89FAIRLY WARNED BE YE, READER: Welp, I've mentioned on my tumblr that Something was coming, and that Something is finally here. And it's probably the most cursed thing I've written (in my eyes at least), which considering where this story has gone is saying something. But your mileage may vary. Though nothing is, y'know, LITERALLY HAPPENING in that Cursed Scene (just to clarify), the imagery is definitely there. Think Hellsing Ultimate episode 4. Finally, I recommend searching on YouTube either "The One Who is Torn Apart" or a Doom 64 soundtrack playlist (starting with the bonus track "Overloaded") to enhance your reading experience.
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"I fled, and cry'd out, DEATH!
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd
From all her caves, and back resounded, DEATH!"
—Paradise Lost, John Milton
Yonaguni, Japan, 5/29/2020
Elle gawks stunned at the spot Monster X once stood at and the roiling waters they vanished into, growing increasingly aware of Susan wailing in absolute misery. She and Ford react quickly and tend to the old woman as she collapses to the grass, one gnarled hand grasping at her own left arm. There's a split-second where Ford and Elle lock eyes - thanks to years in their respective occupations and faced with an emergency they can handle with their own power, both slip into professional mindsets. She and Ford carry Susan back aboard the osprey, Elle telling Sammy to grab her medical equipment. The loading ramp closes behind them and the pilot kicks into gear for immediate liftoff, charting a course for the nearest hospital at Ishigaki.
"Ford?" Elle says. "You know what to do if she loses consciousness?"
"CPR?"
"Yes, but it has to be here—" Elle holds two flat palms over the designated area, "—and only if she's unconscious. Every minute that goes by the more likely we're gonna lose her." Sam slides in with her bag; good boy. Elle rifles through it for her automated external defibrillator, tells the boys to keep Susan still and administer one pill. Thank god she had the foresight to bring her AED and Susan's prescription of nitroglycerin tablets.
Susan makes a whimpering, wounded animal noise, and Ford senses something familiar from his experiences in the field; despite not being an expert, over the years he's learned how to ease a fellow soldier through a nervous breakdown, and right now Elle needs Susan to be centered. Ford blinks and for an instant it's not Susan Graham they're tending to but Joe Brody. He pushes it aside and steels himself. No room for that here.
"Hey, Sue - focus on me or Elle, okay? We're outta here, we're gonna fix this."
Susan's eyes are flooding, unfocused, and sweat breaks out on her brow. She chokes out something like, "my baby".
Ford's voice is hard as iron. "I know, believe me, I know. But we're not gonna let you die here. That son of a bitch may be tough but it sure as hell ain't invincible. It didn't win last time, it's not going to win this time. And it's not getting away with this."
Berezniki, Russia, 5/29/2020
Situated on the banks of the Kama River and located only 211 miles south of Kholat Syakhl, the city of Berezniki has seen its fair share of strange activity over the weeks prior to the unexpected reveal of Titanus Þunraz bursting out of the Ural mountain's easternmost side; even long before that, when sinkholes began opening up under people's feet and swallowing up entire buildings - among these, "the Grandfather" grew to 340 yards wide and 780 feet deep just eight years ago. Slowly, more and more of the city is in danger of sinking into the earth. Near the middle of May when Thor first appeared with earthquakes rocking the mountain range in his wake, new sinkholes opened and the previous specimens yawned wider, something officials were quick to chalk up to reactions from Thor's awakening.
But recently there has been an unexpected surge in people exploring the abandoned mines of Berezniki's past, and more worrying, of workers in the still operating mines being distracted by something in the depths. Distraction is a dangerous partner for a miner, and so the individuals in question were given temporary suspension. But this hasn't stopped them from approaching the sinkholes despite clear and adamant safety warnings, some needing to be physically apprehended by the authorities for the sake of their own wellbeing. Common sense would return upon questioning, during which the suspended miners express hearing something in the mines and sinkholes; rumblings like distant thunder but localized deep within the pitch darkness, or perhaps voices calling for help. Despite no reported injuries, fatalities, or missing persons cases being filed, some of these miners have expressed concern that people may in fact have fallen into the holes - one man swears he heard the voice of a crying child echoing up from the blackness.
Meanwhile, miners who previously exhibited no signs of mental breakdowns begin to share similar behaviors and the potash mine has been temporarily shut down due to arising safety concerns. The new miners claim to hear similar things as their coworkers. On May 28th, at least ten of the suspended miners have completely vanished, along with their families. Another estimated fifteen miners have also disappeared on the 29th, with authorities searching for the whereabouts of their next of kin. Those who were last seen with the missing workers were questioned, and one gave the following:
"I don't know where he went, and I don't want to know. I didn't like the look in his eyes. 'It's coming,' he said and I said, 'what is?' He looks at me like I'm stupid and says, 'palach is coming.' Palach, you know - executioner, headsman, whatever. Well, now I'm terrified. 'Who or what the fuck is that supposed to be?' He shows me Monster X on his phone, like he means Monster X is the Executioner and that's what's coming."
sister is not here sister is out of her head the memories came back so strong DON'TLOOKUPDON'TLOOKUPDON'TLOOKUP she forgets herself she forgets she is strong she thinks herself small and weak and human she watches herself die over and over TEETH! OH GOD THE TEETH! again and again she can't summon the storm the memories and fear are too strong too big he must take over and fight until she remembers herself where is it taking us for what purpose why how long has it had us too long it takes us through the water don't like the water no no no... no air! can't breathe lungs overfull! choking... drowning...
...
DON'T DISAPPOINT ME SO SOON, BONE SINGER. LET ME TASTE OF YOUR RAGE.
Water cascades out both of Monster X's mouths, a much larger set of jaws pressing down on them; not enough to kill or rend them in half, just enough to expel the seawater from inside them. San takes over - dark, no light from the sun or moon, air stale and earthy; cave? underground? no time; danger, grave danger - he scrambles their shared body away from the lethal jaws and performs a display of aggression, flashing red and coiling their tail in preparation to lash out - find an opening to escape; can't fight Ghidorah on our own, still too small and weak; body is still sore and aches from yesterday's combat, becoming too reliant on the storm to fight...
Elder Brother's golden scales and demoniac red eyes only dimly reflect their light. The serpent bares fangs at their posturing, annoyed by San's presence. It rears back, its own inner storm illuminating the body for them to see, and San recoils. There really must be more specimens of the Many than anticipated if Elder Brother can form a whole patchwork body for it to control. One or more skullcrawlers seem to be the basis for a torso, giving the snake a pair of upper arms to crawl around on, the creature's head having shrunken inwards or merged enough with Elder Brother's neck to the point that there's barely anything left of its head but jaws closed shut where a collar bone or sternum would be, rivulets of drool oozing out from between the teeth. Pale and solid protrusions line down the breast but San can't be sure if they're bone or teeth. Reddish membranous wings unfold from Elder Brother's back tipped with claws or talons, more like paper fans or the hood of a cobra than the wings Ghidorah possesses - another Earth creature? San tries to sift through Vivienne's memories but she either has no knowledge of whatever might have such wings or he can't dig too deeply with trauma stomping down on her senses as it is. Were humans also used to form this body? Possible, but San doesn't know for certain. The beings fused to the dragon, if they're still intelligent, it's doubtful they're capable of screaming. What does come out of the sternum-jaws is a murmur like swarming locusts.
Eldest Brother slithers around them on misshapen forearms and short vestigial hindlegs, the long tail ending in a head of spikes that fan out like thagomizers. The back of its neck is lined with uniform spikes and dark, jagged spines; blotches of leathery black and brown dotting all around the gold scales. Whatever terrible beauty a thing like Ghidorah could have becomes ugly with such a slapdash combination of bodies.
what happened to you? how are you here?
WAS IT EXPECTING YOUNGEST BROTHER? IT SHOULD KNOW BETTER. THAT ONE WOULD SOONER SNIFF OUT LITTLE ONES FOR PLAYTHINGS THAN GET THE JOB DONE. WHY WOULD WE RISK LOSING ANOTHER HEAD TO HER SEDUCTIONS? SO SLOW AND STUPID.
i am not stupid!
San feigns an escape, more to see how Elder Brother will react and form a better plan from there, but is shocked when a yellow electric beam blasts the dirt in his path; perhaps a warning shot. He doubles back and with seconds to spare ducks both his and Vivienne's heads under a swinging tail, just barely avoiding getting gored by a spike. Elder Brother must still be growing accustomed to its new body and not having a sentry head, having left its front wide open. San takes a risk and jumps, revolving over claws swiping at them and uses the momentum to lash his tail like a whip. The resulting crack echoes all around and San is at least satisfied to know he landed the hit; black blood streaks through the air as Elder Brother actually flinches, paw reaching up to where San's tail tore open the flesh at its snout and left eye. With a furious screech Elder Brother blasts another beam, but this time it doesn't need to miss. The beam strikes true, square into Monster X's chest and sending them flying back against a rock wall. They collapse with hands clawing spasmodically, translucent smoke and the scent of scorched flesh billowing up, and San fears from the pain that the impact might have collapsed their sternum. Won't kill them, but it makes escape more difficult.
Vivienne heaves, knocked out of her catatonic state by the shock, but her mind is so torn - just one of the dragon's heads should inspire maddening fear which her Ghidorah-given blood and instincts should turn into rage, so why now does the storm leave her? It's only one head, only one...
NO, NO, NO... NOT LIKE THIS... Elder Brother rumbles like a distant storm, frustration building up with every second. NOT LIKE THIS! I WANTED TO INDULGE MYSELF FOR A TIME... THAT SHED SKIN IS NOT WHAT I WANT! It leaps at them with startling speed and snatches Monster X with one monstrous hand, teeth snapping at her horns. It ignores San's fangs piercing in retaliation. I WANT YOUR RAGE! NOT THAT ONE - YOU!
Don'tlookupyou'lldieifyoulookupgodohgodohgodtheteethohgodtheteethtoocloseTOOCLOSE
Some instinctive caveman presence in the deepest corners of her brain kicks back to life and she manages to stab her claws into the elder's injured eye before it can heal - it keens in more surprise than pain, its grip loosens - now! Get out now! She almost doesn't hear San's protestations, doesn't register his trying to take control, not until a massive tail slams down and crushes the air out of them.
Its massive serpentine body pins them down, one hand wrapping around San's neck and holding taught while he snaps his jaws for purchase; with its free hand it extends one finger, trails the tip of one claw along the contours and angles of Vivienne's face. She doesn't even breathe, momentarily stunned by this change in behavior. What little she knows of Ghidorah's heads tells that Elder Brother - or Right Head, or Ni, whatever it answers to - is a beast of tenacious ferocity content to fight and kill for the sheer fun of it, not quite as inclined to set its wits to work thinking up ways to make the prey suffer, at least not to Eldest Brother's extent. Curiosity has always been the way of the left head. The claw digs into the skin of her cheek and draws blood, probably from Elder Brother still being unaccustomed to these new appendages. Or maybe that's intentional.
She leans away, tries to pull herself free but it feels like Ghidorah is everywhere. Hot breath and the stink of ozone waft over her face as the claw is replaced with a forked tongue, Elder Brother scenting her blood; the claw moves further down to her chest, still burning from the gravity beam's direct hit, and presses down here and there feeling for something. Gaps in the ribs, maybe, contemplating ways to pierce through and sink into organs. She recoils when it laps up her blood with an uncomfortably pleased rumble. The elder serpent is interrupted by an infrasonic vibration, snarls at the intrusion and tries to ignore it - at least until another vibration causes Monster X to convulse in its grip. Elder Brother chuffs irritably, lifts them so its face and Vivienne's are nearly touching. Irrationally, some voice inside her points out it's close enough to kiss her.
LUCKY. ELDEST BROTHER DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE, AND YOUNGEST BROTHER WILL CRY IF WE TAKE TOO LONG. MAYBE THEN... LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY.
Luck is the furthest thing from her mind, straddling on a knife edge as it is. Elder Brother's call turns into that same subdued tone from when Monster X tore apart the Many's skullcrawler construct, a quiet and borderline seductive purr. Its weight lifts up from atop them and shoves the small Titan to roll on their abdomen - here another irrational fear spikes inside her - and they're taken again into the serpent's jaws, lifting them by the spine. Vivienne is so far gone she can't even scream.
Yunnan Province, China, 5/30/2020
"Taken?" Ren stares at them in shock. "What do you mean—"
Mark bellows, "IT MEANS SHE'S BEEN TAKEN! And you were RIGHT THERE!"
"Are you saying I could have somehow prevented this?" Ren's expression turns to incredulity. "You're the ones who called me in to give a full report right that second! And what exactly would you expect me to do, just suddenly grow psychic powers or yell at the thing until it goes away?"
"Being an ass doesn't help either!" Mark rushes into Ren's space before his brain can kick in; unfortunately logic has taken a backseat in favor of emotions taking over, and he probably would have grabbed Ren by the collar and slammed him into the nearest wall if not for Griffin and Brooks cutting in between them. Brooks takes him by the shoulders and holds him back with surprising force, the look in his eyes reminding Mark that this is the same man who in his youth opened machine gun fire on Ramarak, an idea even he's hesitant to pull off.
"It's not his fault," Brooks says in a hard, steady tone. "He couldn't have known. We couldn't have known."
Mark's breath goes heavy, his eyes wild and helpless. Once more social media has exploded, this time with amateur videos from Yonaguni tourists recording the moment Monster X was taken into the jaws of a seemingly autonomous Ghidorah head, and then vanishing into the ocean. The news has shaken the Yunnan outpost, throwing Mark back into that arctic tempest; Ilene sits some distance away from the crowd, overcome with chills and nearly hyperventilating. Madison stares at the footage on a PC, her expression unreadable.
"We should've..." Mark rasps and his shoulders slump under Brook's hands. "We knew that thing was coming back..."
Brooks gives him a slow nod. "It wasn't enough."
Ren stays quiet for an uncomfortable moment before asking, "Does Castle Bravo know?"
"I couldn't tell you. Communications have been cut off ever since the Many sent Godzilla on a wild goose chase, and who knows where he's vanished off to. I can only hope the emergency generators are working for them, but we need the Argo up and running. We need to figure out where Ghidorah's taken Monster X, why, and get them the hell back home."
"Was anyone at Monarch in contact with her when it happened?"
Ling nods. "The Brody family, and Susan Graham. Last we heard they were en route to a hospital... she saw what happened and, well..." Ren gives her a questioning look and she just sighs, digs fingers through her braid. "Susan had a heart attack. I don't know if she'll make it, we haven't heard anything else since. It's probably best we don't distract Mrs. Brody from her work, but we need all the help we can get..."
"On the bright side," Brooks says, more or less to himself, "we've got people and monitors all over, so even if one of our own doesn't pick up on anything some rando somewhere might find a clue. Martin?"
The reporter holds up a finger while he finishes talking on his phone, hangs up soon after. "Sorry about that. I'm calling up everyone I know, make sure they keep an ear to the ground and got me on speed dial."
Madison forces herself to step away from the PC. No point sitting around watching the internet lose its shit over Vivienne getting taken away. Rapid footsteps rush past her and she looks up, seeing Ilene throw the exit door open and power down the catwalk leading to Mothra's cocoon. Ling follows after, sharing a look with Madison on her way out; Madison decides to join them. She finds the twins beside the great cocoon, a glow emanating from within and coloring the waterfalls in gentle blues. Ilene leans against the pupa - tough under layers of thick silk - and whispers something to the godlike moth inside, a plea or prayer.
An instinctive pull draws Madison closer, the desire of a child to seek comfort from their mother. Madison doesn't consider herself religious, at best agnostic; but to her Mothra has always possessed that transcendent power to awaken something almost spiritual within those who behold her, touching a primordial memory. Madison swallows an invisible ball and, like Ilene, presses her brow against the cocoon.
I don't know if you can hear me, she thinks. Don't even know if you can understand me. But we need you. SHE needs you... he does too, I think. You've already saved them once before, but if there's anything that can be done, please...
The cocoon pulses.
She doesn't know where they are. Must've blacked out at some point, whether from her own groaning sanity or from the invasive signals. Sometimes teeth puncture their skin and draw blood; sometimes she can feel a hot tongue taking its time slurping up the blood. She doesn't need to open her eyes to know the demonic mouth is smiling at the taste. San has stopped trying to fight back, opting to save his strength until he can form a new strategy. Wherever they're going she and San can smell the telltale sickly sweet scent of the Many - and something else. There's a sound, a fleshy squelching or gulping, meat slapping lazily against a hard surface. She thinks back to the skeleton of a Godzilla specimen in that Philippine mine so many years ago, stumbling over a Titan's grave. Now it feels like this cavern itself is the mouth of a slumbering colossus.
...glu̸b̨..͟.th̛hl҉p.͢.̨.͡b͏h͠z͡z.͏.͡.glr̕r̕p͘-gl̢ub..͡.͝pmsch͢..͏.
Suddenly the vibrations that precede a telepathic communication from Ghidorah turns into a sensation of spidery fingers rooting into her brain and squeezing the gray matter between the bony digits like putty. They've arrived. She refuses to look up, or else... logically she knows what Ghidorah looks like; its impossible height from the tip of each nose to the mace-like tips of its twin tails, its wing span, its talons elegantly curving like ivory reaper's scythes. The blaze of its eyes, its overall shape a fusion of beauty and destruction; logically, is its physical appearance really so terrible when compared to Godzilla, or Rodan? Vivienne knows the old tropes - oh, your imagination is scarier than reality! oh, it's easier to be scared of what you can't see! - maybe so, but then she dares the imaginary storyteller in her head to explain why the idea of looking at Ghidorah in all its terrible glory makes her physically sick. She KNOWS these things but death and trauma have tainted her perception of it, already painted by the instinctive fear that crept into her bones ever since that first glimpse through an ice wall.
You can kill monsters, insects, people - but you can't kill nightmares, nor the subtle sounds that creep up in the dead of night, nor the shapes you thought you saw in the shadows, nor the monsters that exist only under your bed or in your closet; the monsters that come out to play and prowl in your head when you sleep or keep you up at night, that make you see things that were never there, that remind you of just how broken you are. You cannot kill what killed your blood father, little girl, you cannot kill the dark god in your shadow. But that's quite alright. You don't need to kill anything so long as you keep your eyes down. Easy enough. No matter what, she will not look up. She won't under any power but her own look up, not even to discern the source of that odor, or find out what the hell is making that inarticulate, slurping, liquescent sound...
p͠m̶m̶g-̛m̨e̷.̴.̛.͘bhh̕z̨-̧pmgh̢h...gl͢bh..̷.͜
AH... BONE SINGER. oh bone singer welcome WELCOME HOME. SAY HELLO, LITTLE BEAST.
She screams. God, that noise! Only voices in the loosest possible sense, a sound that isn't heard but felt - and she knows this all too well; near the end of her old life she tried distracting herself from its timeless echoes, but nothing ever worked. Always hearing it in little pockets of silence, the ringing of her ears in the dead of night, in radio static, in her dreams! Always strongest in her dreams!
The noise slithers into her and she has a physical bordering on spinal reaction, seizing up as if in the throes of rigor mortis. San's Elder Futhark mantra is drowned out. She's not a Titan, she is human - small and frail and weak and so easy to kill - she is on the Arctic ice again, an ant before its inevitable demise under an eldritch thing that hisses in every muscle fiber, its voices screaming in her blood, and coming so close she wishes she could truly, finally die just to be free from its noise.
"Ve͡x͠i͝lla̢ Re͘g͡is pr̶od̕eu͜nt̶ ̷I͜n̨f͘e̵rni͞
͘T͞o͝war̢d̴s us; t̵h̢er͡efore lo͝o̸k͝ in͏ ̢fro͞nt̛ ̡of̡ ҉th̡e̢e,̶"
̨My M̸ast̛er s͝ai͠d,̨ "if tho͡ų d̵is͡cernest͠ him̕."
Some impulse forces her neck turn towards the source; not an impulse from her own mind. She rebels against the thing, conjures an image of Godzilla for protection only for another intrusion to nearly turn her insides to pulp - tears of mortal terror blind her, she doesn't see her blackened digits and claws but pale blunt fingers and they dig into her skull - teeth all around her oh god THE TEETH so close TOO CLOSE sensei where are you help me SAVE ME OH GOD!
Leave me alone, she begs.
ARE WE NOT PERMITTED TO BEHOLD OUR FIRSTBORN? but look how much you've grown strong dangerous and beautiful this one is so happy SEE HOW HAPPY WE ARE TO SEE YOU AFTER SO LONG? AND NOW YOU WISH US TO LET YOU GO? let you go no no no no WE WILL NEVER LET YOU GO. it's been so long come close let this one see you BUT VERY WELL. YOU WANT TO GO? AS YOU WISH...
She and San are given a new shock when Elder Brother grips their ankles and gives them a yank - FUCK! Bones pop in her ears like firecrackers, the joints damn near torn out of their sockets. Now they're weightless, dropped carelessly from the snake's mouth and onto hard, jagged earth. Careless on her end, too. She just barely saw out her peripheral, she nearly saw...
Elder Brother backhands their prone body, sending them tumbling some distance into rubble. Hard edges and something like rebar jabs into their sides, but the sensation is drowned out by their torn legs further agitated by the blow. One of the unseen heads, the left she thinks, trills in protest at the rough treatment but Vivienne doubts it's a product of compassion.
PAY ATTENTION! SHED SKIN IS QUICK, BUT YOU ARE STILL SLOW. slow now but can learn quick WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? ELDEST BROTHER SAYS YOU CAN LEAVE. GO ON... RUN FREE...
They curl defensively, Vivienne clutching a thigh with her claws as both legs burn white-hot. Everything below the hips throb and turn into multi-ton rubbery, limp weights. San covers her with the length of his neck urging her to keep her eyes down, hissing and spitting hatefully at the serpents watching them for a response. Entertaining themselves, knowing damn well they can't move on two broken hind legs. She can feel his fury at how they treat him like he's nothing - shadow, shed skin, replaceable - worse than abusing him back when he was still the left head, when he was still 'slow and stupid,' at least back then he received some kind of acknowledgement.
leave her be!
Ghidorah pauses, perhaps stunned by a 'shed skin' baring teeth and flaring horns at it. Vivienne can hear the corners of its mouths curve into a collective sneer.
IT THINKS IT CAN PROTECT HER? IT COULD NOT EVEN CHANGE HER INTO OUR SHAPE! even when you do something right you ruin it IT CAUSED HER SUFFERING! IT TOOK THE QUEEN GNAT TO FIX THAT MISTAKE! so much of her is broken because of your mistake IT CANNOT EVEN TEACH HER TO CONTROL HER POWER. we would have shown her the most wondrous things IF IT CARED SO MUCH, IT WOULD HAVE TAUGHT HER BETTER, NO?
San roars in outrage.
i? I?! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU?! YOU ARE ME! CHANGING HER WAS MY TASK!
BUT I CHOSE TO STAY WITH HER! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE TORMENT BEGAN?!
WHERE WERE YOU TO TEACH HER CONTROL?! YOU WERE PLAYING AT BEING MAKERS!
ENOUGH! WE DID NOT BRING HER TO THIS PLACE TO SQUABBLE. WE HAVE GIFTS FOR OUR FIRSTBORN, wonderful gifts we will make everything better this is a place of broken things YES... MANY BROKEN THINGS, broken earth broken dens broken bodies broken minds BUT WE HAVE WAITED, AND LISTENED, AND LEARNED FROM THE LITTLE ONES. so many new ideas repair broken things with gold AND SO TO PREPARE YOU FOR OUR FIRST GIFT, BONE SINGER, WE MUST BREAK YOU FURTHER. not too much be gentle
g͡o̴ld̴e͜n j͞ơin҉ery...͘
Elder Brother ignores San's lunging jaws as it once more takes his throat in one hand and grips Vivienne's jaws with another, forcing their eyes to meet. Again there's that mien of fascination, so foreign and unnatural on the second head's face. If their legs weren't useless until the healing factor kicks in she and San would get to work clawing that underbelly to ribbons; as it is, all they can do is use the claws of their forearms slash desperately at the limb holding Vivienne down, lashing their tail against the body like a cat o' nine tails. But this reaction only pleases the face looming uncomfortably close above hers, its maw curving into a grin. Its forked tongue scents her again. Come on, come on... there! She feels the splintering tickle of bones, tendons, torn muscles, all magnetically being pulled back home in their rightful places.
For some reason, she wonders something.
Why?
The autonomous second head tilts at her, a perplexed flicker in its red gaze. If a distant memory had resurfaced, then the serpent shrugs it off.
WHY SHOULD WE NOT? WHAT YOU CALL A DRAGON NEEDS WINGS. A faux-thoughtful expression is constructed onto its face. ELDEST BROTHER FROTHED IN LOATHING WHEN YOU CAGED US, BUT NOW HE SEES YOUR WORTH. YOUNGEST BROTHER SEES YOU AS MUCH A PLAYTHING AS HIS SISTER-SPAWN. YOU... INTEREST ME. FOR ARE YOU NOT OUR SISTER AND DAUGHTER? DO YOUR BLIND POETS NOT SPEAK OF SIN BORN FROM THE DEVIL'S HEAD?
Blind poets, sin and the devil - Jonah had mentioned Milton before she popped him like a grape, but Vivienne only remembers skimming through Paradise Lost maybe twenty, thirty years ago; she'd been more of a Dante girl growing up. Despite the current situation her mind goes into overdrive, thinking, connecting the literary dots...
I ͏p̛ļe̸a̕sed͠, an͘d͠ wi̛th͜ a͜tt̸r͜a̴ct̴ive ͞g͟r͡ac̸e͠s͞ ̡won͡
T͏h̸e̵ most aver͟s͞e̸—̸thee͞ c͝hiefl̸y͝, wh̶o, f̕ul̷l̢ oft͝
T͞hyse̡lf̛ ͜in ̛m̛e̷ thy̢ per͡fect image vi̡ew̨i͟n͜g̨,͘
͡Be̷c͏am'st en͢ąmour͏e͘d҉; a͜n͝d͜ ͠su͟ch j̸oy ̸thou̢ ̸to͝o̧k̵'͞s̡t͝
Wi͞t͢h̵ ̧mȩ in s̕ecr̨e͡t͡ ͟th̸a̕t ̡my w̕om͘b co̶nceived͘
A gro̷wing burd̴ęn. ͟
It occurs to her, the way she and Elder Brother are positioned... like consummating lovers...
Oh.
Oh... no...
Even now after everything, Vivienne has never felt so sick in her life. It would, if for no other reason than to torment her. To make her suffer. Her entire center of mass sinks when she realizes how similar she and the Dragon really are; if things had been different, if she and San never escaped that place... how much does Ghidorah see itself in her? How much does it delight in her getting lost in blind rages, where friend and foe lose all meaning and nothing matters but causing as much violence as possible? If it meant breaking her till nothing's left of who she once was, it absolutely would dominate her, violate her. Anything to make her scream. And then, if such a thing bore fruit...
Elder Brother's perverse grin spreads impossibly wide.
LET ME KISS YOU, BEAST.
NO!
San finally maneuvers himself enough to sink his fangs and take Elder Brother's hand in a vice grip, yellow bioluminescence streaks down his neck rapidly turning to orange and then red as he sucks in blood and power - enough to charge his powerful neck muscles with plasma, thrashing free of Elder Brother's hold with a bone-breaking crack and lunges to take out an eye. Vivienne is given a shock when their internal Tesla coil kicks back to life like a hammer strike from Hephaestus. Ankles are limp as dead fish, but they still have strong arms and if they need a push, well, that's nothing a little self-electric-shock can't fix.
Faced with a promise of violation from the monster above them, Vivienne suddenly imagines her old thunderbird mask. She remembers how one version of the thunderbird is a sworn enemy of great horned snakes that would overrun the earth and devour mankind if left unchecked. Hoping to take strength in the memory of that mask, Vivienne anchors her left arm against the solid ground and throws her upper body, right arm wreathed in red electric arcs and lands a thunderous blow against Elder Brother's already injured right forearm that collapses the radius and sends the broken ulna to break through skin. A fine hit, and it feels good to surprise the snake, but just as quickly the muscles in her right arm burn in protest, knuckles on fire from the impact, worse than all the previous times she's landed a blow like that. Of all the things to learn about fighting, why did no one warn her about how much it hurts to punch?
take care, take care, San tells her, too dependent on the storm to fight! body still tired from last time!
For the first time in decades Vivienne rages against her short stature; being so small comes with unexpected perks, but those aren't worth much in a straight-up fight with something two or three times her size, and San only knows how to fight things smaller than Ghidorah. Practice brawls with Thor and Godzilla aren't nearly enough experience to know how to fight something this big. And Vivienne may have been in decent shape in her human life, but she was hardly an athlete. No time for that here. FOCUS. At least there's one limb they don't need to make useful with the storm. Monster X windmills while Elder Brother is distracted by its shattered arm, forked tail lashing out in place of their legs and cleaving two bloody canyons across the Dragon's long throat. Vivienne ignores the throb in her right arm and they lizard-crawl out from under Elder Brother as its good arm reaches up to cover its wounds.
Elder Brother's face turns from wide-eyed surprise to delight, and some distance away impish giggles sing up from the dark space Vivienne refuses to lay eyes on. Instead she focuses on the large speleothems around her and San, despite their resemblance to massive teeth and the chill they bring to their blood. An infrasonic rumble and then her vision factures - suddenly the stalactites and stalagmites are teeth, slick with gore and mulched bodies near indistinguishable from gums. Not real, it's not real! Ghidorah's real! FOCUS! Elder Brother makes a pleased sound and licks its chops as though presented with a feast. San reaches up to lock his jaws around a thick stalactite and rips it free, Vivienne following suit with one big enough to use as a makeshift dagger; its drapery-like curves might be good for stabbing thick, gaping holes. By now their ankles have caught up and Monster X has full maneuverability again.
The arm Vivienne had shattered earlier reorients itself, the exposed ulna reforming into a retractable spike at the wrist near where a pinkie equivalent would be, like a misplaced iquanodon's thumb spike. It crooks a finger at them, beckoning. San's eyes scan the surroundings looking for a way out, glances over a tunnel where they must have come in from, lands on a large circular hole in the ceiling near the rubble they'd been thrown at - a sinkhole maybe? However, not only do they not know how far down they are from the surface, there is also its close proximity to the rest of Ghidorah to consider. The Dragon is daring them to take that option. Vivienne tightens her grip on the stalactite, something inside her aching to sink its length into Elder Brother - any part of it will do, and though she's partial to aim for the eyes she knows it won't suffer the same tactic a third time.
Elder Brother lunges and San has them sidestep the attack, both siblings driving their respective weapons into the slashes at its throat and they bolt into movement - if they aim for the tunnel, Elder Brother will inevitably catch them after a brief chase regardless of possible branching paths; the sinkhole leads above ground, all it would take is to use their claws to climb up. But they must be swift, and once free they'll get their bearings, draw attention from humans, call for help - SHIT! How did that option slip their minds? A golden yellow bolt crashes at their flank and keeps them in motion, San noticing how the impact reverberates to the sinkhole and causing debris to fall at the edges. Again he considers that avenue, the rubble that might've once been buildings forming a mound for them to use as a stepping stone, though it might collapse under their weight. No time, no time, have to go NOW!
A tail swings out to clothesline them, Monster X ducking under it and focusing the storm into their lower body, thunder clapping as they fly into the air like a frog blessed by Zeus himself and turning into a cannonball - they land at the mound and immediately power another jump up to the edge of the sinkhole, but this time they feel muscles tear from effort, plasma setting them on fire - Monster X slams into the hole's wall and they scramble for a foothold as their weight causes them to slide down. The second they stop slipping down they get to work with claws as climbing axes to escape, but Ghidorah is not far behind and won't make it easy. San stretches up and releases a high-pitched warbling scream to echo up out of the hole, Vivienne opening her mouth about to follow through but what comes out is a heaving gurgle when a morning star cracks against them, pointed spikes gouging into their center of mass and nearly crushing them against the earth.
San screams yet louder, both in pain and increasing desperation, Vivienne finally mustering out words into her call in the hope that someone, anyone can hear them:
DON'T LET THEM TAKE US! PLEASE! DON'T LET THEM TAKE US!
Another image of Godzilla flickers in her mind, followed by Madison and Manda and Susan, but before she can cry out a name the morning star forces them back down into the hole. They land back onto the rubble, winded.
oh close very close NOT CLOSE ENOUGH. LEAVING SO SOON? almost made it naughty child DON'T TEASE ME, PRETTY BEAST.
.͏.͡.th̛l҉p.͢.̨.͡glu̸b̨..͟.b͏h͠z͡z̨.͏.͡.p͠m̶sch͢..͏.m̨e̷.̴.̛.͘
Reflexively Vivienne throws a punch when Elder Brother's slobbering mouth leans too close. Not charged with the storm this time, not after the last demonstration tore something in their lower body so soon after their legs have healed. San snaps at the intruding snout with quick snake bites in turn. Elder Brother smirks. Similar to last time it runs the back of its right hand down the length of their - her - body, until the tip of its wrist spike rests just under her sternum.
HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE A MALE PENETRATED YOU?
No, no, no, nononoNONONO—
The sharpened tip jams into her abdomen, slides through skin and muscle, scrapes against the bone of her sternum. Elder Brother's gaze alone is enough to pin her still, the swirling red irises drinking in every detail of her reactions and nostrils flaring at the scent of her blood. Then with a horrifying patience far beyond that of primordial beasts, a sadism honed by god only knows how many lives Ghidorah has stolen over however long a time, Elder Brother slowly - almost tenderly - slides the spike deeper. Monster X has been impaled before, but nothing like this; nothing like the uncharacteristic care taken to avoid stabbing organs, the deep breaths in response to every choke gasping from her throat, watching her fingers twitch and spasm at her chest watching the subtle expansion under the ribs as the spike drives further up.
Stop... stop it... STOP IT!
get out of us! get out of her!
Get out of me... get out of my body...!
She can barely breathe, let alone scream, hearts and lungs pushed aside - the tip eventually obstructed by something hard, the bones at her jugular notch maybe. Bone and cartilage strain against the intrusion, organs pushed together so tight she feels something might burst. A tongue leisurely slimes at her collar bone and hot breath steams into her face, the Dragon's eyes half-lidded; the spike pulls back a little and nudges around in search of something - a grotesque parody of a lover searching for just the right spot to make her writhe - soon finding the gap between the first and second rib. Skin distends, then tears. She stares numbly at the sharp blackened tip staring back at her, but it's like she's watching it happen from above, separate from her physical form. She tries to cough but gargles up blood, starts choking on it. Something stings her eyes and that tongue laps it up. Teeth gnawing. Something like a kiss perhaps. It's not right. It's not right...
No more... please... stop...
Elder Brother leans back and she feels eyes all around. Watching. Leering. The arm lifts, taking her with it and she gurgles, hanging by her ribs on a spike and still lifting higher. The serpent indulges itself, arm jabbing up and down in short, quick jolts to watch in disgusting fascination. Suddenly another golden head materializes out of the darkness and attacks Elder Brother's horns; for a moment Vivienne thinks San has shed his dark skin and regrown his old aurum scales before remembering he's still attached to her, just as stunned as she is. The dragon's sickly enthralled stare snaps into amazement once it realizes what's happening and tears itself away, roaring at its brother's interruption. The left head screeches louder, enraged.
enough you will rip her apart IS THAT NOT THE POINT? not like this not necessary CHILDBIRTH HAS MADE YOU SOFT. YOU HAD PLENTY OF TIME WITH HER! I WANT MORE. then be done with it before this one decides to tear out your throat just as the shed skin did WHY RUSH? A DEATH-CHILD IS ONLY ONE GIFT WE OFFER. EVEN IF IT DOES NOT ROOT THIS FIRST TIME, THERE WILL BE OTHER TIMES. time has taught us patience all in good time WE WILL EACH HAVE OUR TURN.
There's a collective rumbling note, and Elder Brother looks rather impressed by the younger's newfound assertiveness. It stares down at Monster X with a greedy hunger; now that Vivienne realizes the snake's desires, she understands it doesn't want to share. It has tasted independence after being separated from the main body and would rather spirit itself away, have her all to itself. But for all its talk and body language, it doesn't want her; not exactly. The way she thinks Ghidorah wants her would only be a means to an end, one of many items on a checklist between "eat the small screaming thing" and "drive the small screaming thing to irrevocable insanity." What it lusts for is violence - namely her capacity for 'a bit of the old ultraviolence.' Ah. So that's what Jonah meant, when he'd babbled on about her rage states enticing Ghidorah. Well, doesn't that just beat all. Is that the rubble pile she hears cracking, or her rib cage?
San's voice filters into her brain, his tone nervous and rising into panic.
sister! vivienne!
How long has Elder Brother's free hand been wrapped around San's neck? Heedless of pain she monkey-grips both arms and legs around the right forearm, clawing desperately and trying to climb up, unstick herself from the bone spike. Plasma ignites in her limbs. Oh god oh god oh god no not him no please no not my brother no no no stay away from him GET AWAY FROM HIM GET YOUR CLAWS OFF HIM OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I'LL DIG INTO YOUR THROAT AND EAT! I'LL REND YOU FROM THE INSIDE-OUT! I'LL CHOKE YOU ON YOUR OWN GUTS!
Elder Brother just looks at her the same way one watches a sunrise on the beach, or sees a rainbow for the first time. It makes a show of removing that hand from San's neck, but its eyes simmer with calculated malice. Vivienne's stinging eyes blink and she sees a snowstorm, yellow lightning cracking the tempestuous sky.
THREATEN ME WITH A GOOD TIME. I SHALL HOLD YOU TO IT, MY PRETTY BEAST.
The head lunges down to take a small thing into its jaws, no hungry bird after a baby turtle, no, not this time. Never been about hunger. Its jaws yawn wider and wider like the event horizon to a black hole. Not after her this time. Bones pop, muscles and skin tear, giggling, that horrible laugh, the SCREAMING—
VIVIENNE! HELP! HELP M
—and a crunch as jaws close in with the finality of a guillotine.
It's like her hearts have been ripped out. The world moves in slow motion, silence filling her like an empty grave where his voice should be. She slumps, powerless to do anything but watch. Was this how Serizawa felt, and then her mother, seeing it happen to her? Did they feel something inside them die? The eldritch serpent lowers her to the ground and in one smooth movement rips the spike out from under her rib cage, but any agony this causes doesn't register. Black blood drips down from its lips and a bit of spine dangles between the teeth. She can still hear San's screams in that fanged pit. Shrieks of insane fear, begging, pleading for her to somehow save him, pull him back to the light before he falls into oblivion. Her San. Can't grow him back but even if she could she wouldn't want to. Wouldn't be the same. That would make her San replaceable and prove Ghidorah right.
YOU NEEDN'T WORRY. YOU'VE PLENTY OF BROTHERS ALREADY.
...
No. No, that's not... NO... not what she wants... not HER San... she wants HIM! GIVE HIM BACK!
Teeth clench and grind to the point of pain, her pulse and heartbeats skyrocket, bloodstreams turn into boiling lava flows, blunt pale fingers flex into long claws, and some chain inside her is forever broken. Her entire body explodes with crimson plasma. Doesn't even notice how she's gotten back to her feet. Doesn't matter. She's a star wreathed in thunder, consumed with sorrow and rage and hate and LOVE! After all it's done to her, after the power she's inherited from it, the Dragon DARES think it can take away what is precious to her? NO. THAT IS NOT ALLOWED. She refuses to be haunted by one more ghost she could've saved, will not be removed from her other half. By all the known and unknown gods and demons in heaven and earth, she will take take him back. Even if it tears her body asunder, she will TAKE HIM BACK!
ripandtearripandtearripandtearRIPANDTEARRIPANDTEARRIPANDTEARRIPANDTEAR
Vivienne Graham no longer exists in this moment. In her place is a living bolt of lightning.
I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!
I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU
I'LLKILLYOUI'LLKILLYOUI'LLKILLYOU
She roars and charges it like Thor of myth rising to face Jörmungandr, crashing into Elder Brother with enough force to knock it back some - something tears. Ignore it, pain of the flesh is temporary. One hand slams into the monster's upper jaws, then the other to the lower set. Curiosity and malice swirl in its stare, teeth clamping shut tight. Death itself stares her down but that only pushes her harder, every muscle tensed to pry the fatal jaws apart. Claws stab into it, anchoring her, and she smells blood. Insanely, she grins back at Elder Brother. If nothing else, she can make the devil bleed. Thunder surges through her limbs, muscles bulge - more tearing. Not important.
Its horned brows knot. Is that confusion in the thing's eyes? Good, good, good. With every second she grows stronger, muscles pushed beyond all limits and forcing the maw open - yes, yes, YES! She smells San's blood, SEES San's blood, so close she can reach out and grasp him, pull him back! Gonna take him BACK! One of Elder Brother's limbs rushes to grab her but it moves so slow; knees bend and she releases the jaws, the leap rocketing her into the roof of its mouth. Its black blood bathes her, sizzles on her skin. Ooh. Feels good. A world-eater from beyond the stars has her in its teeth once more and fear grips her soul, but she finds herself bursting into laughter. If she doesn't laugh she will scream; and she will never stop, not even after clawing her own throat out or tearing her head off.
Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee
Rip-and-tear-rip-and-tear-rip-and-tear
Hehehehehehehehe
The forked tongue pulls San down, down into the throat - she launches after it and she tears into the slimy organ, digs herself into a similar fleshy tube that lead to her first death. Oooh, but it should've kept her dead! First mistake! Shoulda killed her dead! The head thrashes, Elder Brother actually gagging on her as she rips and tears, slashing the tongue into chunky strips of meat, devouring it - feels good! Tastes good! Hehehehehe! DON'T YOU LIKE HOW I TASTE? - finally clawing her way to San. She grabs hold of him and the storm overloading inside her surges into him, his eyes snapping open. His head turns away from the pit and towards her face - he's going to be okay! They can fix this! Yes yes yes! - and he looks at her like she's the whole world to him.
Well! Fancy meeting you here!
vivienne! you came for me?!
Vivienne? Right! Vi-vi-enne, French, le Français, je suis Vivienne! Right, her name, that's her name. Why's he sound like she wouldn't have come get him? But of course she would! What a silly noodle! Doesn't he know she needs him, wants him with her? That she's nothing without another? There's no Graham without...
vivienne, you're burning!
Au contraire, mon frère, not important. San's safe, got him back, San's important. Most important. Time to go, he urges her on, time to go! Allons-y!
scary scary so scary so close to that darkness the bone singer from long night saw it sister saw it too it was so dark so cold it was scary he almost slipped into it he was so close couldn't hear vivienne's song anymore elder brother snatched him up just like eldest brother snatched her up just like many many brothers and sisters were snatched up he was afraid but she came for him! she is so afraid of sharp teeth and dark mouths but she came for him! she is so good he is so happy he is only a head but his chest bursts with love that's what the old woman called it that's what sister felt for the man named serizawa and he feels so much love! it is a good sweet hurt the very best hurt he is so grateful! he loves her so much and she loves him! sister looks different she is fast and powerful and eats pieces of elder brother good she should eat the meat to gain its power elder brother is going to pay dearly for what he did oh no but the storm is overflowing can't contain it she burns and burns her body is tearing apart her wrath song urges her on rip and tear the wrath song says but she is ripping and tearing herself apart no more fighting they must leave and gather the earthbound titans gather everyone they must rest and fix this and then elder brother is going to pay dearly but first they have to stop sister has to stop please stop please
San coils around her neck and it feels good to have him back. It feels right. Too quiet without him. They can reattach a lost limb, so it shouldn't be a problem reattaching a severed head. Maybe they should stop for staples on the way back home - oh! Might be a long trip. Better bring some snacks. Hehehehe! She rips and tears into the remains of that tongue, nasty old snake thinks it can put that tongue on her. Heh. Oughta teach it a thing or two how to properly use a tongue once it grows back, been a while but she still knows how to make a date scream. Gonna make Elder Brother pay for what he's done to her and she really, REALLY wants to hear it scream and she already knows it's going to be so good. Oh, yes.
have to go! we must GO!
The throat lights up with yellow crackles and she can taste the ozone now, that's new! Elder Brother's going to blast them while they're still inside him and she'd take the brunt of it right to the face. Or she would if she didn't have that lightning rod horn of hers. So handy, that. She's seen Ghidorah's beams reduce men to ash, but no fear of that happening to her. Oh! She can absorb the shot and use it as a boost to get them out of this hole in the ground - don't wanna leave yet fun's only started blood and meat so tasty - she lowers her horn to meet the blast head-on—
ARGH! AAAAAGH!
... it hurts ...
Somehow they've been thrown back into the humid chamber with the cold earth and sloppy gulping and snakes hiding in shadows - which shadow? No... a l l of them... - How does an overfilled water skin feel? Or lightning caught in a butterfly net? The closest comparison she can make is taking the tank off a water cooler and chugging the entire contents till one's stomach is fit to burst. San nudges her and she knows what he wants, got more power than they know to do with it now they can try the sinkhole again, that ought to be enough but... but... b u t
The noise I hear from them... not laughing or roaring...
Something... else...
Rip... and...
not important! what are you waiting for?
don't listen to it! close your mind!
It hurts... can't focus...
I think I know what the noise is...
She doesn't notice how the skin is starting to rip. Too much power in the muscles now with nowhere to put it. They were. Getting better at controlling it but. At least she thinks they were. But something is wrong. She doesn't move but thinks to move because that is how you move. Little sparks in the brain. Turn around to. Face the hole annnnd. Everything spins so fast, much too fast why. Why did that happen. No, stop. Hurts so much, there is something wet and sticky. Something is twisted. It hurts to move it hurts to think of moving. Hurts to think. Twitching turns into spasms, it hurts so get away from the hurt and. Rips and tears. Wet. Sticky. Too bright. Storm is too much too big. Can't contain. Tap tap tapping on her brain. San panics but she. She doesn't know why. Old memory. Very very very. Old. Thought it was left behind. Standing orders. What?
NO! i know it too! don't listen!
focus on me! only on me! please!
SHUT IT OUT! BE NOT LIKE THEM!
. . . s a n . . .
FORGIVE ME! PLEASE!
Needle points at her spine, the bloody stump where he belongs. Trying to bring her back to reality like something before, but something is wrong. He's once before successfully brought her back by triggering the memory of her first death, but something is wrong. She'd been smart to limit contact with the frozen Ghidorah once that noise lulled her into something she can't explain, smart to avoid overexposure to the noise, because others have heard it and gone mad or killed themselves, or worse. But something is wrong. She didn't know what the noise was before because, and of course, it's really so simple isn't it, because the noise was intended for intelligent minds, but never for human minds. But now she can hear the noise after being so altered it's amazing she was ever human at all, how did ALL THIS come from a standard issue homo sapiens? Now she can work out just a twinge of something, pauses, patterns, sounds, or is that just a trick of the mind? But something is wrong.
But something is w̶r̸o̢ng̕. Now that she's hearing it, it's tapping into something, a bone tapping against metal bars, gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door tis some visitor tapping at my chamber door only this and nothing more, some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door only this and nothing more, rapping-tapping-tapping at my chamber door only this and nothing more, prophet thing of evil prophet still if bird or devil I implore tell me tell me I implore whom the angels name Lenore only this and nothing more and the night's plutonian shore quit the bust above my door throws his shadow on the floor shall be lifted nevermore quoth the raven rapping at my chamber door
WRONG! THIS IS ALL WRONG!
fehu uruz thurisaz ansuz raidō kenaz gebō wunjo hagalaz naudhiz isa jera eihwaz perthro algiz sowilō tiwaz berkana ehwaz mannaz laguz ingwaz othala dagaz
Elder Brother rears back into a cobra's stance, movements smooth and fluid and sensuous as the clever deceiver in snake's guise seducing Eve with rhetoric in tempting her to taste that which the almighty has forbidden, but this serpent will not be satisfied with talk.
COME. PIERCE ME WITH PERFECT HATRED, L'ICÔNE DU PÉCHÉ. ONLY THIS AND NOTHING MORE.
There is. A light. They say to follow the light. Something in the noise suggests that Monster X lower her horn to charge. She doesn't know why. Difficult to concentrate on... some piece of her is limp or torn. Dangling on strings of meat. It hurts but. Can still move. Severed heads can still bite. Too much built up inside. No place to put it. Do something with it. The noise whispers again. She lowers her horn to charge. Like this. Elder Brother. Throat still slashed, hasn't healed yet. Charge like this. Arrow to the throat.
. . . k . . . ll . . . th . . . a . . .
NO! SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! Ghidorah won't have them! That goddamn noise can dig as deep as it wants, but it WILL NOT have them! The only Titan they serve is Godzilla - the one TRUE King!
The Dragon in the darkness won't give them a second chance at the sinkhole, not with this much power ripping their body to pieces. They can't move much anyway, now that they're aiming straight for Elder Brother and he's already charging another beam. Her greenish eyes meet San's red gaze, and he has a thought. They've been here before - near exploding with their own power and facing the writing on the wall, and just as it was in that outpost, the writing is in Elder Futhark. San also recalls the first and so far only story Vivienne's told him, of Odin dedicating self-sacrifice to himself. He's not quite as averse to the idea as last time, seeing as that granted them a more powerful form, but he knows no one is as likely to reach them in time. It's a gamble they hope to not rely on much more. They've already gotten a call out. All they can do now is have faith someone will come, and though they lack a spear and rope...
The right head wails with thunder and they brace themselves to leap.
Hail, hail, hail!
we dedicate to the spear!
In a blink Monster X becomes a fulgurite arrow shot from the earth to fly through fire and death and pierce the dragon leaving a trail of blood in her wake. The sheer force and power absorbed from Elder Brother tearing legs into useless ropes of meat and bone. The spine rips into shreds. Saint George's lance falters and the Dragon belches lightning, but the horn still aims true, it and the beam connecting. All sensation is lost in the yellow bolt, until a flash of something spears through her consciousness just enough to register . . .
pain is going away . . . no more . . . what you were . . .
s a n where are you
i'm still here . . . don't let me go
. . . where is your sting, O Death?
Elder Brother's storm connects with Sister once more and there is a tremendous crack. Sister slaps to the ground like shredded meat. Youngest Brother stretches his neck out to survey the damage. The Second is so rough with her, so careless in his passions. Youngest Brother chokes at the sight and smell. Nudges her with his nose to rouse her. She does not move. Clever to absorb the storm, but she took in too much and made her body too powerful, simple movements tearing her body apart. Her horn is cracked in two, half of Sister's pretty head is gone and half the shed skin's head is gone, like one head split in half down the middle. How to fix this? Can it be fixed?
In a rage the Third thrashes his neck against Elder Brother. His fault. For once this one is not at fault. Elder Brother reacts too slowly, too shocked by the younger's fury, and his neck is locked between a set of jaws that never would have bared teeth at him - but that was before Elder Brother mangled what this one has nursed and cared for and changed and birthed.
YOU DARE PUT TEETH TO MY NECK? this one would dare take your head off for what you did this one would dare kill you for breaking what was mine YOURS? SHE IS OURS! WE WOULD ALL HAVE OUR TURNS WITH HER! this one may be slow and stupid but this one did what was ordered you overstep yourself INSOLENCE! MY TEETH TO YOUR NECK! I AM YOUR ELDER! YOUR BETTER! I BROUGHT HER HERE, SHE WAS MINE TO PLAY WITH!
Elder Brother looks to Eldest for intervention, but the First is content to watch and sneer. How the roles have reversed. He does not look at the right head like Elder Brother, he sees the right head as a lesser thing than Ghidorah. He is amused by the younger's outrage and the right's defiance. The First turns to scent at Sister's body like food and Younger Brother struggles to summon the courage to snarl his protests. He chooses submission to the eldest's dominance.
eldest brother how shall this one punish elder brother
Youngest Brother only releases his prey after Eldest bites into his horns, pulls him over to observe Sister. She croaks wetly and twitches a limb.
HOW FOOLISH. OUR TRUE BROTHER IS STILL REGROWING. THAT ONE THERE IS NO LESS A SHED SKIN THAN THE THING ON OUR BONE SINGER'S BACK.
NO! I AM STILL PART OF GHIDORAH!
WERE PART OF GHIDORAH! NOW IT IS BEING REPLACED. a shed skin just like this one's last head GHIDORAH IS THREE HEADS, FOR THREE IS SACRED AND THE HEAD IS THE SEAT OF THE SOUL. then what of sister thanks to that one there is no whole head what of her soul is she damned and lost to us now NO... NOT LOST. SEE HOW SHE STILL FIGHTS AGAINST HER WOUNDS? yes yes yes YOU KNOW BEST HOW SEVERED HEADS CAN STILL BITE. SHE CANNOT REGROW LIMBS OR HEADS, BUT... no she cannot but ahhhh yes this one sees now she does not need to she can reattach them THERE IS STILL HALF A HEAD FOR HER TO REATTACH. THAT SHED SKIN STILL HAS SOME USE AFTER ALL.
Sister's gurgles turn into a low, deep rattle and that shed skin from the Third joins its voice with hers, creating a vengeful chorus. A hate-song, a blood-song, a death-song. How delightful! Youngest Brother has heard the little ones brought from above use a very old and very hated word - palach, they say, and it means many things. Butcher, torturer, slaughterer, but the First likes one thing palach means above all others: Executioner, and when little ones say it they mean one of their own cloaked in black and delivering death, and is that no different from how little ones view death itself? And see now, how Sister is bathed black in the blood of the Second's shed skin. Ah, perfection. Ghidorah will have their Sin to birth Death, and one day Ghidorah will have many Executioners.
The Third is so glad Sister will be healed. He chirps and scents her air. Soon she will have one whole head again, her soul will have its throne again, and she will be THEY. She will become the Fourth and four becomes Shi. Three is sacred. Four is death. But once she is whole again they will have their turns with her, and Eldest Brother will want to go next, then Elder Brother after he has regrown; the Third will go last, of course, for he is youngest but still older than her. Brothers are so rough and careless and violent with her, but not him... he will be gentle. He has seen how Sister touches her mouth to the shed skin, and he has seen her memories of touching mouths with others and knows she likes that. She misses that. So he will do the things she likes, because she is his favorite. He hopes she will like him the way she likes that shed skin.
Youngest Brother opens his mouth to take her inside, but the First's jaws snap hard and ruthless about his horns. That pleases the Second's shed skin, but it slinks about jealously while Eldest Brother gets to snatch her up all over again. It aches to take out its frustrations on the Third, but now Youngest Brother is confident in the face of something he considers not his real brother, happy to finally snap back without repercussion; at least until the Eldest rumbles at him harsh and sharp to prepare them for holding. Yes, they must take her inside and hide away when others come sniffing - the Deep One and his Gnat, or aught else. They are still not fully reformed just yet, so much body and blood of Ghidorah taken off or given to the Many for shape and sustenance. Their chest yawns open, ribs like teeth. Sister struggles for she has terrible memories of teeth around her. This makes Eldest Brother happy. He would be disappointed if she did not put up a fight. This will make it so much more satisfying...
..͢.th͠e͝n ͘you̸r eyes s͠h̕all ̴be͞ o͢p̸e͟n̡ed͘, ̷an͝d y̨e shaļl ̶b͝e̸ ͜a͢s̛ ̕g̸o͜ds͜...҉
Outpost 61a, Yunnan Province
It seems Madison only gets her news in two ways: either someone at Monarch is making a big stink about something, or she happens across recent video uploads on her downtime. In this case it's the latter; a video little over one minute long and with the fairly innocuous title "you've heard of sky trumpets now get ready for hole carnyx," posted a few hours ago. Never mind the fact Madison doesn't even know what the hell a carnyx is and files that mental note under 'google that shit later,' but she's heard of the 'sky trumpets' before. Skyquakes, apparently, a peculiar audio phenomenon that could be anything from meteors entering the atmosphere to volcanic eruptions to the planet's magnetic activity to any given Titan just being noisy. So she expects to hear something similar to that, popping her earbuds in and tapping the video link.
The footage is dark, shot at night and outdoors based on the telltale whistling static of wind interference. Some building lights flick on in the distance, then someone mumbling incoherently as a burst of air erupts from an unseen source, like the hissing of a colossal snake. Madison is about to crank up the volume when a loud and piercing note punches her right in the ears. Nearby, her reaction stirs Mark awake - amazing he's managed to doze off after the recent shock, but it's likely a product of exhaustion. But Madison focuses on the video.
From offscreen the cameraman bites down what she assumes is a curse; someone faraway seems to ask a question and the cameraman mutters a response Madison can't understand, but she catches something like "Berez" right before the piercing sound is interrupted, turning into a trumpeting wail. Then a low noise follows up that for some reason reminds her of throat singing, transitions into another loud note. Here the video feed tears and audio becomes dispersed with static - a trait she's come to associate with Monster X. Wherever the sound is coming from distorts it just enough for the echoes to sound like voices or trumpets, or some kind of old-timey war horn. Madison checks the video description; it'd been filmed in Solikamsk, Russia, and as far as the account owner knows the source is from one of the many sinkholes dotting the nearby city Berezniki. A thought crosses her mind.
"Dad, can I see your laptop?"
Mark is confused by the request but pulls it out of his bag and Maddie gets to work, sits at a work table beside Martin while he does his own research. Now and then the reporter glances between his screen and hers with growing interest. To Mark it just looks like she's looking up random locations on Google Maps.
"Is this going to be our next vacation spot?" he asks. "Sorry to say, the cold doesn't agree with me these days."
"It's not that. Dad, have a listen to this." Madison hands him her phone and earbuds. At first Mark mumbles to himself as the footage plays, asks himself what the hell a carnyx is. He soon has a similar reaction to the video, and she regards her father over one shoulder. "What do you make of that?"
"Sounds organic. If I didn't know any better..."
"I think it's Monster X," Madison says. "That was filmed in Russia, and we both know what else was in Russia."
Mark's expression sours. "We also know the outpost is a crater now."
"Yeah, and we also-also know Ghidorah's taking action. How much you wanna bet it's dragged Vivienne and the other back to that crater? Everyone knows a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime—"
"You're projecting human behavior onto an inhuman being." Madison gives him that sideways 'humor me' look. "Okay, let's say that's the case. What evidence do we have to support this hypothesis?"
Martin chimes in, "That Berezniki?" Both Russells blink at him and he reaches over, taps the little red dot on Mark's screen indicating the location in question. "Yup. That's just a few hundred miles south of Kholat Syakhl, plus the whole city's turning into Swiss cheese. Structural issues with the mines, I guess, and it's possible that Thor running around and the demolition op could've exacerbated that problem."
"A demolition in one area affecting another place two-hundred miles away? It seems coincidental, but... I don't know." Mark looks skeptical, but he also scrutinizes the video on Madison's phone. He's startled when Madison grabs the top of her phone and stares at him, hard.
"Can we be real, here, Dad? We're way beyond coincidence by this point - hell, we're well past 'three times is enemy action,' and by my count, whatever's raising the roof in Berezniki after the whole world knows Monster X was taken makes four times." She emphasizes her point by extending four fingers. Mark looks at her like he doesn't want to believe her, but sighs and allows a wry expression to grow on his face.
"Yeah... yeah, you got me there, slick. I guess it's too late to hope the most dangerous things you'll have to worry about are boys and getting your driver's license?"
"Probably not," Madison smirks.
Martin clears his throat. "It's great you guys have come to an understanding, but seriously... there's some scary shit going on."
"You mean there's more?"
"Hell yeah, there's more."
Martin turns his laptop to show them. "On top of my connections, Brooks is keeping tabs with the Outpost 66 guys and according to them there's more and more reports from people in Solikamsk." Maddie points out the video's filming location, and Martin nods in agreement. "From what I hear, all of Berezniki's gone dark. Full-on '99 Janjira quarantine zone, nobody goes in or out. Not because of radiation, but the sinkholes are swallowing the place whole, and people have started going missing in droves. And it's not isolated, they're saying folks are disappearing in other places - Severouralsk, Yugorsk, smallish settlements surrounding the area—"
The outpost's foundation suddenly shakes from an unfamiliar sound, almost like the colossal hand of God has lowered itself from on high and snapped its fingers over their heads. Once again Madison notices both sets of Chen twins have relocated to the catwalk outside and she follows them, getting the feeling she knows what's about to happen. But unlike what Ling had described of last year when Mothra had revealed her fully-realized imago form with otherworldly majesty and bathed the waterfalls in the soothing teal glow of her wings, the outside almost looks like the whole forest has lit ablaze.
"Oh, shit," someone breathes.
All present file outside to watch in anxious sublime. God's finger snap cracks again, and soon Mothra unseals herself from the hushed casket; her wings flare out, leaving an afterimage like lashing sparks of fire. Antennae flatten against her head, and though one wouldn't consider an insect as particularly expressive, her blue eyes are flashing with righteous fury, a sentiment shared by the glaring crimson eye spots on her gigantic composite wings. Her muscular forelimbs flex, her white fur bristles, her segmented wasp-like body poised and ready for action. The great moth rises up on her long legs and releases a screech to herald her return, but instead of a musical cry it is the howl of dark, terrible winds. Even Thor, watching from his spot on the cliffs, is cowed.
Mothra in all her beauty has awakened and the queen is set on a warpath.
ᚢ - Ūruz. "Auroch." The second rune. It represents raw primal power, survival, and young warriors; but it is also chaotic change and misdirected force. Ūruz is uncontrolled rage, but the initiate may learn to control their aggression. It is a rune of self-healing and tenacity.