They Think It's All Over...
Will led Allan back towards the hangar bay. Though, this time, he noticed that Will did not lead him back to the control room where he would see Kiryuu's avatar form. Instead, he led him towards the catwalk in front of the real mecha. Will nodded as he left Alan alone with Kiryuu again.
"I know what you want," Kiryuu began. "But Will is right; I'm no genie. I can't make everything be alright for Shinoda. I can tell you where the FBI is keeping him if you want to get him out. Will?"
Will appeared again, handing Alan a piece of paper.
"What you do with that address is your business," Kiryuu continued, his eyebrow cocking up. "I will play no part in aiding you this time. I have a demonic dragon to watch for."
Will once more returned to the control room.
"Listen, about what happened back then," Alan grunted. "Why were you worried about Knoxville?"
"Have you been to Knoxville?" Kiryuu asked, tilting his head to one side in scrutiny.
"No," he replied.
"It's a small city located in the south-eastern United States," Kiryuu replied. "Very small; one of their tallest buildings only comes up to my chin."
"Why is it important?" Alan asked. "I want to know before I leave."
"It seems I miscalculated," Kiryuu replied. "Godzilla would be more interested in that area than King Ghidorah."
"Why's that?" Alan asked.
"The US Navy's supplier of enriched uranium for their nuclear subs is just 20 miles away from that city," Kiryuu replied. "He's never been that far north up the East Coast, let alone diving through limestone. But Manda's little dream was of King Ghidorah. Why would King Ghidorah be interested in Knoxville? He doesn't feed off of nuclear radiation. I can't tell you anything because I don't have any answers. I don't want to tell you anything because I don't want to give you any ideas. You worry about Shinoda. Let me handle King Ghidorah.
"By the way," he continued, "I must say that was a nice job you did on the men's restroom mirror. Care to tell me why you broke it?"
Alan looked away as he put the scrap of paper in his pocket. Of course Kiryuu would have seen that side of the story. However, he was so frustrated about Kiryuu leaving
him out of this matter, and felt that if Kiryuu persisted on leaving him in the dark, Alan was entitled to do the same.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said, simply.
Kiryuu leaned back slightly chuckling even more at Alan's obvious defiance. But he knew already. Those damned cells Alan had not only connected him to Godzilla, but in some similar ways to Kiryuu. The CCI researchers had been very close to the truth with regards to the blood bond. He had other ways of making the human talk, but he was not interested in exerting those strategies at the time. Instead, he just wanted to rattle Alan's chains even more. The bio-mecha leaned down towards his 'grandson' and grinned a very vicious, toothy grin.
"King Ghidorah must have had some fun with you to have made you tremble so," he began, his deep voice picking at pieces of Alan's consciousness. "You haven't been this breathless since our first meeting."
Alan snarled, his eyes narrowing as he looked back at Kiryuu. He felt his fist clenching. Indeed, it looked like it was taking all of his self-restraint to stop himself launching himself at Kiryuu. The rational part of him knew full well that that would be a very stupid idea though.
"Watch your mouth, granddad," Alan said, through gritted teeth.
He lowered his fist, releasing a snarl. He supposed he had to tell his snotty relative something; he had already pretty much figured it out just from that one comment.
"I don't know why I should tell you this, considering you never tell me anything," Alan said. He sighed as he told Kiryuu what had happened to him in the bathroom; about King Ghidorah's unexpected, unwanted visit in his mind, of what the monster had said and done, of what he had tried to do, and of what had led up to Alan's eventual smashing of the mirror.
"Whatever Manda saw in my head," he continued, "King Ghidorah put it there. He told me himself. Don't ask me how he did what he did, because I don't get it myself. I think I know what he wanted me to do though."
At this, he closed his eyes, hanging his head slightly.
"I wouldn't, though…" he said, "I'm not doing any favours for that bastard."
At this, he looked back up at Kiryuu again, looking straight into the large gold eyes.
"Like it or not, Kiryuu," he went on, "King Ghidorah is my business. He became my business the second he attacked my home, and no-one has any right to tell me otherwise, not even you."
"I have already told you what I know," Kiryuu continued. "I know nothing about King Ghidorah's plans on attacking Knoxville."
"Not just Knoxville," Alan continued. "I want to know what the hell this is all about. King Ghidorah knows something about you and the world's nuclear weapons."
"The launch codes," Kiryuu said. "I already told you what I told him, I do not have that information."
"Why should I believe you?" Alan growled.
"Would you like to spend about 5 years finding out if I'm lying or not?" Kiryuu asked. "Because that's how long it would take to go through my lines of code one by one to find these launch codes you speak of. Do you think I'm that computer from the Terminator? Why would I want to do something as irrational as that? The EMP would be enough to fry me as well…" He broke off and turned away, his eyes showed just how horrified he was.
"My God..." he continued. "That is what King Ghidorah wants to do. He uses me to kill my son, and then uses me to set off every nuclear weapon in hopes of not only frying my circuits but killing off everyone on this planet to feed his hunger. But, again, I don't have that information and there would be no way for King Ghidorah to get it unless he uses me to get it."
Like how I got you to hack into government files, my lovely Kiryuu? Came a sinister voice from inside of him. If he's as powerful as I've heard, then he can do exactly what I did.
"I don't want to be put through that again," Kiryuu shook his head as he felt Biollante's tentacles wrap themselves around his processors, caressing him in many wrong ways. Kiryuu grimaced, shutting his eyes tightly as her touch began to entice him.
Oh, yes, you remembered, Biollante said. And you loved what I did to you.
Kiryuu lifted his claw up to his head and ran his metallic talons through his green dreadlocks. His vocal breath began to lag a bit as Biollante moved in once more, tickling him in the receptive areas of his processors. Kiryuu's eye opened wide and he began to clench his teeth, lifting the other claw to his head.
"Stop it," Kiryuu growled. "Get your hands off of me!"
"Kiryuu..." Alan said, thoroughly confused by Kiryuu's words. "What the hell?"
King Ghidorah won't do it as softly and sweetly as I did, Biollante purred. He won't pleasure you as he forces you deeply into those grids to get what he wants. He'll torture you.
"Don't think what you're doing to me right now, Erika," began Kiryuu, panting. "Doesn't count as torture."
I can touch you in ways that not even Katsura or Maria could ever dream of, Biollante chuckled. And just the way you like it. You may deny it, but you love it. You may not love me the way you love Maria, but you love me in so many different ways.
Kiryuu jerked back, leaning his head over the catwalk.
"Alan!" he called. "I think it's best that you should leave. Now. Please, go."
Tears actually began to trickle down Kiryuu's grey cheeks. His claw came up to his face as he wiped them free from his eyes. Alan was starting to get scared by Kiryuu's behaviour, the tears in-particular disturbed him.
Oh, but I want him to stay, Biollante said. Stay and watch.
"No!" Kiryuu roared, feeling those tentacles wrap tighter around his processors. He reached up to his throat, feeling something burning rush up towards his mouth. Alan's eyes widened he noticed something glow behind Kiryuu. His spines were lit up.
"No fucking way…" Alan breathed, eyes still widened in horror. He knew all too well what the glowing spines meant. He started to back away towards the door back to the control room, but he knew he'd never be able to get out of the hangar in time, and shouting for help would be downright pointless.
"I really think you should go, Alan," Kiryuu growled. Glowing whips of smoke actually came out of his mouth as he spoke, accompanied by a bright white glow. Kiryuu tried to force the burning sensation down this throat and towards his stomach, lifting his head up as he swallowed. He let loose a sigh as a whiff of glowing white puff of heated air escaped his mouth. He turned wearily back to Alan. "Please, go. No... no more questions. I'm tired. I've got my own problems to deal with, and you have Shinoda. Io is safe with me. I'll... I'll watch over her as if she was my own daughter."
Alan breathed hard, barely registering Kiryuu's words, and for once he didn't argue. He was now becoming frightened, and he felt he had to get away from here. He turned around, making his way along the catwalk, walking quickly as if he was trouble trying to decide whether he would run or not. He walked back to the control room, and finally headed into the elevator heading back up to the main building. He felt glad not to run into anybody else as he headed out, for he didn't want to face any questions. As he looked out of the window in the elevator looking out over the bay, he saw Kiryuu's eyes following the elevator. His expression was difficult to read; it seemed weary beyond any form of human endurance.
Aww… Alan suddenly heard a cold, mocking female voice, a voice he recognised and had hoped never to hear again. Did I scare you then? A pity… It would have been a hell of a show.
Alan recognised the voice as belonging to Biollante. That psycho had tortured him in Nevada; he now understood that he had been linked with Godzilla then, and she had held him prisoner in the monster's mind.
Surprised to hear me? Biollante said, mockingly. Your grandfather certainly was when he found I was still alive inside him. She finished with another cold chuckle. Shinoda's daughter is right; there definitely is a resemblance between you both, don't you think, little brother? Or should it be big brother? I'm not sure.
I saw everything that happened between you and King Ghidorah… she sneered. He definitely has an interest in both of you. He does seem even more powerful than I, and he will get you…
She then proceeded to mock Alan, in a horrible mock singing voice, like how a child might mock one who was chasing them.
He's going to get you, she sang. He's going to get you…
"Shut up!" Alan shouted, covering his ears with his hands, trying to drown out the horrible mocking singing. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut the fuck up!"
But Biollante didn't shut up. She continued singing in Alan's mind, even after he reached the ground floor and stormed out of the building. Alan was so full of hate towards that voice and it must have shown, for the guards and receptionist looked too scared to go near him.
Finally, Biollante's singing ended as he stepped outside the building, into the afternoon sun. Alan heard her give one last, low, mocking chuckle before her voice was finally gone. Alan climbed back into his rented vehicle, and pounded the steering wheel with his fists. He now had half a mind to go back in there, climb inside Kiryuu and pull out the piece of syntech that had Biollante in it. He hated her for what she had done to him in Nevada, and had hoped she had died then.
His visit to the base had not been a pleasant one, all things considered. The worst of it was that, despite Manda's attempts, he was still linked to Godzilla, a fact that King Ghidorah knew. More than that, he was worried by the demon's interest in Kiryuu; if he did find a way to control the mecha, he would become unstoppable.
Alan closed his eyes, shaking, holding his head in his hands. Things were now happening that seemed to be beyond even Kiryuu's control. He wondered how they could possibly fight an enemy like King Ghidorah; more and more it was sounding impossible. He shook his head, trying to think of something else to focus on. As he started the engine, he looked at the scrap of paper in his hand, with the address that Kiryuu said Shinoda could be found. Deciding to focus on finding out what had happened to Shinoda, he pulled back out on the road back to Salt Lake City. By this time, it was now late afternoon, and the sun was setting against the western horizon.
For some reason, he could not get Biollante's mocking singing out of his head.
***
An hour later, Alan finally saw the twinkling night-lights of Salt Lake City, his mind at last clear from that awful singing. It was now getting dark; it was the end of a day that had been eventful, but yielding so few favourable results. Alan's only reassuring thought was that Io was alright; he hated to think what would have happened if she had been caught by Katagiri too.
It was as he was driving through the city centre towards the address he had been supplied with, when the first sign of trouble appeared. As he approached an intersection he found that the road was closed, the traffic being diverted. Pulling onto the road to the right, Alan pulled over onto the sidewalk and climbed out of his car. He was curious as to what happened, along with what seemed to be half the city crowded around the police barriers.
After some jostling and pushing, Alan managed to get a good view beyond the barriers. At the intersection it looked like there had been a collision, with various uniformed officers working to remove two badly-wrecked cars from the road. One looked like a brown sedan, only now the roof was caved in, the doors buckled and a sizeable dent down the left side. The other was a sporty-looking Dodge Viper, but now with most of the front destroyed, folded almost like a concertina. Looking around him, he noticed that other cars in the area had dents and scratches. It looked like people had been hurt in the crash, for an ambulance crew was present tending to a young couple in fancy business suits. Disconcertingly, Alan noticed a pair of body bags being placed in the back of the ambulance.
Alan also could not help but notice that, as well as a number of regular police officers on the scene, several others in suits were present. They did not seem to him to be plain-clothes detectives; they mostly seemed to keep to themselves and looked distracted, as if there was something else about this crash that bothered them. They kept peering into the crowd, like they were trying to pick out a particular face.
Backing away from the crowd, Alan heard his mobile ringing. Pulling it out of his pocket, he answered.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Got him!" a familiar voice muttered for a moment. "Alan, it's Will Penter. Have you got a minute?"
"Will?" Alan asked, puzzled. He headed back to his car and climbed inside before continuing. "What's going on? Has Kiryuu finally decided to tell me what he's up to?"
"Never mind that right now," Will said firmly. "You've got a lot more to be concerned about. It's about Shinoda. Where are you?"
"Shinoda?" Alan asked. "What's happened? I was heading to that address you have me, but the traffic's been diverted."
"Because of a crash on a city intersection?" Will chimed in.
"How did you know that?" Alan asked.
"Kiryuu's been listening in on the FBI's bandwidth," Will explained. "He figured you would go to Shinoda right away; he thought he could notify you if anything changed about Shinoda's condition."
"So what's changed then?" Alan asked, sounding more impatient. "What's happened here?!"
"Will you let me finish?!" Will snapped irritably. "The FBI was just about to move Shinoda from the safe-house he had been staying in to the airport. Katagiri was to be taken to New York to face a UN tribunal for his 'crimes', and Shinoda agreed to go along and testify against him."
"Those guys in suits..." Alan thought aloud, then his eyes widened. "Oh no... They must have been..."
"Exactly," Will said. "We're still listening in on the FBI; they're piecing together what happened. Hold on a second..." With that, the line went quiet. Alan was sure he could hear voices on the other end, but they were muffled and he couldn't make out what they were saying. He assumed that Will had placed his hand over the mouth-piece. After a few moments of silence, Will spoke again.
"Here we are," he said. "According to their radio conversations, preliminary analysis suggests that the driver was strangled, while another agent broke his neck in the crash. There was no sign of either Shinoda or Katagiri at the crash site, and a gun and keychain were missing off the body of one of the agents. Katagiri's handcuffs have just been found in a nearby alley."
"Do they have any idea where Katagiri went?" Alan asked.
"They're scouring the city with a fine toothcomb," Will said, "but we don't think they've got a fix on his location yet. The media hasn't got wind of this story yet; the feds have been doing a good job keeping it all hush-hush so far. They must think their little blunder can be salvaged."
Alan was silent for a moment, his mind wracked with worry. Now Katagiri was on the loose, and there seemed to be little doubt that he had taken Shinoda with him. Who knew what that terrible man was doing even now, still fixated with learning the truth about the loss of that vital information that had started all this mess. It was then that Alan had an idea.
"What about Shinoda's mobile?" Alan asked. "If the feds cleared him, he would have got his possessions back, right?"
"Kiryuu thought the same thing," said Will. "We're running a search for his mobile, and Kiryuu can work out his position through the satellite array. Ah, here we are..." His voice went silent once again for a moment. "His phone's ringing, and we're not detecting any FBI tracers on it... Someone's answering..."
Alan had a horrible feeling that it wasn't Shinoda that answered the phone. All was quiet for a moment, then Alan decided to break the silence.
"Is it... him?" he snarled.
"Yes," Will answered quietly. "Kiryuu's talking to him now. At least I think he is; he's put the conversation on a private line. The FBI still hasn't found him, but I guess Katagiri would know what to do in a situation like this."
"Well," Alan began, "Kiryuu can tell him to let Shinoda go, and then shove a-"
"Hold it," Will interrupted. "Kiryuu's about to patch you through on the line. Looks like he wants you both to talk. As hard as it is for you, don't lose it." Before Alan could argue, there was a sudden click on the line, and Will's voice was gone, only to be replaced by a voice Alan had hoped he would never hear again.
"So, Gojira," said the smooth voice of Katagiri. "Your employer has given you up."
"Katagiri..." Alan snarled.
"Kiryuu has proven to be reasonable," Katagiri continued. "He and I have been able to come to an arrangement. I have given my conditions, and I will repeat them for you. If you turn yourself in, and hand over the documentation I need to bring the Utah Foundation to justice, then I will let Shinoda go. He can go back to his family, and his life will continue untroubled by myself or my agency ever again. I am sure I do not need to tell you what the alternative is."
"How do I know he's still alive?" growled Alan.
"I have already given Kiryuu sufficient proof of Dr. Shinoda's continued existence," Katagiri replied smoothly. "I am not in any mood to repeat myself, and you are trying my patience. I need an answer now; yes or no?"
All Alan wanted to do was somehow reach into the phone and strangle Katagiri. He could not believe Kiryuu had put him in this position of having to surrender himself. Alan conjured up a number of choice phrases he wanted to give to Katagiri at that point, but in the end he knew he could not risk Shinoda's life.
"Yes," he snarled.
"Good," was Katagiri's smug reply. "We shall meet tonight, at the construction site of the new Omak-Argon factory. It is a few miles to the south of Salt Lake City. Come alone, or Shinoda dies." With that, there was another click as he hung up. The line was still open, however, so Alan assumed he was still speaking with Will.
"I knew it," snarled Alan. "Kiryuu's gone barmy. Does he honestly expect me to negotiate and surrender to that bastard?!"
"Of course not," Kiryuu's deep voice suddenly said, nearly causing Alan to drop the phone in surprise. "I have not gone barmy, Alan; on the contrary, we are approaching the end of my little game."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alan asked.
"I have set things in motion, Alan," replied Kiryuu. "I knew Katagiri would find a way to do something like this from the moment he was arrested. I knew he would become blinded by his pursuit of the truth, and thus expose himself for the madman he truly is. I began the destruction of the CCI, and now I leave it in your hands to finish it off." He gave a low, sinister chuckle. "The pieces are falling into place; Katagiri's king is vulnerable, and now it's time for you, my little dark knight, to send him into checkmate."
Alan sat in silence, hardly daring to believe Kiryuu's words. He realised that he had been set up again; Kiryuu was using him again to achieve his own goals. He could not believe that he did not see this coming; he had hoped that it would be a simple task to find Shinoda and take him home. Of course, it never was. He looked to the backseat at one of his bags; the one that currently held his more 'specialist' equipment. He sighed, knowing that a confrontation with Katagiri was inevitable, but a part of him knew that this was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to make sure Katagiri paid for what he had done not just to Alan, but to Shinoda, Tetsuo, and all the other lives the man had destroyed.
"I'll take care of it," Alan simply said.
"Then do not waste time getting to him," Kiryuu rumbled. "There is nothing else for me to do except to wish you the best of luck... Do our family proud."
With that, Kiryuu hung up.