AN: Finally, I'm back. Extremely sorry for it taking so long. I know there's no excuse, but in my defense, it took a while for the Godzilla inspiration bug to come biting, then once it did, I had difficulty in contacting my beta reader. Finally, when I was ready to post this long-awaited chapter, the site was having another glitch, and I had to give up and try again in the morning. Anyway, I really hope this is worth the wait. Enjoy.


Mere moments after Utopia had been infiltrated, everything went out of control. In one great leap, Coomba dove off the cliff overlooking Utopia and landed somewhere within the underground oasis. Everywhere, sudden cries and roars from the Utopian Mutants filled the air, accompanied by the crashes of trees falling.

"Dr. Tatapolous," Aaron spoke urgently grabbing the biologist's arm. "We must hurry; come with me, now!" Nick cast one more look at the signs of destruction that were being inflicted upon Utopia before following Aaron in the opposite direction, with Martiza and her mutant partner close behind. Aaron led the group to a towering rock that stood between two thick trees, where the leader of Utopia pressed a knot on the left tree. Immediately, a hidden door appeared in the rock, which he quickly ushered everyone through. The very moment the three humans and Utopian mutant were inside, the door closed behind them.

"Where are we, now?" Nick asked.

"Inside the tunnels," Aaron explained, starting to bring the small group further along the passageway. "They were built for emergency purposes, such as what just happened. Not many Utopian members know exactly where the entrances are. This is to reduce the chances that a spy or traitor will be able to use the information to their advantage. In dire emergencies, the select few Utopians who know the location of the entrances are to gather as many as they can and get them all down into the tunnels."

"And what happens if you can't get to one of the entrances, or aren't near someone who knows where they are?" Nick questioned, starting to worry. "In case you've forgotten, my team might still be up there."

"I can assure you, Dr. Tatapolous," Martiza replied, "each of your friends was with one of the select few who know the different locations. Chances are they made it out, too."

The tunnels led them all down to a cool, dank cavern by a lake, almost pitch black until Aaron and Martiza activated a hidden switch, which filled the cavern with light from lamps disguised as mounds of underground fungus and stone columns. From above their heads, Nick could still hear the faint sounds of Coomba's rampage in Utopia. For the second time since Utopia had been infiltrated, Nick started to worry about, not just his teammates, but for the members of Utopia as well.

Almost as if they had been summoned by his worries, a rather small group of Utopians started to come into the cavern as well. Immediately, Nick caught sight of his friends among them. Elsie and Craven were supporting a Utopian woman with a pronounced limp, while Randy was carrying a small Utopian child. Monique was at the very back of the group of evacuees, no doubt following her militaristic instincts and insuring that everyone managed to get to safety.

"Good to see you're all safe," Nick spoke to his team, as Randy, Craven, and Elsie passed the Utopians they were helping over to someone else.

"Aaron!" A Utopian suddenly spoke out, spotting the Utopian leader as Luna stepped up to his side for a private conference. "Aaron, how did Brookins find us?" This one question opened the floodgates to the shock and fears all the other Utopians were feeling. Immediately, everyone started to ask similar questions as to how Brookins managed to infiltrate Utopia.

"It's my fault," Nick admitted, the guilt hitting him hard. "I was the one who believed Brookins' story about the missing students, and brought the bugged folder here. If I hadn't brought it along…."

"Dr. Tatapolous," Aaron interrupted. "You mustn't blame yourself for this. You don't know Brookins the way we do. He's extremely intelligent, right up to the point of being deviously cunning. Believe me, he would have found the location of Utopia one day regardless."

"Even if he wouldn't have succeeded without tricking you," Luna added, "no one here blames you. It's clear that you were duped. Everyone makes mistakes; it's human nature. Right now, all that counts is how we can reclaim Utopia."

"But how?" The injured Utopian who Elsie and Craven had been helping asked, clearly seeing the matter as hopeless. "The Utopian Mutants were not raised for fighting, especially not a mutant like Coomba."

"Hey, it's cool," Randy announced confidently. "Godzilla can take that fox on, no problemo. Nothing can stand up against the G-man."

"I'm afraid that might not work this time," Kinley replied morosely. "I have reason to believe that some of Brookins' followers infiltrated Utopia before the Symbiosis Ceremony took place. When I saw Godzilla while we were evacuating Utopia, it looked as if he'd been heavily sedated. Earlier, Carlie, the head of our medicinal team, had informed me that she noticed some sea milkwort roots were missing from our medicinal stores when she was doing inventory. It looks as if Brookins' agent mixed the roots with Godzilla's fish."

"Boiled sea milkwort roots were once eaten by Native Americans to induce sleep," Aaron explained for the benefit of H.E.A.T., realizing that they might not know that much about the medicinal properties of various plants. "If your Godzilla has eaten them, then it's quite possible he would be too lethargic to even defend himself."

"Don't you have something to combat the milkwort roots?" Elsie questioned.

"Not without preparation, no," Aaron shook his head. "And if we did, there's very little chance of getting it to him without getting caught. By now, Brookins will have his agents all over the place."

"You haven't explained who Brookins is, Aaron," Monique pointed out. "Why does he want to invade Utopia in the first place?"

"Of course; you wouldn't know," Aaron nodded in understanding. "Well, you see, Brookins and I were once on rather good terms. Utopia was actually a shared dream of ours; a place where humans could live in peace with the mutants. But, as time went by, we began to realize that we were on different pages, and that we weren't seeing eye-to-eye on what kind of relationship we were to have with the mutants. Brookins intended to have the mutants exist as our slaves, not our equals. Because of that, it was clear that he couldn't be allowed into Utopia. Having Brookins in charge would have meant that the Utopian Mutants would be raised as weapons of war, instead of the living creatures they were. He was cut off from Utopia before it became a reality, but that's never stopped his ambitions in using the mutants in order to gain a position of supreme power, by overturning the world's great powers."

"He's going to use the mutants as weapons?" Nick gaped in realization.

"We're quite sure that's his eventual plan," Luna confirmed, rubbing her right hand over Bamboo's head, who was perched upon her shoulder. The knowledge of what Brookins controlling Utopia meant was mulled over in Nick's mind. All things considered, it would be just like that last incident with the Tachyon Aliens, when they had sent the mind-controlled mutants to attack the world's major cities. There was no way he could let that happen.

"Aaron," Nick began after he had spent a moment thinking about the matter. "I want to help you get Utopia back from Brookins."

"We're what?" Craven cried in shock. "But how? Kinley just said that Godzilla's been sedated. There's no way we can do anything against Brookins without him. He still has Coomba, remember."

"If we don't do anything, then Brookins will get control over the Utopian Mutants. It's our fault he found this place, so it's our responsibility to help stop him from taking over." The rest of H.E.A.T. were silent after Nick's words, until Elsie spoke up.

"So, what's the plan for getting Utopia back?" She asked. "There's still the problem of getting past Coomba."

"Based on the body mass of Godzilla," Amicus mused out loud, "the effects of the milkwort root wouldn't last too long. Just long enough for Brookins to have him securely restrained. If we could position ourselves to capture Brookins' agents at the same time that the milkwort root wears off, there might be a chance."

"And what of the fact that Godzilla would still be restrained?" Monique pointed out

"Bamboo could handle that," Luna stepped in. "Even at this size, his jaws are quite strong."

"Dr. Tatopoulous," Aaron interrupted. "Are you quite sure you're willing to do this? Remember, you have no ties to Utopia, so this is not your battle."

"I already told you," Nick insisted. "It's our fault Brookins got here, and I'm not about to let him use the Utopian mutants like weapons."