Author's Note: I had danced around the idea of doing an Earth 763 Godzilla story, since I have established that Godzilla exists in my Marvel Universe. But ultimately it wasn't in the cards, and thus I'm doing this piece instead. I'd like to be able to one day do my Marvel Universe's version of the classic Avengers Vs. Godzilla story, but for right now, this is all I'm going to be doing on that front. But hey, at least I managed to do this before Godzilla's 60th Anniversary came to an end. Talk about making it in the nick of time right?
The Day Godzilla Came
The following are actual interviews held with a host of different individuals generally recognized as "Superheroes". The makers of this documentary do not in any way endorse or condemn the practices of any of these individuals, and are strictly neutral concerning all affairs involving superhero activity.
Captain America:
"To be honest it's always been particularly hard for me. Adjusting I mean. I was gone for so long, that to come back so much later and see how much everything's changed...it's not an easy thing for anyone to do, I feel. So whenever I see something new, some new piece of technology, or some custom or practice, or what have you, it takes a while to adapt. Thing is, whenever it comes to what I do in costume, that's actually easier to adjust to in it's own way, mostly because I saw stuff back in the forties that I still have trouble believing could be possible. But it makes dealing with all of the strange things I see now a little easier."
(Pause)
"...but when that...creature, that 'Godzilla', appeared...it was...it was a humbling sight. I know I'm not the most powerful superhero around, but...never before did I feel quite so...small."
Iron Man:
"Of course I knew. About the first incident I mean. Yeah, I'd read all the old files, seen the official reports, saw what footage there was (on a crappy old projector no less), everything. So I already knew that that giant lizard was out there, somewhere. But I wasn't ever consciously thinking 'gee, I think Godzilla might wake up today and start smashing apart New York. I better prepare.' No. I knew it was out there, I knew it was a risk, but I had no way of knowing when or if it would ever show up. Maybe in hindsight I should have prepared more, been more cautious you know? Especially since, people call me 'The Futurist', people look to me to predict the future and make sure it stays a good one. And yet I can't even predict when a giant radioactive lizard that I know exists is going to attack? I mean come on. I should be better than that. I know I'm better than that..."
Black Panther:
"I had heard stories, yes. Wakanda may be a fair distance from your New York, but we go out of our way to keep ourselves informed. And both myself and my father before me have had dealings with SHIELD. This...beast, was one of the things I had heard of during my sharing of information with SHIELD. I will confess there was never any fear that the creature would come to Wakanda, as it had only ever been sighted elsewhere, far from where we were. But in hindsight I suspect we were too hubristic. We should have considered the possibility that Godzilla could come threaten us one day..."
(Pause)
"...it could have been my people that it killed."
Thor:
"Strange custom this is..."
(Pause. Sounds of throat clearing).
"A-hem. Ah, yes. I did indeed fight the creature one on one in single combat. And yes, the beast did prove to be a most worthy foe indeed. Dare I say my fight with this 'Godzilla' was one of my greatest challenges of all, perhaps even my single mightiest hence. And I will confess, there was a moment where I feared my strength and the strength of Mjolnir would not be enough. The creature, it was...fierce. And not owing to mere brute strength alone. It could absorb the thunderbolts I called down from the sky on it, though ones fired at it directly from Mjolnir seemed to hurt it. And this...what do we call those beams it fired out of it's mouth?"
(Atomic Breath)
"'Atomic Breath' you say? Hm. Well, this creature's 'Atomic Breath' was a most potent attack. To be able to even hurt me, the Son of Odin, now that by itself is a monumental feat. And when it's beams turned from a sky blue to the color of fire..."
(Pause)
"...as I said, there was a moment where I confess fear entered my normally unconquerable warrior's heart. I feared not just for my own life, for my own safety, but for that of Midgard as well. For if I were to fall, who else could possibly fend off the beast? Who else among Midgard's many noble defenders could have strength and power sufficient to beat back the fearsome Godzilla and keep it from causing further destruction? These are questions that burned in my mind, and drove me on to keep fighting. But had that dragon not appeared for Godzilla to fight in my stead, I fear that the final outcome might have been a very grave one indeed..."
Hawkeye:
"What do you want from me man? Yeah, I was there. Yeah, I saw the big dinosaur smash through New York like it was a model city. And what do you want me to say? That I'm bummed out that I couldn't do a god-damned thing? Yeah, you bet your ass I'm bummed out about it. More than bummed out, I felt so expletive useless the whole expletive time! I mean, it's me, with the bow and arrows, what the expletive am I supposed to do? Shoot a boxing glove arrow at it or something? Maybe try and find it's soft scale and hit it with my special 'dragon-slaying arrow'!? I mean of course I felt useless! Because I was useless down there! And how do you think that makes me feel!?"
Mockingbird:
"Yeah...don't be too hard on Clint there. I understand how he feels, I know I felt useless down there too. Really I think we all did, except for maybe Thor, and that's because god or not, he was the only one that could stand up to that thing. It really was humbling too, because none of us had ever seen that much power and destruction in one...thing before. I mean no question we'd seen some bad collateral damage before, we'd seen some nasty supervillains, but this...this was on a whole another level. It, uh...it takes some adjusting to. It really does."
Black Widow:
"Like Iron Man, I knew about Godzilla prior to it's attack. I had read all of the reports. Like him I knew it coming back was a risk, but so were so many other things that might still happen one day. SHIELD cannot divert resources to guard against every possible threat that comes along. Make no mistake though: we had countermeasures in place for when or if Godzilla showed up again. And had those plans not been there...that day would have gone worse. Much, much worse."
Scarlet Witch:
"It's funny, my father has always argued that Mutants have a right to be in power, because we already have power. We're already more powerful than normal humans, or so he says. Basically, this idea of 'might makes right'. That we should be at the top because we're the most powerful. But having now seen this Godzilla, and seen the power that it possess, I have to ask: where does that leave us Mutants in my father's view of the world? Where does Godzilla sit on my father's pyramid structure of the world?"
Bruce Banner:
"There aren't too many things out there, people or otherwise, that can do to the Hu-the other guy, what that monster Godzilla did. Ever since it...happened, I've, to put it lightly, had my challenges. I've always had to worry about losing control. But in that moment, I realized: it didn't matter if I lost control or not. Because for the first time since it happened, I met something that was bigger, stronger, meaner, and more destructive than the Hulk."
Mr. Fantastic:
"I do regret the Fantastic Four's lack of involvement in what happened with Godzilla. And yes, I do feel that had we been able to involve ourselves more we could have done a lot to mitigate the destruction and saved a lot of lives that were lost on that terrible day. And I do take some responsibility for it. I feel that with my intellect, and my resources, I could have and should have done something about it. I know we were bogged down in our own crisis at the time, and that the X-Men were as well, but I feel like I can't let myself off the hook with just that. I feel I need to take some responsibility for this. So many people look up to the Fantastic Four in general and me in particular. I just can't help but feel that with this whole incident I let everyone down."
Spider-Man:
"Me? I stuck to strictly crowd control. As in, I tried to save as many people that were in that giant lizard's way as I could. I knew I couldn't get too close because of the radiation Godzilla gives off, but I figured I could still get close enough to save some people who would have been flattened or vaporized had I not been there. But the worst part is the fact that I knew going in that I could only save a few. I knew every time I swung in to grab somebody else that there were ten or more other people who would die because I wouldn't be able to save them. Because I couldn't do enough."
(Pause)
"...I didn't like that feeling."
Daredevil:
"With me, the thing that stood out to me the most was...the senses. I could hear so intensely it's footsteps, each one feeling like a sledgehammer to my head. I could hear it's roar more than anyone else, to the point that blood was coming out of my ears and I was deaf for weeks afterwards. I could smell the radiation that coats every inch of that beast's body. I could smell the sulfur, the uranium, the carbon, and every other chemical that thing is doused in from head to heels. It's one big walking nuclear furnace of rage. And it gives it off too. My nose burned for as long as I was deaf, meaning I couldn't smell all that well. Between it all, I had no choice but to stop being Daredevil for a little while, wait until I was fully recovered."
(Pause)
"That thing took me out of commission without even touching me. Not many things can do that."
All of these interviews and others regarding the devastating Godzilla attack of 2004 are part of the documentary made in 2006 about the event. It is available to buy and is widely hailed as one of the most important documentaries of the 21st Century. It is considered essential viewing for any who wish to understand the nature and full story of the events of that fateful day in 2004.
Never forget. Always remember the day Godzilla came.