Rain poured down hard from the cloudy early-morning sky, mixing with the soil below and making thick brown mud. The massive, clawed foot of Godzilla came down on the mud, and left a footprint the size of a small swimming pool, which was already beginning to fill with rain water. Godzilla ran through the rain, his adrenaline glands pumping as he dashed through the muddy landscape of China’s countryside. He exhaled heavily, exuding puffs of visible breath from his nostrils.

Directly ahead of him, the human military had set up a barricade, a line of defense to stop Godzilla dead in his tracks. As Godzilla sprinted towards them, he could see their forms, deflecting the heavy rain. There were tanks, lined up, nozzles pointed high. Two attack helicopters hovered, seemingly undaunted by the inclement weather. Though he couldn’t see them, he could hear the sounds of humans talking to each other, yelling gibberish into the cold, wet air.

Godzilla’s foot came down on the mud, and he felt something under his foot, heating up as it was crushed by his immense weight. Godzilla shrieked as the mine exploded under his foot, knocking him off balance. Godzilla stumbled forward and stuck his tail out, steadying himself. As he caught himself, the tanks opened fire, releasing clouds of smoke that quickly dissipated in the rain. Godzilla roared in defiance as the heavy shells pounded his skin, chipping off scales. Godzilla rushed towards them, eyes wide with fury, and detonated another mine beneath his feet. The explosion forced Godzilla’s foot upwards, tripping him. Godzilla snarled and dug his claws into the soil, leaning back hard, refusing to go down. Godzilla slammed his other foot back down, and raised his dorsal spines.

The helicopters attacked next, flying towards Godzilla, gatling guns extended. They fired tiny bullets en masse, merely bouncing off Godzilla, but as they got closer, they cut off and fired rockets. Godzilla ducked down, and the rockets missed. They descended on the ground far behind him, exploding in flashes of brilliant orange light. Godzilla ignored them as they whizzed past him on either side, and charged his beam. His fins cast an eerie blue glow, and his mouth opened. Godzilla blasted his thermonuclear heat beam at the ground, raking it right and left, tearing the muddy earth apart. Land mines, scattered across the landscape, suddenly exploded as they were bathed in intense heat.

Satisfied, Godzilla charged again, running at the humans again. The tanks fired another round, concentrating on his chest and stomach. Godzilla glanced off the blows and kept charging, the helicopters in hot pursuit. Rockets launched from under their metallic wings, and trailed Godzilla. He stopped abruptly, lowering to a crouch, and the rockets came at him full speed. All four rockets achieved a direct hit, detonating on Godzilla’s back. Smoke billowing from his jagged spines, Godzilla turned around. As he did so, he brought down his long tail. The shadow of his tail blanketed an unlucky tank just before it was smashed into a million pieces.

Godzilla’s beam streaked through the air again, evaporating any rain that it touched. One of the helicopters exploded, throwing shrapnel all over. One of the pieces shattered the window of the adjacent helicopter, killing the pilot instantly. The out of control machine quickly lost altitude and spiraled down to the earth before crashing in the mud.

Godzilla turned back to the tanks, sweeping his tail along the ground as he did so, throwing tanks through the air as if they were made only of paper. From both his left and his right, the surviving tanks fired again. Godzilla lowered himself, and brought down a clawed hand, swiping away two tanks in a fiery explosion. Godzilla’s tail swept across the muddy ground again, clearing another tank behind him without any effort at all. Godzilla fired a short blast of radioactive fire, blowing away the remaining resistance. Godzilla lifted his head high, and surveyed the ruined field of mud and debris below him. Stupid humans, he thought bitterly. They didn’t stand a chance. They never did.

Godzilla kept running, leaving the wrecked war machines behind. He was going uphill now, leaving the mud fields behind and rising up the mountains. His claws grasped the rockier soil, and he pushed himself harder, running faster. The terrain became steeper and steeper, and Godzilla dropped to all fours. He refused to stop moving, he began climbing the mountains, now made largely of massive rocks. His foot slipped once, the rocks were slippery now, thanks to the rain.

But Godzilla would not stop, he knew better than that. The humans were after him, but they could only attack him so long as they could see him. With their last strike force down, Godzilla could outrun their watch on him and buy himself some time to relax, at least for a little bit.

An almost silent whirring noise filled the air, prompting Godzilla to stop. He dug his claws into whatever niches he could, and turned his head to look behind him. A shiny black machine, some sort of jet, was approaching fast. Godzilla snorted another mist of condensed water vapor, and watched the menacing looking machine fly towards him. He let out a roar, and the machine slowed. At first, Godzilla thought he had scared his foe, but unfortunately, this was not the jets reason for halting. The stealth jet launched it’s attack at the vulnerable monster- two large, laser guided missiles.

Godzilla raised his spines and roared, and the missiles slammed into him with explosive force. Smoke and fire was thrown into the air, as well as bits of rock blown off from the mountain. The rock Godzilla was holding onto cracked and slid off, and Godzilla fell. Godzilla reached out and sank his claws in, scrambling to find a solid hold as great slabs of earth slid out from underneath him.

The jet maneuvered, circling around for another attack. Godzilla’s claws found firm soil beneath the rock, and he held on strong. He let out a heavy breath of relief, and turned, glaring fiercely at the machine as it drew near. His spines flashed with energy, and he spat his radioactive flame in it’s direction. The jet quickly sank in altitude, dodging the blow, but Godzilla would not allow it to get close enough to attack again. He fired another beam, this time aiming lower. The jet did a barrel roll, pulling hard right, but the beam still clipped one of it’s wings. In a flash, blue flames swept over the wing, and the machine swerved away too fast.

Godzilla watched the flame covered, unbalanced aircraft fly away. He snarled and spat another beam of heat just in case, hitting the jet directly in it’s center. It exploded, sending it’s flaming remnants down at the ground alongside the rain. Godzilla turned his gaze skyward, and resumed climbing.

Godzilla reached the top of the small mountain, and lowered down, sitting on his haunches. He looked around at the other mountains around him, and at the early morning sky. He could still see the stars, twinkling in the heavens. The small, distant line of red over the horizon told him that the sun was rising. Breathing heavily from the excursion, Godzilla laid down, exhausted. He didn’t know what was on the other side of the mountain range, and he didn’t care. He’d find out later. Now, he would rest, and gain strength…

Godzilla’s eyes opened slowly as he woke. Still laying down, he looked around. It was day now, and the storm had passed. The sun was shining, and a cool breeze was swaying the small trees around him. Bathed in warmth from the sun and surrounded only by nature, Godzilla actually felt comfortable for once. He stretched his arms and legs and swished his tail, then started to get up. He yawned loudly and stood, surveying his surroundings. Not a human in sight.

Godzilla took a few steps forward, peering over the edge. The other side was less steep, he could probably run down it, if he kept enough balance. Godzilla was wary to do so… there might be more humans down there. But, despite the peace and quiet, there was no food or water at the top of the mountain. He sniffed the air, he could smell fresh water nearby. Perhaps it was another lake, or a river. Godzilla licked his lips, hesitated for a moment, and made up his mind.

Far off, people in the small city of Ankang gazed in terror at the Qinling Mountains, watching the giant dinosaur charge down the mountainside, leaving behind him a trail of dust and flying rock. Godzilla leapt, pushing away from the base of the mountain, and landed on his feet with earth-shaking force. He landed in forest, now surrounded by flora. Godzilla inhaled the sweet scents of the asian forest, smelling fruits like kiwis and oranges. Godzilla could make out the form of a city in the distance. It was neither near nor large. He decided to avoid it, it would be better that way. Maybe if he didn’t attack, the humans would back off a little bit.

Godzilla decided to follow the scent of water. Maybe he could find some fish to eat, too. Godzilla moved through the forest at a brisk pace, his giant body pushing the trees aside like blades of grass. His clawed feet uprooted trees and left huge footprints in the ground. The humans would have no trouble tracking him if he further provoked them. But he didn’t dwell on the thought, he continued moving towards the smell of water, eventually leaving the city far behind and out of sight.

A light fog set in as Godzilla headed towards the source of the smell. The ground sloped down, becoming muddier and covered in small plants. At the bottom, Godzilla could see water. It was a large river, stretching on for as far as he could see. It’s water was murky, but that suited Godzilla just fine. Perhaps it would be deep enough for him to submerge in, if he laid down on his belly and crawled along the bottom.

Godzilla waded into the shallows, feeling the cool water flow over his feet. Instinctively, Godzilla could tell by the sheer width of the river that it would be deep enough. He lowered down, and slipped into the greenish waters. Godzilla, as titanic as he was, vanished. The murky river kept flowing, showing no sign that Godzilla had ever been there.

Meanwhile, the humans scoured the forest. Heavily armed humans moved through the forest, backed up by tanks. It wasn’t long before they discovered the path of destruction leading to the Han River. The humans stopped at the riverbank, looking down grimly at the river. Godzilla had given them the slip. The humans called off their tanks, and started to turn back, when they noticed movement in the water. They raised their weapons, and lifted their walkie-talkies to call back the tanks, but it was too late. In an explosion of water, a set of humongous jaws burst out of the river, and swallowed up the humans in one gulp. The big, black head slid back into the water, and disappeared.

Godzilla swam through the river, moving slowly, and being careful to keep his fins from sticking out of the surface. He would swim down the river as far as possible, snatch up any fish he could, and then leave for new territory. Godzilla cruised through the river, propelled by the slow, rhythmic swaying of his tail.

Godzilla swam for about an hour, snapping up fish as they passed by. Godzilla decided it was time to take a look around. Godzilla lifted his head up out of the water, and looked around. The ground was flat and muddy, covered in small ground plants. There was a small shack, and boats docked nearby, but it seemed empty. Godzilla hoped that the humans were simply not at home, and not evacuated. If they were evacuated, then that meant the humans knew he was here.

Godzilla tossed the idea around in his head, glaring down at the little shack. He decided that the humans couldn’t possibly have known where he was- there must be some other reason. Godzilla lifted himself out of the water, crawling onto the shore and rising up on his hind legs. He stepped over the small building, and surveyed the hilly terrain ahead. It was steep, and tall, covered in rows of cultivated plants. It seemed as though the humans were growing them. An odd sort of thing to do, at least for humans. He was surprised they even knew what a plant was.

Godzilla deeply inhaled again, enjoying the smell of the air here. This place swelled so sweet, so earthy. It wasn’t as polluted. Unfortunately, Godzilla liked this place a lot. This was unfortunate, because he knew he could never stay. The humans would find him eventually, and then it’d be just like every else… running and fighting, all day long.

Godzilla drooped his head, turned his back on the rolling green hills, and slipped back into the river. Unbeknownst to him, he was being followed. Watching and waiting, another monster crawled along the bottom of the river, following Godzilla’s every move. It’s name, or at least the name it would eventually be assigned by the humans in their newspapers, was Tarikahn.

As Godzilla moved down stream, Tarikahn followed with infinite patience. The giant amphibian moved silently along the river bed, it’s nostrils sorting out scents of prey from the water. Tarikahn smelled Godzilla, knew instinctively that he was hunting something much bigger than fish. Normally he’d avoid such big prey, but hunger gripped him, controlled him, forces him to attack against his own will.

The wide, monstrous jaws opened up out of total darkness, lunged forward, and clamped down on Godzilla’s tail. Godzilla’s body jerked in response, surprised by the sudden, crushing pressure on his tail. Godzilla turned, facing the threat- a massive black form, engulfing his tail with raging hunger.

Godzilla surged towards the creature, fingers spread, and sank his claws in. In the murky water, he couldn’t make out exactly what he was fighting, but there was no mistaking the feeling of his claws sinking into warm flesh. The pressure on his tail released, and Godzilla rocketed past the monster, and out of the water. Scales glistening in the sun, Godzilla burst out of the water and landed on his feet, crushing trees underfoot. Godzilla turned, pivoting on one foot, his claws raking through the earth and throwing plant matter everywhere.

Tarikahn’s large, square shaped head emerged from the water. The black skinned monster had a shine to it, as if it were covered in a layer of slime. Tarikahn rose up to his hind legs, forelimbs raised, clawed fingers outstretched. The monstrous amphibian’s belly, fire orange with black splotches, immediately caught Godzilla’s eye. Such bright colors… they triggered something in Godzilla’s mind. Some prehistoric instinct warned him of them… they meant something… but what, he was not sure. Nonetheless, he took caution.

Godzilla backed up as the amphibian advanced. It lowered to all fours, clutching the shore in it’s hands, and lowering it’s head. It’s tail, halfway submerged in the water, wagged back and forth. Godzilla kept his eyes fixed on the monster, seeing the hunger in it’s red eyes. He wouldn’t allow himself to be this creature’s prey, not today, not ever.

Godzilla let out a quick blast of his breath, blasting the monster and the ground beneath it. The muddy shoreline broke apart and slid into the river like glaciers of soil as Tarikahn squirmed away into the water.

Godzilla charged his breath weapon again, firing a stream of blue heat into the river after Tarikahn. The flames lapped at the surface of the water, churning and boiling it.

Tarikahn burst out of the water on the opposite shore, wriggling in pain like a fish out of water. Steam trailed from the monster as he slowly stopped writhing, digging his claws into the ground and enduring the pain. Godzilla tensed the muscles in his legs, and sprang forward, clearing the river and landing directly in front of Tarikahn. The singed amphibian monster before him recoiled instinctively, but Godzilla allowed Tarikahn no quarter. He lunged forward and brought down one clawed hand on Tarikahn’s head, slamming the beast’s chin into the dirt.

Tarikahn’s mouth opened, and in one giant gulp, engulfed Godzilla’s entire arm. Godzilla roared as he felt the monster’s teeth sink into his shoulder and taste him with his tongue. Godzilla wrapped his free arm around Tarikahn’s neck, choking him, and tried to pull his arm free. Tarikahn gagged and wriggled under the squeezing pressure, but his teeth were buried in Godzilla’s flesh. As Godzilla yanked out his arm, the teeth raked across his skin.

With a grimace, Godzilla staggered back, his arm covered in blood and saliva. As the burning sensation fled, Tarikahn’s movements grew less frantic, and the slimy skinned monster rose to it’s hind legs again. It lowered it’s head, glaring at Godzilla, sizing him up. Clearly, Tarikahn had not counted on Godzilla’s heat beam. Then again, Godzilla hadn’t counted on Tarikahn’s special ability either.

This time, it was Tarikahn’s turn to cause writhing agony. He pounced at Godzilla, jaws open and claws spread. As Godzilla braced himself and raised his hands to meet the attack, he did not realize that he was exposing himself to the true attack.

Oozing from the warty protuberances on Tarikahn’s back was a slimy secretion. The slime ran down his back, flowing over his entire body, coating his skin. Godzilla locked claws with the monster, lifted his foot, and kicked Tarikahn away. Direct contact… just what Tarikahn wanted. Now the slime was on Godzilla’s foot, and he would soon see Tarikahn’s power at work.

Godzilla’s reaction was almost immediate. The slimy substance irritated his skin, burning like a wildfire. Now Godzilla knew what it was the bright, eye catching colors on Tarikahn’s stomach meant- poison! Tarikahn’s skin was covered in an acidic poison! Godzilla shook his head violently, shrieking in pain and stamping his foot, trying frantically to rub the acid off in the dirt. Tarikahn drooled, and lunged, biting down on Godzilla’s arm. He bit down harder, sinking his teeth in deep, and steadied his grip by grabbing each end of Godzilla’s arm with his acid-laden palms.

Godzilla let out a tremendous roar of pain and struggled to escape, but Tarikahn began to thrash about, tearing at Godzilla’s arm with raging hunger. Godzilla brought down his other hand on Tarikahn’s head, running his claws across his attacker’s head without actually touching his skin. The oversized newt released his grip, and Godzilla pulled back as fast as possible.

Skin burning with intense pain, Godzilla knew he couldn’t fight this beast up close. He’d have to use his beam to take him down. Tarikahn struck, and Godzilla’s mouth snapped open in response. A quick, relatively weak burst of radioactive energy rushed out of Godzilla‘s mouth. The force was enough to push Tarikahn back, giving Godzilla the time he needed. Tarikahn lifted his head just in time to see Godzilla’s tail coming straight at him.

Tarikahn fell to the ground, head ringing. Godzilla advanced, standing over the mutant and charging his beam. Godzilla opened his jaws, unleashing his breath and bathing Tarikahn in flame, causing him to swing to and fro in agony. Being an amphibian, Tarikahn’s skin was not water tight- the extreme heat’s effects on him were immense. Tarikahn coiled, covered in flame, hissing hoarsely. Godzilla ended the onslaught of fire, and watched the monster burn.

Tarikahn could feel the water being drained from his body as the fire scorched his flesh and shriveled his skin. He pumped hundreds and hundreds of gallons of toxic slime from his pack, dousing the flames and releasing a cloud of purple tinted smoke. Tarikahn lifted his head, poison dripping from his chin. Tarikahn licked his lips and spit out the toxin, totally immune to it. Godzilla snarled, non too pleased with his foes endurance.

Godzilla charged his beam, blue light flashing from his back, and Tarikahn sped forward. Godzilla released the beam, but Tarikahn ducked beneath it, halting at Godzilla. He lifted his tail up, and slapped Godzilla in the side of the face. The flat, sticky surface of Tarikahn’s tail covered the entire left side of Godzilla’s face. Godzilla’s eyes grew wide and bloodshot, and he emitted a horrible shriek as the acid burned his face.

Godzilla couldn’t stand it anymore, enough was enough! Godzilla lifted his hand, ignoring his previous strategy of avoid direct contact, and grabbed Tarikahn by the tail. The acid stung, but Godzilla fought through the pain. Godzilla grabbed the tail with his other hand, cringing briefly as the poison spread. Godzilla pulled with all his might, lifting the monstrous salamander off the ground. Godzilla dug his toe claws into the dirt and spun around, heaving Tarikahn in an aerial 360. Godzilla let go, blood and poison flying off, and Tarikahn was thrown through the sky.

He crashed into the side of a hill with explosive force, throwing chunks of earth everywhere. Godzilla let loose his beam, blasting the cloud of debris where Tarikahn lay. Flaming dirt and rock flew off in every direction as Godzilla exhaled thermonuclear hell on his enemy.

Godzilla paused, watching the flaming crater that had once been a grassy hill. As the azure flames rose higher and higher, Godzilla began to calm himself, and think. And as he did so, he realized something. Despite the burning sensation in his hands… he couldn’t deny the truth… he had enjoyed throwing that monster into the countryside and blasting him to bits. The creature was trying to kill him, so he didn’t feel bad about it, and he had to admit, it felt good to blow off his steam. In fact, Godzilla almost wished the monster would get up and keep fighting, just so he could vent his frustration a little bit longer.

Godzilla turned away from the inferno, and began to walk away. What he had not noticed was that Tarikahn really was getting up again. Slithering out of the wildfire like a salamander from a fireplace, Tarikahn dragged his flaming body along the ground, steadily reaching the river.

As soon as he heard the splash, Godzilla knew what was up. He spun around as fast as he could, but saw nothing. The water was still rippling from where Tarikahn had entered, but he was hidden in the muddy water. Beneath the surface, Tarikahn watched, his skin absorbing water back into his body. His body was covered in serious burns, and the cuts on his head from Godzilla’s claws had been cauterized by the heat of his ray. Tarikahn was badly injured, but he would not give up. He could not give up. The monstrous newt was a slave to his own need to feed, and no amount of damage to his body, save for the fatal variety, could cause him to yield.

Tarikahn burst out of the water, mouth agape, and latched onto Godzilla’s throat. The two monsters fell to the ground, Tarikahn on top of Godzilla. As the acid slime oozed over Godzilla’s scales, there was an audible hiss, the burning of flesh. Godzilla reached up and grabbed the monster by the jaws, and pulled him off. Godzilla rolled away and scrambled to his feet, but Tarikahn kept coming. He lunged towards Godzilla’s left shin, but Godzilla lifted his leg and avoiding the snapping jaws. Godzilla jumped back, and Tarikahn quickly rose up to a bipedal stance. Godzilla roared, his erect spines glowing blue. He winced, the acid was very painful. His regenerative cells were working as hard as possible to repair the damage, but the wounds stung all the same.

Tarikahn crouched, spun about, and swung his tail upwards at Godzilla’s head. Godzilla ducked bellow the blow, and fired his beam at Tarikahn’s chest. In a flash of light and sparks, Tarikahn was thrown onto his back, trailing smoke. Godzilla was over him in an instant, foot already raised. He put down his foot on the monster’s chest, without pain. The heat of Godzilla’s breath had evaporated all the poison on Tarikahn’s chest, the blackened patch of skin was safe to touch.

Godzilla pushed down, applying pressure and pinning Tarikahn to the ground. Godzilla lowered his head, fins flashing, and spewed out radioactive flame at his foe’s head. Tarikahn bellowed and squirmed, unable to free himself. Godzilla’s fingers, bloody and sore, curled into his palms, and his eyes closed shut. Godzilla continued the fiery bombardment as long as he could, struggling to keep up the attack. Finally, internally exhausted, Godzilla staggered back, steadied himself, and looked over his enemy.

Tarikahn lay motionless on the ground, arms and legs tucked in, claws outstretched. The monster’s entire head was black, which may not have been to noticeable had Godzilla not already known that the monster’s lower jaw had once been vibrant orange. Smoke billowed from the shriveled, charred cranium, and bits of burnt flesh occasionally flaked off, exposing the equally ebony-colored skull beneath. Godzilla snorted, lifted his head high, and let out an exultant roar that echoed through the valleys. Godzilla moved slowly towards the river, his entire body aching. He hunkered down, head hung low, and disappeared into the river to bide his time and let his body repair itself.