Author: Stephanie Hughes | Banner: Stephanie Hughes

It was two days before Christmas and a creature was stirring. To be exact, an Anguillasaurus that might very well be the last of his kind. Anguirus lumbered across the winter scene, barely feeling the bite of frost against his earth colored scales.

This humbug wanted nothing more than to rest his horned head for the rest of the winter. So with a heavy head, he raised his spiked nose towards the cloud covered sky. One place, that’s all he wanted, one place where he wouldn’t be disturbed. One place where he could escape the raging conflagration that he had been dragged into the past couple of months. One place untouched by man, and even more preferably, another monster.

Frustration. That’s the word that would have surfaced in the mind of the spiked horror right then and there if he had any knowledge of the English language.

He climbed over yet another mountain in this winter wonderland and behold! The ideal place! Not a structure in sight besides abandoned Shinto shrines, and not a single creature in this place that he could smell. This was a territory unmarked. And not only that – but it proved to him to be an ideal haven from the hostile cold, perfect for his hibernation. The wind came down in breezes rather than a crippling cold storm as had been the case in other lands. No obnoxious sounds – only whistling wind and the occasional winter song of wolves howling in the distance and calmly echoing through this valley. Other than these things, the place was still.

Anguirus entered the center of this place, giving a wail of satisfaction to the skies that watched over him. Surely, fortune had shined on him today.

Thinking too soon, it seemed – an unusually harsh wind blew past him, nearly moving him a few paces and almost tearing trees from their places. The trees stayed in place, because this wasn’t a creature of destruction that had just swept over, rather a creature of peace. One who went by the name of Mothra.

Silence filled the shrine, as there stood two creatures that had equally been allies as well as enemies to the King of the Monsters himself.

Now, this had been a sacred domain where souls rested and were now disturbed by another ancient beast. Mutely, they had summoned the Queen of Monsters to aid them in their rest. Winter was, in fact, a season of rest for most. Mothra was obliged to answer this call. And here she was, blocking what of the setting sun had slipped between the cracks of two clouds.

The divine goddess chirped a shrill warning.

The Fierce Dragon snarled back, he wasn’t going to surrender this long sought for sanctuary to the likes of this “Monster God.” The quadruped stood his ground with all four legs and let loose another wail followed by a hollow, guttural growl sounding off at the base of his throat. Infant Island’s matriarch immediately heeded this rebounded warning and immediately took defense to it. As she cast a shadow that put him in darkness, she flapped her great wings to produce winds that uprooted trees and dragged the dinosaur backwards. He held his ground as well as he could. It was going nowhere, and Mothra decided on a more physical approach at defeating this saurian beast – and she rushed in for an aerial tackle. Smack! She caught the unsuspecting creature in the chest and sent poor Anguirus on his back. The lepidopteran attempted to take advantage of this opportunity – But to no avail as a spiny, whip-like tail came crashing down on the giant moth.

With a surprised-sounding shriek, Mothra dropped faster than a sack of bricks, but made all the more impact as her spherical head cracked against the forest floor. Dazed and confused, without much else to do, she blindly flapped her wings to gain momentum. The ground was no place for a creature of the sky. A downed bird was a dead bird, and the same thing applied to insects like her. This shot in the dark managed to keep Anguirus at bay, for he had been blinded by excessively getting dirt and uprooted trees in his eyes. The divine moth was defending this land – and it seemed as though the land was defending her back. She thanked Mother Nature as she was able to return to the sky and the humming UFO sound of her hover returned to her. She chirped with relief as she backed away from the fire monster who had only now managed to get the trees out of his eyes.

Now, the defender of the Earth realized that Anguirus was a monster of close quarters – not of a distance battle. So this would be the advantage she would have. She decided to let loose golden beams from her antennae which left scorching black lines followed by a spew of sparks from the Anguillasaurus’s flesh. He cried out – the pain! But it was short lived, and he recovered. He ran as a start, leapt into the air, but missed.

Mothra chirped with an encore sensation of relief and she widely turned around to meet her adversary with more antenna beams. Once on his feet, the spiked reptile once again fell on his back, wailing, this time out of frustration – the same feeling he had gotten beforehand. Anguirus rolled over onto his feet, and lowered himself onto his haunches. Looking around suspiciously at the sky that had no longer done him any justice. If any fortune had shined on him then, it would not have been the sky that he would thank.

Where was Mothra? The question was rudely answered as more beams scorched the back of his head. She was swooping in from behind, he knew. A fatal mistake, for this Anguillasaurus came equipped with a carapace filled with spines. He pushed off the ground, and what a fatal mistake it was, for his mark had been hit. Not only was Anguirus able to knock Mothra out of the sky, but he was able to land on his opponent to boot. Ah! Surely, fortune was to shine on him! But not for Mothra, who struggled to defend this land as she may.

A crushed chest, wings drilled full of holes, blood spurting in various directions and flooding the forest below, The Killer of the Living saw that this had been a very, very fatal move indeed. And Mothra weakly chirped out to the heavens – the last thoughts and words of a Monster God had she any words at all. Her head went back, and her eyes dimmed out. Anguirus, with the blood of his opponent running down his back and his own blood running down his neck, chest and shoulders, had given room for this unfortunate creature. Various wailing sounds filled the sky in unison as he searched around.

The souls! It must have been! They were mourning the loss of their guardian. The area was once again still, and an unnerving feeling was rising in the throat and chest of Anguirus. Almost a feeling of remorse. This beautiful place had been defiled by his monstrous way of life. Despite the difficulty he had gone through to gain this place as his own, he decided it was not for him now – and he left this calm place behind in the whistling wind and flurries of snow. A good-bye was said to him by one long, last howl from one of the lupine greeters that he became more and more distant from. He held his head high. There just had to be another place to rest his head for the winter.

Winner: Anguirus (Universal)