Author: Connor Clennell | Banner: Landon Soto
It was cold. The coldest place anywhere on the planet. For millions of years, Antarctica was the harshest, most inhospitable place found on Earth. A frozen land of fierce blizzards and wide ice fields that tested the abilities of the creatures with the bravery to scrounge a living out of the soil. Sunlight rarely reached here, at the bottom of the world, but provided just enough for plant life to grow.
For a being like Ultraseven, this was the wrong place to be.
Braving the whistling winds and thick snowfall, the crimson-clad giant crossed the skies over the continent. He was on a mission, a matter of urgent importance, and a hasty accomplishment was needed, given the environment he traversed. Choosing to forfeit the commonplace Color Timers associated with his people for the naturally-occurring Beam Lamp meant that Ultraseven lacked the ability to store the solar energy he needed for reserve. As such, the metallic armor that dressed his breast and biceps doubled as solar collectors, constantly gathering energy for the Ultra, while the Beam Lamp functioned as an indicator of Seven’s physical strength over a warning to an imposed time limit.
But out here, sunlight was in short supply. What light reached the continent was reduced further by seas of dark cloud and frequent snow storms, leaving one of M78’s finest struggling to collect enough power to maintain his gigantic form. Experience had taught Seven the dangers of battling in such conditions, with his encounters against Gandar, Giradorus, and the Alien Kanan long in the past. Those fights had been short and efficient, and with any luck, so would any that awaited him at his destination.
The world was changing and moving on from the past. When giant monsters appeared across the world in the wake of the first Godzilla’s attack in 1954, many organizations were formed to address and control the growing population through whatever means they preferred. Throughout the Showa period of Japan, each generation of these monster-attacking crews gained the support of Ultraseven’s brothers-in-arms, forging friendships and comradery between Ultra and Man. But modernization was affecting everything, and the remnants of those attack teams had been disbanded and absorbed into the larger governmental operations. Decades of history, lost inside the militarized hustle and bustle of the UNGCC and AMF.
Only the Science Special Search Party and Ultra Garrison had escaped such a fate, but their funding and resources were greatly cut. As a consequence, both sister teams were relocating to smaller, under-equipped headquarters, out of sight from the public eye, while the main defense force reveled in the full exposure. Was this how Japan rewarded its heroes? Pushing them into the shadows when their own ego was on the line? It made the warrior of peace’s heart boil with rage.
So when he’d showed up at the current Ultra Garrison base in his human guise to assist in collecting the equipment for transfer (not that any of the staff recognized him with the numerous roster changes in his absence), and unintentionally intercepted a distress signal, he leapt at the chance to return some pride to the team and his old friends. Any act by the intergalactic agent would be trailed back to the organization, by proxy of being their unofficial seventh member. Even after all the years since his time on Earth, the irony of being two members of a seven-man force was not lost on Ultraseven.
The transmission came from a research base on the Antarctic coast. What their mission was, Seven wasn’t sure. Most likely surveys on local temperature or wildlife populations in the region; people rarely came to the planet’s backend for anything besides investigation into the effects of global warming on the continent. That subject was for another time. From what he got from the garbled message, a gigantic creature had appeared and attacked the base, putting the stationed team in great danger in their isolated location. Seven had set out to the coordinates provided at the fastest speeds he could accomplish, and prayed he would arrive in time.
Through the snowfall’s white shroud, a dark mass became visible. Even with eyesight hundreds of times superior to a human’s, Seven struggled to fully identify what lay before him, but it was undoubtedly a building. He had arrived at the site of the transmission at last. The red giant dropped from the air, sinking ankle deep into the thick snowdrift with a heavy thud as he crossed the final mile on foot. With each yard gained, the structure and its details grew clear to his illuminated eyes.
It didn’t look like any base he had ever seen. The structure buried in the thick snow resembled a factory or warehouse more than a research station. It was a far cry from a suitable shelter as well, with parts of it dilapidated or collapsed. Helicopters and vehicles were scattered around the complex, coated with rust and dulled paint from so many years exposed to the elements. From the looks of it, no living thing had used the base for many years, yet someone had tried to summon others here. Why?
There was a sense of familiarity in the back of Ultraseven’s mind. Deep in the confines of his centuries-old mind, part of the star navigator recognized the abandoned base. He’d seen it before; not in person, but in second-hand reports from government forces, dating back to the year of 1967…
A booming, grating sound echoed from the innards of the structure, reverberating across the ice-coated plains and frozen coast. Seven was instantly alert, taking up a stance more suitable for combat as his amber eyes watched the abandoned base for the source of the cry. From the broken roof of the main building, a shimmering mass, partly dulled from the build-up of frost across its surface, rose up. Pushing away the frozen debris around it, the stranger stood tall and mighty amidst the broken structures. It was humanoid, but any defining features were obscured from Ultraseven’s eyes by the thick rain of snow around him.
With a loud crash, the newcomer kicked through the warehouse’s wall, breaking out of the ancient building with the ease of flattening a sandcastle at the beach. The run-down structure was no match against the mysterious creature’s strength, allowing it to step out onto the wide, snow-laden ground beyond the complex’s boundaries.
Now, Seven could see the creature clearly, and its features were unmistakable to the eyes of the Ultra Warrior. It was a metallic ape, standing just as tall as the alien hero. It stepped out from the wreckage with clunking motions, its lamp-like eyes glowing brightly within the blinding snowfall as a screeching roar boomed from the automaton’s mouth.
The memories pieced together perfectly with the mechanical ape’s appearance. A scientific expedition, the machinations of a mad man, a heart-bounding battle atop Tokyo Tower, and an explosive conclusion in the waters of Tokyo Bay. With the complete information, Seven realized the identity of the abandoned base – the former headquarters of the International Judas, Doctor Who!
And the menacing robot striding towards him, the mad criminal’s Mechani-Kong!
Ultraseven raised his fists and sprinted towards the robotic doppelganger. Whatever its purpose here was, he would not grant the machine any chance to complete its mission. Servos whirred and pistons pumped as Mechani-Kong reared back its right arm, throwing its fist forward as Seven came into striking distance. The metal limb struck him square between the eyes, throwing the armored warrior back with explosive force. He crashed to the ground, sinking into the deep drifts of snow with a puff of white flakes as he groaned in agony. The giant’s arms and legs refused to obey his commands, twitching pathetically against the cold, frozen earth. He’d severely underestimated the robotic primate’s strength, and now suffered the consequences for it.
As he lay sprawled across the white ground, Mechani-Kong trudged closer. Its thick legs whirred loudly as it diverted power to keep them moving in the presence of the building frost and thick snowdrifts. The metallic gorilla cocked its arm back again, the gears within locking up for another powerful strike. The looming form of the automaton spurred Ultraseven into action despite his delirious state, and as Mechani-Kong’s fist shot forth, he rolled to the side with seconds to spare. Melted snow and wet mud shot up from the impact, spraying the right side of the robot with a thin, dark coating.
Seven stood up as Mechani-Kong recalibrated, turning stiffly towards the defender of peace and freedom. His hands rose to the metal crest on his head, securing it in the grip of his psychokinetic powers, and hurled it. The Eye Slugger glowed bright with a trail of flame-like energy as it slammed into Mechani-Kong’s forehead, causing the robot’s head to snap back, the entire body briefly stumbling before it corrected its balance. As the Eye Slugger returned to Seven’s head, the Kong of steel turned its luminous eyes back to the Ultraman, broadcasting its screeching cry. A dent marred its faceplate where the metal blade had struck, but the damage was minimal.
How was the robotic doppelganger here? Although his memory was still fuzzy on the full details, Seven knew definitely that Mechani-Kong had been destroyed in its battle with King Kong back in 1967, dismantled and scraped long ago. So how could it be standing here before, looking fresh as the day it was turned on?
The only answer that made sense to the alien guardian was that this was not the same machine, but a new creation. But that was impossible. Its creator was dead, slain at the vengeful hands of the same creature he’d based the automaton on. There was no possible way, after all this time, that Doctor Who was still alive.
Mechani-Kong belt low to the ground, pushing its hand past the snow and into the waterlogged ground underneath. Digging its fingers into the mud, the mechanical ape swung up its arm upward. A shower of dirt and ice flew from the machine’s fingertips in an arc, splattering across Ultraseven’s head and breast. The warrior’s front was coated before he could move out of its path, shouting out with searing pain as mud splashed across his boxy eyes. Flailing wildly, he tried to wipe away the thick substance, only smearing it across his vision more in his attempts as he fell to his knees. Seven thrust his hand deep into the snow around him, braving the fierce chill that engulfed his fingers as he grabbed a handful of slush-like ice and smothered it over his features. The added water helped to break the tension, clearing the crimson giant’s vision quickly, but his sight blurred, taking precious seconds to restore to normal.
Cold fingers grasped Seven’s neck, squeezing tight around it. He gasped for air and clutched at Mechani-Kong’s fingers to try and break the robotic gorilla’s seal. The robot’s grip was as strong as the steel it was made from, crushing Seven’s windpipe tighter despite his efforts to loosen its grip. It pushed its weight forwards, trying to force the warrior against the ground, where it would have better leverage to choke the life from the intergalactic agent.
Ultraseven’s hands found a new target, grabbing hold of Mechani-Kong’s wrists. Pulling using every ounce of strength, he flipped the metal ape over his shoulders. The imitator’s hold around his throat came loose as Seven hurled it across the terrain, crashing down in a burst of ice chunks and snow. Ultraseven slowly stood, his chest heaving while he rubbed his bruising neck to soothe the burning ache there. The feat to remove his attacker was impressive, but it had required a lot of his strength. With each passing moment, Seven could feel the cold Antarctic air permeating his body, robbing the red man of his precious body heat, and his strength with it. A prolonged fight was out of the question in conditions like these. The machine had to be put down immediately.
A sharp click brought Seven’s head up to attention. His body sprang to life as the sprawled Mechani-Kong sat up, tossing something small and metallic at the galactic warrior’s feet. He leapt to the side as the grenade went up, consuming the spot in a geyser of hot flames and shrapnel.
With grinding gears and screeching metal, the metallic Kong got to its feet. It dipped a bulky hand to the belt around its waist and unclipped another grenade, ripping out the pin before tossing it at Ultraseven, accounting for the fierce winds that might blow the explosive off-course. Just as it hit the ground, Seven jumped away from the ensuing explosion. Another grenade detached from the robot’s belt, repeating the same motions as before. Seven dove to the side once more, outpacing Mechani-Kong’s slower movements as the automation threw the explosive too slowly to take him off-guard.
Rolling into a crouch, the M78 denizen turned away from the blast to shield himself from the hail of scorched earth and metal fragments. Fresh heat washed over the custodian’s form briefly, warming his frigid bones just enough to keep his reflexes fresh. As a third grenade was unclipped, the warrior chose to stand his ground, crossing gazes with the lifeless doppelganger. The machine tossed its grenade, but as it flew across the distance, Seven extended his hand. Powerful psychokinetic waves engulfed the explosive as he made a swinging motion with his hand, which it replicated with perfect accuracy. It changed course in mid-air, flying back towards Mechani-Kong and slamming into the robotic primate’s chest, detonating instantly. It howled a scratchy copy of the true Kong’s roar as it was blown down from the blast force, crashing and sinking into the softening earth.
The simian machine began to push itself from the drowned soil, but several of the internal motors that drove its limbs failed to activate. Parts of its circuitry was disabled by the mighty force of the explosion, leaving Mechani-Kong slower and more vulnerable than before while it tried to reboot the damaged components.
Ultraseven took full advantage of the robot’s disabled status. He leapt atop the mechanical primate, using his legs to pin it down as he sat atop Mechani-Kong’s torso. Immediately, his foe tried to remove him from atop its prone form, but the metal ape’s responses were hindered by its weakened articulation, allowing Seven to lay down his assault without a challenge. His fists crashed against Mechani-Kong’s face plate and cranium over and over, striking the most vulnerable point of the deadly robot with every ounce of power to spare. His punches were relentless, and dents finally began to form in the metal from the Ultra Brother’s concentrated assault. It was slow progress, but with enough determination, he could break through the steel ape’s armor.
But it was not to be. Although disabled, Mechani-Kong still possessed other tricks within its metallic frame. As Seven sped up his assault, the robotic monolith jerked up its head, flashing bright beams of light from its eyes like gigantic spotlights. The attack was unexpected, and Seven was left with no chance to act as he took the full brunt of the blinding rays. Crying out, the red giant covered his eyes with an arm in an attempt to soothe the stinging agony. Bright spots flashed in his vision; it felt like thousands of needles were slowly being jammed into his eyes. His free hand flexed and grasped blindly, trying to relocate the mech’s head in his temporary blindness.
Those few seconds were the last measurements of time the armor-clad automaton needed, initiating the last reboot codes to its servos. With renewed flexibility, the machine’s steel arm lifted and crashed into the side of Ultraseven’s skull. He toppled off, rolling across the icy ground for a short distance before the resistance of the snow halted his momentum. Upon his forehead, the Beam Lamp started to blink an alarming red as his energy levels began to drop near dangerously low levels. In the current weather conditions, it was impossible to recharge, and the freezing winds robbed Seven of more strength by the passing moment.
The kaiju slayer was struggling for time against a foe that outclassed him in every way. It could turn out to be a fight that Ultraseven could not win.
Pushing against the rock-hard earth, Ultraseven struggled to rise, straining all of his shivering muscles to get him up as the stomping chorus of the killer gorilla grew closer and closer. Managing to rest upon his knees, he looked up as Mechani-Kong stepped out from the snowy haze, its colossal arms raised high over its head. The foreign protector only had time to raise his own arms in response, crossing over his head to catch the wrists of the Kong of steel as it swung down. He pressed against the metal forearms, fighting with all that he still had in him to hold them back, but it was not enough. Slowly, Ultraseven’s arms were forced down as the robot Kong exercised its incredible, unhindered power upon the hero. His back bended as he was forced closer and closer back to the ground, feeling the bones in his wrists crack under the unrelenting pressure…
Seven recognized that the physical duel was lost. The energy he had left needed to be used in better ways than wasted here. He dropped his arms, causing Mechani-Kong to stumble from the sudden lack of resistance. As it stopped to correct itself, Seven looked directly at the exposed throat of the automaton. Surging bolts of energy fired from his eyes into the machine ape’s neck, throwing off sparks as the heavy armor was compromised. Mechani-Kong staggered backwards, its speakers screeching incoherently, but the damage inflicted by the Eye Beams was not permanent.
While the mechanical terror reeled, Ultraseven rose and stood tall. At least for a moment, as the heroic giant suddenly wavered on the spot, head rolling as his vision blurred. The effects of his hampered stamina grew with every minute; the cosmic warrior needed to finish this right now. Seven managed to stabilize, bringing up his tired, quaking arms and setting them together to form a simple, yet powerful shape. With the back of his left hand pressing against the right elbow, his hands formed the image of a large “L” – the position for the Wide Shot. The last reserves of energy coursed through the limbs in preparation to deal the final blow to the resurrected robot…
Its silver hand grasped Seven’s by the wrist, holding it tightly as Mechani-Kong steadily applied pressure. The Ultra Warrior’s arms fell apart as he gasped, hands twitching in agony as the steel doppelganger squeezed with all its mechanical strength. Ultraseven’s screams reverberated across the empty landscape as Mechani-Kong crushed the bones in his right wrist, slowly and painfully. He chopped and punched the machine’s arm repeatedly, but its grip was just as strong as steel, and would relinquish it easily. With a final, gruesome snap, it released Ultraseven, shoving the crimson guardian back.
Ultraseven dropped to a knee, trembling from the unfathomable pain shooting down his arm. He clutched his broken wrist, gasping from the intensified agony that resulted as he tried to soothe the wound. The damage was already done, though. Ultraseven’s strongest techniques required the use of both hands, but with one no longer of use, most of the alien custodian’s arsenal was rendered unusable.
His crippled body was subjected to Mechani-Kong’s ferocity. One after the other, the robotic ape crashed its fists into Seven’s skull, with the Ultra Brother reeling badly from each overpowering strike. In the brief pauses between each swing, he tried to fight back, but his weakened blows were utterly ignored as the deadly machine continued its unrelenting beating. With a stern right hook, it sent Ultraseven crashing into the thick snow, who could only groan and twitch from exhaustion and wooziness. The odds were not in the favor of Earth’s protector, but he still pressed on with determination. As long as power flowed through his body, Ultraseven could still fight.
With the mechanical Kong looming over, he raised his functional arm. Frost and fatigue made the Ultra’s movements slow and stiff, the task of raising the limb a challenge in itself, but he succeeded in drawing the arm over his metallic protector. Electric Emerium power crackled out from the flashing Beam Lamp, but stopped only a few inches past the object. The beam flashed and wavered, unable to properly concentrate with Seven’s reserves beneath the ability to manipulate energy into attacks. It spluttered for a moment before retreating back into the flickering gem, earning what seemed like howls of laughter from Mechani-Kong’s scratchy speakers.
Panic engulfed Seven. His options were drying up by the second, and no other opportunities were presenting themselves. Perhaps this would be his final battle, a consequence of his overzealousness to protect the memory of his friends. The only weapon left was his Eye Slugger, which on its own could not pierce Mechani-Kong’s armor.
Mechani-Kong’s hand returned to its belt and unclipped a grenade. Seven could only watch, outstretching his hand as if to beg for mercy as the hominid pulled off its pin, raising the explosive high above its head. The joints in its arm hissed with compressed air, moving the limb upwards in preparation to…
The joints!
Seven grasped the Eye Slugger and all but ripped it from his head. With only one working arm, his aim and throwing power was impaired, but it had to work. Before Mechani-Kong could react, the guardian tossed the blade forward with the bit of might left in him. The Eye Slugger flew forwards under psychokinetic power, biting into the servos and cabling between the robot’s arm and shoulder with no resistance from the weaker materials. In one clean slice, it cut through, and the ape automaton’s limb fell to the ground, shooting sparks from both stumps.
Mechani-Kong howled, shaking the remaining arm wildly as it stomped the ground in confusion. After a moment, the machine reorganized itself and returned to its emotionless posture. It reached down for its belt and another grenade, but it stopped just as its hand hovered over the tools of destruction. The Kong of steel’s computer brain whirred, reanalyzing the previous events. It looked up in horror after a second.
The grenade in the robot Kong’s severed arm erupted, engulfing the lower half of the automaton in a titanic blast of fire and shrapnel. Mechani-Kong roared in defiance, but the cry was abruptly cut short as the belt of grenades was caught in the explosion as well. Flying shards of metal and intense heat activated all of the remaining explosives at once, and the mysteriously revived machine was swallowed up in the resulting colossal fireball. Ultraseven had to look away from the bright flames and intense heat, shielding his eyes from the inferno as scraps of metal rained down all around.
As the blaze shimmered down, Ultraseven rose to his feet. His body felt reenergized by the tremendous heat of the explosion, restoring enough of the scarlet giant’s strength to stand unsupported. Where Mechani-Kong once stood lay a wide, scorched crater in the earth, littered with broken machinery and mangled robotic limbs, but most of the artificial primate’s torso had remained intact, to his surprise.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to leave, but curiosity got the better of Ultraseven in spite of his failing health. He approached the machine’s remnants, warming himself with the lingering heat that radiated from the maimed machine as he examined it. With the immediate danger passed, Seven’s mind was allowed to wander and search for answers.
How could someone have built a new Mechani-Kong after all this time? The original had been sent to the scrap heap long ago, and the schematics for the robotic double lost with its creator. These facts did nothing to dispel the reality that the robot had nearly managed to take his life. Someone had put the time into making a new model of Mechani-Kong, but who, and what for? Why place it out in the middle of the Antarctic and send out a fake distress signal to lure others in?
Unless…
That was impossible! No way could anyone on Earth have known of his return, much less his human identity as well. Ultraseven’s mind reeled as the facts slotted together, slowly creating the full picture. A trap set exactly for him. Only a handful of people on the planet had the resources to execute such a scheme, but one name rang out in the Ultra’s head. An impossible name…
With a sharp crackle, Mechani-Kong’s eyes illuminated with blinding light. Ultraseven’s vision became nothing but a white glow as he cried out, waving his good arm in a blind attempt to block the glaring beams. The flash was only for a moment, disorientating the alien warrior as the broken automaton activated the real weapon.
Ultraseven swayed and staggered from the blinding flash. Everything to his eyes was blurry and unfocused, leaving his vision effectively useless, though the effects were only temporary. But as the details of his surroundings slowly grew clearer, Seven became aware of a new change to the environment. He tried to focus on the pulsing object, fearing for the worst with Mechani-Kong still active. It became revealed as his sight was fully restored, allowing Seven to recognize with horror the identity of the object. The hypnotic diode flashed with quick pulses of light behind its technicolor casing, illuminating the hero’s face as it drew in his gaze.
His senses screamed to turn or look away, but the alien giant’s body would not respond to his will. His amber eyes remained glued to the diode, entranced completely by the beacon and its assuring light signal. Ultraseven struggled to fight against its influence. He couldn’t give in! He had to fight it… had… had to…
The form of the Ultra Brother went stiff, arms drooping to the sides as his mind slumbered. Fully under Mechani-Kong’s spell, Ultraseven remained motionless in the dense snowfall, lit up by the hypnotic light’s pulsating rhythm. The robot did not let up on its task, despite its systems slowly failing from the extensive damage and power loss, but it did not matter in the long run, for it did not need to wait long.
Like flicking a switch, the snowstorm began to subside. Heavy winds and walls of snowflakes died down as the erected towers that generated them powered down, restoring the weather to much milder conditions. Based on the Weather Control Capsule constructed on Sollgel Island in 1967, the array of towers were an obvious improvement on the original design. Without the whistling artificial winds, the silence of the white landscape was interrupted by the whirring blades of helicopters. Six of the orange-and-cream flying vehicles emerged from the fading shroud and moved towards the abandoned base, with two breaking off towards the forms of Ultraseven and Mechani-Kong.
The twin craft slowly touched down, whipping up the loose snow dressing the earth into a miniature vortex, while the remaining four circled above. As the Jet Helicopters’ engines cut off and the rotors began to slow, the doors on each side of the crafts slid open to allow the passengers to disembark onto the ice. Men in silver bodysuits filed out, but a different figure stepped from the belly of the lead helicopter. He was wrapped in a thick, dark cloak that appeared too thin to insulate his frail physique, yet the man walked calmly away as if he could barely feel the chill.
The impossible truth was at last confirmed. Doctor Who still walked the Earth.
He approached the immobile form of Ultraseven, flanked by armed men in silver jumpsuits. They, too, showed no discomfort in the blistering cold as Doctor Who retrieved a microphone from within his coat. As he held it to his mouth, Mechani-Kong’s broken jaw screeched open, exposing the speakers housed within.
“Come down, Ultraseven.” The doctor’s voice boomed from Mechani-Kong’s mouth, silencing the whistling winds that would drown out all normal sound. “Join me at my side, where you belong.”
Ultraseven’s arms crossed over his stomach. At once, his giant size began to diminish at a rapid rate, becoming smaller and smaller at the rate of microseconds. Within a quick moment, the red Ultra had reduced himself to being no taller than the average man.
Trudging through the thick drifts of snow, the International Judas and his armed escort moved to the unresponsive giant’s position. Crooked, yellow teeth appeared from behind withered lips as a smile broke out across Doctor Who’s face, walking towards Ultraseven with the aura of greeting an old friend over collecting a prisoner. Next to the alien guardian, he appeared tiny, but the aura of coldness that accompanied him remained as strong as ever.
“I apologize for the circumstances of our meeting,” he explained with true sincerity. “You’re a very difficult man to get hold of, Ultraseven. Or perhaps you would prefer to be addressed as Mr. Moroboshi? I can imagine you’ve grown quite attached to that identity.”
“I’ve been watching this planet for a very long time. Far longer than the JSDF documents would have you believe,” he went on. Seven remained as inexpressive as ever in spite of the old man’s monologue. “Your people, in particular, have caught my attention. So much power in your possession, yet you squander it in the trivial purpose of “peace and justice.”” Doctor Who took on a sour expression from uttering the words. “Had I not been forced to remove myself from the attention of the world, I would have liked to study you and your brothers more.”
“But alas, you are here now before me!” the doctor exclaimed, spreading his arms before him as if to highlight the magnificence of the warrior. “We shall achieve great things working together. History will look back at this moment and recognize the power and genius… of Doctor Who.”
“Must you feed your ego at this time, human?”
The doctor’s arms fell to his sides and he turned, levelling his unamused expression towards the man who had spoken. Unlike the others, he sported a silver, twin horned helmet as a sign of his status. He met the eyes of Doctor Who without hesitation, wearing a smug grin across his features. “Perhaps if you didn’t boast about your power so much, you might have already been ruling this planet,” he snarked.
“Rule?” Doctor Who chuckled with mirth. “Such a bold accusation. I have no desire to rule, Mugal; you and your master are aware of this. I simply wish to ensure my place in the new society to come.”
He leaned closer, bringing his foul, crinkled face meters away from the space man’s own.
“And my role in bringing it about outplays yours. Be sure to remember your place, monkey.”
Mugal’s grin morphed into a scowl, glaring daggers at the old man but made no move against him. With a wave of his arm, he commanded the other men into action, who set off to secure and collect the machinery scattered. What parts could be salvaged were transported to the grounded helicopters, with the broken materials buried beneath the deepening snow.
Watching on, Doctor Who observed as the airborne helicopters descended around Mechani-Kong, securing the automaton with large claws that lowered from their undercarriage. He turned away as his prized machine was lifted into the sky, motioning for his guards to follow.
“Come along, Ultraseven,” he ordered, wrapping his arm around the Ultra’s shoulders as he ushered him to one of the transports. “Let’s get you out of the cold, then we can sort about fixing that hand of yours. My people need you in tip-top shape for what is to come.”
The four entered the helicopter, with the door sliding shut behind them. Both vehicles’ rotors began to whir, lifting them into the air as the convoy carrying Mechani-Kong’s remains followed behind. The snow continued to fall as they disappeared into the white haze, leaving behind naught but buried metal and scorched earth. In hours, the snow would completely cover the landscape and bury all evidence of what occurred here.
And the world would sleep soundly, unaware that the Devil walked amongst them.
Winner: Mechani-Kong
