Author: Thomas Fairchild | Banner: Christian Salabert

The vast metropolis of Tokyo bathed in the shimmering fabrics of light that soared out of the Sun. In the land of the ‘Rising Sun’, millions awakened to carry out their daily chores. Hundreds every minute of the day strode through the packed streets. Those in cars waited for hours just to reach a destination that was only a few miles away. In this city, in this country, the daily chores kept the land alive and the people flourishing.

But now the Sun crouched lower in the horizon. Dusk fell upon the land that was slowly fading into darkness. The gigantic sphere that controlled our every way of life pulled its fabrics of light away from the metropolis, allowing the blackness to pour in and take Tokyo as its own for one more night. Centuries ago, the land, and even the world, was used to having its light fade for several hours. But in the new modern era, the city produced its own artificial light that reduced the darkness. No longer would its inhabitants stride outside and be engulfed by the night.

It was a new generation. It was a new time, a time that no longer dealt with the age old problems that once grasped the past.

A young couple gazed up at the night sky, which twinkled with stars that gleamed brightly from a distance. To them, this was what life was all about. There were no problems in the world. Everything in the vast emptiness of space circled around them. Life was a gift, one they would not waste. But the stars weren’t the only thing in the night sky that gave off a glow. What at first was thought to be an aircraft was actually something much, much more. It rotated rapidly in place. Azure flames blossomed out of five separate parts of the object’s body, which left a trail of smoke behind.

A howling cry shook the city block. The roar was louder than thunder and succeeded in not only stirring the ground, but sending pulses of fear into the minds of those who wished they had not heard such a horrible scream. But to this land, the roar did not belong to a mysterious entity. It belonged to the most infamous creature the world had ever known.

The waters in Tokyo Bay normally would flow smoothly, only to ripple and stir when the wind was pushing against it. But there was no wind. Long, jagged spines sliced through the watery surface. The leviathan rose out of the water, the bright lights of Tokyo failing to reveal the identity of the mysterious creature that had landed on its shores. Under the cover of darkness, any witnesses that had not yet run away for their lives could only make out an outline resembling a dinosaur that stood on its hind legs, with sharp spines protruding out of its back and a tail waving across the water. Water profusely dripped down the body of the large creature. All anyone could hear besides the screams of fear was the unnatural sound of the animal’s breathing. Air that was inhaled into the animal’s jaws released a loud snarl.

It was finally recognized as Godzilla.

He trotted forward, his feet breaking through the concrete as footprints were left in his wake. Nearby structures that had survived the tremors rippling through the ground were soon demolished by Godzilla’s body. The atomic saurian stomped into the heart of Tokyo, unopposed. But the strange object in the sky started to spin towards the invading monster. The leviathan’s reptilian eyes glared at the incoming object, his prehistoric mind describing the animate object as a threat. The spines clattering together every time Godzilla walked stopped and glistened with a bright radiance of power. In the back of Godzilla’s gaping maw, flashes of nuclear energy pulsated. The spinning object stopped in midair a few hundred yards in front of the horror of nuclear warfare. The azure flames flowing out of the spinning object disappeared and were replaced by thick streams of smoke. The object was no longer spinning; instead it began to descend to the ground.

A mammoth head burst out of the confines of its frontal shape. Reptilian flesh encased the head. Two long fangs curved out of its bottom jaw, not being able to be concealed within the maw of the beast when it closed. Its eyes were enriched with an emerald essence. Soon the bellowing fountains of smoke ceased and limbs sprouted out to take its place. The creature’s body fell towards the ground, where its feet grappled the street below to keep the body standing.

It was huge.

Godzilla’s reptilian orbs cast a livid stare at this new contender who had come to challenge his reign of imperialism over this land. His stare of animosity was returned by this giant tortoise of biblical proportions. People ran around their feet, flocking to escape the looming taste of dread that was about to erupt in the streets of Tokyo.

Swinging his tail into a nearby skyscraper, Godzilla sliced into the skyscraper’s outer hull and made the building crumble to the ground. A thick cloud of smoke converged on a small portion of where he was standing. The nearby buildings that gleamed with artificial light bathed Godzilla’s dark skin. The radioactivity inside his body had already dried his skin after being submerged in water for so long.

Godzilla’s spines still radiated with the atomic fury of Mankind’s own insolence.

But the King of the Monsters did not know that he was about to tangle with a protector created by an ancient civilization eons ago. The Guardian of the Universe, known as Gamera.

An orb of atomic energy churned in the gaping jaws of Godzilla. It allowed tendrils of radiation to escape in the region surrounding the mutant’s maw. His spines flashed with a blinding aura that no human had ever been exposed to. It shimmered brighter than before, intensifying every second. Throwing his head forward, Godzilla unleashed an atomic beam, which circulated out of his mouth and lanced into Gamera’s armored chest. He screamed in agony as the force of Godzilla’s beam dug into the plates of the tortoise’s chest. The nuclear leviathan’s feet embedded their claws into the ground, fighting desperately to not have the mutated dinosaur be thrown off balance by the discharge of his own ray. The searing heat had failed to affect Gamera, but the amazing force ripped into the organic plates that had been grown to withstand piercing attacks.

It had never expected to go up against Godzilla’s wrath.

Godzilla’s heat ray continued to flow into Gamera’s chest. With a loud, ear-shattering wail, the tortoise fell, his back shell slamming into the ground and causing the concrete to defy gravity by rising into the air. A large imprint of his body would forever be left in the street corner.

Raking the ground with his thrusting claws, the guardian struggled to rise and meet the King of the Monsters. But the ground shook back and forth. It appeared Godzilla had other plans in store for the monster that had come to save the city of Man. Gamera met Godzilla and the two titans ripped into the other for the first time. The spawn of radiation crunched the defender’s shoulder, where no shell was present to fortify his defense against Godzilla’s slashing teeth. Fighting the pain those jaws inflicted, Gamera scurried his claws into the leviathan’s abdomen. Both monsters tried to use their own weight to dislodge the other. For a moment, Godzilla was the victor. He pushed his foe across the ground and attempted to ram the giant tortoise into the outer hull of an office building whose constructors had never envisioned it to be reduced to rubble by two fighting monsters. But Gamera’s shell was all that made contact with the office building. The windows shattered and the wall was pushed back, but he had managed to stop Godzilla.

The tides had turned.

Gamera thrust his body forward, pushing Godzilla backwards. Godzilla’s jaws were still ripping into Gamera’s shoulder, but the mighty tortoise didn’t allow the pain to overcome him. As the guardian pushed with all his might, he rammed his head into the side of Godzilla’s skull, attempting to break his foe’s mouth away from inflicting any more damage. The tortoise’s long fangs slashed into the mutant’s throat, peeling the skin away from the body. But the wound had healed instantly. The benevolent warrior’s eyes witnessed this folly in his plans of defeating the atomic saurian. Pushing his feet harder against the ruptured ground, Godzilla attempted to gain leverage over Gamera by leaning straight up and pushing his foe’s arms down with strength accompanied by the mass of his body. The mutant swiftly dropped his body down and hurled it forward; the guardian was temporarily overpowered by the atomic saurian and toppled to the ground. Godzilla looked down upon his foe, who was unable to impale the saurian’s hide with his claws.

Godzilla’s own kept them at bay.

Gamera’s eyes were blinded by the dazzling aura of light generated by the mutant’s spines. In the back of his gaping jaws, atomic flames wrought sizzling heat and approaching doom. Godzilla felt the atomic energies churn in his mouth and prepared to unleash the full fury of his nuclear beam upon Gamera at point blank. Hanging over the guardian’s skin, which steamed with splintering pain, Godzilla’s jaws parted wider and unleashed a stream of atomic power.

Before the leviathan had expelled his devious power, Gamera’s legs disappeared in dense smoke. His arms were sucked into their sockets, no longer prisoner of his foe’s strength. The Guardian of the Universe blasted off from underneath Godzilla’s powerful grip, escaping him just as the atomic dinosaur spewed a beam of nuclear properties. The monster king’s beam lashed into the ground, incinerating a mixture of rock and metal, while at the same time the pressure the beam applied made the ground rise. Smoke filled his vision, but the creature’s instincts had already alerted him to his enemy’s escape.

Glaring in the direction of where he sensed Gamera, Godzilla prepared to unleash another intensified blast. But to his dismay, the creature’s vision was blinded by the coming of a ball made up of fire. The fireball plummeted into the mutant’s face, instantly vaporizing the skin and releasing enough force to knock him off his feet. Godzilla’s body crashed into the ground, the spines splintering the terrain as the beast slid across it. The mutant’s scorched face became refuge for flesh that had been fried by Gamera’s power.

Godzilla cried out in pain as his face began the process of regenerating. The mutated dinosaur’s eyes had been burned and reduced to a small shadow of what they once were. Crippled of vision, he lazily attempted to rise to his feet. Enraged at Gamera, Godzilla fired blazing streaks of atomic flame and prayed they’d connect with the giant turtle. But instead, the beams of energy eclipsed surrounding structures, ripping and toppling them to the ground. Pieces of what remained scattered across the region, unveiling a sheet of smoke, which blanketed the downtown district. All that could be seen were the colossal bodies of dueling titans.

Gamera remained shrouded by smoke and used it to conceal him from his enemy. But even if smoke had not blanketed his body, the tortoise knew Godzilla was temporarily blinded and wouldn’t be able to see him. It would be best to inflict as much damage as possible. The guardian’s jaws were separated by crackling flames. Exerting pressure, Gamera exhaled a fireball that in its wake led a stream of fire.

But he didn’t stop there; two other fireballs erupted out of his jaws consecutively. The first fireball burned into Godzilla’s chest and detonated, removing a layer of armored skin that failed to protect the leviathan from any harm. The force applied by the fireball nearly toppled the beast. But Godzilla’s sizzling wound had not suffered enough as two other fireballs struck the injured chest. Frying the coating of skin that tried desperately to heal itself, the mutated saurian’s massive form was hurled into the air. An office building that had been in business for the past several years was razed to the ground, reduced to rubble after being crushed by Godzilla’s form. There would be no survivors if any happened to be inside the structure when it was squashed.

Rubble scurried off the mutant’s body, which was rising out of the mess it had made. Godzilla’s eyelids opened, revealing the inner orbs that had been nearly critically wounded. Vision all but a blur; he was still unable to locate the intruder. Aggravated by the wounds he had received, Godzilla’s spines became enriched with atomic energy. Atomic flames seared out of the reptile’s jaws, destroying anything he had deemed unworthy of existing.

Buildings were slashed in half, crumbling down the slopes of its own remains. Nearby spectators mourned in despair as their homes were caught in the destroyer’s wrath. Entire neighborhoods had gone up in flames, along with the inhabitants who stayed with their loved ones to the bitter end. But Godzilla’s wrath clouded what judgment the creature would ever have. The nocturnal environment that brought darkness to the city had been exposed to bright flashes of light from his form. The long, jagged spines protruding from Godzilla’s back danced with the eerie essence of nuclear power; Godzilla’s atomic blasts seared out of his gaping jaws, repeatedly slashing the air and reducing the human structures all around to cinders.

The King of the Monsters was out of control.

Gamera crept towards the enraged saurian; his feet sank beneath the concrete, spawning low-level tremors. The vibrations in the ground jolted beneath Godzilla’s feet. The mutant’s predatory eyes searched for the one that created the ambiance in the ground, knowing it was a result of his foe being nearby. Gamera stopped and witnessed Godzilla turning his gaze directly at him. He spat a destructive roar at Gamera, warning the tortoise that the ability to see had returned to the King of the Monsters. The guardian’s feet disappeared in a column of smoke, which seeped out of the top layer of the legs. With a burst of power, he launched his body straight up, releasing large volumes of smoke out of his leg sockets. Gamera pointed his jaws at Godzilla and fired a barrage of fireballs.

The leviathan ducked his head, allowing the first two fireballs to fly overhead. He felt the heat the fireballs gave off as they narrowly missed the aberration of nuclear origins. Consumed by fire and plasma, the last fireball singed Godzilla’s right shoulder. He cried out in fury at the escaping Gamera. Spewing forth a torrent of shimmering agony, Godzilla’s atomic beam hacked into his foe’s abdomen and burned a hole into the guardian’s body. Green blood oozed out of the burnt wound. Gamera satisfied the leviathan’s anger with an ear-piercing wail of pain.

But Godzilla’s rage demanded more bloodshed.

Firing another volley of atomic energy, his beam arced into the tortoise’s open wound and burned deeper. Losing control of his aerial flight pattern, Gamera was so concentrated on pain that the great beast lost control and plummeted towards the ground. Mustering all the strength in his prehistoric body, Godzilla charged across the street, leaving footprints imprinted in the concrete. He showed a running speed he had never been able to achieve; Godzilla arrived at the scene of where Gamera was due to land.

The atomic saurian bent down, allowing his muscles to flex and prepare for the approaching physical strain. Using the ground as leverage, Godzilla leapt into the air and twirled his body, whipping his tail around to collide with the descending Gamera. The collision diverted the guardian’s falling body, sending it crashing into the ground.

With his foe buried, the leviathan’s thorny spines blossomed with atomic fury. An atomic beam pierced its way out of the dinosaur’s divided jaws and punctured Gamera’s arm, tearing and searing it to shreds. Layers of flesh and muscle designed to safeguard the arm sockets popped upon contact with the blistering projectile, its destruction rang out across the entire area for all to hear. Such an assault wrought pain and suffering to Gamera, who constantly screamed in sorrow.

The agony Gamera was feeling pleased Godzilla’s predatory instincts.

Jagged spines occupying his back glazed with another prelude of atomic suffering. Teeth extending out of the upper and lower parts of Godzilla’s mouth glistened brightly after being exposed to the high temperatures of radioactive flames. The atomic saurian spat a destructive ray of atomic energy, which lanced into Gamera’s torso, piercing the reptilian’s outer shell. Literally melting the armored hide that had been exposed to the intense heat, all that remained was a smoldering crater embedded in his flesh. Godzilla’s cold, reptilian eyes gazed into the massive wound his foe had received. A neon-blue aura tainted Godzilla’s spines, embodying the colossal bony-spikes with the element that gave the saurian life. After witnessing the horrible aftermath of the mutant’s destructive power, the back of Gamera’s maw shimmered with the presence of churning flames.

It was a standoff.

Godzilla’s lip curled up, revealing the sharp fangs hanging down from the upper jaw. The azure light shining out of the back of his throat glinted off his teeth, casting a malevolent warning of the searing pain to come. Not willing to take any chances, Gamera stomped towards the atomic saurian, fireballs pulsating out of his jaws. A bombardment of fireballs covered Godzilla’s body in a cascade of flames. The force the fireballs inflicted was enough to cause the leviathan to fall to the ground, stabbing the ground with his serrated spines.

Smoke whistled from the pores of his charred hide. The heat given off by Godzilla’s spines melted the asphalt that tried to contain it. He rose to his feet and allowed the azure light to ripple even brighter, promising Gamera the devastation he will soon endure. The Guardian of the Universe was blinded by the departure of Godzilla’s beam from his crackling jaws; the kinetic ray fueled by the mutant’s nuclear might enkindled the guardian’s fresh wounds. He howled in pain from the malicious attack. The glow embodying the atomic saurian’s dorsal fins faded and the ray disappeared into thin air.

A ghastly residue of radiation lingered in the air like smoke. In a short amount of time, it would no longer be seen by human eyes. The spawn of Godzilla’s radioactivity would inherit the air for generations to come, polluting the lungs of any unfortunate enough to thrive in a hellish wasteland.

Godzilla sought to make sure that if any in the future would venture into his territory, they would find the corpse of this fool who dared to challenge his authority.

Instead of infesting his mouth with the burning taste of atomic energies, the mutant preferred to savor this moment by ripping his opponent apart with his bare hands. Stomping in Gamera’s direction, the earth shuddering with every step the dinosaur made, Godzilla’s eyes flared with animosity towards the defender. Still reeling from the assault his foe had bestowed upon his wretched body, the Atlantean warrior released an earth-shaking cry, warning Godzilla to not come any closer. But the King of the Monsters snarled a grunt of contempt, deeming the warning cry a sign of the creature’s farewell to this world.

Looming closer, spikes slit out of Gamera’s elbows and waited for the perfect moment to strike. The monster king threw back his claws and plunged them forward, aiming to slice his target’s throat wide open. But such intent was never realized for Gamera knocked the arm away with his own, then ripped his foe’s torso wide open with his elbow blade. Hot, crimson blood gushed out of the fresh wound the atomic dragons received. It wasn’t the wound that made him furious; such damage could easily be repaired in seconds, but the idea of being harmed by such an inferior creature beckoned for an eternal life of suffering.

Godzilla looked forward to staining this reckoned metropolis with Gamera’s remains.

In quick succession, the leviathan inscribed gory trenches in his enemy’s throat. Green blood trickled down his claws, he felt the cold air freeze the warm blood. Like a starving jaguar, Godzilla slashed Gamera’s hide with his blood-stained claws. Slicing the air with his own claws, the last remnant of Atlantis grazed his foe’s throat with strategic accuracy. Godzilla’s painful groan gurgled in his throat, leaking out of his wounded neck.

Striding forward, splintering the ground with each earth-shattering step, Gamera rammed his body against the King of the Monsters. Even the prehistoric strength surging in the leviathan’s body failed to usurp the warrior of peace’s attempts at dethroning him in a contest of pure strength. Godzilla’s feet dug into the asphalt, scraping it from its surface and leaving claw marks. If he tried to brush Gamera’s arms away with his own, the guardian would impale the monster king’s torso with his elbow blades. The leviathan snarled in contempt, frustrated that an inferior creature had him in a corner.

Such frustrations spurred the growth of irradiation.

Godzilla’s gaping jaws flourished with the radioactive essence of death. The illuminating awe of nuclear carnage was enough to manipulate Gamera’s strategic plans. Instead of using just physical force, he decided it would be best to implement a different type of strategy; Godzilla prepared to unleash his radioactive ferocity, but a staggering pain threw off his concentration. No longer were the mutant’s spines sizzling with atomic light. Gamera felt the atomic dinosaur’s warm blood bathe his hand. The guardian from an ancient past wriggled his claws, poking Godzilla’s innards. At last, the leviathan managed to glance down at the reason why his mind was throbbing to the point of insanity.

One of his enemy’s claws had managed to pierce his abdomen. Godzilla’s body had literally consumed Gamera’s hand, and was now paying the price of having it within; Gamera thrashed his foe’s internal organs with his rampaging claws. With a firm hold on a host of organs, the benevolent warrior began to pull them out of Godzilla’s body.

How dare such an insolent creature ever think about doing such a thing!

It was a challenge for his own superiority, one Godzilla sought to win, even if he had to sprinkle his foe’s blood upon this tarnished metropolis. Gamera didn’t need to be a psychic to know what the mutant was thinking, just by staring at those feral eyes; he sensed the hatred and impending doom that flared in Godzilla’s nuclear orbs.

Unable to hide the fury that was at this moment self-evident, the leviathan separated his jaws and allowed the blistering flow of radiation to lance into Gamera’s arm. The guardian cried out in pain, unable to hide his agony from his adversary. The atomic beam ruptured his elbow-joint, consuming it in an aura of searing purgatory. He realized that he had failed to pull his foe’s organs from his belly quick enough, and in the process, the wicked ray of death succeeded in singeing his arm in two.

Gamera’s benevolent pupils were transfixed on the pieces of his arm falling to the ground. The asphalt that had been splintered by the tussling titans was now covered with his green blood. Chunks of what was once his arm now lay scattered upon the ground both monsters fought upon. It was a shame Godzilla’s atomic beam was filled with radioactivity; if it were just heat, the defender would’ve been able to absorb it. A furnace of smoke hissed out of what was once his arm. All that was left was an elbow, with pieces of burnt flesh dangling out of its pore.

A thundering roar escaped Godzilla’s prehistoric jaws. The atomic saurian rammed his 60,000 ton body against Gamera. The Guardian of the Universe toppled to the ground. His incredible mass crushed any object it fell upon. Mounds of asphalt and debris splashed upwards, influenced by the tortoise’s impact with the ground. With one of his arms mutilated and his body suffering severe wounds from the leviathan’s atomic beam, Gamera recognized the position he was in; victory seemed unlikely.

But he would never give up.

Balls of fire erupted from Gamera’s maw and crashed into the surrounding environment. Entire districts went up in flames, buildings devastated by the force each fireball packed. The area he fired upon was now engulfed by a sea of fire. Godzilla acknowledged the flames, allowing his prehistoric body to feel the warmth they provided. The crackling inferno reflected its premonition on the savage pupils of the mammoth reptile, making it seem as if Godzilla’s eyes radiated with fire. Perhaps they were, for hatred still burned in his eyes as they focused on the injured guardian.

Godzilla deemed Gamera a desperate adversary, feeling his aim was lousy. The King of the Monsters was standing right in front of him, yet the tortoise still managed to miss. Where was the strategy? Did his foe share his animosity towards this city, which was built by creatures that taught him the meaning of hate? An apron of radioactivity separated Godzilla’s jaws, casting a brilliant aura over Gamera’s fatigue.

Inhabitants scurried out of the rubble. Bruised and battered, they were lucky to be alive. But the radiation that lingered in the air would be their downfall. Flames devoured entire streets, burning everything in its path. Those who had the privilege of surviving this anarchy paid heed to the destruction all around them. They had only a few seconds to analyze the destruction unfolding around them, before they were engulfed by the light that emitted from Godzilla’s backside. The horrible cries of Gamera pervaded across the torn and battered metropolis. The horrible stench of roasted flesh sickened the nearby inhabitants. What atrocities did the Atlantean warrior endure in the wake of the destroyer’s atomic wrath?

The question was answered.

Godzilla ceased firing his atomic beam. The monster looked down upon his battered and withered foe. He paused, waiting for any signs of life. The smell of roasted flesh filled Godzilla’s nostrils. While it was the smell of victory, he shifted his gaze elsewhere, unable to cope with the terrible smell. He lumbered off in the opposite direction, towards the peaceful sea. Onlookers prayed the King of the Monsters would spare them of his wrath. Godzilla paid no heed to the ants crawling around his feet. All that was on his mind was the sense of victory and the promise of a long, peaceful sleep at the bottom of the sea.

Frightened witnesses examined what was left of Gamera; the guardian’s skin had been incinerated. Charred strands hung from the pores of his body, dangling from the exposed muscles. Green blood dried out by Godzilla’s irradiation covered the majority of his body. Gamera’s eyes had literally melted out of their sectors, replaced by hissing smoke. It would take days, weeks, maybe even months, to remove the massive corpse. But the smell, the horrible stench of death, would reside here for years to come. The smell would only be a reminder of all the lives that were lost this night.

The Earth trembled.

Godzilla’s feet plowed into the asphalt, vibrating the entire district with every thundering stride. The sea was close, it wouldn’t take that long. His feral eyes examined the crackling flames. The fires had spread, and would soon engulf the city. Light radiated by the fire glinted off Godzilla’s bony spines. His eyes descended to the ground and caught a glimpse of all the fleeing people, frantically trying to escape. The King of the Monsters was a force of nature, only acting out of instinct. But as the towering behemoth observed the panicked crowd trying to get away, Godzilla felt an embrace of the truth; he was a God among insects.

Unknown to the leviathan, the crackling flames in the district started to slither towards Gamera’s corpse. The flames submerged their fiery essence into the guardian’s body. Fire blanketed his stature, reconstructing the damage Godzilla dealt. A manifestation of fire temporarily took the form of his eyes. Gamera twiddled his fingers, trying to get the blood flowing. He paused, allowing his strength to rejuvenate; the charred remains of the tortoise’s skin started to dissolve. With one motion, he rose to his feet and stood erect, allowing the charred flesh to slide off the slopes of his body. A loud, rumbling cry escaped the Atlantean warrior’s gaping jaws.

Gamera’s strategy was a success.

Godzilla stopped, attempting to salvage the potency of the situation. The King of the Monsters angrily twirled his body around, and glared at his rejuvenated foe. He had underestimated his foe’s strategic plans in this battle. The atomic saurian would make sure it shall never happen again. A steady stream of wind gently blew across the ravaged terrain. The competitors stared intensely at one another, neither letting their guard down. Atomic power illuminated from within the inner-core of Godzilla’s spines. It manifested inside the chasm of his gaping jaws. Gamera’s reptilian eyes carefully observed the situation. Cauldrons of fire seeped out of his own fanged jaws, blistering the cold air around it.

Godzilla curled his upper lip, allowing his nuclear plight to discriminate the air. In a savage display of dominance, he leaned his head forward, and spewed an atomic emission of desolation. Fireballs streaked out of Gamera’s separated jaws and blazed across the torn metropolis to meet Godzilla’s unholy power. The atomic beam collided with the first fireball; the azure energies lanced into the energetic sphere and ripped it asunder. The penetrated fireball detonated in a shower of fire.

Godzilla’s atomic beam met another fireball and started to lose its momentum; Gamera’s fireball waded through the current of atomic fire, until it too failed to withstand the fury of the atomic ray. Another shower of fire bleached the sky of darkness, and replaced it with light. The mutant ceased all nuclear activity, unable to keep the atomic blast stable. But to his dismay, the third and final fireball singed his shoulder and a curtain of fire engulfed the atomic dragon.

Cries of agony swept across the torn city.

Crawling amidst the rubble, humans covered with dust and blood scampered to safety. Thousands of them were badly bruised, and every single one of them had witnessed the demise of another. Driven by instinct, none of them were willing to help one another; all that mattered was reaching sanctuary. But every time the ground rumbled and the loud, frightening roars of the monsters stirred their very being, all of the people stopped dead in their tracks to witness the battle of the century.

Godzilla’s face was badly burnt. The blistering hide smoldered with scalding heat, a testament of the power wrought by Gamera. It would take a few minutes for his injuries to be completely healed. But the atomic saurian did not plan to wait so long to achieve vengeance. Fountains of smoke poured out of the tortoise’s leg sockets, propelling the Guardian of the Universe straight up into the charred sky. Godzilla’s heat beam devastated the land Gamera once stood upon. The atomic dragon snarled in disdain, angered by the fact that his foe narrowly avoided confrontation. A menacing howl escaped his maw, challenging the guardian to confront him.

The challenge was openly accepted.

Fireballs plummeted against Godzilla’s black, scaly hide, entrenching craters in the monster’s flesh. The leviathan’s scaly skin boiled and popped, unable to withstand the extreme temperatures; Godzilla’s panorama concentrated on the flying guardian, allowing atomic dread to seep out of his bony spines. Atomic energy shot out of his parted jaws, attempting to ravage the airborne Gamera.

Immediately, the guardian sucked his head and arms into their sockets; azure streaks of light glimmered out of the cavern of the limbs. He rapidly twirled his body, avoiding the beam as he made his descent. Godzilla recognized the benevolent warrior’s strategy and decommissioned his atomic beam, then spun his body around; his long, muscular tail collided with his foe’s twirling form. Gamera uncontrollably flew across the landscape, attempting to regain control. Billows of smoke pounded out of the defender’s limb compartments and crashed into the ground, blowing cars and other pieces of wreckage away.

Gamera’s head peeked out of its socket, attempting to examine the situation.

The ground rocked back and forth, as the large and powerful Godzilla charged to meet his foe. Fire crawled out of the tortoise’s mandibles, morphing into a ball enriched with plasma. The fireball detonated against Godzilla’s chest, engulfing the charging beast in a sea of fire. But he sprinted past the fire, no longer influenced by its enkindled torment. The defender failed to prevent Godzilla’s counterattack; the dragon’s 60,000 ton body collided with Gamera, plunging the guardian deep into the earth. Asphalt transcended the limitations of gravity by ascending into the sky, then raining down in large cloisters.

Horrified people sought refuge, but a blinding ripple of light captured their gaze. Jagged spines rose up out of the smoke, flickering with nuclear anguish. The atomic dragon’s body slowly rose out of the mist, revealing a strange phenomenon. Godzilla was resting on top of Gamera’s shell! The Guardian of Universe plowed the ground with his organic boosters, blowing the surrounding rubble away with unparalleled force.

In a brief pause, the guardian’s body stopped, and Godzilla was given a chance to comprehend the situation at hand. He shrieked in confusion, trying to figure out what went wrong. Godzilla’s entire world started to spin; his foe’s body twirled in circles, moving faster by the second. Azure-flames blossomed out of Gamera’s arm and leg sockets, replacing the thick sheets of smoke. The leviathan’s claws impaled the surface of his foe’s shell, attempting to keep his stability. Cascades of irradiation glimmered within his jagged spines, consuming the monster’s gaping jaws.

But Gamera had a different idea.

The Guardian of the Universe slanted his rotating body, throwing off Godzilla’s balance. Godzilla’s claws raked Gamera’s shell, but eventually failed and detached. The King of the Monsters slid down the slope of his foe’s twirling stature, and bashed his head against the tortoise’s hard shell. Godzilla plummeted to the ground, and was engulfed in a sea of smoke. The atomic saurian tried to budge, but the painful ache in his neck prevented the beast from rising. The leviathan’s cold, reptilian eyes scanned the desolate region. The King of the Monsters released a small, painful cry of remorse. Fabrics of light blinded Godzilla’s scrutiny, a prelude to the fireballs colliding with the ground and surrounding him with crackling flames. The dragon’s dark, scaly hide basked in the heat the flames generated. The bones and muscles inside Godzilla’s neck snapped into alignment, attempting to repair the damage Gamera had caused.

Godzilla’s hot breath steamed the air around his face. Light radiated inside his bony spines. The monster’s claws scraped the ground.

Emerald eyes gawked at the injured, atomic dragon. Streaks of light burned out of Gamera’s leg sockets, leaving a torrent of smoke in its wake. His arms reached out and felt the cold air dampen his scaly hide. The Atlantean warriors’ arms morphed into long, slender flippers. The flippers worked like wings, assisting Gamera in his aerial travels. Soaring high above Tokyo, he circled the injured Godzilla. The tortoise noticed his foe’s movements, knowing full well his adversary was still alive. Not willing to concede any chance of the destroyer getting back on his feet, he unleashed a salvo of fireballs. The molten spheres plowed into Godzilla, incinerating chunks of his flesh and entrenching smoldering craters in the monster’s body. A painful scream reached his ears; his assault had increased Godzilla’s ratio of pain.

The wounds embedded in Godzilla’s flesh failed to heal properly, part of the reason being a result of the intense heat Gamera’s fireballs radiated; it cauterized the wounds. Godzilla’s strong, muscular arms impaled the ground, and pushed with all their might. The King of the Monsters started to rise, ignoring the blistering pain his foe inflicted upon him. He cracked his neck, no longer plagued by its injuries. The atomic dragon spat a torrent of atomic energy, singeing Gamera’s airborne body. In retaliation, the guardian bombarded his foe with a barrage of fireballs. A few of the fireballs struck the ground, unleashing a hailstorm of ember. The fire served a purpose.

It was cover.

The fire fed off the oxygen, producing cauldrons of smoke, blanketing the environment in its perpetual elegance. Godzilla’s nostrils inhaled the churning scent, unable to locate his foe. To be safe, azure-light blossomed out of the corridors of the mutant’s bony spines. The atomic dragon’s mouth reeked with atomic urgency. Cold, reptilian primacy flashed in his eyes, carefully aware of the danger he was in. The leviathan’s yellow eyes skimmed the environment, attempting to adjust to this barbaric landscape. He surveyed the ghastly smoke; the monster’s instincts urging the leviathan to seek refuge beyond the ring of smoke and fire. The King of the Monsters considered this strategy, but a ball enriched with fire penetrated the ghastly walls, attempting to sear off Godzilla’s head. He managed to avoid conflict with the fireball, then spat his atomic heat ray in the direction from which it came. The King of the Monsters discontinued the release of his atomic beam, and hoped to hear Gamera’s cries of agony. Instead, he only heard the flames crackle.

Godzilla scowled in disdain.

Rage took its toll, overwhelming all common sense. The leviathan discharged his blazing nuclear beam, leveling any man-made structure it lanced into. People scurrying across the ground sought cover, wasting no time to inspect the hundreds of tons of asphalt falling towards them. Godzilla’s feet burrowed into the ground, splintering the surface with his mass. The enraged behemoth roared an unearthly howl, accusing his foe of cowardice. But Gamera was merely fulfilling the strategy he’d need to overcome a creature believed to be indestructible.

Godzilla charged towards the haze of smoke, no longer warranting his foe the strategic high ground. The King of the Monsters demolished a building with his gigantic body and broke free of the ring of fire. An aura of azure-light blazed out of Godzilla’s jagged spines. He attempted to shoot his foe out of the sky, but the Guardian of the Universe made the first move; Gamera’s spinning body crashed into Godzilla’s sternum, packing enough concussive force to knock the wind out of his lungs. The Atlantean warrior toppled the destroyer to the ground, then ascended to the bleached sky. Godzilla rolled onto his belly, shoved the ground with his immeasurable strength, and rose in the ashes flickering around him. The King of the Monsters glared at the aerial creature known as Gamera, preparing to take aim. Godzilla mapped out the region, noticing his foe’s flight pattern would fly past Tokyo Tower. He curled his upper lip, revealing the carnivorous canines inhabiting the apex of his mouth.

The King of the Monsters waited patiently.

Gamera felt the wind press against his fatigue. The Guardian of the Universe wondered why his adversary wasn’t shooting wildly. Perhaps Godzilla’s energy was too low? If this was true, he would be free to summon the elemental forces needed to ultimately smite the atomic dragon. The psychotic nature of the destroyer posed a threat to not only the human race, but to all life. Godzilla was quite capable of hampering the flow of life on Earth. It would be futile to try and eradicate all life. Gamera knew the planet would endure in the long run, and life would find a way. But it was his intent to preserve things the way they currently were. No longer did azure-streaks blaze out of the tortoise’s arms. Instead, the reptilian arms stretched out, grazing the wind with their features. Organic boosters protruded out of the defender’s legs, increasing his speed. Gamera would need to circle Godzilla in order to unleash the full fury of his fireballs. By doing so, it should buy him enough time to summon the Mana.

Photographers stood upon the balcony of Tokyo Tower. The devastation, however grueling it was, provided the photographs they’d need to become legendary. Godzilla’s gloom did not stir the photographers. It never occurred to them of the peril they were in. The most infamous creature the world had ever seen was only several hundred meters away. Considered to be a living nuclear weapon, Godzilla dwarfed the destructive power of the atomic bomb. Yet these humans, clouded by arrogance, had no idea of the danger they were in.

Gamera was within range.

Godzilla irradiated his bony spines. Atomic flames howled inside the fissure of his jaws. The time to act was now.

The defender of peace glided in front of Tokyo Tower, and only then did he realize his foe’s intentions. The Guardian of the Universe attempted to divert his course, but Godzilla’s atomic beam pervaded across the desolate city, and lanced into the airborne Gamera. The heat ray unleashed enough concussive force to push the tortoise into Tokyo Tower. The photographers were grateful, proud to catch the closest picture anyone ever had of the guardian. It was the last thing they knew, before meeting oblivion.

Tokyo Tower crumbled to the ground, unable to embrace Gamera’s incredible weight.

Dark smoke consumed the ravaged landscape. Godzilla’s prehistoric stature moved amongst the dense fog, foreboding the role of a specter, surveying a world unlike the one it was born into. The King of the Monsters reveled in the chaos he had caused, howling in satisfaction with his ear-shattering roar. The Atlantean warrior answered Godzilla’s calling with a cry of his own. The Guardian of the Universe stumbled to his feet, casting an estranged glimpse at the mutant.

There was only one way to exterminate the atomic dragon. Gamera knew of the distractions he’d need in order to summon the energies of the Earth. Fire filled his empty mouth, igniting in the form of fireballs, which seared into the region in front of Godzilla. The leviathan was blinded by the conflagration of multiple balls of fire.

The King of the Monsters discharged an enraged roar, struggling to understand his foe’s strategy. The mutated dinosaur’s feral eyes barely managed to penetrate the crackling flames. A chaotic roar escaped Gamera’s maw as the towering leviathan ascended his gaze to the stars above. It was a cry unlocking the secrets of the world, which summoned cascades of energy spawned by the life force of the world itself! The energetic properties of Mana swept across the sky, gathering above the guardian.

Godzilla examined the situation of this strange development. The King of the Monsters felt a strange tingling in his primordial mind, informing the atomic saurian that danger was brewing. It was then that he sensed it. The power Gamera was manifesting. The King of the Monsters was overcome with a feeling he rarely exhibited.

Fear.

This unworthy adversary was about to wield unimaginable power. Godzilla had to act fast, his survival depended on it! The King of the Monsters released a thundering roar, one that shook the foundations of ground beneath his feet. He felt blistering heat crackle from the core of his heart. The atomic dragon’s veins paid heed to the molten fury of his nuclear reckoning. Godzilla’s jagged spines blossomed with scarlet dread. The King of the Monsters stood poised in a predatory posture, manipulating his own power.

Mana descended from the sky, enveloping Gamera in its benign aura. The benevolent warrior’s holy power increased dramatically. The guardian’s armored chest opened, revealing the pulsating energy within.

The time was now or never.

Godzilla’s divided jaws heralded a streak of crimson light, which blazed with enough heat and force to rupture the ground beneath it. Those unlucky enough to be scurrying beneath the beam were instantly incinerated in its wake of freedom. Gamera groaned in dissatisfaction, angered by the fact that he was too late to discharge a weapon that would ultimately annihilate his loathing foe. Godzilla’s fiery beam lanced into his open chest, igniting the gathering Mana with its blistering fury, setting off a chain reaction.

Gamera, the Guardian of the Universe, disappeared in a blinding explosion. The destructive potency of the explosion leveled nearby buildings, and extended its radius instantly. Light triggered by the rupturing blast of the explosion glinted off Godzilla’s feral eyes. The King of the Monsters roared a cry of understanding, as he was engulfed by the explosion. Shockwaves generated by the explosion shredded the district. Godzilla, a creature of biblical proportions, had been lifted off the ground by the explosive force. The King of the Monsters’ skin was unable to deter the blistering heat, and as a result, it burned off. The leviathan’s steel-like muscles melted, and at times popped. When the wave of heat departed, Godzilla’s body fell limp against the ground, eventually bouncing off the surface and slid across the landscape, and came to a halt.

A large impact crater took up a portion of Tokyo.

Gamera’s burnt carcass laid inside the center of the crater.

Godzilla weakly clenched the ground with his gigantic claws. The atomic saurian breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to be alive. He weakly fought to rise to his feet. The monster’s legs wobbled; desperately trying to support the rest of the body. Godzilla’s unparalleled wounds lingered with the scent of burnt flesh. The smell of it filled his nostrils and nauseated him. Godzilla’s body shook uncontrollably, the pain was that severe. His body began preparations needed to undergo the long, horrendous session of healing his bodily wounds. He growled a few painful grunts, the result of his eyes regenerating. They were incinerated amidst the explosion’s wrath. Godzilla’s pupils formed, bringing forth his ability to see. The vision was blurry, but it would do.

The King of the Monsters noticed the charred body of the tortoise. Godzilla waited outside the outskirts of the impact crater, searching for any signs of life. His ears faintly heard a heartbeat. Gamera was still barely alive, and it would take time for the Guardian of the Universe to resurrect. Godzilla’s energy had been sapped during the battle. The King of the Monsters knew the time to act was now, but he was too tired. It wouldn’t be long until his foe retained his former health.

Godzilla snarled in spite, despising the thought of not fulfilling his oath to murder the guardian. There was only one emotion present that represented retribution.

They’d fight again.

With that thought, the mutant turned away, and weakly marched in the direction of the ocean. Making it to the ocean would sap Godzilla of all his strength, leaving the King of the Monsters with no choice at all, but to hibernate. He disappeared beneath the watery surface, leaving behind a desolated Tokyo. Wind gently blew across Gamera’s ravaged body. His heartbeat pulsating with life, the noble mind of the guardian patiently waited to shed his burnt skin and rise to defend the Earth once more.

Until that day, both Godzilla and Gamera would have to settle for a draw.

Draw: Godzilla (Heisei), Gamera (Heisei)