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Description
YAY!!! It's finally done!
Took me a while because I'm working on a proyect from the University and I have to vectorize some maps, but I managed to color this in between work XD
Hope you like it!

***

Nick woke up for the third and last time that night. He had barely slept, but now his watch read 5:11am and the thought of getting a nice cup of coffee occupied his mind. He just didn’t want to get up from bed just yet. Nick was worried sick, and had a very good reason to feel like that: an enormous reason.
The previous day had been the most eventful day of his life. Too many emotions had happened at once: exhilaration, confusion, amazement... Nick never imagined that humans were able to feel so many emotions at once and with such intensity. As a scientist, he felt thrilled by the opportunity of studying the only specimen left of Godzilla's offspring. As a common human being, he felt more than terrified by the sheer thought of letting the creature alive, especially after all the devastation and anguish caused by its parent. However, the events of the last day still lingered on the biologist mind. Why did the creature stop its attack? It could have killed him easily, yet the creature released him the moment it... the moment it… was it possible? Did it really recognize him? What exactly made the creature recognize him? Nick remembered how he had been covered on yolk from one of the broken eggs when the newborn found him. And the creature had stopped its attack just the same. Was it possible the creature had such good long term memory? Was it a form of imprinting? Nick wasn't sure about that. He knew that nidifugous bird species had the ability to identify the first living thing they saw right after hatching as their parent, but reptiles were different. Most reptiles didn't look after their offspring, though there were a few exceptions, and it was clear that the first Godzilla was one of those few exceptions. This train of thought eased Nick's apprehension and his curiosity began to grow again, winning over his fear of the creature. “You are insane, Nicky” his mind suddenly retaliated, in Elsie's voice, “you can't tempt fate twice and survive to tell the tale”. Annoyed, Nick turned on his bed. How could he convince the others about studying the creature together? “I don't think Randy is going to be much of a problem” he thought, amused. “Mendel, on the other hand... Mendel could have a heart attack, and Elsie won't let me hear the end of it”, said the less optimistic part of his mind. Upset, Nick faced the ceiling. He was at crossroads: he needed them but didn't want to put them in danger either. The most logic solution was to study the creature by himself. However, he couldn't do it alone and he certainly didn't want this creature to get slayed by the military as the first one. He was still remorseful about killing the first Godzilla and couldn't forget the look it gave him right before dying. "Recognition. The first Godzilla knew who had killed him", Nick thought. He had helped murder an intelligent being and he wasn't keen on making the same mistake. “Oh, stop it with the guilt trip! So now you're considering to sacrifice human lives to protect this new Godzilla. You're not getting any better, y'know?”, said the part of his mind that sounded a lot like Elsie. Nick sighed. It looked like his mind was determined to make things harder than they already were. “Ok... Better get up and get some coffee”.
~
Elsie couldn't sleep either. Every time she closed her eyes she dreamed with the behemoth lizard picking Nick off the ground. In her dream, though, the creature tossed Nick around like a rag doll and killed him in one bite, so she had long decided that getting a good night's rest was a lost battle. Besides, sleeping in a cot wasn't the most comfortable thing ever. She turned to observe her roommates. Randy was sleeping on a hammock, apparently unfazed by the fact that a gigantic lizard with the potential of obliterating an entire city was wandering unsupervised outside the building. She couldn't remember being that carefree when she had been his age. Mendel, on the other hand, had been twirling and mumbling in his sleep, worry deeply carved in his face and yet sound asleep. Elsie rubbed her face in an attempt to get rid of the drowsiness she felt when she heard light steps on the corridor. Apparently, Nick was awake too. The thought lingered sluggishly on her mind before she sat almost automatically, suddenly awake. No. No, nononono! She couldn't believe Nick to be that reckless to go outside to see the lizard! With her heart caught on her throat, Elsie scrambled to get up and stop Nick from doing something really, really stupid until she heard the coffee maker: Nick was just trying to get an early breakfast. Calming down, Elsie decided to leave the improvised bedroom and keep him company. “Relax, Elsie. Maybe he had time to analyze his mistake and has already taken the right decision”, she thought to herself. “The right decision? And what is the "right" decision in this case, pray tell? C'mon girl, get a grip! This is the biggest opportunity you’ve ever had in your life! This new Godzilla could help you finally clear up the evolutionary steps between reptiles, dinosaurs and birds! Besides, don't you wanna *help him* in his research?” Awesome. She hadn't realized she had her own shoulder angel/devil consciences. How clichéd. But she had to admit that her mind did have a point, and since this new Godzilla wasn't fully grown yet, maybe getting rid of it when it became too dangerous to handle wouldn't be that difficult. “That's a good thing, eh?” That was it. Elsie stepped outside the bedroom and went to talk with Nick.
~
Nick was sitting at the table, head on his hands and apparently half asleep when Elsie entered the lab. “Rough night, huh?” Nick looked up to her, with that half annoyed, half amused look of his. “Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up”, she apologized. “I wasn't asleep. Just resting my eyes and getting my... thoughts together while the coffee is done” he said and then turned to stare to nothing in particular. Elsie waited for him to make the first move, but when he didn't, she took the initiative. “Look, Nicky, I was thinking about what happened yesterday and I'm not quite sure it is safe to assume the lizard will keep behaving that docile with you all the time.” Nick turned back to her but said nothing. Elsie didn't know how to react. She'd been half-expecting, half-dreading him to snap something at her, get mad at her or just collapse from exhaustion. She preferred arguments tho, she had a knack at handling them and winning, and loved to match wits with Nick at every little chance but now he deprived her of that. Even she would have felt better if he had started pacing around the room or else... not just stare back with that blank expression on his face. Nick seemed to be a little absent and way too relaxed for the problem at hand and she didn't like that side of him one bit. It distressed her more than she cared to admit. “Just tell him”, her mind demanded, “Tell him you're worried for him”. “Nick…” she began saying when he interrupted her, “It's not here”.
Wait a minute: What?! The statement took a while to make it thru Elsie's still sluggish mind. Then she hurried to the nearest window to look for herself: the lizard was gone. “No. No! This can't be happening!”. She turned to Nick, mind suddenly crystal clear and very much outraged. “Why are you so calm?! The creature could be rampaging anywhere and people could be in danger!!”. To her surprise, Nick kept his cool and slowly shook his head before standing up and joining her at window. “I already considered that possibility, but so far it doesn't seem to be any signs of alarm anywhere, and more importantly, the military hasn't tried to contact us. I assume the creature was hungry and just went hunting. It must be somewhere at the river” This didn't help Elsie to calm down and Nick noticed. “Don't worry, I'm pretty sure it'll be back here soon. Trust me”. “It's so easy for you to say, Nicky” Elsie thought, but decided to grant him the benefit of the doubt. For the moment.
~
However, to Godzilla the meaning of "soon" was irrelevant and didn't appear until much later, say past ten of the morning. By then, Elsie and Mendel had cornered Nick and where chewing him out for his lack of common sense. The giant lizard stomped gracefully by the ferry building, shaking it to its foundations and taking everybody by surprise. “Okaaay. I think we owe you some apologies for not believing it would come back, right?” Elsie said to Nick, who was sulking at her like a scolded kid. “So, jefe... what now?” Randy had been on Nick's side the whole time and now was looking eagerly at the lizard and then to Nick, “Aren't you gonna try and pet his muzzle or summin?”. "What?!" Mendel exclaimed, "Are you both out of your mind? That thing is going to eat us for lunch the moment we try to leave the building! And now you want to approach it?! I say we call Hicks right now!". "No", said Nick, "Leave Hicks out of this". Outside, the lizard had curled down on the floor next to the building like a big, green, and scaly cat, and was now observing the building with something eerily similar to rational curiosity, waiting. "We're doomed..." Mended added, but Nick wasn't that sure. Something was off with this creature's behavior and he believed to know what it was. “Mmmm… lemme try something”, was the only thing Nick mumbled to them before striding straight for the lift. “Nick! Wait a minute!” Elsie yelled.
~
Once the lift had reached the ground floor, the biologist wasn't sure anymore why he had thought this was such a great idea. Strangely enough, he also realized he never considered backing out on it. "Looks like I'm the one who's completely lost his mind, Mendel". Taking a deep breath, Nick reassured himself one last time before opening the lift. “All right Nick, don't do any sudden movements if you still wanna live to tell the tale to your grandchildren. Or have them, in the first place.” Nick said to himself, “Ok... here goes nothing”. With that, Nick opened the lift and stepped outside, to the bright sun. It was a beautiful morning. The others were already on the roof, watching him helplessly, with Mendel being the most apprehensive looking and right about to faint on the spot. The sight brought a small, guilty smile to Nick's lips, but was quickly replaced by a nervous gasp when Godzilla rumbled and got up. The lizard now towered over him menacingly... and then lowered its head to stare at the human with a glint in its eyes. “Huh… Hey, Big Guy…” Nick stuttered. “What a very sciency description” his mind mocked him. However, all rational thinking went out of the window as Godzilla leaned towards him with vertiginous speed and without warning. Nick gasped, suddenly terrified and unable to move while the others held their breaths in horror. But Godzilla wasn't attacking, it seemed to be studying Nick with intense curiosity and, to Nick's surprise, started producing soft whimpers, almost as if waiting for acknowledgment. Then a loud rumble of pure delight shook Nick from head to toes, and the biologist's vision was obscured by an enormous, smelly, very wet and very pink tongue that covered him on lizard spit from head to toes. “ARGH!!!” Was the only thing Nick managed to say.
~
On a vantage point away from the ferry building, a lean looking woman observed the scene with cold professionalism. Things were unfolding quite differently from what had been originally expected and she had to report this strange new turn of events. Picking up a sat-phone, the dark haired woman dialed a number and waited. A click on the line indicated her that connection had been made. "The creature has resurfaced and, against all odds, has returned to the ferry building where Dr. Tatopoulos' team have their headquarters. The creature is still displaying the strange behavior observed yesterday. Dr. Tatopoulos appears to have noticed as well and today decided to make contact with the creature." Silence. "Yes. He's still alive." Silence. "No. The creature didn't attack. It... well, the creature licked Dr. Tatopoulos." Silence. "Yes, like a dog would do to greet its master. No. I am aware it doesn't make sense, but that is what happened." Silence. "Right now he's with the creature. He's..." The dark haired woman took her binoculars with the other hand and stared at the scene before her. What she saw was even more bizarre than before. "Dr. Tatopoulos is... he is petting the creature." Silence. "Understood. Over and out." With that she disconnected the sat-phone and picked up her binoculars again. This was going to be a very unconventional surveillance job, that was for sure.

***
EDIT 1: Woops! I forgot the copyright thing: Nick, Godzilla and all the other characters from Godzilla the Series are (c) to Toho/Tristar.
EDIT 2: I also edited some typos and reviewed the redaction but feel free to point out any mistakes I could have missed

04/01/2013
EDIT 3: Re-read this fic, corrected and improved some of my original wording. Well at least I see it as an improvement

26/01/2014
EDIT 4: Fixed some minor mistakes and added a few lines for Mendel as well as Monique's introduction. Hope you like it.

03/05/2018
EDIT 5: Revised the text once again and improved it since the deviation has been getting some attention recently. I still like it a lot, been wanting to upgrade the illustration for some time now. No tablet and no time, tho.

Description
YAY!!! It's finally done!
Took me a while because I'm working on a proyect from the University and I have to vectorize some maps, but I managed to color this in between work XD
Hope you like it!

***

Nick woke up for the third and last time that night. He had barely slept, but now his watch read 5:11am and the thought of getting a nice cup of coffee occupied his mind. He just didn’t want to get up from bed just yet. Nick was worried sick, and had a very good reason to feel like that: an enormous reason.
The previous day had been the most eventful day of his life. Too many emotions had happened at once: exhilaration, confusion, amazement... Nick never imagined that humans were able to feel so many emotions at once and with such intensity. As a scientist, he felt thrilled by the opportunity of studying the only specimen left of Godzilla's offspring. As a common human being, he felt more than terrified by the sheer thought of letting the creature alive, especially after all the devastation and anguish caused by its parent. However, the events of the last day still lingered on the biologist mind. Why did the creature stop its attack? It could have killed him easily, yet the creature released him the moment it... the moment it… was it possible? Did it really recognize him? What exactly made the creature recognize him? Nick remembered how he had been covered on yolk from one of the broken eggs when the newborn found him. And the creature had stopped its attack just the same. Was it possible the creature had such good long term memory? Was it a form of imprinting? Nick wasn't sure about that. He knew that nidifugous bird species had the ability to identify the first living thing they saw right after hatching as their parent, but reptiles were different. Most reptiles didn't look after their offspring, though there were a few exceptions, and it was clear that the first Godzilla was one of those few exceptions. This train of thought eased Nick's apprehension and his curiosity began to grow again, winning over his fear of the creature. “You are insane, Nicky” his mind suddenly retaliated, in Elsie's voice, “you can't tempt fate twice and survive to tell the tale”. Annoyed, Nick turned on his bed. How could he convince the others about studying the creature together? “I don't think Randy is going to be much of a problem” he thought, amused. “Mendel, on the other hand... Mendel could have a heart attack, and Elsie won't let me hear the end of it”, said the less optimistic part of his mind. Upset, Nick faced the ceiling. He was at crossroads: he needed them but didn't want to put them in danger either. The most logic solution was to study the creature by himself. However, he couldn't do it alone and he certainly didn't want this creature to get slayed by the military as the first one. He was still remorseful about killing the first Godzilla and couldn't forget the look it gave him right before dying. "Recognition. The first Godzilla knew who had killed him", Nick thought. He had helped murder an intelligent being and he wasn't keen on making the same mistake. “Oh, stop it with the guilt trip! So now you're considering to sacrifice human lives to protect this new Godzilla. You're not getting any better, y'know?”, said the part of his mind that sounded a lot like Elsie. Nick sighed. It looked like his mind was determined to make things harder than they already were. “Ok... Better get up and get some coffee”.
~
Elsie couldn't sleep either. Every time she closed her eyes she dreamed with the behemoth lizard picking Nick off the ground. In her dream, though, the creature tossed Nick around like a rag doll and killed him in one bite, so she had long decided that getting a good night's rest was a lost battle. Besides, sleeping in a cot wasn't the most comfortable thing ever. She turned to observe her roommates. Randy was sleeping on a hammock, apparently unfazed by the fact that a gigantic lizard with the potential of obliterating an entire city was wandering unsupervised outside the building. She couldn't remember being that carefree when she had been his age. Mendel, on the other hand, had been twirling and mumbling in his sleep, worry deeply carved in his face and yet sound asleep. Elsie rubbed her face in an attempt to get rid of the drowsiness she felt when she heard light steps on the corridor. Apparently, Nick was awake too. The thought lingered sluggishly on her mind before she sat almost automatically, suddenly awake. No. No, nononono! She couldn't believe Nick to be that reckless to go outside to see the lizard! With her heart caught on her throat, Elsie scrambled to get up and stop Nick from doing something really, really stupid until she heard the coffee maker: Nick was just trying to get an early breakfast. Calming down, Elsie decided to leave the improvised bedroom and keep him company. “Relax, Elsie. Maybe he had time to analyze his mistake and has already taken the right decision”, she thought to herself. “The right decision? And what is the "right" decision in this case, pray tell? C'mon girl, get a grip! This is the biggest opportunity you’ve ever had in your life! This new Godzilla could help you finally clear up the evolutionary steps between reptiles, dinosaurs and birds! Besides, don't you wanna *help him* in his research?” Awesome. She hadn't realized she had her own shoulder angel/devil consciences. How clichéd. But she had to admit that her mind did have a point, and since this new Godzilla wasn't fully grown yet, maybe getting rid of it when it became too dangerous to handle wouldn't be that difficult. “That's a good thing, eh?” That was it. Elsie stepped outside the bedroom and went to talk with Nick.
~
Nick was sitting at the table, head on his hands and apparently half asleep when Elsie entered the lab. “Rough night, huh?” Nick looked up to her, with that half annoyed, half amused look of his. “Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up”, she apologized. “I wasn't asleep. Just resting my eyes and getting my... thoughts together while the coffee is done” he said and then turned to stare to nothing in particular. Elsie waited for him to make the first move, but when he didn't, she took the initiative. “Look, Nicky, I was thinking about what happened yesterday and I'm not quite sure it is safe to assume the lizard will keep behaving that docile with you all the time.” Nick turned back to her but said nothing. Elsie didn't know how to react. She'd been half-expecting, half-dreading him to snap something at her, get mad at her or just collapse from exhaustion. She preferred arguments tho, she had a knack at handling them and winning, and loved to match wits with Nick at every little chance but now he deprived her of that. Even she would have felt better if he had started pacing around the room or else... not just stare back with that blank expression on his face. Nick seemed to be a little absent and way too relaxed for the problem at hand and she didn't like that side of him one bit. It distressed her more than she cared to admit. “Just tell him”, her mind demanded, “Tell him you're worried for him”. “Nick…” she began saying when he interrupted her, “It's not here”.
Wait a minute: What?! The statement took a while to make it thru Elsie's still sluggish mind. Then she hurried to the nearest window to look for herself: the lizard was gone. “No. No! This can't be happening!”. She turned to Nick, mind suddenly crystal clear and very much outraged. “Why are you so calm?! The creature could be rampaging anywhere and people could be in danger!!”. To her surprise, Nick kept his cool and slowly shook his head before standing up and joining her at window. “I already considered that possibility, but so far it doesn't seem to be any signs of alarm anywhere, and more importantly, the military hasn't tried to contact us. I assume the creature was hungry and just went hunting. It must be somewhere at the river” This didn't help Elsie to calm down and Nick noticed. “Don't worry, I'm pretty sure it'll be back here soon. Trust me”. “It's so easy for you to say, Nicky” Elsie thought, but decided to grant him the benefit of the doubt. For the moment.
~
However, to Godzilla the meaning of "soon" was irrelevant and didn't appear until much later, say past ten of the morning. By then, Elsie and Mendel had cornered Nick and where chewing him out for his lack of common sense. The giant lizard stomped gracefully by the ferry building, shaking it to its foundations and taking everybody by surprise. “Okaaay. I think we owe you some apologies for not believing it would come back, right?” Elsie said to Nick, who was sulking at her like a scolded kid. “So, jefe... what now?” Randy had been on Nick's side the whole time and now was looking eagerly at the lizard and then to Nick, “Aren't you gonna try and pet his muzzle or summin?”. "What?!" Mendel exclaimed, "Are you both out of your mind? That thing is going to eat us for lunch the moment we try to leave the building! And now you want to approach it?! I say we call Hicks right now!". "No", said Nick, "Leave Hicks out of this". Outside, the lizard had curled down on the floor next to the building like a big, green, and scaly cat, and was now observing the building with something eerily similar to rational curiosity, waiting. "We're doomed..." Mended added, but Nick wasn't that sure. Something was off with this creature's behavior and he believed to know what it was. “Mmmm… lemme try something”, was the only thing Nick mumbled to them before striding straight for the lift. “Nick! Wait a minute!” Elsie yelled.
~
Once the lift had reached the ground floor, the biologist wasn't sure anymore why he had thought this was such a great idea. Strangely enough, he also realized he never considered backing out on it. "Looks like I'm the one who's completely lost his mind, Mendel". Taking a deep breath, Nick reassured himself one last time before opening the lift. “All right Nick, don't do any sudden movements if you still wanna live to tell the tale to your grandchildren. Or have them, in the first place.” Nick said to himself, “Ok... here goes nothing”. With that, Nick opened the lift and stepped outside, to the bright sun. It was a beautiful morning. The others were already on the roof, watching him helplessly, with Mendel being the most apprehensive looking and right about to faint on the spot. The sight brought a small, guilty smile to Nick's lips, but was quickly replaced by a nervous gasp when Godzilla rumbled and got up. The lizard now towered over him menacingly... and then lowered its head to stare at the human with a glint in its eyes. “Huh… Hey, Big Guy…” Nick stuttered. “What a very sciency description” his mind mocked him. However, all rational thinking went out of the window as Godzilla leaned towards him with vertiginous speed and without warning. Nick gasped, suddenly terrified and unable to move while the others held their breaths in horror. But Godzilla wasn't attacking, it seemed to be studying Nick with intense curiosity and, to Nick's surprise, started producing soft whimpers, almost as if waiting for acknowledgment. Then a loud rumble of pure delight shook Nick from head to toes, and the biologist's vision was obscured by an enormous, smelly, very wet and very pink tongue that covered him on lizard spit from head to toes. “ARGH!!!” Was the only thing Nick managed to say.
~
On a vantage point away from the ferry building, a lean looking woman observed the scene with cold professionalism. Things were unfolding quite differently from what had been originally expected and she had to report this strange new turn of events. Picking up a sat-phone, the dark haired woman dialed a number and waited. A click on the line indicated her that connection had been made. "The creature has resurfaced and, against all odds, has returned to the ferry building where Dr. Tatopoulos' team have their headquarters. The creature is still displaying the strange behavior observed yesterday. Dr. Tatopoulos appears to have noticed as well and today decided to make contact with the creature." Silence. "Yes. He's still alive." Silence. "No. The creature didn't attack. It... well, the creature licked Dr. Tatopoulos." Silence. "Yes, like a dog would do to greet its master. No. I am aware it doesn't make sense, but that is what happened." Silence. "Right now he's with the creature. He's..." The dark haired woman took her binoculars with the other hand and stared at the scene before her. What she saw was even more bizarre than before. "Dr. Tatopoulos is... he is petting the creature." Silence. "Understood. Over and out." With that she disconnected the sat-phone and picked up her binoculars again. This was going to be a very unconventional surveillance job, that was for sure.

***
EDIT 1: Woops! I forgot the copyright thing: Nick, Godzilla and all the other characters from Godzilla the Series are (c) to Toho/Tristar.
EDIT 2: I also edited some typos and reviewed the redaction but feel free to point out any mistakes I could have missed

04/01/2013
EDIT 3: Re-read this fic, corrected and improved some of my original wording. Well at least I see it as an improvement

26/01/2014
EDIT 4: Fixed some minor mistakes and added a few lines for Mendel as well as Monique's introduction. Hope you like it.

03/05/2018
EDIT 5: Revised the text once again and improved it since the deviation has been getting some attention recently. I still like it a lot, been wanting to upgrade the illustration for some time now. No tablet and no time, tho.