"Fuck…" Ford whispered.

"That was too close." Doctor Lind said, hands still shaky from watching the brawl and how it ended.

"Serizawa." Admiral Wilcox began. "We lost several ships in that fight which is exactly what I was afraid of. You said we should trust Godzilla, and right now I don't see a reason to do that anymore. So I'm gonna need a very good reason why I shouldn't call the White House and inform them of what I saw and what I think we should do from here."

Serizawa regarded the Admiral with a cold stare.

"Gojira left us all in peace once I showed him the device and crushed it. That is proof enough that the device was responsible for him attacking."

"It looked like he was going to attack to me regardless." The Admiral replied.

"That's not true, sir." Mark interjected. "Godzilla was flashing an intimidation display. He was demanding Kong back down. And when Godzilla started charging his attack Kong was looking down at the ship near his legs. He could hear the signals too, and so did my SIREN device."

He held up the device which still showed the reading of Monster Zero.

"And that means what to me, mister Russell?"

"Monster Zero is the code name for the three headed dragon Godzilla defeated a few years ago. But as you could see out there… No dragon. But that box Serizawa destroyed was emitting its call which aggravated Godzilla because he knows that call is an enemy worse than Kong could ever be. That's why he attacked."

The Admiral shook his head.

"You guys seriously think this is some kind of defense for what happened? My men died out there because you all don't know what the fuck you're doing!"

"We know what we're doing, Admiral! You don't know what's going on so your first reaction is to throw blame at everyone!" Doctor Chen yelled.

"Ilene!" Serizawa barked.

She backed down begrudgingly and Serizawa looked to the Admiral.

"Gojira was provoked into attacking by that device. This is a fact, like it or not. And yes, it led to the death of your men. And all of us feel that loss. But we-"

"You feel the loss, Doctor? They weren't your men. You didn't watch them grow and mature through training and service. How could you feel the loss?"

Serizawa regarded him with exasperation.

"The loss of life is felt by everyone, Admiral. Your connection to them was more personal. But we still feel the loss." He said.

"No disrespect intended, Admiral. But you know as well as I do that all of us enlist in service to the country, and part of that is knowing that our lives could be lost in that service at any time. So while losing the men on those ships hurts, they knew the risks of the mission and they were prepared for it." Ford said calmly.

The Admiral glared at Ford, but said nothing.

"We uh-… Ahem We have to finish this mission." Doctor Lind said. "Kong's back on the cargo ship with us, so it's time to head to Antarctica."

"Godzilla's not coming back?" Maia asked.

"No. Gojira was the victor of the conflict and asserted his dominance. And with that device gone, there's no reason for him to fear Ghidorah's return. He won't pursue us any further." Serizawa added.

Maia nodded, but also had a slight twitch in her cheek.

"Have we traced the source of the device's signal?" Serizawa asked.

"We tried. But we couldn't determine a source. I think Godzilla's radiation was interfering with our readings." Mark said.

Maia sighed and looked away as Serizawa nodded.

"Then we focus ahead. Let's get Kong to Antarctica." He said.

A few hours later Doctor Lind met Doctor Andrews in her quarters.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey, Nathan."

Jia waved and then did the sign for coward, which he happily returned to her delight and shaking of her head.

"What's up?" Doctor Andrews asked.

"When we reach Antarctica, Kong might be a bit disoriented. If he is, or if he doesn't want to go into the entrance, we'll need a way to persuade him." He said, glancing to Jia.

"Nathan…"

"Ilene, you saw what happened that night. Kong didn't want to communicate with anyone but her. He trusts her."

"So you want to use his trust in her to force him to go somewhere he might not want to go?!"

"I know. I know. It's not really a morally right choice. But for the sake of Kong's survival, and potentially our own, we have to do this."

"Kong already has a hard enough time trusting us. I'm not going to give him another reason not to."

"We don't have a choice!" Nathan barked, catching her off guard. "If we don't get Kong into the Hollow Earth then he's as good as dead. And if Godzilla goes off the rails again, so are we. You know that."

She collected herself and sighed.

"I know how much you care for Kong. Anyone can see it. But you have to stop pretending he's helpless without you. He's not. He's a Titan. And he needs your help. Not your protection." He said firmly.

She glared daggers at him… But he was right.

"So what do you suggest?" She asked.

"If Kong doesn't want to go inside, we have Jia tell him that maybe he has family in there."

She took a deep breath and half rolled her eyes.

"Nathan… Family? Really?"

"Do you know a better way?"

She sighed audibly and shook her head.

"I don't know. But there has to be a better way to convince him to go in than lying about family. That's something you don't mess with, Nathan."

"Then have her say that it's a new home."

"That might not be enough."

"Then what do you suggest, Ilene? Hm? How are we going to convince Kong to go if we don't say there's family down there? It's the one thing he doesn't have anymore. And probably the one thing he wants more than the home itself. I know it's kind of a shitty thing to do. But we don't have a choice. He has to go in."

Jia looked up at Doctor Andrews.

What's going on?

Doctor Andrews smiled.

Just trying to figure out how to get Kong into the Hollow Earth.

Do you need help?

Yes, actually. Any ideas?

Maybe… Jia paused a moment. What's down there?

Doctor Andrews shook her head.

I don't know exactly.

She looked at Doctor Lind.

"Nathan. What's in the Hollow Earth?"

"Not sure. But if it's really the Titan's point of origin then it has to have everything he needs."

She nodded.

Looks like it's a paradise. She signed for Jia.

What's "paradise?"

A beautiful place that he will love.

You sure?

Doctor Andrews hesitated a moment, but nodded.

I'm sure.

Okay. Are you going to tell him?

Actually, I was hoping you could.

Okay.

"What's she saying?"

"Jia says she'll tell Kong it's paradise."

"Yes!" He cheered, holding up his hand for Jia to give him a hi five.

Jia glanced at his hand and smiled, giving it a little smack with her own.

"Once Kong's inside, we'll be right there with him. You'll see. It'll be everything we've hoped for and more!" He said excitedly as he left the room.

She shook her head and took a breath.

Tired? Jia asked.

She nodded and laid down with Jia cuddled up against her for a nap.

On deck, Maia examined the remains of the device Serizawa smashed with calm indifference… Until she frowned and smacked a few pieces off the edge and into the water. Standing up and taking out her phone she angrily dialed a number and held the phone to her ear.

"Maia?"

Checking her surroundings, she whispered carefully.

"They found it, father. It's destroyed."

"Well, that's unfortunate. But nothing worth fussing over. As long as it sufficiently distracted Godzilla and made some or all of them feel he's out of control."

"Well, that's the problem. Mark Russell has a device called SIREN which read the call as Monster Zero's. So they know that Godzilla wasn't the one who did it."

"Hm… That complicates things."

"What should I do?"

"Continue your assignment, my dear. Let me make a few calls and I'll reach out when I know what's next."

"Okay."

"Good luck, dear."

"You too father."

She hung up the phone and walked inside.

Inside, Mark sat with Doctor Chen in the briefing room observing footage of the battle between Godzilla and Kong. Or at least what footage of their fight was above the water's surface.

"Anything?" She asked.

"No… Godzilla dragged him into the water too many times for me to really make anything out."

"Godzilla knows his strengths." She said.

Mark nodded.

"That he does."

"Do you think he was trying to kill Kong?"

"Not sure. But if he had meant to do that he probably wouldn't have left when he did."

"True. Still."

"Godzilla's exhibiting classic Alpha behavior, Ilene. So I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"But is it really so classic?"

"I think so."

"I don't."

"Why?"

"Because he's never done it before."

"That's because we've never seen all the Titans awake at once like this."

"But is that really enough to justify this?"

"I would imagine so. Cause remember that the last time they were all awake was at a time very different to our modern world. The environment was perfect for all of them. But today, with humanity spread so far across the globe and with all the problems we've created with global warming, deforestation, pollution, et cetera, Godzilla probably feels he has to keep them all on a tight leash so they don't cause problems with each other or with us."

She nodded slowly.

"I guess. Still, it just doesn't feel right that Godzilla would go about it this way."

"Serizawa always said he was nature's force for balance though, right?"

"Yes. But just because he says that doesn't make it true. And we've no way of directly asking Godzilla if he feels that way."

"Maybe not. But his behavior is a pretty big clue."

"How do you mean?"

"If he didn't care about keeping balance between them he wouldn't bother interfering with their conflicts or fighting them himself. He'd just let them do as they pleased. But he's interfering and fighting. Like I said earlier, classic Alpha behavior."

"So you think Godzilla actually feels they're all part of his pack or something?"

"Sort of. Yeah. Not really a pack, though. More of a community. They share the world and resources. And Godzilla's taken it upon himself to moderate it. Sometimes by force if he has to."

"Still seems like he's overstepping his bounds and getting involved where he shouldn't."

"Would you rather the Titans fight each other unabated?"

"I guess not. Still. Godzilla fighting them isn't much better. He's the strongest Titan and has the most dangerous abilities. When he fights, the world around him pays a price for it."

"A fair point. But if he doesn't stop their fights directly then there's no telling how long those fights could last or how much ground they could cover. Every time he's interfered, the fights ended in minutes and the Titans all went their separate ways."

She smiled.

"You make it hard to argue the point, you know."

He smiled back.

"You always did enjoy digging in with questions to see just how informed an opinion was. I'd say I just got used to it."

She chuckled, stood up, walked behind his chair and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Have you talked to Madison?"

"Yeah. She's doing okay, all things considered."

"Good to hear. Have you kept her up to date on all this stuff?"

"No. She has enough to worry about."

"Naughty, Mark. Your daughter wants to know what you're up to."

"Whose side are you on, again?"

"Both. Usually."

He laughed.

""Usually" indeed." He said.

Meanwhile…

On the other side of the world in Hong Kong's Apex Headquarters…

"How are things progressing, mister Serizawa?"

"The project is nearly complete."

"What is holding us back?"

"The power source."

"I thought so."

"So what's next?"

"We wait for my daughter to scan the power source so we can synthesize its energy signal."

"And then?"

"We do as planned. Kill Godzilla."

"With all due respect, mister Simmons, we talked about this before. If we-"

"Yes, we have talked about it before, mister Serizawa. And I thought we had an understanding last time."

"I thought so too. But the more I think about it, the more I must protest. If Gojira dies, then-"

"Then the natural order of the Titans will be disturbed and the others will run free unchecked… Yes, yes, yes. I remember. But remember this as well. If any of them present a problem, we will just kill them too."

Ren slowly shook his head.

"If you're really having such strong second thoughts, mister Serizawa, then might I suggest that you contact HR and submit a complaint?"

"There's no point. They answer to you."

"Exactly. So either swallow your complaints and your reservations and help me finish the job we started, or take your chances out there without Apex protecting your criminal record from escaping into the hands of authorities… Your choice."

Ren's lips tightened and his right fist clenched.

"It's quite impressive, actually. Cyber attacks at age fourteen into Japan's government database to look up redacted and otherwise classified information on your father and MONARCH. Not only that, but you managed to hack into MONARCH's systems at age twenty two in order to steal information on the Titans. Namely all the information they had on Godzilla at the time."

"I know what I did."

"Yes. Yes you do, don't you?"

Ren's teeth grit behind his lips.

"Well… I leave the choice to you, mister Serizawa. Hopefully you make the right one. Good day."

Simmons closed the door behind himself leaving Ren standing in an empty room by himself glaring at the wall.

"… I hate that man." He whispered through his teeth.

Leaving the room himself, Ren made his way down the hall to a viewing platform where he looked out over a massive and seemingly empty room save for a single platform with some kind of massive mechanical device in the center with red lights flashing briefly on occasion across the outside length of it.