(Episode V) (Act 2)

What felt like forever, the rest walked towards River, clothes on and still drying their hair using the Shift-themed towels on their necks.

“You wanna go in whenever you feel comfortable…?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah,” River said, shrugging. “No need to expose you guys to my folds. Each one holds the same power as the Ark of the Covenant.”

Jackie sighed, “You’re chubby, River. C’mon.”

She elected to stay nothing. The silence, of course, forced someone to say something. But she was surprised who spoke.

“Hey,” Tracy spoke up. “Let’s go watch a movie! There should be a good selection, or at least something to riff on~”

“Huh. You heckle movies?” Maddie sounded quizzical.

“I always have something to say,” she smiled. Such a good smile.

“Y’all are really tripping me up today, holy shit…”

River awkwardly pointed down the hallway, “The m-media room is down there… Y’know—y’know, because I went to go find the basement. Thing.”

“Of course!” Tracy beamed. “It’s about time we had something to enjoy!”

Everyone mumbled in agreement, walking down to the Self-Media Room.

They opened the door, which slid open like a bootleg Star Trek door. It was a long theater seat-couch hybrid, seats for six. The screen was stretched across the wall, with a console to select the movies, which Tracy walked up to first.

“Oooh,” Tracy cooed, swiping her finger on the screen to see the catalogue. “Alright, this is looking to be an alright list so far… Some dreck we can poke fun of and some legitimate time wasters… ”

“I never—uh, pegged you for that,” River spoke without thinking. “I-I would’ve thought you were… A high class… cinema kinda gal.” A series of mental slaps to herself ensued, and a plethora of ways she could’ve phrased that better came after.

“Oh please~” Tracy chirped out. “La cinéma est la cinéma ~”

“Je ne parle pas Francais,” Maddie quipped, with a shiteating grin as everyone (sans Aiko, who tilted her head) looked at her and laughed.

“I love movies, period,” Tracy explained. “I rather watch something terrible than something I forget about~ Hell, I can probably complain enough about the run of the mill enough!”

…If it was hard enough to hide that she was the greatest woman live-

Tracy’s excitable “Ah!” was able to cut off any and all embarrassing thought River was going to spiral down into.

“I’ve totally forgotten about Last Godzilla!” she expressed, pointing to it’s poster-icon on the screen. “It finally came out with English subtitles!”

“…Huh,” River said flatly. “Funny, I’ve been avoiding this one…”

“Why?” Tracy craned her head to River. “From the reviews I’ve seen, it’s called a great send off to the character…”

“It’s… It’s just that I have Anno Trust Issues,” River shrugged. “He directed it, and well, maybe it’s not your realm, but a little anime film tetralogy called Deconstruction of Alcion…”

“Oh,” Tracy said. “I’ve seen that… Uh… I was completely lost, but it was a pretty good at… Animated suffering—”

“Yeah. Such glowing praise and his vision… Kiiinda needed a break from it,” River retorted.

“I know we were doing a different language gag; but I legit don’t know what ya’ll are spouting,” Maddie remarked.

“Well, it’s Gojira,” Aiko shrugged. “If it doesn’t have mass destruction and kaiju violence; then it’s a bad film.”

“It’s brutal and shit goes wrong: I’m game, let’s watch it,” Maddie said.

“I’m with River in that mass destruction and brutality are questionable past time, but if the majority agrees…” Jackie said, crossing arms.

“Great!” Tracy selected the film and took her seat. The rest soon followed, with River reluctantly sitting down to whatever hellshow was going to follow.

Shin Godzilla, which can also mean “new”, “evolution”—but ended up being final due to reality being crazier than movies, was directed by ever-depressed and somehow out depresses people like her, Hideaki Anno. He was behind one of River’s favorite anime—Alcion, which had a really depressed teenage girl lead, who soon was thrusted into a world of angst—aliens—and many, many lesbian overtunes. But all that was balanced out by the message of pushing through torment and literally punching the monsters that cause them. And of course, the will-they, won’t-they lesbian romance that literally ties into the themes of the show. It was all wrapped up in the series finale movie and it literally ends with everyone making a new, better world.

Cue Anno realizing he’s depressed, and came out with the Deconstruction of Alcion, the only thing keeping it from being Anno’s hands being animated onto the frames destroying his work was the heartbreaking mental breakdowns and the surreal and terrible animation sequences. He explained why he ripped out millions of people was because he feels happiness or being fulfilled doesn’t exist in our new reality—coupled with the usual “I always planned it” bingo card. It’s been years since he ended up, leaving the industry for a bit, so maybe… Maybe Shin will be different, River thought.

Then she watched heartbreaking mental breakdowns, surreal and terrible CGI kaiju, and finally ending with an ambiguous ending. Anno had a real talent with making River feel the depression within her depression.

But, the movie “ended” and everyone started to talk.

“Aaaah!” Tracy had her hands on her cheeks. “That was… What an end! What a statement!”

“That was fucking crazy,” Maddie sounded impressed. “I thought it was some dude in a suit flopping about, but that was sheer fucking devastation and awful.”

“But they managed to pull through in the end!” Jackie shouted. “That was a rush—I was sooooo mad throughout the film, but then the trains came in and they had a plan and they tackled the problems—no it isn’t solved, but they did it--!”

“I couldn’t hear anything when you went sports fan on us, but no, that was crazy—” Maddie managed to agree with Jackie (Which River might consider some sort of omen).

“It has the same problem with the other Gojira films… Talk, talk, talk, boom, talk, talk, talk, boom—THEN MONSTERS!” Aiko waved her arms. “But at least the ‘booms’ where really, really good!”

“It’s such a great tribute to the original…” Tracy marveled. “The original…wasn’t a monster movie. It was this expression of people who had this terrible, awful tragedy fallen on them… And the fear wasn’t Godzilla getting people, but the fear of this tragedy happening again and again. But they did this for us, finally putting everything that we just can’t into words… It was so good.”

“…I mean,” River mumbled out. “We kinda got all that.”

Tracy turned to her, eyes boring into her. “What do you mean…?”

“I just… I feel like doubling down on the fact that everything sucks now isn’t… I don’t want to be a close-minded basement dweller—or more of. It’s just that… I get it. We get it. It’d be weird if anyone didn’t at this point. It’s already taken so much, why can’t we just have silly, stupid things anymore?”

Tracy didn’t say anything for a while, looking at the ground, biting her lip as she searches for the words.

“Good points, but… Art has an obligation to put our emotions into the physical, the understandable, so we can look into it and finally get the reasons why we feel the way that we do.”

“And I’m all for that… When it’s a self-contained thing. You’re a cinema lady… I’m… Just a womanchild that likes things to either fall funny or light up brightly.”

There was a silence that followed.

“Okay uh—” Jackie attempting to help but failing. “Why won’t you all choose some fun popcorn flick while me and River… Go shut off the foundation.”

She got up, and went over to River, patting her shoulder. Well, River pretty much made everyone not want her to be there now, so might as well get up and go with Jackie

Jackie opened the door and both of them landed their feet in a familiar sound.

River looked down quickly. It was the ooze.

It managed to travel up the stairs and spilled over onto the first floor.

“…Oh yeah—” River piped up, looked to Jackie. “I think our usual luck is gonna be consistent.”

Jackie quickly leaned into the Media room, shouting for the others to come out.

They all raced-yet-steadily down into the basement, which is now flooded with an inch of goo. Still, despite walking into it.

“… It’s just—Non-Newtonian in the slightest,” Jackie had a way of saying things about the Shifts, another talent to her long list. She moved her foot in the flood, and despite striding it, it did not move the liquid, no reaction, cause or effect. “There’s no ripples or-or waves!”

“Stop playing in the fucking slime and let’s handle whatever’s coming out. I’m already done with this, I don’t do Nickelodeon shit—”

They all climbed down the stairs, walking into the still goop, and hearing the roar of it pouring… Somewhere.

“…They can’t make a nest here,” River figured it out. She turned to Maddie, “This was new, right? This whole building?”

“Yeah, like months ago,” she answered. She started to rub her arms, clearly looking to her sides. “They just never got to use it yet…”

River sucked her teeth, trying to work this out. “How they hell did they…” She shook her head, turning to the others. “Guys, we’re in a Stew. There’s no other thing I can think of.”

Everyone shared a silent, non-physical gulp.

“But that’s the thing—” River tried to make this make sense. “Where? The Stew would have to be so fucking tiny that it doesn’t matter.”

Jackie immediately took action, “I’ll back you up—if you want to check.”

River nodded, before taking a sluggish walk, following the rushing sound…

…And to her horror and dismay; the pressure valves was the goopy waterfall. Pouring out so hard and fast, it broke the valves, blasted off the panel. And all there was that settled within where they were…

Bloated, worm-like creatures that soaked within their Stew.

Nulgarrt.

“This is bad—This is really, really bad—” River stumbled.

“OH GOD, WHAT THE FUCK--?!” Was all River could hear Maddie scream out.

Before the Nulgarrt swam out into the air and attacked them.