More of the story-telling for my readers. Enjoy! Oh, and I forgot to mention: This story's Godzilla is a sort-of "fusion" of the Japanese and American Godzilla. Picture a more flexible, burrowing version of Godzilla 2000, and you're about there.

Godzilla is © Toho. The Gryphon is probably © Toho as well.

WARNING

Kansas

"Refresh my memory," Plaqueze sighed as the USMCF chopper descended near the old farmhouse, "Godzilla's just burrowed under San Francisco and is currently tunnelling under the US of A, and we're going to some farm somewhere because…?"

"Because the way the kid worked it out, this is where he's going," Mike answered. "And if what's in that photo is a mutation, that could explain why he's coming here."

"The monster's coming to kill other monsters," Plaqueze surmised. "Well that makes a lot of sense…"

"The thing that's easy to forget," Mike explained, "Is that Godzilla's an animal, and most of the mutations that have appeared were neutralised within days of their initial appearance. These may have been around for a while. It could just by territorialism."

"Fighting off intruders," Jill realised.

"Right," Mike nodded, "So it stands to reason that Godzilla will leave once the intruders- these new mutations- are eliminated."

"The new mutations that we know nothing about except that they fly and drink blood," Plaqueze reminded him. "We don't know how widespread they are, what they're capable of…"

"And that's what we're here to find out," Mike answered. "The first attack was right here."

"At the site of a meteorite landing?"

"There's nothing to suggest that the meteorite has anything to do with them. Although it could have drawn them out, maybe unearthed a nest…"

The chopper finally reached the ground, where crowds had gathered around the old farmhouse, with detectives trying to talk down civilians and reporters as scientists gathered around a single spot not far from the farmhouse.

"At least the people around here are cooperating," Jill sighed. "They told us everything they knew about how the victims died."

"Then why are you still mad?" Mike asked as she virtually threw the chopper's door open.

"Because all they knew was that their chests had been bitten into and they'd been sucked dry."

"Which is maddeningly unhelpful," Mike admitted.

Flashing ID's to a police officer, the three USMCF personnel walked towards the site of the meteor landing.

The crater looked, at first glance, relatively shallow; about three feet deep at most, with a single spike of jagged rock poking out from the earth.

"That's just the tip," One of the NASA scientists motioned towards the rock, "There's about another thirty feet of the thing under the ground.

Mike's eyes were suddenly drawn down, towards motion at his feet.

Right in front of them, a small section of Earth suddenly bulged. Tiny chunks of rock fell to the sides as a small sliver of silvery liquid emerged, slithering across the ground.

"Now what do you make of this?" Mike asked, leaning down towards the slithering liquid. "Maybe it's an infant, or a larval stage." Setting a silvery case down on the ground, he removed a jar and a pair of tongs, holding it in front of the creature and allowing it to slither its way inside before he quickly screwed down the top. "I'll run some tests on this; see what I can find out." He turned to the NASA scientist, "Do you have a sample of the meteorite?"

"We took a sample," the scientist answered, "But… well…"

"But what?" Plaqueze asked.

"As near as any of our instruments can tell, it… it's not rock."

"What?"

"Doctor Carlhan," The scientist started, "Maybe you should take a look at it yourself."

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Mike looked up from the microscope, his expression one of total amazement.

"It's skin," The scientist explained. "It's purely organic compounds."

"It's an animal?" Mike asked in amazement.

"Not as near as we can tell. It's not alive, but that thing is definitely made from something organic."

"Incredible," Mike breathed. "This thing isn't carbon based, but this is definitely a cell structure. That meteor is not made of rock."

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Mike stepped out of the research tent, clipping the case shut and looking down in puzzlement at the sample.

"Mike?" A female voice suddenly caught him unawares, "Oh my God…"

"Sara," Miki took off his glassed, "What are you doing here?"

"Covering the story," Sara shrugged, "You?"

"Research," Mike admitted.

"What, that bat-thing on the news? I thought you were working on Godzilla."

"Well, we think that these things might be the reason he's coming here; a case of territorialism."

"Godzilla's coming here?" Sara gaped, "To Kansas?"

"It's a possibility," Mike admitted. "Sorry, but I need to go…"

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"Well there's not much more we can do here," Plaqueze sighed, "Let's just hope the egghead can tell us something."

"They're more useful than you give them credit for," Jill answered. "Speak of the devil: Where the hell did you go?" She demanded of Mike as he approached them.

"Nowhere," Mike lied, "So what's the plan… what the…?"

Not far from them, a pair of police officers were struggling to hold someone back; by what Jill could see, it was a Japanese man with spiky, black hair in his early '20s.

"Stop!" The man shouted, "Listen to me, it's got to be stopped! It'll kill us all!"

"Alright, buddy," One of the cops instructed him, "Let's all take a deep breath and calm down, huh?"

"You fools!" The man shouted, both to the cops and the USMCF personnel, "You stupid, blind idiots! Don't you see? Don't you feel it?"

"Calm down," The other cop instructed, "Just take it easy, man…"

"You've got to destroy it!" The shouted as the cops restrained him, "Now's our only chance! You have to destroy it now, while you can! It'll kill all of us! It's got to be stopped!" That was the last that was heard of him before the cops finally managed to wrestle him to the ground.

"Nut bag," Plaqueze muttered before climbing into the chopper.

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USMCF HQ, New York City

"Well?" Jill asked as she entered Mike's laboratory.

"Slowly," Mike answered, not looking up from his microscope, "This is maddening! For one thing, I don't recognise any of the cell structures in the meteorite; they don't correspond to anything that's ever been seen before. But as for the live specimen… nothing."

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" Jill asked.

"There's no cell structure. No nervous system. No organs. When cut, it just seals back up; it's nothing but this… gunk. It's not even alive."

"Right," Jill's tone suddenly became harsh and accusing, "Now that you've explained that, could you possibly shed some light on another problem of ours?"

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Jill threw open the door to her office, storming in with Mike behind her. Plaqueze glared daggers at him from the side of the room, while Jack simply mouthed the word 'busted'.

"I taped this just to show it to you," Jill explained as she hit 'play'.

On the screen was Sara, standing in front of the meteorite landing, saying:

"A USMCF expert has exclusively informed 'Digital Q' news that Godzilla is en route to Kansas, seeking out some other mutated life form in an attempt by the mutated creature to defend its territory."

Jill promptly hit 'pause' and turned to Mike.

"Well?" She demanded, untold venom in her voice.

"Shit…" Miki barely managed to cringe under his breath.

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Under the glow of the lights, with the quiet beeping of the computer, the tiny sample of ooze began to shift, growing against the sides of the Petri dish.

The glass surfaces splintered, cracked and smashed, the ooze expanding and arcing out into the shape of two bat-like wings as it started to take form…

No, that isn't the Gryphon in the lab, before anyone asks. Digital Q is, by the way, a reference to the news channel in GMK, and the dude at the site being Japanese (he'll be back, by the way) is of course a reference to the Godzilla series itself originating in Japan.

Next Chapter: So just what are these 'bat-things' anyway…?

All Reviews Welcome!