"Where are we now?" Asked Doctor Lind.

"The Tasman Sea. Between New Zealand and the Australian mainland." Replied Admiral Wilcox.

"We're almost there." Doctor Andrews added.

"Yeah… Where's Godzilla?" Doctor Lind asked.

"… We lost track of him." The Admiral replied.

"What?" Doctor Lind gasped.

"Admiral. We can't afford to lose track of Godzilla!" Doctor Andrews barked.

"You think I don't know that? But we did. He just disappeared. Our satellites lost him. No thermals. No visuals. Not even radiation scans picked him up. He's just… Gone." The Admiral countered.

"He's using the Hollow Earth to travel." Serizawa said from the back of the bridge.

"What do you mean, Doctor?" The Admiral asked.

"Gojira must sense Kong and know that he's getting closer to another entrance. If Kong makes it into the Hollow Earth, Gojira probably won't be able to sense him anymore because of how strong the magnetic and energy fields are down there." Serizawa continued.

"So he's trying to catch up before Kong escapes. Great." Doctor Andrews said as she sat down and rubbed her temples.

"Where's the nearest entrance to the Hollow Earth?" Serizawa asked.

Doctor Lind checked the tablet, but…

"Antarctica. And it's not connected to any known opening in the ocean. So if Godzilla's using a tunnel from the ocean then it's not one that Apex knows about." He said.

Serizawa frowned deeply.

"There is much about Gojira and the Hollow Earth that I'm sure Apex doesn't know, despite their claims." He said in a low voice.

Out on the deck Kong was enjoying a large feast of fish caught for him by the other vessels.

These treats taste funny.

Crunch.

But they are filling.

Crunch. Crunch.

Maia, meanwhile, approached Kong while he had his back turned to her. Walking up close to one of the containers near his legs, she checked her surroundings before seemingly reaching into one of the gaps and then retracting her hand. Quickly she walked away and back to the stairwell where she smiled to herself before walking up to join the others again.

"So how can we find Godzilla?" The Admiral asked.

"Gojira is likely using one of the tunnel systems MONARCH documented. Let me make a call."

"By the time you make that call, Serizawa, we'll all be face to face with him." The Admiral barked.

Serizawa ignored him and dialed a number on his phone and hit "Call." The phone rang a few times, and was then picked up.

"Doctor?" Came a voice on the other end.

"Vivienne. Please forward me all the data you have on the Hollow Earth tunnels which MONARCH has scanned."

"Of course, Sensei."

The phone call ended, and a moment later it lit up and Serizawa opened a document sent to him by email. The document was expanded in his phone view, and Serizawa held it up for the Admiral to take a closer look.

"There is an entrance just south of the tip of New Zealand. Gojira is likely headed there." Serizawa said.

"Then depending on how fast he can swim he might cut us off." The Admiral whispered in horror.

A MONARCH chopper arrived on the scene a few minutes later, and both Joe and Ford emerged before heading into the main bridge area to meet the others.

"Gentlemen. I'm glad you could make it." Serizawa said.

Joe and Ford greeted everyone with smiles and handshakes.

"Glad to be here." Joe said.

"So this is how we're doing it, huh?" Ford whispered.

"Yes." Serizawa said with a nod.

"So what's up with Godzilla?" Ford continued.

"Gojira has entered the Hollow Earth tunnels and is presumably heading for an entrance ahead of us." Serizawa replied.

"That's not good." Joe mumbled.

"Regardless, we're almost there. If we can manage to get the Antarctica before Godzilla catches up then we can get Kong into the tunnels and proceed with the mission." Doctor Lind said.

"Hey everyone." Mark said as he too arrived a moment later. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay, Mark." Doctor Andrews said.

Maia entered the room and leaned against the wall nearby, but couldn't escape a brief scornful glance from Doctor Andrews. And for a brief instant, she could swear she saw a hint of fear flash across Maia's eyes. But she dismissed it as nothing when Maia flicked a bang out of her eyes.

"Mister Brody. You and your son witnessed the San Francisco incident, right?" The Admiral asked.

"Yeah. That's right." Joe replied.

"Do you remember anything about Godzilla's arrival that showed any kind of weakness?" He asked.

"Why do you ask?" Serizawa inquired with narrowed eyes.

"If Godzilla does attack, you said we need to remain neutral. But there's no way we can do that. If Godzilla wins there's no guarantee he'll stop at Kong. What if he turns on us?" The Admiral asked.

"He won't." Doctor Chen said firmly.

"How do you know, Doctor?" The Admiral asked.

She glared back at him.

"Didn't think so. Now, mister Brody. Anything?" He asked again.

Joe glanced at Serizawa who solemnly nodded to him.

"Yeah. When he was hit in the gills by missile fire from the ships in the bay he flinched away from the impacts. I think his gills are a soft spot in his neck. And if my memory serves the MUTO managed to hook into one of them which made him bleed pretty badly." Joe said.

"I see. So if he starts showing more aggression, aim for the gills." The Admiral replied.

"Godzilla won't attack." Ford said.

"Lieutenant Brody, I'll ask you only once to mind your tongue. I know you're on Godzilla's side here. But remember you're still in the Navy."

"… Yes, sir." Ford said through tight lips.

The Admiral nodded and glanced around the room.

"We've got a plan. We won't attack unless Godzilla turns his aggression towards us. But if he does we won't hesitate to use all we've got against any and all weaknesses we can identify." He said.

Kong growled which caused a low tremor to shake through the ship. Everyone looked outside towards him, but looked at each other when it appeared he settled back down.

"Can we focus on getting Kong to Antarctica?" Doctor Andrews asked.

Red lights flared to life and the sirens began sounding. The sonar imaging showed on the main monitor for them all to see.

"Oh shit." Doctor Lind said.

They all looked out towards the waters ahead…

Godzilla had arrived.

His spines broke the surface of the water about a mile ahead on a perpendicular path to their course. His pace slowed and curved towards them as he centered himself on the vessel carrying Kong.

"Shut all engines down! Now!" Serizawa yelled.

"Fuck!" The Admiral exclaimed. He grabbed the radio and called for all engines to stop and all weapons to be on standby until further orders.

"This better work, Doctor." He said to Serizawa.

Godzilla slowly came to a stop out in the waters ahead and rose out of the water. Treading water at waist-level, he looked directly at Kong who glared back at him with a snarl.

"… Where's Jia?" Doctor Andrews asked.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no." Doctor Lind said as he looked down at the deck near Kong.

Jia had reached the bow of the ship after running around Kong and waved her arms to get his attention.

That is Godzilla. She signed.

He is not enemy.

Kong growled.

I sense enemy. Kong replied.

No. Not enemy. She insisted.

Kong looked out at Godzilla who continued to tread water. His eyes narrowed, but his lips relaxed slightly and he sat up a bit straighter.

"I found you, Rival."

Godzilla's lips curled back as he let out a low grumble of his own which shook the waters around him.

"Let us see if you understand."

Godzilla reared his head back and unleashed a powerful roar while flashing the lights in his eyes and back at Kong. In response, Kong sat quiet and still. His calm glare never wavering.

Godzilla snarled.

"… You do not understand."

Godzilla slowly leaned forward into the water and swam towards Kong's vessel. The Admiral reached for his radio, but Serizawa stopped him and shook his head. Doctor Andrews had run out and managed to fetch Jia before running back into the bridge with her.

Don't ever do that again! She signed angrily.

Jia sadly nodded.

Kong, meanwhile, growled as Godzilla grew closer. He could just barely see Godzilla's eyes above the water's surface as he swam. And although the pace was slow, Kong couldn't help but tense as he pushed himself up onto his knees which was as far as the chains around him would allow.

Godzilla stopped once again approximately 500 meters away and began to tread water again.

"You do not understand."

"I understand."

Godzilla's head snapped up and his mouth closed. He blinked twice, but leaned in a bit as he regained his composure.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Did you not understand my warning?"

"No."

"Then you do not understand."

"I understand you."

"No… You do not."

To everyone watching, Godzilla and Kong both were snarling and emitting low frequency growls and grumbles at one another.

"What are they saying?" Doctor Chen asked.

"You think that's a conversation?" The Admiral asked.

"Of course it is. Animals of all kinds can understand each other in ways humans can't." Mark replied.

"Whatever." The Admiral said, shaking his head.

"I am here to give you a warning."

"Why a warning?"

"You threaten the natural order of our kin."

"How?"

"You exist."

"That is not a crime."

"It is when your calls can bring a response. Our kin need only answer to one Alpha."

"I do not call to anyone."

"But you can."

"What does it matter?"

"Our Kin will come to war if they answer to two. You will bow to me as Alpha. And I will call and assure them of your place amongst them."

"You are no Alpha to me."

"I am the Alpha!"

Godzilla's tail rose out of the water and slammed down onto the surface causing twin walls of water hundreds of meters high to rise into the sky and disintegrate into mist around him.

"The balance and safety of our Kin is my responsibility. And your presence endangers that balance."

Godzilla used his tail to propel himself, still upright, forward to within 350 meters of Kong's ship.

"You will acknowledge me as Alpha. You will bow."

"No."

Godzilla roared and flared the light in his eyes and spines once again which Kong did not respond to. He only continued to glare.

"For the sake of our Kin, you will bow."

"No."

Godzilla lurched forward and stopped 100 meters away from the ship.

"You… Will… Bow!" He roared.

"… No."

Godzilla roared furiously which elicited a similar response from Kong who roared back at him at a near equal volume. Everyone on board covered their ears except Jia. And when the roaring stopped everyone began moving about frantically.

"We need to prepare for a response!" The Admiral said.

"No! If we do anything to upset them then we will earn Gojira's wrath!" Serizawa rebutted.

"We already have!" The Admiral said as he pointed outside.

Godzilla's eyes and spines were flashing.

"No! Gojira is warning Kong! Not attacking!" Serizawa said.

"How do you know?!" The Admiral demanded.

"Because the lights are intermittent!" Mark yelled. "It's an intimidation display! If it were his attack it would be solid!"

"I'm done listening to you quack pot scientists!" The Admiral growled.

Maia, meanwhile, saw Godzilla circle around to the side so Kong could get the full view of his display as they continued growling and snarling at one another.

Now or never. She thought.

She reached into her pocket and pushed a button. A second later the SIREN device on the table which Mark had brought with him blared to life.

"What's that?!" The Admiral yelled.

"The SIREN! It's detecting something!" Mark said as he looked at the readings.

"Oh my God…" He whispered.

The SIREN simply displayed two words.

Monster Zero.

Godzilla's response was instant. The lights in his back solidified, along with those in his eyes. He turned fully to face Kong and began taking in a huge breath with Kong looking around by his feet.

"Set Kong free!" Doctor Andrews yelled.

Are you fucking crazy!?" The Admiral yelled.

"He's dead if we leave him tied up! Do it!" She yelled.

The Admiral was too late to stop it. Jia had made it to the lever holding Kong's restraints and pulled with all her might until it snapped into place. The restraints around Kong's wrists and ankles snapped open releasing him just in time to grab a container and hurl it into Godzilla's face causing him to roar in surprise and turn away shaking his head.

"No!" Serizawa yelled.

Godzilla's eyes snapped to Kong who glared back at him defiantly while holding another container. Godzilla began charging his breath again. And as Kong threw the container Godzilla simply closed his eyes and let it strike true.

… Nothing.

The container simply exploded on contact with his scaly flesh releasing all of its contents into the sea.

Godzilla's eyes opened and his eyes flashed blue as he opened his mouth and unleashed his atomic breath directly at Kong. Ducking just in time, Kong flattened himself against the ship's deck to avoid the blast. Thankfully it was a short one. But it still singed a few furs on his back.

Kong quickly stood up, but was not quick enough to grip the ship before Godzilla's tail swung around through the air and knocked him off and into the water. Now beneath the waves, Kong was all but helpless as Godzilla tore through the water and slammed his head directly into Kong's chest. Kong's mouth opened and a massive torrent of bubbled escaped as he was pushed back through the water towards one of the other vessels. His head struck the hull causing the ship to dent nearly in half before it snapped and began to sink.

"We've got to help him!" Doctor Andrews screamed.

"We can't! There's no way anything we have is going to do anything against Godzilla except make him mad!" Mark replied.

"There's still those gills!" The Admiral rebutted.

Mark spun around.

"You really think a few missiles to the gills are going to stop him?!" He growled.

Kong managed to pull himself together quickly enough to slam an elbow into the back of Godzilla's skull which thoroughly dazed the mighty reptilian behemoth. Kong pushed Godzilla down and kicked him in the side just below the line of his spines and used that to push himself to the surface to take in a massive gulp of air. Swimming to the ship he'd started on, Kong hauled himself out of the water.

"We've got to get out of here!" Doctor Andrews barked.

"We knew this was a possibility, Doctor Andrews. We must let nature take its course now." Serizawa said.

"Fuck nature! Admiral! Fire up the engines and get us out of here now!" She yelled.

"No need to tell me twice!"

He picked up the radio and ordered all ahead full as Godzilla continued to reel from the blow to the back of his head. The ships all fired up their engines and took off at full speed. Kong caught his balance as it lurched into motion, and looked around for a better place to stand.

Spotting the aircraft carrier, Kong jumped off the cargo ship and onto a Destroyer before using it as a launchpad to hurl himself over and onto the carrier. The landing caused the carrier to list hard to the rear before slowly settling back and continuing its forward movement.

Godzilla finally shook off the stunning blow and popped his head up to see what was going on. The vessels were in motion, and Kong was on a new one near the other side of the fleet. Godzilla snarled and dove into the water before disappearing into the depths.

"I bow to no one!"

Kong beat his chest, but there was no reply. The waters had gone still. But the sound of Godzilla's roar echoing through the ocean was still present. Kong cautiously leaned over the side peering into the water. And not but a second later Godzilla launched out of the water slamming his snout into Kong's causing him and the carrier to tilt to the side and the vessel to capsize despite Kong's attempt to save it from doing so.

Now back in the water, Kong scrambled to get back up onto the ship's now capsized hull but was grabbed around the ankle by a painful vice-like spiky clamp which could only be Godzilla's jaws and pulled into the depths.

Beneath the waves, Kong looked down and saw a red streak through the water originating at his ankle. Reading the pressure of the bite, he kicked down and stiffened his toes as they slammed into Godzilla's face and put a lot of pressure onto Godzilla's right eye. Kong dug his toes in harder and leaned forward with a balled up fist aimed right at Godzilla's neck.

Godzilla let go of Kong's ankle and leaned back to avoid the blow. But he still caught the edge of the fist against his lower jaw which knocked him for a bit of a loop. Turning around and shaking it off, he looked back quickly and used his tail to grip Kong's leg just below the knee and yanked him back down. Turning at the same time, Godzilla lurched forward in an attempt to get a bite in on either his arm or shoulder. To his surprise, Kong pushed his elbow out towards Godzilla and jammed it into his mouth. The move drew blood, but Godzilla was stuck with his jaws pushed as wide as they could naturally go with Kong priming his leg before slamming it into Godzilla's stomach as hard as he could.

Godzilla floated down into the water leaning forward in pain as Kong swam to the surface and hoisted himself up to the side of the carrier. Gripping the sides, he pushed it up and managed to right the ship before hauling himself up onto the deck.

Godzilla's roar echoed through the water again, and a moment later Godzilla launched out of the water and crawled up onto the carrier. As he pulled himself to his feet Kong let loose with a powerful punch across Godzilla's jaws. But the blow was glancing as Godzilla had moved his head at the last second, having learned from the previous punch. Godzilla swung back with his claw and slammed it into Kong's jaw knocking him onto his back as Godzilla walked cautiously forward on the now highly unstable vessel and began charging his atomic breath.

A moment later a stream of missiles hurled through the air and slammed into Godzilla's neck and shoulder region causing him to flinch away and turn partly to look at what had happened. The trails of smoke led back to several of the ships in the area which earned a vicious snarl from Godzilla before he felt a blow to the side of his head. Shaking it off quickly, he stood up just in time to see and feel Kong body slamming him off the edge of the carrier and into the water once again.

The waters began to emit a blue light, and Kong knew all too well what this meant. Kong observed as the light reached its peak and jumped off the side of the carrier as Godzilla's atomic breath tore through the vessel and into the skies above. Splashing down into the water yet again, Kong spun around and saw Godzilla close his mouth and look at him with still glowing eyes and a flickering through his spines.

"Serizawa! What do we do?" Doctor Chen asked.

"I don't know. I was hoping Kong would not aggravate Gojira." He replied.

"It wasn't Kong that started this, Serizawa." Mark said.

He turned the SIREN and showed Serizawa the Monster Zero reading, and both Doctor Chen's and Serizawa's faces drained of color.

"Oh no…" Serizawa whispered.

"What does that mean?" Ford asked.

"Monster Zero was the three headed Dragon, Ford." Joe said.

"… Fuck." Ford said quietly.

"But how did Kong emit his call?" Doctor Lind asked.

"It couldn't be Kong. Something else had to have been responsible." Mark said.

"How do you know, mister Russell?" The Admiral asked.

"Because even if Kong's intelligent, you can't change your vocal cords. Something let out a frequency matching Monster Zero's. The source was close to Kong, but not exact to him." Mark replied.

"So you think something has Monster Zero's voice?" The Admiral asked.

"No. It had to be mechanical. We need to check the deck for a device of some kind." Mark replied.

"We're not going outside!" Doctor Andrews barked.

"Fine! Stay in here! I'm going to see what I can find!" Mark barked back.

"I'll go with you." Doctor Chen said.

"Me too." Said Ford.

"And me!" Joe said, gripping the wheels of his wheel chair and pushing himself after them.

Meanwhile, Kong managed to surface momentarily once again after pushing Godzilla away. But his reprieve was short-lived. Godzilla sharked out of the water and grabbed Kong by the shoulders and slammed his jaws down around Kong's clavicle. Kong let out a roar of pain as a searching heat ran through his chest and arm. He tried to pry Godzilla's jaws free, but his bite force was too powerful to move. Kong cut his fingers on Godzilla's teeth in the attempt.

On the deck, the team searched everywhere for any signs of a device that may have been responsible for the Monster Zero call.

"What would it look like?" Doctor Chen called.

"It would have to have a speaker on it somewhere to emit the frequencies!" Mark replied.

"I think I found something!" Ford called.

Everyone ran to Ford as he held up a small rectangular device which could fit in someone's pocket. It had a tiny speaker on the end of it. But nothing else. No markings. No indications of a manual activation. Nothing.

"Is that it?" Joe asked.

"It has to be. But there's nothing on it." Ford said.

"It must have a remote somewhere. Let's see if we have anything to trace the signal." Mark suggested.

Suddenly, the device began letting out a sound again.

"… Oooohhh, shit." Ford said.

Godzilla broke the surface not far away with blood still dripping from his jaws. He made his way over towards the ship and everyone froze as he approached. He wore a vicious snarl as he leaned in and took a look at what was happening.

Serizawa, thinking quickly, grabbed the device from Ford and rushed out into a more open area of the deck and held the device up towards Godzilla. Everyone else remained frozen, too scared to move. Godzilla leaned down close to the edge and his eyes landed on Serizawa. The Doctor put the device on the ground and stomped on it over and over again until it broke and the signals coming from it stopped. This result garnered a reaction from Godzilla who straightened up a bit while still looking down at Serizawa and company.

In the water behind him Kong surfaced and grabbed hold of one of the destroyers to hold him above water. The bite marks in his shoulder were horrific, as well as several scratches along his shoulder and neck around them. He breathed heavily and coughed up a lot of water as Godzilla slowly turned his head to look at him out of the corner of his eye. Kong glared back but could do little but weakly fight for breath and snarl at him.

Godzilla looked back down to the humans on the ship.

"The Intruder should be dead. But you brought him here to me."

The others began gathering around the one who destroyed the box.

"You showed me the device. Perhaps it is another that makes the calls?"

The humans began leaving the deck and returning to the stairwell to the bridge and soon after disappeared from sight. Godzilla leaned down and looked into the glass to see them gathered inside and Kong roared at him. Godzilla straightened once more and turned halfway to glare at Kong.

"Today was a warning, Wayward Rival. Should we meet again, you will bow."

"And if I don't?"

Godzilla's eyes narrowed and his lips curled back.

"I will kill you."

Godzilla slid into the water and disappeared into the gloom leaving Kong to swim back to the cargo ship where he promptly collapsed and fell asleep.