ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA

The morning air was a bit chilled in the morning hours, the sun just beginning to breach the top of the mountains. People were going to school or work, some even coming home from their night shifts. The bus was crowded with people, both sitting and standing, and most were reading the day's United World News newspaper. Some had the physical copy in their hands and others on their phones. Their eyes were taking in every word on the page. Some were quietly murmuring, others on their phones and no one spoke above the low volume.

****

ALTOONA-BLAIR COUNTY AIRPORT, PENNSYLVANIA

Inside the terminals, it was a similar scene. Although, there were a few that were sleeping on chairs after a long night of waiting for their rescheduled flights. In a section of the seating area sat some Japanese American men who were talking among themselves while reading an interview.

"If my great grandpa was here to read this, he would have a heart attack." the first man stated as he looked over the interview on his phone.

"Wasn't he in Tokyo when the first Godzilla attack happened?" asked the second.

"Yeah. He got bad radiation sickness just from being within a mile from the big lizard. I want to say that this entire second Godzilla thing is bullshit for his sake... but with that sub that showed up in Hawaii..."

"You think that it actually is another Godzilla that attacked it?" asked the third man.

"With the obvious claw marks...what else could it be?"

An announcement came over the speakers, making the three perk up. They listened before jumping up, scrambling to board their plane.

****

LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA

The sun was high above the lake and neighborhoods, great weather conditions for boating weather. In the lake waters, dozens of boats were zipping through the waves of others. One such boat was a small motorboat with a 48-year-old Niko Cage at the wheel, and he was cruising the waves, greeting some of the other boat owners with waves of his hand. Some were fishing, others were just out on the water for the sake of it. Niko belonged to the latter reason.

He glanced off to his left and saw a familiar boat, a size or two bigger that belonged to a close friend of his.

"Hey Mack!" Niko shouted over as he waved.
"Hey Niko! Wonderful day for boating, am I right?!"

"You know it! You're still gonna do your weekly barbecue later?!"

"Of course! I'll even make your favorite!" Mack laughed before looking forward again. Then, he was frowning at something up ahead, making Niko tilt his head in confusion.

"Something's up ahead of you, Niko!"

Niko gave his friend a confused expression before looking forward once more. He slowed his speed when he noticed foam and bubbles forming in the middle of the lake, and it wasn't something he was accustomed to seeing since he was pretty sure nothing could do that in this body of water.

He eyed it before noticing what looked like a spike rising up from the foaming and bubbling water. Then, a large, short and rounded snouted head followed up after the spike and it continued to rise, revealing a thick, brown neck. A large, green eye looked around before landing on Niko. The thing turned its head to look down on him with both eyes, a growl escaping from its fanged jaws.

Niko could only stare up in fear, his friend calling his name overpowered by the growling.

"O-oh shit...–" Niko managed to whimper out before the massive head surged down, mouth gaping wide.

****

SCIENTIFIC BUILDING, ALTOONA

Martin could only stare at the scene that was playing on his phone screen from a YouTube video entitled 'Monster in lake tahoe: REAL FOOTAGE! NOT CLICKBAIT!'. It was a clear shot of a large, dark brown head and neck that was coming out of the water, spikes going from its head and down its head with another three, dark brown spikes coming out of the side of its face.

He barely heard Susan enter the room or approached him.

"Are you alright Martin?" she asked. 'What is it?"

He said nothing and simply handed his phone over to her. He turned his head to watch as she took in the footage, her eyes morphing into an expression of horror. He took the phone back when it was down and scrubbed it back to the beginning and gave his phone to James who had just walked in behind James.

"I think it's real." Martin told them. "The uploader said that it was filmed a few hours ago and they posted right after this thing ate someone."

Once James gave him his phone back, Martin went onto twitter, typing the name of the lake. He watched as videos and images filtered through, showering the state police barricading the lake off to the public. He wondered if the government would order some of the national guard to the lake and if they could even get there in time before the creature would decide to leave.

"Are there any tribes that lived around this lake at any point of history?" Timothy asked after a few moments of silence, turning towards Susan.

The woman had to think for a moment. "I... yes, if I remember correctly... multiple."

"Can you see if this thing was a part of the legends of one of those tribes? It may give us an inkling on how long it had been there and what role it took within their culture."

"Yes, I can try. Just let me make a phone call."

****

DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT U1, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

The sounds of the wave lapping against the cliff added to the calming end of the day for Samuel Spielberg, a 50-year-old worker who had just clocked out moments before. He had just walked out of the building and into the dying light of the setting sun and was walking down Diablo Canyon Road, whistling to himself as he walked towards the parking lot. He couldn't wait until he could jump in his car and head home, make a quick bite to eat and get some much needed sleep.

His good mood came to an end when he could have sworn he felt the ground beneath his feet trembling, causing him to pause and look down to the ground, his face twisting in confusion. The trembling happened again and he noticed that it was periodic, as if something big was either walking around or clawing at the ground.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he could see a dark shape coming towards the cliff before it rose, standing up, causing his head to snap towards it.

In the dying light, he could see muscular, keloid scarred legs and his eyes began to travel upward. They met with an equally scarred, light gray chest and then the neck before, lastly, he looked upon a face. The fanged jaws opened as a high-pitched squeal erupted from the throat before it lowered into a low, menacing growl.

Samuel stumbled back before he tripped and fell on his ass. He began to crawl backward, shouting and screaming with panicking fear, his face as pale as a ghost.

"M-MONSTER! A MONSTER! IT'S A MON–"

Godzilla took a few steps forward until his foot claws came into contact with the cliff face. He raised a thick leg and stepped onto the cliff with ease, bringing him closer to his target.

The behemoth towered over the plant, standing at 180 feet tall. He was charcoal gray in color, keloid scarring covering every inch of his frame. The front of his neck, chest, stomach and part of his tail underside was light gray in color. He had dragon-like fangs lining his jaws and small ears on either side of his head. On his back were three rows of slightly jagged dorsal plates that were a light gray, borderline white. His eyes were a bluish color, full of hunger as they zeroed in on the plant.

As he continued forward, he began to trash the plant with his footfalls, making workers scatter and scramble about, trying to get out of the creature's way. Godzilla didn't even glance down at the scrambling humans that ran about at his feet.

When he got to what he was searching for, he destroyed the tall housing before leaning down, into its remains, arms extending. Clawed fingers wrapped themselves around parts of the reactor and he lifted it up, straightening. One by one, his dorsal plates began to give off a soft, pink glow as he began to absorb the radiation.

His eyes fluttered slightly, as if his feeding was soothing for him. He continued to ignore the workers that were still below him, still running and screaming in terror of his hulking presence.

The glow of his dorsal plates began to fade away, his eyes opening as he finished his meal. His eyes sharpened as he turned his head to the northeast, his upper lip curling in a snarl before he dropped the reactor back into the remains of the reactor. He turned his entire body with a growl and began his journey inland.

****

LAKE TAHOE, NAVEDA

The National Guard were doing their best at barricading off the area around the lake, trying to keep people out of the area. They had set up a perimeter around it and had evacuated all the towns and cities that sat at the lake's banks. In the middle of the lake, the water began to bubble and foam once more, before the brown creature suddenly launched himself out of the water and landed on some homes in the Lake Valley Community.

There were screams and yells coming from the area from those who chose not to evacuate, intending to wait things out.

The creature took off, bounding southwest and away from the lake, trampling buildings and those who were unlucky enough to be in his way.