Koumajutsu

The Coming of Bagan

By C. L. Werner

Chapter IV:

Mothra vs Bagan

Bagan fairly seethed with power. The aspect of fire had re-entered his demonic soul, bringing the terrible dragon one step closer to becoming complete once more. Heat sizzled from his body, warping the air around him. The great horned head roared into the night sky, then reared downwards. Sheets of pulsating flame blasted from Bagan's gaping maw, scouring huge craters in the Afghan countryside, leveling hills and crumbling a far-off mountainside, reducing one face of the peak into a pile of rubble. Bagan roared his unearthly bellow again, turning in position and blasting the land all about him. Nearly all of those who had fled the now vanished village were caught in the searing waves of flame, instantly charred into ash by the force of the intense demonic flame.

Bagan roared again, turning away from the ruins and stomping away to the south. The village had done nothing to sate the demon's appetite for souls. Brimming with power, the demon-beast was filled with an urge to destroy, to drink the screams of agony and terror of a cowering city. The existence of Kabul could now be measured in hours.

'Stand-down,' the admiral repeated to his staff. 'Those are the orders from the President. American forces are not to engage the monster Bagan so long as it is within Afghanistan's borders.'

'Sir,' objected one of the communications officers. 'Have you seen the sattelite photos? Unless that thing is stopped, there won't be any Afghanistan!'

'We have our orders,' the admiral responded, somewhat testily. 'All we can do for those people now is to pray for them.'

'Perhaps we should pray for ourselves too,' added the comms officer. 'Because I don't think that thing is going to stop when he finishes with Kabul.'

Gossamer wings beat swiftly through the night sky. Flying at a speed beyond belief, Mothra's rainbow-hued wings soared over Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. Past the peaks of the mighty Himalayas, the same grim sentinels that had at last revealed to the world their grim charge. Over the sub-continent of India, above the ancient temples of gods that were young compared to Mothra's timeless heritage. Across Pakistan, where a flight of U.S. Airforce fighter jets narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with the massive being. Patrolling against a southward advance from the monster ravaging Afghanistan, the fighters had not expected another monster to appear from the other direction.

'Able flight to control,' the flight leader radioed back to the US task force. 'We have just sighted Mothra. She is heading north at great speed.'

'Break off contact,' the radio crackled back after a moment's pause. The flight commander could well imagine the excitement that this new information had caused. If the American military was not authorized to enter the combat zone, there was no such prohibition preventing Mothra from doing so. Silently, the flight commander wished the departed moth goddess all the luck in the world.

Despot Ivan Vladimir Vasalov stormed over to the sweating Russian general in the command center. The expression on the short, bear-like Russian ruler was not a pleasant one.

'Have you seen the reports being made about what that thing is doing to Kabul?' the despot snarled. 'He is tearing through that place like a wolf through a hen house!'

'I know, Excellency,' responded the general, nervously tugging at his moustache. 'We are analyzing all of our options.' The general showed his commander a series of reports and communiques that had come to the command center. The Russian army was already advancing toward the southern borders. Vasalov glared at the dispatches and threw them contemptuously in the officer's face.

'You call that an acceptible response?' Vasalov growled. 'I am not throwing away the lives of my people, be they civilian or soldier! Just because my people are willing to die for the Motherland, does not mean that I should ask them to do so needlessly.' Vasalov turned his bull neck so that he could scan the command center. After examining the room, he stared into the general's eyes. 'How soon before Perun's Axe will be in position?' The general seemed to visibly grow pale.

'You would not…' Vasalov waved away the man's objections.

'How soon?' he repeated.

'It will be over the site within fifteen minutes,' the generall answered. 'But the damage it will cause would be astronomical!'

'Those people are dead anyway,' Vasalov replied. 'The monster will kill them. We can't afford to worry about collateral damage. All we need to be concerned about is stopping that monster and sparing the Motherland from its attentions!'

Bagan loomed over the broken skyline of the shattered city. Fires blazed everywhere, thick black smoke hanging close to the ground like a shadowy fog. Many of the mud-brick buildings had exploded when Bagan's caustic breath struck them, pummeling fleeing civilians with fused, rock-hard shrapnel. It amused Bagan to watch the citizens of Kabul try to escape from him. Just as he had done to Shangri-la, the demon had first blasted the outskirts of the city into a wall of rubble, then he had advanced upon the inner regions. A handful of tanks and primitive rocket launchers had been deployed against him. He made certain that the crews of the weapons had time to regret their suicidal bravery before they were consumed by his demonic soul.

From outside the city, Kato watched the devil-beast indulge its wicked drives. Even the necromancer was stunned by the horrible efficiency of this demon he had released. A part of him was transfixed by the sight of Bagan destroying everything in his path, ravaging the city more thoroughly than any earthquake. True, the necromancer was annoyed by this further delay in the destruction of Tokyo, but his hold upon the monster was exceedingly slight. Bagan would lay waste to the accursed megalopolis, but he would do so only when he was ready to do so. All the sorcerer could do was watch and wait.

Suddenly, Bagan lifted his head high into the night air, dropping a mouthful of Afghans to break their bones upon the hard desert floor hundreds of feet below. Kato followed the monster's gaze, sensing what the demon sensed. A powerful entity was coming, a force opposed to the darkness. An aspect of the light. Kato snarled in rage even as Bagan roared his anger. The demon was not yet at full power. A battle now could possibly result in his defeat. Kato tried to prod the dragon from pursuing the coming conflict. The resulting wave of annoyance nearly sent the necromancer into a coma.

Bagan would not shy away from any adversary, be it god or mortal.

Mothra flew towards the burning city. She could see the evil titan looming over the wreckage, an aura of heat shimmering around his form. Though she had never set eyes upon this nightmarish creature, her ancestor long ago had, and that memory had been imprinted within the minds of every succeeding generation of Mothra. Bagan, the lord of death. Mothra could tell that the demon was not yet at his full power. There was a chance that she would be able to defeat the fiend in this vulnerable state.

Mothra shrieked her challenge, sending bolts of electrical power surging from her antennae to scour the demon's armored hide. Bagan roared as the bolts struck his body, but whether from pain or contempt, his attacker could not tell. The demon responded, opening his mouth wide, sending a pulsing wave of fiery energy blasting toward Mothra. Narrowly, Mothra was able to dodge the deadly wave of destruction, firing another series of energy bolts as she maneuvered away from Bagan's attack. Again, the demon roared.

Bagan stomped forwards, for once heedless of the lives his crushed beneath his clawed feet. A different kind of bloodlust welled up within his evil heart. Vengeance! He recognized this creature now, recognized it as one of those that had defeated him so long ago, imprisoned him within an icy tomb. He would savor this creature's pain. Perhaps he would allow it to linger for days before he swallowed its soul. A second gout of fiery doom narrowly missed Mothra's wing.

Mothra beagn to circle the massive dragon, blasting the beast with her powerful electrical energy bolts. The crackling lightning lanced into Bagan's body, causing the brute to roar. Bagan attempted to follow Mothra's circling form, but was unable to keep up with the fast flying goddess. Mothra rose higher still, shimmering pollen raining down upon the demon below, coating him in a prismatic dust. The pollen was the moth goddess' most potent form of defense, so powerful that it had even been able to reflect Godzilla's atomic ray back upon him.

Bagan writhed as the pollen settled upon his head and shoulders, his face twisted in loathing. The dragon's eyes narrowed and closed upon the circling Mothra. He watched as a ring of energy began to form in the wake of the deity. Mothra began to fly still faster, the ring becoming more and more solid as she did so. Then, a cross formed within the center of the ring. A tremendous wave of energy surged downwards, slamming into the demon, almost crushing him to the ground.

Mothra's seal was her most potent weapon. With its awesome power, she had re-imprisoned the awful Death Ghidorah and the sea monster Dagara. Now, Mothra hoped to use the same powerful attack to vanquish the threat of Bagan before it could truly begin.

Mothra swooped downwards as a thick pall of smoke and dust rose from where the seal had settled upon Bagan. She watched and waited, seeking any sign that the monster had been defeated. Her reply took the form of a blazing beam of fire that narrowly missed her body, scouring a deep trench in the ground below her. Charging out of the smoke was the furious demon. Bagan roared again and sent a second beam of fire at Mothra, even as she tried to climb back into the night sky.

The beam blasted through Mothra's right wing, burning a huge hole in the gossamer material. Mothra screamed in pain and fell to the earth like a stone. Bagan snorted and stormed forward. Even as Mothra sent a few feeble blasts of energy searing into his body, Bagan reached down. The demon's claw closed around Mothra's right antenna. With a sadistic effort, Bagan ripped the appendage from Mothra's head. Pulpy green ichor bubbled from the wound and Mothra let out a hideous scream of agony. By way of response, Bagan uttered a series of short growls, exactly as if the monster were laughing. Bagan grasped one of Mothra's legs and began to pull.

Mothra strained against the demonic hold, putting every ounce of her fading strength into the effort. Bagan held firm, his grip as sure as that of steel. It was a determined struggle, and at last something had to give. Mothra pulled away from Bagan, her shrill scream of pain again sounding in the night. Bagan raised the disembodied limb still in his hand to his face. The dragon's nostrils sniffed at it for a moment, then he threw it aside like a piece of rubbish.

Mothra writhed on the ground, flapping her wings and shaking her head in the grip of her suffering. Pulpy ichor drooled from the wounds in her head and where her missing leg had been. Bagan stared at his injured, ravaged foe. Hissing lowly, the demon began to stalk forward. He was enjoying this uneven conflict, and the demon knew that Mothra's suffering had only just begun.

Within the command center of the Monsterland facility, Colonel Sho Kuroki met with the members of the newly established KNIFE team. At his side was the wizard, Hoichi. Kuroki had asked the mystic to accompany him so that he could better explain the nature of the enemy they now faced. The discussion had been long, but at last Hoichi appeared to have convinced the other KNIFE members that at least some of what he was telling them was true.

'Even as we speak, Mothra is fighting Bagan in Afghanistan,' Kenichi Yamane said, his voice quite and unemotional. 'No details have yet been reported, but I think it can safely be assumed that she will triumph over this enemy, as she always has. I mean, she defeated King Ghidorah without any human assistance, surely this monster Bagan could be no more of a trial for her to overcome.'

'I have seen this Bagan in my dreams,' Miki Saegusa said. 'If you had sensed him as I have, tasted the tremendous evil of the creature, you would know that the likes of this monster has never been seen by man.' The young psychic shuddered as she recalled the horrible sensation that had roused her from her sleep.

'It took seven great beings to defeat the monster before,' Hoichi said, grimly. 'Bagan is as yet still very weak compared to what he was before, but I have grave concerns that already he is beyond the power of Mothra. Even now, the twin priestesses are busy trying to collect powerful energies about Mothra's offspring, trying to mature it faster, prepare it for the coming battle. No,' master Hoichi shook his shaven head, 'I fear that Mothra will be unable to do anything more than delay the monster, and I fear that she may do so only at the cost of her own life.'

'Perhaps we might try to search out these other guardians, those that survived,' American monster expert Aaron Vaught proposed. 'The demon was imprisoned in the Himalayas, perhaps some record of his past and the whereabouts of his ancient enemies might survive there.' Aaron Vaught paused, leafing through the notebooks set before him. 'I understand that the demon first appeared in the kingdom of Selgia, that might prove a good place to begin our search.'

Sho Kuroki nodded. 'That might be a good idea. I think you should follow up on that train of thought. Bagan may have left some clues about himself in his tomb. At this point, any concrete information we can gain about him would be helpful. I think that you and Yamane should go to Selgia, your background in folklore will offset Yamane's scientific training and give us a more balanced view of what you might discover.'

'They wil need some protection,' added Peter Daxton, the former CIA opperative. I suggest that myself and Roche accompany them. The region is still unstable and I imagine that the monster's rampage has not improved matters.'

'Point well taken,' Colonel Kuroki responded.

'I will go as well,' Hoichi decided, bowing to the KNIFE team members. 'Of us all, I know the most about Bagan and his master Kato Yasunori. It may be that I will be able to see clues where you do not.'

'Very well,' agreed Colonel Kuroki. 'I suggest you all find some warm clothes. I will inform Dr. Otani that we will be needing one of his planes.'

In the darkness of space, a massive object silently orbited the earth. Massive, gold-hued solar panels slowly revolved to soak in the last rays of the sun before entering the darkness of earth's nightside. The huge batteries within the man-made satellite were filled to capacity. A large, radar-like device rotated to face the ground of the planet far below. Perun's Axe was the successor to the Soviet Union's satellite-based nuclear missiles. This next generation weapon was not nuclear-based however, but an advancement in the field of radiological and microwave weaponry. Designed to strike any point on the planet's surface, named for the weapon of Russia's ancient pagan god of war, Perun's Axe would destroy any army that thought to march upon Russia with the power of the sun itself. A terrible weapon of mass destruction, there had never been any cause for the weapon to be deployed.

Until now.

Bagan stalked closer toward Mothra. Then the monster stopped, aware of the strange blue light that was surrounding him. Bagan stared all around, trying to find the source of the eerie light. Then, the sun reached down and touched the earth.

The wave of solar energy slammed into the devastation of Kabul with a force never seen before. Sand vaporized and solid stone was instantly transformed into molten slag. A huge hole, nearly three miles wide and almost half a mile deep. Steam, vapor and smoke rose into the night sky in the aftermath of the assault. Suddenly, the smoke took on a bluish hue. Once again, the limitless power of the sun reached down and struck the earth. As far away as London, the impact was recorded and rattled windowframes. Nearer, earthquakes ravaged an already devastated land.

Determined to be certain of the demon's destruction, Despot Vasalov ordered the weapon fired again, despite the protests of his staff. The solar beam shuddered through the atmosphere, bending and warping as it did so. Rather than striking a single location, the beam dug a huge trail of obliteration across the landscape. A fifteen mile wide two mile long scar was burned across the desert, destroying everything around it. With the disastrous miss, even Vasalov agreed to cease the attack.

As the smoke cleared, it appeared that the attack from space had been successful. There was no sign of the hideous demon beast. Mothra, spared the weapon's attention, slowly crawled away from the bubbling slag of the destroyed area, then fell, unable to maintain her hold over the pain wracking her body.

Kato glared at the devastation. It was impossible, no weapon of science could destroy the demon! Rage and fury gripped the necromancer. Then his face spilt into a demonic grin.

Within the pit, within the molten slag, something floated to the surface. It was a huge, brown-red cocoon. Kato could see the cocoon throb and pulse. Yes, they had succeeded in destroying Bagan's body, but the demon was primarily a spiritual creature. Already his evil energies were reforming, incubating within a bubble of pure evil, growing a new body.

It was another delay, but now Kato was certain that Tokyo would fall. No force on earth, not weapons of super-science, not ancient gods, could stop Bagan.

The two figures wearily made their way down the slopes of the towering mountains. Ahead, the lights of Selgia's capital burned in the night, a beacon to the two tired travelers.

The taller of the two figures helped the shorter to regain his feet. As he did so, a fury inhuman hand emerged from the sleeve of his coat. Varga adjusted his grip on the man and together they continued to make their way toward the outpost of civilization below. The yeti was indebted to the British botanist for saving his life, catching hold of him before he could plummet off the side of an overhang following the sorcerous attack of the necromancer. Indeed, it had been Rollason who had first started them on the trail back down to Selgia. But the scientist was not as well equipped for the mountains as Varga, and now the yeti was concerned that his charge would perish before they reached the safety of the city.

Darker thoughts filled the yeti's mind however. Bagan was freed, and already, no doubt, retrieving the other pieces of his stolen soul. Soon, the monster would be unstoppable. He would have to see Princess Salno at once, try to warn the humans of what they faced.

Otherwise there would be no end to the darkness.