The only thing Cordula ever wanted whenever she was fighting mutants with her friends who were older than her and her favorite mutant iguana or battling her mental health cancer in school education was a good night's sleep.
RING!
RING!
"One good explanation as to why you are calling me in the middle of the night?!" Cordula grolwed lowly as she rubbed her eyes to avoid going back to sleep and miss the one who was calling, despite the fact that was what she wanted to do right now.
"Whoa chica, what woke you up on the wrong side of the bed?"
Randy's energetic voice made her crawl back to bed "GO bother Mendel Randy, I'll see you in headquarters tomorrow" She mumbled as she slowly felt sleepy "So you don't want to know that the gang is heading out to Costo Rojo tomorrow?" Cordula blinked as she shot up from her bed "Tomorrow?! Why didn't you tell me?!" She screamed a she fumbled out of her clothes and began packing.
"The news came out late. Hope I didn't ruin your night's sleep. Good Night" Randy ended the call and Cordla flopped on the bed with a small grumble.
You just did Randy.
***
They had left early and got to Costo Rojo when the sun was already shining and Cordula regretting she never brought a hat. The team settled themselves in a small boat and headed to shore with the Heat Seeker not far away.
"Costo Rojo, so how come I never heard of this place?" Randy asked in the driver's seat with Nick beside him "Because you were educated in America" Monique said simply and Elsie locked eye contact with Cordula who shrugged her shoulders. By now it was already common for her to hear Monique act high and mighty.
They docked the lifeboat to the sandy beaches and Nick walked towards the edge of the forest. He took out his binoculars and held them in front of his eyes "Chasing down the world's biggest worm" Elsie joked as she walked up beside Nick "Must be a dream come true huh Nicky boy?" Nick put down his binoculars and turned his attention to Elsie.
"Assuming the rumors are true, yes"
"Could this be another result of the radiation that created the original Godzilla?"
Cordula blinked then pulled Randy by the ear "Ow!" Randy winced "You said this mission was urgent. I should have been studying at home" Cordula groaned and Randy grumbled "Sorry, I thought you'd be pretty excited in chasing down a worm" Cordula gave him a blank stare "IF that worm is mutant then yes" Randy grinned "Well they did say the worm was big"
"We're talking how big?"
"Do we really have to go in there?" Mendel asked with a hint of despair "Hey just think of it as Yosemite Park with the anacondas and the jaguars" Randy chuckled, trying to rile Mendel up who closed his ears "I'm not listening to you la la la la" Mendel said before he heard the roar of a familiar predator.
"Jaguars...?" He gulped before he was patted in the back by Cordula "Don't worry Mendel, you'll be fine. I'll be with you if you want to just for company's sake" Mendel gave Corula a grateful smile "Thanks Cordula"
***
"The first sighting was three miles due west of here" Nick said they slowly crossed a rickety old bridge. They had been walking through the forest for the past few hours with Cordula taking pictures of the different plant life for her biology class.
"This is our chance to invaluable data to the worm community"
"There's a worm community" Elsie said "I never knew you would talk to something so passionate about worm community Nick" Cordula called from behind a terrified Mendel as he tried to cross the bridge.
***
Slashing through the forest was a nice relaxation for Cordula to get her anger out on why she was with this journey and not home from school. Her professors were going to kill her, they didn't know anything about her working with the famous H.E.A.T team, she was merely an intern on Godzilla's behavior.
Not that she minded, she loved helping her new friends. Even if they were older than her.
"Its been here" Nick said and Cordula surveyed the damage, there was no way an ordinary worm could create a hole that big "What was your first clue?" Elsie asked, already knowing the answer. They spotted a truck just near the crater and quickly headed that way.
***
They approached an old man that seemed to be packing his bags hastily "Por favor que pasa su finca" Randy asked in their language "So americanos El Gusano Gigante attacked my men and destroyed my farm!" He cried out, pointing at the now destroyed crop fields "El Gusano Gigante?" Mendel asked with a confused tone, that name despite its weird language name, it did sound frightening.
"You will leave this place if you value your life!" The man said one last time as a warning before he drove off. Too bad for the old man, they were already involved with a lot of cases involving monsters mutated and this was like a normal day for them.
Randy and Mendel looked at each other in confusion at the man's words "Its close" Nick said as he knelt down to the ground "What makes you so sure?" Elsie asked "Worms processed dirt for nourishment leaving behind rich brown soil and this is the freshest I've ever seen" Nick said as he carefully examined the soil. Cordula bent down to see when the ground began to rapidly shake.
Something big dug out and everyone moved away except for Nick who was now suddenly inside a monster's mouth. Cordula on the other hand ended up dangling in one of the creature's arms "Nick!" Randy screamed before he dashed forward to catch a falling Cordula in his arms "Nice catch" Cordula said breathlessly as he settled her down.
While Nick dangled on the creature's mouth, Monique shot a grappling line near Nick "Grab On!" Monique called out. They watched as Nick slid down on the rope before he landed face first into a tree branch when the creature began to move.
Nick groaned when he was helped up by Randy "This creature's unlike any known analyte. It has teeth and may even be a carnivore" Nick said with a breathless yet excited tone "I am glad that you are alive and not dead too Nick but we have got to move now!" Cordula said when the ground began to shake and out came again El Gusano.
It leapt up and made a dive for them and they quickly moved as it buried itself again. They slid down a small cliff "Whoa!" Randy and Elsie screamed when they all were heading to the water but before they could make a splash, the water disappeared and they all landed in a heap of wet ground.
"He's blocked off the river!" Elsie screamed as Cordula swatted a fish away from her face. They turned to see the creature move again and this time, water was rushing towrds them "This way!" Nick screamed as they ran before they were swept off by the water.
They made a big dive into a waterfall where Mendel barely missed the creature's jaw as it dug itself out in front of the waterfall. The team swam up to shore and turned to see the creature towering over them "Stand Back" Monique said as she pulled out her machete and pulled Cordula out of the way.
"How long do you expect to last against a 10-story man-eating garden hose?" Elsie asked with anger and fear for Monique "Long enough" Monique answered simply "I'm in!" Randy said as he stood beside Monique.
Before the group could decide on what to do, a loud roar made the worm look up and screech when it saw Godzilla "What's he doing here?" Mendel asked with a confused look on his face "What's it look like" Randy responded before Godzilla roared and pounced on the worm.
"Godzilla followed us thousands of miles out of an instinctual need to protect me" Nick said in slight awe at the beast that was now defending them.
"Give yourself the credit why don't ya? There's also Cordula if you haven't noticed"
Elsie pointed out at Cordula who was busy looking at Godzilla to even notice Nick and Elsie looking at her. The worm managed to club Godzilla by its tail but Godzilla was quick on his feet to come back up.
The worm tried to dig an escape but it only screeched when Godzilla bit its tail and was pulled down. The team watched as they continued the battle underground.
When they came back up, Godzilla was clinging onto El Gusano before firing from up above from where they are came.
Cordula saw ropes being brought down and everyone began to hastily climb up. Cordula turned her attention back to the fight while Nick tried to persuade the general not to attack either of the two.
Her gaze was cut off from the fight however because of the mean looking missile aimed at the two. She took note of the markings on the bomb before she gasped when it was aimed at Godzilla as well.
"Stop!"
"No!"
Cordula and Nick screamed when the missile engaged and zoomed at the two monsters. Green gas sprayed all over the two and the effect was rapid.
Cordula looked at El Gusano in horror when the creature began to grow and it almost looked stronger. El Gusano screeched and dug its escape. Godzilla roared but began rubbing his eyes and let out a low moan in pain.
"What'a happened to him?"
Elsie asked as Godzilla swayed while rubbing his eyes and rubbed his head on the cliff sides and he roared out loud before he suddenly collapsed and disappeared into the sea.
"No!"
Nick screamed while Mendel gasped. Cordula covered her mouth in horror while Randy, Elsie and Monique watched the scene with disbelief.
***
They had found the still body of Godzilla near the Heat Seeker and they immediately set to work on reviving him.
"Visual Contact Established. Subject Remains Unconscious. Pupils Responsive To Light. Respiration Erratic"
Mendel and Randy took the mini-sub to check on Godzilla at a distance while Monique, Nick and Cordula scuba dived towards Godzilla.
"Heart Beat Decreasing"
N.I.G.E.L reported making Mendel and Randy look at each other with worried looks.
"I don't know what was in that bio weapon but I do know we can't treat him underwater. Contact with Godzilla may mean exposing ourselves to whatever toxins are in his system. The three of us are on the highest risk"
Nick informed Monique and Cordula. He had no qualms with Cordula in helping out Godzilla but with Monique he wasn't so sure.
"I understand if you don't want to" Nick said to Monique but she merely pulled the lever and off they went underwater towards Godzilla "If anyone wants to back out, do so now" Nick called to the others and Randy gave a glance at Mendel.
"Why you looking at me?" Mendel asked defensively. Elsie lowered down the tube for Nick and Monique to pull down towards Godzilla's nostrils while Cordula checked to see if there were external damages Randy and Mendel missed.
"If we can get enough air to Godzilla's lungs, his positive buoyancy should bring him to the surface"
Nick as as they placed the tube and secured it to Godzilla "Initiating Toxicological Protocols" N.I.G.E.L beeped as he swam near Godzilla's teeth "I never thought that he could look so vulnerable" Randy commented as they brought the mini-sub close "Can we maybe steer away from his teeth?" Mendel asked with slightly unnerved.
"Elsie, activate the air compressors"
Nick said and they all watched as air began to fill in Godzilla and he slowly floated to the surface "Toxicological Report Complete. Initiating Moaning. Uploading -" Mendel began to panic once he saw N.I.G.E.L about to be crushed by Godzilla's teeth "N.I.G.E.L pull out now!" Mendel screamed "Two Percent-AAAHHH!" Mendel watched as N.I.G.E.L disappear inside Godzilla as he was crushed under the teeth as they clamped shut.
"N.I.G.E.L!" Mendel screamed as Godzilla continued to float up. Cordula landed in one of his dorsal spikes just near his head along with Nick and Monique just way further back "Hang on doc" Randy said as he steered the mini-sub away, not wanting to crash into Godzilla.
"Thar She Blows!" Elsie screamed as Godzilla surfaced up. Nick waved as lights flashed down on them. Well, now that Godzilla is up on the surface, they needed to find the antidote and fast!
***
Cordula woke up early in the morning to see if there was any changes to Godzilla. Unfortunately she was wrong "He's still not waking up" Cordula muttered and bit her lip, it was odd of her to care so much for the creature but he was one of the first to...well...like her the way she is unlike those at school.
"Now what?" Nick asked when the entire team was already awake "Maybe if we knew why that giant worm didn't appear to be affected" Elsie said as she typed in on the computer "Affected? That bio stuff made it stronger" Mendel said "And bigger, whatever was in the bio weapon must be the worm's food source" Cordula added.
"We need to get our hands in a sample" Mendel said "Think you two could handle that?" Nick asked Monique and Randy "You and me alone in the jungle? You got it jefe" Randy said as he leaned his head on Monique's shoulder who leaned away from him.
When the two were soon on their way, Elsie searched for anything about N.I.G.E.L's Toxicological Report he tried to send up before he was crushed "Ah..N.I.G.E.L's Toxicological Report was lost when that connection was broken" Elsie said and Cordula groaned.
"There's a back-up copy in the internal disk drive. Someone just has to retrieve it" Mendel said with his hand supporting his head as he looked away. Elsie wrapped her arms around him "You are so sweet for volunteering" Mendel groaned and Cordula knew that he didn't even want to be the one to retrieve the disk but for Elsie, he'd do almost anything.
***
When the disk was retrieved, Elsie and Cordula immediately set to work on finding out Godzilla's condition "Uh...Elsie, you may want to see this" Elsie looked over at Cordula who pointed out a graph of Godzilla "Nick!" Cordula called out and soon enough, Nick came in with Mendel.
"What did you find?" Nick asked, Cordula showed him the graph "Apparently that bio weapon is a bipolar fluorine derivative" Cordula explained "It's wiping out Godzilla's T-cells" Nick finished. Elsie looked at the heartbeat of Godzilla and the estimation "Computer report indicates he's got 12 hours tops" Elsie said.
"Where are Randy and Monique?"
Cordula asked out loud.
***
"We're here!" Randy called out and everyone shot up from their seats and Randy quickly handed it to Mendel who immediately set to work with it. Masks on, Randy watched from beside Mendel as he poured over the liquid into a sample.
"Careful, if one drop comes into contact with your skin..."
Mendel gave Randy a look knowing the risk "Oh!, sorry" Randy said as Mendel removed the mask "I've got a match on the bio-phage. It seems to be derived from an orchid probably local but I've never seen one with these properties" Nick said.
"Could they be mutated plants caused by the worm?"
Cordula asked "Possibly" Nick answered "With a fresh sample, I should be able to synthesize an antidote" Nick walked up to Mendel "What's wrong with these?" Nick asked as he looked at the sample Mendel checked "Tainted, Filtered. I need pollen from the actual flower buds" Cordula stretched her hands.
"Looks like we're hiking today" Nick nodded before looking at the rest of the team "Let's move" Randy and Cordula quickly grabbed all the things necessary with some weapons in case the worm shows up "You mean me too?" Mendel asked hesitantly.
"Consider this your farewell tour"
***
The forest was alive and full of critters like any forest should be. With the exception of a giant worm that was crawling underground and could spring up at any moment "How cool is this, you, me in the field taking a point" Randy said as he walked beside Monique "Mouth closed, eyes open" Monique said.
Elsie held up a detector and watched closely its readings "The soil conditions are right" She said before Cordula slipped onto uneven ground. Monique grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her back up. The entire team stopped when they were standing in front of a huge hole.
"Did what I think made this hole? Make this hole?" Mendel asked with uncertainty "Now we know why the bio-weapon didn't affect long, dark and icky" Elsie said as she held up a flower close her to her.
"They're symbiotic halves of a unified ecosystem. The worms soil feeds the plants and the plants feed the worm" Nick said as he tested the soil surrounding the area "So like, Albondiga's bio-weapon wasn't poisoning the worm, it was feeding it?" Randy asked.
"That is pretty much it Randy" Cordula confirmed. There were so many flowers circling around, no wonder it was easy to gather as much flowers to create a bio weapon "If we burn the rest of these plants, we may at least slow down El General's weapon's program" Nick said.
Monique and Randy armed their weapons and began to destroy the flowers quickly before a large Earthquake began "Somebody smells mama's cooking" Elsie commented "Go! Go! Go!"Nick screamed as they ran away from the hole just as El Gusano sprouted out of the ground with eyes blazing with fury as it roared.
"We definitely got its attention!"
Cordula screamed as she dived for cover as El Gusano passed them by "Typically, worms recoil from heat, do they not?" Monique asked as she raised her new and improved flamethrower up "Yes" Nick answered "Exactly why didn't you tell us this before we went into the jungle in the first place?!" Cordula asked as the worm soon found them and approached them.
"It slipped my mind"
"Randy!" Monique called out and he was by her side in an instant "We aim to please!" Randy said as the two began to attack El Gusano and the worm quickly retreated underground "I have to get these orchids back to the lab before Godzilla-"
"I'll go" Mendel volunteered with a determined look on his face despite the fear hidden within "You're volunteering?" Randy asked incredulously, it was only one in a million years did Mendel ever volunteer to be in the front lines.
"Can you synthesize an antidote from raw, biological stock?" Mendel questioned "Do it?! I-I can't even say it" Randy said, compliant. Nick looked at Mendel with a questionable look on his face "You sure you're up for this?" Mendel nodded in reply.
"Absolutely not!, but I gotta do it anyway" Cordula gave him a hug "Good luck out there Mendel, we're counting on you" Mendel nodded before he sprinted away with the flowers on his backpack.
El Gusano had sniffed the flowers coming from Mendel and tried to catch him but he was blocked off by Monique and Randy "This what you want huh?!"
***
They had managed successfully lure El Gusano away from Mendel as they retreated to higher grounds "We need to lure it out into the open" Nick suggested "And I've got just the thing" He said as he held up the rest of the flowers he picked inside his backpack "Why?" Elsie asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"Ever seen what a worm looks like after a few minutes on a hot sidewalk?"Nick questioned and Elsie merely gave him a confused look on her face "The worm dies!" Cordula answered with a snap of her fingers.
"Nice thinking Nick"
***
Nick waved his backpack around with the flowers inside and it didn't disappoint them when El Gusano came running in their general direction. They ran up to a cliff and turned to see El Gusano slowly advancing towards them, Nick looked down at the bottom of the hill and threw his backpack down.
Monique and Randy began aiming their flamethrowers in El Gusano's mouth and they all watched his mouth burn and El Gusano tried to make a run for it before he was blocked off by Monique as she continued to fire at him.
She stopped when El GUsano tried to chomp her down had it not been for Randy to pull her out and they both headed to where the rest of the team was on higher grounds. The sound of a tank turned their attention to the Mexican Military as they arrived.
"Hey! Let Go Of Me!"
Cordula shouted when they were all held and had guns trained on them "First we deal with El Gusano, then we will address the issue of the stolen weapons" Cordula glared at the General as she struggled on the two men holding her.
Come on Mendel, where are you?
***
Mendel was beyond scared at this point as he made his way to Godzilla's mouth "Stop staring at me" Mendel gulped when he saw the creature's eyes opened and they almost seemed to be directly trained towards him.
"I-I mean medicines supposed to taste bad. N-N-No hard feelings okay?" Mendel continued to talk just to ease up his nerves as he shot the antidote straight into Godzilla's mouth. Mendel sighed before he felt movement from where he was standing and immediately jumped out of Godzilla's mouth just as soon as Godzilla clamped his mouth shut.
Mendel drove towards the shore and never stopped. How could he? There was an angry Godzilla right behind him!
Mendel fell into the sandy beaches and screamed when he saw Godzilla's foot about to splatter him and he closed his eyes for the inevitable only for him just to feel the whoosh of air and he opened his eyes to find himself still in one piece.
"I'm Alive!" Mendel cheered before he flopped back down to the ground, stressed and exhausted but also relieved.
***
The pain was gone and he was was breathing fine again but the foul taste was still there!
He growled before he caught the scent of his father and his female and they were just near from where he was. He heard the sound of gunfire and caught the faint whiff of the humans that tried to kill him and he growled when he also caught the scent of the enemy.
Both were with his pack.
***
The Mexican Military men started shooting El Gusano as they cornered him to the cliff "Interference in our affairs will no longer be tolerated" The General said before he aimed the bio-weapon directly at El Gusano.
Either that man is an idiot or he is just plain dumb. Did he even double check to see if it cause an effect on a creature that feeds from the ground?!
"You don't understand! Your bio-weapon, it's only feeding that thing!"
Nick shouted as he struggled "Silencio!" The General shouted. El Gusano started to rise up and prepare to attack "Take Cover!" Nick screamed before he and Cordula along with some few soldiers were tossed almost at the edge of the cliff.
Cordula groaned when she felt something drip on her cheek. Unlike Nick who had landed on his backside, Cordula landed face first and caught a sharp rock in her face "OW!" She winced as she cupped her cheek to wipe off the blood.
A loud croon made her turn around to see the soldiers running away when Godzilla approached Nick "Godzilla!" Nick cheered with a smile on his face "Mendel did it!" Cordula smiled as she let go of her cheek to look at him with a relieved look on her face.
Godzilla narrowed his eyes when he saw the cut on her cheek and roared in anger. He would take out the creature first, it was the bigger threat then he would take care of the humans that dare try to harm her.
El Gusano screeched at Godzilla, fully prepared for round two as they quickly engage in battle with Godzilla firing his Atomic Breath at El Gusano "Fry Him Into Worm Chow!" Randy shouted as he struggled by the soldiers holding him.
"Silencio!" The General shouted before aiming his bio-weapong directly between Godzilla and El Gusano. Monique managed to escape the guards and head towards the bio-weapon to change its course but she was soon caught before she could pull the lever.
Randy continued to struggled until he managed to free his arms and made a mad dash "Randy No!" Monique screamed. Randy grabbed the biggest rock he found and threw it at the lever and just before the bio-weapon set, it was already aimed at the sky.
"NO!"
The General screamed when the bomb blasted off into the air. Godzilla roared as he let his Atomic Breath strike true and kept on going until El Gusano was nothing but a small worm, completely fried but still alive.
The soldier screamed as they ran away when Godzilla approached them. He lowered his head to glare at the man beside his father and his female as a warning to never threaten his pack again before he left as quickly as he came.
Cordula watched with amusement as The General fainted from shock and was carried off by soldiers. Randy and Monique ran to where Elsie, Nick and Cordula was "I know you told me no heroics, but it's in the blood" Randy said as he rubbed his neck.
"Très bien Sundance" MOnique commented.
***
They met up with Mendel on the shore where he was waiting for them "Excellent work Dr. Craven" Nick congratulated "Thanks for saving our butts" Elsie said "You are the man Dr. C" Randy commented and Mendel quickly fixed his shirt "I knew you could do it" Cordula said a she gave him a hug.
"Still looking for another line of work?" Nick asked "Don't be ridiculous, I'm a changed man" Mendel said "You see, in every man's life there comes a time when he has to stare into the abyss., refusing to blink" As Mendel was explaining, Cordula and the others noticed Godzilla surfacing right behind Mendel.
"Today, I stared I stared into my abyss and I-" Godzilla roared, interrupting Mendel's long speech and the poor doctor screamed as he closed his eyes before opening them again "Hey Mendel, you just blinked" Elsie said with a wink and Cordula sighed.
Some things never changed.