Hmmm… Which one, which one…

Creativity: Whatcha doing boss?

Author: Trying to decide on what I want to do when this story is done.

Creativity: Ummm… Isn't it a bit… Early, to be deciding that?

Author: Perhaps, but considering the number of projects I have going right now in the background, I kinda want to figure out which one is released next.

Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you all. Well, let's just get straight to the chapter, shall we?

Here's chapter 26

Post completion edit: An apology to Ultra. Further explanation at the end, but the short version is sorry. Also sorry I couldn't offer an apology earlier, but this is really the only avenue I have for communicating with you


"Doc, I'm starting to have second thoughts about this little idea of yours."

Grey was currently lying in the medical wing of the Monarch branch facility with several electrodes attached to his body. He wasn't the only one either. Also lying on the hospital beds were Sabrina, Laura, Jack, Darcie, Zack and Ben, all with their own electrodes. Graham was walking back and forth, tapping on her tablet computer every now and again while examining monitors that the electrodes were connected to.

"This is the best way to figure out what's causing these strange dreams you've been having. If we can see what areas of your brain are most active during one of these dreams, we can possibly isolate their source. Trust me, the equipment isn't harmful in any way." Graham informed them. Grey rolled his eyes.

"That isn't especially encouraging." He snarked before Graham approached with a gas mask. Grey took a deep breath and exhaled before breathing in the gas. It took a little longer than they anticipated, but he was out like a light. The others soon followed suit.

The dream was even more overpowering than before. Grey could do little more than steel himself against the waves of raw emotion that rolled off the entity. Finally, he snapped. After one and a half weeks, he finally cracked.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" He shouted at the entity.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!"

Then all of a sudden, he was awake. He was drenched in sweat again and he was breathing heavily. The others were also coming around. Graham was examining the results on the monitors. Her expression said that she was perplexed.

"So, what are we looking at, doc?" Grey asked as he resisted the urge to pull off the electrodes.

"Well, it's interesting to say the least. The parts of your brain that were lighting up while you were unconscious were all related to receiving and processing communication. It's almost like you all were receiving some sort of radio signal."

Graham motioned for them to remove the electrodes before downloading the data from the machinery to her tablet.

"It actually makes some sense. In theory, creatures from Godzilla's age would have been able to communicate through ionizing radiation, similar to the radios we use today. Of course, this is all just theory, but it's a very plausible one. Especially with this new evidence."

Grey groaned.

"So, going off the assumption that we are receiving some sort of radiation signal when we're asleep, how do we stop receiving it so that we can get a good night's sleep? Also, how come we're only receiving it when we're asleep to begin with?"

Graham stroked her chin ponderously.

"Well, perhaps you could try sleeping in the holding cells. They're lined with radiation resistant materials, so the signal shouldn't reach you in there, provided that is indeed the case. As to why you are only receptive to it while asleep, the most likely answer is that you are unconsciously tuning it out during the day since you have so much other information to process. When you fall asleep however, that frees up enough room for your brain to start processing that signal."

Grey groaned and cracked his back and his neck before heading for the door.

"Well, I'm going to go borrow one of those cells because for the love of Godzilla, I need to sleep! Have a good day!"

And with that, Grey did just that. He walked down to the holding cells, let himself in, shut the door, lay down on the cot and crashed.

Sabrina groaned as she rolled her shoulders, feeling them pop.

"Grey didn't have any jobs to do today, did he?" Sabrina asked Graham. Graham shook her head.

"Even if he did, he wouldn't anymore. I'm almost afraid of what will happen if someone disturbs him."

Sabrina had to agree. She'd seen Grey when he was sleep deprived and someone tried to wake him up. She might be able to beat him in a fair match, but he was downright terrifying when there was someone or something standing between him and a much-needed rest.

Sabrina shrugged and went to leave before a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She hadn't even noticed how tired she was up until now.

Opting to take a page out of Grey's book, she went down to the cells and settled in for a proper rest. Soon enough, every cross-species had picked a cell and had completely crashed.


Graham shook her head in mild disbelief before heading up to her lab. She had deployed search drones to investigate the rough area where Grey's homing instinct was trained on. So far, they hadn't found anything, but it was early days in the search. Besides, Grey's instincts had proven accurate so far. However, that also worried her. Grey's instincts had always tracked Godzilla exclusively. None of the other Kaiju triggered any similar phenomena, so what was triggering this one if not Godzilla?

Hopefully the drones would find something to answer that. In the meantime, she would be working on something to help block out this strange signal the cross-species were all receiving. She suspected that the cells wouldn't be very comfortable to sleep in night after night.

She made her way back to her lab, only to be waylaid by Sam, who was carrying a tablet.

"We have a problem."

He spun the tablet around to show her a satellite image of a cluster of islands.

"I was examining some satellite footage of a cluster of islands that are apparently private property for one of Neo-Gen's primary investors. I sent one of the scout drones to investigate, but it kept veering off when it within a quarter of a mile of the shoreline. I tried manual control and even then, the drone wouldn't fly near the place."

Graham took the tablet and zoomed out, finding the islands' location relative to the facility.

"That's almost in the exact direction that Grey said his tracking instincts were locked to. How come the drones I sent out didn't investigate there yet?"

Sam shrugged.

"Well, you sent out Explorer drones, right? They're not as fast as the Scout drone I sent. Plus, as I recall you had them sweeping everything in that general direction. There's a few islands large enough to warrant a search along that route. Besides, they wouldn't be able to get close to it and wouldn't notify you of it."

Graham rubbed her forehead.

"Okay then, what could be keeping our drones from flying near that island?" Graham asked.

"There is some theoretically technology that could project a signal that prevents unmanned aircraft from getting within a certain distance of the source. And the fact that the technology is public knowledge if you want to look for it means that it's a safe bet that our friends that developed gamma guns would have some variation of that technology way ahead of us."

Graham turned and started walking down the hallway, Sam in tow.

"Is there the possibility that the island is also fitted with some sort of technology to prevent a more… analog form of investigation?"

Sam shrugged.

"If you're referring to that specific repellent, probably not. Not for ordinary humans anyway. Our cross-species friends probably won't be able to get close, considering the people that created them probably came up with ways to deter them from going to places they shouldn't. As for us, they probably have something a bit more direct."

Graham rubbed her temples.

"Well, hopefully when I develop something to block out that signal they've been receiving, it can be applied to this problem too, with modification if necessary. Whatever their doing on that island must be important if they're risking open air. Or they're getting lax."

Eventually they reached Graham's lab. Sam followed her to her work station.

"I doubt that. Whatever they're doing on that island must require open air or lots of space that they can't get in a building or underground. Or both."

Sam departed soon after, leaving Graham to continue mulling the situation over. Sam had a good point. Whatever they were hiding on that island could simply require that much space. However, if something was so large that they couldn't hide it underground like their Godzilla mech from over a year ago, how big was it?

Then there was the fact that Grey had his tracking instincts locked in the islands' direction and every cross-species within the facility was having same dream with varying severity, all tied in with what little they could guess at. It all pointed to something very, very dangerous.


Rothstein had heard the stories about the larger bulb's lucrative growth, but seeing it now made his heart skip a few beats.

It was practically a tree now, if trees grew to be one hundred fifty meters tall that is. The orange 'core' that had grown in the trunk was covered by a mass of overgrown plant matter and vines, though you could still see the glow underneath. The waxy membrane had now taken on a pink coloration, which Rothstein hypothesized was a result of the membrane being stretched to the point of near-transparency. Underneath it, one could see the massive, thorny vines that wrapped around the bulb, occasionally shivering. There were small buds on the ends of each vine that appeared to have extra spikes around the ends. Perhaps they were small caps that were used to rip the membrane when the creature inside was ready to emerge? Rothstein hadn't a clue.

Rothstein was observing the colossal being inside a gamma-proof bunker. Surrounding the creature were massive Gamma emitters, which channeled Gamma radiation through a controlled space to the tree… thing. They used an advanced form of electromagnetic containment to direct the radiation to maximise the amount of radiation the entity absorbed, and drastically reduced the effect on the environment. Not that it mattered that much. The creature was outputting a gamma field reminiscent of Godzilla's though not quite as powerful and with the approximately the same range. Hence, they kept to the relative safety of the bunker.

"And you say it's growth has halted?" Rothstein asked. One of the lead scientists nodded.

"As much as it does for creatures like this. As I'm sure you know, Kaiju don't really ever stop growing. It just slows to a relative crawl when they reach maturity."

Rothstein shook his head.

"I think it should be cause for concern that it has reached maturity in the span of a few months. If this thing is able to reproduce in any way, the planet could be overrun in under a year and humanity would be wiped out in the process." Rothstein stated, his brow creased with worry. The scientist nodded.

"We had the same thought and sent a drone to take a new DNA sample. According to our data, it can't reproduce. At least not yet. We're monitoring it daily to see if anything changes."

Rothstein nodded.

"Good. Do we have any contingencies for if we must… deal with it?" Rothstein asked. As much as he feared this thing they had made, he didn't want to destroy it and couldn't bring himself to say it. The scientist shook his head.

"Not yet. The specimen is too resistant to ignition for anything practical. Theoretically a plasma weapon could be used to cut it with relative ease, but we haven't run any tests on that yet. We've ran several simulations for poisons, but those are always beaten in the end, even when used in combination. It does incapacitate the specimen, so it could be used as part of the contingency." The scientist explained. He continued to talk, but Rothstein drifted off for a moment before having a thought.

"Could Godzilla defeat it?"

The scientist paused for a moment, seemingly unsure.

"We ran some light simulations and Godzilla could theoretically defeat the specimen, however we do not know what it is capable of yet. We tried injecting nanites to create a biological map of the specimen, but they were all destroyed by anti-bodies. Even when broadcasting a frequency to keep the immune system at bay, the nanites can't survive long enough to deliver useful data. In short, I wouldn't put money on Godzilla solving that problem for us. Besides, doesn't it seem strange that he hasn't done anything about it yet? Even when exposed to the surface he isn't responding to it in any capacity."

That was a good point, Rothstein admitted in his head. It was strange that Godzilla hadn't targeted the specimen yet. Perhaps he wasn't aware of it yet? That didn't seem likely. Was he afraid? That didn't seem likely. If there was one thing Rothstein was sure of, Godzilla didn't understand the meaning of the word fear. So, what was keeping him?

Then he had another thought.

"What about the other island? The South Pacific one?"

The scientist shook his head.

"Definitely not. There's only one creature on that island that might be able to kill the specimen, and Monarch would immediately know that something was up if we even tried."

Rothstein shook his head.

"Keep investigating. Perhaps increasing the potency of the poison could help." Rothstein ordered before leaving the observation post. The man was right. That island wouldn't be of any help. They would have to solve this themselves.

Still, that did remind him. They hadn't done a survey of that island in some time. Perhaps there were some new locals. Or the originals had evolved into something new.

Perhaps some other time. He had other problems to deal with now.

He made his way to his quarters, which were in one of the more lavish 'visitors' wings, he immediately got in contact with Neo-Gen over a triple encrypted connection. He collected a few new progress reports on Rose and her 'siblings' progress, a report on his new hires' performance these last couple of weeks, and a quick correspondence with the Director. Apparently, the virus was about to be given approval in a matter of days. However, according to the Director's source it would be some time before the virus was actually ready for distribution. Well, all the better for them. They were producing enough of their vaccine to distribute it worldwide at the press of a button. The delivery system was already in place worldwide. They just needed to know when they were launching, and they would tear the rug out from under the sloppy, rush-job hacks that seemed convinced that they knew what they were doing.

Rothstein ended the communications and decided to take a brief rest. He would have worked on decoding the genetic key, but he had opted to leave the mostly decoded sample and the machine back at Neo-Gen.

Settling back in a comfortable chair, Rothstein shut his eyes and eased into a relaxed posture as he began to doze.


Amelia watched with bated breath as the two doors opened slowly. Today they were introducing Rose to her smallest siblings. They were 'runts' in a way and they hoped that she wouldn't feel threatened by them or display any sort of aggression, or vice versa. Rose was the first to enter the Terrarium, immediately making her way to a nearby stream. She seemed to have a fascination with the water lilies that grew in the slow-moving water and always went to check them first. As she was distracted, she didn't notice the two smaller cross-species cautiously enter the Terrarium. While they weren't as skittish as the two 'middle' cross-species, they were very wary when entering the Terrarium. According to Trill, the current hypothesis was that it was probably a survival mechanism that they inherited from their human genetics. Everything was much bigger, much more potentially dangerous.

Soon enough, they were fully inside and immediately made for a large cluster of ferns. They often hid inside them for a brief moment, peaking out to make sure the coast was clear. However, their quick duck for cover was enough to alert Rose to the fact that she wasn't alone in the Terrarium. She immediately began looking around, an curious expression on her face.

They made a point of not interacting with the cross-species inside the Terrarium, as they wanted to see how they associated various places with different meanings. Since they only ever interacted with the cross-species in their own pens, it would be interesting to see if there were any shifts in behaviour when they encountered a new creature in this environment.

They watched as Rose slowly approached the cluster of ferns where the two small cross-species were hiding in. They shifted further back in the foliage, creating a rustling noise and prompting her to pause. She approached much more cautiously, slowly pushing the ferns aside to reveal the first one. It immediately retreated out of the ferns and hurried under a collapsed log. Rose had quickly backpedalled when the first of her smaller counterparts bolted for new cover and saw the second one dart out to join first. She slowly approached, making sure to keep them in sight as she got a little closer before pausing. She peered closer at them as they stared back.

Strangely, Rose seemed to lose interest and left them to go back to the steam. However, they could still see her eyes flicking back to where she had seen the smaller cross-species. Misaki voiced the thought that she was probably just making sure they were still there and not sneaking up on her. Not that they were. They were still hiding under the log. Eventually, they decided that the coast was clear and the slowly left the log before crawling up a small hill to peer at Rose, who was on the opposite side of the stream. She was currently examining one of the fish that they had included in the stream and the pond it connected to. Just a few koi to make it a bit more engaging. She hadn't really shown much interest, but she usually spent a couple minutes watching them. The two cross-species that they had sent in with her loved watching the fish. They spent most of their time near the pond, occasionally trying to grab one as it swam by. They never came close, but that never deterred them.

After several minutes, they slowly crept out of the foliage, freezing when Rose took notice of them. After a few moments, Rose returned her attention to the water, though her gaze kept flicking back to them. Coming to the conclusion they weren't in immediate danger yet, the two smaller cross-species slowly made their way down to the water and sat in a crouch. They watched with fascination as the fish swam by, occasionally gulping something from on the surface of the water.

This went on for about fifteen minutes before Rose's curiosity got the better of her and she slowly began moving around the pond. The two younger cross-species tensed, but Rose held up her hands lightly, a gesture she knew believed to mean that she meant no harm. They still looked tense, but they didn't run as she got closer. Eventually Rose came to a stop when they started turning to run, settling on her haunches and motioning for them to approach her. Both parties remained absolutely still for several long moments. Amelia, Trill and Misaki were all holding their breath. None of the observers dared move a finger.

Then the two smaller cross-species slowly began approaching Rose. They took their time with it until they eventually got within a foot of each other. Rose slowly offered an hand which her smaller counterparts reached out and touched.

Amelia wanted to squeal, but refrained out of fear that an outburst could ruin the breakthrough, even if the observation room was completely soundproof.

After the first contact, both Rose and her tiny counterparts became much more relaxed around each other and much more inquisitive. After several more minutes of one party examining the other, they all returned to watching the stream. The two smaller ones were busy watching the fish, while Rose resumed watching the water lilies.

The session went on longer than expected, but eventually they opened the doors back to their separate rooms and signalled them to return to their rooms. All three of the cross-species complied, but there was noticeable reluctance for them to do so. Once inside, they shut the doors and everyone filed out of the observation room.

Today's experiment had been a rousing success as far as Amelia was concerned, but she didn't say that. She still wasn't officially on the team, only a trainee. However, she had a feeling that the others felt the same way.

Hopefully, the next experiment would prove as successful as this one. Provided they kept succeeding in these introductions, they would eventually have all of them meeting at once. That would be incredible.

So, Rose meets her two smallest 'siblings'.

Creativity: I'll bet a bunch of the readership thought it was 'cute', maybe too 'cute'.

Author: Whatever. I think it's a good idea to spend a bit more time humanizing Rose more than the pitiful amount I've done so far. Especially as we approach zero-hour mk-1.

Yeah, this season is gonna have a couple of big things happen as opposed to the one big one from last time. Also, a Skull Island reference! There's been a couple people asking about Kong, and yes, he will make an appearance in the story. Just not yet. Also, he hasn't fought Godzilla yet in my story, nor has he fought Ghidorah, Mothra or Rodan. I'll introduce them later, but not until next season at least.

Well, that about covers everything!

See ya next week!

P.S. (Also included as P.S.S in previous chapter, for all who start mouthing off about it)

I never said to stop reviewing. That was just a jab for shits and giggles. It's kinda normal within my circle of family and friends to jab at how horrible you personally are (X person says that they themselves are a terrible person for some sort of hyperbolic bad thing, hence me stating I will relish the misery of others who enjoy my work. Another example, though not quite in the same vein, is Jim Sterling of the Jimquisition stating "And I'll buy it anyway, because I am a consumerist worm and" I can't remember the rest of the quote, but you get the gist.) The only thing that ever frustrates me is when I can't engage in direct communication to discuss my work, their work or whatever topic may come up. I'm not so petty that I would be passive aggressive about someone dropping reviews about my work and pleading I do or don't do something with a character or plot thread (I'm petty in many other ways) ;)