Well, here we go! My rewrite of Chapter 4. This should be miles better than the original. Of course, I'm improving on the old sections to make them longer and have much better quality. I've also taken the liberty of adding a whole new section v1 didn't have. This chapter has my first major fight scene in the story, so I'd appreciate some feedback on how I did! Now then, based on the title, I'm sure you can guess that our favorite parasitic Queen is back! Without further ado, enjoy!
South of Hoboken, New Jersey
Goddamit Ni! Why the fuck would you do that!? Out of all the possible overly aggressive, completely useless, borderline moronic actions you've committed, I think your brain has finally broken!
For once, even the right head could only help but flinch at Ichi's pure rage.
Yes, the middle head does lose his temper a lot when one of them screws up, especially with Ni, but even this is foreign to the left and right heads.
San silently pulled his head away from the other two, his red eyes wide in fear, an emotion Ghidorah usually never shows, especially to other Titans.
Ichi continued with his angry roars, uncaring of how it strained his vocal cords.
I should just rip your head off and not let it grow back! Of all the stupid decisions you could have taken, not telling us about those parasites is just beyond idiotic! Why wouldn't you just tell us!? Why, Ni!? Why!?
The lead head snapped his jaws shut dangerously close to Ni's golden scales. Maybe the center head did want to bite him.
Ni practically stuttered, his cackling call lacking its usual confidence or aggressive undertone.
Come on, Ichi! I mean, this wasn't stupid. I just thought that-
It wasn't who he expected to be the one that cut him off.
San's roar sounded particularly desperate, and he even somehow still found a way to say it nicely.
Guys! We can't argue! Can we please focus on defending ourselves from the parasites?
That got the center and right heads to pause.
Ichi roared in surprise as the male Jinshin-Mushi flew right past them, going straight upwards.
For only a second as the parasitic creature passed, Ichi's red eyes narrowed as he made eye contact with those of the other flying creature. The red-orange glow showed confidence, and a blaring call filled his ears.
Now, all three heads were done arguing, temporarily, at least.
Ichi was still thinking about continuing this "talk" after they killed these two annoying pests.
From the ground, Barb let out a blaring call, her head turned upwards.
Now, point your forelimbs downwards and let yourself fall!
The older parasite's guidance and plan worked perfectly.
The smaller Jinshin-Mushi stopped flapping his wings and positioned his two forelimbs so the sharp tips faced downwards at a slight angle.
The Golden Hydra didn't get a chance to react as he fell past them. His sharp forelimbs clawed through the golden scales on San's neck, and into the flesh beneath.
San wailed in pain, his jaws opening wide and his red eyes dilated.
As quickly as he came, the young parasite was gone.
He flapped his wings twice as he approached the ground so he wouldn't crash.
Two long gashes ran down San's neck, beginning to seep black blood.
The male parasite looked down at his forelimbs. Black blood.
Even if the pouring rain didn't immediately wash it away, he wouldn't be able to see it caking his dark exoskeleton.
The young male turned to his older companion. He's never fought anything before.
He's hiding how scared and nervous he is of that Golden Devil.
Yes, he has some internal base instincts all creatures have, but that alone won't work with a complete lack of combat experience, especially against that giant golden thing.
The Queen Jinshin-Mushi made a blaring call, trying to mask her fear of the Devil with Three Heads.
Fly, quickly! Try and dodge his gravity beams!
The smaller parasite tried to ask further. Gravity what?
Then, a bolt of yellow electricity struck the ground near him.
The blast of pure electrical charge scorched the dirt, evaporating mud and rainwater.
The parasite cried out in surprise, quickly flapping his wings to get airborne.
A call of pain filled his ears.
Barb groaned as two gravity beams halted their relentless attack.
Her legs buckled, and she nearly fell.
Her red-orange eyes glared up in anger at Ghidorah.
The crown pattern on her back only has another scar now.
Not a usual bite mark or slash from a battle or mating ritual. No.
The black scorch march wasn't even noticeable on her grey exoskeleton.
The storm has made nearly everything black.
The glow of the bolts of lightning streaking through the sky provided most of the light, along with whatever sunlight managed to get through the dark clouds of the powerful storm.
The rain continued to pour down, making the dark exoskeletons of the two parasitic Titans glimmer in what little light there was.
All three heads of Ghidorah cackled in malicious fury.
Ichi roared orders to the other two.
Focus on the female parasite! She can't do anything against us!
Both heads acknowledged with low snarls in their throats.
A yellow glow began to appear on all three of Ghidorah's necks.
As their jaws opened, one can see the same yellow glow in the back of Ichi's, Ni's, and San's throats.
Small sparks of electricity began to appear around Ghidorah's open jaws, crackling around their teeth and gums.
The flying parasite roared as he flew right toward his foe.
Barb could only look on from the ground.
As soon as she saw the yellow glow coming from Ghidorah, she knew what was about to happen.
She won't let it!
Barb let out a blaring call, lifting one of her forelimbs off the ground.
It began to pulsate red, and the bottom began to glow. It's almost the same color as the glow from her eyes.
With one last roar, the Queen of the Jinshin-Mushi slammed her charged forelimb into the ground. The force of the slam tore through the muddy dirt and wet grass, creating a small indent.
The invisible EMP radiated outwards.
Any nearby biped places immediately lost whatever glow they had as electrical sources flickered and then broke. Any power systems they had short-circuited and then died.
The glow from the gravity beam Ghidorah was charging vanished.
All three heads felt something wash over them, and then their electrical abilities just suddenly cut off.
Ichi snarled, knowing exactly why their electrical powers were disabled.
Those damn parasites.
This is why he reacted so furiously to Ni's incompetence.
Fighting these things is usually a bad idea.
Yes, they still did periodically kill them when they got the chance back in the old days.
However, they always planned it out first and didn't give them a chance to use their EMP during combat.
This time, thanks to Ni, they were terribly unprepared and thus unable to stop the female from using their kind's signature ability.
Yes, they've fought parasites before.
Most of them died or were left seriously wounded as they fled.
King Ghidorah has only ever lost two fights where a Jinshin-Mushi was involved.
One was the first time they ever encountered one of those parasites.
That was a terrible learning experience. A trial by fire, as some would say.
That was the only time they were scared by a pair of those black kaiju.
The second...
That four against one or three, depending on one's view of Ghidorah, didn't pan out how Ichi hoped. So, they flew away. It would have been a victory if they were only facing two parasites. Yet, that isn't what happened.
They won't lose a third fight.
Although, as Ni and San roared threateningly at the male, which seemed to make him keep his distance, Ichi was thinking,
His red eyes noticed that there is something strange about this female parasite.
Her exoskeleton looks more grey than black, and it is covered by numerous scars all over.
Besides that, there's a look in her eyes he recognizes.
One of a battle-hardened and experienced fighter.
There's also the physical difference in her back.
The shape of her back almost looks like a crown, in a way.
The center head commanded the other two to flap the wings, but not upwards. No, they were going toward the ground. Still out of reach of the female's forelimbs, but closer than they currently are.
The male parasite finally worked up enough nerve to fly at them again.
He flapped his wings in one powerful move, and then tucked them in, zooming towards Ghidorah.
This time, it didn't get a chance to injure the One Who is Many.
San bit down on one of the parasite's wings.
It broke through in one second. San almost swore that his teeth sunk right through the wing.
The male parasite roared in sheer pain. Ni sadistically smirked as he recognized the panic and horror in the call.
This one must not be used to experiencing pain. Good.
San then tossed the black-colored Titan way, flinging him towards the grounded kaiju.
Barb cried out in surprise, which turned into one of pain as the body of her companion slammed into her.
After a moment, they both got up.
The Queen MUTO groaned as she stood up, a bit dizzy after that impact.
The Male MUTO got on his feet afterward. He was still panicked and worried about the sheer pain.
He's never, ever, not once in his short life felt any sort of pain at all.
The feeling is completely new to him, and thus, he's overreacting.
Ichi telepathically told the other two heads to stay quiet.
That ability is necessary for the three heads to communicate with the sheer distance between them, but it's also useful for the three heads to share information without another nearby Titan being able to hear.
The center head snarled as he looked down at the two recovering parasites.
Now then. I'll give you only one chance. Bow right now, or die. We don't need electrical power to slaughter you both.
The younger male turned towards his companion. Bow? What does he mean by that?
Barb made a low trilling sound, not taking her eyes off Ghidorah.
I'll explain later. Right now, get ready to take off again.
The Queen Jinshin-Mushi roared back in defiance. The male Jinshin-Mushi joined in shortly after.
San snarled, feeling his electrical abilities start to return. Small sparks of yellow electrical power began to appear around his jaws.
I'm all for being friendlier, but that was a waste of time!
Ni voiced his agreement with the left head, charging up a gravity beam as the effect of the EMP wore off.
The winged parasite took off, flying straight upwards as quickly as he could.
Barb let out a blaring call, trying to direct her inexperienced friend on what to do.
The Death Song of the Three Storms fired three gravity beams down at Barb.
None of them missed their target.
She let out a blaring call of pain as the electrical attacks scorched at her grey exoskeleton. It hurt like mad.
Yes, she's somewhat used to the pain and sheer power of a blast of atomic breath. She's fought Atomic Breathers before.
Yet, it doesn't compare to three gravity beams of electrical fury.
Up in the stormy sky, the male parasite cried out in worry. He heard Barb crying out in pain. He doesn't like that sound. He doesn't want to see her hurt. He must protect her!
You're going to pay!
Despite not getting any advice from his grounded friend on what to do, he acted.
He positioned his body above and behind Ghidorah.
When he falls, he's going to land on Ghidorah's back and take the Devil with Three Heads with him.
He made a high-pitched, shrieking call as he let himself fall.
His sharp forelimbs impaled right through the golden scales on Ghidorah's back, drawing black-colored blood and three cries of pain as they halted their electrical attack. Good. That should give the Queen a moment to recover.
The combination of Ghidorah being unprepared for the attack and the force of the impact, despite his smaller size and weight, sent Ghidorah falling out of the sky.
The Golden Hydra hit the wet ground below with a loud crash.
He took the brunt of the landing, leaving the Male MUTO unharmed and positioned right on top of Ghidorah's back.
The nameless parasite pulled his forelimbs out, only to plunge them back in elsewhere. All three of Ghidorah's heads cried out in pain once more as sharp forelimbs dug through golden scales and caused black blood to flow.
Barb ran over as quickly as she could.
Now, it was her turn to let a malicious blaring call. Oh, how the tables have turned.
She lifted her two larger forelimbs into the air, slamming the blunt bottom parts down on Ni's neck.
San tried to lift his head, charging an electrical blast to shoot at his foe.
The attempt was silenced as Barb sent out another EMP and then punctured the sharp tips into San's already bleeding wounds.
San roared in pain and fury.
The male then turned to Ni. He briefly flew up into the air, letting his forelimbs drop right into Ni's neck, earning a similar cry of pain to the one he heard earlier from the left head of this monster.
Ichi growled as he slowly rose his head and neck off the ground, baring his teeth at the parasite in front of him.
Barb's red-orange eyes glowed brightly, and she grinned. Ghidorah will not get out of this unscathed.
She lifted one of her forelimbs above Ichi's head. She was going to plunge it right down into the center head's brain. That will kill him for sure.
Before she could, Ni and San suddenly sunk their teeth into her sides. She cried out in pain, unprepared for the attacks.
The male parasite forced Ni to let go, while San released his grip on his own.
Barb groaned as new injuries on her body began to bleed red. Just more scars to cover her body once they heal.
King Ghidorah then took to the sky.
Ichi glared down at the two Jinshin-Mushi.
As much as it pained his pride, they had to retreat. They weren't ready to kill these two yet.
This is also a major embarrassment for them. They are the Golden Demise, the Devil with Three Heads, the new Alpha, and they can't kill two parasites.
Ni swore to himself, itching to fight them again, despite seeing Ichi nearly meet his demise.
As the False King flew away, heading north, Barb and the nameless parasite walked toward each other.
The male gently nuzzled his new friend, rubbing his head against hers. That was a close one... Who was that kaiju?
Barb returned the gesture, pulling away after.
Ghidorah. The Queen Jinshin-Mushi shook her head. Let's not worry about him. I doubt he'll mess with us for a while. Now then, we still need a name for you. Any ideas?
The smaller creature with wings made a low trilling sound, thinking.
Hmm...
Somewhere Near Almaty, Kazakhstan
Megaguirus groaned as she lightly hit her purple head against a wall of dirt.
She's still a bit groggy after being forced out of dormancy.
That Alpha Call still rang through the tunnels and caves of her hive's home.
Awaken from slumber. Destroy the bipeds. Obey your Alpha.
As her red eyes tried to gather her bearing, she heard the buzzing of wings nearby.
Megaguirus let out a low screech of surprise as she saw a Meganula almost fly right into her.
After realizing what the other creature was, she sighed in relief.
That startled her a bit.
Megaguirus made a low screeching sound, directed at the worker.
The dragonfly-like Sub-Titan chirped in response, flapping his wings as he moved around her and into the main upwards passage.
Megaguirus slowly walked out of her cave, squinting in the bright sunlight she hasn't seen in many thousands of years.
She felt something nudging against her leg.
The strangely reptilian insect turned to look down.
She saw a Meganulon larva.
The flightless member of the hive chirped, her blue eyes glowing brightly as she looked up in admiration at her queen.
The Meganulon Queen gently nudged her daughter with one of her pincer claws.
They are all part of the same species, but there is a difference between the Meganula and the Meganulons, despite the latter being the name for their entire species.
Meganula workers look a lot like oversized dragonflies, the main difference being a stinger at the end of their tails. They are capable of flight.
Meganulon is the name of the larva, and their kind as a whole. Meganulons are the nymphs, flightless and young dragonflies that usually stay within the nest, being cared for by their winged older siblings.
Megaguirus is the sole member of her hive that can lay eggs.
She is a Meganulon Queen, after all. Just a very strange, more reptilian, and much larger than normal Meganulon Queen.
Each worker is her son or daughter. They serve her.
Yes, they all follow the orders of the Alpha, but the loyalty of an insect is with their Queen, first and foremost.
Her kind is only a Sub-Titan, not usually considered one of the true giant monsters that roam the world.
It is a bit insulting to be compared to lowly creatures like Genitors or on par with the other hive or colony insect species, such as Giant Bees, Giant Ants, Giant Termites, and so on.
Despite her larger size than most Queens, even being on par with Rodan and bigger than Mosura, she's still just a Sub-Titan.
At the very least, the others treat her as a true kaiju.
Speaking of that, Megaguirus turned her attention back to the echoing call spreading across the world.
Awaken from slumber. Destroy the bipeds. Obey your Alpha.
Well, that's not Gojira. Can't be Mosura either.
It sounds a lot more like three calls, nowhere near similar to one of those infernal Apes.
Hm... Then who is this new Alpha?
The Meganula and Meganulons around her chittered in response. They didn't know either.
Most of her hive is still in the process of waking up.
The one most important to her is also still asleep. It's pretty likely that there are still dozens of workers that haven't entirely been forced out of dormancy by that Alpha Call yet.
Megaguirus has a choice to make. Heed the new one's call, or disregard it.
Welp, this isn't even a contest.
As she bitterly remembered when Gojira attacked her in the days long past, she made her choice.
Yes, the Atomic Breather did apologize, but the damage was already done.
Megaguirus' toothy jaws widened into a grin. Her red eyes glared up maliciously at the open sky above.
She screeched loudly, giving her underlings one simple directive.
Wake up everyone else. Then, we slaughter some bipeds.
Near Fort Severn, Canada
Fort Severn is a small Indigenous community on the shore of the Hudson Bay. Its small population of roughly 400 people is relatively isolated. Only one airport and a few roads connect the settlement to other parts of Canada.
Activity and development increased heavily when Monarch Outpost 66 was built on the shoreline a few miles from the small town.
The Indigenous people thought nothing of it. They didn't know much about Monarch or the controversy around it.
Everyone in the area heard the Alpha Call echo through the landscape as it spread across the globe.
Within Outpost 66, alarms began to blare and Monarch personnel were quick to either evacuate or acquire weaponry.
Titanus Ebirah has awoken.
Ebirah let out a high-pitched screech as he awoke.
His two yellow eyes started to take in his surroundings.
Hey... What woke me up?
His question went unanswered. It doesn't look like there are any other Titans nearby.
Then, Ebirah noticed that his surroundings have changed extraordinarily.
He's no longer surrounded by a forest of trees. There is no beach within sight.
Now, it almost looks like he's inside a weirdly flat cave.
The Giant Lobster tried to look around.
He made a low chittering sound as his mouth moved.
The red creature's larger pincer slammed into one of the strangely smooth walls. It doesn't feel like normal jagged rocks or even any rocks at all. It is somewhat similar but different.
Either way, the attack made the whole thing collapse.
Ebirah chirped in relief upon seeing the trees and blue sky beyond his former place of confinement.
The crustacean began walking out. His eight large, red legs began moving as he walked. His body pushed aside trees and knocked them over like they were nothing.
Flocks of birds took the sky, panicked by the Titan.
As the giant kaiju wandered around, he eventually stumbled upon the front of the Monarch facility. There, he saw a large number of humans. Most of them were running around in a panic, and a few were hopping inside some sort of strange metal things with circles instead of legs. At least, until they saw him.
When they noticed Ebirah, all of them paused.
Some looked up at him in marvel. They've only seen Ebirah dormant, and now, the Titan is awake and standing at his full height.
Others were rightfully scared out of their minds and nervous, ready to run if Ebirah even made a sound.
The military personnel quietly began to aim their rifles, tanks, explosives, and whatever other guns they had at the giant monster.
Oh, humans! Hello!
The friendly chitter the lobster made, combined with his taking a few more steps forward, sent everyone into a panic.
Ebirah screeched in pain as tank shells and rockets exploded all across his body, and he felt a sensation like rain hitting his front and claws.
Blind with rage, the Giant Lobster lumbered forward.
His larger pincer claws picked up one of their metal things and crushed it. The sound of creaking metal filled his ears. Then, with a little more force, he completely snapped it in two.
The crustacean roared he continued to kill bipeds and destroy whatever metal things dared to shoot fire stingers at him.
Then, he saw a lot of things in the air.
Ebirah paused, turning to look upwards.
Those are a lot bigger than normal birds. Maybe they're Hellhawks or Physcovultures. Or it could be some of those Hellswarm, the bat things that serve Camazotz. All three of his guesses were proven wrong.
These metal things can fly, and they're raining down attacks from above.
Unable to hit them with his claws or tail, and not exactly capable of jumping, Ebirah turned around and ran.
More explosions rang out around him and on his back.
It hurt and stung a bit, but none of the human's strange weapons broke through his shell.
As quickly as he could, Ebirah dived into the Hudson Bay.
His tail, acting as a giant fan, propelled him forward, a tactic smaller lobsters use.
Ebirah chittered in relief, the sound muffled by the water around him. He began walking along the coast, his eight legs moving in sync across the ocean floor.
His two yellow compound eyes looked upwards. He can't see those flying metal things anymore.
What was all that? The humans only had sticks and rocks the last time I saw them. When did they get metal things that look like animals, but aren't alive?
As he pondered over this, he eventually came back up to the surface.
The Giant Lobster spotted a clump of human nests near the shore.
Some humans pointed at him, screaming. Others stood still, watching him in silence. A few began to run. One went into his nest. Another got inside one of their metal things, and the metal thing with circles began to go away at a surprising speed.
Awaken from slumber. Destroy the bipeds. Obey your Alpha.
It's not Gojira, that's for sure. He knows the King of the Monsters too well, and can't for the life of him ever forget his roar.
Whoever this new guy is, he wants the humans destroyed. Well, there's nobody around to protect them, then.
Dagon has long since passed, courtesy of two eggs implanted by Jinshin-Mushi Prime. Mosura got killed a while back, so who knows when she'll return. Maybe she already has.
With Gojira gone, the new Alpha has given him an order.
Ebirah aggressively roared, moving as quickly as he could towards the human nests.
This is going to be fun.
Apex Cybernetics Headquarters, Hong Kong
The People's Republic of China is lucky enough to only have two Monarch Outposts within its borders.
One held Titanus Mosura. She's far from a threat, so the people of Yunnan can breathe easily.
The second is far from Hong Kong, so Apex can work without interruption or fear of a Titan attack.
Everything was put on overdrive.
The technological corporation, in agreement with nearly the entirety of the world's governments, and reluctant support from Monarch, had revealed a plan to save humanity and stop the rampage of the Titans.
While most weaponry proved ineffective in stopping the Titans, and the experimental Oxygen Destroyer did more harm than good, which led to this whole mess of allowing Ghidorah to win in the first place, that option was scrapped.
It would take too long to build another prototype anyway. While it would likely kill whatever Titan it's deployed against, nearly all of them are rampaging through major cities, and civilian casualties just to kill one Titan would be unacceptable. Even if one of the lesser Titans is brought down, the OD proved ineffective against Ghidorah.
So, Walter Simmons proposed a plan. He had wanted to keep it a secret until the opportune time when it was ready, but this opportunity is better than none.
Creating artificial Titans to combat the rest.
Machines as large as the bigger Titans, and equipped to take them down.
While the still secretive "Apex Titan" is under construction, and a few other creations still aren't ready, one is already complete, but untested on such short notice.
Moguera.
Well, this is it! My entire story should now be up to my current standard. Don't worry. Next up should be a new Chapter or another side story, but probably the former. I hope you all enjoyed this. Yes, the bit at the end doesn't have any Titans and is just more for worldbuilding or setting up what's going to happen.
Also, realistically, Apex Cybernetics probably wouldn't have anything at all yet, let alone Mechagodzilla nearly ready 5 years earlier than in the MonsterVerse, but I'd like to introduce some mechanical Titans, so why not? I mean, I can't think of a plausible way to introduce any mechanical kaiju unless it's through Apex or Monarch. So... Yeah. Okay, that's all!