"There he is!"
Hearing Infinity's call, the others in the small group from Itabashi turned to gaze out onto the calm waters of the Sea of Japan. Waters now being disturbed in one location close to the beaches by Niigata by one unmistakable figure in charcoal green. "Gods!" Amphibian gasped as her eyes took in the fearsome sight of Gojira in the flesh for the first time. "I heard he was big, but . . . "
"His size might intimidate, but he can be reasoned with," Lady Lofting warned.
"Ya really think so?" Infinity asked as she stared at her classmate.
"Hai," the taller woman acknowledged with a nod. "And remember, minna: he's reacting as any parent would when that parent's child has gone missing. We must show compassion towards Gojira-san above all else."
"Hai!" Infinity and Amphibian chimed in response.
"Yo!"
The girls gasped on hearing that voice, and then they turned to see a figure in red-and-blue soar up behind them. Seeing his costume, Prodigy beamed. "Mustang!" she called out as she raised her hand in greeting. "You're here, too!"
"Hey, Chiyo-chan! Is he a friend of yours?" Infinity asked.
Before Prodigy moved to answer, Mustang raised a finger in a shushing motion over his mouth. "Infinity, please!" he urged. "Go easy on the real names!"
Infinity gargled, and then she giggled, a blush crossing her cheeks. "Sorry!"
"It's okay," Prodigy said before she and Mustang high-fived each other. "So when did you wake up finally? When the Chosen One appeared in Tomobiki?"
"Yeah," Mustang answered. "My adopted father and I've run across the Doc a couple of times before last night. He helped me out of a really bad problem once." His lips turned down in a scowl as he remembered the Neko-ken training; it was in the wake of that incident that Saotome Ranma's mind had been prepared by Doctor Destructo to eventually accept his destiny as Mustang. "So what's the problem with the big guy?" he then asked as he thumbed Gojira.
"His son has been kidnapped by alien worshippers of the Oni girl Lum, most likely in retaliation for what Destructo-sensei inadvertently caused when he appeared last night at Moroboshi Ataru's bedside," Lady Lofting reported. "We're here so I can speak to him and calm him down enough while friends of ours -- all of whom also received their powers thanks to Prodigy here . . . " She waved to the young genius in their group. "Track down those who were responsible for this and locate Minira-chan so he can be reunited with Gojira-san and they can then peacefully return home."
Mustang took that in, and then he nodded. "Okay, no real fight scene, then."
"Unless someone shows up to make things worse," Prodigy warned.
Amphibian looked anew at the King of Monsters. "He's about to reach shore now," she warned. The others looked, they noting that Gojira was about to wade ashore onto a beach rapidly emptying of summertime sunbathers. "I better get into the water so I can get the fish and other life forms clear before Infinity lifts him up."
"Be careful!" Prodigy advised as Azuma High School's transformed swimming coach flew through the air away from the invisible telekinetic platform Infinity had created for those of her companions who couldn't fly themselves, she aiming to make splashdown somewhere close to Gojira's right leg.
"Once she's down, set me down on the beach," Lady Lofting advised.
"Okay!" Infinity answered.
Soaring towards Niigata from the east-north-east . . .
"Holy Moley!" Captain Marvel gasped as he and Superman flew towards the green juggernaut slowly wading ashore. "Look at the size of that thing!"
"I've never fought this thing myself," the Man of Steel stated, he quietly understanding why his friend would react this way. Despite all the incredible gifts Shazam had given young Billy Batson one day not so long ago, the soul of the World's Mightiest Mortal was still that of a young teenage boy. As he himself had told the ancient wizard when he had learned Captain Marvel's real identity, the destiny of being a hero was best meant for a grown man, not an orphaned boy. Especially an orphaned boy who had just lost his closest friend, Scott Cooper, to gunmen working for his alter-ego's avowed arch-enemy, Professor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana. "Pretty surprising, given how many times this thing's romped through Japan."
"Why'd you say that, Clark?"
Superman sighed. "Every time something about Godzilla hit the airwaves, Billy, I was busy doing something else, even before I actually became Superman."
Marvel took that in, and then he hummed. "Most likely, the forces that control people's fates wanted to make sure you didn't interfere."
"Explain," the Batman's voice echoed in both men's ears thanks to micro-transmitters put there; the Dark Knight Detective -- along with the rest of the Justice League -- were not far behind their two most powerful members, the non-flying members riding in the Batplane while Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Orion were moving under their own means.
"You have to remember, Gojira . . . " -- unlike most Americans, Marvel knew how to properly address the King of Monsters -- "Is the byproduct of the first hydrogen bomb test done at Bikini Atoll. He was created because sentient elements of the planet's life force simply couldn't take the idea of Man having the power to split the atom."
"What would cause this latest rampage, then?" Lantern demanded.
Marvel peered at Gojira as he keyed into the Wisdom to allow him to better understand the creature's motives. "He's angry, alright. And very worried about something, too. Something very close and precious to him was taken away from him."
Wonder Woman considered that, and then she gasped, "His child!"
"His child?!" Superman blurted out.
"That's right," Batman stated. "He does have an offspring. 'Minira' as he's called in Japan; that's short for 'Mini-Gojira' or 'Mini-Godzilla.' Billy, can you use the Wisdom to locate the boy?"
Marvel slowed down as he took in all that was around him. While the Wisdom's clairvoyance abilities were not as focused as Superman's various physical vision abilities, they were just as accurate in the long term. "Sorry, sir!" he then called out after a moment; while he and Superman were pretty good friends, Marvel always found Batman to be very intimidating. "I can't seem to sense him anywhere."
"Worry about that later," Lantern urged. "We have to stop that . . . "
"Looks like someone's already doing that," Marvel advised.
"Eh?!" Superman said before he focused his vision on the beach before Gojira.
"GOJIRA-SAN! EXCUSE ME! GOJIRA-SAN! DOWN HERE, PLEASE!"
Hearing that voice -- which, in his own mind, sounded very much like a female version of his own powerful growls -- Gojira stopped as he took a curious look around. Who had just spoke to him? He didn't know there were females of his own kind . . .
"DOWN HERE, PLEASE! ON THE BEACH AHEAD OF YOU!"
He looked at the beach, and then down to see a human girl, dressed in browns and greens save for her head and long flowing black hair, standing close to the shoreline, she waving at him. As his own sharp hearing finally locked in on her voice, she then waved to better expose herself to him. With that, he leaned down to peer closely at her, a curious growl escaping his voice.
To Lady Lofting, it sounded like he was asking, Who are you?!
"I'm sorry, Gojira-san," she replied as she walked up, her feet wading into the surf so she could touch his lower jaw. Ignoring the powerful pull of air flowing in and out of his nostrils, she then said, "We know what happened to your son!"
Hearing that, Gojira reared back, the sudden change of air pressure knocking Lady Lofting off her feet as he bellowed, WHERE'S MY SON?!
Fortunately for Lady Lofting, Mustang is there to catch her before a rush of water surging from Gojira's sudden movements nearly swamped her. "Thanks!" she gasped as she regained her footing, and then she called up to the growling monster before her, "GOJIRA-SAN, PLEASE CALM DOWN! FRIENDS OF MINE ARE TRYING TO TRACE DOWN MINIRA-CHAN RIGHT NOW! PLEASE, SIR, CALM DOWN! PEOPLE WON'T LIKE IT IF YOU START DESTROYING THINGS LOOKING FOR YOUR SON! PLEASE, GOJIRA-SAN, CALM DOWN!"
Hearing that, Gojira blinked as his mind interpreted the heartfelt plea of the Speaker currently addressing him, and then he leaned back down to stare intently at her. With a warning growl, he then warned, I want my son back!
"You'll get him back soon," Lady Lofting vowed before an icy look crossed her face. "Of if the worst has happened, you will have justice at your son's sufferings!"
Interpreting that, Gojira slowly rose to his full hundred-plus-metre height and bellowed his agreement to the sky around him . . .
"She's actually calmed him down!" Superman declared.
"Empathy, telepathy and clairvoyance, with an emphasis with communicating with animals," Batman concluded as he guided the Batplane in a wide loop around Gojira, keeping his distance since he knew that the King of Monsters definitely would take his black craft as a threat and respond accordingly. And while the Batplane was capable of surviving a lot, getting doused by Gojira's radioactive flame-breath wasn't something the Dark Knight Detective didn't want to experience first-hand. "Don't disturb her, people. Let her keep up the communication with Gojira."
"Right," Superman, Marvel, Wonder Woman, Orion and Lantern chanted.
"You sound like you recognise that girl, Big Guy," Flash noted.
"Don't know her personally, but I believe I recognise what she might be."
"How?" the Fastest Man Alive demanded.
If you haven't realised it by now, Wally, I actually visited Yiziba once."
Staring at her friend, Hawkgirl could only gape as that factoid sank into her mind. "You actually went there?!" the Thanagarian exclaimed before a wry grin crossed her face. "And you survived?! I'm impressed, Bruce!"
The barest hint of a smile crossed Batman's face. "Their curiosity at the sight of a 'norm' acting as one of them took them quite by surprise," he explained. "While it was an interesting visit, Shayera, I will confess -- as I'm sure you'll understand -- it's not one I would desire to repeat under most circumstances."
"Don't blame you . . . EH?!"
"What?!" Batman demanded as he snapped around to look at Hawkgirl . . .
Only to see a young boy with reading glasses dressed in an English-style tweed suit and cape, riding a long stick looking like a broom handle with a curious hook-like device at the aft end, flying at in perfect formation with the Batplane at about three metres' distance from the windows. "NEGI?!" Batman exclaimed.
"Friend of yours, Bruce?" Superman commented; he had spotted the young wizard using his telescopic vision immediately after hearing Hawkgirl scream out.
"He is," Batman replied as he shifted the Batplane's controls to VTOL mode. As soon as the black jet slowed down enough to allow a boarding hatch to open, he flipped controls to allow Negi a chance to fly inside.
One the young wizard from Wales took immediate advantage of. As Flash and Hawkgirl stood up on his entrance, Negi breathed out in relief as Chamo peeked his head out from under his friend's cape. "Oh, thank you, Mister Wayne," he spoke in English before he moved up to greet the Batman's companions. "Oh, I see you brought your friends today. Hello, Mister West, Lieutenant Hol," -- Negi pronounced Shayera's military rank in the British style, LEFT-ten-ant. "I'm Negi Springfield."
"Uh, Big Guy . . .!" Flash urged.
"He's a friend and potential ally. A wizard like Zatanna," Batman said as he fixed controls, and then he stood up, walking back to take Negi's offered hand. "What are you doing here, Negi? I know you're teaching at a school here in Japan, but . . . "
"It turns out that one of my charges is Yizibajohei-born," Negi explained as Chamo crawled out from under his cape, hopping up to his companion's shoulder. "The various Magical Associations here in Japan and elsewhere were alarmed when Doctor Destructo made his appearance last night. When I learned the truth about my student -- she's coming here right now to bear witness to this matter with Gojira -- Headmaster Konoe asked me to come up here myself to learn more about them."
"Her fighting name?"
Negi had always admired Bruce Wayne's forthrightness. "Windtalker."
Batman nodded. "A neutral. Thank you for telling me that, son."
"What do you mean by 'neutral?'" Hawkgirl demanded.
"There are three normal social patterns Yizibajohei . . . " -- Batman ignored the shudder that ran through his friend's body on his saying that word -- "Adhere to on their homeworld. 'Faces,' 'heels' and 'neutrals.' We would be considered 'faces.'"
"Oh, it's like professional wrestling!" Flash said with a snap of his fingers. "'Faces' are the good guys, 'heels' are the bad guys . . . "
"And neutrals are those who normally take no side," Batman finished.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Negi breathed out on hearing that he would never really have to look on Asakura Kazumi as a bad person. He then perked. "Oh, my . . . "
"What?" Batman demanded.
The young wizard's eyes narrowed. "It seems . . . "
(Posted Sat, 16 Sep 2006 16:50)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.