Chapter One: Instinct

The great beast opened its eyes slowly. How long had it been since the world went black? Hours? Days? The creature wasn't sure. When its vision finally cleared it noticed something odd. Even though its eyes were open, all the beast could see was darkness. Something else was also wrong. Every part of the beast's 300+ foot body ached horribly. Suddenly it realized the source of both the pain and the darkness: the beast was buried under several tons of rubble. It didn't know how or why it had ended up buried, nor did it care. All it cared about was escaping its tomb and resuming its mission: to find and provide food for the two hundred or so young that would hatch from eggs the creature - known as Zilla - would lay in about three weeks time. After resting a moment to regain strength, the huge beast rose from its rocky tomb, rubble falling off of its massive body as it did so. Zilla looked around. It wasn't where it was the last time it remembered. Before it was swimming in the middle of a giant ocean, in hot pursuit of a school of Yellowfin Tuna, then... nothing. It had no memories of the following span of time up to this point.

Now here Zilla was, standing on a shoreline with the sea on one side, moonlight glittering off of its surface, and a strange giant forest of huge, rectangular structures on the other. The structures seemed to be made out of a stone-like substance and also varied in height. Many of the structures were badly damaged. While interesting, the giant reptile knew that whatever had gone on here was over. With the closest thing to a shrug a reptilian giant could give, Zilla began to make his way toward the welcoming sea. Suddenly it stopped and sniffed the air. There was a familiar scent in the air, one which triggered a forgotten memory in the beast's surprisingly intelligent mind. Zilla was swimming in the sea when he was somehow captured by a giant metallic object floating in the sky. When Zilla was brought aboard, small human-like beings began experimenting on the beast. Over time Zilla found himself preforming certain acts, even when Zilla himself didn't want to. At some point later, Zilla found himself in a different location... the very spot in which he was now standing. Suddenly the reptilian titan found himself facing another giant beast. While vaguely similar to Zilla, this creature was slightly taller, had darker skin, and seemed to be built for strength rather than speed. Moments later Zilla charged. The other creature responded with a blast of searing heat from its mouth, something the more agile Zilla was able to dodge easily by jumping high into the air toward his opponent. The other creature responded with a tail slap, which sent Zilla hurdling straight into a building. Before Zilla could recover, the other giant let loose with another flame blast, causing intense pain, as well as the remains of the building to crash down on Zilla.

As unsettling as the memory was, Zilla knew he couldn't dwell on such things anymore. The past didn't matter. All that mattered now was resuming his mission of parenthood. And if the giant beast that Zilla had fought with earlier tried to get in the way, well... that would simply be to bad for him. Zilla strode toward the ocean once more, quickening his pace this time, his giant, taloned feet sending small tremors throught the ground as he did so. He then dove deep into the sea, its cooling waters beginning the creature's healing process. He dove deep, deep, and even deeper, beyond the limites of most man-made submarines, and still deeper. Zilla needed to find a place of safety. Not for himself however (he was, after all, a massive fire-breatheing lizard), he needed to find a place for his young. And he knew just the place.

While the beast was highly intelligent (by animal standards at least), Zilla was still an animal. An animal's actions aren't dictated by rational thought or emotion. What controls an animal's course of action is something more primal and powerful: Instinct. And while an animal can't understand or plan for revenge, it can take the cold pleasure of defeating a worthy opponent in battle. The very thought of defeating the massive beast he fought with would have made Zilla smile. Reptiles, however, don't have lips to smile with, so he would have to settle for the pleasing thought of seeing his opponent's life drain away. And from such simple (if not chilling) pleasures a happy life was made.

Chapter Two: Migration

About two weeks later another giant creature also found himself on the move. This creature was known far and wide as the King of Monsters, Godzilla. Godzilla was world famous, for he had not only destroyed whole armies with a single breath, but had also fought the most powerful monsters in existence. Everything from Kumonga to King Ghidorah had fallen before his sheer might. However, there was something so powerful that even Godzilla was forced to flee or risk being killed: The sheer, uncontrolable force of Mother Nature. Godzilla had been swimming in a generally northern direction ever since a giant hurricane forced him from his home. He has already traveled several thousands of miles in a relatively short time. Now he was traveling in a colder ocean. The Atlantic. While he didn't bother naming the oceans as man had for centuries, he knew he was very far from home. He knew that traveling through an unknown location was always risky, so the King of Monsters had to keep his guard up.

Suddenly, a huge object surged past him, to fast for him see clearly. Before Godzilla could reacte, the swimming creature slammed into the Monster King's midsection, forcing the air from his lungs. This was a very bad thing. While Godzilla was gifted with a number of amazing abilities, even he needed air. Godzilla wasn't going down without a fight though. He grabbed the creature by its spiked back and delivered a stunning kick to its stomach. While the beast began to sink, Godzilla surged to the surface and inhailed air faster and harder than he ever had before. The King of Monsters dove back below the surface, looking for whoever dared to to attack him. Nothing. Whatever it was, it was now nowhere to be seen. Godzilla decided to move on, but more alert this time, never knowing that the creature that attacked him was merely testing him.

There was more to come. There was much more to come...

Chapter Three: The Arrival

Marty sat on one of the many crates that crowded the deck of the cargo ship that floated near one of Manhattans's docks. This particular ship was about to transport an unusully large shipment of crates to Europe. This was only the latest of the hundreds of deliveries Marty has made while on the job. He doubted that this one would be any different from all of the others. He was wrong.

Before the ship was even a quarter mile away from the docks it was struck hard from below, almost throwing Marty overboard. Marty looked down at the side of the ship. There was a series of huge gashes in the ship's side that were just barely visible under the water's surface. While deep, they weren't large enough to flood the ship before it could get back to shore. Marty looked at the sea on the opposite side of the ship. he could make out a massive bulge of water barreling toward the shore. Before the man's startled eyes a gigantic lizard-like beast emerged from the sea. Marty had never ever seen this creature with his own eyes, but from what he learned from news reports there was no mistaking the identity of the beast. The next word out of his mouth was a frightening one. It was a mere two syllables, but frightening nonetheless. "Zilla", whispered Marty.

Zilla was frustrated. It had traveled several hundreds of miles to reach the spot of his birth. Like some other species, such as sea turtles, Zilla's instincts told him to return to his birthplace in order to lay his eggs, so his children could do the same one day. He wanted to find a place of suclusion to make his nest, but all of the little biepedal creatures running here and there wouldn't stop screaming and running around his feet. He wanted nothing from them, not even food. Why would he eat bony humans when there was an entire ocean of fish just a short walk away?

With every step Zilla took the earth trembled, the pavement buckled, and people became even more panicked. They had good reason to be afraid. Just two years earlier this new creature's father also came to this place to nest, resulting in much of the city being reduced to rubble. The creature succeeded in laying it's eggs, which hatch a short time after. Left unchecked, the hatchlings would have grown up and layed their own eggs, since each individual was born pregnent. However, due to the actions of a scientist, his news reporter ex-girlfriend, her cameraman, and a French soldier, all of the hatchlings were killed. The parent was also killed soon after. While everyone thought the threat of these creatures was over, no one ever expected that two eggs had survived. The first hatchling soon escaped from Manhattan (the other egg would just hours later and imprint on the human responsible for its father's dimise, and in two years it reached adulthood. Now it was ready to repeat the process its father had begun.

While Zilla rampaged through the streets in search of a suitable nesting spot, another massive figure rose from the waters around Manhattan Island. Godzilla was about to turn around when he reached this spot. Before he could, however, he noticed masses of smoke rising from the city followed by a familiar roar, one he hadn't heard since... No! It couldn't be. But somehow Godzilla knew an old rival was back. Godzilla began making his way toward the island. This was his was his island, his ocean, his planet. And no one was going to take it away from him.

Chapter Four: The Encounter

Zilla had lost almost all of his patience. He didn't like this cramped enviornment. Not only could it easily hide enemies, but also restricted Zilla's movement. Zilla had been trudging through the labyrinth of buildings for over an hour, and it still couldn't find the nest he hatched from. Zilla decided that he would have to create his own nest. Zilla came across a section of the city that was still under construction from the first Zilla's attack. He thrust his giant claws into the loose pavement, tearing out huge chunks of earth as he did so. Before he could repeat this a fifth time, he felt an intense level of heat on his back. Zilla howled in pain, and stumbled back a few steps. When Zilla turned around he saw a discouraging sight. Godzilla, the creature that had defeated Zilla earlier, was standing only a few hundred feet away, his back spikes glowing a bluish-white.

Under normal circumstances Zilla would have glady made Godzilla pay for injuring him. These weren't normal circumstances. Zilla was only a short time away from laying his eggs, and he needed a safe place to store them for incubation. He couldn't risk being injured or killed, that would mean damaging or even destroying the eggs before they could be layed. That meant Zilla was left with one option: running away. Zilla ran through the maze of buildings at top speed, determined to escape Godzilla until Zilla could lay his eggs. Every time he rounded a corner he took out a huge chunk of building with his tail or arm. After only a few minutes of sprinting Zilla knew he had left his opponent far behind. Zilla knew he couldn't keep this up forever, he needed to find a nest.

Chapter Five: Destruction

Godzilla chased after Zilla at top speed. Unfortunately, for Godzilla, top speed wasn't very fast. Godzilla was built for strength, not speed. To quicken his chase, Godzilla simply plowed through any buildings that were in his way. And that was a lot of buildings. After several minutes the titan finally stopped to rest. If he exausted all of his strength while running he would be to weak to fight Zilla.

CRRAAAAAKKKK !

A sudden noise to the right made the King of Monsters turn around. He saw nothing.

CRRAAAAAKKKK!

The sound came again. This time to the left.

CRRAAAAAKKKK!

Godzilla spun this way and that trying to find the sound's source. However, the sound's source came from the one place Godzilla wasn't expecting: underground. Zilla suddenly sprang from the ground behind his foe, jumped onto his back, and clamped down onto Godzilla's neck with his powerful jaws. Godzilla howled in pain. He then grabbed onto his opponent's head with his clawed hands, and proseaded to pull until Zilla was removed and thrown onto the ground. Godzilla's fins then began to glow, meaning he was gathering energy to release a blast of radioactive flames. The blast escaped Godzilla's jaws, heading straight for his opponent, who was just now getting two his feet. The blast made contact, resulting in a giant explosion. Several moments past as Godzilla waited for the cloud of dust and smoke to clear. When it did Godzilla saw an unexpected sight: His opponent was gone. While powerful, Godzilla's flame blasts weren't powerful enough to make an opponent of Zilla's size completely desintegrate.

Suddenly the King of Monsters heard something land behind him. He turned just in time to get a face full of radioactive flame, similar to his own. He bellowed in pain, and stumbled back a few steps. When his vision cleared, Godzilla saw Zilla standing a short distance in front of him. The legendary beast didn't know how Zilla managed to both dodge his flame breath and get behind him to attack. It didn't matter. This threat to his planet, his territory had to be ended. Godzilla prepared for what could very well be his final battle. Zilla did the same. Both were fighting for something important to themselves. For Godzilla, defeat would mean his territory would be overrun. For Zilla, defeat would mean his death as well as the death of his offspring. Suddenly the time for sizing each other up was over. The time for battle had begun.

Chapter Six: Final Conflict

Both giants charged each other, the earth trembling from their massive footfalls. Both beasts collided. Godzill, having greater reach over his opponent, caught Zilla in a headlock. The massive reptile protested by slashing Godzilla's legs and stomach with its razor-sharp talons. Godzilla roared in pain and released Zilla. Zilla charged again, this time succeeding in knocking Godzilla onto his back. Zilla took advantage of this, and released a blast of flame from his toothy maw. The flames were painful, but not life threatening. Godzilla got to his feet and charged. He trapped Zilla in another headlock, but rather than try and hang on, he swung Zilla into a building, stunning the beast. Godzilla then lifted Zilla into the air and threw him over a thousand feet, Zilla flying through any buildings in the way in the process. Zilla hit the ground with the force of a train wreck. All was still and quiet. Godzilla approached the prone form of Zilla. For a split second the King of Monsters believed he had won, that is until Zilla's tail snapped to strike Godzilla's ankles, sending the monster falling to the ground. Zilla quickly got to his feet and pownced on his fallen opponent biting, slashing, and pounding Godzilla all the while. Godzilla delivered a powerful blow to Zilla's head knocking him senseless for a moment.

Godzilla painfully pulled himself into a standing position even as Zilla did the same. Both monsters were tired, wounded, and unwilling to surrender. Both monsters knew there was only one tool at both of there disposal that could end this fight.They acted as one. Godzilla's fins began to glow brightly. The same happedend to Zilla's spikes. It happend so fast. It happend so slow. Both creatures released blasts of atomic flame energy. Both blast flew through the air toward their owners' opponent. Suddenly, they collided. The blasts seemed to be evenly matched, as each energy stream was holding the other back, battling each other for supremacy. It couldn't last, as both combatants were tiring, running the risk that one would run out of energy before other. It never came to that. After only a few moments a chemical reaction between the two beams caused a massive explosion, massive enough to reduce half the city to radioactive rubble. When the smoke finally cleared there was no sign of either creature.

Epilouge

In the following months and years people would begin rebuilding Manhattan as well as search for Zilla's nest. It seemed that Zilla had managed to lay its eggs in a damaged building before battling Godzilla, though most were destroyed when the explosion occurred. Luckily, most of Manhattan's population managed to escape before the explosion. Many people would propose a number of ideas of what had happend to Zilla and Godzilla. Some would say that they were disintegrated by the blast, while others say they somehow manged to escape into the sea. While what happend to them is up to debate one thing is certain: Both Godzilla and Zilla are examples of what could happen when man tries to use science to bend nature to his will. As history has taught us many times over the course of thousands of years, this world we live in is more fragile then some would like to believe, and the same applies to the beings who inhabite it. If humanity is willing to use weapons of such mass destruction (such as atomic and nuclear bombs), then are we not the true monsters? Are Godzilla, Zilla, and the other mutant beasts merely by-products of man's ignorance? If so, can we ever learn to resolve humanity's problems with peace rather than force? Can we ever leave behind the monsters within us all?

We must take care of what we have in nature. For if we do not, it will be doomed to disappear... never to return.

The End? Or is this just the beginning?