TOKYO BAY

"Alright everyone get your game face on."

Iron Man soared out over the waters. The placid surface and clear sunny day deceitfully hiding the reality of what was to come.

"I'll find Godzilla and mark him with a laser sight, then JARVIS will link in the D-3's."

Reed and the rest of his team stood by the command tent, prepared to jump into the Fantasticar at a moment's notice.

"We're all set on our end Tony, hopefully we can drive him off before he reaches the shore."

"Are you sure there's no way to throw him off the scent?" Stark asked, streaking through the air, scanning for any tell-tale sign.

"Not until we figure out how he's able to sense it, and whether we even can disguise the energetic differences we exert in this world. Right now we don't exactly have time for either."

"Well I… Oh wait, I think I got him." Iron Man said before plunging under the waves.

BEIJING, CHINA

A trio of children ran past a toy store, masks of Iron Man and other famous heroes hung in the windows. None of them noticed the flash of black and purple that appeared in the sky momentarily. Though a few quick observers did catch the bizarre event, and even saw the streak of an object from the foreign cloud going down into the mountains to the west.

NEW YORK CITY

Kitty Pryde strolled through the Manhattan streets, craning her neck to gaze upwards at the artificial peaks. She was so rapt by the heights that she almost bumped into a blind man as they crossed paths on the sidewalks. Luckily the tapping of his cane caught her attention at the last moment, and she stopped just short of his shoulder, the man seemed to sense the averted collision and stopped, turning his head slightly in her direction.

"Oh I'm sorry, I almost hit you." Kitty sputtered, suddenly embarrassed to find her cheeks warming.

The man in the red glasses smiled politely. "Don't worry, happens all the time."

His smile was relaxing, and Kitty found herself forgetting about the skyscrapers.

"Not with cars I hope!" she nervously joked.

"certainly not, hitting a blind guy is bad, but much worse when he's a lawyer."

Kitty chuckled, and began to step around him.

"Well, have a nice day Mr..?"

"Murdock, Ma…"

The blind man paused, and seemed to be listening very intently. Kitty noticed the change in his demeanor, and stepped close to him.

"Mr. Murdock? Are you alright?"

Muscles tensed as Matt Murdock felt the force rising to the surface. Suddenly, Kitty found herself clutched in his arms as the previously casual blind man pulled her in and launched the both of them off to the side.

Before they had even hit the ground, the center of the intersection they had been standing next to erupted in a volcano of asphalt, concrete, brick and steel. Murdock used his body to shield her from the falling debris, and Kitty shut her eyes.

A huge purple hand, tipped with savage claws reached-up into the air and slammed down onto the street, crushing a taxi in the process. Dozens of cars now surrounded the intersection piled-up atop one another, their alarms blaring and their passengers crying for help.

Several more halted cars were thrown into the air when a second form burst through the pavement, not far from the first. This time a green hand punching through and taking a scoop out of an adjacent building as it was used to lift the owner from the ground.

Kitty and Matt Murdock scrambled to escape the vicinity, she took his arm and tried to lead him in a safe direction, but felt herself being pulled along by him instead.

"Hey! Hold on!" she complained, her instinct as an X-Man telling her to get the civilian to safety.

He started to yank her towards the danger; "We have to try and help anyone who's trapped!"

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" She asked without hiding her incredulity.

Murdock tilted his head towards her. "I'm good with my hands."

An enormous pair of horns followed the lavender colored fist as the brutish face of a bull rose up. The green arm gave way to the neckless head of another creature, with blank eyes and a wide mouth that contained no teeth, but a bulbous flat tongue.

The two monsters hauled themselves out of the ground, roaring and sneering at the humans who fled their gaze. The lavender bull revealed as a titanic minotaur, the other a bizarre humanoid. Another, much smaller figure climbed it's way out of the first hole. His bent posture and rotund body stood no higher than 5 feet, miniscule compared to the 70-foot behemoths. His soiled green outfit and decades out of date sunglasses were perhaps more offensive.

"That's right sun-walkers! Start spreadin' the news!"

Mole-Man panned the end of an old, gnarled wooden staff from side-to-side.

"Come on Megataur! This way Giganto! Today the Mole-Man takes Manhattan!"

TOKYO BAY

The sunlight penetrated in strands at the depth that Iron Man delved through. Small schools of fish swimming darting past the alien Avenger. The water was relatively clear, with the large rocky outgrowths rising from the bottom the only distinguishing feature.

"This place feels… haunted."

"Records indicate that it was around here that the original Godzilla was killed in 1954." JAVIS' voice was a curiously out of place thing to hear in the eerie blue Tony thought. But roaming around put a new question in his mind.

"If they killed one why can't they get rid of this one?"

"It appears that the method used to kill him was weapon of mass destruction, the Oxygen Destroyer. The inventor destroyed his research, and killed himself in the same event when he deployed it against Godzilla."

"Well… I certainly respect his integrity."

He delved deeper into a sunken valley, crowded on both sides by jagged outcroppings. He came to a hovering stop in the water, pausing to let his scanners do their work.

"He's supposed to be around here somewhere, how the hell does he disappear like that?"

Behind Iron Man, the silhouette of the ridge moved.

"Uh Sir…" The disembodied voice of the AI warned; "I believe he's right where we expect him to be."

"What?"

Iron Man turned in the water and found himself surrounded by motion. Partially hidden in the murk, a hand the size of a swimming pool moved through the water, making no more disturbance than if it were a fish. Suddenly Iron Man's HUD sprang to life, and was able to map-out everything within scope.

"Oh my, that's… that's a neat trick you got there, evading my sensors like that."

Slowly, Godzilla hefted himself off of the sea floor, paying no more attention to Iron Man than he did the rocks.

"Sir, my precursory readings indicate that his hide may be too durable for the D-3's to penetrate."

"That can't be JARVIS, they could drill through solid steel."

"Be that as it may, my attempts to analyze the strength of his skin are… inconclusive."

Iron Man followed alongside Godzilla, keeping in place by his thigh.

"Well, only one way to find out."

Lifting his right arm, a small aperture folded out shooting a thin red beam. The laser touched Godzilla just behind his right shoulder, and Iron Man thrust along to keep pace.

"Alright guys, target marked, fire when ready."

The missile batteries on the water front adjusted to the correct trajectory, the crewmen inside checking to make sure the data was correct. Then one after another, several D-3s were launched and streaked away.

Watching the projectiles shoot off, Johnny Storm crossed his arms and tilted his head; "Hey Reed, what if the missiles only make him mad?"

All eyes turned to Johnny, a bit incredulous at the question. Reed let his brow drop a little bit, the very real possibility of failure was something that whispered over his shoulder.

"Then we have our work cut out for us."

The D-3s slid into the water and found their target. The missiles shed their outer casings moments before impacting Godzilla's skin. Their legs sprouted out and anchored themselves on, the secondary thrusters kicking on to propel the drills forward.

Iron Man watched them attach to Godzilla like a swarm of flies, his HUD displaying data windows of their projected effectiveness based on location. "let's see if he shrugs these off!"

After a few moments of spinning, the legs warped and bent as the drills failed to punch through. The small charges exploded, releasing the ANEB harmlessly into the water.

"Sir, I hate to say-"

"No time for gloating JARVIS. Be warned guys, the D-3's can't get through!"

On the beach, the news kicked off an outburst of activity, and suddenly Reed became the focus of attention in the command tent.

"Well, what's his reaction?"

Godzilla's head turned in Iron Man's direction, a gleam of anger focused on the single individual. It didn't help that Tony's HUD magnified and clarified the image.

"Uh… bad! Very bad!"

Iron man turned and fled just as Godzilla dashed forward to pursue him, the water around him boiling.

Johnny put his hands on his head, "See, now he's mad!"

"And coming right for us!" Cyclops said, joined by the alarmed X-Men.

Admiral Tachibana began pointing and shouting orders to those around him. When he and Reed connected at a glance, the feeling from the admiral was no longer one of optimism, but regret.

Beast's ears moved back and forth, catching snippets of the Japanese being yelled; "They're scrambling to get Kiryu here, but we all know the destruction they're going to cause if they fight!"

Susan grasped her husband by the shoulders, and trapped him in a stare. "Reed, he is coming here because of us."

Reed Richards looked around him, to the soldiers scrambling to get into a proper fighting position, to the calm waters that he knew would soon birth a monster.

"Then let's go out and meet him. Summers! You're with me!"

Both men jumped into the car, but Thing laid a hand on the side, tilting the whole thing.

"What about us?"

"If we don't turn him back," the hurried Mr. Fantastic began, "The rest of you need to make a stand at the shore, at least until reinforcements arrive."

Cyclops leaned over to receive a kiss from Jean, who clutched at her chest as the hovercraft sped off. Beast approached and put a hand on her shoulder; "They'll be alright Jean."

But Jean shook his hand away, her face contracted and dark; "Hank I think we picked a fight with something we can't handle." Again, she reached a hand out to the ocean; "He's not just angry, he's on a warpath."

"Hey Guys!" Iron Man's voice over the comms was becoming frantic, "Please tell me you're putting a plan together!"

In the waters of the bay, Iron Man turned to send two palm repulsors between Godzilla's eyes. To no effect as the titan continued to bear down on him.

"Because this guy's a lot faster than he looks!"

"We're on the way Tony!" Reed examined the holographic display projected from the Fantasticar's console, where Iron Man's beacon was barely outrunning a massive signature.

"Alright Godzilla, let's see you follow me this way."

Iron Man's thrusters propelled him upwards to the surface, Godzilla close behind. The tiny prey was fast, but Godzilla was nothing if not persistent, and the faster the Avenger went, the harder Godzilla pushed, his tail exerting enough power to run an energy plant.

Breaking through to the surface, Iron Man made no hesitation, continuing to shoot into the sky.

"Godzilla is still in pursuit sir."

"I'm aware of that JARVIS!"

After ascending several dozen meters, Iron Man turned to look down. The only thing he saw was the snarling face of Godzilla a heartbeat before he exploded out of the sea, surging straight for the Avenger.

"WHOA!"

Now in the freedom of the air, Godzilla loosed a deafening roar as his entire body raced upwards, his eyes and jaws fixated on the one who had dared strike at him. With his own attention so drawn to the giant maw filled with fangs the size of trees, Tony didn't even think to turn around. Instead, he put his hand and feet thrusters in front of him.

It was a race, Iron Man shooting upwards with his back to the sky, and a furious Godzilla only a few feet below him, jaws wide open and lungs blaring. Tony Stark could only stare at the fate that awaited him if he were just a second too slow, he ignored the warnings that flashed across his HUD.

"Sir, his roar is damaging the auditory circuits."

"I'm glad…"

Feeling the momentum spent, Godzilla snapped his jaws together, one last attempt to either catch his prey or scare it off. Iron Man narrowly escaped being mangled in the clash of teeth. Stark hung in the air, the chase at an end as he watched Godzilla crash back into the water, a threatening glower still fixed on him.

He hadn't felt it before, but now that he concentrated on it, Godzilla sensed the same odd energy coming off of the human. It was faint and non-threatening by itself, be he felt more on the shore, and the fact that they were here at all disturbed him. He imparted one last snort, turned, and moved on.

Iron Man watched Godzilla turn away and head for the shore, one of the few times he ever felt powerless to do something. Perspiration slid down his face, the images of giant teeth coming directly for him, the enraged eyes of a being of such unimaginable power focused knowingly on him. The Avengers had come face-to-face with many fantastic things before, but perhaps no singular entity as awe-inspiring and frightening as this one. It left him at a loss.

Reed Richards and Cyclops were both still a bit slack-jawed at what they had seen. Cyclops shook his head; "I've heard of crocodiles doing something like that, but to see something so big… Is Stark alright?"

Reed's pupils were focused like a telescope, his body morphing allowed him to adjust his eyes like a camera. "Tony's fine, he just seems a bit… stunned."

The Fantasticar was now on a chicken-run with the three rows of jagged spines plowing through the water. The genius of one world against the sheer brute force of another.

"Swing in low," Cyclops shouted; "I'll take a shot at him, see if we can't slow him down."

"Got it."

The craft swerved down at an angle, Cyclops prepared himself for perhaps the most daring optic blast of his life. Reed glanced back, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, you might wanna just take the visor off for this one."

Cyclops thought for a moment, then nodded, placing his hand beside the band that kept the visor affixed to his head.

"Get ready!" Reed yelled back.

The Fantasticar banked hard just above where Godzilla's head would be, and Cyclops tore off the protective visor. A ruby cannon tore through the air and obliterated the water below in an instant.

Godzilla's spines stopped dead in their tracks, a muffled squawk of surprise echoing up to the surface as his head was suddenly forced downwards. Cyclops closed his eyes and replaced the visor.

Reed gave his companion a surprised glance; "Hmm, maybe we should have led with you."

A humming sound filled the air as Godzilla spines began to glow with an luminous blue light and evaporated the water around them.

"Move it Reed! He's taking his turn!"

Just as the Fantasticar jettisoned away, Godzilla lifted his head out of the water, his face twisted with fury, and loosed his atomic retaliation. Reed and Cyclops narrowly avoided being engulfed in the blue torrent, nearly tossed from their seats in the process.

"I'm starting to think this was all a bad idea Reed!"

Godzilla refocused, tracking the craft as it fled. Atomic fire flared in the back of his throat, but just before he could send it out, another beam struck just below his right eye. Iron Man's Uni-beam poured itself out, though not doing much more than irritating it's target. Godzilla barked in response.

"I should have brought Banner, or Thor, or an army!"

Godzilla's massive hand flew upwards, Iron Man managing to slip between the fingers, but was sent tumbling from the wind.

"WHA-WHOA!"

His floundering was brought to a sudden halt when he found himself cradled in a strange hammock.

The Fantasticar hovered in place, Reed Richards' arm formed into a safety net where Iron Man warily got his bearings.

"You alright Tony?" Mr. Fantastic called out, the face of the unflappable scientist contorted with worry.

Iron Man's faceplate opened, exhaustion and a cold sweat robbing him of his normal charm.

"I think I'm gonna hurl in your hand."

"GET DOWN!" screamed Cyclops, pointing beyond his allies.

Coming down behind Iron Man, Godzilla's hand was met and stopped by Cyclops' ruby beam. The two forces strained against each-other for a few moments, until Reed maneuvered the craft away. Godzilla snorted in frustration, whatever these beings were, wherever they were from, they were stalling him. He waited until the small vehicle circled around again, and another blast of the red energy struck him across his brow.

Iron Man recovered his nerve and took to powered flight, staying alongside the Fantasticar.

"I don't know what this guy is made of but he-"

Both Iron Man and the Fantasticar were swatted out of the air by the tip of Godzilla's tail.

Cyclops found himself pinned down into his seat by a blanket of flesh extending from Reed's back, though he felt relief by the security, the fact that he was covered by another man's flesh did creep him out a little.

The Fantasticar slammed to a halt, a surprised Richards hesitating to make any adjustments. Underneath, Iron Man held the vehicle like Atlas only feet above the waves.

"Everybody alive up there?"

The blob of flesh covering Cyclops snapped back into place as part of Reed's back. "More or less…"

"Thanks for the save Tony," Reed said with a voice that all but admitted defeat; "But I'm afraid the situation is only going to get worse from here."

Unimpeded, Godzilla headed for the shore, a roar booming into the air.

Cyclops shook his head, "After all that, he can just walk it off."

Data windows in Iron Man's HUD flashed several warnings, indicating the soaring thermal readings coming off the King of the Monsters; "Yeah, he's all warmed-up now."

MANHATTAN

"Come on, just take my hand…"

Even with her car pinned down under the slab of concrete, the middle-aged woman was a bit nervous to take the hand of a girl who had just floated through the rubble. But take it she did. Kitty pulled the woman out into the open, into the streets where others fled past.

"Can you make it on your own?" she asked as the lady reacted to moving through solid matter with hesitant apprehension.

The woman fixed her with a mixture of curiosity and gratitude: "Yes. Thank you."

Kitty gave her a curt smile, then hurried along to find another in need of help. She paused atop a mound of building debris, seeing police and other civilians on the same mission as her. She also spied the blind Mr. Murdock carrying a young girl and handing her to woman. The sudden loud crash of destruction and gunfire turned her to the west, where the roar of one of Mole-Man's monsters thundered in response.

"SORRY I'M LATE EVERYONE!"

Directly over head, Spider-Man swung past her, throwing another web line as he coasted in-between buildings. Kitty's face was spilt by smile upon seeing the famous local; "GO GET'EM SPIDEY!"

Guiding himself towards the sound of danger, Spider-Man exhaled audibly; "Alright Spidey, you got the crowd behind you, the cool entrance, now all you gotta do is defeat the giant monsters tearing Manhattan apart. Easy. Just keep 'em busy until the Avengers or the Fantastic Four show up. Nothing…"

Perching on the side of an apartment building, Spider-Man took a moment to observe the situation.

"..to it… Oy. So we got one giant purple minotaur, odd but effective. And we got a green, golem'y lookin' thing. Yeesh! And I thought a lack of sunlight just made you pale!"

Megataur hurled a handful of concrete rubble down to where several police officers were vainly firing their guns at it, they yelped and scattered as the car they were using for cover was crushed by building material.

"Plenty of protein though. Well, giddy-up cowboy!"

Throwing out a line, Spider-Man swung himself down among Megataur's feet, dodging one pulverizing stomp after another.

"Here goes nuthin'!"

After winding-up like a baseball pitcher, Spider-Man leveled a haymaker punch into Megataur's left ankle. The beast cried out in surprise from the sudden pain, and reached down with it's right hand to feel the sore spot. Hiding behind the other leg, Spider-Man waited until the monster's hand was touching the ankle, then launched a barrage of webbing, adhering the two limbs together.

Megataur grunted, trying to yank himself free. Meanwhile, Spider-Man zipped-up to an opposing building, and with both hands cast another wide wave of web over it's back.

"Let's take a tumble! Hhrrnnhh!"

With one mighty pull, the monster was rolled over its shoulder and onto its back. Megataur snorted and fumed, trying to free itself.

"ya know, you're lucky I left my giant branding-iron at home this morning!"

When Megataur tried to claw at the webbing around his ankle, another volley of the sticky stuff pinned that hand as well.

Spider-Man watched the beast writhe and struggle from his vantage point hanging on the side of a building.

"Now that the rodeo's over, I gotta find out where that big green goomba got off-"

His Spider-sense shimmered, and he leapt away from his spot just as huge claws slammed into the structure, and tore gashes out of it. Spider-Man landed on the ground and looked-up to see Giganto glaring down at him, his gaping toothless maw hanging open in a silent bellow. In his shadow, Mole-Man lumbered along, sneering at the hero.

"Is this the best that New York can muster? A child in a costume?"

"Ya know," Spider-Man began, pointing an accusatory finger at the stooped villain; "If you weren't a fat, balding dwarf, that might hurt my feelings. But then again, I'm sure the gout will take care of you, while I topple the goulie green giant."

A loud snapping sound caused Spider-Man to flinch, as Megataur finally burst free of the webbing.

Mole-Man grit his teeth and clenched the head of his cane; "Get after him Giganto! Squash him like a bug!"

The subterranean malformation roared as he stalked forward, the rising Megataur at his side.

Spider-Man sighed and let his shoulders drop, the hope for a clean and more importantly, short battle now gone; "I knew I should have brought the industrial webbing out today."

TOKYO BAY

Godzilla roared as he neared the shore. He could see the strange array that sometimes awaited him whenever he came ashore. The roar was as much a warning as it was an announcement, giving the humans one last chance to get out of his way. The familiar sound of missiles launching caused Godzilla to grimace.

The humans and their stinging weapons. Why do they bother?

Jean hugged her shoulders close as dozens of missiles streaked over their heads. A mix of Full Metals and conventional explosive warheads, as well as manned Maser tanks for when Godzilla closed the distance.

Susan Richards watched the projectiles slam into the ever-growing Godzilla, where they exploded into plumes of smoke and fire. The beast roared in retaliation, his forward motion not slowed the slightest bit.

Her brother and Thing stood by her side, but she thought only of her husband, who had gone out to give Iron Man some support. Now their comm-links weren't getting through, and it seemed that Godzilla had left three of the most capable men she knew floundering in his wake. The monster's ominous bellow echoed across the water, it's arrival inevitable and imminent.

Johnny exhaled through his nose, his frustration at it's limit. "I'm gonna go sneak around his back, try to find out what happened to them."

Susan turned sharply, locking a stare of concern onto her brother. Already her husband and two others had gone out to face the dragon and not returned, would her brother join them?

"I don't think that's a good idea Johnny." She pleaded, a tear welling up in her eyes softened his usual bravado, and he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me, I'll give him a wide berth, stay real quite."

Thing stepped to his side, "Just watch out for the water hot head."

Johnny looked out as another salvo of missiles disappeared in a cloud of flame against Godzilla's skin.

"For a guy covered in fire, I think the water is actually the least of my problems out there."

He took a running start towards the edge of the dock before yelling: "FLAME ON!". Engulfed in is own conflagration, he soared off on a course to go wide left around Godzilla.

Beast had watched the young man take off, figuring the reason why in his own mind. Then he glanced over to Jean, who seemed to shiver despite the warmth of the day.

"Jean, can you tell if they're still safe out there?"

Jean closed her eyes, the sound of several explosions and a savage growl causing her to flinch. She grimaced and shook her head.

"No, I can't. I… I can't focus."

"I know it's distressing with Scott still out there-"

"It's not just that Henry, it's Godzilla's mind, it's so forceful I can barely get around it."

She opened her eyes, a tremble of fear shaking her body.

"If I was as strong as the professor, I'd be able to reach them, but-"

"The Professor isn't here Jean, and you are strong enough to do this."

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!"

Around them, the soldiers and spent missile batteries began withdrawing. The Maser tanks took aim, preparing for the order to fire. Godzilla was now only a short distance away from the waterfront, the waves he pushed out splashing up into the air as they rocked against the docks.

Admiral Tiazo approached Beast, laying a hand on his arm but never taking his gaze away from the looming danger.

"Dr. McCoy, I suggest that you and your friends fall back to safety. I won't give the Maser units permission to fire until you're clear."

"I appreciate the concern Admiral, but this is where we have to make a stand."

Beast looked back and locked eyes with the admiral. "Trust me, this is what we do."

Out over the water, Johnny Storm intercepted the Fantasticar being pushed along by Iron Man.

"What happened to you guys! We couldn't reach you over the radio."

"The radiological proximity to Godzilla must've overloaded the receivers." Explained Richards.

"Besides, he kinda walloped us." Stark finished for him.

Johnny's face dropped; "Well I hope you've got a plan B after your Penatrators bombed, because he's about to hit land."

"Have the others gotten away?" An agitated Cyclops asked.

"No, I think they're making a goal-line stand."

Reed pursed his lips, "Then they won't be standing for long."

Here they are, the cause of the disturbance.

Godzilla loomed over the waterfront, the group of humans clutched together before him.

Humans have never felt like this before, why would these ones be different?

Godzilla crouched down, trying to get a better look at the strange creatures.

Susan put her hands out to keep her comrades in place; "No sudden moves anyone, we don't want to startle him."

"I don't think that's an issue after all the bombs and missiles." Her rock-faced friend remarked.

His snout leveled out, and Godzilla took a long sniff, nearly pulling Jean off her feet if not for Beast holding her. A slight grunt followed.

"Jean, if you're going to reach out to him, now's the time."

Nervously, Jean took a few steps forward, just as Godzilla turned his head and gazed down at them all with his right eye. She raised her hands, looking upwards into his searching eye as it appraised the tiny being. Slowly, she got closer, and shut her eyes, psychically feeling out for a way into his mind. She pulsed out pleasant emotions, pleasure, comfort, friendliness in an attempt to prime him for contact, a method she had used on wild animals before.

Godzilla seemed to react curiously, taking a short breath, a mumble of what could have been confusion escaping his lips. Finally, she laid hands on his face, just under his eye, which looked down at the red-haired human.

"I am not your enemy, and we are not a threat to you."

Suddenly Godzilla shot up to his full height, his eyes wide open in a stark reaction to having his mind touched. Susan and Beast rushed forward to huddle around Jean, as she herself gazed upwards with a similar expression.

Jean wobbled on her legs, "I don't think that's ever happened to him before. I think I spooked him."

Thing's eyebrows danced after hearing that; "Eh, good spooked or bad spooked?"

"We're here with you Jean, stay strong." The Invisible Woman assured her.

Jean reached her hands out again, trying to touch his mind. This time, he was ready. She felt their minds mingle, hers like a puff of smoke engulfed into a thunderstorm, the surreal mind of a primordial being. She felt a memory near her, just beyond the veil, so she reached out to touch it.

In an instant she was overwhelmed by flashes of pain, fire, screaming and a falling sensation. The face of a terrifying monster with sickly yellow eyes, and a choking grip around her throat. On the outside she began to wail, her face tightening into a mask of torment, her legs shaking. Pangs of confusion, fear, rage, and vicious determination flooded into her, causing her head to whip back, as she cried out.

"SO MUCH PAIN!" Jean wailed, her body levitating, her eyes glowing with a fiery power; "SO MUCH ANGER! He thinks we're an invasive threat!"

She fell back into Beast's arms, mumbling softly.

"It must have been too much for her!" Beast said, cradling her.

Susan took a defensive stance in front of her friends, ready to throw-up a shield just in case.

Godzilla snapped back into his own mind, the feelings he had shared with Jean jarring him out of his comfort zone, and into a rage.

Foreign, strange creatures! They do not belong here!

His dorsal spines surged with atomic power as the fire collected in the back of his throat. An audible sucking sound could be heard as they prepared to face his wrath.

But it would be a wrath delayed as a crimson beam slammed into his jaw, knocking his whole head aside. A feral scream of frustration boomed out, Godzilla trying to shield himself from the unrelenting blast. from the other side, Iron Man's Unibeam struck, and pinned the monster's head in between.

Johnny Storm landed near the group on the dock, rushing over in exhaustion.

"Well looks like we screwed this one up! Who would have guessed. Come on, we gotta get out of here! Tony, Reed, and Scott will distract him long enough for us to bail."

Beast clutched Jean in his arms and began carrying her away, but stopped when he realized that Thing and Sue weren't moving.

"Get her out of here Henry!" She yelled back, "We're not leaving them to fight Godzilla alone!"

Beast nodded and jumped into a nearby jeep.

When the blast attacks finally ended, Godzilla shook his head, and loosed a mad roar, taking a step onto the land.

"Aw hell… FLAME ON!" Soaring up, Johnny fired a torrent of flame that bathed the back of the titan's head. To little reaction.

"Oh come ooooon!"

Flying by, Iron Man stopped next to him, "Follow me kid!"

The two fliers came down beside where the Fantasticar had landed on the dock near Thing and Susan.

"We have to stop him here!" Reed yelled, jumping out of the hover-craft; "Hit him with everything you got! NOW!"

In one moment, Cyclops removed his ruby visor, Iron Man pumped almost every ounce of power into his chest unit, Johnny Storm created the largest torrent of fire he had ever made, and Susan pushed out a force-field with all her might. The powers struck Godzilla simultaneously, and halted him as his foot was raised to take the next step onto land.

He had been hit hard before, much harder than this. But the fact that it was coming from humans, alien as they were, surprised him. Perhaps he had been too soft on the humans before, it seemed they needed to be put in their place.

The other foot came down so hard the defenders were rocked off their feet. A roar of triumph sending home just how paltry their attack was. Reed and Thing stumbled, keeping a worried eye on the others.

"Ben you've got to throw me at him!"

"Stretch I think you got yer' brain rattled!"

"I'm serious! If he hits us with his radioactive breath, we're all dead!"

Thing huffed and fixed him with a look of begrudging disbelief, "Your da rocket scientist!"

Thing grabbed Reed's legs, and whipping him around like a sling-shot, flung him up towards Godzilla's neck.

The blue fire was again roiling in his throat when Mr. Fantastic landed, and began to stretch himself. Not once, twice, not thrice, but four times did Reed coil himself around Godzilla's neck, constricting hard to prevent the breath from escaping.

The rest of them watched in awe as Godzilla clawed at the strangulation, his mighty roar reduced to a gurgle. Susan gawked at her husband, a trickle of blood running from her nose.

"He's doing it!" Stark announced with hope in his voice.

The blue fire died in his throat, and the attempts to pry the elastic coil off infuriated Godzilla. But he had another trick yet.

His dorsal spines flared and atomic energy was concentrated in his core. Then in a flash, it was expended outwards, from every inch of his body the Nuclear Pulse surged in all directions.

The defenders were thrown back several yards, only Thing was left standing. Reed Richards' body contracted and fell flaccidly to the ground, where it flattened like a cartoon. None of them noticed that the Fantasticar had been crashed by the power surge, and now lay on it's side, with a compartment opened. The Maser tanks sparked and fumed from internal damage, their crews fleeing the possibility of their power cores exploding.

Iron Man held his head as he recovered.

"anybody get the license of that… whatever it was?"

Lifting herself from the ground, Susan groaned "Some kind of energy pulse, like an… ugh… EMP."

Barely able to stand herself, she glanced around to see the others not much better off.

"Where's Reed?"

"I got 'em." The grumbly voice answered.

Ben Grimm was reliving his football days as he raced to where Reed's unmoving form lay splattered on the ground. Thing covered his head as a building façade collapsed to his left, falling in his direction. The window gap luckily landing around him..

Thing was nearing his fallen friend when a mountainous foot slammed down between them. Godzilla looked down at Thing, sneering at him, daring him.

"Alright cha' big palooka! Let's see how you like stubbin' yer' toe!"

With all the power he could muster, Thing slugged his fist into Godzilla's phalanges. The reaction wasn't immediate, but when the signals traveled along his nervous system, and finally hit the brain lodged in his mid-section, Godzilla's eyes shot open, and a wail of pain escaped. Thing hurried around, and scooped Reed over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I bet that's like steppin' on a Lego for you!"

Godzilla fixated on Thing with a hard glare, a blinding light rising in his mouth.

"Eh, I got rocks for brains don't I?"

Thing reading himself to withstand, but fate was still in his corner when a new sound came to their rescue.

A chirping Mothra came in hard, slamming her entire body into Godzilla's back, toppling him over.

The other defenders raced over to Thing, as compelled to stand by their fallen friend as they were to marvel at the incredible sight.

Mothra barked angrily, flapping in place between the humans and Godzilla, who flailed to get back on his feet.

An astonished Cyclops gawked, "I don't remember that one from the recruitment video."

Momentarily distracted, Johnny glanced down at his chest, as if expecting something new to be there; "Guys I'm not sure if it's all the brain trauma, but I suddenly feel more… at peace."

Iron Man's HUD ran diagnostics on his heart rate and blood pressure; "Usually I'd associate that with a bottle of wine and Ms. July, but I think I'm getting the same effect."

Godzilla railed at the sucker-punch from a familiar face.

Why does she defend them? What does she know?!

Mothra chirped, warning to him to keep his distance. But he would not be deterred, Godzilla charged forward, rejecting the threat from his occasional ally. Mothra swerved back to avoid a claw swipe, and retaliated with twin beams from her antennae. Tired of taking abuse from energy beams for one day, Godzilla barreled forward, nearly seizing the guarding in his grip, but she hovered higher out of his reach.

"You must turn back, I will find out what has disturbed the Earth's energy. Return to your rest!" The guardian pleaded, using the rare ability to communicate directly to other Kaiju.

"I should never have trusted you! Betrayer!"

Godzilla loosed a torrent of atomic fire that singed Mothra's wing as she flung herself sideways to avoid the hit. Raging in his frustration, Godzilla turned on the shore-side civilization, and poured out the cup of his wrath.

The heroes gaped as whole city blocks were obliterated in a hellstorm.

Johnny covered his mouth in horrified shock, "Sue, I'm starting to think that our little adventure was a very, very bad idea."

Susan looked across at Johnny, noting the complete lack of casual joviality in his voice.

Stark hovered above them, "We should fall back, let the butterfly tire him out."

The remaining X-Man shook his head, "He's here because he could feel what we did Tony, wherever we go, he'll follow."

Mothra swooped in behind Godzilla, her wings loosing a shower of glowing flakes. Godzilla turned into them and snarled, but his fury waned.

Behind them all, a stray explosion sent a wooden beam flying into the air, and it came crashing down atop a white briefcase. The case was broken open, and the Portal Sphere was launched several yards away.

Godzilla grumbled, his anger subsiding and his interest in the disturbance almost gone. Almost. As soon as the Portal Sphere was knocked free, the sensation he felt was like a nugget of raw nuclear energy had appeared out of nowhere. Immediately his eyes locked onto the tiny object, and if the humans were a candle of the alien energy, this thing was a burning star.

There it is! That must be the cause!

Even Mothra paused momentarily, drawn to the spike in the foreign power. She let Godzilla approach the device, just as curious about the thing herself.

Disturbed by the sudden change, Iron Man began searching for the object of their fascination; "What the hell are they both staring at?"

The heroes were fascinated by the sight of the two daikaiju being transfixed to some obscure point. Regaining his consciousness in Thing's arms, Reed Richards held his head, "What happened?"

Iron Man's scanners located the subject of their sudden keen interest.

"it's the Portal Sphere! That's what they're looking at!"

"The Sphere was in the damn bumper-car!?" Cyclops scolded, aghast by the revelation.

"I told you…" Reed groaned, "Eh, it's designed to be portable. Plus I wanted to keep it close to us at all times just in case."

Iron Man raced over, hoping to reach it before something terrible happened, "Well then thank god it's drop tested. JARVIS, make sure the Sphere does not turn on!"

"There might be a slight problem with that Sir."

"And why would that be, JARVIS?"

"Well it seems that the trauma of being thrown about and the nuclear pulse have put the device, shall we say, on the fritz."

"Then shut it down!"

"I'm trying Sir, but it's a hardware problem!"

Green sparks jumped from the cuts in the sphere's exterior as it buzzed to life. Both Kaiju felt the flux in energy, but Mothra balked while Godzilla stayed-put. A heartbeat before Iron Man could lay his hand on it, the sphere emitted a blinding, sparking flash that knocked him back against into a fishing shack. Then a wave of green light sprouted from the device, scanning Godzilla. A curious grunt invited a worried trill from Mothra, who beat her wings in alarm.

His plan gone terribly awry, Reed made for the malfunctioning inter-dimensional doorknob, "We can't let him step through!" But it was to late.

A massive wall of swirling psychedelic colors fanned out and upwards, a doorway large enough for Godzilla to stroll through. Startled, blue fire roiled in his throat, and a blast of nuclear fire lanced into the window, to no effect. Undaunted, Godzilla stepped forward.

But he felt a tug on his tail. Behind him, Thing was holding onto the tip of his tail with both arms, and Mr. Fantastic was coiling his body around the length of the appendage, while wrapping his legs around a medium sized building. Johnny Storm flew in front of his face and loosed a funnel of fire, only to be swatted out of the sky and sent hurtling through the Portal.

At the sight his sister screamed, "JOHNNY!"

Susan joined Iron Man and Cyclops, and they positioned themselves in front of the titan, again combining their abilities to push him back. Even Mothra latched onto his spines, and tried to drag him backwards.

His irritation peaked, Godzilla decided he was done wasting his time. He flexed his tail and pulled, and the portion of the building that Richards had his legs wrapped around was wrenched free. The whiplash of Reed's body and the weight still in his grip sent the building portion crashing into the back of Mothra's head. The guardian was knocked goofy, haphazardly fluttering off to the side.

With a satisfied grumble, he took another step. With both the Unibeam and Cyclops' ruby blast spent, it was only Susan who held her translucent shield between Godzilla and her home world.

Godzilla touched the shield, letting his claws drag against it's surface. But finally he pushed his hand forward, and shattered the force field. Susan collapsed, the mental strain finally too much to bear. Cyclops seized hold of her body as Iron Man grabbed them both, thrusting them out of harm's way a second before Godzilla stepped exactly where they had stood.

Another casual swing of his tail, and Thing was flung headlong to the ground. Reed sprung himself after him, and coiling around, created a cushioned pad that took the brunt of the force when they landed. They all watched helplessly as Godzilla stepped through the portal and disappeared.

Back to her senses, Mothra raced after him, but the curtain of color contracted before she could reach it, closing her off. She fluttered in a panic, not understanding what had happened. The defenders collapsed together, exhaustion finally bringing them to their knees. Iron Man opened his face plate to reveal absolute disbelief and shock.

"Fury is gonna be sooooo mad at us."