Author: Landon Soto | Banner: Tyler Trieschock

In the forests surrounding the Tian Shan mountains, an ancient guardian had awoken, checking in on the land he had been given to protect. Bagan marched through the gorgeous forest and felt the chilly air from the mountains softly embrace him. As the godly beast made his way through the grassy plains he picked up on a sense of danger ahead, and cocked his head in the general direction of the problem.

Far in the distance, Bagan noticed a black cloud moving towards him. Confused, the Super Monster used his impressive vision to properly inspect the threat. Sure enough, the guardian was able to spot that the cloud was actually an enormous swarm of Meganula, ancient predators that once ruled the planet before nearly dying off. Bagan let out an ear shattering roar, prepping his muscled form in preparation to exterminate what must be the last remaining number of these wretched parasites.

The swarm, a thousand strong, descended upon and engulfed most of the titan, who tried to swat them away with his claws and tail. However, he quickly realized he made a mistake in trying to rely on his physical strength. The colony was too fast and too nimble for his strikes to clear out enough of them and Bagan felt their sharp stingers penetrate his maroon-colored skin, followed by the sensation of his energy being drawn to the surface without any conscious event. It was only a trickle of the extraordinary power stored within the dragon god however, earning naught but a grunt of discomfort, and he continued smacking away at the insects littering his neck, trying to rid himself of the swarm.

The Meganula kept up their relentless assault and continued to sap Bagan of his energy, to varying degrees of success . The dragon god could not use any of his special abilities as they would surely destroy the forest and animals he protected. Fighting through the irritating pain that plagued his body, Bagan made his way towards the vast snowy mountains, where he could dispose of the Meganula with no obstacles.

Snow began to fall on Bagan’s form as he stood between the frosty mountains, the three horns atop his head crackling with blue energy as diamond-shaped energy formed in the sky, realizing the damage these creatures could do to the forest was much worse than anything he could produce at this point. Drawing his right claw down, the Diamond Storm fell upon the Meganula. Sensing the incoming danger, the Meganula started to scatter, but it was too late. Hundreds were consumed within the diamond’s miniature suns, burning their bodies to ash in seconds. Despite the onslaught of diamonds, Bagan’s hide remained firm and unharmed, marred only by the remains of the parasitic arthropods. The armored monster grunted in relief, but from the corner of his eye, he caught movement.

Some of the creatures had escaped the barrage. Bagan watched with anger as the last vestiges of this endangered species buzzed away into the forest, using the green landscape as cover against the guardian’s wrath. With heavy reluctance, the protector god was forced to stay his hand, allowing the Meganula to make their escape to parts unknown. His victory was soiled, but he would remember this vividly until next they crossed paths, forever unsatisfied as long as the ancient pests escaped eradication by the power of his vanquishing fire…

—

Above the waters of the Heavenly Lake of Tian Shan, the remaining Meganula hovered over its shallow water and dived beneath the cold waves. Though depleted from their once grand number, enough remained to complete their purpose, the fuel behind their actions and existence itself. Their life was short, but the remaining time would be used well, as the colony prepared to take part in the ultimate sacrifice.

In the cold water, a motionless larva lay, the chosen queen, far greater in size than the brood she commanded. The Meganula injected their stingers into the queen, pumping her with the godly energy extracted from the great dragon god. Once their mission was complete, one by one, the expired insects detached, drifting away from the pupating royalty. Filled with seemingly unlimited power, the prehistoric predator began twitching and writhing as it began entering its final stage of life, a transformation into an anomalous entity that would surpass anything the Meganulon family tree had and could ever sire…

—

Hours passed as the draconic deity rested in the mountains. Though deep in sleep, his senses remained vigilant, keeping a monitor on the landscape as the dragon’s mind dreamed.

His eyes snapped open, disturbed from his slumber by the sense of a powerful presence approaching the borders of his domain. Rising to his full height, Bagan started to move and intercept the new threat, descending the mountain slope and wandering into one of the many valleys branching from the base like the roots of a tree. Minutes rolled by as Bagan trekked on, until finally, he noticed a large mass flying in the distance, its features blurred by the distance, but as that shortened, the horned titan began to make out the true shape of his challenger. An ancient apex predator with terrible wings and teeth, deadly pincers, and a dreadful-looking stinger came slowly materialized into view; it was the Meganula queen herself, Megaguirus.

Bagan pushed hot air out of his nostrils and let an earth-rattling roar. This was undoubtedly the consequence of failing to eradicate the Meganulon swarm, which came to bite him in the flanks for his ineptitude. Now with the appearance of the hive queen, he would have the chance to correct that mistake.

Megaguirus stared at the bone-armored dragon and let out her own screech, unaware of exactly who or what Bagan was. All that the young queen understood was that this creature was the source of the energy that had enabled her pupation, and now was an obstacle she knew she needed to eliminate.

With lightning fast movement, Megaguirus disappeared from the dragon’s vision. Bagan’s eyes could only process a quick blur before he realized the insect was gone. Before he could even comprehend her speed he felt a sharp and firm strike by a pair of sharp objects into the back of his head. He stumbled forward in shock and turned immediately, only to see nothing. Before he could figure out where Megaguirus was, razor sharp claws struck the side of his face and nearly toppled the dragon over.

Bagan grunted in annoyance. The Meganula queen was proving to be a bit more troublesome than he expected. It was nothing that worried the guardian beast, though; simply a situation that would require more effort than normal. As the sound of buzzing grew behind him, Bagan’s hefty tail rose and struck out like a whip, and a loud crack echoed through the air, joined by a shriek of pain immediately after. Turning slowly like a tank, Bagan cackled in satisfaction at the sight of Megaguirus squirming on the ground, desperately trying to flip herself over.

Seeing an opportunity, white hot plasma crackled and popped beginning to form as Bagan charged his maw. Sensing the danger, Megaguirus flapped her wings at incredible speed and curved upward into the air, flying into her proper position, narrowly avoiding the quick blast of plasma that blew up the ground where she once was in a fiery explosion.

Her insectoid majesty soared above Bagan, eyeing the bone clad dragon, scanning for her next opportunity to attack. The forest dragon searched for Megaguirus, his ears flooded with the aggravating buzzing of her wings. Every time he snapped his gaze to the source however, it changed position. The Meganula queen saw her opening and swooped in to cause some damage. Before Bagan could realize what had happened, there was the sensation of a sharp, thin object penetrating the back of his neck, joined by the strongest pain he had yet to experience. Megaguirus swiftly began sapping energy from the howling deity, the deadly stinger nearly stabbing clean through both sides of the throat with how deep it had sunk. Her foul, needle-tipped jaws drooled with pleasure with each pulse of Bagan’s bubbling energy flowing into her veins.

So lost in ecstasy was Megaguirus that she failed to react to the actions of her still active quarry. Clutching the tail with his left hand, Bagan forcefully yanked the stinger out of his throat, blood flowing from the wound before closing up quickly. The cut-off of flowing energy snapped the queen back to the situation, shrieking in horror and pulling back upon natural instinct. Wanting to avoid a crushed stinger, Megaguirus’ pincers raked Bagan’s left eye. The dragon god roared in fury as blood trickled down the side of his face, forcing the bone-armored guardian to release his grip. Megaguirus was on the offensive and battered Bagan from all sides, taking full advantage of the god monster’s inability to properly defend himself against the barrage of attacks raining down on him.

Bagan, for the first time in battle, was at a disadvantage. The speed of this greater Meganulon was as august as his own magnificent strength. Without a means to remove such an advantage, the forest titan’s power meant nothing if he could not find his target. He knew he needed to hinder the insect, and a thought appeared in his mind. From the broad, wing-like structures spanning the length of either side of his spine, lightning crackled and condensed, shooting up into the clouds and raining back down as focused energy diamonds. Directing the movements with his right hand, the shards rained down upon his armored physique once more, striking him as much as they ravaged the weaker and less densely armored Megaguirus. Once again, a loud shriek of pain emanated from the jagged maw of the prehistoric predator as she sprung back, landing meters from Bagan, smoke rising from her bruised and burnt hide. She squealed in agitation as Bagan marched forward, ready to crush her head under his foot.

Megaguirus, not wanting to be finished off just yet, lunged forward and bit onto Bagan’s forearm, but the dragon immediately threw his nasal horn downward and effectively cracked open the giant arthropod’s cranium, spilling jets of yellow blood down the bug’s disturbing face as she released her bite to howl in sheer agony. Bagan was surprised at how resilient the queen was, how she was alive completely baffled him. Little did he know that the energy the Meganula swarm stole from him had helped her mutate into one of the most powerful monsters in existence. It was his own godly power that allowed the new progenitor of this ancient species to find new life and meet new limits.

After releasing her maw from Bagan, she immediately backed up and drove her stinger up into Bagan’s jaw, piercing the exposed maroon skin and exiting out under the base of the tongue. The organ instinctively moved as far from the sharp stinger as possible, silencing the dragon’s desire to yell in fear, potentially worsening the damage. Luckily, Megaguirus had done the damage she needed, and quickly retracted her tail. Blood and saliva dripped from the gaping hole in Bagan’s mouth until it had managed to completely heal, staining the green grass and brown soil beneath red.

Seizing the opening, Megaguirus pointed her blood drenched needle at Bagan and summoned white hot plasma to her stinger. A relatively moderate-sized ball of energy started to coagulate, pulsing with power as the draconic parasite flapped her wings, pushing the completed ball towards the distressed Bagan. The pale dragon stared in shock as he saw and felt his own power slam into him before it exploded on impact. He toppled over as debris, sparks, flesh, and blood flew everywhere. The ground shook as a plume of dirt shot high into the air, nearly obscuring the mountain-like form of the dragon protector.

Megaguirus let out a low screech. The power within her disposal was of great magnitude, but was in short supply, in spite of what her body believed from the amount of stamina it provided. A single shot had left the queen drained, struggling to keep herself within the air, and in no condition to continue harnessing the legendary creature at the speed she needed. She had no time to relax, however, as Bagan marched out of the dust, his wounds healing rapidly, yet feeling just as exhausted after the unexpected attack. He howled at Megaguirus, daring her to attack again, and the predator responded with an ear-splitting screech.

Calling upon the dregs of power inside her, once more her form transformed into an unidentifiable blur. Bagan tried to pinpoint her location, but her constant movement made it nearly impossible. The ancient dragon was almost toppled over again, turning around as fast as he could and firing a concentrated blast of plasma, but the only thing it struck was the green slopes of the valley walls. Bagan grunted in annoyance and disdain, but was soon assaulted by a flurry of sharp claws striking at every angle.

Stumbling around, the dragon was now at the mercy of the Meganula queen. There was no method to his strikes anymore: lashing out at every possible direction in the sheer hope of landing even one blow on the unnatural cretin. But from above, a familiar cry sounded, a foul screech brimming with the assurance of a victorious queen. White hot energy surged and crackled as a ball of plasma began forming in the predator’s stinger, the last of Bagan’s power at her disposal called forth for this final blow. Bagan looked up, and began summoning his own powerful ray of energy.

Megaguirus screeched and released the stolen power she had prepared. At the same time, Bagan fired his own blast of hot plasma. The energy sphere collided with the beam, generating an enormous blast of hot air that rocked the landscape for countless miles. The ground around Bagan began to break and tear as it struggled to support the weight of the immense power. The super monster pumped out more and more energy in order to prevent the rogue ball of plasma from colliding with the surrounding life and himself.

Bagan could feel himself slipping, he struggled to keep himself from being blown away by his own attack. For a moment the dragon god could feel the rogue energy ball being pushed away, but that moment didn’t last. He roared out as sharp pain surged throughout his abdomen, and his plasma beam suddenly lost its cohesion, unable to divert the power needed to keep the stream going. As he glanced down, his eyes found the smaller Megaguirus’ crimson orbs staring back atop her wicked grin. Her abdomen churned and pulsed from the incredible plasma energy coursing into it, rejuvenating the exhausted stores almost instantly. The guardian felt his energy draining away, and tried to attack the Meganulon queen, but in a flash, the stinger was retracted and she was no longer in sight.

Realizing his current situation, the bone clad dragon could feel the incoming plasma ball’s warmth across his whole form. Unable to move fast enough, Bagan’s last action was a single expression of disbelief before the godly dragon was enveloped in the white hot energy and howled in unholy agony as his body charred and broiled, disappearing into the bright light.

Off in the distance, Megaguirus perched atop a mountain and watched as a large explosion engulfed the valley she was in moments ago. Clouds of smoke and fire rose upward in a mushroom shape as the wind blew violently around the Meganulon queen. To her, it was a beautiful sight. After her rest, she could finally begin a new colony and establish her dominance across the world once again.

A large crater cradled the barely conscious Bagan, his body charred and smoking, working overtime to heal the wounds he had sustained. Far from death’s door, the injuries inflicted by his own power turned against him were severe, and it would take time to fully heal. The dragon vowed to exact his revenge on the Meganulon queen, and hoped to himself that he could destroy Megaguirus the next time they met. But for the moment, Bagan could only close his eyes as he succumbed to his injuries.

The world was greeted once again with an ancient predator, a demon of the skies the world would learn to fear again – Megaguirus!

Winner: Megaguirus