How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
—Isaiah 14:12–14:15
Suko had never been alone before. At least not for long. He had his hiding places in the Living Caves, of course, but even there he was never out of earshot of the others, never so distant or isolated that he couldn’t smell them. In the last few days he’d been with the Stranger he now called Kong. There was a difference, though. With Kong, he had come to feel… not afraid. Kong had hit him, thrown him—but only because he was attacked. He never struck out randomly, for no reason, the way the Skar King did. The way One-Eye and most of the others did. In the Living Caves, never being alone meant always being afraid. With Kong, not being alone meant—something different. Something better.
He had not wanted to leave Kong. But when he saw the little ones, the apes-without-fur that were so clearly part of Kong’s family—when he saw how they cared for him—he knew he had to. Partly it was his fear that they would learn he had been with the ones that killed other members of their troupe, even though he himself had not. But that was a small reason, and not enough to send him alone into the jungle.
What worried him was One-Eye.
When he and Kong had made their way to the hidden place, he thought he had caught a glimpse of One-Eye in the distance, following them. He hadn’t alerted Kong; in his injured state, he feared One-Eye might win if he and Kong fought. And he thought he might be wrong. The rock fall might have killed all the apes chasing them, and what he thought he saw was just a trick of light and shadow. But One-Eye was tough, and clever in an awful way. If any of them had survived, it would be One-Eye.
Now Suko had to be sure. He retraced his steps to the place where he and Kong had entered the valley. There was still a small gap in the veil there, small enough for a red runt like him to pass through.
After that, he found his fears confirmed. One-Eye had left a big trace, easy to follow. And it led back the way they had come, to the Living Caves.
He thought that might be enough. He could go back and try to let Kong know. Then he wouldn’t have to be alone.
He almost turned back, but he knew he shouldn’t. He knew if he learned more, it would be more helpful.
And so he went on, alone, and discovered something.
It wasn’t so bad, being by himself. In fact, he was beginning to like it. It made him feel free and… he wasn’t sure what else. Like he could do things.
One-Eye was moving slowly. Perhaps Suko could catch him before he reached the Skar King. Maybe he could trick him, kill him before he could tell what he had seen.
He would try. Not just because Kong might be pleased. But because somehow he felt it was the thing he ought to do. He picked up his pace, determined. One-Eye’s signs grew fresher.
The Skar King wanted the surface. But Suko wondered what the surface could have that this place did not. Compared to the caves of their exile, the bigger world was much better. Full of food. Water everywhere, and no burning stone to singe the back of the throat. To Suko, this seemed the perfect land for apes. You could wander forever and never see the same place twice. Or you could settle near a river and eat fish and snakes all day.
The Skar King would not see things that way, though. The Skar King thought only of what he wanted, long ago. What he had been denied. He dreamed of inflicting pain, of revenge, of dominating everyone and everything. The Living Caves were not enough for him. This outside cave, as big as it was, was not enough for him. Whatever the World Above was like, that would not be enough for him either. And he would punish everyone and everything for his disappointment.
So it would be better if he caught One-Eye and pushed him off a cliff or something, before the Skar King learned anything from him.
Eventually, in the distance, Suko heard a call. At first he thought it might be One-Eye, but then he heard another, different voice, followed by more. He climbed up the side of the gorge for a better view, hiding in the leaves of the thick bushes there.
He’d thought he had more time. One-Eye must have traveled faster than he’d thought, and the Skar King must have been prepared to leave when he got there. Because they were marching. All of them, except the females, who were probably still locked in the Skar King’s harem compound. One of them was probably his mother, although he had never known which one. There were none with red hair.
Of all the apes of the caves, only two had red hair. The Skar King and him. When he was younger he’d thought that might mean something. He had dreamed that one day the Skar King would claim him. When he had been chosen to be a red-stripe, no matter that he was little, he had almost believed that time had come, or was near. But then the Skar King killed Gnarled Finger for protecting Suko. Then he tried to kill Kong, who had been kind to Suko. Now, Suko did not care about the Skar King, except to believe he must be stopped.
He saw them now. The Skar King sat on Shimo, the captive, the destroyer. Sometimes he felt sorry for her, because he knew that she did not care about the Skar King or his plans. She only wanted to be free of the pain he caused her. The pain he controlled her with. The pain he controlled everyone with. None of them could escape it. The Skar King had always been, he always would be, and he would always be the owner and the bringer of pain.
So Suko had once thought. But now he thought something else. He thought that Kong would have beaten the Skar King, if it were just the two of them. That was why the Skar King had released Shimo to fight Kong. That was why he brought many apes to fight one. The Skar King feared Kong.
But Kong was not alone. Kong had Suko now. And Suko would run ahead. He would tell Kong the Skar King was coming. Even hurt, Kong would know what to do. If he didn’t, at least Suko could die with Kong. It was better than being in the Skar King’s army.
He felt a sudden cold wind as the branched and leaves hiding him began to frost over. Shimo was bringing ice with her, leaving a trail of dying jungle in her wake.
Suko raced back through the jungle, pushing himself until his arms and legs and lungs burned.
* * *
On the jog to the H.E.A.V, Trapper had a few worries about being killed and eaten, but the Iwi queen sent four of her camouflaged guys with him. He liked them; they saw things the way he did. Rather than fight threats, they avoided them. And they were way better at noticing them than he was. Unless they were having a go at him. They detoured five times, but he never saw anything to explain why.
His second worry, that the H.E.A.V might not start, was also unfounded. He wasn’t as familiar with the controls as he wished, but all he had to do was fly a straight line to the ruined outpost, and his piloting skills were plenty good enough for that. The Iwi didn’t accept his offer of a joyride, so he had some concerns about them being killed and eaten on the other end, but he suspected that the smell of the apes still lingered in the ruins of the outpost and would put any other predators or scavengers off from coming there for a while.
His third fear, or course, was that what he was looking for had been trashed along with everything else, but the armory was set apart from the main building. It had been compromised, but not as badly as the main compound. He figured that was because there hadn’t been anybody there. The apes had been bent on killing, not just random destruction.
And that—that was a bad sign. The Great Apes were meat-eaters, but even though he hadn’t counted the corpses, there were enough around to see that the attacks and murders hadn’t been about food. Animals that killed just for the hell of it—there was usually something wrong with them. Badly wrong. There were some exceptions. But the most notable animals that did that as a matter of habit were humans.
A few more moments of searching brought tremendous relief. Not only was the prototype there, and intact—there was also a M.U.L.E to carry it with.
As anyone could tell you, a Titan doctor wasn’t much use without a M.U.L.E.
With a grin, he put on some music and got to work.
* * *
Ilene lost communication with Trapper not long after he got the H.E.A.V in the air. All they could was wait.
And eat. The Iwi brought them some food. She knew better than to try and figure out what it was, even though it seemed to be mostly vegetables and fungi. It was pretty good; something in it tasted a little like mint, and something a bit peppery. Jia seemed to like it, or at least not hate it, but she was so distracted by Kong, who had fallen into a restless sleep, that Ilene couldn’t get her to talk much. She understood; it was difficult to see Kong in this condition. She couldn’t help but remember when the big ape’s heart had stopped during his fight with Godzilla. Kong was strong, determined, usually so robustly alive, one sometimes forgot that he was mortal. That they could lose him. But right now, that reality was being tossed right in their faces. What if Trapper couldn’t find Project Powerhouse? What if it had been destroyed or stolen by the Skar King? Assuming Jia could do what the Iwi believed she could do, would she then have to face the Skar King, his apes, and a world-ending Titan with just Mothra on their side? Would Godzilla come? The Iwi beacon had been calling him for a while now, but he still wasn’t here. She remembered the rock art. Could it be that even Godzilla feared Shimo? They seemed to have some sort of history.
Bernie ate the Iwi meal with a fair amount of enthusiasm. He took selfies and filmed his food and made audio notes about putting together a Hollow Earth cookbook. He asked her what she thought about that.
“Sure,” she said. “Take two cups chopped man-eating tree and fifteen clean giant river leeches. If unavailable, substitute tofu and anchovies.”
“I’m not saying it’s a perfect idea,” he said. “But you can get all kinds of stuff online.”
“Of course,” she agreed.
He nodded. “Hey, Doc?”
“Still here.”
“So I guess we’re figuring Kong ran into this Shimo character.”
“It seems likely,” she said. “He encountered something intensely cold. In case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a lot of that down here.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Not much. Um. It doesn’t look like Kong came out of that meeting the winner.”
“Well,” she said. “We haven’t seen the other guy, have we?”
“No,” he said. “That’s true. True. Maybe he took care of the Skar King and Shimo and all of them already.”
“That’d be nice,” she said.
“Right. And Jia wouldn’t have to do the thing.”
“That would also be nice,” Ilene said.
“But you don’t believe it.”
She shook her head. “Not from the way Kong’s acting. If he’d won a big victory, he’d be showing it, even hurt like this. I think he’s worried. And I think the Iwi are more concerned now than ever.”
“That’s my impression too,” Bernie said.
Her eye caught movement in the sky. Not a war-bat or a leafwing.
Not the H.E.A.V either.
It was the distinctive, blocky, yellow-and-black M.U.L.E.
“I think the party is about to start,” she said, as Trapper maneuvered the M.U.L.E over the sleeping Kong.
A boxy yellow-and-black object dropped from the M.U.L.E. An instant later it began to unfold into a new configuration. Four braking jets started to burn. Mounted on gimbals, they also functioned to steer the device, which made a beeline for Kong’s damaged limb, killed its momentum with a final flare of its jets, and dropped straight onto Kong’s arm.
The Titan’s eyelids fluttered as the package snapped and whirred, fitting itself to the Titan. High above, she heard strains of music. She was almost certain it was “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” by Kiss. Which… it was Trapper.
“What do ya think of that?” Trapper’s voice on the radio asked.
“That’s one hell of an augmentation there, Trapper,” Bernie answered.
Kong’s eyes closed again.
“Yeah,” Trapper said as he started to set the H.E.A.V down. “Only the best for Mister Kong. You should see the jetpack mod.”
Bernie cut his eyes toward Ilene.
“He’s kidding,” she said. “I think.”
It’s an arm, Jia signed.
An exoskeletal arm, she agreed. It will help fix his real arm. But it will make him stronger too. Kong was still sleeping. He might not like it, though, she said.
He’ll like it, Jia said. She sounded confident.
Kong subsided back into his fevered sleep. Trapper emerged from the M.U.L.E and started up the path toward them.
“So this arm,” Bernie said. “It’s not, like, an evil arm that’s gonna take on a life of its own, is it?”
“Probably not,” Ilene said.
“Probably not?”
“A very low chance, the engineers said.”
He blinked, opened his mouth as if to ask something else, then closed it again, shaking his head no.
You’re trying to be funny, Jia signed. You’re scared.
She quirked a half-smile at the girl. Yes, I’m scared.
Trapper will fix Kong, she said.
That’s not the only thing worrying me.
I know, Mom, Jia said. But I’ll be okay, too. Don’t worry about me.
I’m trying not to, she replied. But you have no idea how difficult that is. She sighed. I believe in you, Jia, she said. I may be scared of this thing they want you to do. But don’t think for a second I doubt you can do it. I know you can.
Trapper arrived a few minutes later. He took a second to recover his breath.
“What now?” she asked.
“It’s configuring,” he said. “Shouldn’t be long.”
“Lucky the M.U.L.E was still intact,” she said.
“Yeah,” he said. “Not to worry, though. I brought the H.E.A.V along too. There was plenty of room in the cargo hold.”
She nodded. That was good. They could have always gone back to the outpost for the H.E.A.V later, but if they were going to be fighting and dodging Titans, the M.U.L.E was a bit too slow and clunky.
Far below, something clicked in Kong’s new arm brace.
“All right,” Trapper said. “It’s ready to go.”
The arm went to work on its new wearer. Gigantic hypodermic needles emerged and plunged into the Great Ape’s veins.
“Those injections should heal the frostbite nicely,” Trapper said.
Ilene nodded. Even if Kong ripped the thing off, he would be in better shape than he had been.
Kong growled. He grimaced and opened his eyes. He’d felt that.
He began to rise.
“All right, there he goes,” Bernie said. “He’s moving.”
Kong reached for a rocky ridge to pull himself up with his new, enhanced arm. Ilene watched, almost holding her breath as he grabbed the rocky ledge, pulled… and it shattered, putting him off-balance so that he fell. Kong looked back and forth between his hand and the cliff, looking confused.
“Well, it’s a bit rough and ready,” Trapper allowed. “But it should hold.”
“Looks good, Trapper,” Ilene said.
“Damn good,” Bernie agreed.
But what really mattered was what Kong thought.
The ape picked himself up and stood to his full height. He brought the mechanized arm brace up to where he could examine it.
“He’s either gonna love it, or he’s gonna rip it off with his teeth,” Trapper said.
Kong stared at the augmentation another few seconds. Then he pumped it into the air and bellowed to shake the valley.
“I think he loves it!” Bernie shouted.
Jia smiled wide.
Kong brought the arm back down and studied it intently. Ilene thought he did look pleased. And something else: something a little harder, a little more dangerous. Like maybe he was ready to make whoever had hurt him pay.
Off through the jungle, a loud hoot sounded. Something like one of Kong’s calls, but higher in pitch.
The little ape was coming back, gesturing excitedly to Kong. He ran up to the bigger ape and began pulling at his newly enhanced arm, gibbering and pointing back toward the way he had come.
Kong seemed to understand. His eyebrows lowered and his face set in a scowl. Then he lifted his hand and made some signs.
“Skar King,” Ilene translated. “He’s coming. And he’s got an army.”
“If they find this place, they’ll take the surface,” Trapper said. “Godzilla can’t fight them all.”
Jia was signing to Kong; Ilene didn’t notice in time to see what. But the Great Ape reacted with a loud, assenting grunt.
“Hey, hey!” she said, talking as she signed. “What did you tell him?”
I told him we need help, Jia replied.
Kong made another sign, and then he was in motion, shivering the earth with his footfalls. The juvenile ape dashed after him.
“Did Kong just say what I think he said?” Trapper asked.
Godzilla, Jia signed, using the gesture she had made up years before.
“Godzilla!” Bernie said.
Ilene stared after the apes as they ran up the sides of the world toward the vortices above.
Kong gestured at the smaller ape running beside him. The little one hesitated, but then broke paths with Kong, who continued alone.
Kong is protecting him, she thought. The two of them were friends, or something. She wondered how Kong’s new companion fit in with the Skar King. There was a story there for sure. Kong had a history of protecting those weaker than himself, bonding with them. Was the little ape some sort of adoptive son?
“Where’s he going?” Bernie asked.
“Godzilla won’t come down here unless Kong brings him,” she said.
“Okay, but the last time those two met up it was almost the end of Kong.”
“He’s taking a hell of a risk,” Trapper said. “If Kong invades his turf, it could start a war.”
“That’s a suicide mission,” Bernie said.
“If Kong draws him down here, then we can make their stand in Hollow Earth, then there’s a chance that Godzilla and Kong may stop Skar King and Shimo from reaching the surface.”
“Warriors like Kong, they don’t die of old age,” Trapper pointed out.
“Right,” Bernie said. “Sometimes they get beat to death by a real big lizard. I was there the last time they got rambunctious.”
Ilene shared their concerns. Godzilla seemed to be ignoring the Iwi distress call. At the very least he was taking his sweet time to answer it. Kong going up there—it might just complicate things.
But that was out of their hands, now. And Jia was right. If the Skar King, and Shimo, and who knew how many apes were on their way, they needed help. They needed Godzilla.
The queen had moved to stand by Jia. Now she placed a hand gently on the girl’s shoulder.
What now? Ilene wondered. But she was afraid she already knew. The clock had run out. As the queen and Jia started back toward the pyramids, she took a deep breath and followed.
Trust your daughter, she thought. She’ll be okay.
Small with distance, Kong leaped into a vortex and vanished.