This chapter is brought to you by…my entire Saturday!

No seriously, I never believed I'd actually get to write this scene. Thank you guys so much for the support and lovely reviews! It means so much to me to see your enthusiasm and feedback and without it, I may have never made it this far.

Enjoy!

Snapped

…

Whyley pulled Amara back inside the hotel room, the tempered glass that once made up the balcony doors crunching under their feet.

Amara's ears still rang from the sheer volume of Godzilla's roar. Never had it been so loud, had he been holding back before? Any closer would have caused permanent hearing damage at the very least.

Whyley's face was drained of all color. He knew that roar was meant for him. He knew he screwed up. And maybe one day she would look back at this moment and feel satisfied.

Once again, he pushed her down onto the couch. He paced back and fourth a few times. Stopped, and paced again. His jaw was set so tightly, it visibly flexed.

"Just let me go, that's all you have to do." Amara tried, leaning forward.

Whyley stopped and spun to face her. His face resembled the very one Godzilla made at him. "Can you just shut up, I don't have time for you right now."

Did he just tell her to shut up? What the hell was his problem?

The ringing in her ears intensified. Louder, almost deafening. Whyley paced back to the balcony, looking up towards the sky.

The sound wasn't her ears ringing, it was jets flying past.

Whyley sprinted back into the room only a second before explosions blasted through the air. Sounds loud enough to rival Godzilla's roar. Another picture fell to the floor.

Amara covered her neck with a sweaty palm. It burned, the same sensation as her back earlier.

A moan like a dissonant cello chord filled the void of silence left by the departing jet engines.

How dare they. The pain vanished, masked by a different kind of burn. One from deep inside; the flames of anger.

Whyley steadied himself and looked at her. "Tell him if he doesn't leave, more will come." His voice was soft but his tone was firm.

Amara shut her eyes, relaying his message across the thread.

Then I will put them in their place. The creature that hold you will be first.

You're destroying people's homes. You have to stop.

I have allowed these parasites to thrive for too long. A tan face flashed through her mind. Tiny and looking up at her from the side of a cliff.

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with Whyley's mismatched eyes. "Well?"

She shook her head. "It's too late now. He's just getting angrier!"

"He's walking into a city, what does he think we're going to do?" Whyley waved his hands out.

Amara propelled herself off of the couch using her legs so she stood face to face with him. "You're the one who won't let me go. I warned you."

Whyley didn't back down, instead he raised his voice. "I have orders to keep you here at all costs, okay? So it's not going to happen."

"Don't tell me that's the real reason you won't let me go, huh? Orders from who anyway? Jonah?"

"Can you stop talking?" Whyley yelled. "I don't trust you and that's that."

He abruptly turned around and pulled a phone out of his jacket pocket. The picture of a much happier Whyley and his family lit up on the screen with an incoming phone call. He answered immediately.

"W. Speaking."

The building shook.

"Yes, of course I have her. Everything is under control."

Again, another tremor.

"No bombers yet. Just F-22's so far."

Glass rattled against the floor. Dust floated through the open balcony, yellow from the sun's rays.

Amara walked over the broken glass Whyley's back was turned to her. Godzilla wasn't actually coming to her, was he? He wouldn't knock down half the city just to get to her.

The sight before her, however, showed differently.

A building crumpled into a cloud of dust, the sound of its fall blending into the trembling earth as Godzilla's foot fell in a heavy step. His body was partially obscured by the near opaque wall of floating debris.

Where there still people in those buildings? Forgotten pets? Elderly that were left behind?

How could Godzilla do so much to protect her and still care nothing for any other of her species? If he had a connection with someone else, would he carelessly walk through her? Of course he would, it was only when she learned to communicate with him, did he start to see her as anything more.

But that understanding was gone. All rational thought pushed to the side like the skyscraper toppling down behind him. Wasn't he greater than this? If he would just stop and figure out what was wrong, what was making him act this way, he wouldn't decimate the city below.

It was ever since the cliff. The pain that caused them both to recoil in agony, that was when he changed. The overwhelming fear of something bad about to happen. The same fear that lead Mothra to hatch and flee her temple to cocoon.

Something was going to happen, but not even him knew what. And he didn't like that.

"What do you mean the he's in Russia? What could be more pressing than this?" Whyley's voice was loud with disbelief.

Closer, the titan came, carving through anything that stood in between him and her. Each foot fall causing more trinkets to fall and break in the room. Dust in the air grew think and smelled of concrete and burning rubble. Still, his eye stayed fixed on her.

Nothing would get in his way.

He would destroy anything and everything without a second thought. A creature that held no sympathy for those he did not know. At this moment, there was only the connection. No longer a thread, but an elastic band that pulled him as gravity pulled water to the Earth.

A cracked voice came from Whyley's direction. "Big Blue 10 minutes inbound. ETA 16:31 hours."

If Whyley heard his radio, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead he continued his phone conversation, his voice more exasperated each time he spoke. "Has he at least given anymore orders? We're sitting ducks here."

How could she live her life this way? Bound to a creature as devastating as Godzilla.

Godzilla's shoulder hit the last building standing in his way. His shadow blocked out the warm rays of the sun. He leaned down to her level.

He could not be controlled.

His nose nearly touched the balcony railing as he looked at her, gold eyes on green. A shuffle of clothing came from behind her. Everything went quiet. The breath of his nostrils blew into the room like tropical air.

He could not be reasoned.

Amara shook her head. "Now what?" It was difficult to speak through the lump in her throat. "You're here."

Godzilla's eyes flashed.

"You've destroyed everything just to get here. For what?"

His eyes shifted to Whyley for a moment before snapping back to her. The telltale sound of a phone hitting the floor clattered through the silence.

You needed me.

"No, no I don't." The intensity of her gaze matched his. "I don't need you and you don't need me. Nothing good has happened since this started, it just causes pain and destruction everywhere you go. I didn't want any of this, so can you please just leave me alone!"

Godzilla recoiled, as if her words slamming into his mind was a tangible force. His lips curled back into a terrifying snarl. His growl reverberated through the city like an earthquake.

Amara's hair whipped in front of her face as Godzilla filled his lungs with air. His pupils were thin slivers, dark and angry.

There was a time she would have told him to stop, but not this time. Her eyes were locked with his, but the was a wall between them. A fortress with towers that stretched into the sky and deep below the earths surface.

The thread stretched as far as it could go, Godzilla pulling it from her being. And then, it snapped.

Godzilla opened his mouth. Amara fell back onto the shattered glass.

Something streaked through the sky. Heat. An explosion consumed the side of Godzilla's face. His head flew to the side. The earth tremored. Jets soared past.

Amara's bound hands covered her face. The pain hit her like a freight train, like the severed thread was a whip relentlessly lashing at her face.

Arms hooked under hers and dragged her back inside.

"Hey, open your eyes. Are you okay?" A hand slapped her cheek. "Hey!"

Aching, burning, stinging, like a limb cut clean through the bone.

"No, it hurts too much." She leaned away.

"What hurts? I don't see any burns. Were you cut by the glass?" His hands patted over her legs.

Glass? Burns? No, this wasn't physical pain. This was pain Whyley could never understand.

More high-pitched whistles shrieked from above, followed by thundering explosions. A wail and crashing.

They were attacking him, hurting him. But there was no pain other the burning from inside her skull. It wasn't from the missiles. He broke the connection. She opened her eyes.

She was free.

Her life was her own again. No more running, no more responsibility, no more kidnapping. No more destruction, no more danger, no more pain.

More explosions lit up the sky. A roar.

Then why did she feel so guilty?

She got up, the pain falling to the back of her mind. They were attacking him because of her and all she could do was go to the balcony and helplessly spectate.

The titan flailed and swung at the military craft as they flew past him. Blood, dark and red covered his face. Only one eye was visible. His dorsal fins pulsed blue. He was further away now, back the way he came from.

Godzilla, the personification of the ancient earth itself, gifted with intelligence and instinct, both developed over millions of years in a single lifetime, was reduced to nothing more than an enraged monster. No longer did he rely on rational thought, he was now, the very creature humanity had come to fear. What Amara had once feared.

"They're trying to lead him back towards the water." Whyley said as he came to stand beside her.

"They can't actually kill him, right?" Amara's eyes never left Godzilla.

Whyley let out a shaky breath. "No. They're executing the plan now. Take out his eyes and get him away from the city was phase one."

Was this the end of Godzilla. After everything he'd done for the earth, humanity, for her. She would just stand here and watch him die.

Whyley's radio buzzed. "Big Blue 2 minutes inbound. ETA 16:32."

"What's big blue?"

His hands tightened around the railing. "It's a bunker buster," he said after a moment. "Why doesn't he use his atomic breath?"

Whyley was right. Why wasn't he? There was no reason for him to not fire randomly. She no longer meant anything to him. Still her eyes found the sky. "What's a bunker buster?"

"A missile meant to penetrate through anything. Big blue is the biggest and heaviest of them all. I have no doubt it was created specifically to kill Godzilla."

First Jonah's gun, now this? Could no one just leave him alone? Everything she'd done to try and help him, and all the while the enemy created weapons to put him down. Why did she ever attempt to try? Godzilla was right, what could one person do?

Her eyes landed on Whyley's uniform, down to the radio on his belt. What could one person do?

"Can you stop them? You're here, they wouldn't put you in danger, right?"

Rocks filled her stomach as Whyley shook his head. "No, they will aim it as far out of the city as possible. We'll be fine as long as Godzilla stays there."

That wasn't what she had meant. "So there's nothing we can do to save him?"

There had to be something he could do. A call, a loophole, something.

Whyley's frown was deep. He shook his head, resigned.

"Target acquired. Estimated time of impact thirty seconds." The male voice announced over the radio.

The air became thick, too difficult to breathe. Blood pounded through her ears. Wet tears burned her face.

There it was. The spot in the sky, a plane carrying the missile meant to end Godzilla. In a matter of seconds, he would be dead. Enraged, blinded, put down like a ferial animal pushed to its limits.

What had he ever done to deserve it?

"Ten seconds."

The jet, just visible, was large and black. The bottom opened up, releasing its weapon.

Would the world be a better place without him? Or would it fall apart, its protector gone?

While the jet retreated, its payload grew in size as it approached, aimed to fly through Godzilla's heart.

Would he die quickly? Would he suffer? Would he die filled with vengeance, with hatred because of her?

Closer it came, as long as a car, fins splayed out the back. Tiny compared to the titan, yet equally as horrifying. It was so close.

No. It couldn't end like this.

Amara pressed her stomach against the railing and took in a breath of air of her own.

"Move!" she screamed louder than ever before. Her shriek bounced off buildings, crossing the distance.

Godzilla's head swung in her direction, his body turned just as the missile hit him. It flew straight through his body, and bust out of his back in a massive explosion. He let out a roar of sheer agony, stumbling back before falling forward. The black smoke cleared, revealing nothing but red.

Buildings were painted with blood. So much blood. Glistening wet in the sunlight. The air smelled of burning flesh and copper.

Godzilla was down. All his weight supported by three limbs, while his one arm hung limply at his side. Black liquid, obscured by the shadow of his body, flowed from the side of his chest and onto the street. His head was down, blood and drool seeped from his open jaws.

Was he going to die?

She had to go to him. Be there for him. Maybe she could convince him to get up and finally leave, deep into the ocean where he could heal.

"Let me go." She faced Whyley.

At the sound of her voice, he broke out of his stupor. "What? No. I-I can't do that. Besides, the military will come back."

"I know it was Jonah who told you to keep me here. But did he ever tell you why?"

"He told me to keep an eye on you. He said you could prevent this. You would keep Godzilla safe." He spoke like a child defending himself.

She would not waver. "Well he lied."

"Why would he lie to me?"

Could Whyley not see that Jonah would lie to him as easily as to his enemy? Manipulators had no moral compass.

"To keep you on his side. He doesn't care about Godzilla, or any of the titans for that matter."

"Yes he does. He believes the world belongs to the titans. That they should be free to exist."

"No, he sees them as a way to end humanity and will use them to do so. Humans, titan's, neither matter to him." Her eyes slid over to Godzilla's distant form, hazy from the dust. He still hadn't moved.

"And how do you know?" Whyley's resolve was beginning to faulter.

Finally, he would listen.

"Jonah attacked Godzilla first. Godzilla didn't do anything until after they shot him with that gun. Jonah knew by holding me here, Godzilla would come. He knew the military would attack him."

Whyley's brows furrowed at the revelation. "Why would he want Godzilla dead?"

"He's the king of the monsters. With him gone, who knows what the other titans will do."

The sound of jet engines queued the return of the military. Back to finish the job.

Godzilla lifted his head towards the sound, jaw open and visibly panting. A flash of amber shone through the blood on his face. He still had one eye, at the very least.

He pushed himself up using his one good arm, but his back remained heavily arched. The gaping hole spanned from the side of his chest to his shoulder. How could such a small weapon cause so much damage?

The dorsal plates of his tail lit up in an uncanny shade of blue. With each pulse, it crept up his tail to his back. The humming grew louder. The air filled with static.

Whyley gulped from beside her.

The jets spread apart in formation, anticipating the attack.

The blue spread to the spines of his upper back, then started flickering oddly. He craned his neck back and puffed out his chest despite the wound. He opened his mouth, but instead of blue energy, black smoke poured from between his jaws. Then fire. It billowed from his mouth as if it was the booster engine of a rocket taking off.

At the same time, blue vapor poured from the wound in his chest. He winced as the fire dissipated back into a plumb of smoke. He had nothing left.

For some reason the injury was preventing him from using his atomic breath. Did it pierce an organ? Disrupt something inside?

The planes gone, he turned to face the ocean. He took a single step forward before disappearing out of site in a puff of dust and smoke.

Whyley rubbed his face with the back of his arm. "What wrong with him?"

"He can't use his atomic breath. The hole must be messing with his internal radiation." Wait, maybe there was something they could do. She faced Whyley. "Do you have a Geiger detector?"

Whyley looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on his face. He nodded and reached into one of the many pockets of his pants. He pulled out the radiation detector and turned it on. It crackled and displayed a rather high number.

He grimaced. "Shit, we need to get out of here now."

"Does the military know?" She took the device from Whyley's loose grip.

He shook his head. "They wouldn't be flying over if they did. Now come on, we have to hurry." He marched back inside.

Amara tailed him. "Wait, can't you radio them or something?"

He faced her. "We need to go now."

Amara did not move. "Tell them now."

"There's no time for this. We're going to get radiation poisoning." He went to grab her by the wrists.

She jerked them away. "Do it, now!"

Whyley's eyes shifted from her to the door and back again. "Will you go then?"

"Yes."

He unclipped the radio from his belt and held it up to his mouth. His voice was shaky. "Whyley here. Has anyone checked radiation levels recently?"

He attached it to his jacket and unlocked the door. Amara followed his fast pace down the hall towards the elevator.

The radio buzzed. "Gondo here. Thanks for the heads up Whyley, F-22's retreating. Resume evacuation efforts further out of the city."

"Rodger."

Amara stopped in her tracks. "They're retreating?"

Whyley only paused for a second. "Yes. Come on."

She shook her head. "Cut these off." She lifted her wrists up to display the zip-tie cutting into her skin.

Whyley spun around making a frustrated noise. He paced back to her, pulled out a knife and cut them off. His eyes lingered on the red welts on her wrists and scrapes on her hands from her escape attempt earlier. He didn't say anything, instead resuming his march back down the hall.

Amara rubbed her wrists and rolled her shoulders. She leaned her neck side to side until it cracked. Whyley was already at the elevator.

It dinged just as Amara reached it. Whyley hastily pressed the lobby button. His hand was shaking. The doors shut and the elevator began its descent. They stood quietly, both facing the door.

Should she tell him? Whyley wasn't actually that bad. He was scared, just like her. He cared about Godzilla but was misguided in his attempts. Manipulated by the very man he thought was on Godzilla's side. He was just a guy in a military uniform, and she needed his help.

"The radiation isn't harmful."

Whyley jerked his head to look at her. "What?"

Amara stared ahead. "In fact, it heals."

"How do you know that?"

"It was one of the first things I learned about him. When we first stood face to face, my friend discovered he releases radiation close to his body. We thought we were going to get radiation poisoning and probably not survive the night, but the next day we were fine. The only difference was a cut I got the pervious day was completely healed.

He then told me his radiation wasn't harmful, in fact, he has to convert it into the deadly radiation that he uses in his atomic breath, and even that he reabsorbs instantly."

Whyley's eyes were wide. "How do you know this is the harmless stuff, not the lethal stuff?"

She finally looked back at him. "Well we're not vomiting or dead yet."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Whyley didn't move, instead glanced up at the ceiling as if it had all of life's answers.

He let out a breath. "You want me to help you get to him?"

"Yeah. I have to apologize."

They exited the elevator. "You want to apologize to Godzilla? He's a titan you know, not a person."

"He may as well be. When I yelled at him, he severed our connection."

"Why, because you yelled at him?" Whyley asked as they walked out of the building.

She didn't answer. Whyley already knew plenty more than she'd ever thought he'd need to.

Outside was a complete disaster. Rubble from buildings covered vehicles creating an amalgamation of twisted metal, glass, and concrete. Every step Godzilla had taken was stamped into the earth in a crater surrounded by a wall of broken asphalt.

Whyley waved her to follow him, and she did.

Could he truly be trusted? Was she following Whyley or being led on by W.? Where did one end and the other begin?

Nevertheless, he was on Godzilla's side and beyond that, it didn't matter. Their goals were aligned, no matter the path they chose. In the end, they were both human and both made mistakes.

Except Whyley's paled in comparison to hers.

He quickened his pace as he beelined for a motorcycle parked along the curb. It stood out oddly, undamaged amongst the carnage surrounding it. He scanned it for a second before hopping on and twisting the key. The Honda came to life.

"Come on," he hollered over the engine.

Oh yes, no problem, not like she'd ever been on a bike before.

He must have seen her hesitation. "You'll be fine, I'll go slow."

Slow, how slow? What if he hit a rock and they fell?

"I promise you'll be fine. Now hurry up!"

She swung her leg over the seat cousin over the rear tire. Once on the seat, she put her feet on the pegs and placed her hands on Whyley's shoulders. Awkward.

Whyley told her to hold on and took off. It took less than a second for Amara to wrap her arms around his torso, the thick fabric of his jacket was slightly reassuring as she grasped it for dear life.

He weaved around Godzilla's foot steps, fallen buildings, and abandoned cars. The air grew heavy with the sent of metal. They were driving past one of the buildings covered in blood, but that wasn't all. The sidewalk, the cars, the street, everything was covered in brownish red liquid, half dried in the heat of the setting sun.

Whyley brought the motorcycle to a stop. Just ahead was the tip of Godzilla's tail. The mass of his body rose and fell, so slowly it could have been the trick of the eye. He hadn't moved an inch since he fell.

She got off the bike and began the journey to Godzilla's head, leaving Whyley behind. He could follow if he wanted. As she jogged, the size of his tail began to hinder her path. She hurdled over crushed cars and shrapnel alike. Jagged edges cut through her clothing and nicked her skin. None of it was important now.

By the time she reached his shoulders, she was on the beach. His head was in sight. Sand flew from beneath her feet as she ran. At first, pristine white, then dark and wet when she neared his neck.

Water splashed his nose with each wave that rolled in. The water was freezing, but it didn't stop her. It wasn't the beautiful shade of turquoise associated with the northern pacific; no, it was red.

Blood covered his face, running down from his nostrils and the shadow from under his brow. Water lapped at his scales, attempting to wipe it away like a nurturing mother.

There was no trace of the thread. No force that pulled her towards him, and yet, there she was.

"Godzilla?"

Slowly, one eye opened, gleaming through the darkness of his brow. His growl made the water ripple and shimmer. It traveled through her bones and into her soul. He bared his jaws at her. More blood poured from between his teeth, the water was warm.

"Holy shit." Came Whyley's quiet voice as he entered the crimson water.

Amara gazed straight into Godzilla's good eye. His display was just that, an act. "I'm sorry, okay. It's just…it's better this way. We're too different. You're a titan, and I'm just a—"

Godzilla raised his head out of the water. His body twisted as he brought his good arm under him and began to lift off the ground. He looked away from her and out towards the horizon.

Without any sort of warning, he crawled forward. His head was directly above her and he made no indication of stopping.

Whyley was on top of her in a second, pushing her into the shallow water in a bear like embrace. From above Whyley's shoulder, the black expanse engulphed the sky until it narrowed into a tail and whipped away and into the water.

Only then did Whyley let her go and they both looked into the water where Godzilla had disappeared and then at each other.

Amara held up her arms and rotated her hands. Whyley's eye's flickered from her fingers to her wrists.

Not a mark remained.

…

Everyone: We hate Whyley!

Me: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)