November 4th, 6:30 AM, Ruins of Tokyo, 1954
Ogata and Shinkichi had been found tucked in an alleyway the entire night by GRID medics as well as a few American and British medical officers who were helping with relief efforts. Though they had been bruised and scraped, they were relatively okay. However, sadly, it could not be said for the rest of Tokyo. The city itself was a graveyard. Trees had been burned to the ground, buildings that had once reached to the sky were nothing but rubble, broken glass, and twisted metal. The bodies of the dead lay buried under debris while the ashes of those unfortunate enough to get caught within Godzilla's radioactive flames remained on the ground like dust on a shelf. Everywhere you looked, there were blast shadows of people who were caught directly in the path of his "Atomic Breath". Among those casualties was a man who had been spreading Children of Godzilla fliers during and before the attack. It was soon revealed that the Children of Godzilla was his own creation and that he was originally a hoodlum who would steal and swindle people through blackmail. Ogata and Shinkichi found his body... or rather, what was left of it buried under some rubble. Out of all the people Godzilla killed last night, they both agreed this man had it coming.
Both men were taken to a hospital and were shocked to see how it was utterly flooded with wounded, dead, and dying. Some had burn wounds so bad they didn't even look human, others were twisted and mangled, their limbs bent in ways that shouldn't be possible. It was like a second Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only this time, the enemy they faced could not be bargained with or negotiated with and had the power to attack any city he saw fit and reduce it to rubble within hours.
Emiko watched as the wounded kept piling in. She watched as a young girl huddled up next to her unconscious mother, begging, no, pleading for her to wake up all the while the only sign she was still alive was her weak breathing. She saw a doctor waving a Geiger wand in front of a boy no older than eight all the while the counter crackled like crazy. He turned to the nurse and grimly shook his head. She saw a man in a stretcher covered in blisters and boils screaming at the top of his lungs about the sheer pain and how it hurt to so much as breathe. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare. To her, enough was enough. Whether she promised Serizawa or not, she had to tell someone.
She suddenly saw Shinkichi and Ogata come into the room and her eyes filled with relief they were both okay. She rushed forward to hug them both.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." Emiko told them.
"Yeah," Shinkichi replied. "I'm glad too. Got a little bruised up, but otherwise, we're fine."
He looked around grimly at the sight before him.
"Just wish I could say the same about these poor souls."
"Is this all of them?" Ogata asked in shock.
Emiko shook her head. "The doctors keep finding more and more wounded or dying. We won't know the full list of casualties until either tonight or tomorrow."
"It's hard to believe one monster could do this in one night." Ogata replied.
"I did." Shinkichi told him. "Or, at least the legends did. I just never thought it would be in this great a magnitude."
"Ogata Hideo," called a nurse. "You and Professor Yamane are requested."
Sure enough, standing in the room was Yamane who gestured for Ogata to follow him. Shinkichi followed them both.
"So, where are you two going?" he asked.
"The Kamome." Yamane replied. "Since Godzilla destroyed the observation fleet last night, they need every scientist or naval crew member they can find to keep tabs on him should he start moving."
"Well," Shinkichi spoke. "I'm glad to see you're okay."
"As am I you," Yamane gave him a smile which faded as quickly as it came. "I wanted to apologize to you before I left, Shinkichi."
"Apologize?"
"You were right," Yamane told him. "About Godzilla. I saw him as a marvel of evolution but, I was so tight in my belief that I could not see what was really standing before me. The Americans may have awoken him, but we, along with our allies during the war, are just as guilty. Had we not brought America into the war, they wouldn't have split the atom and awoke such a monster. We brought Godzilla's wrath upon us. This is no mere creature made by nature, no base animal lashing out driven by instinct, he is a god, a god made of flesh, blood, and bone who knows exactly what to think about humankind. There is no way, in anyway shape or form, we can ever coexist with him."
He let out a long sigh and turned to face him. Shinkichi could see his eyes; the eyes of a man who had his beliefs shattered right in front of him.
"I just can't believe it took me witnessing the utter destruction of Tokyo to see him for what he truly is."
With that, Yamane followed Ogata and vanished from view. Shinkichi sighed and walked back into the hospital, bearing witness once again to the people laying on the stretchers and rudimentary beds. People who had lost everything; their friends, their families, their homes, everything in the course of a single night. He saw the children desperately asking for their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, any members of their family who had managed to survive. He wondered about the scars this generation would bear, what kind of horror stories they would tell their children or grandchildren. Would they even live that long to tell the tale? He then flashed back to the broken, twisted bodies of Masaji and their mother being pulled from the wreckage of their house. It was happening again, this time to a generation who could neither understand or comprehend what had truly befallen upon them. He could feel a knot develop in his throat and tears threatening to leak out. Just then, he saw Emiko approach him.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked. "In private?"
He nodded and the two found a staircase they could talk under. Emiko bit her lip before speaking.
"I can't keep quiet anymore." she whispered.
Shinkichi was taken aback.
"Quiet about what, Emiko?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"
"When Hagiwara and I visited Serizawa the day before," she continued, trying to keep tears from falling from her eyes. "He showed me what he had been working on and made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone. But after seeing all this, I have to tell someone, if it means clearing my conscience."
"Emiko, just tell me," Shinkichi said. "Slowly and clearly."
Emiko swallowed and proceeded to tell him what she saw two days ago.
Two Days Earlier
"I'd advise you to step back." Serizawa told her as he walked over to a lever. He pulled it. Emiko watched in awe as the vents in the small sphere opened up, dispersing light purple bubbles into the tank. Her curiosity turned into horror as the fish in the tank began to writhe in agonizing pain until...
Their flesh proceeded to melt from their bones. The bones started to drift to the bottom of the tank. The whole process had taken less than thirty seconds. Emiko shrieked and buried her face into Serizawa's shoulder. After the process was over, Emiko separated from Serizawa's embrace. She felt like she was going to throw up. Serizawa brought a chair over for her to sit down and let her comprehend what she just saw.
"Wh-what was that?" she asked.
"It's my discovery." Serizawa told her. "I discovered a compound capable of removing the O2 molecules in water thus turning it into a type of suffocating acid with a size dependent on the dosage. The larger the dose, the bigger the affected area. I call it the Oxygen Destroyer. After my first experiment with the compound, I myself was horrified and shocked at the power it held. I thought I was creating a new form of energy, but in reality, all I've done is create something that would make the H-Bombs look weak by comparison. You have to understand that even a small dose of this material, can turn all of Tokyo Bay into a perpetual graveyard for years."
"Is that why you want me to keep it secret?" Emiko asked.
Serizawa nodded. "I can think of no-one else I could trust. Not even Okimi."
"Why would you even create something like that in the first place?" Emiko demanded, having gotten over her prior shock.
Serizawa shrugged and sat down.
"Emiko," Serizawa told her. "I am a scientist first and foremost. Whatever I discover or concoct I try to do so for the betterment of humanity. I can only imagine what could happen if the formula for the Oxygen Destroyer was found and used in the wrong hands. The devastation that followed would be far greater than any atomic bomb, quite possibly to humanity's extinction. Until I can find a proper use for it, I have to keep it secret at all costs. That's why you have to keep this a secret, Emiko. That's why I'm trusting nobody else but you."
"That's why he made me swear never to tell anyone." Emiko finished her story. "By telling you, I am betraying his trust."
Emiko let out a sob while Shinkichi lifted her face up by her chin so they could look face-to-face.
"Emiko," Shinkichi told her with the utmost seriousness. "If what you said is true, then Serizawa's 'Oxygen Destroyer' may be Japan's, no, the world's only hope of making sure Godzilla does not submit anyone else to his wrath."
November 4th, 12:00 PM, Serizawa's Residence, 1954
"I'm glad to see that you two are both okay." Serizawa told the two as he served them tea. "I was lucky enough to be away from Godzilla's path of destruction, but I have to admit, that creature..."
Admittingly, he was surprised when he saw the two in his manor, albeit relieved that neither of them were hurt too badly.
He took a sip of his tea. "He's certainly something else. But I don't understand why you came to see me."
"Serizawa," Shinkichi got right to the point. "We came to talk to you about the Oxygen Destroyer. We think it might be the only thing that can rid the world of Godzilla."
There was a sudden silence in the room. For a split second, Shinkichi saw Serizawa give Emiko a look of betrayal from his lone good eye before turning his attention to Shinkichi.
"Oxygen... Destroyer?" he asked, obviously feigning ignorance. "Wha... what is that? It sounds like something from a scifi novel. I don't think a thing like that exists."
Shinkichi stood up and slammed the table with both hands. "Dammit, Serizawa, we don't have time for this! Emiko told me everything. I already know what it is. Please, the world needs your Oxygen Destroyer!"
Serizawa placed his cup down. Both Emiko and Shinkichi were expecting him to outright explode at them, specifically towards Emiko. Instead, the man took a deep breath and pushed back his chair.
"I see." he whispered rather calmly.
He got out of his chair... and dashed to his basement laboratory, Emiko and Shinkichi right on his heels. Serizawa was in such a hurry, he forgot to lock the doors to his studies, allowing both of them to break through and witness him smashing the spheres containing the Oxygen Destroyer compound with an ax. When he finally came to the last one, Shinkichi lunged and tried to wrench the ax from his hands. For a while, the two young men wrestled over the ax until finally, Serizawa shoved Shinkichi back, causing the Oto Islander to yell in pain and clutch his arm while eliciting a scream from Emiko. Serizawa came out of his adrenaline-high to realize what he had done as Emiko helped the young man to his feet with Serizawa helping out as well as they directed him to a chair.
"Shinkichi," Serizawa said slowly. "I... I'm sorry, but you need to understand. Humans are bloodthirsty by nature. It's only a weapon of mass destruction at this point and, as far as I'm concerned, that's all it ever will be."
"I understand your concern." Shinkichi told him. "But right now, humanity is far too scared of what Godzilla can do to them to think about the Oxygen Destroyer."
"Shinkichi, you don't understand." Serizawa argued. "If the Oxygen Destroyer is used once, only once, the whole world will see it. Once they do, higher-ups from all the countries will be banging at my door demanding I mass produce it. Think about it; bombs against bombs. Missiles against missiles. Atomic bombs against atomic bombs, H-Bombs against H-Bombs, and now, a new more horrifying weapon thrown into the mix. As a scientist- no, as a human being- I cannot allow this to happen!"
Shinkichi leaned forward, wincing slightly at the pain in his arm. "Then you have a responsibility no human being has ever faced. You have your fear which may become reality. And you have Godzilla, which is reality."
"Shinkichi," Serizawa replied, speaking slowly as if he were talking to a child. "We humans are weak creatures by nature. Our worst enemy is ourselves. Whatever we see that can be used to destroy more of us, we will try to get our hands on it. The Oxygen Destroyer would be no different."
Serizawa let out an anguished groan. "Oh, WHY DID I CREATE SUCH A HORRID THING TO BEGIN WITH!?"
Just then, they heard noise from the TV. It sounded like a choir of girls singing a prayer. Serizawa turned around to turn off his TV and froze. Before him, he saw images of Godzilla's aftermath: Buildings crushed into rubble, a child's shoe missing an owner, a dog, covered in blood desperately barking for its master, images of the dead or dying in and outside of hospitals desperately embracing those next to them as they hoped their pain would end with their deaths, and much much more. He tried to look away, but found he couldn't. He couldn't force himself to tear his gaze away from the carnage left in Godzilla's wake. He stood up, tears still leaking from his lonely eye, and walked over to his notes and formulas on the Oxygen Destroyer. He walked over to the fireplace, doused the logs with kerosene, and threw the papers into the mix. He then grabbed a matchbox, pulled out one match, struck it until a flame appeared on its tip, and stared at it for a few seconds. He then tossed the match and the papers went up in flames, shocking Emiko and Shinkichi.
Serizawa turned to face them. "You're right, Shinkichi." he told him. "The reality is much worse than what could become reality. But I cannot let my invention fall into the wrong hands. By destroying my notes, I've ensured it never will. Therefore, the Oxygen Destroyer will be used once... against Godzilla."
Emiko let out a sob, realizing she had led Serizawa to this point.
"Don't be sad, Emiko," Serizawa told her before turning his gaze to the notes slowly burning to ashes. "If I have to destroy my life's work in order to save the lives of humanity... then so be it."