Author: Matthew Freese | Banner: Matthew Freese | Narration: Matthew Reeds

 

The earth and heavens shuddered before the might of the two gods. The skies looked as though blood stained them from horizon to horizon. Humanity watched on as the battle to determine its fate raged on like two colliding storms, neither outcome save both titans somehow ripping each other apart would bear good news.

A heavy crashing of flesh upon organic armor rang out, followed by the dragging of two colossal feet ripping through concrete. The first beast, coated in brown plates of impenetrable material, bellowed mightily, saliva tainted the air and sprayed forth from its maw of needle-like teeth. His hateful eyes locked on to those of the blazing orange lights of his foe’s gaze, who was lowering his smoking fist. The other leviathan, in violet armor, replied with his own roar, his spines glowing the color of the sun as immense levels of energy raced to his mouth. The crown of horns atop the demon’s skull crackled with electricity in return, his mouth resembling a portal of harsh azure.

Miles away, a colossal weapons platform shuddered as a gun of immense scale moved into firing position. Its dish-shaped barrel began to fill with dark energy then lightning spewed forth as a sphere as black as the void was forged through processes even the most gifted could not explain.

In the sky, the ultra-ancient colossus, a creature turned to something beyond that of a god by the madness of a cruel mortal mind that sought dominion over all of creation. This was the king of the monsters, hyper-evolved from his birthed form such that comparing this to his normal capabilities was like comparing a star to a candle. He was a weapon designed by human hands to break the limits of the fundamental rules of the universe, and he was a terrifying success.

The next few seconds would comprise the most defining moment in human history.

With a deep, droning bellow that echoed through the souls of all its listeners, the Dimension Tide fired his projectile beam and light warped as the miniature black hole was launched like a bullet from his mouth as Super Godzilla and Bagan fired their respective beams at once resulting in a collision between the titans forming an orb of surging energy that resembled a star on the verge of exploding.

The two were so focused on each other that they failed to notice the third party, until the sphere of their combined power was pried apart and sucked away. Their eyes turned towards the source, widening for a fraction of a second before it collided with them both.

Everything became white. A piercing, brilliant white that went on forever and overpowered all thought while it existed. It could have lasted for ten million millennia or for a second, it would not have mattered, for time had no meaning within this.

But all things must fade…

***

Godzilla’s eyes slowly opened and a low groan emanated from his maw as sunlight fell upon his charcoal colored body. He was no longer in that odd state, had it all been a dream?

The instant after he had this thought, pain coursed through his form. It had been all too real.

Godzilla began to arise, his weary body aching as thick muscles flexed to push himself up to his feet. Another groan left the cat-like mouth of the monster king. Dorsal spines rustled as he stood tall, glinting in the sunlight. The leviathan observed his surroundings, finally realizing he found himself on a beach.

It was… tranquil.

Waters swayed calmly with the winds and the songs of birds echoed out. His developed eyes saw strange creatures he did not recognize running about on the beach, more colorful and vibrant than the ones he was used to. A nearby forest also rustled with life. Yet more danced about within the waves, things that resembled the creatures he knew and others that could not be more different.

Bright red fish leapt from the waters, pursued by stocky, jagged sharks, only for those sharks to be chased away by bright blue serpents bellowing at them. Yellow and black insects the size of people chased a group of purple monkeys, swinging through the trees with their tails, which bore what resembled hands.

For a moment, he remembered a past life, when he was much smaller. A time when he was not a monster, watching the smaller lifeforms of his home island carry out their daily routines as did his.

He felt good, and peace filled his heart for the first time in a long time. Only to soon be reminded of why those days were long past.

The creatures began to cease their actions, looking towards him. He heard their growls, and some backed away as others drew closer. Godzilla knew full well what this was. He knew aggression all too well, and what it bore.

Godzilla’s tail slammed into the ground, as he let loose a powerful roar, he was ready to prove why none should trifle with him. This made most of the inhabitants retreat, but some, there were always some, refused to do so. This time it was one of the blue sea serpents who had raised itself high above the waves. It let loose a roar of its own, its maw glowing bright.

***

Far away, a trainer watched with wide, terrified eyes through binoculars as the Gyarados unleashed a stream of glowing, orange energy upon this strange Pokémon. The Hyper Beam blazed across the water and into the colossus’ thigh, kicking up large quantities of sand and smoke. Astonishingly, when the Hyper Beam faded, it appeared that the strange being who had suddenly materialized on the beach minutes ago was completely, utterly unharmed.

The spines on its back flashed blue as it turned towards its attacker and its jaws parted to unleash a pillar of azure energy out into the ocean. The offending Gyarados was vaporized, as were dozens more Gyarados in the process. Cruel blue light continued to shine from its spines as more rays of death spewed forth, turning water into vapor, and soon the sand into glass. Screams rose from the cacophony of explosive desolation as the beast turned its attention to the forest next, the unknown colossus refusing to relent in its rampage.

In a matter of moments, all was silent except for the winds and crackling of flame. Ash spewed out from the inferno, dancing in a macabre display as the aberrant leviathan marched forth. The trainer dropped their binoculars and ran in a desperate hurry, reaching into their pocket. Grasping a small sphere, one half white and the other half red, they clicked the button on its front as they threw it, releasing a blue dragon, with flat, sharp wings colored a deep shade of red. Salamence growled as he immediately noticed the anomaly in the distance, but his trainer was immediately upon his back, commanding him to fly.

The dragon heard the distant cries from his forest kin, and part of him was demanding they go forth and assault the destroyer, but his survival instinct for him and his trainer was too powerful. Another roar rolled across the landscape from the leviathan, leading the Salamence to bury his righteous anger in favor of the desire to survive. He would accomplish as much as an ant challenging an apex predator, and would be crushed swiftly and mercilessly.

With a beat of his wings, he took off into the skies, following his orders to move towards the nearest city. Word of the destroyer needed to be spread as far and wide as the skies, or else death would simply eat its fill and more.

***

Time had never mattered much to Godzilla. As a beast, he only cared for if the sky was either bright or dark. But in this form, he cared not even for that, for they no longer held sway over him. He could walk for a thousand cycles of light and dark without tiring, and could slumber until an ecosystem had formed around him, then awaken without a care.

So, he was unaware how long he had been wreaking destruction in this new world. All he knew was that now, he was in a city, like the ones he knew all too well in his world. This world was foreign, but its buildings still crumbled before his might all the same, falling from a single push onto a group of fleeing humans.

Bolts of electricity leapt up at him from a gathering of creatures, some resembling rodents, others odd humanoids, others still strange beings of steel with singular eyes. They all failed to do much beyond draw his attention, his body was capable of withstanding electrical surges capable of powering a city which were used to power his own organs.

He swung his tail, scattering them, both figuratively and literally. Suddenly, vines erupted from the earth and wrapped around his blood-coated tail, which were easily snapped apart with a twitch of his muscles. His eyes scanned the environment and landed upon the strange culprits who possessed both plant-like and animalistic qualities. A toad-like creature with a gigantic flower protruding from its back lumbered forward, the center of the growth glowing as bright as the sun. Its allies ran away from it, unleashing a myriad of attacks in an attempt to draw his attention away from the toad. Seeds launched like bullets, more vines springing forth to whip, spores of varying colors spread about, green spheres of energy, and so many more. But they did nothing as his sight drifted towards the humans commanding them. The primitive apes, similar to those who had turned him into this abomination in another world, shouted and gesture wildly but as they noticed his gaze upon them they began to flee, screaming in terror.

However, the beam of light from the toad was unleashed bringing his attention back to it. Did they really put so much faith in this flower beam? The beam looked like sunlight, it was warm, likely immensely hot to most beings, but not to him. Not to a being who had been exposed to a nuclear fireball that rivaled stars and filled him with poisonous radiation that the deadliest venom paled next to.

His azure glow snuffed out the sunlight-powered ray, along with the lives of the humans and their servant creatures, as he swept it before him. Dust was all that remained in its path, which the wind carried away, unaware of the toxin clinging to it as it carried the remnants onto the bodies and into the lungs of those still in the city.

Another roar left his maw, bringing down a nearby building which had been standing on a ruined foundation. His rampage continued, and would continue until the denizens of this world stopped fighting him.

***

In the heavens above, so far up that the boundary beyond the world’s grip and the void of space was invisible, all was tranquil. Rocks and satellites drifted in this area, far enough away to avoid being pulled down into a fiery descent but close enough to not drift out into an unforgiving emptiness.

Green flesh coated the serpentine entity that moved amongst this field, interspersed with yellow runes and fins which ended in red protrusions. A draconic maw filled with fangs opened up, tearing into a meteorite, consuming the minerals within. Eating his fill, the god of the sky let the fractured stone drift away, his yellow-pupiled eyes gazing out into the void before him.

Rayquaza’s purpose in life was to protect this planet. At any point, something from the dark of space could arrive and threaten the world. A rogue asteroid, an invading alien, the possibilities were endless.

But something felt off today. There was a sense of wrongness permeating his mind, something that did not belong was here. But the serpent divinity was dumbfounded, he had seen nothing pass him by. Nothing got past him!

A whisper reached his ears, making his head snap around in an effort to find it. He growled, demanding that the being make its presence known.

A small, pink creature resembling a feline floated up to his front, softly mewling. Rayquaza’s rage ceased in the presence of Mew, of the matriarch of all life.

The kind creature let out another high-pitched call, asking for Rayquaza to look towards the world below. Confused, the mighty guardian turned, his eyes swiftly widening.

It looked small, incredibly small, but to even be visible at all from up here meant its true scale was colossal. A black patch, smoke, which could only be wrought by a fire that was consuming millions of people and land below.

Mew drifted next to his head, vocalizing once more with its soft call. What Rayquaza heard sent chills running down its coiling spine.

There was a beast down there, a violent one which was not descended from Mew. Reasoning with it would be, quite simply, impossible. Not due to its lineage, Mew clarified, but due to its mind. She had sensed it. A roiling maelstrom of unceasing wrath and sorrow that wanted to burn creation down for what it had done to him, for being turned into a monster beyond monsters.

Rayquaza growled once more, understanding what must be done. He was this world’s absolute might, its hammer to strike down all who threaten it. For humanity and Pokémon alike, though he despised most of them, he must descend from his lofty throne and erase the anomaly.

And perhaps bring it some peace in the process…

***

Fire surrounded Godzilla, painting the skies black with smoke and tinting the rest red. Destruction was all he could see, ruin and carnage for miles around. Most would call this Hell, but if this was Hell, then he supposed he was the devil, for it was where he felt peace.

Nothing hated him here, nobody besieged him with the intent to kill him. He was alone in this kingdom of death, caressed by the irradiated flames of his own making.

Godzilla knew humankind saw him as evil. Such a simple word to brand him with, one devoid of context and nuance. They acted as though he could be anything else, like he had any choice but to do what he did. Humanity had turned him into a monster, made it so that he needed to raid their territory to live off the nuclear energy they generated, and tried to kill him when he reacted accordingly.

Many times he had considered an unceasing rampage, one that would cover the whole Earth in death. But did not have it in his heart to do it, and likely would not do so in this alternate world as well. His wrath was immense, but it did not make him what they deemed him to be. He would ensure, however, that they feared him and would make sure they left him alone as often as possible.

His thoughts were interrupted by the clouds parting above him, revealing a serpentine interloper. The emerald flesh of the divinity contrasted with the crimson surrounding him, and made his shining, yellow eyes stand out all the more.

Godzilla knew immediately that this being had arrived to vanquish him. And something about the way he conducted himself, the way the emerald lord’s essence was that of dominance and power, told Godzilla that this one would not fall easily.

***

The scent of ash and death was the first thing that struck Rayquaza. The sheer devastation blindsided him, making his jaw hang open involuntarily. He had seen battles between multiple Legendary Pokémon not wreck a quarter of the havoc this one entity had. Even Groudon and Kyogre’s duels did not do this much damage so swiftly.

He observed his target, examining the hulking beast. The invader emanated menace, bearing eyes which burned like an unholy furnace. A wretched essence tainted the air, one which Rayquaza knew vaguely due to the few times he ventured outside the boundaries of the world’s protecting barrier. He was unaffected by the invisible toxin, but knew that this did not hold true for much of anyone else.

His resolve was steeled. Every moment this aberration drew breath was one where the world was at stake. He snarled, earning a growl in return from the demon. This battle would be the hardest of his life, but Rayquaza was prepared nonetheless.

***

The eyes of two godlike beings locked, the mightiest warriors of their respective worlds. The planet’s inhabitants watched with bated breath, knowing that fate would cast a definitive judgment upon creation on this day. The question was merely what the verdict would be.

***

Rayquaza immediately opened his jaws as a sphere of shimmering power manifested between his rows of teeth. Godzilla roared, just before the orange ray of energy spewed forth towards him. He recognized the attack as being the same from the Gyarados from before, his tension abating as he believed it would do little against him.

However, this was not the same as, just like he was, a souped up Hyper Beam slammed into his chest, casting him to the dirt with a shriek of anguish. Scales and chunks of flesh flying from the impact digging a groove into the earth as he was shoved through it. By the time Rayquaza’s attack dissipated, smoke was beginning to rise from the leviathan’s ravaged chest.

To the sky god’s shock, the wound which as severe as it was would have typically ended a match, immediately began to heal. Sinew erupted from the edges as one side began connecting to the other and lost tissue rebuilt. Godzilla’s head shot up and unleashed his own ray rocketing across the distance between himself and his foe too quickly for the serpent to react and drawing a scream as green flesh darkened and warped around his body.

Snarling, Rayquaza lunged forth, claws bared but Godzilla was on his feet in time to meet him. The serpent collided with the theropod with force enough to send out a concussive shockwave. His fangs, capable of effortlessly tearing through stone came down upon black scales, embedding deep within his foe. The leviathan’s arm grasped Rayquaza’s throat, applying pressure that had shattered the bones of titans. The other’s claws dragged across the green flesh, carving grooves into it.

The guardian’s tail lunged forth like a spear, piercing the arm trying to crush his neck. Godzilla’s grip loosened for a moment, allowing Rayquaza to pull it away and keep it held back. The emerald dragon’s own talons came to bear as he pulled his jaws away, rising up to slash at the invader’s face. Crimson streams leaked from the tears, but Godzilla seemed to care little as he responded, bashing his skull into the god’s own.

Rayquaza was sent reeling back, the world growing blurry for a moment. He shook his head, renewing clarity just in time to witness Godzilla barreling forth. The guardian launched himself upwards, avoiding a brutal punch. Pointing his tail downwards, the legendary Pokémon unleashed a spiraling column of wind which crashed into the atomic colossus’ face.

Godzilla staggered back, feeling the wind peel at his skin and rob him of his breath. His spines flashed once more, jaws opening ready to part the Twister with his nuclear assault. Rayquaza rocked the city with his bellows of agony as the beam swept up the length of his body, painting it with burns.

In retaliation, the lord of the firmament fired an azure ray of his own. Several jagged streaks of light coalesced together, but this one, surprisingly, carried no heat. Godzilla cried out as the Ice Beam connected, striking him with unadulterated frost. It felt as though his very blood was freezing solid, the pain radiated through the entirety of his being as ice began to crystallize over his form. Rayquaza continued to apply the chilling magic, turning the moisture in the air around Godzilla into a prison.

A layer of ice several meters thick entrapped the now discolored Godzilla, locked in horrid frostbite.

Silence creeped in once more, the crackling of distant flames the only sound across the landscape. The legendary serpent’s assault stopped and he breathed heavily, but his foe still lived, and he needed to act quickly. His energy began to gather in his divine maw, yet again, the powerful Hyper Beam that was his weapon of choice.

However, he was too late as the prison of frost was filled with a brilliant light, just before a spherical burst of nuclear power erupted outwards. Rayquaza cried out in shock as Godzilla bellowed mightily, spines already shining and crackling with purple bolts of energy. The Spiral Ray speared forth from between jaws coated in crystals.

Rayquaza was quick to respond and unleashed the Hyper Beam. The two rays collided, casting multi-colored light over the landscape as the two entered a contest of raw power.

The sphere of roiling power between them shifted as it was pushed back and forth, the two applying further energy as the seconds ticked by. The few moments felt like a year as the powerful beams clashed. The ice that was still clinging to Godzilla’s form melted away as his internal body temperature skyrocketed from the excess of power coursing through him. His warped and discolored flesh began to return to normal, regeneration working quickly on the damaged tissue.

Neither budged in this conflict of raw power, leaving the sphere of their gathering energies to spasm, until a rupture led to cataclysmic consequences. Ruins became dust as a wall of oblivion swallowed the city, Godzilla and Rayquaza’s cries of agony being lost amidst the roar of a gargantuan blast.

A crater several miles across was left in the wake of the explosion, silence hanging over it like an executioner’s ax. It was only broken when the twin roars of these divine beings shattered the quiet, unbroken by their own power.

Most life forms would be reduced to particles by such a blast, yet Godzilla and Rayquaza stood, only coated in burns and bruises, undeterred. The legendary Pokémon lunged forward, closing the distance between them with fury in his heart.

***

Such mindless destruction outraged the serpent, a callous disregard for life was the most vile thing in the world in his mind. And though he had contributed to it with the explosion, it would have never even begun if not for this madness. He needed to end this swiftly.

Rayquaza’s jaws clamped shut around the destroyer’s arm, teeth digging into flesh. Holding firm as the limb thrashed and strained trying to force him off. His arm launched forward and found itself locked around the invader’s other hand. Azure power crashed against the Pokémon’s back, scorching it, but he let the pain fuel him as he wrapped his body around his foe’s own. His spear-like tail tip jammed itself into the fiend’s back, drawing blood.

***

Godzilla roared in hatred, his wrath only growing as he felt his feet leave the ground. He looked down, firing his atomic ray; the emerald creature’s body was so close to his that the ray hit himself as much as it did the enemy. But he cared not, continuing to unleash his might. His foe reared his head, unleashing a purple stream of jagged energy, forcing a cry of pain from the monster king as his unwilling ascension was hastened.

His spines flashed, yet his mouth remained shut. Unfortunately for the mutant, before his nuclear pulse could be released, the freezing blast left the interloper’s maw once more, filling his chest with pain as ice crystals formed atop it. His nuclear energy dissipated within him at the sudden strike of pain.

***

In a matter of seconds, they were miles into the air. Rayquaza alternated between Ice Beams and Dragon Pulses whenever Godzilla attempted to utilize his omnidirectional attack. The former would leave frozen wounds that the latter would then shatter. To the sky god’s bafflement, his foe’s regeneration was able to consistently keep the resulting damage from being open for very long.

But the pain still coursed through Godzilla’s body with each strike, making his thrashing more and more violent with each passing second. The thinning of the air did nothing to halt this as the nuclear leviathan had survived for years inside a volcano’s heart.

Rayquaza was rapidly finding it very difficult to maintain his grip, his coils loosening. The mutant’s free hand grasped the Pokémon’s body, digging crimson trenches into the flesh. He screamed, blood pouring down his length.

The colors of the sky faded into black, dotted with distant stars.

Roars became mute, oxygen too thin to carry the waves. But wrath remained as apparent as always. Rayquaza reeled away as a tail slammed into his body, bruising it brutally. Godzilla was freed, drifting in orbit as Earth’s gravity began to slowly reel him in.

The legendary Pokémon swiftly made his way behind Godzilla, slamming into his back to shove him further into space. The leviathan quietly bellowed, his call being unheard but his actions not being unfelt as his tail cracked against Rayquaza’s skull, dazing the sky god and sending him drifting away briefly.

Godzilla’s atomic ray shot forth, pushing him back slightly and sending him into a slow roll. His beam lacked much kinetic force, being mostly composed of heat, but it carried enough to move him despite the lack of gravity. Rayquaza shook his head, clearing its daze then lunged forwards, bashing his skull against the atomic beast’s chest. Hands grasped the protrusions atop the divinity’s skull, squeezing tightly. Before they could be snapped away, the living legend unleashed a Hyper Beam point-blank into his foe’s body, forcing the grip to be relinquished as Godzilla was pushed miles away. He screamed silently as flesh bubbled and dripped off the newly formed crater in his torso, drifting in the void.

A meteor drifting in the orbit of the world was shattered by Godzilla’s flying body, sending stones flying in all directions. Rayquaza’s eyes widened as he noticed that gemstones were among the debris. Seeing these, Raquaza remembered that millennia ago, a terrible weapon was built and fired, arcing through space and coming back down like an asteroid upon its owner’s enemies. Some of the potent energies flowing through it crystallized and never came back down, accumulating normal rock and other debris over the years.

The beast from another realm was not a Pokémon, but he was genetically built to absorb energies. His spines shimmered as they accumulated the energy which was foreign to him, internalizing the tremendous supply of power.

Rayquaza watched in curiosity, only to suddenly gawk as light shined from his foe’s body. He charged forth with extreme speed, terrified. Was his foe somehow Mega-Evolving? That should be impossible, he wasn’t facing a Pokémon!

Despite the similarities in the process and the ultimate result, this was not Mega Evolution Godzilla was undergoing. The energies flowing through him touched a collection of cells within his form, genetic material not his own. In his world, humanity had injected the DNA of his arch rival into his body in order to increase his power, a strange interaction occurring when excess energy was introduced between the two.

Godzilla’s cells and King Ghidorah’s cells entered overdrive, merging and expanding. The god of the sky, claws primed to tear away, was caught by the now shining silhouette of his foe. The other arm pulled back, the light dispersing to reveal purple scales and a greater musculature. It struck Rayquaza across the jaw, sending him soaring away with immense pain coursing through his form now. The world was blurry, until it solidified with a horrible feeling of foreboding.

The king of the monsters was now larger, and notably bulkier and taller. Purple scales coated his form, save for the green armor plating adoring his chest and stomach. An orb was situated in the solar plexus, a blue sphere which Rayquaza could sense tremendous energy from. Godzilla’s face now wore tusks on the sides of his mouth, and a green crest was protruding from his forehead. This, in addition to the gigantic spikes protruding from the invader’s shoulders gave him a resemblance to a beast who ruled the void, one who’s mere visage evoked fear back in the world of kaiju.

Super Godzilla’s eyes narrowed as he floated through the vacuum under his own power, a result of the alien cells inside his composition. A power beyond comprehension flowed through his veins now, one which he would happily use to break his foe and cast the ashes into the winds.

Rayquaza knew he was before something grander than he, but steeled himself. Beneath him was a world that already could not withstand the destroyer in its weaker form. To flee would go against everything he had stood for for eons.

With a glowing fist, Super Godzilla rocketed forth, snarling.

Rayquaza curled his body out of the path of the fist with the power to shatter worlds, still being sent spiraling through the stratosphere due to the body of his foe crashing into him. An Ice Beam left his maw the moment he oriented himself, his enhanced foe ignoring the stream of frigid energy as it struck his chest. There was not enough water up here to be crystallized, but what drew Rayquaza’s attention was that the flesh, which took damage before, was unaffected.

Super Godzilla’s spines flashed with an orange light, heralding a Super Atomic Ray. The star-colored beam raced outwards, crashing against Rayquaza and instantly blackening flesh all across his body. The lord of the heavens was cast aside by the strike, flying helplessly through the void as his entire body flared with pain.

A punch crashed against Rayquaza’s body, sending him flying towards the planet below, the air growing thick enough for his screams of pain to be audible. The destroyer drew closer still, his roars entering the ears yet again as black void became blue skies while they descended. Super Godzilla no longer flew, but he cared not. Rayquaza caught himself, barely avoiding a projectile fired from the plummeting god of death’s tail.

He stared at the beast currently surrounded by a cone of fire, unphased by the heat as he stared at him through it. There was a challenge in those eyes as the distance between them grew. And Rayquaza knew this was a challenge he had to accept, for the fate of the world hung in the balance.

Every part of his body was flush with agony as the adrenaline wore down. Just staying airborne was difficult, with willpower all that kept him going. He heard a distant crash, the impact of his foe against the earth. A roar, not of pain, but of might and power, echoed across the firmament.

Rayquaza closed his eyes.

***

All over the world he heard shouts of fear and pleas for safety. They rose like petals in the breeze, up towards him. The people and Pokémon were helpless against the destroyer from another world, and as of right now, so was he.

But he did not need to be.

Shimmering lights shined through his flesh, from his insides. He subsisted off the same rocks that had granted his foe this new power, but unlike the invader, he could use the energy’s true power. Not this brute forced transformation like this imposter, but a flawless transition, an ascension to something grander, something truly divine.

He did not like to draw upon this form, finding it unnecessary most of the time and far too destructive, as well as draining once concluded, but now was not the time for petty preferences.

When a Pokémon and a Trainer’s bond was unbreakable, and the energy-filled stone corresponding to the Pokémon was in its proper place, limits could be surpassed and the perfect form of the Pokémon was born. The process called Mega Evolution.

Rayquaza had no trainer, and needed no stone. He was the world’s guardian, his bond with the planet and all its trainers and Pokémon and his shield was as solid as steel.

The lights within his guts intensified, until suddenly a sphere of numerous colors manifested surrounding him and an infinity symbol was emblazoned upon it, the representation of potential unending, eternity. In a fleeting flash, it was gone, and what remained was truly divine.

Rayquaza’s body had lengthened, growing more muscular. Gigantic spikes protruded from his lower jaw, pointing forward like the jaws of a beetle. Red orbs shone within his body. And glowing tassels extended out and flowed behind him, both from his tail and from the spikes upon his head.

A new roar echoed across the world, one befitting a god at his peak.

His wounds had healed, which meant nothing stood in his way as he raced downwards, soon finding his foe who stood in a massive crater. They were far away from the ruined city, in a wide open field with clear skies above. The fiend below looked up to match his gaze, snorting in contempt.

***

The final battle began with an orange ray of nuclear power colliding with a black stream of draconic energy, generating a massive explosion that tore at the ground and made the heavens shudder. Neither was phased as the distance closed, Mega Rayquaza buried his jaw with its razor sharp teeth into Super Godzilla’s chest. Blood spewed but the king of the monsters was unphased as he grasped the ascended serpent by the neck and swung him around, uncaring of the ichor spewing from his torso as he further expanded the crater with a Mega Rayquaza-sized indent.

Rising swiftly, the emerald divinity dashed past his foe’s side, leaving a blood-spurting wound with his claws. Another pass tore a long gash, but before a third could connect, the violet destroyer twisted in place, slamming his foe into the dirt with his tail.

The sky god’s tail shot up, bashing the leviathan across the face and letting the legendary Pokémon ascend once more. He bellowed, before launching up into the sky. Super Godzilla unleashed his nuclear hellfire once more, missing as Mega Rayquaza began to fly in circles above him rapidly. He soon became a blur as winds picked up and became immensely harsh, forming a colossal tornado.

A twister enveloped Super Godzilla, buffeting him with winds strong enough to shear through steel. A roar tried to leave his maw, but the god of death found his voice was stolen, along with all the air in his lungs. Where most would die a swift death from such a brutal assault, the colossus had the stamina to withstand this and responded by focusing his power inwards.

His entire body flashed as a supercharged Nuclear Pulse rippled outwards, parting the winds and burning into Mega Rayquaza, staggering him in the air. A Super Atomic Ray quickly followed, burning the divinity’s flesh once more. Even in this grander state, the assaults of his foe were intense.

The shallow wounds inflicted by Twister were already healed, but Super Godzilla could not bask in his supremacy for long before an Ice Beam speared into him, earning a scream of pain. Before the leviathan could destroy the crystalline structure currently embedded onto his chest or deal with the frostbitten flesh beneath, Mega Rayquaza shot downwards and used his tail like a lance, spearing into it with great ferocity. Ice shattered and flesh parted, freeing geysers of blood to flow out of Super Godzilla’s body.

Not waiting a moment, Mega Rayquaza released a Dragon Pulse directly into the face of his foe, enveloping Super Godzilla’s skull in the black beam. Despite currently suffering what should have been two terminal blows at once, the ascended monster king simply reared a fist back, letting it glow brightly with gathered power before slamming it into his foe’s body.

Mega Rayquaza was sent flying several miles, smashing into the dirt a great distance away. Looking towards his enemy, he saw Super Godzilla’s skull painted black with burns, the eyes and mouth scourged by the assault. Unfortunately, this seemed to do little to halt the beast as he stepped out of the crater, his wounds already being healed. By the time he had placed his foot outside the rim, it was like he had not even been assaulted.

The sky god growled in rage, realizing that major issue before him. He could not wear this foe down with repeated strikes, for they would simply be healed away. A single, decisive blow was what he needed, but this raised its own issues given how attacks that should have been fatal accomplished nothing.

He lacked time to think as Super Godzilla burst forth, closing the distance in a moment with a glowing fist extended. Mega Rayquaza barely avoided it, shifting his coils to be away from the strike and to wrap around his foe. The leviathan stopped this attempt by barreling forward with a roar, crashing his bulk against the length of the legendary Pokémon and sending him rolling away.

Blue explosions detonated across Mega Rayquaza’s body, energy transferred from a body blow that further worsened the pain. Snarling, he shot back up into the air, maw glowing brightly. Super Godzilla prepared to attack once more, only for the Hyper Beam to come spewing forth, forcing a cry of agony out of his maw as he was sent spilling to the ground. Flesh and muscle was vaporized by the intense assault, organs bursting as the stream reached them. The serpent continued his attack, pouring every ounce of power that he could into it. After only a few seconds, it faded away, leaving Mega Rayquaza to shudder with exhaustion. The leviathan lay still, a glowing hole bored into his stomach and nearly bursting out the other side.

Breath still stirred in his foe’s form, however, prompting a growl of frustration from Mega Rayquaza. His entire body began to glow with green light, like flames wrapped around him. If this attack failed, he would not have enough energy to claim victory. Like a rocket, he shot straight upwards, ceasing this several miles in the sky. Still glowing brightly, he locked his eyes onto his healing foe, a grievous wound with exposed organs still visible on the torso.

Super Godzilla looked upwards, wheezing in pain as he saw a green comet descend towards him. This form was not invincible, or so it seemed. A maelstrom of thoughts blazed through his mind, but one rose above the others with a mighty scream. A refusal to die, not at least without plunging his killer into oblivion with him.

The sphere in his solar plexus began to glow, blue lights gathering within it. A colossal pillar of azure power rippled forth, its end morphing into an imitation of Super Godzilla’s face. It drew closer to Mega Rayquaza’s descending body, the serpent refusing to back down as the fight’s terminus drew ever closer.

The Nova Beam and Dragon Ascent collided, bathing the world in light.

Mega Rayquaza, his flesh boiling off his body by the millisecond, knew what was about to happen. It was unavoidable, and perhaps it had been from the very start. Through the light, he could see his opponent’s eyes, and knew he felt the same. The comet which had torn through world-killing asteroids was cutting through the monster king’s ultimate attack, but at great cost to the lord of the skies’ own body. And upon impact, all of the energies gathering and raging would not simply disappear.

To die defending the world… It was good. In his final moments, he simply hoped somehow, someway, his position could be taken by someone else, to ensure the world lived on.

***

To be freed of his pain and suffering, all while making sure the world would never forget him. Super Godzilla would pass on without regrets, knowing there was no death he would have wanted more, a crescendo to a cacophony of a life.

***

The planet shook, a booming noise so grand and powerful it was heard by all ears multiple times over as the sonic waves wrapped around the world. Cracks raced outwards for hundreds of miles all around, spewing lava from the depths. From space, one would have been able to see a pillar of light racing upwards, erasing everything in its path. Had it been pointed downwards, it would have sheared through the very world and reduced the core to nothing. Many believed the world to be ending as the cataclysm occurred, the time from its beginning to its end feeling like an eternity.

But eventually, it faded as all things do. Soon there was silence, an odd feeling falling over the world. Even those who had not seen the news of Godzilla’s rampage and Rayquaza’s subsequent fight with him knew deep down, in their very bones and soul, that a terrible threat to life had just been vanquished. But at the same time, so had a grand guardian. The world had been irreversibly altered on this day, but life would have to carry on as normal except for those who had been directly affected.

***

The wound in the world still weeped molten blood as the figure descended towards it. Mew weeped as she looked upon where Rayquaza’s demise had occurred. She knew it had been the only course of action to take, lest more death occur, but it still weighed heavily upon the feline. She had sent her most powerful child to his death, and left the world without its guardian.

Could she have done anything different and saved Rayquaza’s life? Dwelling on what could have been was never good, but it happened regardless, despite her best efforts to resist it. A pitiful mewl left her mouth, echoing across the barren landscape, accompanied only by the sounds of flowing lava and crumbling ground.

Mew shook her head. She flew away, knowing that she needed to find a new guardian swiftly, lest the world fall under threat again and a defender is nowhere to be seen.

Little did she know, this was all too correct…

***

On the other side of the world, in a mountainous place, the ground cracked open. A trio of horns arose, followed by a draconic visage. Muscular arms pulled him out of the earth, immense spikes upon his shoulders being covered with stone which fell away. He knew not where he was, only recalling the brilliant flash of light before darkness. There was no voice in his head commanding him where to go and what to do, a wonderful feeling.

Bagan bellowed, announcing his presence to a still reeling world.

Draw: Godzilla (Heisei), Rayquaza