"Bank right!"

The H.E.A.V. banked hard to one side as a massive flying snake-like creature soared past, its jaws just grazing the rear left engine. The force of the bite sent a small shock wave through the air tipping the H.E.A.V. off its flight path and nearly spiraling out of control into a mountain face.

Kong dove into a shoulder roll and managed to catch the H.E.A.V. with only feet to spare before a rocky grave for its passengers. Setting it down quickly he turned in the nick of time to catch the jaws of one of the oncoming flying serpents. Its teeth dug into his flesh causing trickles of blood down his fingers. But he held firm and pushed back with all his might. The creature planted its tail into the ground and pushed back. But it was no match for Kong's overwhelming strength.

The second creature, however, was now pursuing the other H.E.A.V. with the team on board.

"Fuck!" Shouted the pilot who banked hard this way and that to avoid the snapping jaws behind them.

"Can't you lose it?!" Maia demanded.

"You wanna pilot this thing?" He yelled in response.

Everyone else aboard clung tight to their seats and Jia tight to her Kong doll.

The doll's namesake was faring far better than the team and the H.E.A.V's as he rolled the serpent to one side and managed to sit atop the creature while shifting his grip to its throat. The serpent's tail whipped and thrashed viciously behind Kong before arching up and wrapping around Kong's throat. His grip on it immediately loosened as his instinct to protect his airways took hold and his enemy immediately pressed its advantage. Pulling Kong backwards and off of itself it managed to slither up and around before wrapping itself around him.

Kong's hands gripped its body and dug in tightly for all his worth. But it was no use. Its coiled body was tightening its muscles to the point where it was too much for Kong's usually ironclad grip to do anything about. However it made one dangerous mistake in its flash of narcissistic showmanship. While rising up with a gaping maw preparing for a killing bite, it left itself open to Kong's own bite. Tucking in his chin and digging his teeth into the body of the serpent sent streams of green blood arcing through the air as the beast shrieked in agony.

Its grip on Kong's throat went slack as the rest of its body flailed wildly in its attempt to escape. But one good bite deserves another. And Kong felt a searing pain spiral through his shoulder as the creature's fangs dug into his flesh.

Meanwhile, the team's H.E.A.V. continued to desperately outrun and outmaneuver the massive serpent flying after them over and around the cliffs and small mountains filled with densely packed trees.

"Crap." Shouted Doctor Lind as his seat broke away from its hinges.

He and his set fell to the ground and were tossed around like rag dolls until Doctor Serizawa and Doctor Chen were able to grab onto him and hold him still. The seat, though, was still free. And as the pilot again banked hard to avoid a lunge from the serpent the seat flew up towards the cockpit slamming into the back of the pilot's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Shit!" Maia screamed as the vehicle began spiraling.

"Do something." Doctor Andrews demanded.

"I'm here to babysit. Not fly!" Maia retorted.

Suddenly a body dove past them.

It was Ford.

Diving into the cockpit area and forcing himself between the pilot and the controls, he grabbed them and pulled hard to level the H.E.A.V. out. Once stable, he glanced at the rear monitor showing the serpent right on their tail.

"Hang on." He shouted.

Ford twisted the controls all the way left throwing the H.E.A.V. into a barrel roll as the serpent dove past and face first into a mountain.

"Nice one Ford." Joe cheered.

Ford smiled and pulled back on the controls to ascend higher into the air. From here he could see much more clearly. And not far away was Kong still locked in battle with the other creature.

"We got anything to help him?" Ford called.

"No. Just get us out of here." Maia demanded.

"How about you stop thinking about yourself for once, hmm?" Doctor Andrews growled.

"I'm thinking about our lives, lady." Maia countered.

"Enough. We need to help Kong." Serizawa interjected.

Ford nodded and banked towards Kong.

The mighty King of Skull Island had managed to bite out a large chunk of the serpent whose long, needle-like teeth could not accomplish the same feat against the massive ape-like Titan. With his head now free and his hands able to dig into the open wound and start pulling, he tore the wound wide open along the length of its body until it started coughing green blood. Gripping it hard around the tail, he swung it around and slammed it down head-first into a spiky series of rocks in the ground impaling the center of its cranium and killing it nearly instantly.

While attempting to catch his breath he turned at the sound of the H.E.A.V. approaching. The vehicle came down smoothly and started to circle him, but was soon followed by the other serpent.

"Ah crap." Ford exclaimed as he pulled back on the controls.

The H.E.A.V. departed the area, joining the second vehicle nearby, as Kong snarled at the serpent.

You challenged me to battle, serpent.

You are an intruder here.

Yes. I am. I search for my new home.

Your home was outside this world.

Once. But no longer.

Return, outsider.

I will not.

If you do not, the Mother will see you ejected by force.

What is the Mother?

Those who do not know the Mother only prove that they are not worthy of calling this land "home."

Kong snarled viciously and dashed at the creature who subsequently lunged right back at him. Kong managed to grab the creature by its jaws. But as with the first its body managed to coil around him and began squeezing tightly. Pressing his arms together against his body forced his hands to lose their grip. The creature leaned back, readied its lower jaw, and opened wide as it wrapped its mouth around Kong's head and bean attempting to devour him as known surface-dwelling snakes do their prey.

"Oh my God!" Doctor Andrews screamed.

"We've gotta help him." Ford shouted. "This thing have any weapons?"

"No. It's for getting us here. Not fighting these things." Maia replied sharply.

"Dammit." Ford exclaimed.

He flexed his body. He tried to grab anything his hands could reach while pinned to his chest. He tried to lean his head left and right. He tried moving his legs and kicking which only resulted in him falling down as the creature's mouth slid further down around his lower jaw and neck, teeth sinking into flesh along the way.

The smell was wretched. The pain in each tooth as it pierced his skin felt like the stingers of the insects on the island. And not being able to breathe as its body wrapped tighter and tighter around him started causing panic to set in as his heart rate skyrocketed against the lack of expansion of his lungs.

The creature's jaws slid down and stretched around his shoulders.

I can't… Break free.

Glancing to the sides he noticed the light of the sun peeking through the red-pink flesh between the creature's scales. Opening his jaws he attempted to lean over and bite the creature. But the slimy texture of its innards and the vertical wall it presented given how stretched out it was around him prevented his fangs from sinking in.

But as Kong's consciousness began to fade, he felt a strange heat by his left ear…

"The fuck are you doing?!" Maia shrieked.

Ford had bee lined for Kong and shifted the H.E.A.V. so its engines sat just above the creature's flesh at the base of the jaw. Cranking the ignition as far as it would go, the engines roared to life searing the flesh between the scales turning it a charcoal black. The creature couldn't cry out due to its circumstances. But Kong felt the resonance of its pain through its body as it vibrated and suddenly-

Kong's hands shot upwards and slipped out of the small gap created when the creature's focus wavered in its grip. His hands landed on either side of its lower jaw, and using all his strength he tore outwards to either side which broke the lower jaw completely allowing him to rip it in two out to the sides. Green blood spilled everywhere. But it didn't matter. He could breathe again. And he had all of his strength back without that thing constricting him anymore.

With the creature's jaws no longer an issue, Kong threw it off of himself and walked up with both fists clenched tight together as they rose above his head and came down full force on the cranium. A sickening crunch echoed through the area, and the creature's body went slack.

Kong stood up and huffed through his nose at it and turned his head to see the H.E.A.V. had landed nearby with steam rising from the back end of it.

"You moron. You could have killed us all!" Maia snapped.

"Oh shut it already." Ford barked.

"Get off the controls. Now." She demanded.

"And who'll pilot, hm?" Joe muttered.

"We'll wake the pilot and let him do his job. That's what he's paid for. Now get out of that seat." She growled.

"Fine, whatever." Ford grumbled as he stood up.

"Looks like the H.E.A.V's not doing too well after that stunt." The co-pilot said.

"You'd better tell me we're not stranded in this Hell hole." Maia said through grit teeth.

"I don't know, ma'am. We'll need to run diagnostics. It might take a bit."

"Not like we're going anywhere anyway." Mark said as he looked out the cockpit window.

Kong had walked over and was kneeling in front of the H.E.A.V. looking inside. Jia waved at him, and he waved back and sat down to observe as the team opened the rear doors so the co-pilot could check things out and they could give the unconscious lead pilot some fresh air.

"It's surprisingly comfortable." Doctor Chen remarked as they walked outside.

Indeed. The temperature was perfect. A mild seventy degrees. Maybe a few more. A nice warm "sun" in the form of a massive ball of light in the distance. Greenery all around. The sounds of nature. Were it not for the giant dead flying snakes nearby, as well as Kong, one would think they were just on a hiking retreat.

"How's Kong doing?" Doctor Andrews asked.

"Looks like he's doing okay, minus the snake bites." Mark said as he examined the massive ape.

"… That's a lot of blood, mister Russell."

Kong's fur was drenched in both the blood of the creature, saliva, and his own blood which dripped freely from the still open puncture wounds.

"Why isn't he healing?" Doctor Andrews asked.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"When he was on the island he healed from wounds really quickly. But those marks are still bleeding." She replied.

"Hm. Good question." Mark said quietly.

"Maybe the saliva has anti-coagulant properties?" Doctor Chen added.

"You think?" Mark asked.

"It's possible. We've never studied something like this. But if the creature draws sustenance from blood rather than the volume of mass it consumes, then it makes sense that it wouldn't want the blood coagulating and staying inside." She mused.

"Ah, you're right. With fangs that large and an anti-coagulant saliva it would only need to nick one major artery I the neck or upper chest to drain the blood while the rest of the body dissolves in its stomach fluids before being regurgitated." He replied.

"Hey, Doctors? I'm sure this must be incredibly fascinating to you. But if you haven't noticed we're kind of stuck here." Maia interjected.

"But we're alive." Ford remarked while walking past her and closer to Kong so he could get a better look up close.

Doctor Serizawa, meanwhile, was looking at the massive light in the distance.

"Serizawa?" Doctor Chen asked as she approached.

"That light is like the sun. It must be part of what gives this underground world the ability to sustain life." He said calmly.

"Mm. Do you think Kong will head there once the H.E.A.V's are repaired?" She asked.

He nodded.

"And what about Godzilla? Do you think he knows what's happening?" She asked.

He took a deep breath.

"I wouldn't be surprised." He said in a lower voice.

Back on the surface…

I cannot sense him.

Godzilla surfaced in the Pacific and looked all around.

He must have found the Ancient Grounds.

Suddenly, something drew his attention far to the Northwest.

You… The Intruder upon our world. You will not escape this time.

Godzilla dove under the water and streaked through the water like a giant bullet towards the direction of Hong Kong where, in the Apex Headquarters underground chambers, a massive mechanical monstrosity began to stir as red lights flickered and undulated down its back in its eyes.