Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Shin wondered what it was like to have a healing factor, like the other Ghidorahs. It was annoying, the pain brought with every movement on his chest. There was an open gash, dripping glowing blue blood. The result of another conflict with the one they called, 'Shin Godzilla'. Or 'REEE', REEE was the more common nickname for it.

Arriving at the place called Birth Island, his temporary home, his unblinking white eyes lock onto a silken hollow, next to the temple. Within there was Mothra's life-signature, his moon-shaped crests on his foreheads informed. She was the one everyone and their mother used to help tend their wounds, and Shin was no exception. And so, without warning or care, he created an impromptu entrance on the silk roof as he crashes his way in unceremoniously. A startled squeak comes from the insect.

"Hello, Ms. Mothra." A smile stretches across his jagged mouth, a friendly greeting for such a rude entrance. "I do love that you've got a Ghidorah-shaped door on your roof. It's most convenient."

"I just got done patching that!!" the moth whines. Already, she was irritated, and Shin took great amusement from her adverse reaction. It never gets old. Even better when she tries to push her anger away to ask, "Can I help you? Who's dying now?"

"I'm afraid I've sustained a small nick from one Mr. REEE earlier, but it's not too big a deal," His words were an understatement and Mothra winces as she gazes upon the wound on his chest between his legs. Wait, arms, she had to keep reminding herself that Shin had arms rather than legs. Very unusual for a Ghidorah, more like an overgrown Skullcrawler. "I also request a groom while I'm here. If you would be so kind."

"Grooming?" she asked with a deadpan expression.

"Yes."

".... Yeah, okay." Nobody has ever asked her to perform grooming services. Shin especially tended to go to others, usually Ichi and San. Or a Femuto.

"Very good," Shin said, pleased that he didn't have to threaten her this time. Immediate obedience, that's what he liked to see from these Earth creatures. "Who knows, if you do a good job, I might put in a good word for you on Yelp."

"Do you even know what Yelp is?" Mothra asked.

"Of course," Shin chortled as he lays himself down to relax. Huh, she didn't think that a Ghidorah would care enough to leave reviews for anything- "It’s where you keep track of places you’ve destroyed and which you’ve spared."

Aaaaand there it is. Of course. Of course when it comes to the three-headed space dragon, he would put a morbid twist to it. Like everything else he does around here. She can imagine such reviews now: “Great place, burned down with exceptional ease, 5 stars” and “The owners and patrons of this establishment produced the funniest sounds as they died. 5 stars.” and “The flesh didn’t taste too great but the building melted in a very satisfactory manner. 3 stars”.

Extremely accurate, actually.

Without another word, she sets to work, prioritizing the wound left behind and cleaning it of blood. She kept a close eye on her client, knowing pain may cause the hydra to lash out, he's done it before. But thankfully, Shin was taking the pain to stride and as he's being tended to, he decides to ask an unexpected question. "May I remark how reluctant you seem every time someone comes in here, needing something from you. Such irritation, yet you tend to them regardless. I understand why you tend to me, because Master Ichi will kill you otherwise. But why give the others aid if it frustrates you so much? Surely, not all of them threaten you harm."

“I help all those who need it. I’m the guardian of this planet. Regardless of my feelings, of the time or the place, I'm obligated to help those who ask for it.”

“Sounds like a lot of responsibility for one little insect.”

Her wings flinch at being referred to as a ‘little insect’. “Yeah, I’m going to try to ignore that.” She starts silking up his wounds. “But, you’re right. It is a lot, but I’d have it no other way.”

A moment of silence before Shin continues. “What is it that you do on your free time? For pleasure?” Because as far as he can tell, she’s always in her little nest with her little egg, getting angry and/or irritated whenever someone visits. Granted, didn’t help that the Ghidorahs would all just barge right in whenever they fancied to do so, but still! Does she even know what a fun time is?

Does... Does she have programed behaviors, like him? Tis what Shin is probing out with these questions.

“Mmm, I go to the nicer places on Earth, take it all in.”

Shin smirks. “‘Nicer’.” Let’s see how long that’ll last on one of his bored days.

Mothra continues on, ignoring his tone. “There’s a nicer part of the Amazon that remains untouched by the humans. I like going there a lot.”

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar. I’ve not done much exploring of your world in my time here, mostly staying within the borders of my Master’s territory.” Shin tells her. “Beyond it is being patrolled by my counterpart.” He exhales a breath.

“Yeah, he’s a dick,” Mothra says automatically. Everyone says it whenever Showa Ghidorah is brought up. “Thankfully, though, I’ve never ran into him whenever I go out. I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Hm.” The serpentine Ghidorah gives a stretch of his arms, rolling over so the moth can groom his thorn-covered back and the black manes behind his horns. There was some pain as he laid upon his bandaged chest, but not as bad as it once was. “Perhaps you would like to show me around this place.”

At this, the insect sighs. “Only if you promise not to destroy any of it.”

He lets out a soft chuckle, the same bell-like BIDIBIDI shared by his counterpart. “I’ll see what I can do.”

At once, Mothra stopped grooming and looks him in the eye. Well, a pair of his eyes. “Now, y’see, that’s not good enough. These are places I cherish, places I’ve seen rise and fall through the ages.”

Shin merely tilts a head before letting out another chuckle. “Perhaps it’s just me, but the idea of being attached to a place is foreign.”

“I’d expect as much from a Ghidorah.” Mothra muttered. She resumes grooming her newest client, until he’s all clean! No sooner had she done that, than Shin rises up with another stretch.

“Anyway, what do you say, Ms. Mothra?”

“....”

“....”

“Fine, you can follow me. We’ll just visit one today, it’s a long flight.” the moth finally answers. A smirk crosses across Shin’s three mouths.

“Then it’s a... What do they call it on Earth? A date~?” He starts to laugh.

“Don’t push it.”

And his laughter only gets louder.

-

Stretched before them, reaching from horizon to horizon, is the trackless untouched wilderness of the Amazon jungle. So full of life...

The temptation...

The bloodlust must really be obvious in the way he stares intently at the landscape, for Mothra flew alongside him with an edge to her voice. “Don’t you shoot. You said you wouldn’t.”

Shin said nothing to this, but his unblinking gaze remained fixated on the jungle, the buffet laid out so generously before him. He hardly turns a head when the moth continues to speak.

“This place has remained unchanged for the better part of... what? 30 million years? One of the few places left where you can go to get a break from the humans.” She smiles in her own insect way. “So pure, so untamed...”

“So fragile.” Shin adds, and Mothra immediately flies in front of him, wings flared out to block his view.

“No. Bad.” She taps a claw on his snoot in a kind of playful disciplinary action. It catches the Ghidorah off guard. “Places like this are to be cherished.”

He huffs out a short scoff/chuckle hybrid, before he lands on the looming edge of a mountain overlooking the landscape. “’Cherish’, you say. When every fiber of my body wants it all dead.”

“Something I’ve noticed with that,” Mothra starts. “It’s like, you’re my negative.”

“Your negative?” he asks with amusement.

“All you Ghidorahs. It’s like we’re meant to balance each other. You want to destroy life, I want to nurture it. Cherish it. To love it.” She looks at him. “Do you even know what love is? Do you believe in life after love?”

The blank stare she got was all she needed to know he didn’t get the reference... or her question in general. “Didn’t think so.”

“I can’t say if I cherish anything,” Shin starts. “But this place isn’t in flames yet, even if I want to, so-”

“Let’s keep it that way, yeah?” Mothra interrupts.

“But I want to though...” he mutters as he continues to stare at the jungle. “I haven’t felt such biodiversity on this planet than this place.” Indeed, the moon-crests on his foreheads were glowing quite brightly from all the life-force before him. “How good it would feel to just... kill it all.”

His body gave a slight shiver as if in anticipation of such an act, but instead he lets out a breath. “But times like this...” He trails off a bit. “I’ve wondered lately if it’s truly ME that wants this.”

“Y’know, I wonder that myself, from what I’ve heard.”

“Hmph,” Shin grunts. “The amount of quote unquote ‘programming’ I’m ignoring right now. If it was truly programmed, how then am I ignoring it? Thus I feel my desires to destroy are genuine. It’s very funny.” He finally pulls his white eyes away from the view and onto the moth. “Have you ever tried it?”

Mothra narrows her eyes.

“You see that tree over there?” He nods at a particularly large tree, the eldest tree that’s been there for as long as Mothra could remember. “You should knock it over. Bidibidi~.”

“I will not.” she says firmly. “I’ve seen enough destruction over my lifetime. You will not see me adding to it.”

“It really is fun, Ms. Mothra,” Shin presses. “To just... let go of all that pesky responsibility. With how you cling to it so vehemently, are you sure that what you’re feeling isn’t programmed either?”

At this, it was Mothra’s turn to let out a chuckle. “There was a time in my life when I wondered. That was a long time ago.” She settles back to looking to the horizon. “My purpose is to watch over this planet, to bring some modicum of balance to the chaos. If that’s ‘programmed’, then so be it.”

There was a moment of silence from the Ghidorah. “I’m still not certain what my purpose is. I was once content to accept that it was to destroy everything, but Master Ichi says otherwise. That everything I thought I knew about myself is fake. My counterpart has only confirmed this. Now, I don’t know what to think.”

“Y’know, Ichi killed me once. Back when he thought like you, that he had to destroy. I guess he could still do that, if he wants to. But as far as I can tell, right now, he doesn’t want to destroy the world anymore. Since Des and Cretaceous came into his life, he just wants to teach them. But despite being the teacher, I think he’s the one that’s learning a lot more.”

“I’ve learned a lot here myself, as well. I’m just not sure if I like what I’ve learned. If you haven’t known before, I’m not supposed to be here. I'm just a prototype, meant to perish at the hands of my own creators, when they no longer deemed me useful.”

“But you escaped, didn't you? You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

But Shin shakes one of his heads. “I never knew that was my original fate until I came here and met my counterpart, and before then, I thought I had purpose. That I had everything figured out for myself for the longest time.” He wrapped his tails around to encircle him and for once, he looked... tired. Weathered and tired. “I’ve been around for a very, very, very long time. Far longer than any of the other Ghidorahs. And all that time was spent doing something that was never truly ME to begin with.”

“I too have been around a long time,” Mothra shared. “Doing the exact opposite.”

“You’re still happy following your programming?”

“I guess you can say it like that, yeah.” Mothra would shrug. “But I never felt like I was forced to do anything. Programming or not, I decided on my own that this place is worth fighting for. Dying for. A million times by idiot Gojis and their idiot actions.” Her wing flicks. “That part is annoying.”

But Shin still appeared to be bothered by her answer and she continued.

“Ichi chose his purpose, in caring for those little ones. I chose my purpose in defending this planet. You-”

Shin interrupts. “I still can’t even tell what choices are truly my own to begin with.” One of his tail pincers flicked against the ground. “It’s a long path, I’m sure. And maybe one that leads to nowhere.”

“Hm,” the insect hummed before looking to him. “But if I may make an analogy...” Her wings fanned open and she took off into the air ahead of him. “Come with me.”

A small smile comes to one of the dragon’s snouts. “Aw, but I’m comfortable here.”

“It’s just a short flight down.” she assures and without any more prompting, Shin pushes himself up and takes flight after her.

They flew down, away from the mountains and into the jungles itself, until a large hole, surrounded in lush undergrowth appeared. She landed by it, folding her wings tight to her back.

“You may need to slither on this one.”

“Hm.” Luckily, Shin is more serpentine in shape than that of other Ghidorahs, so he had an easy time of it going down into the tunnels after the bug. After a moment, they could no longer see the entrance and the glow of the moth’s wings illuminated them in a blue hue. Before that faded into darkness.

Now only the silver glow of Shin’s crescent moons remained the only light-source. Certainly not enough to light the way, but Mothra knew these tunnels and Shin followed her life-energy along, deeper into the darkness.

“Sometimes,” Mothra starts, her voice echoing. “Life is like this tunnel. Dark and hard to see the way to go. Hard to see anything. But if you keep moving, eventually you’ll find a better place.”

There was light at the end of the tunnel, white blinding light as they exited. Shin’s unblinking eyes were quick to adjust and before them was a lavish landscape, the jungle up close. A little microcosm to the kaiju, but beautiful nonetheless.

At the sight of it, Shin automatically opens his mouth, a red glow from his throat casting a beam of light directed at the jungle. But before Mothra could say or do anything...

... He closes his mouth again.

No.

Mothra immediately relaxed and her eyes glowed with a smile. “See that there? I didn’t even have to say or do anything. You did it on your own. I’m proud of you for that.”

But Shin didn’t seem happy. “It feels wrong.”

“No, it just feels different. Uncomfortable even,” She places a claw on the scales of his arm. “And I believe you capable of getting used to it.”

“....” There was an ache in his chest, defying every fiber of his being for so long. The yearning to blow it all up was getting worse by the minute and Shin scoffs. “It’s too unpleasant a feeling to ‘get used to it’.”

The silence between them was palpable, before Mothra muttered.

“I don’t know what kind of thoughts those ‘creators’ put into your head. I wasn’t there for that. But, you can rest knowing that it means a lot to me that you’re not giving into those thoughts.” She gives another shrug. “I mean, it doesn’t mean much to YOU, being a Ghidorah and all.”

Shin’s mood doesn’t seem to improve. “This is more than I do for anyone I don’t call ‘Master’, so you should consider it an honor.”

Mothra lets out a short chuckle, but says nothing more. After a moment, Shin seems to have lost a bit of the edge to his voice. “Even with Master Ichi, I admit, I try to find every loophole I can to circumvent his orders if they do not please me. You...” He turned his full attention of all three heads onto her. “You are no Mistress of mine, and yet here I am, still doing as you tell me. I suppose that means, for once, I truly am acting of my own choice.”

“That’s right,” Mothra’s wings perked up a bit. “No orders, just an understanding. A different kind of understanding.”

“.... I feel like there’s something here I’m supposed to gather from this ‘understanding’...”

“Understanding that there might be a shred of good in you after all?”

At this, Shin bursted out laughing. “Don’t be crazy now, Ms. Mothra.”

“You’re one to talk about being crazy,” Mothra poked. “But I’m serious. Maybe I’m helping to balance you out.” This got another string of “BidiBidis” from him, softer than before. Then silence for a while, as they looked out at the world before them before Mothra gave a stretch of her forelegs. “Okay, if you wish to fly home, we may.”

“Yes.” His wings fanning out as hers did. “Let’s.”

-

Landing back upon Birth Island, Shin watches the insect crawl back into her nest with her egg. Before she disappeared from sight, she turns back to him. “I hope you enjoyed that little trip.”

“It was... interesting.” was the only response he gives.

“Well, I’m here if you need me.” She gives a slight bow of her head. “Take care, Shin. I know that you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

“Hm,” the hydra grunts as he turns away towards where Master Ichi had their nest, across the way from the insect’s. “Have a good night, Ms. Mothra.”

“You as well.” And with that, she seals up the door with silk.

Now it was tradition among the Ghidorahs to destroy Mothra’s silk roof entirely for every departure, but this time, Shin leaves her hard-work alone and returns home.

He still wasn’t certain what purpose his existence truly held, but he knew, -he felt-, that he was one step closer to figuring it out.

Chapter Text

This was the closest he's been to space without actually leaving the planet, and according to Mothra, this was the highest point the Earth has ever reached.

Shin has been spending a lot of time with the moth, as she shows him around the planet, trying to teach him the beauty of the world that shouldn’t be destroyed as he had intended. It’s an ongoing lesson, trying to teach a Ghidorah not to wreck shit. But there’s progress, she feels.

This time, she brings him to the peaks of the Himalayas and atop Mt. Everest. The snow was beautiful and the air, crisp and fresh. The view was amazing, and Shin could see the stars more clearly than anywhere else on the planet.

They were sitting side-by-side, the Ghidorah's tails wrapped around himself comfortably. The silence between them wasn't of the awkward sort. Just taking it all in.

A few space debris streaked across the sky. Falling stars, that's what the Earth natives called it. It was amusing, the thought these naïve creatures believed stars could fall. One of these days, he should take Mothra up into space, show her the beauty of his own home.

That sounded like a wonderful idea actually, and he makes a mental note to invite her for their next destination.

The two kaiju continue to sit in silence before Shin suddenly became alert, glanced down the slopes.

“Hm?” Mothra hums, the Ghidorah's movements taking her out of her thoughts.

Shin stares down for a long moment, jaws slightly parting with the distinct red glow coming from them. But before Mothra could reprimand him, the light disappears and the Ghidorah settles back down. “There are lifeforms climbing up to us. The little insects, hoomans, I believe you call them.”

“Oh, yeah,” Mothra confirms, her wings relaxing as relief flows through her. “They like making the journey up here. Most of them don't make it, but they keep trying.”

“Foolish creatures,” Shin chuckles. “To what end do they come up here? To perish?”

“To live,” she tells him. She could tell he was a bit confused by that answer, probably taking it literally. “These mountains are huge compared to us, imagine how big they are to the humans. They see climbing up here as an accomplishment, a challenge few manage to meet. I imagine to them, the chance is worth dying for.”

Shin lets out a grunt, obviously not impressed. But the moth kept talking, a soft laugh coming from her that recaptures his attention.

“One time while I was up here, a human managed to make the climb up. I was going to congratulate him, but...” She lets out another laugh, the tone embarrassed for some reason. That reason became clear when she continued. “I guess he wasn’t expecting to see me, because the second he saw me, he was so scared that he slipped and rolled all the way back down the mountain. I felt so bad.”

Shin was amused by this story, enough share the laughter with her. His bell-like voice echoing through the mountain range. He noticed from there that the lifeforce he had detected was now getting farther away. He must’ve spooked the humans into turning back.

But Mothra’s story brought an idea to his mind, and he stands up. “A truly lovely place I will revisit in my own time, Ms. Mothra. Without the constant distraction of lifeforce all around me, I can focus on more important things.” He nods towards the downward slope. “You ever tried sliding down?”

“That’s the important thing?” Mothra asks. “And no, I haven’t.”

“You have anything else better to do?”

“..........”

So Mothra is now next to him at the very edge of the slope, looking down at the slide that disappears into the fog. Can’t even see where it ends. Shin lays himself down on his belly, tails straightening out behind him.

“Oh boy, it’s a long way down...” Mothra starts with noticeable concern. But Shin gives no response or reassurance before his claws pushed back against the ground and he slides down the mountain on his belly!

“Shin!!” Mothra calls out after him. Her panic was cut off by the laughter once more ringing through the air. Oh... he’s okay. Her wings twitched and with only the slightest hesitation, she lowers onto her tummy. “Well, fuck it.” And pushes off. “SQUEEEEEE!!!!”

Upon reaching the bottom, she continues to slide before coming to a gentle stop against Shin’s side. A laugh comes out of her, as glistening powders of snow fall around them from their slide. She shakes off her fur. “Not gonna lie, that was fun.”

Another BIDIBIDI chuckle from Shin as he too shakes the snow off him. “I’m happy to hear.”

Mothra squeaks as the snow falls from the Ghidorah, back onto her. “Oh, come on.” She gives another shake, with extra grooms this time.

Seeing her intent on removing the snow from herself, a devious smirk comes upon the evil dragon’s snout and he reveals to Mothra a power no other Ghidorah possesses!

He leans back onto his tails, and with his hands, he makes a snowball!!!

The growing horror on Mothra’s face was real as she realizes her inevitable fate and she squeaks again as she’s hit by the snowball.

“BIDIBIDIBIDI!!!”

But she recovers quickly, shaking the snow off of her for a third time. “Oh, oh, you wanna play games? Okay.” And throws a snowball back at him. Only for him to deflect it with that gravity barrier of his. That cheater!!

But the indignation gave way to more horror and fear as Shin reveals FOUR snowballs, in both his hands and his tail pincers! Mothra dodges them, one of them barely missing her fur by an inch, and hides behind a rock.

Shin’s sinister amusement only grows and he calls out to her. “Ms. Mothra, you know by now that there is nowhere you can go where I can’t get you.”

“Yeah, but it’s better to try than getting hit by a snowball bigger than me!”

Shin chuckled and began flying towards the rock and a duck-and-cover game of chase ensues as Mothra tries to seek cover from the snowballs!! She hastily scrambles up her own snowball and throws it at him. Once more, deflected by the gravity barrier! Dammit!

The Ghidorah makes another snowball, his words sending a chill down her exoskeleton. “Tell me, Ms. Mothra. Have you ever witnessed the wonder that is a Gravity Snowball?”

“Why do I not like the sound of that?”

Shin shoots the snowball with a quick and small Gravity Beam before he launches it, which under Shin’s gravity powers, begins to follow Mothra like a heat-seeking missile!!

Behold, the sight of Mothra being chased by a snowball!

“I DECLARE HAX!!” she yells out. “I’M REPORTING YOU!!”

After some jukes and dodges, Mothra begins flying directly towards Shin. He knows what she’s trying to do. “Ha, you mistake me for a Gigan.”

He ducks as Mothra and the snowball swoops over him. Another bidibidi echoes through the mountains before- “Such a skilled flyer you are, Ms. Mothra, but can you handle five of them?”

"Oh dear." She doesn't even need to glance back to know that more snowballs have now joined the first. “Okay, new plan. New plan.” She ups her evasive action, as Shin continues to watch from the ground below. He was so certain of his victory, but Mothra's mind is quick and sharp and with a lightbulb going off over her head, she swoops for Shin once more.

The Ghidorah tilts his heads slightly. Perhaps he overestimated the intelligence of this Earth creature if she is trying this failed tactic again. Then again, earth creatures in general never did set a high bar for intelligence to begin with. He ducks, but to his surprise, a blinding ray of light emerges from Mothra and engulfs him. His unblinking eyes were assaulted and rendered useless and his moon-crests senses her lifeforce veering away from him. Within that same second, he felt the cold impact of snowballs hitting his body.

“Yeah!!! WHOOO!!!” Mothra squeaks and Shin shakes himself. His vision slowly returns and he sees Mothra perched on a rock above him with those beautiful wings spread in a victory pose! “I FINALLY beat a Ghidorah!!”

“....” Shin’s jagged mouths curled into a smile once more. “Quite clever, Ms. Mothra.”

“I thank you!” she squeaks, flying to land by him. She was still so happy, Shin could tell, and it was... kinda adorable. He could hit her with a surprise snowball in retaliation right now. But he doesn’t. Let her have this victory. The Void knows, she doesn’t get victories often.

“So,” Mothra continues, still breathless from excitement. “Wanna go to Sumatra next?”

“Actually,” Shin says. “Allow me to pitch a better destination...”