"Ah...don't you just love the times an old man like me can still do with his daughter?" Cordula grinned at her father. They were having nightly fishing competition every first day of the week and was considered a ritual bond between father and daughter when they don't see each other often simply because of their jobs.
Her father with his fishing company and Cordula as H.E.A.T's intern on Godzilla and other mutations out there.
"You know sweetheart, I think it's time you find yourself someone to love" Joe said and Cordula nearly missed hitting her palm with the hook. She chuckled nervously "Why would you ask that?" Joe sighed "I'm getting old and I can't live forever and keep you under my roof. I need to know that there is someone out there who will look out for you when you either need or don't need it, cause of your stubbornness" Cordula rolled her eyes and lightly jabbed him in the arm.
"Thanks for the worry dad, maybe I'll find someone, just not today" Cordula gasped when her fishing rod "I got something!" She screamed "First one to get their catch on the boat wins!" Joe screamed and they began reeling in their line. Cordula frowned when she noticed that her line was getting heavier and heavier.
It wasn't until something big resurfaced did she realized she was staring into the eyes of her favorite reptile "Looks like you got yourself awarded to have the biggest catch of the day" Joe joked when Godzilla let out a low coo directly at Cordula.
"Yeah...looks like I did" Cordula chuckled a bit before petting Godzilla's snout before he disappeared into the water.
Cordula's phone began to ring and she took it out to read who was calling her "Nick Tatopoulos" She read and sighed before he picked up the phone call "What is it Nick...what? When did that happen?...Alright, I'll meet you there in 10" She hanged the phone and looked at her father's raised brow with a grin on his face.
"Looks like another mutation breach" Joe said and Cordula sighed and nodded. Joe revved up the engine and the two were on their way to dry land.
~oOo~
Cordula stared at the old walls in fascination before proceeding on right behind Nick "I do not see why it was necessary for all of us to come down here" Monique said "We were just about to reopen this stretch till my guys found these" A worker said as he shined his light towards pipes that were leaking.
"Yeah..first we thought it might be the handiwork of some homeless, a lot of them live down here" Cordula looked around and saw footprints that were covered by dirt by and it was too old to be identified clearly on what it was.
"Oh, this is a matter for the police or a social worker, no?" Monique asked a she turned her gaze to Nick "I don't think so..." Nick said as he picked up a concrete "See these bite marks? This concrete's been chewed through" Monique looked at him with wide eyes.
"I found something!" Cordula called out and everyone began surrounding her "Was this tunnel here?" The worker shook his head "I don't believe it was even there before" Nick nodded "Mendel, send N.I.G.E.L in" Mendel nodded as he placedN.I.G.E.L in front of the cave.
"Temperature Standing at 12 Degrees Celsius. 6% Downward Gradient"N.I.G.E.L's voice boomed through the video feed as they watched the robot move forward into the darkness "You would prefer to rely on a tinker toy?" Monique scoffed. Mendel looked at her, slightly offended.
"N.I.G.E.L is not a toy" He emphasized before turning his gaze back to the video feed "The Soil Is A Golden Brown With Equal Parts Of Each-"
Mendel glared down at Randy who was innocently not looking at him smugly "Ugh...mess withN.I.G.E.L's vocal protocols again sparky?" Mendel growled as he glared at Randy "Oh...creepy" Mendel joked with arms raised in surrender.
"This is a waste of my time!"
Monique suddenly snapped and Cordula, too busy watchingN.I.G.E.L, instantly flinched away from the sudden tone and turned to see Nick walk up to Monique "You and I talk now" Nick said, his tone was stern but there were signs of confusion too. Cordula watched the pair walk away before she turned her gaze to the video feed.
"Can you boys stop arguing for one second?"
Elsie suddenly argued and before Cordula knew it, there was a full blown argument on whose fault it was concerning Monique suddenly snapping at them. Cordula sighed and rubbed her forehead before she gasped when she saw something sneaking up in front ofN.I.G.E.L.
"Guys look!"
Cordula called out and they only saw half of the creature that resembled a sewer rat before the connection broke off "N.I.G.E.L!" Mendel screamed when he heard the robotic noise of scream coming fromN.I.G.E.L before static.
"Let's go get Nick"
~oOo~
"Nick!" Mendel called and Nick abruptly turned around and thus ending the discussion he had with Monique "N.I.G.E.L's found something" Mendel said as he replayed the video feed "Actually something's foundN.I.G.E.L" Randy said as they watched again the feed.
A noise coming from the sea made all eyes turn to Godzilla as he resurfaced, drenching all of them with water. Mendel let out an uneasy sound, not liking to be even this close to the great reptile "Doesn't even know we're here. He's hunting" Nick stated "Hunting for the sewer rats?" Cordula asked before she gasped when they saw a large rat jump out of the shadows and Godzilla roared and charged at it.
"Guess we now know"
Elsie commented and Cordula groaned. Why does it have to be rats?
~oOo~
He roared as he followed one of the intruders, determined to kill every single one of them. They were here somewhere, hiding in this place where his pack and his female lives. He would not risk their lives if he let's the intruders grow and populate.
This was his territory and no intruder would dare mock him by living underneath his home.
He roared in anger when one of the intruders managed to escape through the subway and he headed back into the water in anger but still on the hunt to find their nest and kill them all.
~oOo~
Cordula sighed as they watched Godzilla's disappearing form beneath the surface "At least he's out of the city" Elsie commented, trying to lighten the now darkened mood when not only was the city infested with mutated sewer rats, the military are now disrupting the hunt and making it harder for Godzilla to easily track them down.
"I can take down any mutation whether it be a worm, a moth or even an alien from outer space if there ever is one but why did it have to be rats. I have an instinctive allergy towards them"
~oOo~
The team headed towards a military camp just outside the city and Cordula soon heard someone yelling "I'm just getting the city put back together and I am not allowed to sit idly by while that monster tears it apart!" Another voice that Cordula recognized as Major Hicks followed.
"Our options are limited until the city's been evacuated" Nick's parted the flaps of the tent and went inside followed by the rest of the crew "There's no need for that Major" Nick said and both men snapped their eyes towards Nick.
Major looked relieved while the Mayor looked pissed.
"Godzilla is destroying Manhattan!" The mayor said, his voice loud and Cordula wondered if the Mayor had hearing problem to be even speaking that loudly "He's only defending his territory, if we get rid of the rat , Godzilla will leave too" Nick explained "I'm suppose to bet the safety of Major Metropolis on your hunch?" Cordula coughed to gain their attention.
"Nick's spot on concerning the territorial part, it's only natural for an animal to defend his/her territory" Cordula confirmed. Nick's gave her a grateful look before turning to Major Hicks "Major Hicks, how soon before you're ready for an airstrike?" Nick asked.
"Two hours" Major Hicks replied "Fine, while your setting up, my people will take care of the rat and Godzilla" Nick said and Major Hicks complied but not without a reminder.
"Two hours worm guy, any longer and you better be out of the line of fire" Major Hicks said. Nick nodded before all of them headed out of the tent "We have to find a way to drive that rat out of the city. Any ideas?" Nick asked "I know this Pied Piper" Randy said, pertaining to the man whistling a flute that drove the mice away.
"I can rig up something keen on rat pheromones to trap them" Mendel suggested "I'll synthesize a tranquilizer" Elsie added "I wouldn't be able to help anything except sneeze whenever a rat comes by. I get allergies, must have gone from my mom" Cordula said before a familiar news van was parked.
"Hey Nick!" Audrey called out as she ran into him "Looks like we're chasing the same story. Mind if we tag along?" Audrey asked politely, her eyes gleamed with excitement of working with Nick "Think of it as a date" Animal said with his arms crossed.
"Yeah...taking your girlfriend on a mission to a place infested with rats is what I seriously call a Mission Date" Cordula said with a huff.
~oOo~
They entered a dark tunnel with Monique carryinga tranquilizer gun and Cordula wearing a mask. Randy checked the monitor for life signs before Mendel suddenly gave a sneeze, surprising everybody.
"Sorry, Rat Dander" Mendel said sheepishly before they proceeded. They found the end of the tunnel and they ended up in what appears to be an old underground warehouse "This doesn't make any sense, I'm picking up readings from every direction" Mendel said as he typed in his mini-computer for further analysis but the same readings keep popping back up.
A loud sound from the let made Monique arm the tranquilizer gun "Company" Was all she stated before all heads turned to see three men emerge from one of the entrances that lead to this place "Well, well, well looks like we got us some competition from the college cent" Nick narrowed his eyes and Cordula glared.
"You think this is a game?" Nick asked "Not hardly city boy" The leader of the three men said "This is a serious hunt for a serious predator" The man in red said "But don't you worry your pretty little head miss. We can handle it" The last one said a little arrogantly and that reminded Cordula as to why she never even showed interest in men.
They were too arrogant, some men she meets in life.
"Oh yes, please protect me" Monique said in a deadpanned tone while still being able to be sarcastic about it. She pointed her gun towards them and fired as the three men dove out of the way with some protests.
Cordula screamed when a large rat appeared with the tranquilizer dart embedded on its skin. Everyone moved out of the way as the rat swayed and moved sluggishly before falling unconscious.
Everyone gathered around the sleeping creature Nice shooting baby doll" One of the men said "Silence!" She said sharply "You underestimated the dosage" Monique said as she looked at Elsie "It's asleep isn't it?" Elsie argued back.
"I'll call Hicks. We'll have to drag it up to the surface" Nick said "Not so fast egghead" The leader of the men said "This here's our trophy" He said "Wait a minute, you weren't the one that shot the rat down" Cordula argued as Monique halted the man from advancing forward.
"Sorry, this here's a scientific anomaly. It'll be studied" Nick said with his arms crossed. Cordula suddenly sneezed when thousands of hisses echoed around them and Audrey saw pairs of red eyes staring straight at the group.
"Uh...guys, I think there's plenty for everybody" She said as she touched Animal's shoulder who immediately looked around. Cordula sneezed again when rats appeared in every direction, blocking any exits.
The rats slowly started to advance towards them "Great...We found the nest" Cordula groaned before she sneezed again. Mendel screamed when one rat managed to get close to him "Take Cover!" Nick screamed and everyone separated in every direction.
"Don't listen to him men, Fire!" The leader of the three men said and they began shooting "Are you insane? With your firing this whole place is going to collapse!" Cordula shouted, seemingly reminding them that they were not above ground.
"You tryin' to kill us?!" Randy screamed. Cordula moved out of the way as debris began to fall. She bumped into Nick before they watched as the leader of the three men was taken by a rat. Nick ran after him only to be caught by a rat waiting behind the shadows.
"Nick!" Cordula screamed as she ran after him, coughing along the way "Nicky! No!" Audrey screamed from where she was "Stay down, there's nothing you can do for him" Animal said as he blocked her from even moving a step forward.
Mendel and Elsie ran towards a fallen green truck and hid in there but they were about to be taken had it not been for Monique who diverted its attention from them to her. Unfortunately, she too was also taken when Randy in vain tried to save her.
Just as soon as they came, the rats quickly left what was rest of the group.
Godzilla growled as he tried to catch that sneaky rat but to no avail and he growled in anger as it made another escape to the subway but this time, instead of Godzilla heading back to the water, he quickly dug up the entire subway and found a small group of rats that immediately latched onto him.
Godzilla roared out in anger as he made his way up to the surface, thereby destroying a building as he tried to swat the rats away. He roared at them as he smashed himself to a building purposefully to shake them off but to no avail.
He is one step closer to finding their nest underground.
~oOo~
Cordula blindly followed the rats from wherever they were taking Monique and Nicky and she soon found herself in another place though this time, there were a lot of scraps littered around here that looked liked they were placed in various positions.
The heart of the nest...
Cordula gulped before she quickly hid herself when she saw the rats placed their capture prey down before they soon began sniffing around and they disappeared just as soon as Cordula heard the ground shaking. It must have been Godzilla.
He's near.
Cordula quickly sprinted down and landed beside Nick "Nick! Wake up!" Cordula yelled as she shook him awake. Groans from others assured her that they are awake and alive. Soon enough, everyone started to wake up.
"Cordula? How did you-" Cordula shushed him "I followed them and it led me here. The others are safe" Cordula said "Where are we?" Dale asked "A lair" Nick said as Cordula helped him up "Our little pack rats are setting up quite a home for themselves" Cordula grumbled.
"Apparently they have gathered their next meal as well"
"Great, what I wouldn't give to see daylight again" Cordula said as she crossed her arms before she coughed, her allergies acting up "I don't see any food" Cordula gave Dale a rather "Are-you-stupid" look before he realized who the meal was.
"Oh..."
"Between the diseases they're probably carrying and their enlarged appetites, Manhattan is gonna be an ER ward within days" Nick explained before the ground shook again "Its Godzilla" Cordula said "The battle's moving closer. That puts us right below ground zero" Nick said and Bill turned to him.
"We gotta get outta here"
"Hey, a tunnel" Hank said before he screamed when one of the rats was suddenly in front of him. Everyone froze when the rat screeched at them before backing down when another shake from the ground erupted.
Monique looked at Nick for options before N.I.G.E.L's voice rang through them "Wonderful Assortment Of Clay And Bedrock. Always Have Something In The Freezer In Case Of Unexpected Guests" Never was Cordula so happy to hearN.I.G.E.L's voice, she could have kissed him.
"Why waste your time on that thing?" Monique questioned "We can transmit throughN.I.G.E.L" That was all Nick said before he began talking
"Elsie I don't know if you can hear me or not but I'm sending a signal onN.I.G.E.L's frequency. We have no idea of our location if Randy can zero in on the signal, maybe you can find out where we are exactly"
Nick huffed whenN.I.G.E.L went down and he threw it away before he turned to everyone "Gather anything that might be useful as a weapon. Flares, flashlights, anything" Cordula nodded before she began digging.
"Who died and made you king?" Dale asked with a small glare "Can we stop arguing for once and work together!?" Cordula snapped "Do you want to be in charge or would you rather survive?" Monique asked with a small glare.
Nobody said anything after that as they began to search for whatever there is under the scraps and rubble and to use it as a weapon. A few minutes later, Cordula heard Dale picking up a fight with Nick. Ugh, what is up with men theses days? Is pride really worth it than your own life?
"What are we letting him waste our time for we're sitting ducks!" Nick looked at Dale with determination and fire in his eyes "Listen to me, you wanna get outta here alive?" He asked "What's the point?" Dale asked back before Bill sharply spoke up.
"Shut up Dale! What do we do college boy?"
Cordula let out a small shriek when one of the rats appeared in front pf her face. She let out a sneeze that seemed to startled the creature, giving her time to run towards Nick as he held a flare right in front of the rat who immediately shied back.
"Subterranean creatures aren't real crazy abut bright lights" Nick said as the creature circled them around but maintaining distance "Reinforcements incoming!" Cordula said a she pointed at the rats that were slowly coming out of their hiding place.
All of them retreated back into the cave behind them before it was blocked by a big black rat, probably the leader of this pack. Cordula sneezed again, her vision went blurry for a moment before she shook her head.
They were in a standstill.
Nick knew that the flare wouldn't be able to last much longer. A loud shake from the Earth made the rats screech and Cordula watched as they suddenly ran towards a specific corner before the walls crumbled and out came an enraged lizard.
"Godzilla!"
~oOo~
He turned to see his father and one of his father's pack members. He growled when he was hit by an unfamiliar smell of the three men with his father. What enraged him all the more was how sick his female was.
She smelt of illness and it was steadily growing. How long had his father and his female been here?
He needed to get her out of here now!
~oOo~
Godzilla let lose an Atomic Breath at the rats as they scattered around but he was quick to gather them all in one place and burn them to the ground just as soon as he began sealing the entrances to their nest.
"Take Cover!" Nick screamed and they immediately went inside just as Godzilla sealed the entrances, including theirs. Cordula coughed when dust settled in her eyes and blinked back when it all settled.
"Everyone alright?" Cordula sneezed again "Nothing but medicine that can fix" She said with a smile. The three men stood up and tried to gain sense at what had just happened.
"Think so.."
"I'm good.."
"You got lucky"
Cordula really had had it with this man, what was up with him that he tries to pick a fight with Nick "Godzilla sealed off the rat's lair" Nick said as he pointed back to the rocks blocking the entrance "And us with it" Bill said before Monique shushed them when they heard something from up above.
"Down!"Monique whispered harshly and all landed in a heap once again when a small explosion up above sent them to the ground. Cordula coughed before she looked up to see the others okay and alive.
"Anyone still breathing?" Major Hicks called down from the hole. Cordula's answer was a large sneeze "Don't worry Cordula, I got you an antidote for that!" Mendel called out. Never was Cordula glad to see Mendel.
"Major, how did you find us?" Nick asked. Randy appeared behind the Major "With a little help from...the amateurs" Randy answered as Animal descended down with a rope on his hand.
Audrey followed soon after and immediately ran to Nick and threw her arms around him. Cordula raised a brow but then smiled as she watched the two.
"Miss me?"
~oOo~
"Mendel...you are my savior"
Cordula sighed when she felt the clog in her nose fade away as well as the swelling in her throat "Oh it was nothing that can be fixed" Mendel said humbly.
"Hey Nicky! Urgent call from Manila, something about giant lobsters"
"The Heat Seeker will be primed in five"
Elsie suddenly said and Cordula blinked. Two mutations in one night? Looks like she was going to have to wing it with her father tomorrow on their activity.
Her gaze went to Nick and Audrey "Rain check?" Audrey asked as she held her hands out towards Nick who immediately latched onto hers.
"Ha...looks like its gonna be a pretty rainy season"
Thunder boomed, signaling a rain coming and Cordula even wondered if she was ever going to have someone just like how Nick acted towards Audrey who will watch over and take care of her.