Author: Eugene Tan | Banner: Stephanie Hughes

There was only silence.

Once a great tourist resort and place of geographical interest, Yellowstone National Park lay deserted. Not a soul walked within its valleys and forests. Even the animals were gone, and the birds feared to emerge from where they hid. A gigantic monster had arrived to call  this place home. And unlike most others, it simply stayed there, at the foot of the legendary Mount Yellowstone.

Baragon awoke to a new morning, roaring to announce his arrival. The crimson creature shook his head a little, waving his dog-like ears. The kaiju then began his futile search for food. While the subterranean predator  persistently stayed in this sanctuary, he starved constantly. All the large animals had long been consumed by his enormous appetite or killed in forest fires he set off, and the humans never seemed to come anymore.

As the saurian wandered aimlessly, he suddenly felt powerful vibrations. Something was here. At this moment, the dog-eared kaiju didn’t know exactly what. But he knew it was big. Very big…

The monstrous humanoid Gaira lumbered through the forest of Yellowstone Park, crushing trees in his nomadic expedition for sustenance. The titanic mutant growled as he surveyed the landscape before him. It was all lush and green, but it was useless to him when it came to satisfying his hunger. The Green Gargantua turned to leave, snarling in discontentment. As he stormed off, he was suddenly slammed off his feet.

The horned predator crashed into the huge newcomer, sending the big green humanoid flying into a lake not too far away. The prehistoric kaiju was highly territorial. He wouldn’t allow another kaiju to claim the park. Although this newcomer looked far more powerful than he was, and looked like the stuff of nightmares, the underground king would not back down.

The mutant beast shook himself off as he rose to his feet. In a show of power, the mighty humanoid punched the ancient earth of Yellowstone Park, forming a crater where it had impacted. He – unlike what the weakling reptile had imagined – had no plans of taking over this territory, but he was furious! This pest would pay for his sneak attack. Cracking his powerful fists as he looked down at the kaiju before him, the humanoid came to a horrific new decision: this scaly bastard would be his meal!

Baragon snarled stubbornly, refusing to back down even as the intimidating brute lumbered towards him. The spawn of Frankenstein took his time. After all, this creature probably was not going to retreat. The clever predator would use this time well. As the shaggy sea monster walked closer, the saurian suddenly charged, once again taking the humanoid by surprise. Gaira roared in anger as the subterranean monster clamped his jaws onto his arm, sinking his fangs into it. The mighty humanoid  struggled to get the persistent little reptile off, but he clung on! The ravenous menace stumbled back, gritting his teeth in pain, giving the ridged reptile the opening to slam his front legs into a green muscular chest, actually pushing the huge humanoid to the ground. He could win this! He could take down this new—

The plucky dinosaur’s  ideas of victory, along with the air in his lungs, were knocked out of him when an emerald fist connected with his lower jaw, causing the dog-like beast to spin into the air, crashing near his home at Mount Yellowstone!

Baragon struggled to his feet and shook his head in a daze, ignoring the nasty throb in his lower jaw. His jawbone must have been cracked by the impact of the punch. But the Green Garganuta was not a merciful opponent. The subterranean monster would get no opportunity to fully return to his senses. From behind the reptile, he raised a boulder and smashed it hard upon his foe’s skull. The burrowing beast  yelped in pain as he stumbled forward and fell onto his side, seeing stars from the force of the blow.

Gaira smirked as he watched the subterranean predator  groan in pain. This was going to be easier than he had initially thought. Perhaps he would bash this little pest up first before killing him. With that, Frankenstein’s son  tossed the boulder in his hand towards the writhing creature, snickering as he did so.

From beneath his glowing horn, eyes widened in surprise as the boulder flew towards the downed reptile. Swiftly, the ancient dragon lashed his tail out, deflecting the boulder back at the mutant, who quickly bashed it away with his arm, shattering the projectile. The man eater sneered. It looked like the lizard  still had some fight in him.

He would get rid of that spirit.

The digging dinosaur was wise to quickly leap to his feet as the sea monster went onto the attack. Baragon swiftly gave himself some distance from the raging menace, before charging on his hind legs! The two titans clashed next to the great dormant super volcano, the earth shuddering as they met.

The burrowing predator squealed in pain as Gaira’s sheer strength overwhelmed his. The bastard spawn of Frankenstein clobbered scales as he drove the reptile to the ground. Soon, the Green Gargantua’s fists were stained with blood as he kept smashing his foe’s face. But the determined hunter  refused to lose without a fight. As the malformed clone swung his fist down again, the subterranean monster suddenly spun around, lashing his powerful tail at his foe’s feet, knocking him over.

Before the ocean Gargantua could get up, the saurian leapt into the air and body slammed him. The humanoid snarled, knowing he would have to make sure his rival would lose this advantage. As the little beast moved in again, furred legs collided with his chest, throwing the horned hunter a good distance away. The sadistic predator smirked as the flung beast crashed onto a large rock, making the smaller creature cry out in pain.

As Gaira lumbered closer, something began to build up from behind the fanged maw of the burrowing dragon. The primal giant swore he saw a light glow as Baragon turned his attention back to his foe. Before the mutant could guess what was going on, a powerful stream of fire blasted from Baragon’s mouth and struck him in the chest. The mutant roared in pain while the intrepid beast kept firing his projectile weapon at his enemy.

The Gargantua backed off slowly as the flames licked at his chest and refused to die! He groaned, forced to his knees by the agony. But the human ingenuity within his deformed skull would not let him lose so easily. As the subterranean king confidently surged his fire forth, the ape-like monster suddenly uprooted a redwood and put it in the way of the heat ray, letting the tree catch fire.

Baragon blinked in surprise as the green giant  used it as a shield to the projectile weapon while swiping it like a mace. Within seconds, he had covered the distance between the two adversaries, striking the prehistoric predator  repeatedly with his new flaming weapon, causing the reptile to momentarily stop the release of his signature weapon. The humanoid continued striking the screeching saurian, using the redwood as one would a club. The cries of pain only encouraged Frankenstein’s son to further attack the beast that had so humiliated him!

The nimble kaiju quickly fired off his heat ray again, but this time, his enemy dodged it, instead placing his arms under the crimson reptile and lifting him into the air, before smashing him right back with an explosion of dirt and plant matter. Helpless, the canine-like reptile waved his stubby legs in the air as he launched forth another heat ray in self defense. Now, this one did hit matted hair, but the hominid  quickly jumped to the side once the blast hit him. Gaira grinned as his challenger began to panic, backing off slowly. To magnify his foe’s fears, the titan struck the ancient super volcano this park was named after, and picked up a large slab of volcanic rock, before tossing it right at his foe.

The horned beast’s  teeth chattered as the chunk loomed closer. Perhaps it was time to call it quits. He needed to recuperate. After this, he could plan how to defeat this monster. As Baragon finished his thoughts, the massive slab of rock hit the  location with deadly accuracy.

To the Green Gargaunta’s surprise, as the dust cleared, his enemy was nowhere to be seen. Shoving the slab aside, the sea beast  saw only a large hole in the ground. Cursing, Gaira began walking around his foe’s old home. He was still angry, and he still wanted his meal. The mossy giant lumbered across the landscape in fury, causing the ground to shake as he stormed across the area.

As he looked around, hoping his enemy would just emerge already and continue the battle, the ground beneath him began to tremble. It wasn’t from his massive  footsteps, and neither was it from Baragon.

Old Faithful, well, faithfully, shot its contents into the air, propelling the steaming liquid 20 meters into the air, striking right  between the legs…

The ape-man  roared in pain as the incredibly hot water struck. His cries of agony could be heard from miles away, continuing even as the great geyser went back to rest. Tears formed in his normally cold eyes and the great Gaira crashed to his knees.

He was in agony. Not even the inferno of the heat ray had brought him such pain. Breathing heavily and screaming in pain between intervals, those cries had attracted the attention of another… 

About a hundred yards away, a familiar head poked out of the earth. It grinned goofily. Then its upper body emerged as well. Baragon had returned just to laugh at his foe’s plight. And so he did. The plucky dinosaur shivered in hilarity, inciting the clone’s rage!

The mutant human got to his feet, grimacing in rage, his eyes like fire. He hobbled slowly towards the underground dragon, inciting further laughter from his adversary. As the saurian chuckled, the spawn’s  fury exploded! The beast’s eyes widened in horror as the green monster suddenly sprinted towards him, charging like a mad bull. The burrower  did not have time to retreat back under as the Green Gargantua grabbed his neck and tossed him against the side of Mount Yellowstone. The fierce king lay there stunned, his body racked with pain. But Gaira was now truly out to kill, and his foe would get no mercy.

Before Baragon could get up, the ocean borne kicked him hard, snapping one of his ribs upon impact. The saurian groaned in agony, spitting out blood, much to his tormentor’s satisfaction. As he moved to kick again, the subterranean kaiju managed to withstand his pain and roll out of the way, where the spawn of Frankenstein smashed a large chunk out of the mountain. The horned monster desperately thought of a plan to get out of his mess alive, quickly leaping back as his adversary stormed forth, kicking trees aside as he pursued the red dragon. As the Gargantua of the sea loomed ever closer, the deep dweller mustered up his courage and charged, leaping into the air! However, for his efforts, the savage brute simply bashed him away in mid-air with a powerful swipe of his arm, temporarily knocking the subterranean monster out cold.

As the dinosaur lay still on the ground, Gaira moved in slowly. It would give him no pleasure to kill the imbecile while it was still unconscious. So he took his time. And unfortunately for the digger, he woke up too soon.

Baragon’s eyes flashed open. He did not know how long he had been unconscious, but he was glad to be alive. The dog-like kaiju hoped the bully  had left while he had been unconscious. The side of his head still hurt from the brute’s strike. As the kaiju got to his stubby legs, he was suddenly grabbed by the neck by a powerful pair of arms, which quickly started work at strangling the screaming reptile to death!  The terror of the underground had, in reality, only been out for a minute or so. And the dirty fighter was glad for it, as he sadistically continued preventing air from entering his foe’s lungs. The reptile had to act fast if he was to survive this offense. Flames began to build up at the back of his throat.

Gaira grinned as he came face to face with his adversary. His hideous mug would be the last thing the reptile would ever see. The hominid stared coldly as the drake struggled in vain. He hoped to see fear in the pesky little dragon’s face, but now, he only saw a tenacious grimace on the horned kaiju’s face. The malicious predator did not take such stubbornness lightly and moved the monster’s face even closer to his own and squeezed ever harder. Unfortunately, that also put him in perfect position for the heat ray, which struck him point-blank!

The Gargantua roared in rage as he fell backwards momentarily, releasing the burrower as he patted out the flames on his face. Baragon landed on his feet, catching his breath. This turn of events had given him a mental boost. He no longer felt like running away. A new resolve burned within him.

He would finish this.

The ocean mutant rose to both legs, still in pain. The skin on his face had been burnt beyond recognition. One of his eyes had been destroyed and steam still rose from his face. However, he was laughing madly. It looked like a true fight could begin right now. The subterranean saurian showed no signs of fear as Gaira closed in. He did not take a step back. As the bigfoot-like beast lumbered forward, the underground monster charged and leapt into the air.

The Gargantua prepared to swipe the dinosaur aside again, but this time, a heat ray blasted him in the chest, stunning him for a second. The crimson dragon used that second well, knocking the hairy mutant to the ground while slashing him across the chest with his razor-sharp claws. As the larger monster prepared to knock the pesky beast off, Baragon snarled and lunged down, ripping onto the monster’s throat! The sea beast roared in rage, punching his adversary repeatedly on the sides. The tenacious hunter refused to relinquish his grip despite the force of the blows, until the most fearsome of Frankenstein’s monsters forcefully placed his foot onto the red dragon’s chest and forcefully kicked him, losing some of his neck in the process.

The burrowing saurian crashed onto his behind, the air knocked out of his lungs. As the canine hunter  prepared to continue fighting, his enemy leapt back to action and grabbed onto his foe’s red tail and with incredible strength, swung him like a mace of sorts, bashing him onto Mount Yellowstone again and again. The king of the earth roared in pain as he was smashed with such impact that a few of his teeth flew off and his lower jaw suffered a severe fracture. But the mad mutant really hoped he could just smash his foe’s skull in!

The subterranean monster would not let him do so easily.

As Gaira swung the reptile again, the small kaiju, instead of letting himself smash against the mountain once again, sank his claws into the geographical structure, gaining leverage. Much to the gargantua’s surprise, Baragon suddenly kicked with his back legs, knocking the giant back. It didn’t do much to hurt the humanoid, but it made him let go of the nimble reptile, who swiftly turned around and struck like a vicious cobra nipping onto his outstretched hand!

The humanoid roared in pain as the thin teeth sank in, and the red dragon began shaking his head from side to side. The larger beast quickly wrenched the reptile off, but not without a loss. He grimaced in horror as where once were three fingers, were, well, nothing. The undying clone’s limited regeneration would allow him to regain these appendages eventually, but it nonetheless filled him with rage and pain! The young drake swiftly swallowed the three fingers, his first meal in days. The conceited creature took the gesture as an insult. He was certainly stronger than this whelp, but the loss of his fingers had cost him massively. He was now without the use of one hand. But that did not matter. He swore that even if one of his hands was now useless, he would finish this bastard! He would finish him even if he had no hands at all!

As the two rivals continued grappling, the ancient of the two noticed something was wrong. He could not breathe. In fact, it seemed as though his throat was being clawed apart. Baragon gasped and gagged and even spat blood. Something was in his throat, and trying to claw out! Much to his horror, he realized there were three objects doing the job. Gaira’s body parts had a mysterious ability to take a life of their own, and they had, right where his claws could not reach them! The underground dragon suddenly stopped attacking, gagging and gasping.

The primal noted that soon enough. He did not know why the horned reptile  had suddenly ended his assault, but he was quick to take advantage of it. Swiftly, the Green Gargantua kicked the red lizard over and stomped onto his chest viciously, as the primitive reptile struggled against the forces both outside and inside him! The dragon blasted his heat ray in an attempt to get rid of the fingers inside his gullet, gagging as he did so. Simultaneously, he attempted to ward off the endless attacks, but to little avail. The sadistic glutton laughed as he tossed the underground king against Mount Yellowstone, the reptile weakly kicking back.

Finally, with one last blast of flame, the fingers shot out of the burrowing monster’s mouth. By then, Gaira already had too much of an upper hand. Before the subterranean monster could even return to combat, the clever scoundrel had already planned his next attack. He leapt into the air, and with this momentum smashed his foe’s horned head into the ground with his one good hand! The saurian groaned weakly. His lower jaw had been dislodged by the impact. He had to pull off a masterstroke to defeat his foe at this point.

For the mutant, it was time to end this little charade. It was fun while it lasted, but he really wanted to satisfy his appetite soon. The brawler readied his battle-lusting fist for one last blow.

Then, there was an explosion of earth. Gaira covered his eyes as sand and dust was thrown everywhere. When the dust cleared, the crimson dragon was gone.

The spawn of Frankenstein cursed in whatever way giant monsters do. That little creature had run away again! However, this time, he was wrong. The dinosaur had not run away. He was just getting a new vantage point.

In this case, the peak of Mount Yellowstone.

The malformed beast looked up. Baragon stood over three thousand meters above him. That was a great height, even by kaiju standards. He  rolled his eyes. It seemed the cloned human had to make the ascent up Mount Yellowstone to kill his enemy. With little choice, the Green Gargantua began to climb after his target.

But the king of the underground had other other plans.

Suddenly, the subterranean monster charged down the steep slopes of the legendary volcano, and after a brief charge, let himself plunge. The panicking hominid swiftly began backing down from the mountain, but it was too late. For the descending horned monster, it was exhilarating. He had never felt like this before. It felt as though the whole world was a blur. Everything was flowing around him and his foe was getting bigger and bigger and…

CRASH!

Baragon awoke in a massive crater. The impact had been larger than even he had conceived. And he hadn’t predicted that he himself would have been knocked out cold either. The sea beast, having been sent flying by the collision, lay about a hundred yards away, sprawled and broken. Unfortunately, the glutton, too, was stirring, and the green brute got up slowly, the dragon of the Earth’s depths quickly followed suit.

The two enemies glared at each other. Both were too weak to make another blow. They just locked their eyes, waiting for one to attack. They kept resolutely still for a whole minute.

Then, Gaira fell.

The once-great titan smashed the earth with an explosion of dust and dirt. The saurian soon saw why. Embedded deep into the humanoid’s skull was his own translucent horn which had dislodged from the impact. The hunter of the Earth crept slowly towards the sprawled mutant, and kicked him lightly to make sure he was down. True enough, the Green Gargantua lay motionless. He appeared to be dead, or at least unconscious.

The victorious dragon reared up on his hind legs, roaring in triumph despite his many wounds. He had won. He had saved his territory. The subterranean monster wanted the world to know about his victory against all odds. So he roared even louder. 

Battered, bruised and bleeding, Baragon had prevailed!

Winner: Baragon (Universal)