Author: Hayes A. Jones | Banner: Jackson Morris

Gamera was horrified.

It had been several weeks since his battle with Legion. The insectoid alien had been a deadly foe, her cold cunning and emotionless determination nearly slaying the Guardian of the Universe. It was only through the desperate, last minute use of his ultimate weapon – the Mana Beam – that he was able to save both himself and the planet. But it was a double-edged blade. Although the all-mighty attack had allowed the terrapin defender to prevail over Legion, it had also left the Earth in a weakened state, deprived of Mana, creating the perfect environment for his mortal enemy – Gyaos, the Shadow of Evil and the very creatures he had been created to wipe out.

But it appeared something far worse had arisen.

The corpses of countless Gyaos littered the plains of Africa. Gamera soared overhead, propelled by two columns of blue flames. The terrapin’s noble green eyes were grim with duty. Whatever had killed the flying demons had to be found and stopped immediately. What unnerved the ancient protector most was not simply that the Gyaos were dead or even how many of them had fallen. It was how they were killed. The reptilian vultures were… melted, their cadavers burnt and half-dissolved, coated with a vile slime. The landscape below the airborne turtle was just as ominous. The usually life-filled savannas were dead and brown, the pure white color of skeletonized animals dotting the dark earth. The same foul black sludge blanketed the ground, its eye-watering scent hanging loftily in the air and making him nauseous. The Atlantean champion wanted more than anything to turn back and soak himself in cold seawater, but he couldn’t. He had a mission – to protect the Earth. And that was something he had no intention of failing at.

Even against the horror that was waiting for him.

There. The guardian beast angled himself downward, roaring towards the thing that had decimated the Gyaos. The twin jets of azure fire that powered the shelled protector’s flight ceased with a sputter of smoke. The flaps of skin that transformed the reptile’s arms into organic rudders retracted. As the turtle dropped from the sky, his strong legs swiftly emerged from their sockets and broke his fall. Gamera grumbled in surprise, nearly slipping on the acidic muck on the ground. The poisonous sludge dully burned the soles of his feet, leaving a painful tingling seeping into his thick skin. Regaining his footing, the shelled hero stared ahead, eyes like two hard emeralds. From a heap of corrosive slime that composed its body, the glowing crimson eyes of his unearthly foe gazed back. The tusked titan threw back his head in a roar of challenge. A fit of croaking laughter ringing out from the tower of living minerals he faced.

At the end of a broad trail of death and destruction, the Guardian of the Universe prepared to do battle with Hedorah, the Smog Monster.

Gamera made the first move. Three fireballs erupted from the turtle’s mouth in quick succession. The unstable spheres of plasma detonated on contact with Hedorah, throwing sludge from the decomposing creature’s body. Gurgling, the pollution-based lifeform stumbled back, dripping arms flailing in distress. Encouraged, the Atlantean hero strode forward, more fireballs ripping from his throat. Several explosions bloomed from Hedorah’s torso in response, pushing the corrosive creature back further. With one final round of fireballs, the oozing horror disappeared behind a curtain of smoke, body sizzling as it was flash-dried. 

The seasoned fighter tensed, scanning the smoke for any sign of movement. Just how effective had his fireballs been? The sickening alien gave a bitter response in the form of a bolt of crimson energy that cut through the smoke and struck their foe’s neck. The terrapin clenched his jaws to hold pack a pained cry as pale green blood gushed from his unprotected skin. Croaking, Hedorah emerged from the smoke screen, arms stretched forward. Taking the reptile off-guard, the hideous giant grabbed the guardian’s armored shoulders in their acidic mitts. Gamera shrieked in pain as the deadly muck ate away at his shell, slowly revealing vulnerable flesh, struggling to find a way to take down his foe even in agony. 

The creature’s chest was dusty and cracked from the fireballs. But even as he writhed under its toxic grip, the defender of the innocent could see that the dried layer of sludge was flaking away, revealing the slime beneath was unharmed, still wet, oily and dangerous. The guardian gritted his teeth. That wasn’t good. Staring Hedorah directly in the face, the turtle launched a fireball, blowing the Smog Monster’s scalp open and pushing the horrible thing away from him. Leaping back, Gamera growled and suspiciously eyed the now mutilated Hedorah as it stumbled back. The filthy mottled brown behemoth’s head began to reform, the ooze stitching itself back together. Having no real brain – or many other organs for that matter – the demon from a distant nebula could recover from injuries that would undoubtedly be mortal to any other creature.

The terrapin was in shock at this discovery. How could he possibly defeat such a monstrosity? The guardian’s round eyes hardened, as he took a heated breath. Even if this was a losing battle, it was one he’d see through to the end.

Throat filling with plasma, the Mana empowered hero launched a fireball. But the burning sphere barely left his tusked maw before another red energy bolt detonated it. As the fire and smoke cleared, the turtle found himself glaring at a cackling Hedorah. The defender of Earth’s lip twitched in anger. The toxic creature’s laughter stopped when a fireball exploded into its body, toppling it. Gamera rushed forward, another fireball forming in his jaws. As the terrapin prepared to blast it again, a corrosive loogie flew from the triphibian. The deadly spitball plopped onto the giant reptillian’s plastron with a dull sizzle. Before the champion could stop himself, the turtle slapped his hand over the acidic sludge.

 Big mistake.

Gamera jerked his hand back with a wail, the white gleam of bones peaking out from underneath dark flesh. As the Atlantean relic gripped his wrist in agony, the Smog Monster got to his feet and fired a crimson streak of might from just above his eye. The potent bolt struck the ground at his taloned feet, throwing up a cloud of sulfuric gas. The reptile released his hand and began pawing desperately at his eyes with his good hand. Cackling, Hedorah spat another sludge ball at the choking guardian. The lethal slime spattered over his ridged forehead, immediately eating away at flesh. Acting swiftly, the noble giant used his already damaged hand to wipe the ooze from his head. Knowing he was in deep trouble, the Guardian of the Universe went on the offensive.

The turtle’s legs vanished beneath a curtain of azure fire. Roaring from the ground at an almost vertical trajectory, the champion made a wild charge at the space ninja. The polluted being reeled back in shock. Just before he careened into the monstrosity, Gamera launched a fireball directly into Hedorah’s face and pulled up sharply. As the guardian rocketed straight up, the flames that powered his flight seared Hedorah’s falling shape with a great burst of steam.

Fire erupted from Gamera’s arm socket as he leveled off to a hover. The turtle gazed intently down at the toxic titan’s still body. The alien beast was now just a dry husk. The tusked turtle nodded in satisfaction. Moisture seemed to be this thing’s lifeblood, so he had taken that away. This battle was over.

The husk stirred, causing him to narrow his eyes. Or was it?

The Smog Monster’s shriveled body split open, a dark form flying from the dusty shell. The protector of the innocent snarled in hate as he recognized the creature. Although in a different shape, there was no doubt to the airborne object’s identity – Hedorah. The alien had abandoned its vaguely humanoid form in favor of a UFO shape, led by his oblong red eyes and leaving behind a sulfuric trail. Withdrawing his head into his armored shell, Gamera launched into a fiery pinwheel and gave chase. The gluttonous villian tried desperately to shake the terrapin, pulling sharp turns, steep dives and sudden climbs, but his foe was constantly behind him. The vile being finally settled on allowing the turtle to stay in his wake, hoping that the sulfuric gas it emitted would knock the guardian from the sky. 

A wet hiss escaped from the general area that a mouth would usually be located. Gamera’s rapid rotation easily cut through the dangerous gas, dispersing it. The living flying saucer gave a warbling squawk of annoyance. Time for a change of plan. Banking, the foul creature spun around to rush at his foe head on. A bolt of crimson destruction shot from above an equally red eye. The attack simply bounced off the spinning carapace, Hedorah’s eyes widening in horror as it realized it was going to collide with the turtle and its dehydrating flames. The Smog Monster dropped quickly, trying to duck under the guardian. But the expert flyer did the same. The jagged edges of his shell acting as the teeth on a saw disk, the defending beast cleaved the flying rom in two, flames negating its acidic quality. With a gurgling howl, the two halves of the pollution beast’s body plummeted to the ground, landing with synchronized dull, wet thuds.

Spiraling downward, Gamera slowly spun to a halt, landing a safe distance from both the pieces of Hedorah. The reptilian protector was still suspicious. The monstrosity had proved extremely hard to kill before, so why should it be so easy now? His caution proved justified as the halves of Hedorah’s body disappeared in two bright flashes of pink light. As the light faded, identical frog-like beings were revealed – Hedorah’s initial terrestrial form. The two alien beasts were almost half of the giant terrapin’s size, but they proved just as full of surprises as their final form as one pounced with speed that defied its mass. The plasma powered hero quickly blasted it from the air with a fireball. The slimy quadruped fell with a shower of sparks and a wet squeal. The second creature also leapt, catching him off guard. It crashed into his chest, sending both giants sharply to the ground. The guardian took a moment to decide – and give thanks – that this form apparently wasn’t as toxic as the ones he had faced before,based on the fact that his flesh wasn’t burning from his bones.

At least for now.

The second Hedorah had recovered, ashes and soot falling from its body. It sprung forward with a croaking cry, meeting its twin with a pink flash that drove a blinding whiteness deep into emerald eyes. The weight on the turtle’s armored chest suddenly doubled. As the ancient reptile slowly regained his vision, he could make out the cackling shape of the vile alien’s final form towering above him. An agonizing tingle was spreading across his scaly skin from simple contact with the Smog Monster. As croaking laughter filled the air, corrosive sludge began to ooze from the pollution creature’s body. Gamera’s emerald eyes filled with fear. 

The deadly muck slowly slid down, small drips of it landing on the guardian’s shell with soft hisses. The Atlantean protector threw back his head with a scream as some of the acidic slime fell on his arm, eating through straight to the bone. Fiery energy boiled in his core from a spike of pure adrenaline. A fireball began forming in his tusked maw. But the sphere of unstable power exploded in the terrapin’s jaws, courtesy of a red energy bolt from Hedorah. Gamera grunted in pain as his head was slammed into the ground, flames washing over him. Licks of fire now clung to both the dueling giants. Both were unaffected, the toxic triphibian because of his great endurance and the heroic turtle, his status as a beast powered by heat and flames.

Heat…

Trapped under a titan of poisonous sludge threatening to skeletonize him, the Guardian of the Universe suddenly found himself staring at a small billow of steam as a tongue of flame dried Hedorah’s outermost layer of slime.

More acidic ooze dropped onto his shelled shoulder, dissolving flesh.

Heat was this monstrosity’s weakness. The last hope of humanity had known this very early on in the fight. But he had gone about dehydrating the alien creature in the wrong way.

Deadly slime drizzled over his neck, opening his throat to the dirty air.

He had targeted the Smog Monster’s exterior. What he should have gone for is the interior.

Burning muck spattered across the plastron, dangerously close to wearing away the armor and reaching soft flesh.

He had to dry out the pollution-fueled beast’s core.

Lethal sludge dripped onto Gamera’s head, revealing the turtle’s skull.

And he knew just how to do it.

Focusing what remained of his power, the hero of the innocent forced all his energy into a single raised fist. Willing the fire that dotted Hedorah’s body as well as his own around his closed hand, the noble champion compressed the flames, enveloping his fist in in a coating of pure, concentrated plasma. Eyes hardening, Gamera raised his fist – armed with a “plasma glove” of sorts – and plunged it into the alien’s noxious body. Plasma guarding his bare flesh, the turtle drove his arm into the very heart of the Smog Monster. Arms flailing in panic, the vile leviathan fired his energy beam frantically. The red barrage raked across his face, laying open his cheek and scalp, but he reptilian guardian gritted his teeth. The pain was intense.

But his determination was even more intense.

The gluttonous alien’s center was totally devoid of water. The terrapin forced the plasma outwards, his will now carrying him farther than his stamina ever could. The Smog Monster was thrashing madly, a pale brown dust spilling from around the flaming arm. The mineral born beast began to creak and crackle with every move, its body falling away in dry sheets. Finally, with one last warped scream, the polluted lifeform crumbled away, disintegrating into nothing more than a dusty, gritty gust of wind.

Hedorah was no more.

Gamera collapsed, totally drained. He was exhausted beyond all belief. He was struggling to even keep his eyes open. His foe was vanquished and his energy gone. All he could do now was rest. He would usually travel to the nearest body of rejuvenating water to sleep and regain his energy, but he didn’t have the strength to do so. So be it.

Under the warm African sun, the Guardian closed his eyes and entered a deep, deep, slumber.

Winner: Gamera (Heisei)