Chapter 6: The Kraken Unleashed
Disclaimer and Author's Note: I own none of these characters, all of them are copyright to Legendary, Warner Bros. and Toho. Again, I apologize if I took so long updating, I have work priorities and getting the right inspiration is a challenge. Okay, I suppose that a brawl is something everyone wants. The Kraken was in the novelization for King of the Monsters, so I'll bring it into the mix for this story. I have also read the novelization for Godzilla vs. Kong, so I am aware that humans who wanted to exploit it captured the Kraken and Godzilla helped it break free, which is why Godzilla won't kill the Kraken.
Madison sat on the bunk in her cabin as she reflected on the incident. Godzilla had been swimming near the ship, his head surfaced and he stared at the ship. It felt as if he was staring straight at Madison, but he could have been studying the ship as if considering a potential threat. Time felt like it had stopped, then the strange feeling went away when Godzilla dove beneath the surface, his spines leaving ripples in the water.
Yawning, Madison realized that she was groggy from a long day of excitement. Considering that the ship would be crossing time zones, Madison would have to get used to the changes and reconfigure her sleep cycle.
After changing into her pajamas and turning off the lights, Madison crawled under the covers and fell asleep.
The next morning, Madison got dressed and went to the mess hall for breakfast. As she sat down, she overheard some of the crew talking at the table ahead of hers.
"Did you see how close he was?" asked one man who had his back to her. "I thought for sure he would have charged at us."
"Yet, he didn't," said his companion. "I don't think he was even interested in us."
"What if he considered us as food? Wouldn't he attack thinking that we'd all make a quick snack?"
"That's crazy, he'd have to eat everyone on board if that were the case. A creature as big as him would need to eat something bigger than us."
The men were obviously talking about Godzilla. Madison was well aware that Godzilla's preferred choice of food was not human, or other animals big or small, but nuclear energy. She remembered her mother speaking about how titans feed off of the radiation in pockets of the Hollow Earth. Madison had seen with her own eyes what could happen if Godzilla became overloaded with such energy, which was dangerous not only to him but everything else near him. If he had not destroyed Monster Zero with that excessive power, Godzilla would have been obliterated along with the rest of Boston.
Madison finished her breakfast in silence while the crew members exchanged their conversation. Once she was done eating, Madison got up and went out to the deck.
In the meeting room, Mark was discussing important matters with Rick and Sam regarding the incident the previous day.
"It's obvious," started Rick as he pointed to the projection of the map, "he's heading on the same course as us." The map showed a line indicating the course that the ship was heading and another line showing Godzilla's course of travel.
"It could be a coincidence," said Sam, "he could be looking for something that just happens to be in the same direction."
Mark remembered from his email exchanges with Dr. Chen, that the egg discovered in the Yunnan rainforest was emitting a signal. Remembering how Godzilla had detected the sonar signals from the MUTOs and Mothra's call, it made sense that Godzilla could be drawn to the egg.
"There is an explanation," said Mark, "Dr. Chen mentioned that the egg was emitting its own bioacoustics. Godzilla could be well… attracted to the signal."
"Attracted?" asked Rick with a raised brow. "Like some sort of mating call?"
"I wouldn't call it that, but Godzilla's symbiotic relationship with Mothra could be the reason. If the egg is another Mothra, or something like her, I'm sure that's why Godzilla is heading in the direction."
"Sort of like a siren's song," said Sam, "like in the tales of ancient Greece."
"Sirens lured sailors to their doom with their singing," Mark said. "I don't think that the egg is intending doom, more likely to start a symbiotic bond with Godzilla if he's attracted to the call."
"Which means that Godzilla is heading to the Yunnan rainforest," said Rick. "What exactly are we supposed to do once he reaches the egg? Should we be worried that he'll stomp us if he considers us an obstacle between him and his objective?"
"Well…" Mark had to think carefully as he picked his words. Godzilla was certainly a force to be reckoned with, but Mark had witnessed Godzilla's behaviour up close and survived, even when Godzilla was showing aggression. However, Mark did not want to take any chances.
"When he does reach the Yunnan rainforest," Mark continued, "we should just stay out of his way. Serizawa himself said that nature should run its course, perhaps it's best to let Godzilla make contact with the egg."
"That would be a new thing to see among the titans," said Sam, "if Godzilla meets the egg, we can observe how these symbiotic relationships are formed."
"We should contact Dr. Chen," said Mark, "we don't want her team to be taken by surprise."
Madison was on the deck, watching the waves. She was hoping that Godzilla might show himself again, but so far, it was just water and the bright blue sky. There wasn't much else to see out at sea, there were not any other life forms like whales or sea birds.
She was about to return to her cabin when something shook the ship, causing her to nearly lose her balance. Sirens went off and the crew were running in different directions. Madison covered her ears to block out the sound of the sirens. She backed away from the railing as the ship was seized in another tremble from some unseen force.
"Miss, stay back," said a crewman as he ran past her to join his comrades. The crewman was wielding a rifle and the rest of the crew were preparing for a fight.
Is it a titan that's attacking us? Madison thought.
"Madison!" Mark cried out, he was coming out on deck and making a mad dash towards Madison. "What are you doing? We need to get somewhere safe!"
"Dad! What's going on?"
"It's a titan attacking the ship, we need to get ready to jump ship if the crew can't hold it off."
"Is it Godzilla?"
"We're not sure! Come on, we need to get to the life boats if we need to evacuate."
Madison followed her father to where the lifeboat was being prepared. The ship was rocked again, causing everyone to stumble. Then Madison noticed long, slimy tentacles creeping up the side of the ship until they were waving high above the railing. There were three of them at the side where Madison was standing, each equipped with large suction cups running down the undersides. There were other tentacles creeping up the other side of the ship.
Gunfire started, Madison crouched and covered her ears as the noise assaulted from all around her. The tentacles flailed at the gunshots. Suddenly, one tentacle swept down at the upper deck, wiping some of the gun wielding crew off.
"Shit!" Madison cried as another tentacle swept at the deck. "What is this thing that's attacking us?"
"It's the one called the Kraken," said Rick, who was also out on deck. "It went on a rampage in the Indian Ocean during the mass awakening and we lost track of it after the fight in Boston."
"It certainly found us," Mark said, crouching as the tentacles writhed above.
Madison felt herself freezing in place as the Kraken wrapped its tentacles over the deck, either crushing crewmen who were too slow to get out of the way or wiping them off of the deck. What could she do? She wasn't trained for field combat and she no longer had access to the ORCA to get the Kraken to back off. All around her and the Monarch team, the Kraken's tentacles continued in a relentless attack.
"Madison, come on," said Mark, "we need to get into the life boat and get away from this."
Nodding, trying to fight back her fear, Madison climbed on board the lifeboat. Suddenly, the Kraken's tentacles jerked, as if the creature were in pain. The tentacles withdrew from the ship and into the water with a large splash. Madison gripped the edge as she peered into the ocean, she couldn't see where the Kraken went to but she heard a low rumble that escalated into a familiar roar.
There was another large splash, roughly two hundred meters away from the ship. In the water was Godzilla grappling with the Kraken. The Kraken had its tentacles wrapped around Godzilla's arms and his dorsal plates, however, Godzilla seemed more annoyed than hurt as he sank his teeth into one of the tentacles attempting to latch on.
Madison watched anxiously as the two titans grappled. She had a better view of the Kraken as Godzilla attempted to lift it out of the water. The Kraken had a spiral shell like a snail's, but the titan had qualities similar to an octopus with its long tentacles, mottled skin and its eyes with rectangular pupils. As Godzilla managed to bite through the Kraken's tentacle, other tentacles began to latch on, even attempting to penetrate Godzilla's gills. Madison sucked in a deep breath when Godzilla's spines began to glow.
Godzilla had unleashed his atomic breath onto the Kraken, which loosened its tentacles as it was seared. Realizing that it was in a fight that it couldn't win, the Kraken retreated with a squirt of ink in the water. Madison continued to stare as Godzilla snarled at the ink around him, before he submerged under the surface, Godzilla locked his gold-red eyes on Madison. Unable to look away, Madison froze as she watched Godzilla's snarl dissipate as he focused his stare on her.
He's just studying the ship, Madison thought. It seemed unlikely to her that Godzilla would focus his attention on a single human, considering that humans were to him like insects to an individual human. Yet, it felt like he was staring directly at her.
As soon as he locked his stare, Godzilla broke it off as his head ducked under the ocean's surface, leaving only ripples behind. Madison stared at the ripples and the ink cloud, the only signs that a fight had occurred. She wondered why Godzilla had stopped the Kraken from destroying the ship. Was he intentionally protecting the ship? Maybe he was just annoyed with the Kraken's behaviour and wanted to enforce his authority.
"Madison, are you alright?" Mark asked, breaking Madison's train of thought.
"I'm fine," said Madison, taking her father's hand as she climbed out of the lifeboat and back on deck.
"We're just lucky that Godzilla was close by," said Rick, removing his glasses to wipe off the water droplets, "or we would all have been sleeping with the fishes tonight."
"Are there any casualties?" asked Mark.
"There were those men who were wiped off the deck," answered Rick. "The captain will probably want a head count and that anyone injured is looked after."
"Dad," said Madison, "if there is any assistance required for the injured, I don't mind lending a hand." She had to do something to keep herself busy, considering that she was overwhelmed with the number of questions going through her mind. Perhaps volunteering to care for the injured would ease her anxiety.
"Are you sure?" asked Mark.
"Yes, I want to be of help."
He was tired, but he still pressed on as he swam. When he assumed the role as alpha of the titans, he made it his duty to settle conflicts between titans and other creatures. The Kraken's assault on the vessel of tiny creatures called humans had bothered him. He could not allow a conflict that would start a chaotic war between titans and the humans. He had seen such conflicts before, resulting in heavy losses on both sides, a price he was not willing to pay again.
Yet, why did he stop the Kraken from destroying the vessel? Humans did not mean much to him; they were a presence he simply tolerated in the cycle of the ecosystem. However, he was aware that the humans on that vessel were watching him, just like they had in their underwater lair placed near the ports to his old den. What did they want with him this time?
Were those tiny creatures looking for the same source of the song? He heard it getting stronger as he drew closer, beckoning him. If those tiny creatures were also following the song, it meant that the source of the song held a great importance to them as much as it did to him.
Whatever the humans wanted with the song was not significant to him; however, he wanted to be wary of the little creatures. Years ago, they attacked him with their modern war machines, which did not hurt him much, but annoyed him. If he were not sensing the urgency to eliminate his enemies before they reproduced at that time, he would have demolished the war machines of the humans without hesitation.
He recalled seeing that one little human on the vessel, a female, which looked exactly like the one from one of the memories that haunted his dreams. Was the human female somehow connected to Mothra? Did Mothra consider some great importance in the human?
These questions he would eventually have to find answers to, once he met with the source of the song. Determined to answer the alluring signal, he propelled himself through the ocean onward.
While the crew who were still in good condition started repairing damage to the ship and the medics were tasked to attending the injured, Mark was sending an email to Dr. Chen. When he came to the conclusion that Godzilla was attracted to the egg's signal, Mark wanted to make sure that Dr. Chen was aware of the situation.
After he typed his email, Mark checked it for typos before he sent it. Mark respected Dr. Chen and the research that she was committed to; hopefully his email wouldn't worry her. Considering Dr. Chen's devotion to Mothra, she might be intrigued to witness a possible interaction between Godzilla and the egg. Titan behaviour was still a big mystery to Monarch and new opportunities to witness titan interactions were to be appreciated.
Madison was in the medical bay, assisting with the medical team in attending the survivors who were injured. Her tasks were simple, just fetching bandages, medicines and other pieces of equipment from the supply cabinet. Even though she didn't feel challenged, but at least she was keeping herself busy to fend off the plaguing questions running through her thoughts.
As she was bringing rolls of bandages to one of the medics, Madison had to avert her eyes when she noticed some of the more extensive injuries of some of the crew members. She might have called herself silly for doing so, considering that she had seen bodies of men and women who were shot to death by those psychopaths that she and her mother accompanied to Antarctica. Yet, the crew members were alive but probably in terrible pain. Perhaps seeing other people in pain made looking at their condition difficult.
While she did her best to help with the medics in their duties, Madison still had some questions on her mind. Was Godzilla just studying the ship? Or was he studying her?
To be continued…