Author's Note: I know that I normally save these for the end, but I'm proud of this chapter. Nearly every other story I've submitted so far has tiny prologue chapters, but this one is actually a respectable length. Furthermore, I have had this idea for what feels like ages, and this chapter is a kind of commemoration of the day that I finally figured out how to get from here to the ending I have in mind.
Without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of my Kingdom Hearts/Godzilla Franchise/Mothra Trilogy crossover, Kaiju Hearts.
Maleficent left Pete at the castle they had taken from Organization XIII and entered the Darkness. The buffoon needed rest before she sent him to perform any tasks, and leaving him alone with the Heartless was a test for them – if they did not remain obedient to her even outside of her presence, she would have to purge them from the castle.
Regardless of her minions' fates, Maleficent was disgusted at the ease with which her Heartless were swept away in the face of her foes. She had no concern for them – they were numberless and easily replaceable. They were legion in the Realm of Darkness, but for all their numbers they continued to fail her, whether it was against Keyblade wielders or opposing Nobodies.
There were fools who might deem it dangerous to enter a Corridor of Darkness without a fixed destination in mind, but they were weak. Maleficent did not belong to the Darkness; the Darkness belonged to her. That was why she could do what no other dared – to enter the Darkness not with a destination, but a purpose.
She desired to rule every world that was, and while Kingdom Hearts was temporarily beyond her grasp, such a problem was immaterial without powerful minions with which to enforce her will. That was her purpose as she walked the Corridor: to find a world of powerful beings that she could turn into Heartless.
It irked her to no end that she was partially emulating the "royals" Mickey and Minnie. How she loathed the fact that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were such thorns in her side for so long that she had learned their names; such a minor annoyance, and yet such a grievous insult. Still, every ruler required knights, and soon she would acquire some of her own, and then she would experience the joy she knew only came from crushing an enemy that had dared to defy her.
It would be fair to say that Maleficent was used to being the most powerful being regardless of where she was and who was near her. Jafar and Ursula were powerful magic users in their own right, and Hades claimed to be a god, but it had been she who was in charge of their alliance. Even here, in the heart of the Realm of Darkness, the innumerable Heartless parted before her rather than risk her ire… but it was this same fact that gave her pause when she felt power emanating from a nearby door to another world. Smiling to herself, the dark fairy forced her way through with her magic.
She found herself standing atop a pile of rubble, surrounded by clouds of smoke and curtains of fire. Anyone else might have been concerned with the destruction all around them. Maleficent merely found herself intrigued at what could have reduced what seemed to have been a city of stone to gravel and ash. And it seemed that her curiosity would soon be sated, as she could feel the tremors from some truly titanic struggle where she stood. With a dismissive wave of her staff the flames doused themselves and the smoke dispersed.
And for once Maleficent allowed herself to gasp.
Before her stood a creature that could dwarf one of Hades' Titans, and crush Cerberus beneath its heel. It was reptilian in the sense of being covered in scales, as grey as charcoal, but any comparison to what reptiles she was familiar with ended there. It stood on two legs like a man, its sole compromise to its ancestry the long powerful tail that occasionally slammed against the ground. And from the base of said tail to the top of its head ran three rows of sharply pointed, irregular spikes.
The beast placed one foot atop some vast mechanical construct that appeared to have been forged in its likeness and unleashed a powerful roar at something to its left. Maleficent watched as a stream of orbs of golden light rocketed towards the creature, which made no effort to move. The projectiles struck across the monster's torso, creating sparks and clouds of smoke that rapidly obscured it. The dark fairy felt more than heard the thunderous growl from within the cloud. A moment later, a vast streak of multicolored light came from the same direction, followed by a pair of enormous rockets. All struck the entity lurking in the cloud which let loose a howl of rage.
Idly wondering what was attacking a creature that she was now plotting to enslave, Maleficent teleported herself to the top of one of the ruined structures that still stood for a better look at what was happening. Though only elevated to the height of the creature's waist, she now had a clear view of its attacker.
It appeared to be yet another metal construct, this one more humanoid. Silver and bipedal, it lacked hands, instead possessing some kind of storage for the rockets she had seen earlier, and they closed into cone-like protuberances. However, the humanoid features extended to its face, which appeared to have a pair of glowing yellow eyes and an oddly placed drill for a nose.
She was distracted from her inspection of the mechanical titan by a sound like thunder coming from within the smoke-cloud. Even through the smoke, Maleficent could see that each of the creature's spikes was flashing repeatedly, until each had reached a steady blue glow. The beast leaned out of the cloud and she saw its jaws part and an azure ray of nearly blinding light emerge. It struck the creature's metallic foe in the chest, causing it to stagger back from the force, and making the metal glow and warp from the heat. A second eruption was directed at the titan's arm, which endured for a moment but was ultimately sheared off. The remaining arm opened, preparing to fire another rocket, but a third blast of light struck the opening and its volatile cargo detonated, taking the arm with it.
Without its arms the construct appeared not to have any method of attack, but Maleficent saw and heard the drill whirring to life. The mechanical titan then launched forward, apparently rolling as its legs did not move, and it plunged its drill into the creature's hide at the base of its neck. For the first time she heard it cry out in genuine pain, and saw it bleed. The monster took a few steps back during the assault, causing the building she stood on to tremble violently, but she watched enraptured as the creature brought both of its arms up to the offending weapon and then dug its claws into the drill.
There was an unholy screech as claws and metal ground against one another, but the drill slowed and then stopped. Once it had, the monster clutched it with both hands and crushed it, pulling it out of the wound as it did so. Then its spikes began to flash and glow once again and it fired once more, this time directly down onto the head of the machine. The beam appeared to pierce it in its entirety, making it crumble and shatter as it fell.
The beast snarled and looked around, as though daring any other challengers to present themselves. Then, satisfied that none would, it looked to the sky and roared in victory before beginning to walk away from the field of battle.
Maleficent chuckled as she began to plan. She had seen the rage in the monster's eyes when it had scanned the area. Such a powerful and enraged creature would make a fine Heartless champion. But first… now that the battle was over Maleficent was more aware and could sense other sources of light and darkness in this world – and the creature was not the strongest source of either! While she could simply overrun this world with Heartless until all fell to the darkness, such tactics might draw unwanted attention. No, for the moment it was time to return to her castle and plan. That creature would serve her soon…
Far away, Mothra Leo stirred in his den. Though he had wanted to stop Godzilla's rampage, something had held him back. During the sixty-five million year hibernation that had prepared him to face the King of Terror, he had become attuned to the ebb and flow of the strands of fate, and his newfound awareness was warning him. Something dark and terrible was coming to the world, and for a moment he had almost felt its presence… but without more concrete warnings, he could not act. With a soft trill he flapped his beautiful wings and ascended into the sky. He could not stop what was coming, not yet, so perhaps it was time to reacquaint himself with why he fought. He flew out to sea to clear his mind with the planet's natural beauty.
Beneath both land and sea, in a pitch black cavern, red eyes opened in the dark. It had been many long years since Battra's "death" at Godzilla's jaws but the planet had created his body from nothing and had done so again, and that meant that soon he would be needed once more. For now though he would rest. Resurrection and reincarnation were exhausting tasks, and Battra had just done both. That was enough for one day.
Far off the eastern coast of Japan, but far closer than its citizens would like, Godzilla had just killed an unlucky Kamoebas and was currently swimming with its carcass back to his island home. As he swam, the King of the Monsters was in deep thought; when he'd fought MOGUERA he'd also felt a dark presence, but nothing had challenged him afterwards. Perhaps whatever it was was smart enough not to fight him, but he doubted it. The presence had slipped away as he started leaving, so it was likely biding its time. For now Godzilla would do the same; he needed some time to take food to Junior anyway. Ever since their battle with Destoroyah, Junior's appetites for both radiation and meat had increased and feeding his growing son was a full time job.
On a secluded and otherwise abandoned island Godzilla Junior slumbered on the beach, basking in the sunlight. It had been years since the last of his nightmares about Destoroyah and his own near death experience, but he stirred all the same, tail lashing out and shattering a tree into splinters, suddenly awakening. Junior realized that it hadn't been just a dream. As he remembered the soothing psychic presences of Miki and Meru all those years ago, he knew that he had felt something similar in his sleep, only malicious instead. As he lay back down he hoped that it was just a bad dream, but somehow he knew better…