"You are fleeing from me."
Godzilla's spines tore through the waves on the surface of the pacific creating a massive wake almost a mile long behind him.
"Or are you?"
Godzilla's pace slowed ever so slightly.
"I sense a great strength in you, Rival. But I sense no fear."
His pace slowed even further until he was almost still.
"Can you not sense me?"
He stopped and floated up until his shoulders kissed the surf.
"If you cannot sense me, why?"
He rose a tiny bit further out of the water until his chest was at water level.
"Have you forgotten the ways of our Kin?"
He glanced around.
"If you have forgotten the ways of our Kin, then you have forgotten your heritage. If you have forgotten your heritage, are you truly a Rival?"
Godzilla turned his head looking back towards where he'd come from and tread water in silence. Shortly after he returned his gaze forward towards the Rival.
"No. I cannot waver."
Godzilla growled and lurched forward. His head and shoulders disappeared beneath the waves and his spines ones again tore through the ocean surface.
"You are an Alpha I cannot allow to run free."
His pace quickened.
"If you call, they will respond. Our Kin cannot maintain peace if they answer to two."
His pace quickened even further until he was tearing through the water at such a speed he was creating mist in combination with the waves behind him.
"You will bow to me!"
Godzilla roared underwater which sent a concussive pulse out through the sea scattering all manner of sea life around him within a three mile radius.
Meanwhile…
"The wind carries a new scent. But it is distant."
Kong sat on the surface of the boat gently rocking left and right watching the waves splash on each side with a gleeful smile.
"I could not do this on the island."
Splash. Splash.
"It is fun. How high can the water fly?"
Kong rocked fairly hard to the left causing the entire ship to tilt dangerously far towards the left side. And as it righted itself the splash created on the right side rose almost all the way up to Kong's shoulders. Kong vocalized with glee and clapped his hands which made most of those on the bridge hold their ears. He leaned to the right, and splashed the left side with just as much force as before.
But what Kong didn't notice was just how far it rocked back towards the right. And as he happily clapped his hands and rocked his shoulders, he helped shift the momentum of the ship just enough to cause it to lurch nearly horizontally which caught him off guard. Quickly he pushed against the left and leaned into it to fight the momentum of the ship, and it just barely managed to right itself before rocking further left again. Kong leaned right, but not as much as before. The ship righted again. And soon it stabilized.
Kong heaved a breath.
"That was… Not as expected."
He looked back towards the bridge from over his shoulder and saw the tiny things inside had been holding on for dear life. And it looked a mess inside.
Kong sheepishly smiled and looked ahead towards the water.
"Perhaps it is best to have fun on land."
Inside the ship, everyone sighed in relief as Kong settled down.
"Jesus Christ! How about you get your little doll here to tell him to mind his fat ass when rocking the boat?!" Maia yelled at Doctor Andrews while pointing at Jia.
Doctor Andrews' lips curled back and she lunged at Maia, gripping her lapels and pushing her back so she leaned over the table.
"How about next time I open the window and throw your ass out, huh?! How about that?!" She screamed.
"Ladies! Enough!" Doctor Lind called.
Doctor Andrews let go of Maia, but continued to glare her down as she fixed her coat.
"Looks like someone needs some sedatives. And I'm not talking about the monkey." She said as she turned and walked out of the room.
"Jeez, Ilene." Doctor Lind sighed.
"I'm not gonna take that from her. Daughter of Apex CEO or not, she's not going to insult Jia and get away with it." She growled.
"Okay. Okay. Just… Try to breathe, okay?" He replied.
"Watch it, Nathan. Inaction's as good as taking the opposing side."
"Now that… I disagree. But I see your point. So, um. I'll just, uh-… I'll go check in with Serizawa."
Leaving the bridge, Doctor Lind sighed and shook his head while Doctor Andrews sat down and glanced at Jia.
You okay? Jia signed.
Yeah.
Why did you grab her?
Doctor Andrews smiled and shook her head.
She said something really mean.
Really mean?
Doctor Andrews nodded.
Really, really mean.
Jia's lips pursed and she looked at the direction Maia had gone which was out towards the stairwell leading to the deck.
Not a nice lady, is she?
Doctor Andrews shook her head.
Don't trust her?
Again, she shook her head.
Kong doesn't either. He says she smells bad.
Doctor Andrews chuckled and ruffled Jia's hair. Jia responded by using a motion similar to patty cake to smack Doctor Andrews' hands away which then turned into a game of whether or not the Doctor could reach her hair to ruffle it further.
In his room, Serizawa sat with Doctor Chen in the corner watching him. He was looking at his watch again. A more and more common sight as Godzilla's arrival became imminent.
"Are you worried?" She asked.
He nodded absentmindedly.
"About who?"
No reply.
"Doctor?"
No reply.
"Serizawa?!" She asked more forcefully which snapped him out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Ilene. What were we talking about?"
"Are you worried about something?" She asked calmly.
"Oh… Yes."
"What about?"
"About what Gojira might do if Kong shows any aggression towards him."
"Are you worried for Kong, or Godzilla?"
"Both of them."
"Do you think they'll kill each other?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what do you think?"
"I think Gojira's behavior is… How can I say it in English… Primal. It is… Different."
"How?"
"I need to ask Mark. Can you call him?"
"Sure."
She dialed Mark's number, and a few minutes later he knocked on the door and entered when called.
"What's up you two?" He asked.
"Mark. Can you please look at the footage here?" Serizawa asked.
He showed Mark some footage of Godzilla's behavior over the past few years when engaging with other Titans. And then showed him footage of Kong's behavior on Skull Island before the storms took over.
"Do you notice anything different about them?" He asked.
"Nnnnnnot really. What are you looking for?" Mark asked.
Serizawa sat back and mused for a moment.
"Gojira seems to have a more primal behavior pattern. Maybe I'm just getting old. But it feels like his behavior is different from Kong's at some kind of fundamental level. Does that make sense?"
Mark re-watched the footage. And as he observed Kong's behavior and movements, he blinked and rewound the footage and watched a few more times. Then Godzilla's. Then Kong's. Godzilla's. Kong's.
"… You're right." He whispered.
Serizawa and Doctor Chen both perked up, and Ilene walked over to lean in and look at the footage as well with a hand on Mark's shoulder.
"It's subtle. But there's definitely a different kind of movement between them. Kind of like how people raised in different parts of the world walk slightly differently from one another. Especially in America." Mark joked.
Serizawa chuckled, as did Ilene.
"It's hard to pinpoint exactly. I'm not an expert on great apes, specifically. But at the same time there's something about how Kong moves, barring his upright posture, that would make me very nervous about introducing him to a wild great ape family if he were regular size. I'd worry they would reject him or, even worse, try to kill him. Because he's just… Out of place."
"Yes. I had the same feeling." Serizawa said.
"Looking at Godzilla," Mark said as he brought the footage up. "There's a clear difference. Nothing about Godzilla's movements is modern or out of place. If he had a species of "normal" human size or smaller, I'd be perfectly comfortable introducing him to the wild and to other members of his species."
Doctor Chen nodded slowly.
"So you're saying it's as if Kong's too domesticated?" She asked.
"Yes. Yes. That's exactly it. Kong's too influenced by his connection with humanity to fit in with the natural order the same way the other Titans do. And I think that might also be one of the reasons Godzilla's on his way. Kong's not only a rival Alpha. He's an anomaly."
"Like Monster Zero was." Serizawa replied.
"Yes." Mark said with a nod.
"Thank you, Mark." Serizawa said as he stood up. "We need to tell Ile-… Doctor Andrews." He said.
Doctor Chen nodded with a hint of knowing as she looked at Mark.
"Shall we?" Mark asked.
"Yes." Serizawa replied.
The three of them left the room and headed down the halls towards the bridge.
Meanwhile, out at sea…
"You are too close to it, Rival."
Godzilla's head rose from the water and unleashed a roar and dove into the darkness of the ocean...
