Chapter Eleven
Completely surrounding Manhattan along the New Jersey side of the Hudson, on the sides of Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens facing it was a legion of soldiers and reporters. Veritable swarms of attack helicopters filled the skies and fighter planes made pass after pass roaring pass; battleships, frigates, and submarines ran through the Hudson and East Rivers, Upper and Lower New York Bays and the other Bays; infantry, tanks, rocket launchers, howitzers and other artillery, were on the land areas surrounding ground zero. The men and women of the armed forces were officially there to contain Godzilla and King Ghidorah's battle—and they were unofficially there to shoot anybody who tried to get in.
In any case, they were ready and at their sides was the press in ways unseen in years. By that time, it was known world wide that the final battle was to be held in New York City and, with the sun just having gone black, what was at stake. News people from the New York Times to the National Inquirer were there surrounding the island, writing for the presses or reporting for the camera. Their reports were going into every language in the world because they were being heard in every corner of the world. Spanish, Polish, Vietnamese, Farsi, all were heard as row after row of reporters with backs towards the Hudson and faces towards the cameras looked to their audiences and spoke on, trying to keep fear out of their voices. The words were heard, "There has been no comment from the President." "There is the question of refugees." "If we survive, the balance of world power will be irrevocably altered."
One of the reporters was a middle aged man dressed in suit and tie reporting directly across the Hudson from Manhattan. He said, "Hello everyone, here for UWTN, I'm James Lawrence. As you can see in the soldiers and tanks before me, the ships behind me, and the planes above me, the entire New York metropolitan area has been converted into a military theater with all guns pointed towards Manhattan. Manning those guns are soldiers from the Defense Force of Earth's Ground Defense Force, in the skies are aircraft from the Aerial Defense Force of Earth, the port city's waterways and harbors are ships from the Maritime Defense Force. That is because, as Commander-in-Chief of his nation's Armed Forces, President Emmerich has ensured there will be minimal American involvement, making this an entirely United Nations action.
"In any case, these fighting men and women from around the world will be needed soon since, according to the latest information… the sun has gone black in plunging the earth into darkness, literally. Though there are some suspicions, nobody is sure. Not only that, but subs have reported Godzilla in the Atlantic and is less than an hour away from lower New York Bay. They are stationed in New Jersey, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island for the purpose of containing the coming battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah to Manhattan.
"With the exception of the subterranean UN command post where operations are being coordinated, the island has been evacuated and is closed off to all nonessential personal. Several of us have asked for permission to go inside and report firsthand but after speaking with Captain Tomas Santos, son of Secretary General Miguel Santos and formerly Lieutenant, this was revealed to be impossible for military efficiency and to avoid getting in Godzilla's way as he battles King Ghidorah. Even camera drones have been prohibited. As a result, all reports are limited to New Jersey and the boroughs surrounding the city despite requests to be allowed entrance.
"In any case, UWTN and your other news affiliates will keep you posted as the situation develops. This is James Lawrence. Jersey City, New Jersey."
Somewhere in northern Greenwich Village, Manhattan, there was a large, nondescript, thirty story tall building that gave a perfect view of the entire island; in one direction you could see Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Civic Center while in the other direction you could see Harlem, the West Side, and the Theater District. There was nothing to distinguish the building from the hundreds of other buildings like it across the whole city and that of course was the reason that it had been chosen.
A few minutes earlier the two reporters and the two kaijuologists had made their way to a building through the abandoned streets and had come across a tall building that Miki Segeusa had seen by Remote Viewing would be perfect for their purposes. There, on the roof they were setting up shop, Ronnie and Connie were getting their cameras and satellite dish ready and Miki was helping them. However, Kyle was by himself in a corner, behind the doorway that led downstairs over looking the contents of his backpack. Miki knew that he had had something there but she had been told that it was "a scientific instrument" and she had believed it. Huddled in his corner, looking over his shoulder to make sure that nobody was watching him, he saw what it was: Project Toxin.
It was his baby and he was ready to use it for the last time; the first he'd used it was back on Infant Island, before the Monster Wars had even begun. He was assembling the bazooka and was combining the chemical and biological agents that would graft onto Godzilla's DNA and circumnavigate his healing power and kill him. Kyle knew it would, work he had used it against the monster at the start of the Monster Wars, but with the little immunity that the beast had since developed it would now die a slow and lingering death. Sick and guilty for how he was going to betray Miki and for the very though he was going to do, the words Commander Aso had given him began going through his mind.
He screwed the barrel of the gun to the body. Kyle, I've had an eye on you ever since you joined G-Force.
Kyle sweated as he removed the vial of genetically enhanced Rhedosaurus blood. More than most anybody I've ever met, you know the threat that Godzilla poses.
The reporter's grandson slowly poured it and the crushed isotopes that would bond it to the monsters DNA as he unscrewed bazooka shell. If we get lucky, Godzilla and King Ghidorah will kill each other but if not we need a way to end him forever.
After holding the vials of poison and isotope until the very last drop was poured, he screwed the top back as hard as he could. Through the clear plastic he could see them violently boil as they mixed. We both know that any mercy he would show is a temporary one at best and that after King Ghidorah he will only go back against us… unless we strike him first.
The kaijuologist checked the shell and ran the calculations through his head one last time. They were sound, he had every reason to place his faith in Project Toxin and its delivery system, after all he had designed them. What he didn't now was if he could place his faith in using it. I've talked it over with Goodhue and Hayashida and they all agree with me. We'll never have as good an opportunity to get rid of Godzilla once and for all. After Godzilla kills King Ghidorah, you'll use the Toxin to destroy him.
Kyle Martin placed the shell in the bazooka and heard it go shick-shack. After all if you don't, then we'll have go in and kill Godzilla ourselves. We'll be able to do it in the weakened state he'll be in but the cost will still be high, a cost that can be averted if you just do your duty, a duty you once begged for. Godzilla almost killed your grandfather all those years ago and he would have crippled Miki. He even killed your brother. Don't you owe it to them to avenge them, don't you owe it to your family to kill the one that's inflicted so much pain on them?
The gun was ready, but Kyle asked himself if it would only be that simple. But, as Kyle knew, there were others out there for whom it was much more simple. The UN troops there were ready to follow their orders to the death, either theirs or their enemy's. While the enlisted men were in the dark as they often are, their officers had all been briefed by Commander Aso on what to do if which monster survived. If King Ghidorah were to live then they would, of course, destroy him but if Godzilla were to survive then he would be their target. The military hardware combined with the state that Godzilla would be in meant that victory would be certain.
Aso knew that the officers commanding the troops below him would do their duty and that the unwitting soldiers below them would follow any order immediately and without question. After all, that was what a soldier did, obey orders. Would there be any moral reservations against this? Probably not. Yes Aso had given Miki Segeusa his solemn vow that he would not harm her precious Godzilla who was going to "save" them all but a general sometimes just has to make these choices. Watching the images beamed to the main screen, Aso also knew that the soldiers in the field would have no problem attacking Godzilla after it was all over. Being that Godzilla was the very same monster that had killed so many of them, they looked at a pact with him as little more than a deal with the devil.
But for all that, the soldiers there could not be said to be bad men. A true soldier does what he does out of love for his country and not for hatred of his enemy. And while a soldier's mission might sometimes be to kill his enemy, a good soldier feels no joy for killing his fellow man. But that was the point, Godzilla wasn't human, he was instead a monster who had caused destruction untold. It was not surprising then, that they had no pity for him, to them it was little more than putting down a mad dog. Add that to the fact that no matter how little pleasure a soldier might take in killing his fellow human beings he does it anyways, and how accepting he is of death as to accept it as his daily bread, the soldiers there would kill Godzilla without a second thought. There were of course some officers who knew what they were being asked to do and questioned it such as Captain Santos, and his men, in Land MOGUERA but people like him were the exception to the rule and even they were willing to follow their orders. This was seen in troops like the crew of Gryphon who accepted what was given them as if it were fetching a glass of water.
Its wasn't that the soldiers there were bad men, its just that after too many battles a soldier just stops feeling.
In Chicago, where United World Television News' newly rebuilt main offices had just opened for business, a fat technician was gluttonously eating away at his double bacon chili cheese burger, careful not to spill any of the slop on the control panel. Scanning the near dozen screens, video equipment, and tapes that shared his tiny, cramped room, he spared a glance at his grease stained shirt and shrugged it off. With everything in its dimly lit predictable place, he was caught off guard, when he heard an electronic voice say, "You've got mail."
The slob wheeled his chair towards the computer and saw a letter in the mailbox marked URGENT. On seeing it was from Connie Matsu, the fat man wondered what she was up to and clicked read seeing a message that exclaimed; underlined, in bold, and in capitals; "PLEASE, PICK UP TRANSPONDER CFX1 NOW!" Though confused, the fat man bit off a huge piece of his hamburger and did as he was told, plugging in the satellite feed.
"Am I on?" The technician saw UWTN's top reporter on the television feed. Fighting the windy gusts, the reporter turned her head around for a time before looking to her side of the laptop computer screen and saw that the Vid-phone was hooked up. "It's you, uh, whoever you are… but thank God you're here!"
He dropped a pile of onion rings into his mouth and burped. "You, whatever it is, it better be good to get a direct link like this."
Connie Matsu pursed her lips and drew in a slow breath. "Oh it is. You have to put me on live TV. Right. Now."
"Put you on just like that?" The technician sipped his soda and laughed.
"Well, Connie I guess well just have to show him what's up. Keep an eye on the other screen." The fat man frowned and turned away from the screen that showed the fuzzy laptop computer vid-phone image of Miss. Matsu and towards the screen that showed what it was that Ronnie was filming. The crisp image whipped around from the reporter and to a gigantic building. The fat man sipped his soda as the camera slowly panned upwards… to show it was the Empire State Building, atop which King Ghidorah screamed and tossed his heads.
In the dimly lit control room, the technician spit out the soda in shook. "Oh dear God! It's K-King Ghidorah! You're in Manhattan, you're in Manhattan, and, and oh hot damn!"
Ignoring the laptop and its vid-phone properties, she went straight to the camera and grabbed the lens. Her face greatly enlarged and distorted, she said, "Listen… whoever you are. I'm here, I've got a story to tell, and we got to get it out. Can you help me?"
Absently mindedly nodding to a screen through which he could not be seen, he numbly went to his keyboard. Very soon, the message was patched in and every television tuned in to UWTN went wild with static before settling on a certain reporter. In that, the darkest night, that certain reporter stood with her back facing the towering Empire State Building and the entire mighty Manhattan skyline… and atop the Empire State Building, a certain monster. "Hello, everyone. Interrupting your broadcasts, this is Connie Matsu, live on the scene in Greenwich Village, Manhattan."
Moping in Air Force One as it whisked him back to Boston, the president was watching TV when an aide said, "Sir, I think you better change the channel to UWTN! Important news." Too dejected to do anything else, Emmerich changed the channel and was shocked as he saw King Ghidorah in the background behind a woman reporter.
"I and my associates, Ronald Brown the camera man, Kyle Martin, UNGCC kaijuologist, and Miki Segeusa, UNGCC psychic, have made our way to a restricted military area to report on the story of the century. Though technicians at United World Television News are sending this signal to every station they can hook up to in hopes that it will be spread to every TV and radio, I take full responsibility. This isn't the first time I've gone to a restricted area but this time, I know the penalties might well be much harsher. We all know the penalties we may face and, provided that we survive, we won't run. We all freely admit guilt and after all this is done, we'll go to jail peacefully, quietly, but for now, this story must be told."
Sick in his bed, Steven Martin smiled as he saw his grandson and Miki had made it to Manhattan. He then coughed and reached over in the darkened room to get a cough drop; even so, he smiled as it was his old news crew and Matsu at that that had gotten the story. He got the remote control and increased the volume.
"This really is incredible, it like a scene from an old sci-fi movie. A giant flying monster appears in the sky above New York and is perched atop the Empire State Building, completely immobile looking down on us as if to challenge mankind for rulership of this planet. One year ago, as you all know, King Ghidorah came to destroy the world and since then, he's brought Earth to its knees. As you also all know, he's finished toying with us and plans to destroy all life and he will if not stopped."
In a small house in Tokyo, Emiko Yamani, with her nephew, Keniche, was watching the events unfold on TV. She saw this and knew that it would all come down to the beast that her father had named Godzilla all those years ago.
"Sadly enough the worst is yet to come. Can you please tell us just exactly what's happening Mr. Martin?"
"Certainly. As we all know King Ghidorah has been planning a final attack against Earth to destroy all living things ever since making his way to New York City. However, what we didn't know until just a few moments ago when, as we heard the sun turned black, is that we're on a completely different timetable; we don't have weeks, we have until sunrise if that much. According to my sources, the attack has already begun and that means that the next few hours will mean life or death for our planet. Nuclear weapons or any similar kind of device would do nothing but spread the monster's death power and any attack on our part would only give him reason to use his power sooner rather than later. All I can say now, is stay calm and stay in your homes. If worse comes to worst, then you'd best stay with your families and prepare for the end."
In the UN Base underneath Manhattan, the people there were momentarily dumbstruck at the news before Aso's barking set the fearfully back on task. Truth be told, however, Aso was yelling more to hide his fear than to motivate them. At that, everyone got to their battle stations and took their seats; as for their leader,
Santos looked at the mammoth screen and grew serious; though he knew everyone there was the best at what they did and had gone over the plan a thousand times, that it was all going to come down to this.
"Thank you Mr. Martin. These are desperate times folks but its not over yet. We have once chance left and it is Godzilla. What are your comments on this Miss Segeusa?"
"My comments are these. For years, we've derided the kaiju as mere animals to be destroyed but over the course of the Monster Wars, we've seen that that's not true. Time and again, men and monsters have worked together to safeguard our planet which is the property of every living being, they've included Mothra, Battra, Sobek, King Kong, Anubis, Horus, Set, Apophis, Mechanstein, Uchihikra, Yetrigar, Tuol, Quetzacoatl, Lupis, Nessie, Inagos, and more. They've all fought bravely but none more so than their King. Godzilla was born in the time of the dinosaurs and he was a protector then; awakened in our time, he will be a protector now. He lost his world to King Ghidorah and won't let him win, not this time. Please, he's not going to hurt us, he's here to protect us and to save us all; no matter who or where you are, you must have faith because we have to believe in him. Believe in him so he can believe in you."
Soon, everyone was watching the scene, huddled around television sets. That's all they did, there were no riots, no looting, no people committing suicides, no throwing their money in the streets, or going on drinking binges. The whole world went deathly quiet as billions of people everywhere crowded ten, twenty at a time into their living rooms, barely able to breathe. Everywhere, they brought their families together to be with them and so that they too might know. Not only that, but so many millions called and e-mailed their loved ones telling them what was happening and to turn to the news that phones lines failed. They held hands and said their final prayers because on hearing what Segeusa said, they knew that their last hope for survival lay in a monster whom so many of them had spat on and despised for so many years.
"There you have it folks, straight from the woman who knows Godzilla… Ronnie, quick turn the camera over there! People do you see it! Godzilla's at the mouth of the East River! Good God this is it, it is happening right here, right now! Listen to me, the next few hours are going to decide the survival of Earth and this means you have a ringside seat for the battle of Armageddon! Good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, both sides are gambling everything they've got to win once and for all. No more teams, no more handicap matches, just these two because the Monster Wars all come down to this one final, ultimate battle. We'll live or we'll die, that's that. Now, Godzilla and King Ghidorah are going to fight for mastery of the world!"
Thus it was from one reporter on a building in the heart of New York, that so many saw in the waters between Manhattan's Financial Center and Brooklyn's Brooklyn Heights, a hundred meter long, undulating row of three jagged spines the color of tarnished silver ran through the surf before they submerged in a cloud of bubbles. With that the water began to froth and churn wildly; a long sinuous, serpentine tail cut past the surface of the water, casting spray as it did. The water seemed to rise up in a mammoth dome, higher and higher, before exploding and revealing the roaring King of the Monsters. With waters churned and frothing white in his wake, the monster strode towards his final enemy.
On the Brooklyn Bridge, where they were stationed, DFE troops ignored the wind and felt their jaws drop as the titan waded through black and red waters that stained his legs crimson. In fear and reverence, the enlisted men dared not speak as they saw the saurian giant thunder past the arched, stone towers and the mighty cables that held them and their guns and their tanks and maser cannons. Then all at once they began cheering wildly shouting "Go, Godzilla GO!" and "Get'm Godzilla!" for he would be their hero, he would be their champion. They were not alone as so many who saw this on their televisions cheered as well but the enlisted men on the Brooklyn Bridge were left behind and the colossus' foot crashed onto dry land, the stained water running in rivulets off his gnarled skin. Not breaking his stride Godzilla heaved himself onto the island city and walked past the towers of the financial district, his feet thundering on the pavement they cracked.
Each building in his way, crumbling or exploding as he blasted it or threw it or just crushed it with his bare hands, Godzilla surged forwards, baring his double row of teeth and throwing his head back to roar. Leaving a trail of devastation behind him, the King of the Monsters left house and park and street in ruins behind him but knew it was nothing compared to the ruin he would cast on his most hated enemy. He looked up to the Empire State Building and saw a black sphere made of death directly above it and that roiling clouds swirling around it. Walking past the buildings and upon the grid like streets he went to face the Prince of Skyllans, each step slow and deliberate as though a challenge.
From his perch atop Kong's building, King Ghidorah accepted each challenge and screeched his own. He screeched and raved and leapt from the tower, making stone and brick fall as he did, launching himself into the sky. Spinning into the black and red vortex above the city, the two hundred meter tall monster stopped a thousand feet above it, a hair's breadth from the black sphere and let its black lightning give him strength. Though less than a speck from the distance, he wrapped himself in his wings and crashed like a fallen star onto Broadway. The Earth shook and the ground exploded but when the dust cleared, the three-headed monster lunged forward to hiss his rage.
By that time, Godzilla was on the street as well and both stared each other down, giant buildings that rose over them on each side. All of a sudden, King Ghidorah spread his wings to the utmost and threw his head in all directions, maniacally casting his beams in all directions, destroying everything they touched. He cast every beam and fireball and shot of Crimson Lightning that he could with ever increasing ferocity and intensity even as the wind and the black lightning grew stronger as well. They went in every direction imaginable before stopping less than a meter before his feet; the energy beams stopped there and were no more.
Godzilla looked down and saw the torn, smoking ground at his feet. He looked around to the charred and broken buildings, mown down and smashed in half. The false attack had ceased and so had the wind and the lightning and all went completely silent. He turned his saurian gaze towards the enemy whose six dead soulless eyes gleamed red with hate; the King of the Monsters knew what this meant as his eyes narrowed and shone gold. This happened for he knew what this meant, it meant that they would fight without powers and without weapons. They would fight in the old way, the way of the dinosaur.
Watching all this from the flat rooftop on which they stood, were Miki Segeusa and her friends. They saw and did what they had to do; for Miki Segeusa this meant one thing. From her pocket, she pulled out the brittle old yellow photograph her grandfather gave her on his death bed. She had given it to him asking to never lose faith in the saurian that saved the life and of so many others long ago. She looked to the picture of Godzillasaurus and looked from it to Godzilla. As one tear rolled down her cheek, she felt a lump in her throat. "He'll fight for us once again. Our savior's come back to protect us!"
With that, one who would be Earth's savior and another who would be its damnation charged each other for the final battle had begun.