The next morning, Anguirus woke Junior up just after sunrise, much to the latter's annoyance. He explained that the Ebirahs were mostly active at night and now, they would either be asleep or slow and sluggish. This disappointed Junior somewhat, because he hoped to fight one on equal terms, but Anguirus assured him that even though they seem tired, it is only because they are trying to go back to sleep.

This also meant that they wouldn't exactly be happy about another kaiju coming to wake them up and kill one of them. Anguirus stressed the importance of only killing one because the Ebirahs breed slowly and the two of them need a long-lasting food supply. As they spoke, they made their way to the beach. Once they got there, they stopped so Anguirus could finish.

"They eat their wounded, too, so if another attacks, just get out of there as fast as you can. They may be dumb, but they're relentless. They hate sunlight, though, so if you make it to the surface fast enough, you'll be safe."

"Okay. So, what do I have to look forward to?"

"Big claws, pointy legs, and tough armor. No special abilities, though, so at least you don't have to worry about it shooting some sort of fire breath at you or something."

That offered Junior little comfort, however, for Anguirus's description brought back bitter memories of an old adversary. One whose presence still haunts his dreams. One that likely killed his father. He shuddered at the thought.

"Hey, you okay?" Anguirus asked, noticing.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's just... Old memories. Bad ones."

"The night your father died?"

Junior never said much about that night, but he told Anguirus enough for him to know that it was easily the worst of his life.

"Yeah. The Ebirahs sound kinda like the thing my father and I fought."

"What was it's name?"

"I don't know. Destoroyah, I think. Big ugly thing. Powerful too. I thought I killed it, but then it came back stronger than ever and... and..."

"Did it... kill your father? You never said what happened to him."

"I don't know! I didn't see. I'm not sure if I was even alive at the time."

"What?"

"Long story, not important."

"Oh, really? Sounded kinda important to me."

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? Can we just get on with this? I'm ready to hunt."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. But I think we're gonna have to talk about it at some point."

"Fine."

And with that, they set out into the ocean. Anguirus guided Junior to the canyon, which, as the former had said, wasn't far way. They remained at the surface the whole trip, and now, they floated there, directly above Junior's destination. Junior was anxious to get going. Anguirus, however, was still concerned about his young friend.

"You sure you're up for this?"

"Yeah. Once the fight starts, I'll forget all about my problems."

"Okay, then. I'm gonna head back now. I'll see you there. Remember what I told you."

"I will."

"And don't get yourself killed."

"I won't. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Junior watched Anguirus turn around and swim away, then took a deep breath to clear his mind and dove into the water. He allowed gravity to do the work for him as he plummeted straight down toward the bottom. It only took about ten minutes before he could see the canyon, like a giant black wound in the Earth's surface, stretched out below him.

He slowed his descent and altered his trajectory so that he landed on the edge of one of the cliffs overlooking the blackness. The canyon was laid out before him, several hundred feet wide, at least a thousand feet deep, and several miles long. He stood there, leaning forward, and peered into the dark chasm.

Right away, he noticed several dozen very large and very strange lumps on the bottom, several of which were moving. He had found his quarry. One of those that were moving was quite close to the cliff. Junior decided to go after that one. He needed to get it away from the others, so he put a plan into motion.

It was really a rather simple plan: swim down there, grab the Ebirah from behind, and bring it back to the cliffs. It was also very effective, for the surprised Ebirah took several seconds before it realized what was happening and began to struggle, screeching out a cry for help. A cry that seemed to remain unheard. Junior was amazed at how strong the creature was as it flailed its limbs and wriggled its body around, trying to get free from his grasp. As Junior swam over the cliffs, the Ebirah managed to get free when it jabbed him in the arm with one of its legs.

It continued swimming forward a short distance before rocketing back with outstretched claws. Junior ducked, unintentionally scraping the Ebirah's underside with his spines as it swam over. The creature cried out in pain, but the wound was small, and it continued its attack. Junior could easily blast it with his atomic breath, but he chose not to, wanting this fight to be even and purely physical.

The Ebirah charged again, but Junior halted its advance with a hard hit to the face, slamming it onto the ocean floor. As it tried to get up, Junior charged it, swimming just above the bottom, and tackled it. His claws dug into the Ebirah's armor as he held on while the two of them rolled around in the sand. Junior's grip loosened, and the Ebirah swam off, obscured by the cloud of sand they created.

Unable to see his opponent, Junior swam upward, clearing the cloud, only to be slammed in the face by a waiting Ebirah. Blood clouded the water around Junior's face, obscuring his view of the Ebirah and giving it the opportunity to stab him in the shoulder with it's claw. Junior roared in pain as the Ebirah removed it's claw and prepared to stab him with both of it's claws. The blood around Junior's head had dissipated, however, and he caught both claws just in time.

He pushed one claw away, gripping the other tightly before breaking it off with a powerful swing of his free arm. The Ebirah screeched, yellow blood streaming from the wound, and attempted to retreat. Junior gave chase, however, and managed to catch it by the tail with his strong jaws. He then swung the Ebirah as hard as he could against a large pillar of rock, the force of the impact splitting the creature's armor. It slumped to the bottom, stunned and helpless as it watched Junior stab it with it's own claw.

Junior stood firm as the Ebirah writhed in pain and pushed the claw further into it's chest. It seized up and stopped moving, it's legs curling inward. Junior roared in triumph, memories of his father's victories rushing through his mind.

For the next few minutes, he stood there and stared at his fallen opponent as he calmed down and his shoulder finished healing. Then, he grabbed the corpse and swam off, eager to hear Anguirus say how well he did. And he was not disappointed.

Anguirus was very pleased. He secretly feared that Junior would blow the Ebirah to bits with his atomic breath, but was quite excited to see it was mostly intact. He was also surprised Junior made it out without serious injury, though he quickly realized that he shouldn't have been as concerned as he was given the fact that Junior had his healing factor. He was eager to hear what happened and Junior didn't disappoint, giving a detailed description of what transpired after he first submerged.

They ate well that afternoon. The crab-like kaiju was almost the same size as Junior and was made of more than enough meat for them to share. It was probably the best meal Junior had ever had, not to mention the first one he really had to work for. That night, they slept with full stomachs and Junior didn't wake up until halfway through the next day.

Eventually, they set up a hunting routine in which every few weeks, one of them would go catch an Ebirah and the other would do the same a few weeks later. This way, they both got to feel the thrill of the kill. In between hunts, they continued to do what they had been doing. Sparring, in particular, began to get a bit more enjoyable for Junior, for the fight with the Ebirah tested his wits and taught him two very important lessons: never let your guard down and if your opponent does, always take advantage of it.

Taking these lessons to heart helped to even the playing field between Junior and Anguirus, though he still couldn't beat the latter quite yet. He came closer than ever, though, and he took that as a good sign. A sign that one day soon, he would be ready to go out and discover the world, fully capable of facing any challenge that came his way; and just maybe, he might even be ready to go explore the islands Anguirus told him about and venture into the great caverns, where a whole new world of opportunity awaits.

She had failed. She failed her home, she failed her family, and she failed herself. The terror whose name other kaiju didn't know had defeated her and left her for dead. Wounded and weakened, Mothra had no hope of returning to Earth in time to stop him.

She didn't let that stop her, however. She couldn't. Try as she might, however, she knew she wouldn't make it. She would either die trying or she would arrive too late and be killed by the enemy. Now, all she could do was hope.

Godzilla may have been her adversary, he may hate humanity, he may have killed Battra, but she knew that he would stop at nothing to destroy a would-be kaiju conqueror like the one now headed for Earth. And he just so happened to be the most powerful kaiju on Earth. She just hoped that it would be enough. If not, everything Mothra and her ancestors fought for would be destroyed.