Author: Joseph Steinard Jr. | Banner: Landon Soto

Gorosaurus stomped through the lush jungle of Monster Island, his muscular legs moving him through the tall trees. His olive green skin bathed in the sunlight. It felt good to the giant Allosaurus. He had come to this island in search for food. Gorosaurus sniffed the ground, smelling the scent of something. Not too far from him, he saw a small animal: a boar. The dinosaur quickly jolted forward, catching the boar with his teeth. Gorosaurus reared his head up and swallowed the hairy animal before licking the blood off his teeth and putting his head back down to look for more food.

The green dinosaur once again sniffed the ground before finding yet another boar. Licking his lips, Gorosaurus prepared to eat the small animal.

Suddenly, the boar squealed in pain as blood flew from its back, into the air. Gorosaurus widened his eyes and took a few steps back in surprise, looking down at the still squealing animal. He saw the boar begin to be lifted up into the air before disappearing into the leaves of the trees. The giant reptile cocked his head and gave a noise of confusion. He saw the blood of the boar also disappearing into the trees. Gorosaurus squinted his eyes and took a few steps forward to where he originally was, taking a closer look at the trees, trying to find where the boar went.

The sound of ruffling leaves was heard from behind the dinosaur. Gorosaurus turned around to see what made the noise. A chittering sound filled the area. Gorosaurus tried to find the source of the noise but couldn’t. The giant Allosaurus sniffed the air, catching the scent of something. It definitely did not smell like a boar. More leaves rustled from behind him, and the dinosaur once again looked to investigate.

Once more, he found nothing.

Gorosaurus squinted his eyes and leaned forward, trying to find what was making the noise.

A screeching roar was heard from behind the dinosaur before something latched onto his back, immediately battering him in the head. Gorosaurus roared in pain and surprise as he was attacked. The green dinosaur couldn’t reach his assailant, so he tried shaking it off. The thing wouldn’t budge: it was like it was hooked to him. Gorosaurus roared in pain again as he tried getting this thing off of him. He decided to take a different approach.

Gorosaurus fell on his back, nearly crushing his attacker with his weight, causing it to screech in pain. The saurian quickly got up and turned back to see his assailant on the ground. It was a giant, green praying mantis, its legs scrambling as it tried to get up. Gorosaurus licked his lips before lowering his head to make a meal out of the overgrown bug. He was about to put his jaws around its throat before the dinosaur felt something jab into his back, causing blood to spurt into the air.

Gorosaurus roared in pain as he spun around, hitting whatever attacked him with the trees around him. The dinosaur turned to face whatever stabbed him. In the trees, shaking its head was another mantis. It looked at its partner on the ground, chittering to it. The fellow bug chittered back, almost like they were talking. The two now looked at Gorosaurus, lifting their claws in the air, crying at the saurian with their screeching noises. Gorosaurus roared back, challenging the bugs to fight him.

The Kamacuras gladly accepted. They had been flying from island to island, eating anything they could find. Right now, this was their island, and they wouldn’t surrender it so easily.

The duo swiftly flew toward the dinosaur, attempting to slash him with their sharp claws, but Gorosaurus quickly turned around and smacked the giant bugs with his tail, causing the Kamacuras to crash into the trees, making the trunks break. The two insects shook their heads before looking back at their reptilian opponent, only to see that he was charging them. The Kamacuras quickly extended their wings and flew out of the way, leaving Gorosaurus to stop in his tracks. The insectoid duo circled around the olive green dinosaur before landing on the ground, screeching at Gorosaurus as he turned around. Spotting a small, nearby boulder, one Kamacuras had an idea.

The emerald green bug turned to her partner and chittered as she lightly tapped the boulder to show the other Kamacuras. The mantis nodded and chittered back.

Gorosaurus glared at the two, waiting for them to attack. The Kamacuras looked back at the dinosaur and roared at him. The bug on the right passed the other the rock she found, which the other Kamacuras caught it with the flat of his claw. Gorosaurus curiously, though cautiously, stared at the boulder, wondering when it would be thrown. The male Kamacuras rolled it back and forth amongst himself as the theropod’s eyes kept following the rock. The oversized bug backhanded the boulder to his partner who caught it with the flat of her claw before hitting it, causing it to hit Gorosaurus in the stomach.

The giant Allosaur roared out as he was hit with the rock, causing him to stumble back. This gave the Kamacuras an opportunity. The female flew into Gorosaurus, slashing at him with her claws. The saurian roared in pain as the bug’s claws tore into his flesh. Meanwhile, the male Kamacuras threw small boulders at their opponent, hitting him in the legs.

Gorosaurus roared in pain once more as the mantis cut his back, letting crimson blood trickle down his backside while rocks bounced off his muscular legs. The theropod decided to use his small, but effective arms and slash at the overgrown insect. The Kamacuras screeched in pain as Gorosaurus scratched her chest, his claws easily cutting into her weak hide. The Gimantis got off of her opponent and flew behind him to examine her wounds. The male was about to fly into the reptile, but Gorosaurus’ tail hit the bug as he turned around, causing the Kamacuras to fall.

Gorosaurus roared at the female Kamacuras hovering over the trees, motioning her with his head to come forward. He had a good plan. The Gimantis cocked her head and thought for a moment before raising her claws in front of her and flying toward the theropod. Gorosaurus quickly brought his tail down onto the grounded Kamacuras, crushing his back as the dinosaur lifted himself up, bringing his legs forward and kangaroo-kicking the oncoming Kamacuras. The kick sent the mantis flying into the trees on, skidding across the ground as she crashed, causing many trees to break off and fall. The Kamacuras struggled to breathe as she laid on the ground, her legs scrambling as she tried to get up so she could help her mate.

Gorosaurus turned around and looked at the downed bug. The male Kamacuras slowly got to his four spiked feet and turned to the dinosaur, hissing and clicking at him as he caught his breath. Gorosaurus roared back and began to charge at the Gimantis. The Kamacuras swiftly flew past the Allosaur before turning back and slashing at Gorosaurus, cutting his side. The saurian roared in pain before seeing the mantis flying at him once again. This time, Gorosaurus thought of something. The reptile lowered his head and charged toward the flying Kamacuras.

Gorosaurus’ head collided with the mantis’ chest, the head-butt sending the Kamacuras rolling in the air before crashing into the jungle, knocking the wind out of the insect. The Kamacuras coughed up yellow blood as he slowly got up to see the theropod running toward him, crushing every tree in his way. The mantis quickly flew away, evading the clutches of the predatory monster and landed behind Gorosaurus. His mate landed beside him, chittering to her partner. The saurian turned around and roared at the duo before charging at them again.

The insectoids roared back before flying toward Gorosaurus. The female swooped behind the saurian while the male took their adversary head on, slashing at his body. Gorosaurus roared in pain as the Gimantis left large scratch marks on his chest, responding by turning around and hitting the Kamacuras’ side with his tail, sending the mantis crashing into a group of trees. The other Kamacuras once again flew behind the dinosaur and latched onto his back before slamming her claws into his head. Gorosaurus bellowed in pain as the bug’s sharp claws caused his head to bleed, the red liquid trickling down the Allosaur’s face. Gorosaurus tried shaking the Kamacuras off like before, but once again, it was no use.

The reptile then turned his head toward his back, being able to reach the Gimantis. Gorosaurus clamped his jaws around her arm, causing the Kamacuras to screech in both pain and surprise before bashing the saurian with her other claw. Gorosaurus ignored the pain and spun around before bringing the mantis up and slamming her to the ground on her back, causing dirt to fly up. The Kamacuras laid on the ground, both dizzy and in pain. She let out a weak cry before the dinosaur lifted a foot up. Aiming for the abdomen, Gorosaurus was going to crush the overgrown insect.

Before something slammed into his body with great force.

Gorosaurus skidded back not far from where he was, almost falling down, but luckily, the saurian kept his balance. The female Kamacuras’ enraged mate now began attacking him, hitting Gorosaurus in the face with his claws while hovering in the air. The reptile roared in pain as his face was getting slashed at and clobbered at the same time, each hit leaving scratch marks and bruises. Gorosaurus lowered his head and marched forward before coming up and hitting the mantis in the jaw with his head. The Kamacuras’ head jolted up as he was hit. The Gimantis was about to continue his assault before Gorosaurus’ mighty jaws caught Kamacuras’ throat and slammed him to the ground on his back, causing the leaves in the trees around them to blow away.

The Gimantis was about to get up, but a pair of jaws once again clamped onto his neck. As the dinosaur lightly placed a foot on the Kamacuras’ abdomen, the mantis shrieked as he tried getting Gorosaurus off of him, using his claws to scratch his face. The Allosaur endured the pain and began applying pressure to the insectoid’s squishy abdomen, the claws on his foot easily cutting into it, causing yellow blood to spurt out. The Kamacuras roared in pain as Gorosaurus began squishing his lower half, still trying to get the saurian off of him, but it was useless. The Gimantis’ movements got weaker and weaker while his bulbous, yellow eyes began to dim.

Gorosaurus moved his head lower, near the Kamacuras’ chest and began pulling on the bug’s body while stepping harder on his abdomen. The Kamacuras’ screeches lowered and his strikes were much weaker. He hoped his mate would come and help him. Suddenly, the saurian’s claws went all the way through the insect’s abdomen. Gorosaurus brought his head up while dragging his foot away, successfully ripping the Kamacuras in half. Yellow blood poured out of the upper half while yellow liquid and guts seeped and moved out of the detached abdomen.

The Gimantis’ eyes turned dark forever as his body turned limp.

The dinosaur dropped the Kamacuras’ lifeless corpse. Gorosaurus took a breath as he looked at the dead bug. He raised his head and roared into the sky in victory. He had beaten one of these pests, and now to find the other one and kill her. The saurian had multiple cuts and bruises on his body, but he was still more than willing to fight. Gorosaurus looked at the corpse in front of him and cocked his head, licking his lips. Maybe eating the Kamacuras could provide him with more energy.

The dinosaur lowered his head and was about to dig his teeth into the body.

Until something stabbed the side of his throat.

Gorosaurus’ eyes grew wide as his throat was stabbed. There appeared to be nothing beside him.

Until a rippling effect next to the dinosaur revealed a green mantis.

The female!

Her claw clamped around Gorosaurus’ throat and pulled down, ripping the Allosaur’s throat out. Gorosaurus took a few steps forward with his mouth open, blood pouring down his body before the dinosaur fell to his side, spilling more blood onto the ground, turning the dirt red. Gorosaurus’ eyes shut forever as the bloody, scarred dinosaur became nothing more than fallen prey.

The Kamacuras chittered in victory before looking around, trying to find her mate. She looked beside the dead body of Gorosaurus and found him. The Gimantis walked toward her partner’s lifeless upper half. A sound of sadness escaped her mandibles. Her claws went under his neck and back as the female picked him up, almost like she was cradling him.

The mantis’ head touched his as another sad noise came out of her.

She then backed her head away and let the half of her partner down. The Kamacuras turned to Gorosaurus’ body. Walking up to it, she examined the lifeless dinosaur. It was much bigger than the boars and cattle that she’s been eating. Kamacuras picked up Gorosaurus’ ripped out throat and opened her mandibles before taking a bite out of it.

She was surprised. It was much better than she expected and with ravenous eyes she looked on to the Allosaur’s corpse with enthusiasm.

Time to feast.

Winner: Kamacuras (Millennium)

Author: Joshua Reynolds | Banner: Joshua Reynolds

In the desolate remains of the devastated city, the frozen Godzilla stood like a monument of sin. Decades’ worth of nuclear waste had given rise to a life form beyond that of human comprehension. And yet, humanity was forced to face its own creation. Not only did they face it, but they defeated it. But the city in which this fierce battle was waged would be a ghost town for at least another year. The beast’s radiation would be toxic to anything there. But even now, all eyes were on the behemoth they called “Godzilla.”

And it was on this day, but 385 days after his supposed death, the demon began to awaken. The petrified skin began to flake off like egg shell. A reddish glow began to spread across his colossal body like volcanic blood veins. The devil’s eyes opened, revealing soulless, black pupils. His mouth parted, unleashing the bellow that shook an entire world to its core.

Godzilla had revived.

Immediately, sirens across the empty city of Tokyo began to blast. Clocks began to count down for a nuclear detonation from the United States. The world couldn’t risk the advent of Godzilla once more.

The lumbering giant turned his body and his unnaturally long tail danced slowly behind him. His eyes focused, looking toward the sea. His home. Godzilla’s movement was slow but steady. Streets collapsed under his titanic weight, sinking his clawed feet into subway and sewer systems. Buildings fell like house of cards around him, avalanching his lower torso in debris. And still, the unnatural being pushed on to return to the sea and advanced his own evolution.

And then he heard it.

It was the cry of something else. Another great creature had risen from the depths. Godzilla stopped, his head slowly tilting to the side. He could see the ocean in the distance and something was rising out of it. A gigantic, blubbery body carried on four paddle-shaped fins began to crawl to the beach. Its reddish-black tinted body shimmered in the sunlight as water fell from its leathery hide. On its face, a short snout filled with many needle-like teeth. Its most prominent feature was its titanic tusks, hanging down on either side of its muzzle.

Maguma’s eyes opened, showing their torques color. The king of the walruses had no idea why he was there, but he was. His mouth opened as wide as it could once more, unleashing another haunting cry.

Godzilla stood motionless, almost like a sentry at guard while Maguma crawled through the beach and into the surrounding streets. Then the walrus saw him. The beast from another age had no idea what drew him here, but upon seeing the unnatural form of Godzilla standing tall, something inside his primitive mind clicked. This was why he was here. The Earth itself had drawn him here to rectify a deadly mistake. The walrus remained low to the ground as he began to crawl toward his target. Godzilla, however, remained unmoving and only watched curiously.

Before long, the primitive kaiju closed the gap. Maguma reared up on its hind flippers, bringing its head up to Godzilla’s chest region. He then thrust down. Despite watching the creature approach, Godzilla was taken by surprise as the tusks plunged into the glowing material of his chest. A torrent of blood began to fall, bubbling and sizzling on the streets. Maguma’s head pulled back and thrust down again, stabbing into Godzilla’s front side once more. And again the walrus did this, only this time Godzilla’s tail lashed out with lightning speed. It snaked around his frame and struck like a whip, striking Maguma’s forehead with an awful sound.

The colossal pinniped gurgled deeply in rage as his head was thrust to the Earth. Godzilla remained unmoving and careless. He lifted a leg and slowly brought it down, claws digging into the blubber behind Maguma’s skull. The walrus’ head was grinded into the debris, but the titan wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

With the frenzy of a primal world, Maguma began to thrash from side to side. It didn’t take long for him to free himself from underneath Godzilla’s heel. Godzilla slowly stumbled back awkwardly as Maguma regained his aggressive stance. His jaws came down around Godzilla’s thigh, teeth sinking into the devil’s radioactive flesh and blood. Godzilla’s sickening cry rang loud as his head looked down at it. His jaws spread wide and split apart. Maguma’s eyes rolled up, catching Godzilla’s gaze just before a shiny membrane encased them. Then, a plume of smoke erupted from the demon’s maw. Immediately, Maguma released his hold. He awkwardly crawled back, hacking and gagging from the thick, radioactive smoke.

Godzilla, however, didn’t cease. Instead this smoke began to ignite in his mouth, turning into a concentrate stream of atomic fire. The smoke then detonated like a bomb, erupting in every direction. The force of the explosion was enough to lift Maguma off of his flippers. He was hurled back, flipping several times in mid-air before being slammed back to the Earth, his body now burnt and smoldering.

Godzilla’s mouth suddenly clamped shut, ending his attack. The membrane of his eyes pulled back, allowing the unearthly thing to gaze upon the destruction he brought. He then spotted Maguma. The walrus was on his side, bleeding badly from wounds on his head and ribcage. However, eons worth of life couldn’t be silenced so quickly. Despite the pain, the Antarctic kaiju rolled over onto his flippers and bared his fangs at the demon.

Countless miles away, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, a U.S. Cruiser launched its payload. A missile, hundreds of times more powerful than the ones used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lifted up from the vessel with a trail of smoke and brilliant light following behind it…

Godzilla stepped forward as Maguma began to approach. The titan lunged with surprising speed, jaws biting down on Godzilla’s hand. The mutation’s opposite arm came over, claws scraping across the head and face of the pinniped. Trickles of blood began to flow as the walrus began to gnaw. Godzilla released an unheard scream as the bones in his hand were grinded like hamburger. Godzilla’s membrane once again covered his eye, but this movement caught Maguma’s eye. Just as the leviathan’s jaw split, the walrus released his now mangled hand and leaped up like a hungry crocodile. His mouth came down on the mouth of Godzilla, tusks impaling from the top jaw and through the lower.

The sudden weight caused Godzilla to collapse, dropping to his chest and belly with the arctic kaiju attached to his mouth. Embers of radioactive material began to escape from each side of Godzilla’s face while Maguma’s tusks began to smolder.

Godzilla’s massive tail waved behind them and then came down, cracking against Maguma’s blubbery hide. It took several strikes, but the walrus eventually relented. He pulled his head up, ripping his tusks from Godzilla’s mouth and backed away. Godzilla, however, was near helpless. With a crushed hand and mangled mouth, the mutation struggled to stand.

Maguma took his chance again and pounced, this time landing on the back of Godzilla’s head…

This was a mistake.

Almost instantly, Godzilla’s spines erupted with purple light. Beams of atomic power pierced through Maguma’s body, scorching and incinerating tons of blubber upon impact. The walrus screamed in a mixture of pain and horror as he was launched backward, circular holes carved deeply into his fatty tissue. The primal kaiju groaned and coughed, spitting up wads of blood in the process. Still, something inside of him told him to persist. He began to stagger…

At the same time, Godzilla’s lengthy tail snaked underneath his collapsed body. The limb acted like a spring, pushing Godzilla’s body back to a rightful stance. The leviathan snarled, struggling to open his mouth for a moment until, with a disgusting pop, it opened. Godzilla’s eyes looked upon the struggling form of Maguma with an uncaring stare. He then looked at the distant sea. He began to walk, not looking to waste any more time with Maguma.

Godzilla casually walked past the behemoth. Struggling to remain upright, Maguma’s torques eyes were fixated on the devil’s tail now. As Godzilla moved right past him, Maguma’s jaws parted and bit down on the tip of the tail. Godzilla’s eyes, for the first time, opened wide as a wave of pain bolted through him. Maguma’s teeth and tusks tore through the fleshy material of the tail, spilling blood by the gallon. The tail thrashed, lifting Maguma off of its hind for a brief second and throwing him aside.

As if he were insulted, Godzilla spun around with surprising speed. His tail, now bloodied, waved back and forth behind him before snaking around, the dripping tip pointing at Maguma. A purple glow began to channel from Godzilla’s spines and into the tip.

The walrus quickly regained a fighting stance and growled. His eyes watched as the tip seemed to open up into a bizarre mouth. Then it fired, shooting a single, thin beam of neon purple energy at the pinniped. Maguma leaped to the side with a sudden show of speed, belly flopping the ground just as the beam hit where he once sat. The beam followed his movement, adjusting accordingly.

For some reason, the walrus seemed to know if he was hit by this, it’d be his end. So he continued to dodge it the best he could, but the beam nicked him more than once, cutting through his blubber like a hot knife through butter.

Maguma was growing tired as he landed with a thud once more. He couldn’t do this much more. A walrus’ body wasn’t made to be playing leapfrog. He pounded the ground with his chest once more and kicked with his back flippers, jumping away. But the beam still hit, striking his flipper with a horrible, sizzling sound. As his body was propelled away, the walrus’ flipper remained behind pooling in blood. The ancient kaiju cried aloud in absolute agony

And then, all of a sudden, the beam ceased.

Maguma landed with a hard thump, not knowing what happened as he cried in horror upon sight of where his left flipper once was. But then the realization set in: Godzilla’s beam had stopped. With a soft cry, Maguma looked over. Godzilla remained standing tall, his tail unmoving while still pointing at him. Then, without warning, Godzilla’s head fell to the side. In his blind attempt at slaying the walrus, the abomination had accidentally severed his own head with his beam.

Godzilla’s legs buckled. His arms fell to his side. And then he fell, his tail following behind. Maguma shook his head back and forth and groaned, once again looking down upon his stump of a flipper. With an awkward hobble, he began to drag himself back to the sea. Humanity’s mistake had been rectified by nature.

As he dipped underneath the waves, Godzilla’s severed head showed signs of life. His eyes opened. Movement from the cauterized flesh of the neck began to bulge. Suddenly, spider-like legs erupted from them with a creepy, creaking sound. It was impossible to kill this God incarnate. And as his eyes began to scan the area, the nuclear missile launched prior flew overhead, mere seconds away from detonating…

Winner: Maguma

Author: Thomas Eckert | Banner: Matthew Williams

The civilians of New York City ran screaming in terror when one of the city’s many skyscrapers suddenly came crashing down. An avalanche of glass, concrete, and other types of debris smashed onto the streets, burying them along with dozens of people and vehicles. From out of the destroyed building came a terrible shriek that echoed through the Big Apple’s maze of buildings and paved roads. A large reptilian head erupted from the disaster zone; Zilla had returned to wreck havoc on one of America’s greatest cities.

His scaly feet crushed anything and anyone in his path. His clawed hands and tail carved into various buildings and reduced them to pieces. Many police officers tried shooting at the reptilian terrorist. The enraged beast simply crushed them underneath his powerful feet. Zilla shrieked out loud, claiming this city as his own.

His eyes then turned up when he sniffed something. He snarled in irritation when he noticed a small object raining near him. When it landed, the dinosaur-like kaiju sniffed it and opened his jaws, ready to crush it. That’s when the object opened up. The surprised Zilla shrieked when a beam of energy swirled in front of him. Before he knew it, a second kaiju was standing in front of him. Sent by his Garoga masters to conquer New York City, Wargilgar shrieked to signal his arrival.

Zilla stepped back, easily intimidated by this new beast’s size and appearance. Wargilgar spotted Zilla, and the two monsters shrieked toward each other. Wargilgar attacked first by snapping his pincers in Zilla’s face. He found the task to be difficult as Zilla dodged his pincers with ease. Zilla bent down and slammed his head toward Wargilgar’s chest. Wargilgar screeched as he fell on his back. With his foe grounded, Zilla advanced with his claws extended. He landed on top of Wargilgar’s chest and started hacking at the alien’s hide with his claws. Wargilgar shrieked painfully from the slashing claws. Before Zilla could do any further damage, the long-necked insect slammed his head into Zilla’s body. The lizard yelped as he went flying off his foe’s chest and into a building. The structure came raining down onto Zilla.

Wargilgar rose to his feet, chortling at his foe’s predicament. Within seconds, Zilla had been buried underneath an entire skyscraper. Wargilgar wandered over to inspect the damage. His pincers dug away the debris; expecting to find a crushed body lying inside the wreckage. When his digging ceased, he only found a hole in the ground. Wargilgar shrieked in aggravation. How dare his victim simply dig to safety! The ground exploded from behind him. Before he could react, Zilla’s jaws clamped onto his left leg and pulled him down. Wargilgar did his best to pull back, and it was working. Both creatures were locked in a game of tug-of-war.

Zilla then grabbed hold of Wargilgar’s leg with his forearms, increasing his strength and grip. His plan was working. Wargilgar released a shrillish cry, trying to pull backward. His two pincers clamped onto a nearby building. Holding on for dear life, Wargilgar pulled harder, surprising Zilla with a quick jerk. Pulled out from his hole, Zilla was vulnerable to attack. The space monster extended his neck out. Once he had a clear shot, he opened his mandibles and the double barrels inside them came out. Two shots were fired onto Zilla’s back with explosive force. The reptilian creature opened his mouth to scream in pain from the injuries on his smoking back. Wargilgar then clamped his pincer around Zilla’s throat and tossed him into the streets. The wounded reptile kept sliding until he crashed into an apartment building.

Wargilgar wasted no time and charged toward the downed Zilla. Zilla heard his foe coming and decided to bring out his best weapon. Wargilgar stood right near Zilla’s position, his mandibles opening. That’s when Zilla sprang back to life and fired his thermonuclear breath. His breath struck Wargilgar in the chest, sending the shrieking creature backpedaling in pain. With his chest smoking from the attack, Wargilgar opened his mouth and spewed out his own flames. Zilla tried leaping to the side to avoid them, but he wasn’t quick enough. Parts of the flames burned his skin, causing him shriek in pain. He landed on his feet, turning to face Wargilgar. Wargilgar fired his flames again, but Zilla successfully dodged by leaping over them. He planted both feet into Wargilgar’s face, knocking him down.

While Wargilgar crashed in the streets, Zilla landed onto the side of a building, scaling it with his claws. He looked down to see that Wargilgar had recovered. Wargilgar spotted Zilla climbing along the building toward its other side. He wasted no time in firing his double barrels. Zilla shrieked in pain as the attack ripped through the building’s walls, surprising him enough to make him lose his grip and fall. Wargilgar heard his opponent’s crash and raced around the building’s other side as fast as he could to find him. When he made it around, he spotted Zilla trying to stand. Wargilgar unleashed another fiery torrent onto Zilla, prompting a painful shriek from the beast. The biped lizard’s body was soon covered in burning embers.

Wargilgar expected Zilla to burn right on the spot. His hopes were shattered when another blast of atomic breath came raging out of Zilla’s mouth. Wargilgar’s legs and torso exploded with sparks, making the shrieking alien fall over again. Zilla’s eyes narrowed onto his struggling foe. Some of the flames on his body were dying, revealing burnt skin. Areas of destroyed tissue showcased bone and muscle. Zilla was still alive, but not in perfect condition. He needed to end this now.

He dashed toward Wargilgar with a violent trumpet. He landed on top of the orange-hued creature’s chest. Wargilgar moved his head up, but Zilla’s tail whacked it down. Zilla then slashed his claws into Wargilgar’s chest, hoping to tear him apart. Wargilgar quietly moved his head back up and spotted a perfect place to attack. His mouth opened and fired two shots right into Zilla’s left foot, blasting it to pieces. The reptile ceased clawing to shriek painfully at the loss of his foot before crashing off of Wargilgar. Zilla whimpered at his missing foot, then snarled as Wargilgar rose up. The two monsters locked eyes with one another. Zilla fired his atomic breath while Wargilgar attacked with his flame breath. The attacks struck into each other with enough power to create an explosion that sent both creatures flying from each other. Wargilgar smashed into a building while Zilla collided into a bus station.

Wargilgar’s pincers twitched. He groaned as he started to stand up. His body was badly singed by the explosion. Other than that, he was still in good shape. After a quick moan, he went to check on his foe. When he found his foe lying in the remains of the bus station, he couldn’t believe his green eyes. Some of his fingers and pieces of his tail were destroyed. The stub where his foot used to be was bleeding severely. His skin burned beyond repair. Zilla looked up at his opponent, too injured to attack. Wargilgar chuckled evilly before opening his mouth; Zilla’s eyes closed to accept his demise. Wargilgar fired two shots into Zilla’s head. The explosion of the reptile’s head caused Wargilgar to cheer happily. Victory was his. His masters will be pleased to hear how New York City will now be theirs.

Winner: Wargilgar

February 29th, 2020 update

Hey Everyone,

The results are in finally so without further ado, here are the winners for 2019!

The 5 Best Writers of 2019:

1. Tyler Trieschock
2. Andrew Sudomerski
3. Joseph Steinard Jr.
4. Connor Clennell
5. Matthew Freese

The 5 Best K.W.C. Matches of 2019:

1. Match 275: Godzilla (Legendary), Mothra (Legendary), Mothra Leo, MUTO (Male) & Battra vs. Rodan (Legendary) vs. Skullcrawler vs. Megaguirus vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
2. Match 249: Godzilla (Heisei) & Godzilla (Legendary) vs. King Ghidorah (Heisei) & Grand King Ghidorah
3. Match 273: Godzilla (Reiwa) & Mothra Leo vs. Grand King Ghidorah
4. Match 261: Godzilla (Legendary) vs. Godzilla (Heisei)
5. Match 280: Anguirus, Baragon, Godzilla, Godzilla Junior, Gorosaurus, Kumonga, Manda, Rodan (Legendary) & Varan vs. Dagahra

The 3 Most Original K.W.C. Matches of 2019:

1. Match 275: Godzilla (Legendary), Mothra (Legendary), Mothra Leo, MUTO (Male) & Battra vs. Rodan (Legendary) vs. Skullcrawler vs. Megaguirus vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
2. Match 280: Anguirus, Baragon, Godzilla, Godzilla Junior, Gorosaurus, Kumonga, Manda, Rodan (Legendary) & Varan vs. Dagahra
3. Match 273: Godzilla (Reiwa) & Mothra Leo vs. Grand King Ghidorah

The 3 Best Banner Creators of 2019:

1. Andrew Sudomerski
2. Tyler Trieschock
3. Dao Zang Moua

The 3 Best K.W.C. Banners of 2019:

1. Match 275: Godzilla (Legendary), Mothra (Legendary), Mothra Leo, MUTO (Male) & Battra vs. Rodan (Legendary) vs. Skullcrawler vs. Megaguirus vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
2. Match 270: Bagan vs. Anguirus, Ebirah, Gigan, Kamacuras, King Caesar, Kumonga, Manda, Monster X, Rodan (Heisei) & Zilla
3. Match 249: Godzilla (Heisei) & Godzilla (Legendary) vs. King Ghidorah (Heisei) & Grand King Ghidorah

The Best use of a New Monster/Form in 2019:

1. Mothra (Legendary), Rodan (Legendary) & King Ghidorah (Legendary) – Match 275

The 3 Best uses of Kaiju in a K.W.C. Match in 2019:

1. Match 275: Godzilla (Legendary), Mothra (Legendary), Mothra Leo, MUTO (Male) & Battra vs. Rodan (Legendary) vs. Skullcrawler vs. Megaguirus vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
2. Match 273: Godzilla (Reiwa) & Mothra Leo vs. Grand King Ghidorah
3. Match 270: Bagan vs. Anguirus, Ebirah, Gigan, Kamacuras, King Caesar, Kumonga, Manda, Monster X, Rodan (Heisei) & Zilla

The 3 Best use of Human or Alien Character/s in a K.W.C. Match in 2019:

1. Match 275: Godzilla (Legendary), Mothra (Legendary), Mothra Leo, MUTO (Male) & Battra vs. Rodan (Legendary) vs. Skullcrawler vs. Megaguirus vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
2. Match 250: Battra & Megalon vs. Zandora vs. Monster X
3. Match 249: Godzilla (Heisei) & Godzilla (Legendary) vs. King Ghidorah (Heisei) & Grand King Ghidorah

The 3 Best Story/Narrative in a K.W.C. in 2019:

1. Match 275: Godzilla (Legendary), Mothra (Legendary), Mothra Leo, MUTO (Male) & Battra vs. Rodan (Legendary) vs. Skullcrawler vs. Megaguirus vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
2. Match 270: Bagan vs. Anguirus, Ebirah, Gigan, Kamacuras, King Caesar, Kumonga, Manda, Monster X, Rodan (Heisei) & Zilla
3. Match 250: Battra & Megalon vs. Zandora vs. Monster X

The Best New Writer of 2019:

1. Zeb Dennis

Best Writing Duo/Trio of 2019:

• Dao Zang Moua, Landon Soto, Joseph Steinard Jr., Andrew Sudomerski, Tyler Trieschock & Alex Williams – Match 275

So those are the winners of 2019! But I am also happy to announce the following:

New K.W.C. Additions (The following have been approved to be added to the K.W.C. for the future. Feel free to submit a match with these fresh faces!):

• Behemoth (Monsterverse)
• Mothra (Millennium – Tokyo S.O.S./Final Wars Variant)
• MUTO Prime
• Kaishin Muba
• The Visitor
• King Cobra (Godzilla: The Series)

New K.W.C. Retirees (These are monsters that will be soon be entering retirement. Please do not submit matches involving them):

• King Ghidorah (Heisei)
• Mothra (Heisei)
• Spyler
• Wargilgar

K.W.C. Survey Match Request Winner:

• Bagan vs. King Ghidorah (Legendary)
  • Release – Late 2020

In any case, thank you all for your feedback. We’ve taken strides to ensure matches come out on a more regular basis (roughly every 10 days), and that they are at a higher quality. The staff does an amazing job, and the K.W.C. wouldn’t be where it is without them. So thank you to every Writer, Banner Creator & Reader! See you all next year with the 2020 Awards!

January 1st, 2020 update

Greetings Everyone,

Its that time of year again! In celebration of all readers, writers and banner creators please take a moment to fill out the following surveys. The first, the K.W.C. Awards Survey, is to find out your favorite matches of the year and vote on the overall best of the best in a number of categories. The second, the K.W.C. Feedback Survey, is to get a solid evaluation on our work throughout the year, and where we should focus on in the future including new monster additions!

The 2019 K.W.C. Awards Survey 

The 2019 K.W.C. Feedback Survey

Winners and results from both surveys will be announced at the start of February!

Author: Christian Salabert | Banner: Christian Salabert

At last, mankind had made a breakthrough.

For years, the scientific minds at the Shiragami Memorial Research Institute – so named after the brilliant man that had created one of the two truly effective weapons against Godzilla – had been trying to come up with a definitive way to subdue, if not kill the King of the Monsters, or any similar threat to humanity, similar to Shiragami’s own Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria. Unfortunately, while a lot of people had come close, no one had been able to create a truly worthy successor.

No one, that is, until Noriko Yoshiwara.

A brilliant geneticist, biochemist, and bioengineer, Professor Yoshiwara was a well-known name in the scientific community for decades before she began to work at the Shiragami Institute. If anyone was going to come up with a viable weapon, it would be her.

Yoshiwara lived up to everyone’s expectations. Within a year, she had designed and synthesized an ungodly lethal bio-toxin, comprised of some of the most acidic, toxic, and venomous substances known to mankind.

“I doubt even Bagan himself could survive this stuff,” she said with a chuckle during the press conference in which she and the Institute revealed the toxin to Japan and the world at large.

As expected, the news took the world by storm. Everyone was talking about it, from the everyman on the street to the highest of government officials. Soon, there wasn’t a soul alive that didn’t know about Professor Yoshiwara’s miraculous creation.

Of course, this had an unfortunate, if not unexpected downside. Nefarious groups and individuals had heard the wide spread news of the toxin’s creation and wanted to steal it for their own use, or destroy it before Japan could use it. Terrorist organizations like Bio-Major and the Red Bamboo, and enemy nations such as Mu and Seatopia, were already coming up with plans to do just that.

However, not all the scheming individuals hailed from Earth. Some originated from far beyond, among the stars themselves. These undercover agents had been sent under the radar to live among humanity from the tenth planet in the solar system:

Planet X.

* * * * *

It wasn’t long before news of Professor Yoshiwara’s toxin made its way to the planet’s Controller. He soon called forth a meeting with his highest council members. They all agreed: the bio-toxin had to be destroyed. Even if the Xiliens stole it for their own, there was a chance that the humans would be able to steal it back. Best to eradicate it completely. And now was their best chance, before it left the Shiragami Institute and became mass produced.

But how?

“What is the status of Monster Zero?” the Controller asked, staring at the large view screen behind his desk, currently showing the planet’s rocky, barren landscape.

“King Ghidorah is still dealing with the resistance fighters in the southern hemisphere,” the Colonial Commander informed him.

The Controller nodded. Pausing for a moment, he asked “And Monster Zero-1?”

“Monster X is currently helping with… negotiations in Star Hunter Universe M.”

Again, the Controller sat there, thinking. While Ghidorah and Monster X were the main two weapons he preferred to rely on for his missions, he did have a third option at his disposal. It wasn’t utilized nearly as often, but it was just as capable as the other two.

“Send in Monster Zero-2.”

* * * * *

Night had fallen on the Shiragami Memorial Research Institute.

Most of the scientists had gone home by now, leaving only a night crew running the facility. Some, however, had stayed behind for the night, still needing to work on their various projects. One of them was Professor Yoshiwara. Though her bio-toxin itself was complete, she still needed to take care of various finishing touches, calculating just how long it would take to mass produce, how much of it would be needed to affect a kaiju of any given size, and so on.

Professor Yoshiwara sighed, needing to look away from the statistics running across her computer screen. She took her glasses from her face, rubbing her eyes.

“Professor?”

She turned to see one of her interns standing there. “Ah, Mayumi,” she greeted the younger woman with a tired smile. “What are you still doing here? Why haven’t you gone home?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” the intern said, bowing as she approached the scientist. “It’s very late.”

“Yes, I guess it is, isn’t it?” Yoshiwara said, glancing at the clock. “I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad idea to turn in for the night and pick this up in the morning with rested eyes.”

“Sounds like a plan, Professor,” Mayumi agreed, nodding.

Just then, the ground shook, throwing both women off balance. The sound of an explosion was heard in the distance.

“What on Earth…?” Yoshiwara wondered as she stabilized her footing. Hearing the commotion going on out in the halls, she and Mayumi quickly ran outside to see what was going on.

* * * * *

Mere moments before, an Xilien Saucer had flown down, its suspended animation bubble cradling their weapon of choice in their latest incursion on Earth:

Monster Zero-2. Otherwise known as Gororin.

Once it was close enough to the ground, the saucer cut off its electrical rays, causing the bubble to burst upon hitting the ground. Using the momentum from the toss to continue onward, Gororin rolled like a bowling ball towards the Shiragami Institute, crashing through and destroying several vehicles and smaller structures on the outskirts of the Institute’s grounds.

As the monster made his way towards the heart of the facility, the scientists within panicked. Not only were they concerned with the obvious – escaping with their lives – they also couldn’t just let all their years of hard work be destroyed. They had to save as much as they could.

Unfortunately, as one might expect, this left them open to destruction at the spines of Gororin. The spiky orb crushed everything in his path as he made his way towards the main cluster of buildings at the Institute’s center. Several scientists were shredded underneath his round, spiny body.

* * * * *

“Professor, we have to go! Now!” Mayumi cried. “Gororin will kill us instantly if we don’t hurry!”

“The Bio-Toxin!” Yoshiwara realized, looking at her intern. “We have to save it! At least a vial!”

The two women hurried back to their office to secure the lethal substance.

* * * * *

High above the Institute, another being was about to make its presence known. But this was no alien force like the Xiliens. Instead, what descended down from the heavens was what could be described as a golden cloud. But this was no ordinary cloud made of water vapor, rather a cluster of billions upon trillions of spores, ones that belonged to an enormous creature, one very similar to Godzilla in a biological sense. The spores fell into the earth, seeding the soil as they disappeared within.

Gororin, meanwhile, was leaving a trail of destruction in his path, making sure to eradicate all the outer buildings, leaving very few survivors as he cut off nearly all escape routes. But with that part of his mission complete, it was time to take care of the main building. Rolling towards it, the evil cactus prepared to smash the Institute to pieces.

But fate had other plans for Gororin.

The ground shook violently, cracking and splitting open. Before Gororin could halt his movement, his momentum took him directly over the edge, plummeting deep into the earth. For a moment, it seemed as if that might be the end of the cactus beast right then and there. That was not to be his end, however, as Gororin immediately burst up out of the crevasse, high into the air! …but not of his own volition. Gororin was being held high above the ground, ensnared by a large, dripping green vine. The alien plant was so dazed by the sudden fall and rise that he didn’t even try to break free at first.

A much larger pair of eyes stared directly into Gororin’s. The diminutive cactus found himself face to face with the final form of Biollante.

Snarling in disgust, Biollante whipped her vine away, hurling Gororin like a baseball through the air. The evil plant could do nothing but soar through the sky like a missile until his flight was suddenly cut short by the ground, knocking the creature momentarily unconscious.

Looking out into the distance where her foe had crashed for a moment, Biollante eventually turned and looked over the Institute behind her. The damage was noticeable, but had thankfully been stopped before the facility was completely demolished. Biollante wasn’t quite sure why she had decided to save the Institute from destruction. Something within had urged her to do so, to take action against the small, evil–

The Godzilla-plant hybrid howled in pain as a flurry of cactus needles flew through the air and embedded themselves into her leafy flesh. Snarling in fury, Biollante swung her head around, already knowing that the small creature was to blame. Sure enough, Gororin was rolling straight for her, his evil eyes narrowed as he rapidly approached his much larger foe. With a low, thundering growl, the cactus beast leapt into the air, heading towards Biollante’s face. The larger creature was fast to react, though, smacking Gororin away with one of her tendrils. As Gororin crashed to the ground once more, Biollante cried out in pain, several needles lodged into the striking vine. She shook the tendril hard, shaking the needles free as Gororin made another attack, rolling directly for his opponent.

Biollante narrowed her eyes in anger at the little monster. Yellow energy surged from the core in her torso, up her throat and into her mouth. Before Gororin realized what was happening, Biollante lunged forward and opened her massive jaws, spewing forth a bubbling stream of radioactive sap towards her foe. At first the cactus creature ignored the sight, but he quickly realized his mistake as the sap began to hit and drench his skin. Gororin let out a pained cry as smoke began to rise from his sizzling flesh, immediately stopping him in his tracks.

Gororin let out a pained cry as the sap cooked and ate away at his skin, but he had no time to focus on his pain. Her many vines waving threateningly in the air, Biollante charged forward, ready to attack her foe with a vengeance. Gororin rolled out of the way, but the monstrous hybrid was quick to react, erecting a wall of tendrils in front of him, blocking his path. As Biollante advanced behind him, Gororin pressed himself up against the tendrils and began to spin vertically, his needles shredding through the limbs until they were torn away completely. The severed vines fell to the ground as Gororin rolled out of harm’s way, narrowly avoiding an ear-splitting crunch from Biollante’s crocodilian jaws. Biollante sent more of her vines to attack Gororin, but the attempts failed, as each time they struck the cactus beast they burst apart against his spines.

* * * * *

“Biollante’s here, too?!” Mayumi gasped in shock as they stepped outside.

“Mayumi, focus!” Yoshiwara cried, snapping her out of it. “We need to get these onto the chopper immediately!” She and Mayumi each had a steel drum full of the bio-toxin and were transporting them on hand trucks to the Institute’s helipad, where a series of military helicopters had landed, soldiers helping to evacuate the facility’s crew as well as their projects.

“I’m sorry, Professor, of course!” the intern replied, nodding as she hurried along.

* * * * *

A pained wail escaped from Gororin as Biollante’s numerous teeth sank into his corroded flesh. Rearing her head back, Biollante lifted Gororin into the air and began to shake her head back and forth, sinking her teeth even deeper and tearing into the cactus like an angry dog. Even feeling Gororin’s spines scrape against the insides of her mouth wasn’t even to deter Biollante, who was determined to tear her foe apart.

Gororin was face first in her mouth and thus could do nothing but watch himself approach the black hole that was Biollante’s throat. Desperate to escape her toothy grip, Gororin began to fire a stream of needles directly down her throat. Her eyes widening, Biollante gagged as she opened her jaws, trying to dislodge the cactus creature. Gororin kept his spines firing until they finally burst out the back of Biollante’s neck. Wailing in agony, the larger beast jerked her head to the side, tossing Gororin through the air and sending him crashing to the ground. Even though her leafy flesh had already begun to regenerate and repair the damage, the pain remained, and she narrowed her eyes at the tiny devil, her anger growing rapidly. A series of tendrils rising from the ground, she lunged towards her foe. Despite his injuries, Gororin was still the faster of the two, easily evading Biollante’s attacks. But even with his speed, Gororin knew he couldn’t avoid her forever. At the same time, Biollante knew that having her flesh torn over and over again by Gororin’s needles was beginning to wear her down.

With Biollante briefly pausing in her assault, Gororin glanced at his opponent and took the opportunity to attack. Charging forward, Gororin rolled as fast as he could and leapt into the air, smashing himself into Biollante’s snout. Reeling back, Biollante screamed not only from the harsh blow, but also from the countless needles that were now lodged in her face.

* * * * *

Yoshiwara and Mayumi were on the helicopter, waiting for takeoff. As she waited, the intern looked back at the fight and frowned at what she saw. “Professor,” she said. “Biollante’s in trouble.”

Looking out the window at the warring titans, Yoshiwara nodded somberly. One couldn’t deny that if Biollante hadn’t shown up when she had, no one would have been able to survive Gororin’s attack long enough for the evacuation choppers to arrive. She thought for a moment, looking over the contents of the craft. There were no other scientists on this helicopter, as it had mainly been filled with projects and experiments that weren’t able to fit on the others.

Quickly, Yoshiwara made a decision, turning her head to address one of the soldiers. “Hey!” she called out to him. When he looked at her, she asked “I take it this chopper has missiles?”

* * * * *

Biollante howled as Gororin rolled past, once again shredding her flesh with his blood-stained spines. The cactus creature tore large chunks from the Godzilla hybrid each time he rolled past, tearing through most of the tendrils that attacked him as well. Biollante spewed out another stream of her acidic sap, but this time Gororin was able to avoid the attack, the sap staining and burning the ground instead.

Suddenly, Gororin swerved around and headed directly for Biollante. The larger beast wasn’t expecting the tactic and reacted chaotically, lashing out wildly with her tentacle-like limbs. Gororin had been aiming for Biollante’s glowing energy sac, but a vine lashing down towards him caused him to dart to the side. Nevertheless, he was still able to reach her. Pressing up against her side, he began to rev himself up as he did with the wall of tendrils from before, spinning in place and shredding Biollante’s leafy flesh like a wood chipper. Biollante reared her head back and let out a hellacious scream of pain. She tried to reach for Gororin with several mouthed tendrils, but their heads were shredded to pieces by the cactus beast’s buzzsaw-like spinning. Soon, a large portion of Biollante’s lower torso had been torn away as Gororin forced his way further against her wound.

At long last, one of Biollante’s desperately flailing vines managed to smack Gororin aside, sending him rolling away and allowing the genetic hybrid a moment to recuperate. But Gororin wasn’t about to let up and began firing a volley of needles into Biollante’s torn flesh, eliciting another pained cry.

* * * * *

Letting out a stressed huff, Yoshiwara closed the casing of one of the helicopter’s missiles.

“This is crazy!” the soldier said. He turned and glanced at the pilot, who gave him a ‘hurry up’ signal, then looked back at the professor. “There’s no way this is going to work!”

“This is the fastest way we have to drive those creatures away from the Institute!” Yoshiwara told him, though to be fair, her head was filled with similar thoughts. The missile was quickly loaded back into the helicopter’s cannon and everyone boarded the craft, which immediately lifted into the air.

“Professor, we don’t even know if it’ll work!” Mayumi cried, growing increasingly nervous. “It’s never been field tested!”

“What other choice have we?” Yoshiwara asked her.

Mayumi hesitated, then went silent and nodded.

* * * * *

Biollante’s regeneration was good. Possibly even better than Godzilla’s. But even it could not stand up to the constant barrage of Gororin’s needles as they tore through her flesh over and over, eating her body away. Out of energy and missing a sizeable chunk of her body, Biollante collapsed, laying out across the soil. The mighty plant tried to lift herself back up, but lacked the strength to do so.

Gororin let out a small growl of victory, narrowing his eyes in glee. His foe was beaten. All he had to do now was finish her off and he could resume his mission of destroying the human’s facility. Rolling towards Biollante, the cactus monster prepared to roll through her and shear her in half.

Gororin heard a small buzzing sound approaching from behind. Before he could turn and face the source of the noise, he suddenly felt a small prick in the back of his body. Turning around quicker now, he saw a tiny human aircraft not too far from him. Obviously, the craft had just attacked him. Gororin’s eyes became angry slits and he opened fire on the humans.

…Or, at least, he meant to. The instant the needles left his body, instead of soaring through the air, they fell harmlessly to the ground. Gororin stared for a moment, confused. What was wrong with his spines? Again he fired at the aircraft and again his needles fell uselessly. The cactus was about to charge the humans’ craft, when he was suddenly aware of a strange, sickly feeling within him. The prick he felt moments before… The humans… They must have…

Every single spine suddenly fell from Gororin’s body, leaving him nothing more than a living ball.

Even though he was feeling increasingly ill, pure rage began to surge through Gororin’s body. Revving himself up, the spineless cactus prepared to roll towards the humans’ aircraft and plow through them with his round body.

Gororin’s plans were cut short as one of Biollante’s spear-tipped tendrils plunged deep into his back and burst out between his eyes, the light within them immediately dimming.

Biollante, still laying down along the ground, lifted Gororin’s corpse up off the soil with her tendril and brought it close to her face, tilting her head to the side and opening her eye so she could inspect her foe. After watching closely for a moment, she was satisfied that the small beast was dead and flicked her tendril hard, sending Gororin’s body hurtling miles away. Again Biollante tried to pull herself up, and though she had healed a fair amount of the damage Gororin had inflicted, she was still beyond exhausted from the energy she’d spent. Before even she realized it, her body began to smoke and dissolve. The last thought that passed through Biollante’s mind before she dispersed into a cloud of golden spores was, even though she still wasn’t quite sure why she had appeared here and tried protecting the human’s structure… She was glad she had succeeded.

* * * * *

Professor Yoshiwara, Mayumi, and the soldiers aboard the helicopter watched as Biollante’s spores lifted into the sky, then blasted off into the atmosphere. Almost as one, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Well,” Yoshiwara laughed slightly, leaning against the one remaining container of her bio-toxin. “At least we know it works.”

Winner: Biollante

Author: Jack Jordan | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski

[continued from Match 230]

Four months had passed since Godzilla’s battle with Megalon in Chicago, leaving a devastated Windy City to recover from the disaster. Thousands of lives were lost in the attack and millions were left homeless. Dozens of skyscrapers had been demolished, costing the state billions of dollars in damage and lost work. The effects on the stock market were unbelievable, leaving many to fear that the United States would be unable to cope with the damages.

But despite all of that, the mood of the people was optimistic. Temporary homes and settlements had been established all over the city and adjourning suburbs, allowing a portion of the displaced population to remain local. Many more were taken in by private citizens. Volunteers had come from all over Illinois and the nation to help rebuild the once proud city of broad shoulders.

And help they did.

Within the first 3 months, the majority of the rubble had been removed. The large pit created in the battle, referred to jokingly as “the deep dish” by locals, was in the process of being cleared. Designs were being drafted for a memorial park and tower to take its place, though there was some debate raised by various companies about the revenue they would lose to such a construction. Life could have almost been normal if not for the shadow that still loomed over the city: Godzilla had yet to leave Lake Michigan.

For the first few weeks, the media had given near constant media updates about the search for the Titan as the government scoured Lake Michigan. Surveillance drones maintained a twenty-four hour watch on the shores of the great lake as they waited for signs of movement. Meanwhile, scientists from all manner of fields flocked to Chicago to report on the presence of the kaiju.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered that both the temperature and water level of the lake had changed due to Godzilla’s presence. Marine biologists based at Shed Aquarium surveyed the wildlife of Lake Michigan in relation to the alpha predator. Sociologists remarked on the strange affection and ownership Chicago’s citizens had developed toward Godzilla, whose name now adorned sports jerseys all over the city. Behind all of them was MONARCH, which led the search for the monster king. Unmanned submersibles were deployed, starting a grid based search of Lake Michigan.

And after just 2 weeks of searching, they found him.

The announcement that Godzilla had been located immediately stirred panic among the people of Chicago. In response, a press conference was called with the world’s foremost expert on Godzilla: Dr. Serizawa. For the next week, the conference was rebroadcast over major news networks alongside footage of the sleeping giant. “Before the MUTO incident in 2014,” Dr. Serizawa calmly told reporters, “Gojira had not been sighted for more than 60 years. Unless he is provoked, it is unlikely that he will return to the city.”

Public fervor diminished, but inquiries were made about what the government would do if Godzilla did awaken. Military officials showed blustering confidence on air as plans were drafted by the states of Illinois and Michigan in case the titan landed on their shores. Canada increased communication with the U.S. as they prepared for a possible kaiju arrival. Families planned evacuation routes while schools educated children about radiation exposure and safety. All the while, Godzilla slept peacefully, his wounds from the battle slowly healing. Under advisement from MONARCH, the U.S. military made no attacks against Godzilla as he rested, though they remained prepared to strike at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, far away from the watchful eye of the world, a new threat emerged.

In the small town of Hourra, Louisiana, strange things had begun to happen.

Violent tremors had occurred near the town during the last week of August. No one thought much of it; tremors had been reported all across the Midwestern United States since Megalon had been revived. Hearing this on the local news, the people of Hourra went about their lives with little concern.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sightings of stray animals around the town had decreased, but no one complained about that. Then people started to disappear. It wasn’t until the middle of September that they were first missed. After all, many of the locals lived in isolated homes throughout the swampland. It wasn’t uncommon for such people to come to town only every few months. Hourra was an isolated community, and that’s how they liked it. But when November came and they still hadn’t been seen, the sheriff went out to check on them. And what he found terrified him.

He had never seen anything like it. The houses had been torn apart. Door frames were burst open, walls knocked down. Even the roof had been torn off of a pair of old two story homes. Inside, among the destruction and wooden scrap, dried blood coated the walls and floors. But most horrifying of all were the footprints all around the houses, large 3 clawed feet that had torn trenches into the muddy ground.

The sheriff rushed back to town as fast as he could, calling in aid from the state police and every sheriff’s department in the adjacent counties. All told, nine houses had been destroyed and nearly 50 people were missing. With bloodhounds and helicopter support, the sheriff and his brothers and sisters in blue started tracking the footprints into the swamp. If there was any chance that someone was alive, then he had to take it.

Deeper and deeper into the stinking marsh they went, nearly 30 officers of various departments and jurisdictions. Each carried with them an AR-15 or shotgun, each of them prepared for the worst. And that is exactly what they found.

The helicopter spotted it first; a sinkhole in the swamp, nearly 500 feet wide. Water cascaded down into the pit, the bottom of it difficult to see even in the early morning light. As the officers approached the pit, an uneasy feeling fell over them. There were no birds chirping or flying overhead. All was quiet except for the sound of their own feet sloshing through the water.
The current grew stronger as they approached the pit, but careful movement kept them from falling in. Even with their closer vantage point, it was impossible to see inside the sinkhole. A smell like rotting meat wafted up from the enormous hole. Cautiously, the officers set up a perimeter around it.

A low rumble came up from the earth, like the hiss of a gigantic alligator. The ground shook beneath their feet as clamorous shrieks began to rise up from the ground. Rifles trained down into the darkness, the officers saw nightmarish creatures climbing up the walls at incredible speed. The beasts were large, each one standing between 8 and 10 feet tall, with thin long tails stretching out behind them. The colors ranged from grey to green and brown, but all had leathery skin with bony protrusions jutting from their backs. Their yellow softball sized eyes were fixed on the humans above them, their toothy mouths wide and salivating.

The officers opened fire on the advancing horde, the muzzle flash of their firearms illuminating the carnage beneath them. Bones littered the floors and walls of the pit; deer, alligator, dogs, cattle, and other unrecognizable specimens. Worst of all, partially eaten human bodies littered the sloping walls of the sinkhole, some still in the ruined clothing they had worn at the end.
The din of the skirmish rose higher as the creatures began to feel the sting of the officers’ weapons, sending up cries of pain into the daylight. But the pain would not last long; in the face of fear, fire control was completely forgotten. For 10 seconds, gunfire rained down full force on the creatures, but as magazines ran low and fire diminished, the monsters grew bolder.

Climbing the walls of the pit in 15 foot leaps, the creatures swiftly cleared the rim of the deep hole. Pouncing like jungle cats, they pinned the brave officers to the ground and dragged them back to the pit. Amid the dwindling gunfire and the screams of the creatures, the sheriff radioed back to town. With one hand firing his sidearm and the other on his radio, he gave his last report.
Back at the sheriff’s office, the message came over the radio in a confusing mass of static, gunfire, and shouting. A response was quickly attempted, but only static came back. With no other recourse, the call was forwarded to the Louisiana State Police headquarters, who in turn sent it to the FBI and Department of Defense. By the time the message got to Dr. Serizawa at MONARCH, an official transcript had already been finished:

“Monsters *gunfire noise* missing people, killed *gunfire* look like baby *Unknown noise* -zillas! Get everyone to safety! Th-*Unknown noise, louder* RUN! *gunfire, screams*”

MONARCH immediately sent a team to investigate, but what they discovered only fueled their worst fears: the town of Hourra was gone. In its place remained broken homes, crushed cars, and the visceral remains of the citizenship. Further, any chance of secrecy had been ruined by the numerous police agencies whose officers had heard the distress call. With no alternatives, the decision was made to inform the general public. The president was on the air within the hour to tell the world that monsters were once again loose within the borders of the United States.
A state of emergency was declared in Louisiana and all bordering states as the military was deployed to fight the monsters. Searches were conducted to discover the location of the creatures, but no evidence beyond footprints could be located. Only the rediscovery of the sinkhole provided any respite for the desperate searchers, who faced increasing public scrutiny with each day that passed. Although it had been emptied, a wealth of information was discovered and analyzed by the eager scientists of MONARCH.
Based on evidence from both the battles in San Francisco and Chicago, the creatures were not actually related to Godzilla. Numerous footprints of various sizes had been found, revealing that the creatures had both a different shape, stance, and build than the King of the Monsters.
Fragments of large eggshells were also found deep within the sinkhole, which ran deeper and farther than anyone dared to go in the current crisis. Samples were taken, and back in the lab an incredible amount of information was found. In addition to the vaguely reptilian nature of the beasts (discovered thanks to skin imprints and shedding found around the eggs), there was a faint trace of radiation to be found. But without any knowledge of Godzilla’s life cycle, no true connection could be certain.

A week had passed before the researchers concluded the most deadly news of all: the oldest eggs had only been laid in the last 3 weeks. Taken into consideration with the various footprints, it was determined that the creatures grew at an unprecedented rate. Grimly, the men and women of MONARCH deduced that it would only be a matter of time before humanity’s next encounter with the creatures. At the rate they grew, they would need copious amounts of food.
And the day before Thanksgiving, they reappeared.

On that busiest day of national travel, U.S. Route 51, its four lanes packed with traffic, was beset by strange tremors. For hours, cars experienced sudden turbulence, resulting in numerous accidents and collisions. To accommodate, traffic slowed to a near crawl as first responders tried to help out at the numerous scenes.

Closer to the city of Hammond, cars were at near standstill when the ground opened up. Dozens of vehicles tumbled into the gaping hole in the earth, their occupants screaming as fate rushed up to meet them. For miles around, the rumbling of the earth and the crashing of metal could be heard. A tremendous cloud of dust and grime rose up from the sinkhole, obscuring nearly a half mile of the highway.

Stranded on the side of the road, numerous people left their cars once the rumbling had stopped. Some rushed into the cloud to try and help while others looked on. Inside the plume of dust and smoke, nothing could be seen. Would be rescuers shuffled through the cloud, tripping and falling into cars and rubble. Sounds of pain and fright could be heard throughout the hazy gray cloud as trapped drivers called for emergency services.

Helicopters had to be utilized due to the unbelievable congestion on the road. Cars were backed up for miles in both directions, keeping any ambulance or police vehicles from being able to safely make it to the scene. Half a dozen helicopters were headed to the scene within 10 minutes. A mixed bag of military and medical aircraft, they were ready to evacuate all that they could. The expected to find a terrible accident scene. Instead, they found a massacre.

Everywhere cars were crushed and torn open. Their occupants were being devoured screaming by the horde of kaiju which had spewed from the earth. Nearly 4 dozen of the creatures that had massacred the police at the sinkhole were racing through the stalled cars. They shrieked and roared as they ripped open cars and dragged people back to the pit to feed on.

Within the massive sinkhole, a larger creature stirred. Zilla, hidden by a shroud of smoke and dust, observed her children with approval. For the past month and a half, she had been leading her growing children south. After feasting on the people of Hourra, she needed to find another source of food for them. Burrowing toward a source of incredible seismic activity, she had led them through the earth. But their hunger had grown almost beyond control. Her children snapped voraciously at each other and the largest of them had even eaten a few of the smallest. With little choice left, Zilla had led them up to the nearest source of activity to feed. And feed they did.
In horror, the pilots radioed back to base about what they had discovered. Surveying the scene from 600 feet above the ground, they provided descriptions of the creatures and their activity as they waited for a response on how to proceed. Within the pit, activity increased as they circled. Green light emanated from underground, turning the cloud into a ghostly vapor. The helicopters kept their distance, not eager to discover what was inside the hole…

When reinforcement aircraft arrived 15 minutes later, the fate of the first responders was revealed by the twisted, blackened remains of their helicopters. Of the creatures, no sign could be found except for a trail of wreckage leading south. Directly toward New Orleans.

Within hours, the city was a battleground. Incapable of retaliating without massive civilian casualties, an emergency evacuation was conducted. The National Guard was deployed into the city, intent on rescuing as many civilians as possible while engaging the creatures in a limited fashion.

As the war between humanity and monsters escalated again, something else happened. Far north, away from the besieged city of New Orleans, within the cold waters of Lake Michigan, a sleeping giant awoke.

With alerts sounding from every drone MONARCH had watching him, Godzilla rose up from the bottom of Lake Michigan. His jagged spikes pierced the surface of the water, sending a misty spray trailing after him as he picked up speed. Landing at an unoccupied section of the shore, Godzilla snorted as he made landfall. Water sprayed from his nostrils and gills as he shook himself out of the water, stretching after his healing sleep. Recovered from his battle with Megalon, Godzilla began to walk south.

A growing feeling of discomfort had troubled him as he slept. Another titan had awoken. Like the MUTO’s he had faced in the past, it would grow and breed until even his strength would falter, overwhelmed by their brood. He could not let that happen. And so, with senses far more keen and strange than any other creature in existence, Godzilla followed the sensation south. Whatever had awoken him, he would find it there.

As Godzilla began to make his way through Michigan, conferences and meetings were being held across all arms of the government. With the battle raging in New Orleans, it was now apparent that King of the Monsters would be making his way to fight this new titan and her children. And when Godzilla and Zilla met, chaos was sure to occur.

But with all efforts being made to stop Zilla and her spawn in New Orleans, there was little the U.S. government could do as Godzilla drew closer and closer to his target. The only consolation came from Dr. Serizawa, who reminded those in charge that Godzilla had largely avoided populated areas previously. And if Godzilla defeated his opponents in Louisiana, he would almost certainly return to the ocean. And so the powers that be watched with bated breath and trembling hands as Godzilla made it into the New Orleans city limits 2 days after awakening…

Trampling everything in his way, Godzilla announced his arrival to New Orleans with a tremendous roar. The challenge echoed across the once most populous city in Louisiana as he waited for a reply. He could taste his opponent’s fishy scent on his tongue, the stench of it filling his nostrils. They were here. He would just have to draw them out… but the minutes began to add up as he waited. Impatient, he began lumbering toward the heart of the city, his senses alert. His eyes scanned the buildings as he walked, his ears honed for slightest sound of movement. He was the hunter, and he would find his prey.

Beneath his feet, the ground trembled. The saurian Zilla was moving, her world a frenzy of activity. For the last 2 days, a feeling of unease had been upon her. Her children were restless, constantly looking for food and shelter as she did her best to keep them safe in their nest. A predator was coming, and she would have to defend them.

Burrowing up from beneath the surface of the ground, she observed her opponent for the first time, sweeping his head from side to side as he looked for her. The pair of them were not dissimilar; both were vaguely reptilian with large scutes trailing down their spinal column. Both were powerfully built after their own fashion. And both were predators. Pulling herself from the ground, she stalked toward him. Block by block, she closed in on him until she felt comfortable that he had not seen her. With a quick roar, she leaped onto his back!

Caught by surprise, Godzilla cried out in pain! Though not heavy enough to knock him over, the smaller kaiju had latched onto his back with her claws. With a furious screech, Zilla slashed at Godzilla’s head and neck. His tough hide prevented far deadlier wounds, but he was soon covered in small, stinging lacerations. Bellowing in rage, Godzilla shook his body from side to side in an attempt to knock her off, but Zilla held all the tighter in response.

Desperate to free himself, the monster king turned toward the Plaza Tower. With sudden speed, he ducked forward, crashing his head into the building in a massive spray of rubble. Zilla, situated at his shoulders, was caught unaware and sent sprawling off of him in a heap.

Regaining his composure quickly, Godzilla made to stomp on the smaller titan. Eyes wide, she pushed away from him just as Godzilla’s foot came crashing down on the spot that she had been. Circling on all fours, she pulled away from him by a city block. The two creatures locked eyes, holding each other’s gaze.

Anger filled Zilla’s orange eyes, fierce and motherly.

Godzilla glowered at her, his own rage peaked. This creature had drawn first blood. It was time to return the favor.

With a booming roar, Godzilla charged toward the smaller kaiju. Zilla roared back in turn before meeting his charge with claws outstretched. She quickly outpaced her larger foe, moving past him with a quick slash of her left claw. The deadly talons left large marks across Godzilla’s thigh, but not so deep as to draw blood. Turning, Godzilla lashed out with his right claw, but Zilla ducked beneath the comparatively clumsy attack. She drew away from him again, ready to make another swift pass. She would have to find a softer spot to hit.

Godzilla emitted a roar of frustration as he planted his feet. He could not outrun the smaller titan, so he would have to use his size against her.

Zilla sprinted toward him once more. With two quick slashes, she raked her claws across Godzilla’s left side and belly before moving past him again. The alpha predator cried out in pain as blood began to trickle from his wounds. His armor was tough, but it did not make him invincible. He had to stop her hit and run tactics. He had to keep her still!

The smaller kaiju all but smiled as she rounded again on her rival. Blood dribbled from her claws as she went to make another pass. The titan king was too slow, too old to keep up with her. She would make him pay for coming after her brood!

Godzilla roared at Zilla once more, preparing his next move. If he could time it right, it would bring a swift victory. Zilla screeched her triumph and sprinted toward him again, claws ready. Ducking low and turning, Godzilla swung his long, heavy tail at Zilla with tremendous speed.
Her eyes went wide as the gargantuan tail raced toward her, reducing a row of buildings on Barrone street to a line of dust and smoke. Unable to slow down quickly enough to dodge the attack, she did the only thing she could. Before the tail could hit her, Zilla jumped. Up and over the attack she soared, but not so quick or high that Godzilla could not strike back.

Following through with the turning motion of his tail swipe, Godzilla spun to face Zilla as she passed his torso. With amazing speed and precision, the monster king lashed out at the leaping kaiju, using his head like a battering ram. His spiky, heavy skull collided with her chest as she went to leap past him. With a meaty thud, Zilla had the air knocked out of her as she tumbled backward, crashing into the Place St. Charles building.

The 645 foot tall building shuddered with her impact before crashing inward. Concrete and steel rained down onto the lithe monster, briefly burying her beneath the crumbled building. Moving as quickly as possible, Godzilla pushed into the rising cloud of dust and smoke as he sought to seize the advantage.

As Zilla clambered out of the rubble, Godzilla lashed out with a powerful kick. Catching her in the stomach with his powerful clawed foot, he sent his opponent sprawling into the next block. As Zilla rolled and writhed, trying to get to her feet, Godzilla charged again.

Roaring in anger, he stomped his right foot down onto her chest. Once, twice, three times he brought his foot down. Zilla coughed up blood with each strike, her ribs cracking audibly with the impacts.

With the final stomp Godzilla planted his foot on Zilla’s chest, pinning her in place. The smaller titan struggled desperately to escape, but her opponent was too strong. Her eyes rolled frantically in her head as an eerie blue glow began to emanate from Godzilla’s tail. Frantically she clawed at his leg as the light began to advance up his back, the light glowing brighter and brighter. Calling out into the night, Zilla watched as her enemy raised his head up, inhaling deeply.

Godzilla leaned forward to deliver the killing blow when suddenly he was pushed off balance! His focus entirely on the pinned Zilla, he had not noticed that her brood had come to her aid!
From out of their underground lair, dozens of young Zilla had appeared. The bulk of the beasts were nearly 10 feet tall dinosaur-like creatures not yet resembling their parent.

However, of her original nest in the swamp pit, 4 had survived. They had grown rapidly with each new day and feeding. These young titans stood just below 100 feet tall, their scutes finally starting to develop.

As they approached adolescence, their bodies had begun to developed muted colors to go alongside the natural grey of their species: lavender, rose, chartreuse, and daisy shown on their backs and belies. Acting as a pack, the group had split in half; two of the juvenile Zilla had crashed into their mother’s assailant while the other pair went to aid their mother.

Ducking their heads low, the pair of Zilla rammed Godzilla with their shoulder scutes. The spikes sank deep into Godzilla’s leg, drawing blood from the King of the Monsters. With a cry of pain, Godzilla was pushed off of Zilla, falling into the street and buildings a block over. Viciously, his two attackers pounced on his prone form.

No longer pinned, Zilla attempted to pull herself back to her feet to no avail; Godzilla had pushed her shoulder spikes deep into the earth beneath her. She cried out in frustration, but her young had already come to help her. Not quite strong enough to tear her loose from the ground, the pair began to frantically dig beneath their mother as she struggled to get free, rocking her body back and forth to loosen the dirt.

The lavender and rose Zilla pair continued their assault on Godzilla, slashing and biting at his prone body. Godzilla thrashed about, his armored hide yielding little blood to the attacks of the young titans.

Unfortunately for them, he had not lost his breath in the fall. Enraged, Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath at the rose colored Zilla, directly impacting his chest and throat. Unlike Megalon or the MUTO’s, Zilla’s species lacked a robust exoskeleton to resist the attack.

Like a flamethrower, his attack charred the youthful creature’s body in an instant. The rose colored kaiju’s skin blackened and crinkled, withering the muscle beneath and exposing bone. The monster shrieked in pain as the atomic fire burned his throat, spilling his life’s blood boiling into the street before it pierced his body and lanced into the buildings behind him in a massive explosion. Falling to the ground, the rose colored Zilla writhed briefly before it expired.

Godzilla lifted himself to his forward claws, the blue glow of his atomic energy still shimmering within his scutes. Around his hands and feet, dozens of the smaller Zilla swarmed. At ten feet tall, the damage they could do against their colossal enemy was limited, but it wouldn’t prevent them from trying.

The tiny monsters swarmed up his arms and legs, digging and biting at his flesh as others ran up toward his face and eyes. Blood welled up across his arms and legs from the swarming attack. Annoyed, Godzilla released his atomic breath again, incinerating the titans on his arms and legs with a carefully aimed blast. As the glow faded from his craggy spikes, he began to swat at the smaller Zilla on his face and neck.

Meanwhile, the brood’s mother had freed herself from the ground. Loose earth and asphalt tumbled from her back as she rolled her shoulders, ready to attack once more. Standing beside the three remaining juvenile titans, she watched as Godzilla crushed her children against the surrounding buildings like a bear scratching itself against a tree. She could hear the screeches of terror and sudden death as they were snuffed out by the ancient alpha predator. Beside her, the younger Zillas snarled and shook in anticipation.

Godzilla finished off the remainder of the Zilla horde and turned toward his remaining opponents. The streets around his feet were littered with the broken and lifeless bodies of the tiny kaiju.

Enraged, Zilla let out a trumpeting roar as emerald light raced up the length of her spine, illuminating her scutes like a light shown through a crystal. The green fire shown in her eyes before bursting from her roaring maw, the line of fire clearing the distance to Godzilla in an instant.

The beam of atomic energy hit Godzilla in the chest, eliciting a cry of pain from the monster king. The outer layer of his armored hide smoldered from the attack. In response he began to build up his own atomic breath, the blue light running up from the tip of his tail. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Godzilla’s deadly breath, Zilla released her children and charged.
The 4 saurian kaiju swarmed toward Godzilla, the lavender juvenile arriving first. With a quick slash of her claws, she struck Godzilla in the stomach as she passed his right side. The daisy and chartreuse colored juveniles followed a similar path, deviating only to the left after drawing blood from Godzilla’s belly. Godzilla swatted at the young monsters as they passed, catching the daisy highlighted Zilla across the face with his powerful claws. 3 large gashes were opened on the right side of her face, blinding her with her own blood. With a shriek she tumbled, rolling into the base of the Hancock Whitney building as she clutched her face in pain.

Zilla herself struck last, closing the distance to Godzilla in a single leap. Using her powerful hind legs she kicked and slashed at Godzilla’s chest like a raptor before landing in front of him. The armor already weakened by her radioactive breath, she sliced long bloody slashes into his chest. Godzilla roared in anger and pain as blood ran from the lacerations in his chest. Again he struck at her with his massive claws, only for her to duck out of the way.

From behind him came the three Zilla children again. The lavender and chartreuse pair struck at his flanks as their daisy color sister made a bold move. Furious and wounded, she shrieked and clambered up his back. Using his dorsal plates like stepping stones, she clawed and slashed her way up toward his head. As the adult Zilla circled around him, Godzilla slashed and shook his body in an attempt to dislodge the small yellow kaiju. Buildings trembled for miles around, shattering glass with each jarring impact as she held onto his neck and shoulders with her claws.
Firmly attached to his head, she opened her moth to use her own special attack. A burst of fiery gas exploded from her mouth, the orange flames singeing the back of Godzilla’s head. Her siblings, seeing the attack, cried out excitedly, and began to circle Godzilla, attacking with their own immature breath weapons. Roaring in annoyance, Godzilla bent downward and grabbed for his shoulder riding nuisance.

Caught up in the thrill of her successful attack, the young Zilla was unable to escape the grasping claws which ensnared her. With immense strength and speed, Godzilla tossed the smaller kaiju to the ground. Stunned by the impact, the daisy kaiju was powerless to defend herself as Godzilla stomped down on her back. With two powerful downward thrusts of his left foot, Godzilla had crushed the juvenile Zilla’s spine with a loud crunch. The daisy colored Zilla’s orange eyes, so full of life and energy seconds before, dimmed as blood ran from her open mouth.

Devastated by the loss of their sister, the lavender and chartreuse Zilla rushed her killer. The lavender Zilla circled as her green brother charged in, attempting to climb up Godzilla’s back as his daisy sister had done.

Unwilling to allow another climber onto his back, Godzilla struck first. With a quick swing of his tail, Godzilla caught the chartreuse kaiju across the torso. The heavy appendage pulverized the young kaiju’s rib cage and spine, sending his broken body flying into the night. He crashed into the nearby One Canal Place, which collapsed atop him in an expanding cloud of dust and glass.
With nothing left to lose, the remaining Zilla child ran to meet her fate. As Godzilla lifted back up from his tail attack, the purple beast pounced onto his chest. Sinking her claws deeply into Godzilla’s shoulders, the little monster attempted to do as much damage as possible to her siblings’ killer.

She slashed with her hind legs across his belly and bit at his throat with her powerful jaws. As blood began to run across the front of his body, Godzilla reached up and grabbed the lavender Zilla in his powerful claws.

The speed of Zilla and her brood had forced him to rely on his claws to strike, but Godzilla’s primary weapon had always been his teeth. Snarling, he snapped at the purple kaiju’s head and neck before clamping his powerful jaws around her throat.

With a burbling cry, the young Zilla tried desperately to escape as Godzilla sank his teeth deeper and deeper into her throat. Hot blood poured from the wound, running down Godzilla’s face and neck. Shaking his head like a bull dog, Godzilla tore her throat from her body and dropped her to the ground.

Incensed, Godzilla looked around for the parent but he could find no trace of her. Relaxing his shoulders for a moment, Godzilla exhaled. His body was sore, he was bleeding from dozens of small wounds, not to mention the slashes across his chest. But he still had one more opponent to face.

Seeing the lifeless bodies of her children fallen on the ground, Zilla let out a heart wrenching screech. Godzilla whipped around to locate the slender kaiju two blocks away from him, her body shaking with grief and rage.

Her orange eyes, so like his own, brimmed with tears as green light raced up her spiky back. Each scute was quickly illuminated a row at a time, starting from the tip of her tail to the massive spikes on her shoulders. In a flash, Zilla’s tears evaporated as light and heat bloomed from her eyes. Opening her toothy mouth wide, the smaller kaiju let loose with her atomic breath in a swirling stream of green fire.

But Godzilla was ready for her. His own atomic breath burst from his mouth, the blue plasma colliding with green in a blinding flash of light between them! Sparks flew as the two kaiju poured forth their power in a struggle for dominance. A pulsing cloud of energy was building at the impact point. Blue and green rays of light danced and swirled within the cloud like an aurora, the colors cascading over the ruins of New Orleans.

Zilla’s eyes widened in shock as she held onto the thread of her breath. She had never experienced something like this before! Her vision was a haze of blue and green light, keeping her opponent’s form concealed from her. Digging her clawed feet into the earth beneath her, she braced herself against the blast. If she could just manage to hold on, perhaps she could escape, regroup. She had to if she was going to make the murderer of her children pay!

Godzilla kept his breath firing in a steady flow of power. In his long life, he had mastered the use of his atomic breath. He knew its strengths and weaknesses inside and out. His opponent’s weapon may have been a different color than his own, but its function was the same.

Zilla had led the attack with a powerful blast, attempting to overpower him quickly. If he had been less experienced, perhaps it would have worked. The struggle of beams was as much an act of balance as it was power. A wrong move could spell disaster if the energies were interrupted at the wrong time. And so he let her push herself to the limit, the meeting point of the beams drawing closer and closer to him.

A new light shown in Zilla’s eyes. She was winning! She took a difficult step forward, attempting to push the energy back on Godzilla.

Feeling the balance of the beams shift between them, Godzilla made his move. He increased the power of his breath as blue light began to pulse down the length of the ray. Zilla, no longer braced, stumbled with the sudden push from her opponent. Immediately her green radioactive beam began to wither as the cloud of energy raced toward her.

Pushing his advantage further, Godzilla stepped toward the struggling kaiju as he fired, keeping his head held low and forward to maintain the balance of the beams. Zilla’s eyes widened in fear as her breath finally gave out, breaking the balance of power in a massive explosion, sending an earthquake-like tremor for miles around. Relinquishing his flames, Godzilla raised his head to the sky and roared in victory.

With a cacophonous sound, a shock wave of plasma rolled across the landscape as a strange blue and green fireball expanded skyward. Zilla, her lithe frame over 7 times lighter than Godzilla’s, was tossed end over end away from the blast. Careening through the air, the saurian kaiju screamed before smashing headfirst into the rubble nearly 300 meters away, sending up a shower of concrete and steel.

The smoke cleared before Godzilla saw Zilla again, still laying where she had fallen. Her leathery skin was charred and bleeding, the energy released from the explosion having ravaged her aching body.

With a weak cry she attempted to lift herself up from the ground, failing to pick herself up on the first try.

Shakily she rose again, forced to support herself on all 4 limbs due to the pain from her broken ribs. Her hearing was nonexistent except for a constant ringing noise. Blood ran from her mouth and nostrils. The fall had even managed to crack the large scute above her right shoulder, its pointed tip left embedded in the earth.

Stomping across the black and broken surface of ground zero, Godzilla called out against his opponent once more. His powerful roar echoed across the city, managing to penetrate the ringing in Zilla’s ears. She looked up at the monster king and their eyes met across the battlefield.
Desperation and pain filled the smaller titan’s eyes, power and confidence the larger. Enraged, Zilla screeched back at Godzilla, but the threat was empty. With a snort that flared his gilled neck, Godzilla stalked toward Zilla.

Her body weak and frail, Zilla considered her options for a single second before turning tail and running. In her current condition, she couldn’t possibly defeat Godzilla. Her only hope was to escape and rebuild her brood. Alone she could not beat him, but together perhaps they could. Painfully, she ran faster and faster for the glistening water of the gulf.

Outpacing him even in her weakened state, Godzilla summoned his atomic breath once more. Blue light ran up his back, pulsing from within the craggy dorsal plates. Like a line of fire, the plasma burst from his mouth and flashed toward his opponent.

But the smaller titan was still too fast, the ray striking the ground where she had stood a second before. Eyes bulging from their sockets, Zilla pushed harder. She would not survive another blast. In the water she would outpace him. She just had to make it! Rearing back, Godzilla fired another blast as Zilla jumped for the gulf, just half a block from the waterline.

Time seemed to slow as she leaped, the line of blue fire rushing toward the saurian kaiju. Still rising through the air, Zilla watched as her enemy’s attack passed directly beneath her! The flaming atomic breath of Godzilla came so close to her that Zilla could feel the immense heat across her body, scorching the leathery skin of her belly.

With an immense blast of steam, the beam struck the surface of the water as Zilla arced over it to disappear beneath the waves. Trailing blood behind her, she swam with all that she had. She had to get as far away from Godzilla as possible.

Enraged, Godzilla stomped his clawed right foot into the ground, cracking the pavement beneath him and rattling structures for miles around. Megalon had escaped him in Chicago, but this one would not! So long as she was alive, he was in danger of being overrun by her spawn. He would not let her escape so long as she posed such a threat.

With grim determination he made his way to the shore and dove forward into the water. In seconds he was gone, once more on the trail of his quarry. Behind him, the people of New Orleans and the United States at large breathed a sigh of relief. Though the destruction was immense, the monsters were gone. Perhaps now, they could finally begin to rebuild.

Winner: Godzilla (Legendary)

Author: Landon Soto  | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski

An old fashioned town hidden in the jungles of Japan, claimed to be one of the last few existing places that had an almost direct link to the gods, would have their faith finally tested.

A young brother and sister duo playfully ran far beyond the town limits; they wanted to know what lay beyond the dense trees and fog. They ran, farther until they reached a shore. White sandy beaches and gorgeous waves playfully washed against the shore, the midday sun offered its warmth.

The kids played in the sand for a couple of minutes, before the water in the distance began to bubble and churn. A very familiar sound filled the air, a sound the children usually heard at night on rare occasions.

A large, spiky, brownish-red crustacean poked its head out of the water. Beady red eyes on stalks scoured the area, its eyes caught sight of the siblings. The creature began to slowly make its way toward the children.

This was the creature that they heard on certain nights. Its cry echoed across the land, but it always disappeared quickly. Now this giant crustacean was actively seeking them out. It would take a few minutes, but they could follow the path home, and warn everyone about the monster!

*****

Two men guarding the main town entrance were alarmed to see the two kids come from out the jungle. The children pleaded with them to help warn the town, although skeptic at first, believing it to be a practical joke, they too heard the sound of the creature.

Immediately, people were urged to hide in their bunkers that protected them from intense storms, the sound of the sea beast grew louder and louder as time passed. One man, an elder, swiftly made his way up the side of a small hill, there he spotted the beast. Ganimes.

The creature was searching, it didn’t need to rush, and food would come soon. The old man, taken aback, swiftly made his way to a shrine that had a sun symbol painted on it. The man put his hand on the symbol and began to mutter. The symbol in the wooden shrine began to glow a bright golden light.

Gray clouds rolled in, rain poured down onto the settlement, Ganimes was here. The mutant crustacean searched eagerly, unable to find any sign of the people. The monster was close to demolishing the whole town, but it stopped, it felt the presence of another being.

A pillar of light struck the ground behind Ganimes, ripping a large hole open in the gray clouds, exposing the blue sky. The sudden brightness caught the attention of the crustacean, mesmerized by the sight. A silhouette formed as the light faded, revealed to be the legendary warrior, Utsuno Ikusagami!

Light bounced off the silver and gold armor of Utsuno Ikusagami, the golden wings on his back shimmered in the sunlight. Ganimes screeched as it raised its terrible claws, charging the shining warrior. Utsuno Ikusagami easily stopped Ganimes, his metal hands gripped the claws of the monster, the silver and gold guardian easily hurled the crustacean overhead, Ganimes landed far from the village, trees flattened under its spiked carapace, mud shot into the air.

Ganimes screeched in shock as the monster propped itself upward, trying its luck again, the crustacean charged once more. Utsuno turned around to face the creature and stood his ground. Ganimes lunged at the sun god and spewed a bubbly blob that splashed against the helmet of Utsuno Ikusagami.

Utsuno Ikusagami let out a low grumbling noise as he clutched his face. Ganimes soon slammed into the god, the attack forced the sun warrior to stumble, Ganimes shrieked in pleasure as Utsuno fell to one knee, still clutching the front of his helmet.

Ganimes screeched, ready to tear apart the hero of the sun. The crustacean menace charged once more, oblivious to Utsuno Ikusagami’s right arm, suspiciously placed behind his back.

Ganimes raised both his claws, ready to batter and beat the god. Perhaps there was a delectable meat inside that shell of his. However, Utsuno had other plans. The shining warrior immediately rose to both feet and swung his right arm upward, the sword of Karasai in his hand! Ganimes was stunned, but its mind was soon flooded with pain as the blade cut both pincers off cleanly, spurts of blue blood sprayed from both stumps as exposed crab meat met the breeze.

Ganimes cried out in pain, the sun warrior had successfully baited the crustacean, humoring it before getting serious. Utsuno switched the sword to his left hand and punched the crustacean square in the head, blue blood trickled down its spiky face. The crustacean stumbled about, letting out a low screech.

Normally Utsuno wouldn’t be so violent toward an animal, even the giant ones; however, he knew the truth. As soon as he arrived, he felt the malice that emanated from the creature, the host inside was extraterrestrial. Yes, this beast was not like the large blue allosaurus, giant primate ‘god’, Kong, or even Godzilla.

This hostile alien, Yog, took a harmless creature from mother Earth, and mutated it beyond recognition. He could see the countless people this thing had already slaughtered, solely to carry out its own twisted, sinister plot. This vile intruder had gone too far, now it had to answer to him.

The golden medallion on Utsuno Ikusagami’s helmet shined bright as particles of sunlight were absorbed into it. The Yog creature lifted its head seeing the bright light, the last thing it would ever see.

A large beam of light fired from the medallion and collided with Ganimes, its body violently exploded, the exoskeleton immediately charred, and the Yog virus was instantly vaporized. The beam stopped and allowed the dust to settle.

A large circle of scorched Earth took the place Ganimes was standing before. Utsuno Ikusagami turned and saw the old man on the hill waving; the sun god gave his old friend thumbs up before fading into millions and millions of sun particles, floating back to the heavens above.

The siblings who encountered Ganimes, stared in awe as they caught a short glimpse of the legendary Utsuno Ikusagami, the warrior who saved their lives, and stopped the dreaded sea monster.

Winner: Utsuno Ikusagami

Author: Matthew Williams | Banner: Matthew Williams

The Garogas were desperate to find a way to wipe out humanity and the last members of Peaceland, the Zone Family. Throughout their previous missions to conquer Earth, they had sent out specialized kaiju of their own creation, dubbed the “Terror-Beasts,” and had sent them to lay waste to the populated planet. But every time, their greatest arch-nemesis, Zone Fighter, would show up along with his family to stop them. Red Spark was the first to fall, then Destro-King, followed by Needlar. Each monster they had sent were defeated by Zone Fighter and the reformed Godzilla. Not even the two kaiju that were once controlled by the Space Hunter Nebula M, Gigan and the second King Ghidorah, stood a chance to defeat them. It was until the death of Grotogauros where the destructive alien race finally had it with this war, and had to retreat. And to that day, it was thanks to Zone Fighter and the Zone Family who foiled the Garogas’ plan of conquering the earth, where they were never heard from again.

At least, that was what the Garoga wanted them to think.

They had fled, but not nearly as far as humanity thought. A new fortress had been built on Mars, with three Terror-Beasts rebuilt to guard it. The bipedal insectoid Wargilgar, the beaked cyborg Spyler, and the drill headed Zandora. Resources were scarce for the Garoga in this solar system, forcing them to look for other methods of building an attack force. And years of watching the Earth from a distance finally paid off for them one fateful day in 1992…

In Japan, a battle between two titans was drawing to a close. A golden, bipedal dragon with three serpentine necks screeched at his foe, colossal fan-like wings kicking up heavy winds as his twin tails beat the ground. Opposite him was a black saurian, with bone-white spines jutting out of his back and running all the way down to the end of his tail.

The King Ghidorah currently battling was not the same which had terrorized the stars for eons. This was a copy created by people from the future, designed to wreak havoc upon Japan in the past to ensure it never achieved global dominance. But to the Garoga watching, hidden in the clouds until the perfect moment, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was the near-perfect image of the King of Terror.

The three-headed monster lunged forward, wrapping his center neck around Godzilla’s throat. The nuclear behemoth, far different from the one the Garoga had contended with two decades ago, clawed at his foe in an attempt to escape. The grip only tightened, crushing the saurian’s windpipe. Soon, foam began pouring from his mouth as blackness overtook his vision.

That was, until the spines on his back flashed blue, a moment before a wave of nuclear force erupted from Godzilla’s body in all directions. The Nuclear Pulse sent King Ghidorah flying back, smoke curling off his body as screams left his three jaws. Suddenly, the clouds above them parted, as a Garoga ship descended at rapid speeds. A tractor beam left its underside, surrounding the golden dragon in a shimmering field of energy as it lifted him off the ground.

Godzilla, taking in the leftover energy of the pulse, charged up another ray. Azure bolts of energy danced along his spines for a brief second, until he fired a ray with two purple spirals around it. The Spiral Ray slammed into the restrained dragon’s stomach, blasting away flesh and leaving deep burns. King Ghidorah howled for a moment until he went unconscious. The Garoga ship ascended as soon as it had descended, King Ghidorah in tow. Godzilla charged another ray to blast the ship out of the sky. The flying saucer disappeared into the clouds, which were soon parted by an atomic ray which struck nothing.

The three-headed monster was transported to the fortress, and placed inside a colossal chamber deep within. The room was filled with gas designed to keep the dragon asleep, as the scientists from a control room above the main chamber monitored their capture. As the Garoga think tanks discussed how to bend King Ghidorah’s will to their own, alarms signaled that the dragon was beginning to stir. As the Garoga rushed to up the dosage of gas, more alarms blared.

Six snake-like eyes opened, taking in a completely different scene to the one he had last been in. The wound in his stomach was healed, but he could tell not all was right. King Ghidorah flapped his wings, pushing himself off the ground and onto his feet. More slits in the walls opened, pumping more knockout gas into the chamber. Finally, King Ghidorah looked up to see the scientists.

All was silent for a moment as gears churned in the three-headed monster’s mind.

Gravity Beams tore into the walls, reducing them to rubble with ease. The Garoga turned to flee, only for a single ray to shatter the pane of glass they had been looking through. In an instant, some of the greatest minds of a galactic empire had been turned to ash. If his mouths weren’t preoccupied with spraying death and destruction across the walls of his prison, King Ghidorah would have laughed. He had just been freed of one group of masters, he would not succumb to another. Less than a minute had passed, and already the outside world as open to him.

King Ghidorah crawled out of his containment chamber, looking around his surroundings of the barren wasteland. Already, a sudden chill ran down the hydra’s spines and scales. The planet was too cold for his liking. He turned to see the base the aliens had built. Hissing in anger, he turned his wrath upon the greater structure of his captors.

In the Garoga Fortress, the Baron Garoga stared at the screen, displaying live feed of King Ghidorah’s rampage through the secret base. The hard work of his people, being torn apart by a creation of the lower race they found themselves bested by time and time again. Before he could scream, the feed changed and showed the hideous face of a Red Garoga, who served as a commander of the facility.

“Leader, we have begun the evacuation! And we’re awaiting orders!” The commander hastily reported.

“Very good commander, send in Wargilgar, Spyler, and Zandora to combat King Ghidorah!” The gold headed alien order.

“Yes sir!” The Red Garoga obeyed before cutting off the feed.

King Ghidorah continued his destructive rampage on the base, with half of it being reduced to a pile of debris. Three shrilling cries caught King Ghidorah’s attention. The heads of the Garoga creation turned to see where the cries came from, and saw the three Terror-Beasts already being released to combat him. Wargilgar shrieked loudly to show his intimidation, being almost as tall as the dragon. Next to him, Spyler cackled when he raised his claws, he was ready for this battle and was quite energetic for it. And then there was the third, undoubtedly the strangest Terror-Beast of all, Zandora. The drill head creature clapped his shovel hands while he emitted strange sounds that sounded like laughter, as if he was trying to taunt Ghidorah.

The mutant Dorat sneered at the Terror-Beasts, annoyed by the sounds they made. But since they were so eager to fight him, this would be a good time to test his ability to fight without a guiding hand.

Spyler and Zandora both charged in at once, combing their strength to ram themselves against King Ghidorah, ignoring the Gravity Beams that were fired by the dragon. The three-headed monster shrieked when he felt the two strange creatures tackling him, with enough force to cause him to stagger back. Spyler cried out when he continue his assault, swiping his pincers on King Ghidorah’s scaly hide. Zandora helped along by pummeling their foe with his shovel hands. The two heads of King Ghidorah reached down, biting down on Spyler’s neck and shoulder. The beaked monster cried out, clamping on the right head’s neck to force him off. All was naught as he was slowly being lifted. Spyler cried out to Zandora to do something and quick, but the left head of the hydra spat out a Gravity Beam on the drill monster’s back. Zandora cried out, patting on his scorched back as he limped away. Spyler squeezed the neck tighter, only for Ghidorah’s two heads to slam him down to the Martian soil.

The Terror-Beast cried out when his knees roughly landed on the surface of Mars, where he was promptly lifted up again. Wargilgar helped his comrade when he extended the double-barreled cannons out of his mandibles, firing explosive bullets on King Ghidorah’s exposed chest. The fused Dorat abomination groaned as his heads released Spyler. Wargilgar took a few steps closer as he fired another round from his cannons, which kept him busy. This gave Zandora the chance to ram the hydra with the red tipped drill on his oddly shaped head. The golden dragon cried out when he landed flat on his back, kicking in his desperate attempt to get back to his feet. Zandora laughed mockingly at the downed kaiju and gave him a good taste of molten hot steam that expelled out of the tubes on his neck. Miniature explosions emitted around the white cloudy vapors when they touched King Ghidorah’s golden scales, causing his heads to shriek in agony when they spewed their Gravity Beams at the Terror-Beast.

Zandora cried out when fell down, flailing about as until he flopped around onto his chest. He pierced the barren surface with his drill and tunneled his way down, shoveling the excess with its odd shaped hands. King Ghidorah was about to use his gravity rays on Zandora, but his attentions shifted to Wargilgar when he heard him moving in to attack. The Terror-Beast shrieked when his mandibles sprayed a stream of fire, scorching the golden hydra’s thick hide. King Ghidorah’s three heads cried out when they retaliated, the left head lunged forth, ignoring the flames as he clamped his teeth down on Wargilgar’s long neck. Spyler immediately got up when he heard his partner’s painful screech; he repeatedly brought his claws down on King Ghidorah’s left head several times until it released its ally. Spyler didn’t stop his assault; he swung his claw up to stun the middle head, as he grabbed a hold of the right head. Wargilgar chittered in glee when he lowered his head and began to chew down the Dorat mutant’s neck with his mandible, ripping bits of the tough scales.

Irritated, King Ghidorah’s central head snapped at Spyler’s arm, forcing him to back off. The strange bird-like creature cried out when he grabbed his bitten wrist, where alien blood seeped from it. The middle head fired a Gravity Beam at Wargilgar. The long-necked insect shrieked angrily when he grabbed the right head again with his claws. Wargilgar was electrocuted by another gravity beam from the Dorat mutant, which finally got him to step back.

Wargilgar readied himself to exhale a gout of fire from his mandibles, but Ghidorah thought of a neat trick that he could do. Strong gusts of winds were made when the mighty dragon flapped his wings, blowing Wargilgar’s flames back at him and ignited against him as he screeched painfully. He immediately stopped spewing his combustible breath, but the damage had been done. Its body was now coated in a blaze before it was partly extinguished by the strong gusts. Spyler shielded his face with his claws, blocking off the cloud of dust and debris that were blown away, while Wargilgar squealed when he slipped and landed on his chest, crying out to get back up. Spyler tried to move closer, but it was so hard to do when the gale force grew stronger. King Ghidorah made it more difficult for him when his middle head spewed a gravity bolt at him, but Spyler barely held onto his footing when he rested on his right knee. The Laser Terror-Beast then spread his arms, unleashing a series of flashing lights from the orange sockets on his chest.

In a matter of seconds, King Ghidorah’s shrieked when his vision immediately went blurry the instant he gazed upon the tremendous lights. The three heads cackled and waved around as they couldn’t see anything. As if luck wasn’t on his side, the ground shook beneath his feet before it collapsed, having the Dorat mutant cry out when his feet and tail were stuck a tunnel that Zandora had created. Wargilgar and Spyler both recovered and narrowed at King Ghidorah, where they both slowly advanced to him, and began to stomp and kicked his heads. The irradiated hydra panicked as he couldn’t see properly, and flapped his wings to pull himself out of the open chasm. Zandora began to laugh as he held onto the blind hydra’s soles, tugging so that he couldn’t escape. When Spyler began to strangle the right head with his claws, Wargilgar slammed his foot down on the left head. King Ghidorah shrieked in agony when he felt his buried body being boiled up by Zandora’s emitting steam. Small bursts of sparks came out of King Ghidorah’s body as it began to dry up, causing him to writhe in agony, even when he was on a cold planet like Mars.

In a desperate effort to get out of the hole, King Ghidorah’s two tails flailed about until one of them batter Zandora’s back, raking his hide with the sharp spikes on the tip. The Earth Eating Terror-Beast cried out as his grip slipped away. Feeling that his legs were now freed, King Ghidorah’s central head fired a Gravity Beam at Wargilgar’s chest. The insect creature screamed loudly when he staggered back, then was blasted again when the central and left head combined they’re concentrated electric rays, making him topple down to the ground. Spyler cried out in shock when he tried to snap the hydra’s right neck, but like Wargilgar, he was met with two Gravity Beams that struck his belly.

King Ghidorah flapped his wings to ascend him out of the gaping hole, where he slowly managed to get his legs out. Zandora tried to reach for one of the two tails, but the three headed monster jumped when his wings carried him into the air, causing the tail to slip away from the Terror-Beast’s grip. King Ghidorah kept flapping his wings as he adjusted himself, as he turned around to fly directly at his enemies. Spyler spread his arms, his knobs fired up the tremendous lights again. Ghidorah prevented him from using that cheap trick when he fired his Gravity Beams, striking at the socket-covered chest. Spyler groaned as it staggered back, but when it looked up, the next thing it saw was the hydra’s soles.

With one single mid-flight kick directly at the chest, Spyler was easily lurched back as he cried out in pain. His feet made contact with the ravaging fire that engulfed the remains of the ruined Garoga secret base. King Ghidorah’s three heads cackled in malice, all unleashed their gravitational beams, creating a series of explosions that engulfed the Laser Terror-Beast. Spyler was then met with an electric bolt striking his face, as it was more than enough to have him slowly collapse on the burning debris, groaning before he went unconscious.

Wargilgar moved in to save Spyler, but King Ghidorah denied this when he flew by the Garoga insect, clubbing him with his two tails. Wargilgar crashed on the ground as he lay on his back, his head looked up to see the three-headed monster. He watched the soaring Dorat mutant making a left turn, assuming that he was going use his beam weapon again. Extending his double-barrel cannon and carefully aiming at the incoming hydra, Wargilgar fired the cannons as the rounds struck King Ghidorah’s chest. The hydra shrieked when he felt a fireball erupting from his chest, forcing him to roughly land on his feet, nearly tripping to fall flat on his chest. The heads leered at Wargilgar, wrathfully screeching at the orange-blue creature.

Before he could make his next move, dirt and debris shot up to the air when Zandora emerged from the subsurface and quickly drew out his hands that sprayed out molten hot steam. The three heads of the mighty hydra screamed in agony when they felt the miniature explosions and sizzling vapors that burn through their faces, forcing him to jerk his heads back and rear up, tall enough to tower over his bizarre enemies. King Ghidorah flapped his mighty wings to create winds that were almost as powerful as a hurricane’s, and although they were powerful enough to blow the emitting steam back at Zandora. The severe burning white clouds, along with their explosive properties, didn’t seem to cause any harm on the Terror-Beast’s hide, nor was it strong enough to push him away. Zandora chuckled when he slowly moved closer to the dragon, still firing his steam from his shovel-forehands. But King Ghidorah soon got him to stop by firing the Gravity Beams, which had the subterranean Garoga weapon wildly wave his hands and cried out.

Wargilgar got up to his feet and charged in, repeatedly firing his mouth cannon. Four rounds managed to land a direct hit on the three headed monster. King Ghidorah shrieked in pain by the explosive rounds that left burn wounds on his hide, but then he shrieked louder when Wargilgar rammed his ant-like head on the wound. The Destruction Terror-Beast began to chew through the scales, but it was a fatal mistake for him when the central head of the three-headed dragon looked down and opened its maw.

The Baron Garoga watched in disappointment when the screen showed Wargilgar’s long neck blowing up in chunks of flesh when the central head spewed gravitational lightning, causing the head of the Terror-Beast to fall while the body collapsed. The golden alien banged his desk with his fist when King Ghidorah let loose a sinister cackle. He had no other choice. He didn’t want to send in any more Terror-Beasts and have them go to waste, but he would only send in one, just to save what was left of his secret base. He then gave his order to his henchmen.

”Deploy Jikiro!”

From the side of the Garoga Space Station, a red rocket was launched as it made a beeline toward Mars. The Baron Garoga was putting his hopes into one of the strongest Terror-Beasts that his people had ever created. Should he fall, then his plans for vengeance on both the Earthlings and the Zone Family would be delayed.

With Wargilgar dead, Spyler now a burnt husk, Zandora was now the last of the trio. The Earth-Eating Terror-Beast cried out a furious shriek when he charged in, lowering his head as his drill spun at rapid speeds. King Ghidorah swung his three heads to the side, ramming them against Zandora and knocked him down on one of the buildings of the Garoga secret base. The structures were flattened as the creature made a weaken cry. Despite lacking any eyes, his drill-shaped head tilted up as if he were looking back at the towering kaiju that stood before him. King Ghidorah cackled at his fallen enemy and slammed his foot down on Zandora’s chest to crush him. Zandora cried out when his tubes sprayed steam, which made the dragon retreat to avoid any further injury. Zandora’s groans turned into laughter when he got up, lashing out his shovel hands to whack King Ghidorah’s chest.

The hydra stepped away from Zandora, folding his wings to shield his heads when the strange creature sprayed more steam onto him. King Ghidorah could feel his wings burning away as they were about to dry up. It seemed like Zandora wasn’t going stop his molten vapor spray anytime soon. There was one thing that he could do, and it was going to hurt a lot. Bracing himself to endure the superheated steam, King Ghidorah unfolded his wings that he used for defense, where his three heads were being scaled. The hydra made his last attempt to turn the tables around when he spewed Gravity Beams at Zandora.

The Terror-Beast cried out when he stumbled back, but he wasn’t going let a mere bolt stop him from continuing the fight. Zandora sped forth and slapped King Ghidorah’s central with his shovel hands, the right head sprang up like a snake, nipping at the alien’s wrist. Zandora cried out when he wrapped his other arm around the neck of the dragon, which had the left and central heads fired their beams at the Terror-Beast’s bizarre looking head.

Zandora let go of King Ghidorah as he fell on his back and felt his aching waist. The mutated Dorat mercilessly refused to let him get back up to have a chance as his heads kept shooting out electric volts. Zandora didn’t make another sound when he felt sparks and explosions bathing his body. It didn’t take long, for the Terror-Beast exploded into several chunks that rained down everywhere, with his damaged red drill landing next to the severed head of Wargilgar.

King Ghidorah’s three heads cackled now that the trio had fallen, his burnt wounds began to cool down by the Martian air. Although his wings were damaged, they were still functional whenever he needed to take off to the skies. The hydra turned to face the remains of the Garoga’s secret base as he resumed on his destructive rampage.

However, for the Futurian creation, his victory was short lived when he noticed a missile falling from the sky. King Ghidorah’s central head was about to ready his Gravity Beam to shoot it down, but the object erupted on its own, several hundred meters above the surface of Mars. A thick light gray cloud of smoke shrouded the air, as a large object fell through. A huge parachute was deployed so that it would soften the impact when it touched down. The entity appeared to be a robot, built for combat and destruction, obviously indicative by the Gatling gun seen on the right hand. Arguably said to be the strongest creation the Garogas had invented, the Magnetic Terror-Beast Jikiro was ready for combat the moment he gently landed on the ground.

The machine detached his parachute and made a metallic screech when he raised his arms. King Ghidorah shrieked back at the new threat, but Jikiro responded by firing rounds from his Gatling gun hand. The robot showed no emotion when the mutant Dorat shrieked painfully from the barrage of light bullets that pierced his hide, but he ceased his fire when King Ghidorah fired Gravity Beams at him, as sparks busted out of his tough armor. The draconic wings flapped as they carried the dragon to the air. Jikiro watched King Ghidorah flying directly toward him, all three of his heads shrieking madly. Jikiro aimed his right barreled gun hand as his tail lit up a bright golden light. Jikiro fired the Lightning Ray at the incoming threat.

King Ghidorah crash landed as he shrieked in agony as he felt his aching limbs go numb after bracing through the lightning bolt that was as powerful as his Gravity Beams. Jikiro screeched when he moved closer to gaze down with his crimson robotic eyes. The machine lifted his left hand while he waved his right arm. Then King Ghidorah’s body was lifted a few feet in the air without even moving a muscle, as if he were being levitated. The golden dragon was being drawn toward Jikiro, as his chest made contact with left hand like a piece of metal being connected to a magnet. King Ghidorah’s three heads tried to tear through the Terror-Beast’s armor with their jaws, but not even the strongest bite could leave a single dent on the metallic hide. Jikiro made another metallic cry, when his gun-hand fired a shot of lightning up close to King Ghidorah’s waist. The hydra was freed from the magnetic forearm when Jikiro shoved him away with a mighty heave. The dragon stumbled back before falling flat on his chest and groaned as blood seeped out from the wound that he received below his ribcage.

Jikiro screeched when he stepped closer to the injured mutant, aiming his gun hand. But just then, King Ghidorah’s central head lifted up and fired a gravitational beam at the Terror-Beast’s head. The eyes of the robot flickered for a moment when he shrieked, stepping back as King Ghidorah rose up to regain his footing. No matter how painful his injuries were, he wasn’t going surrender to the Garogas and let their war machine best him.

The bionic Terror-Beast pulled a huge pile of debris with his magnet hand and caught it as he slowly marched toward King Ghidorah. The Garoga war machine cried out when he swung the pile of metal and concrete at the hydra’s right head, leaving behind a few scrapes on the scaly skin. King Ghidorah cried out angrily when he fired Gravity Beams at Jikiro, causing a shower of sparks and flares to burst out for each electric bolt that lanced the robot’s armor. Jikiro screeched when he took minor damage, as he quickly drew out his right hand, rapidly firing light bullets like an assault rifle. King Ghidorah cackled when the destructive rounds pelted against his golden scales. He used his still functioning wings and took flight, passing by Jikiro as his tails raked against his metal hide.

Jikiro prevented King Ghidorah from flying any farther when he turned to use his magnetism, and once again, the three headed monster came to halt before he was pulled backward. King Ghidorah’s scaly back was stuck with Jikiro’s magnetic hand as the machine constantly pummeled the three necks with his right hand. King Ghidorah tried to pull himself out of the machine’s grasp, but even with the significant height difference, the magnetic power that it wield made it impossible to do so. With a great amount of strength, Jikiro threw the shrieking mutant to the side, only to be pulled back to him with his magnetic hand. This, however, gave Ghidorah a vantage point where he reached out and sank his teeth into Jikiro’s left arm. The machine reacted to the dragon’s attempt to tear away his magnetic hand by firing lightning into the dragon’s chest, separating the two.

Mechanical shrieks emitted from Jikiro’s mouth when he used his magnetism again. But all of a sudden, King Ghidorah’s three heads shrieked in fury when he burst in with speed and slammed his towering body against the heavy robot. The two behemoths toppled down the surface of Mars, with Ghidorah being the first to get up on his feet. The three-headed monster took a few steps back, cackling as he fired golden rays at the downed machine that was slowly pulling himself up. Despite his armor being fairly durable, Jikiro was beginning to take some serious damage from the beams that kept striking him.

Jikiro fired another round of light bullets, in which Ghidorah took notice and used his folding wings to shield himself. The Terror-Beast ceased his rapid fire and aimed his magnet hand behind while he waved his gun hand and began to pull something. This time, it was Wargilgar’s headless carcass. The machine caught the body and hurled it toward King Ghidorah while he unfolded his wings. The three heads shot out their beams at once, incinerating the hurled Wargilgar corpse into smithereens.

Jikiro then tried to pull the charred body of Spyler with his magnet hand, but all the sudden, a gravity ray burst out of the jaws of Ghidorah’s central head, tearing through the left arm. Sparks rained out of Jikiro’s shoulder stump, as the destroyed limb landed on the ground. The situation was dire. Without his magnetism, Jikiro was now left at the mercy of King Ghidorah’s wrath; the Garogas hoped their ultimate weapon of destruction would be spared. With his Gatling gun-hand now the only functioning weapon left, Jikiro used it to fire lightning. King Ghidorah didn’t stop when he was electrocuted by the robot’s last weapon. His left head spewed out ray as Jikiro fired another bolt.

The two beam weapons struck each other and triggered a massive explosion in the center between the titanic creatures. King Ghidorah took flight and shot through the thick smoke, surprising Jikiro by slamming his foot at the machine’s dragon-like face. Jikiro waved his remaining arm when he staggered back, where he was then raked again by the sharp spikes on Ghidorah’s tails when he passed by. As the bioengineered dragon steered himself, Jikiro turned to face the incoming threat, where his gun hand unleashed another high voltage bolt. King Ghidorah shrieked loudly when he was struck. It made his limbs feel numb again. But he had to press on as his three heads combined their golden rays to block Jikiro’s second use of his electrical beam.

The Magnetic Terror-Beast kept firing his Lighting Ray for as long as he could, but within a second, it was being pushed back at the combined gravitational beams. His systems started to overheat, smoke lingered from the Gatling gun hand from overuse of the voltage weapon. Soon, Jikiro was overwhelmed by King Ghidorah when the electric-like beams tore through him and finally made contact with the right hand.

A feeling of crushing defeat overcame the Garogas when the screens showed a large detonated explosion on Jikiro’s last arm, shattering it into dozens of pieces of fire and steel. The Terror-Beast emitted a static screech as smoke and sparks came out from the stumps of his shoulders. Jikiro looked up at the cackling King Ghidorah, who was ascending high in the air. Without his weapons, Jikiro was now completely helpless in this battle that was now a loss to the Garogas. The three heads of the golden dragon open their maws as they fire their Gravity Beams at the doomed robot, piercing through the mildly worn out armor.

And thus, the Magnetic Terror-Beast Jikiro was engulfed in a huge fireball that put an end to him. The damaged head hit the ground, having now suffered the same fate as the previous incarnations of the machine. Only this time, it was from something the Garoga could only blame themselves for. King Ghidorah’s three heads made a haunting, triumphant shriek before they kept firing their rays at the remaining structures of the Garoga’s secret base. The Baron Garoga could do nothing other than watched and witnessed. The abducted creature that had almost been theirs tore through everything, until one of the stray Gravity Beams struck the camera that was monitoring the whole scene, cutting off the feed.

The Baron Garoga stepped out of his office, moved toward a large window that showed the vast space and Mars, where he could then see replica of the real King Ghidorah from afar. The mutant had finished his destructive wrath and left the cold planet to head straight for the blue world they had tried to dominate countless times, Earth.

“We wanted a new Ghidorah, and we found it.” He contemplated what this meant for his kind, their plans of dominating Earth now even further away. Then, another thought came to him. “I do wonder, what will you do when you reach Earth? Shall you merely wander, your lust for destruction satisfied here, or will you fill the vacuum left by the first Ghidorah’s passing?” He turned away from the window, ready to try and bargain for more resources from the greater Garoga Empire.

Winner: King Ghidorah (Heisei)

Author: Joshua Reynolds | Banner: Tyler Trieschock

A cool breeze blew across the tropical paradise. Infant Island, once used as a nuclear testing ground over half a century ago, was resilient. Only a third of the island had become barren. The rest was still lush. If the fools in the States would have done their proper research back then, they would have discovered that the island wasn’t unpopulated like they had come to believe. No. There was a population. A population determined to live. The islanders hid deep in the heart of Infant Island, far away from the prying eyes and sins of the rest of the world. However, when the blast came unexpectedly, it tainted the island.

And it awoke something.

Their God, long shrouded in mythology, had been uncovered. Mothra was reborn after millions of years. A protector, she was guided by two mystic protectors. They went by many names to the islanders and the few people that visited it afterward. The Cosmos, the Elias, but the most well known was the name the natives had bestowed upon them: Shobijin. There were only two of them, Moll and Lora.

There was only one instance of Mothra showing aggression to the rest of the world. And that was back in the 1960’s when the Shobijin had been kidnapped by the greedy. Mothra rescued them at the cost of billions of dollars.

Now, decades later, that Mothra is aging. She has spawned the next generation. With a watchful eye, she has guided this new generation into becoming something special. Moll and Lora gave this second one its own title: Leo. Like all of his kind, this male member of the race started life as a grub-like larva before maturing into a majestic, butterfly-like entity…

Moll looked up at their protector with worried eyes. Leo seemed anxious. His antennae fluttered constantly and faint bolts of mystic power coursed through his multi-colored wings. “Something’s wrong.”

Lora approached her sister. She tried to comfort her. “I’m sure its just maturity setting in. His mother has been missing for a little bit now.”

Behind them, the Natives began to bow once Leo’s head lifted and his brilliant, emerald-colored eyes fixated on them.

“Something isn’t right, Lora.” Moll declared, turning to gaze at her sister. “Mothra has never been gone for this long. It’s been three days!”

Lora bit her tongue, “Always so concerned, my sister.”

Suddenly, a strange noise echoed through the island. The twins and those that worship the divine moths spun around. Their eyes looked up to the clouds. Fear gripped them tight. Something approached fast. It was an insect, but something completely opposite to a Mothra. It was more akin to a dragonfly. Its body covered in a purplish exoskeleton and its eyes shined a blood red. The noise that came from its mouth was like that of a nightmare, a terrible screech that was only enhanced by the intense buzz generated by the beating of its wings which moved so fast they were virtually invisible.

Suddenly, a beam of energy shot at it from behind. Megaguirus dodged, allowing the orange beam to vanish into a cloud. Emerging from behind one of the mountains, Mothra flew. She chirped as she approached. Megaguirus hissed, her head looking back toward her divine enemy. Such power… it was just begging to be drained.

“Mothra!” Both Shobijin declared in unison, in shock and awe.

Leo lifted his head and moved in his wings. However, as soon as he did, a cry from his mother ceased it. Leo’s wings went flat against the stone floor in which he lay.

“This is where she went. What does this other creature want!?” Lora begged the question as the hundreds of natives rushed to their village huts for shelter.

Moll shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Megaguirus spun in the air, faster than Mothra could stop. Suddenly they collided in midair with a tremendous bang. Bolts of energy flew in every direction from Mothra’s wings and a strange, pollen-like storm began to cloud both of them. Megaguirus’s shrieks muted the chirps of Mothra as they began to fall. The large, leathery wings of the dragonfly began to flap while her claws clamped Mothra’s steady. She held both herself and Mothra in the air, head moving side to side and avoiding several point blank beams. An extremely high-pitched scream came from Mothra. Megaguirus’s scorpion-like tail plunged deep into Mothra’s midsection.

Mothra tried firing, but her beams were sucked right back into her antennae. Her energy was being siphoned.

“Mothra!” Moll once again shouted, “No!”

“That monster is eating her energy!?”

Watching from the ground, Leo’s wings moved again. The second generation began to move. As soon as his body lifted off the ground, Megaguirus’s head tilted. She spotted him instantly. Her tooth-like jaws seemed to widen into a grin. Her tail tore out of Mothra’s fuzzy abdomen, bringing with it a glob of yellow and green-colored goo. The dragonfly’s claws tore apart, tearing Mothra’s wings halfway through. She released the Infant Island deity. Mothra fell, unable to sustain flight with each of her wings shredded. She crashed into the side of a mountain, a rockslide following suit. She was buried…

“MOTHRA!”

Mothra Leo flew in as fast as his majestic wings would allow. From the three gem-like objects between his antennae, streams of multi-colored energy erupted. Megaguirus flew up and forward, spiraling around the beams. Her speed took the youthful moth by surprise. In no time, she closed the distance. Her claws clamped around the base of the moth’s head. Megaguirus spun in the air, dragging Leo with her. Upon instinct, green bolts erupted from his wings. The lightning-like strikes struck Megaguirus, coating her in a series of small explosions. She released the moth and flew back.

Leo chirped and flew, his body speeding up. Megaguirus flew up, but Leo spun. His body became a blur. Megaguirus’s eyes widened, shifting her exoskeleton in the process. Leo, for a brief moment, moved faster than she. He collided with her, turning his entire body into a projectile. A thunderous echo boomed through the mountains and hills of Infant Island. The dragonfly began to fall as Leo circled overhead…

As she fell, Megaguirus’s wings stretched out and her tail stiffened. A fiery power gathered in front of her body. Leo looked down, just in time to see the building ball of energy fire. It moved fast, even faster than Megaguirus and Leo’s enhanced speeds. Unable to escape, Leo was struck by the orb of energy that was composed of his mother’s power. His body was shot upward, vanishing into the clouds.

But a few dozen meters from the ground, the dragonfly’s wings began to move at a blur. She recovered and flew up, shooting toward the clouds like a bat out of hell. Before she could reach them, a powerful blast of emerald-colored energy parted it. The beam missed the predator by dozens of meters, but the impressive shot hit the ground and made the entire island shudder as if an earthquake.

Leo erupted from the clouds, beams and bolts launching from his forehead and wings respectively. Megaguirus moved to the side, dodging the immense firepower. Leo chirped, turning in the air to face his speedy rival. By the time he did, Megaguirus buzzed away again.

A sharp pain raced through Leo’s back. Megaguirus’s stinger plunged into the center of his back. The dragonfly cried aloud as she began to drain Leo’s energy.

Unable to sustain flight, Leo began to fall with Megaguirus balancing herself on his back via her stinger. She guzzled his energy, siphoning it like a sponge does water. The ground raced upwards, faster and faster, to meet the insects. Finally, Leo hit like a meteor. The lush jungle cratered and a cloud of dust and dirt flew around them. Megaguirus’s body lowered, virtually lying across her victim’s body. The dragonfly’s eyes flashed, changing colors to green as she fed.

A distance away, Mothra’s head lifted. Her body was over half-way buried. She’d never escape. She looked up, watching as her son was helplessly drained. Her antennae fluttered. A beam of energy fired from each. It was weak, but it’d due. The twin beams struck Megaguirus’s forehead, covering it in a small shower of sparks and smoke. The dragonfly shrieked, ripping her tail free. Her wings flapped, carrying her up.

Leo whined softly. His head moved, looking at his trapped parent. He tried moving his wings, but he didn’t have the strength to get into the air. Megaguirus drained him of too much. Weakly, he began to move forward.

Mothra chirped again, her blue eyes flashing a golden light. She spotted the insect zooming in fast. Her head lifted and twin streams of energy shot forth, striking Megaguirus’s wings. They were quickly engulfed in fire. The prehistoric predator flew upward, spiraling out of control before vanishing on the opposite side of the surrounding mountains. Gathering her strength, Mothra whined in pain as she struggled against the thousands of tons of rock. The boulders shifted, but as they did, more fell upon her. Slowly, she began to crawl out of the landslide. Her body was ragged and half-crushed, leaving a gory trail of insect pulp behind. She began to crawl, fighting to stay alive as her innards spilled from her crushed thorax.

Mothra’s antennae touched those of her offspring. She didn’t have much power left. But what she did have, her son would need it if he were to survive and bring forth the next generation. Her mandibles released a cry as wisps of golden energy surged from her torn wings, through her body, and into her antennae.

“Mothra… she’s…” Lora looked on in awe, streams of tears running down her cheeks.
“She’s passing on her energy.” Moll finished her sentence, holding back tears.

They both knew what this meant. Leo’s body absorbed the energy his mother was transferring. Mothra’s body transferred all of her powers as fast as she could. Her wings and antennae fluttered slowly as golden particles lifted from her and fell upon her child. Leo’s eyes began to shine brighter. His colors began to shift. As Mothra’s colors dulled and her snow white fur grayed, his became a patchwork of beauty. His wings changed, the lightning-like patterns becoming a display of blues, greens, and other tropical colors.

Mothra’s head collapsed as the very last of her energy was bestowed upon Leo. Her wings remained still and all life faded from her blue eyes. Leo released a mournful cry, but he’d have to wait to memorialize his mother. Leo had become something new. A new form of Mothra unlike that of any other.

Moll and Lora gasped. Holding hands, they looked upon the revived moth with wide eyes. “He’s… he’s become Rainbow Mothra!”

Rainbow Mothra, the ultimate form a divine moth could reach. There had only been a handful of moths that had reached this state. It had been centuries since it had been needed.

Leo’s new wings pushed off the ground. He was quickly airborne. And as soon as he was, Megaguirus’s nightmarish cry pierced the air. The dragonfly flew in from above, her wings now burnt black. Her tail lowered and claws opened. Her tooth-lined jaws screamed with an insatiable hunger. Beams of energy lanced from the jewels on Rainbow Mothra’s forehead. The dragonfly buzzed around them, avoiding all three streams with ease.

As they rushed one another, Rainbow Mothra’s body flashed with energy. His body became but a blur. He moved faster than Megaguirus! She was taken off guard. Before she could react, Leo’s body collided with hers in a ram that exceeded Mach 15. Megaguirus’s body flew back from the impact, her left claw flying in the opposite direction along with numerous teeth that broke free of her skull. Her exoskeleton cracked like glass, spilling a vile fluid.

Leo began to circle overhead as Megaguirus fell. She screamed in a mixture of agony and rage. Her wings began to beat faster than the eye could see. Before she hit the jungle canopy, she flew away. Leo’s head tilted. His wings flapped and he took chase, firing beams from his forehead and lightning from his rainbow wings. The dragonfly cried in fury as she spun about. Her remaining claw opened wide. Leo closed in, aiming to ram her again. But her speed picked up. She dodged at the last nick of time. Her claw clamped around Leo’s wing and her stinger thrust up, tearing into the base of it. She began to siphon the moth’s power once more.

“Leo!” Lora shouted from the ground.

As if hearing her cries, the moth’s body shined brighter than the sun. Megaguirus’s claw suddenly clamped shut on nothing and her tail fell loose. The moth vanished in the light. Then, from the sudden flash, a swarm of smaller moths. Each one flew around Megaguirus like angry gnats. Her body was coated in explosions, showering her in fire and the energy she lusted for. The dragonfly fell, her claw and stinger swiping at anything she could hit. But each contact with the smaller insects merely caused more detonations across her exoskeleton.

She hit the ground like a rock and a tremendous cloud of dust and broken trees catapulted into the sky. Her screams of agony rang loud as she fluttered on the floor. The swarm of tiny moths seemingly vanished just as she made impact. But the damage was done. Numerous breaks in her exoskeleton spat green and yellow ooze. The dragonfly had to leave. She flipped herself over, leaving several pieces of purple exoskeleton clinging to the ground…

Her wings beat softly and her body lifted off the bloody grass. She got but a few meters high before something caught her senses. Megaguirus’s crimson eyes looked up. Above her, Rainbow Mothra had reformed and a brilliant light was channeling from his wings and into the mid-section of his body. Megaguirus’s wings began to move slower. Her jaw fell limp, hanging from her mouth as all of her limbs dangled. It was if she was in a trance. Rainbow Mothra continued gathering his energy. The dragonfly was being drawn to the gathering of power like a moth to the flame.

She closed the distance slowly but surely.

She reached out with her claw. It opened wide as if she could grab and take the tremendous power.

Rainbow Mothra chirped. The tremendous energy he had been summoning flashed. The air warped and for a brief second, Megaguirus’s senses returned. Her eyes widened and she screamed in horror. A tremendous boom followed as she was hit point blank by the biggest, most powerful Mineral Chest Beam the moth could muster. The beam was so wide that it swallowed Megaguirus’s form entirely. Her entire body was shot down like a canon. The very energy she desired tore her apart in seconds. Her exoskeleton was vaporized, followed by her muscles and organs. Her deafened screams ceased.

Leo looked down. There was nothing left. The area where she hit was a burning crater. There was no signs of life. Megaguirus was sent back to extinction…

Rainbow Mothra chirped. He flew over his fallen mother. He cried softly as energy trailed behind him. A golden light fell upon Mothra. As the light shined down upon her, Mothra’s body began to sink into the soil. A proper burial for the fallen moth…

Winner: Mothra Leo

Author: Andrew Sudomerski | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski

[Continued from Match 88]

A new year dawned over the horizon. The brittle chill rushed to fill the void, brushing large trees aside. Snowy slabs shook loose from their resting place under the harsh winds and crashed down onto a sheet of thick ice. Native fauna ran with the wild gust down the mountainous slope and steered clear from the one who was climbing to its peak.

Large, earthy claws sunk into the mountainside as he pulled himself along. For Anguirus, his trek to find a safe haven had been long and arduous. It had felt like an eternity ever since he had encountered Mothra, but he continued to persevere nonetheless. The icy Japanese Alps gave him no comfort, even worse still were the cries he heard in the wind. Distraught souls continued to haunt him ever since the day he had slain the monster god. His unease swelled, but he disregarded them once again.

When he reached the top, the brown ankylosaur saw an enormous lake, which brimmed with thick ice, surrounded by pure white snow and other peaks. A magnificent sight for those beholden to see it! Without a trace of doubt, Anguirus hurriedly charged down the ridge, with a tumbling avalanche following in his wake. There was not a living creature in its proximity; therefore, nothing would hinder his long awaited slumber.

The loud rumbling disturbed the serenity, yet there were no ghosts to be found. As the commotion died down, Anguirus dipped his long snout into the frozen lake and broke the surface layer. He drank the chilled water and ice chunks alike with no discrimination, a much needed refresher from his travels. Then at long last, he would finally rest. His eyelids shielded his tired eyes from the harsh winter as he dozed off…

***

Uneasiness filled the air with hollow chanting, which woke Anguirus from his snooze. Most of it was indiscernible, but there was one word that stuck out in the midst of the mantra. “Angira! Angira!” the souls cried out. Anguirus wasn’t sure what to make of this, but he wasn’t going to let his guard down. He bore his fangs at the unseen spirits and waited to see what they would do next. White vapor escaped Anguirus’s mouth as he released a curt growl.

One by one, the mysterious choir faded into the howling winds. The crisp air took a nosedive and became unbearably chilly. Soon only the wind kept him company until the ankylosaur heard the distinct snowy crunch echo nearby. He turned to its source and raised himself onto his hind legs to look imposing. He had fought many in the past that far outclassed him and expected as much with the intruder.

Then a honk caught Anguirus’s attention.

He looked down and what he saw unnerved him, yet remained steadfast. His primitive mind registered it as a mirror of himself, but he couldn’t be further from the truth. The golden monster certainly boasted many similarities, but they were fundamentally different. The creature carried nobility in spite of its diminutive size. Its short tail hosted a spiky club at the end of it, and its carapace curved along its neck, annunciating its regality. It stood on four long legs, like that of a dog or a horse. Upon closer examination, its golden, bumpy scales exuded frosty mist while the pronounced, paler spikes that jutted out its body were akin to solid ice.

Glowing red eyes peered directly into Anguirus’s soul. They held a righteous wrath undisputedly similar to the distressed ghosts. Anguirus howled as his gold counterpart, prepared to throw down.

Angira felt the same when he unleashed a soul-filled scream.

Anguirus slammed his forearms to the ground and wildly charged at his foe, uprooting trees and kicking dirt and snow in the process. Angira gracefully galloped to meet his opponent head-on, with minimal disturbance to the snow-covered foliage that surrounded him. The two clashed with a resounding sonic boom upon impact, alleviating the surrounding forest of their frost coated burden. They clawed and slashed at each other and then Angira drew first blood by ramming his spiked nasal horn into Anguirus’s neck. Before it could even begin to bleed out, the arctic cold froze the blood, effectively clotting it as Angira pulled away. Anguirus temporarily wavered at the odd neural sensation that ran down his neck, but not before retaliating with a vicious slash across Angira’s face. Sparks and blood poured out from the wound as the gold beast screeched, again with the gash freezing over. Even if contact had been just for a moment, Anguirus felt his claws shiver from the frost.

The brown ankylosaur went in for another swing, but the golden freezing monster foresaw the attack. Opening his mouth wide, Angira caught the other hand in his grip and sunk his teeth into the earthy scales. Anguirus screeched as blood oozed from the wound, only to be immediately frozen over by the ice beast’s body temperature. He felt his hand go numb as anxiety built within him. However, not all was as it seemed.

Anguirus forced himself upright and dragged the smaller creature with him. The anklyosaur recalled this attack from an old friend; with an incredible heave, Anguirus threw Angira over his shoulder and slammed the spiked monster into the earth. The ensuing shockwave rocked the forest, but Angira held on with utmost ferocity despite the pain. Anguirus inhaled the cold air through his nostrils to fill his lungs. Even with the frostbitten wound on his neck, he had to take the risk. Releasing the stored air, Anguirus hollered at the icy beast with a high-pitched shrill. The ultrasonic roar splintered the trees nearby and saw cracks formed from the vibration. It took its toll on his neck wound, but the output was more than worth taking the brunt of the pain. Although Anguirus barely felt it, he witnessed Angira release his grip and noticed that some of the icy spikes started to fall off. The golden creature was stunned and perplexed, but Anguirus wasted no time.

Although his numbed hand was far too injured to move about on, the ancient reptile had a contingency plan. Once again, he found himself on his hind legs, but this time did a simple twirl. Anguirus faced his spiny carapace toward his gold counterpart and anchored his feet into the thick snow bed and crust beneath it. With a magnificent bound, the anklyosaur propelled himself backward and pinned Angira between his shell and a nearby rock wall. The arctic spirit wailed under the immense pressure of Anguirus’s sheer mass. However, Anguirus couldn’t keep the imitator crunched forever and dropped back on all fours. Anguirus swiftly turned around to face Angira, even if his frostbitten hand made it uncomfortable. He had expected the wounded dragon to be shattered and panting. Much to his surprise, the broken Angira clubbed him directly in the face with his spiked tail and threw him to the ground.

Even maimed, Angira imposed his regal presence. The numerous cracks oozed blood, which quickly became the adhesive to patch his wounds. The splintered spines reformed, and the sacred monster’s crimson eyes glared with intensity as he sprinted into action. Anguirus didn’t even have the chance to prop himself up before he was rammed by the smaller monster. The brown monster’s large body paved the landscape as he crashed into the very lake that lured him here. Ice shifted as the surface layer cracked under Anguirus’s weight and displaced the water beneath it. Its immeasurable chill stung his wounded hand and quickly enveloped all his senses. He writhed and sprawled in the ice cold lake and tried to regain feeling in his body.

Angira approached the outer rim and dipped his forepaw into the water. It froze nigh instantaneously and with little effort he pulled it out. He took another step; another patch turned into solid ice. Even after Anguirus found his footing, fighting against the freezing lake had taken the energy from him. He sluggishly tried to charge, but stumbled over himself before he could meet halfway. Anguirus managed to pull his head out of the water before it froze over; even then, the running water that rolled off him became unwilling icicles. Anguirus narrowed at the ice monster that stood before him and the two locked eyes.

Angira growled. The beast peered into Anguirus’s very essence. Angira’s eyes were wrathful and judgmental. Their redness lit ablaze as they ventured deep into a world beyond the physical. Every beastly impulse Anguirus had acted on, every human being he had killed, they were all accounted for. The ankylosaur felt his neural processors being washed over by an unnatural feeling. Anguirus was not a complex creature, yet he was unsure of what he felt. Was he truly being cleansed of his past transgressions? Or had his tenacity been overwritten by fear? He had faced larger and more powerful monsters, so why was it that this golden lookalike had the most influence over his very being?

“Mosura… Mosura…” the chanting returned. There were more souls present. Was it Mothra? Had her death called him here? He had felt remorse for defiling sacred land, so why was he being punished for it now? A burning sensation skulked within, one he felt disgusted with. Fear or purification? He did not know. This trance lingered for what felt like another eternity. Yet it came to an abrupt end. The audience vanished with the wind. Angira’s eyes dimmed and no longer held the same animosity he did just moments before. There was a tenderness to them that had been absent before. With a snort, Angira turned around and began to walk away.

Anguirus was lost and confused. He didn’t know what to make of the current matter. His instincts urged him to continue the fight, but his gut told him it was futile. The more his soul was in conflict, the more he felt desperation overwhelm him. Be damned of what happened; he would see it through to the end, because Anguirus was a creature of the world. The frozen coat crumbled as adrenaline shot through his body, which gave him the strength to break free from his icy prison. Channeling his newfound strength into his legs, the large ankylosaur leapt high into the air.

He had it figured out: he would employ into his rolling ball attack and savagely beat his lookalike. There was a feeling, perhaps from the sudden rush of adrenaline that was more primal and feral, one that made him lose his line of reasoning. For him, this was a fight he had to win, no matter the cost.

Before he could do anything, he felt several, excruciating points of agony lance into his exposed underbelly. Any forward momentum he had was stopped once the golden spears reached the underside of his carapace. The bleeding wounds froze over from their cold touch. In that moment, he saw that Angira had extended the spikes on his carapace and made them lances, all without turning to face him. He felt the poles wriggle as Angira shook himself, ever so loosening from Anguirus’s soft underbelly. While some of the spear-tipped icicles found their way out, others snapped and remain embedded within Anguirus. Either way, the prehistoric animal dropped back into the ice-covered lake with no cushion to catch his fall.

Anguirus was tired. He yearned for rest, yet had been denied time and time again. His eyes glanced at Angira one last time as he saw the golden freezing monster withdraw and reform its spikes. The frost guardian turned around and approached Anguirus’s prone form. He knew he was done for. No strength to pull from, no tenacity to persevere. Truly, a humiliating day! Before his eyelids embraced him in darkness that would comfort him in his final moments, he locked with Angira’s eyes for the last time.

They were filled with pity.

Anguirus accepted his fate and disappeared into his mind’s void.

***

Lazy eyes opened up. What he saw was stunning and beautiful.

Lush greenery surrounded him. The sun rained down with splendor, not a raincloud in sight. Next to him was the lake, which had long since thawed out, and reflected the sun’s rays. The native fauna teemed with life. Anguirus shifted and got to his feet, incidentally disturbing the wildlife in the process. It hadn’t been purposeful, yet couldn’t be avoided. He scanned the area, unsure if this was the same place he had been at…

His senses told him it was the truth. The snapped trees they had crushed were still there. His body tinged with light pain, the only signifier that he was involved in battle. Otherwise, he had nearly recovered from whatever wounds were sustained. He sniffed the ground and tried to trace for his former opponent, but he came up with nothing. Aside from the scars left on the battlefield, the second Anguirus was nowhere to be found.

Part of him felt light as a feather. This may have been induced from a much needed hibernation, yet it also felt like something much more than that. The guilt he carried was gone. His mind couldn’t comprehend the concept, but he didn’t care about it either way. It was the most jovial he had felt ever since winter began. That, to him, was all that mattered.

Winter passed and spring flourished. Anguirus dipped his head into the vitamin rich water and drank from it. His grueling voyage finally came to an end. But the road of life was a much different journey that still had more bumpy paths to come. Nevertheless, he would face them, now endowed with newfound wisdom from the other Anguirus.

Anguirus would live to see another day.

Winner: Anguirus (2001)