A/N Sorry for the long wait, guys! I hope you're still around and that you enjoy this chapter :) The next one will be up soon after, I promise.
Chapter Six
"What now?" Monique asked.
Nick stared down at Godzilla. The giant lizard was treading water, head cocked as he listened for Nigel. Apparently hearing that the noise had stopped, he let out a triumphant roar and lashed his tail gleefully through the water.
"I don't know," Nick admitted. "Maybe the others have a Plan B." He radioed down to the HEAT Seeker.
"Elsie, Mendel, what's your next move? If we don't act fast, Godzilla will swim away," he said urgently.
"Sorry, Nick, I'm not sure what to do next," came Elsie's annoyed reply. "You should talk to Mendel. He's been yammering about a backup plan, so maybe he has something."
"Nick, no one's been listening to me!" Mendel burst out. Nick pulled his earphones away from his ears slightly. "What's the point of being on a team if you don't weigh what everyone says with equal measure?"
"I'd love to talk with you about this, Mendel, but now is not the time," Nick said. "We need to figure out how to get rid of this mushroom."
"Ask Randy. He's the one who got us into this mess. He should get us out of it!"
Nick sighed. "Fine. Where is Randy?"
"In the back," came Elsie's voice. Then, a moment later. "Umm…he must have taken Steve downstairs…" After another much-too-long silence, during which Nick exchanged confused and exasperated looks with Monique, Elsie returned with, "He's out in the ocean."
Nick clapped the earphones back on tighter. "Run that by me again?"
"He took the rowboat out to sea," Mendel muttered in comfusion. "With Steve. Why the heck? Are they trying to commit suicide?"
"Down there," Monique said suddenly. She pointed below, then steered the helicopter closer to something in the water. Nick leaned out again to look down and saw, not far from Godzilla's leisurely churning paws, Randy and another person (probably Steve, whoever that was) floating aimlessly in the rowboat. But perhaps not so aimlessly after all…
"Mendel, do you read me?" Nick asked into the radio.
"Yes," Mendel said immediately.
"Don't worry, Randy's not suicidal. He's rescuing Nigel."
Elsie laughed, but there was a long silence from Mendel before he spoke. "What?"
"He's got a cable and a pole and he's fishing Nigel out of the sea."
"That's so sweet," Elsie said. "You should be grateful, Mendel."
"I am. Or at least, I will be, once I overcome these preliminary waves of shock and disbelief. Now Nick, can you please lower the chopper enough to pick them up before Godzilla smashes them to pieces with his feet?"
Nick nodded at Monique, and she steered the helicopter towards the rowboat, into which Randy and Steve were now hauling Nigel. Randy waved cheerfully up at them, seemingly oblivious to the eminent danger he was in, floating so close to Godzilla. Currently, Godzilla had his eyes on the chopper and was watching it curiously, but if he got bored and decided to take the plunge, the tiny rowboat could easily be turned over in the wake of his dive.
But as the helicopter neared the ocean surface, something lashed out at them, causing them to jerk off course. At first Nick thought it was Godzilla's tail, but after the first instant he knew it was much too long and thin to be that. As Monique steadied the chopper (cursing in French as she did so—or at least Nick assumed she was cursing based on the venom in her voice) Nick looked out the window again to see one of the mushroom's long mycelia lashing out at them.
"Whoa!" he yelped, for lack of a better exclamation. He didn't know any French curses.
"What is it?" Elsie called out over the radio.
"I thought you said that thing wasn't sentient!" Nick said.
"It isn't! At least, I thought it wasn't. Why, is it attacking you?"
"If it's not, it sure seems like it!" Nick looked down again in fear, searching for Randy in the rowboat. Past the throng of now-active mycelia, he could see that Nigel was safely beside them in the boat, but Randy and Steve seemed to be bickering over what to do next.
"Why do they not row away?" Monique demanded. "Are they truly so clueless?"
"Uh, yes and no," Mendel squeaked over the radio. "It appears they left the oars behind."
"Then how did they get out there?" Elsie asked.
"Very slowly, I'm presuming," Mendel said.
"They need to get out of there faster! Monique, can we get any lower?"
Monique pursed her lips and tried to steer them downwards again, only to have the creature lash out at them, this time with several of the tentacle-like appendages.
"Up! Up! Up!" Nick cried.
Quickly Monique steered them up again. The mycelia pursued them, trying to latch on to them, it seemed. One mycelium succeeded in wrapping itself around the handle of the door on Nick's side. Quickly pulling out his pocket knife, Nick sliced at it until it fell away in shreds.
"What is going on?" Monique snapped into the radio. "You said it was not sentient."
"No, I said I thought it wasn't sentient. It was an educated guess."
"Well then, re-educate yourself."
"You want to try being a scientist for a day, Frenchie?"
"Both of you, calm down," Nick said. "This isn't constructive. Apparently the thing is sentient. I guess when it had enough food on the barge, it didn't feel the need to pursue any of us. But now—"
"It's run out of trash to chew," Elsie finished. "And we're the closest thing it has to a resource."
"Hey, look!" Mendel called out.
Not sure where else to look, Nick looked down. But he didn't have to look far to see what Mendel was referring to. With a mighty roar, Godzilla surged towards the flailing mushroom. He tore at the mycelia with his claws, still paddling in the ocean with his back legs.
Elsie cheered. "Go get 'im, big guy!"
"Monique, while it's distracted!" Nick pointed down at the rowboat.
Monique gave a crisp nod and they plunged downward again. Nick unbuckled himself and slid out of the cockpit and into the back. Quickly he pulled open the door.
"The harness, Doctor," Monique called after him. "This is no time to play at heroics."
There was nothing heroic about falling to his death, so Nick listened to her and clipped on the harness that was tied securely to a winch by the door. Easing closer to the gaping doorway, he steadied himself against the wind that tore at him. He looked out quickly at Godzilla as he grappled with the mutant fungus. Was it just Nick's imagination, or did it seem like Godzilla was being pulled under the giant mass?
"Over here, jefe!"
Nick looked down again to see Randy waving at him, now only a few feet below the chopper. Nick threw down the rope ladder and waited in the doorway to help them.
Steve climbed up first, scrambling madly up and clutching at Nick with all his might when he reached the top. Nick disentangled himself from the terrified man and looked down again to see Randy tying Nigel onto the ladder.
"You first, Randy," Nick shoued down.
"Nope," Randy said as he secured the robot. "I owe this to the doc."
"That's all well and good, but Mendel can't put you back together if you fall apart," Nick said.
Randy chuckled and tied one last knot to ensure the robot's safety. Then he started climbing up the rope ladder. He glanced over his shoulder at the fight going on between Godzilla and the mutant fungus.
"Whoa…Godzilla's being beaten by a mushroom?" he said in disbelief.
As if to prove itself a worthy adversary, the mushroom sent one of its mycelia surging in Randy's direction. Seeing it coming, Monique jerked them upward, but the sudden movement caused Randy to lose his grip. Fumbling for a minute, he slid down several rungs before saving himself by wrapping his arms around Nigel.
"I'll never make fun of you again, buddy," Randy said gratefully.
"Hang on," Nick shouted down.
"On it, jefe," Randy said back.
Nick and Steve each grabbed a side of the rope ladder and started hauling Randy and Nigel back up. The mycelium continued to lash out at them, coming to rest around Randy's ankle. Randy yelped and desperately began to bat at it. Nick reached down and grabbed Randy around the middle, pulling him all the way in. Steve hacked furiously at the mycelium with Nick's knife until it fell away, defeated.
Randy lay sprawled on the floor with Nigel. Nick slid the door closed against the battle raging outside. He glanced down at his former intern and let loose a sigh of relief at his safety.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm never eating mushroom again," Randy gasped.
Nick laughed. "You'd better not buy anymore, either." He turned back and leaned into the cockpit to pick up his headset. "Elsie, do you copy?" he asked.
"Loud and clear," Elsie said quickly. "Everything alright?"
"Randy's fine. So's Nigel," Nick reported.
There was a clatter as, apparently, Mendel rushed over to the radio, shoving Elsie aside. "Is Randy alright?" Mendel cried. "Oh, please—"
"He's fine," Nick said, glancing over his shoulder at where Randy now stood behind him eavesdropping.
Randy leaned forward to speak into Nick's mike. "Aw, I didn't know you cared so much, doc!" he teased.
"You're an idiot," Mendel said, relieved.
Meanwhile, Godzilla was grappling with the mushroom. The mycelia proved too numerous to apprehend. Tangled within them, struggling against their pull, he let out a roar and sent a stream of fire at the base of the mushroom. Severed from the massive plant, the mycelia fell from Godzilla in lifeless strands into the ocean. But more only swarmed to take their place. Godzilla lunged at the grey mass, tearing at it with his claws and teeth. The mycelia continued to lash out at him. Wrapping themselves around him, they began pulling him underneath the enormous fungus. He thrashed in their grasp, but he couldn't resist as he was dragged under.
"What's going on?" Nick asked in alarm.
"It must be attracted to the radiation in his body," Elsie radioed back. "It looks like it's trying to absorb him or attach itself to him for a host."
"Hey, he can't do that to the G-Man!" Randy protested.
"Apparently it already has," Monique replied.
"What can he do?" Nick asked. "It's like he completely disappeared. I can't believe this thing got the better of him."
"Well, you know better than anyone the effects of radiation on living organisms," Elsie said. "This mushroom certainly got an overdose."
"This thing's worse than Matango!" Randy exclaimed. He received some blank stares in response. "You guys really need to brush up on your movie monsters," he said. "You know, the movie where the people who eat the mushrooms turn into freaky mushroom-heads..?"
"Not really relevant right now," Nick said.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Mendel asked over the radio. "We can't just let it eat him!"
"Even if he can't get himself out, it will take quite a while for the mushroom's mycelia to break Godzilla down into nutrients it can absorb into itself," Elsie mused.
Randy exchanged a glance with Nick. "You mean—it's digesting him?" Randy asked.
"Basically," Elsie said darkly.
"So what can we do?" Nick demanded. "That thing's a parasite. It could kill him."
"Sorry, Nick, it looks like Godzilla's on his own right now."
All eyes fixed on the massive lump of fungus floating on the barge. There was no sign of Godzilla. It was as if the mushroom had completely absorbed him already.
But then a rip appeared on the surface of the fungus, and a stream of green fire burst out. Randy cheered as Godzilla's head broke free from the mushroom, sending charred chunks of its fungal flesh tumbling into the ocean. Godzilla continued to tear at the mushroom, securing each piece in his grasp before aiming a breath of fire at it. The mycelia lashed out at him, again tangling around him and attempting to drag him away; but they could only reach his head and shoulders, as the rest of him was still inside the mushroom. Twisting his head this way and that, Godzilla fired blast after blast of atomic fire at the mycelia, continuing to shred at the grey chunks of the mushroom.
"Yes! He's got it now!" Mendel shouted over the radio.
"I've said it once, and I'll say it again—" Randy started. He paused. Nick and Monique looked at him expectantly. "Aw, you know what I was going to say."
"I don't," Steve said.
Randy put his arm around the barge driver. "Just for future reference," he said, poking him in the chest, "never bet against the G-Man."
Steve just blinked at him.
Godzilla let out another roar as he freed himself from the mushroom's fungal shelves. All that remained were the severed chunks that had fallen victim to his claws. For good measure, he breathed a final blast of fire at the remaining pieces until they had turned to ash. Standing alone on the empty barge, his tail lashed in triumph and he looked up at the helicopter.
"Yes!" Randy crowed. "Another mutant menace mauled."
"Good work, Godzilla!" Nick called down to him, supremely relieved.
Godzilla recognized the gratitude and pride in his adopted parent's voice, and let out a happy roar. With and expression that everyone present could swear was a smile, he dove gracefully back into the ocean. The mighty splash again caused the HEAT Seeker to sway, but this time it was far away enough not to be spent spinning. Inside, Elsie pumped her fist into the air with an excited shout.
"We did it, Mendel!"
"All in a day's work." Mendel watched as Godzilla's tail slice through the water, sending a stream of spray across the ocean surface.
Elsie looked at Mendel for a moment before clearing her throat. "Good thing Nigel pulled through alright," she said.
Mendel nodded. "Yeah, thanks to Randy," he said.
"And even if he is banged up a little," Elsie added, "there's nobody better at fixing things around here than you."
Startled, Mendel turned to look at her, but she had already turned to the boat's controls and begun to steer them back to shore. He couldn't help smiling to himself. It was a cold day in July that Elsie gave him that kind of compliment. He went back to the radio and contacted Nick.
"Heading back now," he said.
"Roger that. Meet you there," Nick responded. Out the window Mendel could see him in the cockpit of the chopper giving him a thumbs-up. Mendel waved back. He saw Randy lean over Nick's shoulder and wave as well.