… Where am I?
… Am I dead?
… I don't think I am, but then what has happened to me?
… Ken?
… Akiko?
… Mothra?
… Godzilla?
Miki's subconscious was trapped in darkness. No sight, no sound, no scents, no tastes, no physical feeling. She was in limbo, her mind floating in emptiness without anything or anyone to keep her company. If she had the ability to cry within her mind, she would have. The loneliness was overwhelming. The silence was deafening. And Miki's sense of helplessness and foolishness had reached a peak which sent her heart spiraling down the rabbit hole of depression.
Ken and Akiko were by her side, having finally managed to stop the bleeding at the back of her head. Spacegodzilla was still standing nearby watching them, Mothra struggling to get free of the rubble which had trapped her to help them. Ken looked to Spacegodzilla, pure rage building in his eyes though Spacegodzilla didn't seem to pay him any mind. Instead, his eyes were focused squarely on Miki with that wicked smile on his face. His eyes glowed on occasion, but as to why Ken could not say. He really didn't care anymore. Spacegodzilla had overwhelmed Miki's mind and her own psychic powers had proven useless against him. He was loving it.
Mothra began calling out to the skies, crying upwards to anything that would listen to her pleas.
Spacegodzilla let it slide for a few minutes, but finally seemed to grow annoyed with the caterpillar's constant stream of cries and shouts. He turned his head to face the tiny caterpillar Kaiju and opened his mouth. A red glow began emanating from within his throat until at last that infamous Corona Beam shot forth and blasted the buildings around the small creature. The rubble and debris came tumbling down and buried the tiny Kaiju while Spacegodzilla looked on. Ken and Akiko had watched as well, and their hearts sank at seeing Mothra disappear beneath the fallen buildings. Her crying had ceased, and a pool of yellow liquid started gathering and sneaking beneath and between some of the rubble.
"Mothra." Akiko whispered, putting her hand over her mouth as she fought back tears.
Ken gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, but could do nothing more than seethe in his own anger at the situation.
Spacegodzilla analyzed the rubble and was satisfied that Mothra was finished calling out, returning his attention to Miki. His eyes flashed red once more as he delved into Miki's mind. She was still in darkness, calling out for help but receiving no answer. Spacegodzilla let out a low growl as he continued to observe her suffering. Moment by moment he could feel Miki beginning to give in more and more to her despair. His eyes flashed, and within Miki's mind she began to see a flurry of visions begin to surround her and take up the once empty space that occupied her dark mental world. Visions of herself being ripped apart limb by limb. Godzilla being slowly picked apart piece by piece while still alive to feel the agony. Her friends being killed in numerous ways from being roared to death, smashed by rubble, torn apart by claws and blasted point blank with the Corona Beam. It was the assault on her senses all over again which nearly drove her to insanity before.
It was at that moment that Ken, Akiko, and Spacegodzilla heard a familiar roar echoing out across the city and through the air. It was Mothra's call, carrying and echoing to an even greater extent than it had when she was on top of the building. How she was amplifying her calls like this remained a mystery, but it seemed to have an immediate effect on Spacegodzilla. He growled and turned his head to the rubble which had buried the tiny caterpillar Kaiju as he started powering up his Corona Beam again. This time he was determined to put an end to the annoying insect once and for all, but as he was about to let out his Corona Beam, another roar echoed through the air. It was louder than Mothra's, and more familiar. Spacegodzilla's Corona Beam dissipated in his throat as he turned his head to look in the other direction to see a familiar, yet unfamiliar face.
It was one of the smaller Godzillas now advancing through the city to the battlefield. Ken and Akiko could hardly believe that it was here, and Spacegodzilla seemed equally confused by the size of the advancing Kaiju.
This Godzilla was only about eighty-five meters tall, and though its spines were more jagged and spiky than their Godzilla's own, they were more or less the same silver-white coloration as the famous Kaiju King's. This Godzilla's mouth was also a bit sharper and more serpentine than Godzilla's whose mouth was more rounded and almost mammalian in appearance. Still, this Godzilla was pumped up and ready for a fight, though Spacegodzilla almost seemed to be laughing in his own strange way as he growled with an undulating and guttural sound. The smaller Godzilla snarled and roared out at Spacegodzilla in challenge, stomping its feet into the ground and slamming its tail down behind it. Spacegodzilla turned to face the new Kaiju and took a few steps towards it before hearing yet another roar sounding through the city. He turned around, looking out towards the bay towards where Mothra had come from and saw another Godzilla approaching him. This one was even smaller, only about seventy-five meters tall, but looking almost the same save for different colored eyes. This Godzilla's eyes were more of a black coloration as opposed to the traditional golden brown, but this one too was revved up for a fight.
Spacegodzilla looked to the first Godzilla, then to the second, then back to the first. Ken and Akiko were happy to see him confused, but he was still over a third taller than both of the Godzillas which made his size alone a severe advantage against the two smaller Kaiju. Still, they'd seen smaller Kaiju defeat larger ones before, and they were hoping against hope that it would happen again here today.
The two Godzillas came in and took their places on opposite sides of the much taller Spacegodzilla and roared out at him in challenge and rage. Spacegodzilla decided to focus on the slightly larger Godzilla first, which proved to be a mistake as the moment his back was turned the other Godzilla fired its thermonuclear breath into the back of his head knocking him forward a few steps and almost to the ground. Spacegodzilla turned his head to prepare to blast the smaller creature, but was met with the exact same fate as before as the taller Godzilla blasted him in the back of the head the same way, putting him back right in the middle between them and resetting the playing field. Spacegodzilla looked to each one slowly and cautiously, both of them growling and keeping themselves primed and ready.
Spacegodzilla took a few steps backwards, trying to get both of them in his peripheral vision but it was no use. They moved with him, keeping him right in between them as they continued to prepare for another attack. The monstrous carbon copy of the Kaiju King had an idea, and so he began charing his Corona Beam. The red glow inside his mouth got the smaller monsters' attention as they prepared themselves for something serious, and Spacegodzilla began turning towards the smaller of the two while the larger primed its thermonuclear breath. As Spacegodzilla reared his head back, he spun at the last second and met the larger Godzilla's attack with his own, completely overpowering it and sending it all back into the larger Godzilla's face, badly searing its skin and causing it to screech out in pain as it fell down to the ground in pain. The smaller Godzilla took its chance and blasted Spacegodzilla in the back with its thermonuclear breath attack, but the attack didn't do much damage as Spacegodzilla turned around and just let the attack hit him before the smaller Godzilla had to cease the attack and rest.
Spacegodzilla charged his Corona Beam again and launched it at the smaller Godzilla striking it square in the chest and knocking it back several steps as it tripped and fell back into a pair of large buildings which proceeded to collapse on top of it. Spacegodzilla advanced a few steps towards the smaller Godzilla before being met with another blast to the back of the head from the larger one, which had since risen from the ground to protect its smaller counterpart. Its face was badly burned, a streak of flesh across its forehead and right eye being darkened and still smoking with a few clear evidence of flesh being taken off to the bone as blood dripped from the wound down its face and neck. The larger Godzilla's right eye was closed, but in tact as it advanced towards Spacegodzilla. The larger Kaiju turned and faced its smaller opponent as it walked towards it, the smaller Godzilla still wrestling with debris to free itself and join its larger counterpart.
The larger Godzilla and Spacegodzilla came together at last, and they began to engage in face to face Kaiju combat. Despite the size advantage, Spacegodzilla proved to have a difficult time keeping pace with the smaller Kaiju. Godzilla ducked a few of Spacegodzilla's initial claw swipes while countering with its own and scratching his arms and chest, taking off small chunks of flesh and causing one or two tiny streams of purple/blue blood to ooze forth. The smaller Kaiju managed to avoid a potentially fatal bite as well that was aimed at its neck by lowering its head and then forcing it straight up into the bottom of Spacegodzilla's jaw, sending his head up and back allowing Godzilla to ram him in the chest and force him to stagger backwards several steps.
Godzilla reared its head and charged its thermonuclear breath, but before it could launch the attack it was met once again by a blast of Spacegodzilla's Corona Beam in the face, taking off even more flesh and causing the Kaiju to fall back to the ground once more in extreme pain. Flesh had clearly been ripped from bone this time, with small chunks of it flying through the air and landing on buildings and on the ground around it as the damaged Kaiju continued to shriek in pain over and over again. Spacegodzilla came forward and leaned forward to examine his work before raising its foot and stomping down on the wounded Godzilla's side, sending a loud "CRACK" through the air. Godzilla's bones were clearly broken as its entire side caved in under the force of the stomp, forcing the breath from the Kaiju's lungs and causing it to cough and gag on blood which began seeping from the corners of its mouth. Spacegodzilla primed himself for another stomp but was interrupted by the sensation of silken thread covering his face… again.
Spacegodzilla whirled around and saw Mothra, wounded but alive on top of a nearby building. She had been freed from the rubble by the smaller Godzilla who was also primed and ready to continue the fight. Mothra's silk and the smaller Godzilla's thermonuclear breath began assaulting Spacegodzilla who turned away to shield his eyes from the silk and breath attacks as he charged his Corona Beam. This time, it was much more severe. Spacegodzilla's crystalline spikes on his back began to glow red as well as the crystals on his shoulders. The two smaller Kaiju stopped the attack in confusion as they saw the air swirl and churn around the larger Kaiju as he charged his attack. Ken and Akiko watched in confusion, wondering what in the world Spacegodzilla was doing. As far as they knew, unlike Godzilla, Spacegodzilla's spines were not used as conductors or pathways for his energy to travel and were more just for display than anything else. So what was he doing?
Spacegodzilla's eyes were glowing brighter than ever as he turned his head to face the two tiny Kaiju and his mouth was now glowing a bright crimson red as his head began to rear back in preparation for his attack. As he did so, he was stopped by the sensation of the larger Godzilla having used its thermonuclear breath on his back. Spacegodzilla continued charging his attack, but his head turned slowly as he eyed the larger Godzilla. The top of its forehead and the front of its nose were now baring bone as blood dripped down from the gaping wounds across its face. Its right eye was now closed and burned, but whether or not it still had use of it remained to be seen. It was standing again, but only just barely. It was clearly fighting the wound it sustained from the stomp as its side was twitching and convulsing as it fought to stay on its feet. Spacegodzilla returned its gaze to the two smaller Kaiju who both tried to resume their attacks to prevent him from launching his own, but it was too late.
Spacegodzilla turned and blasted his supercharged Corona Beam at the already wounded Godzilla behind him. The red lightning seared through the air and violently demolished several buildings around its target as well as digging in and spiraling straight through the edge of the Godzilla taking off a huge chunk of flesh and muscle and opening a large and gaping wound in the base of its neck and upper shoulder. The Godzilla shrieked out in pain again as it gave in to the pain throughout its body and fell to the ground. This time, it did not continue to shriek. It was still and unmoving, and both the smaller Godzilla and Mothra were frozen in fear and concern as they tried to ascertain the larger Godzilla's fate. Spacegodzilla turned his head and looked at the two tiny Kaiju and let out a guttural growl which sent a chill through Akiko and Ken's spines and caused both of the smaller Kaiju to visible flinch as well. Spacegodzilla then took a few steps towards them, and both of them retreated a few paces as they watched him come to a stop.
His eyes turned to where Miki and the other humans were again, and the corner of his mouth curled up again as if to smile at them. Once again, the humans were exposed to just how much he was enjoying causing this kind of pain and misery to other creatures. It was well established that he was evil, but to enjoy suffering to this extent that Spacegodzilla, a Kaiju, would actually mimic how human beings smile to show his level of entertainment and joy at what was happening… It was just wrong.
Spacegodzilla's joy was cut short, however, by the sound of a rumbling roar coming through the ground. Spacegodzilla looked around, and both Mothra and the smaller Godzilla backed away several paces more to give room. Spacegodzilla looked around, but he couldn't identify the source of the roar until the rumbling in the earth became continuous. Spacegodzilla looked down towards the earth, and as he did so he saw the ground begin to crack and rise about midway between himself and the two smaller Kaiju nearby. Spacegodzilla took a step forward to inspect the rising earth, and within ten seconds it quite literally exploded up into the air as a large blue beam shot forth into the sky causing Spacegodzilla to stagger back a step. That beam was unmistakable, and the roar which burst forth from the ground was equally so. Godzilla himself finally rose from the earth and crawled his way to the surface before standing up and shaking off the earth from his flesh. Standing at one hundred and twenty five meters in height, he now looked Spacegodzilla squarely in the eye as he snarled and growled at his nemesis.
Spacegodzilla too began to growl and snarl, both Kaiju acknowledging each other as they walked towards one another. Mothra and the smaller Godzilla began making their way around the battlefield towards the other Godzilla's body while Godzilla circled around and put himself between Spacegodzilla and the downed Godzilla. However, now that Godzilla was here, Spacegodzilla's attention was focused solely on him, and the other monsters were now safe for the time being. Godzilla and Spacegodzilla sized each other up for a few moments before Spacegodzilla charged forward with a roar to begin combat against the King of the Monsters.
Godzilla watched the charge, and as Spacegodzilla threw out a slash with its right claw, Godzilla caught it in his left. Spacegodzilla slashed with his left claw, and Godzilla caught it with his right. The two of them were now locked together and face to face with only a few meters between them. But it soon became clear which of the two was superior as Spacegodzilla's mouth began to curl in a snarl as Godzilla began squeezing down. Godzilla's claws began to dig into Spacegodzilla's flesh and crush his hands which caused Spacegodzilla to let out a cry of pain as Godzilla leaned his head back and slammed his forehead against Spacegodzilla's own. Spacegodzilla staggered back and fell to the ground with a thundering sound and a huge shockwave which shook the earth on impact. Godzilla's forehead displayed a mild cut from Spacegodzilla's horn, but that was the extent of the damage as Godzilla stood over his nemesis and growled at him.
Spacegodzilla slowly made it to his feet, shaking off the blow and whirling around to face Godzilla again. He lunged forward and tried to bite Godzilla's neck, but Godzilla simply leaned forward and used the side of his head to bash Spacegodzilla's own which made him stagger off sideways and fall once again to the ground. Godzilla then grabbed Spacegodzilla's left shoulder crystal and pulled him to his feet before tossing him back and whirling around and whacking him in the head with his tail. Spacegodzilla fell to the ground for a third time, and as he rose to shake himself off he walked a few paces away from Godzilla to put some distance between the two. With his increased size and increased nuclear power supply, Godzilla was now too strong to be taken on directly at close range. Spacegodzilla changed tactics, and put distance between them as he prepared his supercharged Corona Beam once more. Godzilla watched calmly, waiting patiently for Spacegodzilla to finish his charge.
Meanwhile, Mothra and the smaller Godzilla had made it to the fallen Godzilla's side and were inspecting it carefully. Mothra wasn't looking too pleased, and the smaller Godzilla was beginning to let out low and mournful calls which caught Godzilla's attention. He turned his head to look momentarily, and Spacegodzilla tried to take advantage of the change and fired his supercharged Corona Beam. However, Godzilla's head whipped around to face him and he fired off his thermonuclear breath. Even without a charge, Godzilla's thermonuclear breath easily overtook Spacegodzilla's Corona Beam, even with its charge, and sent it all back into Spacegodzilla's face causing the monstrous Kaiju to scream out in pain as he fell to the ground yet again.
The massive Kaiju went down, falling onto several buildings and crushing them as he hit the ground.
Godzilla took the opportunity to turn and face the other Kaiju nearby and walked towards them. As he approached, Mothra backed away, as did the smaller Godzilla. Ken and Akiko watched as Godzilla knelt down to observe the damage to his smaller companion, and his upper lip curled into a snarl as he took it all in. Spacegodzilla rose to his feet and roared as his crystalline capsule appeared while lifting him into the air. Taking flight, Spacegodzilla began to circle overhead as he started an attack run on Godzilla and his comrades. Godzilla turned his head a fraction of a second too late to see Spacegodzilla's Corona Beam streaking his way. The beam struck Godzilla on the side of the head and forced him to turn his head away, but it continued through and devastated the ground between Mothra and the other Godzilla. The blast didn't strike them, but it did not go unnoticed by Godzilla who tracked Spacegodzilla's trajectory through the air.
Godzilla's spines began to light up with a bright blue coloration as the air around his head began to churn and swirl in much the same way as Spacegodzilla's supercharged Corona Beam had earlier. However, this time, it was coming from a much more powerful source. Godzilla let fly with his thermonuclear breath, tearing through the air and striking Spacegodzilla's crystalline cocoon and knocking him completely out of his flight path and sent him hurtling to the ground. Spacegodzilla hit the ground with tremendous force and his crystalline cocoon disappeared as he shook it off and stood up. He landed a fair distance away, and as he turned to face Godzilla who was staring him down.
If there was one thing about Spacegodzilla that everyone could confirm, it was that he isn't stupid. Spacegodzilla turned away and brought out his crystalline cocoon again and flew away, disappearing into the distance after few minutes. Godzilla's eyes remained locked on him the entire time until he was out of sight before he turned away and walked back to his fallen friend. Godzilla approached and looked it over, analyzing its wounds before looking to Mothra and the other Godzilla and obviously telling them to leave. Mothra skirted away and made her way to the bay where she entered the water and began swimming back to Infant Island whilst the other Godzilla also took to the waters and disappeared beneath the waves. Where it was going? Only it knew.
Ken and Akiko watched Godzilla as he knelt down to observe the other Godzilla up close, and it didn't look too promising. Godzilla began uttering a few mournful groans and growls. Akiko held Miki's hand, stroking it gently as she watched Godzilla.
"Miki… He could use some help." She whispered.
Miki's mind was a blur. The horrific visions had since ceased, but she was no better off than she had been when it all began. Darkness everywhere, and pain coursing through her body as she finally began to get a grip on her mental condition. The darkness began clearing, and her subconscious finally regained control as her mind slowly surrendered to the natural state of dreams. Her ears began working, and she was awoken from her slumber by the sounds of Godzilla's calls and the sensation of Akiko stroking her hand. Her eyes opened very, very slowly. The back of her head felt like someone had split it with an axe, but she moved her arm enough for Akiko and Ken to notice and look at her. Akiko nearly broke down, but kept herself composed enough to help Miki sit up without disturbing her wound on the back of her head. Miki looked out at Godzilla and saw the other one on the ground unmoving.
Miki closed her eyes and forced the pain from her mind as she concentrated on the fallen Godzilla. She searched and searched, but she found nothing that she could latch onto. There was no trace of life anywhere. But Miki had an idea, and turned her attention to Godzilla himself. She prodded and poked at Godzilla until he recognized her mental hand and opened his mind to her, standing upright and looking over to where she and the others were.
Godzilla, charge your thermonuclear breath and keep your mouth open right next to the fallen one. It might provide enough concentrated radiation to revive them.
Godzilla was a bit skeptical, but he would try anything for his fallen kin. Godzilla knelt down and opened his mouth right by the fallen Godzilla's head and began to charge his thermonuclear breath. The radiation began building within his body as he charged his attack. His spines were glowing, helping to regulate and concentrate his energy through his body while also expelling the excess which was what Miki had been hoping for. The excess radiation being let out through Godzilla's spines and the radiation leaking from his mouth as he charged the attack were already beginning to show the signs of being absorbed by the fallen Godzilla as small streams of energy that were almost invisible began to find their way to its body. Godzilla continued to charge the attack. Slowly, more and more energy began to find its way into the fallen Godzilla's body until Godzilla himself let the attack loose on the ground just to the side of the fallen's body. The explosion from the ground was intense and created a huge plume of dust which filled the air and made it hard to see.
It took a few minutes for the dust to begin to settle, and Ken, Miki, and Akiko heard the sounds of the result before they saw everything unfold. Godzilla's roar was first, followed by another, less powerful one. Miki's little trick had apparently worked, though it was still up for grabs as to how well. When the smoke cleared Godzilla was standing, but the other Godzilla was still laying down on the ground though it was awake and alive. Godzilla seemed happy about that, but the fallen Godzilla was still unable to rise to its own two feet. It tried, but in vain. It pushed itself with its hands and tried to pull its legs under itself to help get to its knees and stand up. But it would not happen. Godzilla knelt down and tried to help, but it was still no use. The other Godzilla was just too weak to stand, and too injured to concentrate on the task enough to accomplish it even with assistance.
Godzilla grew frantic, trying desperately to help its fallen kin to stand. He tried to push it to its feet, he tried using his tail to help lift it to its feet, and he tried to push his tail underneath it to allow it to just hold on so he could drag it to the sea. If he could get it to the water, it would be able to reach the depths and rest as long as necessary to heal itself. The fallen Godzilla grabbed onto Godzilla's tail, but it could not hold on long enough for Godzilla to drag it successfully. It was about this time that Godzilla began to let out those same mournful calls and groans as before, with the other joining in. The feeling overall was very melancholy, and Miki's heart sank as she watched it all unfold.
But all was not lost.
Godzilla looked out towards the edge of the city as he heard a sound begin to ring out through the night sky. It was familiar to him, as he let out a snarl and a growl as he turned his body to face the origin of the sound. Miki too recognized the sound, having heard it not long ago during a previous encounter with Godzilla himself before his increase in size and power. Indeed, the dust trail in the distance gave way to the form of the armadillo creature Godzilla had battled a little over a month or so ago. The armadillo approached, and Godzilla stepped towards it any growled at it. The spiky armadillo creature stopped short and looked up at Godzilla, and the two of them began a long and drawn out conversation of sorts involving a lot of growling and roaring at one another. There were a few moments where it looked like a fight would break out, but finally it all came to an end. The armadillo came forward and Godzilla did not attack it. On the contrary, Godzilla walked beside it as they both approached the fallen Godzilla.
The armadillo creature waited for Godzilla to push his tail partially beneath the fallen and then used his snout to push the fallen all the way across the top of Godzilla's tail. The armadillo kept his head under the fallen Godzilla to keep it on top of Godzilla's tail as the massive Kaiju King walked towards the water. Together, they were able to keep the smaller Godzilla on the King's tail until he reached the water when the smaller Godzilla was able to let its natural buoyancy keep it afloat while it used its tail to propel itself through the water before disappearing beneath the waves to rest. Godzilla turned to the armadillo creature and gave it an acknowledging roar before wading out into the waters himself. The armadillo gave a roar and turned back inland, walking into the distance alone as Ken, Akiko, and Miki watched everything go down.
When the armadillo disappeared, Miki gave Akiko a smile before losing consciousness. Ken and Akiko rushed her to the hospital, and there Miki has remained for over a month after undergoing a minor reconstructive surgery to fix the crack in her skull from her fall.
Godzilla, meanwhile, seems to be on the move again… But to where, and why?
