Godzilla had risen. Over 300 feet tall, the fearsome, giant reptile stood, roaring a savage roar, which heralded the return of the most powerful of monsters.
Mr. Terrific and the rest of the Doom Patrol looked up at the towering beast with fear and awe. It was the most incredible sight any of them had ever seen. Adam Strange also stared at the beast, wondering if he had done the right thing by allowing it to be reborn. It was true that his adopted home world of Rann desperately needed the power of Godzilla to survive, but now that he had seen the beast personally, he wondered if he hadn't unleashed a greater evil on the world of his birth.
Agent Wanda Mason, who had been researching the Godzilla matter for weeks, felt that she was in way over her head. She had dealt with superheroes and villains before, but this was too much. Godzilla was indescribable!
Dr. Doom smiled triumphantly under his metal mask. Long hours of planning had finally paid off and his destiny as ruler of the Earth was at hand. "Rise, my terrible harbinger!" Doom yelled. "Rise and destroy!"
Mallah, Doom's chief assassin, watched all this, unsure of what to think. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. He felt that he suddenly wanted to be elsewhere, someplace where Godzilla was not. Despite the fact that he wanted to finish his fight with Princess Namorita, he decided to make a quick exit while the Princess was distracted by Godzilla.
Mallah fled.
Doom activated a cyber-alpha wave device that he had built into his armor. This device was supposed to overwhelm Godzilla's reptilian cerebral cortex and turn him into Doom's slave. But then Doom realized that the device had been neutralized, along with all the others systems of this armor, by Mr. Terrific's EM-Pulse bomb. Doom had no way to control Godzilla, and was in as much danger as the rest.
"You unmitigated fool!" Doom yelled at Terrific. "You've destroyed us all!"
"Maybe not!" Adam Strange said.
Godzilla started walking up the underwater hill that was below the man-made island. He rose higher and higher into the sky, as he got closer to the island.
"Good!" Adam Strange said. "That's what I need. On Rann, we calculated that he would head first to this Island. If our numbers are correct, he will be in the proper place for the Zeta-Beam in thirty seconds!"
"Zeta-Beam?" Robotman asked. "What's a flaming Zeta-Beam?"
"It's the way to transport to Rann," Adam Strange said. "It'll strike a spot on the beach in less than thirty seconds. If our calculations were correct, Godzilla will be in just that spot when the beam hits."
"And be transported to another planet?" Robotman asked. "Cool!"
Godzilla lumbered up on to the beach, shaking the whole island.
"Any second now!" Adam Strange said.
Unexpectedly, the Mad Thinker's android popped up out of the water at that precise moment. His systems were alerted by the sight of the monster, so it struck out at Godzilla with flames from his facial orifice. Godzilla hesitated, looking down at the android. The reptile was more annoyed than hurt. Godzilla lifted his massive foot and stomped it down onto the android, squishing it. Godzilla paused for a triumphant roar.
"Oh no!" Adam Strange gasped. "We didn't calculate that into our numbers! That android has thrown off our timing!"
Godzilla was still walking forward. There was a flash of light in front of him. A large amount to sand vanished from the beach, transported to Rann by the Zeta-Beam. But the beam missed Godzilla.
"Damn it!" Adam Strange shouted. "It missed! I failed!"
Mr. Terrific gritted his teeth. "I knew this was a bad idea! Not only is Rann minus it's great, reptile hope, but now the Earth is menaced by one of the greatest threats it's ever faced!"
"I'm . . . I'm sorry!" Adam Strange said meekly.
Elasti-Girl was nearby, helping Larry Trainer, the Negative Man, off the cross the he had been shackled to.
"Are you all right?" she asked him.
"Weak," he muttered. "So weak."
The thundering footsteps of Godzilla drew their attention. "It's coming!" Elasti-Girl yelled, knowing that even at her top height of forty feet, she would still be dwarfed.
"Get to cover!" Terrific yelled.
Everyone, even Dr. Doom, ducked into the nearby bushes and hid. Godzilla strode across the man-made beach, looking around, unsure of where he was or what had happened to him. He sniffed the air. There were creatures on the island but they were few and small. Not worth the attention of the king of all monsters. Godzilla lost interest in the island and headed back out to sea. The group was relived to see it go.
"I'm glad to see the back of him," Agent Wanda Mason said.
"But our good fortune is the rest of the world's misfortune," Mr. Terrific said. "Godzilla is heading out into the civilized world, and nothing can stop him!"
Dr. Doom pulled out a flare gun, which was the only device he had that stilled worked. He fired a flare into the air.
"What was that for?" Mr. Terrific asked.
Doom didn't answer, but then a small shuttlecraft swooped in and hovered over the group. They could see that Mallah was in the driver's seat. Mallah activated a magnetic beam that lifted up Doom. A hatch on the ship opened and Doom climbed into the shuttle.
The Elasti-Girl expanded to twenty-five feet high and tried to grab the shuttle. Doom activated the ship's electric defense field. Rita Farr got a shock when she tried to grab the ship. She dropped to her knees, stunned. The shuttle zoomed off into the sky.
"Rita, are you hurt?" Mr. Terrific asked, worried.
"I'm . . . I'm okay," she said.
Larry Trainer watched Doom's ship fly off. "I'm still too weak to create Negative Man to chase them!" he said.
"Forget Doom for now," Mr. Terrific said. "We have other matters to concern us. Like Godzilla! We have work to do!"
Rita returned to her normal size and walked toward Mr. Terrific. "Not just this moment, Michael. There's something else that just can't wait!"
Michael and Rita embraced and kissed passionately.
"I thought I'd lost you," Rita said.
"There's nothing on Earth, or in the universe, or in Heaven, or in hell, that could keep me from you!" Michael said.
"I missed you."
"It was torture for me, too."
Namorita watched this, jealously but silently.
"Uhh, excuse me," Agent Mason said. "I'm sorry to interrupt the reunion, but we really need to do something about Godzilla."
Terrific nodded. "Yes. We need a plan of action. We have to stop him from reaching Japan."
"What makes you think he's going to Japan?" Mason asked.
"The last time he rose he headed instinctively toward Japan. It's his natural territory," Terrific said. "He tried to reclaim it in 1954 and he'll try to reclaim it again now."
"You mean, he'll try to destroy all human life there?" Namorita asked.
"No doubt," Terrific answered.
"Then what the heck are we just standin' round fer?" Robotman asked. "Let's get on the stick and save the day. The Doom Patrol is back!"
Robotman held out his hand, waiting for the others to reciprocate. Mr. Terrific added his hand to Robotman's. Elasti-Girl, Negative-Man and Namorita joined the symbolic gesture of solidarity.
"Long live the Doom Patrol!" Mr. Terrific said.
Adam Strange and Agent Mason watched the reformation of the Doom Patrol, and both could sense the strong bond between these five people.
"First order of business is transportation off this island," Mr. Terrific said.
"I can supply that," Namorita said. "I'll be right back."
The Atlantean Princess ran to the sea and jumped in. She was swallowed up by the waves.
"Where's she going?" Negative Man asked.
"Probably trying to get away from your body odor," Robotman said to him.
"Go download yourself, tin man," Negative Man snapped back.
"Excuse me," Adam Strange interrupted, "but we still have a chance to transport Godzilla to Rann. If we can find a way to get him to a certain spot, at a certain time, the Zeta-Beam can still take him away."
"How the hell are we gonna get that big lizard to stand anywhere he don't want to?" Robotman asked.
Mr. Terrific thought about the problem. "Maybe we can't. But what if he wants to be at a particular spot?"
"What are you getting at?" Rita asked.
"I am contemplating the connotations of possible actions," Terrific said.
"In English, that means he's thinkin' ‘bout it," Robotman said.
"That's the problem with ideas," Terrific said. "They only come a piece at a time."
"Think in bigger pieces," Negative Man said.
Just then, off the shore of the island, a whale surfaced. Riding on its back was Namorita. "Hey everyone!" she yelled. "Need a lift?"
Japan was in a panic. Their worst fear had been realized. Godzilla was back! The gigantic beast lumbered out of Tokyo Bay. People screamed and ran. Boats were knocked out of the way. Police cleared off the docks. Jet fighters arrived and made a futile effort to stop the beast with missiles that Godzilla shrugged of like mosquito bites.
He reached the shore and walked inland, footsteps booming and shaking the area. There was total chaos. Hell had arrived.
A Japanese super-team called the Honor Guard appeared. Their leader was the flame-powered Rising Sun. His team consisted of modern versions of some old heroes and villains. They included Sumo, Tsunami, Judo Master and the Super-Samurai.
<"Damage control!"> ordered Rising Sun, in Japanese. <"Protect the people!">
The group split up and started rescue operations, as the Japanese military moved in. Rising Sun met with the commanding Colonel. <"I don't know if there's anything you can do, Colonel. The creature was unfazed by the fighter jets. It's as indestructible as the legends painted it.">
<"Regardless, we have to try! We're going to hit it with everything we have!"> the Colonel said.
Rising Sun added his flame powers to the military assault. It did no good. Godzilla stomped over the soldiers and their weapons as if they were toys. He proceeded on his way, knocking over buildings as he went. More military came rolling in with tanks. Godzilla opened his large mouth and spit out a ray of radioactive energy. He disintegrated the tanks. The heat ray caused buildings in the area to ignite into flames. The fire spread quickly. Godzilla was uninterested in the conflagration he had started. He continued his rampage as the fire ate through part of the city.
Judo-Master spotted some injured people and tried to get them out of the line of fire. But Godzilla knocked over a building, which collapsed on both Judo-Master and the injured people. None of them survived.
<"No!"> Rising Sun yelled, furious at the death of his friend. He flew at Godzilla head-on. <"Damn you, you monster! Die!"> he yelled.
He fired flames at Godzilla, which had no affect. Godzilla spit out his own heat ray, which engulfed Rising Sun. Even the Japanese hero's power could not absorb the massive energy of Godzilla's radioactive breath. Rising Sun was incinerated.
Sumo was in the process of rescuing some wounded soldiers when the massive shadow of Godzilla fell over him. He couldn't evade in time. Godzilla's foot came down on him and he was crushed.
Tsunami had retreated to the Bay and used her power to create a wave of water that flooded the area. She tried to put out the fires threatening Japan. She doused some of it but not nearly enough. And the wave caused much damage itself.
Super-Samurai flew to her side and was forced to tell her the news of the deaths of her teammates. Tsunami began to cry. They both looked at the destruction, which they were powerless to stop. The heart of Tokyo was a sea of flames and the giant silhouette of Godzilla moved imposingly across the skyline.
Godzilla continued his reign of terror, unchallenged.
Next issue: The first story arc concludes, as the Doom Patrol arrives in Japan for the final battle with Godzilla. And Dr. Doom is still waiting in the wings to strike again. And don't miss the special guest star!