The One Who Lost His Way

The title for this chapter should be 'Humans making wrong assumptions'. You'll see why shortly.

Key:

"Titan speak"

"Human speak"

Character's inner thoughts

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

Somewhere over the Atlantic:

The ride so far had been quiet and tense. A lot of the mercenaries were affected by the loss of some of their comrades. Jonah, especially, had been steaming quietly off in the corner, not saying so much as a word in the past several hours.

Maddie and her mom had been still and quiet, too—not doing anything that might anger Jonah even further. Whether it was the loss of his men or the fact their foolproof plan had failed—or perhaps both—she wasn't sure, but no one was bothering the old man.

Seeing as it was the middle of the night, most of the others were sleeping. Maddie looked like she was to anyone else, but in reality, she was only pretending to be asleep. Her eyes were closed, her breathing was even, and her head shook back and forth with the occasional turbulence to make the act even more believable. Why bother with the act, though? Well, she was hoping to eavesdrop on her mother and Jonah if they ever started discussing what happened those several hours ago.

After nearly an hour of pretending, her patience paid off. "Dr. Russell..." Oh yeah, he was mad. It wasn't the loud, shout-your-ears-off kind of mad. No, it was the quiet, dangerously low voice with the glare that promised a painful death if he didn't like your answer type of mad.

"Jonah..." She could tell that her mom was nervous. She'd banked everything on this plan, and neither of them had expected it to fail like this.

"Do you care to explain what happened back there? I thought you assured me Monster Zero would be the necessary competition for Godzilla. Why then, was it so submissive?" Even though her eyes were closed, she could imagine the glare Jonah was sending their way.

Her mother shifted a bit, and she heard the tell-tale sound of the ORCA booting up. "I can't be entirely sure, but...I do have a theory. What if Monster Zero wasn't in stasis the entire time?"

"What do you mean?" Now, he seemed more intrigued and thoughtful, so that was probably a good sign.

"Well, what if he was awake for some portion of time? That glacier is in the middle of the most desolate part of our planet. It would basically be like solitary confinement for prisoners. Without any kind of interaction, sometimes prisoners who spend a long time in solitude tend to come out changed—be that more violent or more reserved." Jonah grunted but didn't argue her point. "Based on our estimates, Monster Zero spent 25,000 years in that glacier, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that something similar happened here. Maybe Godzilla was the one who initially trapped him in there, so instead of becoming angry—"

"It became afraid?" he finished for her.

"Not necessarily. Submission doesn't always mean fear. It could also be a show of respect." A pause. "But I'm more concerned about why it didn't seem to be affected by the ORCA. I mean, look...I have his bioacoustics, yet it was almost like he...ignored it."

"I wouldn't say that," Jonah corrected her. "It seemed quite angry when it discovered the source of the broadcast."

"That's...probably the most concerning part," her mother admitted. Maddie made sure to pay close attention to this next part, her curiosity definitely piqued. "I specifically requested my post at Outpost 61 because our research showed that Mothra was the most intelligent titan out there. I mean, they're all intelligent creatures, and I doubt anyone would argue otherwise, but Mothra is supposed to be the smartest. Even she didn't realize that the ORCA was just a machine." There was another short silence. "I think we vastly underestimated Monster Zero's intelligence."

"So that's it then, hm? The targets we just painted on our backs were for nothing?" And now he was back to angry.

"Maybe not..." It sounded like her mother was scrolling through the different ORCA frequencies. "We can still proceed as planned, I think."

"You think?" he shot back. "You're the one who said Godzilla needed to die for this plan to work. Without Monster Zero, who you told me was the only titan that could do the job, how exactly do you plan to accomplish that goal?"

Her mother shifted nervously again. "Ever since Godzilla and the MUTOs destroyed San Francisco five years ago, the military has been researching and developing weapons meant to kill the titans. They might have something by now."

"That seems like one hell of a gamble." He didn't sound too pleased with the suggestion. "Assuming you're right, how exactly do you propose we steal it? Or shall we just ask nicely?"

"Just...hear me out, alright?" She assumed Jonah gave her mother the go-ahead since she started explaining. "We wake up the titans one by one just like we planned. With Godzilla still around, they'll probably be docile. Once they're all awake, however, I can use the ORCA to lure Godzilla to a highly populated area. The military, of course, will respond to the perceived attack and deploy weapons against him. Then, once he's been taken out, I broadcast another signal ordering the rest of the titans to do whatever we want."

There was several minutes of silence as Jonah digested the plan. "What's our first target?"

"Outpost 56 on Isla de Mara, Mexico. Titanus Rodan is another of the smartest titans. I want to make sure the ORCA works on him. If it does, we have nothing to worry about." Oh, that was probably the wrong thing to say.

Sure enough, Jonah responded with a low, "And if it doesn't?"

"Then...I might have to recalibrate the ORCA. I've been working under the assumption that all the titans would respond to the same alpha call. If they don't, it would explain why Monster Zero didn't act as expected." Yet another pause. "It wouldn't be hard, per se, to recalibrate the ORCA to broadcast the new alpha signals, but I would need to be on-site to do it."

Jonah didn't say anything at first, but when he did respond, it was clear he was unsatisfied with her explanations but willing to go along with it...for now. "So do we head to the bunker or Isla de Mara?"

"Bunker first," her mother replied without hesitation. "It's safer. Plus, I believe it will work. I don't know why Monster Zero wasn't affected, but I highly doubt the other titans will be able to ignore it like him."

She heard Jonah open the door to the cockpit and mutter something to the pilot before sitting back down. "I should hope so...for both your sakes."

The rest of the flight was even more tense and quiet than before.

Aboard the USS Argo:

"Godzilla's trajectory seems to be following the same flight path as Jonah's osprey," Colonel Foster explained to the head scientists and top officers while they were gathered around the Argo's main terminal on the bridge. "All projections have them landing here: Isla de Mara, Mexico."

They were a few hours behind, but they were catching up on lost time. The Argo was faster than an osprey, so it was only a matter of time until they caught up. Emma's betrayal was hard for everyone to accept, especially for Sam, Graham, and Serizawa. But accept it they had. Their focus had shifted from rescuing hostages to stopping terrorists. Maddie was still in the crossfire, though, and Mark wasn't going to stop chasing them until his daughter was safe.

"What about Monster Zero?" Rick asked. "Are we just going to ignore the giant, three-headed dragon in the room?"

Foster switched the screen from the tracking software to a live video feed. It looked to be taken from a phone by someone on a massive cargo ship. It showed a rather distinct shape flying northwest in the distance. "As of this recording, Monster Zero has kept the same heading, passing over southern Argentina and Chile and into the Pacific. Local forces have been keeping an eye on him, but so far he's shown no signs of aggression, just like in Antarctica."

"Do we know where he's headed?" Mark took the opportunity to ask, prompting Foster to switch back to the tracking screen.

"If he stays on the same heading, he'll cross Hawaii. Other areas further along the same trajectory include northern Japan, China, and Russia." An overlay of all Monarch outposts came up on the map.

"Both our Mount Fuji and Yunnan Rainforest outposts are along that trajectory," Dr. Graham observed.

"What is he after...?" Mark whispered to himself, realizing a few seconds later that all talking had stopped. He looked up to see everyone staring at him. "What?"

"You're the animal expert. We were kind of hoping...you had an idea," Sam explained.

Mark just went back to staring at the map before a theory started coming to mind. "Maybe..." He sighed. "We all saw him and Godzilla down in Antarctica, right?" Nods. "As uncomfortable as the idea makes me, the two were obviously communicating."

"You believe Gojira ordered him to do this?" Mark just shrugged at Serizawa's question. He was flying by the seat of his pants right now, as much as he hated to admit it.

"It's possible," is what he replied with.

"Okay...so following that line of reasoning...why would Godzilla order Monster Zero to head to Japan or China?" Sam wondered.

"Maybe he wanted Monster Zero to check up on his lady friend," Rick joked as he took a sip of coffee. Mark just stared at him in surprise. "What?"

"You could be on to something. Mothra's supposed to be some sort of Queen, right?" he asked, looking around. That's what he gathered from the files, but he wanted to ask his colleagues.

"Yes," Chen nodded. "And Jonah's men already attacked the facility she was being held at once." She took over and pulled up several images on screen. They all seemed to show different carvings from within the 'Temple of the Moth'. "Based on these images and their translations, we know Mothra and Godzilla share a symbiotic relationship."

"Wait..." Rick interrupted. "You mean Godzilla did ask Monster Zero to check up on his lady friend?" Chen shrugged then nodded.

"We can't know that for certain, obviously, but it's something worth considering," Dr. Graham concluded.

"In any case, Jonah has proven to be the real threat here," Foster took over once more. "Until Monster Zero proves otherwise, we'll limit our action against him to tracking and observation."

As much as he hated to think Monster Zero was harmless, Mark had to admit he hadn't actually done anything to warrant concern. He'd flown over populated cities and ships alike and hadn't acted aggressively at all even when local forces 'escorted' him away. Foster was right, Jonah and Emma were the real threats they needed to focus on right now. Once they were dealt with, then they could worry about the dragon.

"Alright, we know where Emma and the ORCA are headed, right?" Nods. "What do we know about the titan there?" Honestly, he didn't care for the myths or legends. He was more concerned with whether or not it would pose an actual threat to people.

Chen shifted uncomfortably. "Local legends call it Rodan...the fire demon."

Everyone just stared at her with a growing sense of dread and unease. Mark was the first one to voice that unease. "That's comforting..."

Somewhere over the Pacific:

The hardest part about abandoning their old life was trying to figure out how to start a new one. What should they do? Where should they go? Did they return to roaming the stars? Did they stay on this planet? If so, what role should they play? Would they simply become one of the saurian king's enforcers?

None of the options really appealed to them. A life wandering the stars was lonely but free. A life here meant they could interact with other beings, yet staying on one planet was limiting their potential experiences. They had a lot of enemies along either path. The many civilizations they'd destroyed was sure to bring swift justice upon them should another of their species find them.

Hiding—though they unanimously loathed the thought, that's pretty much what they'd be doing—on this planet would save them from that sort of encounter, but there were just as many enemies here. The humans didn't seem too keen on sharing their planet if they were already devising ways to control the larger species roaming the planet. They didn't feel like being hunted across the planet for the rest of time. There were also the other creatures to consider, as well.

If they were to stay here, which they all agreed was probably for the best for now, they needed to turn those enemies into allies. So Ichi devised a rather...risky plan. The insect was a highly sociable creature. She often interacted with humans. If anyone could help them convince the humans they meant no harm, it would be her.

There was just one problem...

"Won't he be mad that we're going to see her behind his back? You know how protective he is." San asked.

"Are you afraid or something, little brother?" Ni's taunt made San look away in a huff. San had long since learned not to fight back against his older brothers. San was neither as smart nor as vicious as his two older brothers. During their days of destruction, they hadn't respected their younger sibling because of that. Now that their views were changing, San was beginning to speak up a bit more, but he was still nervous about contradicting or arguing with his siblings.

That was one of many things Ichi wanted to atone for. He had been the one to lead them down the dark path. He'd been the one to pick on San most because of his 'weakness'. Now, Ichi realized San was the strongest of them all, for he had never fell to the same dark desires he or Ni had. "Leave him alone, Ni, it is a valid question." Ichi did his best to ignore the surprise coming from San. The fact he was surprised his oldest brother was standing up for him just made Ichi feel that much worse. "And yes, he probably will be. But I have questions I want answered, and she is the only one who can."

They weren't flying as fast as they could, though they were still making good time. Their wings carried them through the skies without effort, though Ichi did have to put a bit of conscious effort into not creating a storm around them. They'd let their power over the air run rampant for so long that it wasn't as easy to keep it in check now.

None of them had used their vocal cords in so long that they'd actually forgotten how to speak. In fact, they'd almost forgotten they had vocal cords. Understanding language came easy to them. All of their experiences with new civilizations and their unique languages taught them how to pick up new ones in record time. Without a way to actually communicate back made that understanding pointless, however, which is why rediscovering how to verbally communicate was one of their top priorities. Until then, Ichi hoped the insect had a few tips for them to show the humans they meant no harm.

Speaking of which...

"Are they planning on following us all the way across the ocean?" As long as the humans didn't open fire in their little flying machines, Ichi could care less about their presence. Ni, however, was apparently getting annoyed from the constant roar of the multitude of engines.

"Just ignore them. They can do nothing to us," Ichi responded. Perhaps flying over the southern tip of that continent hadn't been the best idea. These aircraft had been following them for the last twenty minutes now. "They'll leave us be eventually."

Sure enough, a few minutes later and the planes were turning around and heading back towards the continent. "Some peace and quiet, at last!"

Several minutes of silence passed before San spoke again. "Ichi? Do you think we will ever find a home?" It was an innocent question, but it gave Ichi slight pause. They'd never had a real home before. They never stayed in one place, never belonged to any one planet. The concept of a home was...foreign to them. Their species was a natural nomadic one. To be honest, Ichi had no intention of staying here forever. One day they would leave.

"This planet shall be our home for now," was what he eventually answered with. He could feel that San wasn't entirely satisfied with the open-ended nature of that response, but he didn't argue.

"Sedentary life seems...boring," Ni commented, mirroring Ichi's own sentiments. One day they would leave. San would be upset for a time, but he would get over it eventually. Until then, they had an audience to attend...

AN: The trio seems to be having some trouble deciding what their future should be. Also, yes, they will be able to speak eventually. A few million years of not using their vocal cords means they've got some practice to do. My justification for why they can speak: In this fic, they were once protectors of life. Kind of hard to do that if they couldn't communicate with the 'little peoples'.

I wonder what the G-man will think when he finds out about Ghidorah's little detour?

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22