Alright then: Chapter the fourth of episode the fourth. Enjoy!
Godzilla is © Toho
BEACHHEAD FIGHT
Only a few hundred feet from the shore, the water began to froth and churn, bulging up in the middle as the rows of jagged spikes broke the surface, followed by the slender, reptilian body with well-developed limbs and the long, sinuous tail.
Godzilla turned his head side-to-side, sniffing at the air as he took a step forward into the shallow water.
He had smelled something strange and unfamiliar, like a parent and its young rolled into one. Curious, he had come to the surface, both because of his curiosity and to ensure that Miki had not been harmed. He sensed no distress from her, but…
The trees before him were pushed aside. Godzilla looked down with a low rumble as the segmented, brown larva, green glands and yellow bone growths on the side, large blue eyes on the sunken black face and the large tail stinger wriggled forward out of the jungle.
Mothra looked up, giving a low chirp as she regarded the towering figure. Godzilla knew this immediately to be a challenge.
Crouching down and scraping one clawed hand along the ground, Godzilla responded in kind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What's he doing here?" Osaki shouted as the entire group ran through the jungle.
"He just sensed Mothra and got curious," Miki replied, "Until a second ago, at least."
"So how tough's this Mothra thing?" Kazama asked.
"She is vulnerable in her larval stage," Moll answered from Miki's shoulders. "Not nearly at her full strength. She has few defences."
"In that case," Miki thought out loud, "Mothra's in a lot of trouble."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mothra reared up on the hind part of her segmented body, showing twin rows of sharp spikes on her underbelly. Godzilla took a step forward so that one clawed foot was on the golden stand, and gave a low, menacing growl.
Mothra lunged her head forward, and a burst of sticky, white spray shot from her mouth, striking Godzilla in the face. The thick, white goo covered Godzilla's face in a split second, the saurian rearing up with an angry hiss. Immediately, Godzilla grabbed the webbing covering his face and tugged at it, which resulted only in it becoming stuck to his claws in thick strands.
Godzilla turned, attempting to shake off the mask, thrashing in the shallow water as he tried to pull it off. Mothra scooted round to the side, where Godzilla's tail slammed down into the surf in front of her.
Godzilla's spinal plates flashed bright blue, and a second later, the webbing seemed to vanish into thin air, every last strand incinerated before a burst of brilliant blue flame as Godzilla bellowed his anger.
Taking a small leap forward, Mothra's jaws clamped down on Godzilla's tail. Godzilla snarled viciously, turning so that he faced the beech again, swinging his tail round and carrying Mothra with the momentum, as the insect larva bit painfully into his tail. Turning round in the water again, Godzilla thrashed his tail down hard, slamming Mothra into the ground, forcing her jaws to part and freeing his tail.
With swiftness that would never be expected of such a huge creature, Godzilla spun round, parted his jaws and clamped them down on the middle of the dazed Mothra. The creature was only about half as long as he was tall, and so he had no trouble in lifting her into the air- at which point, he promptly started to swig his head from side-to-side, shaking Mothra in the air as if he were some huge, reptilian dog, his fangs sinking deeper into her flesh as thick, green blood trickled out.
Down below, the party of humans burst out onto the beach, looking up in shock as Godzilla effortlessly swung Mothra around.
"Mothra!" Lora gasped in horror.
Godzilla finally swung his head down, hurling Mothra to the ground with a loud 'thoom' and a cloud of sand. The dazed insect moved her tail just slightly, then went limp as Godzilla crouched down, his spinal plates flashing blue…
"Godzilla!" Miki shouted, attracting his attention immediately. Focusing, letting him know through the link that she wanted him to stop fighting, she continued: "Stop! Go back!"
Godzilla gave a low rumble, looking down to see that this creature clearly could not attack him further; and there was no fear towards it in Miki's mind. Besides, this animal had been more of a nuisance than an enemy. Clearly it posed no threat.
Godzilla rose up, turned away from Mothra and stepped into the surf.
It was only then that Toharata burst from the jungle.
"Do you know how long it took me to untangle myself from those vines?" He demanded indignantly, before looking up to see Godzilla swimming away from the shore and the bleeding, unconscious giant insect larva. "Oh… my…"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In front of the old, ruined temple, Mothra stirred slowly, chirping into the air.
"Nice save," Osaki whispered quietly to Miki, "That could've gotten ugly."
"Despite that… incident," Moll stated, "It was nice to meet all of you."
"There's just one thing I don't get," Miyuki brought up, "You two couldn't have built all of this by yourselves."
"Long ago, this island used to be inhabited," Moll explained, a slight hint of sadness creeping into her voice. "But the people made… mistakes. They abused the planet, and eventually, they paid the price. We were the heralds of the first Mothra, and she kept us safe from the disasters."
"So will she be OK?" Osaki asked, looking up at Mothra. "Looks like Godzilla did a number on her."
"Her wounds aren't serious," Lora smiled, "She'll be just fine."
"So now what?" Miyuki brought up.
"Now, since we've established what Mothra is and we know she doesn't represent a threat," Osaki replied, "Our mission here is over. We go back to Japan, and we don't tell anyone about this."
"Captain, this island represents great interest for Mr. Marutomo," Toharata interrupted.
Akane promptly grabbed him from behind, threw him to the ground and pinned his arm behind his back.
"If you tell anyone," She said venomously, "I can promise that you will regret it, very deeply, for however long I decide to let you live. Am I making myself clear?"
"…Yes, ma'am," Toharata answered meekly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JSDF Base, North of Tokyo, Japan
The small boat pulled back into the dock, stopping next to the pier as its occupants disembarked.
"Y'know," Kazama mentioned, "All things considered, that actually went pretty well. Nobody did anything stupid, nothing got smashed, nothing tried to kill us…"
"And even you managed to return with some dignity," Miki smiled jokingly.
"Hey!"
"Well, I'd best return to the corporation," Toharata stated, "Thank you all for a very… interesting experience." He continued as he started towards the door, muttering "At least my co-workers there know how to conduct themselves."
"Yeah, well, don't let the door hit you on the way out," Osaki replied, deliberately so Toharata could hear him.
Stifling a laugh, Miki flexed an oft-practiced mental muscle and, as Toharata opened the door, Miki's telekinetic focus sent it swinging right into his face.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marutomo Corporation Tokyo Headquarter
The towering skyscraper, the entrance and roof emblazoned with the red-and-gold 'M', loomed almost menacingly over Tokyo Bay, like a shaft of unnatural light against the shining, rolling water.
Inside his office, the tall, moustached man in the expensive three-piece suit took the pictures from Toharata, turning them over in his hands.
"Interesting," Marutomo stated, "Very interesting indeed…"
Dun Dun Duuuuun! This story's nearing the halfway mark now, and I can promise you that this won't be the only Kaiju scrap we see. I made Mothra so vulnerable because, in the films, it always seemed like the larva was stronger than the adult Mothra. I changed that here, so while the larva was pathetically outmatched, her adult form will put up a much better fight.
Oh yeah, and I'm thinking of bringing Takuya back, with the name altered to Takuma- the scientist from Godzilla x MechaGodzilla, who oddly is much more suited to that role in the story. So that's a heads-up for the fifth story in the series. No prizes, but anyone care to guess the monster there?
All reviews welcome!