Chapter 13

Reunions

Yuki was taking a very long and very well deserved nap at the G-Force base. Gordon took the opportunity to get out and find a bar. The fact that the city was in ruins and the economy was beyond decimated oddly only meant more business for bars.

As Gordon walked down the dusty sidewalks of Tokyo. Not many people were out for obvious reasons.

He saw a man turn into an alley and went to see what was down it. Sure enough, halfway down the alley was a little bar hidden away. Such bars were common in Japan.

Ducking under a large fallen piece of wood, he walked into the tiny bar. The front was compacted. The bar seated four people and did not have much more room. There was a section further back with two tables and seats. Gordon knew those were customarily for regulars. And then there was the back section behind sliding doors. That section was for senior customers who had been regular customers for many years. Gordon had always wanted to see what it was like back there ever since he learned of the tiers in these bars.

He sat and ordered a beer. The world was to his back. He could finally take his mind off of things. The gravity of all he had been through had pushed him to his limits. He honestly did not care about the aliens at the United Nations. He was still winding down from the monster apocalypse. Everything he saw on the television seemed like a bad sci-fi series he had little interest in. He was happy knowing Yuki was now safe and resting. He was also happy when the bartender served him his cold beer. He sipped his drink and reflected on each passing moment.

And then Gordon heard the chuckle of an old man behind him. It took him a second, but then he realized who it was and turned around. He saw the grinning face of Takaki Aso. It was odd seeing him out of a captain's uniform. He wore a brown windbreaker and slacks. He looked like a welcoming grandpa. "Mister Gordon, you select bars very wisely."

Gordon also grinned and casually bowed. "Admiral Aso! You're a welcomed face."

"Hey! Don't call me Admiral around here. People may thing I was the jackass that left the lady in such a sad condition," he semi jested. "If I had been at her head, I would have had her docked back at the base without a scratch."

"Yeah, that Emmerich guy didn't have a clue o' what he was doin'" Gordon shook his head.

"You're my only friend in Tokyo, Gordon. May I call you a friend?"

Wha! Sure thing, sir!"

"Come sit with me in the back, then."

Gordon was overjoyed to hear Aso refer to him as a friend, but he did his best to keep his cool. "Sounds good, sir."

Aso led Gordon to the back of the bar. He ordered sake as well as another beer for Gordon. They sat on the floor. Gordon much prefered the bar to the Japanese style dining rooms, but he sat down cross legged anyway. The two received their drinks.

"I feel that a toast to surviving the apocalypse is needed," Aso stated.

"You got that right!" The two toasted.

The two filled each other in on what they had been doing since last seeing each other. Aso had been helping at a shelter in Tokyo. Gordon had told Aso that he was helping at the Gotengo base.

Then Aso seemed to reflect on something and became silent.

"When Godzilla escaped Site G, were you able to see him with your own eyes?" Aso asked while staring into his sake.

"Hm," Gordon thought. "I never actually saw Godzilla face to face. He was gone by the time we were rescued. I've only seen him and other monsters on monitors and televisions."

Aso continued staring into his sake. Gordon grew a little concerned. Aso did not seem to be in the bar any longer; he was somewhere else.

"I've seen him… I was here… in 1956.

We were in the middle of an enormous crowd, my parents and I, making our way to the nearest bomb shelter. Godzilla had come ashore for the second time. The sea of people was so thick. We could hardly move. My parents held each of my hands, my mother on my left, and my father on my right.

We could hear his hellish roars getting louder. That was when people started to panic. The crowd became thicker. People were pushing against one another. Then I was separated from my parents. I would never see them again.

Eventually, I got away from the crowd. I called for my mother and father until my throat was sore. I was completely lost. All I could do was sit down against a wall and weep.

I saw a tanks and trucks roll by. They were all heading towards a great fire in the distance.

I could feel his footsteps. They were getting louder with each step. And the air was warm from the fire; the warmest night I'd ever experienced.

The ground began to shake violently with each of his steps. I was too scared to move, too scared to do anything. I just sat there hoping he would go away.

The smell of smoke grew stronger. Ash and dust was flying through the air.

I finally decided to run when the building behind me began to crumble. I ran around a corner. Then the magnitude of the quaking earth made me trip and fall into a puddle. I got up and looked at my wet cloths. Then I looked at the puddle. I'll never forget what I saw as the water stilled. It was to be burned into my mind forever. It was him. I looked up. He was maybe 25 meters from me. The he roared. Windows shattered all around me. I fell to the ground and screamed for my mother.

And then… and then, when I looked back up, The monster, the devil, lowered its head. It looked right at me. I looked directly into his eyes. I saw fire. I saw hate. And then I fainted.

I woke up in a relief shelter the next morning."

When Aso finished his story, Gordon remained silent.

After a moment of silence, Aso spoke again. "Is it strange that I see him in puddles every now and then?" Aso grinned.

The two spent the next few hours drinking. The mood eventually elevated. They both left the bar around nine o'clock at night. They said goodbye as two friends would have with the expectation of seeing one another in the near future.

She read her mission dossier. It told her her age, stats, childhood, likes and dislikes, everything she would need to know about the persona she was about to take on.

She was like a female praying mantis ready to snatch a mate. And sure enough, the desired mate came strolling along. She quickly put her dossier folder into her purse. She quickly ran through her identity again: Akiko Smith, Japanese, business woman walking back to the shelter she was staying at after her apartment was destroyed. She would confront her target and ask him to walk with her to the shelter.

But then the mission went off track.

"Hello, miss!" a tall man said in Japanese. He seemingly came out of nowhere and startled Akiko. He smiled down at her with an unkempt and toothy grin. "It's getting late. I should walk you home or wherever you're staying."

"No, thank you," Akiko replied.

"Oh, but miss, there's hardly any law out in the streets. A lot of suspicious types running around. Let me walk with you part way. I'm a nice guy once you get to…"

"Go away immediately!" Akiko told the man.

The tall man huffed. "I was going to be nice, but the you had to be rude." Then he grabbed Akiko's arm. "Come here, I got something for you!" He was pulling her into an alleyway.

The man Akiko had been following and planned to confront, Glenn Adams, had heard the commotion and turned around. When Akiko let out a yelp, Glenn burst into a sprint.

Glenn came to the alley to find the tall unkempt man forcing Akiko against the wall while pulling up her skirt. "Hey!" Glenn exclaimed, "What the hell's going on here?!"

The tall man turned slowly towards Glenn. Akiko tried to escape while he was distracted, but got her head shoved against the brick wall. "My girlfriend and I want to be alone! Go away, asshole!"

The tall man turned his head back to Akiko, but before he knew what had happened, he was flying towards the street outside the alley. His face smashed into the asphalt. He howled in pain as he turned over, but was met with a fist speeding towards his face. The blow knocked the back of his head into the asphalt. His nose was bleeding profusely. His pain was not over as Glenn grabbed him by the hair.

"Now!" Glenn started, "You have been very ungentlemanly towards this lady!" Glenn slammed his head into the street again. "I believe you owe her an apology."

"I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry! Just stop!"

"No! Don't be sorry to me, be sorry to her!"

"I'm sorry, miss. I'm so sorry. Can you please tell him to stop?!"

Akiko fixed her outfit and looked at the tiny man. She did not say anything though and only glanced at Glenn.

Glenn looked back at Akiko then turned back to the man. As he pleaded for mercy, Glenn grabbed the man's hand and began breaking fingers. He stopped after four fingers.

"Get out of here! I'm sick of lookin' at you."

The man scurried away into the shadows holding his gnarled hand.

Glenn approached Akiko. "Are you okay, miss?"

"Yes, thank you so much."

"Should I walk you home? I think that would be best."

"Yes, please, if it's not any trouble."

"Oh no, miss, not a bit of trouble."

"Thank you again. I'm staying at the Gotengo base for now. My apartment is gone."

"Oh? I'm staying there for now as well. I've been helping anywhere I can. I'm Glenn, by the way, Glenn Adams." He extended his hand.

Akiko reached out and took Glenns firm hand with her delicate and fair hand. But as she was about to tell him her name, something mentally struck her. It was the name Smith. It was a very common name. That was why it was chosen for her. But it would not be common for a Japanese woman. If he asked her about her western name, she would have to invest a whole new backstory with likely plot holes. "I'm Akiko," she quickly glanced up at a sign she saw, a movie poster, and grabbed the first surname she saw, "Akiko Namikawa."

"Pleased to meet you, miss Namikawa. Let's be off."

The two shared a smile before they walked off together.

The Erzherzog looked at himself in a mirror. He was shirtless. His skin was almost transparent with a few veins being visible. He looked both amazed and concerned at himself. He was very muscular and toned, but it wasn't like that until recently. Before, his body was very slim. He had no idea where the muscle mass had come from.

"My Erzherzog…" a female Xilian servant chimed in.

The Erzherzog looked surprised. "What is it?!" he asked with irritation.

"The… the…" she hesitated as her eyes noticed the rippling pectorals and abs on the half naked Erzherzog. Just as she noticed her mouth slightly agape, she looked away.

"Well?"

She snapped back to her senses. "The Keizer wanted you to know of a birth taking place at this moment."

The thought took a second to get through. The ban the Keizer had put on conception had not been lifted. They did not have the resources to care for any more of their people. "Birth?! A child?! The Keizer lifted the ban?"

The Erzherzog grabbed his large black coat and put it on (without putting his shirt back on) while he walked with the female. He was almost grateful to be on duty. Acting normally helped him keep his mind off of whatever was happening to him.

The female let the Erzherzog to the med-bay. Their, they went to the room with the screams emanating from it. Inside was an xilian woman about to birth the first Earth born xilian.

The xilian process of childbirth was very similar to how it was for humans. The xilian woman was on a bed with her legs held up.

The Keizer, with a smile on his face, approached the Erzherzog. "I'm glad you were able to come."

"Why are you allowing this to happen? Are you lifting the ban?"

"I am. When the news of the conception reached me, I knew that by the time we had a home, so would the child. It was kept a secret to avoid a population boom."

The doctor exclaimed "My Keizer, it's coming!"

"Perfect timing, my Erzherzog!" the Keizer patted the Erzherzog's shoulders. "Come witness the first Earth born xilian."

WIth a final scream and final push, the woman gave birth to the child and the doctor delivered it. "A male!" he announced. He handed the boy to the nurse who proceeded to wash him off. The female nurse then passed the boy off to the Keizer who inspected him. Newborn xilians had thinner skin than adults. Their skin was transparent enough to see veins, muscles, and and some bone beneath. One could see his organs moving inside while under light. The skin would thicken and be less transparent in about an Earth year.

The Keizer, very happy, handed the boy to the Erzherzog. It was his first time holding a baby. Upon feeling it in his arms, a strange, warm feeling stirred up within him. Without ever knowing the new xilain or even knowing of its conception, he treasured it. "Who is he?" he asked.

The Keizer answered. "I've decided to do something unorthodox for this child. Being the first in a new generation of Xilians, he will be 001."

The Erzherzog continued looking at the child. "A very special number…"

"Indeed," the Keizer agreed. "We've parted the child from his mother for too long. Perhaps we should give them some time together."

The Erzherzog gave the child to his mother and left the room with the Keizer.

Vincent rode in the back of a humvee. He had just landed in New York via an authorized UN transport plane.

After he and his team had made substantial strides in their studies, he was allowed to travel to see his family.

The humvee turned a corner. As Vincent looked out his window, he didn't completely register what he was seeing. He had a similar feeling when his family went to see the Grand Canyon. The vista of the canyon was so vast and massive that it almost didn't look real, like a giant painting. But what he was looking at over Manhattan was very real: the Xilain Mothership.

"You're not gonna get used to seeing that any time soon," the soldier driving the humvee said.

"That so?" Vincent replied.

"Crazy shit, man. Thought Godzilla was the worst of it."

"I'm just glad the worst is over."

"You got that right, doc."

There were a few moments of silence. Vincent wasn't sure how to continue small talk with the soldier.

"Have you seen any of them?" Vincent asked.

"The monsters?"

"Yeah "

"Yeah. My company was in Vegas. Of course we get the giant spider. Hate spiders."

"Of course that had to attack major population centers."

"You think it really was this Mothra thing like the Xilians said?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. What bothers me is that we haven't seen this Mothra yet. It's all very strange."

"But have you see any of the monsters, doc?"

"... Oh yeah. You know, my grandfather saw Godzilla face to face."

"You shittin' me?!"

"In '56 when he first attacked. He told me all about it."

"Those are some scary bedtime stories."

They were scary stories. Vincent recalled his father getting upset at his grandfather for telling him stories of Godzilla. Vincent thought his grandfather was like any old man and retold old stories to relive his glory days. In hindsight, maybe he was trying to warn young Vincent.

"Hey. You wouldn't mind stopping somewhere on the way, would you?"

"No problem, doc. Where we goin'?"

Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York had a wide view of the Manhattan skyline.

Vincent stood at the grave of Steve and Betty Martin.

"Hey, grandma. Hey, grandpa…" Vincent said as if he were coming over to visit on the weekend like he used to. "Sorry I haven't been over in a while. Been working a lot."

He looked over at Manhattan and the great looming sphere.

"What do you make of all this, grandpa?

Vincent recalled something from a long time ago. Going over to his grandparents' house was always enjoyable for the most part. But Vincent remembered being very concerned for his grandpa one day. He acted very worried and anxious. It was like he knew an impending doom was approaching.

And it was not soon after that the man in the uniform came. Young Vincent was playing with his toys, making giant monsters fight one another. His toy rammed into a shiny black shoe. He looked up to see a man in a military uniform.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Young Vincent yelled.

His grandfather came out. He was dressed and looked ready to leave.

"Mister Martin? You're needed in Washington," the man said.

"Yes. I've been expecting you." Vincent's grandfather replied.

Vincent, standing over his grandfather's grave, pondered the event.

"Did you know he was coming?" Vincent said to himself. "How did you know?"

Vincent looked back over at Manhattan. This time, when he glanced over, he was struck with deja vu. He was not sure when or where he was it, but he remembered three menacing pairs of glowing red eyes.

He shook his head and ignored the haunting vision.

He wanted to enjoy his visit and decided to leave. He had missed his family and did not want to keep them waiting any longer.

Seventeen year old Taylor Martin was in room tuning her guitar. She put her long brown hair up in a ponytail so it would not get in the way. Vincent Martin's little sister was a very talented musician having been a star student in her music classes throughout high school. She was skilled in using the violin, cello, and bass, but was particularly fond of the acoustic guitar. She would spend much of her free time strumming her Gibson. It was her sweet-sixteen gift and cost quite a bit. The Martins were a very well off family living in an upscale apartment in Manhattan.

Along with having an affinity for music making, Taylor was what some people would call "retro." Even though her family could give her the latest and greatest, she was fascinated with latest and greatest of the '70's and '80's. Next to her tube television set was an old record player, a VCR, and a LaserDisc player. One whole wall of her room was dedicated to her collection of records, VHS tapes, Betamax tapes, LaserDiscs, and DVDs. She treasured her vinyl record collection above all.

Taylor was never one to go with the flow like the other girls. None of the passing trends ever clung on to her. Nor did boys. She had never had a boyfriend nor put in much effort to attract one. Some of the other kids considered her "tomboyish."

Taylor strummed a few cords before she heard a knock at the front door. She perked up immediately and jumped off her bed.

In the living room, she saw her brother. She ran up and gave him a strong embrace.

"What have you been up to, Tay?" Vincent asked.

"Just school. Learned a few songs too." Taylor replied.

Vincent's mother came in. "Taylor, get drinks. Dinner's almost ready. Vinny can tell us all about Japan at the table."

The family sat down for dinner. Vincent told his family all about Japan and what it was like living at the south pole. No one brought up Godzilla. The subject a bit of a taboo within the family.

Vincent enjoyed the afternoon. He would come to remember it fondly. It would be the last dinner he would have with his parents.

Taylor's cell phone buzzed.

"Taylor! Why is your phone at the table?" her father asked.

It was a text message from one of her girlfriends. She flipped her phone open and read "R U SEEING THIS?!?!"

Taylor replied by texting "Uh, what?"

A few seconds later, the replying text read "LOOK OUT YER DANM WINDOW AT BROOKLYN!"

Taylor got up from the table and pulled the curtains aside to see out the window. Past the pleasant skyline view of Manhattan was Brooklyn. Brooklyn was burning.