Author's Notes and Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the 1978-79 Hanna-Barbera cartoon Godzilla: The Original Animated Series, Hanna-Barbera does, or should I say Warner Bros. does. This incarnation of Godzilla is owned by H-B and Toho. I only own my self-insert, Vicky and the OC Army men (not the names, of course). I also do not own the story that is based on the second episode of this series. Also, anything in bold when a kaiju character is speaking/thinking means that they are speaking/thinking in their native language. Also, there are some Japanese words and phrases in here, along with a translation of some of said words and phrases said by a different character; if the words and phrases (and thus the given translations) are inaccurate, let me know please.
Recap: What started as an expedition to find the cause of the mysterious and deadly sinkholes that are plaguing San Francisco has turned into a massacre, with many of Major Cassidy's men left dead or dying, and leaving those who survived with terrible memories that won't be forgotten. It seems, unfortunately, that Zooky has borne the brunt of that horrific scene, which will affect him for the rest of his life. Godzilla is called to battle the Eartheater, but the latter escapes using soundwaves. Now the survivors need a new plan of action if they, and the rest of San Francisco, are to survive.
I typed this when I was on a roll with this story, so this chapter may run a bit long; I had the whole story so clear in my mind I wanted to get it down before it was gone.
So, let's read on and see what happens…
CHAPTER 6
(Dockside, at the Calico, 15:30 hours)
As soon as the remaining humans and the two kaiju got back to San Francisco Bay, they found Private Butler, plus at least three dozen other soldiers who had miraculously escaped with minimal physical injury and at least nine bandaged but still-standing other fighters waiting for them. Seeing those nine stunned the group a little, as they had been badly hurt and should have left, but Major Cassidy and Godzilla could see the fighting spirit within them; these were men who preferred to go down without a whimper. The older saurian had to give them props for remaining to fight despite their wounds.
Major Cassidy gave those remaining men orders to bring what Dr. Darien needed, and a few minutes later, crates were being unloaded. Godzilla remained, rather curious as to what Quinn's plan was.
"What's in these crates, Major?" Brock asked.
"Smoke canisters, Brock," Major Cassidy answered. "Perfect for a smokescreen."
"Another thing about them is that they have a harmless, tranquilizing effect," Quinn added, beckoning a soldier with a crowbar over to open the first crate.
Lieutenant Messick processed that information, then, realizing what the idea was, said, "Oh! We're gonna put the Eartheater sound asleep!"
"Right," confirmed Quinn. "At least long enough for us to come up with a plan to neutralize it."
"You realize that that is absolutely insane, ma'am?" Lieutenant Messick asked.
"Anything else, Lieutenant?" Quinn asked back.
"Yeah: The Major wishes he thought of it first," the lieutenant answered with a grin, making the others smile.
"When I want my thoughts spoken, Mr. Psychic, I'll do it myself, thank you very much," Major Cassidy smirked, showing that he was thinking that, also giving his friend a friendly comeback.
"Owww," Lieutenant Messick mouthed, shaking with laughter, making everybody laugh at the interaction between the two buddies.
Even Godzilla couldn't help but smile. The interaction between the major and the lieutenant reminded him of the playful arguments between his two friends, Anguirus and Rodan.
"All right," Major Cassidy began, trying to get everyone back on track. "We have a way of temporarily dealing with this, but the only way this'll work is if all the tunnels are filled with this stuff. And the only way that'll work…is if we have all hands on deck," he stated in apologetic honesty. "I'm sorry," he continued, this part mostly directed at the children and the bandaged men.
Pete and Vicky nodded understandingly. With all the casualties this outfit had taken, they were shorthanded as it was. Zooky absently made like he was scratching some itches on his hands. He was scared of going back in there and facing that thing, but he also knew that his friend, the major, was counting on him to do his part, and his other friends would be counting on him to protect them until Godzilla could. The men also nodded, ready to do their duty.
The Major then laid out the plan: everyone would split into groups of 4 to cover whichever city blocks had tunnel entrances, one at each entrance. They would throw the smoke canisters into the tunnel when the Eartheater was close to their position, the goal keeping it inside the tunnels and sending it to sleep.
All-in-all, it was a pretty good plan…except Vicky couldn't help but feel that there was a loophole in it. Of course, she figured that it was probably just her anxious, pessimistic side talking, but she wasn't going to take any chances.
Before they left, Vicky told Godzilla: "If this plan goes south, and I think it will, you'd better keep yourself available".
Godzilla nodded, promising he would. As everybody else went, he hoped that the humans' plan would work. But, if it didn't, he was not going to let that thing escape again.
(Back in the city, hours later after most of the smoke canisters were dropped)
The Eartheater activated its Soundwave Blast, bringing down more boulders of dirt and rocks for it to consume. It was trying to shake off the feeling of sleep that strange mist had given it the last few times it tried to continue to an exit. Frankly, it was getting annoying. Not only that, but it smelled those creatures who had invaded its home in that mist. Those pests were getting intolerable. If they were going to keep interfering…
A light clanking sound got its attention from its feed, bringing it towards another exit. Its nostrils flared; another pest smell. A loud explosion ensued, followed by that strange mist. Not again! The Eartheater made tracks to the next exit.
"Good work, Pete!" called Captain Majors to the boy and his kaiju friend. "He's coming this way now! Get to your Aunt Quinn's position, the others should be there!"
"OK, Captain Majors!" affirmed Pete.
As Godzooky and Pete started to make their way to the rendezvous position, Majors threw his smoke canister.
The Eartheater was about a meter away underground from the captain's position when: Clink-clank-clank-clunk. BOOM! Hissssss….. Aargh! Not another one! The creature retreated once more.
"I hear him!" Brock called. "He's coming out over here!"
"Throw it in then get out of there!" yelled Majors before he himself made a run for it.
Brock threw in the canister and darted off.
Underground, the kaiju was subjected to another round of smoke. It growled angrily, its patience finally worn down. Apparently, there was only one way to deal with these bugs. But then it remembered the two kaiju, the little one whom it had terrified, and the bigger one who was obviously the guardian of it and the beings that kept pestering him. It was then that it knew exactly what to do and where to start to hurt those two in the worst way possible…
"I think we've got him," Dr. Darien said, looking down into one of the sinkholes found within the city's interior. "We've blocked off every tunnel we could find."
Along with the biologist, there was Captain Majors, Brock, Pete, Vicky, Godzooky, Major Cassidy, Lieutenant Messick, Sergeant Takamoto, Private Butler, and about five other soldiers consisting of four privates and another sergeant.
"Right," Captain Majors affirmed. "With no way out he'll be safely asleep before you can say—."
A tremor and a familiar, distant roar cut him off. Before the obvious questions could be asked, the Major's radio blared with bits of speech and static. The other soldiers automatically reached for their radios as well.
"Section 'A', report," Cassidy ordered. He repeated the order more insistently when there was no response. "Section 'B'? Section 'C'? 'F'?! 'H'?!" The major continued through, having skipped 'G' because that was the Calico crew's group, and some others because their members were already present.
The panic was steadily building. The other men told their commanding officer that they couldn't hail the others, either. They managed to get Section 'H' the second time around, but what they heard only made the group more afraid. The third time…nobody answered. At all.
Cassidy looked around at the beings with him and the dreaded realization dawned on him: Everyone else in his unit was gone; these people and himself were all that was left.
Godzooky began to slip into panic again. All the others were dead, killed in cold blood…and they were next.
The ground shook beneath them, knocking them down. All turned to see the concrete bulge up then pop like a bubble, revealing the now-murderous Eartheater as he struggled to come out.
Vicky screamed once more, realizing that this had been the loophole she had been dreading: Despite the entrances being blocked, the Eartheater made and came up through a new tunnel.
Godzooky scrambled back, almost falling into the sinkhole behind him, fear taking hold once more.
"Pete! Vicky! Get behind me!" Quinn ordered.
"He's cut us off from the jeeps!" Captain Majors noticed.
The Eartheater roared and growled malevolently, still struggling. Major Cassidy gazed hard at the creature, a great rage beginning to boil inside him. Earlier, this creature had caused many civilian casualties and destroyed most of San Francisco. Next, it wiped out most of his men and gave Godzooky deep, mental scars. Now it had just eliminated the rest of his team and was about to do the same to him and the other survivors. Well, he was going to show it that he was not afraid! If it wanted to come at him, then let it come! At least he'd go down a soldier!
"Mejā-sama!" Sergeant Takamoto yelled, slipping into Japanese in his panic. "Modotte! Anata wa korosa remasu!"
Major Cassidy was stomping towards the monstrosity, not heeding Takamoto's call, or any of the others.
"Major! Come back! You'll be killed!" shouted Captain Majors, unknowingly translating what Takamoto had just said.
"No! Don't! Stop! Please!" Godzooky cried out, wondering why the Major was trying to go into combat against that thing. He then threw his head back and called for Godzilla. Simultaneously, Major Cassidy took a deep breath and let out a roar sounding very much like Godzilla's, letting out his pent-up rage towards the Eartheater.
Both roars echoed throughout the city and were picked up by the sharp ears of Godzilla. Although confused by one of those calls sounding like his own voice, Godzilla knew what this meant. He had heard the sounds and smelled death before this; the plan didn't work. He wanted to take off again, but something told him to let his enemy come to him this time, so he waited.
Meanwhile, the others had managed to drag the enraged, six- to seven-foot soldier away from the Eartheater, who was still trying to wiggle his way out.
"Looks like he's trapped," Brock observed, backing away with everyone else.
"Not for long, Brock!" Captain Majors countered.
Sure enough, the Eartheater managed to use its upper body strength to haul out its back legs, leaving only its tail left to emerge.
"He's getting free!" Dr. Darien yelped.
"He's headin' for us!" Pete yelled.
"Everybody, this way!" Private Butler called out some distance away behind everyone.
The group turned their heads to find the private and Lieutenant Messick beckoning to them from a cable car that had managed to survive the first wave of destruction. The two of them had spotted it earlier and ran toward it, hoping to utilize it. Thankfully, they had found it in working order.
"Quick, this way!" Lieutenant Messick yelled. "We can use this cable car!"
Avoiding the sinkhole, the remaining group members ran for the car. One of the privates activated the cable car, but all soon found they were three short! Vicky and Sergeant Takamoto had stayed behind to get a scared-stiff Godzooky to quickly unlock. They managed to do so, only to have to run to catch up to the cable car!
"Taka-san!" Messick shouted, shortening the sergeant's last name. "Hurry up!"
"Vicky! Zooky! Hurry, he's right behind you!" Pete yelled.
Zooky turned his head to see and saw the Eartheater's maw practically about to swallow him, let out a yelp, and poured on the steam. However, hearing Sergeant Takamoto calling for Vicky made him realize the two humans with him were in immediate danger, so he slowed down and scooped them up.
"Jump for it, guys!" Brock shouted, the cable car rolling down a hill.
Zooky stopped only for a moment to have Vicky and Takamoto hold on to his ankles, then made some bounding strides (shaking the two humans considerably) before leaping toward the moving car, just barely escaping a Soundwave Blast from behind that left his ears ringing slightly.
Godzooky waited for Sergeant Takamoto and Vicky to get on the cable car before landing on top of it himself, making the ceiling come down a bit.
"That was too close, guys," Lieutenant Messick commented.
Sergeant Takamoto mumbled something in Japanese about idiots stating the obvious before being asked by Messick to clarify and replied, "When I want to be called by a shorter name, sir, I'll let you know."
"We were a little short on time, there," Messick reminded him, knowing that Takamoto's latter statement was about the impromptu nickname he gave the sergeant.
"Sir! The creature's behind us!" yelped one of the privates.
"We know that!" Captain Majors barked.
"It's not that close! We must be at least a mile away from it!" Vicky pointed out, having looked out the back the moment the private had exclaimed.
"Then why is the car shaking? And what's that noise I'm hearing over the wheels?" the same private queried earnestly.
A creak sounded off and the ceiling of the car seemed to come down more.
Major Cassidy and Captain Majors sighed, trying to be patient with the panicking soldier.
"That's just Godzooky on top of the car," the major answered, bending his knees more.
"If we don't stop soon and he doesn't get off, we're gonna be lookin' like a flattened sardine can by the end of the line," Lieutenant Messick quipped.
"That's not what I'm hearing! And what about the shaking?! The walls are shaking like crazy!"
"What are you talking about?" Private Butler growled, getting a bit fed up with his comrade. He put a hand to a wall, sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, "The walls aren't shaking, Frank; they're vibrating. Big difference."
Now it was Major Cassidy's turn to get annoyed. However, when he put his left hand on the same wall, he found that the walls were vibrating, faster than usual for a vehicle in motion.
"You weren't kidding," Major Cassidy admitted, rather confused.
The others inside the cable car soon put their hands on the walls and found that Frank was telling the truth, but three people soon noticed a discrepancy between the vibrations in the walls and what they would be feeling if the Eartheater was close to them.
"These vibrations seem too quick to be a quadrupedal footfall," Dr. Darien observed.
"And a little too strong to be tremors from said footfall pattern," Vicky noted.
"Wait a minute, folks," Major Cassidy said, moving his hands towards the ceiling. "I think…I can solve…this…in a…A-ha!"
"What's up, sir?" Private Butler asked.
Major Cassidy chuckled at the question, his hand now on a particular spot on the ceiling. Glancing up at said ceiling, he replied, "Godzooky, that's who. If I'm not mistaken," he continued, "my hand should be under the left side of Zooky's chest."
The realization hit everyone at once: it was Godzooky's heartbeat that was making the walls vibrate and what Private Frank was hearing.
"Don't you worry, boy," Major Cassidy reassured Private Frank. "Honestly, that kid on the roof is as scared as you are. Maybe more so."
Another creak and the ceiling dropped again.
"Um, I don't think I wanna be a midget before this is over," Vicky said, trying to save what calm she had gained.
"But where's Godzilla?" Dr. Darien asked.
"Never mind Godzilla; where are the brakes?!" came Brock's strained voice.
The assistant to Dr. Darien had been trying to slow down the car, but was suddenly finding it impossible. Vicky and Major Cassidy came over to assist, but the only thing that was happening was the brakes were screeching and the car seemed to be picking up speed.
"Can't…slow it…down!" Brock growled, straining from the effort.
Major Cassidy stamped his foot and let out a mild expletive in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Vicky asked, concerned, knowing that uttered expletives never meant anything good.
"Same answer from the last two questions" was the reply.
"It's Godzooky's weight!" Captain Majors realized.
"We're going to crash!" Quinn yelled.
"Not if we're crushed first!" Lieutenant Messick countered.
Vicky peeked out the windows and her expression turned into excitement. "Not if that's who I saw at the end of the cityscape!" she exclaimed. "Hold tight, folks! We're gonna be gettin' up close and personal! Zooky! Let 'im know where we are!" Vicky ordered.
Following the female preteen's command, Godzooky called Godzilla once more.
It had barely been half an hour since his nephew's last call, and Godzilla was getting impatient with the part of him that had been telling him to wait. When Godzooky called again, and he saw the out-of-control trolley, he knew that the enemy wasn't going to be far behind. It appeared one teaching he had learned came in handy: "Patience pays off". He followed the trolley to the end of its line: a turntable near the bay in Chinatown.
As soon as the trolley was within a mile of said turntable, he carefully used his right-hand fingers to pry up the rails on a rounded angle towards himself. A chorus of surprised and frightened "WHOA's" came from the trolley's occupants as they went up before Godzilla used his left hand to keep the vehicle from sliding back down.
"Nice work, Godzilla!" Vicky called, complimenting her friend.
Godzooky let out a sigh of relief.
Vicky looked around at the varied tense and awed expressions from the others, and became slightly confused with those reactions on the Calico crew's faces.
"Don't tell me you guys—whoop!—haven't gotten this close before," Vicky remarked in an easy tone, being interrupted in the middle as Godzilla had used his left hand to grip and lift the trolley.
"How close have you gotten?" Majors queried.
"I've actually been able to stand on, climb on, and ride on him. You've seen, remember?" Vicky reminded the Captain, who nodded.
Shifting and grunting sounds overhead told everyone that Zooky had vacated the cable car's roof for his uncle's hand.
"Miss, when…when you said 'up close and personal', this…this is a bit more than I had in mind," Lieutenant Messick stammered.
"Agreed," said Major Cassidy.
There a loud clank and the trolley shook a little as Godzilla put it down on a different part of the track a-ways from the part he had lifted and by now had put back down. Godzooky came off his hand after, a wide smile on his face as he looked up at his guardian.
"It's all right, really," Vicky told the other humans reassuringly. "C'mon," she added, beckoning them to follow her.
Godzilla watched the humans file out of the strange vehicle, Vicky looking up at him with a broad smile on her face. Godzilla always found it interesting, seeing her smile. The reason being, of course, before her, he had never seen a human smile before. When she smiled, he had noticed, especially widely, her front, top row teeth and gums were visible, and the area under and beside her eyes had lines appear. He noticed she started adjusting her glasses and brushing her hair with her hands to straighten it out, having been mussed in the action. She had told him it was a natural habit; humans, oftentimes too hard, tried to look their best in front of others. When she finished, her smile widened a bit more and her eyes shut for a brief second, like she did when she giggled. At that, Godzilla reciprocated with a small, true grin all his own.
Lieutenant Messick leaned towards Major Cassidy and whispered in surprise, "Is it just me, or is the Big G actually smiling?"
The major's lack of an answer seemed to provide one to the question. Some members of the group suddenly moved, and no wonder, as Godzilla was now looking at them!
Godzilla regarded the others, especially since none of them had been this close to him before. He saw Captain Majors and Major Cassidy first. He knew the captain, but only like a passing acquaintance. Major Cassidy, not at all, but a look at his body stance told Godzilla the same thing he had found out about Captain Majors: in his group, he was the alpha, the one who made sure those under his care were taken care of. The major's towering height over Captain Majors made Godzilla think that this human had hierarchy over Majors. However, Godzilla sensed sadness and guilt within the human soldier, which told the saurian that the major held himself accountable for the losses his group had suffered, not to mention any others he had lost in previous battles.
This human is a great leader, very much like my oji-chan, my grandfather, Godzilla thought. He treats those who fight with him with respect, and they respect him. He holds so much inside himself. He doesn't show it to others, but I can see it in his eyes. He also doesn't seem frightened of me, like some of the others are.
He then turned his attention to Lieutenant Messick, who was standing close to the major.
This human must be his beta, Godzilla continued internally. No, his friend; why else would he be standing so close? It's good that that alpha human has his trusted friend for his beta; like the captain has that female human. Hm, he chuckled, smells like he has a sense of humor, like Godzooky does. It must've helped him and his alpha through many trying times.
The wide-eyed Private Butler was next, squirming slightly under the kaiju's gaze. Godzilla gently gave a patient smile, trying to show the young human that he wasn't hostile, like a parent trying to reassure their child after a playful scare.
One of the youngest, Godzilla mused. But he's already been through much today and survived; that means he's got potential. Give him a few more battles and he'll make a fine warrior. That youngling, Pete; he's a bit of the same. Not all battles are fought with weapons, Godzilla told himself, calling to mind a saying from his teachers.
When Sergeant Takamoto was put under observation, the Japanese man stood tall, but was slightly trembling. No-one from his country had ever come this close to Godzilla and survived. Now, here he was. What was the beast thinking? Why was it observing them? More importantly, why had Godzilla been protecting them this whole time? Such a thing hadn't happened in years.
Godzilla blinked, not expecting a returned scrutiny. This human was most likely the third-in-command, ensuring sound judgment in the alpha. That was about as far as he got when he noticed something…different, like he had noticed the Calico's third-in-command had a different color skin. But it wasn't just that, but this human's whole face told Godzilla that he was from a different part of the world. There also something…familiar. In a bad way. This human's facial features began to remind him of the humans in Hong Kong, the ones who cursed him. Was this human from there? If he was, then Godzilla may have been responsible for his family's death and misfortunes.
Godzilla's expression became pained, confusing the Army men, minus Major Cassidy. It looked like he was going to apologize, but for what?
"Gojira."
Hearing the whispered utterance of his name by the sergeant in the native language of where he came from, Godzilla's facial expression went from apologetic, to shocked, then to truly apologetic. This human was from Japan; the human island his kind's progenitor had terrorized in 1954. Godzilla, and the ones before him who bore and bear the same name, had much to answer for to those people. When Godzilla, as a youngling, had heard about the hostilities between them and his ancestor and what followed, it had hurt him. He felt sorry for both sides, wondering if there was any way to bring peace between them.
Godzilla closed his eyes and bowed his head toward the sergeant, asking for forgiveness…and not expecting any.
This stunned everybody. Well, except Vicky, who, having heard the name Takamoto had uttered and having noted his nationality earlier, had a feeling what this was about.
Godzilla had just lifted his head back up and before anyone could do or say anything, tremors were felt, and got stronger. Like a quickly flicked light switch, Godzilla went alert. Godzooky scrambled to hide behind the trolley, but was, comically, too large to be hidden completely. Major Cassidy issued everyone else inside the cable car. All attention was focused on the street behind.
The Eartheater came charging towards the group, its tail and bludgeon smashing into skyscrapers and its feet crushing the pavement. It had finally caught up with them, and its enemy also present. It stopped few yards away, roaring out a challenge.
This was going to be the usual then: No special needs, no backing down, no negotiation. And no mercy. Godzilla stepped in front of the trolley, tail swinging high so as not to harm those behind him, stomped his feet one-two in the style of a sumo wrestler, and accepted the challenge.
Godzilla started the fight with a blast of his fire breath, driving the creature back and allowing him to put more room between the bystanders and the commencing battle. His arms were up, claws outward; the Eartheater had to get through him first. Another blast of fire, and another step.
The Eartheater weathered that last breath of fire and retaliated with a Soundwave Blast. Godzilla quickly covered his ears and moved to the side, the sound waves hitting an empty building instead. His ears still hurt, but Godzilla charged in, avoided a clubbing by grabbing the Eartheater's tail, and executed two Up-Down Slams that shook the area. Needless to say, those at the trolley had quite a jolting ride. Even Godzooky got bounced around.
"Everybody in one piece?" Major Cassidy questioned, his adrenaline still going and trying to get over the bouncing.
The replies were mostly affirmative.
"E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-WHIZ!" Lieutenant Messick crowed. "Guy sure knows how to shake it up!"
"Great gravy!" Vicky exclaimed, recovering her eyewear, rubbing her new bumps and bruises, and manually straightening her hair once again. "First time I've actually felt one of those! That was the famous Godzilla Up-Down Slam…in DOUBLE, folks! When he's got the tiger by the tail…W-W-WATCH OUT!" she added, her blue eyes open theatrically wide, waving her arms outward for emphasis.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the Eartheater's apparently stunned state, Godzilla grabbed it up off the ground, bear-hug style. Noticing the pressure on its rib cage, the titan quadruped wrapped its tail around Godzilla's right leg. Surprised, Godzilla lifted his leg, and Eartheater applied his weight forward, sending both down with a shaking impact that sent more buildings to the ground and sent the humans and Godzooky about 6 inches off the ground.
"Yabai!" Takamoto shouted.
"You can say that again," Brock breathed.
"Better stay down folks, this is gonna get rough!" Vicky warned; she was in a fetal position, under a seat, arms tightly wrapped around the sides of her heard, apparently having been through this before.
Quite a fortuitous piece of advice, as well as choice of hiding place for her, as the two kaiju started to roll; the Eartheater looking to escape the grip, and Godzilla trying to keep up the pressure. It looked like Godzilla would win, but then they started rolling toward the trolley! Godzooky yelped a loud warning. Godzilla heard, and mustered up his hereditary, unbelievable strength to halt them. It worked, and the Eartheater was back on the bottom. However, it somehow managed to twist itself around in Godzilla's arms, and opened its maw, intent on literally biting Godzilla's head off! Startled by the tactic, Godzilla let go and quickly pushed himself off the Eartheater. Both monsters stood back up.
"C'mon, Goji! You can do it! Don't let him pull any fast ones on ya!" Vicky cheered, having emerged from the trolley a few minutes ago.
"Get him, Uncle Goji! Get him!" Godzooky howled animatedly, doing air punches and blowing smoke rings in excitement; seeing his uncle taking on the bad guy temporarily driving away his fear.
"Go, Godzilla!" Pete cheered.
It wasn't long before the excitement affected the rest of the bystanders. Even the Army survivors got in on the action.
"C'mon, boy! Give 'im one on the kisser!" Lieutenant Messick called, actually jumping and doing air punches.
"KEEP AT HIM, GODZILLA!" Major Cassidy roared.
"Don't let up!" shouted Private Butler.
"Gojira o ikimasu. Iku, Gojira! Ikimasu! Ganbare!" Sergeant Takamoto cheered, actually rooting for the saurian.
Godzilla stepped back in between the trolley and his opponent, now standing on its hind legs. Godzilla went forward. The Eartheater didn't budge. Godzilla was in its personal space… And that was when the Eartheater did a point-blank Soundwave Blast! Godzilla roared and screeched in pain, his hands to his ears. He backed up, but the Eartheater kept at it. Godzilla wanted to fight back, but the noise was unbearable, like nails on a chalkboard screeching constantly. Another minute of this and his head hurt. Godzilla screeched again…and fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain. Finding this satisfactory, the Eartheater retreated, keeping up its attack until it was out of sight.
"Didn't matter if you had super hearing or not, that hurt!" Vicky commented, rubbing her temples. "Someday I'm gonna have to figure out if my watch comes with a 'mute the world' button," she mumbled.
"Godzooky? Can you hear me?" Pete asked his friend in a clear tone.
The young, winged saurian shook his head rapidly in an attempt to clear out any remaining noise and replied, "Yeah. I think."
A growling groan brought everyone's attention to Godzilla, still on his knees and letting his healing factor work on the pain in his head and eardrums. Vicky and Godzooky immediately ran over, the former bringing out her hoverboard so that she could get to eye level with her friend and the latter using his wings to get airborne. The others followed, then waited for the two to come back down and give them the news.
The only understandable sentence they heard in that conversation was Vicky yelling, "Are you OK, Godzilla?" The rest was in kaiju-tongue, but it turned out to be a short one and both Zooky and Vicky were soon back on the ground.
Vicky started to speak, but Godzooky started speaking first. Vicky tried again when he seemed to take a breath, but it looked like Godzooky was not going to stop. All the girl could was look at the still-chattering youngling with a raised eyebrow, a wide smile, and her hands on her hips in a silent, amused version of "Are you ever going to let me talk?"
"Slow down, Zooky. Slow down," Vicky and Pete said simultaneously, giggling, making Zooky stop talking.
"Eesh, let me get a word in edgewise, will ya?" Vicky grinned.
Zooky gave her a cheerful, childish, yet apologetic smile in response.
"What's he saying, Pete?" Brock asked.
"He says Godzilla can handle the Eartheater, so don't worry," Pete replied.
Vicky nodded, confirming the translated message.
"I hope he's right, Pete," Quinn prayed. "I hope he's right."
"I've gotta hand it to Godzilla, he's got stamina and endurance," Major Cassidy commented, looking up at the massive kaiju.
"It's just his healing factor, sir," Vicky stated honestly. "Plus his determination…and a hard head and temper to boot," she added in a knowing undertone.
A snarky-sounding growl-and-huff made the New Jersey girl jump and roll her eyes.
"I guess I can add 'sharp ears' to that list," Vicky added, tilting her head back to see Godzilla getting back on his feet. "Oh yeah," she remembered, facing the major once more. "By the way, your compliment was received, sir."
Major Cassidy looked confused until Vicky slightly tilted her head back towards Godzilla. The obvious indication that the saurian had heard and understood his comment left him flabbergasted.
"And it looks like the hunt is on," the girl continued, as she and everyone else tried to keep their balance as Godzilla stomped off into the city. "I know he may not need it, but I'm gonna give 'im an extra pair of eyes, so that means we're gonna have to split up to find that thing."
"What about us?" asked Private Frank. "Our vehicles are still in the city. That is, if they haven't been stomped into oblivion yet."
"I can answer that," stated Major Cassidy. "Godzooky," he continued, addressing the young one. "We're gonna need a lift back to our vehicles. Can you carry us?"
In response, Zooky dropped to all fours, showing a versatility from going bipedal to quadrupedal, and gave the major an affirmative salute. Smiling, Cassidy returned it, then ordered everybody aboard, while Vicky departed on her hoverboard to follow Godzilla.
An hour or so later, Godzooky brought the other humans back to their vehicles and they commenced their own search for the Eartheater. Another two hours later, there was no luck.
"Where can something that big hide?" Brock asked, amazed by their lack of luck in finding the creature.
"Well, it's got a whole city, Brock," Dr. Darien replied as they came to a stop to check.
After some looking around, Captain Majors gave the verdict: Nothing.
"Maybe he went underground again. Some of us could split off and check some of the holes," Pete suggested.
The offered plan was met by uneasy and, overall, negative stares.
"It's a good plan, son," Major Cassidy told the boy. "It's good. Just…not…the best plan at the moment. If we had more men, maybe. But now?" He sighed heavily. "No. No, we can't take any chances. From now on, we're staying together. Understood?"
Pete, crestfallen that his plan was shot down and worried by the looks on the Army men that survived, gulped and nodded.
"Nothin'. Nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin'! Nothin' but a great big nothing!" Vicky rambled aloud as she scanned the city from 76 meters in the air, following Godzilla. "We've had to 'ave been all over the place and NOTHING! This is crazy!" she continued after taking a quick breath, holding her glasses with both hands. "We should've seen something by now! Unless he's gone underground again. Oh, let's hope he hasn't done that!" she worried, glancing at the intensely angry and focused Godzilla. She knew that her friend was not in the best of moods at the moment; and he would not shy away from destroying the city if it meant finding the…the bad guy who brought harm to his charge and his friends.
Oof, girl; remember your language. 'Thou shalt not take the Lord's Name in vain', remember? she warned herself. Even when it came to interpreting Godzilla's thoughts, Vicky was careful to censor them to herself. Mind you, she was no psychic, but she could read his expressions and body language.
"We'd better find this thing soon," she mumbled. "Or else it's gonna be—"
Vicky's sentence was cut off when she heard Godzilla roar, his tone one of discovery. She turned just in time to see him take off in a new direction.
"HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" she called, leaning her hoverboard into gear.
"We've just about covered the whole city, and still no sign of the creature," Dr. Darien stated, her concern growing. Where could it have gone?
The Calico jeep and the last Army jeep with Godzooky were approaching the Oakland Bay Bridge.
"Like I said before, it's probably gone underground," Pete said, using the opportunity to voice his opinion again.
Brock looked up, he blinked, got a look of stunned disbelief on his face, and brought the group to a halt.
"Pete, forget it," he stated, still stunned. "It didn't go down…" he trailed, turning his head towards the Oakland Bay Bridge.
The others followed his gaze…and were stunned silly. Godzooky let out a gasp as his eyes widened as big as dinner plates.
"…It went up!" Brock finished.
Indeed, the Eartheater had taken refuge on top of one of the bridge's pylons, the structure straining under the weight! Godzilla and Vicky soon arrived on the scene. When Vicky saw what the others had seen, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"GEEZ LOUISE!" she shrieked in shock. "Even I should've seen that from up here! How'd he do that?!" Her mind got back on track when Godzilla and the Eartheater let out challenges to each other once again. "Weapons, weapons, weapons! Which one for what—?" she mumbled, trying to remember a specific button on her watch. "Ah-HA! Got it!" she yelped, finger over the 9 on the glass part of the watch. She aimed at the Eartheater. She pressed it. The crown slid away. A shield enveloped her right forearm. "Firing!" she yelled.
A red laser beam shot out from the open hole that the crown had covered. At the same time, Godzilla fired his laser-beam eyes. His beams hit the pylon, while Vicky, suffering from recoil, hit the pylon as well, and the Eartheater. In retaliation, the Eartheater used his Soundwave Blast attack, making the saurian and the human draw back. As soon as the attack passed, they used their lasers again. It was one retaliation after another when the others came onto the pier.
"Looks like that Eartheater's trapped itself good!" Brock observed, stopping the jeep about two miles or so away from the action.
"Yeah, he can't get away from Godzilla this time!" Pete declared.
"Maybe so," Major Cassidy muttered unsurely, his eyes on the back-and-forth exchange of long-range attacks.
Noticing his friend's tone, Messick asked what he meant by that. Cassidy pointed out that while the Eartheater had likely trapped itself, it also had the high ground, and could keep up a steady stream of sound wave attacks, something Godzilla couldn't fight against. There was no stopping it from doing a continuous assault like it did earlier.
Godzooky listened to this with anxiety. If it could do that, then there'd be no chance of defeating it; the Eartheater could even move on to the next city, causing more deaths. Without thinking, his mind brought back the images of soldiers being tossed around like toys and stamped upon like ants, many of them being horribly burned, the fear on the faces of the evacuees, and the sounds of death screams.
"Zooky? You OK there?" Lieutenant Messick asked the young one.
Godzooky's complexion had turned pale with ashen gray creeping in. He was beginning to hyperventilate again and his eyes flooded with tears.
"Whoa. Easy there, kid. Ea-a-asy," soothed Major Cassidy.
"Um, Doc?" Private Butler insisted, trying to get Dr. Darien's attention. "I think Zuke's having a nervous breakdown or something!"
Quinn, Majors, and Brock turned around and were scared by the sight. As the group tried to calm Godzooky down, the youngling looked at the major and remembered when he stood up to the Eartheater. The major had faced something many times bigger than him and gave it a piece of his mind. He looked back up at the rather lopsided battle zone to see his uncle and Vicky having problems. A familiar feeling came back to Godzooky; the one that told him to get in there. To protect. His hands clenched into fists. His breathing slowed and became heavy, smoke puffing from his nostrils. His jaw clenched and he gazed at the Eartheater with venom in his eyes.
"Ugh! It's no use, Goji!" Vicky called after dodging another Soundwave Blast. She adjusted her glasses for the umpteenth time and continued, "We can't keep dodging these forever! We've gotta bring him down somehow! Somebody's gonna have to be distraction; someone small and fast. You think I wanna do it?!" she answered to a look of "Are you sure?" from Godzilla. "Who else would be crazy enough to do that?"
"No, Godzooky! It's too dangerous!" cried Pete's voice in the distance.
"Get back here!" yelled Lieutenant Messick's voice.
Both Godzilla's and Vicky's jaws dropped slightly as they heard the calls and spied the tiny form of Godzooky whizzing through the air.
Vicky clapped a hand to her head and shouted, "I just HAD to open my big mouth, didn't I?! GOD-ZOOKY-Y-Y!" she screeched.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Godzilla roared sharply.
The winged saurian paid no heed, flying around the Eartheater, avoiding its tail, and releasing roars of his own. Vicky, Godzilla, Dr. Darien, and Major Cassidy picked up something familiar about those roars, specifically the tone. It was angry, scared; full of hatred and defiance. It was one of vengeance.
"I don't believe…He's…He's standing up to that thing! Just like the Major did!" Vicky gasped in awe. "That crazy kid! He's showin' that beast that he's not scared of him anymore!" Her brain realized that they had a distraction and snapped her back to reality. "Well, let's not stand here; fire! Fire!" she ordered, pressing the part of her watch to activate the laser once more.
Godzilla complied with the order, firing his own lasers. All three connected with the bridge pylon. Soon enough, the damage to it plus the weight began to show, bending the metal severely and making the cables start to come apart.
"One more hit oughta do it!" Vicky shrieked, pumped up on adrenaline. She looked up at Godzooky, made a three-fingered 'go' signal, bent her arm back, then snapped it forward as she screamed, "OK, Godzooky; NOW!"
Godzooky dove towards the Eartheater, letting out one, long howl. The Eartheater tried to use its tail bludgeon to swat the pest away, but Godzooky was too fast, pulling up at the right moment and making the creature hit the pylon instead. Godzooky then executed a twirling hairpin turn in the air, flew back to, and crashed on the pier. The bridge pylon collapsed, sending cables flying and the Eartheater into Oakland Bay after a last laser blast from Godzilla made it lose its grip on the bridge.
"That did it!" Captain Majors declared.
"Godzooky!" Pete called, looking back at the smashed wooden buildings and snapped timbers that was Zooky's crash site.
"You go get it!" Vicky commanded Godzilla. "I'll go see what—" Vicky cut herself off with a piercing scream, her hands covering her mouth.
Godzilla gasped in confusion. Everyone minus Godzooky had their attention fixated on the bay. The Eartheater had surfaced…but something was wrong. Gone was the massive hulk, only a slightly shrunken head and a limb remained. Gone were the earthen colors, only muddy brown covered it. The antennae dripped away. It opened its massive maw for one more cry before its lower jaw fell off, and the rest of it melted like a candle into a massive lump of wet mud.
"What on…?!" "Oh my…!" "Holy…!" "What is going on…?"
"He…He…He's…He's turned into mud!" Pete gasped.
"Of course! Feeding on dirt, his natural enemy was water," explained Dr. Darien.
"The minute that thing hit H2O, it was GAME OVER!" Private Butler exclaimed, still shocked by what had occurred.
"No one's ever seen a monster go like that since…" Major Cassidy trailed, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"I…I…I…I can't…." Vicky stammered, breathing hard, the sight of that having scared her. "Science," she finally stated. "Pure science! Water plus earth equals—Unbelievable! Why didn't we think of that in the first place?!" Vicky squealed; shaken, jubilant, and raging all at the same time, making her hoverboard bob in the air.
Godzilla amusingly watched her stammer and vent like a wild animal before she calmed herself down and straightened her appearance out. He had seen her in this state before. When he was little, it had spooked him. Now, it was almost comical. But, considering what she had been through and seen, he couldn't blame her.
"Well," Vicky said to him, her voice a little hoarse, "I bet that's something you don't see every day, huh?"
Godzilla shook his head in reply and went over to get a closer look at what remained of his foe, growling in confused fascination.
"Well, Quinn, looks like you'll really have something to present to that scientific convention other than Godzilla," Captain Majors chuckled.
"'Earth-Eating Creature that Turned into Mud'," Quinn stated like a title.
"'And the Brave Kaiju who Defeated It'," Lieutenant Messick added, garnering grins. "That'll really put the Big G in a positive light," he said.
"I think he and Zooky managed to do that already," Major Cassidy said. He then explained that some of the evacuees from this morning's incident were actually members of said scientific convention! "Needless to say, I think those kaiju-happy eggheads will be rethinking their speeches for a while," he smirked.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never have believed it!" Brock said.
"I wonder how such a creature came to exist…" mulled Sergeant Takamoto.
"Hey, speaking of creatures," piped up a private, "where's…?"
"Godzooky!" Pete called again, drawing everybody's attention back to the wrecked pier buildings.
Vicky quickly descended towards the area just as loud, throaty groans sounded off and the rubble began to move. Godzooky emerged, scraped, slightly bleeding, bile dribbling from his mouth once again, and extremely wobbly on his hands and knees, but alive. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Godzooky crawled toward the humans, shaking and his eyes unfocused, then fell flat on his front.
"Good grief! What a mess, kid!" Vicky exclaimed, covering her nose and mouth from the stench of Gojiran stomach bile.
Zooky winced, squeezing his eyes shut at the loud tone. He opened his eyes again, but his vision was still blurry and his eyes looked crossed.
"Oh-ho-oh! The poor kid!" Lieutenant Messick chuckled sympathetically. "He got dizzy on his own maneuvers!"
"And got sick on 'em, too!" Private Butler added. "Poor fella."
Zooky groaned again, his head throbbing from pain, his stomach and throat hurting from trying to keep down and throwing up his stomach contents, his chest tight from trying to get air back in his lungs when his heart was going at a faster rate, and his mind buzzing with leftover adrenaline. When his eyes and ears cleared, he looked up to see Vicky standing up in front of him, and boy was she mad!
"What…were you DOING?!" Vicky shrieked, her mixed emotions of anger, relief and shock seething over.
Zooky, his brain still fuzzy, cocked his head in confusion.
"What were you doing, pulling that stunt?!" Vicky continued. "You could've been KILLED, ya idiot! I know we needed a distraction, but—WERE YOU CRAZY?! THAT…WAS…STUPID! Brave, but stupid! At least the last guy who got close to that thing to do that knew what he was doing!"
"Actually, I didn't," mumbled the major.
"You do realize that you are sorely grounded for this?!" Vicky yelled. "You'll be lucky if we don't thrash you within an inch of your life!"
Zooky covered his eyes and ears with his hands. He hated seeing Vicky mad at him, and, at the moment, he didn't know what for. Even worse, he knew his uncle was giving him one of the sternest glares he's ever given.
Captain Majors stepped in to end the tirade, but Vicky kept letting out steam through shrill growls and a quick scream before collapsing to her knees.
Godzooky peeked from behind his fingers to make sure the coast was clear, and saw Vicky trying to recollect her wits after her explosion. He wanted to apologize, but he decided to remain silent, so as not to provoke her any further.
"That thing," Vicky spoke after a moment of deep breathing, "it…scared ya bad, huh?"
Godzooky reluctantly nodded.
"But…you managed…to stand up to your fear," she continued. "And…in the process, you helped save San Francisco. And all things considered, all I have to say is…"
Godzooky shirked back, afraid he was going to be reprimanded again. Imagine his surprise when he felt Vicky hugging and petting him!
"Thank you," Vicky finished. "You were very brave. But…you're still grounded," she added.
"But I think you can let all that harsh stuff slide for now, can't you?" asked Private Butler. "After all, the poor kid's been through enough already," he said, coming over and petting Godzooky.
Vicky widened her eyes in apologetic embarrassment. "Oh, that? That…was me flying off the handle…again," she groaned. "I do that an awful lot," she admitted.
"Everybody does once in a while," Major Cassidy reassured her. "That was a reckless but brave thing you did, Zuke," he continued, using his handkerchief to wipe Zooky's mouth. "Good work, soldier."
"That was one crazy aerial maneuver you did there, kiddo," Lieutenant Messick said. "Just…work on your landing and you'll be fine," he added in an audible undertone.
"Well thanks to Zooky's 'crazy' maneuvers, Godzilla's eyes, and those laser beams of his and Vicky's, everything's OK," Pete stated as Godzooky got back on his feet.
"Yeah, they saved the city," Brock stated, smiling.
"We all did, Brock," Vicky reminded him.
"I only wish the price wasn't so d-so high," Major Cassidy sighed, quickly correcting himself to prevent Godzooky's young ears from hearing an inappropriate word. "We're grateful for all your help," he said to the crew, then turned to Godzilla and added, grinning widely, "Yours too, Godzilla."
Godzilla gave a smile and nodded in acknowledgment.
"Welp, I think it's high time we got back to our command post," Lieutenant Messick stated. "We've got a ton of work on our hands, and none of it's gonna be pleasant."
"We're gonna have to be on our way as well," Captain Majors said.
"A scientist's work is never done, huh?" Lieutenant Messick grinned.
"Well, with Godzilla, Godzooky, and now Vicky around, at least we can't say it's boring," Brock chuckled.
The statement was met with laughter and the crew, Vicky, and Godzooky bid their goodbyes to Godzilla. Major Cassidy and the other soldiers sent their well-wishes as well through a collective military salute. Seeing that made Godzilla remember that humans had different gestures of respect for each other, and that hand motion was one of them. Wishing to return the respectful gesture, Godzilla made everyone's jaws drop by raising his right hand, putting it at an angle to his brow, and, after holding it for a beat, put it back down. His eyes then found the face of the Japanese sergeant, and amazed everyone again by standing up straight as he could, and, keeping his hands to his sides, gave a smooth, practiced, deep bow of apology before straightening up again. Sergeant Takamoto smiled, and returned the bow. Godzilla then waved goodbye to the others and departed into the depths of Oakland Bay, heading back for San Francisco Bay and the Calico.
Hurrah! The Eartheater has been defeated! But what a cost: Major Cassidy's unit, except for a few survivors and himself, has been decimated and young Godzooky will never quite be the same. And yes, in another embarrassing confession, I do fly off the handle on occasion. In Vicky's case, however, her doing that was more out of worry, like a parent worried for their child when they get lost.
There's another voice actor's name that I gave to one of the soldiers; see if you can't guess who it is. ;)
Looks like Sergeant Takamoto has changed his mind about Godzilla and Godzooky; hopefully this may turn into an example for other people.
So, we're almost there; just two more chapters to tie up some loose ends and hopefully give those of you who got a bit frightened some comfort. Although, in the last chapter, I might warn you that you're going to get two nightmares with some rather disturbing imagery and an implication of bullying and post-traumatic stress. On that latter subject, I believe I may have said somewhere that I got some information from stuff on Pinterest and that's not really reliable, but there were pretty informative to me. Plus I've also taken a psychology class in senior year of high school and I took "Intro to Psychology" when I started in college, so I've got some academic info in my back pocket. Anyway, if anything on that sticks out as erroneous, please, please let me know and recommend some stuff to me if needed.
As always, please read and review. Thank you.