Chapter Six: Godzilla versus Arashi

M-Watch Headquarters, Tokyo.

"Godzilla has just come ashore in Osaka!" Commander Izuka Obu reported, before adding with some disbelief. "He… He appears to be rampaging!"

General Kieska Sogowa, the counterpart to Douglas Nassel at the Japanese division of M-watch, looked to Obu with a grim face. This behavior wasn't like the Godzilla that had saved Japan on countless occasions. Was it possible Japan's private nightmare had finally been born again? "Any signs of another kaiju in the area?"

"We haven't been getting any reports of giant monster attacks anywhere near that area," Obu said, checking his readouts. "Getting a visual now…"

The massive screen in front of the control center lit up with an image of Godzilla tearing a swatch of destruction through Osaka's industrial district. The image elicited a hushed gasp from the entire room, but it was not due to Godzilla's destructive behavior.

Sogowa set his mouth into a grim line. "Godzilla has mutated again."

It wasn't unusual for Godzilla to mutate, in fact it had been a fairly regular process ever since his first attack on Tokyo. He had gone from a great destroyer to a defender of humanity over those years, gaining a softer, and almost human look about him. However, what was on the screen now did not resemble the protector of Japan that the people knew and loved.

He looked much as he did in the fifties. His ears were now visible again. His fourth toe, which had somehow vanished from his feet during one of his mutations, was now back. His teeth now appeared to have a double row, although it was tough to tell from the screen. His tail was longer and looked much more sinuous and his body looked a lot more muscular. Overall, he just had a far more malevolent look about him.

"Why would Godzilla mutate into something to fearsome?" Obu wondered aloud, speaking what everyone else was thinking.

"I don't know," Sogowa answered gruffly. "But we can't allow him to tear up Japan. Have the SDF mobilize a battalion of masers and ULT tanks to that area. Once we drive Godzilla back out to sea, we can see about figuring out what is affecting him. In the meantime give the evacuation order to all of Osaka and the surrounding area."

Infant Island.

It was a diseased chunk of rock that ironically housed the great kaiju defender of the Earth, Mothra. Humans, in their arrogance to achieve more power, had irradiated the land during one of their nuclear bomb tests and had yet to try and clean their mistake. It was only though Mothra's power that anything still lived on the island.

It was a bit of a cruel joke that the home of Earth's guardian was treated so poorly.

However, thanks to Mothra's power, the land was steadily cleansing itself. The tribe of humans that worshipped Mothra and the other animal inhabitants of Infant were free of radiation poisoning, although the soil was still far too contaminated for many plants to grow. It was estimated that in another ten years, at its current rate of decontamination, Infant Island would be completely free of any radioactive taint; a truly remarkable feat.

The state of the land wasn't the most pressing concern today though, for Ghidorah's son had finally awakened and was quickly following in his father's footsteps. In addition, Godzilla had finally come out of reclusion. Mothra had seen this day coming for a long time and knew she had to be ready for it. That was why she hadn't moved when she sensed the trouble in Africa. Between Godzilla and Arashi, theirs was a far greater threat if left unchecked.

She was fully prepared for it and was ready to give her life, if need be, to awaken Arashi to the side of good that resided within him. Hopefully she would have enough strength leftover to stop Godzilla as well.

Just in case, an enormous egg rested serenely on the temple grounds that the islanders used for their ceremonies. It was insurance that if Mothra should die in this dangerous encounter, her legacy would continue to live on, as was her usual cycle of death and rebirth.

With a chirp of reassurance to her Shobijin, Mothra flapped her enormous wings and lifted off, bound for Japan.

However, the twin priestesses of Mothra were not planning to stay behind. As was Mothra's wish, they too would be heading for Japan, only they were headed for the human known as Kieska Sogowa.

Chanting a small spell in unison, they waited as Fairy Mothra appeared before them in a flash of light. Fairy Mothra twittered with a bit of anticipation as she landed and waited for the Shobijin to climb up before taking off as well.

"We have a report from the Americans," Obu said as he listened to his earpiece. "A new kaiju is headed for Japan."

"Kong perhaps?" Sogowa asked hopefully. He had serious doubts that the masers and ULT tanks would stop Godzilla. Kong had proved that he could hold his own against Godzilla in the past and would be invaluable in stopping Godzilla now.

Obu frowned as he answered. "No. Apparently this is one that they were developing to fight other kaiju, but they lost control of it. They call it…" Obu paused, a little surprised to hear a monster from America with a Japanese name. "They call it Arashi."

Sogowa nodded. The Japanese government had been ardently opposed to the kaiju project and had refused to start up their own program. They had feared that it would only lead to another problem. Japan, they had summarized somewhat humorlessly, already had more than their share of kaiju to deal with. From what Obu was telling him, they had been right to turn down the idea.

"We have him on radar now," Obu reported. "It seems Arashi is headed straight for Osaka."

Sogowa had been expecting that answer somehow. "He's going to fight Godzilla."

Obu, appearing to read Sogowa's line of thought, asked the relevant question. "Who do we side with, sir?"

Godzilla was the answer Sogowa wanted to give, but as he looked back to the screen showing Godzilla leveling Osaka, he wasn't so sure. "Neither," he finally said. "I want those maser tanks to form a perimeter around Osaka, but they are not to engage unless threatened by Godzilla or Arashi. Scramble our attack helicopters and launch the Super-X, but give them the same orders as the tanks."

Obu saluted before moving to carry out Sogowa's orders.

Sogowa just kept his eyes glued to the monitor showing Godzilla on his current tear of destruction. Before it was all over, he had a feeling that Osaka would be nothing but rubble.

After two months of peace for Japan, they had been attacked again, only this time from an unexpected quarter.

Godzilla unleashed a stream of blue fire from his mouth to incinerate a block of chemical refineries. The buildings erupted into a brilliant fireball that spread from the source to rain upon other areas and set them ablaze.

A small part of Godzilla's brain was telling him to stop and return to Monster Island, but he wasn't about to listen. For too long he had been kept off of his ancestral lands and forced by the diminutive inhabitants to live on that small piece of rock. He would not be denied any longer!

Rage fueled Godzilla's increasingly feral intelligence now, rage from how the Humans had mutated him with the atomic bomb and rage from losing his only son. He had tried to fight it at first, but now he realized that it was high time to assert who was the dominant species here.

A distant cry carried across the air and reached Godzilla's ears, a kind of crackling roar. He turned his head to peer in that direction and saw a massive winged shape flying in his direction. Turning to face this new opponent, Godzilla bellowed a challenge.

He was answered immediately by the blue dragon who quickly covered the distance to land in front of him. For a moment, the two sized each other up. This newcomer was taller than Godzilla, and his scent… it was familiar.

He snarled as he realized where the smell had originated, this winged foe smelled almost exactly like Ghidorah. Whoever it was, it had chosen a fatal moment to try and challenge him now. Godzilla was not in the mood to hold back.

Arashi felt his own anger increase upon seeing Godzilla. The charcoal-skinned behemoth looked different from the images that Arashi knew of. He had feral memories of this foe from King Ghidorah and more recently, the man who had created him, Chen. However, while he looked different, there was no denying that this was the genuine article. The smell of ocean and ozone was just as he 'remembered' it to be.

Godzilla sounded out his distinct fog-horn call before charging towards him, apparently as eager to fight as Arashi. Arashi met Godzilla's challenge and charged as well, baring his talons to dig into Godzilla's flesh.

Godzilla's claws racked across Arashi's neck, scratching the blue scales but failing to penetrate the genetically reinforced hide. Arashi's claws ripped long gashes into Godzilla's chest, but the damage was healed almost as soon as he penetrated the skin. Arashi narrowed his eyes as his intelligent brain struggled to work through the fog of Ghidorah's rage. The flesh was regenerating, albeit faster than expected, but there was no doubt now that this was indeed the real Godzilla.

They continued to grapple, but neither monster was doing any real damage from the melee attacks. Godzilla, for all his power, could not penetrate Arashi's scaled armor and Arashi, for all his rage, could do no lasting damage against Godzilla.

With a swoop of his enormous wings, Arashi pushed himself away from Godzilla and landed a little distance away, involuntarily sending massive gusts of wind through the city and sending debris flying in the process. He cocked his head as he tried studying the other, struggling to hold back the urge to continue the attack; still self aware enough to know that something different was needed. His regular claws were not working; perhaps it was time to go a step further.

With a crackle of electricity that emanated from his spines and played over his body, Arashi concentrated the energy onto the tips of his talons so they glowed white hot. Godzilla watched it curiously, but did not linger too long on the show and charged forward again.

Arashi swept his claws across Godzilla's hide once more, only this time he did far more damage. His glowing claws ripped through Godzilla's hide without resistance, sending pieces of skin and red blood flying onto the ruined city of Osaka. Godzilla reeled back from the unexpected and piercing pain. His wounds were a bit slower to heal now as the lingering electricity from Arashi's attack interfered with the healing powers that Godzilla possessed. However, the crackling energy quickly dissipated and Godzilla was whole once more.

Finding success from the attack, Arashi summoned more energy to charge Godzilla once again.

Godzilla would not give him a chance.

He unleashed a powerful blast of his atomic ray, the blue fire striking Arashi nearly point blank. The sheer force of the blast lifted Arashi up into the air before gravity pulled him back down again with a powerful crash, The impact sent up a cloud of dust and debris, extinguishing the nearby fires.

Down but far from out, Arashi wrapped his sinuous tail around one of Godzilla's legs and yanked with all of his strength. Godzilla fell to the ground with a screech as he lost his balance. Quick to take advantage of his foe's moment of weakness, Arashi let go with his tail and took to the air.

Godzilla fired off a hasty shot with his atomic ray as he flailed to get up, but the beam went wide. Arashi, on the other hand, had time to aim and fire a few shots from his energy ray. The electric blue bolts struck home with devastating force, blowing portions of Godzilla's flesh off of his body as the leftover energy played havoc over the wounds, slowing their healing process. Aside from a yell of pain, the King of Monsters seemed largely unaffected as he responded in kind with a powerful blast that managed to hit Arashi's left wing and sent him reeling out of control into the city below, setting off another chain of explosions.

Undaunted, Arashi picked himself up and screeched his contempt for Godzilla in a roar so loud it could be heard over the booming explosions. He then lifted himself up into the sky with a mighty thrust of his wings, continuing to gain altitude until he was well into the clouds. He hovered there for a moment with a furious flapping of his wings as his sharp eyesight sighted Godzilla. Then, like a massive bird of prey, or the griffin of myth, he folded his wings and dove down towards Godzilla, claws outstretched and ready to use the force of the impact to do some serious bone-shattering damage to his land-based foe.

Godzilla, oddly enough, did not move as he watched Arashi dive towards him. Nor did he let loose with a shot of his atomic ray, instead he stood his ground and looked for all the world like he was ready to meet Arashi's insane charge.

With the speed of a rocket on reentry, Arashi lunged towards Godzilla, his sheer momentum ensuring him that nothing Godzilla could possibly do would save him. No atomic ray and no mere swipe of his claws would be powerful enough to deflect Arashi at this distance. He roared again in delight only to have his victory torn away from him in one shattered instant.

With a speed that far belied his size, Godzilla spun around exactly at the right moment when Arashi would have made contact and slammed into the dragon with a sideswipe of his powerful tail. The impact caused Arashi to cry in pain as the combined force of his descent and Godzilla's tail caught up with him all in an instant. It created a shockwave loud enough to level nearby buildings and the expelled force sent Arashi crashing into the ground at a breakneck speed.

The great dragon smashed through Osaka, reducing buildings to dust and plowing a massive furrow into the ground as he slid uncontrollably away from the point of impact, a victim of his own speed. Finally, friction played its part and brought Arashi to a rest as the explosions caused by his collision followed him and then enveloped him in a hellstorm of burning chemicals and other explosive elements.

There were not many kaiju who could take such a hit and get up immediately afterwards, but Arashi tried anyway. He lifted himself up with a shrill call of defiance and made his way out the flames, still looking to fight Godzilla. He managed to take a couple of steps before crying again in pain and collapsing. While it was not easy to see, Arashi had taken damage from that last attack, the spot where Godzilla's tail had made contact had shattered his thick scales there and a trickle of purple-colored blood seeped from the wound.

The mighty dragon's formidable armor was now compromised.

Arashi made a show of trying to get up before collapsing on the ground and laying still. He glared his wrath at Godzilla before his glowing blood-red eyes slowly closed and he let loose with fading growl.

Rumbling with what seemed like annoyance, Godzilla stomped his way over to Arashi's body to make sure that his foe was truly defeated. He stopped in front of the great blue dragon and tilted his head to the side as he looked over the still body for a moment, but Arashi did not make any move to defend himself, or at all for the matter. Satisfied that he could continue his march inward now that his foe appeared to be dead, Godzilla reared his head back and let loose with a victory bellow before turning to resume his rampage.

However, as soon as Godzilla's back was turned, Arashi's glowing red eyes snapped open and he surged forward with a howl of rage. Godzilla started to turn only to be impacted in the side by the maddened kaiju as Arashi ripped into Godzilla with the talons on his feet and hands and clamped his mouth into the side of Godzilla's neck. The weight of the great dragon slamming into Godzilla caused him to topple to the ground. Arashi did not pause as he continued raking Godzilla mercilessly with his superheated claws and kept a death grip on Godzilla's neck with his bite.

The area was quickly stained red as Godzilla's blood gushed out from Arashi's relentless attack. Blinded by pain and unable to recover as quickly due to the savagery of the dragon's attacks and the massive amounts of electricity that was being feed into his body and slowing down his regenerative abilities, Godzilla struggled to try and throw off his savage foe. However, Godzilla's desperate strikes were not nearly enough to dissuade Arashi.

Finally, with an enormous blast of energy that radiated out from Godzilla's body, Arashi was pushed back and sent flying before crashing a short distance away with a shriek. The nuclear pulse that had given Godzilla a second wind came as much a surprise to Godzilla as it did to Arashi, as he had never displayed that ability before. However, neither monster dwelled on it too long.

Arashi stood facing Godzilla, the radioactive monster's blood still dripping from his claws and his fangs. While Arashi was not radioactive himself, he had been created from a space-faring monster and as such had a high tolerance for radioactivity. In the depths of space, it was a constant fact of life.

While his improvised feint had indeed caught Godzilla off-guard, it hadn't been enough to kill him. Arashi licked some of the blood from his fangs before roaring a challenge and charging toward Godzilla with a movement of his wings to give himself added speed. Had Arashi been thinking clearer, and not been hindered by Ghidorah's evil, he might have stayed back and continued to pummel Godzilla with distance attacks. However, his mind was now too clouded with rage, even the ability to come up with another tactic like the feint was beyond his regressed mind now.

All he could think about was the kill.

Godzilla, the last of his wounds already healing, met Arashi's challenge with a loud bellow, ready to grapple once more. His opponent might have taken him off-guard last time, but Godzilla was ready for the attack this time.

Unconcerned for their own welfare, the two weakened monsters again joined in battle, determined that only one would emerge in victory...

Sogowa watched the vicious battle between the two titans with a mixture of awe and disgust. "What a monster! What were the Americans thinking when they created that thing? It's totally out of control!"

A bright flash of light caught the attention of everybody within the M-Watch control room. Sogowa turned to see that the Shobijin, riding Fairy Mothra, had made an appearance, somehow materializing out of nowhere. "The monster fighting Godzilla is Arashi, son to King Ghidorah," they said in unison. "Right now the evil of his father has corrupted Arashi and turned him into the beast you see in Osaka. Mothra is coming to try and break the curse of King Ghidorah's blood."

"Mothra?" Sogowa inquired with some worry. "But if she's caught in the middle of that battle she'll get killed!"

"The Earth is approaching a total apocalypse from an evil older than humanity itself," the Shobijin informed him sadly, obviously sharing Sogowa's concern. "We will need all the defenders we can muster to protect it. Arashi was created with care and with love by his creator and was meant to protect, but an evil spirit known as Gabara awakened him before his time. Now Arashi's mind is lost behind the malevolence that is a natural part of his family lineage."

"And what of Godzilla?" Sogowa asked, suddenly acutely aware of the fear he felt in the pit of his stomach. "Why is Godzilla attacking us? Why has he mutated into something so… evil?"

The Shobijin looked away in unison, as if ashamed. "Godzilla is also lost in rage. His son, Minya, was killed when he was recovering from his battle with Gigan. No one knew of the Kamacuras swarm until it was too late. Godzilla blames humanity for being too weak to protect itself and forcing him to leave his family to save you. He has decided that he is done serving humanity."

Sogowa leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. "I see."

Obu, hesitant to break into the conversation, cleared his throat. "The Super X has reached the perimeter at Osaka. What are your orders, General?"

Sogowa looked to Obu and tried to cover the indecisiveness he felt. He wasn't especially eager to attack Godzilla, especially after what the Shobijin had told him. There was also Arashi to factor into the decision as well. An attack by the army now could raise the ire of both monsters and likely spell a death sentence for the men stationed there. The Super X could probably deal with one of the monsters, but not both of them at once.

"Keep them in standby until the battle between Godzilla and Arashi has a winner." He felt dishonorable for what he had to say next, but the safety of Japan and its people rested in his hands. "Then attack who is left."

The Shobijin looked up, somehow appearing to see past the monitors. "Mothra has arrived."