Chapter IV: Friend and Foe
Monster Island 2
August 26, 2002
9:20 AM
The King of the Monsters stood at the center of the tropical island, still heavily confused by what was going on, but not experiencing any rage like before. His giant tail swayed gently back and forth as he looked around the island, trying to figure out what was going on. Atop one of the Observation Decks on a plateau was a black disk shaped object. Godzilla didn't know what it was, but he was more concerned about Anguirus.
His brother was lying on the ground, his mouth hanging open. Anguirus almost looked dead, but the faint sign of life could still be sensed. The King of Monsters stepped forward, toward Anguirus…
Meanwhile Yamane, Greg, and James were driving down the spiral ramp at full speed. The truck's wheels were specially made so that it could grip onto metal and not fall off the hundred foot ledges of the plateaus.
As Yamane made a turn he gasped and slammed on the brake. The truck lurched forward as it came to a complete stop. Sitting in front of them was a huge chasm, a giant chunk of the road that had been blasted off.
"What are we going to do now?" James asked. The gap was at least two hundred feet long, there was no way of getting across or around it.
Greg thought, then snapped his fingers, "The emergency elevator."
"But those things are still up there! The Vortaak or whatever they call themselves!" James said.
Yamane pointed out the sun roof and James looked through the glass. Up the steep rock walls they could see the shining surface of the building, and also a black ship hovering above it. But the saucer was slowly spinning away from the tower.
"I'm turning the truck around; the elevator is our only option to get out of here." Yamane said.
"Oh god!" James pointed toward the bay. The other two scientists turned to look. The electrical barrier was slowly powering down, allowing an escape route for the kaiju.
"I get their plan now" Yamane said, "They took control of our monsters and then used our own facilities to unleash them upon the world. Damn!"
Godzilla was finally towering over his friend. He noticed that the barrier holding them in their prison was dissipating, but before he would go out into the real world again, he wanted to make sure his brother was alright.
He reached down to try and help Anguirus up, but as he did the monster's eye snapped open. At first he was glad to see that his friend was alright, but then he sensed something…something alien.
Anguirus struck like a viper at him. Its two front fangs dug into his neck and Godzilla roared in pain.
"Was that Godzilla?" James asked as the truck made a U-Turn to drive back up to the Observation Building.
"The Vortaak have taken control of all the kaiju accept Godzilla," Greg said as he watched out the window, "They're making Anguirus attack his own brother!"
"I'm getting a radio transmission from Monster Island 3." Yamane declared as he picked up the device from the dashboard.
From the speaker came the voice of one of his colleagues, "Yamane! Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me. Explain what's going on at the island!"
The man sounded desperate to get his words out, "Megalon and Baragon! They collapsed onto the ground after the broadcast. The main facility was taken over sir! Some sort of flying vessel landed on it and whatever invaded us has turned off the underground Maser System!"
"Are the kaiju awake now?" Yamane asked.
"Yes, and they're relatively calm too. They're just walking around and…oh god! Baragon just jumped onto one of the mountains and is ripping apart an Observation Post! Sir, we don't know what to do!"
"Get out!" Yamane yelled.
Kiryu's Cockpit
August 26, 2002
9:20 AM
"Jet engines ready?" Kane asked Lean Blaze opposite him.
"As soon as those turrets fire, I'm taking us up!" Lean nodded.
"And Benedict!" Kane said quickly, the hundreds of ships in front of them were drawing power to their laser turrets. "Prepare the Oral Maser!"
"Yes sir!" Benedict shouted.
Kane's palms gripped onto his own control sticks and he waited for the ships to make the first move. The hundreds of saucers in front of them looked like they were just about to fire.
"Get ready Lean…" Kane reminded.
But suddenly, the cockpit lurched forward. They were all nearly pulled from their seats as the front screen showed them being lifted into the air.
Outside, Gigan had swooped down from the low cloud cover and its two iron sickles had wrapped around Kiryu's neck before the space monster pulled it into the sky.
"What the hell!?" Kane shouted as klaxons blared all around them.
They were all of the sudden, dropped back down to the sprawling metropolis below. Lean fired on the Rocket Engines just in time and spun them around to face their attacker. Hovering in the sky was the distinct form of Gigan.
But then their screen went hay-wire. Static replaced the image as King Joe tried to find the problem. But he didn't need to: the face of the Vortaak man who had made the opening broadcast faced them.
"So this is man's greatest weapon, a robotic version of Godzilla." The pale man said with a heavy sarcastic tone.
"Don't tell me your species thought they could take Earth without a fight!" Kane yelled.
"I hope you four are prepared to take-on the forces of both all of Earth's kaiju and the entire Vortaak armada. From the looks of it, you aren't doing so well. I'll just leave Gigan to finish you off."
The screen was replaced by the normal view; Gigan was streaking down towards them with one of its sickles raised. Lean turned the ship left just in time and the space monster zoomed past them, the passing flow of air rocking the ship. It turned back, squawked and then charged forward again, the dot on its forehead flashing ruby lights.
Kiryu's maw opened and out burst the ray of golden energy. It struck Gigan right in its cyclops red eye. It shrieked in agony and stopped dead in its tracks. The kaiju shook its head and then, as if hypnotized, turned toward the moon.
"What's it doing?" King Joe asked. Gigan burst forward again, rocketing back for outer space. Suddenly hundreds of the tiny Vortaak ships rushed past them, following Gigan out of Earth's atmosphere.
"Return to base!" The speaker on the ceiling emitted Commander Master's voice. "Something's happening!"
Monster Island 2
August 26, 2002
9: 30 AM
Anguirus's long tail came up and whacked Godzilla right under the jaw, cracking his neck a bit. The King's claws grappled with the other kaiju that was now drawing blood with its vampire-like fangs. He finally ripped the feral monster from his hide and tossed it to the ground.
This wasn't Anguirus, this wasn't his family; this was something else. He could sense the side of Anguirus that had been lurking in him for the past few months. The evil dark side.
The saurian lunged at Godzilla again, but this time the King of Monsters spun around and smacked the flying Anguirus out of the air with his massive tail. He wouldn't hold back on destroying this alien threat, even if it meant killing his friend.
He burst forward upon the fallen kaiju but before he could reach him, Anguirus spun like a top on its spiked shell, its stiff tail extended. It caught Godzilla's footing and he fell face first into the hard ground. Anguirus got on all fours and drove its jagged teeth into Godzilla's shoulder.
Like a vicious dog, it dragged the King of Monsters over to one of the pillars of stone. It released its gripping on Godzilla and went over to the plateau where it slammed its shell against it. The huge structure crumbled and began to fall like a hammer, right onto the Big G…
"Rodan has also escaped." Dr. Yamane said regretfully to the group after hanging up the radio.
"Their plan was flawless!" Greg admitted, "We didn't stand a chance, and now there's no hope since the kaiju are under their control and running around unchecked!"
"Kiryu and Mechagodzilla were built for a reason you know!" James said.
"Like the Vortaak said, if we thought an attack every two or three years was bad, we have no idea what all this chaos will do!" Greg said back, "Kiryu and M.G were built with that in mind, to fight off a kaiju every few years and then spend some time repairing from the battle. This is much different."
The plateau toppled over, but Godzilla quickly assessed the situation and pushed his body out of the way, rolling into the nearby jungle. The huge rock structure hit the ground and a cloud of rock and dust veiled the area. Godzilla got back onto his feet and looked around for Anguirus, his hazel eyes straining to see through the dust. But his enemy was nowhere in sight.
Then his ears caught the distinct sound of rapid stomping behind him. He didn't even have to look to know that Anguirus was hurtling at his spine. His massive tail came up and hit the monster's fully exposed belly. He turned and ran at Anguirus who had fallen to the ground before Godzilla's massive foot came up and hammered onto Anguirus's throat.
The other monster coughed tons of saliva onto the nearby trees. Godzilla brought his foot up and stomped it back down onto Anguirus's neck. This time, the sight of blood dripping from its throat delighted Godzilla. He brought his foot up for another attack but this time Anguirus rolled over onto its back and crawled forward. Godzilla's foot hit Anguirus's spiky shell and three of the spines punctured right through his hide like nails.
He howled in rage as Anguirus got back onto its feet, turned around and jumped back. Its spike filled shell slammed into his body, and this time he was thrown back, toward the lava pool…
"I still can't believe they took Areit." Greg said to himself while the three men boarded the elevator in the building. They all stepped inside and James hit a few keys on the control panel.
"We'll get her back." Yamane assured them. "But right now, our job is to get off this island. At the bottom of the elevator we should be able to find a car and drive ourselves to the docks. We'll find a boat there."
"Sounds good," James crossed his arms as the elevator started to take them down the plateau. "But this is all assuming that the two brawling kaiju don't kill us in the first place."
"Yeah." Yamane admitted.
Anguirus charged like a raging bull at Godzilla who was standing on the rocky shores of the glowing lava pool. Just before its crowned skull stabbed into his chest, Godzilla stepped to the side.
Anguirus's foot caught on one of the rocks and it tripped, face planting right into the smoldering liquid. Its head rose and it howled in pain as smoke and lava rolled from its face. Godzilla's spines began to sizzle and glow orange. His maw snapped open and from the back of his throat blasted the powerful Atomic Ray.
It struck the surface of the lava lake right in front of Anguirus and a fountain of melted rock was dumped all over its body, throwing it into a state of hostile pain. Godzilla roared in triumph as Anguirus tried to free itself from the sticky super heated liquid.
G-Force H.Q
August 26, 2002
9:43 AM
"Why did they retreat back into space?!" Lean Blaze asked Kane as they walked across the catwalk overlooking the docking chamber for their giant mech. Just exiting the door at the base of Kiryu's neck was King Joe and Benedict Ciavo who ran after the two pilots.
"Beats me, we might've scared them off." Kane suggested.
"That alien race did not just give up after we landed one good hit!" Lean yelled. He was obviously angry that they hadn't been able to finish their battle with Gigan.
"It doesn't make any sense!" Lean threw his fists down in frustration.
"They sure got enough citizens." Benedict said as he came up behind them.
"Who knows what damn alien experiments they're going to pull on them!" King Joe added.
"The Vortaak said they'd be using us as their helpers…as their slaves." Kane stated. "They could be building like a concentration camp on the moon."
"Good work boys!" David Masters said as he walked toward them across the catwalk.
"Do you have any idea what's going on sir?" Lean ran up to the Commander.
"All I know is that the Vortaak ships left all Earth cities and retreated back to the moon after you guys hit Gigan." Masters shrugged. "Come to the briefing room, you need to see something."
Monster Island 2
August 26, 2002
9:45 AM
Anguirus dragged its smoldering body onto the shores of the magma pool. It collapsed onto the many jagged igneous rocks and gasped for breath. Godzilla, not too far away, eyed the monster suspiciously. If it was his friend, then he'd hold off the attack, if it was still his foe, then he would rip the thing to shreds.
Whatever it was, its head collapsed to the ground and it continued to pant as more and more smoke rolled off its charred hide. Godzilla continued to stay back until he finally sensed that the monster was back to being Anguirus.
Godzilla rushed forward and nudged Anguirus's shoulder with his snout as he bent down. The other kaiju was still alive, but only just. He turned and curled his huge tail around Anguirus's elbow, pulling him away from the intense heat and onto the lush jungle.
Anguirus's eye twitched and then opened, looking back up toward Godzilla. His friend was confused; Anguirus didn't know why it had acted in such a feral way and tried to kill Godzilla. Anguirus stamped its feet to the ground and painfully lifted itself back up. It shook off some of the smoke still rolling from its burnt body and looked toward the ocean. The electrical barrier was nowhere in sight.
The two kaiju, back to being family, both moved across the island and toward their freedom.
"Well," James said as he watched from the window of a yellow painted jeep. "I suppose that's for the best."
The team of kaijuologists was driving down a dirt path toward the huge cliffs of the island. There they would get into the interior bases and find a boat near the docks on the southern part of the island.
"It looks like the Vortaak don't have control over Anguirus anymore." Greg said. Yamane was driving, so he didn't look out the window.
"Doesn't make a lot of sense." Yamane added, "They still have control over all the other Monsters across the Island Chain."
The Mecha Maru
August 26, 2002
10:00 AM
"The invaders, who called themselves the Vortaak," A TV female news reporter said in front of Central Park, New York, "Only spent approximately five minutes here on Earth, but the number of missing men, women, and children shows just how prepared they were."
Vincent Crador and Paul Goji were watching the reports from the comfort of their beds. Vincent was wearing his casual black trench coat with the words "Mecha Crew" printed on the back. Kaiser had gone to fetch the team some food from the kitchen.
"The Self Defense Forces around the world were proven to be useless against the force of the Vortaak ships. The only city that saw any form of relief was Tokyo. The G-Force mech Kiryu, who was finished just two years ago after sixteen years of building it, arrived in Tokyo just after the invasion started."
"I wish we could've done something to help out." Paul yawned.
"Mechagodzilla's strapped to the deck of a ship and we're miles away from anywhere these aliens would want to attack." Vincent replied.
"We now go back to the newsroom where we have a special guest with us, Michael Griffin the President of NASA who will tell us a bit more about the Vortaak." The reporter continued.
G-Force H.Q, Briefing Room
August 16, 2002
10:00 AM
The Kiryu crew sat all around the rusted grey table at the center of the small briefing room. Each one of them watched the television screen hanging on the wall as a video played, recorded from one of the Monster Island 2 cameras. At the end of the table was Commander Masters.
The video ended and the crew looked back toward Masters. "Well," He nodded, "You saw what happened."
"Godzilla was never taken over by the Vortaak like all the other monsters." King Joe said.
"That's right," Masters replied, "Godzilla, is still on Earth's side. As you could see, Anguirus was brainwashed by the Vortaak and was forced to attack his own ally. But somehow, Godzilla found a way to get him out of the hypnosis."
"What about all the other monsters across the Island Chain?" Kane asked his Commander.
"They destroyed any resistance that the G-Force military set up. I assume that the Vortaak also infiltrated the facilities on the Monster Islands, because the barriers that kept the kaiju contained were shut off." Commander Masters held up the remote and it changed to an image of Monster Island 1, where Destoroyah was wallowing out into the bright blue ocean.
"Destoroyah, Megalon, Baragon, Megaguirus, and Rodan all escaped from their containments. Anguirus was left behind, presumably to kill off Godzilla since the Vortaak couldn't find a way to control him. But after the battle Godzilla and Anguirus submerged under the ocean, luckily they aren't on the Vortaak's side." Masters added.
"So what kaiju do we know the Vortaak have under their rule?" Benedict Ciavo asked.
"All the ones from the Monster Island chain, minus Godzilla and Anguirus." David Masters answered, "They also have Gigan."
"We know they don't have Godzilla Millennium but what about Godzilla Heisei?" Kane asked. The two terms for the two different Godzillas was coined in 1984 when the second Godzilla attacked Tokyo, back then it was called Godzilla 84 and the previous was called Godzilla 54. In the year 2000 when G 84 was discovered on its home island in the Pacific Ocean, the street term became "Godzilla Millennium", named after the year when it was sighted again. The first Godzilla was later called (as a street-name) "Godzilla Heisei" after the Japanese time period that started in 1989. Heisei was used only because teenagers liked the sound of it, though the official name still remained "Godzilla 54".
"The first Godzilla hasn't been seen in almost fifty years." Masters spat, "What makes you think the Vortaak would even look into that Godzilla?"
"Can we focus on how Godzilla Millennium got Anguirus out of Vortaak control?" Joe asked, "If we find out then we won't have to worry so much about these kaiju threats."
"It could simply be," Masters suggested, "that Godzilla and Anguirus have a strong connection with each other. Godzilla was simply able to bring out the good side of Anguirus."
"Either way, I'm waging war on the Vortaak." Kane said standing up.
"Excuse me Locke, but I'm the one that makes that call." Masters hushed him before turning back toward the rest of the crew, "G-Force is waging war on the Vortaak."