Chapter 18:
The Prodigal Son Returns

That's Hisshin's brother!? Daiyara thought as she stared up at the colossal, reptilian beast who had just flung the Kage Umare into a building. Hisshin's brother was huge, towering a few feet above the shadow born beast, having a slightly slumped over humanoid stance. He had dark gray skin with grooves instead of scales with a faded red dot on his chest, possibly a scar. His muscular arms ended in eight sharp claws, four on each hand. His stocky body was held up by tremendous legs ending in four, thicker-clawed toes on each foot. Behind him waved a long, segmented tail which encompassed seventy-five percent of his length. A feline head rested atop his sturdy, long neck with fangs the length of two men sticking out from his upper lip. A pair of burning, ember-colored eyes gazed down at his fallen enemy. The most striking feature was the three rows of jagged bone-white spikes which ran from the crown of his head all the way to his tail. Mana recognized the shape of the spikes. Was this the beast that saved them from the underwater Kage Umare?

Just then, with an explosion of wreckage and debris, the multi-armed Kage Umare hoisted itself to face its opponent. Hisshin's brother narrowed his eyes, his lips curled up and a growl emanated from his throat. The two beasts circled, one waiting to see who would make the first move, the other deciding how to retaliate. Just then, with a howl, the Kage Umare lunged forward, claws splayed out and fangs exposed. It latched its jaws onto its opponent's shoulder. Hisshin's brother snarled and pushed himself and his opponent into a building right next to them, reducing it into nothing more than broken concrete, twisted metal and shattered glass. The sound itself was deafening but in the end drowned out by the roars of the fighting monsters. Hisshin then heard the muffled sounds of his parents, waving to him and the princesses just to their left. Daiyara once again dragged the younger Gojo to possible safety all the while he watched as his brother, having finally removed the Kage Umare from him, grabbed it by the throat.

"Get 'em, Bro." Hisshin whispered, "Get 'em."

Junior held his enemy by the neck, its smaller arms clawing feebly at his own. He responded by slamming the monster's face into a building and proceeded to scrape it across, leaving a huge gash in the structure. He then threw the beast into another building, the sheer force flattening it on impact. He was filled with burning anger. This... thing thought it could challenge him. He may not have been his father... but he still could dole out punishment. With a roar, he charged forward.

Kemonokage's head was spinning, both physically and mentally. How could a mere mortal beast be already gaining the upper hand over him? Was it also after the Muans? The last thing he needed right now was competition. The reawakening of his queen was not going to be put in jeopardy by whatever this monster was. However, the moment he got back on his feet, the creature was charging toward him at a speed belying his bulk. Kemonokage spread out his arms and dug his feet into the ground, his claws piercing the black surface as his enemy collided with him.

The sound of Godzilla Junior and the strange monster impacting was louder than any recorded train crash and the force was enough to destroy any windows within a forty-five mile radius. The two Kaiju started to grapple with each other, their roars like thunder. The people fled for cover, hoping to stay as far away from the battling titans. Azusa and Kazuma, fortunately, were at a safe distance away from them as the former watched her adoptive son wrestle with the new Kaiju. Just then, the monster managed to dig its fangs into her adopted elder son's shoulder, causing him to roar in pain. "Mom! Dad!"

Her focus was given to Hisshin and the girls running toward him. She held her arms out and hugged her son by birth. "We need to get to somewhere safe," Kazuma told her, "I doubt those two are going to stick fighting in that area."

Azusa nodded as she led her son, his friends and her husband to a possible safe area. She shifted her gaze back toward the fight just in time to see Godzilla Junior sink his own fangs into his opponent's arm.

Kemonokage screamed out as his foe's teeth sank deeper and deeper past his arm's exoskeleton. It had been two millenia since he felt true pain, the last time it was getting his flesh scorched by the crimson bolts from Battra's eyes and the lightning from Mothra's wings. He dug his fangs into his enemy's flesh, right to the point he could taste his blood. However, his foe did the same only harder. Just as the pressure and stinging agony became too much for him, Kemonokage loosed his jaws and his hold on the beast and howled in pain, holding his arms which had just now started bleeding red-violet ichor. However, it wasn't until he realized he made a mistake when his opponent raised his fists and slammed them down on him.

Once his enemy was down, Junior kicked it in the chest, knocking it on its back before planting his foot where he kicked. The monster attempted to get back up on its feet. He responded simply by pressing down on it and applying pressure. He intended to press down on his foe to the point something gave. Suddenly, an electric, hissing sound entered his ears. He looked up to see the source of it. His enemy's throat glowed purple as its jaws split in five. Then, a bolt of purple energy shot out and scorched his chest. With a roar of pain and surprise, Junior stumbled back into a building, the structure falling down on him.

Hisshin gasped as he saw his brother was buried underneath a business complex. "C'mon, Bro, get up." he hissed through clenched teeth as he noticed the Kage Umare advancing on his fallen adoptive sibling.

Kemonokage hissed with delight as he loomed over his fallen enemy. He finally gained the upper hand over his opponent. Now, to finish him off. He prepared his Dark Mana Beam again, ready to end this fight. That is, until he noticed a flashing blue light underneath the rubble. Before he could react, his enemy burst from the debris, his spikes flashing with electric azure energy. Kemonokage growled in frustration. However, the moment he was about to fire, his enemy breathed in until his chest puffed out... and, instead of a roar, a plume of silver-blue fire erupted from his jaws and washed over him. The heat was so intense he could literally feel his skin boil and his prepared energy blast was extinguished the moment he screamed in sheer agony.

Hisshin mentally cheered as he watched his brother push the Kage Umare into a building by the sheer force of his Cherenkov Radiation-laden plasma. The moment he stopped, the monster tried to shake off the pain in spite of a patch of smoking, charred skin on its chest. The beast then lunged forward... only to get a faceful of blue, radioactive fire.

Godzilla Junior watched as his opponent slumped to the ground, its face and chest smoking. With a grunt, he turned to take note of the humans running. Among them were three he recognized and three not so much. Just then, he heard the sound of something grabbing a building and hissing. His enemy wasn't dead... yet. Clenching his four rows of teeth until they ground against each other and narrowing his eyes until they were fiery slivers, he slowly turned around. His enemy stumbled a bit before finally regaining its holding. The left half of its skull-like face had burned away, the eyes on that side were completely destroyed. If it could survive two blasts on the outside, maybe it was time for him to take a different approach. As his enemy pounced with a wild shriek, Godzilla Junior sidestepped it, whacking it onto the ground with his tail. With his foe disorientated, he reached down with his right talons and grabbed its upper jaw. He then twisted its head until his left hand was gripping its lower jaw. Once he had the monster in the position he wanted, he proceeded to pry its mouth open. Then, the struggling began. The beast seemed to know exactly what he was going to do as it began thrashing around and clenched its jaws tight. Godzilla Junior barked and delivered a strong punch to the wounded side of its face. As the beast roared in agony, he began to pull the jaws apart again, this time getting as far enough to see down its throat.

Kemonokage could do nothing as his enemy glared down on him with an ironically cold gaze belying its burning eyes. Once again, its spikes began to dance with electric blue sparks. Forgive me, Lady Kagejotei, he thought, I have failed you.

Daiyara, Salno and Mana watched in raptured awe and a bit of horror as Hisshin's brother loosed his blue flame down the Kage Umare's pried open jaws. He intensified the strength of the flame to the point the stream was now arching out his enemy's neck. As he let the flames die down, Hisshin's brother held up the now dead beast before throwing him to the ground, the sheer impact of the corpse setting off several car alarms. Alarms, which were drowned out as the saurian giant lifted his head into the sky and loosed a roar to the heavens as though demanding their respect. After it hung in the air, Godzilla Junior surveyed the damages. With a grunt, he began trekking his way back to the sea. Before he took one more step, he paused and turned to look straight at Hisshin. For a few minutes, the two brothers acknowledged each other for the first time since 1998. After a while of silence, Godzilla Junior's footsteps thundered as he made his return to the shoreline, leaving prints big enough to filled in as Olympic style pools.