OK, time now for the second chapter. No actual monster goodness here, just putting up the characters and establishing the setting, blah, blah. But the monsters will show up soon. And there will be violence. Lots of violence.

Godzilla is © Toho. The Gryphon is probably © Somebody. Probably Toho.

TEN YEARS LATER

2007, New York City, USA, United States Mutation Countermeasures Force Headquarters

Major Jill Lampard checked the document over one last, time, penned her signature across the bottom and placed the pile of papers in the 'out' tray.

It was on days like this that she wished she'd never accepted that promotion. She wasn't suited to a desk job, and it seemed everything had to go through her. Invoices, requisitions, even requests for leave. Sometimes she found herself wandering if she could get out of it, just for a day, by dousing the office in gasoline and applying a match to it.

Still, that was the last of it today.

Atop each piece of paper was an insignia, pure-green, resembling a silhouette of the beast that had first appeared in Antarctica, in the middle of a crosshairs. The letters beneath read 'USMCF' If only the organisation actually got to do something, instead of the public just seeing the whole thing as a colossal waste of taxpayers' money. If only that damn lizard would turn up just once.

"I love my job," She muttered darkly to herself, filing away the last of the items on her desk.

Light-brown hair was kept tied back, and despite being in her mid-30's, she looked considerably younger than she actually was.

A slight beep and a red light flared on the intercom besides her. Pressing one of the two lit buttons, she leaned on the arm of her chair and listened.

"Just a reminder about the presentation this afternoon, Major," The voice informed her.

"I know," Jill answered, pressing the other button.

"Mrs. Lampard?" The female voice on the other end addressed her, "This is East Side High School."

"Oh, great," Jill gritted her teeth and snapped the pencil in her hand, "What's she done this time?"

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"You stole a car?" Jill practically screamed at her daughter as they walked down the steps of the police station.

"I wasn't gonna keep it," The 17-year-old next to her flicked back a lock of long, dark-brown hair. The girl wore a low-cut blue T-Shirt and a pair of skin-tight jeans, and had a figure that would make the average teenage male's eyes pop out of his head.

"You stole a car!" Jill repeated furiously.

"From somebody who deserved it," The girl rolled her eyes as they climbed into the car that sat waiting for them.

"I don't care. You stole a car! Why the hell weren't you in class?"

The teen gave no answer as the vehicle started up.

"Answer me, young lady," Jill ordered.

"I wasn't in class because I was getting back at him," Her daughter answered sharply.

"And that justified skipping class? To steal a car?"

"He still deserved it."

"You broke the law." Jill reminded her. "The law says you have to be in School. The law says you're not allowed to steal a car!"

"Can you just ground me already?" The teenager rolled her eyes.

Jill pulled over, the car stopping next to the sidewalk as Jill let out a frustrated sigh.

"Come on, Tina," She insisted, "You're smarter than this."

"So?"

"So, you're a smart girl. You know it. I know it. You could go far with what you've got, if you'd just keep out of trouble. You've got a good mind, and you should use it."

"That's what Dad did," Tina answered, looking away. "Look where it got him."

A long second of silence ticked by.

"You think he would've wanted you to go around stealing someone's car?"

"He wouldn't have wanted me falling into a giant hole in the ground."

Jill sighed again, looking out the windscreen.

"Just go home," She instructed, "I need to get back to work."

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"A theory long held by the scientist community," The young, bespectacled man read out, "Is that the organism known as Godzilla was created by radioactive fallout from the previous explosion of the Nuclear Submarine, the S.S. Sea Hawk. We can now confirm, however, that this theory is incorrect."

Major Josh Plaqueze shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was a military man, not a scientist. Hand him a gun, point at the target and he'd shoot it. Easy. But whenever the eggheads started talking about stuff like this, it just sounded to him like they were stringing random, complicated words together in a sentence. That had to be it, sometimes.

The scientist continued, "This has long been a suspicion due to the impeccable preservation of the specimen, and, judging by what remained of the crevice discovered on the Antarctic Peninsula, the age at which the specimen was found. Judging by this, and trace amounts of radioactivity detected in skin samples discovered in the area of the discovery, we must therefore assume that the specimen was irradiated before the explosion of the Sea Hawk."

He pressed a few keys on the computer next to him, switching the screen from a cross-section of Godzilla to a map of the Bikini Atol in the South Pacific.

"The more recent theory," He continued, "Is that Godzilla's mutation is instead a result of nuclear fallout resulting from the atomic bomb tests carried out in the South Pacific. There have been scattered reports…" The map switched to a view of a single island, "Of sightings of bizarre creatures in that area shortly after the tests were brought to an end. There is evidence to suggest that Godzilla himself was the creature in these sightings, and later became frozen in Antarctica."

"If Godzilla was radioactive for as long as you say," One of the audience members spoke up, "Why did it remain undetected for over fifty years?"

"Godzilla is radioactive," The scientist admitted, "But his body actually gives off no more radiation than one would receive from, say, standing next to a television. The only instance in which Godzilla gives off potentially harmful, or even detectable, amounts of radiation is when it uses its natural defences."

"You mean his 'fire breath'." Another audience member surmised.

"The technical term for the defence is 'radioactive incendiary breath'," The scientist nodded, "Though the exact mechanism behind its use remains unknown, the working theory on the subject is that it is an expelled burst of the radioactive energy contained in Godzilla's body."

"Then if this is true, could using it possibly consume all the energy in its body?"

"It is possible that excessive use of this mechanism could lessen Godzilla's offensive capabilities, though doing so would suggest that there is a limited amount available in Godzilla's body, and as such it would have to 'refuel', so to speak, from fissionable materials; something it has never been seen to do."

"Is this the basis for the new weapon to be used against Godzilla?" A female voice asked.

"Yes," The scientist stammered briefly, "We have reason to believe than a concentrated application of Cadmium, which is used as a seal on nuclear reactors, could have the potential to slow down or even halt the radioactive processes within Godzilla's body."

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"You seem stressed," Plaqueze noted the look in Jill Lampard's eyes.

"That damn girl got herself in trouble again," Jill admitted, "I swear to God, she'll be the death of me."

"Can't say I blame her. Personally I'd take joyriding over listening to some science whiz talk on about mutations and cadmium."

"That's their job," Jill shrugged. "Can't say fairer than that."

Across the room, the young scientist, putting away his glasses, stepped out of the doors leading into the headquarters of the USMCF.

"Well, well," A woman's voice called to him from one side, "Mike Carlhan."

The young man turned round to see the tall, attractive blonde walking up to him.

"Sara," He realised, "You… you, uh, look…"

"And you look like a man in need of a drink," The woman took his arm in hers, "Saw your conference. Truly moving."

"Yeah, very funny. When did you get into New York?"

"When I heard my boyfriend was speaking to the Top Brass about Godzilla, and the station asked me to cover it. So: Work later. Drink now."

Ugh. That was hard stuff to write. Anyway, not a huge amount to say about that chapter, though now you've been introduced to most of the cast; most, but not quite all. For this story, expect a sort of "'Jurassic Park' meets 'Aliens' during a bombing raid" but still with (hopefully) Godzilla getting the respect her deserves; one thing the remake sorely lacked.

All Reviews Welcome!