"Hmm... where the hell am I?" Ethan muttered as he looked around.
He was certain he had fallen asleep in his bed. So how had he ended up here?
As far as he could see, there was nothing but an endless expanse of stars, swirling galaxies, and drifting fragments of light — less like a place and more like the universe itself.
"What the hell am I looking at?"
A familiar notification appeared before him.
[Exploring uncharted map.]
Ethan sighed. "Oh... this is your doing, isn't it?" He looked at the floating screen. "Why exactly did you drag me here?"
[Exploring dimensions is the primary function of the System.]
"...That's it? No explanation? This is the first time you've done something like this."
The screen offered no response.
The next instant, the space around him shattered. Gravity took over immediately. He was falling — below him stretched nothing but an endless blue ocean reflecting the morning sunlight, the wind roaring past his ears as he rapidly closed the distance.
Ethan looked down, then shrugged. "Well, I guess a morning swim isn't the worst way to start the day."
He crashed into the ocean with a massive splash and sank several meters before swimming back toward the surface. Breaking through the water, he looked around. The sea stretched to the horizon in every direction, the morning sun hanging low, its reflection dancing across the waves.
"You know, System, you really have a habit of throwing me into random places without explaining anything." He rubbed the back of his head as he floated.
"I don't even know what world I've landed in this time. Let's just hope this isn't one of those worlds where Earth is on the verge of being destroyed every other week."
Then a deafening roar erupted from beneath the ocean.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "That's new."
He focused his senses downward and immediately felt an unimaginably massive lifeform rising from the depths.
The sea began to churn violently. A colossal shadow expanded beneath him before the ocean exploded upward — an enormous reptilian creature burst through the surface, sending walls of water crashing in every direction.
Ethan was carried upward by the force and landed on one of the gigantic dorsal spikes along the creature's back. He glanced at the massive blue-glowing spines beneath him, then at the creature's unmistakable silhouette towering above the sea.
A yawn escaped him. "Yep... I'm in the MonsterVerse."
He settled himself more comfortably against one of the enormous dorsal plates as the titan continued moving through the ocean. "Well, at least I know where the System dropped me this time." He gave the giant titan a small wave. "Hi, Godzilla."
Godzilla didn't react and simply continued moving as if Ethan wasn't there.
Ethan closed his eyes and rested against the dorsal plate. He could feel the radiation constantly pouring off Godzilla's body.
For an ordinary human it would have been fatal long ago, but to Ethan it had the opposite effect — the steady stream left him feeling warm and unusually drowsy, almost like lying under the afternoon sun after a long day.
Another yawn. "Yep... let's take a nap."
Without the slightest concern, Ethan made himself comfortable on Godzilla's back and drifted off to sleep as the King of the Monsters continued his journey across the open sea.
***
At MONARCH Outpost 54, deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda, analysts monitored Titan activity from satellite feeds and underwater sensors.
Dr. Ilene Chen stood before the main display, reviewing Godzilla's latest movements.
"Dr. Chen, Godzilla has surfaced."
"Put the satellite feed on the display."
Within seconds, the live image filled the room. Godzilla moved steadily across the ocean. Chen watched in silence before quietly muttering, "Where are you going, big guy?"
Then something caught her attention. An unusual shape rested on one of Godzilla's dorsal plates. She assumed it was interference from sea spray or a flaw in the image.
She narrowed her eyes. "Zoom in."
The operator enlarged the image, but the object remained blurry. "Enhance the resolution."
The technicians processed the feed using a higher-resolution satellite pass. Frame by frame, the image became clearer.
The room fell silent.
A human was lying across one of Godzilla's dorsal plates.
Sleeping.
One of the technicians let out a nervous laugh. "That... has to be an imaging error."
Chen didn't answer. "Run a diagnostic on the satellite."
"No faults. Telemetry is normal."
"Cross-check with another satellite."
The second feed appeared on the adjacent monitor. Identical result — the same person, peacefully asleep on Godzilla's back while the Titan swam through the Atlantic as though nothing unusual was happening.
Chen folded her arms. "No human should even be alive that close to Godzilla. His radiation alone should have killed an ordinary person long before now."
Yet whoever this was appeared completely unharmed.
She turned toward the communications officer. "Get Dr. Serizawa. I think we've just found something MONARCH has never seen before."
***
A/N: And on Patreon, The Boys arc started.
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