Doctor Adam Yuma sat up late at night, studying the mold he had been given by the native tribe he encountered on his trip to the Adona Islands. He had only been back in Hiroshima for three days and was eager to come to a final conclusion regarding the mold and its purpose: to cure radiation sickness.

That did not necessarily mean that it could reverse the long-lasting effects of radiation exposure, like the cancer that had been slowly killing one of his patients, the teenage girl Keiko. In fact, for all he knew, the mold could be lethal to her weakened immune system. He could not afford to take any chances. The Hiroshima Defense Science Center, where he had previously worked for military research, was much better equipped for such thorough examination, so he gained special permission to reclaim his old laboratory and took full advantage of its facilities.

Yuma winced as he peered into his microscope. His eyes were sore and dry. He looked at the clock hanging on the far wall; it was nearly three in the morning, much later than he had intended to be there, but he knew if he went home now, he would not be able to sleep.

As he reached for a bottle of eye drops, the air was suddenly filled with the deafening wail of a disaster siren. The door to Yuma's lab burst open and in came Hirano, the senior officer. "Doctor! It's a monster attack! Take anything you want to save and come with me!"

Yuma grabbed his duffel and stuffed not only the mold samples but his notes and microscopic photographs inside. The two of them took off down the hall and practically slid down the stairs to the emergency exit.

No sooner had they left the building than an explosion at the port illuminated the night sky. The attacking monster had destroyed an oil tanker and caused a massive fire. A vicious cackle rang out, reverberating off the buildings until it filled the entire city.

The guards of the research center poured into a JSDF cargo truck and drove off to the emergency shelter, leaving before Yuma and Hirano could get in. However, the doctor's own car was parked in its usual place, so they opted to take that instead.

"Allow me," said Hirano, opening the driver's side door and climbing in. Yuma got in the passenger's side, still holding onto his duffel. He looked over and was shocked to see Hirano pointing a gun at him. "Please, Doctor. Your seatbelt."

"Hirano! What are you doing?"

"Seatbelt!"

Yuma anxiously did as he was told as Hirano pulled out of the parking space. "Where are you taking me?"

Hirano sneered. "You'll see soon enough." He pulled the trigger, shooting Yuma with a tranquilizer dart. The doctor slumped forward, unconscious almost instantly. Hirano hit the gas and sped away, heading in the opposite direction from the shelter.

Meanwhile, the monster disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared, too quickly for anyone to get a clear look at it.

As the first rays of sun appeared, Doctor Kumi Honda stood in Yuma's lab, looking over what remained of his research materials. Everything pertinent to his study of the Adona mold was gone. After a few minutes of searching fruitlessly for any clues as to what had happened to her friend, Honda addressed the guard standing in the doorway. "You said Doctor Yuma never came to the shelter?"

"That's correct."

"And who was this other man who didn't show?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Hirano. He's the head of this facility. One of the truck drivers said he saw them getting into Doctor Yuma's car together, but nobody knows what happened to them after that."

"I see. Had either of them mentioned anything before about going somewhere?"

"No, Doctor. We still don't have any leads."

Honda sighed. "Well, thank you for giving me as much information as you could." She walked out of the laboratory and down the main stairwell. Around her neck was the necklace given to her by the Wise Ones from Infant Island to improve her psychic powers. She held the golden pendant of Mothra between her fingers and tried to sense Yuma, but it was no good; he was too far away.

Come on, Adam, she thought. Where are you?

Takashima, the pilot who transported her on missions, was waiting for her when she came outside. "Well, Doc? Any clues?"

"All they know is he left with the senior officer. They don't know why or where to." Honda took a seat on the steps leading up to the main entrance. "I don't understand! Why would they just take off without a word?"

Takashima sat next to her. "Didn't you say that when you were in the Adonas, Major Clarke tried to abduct both of you?"

"Right; that's what I'm worried about. What if whoever paid him to 'acquire' us is behind this?"

"Who was it, though? Why did they want Doctor Yuma, and why would they want his research?"

Honda looked over her shoulder as a woman in a lab coat came walking toward them. "I'll tell you later," she mumbled, standing up to meet the approaching scientist. "Excuse me, are you one of Doctor Yuma's colleagues?"

"Yes." She held out a hand for Honda to shake. "I'm Doctor Sawaguchi. I work at the hospital. You must be Doctor Honda."

"I am."

"I'm sorry about all of this. I understand you two are very close. We got a call that he had gone missing, so I looked around to see if he was with the other staff or his patients."

"Did you find him?"

Sawaguchi shook her head regretfully. "I'm afraid not, but I did notice that one of his patients was missing, a teenage girl named Keiko."

"Kieko? I think I met her! Wasn't she the orphan he'd spent years caring for?"

"Yes, I think that's her. I don't usually work with the inpatients. I'm sorry I don't have more to tell you."

"You've told me plenty. Thank you, Doctor."

The scientists bowed to each other. As Sawaguchi left, Honda turned to Takashima. "Keiko was his favorite patient," she whispered. "For them to both disappear on the same night seems awfully suspicious, don't you think?"

"It sure does. Doctor, do you think maybe you should lay low for a while? You could be in danger, too!"

Honda folded her arms resolutely. "Of course not! There's work to do. One of my dearest friends is missing, and we have a new monster to track down. Speaking of which, we should get back to the Shirasagi and see if we can't pick up this thing's trail."

Somewhere just off the southern coast of Shikoku, the nuclear submarine Musashi was on patrol when the sonar operator detected something suspicious.

"Captain! Unidentified object two kilometers out."

"Direction?"

"It's circling us, maintaining distance."

"It's what?" The captain leaned over the sonar operator's shoulder to look at the screen; he recognized the movement pattern as the predatory behavior of a giant monster. "Speed?"

"I can't tell, but too fast for torpedoes."

"Better call the Shirasagi and tell them we found their guy."

Honda and Takashima had just entered their AC-3 transport and were preparing for takeoff when the call came through.

"Submarine Musashi to Shirasagi. Do you read us, Shirasagi?"

Takashima answered, "This is Shirasagi. We read you. Go ahead."

"We are passing Cape Ashizuri and have detected an unidentified creature; target has not made any hostile moves but appears to be stalking us. Requesting your support. Over."

Honda said, "Godzilla should be near there. I'll send him in."

Takashima nodded and spoke to the the submarine captain again. "Roger that, Musashi. Reduce your speed and don't make any abrupt changes in course. The big guy is headed your way."

Godzilla was not only one of the strongest creatures alive, but one of the greatest swimmers ever. He arrived on the scene within ten minutes to find the Musashi still being menaced by a fast-moving creature. Godzilla could catch glimpses of the monster and tried to read it telepathically, but there was no response. The creature was not sending out any readable brainwaves.

All of a sudden, the beast darted toward the Musashi. Godzilla moved to intercept, but the attacker reached the submarine first and plowed right through it, rupturing the hull and destroying the vessel in a spectacular explosion. Godzilla felt the fear and anguish of the dying crewmen, but there was nothing he could do.

As the debris cleared and the displaced water settled back down, Godzilla looked around but could still barely see the other monster as it sped through the dark waters like a torpedo. After a few moments without seeing anything, he was struck from behind with tremendous force and sent reeling. Before he could orient himself, he was struck again, but this time the other monster latched onto him for just long enough to take a huge bite out of his shoulder; it then pressed its feet against Godzilla's chest and used its long, muscular legs to launch itself off.

Godzilla spun head over tail through the water, while blood streamed from his wound. He managed to steady himself and put a hand over the gash on his shoulder, which was already healing rapidly. By the time the cloud of blood cleared away and he could see clearly, his assailant had vanished. Confused and distressed, he reached out to Honda telepathically.

Friend!

Godzilla? What happened?

The other animal destroyed the vessel. It took a bite out of me, and then it disappeared.

Disappeared?

It swims quickly, quicker than me.

Can you follow it? We think there might be a connection between the monster and Adam's disappearance.

I can't find it.

What?

I can't sense the creature's presence like I can for others. It was a flesh and blood animal, not a machine, but I could not feel its mind, like there was nothing to be felt.

An animal with no mind of its own...How can that be?