Rising Storm

By Franklin West

Been awhile since I wrote in this work in progress. So far, it's been three weeks since those Monarch agents showed up at my door.

I guess this thing I'm writing is a sort of autobiography so far, but I won't be publishing this.

Probably. I mainly just write in this to test my ability test myself, see what boundaries I can pass as a writer. I haven't been writing here for a while, but the coming expedition has made me feel twenty years younger, and I guess there are worse ways to burn off all that excess energy.

Today, I'll start off with the longest night of my life.

[-]

It was a cold November day in Tokyo when the trouble began.

It was my second year of college, and as part of a student exchange program centered around Journalism, I'd been in Japan for a couple of months in a class taught by Steve Martin.

Yes, that Steve Martin.

It was interesting, being in the city where the first major kaiju attack happened. Sure, I got the occasional stink eye for being a foreigner along with the rest of my class, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Then the attack on the subway happened. By a pack of Meganulon, the man-sized insect spawn of Megaguirus. The nest was torched by the local defense forces, but that didn't mean that there weren't more bugs somewhere in the city. Evacuations began immediately for everyone who wanted to leave.

Strangely enough, a good quarter of people still stayed. Maybe they figured that after all these years, all this rebuilding, Tokyo would survive relatively intact. Maybe it was sheer pride, perhaps they thought the comparatively small insects weren't as much a danger as the big guy and his compatriots.

My class was one of them. We were all welcome to board the next flight back to the states, but for me there was this feeling, I don't know what to call it, but I felt I had to stay at least to see what happened next. Must have been the same for the rest of the class when Professor Martin asked us to put it up to a vote, because we were all still in Tokyo the day after the subway battle.

So of course, everything came crashing down that night.

It was the day before the anniversary of Godzilla's first siege on Tokyo. We were all in a downtown library near the sea as dusk began to settle, talking about the subway infestation in hushed tones at a big desk. I was right there with the rest of the class, around fifteen of us, when we first heard the sirens.

The Queen Bee herself had shown up. I felt it when she flew right past the library.

Megaguirus.

People started running out right then and there.

I would have joined the others heading for the closest disaster shelter, but something kept me rooted in place, staring out the window with some other students.

Kept me watching as the lights began to go out, as the Red Ronin itself and a bulky flying silver brick (which I later learned was the first Super X) came hovering into the city from above.

I stayed even as the battle began, Megaguirus moving like a blurring dancer around everything the JSDF and KDF could bring. I thought this situation couldn't have gotten crazier.

Then Godzilla came tumbling out of the surf with his claws locked around the hide of some giant eel-dragon, and it did.

[-]

November 2nd, 1985

Tokyo, Japan

Down the yellow tiled staircase, a youthful figure ran. He was a brown-skinned man with short, curly dark hair. He buttoned up the red flannel jacket around his torso with one hand, grabbing onto the railing with the other as he advanced down.

Muffled explosions could be heard in the distance above him, alongside titanic roars and shrieks.

That's me, by the way.

"I sure hope those guys are okay." the younger West thought, making a mental note to inform the nearest authority he could find about the elevators when or if this mess was over.

Where the rest of the class had immediately dashed for the elevator when the fighting began, West chose the stairs. Assuming the elevators even worked after the sudden blackout, he didn't want to risk being trapped for hours, more likely days, if anything went wrong.

West paused for a breath around a corner, taking in where he remembered where all big threats had gone. He saw and heard when Godzilla-Big G himself! - suddenly charged towards the center of the city. Megaguirus, that big dragon bug thing, had flown off to pursue some fighter jets, while that eel-dragon had grabbed the Red Ronin, that famous fighting robot, and then had-

West shook his head. "God, can't believe that shit actually happened…" he thought.

-Then, the creature had suddenly started shooting steam out of her mouth, and before his very eyes, it and the robot began floating above the ground in a cloud of vapor!

Even after everything he'd seen, that bit of madness had been what finally got him to run for his life.

He could hear the fires outside, ones that made a crackling sound like that of static from a camer-

Camera! Mr. Martin!

His professor, Steve Martin, had gone up to the roof to film the battle at the start! He figured the man would have been wise enough to have left now.

If not for the well-known fact that his famous professor had not only been in Tokyo that day in 1954 but had also survived the collapse of the building that he was reporting from. A warzone didn't stop him then, and it wouldn't stop him now.

West had just reached the last set of stairs to the bottom as he paused catching his breath. He thought about the shelters only a block away. Then he thought about the old man still at the top.

"Fuck…" West hissed before he turned and began running up the stairs, sweat on his brow. He simply couldn't leave Martin to die, even if the man's priorities were beyond skewed right now.

[-]

West staggered near the top landing, gasping for breath. Running up five flights of stairs twice was not his list of favorite things to do. He stumbled out of the door to the fifth floor of the library, the sounds of combat ringing in his ears even more. West caught his breath in big gulps as he struggled to remember the path West had taken.

Said he'd go to the maintenance door…of course!

West jogged down a hall, pausing to enter a nearby room. The same place he had just been before his class ran away. He entered; books spilled on the ground with bookcases acting as barriers.

Wind and fire roared from the outside, and despite his current goal and every sense of self preservation screaming in his body, he moved forwards, breath caught in his throat.

Sneaking around a bookcase, he peeked around it and saw the city outside the shattered window.

Half of Tokyo was on fire. The other buildings, few of which were unharmed, had gouges and chunks torn out of them. Large bugs buzzed through the air as gunfire and artillery shot from above and below. In the streets in front of him, at the far center there was a small park that gave him a nice view, as the large, sight obstructing buildings were far off on the left and right center instead of in front of him.

West found himself slowly inching near the edge, as if to get a better view.

Then a massive armored object dropped from the sky into the park, sparks bursting out of it.

Alarmed, West leapt back in surprise, struggling to keep his balance as wind rippled into the library due to the shockwave caused by the fall. As torn paper rippled into the air while the building shook and groaned, West cautiously looked down as he held onto a table near the edge of the broken glass. The fallen object struggled to get up, looking like a massive suit red samurai armor-

Red Ronin!

The seventy-five meter mecha had been severely damaged, dust billowing away from it as it got to one knee. One leg was limp and unmoving, wiring torn out the back of it. The other had a massive chunk bitten out of the center of it, wiring and black fluid spilling out. A large stinger puncture, courtesy of Megaguirus, lay embedded in the tri barreled Gatling cannon mounted on its right arm, causing it to flicker and spark randomly. The remaining arm held a massive curved sword, one embedded into the ground as the robot steadied itself with the blade like a crutch. It lifted its head up as it tried to move, and for a moment he wondered if the pilot could see him.

Hikaru Sakimori straight up broke and dislocated a leg when the Tian-Lung dropped him. The fact that he was still moving at all isn't just true grit, it's courage.

"Jesus Christ…" West whispered in shock just before the robot jerked it's head up as a shadow fell over it.

The growl that followed was more then enough for West to move. He dashed out of the room, turning back only once to see the robot lifting its sword out of the concrete, like Excalibur out of the stone.

West ran, cursing up a storm in his mind as he dashed down another hallway-

There! On the left, he saw an open brown door. Maintenance had been written in both Japanese and English on it, and as a result he didn't hesitate to move to it. When he pulled it open, the brief burst of cool air fueled his suspicions. Passing a bare corridor, he turned to a set of winding stairs with a groan as he looked up. There was an open door at the top of those stairs, one with a lock on it that had been picked open, the door slowly creaking as the wind from outside pushed on it. At once, West knew where his professor had gone.

"Crazy old man…"

I tell myself that these days.

The now familiar roar of the warzone echoed from outside, getting closer and closer with every step he ran up.

"Can't believe I'm actually doing this shit…"

[-]

The second West opened the door to the outside, he burst forwards and froze in is tracks, eyes widening as he sputtered and gasped in shock.

Floating in the night sky, steam billowed around the twisted form of a serpentine dragon moving like a snake underwater as she slowly turned her head down to the street below her. She had a long, green body with splotches of purple scales across it. The purple head was shaped like a dragon's long snout, two pairs of antlers on the back of the skull. Her fanged jaw snapped shut as a green hood like that of a cobra bristled and folded down her long, segmented green neck. Small, three fingered claws twitched as her thick, muscly green legs stretched forwards like grasping talons. A scythed toe at the end of each foot rose, shaped like a sickle. She opened her mouth with a booming hiss as red hot steam billowed out of it, twisting and winding around her like a snake. Green fin's at the sides, a purple segmented tail nearly as long as the dragon's body terminated in a finned purple and green tail. In a way, half of it resembled the Lung of Chinese mythology, but West knew exactly who he was looking at.

Tian-Lung. The Butcher of Hong Kong.

And she was about to destroy the Red Ronin! The creature tilted her body as if she was about to pounce, right before three crackling beams of red energy fired from below, slamming into her head and hide.

Attacks from the last three maser cannons in the city.

The dragon let loose an echoing howl as she turned her head when the artificial red lightning crackled across her scales. She twisted in the air, hitting the side of a building with her tail before she recovered. Turning her head to the left, she let loose a withering glare with her glowing yellow eyes. Smoke dissipated of where she had been struck as she thrust her body downwards, jaws snapping. Barely any damage aside from a few scorched marks could be seen. The Tian-Lung "swam" down the air around a corner, twisting her head to dodge another maser blast in process. Lowering herself to the ground, she got on all fours and burst forwards around the corner, smacking the tail into the side of a small building and sending up a spider web of cracks. Up ahead, behind the block she had just entered, he could see steam billowing above rooftops as she loudly stomped her way across the city.

God help anyone in the streets.

West blanched in horror at the sight before remembering his goal. He quickly turned around a corner of the rooftop, seeing the shine of the sea right behind the waterfront library as he rounded the next corner on library roof, going from the right when he had exited to the left-

And there he was, holding up a tripod mounted camera as he near tin fence at the edge of the roof.

Steve Martin stood rigidly, filming the sights in front of him. The old survivor was in surprisingly good shape for a man in his late sixties. The tall man had salt and pepper colored hair alongside a short beard of the same color. He wore a thick blue sweater over white shirt, and as Franklin neared him, he could almost hear the man whispering something to himself. "Now it seems Tokyo has no defense…"

"Professor! What are you doing up here?" West shouted; tact gone considering the situation.

Martin shook his head as if awakening from a stupor. He turned to West, setting the stand and the camera down. "Franklin? You came back?" he asked.

West shook his head, turning to gesture to the scene in front of them. "Mr. Martin, the entire city is under attack, we have to go right now dammit-" West turned and gaped again when he saw what as happening on this side of the library.

The streets below him were just as chaotic as the rest of Tokyo. Abandoned cars and trucks were strewn about the streets by the dozens. A burning, blocky metallic craft-the Super X-had crashed in the middle of a tram rail near the sea several streets to the right. The craft was heavily damaged, with scorch marks across it. The burnt corpses of meganulons lay on top of and around it, with small severed claws embedded into the metal at several points. There were cracks in the concrete of the street where it had fallen, and a mix of glowing green and red fluids seeped out of a broken, crackling tube in its front that almost resembled a flashlight. Two large, curved grooves had been sliced on both sides of the ship.

An explosion of sparks suddenly burst from the back of the Super X, making West flinch as smoke began drifting out of the back of the broken engine.

Megaguirus did it in. Dodged its laser and slice it's engine near clean in half with her stinger, curled around it and didn't let go until it had ripped the ship a new one.

Looking around, West could see that a crashed ship was the least of their worries. In the distance to the right of the library, far down the road he could see the sea.

Burned tanks lined the edge of it, while massive saurian footprints on the street leading into the city made it clear that this was where Godzilla and the Tian-Lung had emerged into the city. Broken windows and buildings with chunks torn out of them led all the way to the library. West shook his head in disbelief. "I was right here! If they had moved closer, if one of them had so much as bumped into this place…we'd all be goners!"

He turned to Martin, knowing they didn't have much time left. "Sir, why the Hell are you still here? Can't you see we really, really need to leave?" Martin turned to him; eyes downcast before he flicked his head up. "I know how you feel, but I already had this camera and it all just-" He gestured to the city as a roar echoed in the distance. Both men saw the clawed, armored form of Megaguirus fly above the tallest buildings in the area.

West continued "-It all just came naturally to me. I-" He continued solemnly. "I just couldn't stand by. Tokyo, what happened here-"He looked forlorn, and for a moment West's reply died in his throat as the man kept talking. "-has been part of my life for so long." Martin took a moment to compose himself, and West couldn't help but listen even as combat echoed around them. "So when we find ourselves in the midst of an even bigger attack, I need to get involved. I need to report on the story." He sighed, breath misting in the cold air. "I would not forgive myself if I stood by and did nothing if I was there when Godzilla came back to Tokyo." He half-whispered as if having trouble justifying it to his student and himself. West took a deep breath as he prepared his response. "Look man, I get what you're feeling. But this is your life. You've already survived one near-death, and I'm sure you got enough footage already. Please, don't be another senseless death." West pleaded earnestly, his rage having gave away to something else.

Martin pursed his lips as he held the camera, turning back to the city as the fires crackled. "West." He began. "I understand your worries. But I still cannot leave."

"Why?"

"I was there to the end last time. It is only proper that tonight, I remain until dawn once more." Martin said, grim but determined in his sincerity. Clenching his fists, West was about to flat out call the older man crazy when a screech came from far above and away. Both jerked their heads up in surprise to the night sky, where Megaguirus was flailing about as she rapidly retreated into the sky above. A trail of yellow blood poured down from where her stinger had been bitten or torn off, splashing onto the windows of the National Diet Building below in the process.

"How-" West yelled in surprise, having seen how deftly she had dodged missiles and energy blasts earlier.

He got his answer when a blue beam fire burst forwards from below the city, striking Megaguirus dead center. The insect queen burst into flames.

With one final shriek, she from the sky, belly first-

Right over Tokyo Tower!

Miles away as they were, West and Martin could have felt it when the spire of the tower impaled her abdomen straight through as she fell upon it. Then with a brief wobble, the tower collapsed with the added weight of the queen.

Half of the snapped tower was still visible as the flames spread from her dead body, igniting it like a torch.

West was agape as a familiar earthshaking roar, victorious and bombastic, rattled across the area.

"Godzilla." Martin said for him, a deadly seriousness in his tone and eyes that contrasted with West's shock.

West shook where he stood as he took deep breaths. Okay, that was one monster down. Two to go. But where was the other one-

He was interrupted when he heard a new, metallic screech. He looked down to a tramrail and saw a line of eight silver tram cars screeching to a stop as they came across the rail car that blocked their way.

The conductor of that tram had been going back into the city again and again to save as many people as possible. I heard they have an exhibit to that crew down in Osaka these days.

West looked down. "Shit, that doesn't look good. Already he could see hands pounding on the powerful glass, futilely trying to break out. "Professor, what should we-"

"It's happening again." The man said as he forlornly looked at the cars below, as if coming to a realization. "What-" then West came to a realization of his own, eyes wildly looking around.

Megaguirus was dead or at the very least incapacitated. Godzilla was deeper into the city, a moderate distance from the shore. Where was the Tian-Lung?

The top of a tall building in the distance burst open, glass and concrete blasting outwards like a rain of hail. Steam billowed out of it, giving off the impression of a volcano erupting.

Yellow eyes glowed as the Tian-Lung moved forwards, steam billowing her like wings.

A maser dish held in her maw snapped with a crunch, and then dropped from her jaws onto the streets below.

Remembering the blood-chilling sight of the creature from earlier, West could only watch as she smoothly moved around nearby buildings as if crawling around trees in a swamp. The creature moved ahead down the path to the library, her scales glistening off the nearby windows. For a moment, she crouched her form below a neighborhood as she touched down, and then they could only hear the tell-tale stomps that heralded disaster. For almost a minute West could hear his own heartbeat in tandem with the noises right before a familiar purple antlered skull turned around the corner of a building to the right.

The Tian-Lung stomping forwards as she leaned her heavy, long body downwards like a predator ready to pounce. "Does she see us?" West asked, stammering in fear as she moved down the streets, the nearby apartments buildings and shops looking mere inches away due to her size.

Martin's gaze became steely. "She is not here for us." He replied. For the first time that night, West could see his mentor trembling as he stepped away from the camera, if only for a moment.

He soon understood the man's horror when the Tian-Lung crept upon the stranded train, salivating.

"Jesus Christ NO!" he thought, stepping back in unrestrained horror.

West turned to Martin in horror as the dragon stood over the car at the end, her two scythe toes clacking on the road as she leaned over it.

Her segmented tongue actually flicked out and licked across her jaw.

The creature reached downwards with apparent glee before it grabbed onto the car and with deceptive power considering their small size, tore it from the rest of the tram.

Martin set his camera down, working his jaw side to side as he clenched his jaws and fists. West held his hands to his face, his eyes becoming wet. It was one thing seeing it on the news and hearing planes and tanks crash or explode in the distance. Seeing it up close-

Nothing could have prepared him for anything like….this.

Then with a grin she squeezed down upon the torn off car.

Even today, if I imagine it really hard, I can still hear the sound. Not screams.

The car crumpled, and red fluid leaked out like slime.

A squelch.

The sadistic dragon leaned the car back and swallowed the pulped remains down.

Sitting in the next car, knowing what would happen to you next…..it was a fate he wished on no one.

Tossing the car behind her like trash, she grabbed another car. West turned to Martin in disbelief as she squeezed it too. "….We have to, we can't just run, we need to do somethi-" And then fell silent, heaving as he and Martin met each other's gaze.

They could not fight the Tian-Lung as well as they could fight any other giant monster or disaster.

Dropping another car from her red stained mouth, the monster now seemed to be almost grinning at this rate.

As she leaned down, approaching another car, the sound of thunder boomed from further into the city.

West paused, slowly turning his head as he heard it. In the distance, the sound came again and again as dust and snow?

No, ash began to drift in a cloud as a massive form began moving away from the center, picking up speed from the center, where the fires and destruction had been at their worst.

Its form was obscured by the debris clouds, but the tell-tale flashes of blue light from within made his identity very clear.

"Godzilla." he and Martin intoned at the same time, West's voice breaking in shock while Martin sounded neutral as the figure in the cloud of ash and dust got closer and closer, footsteps thundering louder and louder.

The Tian-Lung had gripped one of the last cars loosely, leaning over it as she opened her maw. Fangs gleamed within as saliva dripped onto the roof. She was going to straight up tear into this one.

Cars rattled and shook on the streets as a towering, scaly form with gleaming claws and fangs burst from the ashes. Orange eyes blazed with fire.

Windows rattled then outright broke as Godzilla lunged forwards and slammed his left fist into the side of the Tian-Lung's face, sending out a shockwave that rattled every object not nailed down nearby.

Maybe it was his own power. Maybe it was the other monster's ability to ride air currents.

Either way, the Tian-Lung went flying into the sky like a crumpled doll, purple blood trailing out of her jaw as she landed at the entrance of the bay ahead.

From the roof, West held onto the railing, grimacing as he felt the wind whip past him and Martin, the old man watching with newfound intensity West had never seen before in him.

The Tian-Lung struggled up, her limbs and head downcast as she flailed like a drunkard, steam rising off the bruised, bloody side of her face where she had been hit.

Glaring balefully ahead at his latest rival, Godzilla stomped onto the ground, his gills slick with blue heat as his spines occasionally flashed. Seeing him turn the corner at least half a building or so away, West may or may not have fallen on his ass in shock.

Rapidly picking himself up from a fall that definitely did not happen, West watched wide eyed as the two approached.

The battle was going to go down right here, right now-

The people! As Martin quickly pulled his camera over to the right side to get more of a view, West leaned over the railing. To this relief, he could see people exiting the car that had nearly been torn apart. They were disheveled, a few limping and being supported by other people. Cupping his hands to his mouth, West hoped he would be heard. "In here! Safe!" he yelled, hoping they would get the message. A few heads turned up to him. He had no idea if any of them knew English, if they could even hear him over the chaos. But after everything, he wasn't going to stand here and do nothing anymore!

Martin looked to West, nodding with approval, a genuine smile on his face. "Hold onto something, Franklin.'' He replied. West jumped after hearing a guttural screech, turning to see the Tian-Lung close her mouth in the distance.

Martin was by his side in a moment as Godzilla tilted his head and opened his mouth, releasing a misty breath as air was drawn into his massive lungs.

Martin quickly held out two red ear plugs. "Here, I've been using my own since the start." He stated. West thanked him before stuffing the plugs in his ears as quickly as possible.

This turned out to be wise, as Godzilla let loose one of his signature air-shaking roars.

West still covered his ears, grimacing like he had a headache. Still better then getting flat out floored on the ground by the noise.

As Godzilla began to move, cars rattling out of their positions with every pounding step, the Tian-Lung did the same, swishing her tail in agitation as steam billowed out of the sides of her jaws.

She crouched and sped forwards like a giant cheetah, claws and open jaw extended while steam burst from the back of her hood.

Godzilla sent rubble and glass into the air with every step, knocking the Super X into an unfortunate sushi place with his tail as he charged.

West grimaced, holding onto the railing for dear life when they collided.

The shockwave that burst forwards made the earlier one look like a grenade.

Buildings rumbled, and West could see the air current's distortion as it shattered every window four buildings away, and even now he was almost taken off his feet as the current passed above their heads. Shaking his dome, he looked ahead and found himself speechless.

Sparks went up into the air as both creatures slashed at each other, snapping and swiping with their natural weapons. They shoved each other back and forth, knocking chunks off buildings as they slammed each other back, each impact sounding like thunder.

Before long, the Tian-Lung struck forwards like a viper, missing Godzilla by inches as he tilted his head. As her face slammed through an office building, Godzilla grabbed onto her neck, letting loose a grunt as he charged, lifting the taller monster and slamming her by her long neck down onto another building behind the dragon.

Falling on her back, the dragon lashed out with a clawed leg, sending a red line across Godzilla's chest. The monster king stepped back, running a hand across the bleeding cut as she recovered and reared up, shoving her body forward as she thrust her horned head at his skull. A breath of blue mist came out of his maw as Godzilla stumbled backwards, embedding in his spines into an office building behind him.

Plaster and glass fell like a waterfall down his back as the Tian-Lung shoved her girth forwards, trying to gain the advantage as she slashed at his face with her small claws. Godzilla bit down on a claw with a grimace mid swipe, causing his opponent to shriek as she slammed her tail around like a whip. She sent rubble into the air as Godzilla stomped onto her sickle-toed feet to prevent another attempt to gut him. She opened her maw, blasting out a scalding steam over Godzilla as more debris was sent into the air like hail. West and Martin stepped back as pieces of glass began to fall on the roof randomly. West felt his back hit the wall of the staircase just as he heard a thunderous slam from above. He looked up, seeing that the battle had sent a chunk of concrete into the roof of the staircase like a throwing knife.

Suddenly, a piece of dirt dropped onto the staircase from where the concrete was embedded-

And then a piece of the stone the size of an apple, broken by the impact of the concrete, fell downwards before he could react.

Thudding onto his head, West gasped out a pained breath as he suddenly stumbled, something hot and sticky falling across his eyes as fell forwards onto the ground, roars and shouts growing faint.

Vision going black, he heard someone call his name as feet faintly stomped towards-

"Ah!" West yelled in surprise as water splashed onto his face. He felt cloth across his forehead, blurred vision clearing as he saw Martin standing over him, concern in the older man's eyes. "Are you okay, Franklin?" he said, genuinely worried. Franklin was glad to see the old man wasn't that crazy after all as he groaned out a weak

"Yeah…" Hearing his heartbeat in his current state, he pressed his ear to the ground and was surprised to hear what sonded like movement below-voices? Perhaps he'd been lucky, or the people on the ground all had the same idea. He hoped everyone in the tram's got out okay.

He looked to Martin and saw that the man's pants leg was torn, and the cloth bandaged around his head quickly became clear. He accepted a hand from the man as he was hauled to his feet. Shaking and shrugging his shoulders, he looked to Martin. "How long was I just-"

"Five minutes." Martin chimed, looking down at a wristwatch. He paused and looked West dead in the eye as the sound of crunching and roaring echoed behind the building. "The people on the streets, they got out of the cars, they got inside here." He said, calm as usual.

Half the tension in West's body left, relief entering him before he blinked, realizing what was just behind him.

West slowly turned and walked to the railing; eyes wide once more. "Holy shit!"

The downtown area had been reduced to rubble. And right there, in the middle of the destroyed streets-

Godzilla held the Tian-Lung by her long neck, a sneer on his fanged jaws as she tried to break out of his grip, howling as she sent out random blasts of steam, her legs and tail kicking and lashing around in agitation.

Godzilla eyes gleamed for a moment before he suddenly lifted the hooded dragon overhead by her hooded head, then slamming her onto her back and audibly cracking the broken streets even more. "Woah!" West yelled in surprise, shocked that even Godzilla was able to pull off such a move. "How did he know-"

"Gojira." a soft voice said. Too caught up in the fight to have noticed, he turned around in surprise alongside Martin.

A young-looking Japanese girl, maybe 12 or younger had snuck up to the railing right next to them, peeking over the railing as she watched the fight. She had black, unkempt hair reaching down to her shoulders, alongside a simple white shirt and baggy pants. Judging by the smatterings of dirt and dust on her clothing and arms, she had been one of the locals who just escaped the trams. But what was she doing here?

A familiar howl reminded him. West turned back to see Godzilla still holding onto the dragon's neck from the side. He pushed forwards, avoiding her snapping jaws as he slammed her head into the ground. As the beast shrieked, he let go. She sprung into a lunge as Godzilla slammed his fist down like hammers, knocking her back down. Grabbing onto her jaws, he held on as she struggled in his grip, firing out a stream of steam. As the tips of his claws began glowing red hot, Godzilla's eyes narrowed.

Bright light thrummed down his dorsal plates as his power hummed in the air.

He still held her jaws, trying to pry them open as he swung her head to the side, aiming her jaws so another blast of steam wouldn't hit him in the head. He waited until just after she had finished firing the steam blast before grabbing her antlers, blue light thrumming across his back.

Pulling her snarling, snapping head up to his face, Godzilla locked his jaws over her own.

Blue fire shined through his gills and eyes.

The Tian-Lung's eyes widened for a moment before torrents of fire burst out across her armored neck and hood.

West grunted and averted his eyes as her entire head was consumed by flame.

There was a great burst of heat, and when he moved his hands down, the first sight to greet him was the falling body of the Tian-Lung. Fiery smoke poured from the stump where her neck used to be.

And then there was Godzilla. Black smoke drifted out of his nose and mouth before he cleared them with a shake of his head. Three fresh slash marks were visible on his face, while the cut across his chest was already fading. Leaning over the steaming body of his dead opponent, Godzilla sniffed it before biting into the shoulder. Tearing off a piece of scorched meat, Godzilla leaned his head back like a crocodile, snapping his jaws as he swallowed the flesh down.

At this point, West was getting too tired to give a shit. Shaking his bandaged head, he turned to look at the girl, who was watching the end of the battle end of the battle with an intense look in her hard, brown eyes. It was a look he would often see in the survivors of kaiju battles years after the fact. As Martin gave a knowing look, West fumbled to pick up some of the Japanese language he knew. "Where… your parents at?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound like Gollum. As the girl turned her head, as if finally realizing he was there, he heard a panicked voice from the stairwell. "Chifuyu?"

A disheveled, scuffed up man with short, spiky hair matted with dust stumbled onto the roof. He wore a white shirt with a black tie hastily clipped on. Seemed like the man had just gotten home from work when the attack began.

He turned rapidly to the girl. "Chifuyu!" He shouted in recognition as he approached her, eyes turning widely from the other man to the victorious Godzilla. She turned to him. "Don't run off like that at these times, your mother and I need to stay together we aren't safe this close to Gojira-" he continued to go on, worry clearly in his voice as he grabbed her hand and gently began to pull her with him. She turned back to Godzilla with a look in her eyes he couldn't identify before she nevertheless turned back, keeping in pace with what he guessed to be her father.

Looking back, it's still hard to believe that this little girl would have grown up to be one of the most infamous mecha pilots in history.

Godzilla marched ahead in the direction of the sea, pausing to grab the Tian-Lung by the tail, dragging the corpse with him as he advanced.

It made sense for him to be hungry after a long night of fighting.

Martin watched, the brief ghost of a smile. "He won." He said softly. "Godzilla, in a way, saved the city from two worse threats. One that he inadvertently brought here. I have a feeling that after today." Marin paused and looked back, eyes widening slightly alongside Franklin's as a small trickle of survivors began exiting the stairway. "The subject of Godzilla will have new opinions added to it. Time will tell if this night is as costly as the first attack nearly thirty-one years ago." For a moment Martin was truly in his element, a reporter right on the scene.

West nodded, agreeing on some level as he heard the tell-tale sound of a large foot impacting into concrete.

West spun around to regard the form of Red Ronin as it turned the same corner the Tian-Lung had come from. Limping forwards, the mechas sword was raised like a torch.

The charred head of Megaguirus was impaled on the top of it, yellow blood sizzling down the blade's length.

It never hurt to check for a pulse.

The Mecha stood vigilantly over the last few citizens still evacuating from the tram cars, watching silently as Godzilla dragged the dragon's body on his way back to the sea. Both warriors from different times, and both who had survived this long night victorious.

For now.

More of the train survivors had begun to join them on the rooftop, all silently watching, either in too much awe or terror to speak.

Entering the frigid waters of Tokyo Bay, Godzilla turned his fiery gaze back.

Was he looking at Red Ronin? The library? At Tokyo itself?

It was almost a custom, what happened next.

Godzilla spread his claws out, tilting his head back and opening his fanged maw, blue light briefly flashing.

In the crowd, the tram survivors, born from experience, wisely began to cover their ears.

When Godzilla roared this time, West felt it down to his very bones.

[-]

The typical procedures were put into place afterwards. The remaining Meganulon were finished off by the military, with the death of Megaguirus having put the bugs into complete disarray. The survivors (me included) went through quick radiation and cell decontamination. Stung like a son of a bitch, but better safe than sorry. Resettlement and reconstruction became a big topic.

It later turned out that the elevators were working after all.

Flights back home were delayed, and the rest of the semester was all but canceled after what had just happened. But for me, it didn't matter much by the time I got home. My parents were disappointed to learn I was dropping out, but I nevertheless got a hero's welcome.

That was my second longest night.

After living through one of the biggest battles of the decade, I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life.