"Mel come on, we're going to miss it," said a young woman as they walked down the street. Her companion, the girl named Mel, was inspecting her shopping bags in no hurry to get where they were going.
"Calm yourself Ashley," Mel responded, chuckling a little as she looked up from her bags. "We have plenty of time to get there. Look, the book store is just ahead."
Mel pointed towards a "Bookworm" store down the street they were walking. Throwing all caution to the wind Ashley ran for the store, leaving her friend to catch up. As she watched her go, Mel shook her head and smiled to herself. Ashley could be a hand full at times, especially when her favorite celebrities were involved. Mel reached the front doors of the store and walked in. At the entrance was a sign that read, "W. C. Halter book reading and signing from noon to two p.m. Today only."
Toward the back of the building was a group of people seated and facing a raised platform, a chair placed in the center and a mic standing in front of it. At the front, facing the crowd, were tables laden with W. C. Halter's book "The Kaiju World War." Most of the people gathered here were women in their twenties or early thirties but there were a few men as well, all of which could be classified as hipsters or geeks.
Mel had read the book herself and based off the appearance of the majority of these women, she doubted they had themselves. What they probably were here for was to try and flirt with the author. In fact, she knew that Ashley was here for that very reason. Mel could understand this, W. C. Halter was a rather handsome man, but what she had liked the most was the story. It was intriguing, action packed, and had a little romance thrown in, everything she liked. She was glad she had thought to bring her own copy of the book.
The few men there had definitely read the book. At the end, when questions were raised, she could already anticipate what these men would ask. Every single one would pertain to unanswered questions found in the story or if any specific fan theories were true. The women on the other hand would ask things like, whether he was single or not and other things that could be nothing else but sad attempts at flirting. Mel felt sorry for these women. Had they just read the 'About the Author' section at the end of the book they would know he was happily married.
As she thought this, Mel couldn't help but feel a little guilty. She had read that section for the exact purpose of seeing if he was married. She was not one of those women who had a crush on every male celebrity she saw but every one she did had been an author. It was a little disappointing to discover that Halter was married.
"Mel, Mel over hear!" called Ashley. She was standing at the back of the group, jumping up and down. It looked like her excitement couldn't be contained much longer. Mel walked over to her.
"Find us a good seat?" she asked.
"Yeah," was Ashley's quick reply. "Right in the middle too." She pointed to a couple of seats toward the middle of the crowd. The middle was considered the best spot to get. You were not so far away that you would have trouble seeing but not so close that you had to crane your neck back to see. They made their way over to the seats and sat down, Ashley still rocking with excitement.
"I can't believe we're here," she said excitedly. "I'm about to meet one of the best authors ever! Can you believe it Mel?"
"It is rather exciting isn't it," Mel said, smiling at her energetic friend.
"Where do you think he is right now?" she asked turning her head left and right, searching for her celebrity crush.
"Probably in the back preparing for fans like you," Mel teased. "Now calm down Ash, people are starting to stare." Ashley calmed down a tad, sitting somewhat still in her chair. However, she was still shaking with excitement.
As if sensing the calm that was finally falling over the crowd a door at the very back of the store opened. Out walked a man with pure white hair and round glasses. He wore a white button up shirt with a baby blue tie and a navy blue suit jacket. Mel knew that this was the owner of the store, Scott Rogers. He walked up onto the platform, grabbed the mic on the stand and began to address the crowd.
"Good afternoon everyone," he said in a very soft voice. "I bet you are all excited for our special guest today. He has been very gracious to come here and read us a small excerpt from his book and sign any copies you have. If you don't have a copy there are a few right in front of me here for you to get. Toward the end of the reading he will be taking any questions you may have for him, so be ready for that. After the reading, there is a table over to the side here where you can line up and Mr. Halter will sign your books. Now, without further delay may I introduce the man himself, Mr. W. C. Halter!"
The bookstore roared with applause at these words. The same door Scott had come through opened and out walked another man. He wore a nice suit with a dark red and black tie. On his head was a trilby cocked slightly to the left. He had rich brown hair along with a goatee that made him look very dignified. A pair of square-rimmed glasses sat on his nose. This was W. C. Halter.
Halter sat down in the seat on the stage and looked out over the crowd. A kind smile spread across his face and Mel could not help but be drawn into those kind hazel eyes.
"Wow, this was a bigger crowd than I was expecting," Halter said. "I'm glad to see all of you. It's good to know that I have so many fans."
"I LOVE YOU WILL!" Ashley shouted. Every head in the crowd turned to her shocked. Mel hid her face behind her hand, thoroughly embarrassed. She could feel the heat spread across her cheeks.
Will wasn't even fazed by this outburst. He, like everyone else, had turned to look them. However, while all the others were looking at them with surprise, Will wasn't. He was instead laughing heartily.
"I love you too Miss," he chuckled. Ashley's face turned the brightest shade of red ever and she quickly looked down at her feet. Mel looked at her friend from behind her hand and had to hide a snicker. This was probably the first time that any of her celebrity crushes had actually taken notice of her. Mel decided that she liked this guy.
"Well, now that we have all had a good laugh how about we get to it huh," Will said. He opened the book on his lap and flipped through it until he found the section he wanted.
"I decided to read the siege of Mothra Island, one of the more action packed chapters." Will began. "At the end of the chapter I'll take any questions you may have." With that he began reading.
Throughout the chapter Mel became entranced by his voice. It was so rich and soothing that she felt she could listen to it all day. Will was able to change his voice for each character he read, even able to differentiate between male and female voices. He put so much emotion behind everything that Mel lost herself within the story, able to imagine herself really being at the legendary island.
Once Will had finished it was too soon for Mel. She wished that he would read just a little bit more. Beside her, Ashley had her hands over her heart and a dreamy look on her face.
"Any questions?" Will asked, snapping Mel out of her trance. At these words at least half of the audience raised their hands, many of them women.
"Let me rephrase that," Will said. "Are there any questions about the book and not you asking me out on a date." At that, half of the hands went down. Mel could not help but chuckle to herself. Will quickly picked one of the remaining hands.
"There has been a rumor that the Charles Hamilton character is based on you," the man said. "Is that true." It took Will a second before he could answer.
"That's a good question," Will said. "Charles is more everything I want to be. A good leader, humble, and noble. I will say though that every character in this book is based off of someone I know in real life. For example, Justin is based off my best friend and Soren is my younger brother. Charlie I guess you could say is the improved version of me."
There were many other questions asked. One woman still had the nerve to ask Will on a date but of course he said no. After that, they were directed into a nice, orderly line by Scott. Ashley hurried them into the line right behind a pregnant woman.
Will had never expected to have this many fans present. His book had become an inter-national bestseller very quickly. He guessed that with the return of the kaiju people would want stories about them. Little did they know that he had himself fought in the war as one of those kaiju, that the story he had presented was not all true fiction. Very few people knew that the kaiju had human forms and that he was one of them, the great king Godzilla.
Each person in line came forward and he happily signed their books. He was a little embarrassed when he signed a woman's book. The majority of them gave him looks that suggested many things. These women he barely said anything to, just signed the book and sent them on their way.
"Mind signing my book Mr. Halter?" asked the next person in line. Will looked up to see who it was. A very pregnant woman stood in front of him. She had long auburn hair and square-rimmed glasses like his. Her eyes were a deep shade of green. Will smiled at her as he took the book from her.
"And who should I make it out to?" he asked, opening the cover.
"Becky," the woman said, returning Will's smile.
"To my biggest fan Becky with all my love," Will said as he wrote. He returned the book and as he did he stood up. He gently kissed her then and the rest of the line let out shocked gasps. This of course was Will's wife Becky. He had a chair brought up and she sat beside him behind the table.
The next two were a pair of women around his and Becky's age. One was a slim blonde who looked like she could be of Russian descent, the other was a brunette who had a very youthful face. The brunette seemed a little dejected. Will took a copy from each of them, made them out to Mel and Ashley and handed the books back. Once he had signed them the brunette named Ashley took her copy and walked off sulking.
"I'm sorry about Ashley," Mel said to Will. "I think she was a tad disappointed that you were married."
Will lightly chuckled. "Sorry to ruin her day. Did you enjoy the story?"
"Yes," Mel said. "It was most intriguing. Just imagine if the kaiju really had human forms. Any person we meet on the street could be one of them."
Will and Becky cast each other knowing looks. "That would be interesting. Too bad its just a story though. They are just animals after all."
Mel laughed in agreement and walked after her sad friend.
"Just animals?" said a voice in his head. "That kind of hurts." It was Godzilla. Each time they changed forms the others' personality was locked away in the host's mind and through this connection they could on occasions talk to each other.
"Sorry my friend," Will said inside his head. "We can't let anyone even remotely suspect that the story is true."
"True, but you could be just a little more gentle."
"Well, that's how people see you guys. Nothing we can do about it."
"Yeah. I wish the shobijin still had a physical form. Then we could actually communicate with the rest of humanity."
"I know, but right now you just have us. Hopefully one day my kind will accept you completely.
"Hopefully, but until that day comes we'll be alright. Now you better get back to what you were doing. People are waiting." With that, Godzilla retreated back into Will's mind.
For about another thirty minutes Will signed book after book, he and Becky sharing many laughs with the fans. Then, at 2:30 p.m., Becky's dad closed down the book signing. After a quick good-bye speech the couple were in their car, a black ford mustang, and headed off.
"I think that went well," said Becky as they headed down the road. "More people read the book than you thought."
"Yeah," said Will, still in awe of his fame. "Who would have thought that I could capture the minds of so many people."
"I did," was Becky's response. She placed her hand in Will's and smiled at the man she loved so much. "I always had faith in you."
"Thanks hon," he said, kissing her hand. "Now off to the park to meet our friends."
Anthony Roma was set to run. Beside him Akari Shinjo stared down the race track, focused on what she was about to do. Nash Faller stood off to the side his hand raised into the air.
"Ready," he said, "Set. GO!" Anthony and Akari shot off like bullets from a gun. The two of them started neck and neck, neither allowing the other to pull ahead. Then, suddenly a yellow light began to encompass Akari and she began to slowly pull ahead.
Only until recently Anthony had been the fastest man alive. Despite his bulk he could outrun the fastest Olympic runners due to the fact that he had the kaiju Rodan inside him. In the skies, the giant pteranodon was the fastest thing alive but in spite of that, his speed paled in comparison to the one that resided in the slim Akari. Her kaiju Balkzardan could literally run at the speed of light, something that Rodan never could do. Though neither of them could run at those top speeds while in human form, they could tap into some of their kaiju's abilities making them faster than any other human alive. Now that Akari had come into their lives the two of them had formed a friendly rivalry to see who truly was the fastest.
No matter how hard he tried Anthony just could not catch up with Akari. She pulled ahead with what seemed like little effort and finished their race in record time. So far, Akari was indeed proving the superior.
"That makes it fifty-two to zero," Nash said once Anthony had crossed the finish line. He smiled at Akari and the young Asian woman walked over to him and placed an arm around his waist. He in turn wrapped his around her shoulders. In the two years since she arrived she and Nash had become close and eventually started dating. This was no surprise to anyone considering that their kaiju Balkzardan and Anguirus had been mates.
"Ready to give up Anthony," Akari teased. "Don't you realize by now that you cannot beat me?"
"Nah," Anthony replied. "I'll just keep racing you until that day that I finally beat you."
"Good," said Akari. "I hoped you'd say that. You are the only one who could remotely match my speed."
"Are you two done yet?" asked Anthony's wife Jana. She had gone on a walk around the park with their daughter Angela in the stroller. Right now the little one was fast asleep.
"Yeah," Anthony responded, walking over to her. Once he reached her he gave her a light kiss on the forehead and smiled.
"Does anyone know when Will and Becky are suppose to get here?" asked Nash once the couple had joined him and Akari. "Wasn't his book reading suppose to end at 2:30?"
As if on cue the Halter's black mustang drove up. Will got out first and hurried over to the passenger side and helped his pregnant wife out of the car. Anthony could not help but smile at the two of them. For years he, along with Nash and their other friend Kelton had waited for these two to get married. Now they were and had a baby on the way. He could not wait until their little child was born.
"Did she beat you again Anthony," called Will from across the park. He had changed out of his suit and now wore a Batman t-shirt along with bluejeans, his trilby still cocked just slightly to the left.
"Yeah, she did," Anthony said. "How did the book reading go?"
"Good, thanks for asking." Will responded. "I had a lot of girls still trying to flirt, even with Becky there."
"The price of being famous," teased Nash. "Now, who's ready to eat. I'm starving."
They set out a blanket along with sandwiches and other picnic foods. The conversations were on topics like, when was Will going to write another book, what were he and Becky going to name their child, and other lighthearted things. Once they had finished their meals the women went over to a bench and began cooing over Angela who had woken up during the meal. The guys stayed at a picnic table, watching their significant others.
"How are things with you and Akari?" Will asked Nash.
"Good, really good," Nash replied. "But I can't help but wonder if the feelings are mine."
"What do you mean?" Anthony asked.
"Well, do I love her because I do or is it because our kaiju love each other. Was this really my choice or fate deciding for me? I just don't know."
"If you let those thoughts cloud your judgment then you can never really love her," Will said. "I had similar thoughts when I first discovered my kaiju side but I came to realize that just the idea of my life without Becky felt like torture. If fate had determined that Becky and I were meant for each other that did not change the way I felt about her. I know with every fiber of my being that I love Becky and nothing will change how I feel. That is how we should think."
Nash nodded his head. "I guess you're right Will. I do love Akari and to me those feelings are real. Fate doesn't really matter in the long run. Thanks."
The two friends smiled at each other and continued to enjoy the wonderful day. Suddenly, the peace was interrupted by an annoying buzzing sound. Will's phone was going off. He took it out of his pocket and saw that it was his cousin Harley Halter calling.
"I have to take this," Will said and answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Will we have a situation," Harley said on the other end. "Muto and Titanosaurus have hit San Francisco. I'm on my way to stop them but I could use some help. Could you come along?"
"Sure Harley, I'll be right there," Will hung up the phone. "Duty calls boys. We have a situation in San Francisco and Harley wants my help."
"Do you want us to come?" Anthony asked standing up.
"It's just Muto and Titanosaurus. Harley and I can deal with them. Could one of you make sure that Becky get's home safely?"
"Leave it to me," said Anthony.
"Thanks bud. See you when I get back." After a quick explanation and good-bye to his wife, Will climbed into his mustang and headed off for California.