Author: Matthew Freese | Banner: Dao Zang Moua

The pitch-black skies shifted and contorted with the storm’s winds, pouring rain which burned with chemicals. The ocean churned, stained with mass death and decay which sloshed to the surface and polluted the air with putrescent stench. In the distance, upon the land, mountains with burst peaks cast molten rock and smoke into the heavens, poisoning the sky.

Captain Douglas Gordon had seen many things in his decades of service. Kaiju of all shapes and sizes, alien invasions that fizzled out in the span of a day and ones that lasted months and cost the whole human race dearly, and all sorts of death and devastation. He was a hard man to shake at this point, it was a joke spread amongst the ranks that a kaiju could roar right in his face and he’d just roar back.

One look at him would be enough to understand why he was intimidating. A broad shouldered and barrel-chested man, he had the physique of a professional boxer. Piercing eyes rested above a bushy mustache, making it look like he had stepped out of an old western movie. He was one of the most respected and feared men in all of the Global Defense Forces, and while the superiors may have hated his attitude, they could never hate the results he got.

But right now, Gordon was frightened. It was not the all-encompassing horror that currently engulfed most of his crew, but for him to be anything beyond mildly concerned meant that something truly horrific had come about. The chatter coming from the other vessels flying alongside the Gotengo told Gordon that they felt similarly to his crew.

Leading the pack was the cylindrical warship, mostly black with a red streak down the length of its sides, all of it tipped with a mighty drill. The Gotengo. On its left, three grey ships of smaller size, though still some of the largest aircraft built by humanity. The Eclair, the Rumbling, and the Karyu. The first of them had a sphere held at its forefront, the cockpit, while the other two faced forth with powerful guns, the latter’s taking the form of a large blade. On the Gotengo’s right, three more vessels of anti-kaiju war. The grey, smooth Super X flying by with jets on its underside. The dark-green rectangle that was the Super X-2, a seam down the front ready to be opened to reflect energy weaponry. And finally, the Super X-3, resembling a normal green plane, though far larger than even a jumbo jet.

A collection of the mightiest war machines on Earth, and everyone inside them were all gripped by terror’s icy claws. Gordon glanced to his side, seeing the one other person present who was not totally terrified. Shinichi Ozaki glared forward with a gaze that would kill if looks could do such a thing, internally seething with hatred. He was scared, but it was a small, cold thing easily obscured by the wrath in the mutant prodigy’s heart.

Usually, Gordon would laugh at someone who looked like Ozaki being angry. Smooth-faced, slim but athletic build, he looked more like he belonged on the cover of a magazine than on the battlefield. But Ozaki was also capable of ripping through steel with his bare hands, and could hit a target using a pistol that most men could not hit with a scoped rifle. But the old captain did not respect his chief gunner and second in command because of powers he was born with, Gordon could immediately think of a dozen mutants in the GDF’s employ he’d like to punch square in the jaw. No, he respected Ozaki for always being there when the chips were down, keeping a cool head in the most dangerous situations, and always making the choices that saved the most lives regardless of how they harmed him.

To see him barely holding back utter hatred, so thinly restraining it that all could see it with ease, was something that Gordon had never thought he would see. But everyone had a limit, and there was no way he could blame the prodigy for reaching it in this situation.

His train of thought was cut off by a radio transmission from the Eclair. “Captain Gordon, I do not wish to come off as doubtful of you, but are you sure Godzilla will remain on our side?”

In the devastated waves beneath the armada of vessels, black scales draped over immense musculature cut through the slush. White spines which resembled maple leaves waved back and forth with his undulating body, a lengthy tail behind the leviathan shifting side to side like the rudder of a boat. Yellow eyes above the waters stared straight ahead, a roaring fire inside them.

Gordon sighed. “Godzilla hates us. I will not deny this for a moment. Maybe he doesn’t hate all humankind, that’s up to the eggheads and the spiritualists to figure out, but he definitely wouldn’t mind seeing us in particular going down in a series of fireballs. But he has helped humanity when Earth itself is in danger. Yes, he’s never been this directly helpful to us, but…”

It came into view. Tokyo, reduced to plains of ash. Millions had lived in this city, each one an individual life going down its own path. Millions who had all wanted to see the Sun rise again, to know that life would continue on in this world. All obliterated, slaughtered like the insects of an exterminated colony.

Colossal corpses filled the former city, most mutilated beyond any recognition. The Earth had sent her armies, as had mankind. Both had fallen.

At once, everyone on board the anti-kaiju squadron felt their breaths catch in their throats. For a moment, Godzilla stopped swimming, eyes widened as he saw it.

Scarlet armor enshrouded a colossus beyond colossi. A serpentine body marched through the ash, behind it trailing a thick tail that could crush a mountain into powder. Four legs carried its bulk, though they were small, the power they had to contain to not snap beneath the weight upon them had to be insane. From the front, eight necks ending in draconic heads that brought to mind a golden destroyer of life. Sixteen eyes watched the approaching forces, as eight grins formed upon the horrific faces.

Orochi gazed not with the madness of a beast, but with the calculating sadism of a sapient being.

“…Even Godzilla knows when he’s outmatched.” Gordon concluded.

It had started a few days ago. A strange object detected entering the solar system. It was too small to get a full grasp of what it was, aside from a composition of ice. It landed upon the Moon, so the Moon base sent a crew of researchers to go see just what it was.

Screams filled the comms as they were slaughtered, by something that looked like a human. Communication between Earth and the Moon was cut off, and telescopes soon discovered a frightening truth. The base was gone, replaced by a colossal, ornate fortress.

Storms began to cover the Earth as meteors fell like rain upon Japan. Humanity was quick to respond, deploying an elite squadron of mutants along with the anti-kaiju mech MOGUERA to the moon to destroy this invader.

The fortress was torn asunder with the rising of the eight-headed serpent, who destroyed the mech and obliterated the mutant assassins. Orochi departed from the moon and came to the Earth, making the disasters even worse. The moment his colossal body breached the atmosphere, the planet was wracked with hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and devastation of the oceans.

And now here they were, the last chance the Earth had to stop this menace. They knew not their foe’s motivation, his origins, anything. He was a complete mystery, aside from possessing immense power and the desire to cause absolute destruction.

Ozaki activated a comms link. “Super X-2, how goes our little surprise for the red bastard?”

“Still working on the energizer aspect, otherwise everything is solid.” Responded the pilot on the other end, Lieutenant Taniguchi.

“Affirmative, report any updates.” Ozaki responded.

“Roger.”

The waves rushed over the ruins of Tokyo as Godzilla surfaced, stomping his foot onto the ground and dragging himself onto land. He stared ahead towards his target, cautiously marching forward. The seven ships flew overhead, but he paid them no mind. He was much too occupied with this.

Godzilla could feel power radiating off the serpent, and it made his heart swiftly pump. This would be the fight of his life, that much was clear without even a moment of actual battle. But he would fight, for he must. How many of his friends had perished before this beast? Too many for him to sit back and let this continue. The nuclear leviathan, the bastard child of humanity’s sin, had to fight for this world’s sake once more. He had fought countless battles, against all manner of mutant, alien, and demon, but this foe still filled him with trepidation.

What he did not know was that this was because he was before something he had never faced. A god, not merely a mighty beast worshipped by humans, but a genuine divinity ordained by the universe.

Orochi’s eight heads swayed about, taking in all the foes gathered. So, this was to be their final stand. A desperate attempt to defeat him and save their world, when all else had failed. If they fell here, that was it for the Earth. He snorted, then let a low cackle roll from his mouths. Just another reason why he had to carry out this crusade.

Mortals never knew when to lie down and die. Despicable, for them to think they were anything above worms.

Godzilla roared, only for his mighty call to be lost in the cacophony of Orochi’s bellows of war. The crimson colossus began to stomp forward, numerous necks waving like serpents as he approached. The monster king’s spines flashed blue, filling with a brilliance that illuminated the shade. Parting his jaws, he let loose a stream of azure energy. The atomic ray crashed into Orochi’s chest, coating it in a cluster of explosions. It failed to halt his encroachment, and drew no sound from the mouths.

One head whipped around to face the leviathan, eyes shining before discharging lightning of scarlet. The bolts lashed against Godzilla’s hide, earning a cry of shock and pain from the monster king as they burned through scales. Despite his pain, he charged forth.

Four maws clamped onto the leviathan’s body, stopping him in his tracks as the teeth dug into his skin. Two other heads bashed their skulls against his chest, beginning to bruise him. Godzilla reached up, grabbing one of the heads restraining him. He pulled it off, squeezing with all his might, only for another set of the serpent’s jaws to part and exhale a stream of fire upon the monster king.

Godzilla stumbled back as the hellfire scorched him, the teeth sinking into his skin retracting as the heads pulled back. The leviathan channeled power once more, even as the flames licked at him, and unleashed another atomic ray. He swept it across the cluster of necks, cutting off the burning spray assailing him as the eight heads flailed about.

Orochi shifted forwards, eight heads lashing like whips. Godzilla screamed in pain as they crashed into his body, horns ripping open flesh and spilling blood. Several jaws dug into the leviathan’s hide, thrashing back and forth to tear. The monster king clawed at some of them, casting out sparks. His own mighty fangs crashed into a scaly neck, but the armor held firm despite his pressing.

Some of the serpent god’s eyes stayed back and watched as the wounds of his foe sewed themselves shut, sealing blood flow and repairing. All the better to toy with, he pondered.

Countless small explosions blossomed upon his back, drawing his attention to the seven vessels buzzing around through the air. He did not need to look upon them to know where they were, the crowns of horns upon his heads detected and revealed the surrounding situation to him at all times.

Three of his skulls bunched up, before being whipped into Godzilla’s side and sending the monster king toppling to the ground with a cry of shock. Orochi began to turn, firing bolts of lightning from his eyes and breathing out gouts of flame into the air. The ships easily avoided his counter, continuing to release their payloads.

From the Eclair’s sides proton missiles emerged and soared through the air, trails of smoke following them as they detonated against the fiend’s side. He showed no reaction aside from sluggishly turning a few heads towards it, letting loose crimson power from his eyes a full second after doing so. The advanced fighter ship swerved away from them.

The Karyu and the Rumbling soared overhead, from their front guns unleashing blue streams of energy which blazed against the serpent’s back. A few geysers of flame shot into the heavens from his maws, being avoided with a simple movement to the side from both vessels.

Godzilla got to his feet, rushing forward and putting all his weight into a tackle to the foul god’s side. Orochi turned his focus to his foe, before shifting his form away from the leviathan. The serpent bashed his body against Godzilla, forcing the monster king to backpedal as he staggered away.

The three Super Xs hovered overhead, releasing a storm of missiles towards their target’s necks. Almost lazily, Orochi prematurely detonated the ballistics with the sweep of a conflagration, leaving him untouched.

Azure energy powered by nuclear fission crashed against the destroyer’s body, drawing his attention back to Godzilla. He marched towards the leviathan, who rushed forth as well to meet his colossal foe.

“Bastard’s screwing with us.” Ozaki stated to all the vessels of this small fleet. “I saw what he did to Moguera on another mutant’s body cam, we all saw what he did to the monsters who lay here dead. He’s holding back.”

“But why? What does he gain from this?” Replied Taniguchi. “Is this just for his amusement, one last game before he finally sends us all plummeting into oblivion?”

Gordon’s husky voice spoke what they all thought. “Yup, cause the universe seems to like giving the worst pieces of shit all the power.”

The burly captain remembered hearing some experts say they were dealing with a genuine god. Ancient texts claimed that Tsukuyomi, god of the moon and the underworld, had descended to destroy the Earth in a form that bore more than a passing resemblance to Orochi. Susanoo, god of the oceans and war, stepped up to stop him. Well, Susanoo was not here at the moment, so in Gordon’s mind, either he was dead or the gods were letting humanity take it this time. Regardless…

“When I get to the pearly gates, I’m punching someone in the jaw for this shit…” he mumbled to himself.

Orochi reared up his front enough to lash out a kick to Godzilla’s thigh. The claws on his foot dug through scale and flesh, freeing the monster king’s blood. The leviathan lunged forward, grabbing one of his foe’s heads with both hands. He squeezed at its throat, trying to crush the windpipe once more. His spines flashed blue, but instead of releasing an atomic ray, the energy flowed into his arms and down his claws. Sparks erupted as nuclear energy crackled against Orochi’s neck.

Teeth clamped onto black scales, and in moments Godzilla found himself to be the one restrained as he was hoisted into the air by four of his foe’s heads. The one in his grip wriggled free as he was held high up. The other half of the serpent’s conscious looked up at their entrapped foe, cackling. They breathed in, ready to bathe him in hell’s flame.

A stream of yellow energy crashed against one of the necks restraining Godzilla. The Gotengo, drill revving at max speed, scraped against it just after the beam faded. Sparks flew, and the head released its grip on Godzilla in shock, screeching in confusion for a moment. The monster king dropped, his own roar echoing as the teeth in his skin dug in deeper. Two sets of jaws grappled the Gotengo, piercing into the metal.

Alarms blared in the vessel’s cockpit as the crew jostled in their seats. “Status report, now!” Gordon bellowed.

“Major damage to the hull near the back of the ship, we can’t break free!”

Geysers of fire erupted from three mouths, one being from the head which the Gotengo had attacked. The alarms grew more intense as its fire washed over the vessel, the other two focused on Godzilla, yet still harming the ship with the ambient heat. The sounds of the mighty leviathan’s suffering haunted the crew members, and probably would for the rest of their lives if they survived this battle.

“We can’t take much more of this! Gotengo is overheating, the hull’s starting to melt!”

“We kinda need a save here, anybody!” Gordon yelled into the comm link.

“We gotcha Gotengo!” Yelled the Super X-3’s pilot.

Cadmium infused missiles crashed into the head bathing their allies in flame, sending it reeling back in pain. A beam of freezing energy washed over it just afterwards, intensifying its pain further.

The Super X-2, Fire Mirror opened, got in front of one of the infernos assailing Godzilla. Turning its body as it backed out of the flames, it unleashed a colossal blast of green energy towards one of the necks restraining the Gotengo. It cut through the fire and coated the extension of the god in explosions. It released the Gotengo, letting sparks fall from the gaping wound in the vessel as molten metal dripped off the war machine’s back.

The other set of teeth embedded in the Gotengo carved trenches into the steel as it flew forth, finally breaking free at the cost of having glaring weak spots. It had been just in time, as the lessening of agony upon Godzilla allowed him to release a nuclear pulse. The shockwave pulled the restraining bites off of him, launching all his foe’s heads away and rattling them as the wall of blue energy expanded out.

The monster king’s feet crashed upon the back of his foe, a powerful roar of both pain and rage echoing out as his regeneration worked to heal his burns and wounds. He turned in place, bashing his tail against a group of necks and forcing them away, as his spines glowed. Excess energy crackled above the tops of them, dancing between the points.

Orochi’s center head let loose a roar of genuine pain as an atomic ray, with a brighter luminance and spirals of purple traveling down its length, crashed into the base of its neck. After it faded, slight burn marks coated the afflicted area.

Godzilla was not able to bask in this small victory for long as several heads whipped around, scourging him with crimson lightning from their eyes. As grooves were carved into his form, the leviathan stumbled backwards. He fell sideways off his foe, crashing head-first into the ground. He let out a groan of pain which rolled across the landscape.

Orochi’s tail rose into the air as he moved himself slightly to better get into position. The monster king screamed as the colossal limb came down like a hammer, smashing into his ribs. The “thwack” of meat on meat was grotesque with how far it echoed. Another rise, another hammering, and another scream as ribs broke. The serpent god lowered his tail next to Godzilla, then curled it away from him.

And delivered a golf ball swing into his foe’s side, sending the leviathan hurtling through the air. Smoke and ash shot into the air upon his impact, obscuring the monster king in darkness.

There was silence, aside from the humming of the squadron’s propulsion systems. Then Orochi turned his gaze upon them all, smiling wickedly.

Ozaki quickly grabbed the comm, rattling off orders. Gordon made no attempt to stop him, he trusted the prodigy as much as trusted himself. Hell, the captain might have actually trusted him more than he trusted himself.

“Taniguchi, get to Godzilla and inject the KG Cells! Everyone else, distract Orochi the best we can until our ace is back up!”

An elderly voice responded to Ozaki’s commands, its origins the Super X-2. “But, sir, the energizer is not yet ready! We will not be able to transform him yet.” It was Professor Ogata, a scientist aboard the war machine.

“Worry about that later, just focus on getting him up ASAP. The KG cells on their own should do that much, right?”

“Yes, they will still increase his abilities regardless. Apologies for the delay.” Ogata replied as the Super X-2 made its way towards Godzilla.

“Probably for the best, Fire Mirror needs some time to recuperate after that stunt we pulled.” Taniguchi added on.

The six other ships raced forward as the Super X-2 made its way towards Godzilla. Orochi watched as another hail of missiles and lasers fell upon his body, but he remained focused on the one vessel retreating. One of his sets of eyes flashed, releasing another discharge of the Supreme Emperor Red Lightning bolts, which raced towards the rectangular ship.

“Taniguchi, move down!” Gordon belted out as fast as he could. The Super X-2 lowered itself, narrowly avoiding the divine power.

“God damn! Thanks Gordon, you just saved our asses!” The pilot replied.

The eight-fold laughter of the overlord made the blood of all in earshot boil.

“You think you’re funny, you piece of shit?” Gordon growled. “Get us behind this bastard, let’s show him something hilarious.” He commanded his crew.

As the Gotengo kept a distance as it began to circle around, the Super X and Super X-3 began firing at the heads of the serpent. The lasers of both craft raked across the torso of the colossus, but he showed little reaction. He continued to just watch them all as they flew about around him, causing the tension of the various crews to climb.

“I’m used to kaiju flailing about and screaming their heads off when they get hit by our weaponry, not this.” Commented Sho Kuroki, head pilot of the Super X-3. “Or at least trying their damndest to shoot us out of the sky. This thing… it’s just looking right now.”

“Just keep firing, and hope he doesn’t get bored. Like to see even a god survive what we’ve got in store.” Ozaki reassured his comrades.

Elsewhere, the Super X-2 hovered over an ash-covered mass, which shifted slightly with the movement of breath. They drifted over to Godzilla’s open, debris-filled maw. The two men inside the vessel had a hard time thinking of anything to say.

“Doc,” the young pilot began. “Are you gonna be able to complete that energizer in time?”

Ogata sighed deeply. “In all honesty Taniguchi, I do not think I can. I can transfer the KG cells to him, but the process to ignite a mutation is much more complex. It would be hard enough to do this in a fully stocked laboratory building, much less a ramshackle lab in the back of a warship.”

As he said that he gestured to his setup, which consisted of a few test tubes and metallic chambers upon tables. “I’m not even sure if I have everything I need here!” He continued, exasperated.

“Well doc,” Taniguchi replied. “I don’t know what to tell you. These aren’t exactly ideal circumstances.”

Ogata, as he hoisted up a tube containing a golden compound, just grunted. “There’s nothing to say. Now help me with this, my joints aren’t what they used to be.”

As the pilot got up to do so, something sparked in his mind. “Does it just need a bunch of energy getting transferred to Godzilla to cause this mutation of yours?”

As the two loaded the Ghidorah cells into a chamber in the ship, Ogata pondered this for a moment. “Once the KG Cells are inside him, yes it should just be a significant boost in energy to start it. Why?”

Once everything was set, Taniguchi ran back to the controls and began activating the missile firing mechanism. As he did so, he radioed the Gotengo yet again. “Godzilla’s about to get a wake up call, over.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Ozaki, do you think you could try that Keizer trick on Godzilla? After he’s back up?” Taniguchi asked the prodigy. There was silence for a moment.

“Maybe?” Replied the mutant. “I’d rather not risk making the Gotengo a sitting duck while we transfer a bunch of energy through it, if it would even work. That was just an idea I had that we didn’t even need to do!”

When the Xiliens attacked in the year 2004, Ozaki learned that he was no normal mutant, he was something even grander known as a Keizer. When the Xiliens’ ultimate weapon unveiled itself, Ozaki had considered transferring his newfound energies into Godzilla through the Gotengo to give him the power to overcome and win the day. The timely arrival of Godzilla’s allies and the rest of Earth’s guardians had put that plan on the backburner.

“Well, just keep it in mind, in case all else fails.” Taniguchi asked of his friend.

“Will do.”

As this conversation drew to a close, a missile shot forth from the Super X-2. The sound of the discharging projectile was blotted out by the cacophony of battle happening nearby.

It sank into Godzilla’s throat, disappearing from sight. Godzilla’s body seemed to grow more lively, his breaths being longer and fuller. The ash in his mouth came out with some coughs, tainting the air.

Ogata quickly spoke, “It will not be instant, the Ghidorah cells on their own are no miracle. Give it a brief time to work.”

As the battle raged on, the Karyu aimed its front at one of the fiend’s outer heads. Its captain, Li Xiang, shouted commands to his team. “We’re not getting through this thing’s scales! We need to aim for weak points, like the eyes!” His long, braided hair waved with his motion as he gestured for his crew to activate the Karyu’s targeting systems. “Activate Blade Maser, and forward!”

The warship surged forth, as the knife-like protrusion on its front glowed blue. It discharged a stream of azure energy tipped with a white spearhead, which raced ahead towards Orochi. It was aimed at one of his eyes, which had been fully focused on another of his myriad foes, but just before the Blade Maser struck, the head jerked down and avoided it. The Karyu tilted down to aim the beam, carrying it down and striking the scales behind the eye.

“Captain, what are we doing? We’re still flying towards the target?” A crew member asked.

“Simple, we’ve got a giant knife on the front of his thing. Let’s use it!”

Orochi continued to shift his head to avoid the beam directly striking his eye, his tactile horns alerting him to the ship’s continuing approach. The rest of his heads kept their eyes on the other ships, ensuring they did nothing in the meantime. He smiled, for now was the time.

The head whipped around, maw opened wide. The Blade Maser sank down its gullet, disappearing into the darkness. The Karyu continued to go forward, especially as streaks of red lighting danced through the air around them.

“Full speed ahead!” Li Xiang yelled. The Karyu approached, drawing closer with each second…

Just before it could reach its target, another head lunged around and clamped its jaws on the knife-like cannon. Crew members were jostled and nearly tossed out of their seats at the sudden stop.

The Blade Maser was cut off as its source was crushed like tin, the teeth of the serpent ripping through the steel with ease. The two heads tore the blade asunder, swallowing the shards of metal down without a care. Like the energies fired down the mouth before, the shrapnel was vaporized and converted into energy to sustain the deity’s myriad attacks.

“Pull back!” Li screamed in terror as the Karyu detached from the grip of their foe, spraying sparks from its front.

They never got the chance.

Both of the mouths opened wide, the depths of their throats illuminated by foul crimson light. Jagged bolts of divine destruction were discharged, piercing the steel hull like it was nothing. The Karyu, along with every man and woman on board, were destroyed in an explosion.

As the burning ruins crashed to the dirt, eight wicked smiles greeted the rest of the ships. Orochi bore all his teeth, serpentine tongues pulling out shards of metal and wiring from between those two responsible for the first casualty.

Silence dwelled over the last stand of humanity, not a word being spoken. They had lost too much already to shout and cry over these deaths, but that did not make the pain absent. It just meant they knew to compartmentalize and prioritize in these tragic situations.

Another barrage escaped from the three models of the Super X line, the Super X-2 having rejoined the conflict, as well as from the fallen vessel’s “siblings.” Orochi marched forward, forcing them all on the move as he blindly fired his weaponry through the sky, chortling as they scattered. In his vast and divided mind, he had already won long ago. This was a mere victory lap.

So caught up was he in his foul revelry, that he failed to notice the Gotengo getting into position behind him.

“We’re probably only getting one shot with this thing, make it count.” Gordon commanded as everyone on board went to work. “Because if he’s still kicking after this, he’ll stop bullshitting if he’s got any brains in those eight skulls of his.”

Energy flowed through the vessel, coalescing into the drill’s tip with a icy-blue glow…

Black flaps of skin slid up to reveal blazing, yellow eyes. Godzilla cringed as he felt his chest realign itself, a rib cracking back into place as the bone knit itself together. Shards of the bone torn away by the impact drifted through his body, to eventually be vaporized inside his nuclear reactor of an internal system whenever he ignited it, along with the remnants of the missile the Super X-2 had fired into him, to ensure no internal bleeding from the shrapnel. At least, scientists assumed this to be the case, exact science on a creature that had never been dissected was difficult. Godzilla himself did not know, nor did he care.

What he did know, as he got to his feet, was that he felt stronger than before. Rejuvenated and empowered, he felt ready to take on the world. Had the humans done this? Most likely, for he sensed no radiation in the surrounding area.

He glanced over to the warships battling Orochi, realizing that they were short one. His eyes detected the burning wreckage, and immediately he put the pieces together.

Godzilla did not hate humans. His father had, with a burning passion that outblazed the sun. But he did not, for he remembered being born and being greeted by a kind, loving human. His earliest memories included other members of their species taking care of him, giving him shelter and food. Long ago, he had been briefly killed when he was an adolescent. Only three beings had mourned for him, that he’d seen. His father, and two humans, one of which had been there since his birth.

He cared not for the human’s weaponry or the people who piloted them, for they attacked him and his friends for existing too close to human settlements for comfort. Had he the ability to communicate with humankind, he would have reprimanded them for continuing to escalate the tension between kaiju and man. In many cases it was justified, he would admit this, but humans were too obsessed with never being challenged or even unnerved. Did the mere passing of a giant, one not even touching anything except that beneath its very feet, terrify them so?

But in this instance, against this fiend, Godzilla could put aside his misgivings. Orochi was no misunderstood colossus or lost animal. He was malice incarnate, a sadist who had dedicated themselves to mass destruction to appease their own desires. The scarlet serpent shared more in common with the poisonous devil who had slaughtered him when he was young, or the various dragons with three heads and lusts for planetary genocide, than he did any of the giant corpses upon these ruins.

Looking over the bodies, Godzilla felt his heart sink. He felt personally responsible for this disaster, for when Orochi had first come to Earth, the planet had shuddered. The oceans were wracked with horrid cataclysms, one of which had ensnared Godzilla and buried him. When he finally ripped his way free of the molten rock under the sea, he discovered a ruined world who’s gigantic residents had grown silent.

He saw dozens of kaiju, dead in the streets and rubble. He knew this was not all of them in the world, probably not even half, but it still hurt like a blade through the chest. Especially because these were the heroic ones, the guardians and warriors devoted to protecting their home.

His eyes drifted to one particular carcass, and even burnt and coated in ash, the beauty of her wings broke through and made itself known.

Sorrow swelled and overwhelmed as he remembered all Mothra had done for him and for this world. The kindest being he had ever known, yet also one of the most frightening when pushed to her limits. She was as good at reassuring him and the rest of the world that there was hope as she was at fighting for that hope herself.

And Orochi had slain her, without a second thought.

Godzilla turned back towards his foe, snarling with hatred. Sorrow morphed into righteous wrath, and for the king of the monsters, wrath was power. With a mighty roar, he announced his return to the battle before charging with speed that belied his bulk.

Orochi’s full attention fell to his fellow kaiju, who greeted the deity with another flash of nuclear might soaring through the air. The eight-headed fiend winced as it crashed against his bulk, he could already tell his foe was more powerful than before. But it would still not be enough to overcome his own divinity.

His tactile horns detected a massive shift in temperature behind him, usually they were lacking when it came to that which was not before him, but this was grand enough to draw their attention. It was a sharp drop, heralding the presence of frost that Orochi thought impossible except by the hand of a god. His eyes widened, as the pieces fell into place within his mind.

Jaws dropped and eyes widened as Orochi’s colossal mass left the ground, his body floating in the air. He shifted in midair, twisting his body around to discover the Gotengo, its drill’s tip coated in blue light. From the chilly luminance was birthed a ray of frost energy which raced towards the deity.

Eight geysers of holy flame raced out from the god’s mouths, meeting the Zero Cannon and swallowing it. Steam rose in great gouts as the opposite extremes of temperature dueled for an instant, before from the fire the ray emerged and continued into Orochi’s side. The beam was thinner than when it had entered the inferno, its light dulled, but it still froze red scales and the flesh beneath as it raked down the side of the serpent.

The Zero Cannon faded and the deity dropped back to the Earth, roaring in anguish. He shouted in hatred, announcing his intent to rip the Gotengo asunder and cast it to the wind as ash, only for Godzilla to deliver a rushing tackle to the fiend’s side, the one opposite the frost wound.

The Gotengo rushed past Orochi, streams of energy shooting from the guns on its back and blazing across his hide. Godzilla clawed and kicked at his colossal foe, drawing the attention of half of the fiend’s heads as the rest tracked the warship.

Teeth dug into Godzilla’s shoulder, powerful neck muscles quickly dragging him across the ground to be in front of the deity. The monster king snarled, refusing to back down. Suddenly, cadmium-laced missiles crashed into the serpent’s heads, causing him to recoil and flail, his eyes screwed shut to preserve them.

The leviathan’s spines flashed as he thrust himself forward, the nuclear energy traveling into his hands as he crashed them against the fiend’s chest. Sparks flew from the impact. Orochi growled, before several of his necks swung like whips, carrying their skulls into Godzilla’s body and causing him to cry out in anguish. Bruises formed and skin tore.

Proton missiles detonated against the line of frost-bitten skin, earning an eight-fold cry of anguish from Orochi. The crews of the Eclair and the Rumbling briefly shared some joy over agonizing the killer of their comrades. Godzilla quickly capitalized on his foe’s distraction by letting loose another Spiral Ray, forcing Orochi back a step as the leviathan swept it across the fiend’s necks.

The Gotengo unleashed its primary Maser, but instead of striking Orochi, they launched it into the Super X-2’s Fire Mirror. When the reflective barrier had first been created, its creator made the bold claim that it would return Godzilla’s beam back one thousandfold. This had been a grievous exaggeration of its capabilities, but it was undeniable that it did return what it took with at least a bit more force. So when it turned and unleashed the emerald stream of energy upon Orochi, it darkened scales and began to dislodge some.

Both ships were rocked as Orochi’s scarlet retaliation grazed them, leaving black marks in their metallic hulls. They retreated in seperate directions, allowing the serpent to send Godzilla backpedaling with a dual swing of his horned heads, forcing a shriek from the leviathan as the points tore into skin. Burning flames came next from between three sets of jaws, consuming Godzilla in the inferno.

Regular fire would have done nothing to the monster king, whose father waded through molten rock as if it were mere mud. But this was different, for Godzilla screamed in anguish as his scales and flesh charred. The serpent cackled to himself as he listened to the beautiful agony. This was the fire of the underworld, the hellacious inferno that the worst of the scum were cast into.

To Tsukuyomi, all mortals deserved this, not merely the “worse” ones.

“Sir, we can’t keep fighting, the Gotengo’s sustaining too much damage!” A crew member yelled to his superior, the screen before him revealing numerous diagnostics of the ship. Severe damage to the hull, fires breaking out in numerous rooms, and machinery torn asunder.

Gordon growled as he ran the numbers in his head. “We can’t just run away! Can’t we repair this thing a bit, we got mechanics on board, right?”

Ozaki was quick to chime in. “Yes, but not while the Gotengo’s airborne. We’d need to land.”

“Fine!” The captain grumbled. “Find us a spot far away from that thing to land so we don’t explode in the air.” He pushed a button, pulling up comms. “We need to land, the Gotengo’s taken too much of a beating and we need to do some ramshackle repairs.”

“Copy that.” Replied the rest of the crews in the battle.

Orochi began adding his scarlet bolts into the roaring flame, launching burnt slabs of meat from the conflagration.

“And for God’s sake, someone help the big guy out, despite how much shit we put him through, he’s not actually invincible!”

“I got it!” Sho Kuroki exclaimed as he pulled the Super X-3 in close, unleashing a barrage of cadmium missiles onto the cluster of skulls currently unleashing hell upon Godzilla. Instead of ceasing their assault, they merely turned it towards the ship, earning cries of panic from its crew as they hastily tried to escape the hellfire and divine energy.

All the men and women present recoiled at the sight of Godzilla. Red, raw muscle contrasted against burnt skin as black as pitch. He shook with pain from each breath, each unconscious vibration of his body releasing minute jets of blood from the wounds.

But when the monster king’s eyes opened, they showed nothing but anger.

The Super X-3’s hull began to glow, its mobility not enough to fully escape the inferno. Fortunately for the crew, Orochi’s attack ceased with an eight-fold cry of pain. A Spiral Ray swept across his necks, sending smoke and sparks flying from the impact and causing the serpent’s heads to flail madly. Godzilla kept firing the enhanced beams, breaking scales and staining others black. Orochi growled, before meeting one of the rays with the eye bolts of three of his heads, keeping it from detonating against him and locking the two in a struggle.

Blue and red flowed into one another, coalescing into a sphere of purple luminance as they waged war for dominance. As Orochi would have expected, he sensed a storm of missiles and beams racing towards him. Two of his heads sprayed flames into the air, detonating the missiles and overpowering the Maser beams with ease. The remaining three heads lacerated Godzilla’s legs with the power from their eyes, allowing them to send the gathered energies back upon the leviathan with ease. Whatever expression of pain the monster king made, it was drowned out by the roar of a colossal explosion consuming him.

Ash and debris flew like confetti as Godzilla’s body tore through it, digging a trench with his form.

Orochi laughed haughtily, boiling saliva flying out from his mouths as he tainted the air with his wicked breath. The Super X suddenly rushed forward, as did its most recent counterpart.

“What are you two doing!?” Taniguchi demanded of them.

Sho Kuroki replied. “Given how he ate the blade of the Karyu, let’s see how this bastard likes a meal of cadmium!”

Orochi watched them approach, his jaws still opened as he cackled. From the silvery body of the Super X, missiles unlatched and sailed forth. The projectiles of the Super X-3 followed, aimed to be fired down their target’s throats.

The deity just let the missiles fall down his cavernous maws, swallowing them with no hesitation. Closing his mouths, he just looked at them with an expression of utter condescension.

Then two sets of jaws opened and belched forth streaks of scarlet, divine wrath. The Super X-3 managed to swerve out of the way in time, letting the attack fly past it. The Super X however, was not nearly as lucky, being torn through and detonated.

“Damn it all!” Gordon cursed as he watched the destruction, helpless from his place as the Gotengo rested on the ground a few miles away. “The Karyu and Super X, completely destroyed, the Gotengo, down and out for who knows how long!”

“Should only be a few more minutes!” Someone shouted to him. “Hopefully…” they added.

Sho Kuroki just stared forward, at the monolithic body of Orochi. He had not known the names of the Super X’s pilots. People with whole lives of their own, individual hopes and dreams, distinct beliefs defining them as separate people yet still aligning them to one cause. And they had all been slain in an instant, at the whim of this uncaring god. The prodigy of G-Force wanted to scream and lash out, but it would do no good. There was nothing he could do, so that was what he did.

“We can’t win…” the captain of the Eclair spoke with dread to the rest of the last hope brigade. “We’re not even putting up some valiant last stand. We tried to spit in his eye, but it just dripped down our chin.”

“You can’t just say that!” Ozaki shouted over the comms. “There has to be something we can do against this thing!”

“Gotengo, just try to get into the air, nothing else.” Taniguchi commanded. “Ozaki, I think now’s the time to try that Keizer trick of yours on Godzilla, or else we’re all dead.”

Sho Kuroki responded quickly. “Keizer trick? Did that last grazing knock you onto your head Taniguchi, the hell are you talking about?”

“During the Xilien invasion, when the Gotengo boarded the Mothership,” the mutant prodigy replied, “I had an encounter with their leader. He revealed a lot of things, including that I was special among even other mutants. That I was what he called a ‘Keizer.’ He awakened some latent power inside me, and thanks to some help from Mothra’s priestesses, I was able to control the power for myself instead of being his puppet.”

“I was there, and if anyone’s gonna call bullshit on it, you gotta take it up with me!” Gordon chimed in.

Another voice came over the comms from the Super X-2. “That would explain the odd readings we detected from you afterwards, our machines couldn’t even fully figure out what was going on inside you, Ozaki.” Ogata revealed, to everyone’s shock.

“Alright,” Sho continued, “how’s that help us? I’m gonna take a guess that being a Keizer doesn’t mean shit against a kaiju like Orochi.”

“No,” Ozaki affirmed. “But if I can transfer that energy to Godzilla, using the Gotengo as a conduit as I had originally planned to during the battle against Keizer Ghidorah, then we’ve got someone to deal with that bastard.”

“Why didn’t you do that earlier then!” The Rumbling’s captain questioned. Alarms suddenly blared in all the ships as crimson bolts of death pierced the air, intent on destroying the ships.

“Someone’s bored!” Taniguchi panickedly stated, trying to lighten things up but only revealing the immense fear in his heart.

Ozaki sighed. “Because it’s just as likely that I’ll blow the Gotengo up, because I’m operating on absolutely nothing scientific here with this idea.”

Gordon shrugged his shoulders. “We’re fucked anyway, might as well go for the chance.”

Orochi found himself growing quite tired of these games. He ceased his mad firing, before focusing several heads upon the Eclair. Four fired their eye beams around the ship, forming a sort of cage and keeping it from moving in any direction lest it be torn into.

“Pull back, pull back!” The captain screamed in panic, hoping to somehow get far enough back to… “for what reason?” He continued. The elderly man, a seasoned veteran of many battles, hung his head. His crew members turned back towards him, utter panic on their faces. He saw from a monitor a hail of missiles and beams falling onto the body of the deity, but it meant nothing.

“Eclair crew… make peace in these last moments.”

A fifth head of the serpent got between its four compatriots, before unleashing both the Supreme Emperor Red Lightning bolts and the similar blast from its mouth. The armored plating of the Eclair was reduced to dust in the wind, detonations blasting through its form until the whole vessel exploded.

Suddenly, a powerful bellow echoed across the landscape. Orochi’s spiteful gazes fell to the source, still hidden behind smoke and dust. The shade was pierced and parted by a colossal geyser of crimson energy, wrapped in spirals of yellow energy. The Spiral Fire Ray crashed into the serpent’s chest with a series of powerful blasts, ripping away shards of armor and forcing cries of anguish from him.

Godzilla charged forth, roaring in wrath as his feet pounded the ashen soil.

Crimson lashes tore grooves into the king’s hide, but he grit his teeth and bore it as he drew closer. Wrath and adrenaline powered him, numbing the pain to the point of being bearable. Another scarlet ray from his own maw, another eight-fold cry of pain as he swept it across Orochi’s side.

The deity actually stepped back when the leviathan barged into him, the resounding gong of the impact echoing. Godzilla’s spines continued to glow red, but instead of discharging his ray he channeled the power to his claws. He carved into the dense bulk of his foe’s chest, sending sparks flying as his arms crackled with the energy.

Orochi reared up, lurching forward as he came down to drag the claws of his stump-like feet down the length of Godzilla’s body. Canyons of ripping flesh and flowing blood formed starting from the monster king’s stomach and continuing down his two legs. The leviathan staggered back, before six jaws clamped onto his flesh, hoisting him into the air once more. Before he could release a nuclear pulse or atomic ray, Orochi’s maws opened and belched forth curtains of flame, the force behind them hurling all sixty thousand tons of Godzilla through the air.

The outraged monarch was back on his feet quickly. He would not let cruelty like this go unopposed, even as his body ached he needed to avenge all this bastard had slain!

Another Spiral Fire Ray, this time into the frost bitten flesh of Orochi, blasting it open and forcing intense cries of agony to erupt from the lord of the underworld as a gaping hole was blasted into him. Raw flesh spewed golden, molten blood that smoked upon striking the earth. Godzilla prepared to capitalize on this, only for his own anguish to echo into the darkened heavens as Orochi’s eight mouths unleashed streams of red lightning into his leg. He fell to one knee as viscera sprayed forth, bone being exposed.

The monster king stared into the eyes of his foe, the central head that he assumed was the “main” one. Godzilla shrunk back best he could, breath growing heavy as he gazed into those pools of malevolence. The men and women still alive on the various vessels found themselves also staring into the god’s eyes, being similarly cowed by them.

Staring into Destoroyah’s eyes, Godzilla felt like he was gazing into a cavern, one deep and treacherous that would crumble onto itself to crush any who ventured in. Hollow and hateful, a primitive mind dedicated only to butchery and savagery. Locking gazes with King Ghidorah was to see into the mind of madness, countless thoughts crashing into each other like billiard balls as they fought to rise to the surface. The issue for all life other than the golden nightmare was that every last one of these chaotic considerations were of death and desolation, the specifics being the only separation.

But Orochi was different. There was no madness, no brutal primitivism, for he was fully gathered mentally. Staring into the soul of the god of the underworld was meeting a mind as old as the universe, a consciousness crafted by the hands that forged creation itself.

And it was filled with undying wrath towards all things, and viewed all mortal life the way one views mold and rot and cancer. A spreading taint upon what was once beautiful and wondrous, turning it into a worthless shell of its former self.

Godzilla’s vision was filled with the bright crimson of Orochi’s eyes glowing with power, the monster king now being the first mortal in forever to draw forth Tsukuyomi’s full, undiluted hatred.

This whole fight had happened because the moon god had let it happen. At any point he could have obliterated the last forces of man and beast alike. He had wanted to toy with them, bask in his victory over Earth and relish in his own fiendish power. But now, they had annoyed and aggravated him too much, and the game was over. Now, all died.

The leviathan unleashed another Red Spiral Ray, and while it tore at his foe’s body as the rest had, this time it was not enough. Godzilla roared defiantly, facing encroaching death head-on.

From all sixteen eyes, came molten death. From all eight maws, came the power to devastate the world. Twenty four lances of godly spite, piercing into the heretic’s body. Scale, skin, flesh, and muscle parted before the Supreme Emperor Red Storm Dance. Cracks and burns spread through bone, organs boiling and popping.

Cadmium and proton missiles detonated inside the bleeding wound of the serpent. Orochi turned his attention to the vessels, eyes and mouths still unleashing his unyielding desire for genocide.

From the Gotengo, as a dozen mutants prepared to charge into battle in the hopes of buying just a little more time, they all witnessed the Rumbling become ash in the wind. Godzilla fell to the earth, spasming and going into shock. Even his regeneration, boosted by the cells of King Ghidorah, could not handle the total degloving of most of his body, the incineration of almost a quarter of his muscle mass, the evaporation of several organs in his abdomen, and severe exsanguination by heat.

“Look at it Ozaki, Godzilla’s gonna die if you don’t save him. We’ll all die if you don’t save him.” One of the mutants proclaimed to his superior. “I know you don’t want us to go, but we have to. This is what we signed up for.”

Ozaki felt tears streaming down his face, the memories of watching friends in the M-Organization being butchered by Tsukuyomi and crushed by Orochi’s formation over body-cam footage all resurfacing. He could think of nothing to say. His fellow mutant placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Just promise me that we’re not dying for nothing.”

Ozaki steeled himself. “Orochi dies tonight.”

“All I needed to hear,” he turned to his comrades, “come on, let’s go!”

As the squadron of human-Xilien hybrids leaped off the Gotengo, Ozaki went back inside. The vessel’s rockets roared to life as it entered the air, shaking and with its engine making all sorts of disconcerting noises. It just needed to fly, and it did so as it aimed its front towards Godzilla’s writhing form.

Gordon stepped out of the captain’s chair, letting Ozaki sit down. The Keizer placed his hands on the control panel, closing his eyes. The veteran looked out to the battle, seeing Orochi scream and shout his rage as the three ships, and now a hail of laserfire from the ground, annoyed him. If Gordon had to take a guess, the god figured Godzilla was already good as dead, so no need to finish him off while dealing with the stinging insects. Maybe Orochi just wanted to watch the first being in eons to actually hurt him just squirm and wither away in abject agony.

Ozaki’s hair began to stand on end, as his body was taken by a slight glow.

The crew members of the Gotengo, Gordon especially, knew how bad of an idea it was to just leave Godzilla alone and hope he died without actually finishing the job. The monster king always knew how to fight back from the dankest depths and rise once more. This time, he would do it with their help, when even the indomitable will of the strongest beast on Earth failed before divinity.

The shine surrounding the Keizer intensified, as the screen before him turned white.

One of Orochi’s heads turned towards the Gotengo, tilted in confusion, only for a laser bolt to crash near one of its eyes. Letting out a raspy shriek of disdain, it bathed the ground before it in fire. Gordon only hoped the few moments the mutants had bought the Gotengo would be enough.

Arcane symbols manifested on the screen, flickering rapidly as Ozaki glowed like a light in the darkness.

Another beam from the Super X-3’s front lashed into the wound on the serpent’s body. Two heads of the deity bit down onto the sides of the cavernous opening, before pulling it closed as a third head sealed it shut with a geyser of hellfire. A storm of holy lightning and unholy flame reduced the most advanced model of the Super X line into slag crashing into the soil.

“No one I’d rather grab a beer with than Sho.” Gordon mused to himself. “Gondo would have been proud as hell if he had seen you, I can say that for sure.”

The symbols began to part and fade, as one in particular manifested in the very center of the screen. Gordon glanced over to it, eyes widening. “Well I’ll be damned… kid, whatever’s going on in your DNA, it’s our ticket to survival.”

The infinity symbol on the monitor grabbed the attention of all eyes on board, awestruck as the very ship began to shine with silver light both inside and out. Ozaki himself was almost lost amidst the luminance, eyes still shut in focus.

Orochi’s attention fell to the Gotengo, jaws dropping as the energy flowing through it ignited ancient memories.

*****

The sound of battle and the scent of death filled the air. Dueling armies clashed, one of peoples dressed in the rudimentary garments of those living simplistic lives off the fat of the land. They opposed pale figures in black leather. Spears and arrows flew past streaks of deadly energy. The humans dropped with burns coating their chests as flesh peeled away and blackened, while the gaunt invaders were pierced by the projectiles, spilling blood as black as pitch.

Overhead, two colossi battled through the air. Yellow and bluish-green coated a living weapon, hands replaced with thick blades and eyes replaced with a red visor. Gigan and Mothra weaved through the sky, avoiding each other’s strikes with the precision of seasoned warriors.

Three figures watched the battle from a distance, each one possessing the power to end the conflict with all the difficulty of a parent stopping their toddlers from smacking one another.

“Susanoo, are you sure we should not interfere?” Asked the one standing furthest away from the conflict, a beautiful woman in ornate robes, with long, flowing hair that came down past her shoulders. “Can the humans possibly win on their own?”

The man she addressed, a rugged, battle-hardened looking man in armor-like garb of a similarly elaborate nature, let out a deep breath. “It pains me to do this as well, Amaterasu. But one day they will have to survive without us, and that means we must ensure they can face this cruel universe without our aid.” He turned towards her with a smile that still radiated warmness despite the gruffness of the face bearing it. “Besides, the Xiliens are just as much ours as the humans are, it would be like interfering in the civil wars of Earth in a sense.”

The third figure, a tall, handsome man wearing robes befitting of a king, scoffed to himself before interrupting. “The people of this planet have yet to master weaponry beyond the most analog and basic, while the Xiliens have the technology to cast forth bolts of energy to slay their foes. I don’t think your comparison is an apt one.”

“Oh?” Susanoo replied, raising an eyebrow. “Then are you going to help humanity in that case?”

“No, because what happens on the ground doesn’t matter. The battle of the Titans in the sky is the only thing that decides this war, and well,” he gestured over to the two behemoths.

Mothra dodged the charge of Gigan, the fiend’s chest-mounted buzzsaw revving madly. Her wings smacked the side of the cyborg’s body, sending him careening to the dirt with a screech. In a moment, he was back on his feet, unleashing a thin beam of red light from his visor. The Laser Knife was evaded without issue by the divine moth, who swept around and bashed her wing against the cyborg’s side.

“The Earth’s anointed guardian is more than capable of dealing with the hubristic Xiliens’ construct.”

Susanoo smiled proudly, letting out a deep belly laugh at the display of the deadly machine built for conquest and genocide being beaten about by a fluffy moth. Amaterasu just sighed to herself, still not used to the idea of such bloodshed that could be prevented. It was part of nature she supposed, but she refused to become desensitized.

Tsukuyomi kept an eye on the war, not truly focused on it as he was getting quite bored of the whole spectacle. The barbarism on display was sickening, and all he saw was just more work to do when he returned to Yomi, all because of these mortals and their bloodthirsty stupidity.

The Xiliens could travel across light years in a matter of moments, and had technology that even left many of the gods baffled by its splendor. But still they had insisted on this conquest like savages, preferring to take what they wanted through might and brutality than by logic compromise.

Was this the fate that awaited humanity when it crawled off this planet and witnessed the greater universe? Would the apes even make it to that point, or would they all kill each other in their civilization’s crib?

A presence on the battlefield suddenly made Tsukuyomi’s eyes widen, his focus going to the mess of struggling warriors.

The bodies of humans flew like dolls, cracking and breaking upon impact with the ground. What looked like lightning bolts streaked forth from the hand of an Xilien that bore a powerful presence, torching his foes en masse. A hail of arrows came towards him, but he raised a hand and stopped them all in midair, before sending them back unto their users. The Xilien rushed forth with speed that no mortal man could accomplish, speed such that Tsukuyomi had to focus to keep up with the figure as he tore through a group of battle-hardened men like a lion to a flock of sheep.

That mortal… was too powerful.

Tsukuyomi quickly stepped forward, eyes shining brightly with cyan light. Susanoo quickly grabbed him in a bear hug, pulling his brother back just in time for the Calm Spirit to lash out as divine rays of power into the air.

“What in all the realms are you doing, trying to get us involved in this war!? I don’t feel like dealing with their war machine, no matter how much I mocked it previously!”

“Unhand me!” Tsukuyomi screamed with genuine fury. “I must smite that insolent mortal who dares to have power approaching ours!”

Susanoo refused to release, even as Tsukuyomi began kicking him in the legs and struggling. Amaterasu stepped closer, trying to bring reason and calmness into the chaos. “What do you mean, why must you destroy him for being powerful? What will that accomplish?”

Addressing his sister, the moon god was more restrained, but he still nearly hissed his reply. “He is too mighty. More training from him, or perhaps the growing strength of a progressing bloodline, or any number of other things will lead to a mortal able to face us in solo combat and stand a chance of victory. I must destroy this and ensure none shall challenge us!”

“What on Earth do you mean, that is great news!” Susanoo dropped his brother, turning him around to meet him eye to eye. “They will truly be able to defend themselves, be independent of us! Our interference will be kept to mere guidance in their darkest moments, if even that!”

Amaterasu stood by the ocean god’s side, positively beaming. “I agree, especially if this power can be granted to the humans in some way as well!”

Tsukuyomi remained silent. His eye twitched, he grinded his teeth, and sweat began to drip down his brow. What worthless drivel spewed from his siblings’ mouths. Did they not look upon this worthless battle and see the same idiotic bastards he saw? How could anyone with a working mind see this war of an interstellar race of bigots and narcissists against backwater apes and see anything other than scum? Something clicked into place within his mind.

“Of course, how could I be so foolish?” He replied with a forced grin, barely stifling a throat-rending scream of hatred as he fully realized what was going on.

Why would the god of the sun and life, and the god of the oceans and war, see any issue with powerful mortals that loved and revered them? Unlike him, the god of the dreaded underworld and the reviled night-time moon, mortals adored his siblings. So while the god-like mortals continued showering the two of them in praise and receiving the blessings to continue propagating this agonizing cycle of death and carnage, they would be mutinying against him and him alone. Blissfully unaware in their pathetic debauchery that mortalkind’s constant, worthless slaughter was a major part of the reason Tsukuyomi was even needed!

“Glad that could be resolved.” Susanoo gave that irritating smile that Tsukuyomi found himself wanting to now tear off. Amaterasu giggled, a noise that the lord of the underworld once found precious and sweet, now only provoking the desire to vomit. The two clapped their hands onto Tsukuyomi’s shoulders, and the only comfort he found was the image of mutilating both with his spiteful power, outwardly pretending he still viewed them as anything other than wretched scum.

*****

The power that had granted him this horrid revelation, set him down this path of omnicide for the sake of true perfection, was in that ship. He would not obliterate it with one strike like he could, he would tear it out of the sky and peel it apart until he found the wretched wielder of that power. He would watch the life leave their eyes as he ripped them asunder, signifying his ultimate victory over mortality.

The Super X-2 raced through the air, seeing the building power in the god’s center maw. Taniguchi did not know why Orochi was only going to use one beam, but he did not care about the mind of the serpent. All he knew was that he had one chance to make a difference and help save the world.

“Ogata, I’m—“

“Do not apologize, my boy, I would not have stepped onto this vessel if I had not made peace with myself and prepared to see what exactly happens after the final curtain call.”

The young pilot nodded in affirmation, before turning to open the Fire Mirror. With every skill he had learned in his training, and not caring about the limits of the craft, Taniguchi twirled the Super X-2 to be before Orochi just before the charged, crimson bolt was discharged.

Between the Gotengo and the serpent god, the second of G-Force’s anti-Godzilla countermeasures was struck by the smiting assault. The Fire Mirror captured and began rebounding the energies best it could, even though the power it was being bathed in was far too much for it to handle. Diamond melted like candle wax as wild geysers of green energy flew like firework sparks as the Fire Mirror desperately tried to fulfill its purpose in the face of overwhelming might.

How ironic, that weapons designed to kill Godzilla had saved him in the very end. In the rear view, Taniguchi saw the Gotengo unleash a silver ray towards Godzilla, which banished the darkness of night for a moment. He smiled, knowing that he had done all he could.

The Super X-2 detonated. The remainder of the crimson lightning tore into the hull of the Gotengo, causing a blast on its side that sent the warship falling straight down like a ton of bricks.

Crew members were knocked unconscious, others were put in great pain from the jostling of impact. They watched with utter horror as Orochi suddenly began floating through the air, rushing towards them with great speed. He affixed the ship with gazes that the men and women of the ship could only assume were like that of a serial killer approaching his latest victim.

But Ozaki and Gordon showed no fear. They were not truly fearless, but they were greatly comforted by the fact that whatever had gotten under the god’s skin distracted him from what should have been his true target.

Godzilla’s body began to shift, the damage inflicted upon him swiftly reversing. Muscle and flesh repaired in a matter of seconds, burnt skin fell away to be replaced with fresh scale. But his renewal was not the full extent of his change. For the Keizer energies mixed the cells of Godzilla and King Ghidorah, and enhanced them into something far beyond what either was capable of on its own.

Charcoal changed to dark purple, and bright green upon his stomach and chest. Musculature greatly expanded, making his previous physical might look diminutive in comparison. Broad shoulders were pierced by a long, jagged spike that erupted from both. His tail grew in length, the end becoming a cluster of spikes. The resemblance to a certain crystalline clone grew further as a crest resembling his formed upon the forehead of Godzilla, a crown for the New King of the Monsters. But what separated the two beyond just color was that instead of a crater in the stomach, this new entity had a spherical core nestled in this place.

Eyes with renewed determination and power focused on Orochi, as the bastard divine ripped through the steel of the Gotengo with his jaws.

It took little time for the eight-headed monster to be staring eye to eye with the crew of the Gotengo, making many pass out from sheer terror as others whispered frantic prayers. The moon god had no interest in them, yet, eyes going straight to Ozaki. Boiling saliva dripped from his jaws, the anticipation making him shake like a rabid dog. Finally, after all these millennia, he would slay the pinnacle of mortalkind and show that the gods reign above all!

Ozaki just crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. Gordon did the same, but he spoke up. “For someone with eight heads, you’ve got shit awareness of your surroundings.”

The deity tilted his heads, confused by… everything about this.

He got his answer when a sound like the clap of thunder echoed, followed by eight screams as Orochi was pushed like he weighed a tenth of what he did. The god of the underworld tore apart the ground as he skid across it, before finally digging his heels in and being on solid footing. He screeched in outrage, this only growing as he saw just what had dared to do this to him.

The Gotengo’s crew looked up with absolute awe, even Gordon and Ozaki could not help but be taken aback by what they witnessed. There, with a dimming glow upon his outstretched fist, all their hope manifested.

Godzilla announced his apotheosis with a war cry that shook the heavens and hells. Super Godzilla had been born, through the bonding of human ingenuity and will with their grand mistake turned into the greatest ally. He looked down at the people, eyes meeting Ozaki’s. The supreme king nodded to the young Keizer, who met it with a nod of his own. Godzilla looked back to his foe, eyes narrowing.

And so, the final battle began.

Godzilla charged forward, moving with a swiftness that his sheer bulk should have rendered impossible. Supreme Emperor Red Lightning bolts lashed against his thickened hide, and while his brows scowled at their power as skin charred, he still pressed on without issue.

Stopping his rush, the empowered leviathan gathered his internal energy. His body flashed emerald green, his spines glowing brightly, before he opened his maw. From it came forth a glowing beam of orange might, which burst against Orochi’s armored side and forced a cry of pain from him. Burns formed, flesh singing. These rays hurt even worse than the red ones Godzilla had used before.

Super Godzilla charged forth once more, rapidly closing the distance. The cruel deity unleashed curtains of flame before him to deter his foe, but the last hope of the planet refused to falter. The ascended king cried out in pain as he was submerged in the fires of Hell, but where before he was powerless in the face of it, now he could endure to crash his bulk against Orochi’s chest. There was a flash upon impact, as the destroyer found himself being forced back a fair bit. He cut off the flames, snarling in hatred.

Until suddenly, the area Super Godzilla had struck was consumed by a cluster of blossoming explosions, illuminating the shade with their azure glow. Orochi screamed as shards of his armor and scale were ripped away and sent flying. When it was done, he looked down upon his foe, meeting the gaze of the hero.

The hopes of the Earth, perhaps the very universe, rested upon his shoulders. A tenth of that burden would snap the wills of even the most glorious like a boot to a twig. But when the moon god looked into the eyes of the apex of science and nature, he saw one fully willing to bear this and ensure that all would see a new tomorrow. It reminded him of Susanoo bravely facing him when Tsukuyomi had first attained the serpentine form, or of the young man who had stood side by side with his love when Orochi had returned.

Lunging forth, the eight heads of the destroyer whipped and bit at Godzilla, bruising and scratching his skin. The ascended leviathan swung back with his own claws, bashing skulls around and scraping away scale and skin. Bolts of crimson energy shot forward from a few heads as the rest continued their up-close assault, successfully blasting away chunks of Godzilla’s flesh. Instead of crying out, he replied with his own Super Atomic Ray, sweeping it across Orochi’s necks. They all cried out as one from the blazing anguish now coursing through them, rising high into the air. They all came down, bashing their chins into the supreme monster king’s skull, making him double over as blood began to pour from the wound.

As enhanced regeneration repaired the wounds he endured, Godzilla turned in place as his tail began to crackle with electricity. From the cluster of spikes came a small sphere of yellow energy. It burst against Orochi’s body, as did several more when Godzilla continued swinging his tail. They were relatively weak attacks, but in rapid succession they forced the lord of the underworld back a step. It was enough to let Godzilla rise up once more, unleashing another Super Atomic Ray. The destroyer cursed and writhed from the pain inflicted upon him.

Orochi’s body left the ground, his powers over antigravity allowing him to swing around in place to send his colossal tail careening into Godzilla’s head with a brutal crack, sending the savior to the dirt with a cry of mixed shock and pain. Dropping back to the ground, with his tail closer to his foe, Orochi began to mercilessly beat the leviathan with his tail, whipping away with wild abandon.

Scales shattered and flew off in dust, bruises contorted the color of the flesh, bones began to crack. Godzilla fired his empowered ray, blasting off burning shards of Orochi’s back, but the tables had turned as the serpent endured the pain to continue his brutal assault.

Another crack of the muscular whip, and one of the spikes on Super Godzilla’s shoulders was torn off, clattering to the ground. He roared in pain once more, but wrath joined it and gave him the strength to push himself to his feet in a moment. The serpent’s appendage bashed into his back once more, but the monster king remained standing. Turning, he let the tail smash into his chest, nearly breaking a rib, then latched his hands onto the end of the limb. Orochi let out a slight screech of shock, then began trying frantically to free himself.

Godzilla’s enhanced muscles strained as he began to lift. The serpent bellowed in outrage as felt himself struggling to stay grounded, trying to turn his heads to fire upon his foe. He failed to do so before the leviathan hoisted him into the air, earning a surprised call from the deity, before slamming him into the ground.

The Earth shuddered as the ground cracked, waves of dust and debris rolling out like a tsunami upon the immense impact. Orochi shrieked in rage, especially as he was lifted back into the air. He activated his levitation, making Godzilla’s downward thrust far slower. This gave the serpent the chance to twist a few heads around and blast the hands of his foe with energy, forcing the monster king to back away.

Orochi twisted around, still remaining in the air as all his eyes glowed. Sixteen rays of godly wrath combined with eight geysers of horrid flame, swallowing Super Godzilla in the conflagration. Agony coursed through his form as his entire body was assailed, the precise beams like molten knives lacerating his skin as the inferno raced into the wounds to intensify it all.

Godzilla tried to step out of it, but it was too overwhelming. He tried to call forth his atomic ray, but his face would be gashed open before he could fully channel it. The last hope of Earth internally bellowed, feeling a roiling maelstrom of emotion manifesting in his gut.

His spherical core began to glow cyan, overpowering even the harsh orange of the fires. Leaning his body back, Godzilla aimed the gathering power at Orochi. Fragments of the luminance emanated from it, until it all solidified and burst forth as a colossal pillar of power.

It parted the sea of flame, making Orochi’s eyes widen and the beginnings of a chorus of panicked calls leaving his throats. The head of the Nova Beam morphed, becoming the image of Super Godzilla’s visage in the split-second before it crashed into the destroyer’s underbelly.

Orochi’s two-hundred-thousand ton body flew back, a colossal explosion ripping apart his stomach’s armor and shredding the flesh beneath it. Tokyo’s corpse rumbled like an earthquake had struck when the body impacted the ground.

Godzilla slumped over, breathing heavily as his regeneration healed his wounds. Even at the apex of his power, the lord of the underworld was pushing him to his limits. Fortunately for him, it seemed the same was proving true the other way around.

The destroyer got to his feet, golden blood pouring from his stomach and staining the ashen soil below. How could a mortal be doing this to him? Had he finally met his equal in power? It could not be possible, yet here it was. Only fellow gods had been able to damage him so.

He had been right. One day, mortals would achieve the power of the gods on their own, and use it against him. That was this day, Tsukuyomi’s prophecy had been fulfilled.

Super Godzilla stood tall, raising both fists and igniting them with blue energy. He began to rush forwards, announcing the renewal of the fight with a war cry.

Orochi met it with his own chorus, refusing to succumb to lesser beings!

Eight streams of divine, scarlet power erupted from Orochi’s jaws, mutilating the ground as he swept them across the city. Godzilla reared one of his shining fists back, before thrusting it and his whole body forth and catapulting himself forward like he had before. Soil and shrapnel soared in his path as he glided across it. The ascended leviathan learned these rays packed a more ferocious punch than the eye beams, and that Orochi was holding back nothing at this point. He was halted in his tracks as they singed his muscles with their power, but adrenaline let him endure the pain enough to pull his still glowing fist back and hurl himself forth again.

The serpent’s attack faded when he was sent skidding across the ground again, crying out as he flipped over and rolled at the end of the launch. Back on his feet without wasting a moment, he prepared to continue his attack when Super Godzilla was already right in front of him with another springing forth. Several heads of the serpent lashed out instinctively, but his previous battles with both this destroyer and previous serpentine foes gave him the foresight to grasp one with his powerful hands.

Orochi was powerful, perhaps ultimately more powerful than even him, but what Godzilla had quickly realized was that the deity lacked strategy.

A Super Atomic Ray erupted from the supreme monster king’s jaws, bathing the head in its radioactive bliss. Eyes burst as saliva boiled, the whole body of Orochi shaking as the effects carried over to the full consciousness.

Godzilla had fought many foes equal to and greater than him in the past. The moon god had only crushed that which lay before him, never needing to exert effort to seize victory. Mindless attacking worked well against vastly weaker foes, but against an equal, it guaranteed nothing but failure.

The neck fell limp, the charred head’s only movements being the swaying of momentum from being released.

A cacophony of madness erupted from Orochi as he hoisted himself into the air, rising above the wretched mortal that would dare disfigure him so. Godzilla lunged forward, trying to grasp his foe’s dangling tail, only for the destroyer to come careening down onto Godzilla’s back, sending him to the dirt and pinning him beneath the serpent’s bulk. Orochi cackled as he began stomping his entrapped foe, clawing away skin in ribbons.

Super Godzilla’s body flashed green light, spines glowing. As the back foot of his foe grinded his skull into the dirt, the leviathan focused his internal energy. It came forth in an orange pulse of nuclear power erupting from his entire body.

Orochi found himself once again hurled away, screaming in wrath at how the most immense body in creation was being tossed around like a toy. Godzilla got to his feet, running forward chest-out. He bashed his bulk into the side of the recoiling god, igniting another cluster of explosions upon the serpent’s body. Three sets of jaws clamped onto Godzilla’s throat, discharging rays of energy point-blank. They bored into the skin like a drill trying to pierce rock, slowly but surely working their way through.

A glowing fist slammed into the necks from below, dislodging them. Chunks of meat came out with them, lodged in their teeth and burnt away by the still firing rays. Godzilla grabbed one by the base of the head, swinging it into the body of the serpent and holding it there as his other fist was charged up. Orochi unleashed fire and lightning best he could, but it was not enough in the moment it took for Godzilla to slam a Super-Punch into the skull’s lower jaw.

Bone and brain matter soared in all directions as Orochi’s number of heads was reduced to six.

The two heads that had been biting him a moment ago swung themselves like clubs, driving their horns into his still-recovering throat. Blood sprayed forth as he roared in agony, the blades piercing his windpipe. The moon god shifted himself around to bring Godzilla face to faces with him, then ripped the horns out of his foe’s neck, freeing a spray of blood to shoot forth.

The ascended leviathan tilted his head, trying to shield the wound. Orochi’s eyes and mouths shined with a malicious luminance, ready to end this here and now. With one final blast he would end this and claim an ultimate victory over all mortalkind. They had achieved the level of godhood and still fallen short of him.

Godzilla nearly doubled over as he gasped in exhaustion, seeing his death staring him in the face. He had failed. Even with this power he could not overcome, could not save the world from its ultimate destruction. Despair latched into his heart, poisoning it with its cold venom.

He heard whispers all around him. He looked up, still seeing the encroaching death, but more clearly hearing the sounds all around him. They were demanding he press on.

Godzilla looked up into the sky, shocked by what he saw.

The spirits of the fallen monsters circled through the air, calling to him. He saw his friends on Monster Island, the people who had died in the battle against Orochi, kaiju he had never even seen before, and more surrounding him and filling the sky. They all cried out, encouraging him.

Proclamations that he was their king and that he shall avenge his subjects. Words from those who had tried to kill him before, apologizing and telling him to stand and fight. A chaotic chorus, but it all did manage to have a focus. Him, and seizing victory.

One in particular descended, like an Angel. With beautiful wings and soft, reassuring eyes, Mothra stood out amongst the crowd as she locked eyes with the monster king. She spoke to him, her presence in his mind like a warm embrace.

No matter how greatly he was outclassed, the leviathan had always risen to the challenge and won the day. Against demons, tyrants, world destroyers, alien bioweapons, grotesque abominations, and anything else, he was always on the front lines and fighting with all he had while never forsaking his allies. Why should a god be any different?

No matter what, she, and the rest of Godzilla’s friends, would always be with him as long as he stayed true to who he was.

The final warrior against the destroyer god stood tall, bellowing as he lunged forward. Orochi was shocked by the sudden burst of speed, leaving him wide open to be grabbed by the ultimate saurian. Godzilla lifted his foe’s front into the air, core glowing brightly as he focused all the power he had into it. Orochi unleashed the power he had been building up, but the leviathan had gotten underneath him. He severed the end of Godzilla’s tail and carved a massive trench into the earth, but the monster king was stomach-to-stomach with the god now.

The lord of the underworld flailed and thrashed, trying to stop what was about to happen, but it was no good.

Godzilla let loose the grandest roar the Earth had ever heard, declaring that his foe’s menace ended here and now! For all who had been slain by the greatest evil to ever spite the world, Godzilla unleashed everything he had in him in one final Nova Blast.

Energy erupted from the maws of the crimson serpent, his innards being ruptured and incinerated by the ultimate attack. The wounds inflicted upon him previously shined with the azure glow. A column of nuclear power, tipped with the duplicate head of its firer, ripped out of Orochi’s back, rising into the sky like a glowing beacon. The clouds parted in its wake, revealing the sunlight once again.

As Orochi’s collapsing, burning body rolled off the also falling Godzilla, the darkness of the heavens rolled back further and further like a curtain being retracted. Sunlight graced the world once again, revealing a broken, bloody Earth. Yet, it was still an Earth that was alive, that could return to what it once was.

The Gotengo crew was silent, unable to think of anything to even say. Where were they supposed to start? Ozaki just had his eyes closed, as lost as the rest of them.

Until something sparked in his senses, a sixth sense outside normal perception alerting him to something. He grit his teeth, before suddenly leaping out of the hole in the warship, shocking everyone present as they watched him go.

“Kid,” Gordon mumbled to himself, “what the hell did you just figure out?”

Ozaki rushed past the still form of Godzilla, breathing a sigh of relief as he noticed that shallow breath still coursed through the guardian. Earth’s greatest defender would live.

Where Orochi had burnt away into nothing, he sensed a presence. The Keizer’s advanced eyes quickly spotted him. A humanoid figure, laying in a pile of ash.

The same one that had become Orochi upon the moon.

Ozaki’s breath grew heavy as he charged towards Tsukuyomi, fist rearing back. When the distance was closed, he let out a roar of hatred, swinging his arm at the prone god.

Who caught it.

Swiftly standing up, Tsukuyomi crashed a punch into Ozaki’s gut. The Keizer exhaled sharply through clenched teeth, before slamming a punch into the deity’s gut in reply. Tsukuyomi staggered back, winded. Both were exhausted from the day’s events, but it was clear transferring Keizer energy was not nearly as draining as having one’s other body incinerated.

Ozaki pulled his arm back, charging a sphere of energy in his palm. Tsukuyomi’s eyes glowed, making his intent clear.

Instead of the mighty streams of cyan power that even Susanoo could not overcome, what came forth from the moon god’s eyes were pathetic lines of dwindling divinity. Ozaki’s lightning-esque blast easily overwhelmed them like a river.

The Keizer had never felt better than when he watched the holy bastard’s skull burst into cinder.

He turned and began to walk away, lacking the same speed as before. A light shined behind him, making him turn as two more figures descended, a man and a woman both dressed in robes befitting royalty. They landed next to Tsukuyomi’s body, bowing their heads somberly. Ozaki took up a fighting stance.

The woman dropped to her knees, hands on her face as she weeped. The man, clearly a wizened warrior, bent down and picked up the body of Tsukuyomi. Tears flowed from his eyes as well, but he retained his composure better.

Ozaki’s enhanced ears detected him whisper, “I am so sorry, my brother. If I had known what was truly brewing in your heart, I would have done all I could to save you.”

Susanoo looked to Amaterasu. “Sister, please. Remember him as he was, when he was our brother and the faithful steward of the moon and of Yomi. Not as what he became.”

The woman looked to Ozaki, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. “We… we are so sorry for all that he did to you and your people.”

Susanoo did the same. “This shall haunt me for the rest of time… all of this. I should have done so many things, should have jus—“

“Just leave. Save your words, you can apologize by getting the hell out of here.” Ozaki spat. “This isn’t you gods’ world anymore. It’s ours, and respect that, unlike him.” He pointed to the corpse.

Ozaki understood that pretty much everyone in his life would be furious at him mouthing off to the gods, but he did not care in the slightest bit. Anyone who could feel anything but contempt for that killer of billions could just disappear for all he cared.

“I understand.” Susanoo said, utterly defeated. “May you humans have a long and prosperous reign, without us meddling in your affairs.”

And with that, the two left. And Ozaki was left alone, to stare into the heavens, at the best sunlight he had ever felt in his life. For what felt like the first time in forever, the Keizer truly smiled, feeling a weight off his shoulders. He knew all that had died against this foe were looking down, joyful as well at this triumph.

Winner: Godzilla (Heisei)