Godzilla Resurgence- Chapter 1
A horror heavy sequel to the original 1977 run of Godzilla King of the Monsters by Marvel Comics. Incorporating elements from IDW's Kai-Sei era and the larger Godzilla mythos as a whole
[Chapter 1]
Madripoor. A picturesque island state in Southeast Asia, just off of Singapore. Despite how gorgeous the island was to look at, it was but a facade for the rot which was only thinly hidden behind a veneer of lavish excellence. It was a place where the rich got richer and the poor got crueler as the heel of the elite pressed harder on their throats. A powder keg of classism that was at any minute, ready to go off.
But it wouldn’t be the unrest of its citizens that would leave the Principality in a state of ruination beyond all measure.
Jonathan Rhys Davidson was a tourist. He had been seduced by the glitz and glamour that was Hightown. The immaculate Dragon Palace was a sight to behold. Many a picture for his social media were taken there. So many exquisite hotels, the Monarch, the Imperial, the Sovereign, and others. But, Jonathan was by no means rich himself. Hightown was a great place to visit sure, he was however forced to stay in the poorer and by extension seedier Lowtown.
He remembered how his stomach dropped when he had arrived on Dream Street and saw that it was more of a nightmare. Seedy dives, brothels, strip clubs, and a strong criminal element. It was best not to look anyone in the eye. Especially since he didn’t speak the language. And what he did recognize wasn't good.
After a fun filled day of sight seeing, he returned to his dirty hotel room. He was tired, tempted to just fall onto the bed. But he feared what may crawl out from beneath the covers should he do so. So, instead he opened his window and sat on the sill to have a smoke.
Jonathan looked out at the dirty streets. The difference between Hightown and Lowtown was night and day. The glam and glitter were replaced instead with grime and graffiti. He heard the sounds of domestic violence in the room next to his. He cringed, but knew that if he intervened the situation would only become worse. He watched as men like him walked down the streets being accosted by women of the night, and then their employers making threats for not taking them up on their offer.
The sounds of domestic violence turned into the creaking of bed springs. The sounds were no less violent but more enthralled by both parties than before. He checked his phone, looking at the pictures that he had taken and gave a sad smile. At least his 203 followers would think he was living it up, while he was by definition slumming it.
He considered just packing his things and hopping the first flight back home. But, he had barely been here a week and there was still much he wanted to see. He feared however that the longer he stayed in Lowtown, the higher the chance would be that he would simply not make it back home at all. He missed his mom. Hell, he even missed his dead end desk job. He vowed to himself that he would never take it for granted again. He’d take mundane over dangerous any day.
Suddenly, he got an alert on his phone. A tropical storm was barreling over the ocean and heading straight for Madripoor. He looked up from his screen and off into the horizon where he could see the dark clouds way off of Buccaneer Bay. The clouds were threatening and were coming closer. He could feel the storm on the breeze. And, it excited him a little bit. You never got tropical storms in Iowa. He could hear the faint cracks of thunder and see the lightning dance in the dark clouds. Soon, very soon the eye of the storm would be right over his head. He grinned to himself. He opened his camera app and tried to zoom in to catch the details that his eyes were beholding.
And that’s when he saw it. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly but he knew that he had seen something. He had been busy zooming in as far as his phone’s camera would allow when something broke up the darkness that was approaching. A pillar of green had ascended for the briefest of moments and then was gone. His thumb absentmindedly had hit the button to capture a photo.
He opened the photo and zoomed in further. His brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of it. The picture quality was not very good. He wasn’t able to focus very well and the image was mostly darkness except for that singular pillar of emerald. He clicked his tongue as he tried to focus.
And that was when the loudest crack of thunder he had ever heard had knocked him from his hotel windowsill and sent him backwards onto the hardwood floor. He bumped his head on the metal bed frame on the way down just to add insult to injury.
He sat there on the floor, dazed for just a moment. He blinked his eyes and hissed as he rubbed the back of his head, already feeling the bump starting to grow. There was a flash of light that lit up the darkened hotel room for just a moment. Lightning for sure. But…was it? When lightning flashed, it was typically a blinding white. But this was different. It took Jonathan a moment too long to register it due to his slightly dazed state. Just like the pillar of light he saw in the distance…
The lightning had been bright green.
And then, the crack of thunder once again hit. Shaking not only Jonathan but seemingly the whole hotel as well. At this point, the aggressive passions next door had silenced. There was no sound in fact. Then, came the blaring of a siren. One some distance away but loud enough to be ear piercing. It was suddenly drowned out by the heavy falling of rain. The storm had arrived to Lowtown. But it did not carry the sweet smell of rain that he was used to in Iowa. Everything about this storm felt off to him.
The winds were wild, carrying this heavy rain violently. Jonathan heard screams then from outside of his hotel. He rose to his feet and looked out onto the street to see people running in a panicked frenzy. They were all trying to get out of the rain it seemed. It was natural for people not wanting to get caught up in such a violent storm. But the screams sounded pained to him.
The wind shifted then. Just as Jonathan put his hand on the windowsill to steady himself from another crack of thunder, he felt the hard droplets of rain fall down onto his skin like rubber bullets. He pulled his hand away from it. To Jonathan’s surprise however, the pain didn’t stop. In fact, it was getting more intense.
Jonathan hissed out a breath as he raised his hand to his eyes so he could see why instead of the cooling wetness of rain on his skin he instead felt stinging, and burning. The power had been knocked out the minute that he had fallen out of the window and so he could not see his hand clearly. That was until another emerald flash of lighting. And what Jonathan saw made his stomach turn.
The skin on Jonathan’s hand was bubbling a sickly verdant. He screamed, trying to rub off the offending substance with his other hand. But instead of sweet relief, he was horrified to find that the searing pain just began in the palm of that hand as well. He grunted as he fell to his knees. Another flash of that lightning showed that his skin was being eaten away. Fear and panic ran through him. He tried to get up again but the minute he did he was pelted with more rainwater from the still open window.
Jonathan scrambled as the burning sensation ravaged his body. He collapsed onto the ground and convulsed. Tried to roll on the hardwood, to put out the searing pain as if he were on fire.
Glowing green postulates formed beneath his skin. His screams were choked out as his throat tightened. He clutched at his neck and groaned as his face began to inflate. His eyeballs bulged out of his skill.
Outside of the hotel there came a noise. Not the clap of thunder. But still just as powerful and deafening. Jonathan’s torment ended when the ceiling of his hotel room came down upon his head, crushing him to death.
There in what used to be the center of Lowtown stood a massive figure. Skin dark and rough. Crystal-like protrusions on its back shined with that same green glow. It loomed over the buildings. It seemed to be watching the scrambling little gnats below, and there was something in its eyes that was pleased with the writhing things.
It threw its massive head back and opened its fanged maw to let out a bellowing roar. One that shook the creatures down below to their very cores. Creatures was indeed apt. Because what lay upon those streets were no longer human.
The King of the Monsters had come to Madripoor.
And he had brought with him, HELL.
