Toho Kingdom

Chapter 1: Awakening Deity

March 2017. It had been over 9 months since the monster, codenamed "Gojira" by the Japanese government, had been defeated. The city of Tokyo was slowly recovering and rebuilding after the titan devastated the city and the surrounding bay with his monstrous presence. The titan stood tall over Tokyo, frozen in time by the coagulant used in Operation Yoshinori - a powerful chemical composition to keep the titan frozen in place. It was said in three years that the monster's radioactive isotope would disappear completely, causing the creature to starve to death from lack of metabolic activity.

It was a normal day in Tokyo, business going about as usual, with the leviathan standing watch over the metropolitan city. But soon, things would be anything but normal. Reports of spiking radioactivity spread throughout the city, causing widespread panic and fear. The new Prime Minister, not wishing to replicate the disaster from 9 months ago, quickly announced a state of emergency and called for a meeting of parliament in order to discuss the return of this threat.

"So what is this that is going on in the Tokyo area?" The prime minister inquired to his cabinet.

"As I am sure you are all aware of by now, we have received reports of a spike of radioactivity in the area surrounding the Tokyo area," the nuclear advisor stated aloud for all to hear. "While we cannot be completely sure, some experts believe that this may have something to do with Gojira."

"This is very serious then," the prime minister replied. "What do you suppose this means if it is tied with Gojira?"

"It means that Operation Yashinori is not quite as successful as we had originally thought," a voice said from within the parliament. At this, all heads turned to face the source of the voice. At the other end of the table sat Akasaka. Alongside him, sitting in utter silence, sat his friend, Yaguchi. "The coagulant was not potent enough to keep Gojira in stasis until his isotope underwent its half-life."

"But what do we do now?!" one member stated, clearly disconcerted. "If Gojira resumes movement, the UN will launch a nuclear strike on Tokyo! Our economy will be devastated!"

"What this means is that we need to evacuate the Tokyo area immediately," Yaguchi replied, his voice sounding somewhat defeated. "We cannot delay like we did last time. A mass military evacuation and mobilization of the Self-Defense Force must be made ready, in the event the nuclear strike is unsuccessful."

"I never thought I would have to make a decision like this once, let alone twice in the same run as Prime Minister," the prime minister stated sadly. "But we have little time to react. Very well, get the SDF mobilized! I authorize the use of any mean necessary to evacuate the Tokyo area."

At this announcement, the meeting was promptly dismissed, and each of its members was promptly told to evacuate by any means necessary, though Helicopters would be provided for them. Yaguchi walked alongside Akasaka in silence, pondering his choices and if his statements in the meeting were the right ones.

"Don't think too hard about this, Yaguchi," Akasaka stated reassuringly to Yaguchi. "You did everything you could back when you initiated Operation Yashiyori. The fact that it has lasted this long is a miracle in and of itself."

"That doesn't mean I am free of guilt," Yaguchi replied solemnly. "If Ms. Patterson and I had not stalled the strike, perhaps Gojira would have died."

"Don't talk like that," Akasaka replied. "You did the right thing. The last thing this country needed was a nuclear strike hitting one of its major cities. There was nothing you could do to prevent this."

Yaguchi nodded, though he still felt pangs of guilt, as he and Akasaka quickly evacuated to helicopters waiting for them outside...
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The Pacific Ocean, near the Bikini Islands. Sonar had suddenly began to pick up movement deep along the ocean floor from something absolutely massive in size. Several military vessels had been tracking the movements, and they had just gotten a lead on where the ping had been moving.

"Sir, you should look at this," a female officer shouted aloud, catching the attention of Russel Hampton, captain of the Saratoga. Moving quickly, he looked at the readings on the sonar, and saw that massive shape was rapidly moving towards Japan. He hadn't seen speeds like this since the MUTO emerged 2 years ago.

"It looks like Godzilla is approaching Southern Japan," Hampton stated. "But why?"

"I don't know, sir, but it's certainly something important," the officer replied.

"Go get Dr. Serizawa. He can probably explain what his monster is doing," Hampton grumbled as the officer went up to go get Serizawa. Hampton sighed audibly. Godzilla wasn't one to move much, but he has been much more active in the past 24 hours than he had been in 2 years. Something bad was going on, and they were about to find out what it was...

Chapter 2: The Prophet of Doom

“Hurry up, you two!” one of the pilots shouted over the whirl of helicopter blades and the howl of blistering winds. “We don’t have much time to dawdle back here! We’ve received the reports that Gojira will resume activity in under half an hour from now!”

“That seems impossibly soon,” Yaguchi shouted over the helicopter blades. “How can it resume movement so quickly after having barely woken back up?”

“We don’t have time to ask questions like that,” Akasaka shouted to Yaguchi as he got into to helicopter. “Are you coming or do you plan on staying to watch the fireworks?”

Yaguchi simply nodded in response and quickly hopped into the helicopter. Within a few seconds, their helicopter took off from the landing pad. They were soon followed by several other helicopters, which all carried other government officials. The ride up into the sky was in complete, total silence. Darkness had begun to fall over Japan, and Yaguchi could see hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of vehicles attempting to evacuate the Tokyo region. It was complete anarchy on the ground; if there was a hell on earth, he guaranteed it looked something like this. Yaguchi cursed himself within his mind. He wished he had time to warn more people. He managed to warn Hiromi about the potential danger, but that was about it. Maybe he could have even gotten more help from Ms. Patterson had he been given more time, but now, it seemed like a nuclear strike was almost inevitable. He looked down at the chaos occurring far below him. He feared that the evacuation would not be enough. How many people would be unable to escape from the nuclear strike? And what if the nuclear strike was unsuccessful? What would Japan do then?

He felt a hand place itself upon his shoulder, and he turned back to see the solemn face of Akasaka, who gave him a reassuring nod. Yaguchi nodded back to him, before returning to gaze out of the helicopter window. Death was coming for these people, and they didn’t even know it…

Within the heart of Tokyo, the ebony monolith of flesh stood firm within the darkness. The creature seemed still as ever, but soon, all of that was about to change. The titan’s body suddenly began to flush red, like a great volcano awoken after several centuries, as the creature began to move. The creature’s protective eye membrane clicked back and forth, as the behemoth’s jaws flexed briefly. Soon, the creature’s stiffened, cramped muscles began to move, each chunk of flesh rippling and cracking as the coagulant slowly began to give way before the beast’s awakening power. Gojira soon flexed his neck, every muscle along his chest and spine following with it, as the titan’s tail, once standing as an ominous symbol of future apocalypse, suddenly lurched to life, the fleshy organ waving high in the air as the now dead remains of its children flaked off and crashed hard onto the earth, shattering into millions of pieces like glass.

Soon, the titan’s body was filled with the same unearthly red as before, as its body began to radiate heat and radiation as it had when it was active. The creature grumbled as it looked over the city, its eyes filled with a menacing indifference. Like a god before his subjects, Gojira loosed a deafening roar that shook the entirety of Tokyo. The monstrosity’s bellow echoed throughout the city, as though a deity had thundered its ominous command upon the lowly mortals before it. Gojira had awoken, and it seemed there was no hope for a secondary plan, as had been before…
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Yaguchi watched from high above the cityscape, the ominous red glow of Gojira now filling his view. He stared, both in awe and in fear, as the titan that had plunged his country into anarchy revived from its 9 month slumber.

“Incredible,” one of the pilots audibly gasped. “Even after all this time, Gojira can remain mobile.”

“Yeah, let’s hope it doesn’t hold grudges,” the other pilot replied as their helicopter began to zoom out towards the coastline…
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“Sir, reports are coming in from all over Japan that some monster they codenamed “Gojira” is awakening in the heart of Tokyo,” an officer said aloud.

“Gojira?” Hampton replied, before he turned to Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham. “Isn’t that the name of the monster we’re following right now?”

“Surely you heard about the international crisis that occurred 9 months ago, captain,” Dr. Serizawa stated calmly. “In July of last year, a giant creature emerged from Tokyo bay and ravaged the city and the surroundings. The UN threatened to launch a nuclear strike against the creature, but things changed. From what I heard, a man named Yaguchi organized a plan that helped stall the creature and caused it to freeze, preventing it from moving.”

“It was a brilliant plan, really,” Dr. Graham interjected. “Using the creature’s chemotrophic properties against it by causing its body to undergo rapid cooling, thus slowing its metabolic processes to a crawl. For all intents and purposes, it should have worked.”

“Well, obviously it didn’t,” Hampton replied. “But what does that have to do with us?”

“Is it not obvious?” Dr. Graham replied with a somewhat exasperated laugh. “Godzilla is going to go fight that monster in Tokyo. He views it as a threat to his territory and plans to have it eliminated.”

“In other words,” Serizawa said, “He’s going to restore the balance he seeks.”

“Do you think the UN will still call in its nuclear strike?” Hampton stated, somewhat concerned.

“Not if we stop them,” Dr. Graham said. “Perhaps we can convince the UN to delay their strike until Godzilla arrives.”

“Hold that thought,” an officer stated. “It sounds like we’ve got mass evacuations towards the coast of Japan. Sounds like we have the prime minister and his cabinet on several helicopters. He’s asking to speak with the head of the ship.”

“Put him on then,” Hampton replied. “Maybe he can give us some clarity to the situation.” The officer nodded in reply, as she allowed for the radio signal to come onto the ship.

“Hello? Can you hear me through this thing?” a voice said on the other side of the line.

“I can hear you loud and clear, sir,” Hampton stated. “State your business.”

“I am the prime minister of japan, here with several other members of my government,” the prime minister stated. “It would be wonderful if we were allowed to land on your ship and speak to you in person.”

“This is a battleship, not an aircraft carrier, prime minister,” Hampton replied. “I am afraid I cannot comply. However, I will allow you to drop off yourself and anyone that you feel is critical to this deliberation.”

“Thank you, captain,” the prime minister replied, as the transmission ended…
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“Looks like you’re in luck, Yaguchi,” one of the pilots suddenly shouted. “Prime Minister’s said he wants you to meet him on the USS Saratoga to discuss about the Gojira threat with some American guys.”

“Great, more Americans,” Yaguchi sighed. Outside of Ms. Patterson, he hadn’t had many good experiences with Americans.

“Yaguchi,” Akasaka stated. “This is no time to be defeatist, especially when the prime minister asks something of you. It is a great honor to be considered his advisor on such a deliberation.”

Yaguchi merely sat in silence until the helicopter came to a stop over the deck of the USS Saratoga. He could have sworn that he could see a great black shape passing below the surface of the ocean towards Japan. As Yaguchi stepped out, he could see that the Prime Minister and two other advisors had already met up with whoever it was who was commanding this ship. One was a military man, quite old in appearance; another was a woman who looked to be in her forties; and the last one was who caught his eye the most – an older Japanese man.

“Ah, so you must be the man everyone has been talking about,” the old military man said as he stretched out his hand for a handshake. Yaguchi slowly stretched his hand out and gave him a short, awkward handshake before the man withdrew his hand. “I am Captain Hampton of the USS Saratoga. Behind me are Dr. Graham-“

“Nice to meet you,” she chimes in.

“- And Dr. Serizawa.-“

“A pleasure,” he states.

“We heard that you might know a thing or two about this “Gojira” of yours. Well, we just might have a way to deal with your problem,” Hampton states. Before Yaguchi can add anything on, Hampton shouts, “Follow me, all of you.” The entourage followed Hampton into the depths of the ship, before they reached the bridge of the ship.

“Okay, so what exactly is your solution to our problem?” Yaguchi asked. “Is it to launch a nuclear missile at it, like what was proposed before?”

“No,” Serizawa stated. “Our solution is a bit more direct. Do you remember the battle that occurred in San Francisco two years ago?”

Yaguchi paused for a second, but could not recall any such event. As if on cue, the prime minister chimed in. “Ah, yes, when the two MUTO emerged and attacked. The monster you call “Godzilla” emerged and killed both of them before returning to the Pacific Ocean.”

“You are correct,” Dr. Graham said with a nod. “That very same Godzilla is on his way to confront your problem in Tokyo. It seems he does not take kindly to intruders into his territory.”

“But what about the nuclear strike? Can you stop it?” Yaguchi inquired hastily. He didn’t exactly want another monster to be joining the mix, if that’s what this was all about… but it was preferable to the absolute devastation that would occur should a nuclear strike land in the heart of Tokyo.

“That’s where I come in,” Hampton spoke up. “I might not have very high a position, but perhaps with you and the prime minister here to back me up, I can convince them to delay the attack until those two finish slugging it out.”

“And what if you can’t?” Yaguchi asked sternly.

“Then we’ll just have to hope the explosion kills both of them before they can cause too much damage,” Hampton replied.

While it wasn’t quite the answer Yaguchi had hoped for, he and the prime minister both gave nods of agreement. He simply had to wait and hope for the best…
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It had been over 45 minutes since Gojira had awoken in the heart of Tokyo city. What little had been rebuilt in the 9 months following the titan’s attack was immediately decimated once more. The creature seemed to lumber aimlessly, as it had 9 months ago; the creature stomped about with seemingly little incentive besides reaching the mainland. Buildings were crushed beneath the behemoth’s feet, and streets were demolished with each earth-shaking movement of the creature’s body. Even in its ponderous, apathetic state, the creature merely existing was enough to cause massive destruction.

From the sky, several SDF jets moved in to distract the monster from possible civilians evacuating towards the coast. Bombs were dropped upon the monster’s head and back, causing small explosions to pebble the leviathan’s body. The creature glanced towards the jets, but otherwise seemed to pay them little heed. Tanks also began to roll in, firing upon the creature’s thick, stony legs, attempting to slow its movement as best as they could.

Fire and ash filled the night sky as the ominous glow of the beast shone through the thick cloud of debris is created. The leviathan’s progress had barely been hindered, if even at all. The creature seemed mildly agitated at best and apathetic at worst. Even as the SDF rained hell upon the abomination, their weapons could do little to distract the monster, let alone hurt it. Suddenly, the back of the creature’s body seems to light up with an ominous violet glow, as a single, narrow beam slices through the darkness of the night, the beast’s tail flailing about wildly and devastating anything caught in its path. Several jets are destroyed as the tail beam cleaves them in twine, causing them to explode in the air. Eventually, the beast’s tail beam dies down, before the monster continues its march.
But the beast suddenly stopped its advance. It glanced towards the bay of Tokyo, as if expecting something. Suddenly, from the sea emerged a great brown shape, as a bulge of water swallowed up the surrounding docks and boats. The mammoth creature stomped onto the land, its mass shaking the earth with each step. Godzilla, similar in appearance yet extremely different from the rampaging monster before them, eyed his opponent, before he loosed a deafening roar of challenge. The two Godzillas eyed each other, as the darkness and smoke grew ever thicker around them.

The time had come for them to fight.

Chapter 3: Let Them Fight

Smoke, dust, and debris swirled around the ruins of Tokyo as darkness consumed the light. The only source of light visible within the cloud of shadow was that of the ebon titan, whose hellish gleam shone through the darkness like a beacon of fire. The two behemoths stared each other down, the glowing beast staring emptily upon his rival, while the more rotund beast’s face contorted into a scowl of rage and distaste, as though he disapproved of this aberration’s presence before him. Godzilla hissed, before he loosed a deafening roar and rushed headlong towards his enemy, each step of his great mass shaking the earth.

As the opposing titan approached, Gojira’s body filled with an eerie violet glow, the brilliant colors radiating through the city like the awakening of a god. The monstrosity’s jaws parted like a great cavern, before a spiraling beam of extreme heat sliced from the abomination’s maw towards his challenger. The beam hit its mark, striking Godzilla straight in the shoulder, the sheet heat and power behind the attack causing Godzilla to let loose a bellow of pain. Scales were seared clean off of Godzilla’s hide and flesh was scorched and sent flying through the ashen air. Angered by this, Godzilla rushed ever closer to his foe, whose weapon seemed to have died down as quickly as it had come.

It did not take long for Godzilla to close the distance between him and Gojira. As Godzilla drew close, Gojira lashed out with a swing of its clumsy, heavy tail, the appendage moving through the air like a great flail. The appendage struck Godzilla head on, causing the titan to stumble from the impact of the deadly weapon with his face. But Godzilla was undaunted, and quickly closed in while Gojira recovered from the attack, lashing out with tooth and tail. Godzilla’s claws struck the behemoth, each rake of the titan’s claws sinking into Gojira’s flesh and tearing chunks out of its onyx hide.

Gojira simply turned to face his opponent with the same look of indifference it had before, as it lashed out once more with its heavy tail, aiming to strike Godzilla in the head once more with the muscular appendage. Godzilla, ready for the attack this time, grappled the appendage with his strong arms, claws sinking into his foe’s flesh as he yanked with all his immense strength, causing Gojira to stumble and fall onto the ground. Godzilla grumbled and placed a heavy foot on Gojira’s flank, before he chomped down hard onto Gojira’s tail, causing blood to flow freely from the now gushing wound.

Gojira hissed as his body suddenly filled with the same eerie violet light as before. The titan’s back grew ever brighter, as a series of beams similar to the one that emerged from the creature’s mouth fired out from its spine, filling the sky with brilliant light. One of the beams struck Godzilla straight in the chest, searing straight through the monster’s tough scales and leaving a burning hole in the monster’s chest. Godzilla roared and stumbled backwards from Gojira, snorting in a mixture of pain and confusion. This attack gave Gojira enough time to recover, the leviathan pushing itself upwards to stand up erect. Gojira’s back beams sliced through buildings and steel, and several of them struck Godzilla and tore ruts through the titan’s iron-hard flesh, causing him to bellow in pain and fall to the ground, crushing several buildings beneath his monstrous bulk.

The beams from Gojira’s back soon died down, as the titan slowly turned its massive body around to face its downed opponent. But this would soon prove to be a mistake. Godzilla recovered much faster than Gojira had anticipated, and used the beast’s ponderousness to his advantage. Godzilla lashed out with a powerful head-butt to Gojira’s chest, causing the onyx titan to stumble backwards from the impact, before Godzilla grappled his foe using his razor sharp claws. Godzilla leaned in and delivered a powerful bite to the monstrosity’s neck, strong jaws grasping tightly and drawing large amounts of blood. Godzilla thrashed and pushed, using his smaller but more muscular mass to his advantage, causing Gojira to slide backwards, tearing massive ruts into the concrete and asphalt of Tokyo’s streets.

Gojira glanced down at his opponent, even as his flesh was rent and blood spilled from his wounds. Like a vengeful deity, Gojira lurched down and attempted to grasp its jaws onto Godzilla’s shoulder as best it could. Godzilla paid no heed to this, as he savagely tore into Gojira’s hide like a rabid bear, spilling blood across the city streets. Gojira sank its teeth into Godzilla’s hide, grasping a chunk of the beast’s meaty hide, as its body filled once more with an eerie violet glow. A spiraling beam of intense heat rocked Godzilla’s shoulder, blowing off a massive chunk of flesh from Godzilla’s body and causing him to stumble backwards, screeching in audible and visible pain.
Enraged, Godzilla’s spines filled with an ominous blue glow, as his jaws became filled with the same sapphire sheen. Suddenly, an exhale of brilliant azure flame emerged from the behemoth’s mouth, the jet striking Gojira straight in the chest and causing the ebon aberration to lose its balance and stumble onto its back. Gojira loosed a bellow of surprise as the creature struggled to get back onto its hind legs. Godzilla growled and approached his downed opponent cautiously…
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High above Tokyo, an advanced drone watched the battle as those upon the Saratoga observed with bated breath.

“Looks like your monster is doing a good job,” the prime minister said to Serizawa as the group watched the battle unfold from high above Tokyo.

“Yes, but how long can Godzilla last before that monster’s assault?” Serizawa replied. “Your Gojira seems to possess incredible firepower.”

“Gojira might not have even reached the apex of its evolution yet, either,” Yaguchi said solemnly. “9 months ago, we found evidence that it was evolving, even while it was in its coma-like state. After we froze him with the coagulant, we found Gojira had attempted to reproduce… it had strange, vaguely humanoid creatures growing from the end of its tail.”

“Incredible,” Dr. Graham replied. “A creature that can adapt on the spot. But how does that bode for us right now?”

“It means we don’t know how Gojira will change and adapt in the future, possibly even in the middle of this battle,” Yaguchi stated. “Let us hope your monster can kill him quickly.”

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming from the upper deck of the bridge. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the UN refuses to comply with our request,” Hampton stated. “A nuclear missile will be landing in Tokyo within the next few minutes. Brace yourselves people!”

The entire bridge fell silent at the announcement of this news. Faces flashed as mixture of shock, confusion, and disbelief. A nuclear strike? Landing in the heart of Tokyo? And this soon?! It was almost too much information to handle. Serizawa glanced down towards the steel floor of the ship, his face frozen in an expression of despair. Dr. Graham, overwhelmed by this news, had to run out of the bridge to get some air out on the deck. Several of the Japanese advisors began to curse and shout before storming out onto the deck as well. The prime minister’s expression fell into sadness, as he looked out towards the bow of the ship.

“I never wanted any of this,” he whispered to himself. “Why does this keep happening to us?”

“This is utter lunacy,” Yaguchi yelled. “They can’t do this to us! Not a second time!”

“I’m sorry to all of you. I wish there was more I could do,” Hampton stated. “But as of now, the edict stands. We just have to wait and see what happens.”

Yaguchi cursed to himself, as those remaining in the bridge turned to watch the carnage unfold on the screen. Silently, all of them prayed that the nuclear missile would not launch… they all hoped it had not come down to such madness. Yet all knew deep down it was true. Even as this chaos unfolded, Yaguchi watched the screen, praying for the safety of Japan…
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Godzilla approached the downed form of Gojira, the brown leviathan approaching the onyx behemoth with great caution, for he had learned that even when down his opponent was dangerous. Acting quickly, Godzilla delivered a powerful kick to Gojira’s head, causing the creature to audibly groan. Pressing his advantage, Godzilla raised a massive foot and stomped down hard onto Gojira’s jaw, pressing the monstrosity’s head into the asphalt and kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Godzilla raised his foot once more, and stomped down again, crushing Gojira’s face deeper into the city streets. Godzilla repeated this process several times, kicking up more and more dust each time, until eventually Godzilla’s mass and raw strength came through! With one final, ferocious stomp, Gojira’s lower jaw completely ripped off!

Though critically wounded, Gojira was far from defeated, the monster turned to face its enemy and fired off a blast of flame from its now wide open mouth, the plume of fire engulfing Godzilla’s face. Godzilla bellowed in surprise and quickly backed off, stumbling backwards to avoid the searing heat of Gojira’s fire breath. Gojira used this to right itself, blood dripping profusely from its wounded jaw, yet the creature seemed to pay no heed to this crippling attack. As Godzilla recovered from the blast of fire, Gojira unleashed another powerful beam from its now-broken jaw, striking Godzilla straight in the chest, tearing a massive rut into it and causing Godzilla to stumble back even further, before he collapsed hard onto the streets in a plume of ash and dust.

As the two battled, a strange mass could be seen falling from the heavens high above Tokyo. Shrouded in dust and ash, the object rapidly plummeted towards the middle of the duo’s battleground like a meteorite. Within a couple of seconds, the object struck the center of Tokyo, before it exploded with the force of a thousand suns! The nuclear missile landed successfully within Tokyo, as the blast of extreme heat and radiation washed across the city, devastating everything in its path. The heat wave hit first; Gojira’s hide smoked and seared before the extreme heat, while Godzilla’s tough hide weathered it only mildly better. The second and final wave, the explosion, caused Gojira to be sent completely off its feet and into the earth, collapsing in a plume of debris. Godzilla, meanwhile, was sent rolling across the city, smashing through several buildings as it did so before coming to a stop beneath a mound of rubble and ash.

As the cloud of supreme heat and radiation cleared, what was once Tokyo was now but a crater. There was nothing left standing near the epicenter, and what little had survived near the fringes of the city was completely mangled and unrecognizable…
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The explosion was visible even from the Saratoga’s location far away from Tokyo Bay. The sea parted from the eruption of heat and radiation, and all aboard the USS Saratoga were shaken to the core by the display of power. Silence washed over the ship, before Hampton broke the silence.

“Well? Did that kill it?” Hampton inquired aloud. The feed of the drone was scrambled at the time, but within a few minutes began to clear up as the cloud of ash and radiation dissipated.

“No… I think that just made things worse,” Yaguchi stated, as the form of Gojira stood tall within the city. However, its appearance had changed; its body seemed to be more whole, its skin had less exposed patches underneath. Even worse, it looked like the wound Godzilla had inflicted upon it had mostly disappeared! It even had grown its jaw back from what it looked like.

“So this is Gojira’s true power,” Serizawa stated, his eyes filled with awe. “Incredible. Even before our mightiest weapons, it continues to adapt to survive.”

Yaguchi stared at the screen in a mixture of disappointment, awe, and anger. Had they really destroyed Tokyo for nothing? Was Japan doomed to apocalypse because of this abomination of nature?

“Wait, it looks like something else is still moving,” Hampton stated as he pointed at the screen.

“Godzilla is still alive as well…” The prime minister said quietly.

“Perhaps there is still hope to stop Gojira then,” Serizawa said.

Yaguchi simply stared in silence. Could Godzilla truly stop what human weapons and ingenuity could not?
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From the rubble of what was once Tokyo emerged Godzilla. The great titan freed himself from a prison of concrete and steel girders, shaking off thousands of tons of rubble as he stared across the city. Through the thick smoke and ash he could see a faint red glow. From the shadows, emerged Gojira… but it looked different than before. The beast’s skin seemed to have sealed itself, and its arms had grown in size and musculature. In addition, the strange growth on its tail seemed to have sloughed off, as the tail tip has instead split entirely in half to form a set of jaws, perhaps to allow it to better use its beam. The creature’s lower jaw was much thicker than before, and its torso seemed to have bulked up as well.

Godzilla stared upon his opponent, still clearly wounded but unwilling to surrender, before he let loose a powerful roar of dominance that echoed across the Tokyo wasteland. Gojira responded with a bellow of his own. The two gods stared each other down amongst the devastation that was once Tokyo. The final battle for the world’s fate was rapidly approaching…

Chapter 4: Gotterdammerung

This was it, the final battle for the future of mankind, and by extension the world. As Godzilla and Gojira approached each other to close in for melee combat, those on the Saratoga and all of Japan watched with bated breath. The last hope of all the world rested upon Godzilla’s shoulders; if he fell, all of civilization would fall with him, for no weapon man had could stop Gojira at this point. All eyes rested upon the battlefield of Tokyo – the end of the line.

Finally, the standoff was broken by Godzilla, who initiated combat with a ferocious roar and a headlong charge towards Gojira. Uncharacteristic of Gojira before, the titan stomped slowly and steadily towards Godzilla. The two clashed in the heart of the Tokyo crater, claws striking against one another’s stony hide as each one pushed back with immense force. Though Gojira’s improved body was still not as muscular as Godzilla’s, its sheer size and overall improved physique made it a much more even challenge in these close range confrontations. Using his lower central body mass and muscular frame to his advantage, Godzilla shoved Gojira away from him, striking his opponent hard across the chest with his strong skull and causing the ebon beast to stumble backwards. Acting quickly, Godzilla lashed out with a powerful swing of his muscular tail, striking Gojira across the face, his sharp spines tearing ruts into the titan’s flesh as the impact caused it to collapse onto its side once more.

However, as Godzilla moved in to deliver a beatdown upon his downed opponent, Godzilla was suddenly attacked from behind by something he had not seen before. Godzilla glanced backwards, and behind him was a strange, insect-like creature. Its body looked similar to that of a tumor, with several carcasses fused to it and legs similar to that of a spider’s. Godzilla grappled with the creature, before he blasted with a quick burst of his atomic breath, obliterating it. But the distraction from its offspring was all Gojira needed to recover. Using the new set of jaws on his tail, Gojira bit down onto Godzilla’s arm, eliciting a bellow of pain from the stony goliath, before it fired off a quick beam directly into Godzilla’s forearm, the sheer heat and power behind the beam blowing Godzilla’s forearm clean off!

The pain of the attack disoriented Godzilla, who was stumbling back with his mind in a fog. The great beast groaned and bellowed in pain. The creature pressed what was left of his arm close to his belly instinctively in order to protect it from outside elements, though the heat from Gojira’s beam had completely cauterized the wound. Godzilla snarled, his vision fuzzy as his mind was overwhelmed with pain. Gojira closed the distance between the two of them and lashed out with a single claw swipe, striking Godzilla across the cheek with its sharp claws.

Godzilla growled, before he lashed out with attacks of his own. Godzilla chomped down on Gojira’s forearm and used his shorter stature to use the limb as leverage. As the titan’s strong jaws clamped down upon Gojira’s forearm, spilling blood across the ashen ground of what was once Tokyo, Godzilla stabbed his stony spines deep into Gojira’s chest, causing blood to drip down the length of its chest.

Gojira screeched in audible pain before it glanced down upon Godzilla, and like a vengeful god, stabbed its claws into Godzilla’s softer neck parts, forcing its opponent to back off from the pain. Gojira lashed out with a bite of its own, its newly reinforced jaws allowing it to grasp much tighter onto its opponent now. The fangs had trouble piercing the creature’s hide, but the soft flesh exposed from its point-blank atomic breath allowed the numerous chaotic fangs to find their mark.

Godzilla groaned audibly in pain as Gojira bit down on him. The titan lashed out with a bite of his own, chomping down on his opponent’s neck and tearing into the abomination’s flesh. Suddenly, Gojira’s tail whipped around, the jaws at its tail end parting before a beam of violet heat erupted from the appendage. The beam struck Godzilla in the shoulder, shredding scales and flesh and causing him to grumble in pain. Fighting back more violently than before now, Godzilla shook his entire body, causing Gojira to dislodge its jaws. The shaking also caused a large chunk of Gojira’s flesh to be ripped out from its neck, spraying blood all over.

Godzilla dropped the chunk of flesh within his jaws as Gojira stared back at him, its blank expression betraying little emotion. Gojira attempted to close the distance once more, lashing out with its tail-mouth in an attempt to grapple Godzilla once more, but Godzilla was prepared this time. As the tail lunged forward to strike him, Godzilla lashed out with a quick claw strike, sinking his claws into the softer flesh of the structure’s lips, before he chomped down hard onto the appendage. Gojira screeched in audible pain and its blood dripped across the barren earth, before it unleashed a blast of nuclear breath directly into Godzilla’s face!

The heat ray tore across Godzilla’s cheek and eyebrow, leaving a massive rut in his hide. Godzilla bellowed in pain and quickly backed off, relinquishing his grip upon Gojira’s tail and giving his opponent more room to breathe. Seizing this opportunity, Gojira charged up another blast of nuclear breath and unleashed hell upon Godzilla, focus firing upon his opponent’s legs with the combined effort of his jaws and tail. Godzilla’s legs buckled under his own mass as the nuclear breath struck them, causing the titan to crumple to the floor, causing a massive eruption of ash and debris to fill the air around them. Gojira hissed, and took two slow, ponderous steps closer towards the downed form of Godzilla, who was now struggling to get back up…
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Those aboard the USS Saratoga watched as the battle unfolded before them. Even with all of Godzilla’s immense might, he was struggling before this highly adaptive monster. Even with all the damage Gojira had suffered from Godzilla’s attacks, the creature kept coming back! It simply refused to stay down. It was as if every wound inflicted failed to hinder the monster, even as large chunks of its body were damaged.

Come on, Godzilla, you’re our last hope, Yaguchi thought to himself as he watched the battle unfold on the screen. If you die here… who knows what the future will hold for this world? Who knows what Gojira will do with life once it reaches the pinnacle of its evolution? Or if it manages to reproduce on a larger scale?

The others merely watched in utter silence. They hoped that the abomination would be bested, even if evidence showed otherwise. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, it was all they really had left…
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As Gojira drew closer to the struggling form of Godzilla, the downed beast suddenly lurched back to life. As Gojira prepared to assault the down kaiju up close and personal, Godzilla lashed out with a swing of his powerful, mace-like tail! Like the crack of thunder, Godzilla’s tail struck Gojira across the head, the impact of the heavy appendage shattering teeth, rending flesh, and crushing bone!

Gojira howled in pain as blood sprayed across the wasteland, the creature’s blood splattering hard across the earth to form a red sheet. Visibly shocked, Gojira’s jaws suddenly cracked open to an unhealthy degree, the monster’s maw nearly splitting completely in twine, as the monstrosity’s body lit up to an ominous violet hue. The abomination’s jaws filled with ominous fire and black smoke, as the spines along its back also began to glow purple, all the way up to its tail-mouth.

But just as Gojira prepared to unleash its devastating breath upon Godzilla, the earthen-hued titan lashed out with all his might, striking the lower jaw of Gojira with his thick skull and slamming his immense bulk right into Gojira’s chest, causing the ebon titan to stumble from the impact. Gojira’s beams fired wildly into the darkness of the night, lighting up the sky with a brilliant purple hue. Gojira’s breath was also very suddenly and violently cut short in a burst of atomic fire, both from its jaws and from its tail-mouth.

Gojira stumbled backwards from the brutal impact, barely managing to recover itself before tumbling to the earth. It saw Godzilla rapidly approaching; even with all the wounds that adorned his body, he still fought onward! Gojira attempted to unleash another gout of nuclear breath, but all that occurred was a brief flush of flame in both of its mouths. The titan’s body also had begun to radiate much more heat at this point; the ominous red glow was beginning to show through even with the creature’s improved hide, and clouds of steam began to form behind its spines. Clearly, the battle was beginning to have its toll on the unstable creature’s metabolism! No longer seeking to fight due to its body beginning to overheat, Gojira turned to retreat, marching towards Tokyo bay in order to cool itself off.

Godzilla took note of this and quickly pursued the retreating creature. The two marched completely into the bay, with Gojira attempting to flee into deeper waters in order to cool its rapidly overheating body. But Godzilla, seeing more and more steam rising around the creature’s body as it moved deeper into the bay, could not allow his foe to retreat. Godzilla acted quickly, unleashing a blast of his atomic breath across Gojira’s flank, causing the titanic monster to stop its advance for a brief moment. Seizing this opportunity, Godzilla slammed his mass into Gojira’s side, spines stabbing into the ebon monster’s hide, and the creature collapsed onto its side in a cloud of steam beneath the water. Moving in quickly, Godzilla stomped down hard onto the monster’s back before he reached down into the water with his remaining arm.

Gojira fought ferociously, the creature’s massive tail lurching upwards as the jaws at the end latched onto Godzilla’s shoulder. Godzilla snarled and grabbed Gojira’s neck with his one remaining hand, sharp claws digging into the wounds there. Using his immense strength, Godzilla pulled Gojira’s head up from beneath the ocean waves, before, with one final exhale, unleashed his atomic breath into the abomination’s jaws, the cloud of bluish plasma shooting into the maw of Gojira and straight down the monster’s throat. Godzilla continued to exhale his breath for several seconds as the monster struggled to break free from the hold, before the breath eventually died down. The cloud of steam grew much thicker after Godzilla did this, indicating the end was drawing near for the abomination.

The sudden burst in radiation from Godzilla’s breath granted Gojira a brief burst of strength, causing a burst of violet nuclear energy to blast out of the monstrosity’s tail mouth, the beam slicing off what was left of Godzilla’s crippled arm, causing the mangled nub to crash into the water with an audible sizzle! Godzilla bellowed in pain and stumbled backwards as his limb fell into the ocean.

Gojira shakily rose to his feet. The air around Gojira became visibly distorted from the heat within the monster’s body, as the core of its torso began to flash and glow ever brighter. The monster convulsed visibly in pain, as its very body seemed to crumble. Eventually, the glow became brilliant, blinding even, as the creature’s body reached a critical stage in overheating. The monster’s flesh began to peel away as the extreme heat boiled Gojira from within! Gojira loosed a pained roar and threw its head towards the sky, before its body violently exploded, a giant red eruption of fire and nuclear energy blasting outwards across Tokyo Bay. A massive amount of water was vaporized by the sheer heat of the explosion, and great amounts of water were displaced, causing waves to roll out across the bay and out into the sea.

Godzilla watched as his opponent undergo utter destruction before him. Though pained, Godzilla lurched his head upwards towards the heavens and loosed a victorious bellow into the sky. His rival had been defeated, though the cost was great. Overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion, Godzilla collapsed into the bay, disappearing beneath the ocean’s cooling waves…
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Cheers broke out across the USS Saratoga, many individuals hugging and saluting one another at this victory. Serizawa and Graham embraced one another tightly, while Hampton saluted his fellow officers at a job well done. Yaguchi stood in silence before being congratulated by the prime minister and several of his cabinet.

“It looks like your monster was successful, Serizawa,” Hampton stated.

“Indeed,” Serizawa said silently, as he watched the screen remain still. No movement yet.

“Do you think Godzilla will recover?” Yaguchi inquired, turning back to face the three of them along with the prime minister.

“He recovered well from the battle with the MUTOs,” Graham said in a somewhat subdued tone, “but Gojira inflicted severe injuries to him. I pray that Godzilla will awaken and rest back in the deeps.”

“Whether or not Godzilla awakens again, Japan… no, the world… has secured its future once more,” the prime minister replied. “And that much we are thankful for.”

As the others deliberated, Yaguchi turned back to face the screen, leaning over to relieve his stress. The prime minister was right. Though things had gone very badly, there was still hope for Japan. There would be a tomorrow.

THE END