Mechagodzilla: Shiryu

-38-

Suddenly, halfway there, the tilting...abruptly stopped.

There was a clicking sound, and Akane felt that the controls have locked into place as the mechagodzilla halted. She looked down at the controls in confusion as she tried to move them, with no luck. Then, the AI screen flashed on, catching Akane's attention. [AUTOMATIC EJECTION SYSTEM OVERRIDE. MECHANISM: ENGAGED] the AI wrote on the screen, making Akane gasp. She had no time to do anything else as suddenly her seat was brought backwards slowly, the compartments moving and clamping into one another until they tightly formed the escape pod. "What? No...No! What are you doing?" Akane shouted as she moved from her seat and slammed her hands on the window, realizing that it was Shiryu's AI that was doing this. She tried to unbuckle her seat belt, but the straps held back and fast to prevent her from reaching the opening hatch handle. "Shiryu!" Akane shouted, desperately trying to set herself free from the restrains. In response, Shiryu was heard making a rumbling sound, once again talking to her. The AI screen began the countdown for the meltdown along with the ejection, and then, above the countdown timers...wrote something on its own:

[GOODBYE, AKANE YASHIRO. GO AND LIVE_ ]

Akane's eyes widened as she read the message written on the screen, gasping in shock at what the AI had decided and done. "SHIRYU! NO!!" Akane yelled before the ejection capsule that held her was launched out from Shiryu's back. She grunted as the force of the ejection nearly pulled out her breath, instinctively holding on to the straps that held her to the seat. Out the window she saw briefly how rapid her capsule flew away from Shiryu using its rockets, seeing the mechagodzilla still standing at the edge of the lava crater. Shiryu, at the verge of meltdown, turned its head slowly to face the escape capsule as it flew and descended to land at a safe distance. The mechagodzilla's eyes watched Akane's capsule seeing that it was now safely away from them, giving what seemed to be a low croon...before it turned back and tilted its body to fall into the lava crater, dragging Gigan's body and head with it. "NO!!!" Akane shouted as she saw them go down into the lava, her heart breaking into a million pieces as she saw the mechagodzilla, Shiryu, one of her titan friends she had bonded with, fall down...before the meltdown reached its critical point and made the machine explode in a massive ball of energy.

The explosion destroyed the mechagodzilla, along with the corpse of the alien titan, as it sent some lava and debris all around the place. The shockwave also made the ground quake and nearly blow the escape capsule away with Akane in it. As soon as it started, the explosion ended, leaving the crater more wide and with the lava inside exposed to be seen. Akane didn't look up as she was too heartbroken to watch, knowing that the body and all of the body parts from the mechagodzilla were slowly sinking into the lava, melting until they were gone. "Shiryu..." Akane sobbed, the last of her tears that weren't used up being shed as she mourned for the loss. She didn't understand why the mechagodzilla gave up its life, ejecting Akane out from them, in order to let her live. It was evident that Shiryu wanted to save her life as they knew that the meltdown would destroy both. Even so, it was too sad for Akane to know that Shiryu had grown so much enough to become sentient, to the point of giving its life to save her. After a moment, Akane began to calm down as she soon came to an understanding. It was the mechagodzilla's choice to save her and let themselves be destroyed, and they didn't have any regrets even in the last moment. It reminded Akane of the moment she began to appreciate her own life, and that she would use it the best way she could. "Thank you...Shiryu" Akane finally said in a soft voice, finding the strength to give a bittersweet smile.

The moment of silence was interrupted when the ground began to shake, making Akane look around. The ground beneath the escape capsule began to crack and split apart, some starting to crumble down as the lava crater began to expand. Akane gave a frightened breath as she quickly unbuckled and moved to the exit hatch. Her hands grabbed on to the twist handle that would unlock the hatch, turning it quickly in order to open it. However, when she tried to push, it didn't budge. Akane realized with a start that the door had been welded shut due to the meltdown heat it experienced. She tried to ram against and kick the door to forcibly open it, but then it was already too late. The crumbling ground beneath soon gave way, making the escape capsule tilt forwards to fall down to the expanded lava crater. Akane gave a yell of terror as she held on to the straps when the capsule she was in began to fall down. She knew that once it impacted the ground of the crater's base, the capsule would roll into the lava, where it would burn and melt. Akane closed her eyes shut and braced for impact, knowing that she would soon get knocked out or die because of the heat. Suddenly, a clanging sound shook the entire capsule, making it suddenly stop in mid fall. Akane waited for the second or third impact that would let her know that the capsule would bounce again, but...it didn't come. When the feeling of now hovering in the air set in, she opened her eyes and looked out the window. The lava was just meters away from the capsule, not moving closer...but further away. A set of large enormous teeth were seen present outside the capsule window, having clamped around the exterior of the capsule. This told Akane that it was a titan who had its teeth around the capsule, saving her from falling into the lava, and she gasped when a familiar rumbling noise was heard.

The sound belonged to the Godzilla species, and this one was none other than Gojirin herself.

Gojirin had latched its front claws on the crater edge for balance and caught the escape capsule in her jaws, just in time before it hit the lava. What surprised Akane was how quick but gentle the female Godzilla had caught the capsule without damaging it. Gojirin was a titan, that was a fact, which meant that her jaws were strong enough to crush anything, including the strongest metal. And yet, there Gojirin was, holding the escape capsule in her sharp teeth without crushing it. Akane came to realize that perhaps she was very careful due to the titan being a mother still, with her hatchling around she had to be gentle and careful. The thing now was...how did Gojirin know that Akane was in danger of nearly dying? And who told her to go after her specifically? That answer was answered when rays of light began to shine from above, and Mothra's call was heard. Akane let out a sigh of relief, realizing that it was the moth titan who had communicated the request to Gojirin.

The female Godzilla, still holding the escape capsule gently in her jaws, began to move away from the lava crater in order to carefully place the capsule down at a safe distance. Akane could now see that Mothra on the ground, not being able to fly due to her wing having been torn off but still alive and glowing. "Thank you, great goddess Mothra" Akane said softly before she moved and went to try and get the hatch open. Jet Jaguar was seen arriving and kneeling down, moving one of its hands to the top of the escape capsule. A finger deployed a cutting plasma beam, creating a square on the hatch in order to open it. When that was done, Akane kicked it off, and slowly emerged to exit the capsule. She looked up at Jet Jaguar that still knelt near. Gojirin also was lowered on the other side without leaving, with Anguirus walking over to stand beside her as they stared down at Akane.

"Don't scare us like that. I nearly had an actual heart attack. Promise me you won't do anything like Serizawa did" Rick said in a reprimanding voice, and then abruptly stopped when he said that name. However, Akane smiled and giggled a bit, not offended by him mentioning her mentor's name. "It's fine. I would have done the same thing regardless of the situation. In fact, I was about to do it. Yet..." Akane said looking back at the smoking lava crater far away. "You ejected yourself in the last moment? Talk about making it out in the last second." Andrew said from inside of Moguera, having also moved to station his machine near them. "No, that wasn't me. The instruments showed that the ejection system was damaged, and there was no way I could switch to autopilot. Despite that...it was Shiryu who got me out." Akane said, still looking back at the place. "Shiryu?" Rick asked, confused. "That's right. Shiryu forcibly engaged the ejection system successfully. He...He is the one who saved me in the end. I wouldn't have made it out if it weren't for him. Shiryu was the one who told me...go and live." Akane said, letting out a small chuckle as she wiped away the last tear that welled up in her eye. "Wait, Shiryu told you? How?" Andrew asked. "A long story. Which I will be happy to share once we get back home." Akane said, turning back to them. Gojirin gave a deep rumbling sound, catching Akane's attention back to the female Godzilla.

The large alpha species titan moved her large snout very close to the small human, making Akane flinch just a bit in surprise. "Oh, how could I forget? You too are the one who saved me in the end from the lava. Therefore I thank you too." she said to Gojirin with a nervous smile, hesitating for a moment before reaching out slowly to place a hand on Gojirin's massive snout. Akane felt some chills run down her spine, seeing that she had personally made hand contact with the rough earthy scales of one member of Godzilla's species. Wether the female Godzilla felt it or not, Gojirin let out a rumbling purr as she felt the intention, then surprising Akane by opening its jaws a bit and giving her a large, careful, and slimy lick. Akane cringed a bit as she was coated with the titan's saliva, looking down at her pilot suit and feeling queasy. "Yes...I am...grateful...to be blessed by you and your saliva" Akane said, chuckling nervously as she tried cleaning the saliva off from herself. Chibisuke soon appeared, having climbed onto Anguirus's back and then jumping down to bound over to Gojirin and Akane. The baby Godzilla simply rammed into the human, knocking Akane down before starting to smother her with slimy licks. "Ack! Stop it! I know I love you too, Chibi! Just don't crush me to death with your kisses! I'm begging you!" Akane wailed in mixed English and Japanese, in a dramatic and pleading manner as she tried to move away.

The others laughed as they watched the young titan and the human bond with one another, grateful that the battle had ended.