Chapter 22
A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back to the story! Hopefully now that my semester's winding down, I can start posting more chapters, but that probably won't be much till after my finals. Anyways, I own my OCs, everything else isn't mine.
/comms/
Telepathy
MONARCH Outpost 57: Janjira, October 14, 20:31UTC
"Seven-point-two seconds and getting stronger," a man grumbled looking at a screen as a sharp spike appeared on the graph. "We're trending exponentially. That's our new curve."
Haruo sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Jesus it's worse than we thought."
"Any change?" Serizawa inquired, stepping up beside Haruo at the window, watching the workers run about below setting up the containment fields in the remains of the nuclear reactor core.
"It's been two weeks," Haruo murmured, blue eyes trained on the pod watching the glowing light shift within it as if something moved, "The tremors may have decreased but if the pulses were going to, they would've done so by now. Instead, they're only getting stronger." Sighing, he turned away from the window, shoving his hands in his pockets as he turned to his old friend, "This thing will be hatching whether we want it to or not."
"How soon?"
The young man shook his head tiredly, "I don't know. But I'm guessing it'll be after the radiation's completely depleted from the core. That'll take a day at most, a few hours at least."
Serizawa nodded, "And it won't be long before its bio-signature will be able to be detected by outside sources. I personally don't want people like the Injustice League turning up."
"We can agree on that old friend," Haruo frowned. "But, hopefully, we can contain the situation before we need to call for back-up."
A knock came from the door, interrupting the conversation as a guard entered the room. "Excuse me, Dr. Serizawa, Mr. Kai, two men were just arrested in the q-zone."
Haruo sighed, shaking his head. Honestly, why did people insist on making his life difficult and not pay attention to the warning signs they had? Sure, there may not have been radiation present anymore thanks to certain…assets, but had this been a more natural or human-made catastrophe those idiots would be dead. "More stupid teens?" he muttered. "Send them to the cops, let them handle this."
"They had radiation gear, sir. Stuff that they weren't wearing."
That wasn't good.
"What?"
"Well, have Dr. Graham take a look," someone else ordered.
"She did sir, and she sent me. One of them says he used to work here, sir."
"Take us to them."
-.-
Machinery hissed around them as the trio strode through the labyrinth of passages in the facility. Approaching a series of rooms, they could hear the echoing voice of an irate man arguing from within the interrogation room.
Outside of it, a woman with black hair pulled back into a messy bun, leaned over a table sifting through a pile of papers. "We found these disks and printouts in his bag," she said, turning to them and handing them a few papers. "I'm not sure what to make of them."
"I wasn't a typhoon ok! So stop—look, I'm-uh—I'm tired of talking to you about this," the captive growled. "I want my son. I want to see my son. I want to know he's alright." Leaning back in his chair, the man glared at the guards across from him, "This guy," he motioned to the standing guard, "this guy knows. He knows where he is. Musuko wa dokoda?! I want my son! And I want my bag and disks. And I want to talk to somebody in charge!" he slammed his palm on the table getting up as the interrogator tried to calm him down.
"Mr. Brody—"
Hauro glanced up from the papers, watching as the captive, Mr. Brody, glared at the guards accusingly. "Not you. No, I'm done talking to you!" Mr. Brody snapped turning to face the one-way mirror. "What?! You're looking at me right now like I'm in a fish tank! That's fine. Because I know what happened here. You keep telling everybody that this place is a death zone, but it's not! You're lying. Because what's really happening is that you're hiding something out there! I'm right, aren't I?"
Yes, he was.
But how on Earth did he find out?
"Find you everything you can on this, Mr. Brody," Hauro ordered one of the men, waving him away as he continued to watch the trespasser.
"MY WIFE DIED HERE!" Brody screamed, his shoulders shaking with a mix of rage and grief. "Something killed my wife. AND I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW! I DESERVE ANSWERS!"
Hauro sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly. Resting his hands on the table, his gaze travelled to one of the objects, causing his brow to furrow. "Is…that a floppy disc?"
"Yes," Dr. Graham answered, "all these items were found on him. And the date, look."
"1999," Ishiro read. "I thought all the data was destroyed when the reactor fell."
"It appears not."
"If he's telling the truth and he did work here, it's possible he had a back-up drive with all the data wherever he lived," Haruo concluded. "That's why they were in the q-zone."
Serizawa nodded, sifting through the papers, taking in what was on them quickly before he paused. "He's not lying."
"What makes you say that?"
Ishiro handed over the paper with a grim frown. Taking it from his old friend, Haruo himself froze as he looked over the old readings recorded onto the yellowing pieced of paper. "Holy shit," he muttered as the lights flickered around them again.
"See!" Brody started again. "That is not a transformer malfunction! That is an electromagnetic pulse! It affects everything electrically for miles and miles. And it is happening again! This is what caused everything in the first place! Don't you see that?! And it is going to send us back to the stone age! You have no idea what's coming."
The lights flickered around them again as the building trembled around them. Cursing to himself, Haruo turned on his heel, ignoring the calls of Ishiro and Dr. Graham as he burst through the doors and onto the platforms surrounding the reactor's remains. Grabbing the rails, he looked out over the chrysalis, or whatever it was, watching as it pulses faster, releasing another burst, making the power flicker again. However, this time the cocoon rumbled, cracks appearing along its surface as slabs began to fall off to the ground.
"Shit," he muttered. Throwing himself over the ledge, Haruo landed on the ground, rolling back to his feet as he ran towards the men, "Kōtai suru! Ima!"
Apparently, Ishiro and the others had reached the same conclusion as him because he could hear the alarms start to go off as orders to fall back and activate the containment grid came through.
Wires vibrated as they were pulled up from their resting state, small red lights blinking on them, flickering with each consecutive pulse the chrysalis released. The lights slowly retained their normal glow as the break between the EMPs lulled, the red light switching to green as it was activated.
"Ishiro," Haruo called, tapping the comm-link on his ear, "grid's set up, everyone's falling back."
Lowering his hand, Haruo shoved them into the pockets of his trench coat, watching the dull glow from the ridges of the cocoon pulse as whatever it was likely was gearing up for the next pulse. He didn't need to be on the line to know what his friend was going to do.
As he predicted, the wires hummed with electricity before powerful arcs erupted from the cords, striking the creature's temporary home. Whatever was inside gave a loud screech as more bolts hit the shell, it seemed to shift, breaking the curves tip of the chrysalis away, sending the hardened material that their drills could barely dent crashing to the ground, some chunks breaking the wires.
Before long, the electricity stopped, the hum of the containment field powering down echoing through the quiet air as Haruo stood with the ground crew, looking into the dark void of the cracked chrysalis.
Eventually, one man was bold enough to move forwards, his footsteps reverberating on the metal catwalk as he approached the electrically cooked remains. From the ground, they could see his flashlight turn on, shining into the massive hole.
He didn't have time to send an all-clear signal before the smoking remains burst open with an angry bellow.
A long, thin, massive, insect-like leg emerged from the plume of dust, its collision with the ground sending a shockwave that caused the power to flicker again, the grid clearly almost giving out completely if it likely wasn't to the efforts of his friends in the control room.
"SUBETE NO FUYŌNA JIN'IN WA IMA FŌRUBAKKU SHIMASU" Haruo ordered waving people away from the containment field as the lights flickered back to life, illuminating the massive creature as it struggled against the wires tangling over its back, trying to keep it within the reactor pit. He was about to give another set of orders when the creature roared angrily, its stomps against the ground, sending tremors through it, nearly knocking some people off their feet and causing some of the containment cables to snap.
There was no way their men could handle this thing right now.
Gritting his teeth, Haruo turned to the troopers gathering behind him, weapons drawn and ready to shoot at the escaping titan. "MIN'NA IKU! IMA SUGU FŌRUBAKKU!" he commanded.
The soldiers didn't appear to listen, standing fast as they all watched two massive talons curl over the lip of the reactor core, their hearts all pounding audibly. The creature warbled as the tips of the limbs curled around several wires holding it down in the pit. Metal groaned and they could all hear the sound of cable wires fraying as it pulled, people parting ways as one of the cranes beside them began to tilt.
The boom of metal beams snapping echoed over them as two of the cranes holding the containment grid gave out. One of the cranes fell sideways, colliding with a crane beside it, causing a domino effect on the pillars holding the creature in, one of the arms slamming onto a catwalk where people were attempting to escape.
"JIZOKU SURU!" Haruo shouted racing over to the pile of crumpled metal, ignoring the screams of panicked people around him. Leaping up, the catwalk trembled slightly at his landing as he ran over to the closest person there. "Anata wa daijōbu?"
"My son! My son, Ford!" the man, Haruo now recognized as Mr. Brody exclaimed, pointing to a turned over armored truck.
"I'll get him in a minute!" Haruo replied. "How many people are injured?"
"I—I don't know. They fell."
The catwalk jerked under them, nearly making the teen curse as he looked towards the fallen crane, watching sparks fly out from under it as it was pulled into the pit. "Hold on!" Grabbing Mr. Brody, Haruo hefted the man over his shoulder, leaping onto the broken tower of the crane, sliding down the metal, before leaping off. "Follow everyone else! Go to the helicopter! I'll get your son!" Haruo ordered, waving a soldier over. "Kare ga herikoputa ni tsuku no o kakuninshitekudasai!"
"Hai!"
Turning around, Haru raced through under the fallen crane. Hearing a groan from the metal above, he leapt forwards, rolling on the ground back to his feet as the catwalk holding the steel beams up gave way and collapsed. Turning around, he could see a figure standing frozen by the armored truck's remains, looking towards the pit as the creature rose from it, its red eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Sprinting over, Haruo slid beside the young man, grabbing his arm. "Come with me if you wanna live!"
The man's head snapped towards him, eyes wide clearly in shock before the ground shook, and the air filled with white smoke as the creature stepped on something. Not giving him a chance to respond, Haruo, opened his palm, blue fire lighting in his hand as he turned and hurled a fireball into the monster's eye. A shrill screech filled the air, causing people to duck, grabbing their ears as the sound shattered glass, a massive tremor shaking the ground as the beast lost its footing, making it slip back into the pit.
Seizing the opportunity, Haruo tightened his grip on the man's jacket, dragging him away from the truck as they raced away from the escaping monster. He could hear the screaming and clamoring of people behind them as they too rushed to escape the beast, the noise occasionally interrupted by the sickening crunch of bone of those unlucky enough to get out of its way. They were near the exit when a massive gust of wind hit them, knocking Haruo, his companion, and several other fleeing workers from their feet. Looking behind them, Haruo paled as he watched two massive membranes spreading from its back, lifting it into the air.
"Fuck, it can fly."
-.-
October 15, 5:30UTC
"How many?" Haruo sighed, wiping dirt and sweat from his brow as he stopped by Ishiro.
"We still don't know," Serizawa answered, "we haven't uncovered all the bodies."
"We couldn't have know this thing released EMPs."
Haruo wasn't sure if Ishiro was going to respond, but before he had the chance to see, they both turned as they heard Dr. Graham calling out for them. "Dr. Serizawa! Kaiser!"
Sighing at the interruption, Haruo pulled out a mask from his pocket, putting it over his eyes before he turned to greet the new arrivals.
"Captain Russel Hampton," a man in a US navy uniform introduced himself. "Glad to find you sir. I've been briefed on your work with Operation MONARCH. Now I'm told your people have situational awareness of our unidentified creature? Is that right?"
Serizawa nodded.
"I am here to inform you that we are taking over operational authority from MONARCH," the Captain continued, "So I'm going to need you to come with me. Is there any other personnel you need?"
Looking over the crowd, Kaiser found Mr. Brody and his son, Ford if he recalled correctly, helping move bodies from the rubble, "Them."
-.-
USS Saratoga, 6:25UTC
"You were right," Ford breathed, breaking the tense silence that had formed in the helicopter. He looked to his father, taking his hand and squeezing it, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
"It's ok," Mr. Brody replied shakily, "I wouldn't have believed me either…" Taking his son's hand in both of his, the elder gave a slow breath, "I promise, we'll get home, back to our family. I promise. Whatever it takes."
"Don't worry, Haruo spoke up, causing the two men to jump. "You'll make it home, I'll see to it myself. We just need you to answer a few questions first."
His interruption seemed to have broken whatever trepidation the two men had about speaking to them. "How old are you?" Ford demanded.
Not the first question he expected, but it wasn't a surprise. "I'm older than I look," he smirked, rising from his seat as the helicopter descended to the ship's deck. "You can call me Kaiser." Opening the door before the vehicle had completely landed, Haruo jumped out, grabbing onto the rails of the copter and helping force it to the ground. He could hear a few unhappy grunts as those inside were jostled by the landing, but it needed to be done, there was no time to waste.
Grabbing gear from Serizawa and Graham, he handed it to them as they jogged to catch up with him, ignoring the persistent questions of the Brody men. Following Captain Hampton inside the ship, they quickly traveled through its bowels to reach the control room where one of the men appeared to be giving a briefing.
"This is our needle in a haystack people: MUTO! Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. However, now it is no longer terrestrial, it is airborne. The world still thinks this was an earthquake, and it would be preferable that that remain so. Before we lost sight of it, it was heading east across the Pacific and had generated a powerful enough EMP to cause havoc with our radar and satellite feeds, and reduce us, for the moment, to a strictly visual pursuit. I emphasize for the moment, because we will get on our game and we will find this thing. It is imperative that we do so." Ending his briefing, the man speaking tuned to the table they had gathered at, "Captain, I want any and all search options on this table ASAP."
"Yes sir."
"Currently besides visual we have two options," Kaiser stated, "Contact Atlantis to see if any of their equipment has been able to track this thig, or call in the League and see what they can do, knowing them they'll already be on their way to Japan to assist in the humanitarian efforts and it won't be long before they figure out what really happened."
"…Who are you?"
"Kaiser," he introduced himself, holding out a hand.
"Admiral Willian Stenz, gland to have you and Dr. Serizawa on board."
"Wish we were here under better circumstances," Kaiser replied.
"As do I."
"Sensei," Dr. Graham called from the door.
"Excuse me," Serizawa said stepping away.
"They'll be back," Haruo reassured. "They're probably debriefing the two we brought with us, they picked up some…unique data when we were studying the MUTO."
"What can you tell us about this creature?"
"MUTOs are from an age where the Earth's surface was much more radioactive than it was now, as a result, animals grew to unfathomable sizes. In 1999, Dr. Serizawa, Dr. Graham, and I were sent out to the Philippines, where they discovered the fossilized remains of one of these ancient kaiju. Inside its remains we found two spores, one broken, one not. Whatever emerged from the broken spore, left a trail from where it crawled into the ocean, we lost track of it until the nuclear plant at Janjira, where it attacked and made a cocoon for itself. It remained dormant there until last night."
"Why Janjira?"
"Like I said," Kaiser shrugged, "these creatures are from a more radioactive age. Basically, they could turn radiation into a food source, but when the levels started to fall they dove deep into the ocean or underground to feed on the radiation from the Earth's core."
"Wait…" the Admiral interrupted, "did you say creatures? As in more than one?"
"We currently know of 24 titan class kaiju, with many more lesser species," he replied. "All of which, are being monitored. This is the first one since the Cold War we haven't managed to contain. Now…" he pulled up one of the bags, shifting through the papers before pulling out an old scroll, "ancient pictographs have named the one we're looking for in particular as Jinshin-Mushi. They viewed it as an evil god of sorts. Very bent on the destruction of humanity and that sort of thing. And, I'm guessing from where we found it, it is a parasitic species, relies on other kaiju to incubate their offspring."
"So this thing would have a radioactive signature?"
"Yes!" Haruo confirmed. "Though…I don't know how we'd track that."
"I'll get my men to work on it," the Admiral nodded. "Meanwhile, can you contact the League, something tells me we're going to need all the help we can get."
Kaiser nodded, turning away from the Admiral. Stepping up to a station, he began typing up the contact codes to the Batcave. "Batman's going to kill me for this."