KellHound270's Work
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Note: Sorry for the absence. I became addicted to the MonarchCustomTitans subreddit. I'm doing better now, but a relapse is entirely possible.
Also, I plan to introduce Ahab (Moby Dick as a Titan) in the next 'vs.' story. I'm also going to be introducing three shark Titans and an orca Titan. If you have name suggestions, I'll be happy to hear them.
Enjoy, and please R&R!
Chapter V
"How are things looking inside the outpost, Rick?" Jon asked.
"There's a loooooot of activity in there," Stanton answered. "They seem to be recycling the Queen's corpse to feed their larvae."
"That's unique," Dr. Kashiwagi noted. "No other eusocial insect species does that. Normally they throw the corpses out of the hive."
"Must be a way to reduce waste," Jon proposed.
"Whatever it is, the corpse is disappearing fast." Stanton displayed the infrared of the Queen's corpse. It was half the size it was when she fought Roc and Rodan.
Then, an alarm ringed on his computer. Something was approaching fast, and it was neither Rodan nor Roc.
"This is odd," Stanton said. "Something's coming up from South America."
Not long after he spoke, the air trembled with the approach of a legendary Titan. His green feathers shimmered in the sunlight, and his long body was stiff as his four enormous wings carried him to the volcano.
Quetzalcoatl knew that Roc and Rodan had left Isla de Mara, and sought to capitalize on their absence. He plunged his long neck into the volcano and began to feast on the defenseless Meganula.
"Someone's hungry," Stanton noted.
"You would be too if all you had was a couple herds of llamas for breakfast," Jon replied.
Stanton looked back at the infrared for the Hive. One of the larvae was growing larger than the others.
"Guys," he said, "we have a problem."
Jon and Kashwagi looked at the infrared. They saw what he saw, and knew more.
"They're making royal jelly," Kashiwagi realized. "They're converting the dead Queen's body into nutrients to make the next Queen."
"It'll be much larger than the previous Queen," Jon noted. "The corpse is only three-quarters gone, and the new Queen is almost as big as her predecessor."
"Each Queen is bigger than the last," Stanton added.
They were interrupted when Quetzalcoatl screamed and pulled his head out of the volcano. He was being attacked by adult Meganula, females who acted as soldiers. He opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of highly pressurized air at them. Their flight patterns were messed up and they lost orientation.
Quetzalcoatl snapped the Meganula up in his jaws and devoured them. However, more of the insects were coming, both nymphs and adults.
"The military's gonna have a field day with this," Stanton said.
Quetzalcoatl flapped his wings and ascended into the sky. The Meganula tried to follow him, but he was faster. When he was a sufficient distance away, he dove down and scooped them up in his jaws. He returned to the ground to continue his feast.
Suddenly, a tremulous screech echoed from the volcano. The Feathered Serpent looked up to see a long, insectoid leg rise from the caldera. He knew what was coming, and flared his hood in a threat display.
The new Queen was distinctly different from her predecessor. The wings were translucent and filled with veins, although they retained the leathery texture. The Queen's eyes glowed an angry orange, and unlike her mother, her mouth was made up of two sets of jaws: one vertical, the other horizontal. The end of her abdomen had three spikes that formed a triangle.
Quetzalcoatl wasn't scared by her appearance, even though he should have been.
"Well, that's a scary sight," Stanton said.
"We'll need a name for this one," Jon stated. "We can't name them all 'Queen.'"
"Why not? The band would love it," Rick replied.
"How about Megaguirus?" Kashiwagi asked. "It's a name that the local legends use for the Meganulon Queens."
"Sounds cool enough for me," Stanton said. "Jon?"
"It's a local name, so we'll use it."