Author: Kenneth James | Banner: Stephanie Hughes

Minilla, the son of the Monster King himself, walked through the forests of Birth Island, simply enjoying the scenery. Life for the young kaiju was simple—until he got older, as there was no way his dad intended to take him out to fight. But that didn’t mean others on the island felt the same.

Minilla was startled to hear cackling behind him and turned to see Gabara towering over him. The young Godzilla jumped back, crying in fear, trying to avoid the bullying kaiju. Gabara cracked his knuckles and raised his fist to punch the little monster—only to suddenly stop, looking up and roaring before taking off in terror.

Minilla gave a small roar of relief and turned, expecting to see his father or brother—only to see a pair of Xilien ships floating in front of him. The tiny monster cocked his head, wondering what was going on and why that bully of his was so afraid of them. Suddenly, a pair of rainbow-colored beams descended from the ships. In the swirling light, two kaiju materialized: the hulking alien mutant Orga and the skeletal space monster Monster X.

Orga reared back with a bellowing roar that made Minilla cry out in terror and retreat, covering his ears. Orga had his own ship, naturally, but now he was too massive and his intellect too degraded to pilot it. Monster X looked at his partner, then at the tiny kaiju before him, cocking his head. Surely, both of them hadn’t been needed to kill this little thing. There had to be something they were missing.

Monster X looked around, seeing only Gabara in the distance, screaming in terror and trying to hide. Surely that wasn’t their target either. Finding nothing else, he decided to at least warm up on the little one while they waited—only to find the infant Godzilla missing. Monster X roared in surprise, looking to Orga and trying to get the dimwitted kaiju to tell him where Minilla had gone. The mutated behemoth merely pointed toward some nearby cliffs, not seeming to care—or even realize—that he’d let a target escape. That is, until Monster X smacked him over the head with his tail and roared at him to follow.

The two space monsters soon arrived at the bottom of the cliff, looking around for their prey. Monster X heard Minilla’s roar and looked up to see the little kaiju standing on top of the rather high cliff, waving. Monster X roared in anger and prepared to fire when he saw Minilla pointing behind him. The skeletal space monster turned just in time to be blasted in the face by an atomic ray, toppling him to the ground.

Orga turned to see what was happening, only for a slightly less developed atomic ray to hit him in the shoulder, blowing off a chunk of flesh and making him scream in agony. As his shoulder healed and Monster X stood up, they saw a very irritated Godzilla and Godzilla Junior glaring back at them.

Godzilla bellowed in rage, along with his elder son. How dare these two descend on his island home and push around his youngest child? They were going to pay. Junior looked up to his baby brother, roaring reassurances. Sure, he didn’t know Minilla that well yet, but no one messed with his family and got away with it.

Monster X flexed his claws and roared in fury—only to be staggered forward as a purple energy ray swept over his back. He looked up to see Rodan flying overhead with a screech, spinning around and hovering above his adoptive ‘brother’ and close ally. He didn’t like these intruders messing with his friends, and they would pay for it dearly.

Monster X and Orga roared, charging the trio of Earth’s protectors. Godzilla roared in response and swung around, bashing the alien mutant in the head, while Junior charged and headbutted Monster X in the chest. Rodan hung back for the time being.

The hulking behemoth was unfazed and roared, rearing up and lunging down to bite Godzilla’s shoulder, sinking his teeth into his genetic donor’s chest. But before he could begin absorbing genetic material, the monster king sank his claws deep into the thick neck of the abomination and bit down on Orga’s head, forcing the beast’s jaws off him. Keeping hold, Godzilla began pummeling the creature’s boxy head with his claws. Orga bellowed in surprise and wrapped his oversized claws around Godzilla’s ankles, heaving up and throwing him to the ground.

Orga reared back to slam Godzilla with his massive fists, only for maple-leaf dorsal spines to light up. The monster king fired a blue atomic ray that tore into his hunchback shoulder, blasting flesh and blood off as the beast howled in pain. Godzilla got to his feet, watching Orga’s wound regenerate at an outstanding rate.

The emerald green reptile swung around, smacking his tail into Monster X’s legs and toppling the space kaiju. Before the immature Godzilla could capitalize, the skeletal warrior threw his arms out, unleashing gravity bolts from his eyes and shoulder skulls, tearing into Junior’s flesh and causing him to retreat with a roar of pain. Monster X rose to his feet and leaped up, spinning around and backhanding Junior in the face. His tail followed, striking the green saurian again and sending the smaller Godzilla toppling to the ground. However, before the ghastly fighter could land, Rodan swooped in, slamming into his chest and knocking him hard onto his back.

Rodan did a loop and dove at the Xilien champion, bombarding him with his Uranium Heat Beam. As black-skinned monstrosity shrieked in pain, Rodan flew through the smoke of his own attack, landing on Monster X’s chest and repeatedly pecking at his enemy’s face. Reeling in surprise, the destructive warrior unleashed a barrage of Gravity Beams, blasting Rodan off and sending the mutated pteranodon crashing hard to the ground.

Before he could recover, another atomic ray from Junior struck him in the back, knocking him forward. As he turned around, Junior swung his tail, smashing it into Monster X’s cranium and sending him toppling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Godzilla clawed at Orga’s face, even gouging out the alien’s gleaming yellow eye, only for it to regenerate almost instantly. Having had enough, Orga pulled back his massive arm and slammed his fist into Godzilla, knocking the King of the Monsters off balance. The mutated alien seized the opportunity, swinging both huge fists and sandwiching Godzilla’s head between them, leaving the nuclear leviathan dazed.

Realizing he had a rare opening, the jaws of the mutant unhinged, splitting open wide as a grotesque membrane expanded outward like a demonic flower. Before Godzilla could recover, Orga lunged forward, engulfing his head and neck, the membrane constricting as it attempted to force him down his throat. Godzilla struggled, but Orga had him right where he wanted him, rapidly siphoning his DNA.

Orga would have smiled if he could—he felt his body changing, spines beginning to form on his back. But something was wrong. He suddenly realized that something wasn’t just being absorbed; something was leaving him.

Being a hybrid of an alien and Godzilla, Orga had radiation in his body, but to his shock, Godzilla was absorbing it.

Suddenly, Godzilla’s spines flashed red, and pulses of energy erupted from his body. A Spiral Ray burst forth, tearing through Orga’s back. The Millennian aberration bellowed in agony, releasing his target and stumbling away as his maimed body struggled to regenerate. But Godzilla didn’t give him the chance. Another Spiral Ray was unleashed, severing the entire left arm of the mammoth alien, sending the limb crashing to the ground. Orga howled, staggering backward. A third blast struck, reducing his left shoulder to a smoking ruin.

Godzilla roared and unleashed another devastating Spiral Ray. Orga’s chest exploded, his body convulsing violently. Finally, with one last, earth-shaking blast, Orga’s head and upper torso were obliterated, his form reduced to a burning husk.

Monster X managed to get back to his feet and turned to face Junior, throwing a punch into the young Godzilla’s gut, then another into his jaw, forcing him backward. Godzilla Junior snarled and swung his tail, sweeping Monster X’s legs out from under him. At that moment, Rodan dove down, smashing into the back of the bony beast’s head and sending him flipping head-over-heels, slamming face-first into a boulder.

The space monster groaned, slowly rising to his feet—only to be hit by twin energy blasts from Junior and Rodan. The combined attack struck Monster X’s chest, knocking him onto his back once again.

As Monster X tried to regain his footing, he saw Godzilla staring down at him. Junior stepped forward, followed by Rodan. He looked from one monster to the other, feeling something unfamiliar—terror.

He frantically searched for Orga, hoping for backup, but all he found was the burning remains of his former ally, now reduced to ash. Above, on the cliff, Minilla waved mockingly at him.

Monster X gulped. He was in trouble.

Godzilla, Junior, and Rodan unleashed their radioactive rays in unison. First, Monster X’s shoulder heads were blown off by the barrage. Then, his skeletal face was stripped of the flesh that had once covered it.

Godzilla motioned for his ‘family’ to step back as his body pulsed with crimson energy. Junior and Rodan wisely retreated. The suffering Monster X’s last sight was Godzilla’s Spiral Ray slamming into his skull, causing it to explode into a shower of bone fragments and flaming flesh.

Godzilla and his allies roared in victory. Minilla ran over and hugged his father’s leg. Godzilla placed a comforting hand on his son’s head, reassuring him.

Looking up, he saw the Xilien ships retreating. The Monster King knew this was far from over—his duty was far from finished.

He roared at Junior to protect his younger brother, then turned to Rodan, signaling for him to follow. His fierce roar echoed across the island, rousing a sleeping Anguirus—who had somehow managed to sleep through the entire battle. The armored kaiju awoke with a startled growl and hurried over.

As Junior led Minilla to safety, Godzilla noticed Gabara cowering nearby, praying that no one would attack him. Godzilla let out a sharp, commanding roar in his direction.

Gabara blinked and pointed to himself. Another fierce roar from Godzilla confirmed the order. The cat-like ogre yelped in surprise and quickly scrambled after the others as they dove into the ocean.

—

Meanwhile, in the Xilien Mothership…

X stomped around, his face contorted in rage, throwing a tantrum. “That dumb mutant! We should’ve sent something smarter than him with Monster X! It’s all his fault!”

“Settle down, my friend,” a female voice said over a nearby monitor.

“Calm down?!” X shouted, storming over to the screen. “Your stupid plan just cost me my best monster! Why should I calm down?!”

“Because I’ve got something better for you,” the voice replied smoothly.

X immediately stopped his tantrum, his anger giving way to curiosity. The screen shifted, displaying something that made him grin.

“Well… I guess that’s a good reason.”

Winner: Godzilla (Heisei), Godzilla Junior, Rodan (Universal)