It was an early day for Cordula and Godzilla to have another recreational bonding time since she had suggested with Nick that in order for Godzilla to get use to the humane society, he would have to learn to adapt to what is wrong from right in human standards.
Of course, she would prefer giving Godzilla as much freedom as she could give him.
And it was around these days Godzilla was happy to spend time with his female without the occasion of threats coming and her life being on the line.
But it was to his confusion that he did not sense her nor smell her in the perimeter. He let out a confused and concerned rumble as he waited for what looked like 4 hours until she arrived looking happy.
"Hey big guy, sorry it took so long for me to get here" She said with a bright smile as she got closer to him only to back off when he gave her a full on cold glare.
"Whoa...if this is about me being late, I'm sorry. I did have a lot of things today"
It wasn't because she was late. He knew she'd come because he knew she always keeps a promise. It was the scent that was surrounding her.
The scent of an unknown male.
Though he often scented other male scents on her, it was mainly his father or any male member of the pack who knew the female belonged to him.
This one was unknown and it brought very unusual feelings inside and so he resorted to the only thing he concentrate.
Rage.
Cordula jumped back as Godzilla let out a roar before he dove back to the sea without giving Cordula time to call him.
"What's going on back there?"
Cordula turned to her father with a stunned look on her face "I didn't know he would be that angry all because I visited Elizabeth with her fiance" Joe merely blinked at her words.
***
The front doors of H.E.A.T Headquarters open abruptly as a breathless Cordula ran up to the surprised group.
"Have you heard the news?! Godzilla is-Nick?" Cordula gazed down on Nick who had a huge frown on his face as he avoided almost everybody's stare.
"Nick listen, I know your upset bit-" Mendel tried to speak but was cut off by Elsie "Forget it Mendel. He's just in a mood cuz his scaly protege is getting a little...unruly" Nick huffed at Elsie obviously careful words.
"An understatement" Monique said with her arms crossed "Let's go to the instant replay" Randy said as he played the video to see Godzilla roaring and throwing things around and burning everything he could find.
The video ended with Godzilla's tail whipping the camera.
"Oh...that's gotta hurt" Randy said and Nick glared at him. Cordula winced at the sight. What made him so angry that he decided to cause a rampage around the city?
"AH...it's the third time N.I.G.E.L's been flattened this week" Mendel said with a small whine. It was okay for him to use N.I.G.E.L on the field and it wasn't always everyday he would get destroyed and this was taking a toll on him.
"What do you think is setting the G-man off?" Randy asked "I'm not sure. Lately his learning curves been increasing thanks to Cordula's suggestion but so is the frequency of his tantrums" Nick stated.
"Maybe he needs more nappy time" Randy suggested "We always don't go out hunting mutations everyday on the dot so that gives Godzilla the time to have long sleeps" Cordula stated the obvious fact.
"So the good news is he's getting smarter and the bad news is, he'a getting uncontrollable" Elsie surmised "If the situation worsens, you may have to consider a permanent solution" Cordula crossed her arms at Monique.
"Somehow...I thought of what you you think is a permanent solution"
***
Godzilla swam relentlessly underwater, trying to get this bad feeling off hus chest until he caught a whiff of his father and his -no!- the female.
He quickly surfaced and spotted them heading in his direction "So how close do we have to get..you know, just in case the big guy starts losing it again" At Cordula'a glare and Nick's sudden tenseness, Randy quickly changed course.
"Which you know he won't I'm just talking hypothetical" Randy stammered slightly "Cut the motor, just want to drift in and check him out" Nick said as he held up his binoculars.
"There could be a physical explanation for the outburst. Maybe an injury" But Nick could find no trace of an injury, Godzilla looked in perfect shape.
Maybe he's just mad that you didn't come early and now he wants nothing to do with you.
That thought shook Cordula all the more as she stared at Godzilla who avoided eye contact.
Does this mean I'll have to...leave?
The sound of a chopper made her snap her thought out as she looked up to see a commercial copter heading towards Godzilla whose gaze suddenly went to it.
Godzilla roared as his anger snapped "Godzilla stop!" Nick cried out but it was for the first time that Godzilla disobeyed his father as he leaped out of the water to try and chomp down the chopper.
Huge waves came up as Godzilla dropped down and it caused the boat to go flying and for its passenger to fall headfirst to the water.
Cordula gasped as water flooded her lungs before she swam up and coughed up the excess water "Where'd he go?" Randy rasped, referring to Godzilla who was now swimming away, chasing after the chopper still trying to get away.
***
"Cordula, dinner's ready" Joe said, opening the door. He was surprised to find a depressed looking Cordula on her bed with her knees on her head.
"Alright Cory, what's with the long face?" Cordula bit her lip "Dad am I a burden to the team?" Joe raised a brow at Cordula's question.
"Where did that come from?"
"Well, earlier today Godzilla ran rampant around the city and I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of me" Cordula pouted.
"You know...the way you say makes it sound like he's having one of those temper tantrums most kids have" At Cordula's puzzled look, Joe added.
"Remember the tantrum you had when David refused to let you even borrow his monster collection?"
Cordula winced as she recalled from early childhood "I destroyed his Lego City and threw them everywhere. It took him weeks to find them all from wherever I scattered them" Cordula said.
"Ah...those happy and stressful times" Joe sighed before patting Cordula on the back "The team wouldn't be the same without you Cory, think of what Godzilla would do?" Cordula raised a brow.
"He has Nick"
"Which does he bond more with?"
Me.
Cordula smiled and gave her father a big hug "Thanks dad, I needed that" Joe chuckled "Any time sport but to be honest, your mother was way more emotional than you" A swift jab in the ribs.
"Dad!"
***
Cordula had decided to head to H.E.A.T Headquarters early after the brief talk with her father. She expected to see a frowning Nick and some of the members eating their breakfast but what she didn't expect was an angry, almost pissed off looking Nick as he angrily sat down.
He barely even acknowledged her as she entered "Okay...what exactly happened here?" Cordula asked as she sat down across from Nick. Elsie gave her and Nick , mostly, a grin "Did you catch the news this morning?" Cordula opened her mouth to answer but Elsie made no room to talk.
"Boy Audrey is good. Yeah I don't know where she gets all that inside information" Her gaze was on Nick as he glared at her "It was a private discussion" Nick said flatly.
"Let me guess...she spilled the news on TV" Cordula stated rather than question it. Nick's face was all the answer she got "Honey, you may know something about lizards but you have got a lot to learn about career women" Elsie said seriously.
A ring from the phone slightly broke the tension as Randy immediately picked it up, not wanting to hear another argument.
"Mutant Central?" Cordula gave Randy a look about their name and shook her head with a smile. Trust Randy to try and lighten up the mood with a joke or two.
"Hang on...yo jefe it's Frank Valdez, the UN Environmental Department, says he needs to see you pronto" Randy informed "What would the UN Environmental Department need us for?" Cordula questioned.
***
"Mr. Valdez's environmental team got these Landsat photos in this morning. It seems sections of the Brazilian Rain forest are vanishing at an alarming rate" Nick informed the team as he showed them the photos.
"There's a newsflash" Elsie commented "This is different, something is actually eating away the forest at a rate 100 times faster than the destruction caused by man" Cordula looked at the pictures over again and shuddered.
If these continue to spread, I doubt humanity would even last long to meet the digital age.
"Ugh...the entire rain forest will be gone in-"
"About three weeks" Nick calculated "And if the rain forest did disappear, what happens if whatever it is that's causing that finds another island to consume?" Cordula asked and everyone dreaded the answer.
***
"Did I mention that I hate the jungle" Mendel said calmly though he was very much on high alert "After what happened back in the killer plants and bees, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd be allergic to the forest itself" Cordula commented.
Mendel glared at her before he began to angrily swipe at the insects flying and buzzing around him. They came upon a barren place, the place where the forest started to disappear.
"Something disintegrated these trees on contact" Nick commented "Okay everybody, wide search perimeters" Everyone quickly fanned out to search the area.
"Man, I don't even know what did this?" Randy commented as he rubbed the dust of the barks of the tree between his fingers.
Elsie looked around for anything that she could find as a means for a clue to solve this mystery until she stumbled upon something very peculiar.
"What's this?" Elsie asked and Nick turned his attention to the pile of mud that almost looked exactly like-
"That's an insect mound!" Cordula suddenly screamed before the ground shook right where Monique and Randy were standing. All of a sudden, something big began to climb up underneath the two and Monique fell on the other side as she lost her balance.
"Monique!" Randy screamed before he lost his balance too and ended up face to face with a giant mutated insect that had a mixture of a scorpion's body and a lobster's claws. It's yellow eyes landed on Randy as it began to advance slowly towards him.
"RANDY!" Elsie, Cordula and Nick screamed with Randy as he tried to scramble away while keeping an eye to the approaching mutated insect for he feared that if he looked away, he might end up dinner.
Monique managed to grab Randy away before the huge insect could even attack and take a bite "Next time, I'm bringing two cans of insect spray!" Cordula shouted as they sprinted through the trees.
"If we get separated, meet back at camp!" Nick shouted as the giant insect let out another warning chirp. Mendel took one last glance before stating out loud.
"No way am I getting separated!"
Tue insect had half a mind to follow and kill the intruders when it abruptly stopped for a moment before it headed back to the mound.
***
Thankfully, the insect didn't follow them back to camp, Cordula began researching on insect mounds to cross reference the mound they spotted.
She found a match.
"Nick, I got something!" Cordula stated as she printed the data she found. Nick and Elsie came over as she handed them the papers for them to look over.
"I should have figured it out the moment we arrived" Nick said before he opened up the laptop to scan over the photos he acquired from the Environmental Team.
"Sawdust pellets, partial mud tubes" Nick said, showing each photo "They point to a termite infestation " He concluded "And this place is like an all-you-can-eat buffet" Elsie commented.
"With insects this size, tunnels could extend for-"
Nick was cut off by the sound of a helicopter landing right beside the camp. Cordula desperately tried to grab as many papers flying she could get.
If Nick felt irritated now at not spotting the termite infestation sooner, frustration brewed when Audrey and Animal came out of the chopper.
"Oh No..."
Nick groaned and Elsie huffed with a raised brow "Speaking of infestations.." She mumbled with narrowed eyes "What are they doing here?" Cordula asked with an arm full of papers.
"Man this place feels like the inside of a sweat sock"
Animal commented and Cordula had a feeling with Nick's tension already rising with Audrey here, things were gonna get stinky.
"Hey guys!" Audrey said cheerfully "Hey yourself..." Cordula mumbled "Surprised?" Audrey asked, ignoring Cordula's comment "You might say that" Nick said slowly.
"Maybe Cordula and I should leave you two alone. You know, so you could have a private discussion that can later be broadcasted to the entire world"
Elsie said that last part low enough for Nick to hear only before smirked and promptly pulled Cordula away "Um...you know I think it's a bad idea to leave Nick with her" Cordula said as soon as the two girls were away.
The two girls watched as Nick got increasingly frustrated before he walled away with a frowning Audrey "Ouch..." Elsie hissed and Cordula sighed.
***
Night fell and with the fire roaring, Nick gathered everyone around to bear the news of what had happened.
"I believe we're dealing with a massive termite colony. This is what they've done to the rain forest in less than two weeks" Nick said, showing them a scale of the rain forest.
"This massive destruction could wipe out hundreds of plant and animal species" Elsie said as she looked over the scale.
"No doubt some of these animals will became extinct" Cordula stated as she pointed out a few critically endangered species.
"So we're talking your basic ecological meltdown" Randy commented "How many bugs?" Mendel asked with his arms crossed.
"No telling. A regular sized queen can lay thousands of eggs a week" Nick said. Cordula then showed them the diagram of the termite they just faced.
"Some of the larvae develop into soldiers which are equipped with two powerful jaws"
"Hey, I recognized that dude"
Cordula shook her head at Randy's interruption "Your movements generated an ultrasonic sound waves which were heard inside the colony"
"So that soldier termite was just defending its turf" Nick nodded at Cordula "The worker termites are the ones who hunt for food" Another image of a different termite appeared. Its body was less slender than the soldier termite that gave off the ability for moving fast.
The worker termite instead got a thick hide probably used to protect itself when it hunts for food or digs new tunnels for the colony.
"Why don't we gas the entire colony and call it a day?" Mendel asked. It was a simple plan, unless you don't alert the soldiers by merely stepping on the wrong ground.
"With what? A giant can of bug spray?" Cordula waved her hands around "That's way too much for our payday" She said.
"The toxins might even cause a bigger environmental hazard" Elsie added "Well whatever we do can we do it soon? I got off for tickets for Friday Night" They all looked at Mendel's out of topic words.
"You have no idea what you're missing" Mendel said with a shake of his head "Right, like I don't want to be tortured by a bunch of vikings screaming their lungs out. Too bad we can't make the termites listen to that. It would drive them crazy" Cordula gaped when an idea popped into her mind.
"First of all, there are no vikings there in Puccini and Second of all...you're right" Mendel said. Glad for once Randy used his comments to a better use.
Randy gave him a smug look "Yeah there's always vikings" Cordula snorted "Not the vikings Randy! Nick, you said these bugs could communicate through ultrasonic sound waves" Nick had a pondering look on his face.
"What if we could find a way to interfere" Mendel finished as he and Cordula shared an excited glance "We jam their signals?" Monique raised a brow at the question.
"More like manipulate them. Of course we'd have to generate our own sound waves in 50,000 Hertz Frequency Range" Mendel explained "Which can't be heard by humans" Nick added.
"But are brain splittingly loud if you're vermin"
Mendel looked at Randy "Don't worry, we'll get you a pair of earplugs" Randy gave a smug looking Mendel a look "So once the soldiers and the workers are preoccupied, we can destroy the unprotected queen and her eggs" Elsie laid out excitedly before there was a loud explosion and the ground shook.
"What now?" Cordula yelped as she grabbed onto Mendel for balance. Nick stared on ahead to see trees rapidly falling down "They're feeding, run!" Everyone turned and made a break for the truck.
Cordula strapped in N.I.G.E.L as Mendel clambered into the truck with Audrey and Animal following behind "There must be hundreds of them out there" Cordula shivered as she spotted almost a dozen of termite soldiers moving towards them.
Nick managed to drive the car away just before one of the termite soldiers could attack "Craven, call Godzilla!" Nick ordered. Godzilla might be having a temper tantrum right now but at least this time there's an outlet he could lay loose on.
"Uh...are you sure that's really a good idea?" Mendel asked nervously "It's either the big guy or those vermins that are probably going to use us as larvae food" Cordula pointed out.
Mendel looked at Cordula then back at Nick "We don't exactly have a lot of options right now, do it" Mendel quickly typed in Godzilla's call as Animal kept on filming.
"And I thought the cockroaches in Queens were bad" He commented just as Nick veered the truck to a tilt "End of the line" Nick said as he pushed down the brakes to a dead end.
Monique quickly got out of the car and handed the guns to each of the team "Hey, where's mine?" Audrey asked "Maybe you should sit this one out" Cordula said before turning her gaze back to the fight.
"Pitty" Monique said shortly before they began firing. They managed to get a few but the termites kept on coming like an endless wave "These aren't gonna hold'em off for long" Nick said in frustration before a roar from behind them made their heads turn.
"Good thing we called for backup!" Randy said excitedly as Godzilla appeared and chomped half of the termite soldiers before proceeding to burn the trees.
"Godzilla's gonna burn down what's left of the forest!" Elsie cried out with concern "No!" Nick screamed as Godzilla continued to burn down the entire forest.
The termite soldiers began their advance by clambering up on Godzilla. The team began to try and kill as much as they could that were already on Godzilla.
Animal and Audrey quickly ran back when Godzilla unleashed an Atomic Breath directly where the van was "So much for our ride..." Cordula sighed as she looked at the charred form of the van.
"He can't handle that many at once. They're overpowering" Nick said. Cordula and Audrey began to cough as smoke filled their lungs "And we cam't handle this much smoke!" Cordula shouted with tears in her eyes as she squinted.
Godzilla roared in pain as he began to walk away with the termite soldiers still following him, deeming him a much bigger threat than the humans.
"Nick, fire! There's nowhere to run!" Elsie cried out "I do not want to be cremated right in the middle of the jungle" Cordula shouted out in frustration before thunder boomed and they were suddenly hit by a torrent of rain.
"Guess that's why they call it the rain forest" Elsie said with her arms up "I'd kiss the rain if it had a physical form" Cordula sighed as cooling drops of water hit her heated skin. The fire began to dwindle slowly as rain continued to pour down.
"Where's Audrey and Animal?" Nick suddenly asked, causing the others to look around in search of the two "They were right here" Nick said before the bushes rustled and out came Audrey and Animal looking disheveled but alive.
"Audrey! A-are you okay?" Nick asked in a slightly panicked voice when he saw the look of utter frustration on her face "No! The record head on the Beta Head is jammed and we didn't get any tape" Audrey whined.
Cordula crossed her arms and grimaced "Oh...poor kid" Elsie said with less sympathetic in her tone "We're fine, thanks for asking" Nick said with a slight glare.
"Come on, let's see if there's anything left of the camp" Nick said flatly as he walked pass by her without even glancing which made Audrey frown "Is he wound up tighter than usual or am I just extra sensitive today?" Animal asked, his tone coming off sharp in the end.
***
Luckily not everything back at camp was damaged and they managed to salvage two tents to sleep in and they were enough for everyone.
By early morning, Mendel had finished his invention "The transmitters work in two steps. The first signal will disrupt basic communications between the Queen and the rest of the colony, causing chaos" Elsie and Nick looked at each other with slight grins on their faces.
"Then, when that ultrasonic signal is amplified. It should mimic an attack command, forcing the bugs to turn on each other" Mendel explained and looked at his handy work with pride.
"Let me know if those modulators are ready" Nick said "We'll have to plant them around the base of their mound" Cordula said as she skimmed her hand over a modulator.
***
As they all prepared for the oncoming attack on the termite mound, Cordula spotted Audrey walking up to Nick, probably to talk.
"Do you think there might be a chance for the two of them to make up?" Cordula asked Mendel who was busy finishing up the last tweaks for the modulators.
"That depends if Nick forgives her for using him again"
"This happened before?" Cordula asked incredulously and wondered why Nick would even still glue himself to her after the first betrayal.
I guess love works in mysterious ways.
"Apparently so and this might be the last straw for Nick" Mendel replied before the ground shook violently "Craven! I need those transmitters now!" Nick shouted harshly.
***
They have arrived at the mound without alerting the termite guards yet "Let's do it" Nick said with determination before he turned to Animal and Audrey.
"You two stay away" Nick said in obvious anger, probably whatever happened between him and Audrey back there.
"Hey, don't worry about us" Animal said while Audrey gave Nick a small glare. The team quickly placed each modulator around the base of the mound and it was only when Monique placed the last modulator near the mouth of the mound did the termite soldiers came out.
With claws snapping, they quickly advanced as Monique slid back down and to the group "Initiating Phase 1" Mendel said as he activated the modulators.
They barely even reached the modulators before the termite soldiers began to jerk rapidly and make pained noises "Looks like its working" Nick said.
"Naturally" Mendel replied smugly "Time to go underground" Nick shouted as they began to run to the mouth of the mound. Animal and Audrey made a move to follow but they were cut off by Nick.
"Sorry you're not coming" Nick said "Look, I don't know what your deal is doc but the last time I looked...you're not the one signing my paychecks" Animal said harshly at the end before he got jabbed in the ribs by Audrey.
It almost alarmed Cordula at how resigned she looked. Not the usual energetic and determined reporter.
"Fine, we'll play it your way. I guess I owe you that"
Cordula swore she saw something akin to trust pass by Nick's eyes before they disappeared as he turned and marched ahead. Cordula caught up to him.
"You worry too much" Cordula said with a grin. Nick didn't say anything but his expression when Cordula said that made the answer clear that there was more than him wanting Audrey and Animal out of the way.
"Send up a flare when you get inside!" Mendel called out "Will do!" Cordula called out as they slid down on the ropes and landed on the ground. Cordula crinkle her nose at the stench of termite community.
They came across hordes of worker termites undetected. With Nick nodding his head in approval, Monique shot the flare gun to the lip of the mound, signalling Mendel that they were in.
A few moments later and every worker termites there is started to push each other away in a display of dominance to the others who were yet to be affected.
"Go! Go! Go!" Nick Shouted as they raced across the horde who were too busy fighting on another to barely even notice the humans slip by.
They rounded up on a corner before Nick jumped away just in time before a claw struck down where he was just at moments ago.
"Mendel!" Cordula called out as the unaffected soldier and worker termites advanced slowly on them. Before they could do anything, one of them let out a low pitched sound before it attacked one of its own instead of them.
"They're turning on each other"
Nick said. There was a loud rumble as the ceiling above them threatened to collapse "I am not sticking around here any longer just to get squashed" Cordula muttered out as they ran inside a tunnel.
"This way, move, move, move!" Nick shouted as they dodged and ducked under the termites "Roadblock!" Elsie pointed out as she spotted two soldier termites fighting dead ahead.
"Um...who wants to play pickle?" Randy asked nervously as they readied their guns and began shooting at almost anything as the team formed a tight circle. Nick moved out of the way before the pincer of a termite soldier could stab him.
"Not working" Elsie cried out "Where's Mendel!?" Cordula shouted out before a large foot crushed the termite soldier and a large jaw scooped up a large amount of worker ants up "He's alive!" Nick cried out with joy as Godzilla lightly fried the termites inside his mouth as he spat them out before firing his Atomic Breath at the remaining ones alive.
"We have got to find Mendel"
***
They ran through one of the tunnels blindly when they heard a loud roar followed by a humane scream "That's Mendel" Elsie commented as they ran inside a tunnel and entered a huge cavern which was actually the heart of the mound.
A huge termite with a very bulging body and still be able to move. Cordula noticed eggs laying almost in every direction and guessed that this one must be the termite queen. Mendel let out another shout as the Queen advanced on him.
Without further notice, they all began shooting at the Termite Queen as she hissed, backed away before letting out a pained roar and collapsed on the ground. Randy walked up to a skittish Mendel and grasped him on his shoulder which prompted Mendel to turn around with a yelp.
"Dude, easy on the styling gel next time" Randy joked as he hauled Mendel up "Am I glad you're safe" Cordula said with relief "Mendel, what are you doing here?" Elsie asked with her hands on her hips. Meanwhile, Monique and Nick were busy planting the bomb.
"The clock's ticking, we have to get above ground" Nick said as they all nodded and ran back to the direction they were in. They stopped when four termite soldiers stood in the pathway, fighting.
"You want a backtrack?" Elsie asked just as a large tail rained down and squashed the four termite soldiers away. Godzilla peered down at them and let out a huff when he saw Cordula smiling up at him. She frowned as he walked away.
"Nah, let's use the emergency exit"
Monique picked up her grappling hook gun and shot it out to the exit above. Randy clambered up first and saw Godzilla looking down at him curiously "Hey big guy! Love what you done with the place!" Godzilla let out an answering roar at his statement.
"Randy move your butt!" Cordula grunted, shoving Randy up before he hauled the rest of her out. When everyone was safely out, they began to run back where they left Audrey and Animal. The reporter saw Nick running towards her and let out a huge sigh of relief.
"There they are, Nick!" Audrey cried out only for her to yelp in shock as Nick tackled her to the ground and hovered above her "Get Down!" He ordered everyone. Cordula landed beside them as the bombs went off. Cordula and some of the others hissed as a few small but heated rocks pelted down on them.
Once it was over, they slowly sat up before standing and saw Godzilla roaring out before blowing up another half of the forest "Oh no..." Cordula gaped "Okay, it looks like somebody needs a timeout" Cordula snorted "I'm not the parent here unfortunately" Her gaze turned to Nick who looked up at Godzilla.
"Come on, take it easy"
Godzilla looked around then back at Cordula who looked at him sadly before he felt his rage die down a he drew a raspberry "That one didn't last as long as the others. Could be a temporary hormonal imbalance" Nick concluded as Godzilla roared again. Monique gave him a look at that conclusion "Uh...perhaps"
"I'm okay with that conclusion. After all, he's still just a kid in monster size"
***
Cordula stood by on the docking bay closed her eyes as she felt the wind play with her hair. The sound of someone rising up from the waters made her look up to see Godzilla looking at her curiously "Hey there big guy" She coed and he let out a huff and turned away from her.
Cordula pouted "If this was about the day when I got back to you late then I'm sorry, I was visiting my cousin and her fiance by the airport" She showed him a photo of her cousin and an unknown male.
He glared down at the male and Cordula smiled "Don't worry you big baby, they aren't going to steal me away from you. It was a one time thing, besides I hate wearing dresses they feel so restricted" She patted him by the snout and Godzilla let out a contempt coo go out.