GODZILLA

Written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio

SYNOPSIS November ll, l993

HIS BREATH KINDLETH COALS, AND A FLAME GOETH OUT OF HIS MOUTH...
HE MAKETH THE DEEP TO BOIL...
WHEN HE RAISETH HIMSELF UP THE MIGHTY ARE AFRAID...
THE SWORD OF HIM THAT LAYETH AT HIM CANNOT HOLD...
UPON EARTH THERE IS NOT HIS LIKE THAT IS MADE WITHOUT FEAR...

JOB 41:19-33




FADE IN:

ARCTIC OCEAN, NEAR THE 170th PARALLEL - NIGHT
A Greenpeace icebreaker is anchored outside a small natural harbor. Observers and eco-warriors are watching a salvage ship through high-powered binoculars. Divers submerge with the hoist's cable unreeling behind them. Three people are on the deck of the icebreaker, one with a
Geiger counter. Background radiation is nearly 100 times normal as they speculate about the harvesting of Soviet reactor cores which have been illegally dumped in various oceans during the past 30 years. Their attention is drawn to frantic activity on the other ship as the GEIGER COUNTER SQUEALS off the scale. The salvage boat is HEAVED into the air above a boiling
sea and disappears in a FIERY EXPLOSION. BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT and a THUNDEROUS ROAR fill the air, subsiding to reveal the twisted icebreaker. A May Day is radioed as smoke pours from below deck. Huge chunks of ice peel off the cliffs overlooking the harbor. On the beach, a huge fissure has opened. RED-BLACK FLUID flows from it, STEAMING in the cold air, as if the Earth itself is bleeding.

LLEWELLYN HOME - NIGHT
DR. KEITH LLEWELLYN is awakened by the bedside phone and hurries to dress. His wife, DR. JILL LLEWELLYN, tries to detain him as a car honks from the driveway. He kisses her goodbye on the front porch where they are joined by their four year old daughter, TINA.

ARCTIC OUTPOST - DAY
An Army helicopter comes in low toward the site of the explosion. The Greenpeace ship is now capsized and mostly submerged. Temporary shelters have been set up on the beach. KEITH is aboard the helicopter, reviewing a thin government file. When they land, CAPT. TUCKER puts a radiation badge on the sleeve of his bio-hazard suit. They pull up their hoods and head for the fissure past the stained, melted snow. Bio-suited soldiers are wheeling large storage drums from the opening.

WOMB CAVERN
A huge cavern, carved from the ice and earth, is lit by a string of bare lightbulbs stretching out of view in both directions. The wall opposite the fissure is imposing and strange, made up of crevices and finely textured stone, markedly different from the ice wall and ceiling. More bio-suited soldiers are pumping the red-black fluid that comes up to their shins into drums. Early analysis has determined it is similar to amniotic fluid, with a heavy barbiturate presence. A LOW RUMBLE and a TREMOR cause ice to sift down from above. KEITH and CAPT. TUCKER
examine four huge, bony crescents protruding from the textured wall that are actually the claws of a huge beast. The wall is skin, but so hard that a diamond bit drill can't take a tissue sample. They come to the beast's head, half buried but revealing a long muzzle, a nostril and one closed eye. KEITH climbs up to get a better view of its length: 247 feet, not counting the tail. Another TREMOR causes the lights to go out. Unnoticed in the darkness, the monster's ten foot EYELID OPENS. An inner, semi-transparent protective lid slides away, revealing an iris and slit pupil that dilates and focuses. The lights come back on and the eye BLINKS. KEITH looks at the beast and the eye tracks him. The Earth shakes again as the beast's head moves--it tears itself loose from the ice. The lights go out and people scream as the cavern collapses--the monster is rising--its arm emerges from the earth--its mouth opens, revealing rows of giant sharpened teeth--FIRE fills the cavern--And there is a DISTINCTIVE ROAR, sharp and terrifying, unlike anything anyone has ever heard--

ARCTIC OUTPOST - DAY
The whole hillside is erupting. Shelters collapse as the ground rises and shifts. A soldier reaches a helicopter and radioes an SOS. Again there is the DISTINCTIVE ROAR and the radio goes dead.

ARCTIC OUTPOST - DAY
The original helicopter follows its path to the site. The hillside has exploded with earth melted into glass in places. Shelters are smashed flat. Bodies lay everywhere, dead, crushed, burned and battered. The trail of destruction leads south, into the sea.

KURIL ISLANDS, NORTH EAST OFJAPAN - NIGHT
A small fishing village is battered by hurricane force winds and rain. JUNJI hurries from his house to secure a loose line on his fishing boat. LIGHTNING flashes and the DISTINCTIVE ROAR is heard over the noise of the storm. Another FLASH OF LIGHTNING reveals a huge shape rising from the sea. LIGHTNING strikes the shape and flickers across its back. The beast ROARS, letting loose a blast of FIERY BREATH, letting us see the monster for the first time. It is 250 feet high and reptilian, with three rows of huge, jagged dorsal fins. Its arms end in four sharpened claws. With a final ROAR, Godzilla turns suddenly, diving into the sea. The 150-foot tail sweeps around, creating a huge wave that washes the island. JUNJI clings to a piling as the water sweeps by and stares out to sea where the monster sinks down, disappearing in the violent, storm-tossed ocean.

DISSOLVE TO:
MORIOGAI CARE INSTITUTE - 12 YEARS LATER - DAY
JUNJI sits in a garden, staring out to sea. MARTY KENOSHITA and AARON VAUGHT have come to see him. AARON has been talking to survivors of the Kuril Island Deluge for six years and has finally located the man who claimed he saw a great dragon that breathed fire and caused tidal waves. MARTY offers Aaron's book, The Waking Dragon. It cointains an old wood print of a dragon that vaguely resembles Godzilla. JUNJI becomes quite excited looking through the paperback and stops at a page with an Assyrian carving of a dragon and a gryphon, locked in combat. He leads them to his cottage and pulls a huge pile of drawings from under a floorboard.
There are hundreds of drawings of Godzilla he has made, dreaming of the monster and the stories his grandfather told him about demons and earth spirits. And the people before people. AARON and MARTY have never come across the name Godzilla in their research . MARTY is attracted to a painting of Godzilla facing off against a winged monstrosity that resembles the gryphon. Another drawing is of the beast forming from a streaking fireball. AARON explains that in almost all cultures, the great dragons have opponents. Unlike most people, he and Marty believe Godzilla exists. Junji's NURSE enters, accompanied by the ADMINISTRATOR and two ATTENDANTS. Shegathers the drawings and Aaron's book. They all leave. JUNJI retrieves
a drawing that was missed: a flaming ball streaking across a starry sky.

DISSOLVE TO:
LAKE APOPKA, KENTUCKY - DAWN
A streaking ball of light cuts across the brightening sky. It is Junji's drawing come to life. TREE TOPS EXPLODE INF LAME as the fireball hits the water and turns it into STEAM.

TRAVELLER, KENTUCKY - 10 MILES AWAY - DAWN
JOHN and STU pull up to the country gas station/cafe before heading out hunting. JOHN is knocked flat by a mangled frog. There is a DELUGE OF FROGS AND FISH, denting cars and cracking windshields. The lightbar on the Sheriff's 4X4 is shattered. The SHERIFF and a WAITRESS come out as JOHN and STU take shelter on the cafe's porch. NELSON FLEER
comes out of his hunting/diving/guide shop across the street. The phenomenon stops, leaving one heck of a mess to clean up.

MORIOGAI CARE INSTITUTE -ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE - DAY
AARON explains that 12 years ago, a Greenpeace ship, an Arctic outpost and an entire island were wiped out. A conspiracy of silence by the U.S. government, the U.N. Security Council and the Trilateral Commission are trying to cover up the existance of a giant dragon in the Pacific Ocean. PARNELLI and two Marines enter. The ADMINISTRATOR leaves. MARTY identifies him as working for Consular Operations, a cover for Military Intelligence. The U.S. government has been looking for Aaron and requests his co-operation. Marty is invited to tag along.

THE ST. GEORGE PROJECT -WAREHOUSE - FT. TUSCARORA, MA - EVENING
ED is explaining a twelve foot ROBOT BATTLE SUIT which is being operated by a SCIENTIST in a virtual reality gyrochamber. MAJOR TIMOTHY BENEDEK is listening to him explain the possibilities for deep sea and mining operations. DR. JILL LLEWELYN enters and turns on a monitor to view the helicopter-shot footage of an oil exploration vessel. It LIFTS INTO THE AIR and the camera shakes. From beneath the ocean, FIRE BLASTS through the ship and it explodes. What seems to be a GIANT LIMB grabs the bow of the ship and pulls it under. Briefly, a HEAD is visible. JILL freeze-frames it. Godzilla's crocodile eyes and sharp teeth come into focus as she applies enhancement. This film was made seven years ago. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars, satellite searches and topographical surveys, this is the only sighting of the beast that has killed over 200 people. BENEDEK pulls a copy of Aaron's book from his briefcase and shows it to JILL . She is familiar with it but has no use for folklore, even if Aaron is right about Godzilla. BENEDEK also advises her that Aaron is now the co-director of the St. George Project. BENEDEK leaves her to ponder the situation until the phone rings. The Military Police have detained her 16 year old daughter for trying to hot-wire a jeep in the motor pool.

ARCTIC OUTPOST, NEAR THE170th PARALLEL - NIGHT
A geodesic dome, dwarfed by a looming glacier is the guard post for a PRIVATE and a SERGEANT. Their boredom is interrupted by a spectacular display of the aurora borealis which begins as a SOFT GLOW. GREEN and REDLIGHT plays across their faces as they peer out
the window. They pull on their cold weather gear and go outside to watch, discovering that the display is above the area instead of angled toward magnetic north. As they climb a huge slab of ice, they see the swirling lights are coming from a glowing ICE CAVERN.

CAR - NIGHT
JILL is driving TINAhome from the MP office. TINA bemoans the lack of amusements at the base and wants to live with Aunt Julia in New York. JILL vetoes the idea since Julia's job keeps her travelling constantly.TINA doesn't remember much about her father but does remember her
parents kissing and how it made her feel glad for them. As they get home, JILL'S BEEPER GOES OFF and she has to return to work.

LAKE APOPKA - UNDERWATER - DAY
The edge of a crater in the lake bottom shows where the ALIEN PROBE impacted. It is crawling out, irregularly shaped, with a shiny, metal-chrome surface, moving with the smooth fluid motion of something alive. Bluish-white energy crawls across its surface. Thin proboscis-like extensions reach out and the body FLOWS UP AND INTO one of the extensions, like a Slinky toy. It reaches a small crevice and BUBBLES appear as it HEAT SUP, burning its way into the rock.

MAMMOTH BAT CAVE
HUNDREDS OF BATS are hanging quietly as water laps against the sandy, underground floor of a huge cave. The PROBE flows silently out of the water and BREAKS APART into dozens of liquid chrome segments, climbing up the walls. A segment approaches a sleeping bat and a tendril shoots out, latching onto the bat. It SCREECHES and there is the sound of SEARING FLESH as the bat is pulled into the liquid chrome. SCREECHING AND FLAPPING, more bats are taken. The cavern is completely covered in liquid chrome. A thick section gathers itself in the center of this web where something is growing. Roughly six feet tall, we can just begin to see its bat-like features.

MAMMOTH BAT CAVE MOUTH - NIGHT
A narrow crevice in the side of a cliff. Bat-like creatures that are not bats sail from the high opening. Twelve foot wingspans barely clear the rocky gateway. An occasional corona of bluish energy crackles across their wings. The PROBE-BATS are hunting.

ARCTIC OUTPOST DOME - DAY
CLOSE ON: The computer-enhanced photo of Godzilla. AARON stares at it, amazed. Between him and MARTY are thick Top Secret files, photos and reports. They are eagerly reviewing all the data that has been made available to them for the first time, like two kids in a candy store. PARNELLI joins them to meet JILL at the airfield.

THE WOMB - DAY
Sunlight filters through the gaps and cracks in the roof above. Red-black fluid oozes out of a wall and is collected in large yellow cannisters by soldiers. It started flowing again when the Northern Lights appeared. AARON figures that Godzilla's appearance was premature.

ARCTIC GLACIER - NEW CREVICE - DAY
JILL, AARON and MARTY pull up on snowmobiles and don bio-hazard suits before climbing the rope ladder to the entrance. It is almost perfectly round. Inside, the walls are made of finely textured greenish stone, similar to the Womb. Everyone is amazed at the sight. There is a dark, flaky substance around the edge of the entrance which looks like dehydrated or petrified organic matter. AARON examines the walls with the vein-like lines running through them. He remembers Junji's grandfather's stories of the people before people. Could they have had an organic technology capable of bio-engineering and DNA structuring? Any evidence of the ancient civilization would have decayed over time, leaving no relics. MARTY calls from the other side of
the cavern where he has discovered a passageway.

NEW CAVERN - INNERCHAMBER
JILL and AARON gasp at the sight of rows upon rows of round, cauliflower-shaped objects hanging from the ceiling. They are also green but shot through with a complex blue structure.

HIGH ANGLE - LOOKING DOWN on JILL, MARTY and AARON. 
A surveillance-type view as if something is watching them. MARTY is having trouble with his visor fogging and pulls his hood up to wipe it.

MOVEINFASTTOWARD MARTY, CLOSE, TOWARD HISNECK, INTO THE MICROSCOPIC LANDSCAPE of his skin. We MOVE THROUGH the alien world of tree-size hair follicles and lake-size pores.

MOVE IN CLOSER, into the realm of the electron microscope showing individual skin cells--now we see the ALIEN OBJECT, microscopic in size. It is spiral shaped and shiny. It could be an organism or a machine. It DIVES DOWN, burrowing through the microfilament of a cell, INTO MARTY.

BACK TO SCENE as MARTY lowers his hood, unaware that anything has happened. AARON wonders why the lights brought them here.

ARCTIC GLACIER - NEWCAVERN - AFTERNOON
They remount their snowmobiles. MARTY drains his canteen but is still thirsty. Dropping it, he follows the others.

QUINCY FARM, TRAVELLER, KY - DAY
QUINCY stands on a small hill amid the LOAD BUZZING of flies, gazing down at the meadow. The SHERIFF pulls up in his 4X4 with the shattered lightbar. Eviscerated milk cows with their guts spread across the pasture have attracted millions of flies. The SHERIFF looks a little faint at the sight. A COUGAR ROARS, echoing off the hills. The SHERIFF thinks that is what killed the cows. There is another ROAR.

WOODS - DAY
A nine foot, 300# COUGAR backs away from something, SNARLING and ROARING. A shape sweeps by, one of the PROBE-BATS. It's wing tip SLASHES a rear leg. Another cuts in with teeth bared. BLUISH ENERGY crackles off its claws and across the cougar's back. It screams and brings the probe-bat down--and is set upon by two more, slashing and burning the big cat. Several more probe-bats latch on to the cougar and begin MERGING with it as they lift it into the air.

DISSOLVE TO:
PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY
Three small fishing boats, the LARRY, MOE and CURLY with Seattle registry, swelter in the heat of a becalmed sea. Black smoke pours from the engine compartment of the CURLY as the CAPTAIN shakes his head in despair. On the horizon, the sea has turned to molten silver as MILLIONS OF FISH in all sizes and varieties move toward the southeast in an ichthyic stampede. All three boats have their nets in the water as the wave of fish hits. UNDERWATER, all manner of fish SLAM into the nets, pressed tight by more fish from behind. Some burst through as the net tears in places. Above, the nets go taut as they fill quickly. The boats are buffeted and jerked around by the momentum of the fish. CREWMEN haul the nets up, spilling
fish across the decks. A shark takes a bite out of a sailor's calf. The LARRY'S net rips open. On the CURLY, the winch SNAP SOFF, taking a crewman over the side. He SCREAMS as the torrent of fish carry him under. The onslaught ends and the ocean turns from silver to blue. The crew of the MOE pulls in a final netful of fish. The decks of all three boats are piled high with flopping, squirming fish as the water laps gently against their hulls. A CREWMAN spots something to the northwest, the direction the fish came from. Water crests over the huge shape of Godzilla, advancing like a 40 knot tidal wave. The wash hits the fleet, capsizing the MOE.
Crewmen go overboard as planks give way and water shoots through the deck. The LARRY goes belly up as the CURLY lists at almost 60 degrees. Fish slide from the deck, swimming into the black depths.

DISSOLVE TO:
ARCTIC OUTPOST - EVENING
MARTY, looking pale and tired, is outside the command bunker sucking on snow he has packed together with his hands. JILL and AARON rush out to tell him about the the sighting and head for the dome. MARTY grabs an icicle off the eave and staggers after them but falls on his back in the snow. AARON and JILL return from the Communications Room and find him, unable to get up.

GEODESIC DOME - INFIRMARY
MARTY is wheeled in on a stretcher with JILL and AARON following, A NURSE tucks chemical heat pads around his hands and feet as MARTY asks for a glass of water. She pulls away his jacket collar and gasps. Marty's neck is swollen and distended horribly where the alien object
got to him in the cavern. It is like a large greenish lump is under his skin. It MOVES closer to Marty's jawline as the MEDIC's eyes grow wide.

ARCTIC OUTPOST - AIRFIELD - EVENING
MARTY is loaded into the cargo bay of a Pogo plane as its props wind up to speed. Behind his stretcher are yellow cannisters containing the fluid from Godzilla's Womb. MARTY asks AARON if he really thinks it is Godzilla. He nods and promises to say hi for his friend if he meets him. As the craft rises, ED hurries up with news of another sighting that makes predicting his destination possible. Godzilla is headed for San Francisco.

CUT TO:
PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY
AERIALVIEW of a majestic oil tanker cutting across the sea. Suddenly, a HUGE, SHADOWY SHAPE overtakes it and passes BENEATH. The tanker is rocked by Godzilla's passage.

DISSOLVE TO:
THE PRESIDIO - COMMAND CENTER - SAN FRANCISCO - DAY
There is frantic activity as trucks and helicopters stream past on an otherwise dark and gloomy day. JILL and AARON, still dressed in their arctic gear, pull up in a Jeep. Large view screens dominate the room commanded by MAJOR BENEDEK. The OPS OFFICER advises that Godzilla is 120 miles out, just beyond the visual range of the waiting armada. AARON wonders if there will be enough firepower.

ONSCREEN: an aerial view of the Pacific Ocean with two missile carriers, a battleship and a submarine. Jet fighters and helicopters circle the ships. BENEDEK assures him they can handle Godzilla.

PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY
Torrents of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning from the impending storm, pound down on the ships. Crewmen on the battleship spot something in the distance speeding toward them. It is Godzilla.

COMMAND CENTER - DAY
ONSCREEN: The view shifts from the battleship to the oncoming monster. JILL's eyes narrow and she clenches her fists as she sees Godzilla for the first time. The submarine dives and jets streak toward the horizon. FIGHTER 1 and FIGHTER2 fire MISSILES which find their target, causing plumes of water to rise up--and then the shape isn't there anymore. Godzilla ERUPTS from the water, directly in FIGHTER2's path. It crashes into Godzilla as FIGHTER1 banks hard--but a sweep of Godzilla's arm smashes across the plane, sending it cartwheeling into the sea. Godzilla ROARS...and keeps coming.

COMMAND CENTER - DAY
The room is quiet as all are stunned by what has happened.

PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY
The missile carriers open fire and EXPLOSIONS go off all along Godzilla's back. He submerges again and the carriers cease fire. There is quiet for a brief moment--One of the carriers suddenly LIFTS, borne into the air on Godzilla's back. The ships' plate shatters and the hull breaks--Godzilla resubmerges--the carrier briefly hangs in the air, then crashes back into the ocean. The impact throws a heavy wave across the second carrier's bow and seamen are washed Overboard.

PACIFIC OCEAN - UNDERWATER - DAY
The submarine moves silently through the water. Above, the destroyed missile carrier BURNS, giving off an eerie, flickering light. Torpedoes lock on Godzilla from behind and DETONATE on his back fins. His head comes around slowly and his eyes lock on the sub. He scowls even more
than usual. He's pissed. He turns in the water, reversing direction and charging straight for the sub. It blows its ballast tanks, causing the ship to rise hard angled for the surface. Godzilla passes through the space the sub occupied seconds before, like a bull just missing a matador--the sub SURFACES, slamming into the second missile carrier and capsizing it. EXPLOSIONS rock both ships. Godzilla surfaces and almost seems to regard the havoc he has caused with pride. He turns--and his tail smashes across the hulks, finishing them off. He heads for the battleship which opens fire. Godzilla doesn't like it and ROARS--and then he BREATHES FIRE.
A TONGUE OF FLAME, nearly white-hot, hits the battleship midship--the hull MELTS. The EXPLOSION is spectacular. Godzilla continues on his way, leaving behind the burning remains of the armada. Seamen scramble into life rafts. Oily smoke billows as the rain continues to fall.

COMMAND CENTER - DAY
BEN EDEK figures Godzilla is 50 miles away and will be in San Francisco in one hour. He will entertain any and all ideas at this point on how to stop the monster. AARON peers at a still frame of Godzilla breathing fire. A LIEUTENANT advises that even the smallest nuclear device would irradiate the coast because of the prevalent winds and currents. AARON determines Godzilla is not really breathing fire since the flame starts a couple of meters from his mouth. It is as if he is exhaling something so hot it actually ionizes the oxygen molecules in the air. He considers
Godzilla's size and speed and the amount of energy he must expend. Godzilla must have a body chemistry different from anything we've ever seen, letting him eat relatively little and breathe superheated steam, like a biological fission reactor. JILL can't believe his theory but AARON is willing to bet a year's residual checks that some of the wreckage is radioactive. The OPS OFFICER confirms that the rescue teams are reporting higher than normal radiation counts. JILL is still disbelieving. AARON is thinking of Godzilla being in the Womb for such a long time and what Might have damped his nuclear furnace. JILL realizes it was the fluid. They had assumed it was used for life support but now it appears it might really have been an atomic tranquilizer. She raises AARON's bet double or nothing that it has to be absorbed directly through his skin to be effective. BENEDEK wonders if they have to meet Godzilla at the dock of San Francisco Bay with a fire hose.

PACIFIC OCEAN - UNDERWATER - EVENING
There is an above-surface SPLASH--something falls past in a trail of bubbles. It slows and stops. A line of depth charges is extended across an underwater channel.

WE SURFACE--
PACIFICOCEAN - NIGHT
Fire boats cover the water. Behind them, the Golden Gate Bridge spans the mouth of the Bay. Beyond, San Francisco is coming alight. The rain has stopped. The boat's hoses are on full force, spraying the RED-BLACK AMNIOTIC FLUID.

ONSCREEN: we see the scene on a monitor that is the backdrop for a remote stand-up news report. The REPORTER tells the viewing audience they do not know the reason for all the activity but there is speculation that a nuclear missile has been lost in the Bay.

COMMAND CENTER - NIGHT
JILL, AARON and BENEDEK watch the report. Video of the National Guard directing the evacuation of the city replaces the REPORTER. The OPSOFFICER changes the screen to a satellite image of the area, with Godzilla heading for the Golden Gate Bridge.

PACIFIC OCEAN - UNDERWATER - NIGHT
Godzilla swims toward the Bay channel--and hits the line of depth charges. They DETONATE in sequence, driving him to the surface. He breaks the surface--right in the red-black fluid slick. It coats him as he swims through it. The Golden Gate Bridge looms above. Godzilla slows...stops.
He submerges. The water is still...The Bridge is eerily empty of traffic. Suddenly, GODZILLA ERUPTS FROM THE WATER--but he does not look good. He climbs onto land at the southern end of the Bridge and stands up slowly, ROARS almost sickly--and then collapses, falling forward, full onto the Bridge. Cables groan--snap. The Bridge undulates, sways...but it holds. It is a bizarre, surrealistic image:Godzilla, one arm hanging down, lies still on the Golden Gate Bridge.

SAN FRANCISCO - MEDI ARE PORTS - SERIES OF SHOTS
Hand held VIDEO follows BENEDEK outside the Presidio as reporters shove mics into his face. He expresses his sympathy to the families of the men lost in the battle with Godzilla. A REPORTER asks if that is with one L or two. A NEWSCASTER speaks INTO CAMERA,
with a Godzilla graphic over his left shoulder, reporting that London gold is up 20 dollars an ounce, attributed to the appearance of Godzilla in San Francisco. JILL strides past reporters, barely holding her anger in check. She speaks to all of them finally, declaring Godzilla should be
transported to the middle of the desert, a nuclear bomb shoved down his throat and blown up.

FORTTUS CARORA - CAFETERIA -DAY
TINA carries her tray into a dining area where people are clustered around a television. JILL is finishing her statement, saying she is not in charge and her opinion has been overruled. The REPORTER identifies Dr. Llewellyn and Aaron Vaught as being credited with capturing the creature which first appeared twelve years ago. TINA sits down slowly, thinking back...

ONSCREEN: Several Black Stallion helicopters buzz above Godzilla on the Golden Gate Bridge.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE - NORTHERN END - DAY
AARON breaks away from the reporters and heads for a Jeep where JILL is talking on an Army mobile phone. She tells him Marty is at the research facility at Ft. Tuscarora. He takes the Jeep and leaves to visit his friend. JILL looks down the Bridge toward Godzilla where cables have been attached to his arms, legs and torso. They extend up to several helicopters. NOISE from the engines increases. Slowly, Godzilla is lifted off the Golden Gate Bridge.

KENTUCKY WOODS - TREETOP - DAY
FILLING THE SCREEN is the PROFILE SKULL of a probe-bat, perched in the uppermost branches of a tree. More are visible behind it--the nearest seems to be GRINNING, as if pleased at Godzilla's capture. Suddenly there is a distant GUNSHOT--the probe-bat jerks its headand looks directly INTOCAMERA. The illusion of a grin is gone on this feral predator. Its huge ears rotate and it lifts off--followed by others. The entire tree is filled with probe-bats. More and more
lift into the sky--

KENTUCKY WOODS - DAY
An 8-point buck crashes through the bushes--another GUNSHOT. The deer is hit and knocked off balance. It tries to rise and falls back to the ground. JOHN and STU emerge from the trees, their rifle barrels smoking. JOHN loads a shell and FIRES into the buck's head. STU had hoped
they would find the cougar that killed Quincy's cows. He is stricken with a COUGHING ATTACK as he puffs on a cigarette. JOHN chides him for his unhealthy lifestyle and begins dressing the deer. He hears something and stops to listen--suddenly there is a swooping WHOOSH--JOHN falls heavily into the brush, face down. STU asks if he got hit with another frog but there is no answer. STU rolls him over--JOHN'S HEAD DOES NOT ROLL WITH HIS BODY.It has been severed neatly from his neck. STU leaps back--there is a SCREECH--he ducks instinctively as a probe-bat barely misses him, talons ripping his jacket. STU jumps and RUNS blindly--beneath the thick foliage of a tree, cutting him off from the probe-bats. They descend on both the deer and John's body.

AERIALVIEW - P.O.V.
PROBE-BAT as STU is tracked beneath the tree, overtaken, circled back on. He stumbles and falls down an embankment. Probe-bats slash through the air, just a fraction of a second late--STU rolls over and over--a BLUISH bio-electric BOLT narrowly misses him--he hits the bottom of the ravine and spots a narrow overhang. He rolls into it and waits, trying to control his breathing. ASCREECH. Then several more and a scrabbling sound. The probe-bats are directly above, hunting him. STU COUGHS, a smoker's wet hack. A grinning probe-bat SHOOTS IN under the overhang, talons extended--STU does not scream long.

MAMMOTH CAVE SYSTEM - NEW CAVE
The probe-bats fly in, carrying Stu, John, the deer and John's head. The mass in the center of the webbing is huge, crowding the cavern. Bio-electricity crawls across the mass which has a hunched ANIMAL SHAPE. The human and animal bodies DISSOLVE, ABSORBED by the mass. The probe-bats merge in also. A part of the mass moves--a shape takes form: AMASSIVE LEG WITH LONG POINTED CLAWS.

GLENVIEW NAVALAIR STATION, CHICAGO, IL

CONTROLTOWER - EVENING
A CONTROLLER tells O'Hare Field to clear all flights and direct them to Milwaukee. BENEDEK looms over her. An ASSISTANT advises there have been reports of gunfire. BENEDEK orders the Controller to direct the helicopters away from all inhabited areas. A HELICOPTER PILOT
grouses that they can't zig-zag across the entire country--

FARMHOUSE - EVENING
A nine year old BOY listens to his ham radio in the garage as the CONTROLLER orders a course change. He jumps off his stool and runs past his little BROTHER who wonders what is going on. The two kids climb the trellis at the side of the house and scramble up the angled roof. In the distance is Lake Michigan with moonlight sparkling off the water. The kids are scanning the horizon, silhouetted against the sky. Suddenly, a JET AIR CRAFT, flying low, THUNDERS overhead. The boys drop down flat on the shingles and cover their ears. The ROAR is followed by the WHOP-WHOP-WHOP of helicopters. The kids turn and look up--ABOVE THEM, filling the sky is Godzilla. Both boys SCREAM--then abruptly stop as he moves serenely past and out over the lake. He is suspended by cables from six Black Stallion helicopters, moving along like some bizarre Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. BROTHER gets to his feet, claiming he wasn't scared. The older BOY admits he was: Scared that Godzilla might poop on them. They crack up with laughter as Godzilla is silhouetted against the moonlit sky.

DISSOLVE TO:
FT. TUSCARORA, MA - HOSPITAL - INTENSIVE CARE WING - NIGHT
AARON is asleep on a couch in the waiting room as EDarrives. He jumps up, trying to look alert. They enter the Observation Room as ED explains that Marty is not doing well. Specialists from Johns Hopkins should be arriving shortly. He warns Aaron that Marty's appearance may be a shock and not to dwell on it. Marty's bed is behind a glass partition where he is hidden by equipment and staff. ASURGEON and a SPECIALIST are looking at a flouroscope screen showing a black and white X-ray of Marty's torso and head. His beating heart is a shadowy rhythmic blur. There is a large movement--a shift--of an internal organ, possibly his liver. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be moving. ED is confused and tries to identify the large intestine. It is gone, along with most of the exocrine tissue of the pancreas. It is being used for growth of a dark area extending from Marty's chest across his neck and up to his left eye. Body functions necessary for immediate survival haven't been affected. Anyhting else is fair game. The infection seems to be rewriting his entire DNA. AARON approaches Marty's bed and gasps. MARTY has no eyes. His skull is misshapen. The growth on his neck extends across his face to his left eye. A flat, featureless expanse of skin covers his face from forehead to mouth. MARTY senses someone is there and speaks in a groggy, weak voice. AARON tells him they got Godzilla, babbling about bringing him just a mile or two away. He is sick but alive and looks a little better than his friend does. MARTY smiles and AARON has to look away. MARTY has been having thoughts of Godzilla and wonders why he showed up now. What set the womb off? Was it the Northern Lights? What is Godzilla trying to do? He asks AARON to find out as he has been having dreams. The SURGEON appears and pulls AARON away as MARTY's breathing becomes soft and regular in sleep. AARON says goodbye very softly and leaves.

ST. GEORGE PROJECT CENTER - MORNING
Not much is going on except for AARON'S frantic sifting through papers. A world map covers the entire wall and traces Godzilla's movements from the North Pacific to San Francisco. He wonders, Why now?

CONTROLTOWER - DAY
Another map showing the California-Nevada border. A straight line is drawn from San Francisco to Goldmine, Nevada. AARON is making a list. A NAVIGATOR brings more maps but has to go find the Missouri and Indiana ones he wants. As well as those of every state on the heading he
has plotted to the East Coast.

FORT TUSCARORA - HANGAR - MORNING
JILL strides along with an Air Force ENGINEER in tow. He apologizes, claiming he was told Godzilla is 250 feet tall. No mention was made of a tail. They round the corner and she pulls up short. Sticking out through the massive doors of the former blimp hangar is Godzilla's tail. The ENGINEER assures her a temporary structure will be built to protect it from the elements.

HANGAR - LATER
Dusty light filters down from high windows onto Godzilla. A crew of ant-like workers crawl over him. A silver device the size of two railroad tank cars is being lowered by a crane onto his back between the dorsal fins. Huge hydraulic clamps close, locking it in place. It will supply a constant dose of amniotic fluid to the comatose monster. JILL is supervising from the base of the crane but appears unhappy. AARON hurries over to get the computer clearances he needs to access NEXUS news releases. She obligingly takes to the keyboard as Aaron had previously depended on Marty to handle their computer chores. They cross-reference the list of cities he plotted from the maps with news items of unusual occurances in the last three days. Three stories are datelined Traveller, Kentucky: Additional Cattle Mutilations, Two Hunters Missing and Strange Lights Reported in the Sky Over Six Counties. As co-director of the Project, AARON has no trouble getting transportation.

HANGAR - NIGHT
Several workers enter, carrying machinery. A shorter soldier carrying a box ducks behind some crates. TINA removes her fatigue jacket and hat. From the box she removes a white smock with various clearance badges. She also has a clipboard to complete the ensemble. With her hair
combed out, she steps from behind the crates and purposefully moves into the hangar proper--and then draws up short. The sheer immensity of Godzilla is overwhelming. She pauses at the feet and angrily kicks at one--then jumps back as if she might wake the creature up. Technicians are busy with their own tasks and pay her no mind as she moves down the lenght of the beast. JILL looks up from a bank of monitors--and spots TINA. She hurries to her and spins her around for a confrontation--and sees her tear-stained face. TINA asks why JILL has worked so hard to find and kill Godzilla, even if it killed hundreds of people, including her father. TINA figures
Godzilla didn't even notice him and is merely an act of Nature. JILL sees it as an unnatural abomination but to TINA, Godzilla is Death and her mother has simply been trying to kill him because she lost her husband. TINA believes she lost both her parents to the monster. JILL decides TINA should stay with her aunt in New York after all as it isn't safe here. TINA leaves
her mother to her monitors and her job.

TRAVELLER, KENTUCKY - MORNING
AARON pulls up in an Army sedan, parking in front of the cafe. The SHERIFF, QUINCY and FLEER are there. As the WAITRESS brings his coffee, AARON asks her if she saw the lights in the sky the other day. When he assures her that he is from the government, QUINCY wants to
know what he is going to do about his cows since he thinks it had something to do with nerve gas experiments. The SHERIFF cuts him off, blaming a cougar which probably got John and Stu also. The WAITRESS thinks it is God's judgement and the rain of frogs was a warning. AARON hadn't seen this news item but she has a copy of the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS with a picture of
John and Stu holding buckets of frogs under the headline Town Destroyed by Frogs-Biblical Retribution? QUINCY blames AARON for that also, claiming the folks from Washington don't think nothing of screwing up the weather or a man's livelihood. AARON asks if there is a lake nearby. FLEER suggests Lake Apopka which is within ten miles of Traveller and fairly isolated. AARON hires him to guide as his G.I.-issue sedan couldn't handle the roads anyway. FLEER figures that if the government can pay $500 for a screwdriver, they should be able to agree on a guide fee and take care of Fleer's lunch bill. QUINCY is still wondering who is going to pay for
his cows as they climb into Fleer's 4x4 truck. In the back are dive tanks. Fleer's Navy SEAL dogtags hang from the rear view mirror. They head for Lake Apopka.

BIO-LAB - SURGICAL WARD OPERATING ROOM - MORNING
Technicians hover over MARTY as a SPECIALIST confers with a SURGEON about the growth that is threatening to invade his speech center. They plan to prevent it from getting into his brain. Marty's head is disfigured as if he is growing an exoskeleton. The greenish mass snakes across into one eye socket. As the SURGEON leans in with his instrument, MARTY'S hand--more like a claw--quickly grabs his wrist. He turns his head and asks him to wait as there is a reason. It is not MARTY'S voice that speaks. The rhythm, inflection and tone are all different. It is more of a hiss from deep in his throat. The ANESTHESIOLOGIST backs away, knocking over the instrument tray.

SURGICAL WARD - OBSERVATION ROOM - LATER
JILL and BENEDEK hurry in as doctors cluster around the flouroscope showing Marty's head and torso. The dark mass now extends into the frontal lobe of the brain. The SPECIALIST is amazed Marty is still conscious. He also doesn't know if it is Marty who speaks or the thing in him. He mentions the flatworm experiment: You teach a flatworm how to navigate a maze, chop it up and feed it to another flatworm. The second worm absorbs the first one's RNA and actually digests the information on how to get through the maze. The SURGEON wants to get the thing off Marty
but JILL believes it is trying to communicate with them about Godzilla. With great effort, MARTY utters the word, Danger. His body relaxes and his expression becomes calm and serene as he recognizes her. MARTY explains that it doesn't know the words yet so he has to talk. It shows him pictures of an alien race, spreading through the stars and destroying worlds. Alien probes land and create a beast out of the genetic material on that world. JILL asks if Godzilla is an alien.
MARTY'S body suddenly contracts and his voice becomes a hiss: No.Another. He relaxes and speaks in his normal voice of the doomsday beast that is created and reproduces, wiping out dominant life forms. Then the aliens come to a planet already conquered. When asked when it will arrive, he tells her that it is already here.

KENTUCKY WOODS - MORNING
AARON and FLEER drive up a steep rise overlooking Lake Apopka, or what is left of it after a huge explosive force has snapped trees like twigs or bent them backward away from the lake. The water level is half what it should be. FLEER asks how AARON knew about what happened here. He explains that a meteor heated by the atmosphere hits the water and causes a steam cloud which sucks everything around it upward and ten miles away, it rains frogs and fish. He thinks what they're looking for might still be at the bottom of the lake.

SURGICAL WARD - OPERATING ROOM
JILL asks MARTY where the thing on him came from. He answers as if he is looking at pictures of what he describes as an ancient civilization from when the Earth had three moons. The SPECIALIST realizes the alien life form on Marty had a problem communicating with creatures not yet evolved and created an organic tape recorder by transferring its RNA to Marty, reprogramming his DNA and using his body as a power source and speaker. Marty's cardiograph shows his heart is but a weak flutter. JILL asks him about Godzilla. Marty's other voice replies that he was left in stasis, created of dinosaur genes. The probe's arrival would awaken him to kill
the alien beast before it could reproduce. She wants to know how to kill Godzilla. MARTY'S final words before his EKG flatlines are:Can't kill Godzilla.

KENTUCKY - LAKE APOPKA
FLEER and AARON pull on diving gear as FLEER reviews the hazards of cave diving: pitch blackness, weird currents, sharp rocks and zero visibility caused by sediment. Narcosis will make you think you can breathe water. When asked why he chose cave diving over ocean diving,
FLEER admits he dislikes the ocean and the weird stuff like eels, squid and jellyfish that are in it.

UNDERWATER
They move gracefully along, swimming through bright flickering shafts of sunlight from above. FLEER spots the impact crater spread out below them. AARON explores a steep wall, following the path of the alien probe. It leads to a round opening with a smooth, curved finish. FLEER
ties his safety line to a rock and they enter. Inside the limestone tunnel they have to use their flashlights in the pitch blackness. They remove their air tanks to squeeze through a bottleneck to open water beyond.

BATCAVE
Breaking the surface, they find themselves in a beautiful limestone cavern where the bats were overcome by the probe. AARON speculates that it might have been a von Neumann probe that flies to a planet, lands and gathers material to build other probes. These fly out and do the same
on more worlds. In 300 million years the galaxy would be covered by them. In the 10,000 million years the galaxy has existed, one of them should have come to Earth by now.

P.O.V. LOOKING DOWN on AARON and FLEER from a crevice. Something swoops down toward them--FLEER asks if there might be some kind of machine in the cavern. Several bats SWOOP past them. FLEER jumps to his feet and hurries to get back in the water.

CAVE SYSTEM - UNDERWATER
They slowly swim along the narrow corridor until they emerge in open water again. FLEER sees the face of the dead cougar in his flashlight beam, inches from his own face. He panics briefly but they proceed to the PROBE CHAMBER. AARON guesses whatever got Quincy's cows also got the cougar. There is a FLICKERING BLUISH GLOWinthe cavern and AARON spots the  GIANT PAW, as large as a house. They back away to get a better view of the GRYPHON. With leathery, blood-red wings like a bat and the body of a cougar, it resembles the mythical beast
of Junji's drawing. It has been created by the merging bat-probe creatures. A SHEEN OF BLUISH ENERGY crackles along its skin. AARON and FLEER decide to get out of there. FLEER hits his air tank against a rock with a loud CLANG! They look up toward the thing's face--one huge, open eye is staring down at them. The monster rises and lets out a bone-jarring SCREAM. Inside its mouth are snakes where the tongue should be. AARON and FLEER plunge into the water. Muffled ROARS can be heard above them as they follow the safety line out of the tunnel.

BATCAVE
AARON and FLEER break the surface as chunks of rock splash down around them. They scramble across the sand bar to the pool on the other side. Behind them, the wall of the cavern EXPLODES outward and the paw of the Gryphon reaches through.

CAVE SYSTEM - UNDERWATER
In the churned up sediment, AARON loses track of the safety line and swims into a flat rock wall. FLEER grabs him and pulls him toward the bottleneck where they hurriedly remove their tanks. The water SURGES and FLEER is slammed into the rock wall, dropping his regulator. He swims
for the bottleneck as AARON takes a final breath and follows without his gear. They shoot through the circular opening, over the impact crater and surface, gasping for air. The lake is peaceful and serene for the swim back to shore. Standing up to pull their fins off, they are knocked off balance by the earth SHAKING and TREMBLING. Beyond a rise, concussive force
blasts dirt and boulders into the air. There is a SCREAM--the Gryphon stands, rising to its full height above the trees. It shakes off rocks and debris from the cavern as FLEER and AARON run uphill to the truck. A blast of air knocks them off their feet and trees and bushes are flattened. THE GRYPHON RISES UP INTO THE SKY, its giant leather wings blotting out the sun. It ROARS and ENERGY crackles across the wings to gather at each tip--and SHOOTOUT--striking a tree. It EXPLODES as the truck pulls away with AARON trying to find cover in the bed.

FORT TUSCARORA - HANGAR - DAY
Godzilla's eye opens and narrows. It is as if he senses the Gryphon. Dozens of Army personnel go about their duties unaware of the peril. By his jaws, a Styrofoam cup blows over. A TECHNICIAN, busy eating a donut, doesn't notice the tiny spikes on his monitors as Godzilla regains consciousness. As a FOREMAN and SURVEYOR argue over the spilt coffee, the entire table blows over in a blast of wind. Godzilla is breathing. The TECHstares at the life signs on his equipment indicating Godzilla is alive. Workers scramble across the hangar floor. Behind them is a distinctive ROAR and a THUNDERING, RIPPINGSOUND. Godzilla RISES, crashing straight up through the roof of the hangar. Part of the structure temporarily forms a hat over his head which he angrily swats away. A fleeing SOLDIER is hit by the section. Unhurt, he climbs out a window in the roof just as it is stepped on.

FORT TUSCARORA - RESEARCH FACILITY - DAY
JILL steps out of the building as people flee past her. She moves slowly toward Godzilla, watching. In the distance, tanks set up along the airfield FIRE at him with little effect. Godzilla turns and scans the horizon before abruptly turning toward the harbor.

BUZZARD'S BAY - DAY
Many ships are moored at the docks as Godzilla approaches and drops onto all fours. He slips into the water, gently nudging aside a garbage scow. He sinks down and is gone as the rising water leaves the boats high and dry on the shore.

KENTUCKY - AIRSTRIP - DAY
FLEER'S truck races toward a Pogo plane parked on the little-used airstrip. The PILOT who flew Keith Llewellyn to the Arctic 12 years ago is waiting for AARON. They scramble aboard as a MONSTROUS, SCREECHING CRY rolls through the hills. FLEER decides to go with them. In the air, AARON radios JILL to tell her the Behemoth is real. They are ten miles south of Clarksburg, Virginia and the creature is heading north by northwest at about 150 mph. With the wings of a bat and the body of a lion, it looks like the mythical Gryphon and it fires what appear to be bio-electric energy bolts like an eel. JILL is not surprised by this information. ED makes a quick sketch of the beast on a Post-It note and sticks it on the map near the city of Clarksburg. On the monitor they have been watching at the COMMAND CENTER, a YOUNG REPORTER describes the action from behind a car. He can't tell how big the monster is and has never seen anything like it. The CAMERA PANS wildly and settles on the Gryphon with its huge wings beating--it is landing at the train station. A consist is a toy beneath it. Like a cat, the Gryphon swipes at the train and derails it. Beating its wings, it rises up with the camera following. The REPORTERdescribes its approach as the camera is dropped and continues to broadcast sideways. The beast lands, its huge paws filling the frame. It is searching and ROARS again. Energy builds up in the wings and is fired at the fleeing REPORTER who is burned instantly. Moving along, the Gryphon fires its beams and crushes buildings. Fires start. It deliberately
seeks out prey as its eyes glitter with malevolent intent. Crouching, it stalks forward , slinking along the ground--and POUNCES. ENERGY BEAMS SHOOT OUT and huge fuel storage tanks EXPLODE, sending a wave of flaming gasoline across the city as the Gryphon beats its wings to fan the fire. Satisfied, it takes to the air.

FORT TUSCARORA - COMMANDCENTER - DAY
AARON and FLEER burst through the doors, asking JILL where the Gryphon is now: east of Baltimore and heading for Godzilla who is trying to get to it before it can multiply. AARON asks how she knows that. When told of Marty's final words, he is shocked, even if he knew his friend
would die. BENEDEK is confused by the fact that the Gryphon is the Doomsday Creature described by Marty and that it is Godzilla's enemy. That puts Godzilla on their side. He has been sighted at Long Island Sound south of Bridgeport. BENEDEK traces the path of the two monsters and they converge at Manhattan, New York. JILL goes pale as she realizes the danger to Tina.
Her call doesn't get through and she heads out the door. For once, her daughter is more important to her than her job. AARON can take over as co-director of the Project and decide what to do about evacuating New York City.

GREENWICH VILLAGE - APARTMENT - DAY
TINA bangs futilely on the buttons of the video phone, only to get a temporarily out of service message on the screen. Scared, she turns on CNN where the ANCHOR is advising all residents to stay in their homes. The dramatic Clarksburg footage is shown as he describes the monster's approach to New York City. TINA pulls the curtains closed over the wall length picture window. She yanks the covers off a bed and backs into the walk-in closet to wait, huddled in a tight ball.

NEW YORK - THE BRONX - BRUCKNER INTERSECTION - DAY
A semi has jacknifed across several lanes of traffic. Behind it is a massive pile-up of cars. A fight breaks out between a U.P.S. VAN DRIVER and a CITY BUS DRIVER. Several POLICE  OFFICERS are trying to assist a TOWTRUCKDRIVER get the semi out of the roadway. JILL pulls up from the opposite direction and asks an OFFICER the best way to get into Manhattan. He suggests a southern route through Queens. Jumping a divider, she takes the Clearview Expressway.

WHITESTONE BRIDGE - EVENING
Jill's Mercedes blasts along the bridge toward the Manhattan skyline which is reflected on the water below. Half above the surface are Godzilla's eyes, gazing at the city before him. The head sinks slowly down into the water. With a swirl of his tail he is gone.

QUEENS MIDTOWN TUNNEL
The outbound lanes are jammed with traffic but the inbound are empty. Jill's car disappears into the glow of overhead sodium lights. Suddenly, in front of her, lights are approaching, coming at her head on. She jerks the wheel and narrowly avoids a collision with a truck speeding along the wrong way. Other vehicles are also driving against traffic to get out of the city. A taxi swerves out and they collide, causing a chain reaction behind the cab. JILL hits her head on the steering wheel but recovers and half runs along the tunnel. There is a deep, ominous RUMBLE, silencing the honking and yelling. Everyone waits, looking up at the ceiling and listening--another RUMBLE, louder, closer--the FOOTFALLS of Godzilla aproaching above them. Cars are abandoned as people run.

EAST RIVER - NIGHT
Godzilla moves along slowly, stalking. He wades through water up to his hips, searching the sky.

QUEENS MIDTOWN TUNNEL
JILL continues west while the stampede of people goes east. The CRASH and deep RUMBLE of another footfall causes cracks to appear in the roof above. Tiles break off and fall to the pavement. Water begins to seep through. JILL approaches a Lincoln with an older lady frozen
behind the wheel. Her doors are locked. There is an echoing BOOM! In the distance about half a mile away, the roof of the tunnel CAVESIN--Godzilla's foot appears--he staggers, slipping sideways as his footing is lost. Tons of water pour past his leg and into the tunnel, sweeping toward JILL. She spots an abandoned red Subaru with its door open and dives in as the water
rushes toward her. As she gets the window rolled up, a wall of water slams into the car and tosses it into a police car. Her vehicle is under water but it remains mostly dry inside. There is a THUMP as a MAN'SFACE is driven hard against the side window and washed away. The bumper of a bus appears in her windshield and SMASHES the glass. The AIR BAG INFLATES and water rushes in as the car is trapped beneath a city bus. JILL grabs the keys from the ignition and PUNCTURES THEAIRBAG. Putting her lips to the hole, she fills her lungs and pushes out of the car, swimming toward the light ahead. A dim figure hangs half out of a bus window, bleeding from a head wound--incredibly, it is her daughter, Tina. JILL involuntarily
exhales and lifts the head to be sure. It is not her daughter after all. Finding no pulse, she pushes off for the surface. A few yards of space remain between the roof of the tunnel and the water. She surfaces a hundred yards from the west entrance. Godzilla's FOOTFALLS echo as she sloshes out.

MANHATTAN - NIGHT
JILL collapses on a dry sidewalk as a shadow falls across her--looking up, directly above her is the towering form of Godzilla. One of his feet is coming down on her--she rolls to the side and splashed water pushes her ten yards away. The foot lifts as he lumbers down 42nd Street,
narrowly fitting between the buildings. His tail swings past high overhead.

NEWJERSEY - LIBERTYSTATEPARK - NIGHT
Helicopters land as a Command Post is hastily set up. Beyond the Upper Bay is the Manhattan skyline. AARON, FLEER and BENEDEK move along the water's edge, watching the horizon. The Statue of Liberty lies crushed and broken at the foot of her pedestal, now occupied by the
Gyphon who is busily clawing at the arm holding the torch. It also breaks off and crashes into the water below.

MANHATTAN - STREET - NIGHT
JILL runs along, searching for an abandoned car with the keys in it. Finding one, she continues her race into the city.

NEWYORK CITY - NIGHT
Godzilla moves through the canyons of buildings until he comes to the El tracks. Ripping through, he continues on his way as a train leaves the line and is crushed beneath his feet. He is heading for the Battery at the tip of the Island. LOOTERS emerge from the shattered window of a sporting goods store, tossing guns in the back of a van. Towering above them is Godzilla. A LOOTERdrops all but one fully automatic rifle and FIRES up at him. Godzilla's eyes narrow as he steps forward--on the LOOTER. Stomping a few times for good measure he turns--toward Liberty Island and the Gryphon. Godzilla ROARS--the Gryphon's head whips around to see him wading toward his perch. It spreads its wings and takes to the air, rushing toward Godzilla. THE TWO MONSTERS CRASH TOGETHER and Godzilla is lifted bodily out of the water and rammed back onto the shore. He grabs the Gryphon's leg and pulls, trying to bring the beast
down as it furiously flaps its wings. Godzilla wraps his tail around the I-beams of a building under construction for more leverage. The Gryphon SCREAMS as Godzilla BITES its leg. Firing a BOLT at him, Godzilla is blown backwards into the building skeleton which topples under him. The mangled leg BEGINSTOHEAL--quickly. The Gryphon presses its advantage, FIRING another bolt. Godzilla staggers and moves away into the concrete canyons. The Gryphon soars past and rakes him with extended talons. The monsters ROAR and SCREAMat each other as JILLraces her car along the sidewalk, avoiding the congested street. As she pulls up to the
apartment, the Gryphon rises above the building tops.

APARTMENT - NIGHT
JILL bursts in, calling her daughter. TINA emerges from the bedroom as a HELICOPTER ROARS overhead, shaking the room.

MANHATTAN - NIGHT
The Gryphon hunts, flying majestically over the city. It spots Godzilla as he disappears around a corner of a large building. Banking sharply, it is greeted by a large reptilian shape. Firing a bolt,
the Gryphon completely destroys a huge billboard of Barney the Dinosaur. Godzilla springs from behind the building and hits the Gryphon hard, pulling it down. They wrestle, slamming into a skyscraper, causing it to shake. The Gryphon sets its rear feet hard into Godzilla's belly and pushes him into the weakened building which COLLAPSES. JILL and TINA look up to see loose masonry crashing down toward them several blocks away from the battle. 

LIBERTY ISLAND - NIGHT
Observers see a dust cloud rise from the city, along with the Gryphon, flying shakily. It fires another bolt. AARON suddenly realizes the restraining device is preventing Godzilla from using his fire. Looking at a monitor, he sees that he is down, slumped against a building and not
moving. FLEER suggests C-4 Plastique explosive to remove the device. Gunships can draw the Gryphon away while they take care of Godzilla.

MANHATTAN - NIGHT
JILL tries to use a pay phone but all she gets is a busy signal. Spotting an electronics store with a cellular phone display, she grabs a trash can and SHATTERS the window. A Try Our Demo-make a free call is exactly what she needs to contact Major Benedek. After giving her access codes, she is connected and asks for a helicopter to get them out of there. He briefs her about Aaron's mission and the fact that all aircraft are being used to cover him. And Godzilla is out of action against the Gryphon. She hangs up on him and leads TINA toward Godzilla. A transport copter cuts through the night sky, escorted by three gunships. The Gryphon sees them and wheels as they open fire. AARON and FLEER are preparing to rappel out of the transport as a gunship EXPLODES outside the door, hit by a bolt from the Gryphon. Their craft drops down between the buildings where Godzilla lays, slumped in an almost upright position against a building. The restraining device is 200 feet above ground level. Dropping their lines, AARON and FLEER exit the craft, sliding down toward the fallen monster. FLEER lands lightly on the device which is severely canted. AARON thuds down beside him as he fishes bricks of C-4 explosives
out of his pack. Over Central Park, the gunships are chasing the Gryphon which looks back and sees the craft hovering over Godzilla. BEATING ITS WINGS,it blows the lead helicopter BACKWARDS into the second one. They EXPLODE and the Gryphon seems to grin as burning wreckage falls onto Central Park. It heads back toward Godzilla. The PILOT of the transport looks up to see the Gryphon coming for him but the buildings are high enough to shield the craft from the frustrated, SCREAMING beast which FIRESABOLT--exploding a building and spraying the helicopter with shrapnel. The concussion buffets the craft, dragging FLEER and AARON by their lines. The rotor clips AARON'S line as it smashes into a building and falls from the sky. FLEER hits his harness release as it is yanked away and AARON grabs him by the arm, keeping
him from falling to the ground far below. They lie prone on the device as the Gryphon lands at a wide intersection and folds back its wings to stalk up the street toward Godzilla. JILL and TINA see the beast coming also. Spying a fuel tanker, JILL SHATTERS the window of the locked cab
with a trash can. From behind the seat, she removes several road flares. There are no keys but TINAremembers how to hot wire and can also drive a stick once she finds 1st gear. JILL gives her a hug and climbs onto the tanker.

ON GODZILLA
FLEER discovers one of his timers is broken and he can only set it for 30 seconds. The Gryphon is getting closer, picking its way through broken chunks of concrete and stepping on cars. AARON attaches his line to the restraining device as JILL lights her flares, ready to drop them through the hatch of the tanker. The Gryphon sees the truck and cocks its head in curiosity. TINAjumps clear of the cab and watches the truck advance toward the Gryphon with her mother crouched by the loading hatch. JILL waits for the right moment, drops her flares in the hatch and
JUMPS--into a pile of garbage bags on the curb. TINA runs up and they watch the truck approach the Gryphon--and roll between its legs. The beast follows its movement with its head tucked under its body until it CRASHES in a crevice and EXPLODES. The Gryphon SCREAMS and leaps into the air--it cannot spread its wings. A SECOND, LARGER EXPLOSION rips the street as flames shoot out of the crevice, searing the beast. It leaps back, away from the fire and Godzilla. JILL figures they must have hit a gas line with the truck. FLEER and AARON look up from their work at the sound of the explosion. FLEER is almost done and AARON has their escape rope ready. FLEER sets the charges and jumps onto his back, hanging onto the remaining harness as they rappel to a terrace 100 feet below. The harness hits a frayed spot on the line and tangles twenty feet from the terrace. AARON yanks the release as the charges EXPLODE and the restraining device BLOWS FREE--FALLING DIRECTLY TOWARD THEM. They scramble for safety with FLEER grabbing AARON'S collar and hauling him out of the way as the device CRASHES to the terrace. They lay there, breathing hard--and the building shakes. And there is a ROAR. Godzilla is awake and getting up, using the building to help him stand. AARON and FLEER scramble away as the terrace collapses, followed by the whole facade of the building. Godzilla ROARS again as JILL stares at the building. Above, the Gryphon SCREAMS and Godzilla looks up and is hit by a BOLT--and staggers but does not fall. And then--Godzilla BREATHES FIRE, hitting the Gryphon head on. It screams again, this time in pain and veers
off toward the Esast River. Godzilla ROARS and pounds away, giving chase. AARON and FLEER come out of the demolished building, dusty and battered but intact. TINA thinks what they did was cool. From the river comes a ROAR.

NEW YORK CITY - NIGHT
Godzilla reaches the bank of the East River and scans for the Gryphon, a predator hunting. With a SCREAM, the Gryphon strikes, slamming him into the water. The Gryphon banks and fires BOLTS. Godzilla roars with pain and submerges. Out over the bay, the Gryphon turns for
another strafing run. Only Godzilla's eyes are visible above the water line. As the Gryphon closes, Godzilla BREATHESFIRE--not at the Gryphon but ACROSS THE WATER, creating a curtain of steam. An instant fog bank that blinds the Gryphon. It can't pull up and its claws rip through empty water--and the Brooklyn Bridge looms up out of the fog. The Gryphon HITS THE BRIDGE FULL SPEED and becomes tangled in the cables. Godzilla erupts from the water and tackles the Gryphon which is flapping furiously, lifting both monsters out of the water. Godzilla BITES THROUGH the Gryphon's wing, tearing it from the body--the monsters crash back into
the water. A huge impact wave races in both directions along the East River, toppling the Brooklyn Bridge and flooding streets on both shores. AARON, FLEER, JILL and TINA scramble onto cars to avoid the rushing water. The Gryphon twists free and fires a BOLT with its remaining wing, raking across Godzilla's eyes. It then swims frantically to its dismembered limb--from
which TENDRILS GROW, REACHING FOR THE STALK ON THE GRYPHON'S BACK--they
merge, rejoin. AARON, FLEER, JILL and TINA watch in horror at the Hydra-like regeneration. Godzilla hits it with a stream of FIRE, causing the Gryphon to take to the air. Godzilla keeps on blasting it as it climbs, gaining altitude over Manhattan for a POWERDIVE. It is nearly on top of him before Godzilla reacts--he ROLLSFORWARD SUDDENLY,  EXPOSING THE THREE ROWS OF JAGGED DORSAL FINS ALONG HIS BACK. The Gryphon is RIPPED OPEN, from stem to stern. Godzilla grabs its tail, hauling it down into the water. He strikes like a snake, jaws slamming shut beneath the water--GODZILLA TEARS THE HEAD OFF THE GRYPHON and holds it up--it tries to snap at his arm. The body attacks blindly, clawing at Godzilla. Tendrils reach from the body to the head, trying to reconnect--Godzilla BREATHES A STREAM OF FIRE across the neck of the Gryphon, CAUTERIZING IT. The body slumps and sinks into the water. The head stops snapping and Godzilla looks at it, eye to eye. It is dead. He drops it unceremoniously. And ROARS. Injured and bleeding from dozens of wounds but triumphant, Godzilla begins pushing through the water, back to the open sea.

MANHATTAN - DAWN
AARON, FLEER, JILL and TINA are jubilant. From the sky comes the SCREAM of fighter jets in attack formation. JILL calls BENEDEK to call off the attack on Godzilla. He really believes they can kill Godzilla in his weakened condition. JILL asks him to think about what would have happened if Godzilla didn't stop the Gryphon. And are there more of them out there in space? He calls off the attack and the jets fly past Godzilla as he continues out to sea, colored orange by the rising sun. On the shore, AARON, FLEER, TINA and JILL watch him disappear into the ocean. JILL and AARON are out of a job but TINA has gotten a mother. JILL offers her hand to AARON who takes it. He puts his other hand on FLEER'S shoulder as they watch the sun rise over the calm water.

FADE OUT

THE END