Denham University of Theoretical Science, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Doctor Nathan Lind sat at his desk absentmindedly holding a small figurine of an astronaut between his thumb and index finger and a pen between his teeth. Upon hearing the sound of someone entering his office he turned in his chair and saw a man of Japanese descent looking about.

"Can I help you?"

No response. The man simply continued examining the office and the objects and papers scattered all about.

"You know, if you want an appointment my office hours are 9-5." He said.

"Please Doctor Lind." Came a gravely voice from the opposite side of the room. Nathan turned his head and saw a man he recognized all too well standing up and holding a copy of his horrible-selling book about the Hollow Earth.

"Guys like us don't do normal hours, do we?" The man asked while putting the book down on the desk.

"I've been fixated on the Hollow Earth as long as you have. Maybe longer. Your theory that it's the birthplace of all Titans is fascinating." The man continued.

"Your book was very impressive." Said the Japanese man.

"Oh yeah? Well I got about 30 unsold boxes in my apartment. You can have a few if you'd like." Doctor Lind replied.

"Walter Simmons," said the gravely voiced man while extending a hand for a shake.

Nathan shook his hand and pointed at him. "I know who you are, sir. It's an honor."

"No, the honor is mine. As is the urgency. Godzilla has never attacked us unprovoked before." Simmons said.

"Yeah. I saw the news broadcasts." Doctor Lind replied.

"These are dangerous times, Doctor Lind. Allow me to introduce our Apex Chief Technology Officer, mister Ren Serizawa." Simmons continued.

"Whoa, wait, wait, wait. Serizawa?" Doctor Lind asked.

The corner of Ren's cheek twitched as he nodded a few times.

"So then that means he's-" Doctor Lind began.

"Yes. Doctor Lind. He is the son of the famous Doctor Ishiro Serizawa. But that's not important right now. What is important is what we do about the threat that Godzilla now poses to humanity. And my colleague has something very interesting to show you."

Ren placed a thick tablet-looking device on the table and tapped the corner. It came to life with blue light around the exterior and through the center before projecting an image of the Earth with a series of snake-like tunnels leading towards a central sphere hundreds of miles into the planet's core.

"Magnetic imaging from one of our new satellites." Simmons began. "And you know what this is, don't you Doctor Lind?"

"The Hollow Earth." Doctor Lind replied.

"En ecosystem as vast as any ocean. Right beneath our feet."

Doctor Lind focused on a particular part of the projection and his jaw dropped.

"That energy signal is enormous." He said, observing the energy readings as being in the hundreds of Giga Watt Hours.

"And almost identical to the readings from Gojira." Ren said with a particular emphasis on "Gojira" that contained a subtle hint of disdain.

"This energy sustains the Hollow Earth, Doctor Lind. And it's what we believe allows for the conception of life forms as powerful as our aggressive Titan friend." Simmons continued.

"If we can harness this life force, we can develop a device that can protect us from Godzilla. And to do that I need your help."

Doctor Lind chuckled nervously.

"I uh. I don't know if I'm the right guy for the job, mister Simmons." He said while holding up a copy of his book. "Did you read the reviews? "A SciFi quack training in French Physics." Look where we are. My office. It's in the basement right across from flute class."

Ren gave him a sideways look with a half smile. A subtle tremor in his throat being an obvious sign of holding back a chuckle.

"Besides, I'm not with MONARCH anymore. And Hollow Earth entry is impossible. We tried." He concluded.

Simmons came forward and knelt down by the desk.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Doctor Lind. He was a true pioneer and a visionary." He said.

Doctor Lind shifted uncomfortably.

"Thanks."

"But Doctor Lind. All of our forward scans suggest a habitable environment down there. So, what really went wrong on your brother's mission?" Simmons probed.

Doctor Lind stared at a globe that had been cut in half with a makeshift orb put on a pole to represent the Hollow Earth on a small table nearby.

"… When they tried to enter they hit a gravitational inversion. The entire planet's worth of gravity in a split second… He-… He and the entire team were… They were just crushed in an instant." He said while fighting back tears remembering the panicked calls over the radio before silence and static struck his ears.

"What if I told you that we at Apex have created a phenomenal craft capable of withstanding such an inversion?" Simmons asked.

Ren tapped the tablet and a new projection of a vehicle called a H.E.A.V. 01 appeared.

"The Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle. HEAV." Simmons said with quiet pride and confidence.

"It can make the journey to Hollow Earth possible. And I'll need you to lead the mission, Doctor Lind."

Simmons approached Doctor Lind and gave him a serious look.

"Help me." He said simply. "Help everyone. Because finding this needle in a haystack is our best shot against Godzilla."

Doctor Lind pondered for a moment.

"Well I uh. I might have an idea… But it's crazy." He said.

"I love crazy ideas. They made me rich." Simmons said with a smile.

Doctor Lind suddenly seemed to come more to life as he turned halfway, stopped, pointed at them, turned around again and started walking towards his bookshelves and boxes in the back.

"Are you guys familiar with Genetic Memory? It's a theory that all species share a common impulse to return to their point of origin and evolutionary source." He said.

"Like spawning Salmon." Ren said.

"Yeah. Exactly." Doctor Lind said to the rather odd reference. "Or a… Or a homing pigeon. So if… If this is the Titan's home and this life force sustains them-" He continued.

"A Titan could show you the way." Ren said.

Doctor Lind took a deep breath.

"… Yeah." He said.

"And with a little help from an old colleague…" Doctor Lind said while putting a magazine down showing Doctor Ilene Andrews as "The Kong Whisperer." "I think we can make this happen." He concluded.

Meanwhile, on Skull Island…

This place. It's suffocating.

The tiny things scurry about beneath me. They try to offer me food or roar at me in their language through those little cones.

It annoys me.

My entire island is my home. This… cage… is not my home.

Jia walked through the forest and up to Kong holding her little Kong doll up for him to see.

The kind tinier one visits me daily. I enjoy her presence. But she cannot fill this void.

Kong looked up at the dome which now sported several more signs of him having thrown things at it with damaged panels and sparking electric surges causing visual artifacts and flickers.

I want to be free again.

A few hours later, Jia and Doctor Andrews were in their living quarters with Jia hopping on the bed and Ilene searching for something. When she turned around after searching the drawers of the small dresser for the umpteenth time, she saw Jia holding up a journal which made her sigh in relief. She signed thank you to Jia and sat down just after hearing that she had a visitor.

Jia pointed at her.

You're nervous.

Doctor Andrews shook her head.

Everything's fine.

Jia looked sad.

You can't lie to me. I'm not a kid anymore.

Doctor Andrews smiled and laughed a little, shaking her head. She leaned in and gave Jia a kiss on the temple, and the pair of them got their rain coats on and went to see who was here for Ilene.

"A power source in Hollow Earth? This is crazy Nathan. Even for you." She called over the wind and rain as they all made their way to a door leading inside.

"It's there! We just need Kong to bring us to it!" Doctor Lind called back.

"The second you take Kong away from this facility Godzilla's going to come for him!" She called back.

Inside, after taking off their coats and entering Kong's habitat, Doctor Lind pressed Doctor Andrews.

"You even said you can't keep him here forever." He said.

"No… Our meddling has already wreaked havoc on Kong's habitat. And there's no way in Hell I'm letting you drag him half way across the world to use him as a weapon."

"No. Not as a weapon, Ilene. As an ally. He can protect us and lead the way down there. That's all." He countered.

"What even makes you think that he'll go in?" She asked.

"You always believed that Skull Island was like the Hollow Earth come to the surface, right? Well that's where Kong's ancestors came from." He began.

"Mmhmm." She mumbled.

"Through the entrance we found in Antarctica we could help him find a new home. And he could, in turn, help save ours… Hers." He said, gesturing to Jia. "The power source down there may be our only hope."

"Nathan… Ugh…"

"Ilene. Please. You saw how Godzilla's attack demolished Pensacola. That was just a small town. What happens when he starts turning his rage against major cities the world over? Humanity can withstand a lot of things. But we can't withstand the wrath of Godzilla." He continued.

Doctor Andrews' breath hitched in her throat.

She looked down at Jia, then at the ground, back to Nathan, and back to the ground as her breath finally escaped in a long hiss through her teeth. She turned away from Doctor Lind and walked a few steps out with her hands on her hips.

The images of the news broadcast showing Godzilla's rampage and firing his atomic breath every which direction played in her mind like a broken record. And though she tried to fight it back she couldn't help but envision Godzilla appearing here on Skull Island and destroying the facility with everyone she knew, including Jia, along with it.

One of her hands covered her mouth as she took another deep breath through the gaps in her fingers and let it out on a sigh while turning around to face Nathan.

"Kong's our only chance, Ilene… And we have to take it."

She stared at Nathan. And in her mind she saw Kong battling Godzilla without a prayer. Being beaten back. Clawed. Bitten. Tail swiped. Gored on Godzilla's spines. And blasted with his atomic breath point-blank until he was barely a smoldering heap in the midday sun.

Her eyes began welling up as her mind tried to fight these visions by rationalizing how Kong was strong. How he could hold his own in more ways than she gave him credit for. How he could use his intelligence and wits to outmaneuver Godzilla. How he could also have the help of humanity. How Serizawa and the others said they had the tech to basically recreate this facility and its acoustic cancellation of Kong's frequencies so Godzilla wouldn't know he was being moved anywhere.

She sniffed back the first sob and dried her eyes by closing them and breathing slowly.

"… Okay." She finally said.

"Yes!" Doctor Lind cheered.

"But!… When it comes to Kong, what I say goes. Got it?"

"Yes, yes! You name the terms! He said excitedly while leaning rather suddenly to kiss her cheek.

"… Uh, sorry." He mumbled while smiling and giving Jia a little wave. "You won't regret this!"

"Mmhmm. I'm already regretting it." She mumbled back.

Looking at Jia, Doctor Andrews sighed.

This is his home. Jia signed. … Ours.

Doctor Andrews signed back, Our home is together. You and me.

Jia was not convinced, and looked down sadly on the verge of tears at her Kong doll. Doctor Andrews sighed softly and put a hand around Jia's shoulders to gently coax her to come with her as they left the habitat area.

In Japan, Doctor Serizawa gave Ling a hug.

"You're sure you can't stay just a little longer?" Ling asked as they finished the hug.

"I'm sorry, Ling. But your sister and the others need me in America. We have a lot of work to do." He replied.

Ling smiled somewhat sadly and nodded.

"I understand. Please be safe." She said.

Serizawa nodded and looked at Doctor Graham.

"Vivienne. I need you to stay here with Ling and keep an eye on things as they develop. If you discover anything at all I want you to call me immediately." He said.

"Yes, Sensei." She replied.

With that, Serizawa got on a MONARCH transport and was whisked away towards America. While on board and sailing smoothly through the air above the ocean, he dialed a number on his phone and simply held it in front of himself as it rang and rang and rang.

The name of the recipient of his call… "Ren."

His thumb hovered over the "End Call" button. And as he was about to click it, the ringing stopped.

"… What do you want?" Came a voice on the other end of the line.

"Ren." He said softly as he brought the phone to his ear.

Speaking in Japanese, Serizawa began the conversation.

"Are you well?"

"I suppose you wouldn't know, would you?"

Serizawa's jaw clenched and he felt a sharp twinge of pain ring through his heart.

"I'm sorry, Ren."

"It's a little late for that, isn't it?"

"It's never too late to forgive, son."

"I remember that little saying of yours. When the bullies at school would push me around and I'd come home crying mom was always the first one to help me. To talk to me. You only did after she got in your face about it. And then you'd lecture me about forgiveness and being proud of myself no matter what they said or did to me. But your words even then rang about as hollow as the Hollow Earth itself."

Serizawa again felt a sharp twinge of pain sear through his heart as he recalled these events in decades past.

"Ren. Please."

"The only thing you ever talked about with mom and me was Gojira. That, or new Titan discoveries. You never asked mom how her day was. You never asked if she was feeling well. You never asked me if I was doing okay in school. Everything was Gojira this or Titans that. You talked about Gojira so much I began to see him more as a big brother than a Titan. And he may as well be part of the family with how much of your life is dedicated solely to him."

Serizawa couldn't reply. He could only swallow the lump that was building in his throat.

"Don't call again. We have nothing to talk about anymore." Ren said angrily before the call was ended.

Serizawa's hand trembled as tears flowed silent and free down his face.

"… Be safe, Ren." He whispered.

His lower lip quivered as he set his phone down, removed his glasses, and covered his eyes with one hand while resting on his other elbow against the table.