Author: Eugene Tan | Banner: Stephanie Hughes

King Kong walked down the beach of Monster Island, creating bathtub-sized footprints in the grungy black mud. The giant ape stood by the vast sea as he gnawed on his stick of bamboo. He watched the giant sea serpents splash in the dark waters while making quick work of the strong stem. As he relaxed, the giant snakes suddenly disappeared in a flurry of bubbles and his eyes widened in surprise. The primate got to his feet and moved in closer, looking around, when he was suddenly smacked in the face, instantly bowling the big ape over.

The massive lobster, Ebirah, emerged from the waves, waving the offending pincer in laughter. This sea monster was hungry. All he had at sea were fish and the occasional turtle. Today, the mammoth shrimp was hunting for bigger fare.

Kong quickly leapt to his feet, his serenity ruined by this new enemy. He would teach this little shrimp a lesson, or at least relieve some of his newfound stress. He waved his arms into the air as a form of display, before charging towards the giant shrimp as the supersized shrimp waved his arms wildly, eager for a battle. Before Ebirah could even strike out at the Eighth Wonder, the giant ape bashed the crustacean in the face with one powerful fist, splintering armor and making him reel back, waving his pincers in surprise and anger. This prey was incredibly powerful. The giant shrimp quickly splashed his face with a clawful of wet mud to lessen his extreme pain.

The demon of the South Seas watched his enemy back off, slowly staggering back to the ocean. Clearly, the shrimp had gotten more than he had bargained for. However, King Kong was no longer in a good mood. Neither was Ebirah, in any case, but he did not care. The ape picked up a large rock from the muddy gray beach and stormed towards Ebirah. The primate hoisted the rock above his head, preparing to swing it down at his foe…

Ebirah swiftly leapt back into action. As Kong prepared to send the rock crashing down on his head, Ebirah suddenly lashed out with both of his pincers, grabbing the giant’s legs with the slicing claws, the dreadful weapons sinking into his foe’s flesh. The gorilla groaned in pain and struggled to keep his balance. However, as primitive as Ebirah’s brain was, it was persistent. As the ape struggled to keep his balance, Ebirah suddenly pulled and twisted his pincers to the side. The eyes of Mondo’s champion widened as he fell over onto his back, the heavy rock that he had held crashing down with him, his immense weight sending several tons of sticky sea mud to splash where he had fallen. Kong shook his head in a daze as he began to hoist himself off the ground, shaking the gray dirt off him as he clenched his fists. He never got a break. Every one of his rests always ended in disaster or battle, and it was getting weary.

As he rolled over, the mighty shrimp suddenly performed an amazing leap, landing on the great ape’s back. Kong roared, taken by surprise, and began to struggle to get the several thousand tons of crustacean off his back. Ebirah clung on tight with his many legs, much to the thunder beast’s anger. As Kong raged at his rider, the devil of Letchi smashed him on the head repeatedly with his huge claws, much to the ape’s alarm. Each blow jarred Kong’s thick skull, and Kong’s eyes began to fill with blood. The mighty ape gasped in shock as a concussion sank in, and he struggled to remain conscious.

The thinking animal quickly came up with a plan. The mighty ape straightened himself up, ignoring Ebirah’s shattering blows. Reaching around and placing his powerful arms on the sea monster’s back, he pressed down with incredible force. The Red Bamboo’s guard dog shrieked in shock as Kong’s arms gave his shell massive stress. Slowly, the armor began to give way, the sounds of creaking shell growing louder and louder. The Eighth Wonder straightened further and pressed with all his might…

CRACK!

Ebirah stumbled off Kong’s back as two of his back plates shattered into pieces, sinking into the grayish mud. Wriggling and writhing on the ground, the shrimp had little time to deal with the ape’s onslaught as the gorilla repeatedly bashed the crustacean’s chest with his huge arms. Not even his powerful armor could stand to the ape’s mighty fists and the shell was quickly smashed, even as he continued to struggle, so Kong pressed his foot down onto his chest. Ebirah screeched and gurgled as yet more pressure was placed onto his chest. This only prompted Kong to press harder. The doomed shrimp struggled for a while, waving his huge pincers wildly, before finally lying still.

Kong relaxed his powerful leg as his enemy ceased moving. Ebirah’s sticky bodily fluids dripped off his foot as he lifted it up. Hopping away from the body, Kong swept some of the fluids on his fingers before he gave it a lick. Ugh. The ape grimaced at the somewhat radioactive substance and spat the mixture out back onto Ebirah’s body… Or rather, where Ebirah once was. Kong quickly turned around. Where was his enemy?

As he turned, a dead tree slammed right into his face. As the king of Faro reeled back, Ebirah burst from the mud. He may not have been much of a burrower, but his powerful pincers had made short work of the soft muck as he made away. Normally, he would have burrowed back to the open sea, but by this point, it was not about getting a meal, but about pride. Both combatants refused to be considered weaker than the other. Both would fight to prove it.

Kong roared in anger and charged towards the damned lobster, who emerged fully from the mud and swiped his pincers, which the gorilla quickly blocked with his huge arms. The two engaged in a brief exchange of fists and pincers, with both parties blocking the other’s blows until Ebirah broke the stalemate by ramming into the primate with his huge body. While stumbling back, the ape’s foot found the rock he had previously tried to bash the lobster with and kicked it like a massive football at the giant shrimp. Ebirah caught the rock in midair within his giant claws. Seeing his enemy’s pincers preoccupied, Kong quickly grabbed onto Ebirah’s arms and, hoisting him up, smashed his kneecap into Ebirah’s upper chest. The giant shrimp quickly counterattacked by smashing the rock onto Kong’s head, knocking the ape over.

Kong clutched his head in pain as he recovered from the impact. Ebirah snuck up to him and seized his chance, jumping onto the great ape’s chest. This time, Kong was ready, and kicked Ebirah in the chest, sending the lobster flying against a cliff. A huge lobster-shaped impact would forever remain on that cliff. Ebirah quickly recovered and observed his injuries. Bodily fluids flowed down his sides and back. All his plates had by now been tarnished with cracks and gashes. However, Ebirah still had some strength left in him. The crustacean lumbered towards the gorilla, who had suffered some nasty wounds to the head himself. The sea monster lumbered towards the ape, this time aiming his pincers at Kong’s throat, hoping to rip it out of his neck! The ape’s eyes widened in horror as the pincers closed in.

Kong bashed the two pincers aside, barely avoiding them clamping onto his throat. Giving a loud battle cry, he grabbed onto Ebirah’s underbelly, hoisting the entire crustacean up with his incredible strength. As the giant gorilla lifted him higher, Ebirah struggled wildly as the ape’s feet began to sink into the wet gray mud of the beach under his foe’s weight. Still, Kong persevered, and tensing his muscles, threw the Letchi devil over three hundred feet into the air!

Ebirah hit the ground hard, a shockwave of mud and tiny bits of armor signifying his landing. The lobster struggled to get back up, this time with great difficulty. His body was weak and his agony incredible. When he finally managed to balance on all eight legs, one of those legs fell off, much to the shrimp’s extreme displeasure. This ape was too strong. Much too strong. Ebirah knew he stood little chance in this environment, but perhaps in the water…

Kong lumbered towards the crustacean, all ready to deliver the killing blow. As he raised his fists, his face was suddenly splashed with wet mud, clouding his vision under the grayish substance. As Kong began wiping the dirt off, the Red Bamboo mutant jabbed him repeatedly with his claws before dragging him as he tried to defend against Ebirah’s vicious strikes, not feeling the dull waters until he fell onto his back with a mighty splash.

Kong shook the mud off his face and opened his sore eyes. His surroundings were unfamiliar. He certainly wasn’t anywhere on Monster Island; this place was entirely unfamiliar to him. His lower body was also experiencing a strange sensation. Kong’s visions suddenly cleared, and the giant ape gasped in shock. He was hundreds of meters away from Monster Island, out in the open sea. Kong immediately began paddling back to the island, against the powerful undercurrents which had sent dozens of curious ships to their doom.

As he swam, his foot made contact with something. Something hard, cracked and familiar. The ape began to paddle faster. His enemy was persistent. The greenish-gray murky waters concealed even the gigantic shape of Ebirah. Faro’s devil had no idea where his foe was from the surface. The big ape quickened his pace, waiting in anticipation for the lobster to rise.

Instead, there was only silence.

Above him, scores of Meganulons waited for either combatant to die. Kong ignored their cries and struggled on against his invisible enemy. Only a few meters to wading level now…

Suddenly, the ape gulped in pain as he felt the sting of Ebirah’s pincer had clamped onto his leg. Kong struggled, but the current was against him and assisting the sea monster in dragging his mighty body downward. The simian eventually gave up trying to keep above the surface, instead swallowing a massive amount of oxygen to keep himself alive for the next few minutes. The battle would continue underwater.

Kong’s eyes were not suited for underwater combat. But they were certainly able to see Ebirah’s colossal shape. However, it was far more difficult to make out his enemy’s movements. The crustacean was definitely moving around swiftly, but just what the shrimp was doing was hard to make out. Kong attempted to get a better glimpse of his foe’s pincers when they smashed him right in the face, making him choke on a mouthful of water as the claws connected with his face again and again. His foe’s vision now hindered by his own blood, Ebirah came in for a second strike, this time attacking from behind the giant gorilla. A direct blow to Kong’s spine caused the ape to stop struggling for a few seconds, allowing the great lobster to drag him down into the ocean trench…

The two went deeper.

Kong regained his composure. If his sight was not proving useful, he would have to make do with his ears. He closed his bleeding, stinging eyes and waited. Ebirah charged, swimming from beneath his enemy this time. The colossal shrimp swung his claws again, this time making contact with… Kong’s fist. The super shrimp reeled back and screamed in pain as one of his pincers was smashed beyond recognition by the Eighth Wonder’s powerful attack. An explosion of scattered armor plates and an oily film of Ebirah’s blood surrounded the two titans as the battle continued. Kong grabbed the other pincer as the crustacean attempted to get away. Something was pressing onto him, but he did not know what. But the great ape was determined to finish this. As the sea monster struggled and squealed, Kong slammed his powerful arms onto his other pincer. Another explosion of armor plates stained the deep blue waters, but this time, when they sank, they went down with Ebirah’s pincer, joining the snow of microorganisms below.

The two went even deeper.

Ebirah wailed like a banshee as he mourned the loss of the pincer that had served him for so long. He was beginning to lose morale. Perhaps continuing this battle was not such a wise idea, as he began making away towards the deepest point of Monster Island’s waters. But Kong was not letting this pesky predator get away so easily. The big ape grabbed onto his foe’s tail, and latched on ferociously. The Letchi devil struggled, but his overall ability to fight back was lost with his pincers. Continuing this battle with his enemy behind him and only his weak legs to fight with would be futile. The champion of Mondo raised his arm, before noticing that his opponent had lost his fighting spirit. It would be boring to continue fighting with an opponent who had given up. He might as well end it here. Kong swung his fist down at the back of his foe’s head.

Ebirah let his stalk-like eyes sink back into their sockets. He curved himself and braced for the sudden painful shock…

CLUNK!

Ebirah let his eyes emerge. His enemy was… gone. Ebirah turned to see a brownish, compressed lump, which had whitish bits of bone ripping out from its sides. The lump was sinking away into the depths of the sea, when he suddenly noticed the lump was covered in fur. Realization dawned onto the shrimp’s surprisingly intelligent brain. His foe had been destroyed by the amazing pressure of the ocean’s depths!

The lump that was once the Eighth Wonder of the World disappeared completely as Ebirah’s surprise was quickly replaced by a wave of relief, followed by the grand feeling of triumph. Victory was his! The giant shrimp swiftly surfaced, and as his big red body poked out of the waves, Ebirah waved the shattered remaining pincer in triumph.

Winner: Ebirah (Universal)