| Match 88: |
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| By: Stephanie Hughes |
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It was two days before Christmas and a creature
was stirring. To be exact, an angilosaurus that was very well
the last of his kind. Anguirus lumbered across the winter scene,
barely feeling the bite of jack frost against his earth colored
scales.
This stirring creature wanted nothing more than
to rest his horned head for the rest of the winter. So then,
he raised his spiked nose towards the cloud covered sky. One
place, he wanted, one place where he wouldn't be disturbed.
One place where he could escape the raging conflagration that
he had been dragged into the past couple of months. One place
untouched by man, and even more preferably, another monster.
Frustration. That's the word that would have
surfaced in the mind of Anguirus right then and there if he
had any knowledge of the English language.
He climbed over yet another mountain in this
winter wonderland and behold! The ideal place! Not a structure
in sight besides abandoned Shinto shrines, not a creature in
this place that he could smell. This was a territory unmarked.
And not only that - but it proved to him to be an ideal haven
for the winter, for his hibernation. The wind came down in breezes
rather than a crippling cold storm as had been the case in other
lands. No obnoxious sounds - only whistling wind and the occasional
winter song of wolves howling in the distance and calmly echoing
through this valley. Other than these things, the place was
still.
He entered the center of this place, giving a
wail of satisfaction to the skies that watched over him. Surely,
fortune had shined on him then.
Thinking too soon - an unusually harsh wind blew
past him - nearly moving him a few paces and nearly tearing
trees from their places. The trees stayed in place, because
this wasn't a creature of destruction that had just swept over,
rather than, a creature of peace. This creature of peace went
by the name of Mothra.
Here stood two creatures that had equally been
allies as well as enemies to the King of the Monsters himself.
Now, this had been a sacred domain where souls
rested and were now disturbed by another ancient beast. Mutely,
they had summoned Mothra to aid them in their rest. Winter was,
in fact, a season of rest for most. Mothra was obliged to answer
this call. And here she was, blocking what of the sun that had
slipped between the cracks of two clouds. The sun was starting
to set.
Mothra chirped a shrill warning.
Anguirus wasn't going to surrender this long
sought for sanctuary to the likes of this "Monster God."
The quadruped stood his ground with all four legs and let loose
another wail followed by a hollow, guttural growl sounding off
at the base of his throat. Mothra immediately heeded this rebounded
warning and immediately took defense to it. As she cast a shadow
that put him in darkness, she flapped her great wings to produce
winds that uprooted trees and dragged Anguirus backwards. He
held his ground as well as he could. It was going nowhere, and
Mothra decided on a more physical approach at defeating this
saurian beast - and she rushed in for an aerial tackle. Smack!
She caught the unsuspecting creature in the chest and sent poor
Anguirus on his back. Mothra attempted to take advantage of
this opportunity - But to no avail as the spiny, whip-like tail
of Anguirus came crashing down on the giant moth.
With a surprised-sounding shriek, Mothra dropped
faster than a sack of bricks, but made all the more impact as
her spherical head cracked against the forest floor. Dazed and
confused, without much else to do, she blindly flapped her wings
to gain momentum. The ground was no place for a creature of
the sky. A downed bird was a dead bird, and the same thing applied
to insects like Mothra. This shot in the dark managed to keep
Anguirus at bay, for he had been blinded by excessively getting
dirt and uprooted trees in his eyes. Mothra was defending this
land - and it seemed as though the land was defending her back.
She thanked Mother Nature as she was able to return to the sky
and the humming UFO sound returned to her. She chirped with
relief as she backed away from Anguirus who had only now managed
to get the trees out of his eyes.
Now, Mothra realized that Anguirus was a monster
of close quarters - not of a distance battle. So this would
be the advantage Mothra would have. She decided to let loose
golden beams from her antennae which left scorching black lines
followed by a spew of sparks from Anguirus' flesh. He cried
out - the pain! But it was short lived, and he recovered. He
ran as a start, leapt into the air, missed. Mothra chirped with
an encore sensation of relief and she widely turned around to
meet her adversary with more antenna beams. Once on his feet,
Anguirus once again fell on his back. Wailing - this time out
of frustration - the same feeling he had gotten beforehand.
He rolled over onto his feet, and lowered himself
onto his haunches. Looking around suspiciously at the sky that
had no longer done him any justice. If any fortune had shined
on him then, it would not have been the sky that he would thank.
Where was Mothra? The question had been rudely
answered to him as more beams scorched the back of his head.
Mothra was swooping in from behind, he knew. A fatal mistake,
for this angilosaurus came equipped with a carapace filled with
spines. He pushed off the ground, and what a fatal mistake it
was, for his mark had been hit. Not only was Anguirus able to
knock Mothra out of the sky, but he was able to land on his
opponent to boot. Ah! Surely, fortune was able to shine on him!
But not for Mothra, who struggled to defend this land as she
may.
A crushed chest, wings drilled full of holes,
blood spurting in various directions and flooding the forest
below, Anguirus saw that this had been a very, very fatal move
then. And Mothra weakly chirped out to the heavens - the last
thoughts and words of a Monster God had she any words at all.
Her head went back, and her eyes dimmed out. Anguirus, with
the blood of his opponent running down his back and his own
blood running down his neck, chest and shoulders, had given
room for this unfortunate creature. Various wailing sounds filled
the sky in unison as he searched around.
The souls! It must have been! They were mourning
the loss of their guardian. The area was once again still, and
an unnerving feeling was rising in the throat and chest of Anguirus.
Almost a feeling of remorse. This beautiful place had been defiled
by his monstrous way of life. Despite the difficulty he had
gone through to gain this place as his own, he decided it was
not for him - and he left this calm place behind in the whistling
wind and flurries of snow. A good-bye was said to him by one
long, last howl from one of the lupine greeters that he became
more and more distant from. He held his head high. There just
had to be another place to rest his head for the winter.
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