When Minya opened his eyes, all he saw was a dark blur. But as his vision cleared, he saw that it was nighttime, and he was on the beach bordering the Gulf of Khambhat. He then noticed all of the adult kaiju surrounding him. They all looked exhausted.
"Minya!" Godzilla exclaimed with relief. "You're awake." He wrapped his arms around his son tightly, thankful that he had woken up and was uninjured. "You've been out for hours."
"We brought you here after you and Destoroyah passed out." King Caesar said. "No way were we leaving you with him. Especially after...what he did to Jr..." Everyone looked away sadly.
Minya's heart grew heavy. "Dad, everyone, I'm so sorry. I tried to stop Jr., I really did, but I didn't make it in time. Now he's dead and Destoroyah has the relics. I've failed you all, and I've failed humanity, too, and-" He struggled to talk over the sobs escaping him, repeatedly wiping away the tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"You haven't failed anyone, Minya." Godzilla said. "Destoroyah hasn't found the sixth relic yet. He doesn't know where it is, and we do. We'll go to Tokyo, collect the last relic, get the other five back from Destoroyah, and take him down once and for all. We still have a chance, humanity and Earth still have a chance. You've haven't failed anyone."
"He's right, Minya." Jet Jaguar added. "You've gotta keep your head high and keep fighting until Earth is safe. It's what a Godzilla does."
"Indeed." Mothra said. "But we must rest before we proceed to Tokyo. We still have not fully recovered from Destoroyah's attack."
The team settled down on the sand and drifted off almost instantly. Minya snuggled up close to his father, who had one arm around him protectively. Despite what the adults had said, he still felt as though he were to blame for what had happened. Jr.'s death, Destoroyah obtaining the relics, the very real danger humanity was in. But they were right, they still had a chance to save their planet. They hadn't lost yet.
Minya then thought about the extreme amount of power he had attacked Destoroyah with. He had never fired an atomic beam that strong. Most of the time, he could only shoot smoke rings, but could still fire atomic breath if his tail was stepped on or if he was under stress.
The stress. That's it, he thought. Baring witness to his brother's death had caused him great trauma and pressure, more than he had ever felt before. The experience must've been what caused him to unleash an atomic blast powerful enough to injure a kaiju like Destoroyah. He hoped he could do it again-as the next Godzilla, he had to grow stronger to protect the world against all future threats.
But for now, he kept his focus on their current enemy. He soon fell asleep, determined not to let another tragedy befall them.
The team woke up bright and early, feeling much better than yesterday. Last night, Godzilla considered taking Minya back to Monster Island in the morning. Jr.'s death had made him regret bringing his sons on such a dangerous mission, and he couldn't lose Minya, too. But he knew his older son wouldn't want to stay home while his father and his friends were out risking their lives. And after an experience like seeing his brother die, Godzilla knew Minya would want to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else. So, he reluctantly let him stay, praying that nothing would happen to him.
Their trek to Tokyo was interrupted when King Caesar suddenly stopped, his ears perking up. He turned toward the east.
"What is it, Caesar?" Godzilla asked.
"I'm picking something up." the shisa said. He was silent for a few seconds, then gasped. "It's Nami. She's calling me from Okinawa. And there's a pretty good chance that's where Destoroyah's gonna search for the last relic."
"So, Destoroyah is now targeting those we hold dear." Mothra said grimly. "We must hurry to Okinawa. He cannot cause us anymore grief."
The team intercepted Destoroyah just five miles from Okinawa. Godzilla attempted to blast him out of the sky with his atomic breath, but the mutant kaiju dodged his attack. Rodan flew up to him and raked his talons down the mutant's floral chest pattern, the intense pain making him fall into the water, where Godzilla had him constricted with his tail. He and Anguirus bit into him while Mothra fired her antennae beams at him. Destoroyah shook Godzilla and Anguirus off-although the former still had his tail around him-and countered Mothra's attack with his own beam, causing a giant explosion.
Meanwhile, Tengan and Nami Kunigami watched from a distance as their guardian and his friends fought the evil monster from their prophecy, but to their surprise, it wasn't King Ghidorah.
"What is this?" Nami said. "King Ghidorah was not the danger to Earth?"
"Apparently not." said Tengan. "It was something even worse. We must continue to pray for the safety of King Caesar and his friends, for this adversary is a far greater threat."
Nami nodded in agreeance and joined her father in another faithful prayer.
Back at sea, Anguirus bit into Destoroyah's floral pattern, and while he was distracted from the pain, King Caesar absorbed Godzilla's atomic breath and fired it at the mutant from behind. Destoroyah clawed at Anguirus' face, making him let go, and took off flying back towards Japan. The heroic team had successfully driven him away from Okinawa, but there was no time to rest or celebrate. They quickly followed after their enemy, catching up to him on the outskirts of Tokyo. He was dangerously close to the last relic, but fortunately, he didn't know it.
"You foolish beings continue to make my search difficult." Destoroyah said. "Well, try as you may, you will not stop me from obtaining the final relic. I will harvest their powers and fulfill what I failed to 12,000 years ago!"
Destoroyah flew into the air, and it was then that Jet Jaguar suddenly recognized their surroundings. He recognized the scruffy bushes and trees and dusty dirt road leading to the lake he and his family liked to visit. And Destoroyah was flying in the direction of...his home.
Where his father likely was.
Without a word, Jet Jaguar took off after Destoroyah, ignoring his friends calling to him. Right when the robot believed he would catch up, the mutant suddenly grabbed him by the throat with his tail. Jet Jaguar wasn't struggling to breathe, due to him being a robot, but to break Destoroyah's lock on him. The mutant leaned in and studied him.
"This level of courage and determination you display is unprecedented." he said. A devilish smile formed on his face. "As will be the agony I will inflict upon you."
Jet Jaguar could only watch in horror as Destoroyah fired his horn beam at his house, blowing it up and setting it ablaze.
"Father!" Jet Jaguar cried out in anguish.
A blast of Godzilla's atomic breath suddenly pushed Destoroyah away several feet, making him release his grip on Jet Jaguar. The rest of the team had caught up-in Jet Jaguar's rush to save Goro, he had nearly forgotten about them. Godzilla, Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar went to continue fighting the mutant while Mothra and Minya stayed to help Jet Jaguar save his creator. Mothra batted at the flames with strong winds, making them die down, and Minya pushed away the blackened rubble. There, on what was left of his laboratory floor, lied a badly wounded and barely conscious Goro.
Jet Jaguar shrunk down to his normal size and knelt down in front of his creator, gently lifting him up. "Father? Father, wake up." the robot pleaded, his voice breaking. "Please wake up."
Goro opened his eyes with a pained groan. Through the brutal pain he was in, he could just barely make out his creation holding him in his arms. "J-Jet...Jaguar..." he said in a wavering voice.
"I'm here, Father." said Jet Jaguar. "I'm right here."
Goro shakily lifted his hand up and help something out to Jet Jaguar. It was the remote control he used to give orders to his robot and communicate with him. Jet Jaguar realized what it meant upon seeing it, and the monster of grief struck him like lightning.
"No! Please don't go, Father! I can't lose you!" he cried.
Goro smiled a bit. "You w-won't lose me, Jet Jaguar. I'll...always be with...y-you, even when...you f-feel alone." He took Jet Jaguar's hand and placed the remote control in it. "When you start to m-miss me, remember that...you'll always have a p-part of me with...y-you."
Jet Jaguar protectively closed his fingers around the remote, and Goro coughed and gasped for air. "Father!" the robot exclaimed. "I love you, Father. I love you so much."
Goro's final words were barely audible. "I love you, too. No matter what..."
With one last exhale, his body went limp in his creation's arms, and he was gone.
If Jet Jaguar could cry, he would've burst into tears then and there. He held Goro's lifeless body closely to his own, overcome with grief. All the while, Mothra and Minya stood by sadly watching the scene unfold.
Another tragic loss in so short a time.
The rest of their team limped over to them, wounded and dejected. "Destoroyah got away." Godzilla said, sounding more tired than angry. But both of those feelings dissipated when he and the others saw what had caused their robotic friend such agony.
"Dr. Ibuki." King Caesar said quietly.
"Yet another innocent life Destoroyah has claimed." Mothra said.
No more, Minya thought with despair. Please no more.