| Match 66: |
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| By: Christian Salabert |
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Ultraman soared through the skies over Tokyo,
looking over the destruction that had stricken the land. What
was once the busy capital of Japan was now a ghost town, covered
in enormous crystals. Ultraman knew what had to be done. Soon,
he would be upon the creator of these crystals and engage him
in combat. He hoped he was up to the challenge of taking down
such a beast. The doubts had little time to move about in his
mind, however, as soon Ultraman spotted his target.
SpaceGodzilla.
Godzilla's intergalactic doppelgänger looked
into the air, his eyes closing in on Ultraman as he approached.
Knowing instantly that a fight was about to take place, the
cosmic saurian summoned energy from his crystals, charging himself
with his galactic power. Another call, and energy from Tokyo
Tower poured into his shoulder crystals, giving him an even
greater boost. SpaceGodzilla watched as Ultraman landed in front
of him, not too far away. The two titans stared each other down,
waiting for the other to break the silence and make the first
attack.
Non-surprisingly, SpaceGodzilla made the first
move.
His Corona Beam pierced the air, exploding around
Ultraman's feet. Before the mighty warrior could retaliate,
the bolt traveled up his leg to his chest, knocking him to the
ground. Ultraman was back on his feet in an instant and charged
SpaceGodzilla, raising his fist and slamming it into the monster's
jaw. As SpaceGodzilla reeled back, Ultraman lashed out with
his leg, slamming his knee into the creature's side. SpaceGodzilla
cried out and fired another Corona Beam blast, but Ultraman
flipped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the bolt. Ultraman
leapt into the air, planting his foot into SpaceGodzilla's chest,
sending the beast crashing onto his back. As SpaceGodzilla attempted
to right himself, Ultraman reached down and grabbed the monster's
tail. Ultraman pulled, trying to lift the creature into the
air, when a surge of cosmic energy traveled through the tail
and blasted Ultraman's hands, forcing him to let go. In a burst
of light, SpaceGodzilla transformed into his crystalline flying
form and took to the sky.
SpaceGodzilla rained Corona Beams down on the
area, surrounding Ultraman with explosions. The warrior from
Nebula M78 crossed his hands and fired a Specium Beam at the
flying demon, but the blast merely bounced off SpaceGodzilla's
crystal spikes. SpaceGodzilla returned fire and struck Ultraman
in the chest with a Corona Beam, sending the giant crashing
through a building. SpaceGodzilla neared the wreckage to investigate,
when Ultraman flew high into the air, past his foe. As SpaceGodzilla
flew up to face his opponent, Ultraman fired another Specium
Beam, striking SpaceGodzilla in the face and drawing out a pained
shriek. SpaceGodzilla lifted into the air to face Ultraman,
but the warrior easily outmaneuvered the crystalline creature.
Another blast of the Specium Beam failed to damage the monster's
crystals, forcing Ultraman to generate a Cutting Halo in his
hand. He hurled the buzzsaw-like blast at SpaceGodzilla's back,
but even the slicing blade of the Cutting Halo failed to leave
lasting damage, throwing sparks and little else. SpaceGodzilla
turned and fired a Corona Beam at his foe, which Ultraman managed
to dodge. He dodged a second blast, but a third blast hit home.
Ultraman faltered but managed to stay in the air. Shrieking
evilly, SpaceGodzilla flew directly at Ultraman, who did the
same. The two zoomed through the air towards each other, intent
on knocking the other from the sky. Just before the two collided,
SpaceGodzilla veered off to the side, slashing Ultraman with
his crystals as he passed him. Ultraman cried out as he plummeted
from the sky, crashing to the ground far below. SpaceGodzilla
peppered the area with Corona Beams, striking Ultraman repeatedly.
Ultraman groaned in pain as each blast hit home.
SpaceGodzilla lowered himself to the ground,
withdrawing his flight crystals. Just as Ultraman was getting
to his feet, SpaceGodzilla unleashed another Corona blast, bringing
him down once again. His shoulder crystals flashing, SpaceGodzilla
unleashed his Gravity Tornado, encircling Ultraman with its
emerald energies. Ultraman struggled as he was lifted into the
air, but he couldn't escape the Gravity Tornado's hold. The
mighty defender was helpless as SpaceGodzilla telekinetically
smashed him face-first into a nearby skyscraper, bringing it
down on Ultraman's head. The attack rendered Ultraman unconscious,
leaving him vulnerable to SpaceGodzilla's wrath. The crystalline
demon advanced on the fallen Ultraman, absorbing cosmic energy
into his shoulder crystals as he went. He looked down at the
prone form of Ultraman, generating a powerful Corona Beam in
his throat.
Just then, the ground began to shake. SpaceGodzilla
was thrown off-balance, but managed to keep his footing. He
scanned the area as the shaking became more intense, but he
couldn't find the source. Suddenly, something grabbed his foot
and pulled it down into the street. SpaceGodzilla shrieked as
he struggled to pull his foot back up, but whatever had hold
of it refused to let go. His dorsal crystals flashing, SpaceGodzilla
unleashed a Corona Beam that curved downward, blasting into
the hole that was swallowing his leg. Seconds later, a large
form erupted from the ground, screeching furiously at the alien
menace.
Gomora went on the attack!
Gomora immediately began to clobber SpaceGodzilla's
face with his clawed hands, driving the space monster away from
Ultraman. He lashed out with his leg, kicking SpaceGodzilla's
knee and causing the beast to falter. Another kick, this time
to SpaceGodzilla's stomach, drove the creature even further
back. Gomora raised his hand to strike SpaceGodzilla again,
but the cosmic monster unleashed a blast of his Corona Beam,
exploding against Gomora's chest and sending him staggering
back. Another blast and Gomora crashed to the ground, shrieking
in pain. With a speed that belied his bulk, Gomora was back
on his feet and spun around, whipping SpaceGodzilla's face with
the end of his tail. SpaceGodzilla stepped back, reeling from
the blow, giving Gomora an opening to attack. Gomora charged,
slamming his horned head into SpaceGodzilla's gut. SpaceGodzilla
cried out, but managed to grab onto Gomora's horns. Gomora struggled
to pull himself free, but was helpless as SpaceGodzilla channeled
his intergalactic energy through his hands and into Gomora's
head. Sparks erupted from Gomora's skull as the energy assaulted
his body, a sight which made SpaceGodzilla cackle with evil
glee. After a moment of this attack, SpaceGodzilla shoved Gomora
away. As the subterranean dinosaur stood back up, another Corona
Beam forced him onto his knee.
SpaceGodzilla advanced on his downed foe, but
Gomora was back on his feet in an instant, his horns brimming
with crimson energy. A pulsing stream of energy suddenly fired
from Gomora's snout horn, slamming into SpaceGodzilla's chest
and eliciting a cry of pain and surprise. Gomora pressed on,
his oscillatory wave scorching SpaceGodzilla's flesh. Gomora
cut off his attack, taking a moment to recharge. SpaceGodzilla's
dorsal fins flashed. Expecting another Corona Beam, Gomora unleashed
another blast of his oscillatory wave, intent on not giving
his opponent a chance to release his weapon. Unfortunately for
Gomora, seconds before his attack would have struck SpaceGodzilla,
the space demon revealed he wasn't going to fire his Corona
Beam. A crystalline energy shield popped up in front of SpaceGodzilla,
not only protecting the monster from Gomora's blast, but also
redirecting it back at the horned reptile. Gomora had no time
to react before his own energy wave slammed back into his face,
knocking him to the ground in a burst of sparks. Dazed, Gomora
struggled to get back to his feet. He tried to push himself
up off the ground, but a blast from the Corona Beam sent him
back down. Another blast ceased any further movements from the
reptile. SpaceGodzilla made his way next to Gomora's prone body
and prepared to finish him off. Suddenly, he paused, curious.
Where was that strange beeping noise coming from?
Flying through the air, Ultraman planted his
foot into SpaceGodzilla's shoulder, sending the space monster
careening to the ground.
Gomora slowly rose to his feet and locked eyes
with Ultraman. The two nodded to each other. They knew neither
one of them could beat this foe on their own. They needed to
combine their strength if they were to triumph. As SpaceGodzilla
telekinetically lifted himself back to his feet, the two struck
their respective battle poses and charged. SpaceGodzilla absorbed
more energy into his shoulder crystals as he prepared to destroy
his foes. Maybe together the two would provide the galactic
Godzilla a worthy challenge. He unleashed a Corona Beam at the
two of them. Ultraman flipped over the blast and Gomora jumped
to the side, allowing the blast to explode against the pavement.
Landing next to SpaceGodzilla, Ultraman kicked his side, causing
him to stagger. Seconds later, SpaceGodzilla was struck in the
face by Gomora's tail, sending him back towards Ultraman. The
red and silver warrior raised his hands and fired a Specium
Beam blast into SpaceGodzilla's neck, eliciting a shriek of
anger from the beast. As he turned to face Ultraman, Gomora
charged in and slammed his horned skull into SpaceGodzilla's
gut, knocking him back. The two backed away and, standing side-by-side,
fired their respective beams at SpaceGodzilla. His shield was
up in an instant, reflecting their blasts. Ultraman rolled out
of the way, but Gomora's shoulder got caught by the Specium
Beam, bringing the heroic monster to the ground. Ultraman was
quickly back on his feet and hurled a Cutting Halo at SpaceGodzilla,
but the monster brought up his shield again. As soon as the
energy blade hit the crystalline shield, both instantly shattered.
SpaceGodzilla shrieked in surprise. Something had destroyed
his shield! Before he could mount another attack, Ultraman tossed
another Cutting Halo at him, but this time, he threw a second
one a few seconds behind it. The first one shattered as it destroyed
SpaceGodzilla's shield, but the second one kept on going, striking
the monster's left shoulder crystal. Though it failed to slice
all the way through, it did manage to gash out a sizable chunk
from the crystal in a shower of sparks. SpaceGodzilla cried
out angrily, unleashing a Corona Beam which snaked around Ultraman
before blasting him in the face, knocking him into his back.
The red energies of the super oscillatory wave
blasted into SpaceGodzilla's face, knocking him back. Gomora
kept the beam firing, making sure to cause as much damage to
SpaceGodzilla as he could. Unable to fire his Corona Beam as
explosion after explosion erupted in his face, he fired one
of his power crystals out of the ground like a missile. The
projectile struck Gomora in the back, causing him to cut off
the beam and shriek in pain. SpaceGodzilla followed up with
a jagged bolt of energy from his mouth, which circled around
Gomora before scorching his stomach. Gomora jumped back in pain
before another Corona Beam brought him down hard. SpaceGodzilla
shrieked as another Cutting Halo chipped his left shoulder crystal.
He turned around, spewing his Corona Beam as he did so. The
lightning-like blast tore through the city as he swung it around
before hitting Ultraman and knocking him away.
Ultraman gripped his chest as he tried to get
back to his feet. His Color Timer was beeping rapidly. Gomora
could sense his ally's increasing power loss. They knew they
had to finish this now.
SpaceGodzilla eyed his foes, waiting for one
of them to make a move.
Channeling a large amount of power, Ultraman
fired his Specium Beam at a damaged area in SpaceGodzilla's
shoulder crystal. In a burst of flames and glass-like shards,
the crystal exploded, drawing an agonized shriek from SpaceGodzilla.
He turned to blast the giant humanoid into ashes, when he felt
a stabbing pain in his back. Gomora immediately began to pump
SpaceGodzilla's body full of destructive energies, unleashing
his oscillatory wave inside him. SpaceGodzilla fought fire with
fire, sending a surge of his alien energies through his skin,
blasting Gomora in the face and dislodging him. SpaceGodzilla
swung his tail around, intent on impaling Gomora with the cluster
of crystals on the tail's end. But Gomora saw the attack coming
and stepped back, avoiding the tail and snatching it out of
the air. Before the cosmic terror could react, Gomora tugged
with all of his strength and pulled SpaceGodzilla high into
the air. SpaceGodzilla shrieked in surprise as he was tossed
high into the air by Gomora's Herculean strength. Before SpaceGodzilla
could activate his flight crystals, Gomora pulled down on his
tail, yanking him back down to earth and slamming him into the
pavement. SpaceGodzilla screamed out as his right shoulder crystal
exploded, shattered by the impact. Gomora and Ultraman stood
side-by-side and cautiously watched SpaceGodzilla as he slowly
floated back to his feet.
SpaceGodzilla tried to summon more power with
which to annihilate his foes, but with his shoulder crystals
gone, the power that came to him had nowhere to go. Left with
few options, he raised more crystals from the ground and fired
them off. Unfortunately, due to his low power, only a scant
few shot towards the pair. Ultraman and Gomora were ready and
returned fire with their energy blasts. They easily tore through
the crystal rockets, destroying them, and continued on, blasting
SpaceGodzilla in the chest. The space monster brought up his
shield, but only had enough strength to keep it up for a few
moments before their beams blasted through it and slammed into
his chest. The beams exploded against SpaceGodzilla again and
again, driving him back until he crashed into the Tokyo Tower.
SpaceGodzilla roared in defiance as their beams burnt through
his flesh, their energies crossing with his own, out-of-control
power. Gomora and Ultraman poured more energy into their attacks,
not letting up for even a second. Red and blue energy crackled
over SpaceGodzilla's body as he howled into the sky, unable
to deny the inevitable. In a massive ball of fire, SpaceGodzilla
exploded, taking Tokyo Tower and most of the surrounding area
with him. Had the pair of heroes not been shielding their eyes,
they would have noticed the golden particles rising from the
flames and disappearing into the sky.
Ultraman's Color Timer was beeping nonstop now.
It was time to go. The mighty warrior faced Gomora and nodded
to the dinosaur, who returned the gesture. Gomora watched as
Ultraman leapt into the air and disappeared into the stratosphere.
The reptile turned and made his way back to the hole in the
ground he had emerged from. Climbing inside, Gomora burrowed
his way back into the depths of the earth.
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