The One Who Lost His Way

AN: Well, it wasn't exactly longer than normal, but it was longer than last chapter, to be sure. I did a bit of thinking, and I think I've figured out a direction I want to go. But if you have any of your own ideas, do let me know. If I like them, I might use them (with credit given, of course).

In other news, I deleted my Fiverr account. I had a single commission in the six months I had it and got tired of looking on there for new ones and being disappointed. On the bright side, though, I won't feel like an a** doing ad reads in my stories anymore. Still, it's a bit disheartening, but I'm fine overall. It's one less thing to potentially stress over, I guess.

Key:

"Titan speak"

"Human speak"

Character's inner thoughts

"Telepathic communication"

Disclaimer: I do not own Godzilla: King of the Monsters or any characters.

JFK airport, New York City:

The place was unsurprisingly busy when they landed. Since it had been temporarily commandeered as a military base, there was no civilian presence here save for the crowd of reporters and protesters outside the front gates that he'd spied on approach. Even still, cargo planes were coming and going every so often with new personnel or equipment. Ospreys and helicopters were parked on one of the unused runways like a parking lot for aerial vehicles. Fighters were arranged the same way over on another runway.

Jeeps and transport trucks hauling cargo or other vehicles occasionally went by, and military personnel were everywhere. Some were inspecting gear and vehicles. Some were doing PT. Some were going by on their way to somewhere else. All put together, the whole place looked more like an actual military base rather than a temporary one.

The one thing that stood out was the Argo. Even as far as military bases went, that airship stuck out like a sore thumb with how unique, and large, it was.

Once Griffin landed the osprey next to the large airship—apparently the area around it was considered Monarch's operating area. There was a makeshift command post outside, and most of the gear was being powered by a military-grade generator sitting atop a large transport truck. Most of Monarch's command staff was out there rather than inside, and as Mark walked by the Argo's open hanger bay with Maddie in tow, he saw why. The whole ship was powered down.

"How'd it go?" Rick asked as they approached. He was sitting on a trunk of something away from the computers—a first for the guy, it seemed—and was drinking a cup of coffee. Serizawa glanced at them upon hearing Rick's question but went back to watching the guys on the computers.

"Good," Mark answered him. "I think Maddie made a friend for life."

Rick glanced at Maddie to get her take on it. "They called me their human, said they wanted me to speak for them."

"What, like a lawyer or something?" Mark nodded, which made Rick hum in thought. "Neat. And while I'm sure you both had fun, we've got bigger problems to worry about...or a big problem since he's not as big—"

"Cut to the chase, Rick. What's going on?" Mark cut him off.

The scientist sighed and set his cup down on the trunk next to him. "Godzilla's chasing down the new MUTO. The military succeeded in luring it away, but now that Godzilla's on her trail, she's gotten more aggressive. Our guess is she's trying to get radioactive material to strengthen herself before fighting the big guy."

Mark sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Why is it always Godzilla that's the problem?" he asked no one in particular. "Where are they at?"

"The military was working with the Canadian government to try to lead the MUTO into Canada with a nuke, same as last time. New England is a lot more populated, so it was the path of least collateral damage." Made sense. "Once out of heavily populated areas, the plan was to detonate it, but now that she knows Godzilla's right behind her, she made a detour to Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant in the northern part of the state. They were able to shut down completely before she attacked, but..."

"But it's still a nuclear power plant," he finished.

Rick nodded. "So now we're back to the old discussion: how to kill Godzilla."

"You can't do that!" Maddie had been looking around the area, not really paying attention, but as soon as she heard that, she started to.

"You're right. We can't. But not for the same reason you're thinking." At her confused expression, he explained. "We literally can't kill Godzilla. We have no weapons strong enough. If we did, it'd be a different story."

"Is that what Serizawa's doing?" Mark asked.

"He's watching the tracking data." He gestured at the airship. "Sam's inside the Argo working on its systems." Then, he gestured to the rest of the airport. "Foster and G-team are with Graham and Chen. They're with Stenz in the military's command post trying to figure out what to do." Finally, he picked up his coffee cup again and took a sip. "And I'm finishing up my lunch break."

Mark nodded before something Rick said finally registered. "Stenz is here?" He got a nod of confirmation, and then Rick stood. Mark let him pass, figuring he was about to head inside to help Sam. The sooner the airship was operational again, the better.

As he looked around in thought, he heard Maddie trying to get his attention. "So...what now?"

He glanced at her for a moment before nodding to himself. "You stay here. I'll be back in a bit." He didn't even wait for her answer before he went into the makeshift control room. "Serizawa!" The old head of Monarch turned to him, expression severe but determined. "Where's the admiral?"

"They set up a command post within the air traffic control tower," he answered. And then, he turned back to watch the computer screens. Mark watched him for a moment before looking at the computers, as well. It showed drone footage of the destroyed nuclear plant.

"We'll get through this," he quietly reassured the man.

But Serizawa shook his head. "No..." The old head of Monarch turned to him just as he was about to argue. "Not with me leading, we won't. I have decades of experience with the titans, but this is just beyond me." He paused before admitting the truth. "I don't know what to do..."

Mark recognized self-doubt when he saw it, and while he believed Serizawa was being a bit too hard on himself, he also knew that if Serizawa was doubting his ability, then it probably would be for the best if he stepped down. That did leave one question, though. "If not you, then who?"

Needless to say, he did not expect the answer he got. "You."

After a few seconds of gawking, he finally got his voice to work. "Come again?"

Serizawa managed a small grin despite the circumstances. "You have been leading us ever since this started, Mark. Or do you disagree?"

"I disagree," he immediately answered, his tone incredulous. "I've been advising. You know, like I was brought on to do."

"You've done more than that, and you know it," the old scientist stated matter-of-factly. "And if you won't take my word for it, take Ghidorah's." Mark's brows rose nearly to his hairline at that. "He respects you, Mark. Listens to you."

"Only because he likes Maddie for some reason," he immediately countered.

"Regardless of the reason, it is true. And no one else can claim to have the ear of a dragon." Serizawa paused and looked at one of the other computer screens. That one had tracking information of all known titans, including Ghidorah, who was currently flying along the eastern seaboard. "In eastern culture, they represent wisdom...and redemption. Perhaps he is a sign that you should lead."

Mark scoffed. "A sign from who? God?"

"God...destiny...fate...whatever you wish to call it. The world was on the brink of wiping out the titans, Mark, for we believed them to be but animals. Then, Ghidorah awoke and proved us all wrong. Now, even the military has grown to accept that fact upon your recommendation." He nodded to himself. "Ghidorah is the only titan they respect, Mark...and he respects you. And, think of it this way. Ghidorah has chosen Maddie to speak for him." Apparently, he'd overheard his conversation with Rick. "That means she would need to work closely with many of Monarch's top scientists. And the director."

That actually made Mark stop and think. He did have a point. Being Ghidorah's 'lawyer' meant Maddie would need to give updates to the appropriate people on how they were doing, and some scientists would undoubtedly make a list of questions they would want answered. And the military might try to use his daughter to control Ghidorah if they thought it was at all possible. There were probably a slew of other potential problems to arise from this mess, too...and being director of Monarch meant he could better protect her.

"Alright, fine!" he finally relented. "But I hope you don't plan on throwing me into the position immediately because I have no idea how to run an organization as big as this."

Serizawa nodded his understanding. "I know. I'll stick around a while longer to walk you through things. For now, though, let's just keep doing what we're doing. You take care of the issues at hand. I'll handle the rest of Monarch."

Mark glanced at the Argo. He sort of had taken control of the situation aboard, so at least that wouldn't be much different. And thankfully, Serizawa understood that he'd need time to familiarize himself with the organization's functions as a whole before being thrown into the director's chair. "Sounds good. Watch Maddie for me, then. I'll go talk to Stenz."

The old scientist dipped his head in acknowledgement, and then Mark stepped out of the makeshift control center. With this being an airport, the air traffic control tower wasn't exactly hard to spot, and since that's where Stenz was, that's the direction he began heading. He had to weave his way through some tents and watch out for vehicles on his way there, but it was impossible to get turned around when his destination was always visible above everything. And while the place was busy with soldiers everywhere, the airport was so big that the crowds weren't super condensed, making the area easy to navigate.

Put simply, it didn't take him long to reach the tower, though there was a complication upon reaching the door inside. There were a pair of guards standing near the door, and one held up his hand to stop him as he approached. "State your purpose."

"Mark Russel; I'm with Monarch. I need to speak with Admiral Stenz," Mark instantly responded.

The guard who spoke studied him for a moment before he turned to his younger colleague and gestured for him to go check. The young man entered the tower, and a few awkwardly silent minutes went by before he came back out. "Go on up. The admiral wants to speak with you, as well."

That could either be good or bad, just as anything could be, but he was really hoping for some good news and some cooperation just this once. Mark nodded to the guards and entered the tower, the clicking shut behind him as he started up the metal staircase. Once up at the top, he had a few seconds to look around before someone noticed him. The place wasn't overly large, and there were only a dozen people up here from the look of it, not including himself. Still, the place was big enough—and visible enough—to be considered a command center.

Along the window, there were different computer stations manned by people who were most likely monitoring something or other—titan tracking, communications, etc. Three more people were standing around a small, rectangular table on one side of the room, and it was the single military man that noticed his arrival. "Dr. Russell," he greeted as Mark walked over. He offered a hand that Mark shook. "Doctors Graham and Chen were just telling me you actually spoke with Monster Zero. Ghidorah, was it?" He looked to the other two scientists for confirmation that he'd said it right, and both women nodded. "What did he say?"

It only made sense that Stenz would want to know. It wasn't Mark's reason for being here, but he supposed this topic was an inevitable one. "Not much," he admitted. "News choppers started heading for us, so we had to break off our conversation early." None of them seemed too enthusiastic about his answer thus far, but Mark wasn't done yet. "But what they did say is interesting enough."

"They?" Dr. Graham asked. "We finally have confirmation, then?"

Stenz looked confused at first before Mark cleared it up. "We do. Ghidorah is not one dragon with three heads; they're three dragons sharing one body. The middle head's in charge, and he seems to be the only one that can control the entire body. I didn't get confirmation on that last bit," he admitted. "But from what I saw, it adds up."

"I'm sure this is all interesting for the three of you," the admiral interjected. "But I and my superiors need more than titan biology if we're to be expected to leave such a massive potential threat be."

Understandable. "I think that's the key word here, sir. Potential. Ghidorah saved mine and my daughter's life in Boston when Jonah's men tried to attack. I mean, despite them landing in such a densely populated city, there was absolutely no damage to the city except to the part of the stadium where Jonah's men were."

"Remarkable given their size," Dr. Graham commented.

"Exactly," Mark nodded. "And when Maddie and I spoke to them on that island later, they paid special attention to avoid hurting us. The left head even apologized after accidentally blowing sand on me."

"Your point, doctor?" the admiral pressed.

"My point is that a creature of that size is capable of untold devastation. I was in San Francisco five years ago during Godzilla's rampage." At that declaration, the admiral's gaze softened a bit. "I know what the titans are capable of. To them, we're basically ants, yet Ghidorah, the largest of the titans, has, time and again, paid special attention to avoid hurting people or damaging property."

"His awakening in Antarctica, his interaction with Mothra in China. Even here in New York. Ghidorah ended the fight between the MUTO and Rodan by downing the latter within Central Park, thereby minimizing further damage to the city," Chen recalled.

"Then what of the attack in Russia?" Stenz asked. "He...they downed several Russian aircraft, killing all of the pilots."

Graham answered that one. "The Russians attacked first. Ghidorah defended themselves, just as any human would against an aggressor."

"But Ghidorah isn't a human," Stenz pointed out. "And actions like those are precisely why we consider the titans such large threats. If you turn out to be wrong about this one—"

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think I am. All you have to do is look at what happened during Ghidorah's approach to New York. Fighter craft escorted them into the city, but never once did he turn to attack them. And after they'd beaten some sense into Rodan, he didn't attack the jets on the way out despite the fact they were still attacking him." When the admiral looked down in thought, Mark drove the point home. "It's a mutual respect, sir. As long as we don't attack Ghidorah, they won't attack us."

Stenz was quiet for several moments as he thought on Mark's words. But then, he asked Mark a serious question. "And do you have any proof of this? Because we cannot afford assumptions right now."

Mark nodded his understanding. "I was informed of the situation with the MUTO and Godzilla before I came here."

The admiral stood straight and clasped his hands behind his back. "Then, you understand why I'm so hesitant to simply take your word for it."

"I do, sir..." Stenz nodded and looked away, thinking that was it. However, when Mark spoke again, he took all three of them by surprise. "And this situation is exactly why we need Ghidorah on our side."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," Graham commented.

In response, he made a list, using his fingers to emphasize his point. "Janjira, Hawaii, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Isla de Mara, southeast Georgia, and now New York. Four cities were destroyed five years ago—most of the damage to Janjira was fifteen years before then, but the point still stands. And that was when we had three titans to deal with. Now we've got seven and counting. Jonah and Emma are still out there with the ORCA, which means they can still wake up more. Monarch has data and containment sites for seventeen—"

"Mark..." Graham tried to interrupt. He knew the exact count was classified, and that Serizawa hadn't wanted the military to know for fear of them wiping out the titans, but they were way past that point, in his mind. He didn't care if Monarch became part of the US military. Their goals and research would remain the same—mostly. What he was worried about was the military making the wrong decision and causing a global catastrophe.

Ignoring Graham's interjection, he continued. "And we didn't even know that new MUTO was there until it cut a swathe through New Jersey. And if there's one titan we don't know about, there's probably more. So wouldn't you want just one titan on our side?" He held up a single finger in emphasis, which the admiral stared at for several seconds. "And if you're still not convinced...you can talk to Ghidorah yourself. They're heading back to Isla de Mara as we speak."

At that, the admiral's gaze returned to Mark's. Then, he turned to take in the other two scientists' expression. After nearly a minute of silence, Stenz finally spoke. "Then let's go have that talk..."

As the admiral turned away to give out orders for while he was gone, Mark turned to Graham and Chen, who seemed utterly relieved that Stenz seemed more open to the idea. "I don't think you should have told them how many titans there are," Chen commented, though she didn't seem accusatory. She was more stating her opinion.

"They need to know what they're up against," Mark shot back. "Maybe they'll be able to take precautions. Save lives."

Graham nodded, and then Chen reluctantly did so, as well. "Your argument was well thought out. Good job." He nodded to the older woman in thanks.

"By the way... Chen, have you done any further research into Ghidorah?" he quietly asked, making sure none of the military men could overhear. If he was sticking his neck out for the dragon, he wanted to know a bit more about him. Sure, he could probably just ask, but there was always a chance that there was something they didn't want to share.

The answer he got wasn't what he expected if he were to be honest with himself. She shook her head. "No. The other titans have had priority since Ghidorah didn't appear to be a threat."

To be fair, they had been a bit busy lately, especially with the other, more destructive titans such as Tiamat and Amhuluk. And now Monarch was focusing on the new MUTO. Still... "Take a look for me, will you? See what you can find."

"Why not just ask?" Graham wondered.

Mark glanced at her. "In case there's something they don't want us to know. I'm risking a lot on this hunch of mine; I want to make sure it's not going to bite me in the ass." Then, he turned back to Chen. "Just take a look. Maybe you'll find something to explain why they seem so...different compared to the other titans."

He got a nod in response just as Stenz came back over. "Since the Argo is unavailable, I've secured some alternate transport. Take off is in thirty minutes."

He was about to turn away, but Mark grabbed his attention again. "Sir?" When Stenz paused to see what he needed, Mark explained. "There's one other thing you should know. When I spoke with Ghidorah outside of Boston, my daughter, Maddie, was there. Ghidorah declared her to be his 'human'." Stenz furrowed his brow at that, so Mark elaborated. "They said they wanted her to speak for them when they weren't around."

"Like a lawyer?" he guessed.

Mark nodded. "Something like that."

"Why would they choose a young girl?" the admiral asked pointedly. "Did they give a particular reason?"

Mark could tell the man was skeptical, and he had every reason to be. Mark wouldn't believe it himself if he hadn't been there. Still, if he showed up to Isla de Mara without Maddie, he didn't want to imagine just how angry the dragon might become. "She's completely unafraid of them, and...I guess they wanted a friend as much as anything else."

Stenz said nothing at first, not even glancing at Chen when she remarked about how cute that was. Finally, however, he relented. "She can come. If what you say is true, I want to see how they interact for myself."

"Thank you, sir." With that, they were dismissed, and the three Monarch scientists left the tower. One would report to Serizawa. One would start researching their enigmatic titan ally. And Mark had to find his wayward daughter while lamenting the fact he couldn't stay on solid ground a bit longer...

AN: If anyone can get the reference in Mark's speech to Admiral Stenz, I am going to be so impressed.

Other than that, the military seems to be warming up to the idea of 'allying' with Ghidorah, and we get a sitrep on what's happening with the MUTO and Godzilla. Next time, Stenz talks to a dragon.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22