A short time earlier, inside the base, preparations were underway for Kiryu's first field test. This was an operation four years in the making, and all that hard work was about to pay off. It was a joint effort between multiple countries, with Japan and the United States leading the operation. The main body of the mech was completed and ready for use, but the auxiliary weaponry had yet to be added. Still, it already had enough firepower to give any monster a hard time.

A team of scientists working alongside the military for this operation had been tracking Junior via satellite for some time. When they predicted that he would pass right by the base, the military leapt at the chance to test Kiryu out. Miki Saegusa, who worked alongside this team, was asked to use her powers to draw Junior to them as he approached.

She refused at first because she cared a great deal about Junior. However, after learning that the military only intended to drive him away rather than kill him, she reluctantly agreed. As Junior came ashore, Kiryu was activated.

There was something amiss about the machine, though. Miki was the first to realize it, having sensed a strange presence in Kiryu. When she figured out what it was, she tried to warn Junior first, knowing the military wouldn't listen.

It was then that the mech's yellow eyes turned red. It lashed out and killed every human it saw before breaking out of the base and continuing its rampage. Gojira had returned, and he wanted revenge.

"That's enough!" Junior roared, making his presence known. Kiryu halted its rampage, turning to face its challenger. They stood there, staring at each other, ready to fight. Junior continued:

"I don't know what you are, or why you're doing this, but it has to stop. Now. Too much blood has been shed already. There's no need for any more."

"You're wrong," Kiryu replied. "The humans will never shed enough blood to satisfy me. They must pay. They must die. All of them must die!"

"I can't let you do that."

"Then you will JOIN THEM!!!"

Kiryu fired a Maser beam at Junior, hitting him directly in the face. As Junior reeled from the attack, Kiryu ran up to him, grabbed his arm, and threw him across the base. As he began to pick himself up, a kick to the head knocked him back down.

A cold metal foot pressed on Junior's side. He looked up at his opponent and fired his atomic breath, knocking Kiryu over. Almost simultaneously, they got back to their feet. They both lunged, grabbing each other's hands, attempting to overpower each other with brute force.

It became clear that they were evenly matched, neither side gaining or losing ground. Kiryu changed tactics, pulling Junior forward and kneeing him hard in the torso. Junior fell to his hands and knees, shocked by his opponent's speed and precision.

"Get up," Kiryu said. "You're not done yet."

Junior rose to his feet, pushing the fear out of his mind.

"No, I'm not."

Kiryu roared and attempted to tackle Junior. This time, however, the latter was unfazed. Grabbing Kiryu's shoulders, Junior pushed his opponent off before swinging around and landing a hard blow with his tail. Then, a blast of atomic breath knocked the mech to the ground. Junior then took the opportunity to grab Kiryu by the tail and throw it as hard as he could, sending it crashing into the side of a mountain outside the base. Junior then made his way over to the mech, who made no move to get up as he approached.

"Had enough?"

"Never."

Kiryu's hand then transformed into a spinning drill before being stabbed into Junior's stomach. Junior roared in agony as the drill dug deeper and deeper into his flesh. After pulling the drill out, the mech opened a hatch on its chest and proceeded to fire an exceptionally powerful Maser blast from it. As it did so, Kiryu also fired a Maser beam from its mouth, aiming directly for the wound it'd just inflicted.

Junior continued to cry out, having never been in such pain before. It proved to be too much for him to handle, for he collapsed on the ground as soon as Kiryu stopped firing. The mech then walked up to Junior, who, barely conscious, could only watch as Kiryu prepared to jam its drill into his brain.

Then, something unexpected happened. There was a loud metallic thud and Kiryu was hurled a short distance away. As Junior's head came to rest on the ground, he saw something land in front of him. Then he heard it:

"If you want the kid, you're gonna have to go through me!"

Junior was still dazed and his vision was blurry, but that voice was unmistakable. There's no way, he thought. What Kiryu said next confirmed it.

"Anguirus."

"You know me?" Anguirus replied.

"Can you not sense it? You know me also. Very well, in fact."

"I doubt that."

"Oh, you do. You'll see."

Kiryu then fired a Maser beam, which Anguirus blocked with the armor on his back. When the former stopped firing, Anguirus retaliated with a sonic roar. Kiryu jumped out of the way, however, and threw a large piece of a building at him. Seeing this, Anguirus swung his tail and destroyed the projectile.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Kiryu fired another Maser blast, hitting Anguirus in the face and knocking him to the ground. Disoriented by the blow, all Anguirus could do was cling to his face and wait for the pain to fade. Kiryu took notice of this as he approached.

"It would seem age is catching up with you, Anguirus," he said. "You're getting slow. And weak."

"Yeah, well, speed isn't everything."

Anguirus then struck back with another sonic roar. This time, however, he didn't miss. The force of the attack sent Kiryu flying, making him land hard on the outskirts of the base. Having healed a pretty good bit, Junior got to his feet. He helped Anguirus up, still in disbelief that his friend had come for him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Saving your scaly behind, dum-dum!"

"But how did you-"

"I'll explain later. Can we focus on the thing that just tried to bore a hole through your head?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

They both turned to face Kiryu, who was staring back at them, waiting. Anguirus stepped forward.

"Who are you and why are you doing this?"

"You will find out who I am soon enough. As for why, it is as I told your friend here: the humans. You cannot imagine what they've done to me. They wouldn't allow me to live, and yet they won't let me die. Do you think I was born like this? No! They did this to me. They wanted to use me as a weapon. As a means to destroy all kaiju who come near their precious cities. They wanted to turn me against my own kind! That is why. They must pay for this. For the sake of all kaiju, they must be exterminated!"

"They fear us," Junior said, joining in. "They're only trying to defend themselves."

"Why do you care about them? What have these... parasites ever done to earn your respect?"

"When I was very young, the humans showed me their capacity for kindness. They helped me. They're the reason I met my father, the one who raised me, and I will never forget that. They're more like us than they seem. They deserve a chance to live as much as any one of us."

"I don't think so. They're animals. They believe that they are the superior species. They play with forces they can't hope to control. They do not consider the consequences of their actions, and that will be their undoing. Or, being a byproduct of their actions, I suppose that means I will be."

"You're insane," Anguirus said.

"If that's what you believe, then we have nothing more to discuss."

Kiryu stepped back and put his hands up, readying himself for the fight. Junior and Anguirus looked at each, then looked back at their opponent and slowly walked forward. As they got closer, they sped up, Anguirus taking the lead. He swung his tail at Kiryu, but the latter caught it in his right hand.

Before he could make a move, Junior rushed in, grabbing the mech by the side and throwing him as hard as he could. Kiryu was sent crashing down into one of the larger buildings in the base.

"Nice going, Junior!" Anguirus said. "Now watch this!"

He ran up to where Kiryu had fallen and waited for the latter to get up. When he did, Anguirus knocked him right back down with a sonic roar. Junior was quite surprised by this.

"Since when could you do that?!"

"Since the day I hatched."

"Well, why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't think I needed to, to be honest."

As they spoke, a very ticked-off Kiryu got to his feet, a blade extending from its wrist. As Anguirus turned to face it, Kiryu slashed him in the face. Before the mech could land a killing blow, Junior hit it in the back with his atomic breath. Kiryu retaliated with a Maser blast, hitting Junior in the shoulder. When the mech returned its attention to Anguirus, the latter bit down on its neck.

Kiryu appeared unfazed, however, and grabbed Anguirus's jaws in order to pry them open. Freeing itself, the mech attempted to break Anguirus's jaws, but an explosion to the face stopped it. It was a missile. The base's remaining soldiers were marshalling an offensive. Several planes hovered above them. At least a dozen tanks, both standard and Maser, sat atop a nearby hill with their cannons pointed directly at him. And it appeared that they called for backup, as more tanks were on the way and more planes could be heard in the distance.

Letting Anguirus go, Kiryu went to meet the new attackers. They began to fire on the mech, but to no avail. A Maser blast from Kiryu's mouth turned several of the tanks into smoldering wrecks. The mech took great pleasure in watching the soldiers outside the tanks begin to run for their lives and roared at them, scaring them even more.

"Hey!" Junior called. "We're not finished yet. Let them go."

"You're a fool." Kiryu said, turning to face Junior and Anguirus. "You're both fools. If I fall here, those pests are just going to turn their weapons on you. Can you not see the futility in defending them?"

"The only reason they're attacking you is because you attacked them. And now, neither side is going to stop until one destroys the other. It's just one of you against millions. I, for one, think you're outmatched."

"Oh, really? Well, then; let's find out. Surely, if I can defeat the two of you, I can destroy them."

"Fine."

Kiryu rushed in, blades extending from both wrists, and jumped into the air. The mech attempted to stab Anguirus in the head, but the latter moved back just in time, the blade stabbing into the ground instead. Anguirus smacked Kiryu in the face, the mech retaliating with a Maser blast to the chest. Junior ran in, only to receive a kick to the stomach. Before he even had time to recover, Kiryu came at him, swinging wildly, trying to cut him to ribbons.

Junior backed up to avoid the attack, waiting for the right time to make a move. Then, he caught Kiryu's arm, gripped tightly with both hands, and threw the mech as hard as he could. Anguirus then used a sonic roar to deal extra damage and propel their opponent further away.

Kiryu was flung several hundred feet, landing hard in the rubble of the base. When the mech got to its feet, it was knocked right back down by a powerful blast of atomic breath to the face. The smoke and flames from the resulting explosion obscured Kiryu's face from view as he got back up. When the smoke cleared, the damage was quite noticeable.

A large hole had been blown in Kiryu's face. Where the silver of metal had been, now there was the white of bone. The mech's right eye was destroyed, sparks of electricity shooting out every now and then from where it used to be. The fact that Kiryu survived was unsettling enough, but what was more so was the fact that it didn't seem to care.

Junior and Anguirus were stunned. They shared a worried glance at each other before turning back to their opponent. Kiryu noticed their reaction and laughed.

"Surprised? You really should've paid more attention to what I said before. This body was made by humans. It is not mine. It can't feel pain."

"Who-" Anguirus started. "What are you?"

"You still haven't figured it out, old friend? Well, I'd show you, but that is a skill I haven't quite mastered yet. Tell you what: we'll call it a draw and I'll track you two down once I do. We'll finish this then."

The mech then took flight, disappearing into the clouds. Junior and Anguirus were left standing there, confused and somewhat frightened.

"What just happened?" Junior asked. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Anguirus replied. "It was right, though. I did feel like I knew it, I-I mean, him, though."

"Am I crazy, or did that thing look kinda like... me?"

"You know, come to think of it, it did. Maybe... No, no. It couldn't be."

"What?"

"It's nothing. Just a bad guess."

"Okay, then." Junior turned his head and looked back where the humans were. "We should probably go. It looks like the humans are getting ready to start firing on us."

"Good idea."

And with that, they made for the ocean. As they swam off, they began to catch up. Junior went first, telling Anguirus what he did after leaving Skull Island and what he believed to be the reason he went beserk before. Anguirus laughed at this.

"You wanna know what I think?"

"What?"

"You're overthinking it. Everyone loses their cool sometime. It's a part of life. This just happened to be the first time you did and it scared you. It's completely understandable. I knew it right from the start. The only reason I let you leave was because I wanted to see how long it took for you to figure it out. I didn't think you'd go and jump to conclusions, especially not any as... unusual as the one you came to."

"Oh. Well, thanks for that."

"I meant no offense. You gotta admit, though, it does make more sense."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, it's your turn now. What happened to you?"

"If you're referring to my new scars, then my explanation will probably answer the rest of your questions. You see, for several days now, the island's been under attack. Strange creatures appeared in the Ebirahs' canyon, killed them all. They saw me when I went down there, and now they're after me.

They've been attacking the island over and over again, but I managed to hold them off every time so far. When we get there, the first thing you'll see is the corpses, and I'm sorry about that. Anyway, I woke up the day before yesterday expecting another attack, but there wasn't one. Instead, I got a visit from Mothra!"

"No!"

"Oh, yeah. Apparently, the problem was bad enough that it warranted their attention."

"'Their?'"

"Oh, right. Yeah, there's two of them now. A male and a female. I didn't catch their names, though. Anyway, they warned me that I wouldn't be able to stop those things by myself and said that I needed help. I told them about you and said that I didn't know where you were. Turns out, they've been looking for your father!"

"What?"

"Apparently, they need his help with something. One of them sensed another threat coming and predicted that you'd be there when it appeared. They showed me where to go and, well, you know the rest."

"Wow."

"Yeah. They said that they wanted to see you as soon as possible. Whatever it's about, it's important."

"Okay. What about these creatures? What do I have to look forward to?"

"Believe me, kid, this is something you need to see for yourself."

"Why?"

"Because if my guess is right, then you know these things better than I do."

"What?"

"Just be prepared, because this might be a bit of a shock."

"Okay, you're scaring me now. What do you think these things are?"

"Just... wait and see."

When Mothra awoke, her confusion was palpable. Before she passed out, she was flying through deep space while badly wounded. She didn't think she'd wake up if she lost consciousness. Now, not only is she awake, but her wound is healed and she's found herself lying atop what appeared to be a large crystalline meteor.

"Good," a nearby kaiju suddenly screeched. "You're awake."

Mothra turned around to see who this was. Surprisingly, the being that stood before her was none other than Spacegodzilla. Frightened, Mothra backed away and prepared to attack.

"No, wait!" Spacegodzilla said. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

Mothra relaxed a little, but she remained in position to take flight at a moment's notice. She didn't trust this strange creature. She knew him to be a threat and she didn't take that knowledge lightly. And beyond that, she also knew him to be dead, which made her even more apprehensive.

"Spacegodzilla."

"You know me?"

"Yes. And I also know about your visit to Earth. You're supposed to be dead."

"And that's why you don't trust me."

"My duty is to protect Earth, to protect my home. I know a threat when I sense one. And I don't trust what I know to be one."

"I assume you sensed my presence when I was on my way to Earth, then."

"You would be correct."

"Well, then, do you sense me as a threat now?"

Mothra paused. She took a moment to use her powers and determine the answer. "No," she said. "No, I don't."

"Good. Then you know I've changed. And if you still don't believe me, then let me ask you this: Why would I save you if I was your enemy?"

He had a point, and Mothra knew it. Why would he save her if his intentions weren't pure? She lowered her wings and stood down.

"Then why?"

"I saw you. You were barely hanging on. Your chest was blown open and you lost so much blood, you were unconscious. Something had to be done. So, I created this."

He gestured downward, at the meteor.

"You see," he continued, "my crystals store energy and transfer it to me. It was just a simple matter of transferring some of what I received to you. Plus, it gave you a place to rest while you healed."

"Thank you."

"It was nothing. By the way, what's an Earth kaiju doing all the way out here?"

"I could ask the same of you."

"Answer me and I'll answer you."

And so, Mothra explained her side of this. She then gave a brief history of the kaiju that injured her as well as the severity of the situation. Spacegodzilla was quite troubled by this.

"Earth is my home too. And I love my home. That's why I left. I wanted to protect it... From myself. If this threat is as bad as you say, then I will go back. I will fight, and if I have to, I will die... protecting my home."

"Spoken like a true Guardian of the Earth. But how do you expect to get there in time? The enemy has too big of a headstart."

"I will take us there. The last few weeks, while I waited for you to heal, I absorbed a LOT of energy from this crystal. I am faster, stronger, and more powerful than I've ever been. I will fly there, I will take this crystal with me to maintain my strength, and you will be resting on it so you don't have to keep up."

"Hm, it's a good plan. Let's get going, then. We need to return home as fast as we can."

"All right, then."

With that, they put Spacegodzilla's plan in motion. Spacegodzilla transformed into his crystal-covered flying form and sped off, using his telekinetic powers to take the crystal with him.

Right away, Mothra could see that he was right. She would never have been able to keep up with him if she tried to fly alongside. This was very encouraging. Perhaps there was still hope after all.