The Hunt
Kitamatsu Village, 2000
"It has been over a year since the decimation of Tokyo, and there have still been no signs of the monster known as-"The television flickered off and the owner of the remote slumped back on the couch. Io sighed and stared off at the blank set. She had grown so much in only a year's time. She was taller and slimmer now, looking more like a young woman than a little girl. Ditching the pigtails, she opted for a ponytail as she reluctantly went with her aunt's desire, which was to make her 'girlier' instead of the techno geek she truly was. The destruction of the city began to replay in her head once again, memories that would not fade away. Memories of the waves of fire that swept the street, the agonizing cries of the dying, and the nauseating scent of the corpse of the alien creature. She had stared the cause of it all directly in the eyes, eyes full of hate and rage. And she watched as the behemoth murdered Mr. Katagiri right in front of her.
"Io! What're you doing?" The question snapped her out of her flashback, and she turned around to face her aunt. Her aunt was a thin lady, with long shimmering black hair. She was several years younger than Io's father, and very much a polar opposite. While Yuji was a computer savvy, recluse, Misato was much more social and spent more time out shopping and with friends then at home.
"Err, nothing Aunt Misato."
"Nothing? Well we can't have that! You can't just be sitting around watching TV and messing with your toys!"
"Those aren't toys. They're high-tech devices that-"
"Oh shush. Come, let's go for a walk! It'll be fun!" Misato ignored Io's groan of protest, but she knew she had won. The two quickly changed into more appropriate walking attire instead of pajamas. Finally, equipped with some athletic shorts and a tank top, Misato was ready. Io went a bit more conservative, with longer jogging pants and a regular old t-shirt.
"Guys like a girl whose fit," Misato teased, flexing her arms as Io rolled her eyes.
"Let's just get going," Io stated, already losing her patience. Misato nodded and the two left the small home.
The sky was a dull gray, the sun having a hard time peeking through the thick clouds that seemed to be everywhere. The dreary weather was a sign of the approaching winter months that lay ahead. Surprisingly, it was still warm outside, enough that Io was beginning to regret her choice of jogging pants. The aunt and niece strolled away from the house, and into a pathway that led through a patch of woods. Her aunt had believed being near nature would bring inner peace or something like that. Ironic considering her aunt couldn't stay from her cell phone for more than an hour. Technology must run through the blood.
"So, how do you like it here, Io?"
"It's alright," she replied dully. Frankly, she hated it here. She enjoyed living in the city, the sounds of traffic and people much more welcoming then the silence of rural life that seemed to fill this village.
"I see…so, have any friends back home?"
"No." Misato frowned. What had Yuji done to her poor niece? She was such a recluse! How could she not have any friends while Misato was such a social butterfly?
"Why not, Io?"
"Not much of a people person." And it was true, to be honest. Io never cared much for large crowds or classrooms full of idiotic children and imbecile teachers who thought they knew what they were talking about. Her father was a smarter man then any of the teachers she had ever had.
"I see," Misato replied, disappointed in the way Io was. She eyed her niece as they walked, trying to study her emotions. She wondered if this antisocial behavior was due to what had happened to her mother. She quickly eliminated the thought from her head. Some things are better not to bring up.
"So…how do you like being a part of the Godzilla Lookout thing?"
"It's called the 'Godzilla Prediction Network'," Io replied, rolling her eyes, "And I enjoy it very much. My father and I do quite a bit for Japan. It's not easy predicting where a giant monster will make landfall, but we get the job done. Though, he hasn't shown up in a long time." Her voice trailed off. Godzilla hadn't made an appearance in a year. No Godzilla means nobody needed their unique expertise. Due to this, their once steady trickle of income had run dry. Her father Yuji had to take odd jobs to support everything. He would eventually send her down to reside with her aunt for the winter, which she suspected was to try and fix everything. She sighed, heart heavy. She missed him, even if he couldn't pay the bills or make a half-decent sandwich. He was her father, and that's all that mattered.
They had made quite some distance from her aunt's house and neither spoke a word. Io enjoyed the silence for once, never having much of a connection with her aunt.
"I wonder what ever happened to those two men we saw," Io wondered out loud. They had stopped by asking for some directions to some sort of old mine shaft. Misato had directed them farther away from the village, into the woods. She knew the area better then Io did, that was certain.
"Hmm, yes. The Americans. I'm not sure. Perhaps they found their treasure."
"Do you think there was actually treasure, Aunt Misato?" Her aunt shrugged and shook her head. Frankly, she thought the two must have been insane to listen to some old man looking for a couple of bucks and believe there was something of value in a dark, dirty cave.
"I think they were quite foolish to believe such a tale. But, not our problem," she replied, grinning devilishly. Io cracked a smile as well. Perhaps her aunt wasn't so bad after all.
"Help!" Io and her aunt froze in their tracks as the cry for aid reached their ears. They made eye contact, unnerved by the turn of events. Leaves crackled as something ran directly at them. Misato stood in front of Io, confident that whoever the owner of the yell was coming from the right. The trees were close together, with thick bushes growing underneath them. It was extremely difficult to see anything through such an untamed mess.
Robert burst through the line of bushes, tripping and rolling onto the dirty path. Misato and Io gasped in alarm and took a step back. The man was breathing hard, his clothes torn and numerous cuts adorning his body. He groaned and struggled to his feet. He expressed a look of hope as he saw the two, but that quickly turned into one of fear.
"Thank God you two are here! Listen, we gotta go! This thing is chasing me! It killed my friend!" He grabbed a hold of Misato, who quickly shirked away.
"Get your hands off me. If this is some kind of prank, I swear I will hit you so hard in the-"
"Aunt Misato, be quiet and listen!" Her aunt glared at her, about to say something when she too heard what her niece and the seemingly crazy man had picked up. It was a clicking noise that grew louder with every second. Robert looked around nervously, obviously very afraid.
"We need to go…now," he whispered frantically. Misato frowned and took a step forward, a can of pepper spray in her hand which she had smuggled in her shorts. She didn't trust this guy. She figured he was some kind of pervert and this was some sort of elaborate scheme to violate her and her niece. Well she wasn't having that. She was going to spray his 'dead' friend then take care of that buffoon behind them.
Foodfoodfood. Where is it? Here? There? Foodfoodfood!
The creature hissed as it sped along the trail. Its prey had blindsided it with a branch and slowed it down, having cracked one of its legs. But the Meganulon did not care. Pain was irrelevant. It needed to eat. That was all that mattered. Its mandibles clicked together as its head darted to and fro, dozens of eyes scanning the environment. It shrieked as it saw the footprints in the muck, smelt the blood of food. It rushed forth, following the trail laid out by its prey. Shreds of cloth and spots of blood were all the evidence the large insect needed to crawl even faster. A line of bushes lay ahead and the scent of its prey grew even stronger. In fact, there were more of them! With a hiss that shifted into a horrifying scream, the bronze Meganulon leaped forth through the wall of bushes.
Food!
The three had no time to react. The mass of flesh and armor sliced through the bushes and collided with Misato. She opened her mouth to scream but any sound was quickly prevented from coming out as the Meganulon tore into her throat with its knife-like fangs. Io stood let out a choked cry as she saw her aunt being brutally mauled. Robert, on the other hand, yelled in rage as he saw the insect, the same one that had been chasing, attack an innocent woman. He bent over and picked up a stick that had been thrown out into the road by the creature's eruption from the forest. He ran over to the attacking bug and raised the stick upwards. The Meganulon stopped momentarily, and looked up at Robert, hissing. This threatening gesture soon turned into a squeal of pain as Robert lodged the stick directly in its right group of compound eyes. Robert grunted with exertion as he put all of his strength into pushing down the stick. The Meganulon attempted to fight back, but a deft kick to its side sent it rolling over onto the ground. Robert readjusted his position, and removed the improvised weapon, only to bring it down once again right in the center freak of a bug's head. With a shudder, the bug's creepy green eyes dimmed and it twisted into a ball, before permanently staying still. Robert ripped the stick out of the carcass, sending purple globs of blood and something else splattering everywhere. He dropped the stick and whimpered before voiding his stomach onto the ground.
Io sobbed as she ran towards her aunt, whose entire neck and chest area was a mess. Her clothes were soaked with her own blood. She whimpered as she looked up at her niece, lightly gripping her hand. Tears ran down Io's face as she held her aunt's hand.
"…Love you…love you…" Misato spat out those words as she began to fade away, choking on her own blood. She rubbed Io's cheek with the back of her hand before it fell to the side, and remained there. One last gasp for oxygen before Misato was no longer among the living. Io's sorrowful cries filled the trail as Robert strode over to the girl. He opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know exactly what to blurt out. The girl had just lost her relative to a huge insect, the biggest Robert had ever seen. He closed his mouth and knelt down and did the only thing he could think of; He held her tightly as she cried on his shoulder. His eyes watered up as well, and the two shed tears for the ones that had been lost that day.
Tokyo, 2000
Yuji yawned, stretching his arms as he put aside the paperwork he had been studying. The day had been uneventful, the absence of Io painstakingly evident. The home of the Shinodas, as well as the headquarters of the GPN, was, quite frankly, a mess. Papers were strewn about, jackets were thrown over furniture, and the food was still lying out, half eaten. Not to mention the funky smell that was coming from the restroom. The GPN hadn't been doing well as of late, due to the absence of the nuclear menace known as Godzilla. Shinoda's team had quit, and he was the sole member of the GPN, not counting Io. As the months went by since Godzilla's last sighting, which was after the monster had conquered the alien dubbed Orga and razed a chunk of Tokyo to the ground, the GPN was no longer asked for information regarding his location. Japan had settled into a sense of security, confident that Godzilla would no longer bother them. Yuji did not rest as easy as his fellow countrymen, and neither did the CCI.
Yuji reclined backwards in his leather office chair and stared at the ceiling. He was in dire financial straits, and the offer lent to him by Miyasaka. That offer of cash was growing extremely attractive by the moment…
"Oh, damn it all," he groaned, burying his head in his hands. He thought about getting himself a beer. A few sips might calm him down. But, this plan was swiftly scrapped as the phone began to ring. Reaching over, Shinoda quickly picked it up and brought it up to his face. The voice on the other line was one he knew very well, and yet, the voice sounded distressed, scared.
"Io? What's the matter?" A minute later, Shinoda's eyes widened and his grip on the phone weakened, dropping the handset to the floor.
East China Sea, 2000
The creature lay deep under the sea, resting upon the ocean floor. No other animal dared to get near the beast as he slept. Bubbles of air ascended with every breath the reptile took. The monster was a forest green, with rough scales and spires of rosy-tinted bones that ran down the length of his back. A long tail lazily swept from side to side. Claws adorned each muscled limb, sparking a sense of dread in all who looked at him. Fangs jutted out from the ferocious looking maw of the beast. It was a peaceful scene, if one ignored the fact that this sleeping being, this giant among beings, was the nuclear leviathan known as Godzilla.
Godzilla slowly opened his eyes and turned his reptilian head, peering around for any signs of danger. Opening his mouth and releasing a roar unheard by the world, he raised himself up onto his hind legs and pushed off, using his club-like tail to swim through the waters much like a crocodile. A very large, deadly, and radioactive crocodile.
Godzilla's energy reserves had almost been drained dry over the past year. The confrontation with the alien foe had been a tough one, to say the least. Unleashing his fury upon the irritating insects and their city didn't help matters. Resting helped conserve his power, but it did not replenish it. Placed with the situation, Godzilla did what he had done before in the past: Recharge.
And he knew exactly where to go as he cut through the water, heading towards the land of the rising sun.