Alteration and Affection
Dr. Forester looked over the Godzilla blood samples as they rested in their test tubes. He took some notes and looked over the computer data as Emi walked in. "Any sign of completion?", she asked. "We're almost there", said Dr. Forester, "General Tsubasa is already arguing for its use tonight, though our window is rapidly closing". "How so?", asked Emi. "I've looked over the samples; trying to figure out how Hedorah is evolving", said Dr. Forester, "He's conquered the sea, the land, and the air. The mixotrophic elements of his physiology are changing based on outside factors. If its cells didn't die upon being separated from the rest of the body, we could get a better understanding as to why its evolving". "Perhaps there's still a way", said Emi as she looked over to a piece of Hedorah's tissue sample securely placed in a plastic canister, "Have you tried stimulating the tissue samples with electrical equipment?" "No", said Dr. Forester, "It's worth a shot, though".
On the other side of Tokyo, Yagi's assistant ran into his office. "Good news, guys", he said, "I managed to buy us some time. About three days". "Only three days?", Yagi asked. "Wasn't much I could do", said the assistant, "They're dead set on shutting down all industry until Hedorah or Godzilla are dealt with. We're lucky we have the three days as is". "So, what do we do now?", asked another assistant. "We need to restructure", said Yagi, "Consolidate all of our resources and we'll move our operations to Yokohama". "Wouldn't Kobe be a better option?", asked another assistant, "It would get us further away from the coast and, by extension, Godzilla". "Tried it before", said Yagi, "I couldn't even get a small business loan in Kobe". "Then it's settled", said an assistant, "We'll move operations to Yokohama by the end of next week".
Elsewhere, Junko and Reina walked down the street together. As they walked down the Shibuya Scramble, they noticed an old man with a megaphone. "The end is upon us", he said, "So long as industry is allowed to continue, Godzilla and Hedorah will kill us all!" "What a goof", muttered Reina as she opened the door to a manga cafe, "We hardly even know that will be the case". "Still makes me shudder to think of it", said Junko, "Father is fighting to keep his business going despite the danger presented". "Why does he care so much?", asked Reina as she and Junko sat down at their table. "Ever since some of the company ships got wrecked, Father fears we're getting closer and closer to bankruptcy", explained Junko, "I'm worried about what happen if he were to face that possibility". "All the more reason you should start making more art", said Reina, "I know a bunch of people who would love your stuff". "I don't know", said Junko. "Tell you what", said Reina, "Just make as much art as possible. If it gets someone to smile, even in these dark times, you win a prize". "Is it a date?", asked Junko nervously. "Bingo", said Reina with a smile, "Come on, we're in a manga cafe. Let's draw".
Cue Song: Break Down the Buddy by Shiro Sagisu
As the day wore on, Junko and Reina had completed many sketches together. They had moved from the manga cafe to Shiba Park, where they sketched the Tokyo Tower and surrounding districts. "OK, how does mine look?", asked Reina as she held up a haphazard drawing of Tokyo Tower drawn with Junko's spare color pencils. "It looks...fine", said Junko. "Let's see yours then", said Reina. "Well, I wasn't drawing the tower per say", said Junko nervously. "It can't be that bad", said Reina as she pulled the sketchpad away from Junko's grasp…only to find a sketch of herself. Junko blushed as Reina chuckled, looking at her reflection in the paper. "Well, you made someone smile", said Reina."You don't count", said Junko bashfully. "Says who?", asked Reina, "I said your art had to make somebody smile. I didn't say someone other than me".
Junko couldn't argue with that. She only regretted not controlling her impulse to draw her friend, if she could call her that. It's not she didn't like Reina; she did, but what would her father think if he realized she liked Reina this way? Did Reina like her back in the same way? There's only one way to know for sure. Junko leaned forward and pecked Reina on her cheek. She then struggled to suppress a giggle as Reina blushed. "You laugh now, but just you wait", chuckled Reina, "Watch, I'm treating you like an empress at our next date". 'If there's a next date', Junko thought sadly.
Out in the ocean, Godzilla was busy. He fired his atomic breath at sunken ships and underwater pipelines, hoping to cut of Hedorah from away of his food supply while at sea. His plan was slowly coming to fruition. With no polluted material in this side of the sea, Hedorah would be left with two choices: Either find somewhere else to go, or go on land, giving Godzilla the advantage needed to kill him. Just then, he heard machines wiring to life on land. Humans. Always diving headfirst into their own destruction. Godzilla snarled bitterly as he swam to the source of the noise.
At the University of Tokyo, Reina skipped into the office as Takuya was looking over the mural. "Good day?", asked Takuya. "The best day", said Reina, "She kissed me". "Oh, that's wonderful", said Takuya with a smile, "I'm almost done with this". He put some plastic wrap over the mural before some men packed it into a box and took it away. "What's going on?", asked Reina. "We're moving all the artifacts to a secure location", explained Takuya, "With Godzilla and Hedorah still loose somewhere, we need to be more cautious going forward". "Are we moving again?", asked Reina. "Only in a worst case scenario", said Takuya, "Listen, Reina-chan, do you love this girl?" "Yeah, obviously", said Reina. "Did you tell her this?", asked Takuya. "No", said Reina, "Shit, was I supposed to?" "Well, there's still time", said Takuya, "I'll bet if I drive you over, we'll be at her place by sundown". "You sure?", asked Reina. "More or less", shrugged Takuya, "Now come on. Junko isn't going to romance herself".
In a lab on the other side of the University, Dr. Forester and Emi stuck some electrodes into a tissue sample from Hedorah and flicked a switch. Almost instantly, electricity surged into the sample. "The readings are off the charts", said Emi, "It's conducting its own nuclear fission". "That's part of the problem", said Dr. Forester, "I had thought the radiation from Godzilla was what repelled the creature. However, if it conducts its own nuclear fission, that could mean one of two things. Either it's building up a resistance to Godzilla's radiation, or it is hoping to reproduce in a similar manner to an amoeba, using the radiation to nurture its young. I've got to go". "Where?", asked Emi. "To Ground Zero for the weapon", said Dr. Forester as he grabbed his coat, "I have to shut it down". With that, he ran out and got onto a military helicopter.
Out at sea, General Tsubasa and Ohashi stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier as oil tankers a few miles away began dumping oil, toxic chemicals, and other trash into the sea. "You sure this will work?", asked General Tsubasa. "Positive", said Ohashi, "Once the ships are evacuated, Hedorah will feast". Just then, the aircraft carrier was rocked by rough waves as Hedorah came to the surface. He ignored the destroyers as they aimed their turrets at him and went to the pollution. He croaked happily as he began slurping up the oil and chemicals. "It's in position", said General Tsubasa, "Fire away". A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying overhead opened its hatch doors and dropped a capsule of Godzilla's blood just as the helicopter landed. "You have to call off the attack", said a panicked Dr. Forester. "It's too late", said General Tsubasa as the capsule hit Hedorah!
Cue Song: Who Will Know? by Shiro Sagisu
To everyone's horror, Hedorah began to bulge and fluctuate. He shrieked in pain as his skin bubbled and burst. Then, as his skin darkened he stood upright. His clawed arms took on a shape similar to that of a man's, long and thick with four clawed fingers. Red eyes began appearing and disappearing on his body as his long, flat tail burst out of the water. Pulsating red energy began glowing on his back as Hedorah clutched his head in pain, before that gave way for several spinal fins like Godzilla's, as well as two, tall tubes that protruded from his shoulders like smokestacks. Several other tubes grew from his chest as Hedorah completed his transformation. He turned his heated eyes onto the destroyers as they began to fire upon him, their missiles doing nothing against his liquid skin. As more eyes appeared on Hedorah's body, he fired laser vision, destroying the ships instantly! "It would appear", stated Dr. Forester as Hedorah looked at the aircraft carrier with malice in his heart, "that in trying to avoid our destiny, we've only ensured it". He closed his eyes with a sigh as Hedorah slammed his clawed hand onto the aircraft carrier, cutting it in half and killing all on board. Hedorah then let out a croaking roar before turning toward the mainland.
Meanwhile, Junko had returned home to find some of the assistants in the middle of packing up. "What's going on?", asked Junko. "We got screwed", said one of the assistants, "The Diet rolled back our deal. We have to restructure now and move operations to Yokohama". "For what it's worth, I think your father is taking this well", said another assistant. They then heard Yagi slam a phone down. "Maybe not", said the assistant, "I'd try to avoid getting on his bad side if I were you". "I'll keep that in mind", said Junko as she went to her room and put as much of her artwork in her bag. As she exited her room, she saw Yagi looking out at the refinery. "The world has gone truly mad", he sighed sadly, "You work all your life, and in one day, it's all gone". "Well it isn't all bad", said Junko, "I met somebody". "Wonderful", smiled Yagi, "An upstanding young man is exactly what can put my mind at ease". "Actually, it's...a girl", said Junko, "I think I'm in love with her". Yagi turned and glared at his daughter, causing Junko to flinch. "If it's not bad enough my life's work is going up in smoke, I now have a dirty lesbian for a daughter", growled Yagi. "Father, please", Junko tried to plead, only to be cut off as Yagi flipped his desk over! "Get out", he said simply. Junko didn't need to be told twice.
Elsewhere, Godzilla rose from the sea and sniffed the air. He growled before turning his attention toward the oil refinery. As Junko ran out of the main office, Godzilla watched as she ran down the street, tears beginning to form in her eyes. As soon as she was gone, Godzilla let out a mighty roar before stomping towards the refinery!
Inside the office, Yagi threw over the bookshelves in his rage! He threw a lamp against a wall before looking down to see a cracked picture of himself, his late wife, and a younger, happier Junko. His only daughter, now gone. "What have I done?", asked Yagi. Suddenly, the building shook, and Yagi tore the curtains off the window to see Godzilla barreling towards the refinery! The beast pushed the building over, smashing it to the ground!
As Reina and Takuya approached in their car, they saw Godzilla smashing the building. "Junko!", cried Reina as Godzilla let out a mighty roar. He charged up his atomic breath and fired at the spherical oil canisters, blowing them up! "NO!", shrieked Reina as tears fell from her eyes. Godzilla continue to ravage the area, stomping on pipelines and smashing several smaller buildings with his tail! Reina stepped out of the car and strode over to the edge of the bridge as Godzilla tore apart the tall offices of the refinery with his bare claws. Takuya looked to his daughter as she glared intensely at Godzilla.
Godzilla halted his rampage to see a girl glaring at him. He snarled, an intimidating sight for those with fear in their hearts. But Reina no longer felt fear of the beast. She barely noticed her father trying to pull her away. The only thing in her eyes was fire and the monster that caused her such pain. "This is your fault", said Reina, "Your war with Hedorah took away the woman I loved. For this, you will both die. That is my vow". Godzilla and Reina glared at each other, before the beast let out a mighty roar.
To Be Concluded...
