The One Who Lost His Way

AN: Have I mentioned before how difficult it is to write a 500ft tall 3-headed space dragon? Because it is. I don't think it would be as bad if I made Ghidorah the villain, but Good!Ghidorah is pretty much nonexistent in fanfics. Plus, three heads in one body, all with different personalities? Talk about confusing. I definitely tried my best to make them 'hesitantly' good but still proud and a bit suspicious given their previous hobby. Suggestions are welcome. If you have some good ideas you want to share, by all means share them.

Also, 13 follows and 11 favorites in just 2 weeks!? Holy crap! I've never had that much interaction on a new story before! I guess this is just the story everyone was waiting for but no one was doing. Maybe...

There's a lot of POV switching in this one. I tried to emulate the movie as much as possible which is why there's a lot of back and forth. There won't be as many switches in future chapters.

Key:

"Titan speak"

"Human speak"

Character's inner thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own Godzilla: King of the Monsters or any characters.

Present day, en route to Monarch Outpost 32:

Maddie had been on planes before. She'd also been on helicopters. Those were perks of being a top Monarch scientist's daughter. Planes were fun to ride in because the flight was smooth unless there was some turbulence. Even then, she hadn't experienced the really bad kind. Helicopters were a bit less fun. Yeah, it was cool to just sit and look out of the open doors and see everything from a literal birds' eye view, but they were loud. Louder than planes, at least.

But this thing they were currently riding in? This hybrid of helicopter and plane—ospreys she heard the mercenaries call it—wasn't fun. It was a military craft, so it was, by definition, uncomfortable to ride in. And then there was all the loudness of a helicopter with more turbulence than even the worst plane ride. She really had to wonder how safe these flying deathtraps were, but no one else seemed to be as uncomfortable.

The door to the cockpit was open, and she heard the pilot say something into the comm system. Then, the co-pilot turned around to address Jonah, the leader of this bunch. "Passcodes accepted, sir. ETA seven minutes."

"Good." The sickeningly pleased tone was what she might have called 'predatory'. It wasn't the kind of pleased one was when they received that birthday present they always wanted. No, this was how she imagined a wolf would feel when they were surrounding their prey. Without so much as an order, the rest of the men started checking over the guns, making sure everything was in working order. "You're sure this will work?"

Dr. Russell nodded, the ORCA held securely in her lap. "Monster Zero is the only titan capable of competing with Godzilla. We need him...distracted if our plan is going to work." That small hesitation was accompanied by a glance to her daughter.

Maddie wasn't dumb. She knew what her mother really meant. After her dad had taken to studying wildlife, she'd done some research into basic animal behaviors. Godzilla and Monster Zero were both apex predators. It was inevitable that the two would fight. She just really hoped neither would die. Fights between rivals didn't always end in one being killed, right? As far as she was concerned, the world really did need Godzilla, despite what her parents said. Dr. Serizawa always said Godzilla was necessary for keeping the balance, and she believed him.

It's why this whole plan didn't sit right with her. And that's not even mentioning the fact that Jonah and his men were basically terrorists. They didn't care about how many people died as long as their goal was accomplished.

It was her mom that talked her into going along with this, but she beginning to doubt that everything she said was true. Maybe everything would turn out for the best like she was promised, though. It was better to think her mom was doing this for Andrew, to save the world. The alternative...wasn't pretty.

The craft landed with a solid thunk as the rotors began winding down. Everyone stood, and she grabbed her mom's hand. Jonah nodded to his second, a man named Ash, and everyone except Jonah himself disembarked. Gunfire started soon after, and she screwed her eyes shut, her mom holding her tight.

Minutes later, Jonah was leading them into the outpost itself and into and elevator. He tried to play, make a joke. She flipped him off. The rest of the short walk was silent until they came into the main chamber.

"Mother of God..." she heard Ash whisper, in fear or awe, she couldn't tell.

Maddie could almost hear the smile in his voice when Jonah responded. "She had nothing to do with this..."

There was a lot of motion following the short silence. Jonah's men were preparing to blow the ice to release Monster Zero. Her mother was standing nearby, fiddling with the ORCA. There was nothing for her to do except stay out of the way while all this was going on. Apparently, Monarch was on the way, so everyone was in a bit of a rush to get things done before they arrived.

During that time, she studied the massive shape within the ice. She knew what Monster Zero was supposed to look like, a three-headed dragon with two tails, but all of the limbs were thrown about every which way, which made figuring out what was what rather difficult. It took a while, but she was able to find two of the heads and one of the tails. That big thing in the far back was probably a wing. The other was down below from the looks of it. She spied one massive, clawed foot over there but couldn't find the other. Everything else was either too far into the ice or hidden behind the main body.

Dragons had always been fascinating to her. Seeing the dragon, Smaug, in the Hobbit movies for the first time had been breathtaking. His design was quite serpentine, and Monster Zero had a few similarities. She just hoped this dragon wasn't as evil as the one from the movie.

Two Hours Later:

They were in the deep sleep when it happened. The distant explosions were enough to return dim awareness to them, though their minds remained mostly in stasis. The fall, however, was enough for their consciousnesses to start trickling in. Somewhere in the deepest parts of their minds, they knew something was wrong...different. The positions of their limbs were off. Their body felt unusually heavy.

Waking from such a deep slumber was a gradual process. Their conscious minds were slow to trickle in. Toes twitched as their minds tried to restart.

Wait...

Another twitch. Ichi was the first to crack open an eye. His vision was blurry. His neck hurt. Need a more comfortable position. Left wing shifted, and Ni began to come around. Ichi stretched his neck out to a better position and sighed, allowing his eyes to slip shut and his head to loll to the side.

Seconds passed. Ni shifted, and San began to stir.

Realization slammed into all three, and three pairs of eyes flew open in disbelief. "Free? We're free?" An annoying noise filtered into their minds through the stunning revelation. It was easily ignored. "We're free!"

Muscles tensed as they disentangled themselves from the rest of their limbs. Their old wounds were easily healed, the many millennia of faint sunlight filtered through the ice enough to do the job. Still, their whole body was sore with disuse. Their legs could barely hold their weight. Perhaps their strength would return given a few minutes to recover.

Eyes searched upwards. It was cold, dark, and stormy, just like the night they were thrown into their icy prison. Small voices caught their attention as they gazed over the frozen wasteland. "Humans!" San chirped, ever the curious one.

They were scampering about, running away from them. But that was nothing new. Small lifeforms almost always ran away, at first. What interested them was the clearly advanced technology around them, much different than anything they had from before their imprisonment. Of course, they knew the humans were more advanced. They had to be in order to find their prison. But it was more interesting to see exactly how far they'd advanced since then. If the airborne vehicle hovering nearby was any indication, they'd already mastered flight.

Ni snorted in agitation when some trained weapons upon them, but Ichi barked at him to stand down. If they were to return to the old ways, attacking without provocation would not be tolerated. So they just stood there uncertainly, waiting for some kind of signal to either attack or stand down.

Meanwhile, on the ground:

This was an absolute nightmare! As if his ex-wife becoming an eco-terrorist and dragging his daughter down with her wasn't bad enough, there had to be a five hundred foot tall, three-headed dragon thrown into the mix! It's no wonder this guy was Godzilla's rival; he was huge!

But through all the running and screaming and mass confusion, Mark realized something was wrong. "Why isn't he attacking?" he wondered aloud, a few soldiers sparing him a glance as they slowly backed towards the osprey. One muttered something about jinxing them.

Monster Zero was fully awake, and all three heads were watching them. One of them seemed a bit more aggressive than the others, but the middle head—most likely the dominant one—was keeping it in check. According to the notes in this guy's files, it was a hotly contested topic if each head was its own entity or not. Apparently, they had their answer now.

"He spent 25,000 years in stasis. Perhaps he's confused. Trying to get his bearings, perhaps?" Dr. Graham's theory wasn't that far out there, he'd admit. While he wasn't an expert at reading titan facial expressions, there did seem to be some confusion or even uncertainty in the dragon's eyes and body language.

"Are we leaving or what!?" the pilot, Griffin shouted. She was already strapped in and ready to go, but the mass indecision amongst all the Monarch people was making her and everyone else antsy.

"Sir, do we engage?" Serizawa looked to him for an answer to the soldier's question. Mark just shrugged, equally stumped. He may have been right about Godzilla's display at Castle Bravo, but he was less sure in this instance. He didn't want to be the one to make the call that got everyone here killed.

If Dr. Graham was right, trying to leave would most likely make Monster Zero react aggressively. Staying here, though, wasn't an option for the same reason. As far as he could figure, it was a lose-lose situation.

Right when he was about to say something, the telltale shriek of the ORCA caught everyone's attention. He and everyone else nearby spun around to see Emma standing in the open door of the only airborne osprey, holding the infernal device. That was the alpha call. He recognized it from the video files of their 'abduction' in China. Monster Zero was a rival apex predator, which meant it should've been incensed by the sound into attacking everyone nearby.

No one expected the dragon to bow.

What did they do? It'd been so long since they acted as peacekeepers rather than warmongers. The latter was easy, just incinerate anything that wasn't them with their storms and lightning. The designs of the weapons the humans were carrying were similar to ones they'd encountered in the past. Kinetic weapons, at least ones that small, had no hope of piercing their scales, so it'd be a trifle to wipe everyone out.

But they were meant to create and guide not to destroy. Eons of frustration at their lonely existence and their great responsibility had caused them to lash out. Countless civilizations owed their continued existence to them, yet what did they do with their gift? They created weapons to either kill them or each other. Such actions were not their responsibility, but it felt like it. They gave life a chance, but what it did with that chance was not on their shoulders. They attempted to guide civilizations to a path of peace and coexistence, but whether or not they chose to follow was not for them to decide.

So many had chosen war over peace. So many had thrown their gifts and teachings aside. So many had tried to use them for war and kill them when they refused. It was insulting, infuriating, and one day they'd simply snapped. If they wanted death, they'd be the ones to give it. The arrogance of the little creatures would be punished without mercy. The gift of life given would be taken away just as easily.

How long had it been since they went rouge? Ten million years? Twenty? It was all a blur at this point.

How had they normally initiated contact with the little peoples? Their memory was pretty iffy on anything over five million years ago.

A sudden, shrill sound blasted Ichi out of his thoughts. They all looked around, trying to find the source of the familiar yet strangely wrong sound. It sounded like their old saurian rival, but...where was he? It was dark, yes, but he wasn't exactly hard to spot. Then again, there was a strange undertone to it, something that didn't belong. It was ordering them to bow—that same shrill word over and over and over.

It was actually really annoying. But...they complied. Still, that word kept being repeated over and over. Eventually, Ichi looked around at the humans with suspicion. They wouldn't be the first civilization that created a device meant to communicate with them, and they also weren't the first to try and control them. "There!" Ichi looked where San was and spotted the device held by the human in the flying craft.

All three glared at the human, all snarling to convey a warning: Do not test them. They saw the surprise and fear in that human's eyes, could smell it in her scent. The sound stopped, the door closed, and the craft flew away. Ni snorted in derision at the clear retreat.

Suspicious gazes turned to the rest of the humans. Were they of the same mind? Did they wish to control them, as well? They spied one particular human shouting at the others. The language was as of yet unknown to them, yet the following actions spoke for themselves. Hesitant though they were, many of the other humans began lowering their weapons. "Wise decision," Ichi spoke, though he knew full well they couldn't understand his words.

Ichi leaned down to get a better view of the humans while making sure to leave them plenty of space. The little peoples were always intimidated and fearful of their size, so they needed to show they meant no harm. "Does anyone else hear that?" San wondered, looking around for whatever it was he heard.

At first, neither Ichi nor Ni heard whatever San did. But then, the sound reached their ears through the humans' nervous shuffling. It was a slow, steady pulse, like a pinging noise. Seconds later, a loud rumbling preceded the ice nearby cracking as they stood and backed away, looking around nervously. "I heard that," Ni hissed.

The ice in the distance exploded with a horrendous boom, their old saurian rival rising from the depths with a roar of challenge. Their initial instinct was to roar their own challenge back, but they stamped it down, taking several steps back in submission. "Someone's in a bad mood," San snarked. Ichi hissed at him to stay quiet.

Indeed, the saurian was glaring at them, though he made no movements to attack yet. The humans were situated directly between them, and they knew he wouldn't unnecessarily threaten them if possible. The humans were all pretty much panicking at this point. Their flying vehicles were starting up, and the little creatures were piling into them as fast as possible. Within seconds, the space would be clear.

Ichi looked to San, who dipped his head in agreement. Then, he looked to Ni, who also agreed after a moment. They would take a blow to their pride if it meant securing a tentative peace. Once the humans were clear, the saurian roared, preparing to attack, but they bowed, submitting to his rule.

The roar of challenge suddenly cut off in a grunt of confusion. "Uh...what?"

"We learned our lesson," Ichi replied. "We also apologize for our behavior in the past."

The saurian was quite skeptical, to be sure. Not that they blamed him. Their history wasn't exactly the best. "Is this some sort of trick?"

"No trick. We simply...remembered our true purpose. I'm sure you understand the frustration of being a guardian yet being universally feared." The saurian cocked his head, and they assumed that meant he wanted an explanation. "We held a responsibility similar to yours once. Frustration and loneliness drove us to anger and eventually madness. Our time in the ice gave us ample time for self-reflection."

There was a few seconds of silence as the saurian seemed to think over their words while trying to discern if they were lying or not. The humans' crafts were hovering nearby. Ni spotted a much larger craft flying in, though it still wasn't attacking. "So...what? You expect me to believe the guys that tried to destroy my planet are actually misunderstood and aren't actually evil?"

"Yes," all three of them said at the same time—Ichi proud and confident, Ni with a bit more hesitation, and San cheerily. It was said so earnestly without the hint of a lie to be heard.

The saurian blinked at their declaration, clearly surprised, though he eventually sighed in relief. "Good. Because, to be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to fighting you again." His gaze turned hard immediately afterward, though. "But I'm keeping my eye on you three." Another sigh, and then he mumbled, "I must be getting softer the older I get..."

"So...may we go?" Ichi asked as they stood to the full height once more.

"You say you were protectors?" They made a noise of confirmation. "Prove it. I may need help soon. Come when I call, and we'll go from there." That was...acceptable. They hadn't really planned on staying on this planet any longer, but they could offer some assistance. It was the least they could do to make amends and show they were being honest.

They stared each other down for a few more moments before bowing in acceptance to his terms. Then, they took flight, heading anywhere that wasn't here as the saurian dived back into the hole he'd made. "That went surprisingly well, I think," San remarked.

The Argo had arrived during the short exchange between the two titans. And there was no calling it anything else, as much as he hated to admit it. Monster Zero and Godzilla had been communicating. He really didn't like the implications that had, but Doctors Serizawa and Graham were already in heated discussion over what this could mean for titan intelligence.

Meanwhile, Dr. Stanton spoke aloud the thought Mark was sure most of them were thinking: "What the hell just happened?"

AN: So this ends what I'd call the set up. I actually want to do something different with this story that I've never done before. I like to try new things when it comes to writing, so here's the deal: If there is any particular idea or scene you want me to do or any plot points you want me to follow, leave a review and tell me about it. Can't promise I'll do all of them, but I'll try my best. And each reviewer will get a shoutout for each plot or scene that I follow.

How's that sound? I really want to try a more community-driven story, but I'll, of course, throw in my own stuff here and there.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22