DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I don't own Godzilla, he's Toho's burden. The kaiju Katanos is entirely my own creation. Review this if you want to, but bear in mind that it's very much a work in progress, since it was started spontaneously. Enjoy in any case.

Chapter 1: Mystery of the Ruins

The sun filtered through the canopy above, causing scattered pockets of heat all over the floor. A weak branch snapped without warning, causing a shaft of light to shine directly into Dirk Reynolds' eyes. He squinted and mumbled in frustration, but remained precisely where he was, brushing seemingly endless layers of dirt and dust from the stone floor beneath him. He glanced around to see how the rest of the archaeology team were doing. How typical it was that everyone seemed to have a better task at hand than him.

When news of the ruins discovered in the forest near Mt. Fuji reached American shores, Dirk's father, Dr. Arnold Reynolds, had dispatched his best dig team at once, putting his son in charge. As he looked around the site, Dirk was amazed that such a place had gone undiscovered for so many centuries.

Suddenly the Japanese guides began yelling something in their native tongue. Even Dirk, who knew no more Japanese than a casual tourist could tell that they were excited. He ran to the crumbled wall the locals were working near along with most of the team. Having turned over a part of the wall that was lying on the floor they had discovered some kind of relief, unlike anything Dirk had seen before. Someone to his right took a photograph of the stone mural.

The relief depicted a group of what appeared to be samurai, one of which was kneeling before an altar of sorts. The next panel showed the same warrior towering over his fellows, his head replaced with that of a reptile. Yet another panel showed him destroying a city with two huge swords. The rest of the story was missing, and no trace of the missing piece of wall could be found.

Dirk was clearly interested in the find, but it was getting late. He pulled his sun hat lower over his eyes and gave the order to pack up for the day.

Deep under the ocean, something was stirring, moving ever closer to consciousness after centuries of sleep. With its awakening, it threatened no end of disaster, a catastrophe unlike any seen before.

Naturally, such terrible energy couldn't go unnoticed. Radio waves the world over faltered at random, causing interference to countless technologies. And deep in an underwater chasm, a similarly terrible being heard the wakening call, a challenge to its power. A wave of energy rolled across the creature's body, and a brilliant speck of blue light pierced the darkness as its eye opened. Godzilla, King of the Monsters, heard the challenge, and he would answer.

Dirk ripped the top from a container of noodles and spooned them hastily into his mouth. He grimaced as they touched his tongue; that was the price he had paid for travelling on a strict budget. He forcibly gulped down the rest of his meal and undid his ponytail, letting his long brown hair cascade onto his shoulders. He opened the screen door to the balcony of his Tokyo hotel and stepped outside. His girlfriend Emma was leaning on the balcony, her black hair blowing in the wind. Walking up behind her, Dirk put his arms around her and stared out towards Tokyo Bay. The thick fog over the water was tinted an odd shade of reddish-brown which had baffled him since the first night they had been in Tokyo.

"I don't like the look of it," Emma commented. "I keep getting the feeling something terrible is going to happen, and you know how these feelings of mine are usually right."

Dirk put his head forward and kissed her cheek lightly. "I know, but what's the worst that could happen? It's not like Godzilla's coming back, he hasn't been seen in years, not since Destoroyah got him. Come back inside, you're gonna give yourself nightmares." He went back inside and started to undress for bed, and Emma soon followed him, yet she couldn't get a sense of impending disaster out of her head.

Deep in the forest ruins, the silence was broken by rapid footsteps and cries of fear. A small Japanese boy came hurtling out of an inner chamber, his older friend chasing after him.

"Come on," yelled the older boy, "It was just a rat! There's nothing here!"

"I don't care! I don't like it here, I'm going home Yujii!" The younger one spun on his heel to face his friend.

Yujii stopped and grinned. "Fine then. I'll just have to tell everyone at school that you're a little chicken!" He started prancing around the hallway, making chicken impressions.

"Yujii, stop it! Let's just go!" His friend was getting panicked; he had never liked the idea of going into the ruins. "Shh! What was that?" he grabbed Yujii by the shoulder, and at that moment, both boys heard a pair of whooshing sounds. Something hurtled down the corridor towards them, cutting their gasps of fear short as the two boys fell to the floor with a dull thud, then knew no more.