Chapter Five: Monsters in the Mix
Tracking Arashi's progress over the United States was painfully easy to do. Any significant manmade structure that happened to be below the great dragon was instantly destroyed by a blast of Arashi's energy bolt, or just blown over by the hurricane winds generated by his massive wings.
Arashi was making steady progress towards the Pacific Ocean, although it wasn't known for sure yet where exactly he was going. There were some jokes being spoken in the M-Watch control room, albeit quietly, that Arashi was headed towards Japan. No one was willing to concede that yet, perhaps relying on some distant hope that their Eastern counterparts would be spared a kaiju attack this time.
It was a hope that was growing increasingly dimmer as they plotted Arashi's possible courses. The closer the dragon got to the ocean, the more likely it seemed he was heading towards the kaiju stomping grounds that were Japan.
And then things got worse…
"Sir, the mist around Monster Island has vanished! We've got a heat signature off of Ogasawara that seems to indicate that Godzilla is also heading for Japan!" Onder reported.
"He's going to fight Arashi," Nassel figured with a bit of relief. If there was anything that could stop Arashi, it would be Godzilla. It took them long enough, but the good kaiju were finally going to start pulling their weight.
"I don't think so, sir," Onder said a bit hesitantly.
Nassel frowned as he looked at his subordinate. "What do you mean?"
"Historically, Godzilla has only shown up after an invading kaiju has made a mess of a city," Onder told him. "In fact, unless something changes, Godzilla will easily make it to Japan before Arashi."
Nassel scratched his chin thoughtfully. "So, has Godzilla quit being a protector?"
"Impossible to tell. He might know something we don't," Onder answered. "Regardless, he'll definitely reach Japan before Arashi does."
Nassel did not like the feeling he was getting. As if Gabara had been a signal, the kaiju attacks were starting up again. "Send General Sogowa a warning, just in case he doesn't know about Godzilla already. One thing we can't do is allow two monsters to attack Japan at the same time, especially if we're responsible for one of them."
Nassel looked at the monitor that was displaying a real-time view of Arashi's position. The monster was currently over Los Angeles and still making a line towards the Pacific and presumably Japan. An evacuation order had already been sent to the city, but with a population as large as the one that resided in L.A., there were bound to be casualties.
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do, General," Professor Diamr spoke up. "Arashi was designed to be able to successfully battle all sorts of enemies."
"Arashi may not take serious damage from our weapons, but if we can draw him away, we can give the Japanese time to deal with Godzilla," Nassel said, looking at Diamr with a little disdain. "If we can get him up north, there's a chance we can force Arashi to go back into hibernation from the cold temperatures."
Diamr shook his head. "That's not what I mean, General. Arashi is equipped with a natural electromagnetic pulse and he's smart enough to know when to use it. Chen put it into Arashi's genetic make-up as a precaution against something like another Mechagodzilla showing up. Unless you've got enough vehicles shielded against EMP attack for your diversionary attack to work, all you'll be doing is sending good men to get butchered. No, I'm afraid we don't have the means to stop Arashi at the moment."
Nassel pounded the table in front of him in frustration before sighing heavily. "My order stands. We might stand a snowball's chance in hell, but if there's even a slim chance we can stop that kaiju, we have to take it. Standing by and doing nothing while Arashi snuffs out innocent lives is not an option."
Neither Diamr nor Onder had anything to say to that.
Saeko opened her eyes to find Max sitting next to her hospital bed, smiling. "Hey there. I heard you passed out in a burger joint. It took me forever to find out what happened to you. The doctors still don't know what caused it."
Saeko didn't smile back as she thought back to what had happened. "My pendant…"
"Your personal stuff is being held while the doctors take a look at you." Max's smiling face turned to worry. "I want you to behave and not cause any trouble while they do their work. I've got enough to worry about without having to add you to the mix."
She shook her head as she felt the strength returning to her body. "No, Max, my pendant," Saeko corrected him. "When I touched it, I could feel Arashi's mind. I saw what he saw."
Max frowned as he surprised Saeko by pulling out the object in question. "This thing let you see into Arashi's mind?"
"You rat!" she accused with a grin. "Why do you have it?"
"I don't entirely trust doctors, I'm sure more than a few of them have sticky fingers. The last thing I wanted was for you to 'lose' your anniversary gift so soon after I gave it to you." Max looked at the pendant before slowly touching it, but he just shrugged. "I got nothing. You sure it was the pendant that let you see Arashi's mind?"
"Unless they slipped something strange into my burger, yes, I'm sure," Saeko came back sarcastically. "Let me see it."
Max kept a hold on it. "Baby, I don't know if I want to do that. Last I heard, Arashi was rearranging parts of California. If contact with his mind nearly made you slip into a coma, why would I risk letting the same thing happen again?"
"Because as soon as I get out of this bed, I'll take it from you by force, even if I have to beat you to a pulp," Saeko said threateningly.
"I'm serous, Saeko."
"So am I, Max."
Max looked at her, weighing the alternatives before he sighed and opened his palm so Saeko could take the pendant. She grabbed the chain and held it before her as she eyed the visage of Ghidorah leering back at her.
"I knew there was something strange about this when you gave it to me. When I first touched it, I felt a cold chill hit my body," she said a little regretfully. "But I didn't want to say anything. I thought the first time was a fluke."
"You couldn't have known," Max tried to reassure her. "No one else ever mentioned feeling anything when they touched it."
"And yet I did feel something," Saeko replied, feeling a little nervous. "I was just unprepared last time, Max," she said to him, if only to reassure herself by hearing the words. "I don't know why this pendant is reacting only to me, but I can handle it now that I know what to expect."
Max didn't look like he believed her, but he knew better than to try and argue with her.
Tentatively, Saeko touched the pendant again. She felt the same chilling cold, but Arashi's mind didn't seem to be as strong this time. She quickly realized that it must have been because of distance. If what Max said was true, and Saeko had no reason to think it wasn't, Arashi's rampage was taking him further away from her. Still, even if the distance was weakening the connection, Arashi's mind was easy to read, he only had one guiding thought: KILL GODZILLA!
A little more confident about her ability to use the pendant, Saeko slipped it back over her neck. "We need to go to Japan. That's where Arashi is headed."
Max laughed at that. "And they call me irresponsible? You can't follow Arashi, that's a job for M-Watch or the military and last I checked, you weren't officially part of either." He turned a little more somber. "Besides, you've got other obligations. Last I heard, your father was on base when Gabara attacked. We should make sure he's alright before worrying about Arashi."
Saeko felt her face turn red at forgetting about her father. How many times had she subtly chastised him about working too much and never seeing her? When she first made contact with Arashi's mind, she had realized in the back of her mind that the Kaiju Defender Lab was under attack, and yet the fate of her father had never crossed her mind until Max had mentioned it. She was as bad as he was.
Max saw her grief and grabbed her hand lovingly. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Saeko. You've been through a lot. I'm sure your dad is fine."
However, despite his comforting words, Max's voice lacked conviction. They both knew that Hikaru Chen practically lived in that lab. It was entirely possible that he had been right in the thick of the fighting between Arashi and Gabara.
Saeko looked at Max grimly. "Let's find out."
Centaurus took a break from watching his all-seeing monitors to personally check on the progress of the latest phase in his master plan. Soon it would be time to attack again in earnest, all Centaurus was waiting for was his herald.
The powerful Demion marched out into the massive building that housed three of the most powerful robots ever conceived. All three robots were being swarmed over by Simeon technicians who were running diagnostics on the great machines in preparation for their activation. The green ape-like aliens had had their race subjugated by the Demions and now were helpless to do anything but serve their masters.
Every alien race who had attacked Earth had done so at the bidding of the Demions. The invasions, while all failures, had served to weaken the Earth's militaries and soften the defenses for the time that the Demions would again make their move. However, in a move so deliciously sadistic, that Centaurus couldn't help but grin every time he thought of it, the other alien races who failed to conquer Earth were given two choices, neither of which they were allowed to make; either they became slaves for the Demions or their race was wiped out in a complete and utter genocide.
The Simeons, Kilaaks, and Xians had all been deemed worthwhile enough to keep alive, however the aliens from Nebula M Spacehunter, along with assorted others, would never have the chance to fail the Demions again. Their races were annihilated, to both serve as a punishment and an example of the thin lifeline that was given to the more worthy races kept alive.
The Humans would be wiped out. They had resisted subjugation too many times to be allowed to live. When the Demions were forced to take a personal hand in an invasion, it meant that no one would be left alive when they were done…
Centaurus walked out onto massive catwalk that lay in front of the robots to meet up with another of his Demion brethren, Vulpecula.
Vulpecula was in charge of developing the kaiju that would be sent down to Earth and was an extremely intelligent Demion. He shared many of the same features as Centaurus, but his skin was a dark blue and he had two bat-like wings folded upon his back.
Once Vulpecula saw him, he snapped to attention before bowing, being careful to avoid eye contact the whole time. "My, Lord!"
Centaurus did not waste time with niceties. "What is the status on my ultimate weapons?"
Vulpecula did not look up as he spoke. "The cyborgs themselves are fully constructed, even the one built from the Earthling creature. Armaments still need to be loaded, but the Simeons are running the last of the checks now."
"Excellent," Centaurus grinned. "Events down on Earth are proceeding as planned. Our herald will soon be unleashed and then nothing will be able to stop us."
When Saeko and Max finally discovered what had happened to Hikaru Chen, it quickly became their worst fears realized. He had been severely injured during the fight between Gabara and Arashi. When trying to get to safety after Arashi had been awakened, the force from one of the dragon's energy bolts had buried the scientist under a pile of rubble.
Much of his body had been crushed by the falling debris, but he had surprised the rescue team that had found him by clinging stubbornly to life. Unfortunately, his body was so badly messed up that there was little that the medics could do for him.
When Saeko saw her father's battered form laying limp in a hospital bed, connected to machines to keep him alive, her heart seemed to shatter. "Oh no," she whispered as she felt her hands trembling. "It can't be…"
If Hikaru managed to hear her, or if it was just good timing, his eyes opened and he smiled. "Saeko…" he said weakly.
Max, who had been standing behind her, took that as his cue to leave. "I'll be just outside."
Saeko barely registered his leaving as she sat down next to her father. "Father…" she started, not quite sure what to say. "I… I'm here."
With a strength that surprised her, Hikaru grabbed her hand. "I'm so sorry I neglected you. I should have made time, I should have insisted, I should have..."
"It's okay," she assured him. "We can make time after you heal."
He shook his head. "It's too late for that. I'll be joining your mother and our ancestors soon. My desire to see you again has been the only thing keeping me alive. Now that I know you are okay, I can finally rest."
"Don't talk like that!" she said as she felt angry tears start to line her face. "I won't forgive you if you die on me! I won't! You have to live!"
"Saeko!" Hikaru said, surprising her as he raised his voice. "My body is crushed. It's taking all of my strength just to talk with you now. You must accept that I won't be around any longer."
He reached up and brushed a tear from her face, his expression softening. "Without any help from your father, you've managed to grow into a beautiful, intelligent, and strong woman. I am so proud of you."
"I know," Saeko said, hearing her voice tremble.
Hikaru's hand went limp and Saeko thought that the moment she had been dreading had come, but he spoke again, his voice full of regret. "I heard from the soldiers who brought me here that Arashi is rampaging. Everyone is calling him an evil monster, but it's not true, the blood of his father is corrupting his mind. He's good at heart, Saeko, I know he is, but he was awakened before it was time. You need to bring out the good in him that has been buried under Ghidorah's evil."
"Me?"
"Yes," Hikaru confirmed before he started coughing. When the fit subsided, his voice was noticeably weaker. "Everything makes sense to me now. You were able to feel Arashi's mind he woke up, weren't you?"
Saeko couldn't help but be surprised. "How did you know?"
"When you told me of the reaction you had when you first touched the pendant, I ended up thinking about it a lot. The reason no one else seemed to be affected by it… your strange intuitiveness… you have a psychic gift, Saeko. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my work, I might have seen it sooner. Touching the pendant lets you see Arashi's mind because he was made from Ghidorah. Consequently, you should also be able to see into Ghidorah's mind or anything else that spawns from him. You have to be very careful with that pendant from now on."
Saeko nodded, but couldn't find anything to say.
Hikaru smiled. "I know you can find Arashi's good side. Don't let them destroy him."
"I won't," she promised. "I'll show everyone you were right."
Hikaru smiled. "I love you, Saeko. I know you'll succeed."
And then he closed his eyes and the terrible sound of a flatline filled the room.
Saeko stared at her father's lifeless body and felt tears stream down her face unbidden. She wiped them away and tried to compose herself, there would be time enough for grieving later. She couldn't let herself breakdown now, not while she had a promise to keep.
She clutched the pendant of Ghidorah and felt Arashi's mind once more, she could feel his desire to kill and destroy. Could this monster really have a good side? Her father had been adamant about it, even though that same monster had ultimately ended up killing him. It couldn't just be a Frankenstein complex, he had never felt this way about Dorat-Ghidorah, of that Saeko was sure.
She resolved that she would find it if it was there. She would prove her father right.
