Shinoda's Saviour

The sky was clear that night, but there was no moon to light up the darkness. Alan wondered if this was a bad omen, as he drove towards the construction site as fast as the law would permit. The co-ordinates had been sent to him by text. He was now wearing his longer coat, concealing the holsters that held his leather bullwhip and his Desert Eagle pistol. He knew for certain that Katagiri had no intention of letting him leave the factory alive. Not that he had much hope of killing someone fused with Godzilla's very DNA, but Alan knew he couldn't afford to be cocky.

He finally skidded to a halt as he reached the site of the meeting. No-one was about out here in the middle of nowhere, so it appeared that neither the police nor the FBI knew Katagiri was here. He stepped out of his car, and ran as fast as he could across the sands to the complex. Alan didn't let himself get tired or break a sweat. He had a job to do, and he knew he couldn't afford to let himself tire. As he approached the wire-link fence that surrounded the site though, he felt his heart beat faster, more out of nerves rather than exhaustion though.

Keep your shit together, Alan thought. Everyone's counting on you, especially Io..

As he approached the gate leading inside the site, he noticed that it was open. On the ground, he saw a large, sturdy-looking padlock, now heavily broken. Katagiri must have blasted it off with the gun he stole. Slowly, Alan opened the gate. It squeaked slightly as he moved it. With care, he stepped inside the site.

The large 50-calibre pistol felt comforting as he held it in front of him, using both hands. He worked his way through the maze of diggers, bulldozers and cement mixers, being careful to check around every pile of wood, brick and cinder blocks. Every pile of bricks and every steel girder forced horrid thoughts into Alan's mind, as he feared his target could jump out from behind them at any second and gun him down. The area wasn't very well-lit, which only served to add to his fear, despite the improved night-vision that his reptilian eyes blessed him with.

Alan worked hard to keep his breathing steady as he crept towards a huge warehouse that would one day serve as the factory floor. Of the buildings, this was the closest to completion; four walls were in place, as a temporary ceiling. Carefully stepping inside, Alan saw a number of gantries criss-crossing above his head; doubtless workers would be using those in the future. Construction tools, such as spades, rock drills and huge piles of cinder blocks, were temporarily being stored in here, and plastic sheets hung here and there, serving as indicators for where walls still had to be built. The sheets rustled slightly in the wind, which Alan hoped would help to cover the sounds of his own footsteps. So far only one piece of machinery was complete; a series of cranes across the high ceiling, each with a large hook attached at the end of chains. Work had apparently started on other machines, as pipes and metal plates were set up like frames. He noticed the floor itself was covered with loose mortar; a closer inspection revealed tracks in the floor, like something had been dragged through here.

By now, Alan's eyes were used to the gloom, and he followed the trail towards a set of stairs leading up to one of the gantries. Holding his gun close, his heart racing so loud he was sure someone would hear it beating, he looked upwards towards the ceiling as he heard a sudden slight creak. When he saw the source of the squeaking, his eyes widened in shock.

Tied to one of the crane-hooks, hanging from the ceiling, was the outline of Shinoda, swinging slightly in the faint breeze. He appeared to be unconscious, and he was bleeding badly from a broken nose. He looked in a terrible state, and for one moment Alan feared that he was already dead.

"Shinoda!" he shouted. "Shinoda!"

At this, Alan saw Shinoda stirring, his eyes flickering. He was alive! As Alan was about to start up the stairs to the gantry, however, he suddenly heard a click echoing from somewhere above. Instinctively he dived for cover behind one of the large stacks of cinder blocks, as two shots suddenly rang out from the gantry, barely missing him. Alan pulled his own gun close to him, breathing hard. That had been too close. He was thankful that Katagiri had been so far away, but he would have been bound to get a lucky shot.

"Gojira!" Katagiri's voice could be heard shouting from above. "Surrender to me now and I will kill you much less slowly!" He sounded maddened and anguished; to Alan's mind he sounded completely mad. As Alan peeked around the corner, another shot rang out. The bullet chipped part of the cinder blocks away, and Alan snapped back in the nick of time.

Alan tried to think. He had the advantage that he could see in the dark much better than Katagiri could, but he knew he could not risk letting a single bullet remain in Katagiri's clip if there was still a chance he could land a clean shot. The only plausible cause of action was to make sure Katagiri used them all. So he waited a beat and then dashed towards another block. Two more shots rang out, and one of them actually hit Alan's leg. Grunting in pain, he dived behind the block and looked at the damaged leg. Already the gunshot wound was beginning to heal right before his eyes.

"Can you feel pain, Gojira?" Katagiri shouted out. "I hope so. I hope that, as you die, you feel the same pain that you and all of your kind have caused to my country!"

"Alan!" Shinoda's voice suddenly resounded, panicked and frightened beyond belief. Alan's shout and the gunshots had roused him. Alan heard him shout again, his tone full of anger.

"Katagiri!" he shouted. "I swear that if you hurt him I'll have your head!"

"Give me a reason, traitor!" Katagiri shrieked. "Give me a reason to kill you now and I swear I will!"

It was obvious to Alan that trying to reason with Katagiri was a waste of effort. He dived for another cinder block as Katagiri fired again. He repeated the process again, firing two shots back at Katagiri, causing him to dive for cover.

"Just like the rest of your miserable kind!" yelled Katagiri. "You will not face me; you would rather hide like the coward you are!"

"Oh, shut up!" Alan yelled back. To his count, Katagiri had fired eight shots. There could not be many more left in his clip. He only hoped that the madman did not have spare clips as he dived to another cinder block, the shots following him and missing by inches. Every now and then Alan could hear his footsteps on the gangway above him, as he adjusted his position to try and get a better shot. Each time he did so, Alan moved too, forcing Katagiri to open fire. He could only hope that darkness in the area would mean Katagiri could not get a lucky shot.

After several tense minutes of this, Katagiri let out a loud roar of frustration, and there was a loud clunking sound. As Alan looked down, he saw what looked like a Beretta pistol beside him, now with the slide broken off. Katagiri must have run out of bullets and thrown the gun down a fit of rage. As Alan spun around the block he was crouched behind, his own gun drawn and raised, he aimed up at the gangway where the shooter had been. However, he found that Katagiri had gone. Looking around him, he could not see the madman anywhere on the gantry.

"Where'd he go?!" Alan called to Shinoda.

"I don't know..." Shinoda called back. "I didn't see which way he went!"

"Just hold on!" said Alan. "How do I get you down?"

"There's a control box on the central gantry!" replied Shinoda. "Use that to lower me down! Be careful!"

Alan did not need telling twice to be careful. He held his gun close to him as he slowly ascended the metal steps to the walkway. His ears strained to pick up any sign of movement as he stepped onto the walkway, suspended nearly 50 feet above the factory floor. He had the distinct impression that construction on the gantry was still not complete, for some of the plates shook slightly when he stepped on them, as if they had not been completely screwed on to the frame. He stepped along the walkway, noticing the control box Shinoda had mentioned, attached to the ceiling crane by a thick cable. He was a step or two away from the box, when he suddenly heard metallic footsteps approaching him fast.

"Look out!" Shinoda shouted, his eyes wide. "Behind you!"

Spinning around, Alan saw Katagiri charging straight at him. He had hidden himself in the half-complete upper control room, before moving down an adjacent walkway. He was now holding a metal pole, which he swung viciously as he approached Alan.

Alan raised his arms to defend himself, and Katagiri's pole collided with them. Pain shot up Alan's right arm, causing him to cry out and drop his gun. It was thrown away from his hand and went over the railing, landing on the ground below. Katagiri raised the pole again, and with a loud cry he swung again, and Alan was struck on the shoulder. He staggered back, his knees buckling; the whole right arm felt to him like someone had torn it off.

He backed away, trying to put distance between himself and that pole. Katagiri advanced on him, chuckling to himself, clearly pleased that he had caused so much pain. Alan reached towards his holster as Katagiri prepared to charge at him again, intending to smash his skull. However, Alan was able to grab hold of his whip and lash out with it. The madman instinctively jumped back to avoid the lashing coil, and the line wrapped around his right forearm; the one holding the pole. With a sharp tug, Alan jerked Katagiri's arm with such force that the arm was almost dislocated. Crying out in pain, Katagiri dropped his weapon, where it rolled harmlessly away.

Disentangling himself from the whip, Katagiri wasn't ready for Alan launching himself at him, punching him square in the face. He was knocked back, but as Alan swung his other fist to strike again, Katagiri recovered his momentum and blocked the punch. Alan did not have formal training in unarmed combat as Katagiri had done, and straight after he blocked the punch Katagiri followed up with a counter punch straight to Alan's face. The mutant staggered back, dazed.

Now caught off-guard, Alan felt Katagiri land sharp, vicious punches to his face and chest. Training or not, however, all he wanted to do was hurt every part of that lunatic that he could reach, so forcing himself to fight the pain he charged at Katagiri again. The two of them traded blows, both of them bruising and bloodying each other's faces with their punches. For a moment, it seemed they were both at a stalemate, until suddenly Katagiri attempted a kick, only to find his foot caught in Alan's hands. Alan swung his foot out, tripping up Katagiri and sending him crashing to the floor. All of a sudden there was a horrible rattling sound. The force of Katagiri's fall had loosened the bolts holding the metal plate in place, and suddenly it gave way, dropping Katagiri with it. He barely managed to grab the edge of the plate Alan was stood on, but his strength was failing him after the duel. He did not have enough energy to climb back up, and it was apparent that he was about to fall.

For a moment, Alan was on the point of letting him fall and letting it be the end of it. In the end, however, his morals got the better of him. He wanted to see Katagiri suffer for what he did. Death was too easy for him; Alan knew he wouldn't be satisfied if Katagiri escaped justice again. So he moved carefully to the edge of the plating, reaching out his arm to grab Katagiri. Just as Katagiri's grip failed, Alan lunged forward, dropping to his stomach, and grabbed his hand. Below Katagiri was a drop of nearly 50 feet, and on top of that there was a long metal pole stood on its end, the point right below Katagiri.

"Katagiri!" Alan called, feeling Katagiri's grip slipping away. "Give me your other hand! I can't hold on!"

Katagiri continued to dangle there, holding on by just one hand. He slowly turned his face up to look at Alan. His breathing was shallower, but he still managed a low chuckle and a smirk as he looked at his experiment; the project was evaluated a failure, yet this man was the only one who succeeded as a human Godzilla. He didn't know whether to be proud or disgusted.

"Still…" he muttered, that nasty sneer still on his face. "Still denying what you are, Gojira?"

"Don't be a fool, Katagiri!" Alan yelled impatiently. "Give me your other hand, now!"

Alan felt Katagiri's grip slipping. He was barely holding on by the fingers. Yet Katagiri just continued to smirk, as if every last ounce of whatever sanity he had left was flying away. All of his cunning strategies and brilliant tactical mind had been a failure. His enemy had beaten him, but he refused to let the mutant truly win. He could not allow himself to be indebted to this monster that had destroyed so many lives.

There was only one honourable way out now… and he took it.

Alan lost his grip on Katagiri. The madman fell, his eyes never leaving Alan's as he fell. Alan's eyes widened as he saw Katagiri hit the pole, becoming impaled on it, his torso run through. He felt sure he heard a horrible death rattle escape Katagiri's throat for a moment, before the sound faded and the light of life left his eyes. Alan looked away, tearing himself away from the sight of the body, the dead eyes continuing to look up at him. Katagiri had escaped; he had evaded justice in the worst way possible. Alan felt sure he was laughing at him from beyond the grave.

Shinoda gave a low moan that brought Alan back to his senses. The scientist was doing his best to avoid looking at the horrible sight of the body. Alan picked up his whip and holstered it, before grabbing the control box and hitting the lower button. The machinery whirred into life as Shinoda was lowered safely to the ground. As his feet hit the ground, the chains continued to move down and were slackened, until Shinoda could disentangle himself from them.

As he picked up Alan's pistol, he did his best to avoid looking at Katagiri as he watched Alan descend the steps and make his way back to the ground. As he approached, Shinoda saw that his face was very grave. He could not imagine what was going through Alan's mind at present. He wanted to say something, but the words seemed to die in his throat.

"Alan?" he finally said, handing the pistol back to Alan. The G-Chaser took the weapon and holstered it, his face never changing from that cold, grave expression. He was frustrated that Katagiri had escaped justice. This was not the resolution that he had hoped for, though deep down he was thankful that Shinoda was still alive.

"Let's get out of here," Alan grunted after a moment of awkward silence. All he wanted to do was get away from this awful scene before any authorities arrived. Neither he nor Shinoda said a word as they left the factory and walked back to the car. Climbing back inside, Shinoda's eyes never left Alan, a worried expression on his face. A few seconds later, Alan started the car and pulled away from the site.

If Shinoda had known the plan that was beginning to form in Alan's head, perhaps he would not have been so willing to ride with Alan that night.

***

This does worry me, Manda, Mothra began, that King Ghidorah would use Kiryuu in such a way.Manda snorted. He's done it before. the great moth replied. But it was necessary. He was too dangerous.

It shouldn't be surprising though,

I am sorry about Kraken,

Manda glanced away: He was like a brother to me, Mothra. But there was no other alternative. King Ghidorah used him and he'll use Kiryuu as well. Mothra asked. What could that city hold for the demon? Manda replied. It's not Knoxville he's after, it's the Smoky Mountains. Mothra asked.

But why Knoxville?

Energy,

And the bombs?

Manda glanced back at him, his neck frill fully extended.

You know King Ghidorah better than I do, the Dragon said. Why would he use Kiryuu to bomb Earth with their own nuclear weapons? said Mothra. And Kiryuu has the power to fire them? Manda said. He does not, but he does have the power to get them, which will be a convenience to King Ghidorah. Kiryuu would make a powerful slave.Manda, said Mothra. You must return and protect him. Manda asked.

Such destruction would release a great deal of energy for him to feed off of,

He was telling the truth,

You must return,

What of Alan?

He has his own path that he must walk, Mothra replied. Right now, we must focus our power now on King Ghidorah.

THE END