Godzilla: The Series © Toho, Sony, Centropolis; Kantai Collection © Kadokawa Games; inspiration from Pacific: World War II U.S. Navy Shipgirls
Ahoy the Vessel
Chapter 2: Play
Jason M. Lee
This new place was... strange.
He understood that Parent and Maybe-Parent were staying at one of the gray caves on the larger of two islands, he understood that the water here was warmer that where Home was, and he understood that he was NOT to bother any of the ships that came by. (Parent was very stern about the last part.)
What he didn't understand were the females in blue, gray, white, and light brown.
They LOOKED similar to Maybe Parent in shape, but it was their scents and actions that baffled him. Flesh, sweat and the occasional hint of fear, he recognized coming off of them, but it was the tinge of ship oil and metal that mingled with their individual scents. And then there was the strange metal fins, small and large, that were part of the females, even on those that swam for long periods underwater like he did, except their fins were a bit smaller compared to the surface ones. Sometimes, he spotted them walking or running on the islands without their fins, but the scent of flesh mixed with metal would still occasionally drift to him. He knew that none of Parent's people walked on water, yet what the Surface Females did was more like running on water and they moved fairly fast for their sizes. There was also the hint of fire and smoke that came from their metal fins, which he supposed that they were hunters of a sort. He had seen Dangerous Green control many of his fire stingers back home and had often helped him when dealing with the Large Enemies.
Most of them watched him with wary eyes. Those, he simply watched back before lazily drifting off in the warm currents.
It was the company of the more fun ones that he enjoyed. True, they still had a hint of fear to them, but there was curiosity that he could see, and the more daring Surface Females would attempt to tease him with a bit of play by water-running up to him before turning sharply away whenever they spotted him on the surface. Some of the Swimming Females even made it a game to see who could swim up to him the closest without him noticing.
Not that he mind. It was a nice change of pace and it was fun.
A familiar rumble above him had him looking up, noticing a formation of stinger-spitting birds alongside a group of Surface Females. These were much smaller than the ones he was used to seeing, and he was curious as to how different they were. As none of the usual Swimming Females had come by to visit yet, he decided to surface.
X X X
"Alright, let's try- SWEET POSEIDON!" Wasp exclaimed when Godzilla launched himself out of the water at her planes. Her fairies immediately banked to the right, but they had to quickly pull up when he porpoised again. "WHAT is he doing?!"
"I think... he's playing?" Mississippi ventured cautiously, struggling to maintain balance amidst the waves. For whatever reason, it reminded her of how dolphins used to bow-ride in front of her during the quieter times of the war.
"WITH MY PLANES?!" Another leap. "WOULD YOU QUIT THAT?!"
As if hearing her, he paused in his descent and cocked his head at the carrier.
"YEAH, YOU! NOT PLAYTHINGS! YOU HEAR ME?!" She pointed at her planes, now flying at a much higher - and safer - altitude. "NO BITING!"
A tense pause. Wichita was fighting back a hysterical giggle at how Wasp was glaring at their unusual guest, and swore that he was laughing at the carrier when he tilted his head in the opposite direction. Well, she would be outright laughing if not for that the fact that he could easily capsize all of them with just a swipe of his tail.
A snort and then a large splash as he dove under, sending them reeling a bit in his wake.
Sighs of relief echoed throughout their entire group, Wasp all but collapsing onto her knees.
"Hey, 'Sippi."
"Yes?" A shaky smile on the battleship.
"If it looks like I'm about to do something like THAT again, hit me with your 5-inch/51 calibers."
"No promises."