Commander Aso stood in the office in which the Psychic, Donny, once found his duty and peace in. The quietness and dark tint to the room stabbed at his heart as he thought of his friend being dead and gone. So many years did Donny and him find their friendship being close, and now that it was gone, he felt empty and sorrowful. As he gazed around the room, a beam of light hit the far wall as Professor Chinatsu Gondo walked into the room slowly, observing what her superior officer was doing. Aso noticed her, and tried to smile but could not find the strength to do so, instead, tears gathered with in his eyes.
"Are you okay, Takaki?" Gondo asked as she placed her hand on Aso's shoulder. A brief moment of silence captivated the place as he turned to meet his friend's eyes. Aso found it easy to confide in Gondo--and this was definitely a time that he needed it.
"Is there anything we could have done…..to save Donny?" he whimpered, while trying to remain strong. Gondo sat Aso down in Donny's office chair and pulled up a stool next to him, closely grasping his hands in re-assurance.
"All things that happen in this world are for a reason my friend. Donny knew of the risks, and he sacrificed himself to save his friends, family, and the world."
"Very true," Aso muttered.
"With out him, we would be under an Xilian occupation right now, he saved us all. I do miss him with all my heart, but I admire what he did for us and I do not have any objection against it." explained Chinatsu as tears began to well in her eyes as well, "let us not dwell on the sadness and fear that has traveled with the recent events, let us remember Donny in a good way."
"But….I virtually sent him to his death…" gasped Aso as tears streaked down his slightly wrinkled cheeks.
"What?"
"Yes, I am the one who sent him on that damned mission to Batan Island in the first place to investigate. I sent him to his death…..I killed our cherished friend!" Aso yelled in a fitful rage as he began to sob with unease.
"Nonsense, do not say such things." inserted Gondo as she wiped the tears away from Aso's eyes, "Donny's death was not of your doing, you were simply doing your honorable job as commander of this establishment. He was doing his job as well, and died honorably. Do not blame yourself, Donny would not allow it!"
Gently, Gondo raised Aso off from the chair with her arms under his arms, and hugged him gracefully. After all of the years they had served together in the establishment, Gondo had never seen Aso in this emotional disarray. She found it somewhat discouraging because she always looked to him for strength and guidance, now he was the one who needed both.
"Let us leave, we should not linger on the past, we have to think about the future and stay rested upon the present, come." Gondo said as she slowly took Aso's decrepit form out of the room, closing the door behind them, leaving the room in an utter darkness.
Miki Saegusa sat at her classroom teacher's desk sorting through papers as her students worked on a report she assigned. Her mind wandered off in all directions, she just sorted through papers in order to give her students and faculty--who entered the room every now and then, the impression that she was doing something. She could not stop thinking about Donny's death, and Koji's resent request. Finally, after ten odd years, Shinjo came up to her and proposed marriage. Both him and Miki found it necessary to finally get married however the Psychic feared the immense dedication that came with this request. Through her entire life, Miki found herself extremely independent. Despite how much her family wished for her to get married, she never did. This new occurrence was enough to divert the Psychic's attention from her best friend's death for awhile--which could be a good thing due to everybody else's lingering on the death.
Unfortunately for Miki, it was a new school year at the E.S.P. Institute and she had a new class full of students. She regretted not seeing Shiori Ogawa and Akira Kobayashi--both who died slightly before Donny did at the hands of the Xilians. They were some of her top students. All of her students seemed like normal thirteen to eighteen year old teenagers--being rowdy, hormone-infested, and somewhat rude, except for one girl who particularly caught the her attention. Miki glanced toward the back corner of the room and could see a young girl with long brunette hair, hiding in her arms upon the desk, with sheets of paper cluttering its surface. She was a tiny girl, slightly thinner than Miki, yet she was about her height. The Psychic tried to scan this girl's mind, but she could not penetrate her mental barrier, it was very strong; equaling even the strength of her own mental capabilities.
Miki disregarded her attempt and continued to scan through her papers that cluttered the desk, until she came across a tightly stapled packet of paper that fell out of the pile onto her desk releasing a moderate thud. Gently, the young teacher picked up the packet and scanned the top page. It said:
Shezilla: The Cloning Project
By: Cyndi
Wow…this must be a story or something, written by that girl. Miki whispered telepathically. The Psychic flipped the pages, and scanned it until she reached a part that stood out, and surprised her. She read it in her mind to herself:
He watched Godzilla and Shezilla eye each other warily, circling and sniffing. Their roaring had quieted to occasional growls, snorts and the occasional head-toss. The distance between them was getting smaller and smaller. Soon, they were standing nose to nose, smelling each other curiously."It looks good, they seem to be getting along so far." Kenpachiro told his colleagues, "Their interaction is fascinating!"By then, Godzilla had walked away from Shezilla and moved towards the half-constructed nuclear power plant less than a half-mile away. The Kaijuologists observed as the King of the Monsters reached into the tall cylinder and extracted the nuclear reactor amidst a rush of steam and blue sparks."There's four million dollars..." Blake muttered as Godzilla's tail toppled the unfinished framework of the power plant like a pile of metal toothpicks. "And rising..."Instead of absorbing the radiation, however, Godzilla turned with the reactor, lumbered forward and placed it at Shezilla's feet. Shezilla, instinctively recognizing the source of sustenance, lifted the reactor into her grasp and proceeded to consume the radiation. One by one, her dorsal plates shimmered until they all emitted an electric blue glow."Monster love! How cute!" Blake commented from behind the camcorder, running a hand through his hair. He jumped when Emiko smacked him in the back of the head.
"OW!"…
Miki found herself giggling as she read the final words and closed the packet slowly. The writing this girl portrayed was amazing, and the expression on Miki's face definitely displayed the sensation.
Shezilla, what a fascinating creation. This Cyndi girl is definitely talented! the Psychic proclaimed with amazement in her mind. Miki turned her attention back to Cyndi, who was writing on several more sheets of paper. The teacher wore a light smile on her face, for Cyndi's actions reminded her of Donny's writing habits as well, it was very comforting for her.
As Cyndi sat at her desk, writing away with her trusty ink pen, an older girl walked up to the desk and gazed down at Cyndi, who glanced up at her uneasily. The taller, obese young woman wore an almost demonic smile on her face.
"Your constant writing is getting really annoying, you freak…you are wasting all of the paper!" she yelled as she took the papers off from under Cyndi's pencil and ripped them, tossing the shreds onto the floor. Cyndi's fearful glance turned into an absolute hateful glare.
"You'll regret that!" cried Cyndi as she whipped her long hair to her side and jumped out of her desk knocking the heavy set chick onto the floor, releasing a huge thud.
"I'll whip your ass!" cried the girl as she rose from the floor and glared down upon Cyndi.
"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" hollered Miki at the top of her longs as she threw a piece of chalk from her desk, pelting the girl directly in the forehead, causing her to recoil from the blunt object's impact.
"Your behavior Akemi Watanabe is far from good. Starting this year out in this manner spells bad news for you. For instigating a fellow student, you will stay after school today for four hours, scrubbing this room clean, is that clear!?" Miki then concentrated her gaze upon Cyndi, who's hair was ruffled into knots from confronting her adversary, "Next time somebody bothers you like that, come to me and I'll deal with them. Do not hurt them, for two wrongs to not make a right."
Cyndi tried to wear a light smile on her face, but could not find the means to do so. She reluctantly picked up the shredded paper off from the floor, threw it away, and sat back at her desk patiently.
"Everybody in this classroom will treat each other with the utmost respect, Cyndi included. She is autistic, and does not need that crap. And don't instigate anybody else either, now finish your assignments!" Miki explained as she thought about Cyndi's autism, for her entire life, Miki never heard of an autistic Psychic--it was very fascinating for her.
Half an hour later, as Miki was still flipping through her papers, she noticed Cyndi day dreaming, staring off out the window that overlooked the court yard. Miki could sense that Cyndi's mental barriers were down, and decided to take it to action. The Psychic closed her eyes and concentrated upon Cyndi's mind, who seemed unaware of Miki's presence. As the mental plain grew brighter, multiple images raced through the Psychic's mind--walls, yelling people and people with angry expressions on their faces. At the end of the image flow though, Miki caught a glimpse of something that was quite startling, she could hear a kaiju roaring and as the image cleared she realized it was Godzilla. The young woman gasped as she saw Cyndi's mental manifestation staring up at Godzilla and smiling.
My friend, how I wish I could be with you instead of this wretched class! cried Cyndi telepathically as she gently hugged Godzilla's mental image, feeling at home and safe with this kaiju.
You are such a kind human, the kindest human I have ever met. Godzilla's saurian voice replied softly.
Cyndi giggled in laughter as she whirled her hair around in the gentle breeze in the oceanic surrounding image. As she turned three-hundred and sixty degrees, the young girl caught a glance of Miki's mental image. With out any reluctance, Cyndi began to scream at the top of her lungs, immediately throwing Miki out of her mind roughly literally tossing her physical self back into her chair. As the Psychic teacher came out of her trance, Cyndi's corporeal self was running toward the closet door, attempting to close herself into it as she screamed frantically.
"Cyndi, it is okay!" cried Miki as she trotted toward the closet, and opened the door, revealing the traumatized student, shaking in the back corner of the closet near some plastic containers.
Miki held out her hand, "It is okay, don't fear me."
Cyndi acted as if she could not even hear Miki, instead she curled up into a ball and began to writhe in sporadic motions, as if she was experiencing some sort of a seizure. Cyndi could see Miki's mouth moving, and her hand holding her, but the visual was breaking up and became distorted. Her eyes glared at Miki, giving the Psychic a fearful reaction as she backed away.
"NO! STAY OUT OF MY MIND!" Cyndi cried as she hoisted the plastic containers with her telekinetic abilities and threw them at Miki, throwing her onto the floor violently under the weight of the carriers.
Seconds later, as Miki unburied herself from the totes, she found Cyndi on the floor calming down from her autistic meltdown which Miki immediately speculated after she saw what had happened. The Psychic knelt down next to Cyndi, and wrapped her arms around her, comforting the poor confused teen.
It is okay…do not fear. Miki assured telepathically as she rocked Cyndi back and forth slowly with in her arms. Roughly, Cyndi fought herself out of her teacher's arms and huddled in the corner, trying to avoid physical contact. Miki tried to wear a smile as she met Cyndi's eyes, attempting to comfort her. She was unsuccessful however, Cyndi completely disconnected all of her senses from noticing Miki's presence.
The next morning, Miki found herself walking the balcony of her Lake Ashino cottage, on the mountain that overlooked the beautiful lake. The young Psychic's mind was concentrated upon the dream she experienced the other night, it was so real to her and what else was frightening was that it took place near Lake Ashino. Miki's piercing gaze carried her sights out across the still lake, being able to feel a presence that she did not feel for at least eighteen years.
"Miki!" Koji's voice cried from the other room, inadvertently attracting her attention, "somebody is here to see you."
Who could it possibly be? asked Miki in her mind as she turned around and gazed at her bedroom doorway.
The young Psychic's face grew bright as she gazed upon her old E.S.P. School friend in which she hadn't heard from for at least five years, who stood in the doorway smiling.
"Miki, it is so good to see you! It has been such a long time!"
"Asuka Gondo, oh my God!" cried Miki with excitement, "for a while I thought you forgot that we were once friends."
"That's not true, I was always your friend, in fact I thought of you virtually everyday. I was tied up in America with Kirishima for such a long time and was unable to contact Japan at all." Asuka giggled as she hugged Miki. Both women seemed absolutely giddy to find each other again.
"What ever happened to him anyways?" Miki said as she giggled with delight.
"Oh well…you know men…one moment they have you in their arms, the next they are leaving you…." Asuka muttered negatively.
"Oh I am sorry dear." whispered Miki.
A brief gap of silence developed between the two women as they stared down at their feet for a few seconds.
"So, what brings you back to Japan?" asked Miki.
"Well, as you know, last time I left Japan I told you that I did not wish to have Psychic abilities anymore, and I was trying to virtually forget how to use them." sighed Asuka as she went onto the balcony and gazed down at Lake Ashino's foggy surface, "about three days ago I have been sensing an unusual presence, this is the first time I have sensed anything for at least three years. This sensation seemed familiar, very familiar."
"Yes I know what you mean, before you came in, I was contemplating this weird feeling I have been experiencing as well. I also had a dream the other night, I saw a dark silhouette on Lake Ashino." explained Miki as she rested her arms on the wooden railing of the veranda, "what do you think this could be?"
"This certainly is not coincidental. Do you remember Dr. Shiragami?"
"Yes."
"I believe the sensation we have been feeling is Erika Shiragami. I have been seeing distinct mental images of her at least three nights in a row through dreams. And from what you have said, you have too." explained Asuka as she glanced at Miki.
"Hah, I miss Erika so much. Remember how her and Donny used to be in love sort of, but they were too afraid to tell each other? Even though I always knew that Donny at heart was homosexual--he told me one night when he was sad about his family situations." Miki remembered as she giggled.
"Yes I do, those were indeed the days. How is Donny by the way, I haven't seen him for years either?"
The very words of Asuka's question tore at Miki's heart as she struggled to find an answer for what happened. She cupped her hands over her face and sat down in one of the foldable chairs.
"What's the matter?"
"Donny…is dead." whimpered Miki as tears welled with in her dark eyes.
Asuka was at a loss of words, and could not figure out how to respond. The very idea of Donny dying seemed to choke her, they were very good friends back in the early nineties, and sadly the thought of never seeing them all together again burned her lungs.
"He died in the Xilian conflict." Miki added as she threw her arms around Asuka and hugged her, "speaking of Donny though, he has been in all of my dreams as well."
Asuka's face grew bright as she heard Miki's words. As if somehow Miki's dreams may have been connected to Donny's actual existence.
"They were just dreams Asuka, Donny and Erika will not be coming back." Miki whispered, while slowly slipping into a dazed saddened trance. Asuka and Miki continued to sit upon the balcony, recalling old memories as they gazed across the still waters of Lake Ashino.
Asuka found Miki's words to be very depressing, after all Erika Shiragami was basically her best friend. When she died, Asuka nearly died with her--and ever since then the young woman struggled with Erika's death.