Chapter 24: Pain

Mothra's eggs-Africa

Godzilla, Mothra, and Anguirus have met up one last time to devise a plan to transfer Mothra's eggs.

"Anguirus, the only way I can see this working out is if you stay here to guard the eggs while me and Mothra transfer as many as we can. In order to make this as easy as possible, we have to take one at a time. Can you do that for me?"

Anguirus turns his head to look at the three glowing eggs. After a moment of thought, he turns it back to Godzilla.

"Yeah. How long do I guard them for?"

"As long as it takes. If we move quickly and without a conflict it should only be a couple hours. Mothra can move faster than me so she will get back here before I do."

Mothra flies up to Godzilla's shoulders. She coos and rests herself on his head.

"Remember Anguirus, we are trusting you with her lineage as well as mine. Do not, under any circumstance, allow anyone to enter this cave. No human, no jaegers, and no mutos. If any of the Big Four arrive, defend them with your life.

Anguirus nods his head and moves towards the eggs. Leo and Lea's eggs are large and oval in shape. Both of them pulse a deep blue color. Junior's egg has the shell of a divine moth egg but it is dark and opaque in color. Anguirus senses the life inside each of them. So precious, so frail. He turns back to Godzilla and Mothra.

"I will defend them with my life. If they come, and I am no longer here, I would just like to say it has been an honor to serve you, and to be your friend."

Mothra climbs down off Godzilla's shoulders to allow Godzilla to comfort his friend. Tears in his eyes, he crouches down and hugs Anguirus.

"Same to you buddy, I'll miss you."

Godzilla stands back up and pats Anguirus on the head. He wipes a tear from his eye and makes his way towards the exit. Mothra walks over to her eggs and uses her front legs to cut Junior's egg free from its base. She begins to spray silk over the egg. Godzilla takes one last glance at Anguirus and exits the cave.

1 day later.

As Godzilla made his way towards the new location, Mothra had finished covering all the eggs in silk. Just as she checks to make sure every part of the eggs are covered, she walks over to Anguirus.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Before I leave, I want to say that you have always been a good friend Anguirus. You were always there for me."

Anguirus looks into Mothra's eyes. This may be the last time he sees them.

"Defend them while I'm gone. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You have my word."

Mothra turns around and grabs Junior's egg. She gives one last glance at her friend and takes off into the night sky. Anguirus watches her fly off. He turns his attention back towards the eggs and walks towards them.

Mothra flew as fast as she could. It was off the coast of Africa where she finally broke the sound barrier and went Mach 1. Then, shortly afterwards, she went Mach 2. Clutching her egg with all six legs, she continued to fly faster and faster towards their new resting location. About an hour beforehand Godzilla was within sight of Yucca Mountain. Upon finally arriving at the new nesting sight he began to scour the horizon for any threat. But to his surprise, no-one was there.

They were all in Africa.

Gigan and Rodan had finally made landfall in Africa and began their search for Mothra's nesting sight. Following the trail of pheromones she left behind, Gigan tracked them all the way to a massive hole in the ground big enough to fit Godzilla. The scent of Mothra was marked all over it. Rodan turns to Gigan.

"Gigan, what if all three of them are down there? What if this was an elaborate set up to cover Kiryu's betrayal?"

"Impossible. I know how Kiryu's mind works and this isn't something he would do. Plus I can sense that neither Godzilla or Mothra are here."

"So who is then?"

Gigan turns his head towards the entrance to the cave. He readies himself.

"Anguirus is here."

He extends his thrusters and does a small burst of flight and lands inside of the cave with a loud metallic thud. Rodan hesitates for a second but then drops down inside. Upon landing inside the cave Gigan activates his night vision to see. Rodan's fiery glow illuminates the walls around him. Gigan's red visor pierces through the darkness. Gigan steps forward to enter the main chamber room. Rodan glances towards the sky and then follows him.

Suddenly Anguirus' tail club smashes into Gigan's face. He screeches as he falls to the ground. Anguirus' voice booms in the darkness.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD COME. I WON'T LET YOU HAVE THEM!"

Gigan stands back up and gets himself in a fighting stance.

"THEN I'LL TAKE THEM FROM YOUR COLD, DEAD CLAWS!"

Gigan screeches and strikes out at Anguirus. He dodges the attack and his tail slams into Gigan's shins. He crumples to the floor. Rodan lets out a screech and flies in. He extends his talons and tries to slash Anguirus. He dodges the strikes and narrowly misses Rodan.

"There are two of us and one of you! Either give me the eggs or die!"

"Never!"

Gigan gets back up and fires his heat vision. The crimson beam strikes Anguirus in the face and he is pushed backwards. Rodan loops back around and slashes Anguirus' back. Anguirus isn't affected by the attack but Gigan's beam begins to burn through his armor. Gigan stops his barrage and charges towards the stunned Anguirus. Anguirus roars and swings his tail at him.

Gigan dodges the heavy clubbed end and strikes Anguirus on his back right foot. Blood sprays him as Anguirus roars in agony. Rodan comes down from above and picks him up with his talons. Anguirus tries to shake him off but Rodan isn't affected. While Anguirus is lifted up in the air, Gigan crouches down and starts to slash his soft underbelly. Anguirus cries out in pain as Gigan lets out a sinister cackle. Rodan drops him back onto the cold ground below. Anguirus struggles to stand back up. Gigan steps back.

"Give it up old man, you are fighting a losing battle. Surrender the eggs and maybe we will let you live."

"NOOOO!"

Anguirus stands back up and charges full speed at Gigan. Using his horn, he impales Gigan in the chest and pushes him all the way to the far end of the room. Rodan takes off and starts to breathe fire on his back. Anguirus swings his tail and manages to hit Rodan and knock him to the ground. Gigan desperately tries to stab Anguirus with his scythe blades but he just bites one off with his jaws and tosses it aside. Moments later Anguirus slams him into the wall and starts to rip pieces of him off. Chunks of armor, a part of his sail, and whole pieces of Gigan's chest get ripped off. Gigan extends his talons and starts to dig them into Anguirus' belly.

During all of this Rodan is lying on the ground in a dazed state. That club strike can do a lot of damage. Just as he opens his eyes he sets them on the two glowing orbs in the middle of the room. The eggs. Just laying there. He could leave Gigan for dead and take one but if he returns without Gigan Kiryu will kill him.

"RODAN! HELP ME! GO FOR HIS NECK!"

Rodan sits up and takes off towards his friend. He extends his claws and grabs onto Anguirus' neck and sinks his claws into his flesh. He then begins to send some of his body heat into his claws and starts to burn the inside of his neck. Anguirus lets go of Gigan and cries out in pain. He spins around and slams Rodan into the wall. Gigan struggles to get back onto his feet.

Seconds later the flapping of wings announces the arrival of Mothra. She has returned for another egg. She lands inside the cave and gazes at the fight. Anguirus turns his head towards her.

"GO MOTHRA! GRAB THE EGG AND GO! DON'T WORRY ABOUT M-"

Gigan has sunk his one remaining scythe blade into Anguirus' back. Mothra screeches but does as he said. She quickly grabs one of the remaining eggs and flies out of the cave. The last thing she hears is Anguirus screaming in pain.

Rodan gets his bearings and starts to breathe fire on Anguirus again. The intense heat starts to sear his flesh. Smoke begins to fill the room. Rodan lands and continues to unleash his hellfire on his former friend. Gigan fires his heat vision.

The two attacks push Anguirus back towards the wall on the far side of the room. Just as Anguirus is pushed up against the wall Gigan uses his remaining scythe to stab his stomach.

Rodan stops his attack as he watches Gigan stab him. Rodan feels his heart crush as his former friend is fatally stabbed. Gigan, smiling and gazing at Anguirus through his cracked visor, pulls out his blade and releases his grasp. Anguirus drops down and begins to spit up blood. He desperately tries to swing his tail but Gigan easily avoids it. He crawls over towards the last remaining egg. Using whatever strength he has left, he rests one of his front legs on the egg to feel it's pulse.

Rodan walks over towards his fallen friend. He places one of his wings on Anguirus' back and looks at him eye-to-eye.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

Anguirus just looks at him with his big brown eyes; life fading from them.

"I...I...I forgive you…"

Anguirus brings one of his legs to Rodan's chest and leaves it there. Rodan clutches it and slowly feels Anguirus' pulse fade away. When it does stop, Rodan closes his eyes and weeps. Gigan comes up behind him.

"It won't be long before she is back. Grab the egg and let's go."

Rodan moves off of Anguirus' body and stands to face Gigan.

"...okay."

Rodan uses his wings to roll the egg to the entrance to the cave. He then uses his talons to grab it. Just before he leaves, he takes one last look at Anguirus before he leaves. Gigan flies off after him.

Hours later.

Because of the fight, Godzilla came with Mothra to retrieve the last egg. Although this left the other two eggs in danger they didn't care. The life of their friend was in danger. But when the two arrived, they had no words, only tears.

Mothra was in hysterics. The loss of both her third egg and Anguirus made her an emotional wreck. Her antennae were hanging low, she had no color in her wings, and she constantly cried. Godzilla was in 600 different pieces. Both of them spent that day huddled together near the body of their fallen friend for hours.

It wasn't until a few days later when they had a funeral service for Anguirus. They buried him near the coast of Africa where he liked to sit down and watch the sun set. Afterwards they left the continent behind and returned to the other eggs to grieve.

Even though she still had two of her eggs, she would feel the empty space the third egg had created. She didn't know where to look for it but she assumed it was destroyed. Although the egg of his son was safe and secure, he still wept for the loss of one of Mothra's children.

Even though Rodan was still an ally with Battra, the death of Anguirus paid a heavy price on his soul.

Not even Battra could ignore the pain Mothra felt. After all, the two are connected.

For the next few nights, Mothra slept with both of her wings wrapped firmly around her eggs. Godzilla slept curled around Mothra, guarding the things he still had left in this cruel world.