Author: Matthew Freese | Banner: Landon Soto
It started as just another streak of light in the sky. A random meteor that left a pretty display which anyone nearby looked up at in awe, then went back to whatever they were previously doing. Then it landed, probably sending some animals fleeing from the loud noise and fire. Nothing this world hadn’t seen before countless times.
Until something crawled out, a living being that hurled through the cosmos inside a rocky shell until it crashed into the pale, blue dot circling around a star.
On most worlds, it would have been a terrifying creature, a massive beast. It had spread pale, gossamer wings and clacked together myriad sharpened limbs, taking flight into the night sky. But here on this planet, while it was bigger than most lifeforms, it was not the top of the heap by any means.
Earth bore myriad ecosystems composed of colossi that were only outsized by the mountains. Fueled by the natural radiation emanating from the world, titans were born and became parts of the cycle of life. Some flew through the heavens while others burrowed through the ground, some killed other titans to feast while others just shoveled entire forests into their maw for sustenance. Other worlds in the universe had been destabilized by the presence of one or a few such creatures, but the Earth’s many colossi managed to balance each other out just like the ecosystems of smaller animals.
So when the traveler from the stars emerged, she had soon found herself chased by myriad winged titans, who had fought in and commanded these skies for millions of years. They soon brought her down, sending the insectoid spiraling down and crashing into the earth in some remote region, leaving her alone due to the inedible nature of the alien. It would have just been another weird, inconsequential occurrence, probably something for the volcanic pteranodons and Varadagis to regale their young with through tales.
Until the world of monsters met its own monster.
The alien re-emerged, without wings but far larger. Now even the grandest titans of the world paled in comparison to the entity. She towered above them, weighed far more than even the alpha titans. The one born of another world shambled across the world, eliminating anything that drew anywhere near to her.
Clouds of death emanated from her breast, legions of her brood that could bring a titan down by latching onto them like leeches and hacking away at the flesh en masse. Bolts of hellacious plasma erupted from her horn, tearing through the thickest armor like it was wood. And numerous blades upon her body lashed out, shredding opposition and leaving them broken, blood-soaked carcasses.
The bodies of the slain were never feasted upon, the swarms instead eating the very rocks and sand they trod upon, the matriarch seemingly not even needing to eat. Upon the mountains they would cultivate colossal, otherworldly flowers. Anything that came within miles of them was hunted down and slaughtered. After a time, the plants would detonate with a mighty blast, which would echo across the countryside as the mountain, and whatever else was in the immediate area, became a scorched crater.
Legion would just move on from there, to the next place she could begin this horrid process.
***
A herd of titans were gathered together, all nestled within a massive canyon that was able to accommodate their numbers. It was difficult to get in or out of the chasm, making it a very safe place for their young. The adults had little to worry about regarding the treacherous nature of the place, the males could all fly and the females could all burrow.
The MUTOs all had skin of black and grey, the only noteworthy variation in color being their red eyes. They resembled gigantic insects, bearing multiple thin legs that ended in sharp points. These were the traits that all of the parasitic colossi shared. Roughly half of them towered over the other half, being built with rippling, intimidating musculature that could easily carry their scythe-like limbs through the body of another titan. The other half, while much smaller and less bulky, had sizable wings that could allow them to soar through the air with nearly unmatched grace and agility. Females and males, respectively.
As the two types of adult MUTOs watched over the numerous smaller members of their species, younglings of various ages walking about and playing with each other, one female in particular stayed by the side, away from the rest of the pack. She was even bulkier than a typical MUTO, and armor plating coated her back. Scars were all over her form, some older than most members of this pack.
The Queen MUTO looked up to the skies, sensing what was approaching before any others did.
Two males came flying in, both badly injured and barely remaining airborne. They had the body of a titan in their clutches, a juvenile member of their rival species, but it bore injuries that the four males who had gone out that morning could not have possibly inflicted.
They landed, one falling to the ground fully and struggling to breathe. The flimsy meal flopped out of their grip, barely enough to feed themselves much less the whole pack. Panicked cries echoed throughout the canyon, only growing in fervor when the men recounted what had happened.
They had encountered the ivory nightmare on a routine hunt. Legion had killed one of them almost immediately with a glancing blow from her beam. The other, a victim of the soldier swarm.
Legion was close to their herd! They knew she could burrow, the screams of perishing titans echoing across the landscape had informed them of this much, she could get into their domain! The children would be powerless, even the adults would not fare much better. Perhaps if they all attacked at once they could win, but how much damage would she do before then, how many would die if she came across their abode?
The Queen MUTO listened to the cacophony, silent as usual. She silenced them with a shout, all eyes falling to her. She turned to the side, walking deeper into the canyon. Breathing in, the veteran of countless battles let loose a deep, rumbling call towards the very center of their domain.
She acted as the pack’s leader, but she was not their true ruler.
A mound of earth collapsed before erupting upwards in a geyser. A massive arm coated in orange, spiky armor, ending in a fist that had crushed the bones of a thousand colossi, came up, before being joined by another. They pulled up a body that made even the Queen MUTO look diminutive, coated in similar armor to the arms and bearing muscle that put even the mightiest members of the Godzilla species to shame.
MUTO Prime’s glowing eyes looked over her brood. Some of them could not help but shrink back at the gaze. She marched forward, a baritone growl emerging from her throat which asked why she had been awakened. The Queen stepped forward, replying with the information that a creature beyond any on Earth was drawing far too close to their domain for comfort.
The earthquake beetle scoffed at the idea of a being beyond any on Earth, not with her existence. But, if it had her children so terrified, then she knew it must be dealt with for their safety.
One of the younglings stepped forward, clearly terrified of the threat of Legion. They let loose a small, high-pitched call, questioning if their first progenitor could overcome this menace. MUTO Prime got closer to her spawn, letting out a much more subdued, calm growl. She would ensure they would not die by the claws of whatever aberration this was, none of the herd would have to die.
A colossal hand, one bigger than the child’s skull and that had crushed the throats of beasts that could tear down mountains, came down gently and patted them for a moment. The child’s cooing brought some warmth into the ancient behemoth’s heart, before she stepped back and looked over the pack once again.
She looked past them, seeing the two males at death’s door. It had already harmed some of them? A chirp from one of the injured revealed it had actually killed two of them.
Few sounds in creation were more dread-inducing than the rage-filled bellow that rolled out of the titan matriarch’s mouth. Death would be brutal for this interloper, an example to all the creatures of the world and beyond what happened to those that harmed her herd.
The MUTOs parted like a river to let their ruler step towards the wall of the cavern. As she passed between them, she looked to the MUTO Queen, her second in command of the pack.
They exchanged a nod, needing no words to communicate. The Queen was to watch the herd while Prime was gone, and if she perished in this battle, the rugged warrior was to take over as full-fledged leader. It was a duty the relatively smaller female accepted with little fanfare, but unending pride.
And with that, MUTO Prime departed, to face the spaceborne nightmare.
Emerging from the soil and placing her feet on solid ground, the colossus began running. Her mighty weight shook the earth beneath, but she did not mind this. Subtlety was not her method, stealth was the tool of smaller beings. One of her size and might neither could accomplish it or would need it.
After a quick stop to kill and feast upon a relatively small titan to replenish her radiation reserves, one strike snapping its neck, she went back to her running.
She watched so many smaller creatures flee from her presence, many already moving with all they had before she even saw them, the quakes from the insectoid’s march scaring them off. Trees fell over as they were uprooted, minute cracks in the ground forming. Even many other titans kept a wide distance, crouching low or hiding behind hills as the armored monstrosity charged. She still noticed them all, cowering like scared babes as their parents fought off predators. It always felt good to awaken from hibernation to see that the world still feared her, even with the presence of a new fear to behold.
MUTO Prime remembered a few millennia ago, when a golden dragon came down from the skies, destroying all in his sight. He had either let loose fireballs or bolts of yellow energy on all opposition, she did not remember nor did she really care. She had not even seen the wretched thing, a member of the MUTOs’ rival species had driven the entity off, and then suddenly the Godzillas were the heroes of the world. And in turn, the MUTOs were villains, to be shunned and reviled by all titans. How idiotic.
Nature was nature. She would not act like some hero if the golden wretch had wandered over to her domain and been crushed by her might, nor would any of her descendants. That which interfered with territory and one’s bloodline was to be destroyed. That was what this dragon had done to the Godzilla that defeated him to provoke it, nothing more.
Not that MUTO Prime cared about the world reviling her and her spawn. If any of these weaklings wished to attack her, she would show them true might, and so would her pack if they fell under assault.
Her musings stopped when she cleared a hill at the edge of an arid clearing to find her target, and all her bravado faded as reality set in. Corpses of titans littered the ground before her, mangled and burnt like an army had fallen upon them. The earthquake beetle still stepped forward, getting a clearer look at the menace at the center of it all.
She towered above even the titan matriarch. White armor coated the invader, though it was currently stained with red in many places, particularly the points of the two massive legs protruding from her back. Enough bladed limbs covered the alien to make even a MUTO look cuddly in comparison. A sizable horn protruding out the invader’s head was pulled from the chest of a Rodan, leaving the creature to drop to the ground, geysering blood from its twitching chest.
Legion seemed unfazed at the lava dripping from her horn as she turned to face MUTO Prime. Piercing blue eyes met the red of the insectoid mammal.
They carried hatred, but not the kind the earthen beast was used to seeing towards other living things. Legion did not look at MUTO Prime like one does a predator, prey, an enemy, or anything alive. She looked at her, at all the various titans now backing away, like one looks at stains. Something devoid of worth, something that must be cleansed as quickly as possible.
MUTO Prime growled, fingers digging into the ground. How dare she be looked down on as such? She was the most feared being on this planet, the apex of the most powerful species in the world! Legion was the stain, and a blemish such as this could only be removed by being broken and scattered to the winds.
The gathered titans, once slowly trying to gain some distance, all turned and ran like their lives depended on it when the black colossus bolted forward. This would not be a mere fight between animals, this would be two disastrous forces colliding. Not even the titans wished to face this.
Legion merely dug her legs in, letting loose a hollow, echoing screech as her newest foe approached.
MUTO Prime swung a punch as soon as the distance closed, bashing her foe’s head aside. The alien groaned, before lunging forward, slamming her bulk against the earthen beast. Legion’s sledge arms shot forth, striking the armored carapace of the backpedaling behemoth. Sparks flew at the impact, the blades attempting to break through.
The alien marched forth, bashing into her foe. MUTO Prime’s feet dug trenches into the ground as she was forced back, the numerous limbs to the sides of her foe’s skull flexing and scratching against her arms as she held the flailing head of the invader. The earthen beast’s own secondary limbs scraped against the ivory armor, failing to break through.
Legion’s sledge arms kept thrusting forward, crashing against her foe’s chest. Armor began to crack and split, drawing a spiteful growl from MUTO Prime. The black behemoth crouched down, rearing her arms back before shoving hard, sending the spaceborne menace backpedaling.
A low, rumbling growl escaped the alien queen. Soil beside her was disturbed for a moment before it shot upwards. Two lengthy legs shot out towards MUTO Prime, tipped with hellacious spears. Thinking quickly, the earthquake beetle swiftly put her armored arms up to block them. Large gashes were carved in the orange chitin as the scythe legs slashed across them.
Swiftly, before Legion could pull them back to their typical place, MUTO Prime grasped the limbs, squeezing hard. She began to pull back, trying to rip them off, but they held firm despite her thrashing. Opening her jaws, the earthen beast bit down on one. Between her teeth and the pressure applied by her grip, the limb began to crack, prompting a panicked shriek from Legion.
The planet raider lunged forth, using her horned head like a dagger. MUTO Prime barely avoided being impaled through the face, instead getting a shower of sparks to erupt from her shoulder as the blade dragged across it. Releasing the limbs, the ebony beast swung a punch across Legion’s skull, forcing her back a step as the other fist broke one of the frail limbs on the sides of the frill. Clenching her fists, the insectoid mammal swung them both towards the sides of her foe’s head, intent on crushing the skull.
Legion ducked beneath the strike, a mighty clashing sound ringing above her head, before stepping forward. She thrust her horn up, catching MUTO Prime by the chin with it and nearly sending her falling to her feet as she recoiled. The scythe legs shot forward once more, imbedding themselves into the hide of the parasite matriarch. Legion made an approximation of a snarl, what did it take to make this one bleed? The other denizens of this world burst with blood from any attack she connected, but this one’s armor held firm still.
MUTO Prime slammed the appendages to the earth, keeping one down as she madly beat the one already cracking. The damage intensified with each strike, pressurized gas leaking out.
The alien let out a strange growl, before her chest began to flash sporadically with red lights. From it came forth a black cloud, which buzzed horridly as thousands of wings beat rapidly. Legion waved her head through the air as she commanded her brood to attack.
Bladed limbs prepared to strike as they neared the earthquake beetle, who staggered back at the sight of countless insectoid aliens flying towards her. Legion’s scythe legs retracted back to her as she awaited seeing this irritating foe writhe and scream. MUTO Prime swung a bulky limb through the cloud, sending a rain of broken silicon flying out of the side. But still they continued, undeterred by the reduction of numbers. Sparks began flying off her arms as they latched on, slashing away madly.
The slayer of titans staggered back, howling with fear as she swatted at herself. The tiny creatures crawled all over her, working their way into the cracks in her armor she had gained during the battle with their mother. Pain shot through her as their assault started to hurt her flesh beneath the armor. She was so distracted by trying to destroy them, her thick fingers clawing into the wounds in her chest and crushing scores of the soldiers, that she failed to notice Legion herself barreling forward until the planetary parasite’s bulk crashed into MUTO Prime, sending her to the dirt. The alien cried out in sadistic joy as she raised herself into the air, slamming her forelimbs onto the downed colossus. She cared not for her own children that were also smashed apart, the screams of agony leaving the carbon-based parasite’s mouth were music to her auditory receptors.
Pain fueled wrath, which fueled churning radioactive materials inside MUTO Prime’s gut as she breathed deeply. She would not die like this, ripped apart by miniscule creatures beneath the heel of another being.
The ancient colossus turned her head towards Legion, eyes shimmering brightly as she opened her maw. From the depths of her throat came a booming, rolling roar that warped the air. Legion screamed, her cries drowned out by the all-encompassing noise, as she tried to activate her shield. The secondary limbs around her head sparked with electricity, but they soon burst apart, sending shrapnel tumbling to the ground. Cracks formed along her armor all throughout her front, sending her half-stumbling and half-being pushed back.
MUTO Prime stood up, feeling millions of shards of silicon fall off her form. Her radiation-amplified roar had shattered all of the Soldier Legions. Drops of thick, viscous ichor fell from breaks in her armor as well, painting the piles of silicon crimson. Legion took a shaky step forward, cracks in her legs making her wary to move. Finally her opponent bled, but it was too little too late. It only made her more outraged at this point. She would not be satisfied until this one was lying dead and broken.
The horn protruding from Legion’s head split open down the middle, revealing a membrane which sparked with energy. The horn at the top of the alien queen’s body pulsed with the same blue glow, which coursed down into the light on Legion’s head. The planet raider did not see as most beings did, relying upon electromagnetic signals to determine where things were. So, charging this attack did hamper her vision somewhat, but she cared not.
A near-miss was still devastating.
A colossal stream of azure plasma shot forth, causing MUTO Prime to flinch back. It tore into the ground just before her, detonating powerfully. The explosion’s heat and force assailed her, causing her to backpedal with a cry of pain. Legion unleashed another Microwave Shell, like a hurled javelin. It grazed the side of one of the black behemoth’s arms, shearing away armor and flesh. She screamed at the burning pain which shot through her, a glowing hole now embedded in her arm which dripped molten flesh.
MUTO Prime’s mind raced, her other arm rising into the air. This had to be stopped now! Slamming her fist into the dirt, the ground shuddered at the strike. The rumbling crawled through the earth, reaching her beam-spraying opponent. Legion stumbled, a bolt of plasma striking nothing but a distant hill.
The earthquake beetle charged forward, shoving the pain coursing through her body down as she focused on closing the distance. Legion ceased firing her beam, focusing on her rushing foe. MUTO Prime leapt into the air, crashing both fists against the ground on landing. Another localized quake, drawing a spiteful groan out of Legion. Charging up the Microwave Shell once more, she held it until the shaking subsided enough for her liking. She let it loose, then subsided the energy to see what had happened.
The results pleased her.
MUTO Prime had stopped charging, now clutching her torso. Legion’s electromagnetic senses revealed that her foe was missing one of the secondary limbs upon her torso, as well as a significant chunk of biomass with it. The parasitic matriarch breathed harshly, shuddering. Looking down, she saw the gaping chasm in her gut. Nothing vital had been struck by the attack, but the sheer damage inflicted was making it hard to keep going.
Images of her children being blasted apart by the plasma streams flashed through her mind. Hacked up by the sharpened limbs of the alien. Swarmed and dismantled by the horde.
Legion’s opened horn began glowing once again.
MUTO Prime’s eyes shined as well.
If she had to die to stop this thing from going near her brood, she’d do it.
The Microwave Shell shot forth, just as the insectoid-mammal’s sonic roar erupted. There was a massive explosion of rolling noise and flying sparks as they collided, disrupting each other into a violent reaction. Walls of dust rose up…
…And were parted as MUTO Prime and Legion slammed bodily into each other in the center of it. The two growled and snarled as they shoved, swinging strikes madly. Punches from the earthen kaiju tore away large chunks of armor as the spaceborne menace’s sledge arms released more fountains of blood with precise strikes.
Legion’s scythe legs rushed forward, lacerating MUTO Prime once again. This time, one of her secondary legs lashed out, burying itself into the cracks upon the bladed appendage. The planet raider cried out in shock, which only grew louder and mixed with pain when one of the black behemoth’s beefy hands ripped off the tip of the trapped scythe leg.
The mammalian insectoid thrust it into the crimson chest of her foe, rupturing the egg sac. As Legion’s horn sliced open a blood-spewing wound into MUTO Prime’s face, the progenitor of the parasite species bashed the severed point of the alien’s own leg deeper into her chest, shredding through incomplete Soldier Legions.
A few titans watched this from a distance, jaws wide as they took in the events before them. They had never seen such a display of brutality, even as creatures who lived in a kill or be killed world.
The alien opened her head once more, in preparation to unleash a point-blank bolt of plasma and end this now, only for MUTO Prime to immediately grasp both halves and slam them together. She held it, thrashing back and forth much to the alien’s undying wrath.
More ichor geysered out of the earthquake beetle as the planetary parasite wailed on her, but she just grit her teeth to the point they started to crack. Damage to the horn already caused by her previous sonic roar grew and intensified, and with one last roar of equal parts anguish and fury, MUTO Prime ripped Legion’s horn clean off.
Eyes of frigid blue became burning red.
The earthquake beetle tossed it aside, before lifting a fist to crush the exposed organ. A crimson glow shined through Legion’s energy conductor, harsh in its luminance, before lines of the same color, each tipped with a white dot, ripped out. They pierced through her foe’s elbow, coming out the other side. Legion retracted them just as quickly, leaving MUTO Prime’s arm to drop like a stone to the earth. Smoke poured from the holes, burnt muscle.
She could not even fully comprehend what had just happened, staring at her limp arm like it was something incomprehensible.
Reality tore into her as the Red Rod whips returned, lashing across MUTO Prime’s body and ripping open blackened chasms. She stumbled back, roaring in agony. Legion shot them straight forward again, going clean through the black colossus’ body. Organs sizzled and popped, several collapsing as she retracted the whips once more.
A wheezed, throat-tearing scream left the parasite’s jaws as she lunged forward, swinging her one good arm with all the strength she had left. It smashed into one of Legion’s front legs, nearly shattering it. The alien fell over, crying out as she deployed the whips once more.
She took satisfaction in seeing them pierce the skull of her foe, snuffing out the life of the most feared being Earth had ever birthed.
The final scream echoed across the plains, reaching the domain of the MUTO herd. Panic erupted from the ebony giants, only for it to be quickly silenced by the queen’s roar.
Did they not trust their progenitor? If she had died, there was no way she had left the threat in any state to destroy them.
This calmed down the fear, which gave way to mourning. The sorrowful cries of the MUTO horde echoed for miles around, a song that shook the heavens. The queen was silent.
She was not indifferent to her mother’s passing. It was just that a long, trial-filled life had drilled into her mind that displaying weakness of any kind would get one killed. It would not have done so here, but vulnerability was hard to reveal at any point after a life like that. Instead, she would honor her mother the best way she could. By leading the pack she had cultivated and getting them through this dark, painful world.
***
Legion watched them approach from all sides like vultures. She could barely move, much less fight back, and the titans who had run away at the start of the actually difficult battle were now back to steal MUTO Prime’s kill.
The alien detested them even more than she had the beast which lay before her. But she had no intention of dying pathetically.
A member of the MUTOs rival species marched forward, arms wide and chest puffed out. He grinned, flexing mighty claws as jagged back spines began to glow azure.
Red Rod whips lashed forth, ripping into his gills. They exited out the back of his throat. With wide eyes, he dropped to the unforgiving dirt, dead. The crashing of his body was like a starting bell, and with that, over a dozen titans of varying shapes and sizes charged forth. Legion shrieked at them all, daring them to join the dead.
Winner: Legion
