Author: Landon Soto | Banner: Landon Soto

In a secluded village far from the cities of Japan, the local residents were going about their daily business, growing crops, fetching water, and so on. Recently, there had been rumors of villagers seeing a giant man roaming the nearby forests at night. Some claimed that it was the cause of the disappearance of cattle, of course, most people brushed off these rumors and accused the men and women who spoke of such a creature of being drunk.

Witnesses claiming to see the giant wandering about still happened frequently, so much so that the village started integrating the giant into their culture. From tales claiming that its mighty footsteps created the earthquakes to mothers telling their children that the giant man would snatch them up should they misbehave. It seemed that this elusive giant man had left quite an impact on the small village.

On one fateful summer day, the heat was making itself known by beating down on the residents of the village. Some were fanning themselves, others playing in a nearby lake. Everything was calm, that was until one man came running out of the woods practically in a frenzy.

He waved his arms and shouted, trying to warn the village of an incoming threat. The people who were outside of their homes stared at the man, some went inside, others grabbed a nearby weapon, however, they were ill prepared for what was to come.

A long tongue stretched out of the woods, grasping around the poor soul like a frog catching a fly. As quick as the tongue appeared, it disappeared along with the man. Sounds of large footsteps slowly became more and more audible, the villagers were frozen in fear as a large gray mass rose from the forest, it had a sharp white face that eerily resembled a skull, as if the skin on its face was peeled off completely.

The most bizarre aspect of the creature was that it had arms, but no legs, its lower body dragged along the ground like a snake. The beast eyed its surroundings as it used its vile tongue to lick its own face. Some villagers called it a monster, others called it a demon.

Technically it was neither, it was an animal from a hellish island known as Skull Island, a place full of incredible and dangerous beasts. Its mannerisms and overall characteristics on the other hand, were more like that of a monster or demon. Either way, it was hungry, and it knew it had stumbled upon a buffet of delectable morsels.

Many people attempted to hide in their homes, but the ravenous beast easily ripped apart their houses and snatched up the families hiding inside. Some hid in pig pens, submerged in mud, managing to escape a grotesque demise.

Just when all seemed lost, a loud roar echoed through the village, the Skullcrawler cocked its head toward the source and winced as it gazed in the direction of the sun. The beast’s reptilian eyes widened as it noticed an eerily familiar humanoid shape in the distance.

Facing the direction of the humanoid, the beast roared at the silhouette as a warning Paying no attention to the cry, the giant humanoid charged at the Skullcrawler, its form becoming more and more clear.

The Skullcrawler reared its head in confusion, it looked vaguely similar to the giant ape back home, but there were many noticeable differences. This humanoid was far less hairy and was scrawny compared to one back home.

Not caring what the giant man truly was, it shook off its previous fears and charged, ready to rip this being apart. Unknown to the Skullcrawler, the giant man was no ape, although he wasn’t exactly a natural being either. It was unclear how exactly he came into the world, but what was known was that he had superhuman abilities and a name he vaguely remembered; Frankenstein.

The two colossal beasts charged at one another, the ground quivered beneath them, preparing for a grueling fight. The remaining people of the village watched in shock as the giant of legend had come to defend their village.

Frankenstein lunged forward and grabbed the beast by the throat, he tried to strangle the life out of the Skullcrawler but the gray creature used its powerful tail to wrap around Frankenstein’s waist and began to squeeze tightly. Roaring in pain, the giant’s grasp began to lighten up, just enough for the Skullcrawler to shoot forward and clamp its jaws around Frankenstein’s neck. Frankenstein let out a strained groan as he felt the beasts claws dig into his skin. Frankenstein jammed his thumb into the ravenous beast’s orange eye. The vile creature released its bite, allowing Frankenstein to grapple with the Skullcrawler’s jaws.

Frankenstein began to forcefully part the jaws of the Skullcrawler, in a panic the beast uncoiled from Frankenstein’s waist and wrapped its snake-like body around the humanoid’s left arm, the beast tried to pry its opponent’s hand off of its jaws. In one final attempt to be released, the Skullcrawler shot its tongue forward, gouging Frankenstein’s left eye. The unnatural being howled in agony as the Skullcrawler ravaged his eye socket, blood and juices flying all over, reigniting the predator’s awful hunger.

Falling on his back, Frankenstein released his grip of the Skullcrawler and clutched his face. The beast slunk away and stared at its prey, happily devouring the giant man’s eye. Suddenly, the lizard pounced with impressive speed, the predator used its razor sharp teeth to rip into Frankenstein’s ribcage. Roaring in pain, Frankenstein reached for a tree and slammed it down upon the frenzied creature.

Getting more and more annoyed at the humanoid’s attempt to drive it away, the reptilian monster swatted the tree away with its thick forearm. The beast roared into the face of Frankenstein, but once again had its jaws grappled by the big man. Frankenstein groggily rose up as he felt his blood run down his side, the flesh peeled from his frame. With a light bellow, the giant man swung the crazed creature far from him and the village.

Slamming into the ground, the hungry creature immediately got back up. The awful beast hissed at Frankenstein and began to charge wildly, Frankenstein uprooted another tree and closed the distance between them, smacking the Skullcrawler’s head with his tree club, the creature collapsed on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Frankenstein moved in closer to inspect his foe’s condition with his one good eye. Seeing his opponent sprawled on the ground gave him confidence that he had beaten the vile monster. As soon as he was about to leave however, a thick whip like tail slammed into his face, Frankenstein clutched his face as he yelped in pain, his nose nearly broken.

The Skullcrawler’s eyes shot open as it cackled with glee, its deception managed to fool its prey. Using its tail, the Skullcrawler tripped the large man and rose up, it began to crawl atop its downed opponent’s body. His right eye seeing the incoming danger, Frankenstein put both hands in front of him, trying to prevent the beast from progressing further, but the Skull Island inhabitant still had a trick up its nonexistent sleeve.

The creature’s long whip-like tongue wrapped around the giant man’s neck and attempted to choke out the humanoid. Frankenstein wrapped his hands around the tongue and began to tug hard, trying to bring the creature closer so he could beat it to death. Using its sharp claws, the monster raked Frankenstein’s chest, leaving three large gashes across the giant man’s chest. Frankenstein grunted in pain, but used it to apply more grip on the Skullcrawler’s tongue. His face turned red, sweat ran down his cheek as he struggled for air.

Lunging forward, the beast managed to wrap its jaws around Frankenstein’s arms, nearly hidden by the creatures’ feral face. Feeling sharp teeth tear into his arms, Frankenstein headbutted the Skullcrawlers snout, trying to free his arms from its repulsive mouth. More and more blood oozed down the Skullcrawlers throat, it enjoyed the taste, wanting more. It tried chewing into the limb, teeth cutting open Frankenstein’s veiny arms. One last headbutt cause the Skullcrawler to retract its tongue, Frankenstein gasped for air as he yanked his arms out of the creature’s mouth.

Grunting in pain, Frankenstein kicked the reptilian monster off of himself and rose up to his feet, Frankenstein ran a finger over his chest and felt his wounds regenerate. The giant man examined his arms, long strips of skin peeled from the limb and dangled freely, his regeneration already at work. One by one, strips of dead skin fell to the ground as new flesh took their place.

Grabbing another tree, the man made preparations to strike the Skullcrawler and put it out of its misery. Recovering from its injuries, the sick creature was unsure of how to kill the giant. Rearing upward, the Skullcrawler roared at Frankenstein, attempting to intimidate him. Frankenstein snarled, he knew what he had to do and was ready to finish the beast off.

The Skullcrawler charged at the giant man, mouth wide open, ready to eviscerate its prey, Frankenstein charged at the monster, holding his tree like a lance, the two ready to finish their brawl. The lone Skullcrawler lunged into the air and arched toward Frankenstein. Lifting his tree up, he shoved the splintered weapon into the monster’s throat.

Choking on Frankenstein’s wooden club, the predator lashed out with its arms, scratching Frankenstein whenever it could. Throwing the beast down to the ground, Frankenstein released his grip on the tree and watched the Skullcrawler try to rid itself of the wooden object. Acting swiftly, Frankenstein ran up to the beast and drop-kicked the tree, shoving it further down the false demon’s mouth.

Wood and foliage tore up the beast’s throat, but the force of the kick caused the creature to vomit. Pulling the tree out of the Skullcrawlers mouth, Frankenstein looks at the once green leaved tree, now covered in brown bile and crimson blood. Frankenstein looked down at the beast with disgust.

Tossing the tree aside, Frankenstein sat upon the barely conscious creature’s back and gripped both its jaws with his bare hands and began to part the monster’s mouth. Pulling its upper jaw toward him, he used all the force he could muster. A creaking sound could be heard as the jaws were separated beyond their natural limitations, suddenly the jaws broke with a sickening crack that resonated throughout the forest.

The shock instantly killed the Skullcrawler, dropping its broken jaws, Frankenstein stood up and triumphantly roared over the Skullcrawler’s corpse. The people of the village watched as Frankenstein sat atop the dead Skullcrawler, his back facing them, they could smell the faint scent of death emanating from the dead beast. Frankenstein’s crooked teeth tore into the severed right arm of his fresh kill, the meat satisfied him after his hard battle.

After a couple minutes, a familiar cry echoed throughout the forest. Frankenstein growled, he stood up and scanned his surroundings, before locking onto the source of the sound. Far off in the distance an enormous mass was closing on Frankenstein’s location rather quickly, the late afternoon sun barely making the incoming threat visible, a Skullcrawler. The people of the village once again hid from the vicious creature, not wanting to meet the same fate as their unfortunate neighbors.

The larger Skullcrawler was not far from the giant man now, its eyes narrowed and stared down Frankenstein. The large beast caught sight of the dead Skullcrawler right behind. Furious that its comrade had fallen in battle, the beast bellowed to the heavens, Frankenstein returned the call and got into his fighting stance. The ebony Skullcrawler stared at the giant man with gluttonous intent, it wanted to feast on the humanoid before it.

The inky black monster lunged toward Frankenstein who rolled out of the way. Frankenstein beat the enormous Skullcrawler with the severed limb of his previous kill. The beast, annoyed by the assault, caught the arm in its toothy maw and ripped it from Frankenstein’s grasp, spitting it out and snarling at the giant man. Frankenstein grunted as he uprooted another tree, hoping to have equal success in murdering the new vile monster.

The much larger Skullcrawler wrapped its tail around Frankenstein’s legs and dragged him off of his feet, slamming the giant human against the ground. Dirt and foliage shot into the air, Frankenstein groaned as he slipped out of the muscular tail. Standing up, Frankenstein grabbed the end of the tail, hoisting the shocked predator over his shoulders.

Trees and dirt were sent flying as the Skullcrawler slammed into the ground, a raspy cry escaped its jaws. Dazed by the unexpected attack of its prey, the Skull Island beast tried to free itself, but to no avail.

Frankenstein prepared to toss the Skull faced beast again, however, a sharp pain shot throughout his right leg, causing the man to fall to one knee. Looking behind him, he spotted a small Skullcrawler gnawing at his calf, Letting go of the big one, Frankenstein grabbed the smaller Skullcrawler with both hands and roared in its face, only to receive a whip like tongue toward his regenerating eye. Closing his eye, the small tongue simply bounced off his eyelid, Frankenstein threw the smaller Skullcrawler onto the big one that was recovering from the last attack.

The both of them scrambled to their feet as they snapped at each other, both roaring at Frankenstein. The smaller one struck first by leaping at Frankenstein who grabbed the ravenous creature by the neck. Its sharp claws tore into Frankenstein’s hands as he tried to keep it far from his face. Preoccupied with the smaller beast, Frankenstein failed to notice the big one circle around him.

Frankenstein roared in pain when he felt the larger black beast’s thick tail begin to constrict around his body. Tossing the smaller one away, Frankenstein tried to pry himself away from the squeezing monster.

The charcoal black Skullcrawler continued to wrap around the upper body of the giant man. Frankenstein reared his fist back before striking the lower jaw of the Skullcrawler but failed to do any serious harm. Seeing its opponent struggle for freedom, the Skullcrawler wrapped the tip of its tail around Frankenstein’s right arm, forcing it back.

Trying with all of his might, Frankenstein forced his fist forward in an attempt to break the monster’s hold. The small brown Skullcrawler saw its teammate tussle with the giant man and crept in to provide aid. Constricting around Frankenstein’s legs, the Skull Island denizen squeezed them together, causing the giant to loose footing and fall on his rear.

The big Skullcrawler capitalized on the assist and shot its tongue out and wrapped it around Frankenstein’s left arm, then dug both of its razor sharp claws into Frankenstein’s back. Frankenstein cried out as he felt his flesh peeled from his body, struggling to free himself. The smaller one crawled up the big one and perched itself on the big one’s shoulder, lashing it’s tongue out and wrapped it around Frankenstein’s arm as well.

The humanoid tried desperately to retract his left arm, but the combined might of both Skullcrawlers forced him to stick his arm outward. The limb extended further and further, until the big one gripped the extended arm with its own and yanked on it with brute force. Frankenstein howled in agony as his left arm was dislocated, another tug from the vile creature and the limb was ripped from the socket, blood spraying all over the face of both predators.

Frankenstein howled in anguish as his mind was flooded with unbearable pain. The big one stuffed Frankenstein’s severed arm into its toothy jaws, but immediately began to choke and jag on the limb. From inside the monster’s gullet, the severed arm gripped onto the Skullcrawlers tongue, holding on for dear life.

Releasing Frankenstein, the big Skullcrawler scurried away from him and continued to hack and wheeze as it tried to devour the limb. Falling on his back, Frankenstein moaned in pain as he felt blood ooze from his wound, his vision occasionally blurred. He was dragged back to reality when he felt a sharp pain shooting throughout his body, glancing at his wound, he saw the small Skullcrawler rip strands of flesh right from the stump.

Staring at the vile creature with hateful eyes, Frankenstein hammered its head repeatedly with his good fist in a fury. The disgusting little creature’s skull caved in as blood and brain matter oozed from the fresh cavity, its lifeless body twitched and writhed about. Frankenstein picked himself up with his remaining arm and located his previous aggressor, still trying to devour his right arm.

The giant Skullcrawler spat out the limb, the severed arm tumbled in front of Frankenstein who picked it up and examined it. Thick saliva dripped from the fingertips. The giant Skullcrawler caught its breath and glanced up toward Frankenstein, who glared right back.

Roaring out in a fury at the loss of another member of its brood, the Skullcrawler lashed out again and swiped Frankenstein’s healed chest and created three more gashes, deeper than before. The beast shot its tongue out and licked up the oozing blood. Frankenstein fumbled back in pain before he roared and grabbed the tongue before it could retract.

Opening his mouth wide, the giant man chomped down onto the appendage, his crooked yellow teeth sliced the tongue in two. Spitting the tongue onto the ground, Frankenstein crushed it underfoot. The Skullcrawler cried out in agony as it retracted its severed tongue.

Frankenstein leapt forward as he roared out in a rage. The giant man swung his severed limb downward and beat the distracted Skullcrawler with his severed limb, smacking it across the Skull Island predator’s triangular face. Frankenstein then kicked the monster’s snout and sent it reeling back in pain.

Sticking the severed arm against the stump, Frankenstein could feel his body begin to heal itself. Muscle fibers and skin tissue began to sow themselves back together as the blood began to rush into the reconnected limb.

The Skullcrawler scoured the area in a craze, looking for Frankenstein, but when it spotted him, it was greeted with a tree to the face. The dazed creature fumbled back as it spat out a few teeth, licking the blood from the empty sockets with its severed tongue.

Glaring at the humanoid, the Skullcrawler spun around and dragged its long tail across the ground, sweeping Frankenstein off of his feet. Rushing up to the giant man, the larger Skullcrawler clamped its jaws around the waist of Frankenstein and shook its head violently, trying to rip open Frankenstein’s stomach. The giant man elbowed the Skullcrawler’s snout, forcing the Skullcrawler to toss Frankenstein away and scratch its nose.

Frankenstein rose up and inspected his left arm, the skin fibers were almost done reattaching themselves together. Frankenstein winced as he felt the puncture holes in his stomach slowly heal, dried blood stained his flesh.

Panting, the giant grabbed a large boulder and tossed it at the Skull Island predator. The rock slammed into the black beast’s head, which elicited a cry of pain from the monster, forcing it to the ground. With his opponent disoriented, Frankenstein leapt forward and planted his feet on the beast’s lower jaw, then placed his hands on the upper mandible, Frankenstein tried to pry open the jaws of the big one with his whole body.

The giant Skullcrawler uses its sharp claws to rip open Frankenstein’s back, the big man gritted his teeth as his eyes winced, but he ignored the pain and continued to lift his body upward, the pinned Skullcrawler frantically clawed at Frankenstein, desperately trying to free itself of him.

The predator charged forward and slammed Frankenstein against a boulder, scraping him off in the process. Struggling back to his feet, Frankenstein put his hands up in his signature stance and gritted his teeth. The Skullcrawler lunged forward but was caught by Frankenstein, the giant man swung the Skullcrawler by the jaw and continued to spin until he released his grip, the large reptile crashed into the forest, kicking up dirt.

Staring into the sky, the beast flipped over and scanned its surroundings, hearing footsteps getting closer and closer, the beast spotted Frankenstein, with another tree in his hand. Seeing the oncoming threat, the skull monster moved out into the open field once more, Frankenstein snarled as he charged at the ravenous predator, preparing to stab the Skullcrawler with the tip of the tree.

The Skullcrawler got in close and coiled its tail around the goliath and flung the humanoid onto the ground, the back of his skull busted open by a boulder. Frankenstein groaned as he rubbed the back of his head, inspecting his hand. The giant saw crimson liquid that stained his palm, gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow, Frankenstein glared at the stalking Skullcrawler.

Seeing its chance to attack, the Skullcrawler leaped into the air like a shark, however, Frankenstein lifted the tree above his body and prepared for the Skullcrawler. The ravenous beast’s eyes widened as it was unable to stop its momentum, spearing itself onto the tree.

Breaking through the cracked rib cage, and nearly jutting out the back, the gluttonous demon wheezed as Frankenstein strained, but managed to stand. Lifting the dying Skullcrawler high, however, the beast would not go down without a fight. Clutching Frankenstein’s head, it felt the soft spot where Frankenstein cracked his skull, and in one last display of strength, the beast ripped open the back of the giant’s head!

The brain of Frankenstein dangled out of the back of the giant man’s skull, both creatures stared at each other with pure hatred, before both their eyes rolled to the back of their heads, Frankenstein fell backward, nearly crushed by the Skullcrawler’s dead weight. Both monsters soaked in each other’s blood, both consumed by darkness, no signs of movement shown from either being.

The next day came and the villagers found the lifeless bodies of both Frankenstein and the Skullcrawler. The people paid their respects to their elusive savior, and soon went back to their homes. One boy, however, thought he saw a few fingers move, but, perhaps it was just his imagination…

Draw: Frankenstein, Skullcrawler