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Chapter Text

Prologue

            The day Jake Pentecost feared the most had come: the day when the greatest Titan of the multiverse – Godzilla – would turn on the human race. It happened so suddenly; Godzilla had decimated London within the span of three minutes. The destruction was reported all over the news, citing the first Kaiju ever to ally with the Jaegers to now be just another threat to humanity.

            When it was projected that Godzilla’s next target would be New York City, Jake and his co-pilot, Nathan “Nate” Lambert, would drift together in Gipsy Avenger and – along with several other brave Jaeger pilots – combat with the rogue Godzilla. It was a task much easier said than done; much of their army of thirty Jaegers were no match for Godzilla.

            Gipsy was the last one standing in the end, while all the others were lying among the rubble, dismantled or charred with their pilots. Jake tried not to panic, although he wasn’t certain if it was his own anxiety or Nate’s he was feeling. “Keep it together, Lambert!” he said for them both.

            “I am together!” Nate barked. “I’m not dying to this thing!”

            Nate put as much into the fight as Jake. For the longest time, he suspected Godzilla of being a “Kaiju turncoat.” There was a theory he shared with the Marshal (Jake’s father), Stacker Pentecost, about Godzilla’s aim to be “king of the monsters,” removing all the other Kaiju from the playfield. For the longest time, there had been peace with so many of them destroyed, thanks to the aid of both Godzilla and another Titan that recently emerged from the rift – Kong.

            The gargantuan ape entered the scuffle over New York, just as Godzilla had Gipsy on the ropes. He tackled his former ally, shattering through several landmark buildings; thankfully, the city was evacuated before Godzilla arrived. With multiple left and right hooks, Kong pounded Godzilla into a crater. For a moment, it looked as if Godzilla’s reign of terror had ended, as it laid unconscious beneath Kong.

            That was until Godzilla unleashed its atomic breath, nearly incinerating Kong; it triggered an explosive chain reaction across a ten-mile square radius. Godzilla fled in the chaos, leaving Jake and Nate to douse the flames with Gipsy’s built-in extinguisher, saving both the gravely wounded Kong and whatever buildings they could.

            “Do we still have eyes on Godzilla?” Jake heard his father over the comms, assisting from the New York Shatterdome with Mako.

            “Negative, Marshal,” the despondent Jake replied. “He’s in the wind.”

            Nate’s fists clenched in rage. “We lost a lot of good Jaeger pilots today.”

            “And they will be avenged, Nate,” Stacker reassured. “Return to base, gentlemen, so that we can regroup.”

            “Regroup for what, Dad?!” Jake retorted. “We got nothin’ that can beat Godzilla!”

            “We do have one thing, Jake,” Stacker said. “We got the Gladiator of Gallifrey.”

Chapter Text

Part One

            Alan had spent so many Christmases in Gotham City that he forgot what it was like to spend them aboard his mother’s TARDIS. The day he decided to be on his own was the best and most terrifying day of his young life. He made the choice, after so many events transpired that led to his decision; chief among them being that he witnessed his mother’s first regeneration – changing from a tall, white blonde in her fifties to a short Asian woman in her forties. It was something that he had great difficulty adjusting with at first, but with a bit of intervention from his grandfather (who himself was a Time Lord), he learned to accept it.

            Of course, as he admitted to his mother, her change wasn’t why he decided to start a life of his own outside the TARDIS – away from the hustle and bustle of the Infinite DC. During their first time in Gotham, he fell in love with a young detective named Erica Harvey, who eventually found out about the Infinite DC, his mother, and how he was from another dimension. He could imagine that was how Erica grew to love him back and not because of his charming looks. Their relationship blossomed into marriage and a child – a healthy, normal boy who they named “Alan Junior” (“A.J.” for short).

            The Harris family would spend their holidays at Wayne Manor, a favor from Bruce Wayne for keeping his identity as “Batman” a secret, as well as for Erica assisting him on Gotham’s crime-ridden streets. They both worked on patrol on the night of Christmas Eve, while Alan and Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, kept A.J. entertained as he wrote his letter to Santa in the study room.

            “You are going to be home before eleven, right?” Alan asked Erica, over the phone. “Wayne and Gordon can’t keep you out there all night.”

            “This is my job, babe,” Erica told him. “I have to keep these streets clean, so that others can go home to their families.” He admired her dedication, much as it sometimes got in the way of her personal life. “But I promise that I’ll be back in time to tuck in A.J. and take a bite out of that cookie he’s leavin’ for Santa.”

            Alan chuckled. “Alright, babe. You be careful out there.”

            “Dude, I’m workin’ with the Batman,” Erica said. “My ass is more than safe.”

            After exchanging a quick but affectionate “Love you,” Alan hung up at the moment Alfred entered the study with a tray of hot cocoa for Alan, A.J., and himself. “You have nothing to worry, sir,” he told Alan. “She’s in safe hands with Master Bruce.”

            “Yeah, she just told me,” Alan sulked. “I just wish that she didn’t have to work such a dangerous shift, the night before Christmas.”

            “I did it!” This happy proclamation came from his eight-year-old son, who stood up from his belly-down position on the floor of the study, enthusiastically waving his letter to Santa in the air. “I’m finished!”

            “Awesome, lil’ man!” Alan applauded. “Let’s take a look.”

            A.J. handed the letter over to his father, who smiled at the penmanship done entirely in blue crayon. There was a little artwork at the bottom of the Harris family, including Alfred and Bruce, the latter of whom was drawn in his Batman suit. “Quite a fine letter, Master A.J.,” Alfred complimented.

            “Right on, lil’ man,” Alan praised. “Santa’s definitely comin’ to town to see this!”

            A.J. had a big smile on that assurance. He was so excited that he jumped at the sound of the doorbell ringing. “It’s him! It’s him! It’s him!” he cheered, hopping up and down and clapping his hands.

            “Hold up, A.J.,” Alan soothed. “Let Alfred answer it first, O.K.?”

            Alfred did just that, heading out of the study and to the adjacent foyer. Opening the door, he saw a young woman who looked to be Chinese, wearing a Santa hat, a festive Christmas sweater, and black leggings. She was accompanied by a tall, spiky-haired man dressed as Santa Claus (lugging a red sack with no beard) and three short, yellow-skinned individuals wearing their own sweaters and goggles over different sets of eyes.

            “Merry Christmas, Alfred!” The Chinese woman exclaimed with arms wide open. She had a distinct accent that was native to her ethnicity.

            Past these jolly visitors, Alfred spotted a domino-shaped monolith on the Wayne Manor property, snow already accumulating over its flat structure. Seeing it, he was able to deduce the identity of the Chinese woman and announced to Alan, “Master Harris, your mother has arrived with…um…guests.”

            Alan curiously walked into the foyer with A.J. When he saw the Chinese woman and the animated guests she brought with her, the only thing that crossed his mind was, Well…here we go again.

            “Merry Christmas!” She repeated, this time for Alan and A.J., kneeling for the junior Alan with the anticipation of receiving a hug.

            Unfortunately, A.J. was more thrilled to see the spiky-haired Santa, squealing with excitement as he rushed over to the man and gave him the hug that the Chinese woman had expected for herself. “You must be A.J.,” the spiky Santa warmly said. “I’ve heard you’ve been super good this year, so I brought ya these.” He opened his red sack for A.J., showing him a bagful of large, orange crystalline spheres – each with five-pointed stars that ranged from one to seven. “These are called ‘Dragon Balls’ and you can make any three wishes you want with them! Cool, right?”

            The Dragon Balls glistened in the captivated eyes of A.J.

            Watching his son interact with the spiky Santa, Alan leaned in towards his mother’s latest incarnation and asked, “So who’s this Santa really?”

            “His name’s Goku,” she identified. “A powerful warrior of a race called ‘Saiyans’.”

            Alan nodded. “Uh-huh. And, for my next question, who are you now?”

            “Suri,” the new incarnation referred to herself. “I’ve passed through quite a few regenerations since I was last here.”

            “You mean that time you visited during A.J.’s second birthday as that brotha in the tie and hoodie?” Alan reminisced. “Yeah, that was…interesting. It really confused the hell outta Erica though.”

            “Where is Erica?” Suri inquired, noticing the young detective’s absence.

            “On patrol with you-know-who,” Alan winked. “Mama, don’t get me wrong – I am really happy that you stopped by, but I gotta be real with you. Erica and I have talked a lot about how to explain to A.J. why his grandmother keeps showing up here with a different face and body every time.”

            “And what did you tell him?” Suri asked.

            “Nothing. We decided it was best not to tell him anything, especially after that last visit. Luckily, he was too little to remember anything.”

            Suri sadly gazed at her grandson. “So, he…really doesn’t know who I am?”

            Alan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

            She appreciated his comfort, reaching up to her shoulder to place her hand atop his. “It’s O.K.,” she accepted, fighting back tears. “It just makes me happy to see everyone else is happy.”

            Alan suddenly caught a glimpse of the trio of short yellow men Suri brought along with Goku. They were bickering in a strange language that sounded like garbled French to Alan’s ears. Opting to pay no mind to it, he focused on asking his mother, “So, uh, how long are you guys stayin’?”

            “Until New Year’s,” Suri said. “You think Erica would be alright with that?”

            Alan shrugged. “I can’t make any promises, but we’re just guests ourselves in this big ol’ mansion, so it’s really up to Mr. Wayne. And if he’s cool with it, then we are, too.” He then questioned in concern, “Would the multiverse be safe though? Long enough for you to enjoy your holiday?”

            “Of course, it will be,” Suri verified. Just as she did, her wristwatch pinged. Alan assumed it was a regular wristwatch that helped her to tell the time; however, a closer examination showed that it was more alien than that. The metallic band didn’t have a clockface of any type but a glowing green dot. “Green means ‘safe’,” Suri explained. “Yellow is ‘mild’ and red is ‘danger’. It’s all interfaced with the TARDIS computer.”

            “Cool,” Alan nodded comprehensibly. “In that case, let’s party!” He immediately went to the stereo inside the study to play Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” at full blast, initiating the Christmas party.

            The music was so loud that it kept Suri from hearing the two other pings she received from her wristband, not a minute after the first one. Ultimately, the last ping registered a glowing red dot.

Chapter Text

Part Two

            Alan awoke to the alluring aroma of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. He dreamt of his mother the other night – not the version of her that stepped through the doors of Wayne Manor last evening, but her original self instead. He couldn’t recall the last time that happened since staying in Gotham with Erica. Had he missed her more than he realized? From the scent of her breakfast, that would seem to be the case.

            But the aroma just wasn’t in his head; he actually smelled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It got him up out of bed, which he saw only one side slept in. The other was barely touched, meaning Erica had not come home overnight. That was enough to rack his nerves.

            Having time to wash up and get dressed, he left the master bedroom for the kitchen. He expected to find Alfred there, making the breakfast; but the way it was made reminded him too much of his mother.

            And then he saw her – Suri, wearing nothing but white socks and a hot pink shirt that covered her entire body. Whether she was naked or not underneath, Alan opted not to guess. To any other man, she was a beautiful young woman swaying her hips and buttocks to the tune of Tina Turner’s “Good to Me,” but she was his mother…another variation of her, at least.

            He interrupted her lip-syncing into the ladle (her microphone), which still had the pancake mix on it, turning the music down on the stereo and asking, “Did you see Erica come in last night?”

            Suri just looked at him derisively. “And Merry Christmas to you, dear.”

            Forgetting what day it was when he woke, Alan lowered his head in shame. “Sorry, Ma,” he muttered. “Merry Christmas.”

            With an understanding nod, Suri answered his previous inquiry, “I didn’t see her come in, either last night or this morning. But I’m sure the case she’s working on with Batman and Commissioner Gordon is bigger than they imagined.”

            “Who’s Batman?” a voice asked through a mouthful of food.

            Alan didn’t even notice Goku and the Minions seated at the breakfast table, which had been set with cutlery, napkins, and plates. Goku gorged on a gigantic stack of pancakes that were banana-flavored, just as Kevin, Stuart, and Bob liked them. “Damn, man,” Alan said of the Saiyan. “Ya got e’nuff there?”

            “Are you kidding?!” Goku gulped the bits of pancake stuffed in his mouth. “I’m on my nineteenth serving!”

            Alan’s jaw dropped at that number. He glimpsed over at Suri, who smirked as she poured the pancake mix into the skillet. “Alfred tried his best to keep up with Goku’s appetite,” she told Alan. “Poor dear gave up after the fifth serving. He’s back in bed now.”

            Alan understood completely, yet that didn’t remove his awe of Goku’s appetite.

            He sat with him and the Minions at the table, right where some orange juice, coffee, and a newspaper were also set. “Did you put all this here for me?” he asked Suri.

            “Yep,” Suri winked.

            “I don’t drink coffee…and I’ve never even read a newspaper.”

            Suri blushed in embarrassment. “Oh.”

            Alan chuckled at his mother’s effort, setting aside the newspaper and taking in the fresh glass of juice. After a refreshing respire, he asked, “So where’s A.J.? I know he didn’t pass on sleeping in on Christmas morning of all mornings.”

            “The sweet lil’ dear,” Suri gushed, “he went out to play in the snow, after he opened up all his gifts.”

            “When is he gonna wish on the Dragon Balls?” Goku asked, sounding impatient. “You know we can’t leave them here in this world.”

            “I know, Goku,” Suri acknowledged. “Just let him have time to think about his wish. He’s only eight years old.”

            Upon learning his son’s whereabouts, Alan looked out through the window beside the table. Sure enough, Alan was playing in the snow-covered grounds of the manor, specifically near the Type-Z TARDIS, throwing a few snowballs against its sleek, marbled structure.

            “Wait,” Alan uneasily said. “He’s way too close to the ship. I don’t want him wanderin’ in there by accident or anything.”

            Suri noticed how the concerned father began to remove himself from the breakfast table. Quickly, she rushed to him and settled him back down. “It’s O.K., dear. He’s safe. You know the only access into the ship is through proper DNA signature.”

            Remembering, Alan’s anxiety heightened. “Is my DNA signature still synced with the ship?”

            Suri nodded in verification. “Mm-hmm.”

            “So…how will the TARDIS be able to tell the difference between my DNA and my son’s?”

            Seeing where he was going with this, Suri’s mouth gaped with startling revelation.

            Her chocolate brown eyes darted towards the window at the same time as Alan, Goku, and the Minions – all of them seeing the same thing: the door to the Type-Z TARDIS wide open! A.J.’s tiny footsteps imprinted in the snow led right up through the threshold of the ship.

            The adults all abandoned breakfast in favor of running outside and towards the TARDIS. Goku and the Minions, however, brought their plate of pancakes along with them, dashing through the snow one bite and a gulp at a time. As soon as they were all inside, huffing in exhaustion, A.J. looked to them with a big happy smile and exclaimed, “I found Narnia, Daddy!”

            His proclamation amused Suri. “You’re not too far off, dear.”

            Alan, by contrast, didn’t find it so amusing. He immediately scooped up his son and admonished, “This isn’t Narnia, son, and please don’t come back here again.” Hearing the tone that he used broke Suri’s hearts.

            “If this isn’t Narnia, where is it, Daddy?” A.J. asked.

            Alan hesitated to answer. “Let’s…Let’s just go back inside, so you can play with your new Nintendo, huh?” A.J. liked that idea, but his curiosity remained in the strange magical space inside the giant domino that he only moments ago used for target practice.

            The father and son were nearly on their way out before the doors suddenly slammed shut. It was soon followed by noises that Alan hadn’t heard in over eight years – the humming and grinding of the TARDIS engines.

            His gaze flared on Suri as he demanded to know, “The hell you doin’?!?!”

            “It’s not me!” Suri said in her defense, having stood a whole two feet from the central console when the dematerialization process kicked in. “And please don’t curse in front of A.J.!” She insisted on that while running to the console and looking over the readout displayed on the monitor. “We’ve been pulled into an emergency dematerialization!”

            “Pulled?!” Goku repeated the verb. “By who?”

            Suri shook her head, feeling just as baffled as the rest of them. “I dunno. But we’re about to find out in three…two…one…”

            A slight bit of turbulence followed, and all was calm.

            Suri was the first to step out onto their new surroundings, though the atmosphere hit her senses with a wave of familiarity. She walked into a large hangar area that looked like it once housed rows of gigantic robots. But there was only one there – a shimmering blue bipedal figure with sharp figures that Suri had seen before. “Gipsy Danger,” she identified its moniker with an air of nostalgia.

            “It’s Gipsy Avenger actually,” said a voice that she hadn’t heard in a few regenerations. She turned as soon as Alan, A.J., Goku, and the Minions disembarked from the TARDIS. They all looked on as three individuals approached them – a young black man, a middle-aged Japanese woman, and an elderly black man in a suit and confined to a wheelchair. Suri recognized all three of them as Jake Pentecost, Mako Mori (Jake’s sister), and Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Jake’s father).

            “Glad you could make it, bruh,” Jake welcomed.

            Suri smiled at the welcome, though she wasn’t sure why he addressed her by the male connotation when she was clearly a female again. The last time their paths crossed, she was a tall, blond African-American woman who went by “Alicia.” Perhaps he still looked at her as that tall African-American man in the hoodie and tie that his father once knew in his youth.

            It all became clear when Jake went right up to Alan – a man he had never met – exchanging a high-five that he tugged into a hearty hug. “Hell, mate, I’m so happy to see you, I can forgive the delayed response,” Jake told Alan. “Just don’t think I won’t kick your arse next time, which’ll be easy now that you’re a brotha again.”

            Suri snorted a refrained chuckle, realizing the mistake as it occurred.

            Mako fired an admonished glare her way. “And who are you?” she asked her in her native Japanese tongue, presuming Suri to be a fellow citizen by her Asian features, which were not so distinct from Mako’s.

            Luckily, Suri knew her Japanese really well. “An old friend,” she told Mako. “One that gave your father a chance to see the grandchildren you and Raleigh raised.”

            Mako frowned at her in recognition. “Mister Neas?”

            The smile on Suri’s face was all the confirmation she needed.

            Overhearing the two women, Stacker removed his focus on Alan and told his son, “Might wanna reconfigure your target, son.” He nodded to Suri and added, “That over there is Mister Neas’s latest incarnation.”

            Jake glanced at Suri, taken aback by her loose attire. “I thought she was a fling.”

            “Naw, man!” Alan scoffed. “She’s my mama!”

            “Mama?!” the Pentecost family parroted in shock.

            “Long story,” Suri belayed. “I’ll tell you after we’ve discussed why I was brought back to the Shatterdome.” She looked past Mako and the Pentecost men to see a large, furry shape that she neglected to sight earlier. In fact, she heard a rhythmic rasping sound resonating throughout the hangar that she previously figured was simple engineering; but it was in actuality the breathing of a massively large animal…a Titan.

            “Whoa! Is that another Saiyan?!” a surprised Goku asked of the gravely wounded beast sprawled out in the middle of the hangar, hooked up to a plethora of medical machines that kept track of his current condition.

            “No, that’s…Kong.” The last Suri saw of the mighty Titan of Skull Island was during the Cthulhu excursion, and he was in much better health at the time. “What happened to him?” she asked the Pentecosts.

            “Godzilla happened,” Jake told her.

            Suri shot him a bewildered look. “What?! No! That can’t be!”

            “We have fifty dead Jaeger pilots that say it can,” Mako said.

            “No,” Suri refused. “Godzilla would have no reason to attack anyone he deems an ally or a friend.”

            “It sure seemed like he had plenty of reason,” Stacker retorted, working himself up into a violent cough. He removed the white handkerchief from the left breast pocket of his suit jacket, hacking right into it. Mako and Jake attempted to offer him aid, but the stubborn marshal waved them off.

            Once he was able to gather himself, he told Suri, “As it stands now, you’re the only hope that we have.”

            “To do what?” Suri inquired.

            “To kill Godzilla.”

Chapter Text

Part Three

            Before leaving behind his adventures in the Infinite DC years ago, Alan’s phone was upgraded to a “superphone” by Sonia, so that they could have the privilege of communicating between dimensions. It was a useful feature that allowed him to talk to his mother whenever she (or he) was available. Right now, he figured on using it to call Erica, who he assumed had finally returned home after a long night of patrolling the streets of Gotham.

            Unfortunately, his call went straight to voicemail.

            “Where the hell are you, babe?” he muttered in frustration.

            “Did you say something, dear?” He heard Suri’s voice nearby without even realizing that he wandered aimlessly into the TARDIS console room. He grew up aboard that ship and knew every end of it – an impressive feat considering how much bigger it really was on the inside.

            The only thing that had changed was the pilot, who Alan found at the central console. Her back was facing him, occupied with the controls and the readout on the overhanging monitor. Initially, Alan didn’t suspect that it was Suri. The woman at the controls was dressed like a biker chick – black leather jacket, black skintight pants, and black boots. It was a stark contrast to the festive apparel she wore upon her initial visit to Wayne Manor and the pink, oversized shirt she wore earlier.

            “Whoa,” Alan uttered in amazement. “I didn’t figure this version of you was so…hardcore.”

            Suri turned away from the console to inquiringly look at him; in doing so, Alan got to see another article from her attire – a black-and-white-striped crop top. “What do you mean, dear?” Her maternal address sort of juxtaposed with the look, reminding Alan of the kind-hearted individual behind it.

            “Nothing,” he dismissed, approaching her with his superphone. “I still haven’t been able to reach Erica.”

            “Maybe she put her phone on silent, so it wouldn’t give her away to the criminals,” Suri surmised. “Did you leave her a voicemail?”

            “Several,” Alan worriedly replied, staring at his phone in his trembling hands. Suri placed her steady hands comfortingly over them. Looking away from his phone, Alan saw her tender brown eyes and instantly felt calm. He wasn’t sure what sort of mental Time Lord method she was doing to him; it could’ve just been the way this incarnation naturally soothed the edgiest of souls with her warm character. Not since the original incarnation of his mother had he felt such wonderful nurturing.

            Seeing that it was working, she asked him, “How do you feel now?”

            “Better,” Alan sighed. “Thanks, Mama. I’ve probably been looking like a psycho these past few hours.”

            “You’re just concerned for your wife – and that’s normal,” Suri told him.

            He appreciated her justification. Pocketing his phone, he moved onto the matter at hand and asked, “So, what’re we gonna do about Godzilla? Are you really gonna help that Marshal dude kill him?”

            Suri huffed, overwhelmed. “Well, I don’t want to make any rash decisions just yet, so I’m going to find proof of his innocence first. The last couple of times I’ve seen Godzilla, he’s helped humanity…helped the entire multiverse. It doesn’t make any sense for him to suddenly turn evil.” She returned to the console monitor, which displayed a 3D render of the current Earth they were on. “I’m cross-referencing his nuage signature and radiation levels. Together, they should pinpoint his precise location.”

            After rapidly typing on the console’s keyboard, Suri received a ping from the monitor. Alan looked on it to see one specific area highlighted on Iceland. “Looks like you’re gonna need another change of clothes,” Alan smirked.

            Suri smirked right back at him. “So will you,” she indicated his well-pressed shirt, tie, and pants. “That is, if you wanna come. I understand if you want to go back home.”

            “I do,” Alan admitted. “But I also miss hangin’ with you on one of your trips. So…I’ll stick ‘round for just this one…for old times’ sake. As long as A.J. keeps safe in the TARDIS.”

            Suri kept her joy to a minimum, knowing that her son would be by her side again.

            “Don’t worry about A.J.,” she reassured. “The Minions will watch over him.”

            “Yeah…the Minions,” Alan wavered, still uncertain about his mother’s stout, energetic yellow companions.

            “Oh, man! Is it brisk out here!” Goku whooped, finding a surge of energy from the frigid Icelandic climate. Wrapped up in a blue snow jacket with a high turtleneck, he looked as comfortable as Suri and Alan did in their own winter attire. “Reminds me of when Broly and I duked it out. You guys should’ve seen it! We shattered at least half a dozen mountains that day!”

            Suri admired Goku’s exhilaration amid the ice-cold atmosphere. She didn’t want to admit to either the Saiyan warrior or her own son, but she felt like she was turning into a popsicle, in spite of her jacket, sweater, and thermal pants. Her black locks whipped around uncontrollably from the frosty winds, pressuring her to put her cap on. Luckily, as she soon discovered from Alan, she wasn’t alone in her discomfort.

            “Glad you’re enjoyin’ it, bruh,” he told Goku. “Personally, I hope Godzilla blows his atomic breath at us when we find him. Anything to keep our asses from freezin’ off!”

            “Language,” Suri muttered.

            “Oh, right,” Alan forgot her rule about cursing in her company – a rule that she still apparently adhered by, well into fifteen regenerations. It really did make this journey feel like old times. “What I meant to say was, ‘Anything to keep our butts from freezin’ off’.”

            Suri nodded in approval of the alteration. She kept her trans-temporal sonic screwdriver held up high in her gloved hand, using it as a detector for Godzilla’s signature. At the same time, she maintained her footing over the landscape, which teetered between the slippery ice and patches of the steady grasslands.

            Halfway through their trek, Goku whiffed something in the air that made his stomach growl. “Oh, wow! Something smells good!”

            Initially, Suri believed he was delirious with hunger from the cold.

            But then she smelled the delicious aroma as well.

            It was close by, along one of the larger grassland patches. Following it, the three explorers were surprised to find an Asian man sitting near a campfire and sipping a warm cup of coffee while roasting a couple of seasoned rainbow trout (the source of the delectable scent that made Goku’s mouth water).

            Alerted by their approach, the man stood up and offered a friendly greeting. “Hello,” he said, his surprise over their presence evident. “I didn’t figure anyone else to be this far from civilization.”

            “Neither did we,” Suri said, enthralled by how handsome the man was.

            Likewise, the man was captivated by her beauty, gazing up and down at her wintry apparel, which looked toasty in more ways than one.

            There was a long pause between their gawking over each other.

            Alan and Goku felt awkward in the duration of it. A minute longer and it would’ve reached cringe territory for the third and fourth wheels. As such, Alan stepped forward and stuck his hand out to the man. “Hey, what up,” he greeted. “I’m Alan. My friend here with the gaping mouth hole is Suri.” He nodded to her before gesturing to their Saiyan cohort. “And that over there is Goku.”

            “Yo!” Goku saluted.

            The man regarded each of them politely, yet his attention was still fixated on Suri. “Nice to meet you all. I’m Willys Lazuardy, but you can call me ‘Will’.”

            “Pleasure to meet you, Will,” Suri said in a hushed, enchanted voice.

            It was clear to Alan that she was falling for him. Amusing as it was to witness love at actual first sight, his curiosity of Will’s seclusion amidst the Icelandic wilderness got the best of him. “So, what’re you doin’ out here, man?”

            Will was hesitant to explain. “I, uh…Aw, hell. What does it matter?” He folded rather quickly and disclosed to the group, “I work for Monarch, a covert scientific organization dedicated to the study of MUTOs.”

            “MUTOs?” Alan frowned.

            “Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms,” Suri elaborated.

            Will was impressed by her familiarity of the term. “You study them, too?”

            “I have a bit of experience,” Suri blushed.

            She was just that much more amazing in Will’s eyes. Moving past his personal feelings, he continued, “I was working with a team to find one specific Titan in Dubai before we were caught in some sort of dimensional rift. One second, I’m sweating like crazy in the desert…and then in the next, I’m freezing my ass off in Norway.”

            “Language,” Alan teased, provoking Suri to elbow him in his side. “Ow!”

            “I don’t know what happened,” Will said. “None of my credentials check out – my passport, my driver’s license, U.S. citizenship. No one in the whole world has ever heard of Willys Lazuardy. It’s like I’ve been erased…or marooned on some alien planet that looks like Earth.”

            Suri knew his situation to fall more in line with the latter possibility. “You poor dear,” she pitied him.

            Will deeply appreciated such compassion from a lovely woman. “But it’s not all bad news. I still have the Titan I’ve been seeking before I ended up here. The people where I’m from call him ‘Godzilla’.”

            Alan and Suri gasped, while Goku blurted out, “That’s who we’re looking for!”

            “I’m not surprised,” Will grinned. “Considering all the Titans in your world, or ‘Kaiju’ as you refer to them, I wouldn’t blame you three for being more than a little curious. I should warn you: chasing after these monsters isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. There are risks to this sort of thing.”

            “I can’t necessarily speak for my friends, Mr. Lazuardy, but I have some…”

            Suri was cut short of her statement when her sonic screwdriver pinged, having received a strong read on Godzilla’s signature. It was right underneath where they were standing. The only accessible way there was a cave just a few clicks from Lazuardy’s campsite. Within the far reaches of the cavern, they discovered the slumbering, colossal form of Godzilla.

            “Jesus,” Alan was petrified, sharing the same space as the Godzilla.

            “He’s so cool!” Goku exclaimed in excitement. “I wonder what it’d be like to go toe-to-toe with him!”

            Alan scoffed at the Saiyan. “You straight trippin’, bruh.”

            “Naw, I’m pretty careful on my feet when it comes to fighting,” Goku claimed, assuming Alan was speaking in the literal sense from his jargon.

            As Goku and Alan kept their distance from the legendary Titan, Suri and Will bravely moved in close enough to place their hands on one tiny section of its scaly, gargantuan snout. “He’s always so majestic to look at,” Suri said.

            Sharing this moment with her, Will found himself looking away from Godzilla and towards Suri. “Yes, she is.”

            In hearing the feminine pronoun he used, Suri was drawn to him again.

            They stared longingly into each other eyes.

            And then, a loud familiar shrill from outside the cave broke their contact.

            It also awakened Godzilla from its slumber.

            Suri, Alan, Goku, and Will immediately evacuated from the cavern, just as Godzilla rose to its full height, shattering through the terrain. Across from the mighty Titan was another massive reptilian kaiju that bore a noticeable resemblance, even from the way it roared.

            Suri could hardly believe what she was seeing. “Two Godzillas?!”

Chapter Text

Part Four

            As fun as it was for A.J. to hang out with the Minions, he got a little bored on playing UNO with them. Kevin, Stuart, and Bob had no idea how the game even worked, which left A.J. sitting in the TARDIS console room and watching Kevin and Stuart bicker in their weird language while Bob kept piling on cards, which was the opposite of a win in the game of UNO.

            In a huff, A.J. stood up and grabbed his snow jacket, heading outside.

            Kevin, Stuart, and Bob didn’t even notice his departure.

            A.J. wandered several feet from his grandmother’s TARDIS, believing he was still on the Wayne Manor grounds. To his surprise, he was in the middle of a seemingly endless frozen tundra that his 8-year-old mind believed could be only one place…

            “The North Pole!”

            And, following on that belief, he continued on his path at an exuberant pace – his destination: Santa’s Workshop.

            Two Godzillas.

            It had to be the result of a dimensional rift, presumably the same one that brought Agent Lazuardy to the present dimension.

            “One of them’s the culprit of the attack in New York,” Suri gathered.

            She watched along with Lazuardy, Goku, and Alan as the two Godzillas battled, one of them swinging its tail at the head of the other, knocking him down with an earthquaking thud. Suri and the three men were knocked off their feet momentarily. When they got back up, Alan shouted, “We need to get the hell up outta here before they crush us!”

            “Not ‘til we notified the Marshal about what we found!” Suri denied, prior to taking out her phone and dialing the contact number she still kept to the New York Shatterdome. “Stacker! It’s Neas!”

            “Where are you?!” Pentecost roared over the phone. “You, your son, and your friends disappeared on us! We thought you lot went missing!”

            “We’re in Iceland,” Suri told him.

            “What?!”

            “And we’ve found Godzilla…two Godzillas!”

            “WHAT?!?!” There was as much surprised in his voice as there was fury to this news. “I can be angry about you going off on an unsanctioned investigation later. For now, try to stay alive. I’m sending a Jaeger team to assist.”

            Another massive tremor generated from one of the collapsed Godzillas altered the very topography around them, raising the ice and earth beneath their feet into a massive peak. Suri and the men tumbled down the slope, stopping at the base. As they all recovered, they heard the cries of a small child close by. “Oh, god! A.J.!” Alan screamed, spotting his son, who stood out in midst of the chaotic scene, tears streaming down his frightened eyes.

            “Whose kid is that?!” Willys asked. “How did he get all the way out here?!”

            Instead of answering him, Suri ran to her grandson, just as another tremor shook the terrain. Suri made it to A.J. just as soon as it occurred, but the shockwave separated them from Alan, Willys, and Goku. The last thing Alan could see of his mother and son was the both of them plummeting back into the cavern where they found the first Godzilla, before they were caught in a cave-in.

            Alan tried to go to help them, but he was held back by Goku and Willys. He didn’t understand why they did until he saw Gipsy Avenger – the Jaeger that Pentecost sent – storm into the scene and engage with the rogue Godzilla. The other Godzilla fled from the battle, leaving Avenger to subdue the rogue, stabbing at its hard, scaly skin with a titanium needle, extracted from its right fist. The stab wasn’t lethal; its purpose was to tranquilize the rogue.

            Soon after the insanity ended, a black chopper landed near Alan, Goku, and Willys. Mako disembarked from the aircraft to directly confront the men. “I have orders from the Marshal to return you to the Shatterdome immediately,” she sternly said. It wasn’t until she noticed Willys that she asked, “Who is this man?”

            “Willys Lazuardy, scientific researcher,” he introduced himself.

            “Never mind that!” Alan snapped frantically. He pointed to the blocked cavern and alerted Mako, “My son and mama are trapped in there!”

            Willys grimaced at one of his descriptions. “Your…mama?”

            Dazed but otherwise unharmed, Suri and her grandson stood in the chilly cavern with their only exit blocked by chunks of rock and ice. She activated her sonic as a practicable light source in the dark, freezing climate. The entire time, she kept checking on A.J., whose tears had frozen on his shivering little face. “You poor dear,” Suri held his body close to hers for warmth. “Everything’ll be O.K. I’ll get us out of here.” She didn’t know how much he really trusted her; from the perspective his parents forced on him, she was a total stranger.

            With no other option, they ventured further into the cavern, which seemed more spacious without the colossal form of Godzilla. Such space allowed them to have plenty of air, yet the low temperatures were less than ideal – at least in the case of A.J. Whereas Suri’s Time Lord biology would endure it for quite some time, her human grandson could for only so little time. That was her primary motive for getting them out as quickly as possible.

            In their hope of finding another way out, they discovered a bright light emitting from one corner of the cavern. Where there’s light, there’s a way, Suri confidently thought. And she pursued on this confidence with her grandson, heading towards the light as it glowed brighter the closer they got.

            It soon enveloped them in its golden hue.

            Suri and A.J. could hardly see the way forward.

            Before either of them knew it, they were no longer in the freezing cavern…neither were they in Iceland.

            They were standing in the middle of a street within a city.

            Judging from the model of the cars honking for them to get out of the road, Suri figured the time to be 1947. The faces of the locals staring at them were all Japanese; by this and the large population of citizens, Suri narrowed their current location down to one of four major cities: Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, or Tokyo.

            It was A.J.’s presence that garnered most of the locals’ attention, being the only African-American individual in the city.

            Suri had to get him out of sight immediately before…

            “Sokode yamete kudasai!” a constable ordered them in Japanese. Suri knew he had ordered them to stop, so she did as he swiftly approached them, glaring specifically at the frightened A.J. “Kono otokonoko wa anata to issho desu ka?” (“Is this boy with you?”)

            Suri shielded A.J. behind her and answered, “Hai, kare wa watashi no mago desu.” (“Yes, he is my grandson.”)

            The constable was flabbergasted. “Anata no...mago?!” (“Your…grandson?!”)

            This certainly didn’t help her case, as the constable’s suspicions drove him to arrest them. Suri didn’t resist and encouraged A.J. to remain calm, as they were led away to the nearest police station.

            All the while, their arrest was witnessed by several onlookers…

            …including one young Japanese woman in a navy-blue trench coat, matching pants, and a red plaid shirt.

            While Gipsy Avenger worked with two dozen Chinook helicopters to hoist the sedated rogue Godzilla for transport back to the New York Shatterdome, Goku and an excavation team worked on saving Suri and A.J. from the cave-in. Goku opted not to use his Kamehame Wave, its destructive force possible to cause more danger to Suri and A.J.

            Alan was a nervous wreck the whole time, watching Goku and the team carefully remove one ice block and boulder after another.

            Mako and Willys stood with him. “They’ll be alright,” the former reassured.

            He was too wracked with guilt to believe her. “I should’ve never invited her into Wayne Manor. A.J. and I would have a nice, quiet Christmas right now.”

            “Wayne Manor?” Willys heard him say. “Like in Batman?!”

            It was just another strange detail that Willys overheard from the young man. Much as he wanted to question it, current circumstances deemed an interrogation to be ill-advised, so he kept his questions to himself until Suri and A.J. were rescued. There was also the matter of Marshal Pentecost arriving at the scene via private helicopter. He was assisted out of it by two men who carried him by his arms and legs before placing him into his waiting wheelchair. He despised every moment of this.

            The Marshal didn’t come alone. Accompanying him with his two carers was a young Caucasian man wearing his cap backwards and carrying a backpack. “This is Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, a biologist and someone who knows quite a bit about our other Godzilla,” Pentecost introduced him.

            Dr. Tatopoulos shook hands with Alan and Willys. “Call me ‘Nick’,” he greeted, sounding as geeky as he looked. “It’s been a weird few days for me. Ya see, like that Godzilla we captured, I’m not from this dimension.”

            “Me, too!” Willys exclaimed, relieved to find a kindred spirit in the biologist. “As a matter of fact, that other Godzilla that your Godzilla was fighting earlier is from my world.”

            Pentecost regarded this new information with a grin. “It seems luck is on our side. Both you men are just the experts we need.”

            “We never suspected the possibility of two Godzillas, until Suri told us in her call,” Mako said. “Before then, Dr. Tatopoulos tried to warn us of his Godzilla’s intentions, but none of them matched up with Mr. Lazuardy’s Godzilla.”

            “Because they aren’t the same Godzilla,” Tatopoulos said.

            “What are the intentions of your Godzilla?” Willys asked him.

            “She has a nest in New York that she’s protecting,” Nick explained. “It’s located in Madison Square Garden.”

            “I made it clear for Dr. Tatopoulos that, in spite of this nest, his Godzilla should still be considered an interdimensional threat,” Pentecost stated. “For the time being, it’ll be kept sedated in the Shatterdome.”

            Suddenly, Goku leaped from where he and the excavation team had cleared all the rubble from the cave entrance, landing delicately where the others were gathered. “Welp, we got good news and bad news,” he announced.

            “What’s the bad news?” Alan nervously chose of the two, bracing himself.

            “The bad news is that Suri and A.J. aren’t in the cave,” Goku said.

            “What?!” Alan howled. “I saw them fall into that cave!” He pointed to the now-open cavern. “Where the hell else could they have gone?!”

            Goku shrugged. “I dunno. But the good news is that they’re alive.”

            “How do you know?!” Alan retorted.

            “Because I can sense them,” Goku said. “I don’t know for sure where they are, but they’re still alive and kickin’.”

            Suri was thankful that A.J. didn’t know any Japanese, because quite a few words describing him were thrown around the Ginza District’s police station – kitanai kokujin no shōnen being the one often used, translating as “dirty black boy.” It disgusted her to know the attitude such Japanese denizens held even towards Americans of color.

            She sat beside her grandson in their jail cell, drying the tears that he shed every few minutes. “It’s O.K., dear,” she consoled him.

            “I want Mama and Daddy,” he whimpered.

            “I know, dear, I know,” Suri embraced him. “I promise you’ll see them soon.”

            “Are you my grandma?” This question from him caught Suri by surprise.

            She looked into his teary, puppy-dog eyes, resisting the urge to tell him the truth. Instead, she asked, “Why would you think that I’m your grandma?”

            “I heard Daddy call you ‘Mama’. That means you’re my grandma, doesn’t it?”

            Suri smiled big and wide, no longer withholding what she desperately wanted to tell her grandson. “Yes, dear…I’m your grandma.”

            With this confirmation, A.J. hugged her.

            He didn’t question it nor did he laugh at the notion of it.

            He just accepted this young Asian woman who he was jailed with was his paternal grandmother.

            Their tender moment would’ve lasted longer had it not been for the loud voices shouting outside their cell. Suri looked up from A.J. to see a Japanese woman briskly walking towards their cell, while the arresting constable chased after her and yelled, “Koko ni tada haitte kuru koto wa dekimasen!” (“You can’t just come in here!”)

            The young woman sharply turned and glared at him, holding up her credentials and yelling back, “Watashi wa nippon seifu no taishi desu!” (“I’m an ambassador for the Japanese government!”)

            “Josei taishi desu ka?!” (“A female ambassador?!”)

            “Watashi wa Katayama Tetsu shushō mizukara ninmei shimashita! Kare ni monku o iitai desu ka?” (“I was appointed by Prime Minister Tetsu Katayama himself! Do you want to complain to him?”)

            The constable stiffened for a brief moment, beads of sweat forming off his brow. After some hesitation, he bowed to the young woman and returned to his office. The woman folded the paper that she held, and as she did so, Suri could see that it was blank. Psychic paper. A handy tool used mostly by Time Lords like herself and the Doctor.

            So where did this woman get her hands on some?

            She approached the cell with the key to unlock its door, freeing Suri and A.J. “Are you two alright?” she asked them in perfect English with a noticeable Japanese accent. “I can’t believe they arrested you just for having a grandson that isn’t Japanese!” She then crouched down to A.J.’s eye level and gingerly asked, “You alright, sweetheart?”

            A.J. shook his head. “I wanna go home.”

            “You’re going back there real soon, I promise,” the young woman told him.

            “Who are you?” Suri asked her. “Why’re you helping us?”

            The young woman looked at Suri, smiling. “Still haven’t figured it out yet, have you, Neas? It’s not your fault. This is a regeneration of me you haven’t met yet.”

            Following on the context clues, Suri gasped in recognition, “Pop?!”

            The young Japanese woman verified this with a wink and a smile. “I call this one of us ‘Satoshi’.”

Chapter Text

Part Five

            Heavily sedated, the Godzilla that was designated as the “Tatopoulos Godzilla” (or “Nick’s Godzilla”) was airlifted directly to the New York Shatterdome. Alan, having arrived there long before then, watched in despondence as the slumbering behemoth was lowered into a fortified pen reserved for the observation (and later extermination) of Kaiju just like it.

            The despondent Alan was soon joined by Willys and Goku. “Hangin’ in there, son?” the former asked him.

            “I’m tryin’ to,” Alan huffed. “I just don’t understand where Mama and A.J. could be…or whether or not I’ll even see them again.”

            “Hey, don’t give up so fast, Alan,” Goku encouraged. “Miracles can happen, and I know one will happen for you, if you believe enough. And I believe your mom and little boy are still out there.”

            Alan glimpsed at the Saiyan hero, seeing how he gave a wink and a thumb’s up with his words of encouragement. “Thanks, Goku.”

            “I know this isn’t exactly the right time to mention this,” Willys hesitated for a moment, “but you said that Suri is your mother…and also an alien who’s lived for over a thousand years, correct?”

            Alan nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”

            “Do you suppose I still have a chance with her?” Willys asked.

            His very forward inquiry took even Goku by surprise. “Dude! Seriously?!”

            “Your timing couldn’t be worse, man,” the offended Alan scolded Willys.

            Before Willys could offer an apology, Jake suddenly approached the three men with news. “Dad’s ordered for a team to investigate the nest in Madison Square Garden,” he informed. “I’ll be takin’ lead on it with Dr. Tatopoulos and a few armed soldiers. You boys are welcome to come along if…”

            “Hell yeah!” Alan immediately volunteered.

            “Now, wait a sec, son…” Willys protested.

            “I ain’t your son,” Alan rebuffed. “So don’t try to talk me out of goin’.”

            Willys saw the stoicism in the young man’s face. He could see how little regard he had for his own life, truly believing he had lost everything and everyone he cared about. “Alright, Alan,” Willys consented. “But Goku and I are going with you.”

            “Satoshi…” Suri mused on the name of her father’s ninth incarnation, who walked side-to-side with her and A.J. along the streets of 1947 Tokyo.

            “Mm-hmm,” Satoshi murmured with pride. “I’ve been rockin’ this regeneration for awhile now, keeping a close eye on rifts like the major one that opened in this specific dimension…and a specific Godzilla that may or may not have come through it. This realm is one of many that has its own Godzilla… one of the more dangerous variants of him.”

            “This can’t be coincidence,” Suri noted.

            “What can’t be?” Satoshi asked.

            “A.J. and I came from another realm that has two Godzillas right now. One of them must have come from this dimension.”

            Their discussion was disrupted just as every single denizen of the Tokyo-based city suddenly flew into panic, fleeing all around Suri, Satoshi, and A.J. The three travelers wondered what could have caused the mass hysteria, just as a nearby building exploded. Beyond the explosion emerged Godzilla – the one native to 1947 Tokyo.

            “Well, there goes my theory,” Suri frowned.

            The two Time Ladies bravely shielded A.J. from the approaching Godzilla, who continued its rampage through the city block, stomping on innocent bystanders and shrilling into the heavens with ferocity.

            However, those shrills were silenced at the moment that another and much bigger Godzilla materialized behind the native one.

            This new Godzilla chomped at the native’s neck, decapitating it instantly.

            Suri looked on the carnage in total disbelief, whereas Satoshi was undeterred.

            “That’s the Godzilla I followed through the rift,” she indicated of the newly-emerged variant.

Chapter Text

            Yet another Godzilla.

            The fourth one that Suri had seen within the last twenty-four hours.

            And this one just decimated the one dominant of the 1947 Tokyo dimension, before proceeding to tear through the city on its own.

            Suri heard A.J. crying behind her; she took him into her arms and gingerly said, “It’s O.K. It’s O.K. It’s O.K.” She wasn’t entirely sure herself that it would be. This Godzilla was different than the others she encountered. It was more vicious, more destructive, and capable of traveling through interdimensional rifts.

            “Quick! Follow me!” Satoshi instructed her, and Suri followed.

            She followed Satoshi to the Type-X TARDIS parked in the alley.

            That beautiful white orb of a spaceship was a sight for sore eyes – and the only way Suri and A.J. had out of 1947 Tokyo. They made it to the ship not a moment too soon, as the new Godzilla began to charge up its heat ray – the spikes on its back irradiating blue energy.

            Suri, Satoshi, and A.J. were just about to board the TARDIS until Suri looked to the other end of the alley and saw a couple – a man with a bandaged head and a drenched woman – staring in wide-eyed fear at the charging Godzilla. While most of all the other denizens had fled from the scene, they were the only two still standing in the danger zone.

            Not wishing to leave them to their imminent doom, Suri cried out, “Tada soko ni tatsu te iru dake de wa ike masen! Issho ni rai te kudasai!” (“Don’t just stand there! Come with us!”)

            There was a bit of hesitation for the couple to move on Suri’s invitation.

            Suri understood. She was asking them to follow her on faith…but to where? There was no hiding from the destruction of Godzilla – any Godzilla.

            Nonetheless, the female of the couple accepted whatever chance they might’ve had to live. “Kōichi,” she urged her partner, who remained frozen, staring on the glowing Godzilla. “KŌICHI!!!” Her shrilling tone snapped the man out of it. He looked at her and then towards Suri, Satoshi, A.J., and the unusual white orb standing behind them.

            Finally, his feet moved in correspondence with his partner’s, both of them running to join Suri, Satoshi, and A.J. as they all clambered inside the TARDIS – right at the moment Godzilla unleashed its devastating ray, rendering everything within radius – people and buildings alike – to ash.

            Shikishima was daunted by the sudden shift in dimensional space as he stumbled into the TARDIS with his partner. He screamed, “Kore wa nani desu ka?! Kore wa nani no kyouki desu ka ?” (“What is this?! What is this madness?!”)

            Satoshi, seeing how frightened both Kōichi and his partner were, immediately rushed to them and reassured, “Anata tachi wa ryouhou tomo anzen desu. Nani mo osoreru koto wa ari masen.” (“You’re both safe. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”)

            Kōichi’s partner trembled as she asked Satoshi, “Dare ga . . .anata wa dare desu ka?” (“Who…Who are you?”)

            Satoshi smiled and answered, “Tada tasuke tai dake no hito.” (“Someone who just wants to help.”)

            Stepping into the exchange, Suri bowed and introduced, “Watashi no namae wa Suri desu. Satoshi desu. A.J. desu.” (“My name is Suri. This is Satoshi. That is A.J.”)

            Kōichi’s partner offered a timid bow in return before she made introductions as well. “Watashi no namae wa Ōishi Noriko desu. Shikishima Kōichi desu.” (“My name is Noriko Ōishi. This is Kōichi Shikishima.”)

            Suri and Satoshi both bowed to the couple. “Yokoso.” (“Welcome.”)

            Once Kōichi and Noriko had calmed, Suri offered them to look after A.J. while she and Satoshi consulted near the TARDIS console, from which Satoshi learned some unsettling information: “The city’s been obliterated…and that Godzilla has disappeared from the dimension.”

            “It created its own portal in and out of the reality,” Suri recollected. “I’ve seen beings in the Infinite DC that can do that – they’re called ‘Vorbs’. They’re not unlike Warpers.”

            “Or Great Old Ones, like Cthulhu,” Satoshi added.

            “We have to tail it,” Suri suggested. “Find out its next destination.”

            “Way ahead of you,” Satoshi said, typing in on the console keyboard.

            As she did so, Shikishima approached Suri and said, “Watashi tachi ni wa chiisana onnanoko ga i masu.” (“We have a little girl.”)

            Suri responded, “Musume?” (“Your daughter?”)

            Shikishima shook his head. “Kanojo wa koji desu. Watashi tachi wa kanojo no sewa wa shi te i mashi ta. Kanojo wa machi no gai ni i ta. Kanojo wa mada iki te i masu. Kanojo wa mada iki te i masu!” (“She’s an orphan. We were looking after her. She was outside the city. She’s still alive. She’s still alive!”)

            Suri saw Shikishima becoming frantic again and quickly consoled him, “Sugu ni mata aeru yoi, yakusoku shi masu.” (“You’ll see her again soon, I promise.”)

            Shadowed by Gipsy Avenger, the Shatterdome team arrived at the ruins of what used to be Madison Square Garden, now the nest that belonged to Nick’s Godzilla. The Garden’s auditorium housed the nest, lit by the moonlight that shined through the wide hole ripped across the ceiling, turning the arena into a stadium. It did indeed contain the Godzilla’s eggs, as well as dead fish littered all over the main auditorium floor. From the foul odor the fish carried, they had been there for quite some time, yet remained relatively untouched.

            “These eggs are so huge!” Goku bellowed, his voice echoing across the auditorium.

            “There has to be hundreds of them,” gathered Tatopoulos, who seemed a bit overjoyed to be right.

            “Your Godzilla’s gonna be one happy mama, Dr. Taterpoolo,” Goku smirked.

            “It’s Tatopoulous,” Nick corrected the Saiyan. “And, yes, she will be.”

            “I take it you’ve found the nest?” Jake’s voice came over the comms; Gipsy glimpsing down through the ceiling hole.

            “We did,” Willys notified him. “Now what?”

            “Now our boys start plantin’ those charges.”

            On Jake’s command, the soldiers that accompanied Goku, Alan, Willys, and Nick attached C4 bombs on each of the eggs within the nest. “Do we even have enough?” one of the soldiers questioned.

            “Don’t worry,” another soldier reassured. “Gipsy will handle whatever’s left.”

            “Hold up!” Goku protested, standing between the soldiers and the eggs. “We can’t just blow up this nest!”

            “Why the hell not?!” Jake asked in disbelief.

            “‘Cause these are her babies!” Goku argued. “We can’t kill her babies!”

            “Oh, Christ…” muttered an annoyed Alan.

            Willys shrugged. “He’s got a point.”

            “No, he doesn’t!” Alan barked. “Look, it’s because of this damn Godzilla that I lost my mother and my son!” Furiously, he snatched one of the explosives from one of the Shatterdome soldiers, approaching one of the eggs with it. “No world is safe with an entire race of Godzillas!”

            “Alan, please! Just wait!” Goku pleaded, only to be pushed away by the man.

            Before Alan could plan the explosive to the egg he chose, he stopped when Jake’s voice frantically shouted over his earpiece, “WE GOT COMPANY!!!!”

            The ground beneath them quaked.

            Looking up through the ceiling hole, they noticed Gipsy turning away from the nest and facing something that the team couldn’t properly see from their ground positions. It was only after they heard a loud, familiar ear-splitting screech that they got an idea – Godzilla had arrived.

            “Jake, which one is it?” Nick asked. “Which Godzilla is it?”

            “It’s yours, mate…and another one!”

            Willys frowned. “Another? You mean mine, right?”

            “No, man! It’s one we ain’t seen yet! And it looks bloody pissed!”

            Jake and his Jaeger copilot froze and shuddered in their Conn-Pod when they witnessed the new Godzilla emerge from a swirling blue portal, shrilling to the heavens as it challenged the two behemoths in front of it.

Chapter Text

Part Seven

            Shikishima’s hands could not stop shaking. They haven’t been able to ever since the night he first encountered that giant reptile monster on Odo Island – the monster whose name he learned to be ‘Godzilla’ from Satoshi and Suri. He glimpsed their way every few seconds, trying to understand what it was they were doing near that unusual, hexagonal control console. Shikishima had never met women like them before, not even counting Noriko, who herself was baffled by their female rescuers. Neither of the Ginza survivors could comprehend the strange vessel they sat in or how its interior space transcended beyond its exterior space.

            It didn’t ease Shikishima’s nerves any with A.J. constantly staring at him and Noriko. The boy just stood across from them, not turning his eyes away for so much as a millisecond. It drove Shikishima to the point of lashing out at him. “Nani wa mi te iru n desu ka?!” (“What’re you staring at?!”)

            A.J. flinched and backed up slightly when Shikishima stood up and advanced.

            Noriko grabbed his left arm in a gesture of restraint. “Sheen wa tsukuru no wa yamero, orokamono me!” (“Stop making a scene, you fool!”)

            Shikishima refused to listen to reason. He kept his threatening gaze on A.J., inching closer to the frightened child, who verged on tears. It looked as if Shikishima would have put his hands on him, if Satoshi had not suddenly blocked Shikishima’s way and shielded A.J. Her chocolate-brown eyes meeting with his, she strictly (and boldly) told him, “Kono shou sanako wa chigai masu.” (“Not this little one.”)

            The fire in her eyes struck Shikishima cold. He had seen that fire before – in his mother’s eyes, whenever he did something that displeased her. It was enough to make him yield, cowering back to the corner where he and Noriko sat. He didn’t dare look A.J.’s way again afterwards.

            Satoshi huffed, grateful that she didn’t have to physically force Shikishima to submit. She recognized that the man suffered from PTSD, either from his service in World War II or from his latest encounter with Godzilla…or both.

            Hearing her great-grandson sniveling, she turned to him and knelt down to his level. “Hey now, it’s okay,” she cleansed the tears from his face with the back of her delicate hand. “Your great-granddad’s here to look out for you.” She reached into one of her rear pockets and retrieved a portable tablet with a multi-touch screen; attached to the sides of the tablet were red and blue controllers. “Your grandmama told me that it’s Christmas in your world, so I got ya this.”

            A.J.’s face beamed from the cool-looking tablet, which automatically switched on from the moment that he took it from Satoshi. There was a game preset to the device – a Sonic the Hedgehog game.

            “Did you know that your grandmother and I once met this lil’ fella?” she told A.J., who was already too engrossed to listen to her story. Snickering at her great-grandson, Satoshi gave him a peck on the cheek and left him to his game.

            She returned to the console where Suri half-noticed the gift presentation. “You’re spoiling him,” she teased her father.

            Satoshi shrugged with a smile. “It’s what we grandparents do.”

            “Well, I just hope Alan and Erica will be O.K. with it,” Suri said whilst dialing on the console keyboard and setting their destination for the New York Shatterdome. “I also hope we get back before that Savage Godzilla does…and that Pentecost hasn’t killed either of the other Godzillas yet.”

            Satoshi nodded in agreement. “Yeah. They’re our only hope.”

            No less than a moment later did they arrive at their destination.

            Disembarking from the Type-X TARDIS, they walked into the aftermath of a rather chaotic scene. All personnel rushed about, alarms blared from all directions, and there were substantial damages from what was supposed to have been a fortified pen, now left with a massive hole torn through one of the walls, offering a majestic view of New York island.

            “What happened here?!” Satoshi exclaimed.

            “Godzilla,” the shaky voice of a woman told them. Turning in the direction they heard it come from, they saw a disheveled Mako approach. She looked right at Suri with relieved eyes. “You’re alive.”

            Suri nodded. “Yes. Where’s my son?”

            “With a recon team,” Mako informed. “We found the nest belonging to the other Godzilla in Madison Square Garden. We were about to destroy it, until a third Godzilla emerged out of nowhere! Where are they all coming from?!”

            “Probably from the same place where our newest Godzilla came from,” Satoshi presumed.

            Mako regarded Satoshi’s presence with confusion. “Who’s this?” she asked Suri.

            “Remember my father?” Suri returned. “The curly-haired redhead who Dr. Geiszler had a huge crush on?” She nodded to Satoshi. “Now she’s the woman you see in front of you.”

            Satoshi waved with wiggling fingers to Mako. “Nice to see ya again.”

            Mako didn’t have time to process this. “Too much is happening as it is,” she huffed. “My father…”

            Noticing how distraught she was on the mentioning of the marshal, Suri grew concerned. “Nani ka mondai ga ari masu ka?” (“Is there something wrong?”)

            Overcome with emotion, Mako couldn’t answer outright.

            Instead, she brought them to the infirmary. There, Suri and Satoshi were disheartened to see a bedridden Stacker Pentecost. He looked much weaker than when Suri had last seen of him, having lost much of his color. Her Minion companions – Kevin, Stuart, and Bob – were at his bedside, acting like the incapable nurses they were and trying to nurse the marshal back to health, to no avail.

            With a single whistle, Suri called the trio’s attention away from Pentecost and on her. Kevin, Stuart, and Bob were elated to see her back, all of them shouting, “TO’RE KOI!” Suri figured that to translate as “You’re alive!” She shared in a brief group hug with her small yellow pals before tending to the gravely ill marshal, along with Satoshi.

            “You’re alive,” Pentecost rasped, looking on Suri with weak eyes. “I dreamt that I was surrounded by yellow Jelly Bean men in overalls.”

            “You were,” Suri tittered. “They were only trying to help.”

            “Your radiation poisoning has returned, hasn’t it?” Satoshi gathered.

            Pentecost gave a feeble nod. “Since a year ago.” He then realized how he was responding to what he perceived as a complete stranger and inquired, “Who the bloody hell are you?”

            Satoshi smiled. “An old friend.”

            Stacker chuckled and coughed. “I don’t have very many of those left, do I?”

            “What can we do for you, Marshal?” Suri asked. “We were certain that sedative would work!”

            “And it did, Miss Neas,” the marshal reassured. “You gave me ten good extra years to see my children become the heroes of humanity… and I couldn’t be prouder of them!”

            Suri and Satoshi could hear Mako sniffling in the corner, no longer able to maintain a brave face in front of her dying father.

            “Now,” Stacker continued, “get out of here and help my son…and your son. They’re both in serious danger right now.”

            Suri didn’t want to leave his side, but she knew he was right.

            After entrusting Shikishima and Noriko to look after A.J., both Suri and Satoshi (with Kevin, Stuart, and Bob) departed in their TARDISes – Satoshi’s orb-shaped Type-X model and Suri’s domino-shaped Type-Z.

            Jake was indebted to the emergency protocols in New York City, in which citizens were required to take cover in underground shelters in the event of a kaiju attack. The sudden fight he was locked into with the new Godzilla had taken its toll on his Jaeger. Gipsy was ravaged by every blow from the savage monster, ultimately robbing the last of the Jaegers of its right arm. A single swipe from its spiky tail brought the mechanical behemoth down, shutting all of its systems down and effectively killing Jake’s copilot.

            “I’M DOWN!” Jake cried into the comms, his face caked with his own blood.

            Through the cracked Conn-Pod viewscreen, he saw the Savage Godzilla loom over him, opening its mouth wide. The bluish-white glow manifested from the back of the monster’s throat, ready to finish off Jake and Gipsy with the fiercest of atomic breaths.

            Thankfully, they were spared by the only ally they had in this fight: Nick’s Godzilla.

            It clamped its jaws down on the Savage Godzilla’s throat, wounding it.

            Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be enough. The Savage retaliated by slamming both of their bodies through the Empire State Building. Nick’s Godzilla was forced to disengage from the unrelenting impact, as the building came down on them. Only the Savage emerged from the rubble, shrilling victoriously.

            It then made for the Madison Square Garden nest.

            Alan, Goku, Willys, Nick, and the rest of the Shatterdome team witnessed its gargantuan head peering through the hole and looking over all the eggs situated along the auditorium.

            “It sees the eggs!” the mortified Nick exclaimed.

            “Does it know that they belong to your Godzilla?” Willys asked him.

            “I think your question’s about to get answered,” Alan indicated from the Savage Godzilla’s opened glowing mouth, primed to eviscerate the nest and, by extension, the Shatterdome team.

            Willys gulped. “Well, you guys did want this nest destroyed!”

            “Yeah, but not with our asses up in it!” Alan griped.

            Suddenly, both men detected a bright glow from the corners of their eyes, followed by an intense heat that irradiated near their bodies. Before either them or the soldiers could figure where it came from, something shot up like a rocket from their position, moving faster than the blink of an eye until it stopped right along the path of the Savage Godzilla’s atomic breath.

            The blast was deflected by a streaming, powerful beam of energy…

            …that was unleashed by Goku!

            The explosive reaction from the connected energies was immense, rocking the Savage Godzilla back from the MSG nest. Dazed and infuriated, it looked on the hovering Goku, whose spiked hair glowed blue in correspondence with the powerful aura that enshrouded his body. The Saiyan was soon flanked by Nick’s Godzilla, emerging from the remains of the ESB.

            In a voice that echoed through the heavens, Goku proclaimed, “YOU AREN’T DESTROYING THIS NEST!” And on that declaration, the Super Saiyan and Nick’s Godzilla joined forces in fighting against the Savage Godzilla.

            “I didn’t know we had Superman on our team!” Nick watched Goku in amazement.

            Willys shook his head, grinning. “Man, is it cool to see that in person!”

            “What you mean?” Alan frowned at him.

            The Monarch agent was about to clarify for the young man before they suddenly hear familiar whooshing noises reverberate inside the auditorium. Alan’s face beamed with hopeful enthusiasm as he gazed all around, settling on one area of the auditorium floor that wasn’t occupied by the Godzilla eggs.

            Two TARDISes manifested – the Type-X and the Type-Z.

            But it was the latter ship that evoked a joyful reaction out of Alan, especially when he saw Suri walk out of the giant domino block. With a maniac laugh of euphoria, he rushed to his mother and scooped her up in a big hug, twirling her around. “YOU’RE ALIVE!!!!”

            “That’s number four,” Satoshi giggled, emerging from her TARDIS.

            Setting Suri down, Alan looked on Satoshi, confused. “Who’s this?”

            “Your grandfather,” Suri said.

            Willys stared in dumbfounded awe at the hot Japanese brunette in the navy blue trench coat and red flannel shirt. “Grandfather?!” he bellowed.

            Satoshi approached him, offering her hand. “You must be Will. How are ya?”

            “F-Fine,” Willys stammered, accepting her handshake. He couldn’t get over how beautiful she was, just as much as Suri, and a lot taller.

            “Zuza Goku!” Willys heard a high-pitched voice shout near him. Looking down, he saw that Kevin, Stuart, and Bob were there as well, marveling over the flying Goku battling the Savage Godzilla.

            Judging from the damaged state of Goku’s clothes, the fight wasn’t going much in the favor of him and Nick’s Godzilla.

            “C’mon, Goku!” Alan cheered. “Ya got this!”

            “This isn’t his fight – it’s Godzilla’s,” Suri told him. “Your grandpa and I got a plan that’ll turn the tide in our favor.”

            “How so?” Willys asked.

            Satoshi placed a confident hand on his shoulder. “The Savage Godzilla is charged with radiation from nuage energy – that’s what makes him so unstoppable. But if Suri and I channel the energies from our TARDISes over to the Godzilla we have in the fight, we can give it a huge advantage!”

            Willys couldn’t grasp the science of it all, but it sounded like a solid plan.

            Suri and Satoshi enacted it straightaway, working frenetically at the controls of their ships. The nuage energies dispersed from the two vessels and out of the MSG arena.

            However, the collective energy didn’t reach to Nick’s Godzilla.

            Instead, it went to one that emerged from the Hudson River.

            It was Willys’ Godzilla, the one that had been a resident of this dimension for ten straight years. Now imbued with unbelievable interdimensional energy, it released an intense nuage-powered atomic blast on the Savage Godzilla, incinerating the creature into ashes, until all the energy was exhausted.

            Only two Godzillas remained thereafter, both staring each other down.

            Goku floated nervously between them. “Uh-oh,” he groaned. “This could get really ugly.”

            Thankfully, it didn’t.

            In the defeat of the Savage Godzilla, a truce had formed between the Godzillas.

            Willys’ Godzilla returned to the sea, leaving Nick’s Godzilla and its nest alone.

            “Whew!” Goku huffed in relief, depowering from his Super Saiyan Blue form. “Happy ending, at last!”

            Inside his crippled Jaeger, Jake could not have been happier to be alive after such a harrowing battle. His moment of pause was disrupted, unfortunately, once Mako’s voice shuddered over the comm, “Jake…our father…is dead.”

            Two days later, a funeral service was held for Marshal Stacker Pentecost.

            Many attended, including Raleigh Becket, Dr. Newton “Newt” Geiszler, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, the Hansens (Chuck and Hercules), and Tendo Choi.

            Suri and Satoshi also attended in respect of their ally and friend.

            After the funeral, the Gladiator and the Tinkerer used their TARDISes to open a rift to a world where Nick’s Godzilla and its offspring could live in peace, subsequently returning Niko Tatopoulos himself to his home dimension.

            All that was left for the remaining off-worlders was to return to their worlds.

            That included Shikishima and Noriko.

            Satoshi discovered that they had wandered into the observation deck that oversaw a biodome within the New York Shatterdome where Kong dwelled. After days of recovery, he was back on his feet in the biodome, which was programmed to realistically imitate his home on Skull Island. Shikishima and Noriko observed him in absolute terror.

            Seeing how afraid they were, Satoshi told them, “Kong wa shugo mono de ari, kuchikukan dewa arimasen.” (“Kong is a protector, not a destroyer.”)

            Shikishima jumped at the sound of her voice when she quietly approached. Swallowing hard, he responded in anger, “Monsters wa hakai mono!” (“Monsters are destroyers!”)

            There was no convincing him or Noriko otherwise. So, instead, Satoshi merely offered her hand to the couple and said, “Okaeri shi masu… soko ni hamou monster wa imasen.” (“I will return you home…there are no monsters there anymore.”)

            Shikishima and Noriko hesitated to accept her offer.

            In the end, they had no other choice.

            As their TARDISes sat parked on the snow-covered Wayne Manor property, Suri and Satoshi said their goodbyes to Alan and A.J. It was a rather long goodbye, with Suri and Satoshi unable to pry themselves away from hugging A.J.

            “Ya’ll gonna have to let that boy breathe sometime!” Alan cackled.

            Satoshi shushed him. “I’ll never let him go!”

            Suri giggled. “He’s right, Pop. We have to let A.J. go.”

            Tears flowed from Satoshi’s eyes once she was able to release her hold on her great-grandson. With a sniffle, she gingerly told him, “Don’t forget your ol’ great-grandpa, O.K.? I’ll come back to visit ya.”

            “O.K.,” A.J. acknowledged before giving Satoshi a peck on her cheek.

            The gesture only made Satoshi cry even more, prompting her to return it with a long, tender kiss on A.J.’s forehead.

            “Hey, Mama?” Alan addressed Suri. “You’re welcome to stop by anytime, too.”

            His welcomed invitation caught Suri off-guard. “But Erica…”

            “You’re my mother, which means I decide whether or not you’re welcome in our family…and you always will be, no matter what.”

            Touched by his words, Suri had become just as much a blubbering mess as Satoshi. She hugged Alan, burying her face into his chest. Alan didn’t even mind the smeared mascara that it left on his bright turquoise shirt.

            Once Suri and Satoshi collected themselves, they returned to their TARDISes.

            At the same time, a black Sedan pulled up to the front of manor, driven by an overtaxed Erica Harvey, who hardly even noticed the alien ships on the front lawn. She wavered into the manor and groaned, “I’m home finally!”

            “Mama!” A.J. cheered, happily clinging to his mother’s hip.

            “Merry Christmas, baby,” Erica sluggishly patted him on the head.

            Alan could see how bushed she was. “Jeez, babe. You straight?”

            “No, I ain’t straight!” Erica thundered. “I’ve had the longest night-into-day ever! Didn’t you watch the news?!” Alan shook his head. “Well, if you did, you would’ve seen that the whole damn city was taken hostage by a guy in a freaky mask! I left you fifty text messages about it!”

            Alan checked his phone for the first time since coming back home.

            Indeed, there were fifty unchecked text messages in his inbox – all from Erica.

            “Oh, babe, I’m sorry,” Alan muttered in embarrassment. “But here’s the thing…”

            “What the hell have you been doing all day, man?!”

            That was when Erica heard a sound that she hadn’t heard since before A.J. was born. Humming and grinding noises, coming from outside. Looking out the window, she saw it – that big, black domino-shaped TARDIS that belonged to Alan’s adopted alien mother who could change their sex, race, and gender.

            It and the orb-shaped one that belonged to Alan’s alien grandfather, who had the same changing ability as his mother.

            Both dematerialized away from the Wayne property, leaving no trace behind.

            “Alright…maybe my day wasn’t as crazy as yours.”

            “Be seeing you, Pop.”

            “See ya around, Neas!”

            Willys stood near the control console as Suri saw Satoshi off through the monitor that hung over the control panel. He could hardly believe the ship he was standing in. “I can’t believe I’m in a real TARDIS!”

            Suri frowned on him. “You know about TARDISes?”

            Willys nodded. “Like in Doctor Who, right?”

            Suri cringed in perplexity. “Doctor Who? What’s that?”

            “It’s this show where…” Willys stopped in his explanation as he made a realization, standing in a TARDIS with Suri (a Time Lord) and her companions, Goku (the hero of the Dragon Ball anime/manga) and the Minions of the Despicable Me franchise. They were all representations of worlds that were purely fictional from where Willys came from. As such, there was no simple way of explaining this to any of them. “Ya know what…forget it,” he belayed.

            “Consider it forgotten, Mr. Willys,” Goku said. “I’m real good at forgetting!”

            “Take his word on that,” Suri joked. “So, I presume you’re sticking around with us for some time, Will?”

            Willys surveyed this TARDIS team with a smile. “Something tells me that I wouldn’t want to miss where this is going.”