Author's Notes: Hi there! Looks like it's been a few months, but I'm finally gonna finish this story! Not much to report except me and GivanniGo's RP, the usual work, chores needing to get done at home, and my parents and I still trying to get my late paternal grandparents' house cleared out so that we can sell it. And I've been dealing with one-too-many ideas banging around in my noggin to concentrate on one thing for too long, so I've been getting some new concepts down. Hopefully, when they are finally printed, you'll enjoy them as much I did making them.

In the meantime, here's the usual disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the 1978-79 Hanna-Barbera series Godzilla: The Original Animated Series, Hanna-Barbera does, or should I say Warner Bros. does. This incarnation of Godzilla is owned by H-B and Toho. The only character I own is Vicky, my self-insert. I also do not own the story that is based on the fifth episode of this cartoon series. Also, anything in bold when a kaiju character is speaking/thinking means that they are speaking/thinking in their native language.

And now, the recap: After a battle between Godzilla and a creature made of seaweed, Quinn runs some tests on a piece of the creature to find out where it came from. There has been nothing conclusive yet, only theories that the Seaweed Monster's origins are similar to Gojira's: A creature created from the fallout of nuclear tests. Before anything else can be done, Quinn's sample turns into another Seaweed Monster, and now Pete, Vicky, and Godzooky are in big trouble!

CHAPTER 4

"CAPTAIN MAJORS! AUNT QUINN!" Pete yelled.

"HELP! ANYONE, HELP!" Vicky screamed.

"HELP!" Godzooky howled.

Those three voices ringing out in alarm made Majors, Quinn, and Brock stand up and move fast to the main deck.

"What's happened?" Brock asked.

"I think we'll find out when we get there, Brock!" Captain Majors answered.

And when they rounded the corner, the three adults found themselves facing a frightening sight: A giant mass of living seaweed was making its way onto the deck, with Pete and Vicky caught in its tendrils and Godzooky trying to pry them and himself loose.

"Where did that thing come from?!" Majors demanded.

"It must have grown from that small specimen in the lab," Quinn realized. Maybe I should have gotten rid of it when I had the chance; the children's lives are in jeopardy and it's all my fault, she thought sadly.

"Hold on, kids! We'll get you free!" Captain Majors called. "Stay back, Quinn!" he warned.

The task was easier said than done, especially with Godzooky swinging his tail around and preventing Brock and the captain from getting close. Fortunately, the two men caught a break when Zooky managed to tear himself loose and kept the other tendrils occupied while Majors and Brock got Pete and Vicky loose.

"What now?" Brock asked as Godzooky got back.

"We get this thing off my ship, that's what!" Majors answered. "Help me push it back, Brock!"

"Let me give you guys an extra hand!" Vicky offered, pressing the button at the 9 on her watch that activated her energy fists before making a pushing forward motion.

This allowed the energy fists to extend out so that Vicky was a safe distance away from the Seaweed Monster as she helped Captain Majors and Brock push it off.

"It's going to pull them over the railing!" Quinn worried, watching the tendrils wave too close to her friends.

"Not…if we…get it…off…first!" Vicky grunted in effort.

The Seaweed Monster was practically on the railing; all that was needed was one last push, which came in the form of Godzooky using his tail like a lever to tip it over into the sea.

"Quick thinking, Zooky," Vicky praised the youngling, her countenance soon turning to concern upon noticing that a look of triumph was absent from the young, winged saurian's face.

"We did it, Captain," Brock said.

"Just barely," Majors panted. "It's OK, Godzooky; we're all right," he added in a reassuring tone when Zooky began speaking in a worried tone in kaiju-tongue.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-WHAT?!" Vicky yelped to Zooky. "Say that again?!"

"He says there's something down in the hold," Pete translated, a look of panic coming over his face as he said, "More…seaweed?!"

"That piece you were playing with earlier!" Vicky remembered.

Godzooky nodded.

"Well, let's get down there!" Captain Majors ordered.

And so the group hurried to the door that led to the hold, only to find that…

"We're too late!" Quinn gasped as the door slammed open to reveal a rapidly-growing Seaweed Monster slithering out towards them!

"It's growing like mad!" Pete exclaimed.

Godzooky growled defensively and positioned himself like a barrier between the monster and the crew, batting at it to hold it at bay as it continued to grow.

"Atta boy, Godzooky! Show him who's boss!" Pete cheered.

"No, Godzooky! It's too big for you! Get back!" Vicky called.

And she wasn't kidding; at this point the Seaweed Monster—if it had a bone and muscular structure—would likely have stood at twice Godzooky's height, maybe taller!

The youngling kaiju took a couple steps back, but he didn't get out of his defensive posture; he continued to growl as he got into a quadruped stance, glaring the ugly mess of kelp down and making sure his wings were flared out so that he appeared menacing. Add in the fact that many of his bared teeth looked very sharp to everything else and you almost couldn't argue that he did look pretty scary.

"Come on, let's run for the chopper!" Quinn suggested, looking ready to run.

"Wait! Look, it just wants to get away!" Brock noticed.

Vicky wasn't sure if what Brock was getting at until she noticed that the creature was starting to hesitate, almost like it wanted to stay but felt something more urgent going on. Then, in what looked to be a spontaneous move, the Seaweed Monster jumped overboard, making Vicky yelp.

Godzooky finally came out of his defensive posture with a puzzled sound and a look to accompany it.

"What was that all about?" Zooky queried.

"Can't understand it; why didn't it attack us?" Captain Majors asked aloud, saying what was pretty much on everyone else's mind.

"We've got to find out what's causing this," Quinn said seriously.

"Let's see if we can pick it up on our sensor-scope as well as Vicky's watch; if we combine the data from both, we should get more info," Captain Majors suggested.

"Good call, Carl," Quinn complimented.

"I'll get it up ASAP," Vicky said, already searching for the best instrument her special watch had to help the crew figure out what was going on.

Meanwhile, the two Seaweed Monsters met underwater, combining into one mass before moving on to answer the call pulling them like a magnet.

It turned out that no matter the tool used—radar, sonar, exceptionally-close satellite feed, or sensor-scope—all of the results said the same thing: Trouble with a capital "T".

"Some instinct is making the seaweed assemble into one, giant mass," Quinn observed as all the screens showed many smaller blobs coming into contact with a much bigger one that expanded with each contact.

"It's almost as big as that island," Pete noticed, seeing the nearby landmass on the sensor-scope screen.

"Maybe that's what it's going to attack!" Captain Majors guessed.

"But that island is inhabited!" Brock pointed out.

A creature created from the fallout of nuclear weaponry attacking an island? Vicky could hardly believe it; this was about to turn into Gojira all over again!

"I'd better call for Godzilla," Captain Majors said, reaching for the signal device on his belt. "I just hope there's time," he added under his breath as he pressed the button.

Vicky, Pete, Quinn, and Captain Majors all went outside to wait for Godzilla's arrival when all of a sudden—

"DUCK!" Zooky cried out, dashing towards them and placing himself over them like a shield.

Before anyone could say anything, a Seaweed Monster flew out of the water and sailed clear over the Calico!

"What in Neptune's name?!" Captain Majors exclaimed.

"What was that?! You guys OK?" Brock called from inside the control room.

"Thanks to Zooky, we are," Vicky answered as everyone got back on their feet.

"Where did that one come from?" Quinn pondered.

Godzilla practically exploded out of the water with an angry roar, Seaweed Monsters clinging to him before being shaken off, blasted by his lasers, or roasted by his flame breath.

"Looks like someone's been having more excitement than we have," Vicky stated.

Godzilla managed to get the pests off him, except for a couple that still clung to his tail. These particular ones he decided to get rid of in a creative fashion; he swung his tail around and around, giving the creatures a dizzying ride before snapping his tail like a whip, which sent them flying and crashing into the water.

"That was 800 feet, at least!" Vicky guessed, trying to gauge the distance.

A shadow then fell over them, making everyone look up to see Godzilla looking them over with concern.

"Are you all OK?" Godzilla asked in kaiju-tongue.

"We had a slight seaweed problem, but we're fine," Vicky answered. "Looks like you ran into some trouble yourself!"

"Yeah. When I saw all that seaweed going somewhere, I figured that I had better follow it," Godzilla explained. "Unfortunately, they're not as mindless as they act and a whole bunch of them got the drop on me."

"So we saw," Vicky said.

"Uncle Goji!" Godzooky called, going into the air. "The Seaweed Monster's gonna attack an island with humans on it!"

"It's true!" Vicky said in response to Godzilla's surprised reaction. "Tell him, Dr. Darien!" she said to the lady scientist, letting her take the floor.

Quinn was rather surprised that Vicky was letting her explain something to a kaiju, but she always figured that Godzilla had some form of sapience and could understand speech, so: "The creatures are being drawn to some kind of central mass by instinct. The creature we encountered could have gone after us, but the pull was too strong. All that we know is that it's appearing to be preparing to attack. As to why, I wish we knew."

"So do I," Godzilla said, with Vicky translating for him.

This was severely unsettling; it was starting to sound like Gojira's rampage like he had heard in stories. If only that creature was able to properly communicate, he could find out why it was going to take this action. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and with humans now being threatened the window for asking questions was pretty much shut.

"I'm on my way," Godzilla nodded before starting to move off.

"Captain," Vicky began, dashing for the bow as she started to withdraw her hoverboard.

"Brock! Set the course!" the captain ordered, heading up to the wheelhouse.

"Aye-aye, sir!" Brock saluted, moving to do just that.

Vicky had just gotten her board out when Godzooky came in for a landing. A landing that turned out to be a rough one as somehow he slipped and ended up rolling head over heels across the deck until he was stopped by a wall.

"Not one of your better landings, Zuke," Vicky said honestly.

"Actually, I think it is one of my better landings," Zooky admitted guiltily.

"Eh…well, keep working on it," Vicky advised before taking off.

"Full ahead!" Captain Majors ordered as he got the Calico up to speed. He then got on the radio and said to Vicky, "We'll try to keep up with you and Godzilla!"

"Aye, sir!" Vicky answered. "Since Godzilla will be there before you guys, someone's gotta be there to direct the civilians." Which is me, unfortunately, she added silently; it wasn't a job she wished for, but given what her gadgets enabled her to do, she was the best choice.

A couple miles from the coast of the island, a lone shark was swimming by looking for a suitable hunting ground when its animal senses picked up something strange. It didn't know what it was, but it was dangerous and that was enough to make its self-preservation instincts kick in and swim away. Many of the fish in the area swam away as well, some unlucky few getting caught and smothered in the giant Seaweed Monster's body.

The Seaweed Monster could care less about all that though; it was looking for something else. And it was close.

David sat atop his high chair, keeping an eye on the people who decided to take a swim. As a lifeguard, he had to be calm, focused, and ready to go into action at a moment's notice. However, it appeared that today was going to be one of those days that were free of incident. Or so he thought.

"Hey, Dave," came a voice through his walkie, "how's things at your station?"

David picked up the walkie and answered, "Just the way I like it; quiet. No sign of trouble as far as—Hang on. What's that?" he interrupted himself, noticing something odd.

"What's the matter, David?"

"I can't be sure, but… I'll-I'll call you back," David said quickly, putting the walkie down and putting his binoculars to his eyes.

Using the focusing function on the binoculars, David managed to get a look at the strange thing that had caught his attention. Of course, he knew what it appeared to be, but it was making him think that either the sun was getting to him or he needed glasses.

"It looks like…like seaweed. And it's moving in fast!" David exclaimed. "How is that possible?!"

"AAH!"

That scream came from one of the swimmers as he had noticed the seaweed coming up on him…then tried to grab him! Luckily, he had dove under the water and swam quickly to avoid it.

The panicking started before David began blowing his whistle, signaling everyone to get out of the water, fast.

"Chuck! That seaweed! It's attacking us!" shouted the swimmer who had made the narrow escape.

"I-I don't believe it!" Chuck panicked as the Seaweed Monster surfaced, letting out its gurgling roar and waving its arms.

"What is it?!" "Head for the shore!" other people cried out.

"Everyone evacuate the beach! Keep your children close! Don't crowd!" David shouted before blowing his whistle again.

"EVERYONE!" came a loud, young, female voice that sounded like it was coming through a bullhorn or speaker.

Many people, including David, looked up to see another unusual sight: a person high in the air on what looked like a hoverboard.

"EVERYONE!" the voice called again. "STAY AWAY FROM THE SHORELINE AND FIND YOUR WAY TO WHEREVER THE DESIGNATED SHELTERS ARE! HELP IS COMING!"

"What help?" David asked to no-one in particular.

"LOOK!" a woman tourist shouted.

All heads turned to see a spot on the ocean starting to bubble and froth. The Seaweed Monster also stopped and turned, letting out a growl. Seconds later, the head of a massive charcoal gray-green saurian surfaced, followed by the upper body, which revealed the maple-leaf shaped dorsals going down the back that accompanied the three triangular dorsal plates that went from the back of his head to the back of his neck.

"R-R-R-R-O-O-OA-A-A-A-R-R-R-R-R-R-OA-A-A-R-R-R!"

David almost fell off his chair in shock. The crowd was stunned.

"Hey!" a new voice, a male one this time, shouted. "Don't just stand there! Run! Get to the shelters! GO!"

With that, the crowd got moving again.

David managed to get down from his station when he noticed a man who looked completely out of place: He was wearing what appeared to be a military uniform, but the logo on it, which looked like a sideways hourglass drawn with straight lines with the two diagonal ones on the bottom just barely visible alerted him that this was no ordinary member of the military.

"Hey! Get moving!" the man said, revealing himself to be the male voice from earlier.

"But… Who are you? And is that what I think it is?" David asked, looking back at the saurian creature out at sea that was currently battling the monstrous seaweed.

"No time for questions, sir; now MOVE!" the man answered roughly, pushing David in the direction of where the crowd was going.

David wasn't quite sure of what was going on, but one thing that was becoming pretty obvious was that all that talk of Godzilla he had heard over the years was true, and right now that Titan was fighting to save everyone's lives, including his.

Good luck, big fella, David thought. Turn that thing into a tossed salad.

When Vicky had arrived, she saw that the Seaweed Monster was just about ready to snatch up anything in its path. She had fight through her panic just to activate the vocal amplification unit in her watch, which was activated by bringing up the main holographic menu and selecting the option.

"EVERYONE! EVERYONE!" she called. "STAY AWAY FROM THE SHORELINE AND FIND YOUR WAY TO WHEREVER THE DESIGNATED SHELTERS ARE! HELP IS COMING!"

Minutes later, she turned to see Godzilla surfacing with a roar, letting everyone know that he had arrived.

"DON'T WORRY, FOLKS! GODZILLA'S HERE TO HELP!" Vicky continued. "JUST STAY AWAY FROM THE COAST AND GET TO SHELTER!" She then deactivated the unit and called to Godzilla, "We're clear! Go for it!"

Godzilla let out a roar of affirmation before diving back down…then leaping out of the water in the direction of the Seaweed Monster, who let out a gurgling shriek as Godzilla collided with it, the impact sending out waves that had Vicky quickly activate her shield and, after a few button pushes, expand it to cover most of the shoreline so that the wave wouldn't harm anyone. Some water got over the top, but not much, and Vicky had her shield on, so she was high and dry.

"Well," Vicky began as she deactivated the shield once the wave was gone, "if the idea was to start off by surprising the enemy, I think you achieved that and more."

Her radar then went off and she looked out to see the Calico arriving in the area. She sped over to see the crew on deck.

"Everyone all right?" Vicky asked.

"We hit a slightly rough wave, but we're fine," Captain Majors answered.

Any further discussion was cut off by the sight of Godzilla and the Seaweed Monster surfacing, grappling with each other; the latter was determined to squeeze the life out of its opponent, while the former was looking ready to tear it in half.

"Come on! Come on! Go!" Captain Majors cheered.

"That's the way, Godzilla! That's the way!" Quinn called as Godzilla managed to get the Seaweed Monster to let go by grabbing the arms and executing a judo throw.

"If only we could help him," Pete said.

"I'm afraid there's not much we can do when it comes down to kaiju battles, unless someone can think of a weakness that the creature has," Vicky stated honestly.

Godzilla roared again and loosed a blast of his fire breath. The creature dodged it, but it got singed a little. Godzilla let out another blast of fire, this time hitting the creature dead-on, making it scream in pain. Godzilla then prepared to stomp on it again, but the living seaweed got wise to the saurian's plan and extended half its limbs to wrap around Godzilla's lower left leg. Luckily, Godzilla managed to keep himself balanced as he tried to pry the thick arms off. And when that didn't work, Godzilla pulled his leg back, making the arms go taut. Both creatures pulled and pulled, until finally the arms snapped off.

The Seaweed Monster withdrew its broken limbs as the broken pieces fell off Godzilla's leg and began to back off.

Godzilla was wondering what the creature was up to now when his sixth sense went off again. He turned around to see that the lengths of seaweed that had snapped off had floated together…and started to grow into another Seaweed Monster!

"Uh-oh…" Vicky trailed, the sight reminding her of the "Fantasia" segment "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"; specifically the part when the splinters of the broom that Mickey had chopped to pieces started coming to life.

Great Gojira's Ghost! What is with this thing?! Godzilla exclaimed silently.

"It's unbelievable!" Captain Majors gasped. "When it gets broken off, it…it just grows into more seaweed!"

"Then there's no way to stop it," Pete said, starting to despair.

"I'm not so sure," Dr. Darien spoke up, making everyone look at her. "Look at this," she continued, kneeling on the deck and picking up what looked like a clump of dried leaves. "Maybe the sun can help Godzilla. If he can get the creature up on land, the sun might destroy it, like it did this piece," she said as she crushed the dried-out seaweed.

"Of course! No wonder the thing freaked out every time it got blasted with fire!" Vicky exclaimed.

Godzilla roaring brought everyone's attention back to the battle. The new, slightly smaller Seaweed Monster had its arms spread out, ready to take on its opponent or possibly hop over it to reach the main body. Godzilla solved that dilemma by swinging his tail like a baseball bat, smacking the creature to the side.

"No you don't!" Vicky shouted, leaning forward on her hoverboard to make it go faster towards the Seaweed Creature; there was no way that thing was rejoining the main body!

"No! Wait! Wait!" Godzooky cried out, flying after her.

"No, Godzooky!" Pete called.

"Vicky, come back!" Brock yelled.

But Vicky was already out of earshot and had the flamethrower function on her watch prepped; the idea was to dry the thing out fast before it could dive. Unfortunately, the monster moved fast and dove into the water before she could manage to scorch the thing.

"Aw, nuts!" Vicky exclaimed angrily; not only had the target gotten away, but now she had made herself vulnerable.

"Vicky!"

Oh no. This was a lot worse than she thought.

Godzooky called her again as he flew over to her. "We need to—"

"I know! I know!" Vicky shouted, her panic taking over. "That was stupid!" she growled to herself. "I'm going! I'm going!" she said, bringing her voice level back up.

However, the two hadn't gotten far when the arms of the Seaweed Monster—who had managed to absorb the smaller one back into itself and had gone under the water during the confusion—came up and grabbed them! Vicky was protected by her shield, but she screamed all the same.

Godzilla rushed over and made ready to get Zooky and Vicky out of the monster's clutches.

"It's got Vicky and Zooky!" Pete yelled in fright.

"Help them, Godzilla!" Quinn called.

"We've gotta help Godzilla get that monster onto dry land," Captain Majors said.

"How do we do that?" Brock asked.

Majors looked around until… "I've got an idea. Come on," he said, making his way to the mini-copter.

Meanwhile, Vicky was trying to make sure that the shield didn't give out on her and Godzooky was flapping his wings fast, trying to break himself loose. Only problem was, he was just making himself tired.

Thankfully, Godzilla grabbed the arms holding them and yanked the girl and his nephew loose. The limbs went limp and the two children were free.

"Thanks!" Vicky said before she flew off with Zooky, muttering, "Man! That was so stupid!"

Frankly, despite seeing the method to that moment of madness, Godzilla couldn't help but agree that what she had done had been a bad move on her part. But he couldn't think about that now; he still had work to do.

"Man, that's gotta be the dumbest thing I've ever done!" Vicky continued to berate herself as she and Zooky got themselves to a safe distance away from the fight. "What was I thinking? Oh, wait. That's right; I didn't think! I never do!"

"Vicky," Zooky whimpered, giving her a light nuzzle; he didn't like her yelling at herself like that.

The blonde preteen girl took a deep breath and finally calmed down.

"Aw, sorry 'bout that, bud," Vicky said in a comforting tone. "And I'm sorry for making you come after me and getting caught like that. I should've just stayed put in the first place." She then sighed and continued, not noticing the sound of helicopter blades getting closer, "And after that big speech I gave about worrying about losing you and trying not to—"

"GODZOOKY! VICKY!" came Pete's voice through a bullhorn.

Vicky screamed in a high pitch and jumped; it was a lucky thing that she had her feet in the board's braces, otherwise she might hopped off the board in her surprise.

"Hey!" Vicky shouted. "Watch it with that thing!"

"SORRY," Pete said, his voice still amplified but at a lower volume this time.

"What's up?"

"YOU TWO HAVE GOTTA GET GODZILLA TO FOLLOW US TO THE ISLAND. IF WE CAN KEEP IT OUT OF THE WATER, IT'LL DRY OUT."

"That's brilliant!" Vicky exclaimed. And a whole lot better than the stunt I pulled earlier, she added in thought. "Let's go, Zooky!" she said to the youngling kaiju before heading for Godzilla.

"Aye-aye, ma'am!" Zooky affirmed with a determined grin as he followed her.

By now, Godzilla was entangled by the Seaweed Creature's arms and was fighting hard to keep the two remaining free ones at bay while having to worry about one of the arms around his neck tightening and asphyxiating him. He needed a new plan, fast.

"Godzilla!" Vicky called, trying to be heard over the growling and roaring. "Godzilla!" she tried again, louder this time.

"Uncle Goji-i-i!" Godzooky called.

Not wanting to strain her voice any further, Vicky tried to do something that she couldn't do correctly as a kid: She made an "O" shape with her mouth and tried to whistle. There was nothing the first time, so she used her tongue to wet her lips and try again. There were two soft ones before a loud one came out, surprising Godzooky and getting Godzilla's attention.

"We got a plan, Goji!" Vicky called. "You gotta get that monster to the island!"

Godzilla made a confused sound; wasn't keeping the Seaweed Monster from getting to the island the plan?

"You gotta so that it can dry out!" Vicky said.

"It's true, Uncle Goji!" Godzooky corroborated. "If you get it outta the water, the sun will dry it out! Pete's aunt said so!"

"Remember when Zooky got caught in that kelp and you took it and him to the surface?" Vicky said, remembering something. "You left it on the beach and hours later it didn't look as green as it did underwater?"

Godzilla did remember that; that had been in Zooky's early days of trying to learn to swim in deeper water and he had accidentally gotten himself tangled up. He also remembered coming back to the beach and indeed seeing that the kelp had looked different. It had sounded different, too; very crunchy, like how a plant had sounded after getting burned. He looked to the island, then to the sun, which was still high in the sky, then back to the island.

Godzilla's eyes widened and a grin spread on his maw as the dots connected.

"I understand," Godzilla told them.

"Just follow us and the crew; we'll lead you," Vicky said before she and Zooky flew off to join the crew.

"All right, you overgrown salad, time to take a walk," Godzilla said to the Seaweed Monster as he turned and began walking to the shore, still trying to keep the two arms at bay by holding them away from himself.

It took a few steps, but Godzilla made it to shore. And, once again, it seemed that the Seaweed Monster was smarter than it looked, as it began to lean back while still keeping its grip on Godzilla. Speaking of said grip, it was starting to tighten its hold on Godzilla's neck, making him panic for a split second.

"It's working!" Pete exclaimed.

The Seaweed Monster pulled back hard, making Godzilla take a couple steps backward into the ocean.

"Not yet, it isn't!" Vicky countered, worried for her friend.

"Come on! You can do it!" Godzooky cheered.

"Go, Godzilla! Go!" Vicky shouted.

"Come on, Godzilla!" Captain Majors called, the other crew members also showing their support.

That was the emotional and spiritual boost Godzilla needed to gather up his incredible strength and try again, and this time, despite the Seaweed Monster trying to pull him back, he succeeded in getting completely on land.

"Whoo-hoo! All right! That's it, Goji! Keep going!" Vicky called.

"I hope Godzilla can keep his strength up," Quinn said in concern.

I just hope Godzilla will be able to keep breathing long enough for this to work, Vicky worried, having noticed the arm around her friend's neck.

"We've got to get the Seaweed Monster farther inland," Quinn said.

"How much farther in? Quinn, there's a city and other buildings on this island," Captain Majors pointed out. "We can't put everyone there in jeopardy."

"Hey, hold on a mo'; I'll be back in a sec," Vicky said before speeding off. It was a minute before she zipped back with the report: "The jungle of this island wraps around the south side of the island all the way to the north. We're currently on the eastern shore. So, if we keep away from the shore and follow a route south then west…"

"We'll avoid the residential area completely," Quinn finished.

"Let's do it!" Captain Majors declared, turning the mini-copter to its new course.

Godzilla looked up and saw the copter, Vicky, and Zooky start to change direction. He followed.

A couple hours later, the group had reached the southwestern area of the island. Godzilla was still going strong, but the pressure on his neck was bordering on alarming, especially when the creature tried to pull him off course.

Gotta keep going, Godzilla told himself. I can do it. I can do it. Can't be long now.

And indeed it wasn't, for to all who could see, the Seaweed Monster was losing its bright green coloring and the shine that came from being wet. It wrapped an arm around a rock that Godzilla passed by in an effort to stop him, but suddenly found its strength giving out as the tendril fell off.

Godzilla could feel the creature's grip on his neck and body loosening as the creature slid off. As soon as it was within sight range, he let the creature have it with two blasts of fire. This time, the now-browned creature was dry enough for it to catch fire.

It didn't like it. It was scared. It knew it had to get back to water quickly. It felt so weak. All it could was crawl on the ground as it tried to find water.

Seeing that, Godzilla couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the creature; if only they could have been able to communicate, maybe they would have been able to understand its motives and maybe another option could have been found. Unfortunately, circumstances in this case dictated otherwise.

"Hey, it's working," Pete said as the mini-copter followed the retreating creature, which was starting to trail seaweed and getting smaller by the minute. "Now if Godzilla can just keep it from getting back to the ocean."

Godzilla walked after it, intent on not letting get wet again.

However, the Seaweed Creature stopped and decided to make one last move by turning around and roaring loudly at its opponent. In its dried-out state, its already less-than-pleasant visage looked downright frightening, which was why Vicky screamed and covered her face when it turned and roared.

Godzilla was similarly repulsed but kept his wits together to finish the job with a blast of laser beams.

The Seaweed Creature grabbed a nearby tree to use as a shield, but instead it ignited and helped feed the fire. Already dried out from the heat of the sun, the process of its demise was hastened and eventually it started burning down to nothing but ashes.

Godzilla leaned in to get a closer look and, just before it was completely consumed by flame, he thought he saw the creature's face, its look plaintive, as if asking, "Why?"

I'm sorry, Godzilla sighed as he straightened up again. I wish there had been another way.

Godzooky looked over at his uncle and wondered why he was looking so down. They had beaten the monster and saved the island, so what was the problem?

Godzilla then happened to glance in his direction, and the answer hit: He had been hoping to talk to it and maybe find a different solution. Godzooky then glanced between his uncle and the ashen pile that was starting to be blown about by the wind with a sympathetic look, now feeling a bit sorry himself.

"I-Is it over?" Vicky asked, starting to uncover her face.

"Yeah," Zooky answered. "You OK?"

Vicky nodded. "Uh-huh. Boy, that was scary."

"Yeah."

Just then his nose caught the scent of freshly-burnt seaweed on the breeze, making his face scrunch up.

"Ugh!" Vicky exclaimed, having caught the smell, too. "Ma—Ah… Ah…Ah-CHOO! 'Scuse me," she said.

Godzooky coughed as the smell continued to fill his nose and the burnt pieces flew into the air.

"You guys all right out there?" Dr. Darien called from the mini-copter.

"Yeah; but I think we'll feel better once we get out of this breeze," Vicky answered.

"Ah…"

"Oh dear," Vicky said, hearing that familiar sound. "Careful…"

"Ah… Ah… Ah…CHOO!" There was a small puff of fire when Godzilla sneezed, but the force of his breath had put that out quick, so all he ended up doing was making some of the ash go in a different direction than the breeze.

"Bless you!" Pete called.

"Gesundheit, pal! You OK?" Vicky asked.

"I'm fine," Godzilla answered.

"Well, nothing like the smell of burnt seaweed in the afternoon to clear the sinuses, huh, fellas?" Vicky remarked with a smile, making her friends laugh.

Godzilla then gave his roar of triumph; the enemy was defeated and the island, the crew, Vicky, and Zooky were safe. He then made his way back to the sea and let out a roar of farewell before submerging.

"See ya, Goji!" Vicky called. She then looked at Zooky to see him looking a bit preoccupied. "You OK?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back in a second," Zooky said before diving after his uncle.

Luckily, Godzilla hadn't gone too far just yet, so Zooky took the opportunity to catch up and give him a nuzzle of comfort.

"Do you really think you could have helped it or something?" Zooky asked in response to Godzilla's confusion over the gesture.

The older saurian only sighed and answered, "I don't know; maybe. But this incident almost hit pretty close to home for me. I recognized the familiar scent of something created by those bombs like my oji-chan and Vicky told me about," he continued. "If only it was able to communicate, I might have learned its motivations; what it wanted, what made it go on a rampage like that. It's not its fault that it became a monster." Godzilla took a pause and took in the look of worry on his nephew's face. "Hey, don't worry, kiddo, I know there's a lot of good people out there, too. They just have to remember, 'With great power…'"

"'…Comes great responsibility'," Zooky finished. "Yeah," he nodded, smiling.

Godzilla smiled back and let Zooky nuzzle him again.

"Now you'd better get back; they're probably wondering where you are," Godzilla told him.

"OK. See you! Love you!" Godzooky called before swimming back to the surface.

"Love you, too," Godzilla smiled before departing.

"I see," Vicky trailed; Zooky had just finished telling her about the conversation between him and Godzilla about the Seaweed Monster. "Well, I'm afraid that he's not wrong; you remember the conversation between Sergeant Takamoto and Lieutenant Messick, right?"

"Yeah," Zooky nodded.

Back in San Francisco, Sergeant Takamoto had talked about how it wasn't just the fault of one country that the kaiju had been stirred up and a decades-old conflict started, but any who had been involved in making the instruments of nuclear destruction. However, that didn't mean that all humans were bad, so it wasn't fair to immediately judge that all were that way. Of course, humans often had trouble applying that to the kaiju, although some like Mothra and King Caesar helped hold up the other side of the argument.

"Unfortunately, there was just nothing to be done in this case," Vicky shrugged. "But don't worry, there's always another chance."

"Really?" Godzooky asked hopefully.

"Yeah, well, considering all the trouble we manage to get ourselves into, I'm sure we might run into something else," the blonde-haired girl grinned. She then looked at her watch and said, "I just hope we actually meet a friendly face before then."

"Who do you think it is?" Zooky asked, referring to the wayward Monster Island Search Division signal that they were still trying to find.

Vicky hummed in thought, tapping a finger on the railing while supporting her head with her right hand. "I don't know. I mean, I don't really know anyone who would be that crazy enough to leave the island on their own without being assigned to a search party. …Well, maybe one, two possibly, but… Nah," she finished shaking her head.

"Lina?" Zooky asked, offering a guess.

Vicky smirked; Lina did have quite a fiery and determined spirit when push came to shove, not to mention she and Goji were close friends. But…

"I don't know," Vicky sighed. "Anyway, sounds like we might be getting underway soon, that is, once we're sure everything's OK," she said, hearing incoming helicopter blades. "Guess we might as well relax while we can. What are you up to?" she asked after a pause, noticing a rather mischievous smile on Zooky's face.

"Uh…be right back," Zooky chirped before diving once more, leaving the young New Jersey native to smile and shake her head.

Back on the Calico an hour later

"I'm kinda worried, Brock," Pete said as he stood with Vicky and his aunt's assistant at the railing. "Godzooky's been down there for a long time."

"Relax, Pete; he's just in for a swim," Brock reassured the boy.

"You don't suppose he's found another…Seaweed Monster, do you?" Pete asked nervously.

"Nah, Godzilla took care of the seaweed," Vicky giggled.

"Look, that's probably Godzooky now," Brock said, pointing to a small spot on the ocean that was starting to bubble.

Something started coming up, all right, and it looked like…

"The Seaweed Monster!" Pete and Brock yelled in alarm at the sight of a bunch of seaweed surfacing.

However, as it rose a bit more, some of it fell back into the water, revealing Godzooky's face.

"Nope. It's just Godzooky in a seaweed hairdo," Vicky laughed, Godzooky giggling along with her as Pete and Brock groaned and shook their heads…before they started laughing too.

The island, at the site of the Seaweed Monster's death

While the Calico crew and the local authorities had been taking care of things in the populated area, another operation was being conducted at the southwestern area of the island.

Many people with clothes bearing the symbol of the organization MONARCH led by the man that had been part of the evacuation earlier—Ahab—were going around finding what viable pieces of the deceased Seaweed Monster could be salvaged for research, and maybe they could find a more conclusive find as to the creature's origins.

"How's it going?" the man asked a colleague.

The other man, Jim, let out a breath and answered, "It's a bit of tough going; most of that stuff's been burned to a crisp and scattered to the breeze, but I think we managed to find some good pieces in a small grotto not far from here. Guess it was a good thing Godzilla was here or else things might have turned out a lot worse, huh?"

The tenseness of the other man made the younger male worry that he had spoken out of turn and proceeded to get back to work after giving an apology.

When are people going to learn that the only reason Godzilla is doing this is because that…crew somehow has a control over him, Ahab thought bitterly. Without them, he'd be just like the Godzillas before him. Godzilla is nothing but a monster. Always was, always will be. Still, I can't deny that a lot of lives were saved today, so I guess I can give him the benefit of the doubt just this once. But one day, Godzilla will show his true colors. And when he does…we will be ready.

Oh…boy… Always has to be one thundercloud in a clear sky, huh? But there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the defeat of the Seaweed Monster and the triumph of Godzilla and the Calico crew. It was quite an arduous process getting this up, but we made it. I apologize if the ending of this chapter isn't a strong one; it's been a while since I worked on it and I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. Now it's full speed ahead to the next story. But let's do a little reflecting on this one first, shall we?

Starting off, Quinn blames herself for putting the kids in danger because all she wanted to do was find out what caused the seaweed Monster to come about. True, she could have kept a better eye on her sample an everyone could have kept their guard up better, but at the time, no-one except you readers and those of you who know this episode knew that when a piece of the Seaweed Monster breaks off, it can regenerate. So…can this really be a case of something that was beyond everyone's control? That's up to you, in all honesty.

I hope none of you mind me giving Godzilla some extra screentime, but he is a character in this too, so I think it's only fair. Besides, I've got plans for him down the road, plans that'll really kick into high gear once we hit "Colossus of Atlantis" and "Island of Lost Ships". As for having Godzilla actually involved with the crew's plans, that's all part of my iteration of the character and I'm sticking to it.

Yeah, you didn't think after hearing all that stuff about radioactivity and having the Seaweed Monster attack an island that I wasn't going to reference "Gojira", did you? I mean, put those details together and think about it. Granted, this time there's no flame/nuclear breath on the part of the rampaging monster and there's another monster who's going to fight against it, but still. And yes, in my fanfic-verse, the exploits of Gojira, Showa-Era Godzilla (using only "Godzilla Raids Again", "King Kong vs Godzilla", and "Son of Godzilla"), Godzilla Senior, and Godzilla Jr. are told as stories back on Monster Island.

And for once, Zooky doesn't get stuck because he willingly goes in where he shouldn't, it's because he's gone in to get his friend who's jumped the gun…something I unfortunately often do in real life. And I also berate myself. Luckily, Vicky gets a shot at redemption by helping Zooky and the crew lead Godzilla to the island and figure the best route to avoid the populated area so that the Seaweed Monster can dry out.

Honestly, that had to be some mighty rough going here, what with that mass of living seaweed trying to halt Godzilla in his course and the crew having to watch. Luckily, the gamble worked in favor of the forces of Good and the island was saved. Come on, you did have to admit, if you were in Vicky's shoes when that dried-out mass of kelp turned and roared, you would have covered your face, too. And, yes, before I forget, the lifeguard's name of "David" is a reference to David Hasslehoff's role in "Baywatch", I admit it.

However, this action of terminating the creature isn't without some regret on Godzilla's part. Don't forget, after the fiasco in Hong Kong, Goji's making an effort to start becoming something other than a copy of his progenitor, just like his grandfather made the same effort to be something other than a monster. And once again, we use the quote "With great power comes great responsibility", something both Goji and Zooky are taking to heart.

On a lighter note, I just realized that I fulfilled the "rule of three" with this chapter: If you recall, Godzilla sneezed in chapters 1 & 2, and now this makes 3. Wow! Can't believe I actually did that. And, of course, we have Zooky in the seaweed hairdo at the end. I got a feeling that at this rate, Lieutenant Messick's claim about Zooky being the world's first kaiju comedian might come to pass.

And on a slightly ominous note, guess who came to steal the final scene? MONARCH, that's who, and it looks like they want the same answers that Quinn was trying to find. And it looks like we once again have someone who is firmly ensconced in their belief that Godzilla is never, and will never be, a hero, despite everything that's been going on. *sigh* There's always two sides to every argument, you know?

Anyway, here come the questions:

How would you get the first Seaweed Monster off the Calico? And how would you react to the second one jumping overboard?

How would you feel if you were asked to explain the situation with the seaweed to Godzilla?

If you were at the site of the battle between Godzilla and the seaweed Monster, what would you be doing?

How would you get Godzilla to drag the Seaweed Monster to land?

What would you say to Godzilla or Godzooky in regard to whether or not if things were different with the Seaweed Monster (example, if they could communicate), could a different solution have been reached?

Who do you think is the one behind the rogue Monster Island Search Division signal (a friend, a family member, etc.)?

Yeah, thought I forgot about that signal, didn't you? Well, make your guesses, ladies and gentlemen, we still have quite a-ways to go before that question is truly answered. But, in the meantime, next time, we're moving on to the start of "The Energy Beast".

Until then, please read and review. Thank you!