Godzilla Lives!
A Godzilla fanfiction by Travis J. DeSantis
Chapter Twenty-Three
Masao Tamai genuinely enjoyed his job. A young man from frigid Hokkaido, he loved the sea and had long dreamed of warmer climates, where the marine life was much more intriguing. Against his parents wishes, he pursued this dream all the way to the Japanese Maritime Science and Technology Center in Yokosuka City. He worked there, he studied there, and he even lived there in one of the Center's student dormitories.
Today, Masao was servicing a small yellow submersible. In an ironic turn of fate, claustrophobia kept him from piloting the one-man craft himself. However, this did not dampen the youth's mood. The bay was calm, the sun was shining, and the breeze was fresh. For now, at least. The tropical storm that was sweeping into southern Kanto was still several hours away. Masao took a deep breath, determined to enjoy this beautiful day for as long as it lasted. He stepped back and admired his work, sun gleaming off the submersible's banana-hued hull.
As Tamai gathered up his tools, something strange in the water caught his eye. He raised a hand to shield his vision from the sun and looked out over Tokyo Bay. Sea traffic was slow at this time of day and what few ships there were trudged along lazily. So what could be casting such a huge, fast-moving shadow? It took him a moment to spot the swell in the water and realized that, whatever it was, it was something under the bay's surface.
The giant shadow passed him now and the ship Masao was standing in lurched in its wake. Losing balance, the young man pitched forward wildly and his head made teeth-jarring contact with the small yellow sub. Tamai could not longer contemplate the shadow's origins in his newly unconscious state.
~~~~~
The Ifukubes were an archetypal Japanese nuclear family: a hard-working husband that spent more time at the office than at home; a submissive wife that dared not speak unless spoken to; and two studious, well-behaved children. In fact, the Ifukubes were so distressingly normal, they were the butt of many jokes in their apartment community, which was otherwise filled with more modern and laid-back tenants. This frustrated middle-aged patriarch Akira to no end, but he said little, instead bottling up the secret desire to lash out angrily.
Finally, Akira did something drastic. He called in for all his unused vacation days, packed the family into a cramped--but necessarily cheap--rental sedan, and hit the road. It felt like a betrayal of his ethics, but even Akira eventually relaxed as he observed the delight in his children's eyes. Until now, they were confined to Yokohama and had never been outside the city. Now they planned to visit Minami-Boso National Park in Chiba Prefecture, a place as different from home as they could afford.
The tunnel portion of the Tokyo Bay Aqualine was a bland and boring ride. But once they crossed the man-made island and came to the bridge on the Kisarazu side, the children's eyes widened in delight. They had never been out over the water before and they giggled to each other, gleefully pointing out the fascinating ships that sailed beneath them.
"What's that one called, daddy?" asked Akira's daughter.
The man took his eyes from the road for a moment and followed where her finger pointed, indicating a line of narrow silver ships that looked almost organic in manufacture. He opened his mouth to say he didn't know, but was surprised by the speed at which they approached the Aqualine. As they came nearer and nearer, Akira realized those strange ships were also far too tall...
Akira hit the brakes and their rented car screeched to a halt. The truck just behind them immediately followed suit; a testament to an excellent braking system that it didn't rear-end the little sedan. The truck's driver leaned out of his window, swearing a storm at Akira, who could barely hear him over the cacophony of horns from farther back. But the middle-aged man paid them all no mind, his eyes locked on the strange objects protruding from the water.
The Ifukube family watched in horror as the sharp silver shapes sped up to the Aqualine and sliced through it, sheering the bridge in half and dooming those commuters that hadn't stopped as Akira did. Metal snapped and pavement fractured, spilling down into the bay. Power cables hung out of the bridge's splintered wound, sparking with electricity like the bleeding arteries of a severed limb. The string of silver blades didn't slow down one bit and continued on their merry way, toppling any ships that happened to be in their path.
Akira wiped a shaking hand over his sweaty, balding head, then turned to look at his equally awe-struck family. They might not make it to Minami-Boso, but they definitely had a story to tell the neighbors.
~~~~~
The Waterfront Subcenter is a metropolis in progress. Built on reclaimed land over Tokyo Bay and slated for completion in 2015, the Subcenter is home to many civil and industrial engineering projects. There are already many well-known landmarks to be seen such as the Ariake Colosseum, Fuji Television headquarters, and the International Exhibition Center, which has been affectionately nicknamed 'Tokyo Big Sight.'
On this sunny day, many thousand residents of the Waterfront Subcenter would be treated to a once-in-a-lifetime sight. 'Once-in-a-lifetime' because generally, most people don't live to tell the tale.
The tall silver blades that destroyed the Aqualine were now approaching the Subcenter, slowing little. Tokyo Bay seemed to rise up and a massive dome of water split open to reveal the giant that had been concealed beneath its surface. Rough black scales slick with water glistened in the bright light and jagged, maple leaf-shaped dorsal spines caught the sun brilliantly. The ground trembled with each of the giant's footfalls as he stepped out of the bay and stomped across docked boats, parked cars, and screaming people with reckless abandon.
Godzilla looked about the area, golden eyes surveying a city that mistakenly thought it was safe. As if to say
'I'm home', the mammoth beast took a deep breath and roared.
"GGWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUU!!!"
He was welcomed by the sounds of trampling feet and terrified screams.
