Well, here's my rewritten Chapter 3. Took me long enough to finish rewriting this one. Next up will probably be a new chapter for this story or a one-shot/short story. Now, I've already had quite a few major changes and differences from King of the Monsters. Introducing Toho Kaiju is one of those, but now the story really will change. The events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters will not play out the same here. Also, I'm finally introducing Mothra! Only took until Chapter 3. Of course, I've majorly expanded and improved upon the previous version. Enjoy!
Washington DC, United States
The capital city of the United States of America was in complete panic. Monster Zero's rapidly approaching and intensifying Category Six Hurricane has restarted after a strange pause over Pheonix, Arizona.
The superstorm has brought nothing but destruction to the major city. Strong winds and torrential rains have grounded all but a horde of military aircraft.
The Potomac River has overflowed its banks, beginning to flood the surrounding city. The one advantage of this was that larger naval warships could move into the area, ready to fire their shells and AA guns into the sky.
When word got out that the genocidal Titan was making its way here, the US President and the rest of the government fled, being relocated somewhere more secure and remote.
The civilian population was in a panic, and the highways and roads were clogged up with stubborn drivers and abandoned cars.
Over 500,000 people were still stuck in a city that would soon become a warzone.
Whatever military forces could be mustered were ready to defend their homeland.
Despite it all, nothing has yet to stop Titanus Ghidorah from leveling every city that crossed its path.
King Ghidorah fired three beams of electrical fury over the landscape below.
Explosions rang out and screams of panicked bipeds filled the air.
The roar of passing flying things filled San's ears, yet it didn't last. The metal things veered off, and a barrage of small explosions rang out around his head.
San hissed in pain, closing his right eye and stopping his gravity beam.
Below them, various metal things were firing whatever they had into the sky. The shots peppered their stomach and wings, causing mild irritation to slight yet extremely brief pain.
Ichi turned his head up, blasting several of their metal flying things out of the sky. The heaps of fire and metal burned as they fell to the ground, blowing up in a small fireball once they made contact with the surface below.
On the ground, several tanks turned their cannons to face as far upward as they could.
Then, they began to fire whatever rounds they had at Monster Zero.
The shells that didn't miss exploded upon contact with Ghidorah's golden scales.
Ichi roared in anger, quick charging and then firing another blast of electrical fury at the metal things.
Only one managed to maneuver out of the way, its treads rolling along the ground.
The rest of the biped things, along with their occupants, were instantly vaporized and turned to nothing but ash and broken metal.
King Ghidorah then flew downwards.
He slowed down a little as he neared the ruined nests below.
All the while, the three heads kept firing gravity beams at whatever was foolish enough to attack them.
Their effort was valiant but futile. Only their weapon that could wipe out oxygen remotely affected them. Even then, it didn't kill them, just caused some harm.
Besides, Ichi noticed that their strange giant metal flying thing fled before the oxygen-destroying thing exploded.
With the number of biped things everywhere, attacking the One Who is Many or just trying to flee, he doubted they'd use it here.
These things aren't fleeing yet. Why?
San's chittering question quickly filled the ears of the center and right heads.
Ghidorah landed on the ground, flattening numerous biped structures under his legs.
Their two giant golden wings folded up, with the claws at the tips being used are forelimbs.
Like hell if I know. That just means more things to kill.
Ni's cackling roar earned an annoyed snarl from San.
Ichi intervened, roaring to them both.
No, San is on to something. Normally, they'd just give up defending their nests and flee by now.
San chirped triumphantly, his red eyes filled with happiness. Ha, I was right!
Ni grumbled a little, turning away from the other two heads.
The right head then fired another electrical blast at a passing ground of their flying things.
A few were destroyed, blowing up in a fireball of varying sizes.
The rest veered off, lucky enough to avoid death.
Whatever explosive things they did fire all missed, uselessly exploding in small fireballs on the ground near their right leg.
As the other two heads were busy destroying whatever dared to attack them, Ichi spent a moment thinking.
These bipeds usually cut their losses and fall back from their clump of nests after enough of their metal things are blown up or turned into smoldering wreckage.
So, why are they staying to defend this one?
It's far from the biggest place they've destroyed.
It must have some sort of significance.
Maybe it is just that this place is more important to them.
He doesn't know how they work.
Titans usually just have a large swath of land as a territory to call one's home, and somewhere in that turf is usually a nest, cave, or another sleeping spot.
Of course, they want an entire planet to rule as their own.
As it always is for a Golden Hydra.
Ichi, Ni, and San may be different from other Golden Hydras, but the desire to have their giant territory is just as strong.
However, they still want, no, need, a proper place to stay.
A cave. A nest. Someplace they can permanently rest their wings and rule over their new world. A home.
They'll find somewhere eventually. Ichi is sure of that.
As for these bipeds...
It's just so confusing.
And how could such tiny beings be capable of creating a weapon so powerful it managed to kill their greatest rival?
Ghidorah was never able to kill Gojira.
Ichi was even starting to think it might be impossible to mortally injure him.
Yes, he could bleed, but he never was close to death.
I believe the bipeds must have a special attachment to this particular clump of homes. I say we reduce it all to rubble.
Ni and San readily agreed with the middle head, excited by the mere thought of inflicting more destruction and death on those worthless vermin.
The left and right heads flapped the wing on their respective sides, and Ghidorah took off into the sky once more.
Gravity beams destroyed any living being, metal creation, and concrete structure they touched.
Despite the heroic resistance and stubbornness of its defenders, they are no match for the Golden Demise.
At best, they bought enough time for countless people to evacuate, at the cost of many other lives.
The monuments and historical structures of DC were annihilated.
Ghidorah didn't quite know why some of their nests and places looked so strange, especially in this area, but they destroyed them all the same.
Some sort of strange tall white thing was destroyed by Ni's gravity beam as it raked across the land, blowing up several nearby metal things.
Then, three pairs of red eyes set their sights on another strange-looking thing.
This biped nest is white. That alone is a strange color. It's nowhere near winter yet.
Most of it looks like the normal shape of their nests, except for the part at the top.
That bit looks like a sort of dome shape.
None of the heads had to communicate with each other. At least not verbally.
Each came to the same conclusion on what to do with this odd place.
Their necks began to glow brightly, and yellow sparks began to appear in each head's open jaws.
Lightning cracked through the sky.
One bolt hit an extremely unlucky metal flying thing.
It tumbled out of the sky, exploding in a small fireball once it hit the ground.
Right before they could destroy the white biped nest, more flying things came in.
Their exploding fire stingers hit all three heads with surprising accuracy.
San roared in pain, while Ni and Ichi snarled in anger.
The trio directed their bolts in another direction and blasted the foolish things into smithereens.
Then, they simply turned around and fired three simultaneous beams of electrical power.
Whatever purpose that strange white biped structure had, it is now pulverized.
King Ghidorah then chased the rest of them away.
They were particularly angry with encountering that same giant flying thing again.
The same one that attacked them when they awoke from their icy tomb and later guided Rodan right to them.
Unfortunately, it escaped, along with countless other flying things.
Washington DC was left in utter ruins as Ghidorah turned north, roaring triumphantly at having ended another congregation of biped nests.
Now that we're done here, I say we keep going north. There's bound to be more of them over there.
Ni chirped in agreement, already bloodthirsty for more things to kill and electrocute.
San roared, expressing his enthusiasm as well. Although, he was curious about one thing.
Why go north? Shouldn't we keep chasing that thing? We've seen it three times already, and we still haven't stopped it!
Ichi shook his head, his red eyes looking at San.
As much as it pains me to say this, no. We'll get it later. It's nowhere near as much of a threat as Gojira or his insufferable moth ally.
San chittered a questioning roar. Don't you mean Mosura? Oh yeah, what should we do about her?
Ni joined in on the conversation. Let her come. I'll be glad to blast her out of the sky again.
Ichi roared, ordering the other two to focus. He's in charge, and they will obey him.
The Divine Moth isn't important. She's nowhere near as powerful as the old King. Unless she wants to go through that reincarnation cycle again, she'll stay away from us.
As Ghidorah flew north, Ni thought he heard a faint and distant call.
He looked to see if Ichi or San noticed.
Either they didn't, or they just didn't react.
The blaring call. It sounds... parasitic.
The capital of the United States of America was destroyed.
Not even the world's superpower could stop Monster Zero.
With the destruction of the nation's capital, and with seven other Titans causing havoc throughout the mainland United States, America only came closer to collapse.
Outskirts of Hoboken, New Jersey
The two Jinshin-Mushi just spent some time talking south.
In all honesty, Barb was at a loss for words.
Yes, she suspected that the mating pair when sensed a few years back while dormant probably died.
No doubt killed by the former King of the Monsters.
As for their leader, Prime, she's unsure about her fate.
She remembered that Prime reluctantly went into dormancy alongside the other Titans.
She said that she wasn't accepting Gojira's Alpha Call to go dormant, but merely choosing to go into dormancy at the same time.
A bit strange, but she wasn't questioning Prime.
Well, the Eigth Prime.
There was a First Prime.
She passed a long time ago.
Since then, the most dominant female of their species would undergo one last change, becoming the sort of "Alpha" of their kind.
Jinshin-Mushi Prime. That's what some called the role. Others simply called her Prime.
From the old stories, a few Primes choose to keep their old names, preferring them over Prime.
Despite her abnormality of the crown-like things on her back, Barb was chosen to be the successor of Prime.
She would have become the Ninth Prime eventually.
But, why?
That's the last thing she wants to do.
Unlike most Jinshin-Mushi, she somehow found a way to tensely coexist with Gojira and the other Atomic Breathers.
She was allowed to bow down to him all that time ago.
If Prime had found out what she did, then the Queen of the Jinshin-Mushi would have been nothing but a skeleton by now.
She doesn't know if Prime is still around. If she is, then Ghidorah is in for a bad day when they finally meet.
If Prime is dead, then she's screwed.
Barb knows she can't stand up to the Golden Hydra.
Against most of the other Titans, the battle-hardened parasite has no problem, but against that Golden Terror? Oh, not a chance.
Although...
There is this new male.
As the two walked, Barb turned to face her smaller companion.
So... My name's Barb. What's yours?
All Jinshin-Mushi have their names, just like every other Titan.
For obvious reasons, they don't usually share that detail with other kaiju.
Most are either too scared or angry to listen.
Besides, there are zero purposes in letting your victim or murderer know a parasite's name.
She can't remember Prime's old name before becoming the Eight Prime.
There were others.
She knows that the mating pair from some time back called themselves Hok and Fem. The male and female Jisnhin-Mushi aren't around anymore.
Barb can recall another mating pair from the days long past. Illi and Cago.
They're probably dead by now too.
She and this male parasite are probably the last of their kind.
The Black Parasites are so close to extinction, but there are two of them.
That's more than what could be said for countless other species of Titan.
The Atomic Breathers is the only notable one she can recall right now.
I... My... My name? What's that?
Barb was pulled from her thoughts.
The Queen stared in shock at the smaller creature.
Her red-orange eyes were glowing in utter surprise.
H-how do you... Alright. A name... It's something we call ourselves. Mine is Barb. So, what's yours?
The winged parasite flapped his wings briefly. Not enough to lift himself off the ground, just for the sake of stretching them.
I never met anyone before you. I... I guess I don't have one. Nobody has been around to call me a name.
The Queen parasite would have frowned, but her kind can't make that many expressions.
What would be a good name for this male?
No, she can't decide that.
Normally, it's up to the new hatchling or the parent to choose a name.
She isn't this Jinshin-Mushi's mom, so he'll have to come up with something.
I can't choose a name for you. You have to choose something to call yourself.
The flying parasite flapped his wings.
The very dark-colored Titan took flight, flapping his wings repeatedly to stay airborne.
Still, he didn't go that far up.
His red-orange turned to look down at the bigger kaiju.
Hm... Let me think.
Barb looked past the flying Jinshin-Mushi.
The gloomy weather isn't helping things.
Those sky puffs are growing darker and darker.
It's probably going to rain.
As if the sky could hear her thoughts, she felt a drop on her flat head.
Then another. And another. Then, even more at once.
It's starting to rain now.
Cago trilled, his eyes wide in wonder.
Oh, rain. I like rain!
He slowly descended back to the ground, letting his body drop the rest of the way.
His forelimbs sent out a small shockwave as he landed.
A nearby biped artificial light sparked before flickering out.
Barb made a low blaring call, amused.
That small EMP he made did take out something.
Although, she doesn't exactly feel the same way about the sky water.
The feeling of thousands of small droplets hitting her exoskeleton is strange.
She can feel the water hitting her, and then flowing or trickling down her gray sides and over many old scars.
Of course, her companion is far younger than her.
The very concept and feeling of rain itself are probably new to him.
Something he likely hasn't experienced often.
Thus far, it looks like he's enjoying it.
Then, she saw a bolt of yellow streaking through the dark sky.
Immediately afterward, her ears were filled with the roar of thunder.
Just great, a thunderstorm...
The winged parasite let a blaring call out of his mouth, his red-orange eyes wide in fear.
He instinctively moved closer to Barb.
Another roar of thunder and a bolt of electricity scared him again.
The male parasite jumped in surprise, his unsteady legs almost making him fall over.
It's just sound. There's no need to be scared.
The male's smaller forelimbs twitched as he looked nervously at the sky.
Then, a stream of lightning struck his side.
He cried out in pain, falling to the ground.
The wet grass and mud beneath him splashed as hit exoskeleton slammed into it.
Some bits of slippery mud covered the bottom of his legs and his sides.
Then, a chorus of three ear-splitting, wailing roars filled the air.
Lightning spared through the clouds, briefly illuminating them, and the shape of another Titan.
Barb slowly backed up.
She isn't afraid of much, but she recognized that silhouette.
The Devil with Three Heads.
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
Mosura couldn't help but feel worried.
She has every right to be, considering the circumstances.
Her best friend, the one she shares a symbiotic relationship with, her closest ally, her Alpha, Gojira, is on the brink of death.
All she can suspect is that King Ghidorah believed that he killed him, but didn't finish him off.
Of course, she was still in her cocoon then, so she has no idea.
She also hasn't had any opportunity to talk to her King.
Of course, her premature death millennia ago was unfortunate, but a necessary sacrifice.
She can always return.
That's a trait unique to Divine Moths.
Reincarnation.
As long as there is an egg around, they will be reborn after some time.
They even keep their memories.
Mosura has millennia of memories of countless past lives within her mind.
Despite this incredible ability, her kind's already low numbers still fell, just like the other Titans.
She knows that all of the other moths live in the Underground.
How many exactly are still around, she has no idea.
As long as a male or female can lay an unfertilized egg, they'll be back.
As long as an egg isn't destroyed.
If that happens, then if they fall, they are gone for good.
Right now, she's done all she can to help the humans find Gojira's lair.
She knows that his relationship with them is... complicated, to say the least.
It's been a long time since there have been any humans inside his lair.
The sprawling place full of bipeds who worshipped and lived alongside Gojira, a remarkably resilient people, have long since drowned or fled, scattered to the winds.
From what she's quickly learned and had to peace together, the humans likely have a sort of plan to help rejuvenate Goji faster than merely absorbing natural radiation.
She could sense an extremely large amount of potent radiation coming from their metal diving thing.
Whatever plan they have, she hopes it works.
If not, then the world will have to rely on her to stop Ghidorah. That is a prospect the Divine Moth would rather not deal with.
Side by side, the King, along with his "Queen", has done amazing in keeping the balance of nature intact and ensuring peace.
The pair have done so well.
It would crush her to learn that he died.
As she flapped her giant blue patterned wings, she felt the presence of another Titan nearby.
She briefly scanned the sky around her, wary of another flying kaiju having found her.
She saw none.
Mosura was briefly reminded of Rodan.
The Fire Demon.
Her friend.
She shook her head. She can't think about that... It hurts her heart too much...
That leaves one option.
The insect Titan looked down at the ocean below.
She honed her ability, to focus on the presence.
Then, she heard an all-too-familiar screech, muffled by miles and miles of water.
Na Kika.
Mosura's blue insectoid eyes widened in fear.
Oh, dear. Why is Kraken here? Is she following Ghidorah's orders? What is her goal here?
Mosura has to do something.
That call sounded angry.
If the cephalopod attacks and destroys the metal thing, then innocent humans will die and Godzilla will have no hope of a faster recovery.
Without thinking, Mosura tucked her limbs closer to her body.
Then, she dived down into the water.
She almost immediately regretted that poorly thought-out decision.
Unlike a reptile, bird, or mammal, she doesn't breathe through her mouth. All insects don't.
Yes, that's where a plethora of roars, cries, screeches, chirps, and other sounds come from, but not oxygen.
Instead, many, many small holes across her body draw in the air she breathes.
While underwater, there is no air. Not that she can breathe, at least. She doesn't have gills.
Mosura kept her mandibles closed regardless.
As the bubbles from her splash faded, she tried to kick or move her legs and forelimbs. It's not going very well.
Her eyes adjusted to the blue of being beneath the waves.
She can feel the lack of air filtering in from her fuzzy body. In a way, she's holding her breath right now.
If she stays like this for too long, she'll suffocate to death. And that means she'll have to wait to reincarnate again, an amount of time she can't afford to waste in this dire situation.
Thoroughly regretting her previous action, Mosura turned back to the surface.
Her head quickly broke through the waves.
A chitter of relief came from her mandibles.
She repeatedly kept kicking and moving her legs, creating numerous large waves in the water around her.
The fuzzy parts of her body and antennae are soaking wet, and her wings are too waterlogged to fly.
She can breathe now.
Her legs are moving a bit to keep her afloat.
Her long wings are uselessly drifting in the water.
Okay, this was a bad idea...
As she swam to stay afloat, she heard another angry cry from down below.
Mosura focused her mind. She can't mope about her stupid idea and getting wet, something the insect generally dislikes. No. She has to at least try and get Na Kika to stop.
While she can't physically go down there and halt Kraken, she can speak to it. Him? Her? She's not sure what gender the Colorful Cephalopod is right now.
It might not work, but it's the best, and the only hope she has.
Mosura opened her mandibles. Short of an Alpha Call, she screeched the loudest she possibly could.
Na Kika! Don't attack the human's metal fish! They're here to help Godzilla!
Many Miles Below, At the Same Time
Na Kika roared in anger.
Her turquoise blue eyes glared at the biped's metal fish thing.
After all this time, they dare to return here.
This shared home was lost to them for a reason, and now they're back?
No. She won't let them return to their sunken bunch of nests.
No living beings deserve to be annihilated based on the will of one kaiju, but she has long since lost any sympathy for those bipedal mammals.
They can swim, she knows that.
However, there's no way one of them can survive in these depths, let alone reach this far underwater.
So, they are using some sort of lifeless, metal, no fins, sinking fish thing?
It's about the size of a whale but looks like some sort of curved shape, and it's pretty long.
Nowhere near as long as Manda or Tiamat, but bigger than most normal-sized aquatic creatures.
From what Kraken can guess, the bipeds are inside the strange metal fish, and using it to get back inside the now-flooded ruins of their old home.
To reach Gojira.
Na Kika doesn't know what they plan to do to him.
He's already been nearly killed by King Ghidorah. Now what do they want?
To finish him off?
It's a miracle he's even alive.
No. She won't let them even catch a glimpse of the Atomic Breather.
Na Kika roared, a muffled sound filling the water.
She then began to swim forward quickly. Straight toward the weird black thing.
As she swam with all haste, the USS Scorpion, manned by a military crew and having several notable members of Monarch on board, had no choice but to defend themselves from the approaching Titan.
If the sub blows up, they'll all die, which nobody wants, and they'll fail in their mission to revive Godzilla.
They fired a torpedo.
Na Kika paused as she watched something get launched out of front of the metal fish.
She can't tell what it is. She's never seen anything like it before.
From that one metal fish she destroyed and went dormant around, it never got a chance to fight back. Neither did the one she blew up when escaping from her prison.
Maybe that's what their self-defense is. Hmm... Now, what does it do?
Her turquoise eyes watched in curiosity as she drew closer to her.
Her tentacles drifted a little in the water.
Then, when it was moments away from touching her colorful body, it exploded in a tremendous fireball.
Kraken cried out in pain, shutting her eyes as she recoiled from the force and heat of the blast.
After a moment, she recovered.
Still a little dazed, her body hurt a lot.
Then, she saw that some of the blue water around her was changing color. Red.
She looked down, seeing that she was bleeding from somewhere.
It will heal, but not right now.
She glared once more at the metal fish, only more furious now.
Now that she knows what this thing is capable of, she's going to be more careful, and then destroy it.
She can also sense a great deal of radiation coming from it.
Interesting, but not important.
It fired another thing at her.
Na Kika simply maneuvered to the left, thinking that this would be all she needed for it to zoom right by her.
It worked.
Whatever that exploding fire-stinger is, it went through the water, right past her body without exploding.
After dodging a third one, she finally approached the thing.
And not a moment too soon.
It was on the verge of entering the tunnel and going into the Underground.
Technically, that cave is part of the wider realm they call the "Underground", the original home and birthplace of the Titans. However, it is only accessible through this one tunnel leading to the Surface world, specifically, the ocean.
Na Kika quickly wrapped her light blue and pink tentacles around it.
Her suction cups were easily gripped into the thing.
Then, she began to squeeze.
She can feel and hear the metal cracking and groaning as it fails to stand up to her power.
Then, she pulled two of her tentacles away.
They floated in the water for a moment before she moved them.
They both slammed down at the back end of the metal fish.
She heard a loud sound but didn't know what it meant.
Whatever she did, that strange spinning thing at the end stopped spinning.
Her insectile face was brimming with anger.
She's had enough.
Say goodbye, bipeds.
Right as the Colorful Cephalopod was about to finish the thing off, she heard a muffled cry coming from above.
Is that... Mosura?
Na Kika! Don't attack the human's metal fish! They're here to help Godzilla!
She paused, confused. She chirped. Wait... What?
Her turquoise eyes looked down again at the damaged metal fish.
These little ones. They're here to... help Godzilla?
Mosura doesn't lie. If she truly is saying that, then they must have come here to somehow help heal Gojira.
As the realization dawned on her, she could only chirp one low call.
What have I done?
Na Kika, being much more gentle now, guided the metal diving fish back towards the surface.
She didn't look at Mosura as she left the human's metal thing there. She can't bear to see her after what she just did.
Mosura could see Na Kika through the water.
She was relieved that the humans are safe, but whatever plan they had, it failed.
It wasn't Na Kika's fault.
No. Mosura couldn't blame her. She likely believed that they were a threat, and behaved accordingly.
The Divine Moth swam up to the human's diving thing.
Despite being almost the same size as it, she carefully moved her body on top of it.
Relieved to be out of the water, she shook her body.
Drops of water went flying everywhere.
Her body, fur, and wings are still wet, yes, but at least she can dry now.
She wobbled a little, almost tilting the thing over.
Carefully, she tried to get a look at the cephalopod.
She's already gone.
Down in the depths, Na Kika was quiet and solemn. She screwed up everything.
At the very least, she knows one thing for sure now. Gojira is alive.
She'll see if he's in the mood to talk. Probably not, considering his recent near-death experience and current weakened state, but one can try.
Besides that, Kraken will have to talk with Mosura.
The Queen of the Monsters is benevolent and forgiving. She'll understand.
Na Kika slowly swam through the tunnel.
She winced a bit, still bleeding from that human weapon.
How much time has it been since she's last seen him? Decades?
It's finally time to see her Alpha again.
I really hope you guys enjoyed this rewrite of Chapter 3! It's certainly better than the previous version, that's for sure. Out of the MonsterVerse Titans, Na Kika is certainly high on my list of favorites. She, he, it? A bit complicated with the whole changing genders thing, but Kraken is a she in my story, for now, anyway. She'll likely show up again in a rewritten Chapter 4, and then it'll be more sporadic, I promise! Again, I can't stress this enough.