Author: Connor Clennell | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski

Terror and chaos had engulfed the island nation of Japan. Promises made to them had been falsified to gain their trust in matters that required their resources, and their efforts were rewarded with betrayal and destruction.

Hours ago, people from the far future of 2204 had arrived in the present time of 1992, bringing claims of their country’s extermination by the hands of Godzilla, and asked for the knowledge that the select few in this era had on the monster king’s origins in order to prevent his creation. Through their joined efforts, they travelled further back in time and displaced the creature that would become Godzilla, erasing the atomic menace from history. But the celebration of their victory distracted the modern humans from the Futurians’ true intentions…

Although Godzilla does attack Japan in the future, the country is able to recover and grow into a corrupt super power that decimates the global economy. By preventing Godzilla from being born, the Futurians had the opportunity to create their own monster in his place, to serve their goal of decimating Japan and weakening the empire of the future.

“The power of your armies is worthless against our own weapon, Prime Minister,” Chuck Wilson announced with pride over his video link to the Japanese government. “Surrender all governing power to us now and we will spare your country and people.”

With a furious scowl, Commander Takaki Aso turned to the Prime Minister. “Sir, I cannot condone negotiating with terrorists, regardless where and when they come from!” he expressed.

“I am content with this no more than you are, Commander,” replied Prime Minister Hayashida, wiping sweat from his brow with a soaked cloth. It truly pained him to see his beloved nation brought so low, but the ability to do anything about it was out of their hands. “Godzilla was the only real hope of stopping that monster. Without him, we have no real options.”

“Surely, there must!” Aso argued. “My men and I would do whatever it takes to serve our country before we submit to the likes of people like him!”

He pointed at the screen, directly at Wilson, which brought a frown onto the burgundy-haired man’s face. His scowl made even the hardened commander flinch and sweat nervously.

“It would appear that you need further convincing,” he stated with the hint of a smirk. “I shall convene with you all again when I feel you are truly ready to surrender.”

With that, the video call was terminated, sending the cabinet room in chaos as they squabbled over their response to the issued and coming threats. In the seat of the MOTHER, Wilson leaned back into his chair and tapped the armrest, attracting the attention of a technician on a nearby control panel.

“Order King Ghidorah to attack again. Leave nothing untouched.”

*****

The city still burned from the last attack hours ago. The wreckage of the military’s efforts to protect the capital occupied the streets, blocking off escape routes for the scores of people still within. Crowds were spread across the maze of buildings, led by soldiers and citizens with extensive knowledge of Fukuoka’s routes. There was little hope left for many of the survivors, who despite it all, had begun to wish for Godzilla’s presence instead, for at least he did not attack buildings and people out of spite and malice. But this new creature was far worse than the king of the monsters ever was.

The wind began to pick up, tossing scraps of metal across the tarmac and blowing weaker people off their feet. The crowds scrambled to aid them while also speeding up their retreat, as their military escorts trained their weapons skyward. But they knew that nothing could stop King Ghidorah.

The cackles of the golden dragon boomed around the city as it flew high above. Its scales glistened in the sunlight, betraying its destructive nature as its three heads scanned the ruined city. Each beat of its massive wings sent cars flying and unsound buildings toppling into the streets. King Ghidorah screeched evilly at the joyous carnage as it added to the destructive with blasts of its lightning-like Gravity Beams, tearing apart steel and concrete alike and burying the populated streets under rubble.

From the ground and sky, rockets, bullets and masers were unloaded upon the dragon, but no weapon in the Japanese’s arsenal was capable of breaking its golden scales. At best, the weapons were an irritation to the golden hydra, dragging its attention to the tanks and fighters jets that would defy it. Blasts of golden lightning swiftly removed the opposition, spreading their remains across the streets before it cackled again. To continue its attack, King Ghidorah descended to the streets, generating a powerful tremor with its landing and sending people scattering like the insects they were against the colossal dragon.

Within the chaos, a lone man watched the destruction unfold with anger in his gaze. From his rooftop spot, he had a full view of the golden monster in all its vileness. The man, whose appearance did not match his true origins, was familiar with tales of a three-headed destroyer of worlds, with manes and scales of gold and calls like that of a warning bell. Although this King Ghidorah was not the same as the creature from the legends, it seemed well on the path to filling its legacy. Shin Hayata refused to allow that future to happen, and raised the Beta Capsule with the vow to bring King Ghidorah to its end.

As he pressed the button on his device, flashing light consumed the rooftop. The phenomenon caught the attention of the hydra, which halted its attack to stare at the unusual lightshow. From the radiance, a shape quickly began to take form and solidify, taking the dragon off-guard. It took a step back, its three heads staring at each other in council as the figure took shape.

A metallic silver body reflected the glow of surrounding fires, broken by patterns of crimson adorning the chest, arms, hips and knees. Bulbous eyes glowed with yellow brightness, and a circular gem shone blue on the humanoid being’s chest.

Though this was its first encounter with the entity, King Ghidorah was consumed with an overwhelming hatred of it, greater than anything it had experienced before. It almost seemed genetic in a way, but the golden dragon did not dwell on the mystery for long. Already, it had made a vow to destroy the challenger before it had even received the order.

*****

“Ultraman!” Commander Aso gasped in shock.

The cabinet room was filled with discussion by the warrior of light’s appearance. The Prime Minister released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and sagged back into his chair.

“Our prayers have been answered,” he said. “If anyone is going to save us now, it will be him.”

Aso was quick to object. “Don’t be so assured, Prime Minister. You forget that Ultraman had been defeated in the past.”

“Have you no faith, Takaki?” Hayashida asked. The elderly man could tell that the commander would have preferred if it were his soldiers fighting King Ghidorah right now, even if such an act would be one of suicide.

The hardened officer scoffed and turned his attention to the image of Ultraman on the screen. Although his pride would not let him admit it, he held onto the hope that Japan’s oldest defender brought. The only thing any of them could do now was wait and pray.

*****

“Damn it!” Wilson slammed his fist against the arm of his command chair, snarling in anger. “Of all times for Ultraman to return to Earth!”

“Did we not account for the possibility of his appearance,” Grenchiko reminded his seething partner. “The records implied that he was active in this decade, but did not specify when.”

“We still didn’t anticipate that he would show up,” Wilson snapped back. “He could ruin everything that we have accomplished! Years of planning ruined in an instant!”

“Have you no faith, Wilson?”

The violet-clad man seemed to calm at his compatriot’s words, his angry features melting away as he examined the situation anew. “You’re right, my friend. I am being too cautious about this,” he told Grenchiko. “We engineered the Dorats so that they would create a monster that would be Godzilla’s superior, and I have no doubt we succeeded in that.”

Grenchiko nodded his head in agreement. “Ultraman will stand no chance before our monster,” he stated, “and Japan will remember this as the second time the hero dies.”

“Yes,” Wilson agreed and laughed, before pressing a button on his control panel to issue a command directly to their creation.

“Kill him, King Ghidorah!”

*****

As the order came through its three brains, the terrible hydra screeched at Ultraman. As the warrior made to charge, King Ghidorah spat Gravity Beams from its three maws that lanced across his body. The golden assault pushed Ultraman back, making him cry out as sparks and smoke covered his front from each strike of the crackling beams. He rolled to the side, taking cover behind an emptied skyscraper that had yet to feel the golden terror’s wrath. Turning its firepower onto the structure, the barrage tore out chunks of its infrastructure at a rapid rate, but the building wouldn’t fall. With an irritated chorus of screeches, King Ghidorah flapped its wings and took to the air to gain an aerial advantage.

“Shuwatch!”

Ultraman launched into the sky as Ghidorah flew into range, slamming into the hydra’s gut. The impact kicked the breath from its lungs, leaving the golden terror momentarily defenceless as it was tackled to the broken streets. Resting atop the dragon’s chest to pin it, Ultraman chopped at its writhing, snapping heads and necks, easily fighting off their attempts to bite and ensnare him. Each head shrieked with anger with its inability to break the alien giant’s offence, but their combined mind came up with another strategy. Behind Ultraman, the three-headed mutation’s clubbed tails raised up like cobras before striking, slamming into the back of Earth’s defender and knocking him into the range of its necks with a surprised cry. Upon landing, Ultraman was quicker than ever to right and defend himself as King Ghidorah’s three heads glared. His hands lashed out, wrapping around the middle neck and wringing as the head screeched in alarm. Furthering his assault, he began to smash the constrained head against the pavement, slowly beating it into unconsciousness before its companions came to its rescue. The outer heads clamped their jaws onto Ultraman’s shoulders, pulling the M78 denizen off and tossing him aside hard.

It took several beats of its wings before King Ghidorah was able to stand upright. It took a few more to left the draconic titan off the ground so it could bring its heels down on the floored Ultraman. The hero of light noticed the three-headed monster coming, though, and rolled out of the impact zone before the dragon’s feet could find their mark. Quickly, he flipped himself onto his feet before planting a kick on the freshly landed hydra’s chest, causing King Ghidorah to stumble backward slightly. Unsatisfied with his results, Ultraman dropped low for a sweeping kick, but the golden dragon’s thick leg stopped his swooping limb and refused to topple. The alien guardian was left in close range of the hydra with little time to prepare a proper attack before it countered, and resorted to head-butting King Ghidorah square in the gut. The strike made it hiss and stumble, but the Futurian terror was far from fazed. It tucked its heads low before swinging them up in an arc, catching Ultraman in the chest with its crowns of horns and throwing him across the district to the ground.

As Ultraman recovered, the golden monster taunted him with shrieks of laughter. The warrior of light tightened his fists as he drowned out the mocking sounds from his mind. His focus was diverted to his energy stores, which were channelled to his hands as they met across his chest. With his Colour Timer between them, Ultraman focused his Specium energies around his right hand, before making a tossing motion with it and discharging a churning energy disc. The Ultra Slash cut through the air with lightning speed, but King Ghidorah’s quick reflexes outclassed it. The mutant dragon enveloped its body with its colossal wings, forming a golden shield before the jagged projectile, which barely cut into the hydra’s hide before it shattered, to Ultraman’s shock. The Ultra warrior was not stunned for long and cuffed his wrists, firing his Specium Ray at King Ghidorah’s wing barrier, but little more than a shower of sparks was produced as it was fired upon the dragon for several seconds. As the attack ceased, the three-headed monster unfurled its wings and cackled as its three heads fired their own deadly beams. However, Ultraman managed to trace the outline of a rectangle in the space before him, forming an Ultra Barrier to halt the lightning-like rays just in time. Unlike King Ghidorah’s barrier, the Gravity Beams were also reflected back, striking the three-headed terror and bathing its scales in flames, causing it to call out in pain and confusion. From across the battlefield, Ultraman glared with animosity. Two could play the game that Ghidorah had started, but he could play it better.

The hero leapt up as the smoke cleared and King Ghidorah fired again, initially striking the ground where he had stood before moving his assault upward in pursuit of the airborne warrior. Bolts of golden energy streaked across the sky, but Ultraman’s amazing speed in the air made it impossible for any of the beams to land their mark. Instead of gaining distance, the silver-and-red giant began to circle the Futurian dragon, forcing it to constantly turn in order to keep a lock on him. Faster and faster he flew, forcing King Ghidorah to spin around on the spot in its attempts to keep up. With each rotation, the three-headed monster began to grow more and more disoriented, barely able to stay standing before it eventually had to stop. Its three heads drooped and groaned as it wavered on the spot, fighting off the rising nausea. With the golden terror distracted, Ultraman came from behind and planted a flying kick on King Ghidorah’s back that sent the monster crashing down with a chorus of warbled screeches. He moved back to its twitching tails and bent down to grab the appendages firmly, using them to hoist the hydra’s seventy thousand mass in the air. As it reached the peak of its ascent, Ultraman pulled the golden monster back down to smash it against the pavement, forming a crater in the street. He repeated the action again, using momentum and King Ghidorah’s own weight to hammer it against the ground in bone-shaking blows.

With each impact, the Three-headed dragon regained a part of its consciousness. It took several strikes, but the left head eventually recovered enough clarity to counterattack, twisting around and spitting a Gravity Beam into Ultraman’s face as he lifted the dragon again. The alien warrior dropped his adversary and fell to the ground, clutching his aching face and rolling in agony. Now freed, King Ghidorah struggled to its feet as its other heads shook out of their daze. It spun to target Ultraman, discharging its crackling beams at the wounded warrior, only for him to roll out of the way in the last seconds. With his gained momentum, the humanoid defender sprang back up and adopted his signature battle stance as he glared at King Ghidorah’s snarling visages.

Both circled each other slowly, sizing the other up and analysing them for weaknesses. At the same moment, they leaped into the air, but King Ghidorah was quick to gain the altitude advantage with the aid of its powerful legs and gigantic wings. As Ultraman looked up with seconds to counteract, the three-headed dragon dove at him, slamming all three of its skulls into the champion’s chest. The applied force threw the warrior of light back with a cry of pain, crashing into a scorched skyscraper and demolishing it in an instant. A cloud of ash and smoke was kicked up, consuming the form of Ultraman as King Ghidorah cackled from above.

*****

Whispers carried around the cabinet room as the gathered members communed with each other. The atmosphere of hope that had formed was quickly fading as they continued to observe the battle.

“Ultraman is losing!” a minister exclaimed. “It won’t be long before King Ghidorah kills him!”

Looks of despair fell on the faces of those who agreed with him.

“Impossible!” another shouted, gaining murmurs of approval from the other members who refused to believe. “Ultraman has come out on top in far more perilous situations. There is still time for the tables to turn!”

The room exploded into arguments over how to proceed, with one half stating to prepare for surrender, and the other protesting to wait and give Ultraman a chance. Amidst the political chaos, the main screen flicked on to present the smiling figures of Wilson and Grenchiko, bringing silence to the chamber as they all turned to look.

“Are you happy with where you have placed your faith, Prime Minister?” Wilson asked. “Your cabinet is divided and squabbling like children over the outcome of a battle that is already confirmed.”

“Your overconfidence will be the end of you, Wilson,” Hayashida snapped at the Futurian. “Ultraman has already proven to be a match for King Ghidorah. The chance of his victory-“

The two future men barked out laughter at the older man’s display, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“What a pathetic act of misbelief,” Grenchiko stated. “I think I will enjoy seeing that confidence wash away.”

*****

Groaning, Ultraman pulled himself from the rubble and clutched his head. The beeping of his Colour Timer warned of the time he had left, but he ignored it in favour of locating his opponent. As the shroud began to clear, he could hear King Ghidorah’s sinister calls as it spotted him. The Ultra’s eyes turned to the darkened sky as the golden hydra plummeted toward his position, shimmering in the light of sunbeams. Its feet raised up to deliver a crushing dropkick, but Ultraman dropped back as the winged monster came into range and slammed into the tarmac, missing its target by mere inches. Before the dragon could refocus, he tackled it, wrapping his arms around its chest and pushing it across the landscape. King Ghidorah’s talons tore up the streets as it fought to break free, beating its wings against the surrounding buildings as the line began to grow narrower. At last, a tall office complex blocked the path, which Ultraman shoved the golden terror into to temporarily immobilise it. The Futurian terror was stunned from the impact, leaving it open as Ultraman slammed his feet into its chest in a powerful dropkick, kicking King Ghidorah straight through the structure and partially burying it in the remains.

After returning to his feet, Ultraman strode toward the pinned mutation. As he came into range, the golden terror’s tails suddenly lashed out, catching the hero off-guard as they swung into him. The spiked extremities struck the warrior from M78 on the right side of his face and ribs, knocking him to the side and forcing him to take a knee. King Ghidorah forced itself up, wrapping its outer heads around the nearby buildings to act as leverage to pull it faster. With all of its gazes on Ultraman, the draconic titan began to beat its wings rapidly, kicking up turbulent winds that hammered the landscape and forced the hero of light back. Ultraman dug his heels into the ground and covered his face with his forearms as he tried to hold out against the artificial whirlwind, taking a step forward whenever he dared. Ultimately, with nothing for his feet to securely grip, the giant was blown down and sent tumbling down the street. As the winds ceased, he started to push himself up, but golden bolts of power rained down across his form, driving shouts of agony from the starlight warrior.

Smoke and fire surrounded the guardian of Earth as the barrage came to a halt. Despite the pain consuming his body and the increasing chorus of his Colour Timer, Ultraman was reluctant to give up the fight. Pulling his fists close to his body, he channelled his energy between the two limbs as trails of emerald particles before thrusting his right arm forward and launching the collected power as a swirling beam. It had not even closed half the distance to the winged hydra before King Ghidorah took to the air, leaping out of the Ultra-Attack Ray’s path and letting out its signature, malicious cries to draw the warrior of light’s attention. All three heads fires their Gravity Beams in unison, striking Ultraman squarely in the gut and forcing a scream of uttermost torment from him as a tremendous explosion threw the Ultra to the ground. His fingers weakly grasped at the disturbed concrete and earth as he fought to stand, but King Ghidorah would have none of it. The golden dragon dropped from the sky atop Ultraman, driving its feet into the warrior’s back and pressing him into the street, gaining a pained yelp as its foe’s back was crushed beneath its immense weight. It then lifted into the air and came back down, cracking Ultraman’s bones with the impact before repeating the action again.

*****

The government of Japan could look at the screen in horror as they watched King Ghidorah smash Ultraman over and over. In the top corner of the screen, the two Futurians grinned in delight, relishing in the horrible scene.

“Your ‘hero’ has failed you,” Wilson announced with praised in his voice. “This game has been amusing, but it had delayed us enough. It’s time to make your decision, Prime Minister.”

Hayashida gulped nervously as sweat ran down his face. So much pressure was on him at this moment that would decide the future of his country, but none of the options available were favourable, and time was short. He would have to make a choice, or it would be made for him. Either way, history would be sure to remember him for this, but not as he would have hoped.

“Perhaps we can sweeten the deal?” Grenchiko offered. “If you submit control to us now, we may consider sparing Ultraman’s life as well.”

Wilson snapped to face his green-suited ally with a disapproving expression. Words began to form on his lips, but he stopped himself after considering the option and grinned. He had said they might spare him.

“No!”

The shout made heads turn in shock. Hayashida, Grenchiko and Wilson all blinked in surprise at the word that came from Commander Aso’s lips.

“I won’t yield to this terrorist bullying for a second more!” he almost bellowed, filling the room with his booming voice as he continued. “I have given my blood, sweat and tears to protect this country. As did my father, and his father before him, and all those that have served and ever will!”

Aso glared at the tiny visages of the future men on the screen with a burning passion in his eyes that seemed out of character for the toughened officer.

“Ultraman would never allow us to sacrifice our freedom for him, and I shan’t permit it either. You cannot have Japan!”

Like many of his age, he had been born recently enough to experience the misfortunes of war. His father was a captain in the military, who served and fell in the Second World War to protect the men under his command from American forces. Though he had been too young to understand at the time, he was inspired by the stories told of him and chose to follow in his footsteps.

Yet a second source of inspiration came from the time of Ultraman’s first duty on Earth. In the span of that year, the hero’s tales and acts of bravery were often recalled in news broadcasts, which won over the praise of the Japanese people. But it was the younger generation who were inspired the most. The aged commander, though far from a child in that year, was drawn by Ultraman’s power and honour. A mortal god in his eyes that chose safety over security. Although Aso had grown and hardened in times since, a part of him still looked to the warrior of light and his kin with admiration.

Returning his focus to the main image, he clenched his fist and raised it in his own form of prayer to the defender of light.

“Stand up, Ultraman!”

*****

Though far from the meeting, the words seemed to give Ultraman strength. As Ghidorah leapt up, the giant’s body began to dissolve from the head down and vanish into waves of atoms. King Ghidorah slammed into the ground and trembled from the unexpected landing. After catching itself, the dragon’s heads searched for their missing foe.

In the sky above, Ultraman began to reform. Particles congregated to assemble the humanoid from the head downward as his rebuilding shape plummeted downward at high speeds. His descent caught the golden terror’s attention as the teleportation process completed, driving his reformed foot into the dragon’s chest to stagger it. As King Ghidorah screeched and shook its heads, Ultraman reached down to hold the three-headed monster’s legs and pulled back, jerking the limbs off the ground and sending the hydra attached toppling onto its back.

The dragon cackled and beat its wings against the enclosing buildings as Ultraman leapt atop its chest, pinning it to the ground. Each of the golden monster’s head took their go at trying to bite the dual-coloured giant, but their enemy’s swift reflexes made sure that every punch and chop found their mark and deflected the snapping maws. From behind the guardian, King Ghidorah’s tails rose and lashed out, slamming into Ultraman’s back. The warrior lurched forward, but was quick to recover and turned to focus his efforts on the swaying appendages as well. Like the hydra’s heads, he was able to keep the tails at bay, but with five limbs to deal with, it was a struggle to keep up. With each passing second and successful hit, more of Ultraman’s precious light drained away. The force of his blows grew weaker and his reflexes started to slow as the gaggle of snapping limbs began to overwhelm his tiring body.

At last, King Ghidorah’s middle head broke through the defence, snapping its jaws around Ultraman’s throat. The alien gasped as the head pushed him down and he seized it at its base as he tried to pull it off, but the dragon’s grip was not to be broken. Lifting the immobilised hero up, King Ghidorah’s other limbs lifted the titanic hydra from its crater. Now standing upright again, its other heads secured Ultraman by the arms as the center one released its hold to adjust itself, coiling around the warrior’s neck and squeezing tightly. Crimson eyes narrowed in delight as they watched their prey gasp for air fruitlessly.

The rhythm and pitch of the Colour Timer grew as the last of the custodian’s power was choked out of him. For Ultraman, it was mere seconds before the warning light stopped completely and he would never rise again. Time was running out…

*****

Wilson and Grenchiko’s faces were awash with pride as they watched their creation with pride.

“Was there ever any doubt in King Ghidorah’s abilities?” Grenchiko said to the silenced council.

Wilson laughed at their cowardice. “I was certainly wrong to,” he admitted to his colleague before turning back to the screen. “And you were wrong to have any faith at all. There is no hope left for your country. No escape from our iron grasp. Once Ghidorah is finished, I will have it burn Fukouka and Toyko to the ground for your defiance.”

“No!” Hayashida pleaded.

“Yes!” the burgundy-haired American yelled back. At this point, he was drunk on power and pride, revelling in the victory yet to come. Meeting the eyes of the horrified Prime Minster, he activated the communication circuit to Ghidorah to issue the final command that would break him.

“Finish him!”

*****

King Ghidorah barely registered the order as it continued to strangle the life out of Ultraman. The fight from the giant was waning rapidly as his chest timer reached its crescendo.

Even if it was not focused on its mission, the golden monster would have failed to spot another man watching it from afar. The city itself was abandoned at this point, but he had not stayed or entered. He just seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Like Shin Hataya before him, Dan Moroboshi’s form betrayed his true status as one from the Land of Light. Unlike his brother-in-arms, he chose to take the form of a human than bond with one, which granted him more freedom in the activities as his other identity.

He watched the conflict from afar with the intention to act. King Ghidorah and the Futurians may have sought to crush the country’s hope, but in their hubris had not considered what the concept could bring.

Allies.

Digging into his coat pocket, Dan retrieved the Ultra Eye and placed it to his face, unleashing the power of his true form as spirals of light flashed in the mask’s sockets. Energy spread outward and grew in size, morphing into the same humanoid shape as Ultraman. Red skins with patterns of silver, segmented protectors and a protruding, metallic crest was the difference between the new Ultra and his comrade, but both his eyes and the green gem in his forehead shone with the same determination and desire for justice.

“Dyuwah!”

The sound rang out, catching Ultraman’s ears as he weakly turned as best as he could to look at the newcomer.

“Seven?”

*****

“Seven!” Hayashida gasped.

“Seven!” Aso expressed the same amount of surprise as his superior.

*****

“Seven?” Grenchiko exclaimed.

“Seven, Seven, Seven!” Wilson smashed his fist against the control panel as he screamed each word in fury. “Can’t the fates let us have this victory?”

Grenchiko would have tried to console his partner, but with the other M78 warrior’s arrival, even he had doubts in King Ghidorah’s might.

*****

The golden dragon in question widened his eyes at the newcomer, but did not stop throttling its target. Bringing his hands to the Eye Slugger, Ultraseven launched the blade from his head at King Ghidorah’s central head. It struck true, cutting into the hydra’s cranium and forcing the neck to unwind from Ultraman’s throat with a pained screech. The Eye Slugger continued on its path upward before a psychokinetic command from Ultraseven made it dive back to the ground and curve so as to smash into King Ghidorah’s sternum. Stunned from the blow, the golden terror relinquished its hold on Ultraman and allowed the warrior to slip to the ground as it backed away as the Eye Slugger returned to Seven’s head.

“Don’t move, I’ve got you,” Ultraseven reassured his ally as he slipped an arm under their own and hoisted them back to their feet.

“T-thank you, Seven.” Although his throat was bruised and his energy sapped, Ultraman still acknowledge his gratitude to his fellow Ultra. He slumped in their hold as he tried to stand, but Ultraseven managed to catch and support the tired guardian.

“You are in no condition to fight, but I have no time to evacuate you,” he explained. “For now, allow me to lend you some of my energy.”

His palm came over his Beam Lamp, summoning his stored energy through the gem to his arm before launching a glowing stream of light from his extended hand to Ultraman’s Colour Timer. Almost instantly, the warning jingle cut off and it shone a solid, healthy blue once more. The veteran felt his body fill with strength again, numbing the pain and strain previously upon him. Flexing his muscles, Ultraman stood tall on his own and nodded in thanks to Ultraseven.

Across from them, King Ghidorah had recovered its senses. Its three heads switched from one warrior to the other, unsure on which to pick. Foreign commands were uploaded into its consciousness, identifying the pair as its targets and to destroy them both. Ultraman and Ultraseven turned their attention to the three-headed dragon as it spread its wings and cackled promises of death. Both heroes took their unique battle poses, showing no fear to the three-headed mutant.

King Ghidorah’s flailing heads launched Gravity Beams in all directions, carving up the landscape and igniting flames and sparks around the duo, who covered their faces as they tried to defend themselves from the onslaught. Briefly, the golden dragon halted its attack to take off into the air, only to resume the barrage from above, driving the two Ultra Brothers apart from one another. As the beam storm came to an end, King Ghidorah raised its feet as it descended toward Ultraseven, delivering a powerful flying kick to the recovering guardian, knocking him back along the streets. From the side, Ghidorah’s right head spotted the charging Ultraman and it lifted off the ground once more. It spun in the air like a disc, smacking Ultraman and Ultraseven with its skulls and the tips of its tails and staggering them.

With the ground shaking as it landed, the hydra turned its focus onto Ultraman and rushed forward, heads shrieking like demons from hell. As the three maws began to lunge, the warrior of light shook out of his gaze and lifted a leg, kicking the golden monster in the chest and halting its charge. He continued by leaping up, delivering a flying kick to the same spot and causing King Ghidorah to stumble. The mutant’s outer hands dove at his throat, only to be caught by their own in the champion’s hands and smashed against the center head as it tried the same attack. Dizzily, King Ghidorah wobbled backward with its necks wavering drunkenly, where its tails were caught by the waiting Ultraseven.

Pulling hard, he yanked the dragon off its feet, sending its three heads and colossal body crashing into the ravaged streets. As it struggled to break free, Ultraman joined his brother-in-arms and took hold of the right tail, while Ultraseven shifted his grip to the left one. Together, they heaved King Ghidorah up, not just into the air, but swung the golden terror over their heads and smashed its back into the ground, driving a symphony of pained cries from the Futurian creation. In its helpless state, it resorted to flapping its enormous wings, generating powerful gusts that blinded the two warriors and forced them away. As King Ghidorah beat its wings harder, it managed to reach its feet and keep up the raging winds, adding bursts of golden lightning that assaulted the Ultra Brothers.

Rolling to different sides, the duo escaped the range of the crackling beams. Standing up first, Ultraseven caught the golden hydra’s attention as he drew his arm across his chest, firing the Emerium Ray from his head lamp. King Ghidorah instantly drew its wings around itself, allowing the beam to strike and ignite sparks against its armoured scales.

The crimson giant dropped his arm as he examined the diminutive effect his attack had. As King Ghidorah revealed itself, Ultraman came to his friend’s side.

“The outer scales are impenetrable. Our attacks can’t damage King Ghidorah while its wings surround it.”

Ultraseven seemed to consider his companion’s words as he examined the three-headed monster closer. King Ghidorah seemed to take its time, cackling and beating its wings in an attempt to intimidate its rivals.

“Immune to energy attacks, at least,” Ultraseven finally expressed his findings. He looked to Ultraman, who quickly caught onto the implied hint and nodded, agreeing to the untold plan.

In union, the pair thrust their arms forward, Ultraman resting the flat of his right hand atop his left and Ultraseven pressing his palms together to fire the Slash Ray and Ultra Spiral Beam respectively. Both attacks blasted King Ghidorah’s sternum, earning screeches of pain from the hydra. As it began to retreat, Seven swung his hands rapidly in the golden terror’s direction, launching Shuriken Rays from his fingers at its heads and necks with expert precision. Bursts of sparks and fire erupted across King Ghidorah’s upper half, forcing its heads down to its chest to protection and engulfing them in its wings, as anticipated by the M78 warriors.

Ultraseven took the Eye Slugger from his head and held it out before him. Securing the weapon in the air with his Ultra Psychokinesis, he stepped back as Ultraman performed the motions for the Ultra Slash. The crimson defender pulled his hands to one side, imparting psychic power into them as his silver counterpart pulled his arm back. Together, their limbs shot forward and discharged their collected energy at the frozen Eye Slugger, imparting it with both constructs and hurling it in their enemy’s direction. Both the Ultra Slash and Eye Slugger spun as one tool of destruction, propelled by Seven’s psychic burst at the unaware dragon and cutting through its glimmering scales like a sword through butter. In the span of seconds, King Ghidorah was overwhelmed with agony as the combined cutter tore through its wings, then sliced through the base of its center head and finally decapitated the neck at the base before shooting off into the sky behind. As the torn wings spread open, the Futurian dragon’s head and neck fell away in two sections and crashed to the earth, spilling blood across the landscape.

Its remaining heads cackled with torment and rage at the limb’s loss. Gravity Beams tore out from their throats at the galactic guardians, but Ultraman raised his barrier to block the attack while his comrade awaited his weapon’s return. As the spinning blade returned, Ultraseven leapt into the air and caught the Eye Slugger, reattaching it before dropping his extended fingers across his Beam Lamp to discharge an Emerium Ray. The emerald struck the stump of the center neck, cauterising the wound and bringing an end to the Gravity Beam assault as the remaining heads convulsed in agony.

Ultraseven dropped to the ground before his ally and sprinted toward the two-headed giant before Ultraman had even lowered his barrier. His red fists hammered against King Ghidorah’s ribcage one after the other, giving no hesitation in his assault and no chance for the hydra to react. As Ultraman arrived, he dropped to a knee and flattened his back, giving the other custodian a pedestal to leap off and dispense a pair of chops to the terror’s craniums, stunning them. Upon his landing, he rolled forward as Seven followed and leapt, extending his legs as his crimson comrade landed atop his feet and compelled him at King Ghidorah. The impact knocked the golden terror from its feet, crashing to the ground and shrieking for assistance.

The warriors of light secured each of the dual-headed mutation’s tails and heaved, lifting King Ghidorah into the air and starting to spin. For the dragon, its world became a blur of colours as the pair swung it around and faster, building momentum before finally, they released its tails and let the golden monster fly off into the sky. King Ghidorah was easy able to take control of its flight, flipping around and using its torn, but still usable wings to steer it back around. But it had gained too much distance, and its damaged body couldn’t muster the speed to close the space.

In desperation, it spat out its golden beams, each striking Ultraman and Ultraseven’s crossed arms with minimal effect against their psychokinetically-buffed defence. Both heroes spread their arms to knock the bolts aside before raising them again into unique stances. Ultraman’s hands cuffed at the wrists to form a cross, while Ultraseven rested his right elbow on the back of his left hand. Together, they fired their signature finishers at the airborne hydra, which instantly began to turn. Although King Ghidorah managed to start its new flight toward the ocean, it was still struck by the respective blasts of the Specium Ray and Wide Shot. The mutilated creature’s chest was blown open by the impact and instantly cauterised, leaving its organs charred and dangling from what ribs remained intact. Desperately, it continued to flee, ignoring the great agony and weakness spread through its body with every second.

Once it crossed into the open ocean, its movements finally began to cease. Ultraman and Ultraseven watched as the dragon managed to reach a surprising distance once to sea before it plummeted like a rock and smashed into the water’s surface. The ocean quickly swallowed King Ghidorah’s body, dragging it down into the dark depths as its blood pooled at the surface.

Only the crackling fires could be heard for the briefest moment after the dragon’s demise. At last, the brothers-in-arms turned to each other in silence and raised an arm. Ultraman and Ultraseven shook hands in victory, congratulating their efforts and bravery in the continued protection of Earth.

*****

The air in the meeting chamber was the most positive it had been in years as party leaders and ministers cheered and hollered in joy. Only the Prime Minister and Commander did not participate out of age and maturity, but let their glee know through warm smiles.

“Do you see, Takaki? Hayashida asked. “This is why we must always have faith in our protectors.”

“With all due respect, Prime Minister,” the commander countered, “it is not wise to place our faith in outside forces, no matter our opinion on them.”

“I would not imagine you would talk so negatively of Ultraman, considering your outburst earlier.”

The reminder made Aso’s face flush with embarrassment. “Do not mistake my words for criticism,” he explained. “But Ultraman’s people will not protect us forever. At some point, we will have to take on that responsibility.”

“Perhaps,” the Prime Minister agreed. “But that thought should be investigated another time. For now, enjoy the moment. I’m sure those media vultures demanding information on today’s events will ruin eventually.”

*****

Wilson slumped into his chair with an expression of shock frozen on his features. It was simply too much for the man to comprehend.

“King Ghidorah… has lost.”

Grenchiko looked over the shoulder of an operator as they rapidly pulled up readings, with one section of data catching his interest. “The microwave impulses are still being received,” he gasped. “King Ghidorah is still alive!”

“And trapped at the bottom of the sea,” Wilson reminded him. “Even if we could recover it, there is no guarantee it would survive in its correct condition.”

There was simply nothing to be down. Their resources had been drained by the travel to this time, with only enough left to return them to their time of origin. Within hours, the Japanese military would be here to take them prisoner and take the stolen technology for themselves, no doubt. They couldn’t do anything with what they had.

Unless they got more.

The idea came to Wilson, bringing a devious grin back on his lips. “Boot up MOTHER. Take us back to the twenty-second century.”

Grenchiko looked at his partner in shock. “What?” he gasped. “We can’t go back! What about Emmy?”

“Forget her,” he told him. “She was too soft for the work we were doing anyway. We have to go back if we are to save the mission.”

“But it’s suicide! You know the consequences for messing with time travel, we’d be executed on the spot!”

“Have you no faith, my friend?” Wilson asked, which seemed to silence Grenchiko’s protests. He waved his hand, giving the go-ahead for his order, and the bridge crew immediately set to work. There was a time and place for everything, and for them, it lay back where it all started.

Island 8JO.

Winner: Ultraman, Ultraseven

 

Author: Matthew Williams | Banner: Matthew Williams

Akira Yuki sighed as he smoked his cigarette, exhaling smoke one last time as he put it in the ash tray before he put on his Moguera pilot uniform. Once again, he, along with Koji Shinjo and Kiyoshi Sato, were assigned to a new mission by G-Force to pilot Moguera, but this mission was different this time. In Okinawa, it was being terrorized by Baragon, who once again escaped the Monster Island containment facility. Meanwhile, the UNSC Moon Base made contact with the GDF to inform them that they ran out of fuel for the Moonlight SY-3, and they would unable to return to earth. Because of this, and with Kiryu and Mechagodzilla still in repair from previous missions, Moguera was directed to separate into its two vehicle forms so that each one could handle the situation. With Land Moguera sent to Okinawa to handle Baragon, the Star Falcon was deployed to the moon to deliver the fuel.

Yuki sat down on his pilot seat next to Sato and Shinjo, gripping on the controller. “You two ready to go on your own?” he questioned aloud.

“Yes sir,” Shinjo replied positively.

Yuki then nodded to the two. “Okay, this fight that you’re about to go in might be difficult since you’re only using Land Moguera.”

“Baragon shouldn’t be that much of a problem,” Sato said with a hint of worry in his voice.

“He shouldn’t, but I wouldn’t get too cocky. He might not be powerful, but he could be a bit unpredictable at times.” Yuki assured the two. “Trust me, that burrowing bastard escaped Monster Island more times than any monsters!”

“Okay, we get it,” Shinjo affirmed.

The hatch of Moguera’s repair room slowly opened, letting sunlight shine down upon the giant mech. The boosters underneath Moguera’s feet flared up, allowing the machine to lift off like a rocket ship. Yuki got up and headed to the elevator that led him to the Star Falcon pilot room. The elevator stopped within a minute as Yuki entered the pilot room. He noticed the room was filled with containers containing the fuel for the Moonlight SY-3, as well as a space suit to wear to breathe in space. Yuki slipped on the spacesuit and headed to his seat, careful not to knock the containers that were strapped together.

“Okay, in. Ready for the separation,” Yuki communicated to Sato and Shinjo.

“Land Moguera and Star Falcon separation will be engaged within sixty seconds!” Sato began the countdown.

The mid-flight Moguera moved its arms forward while the head was pulled within the opening upper-half of the metallic body. After that the, the body of the machine split in half. The circular area of where the Plasma Maser Cannon in the upper body started to open, revealing a huge drill instead while the body shifted to look like a tank. The lower body of Moguera also started to shift its form, with a pair of airplane wings extending from its alloy-infused thighs, two cannons merging out of the blue knees and the pilot cockpit extending in the front center of the ship.

“Separation is complete, Land Moguera and Star Falcon are ready to roll!” Sato declared.

“Good luck you two. Try not to get yourselves killed, huh!” Yuki communicated as he controlled the Star Falcon to fly high into the skies.

“Copy that,” Shinjo bided to Yuki, controlling the now hovering tank-like part of Moguera to Okinawa to fend off Baragon.

Flying through the stratosphere within a few minutes, the Star Falcon exited Earth’s orbit, soaring through zero gravity while its normal flight speed of Mach .24 shifted to space travel speeds of Mach 35.3. Yuki’s eyes gazed upon the stars that shined beautifully amongst the cosmos. While it was a sight to behold, it didn’t seem to amuse the pilot that much. But looking at it reminded him the time when he camped out at Birth Island, trying to kill Godzilla to avenge his best friend, Colonel Goro Gondo. Yuki shook his head to forget about it, he didn’t want to think about it too deep and open old wounds, not after he saved humanity from Spacegodzilla. Thankfully, his mind shifted when he received a message from the UNSC Moon Base.

“Yuki, can you hear me?” said Captain Katsuo Yamabe from the transmitter.

“Yes, I can hear you clearly,” Yuki responded. “And I’m heading toward the UNSC Moon Base to deliver the fuel for the Moonlight SY-3.”

“That’s good to hear, just find the base and land there. We’ll be able to take care of refueling the ship,” Captain Yamabe assured.

“Alright, I’ll get there as fast as possible so I can get back to Okinawa and help my crew defend Okinawa from Baragon,” Yuki responded while he controlled the Star Falcon to enter the moon’s orbit.

As Yamabe sighed in relief now that the fuel was being delivered, one of the Moon Base personnel rushed to him in a panic. “Captain! An unidentified object is heading toward the moon!” He warned to Yamabe.

“What?!” Yamabe headed to the radar that was showing something approaching to the base.

A round sphere of light was homing in straight toward the moon, moving at the speed of a meteorite falling straight toward the Earth’s orbit. Yuki easily spotted the object and tried to warn Yamabe, but it was too late. Within seconds, the glowing orb object plummet to the ground a few miles away from the Moon Base, causing chunks of the moon’s surface to erupt and float away in the zero gravity environment. The impact of the unidentified object had enough force to shake the moon’s surface. All of the personnel of the UNSC Moon Base felt it.

“Was that perhaps a meteorite?” One of the personnel questioned.

“I’d hope so,” Yamabe worried. “Bring up one of our security drones.”

As the personnel made the monitor changed the radar screen to the viewing of the drone’s camera, the screen showed a huge crater engulfed in floating chunks of the ground. Within the center of the crater lied a giant sphere that gave away a blue light, giving everyone the idea that whatever the unidentified object was definitely was not a meteorite. The Star Falcon flew around the crashed area, while the transmitter has picked up a message from the Moon Base.

“Yuki, do you copy?” said Yamabe.

“Copy that. And before you say anything, yes, I saw the collision,” Yuki answered.

“Can you describe what the object looked like from up there?” The Captain of the Moonlight SY-3 questioned.

“It didn’t look like a meteorite, it looked like a sphere made out of light,” Yuki described the best he could. “Awaiting orders.”

“Hold your fire for now,” Yamabe ordered, unsure if the unidentified object was either a hostile or peaceful entity.

Within a minute, the light faded away as a bellowing snarl echoed in this silent astronomical body. Loud stomps fell silent as a huge reptilian creature stepped out of the crater, looking around his surroundings of the moon. The creature’s body had some similarities of a theropod dinosaur, being bipedal and having two small arms. Its body was covered in thick scales while the back from head to tail was covered in spikes. The face had two small fangs and one eyelid lower than the other, giving it a deranged and psychotic look.

Captain Yamabe and the personnel watched as the unrecognizable creature let loose a shrilling cry as it noticed their base.

“Isn’t that suppose to be Bemular?!” said Captain Yamabe.

“That’s the creature that Ultraman fought, right?” one of the personnel questioned.

“Yes, but…” Yamabe wondered with a puzzled look. “Didn’t he kill Bemular back in 1966?”

Bemular let out another shriek of aggression. This was not the same creature that escaped the Monster Graveyard and flew through the cosmos, where it landed in Earth and was slain by the warrior of light named Ultraman. Nor was this Bemular the second one that escaped and tried to hide on an unknown deserted planet, only to be slain by another Ultra Warrior. It was its own creature, but like the Bemulars of the past, it too was pursued by Ultraman throughout the cold depths of space, easily tiring the bipedal reptile. It needed to rest. Once he did, he would take flight to attack Earth and resume the first and second Bemular’s task to bring destruction upon humanity.

Murderous eyes gazed over the human base, widening as he thought of destruction.

While his energy reserves replenished, he could show humanity a demonstration of the destruction he would bring to their civilizations. The UNSC Moon Base would therefore need to be reduced to ash, and with this goal, Bemular slowly marched toward the Moon Base.

Yuki watched Bemular heading toward to the UNSC Moon Base, turning on his transmitter to speak to the captain. “Permission to open fire, sir?”

“Permission granted. You may open fire as long as you keep Bemular away. Try your best not to damage the fuel for my ship!” Captain Yamabe ordered.

“Affirmative!” Yuki responded as he flew toward Bemular. “Dual Maser Vulcan Cannons, fire!”

The Star Falcon’s Dual Maser Vulcan Cannons fired rapidly like an assault rifle, directly striking the back of Bemular’s spiked head, sparks flying off as the surprised creature shrieked silently. Bemular looked up to see the blue and silver ship flying past him, turning around to deliver another barrage of the twin laser cannons. Blue flames grew from the recovering Bemular’s snarling maw, where he spewed the pale blue flames out as it formed into a ranged weapon. Yuki grunted as his body felt the blue beam making contact with the Star Falcon, but thanks to the ship’s synthetic diamond layer armor, it was able to tank through the Pale Heat Ray while staying in airborne.

“Is that all you got?” Yuki spoke to himself, mocking Bemular as he unleashed a rapid barrage of the Maser Vulcan Cannons directly at the monster’s face.

Bemular shrieked as it staggered backward, stepping away from the UNSC Base. Yuki controlled the Star Falcon to keep on firing its weapon at the monster, desperately trying to kill it, or at least make it retreat, despite the cannons doing little damage to it. But Bemular held no desire to turn tail and run. The space monster shrieked as loud as it could before it curled into a ball and entered its Spherical Change state. The sapphire globe began to hover before it burst at great speeds, avoiding the Star Falcon’s next barrage of rapid firing lasers. Bemular flew away while Star Falcon pursued it, firing its Duel Maser Vulcan Cannons at it. The rapid fired lasers did very little to harm or even slow down Bemular, as if they had no effect on him. Yuki gritted his teeth a little, annoyed that the monster suddenly decided to play unfair as well as fly away like a coward.

“Come on you cowardly bastard!” Yuki shouted at himself while trying to shoot the monster down.

Suddenly, the sphere of Bemular went up and let the Star Falcon pass underneath, as it then rammed the ship’s right wing, causing it to spiral out of control. Sparks crackled inside the Star Falcon as Yuki tried to regain control of the spinning craft that was going toward the UNSC Moon Base. He managed to get the ship straight align just in time before it touched the moon’s surface. The belly of the Star Falcon roughly scraped against the ground, only to slowly come to a halt, just a few distances away from making contact with the moon base. The engines slowly shut down when Yuki got out of his pilot seat and checked the fuel containers if there was any leaking. Thankfully, none of them were damaged. Yuki sighed in relief and frustration now that the Star Falcon was grounded with a kaiju now walking toward it.

Captain Yamabe watched in disbelief as Bemular approached to the crashed ship. “No! This can’t be happening!” He shouted as he banged his fist on the desk, now that he and everyone in this facility were doomed to face Bemular’s wrath.

But just as Bemular was ready to destroy the Star Falcon with his Pale Heat Wave, a nearby presence caught the space monster’s attention. Bemular look up, to see a mighty butterfly flying toward him. The insect was much larger then Bemular, mostly because of its enormous wingspan that easily dwarfed the reptile. Both the wings and its body were adorned with beautiful color patterns of white, red, orange and yellow, with black stripes to boot. The antennas dangled above the two bulbous eyes while the moth’s mandibles opened, emitting a silent chirp. Yuki look up at the window to see the arriving moth while Captain Yamabe and the others watched from the monitor.

“Mothra?” Yamabe spoke. He felt that hope had arrived, knowing that Mothra was a deity that had risked her life protecting mankind and all life on Earth for generations. “Have you come here to save us?”

Mothra looked down and emitted a calm gentle chirp at Bemular, giving him a chance to leave this natural satellite so she wouldn’t have to use her powers to stop him. Bemular let loose an aggressive shriek toward the moth. He had no intentions of arriving to Earth to come in peace, nor would he listen to this non-threatening monster that was trying to be a pacifist to him. Instead, he would fight it. But little did the ignorant monster know, he was challenging the goddess of Infant Island, who had fought many monsters that sought to invade or destroy humanity such as Gigan, Battra, King Ghidorah, and even Godzilla. Mothra was disappointed that she couldn’t convince Bemular not to fight, but she was not willing to let anyone threaten the safety of the Earth.

As the two giants began to battle, Captain Yamabe formulated an idea as he turned on the transmitter. “Yuki, do you copy?”

“I hear ya!” Yuki bemoaned. “But I’m not doing so good. The generator of the Star Falcon was damaged upon the collision. The fuel canisters are at least in good condition.”

“Okay, just stay there and we will get over there with engineers to help you out,” Captain Yamabe affirmed.

“Good, and you better hurry. Things aren’t looking good with those two fighting to the death.” Yuki spoke as he saw Mothra avoiding Bemular when he swung his head.

“We will, just hang in there,” Yamabe then turned the transmitter off.

Yuki sighed when Yamabe disconnected from communication and then tried to change the feed to the Land Moguera. It was a long shot, but an effort worth putting into despite the distance. “Shinjo, Sato, do you copy?”

By a miracle, he made contact. “Yes sir!” Sato replied from the other end. “Were you able to get the fuel to the moon base?”

“Unfortunately, no. We were attacked by a spiky freak they called Bemular. Tried to divert its attention, but it damaged the generator and brought the Star Falcon down,” Yuki stated, irritated by the recent slew of events.”Luckily, there are engineers coming to fix it the ship. Oh yeah, and Mothra is defending the base from that space monster.”

“Damn, well hopefully they can fix it in time. Because right now, we’re engaged with Baragon,” Shinjo explained.

“Don’t forget to put a ring on it,” Yuki sarcastically retorted. He heard his teammates snort at the remark. “I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can, so just hang in there,” Yuki said as he prepared to disconnect the transmitter and readied to disembark.

“Yes sir!” Both Shinjo and Sato replied as the Land Moguera fired its Auto-Tracking Laser Cannons at Baragon. Then, all communications ceased.

Mothra made her next move by firing several beams from her antennas. Bemular shrieked as he felt the lasers hitting him, causing sparks to fly off his body. Mothra kept on firing at her enemy while she flew closer to him. She then ceased firing her antenna beams and struck the reptile with her wings. Bemular released several angry shrieks that went unheard, irritated by all this. Then his hands caught Mothra’s right wing, but his small arms’ poor strength were easily outmatched by the power of Mothra when it was pulled away with enough force to make the space monster’s hands slip. Staggering forward, Bemular turned his head to ram it into Mothra’s side. A painful chirp emitted from the deity’s mandible when she felt her opponent’s spiked head raking her fluffy dorsal. Mothra released her golden pollen-like scales from her wings onto Bemular, and it rained down the monster’s deranged face.

In the midst of the battle between the destructive reptile and the guardian moth, Captain Yamabe and a group of ten personnel exited the UNSC Moon Base in their astronaut suits. They slowly headed toward the crashed Star Falcon.

Bemular let out an annoyed screech, but accidentally inhaled some of the scales, sneezing the golden pollen out of his nostrils. Mothra’s six arms grabbed the distracted lizard and let loose a conductive touch, shocking him like a taser gun. Bemular shrieked loudly when he slammed his head down on Mothra’s forehead, bringing the moth down. Bemular cackled in gleeful tone when he lifted his foot and brought it down on Mothra’s back, pressing it down on her fluffy back. Enjoying this moment of torturing the pinned deity, Bemular started to stomp on the defenseless Mothra’s head to squish it into a pulp. Mothra’s mandibles opened to release silent cries of agony from the crippling blows, but unlike her opponent’s perception, she was far from helpless.

With her blue bulbous eyes shining with a divine glow, the protector of Infant Island’s wings discharged electrical volts. Lightning cascaded around the installer beast, overwhelming Bemular with bursts of godly power. The reptile fell on the ground, shrieking as he felt the electrical shocks making his body shiver.

Yuki heard a knock coming from the outside of the airlock emergency exit door. With a hearty heave, Yuki pushed the airlock door open, letting Captain Yamabe and a group of personnel in.

“Nice of all of you to finally show up!” Yuki commented.

“If it weren’t for Mothra showing up, we would have been done for by that monster,” Captain Yamabe retorted.

Yuki motioned to the Captain to follow him. “The fuel is just right there, waiting to be delivered to your base.”

“Good. I brought in several engineers who will fix the generator of the Star Falcon. So mind helping us out on bringing the fuel back to the base while they fix your ship?” Yamabe requested.

“Not like I have any better things to do.”

The fuel containers were carefully escorted out of the Star Falcon, meanwhile Bemular spun around to whip Mothra’s face with his small tail. The moth shook her head after the tail slapped her face, but when she looked up, Bemular turned around to face and grab her antennas. Bemular cackled when he tried to tear them off cleanly, but his foolish tactic didn’t work out when the antennas fired lasers at his chest up close. Mothra’s wings carried her to a higher altitude as they discharged a barrage of lightning bolts at the injured Bemular. Snarling in anger by the pain he was feeling, the recovering Bemular’s mouth begin to glow once again as he shot out his Pale Heat Ray directly at Mothra. The unexpected attack struck the moth deity square in the chest, letting out a painful, but silent, screech. Though this particular beam wasn’t as powerful compared to Godzilla’s Atomic Ray, it did deliver serious burns to the deity.

To make matters worse, since she was in space, Mothra’s reflective scales would likely drift aimlessly and wouldn’t be able to counter Bemular’s Pale Heat Ray attack efficiently. Now she would need to be more careful with the space monster.

Bemular’s mouth shot out another Pale Heat Ray blast at the deity’s wing. Mothra managed to barely avoid the beam in time and responded by firing her antenna beams. Bemular stepped back when he felt the beams hitting his leg, shrieking loudly. Mothra then flew toward Bemular, ramming the spiked fiend’s scale covered chest. In tandem with the impact, bolts of lightning burst from the god’s wings for an extremely close barrage forcing Bemular to cry out in pain and frustration. Bemular wanted to slaughter this bug for attacking him and not giving him a chance destroy the human base. All this to avoid the Ultra Warriors, and now a new problem took its place.

Yuki and Captain Yamabe returned to the Star Falcon to collect the last of the fuel containers as they watched Bemular morphed back to his Spherical Change state and become airborne once more. “Once we get this fuel in the Moonlight SY-3, we’re gonna help you, Mothra,” Yamabe muttered to himself.

Mothra and the spherical form of Bemular flew around the lunar rock, occasionally colliding into each other as sparks flew out of their bodies upon contact. Mothra tried everything that she had, firing her antenna beams when pursuing or flying toward the sphere and zapping it with her lightning from her wings. Bemular could feel the pain from the protector’s attacks, but the blue sphere that encased him helped him endure it.

Bemular zoomed after Mothra.

Mothra flew after the shield-like orb.

As soon as Mothra was about to collide with the beast, Bemular suddenly went underneath the guardian and propelled itself upward. A unparalleled shockwave launched Mothra spaceward as energy seared her body.

From a distance, Yuki, Captain Yamabe and the rest of the UNSC personnel noticed the pained Mothra as she spun uncontrollably in space. With that taken care of, Bemular flew back to the moon.

“LET’S HURRY!” shouted Captain Yamabe as he, Yuki, and the personnel carried the fuel containers to the UNSC Moon Base. Inside the Star Falcon, one of the Engineers could see Bemular’s sphere form landing, just two miles away from the base.

“How’s the generator?!” he shouted.

“I need just a few more minutes to get this thing fixed!” The other engineer shouted as he concentrated on fixing the damaged generator.

“There’s no time! Get that generator fixed before he-” the engineer was interrupted when he saw the orb make contact with the surface of the moon. Bemular reverted back to his true form and let out a silent shriek. “Oh god…”

Meanwhile, in the air lock entrance of the UNSC Base, Yuki grunted as he placed the fuel container down on the floor. “There, that’s the last of the fuel containers.”

“Good job! Now hurry and get back to the Star Falcon! We will refuel the Moonlight SY-3!”

Yuki nodded as he exited the airlock, heading back to the Star Falcon, hoping it would be enough to put this space demon down once and for all

Mothra regained control as she gazed down at Bemular, the creature slowly approaching the UNSC Base. She was about to fly after the space monster, but something else caught her attention…

Mothra’s rounded compound eyes caught a glimpse of an approaching icy meteorite heading toward the moon, moving at breakneck speeds. Fearing that the space rock might destroy the moon base upon collision, Mothra bravely flew toward the homing meteorite. Flashing in a beautiful shimmering light, Mothra crashed headfirst into the meteorite to shatter it into pieces.

But upon contact of the icy cold chunk of space rock, she felt the disturbed presence of what laid within. Mothra passed by the shattered rock as something else came out of it, aimed straight at the moon.

As Bemular closed in on the crashed Star Falcon, Yuki looked up the towering space lizard that was charging up another Pale Heat Ray. Yuki hurried his way into the Star Falcon’s airlock. But just as Bemular was ready to unleash his blue beam to destroy the ship, the unidentified being that came out of the destroyed meteorite collided with the moon. The impact alone caught Bemular’s attention and halted his attack.

The spiked reptile looked back to see the source of this newfound disturbance. He grew annoyed at the constant interruptions, and soon noticed it was another bipedal reptilian creature much like himself. While it was smaller than the green theropod-like space monster, this new blue monster with a craggy-like back had much longer and larger arms than Bemular’s. The appearance of the creature’s head seemed to resemble a cross of a rhinoceros with the long yellow nasal horn located on its forehead and an alligator due to the narrow reptilian snout and jaws covered in sharp teeth. The new creature, known as Goliath, raised his huge hands while swinging its long reptilian tail, silently growling at Bemular with aggression.

Fuming with anger and frustration, Bemular let loose his Pale Heat Ray at Goliath’s feet. The blue titan shrieked as he grabbed his sole that had been shot by the beam. He would make sure that Bemular would pay for that. Goliath’s nasal horn let loose electrical discharges as a lightning bolt struck Bemular, detonating explosions around the space monster.

Yuki sighed in relief, fortunate to have made it to the downed vessel without being blown away by the nearby lightning. Yuki headed toward the engineers, noticing Bemular and the new creature engaging head-on in battle.

“Yuki! It’s good to see you made it in one piece!” said the engineer, smiling to see him still alive.

Yuki didn’t smile back, seemingly more caring about whether or not the generator was fixed or not. “Were you able to repair the Star Falcon?”

“Just need a few more minutes and she’ll be fixed in no time.” The engineer gladly told to Yuki.

Bemular’s tiny claws raked across the tough hide of Goliath’s neck. The brutish monster used his strong muscles to bring the ganglier reptile down on the moon’s surface. Goliath lifted his shot sole and slammed it down on Bemular’s head, sharing him the pain that he still felt on his burnt foot. Bemular rolled his body out of the way before Goliath stomped on him once again, and look up to fire another Pale Heat Ray. Goliath screeched when he felt it burn him, this time directly on the belly. Goliath clenched his fists and slammed them at the recovering Bemular’s insane looking face. The knuckles of the blue demon impacted the face of the space monster. Blood snorted out of the slugged nostrils as Bemular went berserk and grabbed Goliath with his small arms. When Bemular sank his teeth deep into Goliath’s neck, the biped crocodile’s horn crackled as his body let loose an electrical discharge, shocking Bemular’s body as he staggered back, tripping and falling onto his spiked back.

Bemular landed next to the Star Falcon, which startled everyone inside it. Goliath’s yellow horn crackled as the brute was about to finish Bemular off with a single lightning bolt. But suddenly, Mothra flew in the action and quickly fired her antenna rays at Goliath’s chest, knocking him down on the ground. Yuki watched from the pilot window to see Mothra’s six arms grabbing Bemular and carried him away from the Star Falcon, dropping him in the middle of a lunar crater by the light pull of the moon’s gravity.

“Generator is fixed, she’s ready to go!” One of the engineers shouted as he and his fellow crewmates disembarked, returning to the moon base.

Yuki looked back and nodded. “Good, now head back to the base as fast as you can. I’ll handle those space brutes.”

The sounds of the Star Falcon began to emit once more as the ship got off the ground, ready take on the invaders of the moon once again. The Star Falcon soared next to the flying Mothra, ready to aid her in this battle. Goliath got up on his feet as he put up his clenching fists, letting out a battle cry to punish the moth.

“Let’s go, Mothra!” Yuki yelled, ready to give Goliath and Bemular hell.

The Dual Maser Vulcan Cannons unleashed a rapid fire of lasers at Goliath’s chest while Mothra’s antennas shot dozens of lasers. The titan tried to tank through the lasers that blasted his tough hide, while his nasal horn discharged an electrical volt at his two attackers. Yuki quickly steered the Star Falcon out of the way while Mothra dodged the lightning. But then, Goliath leapt and grabbed Mothra’s wings, the goddess of peace could only screech in the void when Goliath’s hands begin tearing away her wings, trying to disable her ability to fly.

“Oh no you don’t!” Yuki shouted as he steered the Star Falcon, rapidly firing at Goliath’s right wrist with the Vulcan Cannons and unleashed another barrage on the left wrist.

Goliath released his grip and shrieked, shaking his hands that were coated in smoke. Thankfully with her wings still intact, Mothra fired her antenna beams at the horned monster again while keeping herself away from him. But Goliath refused to let the moth get away. He leapt and grabbed Mothra’s abdomen, bringing her down on the dusty surface once again. Growling in fury, Goliath’s long arms lifted his tightening fists to crush the deity’s head.

Suddenly a barrage of powerful missiles struck Goliath’s craggy back, causing him to rub his back. Yuki looked to see where the missiles came from and saw the Moonlight SY-3 passing by Goliath. It was easy to assume that Captain Yamabe and his crew refueled the ship just in time to join in the fight.

The Star Falcon joined with the Moonlight SY-3 to open fire upon Goliath. The blue space monster shrieked when he felt one of the missiles detonating when it made contact with his face, almost damaging the beast’s nasal horn. Goliath hunched down and shielded the horn with his hands, seemingly to protect it while he endured the lasers and missiles that bombarded his colossal body. As the battleships passed by, Goliath’s hands release the yellow pointed weapon and fired electricity. Star Falcon flew out of the way while the bolt barely made contact with the SY-3. Goliath’s hand covered the horn when Star Falcon steered and fired its duel maser cannon at him, blocking the lasers from making contact to the source of his electrical powers.

Bemular slowly climbed out of the lunar crater, his psychotic wide eyes narrowed at Star Falcon and the Moonlight SY-3. Wounded, tired, and enraged, Bemular wanted to bring destruction upon his enemies for not letting him rest on this lifeless lunar rock. Seeing Mothra lying down, still alive, she would be the first for Bemular to show no mercy. Bemular’s body was encased into his sapphire spherical form again and flew toward the recovering Mothra, the moth’s wings quickly pulled her away from the homing ball.

“You again…” Yuki glared at the sphere that showed the silhouette of the curled up Bemular within. “Captain, permission to attack Bemular.”

“Permission granted, we’ll take care of the other kaiju from here.” Captain Yamabe responded.

Yuki turned the Star Falcon to face the space monster that managed crash the ship. “Ready for round two?” he uttered.

Bemular once again flew away while the Star Falcon continued to fire its Vulcan Cannons. Goliath took notice and shot the Moguera segment with its lightning horn. Yuki grunted as he felt the lightning struck the right side of the Star Falcon, causing sparks to fly out. But Yuki kept his focus on Bemular. He wasn’t going let that damn reptile get away for damaging the Star Falcon.

“Now’s our chance to open fire on that horn!” Captain Yamabe commanded.

The Moonlight SY-3 opened fired a missile directly at the distracted Goliath’s face, engulfing his head in a fireball. Goliath groaned weakly as he felt the blast searing his nasal horn, burned marks could be seen on it as the space behemoth slowly fell flat on his chest.

“Target is down!” One of the SY-3 crewmembers spoke.

“Now let’s open fire on our last target, Bemular.”

As the Moonlight SY-3 flew away to assist Yuki, Mothra slowly descended to the wounded Goliath. She looked down upon the space beast, who groaned weakly. The goddess of Infant Island thought about him for a moment. She could tell that Goliath was no invader, at least compared to the likes of Bemular. He was destructive, territorial even, but only a beast as part of the greater natural cosmos, no different than Earth’s own monsters. He just simply showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps there was room to reason?

Mothra calmly descended in front of Goliath up close, her six arms gently touching the surface of the moon. Goliath growled weakly, but was unable to move an inch due to the writhing pain he was experiencing from his damaged horn. The only thing he could do was growl aggressively, but even then that was not enough to remotely frighten the sacred deity. Mothra’s sweet blue compound eyes stared into Goliath’s eyes, her antennae glowed brightly as sparkling scales came out to make contact with the monster’s body. The moth goddess began to calmly communicate with Goliath via telepathy, telling him to fight with her just this once, and she promised to take him to a different planet somewhere within the cosmos where he could live peacefully. Goliath didn’t want to help this peaceful moth since, part of him being too stubborn to assist anyone. But the promise of an isolated world sounded nice to him.

He pondered, then finally came to a conclusion. Goliath accepted Mothra’s request.

Mothra’s scales started soothing the pain that the space monster was having, allowing him to slowly get up on his feet. Restored and feeling renewed, Goliath’s fists pounded on his chest before shrieking out a bellowing cry, even if it went unheard.

“Captain! Bemular is homing on us!” shouted one of the SY-3 crew.

Bemular’s travel ball suddenly stopped, and then sped up once it gained enough distance. In a burst of speed, the sphere zoomed toward the pursuing Moonlight SY-3. Yuki’s Star Falcon tried to halt Bemular, but not even the Maser Vulcan lasers could stop the space monster’s defensive sphere. It seemed hopeless for the Moonlight SY-3, who were unable to steer out of the way in time. Suddenly, Mothra and Goliath both fired their beam weapons at the blue globe, ceasing it as Bemular’s body spun around in the zero gravity space. Yamabe and Yuki watched Mothra flying in and grabbing Bemular’s flailing body, carrying him back to the moon toward Goliath before letting go. Goliath delivered an electrically charged punch directly at the spiked reptile’s chest, causing it to spit out blood.

Yamabe watched Mothra and Goliath teaming up to take down Bemular, not expecting the blue menace to suddenly start to side with him, Yuki, and Mothra. “Lock on to Bemular,” he ordered.

One of the pilots directed the Moonlight SY-3 at Bemular, who was being pummeled by Goliath’s electrifying fists and blasted by Mothra’s antenna rays. “Target: Bemular, locked on!”

Captain Yamabe nodded as he gave away his final order. “Fire the freezer missiles!”

The Moonlight SY-3’s cannons fired its freezer missile directly at Bemular’s scaly hide. The beaten lizard groaned as it began to feel his body freezing up from the inside out. Bemular’s theropod body was encased into a thick layer of solid ice almost instantly, showing no signs of movement.

Yuki smirked at the sight, charging all of the Star Falcon’s power into a single shot. Showing no sympathy, Yuki did the honors of ending Bemular’s life by firing the Star Falcon’s Dual Maser Vulcan Cannons at the monster’s frozen head that still made its signature, lunatic expression. The concentrated laser easily smashed through Bemular’s solidified head into shattered chunks of ice.

The crew of the Moonlight SY-3 cheered over their victory, now that the UNSC Moon Base was safe. Mothra watched the frozen, headless Bemular drift off into the void, ashamed that she couldn’t convince him like she did with Goliath. Hopefully, his death was quick and painless. Looking at the grunting Goliath, Mothra gently grabbed and lifted the horned alligator, carrying him to the far depths of space, as she promised to take Goliath to a planet where he could live peacefully. Yuki watched Mothra fly away, lighting up his cigarette as he inhaled then exhaled a puff of smoke out of his mouth. Should he ever meet her again, he would help her out if she was battling another threat. With a flash from his screens, Yuki glanced away from the god and looked upon the Captain of the Moonlight SY-3.

“Hey, thanks for defending the UNSC Moon Base. Sorry if this stalled your time to get back to Okinawa.”

“It’s alright,” Yuki replied. “Your base was just as important as the city. Without you up here, it’d be hell ensuring Earth’s monsters stay put on Monster Island.”

“Right, well it was nice to have you help us out, so we hope you make it to Okinawa before something bad happens.”

“It was pleasure to help you out, Captain,” Yuki thanked before he tried to communicate with Shinjo and Sato. “Shinjo, Sato, do you copy?”

Loud destructive sounds followed by the Land Moguera firing all of its weapons, as Shinjo responded panicky “Yuki! Where in the hell are you?! We need you back at Okinawa, we’re under attack by a new threat!”

“What?! What’s attacking you right now?!” Yuki questioned.

“It’s a giant cactus ball that’s rolling at a great amount of speed! Look, just get the Star Falcon over here to see and believe!” Shinjo described before hanging up.

A low sigh echoed from Yuki within his ship before a slight smirk of excitement formed across his face. Without a moment of hesitation, Yuki piloted the Star Falcon toward Earth, ready to face whatever new threat endangered Okinawa.

Winner: Moguera (Heisei), Mothra (Heisei), Goliath

 

 

Author: Connor Clennell | Banner: Matthew Williams

Mothra sat atop her rock pedestal, listening to the soothing songs of the Cosmos. In this world of constant war and bloodshed even a goddess needed time away from her fellow monsters. Perhaps this time she would be able to get some actual rest without interruption.

Mothra’s head suddenly snapped up in attention. She could feel a disturbance on the normally peaceful shores of her island home. There was an intruder in her domain.

The Cosmos watched as the lepidopteron deity screeched and took to the air, flying out of her temple and toward the beach. There was no sign of another monster when Mothra arrived, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She was sure she had sensed something – perhaps she was mistaken? Mothra was just about to leave when the ground burst open below her. The giant moth was caught by surprise and quickly ascended, avoiding the boxy jaws of her attacker. Mothra circled around to identify who or what she was dealing with, and for the briefest of moments thought she was looking at Godzilla.

Zilla looked up at Mothra, barring his teeth and directing a threatening hiss at the insect. He’d been wandering the waters of the Pacific for some time now, looking for new territory to claim as his own. Infant Island looked to be the perfect place to settle down on, but the mutant iguana hadn’t expected the island to already have an owner. Still, his opponent didn’t look that tough, and he wasn’t going to be intimidated so easily. He was also starving after his long voyage, and while insect wasn’t his preferred meal, Zilla wasn’t a fussy eater when it came to food.

Mothra began the battle, firing golden energy beams from her antennae upon Zilla. The mutant screamed out in pain as they tore into his hide, unable to do anything to stop Mothra’s assault. Mercifully, the beams stopped coming, only for Mothra to ram into Zilla, knocking him to the floor and clawing him with her many legs. Amidst the pain, Zilla lashed out with his hand and struck Mothra on the chest. Now it was her turn to experience pain as the lizard’s sharp claws sliced through her armour-less skin. Green blood stained the ground and Zilla’s claws as the great moth ascended out of the mutant’s reach. Zilla was quickly back on his feet and leapt at the rapidly ascending Mothra. The lepidopteran’s wings began beating faster, not only increasing her rate of altitude but creating fierce gusts of winds that swept the iguana away.

Zilla landed skilfully on all fours and quickly began digging away at the sand beneath him. Mothra quickly realized the lizard’s strategy and fired off another set of energy beams. Both beams struck the ground, just missing Zilla’s tail as he disappeared down a tunnel of his own making. Mothra fired beam after beam down the hole, illuminating the dark cavern with each blast. When the reptile refused to emerge, Mothra cautiously moved closer, inspecting the hole Zilla had made. A challenging chirp left her mandibles that echoed down the dark passage, hoping to gain some reaction from the Godzilla copycat. After a few moments, Zilla did not emerge, and Mothra decided that the beast had either retreated, was unconscious or dead. Content with her victory, Mothra began her ascent.

The surface of the beach exploded beneath Mothra. Zilla leapt out of the forming dust cloud, jaws wide open. Taken by surprise, Mothra quickly slammed her wings against the mutant iguana’s skull, dazing him long enough for her to escape. A frustrated moan left Zilla’s maw as he turned around to enter his tunnel, but Mothra wasn’t prepared to let him go so easily. He had defiled her home and he would pay the price for his actions. Swooping in low, the moth deity grabbed hold of the retreating lizard’s tail, dragging him kicking and screaming out of his would-be escape route. Mothra continued to drag Zilla across the ground, away from the beach and further inland. Zilla clawed at the ground as he was carried along, desperately trying to gain grip on the ground, but the speed and strength of his captor made the task impossible. Switching tactics, Zilla twisted himself around and let loose a blast of highly pressurised flammable gas from his maw. The pressure of the wind blast knocked Mothra off-balance, forcing her to release Zilla as she tried to correct her flight path.

Zilla looked up at Mothra, unsure of what to do next. Not possessing any ranged capabilities put him at a disadvantage and he knew it. Perhaps this fight wasn’t such a good idea after all. His fears were confirmed as Mothra began raining down antennae beams from above, blasting apart Zilla’s hide and the ground around him. Almost immediately, Zilla turned and fled, Mothra continuing to fire after him as she pursued. Now on the move, Zilla easily outran the great moth, outpacing the rail of destruction forming behind him. If the giant iguana wanted to have a chance of winning or retreating, he needed to find some cover, and fast. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a large mountain in the distance. That would do.

Zilla changed direction in an instant, sprinting toward the mountain before Mothra had a chance to follow. The irradiated iguana quickly dug into the mountainside, creating his own escape tunnel within mere seconds and burrowed deeper inside the mountain. Eventually, Zilla’s claws slashed through thin air as he broke his way into a large cavern. Zilla couldn’t hear Mothra anymore, but knew he was far from safe when he noticed the huge, gaping hole in the roof that allowed sunlight to illuminate the cave. With some time to formulate a new plan of attack, the mutation began looking around the cavern for potential hiding spots or escape routes in case the giant moth found her way in. Ancient man-made structures were carved out of and into the cavern walls, which were coated with paintings of Mothra. Zilla cocked his head in confusion, wondering what the nature of this place was. In the centre of the room was a large pedestal, carved out of rock like everything else in the cave. Zilla paid it no attention, instead focusing on the large, multi-colored sphere tucked to the side. Zilla cautiously crept closer, almost crushing the Cosmos underfoot as he approached the object. It looked like an egg, but Zilla was unsure. It looked too big to be one. The thing was almost as large as he was. Cautiously, he sniffed the sphere, immediately recognizing the scent of Mothra on it. Suddenly, the sphere moved, earning a shriek of surprise from the reptile. It was an egg. Mothra’s egg! Zilla had accidently dug his way into her temple. Panic filled the mutant’s mind as he envisioned all the possible deaths Mothra would provide if she discovered him in here. He quickly leapt atop Mothra’s pedestal and then jumped up toward the skylight.

Mothra rapidly approached the entrance to her cave temple, infuriated that she had let Zilla slip away so easily. While she couldn’t see Zilla, she could still sense the lizard and right now she could sense him inside her temple. She wasn’t about to let the mutation defile her home in such a way, and could only hope Zilla hadn’t had a chance to harm the Cosmos or her unborn child just yet. Just as she was about to enter, Zilla leapt out of the shadows. Both made a surprised sound, not expecting to encounter one another. Zilla crashed into the great moth, sending both tumbling down the mountainside, and when they stopped at the bottom, Mothra found herself pinned underneath Zilla. The spawn of atomic tests quickly took advantage of the situation, slashing and biting at the pinned insect’s thorax and wings. Zilla clamped his jaws around one of Mothra’s legs, causing the goddess to cry out in pain as he tore the appendage from her body and spat it out. The reptile’s claws, perfectly designed to dig through rock with ease, cut through Mothra’s fragile wings like a knife through warm butter. Mothra began to panic as her life force began to fade.

Zilla slashed at the deity’s chest once more, but was caught off-guard as Mothra’s two front legs grabbed his arm and began discharging energy into the limb. The mutant iguana roared in pain as Mothra’s holy energy scorched his arm, smoke rising off his skin as it burned. Pulling his arm free of her grasp, Zilla leapt off Mothra, nursing his injury. With a few strong flaps of her wings, Mothra took flight once more. Despite the damage Zilla had done to them, her tattered wings were still capable of providing lift. Mothra began to flap her wings faster, creating a small windstorm that knocked Zilla to the ground. Golden energy beams ravaged the mutant’s fallen form, drawing a pained moan with every strike. Mothra began to shed reflective scales and electricity from her wings, adding to the onslaught. By the time she ceased her barrage, Zilla’s body and the ground surrounding him was almost completely stained black. Chunks of skin had been vaporised, revealing patches of raw red flesh, and the stench of roasted flesh hung in the air. A weak groan escaped Zilla’s mouth as he weakly stood back up. Mothra had been more powerful than he’d anticipated, and now he’d not only lost his future home and meal, but almost lost his life as well. The mutant could only hope the lepidopteran deity would be merciful enough to let him leave.

But Mothra wasn’t finished with him yet.

Flying in closer, the mighty insect grasped Zilla by his head and began pumping energy into the mutant iguana’s skull. Exhausted from his ordeal, Zilla’s last reserves of energy were used to fuel his screams of agony as Mothra’s energy coursed through his brain. Mothra refused to let go even as the lizard fell to the ground, convulsing in agony. The irradiated reptile’s struggles quickly became weaker and weaker, until eventually they stopped altogether as Zilla went limp. Mothra released the lizard’s blackened head, observing the damage. The great lepidopteran’s attack had reduced Zilla brain to molten flesh, which was now oozing out of the mutation’s empty eye sockets, his eyes having been vaporised sometime during the discharge. The reptile looked dead, but Mothra fired a pair of energy beams that struck Zilla’s forehead just to be sure. The beast’s resemblance to Godzilla made her wary that it might share the same regenerative properties as the atomic saurian. Zilla didn’t respond, sending a wave of relief through the deity’s body. Her island and her egg were safe.

As she turned to return to her temple, Mothra sensed another disturbance. Something much, much stronger than Zilla was approaching, and fast. The mighty moth spun around to face her challenger. The shimmering form of Mechagodzilla slowly descended, touching down not too far away. The alien war machine let out a high-pitched screech from its maw, rotating its missile-tipped hands as it awaited the command to attack. Jikiro landed alongside the mechanical duplicate of Godzilla, the ground cracking open upon its touchdown, announcing its arrival with its own mechanical roar. They were here to exterminate Mothra and her offspring with extreme prejudice and raise Infant Island to the ground. Mothra gazed at the two automatons with worry. She had spent a lot of energy during her battle with Zilla and had sustained heavy damage herself. She wasn’t sure if she had the strength left to fend off her attackers. But she knew she had to. Not just for her life, but for the life of the Cosmos and her unborn child. As long as she could fight, Mothra would never give up.

With a challenging cry, Mothra charged Mechagodzilla and Jikiro as the two fired off their missiles and energy blasts, ready to defend her home and family to the last breath…

Winner: Mothra (Heisei)

Author: Landon Soto | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski

Weeks had passed since the battle with King Ghidorah, the world blissfully unaware of the fact that it had been saved from the unknown threat. The unlikely duo that drove away the golden dragon had gone their own separate ways. They had unfinished business, after all.

—

Goroshima Island; where it all began. The sun warmed the island as cool waves crashed against its shore. A familiar cream colored beast marched along the shore. Daigoro, the plush juvenile monster, stopped and stretched, feeling the warm sun rays on his soft skin.

Daigoro listened to the waves as they crashed against the rocks. But the serenity was brought to an abrupt halt as he heard powerful footsteps slowly getting louder. The pudgy monster turned to face the source, not surprised by who was making them. In the distance, a bulky blue behemoth lumbered over the hills and onto the beach, growling in anticipation.

Goliath, the blue star monster flexed his large hands. He had been waiting for this moment; no unnecessary distractions, or unwanted third wheels, just him and Daigoro, ready to settle the score once and for all.

Daigoro trudged up to Goliath, nodding his head. He knew how much this meant to the blue giant and he didn’t want to disappoint. The bumpy hippo monster stretched out his paw for a friendly handshake, but Goliath snarled and swatted it away. A bit disheartened, Daigoro respected Goliath’s choice; the two didn’t waste another moment. Backing up, they stared each other down, waiting for the other to strike.

Goliath, unable to contain himself, leapt forward, arms stretched out, wanting to pummel that irritating face of Daigoro’s. Daigoro easily sidestepped and rammed his left fist into Goliath’s gut, knocking the air out of the blue brute. The big blue space monster growled and elbowed Daigoro in the temple, staggering the plushy monster hero.

The blue space monster swiftly turned and clubbed Daigoro’s head with his large fists, easily knocking over the younger fighter. Daigoro grunted and picked himself up, just in time to dodge two blue fists slamming into the sand, Goliath roared and turned again, swiping the beach with his tail, sand shooting into the air.

Daigoro covered his eyes to try and block out the sand, which only left him open for another blue fist to strike his arms. The young hippo monster skid backward, putting down his arms, he charged at the blue rhino-like beast, jumping forward with his legs and landing a drop kick to Goliath’s head, toppling the horned monster.

Seizing the opening, Daigoro leapt onto Goliath’s chest and began battering his face with clenched fists. Goliath roared in pain as each fist collided with his face, every strike felt like being pelted with boulders. Unknown to Daigoro, a blue tail smacked into his bumpy back, knocking him forward. Goliath immediately bit into Daigoro’s squishy stomach, forcing the hippo hero to squeal in pain. Feeling more pressure being applied by the second, Daigoro made his right hand look like scissors and poked Goliath in the eyes, receiving a howl of pain. The pained Goliath released his bite.

Daigoro hopped off his blue foe, checking his stomach. Just a few teeth imprints, but the pain still radiated. Goliath snarled as he rolled onto his stomach and got up. His nasal horn crackled with energy as he turned to face Daigoro. The hippo monster knew what was coming.

A bolt of lightning fired from the yellow nasal horn, striking the ground in front of Daigoro, forcing sand to shoot into the sky. Daigoro yelped in pain as another lightning bolt struck his toes, the plush hippo monster grunted and began rubbing his stomach, causing it to glow red.

Goliath snarled, grabbing a seaside rock and hurling it at Daigoro. Unfazed, Daigoro closed his eyes and threw forth his right fist, causing the rock to shatter upon impact. Pieces of debris flew everywhere. Goliath grunted in shock but was instantly reminded of the fires dancing in Daigoro’s mouth as flames spewed forth. Goliath raised his chunky arms and tried to withstand the heat.

The sand in the surrounding area slowly turned to glass as the flames raged on. Goliath roared as he was pushed back, his skin started to peel and blister. Daigoro stopped his assault and charged up to Goliath. The blue beast tried to swat Daigoro, but the smaller cream colored juvenile easily evaded each lazy swing. Daigoro rammed his shoulder into Goliath’s chest forcing the blue brute to stagger back. Daigoro reached for Goliath’s ankles and forcefully pulled on them, causing the star monster to shriek in surprise as his back slammed against the warm beach.

Daigoro smirked and clutched Goliath’s tail; he slowly spun in place, dragging the blue behemoth around and slowly raised him up before finally letting go. Goliath groaned as he soared through the air, slamming into a rocky cliffside. The star monster spat out blood-soaked sand before propping himself up.

Daigoro hopped up and down before jumping forward again, his fists outstretched. But before he could strike, he was hit head on with a lightning bolt, immediately dropping him to the ground. The chubby juvenile squirmed as he tried to fight back, clutching the sand as he struggled, but Goliath was already upon him. Stopping the lightning bolt, Goliath jumped into the air, laying himself out and letting gravity do the deed. The plush juvenile turned onto his back, eyes widening as he saw Goliath drop back down. The stellar monster body slammed Daigoro, easily knocking the wind out of him.

Before Daigoro could get enough air, two blue meaty hands grasped his neck and began pumping him with electricity. Daigoro silently suffered as his body ached and twitched, foam spilled from his mouth as he choked on his spit.

Goliath relished the sight of his opponent’s agony, unaware of the red glow beneath him.

Sure enough, Goliath felt his hand get sweaty, making it easier for Daigoro to push them away. Goliath was surprised by the sudden resistance, but immediately understood what was happening as flames erupted from Daigoro’s maw. Boiling spit and searing foam flying everywhere forced Goliath off the tubby child monster, fumbling backward but still maintained some footing.

Goliath stared in awe as Daigoro coughed and wheezed, struggling to stand. His neck was raw, tears ran down his face, but he put up his fists and groggily charged the stellar monster. Goliath roared and charged as well. Goliath spun around and tried to whip Daigoro, but the heroic monster grabbed yanked it again, but Goliath was ready. His horned crackled with energy before his body flashed a bright blue. Daigoro immediately let go as he felt electricity surge through him again. He dropped to one knee, but was determined to not fall.

Goliath slowly turned and chuckled. His victory was almost at hand. However, Daigoro wasn’t out of the count yet. With all his remaining strength, Daigoro leapt forward again. Goliath raised his right arm in response to block the punch, but Daigoro wasn’t going for the punch. The whiskered juvenile put his power into one finger and swiped down on Goliath’s arm, the blue stellar monster suddenly howled in pain as he felt his bone crack, staggering backward as he tried to regain his composure.

Goliath stared daggers into Daigoro. What kept him going? Surely, any other monster would crumble from his awesome power. Goliath grunted; he felt something different, a smidge of respect for his opponent. The blue brute shook his head and prepared his electrical horn again, ready to give Daigoro a swift end. But Daigoro clenched his fists as the air warped around him, flames escaping his mouth.

Goliath snarled, he wasn’t about to make that same mistake twice. Goliath fired his lightning bolt, forcing the hippo monster to preemptively fire his heat ray. The two beams collided, struggling for dominance. Goliath poured every ounce of energy he could muster into the attack. Daigoro, although his legs were wobbly, remembered the cheers of the children. They gave him the confidence to defeat Goliath before, and he didn’t want to let them down this time. He remembered his father Mr. Saito, every other person who believed in him, and even his mother, who he vaguely remembered.

The young monster squeezed every last ounce of fire power he had; Goliath poured every last drop of energy into his lightning bolt. Before either knew it, a flash of white light engulfed them both. As the light faded, two forms were left standing. Daigoro, the orphan turned hero; Goliath, the space monster, blinded by revenge. Both stood tall, before Goliath tipped over. His body met with the beaches warm embrace. Daigoro fell to one knee. It took minutes, though it felt like hours, before Daigoro tried to stand using a nearby rock as a crutch.

Daigoro stood tall, raising his fist in air, like the wrestlers on the image box Mr. Saito showed him once. Slowly regaining his bearings, he knew he had won. He had made everyone proud, even if they weren’t here to see it.

The plush juvenile was exhausted, hungry, and hurting. He looked over to Goliath, who was breathing heavily, barely conscious. Daigoro limped toward the blue brute, who groggily looked at him, before looking away. Daigoro cracked a smile and stretched out his hand again. Goliath stared back, and strained to lift his left arm, holding onto Daigoro’s hand. Daigoro grunted as Goliath fumbled to stand, but he managed. Once standing, the two stared each other down. Then Goliath turned and lumbered away, wanting to rest.

He admitted defeat. He knew Daigoro could finish him off if he truly desired. The star monster hung his head in shame as he left the beach. The space monster was about to march over the hills, before feeling a pair of arms wrapped around him, stunned, the blue brute gazed down, seeing Daigoro give him a hug. He didn’t quite understand it, but he knew it was a sign of good sportsmanship.

Goliath grunted and shooed the child away, barking at the cream colored hippo monster, not to get too chummy just because he bested him in battle. Daigoro nodded his head. He knew Goliath wouldn’t change in a day, but it was a start. Their rivalry was still ongoing, and they would continue to better themselves.

As Goliath disappeared over the hills, Daigoro went back to his old resting spot, sitting down and appreciating the ocean view. Him and Goliath would clash again one day, but hopefully not for a long while. For now they would rest and enjoy the well earned peace and quiet.

As Daigoro, prepared to lay back and relax, his stomach growled something fierce. That was definitely something he couldn’t defeat. Oh well, he could go for lunch right about now anyways.

Winner: Daigoro

Author: KeSean Johnson | Banner: Landon Soto

Glimmering, beautiful lights lit up the overcrowded city. The land itself was full of excited life. Yet, during another dazzling night in Las Vegas, there was only one word that could describe the events occurring at that very moment: Chaos.

Terrified, citizens ran as fast they could and screamed their loudest. Vehicles honked their horns continuously as people ran in their way of driving. Gamblers in nearby casinos rushed themselves to gain the luxurious money they believed they so well deserved. The entirety of Sin City was in a state of panic.

The night sky was suddenly filled with airborne monstrosities. The reason why they converged on Las Vegas was unknown. All four kaiju flapped their gargantuan wings in order to stay afloat. They glared into one another’s eyes with shady intentions. The first was a creation of an ancient civilization who then went corrupt and attacked the world. It possessed navy blue flesh with shades of beige. Its bat-like wings and disturbing facial structure were definitely something to be afraid of. This creature was dubbed the “Shadow of Evil”. The second was the Lord of the Skies himself. An ancient predator who ruled the skies of the Earth. A lava red covered his body. Long veins were visible on his saurian wings. This menace only cared for dominance. The third was a majestic moth who’s only purpose was to protect. Soft, white fur with orange stripes consumed her frame while patterns of red, yellow, & black made up her wings. She was the “good”, but for every good was the bad. That “bad” took the armored form of the insect’s “brother”. A product of the Earth itself that became a vengeful demon. Black armor covered his body while crimson orbs protruded out of his abdomen. Lightning-like shapes of red filled half of his menacing wings.

The bloodthirsty Gyaos, the speedy Rodan, the guardian Mothra, and the vengeful Battra were ready to begin a dogfight that’d be one for the history books.

A quick burst of a sonic beam shattered the stare off and broke the silence. The monsters went into a frenzy. Crackling heat charged within Rodan’s three horns and the pteranodon vomited his uranium heat beam at every monster in sight, releasing pained chirps and shrieks from each of them. Mothra returned the favor and fired her pink colored antenna beams at the prehistoric menace. Battra blasted Rodan as well with his concentrated prism beams. The radioactive creature echoed out a bellowing cry of agony as tiny bits of burnt flesh fell from his body. Gyaos swooped in on Mothra and sank its sharp talons into her thorax, blood spilling from her new wounds. The guardian insect cried out in chitters of agony. When the Gyaos demon went for his next attack, Battra soared by and tackled him off of his sibling. The angered moth threw the Gyaos bird aside and blasted it in the back with his prism beams. Gyaos disturbingly shrieked in pain all while losing control of his flight. He needed to recuperate.

A spiraling beam of radiated power carved into Battra’s abdomen, catching him off guard and forcing a deep roar of agony to escape his mandible. Rodan flapped his mighty wings and began to peck at the armored insect. Its long beak bashed into his skull over and over. Small, flurries of sparks erupted as he bashed his cranium. Rodan was unrelenting. In a sudden flash, Battra blasted the pteranodon point-blank in the chest, sending him hurtling backward to recover. Mothra closed in on Battra’s location. When the furry moth flew over him, strands of gold lightning fired from her majestic wings and zapped her sibling all over. Battra twitched in pain and screeched continuously as his body was being electrocuted with no remorse. To speed up the process, Mothra shed golden scales from her wings, which singed and nearly paralyzed Battra’s nerves. Out of the blue, Rodan struck Mothra in her right wing with his magenta-hued blast made of uranium heat. The guardian moth chirped in sudden agony and seized her assault on Battra, letting him free.

Rodan dashed under her thorax and bit down onto one of her fluffy legs. The pteranodon spun in circles to dizzy the giant bug and succeeded in smashing her against her own sibling. The moth pair spiraled out of control but didn’t fall from the sky, they were only dazed from the rough impact. The Hyper Gyaos returned to battle, shrieking in horror before latching onto Rodan’s back and pecked at his skull. Now he had a taste of his own medicine. Rodan chirped in stinging irritation, trying his hardest to dislodge the savage bird. Mothra flew in and smacked the reptilian vulture with her left wing, causing it to swiftly, scurry away as it was disoriented. Two beams fired from her antenna and carved into Rodan’s flesh. The radiated beast angrily turned around and spammed his uranium heat beams onto the Infant Island Goddess. Mothra backpedaled from the scalding blasts, but fired off more antenna beams at the pteranodon. Battra soared through the battling duo and whacked them both with his dark wings.

He sent prism beams of plasma into Mothra’s thorax to scorch her fur and more into Rodan to do the same to his flesh. When he turned about 80 degrees to his right, the vicious Gyaos spat its energy beam composed of focused sound. The sonic ray shot through Battra’s left wing like tissue paper and shred a good chunk of it from the edge of the appendage. Battra’s lowered screeches of anguish escaped his mandible as he slowly fell from the night sky. His wings were still usable, so the armored moth carefully landed on top of a residential hotel to rest. Gyaos swooped down with its brilliant speed to go for the final blow, but Rodan used his excellent quickness to block off the bird and blasted it with his spiraling atomic ray. The flesh on Gyaos’ chest was cooked. With several hurricane flaps, Battra was back in the sky and grasped Rodan with his insect feet. Electrical surges zapped the pteranodon and burnt his skin. Battra flapped his wings as fast as he could and flew at his top speed. The vengeful moth released Rodan and let the prehistoric flyer to collide into the infamous Stratosphere building. With screaming tourists at the very top, the needle structure collapsed because of the force of Rodan’s collision. Both the building and the monster crashed to the ground below in a destructive manner.

The horrible Gyaos focused sound into his vile maw. With a terrifying shriek, the reptilian vulture released a sonic beam at Mothra. The devastating ray hacked her left antenna off of her head. Another quick burst of sonic energy and the beam carved a hole into the middle of her left wing. Mothra spun backward, agonizing chirps of anguish coming out of her brown mandible. Battra zoomed in on the Gyaos and held it captive as he singed its nasty flesh with his energy touch. Battra thought to himself, screw it why not? The armored insect bellowed chirps at Mothra. He was speaking to her in a language only they would know. Mothra listened to her younger sibling’s commands. Echoing out an angelic chirp, the guardian moth shed more golden scales from her massive wings. Battra tossed the helpless Gyaos into the pile of scales. Gyaos horribly shrieked in nerve-stabbing anguish. Once trapped, there was no escape. The flaps of its bat-like wings became slower and harder as its limbs painfully tightened. Mothra sent strands of electrifying lightning into the trapped bird to scar it even worse. A remorseless Battra fired countless prism beams into the scale payload. The purple energy rays dashed around in different angles until carving into the paralyzed Gyaos one by one. A deadly combination of prism beams, lightning, and paralyzing scales were all too much for the zombie-like reptile.

After about two minutes of unrelenting assault, the moth duo seized firing. The scales dissipated and a putrid stench rose into the air as the fried carcass of the Hyper Gyaos plummeted from the sky. The overcooked creature smashed into the surface below with a rumbling thud. Both Mothra and Battra released their respective cries of triumph to fill the night sky. They gazed into each other’s bulbous eyes and turned around to go their separate ways. As they flew away from one another, Battra wickedly twitched his head and clawed feet. He tried to control himself, but he couldn’t. The urge of vengeance was all that mattered most. Battra swiftly spun around and soared toward the exiting Mothra. He quickly flew above her and past her. A brilliant flash of orange energy consumed his form, zaps of electricity releasing. When the blinding flash faded, Battra plummeted fast in his larval form! The angry caterpillar smashed perfectly into Mothra’s body and sent her falling as well. The aching bug let forth a loud, chirping cry.

As quick as a speeding rocket, the monsters smashed into the streets below. A powerful shockwave of dust violently erupted. Battra completely crushed Mothra underneath his armored frame which broke his fall. The guardian moth was deep in an impact crater they’d created. Parts of her exoskeleton shattered beneath her fur. She painfully flapped her beautiful wings, saddening chirps of distress releasing from her mandible. Her baby blue eyes dimmed on and off like dying light-bulbs. All she ever wanted was to protect the Earth at all costs. She never wanted it to end like this, not by her own relative. Battra slithered off her demolished body. What kind of pitiful creature actually wanted to protect humans?! She was no sister to him. Only an arch-rival who got lucky in defeating him more than 12,000 years ago. That was payback for what she did to him. Another flash of orange illumination covered Battra’s body and the menacing insect was back in his imago stage. Battra flapped his evil wings to increase his altitude.

As he glared at his “sister” with disgust, the sounds of sonic zooming cluttered his ear holes. An atomic blast of scorching fury struck the top of his thorax. Rodan was back! Before Battra could even make his move, Rodan soared directly above him. The sharp spikes all over his torso scrapped Battra’s back ferociously. A blue flash shined and a series of singing sparks showered everywhere. The infuriated demon bellowed in agony as he began to plummet once again. Battra horribly crashed into a huge casino with greedy gamblers running around inside. Radioactive energies crackled within Rodan’s horns as they glowed with burning essence. The pteranodon vomited the ultimate barrage of uranium heat beams. The spiraling blasts of atomic properties smashed into Battra’s fallen form and the decimated rubble around him. With no remorse, Rodan unleashed blast, after blast, after blast until everything below him went up in sizzling flames. Singing fumes rose into the night sky. He couldn’t see anything beneath the destruction. There was no sign of Battra.

The glorious smell of awesome victory filled the nostrils in his beak. His opponents should have never counted out the quick trickster that Rodan was. With his three enemies down for the count, the radiated pteranodon dashed off into the dark horizon where the Moon was full, letting out that last mocking bellow.

It was all about dominance, and Rodan was dominant.

Winner: Rodan (Heisei)

Author: Zeb Dennis| Banner: Dao Zang Moua

It was night as the moon shined over Tokyo. But the city was in chaos as King Kong was attacking the metropolis. People were running for their lives as King Kong destroyed everything around him. Kong was smashing buildings, stepping on vehicles, and killing people. The Japanese Self Defense Force had sent in tanks, helicopters, and Type 88 SSMs to destroy the giant gorilla or force him to leave Japan; however, the weapons and the soldiers within them met their end, they were no match for the legendary beast. The only thing the weapons did to the giant ape was trigger him into a berserk state.

But why was King Kong here in Tokyo?

As King Kong continued his destruction in Tokyo, policemen, firemen, and soldiers were helping civilians evacuate the city. The scream of a woman caught the ape king’s attention, causing the beast to see a woman looking through a window in a nearby structure. The brown gorilla took a peek, wanting to examine the woman. He got a closer look and saw that she did not meet his standards of beauty, so Kong thrust his enormous hand into the room, ripping out the chunk of the building and sent woman plummeting to her doom. With a powerful heave, he pushed against the looming skyscraper and sent it falling to where it crushed fleeing refugees, upping the casualties and body count tenfold.

King Kong looked around, still seeking to find a place to call home, until he heard a familiar screech. It registered that it was not made by any living creature. He turned to see his mechanical double, Mechani-Kong, marching through Tokyo and heading toward him. The metal ape stopped at a distance, holding its arms up and screamed a digital roar at the living gorilla. King Kong’s brows narrowed, angry to see his old enemy. Drumming his chest with his fists, he roared back at the robotic primate.

Within his hidden lair in the North Pole, Dr. Who sat at his desk with his computer in front of him. On the monitor, Dr. Who saw King Kong and Tokyo through the cameras inside Mechani-Kong’s optical sensors.

“Kong, if I had known you would be this much trouble to catch, I would have sent Mechani-Kong to Mondo Island, instead of relying on that fool,” the doctor commented.

Dr. Who had hired a game hunter to capture King Kong, so the evil scientist could use the giant ape once again to mine for Element X. In spite of his success, knocking out the colossal ape with a non-lethal knockout gas, Kong broke free and took revenge against his captives. However, he was aimlessly drifting somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and the closest island to swim to was Japan. By the time Kong reached Tokyo Harbor, the JSDF was already prepared to drive him back. In the wake of the bounty hunter’s failure, Dr. Who found out the primate had escaped, and thus sent Mechani-Kong in pursuit.

Just as Kong and his mechanical rival were about to start another one of their scuffles, they heard the sound of jets above them with a looming shadow overhead. The two gorillas looked up, witnessing two Shirasagis descend with a mechanized dragon tethered by two sets of cables. A robotic force made from the skeleton of the first Godzilla that devastated Tokyo in 1954, constructed by the JSDF to protect Japan from the second Godzilla and any other threat crawling out of the woodwork. The Shirasagi jets planted Kiryu into the wreckage left by Kong, firmly holding its own weight due to its mass, unhooking their cables from the cyborg titan.

Piloting within the Mechagodzilla was the beautiful Akane Yashiro. While the female pilot came here to fight King Kong, she was surprised to see his robot counterpart was here as well. From what Akane had heard, Mechani-Kong was an enemy of King Kong that was created by some mad scientist, and had caused trouble for Tokyo in the past. Akane couldn’t help but wonder if Mechani-Kong’s creator had something do with King Kong being in Tokyo. Either way, she knew both these gorillas needed to be taken down.

“Let’s show these monkeys what a real robot can do,” Akane said to Kiryu.

The Mechagodzilla responded to Akane by letting out a digital roar.

King Kong’s animal senses was telling him that this newcomer was a threat to him. The primate could see it was like Mechani-Kong, but at the same time, had the appearance of his other enemy, Godzilla. Whatever this new enemy was, King Kong wasn’t going to back down from it.

“So the Japanese Self Defense Force had sent their Mechagodzilla to interfere with my capture of Kong. No matter. This will only show the world how superior my Mechani-Kong is,” Dr. Who proclaimed as he glared at Kiryu on his computer. The evil scientist grabbed a microphone that allowed him to communicate with Mechani-Kong. “Mechani-Kong, destroy Kiryu, and complete your mission of bringing me Kong.”

Mechani-Kong let out a roar as it obeyed its master.

Before the three giants could start their battle, they heard a large roar that echoed across the city. King Kong, Kiryu, and Mechani-Kong looked at where the roar had come from. The three saw something far away, but it was heading toward them. However, Akane and King Kong recognized the roar as it belonged to Godzilla, but yet there was something different about it.

As the forth monster got closer, Akane and King Kong got a clear view of it, and both were shocked as they saw it wasn’t Godzilla. Well, not the Mutant Godzilla anyway. This monster happened to be the Ancient Godzilla.

Akane had heard about this Godzilla before. Where the first two Godzillas were once Godzillasaurs that were mutated by radioactivity, this ‘elder’ Godzilla was an ancient creature that had existed in a time before the dinosaurs. According to scientists, they believed the species of the Ancient Godzilla were ancestors of the Godzillasaurus family, which would explain why the Mutant and Ancient Godzillas were so similar. But unlike the Mutant Godzilla that caused destruction, the Ancient Godzilla was a symbol of nature that protects the balance of the planet from danger. One of the good monsters like Daigoro, Frankenstein, Gomora, King Caesar, Mothra, and Sanda.

However, Akane had seen footage of the Elder Godzilla causing damage in Hawaii and San Francisco while hunting for the MUTOs. This Godzilla was a loose cannon like Gamera. While the giant turtle defended the Earth, he caused mass destruction to cities and brought death to people just to kill the Shadow of Evil. In Akane’s mind, the Ancient Godzilla was a threat to humanity like the mutant one. A monster that needed to be destroyed.

Godzilla stopped at a far distance from King Kong, Kiryu, and Mechani-Kong. There was anger in Godzilla’s eyes as he looked at King Kong. The same thing was said for King Kong as his blood boiled at the site of this Godzilla.

Dr. Who could see the angry looks that Godzilla and King Kong were giving each other. “Hmm… There seems to be bad blood between these two.”

Unfortunately, Dr. Who was right. The reason why Godzilla came to Tokyo was because he sensed King Kong was there, as their species were natural-born enemies. Before, Godzilla had always thought the species of the giant gorillas had went extinct along with the rest of his kind. But like Godzilla himself, King Kong was the last member of his species that had survived for eons. Even though this was the first time the Ancient Godzilla and King Kong had met in this era, it was in their instinct to hate and to kill each other. It was why King Kong hated the Mutant Godzilla, as he saw the radioactive dinosaur as a shadow of his species’ true enemy.

While Godzilla kept his focus on King Kong, he noticed the two silver giants. Godzilla could see that one of them looked like King Kong, while the other one looked similar to his species. Even though Godzilla knew these were man made machines, he couldn’t help but feel there was something more about the one that was like his kind. It was as if Godzilla was sensing that the robot was another one of his species, or at least one of his descendants. The King of the Monsters didn’t know how something like that was even possible.

Unknown to the Ancient Godzilla, the spirit of the First Mutant Godzilla was inside Kiryu as the bones of the dinosaur were built inside the Mechagodzilla.

Godzilla inhaled deeply before he let out a loud roar at the three giants that seemed to go on for an eternity. While Kiryu and Mechani-Kong showed no emotions to the roar, Akane stayed brave. However, she couldn’t help but feel a chill up her spine. As for King Kong, the only thing Godzilla’s loud roar did to him was build up his rage. Kong let out his own roar and beat down on his chest before he came charging at Godzilla.

The fins on Godzilla’s back glowed blue as he opened his mouth and fired his atomic ray at the incoming gorilla. But King Kong ducked under the ray, and as he got closer to Godzilla, he punched the ancient beast below the jaw, shutting off the beam. Godzilla roared in pain and anger. Godzilla stopped another of Kong’s punches by grabbing onto his arms. Then, the alpha predator slammed his head into Kong’s skull, causing the great ape to cry in pain. Godzilla used his foot to kick King Kong in the stomach and knocked the giant gorilla down to his back.

“Mechani-Kong! I need Kong alive! Don’t let Godzilla kill him!” Dr. Who ordered his creation.

After Godzilla kicked King Kong to the side and made the primate roll across the ground, Mechani-Kong got behind the ancient reptile. The metal gorilla grabbed one of its grenades on his belt and threw it at Godzilla. As the grenade hit against Godzilla’s back, it exploded, causing the ancient creature to roar in pain. Godzilla turned around and fired his atomic ray at Mechani-Kong. The robot ape let out a digital roar as the atomic ray slammed against its chest and knocked the machine down to the ground.

Before Godzilla could make another attack on Mechani-Kong, he felt something grab onto his tail. Godzilla turned his head to see King Kong yanking on the appendage. Godzilla’s eyes narrowed in anger and he used the strength in his tail to swing King Kong to the left and made the giant primate roll across the ground, until he crashed into a building. While Godzilla was looking at Kong, Mechani-Kong came in and punched the monster king in the side of his face. Godzilla roared angry as he turned to Mechani-Kong and used his jaws to bite in between the robot’s head and right arm. The monster’s teeth sliced through the ape’s armor, creating sparks within the behemoth’s jaws. Mechani-Kong used its left hand to grab Godzilla’s neck and hammered down on top of the monster’s head with the other, trying to get itself free of the kaiju’s grasp.

“Time to show them what you can do, Kiryu,” Akane commented aloud as the Mechagodzilla fired the payload of its two shoulder launchers. King Kong got up and was going to attack Godzilla and Mechani-Kong, until the rockets exploded against all three of them. Godzilla and King Kong cried out in pain, while Mechani-Kong ended up falling to the ground, letting loose a muffled, sonic cry. Godzilla turned to face Kiryu and fired his atomic ray at the Mechagodzilla. Kiryu let out a digital cry as the beam slammed against his chest and pushed him backward. Akane held on as the cockpit shook due to the beam attack. After Godzilla ended his ray, Kong came in charging at Kiryu. Before Akane had time to react, Kong’s body slammed against Kiryu, and the two slammed into the ground with a climatic boom.

Godzilla snarled in contempt, contemplating his next move until Mechani-Kong lunged atop his backside. Mechani-Kong wrapped its left arm around Godzilla’s neck and hammered away at the monster’s head with his mechanical fists. Godzilla roared as he tried to shake Mechani-Kong off him, but the robot refused to relinquish its grip. After grabbing Mechani-Kong’s left arm, Godzilla flipped the robot off his body and slammed the machine down to the ground on its back. Mechani-Kong sensors refocused merely to discover Godzilla’s foot descending on its head. With his processors assessing the danger of letting the strike hit, Mechani-Kong focused all of its power on rolling out of the way, allowing Godzilla’s foot to hit the ground instead.

Kiryu was down on his back, while King Kong was sitting on top of him. The Eighth Wonder of the World was hammering his fists down on Kiryu’s chest.

“Get off of us, you damn dirty ape!” Akane yelled as she made Kiryu hold his hands to King Kong’s chest and unleash a barrage of his wrist’s laser cannons. King Kong roared in pain as the yellow lasers exploded against his chest, which forced him off and away from the metal monster.

After Kiryu got back up to his feet, he unloaded another set of rockets at the giant primate, lighting the cityscape aflame. King Kong roared in pain as fire washed across his body from every direction. The ape came in charging and wrapped his arms around Kiryu, pinning the cyborg’s arms to his body. Kiryu roared as he felt bones slowly cracking from King Kong’s strength. Akane knew Kiryu was taking damage as sparks flew out of the walls of the cockpit, but how could she break free?

The electric blade? No, it would strengthen Kong. The Maser could do the same. Maybe, offense wasn’t what she needed. Soon Akane came up with an idea as she extended the thrusters in Kiryu’s legs.

The boosters across Kiryu’s body all lit up in unison. The Mechagodzilla burst into the sky with a thunderous echo, King Kong still holding onto him with eyes wide with shock. The mighty living god roared in confusion as both titans were launched into the sky. The ape kept his grip tight on the robot monster, refusing to release him and fall to his doom. Kiryu finally stopped as he reached the highest altitude he could attain.

“You’re going down!” Akane yelled at Kong as she launched missiles from the sides and back of the rocket pack. However, all the missiles went past King Kong, which made the ape wonder why Kiryu would miss him, since he was so close to the robot. King Kong got his answer as they turned around and exploded against the gorilla’s back. King Kong roared into the heavens, letting go of Kiryu from the sheer agony, falling toward the city. Akane watched in awe the beast struggle on its fall before crashing through a skyscraper.

Godzilla and Mechani-Kong’s bodies slammed against each other, but the robot gorilla soon found itself being pushed backward by the ancient beast. Mechani-Kong tried to stop itself from moving, but no matter how hard it tried, Godzilla kept on pushing. Mechani-Kong’s feet was tearing up the roads and knocking away vehicles. Finally, Mechani-Kong’s eyes flashed, unleashing bright lights right into Godzilla’s eyes. The predator let out a roar as the lights blinded him. He ceased pushing Mechani-Kong as he covered his eyes. Even after Mechani-Kong turned off the lights, Godzilla was having trouble seeing straight as spots appeared before his vision.

Taking this opportunity, Mechani-Kong began punching Godzilla like a punching bag. Godzilla roared in pain as he tried to back away from Mechani-Kong, but the ancient monster couldn’t escape the metal fists as the robot gorilla moved forward and kept on punching away at the giant reptile. Mechani-Kong grabbed Godzilla by the head, and slammed its metal head against the monster’s forehead.

Before Mechani-Kong could attack Godzilla some more, Kiryu came flying down from the sky, and dive-bombed the robot ape and ancient reptile down to the ground. Kiryu flew back up in the sky, and turned around to look down at the downed duo. As Godzilla’s vision cleared up, he and Mechani-Kong stood back up and looked up at Kiryu. The Mechagodzilla used the rocket pack to fire rockets down at the King of the Monsters and the creation of Dr. Who. Godzilla and Mechani-Kong let out roars as the rockets rained down upon them, causing explosions against their bodies and setting the landscape ablaze.

Mechani-Kong used his right hand to grab two grenades and throw them at Kiryu. The Mechagodzilla let out a digital cry as the grenades exploded against his body, but the robot clone managed to stay up in the sky. Kiryu returned the favor by firing more rockets down upon Godzilla and Mechani-Kong, but before the rockets could reach their targets, Godzilla fired his atomic ray up at the bombs and destroyed all of them with one shot. The atomic ray didn’t stop there and crashed into Kiryu. The force and power of the beam was so strong that it knocked the Mechagodzilla out of the sky. Akane yelled as Kiryu crashed down to the ground at a far distance from Godzilla and Mechani-Kong.

Mechani-Kong let out a digital roar as it marched toward Kiryu to attack him. but Godzilla had other plans as he fired his atomic ray at Mechani-Kong’s back, knocking the robot gorilla down. Sensing no further threat from the machine, Godzilla headed for Kiryu and went past Mechani-Kong, his tail smashing the back of the metal ape’s head.

By the time Kiryu got up, Godzilla used his jaws to bite into the robot’s neck. Kiryu roared as sparks ignited within Godzilla’s maw.

“You want to fight dirty?” Akane growled.

A large blade burst out of Kiryu’s right wrist gauntlet and stabbed Godzilla in the abdomen, causing the Monster King to let go of the Mechagodzilla’s neck as he roared in pain. Kiryu discharged electricity through the blade, engulfing both in a storm of electrical bolts.

Mechani-Kong was getting up to join the fight between the Godzilla’s, until King Kong jumped on its back and knocked the robot back to the ground. King Kong bellowed in contempt of his mechanical doppelganger and hammered his fists down on Mechani-Kong’s back. Under a barrage of thunderous blows, the machine ape performed a pushup and swung his right arm back to hit King Kong’s head, knocking the gorilla off the robot. After Mechani-Kong got up, he began stomping his right foot down on Kong’s chest, causing the Eighth Wonder of the World to roar in pain. Kong finally grabbed Mechani-Kong’s foot and rolled his body to the right, dragging the artificial ape to the ground.

As Godzilla was electrocuted by Kiryu, the Monster King reached out and grabbed the blade. As he pulled it out of his stomach, Godzilla held onto the blade as it still discharged electricity through his body, and brought it up close to Kiryu’s face. Godzilla used his hand to break the blade like a twig, which ended the electric attack. Akane was so shocked by what happened to the blade, she didn’t react in time as Godzilla fired a powerful atomic ray that blew Kiryu away, and sent the Mechagodzilla sliding across the ground.

King Kong was knocked backward by Mechani-Kong, his back slamming against a building. Mechani-Kong came in charging at King Kong and was going to punch him. But King Kong jumped out of the way, and Mechani-Kong punched the building instead, with its arm going inside of it. After Mechani-Kong got its arm out of the building, it came charging at King Kong again.

This time, King Kong and Mechani-Kong locked their hands against one another, the earth beneath their heels shattering from the immense force. Mechani-Kong swung its leg up and kicked King Kong in the stomach, breaking the hand lock as King Kong’s maw swung open, all the air venting from his lungs in a violent burst. Mechani-Kong swung its arm to hit King Kong, but the Eighth Wonder of the World grabbed the metal limb and swung the robot down to the ground onto its back. King Kong got down on Mechani-Kong and beat away at the machine, until the robot punched the giant animal off his body.

Both King Kong and Mechani-Kong got up and moved away from each other. Mechani-Kong grabbed a grenade and threw it at King Kong, which exploded against his chest, causing the living monster to cry out in pain. As Mechani-Kong marched toward King Kong, the Eighth Wonder bent down to grab the machine by its legs and flipped his doppelganger over to the ground. Kong turned around to attack Mechani-Kong, but the robot got up quickly and wrapped its arm around Kong’s arm and wrist. The primate roared as Mechani-Kong gave him a crushing bear hug. Kong tried to free himself, but couldn’t break the robot’s hold. So King Kong reached down and grabbed one of Mechani-Kong’s grenades and dropped it down on the robot’s foot. It exploded, making the machine loose its balance and let go of the gorilla. Now free, King Kong punched Mechani-Kong in the face, knocking the robot backward.

Kiryu opened his maw and unleashed a concentrated blast of his Maser cannons, but to Akane’s shock, Godzilla countered with his own blast. The atomic ray pieced through the maser with ease, engulfing Kiryu in a vale of smoke and fire. Godzilla roared in victory, turning his attention away until missiles rained down upon his position again. As the smoke faded, Godzilla gazed back to discover Kiryu, and if he could see through its damaged armor, he would discover the confident smirk of Akane.

“You wanna dance? Let’s dance!”

Akane activated all six of Kiryu’s main rocket boosters. Godzilla cried in surprise, but caught the flying robot, sliding backward from the immense amount of force. Building after building fell as Godzilla rocketed through it, until a large enough pile finally halted Kiryu’s charge. With a roar, Godzilla slammed the MechaGodzilla down upon the ground and grabbed its tail. With a mighty heave, Kiryu carved through an entire city block until resting in a pile of rubble.

After Mechani-Kong punched Kong across the face, the Eighth Wonder bent down to grab the machine by its wrist. Before Mechani-Kong could counter, King Kong slammed its doppelganger head first through a building, its going wide as it discovered Kiryu’s buried form on the opposite side. The might ape took a few steps back merely for a roar to capture his attention.

Godzilla and King Kong looked at each other, noting that the other had beaten their mechanical doppelgangers. Now it was time for the Kings to settle their ancient rivalry.

Kong beat down on his chest before he came charging at Godzilla. The King of the Monsters roared as he lumbered forth as well. After Kong went past Kiryu and Mechani-Kong, he and Godzilla slammed their bodies against each other. Godzilla used his right hand to grab King Kong’s right arm, while the ape repeated the action with his free hand. The two kings tried to get their arms free as well as push their bodies against each other to overpower their rival, but sheer willpower ensured no monster gave an inch.

Godzilla got his arm free and used both his hands to push Kong away. Then the Monster King turned around and used his tail to hit Kong in the chest. The blow sent the ape sliding along the ground on his back. Kong got back to his feet in an instant and made a run toward Godzilla. Then the gorilla body slammed Godzilla and pushed the alpha predator against a nearby building. Kong grabbed Godzilla by his neck and right arm and threw the Monster King down onto his chest. The primate bent down to grab the back of Godzilla’s head and began to slam the reptile’s face into the ground, creating an impression of the Monster King’s face with every earth shattering strike.

Kiryu and Mechani-Kong gradually arose from their early graves merely to discover the other. Without losing a second, each charged toward the other. The robotic creatures locked their hands against one another, trying to push each other to the ground. Mechani-Kong broke the hand-lock to punch Kiryu in the chest. The Mechagodzilla returned the favor, swiping its claws across Mechani-Kong’s chest. Then Kiryu turned around to swing his tail to hit Mechani-Kong, only for the robot primate to duck under it. As Kiryu turned around, Mechani-Kong swung its left hand to punch the Mechagodzilla, only for the metal reptile to block it with his right arm. However, Mechani-Kong was able to use its right hand to punch Kiryu so hard that it knocked the robot dinosaur backward. Mechani-Kong came rushing at Kiryu, but the robot reptile swung his tail and hit the metal Kong, which sent the silver ape crashing into a building.

“It’s time to put this tin can on ice,” Akane stated as she activated the Absolute Zero Cannon.

Kiryu’s chest opened up and three yellow bolts of energy appeared. After Mechani-Kong got up, he saw the bolts morph into a bright, blue orb of light. Dr. Who watched on his computer as the blue orb grew bigger, radiating a blue aura around the Mechagodzilla’s chest. The evil scientist was worried now, remembering the test footage of the chilling results of the Absolute Zero Canon.

Dr. Who yelled into the microphone, “Mechani-Kong! Don’t let Kiryu fire that weapon!”

Mechani-Kong grabbed two grenades and threw them at Kiryu. As the grenades hit Kiryu’s opened chest, the bombs exploded, causing the Mechagodzilla to roar, as the blue orb disappeared.

On Akane’s monitor, a message appeared, describing the damage sustained to the Absolute Zero Cannon.

Akane gritted her teeth. “You may have stopped the Absolute Zero Cannon, but you still won’t beat Kiryu!”

After Kiryu closed his chest, the cyborg unleashed a bust of his wrist laser cannons at Mechani-Kong. The silver Kong roared as the yellow lasers exploded against his body. After that, Kiryu bent down, fire engulfing everything behind it as the rocket pack launched off his back and at Mechani-Kong. But before the rocket pack could reach its target, Mechani-Kong dodged out of the way allowing it to fly out of sight.

Godzilla and King Kong angrily growled at the other as both caught their respective breaths. The King of the Monsters ceased his bellows when a gradual hiss neared his location. Before either could react, their battleground ignited into a blaze which consumed them both, launching a monstrous plume of fire straight into the air.

As Dr. Who watched Mechani-Kong fight Kiryu, he looked at the bottom right hand corner of his computer to see the loading bar. During the four-way battle, Dr. Who had been hatching another scheme. The evil scientist smiled as the bar reached 100%.

Mechani-Kong roared as it was pushed back by the cyborg’s Maser cannons, but without warning Kiryu ceased its attack. Akane scrambled to correct the error, cursing under her breath as she tried to access the control panel.

“What? Why did you stop, Kiryu?” Akane asked as she tried to get Kiryu to fire again. “What’s going on?”

Suddenly, the screen on Akane’s monitor changed, showing Dr. Who himself. “I’m sorry my dear, but I’m afraid you’re no longer in control of your Mechagodzilla.”

At first Akane was shocked, but anger quickly morphed into rage. “Who are you?!”

“I’m am the genius behind Mechani-Kong. I am Dr. Who!” he proclaimed.

“Funny, I thought you were British?”

“Very funny,” Dr. Who growled sarcastically.

“What have you done to Kiryu?” Akane asked.

“It is simple, my dear. I have planted a virus into Kiryu’s system. Your Mechagodzilla is now my weapon, and it will only obey me as his new master,” Dr. Who explained with confidence.

Akane was mixed with shock and anger. “I don’t know how you did it, but I will find some way to free Kiryu of your control.”

“You are welcome to try. But until then, enjoy the ride.” With those words, the screen changed, showing Mechani-Kong once again.

Dr. Who, now able to talk to Kiryu with the microphone he used to communicate with Mechani-Kong, spoke to the metal saurian. “Kiryu, this is your new master. Your orders are to help Mechani-Kong to fight both Godzilla and King Kong. You can kill Godzilla, but I want Kong alive.”

Kiryu let loose a metallic roar in obedience to his new master.

Kong swung his right arm to punch Godzilla in the face, but the alpha predator dodged and bit into the ape’s arm. Kong roared in pain and anger as Godzilla’s teeth cut into his arm. The Eighth Wonder of the World grabbed Godzilla by his neck and was able to push the reptile down to the ground. After getting his arm free, Kong sat on top of Godzilla and grabbed hold of the Monster King’s jaws. Godzilla grabbed Kong’s arm, trying to get his jaws free, but the primate began to slowly pull them apart; however, Godzilla was doing his best to keep his mouth from breaking. Kong kept on trying to pull Godzilla’s jaws apart, until he saw a blue light building up inside the Monster King’s mouth. Before Kong could react, Godzilla fired his atomic ray, not only burning the gorilla’s fingers, but hitting the ape in the chest and knocking him off the alpha predator.

Godzilla licked his teeth as he arose and roared at the fallen, smoking ape of its foolish move. Godzilla readied to finish the battle until two grenades came flying through the air, each hitting a side of the monsters and exploding against the two giants. The two ancient giants roared in pain and turned to where the grenades had come from. Far away from the duo stood Mechani-Kong and Kiryu, standing side-by-side. The living monsters were surprised to see the two metal giants had teamed up. Kiryu pointed his arms at the two monsters, firing his wrist mounted laser cannons at them. Godzilla and Kong roared in pain as the scorching blasts exploded against their chests.

Kong jumped at the pair through the barrage and smashed his fists into the robot’s chests, knocking them backward. Kiryu rushed at Kong to punch the ape, but the Eighth Wonder was fast enough grab the metal arm. After Kong turned around and swung Kiryu down to the ground, Mechani-Kong grabbed the primate’s shoulders from behind. While Mechani-Kong was holding Kong still, Kiryu got up to attack the living ape. However, Kong used his left foot to kick Kiryu away, before swinging his arms back and knocking Mechani-Kong away. Kiryu swung out to punch Kong, only for the gorilla to block it with his hand. The Mechagodzilla tried to complete the task with his other fist, but King Kong ducked under it, rushing behind Kiryu and slamming both fists into the robot dinosaur’s back, knocking the machine away from him.

Mechani-Kong tried to punch Kong, only to be blocked like Kiryu had been by the ape’s palm. However, Mechani-Kong was able to use his other fist to punch Kong in the face, punching the ape to the ground. As he stood, Kong found himself surrounded, with Mechani-Kong in front of him and Kiryu behind him. Kong turned around to attack the metal Godzilla as Kiryu turned around and used his tail to hit the island god in the chest, sending him tumbling toward Mechani-Kong. The robot ape punched Kong in the face so hard that it sent the gorilla flying toward Kiryu again. The Mechagodzilla punched Kong’s chest, which knocked the primate away, sending him rolling across the ground, away from the metal monsters.

Inside Kiryu’s cockpit, Akane was working on the control panel, trying to get the Mechagodzilla to obey her again. But no matter what she did, Kiryu wouldn’t follow her orders. Suddenly, Akane felt the entire mech shudder as Kong rammed his shoulder into the cyborg’s back, knocking the Mechagodzilla to the ground. Tired of the ape’s insolence, Kiryu fired its Maser cannon at the primate. Kong roared as the beams pushed him away from Kiryu. But then he felt himself getting stronger as his body absorbed the electric attack.

Akane looked at her monitor, her eyes going wide with worry. “Kiryu, stop! You’re only making him stronger!”

But it was too late.

Kong pushed his way through the beams as he marched toward Kiryu. When he got close enough, he threw a punch at Kiryu’s chest. As soon as his fist made contact, yellow electricity appeared from his hand that sent an electric shock through the Mechagodzilla’s system. Kiryu turned off the Maser cannons as he let out a roar and was knocked backward.

Kong looked to his hand, watching golden bolts course across his fingers. His hand exploded in power as he closed it into a fist, ready to smash all who stood in his way.

Kiryu came at King Kong and grabbed the ape’s shoulder. King Kong grabbed Kiryu’s arms and sent electricity surging through the Mechagodzilla’s limbs. Since Kiryu was made of metal, the electricity was easily conducted across his body, electrocuting his system. Kiryu roared and pulled his arms free from the ape’s grip. This gave Kong an idea. The ape wrapped his arms around Kiryu and sent electricity from his hands coursing through the Mechagodzilla’s body. Kiryu roared as his circuits were fried and tried to break free, but Kong’s grip was too strong. Akane yelled as sparks flew across the cockpit. As Kong pumped more electricity into Kiryu, the robot’s yellow eyes went dark. Akane looked around to see everything in the cockpit powering down as Kiryu went offline. After Kong let go of Kiryu, the Mechagodzilla ended up falling to the ground. King Kong beat down on his chest and let out a victory roar over the defeat of one of his three opponents.

Godzilla and Mechani-Kong rushed toward one another. Mechani-Kong jumped up at Godzilla and hammered down on the Monster King’s head with its fist, knocking the reptile down to the ground. The metal primate grabbed Godzilla’s neck and pulled the lizard back up, punching Godzilla twice in the face, before a third punch knocked the ancient beast back to the ground. Godzilla looked to see he was near a construction site, and there he saw a tower crane. The ancient monster grabbed the crane while he was getting up, tearing it from its foundation. Mechani-Kong was about to attack Godzilla until the King of the Monsters swung the crane across the robot’s face. Godzilla swung the crane again, the crude weapon breaking apart after hitting Mechani-Kong’s face again, but it was enough to make the mechanical monster fall onto its hands.

Mechani-Kong saw two buses near him, and grabbed each of them while getting itself back up. With the bus in its right hand, Mechani-Kong punched Godzilla in the face. It followed up by slamming the buses into both sides of Godzilla’s head, causing the monster to roar in pain, while the vehicles fell apart in the robot’s hands. Mechani-Kong kicked Godzilla in the stomach, before it grabbed the Monster King by the neck and threw the reptile to the ground.

Before Mechani-Kong could attack Godzilla some more, Kong grabbed the machine from behind, surging electricity from his hands into the robot’s body. Mechani-Kong roared as it sensed its circuits getting electrocuted. Kong hoisted Mechani-Kong over his head and threw the metal ape into a building. As Godzilla tried to get up, King Kong grabbed the lizard’s tail and sent electricity through it. Godzilla roared in pain as the crackling power surged through his form. While still sending electricity through the tail, King Kong began to spin Godzilla around, thanks to his charged-up strength. After picking up momentum, the god ape let go of Godzilla, sending the alpha predator crashing to the ground.

After Godzilla got up, he looked angrily at King Kong as he remembered the giant ape species’ ability to absorb electricity. Godzilla looked past Kong to see Kiryu on the ground, not moving. There was no doubt to Godzilla that Kong had been charged-up from Kiryu’s electric attacks.

Kong beat his chest before he came charging at Godzilla. As Godzilla and King Kong’s bodies slammed against each other, the Eighth Wonder discharged electricity from his hands; however, Godzilla did his best to hold his ground against the empowered ape.

After Mechani-Kong got up, it noticed Godzilla and Kong standing in front of a very large building. This gave Mechani-Kong an idea. The silver ape used its hands to grab four grenades and threw them at the building. After Godzilla pushed Kong down, the grenades exploded against the building. Kong looked up in time to see the upper part of the building coming down. The giant gorilla rolled away, but Godzilla wasn’t as lucky as the top of the building fell on top of him, burying him in rubble.

When Kong got up, he noticed Mechani-Kong, and went charging at his doppelganger. But Mechani-Kong was ready for King Kong, as the robot used the light bulb on top of its head to emit the hypnotic light. Kong stopped in front of Mechani-Kong as he saw the flashing light. Remembering what it had done to him, Kong tried to look away from it, but it was too late. King Kong couldn’t take his eyes off the hypnotic light. He could not fight it any longer, falling into a hypnotic state.

Dr. Who smiled as he saw King Kong was now his slave. “At last, Kong is mine.” But Dr. Who’s victory was cut short as he heard the sound of rubble moving from his computer. King Kong and Mechani-Kong looked to see Godzilla bursting out of the rubble. Godzilla let out a roar and looked around for his enemies, only to be surprised to see Kong and Mechani-Kong standing next to each other, instead of fighting one another.

“That foolish Godzilla doesn’t know when to give up. It’s too bad the hypnotic light only works on Kong. Otherwise Godzilla would be my slave as well,” Dr. Who grumbled. Then the evil scientist thought of something. “If Mechani-Kong and Kong killed Godzilla, then the world would fear me.” He hurriedly grabbed the microphone.

Mechani-Kong opened his mouth, which revealed speakers in it. “Kong, this is your master speaking. I want to you and Mechani-Kong to beat Godzilla to death,” Dr. Who commanded through the speakers.

King Kong roared as he obeyed Dr. Who.

Mechani-Kong and Kong went charging at Godzilla. After Godzilla pulled himself out of the rubble, he fired an atomic ray. The beam stopped Mechani-Kong in his tracks, but Kong kept on charging. As the distance was closed Kong grabbed on Godzilla’s left arm restraining it as he bit into the limb. Godzilla roared and punched Kong in the face, getting his left arm free from the humanoid’s mouth. Before Godzilla knew what happened, Mechani-Kong punched him in the face. Joined by Kong, the primate duo turned Godzilla’s body and slammed his back against a building. Kong used his fingernails to scratch the left side of Godzilla’s face. Godzilla opened his mouth to fire his atomic ray, but Mechani-Kong grabbed Godzilla’s jaws and forced them shut, stopping the ancient beast from firing the beam. The Monster King lashed out in response, catching Kong’s head and slammed the ape’s skull against Mechani-Kong’s head. After Mechani-Kong fell down, Godzilla grabbed Kong by his waist, picked him up and threw him to the ground. Kong tried to get up, but Godzilla stomped down on the primate’s chest. However, Kong grabbed Godzilla’s right leg and sent electricity into the limb. Godzilla roared in pain before Mechani-Kong punched him and knocked him off Kong.

Back inside Kiryu, Akane did everything she could to get the Mechagodzilla back online. “Come on, Kiryu! You’re going to let some crazy guy and an overgrown monkey get the best of us?!” Akane yelled as she slammed her fist on the control panel.

After Godzilla stumbled back, Mechani-Kong was on one side of the Monster King, hammering his metal fists on him, while Kong was on the other side, punching the lizard with electrically-charged strikes. Godzilla was in too much pain to formulate a counter-attack, letting out an agonized cry.

While Kiryu was still in his powered-down state, Godzilla’s roar echoed in his mind. Memories of the First Mutant Godzilla echoed within Kiryu’s computer brain. Memories of living peacefully in the ocean, attacking Tokyo, and being killed by the Oxygen Destroyer.

Kiryu’s eyes lit up, their color changed from yellow to red. Inside the cockpit, all the power came back on, but before Akane could do anything, she felt Kiryu getting up on his own.

After Kiryu got back up, he saw Mechani-Kong and King Kong holding Godzilla by his head and feet. Both primates threw the Monster King, sending him rolling across the ground. The Mechagodzilla let out a loud, Godzilla-like roar at the two gorillas. Akane was shocked when she heard the roar, and knew it could be only one thing: Kiryu’s Godzilla side had been awoken.

King Kong and Mechani-Kong heard the roar as well, and turned around to see Kiryu was back up. Kiryu activated his four remaining boosters and came flying toward the two gorillas. Before Kong and Mechani-Kong could do anything, Kiryu flew in between them with his arms hitting their faces, knocking them down.

Dr. Who was shocked by Kiryu’s actions, and grabbed the microphone. “Kiryu, what are you doing?! Kong and Mechani-Kong are on your side! Stop attacking them!” Unfortunately for Dr. Who, Kiryu was acting on his own, as his Godzilla side had overridden the mad scientist’s computer virus.

Kiryu grabbed hold of Kong’s and Mechani-Kong’s feet and carried the two gorillas up in the air. The Mechagodzilla spun the ape duo around before he let go of them, sending the apes crashing to the ground together.

Kiryu landed next to Godzilla, who was still lying on the ground. Godzilla looked up at Kiryu, waiting for the metal giant to attack him. But to Godzilla and Akane’s surprise, Kiryu grabbed the ancient creature’s arm and pulled the monster back onto his feet. Godzilla wondered why Kiryu would help him back up. Godzilla got his answer as Kiryu roared. At first, Godzilla was shocked as the machine made a roar that was similar to the one his species used. But not only that, but due to Kiryu’s Godzilla side, the Monster King could sense the robot was indeed a descendant of his species. Godzilla understood what Kiryu said, and roared back at him.

“Kiryu, what’s going on?” Akane asked.

On Akane’s monitor, words appeared on the screen: ‘Two Godzillas are better than one’.

After Kong and Mechani-Kong got up, they saw Godzilla and Kiryu were standing together. The two Kongs could see that the two Godzillas had teamed up as well. Godzilla fired his atomic ray at Kong, while Kiryu fired his Maser cannons at Mechani-Kong. The two primates roared as they are struck by the beams. Kiryu flew up and grabbed onto Godzilla’s hands, and carried the ancient beast toward the two primates. As the two apes recovered from the beams, each of them got hit in the face by one of Godzilla’s feet and were knocked down.

Kiryu landed Godzilla and himself at a far distance from the gorillas. King Kong shakily got up and came running toward the two Godzillas. Godzilla roared as he raced toward Kong. As the two monsters closed the distance to one another, King Kong pulled back his left hand to punch Godzilla. However, Godzilla bent down and went past Kong, with his hard, sharp fins cutting across the primate’s left arm. Kong roared in pain as he stumbled to a stop, clutching his wounded arm. He could hardly move his arm as it was cut badly, blood pouring out of the deep wound.

With their backs facing each other, Godzilla jumped backward, his fins cutting into Kong’s back and knocking the gorilla to the ground. Godzilla began to slam his tail up and down on the primate’s back, right where the cuts were. Kong howled in pain and turned his back to the ground. The humanoid managed to grab Godzilla’s tail and sent electricity surging through it. Godzilla screamed, but began to spin around with Kong still holding and electrocuting his tail. Kong couldn’t hold on to Godzilla’s tail for long, and was sent rolling across the ground when he lost his grip.

When he pushed himself up, Kong noticed a bus near him. Godzilla marched toward Kong to attack him. But Kong stood up and pushed the bus into Godzilla’s mouth. He strained to push the bus deeper down Godzilla’s throat, but the Monster King kicked the Eighth Wonder in the stomach and knocked him backward. Godzilla fired his atomic ray, which launched the bus out of his mouth. The bus flew like a shooting star and exploded against Kong’s chest.

Kong roared in pain and anger as he came rushing toward Godzilla, and was going to punch the lizard in the face. However, Godzilla opened his mouth and bit down on Kong’s hand. The gorilla roared in pain and sent electricity from his hand into Godzilla’s mouth. Even though the inside of Godzilla’s mouth was electrocuted, the King of the Monsters did his best to ignore the shocks. Godzilla’s fins glowed blue as he opened his mouth and fired an atomic ray with Kong’s hand still in his mouth. Kong roared as the nuclear blast not only scorched his hand, but the rest of his arm.

The ape pulled his hand out of Godzilla’s mouth and backed away from the atomic ray to save his arm. As the burst of atomic fire died, he looked at his arm and saw it didn’t get too badly burnt. But what shocked Kong the most was that his right hand was burned to a crisp from taking most of the atomic ray. He tried to move his burned fingers, but they wouldn’t respond. Not only that, Kong was feeling a burning pain coming from the hand. With his left arm cut up, and now his right hand badly burned, Kong couldn’t use either of his upper limbs to fight.

Meanwhile, Kiryu and Mechani-Kong were fighting each other. Kiryu swung his right hand at Mechani-Kong, only for the robot Kong to block it with its left hand. However, Kiryu used his free hand to scratch across the robot ape’s chest, sending sparks flying, and knocking the humanoid machine backward. Kiryu spun around and smashed his tail across Mechani-Kong’s chest, forcing the silver gorilla further back. Mechani-Kong rushed at Kiryu and punched the Mechagodzilla in the chest, driving the cyborg backward. The metal Kong rushed at Kiryu again, but the metal lizard dodged out of its way. Mechani-Kong turned to Kiryu to kick him, only to be blocked by the Mechagodzilla’s left arm. Kiryu rammed his shoulder into Mechani-Kong, knocking the other machine backward and spun around to use his tail to knock Mechani-Kong back even further.

Mechani-Kong removed a grenade from its belt. But before Mechani-Kong could throw the grenade, Kiryu fired the Maser cannons. The electrical beams hit Mechani-Kong’s right hand and coursed through his arm. Mechani-Kong roared as it sensed the circuits in its arm fry. Unknown to Mechani-Kong, the grenade was being charged up by the electricity, and before it knew it, the bomb exploded in its hand. Mechani-Kong roared from the explosion and looked at its arm to see its hand was gone. Wires were sticking out, along with sparks flying out where Mechani-Kong’s hand used to be.

This gave Kiryu an idea. The Mechagodzilla fired the Maser cannons at Mechani-Kong again, this time at the grenade belt. They struck the belt, along with sending electricity all through Mechani-Kong’s body. With the grenades taking on most of the Maser cannons’ power, they began to go off. Soon Mechani-Kong was engulfed in a large explosion. Fire and smoke went up in the sky, while metal, oil, and wires rained down. Mechani-Kong’s head hit the ground and rolled next to Kiryu’s foot. Lifting his foot, the metallic dragon crushed Mechani-Kong’s head, along with the hypnotic light, under his heel

On Dr. Who’s computer, the screen went black displaying the message ‘Signal lost’.

“Damn them!” Dr. Who yelled as he slammed his fist on his desk.

Kong was down on his back with Godzilla’s foot on his chest. But then King Kong was snapped out of his hypnotic state, thanks to the hypnotic light being destroyed. King Kong found himself in shock: one minute, he was going to fight Mechani-Kong, then the next, he found himself on the ground with Godzilla pinning him down. Kong tried to use his arms to get Godzilla off him, but as soon as he moved his upper limbs, he felt pain coursing through them. The Eighth Wonder of the World was horrified to see his left arm cut up, and his right hand badly burned.

Godzilla held his breath before he let out an atomic ray pointed at Kong’s face. His ancient rival roared as the blue beam burnt into his face. The giant ape tried to move his body and use his legs to push himself free, but Godzilla’s foot was holding him in place. The flesh on Kong’s face began to burn away by the heat of the beam. His eyeballs dried up before they were burned away. It seemed like forever as Godzilla kept on firing his atomic ray. After Godzilla noticed King Kong was no longer moving, he stopped firing the beam. He looked over Kong’s lifeless body, the gorilla’s head nothing more than a burned skull. With the last of his natural-born enemy dead, Godzilla roared in victory as he proved his species superior to the giant gorillas.

The Monster King noticed the sky was no longer dark, the sun rising up with its light shining on the battlefield.

Godzilla looked for Mechani-Kong, only to find the robot’s crushed head on the ground next to Kiryu, who was looking back at the ancient creature. Now that the gorillas were gone, Godzilla wondered if he and Kiryu would start fighting each other again. Godzilla got his answer as he saw Kiryu powering down, due to the Mechagodzilla running out of energy. The King of the Monsters knew the battle was over. Since the Mechagodzilla did become an ally in the end, Godzilla no longer saw the machine as an enemy, and no reason for him to destroy the robot.

Not knowing if Kiryu could hear him, Godzilla went ahead and let out a roar, telling the Mechagodzilla, “Thanks”. Godzilla turned away from Kiryu and began to leave Tokyo.

The hatch on the left side of Kiryu’s neck opened up as Akane got out of the giant robot and stood on the Mechagodzilla’s shoulder. Akane watched Godzilla leaving the city as he headed back to the ocean. The beautiful woman couldn’t help but cross her arms and smile.

“Maybe you’re not so bad after all,” Akane whispered.

Winner: Godzilla (Legendary), Kiryu

Author: Tyler Trieschock | Banner: Tyler Trieschock

[Continued from Match 245]

Millions of stars glistened in the endless void of space. The only guidance given to a crimson comet which burned across the cosmos at an unfathomable speed. Solar systems flashed by for the being as he pursued a demon created by his absence. As a broken planet came in sight, the being within the aura halted his travel to gaze upon the destruction.

Crystals and rock floated in what once was the upper atmosphere of a planet which held life. Now, thecorpses of the flora and fauna floated throughout the void of space. From his view hundreds of miles above the surface, the interstellar being watched continents crack away from the planet and seas bulge, creating juvenile deserts. No life existed on the helpless world from SpaceGodzilla’s wake, and Ultraseven felt his shoulders gain the burden of all the vanquished lives.

The Ultra focused on the carnage, allowing it to embed itself within his memory which rivaled the life cycle of stars. In his absence on Earth for the last fifty human years, creatures of great power spawned. Monsters he could have killed if not for the great evil which challenged him and his garrison. An enemy once called friend.

The Ultra slowly peeled his sight away and transfixed on a single glowing star. On a planet that orbited around that star, he would find the planet’s killer. SpaceGodzilla would partially terraform the planet, infecting it with his crystalline menace, but even in his fortress, the monster would fall before the might of an Ultra. SpaceGodzilla would perish for the injustice the alien abomination brought upon the universe.

The Earth would never fall under Ultraseven’s watchful eye.

*****
Deck of the U.S.S. Cowpens – 7 Days After SpaceGodzilla’s Defeat

Zone Fighter’s body flashed as he reverted to his human form, dropping down upon steel deck of the U.S.S. Cowpens as Ultraseven, his size now matching Hikaru’s human form, landed just beside him. Crewmen, their weapons lowered yet ready to use if the new being proved hostile, approached, but Hikaru waived them down before turning to Seven and bowing slightly.

“You’re Ultraseven, correct? I’m honored. My father, Yoichiro, knew many of your garrison.”

A flash overtook Seven, revealing black hair and pale skin. A blue, short sleeve, collared shirt covered his upper body while khakis and brown running shoes overtook his lower half. A smile formed on the very human face of Seven while his right hand stretched out.

“The honor is mine to meet a Peacelander who still lives. My condolences for your people and your planet.”

Hikaru arose and outstretched his hand, grasping the warrior of light in unity as the two alien fighters took delight in their meeting. The chatter of the naval officers behind Hikaru snapped him out of his daze and he signaled Seven to follow him into the interior of the vessel.

*****

The command center of the U.S.S. Cowpens, usually the center of activity for the ship, contained only a single member of its normal crew. The Captain of the warship, in his finely kept, wrinkle free blue uniform, stood speechless as an outcast in a group of figures that ranged from the understandable to the impossible.

To his immediate right, Monique Dupre and Elsie Chapman stood in preparation for the coming meeting. The captain kept his eyesight away from Monique’s gaze, unwilling to test her fierce glare, and instead focused on the hand movements of Elsie. Her fingers insistently tapped on the console behind her. A tactic to distract her mind which, as the speed of the twitching increased, Cole could only assume was failing.

To his right, one of the supposed guardians of Earth, Moll, sat upon a command console in a meditative trance. Out of the group, the five inch tall figure caused Cole’s heart to race. Her colorful kimono, fine jewelry and tranquil nature radiated a sense of peace, but all of her good intentions could never overshadow the monstrous being she worshipped as her god, which still persisted just outside the U.S.S. Cowpens.

And to his front, the crimson humanoid alien called Ultraseven in a form that mimicked human appearance and clothing. His body seemed unusually rigid, his eyes unflinching even as he expressed a confident smile.

“I’ve cleared my deck, now what are you?”

Seven’s gaze pivoted to the Captain. “My name is Ultraseven. I’m a being from the Space Garrison, which you can think of as an interstellar defense force for all life. My directive is to protect this world at all costs, as it has been my goal for nearly five human decades. Sadly, I’ve been away most of that time fighting a being which threatened all life in the universe.”

Cole’s eyes rolled from intrigue to disbelief.

“This is going to be one hell of a report…”

“For humans, you all don’t seem surprised by my arrival?” Seven commented as he swept his hand from side to side.

“With your arrival, you’re actually the fourth humanoid extraterrestrial species we’ve run into, and unlike the last…” Elsie paused for a moment. “Actually, most encounters with extraterrestrial life, we’re happy you’re not trying to kill us upon first contact.”

Seven’s brow raised in concern and the alien glanced toward the captain. “Are there others joining us? I would assume the Peacelander?”

“Where is the last of your team and the other alien?” Cole remarked as he checked the antique watch on his left wrist. “I cleared my men for this, and I’m damn sure I want them back to their posts as soon as possible.”

Moll’s head tilted slightly to the left as she concentrated in her meditative pose. “The teammates you call Randy Hernandez and Audrey Timmonds are overlooking your injured friend, Anthony Hicks. Hikaru Sakimori, the being from space you call Peacelander-”

“I am here!” Hikaru shouted as he dashed into the room. As he came to a halt next to Seven, Hikaru’s eyes swept across the room with a look of remorse.

“I went to gather the others, but the Major…” Hikaru’s words fell silent.

Elsie’s brow raised in curiosity. “Why? What’s going on?”

A single tear began to drop from Moll’s right eye as she felt the emotion of the duo a few floors below her. “Major Hicks has fallen unconscious. He is in immense pain.”

Monique’s gaze remained focused while Elsie’s fingers stopped cold. The biologist’s eyes widened in shock and the scientist turned to depart, merely for Seven’s hand to block her exit. Elsie turned her head, her eyes unleashing a new rage as Seven’s smile tilted into a grim frown.

“We need to discuss the events that have unfolded,” Seven explained. “I apologize for not arriving sooner. I could have ended this situation with far less death and pain for all, but to ensure this agony does not spread, please tell me what occurred so I can resolve what remains.”

Elsie took a step back, the fury in her eyes subsiding slightly.

“Where should I begin?” Elsie remarked as she placed her right index finger on her chin. “Right! A madman kidnapped me, my friend over here and another teammate. Our team leader, Nick Tatopoulos, along with the man dying a few floors down helped our escape. Sadly, we couldn’t stop him from calling SpaceGodzilla, who in his death destroyed the island and ripped two holes in space and time. How’s that? Oh,” Elsie emphasized as her harsh gaze moved to Hikaru, “and he’s the one responsible for shooting my friend who, as the priestess said, is in immense pain, which you don’t seem too concerned about.”

An annoyed expression emanated from Seven before Moll recaptured their attention.

“The tears that emanate light and darkness are not only the fault of SpaceGodzilla. In trying to save the past, I traveled with my sister through time, and upon our return, we were caught off-guard… The battle that followed created what now exists on the island and I fear has taken the life of my sister.”

“I hate to cut you off, but you’re staying, Dr. Chapman,” Cole asserted before asking her, “Is what they say possible?”

A scowl burned across the room to Cole, sending a well hidden shiver down the old man’s spine.

“Maybe, I don’t know, sure! Why not? You keep forgetting, but I’ll emphasize it again. My doctorate does not apply to quantum physics and the manipulation of time. Put simply, my primary focus is on biology, and it’s why I’ve spent the last seven days confirming if it’s possible to safely pass through those anomalies. But yes, I agree the hypothesis that an exploding space-reptilian when too close to an insectoid deity exiting a temporal anomaly generates dimensional gateways.”

“How do we close them?” Seven inquired, ignoring the scientist’s final comment.

“Okay,” Elsie countered as she turned to Seven, “that I can help with. I think the anomalies are stabilized by the crystalline structures still growing across the island in some type of feedback loop. The growth of the anomalies and the crystals is increasing at a near exponential rate putting some weight behind the notion of perpetual growth, at least as long as the crystals gain access to new resources.”

“Closing them is not the priority,” Monique countered. “Dr. Tatopoulos and his creature passed through the rifts and their retrieval is our concern. We shall be departing soon to retrieve them both if they still live.”

Hikaru nodded in approval and stepped next to Monique. “With my help, we should be quick to rescue both of them, so I,” Hikaru noted as he gazed to Elsie, “can set the failures I’ve made right.”

Seven’s smile faded as he heard the pair speak, drawing his attention to the agent.

“I believe you fail to see the lives at risk by allowing these tears to remain open. I have seen what those crystals can do to a planet. If they continue to spread, the Earth will not survive.”

Monique’s eye raised slightly in curiosity.

“Is it not hypocritical to lecture on protection if you have been absent for decades?” Monique retorted as she took a step toward Seven.

Seven took a step toward Monique. “I have been fighting an evil far beyond your comprehension, one I thought I could call my ally. It was not my choice to be absent, and I regret every moment I was away.” Seven’s fist clenched in hidden fury. “Every time Belial fought my garrison, I could have saved lives on this planet. Now that I have returned, I assure you this is my only goal.”

“And the doctor?” Monique inquired as she moved her head to mere inches from Seven’s.

Seven’s eyes remained still, unfazed by the agent’s actions. “The technology of my garrison is far beyond what is possible on this planet. I can request aid in retrieving your friend and your sister,” Seven noted as he turned toward Moll, “as I think it’s better than endangering the Earth. Would you not agree?”

“Threading life-saving needles while the Earth is at risk is kinda what we do,” Elsie countered, attracting Seven’s gaze. “Look, I’ve been flying drones into this thing for the last few days. Both anomalies open approximately for two hours every twenty-seven hours on the dot. The next opening will be in less than forty minutes. We go in, twenty-seven hours later, we fly out. Do what you want with the island after, how’s that?”

Seven glanced away from the group. His eyes twitched, thoughts flowing through his mind as he weighed both sides. As he began to open his mouth, a feminine voice echoed.

“You fail to think about the consequences of entering the tears,” Moll noted as she remained still with her voice as loud as a whisper. “I know of this arrogance, and I will no longer let it blind me. As the guardian of the Earth, I should never have taken that risk, and even with all the guilt I feel, I cannot allow your group to enter the void.”

Hikaru took a step toward Moll, blanketing her in his shadow as her face turned pale.

“How can you stand aside and do nothing to save-”

Darkness encompassed the bridge and all within the vessel. A resounding chirp echoed from beyond the U.S.S. Cowpens from a wary god, ready to unleash its fury if the alien took another step. As Hikaru gradually retreated from Moll, the great shadow of Mothra Leo parted as well.

“I can,” Moll affirmed with tears swelling in her eyes. “As an Elias, a guardian of Earth. Mothra still needs time to recover, but Seven, do what you must.”

*****

Hikaru’s fist slammed against a metal wall, allowing the clang to reverberate across the medical ward. As he prepared to throw another punch, Monique’s palm intercepted Hikaru’s blow, halting his fist mere inches from the agent’s hand and the wall.

“This will not solve anything,” Monique critiqued, lowering her arm.

Hikaru stumbled backward, glancing across the room to all that resided within.

Major Anthony Hicks lay unconscious to his left. His body remained motionless and nearly silent, only the sound of intense breathing from the oxygen mask over his face giving any sign he still clung to life.

Beside him, staring at the dented wall, a man with curled, black hair and slightly lighter skin inspected the dent. The comical smile he expressed showed no sign of letting up as he commented, “Wow, I bet the Captain felt that one.”

The joke deflected off of Hikaru’s frustration, forcing him to gaze upon a woman whose eyes showed as much rage as his surely did while also suppressing an immeasurable amount of anxiety. Audrey Tatopoulos’ long, golden hair ran past her shoulders, forcing her to move it as she gazed over Hick’s bedside.

Feeling sorrow from looking at the wife of the man who saved him, Hikaru shifted his vision past Audrey, Monique and Elsie to a lone, old man who tirelessly worked in the back of the room, repairing his greatest creation. For two days, he refused to sleep, yet his movements seemed to be as fluid as the first. Hikaru’s right hand clenched shut, envious of Goro Ibuki’s resolve.

“So, how do we proceed?” Hikaru inquired to the group.

“Yeah, how we saving Jefe?” Randy reaffirmed as he gazed to Monique and Elsie for the answer.

“With the priest’s approval, Seven will begin destroying the crystals in the next fifteen minutes,” Monique stated with ire. “He hopes to use his garrison to retrieve Nick, if he still lives, in the next month or two.”

“We’re not waiting that long!” Audrey snapped with fury. “We need to go, now!”

Elsie rubbed her temples in frustration. “Technically, the two aren’t wrong. These crystals are acting like a persistent infection. If they spread too far or too deep, things could get horrible fast. Not to mention destroying so many could have unforeseen results themselves. Anti-gravity distortion the most-”

“Yo, I think Jefe is the focus. Not flying crystals,” Randy retorted.

“I agree. The crystals would be easier to eliminate with Zilla, Jet Jaguar, Ultraseven and myself all focusing on the task,” Hikaru affirmed.

“I got it!” Randy proclaimed with fanfare as he clapped his hands together. “Look, the giant moth is looking out for the incredible shrinking woman, right? So, all we gotta deal with is the red guy, and we got our own superman to punch him out.”

Randy walked next to Hikaru, placing his elbow on the alien’s shoulder. “You knock him out, we go in. By the time he wakes up, we’ll have flown back out with Jefe and the Z-Man. We get yelled at by the military and red lantern, claim we’ll never interfere again, maybe cry a little in regret – actually, Mendel isn’t here so maybe skip that part – and float back to the mainland.”

Hikaru took a few steps forward in silence. His head tilted upward, glancing at the metallic lights hanging from the ceiling.

“If I fought Ultraseven, there is little chance I could win. Even with Jet Jaguar, I doubt I could do so reliably.”

A blond blur entered the bottom of Hikaru’s vision. Gradually, the alien warrior lowered his vision to gaze into the eyes of Audrey. Tears overflowed their ducts while a certain rage coursed just underneath the look of grief.

“Talk to him, fight him. Either way, all I’m asking is for you to try. Please, just… try.”

Audrey’s eyes closed, desperately trying to hold back any sorrow merely for a confident hand to rest upon her shoulder.

“Mrs. Tatopolous,” Hikaru asserted, drawing Audrey to look upward once more. “I ensure you, you won’t lose your world. I promise you this.”

Randy’s hands fell upon Hikaru’s and Audrey’s shoulders causing both to look at him.

“Now that you two had your moment, how we picking who goes where?”

“Well,” Elsie exclaimed as she gathered everyone’s attention. “I’ve received no visual data from the drones I’ve sent, only basic atmospheric data due to interference. I can confirm that these anomalies, if they do displace space and time, lead to worlds that possess Earth-like atmospheres with temperate climates. Oxygen, Nitrogen and other gases are nearly equal in ratio to that of our own. I can also confirm that whenever they take place, it’s after August, 1945.”

“Ahh yes! Obviously a lack of German in the air, or would that be too much?” Randy quipped.

“No but, you’re close,” Elsie retorted, causing Randy to look at her with astonishment. “Atomic bombs dropped in that year released a certain radiation that I can pick up. It’s actually still in the air today, so I can also say the history of these times are similar to our own as well.”

Audrey’s right hand rose as it spun in the air, her mind racing with questions as she decided the best to ask. “So, if it’s like our own, shouldn’t we be getting drones or things flying back through?”

Elsie’s body leaned against the back wall. “Well, yes and no. The black portal’s carbon is in surprisingly low amounts in the air, suggesting that either humanity isn’t polluting the atmosphere, somehow removed it… or there is no longer any humanity.”

“Is there really a choice among your options?” Monique rhetorically inquired.

“Well, on that positive note,” Elsie continued, “the other is far worse. Radiation levels are consistently elevated close to the anomaly and a few hundred meters in every direction from it, to the point where prolonged exposure could lead to serious health complications. If Nick traveled to this one, he is easily already experiencing symptoms of radiation poisoning.”

“Jefe’s got a fifty-fifty shot of being in that one though. He could be chilling in the other while the Z-Man eats some fish that glow in the dark. Probably way~ easier to catch, right?” Randy quipped with a grin toward Monique, her glare remaining unbroken.

Monique’s eyes closed as she stated, “Or they are both in one rift or they could be dead in the other. We must be prepared for all scenarios.”

Audrey’s face gradually turned away from Hikaru, stopping as her right eye focused on Monique, the agent’s eyes still closed.

“He’ll be fine.”

The elderly voice drew the group’s attention. The balding part of his head shined for all to see as the inventor continued to focus on Jet Jaguar’s socket. Without moving his gaze, Goro continued. “Your friend is right, you should be prepared for any loss, but I believe you will find him. Call me a fool, but faith always seems to defy even the most logical of arguments in my experience.”

As he finished talking, Goro let loose a breath days in the making. Tools dropped from Goro’s hands. A ping which reverberated across the room as Jet Jaguar rose from the slab of metal he lay upon. The machine looked toward his inventor, a permanent smile which was countered by the toothless grin of his inventor.

“Jet Jaguar is ready,” Goro affirmed as he turned and began to walk toward the door. “I’m far too old to go, but I’ll keep the captain distracted. No better way than the ramblings of a senile, old man with far too much time on his hands.”

As he reached the door, Goro looked at the group with a toothless grin which seemed to expel optimism. “Good luck, my friends. I wish you all a safe return.”

“And Hikaru,” Goro noted as he pointed toward the Peacelander. “Do not doubt yourself.”

*****

Seven’s body flashed with power, reverting from a humanoid appearance to his classic design. Bulbous, immobile eyes gazed upon the island from the command deck of the U.S.S. Cowpens before glancing at Cole.

“Keep your vessel at a safe distance. Destroying these crystals may cause unforeseen effects.”

Cole nodded and looked to the island. “Don’t have to tell me twice to stay away from this mess. You do realize the group below the deck isn’t too happy about the decision?”

“Do you think it’s best?” Ultraseven inquired.

“To be blunt, no. But what I think isn’t relevant. What I know is those things are a danger. If I were ordered to destroy them, I wouldn’t hesitate. And I doubt the seventh fleet will when it arrives tomorrow.”

Ultraseven nodded in agreement and turned toward the exit.

“Ultraseven. Would you have done this without my approval?”

Ultraseven’s movement came to a complete halt, shifting his gaze toward the tiny guardian of Earth, whose eyes barely possessed the strength to open and look up at the alien.

“With the Earth at risk, without question.”

*****

“So, we need teams, and since I’m making myself a leader, I call the robot!” Randy yelled as he walked over and placed his arm over Jet Jaguar’s shoulder. “Going to need to figure out a new name for yah, metal man. Jet Jaguar is a few decades out of date.”

“Your preferences aside, we need to base our groups on dealing with either scenario,” Elsie affirmed.

“Actually, we do not,” Monique noted as she opened her eyes. “The creature, while not Godzilla, still absorbs radiation. Therefore your surveillance would have shown signs of inconsistent radiation levels. Since this is not the case, he could have only gone in the black rift. The robot, Randy and I shall proceed through with our stolen transport from Winter. Hikaru will go through the other when he finishes his fight.”

“What if he doesn’t? What about me and Elsie?” Audrey demanded.

“You will do nothing. We lack a second, reliable transport and it is foolish to contaminate yourselves merely to feel better. You will only place yourself-”

Audrey’s body twisted around in seconds, closing the distance between Monique faster than most people in the room could react. Her face stopped inches from Monique’s, meeting one cold stare with another while Audrey’s nails embedded into her own thigh.

“-in danger,” Monique affirmed as she uncrossed her arms. “You lack training and are compromised with emotion.”

Randy, Elsie and Jet Jaguar stood silently, waiting for an explosion of fury from Audrey while Hikaru took a few steps to break the pair up. Audrey’s palm bolted up, waiving Hikaru off as her glare remained steady, matching Monique’s.

“You know, Monique, I don’t have those things. I’m not trained and stability… not on my mind right now. I’m just an ex-reporter, not a ruthless killer, but you know what that gives me? The ability to call bullshit when I see it and it’s coming from you more than anyone here. That and a shit ton of guilt.”

Monique’s eyes dilated slightly, transforming the scowl on Audrey’s face to a slight grin. A smile she kept as she stormed out of the room in silence.

“Dr. Chapman, monitor the crystals while we are gone and ensure Audrey stays,” Monique ordered, snapping Randy and Elsie out of their daze.

“That was pretty cold, French Fry,” Elsie acknowledged. “You sure–”

“I am,” Monique responded, leaving the room without another word.

*****

The whistling wind across the barren landscape made the only noticeable sound as Zone Fighter, in his powered form, touched down a few meters behind Ultraseven. The warrior of light kept his back to Hikaru, his gaze transfixed on the growing white plague which infested all the land in front of him to the ocean’s edge.

“You’ve come to stop me?”

“No. I’ve come to ask you for time.” Hikaru pleaded.

“Anyone could have asked this,” Ultraseven countered as he pointed to Hikaru, “But only you could threaten me if you ask for restraint and fail. Restraint which could jeopardize the Earth. I will not take that risk for two lives which can be saved by my garrison after I do what needs to be done.”

“And what if they don’t have that time!?” Hikaru snapped. “What if they both die?”

Ultraseven hesitated a moment, his mind flashing to the helpless alien beings whose dead bodies filled the space above their broken planet. “I do not wish to consider that possibility. If they do perish, then it will my failure, and I will carry that burden as I continue to protect his world.”

“A burden?” Hikaru whispered, clenching his teeth as the statement echoed throughout his mind.

“What gives you the right to demine their life?”

Ultraseven’s voice remained calm as he responded, “Tens of thousands of years protecting life from those who wish to corrupt it. I’ve never deviated from this goal, unlike yourself.”

Hikaru’s fist squeezed ever tighter while Ultraseven waived his hand from left to right, extending it toward Hikaru.

“A being too focused on your selfish path of redemption to see he will cause the destruction of another world he wishes to protect.”

Hikaru’s eyes parted in disbelief. His fists opened while the wind blew across his twitching face. In a flash, the astonishment faded as pure rage overtook Hikaru.

“How… How dare… Zone Double Fight!”

A shockwave of wind overtook Ultraseven’s body before a flash overtook his sight. As the sensory overload ended, a fist far greater in size than him slammed perpendicular into his body, launching Ultraseven like a pebble across a lake. His body bounced repeatedly, shattering a few random crystals which blocked his trajectory before his arms extended toward the sky in defiance.

“Dwuwah!”

Ultraseven’s true size, over eighty five meters in height, crashed feet first onto the ground and continued to slide across the surface until the shattering earth beneath his heels finally subsided his movement. No longer affected by Zone Fighter’s blitz, the warrior of light stepped out of the trench his feet dug from the strike and faced his opponent.

Ultraseven’s whole body ached from the force of the strike. If he hadn’t blocked the punch at the last second, the blow surely would have crippled him. No matter, he could still move, and if Zone Fighter wished to end their dispute with a sparring session, he would oblige the few moments it would take.

A battle cry roared from Zone Fighter, whose sprint lasted a second before he brought his right fist down upon Ultraseven. With his right palm, Ultraseven caught the blow before taking a step backward and dodging a second move as Zone Fighter launched a palm strike aimed at the warrior’s head. Infuriated, Zone Fighter lunged forward, merely for Ultraseven to duck under the attack and thrust his palm outward. The warrior of light’s hit impacted Zone Fighter’s chest, launching him off his feet and onto the ground a dozen meters away.

Zone Fighter rolled across the barren earth, recovering to his feet just as fast as his fall and propelled himself at Ultraseven once more with a high kick. Ultraseven’s head jerked to the left at the last second and the mighty warrior grabbed ahold of Zone Fighter’s legs before launching him at the crystal fields which sprawled behind the warrior of light. Zone Fighter spun in the air, colliding with a few crystal formations before rolling across the ground and stopping at the basin of another crystal at least thirty meters tall. Zone Fighter hands dug into the rock in frustration as he pushed himself upward, revealing an unnaturally bright green hue as his color timer’s light shined against the black dirt.

What was he thinking? Ultraseven wasn’t a monster he could pummel with little thought. In fact, with their respective experience gap, he was the monster in the brawl!

Ultraseven’s shadow draped over Zone Fighter’s unmoving form, his right arm extended in a show of chivalry. Zone Fighter eyes looked upon the good natured display, but his fists remained clenched. In defiance, a mighty scream echoed from Hikaru.

“Meteor Jet!”

A sapphire aura exploded around Zone Fighter’s body, catching Ultraseven off guard as the Meteor Man’s right hand slammed onto Seven’s face. Both warriors took off at a blinding speed, the inertia of Zone Fighter’s launch allowing him to thrust Ultraseven’s head through pillars of crystals. Each formation shattered with ease, exploding into a fine white dust until a shockwave of telekinetic power from Ultraseven’s palms launched Zone Fighter skyward. The meteor man rotated in the air merely to shout, “Meteor Missile Might!”

Silver bracelets snapped onto Zone Fighters wrists, but instead of pointing his arms toward Ultraseven, the azure alien pointed his hands to the sky and unleashed the entire barrage in a single shot. An explosive blaze engulfed the air above Zone Fighter, who used the concussive force of the blast to launch himself downward at Ultraseven, his legs pointed to deliver a crippling strike. Yet as he approached Ultraseven’s body, still sliding backward from the initial hit, the scarlet being vanished into thin air. Dirt rocketed upward as Zone Fighter touched down, implanting himself in the ground up to his knees until Ultraseven reformed from his teleportation and collided back into the unaware warrior fist first.

Zone Fighter skidded backward from the impact, but a sudden flash of blue aura quickly overtook his form once more. The distance between the two warriors vanished in the blink of an eye before Zone Fighter unleashed his Meteor Punch. A dozen strikes bombarded Ultraseven’s body, pummeling him to the ground and allowing Zone Fighter to extend his hand outward toward the fallen protector.

“Meteor Freezer!”

A stream of white, coolant-like material vented from Zone Fighter’s hand’s tip toward Ultraseven, who began to roll away from the substance. The freezing coolant spewed across the black earth as Ultraseven hid behind a crystal to regain his bearings. A familiar flash overtook the warrior of light and his body teleported behind Zone Fighter.

The Meteor Man spun in disbelief.

An extended long kick to his abdomen returned sense to Zone Fighter.

Zone Fighter continued to counter-attack, but every miss gave Ultraseven the perfect opening. As his strikes tore into Zone Fighter, Seven couldn’t help but notice the difference in experience.

How many sparring sessions against fellow Ultramen did he undergo in his lifetime? How many monsters fell before him in battle? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? If not for this, Zone Fighter’s superior strength and varied arsenal could have proved threatening. But in the end, if HIkaru thought he could match a veteran of the Space Garrison…

Zone Fighter yelled in defiance as he launched his fist forward, slamming it into the palm of Ultraseven’s left hand. Rock splintered beneath the warrior of light’s feet before Ultraseven’s right hand slammed into Zone Fighter’s chest cavity, unleashing a gurgled gasp from Hikaru before propelling him backward at least one hundred meters. Alien energy swirled atop Zone Fighter’s forehead crest while Ultraseven took a knee in preparation for a Wide Shot.

…he would prove himself to be a pale imitation.

Steam vented off Zone Fighter’s battle damaged body as the bright light faded from the ray’s collision. His legs trembled, his muscles stressing just to keep Hikaru upright, but the azure alien warrior would, no… he could not yield! His back legs stretched out, striking something which caused Zone Fighter to turn and discover the edge of a crystal sea.

Hundreds of crystals, roughly fifty meters tall, stretched a half mile until the ocean’s waves. A rhythmic glow flowed from one edge of the formation to the other, a sign of the power they channeled to the anomalies he swore to protect, but as Zone Fighter returned his gaze to Ultraseven, his failure revealed itself.

Ultraseven stood confidently within a blackened landscape devoid of any crystal structure. Shattered pieces of crystals rolled in the wind, evaporating into dust over the span of seconds, but no crystal stood undamaged from the battle. Zone Fighter’s fists clenched in anger..

If the battle continued, not only would he lose to Ultraseven, but the crystals would surely be destroyed in the resulting confrontation. He couldn’t lure Ultraseven away like a rampaging beast, and while the crystal’s power kept his energy reserves replenished, at some point, his body would physically give out to the strain. As Zone Fighter thought, he moved his right leg backward into a defensive stance, merely to feel his leg’s weight disappear.

Ultraseven burst forward, his steps launching rocks into the air merely for them to hover as he approached Zone Fighter. Hikaru felt every footstep of his adversary, yet his senses were instead trained on his back leg. Zone Fighter’s Zone Meter flashed from blue to red, immense power channeling through his body in preparation for what he needed to do.

Ultraseven’s fist flew forward.

Zone Fighter’s hands slammed against the ground.

“Meteor Proton Cut!”

Energy waves erupted from Zone Fighter, fracturing the earth beneath his body before the ground cracked in every direction like broken glass. Ultraseven slid backward from the force, watching the rock fracture, upheave and bend like water. The crystal sea behind Zone Fighter flowed like a wave as the rock they grew from split apart, releasing dust clouds into the air.

A weary breath escaped Zone Fighter before a swift kick propelled him against the basin of a crystal, revealing the Zone Meter which blinked a dire red light. Zone Fighter’s head gradually tilted upward, discovering an extended hand from Ultraseven for him to grasp, but Hikaru shook his head side to side, causing the hand to raise into a striking pose. With swift movement, Ultraseven brought his right hand down upon his fallen adversary, yet an expected cracking sound stopped his attack mere inches above Zone Fighter’s head.

Ultraseven glanced to the landscape behind him, hearing the ground screech and moan as rock upheaved through the fractured earth. Further cracks erupted across the already splintered earth as rock and crystal gradually began to take to the air.

“Meteor.”

Ultraseven’s gaze shifted back to Zone Fighter, the forming fissures’ echos nearly deafening all other sound.

“Storm.”

A violent crack thundered around Zone Fighter and Ultraseven. In a dark flash, their vision became an endless wall of black.

Rock overtook Ultraseven’s body, bouncing him around in every direction as it smashed against him. Cracks of light beamed through the ocean of rock only for the flowing earth to seal the breach as more fissures formed. With every second, Ultraseven’s body shook, convulsing as super-heated air flowed through the cracks. As a crystal smashed against his face, Ultraseven’s fists clenched. Energy surged through his being before he blasted through the earth around him. The concussive force tore apart the ground around the alien, allowing him to recover to his feet. As he arose, Ultraseven glanced in every direction to discover a sea of ascending rock.

Chunks of blackened rock, crystal and smaller debris floated in the atmosphere like an asteroid field as far as his eyes could see. Some pieces the size of his fist while others dwarfed even Ultraseven, with large, crystalline structures attached to their form like an inorganic cancer. As the crimson warrior walked to the edge of the ground he stood upon, shock coursed through the being as he noticed himself now miles above the Earth’s surface. Shock gradually replaced rage.

How could he let this happen? To risk the Earth to allow someone to vent their foolish rage. He was reckless in sparring with Zone Fighter, but wher-

A steady yell drew the attention of Ultraseven to a massive chunk of floating rock a mile out. Red lightning swirled in the distance against a being growing in power. Shockwaves erupted from the blinding display, vaporizing chunks of earth floating too close. As harsh winds began to flow past Ultraseven from the display of power, the crimson warrior channeled immense energy into his right arm for the Wide Shot.

Ultraseven felt sorrow in his actions, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. If Zone Fighter wished to escalate the battle, to endanger the world he held so dear, Ultraseven would regrettably oblige.

Zone Fighter relinquished his scream, staggering forward while his head hung low. Glowing veins of crimson power flowed across his arms. His light timer emitted the brightest blue light he’d ever seen. Lightning danced across the warrior’s body, striking the ground and the tips of nearby, floating crystals.

Critical Mass.

There was no doubt within Hikaru’s mind he attained the form. A power he could use to rival an Ultra, to fulfill the promise he made to Audrey and ensure her world would not be lost. A few scattered tears rolled from Hikaru’s yellow eyes as he briefly remembered the promise he made to himself years ago. Gradually, his mind returned to the present, noticing the red figure of Ultraseven in the distance.

Ultraseven was right. Selfishness did drive Hikaru.

“Critical…”

A colossal blue aura enveloped Zone Fighter, unleashing a shockwave of energy which launched pieces of hovering earth in all directions no matter the size. Red lightning intensified across the azure alien’s body, his muscles expanding as he focused his power, creating a constant stream of azure energy which flowed around his body like water.

The desire to be a hero who kept their word. To ensure no human or creature felt the pain of losing all they cared for. He would be the only one to feel the sorrow of a world lost!

“Meteor…”

Zone Fighter’s body moved to a sprinting position. The earth beneath his back foot cracked violently from a simple step, sending fractures throughout the one-hundred-meter round sphere of rock he stood upon. The tears across his face evaporated into steam and flowed around the determined eyes of Hikaru who solely focused on Ultraseven.

Ultraseven’s body snapped to a pose with his right arm pointed upward as his left arm touched his right elbow. Blinding power erupted from the length of Seven’s right arm, pushing the rock Ultraseven stood upon backward as it vaporized all in its way toward Zone Fighter, who remained as rigid as stone in a ball of uncontrollable aura.

No matter the opponent, Hikaru knew he couldn’t turn away from this battle. If Ultraseven wished to challenge him, to test how far he would go to ensure no one felt the despair within him…

“Jet!”

The one hundred-meter round sphere Zone Fighter stood upon shattered like glass as he blitzed off its form into the incoming ray. The blue meteor trailed across the sky and struck the ray, yet instead of detonating, Zone Fighter’s form rocketed through the attack in a second. Ultraseven’s eyes went wide, an almost silent gasp echoing as time slowed to a crawl in the presence of the Meteor Man. Beneath the sapphire aura, the defiant eyes of Zone Fighter stared back. Hikaru swung his right arm outward, shattering the Wide-Shot in a single swipe and forming a fist, glistening with unfathomable power.

…then he would regrettably oblige.

“Meteor Fist!”

*****

Moll’s eyes burst open as she felt the agony of Ultraseven, pivoting her gaze to the darkened sky littered with rock and lightning. Her mind raced with questions and statements. Her eyes twitched, tears forming across the perimeters of her eyes before she reasserted her stern expression. The Elias’ eyes closed, a calm breath flowing softly from her mouth as she returned to a meditative position. As a second breath exited, Moll opened her eyes to discover her folded hands shaking ever so minutely. Without any further hesitation, Moll closed her eyes once more and focused not on the two battling warriors, but a figure thousands of miles away.

Glowing specks coalesced within a cavern filled with little light and an overwhelming amount of mechanical contraptions. Robotic creatures, not active, but their insides spilled out for all to see, lay randomly scattered across the cavern floor as a lone figure, with short black hair draped over her goggles, welded armor. The female’s attention gradually focused on the forming light a few feet from her, and as Moll’s appearance formed, the mechanic pulled off her goggles and unleashed an annoyed glare.

“Hello sis, wondered when you’d finally get back,” Belvera noted as she pulled herself from underneath one of her newest creations. Her hands brushed across her abdomen, wiping away dust which revealed long, embedded stains of grease across her over designed leather dress. As her uncaring glare returned to Moll, Belvera leaned against the machine she just worked beneath. “So, what mess you get yourself in?”

“How did…” Moll stated with shock in her voice. Belvera rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m not dumb. You’d only speak to me if there was a problem or if you weren’t attached to the hip with…

Belvera’s brow raised as she looked around her home before returning to the glowing form of Moll.

“Oh.”

“Fairy is no more. Lora’s gone, or she might be lost and to search for her could risk the world. I need your help, sister.”

Belvera let loose an annoyed breath, her eyes closing from the overreaction as she walked to a damaged Garu-Garu. “No. You don’t.”

Moll’s eyes widened, her face changing from sorrow to anger. “How can you turn your back on your sisters? How can you be this childish in the face of global-”

“Shut it!” Belvera snapped, refusing to look at her sister as she looked over the damaged machine. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on. I honestly don’t care, but the childish one isn’t me, it’s you. Always been you.”

Moll’s eyes focused, her fury increasing as Belvera continued, “The moment you lost Lora last time with Grand King Ghidorah, you decided to risk changing all of time by sending Mothra to the past. For someone so put together, you didn’t think to request aid of the humans or other guardians. No, risk changing all of time. Great plan, sister!”

“Lora and the children would have died if I didn’t act!”

“But you didn’t. You froze, sis,” Belvera asserted. Slowly, the dark Elias turned to her sister, her hand placed across her forehead in frustration. “You two rely so much on each other, you freak out the moment you’re not side by side. So stop talking to me and do something productive.”

The fury from Moll’s eyes gradually vanished as a soft smile of appreciation formed across her face.

“Thank you, sister,” Moll responded as she began to fade. Sparks of energy flowed from her form, deconstructing her essence as Moll stated, “I too hope you will heed your own words.”

In a flash of light Moll vanished from the room. Light drained from every corner of the cavern with her departure, leaving Belvera staring off in a dark void. Without any hindrance, Belvera walked back to her Garu-Garu. Tools clanged as they dropped to the floor. A soft thud echoed as Belvera sat down and maneuvered beneath her mechanical companion, yet as her hand moved to grab a tool, a fist formed which smacked across the cold ground in frustration. As quickly as the fist was created, the priestess’ hand extended, allowing Belvera’s fingernails to tap against the floor while she thought.

*****

Randy looked to the sky in awe for a moment, watching red lightning encompass the congested blue sky, but the sound of helicopter blades spinning attracted his attention back to a sleek, black helicopter to his right. With a quick jump, Randy dived into the boarding bay which housed an already seated Jet Jaguar before the vehicle took off. A look of ire projected to the pilot, but he knew deep down she didn’t really care.

“Trying to ditch me?” Randy yelled.

“Take a seat,” Monique retorted without batting an eye.

Randy climbed atop a seat merely to glance out of the ascending helicopter and spot a woman with flowing, blonde hair. Even as she grew smaller, the dot proved unavoidable to Randy’s sight. A breath of resentment vented from Randy who slammed his head back against his seat in visible protest.

*****

In a sea of floating rock, a cone-shaped void suddenly formed with Ultraseven at its apex, the impression of Zone Fighter’s fist still embedded into the right side of his face. Shaking off the attack, the warrior of light jettisoned into the debris field, unsure where his foe hid, until the sky cracked with thunder. Crimson missiles illuminated the floating rocks above Ultraseven, sending shivers down the warrior’s spine.

The storm descended upon Ultraseven with unending fury. Fire and red bolts obliterated the debris field Ultrasven traversed through while the warrior felt the shockwaves ripple through his body, his flight mere meters away from the full explosive wrath of Zone Fighter. Bolts of energy lanced across his form, scorching his armor. Yet Ultraseven defiantly flew on.

Seven’s eyes darted across the debris field for a place to turn the tide. He needed a place to get his footing, to think to… there! Ultraseven’s body spun ninety degrees, allowing himself to kick off a rock and jettison to the rotating chunk of mass below him while the debris field behind him vanished in a shockwave of fire.

Nearly five hundred meters in diameter, the largest chunk of what once was half the island rotated gradually as the small cluster of crystals across its edges sparked with cosmic power. The floating mound of rock shuttered as Ultraseven crashed upon its surface, its rotation stopping briefly from the force of the warrior’s impact before another impact reversed its rotation.

Ultraseven’s gaze shifted to a sparkling, sapphire aura that encompassed all in front of his vision. For a brief moment, he watched as the azure field diminish, Zone Fighter’s piercing, furious glare burning the memory within Ultraseven’s mind before he burst forth and slammed his right, glowing fist against Ultraseven’s abdomen. Ultraseven gasped violently, bending to the gut punch, but the blow proved the first of many. A series of earth shattering punches in the span of a second slammed across Ultraseven’s body. Transparent, circular voids of superheated air materialized with every hit until a final strike against the Ultra’s face sent the crimson warrior cresting around the floating mound of rock and allowed the sonic booms which formed to violently echo like thunder.

Ultraseven’s body circumvented the spherical mass of rock, his arms extended forward from the shear force of the strike, but with a turn, his flight became a sprint, running at full speed with a plan formulating on how to end his defiant foe.

Zone Fighter’s head gradually crested over the rock’s horizon, acting as the target for Ultraseven who leaped into the air for a high kick. The Meteor Man’s right arm collided with Ultraseven’s strike, flipping and rotating the crimson figure through the air. Upon rotating to face Hikaru while upside down, Ultraseven detached the weapon attached to his forehead, the Eye Slugger, and launched it like a boomerang. The Meteor Man evaded just out of the weapon’s range, sidestepping the projectile to launch a fist into Ultraseven’s head. In a flash, the crimson warrior vanished, reforming behind Hikaru and continuing his body’s rotation, to slam his right foot into the back of Zone Fighter’s head.

Ultraseven hit the ground rolling, looking behind himself to see the Ultra Slugger crest the horizon before turning to face Zone Fighter as he charged towards him.

Seven seconds. It was all the time he needed.

Ultraseven’s shoulders glowed as he gathered power, channeling it into his right arm which surged forth with an open palm and hit air, yet a dozen meters away, Zone Fighter stopped in place. Telekinetic powers froze the Meteor Man where he stood, but willpower pushed him ever closer to Ultraseven. Finally, Zone Fighter’s Meteor Jet returned with a surge, pushing him so close he could clearly see his shadow over Ultraseven, the red bolts cascading across his body singing Seven’s armor. With a simple hand gesture, the crimson warrior raised his left hand, lifting his fingers in unison.

Realizing something amiss, Zone Fighter redirected his propulsion to the left side of his body, moving a dozen meters to the right before a familiar weapon burst forth from the ground beneath his feet. The Eye Slugger sliced open Hikaru’s chest, making the red lightning bolt on his armor run red with his own blood before it flew past the spot his head use to be.

Hikaru screamed for the heavens to hear, staggering backward merely for Ultraseven to cross his slash by cutting across Zone Fighter’s chest from right to left. Another echo of anguish resonated from Hikaru before he fired a Meteor Zone Slice. The golden arrow struck the Eye Slugger’s energized blade, shattering upon impact into an explosion of sparks.

Miniature projectiles blanketed Ultraseven’s form, piercing his crimson armor in dozens of locations. Beams of pure light that encompased his very essence shined out of the warrior of light while his Eye Slugger sparked with dysfunction, forcing Ultraseven to sheathe the weapon. Drained from the fragment’s damage, Ultraseven turned toward Zone Fighter as the Peacelandian slammed into him using his Meteor Jet.

Zone Fighter’s hands clutched Ultraseven’s throat and squeezed with all his might, smashing the warrior of light through the endless floating debris field as they plummeted to the surface. With every rock which Ultraseven’s head plowed through, he smashed his fist against Zone Fighter’s body. A strike against the slash across his chest prompted Zone Fighter to release his grip, allowing Ultraseven to spin and slam his left foot forward. Zone Fighter’s body vanished into a dust-filled haze, prompting Ultraseven to slow his descent. Hikaru reappeared in an instant, grabbing ahold of Ultraseven’s head and launching himself downward once more.

The warrior of light’s body flashed, fading out of existence and forming behind Hikaru, placing Zone Fighter into a chokehold. Zone Fighter’s right elbow slammed into Ultraseven’s side. Again and again the mighty blows struck Ultraseven until finally he gasped in pain. The choke hold’s strength melted away and Zone Fighter spiraled to deliver a mighty blow across Ultraseven’s face. Keeping pace with Zone Fighter’s strike, Ultraseven returned the blow with one of his own.

Ultraseven’s left hand smashed across Zone Fighter’s head.

Zone Fighter slammed his fist into Ultraseven’s nose.

Ultraseven screamed in defiance, uppercutting Zone Fighter’s chin.

Hikaru bellowed with fury, launching his knee into Ultraseven’s abdomen.

The blows continued to trade, each savage hit more violent than the last. Rocks exploded from the two’s trajectory, each unwilling to focus on anything other than the other fighter. Ultraseven and Zone Fighter’s hands slammed together, each trying to force the other back, but sheer willpower kept both on equal standing. Each let go of the other, smashing their respective right hands into their opponent’s head before putting some slight space between their foe to unleash their signature weapons.

Hikaru screamed in fury as the jewel atop his head channeled immense power, shining as bright as a star.

Ultraseven bellowed in rage, forming an L with his arms that glowed with insurmountable energy.

The Earth silenced them both.

Two, monstrous plumes of dust trailed into the air while the island trembled from their respective impacts. Rock rained across the landscape, creating a thin cloud of dust just above the ground which now barely possessed enough land to stay above sea level. From the silence that encompassed the isle, a red humanoid slowly rose from his crater.

The once stoic Ultra staggered onto higher ground, his movement sluggish compared to just a few moments prior. Seven gradually scanned the landscape for any sign of Zone Fighter, expecting to see him in a similar state or unable to stand within his own crater; however, as Ultraseven finished glancing over the area, he discovered no trace of the Meteor Man

Surely Zone Fighter’s body couldn’t have been completely vaporized from the ensuing impact. Could it be another ability? Cloaking, perhaps, or speed great enough to to prevent-

Ultraseven’s face snapped right. A shockwave of force rippled across his head while his body stumbled backward in response. The warrior’s arms flailed through the open air as he fumbled, trying to strike whatever hit him but as he recovered, Ultraseven glanced across the blackened landscape, watching a human-sized being wearing azure, alien armor touch down upon the Earth.

An endless repetition of harsh breathing plagued Hikaru’s ears. He lacked the strength to stay in his monstrous form, but even without his size or Critical Mass, he still possessed the strength of Zone Fighter, the will to press his body far beyond its limit and the foolishness to continue a fight he surely couldn’t win. No matter the odds, for as long as Ultraseven still threatened the world he promised to defend, he could not allow Ultraseven to win. With a defiant scream, Hikaru jettisoned himself toward Ultraseven and swung his right fist in defiance.

*****

Inside the cockpit of a transport helicopter on the U.S.S. Cowpens, Audrey desperately searched for some type of guide or easy start up booklet for the craft she wished to commodere. She needed to understand the dozens of switches, buttons and levers across the control panel. If she didn’t Nick could… Audrey banished the thought and continued her frantic search.

She only had a few minutes until some crew or Elsie found her, and she couldn’t convince them to join her. With the vehicle marked as hazardous from damaged rotors from Cyber-Godzilla’s attack and its filters infiltrated with remnants of ash, no sane person would dare fly with her even…

“Hello, Mrs. Tatopoulos.”

Audrey’s body spun ninety degrees in fright, slamming against the side of the craft. Terrified eyes looked over the tiny human who stood upon the seat next to her, but as quickly as terror entered her, anger returned in force. Veins popped from Audrey’s forehead as she leaned closer to Moll.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t throw you out of this thing.”

Moll’s hands shook briefly. Her gaze remained unfocused, shifting with every breath but gradually her hands became rigid, her posture every more defiant.

“I have failed as a protector of Earth for the days that have past. My selfish desire to avoid the mistakes I’ve made has placed lives, innocent and good-natured, in peril that I can not ignore any longer. To correct these mistakes, I will help you search for those that are lost.”

Audrey’s face turned white in shock, but her composure quickly recovered, unamused at the shift.

“How exactly, are you,” Audrey exclaimed as she pointed to the priestess with her index finger, “going to help me? Can you fly this thing? No, then how?”

A confident smile appeared on Moll’s face, vanishing into a great shadow which blanketed not only the helicopter, but the vessel as well.

“I would recommend you hold onto something Mrs. Tatopoulos.”

Audrey rapidly strapped herself into her seat merely for the entire craft to shutter, shaking wildly as it flew off the ground in the grasp of Mothra Leo. The U.S.S. Cowpens swayed from the hurricane force winds. Men screamed in fright, with some firing their guns in self-defense, but the ship remained upright, allowing its members to watch the guardian fly toward the white anomaly with a helicopter in its grasp.

Deep breathing echoed inside the craft from Audrey while the steel hull creaked from Mothra’s claws.

“Wait, what about Hikaru? If Mothra’s carrying us in, who’s going to help him?”

Moll jumped atop the console and glanced over the horizon to the crimson, humanoid figure in the distance. Her eyes closed once more in concentration, focusing upon Zone Fighter’s mind and the memories within. She could perform no action to help the struggling warrior, only words and they would need to be enough.

*****

Hikaru’s human-sized right arm collided with Seven’s right fist, creating a shockwave of air to erupt. The ground beneath Seven cracked in all directions from the force while pressure jettisoned Hikaru back toward the ground as a sickening snap echoed for both to hear. Hikaru touched down at an angle and continued to slide across the ground at a pace he couldn’t control, creating a dust trail as he desperately tried to slow himself with his extended left arm merely for a pile of rock to intercept his path.

Jagged rocks smashed into Hikaru’s back and cranium. All the air within his lungs immediately vacated as blood spewed from his jaws. The mighty warrior fell forward, colliding with the charred earth without any attempt to catch himself.

Harsh breathing escaped from Hikaru’s lips. Sight became nothing more to Hikaru than a constant blur. Blood seeped across the earth from his horribly fractured right arm and ruptured bruises across his body. If he could actually feel the full damage his body sustained, Hikaru couldn’t imagine the immense agony he’d experience. The warrior pressed against the ground in defiance, desperately trying to lift his minuscule weight with his left arm, but pain and fatigue chained him against the ground. Repeatedly Hikaru tried to raise himself, screaming against his inability until tears gradually began to fall from Hikaru’s eyes.

How could a hero break the promises he swore with all his heart to uphold?

How could he fail when so many needed him…

Ultraseven watched Zone Fighter’s human body remain stagnant, a weary breath venting as he realized the fight was finally at an end. The battle was one he never wished to fight, proving far closer than he ever thought possible, but at last, he could do what the universe needed. The anomalies represented a threat to all life on the planet, and a single human or a monster could not compare to the billions of lives at risk. If Zone Fighter lived, Ultraseven wished he would understand. The crimson warrior of light’s shoulder guards began to glisten with energy once more, his gaze turned to the sky and power sparked across his arms. With one final blast of his Wide Shot, the crystal blight upon the world would be brought to a swift end and the anomalies along with them.

The ground beneath Hikaru’s face began to sharpen in detail as the dizziness gradually began to fade and the pain, long dulled by his state of mind, struck him with the force of a tsunami. An earth-shattering migraine took control of the warrior’s mind, nearly deafening all of his other basic senses excluding the pain, so much so his body barely registered a gentle wind which blew past the fallen warrior.

“You’ve given up?”

Hikaru’s eyes widened from the voice. His mind briefly cleared from the question and his head jolted back in response. A being of light, one a few inches in size took shape in front of Hikaru who barely registered the new form. As the spirit finished forming, Moll opened her eyes to gaze upon Hikaru’s struggling form.

“How? Why?” Hikaru mumbled at a loss of words.

“Your mind is not clear. I am here to mend those wounds, to help the woman you desperately seek to protect from the misery you know so well.”

Tears and droplets of blood struck the rock beneath Hikaru’s head which sunk in despair. “I couldn’t keep my word… I never could… ”

The priestess turned away from the Meteor Man, gazing upon the crimson humanoid who stood ready to obliterate the floating field of crystals hundreds of meters above them.

“I can not deny your path in life is filled with despair. The great loss you’ve experienced, I would not wish it upon even the most heinous being. But from your dread derives a gift not even I possess. In your memories, and even today, I can see no matter how desperate or hopeless a fight, you always stood for those that can’t stand for themselves. I, in my times of weakness, can not say the same.”

Moll’s stoic stance broke for just a moment, eyes wandering to the ground in self-doubt before her pose returned, her head held high.

“Now, like you’ve done so many times,” Moll asserted, raising her right arm upward with a clenched fist and a smile glowing with confidence. “Stand once more, Hikaru.”

Moll’s essence faded into glittering sparks of residual energy, revealing Ultraseven’s figure in the distance to Hikaru whose eyes focused upon him like a hawk. A spark of resistance flashed within Hikaru’s eyes. The warrior smashed his left arm into the ground, fracturing the rigid earth for dozens of meters in all directions as he easily pushed himself up, agony unable to halt his movement. Hikaru staggered to his feet, blood dripping off his form as he took a fighting pose. With Seven no longer focusing on him and needing a boost of adrenaline, Hikaru grabbed his shattered right arm and pressed against fractured bone .

Broken bone impacted torn muscle, unleashing a shockwave of pain from the corresponding nerves. The desperately needed boost of adrenaline flowed hand in hand with agony through Hikaru’s beaten body. His eyes bolted open. Teeth scraped against the other. Slight growls echoed as Hikaru desperately held his breath before he unleashed a yell with the force of a monster’s roar.

“SEEEEVVVVVEEENNN!”

Ultraseven’s gaze pivoted to the destitute landscape as a war cry echoed past him and an explosion of dust jettisoned skyward. The warrior of light instantly brought up his arms in the form of an X, ready to deflect the incoming assault. He couldn’t see his adversary’s miniature form, but he knew a strike would be imminent.

Hikaru felt himself rocket through the air at a speed never experienced in his human form. His left fist condensed so tightly that blood oozed from the open wounds across it.

One final punch. With his right arm shattered and his adrenaline fading fast, he needed one definitive strike against his opponent and as his target neared, Hikaru brought his fist down with all the monstrous force of Zone Fighter.

Inhuman strength shattered the earth opposing Hikaru’s punch. Fissures split beneath Ultraseven’s stance. The warrior of light’s defensive stature loosened, parting the warrior’s arms as Hikaru’s form jettisoned directly up and glided mere feet from the warrior of light’s chest. Hikaru’s legs retracted, his eyes remained focused upon his target and as Ultraseven’s jawline neared, Hikaru unleashed one final warcry of defiance.

“METEOR STRIKE!”

The defiant Peacelander’s war cry echoed as his legs jettisoned forward, striking the bottom jaw of Ultraseven. Seven’s head jolted back instantly. The crossed arms of Ultraseven flung into the air like a ragdoll, his body momentarily lifting into the air before crashing back down, head-first, with a colossal thud. Ultraseven’s head rolled to the right, his fingers twitched and subconsciousness gradually took hold of the valiant defender of Earth.

A mere blue dot rotating high above the ground, Hikaru’s body spun like a leaf caught in the wind. His bloodshot eyes looked over Ultraseven’s fallen body with terror but as he remained stagnant, a smile of relief formed on Hikaru’s face. Tears of victory rolled from the warrior’s eyes as a new sensation suppressed the pain of his shattered body, intensifying as he noticed Mothra Leo fly through the white anomaly.

The satisfaction of a promise kept and a world saved from destruction.

Winner: Zone Fighter

Author: Matthew Williams | Banner: Matthew Williams

[Continued from Match 106]

A calm breeze blew by a small red monster, who stood a few steps away from the edge of a steep cliff, staring at the rising morning sun. Pigmon, the only friendly creature that inhabited the Lawless Monster Zone, was very relaxed due to the soothing weather. This was his favorite spot to rest at in a time like this, not just for its gorgeous view of the vast ocean, but of its significance as a sight of remembrance.

Standing next to Pigmon were three man-made wooden crosses, with noticeable lumps of dirt in front of each. Years ago, there had been a group of scientists that had visited this tropical-volcanic island to perform research. The team went missing, with all but one of the members perishing from the vicious creatures that lurked on the island. Pigmon knew that in one of these graves where the remains of one of his ancestors, who befriended one of the surviving scientists and was remembered by the Scientist Patrol for his heroic act in distracting one of the most feared monsters that roamed the Lawless Monster Zone. A fiend that had been brought down from his pedestal of power by the combined forces of the Science Special Search party and Ultraman, but would later rise again to threaten another group of researchers that made their expedition to this land. That time, his reign of terror would come to an end by a robot that had come to rescue the explorers, Jet Jaguar.

Pigmon would always remember that day when he met that friendly, size-shifting machine, who had saved him from that violent monster. But he wondered how many days have passed since he last saw it, and how it was doing right now. He hoped that one day, the machine and humans would arrive again, hopefully well prepared for the dangers that lied within the island.

After spending a few minutes watching the morning sun and accompanying the graves of the scientists and his own kin, Pigmon skipped away to return to the lush jungles, where he needed to be cautious like always.

The peaceful sounds of birds chirping echoed throughout the overgrown jungle, while Pigmon wobbled onward. The friendly creature moved at a slow but steady pace, being careful with his navigation around the carnivorous plant life forms, Suflan. The sentient plant life had been responsible for the deaths of many Pigmons and one of the first groups of scientists that visited this place, for their vines could easily entangle around their prey and use the large leaf located on the tip to suck the blood from them like a leech. Pigmon kept a good distance away from the Suflan, not bothering to pick up the empty food cans and the blood-stained coat that the murdered scientist once owned. After a few careful navigations to get around the killer plants, the friendly monster was able to make a safe escape and hopped away.

During his search for breakfast, Pigmon happened to stumble upon the spot that he tended to avoid, where the vicious monster lay buried within an avalanche that Jet Jaguar caused. Pigmon avoided that spot for good reason, for he feared that the beast would suddenly wake up at any time. Knowing the right decision, Pigmon turned around to waddle away.

But only after taking a few steps, Pigmon squeaked when he heard rocks tumbling down from the cliff. Looking back, he saw the piles of rubble collapsing, with a familiar snarl accompanying it. A voice that Pigmon and any inhabitants of the Lawless Monster Zone dreaded to hear, echoing from within. The stacked-up rocks and dirt were launched into the air, revealing the awakening ruler of the island, Red King. Pigmon made panicked, monkey-like sounds when he saw the towering creature rising out of its supposed grave, flailing his hands as he retreated away as fast as possible.

Red King didn’t notice the small, red creature, more concentrated in rubbing the dirt off his yellowish-green skin. The reptilian brute snarled in anger, remembering the day he was beaten for the second time. The day he was knocked out cold by Ultraman was embarrassing enough, but to lose to that colorful, humanoid machine was something he wouldn’t let go. He threw a tantrum by slamming his foot on the rocky surface beneath, shrieking in anger for how humiliated he felt. He now swore that he would resume training to become more powerful, and when the chance came if he saw either one of those two that defeated him, he would show no mercy to them.

Red King’s tantrum soon came to a halt when he heard a shrilling cry, coming from a mile away. He had never heard this sound before. Perhaps from a new monster that he never seen before? The only way for him to find out was to climb his way up to the mountain and see for himself. Red King moved onward to find the source of the sound, but on his way to the top, he discovered the carcass of a Magular. Another species of monster that roamed the island that Red King had only encountered once. That individual met its end at the hands of the SSSP and their advanced weaponry, but something was off about this second specimen. Red King noticed several bite and claw marks across the underground monster’s motionless body, matching nothing he had seen from any of the island’s other residents. It was as if the killer had tried to strip the carcass’ flesh, but was unable to tear through Magular’s rock-like hide. Not only that, but Red King’s nostrils picked up a foul scent lingering around, and it didn’t take the brute long to find where it came from.

The brute spotted a deep, cavernous vent a short distance away from the dead Magular. Falling in one of these volcanic openings would lead to a slow, painful death from the molten steam leaking out, and Red King was familiar of the dangers. But the foul scent seemed to drift from within the chamber, as well as several more unfamiliar scents. The trails of repugnant stenches made it seem as if demons had climbed out of the depths of hell and scattered about. Curious about this, Red King decided to follow one of the scent trails, which guided him across the valley to the broken body of Chandlar. Up at the top of his hill, Red King snorted when the gut-wrenching scent of the dead beast’s rotting corpse struck his nostrils. Lying in the exact same spot where he’d left it, the one-winged monster’s body had seen better days, with most of its flesh and skin rotted away. But for some odd reason, Red King noticed the corpse was twitching and shaking, which made him narrow his eyes.

Unsettling sounds of aggression was heard when the visitor of the Lawless Monster Zone revealed itself, climbing on Chandlar’s corpse while licking the disgusting blood off its face with its elongated, triple-forked tongues. Despite being smaller, the body of this odd creature was unlike any monster that Red King had ever seen. It vaguely resembled a black lizard with long frontal legs, but lacked any hind appendages. Instead, it had a very long, serpentine tail that could be lifted off the ground. What caught Red King’s attention, however, since he had been dubbed as ”the Skull Monster” at times, was the creature’s skull-like head that resembled that of a mosasaurs.

Unsatisfied by the foul flesh of Chandlar, it saw Red King as something that’ll control his unsustainable hunger. Not caring what the towering monster was capable of, the Skullcrawler released the same shrilling shriek that Red King had heard. Without hesitation, the lizard leaped high in the air before Red King could do something. The ruler of the island backed away when the subterranean fiend latched onto him with its coiling tail, attempting to deliver a nasty bite. But since the Skullcrawler was a small monster and lightweight, Red King effortlessly yanked the reptile off before slamming him head first against the solid rock surface below. The Skullcrawler shrieked from the painful impact and squirmed about before being kicked by its prey, but it instantly recovered its footing and hissed in anger.

The fearless Skullcrawler swiftly zipped between the bumpy creature’s legs to avoid Red King’s swinging fist and began hastily climbing the green brute’s bumpy body from behind. The ravenous lizard’s talons left shallow cuts in his back, but Red King ignored it and reached back, grasping the small fiend’s head. The hypervore shrieked as it was easily dispatched like last time and tossed to the ground, flailing its arms and tail in an attempt to flip over as it made one more cry that was the loudest it had ever spoken.

The cry, along with its life, was soon silenced when Red King slammed his left foot on its throat. Not only was its windpipe crushed, but the force was enough to make its spine snap like a twig, thus ending the Skullcrawler’s life. Red King snarled in disappointment as he removed his foot. The intruder was way too easy to kill, and hardly had a fair chance to inflict any real damage to him. This infuriated the savage giant, stamping his feet against the rocky ground as he sought out something to unleash his fury upon.

Climbing on the cliff behind him, another Skullcrawler shrieked before it swiftly lunged forth, biting down on Red King’s leg. The green skull monster shrieked loudly when he felt the raw force of the black lizard’s bite. Although not enough to draw blood, it did cause a minor stress fracture on his leg. Red King reached out to clench tightly on his ambusher’s tail and forcefully yanked the lizard away before throwing it to the side, in which he just happened to throw it at yet another Skullcrawler. The two lizards groaned when they lay on the ground before they both got up, letting loose vicious hisses in an attempt to look threatening.

Red King would have grinned if he could. If there were more of these famished monsters raiding his island home, then they could prove themselves as worthy opponents, not by raw strength but in numbers. Flexing his knuckles, Red King shrieked loudly before he made his first move, kicking a boulder at the two Skullcrawlers. The propelled stone struck one of the skull-headed lizards while the other dashed in, only to be struck in the chin by Red King’s lifted knee. The Skullcrawler whimpered from the force trauma to his lower jaw before falling on his side, where Red King lifted it up and mercilessly slugged the monster in the face.

The second Skullcrawler pounced on Red King’s back, forcing him to release its bruised packmate. The latched-on reptile lashed out with its whiplash tongue, wrapping it around its intended prey’s neck and squeezing in a constricting grip. Red King shrieked and swung his body around to try and remove the tiny naga-reptile, but the Skullcrawler made it even more difficult when its tail snaked around the green brute’s left arm, pulling it away so that it couldn’t reach its binding tongue. The other Skullcrawler ignored its aching jaw and lunged in to attack, by biting down on Red King’s tail and shaking its jaws roughly.

Red King coughed and gagged as he tried to breathe. He could feel the elongated tongue squeezing his neck so hard that it cut into his windpipe. But no matter how hard it constricted, it would never weaken his strength. Red King’s right hand slowly reached out to the tongue and clenched onto it for a second, before he suddenly pulled away, ripping it in half. The Skullcrawler made an agonizing scream as the organ was shredded like paper and it collapsed to the ground, flailing and screaming. Red King chuckled at the suffering devil, tossing the yanked tongue aside before he twirled around, tearing the other Skullcrawler from his tail with the momentum and flinging it away, where it crashed into the Chandler carcass.

Rage and agony fueled within the wounded Skullcrawler’s mind as blood gushed from its jaw. The reptile knew that it was weakened without his tongue, but its determination to feed overrode the instinct to flee. As its pack mate crawled off Chandler’s body, both creatures rushed in at the same time, releasing high pitch shrieks from their jaws that revealed dozens of jagged teeth within. Red King swiftly turned around, whacking the second reptile’s skull-face to knock it aside before faced directly at the other, catching the Skullcrawler as it tried tried to pounce on the fanged giant. Without any effort, Red King easily slammed the Skullcrawler down on the hard surface of granite, throwing up chunks of stone and clouds of dirt with the impact. The black lizard shrieked from the harsh impact, its ribs cracking under the intense force of the blow.

Red King, being the sadistic monster that he was, pinned the injured Skullcrawler with his foot and grabbed onto the tail. The gluttonous devil scrapped the rocky ground with its taloned forelimbs in the desperate attempt to crawl away, but its lightweight body was unable to slip away from the fifty-five thousand tons of Red King’s sole. After a few tugs, the green skull monster cried out in victory as the pinned Skullcrawler’s long tail was ripped off, snarling with cruel glee as he listened to the worthless monster’s cries. The second Skullcrawler got up and recklessly zoomed in without caring, springing up and extending its claws as its jaws opened for the kill. Red King quickly jerked to the side and wrapped his arm around the ravenous predator’s neck, shrieking as he used his favorite technique to finish off his opponent. Being a smaller creature that he was, the Skullcrawler felt his neck being crushed without resistance in the chokehold, only able to make a weakening wheeze that soon turned into gurgle when foam oozed out of its jaws, stained to a bright red color by the blood that gushed out of the stump that once was the lizard’s tongue.

Within seconds, the second Skullcrawler met his end from the suffocation and blood loss. When his lifeless body was tossed away, Red King then ended the other’s life by kicking the injured creature’s chest, shattering the rib-cage completely as one of the broken bones punctured the heart. The tailless Skullcrawler lay on his side, lifting his head to make a weakening groan before its movements ceased.

Red King’s fists pounded his chest and he roared loudly. The fight was still a little too easy for him. As fun as it is to crush these annoying pests, it was too easy to overwhelm them. Despite their crafty tactic of trying to suffocate him, they hardly had a chance.

If only they were about as tall as he…

Soon enough, Red King got his wish, when he heard another shriek from another one of those skull monster wannabes. However, it sounded a lot more different than the other three that he slaughtered, having a deeper voice that carried a more threatening tone. Red King turned to face the Skullcrawler that made the cry, narrowing his eyes when he saw it.

The fourth Skullcrawler revealed itself, standing taller than before. Although she was a few meters shorter then Red King, the subterranean beast was way taller than the previous three. Like the monitor lizards it resembled, the naga-reptile flickered her forked tongue to pick up particles in the air, before looking down at one of her deceased smaller relatives and suddenly lifted it up with her prehensile tongue. With no haste that showed her kind’s sickening and gluttonous true nature, the big Skullcrawler gobbled up the tongueless lizard without chewing, gulping the entire lifeless body down whole. The Skullcrawler cackled when she gazed at the disgusted Red King, who swept his tail as he emitted an intimidating shriek.

The two titans stared off at one another, seemingly understanding one another for how much they are alike. Both are dubbed as “skull monsters” with their skull-shaped faces and their sadistic nature to attack and kill any living beings they come across, with the shared preference to any creature within their height range. As much as they were alike, they saw the one thing from within each other that set them apart – their ideals.

Red King is a violent monster, infamously remembered by many for how ruthless and destructive he is. But the only reason he chose to be a merciless beast is to prove himself as the strongest, always challenging anything that he sees to prove he is the best, hence why he had killed so many for satisfaction and not usually for hunger. The alpha Skullcrawler, and many of her lesser kin too, were merciless killers, always stalking any prey they find before instantly going for the kill. But instead of having the same goal that Red King wished to achieve, they hunt only for food, much like any other wildlife predators in order to survive. However, their extreme metabolism required immense amounts of food, forcing them to always keep on consuming, making them just as dangerous, if not worse than Red King. Much like a king cobra preying upon rat snakes, cannibalism on smaller Skullcrawlers is common for the bigger ones, as well as fights between one another over carcasses.

Red King flexed his knuckles while the mature Skullcrawler scraped the ground, with both savage beasts letting loose a battle cry. They charged forth and slammed against each other, grappling onto the other as the two reptile wrested for dominance. The alpha Skullcrawler grabbed hold of Red King with her serpentine tail, wrapping it around the green lizard’s waist as Red King grabbed the naga’s neck, pushing the armored head away to keep those gnashing jaws at bay with one arm as he wrestled to break free from the constricting tail with the other. The weight of the alpha Skullcrawler forced Red King to the floor, but the green bully refused to submit, viciously pounding her skull-face with his fist. The giant Skullcrawler then snapped at Red King’s right wrist to loosen his grip and swiftly crawled away from the brute, with her tail still wrapped around his body. The Skullcrawler turned on the spot to swing her loosening tail and toss Red King, watching as her enemy was sent hurtling through the air before crashing to the solid surface of granite.

Red King made pig-like squeals when he landed on the ground, flinching from the collision for a brief second before he started to stand, but in the time doing so, the big Skullcrawler had already moved up close to him. The hungry monster’s open jaws bit down on Red King’s bumpy neck, driving a loud shriek of pain out of the giant as rows of sharp teeth sank into his hide. Blood spilled out across the bumpy skin of Red King, who screamed loudly from the intense pain. The agony was worse than the time where the first Chandler bit his arm, an injury which took several months to make a recovery from that. In a desperate attempt, the bipedal, saurian-like beast slugged the skull-headed freak as hard as he could, ignoring the pressuring pain when the jaws chewed deeper. Despite that his powerful punches were unable to cause a crack on the bony head, he was able to get the Skullcrawler’s toothy grip to loosen. Red King’s gripped the blood-stained jaws, slowly forcing them apart to release his neck before he shoved the lizard away. The Skullcrawler shrieked angrily and tried to snap at his throat, but Red King rolled to the side to avoid getting bitten again.

Just as his prey was about to rise up again, the naga’s tail moved around and yanked Red King’s leg, causing him to trip and fall again. The king of the Lawless Monster Zone shrieked again when the Skullcrawler’s tail dragged him back, but just then, Red King reached out to grab his opponent’s leg and pulled it out from under her. The big Skullcrawler cried out as she fell, slowly being dragged closer to her enemy.

Red King gave the Skullcrawler a wrathful glare, his crossed eyes staring at the frightening eyes of the intruder of the island. Despite his bleeding neck, he still had plenty of energy left to continue the fight, determination pushing aside the pain coursing through him. And since the wound could take a long time to recover from, he decided to make sure that the reptile would regret coming here in the first place. Letting loose a wrathful scream, Red King repeatedly beat up the Skullcrawler with his fists, growing more and more violent with each punch landed on the dense skull head and the durable, charcoal-black hide.

As a concussion began to develop in the Skullcrawler, Red King held onto her head with one arm while he reached the tail that was binding his leg, but the limb jerked back and knocked the brute off his feet. The alpha Skullcrawler shrieked and shook her head, but Red King was able to get back up and kicked her, causing the hypervore devil to roll away before the green giant could recover. The mature Skullcrawler let loose an angry scream as she jumped in the air, only to be knocked back in midair when she was slammed by Red King’s bulk.

 About a mile away, Pigmon squeaked as he felt the ground shudder from the Skullcrawler crashing into the ground and make another haunting shriek. The friendly monster was full of anxiety, but not because the most feared beast of the Lawless Monster Zone was back. He was being watched. During the battle between Red King and the invading Skullcrawlers, Pigmon had encountered one of the skull-faced monstrosities – a smaller one roughly about the size of a bovine, which was currently after his own blood.

Pigmon couldn’t handle it. The eye contact with that horrific monster was just about as scary as being spotted by Red King. That moment when he gazed at the creature’s face, it made his pulse race, feeling like he was about to die at any second. By some fortunate or dumb luck, Pigmon was able to get away from the Skullcrawler, but he knew that it wouldn’t give up that easily. He knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance to fight it, but he knew that someone else would…

Pigmon looked around while he kept waddling, looking to see if that two-legged devil was still after him. When he turned around, he saw it, approaching from a few miles away. As an act of cockiness or foolishness, Pigmon waved his hands and emitted his monkey-like cries, taunting the predator that it couldn’t catch him. Seeing the mocking creature standing there like a sitting duck, the Skullcrawler immediately went after him, emitting that terrible cry that would scare off anything smaller than it. Pigmon instantly skipped away as quickly as his legs could carry him, constantly making panicking noises. He navigated through the trees, hoping that they would get in the monster’s way and slow it down. But even as a newborn, the small Skullcrawler easily shattered through the trees, closing in on its fleeing prey. Soon, the hideous being extended its whiplash tongue and lunged to wrap around Pigmon, dooming all hope of survival for the friendly monster.

When Pigmon was about to be lifted and pulled into the nightmarish view of the Skullcrawler’s mouth, something latched onto the predatory monster’s neck. It was a vine tendril of a Suflan. The Skullcrawler’s tongue released Pigmon and tried to tear off the plant’s appendage, but several more vines of the living organisms reached out and wrapped around the lizard’s limbs to make it impossible for it to escape, like how an octopus would easily restrain its prey’s movements. Pigmon got up and looked at the struggling Skullcrawler, listening to its unsettling screams as the leaves of the Suflan began to suck away its blood. Pigmon sighed in relief that his idea had worked. He never thought that the most dangerous plant in the island could unintentionally saved his life.

The friendly monster hopped away, leaving his pursuer to slowly die by the tendrils of Suflan. But as he advanced forward, he heard two similar cries of those skull monsters from afar, making him aware that he was far from being safe.

Staggering back after getting tail whipped, Red King’s bumpy back was slammed against the wall of a cliff, causing it to shake with several rocks falling on him. This was exactly what the green-skull monster wanted. Even though this big Skullcrawler was far tougher and smarter than he thought she would be, it was something that would provide an exciting challenge. Red King quickly moved aside when he saw the two-legged freak springing in the air, chuckling when he saw her crashing against the solid wall of rock.

Red King quickly stomped on the Skullcrawler’s tail, pinning it down while he reached out to grab the lizard’s neck. Red King constantly roared to reveal his savage nature as he repeatedly slammed his enemy’s bony head against the smashed-up cliff, enjoying the peril cries of his enemy. Above the edge of the tall rock, a smaller Skullcrawler crept up, looking down at the alpha being dominated by Red King. Remaining silent, the lesser lizard jumped off the cliff and grasped onto the green monster’s head. Red King backed away and shrieked in surprise, but quickly recovered and pulled the small Skullcrawler off. Bringing the squirming creature closer, he bit down on its neck. His teeth tore through the glutinous fiend’s charcoal-black skin and snapped the spinal cord as he started to gnaw deeper, silencing the squirming Skullcrawler instantly.

Red King tossed the lifeless creature aside, getting a little sick of the crafty devils that continued to interrupt him. But with how small and frail they are, he had nothing to worry about asides for the big one. Red King turned to face the alpha Skullcrawler, where once again, he was surprised by the tall bonehead as she jumped in to attack. Red King was brought down and pinned to the ground by the naga, making the same pig-like squeals when his bumpy skin on his chest was pierced by the Skullcrawler’s lethal claws. The hypervore predator hissed with delight, pleased that she could finally end this battle and take down her latest prey, which was sure to satisfy her for a long time. But even through his movements were restricted, Red King still refused to let this creature take him down, as he raised his left hand to grab his enemy by the throat. The Skullcrawler screeched in annoyance as she was pushed away, unable to reach her living meal’s throat with his jaws. Red King tried to keep the creature away, but with the Skullcrawler weighing down on him, it was but a matter of time before his strength would finally give in. He would need to find something to get this monster off, and fast.

Thankfully, luck was on Red King’s side, as he looked down and discovered the severed arm of Jet Jaguar. After all this time of being isolated in this barren no-man zone, it had remained intact, despite having a few dents here and there. Not hesitating, Red King reached out and grabbed the metal arm. Upon grappling the appendage of the heroic machine, Red King gave out a loud scream and he slammed it at the Skullcrawler, striking her right eye.

The Skullcrawler rolled to the side after being struck by the metallic limb, making a painful screech after receiving a black eye from the punch, which seems to fuel her anger just as much as Red King’s. The two skull monsters soon recovered and rose, continuing their vicious clash that just wouldn’t end.

As the two giants resumed their violent battle, Pigmon cried out in fear as he was cornered by the cliff, watching two lesser Skullcrawlers move closer. One of them moved in for the kill, but the other shoved it aside as it tried the same, the overwhelming hunger felt by both lizards refusing to let them share the meal. The two hypervore predators glared and hissed before they instantly attacked one another, with such feral behavior seen by Komodo Dragons whenever they fight over carcasses. The first Skullcrawler bit down on his rival’s neck, only to lose its right eye as it was clawed in the face, which only made the starving creature viciously shake his attacker. Pigmon took his chance to sneak away from his stalkers, seeing that they were occupied with killing each other. As he rounded the corner, unfortunately, he came face-to-face with another Skullcrawler, far larger than the pair behind him.

The naga opened its jaws and roared loudly, but was then interrupted when the steep rock face next to the duo burst, shrieking when it was rammed by something else. The two Skullcrawlers halted their fight while Pigmon fell from the rumbling vibrations of the ground, surprised to see the Skullcrawler’s ambusher was a Magular, a subterranean inhabitant of the Lawless Monster Zone. The friendly monster was confused. He thought the thorny devil-like creature had been neutralized long ago, but it seemed that the rocky reptile was not the only one of its kind. But this wasn’t the time for Pigmon to think about it. As he got back up, Magular chewed on the Skullcrawler’s throat, his dark-gray teeth and tusks spearing through the dense hide. Blood spilled out of the punctured throat and the maw of the hungry monster as its jugular was cut off, resulting in a painful death. The remaining Skullcrawlers watched Magular, who stood up and screeched in triumph. Before the duo could do anything, they were crushed when another Chandlar landed on them, easily crushing them to death.

Magular faced the winged creature, and then looked at the left as another tall, but still young Skullcrawler made a beeline for them. The two beasts of the Lawless Monster Zone gazed at each other briefly, seemingly agreeing on forming a brief truce, so they could bring down something just as dangerous as Red King. With Magular dashing in and Chandlar taking off to the skies, Pigmon quickly retreated away as the two giants took care of the intruder of their island home.

The alpha Skullcrawler cackled as she caught Red King in the grasp of her lengthy tail, spinning around to drag the monster across the rough terrain before flinging him afar, watching as he crashed down at the entrance of the jungle. The green kaiju groggily got up and rubbed his aching head, now having lost all his patience with his enemy, especially when he saw three more of the lesser skull reptiles approaching. He didn’t want to do this since they were easy to kill, but since he was getting tired and in bad shape, he had no choice but to use his secret technique as his last resort.

As the alpha and her lesser subjects moved closer, Red King pounded his fists on his chest, concentrating as heat energy channeled through his palms. During this, he spread his arms as they combusted in an explosion, taking the lizards by surprise. Flames leapt across Red King’s fists, with no sign of discomfort from the bumpy beast as he smashed them together. When the lesser Skullcrawlers charged in, one of them was instantly killed as Red King swung his fist into chest, shattering the ribcage when the colliding fire fist triggered an explosion. The second Skullcrawler wrapped its tail around the gremlin-like creature’s leg, but ended up having his entire spine shattered when Red King brought his burning hands down, swiftly killing it like the first. The third Skullcrawler foolishly bit down on Red King’s hand, only to scream in agony as the flames charred the insides of its mouth. The green skull monster almost pitied the savage devil as he flawlessly twisted its neck. It amazed him how reckless these creatures were compared to him, if they thought biting down on fire was a smart decision.

Dread crept through the alpha Skullcrawler when Red King looked right at her, feeling a bit intimidated as her gaze lingered on the blazing hands and how they killed off the smaller members of her kind. Seeing that her enemy was now too dangerous to bother with, the hypervore hunter began to make a retreat. Red King didn’t tolerate the creature’s cowardliness. She didn’t deserve to live, not after all the struggles and injuries he went through from their fight. Red King cried out and kicked a nearby boulder, sending the huge rock high into the air before it fell, diving directly at the back of the fleeing Skullcrawler. Red King listened to the shrill cries of the alpha as it impacted, cackling as he moved closer to the squirming lizard so he could end the battle.

As the Skullcrawler regained her footing, she didn’t have the time to evade or counter the fiery uppercut from Red King, in which she felt the merciless brute’s incinerating punch strike her jaw. The big Skullcrawler screeched in agony from the force of the explosion, causing him to shrill achingly, leaving the titan wide open for Red King to finish her off in whatever way his twisted imagination came up with. The ruler of the Lawless Monster Zone decided to make the giant Skullcrawler suffer by pummeling him with his explosive fists. With each punch delivered, the Skullcrawler cried out in agony from the blasts. Not even her thick hide or dense skull armor could aid her in enduring the humiliating torture.

Red King delivered a powerful uppercut to the hypervore predator’s gut, causing her to regurgitate a stream of blood and stomach bile, along with the digested remains of the deceased Skullcrawler that she had devoured. The alpha couldn’t withstand much longer, her legs trembling in fear and exhaustion. But she couldn’t lose. The need to consume was overwhelming.

Red King’s eyes narrowed in disgust when the tall Skullcrawler opened her jaws wide and let out a weak, but fierce roar. Deciding it was time to finish her, Red King briefly concentrated his aim, channeled the fire that coated his right fist, and thrust it directly into the invader’s mouth. A loud cracking boom was heard when an explosion sets off within the Skullcrawler’s cranium, bits of burning bones and flesh thrown into the air and scattered around. The vision blackened instantly for the prideful and mighty alpha of the invasive Skullcrawlers, who made a faint wheeze before Red King shoved her away and watched the naga’s lifeless body crash onto the ground, no longer making any sounds or movements.

Red King ceased the flames emitting from his hands and looked around, not seeing any more of the skull devils approaching. The victorious skull monster roared in triumph. His fight may not be quite as satisfying as he hoped for with those smaller devils being crafty but frail, but the brawl with the big one and the injuries he received did made the fight feel at least worth it, and being another step of progress to become the strongest kaiju on this planet.

Red King looked at the side, snarling when he heard the victorious cries of Magular and Chandlar, as they too had managed to beat another Skullcrawler. Magular moved away and he picked up another Skullcrawler, dragging it into the hole he came out of, while Chandlar began to feast upon the dead lizard in front of him. Red King snarled at the giants that were like the ones he fought in the past, but did not rush in to attack as he usually would. He was feeling too sore to fight anyone, and would need to wait for the next few months so that he could make a full recovery. Red King limped away to the mountains, where he would hide so that he can heal his wounds. In time, he would rise and resume fighting to become the strongest of all.

Miles away, Pigmon could see Red King’s figure disappearing into the mountains. As much as he feared him, he was glad that he won this grizzly fight. He would much rather have Red King roaming around then having the island being raided with the frightening Skullcrawlers, who would have eaten everything should the green lizard fall. Pigmon then skipped away, leaving the ravaged area so he could go somewhere far more peaceful and quiet.

Deep in the seemingly bottomless vent, a series of shrilling shrieks echoed within the depths, as if the opening was like a gateway to hell where savage demons thrived. Should Red King have come across this, it would have been a hint that there were still more Skullcrawlers roaming down in the depths, slowly tunneling their way to a more suitable location with plenty of food to fill their empty stomachs. Should these devil-like lizards reach to the lands of civilization, humanity could only hope that Ultraman would come to defend them from the gluttonous swarm of the Skullcrawlers.

Winner: Red King

Author: Matthew Freese | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski

1954.

An ancient colossus moved beneath the waves around the Bikini Atoll. This colossus was known as Godzilla, a mere legend of man proved true. Blackened burn marks covered his body, blood leaked from various wounds, and his internal supply of radiation was low. Godzilla sensed radiation nearby, filling him with hunger. He simply hoped nothing would interfere this time.

In a bunker miles away from the Bikini Atoll, a group of highly esteemed people gathered. High ranking officers of the U.S. military, scientists, and high-ranking members of the group Monarch watched as Godzilla moved closer to the nuclear bomb known as Castle Bravo.

“Are you sure this will kill Godzilla?” stated one of the Monarch officials, beginning to doubt the nuclear behemoth even could be killed.

“Of course it will, this bomb’s the strongest we’ve ever made. Nothing could survive this one,” bragged a general, a cocky grin forming on his face. “That lizard’s as good as dead,” he added.

Another Monarch official began to speak, only to be silenced by one of the scientists, holding a pair of binoculars, exclaiming “He’s surfacing!”

Everyone clamored to the viewing window of the bunker, the one’s lucky enough to get there first grabbing binoculars. “Gentlemen, get ready to witness history!” proclaimed a scientist as he pressed the button to trigger the detonation.

On that day, they would witness history. But not in the way they thought.

Godzilla breached the surface, his head rising high into the air. He looked at the source of the radiation he sensed, a yellow object resting upon the shore. Godzilla groaned, fully aware of what would come next. He braced himself.

A tremendous shockwave miles wide tore through the surrounding area, followed by a horrific wave of heat. Trees, along with whatever else was unfortunate enough to be nearby, on the surrounding isles were reduced to ash by the devastating power. An overpowering noise bellowed for all within miles to hear, nearly deafening the people in the far off bunker.

“What the hell was that?” shouted the general, his ears still ringing.

“There m-must have been a miscalculation somewhere, the bomb wasn’t supposed to be nearly that powerful!” stammered out one of the scientists. “A miscalculation!”

An admiral cut in, enraged. “Do you realize the damage that had to have done? We’ll be lucky if we don’t die of radiation poisoning!”

“Did it at least kill Godzilla?” questioned a Monarch official, receiving a multitude of angry glares in response.

“How could that have possibly not killed him?” yelled a scientist at the top of his lungs.
Before the whole bunker could devolve into a bickering contest, they were all cut off by the almost timid voice of another Monarch official watching through binoculars. “G-guys, you might want to see this…”

Godzilla’s eyes slowly opened. Every nerve in his body burned with agony as he slowly sank beneath the raging waters. If it hadn’t been for the insane amounts of radiation the blast released, he wouldn’t have survived. As his body absorbed the nuclear energy and healed itself, Godzilla began slowly making his way to the surface. The nuclear behemoth rose from the water, now seeing that the explosion had thrown him a great distance. He looked down, now realizing his chest armor had been scorched black. He began to swim forward, toward the source of the explosion and hopefully more radiation, when a horrid bellow struck his ears. Then the water a few hundred meters before him began to rise, as if something massive was surfacing. Another booming roar echoed across the waters, but its source was much further away and behind Godzilla, causing him to ignore it.

“How is it still alive?” screamed the general, his fists clenched and shaking violently.

“It’s the radiation, it has to be!” a Monarch official stated.

“We’ll either need to produce megaton level explosions without radiation, or make a nuclear bomb so powerful Godzilla doesn’t have a body to regenerate,” added a scientist.

“If we keep building bigger bombs, we’ll destroy ourselves before Godzilla ever gets a chance to,” grimly claimed another Monarch official.

As the inhabitants of the bunker argued amongst themselves, a scientist watching the behemoth dropped his binoculars, his hands shaking and covered with sweat. His breathing heavy, he stammered out three words that gave even the hardiest men pause. “There’s two Godzillas!”

Standing before Godzilla, there stood a smoldering monster of fresh creation, its stance upright. It had green scales charred black, small round eyes with pinprick pupils, and jagged dorsal spines jutting from its back. It was bulky, not quite as much as its counterpart, as he stood a head taller than the new creature, but it clearly still had muscle. The second Godzilla’s eyes darted back and forth, his head jerking from side to side.

The primordial Godzilla carefully stepped forward, recognizing the roar of anguish from this new arrival. The first Godzilla considered interacting with this creature that resembled himself, but before he could do anything, another roar sounded just behind the original Godzilla, followed by a rising bulge of water. Before the primordial beast could react, a pair of short, muscular arms burst from the water and dug their claws into him. The water fell away, revealing another massive creature, its sharp teeth bared in a snarl. Its scales were black, and uniform three-pronged spines ran down its back. The third Godzilla continued pushing against the alpha-predator, who braced himself. Breaking away, the primordial Godzilla turned to meet his new foe. The alpha-predator let out a mighty roar directly into the face of the black leviathan, who responded with a roar of his own. The two titans collided, locking hands and shoving against the other.

“There’s three of them now? Why, how?” an admiral stammered out.

“Why do all three look different? Are they all separate species?” questioned a scientist.

“The latter two may be evolutionary branch offs of the first Godzilla’s species, both awakened or attracted by Castle Bravo’s radiation,” exclaimed another scientist.

“How do we kill them, that’s all I care about!” yelled the general.

A Monarch official, watching the fight between the two Godzillas through binoculars, chimed in. “Just let them fight amongst themselves, they seem to be pretty territorial.”

A scientist also holding binoculars, but instead watching the green Godzilla break away from the pair yelled, “Yes, but what about the one that’s currently fleeing?”

The general contemplated both statements for a brief moment before immediately barking out orders. “Radio the fleet of ships we have nearby, tell them to stay out of the radiated zones and to keep the first Godzilla distracted until one of those two new ones dies!”

Their shoving contest seemingly going nowhere, the ancient Godzilla threw his head forward, bashing it against the black leviathan’s own. The new Godzilla cried out in shock, the blow throwing his focus off long enough for the alpha-predator to rake his right claws against his face. The brown behemoth punched the dark dragon with his left fist, staggering him back even further. The ancient Godzilla opened his jaws, before lunging at his foe’s face. The black leviathan ducked beneath the attempted bite, before turning his body and ramming his shoulder into the alpha-predator’s torso. The new Godzilla dug his claws deep into the behemoth’s blackened chest, drawing strands of crimson blood, before beginning to pull his claws out. The first Godzilla screamed in agony as he felt two of the armor plates on his chest begin to be pulled off. The brown behemoth grabbed his foe’s arms, then with a cry of pain yanked them free from his body. Two noticeable wounds now scarred his chest, leaking small rivers of ichor. The new Godzilla bit down on his foe’s neck, the teeth digging into the alpha-predator’s gills, drawing even more blood. The original Godzilla cried out in agony, but the agony soon changed into something different.

Rage.

The alpha-predator slammed both of his fists into the sides of the black leviathan’s skull, the blows sounding like the crack of thunder. The new Godzilla stumbled backward, streams of blood pouring from his ears and visible, deep dents where he was struck. The dents on his head began to fill back up, an unseen regeneration already working. The alpha-predator grabbed his foe’s shoulders, shoving him toward a nearby island. The primordial behemoth threw his foe forward, onto the now wet sand of a small island. The dark atomic saurian landed on his back, his head almost fully healed from the attack. The original Godzilla marched up to his foe, stood over his body, and then raised his massive, elephantine foot. The alpha-predator stomped hard onto his foe’s chest, being rewarded with a cry of anguish. Another stomp, a subtle cracking sound. A third brutal stomp, a sickening crack followed. The alpha-predator brought his foot high, hoping to tear clean through the leviathan’s chest this time. He brought it down, but the atomic saurian caught the foot with his hands, barely keeping it above his chest. His regeneration already working to heal his chest and ribs, the new Godzilla shoved upward with all his might, staggering the original Godzilla and forcing him to stumble backward. Flipping over onto his chest, the black leviathan pushed against the ground as he got back to his feet. The two titans stared at each other, their clawed hands both flexing in anticipation.

The fleeing Godzilla waded through the waters, hoping to find some kind of place to rest. One moment he had simply been resting, the rest of his herd nearby. His mate tending to their nest, all seemed normal and simple. Then, there was a horrid sound, accompanied a seemingly unending light. Then, they were all gone. His herd, his mate, his offspring, all nowhere to be seen. His own body, now twisted and terrifying in ways he had never thought imaginable. He hoped this was all some sick dream, that none of it was real, that he would wake up and all would be back to normal. As he moved, something on the water’s surface caught his attention. More things began to arrive, drawing closer. A human would recognize them as a small fleet of battleships, but to Godzilla’s primal mind, they were strange shapes that he had almost nothing to compare to. Suddenly, the ships opened fire, massive shells firing from huge guns aboard the boats. The hail of projectiles crashed against the mountain of flesh, earning growls from the colossus. The humans onboard mistook them for pain, prompting them to fire more. But the shells caused no real harm to Godzilla, only annoyance. Godzilla charged at the fleet, his growls growing more intense. He reached the front most ships, then let out a booming bellow of pure rage. The ships stopped firing, now attempting to flee. The titan kicked a ship just in front of him, sending the metal construct flying above the rest. Some of the fleeing ships shot at him, hoping desperately to halt the coming rampage. As the first ship sent flying hit the water, killing everyone on board, another ship was almost folded in half by a strike from the colossus’ tail. Suddenly, an explosion blinded one of Godzilla’s eyes. The behemoth stumbled backward, roaring in genuine pain. One of the battleships crews had the idea to fire at his eyes, seeing them as a weak point. Instead of driving the monster away, the attack had only made things far worse. Godzilla opened his jaws, causing a geyser of white smoke to pour from his maw. The geyser struck one of the ships, immediately causing it to glow red and melt. Godzilla began thrashing his head side to side, spraying the deadly mist over the rest of the fleet. Even if every ship wasn’t destroyed completely, the heat still instantly killed every man the attack passed over. Some of the battleships exploded, sending molten shrapnel in all directions and killing those who avoided the smoke.

Within the bunker, all was silent. Everyone in the bunker somberly hung their heads, having just heard over the radio the final moments of one unfortunate crew.

“What have we done?” Whispered one of the scientists, so quiet some wondered if he had even meant to say it out loud.

The dark Godzilla charged forward, his footsteps shaking the earth. The original Godzilla waited. The black leviathan neared his foe, claws ready to tear into him. The nuclear behemoth turned swiftly, his long tail whipping into his foe’s shoulder. A loud snapping sound, followed by a cry of agony echoed across the land. The new Godzilla stepped back, his left shoulder dislocated and broken. Before the arm could heal, the brown behemoth lunged forward and grabbed the appendage, yanking it downward. More snaps and pops sounded as the original Godzilla attempted to rip his foe’s arm off. The black leviathan clawed at the alpha-predator with his other arm, but it failed to deter him. The atomic saurian flailed in his foe’s grip, but the flesh around his shoulder was beginning to tear and gush crimson ichor.

The new Godzilla’s spines glowed a bright azure.

A solid blue pillar of atomic power exited the new Godzilla’s maw, crashing against the original Godzilla’s chest. The brown behemoth was pushed back as a series of explosions blasted away chunks of armor and flesh. The atomic ray ceased, only for the black leviathan’s spines to flash again. The ray tore apart the ground before its user, before the atomic saurian lifted his head up and swept the beam up the behemoth’s body, forcing out a screech of agony. As the original Godzilla stood still, his body wracked with great pain, the new Godzilla slowly stepped forward, his lips parting in a vile grin. He didn’t know where that power had come from, but he didn’t care. The dark atomic saurian prepared to fire another blast, but a loud crackling sound caught him off guard. A similar blue glow began travelling up the original Godzilla’s spines. The brown behemoth gasped in air, before opening his jaws and firing a cascade of what looked like blue flames. The atomic breath struck the new Godzilla, scorching his chest charcoal black and pushing him away. The black leviathan’s feet dug trenches through the sand as he was pushed back, trying to focus long enough to fire back with his own atomic breath. The stream of fire ended, yet the nuclear behemoth’s spines still glowed. Before the alpha-predator could attack again, the new Godzilla charged forward, his spines now glowing. The two merely one hundred yards away, both released their atomic breathes. The two beams struck each other, sending out a shockwave that sent sand flying. As the two titans continued their struggle, neither giving an inch, a blue sphere began to manifest where the two rays collided. The energy sphere began to move closer to the black leviathan, only to be pushed back toward the brown behemoth. Putting more power into his beam, the original Godzilla moved the sphere back toward the center, the heat from both of their beams beginning to glass the sand below the sphere. Both colossi dug their feet into the ground, bracing themselves.

The orb began to pulse oddly.

The two Godzilla were thrown back by a massive explosion, one which shook the whole island they fought on. Sand was either obliterated or turned to glass, trees were burned to cinders, and radiation deadly to most lifeforms was spread throughout the island. The original Godzilla was sent flying into the water, while the new Godzilla hit the ground harshly, sending sand and chunks of glass soaring. The dark atomic saurian got up, his entire front scorched jet black. He immediately began running forward, and dove into toward the water. He wasn’t done with his foe yet!

Submerged beneath the waves, the new Godzilla searched for his foe. He dove down further, knowing it would take more than that explosion to kill the behemoth. His ears picked up the sound of something large swimming toward him. Before he could react, the original Godzilla slammed into the new Godzilla’s side, bashing him against the rock wall beneath the island. Ignoring the boulders that fell from the impact, the alpha-predator began punching his foe’s face with his right hand. The black leviathan slashed his claws against one of the open wounds on his foe’s chest, but no cry of pain came. Instead, the brown behemoth grabbed the new Godzilla by the face, before slamming his head against the rock wall. Seeing a cloud of blood float up from behind his hand, the alpha-predator bashed his foe’s head against the rocks once more. A blue flash caught the original Godzilla’s eye, before another, brighter flash of an atomic ray consumed the thumb on his left hand. Pulling his hand back in agony, the brown behemoth saw that his thumb had been burnt down to the bone. The new Godzilla prepared to fire another atomic ray. The alpha-predator threw both of his hands forward, wrapping them around the black leviathan’s throat. The original Godzilla squeezed with all of his might, ignoring his foe’s thrashing and clawing. The alpha-predator lunged his body forward, crashing his foe into the rock wall so hard an indent formed. Foam began to fill the new Godzilla’s maw, his movements slowing. The original Godzilla lunged forward again, his foe almost halfway into the mountain. The dark atomic saurian’s spines flashed a deep blue.

A powerful wave of energy erupted from the new Godzilla’s body, breaking the alpha-predator’s grip on his throat and pushing the behemoth back, along with melting the rock behind him. The original Godzilla could barely process the pain and shock he felt. The black leviathan charged up another beam, but this time azure strands of atomic power danced around his spines as he did. Having absorbed the excess radiation from his nuclear pulse, the atomic ray that the new Godzilla fired had white spirals surrounding it. The blue spiral ray lanced into the alpha-predator’s stomach, obscuring half of his body with a massive explosion. A colossal cloud of blood floated toward the surface as it was soon revealed that the blast had torn the original Godzilla’s stomach open, revealing bones and internal organs. The new Godzilla prepared to finish the job, but a loud rumbling stopped him. He looked up, realizing that the cavern he had created with his nuclear pulse, along with the heat from his spines during the spiral ray, was collapsing. He tried to flee, when an avalanche fell over the opening of the hole. He tried to blast the falling rocks away, but nothing would come out of his mouth. Godzilla cried out wrathfully as thousands of tons of rock fell onto his drained, weary body.

Several helicopters landed near the bunker, ready to escort everyone on site back to America.

“Remember, you all saw nothing here aside from Castle Bravo’s explosion.” Coldly stated a Monarch official. Nobody else said anything, just boarding their respective helicopters, everyone not associated with Monarch hoping they would be able to forget what they saw.

The original Godzilla’s eyes slowly opened, horrid searing pain wracking his whole body. He wasn’t sure how long he had been unconscious for, but he did know that he had healed slightly. He looked down, seeing a thin layer of flesh over his stomach, slowly getting thicker as it regenerated. The alpha-predator began to slowly swim away, but he cringed as his muscles burned at the movement. Thinking for a brief moment, Godzilla decided to close his eyes again, drifting back to sleep.

The black Godzilla burst from his cave, but he felt no sense of triumph. He felt empty, in multiple ways. His stomach felt empty, and something told him flesh would no longer fill that void. As the beast looked out into the endless abyss of the ocean, he felt a sense of loss, not of possession but direction. One moment, he had been a normal dinosaur, dying slowly on an island, alone. But then there was a gigantic sound and light, and then he was no longer dying, but his body was changed drastically and painfully. Filled with fury and desperate for revenge against the world, he had lashed out against the first thing he had seen. Now, he had no idea of what to do.

The green Godzilla rested in an undersea cave, but he felt no peace. Part of him wondered if he’d ever feel peace again.

Draw: Godzilla (Heisei), Godzilla (Legendary)

 

Author: Joshua St. Jean | Banner: Landon Soto

Kamacuras flew over the city of Paris, its wings beating furiously as the mammoth mantis landed on the top of the Arc du Triomphe with a thunderous screech. Bodies of France’s citizens splattered across the sides of buildings from the shockwave, becoming piles of stagnant corpses for the invader. Kamacuras’ bulbous head twitched from side to side in ravenous excitement.

So much to consume! So many to consume!

A trio of jets flew by, launching missiles at the mantide monster… only for them to be taken off guard when a second Kamacuras uncloaked and swooped down on the fighters, slicing them apart with its great claws. Tank shells bombarded the two insectoid monsters, pelting them with unending fury, but they proved ineffectual as claws sliced through their steel armor with ease.

The mantide monsters looked to each other, then at the city. Humans no longer annoyed them with their irritating metal defenders. For a city drowning in death and silence, nothing held the power to stop the Kamacuras as they moved to consume the mountains of dead.

Time to fee…

A low, thunderous stomp echoed through the city. And then another. The two Kamacuras turned their heads and shrieked in rage. They recognized this figure, and they hated it, for it would mean a pause to their feast. The new arrival responded with a loud, thunderous roar that shook the windows of every building around the gargantuan saurian.

Godzilla, the Alpha Predator, had arrived.

The two Kamacuras took a few steps back as the great shadow of Godzilla blanketed them both. The pair knew they were outmatched on their own, instinct recommending them to flee but a sudden rush of bloodlust overtook both of them. The duo split up, forcing Godzilla to divide his focus as greens blurs danced around him in chaotic fashion. One blur lunged from the side, expecting to skewer the beast’s abdomen only for Godzilla to catch the Kamacuras in his powerful arms.

The insect squealed in agony, the sturdy exoskeleton which encompassed its body cracking from Godzilla’s claws. The other mantide burst forward in support and slammed his claws against the beast’s hide merely for sparks to splash in futility. The leviathan’s eyes focused on the struggling Kamacuras within his grasp, watching it squirm before the second one scored a strike on the beast’s gills, causing Godzilla to reel away and snap at the offender.

That was a mistake.

Noticing the weak point in the leviathan’s unbreakable armor, the other Kamacuras struck the other side of Godzilla’s neck, cutting into his gills and causing him to screech in pain and let go. The two mantides took turns, each slicing at the ancient reptile’s gills, disappearing from sight, trying to kill the leviathan quickly.

Finally, Godzilla managed to duck, and both insects slammed into the other, each accidentally cutting a leg and spraying emerald blood on the structures below. Godzilla grabbed one Kamacuras as it fell by the abdomen and flung it away, flattening a line of structures to the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Godzilla’s head slowly shifted to the other insect, its eyes focusing on the monstrous mantide as a low growl echoed from its maw. The Kamacuras lowered itself to the ground in fright, blending its body with its surroundings to disappear in broad daylight. Thinking it had retreated, the saurian moved forward to kill the other Kamacuras only to be pounced upon and clawed by the invisible mantis. Groaning in pain, Godzilla desperately struggled to pull the Kamacuras off, only for the second to join the fight once more.

Godzilla moaned and struggled to strike at both Gimantis specimens, feebly trying to tear them from his side. The leviathan grabbed the second Kamacuras in his jaws and slammed it into the ground with a violent snap, eliciting a screech of pain from the insect. He attempted to smash its head into a gory paste by stomping on it, but the beast flew off, its fellow in pursuit, causing the prehistoric saurian to roar in anger. Both flew in different directions, turned invisible and charged at Godzilla.

Godzilla stood perfectly still, only the deep huff of his breath audible, and an eerie silence washed over Paris. He was motionless, listening… waiting. The beating of wings came closer and closer. Godzilla tensed. Waiting… Unseen, the closest charging Kamacuras lifted its giant claws, prepared to impale Godzilla’s neck.

Kamacuras swung up.

Godzilla lashed outward.

A death encompassed screech echoed for the city to hear.

Godzilla’s claws ripped through exoskeleton like paper, sending Kamacuras into a wild frenzy. Godzilla grabbed the Kamacuras by the neck, his teeth punching into the weakened exoskeleton, then bit down and violently wrenched his head back.

The Gimantis stopped struggling, its headless corpse striking the ground while its head slowly rolled from Godzilla’s jaws. The leviathan’s eyes shifted from the body at its feet to the surrounding landscape. A weary breath escaping its jaws in anticipation.  

One bug left to squash.

Hundreds of miles above the Earth’s surface, a lone figure’s fists clenched with fury. Taking a breath, the black, leather laden individual scratched the top of his sunglasses. As his fists loosened and spectators within the room unleashed a breath of relief, the Xilien Commander screamed in rage.

“Kamacuras, you shall kill the beast!” he commanded to the screens which displayed the ongoing battle. “Kill it! Kill it! Kill it now!”

Kamacuras obeyed, swooping down to gore Godzilla’s gills. Stepping upon the mantis’ corpse, Godzilla answered Kamacuras’ charge with one of his own, hissing and moaning along the way to the Arc.

Godzilla leaned down and swung his tail, smashing the Kamacuras to the side and sending it crashing into the Arc, destroying the famous monument and creating a fountain of rubble. A telltale, thunderous hum rang throughout Paris while Godzilla’s dorsal plates began to illuminate with power. The leviathan smashed his left leg into the ground, his jaws parting to reveal an azure hue as flames formed within his maw.  

The Gimantis struggled to its feet, and lunged with its armed aimed for the beast’s throat, only for Godzilla’s silhouette, looming over the insect and the city, to unleash a stream of atomic energy. Kamacuras’ head detonated with explosive fury. Guts splattered all over the ruined remains of the Arc while its sturdy exoskeleton burned away to nothing but ash.

Godzilla let out a mammoth roar, letting his voice echo to the heavens, before he shakily wandered off. He was exhausted from the onslaught of the brawl, and would need significant time to heal and rest before doing much else. After reaching the base of the Eiffel Tower, the mighty saurian collapsed due to his wounds, blood oozing from the slash marks littering his neck and shoulders.

Meanwhile, the Xilien Commander snarled and screamed petulantly. He kicked and smashed his fists against the console. Subordinates in the room stood in fright, waiting for the rage to end after an eternity of relentless strikes. Finally, as his sunglasses fell onto the broken pile of machinery, the Xilien Commander halted his assault. His stance became unnaturally rigid.

The Xilien Commander’s head twisted over ninety degrees to reveal a devilish smile accompanying wide, murderous eyes. Lightning sparked chaotically around his right arm.  

“Time to get rid of all useless insects.”

Winner: Godzilla (Legendary)