CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #1: The reaction to chapter one was really great, glad to see so many of you eager to see where I take this tale. Today, you'll get the first taste of what's to come in this story! I'll tell you now, check all preconceptions at the door, this is truly an AU and I make some big changes. I promise you'll all love the changes, but this is most certainly my own twist on these characters. I had a ton of fun with this chapter, it sets a lot of things in motion, but it is most certainly not filler!

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #2: As promised, this chapter was beta read, unlike the last one. I have to thank Nev aka nevr for taking a peek at this one for me on *extremely* short notice. He said he enjoyed the chapter, so I'm taking that as a good sign. Enjoy everyone!


The Inferno

A Novelization by
CharmingCharles2896

Chapter One

Los Angeles, California
United States of America
May 3rd, 2024

Traffic in Los Angeles was the absolute worst. Even when he left early, he still got stuck in traffic during his morning commute. Langston Graham understood why the H.I.A. or Hyperfauna Interdiction Agency was headquartered in Los Angeles, but that didn't mean he had to like it. The H.I.A.'s number one enemy claimed the entire pacific ocean as his personal swimming pool, so it made morbid sense that the agency dedicated to his destruction was based on the west coast.

Tyrannus… the single most destructive non-nuclear force in the world, patrolled the pacific like an angry lion guarding its domain. The H.I.A. had technology to track his movements most of the time, so trade and other activity in the pacific operated as normal. If Tyrannus began to move into trade routes or towards populated areas, the H.I.A. would post a bulletin and the entire world would react accordingly. That was how it was supposed to work, but Graham knew there were times where the scaly sonofabitch would evade their tracking systems and randomly pop up out of nowhere.

Langston Graham was presently sitting in his car, on the M-5. As he slowly made his way down the freeway, a tall billboard came into view. Godzilla vs. Tyrannus! It was disgusting how the world seemed to forget who the enemy was. Hollywood had been making movies about Tyrannus for decades, almost as long as the giant monster had been an active presence in the pacific. At first, those movies had demonized the monster. As of late, Tyrannus wasn't the enemy in his own movies. Tyrannus appeared just one year after the original Godzilla movie debuted in Japan, shocking the world. The stunning similarities in size, shape, behavior, and abilities had instantly catapulted the radioactive monster to super star status. The fact that it had taken almost seventy years for America's giant movie monster and Japan's giant movie monster to come together in a movie was actually surprising.

Looking at the billboard featuring Godzilla and his real-life counterpart facing off against a burning city, made Graham's blood boil. The discourse around Tyrannus was changing. The infamous nineteen ninety-seven Los Angeles attack killed one-thousand two-hundred and seventeen people, while displacing another one-million six-hundred and sixty-thousand. Tyrannus caused twenty-nine-billion dollars in damage that night, yet it now seemed as if the world was choosing to forget. Part of it was the fact that Tyrannus had only had one other major, destructive episode since that night. The two-thousand and eleven Auckland raid in New Zealand was rather minor, compared to the so-called greatest hits of Tyrannus' reign of terror. With only twenty-eight dead, it made morbid sense that the world was starting to disregard the dangers of Tyrannus.

These days, many people regarded Tyrannus as something akin to a natural disaster, like a hurricane or an earthquake. Graham's daughter Sarah had greatly contributed to this change when she'd published her third book, examining Tyrannus' behavior. The revelation that Tyrannus would get infinitely more aggressive when attacked had caused a seismic shift in how Tyrannus was handled worldwide. As Sarah's book had claimed, just ignoring Tyrannus was the best way to minimize damage. Because of this change, Tyrannus would appear, cause some usually minor damage, then the world would move on and rebuild.

The shifting opinions on Tyrannus had caused the general public to begin supporting the giant monster. Several of the more radical eco groups had begun to view Tyrannus as nature striking back. Some people literally worshipped Tyrannus as God, divine power walking this earthly plain. These realities didn't stop Graham from pursuing the total destruction of Tyrannus. Every day, the military was developing weapons to kill that creature and it wouldn't be long until Graham would finally have his revenge. Of course, other forces within the government had other motivations… it was an endless struggle.

The sound of Graham's phone ringing through his car's stereo via bluetooth, pulled him from his thoughts. Graham hit the accept call button on his steering wheel and spoke, "Langston Graham."

"Hey, Dad," came the voice of Sarah Walker.

"Morning, Angel," Graham replied in a pleasant tone. It was always a pleasure to hear from Sarah, considering their differing schedules, they didn't speak as often as either would like. "How was your date? Considering you weren't home last night; I'm assuming it went well?" the embarrassed huff he heard on the other end of the phone made him laugh every time.

"Dad, can we not?" Sarah whined, turning Graham's quiet laugh into a loud one.

"I'm sorry, I know Daniel is a touchy subject, but when you told me you were having dinner with him again, I couldn't help but assume," he said honestly as he used his turn signal and changed lanes.

"It wasn't like that; Daniel found something and he said I had to see it," Sarah said in a cagey voice.

As Graham heard his daughter pause, he spoke quickly. "You're talking to your old man, not the H.I.A.; what did he show you?"

"He uh…" Sarah began before pausing. The wariness to answer that Graham was noticing was unusual and a bit disturbing. "He acquired a file from Japanese intelligence…"

"Acquired?" Graham asked, cutting Sarah off.

"Acquired," she replied before continuing her previous thought. "This document claimed that an American deep-sea nuclear test in the pacific awoke Tyrannus."

"Doesn't that prove your last book was correct?" Graham asked. "I'd have thought you'd be thrilled by news like that."

"I know, but something else he said bothers me," Sarah said honestly. "He told me that this should put an end to my Manazura expedition proposal, since there's no need to investigate the island now." Graham's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Didn't he argue against the expedition last time you two talked?" Graham asked, the worried father and H.I.A. parts of Graham both interested.

"Yes," Sarah said nervously. Graham merely grunted in shared confusion.

"Speaking of your expedition, today is the day when the council will give final consideration to your proposal. Depending on Tyrannus's location and other factors, we'll know today if the H.I.A. will sponsor your fact-finding expedition."

"Please tell me as soon as you know something," Sarah pleaded, getting a small smile from Graham.

Graham saw his exit coming up, and prepared to leave the freeway. As he took the exit he'd driven a thousand times, he spoke again. "Don't worry, Angel, I'll let you know what the council decides."

"Why can't you just order the expedition?" Sarah asked, clearly frustrated.

"The H.I.A.'s Executive Council has sole authority to order investigations, expeditions, and all other Tyrannus-related fact-finding endeavors using government funds. The Agency was constructed so that the civilian and military aspects of our government's response to Tyrannus were separated by structure, but combined logistically," Graham explained to his daughter, for the thousandth time over the years. "As Director of the H.I.A.'s Security and Response Division, I am in charge of all responses to Hyperfauna activity. The Executive Council for Hyperfauna Research is in charge of gathering intelligence. Considering the complicated nature of Tyrannus' existence, Congress felt it was necessary for both sides of this issue to act independently, so that one side's policies or objectives wouldn't hinder the other. In practice, this means they only want to learn about Tyrannus, while my side wants to contain him."

"Such a stupid structure," Sarah grumbled amusingly.

"Blame then senator, Clinton, she wrote the bill," Graham said quickly, venting his own frustrations at the often counter-productive nature of the H.I.A.

"Careful, don't say the wrong thing or you'll be found in a drug den, having killed yourself with a gunshot to the back of the head," Sarah said only half-joking.

"Right," Graham said with a shake of the head. "I'm here at work, so I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Dad!" Sarah said and hung up. Now alone with his thoughts, Langston Graham refocused his mind on his day ahead, not to mention the intense discussions he knew were coming.

~X~

Langston Graham appreciated that they'd finally banned smoking at the H.I.A. headquarters. For so long, conference rooms such as the one he was currently sitting in, would have featured a cloud of cigarette smoke hanging in the air, a terrible monster in its own right. The Hyperfauna Interdiction Agency was most certainly a product of the times. The agency was initially a small, understaffed effort by the U.S. Army, headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base. Congressional action following Tyrannus' attack on Los Angeles in nineteen ninety-seven had prompted the formation of a dedicated anti-Tyrannus agency. Langston Graham had been a part of the H.I.A. since its official inception as an independent agency in nineteen ninety-nine. Langston Graham had started out as a Colonel of the H.I.A., he'd since risen in rank to Major General, overall commander of the H.I.A's Security and Response Division.

At the moment, Graham was seated at a long table; twenty men and women seated at the table as around him. The three men and two women beside him were the sum-total of General Graham's top-level staff. Everyone else at the table was a member of the Executive Council. The room was dark, images of radar plots and blurry streaks across the night sky blinked one after another on and off the screen. "The two objects entered Earth's atmosphere as one object, before breaking apart in the upper troposphere and heading in separate directions. At first, NASA believed these objects to be nothing but meteorites falling to earth. The seemingly controlled descents of the two objects as they fell to earth has officially made this our problem," Brigadier General Diane Beckman, Director of Hyperfauna Monitoring said to the room. Beckman was another member of Graham's staff.

"Where did the objects land?" Graham asked as he watched the objects move across the recordings of the radar plots and the split apart.

General Beckman nodded and clicked her remote, advancing the image to a map of Mexico. "One of the objects landed outside a town on the Mexican coast, Puerto Vallarta. Mexican authorities are searching for the landing cite as we speak." The General clicked her remote again and a new map appeared on the screen. "The second object landed in the forests at the base of Mount Fuji. The Japanese are confident they'll find the object in no time."

Graham nodded as the General returned to her notes. She flipped the page in her notes and then clicked her remote again. "Okay, onto the real reason we're here." The screen changed to show a thermal scan. The deep blue colors on the screen were interrupted by a long orange blob in the center of the image. "My contemporary in Japan, Deputy Director Shikishima, has informed me that Tyrannus has returned to his usual summer territory off the coast of Japan. Thermal scans from one of our Artemis satellites confirms this. Tyrannus has been detected resting at the bottom of the Nankai Trough, roughly ninety miles due south of Tahara. With Tyrannus likely confined to the coastal waters around Japan for the rest of the summer, now would be the optimal time for the Manazura expedition as discussed last month."

"Thank you, General," Graham said with a nod, prompting General Beckman to nod and return to her seat.

"I just don't understand what you hope to find on this island, General Graham," Executive Council Chairman Jim Richmond said. "As you know, investigation is the job of the Executive Council, not the Security and Response Division. Furthermore, why has your daughter, the crazy conspiracy theorist, been given the lead on this proposed expedition?"

"Watch it, Jim," Graham warned, getting a cautious response from Richmond.

"Your daughter writes pseudo-scientific, Tyrannus conspiracy books. Her last book read like Godzilla fanfiction, yet you want her to lead a fifty-million-dollar expedition to a small island four-thousand miles from Tyrannus' usual waters?"

"My daughter discovered the links between Tyrannus' aggressive behavior and military responses in civilian areas long before your council did. Since my daughter published her third book, not a single civilian has lost their life during a Tyrannus raid in Japan or the United States," Graham argued, defending his daughter. "Most of her books are garbage, but I promise you, nobody has dedicated more time towards studying Tyrannus than my daughter, Sarah. Nobody in this country, at least," Graham added quietly.

"Her earthquake theory is preposterous, Langston," Richmond argued back at Graham. "There isn't a fault line within a thousand miles of Manazura Island and the volcano at the center of it is suspected to be dormant."

"But you don't know for sure!" Graham replied loudly, pointing at Richmond. "If she's right, and that island is the birthplace of Tyrannus, then who knows what we could learn about it. The environment on the island may give us clues as to how Tyrannus is so big, when his size shouldn't be physiologically possible. I'd think a scientist such as yourself would want to explore every possibility where Tyrannus is concerned; or have we just decided to give up?" Graham sat back in his chair with a questioning look on his face.

"Personally," Robin Cunnings, one of the younger members of the council, said from the end of the table. "I think we should play this out. If the girl is correct, it's the find of the century. If she's wrong, we can discredit her once and for all and be done with Graham's crusades for his daughter." Chairman Richmond looked over towards Cunnings and thought for a moment.

"Our research has hit a dead end, Jim," Roan Montgomery, another member of the council added. "If this theory is even slightly possible, it could be huge for us."

"Fine, your expedition is approved," Richmond said dejectedly, before sticking his hand up to stop Graham from responding. "But, the Council will have our own researchers on the scene alongside your daughter's staff."

~X~

Several miles away, Sarah Walker was sitting in her office, typing away. While she was known as the crazy Tyrannus conspiracy theorist lady, she was also one of America's leading experts in Hyperfauna behavior. The bookshelf behind her desk was filled with books on Tyrannus, the nature of his biology, behavior, absolutely everything she could want to reference in her work. One shelf was dedicated to her own work, her four books displayed prominently.

Agent of Urban Renewal: Japan and the Tyrannus Conspiracy

Nature's Fury: Tyrannus and the Climate-Change Cult

Call and Response: Hyperfauna Behavior and its Manmade Causes

Pacific Chernobyl: American Nuclear Negligence in the Era of Monsters

Sarah Walker knew what many thought of her and her work over the last five years. The reception of her last book had been interesting. The government and those on the right had panned her as a moron with a woke, anti-American agenda. Those on the left panned her as downplaying climate change, a side effect of her second book. This time, much like her third book, Sarah was trying to actually advance the science of hyperfauna, more than critique people as she'd done more than once in the past.

The phone on Sarah's desk rang, pulling her from her work. Sarah grabbed the phone and put it to her ear. "Sarah Walker."

"Congratulations, it looks like you're going to get your little boat trip," came the familiar voice of Colonel John Casey of the United States Marine Corps' Tyrannus Response Force. Sarah smiled as she heard her father's longtime friend. "Your old man has just sent me a request for a Marine escort for an exploratory expedition in the South Pacific."

"That's good to hear, Uncle John," Sarah said, receiving the expected grumble from the marine who'd been a part of her life since she could remember.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Casey said in a grumpy tone.

"At least one more time," Sarah replied as she sat back in her chair. "How's Gertrude and Alex?" Considering Sarah's biological parents had been only children and neither of them had any family left, when Langston Graham had adopted her as an infant, she'd always had more of a nontraditional family than others. The Casey's had been a constant presence in her life, in one way or another. Gertrude had babysat Sarah on more than one occasion and Alex had spent many afternoons playing with her.

"Looks like Alex is gonna have a baby with her boyfriend; Gerty is very excited," Casey replied.

"I bet you loved that news," Sarah said knowing the answer.

"The gnome knocked up my baby girl, he's lucky I didn't kill him," Sarah heard Casey growl, making her snicker, quietly. The beep of Sarah's smart watch grabbed her attention. She looked down at her wrist and saw the time, her eyes flying open.

"Shoot, I've got to go, got a meeting to attend," Sarah said as she stood from her chair.

"Okay, talk to you later, Kid," Casey said, winding down the call.

"Bye, bye, Uncle John," Sarah said, hanging up before she could hear him growl like a grizzly bear, again. With little time to spare, Sarah saved the work she'd done on her next book and packed up her bag. As Sarah left her office on campus and locked the door behind her, she failed to see the shadowy figure at the end of the hall. Sarah sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction as the shadowy figure sent a text message.

Time is running out; she's getting closer.

~X~

Fuji City
Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
May 4th, 2024

While plans were being made in America, a woman walked alone in the night. A strange noise on Naoko's property had awoken her from her sleep. Over the last few days, she'd noticed some of her chickens missing. Naoko's prevailing theory was that she had some kind of predator coming onto her property and it was feeding on her chickens. Naoko walked closer to her chicken coop to check on them and found the structure torn open. Bloody feathers and bits of dead chickens were all over the ground. The scene was a grizzly one, not to mention a complete shock. Naoko crouched down and looked at the scene, unsure what could have completely destroyed her chicken coop and killed all of her chickens.

The sound of movement made the hairs on the back of Naoko's neck stand on end. She turned and pointed her cheap flashlight to the left, sure that's where the sound had come from. "Who's there?" Naoko asked quietly. Movement on Naoko's right made her stand in an instant, unsure what was happening. "Whoever you are, this isn't funny!" Naoko called louder as she walked towards the far corner of her back yard, where a line of trees concealed the fence that separated her property from her neighbors.

As Naoko investigated the trees, she found nothing. Maybe she'd heard a rodent of some kind. With a deep sigh, Naoko's shoulders sagged. She still didn't know what had eaten her chickens and she knew that staring at trees wasn't going to figure it out. Naoko turned to return to her chicken coop, when she was grabbed by something. There was a large hand around her throat, but she couldn't see anyone. Naoko kicked and flailed as she was lifted three feet off the ground. Naoko clawed at the invisible hand, but the hand wouldn't give way. Just when Naoko thought she was about to pass out, a horrifying figure revealed itself. Her eyes flew open in terror and she went to scream, but she was silenced in an instant. Blood splattered on the leaves of the trees behind Naoko as her body went limp and was dragged away.

~X~

U.S.N.S. Lewis and Clark
Docked at Naval Base Guam
June 10th, 2024

Loading the ship had taken a long time, but the expedition was finally underway. Sarah stood on the deck, looking out at the vast, Pacific Ocean. Making this voyage across the Pacific was a nerve-wracking experience. The fear that Tyrannus would suddenly appear was an ever-present concern in everyone's mind. A voyage through Tyrannus' territory was a necessary endeavor, though nobody was particularly happy about it. The last update she'd gotten, was that Tyrannus was on the move, heading northeast towards the waters around Hokkaido.

The destination of this expedition was southeast of Guam, just south of Micronesia. It had taken Sarah a long time and an exhaustive search of archival sources to find the island they were on their way to explore. The tale of the Great Evil that she'd found in Japan was an interesting tale of an ancient guardian monster fighting against an evil monster from space. When the battle was finished and the enemy vanquished, that guardian turned on the people and had to be sent away for all eternity. On the surface, the story didn't seem to have anything to do with Tyrannus, since the tale was a Japanese one, but Sarah had a hunch. Even still, she hadn't revealed the existence of the story, lest the entire world laugh at her. No, if her hunch was right and this island was indeed the birthplace of Tyrannus, than she'd reveal all in a new book.

"How you doing, Kid?" the voice of John Casey asked from behind Sarah, who turned and saw the older marine.

"Uncle John!" Sarah said, racing to Casey and hugging him tightly. "I thought you had delegated this assignment to that Major Wolinski I met earlier?" John hugged Sarah back and looked at her. He always joked about the Uncle John thing bothering him, but if anyone could be considered family, it was Sarah Walker.

"My niece is leading an expedition. You think I was going to let someone like Wolinski have all the fun?" Casey asked, making Sarah chuckle.

"How foolish of me," Sarah cracked as she turned back towards the ocean.

"Where are we going anyway?" Casey asked as he too looked out at the ocean.

"A volcanic island about six-hundred miles south of Micronesia; Manazura Island," Sarah said as the salty ocean breeze blew her hair around.

"That's an awful long way from Japan," Casey commented, getting a nod from Sarah. "I trust you, so I'm cool with it." The shrug he gave her made Sarah laugh.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Uncle John," she said softly. "I'm glad you're here with me."

Casey smiled down at Sarah and nodded. "Always, Kid."

~X~

Los Angeles, California
United States of America
June 9th, 2024

Langston Graham looked at his watch for the ten-thousandth time since his daughter had left for her expedition. He knew where Tyrannus was, Sarah was safe, but that didn't stop him from worrying. It was the evening in Los Angeles, meaning it was the middle of the afternoon in Guam. The international date line was a strange thing, meaning it was technically tomorrow in Guam. Graham shook his head, frustrated by his worrying. Sarah was an adult, capable of making her own decisions. He had to trust that Sarah would take care of herself, no matter how much that scared him.

The sound of running in the hallway grabbed Graham's attention. He spun in his chair, facing the door as it opened. "Sorry to bother you, Sir, but we've received an emergency Hyperfauna alert from the Mexican government," Graham's Chief of Staff, Jamie, said as she caught her breath.

"Tyrannus was last sighted in Japanese waters, how could he be in Mexico?" Graham asked as he stood from his seat.

"He's not, this is something else," Jamie said nervously.

When Graham and Jamie arrived in the H.I.A. Hyperfauna Response Center, the big screen on the far wall was displaying a live feed from a helicopter. There, on the screen, was live images of an enormous, red and orange organism. It didn't look like a plant, but it didn't look sentient either. This massive organism seemed to undulate as it expanded, consuming a small, Mexican village on the coast.

"At the rate the organism is expanding, we calculate that it will cover the entire country in three months," one of the analysts in the room told Graham as he walked into the room.

"Mexican authorities lost contact with the village two days ago. When they went to investigate, they found this thing. The Mexican government reports that they engaged the organism with small arms, but they were completely ineffective. They're requesting American military assistance." Graham didn't know what to think. Until now, the only hyperfauna they'd ever encountered was Tyrannus. All of their tactics and weaponry was tailored towards countering Tyrannus. No matter, Graham knew what had to be done.

"Okay, mobilize the Anti-Tyrannus Strike Group, scramble an AWAC to the area to coordinate operations," Graham commanded, the room immediately springing into action. "Jamie, contact President Randolph, he needs to be briefed."

"Yes, Sir!" Jamie said, saluting before springing into action herself. Graham looked at the screen, silently hating the new creature. If one giant monster wasn't bad enough, now there were two of them!


CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #3: We're off to Manazura and strange beasts are on the loose! I know this chapter came out a week after the prologue, but I must reiterate that I will NOT be keeping to a weekly upload schedule. I've already written 1,400 words of chapter two, but it isn't clear where exactly that chapter is going to end, it could be 4,000 words, it could be 10,000 words, I just don't know right now.

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #4: I really like the idea of Graham as Sarah's adopted father, we'll learn more about that later, so look for that eventually. Speaking of changes to characters, what do y;all think of my changes to John Casey? I really wanted to give Sarah a much more "normal" childhood, with some semblance of a real family, even if it is a nontraditional one. I promise that we'll meet Chuck in time, but I ask y'all to be patient and give me a little latitude. Until then, we've got a whole truck load of fun ahead of us!

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #5: So, did you enjoy this chapter, did you hate it? Let me know by leaving me a review to read. Your thoughts are so welcome, even if they're constructive criticism. Your reviews and messages are the only thing us writers get out of this, so I ain't too proud to beg LOL.

Until Next Time :D