You know what we need? More San.
Also cute Mothra.
Anyway, in chapter five, I've got some good stuff for you.
Chapter 5: Demons in the Ice
The journey home was quite an irritating experience. Goji, in his infinite wisdom, really he's just lazy, had me carry Mothra all the way back from Brazil to my home on foot. It took two days of nonstop walking. Also, I may have damaged the Mexican border. Oops. Then what do I find when I return home? The lazy lizard taking a nap at the foot of the mountain. Seriously? Then he explains to me that he needs a safe place for Mothra, so he asks if she can stay with me. If it weren't for one obvious issue, I wouldn't have a problem. However, with San directly beneath us, I can't let them see him.
"My home isn't safe for organics, like yourselves. It is made with machines in mind. I don't want Mothra getting hurt, or worse. However, the area around it should be safe enough, at the very least the entrance..." I try to make an excuse, hoping Goji buys it.
"She will be safe here?" Goji is hesitant. He can't stay here all day; he has to keep the other titans in check. I have no doubt that he will return often, likely even rest here.
"I do not require sleep. I can watch over her, as long as she does not travel deeper into my cavern. The air is thinner there, and she would likely suffocate." That last part is a lie. "Of course, that isn't the only danger, but I could never forgive myself if she got hurt." That last part wasn't exactly a lie.
Mothra makes a little chirp in confirmation, and although she can't communicate much like this, she can understand us perfectly fine. Good, I am glad they both understand.
Since then, Goji has taken me in, teaching me everything he knows, showing me the Hollow Earth tunnels. They call them the Old World Passageways. Ancient tunnels carved by those long gone. Months go by like this, following Godzilla all over the world, subduing newly awakened titans before they cause trouble, keeping the others in check. Needless to say, the whole world knows of me. Azure, the daughter of Godzilla, that's what they call me now. Would Goji trust me if he knew? If Goji knew what lies within my home. Only inhabited by myself... and San. The last head of the Golden Demise.
"Hello San, how are you doing?" My tone is soft, comforting, and for good reason. San, no longer a skull due to the uranium I had stored away, has been able to regenerate by placing it near him, regrowing his head, neck, and the upper part of his torso. However, when he realized he was growing no additional necks, and that he was in the center head's spot, alone, San grew depressed. I have been doing my best to comfort him.
"...Hey Azure..." Well, at least he spoke this time. Poor San, both of his brothers are gone for good, leaving him alone. I can't even imagine what he is going through. On top of that, his cells are in bad shape; it has taken months to get his regeneration this far. I told him that, while he can heal, fatal wounds will likely be the end of him for good this time.
"You're bones are regenerating nicely," I tell him as I check him over. I sigh at him. "I can't even begin to understand how you feel right now, San, but I do know they gave up their lives for you. So a part of them could live on in you. While you may never hear their voices again, you keep the memory of them alive every day you live. Don't let their sacrifices be in vain, San." He looks up at me, my words seem to have some effect; there is light in his eyes again.
"I know you are right, Azure, but it hurts. Knowing that I will never see them again is the only thing breaking my heart. I could travel light-years from this planet, but I would never escape the emptiness inside. My brothers are gone; with them, a piece of me has been torn apart. There is no fixing that." He hasn't opened up like this before. I am shocked. He is pouring his heart out to me.
I nod my head at his words. "The humans have a saying, time mends all wounds. That may be true, but scars never fade. A reminder, forever marred on your body. The pain may fade in time, but with friends, it won't seem so bad." I stare into his eyes, lifting my hand up as I do, cupping his right cheek, I wipe the tear away. "It is okay to cry, it doesn't mean you are weak. It means you are alive." My words strike him deep, and he just lets it go. I stay with him, comforting him. It will only get better from here.
Night turns to day, and I find myself watching Moth as she forms her cocoon. Fascinating. Her resemblance to her much smaller cousins is astonishing, her silk is much larger. I wonder how strong it is.
"Her beauty in her moth form is unmatched," Goji says from beside me.
"I have seen it through humans; they have ways of recording things for later viewing. However, I am most excited to see it in person." I respond to him without turning my head.
"You will be waiting for a while. With no active threats, she doesn't have to speed up the process. She'll be at full strength." Interesting, so when her need is great, she can speed up the metamorphosis at the cost of strength.
My thoughts, however, turned to San. While Goji and I get along great, he has taken a fatherly role with me. I don't have an opinion on Moth yet, and Rodan is my friend. San is different; something about him calls to me. Perhaps it's because he is all alone. Maybe it's because we were both in that Apex facility together. It could be anything, yet I can't figure it out. Last night, he cried his newly regenerated heart out to me. This morning, he actually greeted me. Maybe he is finally starting to move on? Although, with the type of mental connection he has with his brothers, I doubt he will ever truly recover. Thoughts swirl through my processors at such turbulent speeds that I almost missed Godzilla talking to me.
"I need to go on patrol. Will you watch her?" Goji is always hesitant to leave his Queen.
"Of course, you know I can remain unmoving for as long as I want." I turn to look at him. It is times like these that I wish I could make facial expressions. Hm... note for future upgrades: emotive facial expressions.
Goji nods to me and turns towards the sea, taking off at a lazy speed. My head turns back to the cocoon, staring at it. An hour passes by in silence, when movement drags my attention down, watching humans set up a small camp. Monarch is studying Mothra's cocoon, as long as they keep their distance, I don't have a problem with it. With nothing to do but stare, my thoughts wander. Specifically towards the limitations of my body. Being unable to do something as simple as smiling has made me feel more alienated from the other titans. What if I made a new body? I have the ability to do so. I bring up my schematics and start modifying them, minutes turn to hours, at first it was going well but I hit some type of impossibility. No matter what I do, I can't seem to make myself more lifelike. I am missing something, a base design to work off. A blueprint for expression? No. My attempts at finding a solution take up the rest of the day, and before I know it, Goji returns. Of course I don't notice until he physically touches me.
"Are you okay? I called your name three times." Concern fills his question.
"Yes, I am just trying to work out a problem. I'll figure it out in time. Listen, I have been out here all day. Do you mind if I head into my cavern?" I wave off his concerns, just wanting to return to my home. Maybe San has some thoughts on my problem?
Goji nods and lies down next to Moth's cocoon, wishing me a goodnight, which I return. Then I head into my cavern, descending the steps and approaching San.
"Good evening San, how are you?" It would have been nice if I could smile.
"Hello Azure, I am doing alright, I guess." He doesn't seem sad anymore, that is good.
"Listen, I have a problem. I wondered if you had any thoughts..." I told him about my redesign and all the issues I ran into. We talked long into the night, but neither of us came up with a solution. Much to my frustration, but I hid that well. Needless to say, we didn't get far.
A week has passed since my failed redesign attempt. Today I find myself in England, putting Scylla in her place... again. Godzilla sent me out because Mothra is getting closer to emerging, and he doesn't want to be too far away. Lazily, I dodge Scylla's webbing, grabbing a chunk of rubble from one of the destroyed buildings. I toss it hard enough to knock the Titan out, simulating a sigh immediately afterwards. Scylla is always causing problems. I grab her and pick her up with ease, carrying her towards the ocean. At least our battle only damaged the fence of Buckingham Palace. That would have been unfortunate. I toss the Cephalopod Titan into the water, forcing her awake, then tell her to scram. She takes off pretty quickly. I take a moment and just stare out at the water, then I lift my head up and let out my mechanical roar, announcing my victory to all the other Titans. Shortly after, I hear Godzilla's roar of approval. Wading into the sea, I set off towards home, using the Passageways to speed up my journey.
My travel is interrupted as I exit one of the tunnels, as I receive a distress call from one of the Monarch outposts. Triangulating the source, I determine its origin point is from outpost... wait, what? Ghidorah's old prison? What could have happened at that particular outpost? Adjusting course immediately, I make my way into a passageway. It takes me forty-five minutes to reach Antarctica, another three hours to reach the outpost. Water cascades off me as I step out, freezing as it falls. I heat up my chassis to evaporate the rest and walk towards the outpost.
As I approach, I notice a few oddities: the emergency lights are on, yet there is no activity. Scanning the structure with my eyes, I see nothing at first. Activating the lights in my eyes, I finally notice all the blood and bodies—Monarch personnel. A surprise attack. Walking right up to the outpost, I lift my right hand, and a glob of nanomachines drops off. Once it lands on the landing pad below, it immediately takes shape, changing into a nine-foot version of me.
Blinking and looking through the eyes of my smaller version, I look up at myself for a moment and then move towards the doors. Hm, no power. No matter. I force my claws into the crack and push the double doors apart, my lights flickering around the room, noting more dead Monarch personnel. Gunshot wounds are consistent with Automatic Rifles, M4A1, standard NATO rounds. Walking further in, I find dead security personnel behind cargo crates, barrels, anything they could use as cover, yet I find no evidence that they killed any opposition. Illogical, they should have injured at least one. The further I go, the more dead Monarch personnel I find. Again, well-fortified positions, yet not a single kill? This isn't right. Something isn't right here. Outside, my real body turns to see Monarch aircraft approaching, landing without issue, and their troops pour out, setting up a perimeter.
One human looks up at me and speaks. "Hello, I am Captain Williams. Are you the reason for the distress call?" He asks, trying to be polite.
Instead of answering out loud, I connect to their comms frequency. "No, I received it on my way back to Mt. Hood. I came to investigate. So far, I haven't found any survivors... It's a bloodbath in there, and the weirdest part is that the onsite security personnel didn't seem to be injured by their attackers." A frown appears on the Captain's face at that last part.
"How do you know this?" Instead of answering out loud, I turn to the doors as my smaller self walks out.
"When did you learn this trick?" he asks in bewilderment.
My smaller self answers verbally. "Thirty-three minutes ago." I pause for a few seconds and continue. "The initial assault appears to have been from multiple points at once, overwhelming the local security forces and closing in. I have found no evidence as to the attackers' identities. However, I can tell you that whoever did this is well-funded, well-armed, and well-trained. As far as I can tell, they suffered no casualties while the local personnel suffered a one hundred percent casualty rate." Williams looks beyond pissed with everything I tell him, and I don't blame him. "Attempting human expression: If it makes you feel better, it looks like they put up a hell of a fight." He stops frowning and nods softly.
"Men, let's get moving," he orders his troops.
"Captain Williams, I request to accompany you." He turns back to me.
"Good, I was about to ask you if you wanted to join us. You were here first, lead on." I nodded and turned around, walking back into the outpost.
"I have patched into your communication channel." I inform everyone as we move in.
Once inside, they see the carnage I spoke of. One of the troops exclaims a "Fuck" when he sees how many bodies there are. Suddenly, I stop.
"What's wrong?" one of the troops asks.
"I found no survivors the entire time I was here," I start.
"Yeah? And?" Another troop asks.
"Who sent the distress call?" My words put everyone even more on edge as the reality of my words hit them all at once.
"Keep it tight, people. Weapons ready. We might have a hostile presence on site." Captain Williams brings his rifle up, falling in right behind me. "Safety's off," he finishes.
I deploy one of my blades. This smaller form doesn't have the armaments that my main body has. I am restricted to my blades and a microgun, which is a type of minigun, just really small, with limited ammo. Unless I want to cannibalize parts of the outpost for ammo, I'm stuck. Looking at my left arm, I manipulate the nanomachines to form a shield. For cover, I may be bulletproof, but the humans aren't.
"Where is the security office?" I ask, walking forward slowly.
Williams pulls out a tablet. "It's on here."
Without more than a thought, I connect to the tablet, find the outpost layout, and download it.
"Downloaded, thank you." It is a testament to his training and composure that he just nodded and put the tablet away. After all, no one has ever worked with an AI before.
"According to the layout, the security office is right. I had gone left before you got here. I don't know what we are going to find down there." I get several acknowledgments, and with that, we are off, heading down the hallway. We find evidence suggesting the defenses got more ferocious as they approached security, but again, nothing suggests the defenders even injured any of their attackers. The only blood stains are from the security officers. No one says anything until we reach the office.
"Sir, Ma'am, the security doors are blown." One of the troops points out.
I walk forward and peek my head in, seeing no one, alive that is. "I see a dozen bodies, all behind makeshift barriers." I turn to the doors, scanning them. "Thermite charges, nothing less would have broken the doors, see how the metal is melted? Then they blasted the weakened doors off, likely with a single C4 charge." The captain agrees with my assessment. Without another comment, we move into the room. I make my way immediately to the console.
"Curious, I can't connect to it from here." I use my nanomachines to create a direct interface cord and plug in. "Ah, cute, a virus designed to erase anything that connects to it. Now what do we have?" Searching the computer provides me with nothing. "It's all been erased. Everything. They used a virus to wipe every networked device in the outpost."
"So we have nothing at all?" Captain Williams asks me, unhappy with the state of security.
"Not quite," I said. "I meant every networked device, which means that the virus was uploaded directly into the system, after the distress call was sent."
With the virus gone, I quickly reset the cameras, bringing up live views. My eyes flicker to each screen.
"Hey Captain, that elevator isn't on the layout." I bring his attention to the screen.
"Are you sure?" he asks, trying to make sure.
"Very. That elevator doesn't belong." I respond, double checking.
"All right, you four, remain here on overwatch." He points to four troops.
"The rest of you, let's check out the elevator."
We move towards the elevator. I lead them through the outpost.
"Wait, check this out." I kneel down, coiling my tail so as not to trip anyone.
"What is it?" Williams looks over my shoulder.
"These scratch marks are recent. Also, they weren't made by any machine humans make, no... something made these." My head turns towards the room they lead to. I freeze at the scene, bodies ripped apart, some look eaten. "What did they find out here?"
"Do you have an idea of what could have done this?" One of the troops asks.
"No, and we won't find out here. There's nothing we can do for the dead now." I take one last look and turn back down the hall.
The elevator has blood stains all around it, but no bodies, and the wait for it to arrive is a tense silence. With a ding, the doors open, revealing no bodies, but it's covered in blood and fresh scratches. We all take note that the blood is fresh. We don't talk about it, but we all know.
The ride down is silent and tense. Whatever is hidden down here, the onsite personnel said nothing. Finally, the doors open, revealing a massive ice cavern. Frozen in the ice is a head of Ghidorah.
"Ichi..." I recognize the head immediately.
"What? Who is Ichi?" Captain Williams asks, confused.
"The center head of Ghidorah." Looking over the head, I note a part not encased in ice. They were running experiments on him, which is not good.
I notice a research station with a computer set up, so I walk towards it. Investigating further, I realize that it isn't connected to any network, completely isolated, so I connect directly. What I find isn't good.
"You are going to want to hear this." I play the first audio log.
"Log one, Doctor Henry Mercer. We tunneled into the cavern, and what we found was incredible: a preserved head of Ghirdorah. What can be learned from it... I am overwhelmed by the potential in this discovery."
"Log two, Doctor Henry Mercer. We have set up our equipment and broken the ice enough to extract samples from the head. The real work starts now."
"Log three, Doctor Henry Mercer. Some of the researchers have complained that their eyes are following them when they walk by, which is impossible, but the amount of complaints is astounding."
"Log four, Doctor... Doctor Henry Mercer, three weeks, three weeks around the head, massive reports of whispering keeping them up at night, me included, the whispering is indistinguishable, but it doesn't stop..." The log continues for three minutes longer with absolute silence, then ends.
"Log... Doctor Mercer... everything is wrong... what?" There is no one talking to him, but he responds as such. "Yes, yes. We believe we can synthesize the DNA of our Golden King, becoming one with him. After nine months of work, we are close."
"We shall all be one with King Ghidorah. Once I inject this needle, I will be reborn in his image. The others have already done so; ascension is upon us!" The audio continues with various sounds, then there are violent crunching and wet tearing sounds. Something hits the desk, then the audio ends. I disconnect from the computer and look back at the others.
"We need to leave now. There is a lot more on this computer." I pull the Captain from his shock, which gets the others to move.
"RAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" A loud, twisted sound echoes throughout the chamber, a mix between a human's wailing and a higher-pitched version of Ghirah's signature roar.
I look up towards one of the platforms built around the head, watching what looks like a person with bat wings. As it steps into the light, I get a better look at it: flesh stretched too far, golden patches of scales, arms growing wings, hands adorned with fingers that are too long, with equally sharp claws. The head is wrong, like taking a human head and stretching it into Ghidorah's shape. A long, sinewy tail stretches out from its spine, and finally, the tattered and torn remains of a lab coat, with the blood-splattered ID of Doctor Henry Mercer visible for all.
"Back! Back to the elevator! Now!" My shout kicks them into action, and the humans back up to the elevator, guns up.
The creature lets out another wail, and the cavern echoes with the cries of a hundred more. Then, they pour out of the walls. I look up, extend my blade, and slice one in half as it pounces at one of the troopers. Guns fire, hitting multiple of the monsters. However, it is short-lived, as I watch the one I cut in half; its muscle structure stretches out and latches onto its lower half, pulling it back and healing. The bullet holes on the others close up.
"Fuck! They're regenerating!" one of the troops yells. It is fortunate that their weapons are enough to slow the creatures down. We make it into the elevator, the doors almost shutting when one tries to get in, claws slashing wildly. Those wicked sharp things find purchase in a troop's arm, cutting deep. He screams, and I bring my sword down, severing the arm, causing the creature to flinch back. The doors close, and the elevator rises.
"Whoever attacked this outpost... I don't think they made it out alive." I crouch down next to the injured man, investigating the wound. "Where is your medic?"
"He is the medic." The man next to me says, his hands holding his gun a little tight. I nod at him and reach into the injured man's pack while he tries to halt the bleeding.
"Med kit, and a canteen of... whiskey?" I am confused for a moment. "Ah, both a disinfectant, and for the pain." I open it and have the medic take a drink, then pour a little onto a cloth, pressing it against the wound. To his credit, he only makes a small groan of discomfort. As I finish bandaging the wound, the elevator stops.
"Wait... we aren't at the top yet." The elevator cable snaps, and we plummet.
There is a crash and I lose the feed from my smaller self.
"What in Godzilla's tail end...?" Thinking quickly, I contact Monarch and explain the situation, then try to reconnect with my smaller self.
The lights from my small body flicker on, revealing an undiscovered cavern below the other one. My head turns to see the humans scattered around the elevator. They seem okay, just unconscious. Looking myself over, I realize a metal pole has run me through. I just have the nanomachines consume it. Standing up, I cast my gaze back up. Watching several of the creatures begin to crawl down, clinging to the walls, or hovering with their wings.
I ready my blades. "Appropriate Human Response: Well, shit."
Bet you didn't expect that series of events. Or the cliffhanger. Hehehe. Evil giggles aside. Bit of the feels with San, the relationship with Goji. Azure's new little trick, making a smaller copy. Exciting stuff.
While writing this, I got a new phone, so that's why it took so long to update.
Anyways, the next chapter will find Azure and her Monarch party fighting the creatures.
Also, I would like to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, and/or commented on my story. You have no idea how much it means to me that people are enjoying my content.