Chapter 5: Of Lightning and Fire!

"The Last Hope; Gamera. We bestow it to the Cradle of Time. May it awaken with the Shadow of Evil, Gyaos."— translated from Atlantean Runes.

(South China Sea)

Gamera was roused from his slumber. Something was amiss, he could sense it. Was it more Gyaos hatching? Or another of the Ancient Enemy's living weapons awakening? Or some other threat? It was unfamiliar, as the Legion had been, but did not feel alien to this world he was charged to protect. But it seemed that he was the closest guardian able to respond at this time. As he made for the surface of the sea, he pondered on this.

He was aware that the world had other guardians, it had always been so. He had not met any of the others himself since before his long sleep of several millennia. When he awakened, he found the world much changed, and sensed the presence of new, unfamiliar guardians and only a few old allies who remained; Mothra, Battra, Manda, and King Caesar chief among them. As for the new guardians, he could sense one that rivaled or perhaps even surpassed his own power. Perhaps one day they would meet and help each other, Fates willing.

Since his last battles against the Zedus and a swarm of Gyaos, he can only assume that these other guardians had dealt with the other threats he'd sensed but had not been roused to action for. He sometimes wondered if that was by his creators' design; new guardians to arise if old ones fell in battle or to the rigors of time? Or was it by decree of Gaia herself?

No matter, he'd been created and given life to protect this world and the life upon it from the ravenous, genocidal, monstrous creations of the Ancient Enemy, though what turned the Lemurians against the rest of the Ancients was a mystery to him. Yet, he and they had also taken part in the war to exile the nightmarish 'Old Ones' from Earth before the Cataclysm. But then they had released their creations to purge all life from the planet. Gamera and his fellow Guardians stopped them, even as the Cataclysm devastated most of the Seven Great Cities of the Ancients.

Then the last of his creators placed him in his long sleep, to awaken when the remnants of the ancient enemy's living weapons re-emerged. Then recently he'd been 'called' to deal with the alien Legion as well. Why?

('It does not matter'), he thought to himself as he broke the surface and took to spinning flight toward the threat. ('Because I am a Guardian. That is my purpose.')

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"*SeaHawk 20, we're detecting a subsurface bogey near your position. Please confirm?*"

The pilot of the scout helicopter sighed in boredom, to the mild amusement of his co-pilot. He glared briefly at his junior before they resumed visually scanning the area. He hated his current assignment. He dreamed of the glory of flying an F-35 fighter jet, an Osprey, or even an Apache or Comanche attack helicopter; to get in on the real action, like the kaiju attack going on right now in Hong Kong! Sighing he looked down to see a large pod of dolphins swimming and jumping playfully below.

"Nothing here. Just dolphins", he droned into the radio. Then his eyes widened as he watched the dolphins below suddenly move out of the way of a huge object rising quickly from the depths. It exploded from the sea in spinning flight on four fiery thrusters!

"*SeaHawk 20?*"

"BOGEY CONFIRMED! REPEAT: BOGEY CONFIRMED AS GAMERA!", the pilot replied, all thoughts of glory gone as the titanic turtle flew past them. "He appears to be on a course toward Hong Kong!"

"*Confirmed! Tracking him on radar now! Return to base, SeaHawk 20.*"

"Roger and out."

"We better hurry back, Bud", the co-pilot said; still trembling, but at least breathing again. "I think I need to change my shorts."

"Shut up, Lou!", the pilot barked, hiding his own relief by smacking his co-pilot on the back of his helmet with his free hand.

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Half of Hong Kong was in flaming ruins. Drawn first to Macao – the Las Vegas of the China Sea – by the massive electric field of the bright lights of the casinos; Raiga, the deep-sea storm kaiju, was now wreaking havoc on the main island. The storm brewing above did nothing to cool his rage, but it did keep feeding him power. The incredibly tall spike on his back between his shoulders attracted every bolt of lightning like a lightning-rod. Channeled and amplified through the organic jewels in his body, he could release it as thunderbolts of mega-lightning from the jewels in the palms of his massively clawed 'hands'! The bolts decimated entire battalions of tanks in seconds, swatted whole squadrons of planes from the sky, not even heavily armored navy ships could withstand them.

Raiga reveled in the destruction he wrought upon the puny human vermin. Hatched years ago, after a lifetime in the lower depths and collecting lightning from the storms on the surface; something deep within him suddenly felt as if he had finally found his true calling in destruction, mayhem and death for the puny humans. He roared in elation.

Wait. A sound. He could hear a strange, high-pitched sound through the storm growing louder by the second. He had never heard it before, yet he instinctively knew that sound meant 'danger'; a sound to hate, a sound to fear. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw an object that appeared to be on fire spinning in the sky, flying toward him. His red eyes narrowed with a growl as the intruder came closer.

As he flew closer, Gamera switched from spinning to straight flight with his arms formed into wing-like paddles, and he got a look at his opponent. He remembered creatures similar to this in ages past. But this one has the stink of the Ancient Enemy. So, they had even begun corrupting innocent species before the end came, turning them into more sleeping weapons; as if their evil had not been twisted enough!

The Champion of Atlantis landed a several blocks away, facing his opponent, and roared a screaming challenge. Raiga roared angrily in reply, the voltage in his jewels sparked threateningly. Gamera stepped forward…..

Raiga projected a massive, continuous bolt of incredible voltage from each hand! They arced across, devastating ground and buildings alike and struck Gamera in his armored chest! Pain ripped through the guardian, unlike any he'd experienced before. Even the lazer-whips of Legion had not been so agonizing! His shell protected him from injury, but not the pain.

Angered, Gamera fired a plasma-fireball from his mouth. It streaked forward, right between Raiga's sparking outstretched claws to slam into the saurian's chest explosively! Raiga shrieked in agony as he fell over backwards, his massive 'lightning-rod'-like spike making him fall onto his left side. He hissed in pain when he touched the charred and smoking burn on his chest. Then he growled in anger at the tusked turtle as he returned to his feet.

(That was just a warning shot), Gamera warned. (I could have blown your head off if I'd wanted to, so stand down! Though you bare the marks and carry the taint of the Ancient Enemy, you were once an innocent creature. I bear you no malice, only the scum who corrupted you, so I give you this one chance. Cease your hostilities and return to the ocean's depths in peace, and you may yet live a full and peaceful life.)

(You underestimate me, Old One!), Raiga snarled, as more lightning struck his spikes, feeding him more power. (My strength is increasing even as we speak! My power surpasses yours! My creators may be gone, but the purpose for which they empowered me remains! The puny vermin and the filth they've created must be purged from this world! And any that stand in the way will be destroyed! This planet must be cleansed for their return!)

(WHAT?! HOW CAN THEY RETURN?! THEY FELL WITH THEIR ENTIRE CIVILIZATION!)

(Not all of them), Raiga practically sneered. (FOOL! If other remnants of the Ancients survived, why would you think they ,the mightiest of all, were extinct? Scattered, sparse, many living amongst the remnants of their old allies; but still here, and just waiting for the time to rise again! And where are the Atlanteans? Extinct. Gone forever. You are the last remaining relic of their existence. So perhaps it is you who should stand down and leave while you can! For when you die, it will be as if they never existed.)

Gamera's rage was immeasurable! If the Ancient Enemy lives it is an affront to the noble sacrifice of his creators and to the sanctity of all life on the planet! And there was no redeeming this upstart Raiga; his corruption was absolute, like the Gyaos and Zedus. He must die for the greater good. Gamera roared at his opponent, who answered in kind.

Raiga charged up and fired his most powerful bolts yet, channeling nearly all his collected power, intending to completely annihilate the Champion of Atlantis. Gamera roared in pain and anger as he was struck, his shell barely protecting him from the incalculable voltage. He inhaled deeply, of oxygen and mana until his throat began to glow bright red.

Raiga howled in victory as the ancient turtle kaiju dropped to one knee under his onslaught of thunderbolts. The next moment he grunted in confusion as a massive plasma-mana fireball was speeding his way! His roar was cut off as his head exploded spectacularly, blasting away the top half of his lightning-rod spike and lighting up the stormy night sky! A few moments later, Raiga's body fell forward when it realized it was dead.

With a screaming roar of victory, Gamera launched himself into the sky and soon disappeared from sight. He had a nap to return to….and much to think about if the Ancient Enemy was not truly dead.

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Author's notes: As a kid growing up, Gamera was always my second favorite kaiju, right after Godzilla. While all the little girls in the 70's were spinning around to be Wonder Woman, I did it to be Gamera! LOL! The big turtle's Heisei upgrade was awesome, I love the trilogy and highly recommend it to any fan who hasn't seen it yet.

Raiga is the star of the second and third films of an independently made trilogy that were really well done AND very comedic:

-Reigo, the Deep-Sea Monster vs the Battleship Yamato (2005)

-Raiga: God of Monsters (2009)

-God Raiga vs King Ohga: War of the Monsters (2019)

I recommend any kaiju fans watch them all at least once to decide what you think, but after seeing "Raiga: GoM" I immediately thought he would be a great opponent for Gamera! This was just my intro for his kind, the Lemurians altered more than one Raiga in this AU, so don't whine about how short the fight was, you'll see more later. Remember, this Gamera is a veteran of many battles.

As always, long reviews and suggestions are welcome. Flames will be used to keep the Grinch out of the chimney until after Christmas.

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