Author: Jack Jordan | Banner: Andrew Sudomerski
Four months had passed since Godzilla’s battle with Megalon in Chicago, leaving a devastated Windy City to recover from the disaster. Thousands of lives were lost in the attack and millions were left homeless. Dozens of skyscrapers had been demolished, costing the state billions of dollars in damage and lost work. The effects on the stock market were unbelievable, leaving many to fear that the United States would be unable to cope with the damages.
But despite all of that, the mood of the people was optimistic. Temporary homes and settlements had been established all over the city and adjourning suburbs, allowing a portion of the displaced population to remain local. Many more were taken in by private citizens. Volunteers had come from all over Illinois and the nation to help rebuild the once proud city of broad shoulders.
And help they did.
Within the first 3 months, the majority of the rubble had been removed. The large pit created in the battle, referred to jokingly as “the deep dish” by locals, was in the process of being cleared. Designs were being drafted for a memorial park and tower to take its place, though there was some debate raised by various companies about the revenue they would lose to such a construction. Life could have almost been normal if not for the shadow that still loomed over the city: Godzilla had yet to leave Lake Michigan.
For the first few weeks, the media had given near constant media updates about the search for the Titan as the government scoured Lake Michigan. Surveillance drones maintained a twenty-four hour watch on the shores of the great lake as they waited for signs of movement. Meanwhile, scientists from all manner of fields flocked to Chicago to report on the presence of the kaiju.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered that both the temperature and water level of the lake had changed due to Godzilla’s presence. Marine biologists based at Shed Aquarium surveyed the wildlife of Lake Michigan in relation to the alpha predator. Sociologists remarked on the strange affection and ownership Chicago’s citizens had developed toward Godzilla, whose name now adorned sports jerseys all over the city. Behind all of them was MONARCH, which led the search for the monster king. Unmanned submersibles were deployed, starting a grid based search of Lake Michigan.
And after just 2 weeks of searching, they found him.
The announcement that Godzilla had been located immediately stirred panic among the people of Chicago. In response, a press conference was called with the world’s foremost expert on Godzilla: Dr. Serizawa. For the next week, the conference was rebroadcast over major news networks alongside footage of the sleeping giant. “Before the MUTO incident in 2014,” Dr. Serizawa calmly told reporters, “Gojira had not been sighted for more than 60 years. Unless he is provoked, it is unlikely that he will return to the city.”
Public fervor diminished, but inquiries were made about what the government would do if Godzilla did awaken. Military officials showed blustering confidence on air as plans were drafted by the states of Illinois and Michigan in case the titan landed on their shores. Canada increased communication with the U.S. as they prepared for a possible kaiju arrival. Families planned evacuation routes while schools educated children about radiation exposure and safety. All the while, Godzilla slept peacefully, his wounds from the battle slowly healing. Under advisement from MONARCH, the U.S. military made no attacks against Godzilla as he rested, though they remained prepared to strike at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, far away from the watchful eye of the world, a new threat emerged.
In the small town of Hourra, Louisiana, strange things had begun to happen.
Violent tremors had occurred near the town during the last week of August. No one thought much of it; tremors had been reported all across the Midwestern United States since Megalon had been revived. Hearing this on the local news, the people of Hourra went about their lives with little concern.
At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sightings of stray animals around the town had decreased, but no one complained about that. Then people started to disappear. It wasn’t until the middle of September that they were first missed. After all, many of the locals lived in isolated homes throughout the swampland. It wasn’t uncommon for such people to come to town only every few months. Hourra was an isolated community, and that’s how they liked it. But when November came and they still hadn’t been seen, the sheriff went out to check on them. And what he found terrified him.
He had never seen anything like it. The houses had been torn apart. Door frames were burst open, walls knocked down. Even the roof had been torn off of a pair of old two story homes. Inside, among the destruction and wooden scrap, dried blood coated the walls and floors. But most horrifying of all were the footprints all around the houses, large 3 clawed feet that had torn trenches into the muddy ground.
The sheriff rushed back to town as fast as he could, calling in aid from the state police and every sheriff’s department in the adjacent counties. All told, nine houses had been destroyed and nearly 50 people were missing. With bloodhounds and helicopter support, the sheriff and his brothers and sisters in blue started tracking the footprints into the swamp. If there was any chance that someone was alive, then he had to take it.
Deeper and deeper into the stinking marsh they went, nearly 30 officers of various departments and jurisdictions. Each carried with them an AR-15 or shotgun, each of them prepared for the worst. And that is exactly what they found.
The helicopter spotted it first; a sinkhole in the swamp, nearly 500 feet wide. Water cascaded down into the pit, the bottom of it difficult to see even in the early morning light. As the officers approached the pit, an uneasy feeling fell over them. There were no birds chirping or flying overhead. All was quiet except for the sound of their own feet sloshing through the water.
The current grew stronger as they approached the pit, but careful movement kept them from falling in. Even with their closer vantage point, it was impossible to see inside the sinkhole. A smell like rotting meat wafted up from the enormous hole. Cautiously, the officers set up a perimeter around it.
A low rumble came up from the earth, like the hiss of a gigantic alligator. The ground shook beneath their feet as clamorous shrieks began to rise up from the ground. Rifles trained down into the darkness, the officers saw nightmarish creatures climbing up the walls at incredible speed. The beasts were large, each one standing between 8 and 10 feet tall, with thin long tails stretching out behind them. The colors ranged from grey to green and brown, but all had leathery skin with bony protrusions jutting from their backs. Their yellow softball sized eyes were fixed on the humans above them, their toothy mouths wide and salivating.
The officers opened fire on the advancing horde, the muzzle flash of their firearms illuminating the carnage beneath them. Bones littered the floors and walls of the pit; deer, alligator, dogs, cattle, and other unrecognizable specimens. Worst of all, partially eaten human bodies littered the sloping walls of the sinkhole, some still in the ruined clothing they had worn at the end.
The din of the skirmish rose higher as the creatures began to feel the sting of the officers’ weapons, sending up cries of pain into the daylight. But the pain would not last long; in the face of fear, fire control was completely forgotten. For 10 seconds, gunfire rained down full force on the creatures, but as magazines ran low and fire diminished, the monsters grew bolder.
Climbing the walls of the pit in 15 foot leaps, the creatures swiftly cleared the rim of the deep hole. Pouncing like jungle cats, they pinned the brave officers to the ground and dragged them back to the pit. Amid the dwindling gunfire and the screams of the creatures, the sheriff radioed back to town. With one hand firing his sidearm and the other on his radio, he gave his last report.
Back at the sheriff’s office, the message came over the radio in a confusing mass of static, gunfire, and shouting. A response was quickly attempted, but only static came back. With no other recourse, the call was forwarded to the Louisiana State Police headquarters, who in turn sent it to the FBI and Department of Defense. By the time the message got to Dr. Serizawa at MONARCH, an official transcript had already been finished:
“Monsters *gunfire noise* missing people, killed *gunfire* look like baby *Unknown noise* -zillas! Get everyone to safety! Th-*Unknown noise, louder* RUN! *gunfire, screams*”
MONARCH immediately sent a team to investigate, but what they discovered only fueled their worst fears: the town of Hourra was gone. In its place remained broken homes, crushed cars, and the visceral remains of the citizenship. Further, any chance of secrecy had been ruined by the numerous police agencies whose officers had heard the distress call. With no alternatives, the decision was made to inform the general public. The president was on the air within the hour to tell the world that monsters were once again loose within the borders of the United States.
A state of emergency was declared in Louisiana and all bordering states as the military was deployed to fight the monsters. Searches were conducted to discover the location of the creatures, but no evidence beyond footprints could be located. Only the rediscovery of the sinkhole provided any respite for the desperate searchers, who faced increasing public scrutiny with each day that passed. Although it had been emptied, a wealth of information was discovered and analyzed by the eager scientists of MONARCH.
Based on evidence from both the battles in San Francisco and Chicago, the creatures were not actually related to Godzilla. Numerous footprints of various sizes had been found, revealing that the creatures had both a different shape, stance, and build than the King of the Monsters.
Fragments of large eggshells were also found deep within the sinkhole, which ran deeper and farther than anyone dared to go in the current crisis. Samples were taken, and back in the lab an incredible amount of information was found. In addition to the vaguely reptilian nature of the beasts (discovered thanks to skin imprints and shedding found around the eggs), there was a faint trace of radiation to be found. But without any knowledge of Godzilla’s life cycle, no true connection could be certain.
A week had passed before the researchers concluded the most deadly news of all: the oldest eggs had only been laid in the last 3 weeks. Taken into consideration with the various footprints, it was determined that the creatures grew at an unprecedented rate. Grimly, the men and women of MONARCH deduced that it would only be a matter of time before humanity’s next encounter with the creatures. At the rate they grew, they would need copious amounts of food.
And the day before Thanksgiving, they reappeared.
On that busiest day of national travel, U.S. Route 51, its four lanes packed with traffic, was beset by strange tremors. For hours, cars experienced sudden turbulence, resulting in numerous accidents and collisions. To accommodate, traffic slowed to a near crawl as first responders tried to help out at the numerous scenes.
Closer to the city of Hammond, cars were at near standstill when the ground opened up. Dozens of vehicles tumbled into the gaping hole in the earth, their occupants screaming as fate rushed up to meet them. For miles around, the rumbling of the earth and the crashing of metal could be heard. A tremendous cloud of dust and grime rose up from the sinkhole, obscuring nearly a half mile of the highway.
Stranded on the side of the road, numerous people left their cars once the rumbling had stopped. Some rushed into the cloud to try and help while others looked on. Inside the plume of dust and smoke, nothing could be seen. Would be rescuers shuffled through the cloud, tripping and falling into cars and rubble. Sounds of pain and fright could be heard throughout the hazy gray cloud as trapped drivers called for emergency services.
Helicopters had to be utilized due to the unbelievable congestion on the road. Cars were backed up for miles in both directions, keeping any ambulance or police vehicles from being able to safely make it to the scene. Half a dozen helicopters were headed to the scene within 10 minutes. A mixed bag of military and medical aircraft, they were ready to evacuate all that they could. The expected to find a terrible accident scene. Instead, they found a massacre.
Everywhere cars were crushed and torn open. Their occupants were being devoured screaming by the horde of kaiju which had spewed from the earth. Nearly 4 dozen of the creatures that had massacred the police at the sinkhole were racing through the stalled cars. They shrieked and roared as they ripped open cars and dragged people back to the pit to feed on.
Within the massive sinkhole, a larger creature stirred. Zilla, hidden by a shroud of smoke and dust, observed her children with approval. For the past month and a half, she had been leading her growing children south. After feasting on the people of Hourra, she needed to find another source of food for them. Burrowing toward a source of incredible seismic activity, she had led them through the earth. But their hunger had grown almost beyond control. Her children snapped voraciously at each other and the largest of them had even eaten a few of the smallest. With little choice left, Zilla had led them up to the nearest source of activity to feed. And feed they did.
In horror, the pilots radioed back to base about what they had discovered. Surveying the scene from 600 feet above the ground, they provided descriptions of the creatures and their activity as they waited for a response on how to proceed. Within the pit, activity increased as they circled. Green light emanated from underground, turning the cloud into a ghostly vapor. The helicopters kept their distance, not eager to discover what was inside the hole…
When reinforcement aircraft arrived 15 minutes later, the fate of the first responders was revealed by the twisted, blackened remains of their helicopters. Of the creatures, no sign could be found except for a trail of wreckage leading south. Directly toward New Orleans.
Within hours, the city was a battleground. Incapable of retaliating without massive civilian casualties, an emergency evacuation was conducted. The National Guard was deployed into the city, intent on rescuing as many civilians as possible while engaging the creatures in a limited fashion.
As the war between humanity and monsters escalated again, something else happened. Far north, away from the besieged city of New Orleans, within the cold waters of Lake Michigan, a sleeping giant awoke.
With alerts sounding from every drone MONARCH had watching him, Godzilla rose up from the bottom of Lake Michigan. His jagged spikes pierced the surface of the water, sending a misty spray trailing after him as he picked up speed. Landing at an unoccupied section of the shore, Godzilla snorted as he made landfall. Water sprayed from his nostrils and gills as he shook himself out of the water, stretching after his healing sleep. Recovered from his battle with Megalon, Godzilla began to walk south.
A growing feeling of discomfort had troubled him as he slept. Another titan had awoken. Like the MUTO’s he had faced in the past, it would grow and breed until even his strength would falter, overwhelmed by their brood. He could not let that happen. And so, with senses far more keen and strange than any other creature in existence, Godzilla followed the sensation south. Whatever had awoken him, he would find it there.
As Godzilla began to make his way through Michigan, conferences and meetings were being held across all arms of the government. With the battle raging in New Orleans, it was now apparent that King of the Monsters would be making his way to fight this new titan and her children. And when Godzilla and Zilla met, chaos was sure to occur.
But with all efforts being made to stop Zilla and her spawn in New Orleans, there was little the U.S. government could do as Godzilla drew closer and closer to his target. The only consolation came from Dr. Serizawa, who reminded those in charge that Godzilla had largely avoided populated areas previously. And if Godzilla defeated his opponents in Louisiana, he would almost certainly return to the ocean. And so the powers that be watched with bated breath and trembling hands as Godzilla made it into the New Orleans city limits 2 days after awakening…
Trampling everything in his way, Godzilla announced his arrival to New Orleans with a tremendous roar. The challenge echoed across the once most populous city in Louisiana as he waited for a reply. He could taste his opponent’s fishy scent on his tongue, the stench of it filling his nostrils. They were here. He would just have to draw them out… but the minutes began to add up as he waited. Impatient, he began lumbering toward the heart of the city, his senses alert. His eyes scanned the buildings as he walked, his ears honed for slightest sound of movement. He was the hunter, and he would find his prey.
Beneath his feet, the ground trembled. The saurian Zilla was moving, her world a frenzy of activity. For the last 2 days, a feeling of unease had been upon her. Her children were restless, constantly looking for food and shelter as she did her best to keep them safe in their nest. A predator was coming, and she would have to defend them.
Burrowing up from beneath the surface of the ground, she observed her opponent for the first time, sweeping his head from side to side as he looked for her. The pair of them were not dissimilar; both were vaguely reptilian with large scutes trailing down their spinal column. Both were powerfully built after their own fashion. And both were predators. Pulling herself from the ground, she stalked toward him. Block by block, she closed in on him until she felt comfortable that he had not seen her. With a quick roar, she leaped onto his back!
Caught by surprise, Godzilla cried out in pain! Though not heavy enough to knock him over, the smaller kaiju had latched onto his back with her claws. With a furious screech, Zilla slashed at Godzilla’s head and neck. His tough hide prevented far deadlier wounds, but he was soon covered in small, stinging lacerations. Bellowing in rage, Godzilla shook his body from side to side in an attempt to knock her off, but Zilla held all the tighter in response.
Desperate to free himself, the monster king turned toward the Plaza Tower. With sudden speed, he ducked forward, crashing his head into the building in a massive spray of rubble. Zilla, situated at his shoulders, was caught unaware and sent sprawling off of him in a heap.
Regaining his composure quickly, Godzilla made to stomp on the smaller titan. Eyes wide, she pushed away from him just as Godzilla’s foot came crashing down on the spot that she had been. Circling on all fours, she pulled away from him by a city block. The two creatures locked eyes, holding each other’s gaze.
Anger filled Zilla’s orange eyes, fierce and motherly.
Godzilla glowered at her, his own rage peaked. This creature had drawn first blood. It was time to return the favor.
With a booming roar, Godzilla charged toward the smaller kaiju. Zilla roared back in turn before meeting his charge with claws outstretched. She quickly outpaced her larger foe, moving past him with a quick slash of her left claw. The deadly talons left large marks across Godzilla’s thigh, but not so deep as to draw blood. Turning, Godzilla lashed out with his right claw, but Zilla ducked beneath the comparatively clumsy attack. She drew away from him again, ready to make another swift pass. She would have to find a softer spot to hit.
Godzilla emitted a roar of frustration as he planted his feet. He could not outrun the smaller titan, so he would have to use his size against her.
Zilla sprinted toward him once more. With two quick slashes, she raked her claws across Godzilla’s left side and belly before moving past him again. The alpha predator cried out in pain as blood began to trickle from his wounds. His armor was tough, but it did not make him invincible. He had to stop her hit and run tactics. He had to keep her still!
The smaller kaiju all but smiled as she rounded again on her rival. Blood dribbled from her claws as she went to make another pass. The titan king was too slow, too old to keep up with her. She would make him pay for coming after her brood!
Godzilla roared at Zilla once more, preparing his next move. If he could time it right, it would bring a swift victory. Zilla screeched her triumph and sprinted toward him again, claws ready. Ducking low and turning, Godzilla swung his long, heavy tail at Zilla with tremendous speed.
Her eyes went wide as the gargantuan tail raced toward her, reducing a row of buildings on Barrone street to a line of dust and smoke. Unable to slow down quickly enough to dodge the attack, she did the only thing she could. Before the tail could hit her, Zilla jumped. Up and over the attack she soared, but not so quick or high that Godzilla could not strike back.
Following through with the turning motion of his tail swipe, Godzilla spun to face Zilla as she passed his torso. With amazing speed and precision, the monster king lashed out at the leaping kaiju, using his head like a battering ram. His spiky, heavy skull collided with her chest as she went to leap past him. With a meaty thud, Zilla had the air knocked out of her as she tumbled backward, crashing into the Place St. Charles building.
The 645 foot tall building shuddered with her impact before crashing inward. Concrete and steel rained down onto the lithe monster, briefly burying her beneath the crumbled building. Moving as quickly as possible, Godzilla pushed into the rising cloud of dust and smoke as he sought to seize the advantage.
As Zilla clambered out of the rubble, Godzilla lashed out with a powerful kick. Catching her in the stomach with his powerful clawed foot, he sent his opponent sprawling into the next block. As Zilla rolled and writhed, trying to get to her feet, Godzilla charged again.
Roaring in anger, he stomped his right foot down onto her chest. Once, twice, three times he brought his foot down. Zilla coughed up blood with each strike, her ribs cracking audibly with the impacts.
With the final stomp Godzilla planted his foot on Zilla’s chest, pinning her in place. The smaller titan struggled desperately to escape, but her opponent was too strong. Her eyes rolled frantically in her head as an eerie blue glow began to emanate from Godzilla’s tail. Frantically she clawed at his leg as the light began to advance up his back, the light glowing brighter and brighter. Calling out into the night, Zilla watched as her enemy raised his head up, inhaling deeply.
Godzilla leaned forward to deliver the killing blow when suddenly he was pushed off balance! His focus entirely on the pinned Zilla, he had not noticed that her brood had come to her aid!
From out of their underground lair, dozens of young Zilla had appeared. The bulk of the beasts were nearly 10 feet tall dinosaur-like creatures not yet resembling their parent.
However, of her original nest in the swamp pit, 4 had survived. They had grown rapidly with each new day and feeding. These young titans stood just below 100 feet tall, their scutes finally starting to develop.
As they approached adolescence, their bodies had begun to developed muted colors to go alongside the natural grey of their species: lavender, rose, chartreuse, and daisy shown on their backs and belies. Acting as a pack, the group had split in half; two of the juvenile Zilla had crashed into their mother’s assailant while the other pair went to aid their mother.
Ducking their heads low, the pair of Zilla rammed Godzilla with their shoulder scutes. The spikes sank deep into Godzilla’s leg, drawing blood from the King of the Monsters. With a cry of pain, Godzilla was pushed off of Zilla, falling into the street and buildings a block over. Viciously, his two attackers pounced on his prone form.
No longer pinned, Zilla attempted to pull herself back to her feet to no avail; Godzilla had pushed her shoulder spikes deep into the earth beneath her. She cried out in frustration, but her young had already come to help her. Not quite strong enough to tear her loose from the ground, the pair began to frantically dig beneath their mother as she struggled to get free, rocking her body back and forth to loosen the dirt.
The lavender and rose Zilla pair continued their assault on Godzilla, slashing and biting at his prone body. Godzilla thrashed about, his armored hide yielding little blood to the attacks of the young titans.
Unfortunately for them, he had not lost his breath in the fall. Enraged, Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath at the rose colored Zilla, directly impacting his chest and throat. Unlike Megalon or the MUTO’s, Zilla’s species lacked a robust exoskeleton to resist the attack.
Like a flamethrower, his attack charred the youthful creature’s body in an instant. The rose colored kaiju’s skin blackened and crinkled, withering the muscle beneath and exposing bone. The monster shrieked in pain as the atomic fire burned his throat, spilling his life’s blood boiling into the street before it pierced his body and lanced into the buildings behind him in a massive explosion. Falling to the ground, the rose colored Zilla writhed briefly before it expired.
Godzilla lifted himself to his forward claws, the blue glow of his atomic energy still shimmering within his scutes. Around his hands and feet, dozens of the smaller Zilla swarmed. At ten feet tall, the damage they could do against their colossal enemy was limited, but it wouldn’t prevent them from trying.
The tiny monsters swarmed up his arms and legs, digging and biting at his flesh as others ran up toward his face and eyes. Blood welled up across his arms and legs from the swarming attack. Annoyed, Godzilla released his atomic breath again, incinerating the titans on his arms and legs with a carefully aimed blast. As the glow faded from his craggy spikes, he began to swat at the smaller Zilla on his face and neck.
Meanwhile, the brood’s mother had freed herself from the ground. Loose earth and asphalt tumbled from her back as she rolled her shoulders, ready to attack once more. Standing beside the three remaining juvenile titans, she watched as Godzilla crushed her children against the surrounding buildings like a bear scratching itself against a tree. She could hear the screeches of terror and sudden death as they were snuffed out by the ancient alpha predator. Beside her, the younger Zillas snarled and shook in anticipation.
Godzilla finished off the remainder of the Zilla horde and turned toward his remaining opponents. The streets around his feet were littered with the broken and lifeless bodies of the tiny kaiju.
Enraged, Zilla let out a trumpeting roar as emerald light raced up the length of her spine, illuminating her scutes like a light shown through a crystal. The green fire shown in her eyes before bursting from her roaring maw, the line of fire clearing the distance to Godzilla in an instant.
The beam of atomic energy hit Godzilla in the chest, eliciting a cry of pain from the monster king. The outer layer of his armored hide smoldered from the attack. In response he began to build up his own atomic breath, the blue light running up from the tip of his tail. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Godzilla’s deadly breath, Zilla released her children and charged.
The 4 saurian kaiju swarmed toward Godzilla, the lavender juvenile arriving first. With a quick slash of her claws, she struck Godzilla in the stomach as she passed his right side. The daisy and chartreuse colored juveniles followed a similar path, deviating only to the left after drawing blood from Godzilla’s belly. Godzilla swatted at the young monsters as they passed, catching the daisy highlighted Zilla across the face with his powerful claws. 3 large gashes were opened on the right side of her face, blinding her with her own blood. With a shriek she tumbled, rolling into the base of the Hancock Whitney building as she clutched her face in pain.
Zilla herself struck last, closing the distance to Godzilla in a single leap. Using her powerful hind legs she kicked and slashed at Godzilla’s chest like a raptor before landing in front of him. The armor already weakened by her radioactive breath, she sliced long bloody slashes into his chest. Godzilla roared in anger and pain as blood ran from the lacerations in his chest. Again he struck at her with his massive claws, only for her to duck out of the way.
From behind him came the three Zilla children again. The lavender and chartreuse pair struck at his flanks as their daisy color sister made a bold move. Furious and wounded, she shrieked and clambered up his back. Using his dorsal plates like stepping stones, she clawed and slashed her way up toward his head. As the adult Zilla circled around him, Godzilla slashed and shook his body in an attempt to dislodge the small yellow kaiju. Buildings trembled for miles around, shattering glass with each jarring impact as she held onto his neck and shoulders with her claws.
Firmly attached to his head, she opened her moth to use her own special attack. A burst of fiery gas exploded from her mouth, the orange flames singeing the back of Godzilla’s head. Her siblings, seeing the attack, cried out excitedly, and began to circle Godzilla, attacking with their own immature breath weapons. Roaring in annoyance, Godzilla bent downward and grabbed for his shoulder riding nuisance.
Caught up in the thrill of her successful attack, the young Zilla was unable to escape the grasping claws which ensnared her. With immense strength and speed, Godzilla tossed the smaller kaiju to the ground. Stunned by the impact, the daisy kaiju was powerless to defend herself as Godzilla stomped down on her back. With two powerful downward thrusts of his left foot, Godzilla had crushed the juvenile Zilla’s spine with a loud crunch. The daisy colored Zilla’s orange eyes, so full of life and energy seconds before, dimmed as blood ran from her open mouth.
Devastated by the loss of their sister, the lavender and chartreuse Zilla rushed her killer. The lavender Zilla circled as her green brother charged in, attempting to climb up Godzilla’s back as his daisy sister had done.
Unwilling to allow another climber onto his back, Godzilla struck first. With a quick swing of his tail, Godzilla caught the chartreuse kaiju across the torso. The heavy appendage pulverized the young kaiju’s rib cage and spine, sending his broken body flying into the night. He crashed into the nearby One Canal Place, which collapsed atop him in an expanding cloud of dust and glass.
With nothing left to lose, the remaining Zilla child ran to meet her fate. As Godzilla lifted back up from his tail attack, the purple beast pounced onto his chest. Sinking her claws deeply into Godzilla’s shoulders, the little monster attempted to do as much damage as possible to her siblings’ killer.
She slashed with her hind legs across his belly and bit at his throat with her powerful jaws. As blood began to run across the front of his body, Godzilla reached up and grabbed the lavender Zilla in his powerful claws.
The speed of Zilla and her brood had forced him to rely on his claws to strike, but Godzilla’s primary weapon had always been his teeth. Snarling, he snapped at the purple kaiju’s head and neck before clamping his powerful jaws around her throat.
With a burbling cry, the young Zilla tried desperately to escape as Godzilla sank his teeth deeper and deeper into her throat. Hot blood poured from the wound, running down Godzilla’s face and neck. Shaking his head like a bull dog, Godzilla tore her throat from her body and dropped her to the ground.
Incensed, Godzilla looked around for the parent but he could find no trace of her. Relaxing his shoulders for a moment, Godzilla exhaled. His body was sore, he was bleeding from dozens of small wounds, not to mention the slashes across his chest. But he still had one more opponent to face.
Seeing the lifeless bodies of her children fallen on the ground, Zilla let out a heart wrenching screech. Godzilla whipped around to locate the slender kaiju two blocks away from him, her body shaking with grief and rage.
Her orange eyes, so like his own, brimmed with tears as green light raced up her spiky back. Each scute was quickly illuminated a row at a time, starting from the tip of her tail to the massive spikes on her shoulders. In a flash, Zilla’s tears evaporated as light and heat bloomed from her eyes. Opening her toothy mouth wide, the smaller kaiju let loose with her atomic breath in a swirling stream of green fire.
But Godzilla was ready for her. His own atomic breath burst from his mouth, the blue plasma colliding with green in a blinding flash of light between them! Sparks flew as the two kaiju poured forth their power in a struggle for dominance. A pulsing cloud of energy was building at the impact point. Blue and green rays of light danced and swirled within the cloud like an aurora, the colors cascading over the ruins of New Orleans.
Zilla’s eyes widened in shock as she held onto the thread of her breath. She had never experienced something like this before! Her vision was a haze of blue and green light, keeping her opponent’s form concealed from her. Digging her clawed feet into the earth beneath her, she braced herself against the blast. If she could just manage to hold on, perhaps she could escape, regroup. She had to if she was going to make the murderer of her children pay!
Godzilla kept his breath firing in a steady flow of power. In his long life, he had mastered the use of his atomic breath. He knew its strengths and weaknesses inside and out. His opponent’s weapon may have been a different color than his own, but its function was the same.
Zilla had led the attack with a powerful blast, attempting to overpower him quickly. If he had been less experienced, perhaps it would have worked. The struggle of beams was as much an act of balance as it was power. A wrong move could spell disaster if the energies were interrupted at the wrong time. And so he let her push herself to the limit, the meeting point of the beams drawing closer and closer to him.
A new light shown in Zilla’s eyes. She was winning! She took a difficult step forward, attempting to push the energy back on Godzilla.
Feeling the balance of the beams shift between them, Godzilla made his move. He increased the power of his breath as blue light began to pulse down the length of the ray. Zilla, no longer braced, stumbled with the sudden push from her opponent. Immediately her green radioactive beam began to wither as the cloud of energy raced toward her.
Pushing his advantage further, Godzilla stepped toward the struggling kaiju as he fired, keeping his head held low and forward to maintain the balance of the beams. Zilla’s eyes widened in fear as her breath finally gave out, breaking the balance of power in a massive explosion, sending an earthquake-like tremor for miles around. Relinquishing his flames, Godzilla raised his head to the sky and roared in victory.
With a cacophonous sound, a shock wave of plasma rolled across the landscape as a strange blue and green fireball expanded skyward. Zilla, her lithe frame over 7 times lighter than Godzilla’s, was tossed end over end away from the blast. Careening through the air, the saurian kaiju screamed before smashing headfirst into the rubble nearly 300 meters away, sending up a shower of concrete and steel.
The smoke cleared before Godzilla saw Zilla again, still laying where she had fallen. Her leathery skin was charred and bleeding, the energy released from the explosion having ravaged her aching body.
With a weak cry she attempted to lift herself up from the ground, failing to pick herself up on the first try.
Shakily she rose again, forced to support herself on all 4 limbs due to the pain from her broken ribs. Her hearing was nonexistent except for a constant ringing noise. Blood ran from her mouth and nostrils. The fall had even managed to crack the large scute above her right shoulder, its pointed tip left embedded in the earth.
Stomping across the black and broken surface of ground zero, Godzilla called out against his opponent once more. His powerful roar echoed across the city, managing to penetrate the ringing in Zilla’s ears. She looked up at the monster king and their eyes met across the battlefield.
Desperation and pain filled the smaller titan’s eyes, power and confidence the larger. Enraged, Zilla screeched back at Godzilla, but the threat was empty. With a snort that flared his gilled neck, Godzilla stalked toward Zilla.
Her body weak and frail, Zilla considered her options for a single second before turning tail and running. In her current condition, she couldn’t possibly defeat Godzilla. Her only hope was to escape and rebuild her brood. Alone she could not beat him, but together perhaps they could. Painfully, she ran faster and faster for the glistening water of the gulf.
Outpacing him even in her weakened state, Godzilla summoned his atomic breath once more. Blue light ran up his back, pulsing from within the craggy dorsal plates. Like a line of fire, the plasma burst from his mouth and flashed toward his opponent.
But the smaller titan was still too fast, the ray striking the ground where she had stood a second before. Eyes bulging from their sockets, Zilla pushed harder. She would not survive another blast. In the water she would outpace him. She just had to make it! Rearing back, Godzilla fired another blast as Zilla jumped for the gulf, just half a block from the waterline.
Time seemed to slow as she leaped, the line of blue fire rushing toward the saurian kaiju. Still rising through the air, Zilla watched as her enemy’s attack passed directly beneath her! The flaming atomic breath of Godzilla came so close to her that Zilla could feel the immense heat across her body, scorching the leathery skin of her belly.
With an immense blast of steam, the beam struck the surface of the water as Zilla arced over it to disappear beneath the waves. Trailing blood behind her, she swam with all that she had. She had to get as far away from Godzilla as possible.
Enraged, Godzilla stomped his clawed right foot into the ground, cracking the pavement beneath him and rattling structures for miles around. Megalon had escaped him in Chicago, but this one would not! So long as she was alive, he was in danger of being overrun by her spawn. He would not let her escape so long as she posed such a threat.
With grim determination he made his way to the shore and dove forward into the water. In seconds he was gone, once more on the trail of his quarry. Behind him, the people of New Orleans and the United States at large breathed a sigh of relief. Though the destruction was immense, the monsters were gone. Perhaps now, they could finally begin to rebuild.
Winner: Godzilla (Legendary)
