The GNP Presents:
Godzilla vs. Megalon
From the Screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa and Jun Fukuda
Novelization by Daniel DiManna
PROLOGUE
MARCH 17, 197X
UNNAMED ATOLL, OUTSKIRTS OF THE ALEUTIANS
11:04 AM
The countdown had begun.
In 60 seconds, the test would take place, and another island would likely disappear from the map. The first island, several miles to the north, had put up little resistance when the explosion had gone off. Most of the blast had been contained, proving the concept of underground nuclear testing was sound if the goal was to minimize damage beyond the test area. Of course, little remained of the island when the smoke had cleared, but that had been expected. Even with the smaller sized device, the resulting blast had practically vaporized the small landmass. And now, a larger device was expected to do the same to another.
30 seconds remained. With the greater size of the bomb came the necessity to detonate it further underground. It was hoped that this test could further prove the viability of subterranean nuclear experimentation. If the nations of the world saw fit to complain when a surface-level explosion killed a few fish and some palm trees, then perhaps this would silence them.
Perhaps this would allow progress to continue.
10 seconds remained.
After all, what was underground that was so precious? Rocks and dirt? Earthworms, perhaps?
5 seconds.
Nothing worth whining over. If burying the bomb was the price to pay to keep experimenting, it was worth…
1 second…
………………………………………………
MARCH 17, 197X
MONSTER ISLAND, SOUTH PACIFIC
11:05 AM
It was Anguirus who felt the vibrations first. The spiny brute could feel the faint shaking of the earth beneath his four clawed feet. He knew that something had happened, and that whatever it was had occurred some distance away. Above him, perched upon the summit of a rocky hill, the eyes of Rodan quickly turned north. He could see nothing, but could feel, as Anguirus did below him, that something was very wrong.
Across the pacific paradise known as Monster Island, the titanic creatures that grazed, lived, and sometimes fought there could all now sense what Anguirus and Rodan had already known was coming. But before any of them could react, it was too late.
The waters surrounding the island began to boil and churn, and the landmass itself began to shake in a massive earthquake. Rocks began to tumble down from the tops of massive hills. Gasses began to leak from underground, burning the lungs of the beasts unfortunate enough to be nearby.
At the foot of the hill where Rodan roosted, the mightiest monster of them all stood grasping at his throat, clawing the air as the gas filled his lungs and clouded his vision. Godzilla plowed his massive body forward, bursting through trees and boulders to escape the fumes that threatened to suffocate him. To his right, Anguirus was facing a worse struggle; due to his low stature, his face was far closer to the gas than most of the island’s residents. The toll was clear. Disorientation had begun to set in, and the situation worsened as the unconscious body of Rodan fell from his perch, landing on the spike-covered back of the monstrous ankylosaur.
All across the island, the other monsters fought for visibility as the gas – now rapidly being replaced by smoke – continued to spread. And then the explosions began. Massive balls of flame and stone that began to rip the island itself apart. As fire and sparks flew through the sky, huge chasms began to open in the Earth, and large deposits of sand, rock, and plant life were consumed by darkness.
Doomsday had come to Monster Island.
With the land shaking uncontrollably and smoke filling the air, Godzilla’s instincts told him to continue onwards. But as the Monster King fought his way forward, his ears perceived a familiar roar behind him. The beast turned to see Anguirus emerge from the gas at the base of the hill.
A feeling of relief flooded the mind of the mightily Godzilla: he was no longer alone. Leading the way, the titan turned and continued his way through the thick smoke, his quadrupedal ally close behind. It had become abundantly clear that Monster Island would not survive this catastrophe, and neither would its gargantuan inhabitants if they did not seek shelter in the air or the sea. For some of the monsters, however, these routes of escape were not an option. Their fate would be left in the hands of fortune.
As the island continued to crumble away, a grand experiment – a dream – was also withering into the void. What had seemed for so long to be a peaceful answer to the question of monster coexistence on planet Earth was now literally going up in smoke. And there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
As Godzilla continued on his way, he became aware of a sudden increase in the earthquake’s intensity. Moments later, a loud cracking sound erupted behind the beast, accompanied by the terrified roar of Anguirus. Godzilla quickly turned his massive body around, but in the place of Anguirus now existed a huge, gaping chasm. The splitting ground had literally swallowed the creature whole, carrying him to a place where no monster could help him… if he even still lived to be helped.
An anger coursed through Godzilla’s veins. Once again alone and now robbed of his closest ally, he let loose a mighty roar that shook the island even further to its core. As he continued to bellow amidst the smoke and fire, the island finally and climactically exploded into flame and rubble. In the spot where Monster Island once stood, now only an erupting geyser of lava, surrounded by smoke, could be seen.
And from the chaos… a roar.
The King lived.
The Godzilla Novelization Project 