Two months earlier...

Since their pursuit of Ghidorah began, Spacegodzilla and the twins' mother had been almost completely silent. The latter did not completely trust her new travel companion and he didn't need to be a telepath to figure that out. It was a very long trip, however, and, eventually, the silence was broken.

"I... never got your name", Spacegodzilla started nervously.

"Mosura."

"It's pretty."

"Thank you."

"So... I take it you've met my father?"

"Your father?"

"Godzilla."

"You are his spawn?"

"In a way, yes. All I know is that his blood flows through my veins. Somehow, I even retained some of his memories. That is why I asked. I believe I recall him fighting you."

"That's right. He was out of control, killing and destroying for no reason. I could not stand for it."

"That is the same reason I fought him. I... took it too far, though. No matter what I do, I doubt he'll forgive me."

"No, probably not. But, at the very least, you could try to earn his respect."

"That... would be good enough. I also have my brother to worry about, though."

"Brother? There is another?"

"Adopted, I think, but, yes. He was still pretty small when I came to Earth. I trapped him in a cage of crystals to anger Father, to make him want to fight me, to kill me. In the end, that was my biggest mistake. I'm glad he stopped me, though. In my rage-driven state, who knows what I could've done?"

"I'm inclined to agree. What is his name? Your brother, I mean?"

"Junior, I think. I didn't really take the time to ask."

"And what happened to him?"

"When Father defeated me, all my crystals were destroyed, so he was freed from his prison. After that, I couldn't say."

"This is... quite surprising. The fact that Godzilla would even consider becoming a caring parent... it... It tells me he's changed for the better. I hope to speak with him about it when this is over. If we prevail, that is."

"If you do, could you please explain to him that I've changed? I have little doubt that he'll try to kill me the second he sees me when we arrive. Even if I had the chance to explain it to him, I doubt he'd let me utter a single word."

"I can try, but I think it'd be best just to let him see for himself. In situations like this, actions tend to speak much louder than words. You have to prove to him that you mean him, your brother, and the Earth no harm. And, since we'll be helping him fight Ghidorah, I think you'll be off to a good start when we get there."

"Well, that's certainly a comfort. You are very wise, Mosura. Thank you."

"Any time."

"We spoke of my family. What about yours? Will there be anyone waiting for you when we return?"

"Before I left Earth, I laid two eggs. By now, they've probably hatched. My children will be grown by the time we arrive. They will aid us in the fight against Ghidorah."

"So, you're a mother. Congratulations."

"Thank you. Again."

"Are you nervous about meeting them?"

"A little. Mostly, I just regret not being able to be there for them. I would've loved to watch them grow up. But, that is a joy my people are seldom able to indulge in. Our duty always comes first."

"I'm sorry. That must be difficult."

"It is, but the ancestral memories of past generations have prepared me for such hardships. As long as I am able to see them, speak with them, work with them, ...it'll all be worth it."

"I take it they know you're coming?"

"Most likely, no. If anything, they probably believe me to be dead."

"Hm, it seems they're in for a surprise."

"Indeed. And Ghidorah, as well."

"Well, it seems everyone will have their fair share of surprises when we return, eh?"

"Hmm."

"Heh, did you just laugh a little?"

"I suppose I did. You know, I was skeptical of you before, but... I see now. You truly have changed. And... I think... I would be honored to call you my friend."

"Friend? Huh. Now that sounds strange."

This conversation continued on for some time, both participants enjoying themselves greatly. Their whole lives, they had no one to speak to, to confide in, to provide emotional support. Now, although they were still very different, they have found within each other a kindred spirit, someone they could truly relate to and trust. For the rest of their voyage, silence was almost nonexistent.

Now...

Back on Earth, Junior and Anguirus were on their own journey. It had been a little over an hour since they first entered the tunnel, and the light of day was now completely behind them. Now, they walked in almost total darkness, their keen eyes allowing them to just make out what was in front of them, which was little more than rocks and, in Junior's case, the end of Anguirus's tail.

"So," the former started, "how long will it take us to get there?"

"About two days or so", Anguirus replied. "It just depends on how fast you can walk."

"Okay."

"You all right?"

"Yeah, just... a little nervous, I guess. This is all new for me, you know?"

"Well, of course. This like going to a new world for you. You'd have to be crazy not to be nervous."

"That doesn't really help, you know."

"Ah, you'll be fine. If it's any consolation, I'll be with you every step of the way. It's like I said before: I'm with you until the end."

"Thanks."

"Anytime, kid. Anytime."

"You know, I don't think you finished before. When you were telling me what all there is to worry about down there, I mean."

"Oh, right. Well, aside from what you already know, there's the Kumongas and the Kamacuras."

"And what are they?"

"A couple of hard-bodied hardcases."

"Like the Ebirahs?"

"Yeah, kinda. Except they live on land, and, instead of you trying to eat them, it's the other way around."

"Well, that's nice."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, really. The Kumongas only live in a big canyon on the far side of the valley. You see, they make big sticky webs to trap whatever flies or falls into the canyon, then eat them. So, basically, as long as you don't fall in, you don't have to worry about them."

"And what about the other ones?"

"The Kamacuras are scavengers. They live in the wasteland outside the valley, somehow managing to sustain themselves on what little food they can find. Sometimes, if they're feeling either bold or desperate, they'll come into the valley to try and hunt something down. Problem is, they don't care what they go after. It could be anything or anyone. The other problem: they like to attack in groups. Alone, they're about as tough as an Ebirah. If a bunch of 'em gang up on you, you're in big trouble."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Nothing that'll be out to kill you. Only other thing I can think of is the Rhedosaurs, and, while they can be a nuisance from time to time, they can only be considered dangerous if you eat one."

"Why?"

"Because they're poison. You eat one, it'll make you sick. Really sick. A few days of horrible pain later, you die. It's almost unbearable to see someone who's been infected."

"You knew someone that happened to, didn't you?"

"Yeah. My father."

"Oh. Anguirus, I'm so sorry. I..."

"It's fine. I was little when it happened. Didn't know him that well. Didn't make it any easier to watch the sickness take him, though."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Heh, there's a lot of things I haven't told you, kid. Most of which because I don't think it's really important. In this case, I never really felt the need to mention it. And, I try not to bring up my family anyway."

"Bad memories?"

"Yeah."

"I understand if you don't want to, but talking about it could help. I know talking to you about my father certainly helped me out."

"And yet, you never felt the need to clue me in about your crazy brother."

"That's different. I didn't even know he was my brother."

"Yeah, fair enough. Finding that out must've been rough on ya, huh? I mean, it's like you gained a brother and lost him in the span of ten seconds."

"It was, and thank you for reminding me why I spent half that night desperately trying not to look depressed."

"Sorry."

Junior gave no reply. He just sighed and hung his head low, thinking about Spacegodzilla and what could've been. A few moments later, Anguirus stopped and sighed loudly. "You know, kid," he started, "I had a brother too once."

"You did?"

"Yeah. His name was Borus. He was a good bit older than me, but, we were inseparable."

"What was he like?"

"Absolutely fearless. Biggest risk-taker anyone's ever seen. He was always going off to do something dangerous like stealing food from a pack of Gorosaurs or wandering into the Kumongas' canyon. He actually made himself a little den in there, a safe place to go whenever he wanted to be alone. He boasted a few times that he made friends with one of the Kumonga, but nobody believed him. Not even me, and I idolized the guy."

"What happened to him? You don't have to say if you don't want to."

"It's... painful to even think about, kid, but... I've been avoiding this for too long now. I think it's time I talked to someone about it. I-I-I'm gonna give it a try."

"Okay. Just take it slow. It'll be easier on ya."

"Heh. Yeah, I'll try. Now, let's see. Where to start? Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Here goes, here goes."

"Seriously, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Like I said, kid, I've been avoiding this long enough. Just listen.

So, it happened back when I was just an adolescent. Our mother thought we were big enough to be on our own and took off one day. Never saw her again. Borus and I had made a pact to always look out for each other, so, naturally, we stuck together.

One day, we were walking along the edge of the lake, looking for anything edible that could've washed up. Namely, a dead Ebirah. But, there wasn't anything there, so, Borus, being the fearless lunatic he was, suggested we swim out into the lake and catch a live one.

Now, I knew that this wasn't a good idea, but I went along with it because I knew he wouldn't listen if I said anything. I hoped that he'd see reason before it was too late. I... was so wrong.

We swam out a good bit away from shore, thinking to ourselves 'this isn't so bad.' We looked down into the water and saw nothing but clear, dark, blue. We just sort of floated around for a few minutes, laughing about how exaggerated the stories were, then we looked down into the water again and saw something coming. At first, we were nervous. It looked like something huge. When it got closer, though, we realized that it was a bunch of small creatures. Fish. Some of the biggest I'd ever seen. Fish with long bodies, big tail fins, and short snouts with big eyes and huge teeth.

Like I said, though, they were still pretty small compared to us, so we weren't worried. They seemed curious at first. Just swimming all around, inspecting us. Trying to figure out what we were. Meanwhile, we were wondering the same thing about them. We didn't know what to do. Either we stay and wait for them to finish whatever it was they were doing, or we turn around and swim back to shore.

Borus had another idea, though. A much... crazier idea. He thought it'd be a good idea to see what they tasted like. So, he grabs one in his jaws and starts chewing. Naturally, the others didn't take kindly to that, and they all bared their teeth and charged at him. Before I knew it, they were all attacking him.

Somehow, we ended up a good distance away from each other. I figure we were so distracted by the fish, we weren't paying attention to where we were going. Either way, we were far enough away from each other that I didn't realize my brother was under attack. When he started yelping in pain and splashing around, I thought either he was just messing with me or we was trying to entertain the fish. It wasn't until I saw the water around him start to turn red that I made the connection.

I knew I had to help him. I swam toward him as fast as I could, but he was going the opposite direction in his blind attempt to escape the fish. It was the first time I'd seen him afraid of anything. I finally started to gain on him, but then, a couple of fish broke off from the attack and went after me.

I managed to kill 'em, but in the time it took me to do that, Borus had gotten farther and farther away. I started to go after him again, but something stopped me. A loud, rumbling growl came up from the water. The second I heard it, I froze. I was terrified. Next thing I knew, I felt something bump me. I looked down under the water to see what it was, and... It was the fish. That growl scared them off. Then I looked straight down into the water and... I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"There's a story. A legend that's been passed down through generations ever since the first kaiju walked the Earth. I've never heard the full story myself and I doubt there's anyone alive who knows how it was originally told, but I do know that it tells of a great beast that rules over the lake down there. A kaiju of unrivaled size and power. A creature that demands the fear and respect of every being that swims its waters, whether they live there or not.

Nobody knows what exactly it looks like or what it's even called, but it is said that it has glowing green eyes. That's how I know I saw it. It was... Huge. And its body was so dark, it was hard to tell what it looked like. But I saw the glow of its eyes, and I knew. That's what scared the fish off. And they wouldn't be coming back. It dove down deeper and disappeared into the darkness at the bottom of the lake. I was so scared, I just floated there, waiting for it to come back up. But, it never did.

A little while later, I snapped out of it when I realized I had forgotten about Borus. I looked around and spotted him a little ways away. He wasn't moving. And his head was below the surface. I thought he saw that thing, too, and was frozen in fear, just like I was. I swam over to him and tried to snap him out of it, but it didn't work. I went under to look him in the eye and tell him it was okay, but... I couldn't. He wasn't moving, his mouth was hanging open, and his eyes were just staring out into nothingness. Then, it hit me. He was gone. It was over. The only family I had left, taken from me.

I didn't know what to do, but I knew I had to get out of the water, so I swam off as fast as I could. I hoped I was wrong. I kept looking over my shoulder, hoping for any sign of movement. A hope that was in vain. About halfway back, I turned around and saw that his body had disappeared. I didn't know what happened, and, as much as I wanted to go back and find out, I knew I couldn't. It was too dangerous to stay.

After I got back to shore, I... I spent over a day just sitting there, waiting for him, hoping he'd... Hoping that he was... That he..."

At this point, Anguirus could no longer speak. For the last few minutes, he'd been fighting back tears. Now, he no longer could. Hanging his head low and turning his back to Junior, Anguirus quietly sobbed.

Junior was speechless. Not just due to the myriad of emotions brought on by Anguirus's story, but the way his friend reacted to it. The whole time he'd known Anguirus, the latter was always filled with hope and optimism. Now, seeing him overcome by grief and negativity left the younger kaiju at a loss for words. He wanted to help him, but knew neither what to say or what to do. All he could do was wait for Anguirus to stop. After a few minutes, Anguirus wiped the tears away with his paw and turned around. "I'm sorry, kid", he said. "I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's okay. I'm glad you told me."

"I'm glad you listened. I've tried to talk to people about it before, but as soon as I got to the part about the creature I saw, they just... ignored me. They didn't believe me. They thought I was either crazy or just trying to make myself look good by embellishing the story."

"Why would they think that?"

"Because they think that thing's only a legend. I'm the only one alive who's seen it. So, unless everyone else sees it, I'll always go down in history as the crazy kaiju who thought he saw the beast of the lake. Only one person ever believed me."

"Who?"

"Gojira. It's how we met, actually. I tried to talk to someone about what happened and ended up being ridiculed because I 'see things.' Gojira was walking around not far away and heard what was going on, so he stepped in and defended me. After it was all over, he asked what started it, so I told him the whole story. To my surprise, he believed every word. I knew right then and there that, no matter what, I could always trust him. We've been friends ever since."

"Well, if it's any comfort, I believe you, too. And you can always trust me. If you need anything, ever, I'll be there."

"Till the end?"

"Till the end."

"Thank you, kid. You don't know how much I appreciate that."

"Anytime."

"Ahhhh... Well, I guess we'd better keep going. We still got well over a day's walk ahead of us."

"Lead the way."

And so, they continued their journey, descending deeper and deeper into the Earth. For Junior, the near-complete silence, as well as the darkness of the tunnel, was quite unnerving. Every time he heard a noise, he half-expected some kind of monster to suddenly appear and attack them. Anguirus assured him that there was nothing to fear, that very few creatures lived in the tunnel, all of which being too small to pose a threat. While that did alleviate Junior's concerns for the most part, he was still somewhat nervous.

A day and a half after their trek began, Junior saw a faint blue light ahead. It wasn't daylight, that much was certain. He'd never seen anything like it. As they got closer to the glow, he began to wonder...

"Is that it, Anguirus? The Hollow, I mean."

"No. We still have a couple hours before we get there."

"Then, what's that light?"

"Just wait and see, kid."

As they approached, Junior's anticipation grew. What kind of natural wonder was he about to witness? What could possibly create a light like this?

Within minutes, the cave floor began to level out and they found themselves in a large chamber of the cave with multiple pathways going in all directions. The glow seemed to be coming from the cave wall itself. Junior was in absolute awe. It looked as if they were in space, surrounded by billions upon billions of blue stars. What these dots of light actually were, however, was still a mystery.

"What... What is all this?" Junior asked in a combination of amazement and bewilderment.

"To be honest, kid, no one really knows. Whatever these lights are, they're too small for anyone to be able to make it out."

"Well, that kinda sucks."

"Ah, but it's still a beautiful sight, isn't it?"

"Very."

"They call this the Maze of Stars. It's the closest most kaiju down here get to seeing the night sky."

"This is way better than the night sky."

"You ask me, that's kinda up for debate. Anyway, we should keep going. Oh, and don't be surprised if you hear any funny noises going forward. Rhedosaurs like to make dens in these tunnels."

"They're harmless, right?"

"They might nip at you if you anger them, but, yeah, pretty much. As long as we don't disturb them, we won't even have to worry about that."

"All right, then."

They continued onward through this strange, seemingly magical landscape. Junior couldn't help but look all around, wanting to soak in every bit of this wonder. Part of him wanted to explore the myriad of tunnels that made up the Maze, but he knew it would be best to wait for now. Later on, Anguirus promised to take him on a tour, having navigated many of these tunnels in his time. After another two hours or so, Junior began to notice a number of smaller tunnels. He had a suspicion that he knew what these were, one that was confirmed when the blue light illuminated a pair of eyes watching from within one of the mysterious holes: Rhedosaur dens.

The smaller creature hissed loudly at them and retreated into its burrow, disappearing from view. The hiss, as it turned out, was a warning to the Rhedosaur's comrades, as evidenced by the sudden rustling sound that seemed to come from everywhere. On the first Rhedosaur's cue, the rest of its brethren retreated into their dens, fearing that the larger creatures posed a threat. Anguirus was somewhat surprised by this behavior at first, saying that Rhedosaurs were never this skittish. After a few minutes, however, he figured out what was going on: it was their nesting season. They were only trying to protect their eggs.

With that little mystery solved, they continued onward still, until, at last, another light appeared in the distance. It was much brighter this time and yellowish. Anguirus's eyes lit up at the sight, signaling to Junior that their trek was near its end. The former cautioned that they should continue on slowly so the light doesn't hurt their eyes after spending so long in darkness. Within minutes, it was bright enough for them to easily see their surroundings and the dim blue light from the Maze of Stars seemed to disappear.

As they approached the end of the tunnel, Junior noticed an ever-increasing amount of small plants growing on the cave walls. The sound of hundreds of animal calls began to fill his ears, some unmistakably made by other kaiju. A myriad of emotions began to fill Junior's heart. Anticipation, nervousness, a sense of wonder, and, somewhat surprisingly, a slight feeling of homecoming, as if he had been here before. Junior couldn't explain why he felt this way, but he wasn't concerned with it at the time, for they had arrived at the end of the tunnel. Just beyond, a curtain of light obscured their destination from view. Anguirus stopped just before they could pass through and turned to face Junior.

"All right," he started, "this is it, kid. No turning back now. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"You nervous?"

"A bit."

"Well, that's only natural. I know this is all new to you and it'll take some time to get used to it, but I just want to let you know, I'll be there for you every step of the way. I know I've said that like a dozen times by now, but, it's the truth. Whatever happens through there, whatever trials or hardships we have to endure, we'll do it together. Does that sound all right to you?"

"Hell, yeah."

"All right, then. Well, Junior, without further ado, let me welcome you to my world."

And with that, they took that last step into the very heart of the Earth.