Author: Kristian Zatkoff | Banner: Jackson Morris

A satellite was hovering many miles above the Earth. Its telescopic lens was watching as a battle unlike any before was about to be fought many miles below in the heart of North America’s capital that was already under siege.

Utsuno Ikusagami slowly descended from the sky, observing the creature that was staring back up at him. So this was the King of the Monsters, the cause of so much destruction? He recalled how the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasure Center sought his help to destroy the beast. Their weapons had failed them so many times in the past that they had become desperate enough to turn to a god and ask him to fight the radioactive terror for them. The divine hero landed in the middle of what was Washington D.C. 

The towering titan let out a low growl at this strange being, trying to figure out what it was. It wasn’t a machine or cyborg like he was used to fighting. The golden god made the first move and fired an orange-colored beam from the sun medallion on his forehead. The monster monarch slid across the ground and didn’t stop until the knight of the sun ceased fire. The scorched saurian lay there motionless, his eyes rolled up in his head. A full minute passed. The fused defender was about to declare the living a-bomb dead when he saw some fingers twitch.

Did he really see that? 

Several more moments passed before he got his answer. Godzilla rose back up, his bones creaking, his eyes moving back in place. The radioactive reptile  snarled at the giant warrior, as his lips parted and the spines on his back flashed a bright neon blue before a stream of blue-white death was vomited out, the searing energy about to lance into the legendary hero who merely held his hands out in front of him. A barrier suddenly stood between the god and the death ray, the deadly atomic energy sliding harmlessly off.

 Utsuno Ikusagami decided to hold it up, wanting to see how long this devil could discharge energy into an attack before having to replenish his reserves. It felt like an eternity went by when it was only a minute. The raging  beam seemed like it would go on forever but it soon grew weaker, the force lessening until it ceased. The holy knight made his barrier vanish and observed the monster with mild interest. The King of The Monsters was panting, out of breath from using his beam for so long. 

This was the creature that has plagued the world for so long? Takeru was unimpressed. 

Surely the mortals exaggerated the creature’s power. The only reason this primeval threat was still standing before him today was because of sheer dumb luck. Machines like Mechagodzilla malfunctioned, kaiju made mistakes just like any other animal and even the brightest mortal would overestimate the power of things they do not fully understand. The other gods who fought him were cocky. They were so full of themselves that they toyed with this walking disaster instead of killing him off outright.  Today, Utsuno would prove that, despite common misconception, death did seek Godzilla out. Today, he would end the legacy  so-called “Monster King” that the mortals claimed not even the gods themselves could kill. He quickly planned in his head the fastest way of ending this fight. The shining sentinel raised his left hand, a lance of silver energy forming in his hands. With a roar, the Strongest Monster on Earth charged the silver warrior who threw the lance with great force.

The lance tore through the Godzillasaur’s chest like a hot knife through butter, the other tip punching out his back, into the ground behind. The beast of Lagos was engulfed in a sea of flames. Utsuno Ikusagami ran forward before the flames could die down. Godzilla looked up only to have a fist slam into his face. He stumbled back before being backhanded, then kicked in the stomach. The pressed assault of the god was caught off guard when the reptile head butted him back. The divine raised his fist again and punched out, only to have his foe grab his fist. 

What? 

He tried to punch with his other only for it to be blocked too. The Monster King looked at him, his eyes narrowed. Kaiju and god struggled in a contest of strength, trying to push the other away. And to Utsuno’s horror, he was losing. He was being pushed so far back, the ground sliding beneath his feet, that soon he found himself crashing through the White House and out the other side. He managed to stop by digging his feet deeper into the ground when suddenly the atomic dragon  pushed forward and let go. The holy knight  almost fell backwards when the monster monarch grabbed him and lifted him high above his head before turning around and throwing him.

The divine warrior slammed into the earth, remains of crushed buildings and dead bodies flying high into the sky. He got back up just in time to dodge the tail that had slammed into the spot where he was not more than a second ago. Godzilla roared in frustration, striking at heavenly armor with his claws. The protector of the sun stumbled back but regained his balance and grabbed a slashing claw, sending lightning-like energy through his touch which burned and seared scaled flesh. The invincible king tried backing away, struggling to free himself from the death grip but the god refused to let up, sending still more juice into his charge. The smell of overcooked meat filled the air, making Ikusagami sick but he still held on. The monster king was foaming at the mouth while shrieks of unbearable pain were heard for miles. He was almost there. Just a little longer and the champion of the pantheon would kill the radioactive menace. Clawed arms were falling limp by his side and it seemed victory was near when a bright flash of light blinded the silver warrior. The next thing he knew he was on his back, his entire front aching and burning from a quickly released nuclear pulse.

Godzilla roared as he rushed forward, stomping his feet onto the god repeatedly before turning to slam his tail into him. The Strongest Monster on Earth lifted his tail and was about to slam it down for a second time. The champion had to move fast. His back wings spun at high speeds and he took off before the tail could hit the ground. The blades cut several oak shaped spines, even cutting two or three big ones off as he flew past. The blades also cut into Godzilla’s chest and neck, sparks, blood, bone, and flesh flying everywhere. The blessed being turned around, intending to cut up this terror more on a second passing when a stream of blue death hit him full on the face, knocking him clean out of the sky. The sentinel landed right on his feet and fired his medallion beam. The radioactive reptile blocked the beam with his own. The beam clash was a stalemate.

The irradiated dragon poured more energy into his ray, the blue beam slowly pushing the orange beam, inching slowly toward the knight born of Takeru and Ota. The Yamato god couldn’t believe his eyes. The beast could change the power level of his own beam! Utsuno poured more energy into his beam, making it inch closer to Godzilla, before finally it slammed right into his mouth. The King of the Monsters stumbled back before falling into the Washington Monument, the obelisk crushed under several thousand tons of flesh and bone. The sun god held out his right hand and a giant sword appeared, the blade covered in divine energy to be the bane of evil’s existence. The nuclear menace charged forward when a second spear of light pierced his flesh. The hero from the moon ran forward, slashing the blade across the modern god’s chest.

Blood rained down on the streets as Godzilla felt bone being cut as if it were nothing. His howls could not describe the pain he felt but it was the best he could do. He slashed his claws across his attacker’s chest, sparks flying as the divine warrior staggered back before regaining his balance and stabbing back at the kaiju monarch’s chest. The King of the Monsters coughed blood, as he struggled to push his attacker away. 

Utsuno Ikusagami was angry. He only got one of the lungs, but he was aiming for the heart. The hydrogen bomb’s bastard rammed both of his fists into the ridged helmet, causing the warrior to stagger again. Bellowing a war cry, the saurian charged once more. Ikusagami knew exactly what he was trying to do and he would have no part of it. The charging titan slid before turning and swinging his tail, but a silver fist caught it. Using the monster’s own momentum against him, he swung the beast by his tail and threw him.

Miles above, something was about to happen. Something that would forever change the world’s view of Godzilla. Someone overrode the satellite’s program and started a countdown that was never meant to happen, a countdown that would change the tide of the battle many miles below.

The determined dinosaur held his head up high. Utsuno knew what Godzilla was planning and got ready to fire his beam. But something troubled him. The spines were glowing red instead of blue like they had been. The chosen one fired his beam. It happened in less than a fraction of a second. Just when the sun beam was mere inches away from the foe’s fanged face, it stopped when he opened his mouth and let loose with his spiral ray. The holy knight was shocked. Unlike the blue atomic rays of before, this one was strong enough to stop his beam. No, worse, as it was actually pushing his beam slowly back at him. This new ray was slightly stronger than his ray and that made the legendary warrior feel something that the gods rarely, if ever, felt.

 Fear.

The glittering beam was shoved back into the medallion. The titan of the sun staggered back, his feet sliding along the ground as he was pushed back by the great force of the spiral ray before falling on his back. The pain was nothing like any he had felt before. When the atomic dragon ended his attack, the Yamato god got back to his feet and was shocked to see the outer layer of his holy armor was melting, big drops rolling down and dripping down the front like melted candle wax. How? How could this… thing, this mistake, be able to harm his divine armor? How had the humans so easily made something that was so hard to kill? Orochi didn’t give him this much trouble, and he was said to be the most evil thing in this world. So why was this one proving to be so strong?

The pantheon’s champion put up a barrier as the living hydrogen bomb fired his spiral ray again. Utsuno Ikusagami was thankful that the beam was blocked by his barrier, while the irradiated saurian stopped and tilted his head as if trying to think of what to do next. He didn’t get a chance to plan his next move before the silver warrior ceased using his energy barrier and ran forward, his sword held high up with his right hand. The radiation eater was too low on energy to use anymore spiral rays so he fired his normal atomic ray. Utsuno ignored it as he ran through it and with unfathomable might swung the sword sideways, ready to cut off this beast’s head.

There was a loud clang, but nothing happened. No spray of blood filled the air, no loud thud of a large body hitting the ground. The baffled god saw why. 

Godzilla had the sword locked in a death grip with his teeth. Ikusagami generated another spear and thrust it right into the monster’s chest. The invincible terror  howled out, the sword freed from his jaws, as his foe backed up. The wounded Godzillasaur  swung his tail but the hero jumped over it. The monster monarch looked up just in time to see him falling with his sword pointed at a downward angle. 

The atomic heart of the dreaded god was pierced by the sword. His arms went limp, his eyes became dull and his body slouched forward. Utsuno Ikusagami pulled the sword out and kicked Godzilla’s body to the ground. He had done what was said to be impossible. He had killed the so-called “Monster King.”

He was getting ready to fire his medallion beam and destroy the remains when he heard a loud whoosh. Before he could even react, a large missile shot down between them and slammed into the ground. Suddenly there was a bright flash of intense light, heat and noise. It was like standing in the sun. Despite the blinding light, Ikusagami could still see Godzilla’s body, and could see wounds closing up before he blacked out. When he came to, everything was leveled, nothing was left standing. What happened? How long had he been knocked out? Hours? A minute? A few seconds? Utsuno Ikusagami could only guess that a nuclear weapon was fired off in the city. He knew that mankind would have to be very desperate to use it anywhere, let alone in one of their own cities. It would have to be a massive emergency, such as for one to be used in such a location. He guessed the slain creature was one of those emergencies.

But was it meant to be fired, or had a mistake been made? Either way, when he got back to the U.N.G.C.C. in his human form, he was going to have some strong words with whoever ordered that launch. He was no expert on nuclear weapons and Godzilla even less so but even he knew that the monster fed off of radiation. Some had theories, or perhaps hope, that if the beast was in the heart of the blast, then perhaps he might be vaporized before getting a chance to feed off the energy and grow stronger, but no one had done it for fear of the risk of him not being killed, not to mention the countless lives lost if used in a city. It seemed someone was willing to take that risk. Ikusagami knew he wouldn’t find him even as he turned to stare at the spot where he had been. At least he thought it was the right spot. He wasn’t sure, the blast had changed the landscape as well as destroyed anything that would make knowing where he was standing easier to know. Had the monster that terrorized man for centuries been vaporized? He doubted it since he was still standing, though with some admittedly intense burn marks that stained his once pure white armor ash black. Granted, he was a god, after all, but then again, the beast was putting up a pretty good fight against a god. Considering he was nothing more than just a mutant mistake, of course. He was far stronger than what Utsuno Ikusagami had originally thought.

No, he knew his quarry had somehow survived that blast, or rather, been brought back from his recent death by all that nuclear energy. As if to confirm his thoughts, the Monster King roared an angry challenge for their rematch. Utsuno turned around just as another red spiral ray slammed into him. The silver warrior stood up and stared at Godzilla. His heart dropped into his stomach at what he just saw. The monster had changed. His eyes, spines and large patches of his skin gave off smoke and glowed a reddish-orange. The nuclear destroyer was in meltdown mode again. The foolish mortals! They sought to destroy him but instead, they guaranteed that the monster had a chance win this fight, and after he had already beaten him, too! 

Takeru’s godly form stared at the burning titan more closely and saw there were new wounds there that had not been caused by him. It seemed that while his wounds had healed fast enough to not let him be vaporized, they didn’t heal fast enough to keep up with all the burns. The dragon may have been recharged, but now he had new injuries because of the blast. Maybe the champion of the gods could still win this fight after all.

Ikusagami fired another beam at his foe’s face, distracting him long enough for the Yamato god to run up and grab the beast’s neck, zapping him with his holy energy and stabbing him in the chest with his sword. He missed his mark by mere inches. The atomic heart was still beating with life. The monster monarch slashed at his attacker, trying to fend him off. The protector from the moon held on, ignoring the heat until it became too much and let go. He kicked the radioactive reptile  away as he drew the sword back, steam rising from the blood on the blade. The holy knight  needed to kill him, again, even faster because the longer the fight went on, the hotter the reptile’s body would become. He was already badly damaged just from being too close to the monster, let alone touching him. Utsuno Ikusagami was backing away when the mutated Godzillasaur’s tail swiped under his feet, causing the mighty being to fall face forward. The supercharged saurian fired his heat ray, sending the warrior flying in the opposite direction.

Utsuno tried to get up, but the burning beast was already upon him. The fused hero acted fast, punching the monster champion  in the groin, causing him to shriek and stagger backward as the god returned to his feet. Takeru was planning his next move when the creature recovered and bit down on the pauldron on his shoulder. Now the roles were reversed as the divine tried to dislodge the mutant dinosaur, but the raging monster would not be denied. His teeth bit harder. The heat was so great that it helped the teeth get deeper in, past the armor and into angelic flesh. 

The sun god was about to zap his captor when his spines flashed and before he knew it, Godzilla was firing his ray while still chomping down on the god. Utsuno Ikusagami zapped back with his energy but the molten monster refused to let go, still biting down, still firing his death ray. Ikusagami fired his medallion beam at point blank, finally forcing the flaming beast off his feet and letting go.

But the vengeful creature still fired his beam, which connected with the sun knight’s and caused a massive explosion. The silver sentinel almost fell as he staggered back, but the Yamato god quickly recovered and ran forward before the smoke could clear, wanting to attack before the Strongest Monster on Earth could get up. He learned the hard way that he already was. As he ran into the smoke, he was slapped across the face by a powerful tail. Stunned, Ikusagami just stood there as the King of the Monsters punched and then kicked him down. The living hydrogen bomb  bent down and lifted Utsuno high above him, spinning him around before throwing him high into the air. The divine was falling through the air when suddenly the steaming saurian  lunged forward and swiped his claws into an uppercut, sending the Yamato god flying far away.

The deity collided with the Earth, sending dust and debris from the nuclear explosion flying into the air. Despite the pain, the stalwart hero quickly got up and threw another spear of energy, only for it to be blocked with his foe’s heat ray. The legendary warrior summoned another energy spear, this time planning on throwing both his sword and the spear while blocking the beam with his own. He fired his energy attack and threw both holy weapons. To his utter horror, however, the spiraled death beam expanded to such a size that it engulfed the holy beam, energy spear, and divine sword. It didn’t stop there. As the beam grew bigger, it engulfed Utsuno as well. A massive blast was seen, heard and felt for miles around, one that rivaled the earlier nuclear warhead.

Takeru could not believe the pain he was in. He stood up and saw that his armor was melting. His sword had been damaged almost beyond recognition. The blade was gone, melted down to a dull hilt. Was he really going to stay and continue the fight? Ikusagami decided that for now, retreat would be the better option. He had enough trouble trying to kill the monster  in his normal form, but this burning mode was proving to be something else all together. If this mutant wasn’t a super monster before, he was now. In this state, there was no way the divine could win. He would have to finish this fight another day, after recovering from his injuries. But first thing’s first. He needed to recover his sword and distract the raging reptile long enough for his escape.

Utsuno Ikusagami flew forward and grappled with the burning beast. The two slid across the ground, neither one gaining the advantage. The radioactive destroyer would change that. He rammed his head forward, causing the god to lose his balance and fall down. The supercharged saurian held him down with one hand while pummeling him with the other. Finally the beast opened his mouth, ready to fire another blast, ready to kill this thing, whatever it was, once and for all. He didn’t know who or what it was and he didn’t care. All he knew was that he would never find peace in this hostile world as long as it lived, he could sense it already planning to escape and kill him when they met again. His instincts told him to kill it now, while it was still hurt.

Ikusagami panicked, his hands roaming around in his crazed state, trying to dislodge the beast, when his hand felt something. Out of the corner of his eye he saw what he needed: The hilt of his once mighty sword. The blade was mostly gone except for a jagged little piece of metal sticking out of where the hilt ended. He brought his arm up and slashed the broken sword across his foe’s scaled face. 

The Monster King shrieked as he was blinded, blood pouring out like crimson tears. Utsuno fired his beam again, knocking the giant off of him. He stopped for only a moment, thinking if he should run or stay and fight. He quickly deduced that the monster was still too powerful, even without his eyes. His other senses were still strong enough to know where he was. Ikusagami took to the sky, barely dodging another death ray from the thrashing creature who either smelt him or heard him escaping. By the time his eyes healed, the monarch of kaiju saw that his foe was too far away to chase, already a dot in the distant sky.

Utsuno Ikusagami had flown for nearly thirty minutes before he felt he was too far away for the living atomic bomb to shoot him down. He looked down at the broken sword in his hand. 

Before today, he would have never thought it could be damaged, let alone destroyed. He hoped it could be fixed. Before today, he used to scoff at the rumors that the King of the Monsters could not be killed, by man, machine, monster, alien or god. That he was a monster to monsters. Now he believed them. He also felt guilty, guilty at the anger he felt for the mortals whose foolishness brought this demon into this world and had caused suffering and death for countless, both the innocent and the wicked. Felt guilty for how he felt sorrow for the monster and his mutant brethren, knowing that they were just as much victims of the atomic age as the mortals were victims of their attacks. He now fully understood why this saurian was so powerful, why this mistake existed in the first place, and what he stood for. He heard the word symbolism and he now saw that if life was such then the radioactive mutant would represent war. The beast was made by a nuclear weapon, a device of war and that is why man will never be free. Fighting him was fighting war, and as long as there are people, there will be war, there would be more mistakes such as nuclear weapons, and as long as these things existed, so would Godzilla.

Man had opened Pandora’s Box and it could not be closed. Ikusagami was about to leave when twin purple streams of deadly energy hit him in the back. He looked over and saw an armored caterpillar. It was Earth’s own little fallen guardian. The Black Mothra. Battra roared, her mission to destroy any threat to the world or any unnatural being that might upset the balance. As far as she was concerned, gods only belonged in the sky or the underworld. They had no place on the Earth’s surface, and since he was a god on the surface, Utsuno was an unnatural being. The holy knight glared at the fallen angel as it charged forward. 

Ignorant insect! Did it not know who he was? What he was? If not for the gods, there would be no planet Earth for it to protect in the first place. The larva was a fallen guardian now. She still fulfilled her mission, yet had been blinded by the end goal beyond reason. The bug should have been destroyed the moment she became corrupted. The divine champion charged forward. This was one mistake he would not feel guilty putting down.

Many miles away, computer engineers were trying to find out who had fired the nuclear warhead at Washington D.C. when someone hacked their computers and every screen began displaying the same image. One that hadn’t been seen since the 1960’s, when Godzilla destroyed their base of operations, or so it had seemed. Everyone was shocked. Many miles above in space, the satellite that had fired the nuke featured the same logo that was now appearing on the computers.

 A red bamboo.

Winner: Godzilla (Heisei)