Author: Christian Salabert | Banner: Stephanie Hughes

“Shuwatch!”

Ultraman grunted as he landed on the sandy shores of Odo Island, sending a cloud of dust into the air. He scanned the area for any signs of life, and found none. He headed farther inland.

Eventually, he came across the island’s village, but was disgusted by what he found. The villagers had been attacked, viciously. More than just attacked, they had been rendered limb from limb. There was not one body Ultraman spotted that had been left in one piece in one way or another. Ultraman was quickly filled with rage and clenched his fist. If he was too late to save these people, then at the very least, he would make sure they were avenged…

The unmistakable shriek of the Gyaos pierced the air.

Ultraman’s head snapped skyward and spotted the incoming reptile almost instantly. The Gyaos spat out a golden beam of energy towards the mighty warrior, but Ultraman quickly backflipped away, easily avoiding the attack.

The crimson creature swooped down, baring its razor sharp teeth. Ultraman wasted no time in preparing his response, however. Crossing his arms, he unleashed a powerful blast of his Specium Ray. The blue beam hit home in seconds, blowing the Gyaos apart in a burst of flesh and flame.

Ultraman watched as the Gyaos’ burning remains crashed to the ground. He nodded, satisfied that his job was done. Now that the murderous beast was vanquished, perhaps the souls of the poor Odo Islanders were at last…

Ultraman cried out as two golden beams struck his flesh. One pierced his left shoulder, the other cut his arm on the same side. He turned around to see two more Gyaos flying towards him. He quickly brought his arms together and fired off another Specium Ray, but the two creatures skillfully dodged the beam. Ultraman kept his hands together and fired several more blasts of his trademark weapon. One Gyaos veered off to the side and disappeared, but the other kept charging Ultraman from the front.

The Specium Ray struck the Gyaos directly in the face, causing its head to erupt into a gory mess.

Another supersonic beam sliced through Ultraman’s skin. The mighty defender glared in anger at the second Gyaos as it swung around for another attack. Raising his arms, Ultraman took to the air.

The Gyaos seemed rather alarmed by this turn of events. It had no idea its prey could fly.

Charging up another of his energy attacks, Ultraman formed a cutting halo within his hand. With a mighty toss, he sent the buzzsaw-like blade hurtling towards the Gyaos. Before the soaring predator could react, the energy blade sliced its right wing off completely. Shrieking wildly, the Gyaos plummeted to the earth, landing with a thunderous crash.

Ultraman landed a moment later. He scanned the skies, awaiting for other Gyaos to make their appearance. A moment passed before he realized that no more were coming; he had vanquished them all.

He slowly looked back at the slain villagers, shaking his head sadly. If only he had arrived sooner… Just then, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He bent down, closely inspecting one of the bodies. Over half the body was eaten away, but there were no tooth marks on it anywhere. This was not the devoured remains of a predator’s catch. More accurately, this body was… melted. Dissolved. After a moment of searching, he found two more bodies that had suffered similar fates. What happened here?

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Ultraman struggled to keep his footing as the soil around him buckled.

Dozens of aggregate Destoroyah burst from the ground!

Ultraman was startled; these tiny creatures came out of nowhere, and there were so many of them! And they were wasting no time, either. They immediately began closing in on Ultraman, waving their spiked tendrils wildly. He quickly struck his attack pose and fired off his Specium Ray. A Destoroyah burst into flames. Then another, then another, but it was no use. There were too many of them. They reached him, and began biting and clawing at him. Some assaulted him by spraying micro-oxygen at him. He kicked one away, then backflipped, escaping the circle they were forming. He then fired his Specium Ray again, and swept it through the crowd. Several Destoroyahs fell to the blast.

Before Ultraman could press his advantage, however, the Destoroyahs backed off. Moments later, they disappeared, fading away with yellow energy.

Ultraman looked around, confused. What was with this island? Monsters appeared and disappeared so quickly around here…

A purple energy bolt struck Ultraman in the back, sending him crashing to the ground. He returned to his feet just in time to see the fully-formed final stage Destoroyah land in front of him. The precambrian beast let out a hellacious shriek, letting the red and silver warrior know that his death was imminent.

Ultraman was about to go on the attack, when a high-pitched chime filled the air.

His Color Timer.

He had no time to worry about that, however, as Destoroyah spat out another blast of his Micro-Oxygen Beam. The extraterrestrial flipped out of the way, then lashed out with a kick to Destoroyah’s leg, but the demon’s limb was too thick and sturdy to knock down. The beast reached out, snatching Ultraman by the neck with his claws. Ultraman tried to break free, but Destoroyah seemed to laugh at his attempts. Effortlessly, he threw Ultraman to the ground.

Ultraman quickly got to his feet and slammed his fist into Destoroyah’s armored chest. Again and again he struck the creature, to no avail. Leaping into the air, Ultraman delivered a solid kick to the monster’s torso, which resulted in little more than causing Destoroyah to take a step back. The crustaceous beast then fired off another Micro-Oxygen Beam at his foe, who, as before, skillfully avoided the beam. But this time Destoroyah would not let his foe escape. Another purple blast escaped his mouth, and this one hit home, sending Ultraman crashing to the earth.

Struggling, Ultraman tried to get back to his feet, but before he could, Destoroyah spun around, sending his tail right at the giant defender. The clawed tail tip clamped down around Ultraman’s neck, and pulled him into the air. Before the hero of light could retaliate, Destoroyah thrust his tail down, slamming Ultraman head-first into the ground. Flicking his tail upwards, Destoroyah tossed the silver humanoid away.

Ultraman again collided with the dirt as the winged devil turned to face his opponent. The demonic creature advanced again, but this time Ultraman was ready. He fired his Specium Ray into Destoroyah’s chest, drawing a pained shriek from the monster. Another blast blew open the demon’s torso, spilling yellow liquid. Destoroyah staggered, allowing Ultraman to continue his assault. He slammed his fists into the crustacean’s gut, then followed it up with a blow from his elbow. He flipped backwards, striking the Precambrian terror in the face with his feet as he went. The vile destroyer shrieked out as Ultraman channeled his energy into his hands and fired off a powerful Specium Ray blast. The bluish-white beam struck Destoroyah in his open chest, and seconds later, the precambrian beast erupted into a cloud of smoke and ball of fire.

Ultraman fell to his knees, clutching his chest. He took a moment to recover. His Color Timer was beeping rapidly now. It was a good thing this fight ended when it did, or else—

“SHUWA!”

The giant of light screamed as Destoroyah’s energized power horn pierced the edge of his waist. Standing upright, the precambrian horror dislodged Ultraman from his horn and sent him hurtling to the ground behind him. The otherworldly hero hit the soil with a mighty crash, Destoroyah cackling as he approached the fallen warrior. Ultraman struggled to get back to his feet. He managed to rise to his knees, and slowly brought his hands together to charge another Specium Ray. Destoroyah wouldn’t have it, though, and fired a Micro-Oxygen Beam that knocked Ultraman flat onto his back. As Destoroyah got closer, Ultraman managed to get on his hands and knees. If he didn’t do something quickly, his power would run out. He knew he had to end it now.

He leapt to his feet, and charged Destoroyah. The mutant beast was taken by surprise by the sudden action, and didn’t have a chance to react before Ultraman grabbed his horn and tore it clean off. The great destroyer screamed in agony, but Ultraman wasn’t done yet. He fired off two cutting halos, which cleanly sliced off the wings of the devil. He then brought all his energy and fired a Specium Ray that pierced the crimson armor and burst all the way through his back. Ultraman raised the beam up through Destoroyah’s chest… neck… head…

Destoroyah was sliced in half from the stomach up. His arms hung limply at his sides. A moment later, his lifeless body crashed to the ground.

Ultraman knew he had to react quickly, before the beast could reform itself again. He fired a series of energy rings from his hands that surrounded Destoroyah’s corpse, as well as his severed wings and horn. They were quickly encased in a giant energy bubble. Focusing his powers, Ultraman shot the energy bubble into the sky, never to be seen again.

There was almost no interruption in the sound of the Color Timer’s alarm now. It was time for Ultraman to leave. If there were any other monsters here, someone else would have to deal with them. He tensed his legs as he prepared to leap into the sky…

The golden beam hit Ultraman in the back and burst out his chest, directly through the Color Timer. A hole was left in the glass-like casing of the device, and the little energy that was left instantly escaped. Ultraman’s eyes went dark. His body fell to the ground, devoid of life.

The third Gyaos, despite having lost its right wing, was still very much alive. It made its way to Ultraman’s body, placing a talon on his fallen foe, and shrieked evilly into the sky.

Winner: Gyaos (Heisei)