((Courtesy Reminder: The "review" section is for actual reviews and critique, not general guest comments like "Godzilla and Mothra belong together. Period." That's neither a review, nor critique, and it's not useful to me as a writer to improve my craft. Thanks!))
"What's going on?!" Ilene screamed.
"Armed intruders! They broke through the checkpoint into the complex! Security's trying to keep them out right now, but it's not looking good!" Thomas yelled back above the roar of the chaos around them in the room with alarms blaring and people yelling in terror.
Ling glanced back at the egg which looked to be rather unfazed by what was happening around it which was rather concerning.
The reverberations of gunfire in the distance had everyone darting in circles wondering whether or not to exit the room or lock it down and barricade the door. But if they did then the intruders could simply shoot through the glass, presuming they got this far.
"Thomas! Secure the egg chamber!" Ilene yelled.
"How?" He shouted back over the panicked shouting around them.
"The steel walls! You have the code, right?"
"But they weren't designed to be opened again! We'll never get into the chamber if I close them now!"
"That's exactly the point! We don't want them getting in!"
"Wait! Are you more worried about us or the egg?!"
"Thomas! Close the doors now!"
Bullets started striking the entry doors, one of which broke through and skewered the abdomen of one of the other female scientists sending her falling to the ground in agony as a pool of blood began gathering around her.
"Thomas!" Ilene and Ling both screamed in unison.
He screamed in frustration as he ran over to the glass wall looking out towards the egg. A single keypad was on the edge next to the door, and after punching in a code a massive set of steel doors dropped down outside of the room serving as a wall between everyone inside and the egg's chamber. Once it was closed, Thomas looked back at Ilene and Ling.
"We could have been on that side." He grumbled as the shooting ceased outside the door.
"There's no other way in or out of that chamber, Thomas." Ilene replied softly.
Thomas took a breath, knowing full well they'd have died of hunger and/or thirst if they'd trapped themselves inside with the egg. But it would have meant living a few extra days.
The door was kicked open by a series of armed men in all-black attire with fully automatic rifles primed and at the ready.
"Get against that wall! Now! Move!"
The scientists all gathered by the wall, dragging their wounded colleague with them whose skin had gone ashen and whose breathing was becoming more ragged and frequent.
A youthful and rather handsome man then walked into the room, and the others all came to attention to allow him to approach the scientists. With his short-cut brown hair with salt and pepper streaks on the side, calm blue eyes, and athletic frame, it was no surprise to anyone that he was also armed. Though only with a pistol in its holster at his hip.
He eyed the scientists one by one until he came to the poor girl who'd been shot. And without so much as a single nanosecond of hesitation he drew his pistol and shot her through the head, earning a shriek of horror from the one who'd been trying to help her. Holstering his pistol, he lit a cigar before releasing his first large puff of smoke in their direction.
"Now that the distraction's out of the way, may I presume you two are the Chen siblings I've heard so much about?" He asked, looking to Ling and Ilene.
They offered no reply, leading him to take another puff of his cigar.
"Not much for formalities, I see. That's fine. We'll do it the easy way."
He removed the cigar from his mouth and held it between his index and middle fingers as he began pacing.
"To answer your questions, yes. This is a hostile takeover of your facility. No. You are not privy to knowing who I am, where I'm from, or what organization I work for. No. Not all of your security team has been killed. Just the ones most insistent on getting in our way. The rest are just injured. Yes. You can rest assured that we will not overstay our welcome here, and we'll be out of your hair as soon as possible once our business is concluded. And finally, no. You are not going to be killed. Of course, that last one comes with the asterisk of how cooperative you are."
He stopped pacing, and looked back at the Chen siblings.
"I presume we understand each other, and that you understand why I'm here?" He asked while taking a puff of his cigar.
The siblings replied with a simple, silent glare.
"Excellent."
He glanced to the steel wall which had been dropped outside, and jerked his head towards it.
"I presume that wall rises, yes?"
Silence.
"It would be rather foolish to have dropped it with no way to raise it, right? Although, I've heard tales that Miss Ilene-"
"Doctor!" Ilene snapped.
The man smiled, calmly taking another puff of his cigar and blowing the smoke in her direction.
"Ah yes. Where are my manners? Doctor Ilene Chen is quite the chess player. And although it would be most unfortunate, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that wall had no way of going back up as a means to ensure intruders stay out no matter what. Yes?"
Ilene remained stoic.
"I see. So it doesn't go up then."
Thomas glared out of the corner of his eye at Ilene and Ling. And this did not go unnoticed.
"You there." The man said gesturing at Thomas. "You seem rather upset with the good Doctors. If you have any insight to offer on that steel wall, I'm all ears."
Thomas took a deep breath, and sighed through his nose.
"Nothing?" The man asked. "Ah, that's all right. I doubt it would have counted as insight anyway."
The man raised his pistol and shot Thomas through the head, splattering blood on the wall behind him and getting another shriek of horror from the other scientists. Even Ilene and Ling looked at Thomas in horror before helping each other compose themselves and return their attention to the intruder.
"Now, ladies." He said as he approached the siblings, stopping within arm's reach. "I'm on a time crunch, here. You know I'm here for it. And I'm not leaving without it. If that wall doesn't go up, then I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to start bombing the walls around it. I'd rather not harm the egg if I don't have to. But given its reported size I think a few explosions won't do too much damage. What do you think?"
Ling's eyebrows went oblique as she glanced at Ilene out of the corner of her eye, her grip on Ilene's hand tightening. Ilene, meanwhile, remained calm and stoic as the man took another puff of his cigar before dropping it and stomping it out before looking to Ling.
"You must be Doctor Ling, correct? I hear you're the more compassionate sibling. You don't want the egg to come to harm, right? Well, neither do I. So why don't we come to an agreement about this and you tell me there's no reason to bomb the walls? It would be to both of our benefit, would it not?"
Ilene squeezed Ling's hand back, staring calmly at her sister who took a breath, composed herself, and returned the same stoic stare to the man as Ilene.
"How unfortunate." The man turned around to face his men. "Gentlemen, you know the hallways which border the chamber. Plant the C4, and wait for my signal."
"Yessir!" They all shouted before exiting the room.
The man turned his head to look at the Chen siblings.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Doctors. Hopefully the egg will be all right. We'll be sure to do what we can to minimize its stress as we drag it out of here."
With that the man exited the room leaving all the scientists to heave sighs of relief and horror as they tried to figure out what to do next.
"Ilene." Ling whispered.
"I know." Ilene whispered back.
"What do we do?"
"The only thing we can do."
"But she's not ready!" Ling suddenly screamed.
Ilene's eyes widened, and she jerked back from her sister as their hands separated.
"Ling?"
"She's not ready, Ilene! She needs another four years at least before she'll be big enough to survive outside this temple!"
Ilene's eyes softened as she walked forward and hugged Ling, who was on the verge of tears.
"It's okay, Ling." Ilene whispered.
Ling wrapped her arms around Ilene burying her face in her sister's shoulder to try and help stifle her sobbing. Ilene rubbed her back and gently rubbed her cheek against the side of Ling's head.
"Ling. Do you remember mother's story from when we were little?"
Ling nodded, and Ilene smiled and closed her eyes as they shared in the memory together.
"Long ago, the night held firm and unrelenting. The wings of heaven brought light to the darkness, illuminating the world and giving way to the rising sun. Her blessings bestowed would last for all eternity, protecting the light against the darkness and granting Her wisdom to all who sought refuge in Her shadow." Ilene recited the story from memory, with Ling whispering the words along with her through her sobs.
Finally, Ilene released Ling from the hug and helped dry her sister's tears.
"She'll be fine, Ling. Trust in her. And trust in the light and wisdom of her ancestors. They'll help see her through. I promise."
Ling sniffled and wiped her nose, nodding several times as the two held hands once again.
"Then sing with me, Ling."
Ling smiled, and the two turned to face the steel wall as they closed their eyes. And as before, during Mothra's dreams, Ilene took the lead as they willed their strength and encouragement to Mothra (YT, /watch?v=zHEGAuqLsH8).
The song resonated through the temple halls, even stopping that man and his military comrades in their tracks as they all looked around in confusion as to where the voices were coming from. However…
"Quickly! Those blasted siblings are trying to wake it up so it can escape! Double time men! Move, move, move!" He shouted.
They all sprinted into action planting C4 charges at all their designated positions throughout the halls surrounding Mothra's chamber.
The egg stirred. And inside, Mothra's dreams began to fade as she was brought into consciousness.
The world around her was dark and muted. Sounds weren't clear. Muffled, almost as if submerged in water. There were tiny hints of light. But it was being blocked by something. And whatever this something was it made the light fuzzy and diluted.
The only thing that was clear was the song. It brought a sense of warmth and joy to Mothra as she sat still and listened.
Ling's grip on Ilene's hand tightened, and the grip was returned.
Suddenly, a loud sound assaulted Mothra's ears as something struck the side of the egg. The first C4 charge had been detonated, sending small hunks of debris into her chamber. The song as well seemed to become less calm and more urgent as the voices grew louder and more forceful. Mothra knew something wasn't right. This wasn't normal. But she was trapped by whatever this thing was around her that darkened the world.
Another loud noise assaulted her ears from the other side, and more debris struck the egg which, pressed against Mothra's sides, caused her pain when they hit. Panicking, Mothra opened her mouth and began trying to chew at the enclosure around her. But her tiny mandibles hadn't developed enough to simply slice through. She could feel slow progress being made. But it hurt her mouth to do this. She had to strain to close her mandibles around this substance. And it was stressing her further that more loud sounds and sharp stings of pain were hitting her seemingly from all angles.
Ling's eyes opened.
"She can't get free!"
"Ling! Concentrate!"
Ling gasped and closed her eyes, resuming the song with Ilene while Mothra continued to struggle within the egg.
Chew! Chew! Chew!
It was no use! This thing around her. It was too thick for her mandibles, and it hurt her muscles too much to continue.
"No!" Ilene yelled.
"What do we do?! She's not strong enough yet!" Ling screamed.
Ilene's mind raced until her widening eyes forced Ling's heart to skip a beat.
"Ling, follow my lead!" Ilene said, grasping her sister's hand and closing her eyes.
Ling closed her eyes, and Ilene shared her thoughts about what to do. The idea made Ling anxious, but hopeful. And so the two resumed their song, but this time with a different target in mind.
…
Deep in the waters of the Pacific, Godzilla slumbered peacefully. His dreams were a mystery, even to the siblings. But what wasn't a mystery was his receptiveness to their communication efforts.
Godzilla's eyes snapped open, and he saw a vision of what was transpiring in the temple. His lips curled back in a snarl, and the siblings used this to transfer Godzilla's building rage through the temple. The men all stopped with the C4 detonations, having blown several small holes in the stone enough to at least peek inside and see the egg. But now they heard Godzilla's snarling echoing through the walls.
"What the Hell is that?!" One shouted.
"Is another Titan here?" Another asked.
"Calm down! It's those siblings! They're trying to make us hear another Titan to buy the egg time to hatch! Don't stop with the charges!"
Godzilla suddenly roared, shaking the halls of the temple… Or at least it seemed like it. In reality it was the Chen sisters. Their song, and their telepathy, were affecting the minds of the intruders making it seem like the halls were shaking. It threw them physically off balance and crashing to the floor, and Ilene used this opportunity to allow Mothra to hear Godzilla's roars as well.
Inside the egg, she heard them. He was angry. But why? What was going on? The Alpha. Was he here? Was he protecting her?
Hope arose as the loud sounds had quieted, and Mothra gathered herself and began chewing on another section of the egg which was thinner and allowing what little light could pass through it to be visible. This section proved much easier for her tiny mandibles to handle, and in the span of a few seconds she was able to feel a tiny chunk break free and the cool air of the chamber beyond touched her flesh for the first time.
Chew! The Chen sisters urged.
Mothra wasted no time. She continued chewing through the tiny opening she'd made as the men and their explosives began renewing their assault on the temple walls. Godzilla's roars, frightening though they were, no longer prevented them from operating. Though it did still throw some of those with weaker minds off balance from time to time.
One piece of debris flew through the chamber at high speeds and impacted the side of Mothra's mandibles. The force of it broke off a small chunk of the mandible's upper left corner sending Mothra into a world of pain the likes of which she'd never known before. Yellow-green blood oozed from the wound, and her chewing came to an abrupt halt.
"Mothra!" Ling shrieked.
"Ling! Keep singing!" Ilene urged.
The pair were drenched in sweat from all the psychic effort they were expending to try and protect Mothra, bring Godzilla's thoughts to slow their enemies, and encourage Mothra to keep going. She had to break free. She had to!
Mothra shook her head and reared back inside the egg to look at the section she'd chewed away. It was small. Smaller than her head. But it was something. However, being unable to chew meant there was only one other way out. She reared back as far as she could manage within the confines of the egg, and slammed her head into the tiny opening. The sharp edges of the egg cut into her flesh, but she reared back and slammed into it again. The force generated was enough to tear through part of the side, but not enough to open it further enough for her to get out. She reared back again and slammed into it once more. And although she was in agony over the jagged edges slicing into her and sending tiny spurts of blood into the chamber, she could feel more and more cool air from outside coalescing over her body as the hole got steadily bigger.
However, one final C4 charge completely brought down the wall on the West side sending a wave of debris falling into the chamber and onto the side of the egg. The weight of it wasn't enough to collapse the egg entirely. But Mothra felt the weight of it bearing down on her as she reared back for one final head slam which shattered the front of the egg allowing her front half to fall forward and free of its confinement and into the chamber proper.
Mothra was free!
"Surround it!" The man shouted.
Mothra took a moment to catch her breath before taking notice of these creatures gathering all around her. They didn't look friendly. In fact, Mothra could practically see the negative aura surrounding their bodies as they raised their weapons at her.
By this time, the Chen sisters fell to their knees in exhaustion. The couldn't sing anymore as their voices had gone hoarse and dry, coupled with the mental fatigue of everything they were trying to do at once.
"Ilene…" Ling panted. "What now?"
Ilene looked at her sister with a calm seriousness.
"Pray, Ling." She panted. "Pray that Mothra finds her courage enough to escape… She's free now."
In the chamber, the man walked up to Mothra calmly.
"You're not as big as I thought." He said, looking at the size of the egg compared to her.
She was much smaller than the egg would make her out to be. At over 50 feet from end to end, and boasting a diameter of almost 35 feet, the egg gave the impression Mothra would be longer than 50 feet. Yet, here she was at a mere 25 feet from end to end.
"I don't know if you can understand me. I presume you can, given the way those foolish girls can communicate with you. But if not, then that's fine. Maybe you'll understand this."
He gave a wave of his hand and a net was fired at her which anchored itself into the ground on the other side before the one who fired it anchored it to the ground from his side. Another net was fired from the right, then at both forward angles until Mothra was pinned to the temple floor, unable to move. She released a small shriek of fear which instantly reached the Chen siblings and nearly made them burst into tears.
"Now, now. Don't be scared little one. We're not going to hurt you." He said as he looked at the wounded mandible and the cuts around her head. "Seems you've done enough of that to yourself. We're here to help you."
He was trying to say nice things. But Mothra saw his aura. It was red. An angry, evil color.
"We'll make sure the pain and the damage come to an end, little one. All you have to do is let us release you from the nets and follow us on your own. If you can't or won't cooperate, we'll have to drag you out in the nets. Please don't make us do that, okay?"
He walked forward and put his hand on Mothra's good mandible, giving it a gentle stroke which gave Mothra the shivers.
She didn't like this. The feeling of his hand. It was cold and vile. All she wanted to do was get away. But she couldn't. Not while held down by these things.
"So, little one. Will you come quietly? Or do we have to drag you?"
Suddenly, the walls shook as Godzilla's roar once again erupted seemingly from nowhere.
"God… Dammit. Those siblings again?!" The man shouted.
However, the siblings heard this too and stared at one another in sheer disbelief.
The grounds of the temple began shaking, knocking all of the men, and the scientists who were standing in the room arguing about what to do, to the ground. Ilene and Ling were already on the ground, but had to hold onto each other for comfort and balance as the temple began shaking.
"What's happening, Ilene?"
"It's Godzilla! His rage is physically affecting the temple!"
"But how?!"
"I don't know!"
Both siblings were stumped. They'd never heard Godzilla without reaching out to him first. Was this him? Was it someone else helping them?
Who could know?
What mattered was that inside the chamber, despite the shaking of the walls and ground, Mothra remained calm and silent. As the ground continued to tremble the net anchors were shaken free, releasing Mothra, who promptly rose up to her full height and spewed a sticky, silky thread out of her mouth at each of her attackers pinning them to the ground the same way they'd done to her.
Once all of them were stuck she began crawling up the walls to a small opening at the top of the temple. It was just barely wide enough for her to pass through, and she managed to escape into the wilderness of the forests surrounding the complex.
"Nooo!" The man screamed as he tried to use his knife to cut himself free, to no avail.
The siblings, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief as the temple calmed and Godzilla's voice faded to nothing.
"Ilene… How did he do that?"
Ilene shook her head.
"I've no idea, Ling." She said while looking at a carving of Godzilla that was on the temple walls outside the entry door of the observation room.
"However, I have the feeling we've only just begun to understand what he's truly capable of when he puts his mind to it."
The image of Godzilla on the wall seemed to call to her. And although she couldn't understand why, Ilene couldn't help but smile and quietly thank Godzilla for his help.
Both Ilene and Ling smiled at one another when they were able to sense Mothra's freedom, and her elation to be in the wilderness with food aplenty to help her grow.
But for now, they had to get out of here before the intruders managed to free themselves.