And now, ladies and gentlemen… the event you've all been waiting for… in this corner, the samurai warrior of the skies, the baron of the blitz… RODAN!!! And in this corner, weighing in at damn-I-just-broke-the-scales, that rambling wrecking ball of a reptile… GODZILLA!!! Watch as these two unstoppable titans square off in a battle for world supremacy… or something…
Godzilla is © Toho
BATTLE OF THE GIANTS
Godzilla finally slowed to a stop, leaping up onto a huge cluster of rocks on the side of the volcano. Above him, the cloud of ash parted briefly as Rodan's wings were flung open, casting the ash away as the flying monster glided down.
Rodan pulled back its head, a stream of orange flame shooting out. Godzilla leaned to the side, the fire coating the ground beside him as he hunched down, gave a low, angry snarl, and leapt up into the air.
With timing that could (and previously had) put a fighter pilot to shame, Rodan rolled to the side, Godzilla's leap missing entirely as he landed further up the volcano, kicking up a cloud of dust upon impact.
Rodan circled above him, flapping his wings forward and striking Godzilla with a wave of wind. Godzilla leaned back, but maintained his stance as Rodan swooped over him. As Rodan passed, it pushed itself forward with its wings, the result burst of speed, as Rodan broke the sound barrier, unleashing a fully audible sonic 'boom' directly next to Godzilla's head. The sheer force of the blast sent Godzilla falling sideways, striking the ground head-first.
Turning in the air, Rodan swooped down, gliding quickly to the ground as Godzilla rose up with an irate growl. Just as Godzilla turned, Rodan lashed out, parting its beak and biting onto Godzilla's neck.
Godzilla bellowed his fury, turning round sharply and carrying Rodan with his own momentum in an effort to shake his enemy off; but Rodan simply grabbed hold of Godzilla's spinal plates with the claws in the middle of each wing, solidifying his hold on the monster.
"Godzilla…" Miki whispered fearfully as she watched the behemoths struggle.
If this all went wrong… if Godzilla died, or more people were killed during the struggle… then it would be her fault. All her fault.
And yet, just as before, it was somehow exhilarating when, with a mighty twist, Godzilla finally forced Rodan's beak off of his neck and, shifting himself round, rammed headfirst into Rodan with all his strength, carrying the avian creature back and ploughing it into the ground.
Catching snippets of Godzilla's fight with Anguirus through the link had been one thing. But this was simply spectacular; the power, the savagery, the way they just seemed to big to be real.
As Rodan rose, shooting up into Godzilla and knocking him aside, there was some epic quality to the struggle to these two animals… something fantastic and otherworldly. Even as Godzilla fell to the ground, it was like the sound of thunder. They were terrifying, yes, but… they were also amazing. Spectacular.
Like gods fighting over heaven and earth.
Rodan circled over Godzilla, spitting forth a ball of fire that the saurian evaded effortlessly. As Rodan ascended up the volcano, Godzilla charged up in pursuit. Now that this fight had begun, there was only one way it could end.
Godzilla hunched down and leapt up with all his strength, slamming into Rodan and carrying the flying creature forward. Just short of the top of the volcano, they slammed into the ground, Godzilla standing over Rodan and giving a raging roar.
Rodan's beak parted, a burst of flame shooting out into Godzilla's face. Hissing angrily, Godzilla stepped back as Rodan shot up into the air, perching on the rim of the volcano.
Down below, Osaki looked away from the warring titans for a moment when he seemed to fell something. With a sudden jolt, he realised it; it was faint, but growing every second.
The ground was shaking.
"The volcano!" He realised, "I think they're triggering an eruption!"
Just as he said, within the volcano, the heat started to rise, the amounts of ashen smoke increase, and the entire thing began to shake, patches of red, liquid magma rising up slowly.
On the edge of the heated abyss, Godzilla's spinal plates lit up for a second, his eyes flashed blue, and a stream of brilliant blue flame shot forth. Rodan folded its wings over itself, the atomic flame striking the protective scales, spreading over them to cover Rodan virtually head-to-toe. Behind its shield, despite the power of the attack, Rodan sat safe and unharmed.
The attack finally ceased, Rodan swooping up into the air and spitting forth a burst of fire. Godzilla leapt clean over it, perching himself on the rim of the volcano as Rodan circled him.
Rodan swooped down, but even as he shot towards his target, Godzilla thrust his tail up, striking Rodan in the chest. Already going at full speed, the force of the blow knocked Rodan off-course, the pterosaur spiralling out-of-control and falling down past the rim, toward the widening lake of magma beneath.
Rodan spread its wings, Rodan swooped upwards, up past Godzilla, breathing another stream of fire. Immediately, a blast of blinding blue flame shot from Godzilla's maw. The two blasts collided in mid-air, fire of both colours spiralling out in all directions. One would have thought that this might mean a stalemate; however, Rodan's attack was, in essence, normal flame, whereas Godzilla's was something far more powerful. Godzilla's atomic flame breath shot up, striking Rodan and knocking him back through the air.
Regaining its senses, Rodan gave an angry howl, swooping down at Godzilla to plough him into the side of the volcano. Godzilla roared furiously, even as the rock beneath him started to crumble. Righting himself as Rodan circled round for another attack, he leapt forth, clear through the air, slamming into Rodan.
Miki watched in horror as the two monsters collided, arced through the air, and fell straight into the volcano.
The two monsters vanished into the lake of magma below, even as the sides of the crater around them began to shake, loose chunks of rock falling to splash into the liquid rock.
An entire side of the volcano's rim caved in, falling apart into a shower of rock and dust. As if the destruction was moving around in a circle, the rest of the circle of rock started, bit-by-bit, to follow, falling into a rain of debris.
When it finally stopped, a layer of rock covered the volcano, thick smoke rising between the few cracks.
"Godzilla!" Miki cried out, running forward before Osaki and Akane grabbed her. "Please, no… he can't be…"
A long, total silence followed.
"No way," Kazama insisted.
"Ha!" Katagiri shouted, "Perfect! Two freaks with one stone!"
Miki felt the thick, salty tears form in her eyes, seeping out and down her cheeks.
He couldn't be gone… after everything that happened, he couldn't just be… gone…
Then, there was the sound of an explosion from the shore, a burst of water and heat and smoke.
Godzilla burst from the water, red streaks of lava dripping from his arms from where he had half-dug, half-swum his way out.
"No!" Katagiri shouted, "It can't be!"
"YES!!!" Miki cheered, punching the air and pulling the closest person to her at the moment (Akane) into a near-bone-crushing hug.
"Move in!" Katagiri ordered, "Fire!"
Immediately, Miki shut her eyes, focusing on Godzilla. With another burst of pure emotion through the link, she told him he needed to go.
Godzilla turned and, as if leaping forward, dived into the water, vanishing beneath the surface until only the tips of his spines remained, before they too vanished under the water.
"Nice save," Osaki whispered as Katagiri watched in mute shock and outrage.
"We'll take care of Godzilla," Kazama chuckled. "Don't worry, we're professionals."
Katagiri stepped forward, glaring daggers.
"I will kill that thing," He snarled.
Miki, despite the fact that one would expect her to be angered by such a remark, simply stepped forward, grinning from ear to ear.
"You know," She told him, "You might want to be a little bit nicer to Godzilla… y'know, considering that he just did your job for you."
OK, hope everybody enjoyed that little scrap. Did Rodan survive? More than likely. I can promise that he and Anguirus will be back eventually.
One last chapter to go of this, then this story arc comes to a close and "Legacy" kicks off.
All reviews welcome!