GOJIRA:
Chronos Labyrinth
by Vincent Collins
CHAPTER I: Soul Asunder
As the second hand swung half past the 2:47 AM mark on its Mickey Mouse
face, seven-year-old Tetsuo Takashi awoke with a start, an anguished scream caught
in his throat, a cold sweat cooling his body. There's something wrong, he thought
as his eyes frantically searched his darkened room.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he calmed down enough to consider the
rest of the small apartment that he lived in with his mother and father. Noting
the time, he crept out of his room, barefoot, and padded around, looking for any
sign of his dark and foreboding sensation, any clue to his feeling that that he
had lost something.
Nothing had been bumped, dropped, spilled, knocked over, or otherwise
misplaced, so, having his curiosity satisfied, but still carrying that 'something
is wrong' feeling, Tetsuo crawled back into his bead, and slept.
6:15 AM made his alarm clock screech and yell, until he was awake enough
to get out of his bed and turn it off. He got halfway to the washroom when he
recognized the distinct high-pitched whine of the living-room television.
"...Repeat, everyone is to stay home and off the roads until the all
clear is given. King Ghidorah has been spotted flying over Hokkaido, Tohoku,
Kato and Chubu provinces..." The broadcaster's pleasant voice droned on,
bringing to Japan morbid, frightening news, but Tetsuo tuned her out. He was
more concerned about the news that King Ghidorah was out and about, unchecked.
It felt wrong to him.
Once again, he was overwhelmed by a sense of lost, as if some important
part of his life no longer existed. He staggered backward until his feet
suddenly stuck, and he fell into a sitting cushion beneath him.
"Tetsuo!" For the first time, he was aware of his mother, and then his
father, who had been standing the entire time, enthralled by the broadcast.
As his mother, a large but beautiful daughter of an established and now retired
sumo wrestler, danced gracefully around the dining table to rush to her son's
side, Tetsuo's father, also the son of a sumo champion, with the girth to show it,
punched the power button on the remote control. The newswoman's face blinked off
the screen in a flash of light.
"Tetsuo, are you alright?" his mother asked, a look of concern etched on
her features. She felt the boy's forehead and beneath his chin. "You're so
pale and clammy! Do you feel well?" Tetsuo turned, slowly, and locked eyes
with his loving mother. He wanted to tell her something, anything, but there
was nothing to say. He himself could not answer the question, 'What is wrong?'
and so he simply nodded and hugged his mother tightly, drawing strength from
her love and embrace.
"I didn't sleep well, mother," he said finally, pulling away from her
to look in to her eyes once more. "But I'll be fine."
"Here, boy, let me look at you," called his father. Tetsuo stood and
slowly walked toward his father obediently, then sat on the man's enormous knee
when indicated. As his mother looked on, Goro ran his hands slowly over his
son, stopping at key points for a brief moment, then moving on.
"Did you have a nightmare last night?" he asked finally when the
examination was over, his voice a baritone that rumbled in Tetsuo's chest as he
sat closely to his father. The boy, not sure of his answer, closes his eyes
and went through his mid-night waking.
"Yes, father," he said at last. It was the only explanation that fit
the scenario, and so he accepted it as such. Goro smiled gently then, tussled
his son's head, and stood up, lowering Tetsuo to his feet.
"You'll live. No demons will bother you any more," he said, the gentle
smile still present. "Go back to sleep, I'll wake you when it's safe to go to
school." With a nod, Tetsuo hugged his parents, then dragged his feet all the
way back to his bed, the weight of the world seemingly resting on his soul.
Goro and his wife Kay watched solemnly as their troubled son trudged
back to his room. Kay slipped under her husband's arm, and looked into his
eyes, also troubled.
"You know something," she said, her subtle yet respectful way of asking
Goro to tell her what's on his mind.
"Something happened to him last night, Kay," he replied in a low voice,
still looking in the direction of Tetsuo's room, the smile gone from his face.
"What, Goro? Please tell me."
"Something tore a part of his soul out, Kay." She gasped and pulled
away a bit to get a better look at his expression. "I don't know what or how,
but something has ripped an important part of our son away."
Kay shuddered at the thought, and drifted to the sitting cushion that
her son had occupied moments ago, and absently lowered herself onto it.
"He seemed so...bothered by Ghidorah's appearance," she noted, more to
herself than to her husband. "Why now? After all these years?"
"I don't have the answer to that," Goro said, a hint of frustration in
his voice. "I don't even know where to look," he added, racking his brain for
any hint or clue that he might have overlooked in the last month, year, or
beyond, as to his son's sudden ailment. The worst of it for him was the sense
of helplessness that he felt. Years of medical study, years of intensive
training in the ways of the body, both physical and spiritual, as he learned
the fine art of acupuncture and acupressure, and he could not heal that which
plagued his son.
He strolled over, past the television, to the small window and stared
out at Downtown Tokyo. He could see the bay from his thirtieth story perch.
He marveled, as he always did, at how the city still stood tall and proud,
rebuilt once more after one of Ghidorah's attacks five years earlier. His
thoughts quickly shifted back toward his son. "We may never know..."
His voice caught in his throat. Far off in the distance, he could see
the golden monster, flying lazily along. His blood ran cold, as it did
whenever he saw the behemoth. His father, a former grand champion sumo
wrestler, had taught him to never show fear. Now, and at every instance
before and since, he could not help but to show his fear for the might that the
beast held.
"Goro...!" Kay gasped in a shocked whisper, moving to stand next to
her husband.
"I see him, Kay. I see the Monster." They stood there and watched
silently as King Ghidorah landed a distance from Tokyo and began his reign of
destruction.
"Gojira" and "Ghidorah" are copyright Toho Pictures. "Mickey Mouse" is copyright Disney. All other characters are copyright the author, Vincent Collins, and cannot be used without expressed written consent from the author. "Gojira: Chronos Labyrinth" and the story under said title is copyright the author . This story, in whole or in part, should not be used, in whole or in part, without expressed written consent of the author./p
Chronos Labyrinth
by Vincent Collins
CHAPTER I: Soul Asunder
As the second hand swung half past the 2:47 AM mark on its Mickey Mouse
face, seven-year-old Tetsuo Takashi awoke with a start, an anguished scream caught
in his throat, a cold sweat cooling his body. There's something wrong, he thought
as his eyes frantically searched his darkened room.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he calmed down enough to consider the
rest of the small apartment that he lived in with his mother and father. Noting
the time, he crept out of his room, barefoot, and padded around, looking for any
sign of his dark and foreboding sensation, any clue to his feeling that that he
had lost something.
Nothing had been bumped, dropped, spilled, knocked over, or otherwise
misplaced, so, having his curiosity satisfied, but still carrying that 'something
is wrong' feeling, Tetsuo crawled back into his bead, and slept.
6:15 AM made his alarm clock screech and yell, until he was awake enough
to get out of his bed and turn it off. He got halfway to the washroom when he
recognized the distinct high-pitched whine of the living-room television.
"...Repeat, everyone is to stay home and off the roads until the all
clear is given. King Ghidorah has been spotted flying over Hokkaido, Tohoku,
Kato and Chubu provinces..." The broadcaster's pleasant voice droned on,
bringing to Japan morbid, frightening news, but Tetsuo tuned her out. He was
more concerned about the news that King Ghidorah was out and about, unchecked.
It felt wrong to him.
Once again, he was overwhelmed by a sense of lost, as if some important
part of his life no longer existed. He staggered backward until his feet
suddenly stuck, and he fell into a sitting cushion beneath him.
"Tetsuo!" For the first time, he was aware of his mother, and then his
father, who had been standing the entire time, enthralled by the broadcast.
As his mother, a large but beautiful daughter of an established and now retired
sumo wrestler, danced gracefully around the dining table to rush to her son's
side, Tetsuo's father, also the son of a sumo champion, with the girth to show it,
punched the power button on the remote control. The newswoman's face blinked off
the screen in a flash of light.
"Tetsuo, are you alright?" his mother asked, a look of concern etched on
her features. She felt the boy's forehead and beneath his chin. "You're so
pale and clammy! Do you feel well?" Tetsuo turned, slowly, and locked eyes
with his loving mother. He wanted to tell her something, anything, but there
was nothing to say. He himself could not answer the question, 'What is wrong?'
and so he simply nodded and hugged his mother tightly, drawing strength from
her love and embrace.
"I didn't sleep well, mother," he said finally, pulling away from her
to look in to her eyes once more. "But I'll be fine."
"Here, boy, let me look at you," called his father. Tetsuo stood and
slowly walked toward his father obediently, then sat on the man's enormous knee
when indicated. As his mother looked on, Goro ran his hands slowly over his
son, stopping at key points for a brief moment, then moving on.
"Did you have a nightmare last night?" he asked finally when the
examination was over, his voice a baritone that rumbled in Tetsuo's chest as he
sat closely to his father. The boy, not sure of his answer, closes his eyes
and went through his mid-night waking.
"Yes, father," he said at last. It was the only explanation that fit
the scenario, and so he accepted it as such. Goro smiled gently then, tussled
his son's head, and stood up, lowering Tetsuo to his feet.
"You'll live. No demons will bother you any more," he said, the gentle
smile still present. "Go back to sleep, I'll wake you when it's safe to go to
school." With a nod, Tetsuo hugged his parents, then dragged his feet all the
way back to his bed, the weight of the world seemingly resting on his soul.
Goro and his wife Kay watched solemnly as their troubled son trudged
back to his room. Kay slipped under her husband's arm, and looked into his
eyes, also troubled.
"You know something," she said, her subtle yet respectful way of asking
Goro to tell her what's on his mind.
"Something happened to him last night, Kay," he replied in a low voice,
still looking in the direction of Tetsuo's room, the smile gone from his face.
"What, Goro? Please tell me."
"Something tore a part of his soul out, Kay." She gasped and pulled
away a bit to get a better look at his expression. "I don't know what or how,
but something has ripped an important part of our son away."
Kay shuddered at the thought, and drifted to the sitting cushion that
her son had occupied moments ago, and absently lowered herself onto it.
"He seemed so...bothered by Ghidorah's appearance," she noted, more to
herself than to her husband. "Why now? After all these years?"
"I don't have the answer to that," Goro said, a hint of frustration in
his voice. "I don't even know where to look," he added, racking his brain for
any hint or clue that he might have overlooked in the last month, year, or
beyond, as to his son's sudden ailment. The worst of it for him was the sense
of helplessness that he felt. Years of medical study, years of intensive
training in the ways of the body, both physical and spiritual, as he learned
the fine art of acupuncture and acupressure, and he could not heal that which
plagued his son.
He strolled over, past the television, to the small window and stared
out at Downtown Tokyo. He could see the bay from his thirtieth story perch.
He marveled, as he always did, at how the city still stood tall and proud,
rebuilt once more after one of Ghidorah's attacks five years earlier. His
thoughts quickly shifted back toward his son. "We may never know..."
His voice caught in his throat. Far off in the distance, he could see
the golden monster, flying lazily along. His blood ran cold, as it did
whenever he saw the behemoth. His father, a former grand champion sumo
wrestler, had taught him to never show fear. Now, and at every instance
before and since, he could not help but to show his fear for the might that the
beast held.
"Goro...!" Kay gasped in a shocked whisper, moving to stand next to
her husband.
"I see him, Kay. I see the Monster." They stood there and watched
silently as King Ghidorah landed a distance from Tokyo and began his reign of
destruction.
"Gojira" and "Ghidorah" are copyright Toho Pictures. "Mickey Mouse" is copyright Disney. All other characters are copyright the author, Vincent Collins, and cannot be used without expressed written consent from the author. "Gojira: Chronos Labyrinth" and the story under said title is copyright the author . This story, in whole or in part, should not be used, in whole or in part, without expressed written consent of the author./p