Several days had passed since Godzilla last appeared. Military units had been stationed on the shore in case Godzilla tried to come on land again, but so far he’d been a no-show. After the third day of waiting, they recalled the troops and left the beach under surveillance. But there was no use, Godzilla would not be returning.

In fact, he was hundreds of miles away, swimming towards a new shoreline. Zhejiang, China… a hilly landscape known as the “Land of Fish and Rice”. With a stomach full of giant shellfish, Godzilla wasn’t particularly interested in fish or rice. All he wanted was to get on the land, stretch a bit, and relax.

Godzilla slowly lifted his body out of the water, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. There were very few ships around, but there were some, and there were humans aboard them. Godzilla could hear them muttering gibberish to each other, he was sure they were pointing and gawking at him. He snorted, and observed the small fishing shacks around the coast. There were humans all around him, no doubt about that… but they were not in great numbers, and as it seemed, they did not yet have war machines after him.

In the distance, Godzilla could see rolling green hills. He could also smell freshwater, and thirst urged him to find it. He glanced around, tensed his legs, and inhaled deeply. Godzilla rushed forward in a mad dash, running towards the hills. His heavy footfalls shook the fishing shacks, knocking knick-knacks and potted plants off their shelves. His long, curved talons raked away at the soil, and his feet left massive footprints in the ground.

Godzilla ran past the humans as fast as he could. Already he could hear them shouting. He wondered how long it’d be before they started shooting. He kept running, heading towards the hills. He was fast approaching a farm, set at the bottom of a tall hill, irrigated and covered in tea plants. Godzilla leapt into the air, slamming into the side of the hill and digging in his claws. He scrambled up the hill, chunks of earth tumbling down behind him. They fell down onto the roof of the farmhouse, crushing it into scrap timber.

Godzilla kept moving, climbing over hills, darting through patches of trees. He was surprised… it seemed as though the humans weren’t following. But sooner or later, they would show up to attack, he knew. He continued charging through the countryside, following the scent of water. It finally came into view, West Lake. Godzilla’s eyes widened with excitement, the lake was huge. So much drinking water!

Godzilla jumped down from the crest of a hill, and landed at the edge of the lake. Ignoring the human structures surrounding the lake, Godzilla crouched down and thrust his head into the water. He gulped down the refreshing water, rumbling with satisfaction. He lifted his head to inhale, and was about to take another gulp of lake water when he noticed movement in the skies. Godzilla immediately jumped to his feet, glaring- flying machines, like the ones he had fought in Japan. They soared over Godzilla’s head, clearly armed with rockets. But they passed right over him.

Godzilla stood and watched, dumbfounded. They didn’t attack him. They kept flying, moving towards a set of hills opposite the direction he’d come. Godzilla didn’t know why they had not opened fire on him, and was a bit shocked that he wasn’t being pummeled with a salvo of pod rockets. There had to be some reason why… but what?

As the flying machines disappeared into the hills, Godzilla turned back to the lake and resumed his drink. He lapped up enough water to quench his thirst, then glanced over to one of the structures next to him. It was small, intricate, and oddly deserted. Godzilla lifted his head slightly, and looked around at the others. Nothing stirred.

This was very unusual. It was as if the humans had totally abandoned this spot. Again, Godzilla wondered: Why? He stood back up and looked to the hills where the flying machines had gone. Maybe something was going on over there.

Slowly, Godzilla began to cross the lake. He submerged himself in the cool water, washing away the sea salts clinging to his scales. He disappeared under the water, and began speeding towards the opposite shore. As he swam, he could see the sky through the surface. Being so large, Godzilla could cover long distances fast, and now he was already catching up with the human fliers.

Godzilla could hear the machines now, shooting. They had began attacking, he could tell by the sound of machine-gun fire. There was a screeching noise, muffled as it traveled through the air and then the water. Godzilla whipped his tail with gusto, and surged towards the shore with an extra boost. He leap from the water in an mist of lake water, and landed on all fours. He rose up to his hind legs, lowering his tail and looking forward. Behind him, the flying machines stopped firing and slowed to a stop, narrowly avoid Godzilla’s acrobatics.

Godzilla hissed, staring at what lay before him. Smoke billowed from the ruins of the buildings, and a long bodied creature lay in the midst of the destruction, staring back at Godzilla through bright red eyes. It’s mouth, vertical and armed with jagged mandibles, opened and closed hungrily, greenish saliva dribbling from it’s maw. It’s entire body was armored and segmented, covered in thick, black spikes. It screeched, arcing it’s barbed tail and shaking it’s horned head.

Godzilla snarled, raising his spines. He didn’t know what this creature was, but it was obviously dangerous. Godzilla lowered his body, tensing his muscles and preparing to charge the monster. A salvo of missiles exploded against Godzilla’s back, interrupting his charge. Godzilla turned sharply, his tail lifting in the air and his eyes alight with rage. How dare the humans open fire on him now!

Godzilla’s spines glowed blue, and a surge of thermonuclear energy rushed forward and consumed the machines. All but two, hovering farther away, exploded and tumbled to the ground as bits of flaming metal. Godzilla was ready to attack them, but he couldn’t forget the creature. Godzilla spun around, ignoring the last of the humans, and facing the creature. It was already there, right beside him. It’s tail shot forward like a spear, it’s many black spikes glistening in the sun. Godzilla jumped back, causing a small splash in the shallow water of the lake as he dodged the blow.

The insectoid beast reared up like a snake, flailing it’s spike-like legs and screeching angrily. Godzilla pounced, grabbing the upright caterpillar with his claws and tackling it. Both monsters fell over on the ground, crushing the smoldering remains of a lakeside manor. The monstrous caterpillar snapped at Godzilla with it’s jaws, clicking it’s mandibles and savagely lunging at Godzilla’s face. Godzilla held the creature down with his hands, pushing it into the dirt and away from himself.

The insectoid’s legs clung to Godzilla, it tilted back it’s head, and with an undulation of it’s elongated body, it squeezed out from underneath Godzilla. It flipped itself over, grasping the ground with it’s claws and arcing it’s tail again. Godzilla stood up and roared, standing his ground and forcing the insect to go on the offensive this time.

As the monsters squared off, the humans were backing off. First a new monster, Battra, showed up and trashed the town… and now, Godzilla as well? They fled from the battleground, for safety and reinforcements. With only two helicopters left, they had no chance. When they would return, they would bring jets and tanks, and as many infantry man as possible.

Ignoring the fleeing human machines, Battra began crawling towards Godzilla. He lifted up again and shrieked. Godzilla lunged at him in hopes of another tackle, but Battra had expected this, and countered the attack. He swung down his head, slamming his horn down on Godzilla’s shoulder. The dinosaur monster fell down on his stomach, and Battra lurched over him. He slid his nasal horn under the fallen monster’s chest, and heaved upwards, lifting Godzilla slightly, and flipping him over. Godzilla landed on his back, and rolled into the shallow water.

Godzilla lifted to a crouching position and roared, then unleashed his thermonuclear breath again. As Battra stood raised, the blast hit his exposed underbelly. The extreme heat singed the tender region, and the force pushed Battra’s top half backwards, knocking the entire monster on it’s back. Godzilla rushed forward and lowered his head to Battra’s overturned tail. He bit down, making sure to clamp his jaws shut on the segment before the stinger.

Godzilla lowered to all fours, and started moving backwards, dragging Battra towards West Lake. Battra struggled, squirming and wiggling, but he could not break free. Godzilla pulled the giant caterpillar into the lake with a massive splash, and both monsters were temporarily gone to the surface world.

Beneath the lake, Godzilla swung his head, released his grip, and threw Battra down deeper into the waters. Godzilla’s spines flashed blue, and he shot the descending bug with a quick blast. Battra was propelled down deeper, into darker water. Godzilla could make out Battra’s form as it hit the bottom, convulsed once, and then stopped moving. Godzilla snorted, turned his back on the sunken caterpillar, and rose up to the surface.

Godzilla climbed onto the beach and walked away from the lake. He shook himself like a titanic dog, the water dousing some small fires nearby. Godzilla tilted back his head and let out a victorious roar, he had defeated the creature with ease. He almost wished for a more challenging opponent

Godzilla looked around, the humans were all long gone. The buildings were ruined, and a slow wind was blowing. Finally, some peace. Godzilla laid down, curling up and resting his head on his tail. Godzilla’s eyes closed, and he dozed off.

His nap was rudely awakened some time later. Godzilla opened his eyes to the sight of several flying machines, the human creations called helicopters. They were hovering over the lake, slowly rising up. Godzilla could see cables attached to them, which all led into the water. There was red tape around the perimeter of the lake for as far as Godzilla could see, and humans in uniforms were clustered around it. Tanks were lined up in front of Godzilla, already aiming their nozzles at him.

The humans started shouting, and ran towards Godzilla. They lifted their little guns and yelled at each other, barking commands, most likely. Godzilla snorted, and the gust pushed a few of them over. Godzilla found it amusing that such an insignificant action could affect these creatures. They were so pitiful…

The tanks opened fire, blasting away at Godzilla before he could even get up. Godzilla roared furiously as the shells hit him all over. There were tanks all around him, he guessed. He rose up to his feet and reared back his head, narrowing his eyes and charging his dorsal spikes with blue energy. The tanks fired again, hitting him in the chest and back. Godzilla fired his beam into their line of offense, blowing away three tanks and countless humans.

The humans fired their more meager guns, the bullets bounced off Godzilla’s hide, and the mini rockets had no effect. The tanks fired another round, blasting Godzilla again and again. Godzilla lifted one of his feet high, bringing his knee to his chest, then stomped his foot down to the ground. The paved earth beneath him split open, cracks creeping towards the tanks. The shaking force threw the human infantry to the ground, and shook the tanks so badly their next round of fire went awry, almost none of the shells hitting Godzilla.

Godzilla turned his head, glaring at the tanks behind him. He crouched down and swung his tail, wiping the lot of them sideways and tossing them aside. Clustered together and rolling over, they slammed into ruins and debris, most of them landing on their backs. Godzilla turned his attention back to the front line in an instant, baring his fangs. As he did, he noticed the helicopters- they were still rising. What were they doing?

Seemingly out of nowhere, a barrage of rocketry detonated against Godzilla’s back. He lurched forward, steadied himself, then rose up and looked over his shoulder. But there was nothing. Godzilla turned his head to look back at the tanks, and saw his attackers. Flying machines all right, but they weren’t helicopters. These were something new. Fighter jets.

They circled around, moving much faster than anything Godzilla had seen from the humans. But he had to divide his tension, fast. The tanks opened fire on Godzilla, once again hitting his chest. Godzilla stepped back and screeched, the repeated fire was beginning to become annoying. The jets, firing their gatling guns at Godzilla’s head as they flew, passed over Godzilla’s head. He snapped at them with his jaws, and watched them fly away from him, and circle back around. Godzilla fired his beam at them, but they were too quick. The blast missed them entirely.

Godzilla snarled, turned back to the tanks, and fired again. They weren’t going anyway. The tanks exploded as they were engulfed in blue fire, burning every infantryman within range. A single tank, caught on fire, still remained. It weakly pointed it’s nozzle at Godzilla, who grinned at the doomed machine. He pulled back one of his forelimbs, curled his hand into a three-fingered fist, and punched the machine into oblivion. But before his fist crushed it, the tank fired it’s last shot. The shell launched out of the nozzle, towards Godzilla’s face. It hit Godzilla in the forehead, directly between the eyes.

Godzilla stumbled back, shaking his head and snorting angrily. Surprised by the blow, he missed his opportunity to attack the jets. They zoomed by again, this time hitting him with more large missiles. They hit Godzilla’s right side and exploded, blowing off tiny pieces of Godzilla’s hide. He roared and glared up at the machines as they whizzed past. Within seconds, the missing scales had totally regenerated.

The jets turned about, their supercomputer locking systems keyed onto Godzilla’s position. The pilots pressed their joysticks, and each fired a pair of homing missiles at the monster. Godzilla growled, his spines flashed for only an instant. He let out a shotgun blast of energy, uncharged and unrefined, short ranged and destructive. The oncoming missiles were totally obliterated, and the blinding light caused the jets to abandon their formation and scatter.

Godzilla lashed out with his hand, and caught one of the jets with his claws. The wrecked flyer shot towards the ground like a giant bullet on fire, and slammed into the remains of a building with a flash of fire. Godzilla turned and watched the other jets. The power of Godzilla’s beam really did blind them, it seemed… they all lost control entirely. He watched as they sped away, some crashing into the ground or hills. One barely missed hitting one of the rising helicopters.

And rising they were. Now they were high in the sky, and now Godzilla could see what was on the other end of the cables. But what was it?

Godzilla watched the object emerge from the lake, water sliding off it’s smooth surface. It was oblong and dark green, somewhat shiny. It was segmented, and stubby spikes protruded from it’s underside, which Godzilla knew was the back. He knew it was upside down… because now, he knew what it was. It was Battra. The monster… it hadn’t drowned at all! It had formed a cocoon!

Godzilla let out a thunderous roar of disapproval at the humans efforts to retrieve the monster’s body. Didn’t they know what they were doing? Godzilla released his beam, aiming at the cables lifting Battra’s cocoon. His heat beam melted through the wires, snapping them in half. The giant cocoon dropped from the sky like a boulder, and crashed into the water with a splash that sent large waves towards the shoreline. They came far onto the shore, washing away the bodies of the singed humans and taking them out into the lake.

Godzilla turned his back on the helicopters as they spun out of control, and marched away from the lake. This place wasn’t safe, he had to keep moving. But he wasn’t going back to the ocean. Godzilla was done with hiding in the sea, he wasn’t going to stand down to the human scum any longer. If they wanted him dead, they could try. He didn’t care. They were pathetic, and they were weak. No matter how many of them there were, no matter what machine they decided to build, Godzilla could and would bring them down.

A day had passed since the Battra incident. Godzilla had left Zhejiang, and moved North. Meanwhile, the military was evacuating his next destination- Huainan, Anhui. People were rushing out of the big city, congesting the roads with panic stricken vehicles. As the police tried desperately to calm down the chaotic streets, they wondered if it had been wise to let everyone know all at once…

Gray clouds were forming in the evening sky as Godzilla neared the city of Huainan. He looked around, seeing small sky scrapers, power lines hanging over streets full of vehicles, and screaming people running away in horror. He snorted, and kept moving. This place reminded him of Tokyo, only there were a few evergreens here, protruding from the paved streets in meager patches of dark soil. They trembled with every step he took.

As Godzilla walked through the street, crushing cars underfoot, his legs caught and pulled power lines every now and then. Godzilla felt the tiny electric shocks, and occasionally grimaced, but never stopped. His tail swayed back and forth, tapping the sides of sky scrapers and shattering a few windows. He paused, sensing something.

Godzilla twisted his neck and looked around, and checked the skies. Only a lone helicopter. It hovered high above Godzilla, following him cautiously. Godzilla growled, eyeing it with suspicion. However, it made no move to attack him, and didn’t seem to have rockets. Godzilla turned away from the helicopter and kept walking, ignoring it.

Back in Zhejiang, a reconstruction team was working diligently on repairing the homes along West Lake coast. As storm clouds brewed, it was getting dark fast. The workers were considering calling it a day and heading back to HQ when they noticed something odd about the lake. Far off, in the center of the lake, the water was churning and bubbling wildly. A dark form began to appear beneath the surface, and the men backed away from their work, staring in awe and horror.

The surface of the lake surged and rose high before finally breaking in a massive burst of water, and the aberration known as Battra emerged from the depths. Having metamorphosed in it’s chrysalis beneath the lake, Battra was now a full grown monstrosity on wings.

Battra took to the sky, flapping his newly formed wings, jet black with streaks of yellow and red. His multi-faceted eyes watched the humans below with fleeting interest as he gained altitude, tucking in his spiny legs and flexing his clawed forelimbs. Battra’s vertical mouth, lined with razor sharp teeth and spine-laden mandibles, opened wide and let out a spine-tingling shriek. The horrible insect flapped it’s wings, and shot forward into the cloudy sky, disappearing over the horizon in a flash.

The setting sun faded away, blotted out by dark storm clouds. Night consumed Huainan as Godzilla slowed his pace. The long evacuated city was still and lifeless as Godzilla wandered the streets, slipping around the corners of sky scrapers and scouring the area for life. The lone helicopter still hovered above, following Godzilla’s every movement. Godzilla paused, tired of being followed, and lifted up on his toes, raising his head towards the helicopter. He narrowed his eyes, glaring directly at the pilot of the machine. Nostrils flared, Godzilla roared- the gust of air was so strong, it actually began to push the helicopter blades the opposite direction, slowing them down. The helicopter bobbed down, spun around, and buzzed away frantically from Godzilla.

As Godzilla began to turn his head away, a sudden explosion caught his eye. It was the helicopter- there was a blur of movement, and it caught flame. Godzilla backed up, looking around, searching the sky for movement. But it was no use, in the darkness, the culprit was invisible. Something large swooped down by Godzilla, missing him, but only barely. Godzilla backed into the side of a skyscraper, piercing it with his back spines. Godzilla snorted, glancing around desperately for something, anything. Nothing. The darkness concealed the creature entirely.

So Godzilla improvised. He jerked his spines out from the building, and charged his beam. Godzilla’s jaws flung open as a stream of blue thermonuclear flames rose from his gullet. He drenched the streets in radioactive flame. The blue fire swept across the streets and sidewalks, climbing up small buildings and lighting the city. The heat beam ceased it’s flow, and Godzilla looked once more to the sky.

Stained blue in light, the adult form of Battra circled in the air. Legs tucked in and wings flapping, Battra peered down at Godzilla with hatred. The dinosaur monster had interrupted his siege of Zhejiang, and forced him to metamorphose at the bottom of a lake, without any humans to feed on. Now, he had followed it’s trail of destruction here- for revenge.

Battra screeched, stiffened his wings, and sailed downwards towards Godzilla, clawed forelimbs outstretched. Godzilla ran towards his attacker head on, and jumped into the air, spines raised. In a flash of blue light, Godzilla’s energy-charged dorsal blades collided with Battra’s underbelly. Godzilla landed on all fours and skidded to a halt at the far end of the street, rising up on his hind legs just in time to see Battra slam down into the ground at the opposite end of the street.

Battra lifted himself with a shudder, pieces of crumbled cement falling off his body. Godzilla started towards the fallen monster, but before he had taken three steps, Battra took off and charged through the air towards him head-on. Godzilla ducked down, narrowly avoiding Battra’s razor sharp claws as he flew overhead. Godzilla spun around and watched Battra fly by, turn about, and attack again. The mutant insect was upon Godzilla in a flash, hovering above his head, wings beating.

Battra’s legs dangled down above Godzilla’s head. Godzilla snapped at them, but they were just out of reach. Battra’s wings flapped harder, and Godzilla began to notice something. He was shedding scales. The black and red triangular particles floated down onto Godzilla, lightly coating his upper body. Godzilla narrowed his eyes and tensed himself, ready to lunge up at the insect. And then he felt the effects of Battra’s attack.

The scales were coated in poison, and now Godzilla could feel it take hold. His skin felt as if it were suddenly caught aflame, and itching pain shot through his head, neck, and shoulder. Godzilla jerked back his head and roared in pain, bringing his arms up to his head and pawing at his face frantically, trying to wipe away the stinging scales.

As Godzilla writhed in agony, Battra homed in, ceasing the rain of scales. Godzilla shook his head, eyes tearing, and stared up at Battra in surprise, the insectoid monster was now directly in front of him. Battra’s abdomen shot forward, like a wasp. With the spines of his tail on either side of Godzilla’s neck, Battra shoved Godzilla back, pinning him to a building behind him. Debris clouded up around Godzilla’s head as Battra pulled back.

Godzilla’s dorsal fins glowed for only an instant. The radioactive blast hit Battra full force, throwing him away into the abyssal sky. Godzilla staggered forward, listening expectantly for the crash of Battra hitting the ground. Unfortunately, it never came. Godzilla hissed, and braced himself for another attack.

Battra rushed out of the dark and into the soft blue light, and swung hard with one of his bladed forelimbs. The blow struck Godzilla directly in his face, pushing him back and leaving two long, crimson streaks across his cheek. Godzilla slowly turned his head back to face Battra, lips up curled in a savage snarl.

Godzilla, in one explosive lunge, bit down on one of Battra’s legs, pulled hard, and threw Battra. The winged fiend slammed into a skyscraper belly-first, and let out a shriek. Battra quickly sank his spikey legs into the side of the building, and swiveled his head around, glaring at Godzilla. Battra’s jaws opened wide, and he let out a loud screech.

With a flick of his tail, the many black spines covering Battra’s abdomen flew off, heading towards Godzilla like a cloud of spears. Godzilla hastily ducked down, allowing the deadly projectiles to breeze past him. Godzilla lifted himself back to his feet, and charged Battra, fingers outstretched and claws eager to pierce flesh. The black spines extended again, and Battra lashed out with his tail twice more, throwing more of his spear-like projectiles at Godzilla.

Godzilla pulled right, dodging the first flurry of spines, but he wasn’t quick enough to avoid both attacks. The shiny, ebony spikes pierced Godzilla’s flesh, lodging themselves in his right shoulder, chest, and neck. Godzilla threw back his head and roared in pain, then rushed Battra, eyes wide with rage. Battra pushed away from the building to fly away, but Godzilla got to him sooner than expected. Godzilla brought down his clawed hand on Battra’s back, slamming the mutant bug into the very building he had just flew off of.

As the building fell apart, Battra tumbled down to the ground, laying in a crumpled heap at Godzilla’s feat. Godzilla’s fins began to glow blue, and he opened his mouth, showing the lambent energy growing inside him. Battra quickly flapped his wings, lifting off the ground and passing over the remains of the skyscraper, taking to the sky to avoid Godzilla’s beam. Godzilla’s breath weapon hit the ground when Battra had just been, throwing up dirt and searing pieces of metal fallen from the skyscraper.

Godzilla tilted his head upwards, directing the beam at Battra. The fleeing insect flapped it’s wings harder, pushing himself ahead of the beam, but only for a short time. Godzilla lifted his head higher, and the beam made contact. The searing stream of energy blazed across Battra’s back and glided up to his head. Battra let out a horrible scream as blue flames rose from his spiny carapace, lapping at his delicate wings. Battra dropped from the sky, falling down towards the earth at great speed. He hit the ground with a tumultuous crash, shaking the city and laying motionless in a pile of smoking rubble.

Godzilla walked towards the fallen monster, watching Battra with justifiable caution. The creature’s legs, riddled with tremors, twitched and shakily grasped the torn earth around it. Battra lifted himself off the ground, feebly lifting his head to face Godzilla. Many of the ornate spikes protruding from his head had broken off in the impact, and his mandibles shook. Godzilla growled and continued to approach the monster insect.

As Godzilla lumbered towards the downed monster, he didn’t realize that Battra still had some fight left in him. Without warning, Battra’s tail jerked upwards, and another volley of spines rushed through the still night air towards Godzilla. Acting on instinct, Godzilla’s jaws swung open and he released a blast of thermonuclear energy to counter the surprise attack. The beam engulfed the spines and destroyed them, and went on, bathing Battra in thermonuclear fury.

Battra wailed as he took a direct hit from the blast. The force of the beam pinned him to the ground with crushing force, and he could feel the heat on his wings. Using up his final energy reserves, Battra launched himself straight up into the air, wings blazing on fire. Godzilla bellowed, watching in disbelief as the dying beast hovered over him.

Scales, singed black by fire, wafted down from Battra’s wings and onto Godzilla. Their poisons dried up by radioactive heat, the scales did nothing to Godzilla. Battra let out another ghastly wail, and plummeted from the sky, heading straight for Godzilla, spreading his many legs. It only took a second for Godzilla to react. He spun around fast, heaving his tail upwards, and hitting Battra with all his might. Battra flew sideways and crashed into a small building, crushing it. His insectoid legs curled inwards and froze as rigor mortis set in, and the flames spread across his entire body.

Godzilla watched the vile creature burn, and snorted with distaste. First Ebirah, now this. It was becoming increasingly obvious to Godzilla that the humans were the very least of his worries. He lifted one of his hands, yanking a spine from his shoulder and dropping it in the ruined streets. He knew now that this place held nothing but fierce opposition… overconfident humans with aggravating weapons, and vicious mutations with startling determination.

More than likely, this would be the case wherever he went. Whatever it was that had changed his life, made him the monster that he knew he was… had clearly affected many other creatures. And, as it seemed, they wanted nothing to do with him. Godzilla growled bitterly at the thought, yanking out another spine as he began to move again. Now he headed West, uncertain as to what lay ahead.