(Author's Note: Apologies for the long delay. Work life took a turn for the worse and sapped my creativity. But I'm forcing myself to try and get back into the swing of things. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this re-imagined 2014 story within the next couple months. But time will tell. Thank you for sticking with me this far!)

Ford and Joe were sent tumbling to the ground from the tremors released by the impact of Godzilla's body striking the ground. Ford did his best to keep his body beneath his father's to help cushion his fall and protect his still recovering back.

"Ford! You okay?!"

"Yeah! Come on! We need to keep going!"

The MUTO's roar split the skies above them as a massive gust of wind sent both men sprawling and rolling across the ground for dozens of feet.

"Dad!" Ford cried as he made it to his feet.

Once again the ear-splitting roar of the MUTO caught Ford's attention. And as it began to circle back around on a direct course over them back towards Godzilla Ford dashed forward, slid down on one knee, and knelt over his father while gripping Joe's jacket to shield him from the oncoming gust.

The MUTO raced through the air towards Godzilla who was just now beginning to make it to his feet. Extending both claws up and forward, the MUTO slammed both claws into Godzilla's neck pushing his head over and into the side of the mountain which sent tons upon tons of debris falling down the mountain face tearing trees from their roots and smashing into nearby buildings at Godzilla's feet.

With Godzilla's head partially embedded in rock, the MUTO pulled back its right claw and slammed it into Godzilla's head again. Then the left. Then the right. Godzilla's left arm came up and attempted to grab the MUTO's leg. But a quick hop backwards accompanied by a flap of the wings helped the MUTO evade Godzilla's grasp as he wrenched his head free from the mountain and snarled at his foe.

"Dad, I'm sorry about this. Just hang on."

Ford carefully lifted Joe's body up and hoisted his father onto his right shoulder. And at each of his father's pained groans, Ford winced.

"I'm sorry, dad. But I've got to get you out of here." Ford whispered as he started jogging as carefully as he could away from the battlegrounds.

Godzilla rushed forward with both claws up and tried to grab hold of the MUTO to no avail. A single flap of its wings sent it high enough in the air that Godzilla couldn't reach. And as Godzilla snarled and roared at it the MUTO croaked and growled right back.

"Admiral. We have the creatures in sight."

"Put it on the screen, Captain."

"Yessir! Put the visuals on Monitor One!"

What appeared to be chopper footage of the battle appeared on screen. Serizawa and Graham watched in awe while Admiral Stenz, by contrast, watched with quiet contempt.

"Doctor Serizawa…" He said in a low voice.

"Yes, Admiral?" Serizawa replied.

The Admiral turned towards him, hands behind his back.

"I need you to tell, as quickly as you can, what it is I'm looking at right now."

Serizawa nodded.

"The flying creature hatched from the Janjira power plant not long ago. It feeds on radiation, and that's why it took the Russian sub."

"To feed on its reactor?" Stenz asked.

"Yes. The other creature is an ancient super species known as Titannus Gojira. We've known about him since the mid-40's when the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki woke a creature we called Shinomura which Gojira then began hunting, just as he's doing to this MUTO."

Admiral Stenz took a few steps closer and tilted his head while his lips tightened.

"You've know about this… For how long, Doctor?"

"Since the mid-40's."

"And by what by what authority has MONARCH withheld this information from not only the United States Military, but seemingly the entire world?" Stenz growled right in Serizawa's face.

"MONARCH was established in secrecy in 1946 by multiple world governments. It was intended to be a massive collaboration of scientific minds from around the world to study the creatures we've called Titans. The Titan known as Shinomura proved to be hostile. But wherever it went, Gojira soon appeared and drove it away. Their struggle ended in 1954 with Gojira emerging victorious before the Castle Bravo detonation gave him the energy and cover he needed to disappear back to the ocean's depths."

"So MONARCH's been covering this whole thing up?"

"No, Admiral. We've been doing our job and undergoing covert operations much the same as the military does. Our operations are, however, non-violent. We study the creatures in an effort to understand them so we might learn to live in harmony with those like Gojira who seek to do us no intentional harm."

""Intentional" harm, Doctor? Like this?" Stenz asked, pointing to the monitors which showed the creatures battling amidst a now post-tsunami city with hundreds, if not thousands dead in the streets while those who survived scurried over and around them to escape the battle zone.

"The damage Gojira is inflicting is not intentional, Admiral. He's trying to destroy the MUTO."

"Intent does not justify the result, Doctor. I don't care what the circumstances are behind why he's here. I care about the lives of every individual on that island! Every second we just sit here watching and letting you study, more and more people die!"

"Please, Admiral. Just give Gojira time to defeat the MUTO."

"You talk like it's a foregone conclusion. But I'm not sure we see the same battle unfolding, Doctor."

Stenz looked back to the monitor along with Serizawa in time to see Godzilla driven to the ground once again following another EMP attack which then knocked out the Saratoga's systems.

"Get us back online, immediately!" Stenz ordered.

Doctor Graham sighed softly and put a hand on Serizawa's elbow. Serizawa looked over at her with a nod, which she returned, and they both watched on in silence as Admiral Stenz continued the effort to regain their visual contact.

Perched on the side of the mountain and slamming its claws into the dirt and rock beneath, the MUTO began burying Godzilla under hundreds of tons of rocky debris as the Titanic reptilian struggled to right himself.

By this time Ford and Joe had reached a safe distance and were drawing closer to the beach where Ford could see a helicopter which had managed to land safely following the EMP's effect. Ford rushed down to the chopper and spoke to the pilot who agreed to take them both to the Saratoga for safety once his chopper's systems came back on line. Joe was laid down across a couple chairs in the back and strapped down with Ford taking a seat on the floor right next to him.

"Dad?"

Joe's eyes opened slowly and looked around.

"Hey. I'm over here." Ford whispered, giving Joe's shoulder a soft tap.

Joe's eyes slid over to meet Ford's, and Joe offered a weak smile amidst a small series of grunts and wheezed gasps for breath.

"It's gonna be okay, dad. Just hang in there, okay?"

Joe nodded and closed his eyes with Ford rubbing his shoulder and looking out the door to the battle in the distance.

The MUTO continued hopping further up the mountain to send more and more debris down onto Godzilla who was now more than half buried in rubble with only the last ¼ of his tail, one leg, his arms, and his head free and clear. And with rocks and boulders continually striking the side of his face, he couldn't even keep his eyes open.

Reaching the top of the mountain, the MUTO slammed its claws against the tip sending larger amounts of debris down onto Godzilla and the city below. Before long Godzilla was completely buried save for the tip of his tail which was twitching about violently.

The MUTO rested on the mountain top taking slow, deep breaths as its wings sagged down to either side.

About this time the Saratoga's systems came back online in time for another chopper feed to start and show them the results.

""Give him time to defeat the MUTO," eh Doctor?" Admiral Stenz growled over his shoulder.

Serizawa and Graham were stunned by the visual.

"Sensei. Why can't he get free?"

"It must be his anatomy. Compared to human proportions, Gojira's arms are quite a bit shorter. So he must not be able to get the leverage he needs to right himself with all the extra weight on top of himself."

"What about that breath we saw earlier?" Admiral Stenz asked.

"The MUTO's EMP seems to have affected it. There's no telling when he'll be able to use it again." Serizawa replied.

"But why, Sensei?" Graham asked.

"I'm afraid we still don't know that much about Gojira. So I can only speculate that there must be some kind of bio-electric element at play."

"If he can't get free of the rubble, you might just get your chance to study his corpse, Doctor." Admiral Stenz remarked.

"Admiral! The MUTO's moving!" Captain Hampton called.

Everyone looked to the monitor as the MUTO seemed to have caught its breath and spread its wings. Giving both a powerful flap, the MUTO launched into the air and began flying away into the night.

"Where's it going?!" Admiral Stenz demanded.

"East, sir. Towards the US coastline."

"I want all possible routes on that monitor within the hour!" He barked.

"Yessir!"

Looking back at Serizawa, Stenz sighed through his nose.

"So what now, Doctor? Any expert advice on how to approach this situation?"

"We need to free Gojira. Have some of your pilots open fire on the rubble."

"Excuse me?" Stenz asked raising an eyebrow.

"If we free Gojira, he will chase the MUTO. Let nature take its course, Admiral." Serizawa insisted.

"Doctor, I'm afraid I can't comply with that suggestion. There's no way I'm going to stand idly by while these monsters take their fight to our coastline. There are millions upon millions of lives at risk if we do nothing."

"There are millions of lives at risk either way, Admiral. Gojira is our best chance to kill the creature. He will return to the sea once his task is complete."

"How do you know that, Doctor?"

"Because that's what he did sixty years ago. After destroying the Shinomura and surviving the Castle Bravo explosion, he returned to the sea and hasn't been seen again until just tonight."

"Sensei!" Graham shouted as she pointed to the monitor.

A blue light was creeping through the rubble before the blue beam erupted and quite literally seared off the tops of several buildings in its way. Godzilla's head was now free, and he slowly started looking down towards the rubble pile and guiding the beam along for the ride.

"Take cover!" Shouted a crewman on deck.

The beam just missed the top of the Saratoga. But even missing it the crew on deck could feel the heat radiating from it as a trail of steam was left behind and many of them began sweating. The beam then seared through several grounded passenger planes and the terminals of the airport before finally reaching the rubble pile. What rocks weren't pushed away or blown to smithereens were unceremoniously melted causing the rest of it to shift and fall off him.

Godzilla's mouth closed and the blue light along his spines, gills, and eyes flickered out as he began shifting back and forth over and over until he finally gained the momentum to roll far enough to break his spines free of the pile and shift onto his stomach. From there he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees before making it to his feet. A few rocks were still caught in between his spines, which he promptly looked back and with a snarl and shook off.

Following a roar, Godzilla turned towards the sea and made his way to the water before disappearing into the depths.

"I have him on sonar, sir! He's passing beneath us in 3… 2… 1…"

The ship subtly rocked a few times as the sonar image showed him continuing out to sea directly on the MUTO's marked path.

Admiral Stenz turned to Serizawa again with tight lips.

"No more secrets, Doctor. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with and how to stop them. If you don't have a full report prepared and on my desk in the next two hours, I'll have you arrested for interfering in United States Military affairs. Is that understood?"

Serizawa nodded silently.

"Then you're both dismissed. I don't want to see either of you until that report is on my desk."

The scientists departed and made their way through the halls to Serizawa's quarters.

"What now, Sensei?"

"Get some sleep, Vivian. I'll write the report and deliver it to the Admiral."

"Do you know how we can stop the MUTO, sensei?"

"No. But the Admiral cannot arrest me for not providing information I do not have. I will update him on everything we do know. And he will have to accept it as such."

"Yes, sensei. Goodnight."

With Graham's departure, Serizawa fired up his computer and began typing.