Chapter Four
Ring of Fire HQ
Oracle slammed the book shut in frustration. This wasn't getting her anywhere. But she had to keep going. She was determined to remove Mario from office if it was the last thing she did. He was a corrupt, manipulative, jerk who was not at all qualified to be a leader. The only reason he was the boss was that he was the first born son of the past leader, Joeseph Riverani. Oracle got her job by working hard and starting at the bottom and working her way to the top. She would be leader if she weren't a woman. Although it hadn't been done yet, it was possible to remove the boss from office. She didn't know how, that was what she was looking for now, in the charter. Those were well known facts in the Ring. What wasn't a well-known fact was that Mario and her were brother and sister. She sighed. Her real name was Sabrina Riverani, but she changed it to keep the relation a secret. It wasn't thought to be unusual, many assassins changed their name and kept the original ones a secret. She pushed these thoughts aside and continued leafing through the charter. She had looked through a few copies of the charter before, but they all differed a little, so none of them would be reliable. She now had finally gotten a hold of the original charter, which had not been an easy task. The original was almost sacred in the Ring, so it was closely guarded. The only person who didn't need permission to view it was Mario. And he was also the only person who could give permission for someone else to have it. That was what she had gone into his office for earlier. She made up a problem and claimed to need the charter to solve it. But he hadn't fallen for it and refused to let her have it. But that didn't stop her.
After he left his office she had snuck in, stole the keys to the charter's case, and made her way to its room. She was wearing a dark red cloak with the hood pulled over her head and a mask the same color over her eyes. Now it was impossible to recognize her. It was daytime, so there were only two guards around the case. She attacked them and hit one several times with a barbed baton and knocked the other one unconscious with a baseball bat. It was crude, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And she couldn't use any of her weapons, that would immediately make her a suspect. She dragged their listless bodies outside, near the entrance to the relic museum where the charter was stored. Oracle placed the baton and the bat in their hands to suggest a fight between the two. As a finishing touch she placed a half-empty bottle of brandy in the first guards hands. She stepped back. Then she stepped back to look over her handiwork. It would appear that the two had gotten drunk, wandered away from their post, and had gotten into a fight. A twinge of guilt tugged at her conscience. They would be fired for sure. But she would make sure to defend them and try her best to give them their jobs back. Regardless of what someone might tell you, she wasn't heartless.
And that brought her to where she was now. Flipping through the charter in a desperate attempt to find what she needed and return the charter before anyone realized it was missing. But so far it was looking like she wasn't going to get anywhere tonight. She frowned. That posed a problem. She certainly couldn't keep it in her suite for the night. That would get her kicked out for sure. No, she had to find it tonight. Finally, after a long extensive search, she found it. She eagerly read through it before sinking back into her chair. Oh no. She sat back up and re-read it in a hope to find that she overlooked something or misunderstood it. Nope, it was clearly written. The only way a leader could be removed from office was by death. She had to kill him. Him, her own brother. She looked thoughtful. Maybe she could challenge him to a Circle of Death. Oracle shook her head. "Be rational," she told herself. Mario would kill her for sure. They had both inherited very valuable traits from their father. Tony had been one of the Ring's greatest leaders and had led it to a peak of glory. She frowned. To say Mario had sustained that peak would be an outright lie. She thought about herself and her brother. Both had gotten her dad's good looks and athleticism. In terms of wit, intellect, and cunning, Oracle was an uncanny resemblance to her father, while Mario was like a stranger. But Mario got the lion's share when it came to brute strength. "And people skills," Oracle thought bitterly. Mario was always very outgoing and always had lots of friends while Oracle was always quiet and kept to herself. Mario had plenty of girlfriends and was married until his wife was killed in a Circle of Death. Even then it was plain to see that Mario had been unfaithful. But Oracle had never even been on a date, never been kissed. It wasn't that no one asked her, she always turned them down. And after she developed the current reputation for herself all guys were afraid of her. Maybe the difference had a lot to do with the huge age gap between her and Mario that had never been bridged. She was 31 while Mario was 43. The twelve year difference made her and Mario very distant. This gap was only lengthened when she changed her name to Oracle to keep the fact that he was her brother a secret. He was all too happy to comply. He and Oracle gave sibling rivalry new meaning. They were always fighting for their father's attention. Mario would lift and even heavier weight and Oracle would solve an even tougher problem every day. Joesph was proud of them both, and he always said so. When he died Oracle was crushed and even Mario was depressed. He had meant so much to both of them. Their mother was still alive, but was in her 70s and was nearing death. Oracle made sure to visit her often, but Mario never did. "Probably thinks himself too important to even visit his own mother," she thought bitterly. The clock chiming reminded her of the time and why she was here. Oracle looked at the charter again. There was no way she could beat Mario in a Circle of Death. She leaned back, dejected. No one could. She suddenly sat back up and grabbed for her phone. Almost no one…
the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois
Rain poured down unmercifully on anyone who was dumb enough to be outside. The team crouched behind some trees, waiting. Mendel pulled his jacket tighter around himself in vain. He, along with everyone else, was soaked to the bone. "I could be indoors, in the nice heated robotics convention right now," he whined to no one in particular. He sighed. "Why oh why did I say yes to this suicide mission."
Nick ignored Mendel, he had other things to worry about right now. He tried not to feel discouraged. This damn rain ruined the entire plan of luring Medusa away with water. Right now there were pools of water everywhere in Chicago. He shook his head. The sea anemone was like a kid in a candy store. Nick brushed his bangs out of his eyes only to have them fall back into place. The rain had caused his bangs to be plastered against his face right over his eyes. This caused his vision to be interrupted by vertical, slightly curving, brown streaks. Maybe he should've taken Randy's advice and gotten a haircut. Nick could barely see. He didn't have any more time to think about his hair because a familiar brown tentacle had just crashed down next to Elsie, who had rolled away just in time. He came out of his position along with the rest of the team and fired their heat rays at Medusa.
Medusa melted onto the ground. While the team was still firing NIGEL came around the corner connected to a giant vacuum. "C'mon NIGEL," Mendel muttered. "Don't fail me now." The robot vacuumed up most of the monster before some of Medusa came back into solid form and threw NIGEL over the horizon. "NIGEL!" Mendel screamed. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Elsie watched the robot sinking down, taking with it all their hopes of defeating this thing. "So Nick, did we happen to have a plan B?"
"Ummmmmm," he said as the sea anemone menacingly towered over them, getting larger by the minute from soaking up the rain, "Run."
"Will do," Randy said before everyone went tearing off away from Medusa. Medusa however, was not about to let them get away.
First she picked up Monique and threw her into a treetop. Monique struggled to get out of the tangle of branches and leaves she was stuck in. The rain hadn't done anything to dull the tree and the branches left scratch marks all over her from scraping her body. Monique ignored the pain and only concentrated on climbing down.
Medusa then struck Elsie with one long tentacle, tossing her body like a rag doll through the air before she finally hit the ground with a sickening thud. "Elsie!" Mendel screamed as he ran over to her aid. He picked up Elsie's unconscious body. "Mendel!" Nick ordered. "Take Elsie back to the plane and treat any wounds she may have." Mendel took off towards the plane, which was about a third of a mile away. After he reached the plane, Mendel reclined one of the seats and lay Elsie on it. She started to come to. "Ugh," she groaned. "Wha-what happened?"
"Medusa," Mendel replied panting from sprinting all the way here. Elsie sat up before Mendel pushed her back down. "Lie down Elsie, you need to rest."
"What about the others Mendel?" she asked, frantic. "They need our help!" Mendel thought this over. "You stay here and rest and I'll go help the others," he finally concluded. He ran towards the exit before he stopped to think. Him just showing up wouldn't do any good. They needed something to help. But what was on the plane? They had most of their weapons with them and on NIGEL. And the ones that were left were all guns; those wouldn't do any good against Medusa. Mendel just sighed and realized he better just find whatever was left of NIGEL when a silver glint caught his eye. He went closer to it and stared at it for awhile before he figured out what it was. Mendel reached down and pulled it all the way out. He looked over it in his hands. Nick's katana. He thought about it. This could definitely slice through Medusa, and, although it wouldn't defeat her, it could help. After a moments consideration about the possible consequences Mendel decided to take it with him. With the blade firmly in his hand Mendel raced off towards the remaining members of the team.
Monique finally managed to make it down from the tree just in time to see Randy being flung right at her. He crashed into her and they both toppled to the ground. Randy looked down. "Oh thanks Monique," he said smiling genuinely. "You broke my fall."
"You're welcome," she replied dryly. They both got up and looked around. "Where's Nick?" Randy asked. Monique shrugged and gasped as she saw Nick being picked up and slammed into a nearby building. "Nick!" she cried as she ran over to help him.
Nick groaned as he hit the ground. There was a throbbing pain in the back of his head. He looked up and saw Monique and Randy run up to him before he looked back down at the ground and coughed up blood.
Randy winced as he saw the crimson liquid hit the ground. He bent down and helped Nick up. Monique casually looked over Nick, trying her best to keep an air of indifference, and asked, "You hurt?"
He looked over at her and took a deep breath before answering, "I'm fine."
"Good," she said. "Now come on, we need to stop that thing." She ran off before either Randy or Nick could reply.
Mendel reached the spot where the others had been. "Where are they?" he wondered out loud. "Wait a minute, they couldn't have been- oh no!" he thought. But fortunately, he had to revise his little theory when he saw Randy and Monique crouched over Nick, who was lying on the ground. Mendel strained to see more. "Is he hurt?" he wondered. He went closer and pushed against a light brown stump to get a better look. But suddenly the others were the last thing on his mind as the "stump" moved and he was right in front of an angry Medusa. She reached out with a tentacle, preparing to strike. Mendel screamed and swung the only weapon he had instinctively in self-defense, Nick's blade. Mendel braced himself for the force of the blow, but surprisingly none came. He tentatively opened one eye. He looked up at Medusa, who was making a distressed cry and backing away. Mendel opened both eyes. What happened? He looked at the katana and noticed a sticky, clear liquid on it. He touched it and found it warm and gooey. As he smoothed it between his fingers, trying to figure out what it was, he noticed one of Medusa's tentacles, slightly twitching, on the ground. This took awhile to sink in before Mendel realized what had happened. As he gasped in horror and disgust at the fact that the liquid covering his hands was Medusa's blood the others ran up to him. "What did you do? It didn't attack you," Nick said. Then he noticed what Mendel was holding and looked up in surprise. "What the hell are you doing with that?"
"Nick, I just um, found it on the plane and I thought we could uh, you know use it so I brought it here pleasedon'tbemad," Mendel cried, cringing a little.
Nick stared at him for awhile before laughing. "Don't worry Mendel I'm not that mad, just let me handle this from now on." Mendel looked relieved.
"So what did you do?" Randy asked before seeing the twitching tentacle. "Oh."
Monique bent down and examined it. "Interesting. When the creature loses a part of its body it can't be rejoined to the rest of its body unless it melts."
"So slicing Medusa will be effective for defense in the time until we get NIGEL back," Nick concluded. "Craven, how long will that take?"
Mendel shrugged. "I dunno, I should be able to use NIGEL's radio signal and homing device to have him come straight back to wherever I am. With the speed enhancing motor I installed last month it should take about five to seven minutes for him to get here. It all depends on how far he was thrown and how banged up he is."
Nick nodded and thought about this before he remembered something. "How's Elsie?"
"She's fine, she just needs to get some rest," Mendel replied. "Are you guys okay?"
"I dunno, Monique and I are fine, just banged up a bit. Why don't you ask the guy who was coughing up the red stuff," Randy said, casting a sideways glance at Nick.
Nick sighed, exasperated. "It's not a big deal. It's common for me to cough up blood during combat. I'm fine, I've been a lot worse."
Monique raised an eyebrow at the words "in combat" but said nothing. Mendel took out his little keypad and pressed a few buttons and typed in some commands before turning back to the team. "Alright, NIGEL is on his way. The vacuum should still work, but the canister is banged up. I don't think it'll be able to hold all of her. She needs to be smaller."
Randy turned to Nick. "So jefe, think you can slice Medusa down to size in five minutes."
"Piece of cake," Nick replied, grabbing his katana and taking off towards Medusa with Monique following. Nick looked back. "And just what do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Helping you," she replied, giving him a look that clearly said not to argue with her. Nick rolled his eyes. "Fine, just don't get in the way."
They reached Medusa and Nick motioned for Monique to stay behind him. He stealthily sneaked up behind her (Medusa) before he realized that just sneaking up and slicing a tentacle off was like a dehydration wish. for those of you who don't get what I'm saying, Medusa lives off electrolytes and sucks all the water out of her victims, making their bodies completely dehydrated. He whispered to Monique, "We're going to go right in front of her and yell and provoke her." Monique looked at him like he was crazy. "We need to get her to take a swipe at us," he explained. "When that tentacle flies right in front of our faces, I'll cut it off."
"And what if you miss?" Monique said.
"I won't," Nick stated before running out in front of Medusa, forcing Monique to follow. She shook her head. He was starting to sound like her.
The pair ran out right in front of the monster. Medusa looked down at them with that one huge eye and seemed to consider them for a moment. Monique took out a small laser gun and fired a shot that whizzed right by Medusa's face. Medusa roared (or screeched, whatever you call the sound that she makes) and brought down a tentacle to attack. It came closer, closer, then there was a slicing sound and the arm was lying on the ground. Medusa screeched and again tried to hit them. And Nick once again sliced the tentacle off. Now it was clear Medusa was more than a little perturbed. She flung two gigantic arms at Nick and Monique. Nick gulped. He hadn't expected this to happen. Monique however, had, and it was the reason she insisted on accompanying Nick. While Nick cut one tentacle off, Monique fired the heat ray at the other one. It melted to the ground before oozing back into Medusa. Then Medusa once again flung herself at them. Nick cut part of her off, but Monique only managed to melt one arm. The other struck her and she was smashed into the ground. Nick quickly sliced the offending tentacle off before running to Monique's side. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Monique started to answer but suddenly gasped. "Behind you!" she cried.
Nick looked back only to be hit full force in the face by an arm and be smashed into the ground next to Monique. "Thanks for the warning," he mumbled.
"Don't mention it," Monique replied, pulling herself up. Nick got up as well. "How long before NIGEL gets here?" he asked.
"He should be here by now," she replied.
Nick nodded and looked over the sea anemone, which was greatly reduced in size. "I think she's small enough now, we should make a run for it," Nick stated. "Besides, I don't know how much more of this beating we can take."
Monique nodded. They both took off and were almost to safety when Nick froze. "My blade," he cried. "It's gone!" The pair looked back to see it lying right beside Medusa. Nick immediately ran back until Monique grabbed him. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.
"I can't just leave it there," Nick replied freeing himself of Monique's grasp. He ran behind Medusa, retrieved the katana and started to sneak away. Medusa turned around and a giant arm smashed down, barely missing Nick. He then decided to just run and dodged another hit before being back to safety with Monique. "Close one," he muttered wiping the clear blood off the blade. They then looked back in time to see NIGEL fire a long cord that wrapped itself around Medusa. Mendel pushed a button on the remote and the cord released 10,000 volts of electricity directly into Medusa. She screeched and immediately melted. NIGEL then started to vacuum her up into the heated canisters. "Alright NIGEL," Craven murmured. "Almost done." Finally, the last of Medusa was sucked into the canister. Mendel breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the team cheered. "One down, eight to go!" Randy yelled, not taking in the full meaning of his words. Nick however, did. He sighed. If every mutant banged them up as much as Medusa he doubted the team would survive to take down the last mutant. This would be a lot easier with Godzilla. He felt a wave of sadness wash over him. Godzilla was gone, killed in a huge explosion ten years ago. Before Nick could think about the deceased lizard anymore Randy's voice interrupted. "So what are we going to do with her?"
"Hicks said the military will handle disposing of the mutants once we contain or destroy them," Nick replied. "Hopefully they'll clean up too," he added referring to the blood and decapitated tentacles everywhere.
"C'mon," Mendel said. "Let's get back to the plane. Elsie's probably getting worried about us by now. The team nodded and started to make their way back to the plane and their next battle.
Ring of Fire HQ
this is a short one, I promise! Just read it, it won't hurt
Iris pressed a box on the screen in front of her, showing the Shadow Dragon's location. She brushed a wisp of her light blond hair out of her eyes as she watched the moving dot on the screen. She moved away and looked at her reflection in the blank widescreen to her left. Her clothes were all white and her hair was tied in a ponytail with some stray strands framing her face. She wore a sleeveless white tube top that was connected to her white miniskirt by a sheet of transparent fabric. A thick white choker complemented the other clothes.
She looked over the printout she had received with the details of this assignment. He would be hard to catch, he was could be very elusive. That was why Mario assigned her the job. She pulled out her bow and arrows. She was a hunter, and no one had ever escaped her, even fellow assassins. "Enjoy your freedom Shadow Dragon," she whispered as she left the room. "Because before you know it it's all going to be over."
Somewhere in the Pacific
Ashley Harding leaned against the yacht's railing, letting the cool sea breeze gently ruffle her long red hair. The British twelve-year-old and her family were vacationing in the Pacific. Although the yacht wasn't the newest technology, her father loved its old fashioned charm. Right now, he was at the back of the yacht, checking on the fishing nets. They too, were rather old fashioned, but her dad wanted her and her brother to have a small fishing cruise, just like he did as a boy.
She turned around just in time to be soaked by a blast of sea water. Ashley sputtered and cleared the water from her eyes to see a tall, sixteen-year-old boy holding a massive water gun laughing at her. "Not funny Michael," she said. He just grinned lopsidedly at her and ducked the slap coming his way. "Lighten up Ash," he said, smoothing back his fiery red hair, still wet from the swim he took earlier. "It was just a harmless prank."
"Harmless?!" she hissed. "Look at my clothes!" she cried gesturing to the soaked green spaghetti strap sundress.
"You can dry it," Michael replied, defending himself. Ashley opened her mouth for a retort when their mother yelled from inside the main cabin. "Ashley, Michael, lunch is ready!" Ashley shot her brother a nasty look before running to her cabin to change.
Edward Harding strode into the kitchen at the same time as Michael. "Mmm, that smells delicious love," he said to his wife Marian. "What is it?"
"Fish," she replied dryly. "As in the same thing we've been eating for the past week."
"Aw Mom," Michael groaned. "Fish AGAIN?"
"Of course," Edward cheerfully replied. "This is a fishing cruise after all. And we're such a success! Why the nets are stuffed full yet again!"
"Great," Michael muttered as he slumped into his chair.
Ashley looked over the outfits that were lying on her bed in her tiny cabin. She sighed, she couldn't decide what to wear. Then she thought about it. "This is stupid," she said out loud to herself. "It's just my family, they don't care what I look like." So she just grabbed a red tube top and a pair of denim shorts and started to put them on. As she pulled the tube top over her head she froze. What was that sound? She listened, but everything was quiet. Strange, she could have sworn she heard a low rumbling of some sort.
Michael aimlessly pushed the food on his plate around. He didn't know what the hell was cooked with this fish, and he didn't care to find out. His mother gave him a look and was about to tell him to eat his strained spinach when the yacht was violently jerked. Everyone fell out of their chairs and the clattering of dishes and silverware echoed in the air. Edward tried to get up but fell down again as the yacht rocked again. A scream was heard from down the hall. "Ashley," he whispered.
The denim shorts were being zipped up when Ashley was thrown to the ground. She landed on a heap of clothes and groaned. "Oh no," she muttered. "Not another storm." She managed to see through her window that the sun was shining outside without a cloud in sight. "What the-" she thought just before the second shaking of the yacht. Her bed swayed a bit before the heavy piece of furniture crashed down on top on Ashley before she could get out of the way. She sputtered and coughed before she realized she was trapped and screamed.
Edward got up and steadied himself as the yacht rocked again. "Ashley!" he called.
"I'm in here daddy," was her weak reply. Edward ran as fast as he could into her room. He gasped when he saw her trapped under the bed. He bent down and using every last bit of his strength picked the bed off his daughter. Marian and Michael came running in. "Oh Ashley honey," Marian fussed, "are you alright, oh how dreadful that must have hurt so much and-"
"Mom," Ashley said firmly, "I'm fine, just a little sore."
Edward made sure Ashley was really fine before running outside to see what the hell happened. Michael followed him. "What was that Dad?" he asked.
"I don't know," was his reply. "The sea looks pretty calm, so it wasn't the waves." He wandered over to the nets and gasped. "Look at the nets!" he cried. Michael ran over and just stared in shock. His father had told him to look at the nets, or at least what was left of them. Only jagged pieces were still attached to yacht, the rest of the nets and all the fish were gone. "What the hell happened," he wondered out loud. Ashley and Marian came outside and gasped at the sight. "Edward what happened?" Marian cried. Ashley just stared a little, then tuned out her mother's rantings. A movement off to the side caught her eye. What was that? She walked away from her family, all the way over to the opposite side of the yacht. Leaning over the railing, she noticed the water slightly bubbling. And under that, she could make out a faint outline of something. Something big. There was a snorting sound and a blast off water shot high into the air, causing Ashley to jump back. She cautiously leaned over the railing again.
Michael picked up a part of the former fishing nets and examined it in his hand. They hadn't been cut loose, more like something ripped them off. Suddenly he tensed when he heard a familiar scream. He looked up and saw a terror stricken Ashley screaming and running towards them. When he looked past her he saw something that made his heart stop.
Edward and Marian looked up and saw it too. "Oh my god," Edward muttered while Marian stared awhile, then screamed and grabbed her family and threw them inside.
Something had been chasing Ashley, or it seemed like it. They only saw glimpses of greenish spikes and a long tail occasionally rising out of the water. The family huddled close together as they watched in silence. There eyes widened, but they didn't make a sound as a massive head rose out of the water. It it's tooth filled mouth, they saw pieces of their fishing net hanging out. Edward muttered a curse as he realized he caught the fishing net murderer and there was nothing he could do about it. The creature spat the net out, then turned to look at the Hardings. It brought one huge eye level with their yacht as the family prayed that it would spare them. It blinked then backed away before diving back underwater, causing a huge wave that gently rocked the yacht. Ashley and Michael ran out to where it had been and stared at down at the water in disbelief.
Death Valley
Tony Hicks Jr. took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was so damn hot here. But they had to stay here, they were ordered to keep the cougar away from any major cities. And since it seemed to like it around here, they had to stay as well. He hoped H.E.A.T. would hurry up and finish off these mutants. He was sick of all the calls he was getting from freaked out civilians claiming they saw a giant cat through their bedroom windows. Tony made up a bull shit story about the heat and hallucinations people were experiencing due to a chemical in the air. Of course, none of that was true, but it got most of the people off his back. He placed his cap back on his head and went inside to check on the latest mutant reports. He looked over the computer screens, then sighed, and picked up the phone to call H.E.A.T.
Off the coast of Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands
"Nick," Elsie began. "We've been drifting around here for hours, how do we know this thing is going to show."
"We don't," Nick replied. "But the military ordered us to change course from the Basilisks to this so we could identify it."
"Well what do we know already?" Monique asked.
Nick sighed. "Not much. It's very big, it's green, and it supposedly eats fish."
"And how do you know that?" Mendel inquired.
"The report," Nick replied. "A British family that was vacationing off the coast of New Guinea wandered off course to the vicinity of these islands. This thing attacked them a few miles from here."
"It didn't attack them," Elsie muttered. "It attacked their fishing nets. The nets were ripped out of the ship and all the fish with them. The family was left unharmed. Physically anyway." A red light flashed on the boats control panel. Randy groaned. "Not again. You would think with the responsibility of saving the world the army could give us better equipment."
"This is far from the Heatseeker," Mendel agreed. "But it's not THAT bad."
Elsie sighed and turned her eyes back to the bait. A huge barge loaded with fish floating about 60 feet in front of the boat. They had been anchored here for three hours and whatever this monster was hadn't shown. "Maybe it doesn't like fish," Randy speculated.
"Yeah Randy," Elsie replied rolling her eyes. "It HATES fish, yet it attacked a fishing boat and took its catch. That's just what I would do"
"It was just a thought," Randy said sheepishly. Suddenly the barge was jerked a bit. "Yo Nick," Randy said. "I think something's taking the bait."
Nick ran outside and the others followed. The barge was being jerked around, presumably by the cord it was anchored by. They heard a low growl coming from underwater, and the barge and the loads of fish disappeared into the ocean.
"Monique," Nick said. "Go inside and get ready for pursuit if our dinner guest decides to eat and run." She gave him a defiant look. Nick sighed. "Please?" Monique nodded and ran inside to the control panel. Nick then turned his attention back to the ocean. The barge resurfaced, with all the fish gone and some rips and bite marks in it as well. They heard the low growl once again and a glimpse of scaly skin surfaced. There was a bit of turmoil and more strange sounds, then suddenly everything was still and quiet. "Whe-where it'd go," Mendel stammered. Suddenly, a loud roar filled the air and the creature raised it's huge head out of the water and roared again. Everyone on board stared in shock. It couldn't be, could it? Nick gulped then said in a barely audible whisper "Godzilla?"
End Chapter Four
END PART ONE