Author: Brendan Sheehan | Banner: Vincent Rodger

Deep beneath the surface of the planet we call Earth, a world few could ever dream of was flourishing. Under miles of bedrock, stone, and magma lived an underground paradise, a place called Hollow Earth. On this day deep within, under glowing crystal “suns” and air that floated with gravity propelled rocks, a pursuit tore through the air. A flock of creatures, like birds mixed with bats, tore through the “sky” screeching to one another in fear. Directly behind these Hellhawks was their predator: a massive snake propelled on wings made of her hooded frill called a Warbat. Letting out a deep trilling roar, the great serpent zig-zagged after the group of “birds”, tusked jaws snapping in the hopes of their succulent flesh but only coming up with air every time.

The Hellhawks dove towards the trees, hoping to lose the predator in the thousand foot forest; only for a flurry of motion to strike as the creature’s mate darted out from the underbrush, his redder frill expanding in the sun! Leathery wings beat desperately as the beasts swerved towards the air once more, the other snake quickly unwinding and joining his bride on the chase. One of the older members, the few feathers on his back already starting to fall off and the wrinkles of his naked skin growing, felt his lungs burn and his muscles tighten as he slowly began to fall behind. Licking a forked tongue across her fangs, the female Warbat gave a mighty flap of her wings and lunged forward to snatch the Hellhawk from the air. The senior member could only let out a croak of horror as he watched the jaws of death get closer!

A bright flash of yellow light and a loud crack split the air, blinding the old male for a second. When he opened his eyes, the female hung in the air for but a second, her frill torn and eyes dull, before she fell from the sky, her head slowly detaching from the torn part of her frill in a shower of green blood. The male was only able to hover for a second and let out a raspy howl of grief and shock before the same flash hit and he too fell from the air in another a splatter of emerald ichor. The flock hovered in the air, quietly clucking among each other in confusion. What had happened? The old male stayed where he was away from the group, chest heaving but a feeling of joy filling his heart. He was alive. He was alive! So close had he come to death, but he was now free to fly anoth-

A red burst of energy shot through the sky, slicing straight through the old male’s chest before it landed in the middle of the flock, bursting into a cluster of beams that exploded. When the light show finished, the bodies of the flock slowly began to crash back down to Earth, accompanied by a shriek of joy.

A strange creature jumped upon the hill a few meters away, resembling a mix of dinosaur, bird, and fish with shining silver spikes and hook hands. Besides him, another creature, like a great bipedal beetle with a curved ornamented horn and drill hands gaped in shock, gesturing and barking from behind his silver mandibles. These were not natives to Hollow Earth, but terrors of the planet Earth as a whole. The cybernetically enhanced space assassin, Gigan, and the destroyer god of the undersea civilization of Seatopia, Megalon. And right now, these villains who had invaded Earth dozens of times and tried to kill its greatest heroes were having a schoolyard level fight over their bet.

Megalon slammed his drills together and reiterated, he had been the better shot, those snake thingies had been taken down with barely moving his head! Gigan chuckled and gestured broadly. Megalon had killed two with two shots. He, on the other hand, had killed- a quick turn of his beaked face so his visored eye could scan the falling bodies- twenty with but one. He was the better shot, and that was that. And with that, the gold and green goon began to cruise forward as his offended orange and black friend still called out in annoyance. His had taken precision too! He‘d had to line up exactly where to fire at their arrow… aerobic… aerody-…

And then the thought was lost as he tapped a drill underneath his chin. He was trying to remember the exact word High Priest Antonio had used in the last meeting he had stood around and slept for, before his partner called for him and he quickly trundled forward.

The villains had not come to this lost world to simply take potshots at the fauna, after all. No, a few weeks ago, Gigan’s masters, the cockroach-like aliens of Nebula Space Hunter M, had sensed a strong radioactive signal while fleeing the Earth at yet another failed attempt for their champion to defeat the Monster King and his allies. Sensing potential, they had sent him to find the source and bring it back to them, the ancient empire sending Megalon along as well for the same reason. And so, the two found themselves here. The space farer alternated between walking and darting through the air with his fin-like wings while the oafish beast took great hopping strides across the plains around them, following the source through the cyborg’s sensors. They had been at it for a few hours and were already noting a change in the world around them. The misty jungles and floating cliffs they had passed were slowly becoming more barren, less alive, as if the inner world was slowly dying as they moved.

Eventually, the cyborg slowed to a hover, as did the guardian’s next leap as he outstretched the lacy wings on his back. The two had come to a massive cliff overlooking a deeply descending cave, cliff walls narrowing to lead within. Even from here, both could see lava slowly pouring from deeper inside and the whitened bones of a creature greater than the both of them hung at the very edge, its skeleton a makeshift bridge to further below. Gigan clucked quietly to himself as he looked down. The signal was fuzzier. He wasn’t sure if this was exactly where. He turned and began to inspect around the cliff, kicking aside boulders and pawing at the grass that remained. Megalon, meanwhile, was fascinated by the bones and quickly toddled over to walk across the swinging bridge, looking around in interest. He never found anything this cool digging for Seatopia and he was eager to explore more, carefully creeping down deeper.

For his searching, the android alien wasn’t really coming up with anything. All he had found so far was a whip-thin lizard which stood on two front limbs to hiss at him from bone white jaws. Sure, kicking it as far as he could and hearing it yowl in terror was fun, but it wasn’t really that constructive. He was standing there, scanning the vista when a deep trilling caught Gigan’s sensors. The cyborg looked to see his scarab ally gesturing wildly from the edge of where the descent began. With a bark, the cyborg took off and followed to where Megalon was pointing. Carefully moving against the rock formations, the red visor-like eye of Nebula Space Hunter M’s pride and joy narrowed, then widened in awe at the sight he finally found below.

The massive rocky formations narrowed into a deep bowl, a stone pit where shapes moved. Giant apes, some only up to the two’s legs, others almost to their necks, moved slowly among each other, lit by falling streams of magma around them. Primates grabbed massive pieces of rock and slowly dragged them to half excavated pits or half built structures, barking and hooting to each other. It was tough, back breaking work, with apes occasionally falling only to be dragged up and forced back into it by snarling larger apes, decorated in red paint. The space dinosaur hissed as he watched one use a bone club to beat an ape that dared to bark back- this made things more difficult. He turned to tell Megalon they would have to be careful following this signal, to avoid these guards… only to find his friend already hopping down the rock formations to investigate himself. Sighing and then shrugging, Gigan activated his thrusters and took off in a leap.

Crashing down into the dirt, Megalon let his drills spin as he looked around in interest. The gorillas around him jumped back, low hoots of fear filling them as they looked upon the bug monster. Too curious to be malicious at the moment, the divine beetle stepped forward. He grabbed the nearest block of rock and shaking it in interest, startling the ginger youngster who was working on it. The ape squealed and lifted a boulder to stop the bully who took his work, before his senior caretaker grabbed him and dragged him away from the stranger. The Seatopian kaiju shook the rock but found nothing interesting.

Just your regular obsidian.

Why were all these big furry humans so obsessed with moving it then? Couldn’t they see they had plenty of it around them?

He was beginning to trill these questions through his mandibles when one of the Red-Striped chimps barreled towards him. With a roar, it slammed its spear into the ground and pointed it at him. Another pair of apes flanked towards the burrowing monster from behind. Megalon blinked, cocking his horned head at the trio around him. Snarling, the scarred ape in front of him slammed his hands against his chest and roared, showing how he was a beast to be reckoned with!

This fool should back off if he wished to remain alive!

There was a flash of yellow light and a pathetic whimper as the intimidating ape was sent flying by a blast from the end of the beam. The other two guards had a second to blink as their leader went flying off in the distance before with a sickening crunch, they too fell to the ground as their craniums were clobbered by thick metallic hooks. Snickering to himself, Gigan slammed his hands together and flared his fins as he screeched a call that echoed through the atrium. The surrounding worker apes got the message and began to flee up the sides of the cliff as the Nebulan war machine trotted forward to a giddy Megalon, geeking out over how cool his friend was! Gigan stretched in the least humble way possible before he screeched and gestured for them to keep going away from this weird work camp.

Just as they did, an echoing bellow filled the air around them. Gigan and Megalon turned to the source, seeing a cave at the very end of the pit, hidden in shadow, as around them, fleeing apes froze and slowly began to crawl back. From the inky blackness of the lair, a group of Red Stripes galloped forward, heads down before their master slowly stretched his way through. It was a massive ape, fur patchy but stained deep crimson where it remained, skin unnaturally pale everywhere else. A bone sash, stained yellow from years of use, clicked against his thin chest. His jaw hung, massive fangs keeping it open in a permanent sneer. Blind white pupils narrowed in azure eyes as the ape raised himself, and bellowed once more at the intruders in his kingdom. Leaping forward and slamming down with his fist to catch him, Skar King stood to glower at the rabble rousers. The despotic ape snarled, stretching to his full height to look at the mismatched pair who dwarfed him by a few meters. Gigan and Megalon remained silent, looking down upon the tyrant with stoic faces. Noting their silence, Skar King huffed and slammed an open palm on the ground. He roared once more, the call echoing. Come then! If they wished to cause problems, would they just stand and gawk, or would they face his might? The other Great Apes looked from their perches, fearful of what their ruler would do, as the pregnant question of the Skar King stood in the air.

A quiet hissing slowly broke the silence. The simian turned to Megalon, noticing the sound escaping his interlocking mandibles. He snarled. Was this it? A threat before their battle? The sound intensified, as Megalon’s mandibles began to shake more and more, before they were joined in by Gigan’s quiet clucking. Skar King looked between the two with growing annoyance. What was this? There was a beat before Megalon couldn’t handle it anymore. Throwing his head back, the burrowing insect let out a deep grunting belly laugh, holding his drills to his sides to keep himself up. Skar King was only able to stare at him for a second before Gigan joined in, a high cackling squawk coming from his fanged beak as he pointed a hook at the red ape. Megalon grunted quickly, gesturing to Gigan to glance his way, before he narrowed his eyes and proceeded to shield his head with his drills, trotting around self seriously. This impression was too much, and the sadistic cyborg collapsed to his knees cackling, gouging holes in the rock as he banged his “fist” against the ground.

It was as he was doing this that a pale foot slammed down into his head, wedging the invader’s beak in the ground mid laugh, with a screech of shock. The scarab kaiju’s chuckle turned into a screech of horror as a pale fist punched into his face, causing him to trip backwards. Shaking his head, yellow compound eyes narrowed at the assaulting ape. Sneering, the Skar King slammed his palms into his chest and roared back.

Let him try.

Megalon lunged forward, swinging his drill to slam into the primate’s face, only for the Great Ape to use Gigan’s head as a springboard to leap over the attack. Landing in a dust cloud, a furred elbow jabbed into the confused burrower’s neck, causing him to yowl and twist around in offense.

Smirking, the tyrant chuckled himself, a rough and cruel noise that echoed in the pit then through the cowering apes as Skar gestured with a point at the foolish offender a moment later. Listening to the chorus of chuckles made Megalon’s blood boil. How dare he make fun of him, didn’t he know how rude that was?!? Shaking his head clear, the insect slammed his drills together and screamed a challenge. Skar did not hesitate, rushing forward to attack as he got into a four limbed gallop. The guardian watched him approach and let out a low hiss, his mandibles opening and quivering. With a great force, he spat, a red projectile flying out to land meters from where the ape was rushing! The napalm bomb exploded, a backdraft slamming into Skar’s face and causing him to drop his assault with a hoot of horror! Covering his face, the despot snarled… only to feel a thick metal object slam into the back of his head!

Gigan shrieked, having freed himself while Megalon kept the simian busy. He quickly began to launch an offense, swinging his hooks wildly at the evil emperor, but the ape was ready for him. Using his nimble body, the shorter combatant flipped and dodged the majority of the assault, letting out small hoots of pain at the slices that did remain. Skar analyzed the quick creature and his oaf friend as he flipped, the latter standing and cheering on his brother in arms with thick drill claps. This might be harder than he thought.

Leaping from the next hook slash, Skar spun in the air and landed a few meters away. Reaching up, he grabbed the jawbone of the spine wrapped around his midsection. With a series of bony cracks, the sash slowly unraveled to reveal a long bone whip! The Skar King slashed it in the air with a crack, bellowing at the two. The Nebulan hunter stopped, not expecting a primitive to have such an impressive weapon. His Seatopian ally, on the other hand, roared and began to charge at the mauve marauder, who smirked from behind his mutton chops. This is where the fun began.

With well trained precision, the Whipslash swung, wrapping around the scarab’s horn with a shriek. Using the momentum of the charge against his foe, Skar swung Megalon to rush himself into the nearest cliff, causing a crash and the crack of rock. The space dinosaur screeched for his partner and rushed forward, his wing-fins flaring as he did so. The simian roared and swung the Seatopian beast back, so he crashed into his green ally as he ran, causing them both to tumble to the ground once more. Gigan was only barely able to screech an apology when Skar’s whip cracked again, slashing his face and causing a burst of sparks! Shrieking, the fowl fiend jumped up, swinging a hook at the attacker, only for Skar to swing the whip once more, catching the “fist”. He yanked the cyborg forward and threw a punch against his visored face. Just as he was preparing to continue his assault, a flash of lightning illuminated the rocky prison as the Beast Killer Light Ray slammed into the side of the ape. Skar King roared as the attack singed his fur, turning to scream at the beetle only for Gigan to lunge from behind.

Locking the mad emperor into the closest thing he could get to a headlock with his dagger hands, the gold and green giant screeched and tried his best to suplex the writhing hominid. Only for Skar King to slam a foot into his ankle, breaking the lock with a cry of pain! The divine defender was still on the offense though, and continued to blast beams from his ornate horn at the orangutan, forcing the tyrant to block them with his whip. Shaking off the pain, the extraterrestrial terror slammed his hooks forward and took off. Looping past the rocky ceiling to the awe of the assembled Great Apes, Gigan zoomed forward to slam his spiked head into the primate. With a grunt of pain, Skar rolled on the ground, starting to pull himself up. A pair of two-toed feet suddenly slammed into his sternum, causing him to roar with pain. Megalon roared from atop the fallen Titan, and then leaped off. His ally landed before him and the two menaces shared a “handshake” by slamming their respective weapon limbs together before turning and both roaring at the Skar King to stand down.

Spitting dirt out of his mouth, the Skar King slowly glowered before twisting his face into a smirk. Pulling himself up, the crimson dictator began to unravel his whip, before revealing with a flourish the end of the weapon: a shining cerulean crystal. Gripping it tightly, he held it up with a snarl, his sadistic smile growing.

Gigan dropped his hooks as his sensors flared. The signal! That’s where it was! The stupid monkey had had it this whole time. He lowered his head and squawked a warning to his opponent. He just needed to give them this and they would leave in (relative) peace. Fail to do so, and they’d kill him and his whole kingdom. The despot only laughed, eyes locked on his glowing weapon. As Gigan continued to bark, Megalon detected something with his sensitive antenna. Vibrations. Big ones. As they quivered, he turned himself to behind their dueling ground. Apes were on the move, pushing a massive boulder to block the lava flow, causing it to slowly trickle out. And as Megalon slowly realized, the vibrations were coming from within…

As the Nebulan cyborg hissed at the ape, he felt the tap of Megalon’s drill against his shoulder, but ignored it. He had to get this primate to accept his defeat. As he prepared another round of screeches, Megalon tapped once more. Then again. Rolling his eye, Gigan squawked for his buddy to let him finish talking before showing him something else. He turned back to the tyrant only to get an absolute flurry of jabs from the tip of the drill. Swearing, he turned to slap some sense into Megalon, only to find the beetle turned completely away, eyes locked on the lava flow. The space dinosaur’s beak fell in confusion but was interrupted by a chill in the air that made him turn the same direction.

Snow and ice slowly covered the rock as claws gouged marks in rocks, the same marks the same claws had for decades. Before the fiendish duo’s eyes, a massive creature forced her way out of the cavern behind the lava flow. She stood on four taloned legs, dwarfing them even in her quadrupedal stance. Her scales shone white and reflective as a snowdrift at midday, topped by blue spines that resembled icicles. Shaking a bone chain wrapped around her neck and causing the crown of spikes upon her head to jingle, the imposing monster turned her fanged face down to look upon the latest fools who had angered her master. Shimo turned her head up and wailed a booming cry as she strained against her bonds.

Gigan stumbled backwards, in awe at the creature before him. Sweet maker, this creature made Godzilla look small!

Megalon was too awestruck to move, eyes locked onto the beast. Skar King chuckled at their horror, and then as their back was turned, directed his crystal down before jabbing it. Shrieking in agony, Shimo lowered her head with the move, eyes clenched as the familiar urge to obey or suffer filled her. Her spines began to crackle with a glowing cerulean light. The cyborg mercenary noticed it first and called to Megalon, but the divine insect simply stumbled back.

For the first time in centuries, fear filled the mind of Seatopia’s guardian. He was always ready to shepherd his people’s will, no matter who he must fight but this… this was… impossible! He couldn’t face this! Gigan cried again before his own pounding heart overtook his thoughts and he took off with a flurry of yellow fins. This finally broke the bully bug’s stupor and he turned to leap, stretching out his yellow wings, but it was too late.

With the intensity of a full snow storm, a beam of pure energy shot out of the ice monster’s mouth. It slammed into Megalon, causing the cockroach to scream and be sent flying across the pit to crash against a rock wall in a cloud of dust. Gigan shrieked a cry of horror for his partner before being forced to dart as fast as he could away from a following beam that chased him across the ceiling, leaving a trail of ice. Still, his superior engineering won out and he quickly darted past the majority of the beam, the worst being the chill snapping at his feet.

Needing to put an end to this, the cybernetic chicken quickly curved down into a dive bomb, activating the spinning buzzsaw in his chest. He whooshed past with a spray of sparks, causing Shimo to cease her beam and shake her head with a howl. The bladed bully started to laugh at his move until he turned and gaped in horror. The blizzard Titan glared daggers at him, a flicker of rage in her eyes. Her scales shone without a single scratch, before she turned and swung her massive tail at him, forcing the cyborg to begin to flee once more.

Across the pit, Megalon moaned in agony, curled into himself. His entire carapace had been frozen solid by the beam, his once glorious gossamer wings now basically sculptures of ice. Worse than the lack of sensation was the creeping pain of frostbite setting in. As the insect god struggled, apes slowly advanced. The Red Stripes hooted and snarled, watching the struggling creature. One leaned in to roar, the same ape sent flying by the beam, only for a palm to grab his face and yank him aside as Skar made his way forward.

Kneeling down on one leg, the malicious ape chuffed as he leaned in to gloat in the bug’s face. Screwing up his face in determination, Megalon looked up and trilled in anger before firing a beam of lightning at the mocking mammal. Skar King leaned out of the way, letting the beam carve into a side of the cliffs, startling the ape standing there. Skar King tutted and shook his head at the attack. Looked like he still needed to learn his lesson. He slowly stretched his free hand into a fist and wound back.

Gigan’s desperate keep away from the beams and thagomizer swipes the enraged Shimo threw at him were interrupted by a rough scream of agony. Megalon writhed on the ground as Skar King loomed over him, cackling with sadistic glee as he slammed his fist to shatter pieces of the frozen shell and wings. The Red Stripes whooped in glee, some even rushing forward to rip off pieces of their own.

The Nebulan alien stopped and watched, absolute shock and disgust on his face. Shimo stopped her pursuit to pant, then strained against her collar, not even looking at her handiwork. She knew in her heart nothing escaped this Hell unscathed if her master wished it and simply ignored the pain Skar left. It was better to enjoy the moments it was not directed towards her, as much as she empathized with her fellow victims.

Gigan however, was not used to such cruelty and squawked angrily. You didn’t hurt HIS friend! He shrieked and flew forward, just missing Shimo’s jaws snapping by an inch. He held his right hook up to his face and nodded as he prepared a special weapon he had gained…

Skar King was in the middle of yanking a massive chunk of carapace up when a shriek of rage hit his ears. He turned just in time to spot the cyborg flying in, holding out a hook before him. Swinging it, he slammed it like a hammer into the red ape’s chest. The explosive on the end detonated, causing the tyrant to shriek and fall backwards. The Red Stripes stopped their butchery to howl in shock at their lord’s falling, but the space monster wasn’t done yet.

Landing with a slam, Gigan’s eye glowed with power before he fired a crimson beam of energy into the lead ape, causing the ape to be flung back. Just as his compatriots moved to aid him by attacking the beast, the upgraded dinosaur disappeared in a flash of light, appearing beside the apes to slam a hook into a head and then blast another aside with a second Laser Knife. On the ground, Skar King clenched his fist. These damned monsters! They were making him look like a fool. Even now, he saw his subjects, the ones who should live in fear of him, starting to gather, no doubt planning to take him down while he was “weak”! Pulling himself up, he roared. Gigan stopped throwing aside apes to turn and squawk back, using a hook to pull the half conscious Megalon up.

They weren’t going anywhere. Skar unraveled his whip and held up his crystal, causing Shimo to turn her panting into roars of pain. But it wasn’t enough. No… he twisted the crystal, truly making the beast suffer. The world ender bellowed and moaned as the pain forced her to move, move, MOVE!

With a chorus of echoing snaps, Monster H shattered her chains and rushed forward to splatter the intruders to pieces. The space dinosaur startled, turning to try and pull up his friend faster with a shake on his shoulders. His friend simply groaned though, eyes spinning to look above him for a second, causing a dropping fear in the Nebulan’s enhanced heart. With his weapon on the move, Skar King slammed his fists down and pointed with a roar. From the cliffs, other Red Stripes began to pound down, screaming murder, weapons at hands.

Gigan scanned the escalating army in a full panic. He began to smack his hooks against the thick horned skull desperately to awaken his friend, to more groans. The cacophony rose, the blizzard beast was already almost upon them, the warriors not far. The bladed beast was seriously debating how much of Megalon he could teleport without that he could live with (or how far he could get if he left Megalon there), when the insect finally stirred with a jolt after a good hit. Scanning the chaos, the insect scrambled for a solution and quickly came to one of his favorites: break.

The god of Seatopia shoved his friend aside, inhaled, lifted his head, and spat. The bullet shaped projectile spun in the air, and the beetle turned to bark an instruction to move as he pulled his hands together into a massive drill he aimed down. The napalm bomb hit the half frozen ceiling and exploded with force. The apes, Shimo, and Skar all stopped to look up at the light… and the low groan that joined it. Megalon slammed down and dug just as his friend shrieked a question of what that was supposed to do. With a massive crunch, the roof collapsed! Rocks dwarfing all in the pit began to crash down, slamming into the obsidian below. Apes shrieked and ran up to different parts of the rock bowl to escape. The ice beast roared as the rocks hit her, turning to try and avoid the onslaught. As the chaos intensified, Skar King turned to scowl and roar at Gigan, barreling towards him on all fours. The cyborg didn’t wait for another conflict, though, quickly slamming together his hooks to teleport out, leaving the evil king to slam into another rockfall.

Meters away, a flock of Hellhawks scattered as an exhausted, half-robotic creature crashed into a pile in their midsts. Spitting dust from his mouth, Gigan looked around and called for his partner, scanning the mesa he stood upon. From here, he could look down and see the same pit they had descended into, now covered in boulders. He sighed a bit of a relief that they were safe for now, when a familiar drilling hit his ears. Rock and dirt split as Megalon made his way out, panting heavily. He took a shaky step out of his hole and then collapsed, a low groan echoing. The cyborg rushed forward, scanning his friend. It wasn’t good. Only the very top half of his shell remained, the rest torn to pieces. His wings were definitely gone as well. Even worse was the ice creeping into his flesh. The space chicken tapped his hooks together, fear coming in. He couldn’t lose his friend now. Gigan never thought he’d admit, as ruthless and cold as he was supposed to be, but this stupid bug had quickly become his closest companion. He didn’t want to imagine the world where he had to fly solo once more. Or even worse, with that prick Ghidorah.

Eventually, a solution semi-formed in his head. Gripping both hooks under his friend’s armpits, Gigan took off, soaring past the trees to drop Megalon with a splash into a nearby lake. Landing with a tsunami, he took a deep breath and then let loose a stream of fire from deep within his throat. The flamethrower boiled the water around the half-conscious god, bubbling and steaming, causing a groan of pleasure. The Nebulan let out a bark, as Megalon slowly shook himself up. It had helped, making him feel a little less numb, but he moaned sadly as he looked at the remains of his once glorious shell. The cyborg patted him on the shoulder, assuring him it probably could grow back. And besides, the move he had pulled there was worth such a scar! The insect chuffed slightly, watching the water ripple. Gigan gestured for them to go pull the crystal off of that dickhead ape’s body, when a low crackling hit them. Both turned to feel a chill going through them.

Ice.

Slowly creeping across the forest and the grass, even starting to freeze the water around the Seatopian’s feet before he jumped up. There was no way, that was impossible, it couldn’t-

The trees shattered to pieces as a massive form smashed through them. Shimo howled as Skar King bellowed a war cry, straddled atop his beast, his whip in one hand and an axe made of bone and a massive scale in another. At his call, the surviving Red Stripes pounded in behind him, hooting as they ran. The villainous duo screeched and turned tail to run, Gigan taking off and Megalon hopping forward. Claws pounding on the Earth, Shimo panted as she lunged at the insect, fangs inches from grabbing his ruined shell when a beam of red slammed into her head, the Nebulan war machine strafing by and landing a flurry of Laser Knifes at her face.

As the world ender shook her head at the stings, her master roared, standing from atop where he sat upon her spined back, causing the cyborg to turn to him with a sneer. He held up the axe, blocking the shots that now turned towards him, before using a free moment to swing the Whipslash, causing it to wrap around Gigan’s leg. Yanking, the ape tried to pull his foe to him but with a laugh, the alien took off, Skar only able to yelp as he was dragged along. The enslaved Titan turned to attack the fleeing beast only for the ground around her to suddenly collapse inward!

Shimo wailed as she fell into the sinkhole underneath her, Megalon popping up a moment later to howl a roar of war! Screwing up his mandibles, the beetle god blasted his napalm bullets, letting them blast across the glittering scales of the Titan. The fire burned, causing her to howl and try to retaliate with her Frostbite blast, only for her target to dip back in before she could, leaving a frozen patch of dirt. Popping out of the ground with a drill-like shriek, Megalon slammed his drills into the side of the beast. He tried to crack ribs, break the skin and spill blood, anything, but his hits did nothing, as if he was attempting to carve into an actual glacier. He growled in frustration and went to blast with his beam when a massive set of fangs slammed into his body, shaking him before sending him flying through the air, as the ice beast pulled herself out of the sinkhole.

In the sky, the space dinosaur heard his ally’s scream and turned to aid him, turning his flight into a hover. The change in speed was what Skar needed, and he looked up with hate in his blue eyes. Gigan’s sensor went from searching for his friend to blaring in agony as he felt the ax slam into his thigh, the evil ape roaring from where he swung. Grimacing from the pain, Gigan shrieked, turning off his thruster and letting him and his enemy fall.

The two danced in the air, the ape screeching before they crashed into a hill. Landing quicker with his fins, the Nebulan monster jumped upon the primate, slamming his hooks into his skull while the simian was dazed. The crimson monarch grunted as the hammer blows slammed into him, letting out a loud hoot between the hits. Just as the cyborg wound up for another hit, he was interrupted by a full body tackle! Skar laid a palm on his head as another Red Stripe ran up to help him, while the Nebulan shrieked as he was surrounded.

With a crash, the space monster was thrown to the ground, one chimp holding down each of his arms and another slowly walking towards him, a massive bone club swinging in his right hand. The ape slammed his foot on the alien’s stomach and leaned over with a smirk, causing Gigan’s jaw to drop. It was that same scarred bastard! Huffing an evil laugh, the scarred ape slapped his weapon into his palm, ready to inflict some pain at the behest of his king! He strengthened and lifted his club, howling as he went for the blow!

There was a sudden whir in the air and the howl of triumph became a yell of pain as the scarred ape fell, hand grasping desperately for his now nonexistent toes! The alien assassin stopped his stomach buzzsaw and then barked once! The scarred chimp turned in agony only for a jet of fire to burst out and ignite his fur, increasing his pain and causing him to run off screeching, until the flames grew to the point the body could only collapse to the ground. The apes holding down the cyborg chicken had but a moment to gape in horror before Gigan took off, dragging them through the trees before zooming down to crash them in the ground. The intergalactic villain was already turning when Skar King bellowed, lashing out his whip to grab his neck, yanking him back to the mass of angry apes. Grimacing, Gigan screeched both a war cry and a call for help.

Across the mesa, the massive form of Shimo tore through the forest, trees being flung as she ran and mini arctics forming wherever she fired her frostbite blast. Her massive sloped head was swinging rapidly, following the quick dirt trail her quarry made. But every time she slammed down a paw or blasted a beam, it trailed on. She needed a new tactic, and quickly.

Shimo stopped to scan the dirt when the cry of the other interloper hit her ears. She turned to look, just missing as a horned head stuck out of the dirt in response as well. Trilling, Megalon jumped out and began to leap forward, causing the world ender to balk and bellow. She swung her massive tail, but she missed him by an inch. The burrowing beetle started to laugh at her miss only, to feel a sudden sensation of pain hit him over and over. He fell over with a grunt, turning his head to find a series of icicles impaled into his exposed flesh on what was once his shell. Nodding, Monster H did not wait for the Seatopian to begin running, as he wailed and started trying to brush them off. Turning her whole body, she swung with all her might, as Megalon’s eyes widened in horror.

A shriek lit the air as Shimo lifted her tail. The scarab kaiju moaned in agony, the thagomizer having pierced straight through his chest, green blood spilling onto the blue spikes. The massive ice beast growled, holding him up to her jaws, ready to maul the insect to pieces here and now. But just as she opened her fangs, a painful sensation filled her mind and she howled, crystals glowing. Her mouth snapping shut in a grimace, she turned and began to gallop forward, Megalon helpless but to moan as he swung on her tail.

Eventually, the ice Titan slowed to where Skar stood, crystal in hand and with a sneer on his face. Gigan lay there snarling, pinned by five apes, each one holding every conceivable body part that could harm them. They clearly had been forced to put much thought into this based on the various bleeding cuts, burn marks, and bruises on their body. Directing his crystal, the blizzard beast swung her tail, causing Megalon to fly to the tyrant’s feet, still groaning in pain and holding a drill to one of the two gaping holes in his abdomen. Chuckling, the red furred ape looped his whip around the insect’s thick neck, pulling him up to look him in the eye. Choking, the Seatopian guardian struggled to spit a bullet, only for the despot to react first, calling a Red Stripe to slam him across his face.

Bulbous yellow eyes watered as Megalon struggled, disoriented and choking, only able to watch as the evil ape’s eyes glowered with appreciation at the pain while a thick laugh rattled out from his mouth. He struggled to fire a beam, but just as his horn glowed, the ape directed his crystal, the thick jaws of the massive Titan snapping down on the horn to a raspy scream. Gigan struggled on the ground, anger boiling in his heart.

They had lost before, but this was different. This stupid monkey wasn’t okay with a beating or even some injuries to make them go. No, it was insistent on making them suffer, making them hurt for daring to challenge them. Sure, he could get that. Hurt ‘em so they can’t hurt you. Hell, he could even get the fun he’d have doing it. But at least he had the guts to put his own life on his line when he bullied some stupid lizard! Not hide behind a bunch of other jerks and a giant slave who did all the work!

The cyborg laid there in growing fury, struggling under the hooting primates when he caught his friend’s eyes, causing his visor to shift from fury to a pain he never experienced. He started to chirp to Megalon that he’d think of something, that he could teleport once his batteries recharged, anything to comfort his friend, when the bug struggled. He slowly tapped his drills together, then pulled them apart and whirred them while his horn glowed as much as it could from the jaws of the beast. The fowl fiend’s mouth dropped. Was he insane? That never worked! Just as he started to squawk as such, one of the apes bellowed and slammed its palm down on his head, driving it further into the ground. His eye blinked and then he sighed. He locked eyes with Megalon once more and nodded.

Do it.

The divine destroyer’s eyes shut and his mandibles quivered as he took a shaky breath. His horn began to glow a strange orange color, which slowly coursed through his drill hands as they whirred. Skar cocked an eyebrow at this strange change. Was this supposed to- His thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly felt himself stumble where he was standing. He slowly pulled himself up to realize he was right by the bug now… and in fact, Shimo had suddenly moved forward as well, to the point she was almost cradling the bug in her jaws.

Slowly, other apes hooted and screamed as they were pulled closer as well, some simply falling near them and others levitating towards him, and they weren’t alone, a few rocks beginning to lift towards the glowing insect. Gigan felt himself pull towards his friend, preparing his thrusters and doing his best to shut his eye in preparation. Skar King looked in anger at this new trick and pulled at the crystal to give Shimo the command to ice him, when Megalon’s eyes opened!

The Seatopian savior pulled apart his drills and roared, a shockwave of purple exploding out and sending all gathered flying away as the magnetic vortex was unleashed. The blizzard Titan was sent stumbling back, her size letting her avoid the worst of the effects and slowly pull herself up, but the apes were not so lucky as they were sent flying. The red tyrant swung through the air, his chain pulling with him as Megalon crashed back down a knee to the ground.

He panted, finally able to breathe as Gigan dropped his hover to land next to him. Megalon turned with the best smirk his mandibled mouth could give. He’d told him it worked. Gigan rolled his eye and was about to tell him he got lucky when a roar echoed. Shimo slowly marched forward, and as she did, a group of Red Stripes began to barrel forward on four hands. Skar slowly stretched, anger on his face. Gigan sighed, and slowly backed up until he and his friend were back to back. And he had told him it didn’t.

The pair of rogues looked at the slowly circling forces, ready as they could be to fight once again when a loud hoot broke the air. All assembled turned to watch an ape suddenly go flying up, desperately holding onto a glowing blue rock. They watched for a second before another ape called as he too went flying. Then another. And then the snow monster roared as she too was pulled up, claws scratching against the Earth.

Megalon slowly got the sinking feeling he had messed up and turned to warn his mechanical brother when, with an earthy crack, all hell broke loose. The entire mesa the group stood upon shattered, the blue magnetic rocks that had been buried beneath going up to join their polarized brothers. Everyone below was sent flying up with a chorus of roars and screeches!

Gigan swung in circles, horror on his face, as he struggled to get his sensors to calibrate. Skar King struggled, using his whip to snatch onto a nearby rock. He noticed Megalon a few meters away, struggling to stand on the most stable piece of rock and tapping his drills together desperately to reverse his mistake. Snarling, the mad king launched himself forward, slamming into the bug with a roar. He swung the ax towards his horned head, only for it to clang helplessly against a raised drill.

The Seatopian god roared back, spitting a bomb to slam into the primate’s chest with a boom, causing him to stumble back. The insect charged to meet the orangutan, the two exchanging a flurry of matching blows between drill hits and ax swings. As sparks clanged from their clash, the few remaining Red Stripes barked and pointed, quickly beginning to leap to join their king in his struggle. Just as one roared and jumped to the dueling rock, his leap was ended in a splatter of blood!

Strafing past the body, the Nebulan hunter slammed a hook into the next ape and fired a quick beam into the last one, the Shotgun Blast slamming the chimp’s head back into the rock behind him with a sick crunch. He turned to call that he was coming for his friend, when a mountain of white slammed into him. She writhed and roared, turned around in the chaos around her, but Shimo would stop this fool now. Screeching in anger, Gigan turned to blitz the Titan!

Megalon held back another axe blow, his drills crossed as he spat a bomb, causing the tyrant ape to flip away from him. The two monsters panted, beginning to tire from the fight, but still on their toes for the next attack. Skar King watched, a hand on his whip and the other on the ax as the underground insect snarled, drills whirring to punctuate his menace. They stood like this for a long moment, tense and ready, when the mad monarch broke it. Roaring, he swung the Whipslash out to strike, but the scarab was ready, leaping above the whip and then slamming down to land atop it before it returned back to its master‘s hand. Smirking at his reflexes, Megalon went to blast a beam at the despot across the mesa… only to find him right in front of him!

The ape swung his ax, slicing off the right prongs of the Seatopian’s horn, making the insect shriek, arching back in pain. Before he could move to retaliate, Skar jumped and flicked his wrist, entangling the whip around the bug’s leg. With a single gravity empowered pull, he swung the beetle to go flying and screaming through the air! Skar stood upon his chunk of floating rock and cackled, watching as Megalon fell. The divine arthropod struggled, flapping his remaining chunks of shell and blasting bombs to try and delay his fall. But helplessly he watched the ground come closer and closer until he crashed into dirt and his world went black…

In the air, a strange dance played out. Shimo floated, roaring and snapping at Gigan, who darted and tried to lay blows where he could against the nigh-invincible world ender. Saws rattled against ice white scales, beams blasted into spikes, and hooks slammed into fangs, but nothing the cyborg did made any dent. The Hypothetical Monster, on the other hand, could not land a single hit on the nimble Nebulan as he darted past all claw swipes, tail slaps, and ice blasts. Anger and fear was beginning to build in the ancient one’s mind, both at the frustrating target and at what her master would do.

As she swung a clawed paw once more, she felt it slide through the air faster than before. And at the same time, her body drifted lower. With a start, she realized the anti gravity the stupid bug had caused was beginning to cut out. This might be the factor she needed. She slowly moved her legs in, making herself more streamlined, as the alien continued to try and hit her to no avail. She waited, patiently, as the air began to thin, feeling a rock hit her tail. And then… she moved! Using the boulder as a backpedal, she launched forward, a massive paw catching Gigan with a shriek as she aimed down, to the ground that slowly began to rush in, eyes closing.

With a trio of shockwaves, the remains of the battle began to fall back to Earth. Dead apes crashed down with the same weight as boulders. The chunk of land impacted, the Skar King posed very gracefully sprawled out on it, as he shook his head and looked around. And across the grassland, a massive boom echoed as Shimo landed. She groaned, stretching her massive body, but found her prize still there under her front paw. Gigan, writhing and squawking in fear, blue claws wedged into his chest. The blizzard beast roared, a howl that echoed across the land like a cold wind. He was not going anywhere.

The chicken felt his visor shrink to a pinprick as he took in how screwed he was. He needed to do something quickly! He buzzed his saw but the creature did not react. A beam to the mouth? He fired and it slammed against her jaws, causing no pain but turning the glowing cerulean into purple for a single moment. Panic overtook him completely and he quickly pulled into his personal batteries for a last shot. He teleported, trying to get as far away as possible. The cyborg began to take off when in a flash of blue, Shimo unleashed her power.

His shriek hit Skar’s ear, causing him to smirk and begin to tramp forward, eager to see the interloper suffer. Gigan crashed back down to Earth, the ice already setting in. The beam had sliced across him, freezing his middle fin and making him landbound. He struggled to flip over and attack, only to see his foe preparing another. Helpless, he held up his left hook, but it did nothing. The beam fired and he could only scream as he felt the limb turn completely cold and useless, eventually becoming impossible to hold up. The beam ceased, letting the cyborg moan as the white limb swung useless at his side.

Shimo snarled. Now was the time to finish it. She roared and began to charge forward, leaving the alien assassin helpless. He didn’t know what to do. Could he do anything? The ice beast arrived, slamming her jaws into his belly, shaking her head to maul him, sparks flying. He roared, pain coursing. He had to. Not like this. Not like this! With a great effort, he lifted his ruined limb and told his internal battery to calibrate a weapon. He had only one shot. As he swung in her jaws he hyperventilated and waited, then as she threw him and her mouth glowed with light again, he swung!

A pair of screams echoed across the Hollow Earth.

Gigan fell to his knees, a low moan of pain echoing as his right hook held the frozen stump where his arm once was, shattered at the elbow, the phantom pain taking his mind. A few feet away, Shimo shook her head and yowled, her white face splattered with red blood as she shook it. She finally slowed enough to roar, exposing the pieces of frozen metal stuck in her face, and most important of all, the gory hole where her right eye once was, destroyed by the other hammer claw bomb. As the Titan wallowed in her anguish, the Nebulan struggled to stand, the remains of his frozen fin falling around him, and began to limp away from his foe. He was almost gone when a roar of pure rage broke the air and a fist slammed into his eye.

Skar King glowered down at the cyborg. How dare he? HOW DARE HE!? He had attacked his kingdom. Slaughtered his soldiers. Made his slaves flee. And now, it had hurt his weapon. Rage consumed the slim ape, his entire frame shaking. It would die in the most anguish he could think of! He lunged, a savage beast, slamming his fists into every conceivable bit of flesh he could find, hooting madly! Gigan struggled to avoid the onslaught, helplessly holding up his one remaining hook to block the blows, but they did not stop, the now primal primate rearing back with each hit.

Sense briefly coming back, he used one hand to clamp down on the golden neck and then the other to ruthlessly beat down on his visor. He slammed repeatedly until the red eye began to crack under the sheer punishment it was under. The onslaught stopped for a second as pain shot into the tyrant’s knee, making him stand up and groan, looking down to find it cut open. The buzzsaw continued at its crawl, only barely able to run, but just as the space dinosaur tried to lift himself, the hand around his neck yanked him. This was not the end of it. Limping, Skar dragged him to Shimo, holding the crystal and roaring. Barely able to comprehend with the pain of her eye, the ice beast groaned and obeyed the order, blasting her beam to freeze across the creature’s abdomen, stopping the saw dead. Skar roared and turned to continue his beatdown.

Meters away, Megalon blinked, consciousness slowly coming back to his mind as he felt a prodding at his side. Blinking his compound eyes, he slowly pulled his head out of the dirt to glance at the annoyance. A fat lizard, covered in osteoderms and a… strangely familiar set of dorsal plates, stopped trying to flip the “carcass” to look into the Seatopian’s eyes with a worried belch.

The two shared a long glance, the Seatopian genuinely lost trying to get anything from the glazed over eyes of the reptile. After a moment, the creature snorted and trundled off, sniffing at the ground. Megalon watched it leave and sighed.

Normally, he’d destroy that lizard for fun, but he was too beat down for that. He was used to losses, even embarrassing ones (especially against that stupid garish robot), but there was something about the way that evil ape had humiliated him that burned at his chest. For the first time in centuries, the ego of the divine destroyer was shattered. He wasn’t an impossibly strong beast who could slay all who beat them, only bested in battle by a few equals. He was a loser. They both were.

Wait! Gigan!

He darted up. Where was his partner? He had lost him in the chaos. He turned and darted through the forest, passing by the lizard as he turned with a grunt, a whip-thin black tail halfway down his gullet. Crashing through the forest, Megalon came across a scene of chaos and felt his mandibles drop in horror. Gigan was there, meters away. Limp. Half frozen. Minus one arm and currently being beat down by the ape, the giant white beast standing there with her head down. Occasionally, she moved in to kick or blast ice, but mainly she watched numbly. The scarab trilled in agony, drills to his head. Not his friend! He had to do something! But… but what?! Nothing worked when that annoying ape would outthink him again and again!

Megalon turned back, screeching in pain. His friend was going to die and he could do nothing! What a loser he was! He ground his drills into his head, grunting in agony, a show of emotion that he never would have made before. A show of emotion that apparently was annoying, given the shuffling of the fat lizard he heard. The divine beetle turned to watch it crawl across the mesa, slowly heading for the side of the cliff near the bone bridge.

…wait. The bridge?

Megalon stuck his head out. The bridge still swung, shaken and covered in ice, but still working. Down below, he could see the pit where this all started, still half covered in rocks but with groups of apes slowly making their way out. Gorillas and chimps supporting each other out, holding hands and ginger young apes hooting as they looked around. They had survived the cave in, at least some of them. The burrower could also sense the rumble of other apes moving rock… just like the apes had initially to release the beast from the lava…..

The beetle’s horn shined with light as his eyes widened.

Back on the mesa, Gigan swung a hook up to block the ax Skar sent swinging. His head swam, the same pain still in his mind but just enough adrenaline sweeping his body to keep him alive. The rageful despot roared, swinging the weapon once more, only for a Laser Knife, shaky and uneven as it was, to meet it. The axe swung out of his hand, Skar King snarling as it did so before turning back to roar! He lunged for the cyborg who let out a raspy shriek and met him with a hammer claw to his head. The two traded a few blows before the orangutan swung his whip, encircling around the space dinosaur’s neck with a cry of pain! He pulled, holding Gigan in front of him as with his free hand he held up the crystal and screamed. Shimo, head still held low in pain, moaned and began to prepare, her spines crackling with power as her remaining eye and mouth glowed azure. Skar chuckled madly. This would be a fitting end for this fool. For his part, the Nebulan only sighed. At least it would end soon. He closed his shattered visor as much as he could and prepared.

A raspy roar broke the air, trilling like a drill. Skar and Gigan lifted their heads, looking behind them. At the end of the grassland, a ring of fire had formed, flames licking and smoke rising. Through the growing inferno, a shape moved, suddenly leaping forwards to slam a pair of drills on the ground. Megalon roared, slamming his hands together and firing a beam into the air. This fight was with him! Skar looked at the insect and snorted. He had one fool to kill already. He turned to ignore him when another roar sounded. The brutal bug bounced, drills clapping loudly as he gestured. Landing, he proceeded to turn, shaking his rump at the mad ape. Gigan cocked a head at his partner’s… strategy. Even Shimo had stopped charging her beam to watch the strange dance. Skar threw a hand back and roared for Shimo to en-

A loud chuffing and the sound of feet stamping. His blood starting to boil, the despot turned to growl, only for his blue eyes to widen. The bug stood there, drills over his head, doing the same self serious march, chuffing like he was choking in a way that indicated laughter. He stopped and dropped one drill to wave it around like a whip, then feigned horror at a hit from an invisible opponent. The insect made the most obnoxious fake cry possible, drills over his eyes. He then waved the “whip” again, dramatically aiming at a unseen ally, and then clapped happily. He pointed at such a great real battle before trouncing around with his drills on his head once more, this time angling them to shine as much as possible.

A vein popped somewhere in Skar’s neck as he watched the display, the space dinosaur hissing in laughter from underneath him. Letting out a scream of rage, he yanked the whip away from the cyborg and pointed at the bug, telling Shimo to kill him immediately! Moaning, the great blizzard Titan moved, feet pounding into the ground as she ran to where the insect stood.

Shimo slammed into the bug, her jaws clamping around his abdomen. Just as Skar turned to finish Gigan, a roar hit his ears. Shimo shook her jaws, pain seeping, as Megalon slammed a free drill into the root of her mouth, letting it whir into her gum. She dropped the scarab in a shower of her blood, letting him dive into the ground and zoom deep. Just as Monster H turned to the dirt pile, he leapt out from behind her, horn glowing not yellow, but a deep and powerful green.

Her one good eye widening in horror, the Titan could only watch as a massive green fireball slammed into her head, knocking her aside before another slammed into her chest and then a third into her leg, causing her to buckle forward. Screeching, the Seatopian guardian sucked in air and then fired a massive napalm bullet which crashed into the ground underneath the ancient reptile’s feet, causing it to collapse and for her to go sliding into the smoky area behind the two. Megalon landed with a grunt and a smirk on his mandibles. Skar gasped and lifted his crystal to sic Shimo on the insect once more only to hear something echo across the field.

A roar of agony.

Wind blew across the grassland, lifting the smoke around the ring of fire the god had made and Skar King’s jaw dropped in horror. Behind the fire, sat a pit filled with lava. The very lava from the ape’s kingdom, redirected by the burrower. Shimo roared, struggling to not be submerged, agony on her features. The tyrant startled and held up his crystal, directing her to move, to attack him! The world ender did nothing but thrash more however, her senses filled with so much pain that the crystal’s pull was but another to the pile. The orangutan’s jaws dropped as he jabbed and swished his arm desperate for something, anything to happen! Just as he was about to roar for his weapon, another roar sounded.

Skar went flying, teeth, spit, and blood flying as the drill slammed into his jaw. But the insect was not done yet, leaping forward to slam down onto Skar’s back and fire a yellow beam into his head. The primate shrieked and thrashed as the beam burnt, barely able to get up and hiss, fear in his eyes. He swung his whip, letting it wrap around the first thing it hit and pulling, only to feel nothing but a tug back as the beast held up his drill hand it was wrapped around. The appendage whirred and the whip slipped back to Megalon’s way, pulled out of Skar’s hand. The ape let out a low hoot of absolute horror and turned to run… only for a hammer claw to backslap him in the face! Gigan screeched, kicking into the tyrant’s limbs, as his ally joined in, stomping down as hard as he could.

It felt like hours had passed as the partners in crime assaulted the despot. Kicks, punches, napalm bombs, Laser Knives, they laid into the scarred and pale flesh of the red ape. Megalon reared back for another drill hit, only for a sickle hook to stop it. Gigan panted, looking down at their foe.

Skar King laid there, trying to pant, his fur burnt and matted, blood pouring from millions of wounds, and a snarl of defiance on his face that was betrayed by the way he quivered and shook looking up at them.

Smirking, the cyborg turned to his ally. They had done enough. They had beaten him down and proved they were worthy. The Nebulan turned and began to pontificate as Megalon watched, antenna quirked. He had ruled for millennia with fear and hate, believing himself to be untouchable. The true king of this paradise. But now they had humbled him. Made him the one who feared. It was an ironic fate. One he deserved. It was best to let him live in fear, remembering the glory of Megalon and Gigan, the ones who be-

There was a wet pop and then a screech of pain that increased in volume and intensity. Gigan turned from where he had walked to, finding Megalon standing there with a bored look on his face, a freshly dug pit of lava that had splashed back from a napalm bomb and currently set the primate ablaze. The scarab roared.

That was cool and all, but a counterpoint.

Fuck this guy.

The space dinosaur looked down from his cracked visor at the now silent and smoking remains, before chirping. Yeah, this was better.

As the remains of the once mighty Skar King burnt, the Nebulan and Seatopian checked each other, squawking and grunting in joy at their win. Megalon brushed ice off of Gigan’s chest and thanked him for holding out so long. The cyborg on the other hand gushed at the trap he’d pulled! It was the most ingenious thing he had ever seen! The beetle shook his head, kicking his feet, before he remembered. He held up his drill, showing off the whip that was still around it. With a squawk of joy, the alien assassin shattered it with his hook, letting the thick crystal fall to the ground, before he leaned over and picked it up with his beak. He beamed at his partner, who clapped his drills in joy at their long fought prize.

And it was then a low rumble broke the air, silencing the both of them. Through the remaining smoke of the burnt out wildfires, Shimo moved forward. Limping upon one leg, dried blood upon her face, and her leg scales burnt black, but alive. Gigan stumbled back as Megalon expressed disbelief that she was still alive! The world ender looked upon the two, panting, fury in her one good eye but then…she stopped.

She truly looked at them, the crystal in the nimble one’s mouth, the dumb one’s steady fear, but most of all, at the burnt body that still had enough red fur to make her heart soar.

A long pregnant pause sounded, as she turned to lock her remaining eye with the pair. Then, with a slow nod, the blizzard beast turned, limping, claws gouging as she moved, but her head held high as she took her first breaths of free air. The space monster watched her go, a strange feeling in his heart. As her tail coasted the hill, he let out a nod of his own.

And then Megalon tramped forward after her, roaring angrily. Did she really think she could walk away after this, after surviving his ingenious trap? No, she had another thing coming! He was going to show- and then further threats stopped as a thick hook slammed into his mouth.

His friend hissed a warning and told him to leave it. They would count this as a win. The beetle trilled thoughtfully, a drill tapping on his chin. Eventually, he nodded. Sure… but only if it also counted for the contest. Gigan let out a scuff of disbelief and began to squawk as he walked, all while Megalon reiterated that it had been three direct shots to one target.

And so, the two argued as they marched off, leaving the Hollow Earth behind to fall back into a familiar sort of ambience. Hellhawks cried, rocks flew, a massive Titan slowly dug a pit for herself to lay in and began to sleep, dreaming of peace for once, as apes slowly began to make their ways around the carnage to better pastures.

Soon, all slowed to a silence, the crystal “sun” slowly heading to evening. And then a shuffling was heard in the burnt mesa as a Foetodon made his way past the lava pit to sniff at the burnt corpse, waiting only a moment before digging in with a gurgle of joy.

Winner: Gigan (Universal), Megalon (Universal)