"Godzilla Vs Godzilla" - Part Two

 

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, swaying to the tune of Tina Turner’s “Good to Me.”

            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. “Dang, 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, “What’re 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 yell 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. “I’m so happy to see you, mate, I can forgive the delayed response,” Jake told Alan. “Just don’t think I won’t kick your butt 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.”