Author: Jim Wolf | Banner: Matthew Williams

The dense coniferous forests of North America’s Pacific Northwest were not commonly known for kaiju activity, but that was soon to change. Whether by choice or by sheer accident, the great theropod Gorosaurus had come ashore on a remote beach in British Columbia and ventured deep into the thick forest. The pine trees were much different than the palm trees of his usual stomping ground in the South Pacific, but the ferns were here, and the weather was comfortably warm. The saurian drew comfort from the alien, yet comfortable surroundings as he crashed through the trees, making the local wildlife scatter. Even the mighty grizzly bears knew there was a new king of the forest and they too beat a hasty retreat, giving the massive two-legged dinosaur a wide berth.

Unaware to the emerald saurian, his presence upon the North American continent sent shockwaves around the world, but not of fear. No kaiju could venture anywhere on the planet without at least some human finding out about it and from the arrival marked a fresh opportunity. Acquiring high quality pictures of monsters was about one-hundred times more popular than anything the paparazzi had ever done with taking celebrity photos and when Gorosaurus made a rare appearance outside the Pacific, the excitement could not be contained.

College juniors and best friends, Grant Hubbard and Ken Kennedy, just happened to be north of Vancouver, visiting some of Ken’s family when Gorosaurus made landfall. Grant had tagged along hoping to have one final week of fun before school began again in a couple weeks, but as the young man walked in on his friend’s call, his chances of a normal week vanished in an instant.

“You’re kidding!” Ken said with obvious excitement, “Yes…yes!” he went on speaking on his cell phone practically shaking. Ken saw his buddy talking and knew something was happening. “Yes, Grant’s right here with me. We’re on our way! Keep me posted!”

“What…” Grant began to say but was cut off by his enthused friend, “Gorosaurus! Freaking Gorosaurus is here!”

“You’re kidding!…Where?” Grant asked.

“Just right up the road about fifteen miles. A friend of mine was fishing with his folks off shore and saw him make landfall. I know right where he’s talking about! Come on, man, we gotta go! We can make so much with just a few pics!”

“I’m so on it!” said Grant, who ran to get their Jeep started. Ken was right behind him with their always-ready duffle bag full of equipment. He tossed the equipment into the back of the Wrangler and yelled into the house, “Mom, Grant and I are gonna go take pictures of kaiju. Be back…”

Ken didn’t know how long they would be gone, so he simply decided to wing it. “Be back…sometime!”

Inside the posh home, Ken’s father appeared from the back room and asked his wife what was going on. She shrugged. “Ken said he and Grant are going to go take pictures of …I think he said, kaiju, whoever that is.”

In short order, the two college boys were right on the trail left by the massive dinosaur. In the distance, they could see his hulking form towering over even the largest of trees. Ken was already snapping photos and filming what he could from that interval, but the distance was being closed rapidly as the Jeep tore over the rough ground with relative ease. Soon they were close, really close, as Gorosaurus had paused to drink some water from a clear pond in a wide open meadow. Grant and Ken huddled in the underbrush, attempting to be as quite as possible, but their enthusiasm preventing the necessary silence they so desired.

“I never thought we’d get this close to a real kaiju,” Ken said with amazement.

“Me too,” Grant quivered and soon added, “I wonder what drew him here.”

Making the small pond vanish down his monstrous gullet, Gorosaurus paid the humans monitoring him no mind. What he did draw the saurian’s attention was a rumbling in the ground, surging closer to him with every moment. He looked to the edge of the treeline and saw the ground upheaving. As rocks and huge clumps of dirt were tossed aside, a mighty roar preceded the appearance of a second monster.

“Holy crap, Grant, it’s Baragon!” Ken shouted, feeling terrified yet exhilarated about the appearance of another kaiju. His words were practically obscured by the loud roar from Gorosaurus, who was clearly not happy at the other dinosaur’s presence.

“I can’t believe it, man!” Grant cheerfully yelled out, shaking ecstatically. “I mean, I really can’t believe it!” The two boys did their best to keep their cameras and recording devices steady as Baragon pulled himself from the ground. The huge quadruped pulled all four legs up from the hole he had burrowed from and shook his plump body to get rid of the excess dirt coating his crimson flesh. His big ears flopped as he immediately spied the much taller, two-legged predator, unfazed by saurian’s size. He knew Gorosaurus. They had never fought, but there was always an underlying tension between the two. He felt it and knew his foe did as well.

Gorosaurus parted his gargantuan jaws, proclaiming his discontent at Baragon. He had travelled here to this new land and was staking his claim. This was his domain and any invader would meet a grisly fate. He roared again striding toward Baragon, who stood his ground and answered the big carnivore with a loud bellow of his own, which indicated he was going nowhere. If Gorosaurus wanted him out of this area, he would have to force him off it. Baragon moved forward and met the challenge.

“Oh my god, Grant, they’re gonna fight! Are you recording this?” Ken asked excitedly, jumping up and down. The cameraman simply gave his friend a thumbs up as the two titans collided, both roaring deeply.

“Which one is going to win?” Grant asked, keeping his eyes and camera peeled on the fight before them.

“Hard to tell,” Ken answered. “Baragon’s got that heat beam, but it’s not that terribly strong. Of course Goro has no energy attack, but he has that kangaroo kick.”

Grant simply murmured and added, “But Baragon can leap too, like a long way, maybe even better than Gorosaurus.”

“Battle of the leaping lizards is what we’ll call it!” Ken proudly proclaimed, as the title alone would be enough to get people plopping down in their seats to watch their exciting feature.

“We’re gonna be so freaking famous!” Grant cheerfully yelled out as the two massive reptilian monsters circled each other, sizing their opponent up, growling constantly.

Gorosaurus made the first real move and lunged in with his toothy maw. Emerald jaws snapped at the four-legged beast’s meaty shoulder and managed to snag a bit of flesh, but didn’t secure a firm hold as he merely delivered a nasty nip. That nip, however, was not a welcome one as Baragon swiped his clawed forelimb at his foe and whacked him across the side of the snout, drawing the slightest bit of blood. The prehistoric beast flinched back and angrily snapped back at the subterranean pest, catching a portion of the subterranean creature’s right, floppy ear in his jaws. A swift pull was all that was needed to tear off a bite sized chunk of flesh. Savoring the flesh, Gorosaurus paid little mind to Baragon’s roar of agony or the retaliatory lunge.

The pebble-scaled reptile was able to predict his smaller foe’s plan of attack and raised his leg out of the way just in time. The allosaur kicked hard into the side of Baragon’s head, toppling him over, causing the crimson beast to wheeze in tremendous pain. The red monster was now on his side and kicking to get back up but before he could, Gorosaurus attacked with his hind claws again, raking them twice down the right side of his opponent. Sharp talons ripped through leathery skin and flesh right down to the ribs which could be seen in several places gleaming white in stark contrast to the red flesh around them. Baragon bellowed in agony as his torso was cruelly ripped into.

Gorosaurus thought he might be in a position for a killing blow and lunged to take a huge bite out of the bloody wound. Baragon, in just the nick of time, turned his head and fired a stream of searing hot fire that singed the left side of his attacker. Gorosaurus let out a shriek of pain as he felt his pebbly hide burning. The theropod took several steps back, giving himself time to recuperate from the egregious pain he’d just endured, allowing the horned beast to get back onto his feet.

Baragon roared in both pain and anger as he charged the colossal allosaur again. Gorosaurus, on the other hand, reared backward, shooting his back feet out and slammed the incoming quadruped as he executed his well-known kangaroo kick perfectly. He hit Baragon right in the face and sent him flying backward through the air. The small dinosaur landed in the forest with a resounding thud that shook the ground and sent trees and other assorted forest debris up into the air along with a large amount of dust.

“Damn Ken!” exclaimed Grant, following it up with a volley of observations. “Did you see that! He kicked him like he was nothing! You think it killed him?” Ken continued taking pictures as Gorosaurus lumbered toward the spot his adversary had fallen ready to claim victory.

“I don’t know, buddy,” Ken sighed, snapping yet another shot. “He might have. That was one hell of a hit! I don’t see anything moving at all. It might have killed him.”

Contrary to the two filmmakers’ beliefs, Baragon was not killed, but badly wounded. Inside the treeline, the feudal beast got up to his feet and shook his head to clear the fogginess from it. Blood streamed down his injured side where several flaps of skin dangled from the nasty wound. He winced in pain but was not about to let that outrage go unanswered. Baragon, still hidden by his surrounding environment, braced his powerful back legs and watched his enemy approaching.

Just before Gorosaurus entered the treeline, Baragon sprang forward with all his legendary lumping might. He drove his head hard into the other dinosaur’s midsection, delivering a massive headbutt to Gorosaurus’ stomach. So hard was the impact that both dinosaurs were sent backward in the air. With his eyes wide, mouth agape and tongue flopping out the side, Gorosaurus’ upper body folded right over Baragon’s back, totally winded by the hit. Unfortunately for the legendary theropod, the diminutive creature was also the owner of a long, sharp horn which sat between his eyes, a horn which was now buried deeply into the allosaur’s soft underbelly.

The two hit the ground and separated as they tumbled over the grassy field. Baragon was first to his feet wincing in pain as the fall did not feel good on his already hurting side. The carnivorous hunter laid on his side for a moment, squealing in agony and thrashing his tail and hind legs around as blood spurted from his belly. Despite all the pain he endured, he would not go down so easily to an inferior foe. Gorosaurus got back on his feet and snarled at his enemy.

“Whoa! Freaking amazing!” Grant shrieked out, his camera wobbling in his hands from all the excitement going on. “I thought Goro had him, but did you see that awesome jump?”

“Of course I did!” Ken answered, feeling the same bolt of energy his friend did. “Damn man, I have no idea who’s gonna win this. Both are hurt pretty bad.”

Both combatants were injured severely. Baragon was moving decidedly slower as the blood loss and painfully cracked ribs took their toll. But Gorosaurus was gasping for air as blood spewed from his belly wound. Neither seemed ready to concede. In fact, both seemed even more intent on hurting the other. The ancient hunter targeted the bloody wound on the earth titan’s left side and dove toward it with his mighty jaws snapping. His attack was right on target as the wounded Baragon could not evade quickly enough and the great maw and rows of sharp teeth tore into the already injured area, latching onto some exposed muscle, threatening to rip off a huge hunk of flesh.

Baragon screeched at this painful new attack and retaliated by using his front claws and raked them down the side of the two-legged dinosaur’s side, forcing him to relinquish his toothy grasp. The quadruped then turned tail and put some distance between the two. Baragon demonstrated his burrowing ability once more and disappeared down into the ground. Gorosaurus came over and inspected the hole, only to see nothing but darkness. That changed quickly as a plume of flame illuminated that darkness as Baragon’s projectile struck the looming predator right in the chest, making him cry, immediately backing away from the hole. His chest was now a bright red from the scorching hot flame. He wanted revenge, but didn’t know exactly where his enemy was. The allosaur dared not go back and look into the hole again. However, he did not have to wait long to find out where Baragon was. He was right under him as the burrowing reptile burst through the ground right between Gorosaurus’ feet!

Gorosaurus roared as he was taken by surprise and his roar changed to a higher pitch as that sharp horn stabbed his belly a second time! The allosaur backed off, screeching in pain as his blood painted the ground beneath him a bright crimson color. Baragon, sensing victory, burst all the way out of the ground and charged his staggering adversary ready to deliver the final blow. Gorosaurus was not done yet, not by a long shot! He met the incoming threat with another kangaroo kick. This one was not as powerful as the first due to his wounds, but it was still strong enough to send Baragon tumbling across the ground till he came to a rest on his back against a large mound of boulders. Stunned by the powerful wallop, he pawed at the air with all four legs as he tried desperately to clear his head and to get back on his feet.

Gorosaurus, though hurting badly, came in at the downed dinosaur. He scrutinized the beast below him just for a moment then raised his left leg up and brought it down hard onto Baragon’s exposed underside striking the lower chest area. The subterranean deep-dweller squealed at the impact. The screech of pain was music to Gorosaurus’ ears as he went for it again and shortly after, a third time. On the last impact his foot sank deeper than the first two and created a depression in Baragon’s chest as a rib broke. Now more than screeches came out of the earthbound creature’s mouth, some of his blood came out along with the cries of distress. Gorosaurus backed off, eliciting a victory cry and brought his open maw down ready to rip out the throat of his opponent.

Baragon, even though his injuries were a lingering presence, he was still in the fight. He raised his head and let out a stream of fire as Gorosaurus brought his head down. Searing flame washed over the side of the meat-eater’s head, with some even going down his right ear orifice. The allosaur retreated, howling in agony and shaking his head side to side as smoke wafted off his reddened skin. With his opponent in disarray, Baragon painfully got back onto his feet. Every part of his body ached and even the slightest movement was agonizing, but he was determined to see the fight to the end, regardless if he won or lost.

“Jeez!” Grant moaned in astonishment. “Why don’t they just stop and call it a draw?”

“Guess that’s not how it works,” Ken surmised. “They are gonna fight till one is dead.”

“At this rate, both are going to wind up dead!” Grant proclaimed. A statement that very well could be right. The young men continued their filming as Baragon leapt at the staggering theropod.

The four-legged leaper had intended to drive his long, sharp horn into the allosaur’s chest, but his injuries prevented him from making such a bold leap. Instead, his body merely impacted against Gorosaurus, both of them collapsing to the ground in an instant. The emerald theropod fell onto his back with Baragon landing on top of him. For a moment, both dinosaurs just laid there panting, both nearing exhaustion and dealing with tremendous pain. Baragon was between his adversary’s thighs and when he looked up he saw the two wounds he had given to his foe’s stomach. The subterranean beast opened his mouth wide and sank his fangs hard into Gorosaurus’ wounded underbelly. An act that elicited some ear splitting squeals of pain.

“That’s a death grip if I ever saw one,” Ken called out, watching Baragon on the verge of tearing Goro’s belly wide open.

Grant murmured in agreement once more. “I would have put money on Gorosaurus before I saw this!”

Gorosaurus was indeed on the brink of a savage death as Baragon ripped deeper into his stomach, savouring the warm blood flowing into his mouth. The allosaur’s hind legs pawed madly at the air almost looking like he was peddling an imaginary bicycle in a desperate attempt to escape, but fate would not be so kind to him. In desperation, Gorosaurus summoned up the last of his reserved strength and lashed out with his only remaining weapon, his spike tipped tail!

Raising his tail up and over Baragon’s back, Gorosaurus brought the sharp spike down and down hard onto the space between the armored plating. The pointed spike sank in deep. The allosaur repeated the move, striking the small beast a second time through the back. Both puncture wounds spewed blood and Baragon wanted nothing more than to roar out a cry of anguish. This would not deter the red monster, however, as he sunk his teeth deeper. His teeth weren’t good enough for this last assault as he unleashed his fearsome flames and sent it surging out his mouth and onto his opponent.

Feeling the searing pain of having his belly both torn and burned, Gorosaurus’ squeals of pain intensified. His legs stopped pawing at the air and went straight out behind him as his tail immediately went limp. His head fell back and his screeches of agony ceased, his mouth began discharging huge amounts of white, frothy foam. His eyes blinked rapidly as somewhere deep inside his saurian brain he knew he was about to die.

Baragon felt the fight fade from Gorosaurus and turned off his flame. The subterranean beast completed his previous bite by tearing out a huge chunk of charred belly meat, leaving a gaping, bloody hole in its place. That trauma was too much for Gorosaurus to take in and, though he had fought incredibly well, he could not overcome this latest wound. His legs now turned motionless while his long tongue flopped out from the foam filled mouth, and lastly, his bright eyes went dim, life finally leaving his body.

Baragon gulped down the mouthful of belly meat then let out a cry of victory. He plunged his head down into the hole he had created on the other dinosaur’s belly and began feasting on the entrails. The subterranean beast had suffered terrible injuries and his fallen foe’s nutrient rich organs would be just what he needed to begin healing.

“I can’t believe we got to see this!” Grant exclaimed, barely keeping his camera pointed straight on the feasting kaiju from all of the excitement surging through his body. “A real kaiju fight! And we got the whole thing on video!”

“We’re gonna be stinking rich!” Ken replied.

Both of them knowing they were not returning for their senior year now, but instead, will be living off on the coming royalties.

Winner: Baragon (Universal)