And now to begin the second part in earnest. Congratulations to GodzillaGuy for guessing the monster. Enjoy the chapter!

Godzilla is © Toho

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB

The chopper descended onto the landing pad near the JSDF base, the rotor blades whirring to a halt as the door on its slide slid open.

Colonel Douglas Gordon stepped out of the craft, walking punctually across the landing pad as Osaki stepped forward to greet him.

"Colonel," Osaki greeted his old colleague, "What brings you back to this neck of the woods so soon?"

"Osaki," Gordon began, "I am currently experiencing a powerful urge to tie young Ms. Saegusa to an anchor and go fishing."

"You found Godzilla," Osaki deduced.

"Less than a mile from Odo Island," Gordon replied, "The thing was spitting distance from a JSDF airbase."

"Shit," Osaki cringed, "So let me guess…"

"The last two attempts to capture him have been complete failures," Gordon confirmed, "That means we have only one option…"

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"You can't!" Miki insisted.

"I don't want to, kid," Gordon reassured her as they stood in Osaki's office, "But this isn't my call. This is strike three. He's next to a vital defensive position, and we can't let that slide."

"Can't you just call him off again, kid?" Kazama asked, "Y'know, like the other day?"

"If I'm near him, I could be able to," Miki answered.

"It's not that simple," Gordon answered, "I've been ordered to assign the JSDF personnel with the most experience on the matter."

"That's us," Takuya realised, "Oh goodie."

"So what's the problem?" Miki asked.

"Like I said," Gordon answered, "JSDF personnel. And that's not you until you turn 18."

"What?" Osaki insisted, "Colonel, Miki is quite probably the only person who has the faintest idea what we're up against here."

"The higher-ups are keeping this area under airtight regulation after that last fiasco," Gordon explained, "One breach of protocol and they'll discharge anyone and everyone involved." He turned to Miki, "Believe me, if there was any way I could get you on that Island without landing us all in the crap house, I would. But the situation's been made clear: 18 and over."

"No way," Miyuki interrupted, "There has to be something you can do."

"I tried," Gordon answered, "I'm telling you, I tried until I was blue in the face."

"Come on," Kazama insisted, "Miki's the Godzilla guy… er, girl."

"Don't make this any harder than it already is," Gordon said defensively, "I might be able to make this a capture operation, if we can come up with some way of containing him, but that's all I can do."

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"Careful," Takuya advised as Miki placed her hands on the side of her head, "You nearly blacked out last time you tried this."

"If I can get him to move away from the island," Miki explained, "We won't even need anything like this. So let me try, OK?"

She closed her eyes, focusing on that still unfamiliar place, that link between her mind that that of Godzilla. The emotions flowing from it were so much more primal now, so strong and fierce; he wasn't a child anymore.

She allowed herself to relax, her breaths becoming slow and even as she felt the familiar, warm presence.

Suddenly, though, something was different. Like a whole different presence, something more fierce. More alien.

This sensation was painful; the unfamiliar emotions, all pure instinct with none of the affection and familiarity from before.

With a sudden gasp, she was back in the room, the sudden pain replaced by strange cold and numbness.

"What happened?" Osaki asked.

"I'm not sure," Miki answered, "I never felt something like that. It…" She took a deep breath, turning to the Colonel, "…I don't think it's him."

"You're sure?" Gordon asked.

"I can't be certain," Miki admitted, "But I think so."

Gordon leaned against the wall, mulling things over in his head.

"So what's the plan, GI Joe?" Kazama asked.

"Never call me that again," Gordon instructed. "In any case, there's something big around that Island, and you've still been assigned to sort the situation out."

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"Sorry about this, kid," Kazama said honestly as the team boarded the small boat in the dock… while suitably large to accommodate the five of them, it was still small compared to the others that occupied the dock.

"We'll do everything we can to try and get him away from the base without harming him," Miyuki reassured her. "Sorry about this, kid."

"Yeah, I know," Miki answered distantly, "Just…"

"We'd all rather have you here," Miyuki said genuinely, "Even if it's just because you're probably the only one who can call Godzilla off if he turns up."

"Well be careful," Miki replied, "(Including you, Kazama) Good luck."

The boat turned away, moving away from the concrete pier and out through the dock.

As the vessel turned away, however, a pair of long-distance binoculars observed the departure.

A black-clad figure pocketed the binoculars and spoke into a small communicator.

"Events proceeding as expected," he reported, "The Bird has flown the coop."

"Proceed," The voice on the other end of the line instructed.