And so, here we are: the aftermath of the fight between two Titans! This is just to close the story out, so it's not going to be too long.
I want to thank the following people for commenting since the last update: djpj7652, Wolfx1120, seakard, GodzillaMaster
And special thanks for DancouMaryuu for proofing one last time!
So, without further ado, let's finish up!
Side note: best track for this chapter would be "Back to the Ocean" from Godzilla 2014's soundtrack, since that's what I wrote along to.
KING OF THE MONSTERS
The Hopps Warren, Bunnyburrow
Nick and Judy had been watching intently on television as the battle had unfolded. It didn't seem to take long, and yet, it also seemed to take forever.
When Titanus Gojira emerged victorious, Judy could imagine the collective cheers of the Monarch team two hundred miles away. Those cheers would surely give way to gasps of shock as the Titan collapsed.
It was true that Shin Godzilla had wreaked untold destruction upon Zootopia. Nobody even knew if the city was going to be inhabitable after all of that, let alone whether the city could be rebuilt.
"If this were a film, we'd cut to the good mammals watching this, and there would be some profound message," Nick quipped.
"Nope, and nope," Judy shook her head. "No end-of-film message, just a huge mess to clear up."
Nick's phone rang. He fished it from his pocket.
"Wilde's Wilde Times, we give them to ya," Nick answered.
"Put the phone on speaker so I can talk to you and Hopps," came the gruff voice of Chief Bogo. Nick obliged.
"Chief?" Judy spoke.
"I don't need to tell both of you that you don't exactly have a home to go to now. Those damn creatures flattened most of the City Centre in their brawl. As for the ZPD? We don't even know if mammals will be able to return to Zootopia any time soon."
"Because of the radiation?" Judy asked.
"Yes, even in the districts those two didn't fight in. Then there's the fact that their remains are still in Zootopia and will have to be moved."
Nick and Judy looked at each other knowingly.
"If it's all the same, sir, we'd like to return to help out," Judy said.
"I knew you'd probably say something like that," Bogo huffed. "Right now, there's nothing for you to do even if you were fully-healed. But I won't lie. We'll need all the help we can get. It's going to take every paw and hoof we have to start cleaning this mess up. The scientists won't stick around for that, they just care about their Godzilla."
"I promise, we'll do what we can to help," Judy vowed.
Savanna Central Ruins
The Monarch crews were busy examining the wreckage caused by the two Titans. Titanus Gojira lay across what used to be where Precinct One was, the rubble of demolished buildings forming a cushion around it.
Serizawa himself had suited up into a hazmat suit. He wanted to get close to this colossal creature, to place a paw on it, to feel it.
The sight of it laying there, dead, broke his heart. He admired Gojira. No, it was more accurate to say he admired all forms of life, and Gojira was the manifestation of life.
"Doctor Serizawa? Radiation levels have been falling consistently," Sora stood beside him. Serizawa paused for thought.
"I don't get it… shouldn't the radiation level be constant?" Jack asked.
"Not if…" Serizawa replied. Breathing deeply, Serizawa stepped forward, his paw outstretched. He made contact with Gojira's scaly skin, and shut his eyes, as if trying to sense the creature's heartbeat.
The ground shook slightly. Serizawa opened his eyes.
No, it wasn't the ground. The dust around Gojira's head had started to move as the creature took deep breaths. Serizawa stepped back as far as he could. Gojira's arm reached out and planted itself into the ground as it pushed itself up.
It was magnificent. Serizawa had never, ever experienced being in the presence of such a magnificent creature.
No, creature didn't do it justice. Even 'Titan' didn't describe the splendour Gojira presented. It stood up and limped towards the shoreline. Every step it took shook the ground beneath its feet.
When it reached the southern shore of the District, it raised its head and let out a bellow into the sky.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Gojira leaned forward, onto all fours like a crocodile, and entered the water. As the water grew deeper, its body vanished beneath the surface, leaving only its dorsal plates visible as it swam away. Soon, they too sunk beneath the surface.
A month passed after what had been dubbed the 'Battle of the Kings incident'. Monarch had stayed behind for a while to help direct the displaced. No trace of radiation from the battle had been left, so some were able to return to their homes.
Nick and Judy were one of the lucky ones. Though they lived in Savanna Central, their apartment block had not been crushed by the two Titans, nor had it suffered incineration. That didn't mean there was no damage – all their windows had been blown out, and the streets leading up to their apartment were littered with wrecked cars and other debris.
"At least we still have a home," Judy sighed, thinking of all the mammals who were now homeless. After Godzilla had returned to the sea, Mayor Lionheart had pledged to help rehome the displaced mammals until new homes could be built. Gazelle, who had been away from Zootopia during the incident, had returned and was launching a new series of fundraising concerts to help. Even Mr. Big, the Tundratown crime boss, had arranged for his 'businesses' to assist in rebuilding.
As for Judy and Nick, they still had a job. Precinct One had established a temporary headquarters while their new building was being built on the site of the old ZPD HQ.
In fact, they were busier than before, because once mammals had returned to Zootopia, certain undesirable mammals had tried to take advantage of the chaos unleashed by the clash of the Titans.
It was almost a relief to see Weaselton trying to sell survival kits on a street corner near their apartment as they emerged after cleaning up the damage.
"Oh, no, not you two again…" Weaselton groaned upon seeing the pair of them, in uniform. "Don't ya have anything better to do than bug a guy tryin' to help out?"
"Trying to make a profit, more like," Judy raised an eyebrow. "Where did you 'find' these, Weaselton?"
"Better tell her," Nick advised. "You know how she gets when you don't give her a straight answer."
"You ain't got a jail to hold me this time!" Weaselton tried. "And you ain't got nothin' on me."
"Think I need Precinct One's prison?" Judy cocked her head. "Remember the last time you refused to help me?"
"You wouldn't…" Weaselton's eyes widened in fear. She was referring to the Night Howler incident, in which she had taken Duke to Mr. Big. Needless to say, Weaselton had squealed before he was dunked into the ice water beneath Big's floorboards.
Weaselton's gaze flicked between the fox and bunny, and he sighed.
"Rut this! So long!"
Weaselton bolted. Nick raised his paws in a shrug as he looked at Judy.
"You're the speedster," Nick said. However, as Judy started after Duke, a paw stuck itself from around the corner of a building Duke was trying to run past, and he tripped. The paw's owner stepped out and examined his handiwork.
"Oops," Jack remarked. "You know, you should probably have looked where you were going instead of at who's chasing you."
"Uncle Jack? What are you doing here?" Judy asked, catching up to them.
"Oh, I thought I'd try out for the ZPD. How'd I do?"
"I forgot your sense of humour," Judy pinched the bridge of her nose. "You and Nick have that in common."
"Seriously, though, I'm here to say 'sayonara'."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah. Monarch's done here now they've collected all the data they need and the bones of the other Gojira have been taken away. Doctor Serizawa's been reassigned, so I'm going with him. It's a shame we couldn't spend more time together. But, you know…"
"Giant fire-breathing lizards and all of that," Nick quipped.
"Something like that," Jack half-smiled. "I'll try and arrange to come back soon. Tell your Mom that I'm sorry I couldn't stop by."
"You could just tell her yourself," came a female voice from behind Nick and Judy. They all turned to see Bonnie and Stu, with several of Judy's siblings with them.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?"
"Aw, we came to help you get things tidied up," Stu said. "Since you're going back to work so soon, it's going to be difficult for you to get it all done by yourselves, so Bonnie had the idea of helping you out."
Jack stared at Bonnie as she approached.
"You're with the mammals who followed that thing here, aren't you?" Bonnie said.
"Guilty," Jack grinned. "I never could keep anything hidden from you, little sis."
The two stared at each other for a moment, before Bonnie pulled Jack into a hug. For a moment, Jack didn't respond, surprised by the sudden gesture, but he soon returned it.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop by, but…" Jack said.
"I know. Big monster," Bonnie replied, letting Jack go. "When you left for Hinode, I never thought you'd get mixed up in this sort of thing, but… where they go, you go?
"Where they go, I go," Jack nodded in agreement. "There's more of them, but right now, Gojira's the only active one."
"M-more? Oh, sweet cheese and crackers…" Stu stammered.
"As long as he's awake, I've got work to do," Jack finished.
"I know," Bonnie said. "Just promise me you'll take care of yourself."
"I will. And you too, Bon. You too, Judy. And, Nick? It was nice to meet the mammal who's made my niece a happy bunny."
"So long, Stripes," Nick saluted.
They watched as Jack left. Judy looked to the ground where Weaselton lay.
"Well, we'll get up there and start working," Stu said, heading back towards the apartment block. Judy passed her key to Bonnie.
"Go make the world a better place, Bun-bun," Bonnie smiled.
"I will," Judy returned the smile, waving as her family disappeared inside the building. She turned her attention back to Weaselton, who was stirring.
"Hey, if you squint, you can almost see the birds flitting around his head!" Nick quipped.
"Hilarious," Judy deadpanned. She unhooked her pawcuffs. "Come on, let's start by getting this guy and his stolen stuff out of here."
"Just another day in paradise, eh?" Nick added as they hauled Weaselton to his feet and began marching him down the street.
Outpost 61, Infant Island
Once a secluded island in Indonesia, Infant Island hosted an indigenous cuscus population. That population tended to be hostile to outsiders, so it had taken Monarch a while to set up base there after picking up a bioacoustic signature.
It transpired that the cuscus' worshipped a 'moth god'. Monarch's early research found evidence that the 'moth god' was called Mothra. Murals depicted a relationship with Titanus Gojira, describing this Mothra as 'Queen of the Monsters'.
Further investigations revealed a gigantic egg in a cavern beneath the island – which also served as the cuscus population's temple of worship.
Some Monarch scientists grew eager to see the birth of a Titan, but given what the murals implied, some wondered if the right word was 'rebirth.'
Outpost 56, Isla Rodan
Isla Rodan sat to the east of Mexicat. Its most prominent feature was the large, active volcano in its centre, named after a demon in ancient Mexicat religions.
Sometimes, myth had a basis in fact. The volcano was the nest of a gigantic fire bird. It was likely its ancestors who gave rise to the 'fire demon' myths surrounding the island. The Monarch operatives thought it poetic to name it 'Titanus Rodan' after these legends.
Outpost 32, Antarctica
The Titan beneath the ice of Antarctica had only recently been discovered, but the Monarch crew had already found out a significant amount of information about it. It appeared to be a giant, winged creature. Perhaps it was the ice, but it looked like it had three heads, each with a long muzzle and horns.
If any evidence pointed to the existence of dragons, it rested in Outpost 32. The Monarch crew working there reported having vivid nightmares about whatever was under the ice.
They already had a nickname for it.
'Monster Zero – The Devil With Three Heads.'
Pensacola, Lotorida
Arthur Torchkey, the racoon CEO of Bilusaludo Sciences, stood at the edge of a platform overlooking his newest delivery to the giant warehouse.
"I took a lot of risks getting this here," he remarked. "This had better work, Jonah."
An older puma stood beside him. Alan Jonah was a former soldier who had become disillusioned with the world. He had risked everything to infiltrate the crew removing the skeleton of Shin Godzilla from Zootopia, and having it brought here, to the facility of Bilusaludo Sciences. Now they had begun the process of reconstructing it. They wanted to study it. It was a great opportunity to learn and create things from it.
"It will," Jonah replied. If the arrival of Shin Godzilla had proven anything, it was that mammalkind was woefully unprepared for the return of the Titans, and unless something was done, it would prove to be mammalkind's end.
After all, mammalkind had risen so far. The fall would be harder.
"Then, let's get to work," Torchkey said.
And so, we reach the end! Godzilla victorious and returning home, Zootopia beginning the process of rebuilding, and a few hints as to where the story could go! I will confess that I don't necessarily have any plans beyond this story, but this is to leave it open-ended in case I do decide to return to this world, hence the introduction of some of the other Titans. That's not to say I will even use all of them in a single story either.
It took a while to get here (the first chapter was published in June, 2018!) but we got here in the end, so thank you to everybody who stuck with this story through it all!
As with the previous chapter, aside from the obvious easter egg cameos of other Titans, I included a few other references to Godzilla films. Can you spot them all?
Before we finish, I want to say thank you to J Shute Norway and DancouMaryuu for proofing throughout and for providing a few pointers in where I could take some parts I was having a bit of trouble with.
All that remains is to say thank you for reading! Sayonara!