly flapped her wings and released a plume of glittering gold particles. The plume fluttered outward in the wind of her wake and Red Moon flew right into it.

               The sparkling particles enveloped Red Moon and caused a painful stinging sensation against its skin. The monster roared in pain and fell back into the clouds. The tactic worked and on the radar screen it showed a fair amount of distance form between the two. Though it had given at least two to three miles of distance between them, Red Moon managed to dispatch the stinging particles with a sudden burst of its own heat-energy and was quickly back in pursuit. It once again erupted back out of the cloud cover and started gaining on her.

               Red Moon’s jowls reeled back and a few whisps of flame began to seep out between its ferocious fangs. Its maw then opened up and it launched a series of inferno-balls at Mothra. The first three missed her but were close enough that it made her flinch about in the air as they passed by. She changed tactics and ducked into the cloud-cover. The monster proceeded to fire another barrage of inferno-balls at her and once again narrowly missed the first two. However, just as she was about to drop down further, one struck her from behind out of pure chance.

               The Shobijin, sensing her wound, gasped. Mothra let out a higher-pitched call as she fell; flipping about with smoke and wisps of embers left in her wake. Eventually she crashed into a sandy atoll.

               Miki, seeing the Shobijin’s distraught reaction, asked, “What happened? Is Mothra ok?”

               The Shobijin could not answer, merely held each other’s hands tightly and prayed.

               At that moment, a staff member at one of the consoles announced, “Godzilla is at the perimeter barrier!”

               Everyone looked up to the screen where Junior was wading through the water. He eventually came to a stop and looked from left to right. He could sense there was something blocking his path though he could not see it. After a few seconds he suddenly whipped his long tail through the water at the unseen obstacle. Aside from stirring up a massive wave, his tail smacked against the invisible barrier which emitted a flicker of green electrical current in the area he impacted.

               Junior roared in frustration and proceeded to swat at the barrier. Sparks and more flickers of the green current flashed brilliantly as he continued pounding away at the obstacle. Everyone watched in awe from the control room.

               “He’s determined.” Akira said. “He’s going to break the barrier if it’s the last thing he does.”

               “Master Chief, the barrier can hold him, yes?” General Kuroki asked.

               Barnes replied, “Theoretically the field can’t be broken, provided he doesn’t hit one of the generators. It’s held strong in the past against the other kaiju.”

               “Good.” Sho said.

               “But truth be told though, normally the kaiju would give up after the first couple of hits and they weren’t Godzilla.” Barnes followed up.

               Meanwhile, as Junior fought against the containment field, at a transport-station down in the Mu Empire, a couple of Mu Guards were patrolling the station. Suddenly they were both dispatched with blows to the back of the head by Sanchez and Nguyen. With the coast clear they signaled for the others to come up onto the station’s platform. Sergeant McCall, Goro, Lieutenant Joyce, and Luna escorted the two Mu guards and Empress Tao, who were tied up and gagged, up to the train-like transport vehicle. Ken and Paul soon followed; helping the injured Dakota and Dr Yamane.

               Nguyen and Sanchez, after opening a side hatch to the vehicle, proceeded onboard to make sure there were no other guards waiting for them; to which there were none. The others quickly got on board and once everyone was in, they shut the hatch.

               “Ok, now does anyone know how to drive this thing?” Sanchez asked aloud.

               “There should be an auto drive program on board.” Luna said as she helped McCall and Joyce secure the Guards and Tao. “All we have to do is activate the master switch and it will immediately take us to the surface station that it’s connected to.”

               “Next question,” Paul asked while helping Dakota in a seat as well. “Where the hell is this taking us?”

               “This is the long track,” Luna answered. “This should take us up to a cave system in an island you call, Iwo Jima.”

               “Iwo Jima?” Joyce asked. “Jesus, how many places do these people have connections to?”

               “The Philippines, Singapore, New Guinea, and several islands south of Japan.” Luna said as she led Sanchez and McCall up to the front of the transport. “We haven’t used the Japan lines in some time however as the area became too over developed.”

               While the three of them went to start the transport, Ken and Paul made sure their injured were both secured and comfortable. Goro, Joyce, and Nguyen sat across from their prisoners.

               Nguyen remarked aloud, “It’s crazy that these people manage to build all this right under our feet without us ever knowing.”

               As Paul and Ken sat down, Dr Yamane explained, “It truly is remarkable. Even more so when one considers that this is only one area of the hollow earth. There could be other civilizations that we believed were lost long ago but were, in-fact, swallowed up as this one was.”

               “Lord knows how many other beasties may be looking in them as well.” Paul added.

               Paul suddenly took notice of Ken who had a concerned, almost lost look in his eye since they sat down.

               “Hey.” Paul said. “Are you alright?”

               Ken seemed to come out of his small trance and look around a bit confused for a moment before answering, “Oh… Yes sorry. I just. It’s hard to explain but something feels off.”

               “Off?” Dakota asked.

               “Yeah.” Ken said. “Like, something big is waiting for us back up top.”

               “Big?” Joyce asked.

               “Yeah.” Ken continued. “I can’t quite figure it out myself but that’s the best way I can describe it. Like, there’s something both good and bad happening up there that I can’t even call neutral. Just big.”

               Paul and the others pondered Ken’s words. Tao and the two guards merely sat; bound and frustrated with a look of both annoyance and defeat in their eyes.

At that moment, Sanchez called back to them, “Hey, make sure you all stay seated. We’re about start moving.”

Joyce gave them a thumbs up. Sanchez returned to the front compartment where McCall and Luna sat in the front seats. Luna ran her fingers along two devices that looked like touch screens in an upward motion. The vehicle started to hum faintly, and a display appeared on a screen between them. The language it was written in was unknown to McCall and Sanchez, but it appeared to be a heads-up display showing the vehicle, its status, its mechanisms, and the route they were traveling. Before them in the tunnel a pair of lights kicked on.

“Power on.” Luna said. “Everything is working. And here we go.”

Luna pressed her middle and index finger against a blue touch-switch. In a very smooth manner, the transport vehicle seemed to lift slightly off the ground and then proceeded to accelerate through the tunnel with incredible speed.

McCall and Sanchez watched with amazed eyes, as McCall remarked, “We need these up top, instead of our subway systems.”

“Yeah.” Sanchez said. “It’s crazy how fast we’re moving yet it feels almost like we’re not moving at all.”

“The transport uses special magnetic frequencies that center it in the tunnel while also propelling it in a similar manner to the muscles of a serpent.” Luna said. “Because our people were able to remain detached from the surface and never experienced any kind of conflict, we were able to advance multiple forms of technology without divergent or hinderance.”

“I suppose if we weren’t a bunch of warring numbskulls, we would be further along in other areas too.” McCall said before he suddenly thought of something else. “You know, I have to ask, you and your people speak English fluently; how did that end up becoming your primary language?”

“We have multiple languages.” Luna answered. “What you call English, is what we found to be the most diversely expressive, so we use that for the common tongue. The languages you call Japanese, and Polynesian we use for worshipping. Your Greek we use for Math.”

“Tu hablas Espanol, tambien?” Sanchez asked.

Luna looked back and blushed.

“I guess you don’t speak Spanish then.” Sanchez said.

“No, we do but it’s not appropriate for non-lovers to speak to each other in that dialect.” She said while looking back to the front window in a very embarrassed state.

Sanchez looked around awkwardly as McCall tried not to laugh.

               Back on the surface, Mothra was attempting to take flight again. Just as she started to move her wings, the roar of Red Moon echoed from overhead. She looked up to see the monster’s menacing red visage gliding down to her.

               “Visual coming up now.” A console operator said at the command center.

               A video feed came up on the main screen showing Mothra downed not far from the atoll’s beach.

               “Mosura…” Akira uttered with anxiety.

               Red Moon dropped down in front of Mothra with a thunderous sudden landing on all four.

               “She can’t do this for much longer.” Barnes said before turning to Miki. “Director, I am ready to drop the barrier long enough for Godzilla to be released.”

               “Bakayaro!” Sho fired at him.

               “What the hell’d you call me!?” Barnes fired back.

               “It’s an absurd and a dumb idea!” Sho said. “Another Gojira at large is the last thing we need right now!”

               “Open your eyes man!” Barnes said. “If we don’t, Mothra’s toast!”

               “Director, I must object to that decision.” Sho said. “We can handle Red Moon once Kiryu and Moguera are operational again.”

               “Are you out of your mind!?” Barnes argued. “You know how long it’s going to take to get our forces back up to strength!?”

               Miki sat staring at the screen with discomfort and a heavy heart while the two superiors verbally went back and forth. She looked as Red Moon slowly closed in on Mothra. Then she looked at the feed of Junior clawing ferociously at the barrier. She looked back at Red Moon getting closer and Mothra looking as if she was bracing herself for a final blow. She then turned her gaze down to the Shobijin who stood still tightly holding each other’s hand. The two fairies then looked back at Miki looking worried and fearful.

               Upon looking back up at the screen while Barnes and Kuroki argued, Miki took a deep and anxiety-fueled breath. Suddenly she stood up from her seat between the two bickering officers who promptly stopped. Everyone turned to listen.

               “Drop the barrier.” Miki said. “Release, Gojira.”

               “Kantoku!” Sho said in protest.

               “Shogun.” Miki said before looking down intently towards the General. “Sore wa meireidesu.” (General. That’s an order.)

               Sho couldn’t do anything but sit back in his seat and look up at the screen with frustrated defeat.

               Miki then looked at Barnes who sat looking a little smug at Kuroki, and she said, “Master Chief. Carry out the order. Once Junior is through. Raise the barrier.”

               Barnes cracked a slightly amused smile and replied, “Right away, Director.” Barnes then stepped away from the desk and headed towards the consoles, ordering, “You heard the Director. Prepare to power down the barrier. Once Godzilla is through bring it back up so that none of the others slip away.”

               “Roger sir.” A console operator said.

               Miki still stood at the command desk with her eyes locked on the screen watching the events unfold. Though she did not see him, she could tell Akira was looking back at her admirably. General Kuroki could only watch powerlessly.

               At the barrier where Junior was still fighting furiously to break through, there was suddenly a strange buzzing sound. The Kaiju stopped and looked around curiously for the source of the strange noise. Suddenly the once invisible barrier began to flicker brightly a few times with green flashes before fading. Junior could sense that the obstacle was gone and proceeded to march out of the perimeter. Once he was through the edge of the preserve, he let out a mighty and challenging roar out into the world that bellowed into the setting sun.

               On the atoll where Red Moon was rearing his jowls back and getting ready to deliver a killing blow to Mothra, the monster suddenly stopped. Its head perked up with its ears flexed out, looking for something. It suddenly flapped its large wings and launched itself into the air. After rising several hundred feet, it flapped its wings continuously to hover in place before turning towards the East. It could sense a more powerful presence as its jowls reeled back; showing its fang filled grimace while letting out a low guttural growl.

               Mothra watched as Red Moon powerfully flapped its wings again and flew off in the same direction she was initially leading it. Once the monster’s red silhouette was nearly out of sight, she seemed to melt against the sand with her legs stretching out. Her head, abdomen, and wings all came to a sudden rest down on the sand. She was exhausted.

               “Red Moon has left the site and is proceeding east by northeast.” A radar operator announced at HQ.

               “Have surveillance remain focused on Red Moon.” Colonel Aso ordered.

               “Omoshiroi.” (Interesting.) Said Akira aloud. “Red Moon couldn’t sense Gojira until the barrier was dropped; yet Mothra could.”

               “Godzilla picking up speed.” A console operator called out.

               Junior’s video feed showed him diving forward into the waves. Like a giant shark his dorsal plates were all that were visible for a while as they cut through the ocean surface. A serpentine wake followed from his massive tail propelling him through the water. Gradually his plates descended down into the depths and out of view.

               “Godzilla submerged.” The console operator said. “Last trajectory still shows him heading for Red Moon.”

               Sho watched with an angry glare as his foe slipped into the depths, “Gojira…”

               Miki looked back at the General as he continued to glare at the screen. She then looked down at the Shobijin; trying to remain focused on the matter at hand.

               “Mosura…” She started to ask the Shobijin. “Kanojo wa daijobudesuka?” (Mothra. Is she alright?)

               The Shobijin turned to the director and nodded.

               Miki sighed with relief before saying, “Thank goodness.”

               “Thanks to you, Mosura can rest.” The Shobijin said in unison; catching Barnes’s attention as he returned to the command desk.

               “She will remain on that island for a short time to regain her strength.” The left said.

               The right then added. “It shouldn’t take long for her to be well enough to assist in the fight against Red Moon again.”

               “You don’t think Godzilla will be enough to stop that thing?” Barnes asked.

               The Shobijin responded together, “It’s possible that Gojira can win. However, he doesn’t have much time.”

               “With the lunar eclipse approaching, Red Moon will increase in power.” The left said.

               The right then followed with, “If it reaches its Maximum Form, Gojira will need Mosura’s assistance.”

               “And that’s not the worst part; its Maximum Form has a terrible effect on the magnetic field.” The left then said.

               The right explained, “If it manages to find its way near a fault line, it can sink land masses into the Hollow Earth.”

               The Shobijin then said, “An entire civilization could be lost again, just like the Mu Empire. However, without Mosura’s brethren, we will be unable to save it.”

               “How long do we have until the eclipse?” Barnes then asked, aloud.

               “Akira-san?” Miki asked.

               Akira, looking a little caught-in-the-spotlight, stammered, “Well… um…” He then turned to check something on his smartphone. “Let’s see.”

               Barnes asked, “Are you seriously Googling it right now?”

               Akira looked back with an embarrassed expression and said, “Well yes.” He then looked down at his phone again while Barnes rolled his eyes, “Ah, here we are. Let’s see… According to this, the eclipse will occur in precisely three hours.”

               “Three hours?” Barnes asked aloud.

               “Hai.” Akira said. “At their present speed, they will intersect sometime in the next two hours.”

               “Where’s their expected rendezvous point?” Barnes asked his personnel.

               A map showing the area between Manilla and Ogasawara appeared on the main screen. A red line and a green line then formed from two starting points near both locations and intersected over top of a small island.

               “Okidaitojima.” Miki read aloud. “That’s not far from Infant Island.”

               “We could have what forces are available head there as well.” Aso interjected.

               “There’s no time.” General Kuroki spoke up. “By the time any of our forces in the region can get there, the battle will have already started.” He leaned forward to the desk, anxiously and frustratingly pressing his right fist into his left palm. “We can’t afford to lose any more personnel. This fight will be in…” He clenched his teeth briefly before admitting, “… in Gojira’s hands.”

               Miki nodded and said, “Agreed.” She then looked back at the screen. “Let them fight.”