Scourge of the Super-saurs
By C. L. Werner
Part VII:
A Time of Battles
Baragon opened his massive jaws, a blast of searing flame shooting from the deep recesses of the monster's throat to strike the black-scaled giant looming before him. The flames did not so much as singe Godzilla's hide, their intense heat nothing compared to the nuclear inferno coursing through Godzilla's veins. Still, the attack did surprise Godzilla, catching the atomic dragon off guard. Godzilla withdrew from his enemy, taking a pair of tenuous steps backward.
Baragon's eyes narrowed as he watched Godzilla retreat from his fire. The ravenous beast took the action to be a sign of weakness, and anything that was weaker than him was prey. Baragon dropped to all fours again. Bracing himself, the monster's powerful leg muscles tensed. Even as Godzilla recovered from his surprise, the shell-backed dinosaur beast launched himself from his crouch, his massive bulk slamming into that of Godzilla.
The impact of the huge burrowing monster against Godzilla's body caused the larger monster to topple backwards, his massive bulk crashing through the foundation of a towering skyscraper. Baragon howled triumphantly, slashing at Godzilla's leg with his horn. The wicked dinosaur did not notice the enormous scaly mass beneath his body, the muscular length of Godzilla's tail. As Baragon slashed at Godzilla's leg, that tail erupted into violent activity, rippling with the speed and fury of a whip and sending the floppy-eared dinosaur sailing into the air. Baragon landed almost a mile away, his huge weight crashing into the street and creating a deep impact crater.
Both monsters rose from their falls. Godzilla roared his wrath, gazing across the ravaged city for his enemy. Baragon howled, crawling from the dust and debris of the crater, pain warring with hunger for mastery of his frame. As the burrowing monster's eyes spotted Godzilla advancing toward him, hunger again took control of the evil brute. Tensing himself again, Baragon leaped across the ruins to strike his foe. In mid-leap, a blast of silvery fire struck the reptile, hurling Baragon away from his intended target. The monster struck the ground, his armored back sliding across the very rubble his earlier depredations had created. Godzilla's atomic flame chased after Baragon's body, sending debris shooting into the sky as Godzilla attempted to connect with his foe, all the while slowly advancing upon the mutant dinosaur.
Baragon lifted himself from the rubble of a department store, his huge ears pressed against the back of his head. Baragon lifted his head only slightly, his keen vision sighting Godzilla stomping towards him just as Godzilla's ray stormed towards Baragon's head. A building behind Baragon exploded as the radioactive beam connected with masonry instead of flesh. Baragon barked in sudden fright. Having felt that powerful beam, he had no interest in repeating the experience. Baragon waited, watching as Godzilla drew still closer. Then, roaring, the monster charged from the sheltering rubble.
Godzilla paused, shrieking at the horned monster who thought to attack him. Godzilla prepared to meet Baragon's charge. He was not prepared for what did happen. As the floppy-eared beast scrambled forward, the horn on Baragon's nose suddenly gave off a brilliant light. Godzilla reared away from the blinding glare, his vision momentarily flooded by the after-image of the flash. Godzilla roared angrily as his sight slowly returned. He looked around for his enemy, but saw only the tip of a brown, leathery tail retreating into the mouth of a newly dug burrow. Godzilla roared again, but his roar did not coax Baragon from his subterranean tunnel. Baragon knew that he would not be able to defeat such a powerful foe and like any sensible creature, he was not staying around to finish a lost fight.
Godzilla waited for a few moments to see if Baragon would reappear. Deciding that the burrowing monster was well and truly gone, Godzilla turned away from the gaping hole and began to march deeper into the heart of Tokyo.
The shock wave of Rodan's descent knocked Anguirus over, pitching the giant beast across the ravaged terrain. Rodan cackled evilly as he unleashed a steady barrage of crackling uranium rays. The deadly energy beams blasted huge holes in the asphalt and blackened the spiky shell on Anguirus' back when they struck him. Anguirus howled in turn, launching a salvo of tail spikes at his tormenter. This time, Rodan was expecting such an attack from his enemy. The flying monster dove below the quills, slashing Anguirus' unarmored neck with his talons as he flew past. Cackling once more, the giant pterosaur circled around to make a second attack.
Rodan's fiery beams again ravaged Anguirus, even as the monster scrambled forward in a desperate attempt to latch his jaws about the flying monster. The beams mostly struck his spiky shell, but several scored hits on the softer flesh of Anguirus' neck, causing the monster to howl in pain. Rodan noticed the difference, circling for a third pass, the flying monster slowed to an almost leisurely pace, trading speed for greater accuracy. Rodan sent a beam of uranium energy searing into the wound he had torn in Anguirus' neck. Anguirus flipped onto his back, rolling across the ground in a spasm of pain. Rodan cackled again, but his victory was not to be.
Vice-like jaws closed upon Rodan's foot, tearing the pterosaur from the sky. Gorosaurus crashed back to earth, sinking deep into the ground as he completed his jump. The theropod's powerful neck muscles joined the force of gravity in dashing Rodan against the earth, Gorosaurus' powerful jaws releasing their grip upon Rodan's foot when the monster had done all he could to increase the force of Rodan's impact. Rodan struck the ground, sinking into a twenty-meter deep crater created by the incredible impact. The giant pterosaur's body twitched painfully, his leathery wings bent across his body like a shroud.
Rodan let a painful cry pass his beak, slowly trying to lift himself from the crater. A long, powerful tail smashed across the flying monster's back, ending the effort. Titanosaurus trumpeted his gurgling roar and continued to batter the fallen monster with his long, finned tail. Gorosaurus uttered his own deep-throated roar, rearing back on his tail to kick at Rodan with both of his powerful legs. Howling his own wrathful bark, Anguirus recovered himself and charged across the ruins to batter Rodan with his horned head and savage the monster's wing with his sharp fangs.
Unnoticed by any of the dinosaurs, closer to the Hachiman Building, a toppled giant of steel slowly rose to its feet. Cybricon stood motionless, as if content to watch the battle. In truth, the damaged machine was waiting. The news had reached Tetsuo. Help was on its way. When Mechatron arrived, all of the monsters would taste the wrath of MARS.
Murakoshi and the CIA agent were ushered into the decrepit-looking warehouse by a scruffy, bearded Guatemalan dressed in a threadbare set of military fatigues. The Interpol agent looked at his American counterpart as they were shown into the almost empty building.
'You are sure that these men know where Dr. Mafune is?' he asked under his breath. The CIA agent shrugged his shoulders.
'We know that they were paying Mafune for his services before the failed coup d'être in Panama,' the spy said, the face below his sunglasses still expressionless. The two agents were led deeper into the warehouse, toward a table. A large man dressed in a tan uniform was seated behind the table. The bearded face beneath the man's peaked cap was not a friendly one. Murakoshi at once recognized the man as Colonel Mendoza, a reactionary rebel who had attempted to overthrow the government of Panama two months ago.
'What brings you two gen'lmen to see me in my humble home, eh?' the Colonel smiled.
'I think you already know, otherwise we would not have gotten this far,' the CIA agent stated, his face still expressionless.
'I think you should show me some money, gringo,' Colonel Mendoza snapped his fingers. Five more fatigue-wearing men stepped out of the shadows, each holding an AK-47. 'Nothing is free in dis world, you know?' the fat man laughed. The CIA agent took the brown leather valise from Murakoshi and set it on the table before the obese revolutionary. Mendoza leaned forward and opened the case. Greasy hands caressed the stacks of bills inside, fanning them as if to make certain that each and every slip of paper was indeed and actual monetary note.
'American dollars!' Colonel Mendoza laughed. 'You think you can buy anything for American dollars!' Colonel Mendoza pulled the small pistol at his belt and with a single motion put the muzzle just below the CIA agent's sunglasses. 'I did pretty well under the General! If you people hadn't deposed him and arrested him, I wouldn't be living in toilets like this!' The spy's expressionless face gave way to alarm in the split second it took Mendoza's finger to tighten upon the trigger and send a bullet crashing through the man's brain. Before Murakoshi could react, the barrel of an AK-47 was buried in his ribs. The Interpol agent raised his hands
'Filthy imperialist gringo!' Mendoza snarled as he spat a gob of slimy spittle into the ruin of the dead spy's face. The Colonel set his smoking pistol down on the table and looked over at Murakoshi. The rebel's face again wore a predatory smile.
'So, you want to know where Mafune is?' Mendoza laughed.
'Millions will die if he is not stopped,' Murakoshi pleaded. Mendoza laughed again.
'Si, millions. And maybe some of them will be in Panama, if I am nice to Mafune,' Mendoza smiled. 'So why would I betray him? The money?' Mendoza caressed the leather case. 'I already have the money.'
'He is a madman. You can't be sure that he will do as you want,' Murakoshi noticed a slight change cross Colonel Mendoza's face, but the moment passed quickly.
'He is almost done doing what he needs to do,' Mendoza assured Murakoshi. 'Then he will let me use his pets.' Mendoza grew thoughtful for a moment. 'Still, if it makes you feel any better, I will tell you where he is. You know those islands the damn gringos made their dinosaurs on? Mafune owns an island very close to them. He had something to do with that operation. Of course, his monsters are a lot bigger.'
Mendoza looked over at his soldiers. 'He has heard what he paid for. Kill him.'
Suddenly, the side door of the warehouse burst inwards. A figure dressed in black and white leaped through the open door. Forty-five caliber automatics glistened in the dim sunlight filtering through the warehouse's porous tin roof. Flame leapt from the twin pistols, discharging a deadly cargo of lead across the empty building. Two of Mendoza's men dropped immediately, their unfired assault rifles clattering across the floor. The figured rolled as he completed his leap through the door, firing as he rose from the roll even as the first retaliatory shots crashed against the wall behind him. As the man in black fired, two more of Mendoza's men screamed and fell.
The man guarding Murakoshi was taken by surprise when the Interpol agent smashed his elbow into the man's stomach. As the guard doubled over, Murakoshi kicked the table between himself and Colonel Mendoza even as the fat rebel reached for his discarded pistol. A look of horror gripped Mendoza as the table tipped over and the valise of money shattered against the floor, sending bills scattering across the room. The look of horror turned to hate and Mendoza dropped behind the table, scrambling for the weapon of one of his slain guards. Murakoshi tore his own pistol from its holster and leapt over the table. The Interpol agent landed ontop of the fat officer, knocking the wind from the obese Colonel.
Shots continued to sound across the warehouse, barking .45's booming from the shadows as the type-writer trains of AK-47's tried to find a target. As more time passed, the sound of the assault rifles grew less and less, until only the .45's could be heard.
Murakoshi continued to struggle with Mendoza. At last, the Interpol agent kicked the assault rifle away, sending it sliding across the floor. Mendoza stared at Murakoshi's pistol, sullenly accepting defeat. Murakoshi rose from the rebel, motioning Mendoza to stand also. A smile crawled across Mendoza's face. Murakoshi spun about to see his former guard pointing a rifle at him. Suddenly, another .45 shot boomed from the shadows and the guard's chest erupted in a crimson mist. The man dropped at once. Murakoshi hastily covered Mendoza, watching as his rescuer walked towards both men.
The man was Chinese, dressed in a black suit and wearing a white silk cravat around his neck. Two .45 pistols were gripped in the man's gloved hands. It was the same man Murakoshi had noticed at the airport.
'You are CIA?' Murakoshi asked as the Chinese man walked over to him. The Chinese man let a smile flicker across his face.
'No,' he shrugged. At the same instant, he smacked the barrel of one of his pistols against the side of Murakoshi's head. The Interpol agent's world turned into darkness.
The three people standing on the sandy beach of Ogasawara did so without any fear. Rodan and Godzilla were both gone, joining the chaos in Tokyo. And now, Monsterland's other denizen was about to depart as well. Unlike the other two, it was hoped that Mothra would be able to stop the carnage.
Dr. Otani watched as Mothra slowly fanned her massive wings in the warm tropical sunlight. The yellow and black wings caused a gentle breeze to waft across the island, the light wind carrying the monster goddess' flowery scent. Despite the grave concerns and doubts filling his mind, the director of Monsterland found himself smiling as the gentle breeze snapped at his lab coat.
'Please, let Mothra know how very much this means to not only us, but people everywhere,' Professor Miura said. The scientist was kneeling in the sand, speaking to the tiny figures of Moll and Lora, Mothra's fairy priestesses.
'She already knows,' the Cosmos said in unison. 'That is why Mothra decided to help, because she feels that the people of Japan are her responsibility.'
'It was the concern of all of you kind people that allowed Mothra to come here and recover from her horrible battle with King Ghidorah,' Moll elaborated.
'Now it is her turn to help you,' Lora added.
Mothra's chitinous mouth parted and a sharp shriek echoed across the island. The Cosmos turned and watched as the tiny fairy Mothra emerged from the larger deity and settled on the sand beside them.
'Mothra will leave now, and we must go with her,' the Cosmos said, climbing onto the fairy familiar's back. The owl-sized moth rose into the air, its own chirp far less commanding than Mothra's echoing cry.
'We wish you the greatest luck,' Miki Saegusa said to the departing Cosmos.
'Have faith in Mothra, and keep hope in your hearts and Mothra will be victorious,' the Cosmos advised. Mothra rose into the air, slowly, beating her great wings. The enormous insect increased her speed as she flew away from the island, no longer concerned with accidentally harming innocent people. The much smaller dot that was the fairy Mothra pursued the goddess until both were far beyond the vision of the three people on the beach.
'Can Mothra really put an end to the battle?' Dr. Otani wondered aloud.
'You heard the Cosmos,' Professor Miura replied, 'Mothra can influence the very minds of the creatures, make them no longer want to fight.'
'Can Mothra influence the minds of people?' Miki Saegusa interjected. 'Would she even try to violate a human being's free will?'
'How do you mean?' asked Professor Miura.
'Anguirus, Gorosaurus and the others, they are not in control of themselves. Dr. Mafune, wherever he is, has a hold over them. Mothra might alter the minds of the dinosaurs, but will she be able to break Mafune's hold over them? And then there is the robot guarding MARS. Will MARS just let the monsters leave in peace, or will they insist on the satisfaction of revenge?' Miki Saegusa recalled the bloody battle between Godzilla, Rodan and the robot Steel Rain that had occurred on this very beach. She had seen one of MARS' creations firsthand and had some idea of the awful power at their command.
'All we can do,' Dr. Otani said, looking at the huge blue and white egg resting beneath its camouflaged canopy, ' is to do as the Cosmos said. We must have faith that Mothra will be victorious.'
Titanosaurus reared back, trumpeting triumphantly as Gorosaurus again battered the fallen Rodan with his massive tail. Anguirus had a grip on the fallen pterosaur's wing and was worrying it savagely with his sharp, vicious fangs. Rodan cackled weakly, still trying to rise from the deep crater. Blood poured from dozens of wounds in the monster's leathery hide, his body broken and battered by the combined might of three of Mafune's terrible creations.
Titanosaurus snorted and stomped back towards the flying beast that had so savagely attacked his comrade. The amphibious dinosaur did not really have any great desire to harm the fallen monster, but the urge was prodding him forward, pushing him to help his fellows finish Rodan off as quickly as they could and then return to the destruction of the Hachiman Building. Titanosaurus did not resist, stomping back towards his fellows to rejoin the attack.
A blast of atomic fire struck Titanosaurus in the shoulder, pitching the warty beast into an industrial complex. Titanosaurus toppled into the mass of smokestacks, much of his body covered in shattered bricks and twisted steel. The same blue flame lashed out mercilessly across the battlefield, scorching Gorosaurus and Anguirus repeatedly. The stunned monsters hastily withdrew from the fallen Rodan as the atomic beam pursued them. Each of the giant beasts howled in anger.
Godzilla's enraged roar drowned out the defiant bellows of Gorosaurus and Anguirus. The mammoth living mountain of scales and muscles stomped across the devastation, snarling his wrath at the dinosaurs. Anguirus hooted his own challenge and scrambled towards the oncoming Godzilla, but swiftly retreated when a concentrated blast of golden fire turned the street right in front of the charging dinosaur into a bubbling pool of molten slag. Godzilla shrieked his last warning at the spike-backed reptile and turned toward the fallen Rodan.
Rodan managed to lift his ravaged body from the crater, shaking dust and blood from his savaged back. The giant pterosaur cackled weakly at his rescuer, welcoming his 'brother' with what strength was left in him. Godzilla stared at the wounded Rodan, fury growing in his eyes. Rodan rose to his feet, his body trembling from the effort. Again, the terror of the sky cackled weakly. Godzilla nudged his friend with the side of his head, trying to induce Rodan back into the sky, away from his attackers. Either Rodan did not understand, or the effort was beyond his remaining strength. Godzilla looked away from his wounded comrade to again snarl at the three dinosaur monsters.
Suddenly, Godzilla was struck by a tremendous force, pitching sideways and very nearly losing his footing. A blast of flame ineffectually engulfed his face as he turned to face his attacker. As the flames died, they were replaced by a brilliant flash of light and Godzilla again found himself blinded. Baragon leaped away from the momentarily stunned titan, even as Gorosaurus and Anguirus advanced toward him. The ravenous beast had not forgotten his enemy. Enough intelligence lurked in Baragon's ever-hungry mind to understand that if Godzilla was too powerful for him to overcome on his own, then he would need the help of his fellow monsters to feats upon the giant's flesh. As Godzilla's sight slowly began to return, Baragon circled around Godzilla and Rodan, seeking the advantage of a rear attack. Gorosaurus and Anguirus continued to advance from the front. Rising from the shattered industrial complex, Titanosaurus shook the rubble from his body, and closed upon the embattled pair's right flank.
Godzilla and Rodan watched as their adversaries closed the circle around them. They realized that they were being surrounded and outnumbered by their savage foes. But both monsters were determined to exact a terrible toll from their enemies before they were defeated.
From the dark recesses of the Hachiman Building, Tetsuo watched as the monsters turned upon one another. Good, he thought, let them fight. Let them kill one another. Those which survive will be weak, easy prey for Cybricon. Then, Cybricon's sensors detected an enormous object in the distance, sunlight gleaming from its metal surface. Mechatron had arrived.
Weakened or not, Tetsuo decided, the monsters had no chance at all now.