Hey there, readers. Apologies for the delay, but two things:

A) College life has been kicking my butt...

B) Writer's Block.

So, here's the next chapter. I have no idea when the next will be out, but unless I say otherwise, this story hasn't been canceled!

"1916?" Nick repeated with disbelief. "But that can't be right. There were never mutations like this around back then. At least, none in public view."

"Given the layout and construction of the ship there," Mendel added, "it does appear to be true. That appears to be a World War I military vessel. Same with that wreck out there," he finished, pointing farther along the waterway.

"Um, guys?"

"But that still doesn't explain why there is some large creature down there fighting Godzilla," Elsie pointed out. "Our military can barely handle mutations as it is. There is no way people from 1916 could tame a mutation like that."

"Guys?"

"Maybe there is more going on here than we realize. Perhaps these people started a new year system? You know, instead of 1916 AD, its 1916 FD or something," Mendel suggested.

"Perhaps. Although after such a long time, given that it would be at least two thousand years or more ahead of our time, I would have to wonder why they had reverted to more primitive technology," Nick added.

"Nostalgia?" Elsie joked.

"GUYS!"

Everyone turned to Randy. He pointed back the way they had come. "Am I the only one who noticed that the storm is gone?"

"What are they doing?" Alek asked.

"No idea. But they still haven't done anything about their beastie!" Deryn fumed. "Instead they're all blathering on about something out that way!"

"Perhaps that was part of the problem?" Alek suggested.

Deryn's frown lessened. "Maybe. But still, what kind of Dummkopf would do something like this?"

At that moment, something slammed into the Erin. Deryn managed to keep her balance, but Alek failed to do so. He fell and managed to tumble over the side of the ship. Immediately, he was swept out into the middle of the fight. Deryn watched in horror as one of the Behemoth's tentecles surfaced and slammed into the water beside him.

"Alek!"

"How are we going to get back?" Mendel whimpered. "We don't even know when we are!"

"Calm down, Craven," Randy said. "We got back before. We'll figure it out this time."

The water beneath the H.E.A.T. Seeker swelled. The sound of impact on metal came from the direction of the warship.

"Looks like Godzilla isn't done yet," Nick muttered.

"Alek!"

The team turned to find one of the boys floating in the water. "We have to get him out of there before that creature gets him!" Nick said. "Monique, move the H.E.A.T. Seeker closer. Randy, get a life preserver ready."

"You got it, jefe!"

Monique quickly pulled up alongside the boy, doing her best to avoid being struck by the mutations, and Randy tossed the life preserver down to him. Once he was on board, Randy said. "You okay, dude? You could have been monster food!"

The boy looked at him somewhat in disgust. "I am sure I would have been fine, unless you cannot control the beast you brought here. Nevertheless, I thank you for pulling me out. I am Aleksandar Hohenberg."

Nick walked up to them. "Sorry for the whole situation. We got turned around and ended up here."

Aleksandar nodded. "Well, it is not me you will have to apologize to. You did disrupt a demonstration coordinated by the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Navy. You will most likely have to apologize to those in charge of this exercise." He grinned. "Although I would say Dylan will be demanding one as well."

"Dylan?"

"The other person I was with."

Nick nodded. "I suppose so. We'll be sure to do whatever we can to help fix things up."

Alek pointed to the water. "Perhaps you can start by calling your fabrication off? The Behemoth is not easily replaceable."

Elsie walked up, confused. "Fabrication?"

Alek nodded. "Of course. If it keeps fighting the Behemoth, one of them will end up dead."

Nick and Elsie glanced at each other. "Godzilla wasn't created by us."

Alek scoffed. "Poor choice to send a fab without an expert. But surely you must know how to call it off?"

Nick shook his head. "What we're saying is that Godzilla wasn't created at all."

Alek laughed. "Surely you are joking. It is impossible that something that resilient was created naturally."

Elsie shrugged. "Not quite naturally. But then, what mutation is?"

Now it was Alek's turn to appear confused. "Mutation?"

Nick was about to speak when a loud groaning sound drew their attention to the water. A massive creature surfaced. It appeared like an ancient creature that had lived at the bottom of the ocean, covered in bone plates.

"That thing looks like a cross between an anglerfish and a squid!" Elsie exclaimed.

Nick watched as it raised a few tentacles into the air, then slammed them into the water. As it did so, he noted that the tentacles had several wounds, and one was actually severed from the rest. Several of its bone plates were scratched, and there were a few that appeared to have been torn off.

Beside them, Alek drew a sharp breath. "That thing is the toughest fabrication known. What could have hurt it so badly?"

A blast of atomic flame blasted out of the water and into the creature. It recoiled with a deep groan as the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air.

Godzilla's head broke through the surface of the water and roared in defiance.

"What is that thing?!" Alek exclaimed.

"That is Godzilla," Nick replied.

"Hey!" The group turned from the massive showdown to see the warship had pulled back up to them. While most of the men seemed to be scrambling about in confusion, one was pressing against the railing at the side of the ship. "You alright, Alek?" It was the second boy, Dylan.

"I'm fine Dylan."

"Well, why haven't you gotten them to call off their beastie?!"

Alek chuckled. "I told you he'd be mad. So, can you call of this… Godzilla?"

Nick shrugged. "I can try." He walked to the edge of the H.E.A.T. Seeker. "Godzilla! Out of the water!"

Godzilla stopped and looked at them.

"Out of the water!"

Godzilla grunted, then began swimming for the shore. There were a few people there, but to Nick's surprise, they didn't move. It was almost like large, unnatural creatures didn't frighten them.

Deryn watched as the beastie swam towards the shore. She couldn't have heard that man right, though. Nothing large enough to survive the Behemoth could actually survive on land. The closest thing in size would be the mammothines of Russia, and they couldn't fight in the water.

But when this creature neared the shore, it lifted itself from the water. Deryn vaguely noticed the Behemoth sliding back under the water, but she just stared at the new creature.

It was a massive reptile, with those strange fins she had seen earlier lined all along its back. It stood on two legs, and had a pair of large forearms that ended with clawed hands. It towered above them, even at a distance. Deryn guessed it had to be over 150 feet tall.

The creature walked onto the shore and settled down onto the sand. It glanced in the direction of the newcomers, then over to where the Behemoth had been. With a loud grunt, it laid its head down and closed its eyes.

After a couple moments of staring, Deryn turned her gaze back to the newcomer's boat. Alek was staring at the beastie, and she couldn't hold back a laugh. He still got that look whenever he saw a new fabrication. It helped calm her a little as well.

"Oi!" she shouted. "You bum-rags get your ship alongside the Erin! We need to have a chat about that beastie of yours!"

One man nodded, and they all headed inside their boat. All except one, a dark skinned man with rope-like hair. He seemed to be trying to get Alek's attention. After a moment, it seemed to work, as Alek turned and responded to him.

The boat was quickly brought alongside the Erin and a gangplank was placed between the two. Alek and three of the newcomers came aboard. Deryn walked up to Alek and punched him in the shoulder. "You daft prince! You're lucky you weren't fish food!"

Alek rubbed his arm, glaring at her. "May I remind you, Dylan," he heavily emphasized her cover name, "that most people not trained on an airbeast would fall overboard in the same situation?"

Deryn sighed, now annoyed at herself. "Ay, I suppose you're right. Just try to be less of a klutz, Your Princeliness."

"Ahem."

Alek and Deryn turned to the three newcomers.

"I'm sorry if we're interrupting, but we really need to get some things sorted out here."

Deryn nodded. "Right." She held out her hand. "Dylan Sharp, Fabricator-in-training for the Zoological Society of London."

"Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, head of the Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team. This is Dr. Chapman," he added, gesturing to the red-haired woman on his right, "and Randy Hernandez," to the man who was with Alek earlier.

Deryn nodded. "Well, Doctor, you really messed up our demonstration. Care to explain?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Dr. Tatopoulos sighed. "We were following Godzilla when a strange storm appeared. We followed Godzilla through it, ended up here, and now it's gone."

Deryn raised an eyebrow. "You're full of clart. I asked why you let your beastie attack the Behemoth! It hasn't exactly been a secret, but even if you hadn't heard of it, you should have known to leave a military vessel alone!"

"We apologize," Dr. Chapman said. "Where we're from, most creatures that size are dangerous to human beings and need to be taken care of."

"Unless you're all Clankers, which I doubt because of this 'Godzilla', you ought to know that the only beasties that get this big are Darwinist military beasties!"

"Um, what exactly are Darwinists?" Randy asked.

"Randy!"

"Come on, Nick, you're telling me I haven't heard of something like that and you have?"

Deryn just stared. "How could you not know what Darwinists are? Next thing you know is that you'll be telling me you haven't heard of Darwin either!"

"That one, I do know," Randy said. "He's the guy who discovered evolution, right?"

"Yeah, that's him," Nick said.

Alek interjected, "Yes, but he also was the man who discovered how to fabricate creatures, using life-threads."

Deryn grinned. "We'll make you into a Darwinist yet, Alek."

"Hardly. I find machinery to be much easier to understand. Plus, fabrications always feel strange to me."

"Bum-rag!" came a voice from behind him. Bovril quickly appeared on Alek's shoulder.

Alek smiled. "Well, almost always."

"Um, what do you mean by life-threads? And what is that?" Elsie asked.

"This is Bovril, the perspicacious loris. As for life-threads, they are what make any creature what it is. They are found in every cell of your body," Deryn explained.

"You mean DNA?" Elsie asked.

"What?"

"Nick!" Deryn saw another man, a somewhat pudgy man with blondish hair and a beard, run across the gangplank. "I think I might know what's going on here!"

"Well, spill it, Craven," Randy urged.

"Yeah, Mendel. We're just getting more confused here," Elsie added.

"Monique was filling me in on the last storm you guys went through when it hit me. It seemed like a paradox: a timeline that couldn't have existed if you had gone back. You couldn't have disappeared for however many years you did if you did manage to get back, right?"

Nick nodded.

Deryn muttered to Alek, "Is this making any sense to you?"

He shook his head, and Bovril muttered something too softly to hear.

"So, that must have been some sort of alternate universe, based on your travel to the future, only where you didn't come back. So-"

"Come on Craven, we don't have all day!" Randy exclaimed.

"This must be some sort of alternate universe as well, with one key difference changing the course of history!"

Nick rubbed his chin. "That would make sense, based on what we've heard so far. In fact…" He turned to Deryn. "Has there been some sort of large war recently?"

She nodded, but didn't say anything. She was certain that these people were mad.

"I thought so. From what I can see, we somehow ended up in 1916, in a reality where Charles Darwin not only discovered evolution, but DNA and a way to manipulate it as well."

"Which is why they aren't running away screaming from the G-Man!" Randy shouted. "They have homegrown monsters already!"

"In a way," Nick finished. He turned back to Alek and Deryn. "Sorry if that was a lot to take in. Do you suppose that we could talk with someone from the scientific community? We'll probably need help getting home."

Deryn shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. "I suppose I could ask Dr. Barlow about this. But, to be honest, you lot sound barking mad!"

Nick gave her a sheepish grin. "Well, we get that a lot. Even were we're from."

Deryn glanced out at the creature on the shore. "What about that thing?"

"Godzilla will be around. And don't worry, he only eats fish."

Deryn rolled her eyes. "Barking spiders," she mumbled as she stalked back inside the Erin.

Elsie smirked as Dylan headed inside the warship. That kid was more stubborn than Nick.

"Well, I believe I ought to go calm him down," Alek said. "I assume you will be alright here for a few minutes?" Without waiting for an answer, he headed after Dylan.

"What's his problem?" Elsie asked to no one in particular. She turned to the others, but they were already preoccupied. She looked back in the direction Alek had gone. And, curiosity getting the better of her, she followed.

Not two minutes later, she was lost. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing that no one had come along or not.

Turning a corner, she heard a door slam. She walked down the corridor and found one door was slightly ajar.

"I almost lost it." It was Dylan's voice that was coming from the crack. Elsie couldn't help herself, and just listened.

"Yes, but you didn't. I know it is getting harder to keep it secret. Especially since we're keeping secrets from Dr. Barlow now."

"Ay. How much longer, Alek? I- I'm actually tired of keeping this blasted secret!"

There was a pause that seemed quiet, yet full. Like something was happening that she would have to see to know about. Then, Alek spoke. "I promise, it will not be for much longer."

"I hope you're right."

There was the sound of footsteps. Elsie, now afraid of being caught eavesdropping, knocked on the door and asked, "Anyone in here? I think I took a wrong turn."

Alek opened the door. "Dr. Chapman? Is there a particular reason you are not up on deck?"

Elsie shrugged. "Got lost on the way back from the bathroom."

Alek obviously didn't buy her story. However, he nodded and said, "I shall escort you back on deck then." He turned back toward the inside of the room. "You coming up, Dylan?"

There was a sigh, then Dylan came up. "Ay, I'm coming. Let's get you lot to the boffins."

Quick note: I got The Manual of Aeronautics between posting the last chapter and now. Apparently I made an error on the Behemoth's size. I estimated it at 600 feet long, using what little I could find. In The Manual, the Behemoth is put at 1000 feet long. Oops. So, Behemoth's size is apparently AU in this story. Hope no one minds!