MERRY CHRISTMAS! And what better Christmas present is there than another chapter of my story? (Okay, maybe there are a lot of better presents, lol.)
I hope this is worth the wait!
MFS-1 MECHAGODZILLA DATA FILE
HEIGHT: 120 meters
WEIGHT: 150,000 tons
FLIGHT SPEED: Mach 2
CREW: 5 (Commander/Pilot, Copilot, Weapon Systems Officer, Engineer, Navigator)
Godzilla advanced closer to his latest foe, issuing a challenge in the form of a mighty roar as he approached. Any being, human or kaiju, would have to harbor either immense bravery or extreme stupidity to accept this challenge.
The crew of Mechagodzilla had plenty of the former—and perhaps a bit of the latter as well.
Leading them was Colonel Hideki Hirata. A hardened veteran of the JSDF, he was by no means a man to be messed with. His professional demeanor, coupled with his many years of combat experience, made him an obvious choice to lead the individuals selected by G-Force to crew the recently-completed machine. As such, he was now seated in front of the center console of its cockpit, glaring at Godzilla through the viewscreen as the massive kaiju drew closer.
"Yuki, systems check," Hirata said calmly.
To his right, Major Akira Yuki pressed a few buttons and took some brief glances at the displays in front of his console before reporting, "All systems go for combat."
With a nod, Hirata then turned to his left. "Shinjo, engage Mega-Buster."
"Ryokai," Lieutenant Koji Shinjo responded, flicking a switch on his console.
Mechagodzilla's metal jaws opened and a bright, multicolored ray shot out of hit, hitting Godzilla in the chest. Godzilla stumbled back from the blast, roaring angrily.
"Yuki, engage thrusters," Hirata instructed. "Commence aerial assault."
Mechagodzilla's built-in rocket thrusters roared to life, and the mecha lifted off the ground. As it slowly hovered above Godzilla, it trained all of its weapons down at the leviathan and proceeded to fire them, one after another, quickly engulfing the kaiju in a rain of destruction.
But the King of the Monsters would not take the punishment sitting down. With a flash of blue from his dorsal spikes, he turned his head upward and fired his atomic ray at Mechagodzilla, strking its left side.
The entire crew winced as their vessel lurched violently. "Altitude is dropping!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Sato, damage report!" Hirata ordered.
Seated at the side-facing console directly behind Yuki, Lieutenant Kiyoshi Sato ran a quick evaluation of Mechagodzilla's critical systems.
"The port cannon is offline," Sato responded. "Thrusters are losing power!"
"Yashiro, divert more power to the thrusters, quickly!" barked Hirata.
"I'm trying!" Lieutenant Akane Yashiro replied from her seat, directly opposite that of Sato. Frantically, she pressed several buttons and switches, trying to reroute the necessary power to keep Mechagodzilla from dropping out of the sky. Before she could resolve the problem, however...
"The thrusters are gone!" Yuki shouted. True to his word, Mechagodzilla's rocket thrusters had fallen silent, and the giant mecha was now plummeting towards the ground.
"Brace for impact!" Hirata yelled.
Seconds later, Mechagodzilla impacted the ground with a heavy thud that shook the earth around it. With alarms blaring in the cockpit, the five crew members struggled to carry on with their tasks.
"Restore power to the weapons systems!" Hirata ordered his crewmates.
"Too late," Shinjo said, watching the viewscreen.
The massive form of Godzilla now loomed over Mechagodzilla. He fired his atomic ray at the downed machine, completely engulfing the viewscreen in a blinding blue light.
Then the entire cockpit went black.
"Damage Level Ten," a feminine robotic voice announced from the sole display that remained on. "This ship has been destroyed. There are no survivors."
Akane let out a disappointed sigh. Another failed combat simulation—and once again, she was the one to blame.
"Kuso," cursed Sato, throwing his gloves against his console. "Not again!"
"Easy, Kiyo," Shinjo told his partner, trying to maintain some degree of positivity among his crewmates. "At least the reactor didn't blow this time."
"Yeah, because the rookie screwed us first," Yuki retorted, gesturing in Akane's direction.
"That's enough," Hirata interjected. "All of you still have room for improvement. The good news is that we're getting better.
"However, if we keep singling out one of our own for their shortcomings, then G-Force might as well scrap Mechagodzilla before it has a chance to see combat. We were all chosen to pilot this machine for a reason, but that does absolutely no good if we're unable to work as a team. Am I being clear?"
"Yes, sir!" the rest of the crew responded.
"Good," said Hirata. "That's enough training for today. Don't forget that the unveiling is tomorrow."
With that, the five Mechagodzilla crew members stood up and left the simulator pod one by one. Akane was the last to leave, her head slumped downward as she slowly walked out, still dejected by her failure.
"Yashiro," a voice called out behind her.
Akane turned around to find that she had in fact not been the last to leave the simulator. There stood Hirata, now with a considerably softer expression on his face than what she had seen on him just a minute prior.
"Yes, sir?" she answered.
"Don't take their words personally," the colonel told her. "I've worked with those guys for years; trust me, I know what they're like. Give it time, they'll come around—even Yuki."
"Ha," Akane laughed bitterly. "How will they do that if I keep letting them down like I did today?"
"You can't be so hard on yourself," Hirata answered, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Every mistake you've made since you joined us, you've learned from. You're doing well. Eventually, the others will realize this and learn to treat you as a valued member of the team."
Those words were enough to lift Akane's spirits, even if it was only a little. "Thank you, sir," she replied.
"Get some rest," Hirata said, and with that he departed the simulation chamber. Akane soon followed, filled with a renewed sense of determination. She now found herself eagerly waiting for the chance to prove her worth to the rest of her team.
Little did Akane know that chance would come much sooner than she could have expected.
Kadic Academy
"Are we rolling?"
"Yep—you're on, Milly."
"Coming to you from Kadic Academy, this is Milly Solovieff bringing you this week's school news report. To start things off, the much-anticipated rec room has just opened."
Tamiya slowly panned the camcorder away from her friend and across the rec room where they now stood. Students were engaged in various activities—ranging from simply chewing the fat to playing tabletop games against each other.
With Tamiya's camera now trained back on her, Milly continued, "Let's talk to one of our fellow students what they think about this new attraction."
Milly turned to the nearest student—which happened to be none other than Sissi Delmas, who sat on a couch watching the rec room's TV.
"Sissi," Milly began, "as the daughter of Kadic's principal, could you give us your thoughts on the rec room?"
In the past, Sissi would have simply brushed the younger girls off, possibly with some malicious remarks to boot. But Sissi saw herself destined for stardom, and decided it was in her best interest to look as good on camera as possible—in her mind, at least, this would help jumpstart her eventual rise to fame.
"Oh, I think it's a wonderful addition," Sissi responded, trying to act as sincere as someone not known for sincerity possibly could. "Kids these days have been so bogged down by the constant onslaught of homework and exams. They can only take so much of it! Giving them a place to relax and have fun will be good for enriching their young minds."
An uproarious laugh erupted from across the room. "That's easy for you to say, Sissi," Odd—engaged in a foosball match against Ulrich and Yumi—interjected. "All you've been doing is turning your brain into mush with those cheesy romantic dramas you've been watching on the TV!"
"Oh, shut up!" Sissi barked back, dropping her 'nice' act in an instant as Milly and Tamiya did their best to suppress giggles.
"We'll edit that out later, Milly," Tamiya told her red-haired friend as she focused the camera back on her.
"In other news," Milly began as she and Tamiya began to move away, "it has been announced that the recently-purchased Montpellier Boarding School is to be converted into a satellite campus for Kadic Academy. Located thirty kilometers north of Paris, this rural school will create new opportunities..." The girls' voices faded as they exited the rec room.
Sissi, still bitter about her interrupted interview, turned her attention back to the TV. Quickly, she found herself growing increasingly invested in a scene from the drama she was watching. The show's couple began to exchange kisses with each other, and before long they were engaged in a full-blown make out session. As the intense nature of the scene ramped up, so too did Sissi's interest. She leaned over the edge of the couch, watching as the two characters drowned in their mutual intimacy—
Click.
The image of the couple was suddenly replaced by that of a female news anchor reading off the day's top stories.
"Wha—hey!" Sissi exclaimed as she looked up, discovering that it was Jim who had changed the channel on her.
"That show is too risqué for you, Miss Delmas," the gym teacher bluntly told her. "If I catch you watching anything like that again, I'll make sure your father knows about it."
Then, to the entire room, Jim continued, "That goes for all of you! This rec room may be for your enjoyment, but you're still on school property! So anyone wanting to try any funny business here better be ready to spend two hours in detention! Unless that appeals to you—in which case, I'll make sure it's four hours of detention! Still not enough? Two hours! Er, I mean, two more hours—" Jim's voice faltered as he realized he had let himself get carried away, before regaining his composure and finishing, "Just don't get any ideas!" With that, he left the room.
Sissi sighed with annoyance and got up from the couch to leave, having decided that the rec room was overrated. She left the TV tuned to the news as a reporter began droning on about record-breaking flooding in southern China, which everyone in the room ignored.
Everyone, that is, except for Jeremy. He watched the news report with great interest, listening closely as the reporter described the circumstances of the flooding, particularly its causes.
"Jeremy!" Aelita called out to him.
Jeremy's attention snapped back to the game of chess that he was playing against Aelita. "Didn't you hear me?" the pinkette asked. "It's your turn."
"Oh, right," Jeremy sheepishly responded. He thought for a few seconds before moving one of his pieces.
Aelita reacted immediately with a move of her own. "Checkmate!" she declared triumphantly.
"Wait, how—?" Jeremy stuttered in surprise. Did I seriously let her beat me just like that?
"You weren't concentrating," Aelita said matter-of-factly. Then her prideful expression changed to one of concern. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Jeremy answered. Seriously? You know she's not going to accept that.
Sure enough, Aelita wasn't fooled. "Jeremy, we've known each other for two years. I know when something is bothering you. What is it?"
Jeremy sighed. "Ever since XANA escaped onto the network, I've been feeling more on edge than usual. Whenever something happens, it's hard for me to not wonder if he has a hand in it, even if it's something seemingly natural like those floods they were talking about on the news."
"I get it," Aelita conceded, "but natural disasters have been happening for ages. It's bad, but it doesn't necessarily mean XANA is involved."
"It's not just that, though," Jeremy explained further. "In the past, fighting XANA was something that we always had a handle on. Sure, it was never easy, but at the end of the day, we managed to overcome almost every challenge he threw at us, one way or another.
"Now, however, I can't help but think that we're in over our heads. XANA's running loose on the Internet doing God knows what, he has William under his servitude, he's forced Franz Hopper into hiding, and now to top it all off, he's drawn the most powerful creatures on the planet into our war."
Franz Hopper. The mention of her father's name drove Aelita to ask, "Have you heard anything else from my father? Or made any progress in locating him?"
Jeremy shook his head despairingly as his gaze dropped to the table. "There hasn't been so much as a peep from him since Lyoko was destroyed. I've been trying to find even the slightest trace of him, but there's been nothing." With a sigh, he added, "I wish he was here with us."
"Because you think he'd know what to do?"
"That, and—" Jeremy looked back up at Aelita, "—because I know it'd mean a lot to you."
This statement from Jeremy caused Aelita's heart to skip a beat. She quickly felt her face turn warm, and despite her best efforts to hide it, Jeremy could tell she was blushing. Seeing this made Jeremy realize that his words had impacted her more than he expected them to—and this warranted a blush from him as well.
An awkward silence fell between the two teens as they stared at each other's respective reactions. Before either of them could say another word, however, an interruption in the form of a news report from the TV caught their attention.
"We now take you live to G-Force's headquarters in Tokyo," the news anchor said, "where General Secretary Takayuki Segawa is set to make a major announcement."
The mention of G-Force was enough to grab the attention of the five Lyoko Warriors in the rec room. They immediately stopped what they were doing and listened closely as the scene cut to an older man in a suit standing at a podium, flanked on either side by an entourage of other people wearing a mixture of civilian suits and military uniforms. The man—General Secretary Segawa—spoke into the microphone in Japanese, although the news network's interpreter ensured that everyone watching could understand his words.
"For decades, humanity has been plagued by the kaiju menace," Segawa said, "and for most of those decades, we have had only limited means of defending ourselves from monsters such as Godzilla, Anguirus, and Rodan. Since its establishment in 1954, G-Force has always been at the forefront of efforts to safeguard humanity, but more often than not, we have found ourselves severely outclassed by the sheer power of these creatures—a reality that has once again presented itself in the recent attacks on Osaka and Shizuoka.
"But no longer. In light of the renewed kaiju crisis, the U.N. and its member states have generously pledged to provide G-Force with the appropriate resources and funding to improve humankind's ability to defend itself—everything from improved surveillance methods to state-of-the-art weaponry. Today, I am here to introduce the culmination of G-Force's efforts to combat the kaiju threat: a mighty machine designed to go toe-to-toe with the most dangerous kaiju—including Godzilla himself.
"Ladies and gentlemen, people of the world, it is my privilege to introduce you to your newest and greatest protector: Mechagodzilla."
Now everyone in the rec room was watching the TV. They gawked in amazement as the massive metal form was shown for the first time. As its name implied, Mechagodzilla resembled a robotic version of Godzilla—the most obvious difference being that it was covered in smooth silver armor instead of rough charcoal scales.
At this point, Segawa turned the microphone to one of the other men in civilian clothing, the mecha's chief engineer.
"As you can see, Mechagodzilla was built in Godzilla's image," the engineer began. "This was a deliberate design choice—due to Godzilla's reputation as the strongest known kaiju, it is believed that most potential foes will be intimidated into submission before they can attack.
"However, Mechagodzilla does not rely on appearance alone when facing combative kaiju. It boasts incredible firepower, the ability to fly at over Mach 2, and special heat-resistant armor reinforced with a synthetic diamond coating."
At this point, a 3D representation of Mechagodzilla had filled the TV screen, highlighting the machine's diverse array of high-tech weaponry. Strange terms such as "Mega-Buster," "Paralysis Missiles," and "Plasma Grenade" labeled various different parts of the machine as the engineer spoke. Eventually, the 3D view of Mechagodzilla spun around to show the mecha's back, revealing a large, backpack-like component from which a pair of large laser cannons extended over Mechagodzilla's shoulders.
"Of special note is the Garuda Aerial Element," the chief engineer continued. "When mated to Mechagodzilla's back, Garuda provides it with more firepower and greater maneuverability while in flight. During combat, Garuda can be separated and flown by one of Mechagodzilla's five crew members to attack either multiple targets or the same target from different angles at once."
The 3D representation showed the backpack-like component—Garuda—separating from Mechagodzilla and flying on its own, now resembling a futuristic-looking aircraft.
"All of this is made possible by a reactor engine, which powers all of Mechagodzilla's systems—which brings me to one of its most integral components. Although Mechagodzilla is controlled by a human crew, we found it necessary to supplement them with a system that could automatically make rapid decisions during combat as conditions dictate. Therefore, we have fitted the machine with a state-of-the-art supercomputer to aid the crew in operation."
A supercomputer? Jeremy thought incredulously. On a kaiju-sized robot?
Just then, one of the G-Force staff members wearing a military uniform walked up to the engineer and whispered something in his ear. At the same time, an alarm started blaring—not from the TV, but from Jeremy's bag.
Jeremy extracted his laptop and opened it for him and Aelita to see. True to their expectations, the hyperscan had detected a Replika controlling a kaiju. Jeremy closed his laptop and glanced at Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi, mouthing the word "factory" to them.
His friends nodded, and as discreetly as possible, all five of them slipped out of the rec room.
Sendai, Japan
Off the coast of one of the largest cities in northern Japan, a massive reptilian creature emerged from beneath the dark blue waves, heading straight for the shore at a rapid pace.
Much like Godzilla, this creature had emerged as an unintended byproduct of the humans' nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, and a result shared many traits with the King of the Monsters—right down to even having a strikingly similar roar. However, one look at the creature under broad daylight was enough to determine that this was not Godzilla; it had a much more horizontal posture akin to a theropod dinosaur, conical scutes protruding from its back, and a more angular head. Furthermore, the kaiju's physical resilience was nowhere close to that of Godzilla—a fact that the humans exploited when they killed its sole parent with mere conventional weapons two decades earlier.
With all these characteristics considered, one might consider this creature to be something of a "Godzilla-in-name-only." In any event, the creature's origins and weaknesses were of no concern to its malevolent master; the only important thing was that it was instrumental to his latest plan.
Ever since his reawakening, the Lyoko Warriors had been a thorn in XANA's digital side, having thwarted attack after attack that he had made. Thanks to having broken free from the bonds of Lyoko, however, he had achieved greater strength than the five teens could have imagined. Even as they rebuilt their virtual world and began to destroy his Replikas, XANA felt no concern about them—they would learn the true extent of his power in due time.
One wild card remained, however: Franz Hopper. The old man had hidden himself well on the network, and the A.I. couldn't rule out that his creator still knew of a means to ultimately destroy him. Even so, Hopper was just one man; as long as he remained hidden, it was unlikely that he could do much, if anything, to hinder XANA's plans.
With his longtime foes virtually powerless to do anything against him, XANA's ultimate victory appeared to be at hand—that is, until fate threw a 60,000-ton spanner in the works.
Enter Godzilla. Although XANA had been somewhat aware of the massive kaiju's existence before that point, it wasn't until he made the mistake of attempting to make him his slave that the A.I. realized he had awakened something beyond his understanding.
XANA had manipulated all forms of technology, no matter what kinds of safeguards were in place. He had disrupted Earth's weather systems, geology, and gravitational pull. He had possessed people, animals, and even inanimate objects. There was seemingly nothing that he couldn't do.
Except control Godzilla.
While it was common for XANA's victims to put up resistance to his possession, their attempts had usually been brief and fruitless. This had not been the case with the King of the Monsters—no matter how hard XANA had tried, the nuclear saurian refused to give in to his control. Ultimately, this struggle had led to the destruction of one of his own Replikas, forcing him to give up.
For the A.I., it was simply not logical. How could an animal, even one with a heightened degree of sentience, resist him with seemingly nothing but sheer willpower? Godzilla was a being that completely defied everything that XANA knew about the real world—and it was because of this that the leviathan's mere existence elicited an emotion from XANA that he very rarely felt.
Fear.
XANA would not be able to rest easy until this creature—nay, this abomination—was dead. Today, he would make that so. He directed his new kaiju slave to shore, ordering it to wreak havoc on the cityscape that lay ahead of it.
XANA's plan to kill Godzilla was now in motion.
G-Force Facility, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Alarms blared throughout the facility as the Mechagodzilla crew, fully geared up for combat, rushed to the launch chamber.
"Of all the days to have a kaiju attack, it had to be the one when G-Force revealed Mecha-G to the world!" Sato quipped as he and his crewmates rapidly approached the doors to the boarding gantry.
"It's definitely ironic," Shinjo agreed as the doors opened for them and they stepped out onto the gantry. "I'll take it if it means getting the chance to prove the doubters wrong."
"Don't let that get in the way of your true goal, Shinjo," Hirata interrupted as he turned to his team. "We fight to protect, not to prove a point."
Shinjo nodded meekly. "I understand, sir."
"Don't be rattled by the fact that this is our first real foray into battle," Hirata said to all four of them. "We knew that this day would come, and we've run dozens upon dozens of simulations together to prepare for it. Do what you've always done, and we will prevail—and this real experience will boost your confidence for the future."
Hirata's eyes fell on Akane as he said this latter part, making it clear that those words were intended primarily for her. She nodded in understanding, feeling grateful for her superior's words of encouragement.
"Now, time to go kick some kaiju ass," Hirata finished. "Let's make it quick, though—I want to make it back by nightfall."
With that, the five crew members boarded Mechagodzilla through the open hatch in the side of its neck, failing to notice the wisps of black smoke creep inside after them.
Several stories below in the launch control room, Hiroshi Ogata and Commander Aso watched on as the preparations for Mechagodzilla's maiden combat mission neared completion.
"All five crew members have been seated, sir," one of the technicians announced from his station.
"Begin preliminary checks," Aso ordered. Then, turning to Ogata, he added quietly, "Time to see if the High Council's decision to resurrect this project is worth it."
Ogata nodded in agreement, sharing his colleague's sentiment.
Now's the time, Akane. Time to show that you've learned from your mistakes and aren't just dead weight to these guys.
Akane did her best to purge any feelings of self-doubt she had from her mind. This was really happening; it was not just another session in the simulator. Now, more than ever, she needed to perform at her best.
A whirring noise distracted her from her thoughts. Mechagodzilla's reactor engine was starting—much sooner than it should have.
"'Engine start'?" Sato read from his display in surprise. "But we haven't even started preliminary checks!"
"Yashiro, what the hell are you doing?" Yuki asked irritatedly.
"I haven't done anything!" Akane answered defensively.
"Sato, abort startup sequence," Hirata ordered.
"I can't!" Sato responded. "My controls aren't responding!"
"What's going on?" Aso demanded.
"Mechagodzilla's systems are powering on without any input from the crew," the technician replied in concern.
"Use the remote emergency shutdown," Ogata commanded.
"We've been trying," the technician said. "We're completely locked out—Mechagodzilla is no longer receiving any commands from us or the crew!"
Suddenly, every display in the launch control room began to flicker. The lines of data that they showed began to disintegrate and rearrange themselves before the technicians' very eyes, until every display showed the exact same thing: a red, eyelike symbol with four lines protruding from it.
"What is this?" Aso asked, bewildered. "A virus? Hackers?"
Ogata had no answer.
Inside Mechagodzilla's cockpit, the situation was no better. The same eyelike symbol had similarly filled every screen in front of the five crew members.
"This is nothing like the simulations!" Yuki exclaimed. "I can't do a damn thing here!"
"Keep trying to figure it out!" Hirata urged his crew.
"The weapons systems are powering up!" Shinjo reported. "There's nothing I can do to stop it!"
Mechagodzilla's head turned downward, now staring at the window to the launch control room. Ogata and Aso stared back, and watched with shock as its glowing yellow eyes inexplicably turned blood red and it opened its mouth, letting out a loud, metallic Godzilla-esque roar that shook the entire launch chamber.
"Get out!" Ogata screamed. "Everyone out of the room!"
None of the technicians hesitated. They leapt up from their posts and ran for the door, Ogata and Aso close on their heels.
Mechagodzilla fired its Mega-Buster ray at the window. The room was immediately engulfed in a massive explosion, prompting those who had previously occupied it to dive for cover as the flames shot out into the corridor before fading.
The sound of straining metal echoed throughout the launch chamber as Mechagodzilla's limbs began to move, against the force of the restraints that held them into place, before...
SNAP.
The restraints broke free. No longer restricted in its movement, the mecha turned its attention upward. Its onboard rocket engines ignited, causing it to lift off and propel it towards the closed launch doors in the ceiling. Mechagodzilla smashed through the doors with ease and was immediately bathed in sunlight as it rose into the cloudless sky.
After checking to make sure everyone from the control room was okay, Aso turned to Ogata. "We should get to the command center," Aso said.
"Right," Ogata agreed. "Maybe there we can make some sense of what's going on."
On board the now-airborne Mechagodzilla, the five crew members tried in vain to regain control of their rogue vessel. Their efforts were as pointless as they had been while still on the ground—the machine would respond to absolutely none of their commands. The eyelike symbol remained etched on their screens as the mecha leveled off, now flying horizontally at Mach 2.
"Trigger the emergency escape!" Hirata shouted.
"It's inoperable!" Sato responded.
"So we're trapped," Shinjo stated, resigning himself to the reality of their situation. "Do we at least have any idea where we're going?"
"We're flying southeast," Yuki answered. "On a heading for Sendai, in fact."
"The same place as the attacking kaiju," Hirata remarked. "Whatever is going on with Mechagodzilla, it looks like we're strapped along for the ride."
From her station, Akane said nothing. So much for proving myself, she thought. We'll be lucky to even make it out of here alive!
Uh-oh, Mechagodzilla has gone rogue! If you're a Godzilla fan, I'm sure you've seen this happen before...but never with anyone trapped on board, and certainly not with XANA at the helm! What sort of nefarious role will the machine and its hapless crew play in the A.I.'s latest scheme? I look forward to answering that question in the next chapter!
Like I promised in the previous chapter, there are quite a few familiar names here from the Godzilla films that you may recognize, most prominently from Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002).
And in case I didn't make it obvious enough: the kaiju that XANA has possessed here is none other than the 1998 Americanized (and very un-Godzillalike) version of Godzilla, better known to us G-fans by his Toho-branded name: Zilla.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Until next time!
Replies to reviews for this chapter will be posted here. Watch this space.
Kaiju Alpha: You could say that. Also the climax of Godzilla vs. Kong.
MadameMirage77: Good to hear from you again! Sorry for the delay in responding, things have been busy for me lately. I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter! And to answer your question, this version of Zilla in my story is the surviving offspring of the one from the 1998 U.S. Godzilla film—and thus, Zilla Jr. However, while the events of that movie are canon to my story, Godzilla: The Series is not, so this version of Zilla Jr. may be a bit different from what you're used to.