The One Who Lost His Way

AN: Finished this last night, but totally forgot to actually post it. I'm going through a bit of writer's block regarding this story right now. Like, I know where I want to go, I just don't know how to get there. That's why these last two have been kind of short. I'm just struggling a bit. If you all have any ideas or something in particular you want to see, put it in a review. There's a good chance I might implement it if I like it.

Key:

"Titan speak"

"Human speak"

Character's inner thoughts

"Telepathic communication"

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

C-130 en route to JFK airport:

"Sir?" The old admiral had been resting his eyes since he didn't have much to do at the moment. Once back on the ground, he was sure to have a whole pile of stuff to worry about, but until then, all he could do was sit here and relax. When one of his men stopped before him, he opened his eyes to see what he wanted. "Just got a report from the Air Force. I think you'll want to see this."

The man held out a tablet that Stenz took after a moment. A video file was queued up already. From the look of it, it appeared to be footage taken from a spy plane. The Air Force logo was prominent in the top right corner of the screen.

He hit play.

There was no audio, but he didn't need audio to understand the scope of the fight he was witnessing. Godzilla and Ghidorah were fighting each other, no holds barred. He winced internally at seeing one of Ghidorah's heads getting ripped off, but he was also surprised that the other two didn't seem to be affected by the loss. The fight ended pretty quickly after that as Ghidorah quickly finished the fight, leaving Godzilla unconscious but alive. After playing the video a few times, Stenz came to a rather frightening conclusion. Until Godzilla had really crossed the line by ripping off one of his heads, Ghidorah had been taking it easy on the other titan...and even then Godzilla was struggling to keep up.

They now had concrete proof that there was a bigger fish to worry about. "Send a message to the Pentagon. I want Ghidorah's threat ranking moved to the highest tier possible."

The man nodded. "Yes, sir." Stenz handed the tablet back to him, and he messed with it for a few seconds before handing it back. "But I think you'll want to see this, too."

Unlike the last video, this was clearly a satellite image. The timestamp showed that it had just been taken not ten minutes ago. It showed, quite clearly, Isla de Mara's volcano, and the three-headed hydra standing atop it. "That's...not possible."

"Apparently, it is..." The other man sounded just as troubled by the revelation as Stenz himself felt. "Go back a page." Stenz complied. The image it showed was only five minutes prior, and Ghidorah's head was still missing. "In less than five minutes, that thing completely regrew it's head."

"Its regenerative abilities must be even more potent than Godzilla's," Stenz mused. He'd have to see about collecting a blood sample. Not only would it potentially hold the key to curing several diseases, but if they were able to harness that regenerative property for their soldiers...

It was a tempting thought. But he wasn't going to make an enemy out of that particular titan. Not yet, at least. If cooperation came with enough boons, maybe he could make a case that Ghidorah's presence was worth it. If not, well...that's what the oxygen destroyer was for. Even if the two parties remained allies, human nature dictated that they still have a way to kill it if it became a threat. The military was never not prepared for stuff like that.

Stenz passed the tablet back to the other man, who saluted and walked away. The old admiral just sighed as he leaned back against the wall. It'd be back into the meat grinder once they landed. Best to get some rest now before the inevitable rush.

What he wouldn't do for a cup of coffee right now...

Back on Isla de Mara:

The ground shook as they landed upon the north beach once more, being careful not to squish Mark or the vehicle he used to drive up here. As one, they leaned down, bracing their wings against the ground to prevent getting unbalanced. A quick peak into the vehicle confirmed that Maddie wasn't present.

"What just happened?" Ichi looked to Mark when he asked them that question. Before he could answer, the human held up a hand. "Actually...What happened with Godzilla? We don't have any radios or TVs here."

"He's alive, if that's what you care about," Ni snapped. Mark stared at the right head a bit warily, but Ni just huffed.

"Do not mind him," Ichi assured the human. "The regeneration process is...not pleasant."

"I can imagine..." Mark winced at the thought. "How does that work, actually? Did Kevin not die when his head was ripped off?"

Ichi glanced at San for a moment before looking back to the human. "There are a lot of things you do not understand about us. I like you, Mark, but I do not trust you or the rest of humanity enough to share the secrets of our existence with you."

Mark nodded in understanding. "Fair enough. We're not the most...trustworthy people."

The sound of an engine grew closer, and both Mark and Ghidorah turned their attention to the road. The old truck that the Monarch crew used pulled off the side of the road and drove onto the beach. The driver hadn't even stopped the truck fully before Maddie threw the door open and jumped out, running to the hydra, worry clear on her face. "Guys! Are you okay!?"

A few other scientists jumped out of the back of the truck, and that's the only reason why Ichi didn't lower his head further to allow her to touch him. Ni had never lowered himself in the first place, and he wasn't planning on it anytime soon. Of the three, he was the most standoffish and gruff. San, however, had no reservations, lowering himself to allow Maddie to pet his head. Or whatever parts of his head that she could reach, at least. "We are fine," Ichi assured her.

"I'm not dumb, guys," she snapped. "I saw that you were hurt on your approach. And I heard you roaring in pain. What happened?"

San looked between Maddie and Ichi a bit nervously. Ichi, for his part, didn't seem willing to answer. However, after a while, he did, if vaguely. "We were injured. Now, we are better."

Maddie huffed in mild exasperation. "Gee...real descriptive."

"I'm more concerned about how they just regrew their head in less than a minute," one of the other scientists said. "That goes against everything we know about the natural order."

Mark and Ichi shared a brief glance before the human turned to the other scientists. "We've seen titans break the limits of what we thought possible before. This is just something else for us to gawk at and move on from."

The gathered Monarch scientists seemed skeptical, but other than a scattering of mumbles and whispering, no one immediately argued. Just then, the radio on one of the onlooker's hips crackled to life. "This is the USS Argo to Outpost 56. You there, Mark?"

That was Stanton's voice. Mark gestured for the guy to toss him the radio, which he caught easily. He brought the device up to his mouth. "Mark here. What's the word?"

He then brought the device to his ear to hear Rick's response. "Podcast."

That threw him for a loop. "Huh?"

"You asked for the word? The word is podcast. As in, there's someone out there doing a podcast about the titans and Monarch." Mark furrowed his brow. There were probably several of those, he expected. Not that he was active much on the internet, but he was aware that the titans were a rather popular talking point. "And this isn't your standard conspiracy theory podcast, though there are a few he goes into. No, this guy knows stuff, Mark. Stuff he shouldn't know."

Mark looked around at the gathered scientists, all four of them, and Maddie. Then, without a word, he began walking further down the beach away from them, eight sets of eyes following him. Once he was out of earshot, he asked. "Was there a leak?"

"To our collective shock, no. From what we can tell, this guy just comes up with theories based on intensive research on the internet. And for the most part, he gets stuff right. All the data he talks about is obscure, but none of it is technically classified." There was a pause, and when Stanton began again, his voice was full of begrudging respect. "The guy's just...really smart, apparently. I doubt he even realizes most of what he says is right, either. The whole premise of his podcast is for him to talk about his theories and opinions. Turns out, even though he doesn't have access to the real data, he's still getting about seventy percent of what he talks about right."

"Alright..." That was a bit alarming. It made him wonder how no one in Monarch had ever caught wind of this podcast until now. The one good thing, though, was that the lack of attention probably meant most people thought his conspiracy theories were just that. "So what do you plan to do about him?"

"Observe from a distance for the moment. Serizawa figures that trying to shut him down will only make the situation worse, lend credence to his theories." Mark nodded, having figured the same thing. "Our biggest concern right now is what Jonah might do if he catches wind of this guy. One of the episodes is about him, and I doubt he appreciates having his life story broadcasted on the internet."

Okay, yeah...That was definitely a valid concern. Jonah could have him taken out to prevent any more intel about his operation shared with the public. Or worse, 'recruit' this podcaster to do research or spread propaganda for him. Someone who could so accurately guess the truth about titans and Monarch would be a real boon if given access to actual data and cutting edge technology. "What if we tried to recruit him to Monarch?"

It was Sam who answered. "If we recruit him, we prove to the whole internet that he's on to something. His podcast isn't exactly popular, but about ten thousand people listen to it on a weekly basis. That's a good number of people who'll notice he's suddenly gone. It's best just leave him be, for now."

"Understood." But then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, what's the name of this podcast, anyway?"

Rick answered, taking back over for Sam. "We're almost there. We'll bring you aboard and show you."

"Sounds good. We're on the beach with the giant dragon." Before the radio cut off, he could hear Rick's snort. He looked to the horizon, spying a dark blob that was most likely the Argo, and then turned to walk back to the others...

Only to walk right into a massive, golden chin. The impact was jarring, but the thing that made him recoil in shock was the fact it was there in the first place. "Don't do that!" he shouted, looking past the head to try and figure out which neck it was attached to. "How the hell's a thing as big as you able to move that quietly, anyway?"

"Practice." If the hydra had shoulders, Mark imagined that simple response would be accompanied by a shrug. The voice, however, was enough for him to recognize that it was Kevin. "What's a podcast?"

"It's an internet talk show," he answered. "Were you listening in so the other two could tell the others what was going on?" Mark had never seen such a guilty look on a dragon before. He sighed and facepalmed. "Me walking away was because I didn't want them to know in case it was sensitive information. Good thing it wasn't, I guess."

Kevin wouldn't look him in the eye. "Ichi told me to..." he mumbled.

"Then tell him to mind his own business," Mark snapped, only realizing after he said that that the other two heads weren't as friendly as Kevin was. He really hoped he didn't just say something that would offend them...

Kevin was silent for a moment, then Mark saw the middle head rise up and stare back at him with a narrowed gaze. "Ichi told me to tell you that he does what he wants."

Mark just sighed, knowing there was nothing he could say to that.

Southwest of Isla de Mara, on mainland Mexico:

Well...the false king said not to leave the volcano until they said so. He was pretty sure screaming 'Get out!' at them at the top of their lungs qualified. He'd initially thought about flying to other side of the planet just to get away from the powerful alpha but realized there was nowhere to hide where Ghidorah couldn't follow. Plus...maybe if he stuck around, they would know he wasn't off getting into trouble somewhere else and wouldn't be as mad at him anymore.

Hence why he was currently sitting atop a cliff on an abandoned stretch of coastline, not a single human settlement in sight. And he swore to himself that he was going to stay right here until someone came to get him. Roars didn't count since he'd been fooled by that twice now.

He'd been there for a bit over an hour when someone did, in fact, come to get him. And he was rather surprised to see who it was. Mothra landed upon the clifftop next to him daintily. "What are you doing here and not on your island?"

"They kicked me out," he replied simply.

She cocked her head curiously. "What for?"

He fluttered his wings in a sort of shrug. "Godzilla ripped off one of their heads again."

She made a sort of exasperated trill, a noise akin to a sigh. "Why does he have to be so difficult? Every time I turn around, he somehow makes things worse for himself." She sighs again. After a few minutes of silence, a period of intense internal debate if her expression was any clue, she finally spoke again. "I need you to do something for me."

That piqued his curiosity. "Alright...that sounds ominous."

"I need you to listen to everything I say before responding." Rodan nodded, though his nervousness was rising. He wasn't going to like this, was he? "If it comes down to a full on fight for dominance between the two...I want you to side with Ghidorah."

"WHAT!?" He squawked in complete bewilderment, his wings flaring out before he settled himself down.

"I know it sounds ludicrous, and trust me when I say I really hope they do not go that far, but between them, Ghidorah is creating trust and understanding with the humans while Godzilla still views them as beneath him." She makes an exasperated sound. "And he absolutely refuses to listen to me anymore. He refuses to even consider change." She sighs again. "But change is what we need right now. Now more than ever, in fact. Continuing on the path we had been means disaster for all of us."

Mothra had a way of sensing things like that. Specifically danger. If something bad was going to happen, she could usually sense it before it happened, like an instinct of some sort. If she said there was a disaster in the future, then he believed her. "Them fighting for dominance is going to leave one of them dead...you know that, right? Neither one of them would back down before then."

She shook her head. "Ghidorah will not kill Godzilla." He had no idea how she could possibly know that, but she said it with such conviction that he almost couldn't help but believe her. "They know how important he is to the planet. And if they decide to leave Earth in the future, there will need to be someone left who could be the alpha."

"And you think Ghidorah will spare Big G because they suddenly care about the planet?" He was skeptical to say the least. He remembered the days when Ghidorah seemed dead set on killing everyone in their path and leaving the planet a frozen, uninhabitable wasteland.

"They care about redemption. Saving us from the humans and the humans from themselves is a good start." When she trailed off Rodan looked down at her, seeing that her gaze was locked on the horizon, specifically in the exact direction his volcano was. "Theirs is a complex tale, but I do not believe they are our enemy anymore. I trust them."

"You trust everyone," Rodan grumbled. "So that's not exactly high praise coming from you."

She huffed again, but he could see the amusement dancing in her eyes. "I suppose you have a point. But please...think about my request."

Before he could say anything else, she was already in the air, heading towards his island. He just sighed and closed his eyes, the internal struggle already giving him a headache. Did he side with Godzilla, his friend, and betray Mothra's, his friend's, confidence in him? Or did he side with Ghidorah, the biggest jerk he knew, at Mothra's, his friend's, request against Godzilla, his friend?

Either way, he'd be betraying a friend. The betrayal against Godzilla would be worse, of course. Siding with his enemy would probably put him squarely at the top of Godzilla's hate list, right below Ghidorah. Betraying Mothra, however, might actually be worse in the long run. Because what if she was right? What if titan and human kind eventually ended up destroying each other without Ghidorah there to bridge the gap?

Frustrated, he roared at the sky, cursing Mothra for throwing this upon him and then immediately feeling bad for talking bad about the nicest being he'd ever known. "Oh...this is all so messed up..." With another sigh, he laid down to ponder this quandary as he stared at the horizon, wondering what he should do.

AN: So we got the situation with Bernie to think about. Rodan now has a choice to make. And Ghidorah's origins are seemingly becoming harder to keep under wraps. Things are heating up slowly for surely.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22