Chapter 21: Transformation
Manhattan, 8:05, August 16
His footsteps boomed like thunder as he made his way through the noclaw city. However, as much as he hated the noclaws, he had more important things to worry about. The creature that had attacked him, the one covered in scales but fast and agile, was still around, still alive. Still a threat.
He had to admit that, for a creature half his size, the thing had been a great thorn in his side. While he was confident that he could kill the creature quickly, the enemy was so fast and agile that he rarely got a hit in. None of the attacks with his main weapon had hit, and even when he had the creature in his claws, the thing always escaped before he could deal the fatal blow.
And now, once more, the creature had disappeared, ready to ambush him once more. And he was seriously getting tired of it. The hit-and-run attacks were getting on his nerves. And as time went on, he was getting more careless with his attacks, more desperate to kill his foe. His strikes were becoming clumsy and he had begun to spam his main weapon, a move which was draining his energy. This creature had to die, for it was becoming a much greater threat than what he had initially conceived. He growled, challenging his foe to appear and face him.
And, to his surprise, he got a reply.
The responsive growl came from above and to the right. He whirled around and, sure enough, there it was. The agile creature that was causing him so much trouble. It stood on top of a large structure, one that stood just slightly taller than himself. It glared at him with a rage and fury that surprised him. Its eyes glowed with a fire greater than even that of his own fiery hatred of the noclaws. He couldn't help but wonder what he had done to deserve such hatred from the creature. He never encountered anything like it before. He certainly didn't remember torturing it and destroying its…
He struggled, trying to remember the word. Remember the term that he referred to them as. He knew it was an ancient term, a loving term. A term to describe those who would always love and support you. But he just couldn't remember. The apocalypse must have made him lose some of his memories and knowledge.
But for whatever reason the creature attacked him, he knew that it would not stop. Just as he would never stop attacking the noclaws, it would not stop attacking him. The fire in its eyes said as much. This meant that it would be impossible to ignore this foe, especially when its agility makes it so dangerous. It had to be destroyed.
But then, at that moment, the creature lunged.
Jumping from her perch on the American Woolen Building, Zilla landed on Godzilla's right shoulder with a dull thud. However, instead of keeping himself upright like he usually had done, Godzilla instead decided to allow Zilla's momentum to push him down. This caused Godzilla to tumble down to the ground, but the same thing occurred for Zilla as well.
The two then rolled through the set of buildings to their left, collapsing them into a heap of dust and rubble. Godzilla's spines, while having slight flexibility, were unable to hold under the strain of Godzilla's weight and the tips of several dorsal spines cracked and shattered. However, the pain was slight, and the dorsal plates were sure to grow back a few minutes later. Meanwhile, though having been thrown off, Zilla continued to roll rather than leap up and attack Godzilla. Zilla only stopped rolling when she reached the opposite side of Gramercy Park, giving herself some distance from the stronger leviathan.
Godzilla, however, sprang back to his feet as soon as he could, getting to his feet before Zilla could. And, taking the opportunity, the remnants of Godzilla's dorsal plates glowed orange for a brief moment before a short burst of atomic breath shot from Godzilla's jaws. At first, it seemed the atomic breath was on target, but before the beam hit its mark, a large shadow could be seen fleeing the area. A moment later, the Gramercy Park Hotel was annihilated and several of the surrounding structures lit with atomic fire.
Godzilla was not fooled into thinking that Zilla had been destroyed. He quickly maneuvered to the west side of Gramercy Park, standing before a tall office building, and began charging his atomic breath once more. However, before he could release another beam of atomic energy, Zilla surprised him once more. Skidding to a halt at the northeast corner of Gramercy Park, Zilla pulled a 180 turn and leaped towards Godzilla once more.
Godzilla, though surprised, was just able to react in time. With a loud smack, Godzilla pulled a 360 turn and slapped Zilla with his powerful tail as though she were a baseball. Zilla, being very lightweight, was sent flying. And Godzilla had hit Zilla so hard that she was sent sprawling clear through an entire block of buildings. She was sent punching through the buildings bordering 21st Street before falling out of the buildings bordering 22nd Street.
Godzilla, as fast as he physically could, spun around to face where Zilla had been sent flying and immediately shot a beam of his atomic breath. The orange beam flew straight through the hole that Zilla had created, transforming the buildings behind it into a large fireball. Godzilla, after cutting off his beam, looked on quietly as the fireball began to be smothered by the storm and the world fell into silence.
Godzilla held his position for several moments, watching and listening for any sign of his opponent's survival. It seemed that, at last, Godzilla had destroyed Zilla. The fire reached hungrily into the sky and smoke smothered the atmosphere. It took several minutes for the storm to chip away at the carnage and reveal the result of Godzilla's attack. But when the smokey curtains finally drew back, it did not reveal victory.
It revealed a large hole tunneling into the ground.
Godzilla began glancing around, searching for his foe. Searching for any sign that Zilla had returned to the surface. But doing so was not in Zilla's interests. Godzilla may be larger and powerful than Zilla but, along with being faster and more agile, Zilla also possessed the ability to tunnel into the Earth. This enables her to attack her foes from below, like how a Great White Shark would attack a seal.
And this was almost exactly what she did.
There was a slight moment in which the Earth groaned and the ground trembled, shaking trees and rattling glass. The ground beneath Godzilla's feet began to rumble and crack. And before Godzilla could react, the ground beneath him gave way and his left foot plunged into a large sinkhole. Godzilla screamed as he was thrown off balance, stumbling into the office building to his left. Glass and brick showered down as Godzilla fell against the building's side. Godzilla growled and roared with fury as he struggled to free his leg from the sinkhole. He would have eventually been successful, but that was when Zilla decided to reveal herself.
With another tremble, another sinkhole opened up a few dozen meters to Godzilla's right. Out from this hole came Zilla, crawling out of the tunnel to get a good look at her quarry. Godzilla, sensing Zilla's arrival to the surface, whipped his head around, glaring at Zilla out of the corner of his right eye. He began to struggle furiously, attempting to rip his leg from the ground and attack Zilla. His spines began to glow orange once more, threatening to destroy Zilla once he was free.
But Zilla would not allow Godzilla to take the chance. With a challenging roar, Zilla leaped forward, twirling in mid-air so her clawed feet would face her foe. This was so Zilla could kick Godzilla to the ground, planting both feet into his side like a kangaroo. Zilla, despite being smaller and lighter in weight, had the power and momentum to force Godzilla through the office building and completely to the ground. Zilla bounced away from Godzilla just in time to avoid the shower of rubble following the building's collapse, all of which effectively burying Godzilla in a pile of rubble.
Once more silence fell across the battlefield. However, this time, the silence didn't last nearly as long. A sound like the crackling of fire began to rise from beneath the rubble. Soon a glow accompanied the sound, a glow the color of fire.
Zilla jumped just in time.
From beneath the rubble, Godzilla shot his atomic breath, sweeping it left to right. Zilla, noticing the signs just in time, just managed to jump over and away from the beam before it would have severed her legs. Instead, the beam swept past her, cutting down and obliterating the apartment building on the opposite side of the park. As soon as Zilla landed, she took off, heading west down 20th Street.
Godzilla, in another attempt to catch his foe, lept from the rubble and attempted to grab Zilla as she ran by. However, Zilla was again able to use her agility to good use, jumping over Godzilla's open jaws and grasping claws before continuing her retreat. Godzilla, pushing his way out from the rubble, released an angry shriek, and continued pursuit.
The battle was not over yet.
Even with the large fires and their small flashlights, Miyasaka could barely make out Godzilla and Zilla through the dark storm and heavy smoke. He and Katagiri could only really see about a dozen meters around them. After that, everything appeared as dark forms blending in with their dark surroundings. It was by miracle and miracle alone that they had made it over the mounds of rubble clogging the street. And the possibility of even finding Godzilla and Zilla, despite their massive size and the colossal ruckus they were causing, seemed slim.
But when Miyasaka turned the corner, expecting to find nothing but more debris-filled street, he was surprised to find Zilla not a dozen meters down the street. Charging straight at him.
Miyasaka froze at the sight, his mind unable to process Zilla's sudden appearance. He would have died for sure but, with the reflexes of a cat, Katagiri grabbed Miyasaka's collar and pulled him out of the way just before Zilla's foot came plunging down, crumbling the section of street Miyasaka had just been a moment before.
Miyasaka watched, his mind still frozen with shock, as Zilla turned and disappeared around the next corner. A moment later, Godzilla came down the path, not nearly as fast but with even greater intimidation. His tail whipped wildly behind him as he charged, sending any surviving buildings crumbling to the Earth. His footsteps threw Miyasaka off balance, nearly sending him to the concrete. Katagiri, whose experience in the military seemed to have given him a greater reaction speed than Miyasaka, caught his falling friend and dragged him away from the intersection, successfully avoiding a shower of rubble.
"For fuck's sake!" Katagiri cursed as he propped Miyasaka back up. "Freeze like that again and I'll let you get trampled!"
"Sorry!" Miyasaka said, regaining his senses and shaking his head. "I didn't expect Zilla to turn this way. They caught me by surprise. It all happened so fast…"
Katagiri seemed to be about to give him another of his grim looks but, his eyes darting to the skies ahead, pointed to the storm and yelled, "And it's not over yet!"
Miyasaka whirled around just in time to see a shadow fly overhead. This time, his reaction speed was far better, his mind connecting the dots as the following attack occurred.
With a sudden flash of yellow light, a thick yellow beam of energy shot out of seemingly nowhere. There was a loud screech of shock and pain before a loud crash reverberated throughout the atmosphere.
With little hesitation, the two scientists charged around the corner and headed towards the noise. They only stopped when the result of what had occurred came into view. And it was exactly as Miyasaka suspected.
Floating in the sky above was the UFO, unmoving in the wild storm with only a small hum to confirm its activity. Below it, laying amongst a heap of rubble and debris, lay Godzilla, struggling to get up and face his opponent.
"It seems that it's back for more," Katagiri observed.
Miyasaka nodded. "It seems that it has." Something then poked at the scientist's mind and Miyasaka glanced around wildly. "Where's Yuji?" he asked.
Katagiri glanced around briefly before saying, "I don't know. He may be still trying to follow it since the streets are probably covered in rubble."
Miyasaka glanced at Katagiri with concern. "Do you think we should head to Madison Square Garden? Or do you think we should look for him?"
Katagiri glanced back at the titans. Godzilla had just gotten back up and was glaring fiery daggers at the UFO. "I think," he said, "that we should follow them and watch the battle."
"What about Yuji?" Miyasaka asked.
"If I know Yuji," Katagiri replied, "he will do the same. Hell, he's probably heading this way right now. If they head up towards Madison Square Garden we can stop by to see if he's there. But, most likely, he will be following the UFO."
There was a sudden roar. A loud, piercing scream. Miyasaka turned back to see that Godzilla was challenging the UFO, giving it a fierce roar and an even fiercer glare.
With a sigh, Miyasaka nodded. "Alright. Let's see what happens."
Hearing the shocking roar and the sound of collapsing structures, she whirled around, suddenly overwhelmed with curiosity. To her surprise, this was not some sort of trap, or even simply her foe tripping over some unknown object. It seemed that the flying rock she had seen fighting the beast had reappeared, continuing its fight. She watched as the beast, pushing itself up from the ground, whirled around and gave its new foe and menacing glare.
She had to admit that, if it weren't for the needed protection of her young ones, she would have trembled over such a glare. And even with this need, she was still glad that the glare wasn't projected at her. But, at the same time, her mind began to whir. Perhaps she could make use of the flying rock. It was clear that it detested the beast as much as she did, probably even more so. For whatever reason, she did not know but it could provide a useful alliance.
However, as she looked at the flying rock, such an idea, while a smart one, was one that she began to dislike. There was just something… wrong about the flying rock. Obviously, there was the fact that it was a rock that could move on its own, fire a yellow energy beam similar to the beast's orange one, and the fact that it could fly. But there was also more than that. An instinctive distrust of the object. An odd sense that this thing, whatever it was, was not of this world. That it just simply did not belong on this planet.
So, she decided to compromise. She would not take part in this fight. She would not help the flying rock win. She would, instead, keep watch, ready, and waiting to strike the beast in the case that it should win. And if it didn't? If the flying rock was to defeat the beast? She decided that, while she would not attack the thing, she would make sure to keep a watch for it.
Even if they had the same enemy, she would not trust it.
The Millennian hovered about sixty meters from the ground, waiting patiently for Godzilla to get up and make his move. However, it was actually more focussed on the creature called Zilla, which could sense watching from further down the street. It seemed that the two shared the same enemy, and it would be advantageous for the two of them to work together against their common foe.
However, the Millennian decided against such an idea. If Zilla joined the fight, it would not interfere. But it would also not try to push such an action onto the creature. This was partly because it didn't want to risk accidentally directing Zilla's aggression towards the Millennian. But, for the most part, it was for the simple fact that the help was unnecessary. The Millennian already had a plan on how to defeat Godzilla, and most of it had already been accomplished thanks to Zilla. It could sense how much weaker Godzilla had become from his fight with Zilla. At this point, getting hit with Godzilla's atomic breath wouldn't be nearly as bad as it would have been a few hours earlier. Of course, it should still be careful, but the Millennian was fully confident that acquiring Zilla's assistance was an unnecessary waste of time.
No matter the case, victory would soon be won.
Pushing himself up from the rough ground, he gave his flying opponent a fiery glare. He had come so close to finally destroying the creature, destroying another pest. But, of course, it had escaped once more, barely dodging his main weapon and just escaping his grasping claws. And now, to add insult to injury, the damn flying rock had returned, attacking him without warning and when he was distracted.
He was really starting to get annoyed.
But that wasn't all. What was worse was that, as time progressed and the battle continued, he felt himself begin to become weaker and weaker. His swipes and attacks were becoming clumsier. It took more effort to launch attacks or to defend against attacks from the enemy. Chasing the creature around had really exhausted him. But, worst of all, he could tell that his main weapon was getting weaker. As he became more desperate to kill his foe, he began using his main weapon more carelessly. And he was starting to feel the effects of such carelessness. Not only did he feel weaker, but his main weapon also looked weaker as well. Each time he used it, the beam became duller, attaining a slightly stronger yellowish hue. From a glance, it was still orange, but it had lost that 'fiery' attribute to the color.
Having to now face another foe, anxiety began to prick at the back of his mind. This anxiety only worsened when he considered the possibility of the creature returning from its retreat, joining with the flying foe to take him two-on-one.
Such an idea was not an alluring one.
But he couldn't back down. If he ran, it would mean giving these things the win. It would give them the power to stomp all over him. His pride would not allow for a defeat, especially when both of his enemies were smaller than him. But that wasn't all. Retreating didn't just mean defeat, it also meant dishonor. Dishonor not towards himself, but to the family, he had sworn to avenge.
Forming tight fists with his claws, he sent a growl towards the flying foe's way. He would not let these things win. No way. Sucking in a large breath, he reeled back his head and released a thunderous roar, its reverbs echoing throughout the noclaw settlement.
The battle was on.
Oddly enough, after Godzilla challenged the Millennian with a fearsome roar, the two merely faced each other. Godzilla stood his ground, glaring daggers at the Millennian. The Millennian hovered silently, its faceless hull emotionlessly facing the nuclear leviathan before it. But of course, the oncoming fury could not be held back for long.
And eventually, it started, but not as a titanic battle between giants would normally start. Instead, it started when the earth began to tremble.
Godzilla, remembering the last time the earth trembled, immediately began glancing around, trying to identify the source. To determine the location of his other foe. So he could destroy it before its attack could be launched. But the rumbling seemed to come from everywhere. Glass rattled and abandoned vehicles trembled on the asphalt. Trees swayed and even the buildings themselves seemed to rock with the growls of the earth.
Godzilla was having no success in finding the location of the creature, signaling such failure with a growl. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, Godzilla's usually furious face randomly fell calm. It was almost like the leviathan had fallen into a trance.
But this was not the Millennian's work.
Godzilla, in an attempt to detect the location of Zilla, had managed to calm himself and began trying to feel the vibrations beneath his feet. Trying to locate Zilla through the vibrations she made by tunneling through the earth. For several, tense moments Godzilla stood there, his eyes closed and face immobile.
And then, a moment later, his eyes shot open. An almost satisfied growl formed on Godzilla's features and, as fast as a rattlesnake, Godzilla whipped his head to his right. His purple spines flared orange and, in a matter of seconds, his orange beam shot from his jaws. About a hundred meters away, Godzilla's atomic breath collided with the street just over a second later, bursting a gas pipe and creating a large fireball.
The rumbling seemed to stop and Godzilla, now satisfied, returned his gaze to the Millennian. However, Godzilla had made a simple mistake. It wasn't that he had missed his target, or allowed an opening for the Millennian to strike while he was distracted. No. The simple mistake was assuming that the rumbling was caused by Zilla.
In actuality, though, it was something much different.
With a series of crashes and grumbles, seemingly out of nowhere, a collection of wires and twisted pipes burst from the ground. The asphalt splintered as the wires were freed from their restraints, twisting up into the sky. They twirled in the air like ballerinas, twisting and turning seemingly by themselves. Like something had pulled them from the ground and had begun twirling them around like toys. It was clear now that Zilla had nothing to do with the previous earthquake. The grumbles had not in fact been caused by any tunneling. It was the Millennian the whole time, using a rare power found in very few of the alien's kind.
Telekinesis.
Telekinesis was a rare power found in very few of its kind. It knew that it was an ancient power, granted by their divine being to those worthy of such power. Millennians who have such power usually end up in positions of great power in the Millennium Empire, ranging from High Commander to Lord of the World. Of course, many high commanders and others in power don't have this ability, but that is simply because telekinesis is a very rare power.
It is by pure luck that the Millennian should have been created with this power. Destined to be a leader of his world or, if not, a conqueror. But, of course, telekinesis isn't an all-powerful ability. It does not make someone invincible. This is quite clear when considering how the Beast was able to destroy the Millennian's entire civilization despite several of its comrades, including the Lord, having the same power.
Granted, it knew that a part of the reason was that the Beast itself had somehow got telekinesis during its creation. Like Godzilla, the Beast had an energy beam that destroyed anything in its path. However, unlike Godzilla, this beam, thanks to the telekinesis, had the unique ability to pick up objects, almost as if gravity didn't apply to them. Not even the Millennian's own telekinetic powers allowed for such a feat.
Thus, as with any power, there were limitations to it. For example, the Millennian could not pick up massive objects, like human buildings or Godzilla himself. Some of the greatest telekinetics in Millennian history, those who became myths and legends, could possibly do it. Perhaps, if it had gotten enough training and mastered the ability, it could do so as well. But it takes a very long time to master telekinesis. It had barely finished learning the basics when the Beast destroyed the Millennian's homeworld. And so, it couldn't do much with the power except for lift small objects, like the wires and pipes that lay beneath the streets.
There was another part of the power though. An extension of it. Technically, it is an entirely different power altogether, but it almost always comes with the telekinesis. If a Millennian had telekinesis, it probably had this power as well.
The power is, of course, telepathy.
But, just like with telekinesis, it takes years of training to master. And, of course, the Millennian never got the chance to advance much farther than the basics. For example, it could not read Godzilla's mind. Nor could it send any messages to him telepathically. So far, the only creature on this world it had been successful with was humans, particularly the human named Yuji.
It was through telepathy, and not common sense, that led the Millennian to realize why the human named Yuji had asked so many questions about the Millennian. In hindsight, it was clear that telepathy was unnecessary, but it was pleased to learn that it could at least use telepathy on humans. Just the same as how it could manipulate small objects through telekinesis.
And it was through telekinesis that the Millennian could now wield the wires and pipes like lassos. Whipping them around like whips without even touching them. It had come to the realization, moments ago, that it could do such a thing. And, while telekinesis couldn't affect Godzilla directly, through manipulating the environment around them, the Millennian had found another path to victory. It could possibly win right now. Tying Godzilla down with the wires and pipes before absorbing his DNA without having to even knock out the leviathan.
And that was exactly what the Millennian tried to do.
Like a striking snake, the wires and pipes, under the Millennian's manipulation, shot forward towards Godzilla. The leviathan didn't have the time to react before the assortment of wires and twisted pipes were on him. Wrapping around his arms and legs.
Godzilla watched the wires with surprised confusion. The wires seemed to be moving by themselves, confusing Godzilla long enough for him to remain unreactive until most of the wires had wrapped around his body. When he did finally react, it was too late. The wires had wrapped themselves firmly around Godzilla's arms, legs, and torso. His several pipes burst from the earth to wrap around and pin Godzilla's tail to the ground. And several dozen wires, reinforced with crumbled pipes, snaked over Godzilla's dorsal spines and wrapped themselves around his chest.
Godzilla finally began to struggle, shaking back and forth in an attempt to be rid of the wires. He roared furiously, trying to rip the wires away with his hands. But that was when the Millennian tightened the wires' grip. Suddenly, Godzilla's arms were jolted to the side, chained to the ground by wires. The same occurred with his legs, preventing Godzilla from moving away. His tail was tied down now as well, and, with a few final whisks, several wires wrapped themselves around Godzilla's mouth, forcing it to shut and silencing the great titan's roars. Several more wires then burst from the ground, wrapping around Godzilla's neck and individual dorsal spines, securing him in place.
Godzilla was trapped.
Godzilla still struggled, pulling against his restraints, muffled roars trying to push their way from his jaws. But he could barely move. And as time inched forward, each wire became more reinforced by pipes, tubing, and rubble from the surrounding carnage. In a few moments, Godzilla, despite his intense struggles, could barely move.
But before the Millennian could attack Godzilla, or begin absorbing his DNA, before it could do anything, Godzilla's dorsal plates began to glow orange. Heat began to emit from each spine and a fizzle could be heard as the glow grew brighter. The wires wrapped around Godzilla's dorsal spines began turning red with heat. After about a second, the spines had grown so hot that the wires, pipes, and debris touching the dorsal plates had melted, snapping away from Godzilla's back and falling lifeless to the ground.
The Millennian was quick to replace these fallen wires, but the heat from Godzilla's spines had increased to such a degree that the wires were melting away in under a second. And, meanwhile, a glow had begun to shine from between Godzilla's shut jaws. The wires around Godzilla's snout began to weaken under the heat emitting from this glow, eventually allowing the leviathan to force his maw to open a crack. This allowed the glow to shine brighter and for more heat to seep through, turning the black wires into a warm red.
And then, with a snap, the wires were severed by the heat and fell away. This allowed Godzilla to open his jaws completely, enabling him to finally fire his atomic breath. And that was exactly what he did.
Before the Millennian could react, an orange beam of atomic energy shot forward and collided with the alien's hull. There was a moment of resistance against the atomic breath but, after a moment, the beam won out, flinging the Millennian away.
Godzilla gave a satisfied snort before ripping the remaining wires (which had gone limp) away from his body, freeing himself with the use of his claws, feet, and tail. But, as Godzilla did this, the alien had caught itself in mid-air, preventing itself from falling into the Manhattan streets.
With a burst of speed that contradicted the alien's size, the Millennian shot forward. Godzilla was only able to glance up before the alien's hull slammed into Godzilla's chest. Godzilla, with a shriek, was sent flying back, crumbling the building behind him.
The Millennian floated forward again, preparing to try and ensnare Godzilla once more. However, before it could do so, Godzilla burst from the rubble, spraying stray debris across the district. Several chunks of rubble dinked off of the alien's hull, though the Millennian didn't seem to take notice. But, a moment later, the dust cleared revealing Godzilla back on its feet, giving the alien another one of his furious glares.
Godzilla, giving another thunderous roar, challenged the Millennian once more.
The World Trade Center, ten minutes later
Rain. The sensation of rain crashing down rippled across Yuji's form. His head and chest, arms, and legs, everything was soaked to the bone. But the odd thing was, Yuji didn't remember going outside. He had entered the south tower of the World Trade Center. Determined to learn all he could about the UFO. So how could he be feeling rain?
And then he remembered.
Yuji sat up with a jolt as he remembered what had occurred. Of course, he instantly regretted such an action. A dull pain throbbed throughout his chest. His arms, legs, and head had a similar feeling. Really, everything hurt. But, the fact that Yuji could move at all was relieving. Yuji could not recollect how far the fall had been. It certainly felt like he had bruised himself. But his spinal cord hadn't been broken. In fact, after moving his appendages, Yuji decided that nothing was broken. Definitely bruised. Definitely in pain. Yuji was not looking forward to the week of aches that would probably occur after all of this was said and done.
But he wasn't paralyzed. In fact, he was very much alive.
Curiously, Yuji looked down at his hands. He immediately wished he hadn't. While the damage would definitely have been worse if it weren't for the jacket, Yuji's hands had still taken quite the beating. His palms were carved up like a turkey. Still intact, but heavily scarred and still bleeding. Looking down at his legs, Yuji realized that there too was some damage. His jeans had been torn away, revealing angry red scars on his legs.
Glancing around, Yuji was able to find his rain jacket scattered nearby. Of course, it was in complete tatters, ripped to shreds by the elevator cable. But, it was in good enough shape for Yuji to wrap around his hands. Of course, blood still seeped through and there was not nearly enough to try and bandage his leg. But, Yuji was lucky. He probably hadn't been out for too long since he wasn't faint with blood loss. But, other than that, he had no sense of time.
So wasting any more of it probably wasn't a good idea.
Yuji after a few moments where he struggled to his feet, finally decided to observe his surroundings. As it seemed, the World Trade Center had been completely obliterated. It appeared that Yuji was standing in what was once the tower's basement. However, everything above it had been annihilated. Even parts of the basement wall had been damaged, crumbling down into small piles of rubble. Forming small slopes that led up to the surface.
Giving Yuji a way to escape.
With many pained grunts, Yuji stumbled over to the nearest pile of rubble and began climbing his way out of the basement. With his bleeding appendages and aching bones, climbing up the mound took a lot longer than it should have. And even then Yuji still had to climb over the remains of the basement wall, which put a heavy strain on his bleeding hands. But eventually, Yuji did it. Struggling to his feet, Yuji gave the world around him a sigh of relief.
He had done it. He had escaped the doomed tower alive. And, more importantly, he had done it with valuable information intact. Yuji now knew of the alien's history. Of its goals and motivations. Even of its plans to defeat Godzilla. And Yuji had to tell the others. In reality, there wasn't much they could do to stop the alien. But, maybe if Yuji could find the others and get out of Manhattan he could find Hicks and tell him the alien's plans. Maybe they could help Godzilla defeat the alien. Godzilla was definitely a foe of humanity, but Yuji decided that it was better to have Godzilla than an alien intent on enslaving the human race.
But he had to find his friends first.
Glancing around, Yuji breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted that the red car he had driven here was still intact. Limping over, Yuji saw that there was some debris both on it and in it. The hood was dented and a few of the windows were smashed. But it seemed that it was still in good condition. Opening the door, Yuji slid himself into the driver's seat, groaning at the pain. It took all of his power to rest his bleeding hands on the driver's wheel. But, Yuji did it.
Turning the key, Yuji was relieved when he heard the car start up without a hitch. Gently putting his foot on the gas, the car began to creep forward, Yuji turning the steering wheel back and forth to avoid the chunks of concrete scattered across the road. Yuji guessed that the alien had flown away to fight Godzilla again, but probably did so without going out of its way to destroy the city. So, in theory, the road Yuji had taken here would still be mostly clear of debris.
Yuji just hoped that Miyasaka and Katagiri would be at Madison Square Garden. If they weren't Yuji would probably have to leave the car to follow them through the maze of rubble. And he wasn't really in good condition for a hike.
But, if they were now following and watching the fight (which Yuji admitted was probably what he would have done), Yuji was not going to let his bruised body stop him from finding them.
Once Yuji had maneuvered the car onto an open highway, he slammed his foot on the gas, sending the car shooting forward.
Manhattan
Though their goal was to watch Godzilla and the UFO battle each other, and hope to learn something about them from it, Miyasaka and Katagiri spent most of the time climbing over mounds of rubble and avoiding falling debris. The battle between the two giants had gone straight through an area densely packed with buildings. And, of course, the battle wasn't exactly being neat and tidy. Buildings collapsed as they lost half of their base from a tail swipe or crumbled under the weight of a falling titan. And, of course, many buildings were either cut down or completely obliterated by a stray shot of atomic breath or the UFO's energy beam. Debris was thrown into the sky by kicks, explosions, and sweeping tails, causing it to rain concrete along with water.
However, Miyasaka had made sure, whenever possible, to keep an eye on the fight. And while he had come up with no explanation for it, he had watched as vehicles, chunks of rubble, and other stray debris magically lifted into the sky and pelt Godzilla. It was clear that the UFO had something to do with such magic, but Miyasaka had no idea on how it could be possible. But, while this would be an interesting subject to theorize on at a later date, for now, Miyasaka's main focus was survival.
"I'm starting to regret the decision to follow these damn things," Katagiri cursed, climbing over a flipped car buried in the rubble.
"Ya…" Miyasaka agreed, trying to catch his breath. "I think we should head for the rendezvous point soon if only to ensure our survival."
As they passed into an intersection, there was another explosion, making Katagiri glance up, and Miyasaka jump with fright. Ahead of them, to the right of the street they were heading down, a tall, glass office building began to groan. Looking closely, Miyasaka saw a large chunk of the structure had been torn away. The explosion, Miyasaka guessed, was from Godzilla's atomic breath, detonating something down the street while carving a tear into the side of the office building. And now the office building was about to fall.
Miyasaka and Katagiri fled back, away from the office building (which was falling only a few meters in front of them) and ran behind an abandoned car. Not great shelter, but hopefully it would be enough.
Miyasaka looked up and watched as the office building broke in two, the top half tumbling away from the base. Across the street was another office building, about a third of the size of the former structure. This building soon disappeared entirely, probably dissipating into debris and the taller office building fell on top of it, burying the street ahead in the rubble. Dust kicked up and began rushing down the street like a tsunami. Miyasaka and Katagiri were just able to protect their faces with their clothes in time to meet the wall of dust.
Closing his eyes, Miyasaka felt as a million particles of dust gnaw at his glasses and face. He knew that opening his eyes, even with his glasses, would be a bad idea. But, even blinded, Miyasaka could sense that the entire world was dark.
But, after a minute, Miyasaka felt the winds subside, the particles lose strength and, risking a glance, opened his eyes to see that the dust storm had ended. Debris was scattered everywhere. Paper, glass, and even some chairs lay throughout the street. Walking around to the front of the vehicle, Miyasaka saw that a twisted metal beam had been flung through the windshield of the car they had hidden behind. Deciding not to think about what could have happened if they didn't have any shelter, Miyasaka then looked at the remains of the building itself.
The damage was extensive. Where there was once a road, only cluttered by abandoned cars and scattered debris, was now a giant wall of rubble. The smaller office building across the street from the fallen tower was either completely buried or completely destroyed. Either way, it was a mess.
Miyasaka, out of the corner of his eyes, saw Katagiri walk into the intersection, standing before the wall of rubble. "Damn," he said grimly. "Looks like we can't go this way."
Miyasaka nodded in agreement, before giving a shudder. The rain was pelting them hard, and it wasn't exactly warm. Miyasaka was starting to really wish they had gone to Madison Square Garden instead. At least there it would be warm and dry.
And, most importantly, safe.
But that was when something… odd happened. As Miyasaka pondered the idea of getting out of the rain, it was as if something had answered his wishes. All of a sudden, the rain just simply stopped. Miyasaka glanced around when he realized this. He could still hear the sounds of thunder rolling across the sky, and he could even hear the rain hitting the asphalt. However, when he stuck out his hand, Miyasaka didn't feet a single drop.
And that was when he looked up.
"Holy…" he muttered, drawing Katagiri's attention.
The man, after glancing at Miyasaka, looked up as well. Upon realizing what they were seeing, Katagiri said, "Well would you look at that…"
Hovering directly above them, blocking out the rain, was the UFO. But before anything else could happen, a thunderous roar echoed through the air from their right, loud enough to rattle any remaining windows and to force their hands to their ears. Miyasaka glanced towards the direction of the roar and paled when he saw the culprit. It was, of course, Godzilla, giving the UFO a deadly glare.
"Shit," Katagiri said. Miyasaka couldn't help but silently agree with him. They were in the middle of the battle now.
The cold rain was the least of their worries.
The Millennian had, for much of the fight, used its telekinetic powers to the best of its ability, pelting Godzilla with abandoned cars, stray rubble, and other debris. It had still relied on its tactic of dodging Godzilla's attack before ramming him and used its energy cannon from time to time. Godzilla had, meanwhile, gotten even more desperate with his atomic breath, spamming far more often. But, of course, this was only helping the Millennian with its plan.
But, when your enemy can attack you from afar, there isn't much you can do except for use the same tactic. And, once more, that was what Godzilla did. With an orange flicker from his dorsal plates, Godzilla fired another beam of atomic energy, swinging the beam left to right. As per usual, the Millennian was able to dodge the attack, moving over the beam as it passed by. Instead of hitting the Millennian, the atomic breath hit the number of skyscrapers behind the alien. The beam decapitated each one it came into contact with, sending the towers tipping over, crushing every building unfortunate enough to be in the way.
The alien, meanwhile, began flying around Godzilla, flying between the leviathan and the famous Empire State Building before continuing in an arc around Godzilla. As it did this, vehicles and rubble flew up from the ground and pelted Godzilla. Though Godzilla never got seriously hurt with this tactic, it annoyed him, making him angrier. This usually would lead him to fire his atomic breath once more, wasting more of his energy.
However, this time, Godzilla had an idea. Though the alien was quite a distance away, circling the titan like a vulture, right side on to Godzilla. However, it seemed to be just within range of a tail strike. And while Godzilla has lost a lot of energy throughout the fight, he was still surprisingly fast. At the least fast enough to deliver a tail strike before the opponent could dodge.
And that was what Godzilla did. With an angry roar, Godzilla whipped around to turn its back on the Millennian, rearing his tail high into the air. Before the alien could react, Godzilla sent his tail slamming down. There was a dull, metallic thud and a loud crash. Godzilla gave a satisfied snort at the sound, expecting his opponent crashed on the ground. However, turning around, Godzilla's mood changed right back to anger when he saw the sight before him.
His tail had just nicked the side of the alien's hull, forcing it downwards. And, at the same time, the Millennian hadn't been very high into the air. This all culminated in the right side of the alien's hull slamming into the ground. But, instead of a full-on crash like Godzilla had hoped, the Millennian seemed unaffected by the attack. It simply continued the encirclement, seemingly oblivious to the fact that its right side was digging into the earth, tearing into asphalt, bursting through buildings, and tearing up the ground. After a moment, the alien even righted itself, pulling its right side out of the earth, revealing that not even a scratch had been inflicted on it.
This, of course, made Godzilla really angry. Reverting back to his old tactic, Godzilla's spines flared orange and the titan began to charge his atomic breath. However, this was all a part of the alien's plan. For the past ten minutes, the Millennian had been forcing Godzilla towards the Empire State Building, which dwarfed even the tall Godzilla. It had a plan, and it was about to come to fruition.
The Millennian finally stopped circling Godzilla, hovering so that the leviathan stood between it and the Empire State Building. Godzilla, who had continued to charge his beam, saw that the alien had stopped giving him a good target. This, of course, gave Godzilla a good opening to fire his atomic breath. And thus, he did.
But not only did the alien dodge the beam, as with before but as the beam rushed by, the Millennian rushed forward. But rather than simply ram Godzilla as the alien usually did, the Millennian decided to add some power to the attack. As the alien approached Godzilla, it began to charge its energy cannon.
Godzilla recognized the yellow glow emanating from the hole in the alien's hull too late. With a thud, the alien slammed into Godzilla square in the chest. But before Godzilla could emit a sound, with the cannon as close to Godzilla's chest as it could get, the alien fired its cannon.
The yellow beam could barely be seen before it slammed into the leviathan's chest at point-blank range. This, of course, blew off several chunks of Godzilla's flesh, but that was the least of the damage. Godzilla wasn't just blown backward, he was sent flying. With a loud scream of pain, Godzilla was launched through several buildings and cleared over several others, slamming with a disgusting crack against the side of the Empire State Building. The building, though rocked with the vibrations, stood standing. Godzilla, however, quickly crumbled to the ground, leaving a massive dent in the famous skyscraper.
Godzilla landed on his knees, giving haggard breaths as he tried to stand up. But, like an old man without his cane, Godzilla fell several times back onto his knees. While Godzilla was very durable, able to take everything the military had thrown at him, this attack had done some serious damage. Not just on the outside, but within. Several of Godzilla's rib bones have been broken and his lung has been punctured. Many other organs were either damaged, bruised, or punctured as well, and internal bleeding began causing blood to flood his systems. With violent, haggard coughs, Godzilla began to vomit blood, which began to stain the streets red. The wounds weren't fatal. Godzilla's regenerative abilities would be able to heal the wounds and eventually return Godzilla to good health. However, this would take time.
Plenty of time for the Millennian to enact the next part of his plan.
Flying high to the sky, the Millennian hovered over to the top of the Empire State Building. With a gentle nudge, the Millennian pushed everything above the observation deck off of the Empire State Building, sending it tumbling down with a crash. Fortunately for Godzilla, the sharp needle landed on the opposite side of the skyscraper. However, this wasn't the Millennian's plan.
Landing on top of the Empire State Building, and just as it had done with the World Trade Center, the Millennian began sending waves of light and energy shooting down the sides of the skyscraper. However, this time it wasn't to destroy the skyscraper. It was to launch more attacks on Godzilla.
The first waves of energy slammed into Godzilla's back as the leviathan was finally getting to its feet, sending the titan sprawling back to the ground. Godzilla began releasing roars of pain and anger as each light wave slammed into his back. But eventually, despite the pain of the continuous bombardment, Godzilla was able to crawl out of the energy waves' radius. But while Godzilla had escaped the Millennian's attack, the alien's plan was not over.
In fact, one could say that it was just beginning.
Sensing that Godzilla had left the area affected by the energy waves, the Millennian stopped its attack and floated off of the Empire State Building. It began to float down the side of the skyscraper opposite of Godzilla. Stopping about halfway down, the alien then turned its hull ninety degrees, with its nose facing the storm above.
It then pressed its hull against the side of the Empire State Building and pushed.
There was a moment of tension in which all the Millennian was able to do was make a dent in the skyscraper's side. But, with shuddering cracks and a metallic groan, the famous Empire State Building began to split in two. From a split about a quarter way up from the ground, the skyscraper began to tip over.
With an anguished cry that seemed to be from the American people themselves, the beloved Empire State Building, a symbol of the American people and their achievements, finally toppled.
Falling down onto Godzilla.
"Shit!" Katagiri yelled, "We have to go!"
Barely a moment ago, Miyasaka and Katagiri had watched in stunned silence as the UFO had gotten the upper hand on Godzilla, blasting him point-blank with its energy cannon and sending the seemingly invincible titan sprawling on the ground.
And now the UFO was destroying the Empire State Building, sending it toppling down on top of the leviathan. The two hadn't moved since the UFO had hovered above them, but the famous skyscraper was a massive building. Though they weren't in the path of the falling tower, they still needed to get to shelter and fast.
Miyasaka watched for a few moments as the falling skyscraper closed in on Godzilla. The titan had just gotten to its feet, its face oddly showing a lot of emotion. Pain, anger, and exhaustion, but also determination. Determination aimed at defeating the UFO and achieving victory.
But then Godzilla noticed the falling tower behind him.
Miyasaka knew that Godzilla could easily dismantle a building and survive a lot of punishment. He had already been buried several times and had demolished dozens of buildings. Miyasaka had lost count of how many structures were obliterated by Godzilla's atomic breath. However, Godzilla was over seven times smaller than the Empire State Building. And three-quarters of that building, easily amounting to two hundred thousand tons of rubble, if not more, were falling down on top of him.
Miyasaka watched as Godzilla gave the falling skyscraper a glance, the tower mere meters away. There was no chance for Godzilla to escape. Time seemed to slow down as the tower finally collided with Godzilla's dorsal plates. The spines were able to pierce the glass and concrete, penetrating into the structure. But as the rest of the building hit Godzilla's actual body, the titanic leviathan went down.
There was an anguished, perhaps even a fearful cry from the titan. There were a few moments when Miyasaka could see Godzilla's form, his arms splayed outwards and his body falling to the floor. Then the rest of the falling Empire State Building caught up with him and the leviathan disappeared under a mountain of rubble and debris. Every single structure in the tower's path soon disappeared as well, probably disintegrating under the weight. And, at last, a storm of dust picked up and began to flood the city.
Miyasaka felt a hand grasp his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Katagiri, and Miyasaka remembered the danger he was in. The two turned away from the approaching tsunami of dust and debris, sprinting down the street they had come from. This time, a mere car would not suffice as shelter. So, instead, Miyasaka and Katagiri entered the first building they could get to, a small brick building that seemed to be out of the falling tower's reach.
The two entered the building, stumbling into what seemed to be a small store. Katagiri shut the glass door behind him as Miyasaka ran for the counter. The two dove behind it.
Miyasaka, peeking his head a smidge above the acrylic counter, was able to do so just in time to watch as the ocean of dust passed across the glass door, covering it and all of the windows in a dull brown almost instantly.
The world soon plunged into darkness.
The Millennian, using its sensors, could tell that Godzilla had, under the pressure of two hundred thousand tones, been knocked unconscious. And with Godzilla incapacitated, it could easily carry out its plan.
It was time for the Millennian to revert to its true form.
When the dust had settled a few minutes later, Miyasaka and Katagiri stepped cautiously out into the street. Dust still clogged the air, and the two had to pull their jackets over their face. However, guided by their flashlights and random specks of flame, the two stepped out into the intersection. They looked to where they had last seen the UFO, floating silently above the remains of the Empire State Building, and dropped their makeshift masks with shock and awe.
The alien (for there was no longer any question about its identity) was hovering there as it was before. However, coming from random spots on its hull, were about a dozen tentacles. These thin tentacles, which reminded Miyasaka of the machines from War of the Worlds, snaked out from the alien's hull and towards the mountain of rubble where Godzilla lay buried.
After a few moments, all of the tentacles were digging around through the rubble, seemingly searching for Godzilla's body. It seemed that they eventually found it for, a moment later, the tentacles began to glow a greenish-yellow. It was then that Miyasaka realized what was going on.
"The alien," Miyasaka said to Katagiri, "it's absorbing Godzilla's DNA, probably so it can survive in our atmosphere."
Katagiri remained silent, but his face seemed to grow a little grimmer at that.
The glow snaked up through the tentacles, which Miyasaka guessed were some kind of tubes, and eventually entered the alien itself. This process continued on for several minutes, with more and more DNA getting pumped into the alien by the minute. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the glow disappeared and, with a sound like a retracting coil, the tubes were retracted back into the alien's hull.
And then, the transformation occurred.
The alien's hull began to shimmer and Miyasaka noticed that, when it was once a solid steel color, the alien was now a shimmering greyish-blue. In fact, one way to describe the alien was by saying it had a texture like clay. But then the alien began to float down from its position above the remains of the Empire State Building, hovering about eighty meters above the ground in front of the skyscraper's remains. And here it began to go through physical changes.
The alien began to morph itself like clay, becoming smaller in size, losing the opening for its energy cannon in the process. But while it did so, it began to shorten in length but widen in width. It also began to become flatter, losing its dome shape. But easily the greatest change was to its front. There the nose began to just away from the rest of the hull and it began to widen. Suddenly, two plasma blue orbs and a pinkish rectangle with odd curves and indentations on it grew from this appendage. And here Miyasaka realized that this wasn't just some sort of appendage. It was its face.
Now, the alien appeared less like a UFO and more like an extraterrestrial being. But the changes weren't even done there. Suddenly, at the bottom of this floating alien organism, a part of itself began to jut downwards. It quickly blossomed into six tentacles, which quickly grew downwards to touch the ground. It was forming legs. And, when four of these legs hit the ground, they arched upwards again, splitting apart to form two new, tentacle-like appendages. Arms and fingers, perhaps. These four arms surrounded the other two appendages, which had not moved since touching the ground. Appendages that Miyasaka guessed were legs.
Then, suddenly, the shimmering stopped and the color faded, now appearing like grey clay. It was this that alerted Miyasaka to the fact that the alien's transformation had finished.
"Well, there it is," Katagiri said. "Looks like this is our alien's true form."
At that moment, the alien lifted its front two arms to its face, almost inspecting them for imperfections. And, when it seemed to have found none, it raised its head to the sky and released a strange, triumphant call. A call that could best be described as a cross between an elephant and a whale. But that was the extent to which it could be described. Beyond that, it was impossible. But one thing was clear.
The transformation was complete.
"Amazing…" Miyasaka said to himself. "I thought that the UFO was a spaceship that the alien piloted. I never suspected that the UFO was the alien."
"Quite the marvel," Katagiri simply said.
Indeed, Miyasaka mentally agreed.
But then something… odd occurred. Out of nowhere, greenish-yellow spots rippled across the alien's form. The alien jolted as this happened, lowering itself and releasing another cry, but one that sounded more anguished than triumphant. Then, the alien's head began to morph again, but not like before. Not with a shimmer and a silent transformation. This transformation was a lot more violent.
As if it were a balloon being inflated with air, the alien's head began to ripple and expand. The opening of the energy cannon began to reform and its facial features began to shrink. Miyasaka wondered if the alien was reverting to its original form, but then he saw that the alien's appendages had started to grow. Its fingers grew to over twice its original thickness, and they curled downwards like claws, disturbing the ground when they hit it. Meanwhile, the back two arms were disappearing altogether, getting sucked back up into the alien's body.
And then, the major changes began to occur. The two leg-like appendages grew into actual legs, thick stumps with three toes armed with claws. The front of its head extended forwards, its plasma blue eyes devolving into small reptilian pupils at either side of the head. Its pink mouth disappeared, growing into a normal mouth, almost like that of a reptile. The back of its head went through an almost indescribable change, shifting, distending, and morphing until, eventually, it became a torso with a bony chest and a body with a large hunchback. A small tail grew from the back, the legs adjusted to sit on either side. Its arms and fingers began to grow even thicker, forming a pair of humongous hands, massive fingers, and huge claws. Even its skin began to change, turning from grey to a greyish-green with light blue highlights.
Honestly, when Miyasaka looked at it, the alien's new form gave him a familiar feeling. Like he had seen something like this before. Meanwhile, giant, yellow teeth began forming in its jaws, and the alien's skin began to change into deformed scales, something resembling a cross between the alien's previous skin and green scales. Green scales like…
Suddenly, it clicked in Miyasaka's head, and he couldn't help but say, "Holy shit!"
Katagiri glanced at him, "What? What is it? What's happening?"
"I don't know how or why," Miyasaka began, "but I think that there is something in Godzilla's DNA that is volatile."
"Volatile?" Katagiri asked.
"I don't know really how to describe it," Miyasaka admitted, "but, for whatever reason, by absorbing Godzilla's DNA, the alien has changed its own. In other words, it's mutating."
Finally, it seemed that this second transformation, this mutation, had finally completed. The alien lifted its new, massive hands to its face, inspecting them again though for an entirely different reason. It then threw its hands to the ground and stomped its feet, kicking up rubble. It raised its massive head into the air, opening its long jaws. The alien then released a roar, one full of anger and anguish. One that still had elements from its previous call, but with added elements from another call entirely. A more primal, reptilian roar. A roar far more familiar.
The roar of Godzilla.
A/N - And that was chapter 21! Sorry that this was such a long chapter, though I think you guys won't mind with everything I have in here. For instance, we get to see a lot more kaiju action and, as the title suggests, we finally get to see Orga's transformation! I would absolutely love it if I could get feedback from you guys about this chapter. Did you like the fighting scenes? Are there any suggestions that could make my writing better! After all, the final battle is going to start soon and I want to make sure it is the best it can be. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of Mutants and Monsters and that you have a great day!