[Continued from Match 184]

“This is it!” Elsie exclaimed while Monique shut down the H.E.A.T. Seeker’s engines and lowered the anchor. Elsie Chapman smoothed her red hair as the vessel came to halt. She looked down to the lower deck at her teammates. Randy Hernandez, as well as Monique Dupre met her gaze and moved to the top deck to get a view of the island the biologist had insisted to visit.

“Why are we here again?” Randy questioned while he clutched his stomach.

“Lawrence asked me to do him a favor,” Elsie expressed with utter displeasure. “I could’ve said no, but that would make me the bad guy. Apparently, his best friend witnessed a large avian-like creature migrate to this island. I agreed I would check the island out since we were close due to the wedding, but I doubt we will find anything. His friend always liked two things and one of them was drinking while at sea.”

“As much as I want to go on a deserted island on the word of a drunken sailor, I will just stay on the boat while you two go bird watching,” Randy moaned before he ran to the edge of the boat and unloaded his stomach contents.

Monique smiled as she heard the splash.“This what happen when how you say, ‘All you can…eat.’?

Elsie chuckled while Randy turned around, scowled and countered, “Well the steak looked so good at Jefe’s wedding! So did the lobster, shrimp, the tiny snail things as well as everything else. Too bad they don’t like each other.”

“Or maybe they don’t like you! Anyway, let’s lower the raft and head ashore,” Elsie ordered as she waived the duo over to her. “By the way, Randy you coming ashore may do wonders for your stomach. You’ve got nothing to lose!”

“I’d beg to differ,” Randy quipped.

After the raft hit the water the trio rode to shore. Once the group tied up the raft, the three members of H.E.A.T. moved inland with Monique in the lead. The French agent cut away shrubbery with ease using a machete until the group burst from the jungle and discovered a dirt road in the sea of trees.

“I thought you said this place was deserted?” Monique inquired as she studied the cleared path. “Fresh tracks. Tires are industrial… possibly military.”

Elsie studied the road and scratched her head as she recalled the island’s description. “Well, it’s supposed to be deserted, according to Lawrence.”

“The activity may explain the creature’s appearance,” Monique retorted before she rose to her feet.

“Well if there are people maybe there is a drug store with some antacids.” Randy jokingly suggested before beginning to walk backward down the road.

About a mile in the muddy path transitioned to a paved road. As the group crested the hill a large compound came into view. “Guess we know what made those tracks,” Randy stated as two military tanks and a tractor trailer with pink hazard barrels rolled up to the secure fencing.

Monique scanned the complex with detail noting the facilities’ defenses and personal. “Multiple guards with high caliber rifles supported with a high end security system. Did your friend mention who owns the island?” 

Elsie pondered a few seconds before she replied, “Not really... He said it was deserted. Geological activity was supposedly too dangerous for building or habitation.”

Randy glanced at the structure and let out a sigh. “Well, I got twenty bucks its Cameron Winter. Any takers?”

Elsie immediately shot him a confused glance. “Randy, you know he died right?”

As Elsie finished her remark a sound of thunder echoed past them before a massive gush of wind knocked the trio off their feet. The members of H.E.A.T. lifted themselves up, Monique and Elsie wide eyeing Randy as a screech echoed from the sky. The trees blocked the full sight of the creature, but Elsie immediately recognized the sound. The piercing, banshee-like frequency was all she needed to identify the monstrous creature soaring above: Rodan.

“Well it’s about time!” the biologist sarcastically stated while she lifted herself up. “The volcano most likely lured Rodan to the island as a great place to roost, and the island’s owners are here to study it. Oh, how Lawrence would kill to be here.” 

The trio watched the pterodactyl fly through the air, but a sudden movement from the base caused them to return their gaze to the building. A large wall ascended revealing a massive creature on all fours. Glittering in the island light, pink crystals lined its backside from chin to tail. These same pink crystals also acted as armor, covering different parts of its body. The creature’s head and jaw lowered, spilling drool, like a ravenous dog anticipating an order from his master.

“Okay, now that’s a new one,” Elsie commented at the strange creature’s sight.

The trio continued to watch the two monsters until the sound of twigs snapping caused Monique to whip around her machete. Her gaze now met those of multiple guards, each armed with assault rifles. Three she could disarm with the machete, five at the risk of her teammates, but twelve…

“Si seulement j'avais une arme à feu,” she whispered lowering her weapon.

Elsie and Randy then turned around to find the gun wielding group. Both immediately rose their hands and the intern declared, “You all wouldn’t happen to know where a drug store is?”

The guards shook their heads in unison with disapproval causing Randy to say to Elsie, “I should have learned with Mendel when we went after the parasites. Never go anywhere without the Z-Man as backup!”

----------

A strange aura resonated from the island. An energy that was unlike anything on Earth, yet familiar… But the creature stalking Rodan from below was unlike anything the aerial beast ever knew. He could sense the crystal monster's maniacal hunger and desire to ravage him. And the crystal monster sensing the presence of his opponent sent a challenging shriek in response.  Rodan answered the challenge in kind with a defying screech. A sound that warned the foolish creature it was about to challenge the King of the Skies, and his fury would descend upon him with unrelenting force.

Krystalak wasted little time acknowledging his foe’s warning, and discharged a continuous Prism beam at the sky beast, but the reptile-bird proved too agile, and dodged the attack with ease. Feeling his power wane, Krystalak ceased his energy stream. Rodan took this chance to unleash its Uranium Heat Beam. The atomic ray razed into Krystalak’s side, sending a shower of sparks to cascade across its body. The monster stumbled in a daze and opened its eyes in time to lock eyes with Rodan before he slammed into him sending Krystalak crashing through the trees. Krystalak roared in agony as it rolled backward, gashing the earth. After coming to a stop, Krystalak shook himself and slowly shuddered to his feet; now waiting patiently for Rodan to make another pass. 

The flying dinosaur glided barely above the ground, chunks of earth from his sonic trail flying behind him. Purple radiation glowed in the Rodan’s three horns, alerting Krystalak of the incoming ray before Rodan had a chance to deploy it. Krystalak blocked the anticipated blast with his arms, purple atomic fire encompassed the mutation’s crystalline body. When Rodan ended his fiery assault, the Krystalak hunched down to unleash retaliation with a duel blast of energy from his tail. Caught off guard, Rodan screamed as the blasts engulfed his head forcing the reptile to plummet to the ground. 

The forest was expelled into the air as the pterodactyl crashed down. After the impact, Rodan rose off the ground and turned to face Krystalak as the creature lunged toward him. The winged reptile frantically flapped backward, but the action was too late as Krystalak landed on him. The two struck the ground with immense force, shaking the small island.

Krystalak slashed at the downed creature with its razor sharp claws, drawing blood with each swipe, but Rodan countered with his own sharp talons, clawing the crystalline hide of his foe. Blood spilled from both creatures abdomen’s until Krystalak opened its mouth to discharge a concentrated Prism beam at the gash on the reptile’s chest. Rodan, noticed this left his foe open for an onslaught and unleashed a Uranium Heat Beam into the roof Krystalak’s mouth. The blast tore through the crystal monster’s maw sending Krystalak flying off Rodan, and onto the ground as the mutated pteranodon flew back up into the sky. With his foe lying stagnant for the moment, Rodan plummeted down from the sky and seized the pink creature’s tail with his talons. With Krystalak in his grasp, Rodan flew the depilated Krystalak toward his new lair at the peak of the volcano. 

--------

With the scene now clear, the dozen soldiers escorted the captured trio through the dark halls of the complex. Its walls were clearly made of metal, but it had lost its luster from a clear lack of maintenance. Green moss flourished in cracks in the metal illuminated in the glow of the dim lights that shined from holes in the ceiling. With their hands securely cuffed behind them, well at least two of them as Monique had started to pick her cuffs, the members of H.E.A.T. could only see as far as the head in front of them, but their destination came within view as a large steel door opened at the end of the long hallway.

“The boss wants a word with the three of you,” one of the guards commented before he pushed the trio into the room,slamming the door behind them.

Elsie, Monique and Randy were now alone in a room with a strangely dressed man. His blue attire was striking and almost cheery in the dim cavern but his unmoving figure gave him a disturbing presence.

“Is it Halloween here or did I forget to read Teen Vogue again?” Randy inquired to the man as he studied his strange blue attire from a distance.

“No it’s not,” the figure stated angrily while he stood unflinchingly on the left side of the room.

Randy nodded before he whispered to Monique, “In that case, I think this guy has lost it.”

Monique shook her head in despair before she demanded, “So where is this ‘Boss’? We would like to know what we are being held for.” 

“He…,” Hikaru regrettably stated, “Should be here any second.”

The sound of footsteps silenced the conversation until the figure entered the room from an opposing hallway. Cameron Winter paused for a moment upon his arrival, awaiting gasps of surprise. The billionaire mogul proved alive to his most despised adversaries after his televised death, yet as he looked upon the trio, he found unamused faces.

“Really?” Cameron asked as he entered the room. “You expected me alive.”

“Nah… just don’t really care too much,” Randy responded as he slumped his shoulders. “You have some anti-acids though? Really would appreciate it man.”

“Well… this actually works out. I’m personally tired of the whole, my death was greatly exaggerated shtick,” Cameron explained before he sat at his desk. “Though it’s about time you three got here. I paid that fisherman quite a penny.”

Randy immediately turned to Elsie. “Money?  Was it that guy’s first or second love?”

“How about explaining how you escaped death?” Monique questioned gathering everyone’s attention yet remaining inconspicuous as she stealthily picked at her cuffs.

A confused expression suddenly formed on Randy’s face. “Wait you died? Like, when?”

“Well if you must know, I escaped my transport before it was teleported. I then left the city in the confusion of the invasion,” Cameron expounded. “I paid a few divers to place a replacement body of some convict in the car once it was found in the river, and then my death became a false reality. You would not believe what a DNA lab and a few million dollars can do for you these days.”

“Next time work on the marketing,”Randy countered. “But let me guess, Razorback is your new Z-Man fighter? Gotta say, totally unoriginal design. Also, why pink?”

“It’s called Krystalak, and I have greater intentions than simply Zilla’s death.”

Elsie laughed. “Of course, let me guess. Revenge because that is completely original!”

Cameron’s burst up from his chair and slammed both hands onto his desk. His chair screeched as he rose and his eyes focused on the trio.

“What I want is something you all stole from me!” Cameron uncharacteristically yelled. The mogul stood in silence for a few moments, then returned to his seat. A quick breath allowed him to refocus and he explained, “Pretty petty reasoning, I know, but I think it will suffice. And please before you say anything else, I know Mendel is in Japan, and Nick is on his honeymoon with Audrey so don’t try to tell me there are others on the island excluding Rodan. Speaking of which, funny how you search for something for months and then it shows up the moment you aren’t searching. Well I guess it could have been the crystal…”

“Hey! Not to interrupt your speech, but what did we steal? Are we just the bait to lure it and Nick onto the island?” Elsie inquired only for Cameron to laugh at the statement. 

“Well aren’t you the smart one of the group. But yes and no, he isn’t the only one,” Cameron arrogantly chuckled. “No, the other person is the one that tried to kill me by sending me to that prison in New York and let’s not forget about Zilla making it three birds with one stone.”

“Why try to get revenge now?” Elsie questioned. “You had years to do that but you waited more than a decade, why now? And you didn’t answer me, what did we steal?”

Cameron’s casual demeanor suddenly vanished again as his eyes focused on the group with an unparalleled amount of hatred.

“You want dumb, fine? Years ago, after listening to a Japanese executive ramble on for the fiftieth time about being betrayed or something like that, I realized something,” Cameron expounded before he rose from his seat and started walking around. “I was the CEO of a multibillion dollar company, I was on the verge of greatness. I had billions of dollars to my name and anything I wanted I merely had to snap my fingers to obtain, but then it all changed. I gradually lost my prestige, my companies’ prestige, my wealth... At that point I just wanted to be rid of H.E.A.T., but what really pushed me to the edge was when I died. I expected news reports for days’, books and specials worth of material from the loss of a technological genius, but all I got was an hour tops on CNN.”

Cameron’s stopped his movements and refocused on the group. “You want to know what you took….my legacy. My achievements,my history, my prestige, so now I’m reclaiming it and when I’m done no one will forget Cameron Winter!”

“Ok, you amigo, have lost it!” Randy yelled in response to Cameron's explanation. 

Cameron’s eyes twitched in anger. “Maybe, I did turn Hikaru here into my personal puppet with my neural stimulators, a man I hold no contempt for. But remember, now I am a man with nothing to lose, only a legacy to regain.  I hope you all understand that and while you’re here I’m going to make sure you stay the hell out of my way!”

--------

A deafening darkness gradually faded revealing Krystalak’s dire predicament. He had flown hundreds of feet off the ground in the clutches of his enemy. Nothing is more powerful than rage, and the monster used it to fuel his energy. Power and rage surged through his being until Krystalak could contain it no longer. The crystal titan roared alerting Rodan to its consciousness; however, it was too late as Krystalak unleashed his shockwave of energy from his body. Rodan let go of Krystalak, but the shockwave disoriented the winged reptile propelling him into a free fall toward the rocky volcano.

Krystalak crashed into the volcano’s side first followed shortly after by Rodan. The two monsters clumsily lifted themselves up before refocusing on the other, their instinctual drives overtaking them. Krystalak charged first on all fours at the Pteranodon but before he could assault him a blast of energy from Rodan stopped Krystalak in his tracks. The fiend slid across the volcanic dirt before he raised himself up and watched Rodan fly directly at him.

Rodan flew close to the crystal creature and pecked at his face, blood spewing from each stab. Krystalak cried in anguish and tried to swat the flying reptile away, but the pteranodon’s perseverance proved too strong to overcome. After Rodan impacted the mutant’s eye with his beak, Krystalak saw an opening and discharged a concentrated Prism beam at the reptile. A massive detonation on Rodan’s abdomen followed the blast sending the pteranodon recoiling, yet the force proved insufficient in knocking the pterodactyl out of the air. 

Rodan soared high into the atmosphere, regaining altitude, and disappeared into the glare of the sun. Confident Krystalak could not trace his movements, Rodan turned himself back toward Krystalak and unleashed atomic fury upon the beast. The mountainside exploded as dozens of Uranium Heat Beams pelted the landscape as well as Krystalak. The crystal fiend’s skin burned under the constant stream of nuclear energy while purple explosions ravaged and ignited all over his body. Krystalak lunged into the air, determined to claw his cowardly opponent to shreds, but upon clearing the smoke, Rodan reappeared. The winged reptile smashed his wing into Krystalak’s torso mid leap, expelling all the air from Krystalak’s lungs, plunging the fiend back into the mountainside. Krystalak pried himself up from his fresh crater and looked to the sky to see his foe circling back.

Not willing to give in, Krystalak unleashed an onslaught of Prism beams from its maw and tail in a fit of rage. Pink radiation filled the sky, but Rodan cawed with amusement as he dodged the barrage. Rodan gracefully evaded the onslaught until Krystalak’s reserves ran dry. The crystal creature fell to the ground on all fours, not even his rage could muster more energy, breathing erratically as he tried to recover. Rodan screeched arrogantly at his foe’s situation, and flew directly Krystalak.

Rodan discharged his final ray but looked on in shock as Krystalak lunged off the ground, and evaded his attack. Krystalak swung his claws downward with all his might. The winged reptile evaded and tucked in his wings to circle the beast, grabbing his tail with his talons. Krystalak realized too late the gravity of the situation as Rodan yanked him backward, and slammed him back into the volcano. Continuing his assault, Rodan propelled himself up the mountainside dragging Krystalak still in his talons along with him. 

Shrubbery, rocks and other debris impacted Krystalak’s chest as he was pulled up the slope of the volcano. Krystalak, in an attempt to slow his movements, dug his claws into the ground, but Rodan’s grip was too strong. The fiend then flipped to face Rodan so he could unleash a Prism beam; however, his back crystals gouged and lodged in the mountainside. Krystalak abruptly stopped in the ground sending Rodan plummeting to the earth below. 

A massive cloud of dirt puffed into the air after Rodan’s impact on the volcano’s side. Before he could rise, Krystalak rose from his awkward position, jumped on top of the downed creature and chomped into the reptile’s neck. Rodan frenzied, clawing with its arm as well as its talons which drew copious amounts of blood from Krystalak. The crystal fiend ignored the attacks and sunk its teeth deeper into the pteranodon’s neck. 

His sight failing and unable to move his neck to unleash his Uranium Heat Beam directly on Krystalak, Rodan discharged his heat ray on the volcano’s side. The powerful continuous beam lanced across the mountain’s side, impacting as well as loosening the ground until finally, everything gave way. 

Krystalak penetrated Rodan’s wind pipe with his sharp teeth while Rodan continued to unleash its heat ray. Tiny beams of energy burst through the windpipe’s opening and cauterized the wound forcing the fiend to release his grip. With Rodan’s movements extremely limited and his ray subsiding, Krystalak began to charge a final Prism ray to finish his foe off, but the sound of rumbling made him look up.

As the crystal creature did, a wave of rocks impacted him as well as Rodan. The avalanche buried Rodan while Krystalak began to roll down the hillside with rocks impacting him on his trip down. After a long journey of rolling, Krystalak ended his movements by smashing his head on a multitude of boulders resting at the bottom of the volcano. The fiend lifted himself up, swayed back and forth from extreme dizziness until finally he could not take it any longer. Krystalak dropped to the rubble covered ground unconscious. 

------

Cameron let out a sigh of disappointment at the sight of his newest creation’s complete failure at killing Rodan.

“Well it appears Krystalak is not as powerful as the crystal’s source,” Cameron moaned before he activated a few cyber-flies to attach a neural transmitter on Rodan to make some use of the creature.

“Though Rodan should make another fine addition.”

As the mogul finished typing the orders onto his electronic pad, Hikaru walked in.

“They are in the holding facility,” the alien figure stated hesitantly.

“Good to hear,” Cameron remarked as he continued working on his personal device. “Prepare a video of their capture and tell the necessary workers to insert the remaining crystal fragment into the volcano. By the time the video airs and the persons of interest arrive to save the day, our guest of honor should arrive.”

Hikaru nodded and immediately left, leaving Cameron alone.

The mogul gradually stopped working, and rose from his chair. Through a window in his office, Cameron glanced out toward the sea.

“This time will be different Nick. This time, I’m taking everything from you.”

-------

Junior awakened from his slumber on Monster Island after a horrible sense overcame his being. He could feel his half-brother in tremendous pain. He didn’t know why, or how, but he knew Rodan was in a dire situation. Instantly, Junior moved toward the sea during the dead of night. The dinosaur reached the beach but stopped after a fatherly roar echoed across the island.

Godzilla walked toward his son and screeched while directing his son inland. Junior stubbornly roared in defiance merely for an atomic ray to scorch the area in front of Junior. The juvenile Godzilla took one last look at his father before he submitted and began his trek back toward their home.

Godzilla watched his adopted son as he walked inland. Even after years of repair, Godzilla could clearly see Iris’ scars still healing across Junior. He would not risk losing him. Not again.

As Junior faded from his view, Godzilla turned back toward the sea. For over a decade, Godzilla remained on Monster Island. He did not fear mankind, but he knew the repercussions of interacting with them. After watching his father engage in years of hostility only to fall in his endless war, Godzilla choose another path. Humanity would not pursue him to his home, so long as he stayed away from their own territory, but on this day that truce ended.

Godzilla dove into the dark, cold waters of Monster Island. The old sensors of humanity that monitored the island’s shores immediately picked up the leviathan’s movement.

Across the world, military personal panicked as the information spread.

The King of the Monsters was on his way. 

------

Deep in the dark vacuum of space on a desolate planet, an evil being stood motionless. Large crystals on his shoulders channeled power into his monstrous form, summoning thousands of crystals that now encompassed the globe. The alien residents that once called the planet their home lay dead by the millions. They never knew the creature’s name or origin. To the few interstellar travelers that died to the world’s conquering, their only clue derived from its resemblance to Godzilla.

For years the creature stood dormant. It held no purpose. No memory after regenerating in the cold, darkness of space until a signal from a long forgotten world relayed to his crystal kingdom.

SpaceGodzilla’s eyes peered up into the stars that surrounded his planet. Memories of another life flashed in his mind, generating rage.

His creation.

Earth.

Godzilla.

SpaceGodzilla took forth into the sky, ripping apart the planet behind him in utter spite. Crystals were forming on the planet of his rival. He didn’t care why, all that the creature knew was that he now held a goal. Soon, Earth would fall from his power, and his rematch with Godzilla would bring about the King of the Monster’s end.

He would no longer be SpaceGodzilla once he killed his inferior clone. There would only be the true Godzilla, and a universe that would bow to its new King.