ANNOUNCEMENT: After this episode, I will be writing Takuya out of 'Kaiju Wars', basically because he just wasn't working as a character; he had zilch development, no lines that couldn't have easily been said by another character, and when I looked at it, minimal, if any, impact on the long-term plot. The only reason he's not already is because I don't want to have a character up and vanish in the middle of a story. And I'm damned if I'm going to do another rewrite just because of him. The lunatic has spoken!!!

Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the chapter. There's two more to go after this, and in the next chapter, there's the event you've all been waiting for…

Godzilla is © Toho

THE BIG GUNS

"Well that didn't go well," Miyuki stated sarcastically.

"So does this make it our turn now?" Kazama spoke up.

"I doubt it," Takuya answered, "The UNXCC are professionals. We're effectively the new guys."

Gordon suddenly burst into the command tent behind them.

"Miki," He stated, "We've got a problem."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A trio of aircraft descended through the air, arcing toward Mt. Aso and the shore beyond.

"Red Leader beginning approach, request permission to engage target."

"Disengage," Colonel Gordon's gruff voice came in over the radio, "Repeat, disengage."

"Colonel?"

"You have your orders," Gordon snapped. "Disengage now."

G-Force, alongside the colonel, watched with necks craned up as the three craft altered their course, turning away through the air.

"Colonel!" Katagiri's voice snapped behind him, "Did you just give an order, in a situation under my authority, to disengage?"

"Yes," Gordon answered flatly. "And I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Do you have any idea what's approaching right now?" Katagiri demanded.

"Godzilla." Osaki cut in. "He won't come any closer unless provoked."

"And you know that, I take it." Katagiri said derisively.

"Yes, we do," Miyuki answered, "We've observed Godzilla. We've studied him. And we can tell you right now that nothing in your entire arsenal would have done anything other than make him mad enough to burn this whole place to the ground, which he is fully capable of doing."

Katagiri could do nothing but stand there fuming.

"I am not going to stand by while that thing is sitting on top of us," He snarled. "Or were you unaware of what it did this morning?"

"This morning?" Osaki asked. Miki froze as she realised what Katagiri meant.

"It near-obliterated a nuclear-class submarine," Katagiri replied. "Tore the hull clean open."

Osaki turned silently to Miki, who looked away guiltily.

"We can handle this," Osaki pointed out. "We know exactly what to do about Godzilla… and as it happens, we might have a solution to our pterodactyl problem as well."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So what do you have planned?" Takuya asked.

"Godzilla." Osaki answered, "He's just here keeping an eye on Miki. But…" He turned to Miki, "Miki, I need an honest answer here: What happened this morning?"

"The sub was there looking for Godzilla," Miki answered shakily. "Godzilla sensed it or smelled it or something, and he swam out and attacked it."

"Territorialism," Miyuki realised.

"No," Miki shook her head, "It was me."

Everyone went silent.

"I didn't tell him to do it," Miki insisted, "But he was protecting me. It was my fault," She added tearfully under her breath.

"It wasn't your doing, kiddo," Miyuki reassured her, "His protective instinct must have gone into overdrive with you being injured, but… they said there were no casualties."

"This still proves that Godzilla's dangerous," Akane pointed out.

"You just button it," Osaki said sharply, before turning back to Miki. "You stopped him, didn't you?"

Miki nodded.

"Look," Osaki started, "I know you're going through a lot with… well, everything… but… this situation is getting worse by the minute. Rodan's a dangerous creature, and nothing the armed forces have can stop him." He looked her in the eye, "We need him, Miki."

"No!" Miki snapped, realising what he meant, "No. No way!"

"We don't have that many options," Takuya reminded her. "You could use this link and call him here."

"I won't," Miki answered, "He's a living thing, not a gun we can just draw when we want to kill something!"

"None of us are happy about this either," Osaki replied, "But we don't have a choice."

"Rodan doesn't deserve it," Miki answered, "He's just an animal!"

"This is a serious situation," Gordon lectured, "We all know you're not happy about it, but if this continues, it's just going to escalate, and innocent people are going to be killed. Katagiri won't back down, even if just because he's a vindictive ass, and this whole thing's just going to get worse unless it's dealt with now. This is the only way we can fix this."

Miki took a deep breath, looking down and shutting her eyes.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't let herself risk something like this…

But she also knew that everything they were saying was true.

"I can't," She insisted, "I just…"

"C'mon, kid," Kazama told her, "We both know the Big guy's pure badass."

"And what if he does something like this morning?" Miki finally admitted. "What if I can't stop him this time?"

A hushed silence followed as the reason for Miki's refusal became clear.

"Miki," Osaki started, "I've known you for three years, and by now, you know that I wouldn't be asking this of you if we had any other options."

Miki gave a long, quiet sigh.

"Alright." She finally said.

Closing her eyes, she reached out through the link to the mind that was waiting just offshore. Focusing on that, she turned the attention of this mind to the one that sat atop the volcano, and finally 'said', in a message of pure emotion, what she needed.

Her eyes snapped open, and she felt herself fall back for a second.

"He's coming," She announced.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

G-Force dashed outside as the shape beneath the water grew closer, the surface forced aside as a living mountain of scales and spines rose up; the familiar lean shape, reptilian head, well-developed limbs, all covered in near-black skin, and jagged spikes.

"Godzilla…" Katagiri breathed, turning to the soldiers behind him, "Open fire!"

"Belay that!" Gordon shouted over him, "Don't even think about asking me to explain."

Godzilla sniffed at the air, his orange eyes narrowing as he looked up at the volcano.

At the top of the smoking mountain, the dark, winged shape rose up again, howling into the air.

Godzilla a bellowing roar, Godzilla charged forward, clearing the soldiers in a single stride and charging toward the volcano.

That was probably the most difficult-to-write chapter yet. Ah well, next chapter, we finally have what you've been waiting for this whole story…

All reviews welcome!