Well, I got shown round my new school today but I was told a lot and the day was a slow one to say the least. I'm tired as hell right now, but enjoy the chapter anyway.

Godzilla is © Toho

RESCUE MISSION

Marutomo Corporation Tokyo Headquarters

Osaki, Miyuki, Kazama and Miki walked sharply up the shined, pristine corridor towards the office of Hideo Marutomo.

Stepping forward, Osaki reached out and threw the door to the office open sharply, and there, sitting securely and smugly behind his desk, was Marutomo.

"Captain Osaki," Marutomo acknowledged him, "This is an honour. Not that I was expecting guests… I'm afraid I'll have to call security."

"Go ahead," Kazama spoke up, "We can tell about the giant bug you've got locked up downstairs. Maybe tell the cops, the papers…"

"Oh, by all means, please do," Marutomo replied smugly as he stood up. "Before long, I'll be showing the whole world my little catch."

"You kidnapped them!" Miki snapped.

"You'd call me a thief?" Marutomo smirked, "So what did I steal?"

"Two girls and a giant bug," Miyuki replied.

"So tell me… if I 'stole' them, as you so eloquently put it… who was their previous owner? From whom did I steal them?"

"That doesn't matter!" Miki answered sharply.

"Then answer this," Marutomo grinned, "Precisely what law have I broken?"

"You kidnapped those two!" Miki shouted, "They have rights!"

"Kidnapping applies to a human being stealing another human being. That, evidently, does not include them. As for 'rights'… as I said, 'human' rights clearly don't apply here."

Marutomo returned to his seat.

"So," he finished, "Clearly you have no legal recourse. Like it or not: Those two and the insect are, as of now, my property. And as such, they're going to put my company on the map! In light of that, I'm going to have to ask you to leave before, as I said, I'll have to call security."

"No!" Miki roared, her eyes starting to blaze with power, "You can't just… take living things and say they're yours!"

"Marutomo," Osaki interrupted, "You do realise that what you're doing is, in fact, extremely illegal; you're endangering everyone in this city by harbouring a potentially dangerous creature."

"On the contrary," Marutomo smirked, "During your venture to Infant Island, I've heard it reported that both you and the knowledgeable expert, Dr. Otanashi here, that this animal is not a danger."

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Seconds later, the members of G-Force were standing outside Marutomo's office as the door slammed shut.

"I could use my powers and break him in two," Miki declared with unveiled hostility.

"I know you could," Miyuki answered.

"I could have Godzilla drown him, flatten him and set him on fire in that order."

"Of course," Osaki replied.

"I wouldn't even break a sweat."

"We believe you," Kazama promised.

"Like it or not, he's right," Osaki reminded her, "There's not a lot we can do about this. We'll just have to hope that Akane has better luck."

"And if Marutomo points the finger at us for stealing 'his' monster and temple priestesses?" Miyuki asked.

"Let him argue with Godzilla," Miki said darkly.

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Sub-basement

The guard sipped the last of his coffee, throwing the plastic cup into the trash can beside him, and headed down the stairs. The lab formed a semicircle surrounding the huge enclosure, and within, the massive, white cocoon.

Nodding to the other guard, he stood idly next to the glass that surveyed the huge shape. It was really just to keep out intruders; if something that big was going to come out of that cocoon, two men with guns wouldn't be able to do much to it.

A second later, he heard a sharp blow, a wheeze from his fellow guard, and an audible 'whump'. As he looked up, the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the foot that struck him square in the face.

With that, both of them were out for a good hour.

Suitably pleased with herself, Akane stood back up and grabbed the key card from the guard's chest. She looked up with the camera and struggled to hide a satisfied smile; they'd know all about this if she hadn't knocked out the guard monitoring the cameras and shut them off. She'd spent years training in simulated situations just like this; the security was so textbook, it was almost laughable.

Swiping the card into an electronic lock, she waited as the door opened with a slight 'whir' and stepped into the much smaller room.

From within the small cage, the Cosmos looked up in surprise as Akane pressed a finger to her lips, stressing the need for silence.

Grabbing the cage, she exited the room, the door closing behind her.

Just as she was about to leave without a second thought, she heard it.

A cracking noise, faint, but beginning to grow. No, not one sound, but many… lots and lots of cracks…

Below her, in the enclosure, the top of the cocoon started to bulge, its solid sides splintering as the strands of webbing holding it in place started to wear down.

"Is that what I think it is?" She finally managed to ask.

"The metamorphosis is complete," Moll answered. "Mothra has grown into her adult stage, and she is ready to hatch."

The cocoon split sharply down the middle, as the vague outline of two huge butterfly wings started to spread out under the thin veils of webbing.

Short, perhaps, but like I said, me sleepy. So anyway, as you can see, the cocoon's hatching, so the next fight is indeed imminent…

All reviews welcome!