RWBY © Monty Oum (R.I.P.) & Rooster Teeth
King Kong © Merian C. Cooper & Edgar Wallace
Kong: Skull Island © Legendary Pictures, Tencent Pictures, Warner Bros.
Godzilla and co. © Toho Company and Legendary Pictures
Godzilla the Series © Columbia Tristar, Sony Pictures, and Centropolis Entertainment
I own my own OCs.
Chapter 1: Return of the Skullcrawler
Skull Island…the island that was about the size equivalent to Borneo and Sumatra put together and situated somewhere in the South Pacific where there were warm currents. Shaped vaguely like a skull with the 'eyes' being huge lakes, it was a foreboding place of both mysterious beauty and primeval horror covered in fog; isolated from the world of men.
Somewhere in the mountains on the southwestern edge of the island, the base was built in secret many years ago thanks to the huge blanket of fog that propped up periodically throughout the year and covered the entirety of the island. Mostly during the wet season along with periods of turbulent monsoon rains that had helped kept this island isolated from the rest of the world. For much of the personnel and authorities from two of the most infamous terrorist organizations, however, they work to their advantage for what kind of purpose they were trying to instill in needing this base. It took a lot of hard work, sweat, tears and plenty of blood coming from the slave workers, most of whom were war prisoners that the Red Bamboo had captured since World War II, to have this base constructed, especially in the mountains where the terrain was proven to be rocky and treacherous.
But it was perfect for the terrorists' purposes because their plan involved blueprints of a secret weapon. One that will grant them the ability to conquer wherever and whenever they want without the rest of the civilized, corrupted world knowing what had hit them.
In the lab within the hidden base of the Red Bamboo and S.C.A.L.E., which meant Servants of Creatures Arriving Late to Earth, a group of scientists were adjusting the calculations and the machinery of their latest secret weapon in a huge testing room about twice the size of a jetliner hangar. It looked like a technological, futuristic gate at 270 feet tall crossed with that of a massive rocket engine when the enormous "gun" is engineered to be placed behind the entrance of the gate.
With the final adjustments made, the unknown monstrous machine was ready to go.
"Alright, let's see if this will work after many painstaking years of research, money laundering, politics, and compromise," said a Japanese, sharp-looking, battle-hardened man in a light tan military uniform with badges and a captain cap that signified his position as the captain of the organization. He had a black eyepatch with the insignia of a red dragon inscribed into it. The captain then looked to the lead scientist when he issued the order, "Have them fire up the Interdimensional Tide on my signal." The lead scientist nodded her head obediently as she relayed the order to her assistants. The assistants and other Red Bamboo and S.C.A.L.E. scientists punched in the buttons in the right sequence on the panels. The portal engine "gun" letting out a humming nose that gradually got louder over 3 minutes as the energy began to build up with the gate starting to glow with a ball of light starting to appear in the center of the gate.
"Now!" the captain shouted and the lead scientist pressed on the red button in the panel right in front of her. Electric lightning generated from the panels rimmed on the inside of the gate's archway with neutrons all fired up as they struck the ball. Then magnetic clamps from each side of the archway then slowly propped up. The ball slowly expanded into what looked like a blue portal that was increasing in size at a wonderful rate. When it gotten to a certain size that was on par with the size of small mall, the clamps slowly approached towards the gate and the magnetic panels on the clamps glowed generating particles that managed to stop the portal's growth in its tracks. With the portal stabilized, the scientists and the Red Bamboo captain and his personal guard could watch the spectacle in awe as the gate pulsed rhythmically like a person's heartbeat with warm shades of blue, then purple, and yellow, and back again.
"Incredible…," the sharp-steeled captain looked at the black hole portal in a rare moment of awe.
"Captain Ryuuji, how's the-?" a new voice came with it sounding feminine, but with a rough and militaristic edge to it, as a Caucasian woman with short white hair that is wearing a dark green military vest that is opened to reveal she's wearing a white sleeveless t-shirt on the inside while having dark blue jeans and black combat boots. The said woman's jaw dropped comically almost to the floor when she saw the same thing that Captain Ryuuji was witnessing.
"Beautiful isn't it, Ms. Springer?" Captain Ryuuji asked her.
"Yes…," Alexandra Springer stammered a little bit before a smirk grew on her face, "…we finally did it. After many years, we now have the weapon to conquer what is rightfully ours."
"Indeed, the power is now ours to wield. I think a field outdoor test of the Interdimensional Tide is certainly required, but in order to do that, we need to transport something from one location to the next." Ryuuji stated.
"Hmmm…," the leader of S.C.A.L.E. had already thought of that something, but wanted to see if he thought the same thing, "Care to enlighten me what you have in mind, Captain?"
"I was thinking of having that troublesome skull-faced lizard that had been giving our men quite a lot of grief for a while transported to a native village that my scouts had reported some time ago." Captain Ryuuji said with a stern edge in his voice as he referred to the massive alpha Skullcrawler that had been plaguing his and S.C.A.L.E.'s soldiers and causing startling casualties.
"Close…but I have something else in mind." Springer answered.
"What is that?" Ryuuiji inquired her back.
"I was thinking of having that lizard face off against Kong and the little brat of a boy that's been accompanying him frequently on their travels throughout the island," Alexandra said. The answer, while not totally shocking as King Kong had foiled their previous plans of constructing secret bases in some locations throughout Skull Island before they were forced to build their base underneath the mountains, was still quite a surprise for Captain Ryuuji.
"Really? I never thought you'd be the one to condone the use of a monster to fight another. What has changed, madam?" the one-eyed man asked her curiously.
"After seeing that damned dirty ape kill my men, rip Ebirah's claw and beating the shit out of it, and that boy humiliating me by making me vomit my guts several times," Alexandra pulled up her shirt and pointed to the nasty wound on her stomach caused by a stab of a makeshift stone knife dipped in poison that made her vomit for weeks before she finally recovered. "I am willing to make this the exception as controlling Kong with the Psionic Transmitter is not the suitable option either with that kid being able to fuse his spirit into the ape negating the mind-controlling effects of Deverick's device."
"Good points, Ms. Springer. That giant monkey has been another thorn in our side the moment we stepped foot on this island…not to mention that hairy bastard is persistent and tenacious like some of the other giant creatures on this island." Captain Ryuuji concurred while he brought a lighter to his pipe and once he lit it, he puffed out smoke, "Besides, I think it will be quite fun to see that ugly gorilla get his just desserts for interfering us time and time again."
"Yeah…it'd be quite the reunion for him and for our skull-faced friend…quite the reunion indeed." Springer nodded, but her response raised his eyebrow.
"Hmmm…why so? Do those two have some history with each other?"
"More than just that if the scars on the Skull Crawler are anything to go by…," Springer pulled out a black and white photo of Kong and another alpha Skullcrawler confronting each other in vast open wetland with wreckages of ships in the background, "…Kong and those Skull Crawlers are each other's worst enemies because one is called the god of this island and the other, the demon of the earth."
Somewhere else on Skull Island, a young man in his early twenties was running for his life. His name was Terry Hawkins. He had short, spiky blonde hair, green eyes, and a scar running down his right eye on his otherwise youthful face. The man wore what looked like brown flight goggles from World War II on his head and then a battered U.S. army jacket from the Vietnam War partially opened to reveal a black undershirt underneath. He had a brown belt with torn up jeans filled with tears and a hole on his lower left leg from all the running and trekking through the dense jungles for many years. He wore green military boots for his feet making him look like a young time traveller from salvaging through wreckages that were present on the island. In addition, he had a machete taken from a 15th century pirate ship shipwrecked on the northeast side of the island and then a makeshift dagger made out of a sturdy branch with a blade crudely fashioned out of a fang of an unknown beast reinforced to the wooden handle with a stone wrapped around tightly with reeds and rope. And slung around his shoulder was an M16 rifle, another relic from the Vietnam War.
Right now, though…
Terry screamed to himself as he was running crazily and hurriedly through the jungle like a madman, "Why is it that I have to be prey for a damned T-Rex or some other dangerous dinosaur?!" Then he heard the sound of branches and trunks cracking and breaking as something humongous was pursuing him through the trees and foliage behind him. The ground started shaking more intensely with the foot stomps sounding louder now. "Aw crap!"
Terry pushed himself with his legs going full throttle as he needed to avoid being eaten. However, when he came to a small clearing in the middle of the jungle, he failed to watch where he was running and tripped over a fallen log. He fell and tumbled onto the forest floor groaning in pain as he landed face first into the leaf litter and dirt.
"ACK! Not a good place to trip here! Come on, Terry, get up!" Terry quickly got up, but by then it was too late as a giant, dark forest-green T-Rex at 255 feet tall and 920 feet long with bumpy ridges along its back and tail burst stomped from the undergrowth with its massive scaly, clawed feet. The trees had been cleared away with the Tyrannosaurus's body being so gigantic. The carnivorous dinosaur let out a growling snarl out of frustration and with some glee as it finally got the little infuriating human right where it had hoped Terry would trip up. The sharp teeth bared out in its huge maw with blood dripping down from the beast's fresh kill made it all the more threatening.
"It's now or nothing…," Terry snarled as the T-rex took only a couple of strides before it towered over him. "OKAY, KONG, IT'S YOUR SHOW NOW, BIG GUY!"
The T-rex was about to stomp him to death before it was tackled away from Terry by none other than the giant gorilla god of Skull Island, King Kong. The ape and the giant predatory dinosaur tumbled and rolled about through the massive forests destroying foliage about in their path until the T-rex was in the position to use its long, muscular legs and reptilian feet to kick Kong off of it. The gorilla god rolled a bit before he picked himself back up to his two hindfeet like that of a human being. As he stood up, he looked noticeably more rugged in appearance with his hair having taken on a blacker tone to his brownish fur, his back having developed a huge patch of silvery hair indicating his age and status as a mature silverback, his body more scarred with his face having some vertical scars across his eyes, his left arm bearing some heavy wound marks, and his right side across his midsection sporting a scarred gash. Then his eyes were not as naïve, or innocent, and they were laden with experience and age making him somewhat more cynical, angry, and worn-out. However, the gorilla's compassionate and sympathetic personality towards humans hasn't really changed much, albeit suppressed or jaded due to having experienced many years earlier both the good and bad side of humanity and the constant attacks he's going through recently from many of the island's resident monsters.
Kong and the T-Rex stared at each other antagonistically for what seemed like for eternity instead of it actually being minutes. The dinosaur circled around the giant ape with its feet creating booming noises as it walked. The only sounds were the panicking birds and the breathing sounds coming from Kong and the T-Rex at this point. Kong snarled with his lips curled revealing his gnashing teeth and canines to the T-Rex with the theropod doing the same with its own set of fangs when it let out a throaty, gurgling growl from its throat.
GGRRROOOOAARROOONNNKKKK! The T-Rex cried out a terrifying roar that sounded like a mix of lion, elephant, and an airplane jet taking off.
GRRAAAOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR! Kong bellowed out a bestial, yet almost human-like roar before the two behemoths charged at each other like speeding trains on a collision course. The T-Rex tried to damage him with a lunging bite with its steeltrap-like jaws, but Kong shoulder shoved the beast right in the chest and ribs, pushing the dinosaur to the ground before he wrestled with the T-Rex and started punching the shit out of the predator. The T-Rex groaned and snarled in startled frustration and pain from having its face and snout punched by the ape's meaty fists. The reptile angrily reacted by shaking its head and neck frantically to force Kong to let go of him, but the giant prehistoric gorilla-like god refused to relinquish his hold. Kong then sunk his sharp canines into the T-Rex's neck when they punctured through the rough scaly hide making the dinosaur screech in shock as it flailed its pair of relatively tiny arms.
The T-Rex ripped itself away from the bite and grip of Kong and it immediately turned around tail-whipping the ape right in the head, stunning him as Kong soon saw stars in his vision. The attack left him open for the T-Rex to headbutt him right in the stomach and it knocked the wind out of Kong as he fell onto his back. The Tyrannosaurus stomped onto his chest-abdominal cavity with its foot claws digging into his skin drawing blood. Next and suddenly, the monstrous dinosaur lunged with its mouth open wide aimed for Kong's head. The ape god reacted quickly and he instinctively raised his right arm up to protect himself. The T-Rex bit into his hand and wrist. The entire hand was nearly engulfed within the T-Rex's bone-crushing jaws.
Kong roared loudly in terrible pain from that. The T-Rex then shook about attempting to break and destroy his hand in the process.
"Come on, Kong! Don't let damned ol' Hroarok kill your arm! Fight back! Fight back!" Terry shouted trying to encourage Kong from the canopy of one of the trees standing in the midst of the battle. "You can do it!"
Kong having heard his voice then growled at Hroarok that was shaking his head and jaws furiously trying to twist his hand off. Then he punched Hroarok's neck with his remaining free hand with much force and desperation. Hroarok was forced to relieve his jaws' grip on Kong's right fist after being punched to the throat a couple of times. Kong next punched him to the ankle of the T-Rex's foot that was pinning him down several times. The T-Rex had to back off from Kong. The dinosaur hissed irritably with his leg bruised from being punched repeatedly. Kong breathed heavily through his nose as he warily steeled himself for the dinosaur's next move. Hroarok made his first move by trying to head charge at him, but Kong sidestepped the attack and caught him by the neck and shoulders. By a feat of his strength, the ape hurled the dinosaur across the jungle making Hroarok land headfirst into the ground destroying more of the wilderness in the process with birds and animals scattered about in their fits of panic. The giant T-Rex grunted agitatedly being dazed and all before he was grappled by his tail when Kong swung him around again. Hroarok screeched bloody murder as he was swung around in a circle twice before the ape threw him off again. Hroarok was terribly injured at this point after crash landing onto the jungle unceremoniously again with his body bruised and some of his ribs broken.
Kong went to slam both of his fists onto the bull T-Rex with a hammering move, but Hroarok shook himself out of his dazed state just in time for him to roll out of Kong's fists hammering the ground where he was seconds ago. Not wanting to go down without a fight, Hroarok then targeted for his enemy's left leg and succeeded in clamping his jaws onto it causing Kong to scream in agonized pain.
"DAMN IT!" Terry screamed in horror with his hands clutching his face.
Out of desperation, Kong grabbed a tree large and thick enough to inflict enough damage as he pummeled the T-Rex right in the face. When one of the branches poked the dinosaur right in the eye with one of Kong's strikes, Hroarok lost grip of the ape's leg and that moment was all that Kong needed to lift the T-Rex by the chest by grappling his entire head and neck. With a mighty heave, he managed to accomplish it with surprising ease. The dinosaur roared in defiance of being lifted up like a sack of potatoes. However, that fell on deaf ears when Kong did a suplex slam, slamming Hroarok onto his back with a thunderous thud. Disoriented after such a disastrous move to him, Hroarok had no idea where he was as he shakily stood up to his feet. Unfortunately for the T-Rex, it didn't last long as he happened to amble unawares towards Kong and the ape lashed out again in kind with a nasty uppercut to the jaw that almost made him bit off his own tongue. Hroarok was pummeled off of his feet for seconds before he tumbled to the ground and Kong wasted no time in hammering upon the fallen Rex with his fists. The older, battle-scarred ape god punched and slammed the dinosaur repeatedly in the face and chest mercilessly until the T-Rex could barely move with his scaly-armored body battered and bloodied. Then seeing that his opponent no longer could fight back, Kong delivered a harsh kick to Hroarok's stomach to both make sure that was the case and to send a message to the dinosaur that if he tried to crush his human friend one more time, his life would be forfeited for good.
After bouncing a bit from the kick that added more insult to his injuries and wounded pride, Hroarok reluctantly got the message as the T-Rex grunted and whimpered in painful frustration from having lost to his mortal enemy. The embittered reptile forced himself to stand up to his feet despite his heavy injuries with Kong watching the bull T-Rex warily like a hawk in case he would try to pull a fast one onto him. None of that happened as the T-Rex limped away, retreating from Kong. Hroarok stopped for a moment, turning his neck and head back to Kong. The carnivorous dinosaur gave the gorilla god one last venomous glare in his sallow reptilian eyes before he turned his attention away from Kong and continued to limp off in his retreat deeper into the jungle.
Kong then roared victoriously, beating his chest with his strong hands creating booming, drum-like sounds that sounded off for miles.
Terry sighed in relief upon seeing Kong victorious in defeating the T-Rex.
"Thank God…," Terry said wiping his brow of sweat. Kong finished beating his chest, but when the rush of adrenaline wore off, the pain from the wounds inflicted by the bull T-Rex flared up. Kong growled in response when felt the sharp pangs of it. Terry jumped down from the canopy and with amazing agility and skill that he learned for many years in the wilderness, he landed expertly onto the branch of another tree canopy. Using the maze of branches and the vines of each tree, he swung from tree to tree like a monkey until he was in the huge tree right next to Kong's left shoulder.
The young man gently, yet firmly tapped onto his hairy arm. Kong didn't react aggressively to him as his face's expression became calmer upon seeing that it was his most recent human friend from the world outside Skull Island.
"Kong… thanks for the save and kicking Hroarok's tail. That Rex deserved it," Terry smiled complimenting his giant simian friend. Kong softly hooted amicably as he was reassured by Terry's compliment and that he was safe and unharmed. However, the flaring pain made Kong flinch out of annoyance when he swatted some Carrion Parrots away from his right hand.
"Shit…your wounds look pretty awful. I've seen you with more dire scrapes than this, but this is still bad. We should probably find some water and get your scars washed up clean. Whaddy'a say, buddy?" Terry said worriedly after examining the bloody bite marks and scratches on Kong.
Kong panted in agreement with Terry's assessment as he already had decided to do so. Kong held up his hand opened and palm outstretched for Terry to hop on and the young man immediately hopped onto his palm.
"Heh…I thought so. Alright, we'd better get moving to find some water, don't wanna stay here for too long and attract unwanted attention," Terry sat down onto the hand as the ape king of Skull Island cupped his palm with his sausage-like fingers curled to ensure that Terry didn't accidentally fall off. Kong quickly looked around for any reptilian monster that would want to get the jump on him. Fortunately, seeing none, he carefully walked in search for a safe lake to wash his wounds with a slight limp in his gait due to his now wounded left leg.
200 miles south away…
"Men, secure the perimeter and place the Interdimensional Portal Gun into position! Move it! Move it!" Captain Ryuuji was barking orders to the Red Bamboo terrorist soldiers that were following his orders to the tee with a small mobile base being set up in the grasslands that they were in.
Parts of the grasslands have been decimated and chopped up with some of the animals like the indigenous deer, the buffalo-like Skull Island Gaur, and some Ornithomimosaurs being killed in the military operation. Jeeps, tanks, and helicopters now patrolled the ground and the skies above the plains with the soldiers placing sophisticated military hardware to set up temporary fences to make the vast perimeter visible to potential intruders. The engineers and mechanics wasted no time locking the defense turrets and electric fences into place to ensure the protection of the mobile base. Once that was accomplished, large squadrons of Red Bamboo helicopters that were towing three enormous parts of the Interdimensional Portal Gun, which were the gate, the massive, engine-like portal "gun", and the power stabilizer to stabilize the power generator within the portal "gun", had to be delicate in their pace and timing to not only hover them close enough to a crawler-transporter twice the size of NASA's own, but also to connect the pieces together through interlocking mechanisms built into each of them. It took a lot of patience, concentration, and prayer for the helicopter pilots to overcome the gravity pulling down on their helicopters and the parts of the machine due to their massive weight by the hundreds of tons despite having several hydrogen-filled, heavy duty balloons to ease the burden. One wrong move and not only could they lose their lives, but put the entire operation and everyone in it in serious danger. Thus, the pilots were sweating and doing their best to steel their nerves and the helicopters throughout this demanding ordeal, eyeballing everything including the controls and radar on the lookout for flying monsters as well.
For a half hour that seemed like several hours, the helicopters were careful in getting the three main parts' interlocking mechanisms closer to each other. The interlocking mechanism for the gate to the portal gun was built into a long metal extension of the gate that would slide underneath the barrel of the gun. The mechanism for the power stabilizer to the gun is on the right side of the massive portal gun.
When the pilots heard three loud clicks simultaneously, they sighed in relief.
"Sparrow 1 to Captain Ryuuji," The lead pilot spoke into the radio microphone, "Locking was successful. I repeat, locking was successful, over."
"This is Captain Ryuuji. I read you. I saw the locking was successful. Good job, boys," Captain Ryuuji's voice sounded in affirmation. The pilots gave each other high-fives for the job well done. Outside, the helicopters then cut off the steel wire cables that were holding the entire weapon together as soon as it was close enough to the crawler-transporter. The Interdimensional Portal Gate landed on the transport with just a thud without incident. The helicopters then soon left with most returning to the hidden base within the mountains while some took up patrol of the skies.
The crawler-transport slowly crawled its way to the middle of the guarded perimeter with the mobile base that Captain Ryuuji and other military personnel were in not far behind the Interdimensional Portal Gate. The captain was watching the whole Portal Gun on the crawler-transport steadily making its way to its designated spot. He looked to the southeast where there were vast jungles filling the horizon as he thought to himself,
'Now the only thing to do is to entice Kong to come here so we can test the Portal Gun and have him quite a pleasant reunion with his…old acquaintance. And I know just how to do so.' Ryuuji smirked smugly looking to the tanks with the long barrels on the field as well as some bombers in the sky approaching from the air base hidden in the mountains some 30 miles west of where he was.
Meanwhile, further inland within the island, Kong stopped by a vast lake system and he sat in the water, cupping up gallons of water in his left palm and applying them to the wounds on his right arm and hand, chest and stomach, and his left leg. The battered gorilla Kaiju grunted irritably from the stinging sensations from each of the bloody scars. Blood dripped from there and was washed into the lake staining the waters partially red. Terry was tearing out huge banana leaves and ferns and giving them to Kong in the form of makeshift sponges to help better absorb the water. Kong used them to great effect as he softly scrubbed his wounds with delicate care.
"Hmmm…," Terry mummed to himself as he was both in deep thought and constantly on the watch for any giant predators that might want to get the jump on Kong. As he did, he remembered back then how Hroarok was one of the few predatory dinosaurs that hadn't changed in contrast to the others. It was a small comfort at best in contrast to the dire situation permeating all over the island in the past decade. Some of the Tyrannosaurs, Spinos, Gigas, Utahraptors, Allosaurs, Ceratosaurs, Dilos and Carnotaurs have underwent significant size growth and started to sport more prominent body armor making their bodies larger, more heavily armored, and much more powerful than normal. To make things worse, these individual apex predators now had to eat almost constantly in order to survive due to their current hyper-metabolism, making them much of a threat to Skull Island's ecosystem as hyper-carnivores just like the Skullcrawlers. And their presence terrified animals…both small giants and mega-titans, including the most titanic, skyscraper-sized sauropods that were usually not fearful of them at their full adult sizes. Unfortunately, the hyper-carnivores' more normal counterparts also feared them greatly as some recently had fallen victim to their never-ending appetites. In the air, some of the Quetzalcoatluses and Pteranodons also seemed to sport traits similar to the jacked up dinosaurs such as bulkier scale armor, larger wingspans and bodies, a nastier temperament, and more voracious appetites that scared many of their fellow kin and other species into submission as well as made the skies a more terrifying place to be.
The question that had been nagging Terry was why certain individuals and only those species experience these unusual changes while the rest did not? Then his and Kong's encounter with a 'Log Gator' (giant Deinosuchus that looked like a giant fallen log), the island-like Sirenjaw, and a gigantic river cobra that all have been hyper enhanced like the T-Rexes and others begged him to ask another disturbing question. What was causing the island's predatory beasts to mutate into unnaturally aggressive monsters in recent years?
Even after the Skullcrawlers had been greatly reduced to tinier, scattered remnants many years ago after Kong killed the previous Skull Devil, nature still seemingly decided to make Kong's life more of a hell for him. The recent phenomenon of hyper-carnivory was proof of that as it started with isolated cases of individual mutating predators that later then grew into a more widespread problem with multiple predator species on a larger scale. There were already casualties with many herbivore species affected by the abnormal change in the top apex predators with their numbers reduced to dangerous levels to make them critically endangered. The timing couldn't be any more worse as their populations were on the verge of full recovery from the Skullcrawler debacle.
The Iwi people that helped in raising and mentoring Terry didn't escape from this dangerous phenomenon unscathed either as their old village between the river banks was breached when a hyper T-Rex smashed through the gilded gates with little injury and almost singlehandedly decimated the Iwi. That fateful incident forced the natives to relocate elsewhere on the island, forcing Terry, apart from Kong, to confront the problem alone.
The only upside to this was that these hyper-carnivores don't get along well with each other as Terry had seen a growing number of fiercely gory fights among individuals in their quests to satiate their constant state of hunger. But that proved too late to mitigate the damage to Skull Island's herbivore populations. Other negative changes were brought onto the island's unique ecosystems with some jungles becoming eerily silent while there is hardly enough food for other predators to feast on causing the competition to become increasingly unbearable on all levels.
Not to mention that the hyper-carnivores had been causing Kong and Terry much grief and sleepless nights for quite some time. The current intrusion of the Red Bamboo and S.C.A.L.E. in the five recent years only served to complicate the matter worse with their guns and their enormous monsters of burden in the form of a giant mutant lobster and flocks of giant foreign, sea-faring condors. The war made the ape god to turn crankier in his attitude than he had been before. Kong could no longer catch much of a break with himself, Terry, and the Iwi being constantly attacked on all sides by various enemies both within and without. And another nagging thing bothering him and his human friend was Gorosaurus turning into another hyper monster like others of his distant kin. The last thing that Kong and Terry could afford to have was Gorosaurus and heavens know what else joining the growing list of hyperendocrine predators.
Terry was brought out of his thought process when he heard Kong having some downtime with a fish-like reptile called an ichthyosaur about the size of a whale and with the intelligence of one. The ichthyosaur's wide eyes and toothless, beak-like mouth make the creature friendlier and cuter than many of Skull Island's more terrifying aquatic residents as it chirped and squeaked intelligently to Kong, who somehow understood what the fish-like reptile was saying to him. It was apparently a sub-adult who has grown up, but still has long ways to go in terms of experience and maturity. It apparently caught scent of Kong's blood and became curious. Then when it and Kong communicated with each other with the latter hooting saying about his wounds and who inflicted them, the dolphin-like reptile was surprised. Then it softly let out a carefully delicate chirp that sounded like out of concern for Kong. The other members of the pod the ichthyosaur also joined in with the adults being about slightly bigger in size and having darker blue and green coloration and less pale white underside than the sub-adults and its peers. Kong's expression went from calm and serene to slightly morose and frustrated with one disgruntled hoot that said it all to the intelligent animals about his emotional state. In response, the ichthyosaurs' eyes went from bright yellow to somber blue that indicated that they were apparently saddened or at least, sensed that Kong wasn't doing well emotionally. The squeals also changed to a low whine that sounded like they were depressed as if they understood what he was going through. Some of the pod members, mainly the other younger ichthyosaurs, either they didn't understand or don't care about what's happening swam around Kong and leaped up and back into the water as they were playing with each other. The splashed startled Kong out of his rut, but not for long, as seeing the younger fish-like reptiles only reminded him of the family he had lost. The Kong grumbled sadly with his mouth clenched. The adult ichthyosaurs sensed that the youngsters were not helping his mood, thus the leader of the pod let out a forceful screech that put a halt in the youngsters' boisterous playfulness in the river.
The juveniles whistled grumbly when their respective mothers came and scolded them with harsh screeches. The leading ichthyosaur communicated carefully with Kong with what sounded like an apology to the ape god. Kong replied with a couple of grunts and a hoot accompanied with a sad smile that he accepted and knew that the youngsters were just trying to cheer him up, which he appreciated it. The alpha female ichthyosaur whistled with relief. Next, she let out her own sad whistle indicating that times had not been easy for her and the nursery group she's leading throughout the wide rivers and tributaries. She lost several of her friends and sisters recently and the group had seen many of their babies get eaten by other aquatic predators, especially the hyper ones, with their numbers now fewer than they used to be. Kong felt truly bad for the alpha and all of the mothers remaining in the pod when he understood her message. The ichthyosaurs had fallen on hard times like other creatures of Skull Island. Unfortunately, there's only so much hardship to bear before every living thing on the island would reach their breaking point. Both she and Kong were doing their damnedest to keep things together in their own lives, but they were very close to breaking.
Silence was brief, but it was broken when Kong reached out and gently patted the alpha ichthyosaur with his uninjured left hand, comforting her with the alpha rubbing him back in her effort to comfort and reassure the titanic primate. That prompted the other adults and some of the sub-adults of the pod to emit reassuring whistles and screeches with some of the mothers even gently rubbing Kong's legs and body as far as they can reach with their snouts and all. The gorilla welcomed the gestures and took some comfort from them while letting the young juveniles play with him and Terry when some of them recognized the human.
Then when it came time for the nursery group to move on, the ichthyosaurs slowly moved on with the alpha and her remaining sisters being the last, waving goodbye to Kong and Terry with the flippers and tail flukes splashing into the river before heading off.
Kong stared at the ichthyosaurs that slowly disappeared into the deeper parts of the river. When they were gone, he looked down onto Terry, who was happy that Kong managed to get out some steam from his system by communicating with the aquatic intelligent reptiles.
"I'm glad that at least we have some companions. *Sigh* Not many with pretty much everyone trying to survive and kill each other." Terry remarked as he shook his body dry from the water when the youngsters did splash in his way. Kong mummed in concurrence, acknowledging that their existence has been lonesome even when together.
"Yeah…I know, Kong. I do too wish it didn't turn out like this…," Terry breathed through his nose when he looked around. "…if you and I didn't have to risk our lives and every limb every day just to keep this island from falling apart."
Kong let out a series of worried pants and hoots to Terry, in which he responded, "I know you're worried, and so am I…" Terry grasped Kong's hand by his thumb when Kong let out another grunt, "Skull Island is all we have left and it is my home as much as it is yours. I'd do anything to protect this island and you, my friend, when even that means braving dangerous monsters just like you had done many times, Kong."
Kong grunted at that and later growled in reference to certain terrorist organizations.
"And those Red Bamboo and S.C.A.L.E. jerks will be driven off after what they had done to us." Terry clenched his fist with determination alight in his eyes just like Kong's for wanting to keep his home protected. The ape god hooted in agreement as there was no doubt that those bad humans will be gone either by crushing them or driving them into the sea. "We will drive them off, Kong…no matter what it takes…" Terry and Kong then did a fist bump, which was hilarious, yet heartwarming in spite of the size differences between the man's fist and the giant ape's finger. "…no matter what."
Then…
Several loud gunshots and explosions rang across Skull Island as the latter could be seen by rising columns of fire and mushroom clouds of smoke caused by the falling bombs from the bombers.
That caught Kong and Terry's attention and they both knew that to be the Red Bamboo and S.C.A.L.E. up to no good obviously.
"Speaking of the devil, what the hell are they up to this time?" Terry gritted his teeth with Kong snarling at the sight of the metal birds that were dropping bombs all over the jungle afar from where they were.
"We'd better stop them. It might be unlikely, but those bastards are going to wake up those damned Skull Devils if we don't!" Terry shouted as Kong quickly lifted him up to his shoulder allowing the man to climb on, "Let's go, Kong!"
Kong hollered out with a booming roar and beating his chest before he then immediately rushed from the lake through the jungle to where the helicopters and the planes were bombing the jungles miles away.
Back at the mobile command outpost, Captain Ryuuji observed the bombing and the destruction of the jungle 10 miles in front of him and enjoyed it thoroughly like a kid to fireworks on the Fourth of July. He already also had the Interdimensional Portal Gate up and running with the formation of the portal almost done in the process. He knew in his mind that the overgrown monkey and the brat of a boy wouldn't afford to ignore this kind of travesty on their home turf. And when he saw the silhouette of the god king of Skull Island charging through the trees angrily like a pissed off bull, the timing couldn't be any more perfect.
"Perfect…I can't wait to see the look on your faces when we reintroduce you to a familiar face you wish to forget." The captain chuckled sinisterly.
When Kong was approaching proximity of the area within a 40 mile radius, he ordered,
"All bombers return to base. I repeat, all bombers return to base at once. Your part is done. It's now up to our skull-faced war machine to do his part."
"Roger that, sir. Buzzard Squadrons 1 to 10! Return to base, over!" the leading pilot that's driving the commander bomber with his co-pilot restated the captain's orders to his squad and the others.
The squadrons followed suite without further ado leaving the jungle and parts of the savanna scorched in their wake. By the time Kong and Terry reached the area, it was too late for them to stop the squadrons.
"Damn those cowards!" Terry shook his fist at the fleeing bombers and helicopters. But he and Kong didn't have time to figure out as they heard a booming sound coming from their right. Their eyes were absorbing the sight of what appeared to be a strange gate-like contraption that had a strange hole of light formed as big as Kong was.
"Great. Now what kind of ridiculous scheme did they cook up?!" Terry didn't understand what the hell was happening in front of his eyes and neither did Kong with his confused expression. Warning bells were already ringing off in his head with his gut instincts screaming at him something's awfully wrong along with an unfortunately familiar chill he hadn't felt in a long time.
Then a warbling, guttural growl echoed from the portal and that had Terry and Kong on the edge.
"I have a crappy feeling about this," Terry remarked with his voice steeled to hide his anxiousness behind a scowling tone.
Kong gritted his teeth in a low growl as the footsteps got louder and the scent becoming more and more chillingly familiar with his fists clenching tighter and tighter. Captain Ryuuji, on the other hand, only grew smugger with his mouth curling in an evil grin.
Then much to Terry's horror and Kong's seething dismay, after several minutes, the creature entered with a familiar black clawed hand protruding through the portal. Slowly, its features revealed the white, long tapered, angled skull with more of its black body and its only two front limbs becoming more visible by every second. It seemingly took forever for the creature to emerge from the portal, but it was only because most of its body was just its ribs, back, and a long, black scaly tail. After fully emerging out of the portal, the monster that was Kong's mortal enemy was all in its full, ominous glory with everything about it that screamed death and gluttony.
"Oh shit…," Terry paled when he recognized the very creature that had terrorized Skull Island for millennia with its ilk infamous for wiping out half of Skull Island's fauna and for one of the past alphas for killing off Kong's entire family. "You have to be kidding me." He said in utter disbelief and horror.
Unfortunately, the reptilian monster wasn't kidding with its hissing snarl and the sound of its flickering tongue that only cemented the horrific reality that Red Bamboo had resurrected and brought onto Kong's world.
The very worst enemy that Kong hoped to never encounter again since killing the last Skull Devil when the American military first landed onto Skull Island in 1973 and accidentally woke the demons up from their subterranean dwellings.
Another alpha Skullcrawler.
And when it recognized Kong, the larger Skullcrawler at 80 meters tall and 188.7 meters long opened its mouth wide revealing many sets of sharp teeth inside with a spiky, bristled tri-forked tongue when it roared out a screeching, bloodcurdling call of aggression.
Kong was startled a bit by the return of the very reptilian species that ruined his life before Kong's surprise sank like a ship and his rage and hatred rose like a balloon filled with helium. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes became deep set with anger.
He let out a deafening roar of unbridled fury that he hadn't done in such a long time towards the beast that he hated more than anything else in his life.
…
…
…
TBC
