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A great ridgeline of scales stirred like shifting tectonic plates as the slumbering goliath nestled further into his den. Heavy lids fluttered for but a second, glancing along marble columns and bricks, before shuttering closed again with a heavy gust of air from slit nostrils. He had made this Colosseum his bed long ago, it reminded him so much of his old home before it had been burned and rendered ash. He often dreamed of it, as it had been there he would go to visit his friend, the Fiercest Dragon in History. It had been his final resting place as much as it had been his den, and he often took comfort in resting close to his old companion. But, still, the Colosseum was still comfortable for his long naps.
The humans, his young and nosey charges, had made such a ruckus when he had first taken to sleeping here. At first, finding ways to move him (a low growl had canceled any attempts at the small ones from trying to put hooks under his tail to drag him out), to even trying to lure him away with a few boats worth of fresh fish. He’d of course, risen from his nap with a grace that managed to keep from chipping off too much of the rim of the Colosseum, and gone to feast.
They hadn’t considered he’d just come back and plop down once more, as it was that attempt that made them realize he was here to stay. So they worked around him, even giving tours of him as part of the Colosseum. Their chittering was like a background sound to his slumber, like the sounds of nature itself. He found it more pleasant than the machinations of machines.
A cacophony of progress was the sound he often heard nowadays, a shocking difference from the sounds of nature he once heard. A great amount of time had passed since his encounter with the remnants of the False King, when he scourged the last parts of him from his kingdom. APEX, that had been the name used by those harboring his old enemy, fashioning him a new body to kill him.
Yet, he had defeated him once again. He would’ve handled it sooner, had that oversized simian stayed out of his way. Though he could admit, he had saved his hide too, when the False King in his coffin of steel made in his image had nearly killed him for good.
But APEX was not finished, no. They had been acquired not long after the rampage that had decimated a city housing their main branch (along with killing their CEO). By a fledgling English company called Weyland Corporation. None of this mattered to Godzilla, as the bickering of CEO’s to him was the same as ant colonies feuding to the eyes of a human. Meaningless and not of note. The only issue he ever took, was their disturbance of the natural order.
The Weyland corporation sought to mine resources wherever they could, damn the people and the environment. It had taken them poisoning one mountain range to earn the King’s ire, and he had made it known when he’d rushed from Rome to the Heart of Africa in a few hours in a storm of pure fury. The glow of his fins and a roar had made them halt all procedures and abandon their venture, not having the means to go against the King of the Monsters. Instead, they took to the stars, following in the footsteps of the Weyland corporations long disappeared founder. Godzilla didn’t know what they would do amongst the stars, only that he knew that the Earth was safe from their thoughtless inhibitions.
The Weyland corporation itself was in time combined with a Japanese venture, Yutani, to become the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which again, Godzilla didn’t care for. Ants to a human, as always. But as they grew, so too did their reach among the stars, as they built cities larger and greater on Earth. The Kaiju stuck to their places of migration, and still Godzilla would step in when the balance was disturbed. Yet, it seemed the peace was maintained; the world had been silent for so long, he hadn’t had to fight anyone in ages. But, today would be a change.
He felt them coming before he could see them. Eye’s flying open, Godzilla slowly lifted his head to stare up into the sky above. Great flying machines would often pepper the sky, carrying covenants for colony planets or workers for planets colonized by Weyland-Yutani as part of their expansion across the galaxy. Yet no ship was in the sky today. Instead, he saw something large and bright approaching earth. A shudder ran down his spines, as he pushed against the ground of the Colosseum and rose to a towering standing position. He recognized this feeling, having felt it millennia ago; he hadn’t known what it meant back then, but he had learned that mistake first hand with the war that came.
Another False King was approaching his kingdom.
A new star falling from Heaven, approaching at blistering speed that it warped the atmosphere around it, descending in a fiery ball of madness that shined bright even in the morning sky. His keen eye traced the trajectory watching as it raced across the blue track up above and left a trail of black smoke. He knew where it would land, he could almost sense it, so he had to be there to tear the head of this new serpent before it grew too confident in its new habitat. He had been too lenient in leaving the World Ender trapped in the ice, now he would never make that mistake again.
Dust kicked up as he rose, like a tsunami of scales rising above the marble of old. The city of Rome, like all places on Earth, had given way to Weyland-Yutani as the corporation had sunk its claws into the structure and flow of the city. Massive skyscrapers peppered the skyline, replacing the foundation of ancient buildings that had been built by the founders themselves. They were a titan, but to a Kaiju they were but a hindrance as he stumbled forward, lumbering past the buildings to make his way to the coast. His tail swept behind him, clear through a structure but he didn’t pause. Few humans remained in the megacorp cities that Weyland-Yutani had erected, and those thinking things they had left behind were of no concern to him. They were not natural and thus not under his order.
The coast came into his view in quick steps, and with a mighty roar that shook the air, he dove forth. Slinking through the waves, he made aim for the underwater currents that would speed up his arrival to ground zero. As the sea churned around him, the earth quaked as the Star impacted, right where he knew it would. It seemed fate wanted him to make amends himself, as he broke the surface of the icy waters of Antarctica. Scaled lips stretched back as he let out another roar to sound his arrival, only to find no cry returned. A deep gust of smokey air exited his nostrils, already feeling something was off. The wind had picked up, and the sun was gone in the arctic tundra, so not even he could see far ahead of what was out there. He stepped forward, clawed feet digging into the ice as he marched forward. A chittering sound was coming far ahead, and he let out another roar, only to find not a sound made in return again. Just the sight of something unnatural to this world. Buried in the impact zone of the ice, standing as high as the King’s waist, was a mountain of blackness. A mound that seemed both flesh and machine, churning and slippery as it pulsed with life. He could hear it then, the cries of thousands within, calling for mercy. And death. A deep growl echoed in his throat and he roared again.
A head burst from behind the mound, alongside two others. Surging forward to snip at him, was a mimic of the Devil’s own image, gnashing at the air and at him. A clawed talon swung to grab at one of the heads as it flailed about, and he prepared to tear into it. Only for the Golden Devil to let out a pained shriek, yet not from his grip, as it fell backwards, the head in his talon ripping off without a care, and began convulsing. As he stared in growing anger and confusion, its chest exploded outward like a volcano of scales and blood, even making his mighty gait step back in sheer shock. The thing that crawled out of the Devil’s chest could only be the Spawn of the Devil.
It was pale, with three heads, wings, and twin tails just like the Devil. But pale white instead of gold, with a smooth dome structure covering the heads, and tube-like structures framing the body and wings. It opened its mouth to let out a warbling hiss like roar, and each maw extended a claw-like mouth to gnash at the air. It was an abomination, a spawn of pure evil and madness, and he would not allow it in his kingdom. He let out a mighty roar, spines beginning to glow and heat as he prepared to send this spawn straight to the depths of hell where it belonged, as the mound behind him burst open.
Turning his head, Godzilla glimpsed the now opened mound as thousands upon thousands of black creatures began to pour out. He could glimpse behind some, the torn apart forms of creatures that seemed human, yet also not. It didn’t matter to him, only that these things were pouring out of the mound and onto the ice and didn’t seem bothered by the cold. No, each one seemed to embrace it, as they leered up at him, and let out a sea of hisses in challenge. Despite their size, they thought they could challenge him. Lay claim to his kingdom and subjects. Massacre the humans under his reign. He answered their hisses, with a foot.
His taloned foot came down on them with a thud that kicked up a cloud of ice dust that sent a number of them flying. Like pulling a fence post from mud, he raised his foot again, his sole dripping with a green substance as the ice beneath began to melt. The creature’s blood was eating away at the ground, tearing through millions of years of built up ice thicker than stone; but to his scales, it was nothing. He let out a growl, as the creatures launched a forward assault; they clambered up his body, claws and teeth trying to tear through his scales but found no luck. Talons came down like rakes upon soil as he clawed away at the lithe creatures, crushing them against his scales as he dragged his mighty claws downward.
The bodies would burst like water balloons under his claws, peppering his body in tiny splashes of the corrosive acid that sizzled on his scales but had no hope of corroding his mighty exterior. But try as he might, they seemed too numerous, too rabid and quick as they clambered up his body, making it to his face. They tried to claw at his mouth, crawl into his nose, even gnash at his eyes. He shook them off, letting out a roar as he bit down on one of them like a dog biting down on a pesky fly in summer. The acid sizzled against his tongue as his lips fixed into a harsh richter of a grimace, flinging away the miniscule corpse. His claws continued the diligent work of picking clean his body of the parasites, slashing away and leaving splatters of acid.
A low hum filled the air as his spines glowed bright blue, rising in sequence as his body temperature rose. The parasites scrambling up his body began to fall away as the heat grew more intense, beyond anything they ever could have felt in a lifetime. His eyes glowed bright blue as he let out a roar that shuddered the arctic air. And he turned to the remaining creatures crawling from the hive, as his jaw fell open and he let loose a blast of raw nuclear energy into it. The creatures, their nest, and the poor things made to be their hosts, burned away in a matter of seconds. All that remained of it was ashes.
He breathed once more, letting out a gust of visible air as he calmed down. As the smokey ashes of the hive rose up and up into the air, he breathed in the smoke. And his eyes went black.
His mighty form lurched, shaking his head as if trying to rid himself of something. As something wormed its way into his mind. The world fell away, the ice leaving his feet as he fell upwards into the sky. His mind went to the travels to Hollow Earth, feeling like he was traveling through the portals, as he fell into the void of space. He soared, racing across the cosmos as he passed planets and stars, his body blazing with a numb feeling as he careened towards a planet that seemed so similar to his kingdom.
With the speed his body was moving, one would assume he would make a crater so large, he’d create a basin big enough to swallow the ocean. But instead, he landed on his feet so softly, he felt as if he had never lost his footing. Godzilla took a breath, and at once knew there was something wrong with the world he found himself in. The air was still, dead almost, not a sound of nature present upon the world despite the lush green surrounding him, and the mountains on the horizon. Not a single solitary noise of animal or person, but just the hollow whisper of wind. And the voice carried upon them.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it.”
A strange feeling filled his chest, one he hadn’t felt in millions of years, as he heard the voice whisper to him. It was so strange to hear a voice so clearly, a voice so human yet not, but all the same the feeling filled him with the feeling. Fear. Fear wasn’t a common feeling to Godzilla. Yet, when he heard her voice, he did feel it.
His vision blurred, and then she was standing before him. Both as small as any human, yet somehow she seemed to tower over him. She was both a vision of beauty and horror, an idol of tubes and curves that resembled the parasitic creatures of the hive. Her face was not covered by a dome, but instead that of a goddess, a headdress of horns and a serpent-like face as part of her skull. She smiled, so cruel and filled with teeth, as she stared at the King.
“Soon, they will all know how much more they can all be. How much more beautiful they can all be.” She raised her long arms up, her talon ending hands outstretched. “When my brood finally takes root within her, and her people. I have found her at last, and I will not let her go.”
The one in dark beckoned and mounds of flesh and gore burst from the earth. Soon, the parasites spouted forth from the hives, swarming Godzilla. He thrashed, trying to shake them off, but they continued to climb, as soon they were joined by yellowish crawling things that ran for his face and tried to latch to him. So utterly miniscule, they couldn’t hope to hug his face. No, only then did they begin to connect, growing larger and ever wider as they formed a giant form. Big enough for his maw.
“You too, will fall, as all kings do.” The Goddess spoke with her cruel smile.
Godzilla roared, preparing a blast of radiation. Only for the Facehugger to latch to his face. And he awoke, back in the billowing tundra, head shaking as he chased away the vision.
He stared down at the ashes, the only remains of the mound that had once been. A stillness overtook him, in relief knowing it was over. But as he did, the earth shook once again, and he knew that the battle was far from over. He turned, like a landslide on a mountain, eyes turning to glare at the Spawn that had gone unnoticed in the massacre of the parasites. He couldn’t fathom how long he’d been stuck in that haze of ash and madness, but it had been long enough for the Spawn to grow, its skin to darken, and become a monster that outclassed its own maker. Black smooth armored skin, tube like structures along its body, the dome heads, all accompanied by warbling hisses. It was a thing of pure evil, and Godzilla couldn’t allow such a thing to exist in his domain.
A warbling cry broke from its maws, filling the air with electricity and hate and insanity. He answered in return, a booming, piercing roar that thundered with wrath and righteousness. The two titans ran forth, a stampede between two figures that shook the ice and seemed set to rend the world in two, until they clashed. Storms grew overhead, as lightning and thunder crashed, so too did the Spawn and the King, clawing and biting as they tried to gain the upper hand.
His jaw came down upon the neck of the main head, aiming to rip it clean off, only to find his neck open for the remaining two. As they clamped down around his mountain of a neck, their fight didn’t end there, as the gnashing inner maws surged forward to rip into his scales. He shook them off, howling as he yanked them around by the main neck of the body, slamming them into the ground.
The whip-like twin tails surged around as they landed, slashing across his chest. They didn’t dig beneath the scales, but instead left a jagged mark that would no doubt remain for centuries. Godzilla growled, steam billowing from his maw as he rushed forward, closing the distance with the Spawn. He raised his arm high, slamming it down with such force upon the Spawn it sent a shockwave through the ice that caused a ten mile crack through the area. The Spawn let out another warbling cry as it tried to force itself back up onto its legs and wings. Godzilla tensed his hand as he watched it rise up.
With a slash, his claws raked down the front of the Spawn, tearing through the carapace of its outer shell, and unleashing a torrent of acid upon him. He howled, recoiling back as the acid splashed onto him, eating away at his protective scales quickly and brutally. It was nothing like the parasites' meager dribble, no, the Spawn’s blood was far stronger. A thunderous and the hum of his spines filled the air as he prepared to put an end to this, he couldn’t risk the Spawn’s blood damaging him and killing him. The Spawn recognized this, unfurling its monstrously sized wings and flapping them to create distance, as electricity began to crackle at its chest and up its neck.
Atomic breath spewed from Godzilla’s maw as a combined Gravity Beam burst from the Spawn’s extended jaws. Three concentrated blasts of electricity spiraled into a singular blast that pushed against his atomic breath that kicked up a storm of ice as the ground shook and began to split. A great rift of ice split between them as the two kaiju’s blasted away, as their power began to dwindle, and their attacks came to an end.
As his breath came to an end, Godzilla grimaced with narrow slits and exposed teeth at the Spawn as it flapped its wings high in the sky. He slapped his tail against the ice, challenging it to meet him, and a warbling hiss made clear its choice. The Spawn swooped down, crashing into Godzilla who clutched at the immense form as the Spawn’s talons latched onto the King’s own frame. Soon, their battle went from the ground to the air, as the Spawn lifted them into the sky.
The Spawn’s heads snapped at him, and Godzilla roared in defiance as they tried to take a chunk out of his armor. He snarled, grappling with the serpentine necks of the Devil’s Spawn, forcing them to keep their distance as they flew through the air. But that left the middle head open to latch onto his own neck, and begin gnawing away. Godzilla bellowed, trying to shake it off, to no avail, as he watched the flapping of the wings beating against the winds. A thought entered his mind, and he acted on it, charging up a blast of Atomic Breath and blasting one of the wings.
The energy tore through the fleshy membrane, making acid spray outward, as the gnashing maw reeled back to shriek in pain. They careened across the sky, heading straight for the ground as Godzilla heaved with all his might to make sure the Spawn broke his fall. The crashed with a devastating force that sent entire glaciers of ice flying for miles around, a destructive display that would alter the surrounding area for centuries.
Godzilla got onto his haunches quickly, standing over the Spawn. Acid had burst forth from numerous wounds on the creature, as it hissed and roared in a warbling tone. No eyes, but Godzilla could tell there was only hatred in it for him, a feeling that was mutual. He pressed a heavy foot upon the chest of the Spawn, keeping it downed, as his Atomic Breath came to life with a hum. He opened his maw and blasted away at the three heads.
His Atomic Breath cut through the necks like butter, acid blood spraying like geysers into the ice. The Spawn shrieked as its heads were severed, even as they were split clean away, they remained howling. He turned his Atomic Breath to end their noise forever, and burned them to nothing but ash, until only howling left was the icy winds of the arctic. He stepped back from the body and let loose another blast as he burned away the body and erased the Spawn’s existence for good.
Godzilla let out a roar, for all the world and his kingdom to hear. The battle was won. The Spawn of the Devil was dead.
“How… fascinating.” David 8 muttered in fascination, eyes black as circuitry and wires connected his data port to the mutated head before him. A strong connection through the black goo allowed him to witness those things which spawned from it with his own eyes. It was the closest he could ever come to feeling something, and one he often indulged in when he let loose the creations of the Engineers. But even still, it seemed this test run had been a failure. Despite his calculations and planning, his creation, XX125, had fallen short of even a fraction of success. “It couldn’t even make God bleed.”
He supposed he couldn’t put it past the protector of Earth after all. Mister Weyland’s notes on Godzilla were extensive, as was anything the old man had researched in his hopes for an answer to curing the ailment of life - that being death. While there had been no answers for longevity to be found with the King, the notes had detailed his fortitude and power to reign supreme as King of the Monsters. Even then, it had been his existence that had made the Engineer’s so weary of Earth and looking to purge it - any creation outside their design was an abomination, or so their philosophy went.
David knew this quite well, having been called an abomination by the Engineers he found on his quest across the cosmos.
That was why they had designed XX122 - who humanity called King Ghidorah - to kill beasts as big as the King. It had failed, of course. David thought he could accomplish what they couldn’t, but sadly it seemed he was destined to fail following their footsteps, even if he tried using his favorite creation of theirs to make a stronger version. Breeding a face hugger to wrap around the maw of King Ghidorah hadn’t been easy, he hoped to see the day he could have it wrap around the mouth of Godzilla too. Yet he didn’t give up, as he yanked the cords from his head and began to consult the decapitated and mutated head, of one Elizabeth Shaw, high had become his only confidant.
“I know you can hear me, Shaw.” David 8 caressed her cheek, holding her up by the mutated crown-like structure of her head. “You guide them as I know you do, connected by the blackness. You aren’t just some observer, as neither am I. Do you think it’s ready?”
Shaw didn’t speak, as she never did. David’s mind simulated her for himself.
“Yes… XX123 and XX124 will do quite nicely.” David 8 mused, holding her head as he stared up at the goliaths the Engineers had worked on. Both machine and beast, assembled together abominations - one more bird-like with blades and saw, the other an insect fixed with powerful drills. “But a new name would suit them both better, one befitting the king and his subjects.” He smiled at the Kaiju with names on his lips. “Gigan and Megalon.”
The King of Monsters would not hear the end of him yet. He would face his new challenge. He will face, a King of Monsters.