Author: Connor Clennell | Banner: Landon Soto

Within the magma flows of the Earth’s core, Obsidius stirred. The creature’s head tilted up at the roof of the tube, searching for whatever had awoken him from his slumber. When nothing happened, Obsidius lowered his head, returning to his slumber. A minute later, his sleep was disturbed as a series of tremors shook Obsidius’ den, rousing the volcanic creature from his sleep once again. He turned his head up again, growling softly. Something was burrowing through the Earth, disrupting his rest and recovery. Here, deep within the planet, nothing was supposed to be able to disturb him, but it seemed something had no respect for Obsidius’ wellbeing.

Standing to his full height, Obsidius dug his hands into the roof of the tube and began to dig, burrowing upwards towards the source of the tremors. Whatever the source of the disturbance was, it was about to experience his unbridled wrath…

*****

It was a time of peace for Earth. It had been a long and arduous war, but ultimately, it had resulted in another victory for the inhabitants of the planet over their extra-terrestrial rivals. The Vortaak forces had been driven back for a third time, and SpaceGodzilla had been cast out into the black void that spawned him once more. With Earth’s safety secured, the slow process of rebuilding could begin.

Out of all the major cities hit by SpaceGodzilla’s crystal meteor shower, San Francisco had suffered the least of their effects. Intense seismic activity had cut the city off from most of the world during the invasion, but following the retreat of SpaceGodzilla and the destruction of his crystals, the damage had reversed itself, the tectonic plates sealing shut and allowing access to the city by land and sea once more. Despite this, there were changes to the area that would take time to fix. The famous Golden Gate Bridge had been split into two during the events of the invasion, with estimates indicating that it would take years for the pride of San Francisco to be returned to its former glory. Coupled with that, the Vortaak Mothership still filled most of the bay, its mere presence having caused the water level to rise and flood most of the lower sections of the city. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, it would take time to remove the massive spacecraft and return life to normal.

Currently, the city was dealing with a more pressing problem. Strange, random bouts of seismic activity had suddenly manifested in the past few days around and within San Francisco. The populace was used to dealing with earthquakes before, but the pattern and intensity of these tremors was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Seismologists and geologists didn’t know what to make of it. It seemed unlikely that these quakes were the result of some natural force. Little did they know, they were closer to the truth than they realized.

Hundreds of miles beneath the city streets, the source of the tremors burrowed its way through the bedrock, intent on completing its mission. A gargantuan, bizarre creature, the Garogan Terro-Beast, Zandora, had been ordered by its alien masters to destroy the city and finish what the Vortaak had started. The evil masterminds that laid claim to an empire of conquered worlds had devised a cunning strategy to take out the City by the Bay right under the noses of the EDF and G-Force. Taking inspiration from one of their past failed attacks, Zandora had been ordered to dig under the city, weakening its supports and eventually cause San Francisco to be consumed by a massive sinkhole.

Careful planning had gone into this re-attempt at global domination. Earth’s combat mechs were all either occupied with other conflicts or undergoing repairs, Zone Fighter, Ultraman and Ultraseven were off-world, hunting down the remains of the Vortaak invasion fleet, and Godzilla and his monster allies were locked away on Monster Island. This time, there was no one to stand in the way of the Garogas’ plans.

As Zandora continued to burrow, the earth beneath began to suddenly glow red hot. The alien thing paused, staring at the glow with its featureless drill-head. The glow increased in intensity, and molten magma began to leak from the earth, scalding Zandora’s soles. It screeched and tried to back away, but something burst out from beneath it and carried the Terro-Beast upwards, pushing it towards the surface. Thousands of tons of earth and stone failed to stop Zandora as it was forced upwards by its attacker, its metallic hands waving as it tried to strike whatever was carrying it.

Soon, sunlight washed over Zandora as it bust from the ground and onto San Francisco’s streets. It shrieked as it was flung to the ground by whatever had attacked it, crashing through several small buildings and rolling to a stop. Dizzy from the attack, Zandora still managed to stand and address the creature that stood between it and its masters’ goals. Climbing out of the hole, Obsidius stood to his full height and beat his chest, roaring loudly to the sky, his sole goal to eliminate the strange-looking creature that had disturbed his rest.

Zandora and its masters observed the magma-crystal hybrid with confusion. Both creatures, despite their lack of eyes, stared down each other. Obsidius popped his knuckles and slammed his fist into his open palm, showing that he was eager for a fight. Seeing this, the Garogas ordered Zandora to destroy the golem before he impeded their plans any further. Screeching a cry of challenge to Obsidius, Zandora complied.

The two giants tore up the earth as they charged, swinging their fists forwards as the distance between them decreased. Obsidius struck first, smashing his rock-hard fist into Zandora’s chest and sending the creature reeling. Before it could recover, Obsidius’ other fist struck, colliding with the Terro-Beast’s metallic skull, knocking it to the floor. Zandora slapped its limbs against the ground in a fury, but before it could get back up, Obsidius was atop it, striking the strange alien weapon with his fists over and over. Powerful blows rained down on Zandora’s chest and head, earning screeches of pain from the drill-headed monstrosity. Before it could be beaten to death, Zandora’s spade-tipped arms shot up, striking both sides of Obsidius’ neck, cracking the rocky armour. Obsidius ceased his assault, roaring loudly as he clutched his injured neck. Streaks of lava dripped from his wounds, falling onto Zandora, its skin sizzling on contact with the molten liquid. Before more could fall, Zandora’s arms struck out again, crashing into Obsidius’ chest and knocking the crystal-born mutation away.

Climbing to its feet, Zandora shook its body, jets of steam spraying from the tubes lining the base of its drill, and raised its hands as Obsidius, too, rose. The magma monster bellowed and charged, but Zandora was prepared this time. It lowered its drill-like head as Obsidius closed the distance, allowing the golem to run straight into the hard, metallic object. Sparks flew as the drill made contact with Obsidius’ armour and the lava-composed creature stumbled back. As he tried to save his equilibrium, Zandora charged in, ramming its drill into the tougher beast’s chest with another shower of sparks. The blow knocked Obsidius back, forcing the spawn of SpaceGodzilla’s crystals to fall onto one knee, leaving him at Zandora’s mercy. The ugly thing smashed its hands across Obsidius’ head, striking the powerful golem over and over. Struggling to retaliate, Obsidius was forced to accept the Terro-Beast’s blows, sparks flying from his skull every time its metallic hands made contact. Soon though, Zandora’s strikes began to crack the stony armour that composed Obsidius, and splashes of lava joined the spray of sparks as it started to lose integrity. Roaring in pain and fury, Obsidius joined his hands and swung up, catching the base of Zandora’s drill and sending the Terro-Beast flying, crashing hard onto its back and cracking the earth beneath it.

Seeing the beast now defenceless, Obsidius attempted to rise, but pain suddenly shot through his skull and he stopped, clutching his head with both hands as he moaned loudly. Zandora, too, struggled to rise, finding the task awkward due to its heavy, metallic drill. Giving up on trying to stand, the strange Garoga creation’s drill began to turn, and it pulled its head back, driving the massive digging tool into the earth. It reached out with its hands, grabbing the edges of the forming hole and pulling itself in. The Terro-Beast quickly disappeared into the ground, leaving only a massive, gaping tunnel in its wake.

As the aching in his head subsided, Obsidius lowered his hands and searched for his foe, but found nothing, except for the chasm it had left in its wake. Just as he connected it with Zandora’s disappearance, the drill-headed creature leapt out of the ground, driving its most prominent feature and weapon into the molten creature’s back. Obsidius cried out, spitting magma from his maw and tumbling forwards, the lava that fuelled him leaking from the new wound in the back. Standing over the fallen mutation, Zandora shrieked gleefully, pressing its foot down on its seemingly defeated foe. However, Obsidius was far from done, and sprang back up, kicking Zandora off in the process. His shark fin-tipped tail lashed out as Zandora’s did the same, both limbs crashing into each other and causing both creatures to stumble. Of the two, Zandora fared the worst, unable to regain its composure before Obsidius grabbed onto it from behind, restraining the Terro-Beast as he roared into what he assumed was its face. As Zandora struggled, a crimson glow engulfed his captor’s hands, travelling from the Garogan bio-weapon’s flesh to Obsidius’ core. His injuries started to close, his structure regenerating as he absorbed Zandora’s essence. Not many knew, but Obsidius, like the crystals that spawned him, had the ability to leech energy from other living creatures in order to repair any damage inflicted.

Obsidius continued to grapple with Zandora, consuming more and more of its life force. Before he get anywhere near to draining it dry, the Terro-Beast raised its leg and drove it back into the molten monster’s crotch with an awful crack. Obsidius immediately relinquished his grip, shoving Zandora away and bellowing in anguish. It was lucky for the mutant that there was enough of Zandora’s energy left to heal his shattered crotch. From the other end of the street, Zandora laughed at the lava-born monster, its arms waving tauntingly. Obsidius growled at the Terro-Beast, and probably would have scowled, had he possessed the features to do so. To make up for this loss, he unleashed his Inferno, striking Zandora with the searing blast of lava. The ugly thing screeched loudly, spewing steam from its tubes as it was forced back. When the attack subsided, Zandora’s chest was left as black as charcoal.

As his bizarre opponent reeled in pain, Obsidius rushed forwards, curling into a ball and rolling towards Zandora. Halfway to striking the Terro-Beast, Obsidius was caught off-guard when Zandora lowered its head and charged. Its massive drill slammed into his rolling form, sending him flying backwards through the air and crashing through a skyscraper. The entire building collapsed, burying the magma-fuelled golem under tons of concrete, steel and glass.

As he pulled himself from the wreckage, a smaller building smashed into his back, flooring him yet again. Groaning with pain, Obsidius was vaguely aware of Zandora shrieking in cruel joy. It grabbed another building and tore it from the ground, tossing it at the fallen Obsidius. The structure shattered across the elemental golem’s head, snapping him from his gaze. Obsidius stood tall, roaring wilding and pounding his chest before spewing another shot of burning liquid rock from his cavernous maw at Zandora. The Terro-Beast leapt to the side, leaving the street to be flooded with steaming lava, but its foot caught on the roof of a building. Zandora crashed into another street, screeching loudly as clouds of steam hid its form. Pounding his fists together, Obsidius charged, bulldozing through small and damaged buildings on his path to Zandora. As he tore through an apartment block and emerged onto the street, Zandora charged from the cloud, its drill lowered and spinning rapidly. Unable to stop due to the speed he was travelling at, Obsidius ran right into the drill, impaling himself on its tip!

Zandora screeched with glee as its drill tore into Obsidius’ chest, forcing the burrowing tool deeper into the golem as he roared in agony. Once it decided its drill was deep enough, the Garogan monstrosity lifted its head up, hauling Obsidius off the ground. Its drill continued to turn, spinning Obsidius around like a merry-go-round. Lava was sprayed in all directions from Obsidius’ maw and Zandora’s drill, caking the surrounding buildings in the burning, molten liquid. As it began to seep down its drill and scald its flesh, Zandora dislodged Obsidius with a toss of its head, throwing the magma mutation through a skyscraper. A cloud of dust obscured Obsidius as he hit the earth, his cry echoing all around as the top of the skyscraper crashed down atop him.

A few moments passed, with no movement from the dust cloud. Zandora’s controllers instructed the creature to get closer to make sure that the fire golem was dead. It complied, making its way towards Obsidius’ location. As the Terro-Beast reached the site and the dust began to clear, it could see the mountain of rubble before it glowing with heat. The side of the hill of rubble burst open and Obsidius stepped out, lava oozing from the wound in his chest and cracks across his form. Displeased to see its foe alive, Zandora raised its arms and let loose a spray of scalding steam from the tubes lining the tips of its hands. The blast coated Obsidius like a massive riot hose, unleashing a roar from the creature as he raised his arms to protect his face. The heat of the attack was lost on Obsidius’ super-heated body, but the sheer pressure of the blast was enough to blind the golem and push him back. As the cloud died down, Obsidius lowered his arms in time to see Zandora to rush in, slamming its body against the crystal-magma hybrid, knocking him away.

Obsidius bellowed in rage, infuriated by the bizarre Terro-Beast’s tactics. As it rushed forward again, the molten monster engulfed the street before him with his Inferno, flooding it with lava. Seeing this, Zandora skidded to a stop, but was unable to prevent itself from stepping into the red-hot liquid. The drill-headed creature screeched in pain and staggered back, its soles burning. Seeing his opportunity, Obsidius dug his hands into the ground and tore it up, pelting Zandora with a shower of rock and magma, forcing the bio-weapon back as it waved its arms in a panic. Before it could recover, Obsidius charged, his fists still dripping with magma as he swung one at Zandora, putting as much strength below the blow as he dared. To his delight, it made contact, punching through the Terro-Beast’s chest and erupting out of its back. Zandora froze up, then went limp, collapsing onto Obsidius’ shoulder.

The crystal golem placed his hands on the Terro-Beast’s arms, assimilating what remained of its fading life essence to repair his body. The cracks across his body began to close, but his chest wound was still partially open once Zandora had been drained dry. Snorting, Obsidius tossed the Terro-Beast’s corpse aside and looked around, seeing if anything else would try and challenge him. To the mutant’s fortune, he was alone, and so began to burrow into the earth. It wasn’t long before he had disappeared into a gaping hole, beginning his long journey back to the depths of the planet to rest and recover.

Hopefully without any further interruptions, this time.

Winner: Obsidius