Author: Joshua Strittmatter | Banner: Matthew Williams

Rain fell in foggy sheets upon the Chiyoda Ward in Central Tokyo.

It was the beginning of Autumn; the air had turned cold and crisp. The clouds hung in an overcast blanket across the sky, a gentle cross between white and timber gray that wept their millions of watery tears upon the reaches of Japan. Like a downpour of mist, the sprinkling particles of water fell to the ground thousands of meters below, draping the city in a transparent quilt of H2O. But as beautiful as the sight was to behold, the massive outline that loomed somewhat obscured within it was anything but. For within this quilted downpour of water vapor, a most ominous visage loomed tall like an omen of death.

In the middle of the once-great city, a giant stood. An icon of human sin; reptilian in shape but abominable in appearance. Frozen in place, having never moved in years. Posed with gaping jaws and outstretched small arms, it towered menacingly over the earth like a colossal, monstrous stone gargoyle. A gigantic tail twisted behind it, suspended in the air in the creature’s last moments of consciousness before its defeat. Spinal protrusions weaved in the shape of maple leaves lined the beast’s back in a triple row, like a devilish crown of cancerous bone; a fitting attribute to the monster’s bumpy, scarred skin.

Occasionally, a citizen or two would look out towards the long-damaged Chiyoda Ward and glimpse upon the horrific beast, and even in its unconscious state, the very outline of the creature sent shivers of dread through them. Memories of a nation crumbling, a city engulfed in a sea of fire, hospitals overflowing and the screams of the dying and mourning would permeate their minds before they then moved on with their daily lives, passing the frozen monolith by to leave it behind them for the day. Their instincts compelled them to worry constantly, but their memories told them otherwise. After all, what was there to worry about?

Godzilla was defeated.

And he wasn’t getting back out.

*****

The heavens began to shift.

It was an occurrence entirely off-prediction. An event that hadn’t been scheduled. The clouds above were beginning to build considerably, their once mild timber beginning to deepen into an ugly, foreboding gray. Flashes of lightning began to silently streak through the engorging thunderclouds, the quaking rumble of thunder following suit. It was as if, for whatever reason, the sky had suddenly come to with a mind and will of its own. As if Mother Nature was about to throw a temper tantrum out of nowhere, for reasons entirely beyond one’s comprehension. And the storm clouds weren’t just dark, they were huge. It wasn’t merely Tokyo that the clouds covered up; from Fukushima all the way to the city of Osaka, the storm clouds cast their hardening rain over the island of Japan. The storm began to worsen; no longer was it merely a falling sheet of tiny water sprinkles. All where the clouds enshrouded, a colossal microburst occurred out of nowhere, a massive downpour of raindrops the size of a man’s thumb showering upon the dumbfounded and frightened individuals present to bear witness to the rare phenomenon.

It was not the only.

As streaks of lightning began to dance across the clouds, the awestruck inhabitants of Japan were so taken aback by what they were witnessing that not a single one paid any mind to the changes being made to an entity they thought forever sealed away–at least, until a sound they wanted to hear less than anything else reached their ears.

… … …CRACK!

*****

The extremity–the irregularity of the weather was all that was needed to cause a reaction.

A crimson shade began to light up within the gaping scars that adorned Godzilla’s body; the nuclear fission that energized the creature’s blood, which had been frozen for years, re-igniting at long last. The ice encasing the abominable reptile began to melt as heat built up within its gigantic body, the creature’s eyes showing their pupils and irises through the melting water. The same blood-red hue from the beast’s scars began to faintly radiate from within its dorsal plates, a low hum subsequently beginning to drone from the pits of its huge body. Mounds upon mounds of steam rose from Godzilla as all water that touched the giant animal evaporated with the already intensifying heat.

The frozen being suddenly echoed a quaking rumble as its right arm twitched, breaking off what little chunks of ice remained. The glow of its nuclear hemoglobin was at full intensity, the superheated flow up and running again. The world looked upon the scene thought only to exist in their worst nightmares: Godzilla was no longer still. Before the very eyes of Tokyo’s terrified citizens, the mutated abomination was actually moving.

The weight of four years’ worth of sleep crashed down upon the newly awakened saurian, who fell forward to bend over with an alligator-like bellow. For a time, the giant reptile remained hunched over in exhaustion, his beady eyes staring off blankly at nothing in particular. Godzilla held motionless, his expressionless face concealing the fatigue that plagued his 92,000 metric-ton body, while rain continued to harmlessly bombard his glowing back only to evaporate from the burning heat. His throat bobbed ever-so slightly in an almost lizard-like fashion as he rested, instinctively recognizing the need to regain his sapped strength. He was free of his hibernation-induced prison at last, but his body was taxed with enervation and hunger, even with the energy the abnormal freak storm had given him.

Water and air were steadily being absorbed into his system and converted into the radioactive isotope he relied upon, but that wasn’t enough. Much of the radioactive waste running through his system was old, very old; he wasn’t just hungry, he was starving. He needed a meal, and he’d rather get it sooner rather than later. Alluring as the temptation of exhaustion was to his tired body, Godzilla’s roaring hunger instincts overcame it in the end. With a tired push, the evolved mutant sluggishly stood back to his full towering height. A low boom rumbled from his jaws as he turned about, his nostrils and internal radar picking up the scent of the very thing his body needed right now, the only meal that could re-energize him from his tired state: nuclear energy. There was a power plant just southeast of where he was standing.

And so that was the course he was going to take… … …

But the fates were as cruel upon awakening as they were back before this land’s inhabitants imprisoned him. Lightning began to flash again and again amidst the roaring downpour; before he had taken his fifth step, Godzilla suddenly stopped. His phased array radar had picked up a presence–and from what his senses told him, it was a living being. The Incarnation of God slowly turned about as the lightning flashes became larger and brighter, before a bellowing roar made his head tilt quickly up. That roar wasn’t from the thunder… … …

Another flash of lightning–and a creature clad in white-skinned armor descended forth from the heavens. Despite their tiny size in contrast to his skull, Godzilla’s eyes packed vision that would make even the sharpest birds of prey jealous. So, even from a considerable distance, he could see and make out every detail with this strange beast just fine. The airborne creature resembled some kind of mammalian carnivore, akin to a bear or wolf, but it seemingly lacked fur. Two horn-like tusks jutted out from the sides of its head, while two pointed protrusions stuck out of its back. Its head seemed adorned with a crown of spines, while its tail ended in a golden trident-like appendage. Godzilla’s expressionless face could not conceal the shock he felt as he stared at the oncoming creature; the nuclear reptile had never seen anything like it.

With another great roar, Balkzardan descended upon the earth at last, the Chiyoda Ward trembling from his mighty paws touching down upon the earth. The electrical deity glared at the radioactive powerhouse, contempt burning behind his blue eyes as he pawed the ground. Out of all humankind’s sins and mistakes brought upon the face of the earth, there had been none quite as serious of a threat as this one. Godzilla was a walking nuclear disaster, a living radioactive plague that possessed truly limitless potential. An ever-evolving catastrophe that was constantly on the verge of becoming an unstoppable juggernaut of incomparable power. It was the greatest threat to the balance and well-being of Mother Nature in existence, a biological tumor given physical form. A stain upon the planet that had to be erased before it escalated any further. Pawing the ground once more, Balkzardan roared as he straightened his body into an attack position, and began to hunt.

Godzilla slowly gaped his jaws, bellowing like a giant alligator as he took a step back, straightening his monolithic body in a defensive posture. His tail held stiffly upwards in an arc, like a frightened cat. The mutated intermediary reptile stood his ground in the face of a clear threat, bellowing a second time to make his warning clear:

Stay away!

As lightning continued to dance about through the sky like colossal spirits and thunder rumbling ominously behind each strike, the two colossi stood facing one another, one preparing to judge exactly when to make its move while the other waiting for the inevitable attack.

Balkzardan suddenly straightened his posture and took a quick step forward, eliciting a deep growl from Godzilla. Before the nuclear giant could react any further, the thunder deity opened its toothed jaws and suddenly fired off a burst of electrical beams from its face! The Tornado Bolt struck Godzilla in the stomach, catching the atomic reptile by complete surprise. Throwing his head back, Godzilla roared in pain as he stumbled away, the divine bolts of electricity tearing into his scarred flesh.

Two bolts of lightning suddenly arced down from the sky, striking the horned protrusions on Balkzardan’s back. Godzilla, still recovering from the guardian’s surprise attack, barely had time to react before chalk white thunder god suddenly rushed him, his body alight with crackling electricity. Seizing his chance, the mammalian deity at last charged the evolved creature with the full furious might of the Spark Dash. Balkzardan slammed into the torso of the abominal beast, transferring all the stored power through his bodily conduction and electrocuting Godzilla on the spot. The burned behemoth cried out in anguish, which only heightened in pitch when Balkzardan slashed his claws across his chest. Godzilla’s skin was tough, but the deity’s claws still managed to draw a few drops of its radioactive blood.

Godzilla snapped forward with jaws agape, but they closed on nothing but empty air as Balkzardan dashed to the left. Turning about unusually quickly, the towering god of destruction tried to follow along as the Lightning Monster ran in behind him with speeds a normal creature shouldn’t be capable of. Before Godzilla could figure out a way to counteract his advancement, Balkzardan was on him in the blink of an eye. The bringer of storms pounced upon his back with enough force to send Godzilla toppling forward to the ground. A resounding BOOM! echoed across the reaches of Tokyo as 92,000 metric-ton bulk collided with the earth, a roar of pain echoing from his toothed jaws as Balkzardan slammed upon his neck with a clawed paw. Growling like a supersized wolf, the lightning deity lunged forward and sank his teeth deep into the flesh of Godzilla’s neck, drawing more spurts of atomic blood from the saurian.

But, due to the nuclear fission running through it, the blood was hot and boiling to the electric guardian, so he was forced to relinquish his grasp on his reptilian quarry–an opportunity Godzilla took without hesitation.

The behemoth’s massive tail flung with unexpected speed, smacking the deity with painful force and sending him flying off like a pinball. 55,000 metric-tons of monolithic bulk hit the ground with a loud CRASH! while Godzilla set to slamming his tail against the earth, gradually pushing himself off the ground to stand back to his full height.

Balkzardan returned to his feet even quicker, and before Godzilla could turn to face him, he was running at lightning speeds around him. With his lithe tail, the atomic menace lashed out once more, but the Lightning Monster ducked under the lengthy appendage before it could strike him. Then, without warning, Balkzardan straightened out and fired yet another Tornado Bolt that struck Godzilla in the back. The divine electricity tearing into the softer musculature, the feral mutation shrieked in agony as a column of nuclear blood geysered forth from the injury, pieces of flesh accompanying it. The crimson haze fell to the ground below while Godzilla began to turn around, keeping his most vulnerable spot out of harm’s reach.

Balkzardan bellowed thunderously as he charged the towering monolith, moving in what almost seemed like a blur. The God Incarnate roared as he collided with his upper torso, slamming his paws upon his chest like clawed jackhammers. The electric guardian snarled and lunged to clamp his jaws upon the trunk-like throat, all the while his claws curved forward to sink beneath the flesh on his torso. Godzilla hissed animalistically and tried to snap and bite at his quadrupedal attacker, but Balkzardan jutted himself up, forcing Godzilla’s head upwards along with him. The irradiated reptile snapped on nothing but thin air, all the while the mythic beast began to shake his head like an angry bear, cutting swaths of bleeding gaps in Godzilla’s throat. The burn of his nuclear blood singed at Balkzardan’s teeth, but the lightning deity ignored it for the time being as he continued trying to rip out the saurian’s neck.

Godzilla suddenly lashed out with a leg, slamming his knee into Balkzardan’s gut and sending him recoiling back with a boom of pain. Roaring powerfully as lightning flashed in the sky, Godzilla pulled his body back, rearing his tail before then swinging it forward with speed that seemed to belie his gigantic build. The serpentine appendage slammed the Lightning Monster at full painful force with an organic CRACK! just as loud as the thunder that rolled in the sky, sending Balkzardan sprawling on his back.

Godzilla roared again, this time in pain as his wounds began the process of rapidly stitching themselves back together. A loud BOOM! detonated through the air as Godzilla took a step, shaking the very crust of the planet. But rather than a step towards the floored deity, the evolved anomaly instead began to turn about face, putting his plated back to Balkzardan and beginning to stomp away. Godzilla wasn’t in the mood for this, nor did he have time; he had more important things to attend to at the moment. His hungry body screamed for sustenance that could only be sated through nuclear energy, and the trace of the meal he craved was strong in his senses. Normally Godzilla walked slower, more sluggishly than this, but this time he was powering his legs forward to walk a little faster. Times were a little more urgent right now, and his instincts told him to move fast. The flow of rain and the absorption of water into his body was still taking its sweet time to recharge him–far too slowly for the circumstances. He couldn’t just stay idle here; after what he had been through the previous time, this place was far too dangerous for that.

Ignoring his opponent, he kept on walking.

After taking a full minute to regain the wind knocked out of him, Balkzardan groaned in horrible pain as he managed to flip himself onto his stomach, slowly crawling about to face his opponent–and got an unexpected sight before his blue eyes. The mutated anomaly known as Godzilla was walking away! Ignoring him, even! The electrical deity bellowed mightily as he began to stand back to his feet, challenging Godzilla to come at him. But the mixotrophic reptile continued to lumber away, not even stopping or so much as looking back. As if he simply refused to acknowledge his presence.

Balkzardan crept low to the ground, hunched in a stalking position like a giant black leopard; his blue eyes fixed on the lumbering reptile. Steadily he followed his saurian opponent, creeping towards him without making a sound. The tactic seemed to be working, Godzilla didn’t seem to notice the Lightning Monster was following his trail. Balkzardan made certain to time each of his steps with those of Godzilla, matching the atomic reptile’s pace so that he was all but imperceptible.

Only when he was midway to the oblivious saurian, only when he was perfectly faced towards his exposed weak spot, did he make his move.

Rather than spring forward to use a physical means of attack, Balkzardan suddenly fired a Tornado Bolt from between his tusks that struck Godzilla in the back, causing the apex of evolution to double over with a howl of pain. Two bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, striking Balkzardan and pleasantly electrocuting him, refilling him with the energy he needed. Bellowing, the electric deity summoned the charged energy given to him and channeled it into one of his most versatile powers, and before long a blue shield of electrical energy formed around his body like a bubble. Pawing the ground, Balkzardan ran forward like an oversized cheetah, just as Godzilla whipped his tail to intercept him.

The S-Thunder electrocuted the tail upon its mere touch while Balkzardan slammed head-on into Godzilla’s back.

A powerful shock of lightning rippled through the saurian’s scarred body, eliciting a screeching howl that threatened to split the heavens themselves as he fell on his stomach once more, spasming in pain while a few of his dorsal plates flew into the air, no longer a part of his body. Static crackled all over the mixotrophic reptile’s body, which only worsened when Balkzardan landed hard upon his back with all four paws; the lightning guardian slamming a paw down upon his head before firing another Tornado Bolt into the back of his neck. But despite the horrible agony he was enduring, Godzilla was only down–not out.

His tail swung once more, but this time despite the pain it endured Godzilla powered through it. The blow once again was enough to knock the deity off his body, but unlike before, Balkzardan landed on his feet rather than his back.

Smashing his tail against the ground, Godzilla began to push himself back to his feet as his injuries began to heal once more… … … before a loud series of organic cracks began to ring in the air. But they were not the cracks of thunder. The flesh on Godzilla’s back was beginning to alter; a burnt layer of scarred skin beginning to build from the edges and form over the exposed musculature on his back and the back of his neck. At the same time, small edges of ivory white crept around into existence on Godzilla’s dorsal plates. In less than twelve seconds, the new layer of skin had entirely covered up the once-exposed muscles on his back, neck, and the entire length of his tail. An angry roar thundered from the gaping jaws of the atomic beast as he finished his evolution, warning the Lightning Monster to stay away and not come any closer.

A warning Balkzardan didn’t accept kindly.

Calling down two arcs of lightning to charge himself up, the lightning deity rushed forward, body aglow with electricity as he performed another Spark Dash. Slamming into Godzilla’s belly, he sent the evolutionary juggernaut stumbling back with a roar, but rather than pain, it seemed more out of surprise than anything else. When Balkzardan backed up to get a distance between him and his foe, he was surprised at what he saw: Godzilla standing at a normal composure, electricity crackling harmlessly around his body before fading.

His body sparking to life, Balkzardan fired forth another Tornado Bolt that struck the irradiated abomination in the chest. Godzilla roared as he dug his feet into the ground, keeping himself steady as the beam of electricity tried to topple him off his feet–and when Balkzardan pulled a cease fire, Godzilla still remained standing, his minor wound beginning to rapidly heal. Once more, after-static energy sparked around his body before fading away, as if his body had adapted some kind of defense mechanism against the electrical properties.

Balkzardan lunged to the right, running at his cheetah-like speeds as he circled around Godzilla. The nuclear menace bellowed a menacing warning, which was turned into a loud roar when Balkzardan fired a Tornado Bolt that seared into his backside. But this time, the damage was far less severe than it had been prior, and what injuries were created healed in seconds. The mutated creature had learned from its weakness in the past encounter and had now changed the circumstances in its favor by erasing said weak point.

Balkzardan began to charge just as Godzilla turned his body halfway to meet him. Anticipating the attack, Godzilla powered his entire upper body into a swing and rammed it against Balkzardan just as he neared, sending him reeling with a howl of pain. Not wasting the given opportunity, Godzilla reared back before swinging his tail, smacking the electric deity with all its devastating force and sending him flying through a couple of buildings.

A violet glow began to encompass Godzilla’s once-crimson dorsal plates. Brighter and brighter it grew, like a biological lantern, until it was shining with an intensity to rival the rays of the sun. Rain evaporated into steam before even touching it as Godzilla reared back silently; his tooth-filled jaws opening wide and his lower jaw splitting in half like a snake, all the while the same purple light shone within the back of his throat. Balkzardan roared as he finally burst free of the rubble that buried him, only for his eyes to widen upon seeing the hauntingly beautiful glow that enveloped Godzilla’s massive form.

The God Incarnate let loose his most formidable weapon.

A thin, amethyst beam of pure concentrated nuclear photons erupted forth from the dinosaurian powerhouse’s fanged jaws. Balkzardan reacted just in time, calling upon his breakneck speeds to run out of the heat ray’s path while it proceeded to vaporize the rubble he had been buried under into melted nickel. Turning about, Godzilla followed the mammalian deity, who continued to run about in circles as he fought with every fiber of his being to avoid being struck with such a deadly weapon; the same weapon that had decimated such a massive portion of Japan in less than three minutes. Wherever the atomic ray struck, steel and concrete alike was outright vaporized and melted into a trench of radioactive lava. Balkzardan was still avoiding the horrible blast, but he could not keep up this tactic permanently. At some point, he would run out of steam.

He could only hope his foe would run out of firepower long before he did his stamina.

As he ran, however, Balkzardan failed to notice the glow along Godzilla’s tail beginning to shine more brightly, all the while the Incarnation of God continued trying to blast him with his radioactive heat ray. A change the lightning guardian noticed too late when a second atomic ray lunged forth from the meaty tip of the abomination’s tail–and unlike its oral predecessor, this one struck home.

The atomic ray burned a gaping hole straight through Balkzardan’s hip, causing him to stumble out of control and crash to the ground with a terrible howl of agony. He tried to move, but with a sudden blast of more searing agony he collapsed back to the floor with a terrible realization: his entire lower body had been disabled from the strike. Godzilla’s atomic ray hadn’t just burned a hole straight through his body, the incredible heat as well as the unbelievable output of energy contained to such a thin blast had utterly burned and crippled his bones and organs past his hips. His strongest appendages were entirely disabled. He was handicapped.

He wouldn’t be getting up.

To his shock, however, Godzilla didn’t continue trying to blast him into oblivion, nor did he charge forward to crush or maul him to death. In a moment that baffled the lightning god, the unnatural deity instead boomed a low rumble before turning about, shaking the earth with his colossal footsteps as he walked away.

Godzilla’s movements were a great deal more sluggish this time around. Anger and frustration built up within him, begging to be let loose, but in the end the tumorous reptile listened to his instincts once more. And his instincts told him to keep moving and find a radioactive meal. The source of the energy he craved was not too far away, and his persistent opponent was entirely crippled beyond the point of pursuing him ever again. There was no further need for conflict; as of right now, all that mattered was getting the energy required to sustain the nuclear hemoglobin flowing throughout his gigantic body.

The God Incarnate kept walking, trying his best to power forth his leg muscles to move as fast as he could. But pain and fatigue scourged his every movement. Godzilla internally growled as he fought his exhausting battle. Everything was a struggle; everything was a test that pushed him to his limits. Everything was an arc of pain and torture as life seemed to do more than test him. The very world itself seemed to loathe him simply for existing, and even his primitive, animalistic mind was no stranger to the sorrowful rage to that realization. He was lost in a world that threw unnatural adversary after adversary, sprung death trap after death trap and tried his patience and tolerance more and more and more until he just couldn’t take it anymore… … …

He was hungry.

He had to keep fighting.

The pain, it hurt so much.

Keep fighting, his instincts kept screaming.

He had to keep surviving.

… … …he was so tired… … …

A building crumpled to worthless rubble under the next step of Godzilla’s massive heel, but what lay in his path sent a wave of the closest possible concept his mind could comprehend as relief through him. The nuclear power plant, brimming with radioactive energy that he desired so. At last, Godzilla had reached his goal. Perhaps, for once, fate was beginning to take a turn in a different direction for him. Maybe luck was beginning to shine on him as of this moment–

Godzilla suddenly stopped moving, his phased array radar picking up a rapidly approaching object. Silently, yet faster than an F-22 Raptor, it was rocketing towards him. The irradiated prehistoric reptile reacted instantly, his survival instincts banishing all thought aside to kick immediately into gear. A purple glow quickly encompassed his dorsal plates, but this time he carried on with a different tactic.

Before Balkzardan, who was literally flying towards the abominable saurian like an organic fighter jet, could land upon his target, Godzilla fired. The Lightning Monster didn’t even have time to comprehend the concept of utter shock when a torrent of atomic heat rays, twenty-four in total, sprung forth from Godzilla’s back point-blank upon him. His armor crumpled instantly, his flesh melted and vaporized at every seam where the beams of pure atomic energy scorched him. Internal organs were superheated and melted to the core, muscles ignited like butter in a furnace and bones charred to the marrow before Godzilla suddenly swerved to the right with a roar of rage.

The electric deity was sliced apart in an instant, falling to the ground as dismembered chunks of cooked flesh that then burst upon contact with the ground. Turning about, Godzilla bellowed before firing a radiation heat ray that scorched clear through Balkzardan’s decapitated skull, causing it to ignite orange with molten heat before he suddenly cut off his attack. Trudging over to where it lay, Godzilla angrily lifted a foot before bringing it down, crushing the molten head of his fallen adversary before rearing back his head and letting loose a city-wide roar.

The thunderstorm in the heavens ceased as the microburst came to a sudden end, and within moments it was merely sprinkling again all across Tokyo. The ugly storm clouds that once encompassed so much of the mainland suddenly began to dampen and recede away, fleeing at the demise of their thunderous lord. But such changes were irrelevant to Godzilla, who utterly and completely ignored just about anything to do with his fallen adversary the moment he confirmed his death. He didn’t revel in victory, nor did he continue to vaporize its remains or even scream his frustrations to the world; he near-instantly turned about and lumbered towards the one and only priority on his wild mind.

Rearing down and tearing off the top of the plant with a snap of his toothy jaws, the nuclear reptile reached into the billowing pillars of toxic steam and fumes, obscuring his view from all who watched him. But before long a loud, metallic CLANG! echoed from within the vaporous uproar before Godzilla then rose out of it–and held the nuclear reactor in his claws.

Long tears rendered through the object’s metallic hull, exposing its contents. Godzilla’s claws had sunken deep within, buried inside the object as the starving saurian immediately set to gorging himself on its precious energy. Radioactive power flowed through his fingers and into his body as his dorsal plates began to flicker and brighten, their color changing from red to a bright azure blue as Godzilla absorbed the nuclear energy stored within; feeding on the radioactive heart of the plant without laying so much as a tooth on it. Standing still like a gigantic bipedal crocodile, the glow of his dorsal plates brighter than ever, the mixotrophic reptile absorbed every last drop of radiation within the reactor until it had been sucked dry.

Eventually, the glow of his spines faded back to their usual blood red hue, and the reactor he held was now nothing more than an empty shell of rended metal. His strength rejuvenated at long last, Godzilla dropped the useless reactor to the ground with a loud CRASH! before turning away. His back to the city, the evolved creature began to walk south, his instincts driving him towards the one place that he knew better than any other, a place where no malevolent eyes could ever follow him:

The sea.

With echoing footsteps Godzilla finally began to take his leave; yearning to be, more than anything, one with the home he had missed so much. Ignoring everything in his way, the irradiated reptile lumbered through the sprinkling rain and towards the great blue sea–entirely unaware that the world that watched him had just proclaimed him with a new title, one that would spread like wildfire all across the planet. He had been given many names in the past; a God Incarnate, Incarnation of God, a Perfect Organism Surpassing Man. But today, all would be considered mere secondary descriptions upon the confirmation of the title that now reigned supreme as the #1 headline on nearly all news broadcasts.

Godzilla.

King of the Monsters.

Winner: Godzilla (Reiwa)