Author: Landon Soto | Banner: Matthew Williams

On a remote island far off in the Pacific Ocean, Gamera, the guardian of the universe, was bathing in the late afternoon sun. He was resting after having defeated an entire flock of Gyaos single-handedly. Laid out on his belly, taking in the heat of the sand and sun, it had been quite a while since he had enjoyed the luxury of sunbathing.

However, his relaxation would soon come to an end as a foreign sound filled his ears. Gamera cocked his head up and spotted a giant golden orb making its way through the clouds. Gamera tucked his limbs in his shell to give the illusion that he was a rock, and when he felt the coast was clear, he arose.

Stretching his arms out, his limbs transforming into flippers, the large turtle retracted his legs, fire roaring from the vacant holes. Gamera took to the sky and made sure to stay a safe distance away from the craft.

After what seemed like hours, the guardian of the universe had finally discovered where the golden ball had decided to halt. It was Odaiba, which meant trouble no doubt. Gamera landed on the outskirts of the city and kept his eyes on the ship, preparing himself for whatever it may try to do to the helpless people below. Gamera emitted a low growl and clenched his reptilian fists.

Many beings were running about within the golden sphere, preparing in a haste a grand undertaking. Some were silver and black humanoids, others looked exactly like humans. The Xiliens had arrived. Amongst the hustle and bustle, in what appeared to be the main control room, two human-like beings surveyed the city on multiple monitors.

The first was a tall, pale young man with messy black hair. He was cloaked in an obsidian black trench coat that extended down to his knees, a navy blue armored vest underneath, along with black leather pants, gloves and boots. The young man had his hands behind his back, glancing at the many monitors before him. Ebony sunglasses hid his eyes, his straight face occasionally cracking into a grin.

Beside him was a young lady, a brunette with hair touching her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless black tank top, and a large black collar with white rims that rested on her shoulders. A dark leather cape gently swayed behind her, occasionally brushing against her emerald green pants. Donning black gloves and boots as well, the woman smirked as she fanned herself with a fuzzy pink hand fan that looked like cotton candy. They both stood silently, concocting plans in their minds.

“Brother, what do you propose we do to make the Earthlings grovel at our feet?” The female Xilien stated.

“The same thing we always do Landes, send out the fighter ships and decimate the planet until they beg for our mercy,” The young Xilien snickered.

“Then in that case, I’ll send out ultimatums to the leaders of this world, ‘Surrender willingly, or perish’, a simple yet effective message,” Landes let out a haughty laugh as she rapidly fanned herself. Her brother rolled his eyes, that ultimatum would need extensive work.

Landes settled down as she eyed the many monitors before her, her brother meanwhile conversed with another Xilien and ordered the nameless soldier to deploy the fighter ships. Suddenly, Landes let out a gasp as she turned to her sibling and motioned the commander to come to her. The Xilien commander crossed his arms as he looked at the screen, his face cracked a smile as he grunted.

“It seems as though we have an uninvited visitor,” The commander said in a sly tone.

Gamera watched as the miniature ships began tearing the city apart. Although most people had evacuated when the Xilien Mothership arrived, some decided to stay to see out of pure curiosity, now regretting it greatly. Gamera took to the afternoon sky once more and began to shoot down waves of UFOs with a single plasma fireball.

Aboard the mothership, both Xilien commanders watched as Gamera obliterated fleets of the small ships. The commander gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, watching as the guardian of the universe swept the floor with the ships.

“That damn turtle is going to ruin our plans!”

The young man fumed, before he regained his composure, looking to his sister, another twisted grin stretched across his face. “Oh dear sister, what do you say we give this turtle some playmates?” The Xilien commander focused his gaze at the large monitor in front of him.

“You took the words right out of my mouth! Our super monsters could use the warm up.” Landes stared coldly at the guardian before letting out another hearty laugh. The alien duo snapped their fingers in unison as the commander joined his sibling in her cackling, both laughing like hyenas.

Back in the city, Gamera continued to rid the humans below of the swarm of ships and shot another fireball to eradicate more UFOs. The fighters tried to take down the flying turtle, but all attempts to bring him down were futile as their energy weapons did little to nothing to harm him.

Eventually, all of the remaining fighter ships returned to the mothership. Gamera landed on the street beneath him and surveyed the area, smoke rising from freshly damaged buildings as small fires bloomed throughout the streets. The damage was minimal at best, nothing the humans could not fix. At that moment, a nasty feeling washed over Gamera, the guardian turning his head to the sky.

In the cold depths of space, two objects were hurtling towards Earth, two large asteroids threatened to slam into the planet. Gamera instinctively retracted his legs and took to the sky like a rocket. The turtle flew past clouds, flying higher and higher until he breached the stratosphere and prepared to blast the incoming asteroids.

Gamera fired a barrage of plasma fireballs toward the space rocks, but it did little to impede the speeding projectiles, at most the fireballs chipped some pieces away. The guardian snarled as he realized he couldn’t stop the inevitable impact. He flew downward towards Earth, his heart racing as the two glowing orbs sped past him, a loud boom following suit.

The guardian of the universe descended from the smoky heavens and gazed upon what was once Odaiba, the beautiful city was literally wiped off the face of the planet. Nothing but smoldering ashes, scattered debris, and a few lucky buildings miraculously standing.

Gamera spotted two craters with plumes of smoke rising from them. Gamera landed and looked around, spotting only the golden ship in the sky, glistening with the few small rays of light that broke through the ash.

Suddenly, two golden eyes shone through one pillar of ash. Gamera snarled and clenched his fists, sensing the presence before him. A relatively small sphere rolled out from the smoke, and stopped a few hundred meters away from the turtle. The Xilien super monster, Gororin, had arrived.

Covered with prickly needles, the blue, spherical alien let out a low rumble at Gamera, two golden half crescent eyes glared at the heroic monster. The Atlantean bio weapon stared back at the alien cactus with curiosity, it definitely was one of the weirder enemies he’s encountered so far, a unique sight indeed.

Feeling another presence, Gamera jerked his head to the side, keeping the azure gymnocalycium in his vision. From the second crater, a humanoid shape emerged, one that gently descended down towards the turtle warrior. The being planted his feet firmly on the charred ground, his appearance no doubt intimidating.

Covered head to toe in bony armor, with bulging muscles as black as oil underneath, the skeletal alien flicked his forked tail like a whip. Pearl white claws flexed in anticipation. On each shoulder rested half of a draconic skull, complete with a single red eye. The head was adorned with a similar but complete draconic skull, with black horns jutting from the top of the head, the skeletal dragon-like humanoid, Monster X, stared at Gamera with his six blood red eyes.

Gamera bellowed into the air, warning the two aliens to go back to where they came from, although he knew it was futile. To no surprise, the Xilien war machines made their way towards the turtle monster, ready to carry out their masters orders.

“Monster X, rip that beast apart!” X yelled as he reached out to the main monitor.

“Gororin, flatten that nuisance into paste!” Landes exclaimed as she lifted her arms into the air.

Monster X flexed his muscles as steam rose from his maw, the skeletal dragon letting out a deep growl before he sprinted towards Gamera with unbelievable prowess. Gamera prepared for a head-on collision, but was caught off guard when the boney alien began performing a cartwheel, one after another.

When the dragon came close, he effortlessly somersaulted over the guardian and landed a few meters away from him. Gamera was still processing what he just saw when Gororin sprung upward, slamming into his lower jaw before rolling away.

The turtle monster coughed as sharp needles stabbed into his throat. Gamera ignored the pain and turned around to face the cactus monster, only to get punched in the snout by a sharp bony fist. Reeling back in discomfort, his mouth lit up with flames and a large fireball shot from his maw, incinerating the lodged spikes in his throat. Both Xilien beasts evaded the blast, barely singed at best.

Monster X bursted forward and smashed his fist against Gamera’s jaw, Gororin following suit by slamming his bulk into the turtle’s left bicep, bouncing off of it. Gamera grunted as he raised his fist and struck Monster X in the chest, causing the dragon to stumble back.

The skeletal humanoid stretched his arms out to his sides and fired golden gravity beams at Gamera. The bolts of energy exploded against Gamera’s skin, rewarding the space dragon with a cry of pain from the turtle.

Gororin fired more spikes that struck Gamera’s underbelly. The guardian groaned as his body took the punishment, before lunging forward and grabbing X by the waist. With his impressive power, Gamera hoisted the armored alien and performed a belly to belly suplex, knocking the wind out of the Ghidorah with his immense weight.

Gororin attempted to launch himself into Gamera’s shell but harmlessly bounced off the organic shield, rolling away once more. Gamera rose up and placed his foot on Monster X’s armored gut and began to apply force, trying to crack the armor and expose the skin.

Gororin, seeing his comrade in trouble, rolled to the side of Gamera and fired a needle just below his foe’s eye. He clutched his face in pain and pulled back his foot, giving X the opportunity to use his gravity beams and topple the guardian of the universe. Gororin seized the moment and bounced atop the fallen turtle monster, the force of the blow knocking the air out of Gamera’s lungs.

Monster X rose up and fired another round of gravity beams, shoving Gamera across the ruins and through whatever still stood in them. The flurry of shining blasts ceased.

Gamera propped himself out of the dirt, his body scratched up and coated in black soot which he swiftly shook off. Turning around, the hero stared down his opponents who seemed to have suffered only minor injuries, as opposed to himself. The odds were certainly not in his favor.

Gororin and Monster X unleashed their respective cries and rushed towards Gamera. X jumped forward, dodging a right swing by the turtle guardian and using Gamera’s face as a springboard. The fiend took to the air as the righteous reptile stumbled.

Trying to keep track of both opponents, Gamera was being overwhelmed as Gororin fired more needles into the turtle’s face. Fighting the pain, Gamera created another plasma fireball, hoping to incinerate the cactus ball, but was stopped dead when Monster X dropped in front of him and used his levitation to perform a deadly roundhouse kick.

Monster X spun in the air before planting his feet in the ground, landing a couple meters away and giving a taunting bow to the guardian. The fire in his mouth dissipated as Gamera struggled to stand. These opponents were very different from the ones he fought before, but when things looked bleak, he always found a way.

Gamera then perked up as he thought of a new strategy. Tucking his head and limbs into his shell, fire erupting from Gamera’s shell as he flew straight into the two alien invaders. Gororin barely escaped, but the airborne chelonian aimed towards Monster X. The skeletal dragon tried to leap back into the sky, but like a homing missile, the spinning shell swerved upward and slammed into Monster X’s gut.

Sharp edges of the shell grinded into the armor of X, sparks flying as the buzzsaw-like shell chipped and cracked the armor at breakneck speed. Gororin was helpless as he could only watch Gamera and Monster X fly higher into the blackened sky. Monster X continued to howl in pain as the blades started to cut open his thick skin, soon black blood oozed out of the fresh wounds, coating Gamera’s carapace.

Mustering up enough strength, the white dragon fired wave after wave of gravity beams. Most bounced off the shell of the turtle harmlessly, but one managed to find its ways into one of the empty sockets. Soon, a muffled cry was heard from within and the spinning came to an almost immediate halt.

Now the two were falling back down to Earth. Gamera stayed within his shell, X tried to slow down his impact by manipulating the gravity around him, both monsters seeing the ground rise further with each second.

They collided into the planet with an earth-shattering force, a plume of smoke shooting into the air. Gororin waited to see who was about to emerge, if he had fingers, they would be crossed no doubt.

Out of the smoke was a dusty Gamera, wheezing from inhaling the foul soot around him. He raised his head high as he roared into the sky, hoping one of his opponents was dead somewhere in a crater.

Gororin emitted a low rumbling noise, cursing the guardian. He rolled towards Gamera like a steamroller, the turtle hero wasn’t out of the woods yet. Gororin bounced off the ground straight into Gamera’s chest, hoping to impale the Atlantean bioweapon.

Gamera grunted as the needles stabbed into him. Grabbing the blue cactus in frustration, Gamera held him in place and opened his maw. Gororin stared right into the inferno as the air around him was sucked into his foe’s mouth, orange flames dancing inside.

Soon, Gororin was completely enveloped in flames. Gamera fired three plasma fireballs, powerful explosions engulfing both fighters, before the flames slowly dissipated. Gamera dropped the smoldering cactus ball and stared back into the sky, that golden ship was next.

Gamera began making his way to the craft but soon found himself lying on the ground, forcefully pushed down. The turtle grunted as he got up, turning to see Gororin, who was staring him down with yellow beady eyes. All of his needles were burned off, but his thick skin kept him alive.

Gamera roared in shock, but also in sickness of this thing’s presence. With an unusual burst of speed, the chelonian ran up to the de-needled plant and kicked it with all of his might, sending the live kickball skyrocketing.

Finally unopposed, Gamera began trudging toward the Xilien ship, a plasma fireball churning in his mouth. But it wouldn’t be so easy. Behind the turtle, an unsettling sound filled his ears, like a chorus of banshees wailing into the sky. Gamera turned around to see what had now decided to deny him of his duties.

Out from a pillar of smoke, a third beast marched out of the sickly gas, adorned with gold and black scales, terrifying wings and four thick legs that supported its bulky body. Three heads continued to cackle wildly, as if mocking the guardian of the universe, Gamera sighed, one more nuisance and then he could finish his job, but, where did this new monster come from? It didn’t matter, this beast would fall like the rest.

Gamera spat out his signature fireballs, speeding towards the hydra. Plasma fireballs erupted against the golden dragon’s armor, but still it continued to howl wildly with pleasure. The guardian stared in shock, that onslaught had hardly left a burn mark on its chest. Hiding in his shell and beginning to spin with intense speed, the turtle hoped to slice open the dragon and make it bleed out. The new monster continued its march towards Gamera, unfazed by the incoming blades.

Meanwhile in the Xilien ship. “Foolish creature, Monster X still had his trump card. Now he will feel true suffering, at the hands of Keizer Ghidorah,” X grinned with malevolence. “Well, I think it’s obvious who the superior monster is right, sister?

Landes frowned at the statement. “Oh shut up, at least my monster doesn’t need a transformation to get the job done.” Landes smirked at her sibling.

Gamera sped faster and faster, closing the gap between him and the armored dragon. Keizer Ghidorah, however, opened its right jaw and unleashed a hellish gravity beam, manipulating Gamera’s trajectory. It forced him to do a complete 180 and tossed him into the air.

Not far away, Gororin rolled out from the smoke and greeted his evolved comrade, his spikes almost fully regrown. The living cactus ball immediately rolled to Gamera’s location, seeking revenge for that kick.

Before the turtle hero could slam into the ground, two more gravity beams held him in place, allowing Gororin to fire a barrage of needles into the turtle. Most bounced off Gamera’s shell, but some managed to lodge themselves into his underbelly.

Keizer Ghidorah slammed the turtle into the burnt earth, ash and dust flying in the air. Gamera pulled himself up, dazed by the attack, but still in fighting condition. The turtle then had an idea. The chelonian retracted his legs and launched into the air like a rocket.

Keizer saw this and cursed under its breath, wondering what it would take to put down the turtle. The black and gold hydra opened its three draconic mouths and spewed more gravity beams. Gororin, meanwhile, tried to shoot the turtle down with another wave of needles.

Gamera evaded each projectile and concentrated his fiery power into his right fist, flickers of flame igniting around the scaly fist of the guardian. Keizer Ghidorah reared up onto its hind legs and cackled furiously, golden energy forming once more in each mouth.

Sweat began to roll down Gamera’s face, seeing the three headed terror at full height, it unnerved him, but he had to land this hit, he was betting everything on this. Keizer Ghidorah was ready to fire another round of gravity bolts, then crush the turtle under his foot, however, Gamera fired a weaker plasma ball at the central head. A miniature explosion followed, obscuring the dragon’s vision, howling in anger and confusion.

The three-headed dragon was then completely dumbstruck when Gamera rammed his flaming fist into its chest. Momentum helped push the punch through the thick golden skin, cracking the sternum and cooking the flesh within. Keizer howled in pain and tipped over backwards, both monsters causing dirt and debris to shoot into the air as they both fell to the ground.

Gororin stared in shock at what he had just witnessed. Gamera lay on Keizer Ghidorah’s belly, staring at the dragon with a rage like never before. He clutched a chunk of bone and organ and forcefully ripped it out of Keizer’s chest, oily black blood and ichor flowed profusely from the nearly cauterized wound.

Gamera looked at his right hand and examined it. Drenched in blood, Gamera tossed the chunk of Keizer Ghidorah away, flames had burned up to his forearm and it was on the verge of breaking. He hoped his regeneration would kick in quickly.

While Gamera tended to his wounds, sharp needles dug into his neck, prompting a pained howl as he felt blood oozing out. Gororin was still here and he was enraged by the loss of his comrade, the blue cacti slammed his body into Gamera and forced the guardian off of the dragon.

Gamera tried to get to his feet, but each attempt allowed Gororin to knock him down repeatedly. He cried out in frustration, unable to properly defend himself against this bizarre foe.

The turtle then retracted his head and limbs once more and began spinning like a top, plumes of fire erupted from each hole as Gamera sped away from Gororin. The cactus ball gave chase, the two crashing their bodies into one another as sparks erupted from each strike. Gororin was too focused on Gamera, losing focus of what was in front of him.

Soon, the cactus ball heard a loud splash as a cold sensation seeped throughout his body. His movement came to an immediate halt. Gororin tried to move, but was unable to, the realization of his predicament hitting him like a truck.

Gamera meanwhile soared through the air, before landing at the bank of a large murky river. He had successfully led his foe into the water, now with his foe helpless, the guardian prepared to take down the mothership.

However, a familiar golden beam of energy carefully picked up Gororin and dropped him onto dry land, the cactus ball shivering as the cold had crept into him. Gamera stood with his jaw dropped, staring at the sight before him. Keizer Ghidorah, with a gaping hole in its chest, was standing before him, soft cackles rising from each head as the hydra struggled to stand.

Gamera, at wits end, decided to use an attack he had hoped to never use again. He at least knew how to control it, he didn’t have to haphazardly unleash it all in one go. Keizer and Gororin stared down the turtle as they watched fiery orange energy move towards the hero. A hole in the center of Gamera’s midsection opened and absorbed the mana of the planet, the wielder of this tremendous power snarling as he focused on not overdoing it.

Keizer Ghidorah charged golden energy in each maw as Gororin prepared a barrage of needles. Gamera howled to the heavens as a large beam of orange and white carved a massive trench through the earth in front of him, his enemies firing their signature weapons. Needles and gravity beams struck the Ultimate Plasma, the colliding forces coming to a standstill. However, the mana blast began to creep closer towards the aliens, before it overwhelmed the combination of gravity bolts and needles as it rapidly approached both Xilien war machines.

The pair went wide eyed as their vision was filled with the warm orange light. It was the last thing they saw before their bodies were engulfed in the mana stream, taking the full brunt of the attack. Their senses went numb as their bodies broke apart, disintegrated into nothingness.

Gamera ceased the attack as a massive explosion erupted from the ground where Keizer Ghidorah and Gororin once stood, a powerful shockwave sending dust and rubble flying as Gamera felt the pressurized air wash over him.

Nothing. That is what the turtle hero saw. Gamera looked around, the ground barren as far as his eyes could see, aside from the occasional building left standing. Confident that he had obliterated the vile villains, no creature could withstand the Ultimate Plasma, Gamera glared up towards the ship that started this battle. He was ready to shoot it down, until he heard an unforgettable sound in the distance.

Gamera turned and groaned at what he saw. A large flock of Gyaos, that no doubt had felt the disturbance from the mana beam. Gamera cringed, now he had two problems to deal with… or did he? The turtle quickly made his way to the murky body of water he had tried to drown Gororin in previously, leaping in and carefully positioning himself to see the glowing ship in the sky, the turtle tucked his limbs into his shell as to blend in with the rocks and sunken debris.

Meanwhile, in the massive Xilien ship, the Xilien commander and Landes were furious. The siblings scorned and cursed the turtle before arguing with one another, trying to place the blame on the other.

An Xilien soldier working a nearby monitor called to the Xilien commander, who twisted around and whipped out a silver ray gun aimed at the soldiers head, threatening to blast his brains out for interrupting.

“This better be good.” He said coldly, the eyes behind the visor staring daggers at the underling.

The alien flinched before regaining his composure. “Sir, we have multiple life forms converging at our location,” The soldier stated, hoping his brain would not be fried.

The Xilien commander looked to the large monitor that displayed a flock of bat-like lizards flying towards them. Landes groaned, before commanding the nearby soldiers to release the fighter ships.

Gamera, watched from beneath the water as the small ships were released from the big one once more, like insects emerging from a hive. Small triangular ships shot down multiple arrowheaded Gyaos. Smoldering corpses fell to the scarred land below, the Gyaos retaliated as they cut down waves of Xilien fighter ships with yellow supersonic rays.

Gamera watched as the two opposing forces engaged in the largest dogfight he had ever seen, the two sides seeming equal to each other. He needed to regain his strength, for it mattered not who won this battle.

In the end, he would be the one to win this war.

Winner: Gamera (Heisei)