At Monarch's temporary outpost in Miami, now under the jurisdiction of the United States Army, Mark Russell grew increasingly worried about his daughter. He had tried to contact her multiple times but without success and had even tried to locate her phone, but for some unknown reason, it no longer emitted any signal.

_"Madie... where the hell are you?" sighed Mark, consumed by anxiety.

However, another major problem was keeping him here. Monarch's satellites had finally managed to locate Godzilla in the Arctic Circle and the titan had not moved from its position for many hours. Under the orders of Councilor Galloway, armed forces were sent towards Godzilla with the obvious aim of defeating him. Mark, as well as the other Monarch agents, had watched this madness without being able to prevent it, and truly fearing the worst to come.

_"Target at five minutes." one of the army radio operators said in front of his radar screen. "Presence of two titans confirmed."

_"Two?" Galloway then asked, coming to see the screen, as well as Mark, intrigued.

Indeed, Godzilla's signature appeared on the radar, as well as the one that was identified as... Mothra? Mark thought he was seeing something wrong at first, but had to realize that it was indeed the queen of the monsters. Although believing that she had been pulverized to death by Ghidorah during the Battle of Boston and unaware by what magic she had been able to come back to life, Mark blanched, feeling his heart leap in fear in his chest at the thought of the horror that was about to be committed, 'cause remembering something very important between Godzilla and Mothra.

_"Advisor Galloway, I implore you, do not attack!"

_"It's too late, Russell, the orders have been given!" Galloway retorted.

_"I don't know what this Mothra is but if this thing poses a threat, we will eliminate it too."

_"You have no idea what you are about to do!" Mark raged, grabbing the advisor by the collar. "These two titans live in perfect symbiosis. If you attack Mothra, Godzilla will completely go mad and wreak havoc!"

With a single look, Galloway ordered two soldiers to grab Mark's shoulders and force him back.

_"They are animals, nothing more!" Galloway said, readjusting his collar. "They don't share any great mystical connection or any nonsense like that! They're rabid beasts and when an animal becomes too dangerous, we put it down!"

_"You're going to get us all killed!" Mark shouted, struggling, but held back by the soldiers.

_"Take Doctor Russell away and keep him under guard, so that he does not interfere with the operation." Galloway ordered, annoyed.

The other Monarch agents had watched the scene, completely stunned to see their leader being taken out of the tent like a prisoner. But under pressure from the army and Galloway, they were forced to return to their jobs. However, a young woman working for the organization refused to sit down at her computer and even began walking out of the tent.

_"Where are you going? I didn't give you permission to go out." Galloway remarked.

_"I work for Monarch, not for you, sir." said the woman, decided. "If I joined, it is not to destroy wonders of nature like these titans."

With these acid words towards the advisor, she left the tent but Galloway let her go, saying to himself that she was useless and sent one of his men to replace her. Meanwhile, outside the tent, the woman who had just voluntarily abandoned her post watched out of the corner of her eye as her superior, Mark Russell, was being escorted against his will and assigned to his own tent until further notice. The young Monarch operator, knowing the disaster that was about to occur, isolated herself in a corner. Making sure she was no longer in sight, she hastily dialed a phone number.

************

The storm had calmed down in the expanses of the arctic. After having managed to sleep and regain some strength, Godzilla awoke with a heavy growl, yawned and stood up on his heavy paws. Mothra was already awake, standing on top of the large rocky mound and having spread her wings to catch the rays of the sun. Godzilla looked at her, growling softly at her as if to greet her. Seeing her king standing, the queen of monsters made a small affectionate sound and came to him. The two symbiotic titans stood for a moment looking at each other, sharing this moment as if they were the only beings in this world.

But despite this moment of calm, Mothra was not stupid and noticed that a part of Godzilla remained focused on the threat currently weighing on the world. She wanted to help him, like she always did. Godzilla could sometimes be very stubborn and want to fight his battles alone, which was part of his character, but he also knew how to recognize the value of valuable help. Making soft little sounds to her king, Mothra asked Godzilla to let her help him, that he didn't have to fight this fight alone.

Godzilla growled, hesitant, doubtful, not of Mothra's abilities, but of what he himself might do to her if he lost control again. He had already lost her once and he refused to go through that again.

But the tranquility between the two titans was brutally broken by a remote-controlled missile traveling at full speed and exploded right next to Mothra. The queen of the monsters let out a shrill cry of pain as one of her wings and her side were badly burned by the explosion and that she fell from the rock formation, under the surprised and even shocked gaze of Godzilla who saw her fall at his feet. More missiles hit Godzilla's back in a series of massive explosions, but the titan suffered no damage, turning his attention to those responsible.

From the air, several squadrons of heavily armed army planes were arriving and dispersing into several formations in order to encircle the area very quickly.

_"Thanator 1, first salvo of fire carried out! Targets acquired, one down!" indicated one of the pilots.

_"Received!" replied the central. "Permission to fire at will."

As expected, more salvos of guided missiles were fired in unison. Seeing this, Godzilla, in a reflex, positioned himself in front of Mothra, taking all the shots in the back to protect her, knowing well that he could resist these explosions. The Queen of the Monsters was moaning in pain, being in a very critical condition and couldn't even get up. On his knees next to her, his back intact but still smoking from the impacts received, Godzilla looked at her, growling and showing real concern towards Mothra.

But soon, worry gave way to the spark of anger when, looking behind him, Godzilla could see the human flying machines performing aerial maneuvers to return to him and fire again. Growling with all his teeth, his eyes and dorsal plates staining with radioactive energy of colossal density, Godzilla began to stand up. They had dared to attack and seriously injure Mothra, they were going to pay the consequences... with their lives.

From the Miami outpost, Galloway observed the operation unfolding via live satellite broadcasts. Behind him, the Monarch agents watched in silence, all horrified to see the two titans attacked like this.

At the same time, somewhere out of sight, far above the clouds and just above the position of the king of the monsters, in his immense ship shaped like a metallic sphere, the invader in black armor, observing the situation through a screen, just activated his wrist bracelet, opening access to a series of holographic buttons in an unknown alphabet. Tapping in a code, the armored alien activated some sort of built-in transmitter firing a series of powerful, invisible waves through the air.

_"You cannot resist, king of the earth..." he said. "Let your rage do our will."

Once again, the waves emitted by the alien weapon assaulted Godzilla's already darkened and furious mind, creeping into every nook and cranny of his brain, enough to drive him completely mad. With glowing eyes, in a roar of extraordinary bestiality, Godzilla retaliated against the squadrons. Without any restraint, he spat a devastating atomic blast which pulverized two of the fighter planes in one go, under the stunned observations of the rest of the squad.

_"Target G counterattack!" the squadron leader said. "Evasive maneuver!" The remaining fighter planes obeyed and separated their forces in a synchronized aerial maneuver.

Godzilla continued to strive to shoot them down, constantly spitting his atomic energy rays without managing to hit them. However, one of the pilots was a little too reckless and risked approaching and firing two more missiles, but the king of the monsters was faster and pulverized the aircraft and its occupant between his jaws.

From his ship, the black-armored invader observed, through holographic screens, the ongoing carnage, but it seemed far too slow for his taste. With a simple manipulation of the control device embedded in his wrist, he increased the intensity of the cerebral control he already imposed on the titan.

Increasingly enraged by the waves emitted by the alien device attacking his brain, Godzilla concentrated and released from his body a powerful blast of energy over a wide perimeter, acting as an electro-magnetic pulse that struck down the rest of the military squadron in one fell swoop. Surrounded by planes that were dropping like flies and crashing into geysers of flame, Godzilla stood up, barely shaken by this expenditure of radioactive energy that he had used and expressed a roar of rage.

_"Perfect. The insects have been eradicated." said the invader in black armor, addressing the titan through his mind control device. "Now, you know what you have to do. Head towards Japan and destroy everything that stands in your way."

Completely indoctrinated, Godzilla obeyed the order without batting an eyelid and shattered the layer of ice beneath his feet, plunging back into the icy depths of the ocean while leaving behind a new field of death and destruction. Meanwhile, Mothra had managed to free herself from the rock debris, noting the departure of her king with concern. Her wings being damaged and weakened by her injuries, the queen of the monsters did not have the strength to be able to follow him and try to reason with him. No choice, she had to gradually regenerate her strength, while hoping to manage to stop Godzilla's murderous madness in time and free him from this manipulation.

***********

Tokyo, Japan

The D-day had arrived. On this pleasant clear evening that had just dawned over the capital, Nami Kunigami was celebrating her 26th birthday. For the occasion, a reception had been given in the family estate but being the last living member of her family, she had not been able to invite any relatives. The only guests present turned out to be the company's advisors who had once worked under her grandfather, and also the closest business partners. Not really the ideal guests for a birthday party. Moreover, Nami really did not have the heart to celebrate anything, but had decided to keep the reception in place in order to keep a good face and not shame her grandfather's memory. He would not have wanted to see her brooding like that. But how could she manage to smile and rejoice with everything that had happened to her recently?

With her hair in a perfect bun and wearing a traditional Japanese red evening dress with gold patterns and the Midori's pearl necklace, Nami, a glass in hand, remained pensive but showed as much friendliness as possible to the guests who approached her. All these businessmen coming to pay their pompous respects and bow to her made her want to hide. She was the last member of the Kunigami, a young woman alone at the head of one of the richest companies in the country. It would not be surprising if some of these sharks tried to seduce her in the hope of gaining some personal interest. Although she had only been at the head of the company for a short time, Nami already knew how it worked and she was determined not to let herself be manipulated so easily.

As she took a small sip of her drink while pretending to listen to the compliments of yet another suitor, her butler Shiratori, holding a tray of cocktails in his hand, came to see her.

_"Miss Kunigami, an urgent call from Director Sato."

_"Thank you, Shiratori. I'll take it to my office." Nami replied.

It is true that Shinichi Sato, recently promoted to the new director of Kunigami Tower by Nami herself, had not been able to come to the reception because of his new responsibilities. Apologizing to her interlocutor, but on the other hand delighted to finally be able to withdraw from this awkward conversation, Nami left the large living room, accompanied by her butler, to head to the end of the corridor, towards the room that served as her private office.

Once in her office and having made sure to have closed the door, Nami grabbed the phone placed next to a pile of files on the desk.

_"Sato? This is Nami Kunigami. What's so urgent?" the young woman asked bluntly.

No answer came from the other end of the line, which made the young woman raise an eyebrow.

_"Sato? Can you hear me? Hallo?" Nami insisted.

Still nothing, yet there didn't seem to be any interference, no background noise. And it wasn't like Sato to play a prank as stupid as a prank call. Suddenly, a strange gasp from her butler caught her attention and made her turn around. What she saw then petrified her with horror. Shiratori had just collapsed face down on the ground, stabbed from behind by the young director Shinichi Sato, who, displaying a perfectly impassive air despite the infamous act he had just committed, stared at Nami with an unhealthy intensity.

_"Oh my god..." Nami breathed, in shock.

_"Good evening, Miss Kunigami." Sato said simply, his tone of voice as sinister and devoid of humanity as his facial expression.

Even more disturbing, the young man held under one of his arms the box containing the fragment of the jade tablet that she had inherited from her grandfather. But it was impossible... How could he know where she kept it and she alone knew the combination to the safe. Nami wanted to call for help but Sato showed extraordinary liveliness and speed, his other arm deploying a most strange and sophisticated techno-organic extension whose hand suddenly came to press itself on Nami's mouth to silence her and block her back to the wall. The young woman, surprised and terrified, tried to free herself but in vain, the man's grip proving to be superhuman. Sato, or rather this thing that had taken his appearance and voice, advanced slowly and confidently towards her, stepping over Shiratori's corpse without giving it the slightest importance. With tears in her eyes, Nami screamed, trying to call for help, but her voice was completely muffled by the artificial hand of the individual.

_"Thank you, Miss Kunigami." Sato said then, his voice becoming less and less human and more cybernetic. "Thanks to you, the rebirth of our great empire is assured."

With this last sentence, he exhibited the ancestral box of the family under the eyes of Nami, the latter not understanding at all what he wanted to talk about, and then remembering about what Midori said. The powerful enemies were already here. But she did not have time to ask herself more questions as thorns came out of the tips of the fingers of the artificial hand, planting themselves in her neck and injecting her with a product that blurred her senses and made her fall into a deep sleep so quickly that she did not even feel like touching the ground.