UNKNOWN BOOK: TITANS, VOLUME 2: MUTOS

by Anonimosx

Avatar Aang and his friends believed they found the peaceful life that all them wanted to achieve at last. However, that is far from being true. Two prehistoric giant creatures awaken from more than a decade of slumber and start bringing destruction wherever they go. Now Aang and his friends must join forces with an ancient alpha predator to stop the parasites before its too late.

5. Chapter 5

5- Hunting the Mutos.

The next morning on Ember Island showed the result of the fight of last night, the one between Godzilla and the Muto. Mostly of the town was destroyed by the rampage, leaving so less thing intact and/or to save. Flocks of birds were flying over the ruined place that was once the best place of the Fire Nation for holidays while the soldiers and rescue teams did their best to find any survivors among the debris that could have been left stray last night in all the chaos, still alive, as well healing the ones that got injured and need medical treatment. There were also tents put all around the place with lots of people helping everyone in finding their loved ones that got separated during the havoc. Team Avatar was also there, trying their best to help everybody. Aang and Katara reunited with the rest after helping a group of people that got trapped under a destroyed house to get out and bringing them to one of the medical center.

"This is horrible." Katara expressed, looking at her surroundings sad. "I can't believe something like this had happened."

"How have we allowed this to happen?" Aang added.

"Don't say that, you two." Toph said, trying to comfort them. "It appeared out of nowhere, and all happened so fast before any of us could react."

"Toph's right. No one expect that thing to come right here." Sokka supported.

"Maybe, but it happened in the end, anyway. And…I was supposed to keep everyone save." Zuko said, feeling bad with himself and turning his back at the others while lowering his head in shame. "It's my duty as Fire Lord, and I failed."

"No, you're not Zuko." Mai said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You acted fast and did your best to help the people involved in that mess in person, and you saved them. I was there with you and I've seen it."

"Yeah. If it was your father, I'm sure he would only have remained aside and left his subordinates to deal with it and leave everyone on their own." Ty Lee supported. "Your performance was 100 times better than he ever would."

"They're right. Besides, the last thing anyone would expect is two giant monsters fighting each other right here." Suki added.

"Speaking of that, I didn't expect the other one that those two of Monarch told us about to appear so suddenly. You know, Godzilla." Sokka pointed.

"Yeah. Well, what a sight he was." Toph remarked. "He must be the largest living creature that I've ever seen in my life. At least, that's my opinion."

"Well, he was way much bigger than the Muto." Katara remarked too.

"Wait. You knew about that other thing too?" Mai asked in disbelief.

"More or less. You see, some ones called Serizawa and Graham that works for Monarch told us about this other giant animal, Godzilla." Aang recalled. "But it was last night the very first time we have seen him for real. Hum...apparently; this is the first time in thousands of years that he has shown himself again to the world."

"Well, what a way to do that." Zuko responded. "And I thought that some of our families' members being friends from before we're born was still the most surprising thing by now."

"Not to mention they met together at a place ruled by these kinds of creatures." Toph reminded.

"What? We didn't know that too." Ty Lee said.

"Oh yes, we forgot to tell you that as well. Sorry." Suki apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. It happens to everyone so…" Then, the chi blocker girl realized about something important too and began getting worried and looking everywhere. "Wait, where is the little one?!"

"Excuse us?" Sokka said confused.

"The boy. There was a little boy with us before you guys came. He got lost and I was taking care of him."

"I thought he was with you." Mai reminded. "You lost him?"

"No! He was here, just a minute ago. I swear."

But suddenly, Toph got a smile on her face as she saw where the child was at the moment. "Not anymore."

"What do you mean, Toph?" Aang asked.

The young earthbender pointed with her hand at their left and the group could see a few meters from their position that the little boy was running toward a man and a woman who received him with a mixture of sadness and happiness, so they got to be his parents. That happy and touching moment made every and one of them to put a smile on their faces, reminding them that, yet again there was always hope after all. The kid turned his face back at Ty Lee and the others and waved his hand at them, saying goodbye. Ty Lee waved her hand back at him, happy that he was back with his family safe and sound.

"This proves once again that…even in the worst looking of situations, there's always hope, if you're just willing to believe it." Aang declared. "Well, it's just my opinion."

"No, Aang. You're right." Katara agreed, pulling him into a hug. "There's always hope."

"Yes, and we'll get through this together." Zuko proclaimed. "And we'll succeed, just like we did ending the war."

Everyone nodded at the words of the Fire Lord. That same time, the group saw a pair line of soldiers marching at their right, whom wore some black suits and had the Monarch's emblem, so they had to belong to their military forces. Aang went at them in attend to talk with them, followed by the others.

"Excuse me. I'm the Avatar, and these are my friends. We need your help." Aang said to one of the soldiers. "I was wondering if you were going to mainland, which is where probably the Muto is going."

"It's your lucky day, Avatar. Everything not tied down is moving east." The young soldier answered stopping marching.

"Whoa, really? Is that where they're heading?" Sokka recalled.

"Yeah. I guess we're monster hunters now."

"Thanks, um…" Katara thanked.

"Brody. Lieutenant Ford Brody, from Monarch's Military Division." The soldier said, introducing himself before reuniting with his battalion.

"We have to keep moving too, guys." Aang said, turning at his friends.

"You said it, pal. We should go back to the fleet." Sokka proposed. "Maybe they could know where those two went."

"Well, I'm not sure about Godzilla. Right now, the one that worries me more is the Muto."

"I'm with you, Twinkle Toes. Who knows where it could be headed right now." Toph added.

"Then we all agree. There's nothing more that we can do here." Suki concluded.

"You guys go ahead. Ty Lee and I will stay here and try to be of help a little more." Mai said, with Ty Lee nodding in agreement with a determination face.

"Okay. Please be careful." Zuko said at his girlfriend.

"You too."

Zuko and Mai shared a goodbye kiss and a lovely look at each other before he left with his friends back where Appa and Momo where waiting. Moments later, the group took flight on the big mammal and headed for where the fleet was at the time, joining some air balloons and airships on the way. After a couple of hours traveling, they finally spotted the fleet already on the move from above, but there was something else with them, something that left Team Avatar really surprised. It was in middle of the same fleet and their ships where Godzilla was at the moment, swimming slowly but steady near the surface and…alongside the ships? It was like if the fleet was escorting him; or that's what it looked like. The team could see from above his dorsal plates moving through the water and his huge silhouette underwater.

"Wow." Everyone said in union, except Toph because she couldn't see it of course.

"Do you see that?" Katara asked impressed.

"What? What's going on?" Toph asked.

"We've found the fleet, and…we've found Godzilla as well." Suki answered.

"Really? Right there?"

"Yes." Zuko confirmed. "Sounds odd, but he's really there, alongside the fleet."

"Curious. It's like they were escorting him." Katara said, before chucking a little. "It sounds funny."

"Yeah, you're quite right, Katara. That's what it looks like." Sokka supported.

"Oh, so is that." Toph said, not so impressed like the others. "Well, it doesn't sound that exciting for me. I mean, when we saw him standing in front of us last night…man, that was truly a sight to remember."

"So…Aang, can I ask you something?" Sokka said to Aang, who looked back at him and nodded. "When you encountered this giant lion turtle as you say, was it as big as Godzilla is?"

"No. It wasn't like this." Aang responded before turning his sight back at where Godzilla was. "It really was huge, but not as much as Godzilla. He…is way bigger than it. Not to mention more ancient, just like Serizawa and Graham said."

"I still think that is something intriguing, very intriguing." Zuko expressed. "An alpha predator from another time. No, from another era. "Prehistoric", that's how they said. That must mean…much before the history of our world began."

Suddenly, the young Avatar had a crazy idea popped on his head. "I wanna have a closer look of him."

"What? What do you mean, Aang?" Katara asked, no sure of what he meant to.

"Are you sure of it?" Suki asked a little worried.

"Aang, I'm saying this from the bottom of my heart." Sokka started. "ARE YOU MAD?!"

"He sounded very serious to me." Toph felt.

"Aang, I'm with Sokka." Zuko said. "I…I don't think is a good idea."

"Yeah. You wanna end swallowed?!" Sokka exaggerated.

But too late, Aang ordered Appa to descend below, right at the water.

"No, AANG!" Katara yelled, bracing herself at anything that she could.

Once Appa went underwater, Katara had no choice but to use her waterbending to push the water far from the sky bison and make a huge air bubble around them. With that done, Aang made Appa to dive down some meters and position themselves under Godzilla. There they got amazed by the fact of being beneath the giant dinosaur (except Toph, who started to feel unwell again), with his silhouette under the sun and his great shadow over them. Now they knew that he was not aquatic, but an amphibian animal. Appa was a little nervous, the same as Momo but Aang patted their heads to calm them down. Next, the last airbender ordered his bison buddy to get closer toward the colossal reptile. Everyone except Aang got nervous and scared as they got closer and closer to the head of the predator, nearby where his auditory orifices were located, but he was so focused on his task, so he didn't pay any attention of the newcomers. However, once they a little close to his head, Godzilla finally noticed their presence as he looked at them with his eye, which made the young humans froze in fear. But…even if he seemed to be looking at them with a frowned gaze, it wasn't like it in the end as he did nothing, just looked at them with curiosity for a moment before turning his sight up ahead again. That left the group relieved but stunned at the same time. With that, they could guess that Godzilla was nothing like the Muto. In fact, he doesn't seem like a bad creature at all. Aang decided that it was enough and ordered Appa to go back to the surface. After they got out of the water and back in the sky, the group landed on the Saratoga's deck and began getting off.

"That…was…amazing! This gotta be the craziest thing we've ever done, but also the most exciting of all!" Sokka expressed really excited.

"Speak for yourself. I prefer to see him in solid ground than this way." Toph said, trying to calm down herself and not letting the dizziness to make her to vomit like previous times.

"We can leave the talk of this moment for another time." Zuko reminded. "Right now we have to reunite with everyone else inside to catch up with everything new that they could know."

"Right, let's go." Katara affirmed before going to the main door that led inside the ship.

Everyone walked over deck toward the main door, with Aang being the last one as he looked at Godzilla while he walked toward the door and stopped just before he could touch it and stood there looking at him swimming with an intrigued face. And why? Because Aang couldn't avoid having again the same feeling of something familiar for him, and it was something about Godzilla. He remembered what Serizawa said about him, the fact that Godzilla had some special great power, one similar to the Avatar but way bigger…but no, for Aang it wasn't that, but another thing, something different and much personal. But he couldn't figure it out no matter how much he thought about it, at least for now. But he had one thing clear about Godzilla: why he was there. Why he appeared and why now after so long. With that settled, Aang went inside to reunite with his friends and the others. In the control room, everyone was monitoring Godzilla current course while trying their best to predict and anticipate the possible directions where the Muto could have gone and the possible places where it could show next time.

"We've made all possible simulations for incoming outcomes, based in our experts' predictions." Martinez informed. "Our best predicaments and models made from our intel predict the Muto continuing due east. All our models have the targets converging on the coast of the Earth Kingdom. As of now, it looks like Godzilla's still following the Muto."

"Wait, said that again?" Sokka asked confused of the last part of the report, just in the same where Serizawa and Graham entered in the room. "Have you said that he is following the Muto?"

"Yeah, that's what she said." Suki confirmed.

"That's quite odd." Zuko said.

"No, it isn't." Aang said, getting everyone's attention. "That's what he's doing."

"What do you mean, Aang?" Katara asked.

"It's simple. Wherever the Muto goes, Godzilla goes too. He's chasing it."

"You know? I think you're right, Twinkle Toes." Toph said, indirectly making some of the crew to try their best to not laugh of the Avatar's nickname. "That could explain last night's battle of them two."

"The Avatar's right." Serizawa supported. "He's hunting."

"Have all vessels maintain current distance from target." Stenz commanded. "And plot the speed and heading of these things. I wanna know exactly when and where they'll make landfall."

"Yes, sir." Captain Hampton responded before going for the task.

With that done, the admiral turned his attention back to Aang and Serizawa. "Avatar Aang, Doctor, what did you two mean by "hunting"? You think it's chasing this Muto?"

"Think about it. When the Muto came to Ember Island, it was that same moment when Godzilla showed up. He went where the Muto was currently, and then he began fighting it." Aang explained, with Serizawa nodding at him while smiling a little. "Just like I did when I fought Ozai. Well, maybe not like that, but you got what I mean with that."

"I couldn't explain it better myself, Aang." Toph congratulated crossing her arms and smiling.

"Hum…well, seeing it that way, it makes sense." Sokka deduced it. "After all, you said that he was an alpha predator."

"Yes, but it's much more than that." Serizawa kept telling. "Their species must have been natural enemies since always, with Gojira and his kind keeping the Muto and its own in check."

"That also has a lot of sense." Katara said.

"But if the Muto is his prey….The signal shows a call. Why call up a predator?" Graham asked confused.

"Yeah, that doesn't have any sense." Toph pointed.

"No, it didn't." Serizawa corrected. "I think Gojira was only listening. The Muto was calling something else."

"But if it wasn't Godzilla, what else could be?" Zuko asked intrigued. "Those two are the only giant creatures that we have seen by now."

Serizawa also pondered about it, until something came to his mind after looking at both Aang and Stenz and turning away his sight, something that could be crucial to solve that little mystery.

"The pattern." Serizawa said, before he came with something else in mind, a place to look for. "Focus the search on Si Wong Desert." He ordered as he went to the main table to check on a map of the world.

That left most members of Team Avatar stunned.

"The Si Wong Desert? Why would it go to that place?" Hampton asked both confused and interested.

"Yeah, we've been there and it's no place for a giant flying bug-like creature. There's only sand, dunes, cactus with bad juice, sandbender tribes and kilometers of unbearable heat." Sokka counted, as he and the others went there some time ago on their travel. Not a place with good memories for them. "What could be there of interest for the Muto?"

"It can't be. It's impossible." Graham expressed, concerned.

"What's impossible?" Katara asked confused.

"Do you remember when we told you about the Muto and the spore which it came out?" Graham told the young ones, who nodded at her. "There was another spore, intact, found in the island's mine. You remember too?"

After hearing that, a terrible thought stroke their minds, having their mouths open and widening their eyes in fear.

"Oh no. Don't tell there's another one of them! Another Muto?!" Suki said, more concerned than before.

"Just when we thought that we had enough with just one." Aang added.

"Probably, but we vivisected it. Ran every test on it for years." Graham clarified before turning at Serizawa. "You confirmed it for yourself. It was dormant!"

"Maybe not anymore." He opined.

"Then we have to find that one before it hatches too." Zuko declared, with the admiral and captain nodding at him.

"This spore. Where is it now, doctor?" Hampton asked next.

"It was highly radioactive. It was disposed of." Graham tried her best to explain it. "The ones of the Earth Kingdom, they took it."

"That doesn't help us right now!" Sokka protested hitting the table hard with his hands. "We need to know exactly where currently is, not what it happened to it years ago."

"Doctor, where is it?" Stenz asked, this time with a more serious voice tone.

"Below the only geological feature rising above the desert: Si Wong Rock, where another big natural radioactive deposit lays untouched." Serizawa finally revealed, which got everyone more stunned, especially Team Avatar.

A few hours later, they were flying on Appa through the desert again under the overheating sun alongside some air balloons and followed by some armored ground vehicles. All of them with their same destination: the Si Wong Rock. Inside the ground vehicles, the troops were gearing up with their special anti-radiation suits in case they had to inspect the inside part of the underground radioactive depo that was below the giant rock.

"I never thought that we would have to go back to this place." Aang expressed lowering his head a little, not feeling very comfortable of being back at the desert.

"You look down. Something's wrong?" Zuko asked concerned.

"Let's say this desert doesn't bring us good memories." Katara started.

"Short story. Long before we reached Ba Sing Se, a group of sandbenders kidnaped Appa and we've to move through the desert by foot." Toph explained. "Oh, and Sokka got crazy after drinking some cactus juice."

"Could you please don't remind me that part? I'm trying to erase that embarrassing part of my story." Sokka complained with Momo on his head, making his girlfriend Suki to chuckle.

"A shame that I wasn't there to see it." Suki said, making her boyfriend to blush a little.

"Yeah, well, that was a while before we found you with those refugees."

"So that explains why Appa was in Ba Sing Se too." Zuko realized before lowering his head, understand what that meant. "It must have been really hard for all of you."

"You have no idea." Aang said as Katara got at his side and put her arm around him.

"I know how you feel about it and how hard was it for you back then, but all that is now in the past." The teenage waterbender ensured, trying to cheer him up and focus back at their current task. "Let's try to keep formalities in case we run into other sandbenders."

"And if they try to take Appa away again, I'll be more than happy to give them a reminder." Toph supported clutching her fists.

That made Aang chuckle a little. "Thanks Toph. Let's just make sure we don't have to go through all that again." He said remembering when he almost went berserk with the sandbenders.

"Alright. Now that we all agree in burying that dark chapter of our lives and everything that happened there, let's focus in what matters now: reach the place where this other dormant spore is."

"About that, I think we're arriving." Zuko said, pointing with his hand at their front.

Like the Fire Lord said, they spotted the Si Wong Rock in front of them at the distance, but there was something rare about it.

"We better be careful. Last time we were here, we've to deal with a swarm of nasty giant bugs." Sokka advised as they were getting close to the rock.

"Hum, I don't think that's gonna be a problem now, Sokka." Katara said as she saw some disturbing fact, just like everybody else.

"Why? What just happened?" Toph asked curious.

What everybody saw was that the giant rock now had a ginormous hole on one of its sides, which led to where the supposed underground radioactive depo should be, but not anymore, giving the rock now some ugly look. Besides, the hive which was the home of the same bug creatures that Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Momo encountered long ago was also no more. Probably all the giant bugs buzzed away when they felt something huge coming from below, so they had no other choice but to leave the place before a huge part of the rock crumbled down.

"We're too late. The new Muto has already awaken and gone." Suki observed.

"Look! Over there!" Aang said, pointing at a large group of many giant marks left in the sand that went from the rock to the open desert, which looked like giant footprints. "I think those are its footprints. That must be where it went."

"If we follow that trail, we'll end finding the Muto." Katara proposed.

"And that's what we'll do." Zuko declared.

Appa began following the giant trail from the sky. However, the trail turned out to be very extensive and they followed by a few hours. Along the way, they encountered a giant sand shark, but it was lifeless and with its body covered in marks belonging to a fight that it lost. Probably it found the Muto and saw it as a possible big meal, which ended being a bad idea. After a few hours of keep following the trail, Aang saw something moving in front of them. He tried his best to focus on it and visualize it clearly, hoping that it wasn't a mirage, and it wasn't. The group ended finding the new Muto which was walking over the sandy terrain, but this one was different from the first one. This one was the same head and single ridge in the back, but it lacked wings, was eight-legged and was 91.4 meters high. It had two main pairs of clawed forelimbs instead of one and a pouch-like structure on the lower abdomen. This new slightly different looking Muto was walking slowly but steady while emitting cracking and profound noises, nearly reaching the edge of the desert, with the Misty Palms Oasis and its town right on its way.

"I see it!" Aang exclaimed, pointing at their target. "There it is! The other Muto!"

"Well, I'm already hearing some sounds of it, so it's gotta be that." Toph responded.

"Yeah, but…this one looks different." Katara said, looking at the new Muto's body.

"Yes. It looks way bigger than the first one, and it lacks wings. Instead it has eight legs." Sokka observed. "Maybe it lost them while it made its way of the rock?"

"I don't think so. Those seem to be all its limbs." Zuko reasoned.

"So you say this new Muto can't fly but it's bigger than the other?" Toph recalled. "Why is this one different?"

"I don't know, but I don't like where it's headed." Suki spotted. "It's going right straight to that oasis!"

"We know that place, we've been there before." Aang added. "That's the resting place for lots of people."

"We got to distract it until all those people are out of the village!" Katara exclaimed.

"Right! Let's go, buddy!" Aang said to Appa, suspecting that this one could sense him just like the first one did.

The people of the oasis and town, including some sandbenders stood shocked seeing the Muto approaching at their place, getting closer and closer until it looked like it was going to pass over there and crush the place with its legs in no time. Fortunately, Appa flew near it as Aang and Zuko fired some fire streams at it, making it to stop and getting its attention. The Muto looked annoyed by that surprise attack, roaring at them while they turned around it. The parasite lifted its legs and tried to hit the bison with them, but luckily Appa was fast enough to dodge them. The beast repeated the same strategy over and over again while the group kept dodging with Aang using his airbending, Katara her waterbending and Zuko his firebending to provoke it, forcing it to cover its head with some of its legs meanwhile the inhabitants of the oasis town evacuated the place before this could be demolished. Once everyone was out, Aang ordered Appa to fly high, right at the same time that the Muto lifted from the ground and tried to catch them with its jaws. They're close to get caught, but they escaped just in time. The Muto roared at them before continuing on its way, demolishing the town in the process.

"Could you please tell me the next time you're gonna do that again?!" Toph asked annoyed and a little dizzy.

"We've to tell Monarch about this." Zuko said as they saw the Muto staying behind dealing with the air balloons and their bombing on it, something that kept annoying it.

After a few hours of flight, Team Avatar returned alongside some of the air balloons to the fleet in the sea, with Godzilla still on his way and surrounded by the ships like nothing. That fact still left most the team members amazed. Once back with Serizawa, Graham and the others inside the Saratoga, they explained what they encountered, but just like they say… a picture is worth a thousand words, so Sokka began to make a drawing of the new Muto.

"Alright, it's more or less like this." Sokka said showing his drawing of the Muto, which was…not his best. "I think it got the basics of it and did better than my lost Appa posters."

But the others didn't catch the meaning, looking at it confused, as his drawing looked like a kindergarten child's drawing.

"Not again. Sorry Sokka, but I think that drawing is not your thing." Aang said embarrassed holding his lowered head with his hands while both Katara and Suki couldn't hold their laugh. "Which of its parts is supposed to be the Muto's head?"

"This is its head." Sokka pointed, even if it didn't look like it by naked eye.

"And why it looks like it has only six legs? This has missing a pair of legs, which makes eight in total." Zuko corrected.

"Hey, I didn't have space for drawing them, okay?" Sokka defended.

"I think our returning scouts could help with that." Hampton proposed, looking at some of the ones that returned on the balloons, which were earthbenders, who nodded at him before bringing a rock statue of the two Mutos together inside the room, comparing the sizes of the two of them.

"Yeah, that's exactly how it was." Aang confirmed, making Sokka to cross his arms in frustration and look away.

"It's almost 300 feet." Graham observed. "It's far bigger than the other one."

"But this one doesn't have any wings." Stenz observed as well.

"Yeah, we saw that too. They look so similar and different at the same time. We don't know why." Zuko said.

And then Graham thought about a possible explanation. "A different gender?"

"A female." Serizawa confirmed, realizing it too.

"Hum…that would make sense." Suki said, understanding it. "In nature, some species of insects have what they're called winged males, some of the only ones that can fly."

"Yeah, and there're other ones which female members are bigger in size, more than males." Aang pointed as well. "Maybe is the same thing for the Mutos."

Now everyone understood how to see the difference between the two genders of the Mutos' species.

"That's who he's been talking to." Graham realized.

"It must be a mating call." Serizawa supposed. "The female remained dormant until the male matured."

"Now they're seeking radiation. To reproduce."

"Wait a minute. Are you saying that there's gonna be more of those things?!" Sokka asked alarmed.

"If they succeed in reproducing, it will." Serizawa confirmed unfortunately.

"But…if that happens…" Aang said fearful.

"The world that we know will come to an end." Zuko deduced the worst scenario, making the others to wide their eyes in fear.

"What? Could that really happen?" Toph asked worried.

"Much likely." Serizawa affirmed. "In fact, I think that a newly born brood of Mutos would act as an invasive species, adapting the environment to their will and wiping out almost everything else within it. Once their food supply is exhausted, the brood would turn on each other until there are only two individuals left, one male and one female. Then, the pair would go into hibernation, until a new opportunity arrives for them to reproduce in a new recovered world, repeating the cycle once again."

"That's horrible. We cannot allow that to happen." Suki said.

"And we won't. We have to exterminate them first before they can strike back at us with their offspring." Sokka declared, with most of them agreeing with the young warrior of the Water Tribe.

"You're right, brother. That's the only way to avoid disaster." Katara supported before turning at her dear boyfriend. "Aang, you can stay out of this. Knowing what you think about this kind of subjects…"

"No, this also concerns me." Aang interrupted serious, something that his friends didn't expect, as they knew his opinion about taking the life of a living being. "I know that the monks told me that every life is sacred and must be respected, but this matter is way beyond all that and every teaching that I had learned. This is not like what I did to Ozai. You heard Serizawa, we cannot allow them to reproduce or everything that we value and fought for will be lost. Besides, I would fail as the Avatar if I don't do everything in my power to prevent something like that to happen, and…believe it or not, sometimes I've taken the life of some living creature, not intentional but yes. But…if you can save countless lives by taking one of a few ones, then it's not as bad as it seems, nor like I believed before. Now I know. If we want to secure our and everyone's future, then we must not allow our world to become of the Mutos: they must be destroyed. I guess there is a first time for everything."

"You said it, Twinkle Toes, and we're with you." Toph supported. "But that's also the problem. How are we gonna take those things down? As I recalled, our bending is of no use against those beasts. It makes not a single scratch on them. And I doubt that even the power of the Avatar can barely make some serious damage as well. No offense."

"None taken. Besides, I think that too."

"Then what are we gonna do? There must be some way to eliminate those creatures." Katara insisted.

"We may have an idea for that." Hampton revealed, catching the attention of everyone.

A few minutes later, everyone observed a map of the world that one of the military experts brought to the room of reunions alongside the other officials in order to inform about what they had discovered recently thanks to the new gathered information.

"Current tracking models indicate that all three targets are converging here: on the Earth Kingdom's capital." The expert revealed pointing at where the city was located on the map.

"Ba Sing Se?! Unbelievable! Why it has to be there?" Suki complained in disbelief.

"The city has already suffered the attack of a giant drill, the conspiracy rule of Long Feng and the Dai Li and the Fire Nation occupation. Why not adding giant monsters to the list?" Sokka said sarcastically.

"And what is that plan of yours?" Aang asked.

"Nearly the final days of the war, we discovered that Fire Lord Ozai had some projects in consideration for his war campaign, in case his plan for the day of the comet failed. But his main one was using the radioactive materials that his forces gathered for making a new kind of bomb." The expert said.

"That's what he planned to do with the cargo that you confiscated?" Toph asked.

"Indeed. According with all the info that we have, it seems that it was going to be a new kind of weapon: some kind of…superweapon."

"Superweapon?" Suki asked intrigued.

"Yes, a weapon of mass destruction."

"Why it not surprises me?" Sokka said rolling his eyes mad.

"What do you wanna mean with all this?" Zuko asked next.

"For what we know about this weapon, the nuclear bomb, it could be what we need for our issue." The expert said. "If we rig this nuclear warhead with a shielded timer put it on a boat and send it 20 miles out sea, the radiation lures the Mutos, and the Mutos lure Godzilla."

"And we detonate, with minimal fallout risk to the city." Hampton concluded.

The military crew agreed with the plan, totally the contrary for Serizawa, Graham and Team Avatar.

"What? Really?! That's your plan?!" Katara protested in disbelief.

"You can't be serious." Graham added. "They feed on radiation."

"Correct. That's why we use the bomb as bait." Hampton detailed.

"And kill them with the sheer force of the blast." The expert added.

"Yeah, no way that it could be as good as you people say. That is crazy." Toph opined.

"That plan of yours is way too risky!" Sokka protested. "You wanna put a big bomb of mass destruction near Ba Sing Se in order to lure those things and then make them to follow it to the ocean before blow it with them close enough to it?! HAVE YOU GUYS REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT?! There's no way that it can be that easy!"

"That's why we've reviewed this many times." Hampton assured. "Now we only need the radioactive cargo confiscated from the Fire Nation as the fuel for the warhead. If Fire Lord Zuko here gives us…"

"NO!" Zuko shouted loud and clear and mad, making the captain and everyone else to shut up. "I won't allow that! I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, that's my main purpose. If I decided to do that, I wouldn't be acting different from my father. He intended to create a horrible weapon with those dangerous materials, and I refuse to complete that evil project of his. I don't want to start my reign of peace and kindness by making something that only my father would be willing to do." The young Fire Lord spoke with profound and sincere words, ones that made his friends proud. "I'm sorry, Admiral, but I won't allow this 'nuclear bomb' to be completed."

"Yes, we don't agree with this plan of yours." Katara supported serious too. "We'll find a better solution for this problem."

"Young ones, if you have any other ideas, I am all ears." Stenz proposed.

"Admiral." Serizawa called, sat on a chair.

"Yes, doctor?"

"Gojira may be the answer. I believe he's here to restore balance. He can defeat them."

"Yes, that's what I was going to say." Aang added. "Maybe we don't have to do anything but just let Godzilla to deal with the Mutos. He came here because of them. So once he's done with them, he'll leave in peace, right back home."

"And what? We just stand by and watch?" Stenz asked at them. "I'm sorry, Avatar. I can't take that risk."

"And we cannot take the risk of something going wrong with your plan." Zuko said back. "Sorry, but I won't authorize this mission."

"If you don't give us your authorization, we cannot make the preparations for the operation and start it until it's too late. This is our best way to stop them." Hampton said, trying still to convince Zuko about their plan. "Please, Fire Lord Zuko, we advise you to re-think about this."

"I know, but still…I won't. There's gonna be another way."

"While we try to figure out that alternate solution, shouldn't we start evacuating the biggest city in the Earth Kingdom to ensure no one is caught in the monsters' path when they arrive?" Sokka recalled.

"Besides all the other towns which may be in their way." Toph added.

"That's another thing to do." Hampton agreed.

It looked like they were in a stalemate. The militaries were convinced that their plan was the only way to end with their huge problem, but Team Avatar, Serizawa and Graham thought that it was too risky. And because Zuko was against using that superweapon, the militaries couldn't begin with the operation, just focus on evacuating the civilians which towns were in the Mutos' current direction. So everyone abandoned the room frustrated, including Team Avatar, leaving only Aang and Serizawa alongside the admiral, who saw everyone leaving before turning his sight to the last airbender and the scientist, both with their head lowered in disappointment.

"I know you both don't agree with this. But my first priority is to safeguard the citizens of all nations, just like you, Avatar." Stenz said, trying to make them to understand his point of view, now talking directly to Aang. "You and your friends did everything that you could to end the war and save the world, just like many others. Now it's time to do the same again. Think about it."

With everything said, the admiral left the room, leaving both Aang and Serizawa with their thoughts. Serizawa saw how troubled the little airbender seemed to be and so…in order to try changing subject and maybe cheer him up a little, he took out the same medallion that he carried with him from long ago and showed it to Aang, who got surprised and stunned by seeing it.

Aang gasped at seeing the medallion, which had the emblem of his people and nation. "Is that…?"

Serizawa smiled and nodded. "Yes. It's a family relic, one very ancient. Today, it's 100 years old."

"From the time when I lived…" Aang said, understanding from which time it was from. It was a survivor, just like him.

Serizawa nodded again. "It was my father's, which was given by his father, and his father before him. It's a token, a gift that an air nomad friend of his gave him, long ago before the war started." Serizawa began telling. "A kind monk of the Southern Air Temple, one of the greatest airbending masters of his time."

Aang's eyes widened in surprise when he realized who he was talking about. "Gyatso."

Serizawa nodded once again. "He was like family. When Fire Lord Sozin attacked the temples, our family felt that part of it was taken away from us at that time. Since then, they have keeping this medallion all these years, until it was time to be passed to me. When I was little, my father told me that one day its true owner would return: the last airbender. And now…it's time for me to give it back to you."

"Really?" Aang said, but then he hesitated. "But…it belongs to you too. I'm not sure if I've right to reclaim it and take it from you." Then, he saw Serizawa offering the medallion to him.

"It's alright. It belongs to your nation and people, to you. Besides, it was my family's duty to keep this safe until the fated moment to come, which is now. Now…I can fulfill it for real."

At the end, Aang smiled to him while accepting the medallion, taking it with his hand. In that moment, he felt like…something else from his people, nation and the one who was like a father for him returned to him, filling a little the hole that being the last of his kind made in him, but it was something. And that was better than nothing.

Aang caressed the medallion gently and looked at him with tearful but happy eyes before turning his sight up, back to Serizawa. "Thank you."

Serizawa smiled at him, satisfied at his heart-warmed reaction. "It was a pleasure and honor, Avatar."

Next thing Aang did was bow at Serizawa grateful, who did the same at him before they went out of the room and took separated ways. Once back at his room, Aang sat in the floor looking at the medallion on his hands until some else came into his mind: the weird sensation that he had toward Godzilla, and he already felt it many times, so it couldn't be coincidental. He wanted to figure out the reason of that feeling, but how? According to Monarch, no Avatar previous of him had knowledge about Godzilla's existence. That meant that talking to Roku and his other past lives would be of no use. Besides, whatever he felt must be something that he felt…or saw personally, so it had to be something for him to figure out by his own. With his mind made up, Aang put the medallion aside, took a leg crossed position, closed his eyes, breathed deeply and began meditating. The airbender child tried to put everything else aside and focus on his thoughts of the dinosaur, and then he felt…something. It was faint, but he could felt it, something that took him long ago on his memories, in the time when he and Appa were inside the iceberg. Aang found himself inside the iceberg again, but because it was a memory that he had unlocked, he could see everything from there.

"Wait. This is…when I and Appa were in the iceberg." Aang said, amazed of being able to see that, as he thought that he couldn't because he was frozen and only remembered when Katara set them free, meeting her and Sokka for the first time.

Aang looked up to see a Fire Nation ship passing over them, but then he felt something more, something approaching at the iceberg from the deeps. Then his vision began to become blurry, so he couldn't see well what it was. But he could see that it was a titanic shadow with glowing blue eyes swimming at the iceberg in a similar way like a crocodile or lizard, exactly like…Godzilla? Once it was in front of the iceberg, the creature stared at it with curiosity, specifically to the hibernating Avatar, for a few seconds while making some soft growls. Next, it put itself over the iceberg and grabbed it with its hands while reassuming swimming with a new course: right at the South Pole. In that moment the memory ended and Aang opened his eyes, gasping in surprise. He didn't expect to see that.

"What…was that?" The airbender kid asked for himself. "I had no idea that happened, but…I feel there's something more. I've to concentrate more, focus on that feeling and let it guide me to what I really want to see and know."

Aang calmed down, breathed deeply again and started to meditate again. This time his instinct led him to another memory of his, one really bad. A few weeks after Ba Sing Se was conquered by the Fire Nation, the same stormy night that he recklessly tried to restore his honor and left with his glider to the Fire Nation without being full recovered from his wounds. He felt ashamed and regretful of himself by looking of how he acted that time. Next, after talking to his previous life, Avatar Roku and Princess Yue, he saw himself creating a huge tidal wave with waterbending, also enhanced by Yue's power, to impulse himself to the nearest shore while surfing over a log. In that same moment, near it below the deeps, was the same mysterious giant figure with glowing eyes. Then it stopped and looked above itself, sensing the little Avatar's presence and situation and began swimming up to the surface. And for Aang, he reached the shores of Crescent Island, the same place where he previously contacted Roku and where the Fire Temple once stood. Aang, covered in bandages and only wearing a red coat and his trousers stood still in the frozen molten rock beach, with his feet touching the moving water, but…he was weak and almost unconscious. The big effort that he made in the storm and to reach to the island's beach had worsened his fragile condition, and once again he was dangerously close at the very doors of death. Then he hardly opened his eyes and saw something in the sea with a blurry vision. It seemed like some sharper rock islet, but…it was moving, and right toward him, but then…he felt unconscious again. A few seconds later, Aang woke up again after hearing some strange low and profound sound that prompted him to open his eyes hardly once again. After doing it, he seemed to watch the islet rising over the water and moving toward him. Of course, he couldn't identify the figure, which was getting closer and closer by the moment because of his blurry vision.

"Come on. Focus." Aang insisted mentally, trying his best to clarify his vision. It was now or never.

The little airbender focused his Avatar energy into sight and it worked, and then…he saw it, standing right in front of him almost imposingly, the same giant animal. Even if it was dark and the sky was still covered by clouds he could see that it was really him: Godzilla. The giant dominant reptile approached his head closer to the ground to have a closer look at the little boy and once he did, he observed him with a concerned face while emitting a low growl, even if his face didn't seem to show it as a facial expression. Next he reassumed his stands, lifted his tail out of the water and approached it to Aang until touching him with the tip, right when Aang's vision became blurry again. Then, he swore to see Godzilla's back and tail glowing in blue as he felt a great amount of energy flowing through his body, and feeling himself better that way. The last thing that Aang could see before getting unconscious again was a huge beam of blue light that seemed to come from the giant dinosaur, which was launched to the sky and dissipated the remaining clouds. And then, the memory finished and Aang concluded with his meditating. Once he opened his eyes, with his jar dropped and breathing heavily as he tried to regain clam. He had no words for this surprising revelation. Honestly, he didn't expect this, but at the same time he expected something like that, pretty contradictory, isn't it? He couldn't believe it: he had already meet Godzilla before, and a couple of times indirectly without knowing…until now. But he realized that the encounter of the second memory was the most important one because of a crucial fact that nobody knew…

"He saved me." Aang said at last. "I…don't believe it. He saved my life."

After a few seconds to make up his mind, Aang stood up and left the room. Later, Serizawa was in his room, having a look to some reports and files about both the old and new info of the Mutos and Godzilla when he heard someone calling from the door.

"Come on in." Serizawa called, thinking that it could be Graham, Stenz or another one of his comrades of Monarch, but he got surprised of seeing that it was Aang who got inside the room before closing the door behind him. "Avatar Aang? What is it?"

"Dr. Serizawa." Aang began saying, lowering his head embarrassed, not knowing how to explain what he really wanted to say. "Well…I was wondering. A few weeks after Ba Sing Se was occupied by the Fire Nation, you wouldn't have detected something strange in your devices around that time? You know, like some energy or something like that."

Serizawa got stunned about that question, but knew what he was referring. "Yes. We picked an energy lecture, one huge coming nearby Crescent Island. Those readings could only belong to Gojira, but we're not sure of it. Why do you ask?"

"Because…you were right. This is not the first time that I've encountered Godzilla." Aang revealed, catching Serizawa's attention. "At first I thought that I ended in the South Pole by coincidence or fate, but…I was wrong. Godzilla did it. He found the iceberg where I was trapped alongside Appa and brought it there, so I could be found later by Katara and Sokka. And not only that. Back at that stormy night, after the Earth Kingdom's capital was invaded, I ended in the shores of Crescent Island after I left the captured ship where my friends and allies were, once again almost losing my life. But then…he came and somehow managed to help me recover like nothing by giving me some of his energy. That's when you detect it, his own energy."

"Are you sure of it?"

"Yes. In fact, I just found out that. I've had the feeling that there was something about Godzilla that was somehow familiar for me. I didn't know what it was until now. I discovered it by meditating and searching among some of my most bizarre and clouded memories. I don't know why he did it. He could just let it be but he came to my aid."

"I see. So that's how it was. Interesting, very interesting." Serizawa said impressed, taking off his glasses, finding the subject very curious and unique. "That explains it."

"Dr. Serizawa, do you know why…why he did that? Why he helped me?"

"Well, I've an idea about it. You know? Gojira hasn't appeared since thousands of years ago, and he has never shown himself before a single human, much less the Avatar…until now."

"Really?" Aang asked, with Serizawa nodding. "Then why? Why me?"

"Because…you and him are so similar, that's what I think."

Aang raised his eyebrows confused. "Huh? I don't get it."

"You and him are both the last of your kinds; both you and him were gifted with great power, and both you and him have an important role in the world as its protectors, each one for one side of it. It's easy if you think about it. I believe that…he thinks that you're special. Not only because of what you are, but also because of whom you are. It may be only an assumption, but I believe that he could have seen himself mirrored in you, and thus his equal as human." Serizawa said, ending with a smile.

At hearing that, Aang felt a comforting and heartwarming feeling inside of him, like some kind of special connection or bond. Maybe it was a theory, but for him has a lot of sense, enough to put a smile on his face.

"Thanks, Dr. Serizawa." Aang thanked, bowing at him. A gesture that Serizawa imitated.

"It was a pleasure, Avatar Aang."

With everything talked, Aang exited the room, just in the same moment that Graham came in from another door.

"Why was Aang in here?" Graham asked curious.

"To confirm us that was Gojira who we detected months ago, and something else." Serizawa told her.

"What else?"

"Something that nobody could expect." He said smiling.

Meanwhile, Aang went out on deck under the night sky. Once there, he walked toward the edge, right at Godzilla's right side and sat down on it while observing him swimming, contemplating him. Maybe he was cautious toward said giant animal at the beginning, but now the little boy felt no fear or concern while looking at him, but respect, gratefulness, admiration and interest for him. Thanks to Serizawa's words, he could see himself mirrored on Godzilla too, and said feeling also put a smile on his face. He now felt safe and sound nearby to the god-like animal. In that moment, Katara appeared and approached him.

"Aang, what are you doing here?" Katara asked intrigued.

"Hey Katara. Just here, spending some time." Aang responded smiling at her, like if there was nothing to be worried about, which confused her.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure."

Seeing that he was fine, Katara relaxed and smiled as well, before Aang gave her another look, standing there with her beautiful black long hair down swaying by the blowing breeze, something that made him to be almost in trance and blushing before turning his face away embarrassed, thing that the teenage waterbending master realized and chuckled of this before turning her sight at the gigantic reptile again like him.

"It's really impressive, isn't it?" Katara said.

"Yeah. He truly is." Aang remarked.

"And…you're not nervous of being this close to him?"

"No, just the opposite. I feel very safe."

"Well, if you say so." Katara said, very confused of her boyfriend's answer.

"Katara."

"Huh?"

"I wanted to ask. How did you and the others found me? You know, when I recklessly left before we went to the Fire Nation in disguise."

"Well, at first we couldn't go looking for you because of the storm, but then, me and my dad saw a big beam of light in the distance, one very similar to the one that emanated from you when you were freed from the iceberg, so I guessed that it could only be you. That's how we found you back in Crescent Island."

That confirmed what Aang saw in his unlocked blurry memories, so he chuckled while denying with his head. "No, that wasn't me."

"What? Then…who was?"

The answer of the young airbender was just looking at his savior, which left his girlfriend surprised and shocked, dropping her jaws after gasping in disbelief.

"What?! Godzilla?"

Aang nodded at her. "It happened before you guys knew where I was at the time. You maybe don't believe it, but when I reached to the island, I was very weak and…I was dying. And then he appeared in front of me from the sea and…somehow, he gave me strength with some of his energy. He saved my life. And then he sent that beam of light to the sky, probably knowing that you would find me that way. And it's not only that. Now I know that he was the one who brought the iceberg which Appa and I were trapped to the South Pole. I think that…he knew somehow that you and Sokka would find us and set us free in the right time."

"How do you know about all this?"

"I found it out just a few minutes ago. I meditated about it and…I uncovered it from nowhere, that simple."

"Are you sure about this? Is that what you believe?"

"No. I know that it is, for real."

Seeing how sure Aang was about it, Katara finally understood and decided to let it be.

"Alright, Aang. If you're sure of it." Katara said before going back to the ship's inside, and then she stopped and turned at him one last time before leaving. "I just hope that you don't go wrong in the end."

"Don't worry, Katara. It won't happen." Aang said before turning his sight back to Godzilla while getting up. "Thank you, Godzilla. Without you, I don't know what would have become of me. I'm in debt with you. Both me and the world."

With everything said, Aang bowed at the giant creature in respect before going back inside. Now he no longer saw that alpha predator as something like the Mutos or like other people would think of him, but as an old friend, and for him that was fine. And curiously, as he continued with his actual course toward his targets, Godzilla turned his head lightly, looking at his right, exactly at the ship where Aang and his friends were. It was like…he heard the words of the little airbender, and if it wasn't, at least like he felt them some way. Next morning, Team Avatar went alongside the military forces to another town of the Earth Kingdom that had also suffered great damages, mostly probably because it got in middle of the path of the female Muto. Now that there were two of them, the situation looked more worrisome for everyone, especially for the ones of the Earth Kingdom. The soldiers were helping evacuating the civilians while the rescue teams made sure that nobody remained to be rescued and in need of medical treatment. Like they did before, Aang and his friends were also scattered and helping with the rescue duties, with Mai and Ty Lee there too, as another military vehicle arrived and deployed its troops, with Lieutenant Brody among them.

"Okay, everybody out." The one in charge of the squad commanded. "Can't go any further. We're well in range of its EMP. So from here on out, it's on the ground or it's not at all. Let's go!"

"You know what? I'm tired of this already." Mai confessed, looking troubled.

"What?! You don't mean it, right?" Ty Lee replied at her in disbelief. "How can you say you're tired of helping people that are living this and are in need?"

"What? No! That's not what I meant. I mean this, just what you said: people from many places and towns suffering a disaster like this one." Mai confessed with a sad look on her face. "I didn't know this kind of feeling at all, until now. And it makes me feel…so bad."

"I think that is empathizing with others. And I think you're not the only one affected by it." Ty Lee said, pointing at someone at their left.

A little far from there was Zuko, sat down on a little pile of rubble, and he looked troubled too, with his head lowered. The two gals decided to approach him and give him some conversation.

"Are you okay? I've never seen you like this before." Mai said, catching Zuko's attention.

"Oh, hi Mai. It's nothing, I'm okay." Zuko said, trying his best to look normal. Well, at least when it comes normal to him.

"Come on, you cannot fool me. I know that something is bothering you right now."

Zuko know that was right, sighing in defeat. "How am I supposed to resolve this crisis when I and anybody else of us cannot think of a better way to solve without bringing more unnecessary destruction?" He said with a desperate and depressed voice. "I promised my mother that I would do everything in my power to protect everyone and I'm failing. I'm the worst Fire Lord ever! I just feel so…useless."

"No, that's nonsense! You're a great Fire Lord, the best that I know." Ty Lee said, trying to cheer him up.

"She's right. This matter would surpass anyone, including you." Mai supported. "It's not your fault. What do you mean with that?"

"Do you remember when I told you that Monarch had some cargo ships from the Fire Nation that they secretly confiscated from my father?" Zuko asked the girls, who nodded at him. "Well, now we know what my father wanted to do with that radioactive stuff, for what he did best. He was planning to make another weapon, one of mass destruction. But fortunately he couldn't even start with it."

"And what does that have to do with this?" Ty Lee asked next.

"The admiral and the other militaries believe that weapon could be what we need to take down the Mutos. They've already a plan for it, but they need me to authorize its use as our nation it's still in possession of those materials. So…"

"You don't want to use it, right?" Mai deduced.

It's just…if I allow that weapon to be used, then I would be betraying the purpose of my reign as the new Fire Lord! That's something that only my father would be willing to do, no matter what. And if I do it, then I would not be different from him. And I…I don't want to end being like my father, as a monster. He was not different from those giant parasites." Zuko confessed grabbing his lowered head in despair. And then he felt a hand touching his arm gently. He looked up and saw Mai sat at his side.

"Listen to me, Zuko. You're not like your father and you will never ever become like him. You think about everyone around you and the people in need. You care about them and try to do your best for them, no matter much or less. That's something your father was unable to do. He would use that weapon and any other to bring destruction like nothing, without real reason and excuse. What matters is the reason for doing something. That's what differences you and him."

Zuko listened to his girlfriend's words and got touched by them.

"Wow, you know Mai? You sound…so wise saying that." Zuko said impressed. "Almost like my uncle."

"Well, I guess being with you and your friends so much time has made me learn more than I expected." Mai confessed, turning her face aside while blushing with a smile on her face before looking at her boyfriend again.

The young couple smiled at each other before sharing a hug followed by a lovely kiss.

"Thank you, Mai. I really needed that." Zuko said after ending the kiss and getting up. "Now, I know exactly what to do."

The gals observed Zuko leaving with a determinate face. That was the young Fire Lord that Mai liked to see.

"See? I told you that you would be a great Fire Lady." Ty Lee said to her friend.

"Hum. You know what? You're right." Mai agreed.

And so, the two friends returned helping the rescue teams and soldiers with securing the town as Zuko went to gather Aang and the rest to talk about something new, a change of plans. Hours later, back at the Saratoga's control room, Admiral Stenz was alongside Captain Hampton and their military crew talking about the possible alternative ways for dealing with their big problem with Serizawa hearing from a corner when suddenly Zuko entered the room followed by his group. They all looked serious, as everyone in the room could see. Next Zuko looked at the admiral and approached him.

"Me and my friends have been thinking about it for a long while and…we've reflected about what you said." Zuko began explaining. "You're right. This could be the only way to eliminate those creatures. I authorize the making of that weapon and its use."

"Thanks, Fire Lord Zuko. We know that this is not an easy…" Admiral Stenz began saying, but then Zuko raised his hand, interrupting him.

"I have not finished. I said that I authorize it for your plan. However, I've a few conditions to put on it. First of all, my friends and I will supervise the operation by joining the troops in their task regarding the bomb to make sure there's no risk and that nothing bad happens. We've reviewed it thoroughly and there are many things that can go wrong, especially if you underestimate the Mutos. Second, we want everybody to ensure that the bomb to be brought out of Ba Sing Se in the end. I don't wanna take the risk of a possible scenario of a weapon like that ending in the city by mistake and with just a few minutes to explode." Zuko warned very seriously. "And third, the main targets will be the Mutos. Thanks to what Aang has told us recently about Godzilla and knowing that he wants to get rid of the parasites as much as we do, we want to remind you which are still our real problem the one that we have to focus so no one get things wrong. Understood?"

The admiral had his doubts about the third condition, but he also knew that it would be of no use to reply about it, besides that now they could begin the operation, much of the conditions were acceptable and there was no time to waste.

"Of course, Your Highness." Stenz responded before turning at his captain. "Send the order. Prep the warheads and get them moving to the coast."

"Yes, sir." Hampton answered to his superior before began commanding to the rest of the crew. "All right, people. Let's go. I need to know the exact location of the Mutos ASAP."

"Aye. We're updating our models with the current tracking data now." Martinez reported.

"Come on, team. We've gotta go." Sokka declared. And he and the others left the room in the act.

"Admiral." Serizawa called, making him to stop and turn at him.

"Yes?" Stenz asked back.

"Please don't do this."

"I understand your concerns, doctor. But I am sacrificing lives every minute trying to steer one of these things clear of populated areas and now there are two more on the way. There are millions of lives at risk."

"I know, but you already heard Fire Lord Zuko. Both he and Avatar Aang want nobody to strike against Gojira, only the Mutos. That's one of his conditions."

"I know, and I plan to fulfill it, just like he recalled, even if I don't agree with it. So as you can see, I don't have a choice either in this matter now. So all I want to know from you is: will it work and can they be killed?"

"But we tried that before, thousands of years ago."

"What that bomb unleashed was a combined elemental energy from bending." Hampton clarified. "Now we're talking dilatable yield. Megatons, that's what our nuclear bomb holds. The fact that Ozai didn't understand and know what he was planning to do and what could do is something really curious and hilarious. Nothing can withstand that blast. Makes the elemental bomb we tried to kill the other one with long ago look like a firecracker."

"Martinez, assign our team with the best EOD to assist the Avatar and his group to escort the nukes."

"Yes, sir. We'll call Lieutenant Brody and his squad to rendezvous with Team Avatar in the marked location."

Many hours later, when nightfall arrived, Team Avatar flew to the place where the military forces had the new nuclear warheads prepared to transport on a moving train near some kind of mountain path nearby some large river. Not a train like they saw back in Ba Sing Se. That one was similar but different at the same time. One key difference? This one wasn't moved by earthbenders, but by steam power machinery. The soldiers spotted Appa arriving and his passengers landing in the ground in front of them.

"Lieutenant Brody, they're here! Team Avatar has arrived." One of the soldiers spotted.

"Yeah, I see it too, Sergeant Morales." Ford said as he was checking the structure of one of the warheads. "Now give me a hand."

"I thought these nukes all could be detonated by remote control once we got them modified."

"The Mutos knock out most of machines, especially electric. Including detonators. Can't even get in range without these things going haywire. But this? This, on the other hand, is from the oldest old-school. Clockwork." Ford explained, talking about the warheads' mechanism as he and Morales took out the core of said mechanism before patting it gently.

"Takes a licking keeps on ticking." Morales commented, ending with him and Ford laughing at it.

But then, everyone on the train saw some big explosions coming from behind a mountain in front of their path, something that was also spotted by Team Avatar from above.

"That doesn't look good." Aang suspected.

"It's gotta be the female Muto. They told us it was nearby and their army is trying to keep her busy." Katara deduced. "She must be closer than we thought."

"It would be better to warn the escort team on the train." Suki advised.

But that was not going to be necessary neither, because suddenly the train stopped dead in the rails, forcing all its passengers to brace themselves instinctively. The cause of this? They entered inside the range radius of the constantly EMP wave that surrounded the female Muto without knowing. Appa landed nearby with his passengers getting off him while the train finally stopped moving.

"Sorry buddy, it will be best for you stay here for the moment." Aang advised to Appa caressing his flurry head, with him growling softly in response. "We'll call you in case we need you, so don't worry." He reassured before following his friends.

"Is everyone okay?" Zuko asked to the troops with him and his friends walking to the train.

"Yes, Your Highness." Ford answered getting off the train and welcoming them. "The train can't move right now. It will take around 10 minutes until it gets ready to move again."

"Hey, I recognize you." Sokka said pointing at the lieutenant. "You're the one we saw back in Ember Island."

"Yeah, you're right. They have assigned me and my squad to help you escorting the warheads to the destined place. And even if it wasn't the case, I would have insisted in coming to this operation."

"Why's that?" Toph asked.

"My family's in the capital, in Ba Sing Se. My wife and my son." Ford said in a softer and worried tone. "My father died when the first Muto escaped. And I promised that I would do whatever it takes to keep them safe."

"I understand that." Zuko said putting a hand on his shoulder. "I made that promise too. We're going to do our best for that."

"Thanks, Fire Lord. The problem now is…" Ford said before the sound and fire of more explosions and battling noises from behind the mountain interrupted him. "…that we don't know if the path is safe up ahead." He said pointing to the tunnel in front of the rail path crossing the mountain, where they should continue.

"Snake Eyes, this is Bravo to November. Is the bridge clear? Over." One of the soldiers that was in front of the tunnel's entrance asked by radio to another contact, probably the ones that should have secured the bridge that the train should go over, but the answer he got was static alongside some screams and fighting noises while Team Avatar arrived with the rest of the troops. "I say again: we got a train of VIP cargo headed for the coast. Is the bridge clear? Over." But he got the same answer, so he kept trying. "Snake Eyes, I need a sitrep. Are the tracks clear? Secure or not? Over." But even if he insisted, it was the same thing before turning off.

By getting the same unwanted answer, it was clear that something was not going as planned, and that began to be worrying.

"I've a bad feeling about this. Something is definitely not right." Suki said.

"We should take a look to see if the path is safe." Aang proposed.

"You just took it out of my mind, Aang." Sokka agreed before turning at the troops. "We six will go ahead to check everything is fine in the bridge."

"Alright. Here, take these with you." Ford said hanging them some portable radios. "If everything is okay, then report it to us by radio. We'll have the train ready by then. I hope you know how to use them."

"I'm good with technology. I'll figure it out."

And so, the soldiers saw the Avatar and his friends, with Momo joining them, walking inside the tunnel, following the rails toward the bridge. Even if they volunteered to go and check things out, they walked to their destination slowly and afraid while trying to be aware of anything that could happen as they got nearby more and more by each second. When they finally were out of the tunnel after a while and on the other side, everything was quiet, very quiet, but they couldn't see well because of some fog bank.

"So, it's everything fine?" Toph asked.

"I don't know. This fog makes hard to see things from here." Katara said. "Even if we clear it, we aren't sure if the bridge is secure for the train to move over it."

"Then we'll have to go down to ensure it can hold the train." Zuko added. "That's the only way to see that it's truly intact."

"Okay then. Zuko, Toph, Suki and I will check below. Aang, Katara and Momo check from up here." Sokka explained the new plan.

"Yeah, I cannot do some much up here. Besides, if the Muto comes, you bet I'll see her coming from very far." Toph reminded.

"Very well. Don't forget to be careful everyone." Aang advised, with everyone nodding as the two groups separated.

The recognizable sounds of a flock of bats flying could be heard between the forest part that was below the bridge, just where Sokka, Suki, Toph and Zuko arrived. Meanwhile Katara, Aang and Momo continued walking on the bridge alert of any move and sound from their surroundings. Momo tried to pass some time eating some fruits that he picked from before, but the last ones slipped out from his hands and fell through the planks of the bridge, much for Momo's frustration but something funny for the young couple as they chuckled of the lemur's misfortune. Once the fruits hit the bottom, its splashing sound took the attention of the other group.

"Looks like someone has lost his snacks." Toph said, talking about their lemur friend. But then, the remaining and biggest falling fruits fell right on her head, covering most of it with fruit juice. "I talked too soon." She regretted.

Zuko, Sokka and Suki tried their best to contain their laugh at that funny situation, unaware of some red light from behind them. Of course, the young Fire Lord and warrior couple got aware of that in the end as they turned around, and widened their eyes in shock of what they saw coming at them from the river and fast.

"Look out!" Suki yelled as she pushed Sokka, Zuko and Toph to the ground and followed them right before a tank covered in fire hit the place where they stood without control. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thanks, Suki." Her boyfriend thanked her relieved from the jumpscare as he got back on his feet.

"I'm good too." Zuko responded getting up too.

"What was that?" Toph asked. "What do you see guys?"

"Oh no." Suki could only say.

The group contemplated from the shore a group of military vehicles in flames dragged by the river. In sadness, they understood what that meant: the reason of the answer they got by radio before.

"The other groups didn't make it." Zuko said.

"They underestimated the Muto." Sokka added. Next he got his attention back to the big supports of the bridge.

"Oh." Toph lamented.

At the same time, Aang, Katara and Momo almost reached the other side of the rails, with everything looking normal and without any damage, thing that they saw better after the waterbender dispersed some of the fog in front of them.

"Looks like the bridge is intact." Aang observed.

Katara nodded at him, took the radio and turned it on. "Everyone, I'm Katara. The bridge is clear and ready for the train to pass."

"Roger that, Katara. Oh, and you should say 'over' after finishing." Ford said and advised by radio.

"Ups, sorry. I mean, over." Katara corrected, with her, Aang and Momo not aware behind them…something that resembled a mountain, but it wasn't started moving slowly.

Back to where the train was, now with power restored and ready to move again, Ford nodded to one of his subordinates.

"Let's go! Let's go, people!" The soldier ordered as he and everyone else get aboard the train once again as this restarted its route.

Meanwhile, back with Sokka and the others…

"Well, that's it. I've checked the supports of the bridge." Sokka said, returned with Suki, Toph and Zuko as they heard the train from very far too. "Each and every one of them is fine. Just like the ones of inside the giant drill, of course before we weakened them."

"Well, then I guess this is over." Toph said gladly, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be." Suki added. "Problem solved."

Yep, no big deal. It was easy." Sokka complimented.

"Indeed, that's the problem." Zuko responded, taking the attention of the other three. "I mean, where's the Muto? It supposed to be somewhere nearby." He said next as he looked at their surroundings.

"Maybe the militaries bothered the female so much and she ended leaving to some other place."

"I'm serious! I'm telling you there's something wrong here. At this point, we should have some clue of where she is or where she could went, at least hearing some of her noises."

"I think you're overreacting, Zuko. There's no way that we couldn't seeing that giant ugly parasite coming at us. Even if it wasn't easy for us because is dark now, you heard what Toph said."

But while Sokka explained to Zuko, he alongside Toph and Suki suddenly took alarmed looks on their faces, as they saw something really shocking behind Sokka and began signing at him, trying to interrupt him, stop and be quiet with their heads and hands.

"And that's why…why are you acting like that?" Sokka asked confused before feeling the ground shaking while a sudden loud and familiar noise coming from behind made him to shut up alarmed and looked up to see one of the giant legs of the female Muto rising over them. "Once again the universe likes to prove me wrong!"

"I told you before! You make it too easy!" Toph complained before she and the others retreated to some secure place as far as they could from the Muto's legs.

"How could you not see her coming?! It was just at least one meter from us!" Sokka complained in low voice to Toph.

"I don't know! I'm same shocked as you people! How do you expect me to answer you?"

"Perhaps she has some special ability that makes her being stealthy sometimes, or something like that." Suki suggested.

"Shh!" Zuko whispered to everyone in order to not drag the attention of the female.

Without seeing it coming, surprisingly Toph included, the female Muto appeared from nowhere. Despite her size, she was truly stealthy, coming in scene by surprise.

"Get down, get down!" Katara advised both her and Aang lying down to the plank floor of the bridge quickly and remaining quiet while Momo flew away from there scared.

The female Muto was at their right walking down the mountain without quitting in emitting her sinister cracking noises, with some of them resembling those of radio or radiation detecting devices. The young couple stood in their place, nervous and sweating in fear, trying their best to not make any noise as they watched the parasite going down the bridge slowly. It was if she was looking for something. Then…the Muto approached her head toward the bridge, like if she detected something or trying to zoom her red eye between the planks of the bridge. And she was, right at where Aang was still, and he also knew this.

"Oh no, she knows." Aang whispered.

"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked whispering.

"She knows I'm here. She can feel it. She can detect it."

"What do you mean?"

"She can detect me: my energy, somehow. Just like the male did in Ember Island."

Both he and his girlfriend got alarmed by this new fact, and unfortunately…he was right. The female Muto indeed felt the Avatar's big energy signature over the bridge and started moving again. The couple stood frozen watching the monster rising from under the bridge at their left and grabbed their hands instantly. They were too scared even to get up and escape as her shadow covered them. They wanted to do it, but they couldn't while seeing the Muto looking at them with her jaws wide open. Luckily, the train horn was heard in the distance catching the attention of the female, who roared back at it resembling said noise, like if she was imitating it. The giant creature began walking at its direction over the bridge, putting her legs at the bridge's sides, allowing the couple to have a good sight of the egg sack hanging under her belly, shining in a sinister way and in red while emitting some sounds reminding of the ones of the radiation detecting devices. Aang and Katara got disgusted of what they were seeing at the moment.

"Yuck, disgusting." The little airbender said sticking out his tongue.

"Ew, indeed Aang. It really gross." Katara added, shivering at the sight of the eggs moving inside that sack.

Seeing that the mother was leaving, the couple got up without taking their eyes out of the beast, which began to disappear among the fog.

Aang sighed relieved. "She left."

"Yeah, but…she went for the train." Katara said, not relieved at all.

Aang gasped by hearing this. "Oh no. You're right. They don't know that they're moving toward her."

Suddenly they started hearing in the distance noises of battle, screams and the Muto growling back at the humans. Then, everything got followed by an uncomfortably silence. Katara and Aang looked at each other worried before looking back at where the sounds came from. And then, between the fog finally came the train, but…the front part was completely covered in fire! And moving right at them with no one on board and out of control! The two young benders got both shocked and alarmed at seeing such horrible outcome.

"RUN!" Katara yelled as she and Aang began running away from the flaming train as fast as they could. "Don't stop, Aang! Keep going!"

"It's going to catch us!" Aang exclaimed, seeing behind him that the train was getting closer to them. "We've to jump!"

"What?! Wait, Aang!"

Next and coming from nowhere, one of the Muto's legs destroyed the part of the bridge that separated the young ones from the train. This unexpected and unpleasant surprise forced them to jump to the river, no matter if they liked that idea or not. As they were falling, each of them tried to reach for each other before reaching the river's surface while the female Muto got near the other side of the train. Right before grabbing each other, both Aang and Katara used waterbending to soften their landing. Once they were underwater holding their breath, they looked at the surface to see the train falling right over them, but they used waterbending again to move themselves aside just in time. Once they were out of danger, the airbender boy and waterbender girl swam back to the surface, catching their breath and hugged each other while trying to stay in the surface and watching the Muto having her way with the rest of the train. She took down the middle part of it with her smaller legs, falling with one of the warheads to the shallow waters of the river before grabbing the other warhead with her mouth and then began to eat it while the rest of the train fell down too. At the same time, very far from there on the fleet, there was new activity regarding Godzilla, as he began to dive back to the deeps and leaving the fleet behind, something that was also noticed in all ships.

"He's going under! Boats, sound the collision alarm. Frame 180." The captain of one of the ships ordered as he and his crew watched Godzilla's tail diving, following the rest of the body of the titan.

The alarm was also received in the Saratoga's control room.

"We're losing visual, admiral." Martinez reported to Admiral Stenz while she kept looking at the monitor and the lectures of their scanners. "He's diving. Changing course and moving fast toward the Serpent's Pass. I've got him at 33 knots and picking up speed. He's gonna outrun us, sir."

No one inside that room knew why Godzilla was doing that, but he really knew what was doing, as he had an idea of where his enemies were going and so where he should go exactly to reach there at the right time.

Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom. Royal Palace.

In the meantime, in the royal palace of Ba Sing Se, one of the five highest-ranking generals of the Earth Kingdom Army, General How, was running as fast as he could toward the main chamber of his majesty, Earth King Kuei. Once he went inside, he found the Earth King alongside his pet bear, Bosco and stopped to catch his breath before bowing to his king.

"Your Highness, we have received an urgent message." The general started explaining. "Ba Sing Se it's in danger."

"What do you mean, General How?" The king asked confused and also a little worried.

"This new group that had contacted us and taken temporary command of our military forces, Monarch, has sent us a late-breaking report." The leader of the Council of Five said while giving the letter to the king, who began to read it as well. "This confirms what our forces swear to have seen in some of the towns that have been attacked all around the kingdom. This giant creature known as…Muto is real, and its coming right here."

"What?! Are you sure?" The king asked shocked.

"I'm afraid so, Your Highness. They have ordered us to evacuate all citizens as soon as possible before that monster gets here."

"Evacuate the entire city? I don't know. That would mean to take lots of people out of their homes, families included, and it will take so much time to take everyone out of the city."

"I know, Your Majesty, but we don't have other option. All efforts of our troops to stop that thing became futile and it seems its destination is this place."

The king lowered his head in defeat. "I understand. As king, my main priority is to ensure the safety of my people." Then, he looked back up with a determine face. "Alright, send the order, and start evacuating the city."

"Yes, Your Majesty. We'll start right away with the upper ring."

"No, I don't want to give that privilege to the rich ones and politicians. Our first main priority is families and children from all rings, no matter if they're rich or poor, that's my will. The rest of the people will follow next."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

As General How went to communicate the new order to the other members of the Council of Five, the king went back to his throne and sat on it. He looked like depressed and very worried, so Bosco approached him, growled softly at him, knowing how his master and friend felt. The king smiled a little at his animal companion and caressed his head before his face got the opposite again.

"Oh Bosco. I can't believe this is happening." The king said to his bear friend. "Our dear city has already suffered so much threats and tragedies: the giant drill, Long Feng and the Dai Li conspiracy, the Fire Nation invasion and now this. I can't do anything but to wonder…where this will lead us to? What will become of Ba Sing Se and its people?"

A truly worrisome question for the king to do for himself while he observed the symbol of his nation with misgiving, as he and everybody else had no idea that the capital city of the Earth Kingdom, the same place considered as the best stronghold of all and the safest place in the world back in the days of the war would become sooner or later the battlefield of those titans.