Author: Joel Forsberg | Banner: Landon Soto

With a howl of satisfaction, Gabara kicked another building away.

After years of torment, the colossal ogre had finally found a perfect domain. He had ventured out to terrorize humanity, to finally claim territory for himself. But no matter what he tried, Gabara found himself defeated by some other kaiju.

When he returned to Monster Island after his years of searching, he had been excited to vent his anger on his favorite victim, Minilla. Though Gabara found the son of Godzilla, another offspring of the Monster King has appeared in the green brute’s absence, and a very angry Godzilla Junior chased the emerald ogre out of his own home.

Defeated and disgruntled, Gabara wandered the Earth until he found this place. The city below him was called Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galapagos archipelago. But Gabara did not know that, nor did he care. The only thoughts rattling inside its mischievous mind was the fact that he had finally found his own place to stomp into the ground.

Amidst Gabara’s ecstatic rampage, a strange, high-pitched roar echoed through the air. The feline-faced kaiju snapped out of his daze and turned his head to the source of the noise, but the rocky beach revealed nothing. Gabara shrugged, and turned back to his reign of destruction.

Another roar caused Gabara to snort angrily and whip around once more, his left eye visibly twitching. This time, however, he was greeted by the sound of rumbling. Gabara stared in confusion as a massive chunk of stone broke from the shallows.

The ogre’s gut reaction proved incorrect as the creature arose. It was no rock, but a massive shell! Water cascaded off the shell’s sides as Kamoebas stepped upon the sand. He had been circling these islands for months, feasting upon seals, iguanas, and the occasional boat. This was his hunting ground, and he was not going to lose it. The turtle slowly rose to the land and turned to the green invader in his home, letting out another screech.

A wicked smile spread over Gabara’s face, baring yellow teeth. Under normal circumstances, he would be angry that his reign of terror was interrupted. But this shelled monster was barely taller than the pre-pubescent monster prince. The bully cracked his knuckles and started toward the beach, snickering all the way. He was eager to make a memory; the memory of him smashing the first threat to his new domain into turtle soup.

Kamoebas shook off the last of the water and lumbered toward the ogre, who had entered an excited jog. The terrapin waddled toward the invader, but Gabara was too fast. The green ogre kneed Kamoebas in the nose, eliciting a squeal from the chelonid. Gabara didn’t let that stop him, striking again from the left, then from below. Kamoebas’ head was batted around like a ball, making him dizzy and disoriented, but he still found enough clarity amongst the beating to heavily stomp down on Gabara’s foot. The invader howled in pain and stepped back, grabbing his foot and hopping around the other, crushing multiple buildings in his fit of pain.

Kamoebas shook his head, trying to get his brain back in place. As his spasm ended, the turtle stared at his agonized foe. With surprising speed, he waddled toward Gabara and crashed into his remaining leg, toppling the bully with a roar of triumph. Gabara let out his own cry as he fell into the street, face planting into the asphalt. The lumpy green monster slowly rose to his knees, just in time to see Kamoebas charging back toward him. Gabara leapt to his feet as his loggerhead foe charged, and delivered a punt beneath Kamoebas’ chin. The walking island skidded to a stop, stunned from the blow, and groaned.

With a reverberating laugh, Gabara reached under the shell of his enemy and flipped Kamoebas over. As the turtle squealed, he beat on his underbelly and neck. Even with the hard shell underneath, the blows were felt with all their force on Kamoebas’ ribs and organs. He flailed his limbs, but to no avail as Gabara continued the beating with his cackles of excitement. To him, it seemed Kamoebas was to lose this battle. The turtle, however, still had an ace up his sleeve.

With a deep breath, Kamoebas extended his neck out to the same length as his body. It struck Gabara in the gut, forcefully knocking the air out of him. A wheeze left the bully’s lungs and he hunched over, grabbing his stomach. As the ogre tried to gasp for air, Kamoebas seized his opportunity. Launching his neck out again, he sunk his fangs into the side of Gabara’s head, driving out a scream from the horrid toad as he shook his head, attempting to shake the terrapin’s firm grip, but somehow managed to accidentally flip Kamoebas – and, hence, himself – over in the process. Gabara was smashed into a small neighborhood and Kamoebas landed on his feet, albeit very ungracefully.

Although disoriented, the turtle kept his grip on the ogre. Gabara screeched again as Kamoebas dragged him through the neighborhoods and streets, shoving his warty body through concrete, steel and asphalt. As he neared the beach, Kamoebas loosened his grip, and with a swift movement of his head, the turtle tossed Gabara into the sea. The ogre’s green arms flailed above the water, accompanied by bubbles from his screams of fear.

Kamoebas watched the water as his foe flailed about, eventually sinking below the waves, fingertips disappearing with a final burst of bubbles. The water became calm. The only sound was the gentle slap of waves hitting the beach.

The chelonid screeched in victory, believing he had won, and began to turn his back to the waves.

Without warning, Gabara burst from the waves with a reverberating cry. Before Kamoebas could turn to face him once more, the bully grabbed the turtle by the tail. Gabara’s horn then began crackling with neon blue energy, which traveled down his arms and into the turtle’s body. Kamoebas squealed as his whole body was exposed to the voltage. Violent spasms plagued him while Gabara laughed. Kamoebas could not hit the bully with his short legs, and the shaking of his body prevented him from turning around.

Gabara’s cackles continued as he shocked Kamoebas, pleased with his foe’s suffering. Electricity, however, was not enough to satisfy his bloodlust. He began dragging Kamoebas backward into the water, where he would then pummel the creature into the seafloor.

His mistake, however, was not letting up on his electricity attack as he did so.

When Kamoebas hit the water, the electricity traveled through it and into Gabara. The ogre felt his own attack surge into his legs and up into his body. The voltage made him stand stiff and upright, and he let go of Kamoebas’ tail. Even without his grip on the turtle, the electricity kept surging through Gabara’s body for some time, allowing Kamoebas to escape his grasp and run onto the land.

As the final surge traveled up to Gabara’s head and through his hair, Gabara stopped his convulsions. His hair blackened and tongue sticking haphazardly out of his mouth, Gabara couldn’t help but think of all the previous victims of this attack. The ogre found himself no longer blaming Junior for the barrage of atomic rays fired at him.

Snapping out of his trance, Gabara watched as Kamoebas retreated inland and snarled, following after the rocky-shelled turtle. As he stepped onto the shore, Kamoebas flipped around, eyes rolling in his head. The electricity had disoriented him, but he was not about give up. Using his new path, Kamoebas announced his attack with a screech and charged toward the cat-goblin. Gabara responded in like, snarling and running.

The two monsters charged each other with no sign of stopping. Cars and street lights were crushed in their wake, but they didn’t care. All they wanted was to rip the other to shreds.

As the kaiju got close, Kamoebas tilted his head to snap Gabara’s thigh, but the brute was too quick. He brought his other leg around and struck Kamoebas in the throat, causing the oversized terrapin to choke and stop. Gabara, however, did not follow suit. With his right hand, he grabbed Kamoebas behind the jaw and unleashed a barrage of punches into the mutant’s face. Kamoebas cried out with each punch, giving Gabara a feeling of glee. But while the beating was satisfying, Gabara wished to not give the reptilian another chance to retaliate. Gabara reached his other hand behind Kamoebas’ head, and his foot on the turtle’s shell. With a mighty heave, the ogre pulled on Kamoebas’ head, attempting to tear it off.

Kamoebas squealed as Gabara pulled, feeling the tension on his neck. Gabara, in turn, laughed and pulled harder.

He kept pulling.

And pulling.

Eventually, the bully realized something was wrong. With a quizzical grunt, he looked at the turtle, wondering what had happened. Kamoebas met his gaze with blank eyes, looking somewhat unworried. Gabara furrowed his brow. How had the creature not been decapitated?

He looked over Kamoebas’ head to see his extended neck, which had adapted to the bully’s tugging. With an amused chortle, Kamoebas quickly pulled his long neck back into its shell. Gabara was tugged along with it, and the momentum caused him to slam his face into the terrapin’s hard carapace. The warty ogre screamed and pulled his hands away to caress his broken nose, trying to numb the pain.

Kamoebas shook his now freed head, trying to get rid of the dizziness. Another one of Gabara’s screams brought him back to reality, and he snarled. He compressed his neck even further, attempting to store up more energy, and set his eyes on the stunned feline’s gut. However, the electricity and beating together had disoriented Kamoebas. He launched his assault, but its destination was a bit lower than he had originally aimed.

The turtle’s head struck hard and true. Gabara tried to scream, but the sound caught in his throat with a choking sound. Tears welled up in the bully’s eyes as he fell to his knees, his mouth frozen in a silent scream as he grasped the injured area.

Kamoebas retracted his head and observed the oni’s reaction. His attack was a lot more effective than expected, but the chelonid was not one to complain. He took his opportunity and struck Gabara once more, this time in his already shattered nose. Gabara was sent back flipping into the water, landing in a colossal belly flop. The resulting splash traveled through the air and farther inland than even the destruction from the two monsters’ rampage. As the water flooded through the streets, Kamoebas kept a careful eye on the ocean. He had learned about assuming the death of his foe from his bout before, and he was not going to make the same mistake this time.

Bubbles rose to the surface. Kamoebas tensed up, waiting for his foe to reemerge…

Belly up, Gabara rose out of the water, clearly unconscious. Drool dripped from the monster’s open mouth as he began floating away, into the open ocean.

Kamoebas watched as Gabara floated away, eventually becoming a green speck in the distance. Another cry of victory escaped the turtle’s maw, but this time it was final. After finishing his victory screech, he slipped into the water. The battle had left him hungry, and he could go for some seal.

Winner: Kamoebas (Showa)