Author: Anthony James Velez | Banner: Landon Soto

Their plan had worked to a T. Godzilla was wiped out of the pages of history. In the place of the King of the Monsters was the three headed monster, King Ghidorah. No amount of opposition leveled at them by Japan was enough to fight it off. The Futurians were confident that the world would be theirs soon enough.

As King Ghidorah shot lightning-shaped beams somehow made out of gravitation itself, their masters were preparing on how to implement their ideals on this world. There was no doubt there would be rebellion from the government and people of Japan, and the dictatorship would require a means to convince them that their takeover would be beneficial without reliance on King Ghidorah. Of course, word was already spreading via the news of their kaiju destroying their home, so the dragon could perhaps be used as an intimidation tactic until they had a long-term solution. Ghidorah, meanwhile, hadn’t the brains for such decisions. They didn’t have a mind for any actions not predetermined by their masters as it was.

As such, they just focused on their mission on attacking Tokyo, destroying everything and slaughtering everybody in sight. As they continued their flight on their rampage, however, something in the nearby ocean caught their attention. The Futurians noticed Ghidorah stopping in their tracks and staring off into the waters in curiosity, turning toward the ocean themselves. What they saw had caught them by surprise. Familiar fins were coming toward the bay, cutting through the salt water like a swarm of ravenous sharks.

It was pretty easy to tell that they were differences compared to the Godzilla they got rid of, though. The spines, though similar to the original Godzilla, resembled jagged stone and were smaller than the first. As more of him rose from the depths, his bipedal, bulky body with near stubby arms, giant legs, and a face resembling that of a komodo dragon marked the key differences of this new Godzilla.

****

“So there’s more than one of the species left in the world…” Wilson mumbled to himself, drumming his fingers together.

“We’ll just have to fix that. King Ghidorah, destroy it immediately,” Grenchiko commanded through a speaker in the MOTHER.

****

King Ghidorah shook their heads, beginning to focus again and flew toward the new Godzilla. Godzilla let out a ferocious roar that shook the land itself as he charged toward his newest enemy. King Ghidorah brought their feet in front of them, closing in on Godzilla before slamming them into his chest. Godzilla grunted as he skidded across the ground, grabbing the legs of the golden atrocity and pulling them to the ground with a heave. As Ghidorah toppled atop the ancient predator, Godzilla bit down in-between their right and middle head.

King Ghidorah wrapped their right neck around his left arm and began pulling him off, Godzilla raking its right set of nails across the golden scales in response. Godzilla wrestled his arm out of the grip of the head, only to get thwacked by that head in the chin and reel back. Quick to recover, Godzilla rammed his shoulder into King Ghidorah’s sternum, forcing the glimmering beast back as well. Ghidorah was quick to recover though and leapt into the air, their bat-like wings beating as their three heads spat gravity beams upon the elder Godzilla, staggering him.  The dragon spun in mid-air, swinging their twin tails into the face of its enemy, only to regret it when Godzilla bit down and slammed them back to the ground, smashing small buildings in the process.

As Godzilla loomed over the Futurian creation, Ghidorah’s left foot slammed into the behemoth’s right knee. A howl of pain erupted from ancient jaws, allowing Ghidorah to arise without resistance and lunge at his foe with all three heads. The center neck wrapped around the titan’s throat while the others began pummeling him with gravity beams. Godzilla grit its teeth from the pain pressing into his chest with every shot as he grabbed the face of the middle head and tried to shove his nails into the dragon’s eyes. As Godzilla’s claws dug into his flesh, the dragon unwrapped themselves from his neck and aimed to shoot a bolt from their central mouth in retaliation, but it was cut off as their mouth was bit down on and shut. Godzilla put his impressive strength into practice as he lifted the body of the dragon with his grip on all three heads.

The ancient creature slammed the dragon into the ground, pain shooting into their back. The dragon wrapped their tails around the new Godzilla’s legs and pulled, taking the fossil of a being down with them. Godzilla growled as a head shot toward him, only for it to be caught by a dragon’s head and slammed into pavement. The other two heads slipped free of Godzilla’s grip and bit into his hands, aiming to pull him off. The kaiju growled at each other, grappling desperately to gain a better hold over the other, but as Ghidorah flexed its mighty wings and found itself atop its foe, the three-headed beast flapped its mighty appendages.

Harsh winds made Godzilla wince, but surely the dragon could not take flight. He was too-

The nearly one-hundred thousand ton ancient leviathan found itself pried off the man-made city and taken into the air by its enemy. Ghidorah flew across the land, spectators yet to escape the devastation looking in awe at what they were seeing the dragon do. Awe transformed into panic when Ghidorah finally released Godzilla, screams filling the bay before a mighty crash overpowered the noises as water swept all on the coast away. Godzilla groaned in the shallow depths of the bay, but his gradually recovered proved short lived as. gravity beams descended from the heavens, keeping him pinned down.

Godzilla kept himself from howling in pain, refusing to show weakness to the dragon as he prepared his own attack. The Futurians saw his spines glow and began to warn Ghidorah, but they were confident that they could keep him pinned and avoid the upcoming attack.

The ancient behemoth proved them half right-

As gravity beams rained down upon him, Godzilla alit the city in a azure tint. The concentrated atomic flames which raced up into the sky connected with King Ghidorah’s central head, burning its eyes with radioactive energy. The dragon descended to the city, wailing in agony while. Godzilla struggled to his feet and charged toward the dragon.

King Ghidorah could barely see from their middle head, staggering about while shaking their head to try to shake away the blurriness. They were so focused on this, in fact, that when Godzilla had closed the distance, they didn’t have the time to react when the ancient king slammed his tail into the legs of the dragon, knocking them down through a row of structures. Godzilla bit down into the middle head and grabbed the right and left heads before slamming them into the ground repeatedly, the dragon kicking and flailing about. One last slam to the ground led Godzilla to throw the dragon across the air, Ghidorah screeching in alarm as they sailed across the land before slamming back into the city. The hydra screamed in pain from the throw, making it difficult to stand as Godzilla marched toward them.

The city alit a familiar azure color. Flames danced with reptilian jaws, the building thrum of energy and illuminating dorsal spines giving the behemoth’s intentions away easily. Before the atomic ray could be unleashed, a plethora of  gravity beams collided into the leviathan’s knees, knocking Godzilla off his feet as the ray was unleashed. Buildings of varying size ignited, creating a wall of flame to the right of both monsters. Ghidorah vented breaths of relief while Godzilla’s eyes narrowed in rage, reflecting the light of the fires which burned beside them and lumbered toward Ghidorah.

The distance between the pair vanished in an instant and Godzilla managed to grab the left head of the dragon before squeezing it like a soda can, but the other heads bit down on his right hand in retribution. Godzilla made do with what he had and closed his hand, squeezing the dragon’s left skull as Ghidorah shredded his right appendage. Blood spilled from both kaiju yet neither showed signs of relenting. Draconic wings flexed once more, indicating to Godzilla the dragon would soon fly, yet he persisted in his efforts to crush the Futurian mutant’s skull, not relenting for a moment as both he and Ghidorah ascended above the burning city.

Higher and higher the pair flew into the smoke filled sky, sickening sounds indicated the pair’s flight would not last long. Sinew and flesh began to tear off from the middle neck as Godzilla continued his grip. Godzilla let go of the two other heads, grabbing the middle head with both clawed hands. Soon enough, three heads became two as the middle head was instantly torn off its original place, blood falling like rain as Godzilla descended upon Tokyo. A mocking roar boomed from Godzilla’s maw until the impact of the city silenced its cry. A shockwave ripped through the metropolis, putting out the flames while a tremor rattled all the residents within. As the smoke cleared, the mighty behemoth lay in a fresh crater, the severed head of Ghidorah in its clutches.

*****

“This cannot be,” Grenchiko gasped, watching the events of the battle unfold with disbelief. “Godzilla is defeating our King Ghidorah!”

“You underestimate Ghidorah’s power, Gren,” Wilson said with confidence. “The loss of one head will not stop our monster from killing this ancient relic. Besides, we’ve already killed one Godzilla, history will repeat itself again.”

*****

The two remaining heads of King Ghidorah growled in fury as they watched Godzilla crush the severed head under its heel. A snort of air discharged from the leviathan’s nostrils while he bore his fangs, demonstrating the fate which awaited the two-headed beast. Ignoring the warning, King Ghidorah lunged toward the behemoth, gravity beams pelting the saurian’s frame. Eventually, King Ghidorah tackled Godzilla, the kaiju nearly getting knocked off his feet from the force. Launching its claws forward, the leviathan grabbed the left head by the muzzle and forced its jaws wide open while preparing another atomic ray.

The right head tried to save the left by lunging for him, but was stopped by Godzilla’s forearm as he raised it in the head’s path. This action allowed the left muzzle to slip free, and it brought its jaws down on one of his fingers. Snarling in pain, Godzilla still fired, consuming the head with atomic flames. King Ghidorah’s head screeched in pain, its eyes and face melting under the intense heat and power spewed upon it. The right head added pressure upon the arm that had them trapped, aiming to break it. Godzilla felt his bones creaking and threw the left head away, allowing Ghidorah’s right head to wrap around his right arm.

Godzilla growled as Ghidorah’s jaws pressed down further and further. The gleaming atrocity’s left head couldn’t aim without eyes, so when it tried to grasp the titan by the throat, it instead bit into his right shoulder. Suddenly, a loud snap resonated through the area, Godzilla’s pupils expanding from the intense pain. Ferocity flared inside him, urging pull the dragon’s right head apart. With a violent snap, the neck around his broken arm fell limp as Godzilla pulled it off. King Ghidorah’s remaining head tried to get back into the fight, but not being able to see and having limited hearing did not make this an easy task.

Despite now having a broken arm, Godzilla pushed forward. Ghidorah began to try to take flight, but Godzilla bit down on his left wing before he could leave the earth. Godzilla’s body slammed the creature and dug his claws into the wing as he slashed it to shreds. Blood dripped off his claws as Ghidorah once again tried to bite Godzilla, but the saurian bit down on it first. Unable to tell where its jugular was, he grabbed the neck with his hands.

The dragon kicked him in the back, toppling him on top of his neck. Godzilla slammed his tail against its legs, keeping it from attempting to do that again as he added his teeth and began to wring the neck. King Ghidorah began smacking Godzilla in the face with its untouched wing, each blow causing the predator’s grip to loosen. He was forced to let go, or else give Ghidorah a chance to attack after breaking free. With its freedom, the wounded dragon fired off  a single, continuous gravity beam at point blank range, scalding the leviathan in golden energy.

With his remaining arm, Godzilla grasped the flailing head and directed it toward its intact wing as much as he could in his situation. The gravity beams tore through the wing, Ghidorah ceasing his flapping to prevent further damage and make an already horrible situation even worse. Godzilla began to twist the neck again, attempting every angle it only seemed to cause pain. His tail was beginning to tire from the constant blocking it needed to do from King Ghidorah’s feet, so he needed to think of something and fast. Soon enough, something came to mind as he bit down on the neck and pulled upward. His claws joined on either side of his jaws, digging into the neck and pulling in both directions.

It seemed to be working as blood began to spill into his mouth. His tail did miss a kick and its foot slammed into his spine, breaking some spines from doing so. He changed position, his jaws keeping the head grounded while his hands pulled upward instead. Finally, the places where his hands were holding gave way as the neck had torn into three sections. The eyes of King Ghidorah were open and lifeless, staring into whatever remained of their battlefield.

Letting the golden beast’s head slip from his grasp, Godzilla breathed heavily, exhausted from the battle against his natural enemy. This definitely wasn’t the Ghidorah he remembered, but having killed a Ghidorah was good enough for him in any case.

*****

The Futurians felt their dreams of a world under their rule disappear. Their greatest weapon had been dispatched by this new Godzilla and they needed to start the attack over again by scratch. This time, they needed to find what creature this thing originally was and kill it as well. That was assuming they could gather enough forces from the future to destroy it, seeing as its fully evolved form had killed a universal threat like their kaiju.

As the MOTHER’s engines roared into life, preparing to return to their time, Wilson and Grenchiko gazed out of the window at the distant form of the elder Godzilla.

“Damn you, Godzilla,” Wilson snarled. “Enjoy your victory over King Ghidorah. It will soon be rectified.”

*****

The MOTHER vanished in a flash of light, catching the momentary attention of the behemoth who stood within Tokyo Bay. Paying the lightshow little thought, Godzilla turned his attention to the corpse of King Ghidorah. He stepped on its chest, took a few breathes, and let out his victorious earth-shaking roar toward the heavens above.

Now that whatever humans still around had heard the dominance of the new owner of this island, he began to pull the “king” away from his territory. Godzilla wished that he was still able to control his other arm, but he would have to be patient for the time being and wait for it to recover. He would have to live with this new handicap for a while.

With the death of Godzillasaurus, and by extension, Godzilla, the world seemed to have been left without its most powerful creature, for better or for worse. This new Godzilla had made the news, revealing to the rest of the world that the name would be kept alive. The J.S.D.F. had to formulate a plan along with the United Nations on how to handle the creature that pretty much had the Japanese population under his thumb. The King of the Monsters was gone forever. In his place was a creature which proved itself above a king, a true Alpha.

Winner: Godzilla (Legendary)