Godzilla Lives!
A Godzilla fanfiction by Travis J. DeSantis
Chapter Thirty-Two
While Sho and Yashiro were focused on Ogakor, Miki had noticed something stirring beneath the rubble of Tokyo Fashion Town. When she mentally reached out to the prone dinosaur, a now-familiar feeling of rage was transmitted to her.
Godzilla rose from his impromptu grave, once fatal wounds all but completely healed. The behemoth's frame shook with overwhelming fury. Even from this distance, Miki could see the change in his eyes. Veins in the golden sclera had burst, staining the orbs vermillion. The pupils contracted into reptilian vertical slits and his eyes seemed to glow with some inner fire. Brow knit and teeth bared, the nuclear beast's face was contorted into a demonic visage. Steam rose off his body like an overheated engine, surrounding him with a hazy aura. Like a mirage, he didn't even seem to be there, but the saurian's presence could be felt instantly.
Sho and Yashiro were speechless, watching the resurrected monster with bated breath. Ogakor had ceased his angry hissing, long head raised to the air. Like all animals, he could sense when a storm was coming. Even caught in this torrential downpour, he could tell that the worst was yet to come.
A bright corona of blue energy jumped to life along Godzilla's jagged dorsal spines, the herald of his fearsome thermonuclear beam. Electricity danced along the leaf-shaped plates and particles of light rushed towards his mouth as he inhaled. With his faced raised to the sky and his arms spread wide, Godzilla looked to be making a silent appeal to the heavens.
The deific image was broken as the monster's bellow split the air. The sheer power of his voice shattered windows for miles around and the Super-X2's cabin speakers immediately blew out in a shower of sparks. A shockwave of energy rippled out from Godzilla's mouth as a column of azure hellfire ascended skyward. The energy continued to flow like a fire hose until the very clouds parted before Godzilla's might. Pierced by the mutant dinosaur's atomic energy, the storm tapered off to a mere sun shower.
The battlefield was quickly cast in the warm orange hues of twilight, a red sun now visible on the horizon. But the blue glow of Godzilla's beam would not yield, in fact growing more prominent as he swung his head down. Slashing through the air like the sword of a god, thermonuclear fire blasting the Exhibition Center into nothingness, scattering the once proud structure to the four winds. A trench of molten pavement was dug in the streets of the Subcenter, into which water from Tokyo Bay began to pour.
Caught in the back draft of Godzilla's beam, the Super-X2 careened through the air. Yashiro, who had forgotten to buckle back up, was thrown around inside the cabin. Fortunately, previous experience had taught Sho how to quickly recover the craft's stability. He pulled the SX2 out of its whirling fall and set the craft down on the ground, well away from the ferocious kaiju.
Miki climbed out of her own seat and rushed to the fallen programmer. "Are you all right?" she asked, cradling the teen's body. Yashiro groaned in response and raised a shaky thumbs-up. There was a nasty bump on his head and a long cut on his arm from where he caught the edge of the computer console, but overall the resilience of youth had served him well.
Sho knelt by the teen, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay. But next time, I'd prefer if you just threw up again."
"Aw...shut it," Yashiro replied with a pained smile. Eyes half-mast, he appeared to be on the verge of unconsciousness.
"Take it easy. I'll worry about dealing with Godzilla."
The major looked over his shoulder at the black giant. His wrath vented, Godzilla's head had dropped down to his scaled chest. The saurian's breathing was slow and measured, regaining his composure after the ground-shaking offensive. But when he lifted his head again, the fire had neither left his eyes nor his back. Though significantly dulled in radiance, energy still crackled along his silver spines. From this angle, Sho noticed several white objects approaching from the horizon, each tracing a vapor trail in the sky.
"Shit!" Kuroki croaked. He jumped to his feet and started jamming buttons on the communications console.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Miki asked, sharing his panic.
"That's the air strike we ordered from Hyakuri! If they attack Godzilla now, they'll be annihilated!" Sho tried to bring up an open channel. "7th Air Wing squadron, this is Major Kuroki of G-Force, pilot of the Super-X2. Do not engage the target. I repeat: This is Major Kuroki of the Super-X2. We are down on the field of operations. Our equipment is damaged and we cannot receive audio. No matter what, do NOT engage the target. If you can hear me, squadron leader, circle around and do not engage."
Miki watched the forward monitor, hoping to see the squadron receive Sho's message and break off their attack. Sadly, she would be disappointed.
Six F-15 Eagles streaked in over the city and released their special payload, a total of twenty-four cadmium warhead Sidewinders. Every missile found its mark, exploding against Godzilla's back in a ball of fire. The mutant dinosaur was pitched forward by the force of the detonations and he fell, barely catching himself on claws and knees. His head snapped up to glare at the fighter jets that screamed overhead.
Godzilla's response to the sudden assault was a beam of nuclear plasma slicing across the sky. Two Eagles were vaporized immediately and a third burst into flames. A fourth banked to avoid the beam, but the pilot lost control and his jet took a nosedive into Tokyo Bay. The remaining F-15s managed to avoid destruction. They would not return.
Sho punched the cabin wall, denting the metal panel and splitting his knuckles. "God damn it!" he growled, a vein bulging on his temple. The major ripped off his ever-present cap and ran his fingers through raven hair, trying to calm himself. "We're sitting ducks out here," he said at last. "We have to retreat. There's nothing we can do to stop Godzilla like this."
