#i should have damn near close to 5k at this point and im STILL barely above 3k like im MAD AS HELL abt my spenditures

[dammitjameskirk]

arrrrgh i feel like i have no money and i still need to get a bunch of holiday gifts for so many people... i technically get paid tonight but like. this is my last pay day til after the holidays basically and im stressed bc i cant save money for SQUAT like this and i hate capitalism and holidays. i love spoiling my friends BUT AT WHAT COST

[michaelmyersmalewife]

LEVIATHAN | 7. The Chase | MASTERLIST

words: 5k+

A/N: just a heads up i'll be leaving for a short vacation this friday which means the next chapter is gonna be posted on thursday !! and im coming back monday so next week's update might be a little late anyway thank u for reading!!

you can also support this fic on wattpad & ao3

Elena sat in her quarters, a metallic shock blanket draped over her shoulders.

The past few hours had been rife with shouting and tears - on both ends. Madison and Elena at odds with Emma and the Controller. If not for their irreplaceable abilities, she was sure he would've ordered them shot dead. After being dropped back into the cramped dorms in the ship by an oddly sullen Regulator, Elena and Madison had been alone for what felt like ages.

The kid sat alone on her cot, facing a wall with her knees drawn up to her chest. She could only imagine what was going through her mind. Madison hadn't spoken much since Antarctica, but no one on the ship were exactly in a talking mood after...that.

It was painful to think about. Though she had been put under for a majority of the ordeal, she had spent nearly all of it wrestling with the split consciousness of a megalomaniacal dragon, trying with all her might not to get swallowed by their all-encompassing will. If control was nearly impossible with the titans she encountered in the past, it was unthinkable with them.

Then there was her mother, Emma, who had been escorted out of the room by the Controller's men a while ago. Her excuse was that she needed to make "tweaks" to the ORCA, but she doubted that. It was still hard for Elena to understand what exactly went down back at the base (even after both side's admittedly biased explanations) but from what she could gather, there had been some sort of betrayal. Madison's attitude said that much. And from the way that scaly bastard was acting after their release, she doubted anything good could come from that ORCA. She scowled.

That was another problem entirely. The Controller had said they only wanted to "take back their property" but they seemed to be doing the opposite. They were following them - that monster - from a safe distance. Though, there was no such thing in Elena's mind.

She could still hear them, their cackling. They weren't exactly the happiest about their welcoming party, but their giddiness over their newfound freedom  wasn't comforting either. Anything that made that thing feel the slightest hint of joy was bound to be something awful for everyone else. Before Madison's intervention, she had just begun to glimpse their forms manifesting within the headspace, adorned with lightning and sickly yellow storm clouds. The image of their eyes - burning with malice and staring at her like she was some sort of plaything - would be branded in the back of her mind for the rest of her life.

"Do you..um," Madison shifted in her seat, turning to look at Elena. "You knew what that place was, right?"

She knew she wasn't talking about Outpost 32. She nodded. "I'm sorry you had to experience it like that." She looked down at her hands, at the lines that ran through her palms. "If done right, it can be amazing. Beautiful, even."

She found a slight, nostalgic smile growing on her face. It took her back to her childhood, when she innocently held hours-long conversations with the radioactive lizards and giant insects under Monarch supervision. She wasn't used to remembering when going into the headspace was fun, when it didn't hurt. "But if done wrong..."

Madison looked at the floor, resting her chin on her knees.

"I don't know what I saw. It was..scary." she said, shifting her head to the side so that she could look at Elena. "But it also felt familiar? Like someone had dropped me in the middle of the ocean, but I just kept sinking until I hit the bottom."

"There was a voice too," Madison outstretched her arms before her, looking at her hands as well. "It wasn't as scary as that sinking feeling, it helped bring me out of it actually. But I couldn't really tell who it belonged to. It didn't sound like my mom. Or you."

A small, barely noticeable smile appeared on Elena's face. "I think I might have an idea."

Madison cocked her head to the side in confusion, brows scrunching together before realization dawned on her face. "No way."

Elena nodded.

"But he's supposed to be one of the good ones right? Why did I feel so...out of control?"

"Control doesn't depend on whether a titan meets our standards of 'good' or not. I wouldn't even call it control, really. It's more of a two-way street. In that place, you're on equal ground. At least, that's how it's supposed to be."

Elena pulled the blanket closer around her.

"These people don't understand..they never will." she leaned back, resting her head against the wall behind her. "It's not like your mom's ORCA, can't be used like some machine - can't use others like a machine. That's not the point, never has been."

"It's something you feel. A connection." Without realizing, her hand hovered over her heart.

Madison considered her words, becoming deep in thought.

"You keep using that word."

"It's the only way I know how to describe it. That's what that place is for - connecting. But I guess it's just human nature to twist something like that into something ugly."

_____

Keeping track of Godzilla wasn't much of a problem.

In the past he hadn't been bothered by the submarines and drones in his wake, trailing after him like a school of remoras. And he didn't seem to mind now. Jodie often found herself wondering how they fit into his world. Did he think of them as part of his pod, like a whale? Or did he think of them the way sailors thought of seabirds circling their boats like bothersome scavengers?

Whatever it was, she didn't have time to dwell on it before Graham pulled up a global map and traced a path depicted on it with her finger.

"Godzilla appears to be following the same path as Emma's Osprey, heading north over South America to here." she zoomed in to a small island. "Outpost 56 in Isla de Mara, Mexico. We touch down in ten minutes."

It was a small island in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the mainland. The satellite map depicted a dormant volcano with what appeared to be a base built near its mouth.

But Isla de Mara wasn't the only outpost Monarch was worried about. At least 6 other outposts seemed to be compromised. Thailand, Sudan, Brazil, Germany, North America, the list went on. Even Skull Island wasn't immune from the chaos.

Was Emma really about to release the titans in those outposts too? Sure, she'd always had a great deal of respect for them - liked them, even. Jodie could relate. But she wasn't a terrorist. She knew in the back of her mind that if she was doing something like this, she had to have a damn good reason.

"What about the people?" Mark asked.

"I-I'm sorry?" Graham said.

He pointed to the sleepy coastal village near the volcano. "The people - the ones in that town down there who don't realize they're gonna be the special of the day."

"Foster's already sent G-Team to evacuate as many as they can." Jodie said.

Suddenly, a bridge officer's voice cut through the conversation. "Dr. Serizawa, we have a call on the emergency channel - from Isla de Mara."

"Answer it." he said.

Emma Russell filled the screen, standing alone in what looked like a plain white room. Every pair of eyes in the bridge was trained on her, the air was heavy with trepidation.

"I suppose I should go first," she said.

"Where's Madison?" Mark snapped.

After briefly closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she glanced somewhere beyond the screen. "She's fine, Mark. Trust me."

"Trust is a little hard to come by, Dr. Russell," Foster interjected. "Especially after what you pulled."

"I know," she tiredly rubbed her eyes. "And I can only imagine what you're all thinking. But if there were any other way to do this, I would."

"Do what, Emma?" Mark demanded.

Jodie couldn't understand how she could remain so calm knowing she had all that blood on her hands. It took all of her self-control not to interrupt the discussion.

"I'm saving the world." she said, not a hint of irony in her voice.

"By releasing those monsters? That doesn't make sense!"

"As impossible as it seems, it does. Hear me out." she said. The Argo was silent.

"After we lost Andrew, I swore his death would not be in vain. That I would find an answer. A solution to why the titans were rising. But as I dug deeper, I realized that they were here for a reason and that despite all the years we spent trying to stop them, we never dared to confront the truth."

"What truth?"

"Humans have been the dominant species for thousands of years and look what's happened - overpopulation, pollution, war. The mass extinction we feared has already begun. And we are the cause. We are the infection."

Jodie turned away from the screen, crossing her arms. Despite her gut instinct telling her she shouldn't believe a word, she found herself agreeing with her.

"But like all living organisms, the Earth unleashed a fever to fight this infection - its original and rightful rulers - the titans. They're part of the Earth's natural defense system, a way to protect the planet. To maintain its balance. But if governments are allowed to contain them, destroy them, or use them for war, the human infection will only continue to spread. And within our lifetime, our planet will perish, and so will we. Unless we restore balance."

"And what's gonna be left?" Jodie finally interrupted. "A dead world overrun by titans?"

"No, Mrs. Lennox, the exact opposite."

The feed cut to a time-lapse video of the ruins of Honolulu, San Francisco and Las Vegas, transforming from desolate wastelands to sanctuaries overrun by plant life.

"Just like how a forest fire replenishes the soil, or a volcano creates new land, we've seen signs that these creatures will do the same. Wherever the titans go, life follows - triggered by their radiation. They are the only thing that can reverse the destruction that we started. They are they only guarantee that life will carry on. But for that to happen, we have to set them free. We have to reconnect."

"You're murdering the world." Chen said, anger evident in her voice.

"No." Emma said. "Because as difficult as this will be, I promise humanity will not go extinct. Using the ORCA and..." for a brief moment she looked away from the screen. Jodie could probably guess what else (or rather, who else) she was using in her scheme.

"If we hadn't forgotten our connection to the world around us, none of this would have to happen. But using the ORCA, we can return to a natural order. A forgotten order where we coexisted in peace with the titans. The first gods."

"This is a dangerous path," Serizawa said. "You are meddling with forces beyond our comprehension, gambling with the lives of billions!"

"And what are you gambling with, Serizawa? Monarch is broken. It's on the verge of being shut down by a government whose only objective is to eradicate these creatures and when that happens, what will our chances be?"

"You are out of your goddamn mind!" Mark snapped. "First you put our daughter's life in danger, now you get to decide the fate of the world? That's rich, Emma."

"I couldn't be more sane, and Madison couldn't be stronger. After we lost Andrew, I trained her to survive and at least now she'll have a fighting chance. You don't know how crucial she is to all thi -"

"Is that what she is? A pawn in your little game!?" Mark shouted. "There's some things you can't control."

"And there are some things you can't run from!" she retaliated, voice cracking for a brief second.

"This won't bring him back to us."

That got her, rendering her silent for what felt like a long stretch of time. But eventually she shook it off.

"I can only urge you to take refuge." she said. "Over the last sixty years Monarch has prepared bunkers around the world for situations such as this. I suggest you find them."

And with that, the screen went black.

Everyone was speechless. What could they say? As wild as it sounded, she made some good points. Too good. Looking around the room, there were hints of doubt seeded throughout everyone's faces. It frightened Jodie, how she found herself almost agreeing with her. But what scared her more was how serious she sounded. After everything that she said, it was obvious that she had been planning this right under their noses for a while. Using her high clearance to smuggle the necessary information to those extremists. Odds were good that she had even managed to plant some of them in different outposts, waiting for the call to unleash hell. Jodie felt sick to her stomach.

But then Chen broke the spell.

"That bitch."

Took the words right out of my mouth, Jodie thought.

"How long until this thing lands?" Mark asked.

"Three minutes." Foster answered.

"You might wanna rethink that." Stanton said.

"Why?" Foster asked, irritated.

"Something's not right. Check this out." he replied, pulling up security footage from Isla de Mara's containment facility. Bodies donning Monarch uniforms littered the floor in nearly every room.

"Emma's not here," he continued. "I mean, the signal's strong enough that we could pick it up but it's - it's moving."

On the tracking screen showed a dot - the ORCA's latent signal - flickering before shooting away, disappearing altogether.

"What the hell.." Mark muttered.

"She could be anywhere.." Graham commented, brows furrowed deep in thought.

Jodie groaned. "Well, this is the pits."

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring.

"What now?" Mark asked.

"Oh, jesus," Coleman said. "The containment system is shutting down."

"How much time do we have?" Serizawa asked.

_____

At least dad is okay, Madison thought. For now.

But nothing else was, everything else was going to shit. None of this was happening the way her mother explained it. Growing up, she remembered being told that she was special, that she was a crucial part in helping to ensure that humanity and titans could live together. She always thought her mother was being dramatic not this. She had never asked for any of this. There were a lot of things in her life she didn't ask for.

It sounded like a good thing, saving the world. But she had left a lot of things out. Like how many people were going to die, what it was like to see someone die, thinking your own father was among the dead. She wanted to scream.

Her mother didn't have the right to decide who lived and who didn't. She didn't have the right to use her - and Elena - as a means to an awful end. She glared daggers at her mother and the Controller, who stood a fair distance away.

She wasn't supposed to be here (and neither was Elena, who stood close behind her, keeping an eye out for any of the strange humanoids), peeking around a corner in the ship's control room. Though escape was nearly impossible, the Controller and his goons were being more lenient around her and Elena after what happened in Antarctica - which is to say they left the door to their dorms open. Though it seemed like they were trying to make them feel comfortable with their situation, to Madison, it felt more like being mocked.

"Containment system bypassed. We're ready to broadcast the ORCA." said one of the men seated at the ship's controls.

The Controller looked over at her mother. She walked toward the ORCA, opening the case. She seemed a little hesitant, something Madison hadn't anticipated. She didn't have that hesitation after blasting Monster Zero free from the ice. Madison couldn't stand it, running into the control room with no hesitation.

"Madi - pinche madre -" Elena muttered under her breath before following the girl in the room.

"Mom. Don't."

Her mother was shaken, not expecting the sudden appearance.

"I'm sorry, did a child just tell you what to do?" the Controller sneered.

"Maybe dad's right, maybe this isn't -"

"By all means, Dr. Russell, let's reconsider our entire plan now. Especially after telling your friends all about it."

"Madison, we talked about this."

"About what? Using me - both of us," she looked over her shoulder at Elena. "As - As tools?"

"Maddie, that's not -"

"No, you said we were doing this to help people. The least you can do is give them the chance to get to safety, plea -"

The Controller snapped, banging the top of a table with his hand so hard it echoed throughout the room.

"We don't have time for this," he said, voice low and impatient. "Did you think this would be easy? Painless?"

He sent her a malicious look, and Elena stepped in front of her.

"Is that what you told her?" he continued, directing his rage at her mother. "That she'd magically conjure some grand utopia? Man and monster living together in blissful harmony?"

He was right, but the condescension in his voice was more than she could handle.

"Bite me, dickhead." Madison growled.

The room was silent. The Controller's cold gaze bored into hers, but she refused to waver. Until she saw his hand reach for the handle of the gun in his pocket, then the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. Elena blocked her view of the Controller.

"Don't you dare."

Sending her a glare, he relaxed. "If I were you," he said softly. "I would save that attitude for the monsters."

"And if I were you," her mother finally spoke up, fury just barely contained. "I'd learn how to talk to titans myself before doing something as stupid as threatening my daughter."

Elena took a step forward. "And I could just as easily sic that three-headed demon on anyone in this ship. Remember that."

She knew Elena was lying, but the fact she would even think about saying something like that made Madison feel better. Safer. The Controller was the most terrifying person she had ever met, but right now, there was nothing about her mother or Elena that suggested they could be screwed around with.

"Sir?" one of the men at the controls said. "They're attempting to lock us out. It's now or never."

"Emma." the Controller said. "You came to us. The ORCA would've been nothing but scraps without our technology. We needed each other to achieve our goals, but everything will fall apart if you don't see it through."

"Emma, think about what you're doing." Elena said softly.

"Ma'am? Our window is closing."

Madison saw her mother's hand tremble. Her hand hovered over the activation button for another moment before turning on the ORCA.

"I'm sorry," her mother said. "But this is bigger than just you and me."

Elena was shaking her head in disbelief. Madison felt nauseous.

"Signal's good. Patching us into the next containment site -"

"No." her mother said. "Not yet. We'll take it slow. One at a time." she looked at Madison as if that was supposed to be reassuring.

Feeling tears forming at the edge of her eyes, she fled the room. She'd rather drop dead than have the Controller see her cry.

Shortly after, she heard Elena's footsteps follow her.

_____

Jodie watched the evacuation unfold on the Argo's monitors.

G-Team was making quick work of filing all those civilians away in airlifts but there were hundreds left to go, and the crowd was in a panic. That only grew worse when the ground began to tremble, the volcano just outside the town rumbling in response.

The air was heavy with silence, everyone holding their breath as the ground groaned, the quaking growing stronger. Her heart sank further when the top of the volcano burst open, throwing up flames and black ash into the sky. A few seconds later, the noise arrived, like a thousand eagle cries amplified to a thousand.

Jodie had only heard about the bare minimum of this titan, only that it was bird-like, almost like a pterodactyl straight out of the Jurassic period. And amidst the smoldering haze that covered the mountain, a silhouette rose from the volcano and spread its wings. They were bigger than the Argo, and they looked like they were made from half-cooled lava.

As the smoke cleared, she could make out its figure. The titan had two crests spearing out from the back of its skull like two devilish horns and a beak sharper than any existing avian's on the planet. But that wasn't what caught her attention. It was on fire. Like a phoenix, shedding ash and lava, it reached for the sky. But it didn't fly. It seemed to be yawning, like the previous explosion was just an alarm clock waking it up from its thousand-year nap. Its yellow eyes warily scanned the horizon, zeroing in on the town below and the jets screaming past it.

Mark was terrified. "Got a catchy name for this one?"

"Local legends call it Rodan, el Demonio Fuego." Chen answered.

"The Fire Demon.." Jodie whispered under her breath.

"That's comforting." Mark muttered.

"I'm picking up the ORCA." Stanton said. "Looks like she's tapping into the base remotely."

"Record it," Mark said. "I need a sample."

Stanton gave him a thumbs up.

"Guys?" Coleman spoke up, a nervous lilt in his voice as his eyes were glued to a screen. "Remember that tropical storm where we lost Monster Zero? Well, it's changing direction. Guess where it's headed now."

Jodie looked at the tracker. Not only had its direction changed, but it was speeding up. And it was heading right for them. Shit.

"Th-That's not possible." Graham stuttered.

"Unless it's not a storm." Chen said.

"O-Oh, man." Coleman said, realization striking him.

"But the evacuation -" Jodie chimed in.

"They better hurry it up, because it's closing in fast." Stanton said.

If a fight broke out between the two titans here, the town would surely be wiped off the map. Then, she too had a realization.

"Serizawa," Jodie said. "Let Rodan go."

Stanton groaned. "Don't tell me Emma got to your head."

"Shut up, Rick, if Rodan stays here, so will Monster Zero. Then there won't be an island to come back to."

"She's right." Mark said, pointing to a radar image of the approaching storm. "I think that thing's responding to Big Bird's cries. That only means it's coming here for food, a fight, or to f - something more intimate."

"What are you suggesting?" Serizawa asked.

Outside, jets streaked past them, unloading missiles at Rodan. Jodie doubted they would do anything other than piss him off. But he definitely noticed them. His angered gaze searched the skies, dismissing the smaller aircraft whizzing by and focusing his glare on the Argo.

It had been Mark's idea to attempt to challenge Rodan, hoping that he would see the craft as an invasion of his territory. Surely, no self-respecting giant bird-thing would let something like that slide, could he?

"I think we got his attention." Jodie commented.

"Everyone strap in." Foster said. "All ships, follow our lead."

The Argo banked hard, jets following right behind them. Pissed, Rodan pushed himself free of his nest, spreading his wings and taking to the air - lava spilling from his form and onto the town below.

The chase was on.

It didn't take long for Rodan to catch up with the fleet, hell-bent on disposing of the threat to his domain. The Argo's jet escort tried to slow the titan's advance, but they were paying an awful price. As Jodie watched, Rodan snatched jets from the sky with his talons, sending them spiraling to the ocean below.

We don't have to outrun him forever, Jodie reassured herself. Just hang on a little longer.

Even that would be a challenge.

As she looked out one of the Argo's windows, she saw Rodan quickly gaining on them. He was still burning, trailing smoke and lava like a walking volcano. He really was a fire demon, carrying the blaze with him just as Godzilla had his blue radiation and Monster Zero with his golden lightning.

And speak of the devil, the storm that blotted out the horizon was rapidly approaching. The mass of copper-colored clouds, hearts burning with lightning, struck a deep feeling of dread within her.

If we don't make it out of here alive, I'm coming back and strangling you myself, Jodie thought, looking at Mark.

"Argo to Gold Squad, let's get this turkey away from the mainland and straight to Monster Zero - ETA two minutes." Stanton broadcast.

"Copy." the reply came back.

The jets doubled back and fired at Rodan. A few missiles hit him, but it didn't faze him much. With a flap of his wings, he lifted above the barrage of jets, clapping with such force that three of them were slapped out of the sky by the shock wave. The same beat of his wings propelled him straight up, like a blazing spear aimed at heaven. In the next second he came shrieking back down from a different angle, like a raptor swooping in on its prey, catching the jets completely off guard. Crushing two of them with his talons and biting one as it exploded, the wreckage spun down to the ocean.

"Two-two-three, on your six!" Foster shouted into her earpiece. "Get out of there!"

Jodie watched as the pilot ejected from the doomed jet. Only to be swallowed by Rodan, seat and all.

"ETA to Monster Zero, sixty seconds." Stanton announced, frantic.

Then, Rodan rolled, his flaming wings spinning through the air as if he were drilling a hole through the sky. It almost seemed to happen in slow motion as Jodie watched in horror as the titan's wings swatted jets out of his way like bugs. When Rodan finished his roll, Gold Squad no longer existed. One by one, the pilot feeds winked out until there were none. The Argo was alone.

"ETA to Monster Zero, thirty seconds!" Stanton shouted.

The Argo rattled as they raced into the hurricane, the sun vanishing as they became engulfed in Monster Zero's tempest. The aircraft shuddered as lightning struck on and around them.

For a moment, Jodie shut her eyes. Rodan had caught up with them. Looking out one of the Argo's windows, all she could see was his massive talons quickly encroaching on them.

Sorry, Gill, she thought. Guess my luck's run out.

Lightning struck again, and right in front of them was a massive three-headed silhouette, appearing through the clouds. In that moment, Jodie was sure she would die. Behind them, Rodan veered away with a frightened screech, abandoning the Argo completely.

"Dive!" Foster commanded.

Jodie felt her insides caught in her throat as the ship lost altitude, dropping past Monster Zero as the two titans crashed into each other, their cries mixing into one angry scream. Claws and talons locking together as they dove into a free-fall, writhing and twisting, biting and clawing as if it was all they knew.

"Jesus, they're killing each other." Stanton commented.

"Better them than us." Mark said.

Thankfully, gravity returned as the Argo leveled out, scraping the surface of the water. The engines whirred as the pilot kicked them into high gear, trying to get as far from the battle as possible.

Jodie sighed in disbelief.

But the relief didn't last when the radio crackled with static, the voice of Chief Officer Barnes patching into the Argo's speakers.

"Mayday - come in, Argo, this is Raptor One, do you read?"

"Copy," Foster replied. "What's your status?"

"We're screwed, that's what. And we have civilians on board. We're gonna need immediate midair retrieval."

"Lock onto their position and prepare the hangar for emergency landing."

"Hangar doors are unresponsive." Stanton said.

"Manual override?"

"They're stuck." he clarified.

"Which way to the hangar?" Mark asked impatiently, itching to be more useful than just expressing his glee at the thought of two titans murdering each other.

"I can show you," Jodie replied.

"Anyone else?"

"I know the way, come on." Coleman cut in. Jodie rolled her eyes, going back to observing the fight behind them.

Meanwhile, Rodan and Monster Zero were still going at it. As they fought their way across the sky, flames and lightning painted the clouds with their fury.

Monster Zero didn't look like a fan of competition, but it didn't seem as though the dragon was trying to kill Rodan so much as dominate him. This fight was much different than the one in Antarctica, and if this was any indication, the dragon was trying to build his strength for a bigger fight - a bigger challenger.

Hearing their cries just outside the Argo, Jodie was never more certain of Godzilla's place in the world. Thinking back to all those times Serizawa alluded to him as nature's balance, she found herself agreeing with him more and more. Monster Zero, however, was something else entirely. Though she hated placing such concepts on animals, Monster Zero radiated evil. She knew that the titans were simply a fact of life, had been long before humans were even a concept. A carnivore wasn't evil because it sought out living prey, that's just how the circle of life worked. But remembering Antarctica, how the dragon played with their prey, targeted her of all things, Jodie thought that maybe the mind of Monster Zero was capable of more than just simple instincts.

Just then, Monster Zero's right and left heads pinned Rodan in midair, stretching his wings to their limit. Although they had nearly been knocked out of the sky by him, it was hard to watch. He was completely helpless. His situation only worsened when the center head raised itself, considering the struggling titan with a cruel, apathetic gaze. He could do nothing as the dragon unleashed a beam of energy directly into his chest. Rodan, as fierce as he was, limply fell into the water below like a screeching ragdoll. And like that, the fight was over. Once more, Jodie could swear she saw spite in their faces as the monster turned their attention toward them.

Suddenly, the control panel beeped. Another call was coming in.

"It's Admiral Stenz." Stanton said.

Great, just what they needed. He had worked with Monarch in the past, but he refused to even make an attempt at understanding the titans. But more importantly, he was an instrument of the government, and that was never good.

Stenz was patched on screen, looking solemn.

"Admiral." Serizawa nodded.

He quickly cut to the chase. "Dr. Serizawa, Colonel Foster, I need you and the rest of your forces to immediately disengage and withdraw to a safe distance."

"I don't understand -" Foster started.

"Over the past five years, we've been developing a prototype for a new weapon," he said, looking more than a little weary. "Designated as Project O, we call it the Oxygen Destroyer, designed to exterminate all life forms within a two-mile radius."

Jodie's mouth hung limp in disbelief.

"With any luck it will kill these things and this nightmare will finally be over."

"Admiral," Serizawa said. "We must keep our faith in Gojira -"

"I'm sorry, doctor." Stenz said. "You had your chance."

"Admiral, there must be a -" Graham spoke before she was cut off.

"The missile is already on its way...may god have mercy on us all."

The screen went dark, and the bridge was silent.

"He's not lying," Stanton said, staring at a beeping radar. "It's coming in hot."

Outside the Argo, they had something else to look out for. Something much closer. Rising overhead, a familiar high-pitched roar trilled over the wind. Monster Zero was nearly on top of them, skimming low across the waves. On all three heads their teeth were bared in wicked grins. If the Oxygen Destroyer didn't reach them first, that thing definitely would.

Damn it, Jodie thought.

Taking a deep breath, waiting for impact, she braced herself. Only to hear the ocean below spray water into the air, lifting and smashing into the dragon. It wasn't a rogue wave, but a mountain-sized lizard. Godzilla.

Snatching the dragon in mid-flight and slamming them into the water, everyone on the bridge cheered to themselves. Jodie wanted to feel relieved, but she couldn't. Not with that man-made abomination heading straight for him.