Daisuke Serizawa.
Here he was, standing on the ocean floor. Clutching the horrible weapon he had forged in his hands. Standing above him, its shadow blanketing him from the sun, was the enormous beast Godzilla. This creature was unlike anything he had ever seen before in his life. Doctor Kyohei Yamane's lecture about the creature boggled his mind even more. The missing link between dinosaurs and aquatic reptiles somehow survived millions of years. He couldn't even imagine what it was like before it had been irradiated by the atomic bomb. It was fascinating. And terrifying.
He had watched the creature's trail of destruction on the television from his laboratory. It smashed every building in its way and lit the city ablaze with its atomic breath. And that horrifying roar that echoed across the city. This monster had caused as much devastation as the bombs dropped on their cities at the end of World War II. The creature's existence both angered and scared him.
Oddly enough, down here, it was peaceful. It slowly walked along the bottom of the ocean. Not storming, thrashing, roaring, or smashing. It just was. Down here, away from the panicked citizens, political pressure, and the wreckage of his fair city, he had a newfound perspective on Godzilla. It wasn't a monster after all. Merely a confused animal. So many thoughts raced through Serizawa's head. Maybe Yamane had been right all along. Perhaps if the people had given the creature space and studied it, things could have turned out differently. Too late for that now. Serizawa shut his eyes and shook his head. A wasted opportunity for humanity to learn more about the Earth's history. And now he had no choice but to kill this rare animal. The first and the last of its kind.
He narrowed his good eye and stared at the creature. The television coverage did not do the animal justice. Its brown flesh looked very thick and heavy but also very twisted and distorted. As though someone had liquefied its scales and reheated it into a mottled mess. It looked horribly painful, but the animal showed no signs of discomfort. It stood still in the water. The distorted flesh reminded Serizawa of the victims of exposure to the atomic bomb droppings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The scientist's eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he looked up to see the large dinosaur peering down at him. It looked curious to see him down here, so close to him. Hideo Ogata had returned to the surface a few minutes ago, leaving the two of them alone.
Godzilla and humanity were alike in many ways. Humanity had ruined its life, so the creature had exacted what many would seem to be revenge. Despite the pain Serizawa felt for his city and its people, he could not blame the animal. Now, it was time for the Earth to have its revenge. By taking the both of them. A creature like Godzilla in its current state could never coexist peacefully on this Earth with them. Serizawa could not live on this Earth either, having created the Oxygen Destroyer. There would be no peace for him if he allowed himself to live after all this. The United States and the USSR would be breathing down his necks every day for the rest of his life. They would come after Emiko, Hideo, Yamane, and Martin. The threat of the Oxygen Destroyer to humanity would die with him. He pulled a switch on the side and dropped it to his and Godzilla's feet, and a cloud of bubbles erupted from the device. The central sphere split down the middle, belching up even more bubbles. The water began to churn wildly. Serizawa peered through the cloud of bubbles, seeing the large creature shake and convulse in extreme pain. The act to kill this beast was necessary, but it didn't dull the pain in Serizawa's heart.
"Serizawa!" Hideo shouted over the radio. "Serizawa! What's going on? Serizawa!" The scientist ignored his friend, watching Godzilla swim for the surface with the bubbles biting at its heels. Even if it managed to escape out into more open waters, it wouldn't matter. The micro-oxygen entering his system sealed his fate the minute the cloud hit it.
"Ogata," he replied. "It worked." He smiled softly to himself. Soon, his country, the beast, and he could be at peace. "Both of you be happy. Goodbye and farewell." Serizawa withdrew the knife from his pocket and flicked the blade out.
"Serizawa!" Ogata called on the radio. "Hey, bring him up!" His friend wouldn't have the chance. He began to saw at the rope tethering to the boat above. "Serizawa!" As quick as he could, he hacked the oxygen pipe and watched the two drift to the silhouette of the boat above. Water began to flood his diving helmet, and the micro-oxygen began to eat away at him. It burned his flesh with great force. His only comfort was that all of this would end soon. Everything began to grow dark for him, his body growing weak. His legs collapsed, and he fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before the end was the corpse of Godzilla drifting down to meet him, quickly decomposing as it fell. Soon, the two would rest at the bottom of the ocean together, for all eternity.
He had heard in books and from his fellow veterans that life flashes before one's eyes as they approach death. He saw it. All of it flash before him like a flash of lightning.
The burning of his notes. The rampage of Godzilla through Tokyo. His betrothal to Emiko, the girl he had fallen in love with. The discovery of micro-oxygen. Befriending Hideo and Yamane. Losing his eye while serving in World War II. Being drafted into his nation's military. Forced to flee the United States because of racial tension from Pearl Harbor. Meeting Steve Martin in college. Moving to America. The rest of his memory quickly began to blur as his body began to deteriorate.
Kyouhei Yamane.
Emiko Yamane.
Hideo Ogata.
Steve Martin.
Godzilla.
Goodbye.
And forgive me.