Chapter 24: Bow To The King!

From behind Godzilla's beaten and battered body flashed a weak light. Two long legs rose up above his arms before gently touching down and lifting Mothra up over his shoulder as she pulled herself up on top of him. Godzilla's eye fluttered open and slid to the corners of their sockets as he turned his head to see. Mothra pushed her body up a bit higher and let out a screech, and Godzilla's head gently lay back down on the ground.

Ghidorah then appeared over the edge of the crater, hissing and cackling down at the two wounded creatures beneath him.

Mothra looked up at Ghidorah and screeched angrily, to which his central head responded by launching a lightning blast down next to Godzilla's head. Mothra's head snapped towards the bolt, watching Godzilla as he snarled pitifully... Still trying to prove he was in the fight.

Mothra slowly looked up at Ghidorah who continued hissing and cackling at both of them. The center head suddenly nipped at the left with some kind of argument seeming to break out between them. Mothra watched warily as the right head ignored the other two in favor of snarling down at her and seeming to charge his own lightning blast. Mothra's body quivered slightly as she anticipated taking the hit, and...

A sonic boom off to Mothra's left caught her attention, as well as the right head of Ghidorah. Rodan zoomed into view while slamming into Ghidorah at full speed knocking the gigantic three headed colossus clear off his feet and sending both of them skidding across the ground for over three hundred meters. Rodan hit a cluster of homes which slowed him down, and Ghidorah slid into the remains of what was left of one of the damaged skyscrapers which then fell on top of him and buried him beneath hundreds of tons of rubble.

Mothra warbled softly as she lowered her head and laid down on top of Godzilla with her wings spreading out over his body.

Back on the Argo, everyone watched with dreaded expressions.

"Hey, what's she doing?" Rick asked.

Ilene was a river of tears, watching silently with hands clasped in front of her chest as she shut her eyes tightly.

"She's dying." She whimpered.

"Wait, what?" Rick asked.

Serizawa dipped his head, eyes shut tight along with his lips as he fought against the pain of seeing the mighty Mothra reduced to this. Doctor Graham put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him while everyone else watched in silence.

Ghidorah burst forth from beneath the rubble, throwing it for hundreds upon hundreds of meters in all directions as all three heads roared angrily. Light pumped through all three throats as they all unleashed their attack everywhere, not caring where the attacks landed. What was left of all the buildings in his vicinity were completely leveled, and Rodan was also struck by the blasts several times as they continued turning their heads on a continuous assault. With his body seared where the attacks trailed across his wings and torso, Rodan growled weakly, but did not rise.

Ghidorah stopped his attack at last, and all three heads looked to one another with deadly snarls as all three slowly looked directly at Rodan. The proud Fire Demon almost seemed to sneer at them as his cheeks rose slightly pulling the corners of his beak upwards a bit, and Ghidorah's heads did not take kindly to the expression. Ghidorah stomped over towards Rodan slowly, deliberately letting his thunderous footsteps herald the fate which was coming for Rodan who closed his eyes, still sporting that sneer.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Ghidorah paused over Rodan, glaring down at him. Rodan's eyes stayed closed and the corners of his mouth were still turned up. Ghidorah roared down at him angrily, flaring his wings and slamming both tails into the ground behind himself. Rodan didn't respond. Ghidorah hissed loudly and blasted the ground next to Rodan's head in a similar fashion to how Godzilla had earlier in the fight. But again, Rodan refused to respond. He only continued to sneer with his eyes closed.

Ghidorah had finally had enough of his insolence. The two outer heads grabbed Rodan's wings close to the shoulder and lifted him off the ground as the center head lunged forward and clamped down on Rodan's throat. The Fire Demon's eyes shot open as he choked and gagged against the vice-grip around his airway. His legs attempted to lash out and slash with their talons, but Ghidorah held him far enough away that he couldn't reach.

Mothra lifted her head as she heard the struggle unfold. She couldn't get up. She couldn't fly. All she could do was screech worriedly as Rodan's choked cries grew quieter and the sounds of his thrashing began to fade. She looked down towards Godzilla, who was still laying down in total exhaustion with no signs of getting up any time soon. However...

A spark from Godzilla's spines caught her attention. She felt it against her abdomen, and saw a faint blue glow beginning to arise within them.

Warning alarms began blaring inside the Argo as Godzilla appeared on all monitors throughout the ship.

"Shit! We got one minute!" Rick shouted.

"We gotta get out of here!" Sam cried.

"Not yet! Did you find them?" Foster demanded.

"Yes, ma'am! They're just ahead, and we're preparing to touch down!" Shouted a crew member.

Down on the highway, Mark and the others watched and waited for the Argo to descend low enough against the highway to extend its lower bay doors for them to board. Emma's shoulder had been patched up and her arm was in a sling with Maddie helping her stand.

"Dad. What do we do when we get on board?"

"Strap yourself in and keep an eye on your mother."

"Okay."

Suddenly, a van raced up next to the group. And out stepped Jonah. The soldiers pointed their weapons at him, and Mark put himself between him and the others.

"What the hell do you want now?!" Mark shouted.

"I've come for the good Doctor." Jonah replied.

"You think we're just going to let her go with you?" Mark retorted.

"You will if you want her to stop Monster Zero." He said.

"Wait, what?" Mark asked.

"Look. Do we really have time to argue about this? What do you think, Doctor?"

Emma walked up beside Mark and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mark, it's okay. He's right."

"What?!" Mark yelled.

"Mark, there's no time. Get Maddie to safety. The Orca can do more than you know, and it's the only thing that will save Godzilla and the other Titans from Ghidorah."

"You-" He began, but suddenly cut himself off as the Argo descended and opened its bay doors.

Serizawa was waiting for them, urging them to quickly get on board.

"Goodbye, Mark... Take care of yourself. And watch over Maddie for me." Emma said, cupping his cheek in her hand and giving him a light pat.

Maddie tried to walk towards her, but Mark grabbed her carefully and held her back.

"Bye, Maddie. Be good for your father, okay?" She said, doing the same for Maddie she had for Mark.

Maddie was too shaken by the sudden decision to say anything. All she could do was shake her head "no" and cry as her father helped her board the Argo with the others. Once they were all on board, the Argo rose into the air with Serizawa giving Emma a solemn glance as the bay doors closed and the Argo flew away.

"Doctor?"

"Yes. Let's go."

Boarding the van with the Orca in hand, she sat in the back and opened it.

"You fixed it?"

"We don't know how it works, but we know our way around electronic equipment and splicing broken wires." Jonah replied.

"What made you change your mind?" She asked.

Jonah was silent, and looked ahead as Ghidorah appeared in the field of view of the van.

"It was your daughter, wasn't it?" Emma asked quietly.

Jonah slowly turned his head, lips tight.

"She wouldn't have wanted you to just abandon everything for Ghidorah, would she?" Emma asked.

Jonah looked ahead in silence.

"Seems you're more one of us than you'd like to believe." She teased.

"One more word and I'll throw you out the door and you'll have to fend for yourself."

Emma chuckled and fired up the Orca, the display flickering to life as she searched for the function she needed.

"So what do you have planned?" Jonah asked.

"You don't know?"

"Answer my question, Doctor."

"Funny that you'd come back to get me without knowing my plan."

"Last chance, Doctor."

"Fine, fine. The Orca has one last function, but it's one that's going to get us killed."

"Pardon?"

"You heard me. I have one specialized frequency in here that will drive Ghidorah absolutely insane. But it will also attract him. So-"

"Say no more. We'll drop you off somewhere out here so you can distract him as needed."

"... Fair enough."

"You're just going to accept that?"

"... I've made a lot of mistakes, but this won't be one of them. And I've made peace with this decision."

"Very well, Doctor. I admire your courage."

"Thank you."

"This is close enough."

The van stopped, and Emma opened the door and stepped outside while setting the Orca down.

"God speed, Doctor. I don't care what happens to humanity in the end... But you're right that my daughter wouldn't want Monster Zero, of all things, to be the one to give this world back to nature."

Emma nodded, and Jonah and the others sped away while she sat down and let her finger hover over the "Activate" button.

Ghidorah had since thrown Rodan to the ground, stomping on his stomach and blasting his chest and neck point blank causing obscene amounts of damage to his hide and searing his left shoulder through to the bone. And with that done, he went back to the crater and looked down at the two weakened Titans within. The three heads snarled and hissed, no longer content to taunt as they observed carefully. Mothra's wings covered Godzilla's body, and her head slowly lifted up towards Ghidorah as she let out a soft screech.

Ghidorah's three heads all began charging their lightning blasts, and Mothra pulled herself a little further forward and over Godzilla as she lifted her wings and spread them more evenly over his body. Godzilla growled weakly, trying to use his left arm to lift Mothra off of him and to the side. But Mothra refused to be moved as she adjusted to his squirming and continued holding herself over him.

Ghidorah let fly with all three blasts, and the world fell silent.

Back on the Argo, Ilene dropped to her hands and knees.

"Noooo!" She shrieked.

Godzilla's anguished groaning also filled the world in the absence of all other sounds, and the three bolts grew closer and closer in the reflection of Mothra's determined eyes as she lowered her head down.

As she did so, time seemed to stand still. Emma. Jonah. Mark and Maddie. Serizawa. Graham. Sam. Rick. Ilene. Foster. Barnes. Everyone on board the Argo as it raced away all felt it. That soothing, beautiful tribal music filling their hearts and minds in the absence of time as Mothra looked up and let out one final screech of defiance.

Time regained its hold, and the blasts slammed into Mothra's body causing a massive golden light to envelop her and the surrounding area making it impossible to see what was happening. One final screech from the proud queen of the skies filled the air as an explosion erupted from and banished the light of Ghidorah's attack. And in the place of Mothra was nothing but a floating aurora which slowly sunk down and landed on Godzilla, seemingly being absorbed into his body. And where it entered, a red light briefly flashed through the gaps in his scaly hide.

Ghidorah roared in triumph as the rest of the spectators were left gasping and in tears.

Godzilla groaned loudly, and Ghidorah immediately descended into the crater, heads almost slithering like snakes over the ground as he did so until he reached Godzilla and started biting him and seemingly sucking the energy from his body. With each bite, the red lights within Godzilla entered Ghidorah's mouths and flashed along their throats down to the torso.

"Oh no." Rick said.

"What is it?" Foster asked.

"The sensors seem to have malfunctioned or something. I can't get a read on Godzilla's radiation levels anymore." Rick replied.

"What's that mean?" Foster asked.

"I don't know!" Rick replied forcefully.

"Whatever. Just get us out of here!" Foster yelled.

The Argo fired up the afterburners and raced away as Ghidorah continued sucking the life out of Godzilla.

However, after a moment Ghidorah suddenly let go and his three heads shook violently, hissing and screeching, as something almost seemed to be attacking him. Emma, sitting with the Orca, had activated her special frequency. And the label... "The Gathering."

The frequency in question combined the frequencies of every Titan MONARCH knew of, creating a chaotic cacophony of noise which Ghidorah absolutely couldn't stand. The idea was that this would be the ultimate deterrent for the Titans. But in the case of Ghidorah, who was not actually a Titan if he wasn't from Earth, it would likely not repel him so much as shake him up and aggravate him. And that seemed to be the case.

Ghidorah's heads all grit their teeth against the noise as he took flight and tracked down the source of the sound with lightning and thunder cracking and flashing around him as he entered the air. Emma watched him warily, and glanced down from Ghidorah as Godzilla's red light began to illuminate the slopes and upper lip of the crater. Emma smiled slightly as she looked up to see Ghidorah land a couple hundred meters away while looking directly at her.

She stood up from the Orca, leaving it on and running, as Ghidorah snarled down at her with eyes twitching and the spikes on his tails shaking and rattling similar to a rattle snake.

"I thought you were part of the natural order, but I was wrong."

Ghidorah's throats began flashing with golden light as they rose higher into the air.

"If you won't protect this world, then you can leave it. But before you do..."

The three mouths opened as smaller sparks of electricity filled the air around his heads.

"... Bow to the king." Emma stated firmly.

Ghidorah's three heads let fly, enveloping the world around Emma with golden light as she vanished from view along with the Orca and the sounds it was creating. On board the Argo, Maddie broke down in Mark's arms, knowing full well what had just happened. Mark couldn't help but well up as well as he struggled between comforting Maddie and accepting Emma's choices.

Even Jonah in his van knew what this meant, and as the light of Ghidorah's attack faded, he pulled out an old photo of his daughter's smiling face and stared quietly at it as the van officially left the city limits.

Ghidorah's heads shook off the shock and irritation of the frequencies produced by the now silenced Orca, and glanced at each other as they sniffed at the air.

"... What the hell?" Rick asked softly as an unimaginable image came up on the screens.

From behind Ghidorah, at the lip of the crater, a wall of steam was rising up through the rainy skies. Ghidorah sniffed the air again and hissed loudly as the tip of Godzilla's head slowly appeared over the lip of the crater. Swaying slowly from left to right with every step, Godzilla, body alight with a fiery crimson glow, marched up and out of the crater with a powerful roar that split the skies with a shock wave.

Ghidorah roared back at Godzilla and flared his wings, but the display had no effect on Godzilla whose left foot reached the lip and pulled him up and out of the crater and onto level ground. Ghidorah got his first full look at Godzilla in this new state. Everything from his eyes, spines, the gaps between his scales were glowing with red light emanating from within his body. And the sheer heat radiating from him was melting entirely buildings as he walked by them. He didn't even have to touch them.

Ghidorah charged his attack and let fly into Godzilla upper chest. But the blasts did nothing. Godzilla didn't so much as budge when he was struck, and he continued walking forward through the attack as Ghidorah continued pushing the attack.

Godzilla drew closer and closer, and Ghidorah ceased his attack long enough to charge forward and attempt to bite and suck his energy. However, Godzilla's reactions caught Ghidorah completely off guard. With speed Ghidorah didn't know he had, Godzilla grabbed the two outer heads, one in each hand. The heat from his body seared the flesh and scales clamped within their grasp, and he bit the central neck as it came to bite him. His teeth sunk into Ghidorah's flesh causing a brown-red blood spurt which evaporated almost instantly as soon as it was free of his body.

Holding Ghidorah still, Godzilla's body began pulsing with the same sound as his thermonuclear breath. Ghidorah struggled mightily to get free, but it was no use. Godzilla held firm and did not move until at last he released a mighty burst of super heated energy from his body almost like a solar flare from the sun. Within the burst could be seen the wings of Mothra, accompanied by her signature shriek. And as it struck Ghidorah's body Godzilla let go of him and he staggered back as the heat from the attack melted the flesh in his wings and knocked him onto his back.

Ghidorah rapidly struggled and kicked at the ground to back away from Godzilla as the heads launched another assault with their lightning blasts. Godzilla's body once again began pulsing, and another burst of power accompanied by the spirit of Mothra erupted to sear the flesh away from Ghidorah's body. The two outer heads took the brunt of the attack while shielding the center head, and their flesh melted away down to the bone and then to nothing as the central head continued desperately trying to kick away at the ground to get distance from the now fiery king of the monsters.

Godzilla would not allow an escape, however. He lifted one foot and stomped down onto Ghidorah's chest, and unleashed one final massive burst of power which overtook the world in crimson light and blinded the world to what had just happened within. The burst was so powerful it cleared the skies of all of Ghidorah's storm clouds for miles in every direction. On board the Argo, despite being outside minimum safe distance, they still all had to shut off the cameras and shield their eyes to avoid being blinded by the light.

And slowly, silence returned to the world as the light faded and the slowly fading sunlight on the horizon shone for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"I don't know. But it looks like he finally exploded." Sam replied.

Serizawa tightened his lips, refusing to accept the idea that Godzilla had perished in that final assault.

And as they turned the cameras back on to observe the carnage, the entire city of Boston seemed to have become a massive, smoldering pile of ash after the attack. What few buildings were left partially standing were black and covered in burn marks. And everything within about a mile radius of Godzilla's position during the blast was practically glassed.

Then, the cameras detected a tiny hint of movement.

"What was that?" Barnes asked.

Serizawa observed the movement, and smiled.

"Gojira da." He stated firmly.

The ground shuddered and burst upwards as the blackened head of Ghidorah rose up from the rubble. And for a brief instant many assumed the worst. But as the spines of Godzilla broke through the rubble, a wave of relief fell over the spectators. He rose out of the ruins holding the severed head of Ghidorah in his mouth and slapping it around the environment like a crocodile tenderizing its prey before beginning a death roll. Godzilla's body began emitting that pulsing sound as blue light flashed along his back, and through his mouth, eyes, and even through the mouth and eyes of Ghidorah's still screeching head, that light shone brightly until Godzilla released his thermonuclear breath and vaporized what was left of his enemy.

Godzilla's breath shot up into the skies and vanished into the void as he shut his mouth and let out a huff accompanied by a tiny spark of electricity and a puff of blue smoke.

"... Jesus... Good thing he's on our side." Rick stated calmly.

"For now." Ilene added, sensing a change in Godzilla.

Maddie slowly looked up at Mark and buried her face in his chest. Mark responded by holding his daughter and stroking her hair. Ilene, noticing Mark's return, slowly walked over and stood beside him with a soft smile as he smiled back at her. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, and nodded slowly at her and looked back at the monitors.

"So what's next for you two?" Ilene asked softly.

Maddie turned her head and looked at Ilene, who gave her a smile. Maddie returned the smile a little bit, and then snuggled back against her father.

"We're going to have to find a new home, for starters." Mark replied.

"I think I can help with that." Ilene said cheerfully.

Mark chuckled, nodding subtly as he looked over at Serizawa who was smiling as well and giving him a nod.

"Doctor Serizawa?" Sam asked.

Serizawa glanced to him.

"Now that Ghidorah's gone, what do we do now?"

Serizawa took a deep breath as all eyes fell to him.

"Gojira has restored balance by killing the false king. Earth's Titans should resume their natural behavior now."

"What's their 'natural' behavior, exactly?" Foster asked.

"They will search for territory to call their own. And it is likely they will enter human populated areas in their search. I doubt they will mean any harm in doing so, however-"

"You know the world leaders will want them destroyed, right?" Foster cut him off.

"Yes, I'm aware. But we can't resort to force. Doing so will only cause further conflict, as it always does. It's time for the world leaders to learn that coexistence is our path, not an attempt at dominance."

"Good luck with that, Doctor." She said as she sat in her chair.

"The Titans just want to find a place to call home, much like all of us. If we can help them do so, we may inspire them to stick to their own territory rather than wander into ours. But this is only a theory. We will have to wait and see what happens for now."

"Hey, check this out." Rick called, gathering everyone around his station.

"Looks like there were a bunch of Titans heading this way, but they're turning around and moving away now. What do you think happened?" He asked.

"Ghidorah must have been calling for backup. Now that he's dead, they no longer have reason to come here. They're going to return to their natural behavior now. This is a new world for them to explore now, after all."

"Huh... Interesting." Rick said.

"Hey, look at that." Sam said, pointing to the main monitor.

Rodan, still weak and wounded, was limping away slowly. Godzilla, however, stomped up beside him and stopped him with a loud growl. Rodan looked to the side towards the mighty Alpha and dipped his shoulders and head slightly, looking up and clicking at him. Godzilla stared at him for a moment before huffing and turning away. Rodan clicked a few more times, and then continued on his way.

"Looks like Rodan's had enough." Barnes said.

"Yeah. Godzilla too." Sam agreed.

"Gojira is going home." Serizawa stated.

Godzilla suddenly stopped walking.

"Hey, what's he doing?" Sam asked.

Serizawa shook his head.

Godzilla took in a deep breath and unleashed a powerful roar accompanied by a large shockwave. And on the monitors, all Titan movement came to a stop. On multiple monitors, live satellite feeds of the Titans around the world caught glimpses of them all stopping and looking up towards the skies.

"Is he... Calling them?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, man." Rick replied.

"I know what he's doing." Mark said at last, coming forward towards Serizawa.

"Now that he's killed Ghidorah, he's asserting his dominance to the other Titans." He concluded.

"So he's establishing that he's the new top dog, right?" Rick asked.

"Basically, yeah." Mark replied.

"I thought he was already the Alpha?" Sam asked.

"He was an apex predator in the food chain. But he wasn't in a singular dominating presence to the other Titans. Some of those carvings and images from ancient times showed his kind had been in the past, but that's the past. This Godzilla had yet to establish himself in that position for more than Mothra and Rodan, as far as I can tell." Mark said.

"Oh." Sam whispered.

"Hey, look!" Rick cried.

On the monitors, the Titans all seemed to be dipping their heads and lowering themselves towards the ground in a submissive gesture.

"Oh, no doubt about it now! He's the top dog, baby! The King of the monsters! All right!" Rick cheered.

Ilene rolled her eyes and chuckled, while the rest of the Argo seemed to also chuckle at the statement. Mark hugged Maddie a little closer and gave her an assuring shake as Ilene came over and put a hand on her shoulder as well. Maddie and Ilene introduced themselves, and Ilene gave her a big hug while offering condolencese on the passing of her mother. Mark and Serizawa began a discussion about the future of the Titans. What they were likely to do and where they were likely to go. And the others all began celebrating in their own way.

Meanwhile, Godzilla had finished his call and began a proud, confident march towards the sea with the setting sun ahead illuminating his path as the skies slowly darkened overhead.

The Alpha Titan, after a long and hard-won fight for his throne, was going home to rest.

The End