San Francisco 9:30am

Back in San Francisco, Melissa Cade aka Matthew's wife was seen talking on the phone desperately trying to find a way to contact her husband after hearing that there has been a 6.3 Earthquake in Japan. The news has petrified her completely for her husband's safety.

"Yeah, my husband's name is Matthew Cage." She said "Japan to San Francisco." She added, but the person that Melissa is talking with kept saying negative things.

"Okay, could I at least... if you could let me leave you my cell-"

But it was too late, the person hung the phone and the communication was cut off. Then, Melissa threw the phone on the ground gently in frustration.

"Dang it!" Melissa said as she sat on the chair while rubbing her head.

She then looked to her left and saw her son standing in the kitchen while staring at her with a worried expression. Then, he took a deep breath and exhaled it.

"I'm sorry honey."

She then stood up from the chair and walked towards her son, once she got to him, she bent down and pulled him in for a hug in an attempt to calm him down.

"Daddy's going to be okay honey."

Osaka

Back in the facility in Japan, the facility was now in ruins after being devastated by the griffon's escape and EMP blast, many workers have lost their lives. Now, the US Navy, Japanese fire brigade, Ambulance services, and police force have been dispatched to the location to assist with casualties.

"This area is now under Naval military jurisdiction. All personnel must report to the duty officer for debriefing."

In the carnage site, Dr. Toshihiro was seen looking at the destroyed facility with a perplexed expression while Japanese emergency responders were picking up bodies placed in body bags out of the area, while the ones who barely survived were being taken to the ambulance.

"Hachimitsu. (Honey.)" Satomi called from behind. Once she got to her husband, she tapped his right arm, grabbing his attention in the process. But then, a US Navy officer walked up to the doctor.

"Greetings doctor, my name is Johnny Brand, US Navy captain." The soldier introduced himself "Glad to find you, I've been briefed on your work with the Equinarch organization. Now, I'm told that your organization has situational awareness of our unidentified creature? Is that right?" He asked him. And Toshihiro replied with a simple nod.

"We are now taking over operational authority from Equinarch." Johnny informed him "So, I'm gonna need you to come with me." He requested.

"Are there any other personnel that you need?" He asked.

Toshihiro looked at the body bags for a second then in front of him and saw the American Matthew Cade looking down at his wounded father who was lying on a stretcher with a concerned expression while two paramedics were seen trying to get him into the ambulance.

"They'll take care of you dad, you're gonna be okay." Matthew told him "I'll be right next to you." He finished.

But Carlos couldn't reply to his son back due to his severe injuries from the fall, he also has a head immobilizer on him too.

Doctor Toshihiro looked back at Johnny and pointed at the man and said "I would like to bring them with me."

Once Johnny had sent Matthew, Carlos, Toshihiro, and Satomi in the helicopter with two medics, the helicopter took off and flew out of the facility.

The helicopter was seen flying over the deteriorated Osaka and was currently flying towards an aircraft carrier where they will drop off the four of them. During the flight, the two medics were seen trying to stabilize Carlos's condition while his son was trying his best to comfort him.

"Let's get his vitals." Said one of the medics.

"It's going to be okay dad, you'll make it through this." Matthew encouraged him.

Toshihiro was looking at Matthew with a shameful expression on him due to Matthew's stressful moment caused by the previous event last night.

Matthew then took off his father's breathing mask and said "You're right, I should've listened to you. I'm sorry."

Carlos slowly averted his eyes to where his son is and looked at him with a desperate expression.

"Go home to your family Matthew." He told him in a soft voice due to his injuries "Take care of your son." He finished.

"I will dad, I promise." Matthew told him with a confident expression "Whatever it takes." He added.

Carlos couldn't help but let out a weak smile from his son's loyal remark, he sure was the greatest son that he has ever raised! However, his visions were starting to blur, he was beginning to succumb to his injuries.

"Goodbye my son......."

When Matthew noticed this, he had a concerned expression on him.

"Dad no, stay with me."

But it was too late, Carlos slowly closed his eyes and stopped breathing. One of the medic's placed his fingers on his carotid pulse on his neck and didn't feel a pump. He must be dead.

"He's gone." The medic said with a sigh as he removed his fingers from his neck.

When Matthew heard this, he placed both of his hands on his head in a stressful and disconsolate way. If only he believed his father in the first place, everything would've been okay to him, he would've been alive.

Satomi couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards Matthew for loosing his father. Things like this hurts her heart very much.

After a ten minutes flight from Osaka, the helicopter has finally returned to an aircraft carrier from the US Navy in the coast of Japan. It hovered on the platform for a brief moment, then descending on it with it's landing gear activated.

In the aircraft carrier control room, around fifteen US Navy officers were seen in the room analyzing the large Griffon that had escaped from the facility in Osaka that could possibly pose a threat to humanity due to its unpredictable behaviour. If it finds its way to a city then, sheer panic and disorder would ensue. However, a new channel from the US claimed that this disaster that hit Japan was an Earthquake.

"This is our needle in a haystack folks." Said the US Navy Admiral Joseph Ace told them. "According to the book that Dr. Toshihiro gave me, this Griffon's name is Gallus, a massive unidentified terrestrial organism. It is, however, no longer terrestrial. It is airborne." He told them.

"The world keeps thinking that this is an Earthquake or whatever, and it would be preferable that it remains so, in order to prevent panic from occuring." The Admiral told them.

"Before we lost sight, it was headed east towards the Pacific, and had emitted enough EMP disruption to create havoc with out radar and satellite feed. And reduce us, for the moment, to a strictly visual pursuit." The Admiral told them "In order to find this thing, we must track it's every movement. It is that we do so." He finished.

After his speech, the Admiral looked at the captain Johnny and began to give him an order.

"Captain, I want any and all search options on this table ASAP." He ordered.

"Yes sir." The captain said, after that, he turned to his left and walked past Dr.Toshihiro and out of the control room.

Then, the Admiral Joseph walked up to the doctor.

"Dr. Toshihiro." Joseph called him "I am Joseph Ace, Admiral of the US Navy." He introduced himself as he offered a hand out to shake.

When Toshihiro noticed this, he pulled up his jacket's right area to make it easier for him to shake. A brief moment later, he shook the Admiral's hand.

"Glad to have you on board."

"Hachimitsu? (Honey?)"

When Toshihiro heard his wife calling his, he removed his hand from the Admiral's and looked to one of the doors in front of him and saw his wife Satomi standing there by the door.

"Kotchi kite kureru? (Can you come here?)"

Toshihiro nodded to his wife and walked past the Admiral. After that, he began to make his way towards his wife in a quick manner. Once he got to him, Satomi told him something about Matthew Cade. A brief second later, Toshihiro let out a nod and Satomi began to lead him to where Matthew was.

In the lower levels of the aircraft carrier, Matthew was seen staring at the lifeless body of his father as he was placed and zipped in a body bag by a marine soldier, during the process, Matthew has been grieving for himself and his father from the inside. A brief second later, his depressing moment has came to a conclusion when someone knocked on the door of the room.

"Lieutenant Matthew?" The soldier called, but Matthew did not respond "Dr. Toshihiro and his wife Satomi wants to talk to you." He told him.

When Matthew heard this, he turned around and faced the marine officer with a perplexed expression.

"Why?" He asked, but the officer shrugged in response. So, Matthew decided to follow the marine officer.

After a one minute walk, the marine soldier has led Matthew to one of the debriefing rooms of the aircraft carrier where Dr. Toshihiro and Satomi were seen inside of the room, Toshihiro was seen flipping a book, while Satomi was seen researching about something on the computer.

"Dr. Toshihiro." The officer called, and that made the Dr and his wife turn around and look to the door where the officer is. A brief second later, they saw Matthew coming up from behind.

"My condolences lieutenant Cade." Toshihiro said walking up to Matthew along with his wife.

"We're deeply sorry for your loss lieutenant Matthew." Satomi said with a sympathetic expression "But I'm afraid we need your help." She requested.

"What help?"

A projector was plugged inside of the room so that Toshihiro and Satomi's could present some new information to Matthew more clearly and in a more feasible way. And when one of the marine officers inside of the room turned it on, an image was shined against the wall revealing a video of a nuclear submarine.

"This is a US submarine from the nineteen forty's." Toshihiro told him "In 1954, the first time a nuclear submarine ever reached the lower depths was going to be a huge success but however, it awakened something." He added.

"The Americans thought that it was the Russians, and the Russians thought that it was them who caused this." Satomi told him. "All of those nuclear bombs tested in the 50's." She finished.

Then, the projector showed videos of the nuclear bombs tests that were conducted in the 1950's obliterating islands and many more which shocked Matthew a little.

"However, they were turning to kill it." Toshihiro told him which made Matthew bewildered.

"Who's it?"

Then, a brief second later, the projector showed an image of a large green coloured creature with orange deer horns, a green unicorn looking horn, green ears, sharp teeth, diamonds on it's long neck, and purple eyes surfacing up from the ocean. The image has astonished Matthew that he leaned forward to get a closer look.

"Him." Toshihiro replied pointing at the creature in the image.

"An ancient alpha predator, millions of years older than mankind." Toshihiro said.

"It was from an age when the Earth was ten times more radioactive than today." Satomi told him. "This animal and others like it consumed this radiation as a food source. As the levels on the surface naturally subsided, these creatures adapted to live deeper in the oceans, further underground. Absorbing radiation from the Earth's core. The organization we work for Equinarch, was established in the wake of his discovery. A multinational coalition formed in secrecy to search for him. Study him, and learn everything that we can." She finished.

"According to this book that talks about ancient creatures that roamed Earth millions of years ago." Toshihiro said pointing at the large book in his right hand which Matthew noticed "This behemoth is called Thorax, and he is a changeling according to the book." He told him.

Matthew was bewildered by this, this creature roamed Earth millions of years ago? What was it's intention? In addition to that, not once in his life has he heard of a creature called a 'changeling'.

"The top of a primordial ecosystem." Satomi added. "A guardian, for all intents and purposes." She finished.

"A monster." Matthew said with a shocked expression.

"Fifteen years ago, we found a fossil of another giant animal in the Philippines." Toshihiro said. "It was like Thorax but, this creature died long ago. Killed by these." He finished pointing at the image.

Then, the projector displayed an image of the giant eggs that were found in a cave.

"Griffon eggs." Satomi delineated "One dormant, but the other hatched. Catalyzed when a mining company unknowingly drilled into its tomb. The hatchling burrowed straight for the nearest source of radiation. Your father's power plant in Osaka." She told him as the projector displayed an image of Japan as well as the line to display the path the creature took to get to the country.

"It cocooned there for 15 years, absorbing it's radioactive fuel, to gestate, to grow." Satomi finished.

"Until it hatches like a bird into the giant griffon you saw today." Toshihiro said.

"Wait a minute, you all knew about this?" Matthew asked with a bewildered expression "This thing? The whole time? Why didn't you try to exterminate it when you have he chance?" He asked again.

"Because we fear that killing it would trigger a release of the radiation it absorbed in the reactors which could endanger millions." She told him in a logical tone which made Matthew sigh.

"That's why our mission was to contain it. To study it's biology, to understand it."

"We knew that the creature was having an electrical effect on everything within a close proximity." Satomi told him "What we didn't know is that it could harness this same power in an EMP attack. But your father did, he predicted the ability of the creature." She finished in a slightly astonished tone.

Matthew was beyond astonished by this griffon, how can an ancient creature like that knock out electronics like that with it's EMP abilities? He should've listened to his father like a good son.

"What else did he say?" Satomi asked with a desperate expression "Please try to remember Mr. Cade." She pleaded.

Unfortunately, Matthew had nothing to present due to him not listening to his father's crazy theories about the creature that shook one of Osaka's power plant facility fifteen years ago.

"I didn't listen. I thought he was crazy. He was obsessed with all of this." Matthew replied with a sigh, however, he does remember something else that his father said "However, he did say something about an animal call. Something talking. He said that he was studying something. Echolocation." He added.

Toshihiro and Satomi were beyond traumatized by Matthew's reply about the echolocation of the griffon, as well as it's conversation with something else. This must only mean one thing.

"Your father must have discovered something talking back." Toshihiro said with an astonished expression. A brief second later, he looked at his wife "Check again." He told her.

"Yes." Satomi said as she got up from her seat.

"Search for a response." Toshihiro added.

"This griffon, it's still out there though." Matthew said "Where is it headed?" He asked.

"This griffon named Gallus is young, growing." Toshihiro said, then, he turned around and looked at Matthew with a concerned expression "It will be looking for food." He told him which made Matthew's eyes widen in horror.

"Sources of radiation." Satomi corrected. "We're monitoring all known sites but, if we don't find it soon." She said as she chewed her lips.

"Then what?" Matthew asked.

"Nature has an order Matthew." Toshihiro told him "A power to restore balance, and I believe he is that power." He said pointing at the image of Thorax.

Five minutes after the meeting, Matthew was given a mission to head to Florida where he will hitch a commercial flight from Miami airport back to San Francisco. Now, Matthew was seen walking towards a helicopter on the flight deck while being guided.

"Sir right now we're sixty miles from Florida." A crewman told him "This helicopter will take you there." He finished.

Matthew nodded and took off his ear muffs. After that, he handed it to the crewman and he held it. Then, the EOD officer got on the helicopter and sat in it.

"You're catching a commercial flight back to San Francisco." He informed him, and Matthew nodded in response. After that, the crewman closed the helicopter's sliding door and the helicopter took off into the air and began to head to Miami.

Forty minutes during the flight, it was already getting dark and Matthew was closing in on his destination Miami International Airport in Florida. While in the helicopter, Matthew was desperately trying to contact his wife and alarm her about the danger that he was been disclosed to. But, his wife did not pick up at all, she was busy helping her son brush his teeth. So, he decided to send her a voice message.

"Melissa, I don't know what they're saying in the news but, there was an accident in Japan, my dad got killed." Matthew said in a disconsolate tone "I'll explain when I see you. I'm heading to Florida to catch a flight from there. I'll see you soon." He finished.

Author's Note

Another chapter completed! I hope you all enjoyed it!