Kaiju Warfare returns!
Bur first; let me gush over on how much I loved King of the Monsters. Oh my god, it was the best Godzilla movie I have ever seen! The action, the homages, the emotion, it was all phenomenal! Everyone one of those monsters showed more facial expressions than anything featured in the live action remake of The Lion King! Seriously, it was the most exciting and engaging Kaiju flick I saw in my life and I can't wait to see what Godzilla vs Kong and the rest of the Monsterverse has in store for us!
Now this chapter has a special little history behind it. This was consisting of little mini scenes that start at the beginning of each chapter for my four part Kaiju vs Ramiel fight. However, I began to notice that it would derail the pacing of the fight and I couldn't decide which scene I wanted so rather than go through that ordeal, I decided to compile them into a full chapter to tide you guys over until the big brawl next year.
Now for a special note. There won't be a review section like I usually do. The reason for this is because ever since I re-uploaded chapter 20, the review section filled up to the point where I can't answer every single review. I hope you guys can understand, I would've never gotten this chapter out if I had to answer them all. I'm only human!
With that being said, thank you for the kind words anyway! For those who gave me ideas and suggestions for other Kaiju, they are very well appreciated but keep in mind I can't use all of them. Those who told me I used too many Kaiju for my early rendition of chapter 20, I have listened to your advice and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. I guess I let my fanboy side take over. And finally for those who offered constructive criticism, I have taken them into account and I admit, writing is still a very new thing for me and I probably have a lot to learn. Thank you.
Godzilla and Evangelion belong to their respective owners. I do not own either of them.
Chapter 21
Monsters Exist
"The times they are a changin'."
-Bob Dylan
TOKYO-2 OUTSKIRTS-GEO SHELTER 195
Sitting down next to his sister, Touji gently patted her back in reassurance as they sat on the metal floor of the shelter. But the continuous rumbling and loud noises that could be heard from outside the shelter did little to ease her fears. What concerned everybody within was that it was coming from all the way from Tokyo-3 and they could still be able to hear it despite being at least a couple hundred miles away and deep within a heavily fortified bunker. Sitting behind him was Kensuke while Hikari was seated next to him; their families sitting just a few feet away. Another rumble shook the bunker, eliciting distressed cries from the people and families sheltered within.
Touji heard Kensuke gulp while Sakura hugged him tightly. As he hugged her back, he felt something tightly hold his hand. He looked to his left and was surprised to see that it was Hikari holding his hand. She wasn't looking at him but rather at the floor with a worried look. Touji blushed a little and slowly held her hand as well.
Suddenly, the monitors mounted on the walls began to flicker on and off, everyone instantly looking at the screens with rapt attention. The monitors finally come on…
Everyone gasped.
Kensuke's jaw fell open as Sakura gripped Touji harder.
Hikari was flat out terrified.
Touji looked like he had been stung by a bee. "Son…of a hippo's…left…NUT."
UNKNOWN LOCATION
Bolting up out of his seat, Lorenz Keel stared at his screen in utter shock.
"W-w-what is this?!" The leader of Seele muttered in confusion. It was suddenly replaced by barely contained rage as he scowled viscously. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS OUTRAGE?!"
NERV GERMANY-NEW BERLIN
Within his private quarters at the German branch of Nerv, Kaji sweated feverishly at his desk. He found it very difficult to watch the events unfolding in Japan on his tablet. It was utterly impossible but it was real and it was happening right now.
Looking at the leftmost wall, he remembered that Asuka's room was right next to his and there was no doubt that she was watching the fight as well. He could only imagine what her reaction to this was. Grabbing a cigarette from the nightstand and digging his Zippo out of his pocket, Kaji attempted to give himself a light but his shaking, sweaty palms made it difficult for him to work the lighter wheel. Eventually he gave up and resumed watching his tablet.
"Misato…"
NERV ALASKA-BETHANY BASE
Ripping open a bag of freshly made popcorn, Mari flopped herself onto the bed in her quarters and turned up the volume on the TV.
"Okay, boys! LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!"
CCI HEADQUARTERS-SITUATION ROOM
Mana, Musashi and Keita stared at the large screen within the room, as did Katagiri and several other officers and members of CCI.
"Son of a…." Musashi breathed in shock, unable to formulate words.
"I've-I've got nothing. I-i-i-i-I've literally got nothing." Mana stammered as she shook her head.
Keita gulped in fear at the footage on the screen. But then he noticed something and looked to his left. "Uh…guys?" He said, tapping Mana on the shoulder.
Mana and Musashi looked to where Keita was pointing and saw Katagiri with an absolutely wrathful look on his face, like he was going to explode at any second. He instantly turned around to the people behind him.
"MOBILIZE ALL OF OUR FORCES AND HAVE EVERY ONE OF THEM SENT STRAIGHT TO TOKYO-3, NOW!"
PLUTO-DARK SIDE OF THE PLANET'S SURFACE
Coiling his arm tentacles together in thought, Rhizon viewed the events unfolding on the Earth's surface from the main screen as he sat on his throne. Bringing one of his tentacles up to his pointed chin, the Cryog stroked it as he hummed.
"I must admit, I was not expecting this outcome at all. Nor did I think there would be more of these things. Well, no matter. It won't alter my goals too much and besides, I could always use more…genetic samples." He grinned hideously.
TOKYO-1
"Holy crap. Hooooooooly crap this is for real, isn't it?" Togusa mumbled in numb fear.
"Oh yeah. It's friggin happening." Ishikawa gulped as the sounds of rumbling and roaring could be hear from where he sat.
Crowded around the array of computer screens, Togusa, Ishikawa, Saito, Pazu and Makoto watched the battle against the Kaiju and the Dark One. They all knew that the world itself had reached the point where there was no turning back. This was being broadcasted all over the world due to the virus they uploaded into Nerv's database.
Saito looked at Makoto. "Do you think Mayumi's going to join?"
Makoto turned her eyes to the floor. There was no guarantee that she would, but at this point it was wishful thinking. "I really hope so."
"She better." Pazu grumbled. "Cause we need all hands on deck; no more sitting' around on the sidelines. Not anymore."
TOKYO-2
The evacuations were in total disarray as scores of people and gridlocked cars crowded the streets. The citizens of Tokyo-3 who had been evacuated from the city went into full-blown panic mode when word got out that Operation Yashima had failed and there were more monsters rampaging through the city. Now there were riots all over Tokyo-2 with JSSDF soldiers rushing about as they tried to maintain order.
Mayumi hid from the chaos by seeking refuge in an abandoned gas station that had already been cleaned out by looters. Hiding behind a counter, Mayumi breathed rapidly as her heart hammered in her chest.
She could sense them. She could sense the other Kaiju engage the Dark One from miles away. She didn't know how to describe it or know how it worked but it was scaring her. Earlier she had hopped onto the evacuation bus; shamefully admitting that she was too scared to help Godzilla.
But now the Kaiju had returned. After 15 years, the portal to The Lost Land had been reopened and they were back. She didn't know what to do. Should she go back and help them? Could they all handle the Dark One by themselves? Mayumi was at a loss. She knew she didn't have any other choice, remembering what Kusangi said to her hours before, but was still paralyzed with fear. She hated herself for running away and began to softly cry.
SKRAAABOOOOOM
She let out a cry of terror when a rioter threw a Molotov Cocktail at a car, lighting it ablaze. Covering her head and sinking to the floor in a fetal position, Mayumi let out a sob and began to cry as she heard the roars of the Kaiju and the Dark One out in the distance.
Then, she felt something. Like someone was gently wrapping their arms around her protectively. She looked around but saw nobody near her or anywhere in the store; she was totally alone. Her eyes found their way to an empty display case in front of her where she could see her reflection upon the paned glass. She saw that it was Nemesis once again but this time, she was oddly regular sized with her large arms around Mayumi. The soul of the Kaiju looked back at the girl with sympathy. Nemesis fully understood what Mayumi was feeling but her friends were at stake. She longed to see them and fight by their side again and she was silently imploring Mayumi to face her fears. She knew that this young human was better than just hiding.
Looking back at the reflection of the Kaiju, Mayumi looked at her hands and gulped. She weighed her options as she shut her eyes are hard as she could. If she went to Tokyo-3 to help the Kaiju, she could kiss her attempt at a regular life goodbye and possibly risk death. If she didn't, she would be letting down Makoto, Nemesis, the Shobijin and everyone else back at Monarch.
After a few seconds, Mayumi stopped sniffling and wiped the tears away from her eyes. Soon, her fears ebbed away and were replaced with courage. She bolted over the counter and out of the gas station. She ran past the panicking civilians, looters and soldiers and made her way to a vacant barricade that was abandoned during the fracas. Mayumi ran through the open gate and into the woods, making her way to Tokyo-3.
MONARCH HEADQUARTERS-UNKNOWN LOCATION
Commander Shikishima and everyone in the command room watched the battle from the main screen. Taro swallowed as Stacker,Aramaki, Tendo and Herc stood beside him with the same expression of awe he had.
"I knew it; I knew they'd be back." Rick Stanton, an American man with gray hair and large framed glasses said from behind Taro.
"I told you! I freakin' called it long before the Shobijin said so!" Newton Geiszler, a German scientist wearing a white button down shirt, black tie and black pants along with tattoos on his arms gushed excitedly as he high-fived Rick. Another German scientist with a plaid vest and a walking cane by the name of Hermann Gottleib rubbed his temples in embarrassment.
Batou and Borma went up to Shikishima. "What are your orders, Sir? Should we launch the Jaegers?" Batou asked, he and his friend ready to pilot the Jaegers. Shikishima turned to his right to look at Dr. Serizawa watching the screen, joined by three other Kaijuologists: Vivienne Graham, a British woman with long hair, Houston Brooks, an aged African American man with glasses and his wife, Lin San who was a Thai woman with her hair done up in a ponytail.
Remembering Serizawa's words, Taro shook his head. "No. Stand down and I want the Jaegers put off standby. This is their fight now. Colonel Diane Foster?"
An African American woman with short hair and an army uniform went up to him and saluted. "Yes, Commander?"
"Get me a direct line with the President."
NEW MEXICO-LAS CRUCES
The Doctor studied the battle on the television screen as he diligently took notes. The man was giddy as he jotted his observations down on his notepad. Looking up from his notes, he paused the footage and gazed at the MSC.
"There were more just like you out there in the world, wasn't there?" He whispered, almost like he was in love. "You continue to surprise me, reptil."
Getting up from his seat, he went over to the small elevator in his lab and took it down to another part of his hidden abode. The doors opened to reveal an extensive biogenetics lab, where he conducted all sorts of experiments. Many of them highly unethical.
The brightly lit room revealed who the man was: a tall, Hispanic man with a flattop style haircut with shades of grey on the sides and a thin moustache. He wore a white lab coat with a yellow shirt and tan pants along with thin, rectangular glasses and a fully prosthetic hand in place of his missing left.
Ramon De La Porta walked over to a glass case containing cylindrical vials filled with an unknown liquid; the vials themselves resembled DNA Helixes. He opened the case, letting out a hiss of super cooled air and plucked one of the vials out of the case with his metallic hand; careful as to not let his fingers accidently crush it.
"Today is the dawn of a new era, mis hijos." He said as he observed the vial. "Your time will come very soon."
He rotated the canister to reveal a name stamped onto the side.
OTACHI
WASHINGTON D.C.-THE WHITE HOUSE
Within the Oval Office, the President of the United States of America along several of his advisors and one of his generals watched the events transpiring in Japan on the TV installed into the wall at the far end of the room. They were all stunned silent. No one said a word until the President spoke.
"If it's not too much trouble with you all, I would like to be alone for a while."
One of the generals blinked. "Bu-but Mr. President-"
"Please." He pleaded. It wasn't an order, he was merely asking nicely.
The general nodded respectfully and motioned everybody to leave the Oval Office. Now alone at his desk, President James William Sawyer buried his face in his hands. He was an African American man in his mid-thirties with wide framed glasses and currently serving his second term.
Throughout his presidency, he had strived to preserve and safeguard his country from the ravages of The 2nd Impact and the resulting war that came afterwards. He fought tooth and nail to reach a peace treaty that ended the Impact Wars and through thick and thin, put on a brave face.
This was something he couldn't be brave at. He was petrified. It was just like Monarch had said to him: the Kaiju would eventually return someday. He remembered many years ago, the last President introduced him to Monarch before Sawyer was sworn in. Only he knew about the organization. Not the generals, not the joint chiefs and not the vice president. It was there that he learned many things.
The truth behind The 2nd Impact.
The existence of a parallel world filled with god-like creatures.
The Shobijin.
The Dark Ones.
Seele.
Godzilla.
The reveal of so much information and startling revelations was almost too much for him. He agreed to keep what he learned a secret but the knowledge he learned from them weighed heavily on him. If the world knew about this sort of information there was no telling what would happen. When the news showed footage of Godzilla fighting the 1st Dark One months ago he nearly had a heart attack.
Monarch previously revealed to him that they implanted a virus at Nerv that allowed them to broadcast footage to all media outlets across the planet. That just made Sawyer more stressed out. But now the fight occurring at this very moment was no doubt being viewed everywhere.
The buzzing of his cell phone snapped him out of his worried state and looked at the caller ID. There was no name, only a symbol resembling a sideways hourglass. He instantly knew who it was. Making sure the doors to the Oval Office were locked and closing the blinds, Sawyer answered his phone.
"Taro?"
"Hello, Mr. President. I take it you've been watching the news?"
"Yes, and I'm sure everyone on every continent is watching as well. This is your plan?! To cause worldwide anarchy?!"
"You and I both know that there would be a time where we couldn't keep the Kaiju a secret for any longer. We're just easing the world into this."
"You call this 'easing'?! Do you have any notion of the kind of mass panic this is going to unleash?!"
"I understand how you feel but the Kaiju are not our enemy, they are here to combat the Dark Ones."
"But why keep Monarch a secret? Why not just tell everyone and at least warn them of what's about to come?"
"If we did that, we run the risk of revealing ourselves to Seele. You know what they're like."
"I do. But I still have my misgivings regarding the Kaiju. I will have you know that if one of those things makes landfall on American soil and starts wrecking cities, I will not hesitate to defend my people."
"Sawyer, need I remind you that the last time the US government tried to kill Godzilla it only made him stronger?"
"And I'd remind you that I still retain my strongest concern of letting these monsters run loose wherever they please!"
"The Kaiju are meant to preserve the balance of nature. They only pose a threat when you attack them."
"But why me then? Why dump all of this on me? This is only happening in Japan, why not inform Emperor Akihito?"
"Monarch started out as an American organization and like we said before, if we started telling everybody then we would end up putting us and them at risk of being targeted by Seele."
"You…you're right. But-I-i…"
"Mr. President I understand you're scared but the Kaiju are the only hope we have of saving the planet. You need to have faith in them; especially in Godzilla."
"….Okay. Okay…..what can I do?"
"At the present moment, we can't do anything about the fight in Tokyo-3 or any other future incursion for that matter but if a Dark One does find itself in America, you need to let the Kaiju handle it. You'll need to act like you have no knowledge of them if you ever have to give a press conference. I admit, there will be panic but there is no other way around it."
"So this is it, then? Pandora's Box has been opened?"
"Wrong. Pandora's Box was opened when Seele initiated The 2nd Impact. The Kaiju are trying to close it."
"I I wish you and the rest of Monarch the best of luck, Shikishima."
"And to you, President Sawyer."
The call ended and Sawyer turned off his phone. Looking at the television again, fear gripped his heart as he watched the fight escalate. He lowered his head and folded his hands together in prayer.
"God help us. God please help us all in our time of need."
HINAMIZAWA-IKARI RESIDENCE
Glued to the couch as they watched the TV, Shinji Ikari's grandparents, as well as his aunt and uncle shook with fright. The rumbles from Tokyo-3 could be felt all the way from here. Otome Ikari, Shinji's grandmother, began to weep into her hands. Her husband and Shinji's grandfather, Hiroshi Ikari, gently patter her back and held her hand.
Sitting next to them was Shinji's uncle and aunt, Kazuo and Kimiko Ikari. Kazuo had short, brown hair while Kimiko had long red hair done up in a hair clip and glasses. They were both feeling the same kind of dread their parents were going through.
But it wasn't at the sight of seeing giant monsters fight an even bigger monster. It was out of fear for Shinji's safety. While they had previously accepted his position at Nerv, they still feared for his life whenever those creatures attack the city. Now this was different.
Kazuo and Kimiko looked at each other with expressions of concern and fright. When they lost their dear sibling Yui, nothing was ever the same. Especially when her rat bastard husband refused to tell them how she died.
They couldn't bear to lose her son.
THE VATICAN-SECRET ARCHIVES
Earlier today, Pope Francis had called a meeting with several religious leaders like himself at the Vatican. Surprisingly, many of them attended and looked forward to this gathering with great interest. Thirteen religious leaders representing Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, Judaism, Confucianism, Bahá'í, Shinto, Jainism and Zoroastrianism arrived at the Vatican as they were greeted by Pope Francis in the meeting room.
They meeting started off almost like friends meeting each other after a long time. Hands were shaken, friendly conversations were made, some reminisced about old times, swapped humorous stories but then they got down to serious business. Namely to talk about these so-called "Angels" sighted in Japan. They all came to the logically sound conclusion that these couldn't be Angels at all. These were demons.
They all voiced their displeasure at the organization known as Nerv for giving them such a name and Pope Francis was just about to move on to the subject of the MSC when several Cardinals burst into the meeting room, urgently telling everyone present that there was something there had to see.
Everyone was led to another room with a large television screen that showed the impossible. As everyone was left speechless at the footage, Pope Francis went pale. He instantly knew what this meant and asked everyone to accompany him.
Now they were all walking through a stone corridor lined with torches deep beneath the Vatican. The Pope could sense the unease of the religious leaders as they came upon a large door with four Swiss Guards standing near it. Pope Francis turned around to face the others.
"Gentlemen. What I am about to show you is the Holy See's most closely guarded secret. I wouldn't be revealing this to if I did not have the upmost trust and faith in you all but I cannot stress this enough when I say you cannot breathe a word of this to anybody. I understand I'm asking a lot from you-"
"We fully understand." A Buddhist Monk came forward as the others agreed with him. "But does this have anything to do with what's going on in Japan right now?"
"Yes." He confirmed. The Pope turned to the Swiss Guards and nodded. The guards opened the doors and Francis led everybody inside. They all stood in a massive, circular room with a giant stone slab on the far side of wall with numerous archeological equipment and desks littered with research notes scattered around it. The religious leaders looked at the slab and were amazed and shocked by what they saw.
There were numerous hieroglyphs and pictograms on the sides of the slab but nobody could make heads or tails on what they meant. None of them looked remotely like anything they had seen before, leading the men to believe that this was made by an ancient civilization that predated the Mayans, Romans, Babylonians, Egyptians or any other known empire in recorded history.
But the petroglyphs in the center of the slab were what really got their attention. It depicted an army of snarling monsters about to do battle against another army of eerie, otherworldly looking creatures. But the most distinguishing feature they noticed was that at the front of the army of monsters was a beast that looked like a spitting image of the MSC while one of the creatures on the other side bore a disturbing resemblance to one of the blasphemously named "Angels" that first attacked Tokyo-3 back in June.
A Rabbi took a closer look at the slab before turning to the Pope.
"Is this…?"
Pope Francis nodded, confirming his thoughts. "Their war…is not over."
To be continued…
I consider this to be a very important chapter for this series because it marks a turning point for the human race: monsters are real and they are here to stay. The world is forever changed and there is no stopping it. Welcome to the age of the Kaiju! Now to go over some important notes before I finish this up.
I enjoyed making everyone's reactions to the battle but Mayumi was a special case since it marks her first foray into the Kaiju/ Dark One war. Get ready for Nemesis joining the fray in the next chapter!
Monarch is finally revealed and so is the complete cast for the organization. I'm not adding in anymore characters, don't ask me to include anymore, it's done and finished. Though I will admit that before I saw King of the Monsters, I was originally going to have an expy of Richard Jenkins be a part of the team as well as Hanji Zoe from Attack on Titan. But I wrote them out and replaced them with characters that fit better.
The Doctor character teased in chapter 3 and 6 has been revealed as the primary antagonist of Kong: The Animated Series (and not that God-awful, direct-to-DVD, CGI abomination)! I always had an urge to add in a mad scientist type character into this story so that took a lot of brainstorming. I wanted to be somebody that readers would remember and I hit the nail on the head when I suddenly thought back to the Kong TV series all the way back in 2000 when it aired on Fox Kids. Ramon definitely fit the picture with his suave but dastardly attitude and his ulterior motives towards his experiments. He will be the only character to appear from the series, just him and nobody else. If the name Otachi on the vial wasn't proof enough, the Pacific Rim Kaiju are genetically engineered WMD's created by a mad professor of science. I can't give you an exact date and time on when they will appear but it will happen.
No story would be complete without a little bit of political espionage, hence the White House scene. Since this story takes place in 2015, I was originally going to have Barack Obama be featured but due to the political climate we all live in and not wanting to run the risk of my review section being turned into a message board, I decided that it would be best to use a fictional president. James Sawyer is from the 2013 action film, White House Down featuring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. That's right; Foxx is president of the United States in this universe!
The scene with Shinji's family is what I consider a heartwarming moment in this story due to that fact that Shinji in canon has no real family. In this, he does have loving relatives who don't want to lose him as he is an irreplaceable member of their family and the only memory of Yui they have left, aside from some old photos. Aslo a fun little bit of info, Kazuo and Kimiko were inspired by two people seen in the right hand side of a photo Fuyutsuki shows Shinji in Rebuild 3.0.
And now we get to the religious implication of giant monsters roaming the world! Originally, it was going to be the Cardinals showing Pope Francis the slab but I changed it to have the Pope showing religious leaders it instead. I always loved the idea of people from different races and religions uniting together in tenuous times. The civilization that made the slab are the Iwi people from Skull Island. It was heavily inspired by the murals Marlowe shows the cast in Kong: Skull Island, as well as the ones seen in the concept art and comic tie-ins.
Well, that about wraps it up, see you guys in 2020 for the four part battle!
Don't forget to review but please don't flame.