Author: Harley Jameson | Banner: Matthew Freese

A meteor soared through space at speeds that seemed to defy logic. Of course, most meteors entering the Earth’s atmosphere were fast, but this one in particular seemed to baffle the astronomers measuring it. Its size and stature meant that it should have broken up long before it reached such speeds. Yet, there it was, hurtling towards the Earth. Eventually, it smashed through the atmosphere and careened towards Mt. Fuji in Japan. There had only been one meteor in recent memory that had such a similar trajectory and speed. It was no coincidence then, that it landed in roughly the same spot as the last time.

A jeep rattled across the Japanese countryside towards the crash site. Various other vehicles were parked in the valley where the meteor had crashed, with complex computers and mining tools littering the floor. The driver, an elderly scientist with a massive gray beard, laughed a little at his colleague’s uneasy face. “Lighten up, Morimori! My driving isn’t that bad!”

Dr. Morimori blanched a little as the jeep bounced violently and the earth shook slightly. “I-It’s not that, Nossori! But why did Aphrodite A have to follow so close behind us?!”

Behind them, keeping in perfect pace despite its size, was the towering Aphrodite A. With each step the mighty feminine robot took, the ground gave a brief but violent seizure. Activating the PA system, Sayaka Yumi leaned in and spoke to the scientists. “It’s because Dr. Hell could attack you at any moment! I may not be Mazinger Z, but I can handle any kikaiju that tries to bother us!”

That was more pride than fact speaking from Sayaka, but she had steadfastly refused to let herself become useless while the entire planet was in danger. And right now, despite the innocence of this whole operation, it was vital that Dr. Hell not get his hands on that meteorite.

Japanium. The core element that when combined with others, made the near indestructible Super Alloy Z. It was rare, so rare in fact that it wasn’t even found beneath the Earth’s soil. It came from the stars and as luck would have it, this meteor contained more Japanium than the Photon Light Institute’s entire stock.

Which made it dangerous. Sayaka glanced around the valley as the Jeep containing her colleagues screeched to a stop at the designated area. “So this is the Valley of the Giants…” She said quietly.

The radio hissed to life, and her beloved father spoke through it. “An apt description, considering what happened a decade ago. Is everyone there safely, Sayaka?”

“Yes Father, everyone’s here. So far Dr. Hell’s forces haven’t been seen.” Leaning back in her cockpit, she sighed a little. “They might not even show up.” She complained lightly.

Dr. Yumi chuckled a little at his daughter’s tone. “You almost sound like you wish they would Sayaka.” He chided lightly. “Don’t forget that if Dr. Hell gets ahold of the Japanium–”

She cut him off with a long suffering sigh. “Then he could figure out the secrets to Super Alloy Z, yes father I know!” Rolling her eyes at the laughter she heard, Sayaka found her gaze drawn to the valley surrounding the little science and mining squadron. There were blackened scorch marks across the ground and the valley walls. Off in the distance, she could see the collapsed bridge where Godzilla had been thrown through. The wood was rotten and eaten now, the jagged wreck untouched otherwise. There were even signs of old blood, long since oxidized and coating some of the ground. “It looks like a warzone out here,” she mused lightly.

It was Morimori who spoke next, having stayed in the Jeep to catch his breath in the hopes that his stomach would return to him before long. It was a good excuse to take his mind off of his nausea. “That’s a fitting way to put it, Sayaka. A war was fought here many years ago. I’m sure you remember your history lessons.”

The Battle of Fuji Valley. Also known as “The Valley of the Giants.” Ten years ago, 4 giant monsters had fought here over the fate of the entire world – according to some – and it was the largest monster fight or sighting in human history. Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah, all converging on one spot.

It was funny how Dr. Hell’s invasion seemed to overshadow the fact that there were once real monsters roaming the world, instead of mechanical ones. She had seen the old footage in school but something in her mind could never quite believe that one day these living behemoths just disappeared.

Her thoughts were broken up when Aphrodite A was suddenly jerked off of her feet, a sudden pulling force that forced the robot falling backwards and crashing onto the ground with a thunderous clang of metal colliding with dirt. Sayaka’s hands immediately flew to the controls to stand her robot back up, calling out to the ground team below. “Is everyone okay?! What was that?”

“We’re fine!” Nossiri said, picking his glasses off of the ground and wiping them on his coat hem. “I think that was.. Some kind of magnetic pulse. A few of the computers just went offline, and all of our metallic tools flew out of our hands and banged into the meteor!”

Sayaka frowned heavily, switching on Aphrodite A’s own scanning devices and reading the data as it poured into the cockpit. “It seems to have passed for now though. How odd. I’m not picking up anything magnetically charged from the meteor. Is Japanium known for these kinds of properties?”

“I should think not!” Nossiri exclaimed. “We’d never get any work done if our tools and computers were flying around the room!”

She frowned harder and reached over to contact the research institute. “Father, this is Aphrodite A. Something strange just happened.”

———

Miles away at the Photonic Research Institute, Dr. Yumi listened with a frown on his face as his daughter reported the odd magnetic flux. “Hmm, strange.” He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “You’re sure there’s no trace to its potential origin?”

“None, could this be the work of Dr. Hell?”

“Perhaps, but I don’t see what he’d have to gain from briefly scaring us all like that. Japanium’s magnetic, and if he had a kikaiju with those properties he could easily attract the meteor to himself. In addition you said it came from the meteor…”

He hummed thoughtfully as he shut off the radio. “A magnetic meteor in the Valley of the Giants… why does that seem so familiar?” The door behind him hissed open, and he turned to see the Kabuto brothers striding in. “Ah, Kouji, Shiro, how was school?”

Kouji rolled his eyes a little, the teenager making a face that showed more than words how much he disliked it. “It was fine,” He said blandly, before smiling down at Shiro. “But Shiro’s been working all day.”

“We learned about monsters!” He piped up happily, unable to contain his excitement anymore. “The teacher did a whole lecture about Godzilla and other stuff like that! We even watched movies! It was so cool!”

Kouji tapped his brother on the head gently to help reign the excited kid in a bit. “Hey hey Shiro! Remember that that stuff happened not too long after you were born. Heh, I still remember as a kid Grandpa bustling us downstairs whenever the warning sirens started blaring.” Shiro looked up at Kouji in surprise, but Kouji just smiled back down at him widely. Ever since their grandfather died, Kouji was trying to bring up stories whenever possible. It comforted him to share what little he had with his younger brother, to keep the memory of their grandfather alive.

Dr. Yumi gave a low hum of acknowledgement, turning back to his work station. “Yes, I remember being a research assistant at the time and calling home constantly when it ended. Poor Sayaka was in tears every time it happened. Not because she was scared, but because she couldn’t see the monsters.”

He smiled thinly, shaking his head at the memories. “She hasn’t changed much. Just recently I heard her complaining about being bored at the meteor crash site.”

Kouji clicked his tongue in annoyance and shook his head a little. “That girl, sometimes I think she has a death wish. Is that what you were contemplating just now, Professor?”

“Actually, she just reported that something strange happened. The meteor suddenly exhibited magnetic properties. It swept even Aphrodite A clean off its feet. Then just as suddenly, it stopped.”

The young pilot frowned thoughtfully, folding his arms. “Is it some kind of trick by Dr. Hell?”

Shaking his head, the scientist leaned over the console and stared at the rolling stream of data constantly feeding the machine. “No, I had thought that too, but it doesn’t make sense. What I can’t help but wonder is why this seems so familiar. Some sense of déjà vu.”

“Maybe you’re reminded of King Ghidorah?”

The whole room froze. Technicians stopped what they were working on and everyone turned to stare at young Shiro Kabuto. Unused to the sudden wave of attention, he shifted uncomfortably and glanced up at Kouji nervously. He jumped when Dr. Yumi practically flew over and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. “What did you say, Shiro!?”

He squirmed unhappily, trying to get away. “H-Hey! That hurt!”

Dr. Yumi shook him a little, eyes wide with a never before seen fear. “What did you just say, Shiro!?”

Kouji immediately grabbed Yumi by the shoulders and yanked the professor off of his brother. “Get the fuck off of him, get a hold of yourself professor!” He expected a fight but instead Yumi backed away willingly, his face a gaunt pale. Looking over at his shaken little brother, he frowned. “What does King Ghidorah have to do with this, Shiro? It’s alright.”

Shiro hesitated, but after an encouraging nod from his big brother he spoke up again. “I-It’s just that, I learned in school that King Ghidorah’s arrival was supposed to have happened after a weird meteorite landed on the Earth and started doing weird magnet stuff. B-But, the teacher said that there were only a few survivors, and all of the equipment and stuff was gone when Ghidorah arrived suddenly…”

Dr. Yumi raced over to the radio and literally upended the poor technician in his seat and dumped him on the floor without a care in the world. Hammering the buttons, he grabbed the headset and was practically screaming into the microphone. “Sayaka! Sayaka, can you hear me?! Destroy the meteor, destroy it now!”

Kouji immediately raced over and began pulling the now frantically struggling professor away from the radio, Sayaka’s tinny voice loud and clear through the headset. “Huh? Father, is everything okay?”

“Get a hold of yourself, Professor! Tell us what’s going on!” He struggled to maintain his grip on the professor as he bellowed the instructions as best he could into the microphone, Sayaka’s confusion evident in her voice as a few more technicians joined Kouji and wrestled the distraught professor to the floor. He picked up the headset and the radio, clearing his throat. “Sayaka, it’s Kouji. Your dad’s…” He paused, glancing as the Professor was still trying to fight off his own staff. “Well honestly I don’t know what the hell’s happening. He just started freaking out.”

“What?! What’s wrong with father?! I’m coming back, I’ll be right there.”

“No, you should stay there. Something real weird is going on an-”

“NO!” Yumi bellowed out, throwing his staff off of him with a surprising surge of strength. Taken off guard, Kouji was thrown off to the side and Dr. Yumi grabbed the headset. “Sayaka, listen to me carefully. You have to destroy the meteorite right now! Do you understand me!? Blow it to pieces, send it straight to hell and come right back because if you don’t then you will die, do you understand?!”

Having enough of being manhandled, Kouji moved over and roughly disconnected the whole radio by unplugging it from the base. Dr. Yumi, unaware of his pilot’s actions, just hammered the now dead switch and mashed the buttons. “Sayaka! Sayaka!!”

Smack. His glasses flew off his face and clattered to the ground when Kouji roughly back-handed him. He stared, wild eyed and breathing heavily, holding his cheek as Kouji gently picked up his glasses and handed them to him. “Professor,” He said in a low, serious voice. “Calm down. What is happening?”

Two twin voices, coming from everywhere and yet nowhere at once seemed to respond. “King Ghidorah has returned.”

Everyone in the room gasped as two tiny, tiny women stood on the desk of Professor Yumi. They smiled shyly at all of the technicians and others alike. Kouji could only stare, open mouthed. “M-Mothra’s… Twin fairies?”

They bowed their heads in acknowledgment. “Correct. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Kabuto Kouji.”

He swallowed thickly, taking a breath to recompose himself. “Why… Why are you here? You said something about King Ghidorah returning?”

“That is correct. He has once again landed in Japan. Shiro’s teacher taught him well, for the meteorite’s magnetic properties mean that he’ll be awake soon. That is why we are here.” They clutched each other’s hands, staring up at Kouji with wide, pleading eyes. “We’ve come on Mothra’s behalf, to ask for Mazinger Z’s help.”

“You want… My help? Why?”

The twin fairies looked at him with a quizzical expression and it hit Kouji that they genuinely didn’t understand his confusion. “You pilot Mazinger Z. Your skill has been proven tenfold. With your combined power, even Godzilla could fall before you.” They paused for a moment, to let their words sink in. “And if you do not go, then you and everyone else will die. The world is at stake, Kabuto Kouji.”

And Sayaka was going to be the first victim. Taking a breath, his hands clenched into fists. “I’m going.”

“B-but, Kabuto!” Dr. Yumi objected, staring at the boy in horror. “We, even with how strong the Mazinger is, King Ghidorah is simply on a different level to even Dr. Hell’s most powerful kikaiju! Even Godzilla couldn’t beat him by himself!”

“And what? Leave Sayaka to die? To leave countless people to die? No, Professor. I’m not a coward. I’m going, and I’m going to put an end to this once and for all!” Grabbing his helmet, Kouji raced out of the room, yelling behind him. “Tell Sayaka I’m on my way!”

Dr. Yumi’s hands shook a little, his face pale and sweat dripped down his hands as he reconnected the radio. “He might die,” He told the Shobijin quietly.

“Your faith in him is strong, stronger than your fear, Professor.” They said just as quietly. “Believe in Kouji, and believe in the Mazinger. They will see us to victory.”

Switching on the radio, Yumi cleared his throat. “Sayaka, this is your father. I’m fine now. Destroy the meteor if you can, but get everyone to safety first. Try to hold out as long as you can, Mazinger Z and Mothra are coming. Good luck, Sayaka. I love you.”

He turned the radio off again, tears starting to run down his face as the images of Ghidorah violently ripping his daughter’s machine apart and her screams filled his mind. He began to sob, as for the first time in his entire life he genuinely believed that his beloved daughter wouldn’t come home.

———

Sayaka had no idea what to do. The magnetic fluctuations were getting worse, then Kouji was on the radio and said her father had gone nuts, and then out of nowhere she was told that the Mazinger and Mothra of all creatures were headed towards them. What the hell was she supposed to do with all of that?!

Get them to safety, destroy the meteor.

That was her father’s words before the radio went dead. Was it some kind of trick by Dr. Hell to get the Japanium for himself? What if she accidentally destroyed the Japanium? Seeing the scientists and excavators running around below her, like ants scuttling around put an end to the voices. She knew what she had to do.

“EVERYONE STAND BACK!” She shouted, marching Aphrodite A forwards and barreling through the tables full of expensive equipment without a care in the world. “Everyone must evacuate the site immediately! There is an imminent, extreme danger coming from the meteorite! If you value your lives, you will leave!” She flicked a few switches and fired the first of Aphrodite A’s chest missiles at the meteorite.

The result was instant. The space rock exploded in a violent wave of magnetic energy, enough to even temporarily shut Aphrodite A down again before she immediately rebooted back online. Sayaka watched in open mouthed horror as a giant fireball roared into the sky. The heat of the flames were so intense near ground level that the smashed metal of the computers and a couple poor souls who couldn’t get away in time were immediately melted and flash-fried. The shadows of their ashes and bodies would be marked as their graves forever.

The flames converged high in the air, mashing together into a shape. A vague shape at first before it began to solidify. Wings sprouted from the flames, twin tails lashed out afterwards. Three draconic heads each boomed with a high pitched cackling glee. The flames vanished with a flap of his wings and sitting there high in the sky, the sunlight reflecting off of his pristine golden form, was the King of Terror. King Ghidorah.

Kouji had never raced down to the Mazinger’s pilder faster in his life. He practically vaulted himself into the machine and lifted it off into the air. From outside, the large fountainside pool split open, water pouring from underneath as Mazinger Z’s lifeless body was lifted up onto the platform. “Pilder On!”

Attached to the main robot, Mazinger Z’s eyes lit up with power and the machine hummed to life. “Launch sequence, JET SCRANDER!” Mazinger Z stepped forward before getting into a running start. The Jet Scrander’s rockets roared to life from the launchsite behind him and he jumped high into the air, the scrander connecting like a belt onto Mazinger Z’s body. Straightening the robot out, Kouji slammed on the gas as hard as he could. “MAZIN! GO!!!!”

Mazinger Z shot off at breakneck speeds towards the Valley of the Giants, flying faster than it had ever done before. A loud chirp caught Kouji’s attention, and he looked to his left to see Mothra swoop down from above and join him in his frantic pace to reach Sayaka and Ghidorah. He shot her a thumbs up, before turning his attention back at the task at hand. “Hold on Sayaka, I’m coming! Come on Mazinger Z, FASTER!!!”

Sayaka watched in awe as King Ghidorah effortlessly flew straight through her chest missiles, smoke curling around his golden form as he beelined straight for Aphrodite A. Immediately, she dove to the side behind a few rocks and rolled to fire another shot of missiles as Ghidorah skidded on the ground.

Whirling around, the mad space demon fired his gravity bolts wildly around him, ripping up chunks of rock and dirt. Sayaka couldn’t tell if he was even aiming as she had to awkwardly maneuver Aphrodite A to avoid the chaotic stream. ’I have to keep him here long enough for Mazinger Z and Mothra to get here!’ She thought to herself. Gasping in horror as King Ghidorah ascended into the sky, and without really thinking, she lunged Aphrodite A forward.

Before Ghidorah could get too high, he shrieked in surprise when Aphrodite A tackled him out of the air and sent both of them crashing back onto the scarred battleground of the valley floor. “Oh no you don’t!” Sayaka yelled, pushing all of Aphrodite A’s might into keeping the King of Terror pinned down. “Come on, Aphrodite A! Just a little more until Mazinger Z and Mothra arrive!”

Curling up his legs, Ghidorah planted both feet squarely against Aphrodite A’s abdomen and launched her off with a powerful shove, relishing in the girl’s shrieks of fear and pain as the robot was sent crashing onto the ground. Immediately, more gravity bolts arced into the sky and crashed onto the ground, catching Aphrodite A in a multitude of explosions that rocked Sayaka to her core.

Warning signs flashed all across the cockpit’s interface, and she was acutely aware that one of Aphrodite A’s arms had been either severely damaged or blown off entirely thanks to the alarming amount of smoke belching from her left side. “Just… hang in there a little more! Aphrodite A!”

Ghidorah turned and began advancing towards Aphrodite A’s injured form. Gritting her teeth, she overclocked the safety features and began firing volley after volley of missiles at Ghidorah in rapid succession, coating the entire arena in smoke as she yelled out and kept firing until her robot’s ammunition finally ran dry…

And with a wave of his wings, the smoke blew away.

King Ghidorah stood there, completely unharmed by her final attack. Sayaka could only watch helplessly as Ghidorah continued his slow, deliberate walk towards the downed Aphrodite A like a tiger stalking its meal. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable. “Kouji, Father, I’m sorry…”

“ROCKET PUNCH!” A fist soared into view and slammed into Ghidorah’s gut, causing all three heads to cough violently as Mazinger Z swooped in and landed in front of Aphrodite A. Hand returning to the robot, Mazinger Z gently lifted the injured machine up to her shaky legs. “Are you alright, Sayaka?”

She nodded, exhaling the breath she had no idea she was even holding. She watched in awe as Mothra began soaring overhead around them, crying out her own challenge to King Ghidorah once more. “I’ll be alright, I can still fight!”

Kouji’s voice was firm, and Mazinger Z gently pushed Aphrodite A. “No, Aphrodite A is too injured. Get back to the institute where it’s safe. If worse comes to it, Dr. Hell may attack while I’m busy dealing with Ghidorah. You’re needed there.”

The two stared at each other for a moment. Understanding and compassion bled through their respective cockpits. Reluctantly, Sayaka turned Aphrodite A around. “Alright, but you’d better not die on me or I’m going to personally come down to the afterlife and kick your ass!”

“It’ll take more than an overgrown dragon to stop Mazinger Z!” Kouji declared back, turning said machine around to face Ghidorah. The heads were distracted, watching Mothra with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and a growing realization. “HEY!!! GHIDORAH!!”

All three heads snapped down, and Kouji rammed on the levers to move Mazinger Z forward. “Your fight is with ME!” He roared, and Mazinger Z charged like an angry bull and grabbed at two of Ghidorah’s heads. All three heads hissed and snapped their jaws, the middle one bashing itself against Mazinger Z’s chest as the other two strained with all of their might to free themselves. Kouji grit his teeth as he realized Mazinger Z’s immense strength was being tested already. He brought his hands up and slammed the two skulls together, disorienting Ghidorah enough to give him a savage kick to the gut and flip a switch. “Korshiyoku Beam!”

Twin beams of pure photonic energy surged from Mazinger Z’s eyes and crashed into Ghidorah’s chest, sending the King of Terror toppling over with a loud screech of pain. Kouji smirked at the reaction. “This is the fierce King Ghidorah huh!? Not putting up much of a fight!”

Ghidorah flapped his wings and a huge dust cloud blocked Kouji’s vision for a moment, yet a moment was all Ghidorah needed to rise into the air and fire his gravity beams wildly at both Mothra and the Machine. Mazinger Z held up his arms as Mothra neatly barrel rolled out of the way and dove down.

Lacking a true long ranged offensive weapon of her own, Mothra swooped down with the ferocity of a hawk and latched onto Ghidorah’s back, flapping her wings to shed her poisonous scales all across his heads and scratch at him with her claws. Blood seeped onto the golden scales and Ghidorah twitched as he writhed in the air in a desperate attempt to shake her off before suddenly swerving and stilling in the air.

Without his wings to support him, Ghidorah began falling down towards the Earth, back first. Mothra immediately tried to detach herself, only for Ghidorah’s tails to coil up and pin her to his back. With a shriek of agony, both monsters crashed back down onto the ground.

“Mothra! Come on Mazinger Z! DOUBLE ROCKET PUNCH!!” Mazinger Z held up its arms and both fists launched off and headed for Ghidorah, one catching him by the throat while the other whiffed the other head. Ghidorah’s leftmost head gurgled in pain as Mazinger Z ran forward, the other fist reconnecting. The middle head reached down, clamping his jaws around the offending hand and pulled it away, spitting it to the ground before as one he ran forward and collided hard with Mazinger Z, barreling the machine on the ground.

King Ghidorah lifted himself briefly into the air before crashing down feet first onto the chest of Mazinger Z. The metal of the ultra-tough Super Alloy Z groaned under the strain. The right most head shook briefly as Mothra’s poison tried to take hold and the King of Terror briefly seized up, but not before kicking Mazinger Z’s side and sending the machine skidding across the ground. Pushing the robot up onto his knees, Kouji slapped down on a button. “MISSILE PUNCH!”

A port opened on Mazinger Z’s belly and a gigantic rocket blasted out. King Ghidorah barely had time to recover his senses before the missile punch hit his chest and exploded violently, throwing the King of Terror onto his back. His chest was blackened from the attack, and that’s when Mothra came back down and grabbed one of his tails. She began dragging him through the arena, crashing him into every single rock before whirling around and throwing him into the side of the valley.

There was a moment’s pause, before gravity bolts erupted out of Ghidorah’s enraged mouth like wildfire, clipping one of Mothra’s wings and sending her stumbling to the ground. Mazinger Z immediately threw itself in front of its ally, taking the full brunt of the strange electric attack. Kouji screamed out in pain as he was electrocuted and only stopped when he saw the shadow of King Ghidorah looming above him before soaring off into the sky. “Oh no you don’t! JET SCRANDER!”

The scrander’s thrusters screamed to life and Mazinger Z tore off into the skies to do battle with King Ghidorah in the air. As this happened, the other hand of the mecha returned to its proper place. “Come on, King Ghidorah! Show me what made Godzilla unable to beat you! IRON CUTTER!” Twin blades sprouted from one of Mazinger Z’s arms and he fired it at Ghidorah. The fist rotated in the air and Kouji maneuvered the robot out of the way as Ghidorah flew overhead and slapped his tails against the cockpit and the chest piece. Reaching up, Mazinger Z grabbed one of the tails and yanked Ghidorah down only for Ghidorah to blast Mazinger Z point blank with a couple of gravity bolts.

Forced to let go of Ghidorah, Kouji whirled the machine around and the iron cutter returned to Mazinger Z. Mothra flew up next to him, hovering in the air while Ghidorah turned around. “Mothra, can you distract him? I need a clean shot.”

Mothra looked over at Mazinger Z, before nodding once. Punching his fists together, Kouji nodded. “Alright, then I’ll end this with my next attack. GO!!!”

The two teammates jetted forward, charging straight at King Ghidorah and ignoring the slurry of gravity bolts raking across them. Mothra closed in, smashing into Ghidorah’s chest with her body and summarily crawling over on top of him to once again latch onto his back. She dug her claws into his scales, flapping her wings relentlessly to offset the flailing Ghidorah.

Mazinger Z flew in, kneeing Ghidorah hard in the groin this time. Ghidorah let out the most hellacious screech of pain and stilled, mouths open in shock. Mothra proceeded to dump as many toxic scales down his throats as possible, causing him to seize up and start violently choking and coughing. With such excessive use of her body, Mothra detached from Ghidorah and began spiraling down towards the earth.

Flying slightly above the foaming at the mouth Ghidorah, Mazinger Z lifted its arms up in its signature pose. “Right, time for your reign of terror to end! BREAST FIRE!!”

The heatsinks on Mazinger Z began glowing a bright red as it gathered energy before a massive beam of supercharged heat from the Breast Fire soared towards Ghidorah. All the heads could do was watch in paralyzed agony before it hit squarely on the chest and shoved Ghidorah all the way down to the valley walls, crashing into them with such force that the walls collapsed around him and buried the King of Terror alive.

Kouji took a few harsh breaths and assessed the damage to Mazinger Z. The chest was slightly caved in, and there were a few knicks and cuts across the machine, but overall everything seemed fine. He landed Mazinger Z gently down next to Mothra, and knelt down beside her. “Are you alright, Mothra? You took a beating there.”

Mothra lifted her head up, and chirped the affirmative. She would be fine, just a bit of a rest before she took off.

“Phew! That’s good. I’d better get back to the institute, Dr. Hell’s probably taken advantage of the confusion and-AHHH!” A concentrated stream of Gravity Bolts slammed directly against Mazinger Z’s stomach, an explosion ripping the air as the machine was sent skidding back and toppling over.

From the rubble, King Ghidorah stepped out. Panting, bleeding at the mouth. His chest was scarred pitch black, and his scales had melted beyond all recognition. But against all odds, he was alive.

Kouji gaped in fear, hands trembling at the sight. “I.. I don’t believe it! Nothing has ever survived Mazinger Z’s Breast Fire!” His eyes narrowed, and he flipped a few switches. “Well this time, it’ll do the job for sure! BREAST FI-”

Another blast of concentrated gravity beams slammed into Mazinger Z’s chest, the electricity racing through Kouji’s body as he screamed in agony. King Ghidorah took a few wobbly steps forward before suddenly racing like a demon possessed, grabbing at Mazinger Z’s arms and biting so hard into the metal that he actually managed to puncture through it with his two heads. Then they began pulling, sparks flying as he began trying to rip the Mazinger’s arms clean off.

“Like… hell you will! IRON CUTTERS!” Firing at point blank, the two fists soared outwards before coiling back in. One sliced off one of Ghidorah’s tails while the other punctured through one of the wing membranes. Blood spurted like a geyser from Ghidorah’s tail and he wailed in agony, but it only seemed to fuel his anger and he roughly threw Mazinger Z onto the ground and began stomping on it violently.

Mazinger Z shook and shuddered from the assault, Kouji gripping the controls for dear life as Ghidorah grabbed his vessel by the foot and hurled him high into the air, before aiming upwards with his heads and firing a trio of gravity beams that caught Mazinger Z mid-flight and suspended him in the air. Kouji screamed in pain as blackened edges appeared around Mazinger Z’s lighter coloration and the computers were working overtime not to be overloaded. Falling back down with a loud metallic crash, Ghidorah shoved Mazinger Z over to the other wall of the valley.

“REITO BEAM!!!” From Mazinger Z’s antennae, twin beams of freezing energy grasped Ghidorah’s rightmost head and coated it and the neck in a thick block of ice. Ghidorah shuddered, but swung the frozen head like a makeshift club. It crashed down onto the cockpit of Mazinger Z’s head, cracking the glass and throwing Kouji back and slamming his head against the back of the wall. Slumping over, Kouji Kabuto was knocked unconscious. Mazinger Z was out of the fight.

Breaking free of the ice, King Ghidorah fired like a madman at the valley wall, burying Mazinger Z in much the same way he had just been previously. Once satisfied that his opponent was well and truly brought down, he turned and glared at Mothra.

Mothra froze in fear. She felt strong enough to fly now, but after witnessing Ghidorah survive Mazinger Z’s most powerful attack and the brutal beating he just gave to her ally… She felt doubt for the first time.

She knew she couldn’t win against King Ghidorah alone, and when she felt him return to the Earth she had tried to find Godzilla and Rodan, only to fail. She had gone to the Earth’s other kaiju: King Kong, Gorosaurus, anyone and anything she could find to help her. All turned her down.

If she left now, Ghidorah might not bother to track her down. She could return to Infant Island right now and be with her people for their final moments. If she left now, then humanity would be doomed for certain.

The choice was obvious to her. Rising up into the ground, Mothra bellowed out a challenge to King Ghidorah. She may not be able to win, but she would be damned if she didn’t die trying. With only her body as a weapon, she fearlessly charged King Ghidorah as he did the same, injured wing or not he willed himself into the air and the two kaiju collided in a mirror of what happened almost a decade ago with Rodan.

Only this time, Mothra remained in the air. Shaking her head to clear it, she was blindsided by Ghidorah grabbing onto her body with his heads and shaking her violently like a rabid dog, her soft flesh and one of her wings being absolutely shredded. Blood spilled down Ghidorah’s mouths, running down their necks as he roared in delight at the taste of it.

He threw her to the ground and hovered around her, firing his gravity beams all around, heads flailing madly and cackling insanely. Mothra cried out in agony, silently saying goodbye to her beloved people. She knew that she wasn’t going to make it out alive.

“Hey…”

King Ghidorah froze mid attack. He landed, heads all looking around for a moment in confusion.

“Gh… dorah!”

He turned to where Mazinger Z was buried. Black, acrid smoke was belching from the side of the valley. Ghidorah snorted a bit, turning his attention back towards Mothra.

“HEY!!!”

Mazinger Z exploded out of the mountainside, one of his arms completely engulfed in flames before a quick blast of his Reito Beam extinguished the blaze. His eyes glowed with unnatural power, and from the cockpit a bloodied Kouji glared at King Ghidorah. “I’M TALKING TO YOU! KING GHIDORAH!”

For the first time in King Ghidorah’s life, all three heads focused on one individual. It hadn’t done this ten years ago, when the other monsters had beaten him back. But this human, this tiny, insignificant human. It got his full, unwarranted attention. King Ghidorah glared at Kouji.

“I said… I said…” Kouji wheezed. He knew that if he did this, he would be pushing Mazinger Z to the absolute limit. Which was fine by him, he knew the dangers. King Ghidorah had to die right now or else the entire world would be doomed. “I SAID! YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME! MAZIN POWER!!!”

Kabuto Kouji roared like a demon and Mazinger Z’s internal engines roared with him. Overclocking the robot’s immense and titanic strength to its absolute limit, the great machine launched itself at King Ghidorah with renewed purpose. “KORSHIYOKU BEAM!!”

The overcharged beams barely hit King Ghidorah and the entire wall behind him exploded violently. The King of Terror screamed in anger and charged at Mazinger Z, lashing out with one of his wings to batter the machine.

“NOT THIS TIME!” Kouji screeched, grabbing the wing and with a roar of anger, the sounds of flesh being ripped off of skin and King Ghidorah’s wails of agony could be heard for miles as Mazinger Z completely ripped off his torn wing.

“IRON CUTTER!!” The twin blades roared out of Mazinger Z’s damaged arms, fire spraying from the most damaged one as they raced at the injured monster. Unable to avoid the attacks this time, Ghidorah gave another hideous shriek as one of his heads was cleaved clean off. Desperate to escape, he tried to use his single good wing to take off, only for his tails to be cut off with the other Iron Cutter. This left him lopsided, sending him crashing back down to the earth in a bloody heap.

Ghidorah looked up and gave a shriek of fear as Mazinger Z began his slow march towards him. He kicked his feet wildly, trying to get up and run away from the demon in front of him as he fell over himself, tumbling in a mix of remaining limbs and spurting blood. He gave another shriek of fear as Mazinger Z stopped, watching him.

“You’re nothing but a sniveling little coward King Ghidorah!” Kouji called out, and leaned forward, eyes bloodshot and wide. “LOOK AT ME! BE A MAN AND FACE YOUR DEATH!” He screamed.

King Ghidorah looked up at the command, eyes wide with fear and hatred. He rose to his feet shakily and despite being blackened and bloodied, the human’s words struck something deep within him. He was not going to die here.

“BREAST! FIIIIIREEEEE!!!!”

With a loud scream, the remaining heads fired every ounce of power into their gravity bolts.

The two beams clashed together in the air, the light so intense that it seemed to block everything else out. Ghidorah’s feet slid back, but he refused to give up and kept pouring as much as he could give as the Breast Fire’s heat washed over him.

“THIS IS YOUR END! MAZINGER Z!!! FINISH HIM! MAXIMUM POWER!” Mazinger Z’s heatsink seemed to glow even brighter before the machine was slightly pushed back at the intensity of the beam firing from its chest. Kouji shut one of his eyes, but willed the machine to keep going as the beam completely engulfed the gravity beams. King Ghidorah’s dying screams were drowned out by the raw power and noise as the roar of the Breast Fire engulfed King Ghidorah entirely, incinerating him to ashes and then vaporizing the ashes into nothingness. It continued going, cleaving through the Valley of the Giants and carving a massive, burning trench in the Earth before Mazinger Z finally stopped the attack.

Kouji gasped out, the air was so thick and hot in the cockpit that for a moment he was afraid he was going to pass out. Swallowing thickly, he leaned back in his chair. “We did it!” He breathed. A weak chirp made him sit back up and despite the damage taken, Mazinger Z lurched forward towards the downed Mothra.

The fringes of her wings were a little singed, but otherwise she seemed alive. Kouji laughed a little in delight. “We won!” He crowed, and Mothra gave a weak cheer back before laying her head down. “You’re not in any condition to fly. Why don’t the Mazinger and I give you a ride back home?”

Kneeling down, Mothra weakly crawled on Mazinger Z’s back and held on tightly. “Ready?” He called out, and when she gave the affirmative he activated the Jet Scrander’s afterburners and the two of them soared into the skies, flying off towards Infant Island.

As they flew, Mothra rested her head down and felt herself begin to relax. The Earth, she knew, was in safer hands than hers now. She didn’t have to be their protector, not when they had such a fine man like Kouji and an even finer machine like Mazinger Z to protect them. Now she could go back to protecting her little island, and all of her people.

And if something, like Godzilla, ever came back? She knew that this time, humanity would be ready for him.

Winner: Mazinger Z, Mothra (Universal)