He swam through the depths of the ocean, with no path set or destination in mind. He was doing this mainly to blow off steam, as his two sons were quite restless while playing. They were huddled together on their home of Monster Island, napping after having finally worn themselves out, so their father took the time to swim around aimlessly. That was about fifteen minutes ago, and he figured he still had some time before they woke up, so he continued on. It seemed that they were slow to deplete their energy, but quick to regain it.
However, something stopped him in his tracks. It was a disturbance he felt, like the natural order had been disrupted by something that didn't belong. He swam to the surface and looked up at the sky, focusing his mind. A maniacal crackle faded into his consciousness, and his eyes narrowed in cold anger-he knew that crackle.
"Ghidorah." he growled to himself.
King Ghidorah, the deadly three-headed space kaiju, Godzilla's long-standing nemesis, had returned. He had somehow escaped incarceration and was now plotting something devastating for the world, for humans, kaiju, and all of Earth's lifeforms.
But Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, the hero the world needed, would not let such a disaster unfold. He would do everything in his power to thwart the evil that threatened the planet on which he lived.
He turned and headed back toward Monster Island. If he was going to face a threat like Ghidorah, it was a good idea to recruit his allies and friends.
On the kaiju's home island, Godzilla searched the holes in the ground made recently, as evidenced by still-cool lumps of dirt surrounding them. The kaiju he was looking for had to be in one of them, yet aside from the freshly-dug holes, there was no sign of his presence. But Godzilla knew he had to be nearby-as his best friend, he knew where his antics sometimes brought him.
"Anguirus." he called out.
The ground before him broke apart as a new hole was dug out, and out of it crawled Anguirus, his closest friend. He looked this way and that for Godzilla, unaware that he was facing the opposite direction.
"Behind you, man." Godzilla said.
With a confused grunt, Anguirus looked behind him, then turned fully around when he saw his friend.
"Oh! Hey, Big G. What's up?" he said.
"Trouble, that's what." Godzilla replied. "We've gotta get the team together."
"You mean we get to kick some kaiju tail? Hell yeah, man, I'm in!"
"Not all kaiju have tails, you know."
"Whatever, dude. So, who's the perp deserving of an ass-whooping?"
"I'll tell you when the team's gathered. Now come on, let's go get everyone."
"A gangbang, huh? Yo, we've gotta get the humans to document that."
Godzilla sighed. As much as he liked his friend's enthusiasm, when the world was in actual danger, he preferred not to waste time.
Godzilla and Anguirus stood before the island's active volcano, where another of the former's trusty allies resided. Godzilla tapped on the rugged exterior as if knocking on a door, and the pterodactyl kaiju inside poked out of the volcano's mouth.
"Hey! Who's banging on my volcano?!" Rodan called out. He looked down at the base and saw Godzilla and Anguirus. "Oh, hey, guys."
"Rodan, get down here." Godzilla said. "We need your help to save the world."
"As you command, my King." Rodan made an exaggerated salute to Godzilla, then flew completely out of the volcano, embers flying everywhere as he flapped his wings. He landed before the earth kaiju. "Anything you need, just let your right-hand know."
"Why aren't I your right-hand?" Anguirus asked Godzilla.
"Because Rodan was my ally first. We weren't always friends, you know."
"Oh, yeah."
The three kaiju made their way to the nearby Infant Island. Deep inside its jungle, a giant cocoon was resting against a tall tree, nestled in silky webbing. Godzilla informed the two tiny fairies watching over the cocoon of the situation.
"You've arrived on good time, Godzilla." the Shobijin said in unison. "Mothra should be completing her metamorphosis very soon."
So Godzilla, Anguirus, and Rodan sat and waited on the Divine moth. The King of Monsters felt his best friend nudge his shoulder, and Anguirus spoke to him in a volume only he could hear.
"So, Mothra. The Queen of the Monsters herself." He smirked. "You and her leaning towards the whole 'just friends' thing, or do you two royals have something else going on?"
Godzilla tried not to groan out loud. Every time he saw the opportunity, Anguirus teased him about his respectful bond with Mothra. And it still annoyed him, even though he had been doing it for a long time.
"Come on, Anguirus. Why don't you just cut that out?" Godzilla asked. "I told you a million times, there's nothing like that between us, we're jus-"
He was interrupted by a loud tearing sound, like fabric being ripped. The cocoon was bulging, pulling apart at the places where it was stretched-Mothra was hatching.
The Shobijin quickly positioned themselves before the cocoon and sang Mothra's song, their voices reaching the Queen of Monsters and motivating her to continue finding her way out. Soon, her insectoid head poked out of the silk encasing her, followed by her long, narrow body, clawed appendages, and finally, her giant colorful wings, which were spread out behind her in their beautiful display. She pulled herself free from the webbing and floated down before her fellow kaiju.
"Godzilla, Anguirus, Rodan. How nice of you to come see my hatching." she said kindly.
"I wish that were the case, Mothra," Godzilla said, "but we came to you because we need your help. An evil kaiju has returned, and his presence on this planet alone endangers it."
"Say no more, then. I will fight to my last breath to protect the world and its inhabitants. I will gladly join you in stopping whoever threatens to plunge it into chaos."
"Thanks, Mothra. I knew we could count on you. Come on, let's go get our other teammates."
Their next stop was at a small town in Japan, where a certain inventor lived. That inventor walked out of his strange-looking house to meet the kaiju, whom he could hear approaching from quite a distance. He saw that it was Godzilla and his friends, and he could guess who they were here to see.
"Hello, Godzilla, everyone." the inventor greeted them.
"Dr. Ibuki, I hope we didn't startle you coming here." said Godzilla.
"No, not at all. Giant kaiju such as yourself are quite hard to miss."
"Is Jet here? We have some urgent news for him."
"He's out helping some of the towns people, but I can call him back." Goro Ibuki spoke into the voice-command devise hanging from his neck. "Jet Jaguar, I need you to return home. An old friend is here to see you."
Within a few minutes, a whirring sound came from overhead, and Jet Jaguar, a humanoid robot created by Goro, flew through the skies to everyone waiting. His normal height was 1.8 meters, a little taller than a fully grown human. He was in this state as he hovered in front of Godzilla at eye-level.
"Godzilla. Long time no see." Jet Jaguar said. "What brings you here?"
"The world is in danger. We could use your assistance in saving it."
"Well, I certainly can't turn away from that. Alright, consider me recruited."
Jet Jaguar landed, and with a flash of light from his chest, he grew from 1.8 meters to a staggering 50 meters, the exact same height as Godzilla. During an earlier fight, he had gained sentience and overridden his programming, also gaining the ability to change size, but even after the time that had passed since then, Goro still did not know how he achieved this.
"Whoa." Anguirus marveled at Jet Jaguar's size change. "Yeah, we'll definitely make good use of that."
"Be careful, Jet Jaguar." Goro said to his now giant-sized robot.
"Don't worry, Father. I will." Jet Jaguar reassured him. "I'll rely on my friends whenever possible."
"As long as we're together, we'll stay safe." Mothra added.
"Come on, guys. There's just one more teammate we need to recruit." Godzilla said.
The location of their final ally was in Okinawa, an island on Japan's Kyushu archipelago, where the royal Azumi family resided. Tengan and Nami Kunigami hailed the kaiju kindly, but looked grimly to the distant clouds, where a black mountain had risen into them. According to their ancient prophecy, when a black mountain appeared above the clouds, a monster would appear and attempt to destroy the world.
"So, an evil monster has risen." Tengan said.
"Yes. Which is why we've come here." said Godzilla. "We need Ceasar's help to defeat him."
"It does not exactly match the prophecy, Grandfather." Nami said. "It is said that when the red moon sets and the sun rises in the west, two monsters will appear to defeat the evil monster. Instead of two, we have a full team of them."
"Indeed. But given the circumstances, I believe this would be an appropriate time to awaken King Ceasar." said Tengan.
His granddaughter nodded in agreement, and everyone followed her to a mountain by the beach, where their guardian kaiju slept, waiting to be awakened. On a nearby pedestal sat a statue of the mighty Shisa, set in place for the royal prophecy. Nami got down on her knees and began singing her family's sacred prayer.
When the song finished, a part of the mountain exploded, and from it emerged the awakened King Ceasar. He stretched and yawned before looking around in a daze and spotting his old ally and friend.
"Godzilla! Hey!" the Shisa called, waving. He made his way over to Godzilla and his other teammates. "Good to see you."
"Same here. But we don't have time to catch up right now. We've got a problem, as you can see." Godzilla jerked his head toward the distant black mountain, and King Ceasar's friendly demeanor vanished.
"Uh oh. Alright, Big G, who's the troublemaker?"
"Let's meet up on Monster Island. I'll explain everything then."
"We will pray for your safety, King Ceasar." said Nami. "May you and your teammates be victorious in your fight to save the world."
"Thanks. I promise we'll make sure they don't go unsung." King Ceasar turned to Godzilla. "Okay, Your Majesty, lead the way."
Finally complete, the team sat in a half-circle while Godzilla stood in front of them. "Alright, we're all together, so let's begin. As you all know, the reason I've gathered you is because an evil kaiju has returned to threaten the world, but we're not gonna let that happen. We're gonna find this baddie-wherever he is-and show him what happens when one causes trouble for Earth."
"Hell yeah, we are." Anguirus agreed.
"And who exactly is that evil kaiju, Godzilla?" Rodan asked.
"Ghidorah."
Godzilla's answer caught everyone off guard. "Wait, what?" Anguirus said.
"But Godzilla, you defeated and imprisoned Ghidorah in space." Mothra said. "Are you certain it's him?"
"I heard his crackle in my consciousness-I recognize that annoying brain spike anywhere. The three-headed bastard broke free somehow, and he's become a thorn in our side that we need to remove."
"That triple punk seriously broke out just to try the same trick again?" Anguirus said. "Jesus, how long's it gonna take before he learns?"
"Maybe the lesson will sink in a little further once we put him in his place again." said Jet Jaguar.
"Godzilla, have you told Minya and Jr. about this?" Mothra asked.
Godzilla looked away. "No. That's a decision I need to make before we leave." He turned away from his friends as he thought about his current dilemma. "It's a tough choice. I don't want to put them in harm's way, but I'm not keen on leaving them here by themselves either."
"Why don't you ask them if they want to come?" Rodan said.
"I promise, Godzilla, we'll protect them in every way we can, should they decide to come with us." said Mothra.
Godzilla hesitated, debating if this was really something he wanted to drop on his sons. But then he turned back to his friends and smiled at them, not knowing what he'd do without their kindness and reassurance.
"Well, let's go ask the boys, then." he said.
Godzilla Jr., the King's younger son, kept his eyes peeled as he searched the island's jungle. His older brother, Minya, leaned over as he caught his breath, having finally caught up with the younger kaiju prince.
"Jr...slow...down...please." Minya huffed. "There's...no humans...here."
"Dad said humans come here sometimes." Jr. insisted. "C'mon, Minya. There's gotta be some here."
"If there were humans here, they would've let us know they were coming. And we haven't heard any word from them, so-hey, Dad's coming."
Jr. abandoned his search and turned to where his father was approaching from. "All of Dad's friends are here, too!" he said happily.
"Hello, boys." Mothra said kindly. When it came to Minya and Jr., she acted as a sort of mother figure to them. "Your father has something he'd like to ask you."
"I'd better explain everything first." said Godzilla. "It's a serious situation, and a serious question."
Godzilla told his sons of King Ghidorah's threat to the world. When he finished, Jr. looked very scared, but Minya kept a calm front, despite feeling scared himself.
"So, what I wanted to ask you boys is...if you wanted to come with us." Godzilla said.
"Y-You mean, to save the world?" Minya asked in surprise and shock.
"We would mostly be shielding you from danger, but if conditions are safe enough, we would occasionally ask for your help." said Mothra.
"I'm just nervous about leaving you two here alone." Godzilla added. "I know you'd be safe here, but..."
"It's okay, Dad. We get it." Minya said. He looked to his brother. "What do you think, Jr.?"
Jr. thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'm scared of King Ghidorah, and what he's gonna do to the world," His uncertain expression turned to a somewhat excited one, "but I do wanna go out and explore it. And I wanna see Dad save it."
"Yeah, seeing the almighty Godzilla standing in victory over his fallen enemy is something I wouldn't wanna miss, either." Anguirus said.
"So, is that a yes, Jr.?" Mothra asked.
Jr. nodded almost eagerly, his earlier fear seemingly nonexistent. "You'll come, too, Minya. Right?"
"Of course. I've gotta protect my little brother."
"Alright, team." Godzilla held out his hand in the center, followed by his friends. "Let's go take down a golden demise." And the team of heroes lifted their hands up with whoops of joy.
End of Chapter One