Author: KeSean Johnson  | Banner: Dao Zang Moua

The sky was a peaceful baby blue. Puffy white clouds partially covered the sun’s rays past the horizon. In the midst of the beautiful sunny day in Chile, one any being could appreciate, a primordial beast awoke deep within the Andes Mountains. Andean birds, cougars, mountain cats, and llamas had no choice but to flee from their territories in panic. Their lives were at high risk and so were the countless lives in the next state over…

In the ancient world, a species of beasts far larger and more dangerous than the Tyrannosaurus Rex stalked the Earth. When the mass extinction of the dinosaurs commenced, he was the only one left of his kind. Now, millions of years later, he awoke from suspended animation once more, ready to carry out all that he knew. All that was ever bestowed upon his kind: destruction and isolation.

Trudging through a desolate valley, a miniature spec attracted the beast’s attention. Gomora lowered his head in confusion. Why would this spec, a lone bi-pedal being, stand in his way?

Wearing an otherworldly costume, Hikaru Sakimori glared at the reddish-brown monster that left a trail in its destruction in its wake. The people in the next state over would be in serious trouble if this beast were to continue and while he always hesitated venturing outside his Japanese homeland, this day he would do right. There was no other option but to challenge the beast. The brave man lifted an object as well as his right arm to the sky and voiced a defiant cry.

“ZONE DOUBLE FIGHT!”

A fiery flash nearly blinded Gomora before he shielded his eyes and shrieked in annoyance. When the light seized, a humanoid being slightly taller than he stood before the mighty beast. The giant space man made a battle pose with his arms and gloved hands. Zone Fighter, the man from Peaceland, made his presence known to the violent Gomora!

A hardy roar echoed from Gomora who cracked his knuckles and pulled back his lips to reveal a grim tooth-filled smirk. Destruction or isolation? Of the two paths Gomora thought to bestow his challenger, he quickly choose the former and charged with his head lowered like a bull.

Zone Fighter sidestepped the oncoming monster, letting him run right past him. Gomora stopped himself and turned around to face the space man. He angrily ran forward with his head lowered once again. Zone Fighter easily leaped up and performed a midair split. Gomora ran under his opponent’s legs, but stopped his sprint. When Zone Fighter landed, he was met with the full force of Gomora’s tail. The whip-like appendage caused him to scream out in pain. Zone Fighter turned around merely for the space warrior to be whipped across the torso. Azure armor crashed to the ground. Zone Fighter let loose a cry of pure agony drawing another toothy smirk from Gomora who taunted the fallen humanoid.

Was this all the human could do?

An azure hue engulfed the warrior before Gomora could think further. The distance between the two vanished in an instant, allowing a furious kick to crash into the beast’s lower jaw. Primordial eyes glazed over and from the momentary loss of consciousness and Zone Fighter let loose a continuous barrage with hint of resistance. Hammer like blows pummeled brown skin and armored hide until the warrior reared back, launching a punch with all his strength toward the beast’s head. To Hikaru’s shock, a saurian fist caught the blow mid-flight, matching the warrior’s incredible power. Another swing let sail, but Gomora caught the left jab, smirking once more.

Now things were getting interesting…

Zone Fighter drove his red and green boots into the monster, propelling him into a backflip. Released from Gomora’s grip, Zone Fighter jumped sideways into the air, his left leg bent and his right leg outstretched. Before Hikaru’s leaping karate kick could meet its mark, Gomora quickly grabbed the warrior’s stretched out leg, spun around, and forcefully slammed him on the surface. Zone Fighter yelled out as his body ached, but the pain was far from finished… Gomora let forth a taunting shriek and let loose a barrage of whip-like blows across the warrior’s body. Over and over, Zone Fighter was struck, forcing him to scream in agony to the beast’s delight. After a good set of whips to his torso, the blue colored light on the space man’s belt buckle began to sound off and flash yellow.

Hikaru dug his fingers into the dirt, desperately searching his mind for a plan. He needed to turn the tide or else his travel to this foreign land would be his last…

Zone Fighter focused on his opponent’s swaying tail. At the perfect moment, where it was to the side, the superhero focused crimson power.  As the energy reached a critical mass, multiple red triangles discharged from his right hand. The set of energized arrow tips carved into the thicker section of the dinosaur’s tail and sliced their way out of the opposite side. Afterward, more than half of Gomora’s whipping tail crashed to the ground, detached from the rest of the beast’s body. The enraged animal held his hands to the bloody stump on his underside, crying out in anguish as he jumped around.

Zone Fighter jumped to his feet again, making another fighting pose. Gomora, now fueled with even more anger, slashed his silver face with his claws. A series of sparks erupted and Zone Fighter screamed. Gomora then sent his right fist into the space man’s chest. Zone clutched his pained chest, then suddenly, Gomora bull charged with shocking speed. The galactic hero grasped the dinosaur’s crescent horns at the last moment. Red heels dug trenches in the soil, but in the defiance the hero of Earth found strength to toss the beast high into the air, allowing gravity to bring it back to the ground with a mighty crash!

Gomora slowly brought itself upright and the two challenging opponent’s glared at one another out of respect. The subterranean menace twitched and clenched his hands. Red particles materialized within his crescent horns and shined out. Two streams of energy traveled to his nasal horn and finally, a energized blast erupted to vaporize the hero. Zone Fighter was ready for the attack, forming a blue energy shield in front of his body. Gomora’s Super Oscillatory Wave struck the Zone-Barrier but would not cease firing. Zone Fighter held his protective barrier up with all of his might, yet in the face of such power, his Zone-Barrier began to falter. Cracks split the protective shield until an explosion marked the Zone-Barrier’s destruction allowing Gomora’s oscillating beam to collide with Zone Fighter’s torso. The crimson waves of pulsating energy scolded the flesh underneath Hikaru’s costume and forced many cries of anguish out of the meteor man. When Gomora decided to cease firing, Zone Fighter dropped to his knees. The warrior’s body twitched. His insides throbbed in racking pain. The light on his belt buckle changed from a moderately flashing yellow to a rapidly blinking red.

Hikaru felt the power of his monstrous form diminishing yet thoughts of turning tail never entered his mind. He was a hero, a defender, and he would stop this violent beast for the people!

“METEOR PROTON BEAM!”

Hikaru pressed his middle and index fingers across the crescent star atop his head which focused all his remaining power into a thin beam. The dark blue laser struck Gomora’s rocky chest and ferociously erupted into a shower of painful explosions. Mocking grunts morphed into wails of anguish, engulfing Gomora in a brilliant ball of fire until Zone Fighter fell forward out of sheer exhaustion, allowing the smoke around his foe to naturally clear. A silent, severely injured Gomora stood stiff. He couldn’t move his limbs. The microscopic cells inside his body and internal organs superheated. Yet, the giant dinosaur wouldn’t explode; instead, the mighty Gomora collapsed…

Zone Fighter waited for the kaiju’s body to erupt in an explosive detonation of flames but nothing happened. Unsure what to make of his foe’s refusal to die, the silver and blue warrior pulled himself upright to finish off the beast merely for the unthinkable to occur. Gomora arose.

Primordial eyes took little notice of Zone Fighter; instead, Gomora watched the setting afternoon sun. Reptilian eyelids closed, the beast momentarily falling forward before the mighty saurian caught himself. Realizing he could fight no longer without risk of certain death, Gomora turned around and began to limp away, following his own path of destruction.

For millions of years he slept in isolation, awaiting the time to bring about destruction merely to be bested. Maybe, there was another path to take other than destruction and isolation. First he would rest and then, Gomora thought about searching for that new way forward.

Watching the beast retreat, Zone Fighter nodded his head in forgiveness. It seemed fate possessed a reason to spare the monster’s life, but should it return to harm any innocent lives, the warrior of Earth would return to set things right once more. Gomora gave him one of the hardest fights of his life, and Hikaru appreciated it, but he would win their next clash too if it were to occur.

Leaping into the air and soaring into the sky, Zone Fighter began his long flight back to Japan, looking forward to meeting Gomora again.

Winner: Zone Fighter