In his domain on Infant Island, Mothra Leo sat and meditated, maintaining his spirituality and connection with life. This was what his mother, Mothra, did in her final days, whilst guarding over the egg that held him as a larva. After he avenged her death at the hands of Desghidorah, Leo found it difficult to think of what little memories he had of her. It made him wish he had hatched sooner, that they had bonded more before she was summoned to battle, that he could've done more to help her in their fight against Desghidorah. But thinking of what could've been was more painful than what actually happened, so Leo tried not to dwell on such thoughts, instead focusing on moving forward. It was what his mother would've wanted him to do.

Leo concentrated his mind, at peace as he thought of life, nature, balance. But then his peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a faint but alarming image-he could barely see it, but his heart told him it was an evil kaiju, who had come baring chaos. He opened his green insectoid eyes.

"Moll. Lora." he called out for his priestesses. The two tiny Elias sisters stood before him at a moment's notice.

"Yes, Mothra?" As a larva, the sisters called him Leo, but after he became an adult moth, they took to calling him Mothra. It hurt him a bit as it brought up memories of his mother, but he never told them not to since, because he had carried on her legacy, he was Mothra now, although he still allowed other, friendlier kaiju to call him Leo.

"I saw an image while I was meditating." Leo said. "I think it might be an evil kaiju."

"Are you certain?" Lora asked.

"Yes. I believe so."

"Did you see who it was?" asked Moll.

"I can somewhat make it out, but not exactly. I see a golden body, wings, and-" Leo's eyes widened with horror. "Oh no. I think it might be...King Ghidorah."

"The dreaded King Ghidorah?" Lora said fearfully.

"I recognize the features anywhere, it has to be him. But just to be sure, I want you girls to go see if it's really him."

"Yes, Mothra." the sisters said, bowing to their deity.

Moll and Lora called their steed, Fairy, and flew around the world, looking for the evil kaiju that was supposedly King Ghidorah. As they were approaching Japan, something massive suddenly flew past them and crash landed near Mt. Fuji. They flew over to the crash site to investigate.

"What is it, Moll?" Lora asked.

"It looks like a meteorite." Moll answered. "But why has it come to Earth?"

"Does it have to do with Mothra's vision?"

Suddenly, a kaiju emerged from the meteorite and took off flying towards Japan, and Moll and Lora realized, to their horror, that Leo was right.

"It's King Ghidorah!" Lora cried with fear.

"No, it's something much worse." Moll said. "It's Grand King Ghidorah."

"Grand King Ghidorah?"

"He first arrived on Earth during the Cretaceous Period and wiped out the dinosaurs, then with the life-essence of those he destroyed, he left in the form of a meteor. Now he's returned, to repeat history, it looks like." Moll turned to her sister. "We have to summon Mothra."

Lora nodded in agreement. "Yes. He'll stop Grand King Ghidorah." she said. The Elias sisters began singing to their deity, praying for him to come and defeat the impending evil.

Mosura ya Mosura

Dongan kasakuyan indo muu

Rusuto uiraandoa, hanba hanbamuyan, randa banunradan

Tounjukanraa

Kasaku yaanmu

Leo heard the voices of his priestesses reaching him. "They're calling me!" he said. With a flap of his triangular wings, he rose into the air and flew out of his domain, using the song to guide him towards the evil that threatened Earth.

Grand King Ghidorah hovered over Japan and looked evilly down at the terrified humans. "My, my, my. I see this planet has evolved quite a bit since I was here last." he said. "So many new species, so many life forces to consume. So, congratulations. My new hunt has begun, and your species has the privilege of being my first prey!"

The three-headed kaiju began terrorizing Japan, swooping in and scooping up humans to consume. Those who escaped hid for their lives, hoping against all odds that they wouldn't join those less fortunate.

"Moll, this is terrible!" Lora cried. "Where is Mothra?!"

"Let's try calling for him again." Moll said calmly, despite the carnage going on. She and her sister prepared to call out for their deity again, only to be stopped by something flying in their direction.

Grand King Ghidorah noticed, too, and looked at the newcomer with all three pairs of eyes narrowed. The surviving humans saw it as well, and they all smiled with joy as they realized that their savior had come.

"It's Mothra!" Lora exclaimed. Beneath her, Fairy chirped with happiness at the divine moth's arrival.

"And just exactly who are you?" Grand King Ghidorah asked unpleasantly as Leo bravely hovered before him.

"I am Mothra Leo, prince of Divine Light. Your destructive evil is not welcome on this planet-as a divine moth, I must protect it from all forms of danger, yours included. So I will give you one chance to leave peacefully, or I will have to resort to attacking."

Grand King Ghidorah simply grinned. "I was hoping for some resistance. With no challenges, my last hunt was made far too easy." The three-headed kaiju readied himself for battle.

"Fine. We'll do this the hard way." Leo said, preparing to fight as well. "But once we're finished, you'll wish you never came to Earth." And the decisive battle began.

Leo fired brightly-colored laser beams from the gems on his forehead. Grand King Ghidorah dodged most of them, although some managed to graze his necks and wings. The villainous kaiju responded by flapping his wings to create hurricane-like winds, which blew Leo back several yards. As the divine moth struggled against the force of the winds, Grand King Ghidorah fired lightning beams from the mouths of his three heads. Several hit Leo dead on, making him cry out in pain. The shots had left burn wounds on his body and wings, some of them smoking.

"Mothra! Look out!" Lora called out. Having been distracted by his wounds, Leo looked up to see Grand King Ghidorah descending upon him feet first. Unfortunately, the divine moth reacted too late, and he cried out as the evil kaiju landed atop him, the force and weight nearly crushing him. But just as Grand King Ghidorah believed he had the moth prince trapped, Leo split into thousands of miniature divine moths, freeing himself and reforming behind his enemy. He shot green bolts of lightning from his wings, striking Grand King Ghidorah's back.

The three-headed kaiju gritted his teeth in pain, but then used his golden scales to form a protective barrier, blocking the next wave of lightning bolts. He turned and grabbed Leo with all of his mouths-one on his body, two on the ends of his wings-and flew up several thousand feet into the sky. Leo tried to shoot his own lightning beams at the heads entrapping him, but they seemed to have no effect.

"He's losing, Moll!" Lora exclaimed.

"Mothra, break free!" Moll shouted to the divine moth.

When the land below became just a smear of color, Grand King Ghidorah's two heads gripping Leo's wings let go and shot him with particularly powerful bolts of lightning, causing him to scream loudly in pain. He completely released his grip on Leo and shot him with all three heads, and the drastically weakened moth was sent plummeting to the ground.

"Mothra!" Moll and Lora cried in horror. The humans witnessing the battle shared the Elias' fear as they watched their savior falling to his very possible death.

But then Leo's fall was broken as a kaiju suddenly appeared and caught him in his arms. And not just any kaiju.

Godzilla. The king of the monsters himself had come to Leo's aid and saved him in his desperate hour. The wounded moth weakly opened his eyes and could only just make out the reptilian kaiju, but his expression said he didn't recognize him.

"It's Godzilla." Lora said, incredulous. Moll nodded wordlessly, baring the same disbelief as her sister.

Grand King Ghidorah flew back down to land, confused by the lack of an explosion following Leo's impact. His three sets of eyes narrowed in cold anger when he saw who had saved the moth prince. "Godzilla." he growled.

"I thought I sensed the arrival of a hostile kaiju." the king said. "And not only is it a Ghidorah-which I'm not very fond of-I find him attacking and nearly killing Mothra's son. Well, that's not happening while I'm here."

Grand King Ghidorah's angry expression became an amused one, although his eyes remained cold. "In that case, I'd be more than willing to battle you." he said. "I know you'll provide a more worthy challenge than the moth."

Godzilla set Leo down on a grassy clearing. Leo groaned like he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

"It's okay. Just stay here and rest." Godzilla said softly. "I'll take care of that Ghidorah."

Leo's vision had returned to normal, although he was still very weak from his injuries. He watched as Godzilla faced off against Grand King Ghidorah with quite a blank expression, like he'd rather be doing anything else. They had just begun their fight when Fairy flew up to the wounded Leo.

"Mothra, are you alright?" Moll asked.

"I-ugh-" Leo could barely speak over the pain from his wounds. His entire body was sore from burns and electric shocks, and he could only lift his wings up a few feet. "I-I need to return-ugh-to Infant Island to-ahh-to heal."

A strong blast suddenly came from Godzilla and Grand King Ghidorah's battlefield. The former had fired his atomic breath at the latter and done massive damage, making the evil kaiju crash to the ground. He wearily stood up, his faces baring a look of defeat. But only for the moment.

"I will return in due time, Godzilla." he said weakly. "And when I do, I will destroy you and the moth."

He unsteadily lifted himself up and flew back into space. When he was out of earshot, Godzilla said, "Guess we'll see about that."

The king turned his attention to Leo. The moth prince could slightly flap his wings now, but he was still too weak to actually fly. Moll and Lora addressed Godzilla with gratitude.

"Thank you for saving Mothra, Godzilla." Moll said.

"You're welcome." Godzilla said. "I wouldn't want any of my allies falling to a Ghidorah, especially not the queen's child." He picked Leo up in his arms. "We better get him someplace safe so he can heal."

Godzilla followed Fairy back to Infant Island with Leo riding on his back as he swam across the ocean. When they arrived, the king laid the prince down at a spring, where his wounds were cleansed by the healing water and the Elias' sweet singing. He stretched out his body and wings until the soreness was completely gone.

"Thanks, girls." he said to Moll and Lora before turning to Godzilla. "And thank you, for saving me. But why did you do it? We've never met before."

"Your mother and I knew each other." Godzilla said. "She never told you?"

"Wait, you knew Mom?"

"Your mother told me and Lora about her encounters with Godzilla," Moll said, "but we've only met him in person a few times. Since you never met him yourself, we didn't see any reason to mention him."

"And I guess neither did Mom." Leo said. "What was your relationship with her like, Godzilla? Were you close?"

"When we first met, we didn't like each other at all. We fought and bickered-mainly due to our different personalities-but when she convinced me and a friend of mine to team up with her to fight a bigger threat, we began to bond and eventually became close friends, although we still had our disagreements from time to time. All-in-all, we had a lot of respect for each other."

"That's good to know." Leo looked down. "I try not to think about this, but sometimes I really wish she was still here. And I always wish there was more I could've done to help her in her last fight, before she..." His eyes began to tear up, but Godzilla laid a gentle hand on him before they could fall.

"Don't blame yourself, she wouldn't want you to. I should've found her sooner, and helped her myself. I should've known that she was in trouble and saved her, just like I saved you." Godzilla laughed under his breath. "I guess I have an issue with blaming myself, too, huh?"

"I think Mom would've been happy that you saved me. That if she could, she would've thanked you."

"Yeah. But I won't make that mistake again." Godzilla looked at Leo with trusting eyes. "I promise that, when you're in any sort of danger, I'll protect you. I will always find a way to keep you safe and be there when you need me, like I should've for your mother."

"Thank you, Godzilla." The king and prince shared a tender embrace, while Moll and Lora watched on in silent joy.

"What a sweet moment." Lora said. Although Moll was more composed, she was still clearly happy for her deity and his new guardian.

"Oh, by the way, before I became Mothra, I went by Leo." the moth said to Godzilla. "You can call me that if you want."

"Well, Leo, what's say we get some training in?" Godzilla said. "The Ghidorah we fought warned me that he would be back, but I bet you and I could take him together."

"Sounds good. And this time, we'll both be ready for him."

True to his word, Grand King Ghidorah returned to Japan the next day. "Godzilla! Mothra Leo! I have returned, as I warned you! Show yourselves!" he called out to his enemies. "If you do not make an appearance, the humans start dying again!" A moment passed, but there was still no sign of the kaiju monarchs. "Fine! You asked for it!"

The humans screamed and ran as Grand King Ghidorah swooped in on them, but before he could consume them, he was suddenly blasted by two strong projectiles. He looked in direction they came from in confusion, from which Godzilla and Leo were approaching.

"We're back, Ghidorah." Godzilla said. "Let's finish this once and for all."

"Hmph, it took you long enough. But this time, I shall emerge victorious."

"You can tell yourself that, but we've got a planet to protect." Leo said.

The kaiju gathered on their old battlefield. Fairy hovered a safe distance from the fighting, where Moll and Lora could watch and route for Godzilla and Leo.

"Mothra and Godzilla will win this time, Moll." Lora said. "I know they will."

"Of course they will, Lora." Moll replied. "With their bond, determination, and rigorous training all combined, they can overcome any obstacle, even one as strong as Grand King Ghidorah."

With Godzilla on the ground and Leo in the sky, the divine moth and his guardian both covered any advantages their enemy had on them. The training they went through was certainly paying off, as Grand King Ghidorah didn't seem to stand a chance against their combined strength. But little did they know that the three-headed kaiju was secretly storing up energy for a powerful surprise attack, and was enduring their own attacks to bide time.

Godzilla and Leo had just struck Grand King Ghidorah with yet another combined atomic breath and gem lightning bolt when their enemy suddenly started chuckling. "Didn't realize you found getting your tails kicked so amusing, Ghidorah." Godzilla mocked.

"Oh, it's not me who is losing." Grand King Ghidorah said. Godzilla and Leo looked at him in confusion when a field of energy started growing around him. A split second after the duo realized what was coming, the space kaiju unleashed a massive wave of electricity. Godzilla dived in time so that it only grazed the tips of his dorsal fins, but Leo wasn't so quick to react. He let out a scream of pure anguish as the wave him dead on, its electric current brutally wounding him. As he fell from the sky, Grand King Ghidorah tried to finish him off with a final strike, but Godzilla blasted him with his atomic breath and elbowed him aside, then caught the unconscious Leo in his arms.

"Leo. Leo, wake up." he said urgently. The moth's body was covered in soot and burns, the ends of his wings were torn apart. "Leo, please wake up!"

"It's useless, lizard. I have won." Grand King Ghidorah said. "He is dead, and you will be next."

"No! I won't accept it! I wasn't there for his mother when she needed me, I won't let him die, too!"

"I admire your ambition, but unfortunately, it will not save you." Grand King Ghidorah began charging up his lightning bolts, and Godzilla shielded Leo with his body, protecting him from further harm. But then a soft white light suddenly shone down on them from above, and everyone looked up to see what-or who-was causing it. She was mostly obscured by her white aura, but then her spirit became visible for all to see.

Mothra, the late queen of divine light. Descending from the heavens to save her son. She looked sadly at Leo's damaged person, then angrily at the villain who had caused it.

"How dare you inflict harm on my son! Your cold, merciless evil will not be forgiven!"

"And just what can a dead moth to do threaten me?" Grand King Ghidorah taunted.

"It is not my actions that will be a threat to you, but his." Mothra gestured to Leo. "Set him down please, Godzilla." she said more gently.

"What will you do?" Godzilla asked as he carefully laid Leo down on the soft greenery.

Mothra didn't answer, but hovered several feet directly above Leo and began to sing.

Ia ie hao ra, uha e ka Mosura ya

Ia ie hao ma, roha e na Mosura ha

Kiri e wa jina hi, mere uona kamai ka

As Mothra sang, her wings began to glow, and sparkling gold dust scattered from them as she gently flapped her wings. The dust landed on Leo's body, forming a golden aura around him. The aura increased in brightness until Leo was completely obscured from view.

"What's she doing to him, Moll?" Lora asked. But even her sister didn't know.

Ia ie hao ra, uha e ka Mosura ya

Ia ie hao ma, roha e na Mosura ha

Kiri e wa jina hi, mere uona kamai ka

Leo's outline changed-his body became longer and leaner, his wings became more rounded and sharp-tipped. Seeming to regain consciousness, he floated into the air. His golden aura dissipated, revealing his new form. His body was covered in protective armor, his eyes were now blue like his mother's, his wings were now made of razor-sharp steel and patterned with blue, red, and orange swirls.

Mothra had gifted her son with a much more powerful form, with greatly enhanced abilities. Godzilla, Moll, and Lora marveled at his transformation. Leo looked up at the spirit of his mother with gratitude.

"Thank you, Mom. I'll use your gift to me to exterminate the evil that threatens our world."

Mothra smiled. "Of that, I have no doubt. Give it your all, my son. You, too, Godzilla."

She gave Leo and Godzilla the space. Grand King Ghidorah was initially stunned by the moth prince's transformation, but he shook it off and resumed his battle stance. "This new look of yours will not help you win this fight. But come and try it, if you feel so confident."

Seconds into the rematch, Grand King Ghidorah found himself regretting his words. Leo's enhancements, combined with Godzilla's atomic firepower, were too much for the celestial invader. He was beaten and slashed and blasted until he was rendered helpless, and Leo zoomed in to him with his drastically increased flight speed, cutting clean through his middle.

Grand King Ghidorah let out a cry of defeat as he exploded, destroyed for good.

The armor adorning Leo's body dissipated, revealing yet another form. This one closely resembled his armored form, only his body was now covered in white fur, and his features were softer and gentler.

"You've done it, my son." Mothra said. "You have saved the earth and its inhabitants, just as a true divine moth would." She addressed Godzilla. "And thank you, Godzilla, for taking him in and becoming his guardian. For that, you have my gratitude."

"You're welcome, Mothra. I felt I needed to be there for him, like I should've been for you." Godzilla looked away in guilt.

"You could not have known, Godzilla. Please do not blame yourself for something you had no knowledge of. Same with you, Leo. I sensed your feelings of guilt, but please understand that you were just a larva, your abilities at the time were not as defined as they are now. But what's important is that you defeated my killer and saved the earth, and you've done so again today. And sweetheart, do you remember what I told you before I drowned?"

Leo thought for a moment. "That after I've overcome my most difficult obstacle, I would become king of Divine Light."

"This was it, Leo. Grand King Ghidorah was your most difficult obstacle, and with your victory over him, you are now king of Divine Light."

Leo needed a moment to properly take in the news. "I...Thank you, Mom. I'm honored."

Mothra began to fly up into the sky. "Godzilla, please protect him with your life. Moll, Lora, please continue to guide him. And Leo, please remember that I will always watch over you. And that I am so proud of you." Everyone nodded to her in agreeance, almost bowing, as the late queen of Divine Light returned to the heavens, to watch over them for always.

That night, Leo, Godzilla, Moll, and Lora celebrated the moth king's victory and coronation with the humans. Leo rested on a beach, wanting a moment to himself after everything that happened. The moon's reflection on the water looked just like it did back on Infant Island. He wondered if Mothra saw it sometimes, when she was younger and stronger. He still had many questions to ask her, but now that he knew she could appear before him, maybe one day she would answer them.

Godzilla found him and sat down next to him. "Was wondering where you were." he said. "How come you're out here by yourself? It's your night."

"I wanted to be alone for a while." Leo answered. "A lot's happened for me over the past couple of days, I just wanted to reflect."

Godzilla nodded in understanding, and the two kaiju kings sat in silence for a while longer. There was so much that could've been said in that moment, but instead, Leo scooted closer to his guardian, and the lizard pulled the moth in for a fatherly hug. Leo smiled, not having felt this close to a parental figure since Mothra died.

Moll and Lora found them just then, but they held back and watched the two kaiju for a moment when they saw them hugging. Only when they separated did the Elias choose to impinge upon their moment.

"We don't mean to interrupt," Moll said, "but we couldn't find you at the party. We were wondering where you two had gone."

"Just needed time to think." Godzilla said. "You know, after everything that's happened. But I think we've done enough thinking for now. Right, Leo?"

Leo nodded-he really was tired of reflecting for the moment. It was time to set such thoughts aside and enjoy his well-deserved night of celebration, with his people, his priestesses, and Godzilla, his loyal, protective, caring guardian.

And he was going to make every moment of it count.