All I Need

by Yannik

It was more than just a simple desire to crush another pretender to his title that had spurred on Godzilla's march of destruction.

As soon as she stepped off the egg-carrier, Madison felt it for the first time. An odd prickling sensation in the back of her mind, as though an errant thought was attempting to claw its way out her skull. At first, it was easy to ignore, write off as nothing more than her stress manifesting in something other than a pounding heart and clammy hands. But the deeper she descended into the bowels of Apex's facility, the more prevalent it became, until it was a steady buzz in her ears, so loud she almost asked Bernie and Josh whether they could hear it too.

The question died in her throat when something beneath her feet rumbled, sending tremors running through the dark, led-lit corridor they had been traversing; like aftershocks of a distant earthquake. Under the glare of artificial light Josh's pale, sweat-drenched face appeared to be practically glowing, as he veered around to face her, his wide, terrified eyes reminding Maddie of a trapped animal.

"Th-the hell was that?!" he demanded in a loud, squeaky voice that reverberated obnoxiously loudly in the otherwise dead silent hallway.

Maintaining a staggering level of composure for someone illegally infiltrating the secret lair of a mech-building, baby-Titan-harvesting multi-billionaire, Bernie rushed to clamp a firm hand down on the boy's mouth before he could make further attempts at busting their cover, hissing a low warning.

"Probably another test run. MechaG is itching for more 'crawly blood."

A good hypothesis, one Maddie found herself instantly disagreeing with for some unfathomable reason. Though, if confronted, she would be unable to provide a logical explanation of her reasoning past something laughably unscientific like a gut feeling, conviction blossomed within her as to the true nature of the rumble that repeated itself once again, insistently rattling the floor beneath her feet. Perhaps it was the shift in pitch of the buzz that clued her in and further confirmed her own theory. Itwas making these noises, and that meant it was something alive.

And it , by all accounts was calling out to her.

The buzz receded, a stranger still noise slotting into its place, washing over her mind in waves reminiscent of the ocean's ebb and flow and drowning out the hushed argument between her two companions. Now she was convinced it was only audible inside her own head, otherwise Josh would have been freaking out even more.

Her mind, analytic by nature and trained to pick things apart to their prime factors, went into overdrive to the point she almost expected twin plumes of smoke to shoot out of her ears. The buzz by itself was not it communicating with her, no, it was just static noise, an open channel, a signal that Maddie's mind was aware of its presence. What in turn made it aware of Maddie to the point of attempting to make contact, she could not tell. Perhaps proximity? They had been steadily descending, most likely nearing where it was.

Determined to test her theory, Maddie took a step forward and immediately paused, a shiver running down her spine because she was almost positive it had just cooed at her. Congratulating her for being smart enough to have figured the puzzle out no doubt, she sarcastically thought to herself, almost as though it could read her mind. What a ridiculous and baseless notion…

The wave of something akin to amusement that travelled along this… thing she could only think to call a link, had her breath hitching. Surely it had to be a colossal coincidence, perhaps it had just found something particularly funny about the way she set her foot down… Though that would imply it was able to see through walls, or perhaps through Maddie's own eyes…

Another noise-filled jolt washed over her mind, this time accompanied by a vague feeling of scales brushing on scales. It sounded disturbingly similar to some form of chuffing, inhuman laughter.

"No. Fu-"

The image of her dad flashed before her eyes, brows furrowed, hands braced on hips and a stern expression plastered on his face. Entirely unrelated to its broadcasts, but no less vivid. 'What did I say about f-bombs?'

"Fudging . Way," she finished under her breath, a bit lamely, though it did little to derail her train of thought. Once she had focused on something, distracting her from it was nigh impossible.

With her friends all but forgotten, Maddie started down the corridor alone, urged on by encouraging coos. The presence had settled in the back of her head with unnerving ease, seamlessly slotting into place like it had belonged there all along. Though the sensation was beyond any comparison, she would most closely liken it to a thought that was so important, her mind would quite literally refuse to forget it.

Despite its foreign, outer-body nature Maddie did not feel particularly unsettled, even when the buzz fully transitioned into a steady hum, that resembled a comfortably coiled snake to her, for some reason. Through the hum she could hear, or rather feel, a gentle, yet insistent, tugging. It wanted her to come to it , and it evidently wanted her to pick up the pace.

Her sneakers thumped softly against the metal grates the floor of the dimly lit hallway consisted of, echoing throughout the empty spaces and returning to her amplified a hundredfold no matter how softly she attempted to thread. Inside Maddie's mind the pressing need to remain inconspicuous warred with the incessant need to get to where it was as soon as possible, though she could not ascertain just how much of her haste had been influenced by her own mind.

After several more dozen steps and a sharp left turn the hallway opened up into a wider, round area blocked off by a sliding door of transparent plexiglass. The service tunnel's metal grates gave way to immaculate grey linoleum, shining ostentatiously in the pale white light of LED panels that lined the circumference of the room's ceiling. A cool breeze wafted over her as soon as the door disappeared into the wall with a soft hiss, sending tiny pinpricks unpleasantly stinging against her skin from where it caressed the many beads of sweat dotting her face.

Slowly, warily Maddie stepped inside and the intensity of the lights made her squint. Three corridors branched off the hub directly in front of her. A large, illuminated screen on the wall to her left proudly displayed Apex's logo, its white letters reflecting in the glass of twin elevators adjacent to it. Much to her relief, she was the room's lone occupant, though the mental image of one of the elevators suddenly opening and disgorging a whole squad of armored guards made her skin crawl with anxiety. Spurred on by that vision Maddie practically took off in a run towards the exits, the heavy pounding of her heartbeat filling her ears to the point of almost drowning it out, but almost immediately skidded to a halt.

Which way was she supposed to go, exactly?

Her eyes nervously swept from one door to the next, then back. Each leading down and away, each identical, each framed with ominous red lights. Apex had enough money to brandish its name on every junction but labelling the doors in their underground facility was apparently just too steep.

Maddie could not even let its pull guide her. The sensation was too vague, less a delineated path and more the general sense that her destination laid somewhere below her.

"Well?" Maddie muttered under her breath, seemingly to herself but in reality she was addressing it . "Any pointers?"

The link's steady hum remained unaltered, though a jolt of confusion reverberated along its length. Her brows furrowed. Did it not understand words? Did she phrase the question wrong? Regardless of the reason, she could not count on any help coming from it . Absentmindedly gnawing on her bottom lip, she took a step towards the leftmost doorway, figuring it was as good of a guess as any, but a disapproving chuff made her pause.

She whirled around, expecting someone to be standing right behind her, the feverish staccato of her pulse thrumming in her throat. No one was there. The hub was empty, just as it had been when she first entered. Another noise rung out in her ears, this one the familiar huffing chuckle from before.

So it could not answer simple questions but had no issues playing an odd version of hunt the thimble with her. It either had a really strange sense of humor or was decidedly not human. Her unerring gut feeling told her that it could very well be both.

"So you can't understand what I'm saying, but… what, you can see what I'm seeing?"

All she got was confusion, again. Right, it could not understand her. Maddie gave herself a mental facepalm.

The middle exit proved to be a bust as well. This time the chuff she received was a little more forceful, like it was starting to get impatient.

"Yeah, yeah," Maddie huffed, following the winding rightmost hallway at a brisk pace. "Cool your jets."

As she continued her descent, the press of its presence in the back of her mind became even more tangible. Maddie had to pause several times to prevent herself from tripping when foreign afterimages flashed rapid fire before her eyes. Scales, metal, flashing orange lights, tiny figures clad in white scurrying around like worker ants. She swayed unsteadily, bracing against one of the walls and trying to get her breathing under control. Every time she blinked those images appeared, burned in the backs of her eyelids.

"A little warning next time…" she stuttered, still reeling from the shock of suddenly seeing things from someone else's perspective. "Okay?"

It might not have been able to understand her words, but emotions appeared to be a universally comprehended language. An apologetic coo echoed throughout her mind, as if it was trying to tell her "sorry, won't do it again".

Titans having common decency was a reassuring notion.

Because there was no doubt in Maddie's mind that it was a Titan. Seeing through its eyes only solidified her growing suspicion. Somehow that knowledge only made her infinitely more excited.

Having spent countless hours studying all the articles, reports and academic papers relating to titanology she could get her hands on, Maddie considered herself a Titan specialist in everything but degree. Yet in all her time poring over every entry in Monarch's database she never came across a Titan capable of telepathic communication like what she was experiencing now. Mothra was the exception, but she was neither alive nor possessed scales. It could not be Godzilla for obvious reasons, not that there had been any indication he was capable of this manner of communication.

No matter how hard Maddie wracked her brain she could not come up with a logical candidate for which Titan Apex had managed to stow away in their base of operations. Monarch would have noticed if one of their charges had been snatched from their natural habitat. And as far as she knew neither Methuselah or Quetzalcoatl had recently been misplaced.

That only left one possibility, one that made Maddie practically quiver with anxious anticipation. She was contacting a brand new, never previously recorded Titan.

Her reverie was broken by a questioning hum carefully prodding her mind. It must have realized forcefully projecting into Maddie's psyche was a bad idea and appeared to be acting more careful this time. A quick learner. Fascinating, she thought.

"I'm fine," she could not stop herself from whispering and, realizing she would not be understood, closed her eyes and attempted to focus on her giddiness and excitement, highlighting them for it to pick up on.

Though Maddie had not the slightest clue on how to mimic its projections, it seemingly did not prevent it from knowing exactly what she was thinking and seeing. She was rewarded with a pleased rumble that resonated with, unless she was reading a little too hard into it, a smidge of pride. A hint of a smile played across her lips at that.

"Guess we're both quick learners."

Without sudden flashes shooting across her vision Maddie was able to continue at a steady, brisk pace. Down here time seemed an entirely nebulous concept, its passage invisible and easy to forget. The steadily increasing volume of it inside her head served as her only clue as to how close she was to where she was headed. It appeared to be becoming more aware of her surroundings, able to point her in the right direction the moment she entered another brightly lit node.

When Maddie finally came across another human, it had huffed at her, a sharp, pointed noise signaling danger before the sound of footsteps even reached her ears. The warning gave her enough time to scurry into a shadowed alcove between two wall planes and hold her breath long enough for the two guards to pass by. Such instances soon became all too common, with it barely managing to alert her in time to seek shelter.

Eventually the sloping corridor evened out into a flat surface. Noises of entirely non-psychic origin began to drift towards her, prompting Maddie to slow down and plaster herself to the nearest wall. Loud shouts and the humming of engines comprised a bustle she would have expected from a military warship's deck. They made the floor beneath her feet vibrate subtly.

The hallway's exit loomed ahead of her, behind one final bend, basked in streams of white, surgical light. Maddie crept up to the very edge, now extremely mindful of not making any noise and slowly peeked around the corner.

And her jaw dropped.

Before her stretched out the largest hangar she had ever seen, several times Fenway's size, its other end disappearing in the faraway shadows. What luck that it had navigated her through what appeared to be service tunnels, not frequented by the hundreds of Apex workers that swarmed the area. But that was not what caught her eye. Nor were it the giant tanks of dark red liquid being loaded onto the hovertank-esque carriers, identical to the one she had arrived in Hong Kong on, that then departed through purple-white speedway tunnels.

Because she was looking directly at it and it was gazing right back with one enormous orange-yellow orb.

This time when it hummed at her, the sentiment behind it alike a happy greeting, she heard it properly and not just through their mental link.

It was a Titan in every sense of the word. An enormous reptilian creature with jagged back scutes similar to those Godzilla had become synonymous with, yet entirely unlike the King. The plating resembled uneven blades, sharpened and vicious. His, because it was very clearly a he, snout was slimmer than Godzilla's, with a pronounced chin and longer jaws, now entrapped by a steel halo. Hardened scales jutted out above deep-set, large eyes forming ominous eyeridges.

The rest of his body was difficult to glimpse, disappearing behind the sea of flesh and metal, but what Maddie could easily spot were the enormous clamps that wrapped around the Titan's body. There were seven of them, each supported by long beams attached to the ceiling and floor, preventing the captive from even twitching. Several tubes extended out of his flanks and neck, some siphoning his blood and bone marrow and some pumping in a sickly yellowish liquid into his blood stream.

Something stirred in Maddie's breast, the familiar burn of barely contained rage licking at the walls of her stomach. She had to ball her hands into fists to prevent them from shaking. These bastards, how dare they—

He let out an inquisitive chuff, managing a minute cock of his head, staring directly at her. No one appeared to be paying him any mind, too busy packing shop apparently. A booming voice resonated from the loudspeakers hooked up along the walls, unintelligible to Maddie. The possibility of anyone glancing her way amidst the chaos was slim to none, so she felt relatively at ease focusing her attention solely on him.

The hum of the link petered out, solidifying into a firm presence that felt so at home in her mind that Maddie immediately adapted to it. It felt like a shroud had extended above her brain, blanketing it in an alien yet comforting manner, as tenuous as it was adamantine. Unless she actively reached out with her consciousness to press against the shroud, meld with it, it was easy to ignore. It felt a lot like the Titan was attempting to create a barrier around her tender mind, prevent her from experiencing something as mind boggling as projecting images.

Maddie breathed in, then out, steeling her nerves and closing her eyes, focusing on that shroud. She envisioned it in her head, wide and expansive as the sky, and reached out towards it, intent on running her fingers along its sinuous surface. For a split second when her pads made contact with it she felt her psyche fleeing her body, momentarily suspended in an inky nothingness and then she was gazing at herself from up high, a glowing beacon in a sea of mute greys and browns.

And then she pulled away, instantaneously catapulted back into her own body. Gasping as if she had just run a marathon, she leaned heavily against the nearest wall. Her legs were shaking, her stomach was performing gravity defying flips and her skin stuck uncomfortably to her clothes, suddenly covered in a fresh layer of cold sweat.

And she loved every second of it.

"Holy… fuck…" Maddie breathed, a mad grin spreading across her face.

Her glee was sensed and reciprocated, the Titan huffing in satisfaction. Mimicking Maddie's message from before, he projected the image of her own laughing form and correlating feelings of happiness. He was palpably glad he made her happy and that damn near made her "d'aww" out loud. Her heartstrings had been effectively pulled on.

Maddie was just about to reach out once again to feel that exhilarating rush, when something elsewhere underground exploded. The force behind it sent her slamming bodily against the floor, leaving her coughing and blinking blearily. People in the hangar were barking orders, scientists and guards filing into lines and embarking onto the transports, but the noise was muted by the incessant ringing filling her ears. Despite the daze Maddie could still clearly feel the Titan's mind against her own, reaching out in clear worry.

"'m fine…" she mumbled, climbing back to her feet, the cobwebs at last clearing from her vision.

The hangar, a bustling locus of activity not five minutes ago, was now left eerily barren. Laptops, papers strewn atop folding tables left unattended in the evacuation's haste. Must be a common point of OSH training: how to get the hell out of dodge asap in case of a Titan attack, she mused, slowly creeping out of her hidey hole and glancing around to confirm no stragglers remained.

Dust and sprinklings of grinded concrete rained down upon, as she carefully made her way through the mess towards the trapped Titan.

Up close more differences between this Titan and Godzilla became apparent. His arms, forced against his sides by a ring thicker than a bridge's beam, were longer with a clearly defined elbow joint and equipped with dexterous hands with long fingers. Powerful legs, rippling with muscle, stretched out on either side of a long, thick tail. He looked lighter, faster. Where Godzilla was raw power, he was speed.

A soft rumble cut through the deafening silence that had befallen the hangar, prompting Maddie to look up and meet the Titan's gaze. She could not stop a gentle smile from tilting the corners of her mouth upwards, as the magnitude of this event at last fully dawned on her.

She was interacting with a Titan . One on one, without a language barrier, without the need for ORCA. They spoke, in a way. They understood each other, undoubtedly. He listened, adapted, careful not to overwhelm her. Ilene, Stanton and her dad back at Monarch would throw a fit when she told them.

"You're amazing, you know," she told him, eyes shining brightly.

He had no need to understand her words, the emotions accompanying them were enough for him to grasp the sentiment and he rumbled again, one giant eye suspended high above her shining in so very human-like happiness.

This time he initiated the contact, the strand hanging in-between her minds like an open invitation. She eagerly accepted, this time prepared for the queasy feeling of vertigo when her mind piggybacked on his for a change. An image unfolded before her in that decisively inhuman color palette and she was presented the hangar once again from the Titan's eyes. It was filled with people, milling about in irrelevant routines, like it had been earlier and with a disembodied gasp Maddie realized she was being shown a memory.

Still getting over having her mind blown for the umpteenth time today, she almost missed what the Titan was attempting to show her. It earned her a disapproving huff, strangely similar to the way her dad sounded whenever she zoned out during one of his big talks. Suddenly very sheepish, Maddie obediently focused on the hazy projection and found the Titan zeroing in on a pair of white-clad and ant-sized humans fiddling around a terminal tucked away in the far corner of the hangar.

The recall of her mind to its mortal vessel was considerably less nauseating this time and Maddie was proud to realize her legs were only somewhat jellified. Another pleased huff had her nearly preening. Being complimented by a being the size of a skyscraper was quite the ego petting.

She flashed him a quick thumbs up that had his eyeridges furrowing in confusion and quickly took off towards the terminal. His reasoning for showing her that memory was clear.

Having been forgotten in the previous commotion, the screen remained lit up, a softly glowing patchwork of white lines and pulsating dots that coalesced into a rudimentary profile sketch of the Titan's body. Above it, written out in large, blocky letters at the center of the screen a name shone up at her.

Titanus Jira, Codename: Zilla

"Zilla," she tasted the name on her tongue and to her surprise the Titan made a small noise of recognition, humming in the back of her mind as he beheld the screen through Maddie's eyes. "Nice to finally put a name to a face."

The device was teeming with information on Zilla, folders filled with dozens of pictures and reports left open for Maddie to freely ogle at. Yet she had no time to read through it all, much to her despair. Though not given voice, the Titan's silent impatience remained palpable, rippling like waves across the shroud. More than just the need to be freed from his chains.

Maddie grasped at the ill-concealed feelings of anxiety roiling off him in waves, visualizing him fidgeting nervously and presenting it as a query inside her mind. She received a short huff in return, like the ones he had warned her of approaching patrols with during her trek here. Shaking walls and distant roars blossomed before Maddie's eyes. Danger.

Maddie had seen enough Monarch-issued touchscreen computers to have a general idea of how to operate one. Her fingers glided over the smooth, cool surface, bringing Zilla's outline up to study more closely. Each pulsating dot represented a different tube poking out of his bulk, the reds described as "harvest" and the yellows as "sedation". What kind of a mixture was able to sedate a Titan ?

Pressing on one of the flashing dots displayed a contextual menu, another sent the tube, tipped with a viciously curved blade shooting out of Zilla's body with a hiss of released pressure. Smiling triumphantly, Maddie made quick work of the others. A low hum echoed across the hangar once the final sedation needle was out, spewing yellow liquid over the concrete floor like puss from a wound. Contentment and gratitude flowed freely across their link.

Without the sedative to rob away control of his body, Zilla's massive frame coiled in on itself and rammed against the binds containing him. But they left stiflingly little wiggle room. The rings barely quivered under the Titan's weight.

A flash of red and orange caught Maddie's attention, drawing her eyes back to the screen. 'WARNING: SPECIMEN BREAKING CONTAINMENT' the device screamed at her, all blocky letters and flaring outlines of the rings from where pressure was being applied to their structure. She tried pressing on them, hoping it would take her to some sort of management menu but instead a query popped up for her consideration: "Release bindings?"

Maddie blinked, momentarily disbelieving. Her finger hovered over the 'yes'. "Well, since you asked…"

With resounding thuds the clasps were blasted off their hinges, crashing against concrete walls in fountains of debris. Despite herself Maddie could not help an instinctive step back, craning her neck to observe as Zilla rose, taking stock of sore limbs and stretching out with a low rumble. The ceiling hung too low for him to straighten out fully. Even when hunched, the sharp tips of his scutes carved deep furrows into the canopy.

Maddie only realized her jaw had been hanging open when Zilla, having finished scrutinizing his still slightly stinging sides, carefully lowered his massive head right in front of her. Warm air blew her hair back, stirred into motion by another amused exhale from the Titan. This time she did not back away. A child-like excitement blossomed in her chest, eyes filled with wonder just like they had been when she first met Mothra all those years ago. Just like then, Zilla was also within arm's reach. A monolith of grey entirely dwarfing her.

Slowly, almost reverently, Maddie extended her arm, yet hesitated before her fingers made contact. A pair of golden orbs was observing her patiently when she glanced up, seeking his permission. They closed in a lazy, reassuring blink and she closed the last few inches of distance left between them. Zilla's scales were smoother than she would have thought, warm and sturdy beneath her palm.

Her own eyes drifted shut as a steady hum resonated from the depths of Zilla's cavernous chest, its tremors rattling Maddie's body as though she were experiencing another earthquake. For a brief moment they remained like that, tethered in place by the simple act of touch. Like a mute agreement, the forming of a pact.

A tingling sensation, starting at the pads of her fingers, travelled up the length of Maddie's arm and soon spread all over her. Focused on her mindscape, she was only vaguely aware of its trajectory. The shroud undulated above her, slowly dissolving into wispy strands akin to clouds and from behind it the blazing supernova of Zilla's psyche emerged. Maddie pondered briefly, as its rays enveloped her consciousness and cradled it tenderly, that such telepathic power would have undoubtedly left her mind a razed mess had the Titan exposed her to it at the start.

When she pulled away a golden glow remained, flickering subtly at the edges of her vision, a constant reminder of her now cemented link to this Titan, who was now gazing down upon her with fondness she had once thought unattainable for any creature barring human.

Hatchling.

The voice was soft, underlined with the whisper of crashing waves, bringing forth images of a calm, sunlit ocean to Maddie's mind. Instead of travelling along the tether of their link, it originated from within her, the halo's hue deepening for a second. It was not exactly speech, rather her mind grasping the meaning of his projection and translating it in the most comprehensible way.

Though the sentiment made a bubbling sort of warmth spread across her chest, Maddie still feel obligated to open her mouth and attempt to defend herself that she was neither a child nor a hatchling, but the Titan's movement once again made the words die in her throat. Zilla angled his head sideways, flattening his chin and throat against the ground and tilting away from Maddie.

She blinked, her brain short-circuiting briefly. Was he seriously asking her to—

Climb.

To further relay his request, an image of Maddie's small frame scaling the side of his neck and settling in one of the crooks between his dorsal spikes, sheltered and safe. Touching a Titan was one thing, climbing one something wholly different. She could already imagine the face her dad would make if he saw her in that moment.

A higher pitched trill caught her attention, Zilla once again prompting her to make eye contact.

Safe , he promised, staying as perfectly still as he could, likely trying not to spook her too much.

And Maddie believed him, instantly and without question. The idea of anything causing her harm with a Titan caretaker to look out for her was laughable. Her palms braced against the softly rumbling skin, pulled taut around his pliant neck and considered that this really was not the direction she had thought her day would take when she knocked on Bernie's door.

Wait… Bernie.

"Oh fu—"

Mark Russel considered himself a man with nerves of steel. He had faced down Godzilla after his rebirth, then Mothra and her blinding God Rays, raced into the middle of battle-wrought Boston and even survived the many escapades of his daughter with mental health still more or less intact.

When an enormous metallic creature burst out from the ground in an explosion of rocks and debris from Apex's facility, roaring a challenge at the only Titan standing in the desolated Hong Kong, he took it in stride. Naturally they would have had what appeared to be a Mechanized Godzilla; a MechaGodzilla if you will. With something he could only describe as congenital hatred for his flesh-and-bone original, Mark observed the manmade Titan barrel into Godzilla, sending him crashing down through one of the few skyscrapers that yet remained untouched after the King's initial fight with Kong.

Asking his team if they had any information on this new threat was pointless. They had nothing. His knuckles turned a sickly shade of white when his grip on the seat's backrest tightened. A familiar nauseating feeling of helplessness pooled in the pit of his stomach, chilling his heart and freezing limbs. There were no jets to scramble this time, no Argo to pilot into the fray, no G-Team to send in. All Mark could do was stand and watch, as the Mecha rammed Godzilla's head through steel and glass, the King's body getting progressively more slack. In his exhausted state he appeared to be no match for the artificial clone.

He could only hope Maddie, wherever she was, was safe.

And then the ground rumbled a second time, the quake sensed all the way in their elevated vantage point.

"Oh no, not another one…" someone moaned in horror somewhere behind him.

Mark's heart plummeted. One was already an unbridled force of destruction, but two…

Ground flowed like water, cascading off a noticeably more biological frame, as it burst through the earth's layer, a little to the side of where MechaGodzilla had originally emerged from. Charcoal grey scales shone in the dawning sun, caught on the sharp edges of sickle-like claws and jagged back spines, when the Titan threw his head back and let out a roar. It was oddly reminiscent of Godzilla's, as was this unknown creature's appearance, though more hunched over, slimmer with a tail held straight and longer arms. At first glance it could be considered some sort of ancient precursor of present day iguanas.

"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath, wide eyes boring into the new threat. "How many more Titans does Apex have stashed down there?"

Any levity brought on by his joke evaporated instantaneously when the reptile Titan's angular head turned towards them. Mark's stomach somersaulted, though remained rooted in place, transfixed by the fluidity of this new monster's movement as it leapt towards them. Other Monarch employees lurched towards the exit, wanting to put as much distance between the incoming threat and themselves, but before they could make it ten feet, the Titan's head was already looming over them, blocking out the sun and enshrouding them in darkness.

One giant eye, golden-yellow and contracted into a thin slit, bore into Mark's own. A chill travelled up his spine at the depth of intelligence in that honey colored pool, yet he stood his ground, kept in place by either foolish bravery or muscle-freezing terror. The Titan snorted and Mark could have sworn it sounded a lot like the creature was amused, and then lowered his great head, bracing his chin against the building's very edge at an angle that turned the flat, barbed top of his head into a monstrous parody of a slide.

Completely enraptured by the mindboggling display unfolding before his eyes, Mark initially missed the tiny silhouette emerging from the thicket of man-sized scutes dotting the Titan's nape and waving at him maniacally.

"Dad! Dad! DAD!"

Mark blinked once, twice and then felt something colliding with his body the impact nearly knocking him over and he suddenly realized he had an armful of his daughter, alive, well, covered head-to-toe in grey dust and not at all where she was supposed to be.

"M-Maddie?" he choked out, finally finding his voice and returning the embrace, crushing Maddie against his chest with an iron grip. "What… What the… You…"

Before he could even consider questioning Maddie's appearance and mode of transport, their happy little reunion was interrupted by an ear-splitting roar right above their heads of such pure rage Mark felt the sudden urge to shrink into himself and disappear. Still held tightly in his embrace, Maddie shuddered, pressing a hand to her temple and mumbling, close enough for Mark to hear despite the ringing in his ears.

"Oh, he's mad ."

With Hatchling now safe under her brood-parent's care he could at last turn his attention to the Scentless Freak. Despite the sizzling anger flowing through his veins and burning the walls of his lungs, he had been patient. Hatchling's safety had been the topmost priority. What a treasure, a golden beacon amongst a mire of mud and steel. Their link was a cherished thing, a blissful sensation he had not felt in eons that brought to the forefront of his mind memories of Pack that warmed his insides and filled his muscles with the strength he needed to overcome the lingering stiffness of long unused muscles. They would meet again, he would make sure of it.

Zilla chuffed, picking up on Hatchling's happiness and mimicking it, as she nuzzled against her brood-parent, another ant-human. Entirely ill-equipped to protect Hatchling against any threats, he noticed, displeased. Not like that was needed anymore. As her bond-mate Zilla would more than gladly fill that role. For now he would graciously allow the brood-parent to oversee Hatchling and make sure she would not go wandering off somewhere.

He turned to face the Scentless, balancing low on his haunches in preparation for another sprint, when his eyes fell upon the mangled, scaled figured lying at his feet. Zilla's eyes shot open, pupils dilating in shock.

Godzilla. His Mate. On his chest, wheezing, struggling to heave himself off the ground, letting out a choked roar of agony when metal claws clamped down around his skull and dug into the armored skin, drawing blood.

Their link, red and ever vibrant, had been dulled by poison and distance. As such Zilla was only vaguely aware of his Mate's pain and anger, left only with the agonizing knowledge that Godzilla was in danger and he was trapped in binds. But to see him like that, helpless and overwhelmed, weakly pawing at the claws crushing his head in a vice, unrelenting grip.

Something within Zilla snapped, his jaws flew open and he bellowed out a screech of fury unlike anything he had ever heard himself utter. He was distantly aware of Hatchling flinching at the force of his mental and physical outburst, but the pressing need to protect his Mate overrode the need to protect Hatchling in that moment.

Godzilla's eyes fluttered open at the sound, half-lidded and dulled by exhaustion but still managing to meet his gaze. A flicker of something glimmered in those orange orbs, something raw and unguarded for once; relief, happiness. They had been separated for too long and Zilla would be damned to allow the Pretender to stand between them a moment longer.

With another exclamation of rage that shook the very foundations of Earth, Zilla barreled towards the silver-metal back of his foe, ostentatiously glimmering in the sun's rays. The Pretender paid him no mind, laser-focused on Godzilla with a primal hatred Zilla would not have thought the Mimic's abnormal mind capable of, and mute to the iguana Titan's anger.

What did catch his attention were the several tens of thousands of tons crushing down on his back and a pair of powerful jaws clamping down on the back of his neck. Four sets of wickedly sharp claws curled into his armor, leaving deep furrows in its surface. He screeched, an ugly mechanical sound and released his true prey, leaving Godzilla to crumple limply to the ground, to focus on this new assailant.

Zilla clawed and bit with reckless abandon, aiming for arteries and soft skin to make the best hurt . Yet they simply were not there. No deliciously warm blood gushed out of the Mimic's crushed nape to fill his dry, aching throat. No ichor stained his claws crimson. The metal beast's cries were not those of pain but simply anger at this new nuisance preventing him from finishing off his prey. That only spurred Zilla to further anger. He would tear this Freak limb from limb for daring to lay a hand on his Mate.

Clawed fingers deftly hooked under a plate of armor situated right below the Mecha's neck and, with a grunt of exertion Zilla pried it back far enough to allow room for his muzzle to fit in. His eyes lit up briefly with a flash of emerald, a familiar sensation bubbling up in his gullet and spilling forth from between parted jaws, flooding the Mimic's insides with a torrent of jade flames.

The roar of what could pass for pain coupled with anger was like music to Zilla's ears. The sharp stench of sulfur and ozone filled his nostrils and the combination had never smelled sweeter. Flames bubbled in the back of his throat once more, ready to be disgorged into the blackened wound a second time, but dissolved into bitter smoke in his mouth when an iron grip clamped down around his throat.

He gagged, lashing out with his legs, leaving deep scores amongst the metal beast's dorsal plates, before a monstrous force pried him off and in one fluid motion hurled across the battlefield with terrifying ease. Thinking fast Zilla mustered an elegant twirl in midair, landing on his feet rather than back, skidding through the ruins of human-hives in a shower of dirt and debris with clawed hands grasping at the earth in an attempt to slow himself down, leaving behind several mile-long gorges.

Heaving a breath and steeling himself, his head whipped up to zero in on the Mimic. He had now turned to face Zilla head on, the grievous offense that was the still smoldering spot between his shoulders prompting him to focus solely on the hobbledehoy that had caused it. Exactly what Zilla had been aiming for, giving Godzilla time to recover.

Another challenging roar heralded a second charge from the trueborn Titan. Zilla angled himself directly at his mechanical foe, as if he meant to barrel into him head first. Missing the inborn instinct present in all of the enemies Zilla had faced before, the Mecha assumed that the iguana would actually ram into him, spreading his legs out for better purchase and looking to meet him head on. A crazed cackle echoed in Zilla's mind at that ridiculous notion and he took great pleasure in seeing what almost looked like surprise flicker in those red, soulless irises when he launched himself off the ground in a mighty leap and slammed his feet into the Mimic's snout and neck.

With a dissonant chorus of furious roars and screeches, the two Titans crashed onto the ground, their writhing frames obscured by a cyclone of dust that whirled around them. Zilla forced his foe down, pinning the Mimic with his feet braced against the metal beast's sternum and clamping his jaws around his neck. The creature thrashed beneath him, landing a hard hit into the pit of the Titan's stomach with one of his forearms before Zilla's clawing talons could reach one of his shiny eyes. The iguana's jaws went slack as the air was forced out of his lungs with a heavy wheeze, momentarily dazed. It was enough of an opening for the Mimic to rear his legs and ram them into Zilla's torso, sending the lighter creature careening through the air.

Zilla crashed down hard, scutes piercing the ground and preventing him from sliding any further. Gasping for air, he gave his head a firm shake to clear his vision before it could drift too far out of focus. The dust had yet to settle, surrounding him in a blanket of stifling grey-black, obscuring the view of the Mimic. Scrambling to his feet, he remained alert and crouched to instinctively protect his underbelly, whipping his head from side to side but his eyes could not pierce the shroud of dirt particles flittering through the air. It felt like dusk had fallen already despite it being the crack of dawn.

A low snarl rumbled in the back of his throat, lips peeling back in agitation. The persistent feeling of being exposed and vulnerable put him on edge. Something sparkled in the mist, catching his eye and Zilla had just enough time to dash to the side before a hellishly red beam screamed towards him at the speed of light, its force splitting the cover of dust-fog in twain. The very edge of the energy cone clipped his shin right below the knee before he could fully move out of the way, forcing an involuntary cry of pain from the iguana Titan.

He landed haphazardly, braced on his front limbs and had to immediately take off into another frantic sprint when he spotted crimson beams coalescing in the Mimic's muzzle once more. The beam whizzed over his head, singing the tips of his scutes which thankfully did not have any nerve clusters within them, carving off the top half of a nearby human-hive. It collapsed into a shapeless heap right beside Zilla, kicking up another typhoon of dust. Thinking fast Zilla let out a strangled screech and lurched towards its center, using the cloud as cover as he burrowed his way underground.

Playing dead made hot shame pool into his stomach, its unpleasant burn almost making him squirm in his hiding spot. He swallowed it down though, reminding himself that he was simply stalling for time. This False Titan deserved no such thing as honorable combat, only suffering.

The ground enclosing him shook under the weight of the Mimic's footsteps. No doubt he was coming to marvel at the sight of his swift adversary's corpse. Let him come then. When the footfalls echoed right above him, Zilla uncoiled and in one fluid motion honed over millennia of practice exploded from the ground right underneath the Scentless's feet. In a move that would cripple any prey Zilla had ever hunted, his razor sharp scutes sliced through the metal beast's loins as he dashed between his legs, severing arteries and tendons.

But the Mimic was not regular prey. He had no crippling soft spots to slice into. Zilla's strike left him reeling in surprise, not pain and by the time the iguana Titan had turned around to face his foe down once more, the Mimic had done the same. A pang of dread stabbed painfully through his heart, eyes involuntarily widening in shock at the sight of the artificial mockery towering over him without even appearing to be hurt. The smokes left in the wake of Zilla's flames had ceased smoldering. By all accounts the Mimic appeared to be untouched.

Despite the sinking feeling of hopelessness threatening to pull him back into the ground's embrace, Zilla stood his ground, snarling defiantly in the face of an enemy he was hopelessly outmatched against. The Mimic levelled him with a cold, soulless stare, then parted his jaws. Powerful muscles tensing, Zilla readied himself to bolt but it was not another crimson beam that blasted in his direction. Instead the metal beast threw his head back, emitting a scratching, chittering noise that chilled the iguana to the bone.

The Mimic was laughing, a hideous sound, its cadence brimming with malice and a feral sort of bloodlust glee that could only be mustered by the cruelest of intelligences. Nothing about this creature was natural. It was a perversion, a blight upon the world, a twisted manifestation that defied nature's laws.

And he also appeared to be entirely aware of his abhorrent nature, using it to his advantage when he abruptly blasted forward with a crash alike thunder, heading at the still petrified Zilla with staggering speed. The Titan recoiled with a surprised screech but by then it was too late to move out of the way, and he soon felt cold, bloodless claws wrapping around his throat, yanking him off his feet. For a moment he dangled helplessly in the Mimic's iron grip, claws tearing at the rough carapace covering the metallic freak's forearm in a vain attempt to free himself, feet kicking in midair seeking purchase that was not there.

His brief air trip ended with a hard crunch. His scutes rammed into the outer shelling of a human-hive, pelting his back with debris, the impact forcing a strangled wheeze past the unrelenting claws crushing his larynx, and burying him partway into the artificial wall. Breathless, his vision swimming, Zilla looked up at the mechanical face forever frozen in a bloodthirsty leer, finding himself practically nose to nose with the Mimic. Refusing to be cowed, he bucked his legs forward, claws scraping along the belly plating of the artificial monstrosity in a sluggish evisceration effort.

Pale blue aura crackled around the Mimic's other arm, enveloping his fist with a steadily rising whine that resonated irksomely in Zilla's ears. The sight made him flail more forcefully, ramming the heels of his feet into the Mimic's stomach to dislodge the death-grip around his neck. To no avail. Next thing he knew was the metal beast's fist making contact with his exposed sternum and the world exploded.

Darkness flooded his vision. For a moment Zilla neither knew or felt anything. His consciousness floated in a void, weightless and untethered, sinking into nothingness. Just then a golden hued strand streaked in his direction from the shadows, like a ray of sunlight piercing the cover of stifling black, carrying with it a faint roar of anger and dismay.

It jolted him awake, eyes snapping open to a blur of blues and browns that whirled around him in incoherent corkscrews, a second before his body slammed into the ground with a loud crash. Carried by the hit's momentum, he somersaulted head-over-tail once, twice, then came to an abrupt halt on his front. Everything was spinning, the measly contents of his stomach disagreeing loudly with the view his eyes provided, so he closed them. His chest pulsed in a dull ache with every heartbeat, forcing him to suck in shallow breaths and a bitter taste of soot clung to the roof of his mouth.

With shaking arms, Zilla pushed himself up, coughing and gasping for air. The bleariness obscuring his vision cleared with another forceful blink, leaving him staring in mute horror as the Mimic lumbered towards him, unwavering and unrelenting like death itself.

Doubt clouded his mind, its hungering fangs digging into his psyche like cancer. He was too weak, too hopelessly outmatched against the Mimic's brute strength and unnatural durability. For all his speed and agility, they were only enough to keep him alive, albeit barely. For how long could he run, prolonging the inevitable?

As long as it took. Anger flooded his bloodstream. Twin sets of razor sharp teeth ground against one another. If he were to die, he would not die cowed and terrified.

It took him a frustrating amount of effort to straighten out fully despite the stabbing ache in his chest, long sinewy tail dragging along the rubble to balance him out. An intimidation display that would not work on a creature bereft of instinct. For all MechaGodzilla knew, Zilla was just foolishly exposing himself as an easier target.

As crimson flooded the metal beast's maw, Zilla's own yawned open in a roar, all of his fury and defiance poured into that one, earth-shaking exclamation. The massive muscles in his powerful legs bunched and tensed, preparing for another leap, another mad dash. The Mimic reared his head back, glinting eyes boring into Zilla, preparing to unleash his attack. And then—

A beam of azure screamed past Zilla's head, right above his shoulder, and exploded against the Mimic's parted jaws. The beast stumbled, crimson wisps evaporating from his maw, screeching in shocked fury, his glinting flame obscured by a cloud of ebony smoke.

Zilla's heart thumped harder, the blue light's intensity seared into the backs of his eyelids for a moment longer, and he whirled around unable to stamp down a happy trill that tore its way from his throat. For he would have recognized that unmistakable shade anywhere, at any time.

There, he stood. Illuminated from behind by the rising sun, he cut an imposing figure against its blazing orange-yellow shield. Its rays danced across his charcoal grey scales, catching on their edges and racing across the deep rivulets between them, accentuating the raw strength etched into every crevice of his titanic frame. The jagged spines upon his back thrummed with unfathomable power, flooding the desolate landscape with a pulsating aura, its rich blue glow wrapping around him like a halo, bright enough to rival the sun itself. A god incarnate. An avatar of nature's vengeance.

Their eyes met for but a moment, gold and blazing azure, and no words were needed for them to understand one another. The strand of crimson came alive inside Zilla's mind, vibrant and glowing once more, coiled against the newer thread of gold in perfect harmony. Newfound strength flooded his body, washing away the aches of bruised flesh.

In unison they faced the Mimic emerging from behind a curtain of acrid black, Zilla crouched and tensed, Godzilla tall and proud. No hesitation showed in the metal beast's movements, as it lumbered towards them, an abomination of blood-crimson and moon-silver driven forth by an insidious manifestation of a dark will. Zilla had never seen Ghidorah, only caught glimpses of the Golden Demise from Godzilla's sleep-addled mind during the silent pre-dawn hours, curled around his Mate and soothing the dark waves of nightmares roiling across their mind-link.

Visions of the alien storm-sire, its echoing thunder-roar splitting the heavens, once again swarmed their link and Zilla knew. Hatred and disgust rolled off Godzilla in waves, thick and pungent even for the psychically inept, their target evident. Nightly terrors had risen up to plague the King again, twisted and jeering, mocking the bloodied victory of five years prior.

Heavy slams of Godzilla's thick, plated tail betrayed the barely contained emotions clawing at his insides. He had fought and sacrificed, burned and bled, only to ultimately triumph despite the impossible odds. And this was how the world repaid his sacrifice. By dredging up past demons he had long put in the ground, parading them around before his eyes like an undead puppet, fashioned after his own likeness in some morbid joke, imbued with what remained of Ghidorah's cruel, twisted soul.

Yet, he was not alone this time. This strange link, this strand of deep maroon he could clearly visualize whenever he closed his eyes, pulsed softly, whispering reassurances and sweet promises into his exhausted mind. His tether to the one who had shown him his true worth came from more than bloodstained titles and collaring duties. Who had proven to him he was not just a King, an Alpha, a protector of this ungrateful domain, but simply Godzilla, a lonely Titan, the last of his kind, closed off to the cruel world around him because to admit vulnerability meant death. Who had no expectations of him, no terror-fueled worship to bestow upon him or avaricious groveling to gain his favor. Whose disappearance had torn a gaping wound in his heart, raw and bleeding, that no amount of destruction or death could mend.

Now Zilla was by his side once more, the architect of their joint suffering before them, and the hole had begun to scab over. Godzilla would be damned if he let anything separate them this time. Again he would fight and bleed until the bitter end, until his scales peeled and withered, until his bones turned to wind-carried dust, until the ancient flame within him turned to naught but smoldering embers. Not for an empty title, not out of necessity, not to keep his position because it was required of him, but for himself. For them.

He had never felt more free and truly alive in his long – too long – life.

That conviction kindled a roaring bonfire within his breast. It shone bright and true, eclipsing even the glow of his fire. Later thoroughly questioned, onlookers would hastily claim a light reddish hue had danced across the tips of Godzilla's spines in that moment. Even the sun seemingly dimmed, as if it too saw it fit to pay him tribute.

"Together," Godzilla breathed, voice deep and cracking like the Earth's very roots had coalesced into a physical entity and roared out their will upon the world.

"Together," Zilla echoed, cadence ever-shifting yet unrelenting, deceptively calm on its surface yet cunningly ruthless beneath, like the primal riptides that had shaped this world in eons past.

And Earth and Sea charged as one.

Zilla reached their foe first. Expecting the iguana to once more try the leaping trick, the Mecha reared his head back, a red glow alighting in the depths of his gullet-less throat. For once his calculations failed him. Zilla's lighter frame veered out of the way at the last second and Godzilla's great bulk rammed into him with the force of an erupting volcano, leaving the Pretender's feet sliding and digging into the soil to halt the overwhelming advance. The King and the Mimic clashed head on, arms grappling, jaws biting. Zilla circled to the side, dashing underneath the metal beast's outstretched limbs slicing his scutes along the exposed flank, leaving an outpour of sparks and rancid life-blood in his wake.

Yet the spurious Titan would not be so easily felled. His sinuous tail coiled, as though led by a mind of its own, lashing out in a heavy strike against Zilla's ribs, that echoed like the crack of thunder and sent his overly light frame skidding away in a tidal wave of uprooted ground. Cones of orange-red flames exploded from between his own, lackluster by comparison, row of back plating, propelling him sideways and dragging Godzilla into an off-balance stumble.

His enraged roar sputtered off into a breathless grunt when the Mimic's knee crashed into his bulky torso, further aggravating existing aches. Unbidden, strands of azure trickled past the corners of his mouth, evaporating in the early morning air. Biting down the pain consuming his body, as he had done countless times before, he swung his head forward in retaliation. Its hard, armored dome crunched satisfyingly against the coating of the Mimic's snout, the pristinely silver surface denting at last.

Godzilla lunged forward, aiming for the upturned arch of the Mimic's throat, but found an energy-crackling fist slamming into his head from above. Massive jaws clanked shut, the forceful discharge of that same energy that thrummed within him briefly causing his brain to short-circuit, but the momentary lapse in focus was still enough of an opening for the Mecha's fist to rocket into his jaw from below. Straightened out by the force of the blow, a pained roar escaped his parted jaws, feet moving of their own accord to steady his swaying bulk before it could topple even as the Mimic reared back for another hit.

But it never came. The ground beneath him suddenly cracked and groaned, fissures spider webbed across its surface, rapidly widening until the entire area crumpled. The Mimic, caught completely off guard, fell into the newly formed crater, thrashing and screeching in protest, half buried in the rubble. Godzilla recovered from his momentary stupor just in time to witness Zilla bursting from the detritus, as though he were breaching the ocean's surface rather solid matter, and hooking his claws under the Mimic's chin to keep the beast immobilized.

A steady, familiar hum reverberated through the air, the intricate veins adorning Godzilla's spines turning a rich tint of azure. The air itself seemed to teem with power, its shimmering swaths coalescing around him. Taking aim at the now entirely exposed metallic thorax, his maw parted, flooded with blazing light.

Yet the Mimic was faster. Having managed to wrestle control of his head for long enough to angle himself properly, he fired first. The crimson beam struck Godzilla's throat dead center, spilling over to his flared gills and coating them as though with liquid fire. Pain erupted across his neck and lungs, like a magma-coated fist was crushing his windpipe, scalding his larynx. Godzilla wheezed, a thin, strangled sound, entirely unbefitting of him. He could not breathe. Wispy tendrils of darkness swarmed at the edges of his vision, as he took a heavy step, then another, disoriented and oxygen-starved, and then he was falling.

Zilla cried out in terror at the sight of his Mate collapsing, heart nearly tearing its way out of his chest. The Mimic squirmed below him, a freakish cackling flowing out of his gaping, still smoking jaws. Fury lent his swipes more power. Talons scraped along the lines of the mechanical copy's snout, found purchase right below a jutting eyeridge, dug down. Laughter gave way to agonized wailing when Zilla's claws pierced a blood-red iris, snuffing out its light in an instant. A heavy hand wrapped around the iguana's forearm before he could dig deeper, carve out a chunk of the monster's brain, and pried it away.

Something slammed into Zilla's ankles, that treacherously limber tail, sending him tumbling down to the ground with a grunt. He shuffled backwards across the layer of wreckage coating the crater's floor, lashing out with a hard kick when the Mimic attempted to give chase. Knocked off his feet once again, the artificial Titan swiped with his tail a second time, its bladed tip piercing grey scales and flesh of Zilla's thigh. Blood erupted from the wound, shimmering starkly against the shiny silver of the Mimic's plating, who had apparently known exactly where to seek an artery.

Perhaps not wholly bereft of instinct, Zilla thought hazily, not quite managing to stifle a high keen of pain that escaped him. The tail tensed and moved, dragging Zilla across the rubble and towards its leering owner. The Mimic loomed over him, catching his second kick with insulting ease and immobilizing his good leg with an iron grip. Helpless to do anything but stare, Zilla found himself oddly transfixed by the vortex of colors swirling in the depths of the Mimic's yawning maw, tinting the whole world crimson. Against this new hue, a strange, unfamiliar silhouette emerging above the abomination's shoulder stood out all the more pronounced to Zilla, who stared in mute shock as it hefted an object of some kind above its head, the wide, wickedly curved edge of it glinting sharply under the sun's glare.

So enraptured the three Titans had been by their battle, that they had entirely missed a different kind of energy altogether illuminating the desolate skyline. So focused on the Mimic Godzilla had been, that he had not caught glimpse of the figure all too well known to him at this point, lifting itself gingerly from the ground. So enraged Zilla had been at seeing his Mate harmed, that he had not noticed that figure approaching them, gait slowed by clear confusion. Not until it was standing directly above him and ready to strike at his unsuspecting foe.

Kong had awoken to lighting arcing along the roof of his mouth, a dull ache in his chest and a limp arm dangling uselessly by his side. For a brief second his brain struggled to catch up with the fact that he was, in fact, alive. Then the loud roars, heavy crashes and the scraping of claws drifted towards him over the decimated landscape of had once been a human settlement, making his brows furrow. Through post-unconsciousness haze he recalled Godzilla's snarling face, a breath's distance away from his own, framed by smoke and illuminated by azure, deep set eyes burning with a mixture of emotions he still could not put names to. He had been beaten, then spared. And now his once-opponent was fighting again.

The Little One was also there, waving at him from an elevated carcass of a human home and some of the aches plaguing his body and ego eased at the sight of her safe. He sat up, bracing himself with one good arm and observed the child's tiny hands working their way through a flurry of rapid motions.

Godzilla friend. Other Titan friend. Metal Dragon bad.

Other Titan? Metal Dragon? Godzilla his friend ?

The great ape's brain spun at the rapid fire revelations. The sun cresting the horizon told him he had been out of commission for several hours.

His attention was once again drawn to the Little One, hoping to receive some manner of explanation.

Hurry. Help.

No such luck. Kong snorted, wounded pride reeling at the thought of helping the Titan that had bested him. But he could never disappoint the Little One. Not her.

His very bones groaned in loud protest when he heaved himself back to his feet, leaning against the decapitated stems of human homes to keep himself upright. From this new vantage point he could better glimpse the battlefield, just in time to see Godzilla go down in an explosion of crimson light, bleeding smoke from his neck. A panicked screech drew his attention to where the beam had come from. Two creatures grappled in a massive crater, the Metal Dragon (whose silver frame resembled an artificial Godzilla rather than a dragon) and the Other Titan (who could have passed for a distant cousin of the Godzilla species albeit smaller and lither). Kong had never seen either of them, but the faux-reptile's sight alone made his skin crawl inexplicably. An aura of wrongness exuded from it in waves that made Skull Island's Protector balk under the thick coat of scraggly fur. The hesitance had all but left his mind, replaced instead with stalwart conviction. This… thing could not be allowed to blemish the surface of this world any longer.

Clenching his teeth, Kong rammed his shoulder into the wall he had leant against. A flare of pain travelled up the length of his arm, paired with a wet crunch and a prickling sensation spreading across his fingers. Rolling it a few times just to confirm a full range of motions, he reached for his discarded axe whose blade had lost all its otherworldly glow, now little more than a slab of hardened scales. It would have to do.

The Metal Dragon had his back turned on Kong, too busy relishing in his prey's pain to bother looking for any other threats. But the reptilian Titan's wide, bright-golden eyes found Kong's over the ridged shoulder plating and the surprise reflecting in them mirrored the ape's own from not long ago. Underlying the shock, grief intermingled with anger within those pools, oddly raw and open. A strange pang coursed through Kong's heart. He had seen that look countless times. It greeted him every morning when he gazed into the mirror-like surface of the lake that bordered his favorite nap spot. And now, Kong realized with a strange shudder rattling his spine, that he know exactly what Godzilla's eyes had been brimming with in that moment when the ape's life rested in his hands. The King was here for far more than just a timeless rivalry reignited once more.

Perhaps that was the catalyst for the angry snarl that rippled across his face, for how his muscles bunched harder than they should have, for why the handle of his weapon creaked dangerously under the strain of his grip. Without much further consideration, he struck.

Having lost the supernatural properties granted to it by the Hollow Earth shrine, the axe was little more than a sharpened club in Kong's hands, yet the way it cracked against the metal beast's helm still felt plenty satisfying. The artificial monster recoiled at the strike, the building whine in his segmented throat cutting off abruptly and morphing into a screeching roar of surprise. Whirling around at surprising speed, he managed to catch Kong off guard with his axe poised high for another strike and lunged for him, ramming a plated shoulder into the ape's stomach in a full body tackle.

Pulled forward after its owner, the Mimic's tail was forcefully yanked out of Zilla's leg, tearing off a sizeable chunk of scaled flesh in the process. The iguana wailed in pain, the exposed muscle of his thigh rippling under the nerve-frying gusts of a chilly breeze, pumping out gallons of bright red ichor with every frantic beat of his heart. Yet that proved to be exactly the jolt he had needed to snap out of the shock clouding his mind - he had never seen a primate of any size in his life, and with his bearings regained he snapped his jaws at the rapidly retreating appendage that had left his leg mauled.

Tasting iron and ash on his tongue, he yanked back with all his might, halting the Mimic's forward advance dead in its tracks and sending the steel behemoth crashing to the ground right under Kong's feet. The ape skidded across the cracking asphalt a few more paces, carried backwards by the momentum, yet closed that distance with one great leap, a bellowing roar of challenge accompanying the downward swing of his weapon.

The thrusters upon the Mimic's back flared to life once more, catapulting him forward no matter how much Zilla dug his heels in to keep him anchored down. Forced to release his grip on the tail or risk having his teeth yanked out, he slid to a stop just as Kong descended from the heavens and slammed his axe into the ground mere inches away from Zilla's head. Recoiling on instinct, Zilla drew his head back, finding himself nose to nose with his unlikely ally. At least the ape had the decency to look marginally sheepish about almost skewering the wrong reptile.

Not forgetting the real threat, Zilla kept glancing over Kong's shoulder towards the Mimic, who had resumed an upright stance and was now eyeing the ape's back as if it had somehow personally offended him. The fight was not yet finished. Zilla's gaze slid back to meet Kong's eyes, finding in them the same steely resolve that he hoped was filling his own. Though every instinct in his body was screaming at him to turn the other way and check on his Mate, his mind clung to reason. He could not leave the ape to face off against the Mimic alone and turning his back on the metal beast's was practically a death wish.

Treacherous thoughts poured poison into his mind, attempting to erode his conviction. What if Godzilla was badly injured, what if he was dying, what if he already was… Stamping out the embers of doubt before they could turn to raging flames, Zilla clenched his jaws, swallowed down his indecision and gave Kong a firm nod. The ape understood, returned the gesture. There was a tragic sort of melancholy carved into the lines of his face, an age old wound that yet festered despite its supposed scabbing.

It was strange indeed, Zilla considered absently as they veered off in different directions, he to the left, Kong to the right; how you could feel camaraderie with someone you had just met after but a glance. The wound on his thigh stung persistently, but with adrenaline still coursing through his veins, it did not impede his movements too significantly, even when the pain spread and soon covered the entirety of his leg.

With twin roars and reckless abandon, the pair struck at the Mimic who, for one glorious moment, froze, uncertain which of them to focus on thanks to his one remaining eye. The opening provided allowed Kong to dig the axe into the Mimic's temple, right as Zilla skewered the beast's side with his scutes. With a thundering crash, the metal monster went down, screeching, loud tail whipping frantically. It rammed into Kong's arm, right as he positioned himself for another attack, the stinging hit disarming him and sending the weapon careening away. His angry growl went unnoticed by Zilla, too concentrated on clawing atop the struggling Mimic and bathing his face and neck with green flames.

The Mimic's face morphed and twisted, the pristine silver blackening and bubbling from the prolonged torrent of fire. Wild glee blossomed in Zilla's heart; so the beast could be hurt after all. Movements growing more desperate, he swiped at the iguana's head, yet found his arm grabbed by a pair of powerful hands and forcefully pinned to the ground. Metallic plating coating his limb cracked and whined under the pressure. Panic travelled across the circuitry of his brain, a very novel sensation to him, and for a moment he found himself entirely helpless.

Yet that moment passed and the plating on his thorax opened, unleashing a torrent of rockets from its confines that rained down upon the Titans like burning hail. Disoriented and unused to modern weaponry, Zilla recoiled and found himself thrown away with a hard kick that cracked against his ribs painfully. Kong held on, singed fur smoking, and found himself the sole focus of the Mimic's furious response.

Ice cold grip tightened around his throat, a sudden blast from below the Metal Dragon's back had them trading places and Kong found himself the one pinned down by artificial bulk. Saliva bubbled down his throat, larynx bobbing against the metal palm. He rammed his fists into the unrelenting vice, breaths coming out in ragged gasps, wide eyes staring into the lone glowing red orb, overflowing with bone chilling hatred, staring down at him from above. The metal relented under his blows, denting and spewing sparks like blood, yet the faux-reptile gave off no indication that he felt any of that.

"Furcoat!"

The shout, weirdly muffled, came from somewhere to the side, startling Kong into blinking and breaking eye contact with the silver beast. Zilla was standing there, crouched, with the ape's axe clenched between his angular jaws. Their eyes met and Kong thought he saw the corners of the iguana Titan's mouth tilting upwards a tiniest bit, before he reared his head and hurled the axe towards the struggling pair.

Kong was just extending his free hand, the one not grappling the appendage crushing his neck, when an azure beam struck the careening weapon at the peak of its trajectory. The dormant blade flared to life in an instant, ancient power flooding through darkened veins rippling across its surface. He could feel it vibrating in his hand when he at last wrapped his fingers around it, the bone-handle almost too warm to touch when he drove it into the Metal Dragon's thorax, right where ribs would be on an organic creature. A screech rolled across the wasteland, tinted with what could easily be pain and the grip around Kong's throat slackened.

From behind the hulking mass of silver-steel emerged Godzilla, dust clouding around him like a gown of smoke, with blazing eyes and a furious snarl rippling from between bared teeth, despite the charred, bleeding neck that stood out a sickly red against his black scales. Clawed hands dug into the Mimic's shoulder blades and Kong had to tighten his grip around the axe or risk losing it a second time, when the King hurled the Impostor away with a furious bellow that shook the very earth under Kong's back.

Glowing eyes met Kong's own, something akin to a begrudging respect flashing across them and a scaled hand was extended towards him without a word. Though Kong's initial gut instinct was to decline, he conceded and accepted the offer, allowing Godzilla to haul him back to his feet. Their relationship was still heavily strained but mending it was a problem for another day, a time without metal monsters bleeding smoke yet raising to their feet still. The recent rivals snorted almost simultaneously, all weariness and exasperation. These last two days brought too much fighting even for the likes of them.

Zilla came up on Kong's other side, favoring his wounded leg but still chuffing at them in light amusement despite the obvious pain. The hemorrhaging had stopped, enclosing his thigh in a crust of brown-crimson. His eyes were on Godzilla alone though and Kong felt obliged to look away, when he glimpsed the raw, unguarded emotion swirling in the golden pools. The hard lines of perpetual fury that seemed forever engrained into Godzilla's ever snarling snout smoothed out, softened and he looked back at the smaller reptilian Titan with tenderness and affection Kong had never thought the Titan King possible of expressing. Suddenly he felt like an intruder in a moment obviously meant to be intimate.

It was broken by another shrill roar. Across the graveyard of shattered human-hives, smoldering debris and heaps of uprooted ground, the Mimic stared them down with squared shoulders and a flicking tail, displaying no amount of hesitation at the idea of being outnumbered three to one. Godzilla snorted, twin plumes of dust emerging from his nostrils at the exhale, body illuminating from within by the azure glow. Kong hefted his axe high above his head, pounding his chest with his other hand, balled into a fist and roaring. Zilla kept himself low on his haunches, like a coiled serpent ready to strike.

This time it was the Mimic that advanced first, an aura of orange-red enveloping him as he blasted forth. Godzilla and Kong stood their ground, meeting their foe head on, while Zilla broke off to the side. With their combined strength, the saurian and ape stopped the Metal Dragon dead in its tracks. The metallic chest slid open once again and Kong immediately shoved the blade of his axe into the exposed cavity. The swirling energy surrounding the weapon discharged upon contact, sending tendrils of blue-white energy searing across the internal mechanisms of the metal beast, its intense heat melting metal like it was nothing more than dry wood. His screech sounded oddly dissonant and higher pitched as the surge threatened to overload his systems.

The hard dome of the Mimic's head rammed into Kong's face, dislodging teeth and sending blood erupting from his nose. A metal hand clamped down on his forearm, holding it in place for another to slam into Kong's elbow, bending the limb at an unnatural angle. Blood exploded from Kong's arm as broken pieces of bone jutted out from beneath brown-furred skin, the grip he had on the bone-handle falling limp. The Mimic slowly but surely pried the axe out of his mauled thorax, casting it aside.

With an agonized roar, he stumbled away, blinded by pain. His retreat gave Godzilla enough room to lunge forward, massive jaws clamping down on the Mimic's throat, before the beast could pursue the wounded ape further. Azure lighting arced across the Mecha's fist as it slammed into Godzilla's ribs, rattling the hulking mass of scales, but the Titan did not relent, if anything the immense pressure grew in power. Punches rained down on Godzilla's torso like hail, with enough power to break bones and crack hardened scales, yet it could not stop the King from suddenly yanking his head back, tearing out a large chunk of the Mimic's throat, pulsating red in its final dying throes, and spitting it out with disgust.

Metal jaws opened in a mute roar and sparks exploded from the gaping hole that had once been the Mimic's neck. No red glow would flow out of that accursed throat anymore. Yet the beam was not the Impostor's only weapon. His tail whipped around at blinding speed, its bladed tip carving a blood swath across the exposed flesh of Godzilla's tortured throat and gills. The Titan bellowed out in pain, hunching forward to protect the sensitive area, only for another aura-suffused hit explode against his temple. His legs gave out, unable to support his weight and he fell forward with an earth-quaking thud. A low whine escaped Godzilla's wheezing throat, blood pooling in his mouth and prickling across the burned skin of his larynx. Eyes fluttering open, the image of that wicked blade extending from above an infernally red orb.

It happened faster than he could blink. One second, he saw the blade shoot out towards him, the second a shadow fell over him and something warm splashed across his face. The crimson eye was still blinking at him, mere inches away from his own, encircled by a plane of charcoal grey, now stained with an even deeper shade of red. Dread took Godzilla's breath away, eyes sliding up to meet Zilla's, wide and oddly glazed over. The iguana coughed, once, red cascading from between his jaws and then the tail that had skewered him moved, lifting his shivering body into the air like some sort of morbid trophy. With a dismissive flick, the Mimic dislodged the body and sent it tumbling across the field of debris where it slid to a stop, wracked by shudders.

For a heartbeat, silence descended upon them. Everything froze, not daring to move. And then the heavens themselves split open when Godzilla roared. Kong, pulse pounding heavily in his ears, sat speechless, cradling his shattered arm. The sound was higher pitched than any of Godzilla's roars he had heard until now, full of grief, pain and rage… and fear. Its magnitude forced blood to shoot out from the King's mangled throat, strings of it erupting from his mouth. Enough to make even the Mimic step back in surprise.

"Help him!"

Desperation rippled across the Alpha's Call, robbing it of its usual force, but it still shocked Kong into action. He reached for his axe when Godzilla tackled the metal beast, all wounds and pains forgotten in that instant; hobbled over, supporting himself on the weapon's handle when Godzilla's claws raked deep furrows in the metal monstrosity's chest and stomach; almost fell by Zilla's side when he reached him at last, as Godzilla bit down on the Mimic's arm, mighty jaws all but pulverizing the artificial limb.

Zilla's body was convulsing violently, but his eyes were somehow open. Blood flowed out of two gaping exit wounds, forming a wide pool that Kong could glimpse his own reflection in.

"Burn…" a coughing fit interrupted the iguana's words; more blood came out, caking his snout and bubbling from his nostrils. "…back."

His words were devoid of sense, feverish, but his meaning clear. Kong dragged his axe to where the Mimic's tail had shattered Zilla's dorsal scutes and tore a jagged hole in his back, wide enough for the ape look through. He did not bother telling Zilla to prepare himself, there was no time for that with how much blood he was using. Something gargled in the reptilian Titan's throat when the white-hot flat of the axe's blade pressed against his skin, sizzling and sealing the wound in an instant. The scent of burnt flesh made Kong's nose wrinkle in disgust, heady and hanging heavy in the air.

The offer to take care of the other wound as well died in his throat, when Zilla rolled over onto his freshly cauterized back and bathed his own stomach in jade-hued flames. Blood and exposed skin hissed and crackled like meat fried over an open fire. Kong felt bile burn the back of his threat and a sudden desire to spew out the contents of his stomach overtook him for a moment. The stench was unbearable.

Cutting off the fiery torrent with a whine, Zilla's head rolled lifelessly to the side, eyes flashing whites. For a moment he remained immobile, chest raising and falling with every labored breath, coated by soot and blackened blood. Pink-red foam bubbled from his mouth, clinging to scaly lips. And then he was moving, rolling over and pushing himself to standing despite shaking limbs and pained growls. Kong could only look at him with unconcealed respect. It took a special kind of will to push through wounds of that severity and keep on fighting. There was no doubt left in his mind for why these two had become mates.

Every step sent a fresh wave of agony shooting all across Zilla's body, fraying his nerves and rattling his bones. Blood pooled in his lungs. He could taste crimson with every swallow and every breath. But his eyes were locked unerringly on the two figures fighting in the distance, the pressing need to assist his Mate overtaking something as irrelevant as the fact that he had had his intestines rearranged by a blade the length of his body. He could sense Kong following him without needing to glance over his shoulder, their sights firmly set on the steel behemoth just as Godzilla forced him away, now little more than a smoldering wreckage, with a missing arm, shattered chest and bubbling skin blackened by azure flames.

That same shade of blue began to emanate from the spines adorning Godzilla's back, starting from the tip of his tail and spreading it upwards until it illuminated his entire frame with an otherworldly glow. Zilla took off in a run, dimly aware of Kong doing the same.

It all happened at the same time. Godzilla's jaws parted, expelling another bright plume of azure energy that skewered the Mimic's torso in the sweetest form of payback he could imagine. Zilla leapt, rebounding off Godzilla's back with a feather light touch, cresting his Mate's raised head and descending on the Mimic from above, a jet of green fire exploding from the back of his throat, relishing in the look of panic that flashed across the red orb. Kong hurled his axe with all the might still left in his body, it flew adjacent to the cyan beam and struck the Mimic's abdomen at the same time as the beam seared a hole in his chest and jade flames melted his skull.

A massive explosion wracked the decimated area, enshrouding everything in dark smoke that blocked out the sun. For a moment it appeared as though dusk had fallen already. Then it cleared, the sun shone brightly again and the pulverized remains of mankind's Apex monster crumpled into an undistinguishable heap of melted metal and wires. The menace was gone at last, slain, reduced to less than a memory.

For a moment all three Titans were too stunned to react, surrounding the smoldering carcass in a loose circle. Godzilla was the first to recover from the stupor, throwing his head back and letting out a roar that was every bit as triumphant as it was relieved. Zilla soon joined, his voice more melodious yet no less ecstatic, standing up straight like he rarely did with his snout angled towards the bright, sunny sky. Kong was last, his rough intonations completing the trice fold chorus, fist once again pounding out a rhythmic tune against his claw-raked chest.

And then the remnants of adrenaline and sheer determination that had carried them through the fight left them and an overwhelming exhaustion took their place. Zilla fell down, managing to catch himself with his forelimbs before his muzzle could slam into the ground. He was wheezing, gasping wetly, unable to suppress the shivers quaking his frame. Kong fell down on his rump, only marginally more gracefully, leaning heavily against the remnants of a human construction, grinding his teeth loudly as he went about reforming his shattered arm into what it had originally been. And Godzilla…

Godzilla had his eyes on one thing and one thing alone. His steps were slow, labored. The King's body screamed at him, pleaded for him to give in at last and drop down, let weary bones and wounded skin rest. But he would not, not yet. With great effort, Zilla heaved his head up when the earth-shaking footsteps reached him, staring up into the face of his Mate and smiling through the pain. Only then did Godzilla finally give in, falling to his knees by Zilla's side and heaving a bone-deep sigh.

Zilla pressed tightly against Godzilla's chest, mindful of the raw wound that was his throat, tenderly nuzzling against the King's jaw, uttering soft trills that washed over Godzilla's body like Mothra's healing scales once had. With a deep rumble he angled his head downward, touching his own nose against Zilla's, nuzzling him almost desperately. The saurian's hands came down to rest on the iguana's shoulders, as Zilla's went up to gently press against his, chests and bellies pressing together in a very human-like position. In that moment nothing else existed, only them, alive and reunited, pressed as tightly together as their bodies and wounds could allow.

They remained like that for what felt like a blissful eternity, whispering reassurances and sweet nothings that no one else could hear, nuzzling and licking their counterpart's jaw, cheeks, nose. After the affectionate ministrations were over, they felt content to simply rest against one another. Zilla pressed his head against Godzilla's sturdy chest, listening in with half-lidded eyes to his Mate's heartbeat, relishing in the feeling of having him close again after their prolonged separation. Bent over and pressing his nose against the iguana's forehead in a human interpretation of a kiss, Godzilla hummed, pleased.

"I missed you," he spoke softly, the tone of his voice still reverberating with the aftershocks of a roar, yet unused to whispering. His hands gently dragged over Zilla's pronounced shoulder blades, coaxing a satisfied coo out of the smaller Titan.

"I missed you too," Zilla said, turning his head the tiniest bit against the sinfully comfortable makeshift pillow, meeting Godzilla's gaze with one eye. Joy danced across the iguana's expressive features, twinkled in his eyes like miniature stars. It made Godzilla's heart soar. "I knew you'd come."

Godzilla moved his hand, brushing its knuckles against the side of Zilla's face tenderly. He rumbled happily, leaning into the touch, though not breaking eye contact. These interactions, these moments of tenderness, where Godzilla was just that, himself, he treasured them beyond any quantifiable measure. Zilla had taught him how to live, how to love. Had given him a thing worth fighting for. He would never be able to repay a debt of that magnitude. But he would never stop trying.
"I would burn the world down for you."

Of course, Zilla knew that. It was a constant for him, an irrefutable truth. Godzilla might have been a Titan of few words, yet the ever present and ever humming link that connected their minds and souls painted a clear picture of his feelings. He was a shining beacon in a world of dull greys, different than Pack, different than Hatchling; blinding as the sun and warming Zilla to his very core. By his side every breath tasted sweeter, every sunset looked more beautiful, every sunrise that found them curled up around each other felt like a blessing. They completed each other, in every way.

Any sort of meaningful affirmation Zilla might have uttered at that moment was broken when the iguana let out a mighty yawn that had his jaws popping. Godzilla rumbled out a chuckle at the sight, nudging against his rapidly blinking Mate.

"Shall we go home?"

Too tired for words, Zilla trilled in response, quite on board with that prospect. They stood up together, lending each other their strength as they had ever since their first meeting.

Kong, who had been awkwardly looking away from the entire display of overt affection and still unable to link the mental image of Godzilla levelling building after building in pursuit of his humble self with what he had just watched, now felt it was safe to glance their way once again. He watched as they slowly made their way towards the shoreline, where the ocean waves lapped golden shores invitingly. Suddenly the limber reptile pulled away from the monolithic flank he had been leaning against and looked over his shoulder towards the ape.

"Well met, Furcoat!" Zilla called out, the smile in his voice and on his face so genuine that Kong had no choice but to accept it was not meant as some tease.
"Kong," he called back, preferring to be called by his given name instead, though unable to fight back the light smile that stretched out his lips. It faltered slightly when his eyes moved up to meet Godzilla's own steady gaze. His expression was unreadable and by all accounts it appeared as though the King was waging a whole new battle, this one entirely in his head.

Eventually, with what must have taken him a lot of good will, he bent his head the slightest bit. An unspoken "thank you" that Kong understood regardless. He nodded back. In all fairness, finding two allies had most certainly not been the end of this wild adventure he would have expected. But it was welcome all the same.

Zilla let out an involuntary trill when the rejuvenating cool waters of the bay washed over his painfully dry body. Feeling like they had all the time in the world now, he leisurely floated beside Godzilla, close enough for their shoulders to touch. The open sea beckoned them like an old friend. Promises of a long, fruitful rest whispered to them, carried by the currents and soon twin sets of dorsal spines disappeared under the sunlit waves.

Much later, much further away, they came upon a deep trench carved into the ocean floor. Zilla dove down towards it first, enthusiastically inviting his Mate to follow. In the depths they found a spacious cave with enough room to fit them both comfortably. Dripping water and tripping over his feet in exhaustion, Zilla crawled atop the rocky outcrop and instantly curled into a tight ball, the tip of his tail tucked under his chin.

Godzilla followed closely behind, unable to stifle a yawn of his own. Regrettably not as nimble as his Mate, it took him a little more time to settle down comfortably on the miniature plateau with much grunting and huffing. As soon as he stretched out on his side, his struggle was rewarded with an armful of a sleepily cooing iguana, nuzzling up against him insistently. A tired chuckle rumbled out of the depths of Godzilla's chest, as he pressed Zilla against his chest tightly, burying his snout in the crook of Zilla's neck and allowing his eyes to slip close.

With their tails intertwined, the couple drifted off into a blissful slumber. Wounds would heal, aches would pass, bad memories would fade in time. As long as they had each other, no pain would ever be too great to bear.