A/N: Hello again, I am Immortal Drake, one of many Godzilla authors on Fanfiction! I had been sitting around thinking on how to make my other stories move forward, but then I remembered I had this sitting around. Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Godzilla, which belongs to Toho. I only own my OCs and concepts.

Shiigara: The Swamp Terror

By: Immortal Drake

Lance looked out upon the water and sighed, this was where he belonged, out in a boat in the Everglades. He and his friend Jeb were taking Lance's younger brother Marky out on his first gator hunt. The season had just started, and they were allowed to bag a couple gators each. Marky's real name was Marcus, but everyone called him Marky because it was shorter. His brother kept insisting on being called Mark, but the nickname had been stuck for too long, and Lance was still amused by calling him Marky. Today was perfect, the sky was clear, the water was clearer than usual, and Jeb had already bagged a gator for himself. Lance was waiting for Marky to take aim at one so he could give him pointers on where to aim and what not. They were heading further into the swamp than Lance and Jeb usually did, but it was a special day and a mighty good one too.

They had passed plenty of spots the alligators usually hung out in, but there hadn't been any, which was strange, but they were sure to run into some as they headed further in; so they kept going. They had passed an especially rotted-looking log earlier, Lance remembered, it must have been from a big tree, it was larger than any log he had ever seen before. He knew that alligators had evolved to be able to disguise themselves as logs, but no gator was large enough to be that big. And besides, they needed to be careful not to run into a log, disguised gator or otherwise. They entered a particularly large grove of trees, when activity on the port side caught his attention. He thought he saw something big move, but it must have been his imagination. Then something big shot out of the water and nearly missed crushing him in the boat!

It was an alligator, that was for sure, but it was bigger than any gator he had ever seen or heard about, and the limbs were longer, as well has having more ridged bumps along its back. It was easily longer than their boat, and was nearly capsizing it at the same time from where it sat on the side. The gator was also giving off a deep hiss, and snapped at him repeatedly as he scrambled back. The gator's tail came around and swiped Marky in the chest, knocking him clear off the boat and into the water. "Marky," Lance screamed, but he became more concerned for himself as he started backing closer and closer to where Jeb sat at the controls. The gator was obviously mad, it was hissing and snapping enough. What Lance didn't get was what they had done to anger it, and how he was going to survive. The gator surprised them both when it suddenly reared up on its hind legs and shot a jet of water in Lance's direction; he tried to block it with his right arm, but the water must have been boiling, it seared his flesh and he let out a yelp of pain. Jeb stood up with his .44 revolver drawn and pointed it at the gator. "Get down," Jeb shouted, and as Lance ducked for cover, Jeb shot the gator twice in the side, making it hiss, and the gator retreated back into the water.

"Wh-What was that thing," Lance asked of no one in particular, but then he remembered his brother who had been knocked off the boat. He panicked and searched for his brother, to find him already trying to get back in the boat and holding his chest. "Marky," he said, and went forward to help him in, Jeb as well. As they eased him into the boat, Lance checked him over, "It seems like some broken ribs," he said. "Didn't drop my gun though," said Marky. "No, no you didn't," said Lance, and he looked to where Jeb was walking back to the controls of the boat.

"What are you doing," Lance asked his friend. "What do you think; I'm going to find what that beast was so angry about," said Jeb in answer. "No way, we need to get Marky medical help," said Lance as he bound Marky's chest with gauze strips from the first aid kit they kept on board. Lance continued, "And besides, if that giant gator was guarding something valuable enough to attack us in our boat, then we should best leave it alone." It was only then he noticed the pain in his scalded arm, and so he finished tying Marky and looked for the burn cream they had in the kit. It was there just in case someone burned themselves while working on the engine, and Lance was glad they had it as he tied some strips around the arm. "It also might make us quite rich if we find it," said Jeb. This wasn't convincing enough for Lance, but what could he do in the state he was in, and besides, a part of him did want some kind of compensation for the attack.

It was thus decided that they should head further into the swamp. The water quickly became clogged with debris, so they made for a solid patch of ground. Marky had to be left in the boat, but he didn't seem to mind that much. Lance decided to try and reason with Jeb to go back. "Come on Jeb, this is way too much for us to handle, it nearly killed Marky, let's just go back," said Lance. "Not without something that makes it worth it," was all Jeb said, with a hint of an edge in his voice. Lance was surprised, he had never seen his friend act this way before. It was a little unnerving to Lance, but he didn't want to ask why right now. They came upon a sheltered area next to a small pond; the opposite bank was overshadowed by a particularly thick stand of mangroves. "Let's check out those trees over there," said Jeb. "You sure," asked Lance, "It may be protected by that monster gator we saw earlier." "Nope," said Jeb, "that was a mama gator back there, she must have been protecting something she was willing to risk being shot for, so that makes it valuable to us." Lance really didn't like where this was going, an alligator was dangerous enough, but a mother gator protecting eggs or offspring was a very lethal danger. But there seemed to be nothing other than the value of what the gator could be protecting on Jeb's mind, as he surged on ahead towards the grove.

A/N: Alright readers, if you can tell where this situation is going, don't spoil it for anyone else, I mean it, or I'll sic the gator on you! Just kidding, but seriously, no spoilers.