Author: Andrew Sudomerski | Banner: Vincent Rodger

[Continued from Match 100] (more…)

Author: Andrew Sudomerski | Banner: Vincent Rodger

[Continued from Match 100] (more…)

Author Declan Coughlin | Banner: Santiago Fontalvo

The village of Kitakami River was under attack. The people ran and hid as thieves riding on horseback came and torched their homes and killed their loved ones, swift arrows marking their graves. The marauders showed no mercy as they slaughtered men, women, and children. In just a short hour, nearly the entire population of the once peaceful village had been wiped out.

A young woman was led by two of the thieves, her struggling growing less and less as the men refused to let her go. Eventually, they reached their location: a cross, not unlike those of biblical times, planted firmly in the dirt, overlooking the river. The woman was dropped to the ground, and she breathed in relief as she believed she had been freed, only to greet reality once more as she was tied to the giant cross. With chains restraining her hands and legs, the woman desperately tried pulling on her confines, only to receive nothing but a tight feeling as her limbs began locking up from exhaustion. She begged and pleaded to be freed, only for the two men to laugh at her.

“You should be happy, not afraid. You have the privilege of being the first of many sacrifices to our ruler.”

Before the woman could question what the man had said, the ground began to rumble, as if an earthquake was happening right below her. The earth began to split open, creating a gaping hole which lashed out with fire towards the surface, the flames beginning to spread to the forest, turning it into a raging inferno. It was as if the gates of Hell themselves had been opened. It wasn’t a shock then, when a devil not seen for millenia made itself known.

A giant hand emerged from the crevice, slamming into the ground with enough force to nearly topple the woman’s crucifixion. As a second hand rose from the crater, the entire body of the entity began to rise. Its body was pure molten rock, resembling the material the Earth was made from rather than a creature living on it. Its eyes, or where they would be, ironically resembled the same crude structure that the woman was tied to. Two bony protrusions sat above his back, looking like a mix of serrated claws and wings. But worse of all was the demon’s smile. Its unnatural grin reeked of pure malice and hatred, as the golem looked upon its sacrifice.

Kumasogami’s smile only widened as it looked down at her, listening as the remaining villagers were slaughtered in the distance. It lived for this carnage, as it was the thing that gave it life and power. Power was achieved from fear, and fear conquers all, something the demon knew all too well. Suddenly, the wicked beast heard a voice from below. It was one of the men that had summoned them. The man raised his hands to the sky as he reveled in the sight of the god-like being.

“Oh great and mighty Kumasogami, we have called you to bring destruction upon these putrid tribes, who have sinned by not praying in your name! Cleanse these parasites from the Earth, so that you may spread your murderous intentions to the world, and turn it into a living…”

Kumasogami, getting a little tired of the man’s ramblings, slammed a fist down onto the miniscule human. A burst of wind indicated the force of power sent through the ground, turning him into little more than ash.

Said actions, however, had their side effects, as the woman’s constraints had loosened enough as her prison fell to the Earth. The young girl, along with the partner of the man who Kumasogami had killed, both sprinted as fast as they could, neither even focusing on the other’s hatred as the two desperately began to run. If Kumasogami’s grin could spread anymore, its jaw would have probably broken.

Dropping its hands to its sides, they began to morph into weapons. One hand became a bow, the other a set of arrows. He placed one of the arrows into the bow before pulling back and firing. The projectile immediately hit the two running humans, instantly crushing them and sending an explosion of dirt and rock into the sky as the fires the demon had created only intensified. The remaining survivors of the village slaughter and even the demon’s own followers were shocked by the malice that the creature had shown. The demon turned his eyes towards the frightened masses, getting ready to send another arrow in their direction before hearing something behind him.

The false angel turned towards the river, which was bubbling and thrashing, almost as if something was attempting to free itself from the water’s shackles. The villagers seeing this, began chanting and praying their defenders name, for they had a God of their own.

“Baradagi! Baradagi!”

Before the demon could question their intentions, the water suddenly erupted upwards as a reptilian form flew out of the water and landed opposite of Kumasogami. The beast’s light brown hide contrasted its dark eyes, which pierced the abomination’s heart. Its back was adorned with long, sharp spikes which went the entire length of the monsters back all the way to the head. Its claws flexed as the creature’s jaw opened and let loose a guttural roar, which carried as much volume as the devil’s own piercing cry.

The God Baradagi, Varan the Unbelievable, was infuriated.

Kumasogami took a few steps back, surprised by the appearance of this reptilian. He stopped himself when he realized that he was going backwards. Was he actually showing hesitation in attacking? He roared in rage at his opposition. Likewise, Varan snarled at his molten foe. He sensed the demon and his followers slaughtering his people and tainting his land. As lowly as he regarded his followers, they still worshiped him as a god. While Varan’s origins were anything but godlike, he would make sure his followers’ faith was not in vain.

The two combatants, as different as they could be, charged.

The titans sprinted towards each other, trees being thrown aside as if they were toys and craters the size of whales being left by their gigantic feet. The two collided, each trying to overpower the other. Kumasogami, getting sick of the stalemate, sent a fist into his foe’s side, sending him staggering back. Varan cried out in pain and surprise. The demon’s fist burned, as if he was made of the same fire that defiled his home. He couldn’t think about it for long as Kumasogami threw another punch, smacking him in the head and sending him down to the ground. Before the reptile could attempt to recover, the demon began stomping on his chest, each step being rewarded with a cry of pain and the sound of cracking ribs. Varan grimaced before flipping himself onto his stomach.

Just as Kumasogami’s foot began to come down for another stomp, Varan positioned one of his sharp back spines directly in the path of the demon’s foot. The spike pierced his molten hide, causing the foul god to scream in agony as he stammered backwards, holding his foot in pain. Varan, finally free of his torment, began clawing at his opponent’s stomach, carving small grooves in the demon’s molten armor. Kumasogami grimaced before grabbing the monster’s hands, burning the flesh. The reptile screeched in alarm as his skin began smoking. It felt like his arms were about to be ripped off.

Just before his opponent could test this, Varan thrust forward with a powerful headbutt, sending his demonic enemy crashing to the ground with a loud THUD! Kumasogami screamed as he felt a part of his head crack from the force. He wasn’t expecting a strike that powerful from his opponent. He wouldn’t have time for surprise as Varan lunged forwards and bit into the demon’s neck. He wrestled to get free from the grip of his enemy, only to feel his opponent’s teeth pierce his skin. Now it was the mountain god’s turn to feel pain as his mouth burned. He staggered off of Kumasogami, desperately trying to remove the burning taste from his tongue. While Varan was distracted, the destroyer rose back to his feet, pure anger emanating off of his vision.

How? How could this pathetic, overgrown triphibian damage his almighty form? Kumasogami was stumped between respect and rage.

The latter emotion gained supremacy when the demon began morphing his hands into a bow and arrows. Varan watched on in intrigue, attempting to deduce what his opponent was doing. He wouldn’t get much longer to think as the demon fired two blazing arrows, piercing his hide and exploding, sending chunks of burnt flesh to the ground. Varan howled in horrendous pain as the demon fired another round of arrows which once again blasted more flesh off of the reptile’s brown skin. With his skin torn and bleeding, Varan slumped to the ground. He didn’t even have enough strength to move.

Or at least, that’s what he wanted his opponent to believe.

Kumasogami chuckled as he watched the near-dead kaiju, changing his hands once more. While his right hand reverted into a set of fingers, his left became a demonic sword, one that dripped with hot lava. He walked over to his opponent’s injured body before thrusting his sword upwards, preparing to decapitate the interloper. Now he would wish that he had never tangled with the mighty Kumasogami.

But while Varan was down, he wasn’t even close to being out.

Just before the demon could claim his prize, Varan suddenly leaped upwards and extended his arms, his hidden membranes becoming visible as he glided into the sky. Kumasogami was stunned, briefly dropping his weapon in pure shock. He had never expected his opponent to be hiding something from him.

With the wind hitting his face, Varan grinned to himself. He had fooled his opponent into believing he was defenseless, only to show his hidden features. Unlike what most would believe about him, the ancient beast was actually a triphibian, being able to fight and traverse the land, seas, and skies easily. With renewed confidence, Varan made a u-turn towards his demonic rival. Kumasogami, still stunned, suddenly felt his shoulder pierced as his foe flew over and upside down, impaling the body part as molten blood sprayed out of the wound. The demon stumbled back, holding the wound with his open hand, all while groaning in misery.

Before he could attempt to counter, he felt a blow to the back of his head that sent him tumbling down. Kumasogami began changing his hand once more as he was getting sick of the little pest’s hit and run strategy. Just as Varan soared over, the wicked one ducked down, avoiding the attack before sending his hand forwards, the appendage now being transformed into a demonic whip of sorts. The weapon wrapped around Varan’s leg, causing him to cry out in pain as he felt the whip scald and scratch his flesh. Gravity took effect on his body as he was slammed down hard into the ground, a crater being formed as trees were uprooted from the impact.

Varan groaned in misery, only for it to turn into a scream as he felt a molten sword slash into his skin, blood flying and painting the ground a shade of red, while the cuts inflicted burned. Kumasogami continued to hack into the triphibian’s skin, each cut rewarding the demon with a painful cry as Varan’s body became overrun with cuts and burns.

Finally, after a minute which felt like an hour, the torture mercifully ceased. Varan panted, each breath coming out as a weak wheeze as it hurt to even breathe. Dirt and ash clogged his wounds, making them sting even more. The triphibian lay still, using the last of his energy to roll over onto his stomach. This was the end, he thought to himself. He only hoped the demon would grant him a quick death.

Suddenly, something in Varan’s head snapped as he felt adrenaline kicking in. What was he thinking? Was kneeling over to die truly how he would go out?

NO!

He was a warrior, one that has survived centuries of combat. Why should he die today, when his own people live in torment? No matter what, Varan would not give up. In his relatively intelligent brain, he concocted a plan. He slowly closed his eyes, pretending to play dead.

Kumasogami stomped over to his opponent’s apparently dead body. Knowing to be careful, he threw a light kick at his side. The body moved, but overall did not react. Kumasogami reared back and roared to the heavens, letting all of Kitakami know that their god was dead.

Varan inwardly grinned to himself. He was falling for it, now he just needed to wait.

As Kumasogami ended his cry, he once more began turning his hand into a demonic sword. He knelt down, preparing to cut Varan’s head off from the neck. The demon beamed devilishly. He had claimed another trophy from a stupid creature that wished to test his might. Now it was time to claim his prize.

But just before he could slice the triphibian’s head off, Varan’s eyes snapped open.

Kumasogami was shocked! How was his enemy still alive after all of this torment? He roared in outrage before lunging forward with his sword, promising to make Varan’s death as painful as possible. At the same time, Varan jumped up on his four paws, his body lunging forward.

The two jumped at the same time, but Varan was half of a second faster.

Varan’s spikes shot straight through Kumasogami’s rock-hard skin, impaling his fiendish heart. The devil roared in absolute agony. For the first time in his long existence, the demon was afraid of death. Pathetically, he began to plead for mercy while weakly grabbing his head, attempting to remove his opponent’s deadly tools from his heart. Varan snorted. After all the demon had done, defiling his home and killing his people, he wanted mercy? He would receive none.

Rearing slightly up with Kumasogami still impaled on his spikes, Varan grabbed one side of the demon with each of his front paws before beginning to pull. He strained and howled as his skin burnt and his blood boiled from contact with the demon’s life essence, but he refused to give up.

A tearing sound proved that Varan’s determination had paid off.

Kumasogami’s body was ripped in half, each half of the demon’s body being thrown off of the triphibian’s back. Molten skin and blood of lava tainted the ground as the demon’s remains were scattered. On both sides of his body, the demon’s eyes briefly kept their glow before fading away, becoming as dark as the night sky.

Varan grunted as his body struggled to stay upright. This fight had taken nearly everything out of him. It was only thanks to his last ditch effort that he was able to win. With weakened legs, he began to stumble back to the waters of Kitakami River. Just as he reached the shoreline, he turned to see his people, and even some of the thieves that attacked his people, in prayer, chanting Varan’s name as they knelt to him. Varan nodded to them, as if he understood, before letting out one last roar that echoed throughout the land. He then turned back to the water before slipping below the depths, going to enjoy a long rest.

Although there were many demons in the world, the people of the Kitakami could rest knowing that perhaps the most dangerous of them all had been slain.

Winner: Varan (Universal)

Author: Alex Williams | Banner: Lucas C. Gabet

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: It Seems Today
Chapter 2: G-Fest
Chapter 3: A New Friend
Chapter 4: Destoroyah Days
Chapter 5: The Diagnosis
Chapter 6: Peter’s Obsession
Chapter 7: The Breakup
Chapter 8: Reflections
Chapter 9: Attack Titan vs. Destoroyah: Rollercoaster Rumbling
Chapter 10: A Griffin Resolution
(more…)

Author: Christian Salabert | Banner: Christian Salabert

“FinSTER! Where are those new monsters you promised me?!”

The shrill voice of the evil empress known as Rita Repulsa echoed throughout the corridors of her lunar palace. The millennia-old witch screamed out her inquiry as she marched through her home base, making her way from the main observation deck towards the laboratory of her chief monster maker.

Finster, the aforementioned maker of monsters, sighed as he heard his empress’ screeching. He adored Rita dearly, but even he had to admit her vocal outbursts could be a bit much at times. Spotting her as she entered his lab, he smiled in greeting.
“They’re almost complete, my queen. I’m putting the finishing touches on them as we speak.”

He made a few more flourishes with his sculptor’s knife, then paused, taking a step back and looking over his work.

“Ah, yes. There we go. All done.”

Turning to face his empress, the gnome-like being proudly gestured to the two clay sculptures that stood upon his work bench.

Rita stepped closer so she could get a better look at her minion’s newest creations. They both seemed to be reptilian in nature, though they looked vastly different from one another. One had two crescent horns on the side of its head with a spike on its snout, as the other sported two antennae on its head, while its tail was incredibly long.

“They look so wonderfully wicked, Finster! What are they?”

“Well, your evilness, as you know, I’ve made plenty of monsters based on creatures from Earth’s ancient past – Sphinxes, minotaurs, and the like. This time, I have decided to try a new type of monster, and therefore, my latest creations are based on two of the many daikaiju that have threatened the planet.”

“Finster, I love them! Hurry, put them in the Monster-Matic and get them to Earth!” Rita shrieked.

“Right away, my grace,” Finster said as he nodded and lifted the tray that held the two monsters, carrying it over to the conveyor belt of his monster-birthing machine. “There’s no way the Power Rangers will be able to overcome their combined might,” Finster declared as he pulled a lever, bringing the machine to life. “Even the Zords will be outmatched!”

The two clay sculptures disappeared into the Monster-Matic, the machine’s inner workings sparking to life, magical powers coursing through its circuits and gears, transforming the clay within into flesh and bone.

“By the way, Finster, these monsters…” Rita began, turning to face the elder extraterrestrial, raising her voice as the Monster-Matic’s steam whistle blew loudly. “What were they called again?”

* * * * *

“Gomora and Eleking?”

“That is correct, Billy,” Zordon answered his brainy Blue Ranger, nodding in response. “They were creatures that attacked the Earth over fifty years ago. Behold the Viewing Globe.”

The five teenagers turned around and stepped towards the rear of the room, facing Zordon’s technological crystal ball. For a moment, the orb flicked, before featuring the beast with crescent horns.

“This is Gomora,” Zordon informed them. “A subterranean dinosaur that appeared in Japan in 1966. He was eventually defeated by the original Ultraman.” The Viewing Globe flickered once again, this time showing an image of the creature with the extremely long tail. “And this is Eleking, an aquatic reptile sent to attack Earth by the Pitt Aliens the following year. He was defeated by Ultraseven,” Zordon explained. “My sensors tell me that these are not the true Gomora and Eleking, but rather that Rita has crafted her own loyal versions.”

“Don’t worry, Zordon,” Jason said as he and the others turned away from the Viewing Globe and faced their mentor. “We’re gonna send these overgrown lizards packing!”

“Be careful, Rangers!” Alpha 5 told them, his voice filled with worry. “Gomora and Eleking were both very powerful monsters, and we have no reason to assume that these recreations of Rita’s are any weaker than the originals! Especially with the two of them teaming up like this!”

“Don’t worry, Alpha, we’ve got this,” Jason reassured the robot. Together, he and the other Rangers reached behind themselves, their hands grabbing onto their Power Morphers. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”

“MASTODON!”

“PTERODACTYL!”

“TRICERATOPS!”

“SABERTOOTH TIGER!”

“TYRANNOSAURUS!”

* * * * *

Five beams of multicolored light shot through the sky as the Rangers teleported to the outskirts of Angel Grove, not too far from Angel Grove Lake. Rematerializing upon landing, the group of heroes looked around and scanned the area, but they saw no sign of either of Rita’s monsters.

“Alright, let’s spread out,” Jason suggested. “We’ll split up and look around. Alpha and Zordon said they were in this area, so as soon we see any signs of– Whoa!”

Jason could barely even finish explaining his strategy before the ground began to shake. The tremor was so violent that it threatened to knock the Rangers off their feet.

“It must be Gomora!” Billy surmised. “He’s probably burrowing underground!”

Just then, the ground started to buckle as a form began to emerge from beneath the surface. With a piercing cry, Gomora burst from the earth and leapt towards the Rangers. But this Prince of Monsters was no giant – He was the same size the Rangers were! But despite his newer, comparatively diminutive size, he was still just as strong and ferocious as his much larger counterpart. Not expecting the kaiju to be normal size, the Rangers were caught off-guard, allowing Gomora to gash them with his horns and claws as he leapt past them, knocking them all to the ground in a shower of sparks.

“Ah, Rangers! So nice to finally meet you,” Gomora snarled, baring his razor sharp teeth as he grinned. “You’re really gonna dig what I’ve got in store for you!”

“Come on, guys!” Jason said, commanding the other Rangers as the team got back to their feet. “Let’s send this guy back to the Cretaceous! Power Weapons!” In a flash of light, the Power Sword was in Jason’s hands as he charged the burrowing beast.

Roaring in defiance, the saurian spun around and whipped Jason with his tail, the appendage drawing sparks from the Red Ranger’s armor as it knocked him aside. Billy and Zack were up next, attacking with their Power Lance and Power Axe, but the horned monster reached out with his clawed hands, catching the weapons and using his grip on them to flip the Rangers off their feet. Lastly, Kimberly and Trini leapt into the air, Kimberly firing off an arrow from her Power Bow as Trini simply hurled her Power Daggers through the air. These weapons struck their target, sparking against Gomora’s tough hide. Angrily, the dinosaur took aim at the two female Rangers, the crescent horns on his head suddenly pulsating with crimson light. Before the girls could react, the Monster Prince unleashed a powerful Super Oscillatory Wave blast from his snout horn, blasting Trini to the ground, then Kimberly, their chests charred and smoking.

“What’s the matter, ladies?” the reptile asked with a smirk. “Too hot for you?”

With a mighty battle cry, Jason leapt into the air, bringing his sword down on a scaled hide. The dinosaur turned around just in time to receive a vertical slash from Jason’s blade, quickly followed by a horizontal one. Shrieking angrily, the clay copy suddenly reared up onto his tail and lashed out with both feet, kicking the Red Ranger hard and sending him careening through the air before finally crashing to and skidding across the ground.

“Jason!” The other Rangers ran to their leader’s side, helping him up. Before any of them could make another move, Gomora raised his clawed hand and made a signal with it.

“You Rangers want to bury me?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “But I’ve just dug up a squad of Putties!”
Suddenly, he was surrounded by a series of yellow lights as Rita’s Putty Patrol materialized, arriving to help the recreated dinosaur against the Rangers. The gray humanoids immediately went on the attack, swinging their fists at the multicolored heroes. But the Rangers were well-versed in how to deal with Finster’s clay warriors, and thus they met their assault head-on. The Putties attacked with as much ferocity as they could muster, but they were no match for the Rangers’ strength and morphin’ powers. With their weapons still held tightly in their hands, the Rangers hacked and slashed until the Putties were reduced to shredded clay chunks strewn about on the ground.

“That takes care of those clay heads,” Zack said, lowering his Power Axe as he began to look around the immediate area. “But where’d the monster go?”

“Maybe he went back underground,” Trini suggested as she glanced around.

The relative silence was suddenly shattered when Kimberly let out with a piercing shriek. When the four of them spun around to see why she was screaming, they quickly realized that the mini kaiju’s upper torso had emerged from the ground, his clawed hands latching onto the gymnast’s legs.
“Geez, Pinky! You’re such a downer!”
With that, Gomora began to burrow back into the earth, dragging Kimberly with him.

“KIM!” Trini called out, rushing for her friend.

Grunting, Kimberly began hitting Gomora in the head as hard as she could, but her blows did little to deter his burial of her. “Let me go, Godzilla!”

“Keep your hands to yourself, Pink Ranger!” the monster growled in response. “You’re coming with me one way or another!”

“Think again, lizard-breath!” Zack shouted, taking his Power Axe and flipping it around, quickly converting it into cannon mode. Pulling the trigger, he fired a blast of purple energy, hitting the burrowing beast hard, sparks flying everywhere. With a roar, the prehistoric throwback leapt from the ground. Landing in front of the Black Ranger, he knocked the axe from his hands, then slammed his horned head into his gut, knocking the wind out of the Ranger as he was sent sprawling to the ground.

“Zack!” Jason called out. Brandishing his sword, the Red Ranger charged towards Gomora, but the reptile quickly burrowed back into the ground and disappeared.

Billy and Trini, meanwhile, were helping to pull Kimberly up and out of the ground, where Gomora had left her half-buried when he’d gone on to attack Zack.
“Kimberly, are you currently suffering from any noticeable injury?” The Blue Ranger asked her.

“He’s asking if you’re okay,” Trini clarified as she and Billy held onto Kimberly’s arms and pulled her up through the ground.

“Oh yeah, I’m great,” Kimberly said snarkily as she tried to help the other two Rangers lift her up out of the dirt. “I love getting literally dragged through the mud by a prehistoric– Aaaahh!”

Kimberly suddenly jerked down into the soil, once again having been snatched by thick claws, dragging her down into the earth.

* * * * *

Tommy Oliver breathed a sigh of relief as he reached his usual locker in the Youth Center. He had just finished teaching his weekly martial arts self defense class for the local children, which he was always happy to head, but today, he and Kimberly had plans to go see a movie together, and so naturally he was looking forward to that, as he always was. He was admittedly surprised at her choice of movie – the latest horror film, Blood Rippers IX: The Final Chapter – but he wasn’t going to complain, as he loved scary movies as well. As he pulled his bag out of the locker, he made sure he had everything. A change of clothes, his wallet, his communi–

Beep-beep, beepbeep, beep-beep

Of course Rita couldn’t just let him and Kimberly have a nice evening to themselves. Strapping his communicator back around his wrist, Tommy stepped away into a secluded corner. Making sure no one was around, he answered the call.

“Tommy here. What’s going on?”

“Aye-yi-yi, Tommy, the other Rangers need you! They’re being outmatched by a monster on the outskirts of Angel Grove!”

“Got it. Tommy out.” Deactivating his communicator, Tommy took another look around the immediate area, then reached behind himself, grabbing his Power Morpher. Withdrawing the ancient device and holding it out before him, he spoke the ever familiar command.

“DRAGONZORD!”

* * * * *

“I am SO over this!” Kimberly shouted, growing increasingly frustrated as she disappeared further and further underground. “POWER BOW!”

In an instant, the Pink Ranger’s signature weapon reappeared in her hand, and immediately she pointed it down into the dirt and fired. Any ordinary arrow wouldn’t have been able to pierce the soil in such a situation, but the Power Bow’s arrows were anything but ordinary. The projectiles shot through the earth, each of them hitting their reptilian target below. With an angry screech, the saurian released an oscillatory energy burst, resulting in an explosion that sent Kimberly flying up out of the dirt and spiraling through the air. As she crashed to and rolled across the ground, she was quickly surrounded by the other four Rangers as Gomora emerged from his tunnel. Still clutching the arrows Kimberly had shot at him, he quickly snapped them like twigs in his claws.

“Watch where you point those things!” he snarled at the team. “That sucked!”

“Here he comes, Rangers!” Jason warned, holding the Power Sword out in front of him, ready to fend off any attack Gomora attempted. He knew they’d likely need the Power Blaster to put an end to this fight. “Get ready to bring ’em together!”

“Oh, no you don’t!” the monster responded.

Before any of the Rangers could make a move, the Monster Prince unleashed his Oscillatory Wave once again, sweeping it over the five Rangers and blasting them all hard, knocking them to the dirt. The chests of their suits burnt and smoking, the Rangers struggled to pull themselves back up to their feet.

“Looks like you Rangers are at the end of your ropes,” Gomora taunted the worn out heroes, baring his teeth as he grinned deviously at them. “But I’m sure you’ll get a charge out of this!”

Once again, the curved horns on the monster’s head began to pulse and crackle with red oscillating energy. Bringing his hands together and rearing his head back, the prehistoric king prepared to unleash a devastating blast of his wave attack and take the Rangers out in a single shot.

What happened next took place so quickly that it seemed almost choreographed. A green beam of light shot down from the sky, landing directly in front of the fallen Rangers. The light faded away, revealing the Green Ranger standing there, his hand already wrapped tightly around the hilt of the Dragon Dagger. Throwing his hands aside and thrusting his head forward, the copied monster unleashed a powerful blast of his Super Oscillatory Wave. The crimson energy flew through the air, aimed directly at the new arrival. Instantly, the Green Ranger lifted the Dragon Dagger to his lips, playing a quick tune, causing his golden Dragon Shield to shine. As soon as the tune ended, the Super Oscillatory Wave struck the large diamond of the Dragon Shield, and with a flash of emerald energy, bounced right back at its sender! All the horned horror had time to do was widen his eyes in shock as his own oscillatory wave exploded in his face, sending the reptilian beast flying backwards and crashing to the ground.

It took the other Rangers a moment to realize they hadn’t been hit by Gomora’s blast. Lifting her head, Kimberly was the first of them to notice the new arrival.

“Tommy!” she cried out happily.

Tommy nodded, helping everyone to their feet. “You guys alright?” he asked them.

“Yeah,” Jason confirmed with a nod. “Now let’s take this guy out!”

“You got it, bro,” Tommy said. With that, all six Rangers turned to face their foe together.

Gomora, meanwhile, was still dazed, trying to recover from being hit by his own beam. Woozily, he managed to get back to his feet. The monster tried to act intimidating, but at the moment, couldn’t pull it off. Clutching his head, he muttered to himself.

“Ugh… Anyone get the license plate of that Zord?”

* * * * *

High above the Earth, in her lunar palace, Rita Repulsa snarled angrily as she watched the fight unfold through her RepulsaScope.
“What’s the matter with you?!” she screamed at Gomora as she watched the reptile try to overcome his current predicament. “One more Ranger isn’t that much of a difference! Get your act together! UGH!”

Stepping away from her telescope and up to the balcony railing, the ancient witch lifted her trusty wand into the air. Bracing her arm, she began to conjure the same dark magicks she always turned to in times like these.

“Magic Wand, make my monster GROW!”

Tossing it as if it were a javelin, Rita sent her wand shooting down towards the Earth.

* * * * *

Despite the great distance, Rita’s wand reached the planet’s surface in seconds, plunging into the dirt not too far from where Rita’s minion was fighting the Rangers. In response, the ground split open and released untold magical powers from deep within the bowels of the earth, imbuing them into his clay scales. In turn, the mighty reptile suddenly began to grow, increasing his height from comparable to humans to a whopping eighty eight meters tall!

“Now this is more what I’m used to!” With a diabolical laugh, Gomora peered down at the heroes. “Why, Rangers! You look so tiny!”

Raising his right foot, he brought it down hard, intending to crush the Rangers underneath. Flipping aside, the team just barely managed to avoid a quick and messy end.

“I’ve had enough of this guy!” Jason snarled. Raising their hands into the sky, the five Rangers called out “WE NEED DINO ZORD POWER NOW!”

From various locations around the world, the Dino Zords raced to answer the Rangers’ call. As soon as they were within range, the five heroes leapt high and met with their respective Zords, entering the mighty machines’ cockpits.

“Alright, Rangers, power ’em up!” Jason commanded as he inserted his Power Crystal into his Zord’s control panel. “Activating Megazord Tank Mode!”

As the Tank Mode rolled onto the scene, ready for action, Gomora smirked.

“You brought a tank against a giant monster? Hah!”

Aiming his horn at the machine, the monster unleashed a blast of his Super Oscillatory Wave, hitting the Megazord hard.

“Jason!” Billy reported as the Zord’s cockpit shook. “This mode is insufficient for our current combat requirements!”

“You’re right, Billy!” Jason said, nodding as he input the upcoming transformation into the controls. “Initiating Megazord Battle Mode!”

“Megazord sequence has been initiated!”

The Tank Mode began to shift and change, recalibrating and reformatting as it changed from its current form to its main combat mode. As the Tyrannosaurus’ head disappeared into its torso and the Pterodactyl attached, forming the chest plate, the onboard computer announced that the new form was now complete.

“Megazord activated!”

Its yellow eyes glistening in the sun, the Megazord struck a battle pose, ready to take on the prehistoric reptile it found itself faced with.

Readying himself for battle, Gomora punched his fists together, his eyes narrowing as he gazed upon the colorful mechanical warrior before him.

“That oversized toy isn’t going to save you, Rangers!” he bellowed. “You’re still going under!”

Lowering his head, the evil reptile charged, intent on ramming the Zord with the trio of horns on his head. But the Megazord was deceptively fast despite its heft, and it managed to reach out and snatch the imitation Gomorasaur’s horns in its hands, stopping the monster’s charge cold. The bull headed beast snarled as he shook his head back and forth, trying to dislodge his horns from the Megazord’s grip.

“Let go, let go, let go!”

As if fulfilling his request, the Zord removed its right hand from his horn, then brought its fist down hard onto his horned snout. In a burst of sparks, the dreaded kaiju dropped like a rock, collapsing to the ground. Recovering quickly, the dinosaur rolled aside, putting some distance between himself and the Megazord.

With a heave, the monster pulled himself to his feet. “You think you’re so tough, huh?!” The Monster Prince challenged. Before his foe could respond, he bent over and spun around, striking out with his long tail. Sparks burst as the whip-like appendage lashed against the Megazord’s chest plate, causing the robot to stumble back. Facing the Zord once again, the ancient menace charged up and fired off another blast of his Super Oscillatory Wave, hitting the mechanical warrior hard and knocking it off its feet. With an evil laugh, the burrowing monster leapt through the air, landing on and straddling the fallen Megazord.

“Hah! Time to dig through your Megazord like topsoil!”

With that, the reptile began to tear into the Zord’s chest plate with his digging, gouging claws. In the Megazord’s cockpit, the Rangers shook hard each time their machine was struck by thick claws.

“Jason!” Kimberly called out. “Our shields won’t hold up against this for long! We need to get him off of us!”

“Right!” With that, Jason looked up through the Megazord’s eyes, past the attacking Gomora, and into the clouds high above. “We need the Power Sword, now!”

With a thunderous noise, the gleaming silver blade fell from the sky. Soaring down from the clouds to the ground below, the edge of the sword caught their foe’s scaled shoulder on its way down, slicing his flesh. With a yowl, the prehistoric copy jumped back and crashed to the ground, thrashing about in pain. With the monster no longer pinning it down, the Morphing Grid’s champion quickly rolled aside and rose to its feet, snatching the hilt of the Power Sword, which had planted itself into the earth, and pulled it loose from the soil, raising its weapon high like King Arthur clutching Excalibur. Spotting his approaching foe, Gomora leapt to his feet, but the Megazord was already upon him. Before the reptile had a chance to react, the robot brought its sword down hard, slashing its blade against the monster’s spiky chest, eliciting a screech of pain and a burst of sparks. Flicking its hand around, the Zord slashed its opponent with its weapon once again, sending the burrower sprawling to the dirt.

“He’s down! Let’s take ‘im out!” Jason ordered.

“Right!” the other Rangers acknowledged.

As one, the team made the motion command for the Megazord to bring the Power Sword to full power. Raising the silver blade high into the air, the mighty machine’s eyes flashed as crimson thunder clouds filled the sky, striking the Power Sword over and over with red lightning, charging the sword until it glowed with a similar light.

“Any last words?” Jason called out to the targeted monster.

As he’d watched the Megazord raise and charge its Power Sword, the saurian had been concerned, nervously shielding himself with his clawed hands, as if that would somehow protect him from the Sword’s fully energized slash. But as soon as he heard the Red Ranger’s taunt, the monster’s entire demeanor changed. He stood more confidently and lowered his hands from his face, revealing a knowing grin.

“As a matter of fact, I do have one final word!” he snarled. “‘Surprise!'”

As if on command, an impossibly long appendage, seemingly a black and yellow tentacle, sprang out of nowhere, lassoing the Power Sword. With a strong tug, the tentacle wrenched the sword from the mechanized hand and sent the weapon falling to the ground.

“What the–? The Power Sword!” Jason called out, confused.

Realigning itself, the tentacle attacked again, tightly wrapping itself around the mecha’s neck and torso. The Zord struggled to keep its footing as the long limb tried to pull it away, but it was a losing battle. Even still, the powerful robot was putting up enough of a fight that the tentacle soon grew annoyed and released a devastating electric shock. With electricity arcing across its hull, the Ranger’s ultimate weapon collapsed, smoke rising from its metal, as the tentacle began to drag it across the dirt.

“What is going on?!” Kimberly cried.

“It must be the other monster!” Billy concluded.

“Oh yeah! Electric King!” Zack said. “Man, I forgot all about him!”

From his vantage point, Tommy watched as the tentacle dragged the Megazord across the field towards Angel Grove Lake.

“Guys!”

Reaching for his holster, he unsheathed the Dragon Dagger and brought it to his mouth plate, playing the ever familiar tune that summoned his own Dino Zord. Miles away, the water in Angel Grove Harbor began to churn as the mighty Dragonzord came to life and rose up to the surface. Setting foot on the shores of Angel Grove, the ancient machine turned and started making his way through the city, honing in on the Green Ranger’s location.

But the Dragonzord would not arrive in time. Struggling, the Megazord tried to resist as the tentacle tugged it towards the edge of the lake.

“What are we gonna do without the Power Sword?!” Zack asked their leader.

“Improvise!” Jason stated firmly. “Cranial laser!”

Gesturing to its head horns with its fist, the savior of Angel’s Grove charged up its main projectile attack, then fired off multicolored bolts of energy from its three horns. As the blast collided with the surface of the lake, it erupted, sending huge geysers of water and clouds of steam high into the air. For a second, the tentacle stopped pulling, and the combiner stood there. The Rangers began to wonder if they’d managed to hit their target by sheer luck.

With one, strong yank, the black and yellow tentacle tugged the mighty machine clean off its feet and sent it sprawling forward into the lake. Tidal waves splashed in all directions as the machine breached the surface and began to sink into the depths.

* * * * *

“Ha-ha!” Rita cackled with glee as she continued watching the fight unfold through the RepulsaScope. “That overgrown tin can can’t do anything underwater! Those Rangers have had it!”

Standing alongside her, the witch’s minions cheered. “Oh, boy!” Squatt squealed excitedly as he and Baboo applauded. “Megazord is a goner!”

“At long last, the end of the Power Rangers is at hand!” Goldar declared, waving his sword triumphantly.

* * * * *

With a thud that shook the surrounding area, the Megazord hit the bottom of the lake, sending clouds of dirt and algae in every direction.

“What do we do now?” Trini asked, looking out through the Zord’s eyes at the water outside.

“First, let’s get the big guy on his feet!” Jason ordered.

Taking hold of their controls, the Rangers struggled to get the robot to respond, but finally the mech was able to get itself upright once again.

“And now let’s–” But Jason quickly found himself interrupted.

“Ahh, Rangers!”

A strange, hissing voice could be heard not too far from the Megazord’s location. Sending dirt and rocks in every direction, a tall, lanky, black and yellow monster rose up from the lake floor, its zipper-like mouth curled into a sinister grin.
“I’m so glad to see you’ve accepted my invitation! Unfortunately, by doing so you have sealed your own doom!”
By visually following the tentacle back to its source, the Rangers quickly realized it was in fact the monster’s extremely long tail.

“There’s Eleking!” Billy realized. “Maybe now we can finally get this tail off of us!”

“Right!” Jason responded.

Slowed down by the water, the Megazord took a single step towards Eleking.

“Not so fast!” The kaiju reprimanded them, spitting out a trio of Light Blades from his mouth, hitting the Zord hard and forcing it to stumble back as they exploded against its chest plate. “You’re not the ones in charge here, Rangers! I am!”

Charging forward, Eleking lowered his head and smashed it into the Zord’s gut, sparks bursting from its hull as the monster’s revolving antennae-like horns collided with the metal. As the Megazord staggered backwards, the electric eel kaiju continued his assault, smacking the giant robot with his powerful, mitten-like hands, causing the machine to dent and spark with each blow.

“Hopefully this’ll spark your interest!”

The lake monster taunted them as he focused his power into his lengthy tail, sending another devastating electrical surge through the limb and into the Ranger’s titan. The team was helpless as the monster sent millions of volts of electricity through their mechanical defender, arcing across its hull, sparks bursting from all around its body. Overwhelmed and badly damaged, the Zord combiner dropped, landing on its knees. Eleking let out a sinister laugh as he saw his opponent fall.

“You look all burnt out, Rangers. Maybe you should take a trip!”

Bracing the muscles in his tail, the alien monster turned around and lifted the Megazord from its knees and into the ‘air,’ twirling around and taking the robot with it. Finally unwrapping his tail and releasing his foe, the copy of the Pitt weapon sent the Zord careening through the water and watched as it crashed face first against the lake floor, once again sending dirt and algae everywhere.

“Jason! Systems are failing throughout the Megazord!”

“Shields are down!”

“We can’t move!”

Satisfied with his work, the aquatic monarch brushed his hands together, chuckling deviously as he approached the fallen Megazord.

“Well, Rangers, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid all good things must come to an– URK!”

Nanoseconds after catching a brief flash of silver in his peripheral vision, the clay kaiju grunted as a metal drill collided with his face, sparks bursting from the impact as the monster was knocked clean off his feet, spiraling down to the ground.

With a mighty roar, the Dragonzord struck a battle pose, ready to attack this electric enemy again. It wasn’t long before he received another chance, as the black and yellow monster rose back to his feet.

“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that, Green Ranger!” he snarled.
Gesturing with his hands, Eleking sent his tail hurtling towards the titanium titan, preparing to ensnare it just as he had the Megazord. But the Zord leaned to the side, allowing the limb to harmlessly shoot past it. With the tail avoided for the moment, the lost Zord held out his hands, his fingers tipped with red as he loaded a full round of Dragonzord Missiles. Before the enormous eel could react, the Zord locked on and fired, emptying his cannons. The projectiles made their way through the water in the blink of an eye, hitting their target and detonating against the monster’s speckled chest, knocking him onto his back.

“Jason! Systems are 75% rebooted!”

“We can move again!”

“Bringing weapons back online!”

Though its Pterodactyl chest plate was still noticeably burnt, the Megazord managed to get back on its feet, stabilizing just as the Dragonzord stepped up and stood beside it. The reptilian mech looked at his ally, nodding as he made sure the Zord seemed well enough to continue the fight. Just as the Megazord returned the gesture with a nod of its own, an aggravated growl got the duo’s attention.

“No, no, no!” The kaiju snarled, throwing his hands to his sides. “You two are ruining Rita’s plans! I was supposed to destroy the Megazord underwater and then Gomora and I would destroy the Dragonzord together!”

“Plans change!” Jason fired back.

The electric monster angrily clenched his fist as he glared at the pair of Zords. “Not if I destroy you both right here and now!” He screeched and held his arm out as he charged his opponents, ready to tear into them both.

Briefly, the two Zords glanced at each other, then nodded in understanding, turning to face the advancing Eleking together. Clenching their fists, the two machines pulled their arms back, and as soon as the aquatic beast was close enough, the Megazord and Dragonzord brought their arms forward hard, slamming their fists into his chest simultaneously. In a burst of sparks, the Pitt superweapon was sent careening backwards, flipping through the water before reaching the edge of the lake, flying out and crashing onto dry land, sending waves splashing everywhere.

Gomora was stunned to see his partner in crime be so violently thrown out of his own aquatic domain. “What are you doing?!” he demanded. “You were supposed to get rid of the Megazord!”

“I KNOW.” The copied bioweapon snarled as he woozily pulled himself up and onto his feet.

Water pouring from their metallic hulls, the Zords emerged from the lake, stepping foot onto dry land once again. As the robotic drake let out a challenging roar, the two machines struck a battle pose, ready to fight.

“Alright, Rangers!” Jason said, making sure all systems were operational as he grabbed the controls. “Let’s send these lizards back to the Stone Age!”

“You may have handled us one on one, but now you’ve gotta deal with us both together!” The Monster Prince snarled before he and Eleking charged the two Zords.

The two pairs of titans collided, coming together and clashing for the fate of mankind. The lake monster spun around, sending his tail hurtling towards the combined Zord, but this time the machine managed to lash out and grab the limb from mid-air, tossing it aside and causing the black and yellow monster to stumble from the momentum. The burrowing beast lowered his head and rammed his horns into the Dragonzord’s chest plate. Despite the sparks that flew, the Zord held his ground, reaching out and grabbing hold of the monster’s crescent-shaped horns. After a brief grapple, the legendary mecha managed to toss the reptile to the side, sending him crashing to the ground. As the two reanimated kaiju got back to their feet, they regrouped, standing beside one another.

“You Rangers are a real blast!” Gomora snarked, firing off a surge of his Super Oscillatory Wave just as his ally unleashed a Discharge Ray from his zipper mouth.

The two blasts hit hard, exploding against the Megazord and Dragonzord, causing them to stagger back. But the Zords recovered quickly and returned fire with projectiles of their own. With a quick gesture from its right hand, the Megazord charged and fired its cranial laser, while at the same time, with a quick tune from the Dragon Dagger, the Dragonzord loaded and launched another volley of its Dragonzord Missiles. The blasts exploded all around Gomora and Eleking, causing them to jump in place.

“Buh-bye!” Gomora said suddenly, tearing into the soil and quickly disappearing into the ground.

“Hey!” Eleking cried, realizing his partner had disappeared on him.

Looking up from the crater where the royal kaiju had disappeared to the approaching Zords, the space monster realized he was on his own.

“You two stay right there!” he hissed, spitting out a duo of Light Discs which exploded against the two machines. Spinning around, he lashed out with his tail, the long limb knocking the pair of robotic defenders back a few steps.

Just then, the ground beneath the Zords’ feet began to shake. Dirt exploded high into the air as Gomora erupted from underneath, his claws tearing into the Megazord in a burst of sparks, sending the mighty machine toppling to the ground.

“Ha-ha! Surprise!” The kaiju cackled through his beaked mouth. “And as for you, Green–”

But the monster’s threat was cut off as the ancient Dinozord spun around, attacking with his own tail. The horned kaiju ducked, just barely dodging the blow, and charged forward, slashing the Dragonzord with his claws. The metal dragon retaliated quickly though, grabbing his foe by his snout horn, then kicking the monster’s leg with his large, heavy foot, sending his foe crashing to the ground. Rolling away, the ancient monster put enough distance between him and the pursuing mecha before getting back to his feet.

“Nice try!”

Crimson energy crackled over curved horns as the prehistoric beast unleashed another Super Oscillatory Wave at the Zord. The wave hit home, exploding against the Zord and sending it staggering back.

“Eleking!” Gomora said suddenly. “Do it!”

In a flash, the impossibly long tail was soaring through the air, and before either Tommy or his Zord could react, it wrapped around the Dragonzord, holding it tight. With his tail gripping his foe, the monster’s zipper-like mouth twisted into an evil grin.

“Hopefully this doesn’t come as a shock to you!”

The eel monster laughed, before sending millions of volts of electricity surging through his tail and into the Dragonzord. The Zord cried out as the voltage assaulted his form, sparks erupting from his hull, smoke rising into the air. After a moment, the electric kaiju cut off the power in his tail to see the damage he’d wrought. With a weak cry, the mecha Zord collapsed to his knees, his hull still smoking. But despite the damage inflicted, he still moved, trying to break free from the constricting tail.

“Hey, Eleking!” The saurian said, watching as the machine struggled. “This Zord’s still got some fight left in ‘im!”

“Well, then, let’s extinguish it, shall we?” The alien monster cackled, building up another devastating electrical charge to release through his tail. “And a one, and a two, and a– AACK!”

With a burst of sparks and blood, Eleking’s once deadly tail suddenly found itself violently severed, sending the aquatic monster crashing to the ground. Having completed its downward swing, the Megazord raised its Power Sword and prepared it for another attack, its silver blade stained with Pitt blood. Looking to the Dragonzord, the mecha knight took hold of the now slack tail and pulled it off in a single motion, freeing its ally. With a grateful nod, the drake managed to rise to his feet.

“My beautiful tail!” The invader squealed, reaching back and grabbing at what was left of his fifth limb. Growling angrily, he rose to his feet, just as Gomora took his place beside his partner.

“You miserable Rangers!” The burrower said, charging his Super Oscillatory Wave. “Take this!”

He fired his blast, but seconds before it hit its target, the Megazord suddenly held its left hand up. In a brief shimmering light, the head of the Mastodon Dinozord – now the Mammoth Shield – appeared in the Zord’s hand. The shield blocked the oscillatory wave and immediately sent it back, exploding against the dinosaur’s chest. Though taken aback by the tactic, the reptile wasn’t down, and he quickly spun around, striking the Mammoth Shield with his whip-like tail and knocking it out of the Megazord’s hand, sending it to the ground. Before either Zord could react, the bioweapon stepped forward, firing a powerful Discharge Ray, sending both heroic machines stumbling backwards in a burst of fire and sparks.

“Enough is enough!” Jason said angrily. “We need Mega Dragonzord Power!”

At the Red Ranger’s command, both Zords nodded and leapt into the sky. Splitting open down the middle, the Dragonzord reconfigured himself, abandoning his chest plate and tail. Leaping up into the now open Dragonzord, the Megazord fit within, turning its fellow machine into extra armor. Fully combined, the Mega Dragonzord fell back to earth and landed on its feet, the power of all six Zords now surging through its circuits.

“Uh-oh!” Eleking said.

“Get them!” Gomora roared.

Together, the two monsters fired off their energy blasts at the combined machine, but the Mega Dragonzord didn’t even react to their attacks, simply wading through the resulting explosions as if they weren’t even there.

“Uh, can we talk about this?” Gomora tried.

“Jason, Mega Dragonzord at full power!” Billy reported.

Jason nodded. “Right!”

As one, all five Rangers declared “Mega Dragonzord, lock on and fire!”

Standing firm, the ultimate weapon brought its fists together and began channeling its energy into one focused point in front of it. Soon, an enormous shimmering orb of energy with a large ‘Z’ on it was formed. As soon as it was ready, the Zord sent it hurtling forward at its two opponents. Before either monster could react, the Empire Attack hit hard. A wall of white, blinding energy rushed up from the ground, shredding through both their forms, vaporizing them completely before one final explosion took care of whatever was left.

Its attack over and its enemies gone, the Mega Dragonzord calmly lowered its arms to its sides.

“Good job, team!” Jason said, turning and congratulating the other Rangers.

In a column of green light, the Green Ranger teleported into the Zord’s cockpit. “Hey, guys, I hate to cut the celebration short, but…” With that, he turned to Kimberly. “Shall we get going? The movie’s going to start soon,” he reminded her.

“Oh, man! Blood Rippers!” Kimberly realized. “Stupid Rita! Yeah, let’s go! Later, guys!”

As the other Rangers laughed at their friends’ panic, Tommy and Kimberly teleported away in beams of green and pink.

* * * * *

“NO! Not again!” Rita cried, her hand clutching her temple as she could already feel another headache coming on. “Finster! You said these kaiju were going to make mince meat out of the Rangers!”

Her chief monster maker jumped, clearly nervous. “B-bu-but, m-my queen, it’s never a sure thing!” he tried to tell her. “W-we can never be absolutely certain if–”

“SHUT UP!”

“Sh-shutting up…”

“Don’t you worry, my queen,” Goldar said, crossing his arms. “The next time we meet the Power Rangers on the field of battle, they will be made to pay!”

* * * * *

“Aye-yi-yi, Zordon, that was a close one,” Alpha 5 said as he went over the battle in the Command Center’s databanks, scouring the footage for any information that may prove useful in the future. “Gomora and Eleking were almost too much for the Dino Zords!”

“Worry not, Alpha,” Zordon reassured his mechanical friend. “The Rangers had this battle well in hand. After all, they still had yet to call upon Titanus for Ultrazord Power. However, Rita’s decision to turn to Earth’s history of giant monsters for inspiration for her own creations is indeed a troubling turn of events. As tough as they were, Gomora and Eleking were nowhere near the most powerful kaiju the planet has seen in the past.”

“You think she’ll start using more kaiju from now on, Zordon?” Alpha asked the sage.

“I think it would be unwise to assume otherwise,” the wizard responded. “Once Rita finds a new toy to play with, she’s not the type to let it go so soon. I think this was only her first attempt out of many to use Earth’s own monsters against the Rangers.”

“Oh, aye-yi-yi-yi-yi…”

Winner: Megazord, Dragonzord

Author: Joshua Strittmatter | Banner: Vincent Rodger

30,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean; May 21, 2021.

The incessant humming of the private jet only barely drowned out the constant tapping of anxious shoes against the floor. Emma Russell could hardly contain herself, her cerulean eyes glued to the window while her brain swam in an ocean of thoughts.

This was huge. The chief paleobiologist couldn’t stop shaking, much less find any way to stifle her heartbeat no matter how comfortable she tried to make herself. Sitting here, staring out that window, all the while taking one or two glances at what she held carefully in her arms- this routine was killing her, and there were still hours on end before she reached her intended destination. Hours more of this same mind-numbing routine that threatened to make her head explode. Emma internally roared with excitement as she currently set to glancing down at the ocean, a bead of sweat beginning to birth on her forehead.

There was no time to wait like this: what she held in her hands was a discovery of a lifetime, one that was gonna set Monarch on fire when it was revealed. And she herself couldn’t wait to look it over.

Emma eventually drifted her eyes away from the window, focusing instead on the image crafted on the ancient parchment she held in her hands, and from the moment she laid eyes on it she felt a mythic sense of awe and power that had persisted for the thousands of years of its existence. An image that told a legendary tale of an epic showdown of biblical proportions. A tale to stun the mind. Fantastic beyond comprehension, gripping beyond compare.

Astounding beyond belief.

Emma Russell closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking just ten seconds to blot out her mind and soothe the stress tormenting her nerves. Focusing only on her heartbeat and nothing more…

And then opening them, thus subjecting her gaze back to the ancient portrait depicting a colossal battle between an old enemy and a familiar- yet different- saurian face.

*****

79 A.D.

Mount Vesuvius roared as pillars of ash continued to spew from her caldera, spurts of glowing lava occasionally visible through the colossal columns of superheated clouds. Beneath the angry mountain lay an ashen, lifeless wasteland that was once the great cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum- now the tomb of thousands of innocent lives who hadn’t been able to escape in time. Countless men, women and children who once all led separate, distinct lives were now destined to be one with the cities themselves for nearly two thousand years to come.

One day, and everyone was merely going about their daily lives- and in just two days’ time, this was all that remained.

The sky was alive with gaseous fury, as if hailing the arrival of the underworld itself. The earth’s crust shook with the mountain’s rage, a phenomenon that was felt even from the few boats that had made it to the sea. Thunderous boom after thunderous boom Vesuvius expelled her anger to the world, seemingly unsatisfied with the deaths of thousands at her wrath. It was a most dreadful sight for the very few survivors who watched from the boats, their hearts aching from the losses of family and loved ones. Standing together on the decks, they watched mournfully as they bid a silent farewell to their homeland and all those who once thrived there, a home that had forever vanished in pillars of fire and ash.

Earthquakes continued to tear through the earth’s crust, shifting it in an unseen clash of two subterranean forces that would serve to reshape the area, destroying old land while birthing anew. The tremors reverberated through the region of Campania for miles; two destructive natural disasters at once felt by all who dwelt on the surface- and underground.

A combination that triggered a consequence… a reaction.

From the far other side of the mountain, a completely new sound howled from the bowels of the earth. The survivors on the ships stilled, their eyes wide as oranges. From the bottom slope of Vesuvius a massive fissure cracked like a demonic egg, and a bellowing grumble thundered from the depths of the underworld. Before the speechless survivors could comprehend what horrible aberration of nature could have produced such an echo, the fissure suddenly exploded in a spray of rock and debris. From within the cloud of ash, two crimson lights flashed to existence, glaring menacingly as the entity within began to rise from the depths with a malevolent growl.

An ancient colossus of pointed dorsal spires and shining gray armor pulled itself from the ashen veil with a booming howl; holding itself up on two gigantic, muscular yellow arms and oversized curved claws. Insectoid mandibles parted to reveal a mighty jaw that roared with enough volume to tremble the sea. The onlookers cried in terror at the sight, for a most fearsome god had come to visit them in their time of great sorrow.

It was the Unclean Thing, the Earthquake Beetle, the Dragon Insect…

Jinshin-Mushi!

The prehistoric predator clicked her mandibles as she turned her head towards the sea, her seemingly soulless eyes spotting the wooden constructs that waved and tilted on the surface at a fair distance away from the shore, and the tiny hairless mammals that adorned them. In any other circumstances, the giant would’ve simply ignored such diminutive animals- they were but insects to her, subjects near-entirely beneath her notice with nothing to offer. No sources of radiation, nothing.

But today, her attitude was different. The raging quakes and the volcano’s fury had disturbed Jinshin-Mushi from a peaceful slumber, and now she was in a bad mood. At this point she didn’t care about what sustenance the little creatures lacked. Now, she just wanted something to vent her frustrations out on, and these primates and their constructs would suit her just fine. Uttering an elephantine growl, the mammoth beast lumbered towards the shore, glowing eyes dead set on the ocean-going transports.

Screams of terror began to intensify as Jinshin-Mushi stepped into the water, beginning to pick up her pace. But her stampede was short-lived, for fate had other plans for the legendary Titan.

A few hundred meters to her right, a frothing wave began to trail towards the knuckle-walking giant, catching her attention. Beneath the water, Jinshin-Mushi could make out flashes of light outlining a streamlined shape stalking towards her, and she froze. That shape looked VERY familiar. Her mandibles clattered, her eyes glinting with fury. Her claws curled in anticipation as she awaited the arrival of her ancient enemy.

A spray of water burst into the sky, disgorging a Titan that stood to equal size to Jinshin-Mushi with a screeching roar. Gray scales older than the human race itself dripped with rivers of seawater; ivory plates shaped like misshapen maple leaves clattered with glowing light; fiery eyes narrowed with an aggressive stare that met the scarlet visors of Jinshin-Mushi without fear. The beast’s powerful tail reared up before slamming back into the water to demonstrate its strength, before he threw his arms up in the air and drowned out the boom of the raging mountain with another mighty roar.

Jinshin-Mushi wasn’t the only Titan that the mountain’s eruption had awoken.

Spectators gasped in awe, a sense of familiarity washing over their minds. Yet another great monster from ancient legend had come to the surface- it was the worst possibility of all! Jinshin-Mushi had awoken; and now Gigantis, the Fire Monster, had also been roused!

But to the survivors’ surprise, the saurian paid them no mind whatsoever. For whatever reason, he was focused solely on the great Jinshin-Mushi. Like a golden eagle eying its prey, the giant sea dragon locked eyes with his adversary as he took a step to the side, thus the two great beasts began to circle one another like gladiator combatants. Growling and snarling, shaking their heads and posturing with their arms, the monsters never broke off their staring contest as they sized each other up.

Jinshin-Mushi glared molten daggers at the fanged biped who so closely resembled her ancient rival. She didn’t care that this beast was not the alpha predator she had been expecting. It was an intruder upon her residence that she deemed unwelcome, and she would respond to it just the same. Furthermore, it would prove to be far more satisfying to vent her temper out on than the diminutive mammals offshore.

Gigantis snarled ferally as he found himself standing on the shoreline, still slowly circling the nuclear predator. The smell of ash and decaying air polluted his nostrils, making his upper lip curl. It reminded him of the day the world he was born in ended, the day when the age of giant reptiles came to a fiery end, at the hands of… something he refused to think about right now. He need not dwell on the past- he needed to focus on the here and now. He was faced with a formidable hunter, and needed to hold his guard up at all times.

An earth-rattling bellow ripped from Gigantis’ maw, tempting Jinshin-Mushi to make a move already.

With an equally loud roar, the Earthquake Beetle suddenly burst from the water towards Gigantis, answering his challenge. Caught off guard, Gigantis held his hands up to brace as Jinshin-Mushi rammed her full upper body strength into him like an arthropodal sumo wrestler. Even with his palms planted into her shoulders, Gigantis had to put every ounce of his strength into his legs to prevent himself from toppling over from the force of the blow. But the moment his skidding came to a stop, both monsters suddenly lunged close-range at one another.

The ashen sky rattled repeatedly with the thunder of beastly roars and snarls as the legendary life forms engaged in a colossal close-quarters combat. Locked together, they howled, clawed and snapped at one another; engaged in a supersized sumo-wrestling match that birthed the biggest waves, trembled the mountain, and shook the earth. Why the two colossi hated each other so, the onlookers knew not. But whatever the cause, they were certainly glad to be out of the line of fire for now. For the time being, the sailors did their best to keep the ships in the safest positions possible, facing them to brave the waves most efficiently while the Titans clashed.

Jinshin-Mushi suddenly snapped her head up, knocking Gigantis from under the chin and sending him falling backwards with a mighty SPLASH! Seizing the opportunity, Jinshin-Mushi pounced like a panther, and for a moment the two goliaths vanished beneath a torrent of waves.

Bubbles frothed from the Unclean Thing’s roaring jaws as she reared her right arm back, which then flew forward to slam Gigantis in the chest with a powerful punch. Even with the water density slowing the speed of the attack, it was still a powerful blow that sent the mythic sea dragon smashing against the shallows. A deep-toned groan escaped Gigantis’ throat as he recovered from the hit, regaining the air that had been temporarily knocked out of him. Luckily for him, he was a creature that thrived in the sea. He need not worry about drowning- his amphibious lungs saw to that.

Bellowing loud enough to make the surface of the sea itself vibrate for miles, Jinshin-Mushi propelled herself forward as she prepared to land another punch- and her eyes widened in surprise when Gigantis’ clawed hands slammed against the offending limb, stopping her in her tracks. Roaring his defiance, the prehistoric behemoth pushed off the floor with a swish of his mighty tail, slamming back into Jinshin-Mushi and sending both monsters bursting out of the sea.

The Kaiju grappled, Gigantis grasping Jinshin-Mushi’s massive golden arms, which in of themselves grasped him by the shoulders with their oversized claws. As if that didn’t put him on the ropes enough, the Dragon Insect’s smaller chest arms poked and slashed at his chest, trying their hardest to get as a firm a grip as the larger appendages did.

Gigantis repetitively snapped his jaws in an attempt to grab his opponent by the face, but he was too far a stance away. Jinshin-Mushi would’ve grinned if she could. Before the Cretaceous beast could go any further, the knuckle-walking goliath turned her body around and nigh-effortlessly threw him straight into the shoreline, his back slamming hard against the earth in a burst of debris. The Earthquake Beetle charged at her immobilized foe, swinging her right fist and clocking the prehistoric reptile across the face. Gigantis was seeing triple of everything as his head lolled about, blinking multiple times in an attempt to snap his eyesight back to normal. Growling, he managed to position his neck so that he was facing his enemy- and even with his troubled vision, he didn’t like what he saw next.

Four lengthy appendages had slid out of Jinshin-Mushi’s chin, thin as threads and glowing orange with an arrowhead tip at the end of each one. Coiling like demonic serpents those tentacles, and encircling him as they pointed towards his torso-

-before Jinshin-Mushi screamed an elephantine cry when a spray of radioactive flames burned into her face. As the beetle-like brute stumbled back, Gigantis fired off a second atomic heat ray that scorched off two of the writhing tentacles, sending them falling into the water. The Unclean Thing howled in misery as she watched half of her egg-laying appendages vanish beneath the water, then turned on the recovered reptile, crimson eyes aglow with rage.

Gigantis spat his radioactive flames yet again, burning a horrific blister into Jinshin-Mushi’s chest and forcing her back. Taking advantage of her dilemma, the oceanic dinosaur rushed her on the spot. The smell of her cooked flesh fueling his killer instinct, Gigantis tackled his rival off her feet, plunging his fangs into her shoulder and cracking her armored skin. Rivers of radioactive blood flowed through his teeth, and the feral urge to kill inflamed his mind.

Jinshin-Mushi hollered as she tried hacking away at Gigantis’ chest with her chest arms, but Gigantis only shook his head from side to side like a rabid fox in response, all the while he continued pushing her back with his hands.

So Jinshin-Mushi improvised.

A thunderous growl rumbled from the pit of her stomach as she looked Gigantis in the eye, her eyes seeming to spark with red electricity. The dinosaur temporarily ceased his attack, the occurance having caught his attention.

A big mistake.

Her jaws snapping open, the predatory destroyer didn’t hold back, and a concussive burst of pure sound roared from her throat point-blank in Gigantis’ chest. The sound waves rippled through the dinosaur’s body like the shockwaves of a bomb, breaking his eardrums and shattering his dorsal spines within seconds. As glowing blue smoke poured from his damaged back, Gigantis stumbled back with an agonized roar that drowned out the erupting Mount Vesuvius and threatened to part the ashen clouds that obscured the heavens. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have time to fight the excruciating pain- Jinshin-Mushi was on him like a leopard tackling an antelope. Lunging forward like a predatory bird, the mammoth killer snapped her jaws down on his neck as she tackled him to the ground, his colossal form half-underwater. Splashing and thrashing about in the waves, the Fire Monster bellowed painfully as he slashed away at his captor with his claws, but they did little to deter the angry beast.

Gigantis snarled and snapped in vain as he tried to clamp his fangs on Jinshin-Mushi’s neck, but the Earthquake Beetle held him down too tightly for him to reach very far. She bit down harder, her pointed beak beginning to dig against his neck vertebrae as blood pooled into the sea. Jinshin-Mushi growled contently, for she had Gigantis right where she wanted him. Now, she was pondering over what she should do with him when she was finished with him. She could sense the delicious radiation coursing through his dorsal region, and would make a delightful source of nutrition for her unborn young. However, she couldn’t tell whether or not this animal possessed the same nuclear-rich hemoglobin as that of a certain other Titan. Thus, he might not make as effective of a host as she initially thought.

But there was another option that tempted the legendary killer- to feast on his flesh herself. If his entire body didn’t offer her radioactive sustenance, then she could at least make do with the protein his meat would provide. It would make for a good meal to further her survival for the next hibernation period.

Unfortunately for her, Gigantis, crippled as he was, still had more tricks to play. He was only down, not out.

Curling his right hand into a fist, Gigantis began to punch the side of Jinshin-Mushi’s face repeatedly with thunderous claps. The first few hits she took like a champ; the next began to wear on her skull. The seventh and eighth began to make her dizzy; the ninth and tenth threatened to give her a concussion. The eleventh finally sent her reeling back, before a kick to her throat knocked her away and thus allowed Gigantis to return to his feet.

His eyes widened with an insatiable thirst, the atomic dragon howled and charged at his adversary. But even though she herself was grounded, Jinshin-Mushi was still a formidable foe. With a swing of her arm, the mammoth nucleovore swept the aquatic reptile from under his feet and sent him crashing beneath the water. But as she returned to her feet, the prehistoric parasite saw the Fire Monster’s crocodilian tail dipping into the waves with a splash, gone from sight. Her eyes glowing with anger, the Titan killer bellowed at her vanished opponent, daring him to show himself and fight like a man.

When Jinshin-Mushi began to detect movement from her left, her eyes flashed to life and another supersonic roar thundered from her lungs, rippling the sea where it touched. She kept it going for a full twenty seconds as she judged exactly where the undersea reptile must have been, making sure her weapon did its job.

Seconds began to pass, and no further movement presented itself. The raging waves began to lessen, the Unclean Thing chittered in anticipation as she waited for the outcome of her actions to present itself. The mountain continued to rage in the background, thus giving Jinshin-Mushi an all the more imposing feel to the distant survivors.

Gigantis burst from the water with a howling screech, looking no worse for wear but still alive nonetheless. Like a crocodile, the dinosaur latched onto his stunned adversary and knocked her clear off her feet for the third time. Jinshin-Mushi snapped viciously at his neck, but was punished gravely for it when she got a face-full of atomic napalm instead.

Quick as a scorpion’s tail, the abominable beast’s two remaining ovipositors lashed out from her chin, primed and ready to pierce Gigantis’ scaly flesh- but once again, the Fire Monster was faster. Swinging his right arm, the saurian caught both tentacles with one hand before yanking down with all his strength, pulling the remaining appendages right off as Jinshin-Mushi wailed in grief. Without granting his enemy a moment to recover, Gigantis didn’t waste a second and plunged his teeth deep into the parasite’s neck. Holding his palms against the base of her arms, the radioactive dinosaur assured his grip as he prepared to pull the first of many feats that would shock the world.

Straining his muscles like a heavyweight lifter, the saurian giant lifted the entire multi-limbed colossus that was Jinshin-Mushi clear over his head, all the while a burst of superheated ash spewed from Vesuvius’ caldera as if to add to the incredible sight.

And then, with a mighty heave, he threw her.

Slamming into the shoreline with a quake so great it triggered yet another burst of ash and magma from the mouth of the volcano, Jinshin-Mushi roared as she found herself floored yet again. Panting to regain her breath, the massive unidentified terrestrial organism struggled to get back to her feet, but the fates were no longer on her side.

Gigantis had closed the gap between them in seconds. His steaming back sparking to life, the wounded saurian fired forth his radioactive beam once again, keeping it going for a full ten seconds as Jinshin-Mushi screamed in loss. But that wasn’t the only attack he had in mind. Gigantis bent down and charged like an enraged bison- just as Jinshin-Mushi’s eyes began to spark with radioactive light yet again, heralding the discharge of her trump card.

Sonic waves exploded from her mouth to catch Gigantis mid-run once again- but with determination that nearly made Jinshin-Mushi question life itself, the giant reptile muscled through it and continued his charge.

Had her eyes been the same as most reptiles and mammals, Jinshin-Mushi’s would’ve been as wide as supersized pizzas as Gigantis slammed into her, tackling her back to the ground and cutting off her sonic roar. Before the Earthquake Beetle could retaliate, Gigantis lifted her up and plunged his fangs into her neck in squirts of blood. Like a starving wolf, the dinosaur shook his head from side to side, carving the most horrific lacerations into her neck, all the while holding her by the head and shoulder with his clawed hands. Neither her defiant struggles nor her ebony armor did much to stifle his savage attack, and a literal waterfall of radioactive lifeblood continued to fall upon the ashen earth as Gigantis mauled her throat.

The legendary Titan tried to stay awake, but with the loss of so much blood her muscles did not possess the strength to fight back in such a way. Fainter and fainter her struggles became, and Gigantis’ jagged incisors and pointed fangs continued to rip and tear bleeding trenches in her flesh with every shake of his head.

Even after her head finally lolled weakly and the once proud glow in her crimson eyes began to fade, Gigantis did not stop. He wanted to make absolutely certain that this foe would make no surprise attacks again- she was too powerful a foe for him to take any chances.

Only when his fangs felt a horrid crack of slashing straight out of her neck did Gigantis finally heave with his muscles, casting the dying giant into the shallows of the bay. A loud crackle reverberated through the land as Gigantis’ back glowed with radioactive power, before the saurian discharged a final blast of his atomic fire.

Bathing the carcass in superheated fury, Gigantis unloaded all his firepower onto his fallen opponent. The water itself igniting from the heat ray, the Earthquake Beetle had no defense as her body burst into flames. The snow-white fires rose as tall as Gigantis himself, crackling loudly as they seared the arthropodal behemoth’s body charred black within minutes; and a final rumble escaped her jaws as the once great Jinshin-Mushi perished beneath a brilliant firestorm.

His upper lip curling into a toothy sneer, Gigantis narrowed his eyes as he let the pride of victory flow through his blood. Rearing his head to the sky, he let loose a powerful bellow of unquestionable triumph.

It was then that the Fire Monster turned his reptilian eyes towards the boats.

With booming footfalls, the saurian biped began his march towards the wooden constructs. At once, the awestruck onlookers fell to their knees at the sight of the approaching monster, their hands clasped in prayer as they prepared for the worst. Larger and larger the beast became as he neared, their nerves swelling with a primal fear the closer he got.

A reverberating boom rocked the ships as Gigantis finally came to a halt, and the humans lifted their slack-jawed faces skyward. Only now did they get the full impression of just how tall he was, and even in his battle-damaged state, he was still a magnificent sight to behold. Clutching her daughter tightly to her, a young woman trembled visibly as she looked up into the sea dragon’s eyes.

And he just stared right back.

Looking into the fiery eyes of the saurian colossus was like looking into a veil, a veil that stretched across the ropes of time itself. Nothing could be seen, and yet at the same time so much could. Within those round pupils lay legions upon legions of history, so much and so long that it was incomprehensible. Never before could any one of them have guessed that such a monster could have such complexity, could tell an entire eons-old story with just the blink of an eye.

Gigantis bent down, so low his snout was mere inches from the boat; his human-sized eyes now mere meters away from his mammalian audience. In that moment, man and monster shared a connection, the likes of which had never been seen before. The look in Gigantis’ eyes was not one of animalistic fury, not the killer look he had displayed during his bloody conflict with the Titan Jinshin-Mushi. Instead, the Fire Monster stared at the tiny primates with what looked to be great interest.

As if he wanted to know more about them.

The young woman stood up; her trembling having stopped. Slowly, her hand trailed off her daughter, who also stood with her. Together, they both walked towards the edge of the boat, right in front of the giant reptile. Gigantis’ gaze moved to them, squinting a bit as he made way to inspect them. Staggered beyond description, the pair watched the look in Gigantis’ eyes shift as he stared at them, displaying intellect and sentiment in ways they could’ve never imagined such a creature capable of, all with his eyes alone. It was a truly amazing moment, one that none of them would ever forget.

And then, with a bass grunt, Gigantis reared back to his feet. Taking one last look at the wooden vessels, the prehistoric beast issued a final roar before diving into the water, his massive tail disappearing beneath the sea with a massive splash. And just like that, he was gone.

The survivors all stood up, astonished by what they had just experienced all in one day. But as they contemplated it all, the distant boom of an angry mountain drew back their attention.

They mustn’t stay here.

Bowing their heads in sorrow, the former residents bid their buried homeland a final, silent farewell as the main sailors of the boats finally made way to resume their task of taking to the sea, as far away from this land as possible. They didn’t know where life would take them from here on, where they would make home next. They didn’t even know if their homeland would ever be remembered from this day.

But they would forever remain thankful for the events that had transpired in what could have been their last moments. They would forever remain thankful for the intervention of Gigantis, the Fire Monster; the one who had saved them in a time of great tragedy.

The ships swam onward. It was time to look for a new home.

*****

Present Day. Bikini Atoll, Monarch Outpost 54.

The gathered audience gasped as Emma Russell stepped back, letting them take in the sight that she displayed on the projector screen in front of them. Whispers began to circulate through the crowd as they stared at the contents of her findings; among them, the paleobiologist could make out a familiar name. One that was spoken many a time, a name attributed to the reptilian goliath that this organization was built to study, the goliath that appeared on a still image not too far away, the goliath that this very facility was built to study on his home turf.

A name that was now directed to a similar-looking beast that appeared on Russell’s discovered illustration.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as all of you are aware,” Emma began, stepping up to the forefront, “when this division digs deep in studying this planet’s rightful rulers, it is often that we find ourselves face to face with two inevitable matters: myth and science.” She paused for a moment, looking over the numerous faces that watched her intently, before continuing. “When we all sit down to hear a story intertwined with our work, myth tells us one story. History tells another.” Another pause, before she then added:

“But every now and then, Monarch happens upon a discovery in which we sit down and are told a story on both fronts. And better yet,” she motioned to the image, “sometimes, we’re told a story that intertwines with another in some capacity.”

“This image- one of a few- was crafted between 79 and 80 A.D. At the same time that Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii and Herculaneum under thousands of tons of cinder and ash, and wiped out thousands of Roman citizens in what is documented as one of the first recorded major volcanic eruptions in human history.” The crowd all murmured amongst themselves, sharing their familiarity with the bygone eruption and the incredible legacy it left behind.

Emma continued, “Even today, scientists struggle to figure out the number of people who survived, how they survived, and where they went after their homeland was destroyed. But, with the discovery of these images, we have a new picture painted out for us on not only how the few survivors fled their dying home, but what happened during their escape.” She pressed a button on her laptop, and yet another image of two giants battling on a fiery, volcanic background slid into frame. “As you can all see here, we have not one, but two familiar faces.”

Across from her, Sam Coleman nodded in the direction of one of the beasts. “MUTO Prime,” he spoke quietly. Emma nodded in reply. “Yes,” she replied, “MUTO Prime. However,” she gave yet another brief pause, “it is not MUTO Prime that caught our interest in this illustration. Rather: The Titan that MUTO Prime is locked in battle with.”

It was then that Rick Stanton spoke up, and like everyone else mere moments before, uttered that same name once again.

“Godzilla.”

Emma raised her eyebrow. “Yes… but not our Godzilla.”

She pressed another tab, and this time, two images appeared side by side. One was another of the illustrations… but the other was an entirely different picture overall. One that had not been sculpted by the hand- but snapped in time by primitive technology. A black-and-white still of a dinosaurian biped that, while similar to the one they knew, was also very different.

A beast that looked not only vastly similar, but near-exactly identical to the monster in the portrait beside it.

“But the question is: Which Godzilla?” When nobody spoke, only stared at the screen in what looked to be a mix of fascination and visible discomfort, Emma went on.

“As all of you know, there has been more than one Godzilla,” Emma stated. “And while the creature in this illustration bears a resemblance to Monarch’s Godzilla, the image was sketched in a level of detail in which we can discern several notable differences.” She pointed to the portrait. “But while they are differences to one Godzilla, they are similarities to another.”

Another pause. Focused silence followed in its wake.

“The face… the ears… the dorsal plates… the arms… they look almost completely identical,” She pointed out the features, before then motioning to the photograph beside the portrait. “It’s entirely possible that we may have recovered the first historical record of the 1954 Godzilla.”

“Whether or not the Titan is question- this ‘Gigantis’ as they referred to it- really is the original Godzilla, or another member of the same species is still unknown, and it is unlikely that question will be answered any time soon. But this much is known…” Emma addressed. “In 1954, on a pleasure craft overlooking the surface of Tokyo Bay, paleontologist Kyohei Yamane- alongside several Japanese civilians, scientists and government officials- watched the original Godzilla perish under the power of Daisuke Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer. But even after the crisis came to an end, the professor expressed his final opinion of the matter. One we all do well to remember to this day…”

“…that the original Godzilla was not the last of his species,” Doctor Ilene Chen finished for her.

“Correct,” Emma replied. “And a year after the first Godzilla’s attack, he was proven right.” Another tab she pressed, and the projector displayed yet another black-and-white image of a similar beast, locked in battle with a spiky quadrupedal dinosaur. Emma didn’t need to explain the photograph- everyone knew its story.

“The more pieces Monarch uncovers, the more stories we unveil, the more legend intertwines with history… the bigger this world becomes,” she stated. “This finding is just another piece to add to a puzzle as old as the earth itself; a puzzle that is always expanding, always turning out to be far bigger than we could’ve ever imagined it to be.” Emma turned back to her audience. “Have we uncovered the first chapter in the original Godzilla’s story? Or have we merely discovered the beginning of that of another?” She stood for a moment, letting her spectators take in everything she had just stated, the questions she had proposed. Then, when she decided it was right, she spoke.

“To quote the late Professor Yamane: there are footprints thought to belong to some kind of ‘snowman’ found in the Himalayas, and that mystery has yet to be solved. Furthermore, there are sealed cavities deep in the ocean.”

She smiled.

“Who knows what secrets they conceal?”

*****

Monsterland.

Thick mist drifted through the jungles of the island, carrying with it the echoes of the chirps of birds. Frogs croaked their distinctive squeaks, alongside the numerous noises of countless insects. Hundreds of unique songs spoke their respective languages into the foggy air; some were calls for a partner, a mate to start a family and thus pass on their genetics to a new generation that would continue the species. Some were communicative calls, one individual engaging in indiscernible conversation to others over a long distance. All were a part of the island’s natural exotic ambience.

An ambience that was soon drowned out by a familiar screech.

Great or small, the screech silenced all across the island in a matter of a second, reminding them of their place. Not so much as three seconds passed after the roar ended before another took its place, still distant but just as powerful. Like the roar of a great lion carrying across the African savannah, the bellow repeated time and time again, letting all who listened know of its owner’s power and place on the island. The island’s ruler had awoken.

Standing atop the tallest peak, high enough to overlook the entire fog-covered island, Godzilla raised his arms into the air as he roared yet again. Aside from the usual morning posture to assert his dominance over the island, the King of the Monsters had spent a great deal of time in deep thought. Even now, as he screamed his mighty cry to the island once more, his brain drifted with contemplation. Many a time Godzilla had spent thinking back on history. And every time, he found himself at exactly the same end: his right as king.

Throughout his millions of years of life, Godzilla had seen many things. Gone by many names. Waged many battles. Fought many foes. Anguirus, King Kong, Hedorah, Mothra, Rodan, Ebirah, Gigan, MechaGodzilla, the dreaded King Ghidorah, Jinshin-Mushi…

Godzilla snorted at that last one. The golden-armed beast that he had fought at the edge of an angry mountain, saving a small group of humans in the process. The Titan that had shattered his dorsal spines with a sonic roar, a process that had taken days to heal due to him not having his healing factor back then. Back when his heat ray was nowhere near as powerful as it was today, back before he was exposed to mankind’s nuclear arrogance, before his perspective on the human race changed for the worse- only to rekindle that connection upon witnessing the courageous selflessness of a certain moth goddess.

Back before the world crowned him king.

Godzilla grunted with pride as he pushed the memory aside. Such a long time ago that had been. How drastically times had changed since then, how radically humanity had changed still surprised him to this day. But even after his countless millennia of existence, there was one thing that hadn’t been altered by the sands of time- his unbreakable will. No matter what challenges that lay in his path, now matter how low brought before the most powerful adversaries, no matter how stacked against him the odds were; his tenacity- his will- would never falter. Many foes had crippled him to the point of what many would consider fatally, from Gigan to Jinshin-Mushi to MechaGodzilla, yet every time he had never yielded. He pressed onward without hesitation and saw it through to the triumphant end.

Today, that same unbreakable will coursed through his nuclear veins. Age hadn’t slowed him down one bit. And so today, like every other morning, he demonstrated that will- the trait that made him king- to the island once again. Like a male lion announcing his dominion over his territory, Godzilla roared again and again; letting his voice echo through the deepest caves, gusting the farthest trees and trembling the hardest rock.

A series of small footsteps vibrated behind him as Minilla- Prince of Monsters and Slayer of King Ghidorah- waddled to his side, cupping his hands over his jaws and letting out a higher-pitched version of his father’s infamous screech. Nodding in approval, Godzilla turned back to the scenery before rearing his head back and roaring again, demonstrating for his son. Minilla watched intently, then took in the deepest breath he could muster before screeching yet again. The King of the Monsters patted his child’s head, pleased with his progress.

Had he possessed the necessary facial muscles, Godzilla would’ve smiled. Whether it be a king’s resolve to overcome the impossible, a prince’s potential to surprise the world, or simply a father’s love for his child, one thing always remained certain.

Some things never change.

Winner: Godzilla (Showa)

February 1st, 2026 Update: (more…)

Author: Tyler Trieschock | Banner: Tyler Trieschock

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: A Three Knight Game
Chapter 2: The Vow
Chapter 3: A Just War
Chapter 4: Ideological Struggle
Chapter 5: Bagorah vs. The Visitor
Chapter 6: The Tragedy of Monsters
Chapter 7: Contact
Chapter 8: Autophobia
Chapter 9: Theophobia
Chapter 10: Monster X Mutant
Chapter 11: The Gods’ Blade
Chapter 12: Pawns

[Continued from Match 490]

(more…)

Author: Matt Ng | Banner: Matt Ng

DRAGON BALL CROSSFIRE: MATCH 1

Cities burned, and smoke filled the air. 

As people screamed and ran for their lives, and as many more were incinerated and wiped clean off the face of the earth, one being stood above it all, reveling in the absolute chaos and destruction caused by his hand alone. 

An utterly gigantic hulk of a man floated high above the ruined landscape, his musculature unmatched by anything that the world had ever seen. White and red clothing draped and hung down from around his waist, and golden adornments accentuated his horrifyingly powerful visage. Spiky green hair flared with unmatched power as the Legendary Super Saiyan surveyed the irreparable damage he had inflicted upon this planet, a twisted smile on his face. 

“Hahahahah! I’ll turn this place into a bloodbath!” Broly declared, clenching his fists as he prepared to raze another city off the face of the planet. Before the emerald-haired monster could obliterate another settlement, a deep, rumbling noise filled the entire area, a chilling grumble that instantly caught Broly’s attention. 

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Broly decided to hold off on his destruction, if only for a moment. If his instincts were correct, he might have an even more fun time on his hands. 

The ocean boiled under the rampant power of Broly’s destruction, but it did nothing to phase the monstrous creature that rose out of it. A skyscraper-sized saurian erupted out of the water, the crown of dorsal spines adorning his back and tail glowing with unfathomable atomic power. Massive pillar-like legs stomped onto the land, a titanic tail trailing behind as the beast made landfall. Orange eyes locked their gaze onto Broly as the toothed maw of the titan opened wide to unleash a furious roar; Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, had arrived.

Broly smirked, a delightedly evil smile crossing his face as he looked down at Godzilla. “Well now, looks like my next victim has arrived!” 

Godzilla did not share the same sick enthusiasm as Broly did. The mighty beast recognized Broly for what he was; an engine of pure, unfettered destruction. He was an alien invader, bent on raising hell on earth. And this was all Godzilla needed to know about Broly; that he was a destroyer; therefore he must in turn, be destroyed. 

While Godzilla’s form towered over even him, Broly was still eager to squash Godzilla like an oversized bug; a mere lizard like him would be stamped out in no time at all! “I’ll crush you into paste, lizard!” 

Broly rocketed down towards Godzilla, his fist drawn back to smash directly into Godzilla’s torso. Intent on imploding his foe’s chest in one blow, Broly swung his gigantic knuckle forward, only for Godzilla to bring his own clawed hand up to clash with Broly’s own, the two meeting fists in a tumultuous shockwave that blew both back and away from the other! 

For just a moment, Broly was shocked, before it turned into murderous ecstasy. “Hah! Perhaps I’ll have more fun than I expected! Let’s see how long you last!” The emerald-haired monster declared, grinning evilly as he stared down at Godzilla, who glared balefully back up at him.

Cackling like the madman that he was, Broly began to rapid-fire ki blasts from his hands, assaulting Godzilla with a relentless barrage. The monster king’s obsidian scales were battered by the overwhelming number of energy blasts, but it did nothing to deter his advance. His pillar-like legs stomped forth, urging his titanic weight to barrel into Broly, slamming into the Saiyan so hard that he was sent tumbling across the lands!

Broly skidded across the ground, but it did nothing to deter the rage-filled monster. “Is that all?” The Saiyan demanded as he rocketed into the air, his trajectory aimed straight for Godzilla’s midsection! Broly crashed into Godzilla with such force that the Monster King was sent tumbling backwards, his gargantuan weight flattening a nearby skyscraper.

Though Godzilla reared back up, Broly was nowhere close to being done with his perceived victim. Taking a hold of the very end of Godzilla’s tail, Broly heaved the titan up into the air, swinging him around several times before letting go, letting Godzilla sail across the air before gravity brought the Alpha Predator back down the earth. Godzilla hit the ground with a resounding boom, sending tens of thousands of tons of dirt and rubble high into the air. 

“HAHAHAHAH!!!” Broly cackled with sadistic glee as he began to shoot out ki blasts at everything in sight, reveling in the destruction as he made his way towards Godzilla, taking his time and savoring the maniacal joy of bringing ruin to everything that moved.  

As Godzilla rose to his feet, shaking the dirt and concrete off of his monstrous form, the Monster King watched as Broly decimated the lands, completely destroying everything and everyone in sight without a care in the world. Something sparked in the back of Godzilla’s mind as he realized what, or who, this alien invader really was. 

Broly wasn’t a monster. 

He was the Devil himself! 

“SKREEEEOOOONK!” Godzilla rushed forwards, charging at the maniac Broly while he was distracted with his murderous rampage. Broly realized that Godzilla had recovered too late, and was met with Godzilla’s outstretched palm, the Monster King swatting Broly out of the sky and down towards the ground.

Broly was sent hurtling down into the earth, impacting the charred streets with an immense booming noise. Not a moment later however, Broly rocketed up out of the smoke, flying straight up to uppercut Godzilla’s chin with his meaty fist, lifting Godzilla off of his two feet with the sheer force of the blow!

Landing squarely back on the ground, Godzilla counterattacked quickly, swiping with one of his clawed hands. Broly was quicker however, dodging the strike and veering around to slam his palm into Godzilla’s snout. The Monster King skidded back, reeling from the impact, but Broly gave no mercy. The Legendary Super Saiyan kicked Godzilla in the chin again, sending the massive titan clear into the air, before he grabbed him by the head and threw the reptilian beast back down to the earth!

Godzilla hit the ground hard, temporarily stunned from the impact. The titan had mere moments to try and recover, as Broly rocketed back down, both of his feet stomping down upon the Monster King’s skull! Godzilla bellowed as his head exploded with pain, his vision swimming as Broly stomped on him with sadistic glee. 

Swiping up with one of his clawed digits, Godzilla was able to swat Broly away, who was too concerned with inflicting agony onto his foe to realize Godzilla’s hand coming at him from behind. The Saiyan was sent catapulting through several ruined skyscrapers, giving Godzilla the time he needed to recover. The temporary respite allowed Godzilla to rise back up to his feet, his dorsal spines beginning to flicker and shimmer with incandescent blue light. 

Erupting out of the ruins of the city, Broly flew up into the sky, looking down at Godzilla with a malicious grin plastered across his nightmarish face. “Here’s a present for you!” Broly cackled as he began to charge ki into his hand as his aura flared with power. Condensing the unfathomable energy into his palm, Broly chucked the Eraser Cannon at Godzilla, who met him with equal force. 

Godzilla’s dorsal plates on his tail blazed with life with atomic energy, traveling up the rest of his tail up through his back and neck. Rearing up and inhaling sharply, Godzilla released the pent-up nuclear energy within in the form of the Atomic Breath. The bright azure beam of radiation clashed violently with the Eraser Cannon, runoff energy pouring out in droves as the two attacks impacted. 

Broly cackled with inhuman glee, expecting his ki blast to power through and blow Godzilla to smithereens, but to his shock, the Monster King’s Atomic Breath appeared to be overpowering his own attack! The Eraser Cannon was pushed back, sped along by the power of Godzilla’s beam, impacting a stunned Broly and engulfing him in a massive explosion of dazzling blue and green light! 

Smoke peeled off of Broly’s form, his malicious glee replaced by unfathomable rage. Godzilla bellowed, his maw shining with brilliant nuclear energy as he brought the Atomic Breath forwards once more. Broly roared, shooting across the sky like a bullet train, meeting Godzilla’s radioactive beam head on. The burning heat boiled Broly’s skin and blood, but pure rage kept the Saiyan going, regenerating just as quickly as his body was beginning to disintegrate. 

Godzilla’s eyes widened as Broly powered through his Atomic Ray, getting closer and closer through every passing second. Thinking quickly, Godzilla shut his mouth, cutting off the stream of radioactive energy as Broly sped towards him. The fist of the emerald-haired monster impacted Godzilla’s snout, sending the Monster King skidding backwards and onto his back, his skull rattling from the force of the blow. 

“HEHEHAHAHAHAHAH!” Broly cackled as steam continued to curl off of his gargantuan muscles, outstretching his hand to form another Eraser Cannon. As he charged his attack, Godzilla rose back to his feet, slamming the ground with his tail in a fit of fury. Seeing his foe recover, Broly blasted him full force with the Machine Gun Shot, Eraser Cannons being shot at a rapid pace towards Godzilla, detonating all over his form and decimating the surrounding landscape even further! 

Agonized roars escaped Godzilla’s jaws as he stepped back, the devastating ki blasts burning away and searing his scaled hide. Through the pain, Godzilla spotted Broly dive down towards him, fist drawn back. At the last minute, Godzilla ducked and spun around, his enormous tail swinging around to swat Broly out of the sky! 

The massive appendage slammed into Broly full force, sending the Legendary Super Saiyan hurtling away for miles. As Broly shouted curses at the top of his lungs as he was flung into the horizon, Godzilla screamed into the heavens, a warning that he wouldn’t stop until Broly was wiped clean from the face of the planet. 

Having impacted a mountain range, Broly’s body peeled off of the impact crater, his fury reaching new heights. “UURRRRAAAUUUGGGGH!!!!” Broly bellowed as his aura flared with absolute power, the mountain he was on promptly shattering and the surrounding range shaking. A thunderstorm began to circle overhead as Broly’s Saiyan rage strengthened him, lightning crackling like veins across the dark and cloudy sky. 

Godzilla’s outraged roar echoed from across the lands, Broly’s rage sharpening as he heard his foe approach. Flying high up into the air and zooming down like a meteor, the emerald-haired monster spotted Godzilla down on the ground, his dorsal spines glowing with incandescent atomic power. Bellowing, the wrathful Saiyan hurled himself down at Godzilla, impacting the Monster King just as he fired his atomic breath, a swirling explosion of green and blue lighting up the surrounding terrain as the two were engulfed in the eruption. 

“GET OUT!” 

Broly’s monstrous voice echoed as he picked Godzilla up and hurled him through the mountain range, Godzilla’s body being sent through millions of tons of rock and stone. Furious roars emanated from the Alpha Predator as he exploded out through the other side, his gargantuan reptilian form landing roughly on a sandy beach, being engulfed in clouds of dust.

Thousands of tons of rock were thrown into the air as Broly rocketed towards Godzilla, murderously roaring as he lugged a massive chunk of a mountain he had ripped out of the earth along with him. Godzilla bellowed in indignant shock and rage as Broly spun around and chucked the titanic boulder at him, which was over three times the titan’s size! 

The massive stone crashed into Godzilla, shattering into smithereens as the Monster King furiously thrashed, scattering the debris for hundreds of meters. Eyes alight with nuclear rage, Godzilla brought forth the Atomic Breath once more, catching Broly off guard. The ray of atomic power rammed into him like a truck, sending the Saiyan crashing into the mountain range and burying him under heaps of rock that boiled and melted into molten stone and slag under the sheer power of Godzilla’s atomic wrath. 

Broly wasn’t finished, however. Erupting out of a rapidly collapsing mountain, the Legendary Super Saiyan swerved to avoid Godzilla’s atomic ray, impacting the side of his foes’ face. Godzilla bellowed, his nuclear breath sputtering out as he adjusted his footing, only to be lifted up off the ground from Broly’s fist uppercutting him in the jaw! 

A swift kick from Broly followed the brutal uppercut, sending Godzilla even higher into the air. As Godzilla was flung skyward, Broly drew his fist back and rammed his gigantic knuckle into Godzilla, sending him catapulting across the expanse of blue ocean nearby! The King of the Monsters bellowed in pain and outrage as he went flying for miles, eventually hitting the waves with a tremendous splash and sinking into the depths. 

Cackling with inhumanly evil glee, Broly followed Godzilla’s trajectory up until the Alpha Predator vanished beneath the surface. Grinning in sadistic pleasure, Broly hovered over the waves as he began to send ki blasts raining down into the waters, intent on making sure Godzilla experienced a watery grave. As explosions tore through the underwater, a faint azure glow began to light up the depths…

Throwing his head back with roaring laughter, Broly looked back down too late, realizing with dread what was about to happen. Godzilla’s atomic breath shot up from below the surface, tearing through the water and slamming into the Saiyan full-force. Broly was sent tumbling through the air, falling down to hit the water himself, sinking down into the dark depths…

“SKREEEEEEOOOOOONGGGHKKK!” 

“RUUUUAAAAAAAGGGHHH!” 

Both Broly and Godzilla erupted out of the water, the Alpha Predator swatting the Legendary Super Saiyan down into the water. Broly was undeterred, rocketing out of the waves and smashing his fist into Godzilla’s torso, sending the King of the Monsters reeling. As the two furiously traded blows, the ocean boiled and the waves churned under the warring combatants’ fury, the rage of the Saiyan violently clashing with the wrath of the Earth. 

“GRRRROOOOOAAAGH!” Broly bellowed at the top of his lungs, ki surging through and around his entire form in a violently erratic bubble. Not a moment later, the Blaster Meteor exploded forth, rocking the waters with enormous ki blasts and eruptions that tore up the very foundation of the earth. 

As the Blaster Meteor exploded all across his form, Godzilla roared back with equal fury, pushing through the pain as his dorsal plates shone with insurmountable atomic energy. As his maw opened wide, the Atomic Breath was brought forth once more, meeting Broly’s energy waves head on. 

“WHY WON’T YOU GIVE UPPPPP?!?!” As both he and Godzilla were consumed by the rampaging power of their two attacks, Broly demanded that his foe kneel to his Saiyan power. Godzilla would do no such thing, however; he would eradicate Broly, or die trying.

As their attacks collided, the runaway energy violently exploded, blowing both Broly and Godzilla backwards. Both screamed at the top of their lungs, charging up insurmountable power that shook the seas. 

Flying high up into the air and charging ki into his palm, Broly shot out a small green orb of energy, which slowly made its way down towards Godzilla. As it did so, the energy sphere began to rapidly grow in size, pulsating with deadly energy as it threatened to consume both Godzilla and the whole planet! Broly bellowed as he began shooting the Omega Blaster with more and more ki blasts, propelling it forward.

As the Omega Blaster descended down towards Godzilla, the Monster King’s dorsal plates shimmered with unbridled nuclear energy. The luminescent blue glow flared with atomic rage, spreading through his entire body, every crack and gap between each of his scales leaking and overflowing with radioactive vigor.

Roaring up at Broly and the Omega Blaster, Godzilla inhaled, his cavernous maw shimmering with brilliant azure light. Without a second to spare, the King of the Monsters fired the Atomic Breath up at the Omega Blaster, meeting the devastating attack head on. The two energy constructs clashed, the impact point pulsating as both Broly and Godzilla poured more and more power into their attacks, trying to overcome the other through sheer brute force. 

Broly roared as he threw more and more ki blasts into his Omega Blaster, which slowly, inch by inch, got closer and closer to his target. Godzilla poured every last bit of nuclear rage into his Atomic Breath, which pushed back up against the energy sphere. The two came to a standstill, before light overtook them. 

An explosion of mythical proportions engulfed both Broly and Godzilla, the ocean evaporating into nothingness as the Earth cracked and strained under the sheer force of the detonation. A shockwave rippled across the surface of the planet, which shuddered and quaked from the explosion, a mushroom cloud of green and blue towering high into the upper atmosphere. 

And then, all was quiet. 

***

As smoke and steam billowed away, an utterly gigantic crater could be seen, a massive dent in the surface of the Earth. Huge chunks of land had been blown off the planet, leaving the globe scarred and irreparably damaged. Deep in the hole, at the very epicenter, a faint blue glow pulsated before going dim, the source too injured to move.  

Lying in the middle of the massive crater, wisps of smoke curled off of Godzilla’s battered body. His scales were blacked and charred, and every muscle in his form cried out in agony. He could scarcely move, but it seemed he didn’t need to, at least for now. Opening his eyes ever so slightly, Godzilla sensed that Broly was no longer here on this planet. Whether or not the Saiyan had been destroyed or simply banished back into the depths of space where he came from, the Monster King did not know. However, the planet was safe…for now. 

And so, Godzilla closed his eyes, and let sleep overtake his body and mind. 

***

Within the void of space, cold overtook all with its freezing grip. As scattered debris from the clash on Earth drifted away to places unknown, something, or rather someone, stirred. 

Fingers twitched, and eyes shot open, an unquenchable rage that refused to be put out. Clinging to life with utmost fury, the memories of a single man, and a single word, echoed throughout the unhearable expanse of space…

“Ka….karot….” 

“KAKAROOOOOOOOT!”

 

Author: Matthew Freese | Banner: Matthew Freese

A bellow cut across the landscape, echoing through the heavens. It was akin to a horrendous trumpeting, the calling of end times. Earthquakes began as a crevice formed in the landscape, stretching for miles as an entity arose from the shuddering world.

A crown of three horns adorned its head, two curling upwards in the back as a third protruded from the nose. Red eyes rolled in their sockets as they took in their surroundings. Ebony claws cut through the air as their opposite colored fingers flexed, a tail looking like it was crafted of ornate ivory like those digits whipping a crater into the ground. Pillar-like legs lifted a colossus out of the ground, crushing trees into splinters in their wake.

The dragon opened his maw, letting out that same horrific cry, a noise that was more like rolling thunder than a creature’s voice. Colossal spikes protruded from the biped’s shoulders, purple membranes on their undersides. They crackled with bolts of azure power, heralding a ray of bright, blue plasma to pass through his hellacious jaws and incinerate a patch of the landscape. It swept over a mountain, splitting the mass of stone and dirt in half, molten slag dripping down from the now glowing center.

This was Bagan. The God of Darkness, a demon shrouded in mystery, came to shred apart the peace of the world. Why did he destroy? Was it because he loved it, relished in devastation and desolation of all he saw? Had he been corrupted in the past by some dark force, twisting him into the form and temperament he bore now?

No one knew. All they knew was that he was a destroyer.

Dark clouds parted above him, revealing sunlight. It silhouetted an insectoid form with great, rounded wings. The new arrival let loose a piercing screech from short mandibles. Her wings were tapestries of orange, yellow, and black. White fur coated her segmented body, broken up by the orange pattern starting on the top of her head and running down the back. Blue eyes like countless lenses met the crimson orbs of the destroyer.

Mothra’s antennae shined with light, discharging orange rays of energy that were thin. But their potency was not determined by their size, as a series of explosions coated Bagan’s front as the guardian swept them up his body. He roared in shock.

It seemed a battle had begun. The dragon was not surprised by that fact, he knew battle like he knew breathing. Twisting his bulky body, his tail swung out like a weapon, one which the guardian deity avoided with the beating of her wings, carrying her backwards. She was also no stranger to battle, but she knew that this particular clash would be different. This would be a brutal event, one that would push to her limits.

With their respective calls, shaking the Chinese countryside, the battle between god and devil commenced.

***

That had been thousands of years ago. Yet, if one were to somehow live long enough to have been there, they would swear it was happening again in the modern day, the era of great cityscapes towering into heaven instead of mere castles and villages.

In the middle of a peaceful day in Tokyo, the most populous city on Earth, the ordinary humdrum of daily life was broken apart like a fallen vase when a gargantuan orb descended from the skies. It was dark and pulsating, a construct of raw flesh and muscle. Before any action could be taken by the people below, its throbbing quickened as four smaller spheres ripped their way from the mass.

Like softballs pitched by an invisible hand, the orbs flew into the air, descending in the four corners of the metropolis. Horrid flashes of light and blasts of sound filled the area as explosions ripped Tokyo to shreds. Hundreds of thousands died immediately, millions more were gravely injured. It was already one of the greatest tragedies in human history, and it had just begun.

The original sphere was gone, and in its place, Bagan. Only now, instead of white and purple, his entire body was brown. The membranes on his shoulders were gone, the points now just bearing a solid yellow coloration. His red eyes had turned white, a distinguishable pupil now present. He was also even broader and bulkier, already a colossus even for a kaiju, now a living mountain.

And just as that scene from a bygone era progressed, so too was the smoke clouding the skies parted to reveal a divine body. Only, it was different, but in the exact opposite direction that Bagan’s physical changes had gone. The wings bore numerous colors, like a rainbow. The orange upon the back was now black, streaks of the same color on either side of the moth’s legs. And instead of blue eyes like sapphires, emerald-like eyes of beautiful green met Bagan’s stare.

Mothra’s descendant, Leo, had come to stop Bagan’s rampage. His attention continually shifted up for a moment, only to return to the demon. The silver saucer floating in the heavens was hidden from all eyes but his, yet he doubted that it would interfere beyond controlling the dragon.

***

Back in the ancient past, Bagan swung at Mothra with his claws, failing to connect as she flew out of his reach. She flapped her wings, kicking up a windstorm that made the demon stagger slightly. He dug his heels into the earth, channeling more of his power. It flowed into his maw, spilling out as that column of devastation. The goddess cried out in shock as she curled her wings inward, letting the outsides of them take the brunt of the attack. It shoved her back through the sky, smoke curling off her wings as the beam faded and she plummeted to the ground below.

Bagan was upon her in a moment, intent on stomping her until her guts were mixed into the soil to form a grotesque mud. A foul smile adorned his face. He raised his foot high, hoping to get a satisfying first impact. She thwarted his foul plans with golden lightning from her wings, blazing into his stomach. Caught off guard and balance, Bagan fell backwards with an earth-shaking crash, a shout of confusion leaving his maw.

Mothra returned to the air, still flying well despite the pain in her wings. She fired upon him once more, Beam Pulsers and Wing Lightning at once to buffet the fiend. Bagan placed his hands on the earth, rising to his feet with a push. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain as he arose.

The divine moth cut off her assault, attempting to flee, only for Bagan to be just a moment too quick. He grabbed her wing, pulling her down to be at the same level as his face. Grabbing her other wing, he reared his head back.

Mothra swung her own body down, narrowly avoiding her face being gored by the nasal horn. Instead it skid across the front of her head, gashing open the exoskeleton and spilling blood. Her clawed limbs grasped the spiky armor of the destroyer, swiftly becoming alight with crackling power. An explosion thundered at the point of contact, sending shards of armor flying. Bagan let go of her, crying out in pain as the orange bolts burned into his body.

They parted, Mothra returning to the air as Bagan’s body lit up with his own electricity once more. He smiled, baring those sharp teeth like knives.

The goddess had barely begun fighting, and already her life had nearly been stolen from her. She had sensed an imbalance in nature, something arising that would disrupt the world, but she had never anticipated such a foe. She would fight, however. Fight for the sake of what she protected.

The thought of a blue, oval-shaped object resting atop a pedestal on a distant island propelled her onwards as she began to flap her wings, glittering powder leaving them.

***

Determined to live up to the legacy his ancestor had left behind, the trio of dots forming a triangle upon Leo’s head lit up as multi-colored rays shot forth, burning against Bagan’s body. He showed little reaction. He simply lunged forward, swinging a punch through the air. The guardian was unable to avoid the strike, having it impact the side of his body. He spiraled through the air, cringing at the pain before regaining his aerial stability. The beast was already upon him once more, but this time the underside of Leo’s wings and thorax flashed with an azure light.

Bagan was shoved back by the Mineral Chest Cannon, a blue ray of power that even his monolithic weight was unable to stay unmoving against. Despite the gigantic dent it made in his armor, he showed no reaction again, simply letting regeneration fill the wound and return it to normal.

The latest in a long line of divinity took to the skies, narrowly dodging a beam of plasma from Bagan that carved a trench through smoke and clouds above. Leo could tell that if it had struck him directly, he would have died. Not even curling his wings in to take the attack would have succeeded like it had for his mother, such was the change that had overtaken the enemy.

But his flight had not been to retreat. Circling around, he angled himself towards Bagan, flying straight towards him. Without hesitation he charged, a glow overtaking him as trails of emerald light followed. Like an organic missile he crashed into the modified demon’s chest, moving at speeds of Mach 85 for a brief moment before the impact.

The Excel Dash would have broken most kaiju in half. Bagan took it without falling, cracks spreading across his armor. His tail whipped through the air by his side, coming down like a hammer onto Leo. He smacked into the ruined ground, shrieking in pain. Bagan raised his foot high, face still locked into a neutral expression.

***

Though the battle would eventually be settled in an outcome that led to the world still prospering, Bagan did not know this at the time as he unleashed his plasma beam once more. It struck the cloud of orange scales drifting down towards him, but instead of breaking through, it was caught within. The pillar was split into streaks that bounced about like every scale was a mirror. He reared back, eyes widening at the odd display.

The winds of Mothra’s mighty wings pushed the now sparking cloud over Bagan’s body, making him scream as his own beam tore into his chest. It ripped away a chunk of armored carapace, casting it to the ground with a trail of smoke. But that was not the worst part.

Bagan’s face fell as he felt his strength be sapped, as though submerged in poison. He slouched noticeably. Mothra was surprised by this. Usually her scales did not have such an adverse effect beyond the reflection of energy attacks. Was it her divine nature conflicting with such a demonic force? Or simply a quirk of the creature’s biology, an allergy?

She did know that she needed to capitalize on it. Her antennae and wings lit up with her displays of power, striking the cloud and being refracted inwards to scourge Bagan. He roared in anguish, explosions marring his form. Mothra continued her assault, until pain overcame fatigue and the dragon lunged forth.

The scale cloud parted as he attempted to impale Mothra on his nasal horn once more. Again, he only succeeded in carving a wound into her abdomen, but this wound went deep, and the divine moth cried out in agony. She turned in the air, grasping Bagan’s horns with her claws. The demon began to thrash in an attempt to force her off immediately, his panic growing more as the crackling energy flowed through her legs once more.

Before the burst of energy could commence, however, Mothra was forced away as rays of red shot out from Bagan’s back horns, blazing two black circles into her body. She cried out as she drifted away, her pain only growing as the frontal horn of the demonic dragon unleashed a white streak of light, turning white fur into a black cinder with its contact. His lips were curled to reveal his teeth the entire time.

***

As opposed to the wicked glee of the past, Bagan in the present brought his foot down almost mechanically. Instead of a sickening crunch, there was only a dry cracking as his foot smashed debris. Leo burst into a glittering swarm of moths, who fluttered up like leaves in a cyclone before smacking against Bagan’s carapace.

A tremendous series of detonations coated the demonic beast, who staggered back. Above him, the horde coalesced back into Mothra Leo, who fired bolts of energy into the earth. The power flowed through the ground, manifesting as multi-colored pillars ripping upwards.

Bagan was obscured by the Rainbow Sparkling Pileload, lost in the brilliant light. A blur raced out from the fading luminescence, and Leo’s quick reaction was all that saved him from being run through. Shooting upwards, he still found his abdomen spilling yellow blood from a frightening wound.

Smoke curled off Bagan’s form, armor peeling off. But it seemed that, even with the added power granted to Leo by the sacrifice of a water spirit, the Rainbow Sparkling Pileload and Excel Dash had failed to accomplish any sort of permanent damage. Super regeneration just continued to knit the damage back up as the soulless beast’s shoulders blazed with power yet again.

The son of a goddess beat his wings, releasing a glittering powder of his scales. It fell upon the chained demon, detonating in clusters as his breathing grew heavy. The divine moth’s scales still retained their power over him, despite whatever had happened to change him in both body and mind.

Leo wanted to know what had changed, why the joy the beast had felt in combat against his mother was gone, as though pulled from the brain. But duty crushed curiosity, and he continued to release his explosive scales.

Three bolts of blue launched upwards from Bagan’s shoulders, rising into the sky where they began to change shape. Forming structures like diamonds, they raced downwards, aimed at Leo’s body.

He ceased the release of his scales, fleeing. The first two projectiles slammed into the ground, punching holes into the earth. With a shriek, Leo felt the third clip his wing, leaving a clean cut. His aerial balance wavered. Pain shot through him, but he did not have time to let it fade before needing to hurl himself to the side, dodging a blurring, swift body blow. He had the wherewithal to leave a cloud of his scales behind him, making the demon crash through it and into another series of bursting blasts.

Had it not been for the debilitating effect of his divine scales, he would have been smashed against the God of Darkness’ form like a deer in the path of a train. Bagan, despite clearly being more sluggish than before, still continued to turn towards him, claws extending from his fingertips.

***

In the past, Bagan’s claws shot out as well, extending to triple their original length as he swung them at Mothra. The goddess cringed as her wounds grew even worse with their contact, her blood splashing onto the trees below. With the beat of her wings, another shower of scales, which were used in conjunction with her antennae’s beams in order to push Bagan back a step.

The God of Darkness staggered, feeling his might sapped by the pollen. The guardian of peace began to fly in a circle around her foe, releasing the cloud of divine dust all the while. Lightning bolts shot forth from the midst of it into the fiend’s hide, who found himself falling to one knee.

He shuddered, black blood beginning to leak from his mouth. Mothra kept up her assault, the Pressure Field not letting up as the mystical lances continued to spear into her quarry. The lasers from his horns shot out, only to be caught in the maelstrom of orange dust and directed back to their user.

Bagan shook from equal parts rage and pain. He wanted to destroy, wanted to do it more than he wanted to breathe or drink. He should not be getting overwhelmed, not when desolation needed to be enacted!

Where was this coming from?

There was a moment of clarity, staring death in the face. Why did he do this? What prompted this death urge in his soul, why did he desire pain and suffering so much? He realized he was just as much of a mystery to himself as he was to the world as a whole.

He looked up, feeling a prickling in his mind. The clouds above had thinned out, revealing something in the midst of the sky, glittering in the sunlight.

It was silver.

***

Bagan nearly ran Leo through with his claws, almost taking revenge on his mother millennia after the fact. The god of peace was swifter, however, avoiding the thrust and countering with his own melee. His claws dragged across the dark god’s face, puncturing an eye and making the gelatinous orb burst.

He expected a cry of pain. He expected a wrathful reaction. What he got instead was Bagan… shaking. Silent, he shivered like he was about to explode. As the veins and finer inner workings of the eye flailed into place within the socket, regeneration so potent that even a complex part such as the eye could be healed swiftly, Bagan looked up towards the saucer above. His head moved like his neck was a rusted joint in a machine.

Leo seized the opportunity and got above his foe, rings exiting from behind him as he soared upwards. They were colored like an aurora, and when they reached Bagan, they began to lift his feet off the ground. His eye was almost fully healed, but he continued to convulse while staring at his master.

The new divinity was not a fool, he could tell what was occurring now. Bagan’s silence and emotional stillness had been enforced by that unknown master, an entity or entities that Leo knew nothing about. But it was not a perfect lock, and though he had failed to do much damage externally, it seemed internally, mentally, the divine moth’s assault was proving too effective.

He knew not what would happen when the breaking point was reached. But all he could do was keep pressing onwards. Once they were miles above the earth, the Mineral Chest Cannon fired once more, even more powerful this time. The blue stream of holy light shoved Bagan down hard, spiking him into the ruined city below with enough force to upheave large chunks of the landscape. Like a meteor’s impact.

He fired rays into the smoke above, parting it to reveal sunlight, before looking back down. Bagan was standing once more, badly bruised and injured. Blood poured from his mouth as he stood in the center of a great crater, cracks spread all across his armor like spider webs, and one of his shoulder protrusions was badly damaged, nearly falling off. He kept looking at the silver ship above, sparks erupting across his shoulders and crown of horns as he tried to channel his power. His head jerked upwards, his master trying to get him back to his foe, but he resisted it.

He no longer even looked at Leo, which suited the divinity just fine as he began to fly in a circle, leaving a trail of his scales. This was a move he had not done since his battle with Desghidorah, the first battle since he lost his mother and attained his imago form.

The sunlight was refracted into the center of the ring, like a grandiose lens. With a mighty war cry, Leo unleashed the Sun Strike Buster, now tinted with the kaleidoscopic coloration befitting his new form. The rainbow-like streak of concentrated sunlight shot downwards like a lance from the heavens, striking Bagan with a thunderous impact. The crater was magnified tenfold, an explosion that shook Tokyo to its foundations ringing out.

For a few moments, silence. Smoke rolled out across the landscape, debris falling like rain. Somewhere in his heart, the god of peace knew he had taken more lives with that immense assault. He wished their souls would forgive him, would understand that the Earth’s fate hung by a strand and thus he needed to take drastic measures.

A roar that would be heard on the other side of the planet rattled the air, filling Leo’s heart with fear like a poison-tipped arrow had pierced it. There was a detonation miles away from him in the sky, a ray of light shattering the silver saucer and casting it off its lofty perch. Another roar, a mixed expression of ecstasy and rage that sounded like it would rend the world asunder with its sheer volume.

***

Like her descendant in a distant time, Mothra too found herself auditorially assailed by a hellacious call. It was not as booming and grandiose as it would be after his mutation, but at this moment, Bagan’s bellow of horrific wrath was like the sound of a falling meteor.

He thrust his head above the pollen cloud, shaking with pain and fatigue but pressing onwards as bolts of light shot forth from his horns. They flew into the sky, coalescing into a billowing vortex. Mothra cried out in surprise and fear, then felt agony as a wild storm of electrical blasts erupted from the anomaly.

Trees flew like tossed aside garbage as the goddess was slammed into the earth hard enough to create a trench with her body. She could only watch in horror as the landscape was lacerated by the chaotic attack, Bagan screaming in the center as bolts entered the still swirling cloud of scales and struck him. Mothra could tell that a change had come over him, a berserker rage uncaring of anything else.

Had she been able to read his mind, she would have learned it was not of his own will.

Bagan was lost in a crimson haze, only seeing red as he thrashed about. He had seen the ship above and felt some sort of connection to it, like it had always been there with him. Perhaps it had. But when he noticed it, at his lowest point, he felt like something was injected into his mind.

He barreled out of the cloud of scales, crashing his body into a mountain and punching a large portion of it off. The dragon roared again, beating his tail against the ground like a drum. His beam cut across the landscape, destructive rays leaving his horns and turning the forest into ash. He swept them over Mothra, simply because she was in the way, making her screech once more on the earth.

Some small part of him, lost within the madness, just recoiled as it desperately grasped for control, but it was like trying to wrestle a waterfall.

***

Bagan remembered that. He remembered that feeling of helplessness, and found it to be paradise compared to what he had just clawed his way free of. His masters, whose faces he did not even know, had pulled him into the light and once more tampered with his mind. In addition to the enhancements to his body, his emotions had been suppressed, unable to rise up.

Which was not helped by the fact that whatever the alteration to his body had been, it had brought him no shortage of new wrath. Jumbled memories that weren’t his own circled through his mind now, hateful and spiteful ideals mixing in with one another like a slurry of sewage.

Nuclear fireballs, grotesque mutations, rage against all life, chained to cruel masters’ will, used as a tool, constant struggle, a battle between the bearers of the memories that led to one being dismembered, pain, chaos, and suffering. Black scales, golden scales, tri-tipped spines, fan-like wings, blue rays of atomic light, and yellow bolts of lightning. Three minds stuck in one body, forced to coordinate, once three separate beings now jammed together to serve nationalistic indulgences.

Millions of screams, and fire rising into the heavens.

Bagan screamed once more, feeling his mind shatter under the pressure of it all. Like in the past, his horns released rays of light into heaven, forming a photon vortex, the violent power building up inside him begging to be freed in glorious chaos.

Leo watched as the resulting object ensured Tokyo would never be rebuilt. It carved canyons into the ravaged city that swallowed the metropolis’ remains, smoke rising from molten crevices. The very foundation of the city was torn open, upheaved and collapsed inwards by a wild dance of energy.

A stray bolt struck him, casting him from the sky like a fallen angel. He was knocked unconscious instantly, reawakening when he smacked into the city sinking into the dirt.

***

When Mothra returned to the sky, she immediately needed to fly as fast as her aching body could muster. Her movement caught Bagan’s attention, drawing a storm of attacks from him as he continued his mad march.

The goddess of peace launched herself directly in her foe’s direction, releasing her scales. As she expected, he made no attempt to get out of the way. Any strategy he would have had was lost in this madness, and as she passed over his head, her scales caught the beam he launched straight up. It just turned back unto him, tossing him to the ground. He flailed on the ground, unleashing light rays and plasma beams that just kept tearing into himself.

Mothra turned in the air, only to almost have her wing torn off when Bagan leapt to his feet, poking his head out of the cloud and unleashing his plasma beam once more. It still tore off a large portion of the limb, nearly making her fall then and there.

Bagan lunging and smacking her across the face with the back of his hand sent her into the dirt, the dragon falling just afterwards.

They both lay there for minutes, which felt like an eternity. Blood rushed out from Bagan’s eyes and mouth, and it pooled around Mothra’s broken form.

A clawed hand moved, placing its palm on the ground. Muscles strained in his arm as the demon began to push himself back up. He growled, steam and ichor pouring out.

Mothra was conscious, but when she tried to command her body, it did not move. In this critical moment, strength had left her. The demon rose slowly, body shivering violently but still moving. The divine moth prayed for a miracle, for that was all that could stop the wretched beast.

There was a sudden anomaly in the sky, and what emerged was something neither would have expected in a million years.

***

Leo arose from the ruins, breathing a sigh of relief that Bagan wasn’t even focused on him. The demon just marched onwards towards more civilization, spewing beams and bellowing maddening songs of desolation. There was not a drop of sanity running through that brain.

White tendrils of shimmering energy rippled out from the beast’s shoulders, membranes forming between them. Leo watched in horror as they carried the greatest bulk a living being on Earth had ever had into the air with a stupefying grace.

The divine guardian… had failed. He had failed to stop Bagan, fallen short of his ancestors. Against Desghidorah he had crushed the Darkness Dragon with ease, and against Dagarha he had risen to the occasion and vanquished the Demon Sea Monster. But before the God of Darkness, he could not stand.

Earth was doomed.

Leo looked to the sky, wings slowly beating just to keep him aloft. Would his ancestors be ashamed of him? He felt like worthless trash, but would they think that? Perhaps they would be understanding if they could see him, perhaps the demon dragon had attained a level of power that nothing could stand before?

What would his mother think? Cast him out and label him a failure, or comfort him and say that he had tried?

Could any of his ancestors have triumphed over the God of Darkness?

This question cast a spark within his mind, that swiftly lit the fire of an idea. An idea whose flaws were immediately apparent, potentially cataclysmic to levels that Bagan paled before, but he had no other choice.

He called out to two unseen, but very present, figures. Asked them for strength. His shriek was weak, but they heard it. Far off in the sky, two women as tall as a child’s dolls, sitting atop a miniature divine moth, began to sing. They hated this idea, but knew just as their god did that there was no other option. A blind leap of hope or an acceptance of death. Neither option was pleasant, but the former at least carried the chance of feet landing on a safe surface.

So, Moll and Lora chanted, sang with all their hearts as Leo began to shift in appearance. He became sleeker, fur being replaced by smooth chitin. His wings flattened, becoming like blades. Colors became monochromatic. But this was not the end result, for soon he shifted again. This state, Aqua Mothra, was only an in-between to what he sought. His colors became more vibrant, features smoothing out further as the jagged edges of his body were refined.

With that, he shot forward, racing at immense speeds. Perhaps he could have sought out Bagan and crashed headfirst into him, for as he approached light speed his mass encroached upon infinity. Had he struck the dark god at relativistic speeds, the resulting impact would vaporize everything around them for miles.

But a suicidal assault was not Leo’s plan. He reached light speed and kept accelerating, breaking the laws of physics without regard. From his perspective, it was like he was plunged into a kaleidoscope, an array of colors surrounding him as he transcended the boundaries placed on all creatures.

For it was immutable that all things only could go forward through time, pushed by the current of the river that was reality. Leo had committed an impossible taboo by turning around and swimming upstream.

***

And so it was that Mothra and Bagan, before his mutation, witnessed the sky part to birth a second Mothra, one slightly smaller yet more vibrant. Leo hurtled out of the tear in reality, swiftly shutting behind him by unseen forces, immediately firing beams from his forehead to strike Bagan.

The cruel dragon was forced to the ground by the attack, vomiting gore as the potent rays assailed his internally ravaged body. Externally he was in nigh-perfect condition, but the scales of the divine one had made it so that his health was only skin deep.

Leo turned, thrashing through the air as if searching for something. As he did so, his ancestor looked upon him with utter bafflement. How was there another divine moth, she thought that all but her bloodline had perished by Desghidorah’s talons? Why had he emerged from a strange portal in the sky, was he not of this world?

But as she watched him fly after something that she did not see, confusion became concern. He was burnt and bloody, looking almost as bad as she did. He had clearly just come from a brutal conflict, and with every movement growing slower she knew he was running on fumes by this point.

The new arrival smashed into something, sending a silver disk hurtling from the heavens. With smoke and fire trailing behind it, the object that Mothra had not even known existed crashed to the earth below.

Mothra cried out in horror that surprised herself when a glowing diamond exploded against the newcomer’s body, sending him from the sky with a scream of agony. Bagan’s shoulders crackled as he lay on the ground, a wheeze of mirth leaving his jaws. The glow faded, but unfortunately, the demon’s life did not. Breath still coursed through him.

Leo wailed in anguish, which made the ancestor’s heart drop at the sound. It was not just physical pain, but an emotional suffering which reverberated.

The goddess of peace knew who this was now. Her mind had been muddled, but her heart was as clear as crystal with how it responded to his pain. This was her descendant, a torchbearer of the one she would pass down. She knew not how long down the line it would be before his birth, but that did not matter, he was as precious to her as her own direct child. Why he was here, she did not know, but she knew that this could not continue.

With the last of her strength, she pushed herself off the ground. Bagan’s eyes rolled to meet hers as she floated over to him, hatred burning in both the ruby and sapphire orbs. If she could, she would kill him here and now, and that feeling was mutual. Given the time, he would rise again, and she lacked the power to even finish him off.

Despite the spite he felt for his masters, Bagan would continue to destroy without them. It would be on his terms, his way, not for the goals of someone he could not even see.

He would never get the chance, however. For Mothra’s body shone brightly as she drifted around him, before she cast down a brilliant circle from the ring formed by her passage. It was inscribed with the runes of her symbol, a holy seal which enveloped the demon. He could only groan, a low, pained growl that faded as he disappeared from sight. Carved into the earth, the passed down for generations sign of the godly lepidopterans.

Where it would stay until the aliens of Nazca returned, dredged up Bagan’s body, and turned him into something unstoppable. Leo wailed once more, a pitiful cry, as he realized that he had accomplished nothing. He had only ensured time flowed the way it had to ensure the Earth’s demise. There was nothing he could have done, the past could not be changed. He began to bitterly weep.

His ancestor crashed into the ground before him, the last of her strength having been used to reach him. Leo apologized to her, but Mothra simply questioned why he would. Why had he come here, what horrors had he escaped from?

So, he told her. Told her of Bagan’s inevitable return, his newfound power due to his wretched masters, and of his fruitless battle with him. Once more, he apologized, but his ancestor once more questioned why. He had not fled, not left the world to burn while he sought safety. He struggled against darkness unyielding, and when he could not surpass it, tried to find a new way to overcome. A failure would have given up, falling short of his lineage would have been throwing his life away meaninglessly.

She had barely seen him, only witnessed a single display of his actual power, but Mothra could simply tell. The goddess could tell that he was a fine guardian, a mighty warrior the likes of which the Earth had never seen before.

He had not failed.

As Leo’s mother had done to her dark counterpart, to forge an alliance against a nuclear terror, Mothra gave her energy to her descendant to heal him. This was the very last of her light, just to ensure he would not die.

She apologized to him. Leo was stunned. Mothra was sorrowful for not having been able to vanquish Bagan, for leaving him with the back breaking burden of the demon god. All she could do was delay him, and leave the terror for the future to face.

Leo could only remember his mother’s passing as he watched the life leaving his ancestor. Despite her words, he still felt like he was not living up to the legacy bestowed upon him.

In her last moment, the ancestor simply told him that he had not fallen yet. As long as he drew breath, Bagan could still be destroyed. She knew he could do it.

The light of Mothra’s eyes faded, and Leo was unable to muster a coherent thought. He soon fell unconscious, the mental and physical stress overwhelming him.

When the moon was high in the sky, two new creatures entered the valley. Blue eyes like gemstones shone in the dark as the brown duo of larvae crawled across the ground, reaching their mother and their descendant. They mourned the former’s passing with a wail.

They did not know that the other Mothra was their descendant, nor did they know his purpose. But they knew he was alive, and they could sense that there was more he needed to do in this world.

Opening their mandibles, they began to spray silk, coating him in a cocoon. This would preserve him, allow him to regain his strength undisturbed.

Only, what they did not know was that it would do more than that. It would not only let him recover, but it would let him do more.

Thousands of years passed, the cocoon being buried by time.

***

And shortly after Leo had left to the past, a mountain of dirt and stone collapsed in China. Next to a great hole in the earth, where his nemesis had been freed, a silvery cocoon was exposed to the sunlight.

Cracking open, the chrysalis split to reveal a changed being. His carapace was now silver and metallic like a knight’s armor. His eyes shone blue like his mother’s, like his ancestors. His wings solidified, becoming great rows of blades adorned with beautiful patterns.

His power had been building over the millennia, his body liquefying inside the chrysalis and rebuilding into a new form, a second metamorphosis. He had become Armor Mothra, and with tremendous speed, took to the air.

Mach 15. Fifteen times the speed of sound, a difficult number to grasp, but what it meant was that the journey from China to Japan was minuscule in length. And most importantly it meant that he met Bagan in the skies over the land of the rising sun in the blink of an eye, the insane beast’s eyes bulging in their sockets as Armor Mothra appeared in his field of vision without warning.

The God of Darkness had no time to react before one of his shoulder spikes had been severed, the reborn paladin passing by him. The Wing of Light faded with a sputtering of sparks, nearly three-hundred thousand tons plummeting from the heavens like a brick. An intact city was shaken by the impact, the residents already in the process of fleeing due to emergency alerts.

Black blood spurting from his new stump, Bagan was already back on his feet, firing a beam at the airborne Armor Mothra. The divine warrior was pushed away by the blast, hurtling through the sky. The dread beast howled in joy, only for a purple ray of power to blast his nasal horn off.

Armor Mothra was not unhurt by the attack, but as was plain from him already lunging towards Bagan once more, metallic carapace only slightly burnt and cracked, it was not nearly as much as the demon would have wanted. More Armor Crossheat Lasers blazed forth from the gem in the knight’s head, tearing away at the once-thought invulnerable armor. Smoke and blood spewed out as the rays dug deep.

Twisting in place, Bagan sought to smash his tail down onto the guardian’s body. Armor Mothra stopped his flight, pivoting in place to thrust his wing forth. The whip-like limb came off, crashing to the ground a small distance away. Howling in rage, Bagan turned and brought his regenerated nasal horn down like a knife. With a shower of sparks, it bounced off the holy armor, leaving only a tiny dent.

Grasping Armor Mothra’s wings, the genetically enhanced monstrosity sought to make that dent far deeper. He swung again, but before a third strike could commence, the warrior of hope fired a ray of light that skimmed across one side of Bagan’s face. It reduced an eye to vapor, leaving a horrendous gash in the skull in the process.

The God of Darkness let go, screaming in agony. The shout was lost in a gurgling of blood as the Earth’s mightiest guardian slit his demonic foe’s throat.

Hate did not befit a righteous god, but it was what Leo felt looking at this vile thing before him. Wrath that had been building for millennia inside his coma, he would let it all be released upon the cruel demon until it no longer twitched.

Bagan’s back and crown sparked with power as he swung an arm up, claws drenched in his azure might. Armor Mothra cried out as it dug a deep trench into his underside, making him pull back as the demon’s wounds regenerated.

A storm brewed inside Bagan’s mind, but as he looked at Armor Mothra, at the end result of the bloodline that had cursed him and made him pliable to be plunged into this hell, it was focusing. He was to be punished for being born, for being created to act this way? For following that which he had been made to do?

The shards of two other souls, they agreed with the hatred of the moth. The nuclear titan and the clone of a space serpent, they wanted his blood to stain the world.

With a burst of movement from both, the two most powerful beings on the planet, perhaps the very universe, collided head-on. The shockwave of their impact knocked down buildings for hundreds of meters around them, filling the streets with debris and dust. Earth cratering beneath Bagan’s feet, he cracked his fist across Armor Mothra’s skull, sending the righteous divinity hurtling across the city skyline. Skyscrapers were decapitated by the dozens by his passing.

The city began to collapse in a straight line towards Bagan, confusing him. It was only just before Armor Mothra nearly cut his feet from his legs that he realized his foe had flown low to the ground, smashing through buildings like they were made of foam. He had managed to step away just in time, but still fell to the earth due to the horrid gashes his foe had left in his ankles.

Shooting straight up into the sky, Armor Mothra turned downwards to launch himself like an arrow at the downed Bagan, Armor Crossheat Lasers firing wildly as he descended. The demon dragon cried out as they assailed his form, but before the paladin could complete his assault, the chimera fired his plasma breath once more. It blazed against the warrior’s back, sending him away like he weighed nothing.

By the time Armor Mothra had recovered, explosive diamonds of azure light speared into him, detonating violently and dashing him against the ground. A groan left his mandibles, sounding mechanical.

He looked at his foe, throat wound closed and body healed. The beast of oblivion seemed to be slowing down, but not nearly enough for Armor Mothra’s liking. This was swiftly becoming a war of attrition, one that the guardian could not triumph in.

A ray of light shot out from each of the fiend’s horns, peeling away strands of the divine moth’s armor. White fur expanded out from the breaks, the body beneath. Again the beams came, but Armor Mothra blocked them with his wing, revealing the delicate membrane underneath in the process.

Bagan continued to march forward, letting loose a rhythmic call that Armor Mothra recognized as laughter. It chilled him to his core. He was losing, even with this grand power increase he still fell short of the God of Darkness. Destiny continued to flow towards the end of all life, no matter what he did…

He refused. Leo refused to let everything be in vain, let the lineage he was the latest of be only capable of delaying destruction. He refused to let his ancestor’s sacrifice be in vain.

Armor Mothra took off from the ground, charging straight towards Bagan. His energies flowed through his form, like he was performing the Excel Dash. A plasma beam lanced out from the dragon’s maw, crashing directly against the god of peace’s face. It stripped away metal and burned flesh beneath, leaving one of his blue eyes surrounded by a patch of black. But still he pressed onwards.

Bagan stomped his feet into the ground, snarling as he prepared to take this attack head on. He was unstoppable, truly and utterly a god of destruction that would never die. The voices in his mind writhed about as they shouted desires for destruction, and he assured them they would get it.

However, there was no impact.

Armor Mothra, light trailing behind him as he sped up, simply passed through Bagan. As though a spectre, he appeared behind his wretched foe, solidifying.

For a few seconds, Bagan was perplexed. Until he looked down at a shining light upon his chest, where his foe had made contact. It did not hurt, but the dark god felt a deep dread permeate his psyche.

This was affirmed by his flesh turning to crystal. He roared in shock and terror as like a cancer the translucent stone spread, replacing his torso. He tried to move, but his arms were paralyzed as they too were afflicted by this. Legs followed.

He could not even turn to look at his killer, for in a moment his neck was solidified. His roars became distorted, vocal chords hardening. There was no physical pain, but the feeling of numbness was even worse.

Armor Mothra just looked at his foe, watching the process. The chance for him to somehow break free was present in his mind, so the guardian was ready to strike at any moment.

It was merely his anxiety, for the crystals soon enveloped Bagan’s entire skull.

The god of darkness felt the most peaceful he ever had when his brain was crystallized, for the howling chorus ceased. The nuclear leviathan, the golden wyrm, his alien masters’ leftover commands, the chaotic and violent programming they had given him from the very start, all of it.

For an instant, the smallest part of Bagan’s psyche, something that his masters did not intend for but was still present, was in joy. In all living creatures, no matter what is done to them or what circumstances lead to their creation, there is an urge. No matter how many cruel desires are layered over it, no matter how much lobotomizing and butchery is done to the mind, it remains.

The urge for internal peace. His masters designed him to be nothing but a tool of violence, but by making him alive they ensured that there was a desire somewhere for the chaos to cease, and blissful silence to come.

Perhaps on such a being as Bagan, that time could only come at this moment, the very last moment of life. But a single instant of it was enough.

Armor Mothra watched as his foe exploded into light, glittering shards fluttering down like snow. He was gone, now and forevermore.

Light overtook him as well, but with not nearly as violent a result. His armor faded away, revealing dense, fluffy fur underneath. His eyes were still like sapphires, only now much warmer in their radiance. The burn upon his face remained, and perhaps always would. Not that he would mind, for it would always serve as a reminder.

A reminder of the day he vanquished the beast that had plagued his lineage for millennia. The beast that would not die, who seemed fated to conquer the world and plunge it into fire. How it had taken everything he had to overcome, moving through time just to stand a chance.

Of his ancestor’s sacrifice, so much like his mother’s after her.

Of how he had transcended fate.

Eternal Mothra beat his wings, saying a prayer for the many who had died on this day and those they left behind. He flew off, to return home and find peace once more. To rest until the world once more faced danger, and needed its divine bloodline to drive back the darkness.

Winner: Mothra Leo