A/N: Yep, final push to the end about a year after this story initially went up, remind me never to do projects that are chapters long without a safety net.
Of course, I do not own the cast of Godzilla Power Hour/70s Godzilla animated series. If you notice any spelling or grammatical mistakes let me know.
Chapter 6: Cures and Goodbyes
There was an air of hurried frenzy into the otherwise controlled and clinical procedure Doctor Darien was performing as she set up the small kit she had brought with her. She and Pete were only a small step away from the comatose Godzooky, who barely moved at the small sounds the pair made as they tried to move things along as quickly as possible. They had no idea how much time the ruse Brock and Carl would buy them, and the larger creature could be back at any moment.
"What do we need to do, Aunt Quinn?" Pete asked, eager to be of help.
"We'll need to sterilize the wound first." Doctor Darien replied as her hands briefly ghosted over each piece of equipment she would need in the process. In only a few moments, she was ready to begin, quickly clearing the wound of crusting pus and other debris that had been accumulating over the past few days. Thankfully the sand in the wound was minimal, it seemed the wound was too irritated for Godzooky to put too much pressure. Both a bad and good point.
Pete waited anxiously nearby, handing instruments to Doctor Darien when asked and taking them away once she was done with them. Godzooky, semi-conscious with fever and delirium, twitched only when Doctor Darien applied to antibiotic to counter the infection. There were only a few small squeaks and groans, which both were more than a little thankful for as it felt like they were running on borrowed time as it was; no need to give Godzilla another reason to hurry back.
It seemed to take forever, with Pete glancing from the procedure to the horizon outside of the lagoon intermittently as time wore on. Eventually, Doctor Darien was putting down the last of her instruments, and ready to leave. Pete let out the breath he hadn't realized that he was holding, and looked over the wound they had just finished treating. It still looked slightly swollen and discolored (though it was hard to tell with green scales), though at least it wasn't encrusted with discharge anymore. If anything, Godzooky seemed to be breathing easier, and in much less pain which was encouraging. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay, and had already pushed things as far as they could in terms of time limits.
"Time to go, Pete." Doctor Darien whispered, voicing the boy's own thoughts if not his sentiments. Even though he wanted to, Pete knew there wasn't much point to arguing. Awed by Godzilla he might be, but he knew better than to push his boundaries.
Making sure the last of their gear was secure, the pair disappeared into the island's forest, heading back to the part of the coast that the Calico had anchored near. Godzooky, still sleeping, merely turned his head in the direction of the sun as it began to lower on the horizon.
An anxious Captain Majors and Brock were waiting when they got back to the Calico, an ordinary rowboat used in lieu of the hovercraft.
"How did it go?"
"Alright, as near as we could tell. It's up to the antibiotic now. How were things on your end?"
"The big guy tailed the hovercraft out into the ocean. We had a few close calls, but managed to keep the equipment intact." Brock reported, though Captain Majors followed him up with another bit of information.
"I don't think we'll be able to pull the same trick again. He was getting wise to it after a few hours."
"Hopefully this will be the only time." Doctor Darien immediately reassured the group, though with such a large and obviously protective creature around the idea of a second try was already off the table.
His pursuit of the small man-smelling object had tapered off once he'd begun to notice how far out into the ocean it was going. The island he had claimed as a permanent home was still within a casual swimming distance, but he had wanted to be doubly sure that none of the man-things would even think about coming to call. After a while of twists and turns, he decided enough was enough and veered away, only to have it cut in front of him on his path back to the island. This lead to an even longer chase during which he tried several tactics to make it leave, trying to surface under it, at one point attempting to swat it out of the water, and finally making choppy enough water to hopefully sink the thing. Man-things were terrible at swimming once they got wet enough, that much he was aware of. Its movement made this a bit dicey, as it kept darting off in different enough directions that a ranged attack ran the risk of not having a great enough effect. Growing even more incensed by its movements, Godzilla finally opted for churning up the water for miles, which appeared to throw off the path of the man-thing, though the activity made keeping track of it difficult, and ultimately the kaiju lost sight of it. He was fairly certain it did not sink, as the water around him remained unclouded by any of the strange liquids they seemed to shed when he'd broken them, but he knew he'd stayed away for too long.
A quick turn in the water and he was swimming back through the opening of the lagoon, surfacing carefully so as not to create a wake that would swallow up the shoreline. Godzooky remained were he had left him, though more odd smells left the larger monster on edge. Snuffling at the sand surrounding the child's form, he came up with more human-smells, with sharp pangs of chemical odors which caused the giant to bare his teeth in memory. That smell never came with anything good…
The child had also moved since he had left, something which made the kaiju grow even more restless as he sniffed at the still-prone form. The majority of the smell clung to the smaller monster, along with the faint scents of the two-leggeds that had arrived in the clearing earlier. So he had been fooled.
Anger momentarily flooded his senses, causing him to unleash a plume of radioactive fire into the sky as both a warning and a release. Thoughts to hunt down the humans and their metal creatures were briefly entertained before he remembered the smaller creature on the beach, who had stirred slightly at the racket the elder kaiju was making. Lowering his head again, he half-heartedly extended a claw in a knee-jerk attempt to calm Godzooky and was somewhat surprised when the mini-monster latched onto his hand with a not-inconsiderable amount of energy. It was a far cry from the languid state he had been in earlier, and Godzilla took the opportunity to examine him again.
From what he could see there was now a collection of odd looking white strips attached to the hatchling's side, smelling strongly of both humans and their strange, sharper scents. It did not smell of the rot that had been there previously, instead it appeared to eat at the infection and clear out the sickness. Godzooky settled back into his earlier stupor, though this lacked a lot of the feverish tiredness; he actually appeared to be healing instead of growing worse.
His fury was entirely eclipsed by the information, and he settled back into his previous position to form a protective ring around the ailing child. His head still remained well over the tree tops, and though the mountains of the island blocked his vision, he could easily imagine that on the other end of the island lay the human's floating island, smelling of wood, chemicals, and that strange black smoke their metal things tended to spew.
The sun sank lower in the sky, the long shadows of the trees beginning to snake over the sand and water. Godzilla huffed out a mildly aggravated sigh, though internally he came to a decision; Godzooky's life for the lives of the humans. If things continued to improve, and if they left, he would not attack them.
The next morning saw the Calico in a state of feverish activity; Captain Majors, despite their luck regarding the local wildlife, insisted on being gone by the time noon rolled around. Brock had been helping get the hovercraft back on the ship, as well as assess the damage. Its tangle with Godzilla had left quite a lot of water damage, the job of who would clean out the seaweed that had gotten plastered to the insides falling to Pete while Brock took a look at the mechanics. As the boy searched the internals for any oceanic debris, Doctor Darien prepared to secure parts of her equipment that would shift when they set sail. Captain Majors remained in the map room to chart their course.
In short, all were preoccupied with their tasks, though as the sun rose the wildlife of the island began to preoccupy themselves with the day. Captain Major's eye is half on the instruments as well as the charts, and a few blips in both the seismic and oceanic-reading implements were noted as the sun climbed higher in the sky. While there are a few wary minutes of silence, ultimately the captain's caution was rewarded by the serenity of the morning continuing, undisturbed by lizard monsters. They were still eager to leave though and despite Pete dragging his feet the Calico pulled up anchor and sailed away from the island. They were in such a hurry to leave that Captain Majors did not give much thought to an odd drag in the hold, and if Brock had thought he'd heard something in their supplies, well, he'd hadn't immediately found anything, and there had been plenty to do in order to get the ship ready. Certainly not enough to really look through everything in the hold.
As the Calico pulled away, the waters of the lagoon on the other side of the island frothed as Godzilla rose from the depths. The departure of the humans had raised his mood; the island was once again the remote home that it had been prior. His good mood was dampened somewhat by the fact that the child appeared to have run off into the undergrowth, though the scent was relatively fresh. If anything, the tinier kaiju had probably gone off to check on his own territory, and would call if he needed help. It was not as though the island were particularly big, and it would not take long to find Godzooky if there were a need. Sinking back into the ocean, Godzilla moved into the open ocean surrounding the island, hoping to complete a few rounds to check for anything the humans might have left. They might be gone, but if there was anything he could be completely sure of when it came to humans it was that they had a tendency to leave little marks of their presence in places they'd been. At least the scents would fade with time…