The trees cracked like matchsticks under the force of Godzilla's massive steps. Thousands of birds, unaffected by the radiation from the earlier storm, fled the jungle in great colorful flocks. Godzilla paused and stared at them, letting out a higher-pitched variation of his well-documented bellow. Only when the birds had disappeared into the heavens did Godzilla continue his single-minded trek toward Mothra's egg.
"What does he want with the egg," asked Andoh.
Masako shrugged. "Perhaps he's hungry for something a little more tangible."
Miki closed her eyes and bent her head slightly forward. The other three noticed slight twitches in her hands and wrists. She was concentrating on something, but they didn't know if it were on Godzilla, or on Mothra. "It's curiosity," she finally said, lifting her head up. "Godzilla knows that something big is here, but he doesn't know what it is."
"Do you think they'll fight?" asked Takuya, reminded of his having read of Godzilla and King Ghidorah's kerfuffle in newspapers the year before.
Masako turned to them with an alarmed face. "I'd certainly hope not. If Godzilla starts using his atomic ray, we're all done for."
"You're right," said Andoh. "Perhaps it's best if we get off this rock." He pointed to the ground they stood on. "We should be safer if we're closer to the beach."
The others nodded.
"But are we going to have to climb down?" Masako asked, a little pale at the thought of doing down the mountain.
"No," replied Takuya. "There's a passage inside the atrium that leads to an exit on the other side of the mountain. We can hurry and make it there before…if things start getting rough."
Masako, Andoh and Miki all nodded in agreement. They quickly returned the passageway and went back into the Muan laboratory.
Godzilla trudged through the jungle until he stood face to face with the enormous white dome that was Mothra's egg. Something inside of the monster's primitive core told it that the egg housed something special, but he knew not just what it was. Godzilla let out a bellow that shook the island with so much force that several small rockslides occurred along the inner rim of the basin. The egg remained silent.
Furrowing his brow, Godzilla sneered and grunted. He lifted his tail, which was about as long as the monster was tall, and slammed it on the ground behind him. The ground shook and tons of rocks were loosened from the cliffs around him, falling to the floor of the jungle. Several smaller boulders struck the egg on their way down. But there continued to be no sign of life.
Godzilla bent over and picked up a larger boulder and hurled it at the egg. The rock struck the shell with a dull, ringing thud and fell to the ground. Godzilla howled at the sound. He picked up a small rock that fit in the palm his monstrous hand and chucked it once more at the egg. This time, the stone pelted the shell with such for that it cracked the egg. Godzilla noticed and started at the dent he had made in the strange white dome. He looked around him: there were no humans in his immediate vicinity—or their weapons—to bother him.
A viscous transparent goo emerged from the crack and ran slowly down the side of the egg. Godzilla let out a deep roar and took a step forward. The egg didn't react.
As Godzilla took another step, bringing the beast to within 50 meters of the egg, the dome began flashing. The brilliant lights emanating from the egg startled Godzilla, who took a step back. His head lunged forward and bellowed a challenge. The egg continued to glow brighter and brighter, although it seemingly did not acknowledge Godzilla's presence.
Blue bolts of lightning danced along Godzilla's irregularly-shaped dorsal spines. They began to glow, while the air around him crackled as the now-glowing plates heated it. A deep-blue ball of energy began to form at the back of Godzilla's throat.
And then like that, the egg stopped glowing. It returned to its original color, with nary a sign of the spectacular show of lights it had just put on a few moments before. Godzilla, apparently calmed by the object standing down to him, allowed the energy to dissipate from his back plates. Nuclear destruction of the Infant Island basin was no longer imminent.
Suddenly, a loud crack called Godzilla's attention. The crack created by the boulder began to grow, branching out every few yards. Godzilla drew his head back. He definitely wanted to see what was inside, despite his misgivings as to whether it were friend or foe. He certainly had more foes than friends in this world. After a few moments, the egg begin to break apart as the cracks. Huge pieces of shell rained on the forest below.
A loud chirp echoed through the swiftly-cracking shell, causing Godzilla to take a curious step forward. There emerged from the egg a large segmented worm-like creature. The body segments increased in diameter as they reached the head, tapering off in the other direction. The head was a huge half-sphere, with two red eyes and a mouth divided into two pairs of chitonous mandibles, one which opened left to right, and the other which opened vertically.
Godzilla stared at the monster—Mothra's larva—for a few moments, scrutinizing the newborn animal as it examined its surroundings and the monster standing in front of it. Godzilla bellowed at Mothra, who simply responded with a curt chirp. Godzilla lifted his leg and stomped the ground. The shockwave shattered what was left of the egg, helping the creature to wriggle itself completely free. The larva cried out, but Godzilla simply stood there, staring at it.
The four explorers raced down the metal staircases inside the atrium as fast as they could. They had felt the ground shake during Godzilla's courageous showdown with the otherwise inanimate egg, which almost threw Masako headfirst down over the rail. Luckily, Takuya had grabbed her in time. After a brief stop in their quarters to pick up their backpacks, they continued their sprint down to the ground level.
"Over here!" screamed Takuya, pointing to a darkened corridor. "This is the way out."
As the four made a mad dash to the exit, Masako panted, "How did you know about this?"
"Just came across it, I guess," he said, grabbing his exhausted ex-wife by the arm and pulling her along.
The ground shook again and Andoh tumbled forward.
"It's okay," he said as Miki helped him up. "This place is definitely not safe," he muttered.
Several more tremors threw them off balance as they negotiated the darkened halls as quickly as they could, without running headlong into a wall. Their frightened flight reached as end as they felt a cool gust of wind blow up against their faces.
"We're just about there."
The passageway opened into a small cave, which itself opened into the forest that separated the beach from the ridge. In a few moments, they made their way into the forest, where they sprinted over fallen logs and through the brush until they reached the beach.
All four of them fell to the sand, panting furiously. They could hear Godzilla's roaring and the newborn Mothra's chirping, but nothing seemed as if they were actually fighting. Suddenly, a third sound was introduced. It was satisfyingly familiar: the spinning rotors of a helicopter.
"Look!" cried Masako pointing to the sky south of them. "A rescue party!"
For a moment, the others forgot about their exhaustion and stood up, waving their arms in hopes of bringing themselves to the chopper's attention. Masako rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a small flare gun.
"Take a step back, guys!" she yelled above the din. Pointing the weapon to the sky, she fired a single flare. A bright red projectile flew through the air and exploded, sending red sparks in all directions.
"I think they saw it," said Takuya, staring at his forthcoming salvation. "They're heading in our direction."
"It appears to be the Americans," observed Andoh as the aircraft drew closer. "Must've come from Okinawa."
"Well, I hope they come a bit faster," said Miki, tugging at Takuya's arm and pointing at the ocean. "We're about to have more company."
Several hundred feet away, riding the waves quickly in the direction of Infant Island, was a large animal. Its brownish-blue body was covered with splotches of yellow, including a long single horn that stuck out from the top of its head. A pair of sinister red eyes stared menacingly at the three, even thought it was so far away. Large, scythe-like claws extended from beneath its toothy mandibles. The creature let out a cackle as its head bobbed in and out of the water.
"A final reason to never use that machine again," said Masako. "It would seem that Battra is here for the party, too."