Author: Joshua Strittmatter | Banner: Tyler Trieschock

World Children’s Land, Japan. 8:30 P.M.

“Our forces draw near their full strength,” sneered Fumio Sudo, chairman of the M Space Hunter Nebula aliens.

Standing out of his chair, the arthropodal extraterrestrial turned to face his spectators, all looking at the rather impressive sight on the control room’s main screen: a bird’s eye view of the World Children’s Land, and the countless squads of otherworldly forces marching in lines, preparing for their dreadful goal of global conquest and war against humanity. Standing in the middle of it all, watching over the spectacle with sinister interest, was the invasion’s greatest weapon: a lean, hideous, blue cyborg monster that towered even above the Godzilla Tower he stood next to. His chainsaw hands revving up in anticipation and his metal-toothed beak chirping, Gigan waited patiently to receive orders from his superiors, more than ready to follow the first order given.

“As you can see, our time spent waiting and building our forces to their strongest potential has paid off. And now, the time to strike is near,” he spoke, pacing patiently as the others watched him.

“Once our forces, soldier and monster alike, have destroyed the earthlings’ civilizations and forced them to lower their weaponry, they will finally understand.” He stopped pacing and turned to his audience.

“And with no threats left to oppose us, the colonization of earth and the subjection of the humans to Perfect Peace will transpire.”

Across from him, the commander of another extraterrestrial race smirked arrogantly. “And here I thought Mr. Four-Eyes and his gang of political hacks were in over their heads!” the Xillien Controller laughed. Hearing the insult loud and clear, the leader of the Leviathan aliens cast a shocked glance in his direction. “Tell me again–why did we all allow our plans to be overseen by a bunch of pacifist losers?”

“Because you seem to think complete extermination of the human race is our goal, you undeveloped idiot!” growled the Vortaak queen. “Do you not wish to subjugate the earthlings under our control once we have taken this planet as our own? Is that not our objective in this mission?”

“I fail to see how enslaving a race and farming them as cattle has anything to do with… What was it again? ‘Perfect peace?’” he mocked, making quotation marks with his fingers.

“You all lack vision,” the Leviathan warlord uttered. “Our true ambition should be to assimilate everyone’s consciousness- including all of yours–into the hive-mind. Our collective mentalities can exist as one, allowing for–”

“Shut up, numbskull,” growled Mugal, captain of the aliens from the Third Planet. “When this is all over, you can take your collective mentality religion somewhere else. We want no part in it!”

The floating alien stared at him with his four green eyes, his expression unreadable. “This conversation bores me. Do what you will, monkey,” he responded, “but when your vision of the future begins to turn on itself and crumble apart, don’t think we’ll have any part in saving-”

“Enough!” Fumio barked. “You are all proving exactly why our end goal must be peace!” Ignoring the Xillien Controller’s haughty chuckles as he and the other alien leaders temporarily backed off, the cockroach in human disguise sat back in his chair, switching to the controls. But before he could say anything else, alarms started to go off, catching everyone’s attention.

“Chairman, an object is approaching our base, and fast!” a Nebulan soldier cried out in alarm.

“Identification!” Fumio commanded.

*****

Gigan chirped in alarm as the ground began to rumble powerfully. Getting into a defensive stance, the dinosaurian cyborg revved his chainsaws as he waited for the unexpected. A good distance away, the ground suddenly exploded outward, sending tons of rock and earth flying into the heavens before falling back down, crushing hundreds of alien soldiers in their wake. As the dust cleared, a loud shriek pierced the air. It didn’t take long for the source to reveal itself.

Rugged, brown scales dripped with dirt as the subterranean beast reared to its full height. Gigan screeched a challenge to the newcomer, clapping his saw hands together and pawing the ground with his hooked legs. Pulling his fists out like a giant boxer, the horned dinosaur known as Gomora to the world answered with another mighty cry. He did not plan on letting these interstellar scavengers take his home world without the fight of their lives.

*****

“Opposer of the peace!” Fumio shouted angrily. “Gigan, slay this feral beast. Only then can the path to–”

“If he says another word about peace, I’m blowing his damn head off,” Mugal snarled in annoyance.

*****

Releasing a fearsome roar, Gomora wasted no time and unleashed his Super Oscillatory Wave upon the extraterrestrial forces that scattered around him. Sweeping his attack over the miniature crowds, the subterranean dinosaur made certain that they were out of the way and done with before he dealt with the main contender. As thousands of screams became muted by powerful explosions, Gomora eventually ceased fire before turning back towards Gigan.

His lack of attention to the cyclopean cyborg was all that was needed for Gigan to make the first move.

Gomora screeched in surprise as Gigan dove right at him, slashing his left hand across his sturdy chest. As tough as his skin was, even it was not strong enough to stop the beast’s chainsaw hands from drawing blood. The dinosaur screeched with pain but reacted just as quickly. As Gigan pulled up his arms to deal another blow, Gomora’s fist threw forward and socked the cyborg in the throat, throwing him off balance. The heroic reptile charged forward and rammed Gigan as hard as he could, sending him toppling to the ground.

Gomora readied to pounce–and cried out in pain when Gigan fired off his Gigarium Cluster at close range. As the series of explosions pelted his skin, Gigan’s tail lashed out and stabbed deep into Gomora’s hip. Kicking off the ground, the Nebulan champion chittered with laughter as he took flight, dragging the thrashing reptile across the earth.

Despite the pain, Gomora was in no mood to let this torment continue. Grabbing hold of the tail end, the reptile roared as he pulled it out, spilling new blood onto the soil but bringing the torture to an end. Standing to his feet, Gomora demanded for Gigan to come down and face him. All he received for his efforts was another cluster ray that bombarded his hide. Gomora narrowed his eyes. This one-eyed fool wanted to spam all day? Fine. Two could play that game.

Gomora charged with a roar, the trees shaking from the sound. Gigan flew downward, thrusting his right hand right at Gomora’s shoulder. But quicker than he could’ve anticipated, the dinosaur fired his Super Oscillatory Wave the moment he came within range. Screeching in agony from the incredible hit, Gigan fell back to the earth.

Standing to his feet as fast as possible, the avian cyborg readied himself as Gomora came charging in. The two titans met in an earth-shaking collision, sparks throwing into the air as they gnashed and pushed at each other. Gigan chirped sadistically as he slashed his chainsaw hands in an X-pattern across Gomora’s torso, decorating the air in sparks and blood. Raising his right arm for another go, Gigan was caught off guard when Gomora grabbed the offending limb with one arm, then began rapidly punching with the other. When Gigan brought down his other arm, however, Gomora quickly abandoned the assault and grabbed the other arm with his remaining limb.

Gigan would’ve smirked if he could.

Wrapping his prehensile tail around Gomora’s ankle, the alien began revving up his deadliest asset. Yanking the dinosaur forward, Gigan screamed with sadistic laughter as the running buzz saw embedded in his chest buried itself in Gomora’s belly, slicing through flesh and muscle like a knife through garlic bread. Gomora’s scream of agony was so loud, the windows of the Godzilla Tower cracked a little.

But even staring a painful demise in the face, Gomora was never one to give up.

Reacting immediately, Gomora fired off his Super Oscillatory Wave point-blank in Gigan’s face. Enshrouded in an explosion, the cyborg immediately ceased his attack and backed off, holding his chainsaws up in front of his face for protection as Gomora continued to fire. While his metallic limbs held decently against the powerful attack, the kinetic force was so great that Gigan was pushed back almost effortlessly for hundreds of meters, digging massive trenches into the earth as he was.

*****

Within the Godzilla Tower, the aliens watched the spectacle with worry. Even the expressionless face of the Leviathan leader failed to hide his surprise at the sight before him.

“Gomora is defeating your cyborg?” he asked in astonishment, receiving an equally stunned glance from Fumio in reply.

*****

Eventually, Gomora cut off his attack. He didn’t want to waste all energy on an assault that clearly wasn’t going to end this cretin’s life. He had to put a different idea to use, and fast. This beast was a great deal tougher than he initially thought.

Across from him, Gigan shared no higher enthusiasm as he studied his boiled saw hands. It wasn’t the fact that his main weapons were in poorer condition than in any convict before that disturbed him. No, it was how close that damned dinosaur came to either blinding him or blowing his head clean off. If another blow like that connected ever again…

Chirping, Gigan shook off all worries and taunted Gomora with his screeches, his chainsaws still in well enough condition to rev threateningly. Taking flight, he ascended above the angry Gomora, the dinosaur not daring to shoot at him from below. Taking advantage of this fact, Gigan dove.

Both monsters, utilizing the respective ideas brewing in their minds, attacked at once. Gigan revved up his abdominal saw while Gomora turned around to whip his mighty tail upwards.

Blood flew through the air before staining the light brown earth as Gomora’s tail fell to the ground, no longer attached to its screaming owner. As Gomora staggered in an attempt to stay balanced without a tail, Gigan fired the Gigarium Cluster once more. The series of explosions worsened Gomora’s wounds, crying out as a chainsaw cut gruesomely across his shoulder, sending more precious lifeblood falling to the earth. The sound barrier rang with Gigan’s psychotic laughter as he cut and blasted the crippled dinosaur, who fought with every fiber of his being to muscle through the onslaught.

Hooking his tail into Gomora’s hip, Gigan took flight once more and dragged his maimed foe in a continuous circle, laughing like he never had before. This was currently the best day of his life, and if this was only the beginning, then he couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for him!

After well over a full minute, Gigan shrieked and yanked his tail to the side, sending Gomora falling into a shoulder-high chasm big enough to fit a kaiju.

A chasm Gigan planned on turning into a grave.

Landing at the edge of said chasm, the one-eyed menace fired off his cluster light ray. Gomora only groaned as his skin was assailed by crimson explosions, small mounds of dust being thrown into the air as a result. Gigan screeched and fired off another burst, rending the dinosaur’s injuries further.

Gomora’s claws tensed against the dirt they lay upon, his eyes squeezed shut.

Gigan mocked the doomed reptile with his chirping laughter and took a step forward, his eye aglow as he prepared to continue the excruciating torture–and was suddenly met with a new searing agony, like a glowing molten knife digging into his spine. Screaming in surprise, the cyborg turned to see what was the matter, and had he possessed facial muscles, his eye would’ve widened in shock.

Gomora’s severed tail was acting up on its own! And it had impaled itself into his back like a dagger!

Wiggling free of its position, the tail leaped up to beat the dumbfounded cyborg across the eye with impressive strength. Turning around in circles in a vain attempt to catch the living appendage, Gigan shrieked in frustration as the tail whipped against his face a second time, denting his visor.

Before he could retaliate, a screeching cry caught his attention. Gigan didn’t even have time to curse himself for his mistake before he caught sight of Gomora’s Super Oscillatory Wave headed right for his face.

It was the last thing he would ever see again.

The orange beam struck home, and Gigan’s head erupted in a massive ball of fire and flying flesh. The cyborg’s body seized for a moment… then, it went still.

Rearing his arms skyward, Gomora bellowed in triumph for all to hear. Then, he turned his head in the direction of his main objective: that tower that looked like some kind of bipedal dinosaur like him. Staring at it closely, Gomora’s eyes widened in recognition. That tower resembled a species that once existed on this earth, a species sadly lost to the world of extinction all thanks to the arrogance of humanity.

Gomora growled in anger. How dare these invaders model their headquarters after a murdered race! He would make them pay with their lives–

A scream of pain echoed from the horned dinosaur as he fell to one knee, fresh blood pouring from two new lacerations on his shoulders. Whipping around as fast as he could, Gomora got into a fighting stance to meet his new attacker, only for his eyes to widen in a mix of confusion and shock.

Two narrow slits had opened on Gigan’s decapitated body, and now two flying razor discs were flying back around like boomerangs to hit him again. Gomora growled defensively. That headless husk was somehow still alive!

Gigan’s arms raised back up, blindly swaying about as they tried to find their target. But without a head to see with, the crippled cyborg continued to hit nothing but thin air. Gomora shrieked as the discs cut into his flesh yet again, but even with his injuries worsening by the second, he persisted. This alien menace may have been a tricky foe indeed, but he wasn’t the only one to possess such surprises.

Gomora’s eyes hardened with a mighty growl. He still had one more trick up his sleeve.

Bellowing in defiance, the subterranean reptile lowered his head and charged at the headless horror known as Gigan, just as the latter’s discs came back for another round. The bladed objects cut with horrific precision, but Gomora did not fall, nor did his advance slow.

Meeting his target in a powerful collision, the heroic reptile plunged his glowing horn deep into Gigan’s side, and without thinking, began to pump the cyborg’s body full of energy. Within Gigan’s body, the monster’s nerves went haywire as the energies began to rapidly destroy him from the inside out. Flailing his arms like a lunatic, the headless menace slashed and cut aimlessly across his attacker, but pain did nothing to deter the horned saurian. Gomora pumped every last bit of energy he had into the alien’s form, then, with all the strength his wounded body possessed, he lifted the cyborg’s body clear over his head and flung him into the air.

He didn’t even look back as Gigan’s beheaded body crashed down a good hundred meters behind him and detonated, disappearing in a brilliant rupture of fire.

This time, he was destroyed for good.

Gomora sighed in exhaustion as his injuries began to catch up with him, staggering painfully in his daze. Nevertheless, he fought hard to keep focused. This was a dangerous place to lose consciousness–he knew of the advanced technology these extraterrestrials possessed. If he fell asleep here and now, they would take advantage of his helpless state. They would capture him, cage him, perhaps even torture him, and mold him into a mindless slave to do their bidding.

He couldn’t let that happen. Not while he still had strength left in him.

Not wanting to risk the defensive capabilities of that mockery of a tower he stood across, Gomora immediately crouched down and began to dig at lightning speed. Mounds of rock and soil flew up in large clouds as the victorious dinosaur burrowed his way to safety under the earth, tunneling hundreds upon hundreds of meters below the earth’s crust. His wounds were not mortal–he would eventually recover and return when the world needed his power yet again. Until that day, Gomora would sleep.

He deserved nothing less for his noble deeds.

*****

Fumio stared wordlessly at the screen, his eyes wide in a mix of shock, anger and mourning of the Nebula Hunter’s vanquished champion, Gigan. The fates were certainly cruel today, and as he heard the near-unmistakable shuffling of his audience behind him, he had a feeling that they were about to be crueler yet, for as far as he knew none of the leaders behind him were ones to not stifle any mockery they may be holding back…

The Xillien Controller’s immature giggling broke the silence of the room, prompting a series of glances in his direction. “Hey, cockroach,” X taunted, “what was that you said earlier about ‘perfect peace?’” He held a hand to his ear. “I didn’t really catch that.”

Fumio didn’t turn to meet his gaze. Instead, he kept his attention focused on the screen, somewhat unsure of how to proceed. Perhaps there were bits of Gigan that were left over? Perhaps some salvaging and rebuilding was in order…?

Eventually, all that came out of his mouth was a frustrated mutter of “Goddamn dinosaur.”

“LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE ALLOWED!” Mugal screamed, making everyone in the room jump. “You call that a warrior?! You chose to guard our forces with a walking pile of junk! And look what it cost us!” The infuriated ape pulled out his pistol, making Fumio stop in his tracks. “All of our best forces that we spent MONTHS building, gone! Wasted! ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!” He turned to the rest of the leaders, who looked at him with rather wary expressions–with the exception of X, who simply continued to stare with his usual cocky grin. “I’m putting him down.”

Before he could pull the trigger, the doors behind them audibly whirred open. “You’ll do no such thing!” an angry voice boomed. At this, all of the aliens turned to gaze upon the newcomer. Standing in the entrance, having just arrived in the elevator, was an extraterrestrial who easily dwarfed the others in size and mass. An upright, multi-tentacled being with a green flap of skin wrapped around his collar, a clear sign of leadership amongst his kind. Behind him were three others, their tentacled arms holding energy rifles that were primed and ready, should things go ugly.

But unlike the other leaders, Fumio stared at the leader of the Cryog with a friendly smile. “Rhizon, my old friend,” he greeted with a bow, “it’s been a while.”

Beaming in reply, the Cryog leader held up a tentacled arm, motioning for his guards to stand down. Nodding, they obeyed. “You look weary, old friend,” Rhizon stated. “And your plans for Peace, carefully planned as they may have been, seem to be rather… flawed.”

“More like his so-called ‘champion’ was nothing more than a useless amalgamation of spare parts!” growled Mugal. The Cryog leader spared him an annoyed glare. “We should’ve sent Mechagodzilla to be base guardian! He would never have lost to that insolent reptile–”

“Oh, save your breath, you dimwitted ape,” Rhizon snarled with tedium. “Your pettiness irritates me more than your species’ foul odor.”

At this, X clapped his hands as he burst out laughing, stomping the ground with his boot in enjoyment.

“And that goes for you too, youth!”

At this, X stifled his laughter, though his usual smug gin remained. “You’re an even bigger fool than the humans if you think your toys over there are a match for the powers of a Keizer,” he said haughtily, regarding the Cryog guards. Rhizon merely scoffed in return.

“Time for fighting between the two of us will have to wait, boy.” He turned back to Fumio, wrapping a tentacle around his shoulder. “Come, my old comrade. Time for mourning Gigan’s loss will have to wait as well. For I have something to show you.”

“But what about our slain warriors?” Fumio responded. “Why aren’t we making haste to replace our lost soldiers and weaponry?” At this, Rhizon merely smiled in return.

“Because I have something far better to show you. Something that will pave the way… for the peace we both so desperately strive for.”

Hearing this, the Nebulan’s eyebrows raised, and he allowed his multi-limbed comrade to proceed.

Walking his friend over to the control screen, Rhizon began to type in a series of commands, and with it, the screen view began to change. “In fact, I have something to show ALL of you,” he sneered with a toothy grin. He continued to type in the commands, and what was at first a space-eye view of the earth began to zoom in, frame by frame.

When he was finished, the room was filled with silence.

On the screen, there displayed a satellite image of a hangar of some kind, originating on the island of Japan. “Wait… what is this?” the Vortaak queen asked, silently knowing the answer herself. “Isn’t that…?” Before she could finish, Rhizon clicked another command, and yet another image popped into existence.

An aura of fear permeated the room.

On the screen was a live webcam, showing the contents of the hangar. The room was a gigantic one, and it was entirely filled with water. Human scientists in diving suits swam in different directions, following their respective tasks as they flocked around what held everyone’s attention–a colossal skeleton. A skeleton that mirrored the very tower they stood within, a skeleton belonging to the deceased entity which inspired its design.

Rhizon turned to his dumbfounded audience, his grin wider than ever.

“Yes, that’s right. Godzilla.”

Winner: Gomora