On the Tsushima Strait

"Remind me why we brought this snobby, entitled Karen along?" Martin asked for the tenth time that day. He always got the same answer, and yet for the life of him, could not wrap his head around the concept. "For the last time, Mystery, this is her probation. It was either military service or the big house." "Fine, but I don't have to like it. She tried to have us either sliced in half by a maniacal cyborg, or be experimented on and be turned into an obedient slave Borg style." "Borg, Martin? You watch Star Trek too?!" Alex immediately fangirled. Diana grimaced. "And here I am, the only girl who uses her brain in a meaningful way." "Correction Diana, I'm in the same boat as you." Sam spoke up.

"All agents, please report to the bridge. Repeat, all agents to the bridge." The Nimitz PA blasted.

Brittney was already at the bridge when the rest of the group arrived. Maddison was also watching the Nimitz make landfall. Mandy was working at a console under heavy scrutiny, and was being watched by armed guards at all times. Alex and Clover had to suppress a grin at the sight.

"Homestretch, kiddies, just one more Kaiju to go. Ms. Saegusa will take over. I need to find my handkerchief." Nick deadpanned almost immediately. Miki shook her head with a smile. "Godzilla himself is your final target. Rumors have placed him looking for something in Tokyo." Brittney spoke up. "For what? Why does Gojira, the king of monsters, need to nsearch the capital?" Nick speaks up again, turning on a screen. News reports are coming in about plants and roots cropping up all over Tokyo, and not your normal weeds. They are taking over Skyscrapers, bridges, streets, medieval era castles, everywhere. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's a kaiju by the name of Biollante. A failed experiment that fused a Venus Fly Trap with Godzilla's DNA. I don't know what Poison Ivy wants with Tokyo, but Godzilla is on the prowl." Clover then quips. "Do we have a big enough weedwacker for that thing?" Alex also whines. "Aww! I wanted to visit the Anime stores!" "We'll get you some stuff, Alex." Martin tried to cheer her up. "Sir. We're making landfall now. Someone is trying to get a hold of you at the pier." Nick was confused, and decided to head to the top deck to exit the ship. He's always wanted to visit Japan anyway.

The group disembarked, the kaiju being unloaded. "NICK! MY MAIN MAN! THE WORM GUY! MASTER OF MUTANTS!" "Animal!" A lanky man with messy brown hair and a news camera approached them, and embraced Nick in a friendly manner. "How are you doing man? Long time no see!" Diana just looked at him, and questioned his name. "Animal? Is that seriously your name?" "Animal" answered with a clearly Bostonian accent. "Oh no, young lady, that's just my nickname that my friends call me. I'm Victor Palotti." Nick then added on. "And if you're going to assume that something is already their name, Ms. Lombard, then maybe your real name is Karen Lombard." Martin and Alex had to suppress their laughter. Diana on the other hand was practically seething with rage, just like her new nickname. "Don't give me that look, it makes you look constipated." Hoping to break the tension, Sam asked the question on everyone's mind. "So, 'Animal', what are you doing here in Japan?" "Trying to get the good stuff on camera, red, it's like the Day of the Triffids down here!" Martin and Alex beamed when he mentioned Day of the Triffids. They exclaimed it simultaneously. "A FELLOW HORROR FAN!" Diana was practically facepalming. "If only it stayed in the movies. Snakes and such are everywhere now. I even saw the source: Nasty looking thing. Looked like a seed pod with a croc head." "Animal, please tell me you didn't get close. I don't need a repeat of you and Zilla in 1998." Martin was curious. "What happened to you in New York, 1998?" "Uhh." "He nearly became new concrete." Nick was the one who answered, and he was not impressed. "Anything for the money shots, Nicky! Gotta get me the sweat stuff! It's what the viewers want!" Animal was met with a sharp pain in the back of his head.

A warbling squeal was heard in the distance. It sounded like it was moving away, but then another sound was heard after. A deeper roar that Nick, Miki, Brittney, and especially Maddison immediately recognized: Mammalian, reptilian, something not of this world. Something akin to a nuclear bomb being used to give new life. Miki spoke up. "It's him." Maddison answered who "him" was. "Godzilla." The group felt the gravity of the situation. Java had since been released from the medical ward of the Nimitz and spoke up. "Java like a roar." "Uh, is he alright in the head?" Animal asked, not used to someone who talks like a caveman. Martin scratched his neck. "Eh, it's a long story." Nick then decided that now it's time to get down to brass tacks. "Regardless of stories, it's time to get to work. Biollante is a weed that we need to pull, and we need Gozilla." He never got to finish his thoughts however, as Biollante roared again, this time extremely close. She appeared over the crest of a nearby hill, and true to what Animal described, she was indeed a walking seedpod with a crocodile head, but uglier than they imagined. She had six tentacles on her underside that head Venus Fly Trap heads at their tips, making her look like a Hydra as well. The heroes were about to run when two of these vines from hell burst into the ground and spread even more vines around their feet, trapping them in place. "Java remember Venus Fly Trap meal!" "You said it man! No more salads!" Martin too remembered when his friend went on a diet. This was PTSD. Clover was also horrified. "I love flowers as much as the next girl, BUT NOT THESE FLOWERS!" Biollante was about to enjoy a nice meal when her backside was ignited in a blue light. Her recoil revealed it to be a beam of sorts, as well as the source: The king of the monsters had arrived. A bulky, stocky reptile with a box shaped head, white, maple leaf shaped dorsal plates, a long thrashing tail, and was the size of a 50 story skyscraper. He projected majesty and dignity; the wrath of nature incarnate. Godzilla. Biollante was then struck from in front by a massive fist to her snout from Kong. She was further pushed back by Jet Jaguar with a triple roundhouse kick. Zilla then burst from the earth and clawed her face, blinding her. Rodan dive bombed her, and grabbed her still with his talons, Mothra burned her with beams of light from her wings. Behemoth impaled her in her bulbous sack with his tusks, Anguirus chopped off her tentacles with his tail, which released corrosive acid that nearly hit the heroes, but freed them instead. Manda then zoomed through the hole in her chest and out, then lifted her with Rodan to Godzilla. Grabbing her jaws, Godzilla then shot his Atomic Breath down her throat. The infamous "Kiss of Death." Dead, Biollante's head slid off, dropped to the ground, and all the vines wilted away. He then saw the other Kaiju, and stepped onto her corpse, and roared into the sky as loudly as he possibly could. The heroes all clasped their ears, but also saw their mounts all bow their heads in reverence. The alpha roar completed, Godzilla then looked at the group directly in the eyes. "Java, you gain the king himself." Miki revealed it to the misfit group. "Java feels at home." Brittney meanwhile gazed at the king in awe. "Gojira. I remember my father talking about you in great detail. If only he could see this moment now. I'm glad you're no longer the monster we thought you were at the beginning." She remembered an old photograph her grandfather took from 1954 when Godzilla was born from US Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll. Godzilla at that time was an unstoppable weapon for nature created by man's greatest folly. He lashed out back then at his creation, but reconciled after his rebirth. Now he defends the balance of nature itself.

This reverence from Britney was not unnoticed. Miki overheard and, on a lark, looked at the memories, and was horrified at what Godzilla used to be. She then telepathically asked Godzilla not to follow the same path of his predecessor, practically pleading him to learn from this, and to cherish his new home.

Nick looked between Zilla and Godzilla, mentally comparing the two aesthetically, and was confused. 'They look so alike, yet so different.' He was kicking himself in the brain box to try to find why they are different. "Not sure which I like better, Nicky man. The one we saw, or the original. Eh whatever, I need a drink. Where's the nearest bar for Saki?"

6:30 Japan Standard Time

"You sure you want to get hammered that badly, Animal?" "Oh sure! I've done this for years, you know. Never felt better. Besides, I earned it!" "Well, Monarch is not gonna take you home. You're walking to a hotel yourself."

The group was enjoying some rest for the first time since the crisis began. Alex was wearing some Anime styled cat ear merchandise, and her school uniform. She herself said she felt like Blake Belladonna from RWBY. Martin helped pay for it, and bought a Katana prop replica, and a box set of the show Demon Slayer for the two to watch back in Torrington. All the spies were in school uniforms, which got quite a few stares from other customers, including those at the bar. Some more sober customers asked if they were cosplaying. Britney was a huge help not just with this, but also ordering, considering she was very fluent in Japanese. She herself ordered Eby Rolls for everyone. Martin was so relaxed he briefly forgot table manners. "I'm so glad we are at the home stretch, no more calamity bringer monsters soon." He said all of that with his mouth full of food. Diana had long given up at this point. "Well pals, this should be a bright and clear road from here on."

A nearby chair made a screeching noise, as well as gouging from what sounds like a bottle. "Let me tell you about this one time! I was in New York, and I nearly got stepped on by a giant mutant lizard! That was a great day! I almost died, but it was still great!" A thud. Animal was clearly drunk, as he also was holding on to the chair. The manager approached the table. "Is he American?" Britney walked up to the manager. "Sorry about him. He's a bit loose." "Whatever, just make sure he gets a ride to the hotel. And that he pays his tab in the morning. And that after he pays, he's not allowed back in."

The ride to their hotel was marred by constant hounding from reporters and paparazzi. Britney, in a surprising change of character, was annoyed at Animal. "When he wakes up, I have a few choice words for him to hear." The rest, too, wondered why Nick stuck around with him.

Hilton Hotel, Tokyo branch

The lobby of their hotel was thankfully void of the media hounds. Nick must have called ahead to have reporters kept out by security, police, and Monarch soldiers with bayonets, and for this, they were grateful. They found their keys, and dragged Animal to his room hanging over a toilet. After that, they checked in for the night.

Off in the distance, two ominous forms loomed. They looked at each other, and growled in contentment, eerily reminiscent of an evil chuckle from a human. Their time was nigh.