The storm pounded on the trees as the soft patter of rain let itself be heard on the rooftop. The thunder swelled and then ebbed. The lightning gave occasional brief flashes of bright light to the darkness of the scene.
At the typewriter sat an old man. Steve Martin, retired reporter for United World News, sat alone at his desk. The years had taken their toll on him.His beard was now gray and his hair was shot with silver. His blue eyes looked as if they had seen something that had made them very old...tinged with sadness.
He looked around the room at the clutter that had overtaken his office. On the desk in an open box sat a souvenir he had picked up on the way back to America from Tokyo. It was an ivory dragon, carved with exquisite skill and technique. He would never forget that horrible night thirty years ago when Tokyo was completely destroyed by.... 

"Godzilla...." the prime minister whispered. "I was hoping that I would never again hear that name." The prime minister had a problem on his hands. The Yahata Maru, or what was left of it anyway, had been spotted by a reporter named Goro Maki, who had been out sailing. Maki had boarded the ship to find the crew in a horrible state. The ship was a mess, the rigging was disheveled, the sails flopped up and down, as if someone had neglected to tie them down.

He had entered the cabin to be hit with a reeking stench of vomit and excrement. The captain sat at the helm motionless in the darkness. When Maki had turned him around and shone the flashlight in his face...he couldn't but barely recognize him to have once been a man. 

The locker door swung open to reveal one poor man who was definitely in better shape than the others. Maki felt for a pulse. To his incredulous amazement, the weak, thready pulse beat steadily beneath his fingers. As Maki bent over him to pry the knife from the young man's unconcious grasp, he saw something move in the darkness. It attacked him. Frantically he tried to get it off; but the thing kept inching higher toward his face. Suddenly it went limp. Maki pried the thing, a sea louse that was at least five hundred times its normal size, off; then looked up to see the young man standing over him with a hatchet in his hands...the look in his eyes caught Maki Goro's attention. It was the look of a man who had been though Hell and who had barely lived to tell the tale. A passing helicopter had spotted the two and stopped to pick them up. 

The lone survivor, Ken Okumura, was recovering in the hospital from his physical injuries and from exposure to high levels of radioactivity; how much emotional trauma he'd sustained was entirely beyond the prime minister.The prime minister wanted the whole thing to be kept a secret from the public eye. He was afraid if they knew Godzilla was alive and well, they would panic. Maki was utterly frustrated. He had written an article about the Yahata Maru and now he was being turned down! When he went to ask why, his editor, Goto, told him that the reason they had dropped the story was for reasons of national security. Goto then told him that Godzilla was suspectedof sinking the fishing boat. Maki was stunned.

Goto tells him to see Dr.Hayashida, a biophysicist specializing in genetic studies. Maki arrived to see a man in a white lab coat hovering over a microscope, looking intently into the lens. He talks to Dr. Hayashida about Godzilla's origin. Dr. Hayashida tells him that there is no way Godzilla can be permanently destroyed, or even damaged: Godzilla is immune to man's puny weapons. As Maki mulls this over, he spots none other than Kenny's sister bringing them tea! Dr. Hayashida warns him not to tell her her brother is alive. Maki's big mouth gets him into a bigger mess: Naoko Okumura finds out her brother is alive and pushes past the national security guards. Ken and Naoko are reunited at last!

A Soviet submarine is mysteriously sunk by a huge object in the sea. Thinking it to be the Americans, the Soviets angrily blame the Americans who denied any involvement. To avert a nuclear war over the incident, the Japanese prime minister quickly admits that Godzilla is alive and that it was responsible for the submarine disaster. Godzilla appears in Japan. It headed for a nuclear power plant. Before Maki's, Kenny's, and Hayashida's very eyes, Godzilla reached into the plant and pulled out the reactor. To their disbelief, its spines lit up as the monster recharged. Godzilla suddenly does an about-face and heads back to its ocean lair, leaving the three onlookers to shake their heads in confusion. 

The boy played with his Godzilla that he'd constructed from his set of building blocks his grandpa Steve had given him for Christmas last year. In his mind, Godzilla was ready to eat Tokyo whole. Suddenly, the tow headed youngster saw something that made him gasp. Here standing in front of him was the tallest man he had ever seen! In a policeman's outfit! He cried, "Grandpa!" The man looked up to see the boy's grandfather emerge from the den. "Mr.Martin, I'm sorry to bother you. We need you in Washington," the man stated flatly.
Steve Martin knew full well why this Washington official had come. "Yes," he said simply. "I've been expecting you." 

Dr. Hayashida examined the image before him on the computer screen, looking over the picture of Godzilla's reptilian neural matter. The beast's saurian brain greatly resembled that of the common seagull, with a few minor differences. Radiation had likely mutated its reptilian neurons more. But with Ken's observation that Godzilla had followed a flock of loudly squawking seagulls to the ocean....if his hypothesis was correct...then the Japanese people had a chance! 
Over the next few days, he worked furiously on a frequency that would match that of a flock of loudly chirping seagulls. He had referred Maki Goro tohis friend, geologist Minami. Minami took pressure readings at Mount Mihara and came back with the judgment that volcanic pressure was already very high. He made an educated guess that with the help of implanted explosives, Mount Mihara could be induced to erupt. Hayashida planned to lure Godzilla to the volcano's edge; then, setting off the charges would do one of two things: Either the volcanic blast would hit Godzilla in the face and make it even angrier, or the crust would buckle, sending it tumbling down, down into the magma below, effectively imprisoning it and preventing further harm to the people of Japan. 

General Micheal Goodhue stared in disbelief at the images on the screen.It was thirty year old footage of Godzilla's 1956 visit to Tokyo. What could be done? Goodhue wondered. "What are our options?" he asked the Colonel. "Heat-seeking missiles.....an aircraft carrier with fighters in the Pacific..." the colonel muttered. "How about a megadose of horse tranquilizers?" the major chimed in. 

Goodhue was about to give this young upstart a piece of his mind when he heard another voice say, "Or, failing that, a little horse sense." Goodhue spun around on his heel and saw an older man, dressed in a suit and tie; he looked rather distinguished, the general thought.
The man continued, "You may have to rethink your strategies gentlemen. There's probably no weapon that is effective against Godzilla except perhaps-" "Who the hell are you?" the general barked. "Name's Martin," the man replied."You asked for me." "Mr. Martin is the man you asked me to get, General, " the colonel explained. "He's the newspaper reporter who witnessed Godzilla's attack thirty years ago." "Well, thank heaven you're here," Goodhue sighed. "Since you're the only one who seems to know....whatever it is we're dealing with. What can we do?"

Steve Martin glanced at the scene on the viewscreen, the scene that was so firmly imprinted in his own memory; he couldn't help remembering the stink of smoke, the searing heat, the load roars as the beast tore open the heart of Tokyo. "I was the only American who survived that catastrophe," he said simply. "If you men had seen what I saw, you would know that firepower of any kind or magnitude is not the answer." "If theJapanese were able to stop him thirty years ago, why can't we now?"Goodhue demanded.
Steve felt he had to get across to this man, or Japan might die once again; he answered, "General, Godzilla is like a hurricane, or a tidal wave. We must approach him as we would a force of nature. Wemust understand him, deal with him...perhaps even try to communicate withhim. And, just for the record, " he continued grimly, "thirty years ago they never found any corpse." 

The main thoughts on Hayashida's mind was getting everything ready for Godzilla's next attack. The explosives had been implanted in the crust of Mt. Mihara; the ultrasonic transducer was in place. The reconnaisance helicopter was flying by when the hapless pilots saw a huge, scaly, ugly face in their windshield. Godzilla had arrived. 

The beast made its way to Tokyo fighting off planes and missiles. A Soviet freighter in Tokyo Bay was anchored to the dock. In diving underwater, the beast capsized it. One of the Soviets inside pressed a launch button inhis panic, launching a nuclear missile aimed at Godzilla. The people scurried about in terror, running from the awesome power that was Godzilla. Godzilla was in the heart of Tokyo, razing skyscrapers to the ground and leveling everything as it went. A helicopter newscaster who flew too close met his doom. The falling, blazing wreck ignited a stream of cars backed up on the highway. Godzilla spotted a train before the conducter could spot it. It picked up the car, dropping it to earth as if it were a toy. 

Steve Martin watched as Godzilla trudged its way through power lines and reduced buildings to rubble. His heart sank. "Oh my God," the colonel muttered, not wanting to believe. "Colonel," said Goodhue,"tell the Japanese we'll give them all the support they'll need.""No!" Steve objected. Goodhue looked at him with a expression of horror. "There has to be a more effective way! Troops, aircraft, rockets...they were all used before. All they will do is antagonize, confuse and anger him further. He's looking for something....searching," Steve continued. "If we could only discover what it is...before it's too late." From the images on the screen, of death and destruction, Steve Martin had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him it was already too late.

The Super X was a new ship equipped with cadmium missiles, to try to neutralize Godzilla. Godzilla had taken three missiles in the mouth. As the cadmium counteracted the nuclear fires in its belly, Godzilla wavered; then, with an awesome crash, it fell into the nearby skyscraper, apparently dead.

Steve Martin still watched as Godzilla fell into the skyscraper and ceased to move. "Well, now it looks like the only problem we have is cleaning up the mess, " the young major offered cheerily. "What makes you all so sure Godzilla is dead?" Steve countered darkly. "Well,it sure looks like he's dead." Goodhue replied. "Well just look at the big screen! Wonder Lizard is down for the count!" the major said with confidence. "Yes, it does look that way, doesn't it..."Steve murmured absently. He fingered the little ivory dragon. He knew. 

Suddenly the colonel looked up in utter horror. "General Goodhue...we have a Russian launch condition from an orbiting satellite!" "But that violates the U.N. Space Treaty!" the major cried. "Wait a minute!" Goodhue raised his hand as if to halt all the dizzying events around him. "I want confirmation from NORAD."

Hayashida, Naoko and Maki were in Tokyo when they heard the news: A nuclear missile was aimed for Tokyo. Maki's mind raced frantically. He didn't know what a nuclear blast would do. Godzilla was down; would this destroy him,or awaken him? After arriving in a helicopter, Kenny Okumura told the three that the Americans had launched a missile to try and detonate the Soviet warhead harmlessly over Tokyo. The only one of them that got on the chopper was the Professor; now Naoko and Maki were on their own. 

Maki and Naoko watched from a skyscraper window as the two missiles collided about 600,000 feet above the heart of Tokyo. The malevolent radioactive explosion cast a red glow above the city that was incongruously beautiful.The Super X, having lost power, set down on the rubble on the ground. As the two watched, the rosy glow of the fiery blast died down and turned into a raging violent lightning storm. The bolts streaked down, around the slumbering monster; a few incandescent fingers touched down directly. Then the unthinkable happened; the lighting struck Godzilla's dorsal fin, re-activating the nuclear reactions in Godzilla's body, recharging it, refreshing it, awakening it.

Godzilla rose, with vengeance on its reptilian mind. It headed for the crippled Super X, and pushed a towering skyscraper in the ship's direction, crushing it flat. Maki and Naoko decide to run when Godzilla starts toward them. On their way down, they encountered a small problem: 

The stairs were out.

Maki and Naoko slowly climb down a fire hose that was available. Once down,they start running for their lives. On their knees, they look up and saw Godzilla much closer than either one of them had ever wanted to. 
Godzilla came closer...closer. It seemed certain that they would both die under 600,000 tons of radioactive lizard. They could feel the heat on their faces... 

Suddenly the monster stopped. It heard the call, beckoning it, inviting it. Naoko and Maki watch as Godzilla turns around and leaves Tokyo, abandoning its murderous rampage. They boarded the helicopter that stopped to pick them up, and they headed for Oshima Island. 

Steve watched the viewscreen; his eyes never left it. The General, the colonel,and the major-as well as everyone else in the room- were likewise glued. Godzilla stopped at the volcano's rim; eyeing the transducer. It took another step. The pregnant silence was shattered as Kenny pushed the trigger button.The force of the explosion caused the volcanic lava to rise. 

Godzilla fell into the crater; the last thing it did just before hitting the lava was to let out an agonized scream. 
Steve Martin stood there stunned. Was it over; was it really all over? He hoped so. 

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