Author's Notes: Hi everyone! I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish this chapter, mostly because it is off-book from the canon episode and the first part of it at least took quite a bit of research. Not only that, but there were a few bouts of writer's block and I had to look at a certain Disney film and do a Gamera marathon to get certain details. And then my dad had an accident getting out of a chair and now he has his left arm in a sling; it's really his upper left arm that was affected, so he has to keep it immobile, but they put a sling on his lower left arm. I don't know, it doesn't exactly make much sense to me, either. Unfortunately, that's how things are at the moment. Thankfully, no surgery was immediately needed, so there's that.

On another note, my video is done, but I'm lost on how to do the backgrounds for some of the OCs featured; I don't want to make them too long and leave people confused, but if I make them too short, people might not get the whole story. If anyone has ideas, I'd greatly appreciate them.

And now, the 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 sixth 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.

Ooh, one more thing: I've placed a little surprise in this chapter. It's not an Easter Egg, but a certain voice will be making its first appearance. I'll tell you who it is at the end of this chapter and why I picked it.

Recap: When the Calico crew makes a stop at Sundance Mesa Dam for some R&R, they weren't expecting to run into trouble, but they got it anyway in the form of the Energy Beast. The battle between it and Godzilla atop Sundance Mesa Dam was short and ended rather badly for Godzilla when he took an Energy Ball to the torso. Despite having been brought back to his senses by a special call from Godzooky, something still seemed amiss with the Kaiju Prince, so Vicky decided to stay with him to make sure he was OK. Let's see what happened…

CHAPTER 4

Out in the ocean

While the Calico crew and Godzooky were looking around the Mesa City Dam control and the Solar Energy Collector, Vicky was accompanying Godzilla to another of those underwater caves that were part of some ancient tunnel system inside the Earth so that she could check him over for any other effects he might be having from the hit he had taken in the battle.

"Wow!" Vicky exclaimed, her voice echoing a bit in the air pocket as she hovered above the entryway. "I almost forgot how big these places were!"

She was referring to the time that Godzilla, Lina, Anguirus, Rodan, and herself had gotten themselves lost in Baragon's tunnels on Monster Island while playing hide-and-seek one day. It had been Rodan who had accidentally fallen into one of the entrances and the others came in after him. They then had found themselves in a cave that had reminded Vicky of the ones she had seen as a kid, like Crystal Cave in Pennsylvania and one other that escaped her memory at the moment. That pretty much turned into an explore worthy of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer", right down to the four kaiju and the young girl getting lost for an odd number of days. While trying to find their way out, they had stumbled upon a large tunnel that apparently led to a deep drop. Not keen on exploring any more of those, they found their way back to familiar territory and eventually met up with Baragon who guided them out. The youths were reprimanded for being gone so long, of course, but for a long time they couldn't get those strange tunnels and that hole out of their minds. Baragon had told them that they were there long before his own, and that it was rumored that that big hole they discovered led to another world. That was pure speculation, of course; no kaiju in their right mind would ever think of going down that thing.

Getting back to the present, Vicky watched Godzilla as he carefully laid back against the cave wall, his dorsal plates bending safely to allow it; something she would be alarmed about if she hadn't seen it before. What did alarm her was the pained moan he let out as he did so.

Now, of course, came the hard part: Actually checking him out. The trail of slowly-healing exposed skin and the gash at the stomach area were pretty noticeable, but that was pretty obvious. It was checking other stuff that was the problem. For one thing, she wasn't sure there were any tools her watch had to do so. And second, and probably most importantly, she wasn't a scientist nor a doctor; all she had done was seen how the other kaiju often checked each other. And been to her own doctor's appointments.

Vicky loudly blew out an exhale. What the hey; she had to do something.

She tapped the watch face, bringing up the menu and began scouring for appropriate tools. She had managed to get into the flashlight/lantern/torch portion of the "Storage" section when one of the flashlights caught her eye, though it looked more like a pen than a flashlight. She tapped the image and a little screen appeared to the side that had the following:

Medical Penlight

Used for examining eyes, natural orifices, and wounds as well as testing pupil response.

Uses halogen lightbulb for more accurate results.

To turn on/off, press the button at the top.

To consult beginner's chart, tap here.

Once again, Vicky was astounded by the myriad of items inside her watch. Maybe whoever left this was some sort of survival person or a traveling doctor. Either way, she tapped the image and out came the penlight. Even after having it for so long, it was still a little weird having items come up and out of it while it on her wrist; it was like she was pulling stuff out of her arm like a magician.

She then tapped for the chart and a rather simplified version of the professionally-used one appeared in place of the menu. Of course, there was a few slight problems. First off, the chart was for human/humanoid eyes. Second, the "patient's" eyes were closed at the moment.

"Goji. Hey, buddy. Can you open your eyes for a moment?" Vicky called gently as she hovered in front of the saurian's face. "I know you're tired, but it's just for a few minutes. Please?"

Thankfully, Godzilla hadn't gone into a deep sleep just yet, so he obeyed the request. And that was when the next problem came up.

"Lovely," she sighed. "How can I check your eyes when I can barely tell the pupil and the iris apart? Seriously, whose idea was it to make your eyes coal-black? Your father's are brown, so are your mother's. Your grandfather's are amber… Oh. Wait a minute. Your grandmom, of course," Vicky chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, just gonna have to do my best here," she shrugged, holding the penlight like a writing utensil next to her head. "Look at a spot behind me," Vicky told him before turning it on; this was something she remembered from her own appointments.

The chart luckily came with some small-print instructions, so thanks to them, she knew that since they were in a low-light area, she had to aim the light upwards. She then began moving the light from one eye to another, not an easy feat since the head she was dealing with was bigger and wider than hers. It was also a lucky thing that the light had terrific range; she had to back up a bit before she managed to reach a distance where she could swing the light back and forth seamlessly while still being able to watch his eyes.

Mercifully for the examiner, there was another set of instructions just for dealing with patients who had dark-colored eyes: Simply use a dim secondary light below the pupils. This was accomplished by getting another, dimmer penlight out of the storage, activating her energy fists (which somehow seemed to have gotten dimmer), and extending one of them out with the extra light in hand (thankfully the other one didn't interfere with her real hand holding her primary light). With the extra light on she could tell the iris from the pupil by the fact that the latter was actually a lighter black than the former, but not too light; just right for a healthy eye. She also noticed that neither eye looked askew or unfocused, so it looked like he had regained his senses on the way here.

The guide said to watch the reflex of the first eye she illuminated. Aiming the light on Godzilla's left eye, she noticed the grayish-black circle got smaller, meaning it contracted. Consulting the guide said that that was good. Now to watch the other one with it. They both contracted at the same time. Also good.

Now came the tricky part. How to test that he could focus on an object at close range without losing the light? The answer came in another small-print instruction: Hold the primary light at a point above the eyes. With a dimmed energy fist free, she held up five, then three fingers, asking him each time.

He answered correctly each time in his own language and his pupils dilated each time the held-up fingers came close, then contracted when they went further back.

Thank goodness this kid was curious enough to watch me count things and I actually had the audacity to walk him through the numbers, Vicky sighed in relief. We only got up to 20, but still. And having Moll and Lora and his grandpa get in on it was a big help, too; he's pretty smart for a kaiju.

Then she just moved the penlight from one eye to the other a few times. The reaction was the same: Contracted when the light was there, dilated when the light was not.

"And now I've reached the end of the guide, and everything I've seen points to the inescapable conclusion that you've got no trouble seeing things," Vicky announced gladly, relieved that Godzilla's vision was good and that the eye exam was over; her palms were absolutely sweaty from the ordeal.

"That's good," Godzilla said. "You OK?"

"Hey, I just gave an eye exam without a medical license; I'm a little nervous," the girl remarked as she deactivated the fists and turned off the penlight. "And somehow I have a feeling that your hearing's OK. Unless there's something…"

"Oh no, no; I can hear you just fine," Godzilla reassured her.

"How would you describe your balance from the dam to here?"

"Mm, once everything was over I was still feeling a bit dizzy. I didn't feel like going my normal speed, but it gradually came back. You saw."

"More like felt," Vicky remarked; she had been situated on his second triangular dorsal for the whole ride and had noticed when Goji began picking up speed. "Now…what else to check…" she trailed.

Well, there was one thing she was willing to check before moving on to the wound. And she didn't exactly need equipment to do it; not when his respiratory system was bigger than she was. Very carefully she leaned forward, slowly moving the hoverboard in that direction, towards Godzilla's chest area. As if reading her mind, Godzilla began to breathe deeply.

Vicky had to mentally remind herself not to put her hands over her ears as she listened; it was like listening to rolls of thunder and rushing wind that went off at steady intervals at close range. Of course, it wasn't like that sound hadn't been in her ears before, but in their current location it was pretty loud. Now, she had no idea on counting beats per minute, so she went off by memory. And what she was hearing definitely matched her memory of when her friend was calm and resting.

"Well, no problems there," she said loudly after she backed up; her ears were still pounding.

"Forgot how loud we are inside too?" Goji smirked.

"After a while, you kinda get used to it," Vicky answered. "Now for the main problem," she announced, turning her attention to the wound.

The blood had been washed off by now, but the gash still looked pretty ugly and the trail of skin looked silvery, so that meant the healing factor was working, but slowly.

"Geez…" Vicky groaned, needing to look away for a minute.

"That bad, huh?" Godzilla asked.

"I thought that healing factor of yours would have worked its magic by now. But at this point it's like it's gonna take days or weeks for that to close up," Vicky said before letting out a sigh and running a hand through her hair. "Man, that darn bug really messed things up, didn't he?"

A sigh was the only response she got, and that put her in "protective-big-sister" mode.

"Talk to me," Vicky told him in a tone that said "You're going into a bad place and I'm worried so don't shut me out".

Honestly, Godzilla didn't feel like talking; not after what had happened. He had been bashed, bitten, shocked, punctured, frozen, slightly burned, and nearly smothered, but those felt like light taps on the shoulder compared to what that centipede's attack did to him. Sure, that close-range lightning attack by one of the Megavolt Monsters—Kekipi—had affected him, but this…this was something else. He had thought that he was going to die.

"Godzilla."

The named saurian looked at his friend again. She was still hovering there on that machine of hers, still waiting for him to say something.

"I take it this has never happened before?" she asked, finally realizing that she would have to be the one to start the conversation.

The slowly let-out exhale, the closed eyes, lowered head, and lack of a response gave her her answer.

"So you've never been knocked down in the first round of a fight," Vicky stated as she crouched down, sort of a way of sitting down on her hoverboard. "OK. That's—"

"No it's not."

Vicky was about to say that she hadn't said anything about it being OK to be KO'ed in the first round of a fight, but she remained quiet. Goji needed to get this off his chest.

"Not only was I injured, it's like…like I completely ignored the fact that all of you were still in danger, and I still might have if Zooky hadn't called me. It…It was scary; I thought that I wasn't going to make it."

Vicky's eyes widened. She didn't know it was that bad.

"It was just… I don't know, like that bug's energy and my body didn't mix. It was worse than when I got shocked by Malek's young companion."

Vicky thought back to that occasion and knew Goji was right; he had gotten electrocuted at close range but he had managed to bounce back pretty fast. So what was it about that Energy Beast that made his and Godzilla's energies react negatively to each other?

"I know the first round with opponents I meet usually don't go on for very long, especially if I can manage to talk to them, but…I-I just can't believe that I lost that fast. If that thing can do that to me, then what chance do I have?"

"I just can't believe that I lost that fast"; now where had Vicky heard that before? Those words suddenly kept playing on repeat in her head as she tried to remember. Someone else had said that, but who…?

"Knock-knock, anybody in there?" Vicky smiled in a sing-song tone, making a knocking motion with her hand. "You must've taken too many hits to the head if you've forgotten," she continued when Goji looked at her with a confused expression.

"Forgot what?" he asked.

Vicky then made a humorous "Are you serious?" face before saying: "Have you forgotten that we both know somebody who's had his share of bad first rounds? Let's see… Oh yeah; he's been blasted backwards by a shockwave, got a bloody nose from a cyborg, been buried in dirt by a usually-peaceful marine creature, taken hits from human armaments and Gyaos, including a slice to the head by the latter, fought a tremendous mental battle against Viras's mind-control, was immobilized by Zigra's Cell Activity Suspension Beam, covered by toxic sludge by Hedorah, gouged by Legion, and put into a coma by an exploding Legion Plant, and there are others I could list. Not to mention outside of battles he's gotten knocked out cold at least three times. Any of this ringing a bell, here?"

There was a moment of quiet before the answer came:

"Grandpa?"

"Bingo," Vicky smiled. "And do you remember what he told us about being blasted backwards by that shockwave? He was facing Mechagodzilla, who had been disguised as him, and he had already taken a few heavy hits when the two fired their respective long-range attacks at each other. Something had to give, and it did; that round couldn't have lasted more than 30 minutes, an hour, tops. And your grandpa came out of it alive but badly hurt. And do you remember what he had said about happened between the end of that fight and before he went back?

"He had a moment just like you are right now; he couldn't believe he had been defeated that fast, by a tin-can copy from space, no less. Not to mention said tin-can had managed to actually hurt him. But, as he said once, 'It is the external wounds which heal the quickest'; I mean he said it himself, he had practically lost faith in himself right there. But you know what happened?

"He recalled those that mattered most to him. The ones who would suffer most if he gave up. He remembered that he wasn't the first Godzilla to fall down, but he sure wasn't gonna be the last, not if he had anything to say about it! He was gonna fight and win for his family! For his friends! Just like I know you're going to! Because you're strong, you're amazing, you're compassionate, you're courageous, and, most importantly…you're awesome."

Vicky's speech had the intended effect; there was a true smile on Goji's face and he certainly felt a lot better than before. And, honestly, he felt pretty lucky for having a friend like Vicky to give him a much-needed pep talk; he really had to wonder at how his grandfather had handled his moment of doubt. It couldn't have been easy by himself, but, then again, it was like Vicky said: He had the thoughts of those he cared about to give him strength, and that made all the difference.

"You're right," Godzilla said. "I'm not the first to get knocked down, and I'm gonna make sure I'm not the last. After all, I've got family to protect."

It took a second for it to click that Goji included her in the "family" as well, and when she figured it out, Vicky was touched and honored. So much so that she couldn't help but hover in to give him a hug the best way that she could.

"You know, ya almost worried me for a sec," Vicky said, still smiling once she had backed up again so that her friend could see her.

"Well, you did kind of have to jog my memory a tad, but I'd never forget the stories of Grandpa's adventures, never," Godzilla said. "And I'd never, ever forget him."

"I know," Vicky nodded. "So, just outta curiosity, which of all that chaos I listed did jog your memory?"

The answer came within 30 seconds: "The covering by sludge and the bloody nose."

Vicky was laughing so hard she almost made herself go upside-down; the Hedorah story she could understand because that was when Goji's grandfather had pulled off the impossible feat of flying via jet propulsion by Atomic Ray and a little outside help from Mothra in steering—something unforgettable in itself—but the bloody nose? Really?

"Of all things to remember, you would have to remember the bloody nose!" Vicky laughed harder, Godzilla joining her.

The laughter lasted about a minute and echoed in the cavern for a bit after that as the two began to calm down. And then…

"Whoo! Aw, yeah."

Once again, Vicky would have jumped off her hoverboard if her feet hadn't been in the braces.

A booming, young, tenor voice had sounded off close by, and since there were only two of them down there, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where it had come from.

"Wow. Speaking of forgetting," Vicky began, "I forgot that you could…well… Um… You could…"

"Actually talk?" Godzilla smirked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yeah," Vicky giggled. "Well, you've been using your birth language as long as I've been with the Calico, so…"

"Well, don't worry, I didn't forget; been practicing every chance I get," Godzilla chuckled. "Uh, by the way…how do I sound?"

"Sounds like you traded your young, kid voice with the slight rasp for the tone of a fine, well-grown young man who's still learning so much," Vicky replied honestly. "I like it. I really do." A question about why Goji never spoke before then began to present itself, but then she shook it off.

"You OK?" Goji asked.

There was some incoherent mumbling as the young girl rapidly shook her head and tried to keep her giggles under control.

"It's OK," she replied at last as she adjusted her eyewear. "I just answered my own question, that's all. Speaking of which, I'd better get back to the crew; they're probably wondering what's takin' me so long. And you've gotta get your rest and heal that up."

Godzilla blew out a breath as he looked at the gash and the snaking trail of thick hide that had somehow been nicked off him.

"Hopefully the new, positive attitude might help things," Vicky added.

"Yeah, I thi—I know it will. Thanks a lot," Godzilla smiled.

"No problem, buddy. Well, off I—"

BEEP! BEEP!

"What the hey?" Vicky asked as she brought her watch up, the face red and blinking.

"What's that?" Godzilla asked.

"I dunno; it's never done this before," Vicky shrugged before tapping the watch face.

When she did, a screen came up, but it wasn't the usual selection menu. Instead, she was seeing a news report from Mesa City Daily News, and from the way everything was shaking, it looked like something big was going on.

"What in the blistering blue barnacles…? Goji, I think my watch just picked up a TV transmission," Vicky said.

"Tee-vee?" Godzilla asked, not quite understanding.

"You know, the moving pictures on that box with buttons that people watch? Didn't I tell you guys about that?"

"OH! Oh, yeah, you did. But how did the watch pick it up? And why now?"

"That's the problem, I don't know how. But it probably wouldn't have alerted me to it if it wasn't important in some way."

"So what's going on? I can barely see from here."

"Apparently, some place called Mesa City—OK, why does that sound so— OH MY GOSH! THAT'S RIGHT!" Vicky exclaimed, having answered her own question once more. "Mesa City is the place we stopped at before we moved on to Sundance Mesa Dam! It's in trouble!"

"From what? From who? Let me see!" Godzilla demanded eagerly, trying to sit up more and move, but his body was in its early stages of putting him in a regenerative sleep, so it was almost like trying to move through lead.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" Vicky answered as she tried to find something to make the screen bigger but at the same time afraid to touch anything out of fear that she would lose the feed or unintentionally cause harm to herself.

Finally, she decided to put her fingers to work and the first place they landed was the projected screen.

"Now, how do I make this stupid thing—?"

Without thinking, she flicked her fingers upward. The result was the screen expanding and seemingly leaping away from the watch.

"Whoa!" Godzilla yelped. "What did you do?"

The blonde-haired girl was about to answer when the images on the projected, rectangular screen finally came into focus, showing a black-haired, tanned young man holding a microphone with what looked like a power station in the background.

"The tremors seem to be getting worse! I may not be a geologist, but I know that earthquakes do not feel like this!"

Not only did the picture get bigger, but the sound became amplified, like when one was sitting in a movie theater.

"Nor do they sound like footsteps," Vicky added gravely, noting the pounding sounds that occurred each time the camera shook.

Godzilla had to agree, but there was something else; something that bothered him. He would have thought that it was the Energy Beast approaching that city, but the footsteps sounded like they came from a two-legged creature. He knew that the beast had gotten away unscathed, so what was—?

"Hey, what's the matter?" the news reporter was asking.

Apparently, his cameraman had seen something pretty frightening and hadn't moved his equipment to catch an image of it just yet…that is, not the full image; a thick, gray-green, scaly leg had just come into view way in the background. A leg that looked way too familiar.

Finally, the reporter began turning around and the camera began to move up and bring the background into focus. And what it showed stunned everyone.

"Wha…?!" Godzilla trailed off in shock.

"How…?!" Vicky gasped in the same manner.

"My…God!" the reporter gasped.

As if on cue, the very familiar saurian newcomer let out a roar. But it wasn't just any roar…it was Godzilla's, which was no surprise considering that it was Godzilla himself who had appeared on the scene! Which, of course, was impossible because at the same time, Godzilla was watching from an underwater cavern!

"Who the heck is that?!" Godzilla shouted once he finally managed to get over his shock.

"I hate to say this, but…it's you!" Vicky answered, not quite sure what to make of this herself.

"WHAT?! No way! I'm right here!" Godzilla argued.

"I know that!" Vicky replied.

At that moment, the other Godzilla stomped forward, reached out towards the towers, and began pulling them apart! The live wires sparked and danced frantically as the current kept going through them. Screams of innocent people were heard in the distance, some quickly cut short either after a stomp by the lookalike or by the pieces of falling electrical towers.

The camera was finally yanked back down and the reporter was once again the one in focus.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I…I can't believe this! After all his exploits of saving humans, it seems that…that Godzilla has turned on us! As you've seen, he's going after the Mesa City Power Station with the great ferocity that he is well known for! But as to why this is happening, I'm afraid it's anyone's guess."

To say Vicky and Godzilla—the real one—were stunned beyond belief was a major understatement. The female, pre-teen human looked away from the displayed carnage for a moment to look at her friend, and what she saw worried her greatly; he looked like he was seeing his worst nightmare come to life.

And, in a way, she wasn't wrong; this was reminding Godzilla of what he had acted like before Biollante had set him straight in Hong Kong. This was probably what he would have become had he continued in that manner: a monster. A carbon copy of his ancestors who unleashed their rage on humanity.

He had to do something; stop this nightmare before it went too far.

"Hey-hey-hey-hey! What do you think you're trying to do?!" Vicky yelped as Godzilla tried to get up.

"I've gotta get out there," Godzilla groaned; it was starting to get harder to move. "I've gotta stop that…UGH!"

"I don't think you're gonna be going anywhere, mister," Vicky stated. "You still need to heal up, and I think your body knows that, too."

"But I don't have days or weeks!" Godzilla yelled, sounding desperate. "I've gotta stop that…that…that…other me before he destroys the area! Or causes more deaths! Or—!"

Godzilla's heart practically leaped into his throat at the next morbid thought that came to his mind: The crew and Godzooky. What if that other him went after them? What if—?

Oh no. No. No. No way. Not gonna happen. Not on his watch!

Godzilla once again tried to stand up, audibly straining and groaning as he pushed himself up. He had just managed to get himself standing and leaning against the cavern wall when his legs gave out, making him slide back down to the floor with a screech. He moved to try again, but it was no good; it felt like his energy was leaving his body and the afflicted area was starting to feel like it was on fire. In reality, his regeneration factor was gathering all the energy it could to tackle this strange wound; it was turning out to be more of an effort than previously thought. In response, his body would have to send its owner to sleep so that the healing factor would have all the energy it needed to focus on the problem. Of course, this time was starting to be a bit difficult because Godzilla, spurred on by fear for the lives of his friends and nephew as well as the guilt brought on by seeing his lookalike trash a human city, was being terribly stubborn.

"Goji, stop! You're gonna make it worse! Just stop!" Vicky cried out, quickly moving towards her downed friend from the side so as to avoid being blown back by his breath, turning off the screen while doing so.

"But… But…" Godzilla was trying to say, slipping back into his birth language.

"I know, I know, but you're not gonna be of any use if you don't stop trying to resist. You could end up being out for months if you don't stop!"

That finally got through and Godzilla stopped trying to struggle against his body, but he was still filled with fear and worry. There was no-one else to go up against that other him with he himself being out of commission.

"I'll hold him off."

"No."

"Goji…"

"He'll kill you."

"I think I've flown around you more than once enough to know how far to stay away. Besides, I've got more than a few tricks up my sleeve, uh, so to speak."

"But—"

"No 'buts' mister!" Vicky stated firmly, putting a glare on her face and crossing her arms as she went up higher to make Godzilla look up at her; she wanted to show him that she meant business. "Look, I don't wanna do it as much you don't want me to, but somebody's gotta hold that guy at bay until you're back on your feet. I'm not a fighter, and I would normally let another kaiju or you handle this, but there's no-one else here and at this point I can't just sit here! And what if the crew and Godzooky go there? Someone's gotta keep them safe! That poor kid's probably wondering what's going on with you."

When it hit that Godzooky was probably seeing what they had seen as well, a pang of pain went through Godzilla's heart and he became angry; Zooky looked up to him and loved him like any child would love their parent, and now this lookalike was tearing that apart.

"When I get my hands on that…" Godzilla began to growl, but Vicky quickly interrupted before he would start getting graphic:

"And you will, you will, but first things first; you rest, I go. OK?" She then blew out a breath and muttered, "Wonder if this was how ol' Anguirus felt before he went in against Mechagodzilla. Just hope I can last that long," she added with a shudder.

Godzilla was hoping she would last longer and hopefully without getting seriously damaged; Anguirus's dad was lucky that his jaw hadn't been snapped off. And his grandpa had been lucky to be alive after his first fight with the mechanical saurian, who had at first been wearing some sort of disguise over his metal body that made the mecha…look…just…like…

"Oh-ow!" Godzilla yelped.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Vicky yelped in turn.

Something was pricking Godzilla at his side, right where the trail of slowly-healing hide was. Godzilla rubbed it, then scratched at it. Finally, after giving a warning to Vicky to look away, he used his clawed fingers to dig into the affected area to get rid of the nuisance. It was painful, but it yielded results. In his slightly-bloodied fingers he held two scales, and they weren't his.

"Hey, Vicky, look at this," Godzilla said, going back to English to get her attention.

Vicky uncovered her face, and the first thing her eyes latched onto was the blood, making her cover her eyes again.

"Ooh, sorry," Goji chuckled in embarrassment. He then took a minute to lick the blood off his claws before using his fingers to wipe the scales he had pulled. "OK, now you can look."

Once again, Vicky uncovered her face, and this time smiled, quietly saying thanks for getting rid of the blood.

"Those aren't yours," she noticed.

"I know. Looks like they got stuck to me during the battle with that big bug."

Vicky hovered in to get a better look at the brown-colored scales and noticed something right off the bat; the tops of the scales seemed to start to curl inward, like claws.

"Hey, can I look at the bottom?" she then asked.

Godzilla carefully maneuvered the scales with his fingers so that she could see, and she found what she was suspecting to see: The bottom of one of the scales seemed to look like it was meant to be flexible, like a hinge.

Did that mean that the Energy Beast launching itself and coiling around Godzilla like that was deliberate? And that gash, it looked like those scales had dug in pretty deep. Deep enough to draw blood.

"What are you thinking?" Godzilla asked.

"Well, call me crazy, but something about that battle didn't sit well with me. First, it nicks you, then it stuns you, then it leaves without finishing the job. A hit-and-run is usually a last-ditch thing, not a first move, unless the kaiju is in a hurry or something."

"Yeah, but in a hurry for what? It's like he just wanted a taste of me or something and then just took off."

A "taste"? Or maybe…

Was it…?

"Yeah…like it was…taking a sample…" Vicky said slowly.

"'Taking a sample'? Like that older female human does?" Godzilla asked, referring to Dr. Darien. "But what for—?"

Samples. A destructive lookalike. A short battle that seemed to make no sense.

"HE'S A FAKE!" Godzilla and Vicky exclaimed when the realization hit.

"Of course! Why didn't it hit me earlier?!" Vicky exclaimed. "This is Mechagodzilla all over again!"

"Only once we peel away the disguise, I have a feeling we won't find a tin can under there," Godzilla added.

"Right," Vicky nodded. "And that means I'll really have to get moving now. And you need to put as much strength and effort as you can into getting yourself back to fighting condition ASAP. If things start really going south, I'm gonna need you, pronto."

Godzilla nodded. "Hey, be careful, OK?" he then said.

Vicky smiled and gave a salute before turning on her oxygen bubble and exiting the cavern.

Godzilla finally began the process of trying to relax himself so that his healing factor wouldn't have such a hard time dealing with the wound the Energy Beast had given him, but for all his effort, he couldn't stop worrying. He knew Vicky was capable of holding her own in a pinch, but if that faker was as powerful as he was, her chances were mighty slim.

He honestly couldn't believe the gall of that thing; changing itself into his image and discrediting him with his friends and his nephew! Especially his nephew! Goji and Zooky had a bond that had been formed when Zooky had hatched, a bond that would never break. And now that bond was in danger because of that…that pretender! This he would not stand for! He would not let that thing hurt his little one in any way!

Suddenly, it felt like it was getting warmer and his heart began pounding as a surge of energy began going through him. A screech of pain followed as it felt like his hide was growing and pulling itself back together over the wounds. And, almost unnoticed, a blue glow started coming from his dorsal plates. How this process would end, nobody knew…

Meanwhile, Vicky had finally come out of the water and was making a beeline for Mesa City, hoping that she wasn't too late and that the fake hadn't moved on. Or worse, that the crew and Zooky had arrived and gotten badly hurt. Thankfully, when she got there, it looked like neither of the above had happened, but now she had to get that thing away from the area and to a more isolated spot.

She opened fire with a laser blast from her watch—which she activated by pressing the glass over the 9–aimed right at the Fake Godzilla's shoulder.

It turned to face her and gave the annoyance a killer glare that probably would have put the girl 6 feet under if looks could kill. The sight was unnerving and Vicky backed up a bit, but she didn't leave. Instead, she just gave a glare of her own…then pressed a button on the side of the face at the 9 to activate her energy fists and gave the faker a slap across the face.

"YOU KNOW, YOU GOT SOME NERVE TRYING TO PASS YOURSELF OFF AS MY FRIEND!" Vicky shouted.

The Fake Godzilla roared and took a swipe at her, but she moved back and used an energy fist to give him a backhanded slap this time.

"WHAT IS YOUR DEAL, ANYWAY?!" she continued. "WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT?!"

All she got was another roar that was likely a crude version of "Mind your own business" and another swipe that this time came included with swinging, live electrical wires. Vicky quickly sped away, but her shield got zapped slightly, making it flicker. She quickly looked at her watch to check the shield's condition; it still had enough energy to hold out for a while.

"OK, apparently we're not too chatty at the moment, so just asking him to move is out of the question, so…"

Once again she fired the laser and had to move to avoid the tail. Then she fired a stream of fire from the flamethrower setting, which was done by pressing and holding the glass over the 9, sliding her finger back to the 3, then moving it forward again to switch out weapons, then pressing the glass at the 9 again to fire. Then she tossed out a couple grenades from the "Weapons" section in her watch (including a smoke one by accident). Then it was back to the laser, the flamethrower, a flash grenade, another slap and a couple punches from her energy fists, and all the while she had to duck and bob and weave to avoid being hit by the Fake Godzilla's tail and fists.

Huh, that's interesting; he's not using any of Goji's abilities at all, Vicky noted, as the Fake Godzilla had not demonstrated use of laser eye beams or fire breath. I would have thought when the creature took Goji's shape, he would have gotten his powers, too. Maybe I guessed wrong.

Her train of thought was cut off when helicopter blades reached her ears. She didn't want to take her eyes off her opponent, but she reflexively glanced to her left to see a small chopper. It had been colored white, not orange like the Calico mini-copter, so that was a relief. She spared another glance at it before firing another laser blast, this time seeing words on the side, "NEWS" being the one that stood out.

They were surrounded by news choppers.

This was not going to end well.

"GET OUTTA HERE! IT'S NOT WHO YOU THINK!" Vicky yelled at the top of her lungs, forcefully waving a hand in a "Move away" motion. "GET OUTTA HERE! GO! GO! IT'LL KILL YOU!"

"MISS! MISS! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BUT YOU BETTER GET OUTTA HERE!" said a male voice from a bullhorn from one of the news helicopters.

"YOU GET OUTTA HERE IF YOU WANNA LIVE!" Vicky yelled back before pressing the glass at the 3 and using her energy whip on the Fake Godzilla.

Just then, the Fake Godzilla let out a roar, but something sounded a bit different; it almost sounded like a scream, and it shook itself, its arms and the electrical cables flying about, bringing down more towers.

Vicky didn't know anything about seizures and the like, but she couldn't help but think if this poser was having one.

The choppers tried to move back, but the shrieking kaiju started stepping forward and lashing out, hitting a few and sending them down with an explosion. Vicky tried to grab the monster's wrists with the energy fists to get it to hold still, but all she got for her trouble was an unwanted shaking and a need to throw up afterwards. She tried to ignore that impulse, but it eventually got too hard to do so, so she quickly went outside the power station area and had just enough time to hold her hair and shirt front before she leaned over and…well, no need for that much detail.

How the heck do those kaiju endure something like that without puking their guts out? It's incredible, Vicky thought to herself in amazement once she had stopped and her stomach had settled down. It was a weird thought, but good enough for her to know that her brain was finally back on track.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Oh, now what?!" Vicky groaned; this was no time for something else to go wrong!

She tapped the watch face once again, and this time got a screen with a warning: "Radiation approaching above normal. Protective shield at 10% above normal power. Certain weapons may not be accessible at this time".

"'Radiation above normal'? But where's it—?" Once again, Vicky had answered her own question, and the other answer that followed the obvious "How is this possible" soon came: "The Energy Beast took a sample of Godzilla's blood to transform his shape, but he must have underestimated the radioactive power in Godzilla's cells. And if what happened to Godzilla earlier is any indication, the mixed blood must not be meshing well inside his body. That's why he had that brief fit. But if all that radioactivity is now running rampant in there—Oh no!"

And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse…

Another set of helicopter blades sounded off followed by a familiar male voice calling through a bullhorn, "VICKY! CLEAR OUT OF THERE!"

…it just got worse.

And…done! Phew! I hope you all enjoyed this rather off-book chapter; frankly I'm a bit nervous about it being set here. Normally, this would be something saved for an explanatory flashback I think, but it has that tie into events in the upcoming next chapter that it seem like it fits here. Maybe I'm thinking too hard on it or I'm too distracted by lack of energy and a new, rather unbelievable idea that is starting to run rampant in my brain. Let me ask you this: How would you feel about Godzilla being in the circus in a Worlds Away experience? And I'm not talking just any circus; I mean the most amazing contemporary circus on Earth. Yeah, crazy, I know. But it is just. Banging. Around. In. My. Head. And. Won't. Stop! But I can't put it down on electronic paper yet; not until I at least get past "Island of Lost Ships".

ANYWAY! Getting way too off-topic!

Godzilla and Vicky have arrived at an underwater cave that brings back memories of getting lost in some tunnels on Monster Island back when Godzilla was younger. I actually did read an adaptation of "Tom Sawyer", so I did know about the part where Becky Thatcher and Tom Sawyer got lost in a cave. And yes, I have actually been to Crystal Cave in Pennsylvania when I was a kid, twice, apparently. As for the other cave that I visited but I can't remember, it still hasn't come to me. A memory that is sticking out to me during those visits is seeing a formation that looked like Mount Rushmore, but I don't know if that was from my two Crystal Cave visits or the cave that I can't remember. I do know that any caves I visited were very likely all in Pennsylvania, since I believe that my grandparents had also come with us. …I don't know; I guess my memory on that is a bit fuzzy.

Anyway, so while the kaiju youngsters and their human friend were getting lost in Baragon's tunnels, they found something. And if you recall my past stories, I know at least one of them mentions something about ancient tunnels in the Earth. Yeah, they're not gonna be going away anytime soon. And if you're wondering, yes, I did borrow that long drop they find from "Godzilla vs Kong", which means that it does lead to Hollow Earth. However, nobody's gonna be going down there…not yet, anyway.

Now for the research part: You'd think examining someone's eye is pretty straightforward, right? I mean, all the doctor does is shine a light in your eye and checks that everything looks good. Oh boy, it is a tad more complicated than that; there are so many things you have to check, like pupil size, shape, color, eye position; whew! Is it any wonder Vicky's hands were sweating by the end of it all! Luckily, yours truly was able to find all this info at a site called eyeguru which includes lists and pictures of what to look for as well as a video detailing different pupil examination methods. This site is also where I found the info for how to examine dark-colored eyes, which you now know Goji got from his grandmother. And yes, apparently Goji knows numbers! Probably wasn't easy to teach, but at least Vicky had had help.

Once Goji is deemed to have fully returned to his senses, all attention turns to the wound, and not just the physical one. It seems that Vicky was correct in believing that Godzilla's confidence has taken a blow and proceeds to give him a rousing cheering-up speech by using a figure well-known in both their lives who has been knocked down many times and always got back up every single time: Godzilla's grandfather. Now you know why I had mentioned going on a "Gamera" marathon, and if the tone (as well as the ending) of Vicky's speech seems a bit familiar, that's because I took inspiration from Rhino's speech to Bolt from the same movie. Oh, and bonus points to all you kaiju movie buffs who can name the movies all those "bad first rounds" came from.

On a side note, my planned fanfic-verse version of "Godzilla vs the Smog Monster" does include Mothra! Well, I figured that since Hedorah was the epitome of one of the greatest threats that Earth has ever had to face, she would have stepped in as well. Yeah, I don't think anyone present at the conflict at Mt. Fuji would have expected the beautiful Divine Moth to get her "hands" dirty, but as a Guardian she has to do what she can to defeat those that threaten humankind, even if it means getting messy.

Now for the surprise: Godzilla talks! And who have I chosen to voice him? Well, I'll do my best to make a long story short. When I started coming up with voices for Godzilla and Godzooky back when I was 12, I was also watching the original animated version of Disney's "The Jungle Book", and I really liked Baloo's voice (done by Phil Harris), so I kinda stuck it to the big guy. Then it fell out of favor and I picked Frank Welker. Then it went back to Phil. For a while, the choice was up in the air…and then the most unlikely thought hit me: Hercules. I found that if I thought about it hard enough, my fanfic-verse Godzilla is a bit like Disney's Hercules; maybe a bit on the smart-aleck side when the mood hits him, but he has that charming but innocent quality and gentleness towards those he cares about that balances out his fierceness in battle. Oh, and let's not forget the occasional goofy side that shows up. And thus, the hands-down decision for Goji's voice was Tate Donovan himself. As for that "young, kid voice with the slight rasp", that one won't be revealed until Chapter 6. Or maybe 7. I'm still working on the next chapter. Anyway, thoughts on the pick? Like? Don't like? Let me know. Just…be civil about your thoughts. That's all I ask.

Oh, and the whole "incoherently mumbling while shaking her head" thing was a slight detail I borrowed from "Young Frankenstein", in case you're wondering. And if you guess where the "blistering blue barnacles" line came from, kudos to your cartoon knowledge!

Of course, now that everyone's spirits are back up, the trouble starts up again, and Godzilla and Vicky see the start of "Godzilla's" rampage on the Mesa City Power Station. And with Godzilla needing to go into a regenerative sleep to heal himself and of course Godzooky being too small to handle a big threat and no other kaiju are around, guess who's left to try to handle this crisis. Yep, Vicky. Goji is understandably worried and even Vicky's a bit scared, but somebody has to do something.

But just before Vicky goes, Goji finds a couple of the Energy Beast's scales on himself and two soon come to the conclusion that the saurian that has shown up is nothing but a fake. However, at the battlefield, Vicky soon makes some more scary discoveries about the disguised Energy Beast, and now things are about to get worse with the Calico crew's arrival! Let's hope they can pull off a miracle here, folks!

Here are the questions:

How would you check Godzilla to make sure he was doing better after leaving Sundance Mesa?

Anything to add to Vicky's speech to Godzilla?

What would you do in Vicky's place after seeing the broadcast of "Godzilla's" rampage at the power station?

How would you be trying to battle the Fake Godzilla at the power station?

Not too many, I know, but I'm just trying to go for the ones that hit relevant details instead of going willy-nilly like I might have done in my earlier works when I started putting up questions.

No Spanish here this time, but it'll come back in the next couple of chapters.

Next time, the Calico crew tries to figure out what's going on with their friends while Vicky tries her best to battle the fake until Godzilla's back on his feet. The final showdown is coming soon, folks!

Until then, please read and review. Thank you!