Tooth and Claw
Another volley of missiles cut through the air, slamming directly into Godzilla's chest and neck area. Blood and pieces of scales rained down from each wound. With each volley, the commander urged on his squad to keep at it. The squadron of vehicles stood strong, hoping to deter the mighty creature from continuing on. But it was not to be.
With a ferocious roar, Godzilla opened his fanged maw. A lance of red-orange energy flew from his mouth, speeding straight toward the city defenders. With no feasible way to avoid the blast, the men and women below could do nothing as the beam incinerated them all, destroying their vehicles and scorching the earth. Godzilla's spines returned to their rosy pink shade and he shut his mouth, the annihilation of his foes complete.
The great leviathan raised his head as the rumble of helicopters reached his ears. He snarled as more resistance flew towards him. The JSDF were not ready to admit defeat as several helicopters raced towards him. In unison, each of the flying war machines released TOW missiles, which zoomed forward and found their mark in Godzilla's stomach. Bellowing in rage, Godzilla raised his claw and struck out at them, managing to clip the tails of two, sending them plummeting to the earth. His club-like tail took out another, smashing it into the ground. The remaining helicopters regrouped, preparing for another run at the gigantic creature. Godzilla roared a challenge, and the humans inside responded with another barrage of missiles, intent on blinding the King. Swiftly raising his hand up to protect his eyes, he turned around, tail outstretched. The roars of the helicopters were quickly silenced as Godzilla's tail slammed into each one, quickly demolishing the pitiful force. Yet once again, Godzilla underestimated his humanity. The helicopters were not the main threat.
"Fire!" The commander roared the order again and again, far below the nuclear monster. He stood before the pride and joy of the JSDF; the Full Metal Missile Launchers. They had managed to sneak up on the distracted beast, fourteen in all. And when the order was given, 14 missiles were launched. Seven found their mark somewhere upon the reptile's scaled body, while the rest missed entirely. Four punctured Godzilla's chest and stomach, protruding grotesquely from his body. He shrieked in agony, stepping backwards. Two sliced through his left leg, causing him to drop to one knee. The last lodged itself in Godzilla's shoulder. In unison, each missile exploded, causing the monster to scream and fall to the ground in a bloodied mess. The once proud beast now lay roaring in pain, blood and chunks of flesh raining down onto the forested ground. The celebration of the armed forces was short-lived as their adversary made his move. With a growl, his face a mixture of anger and anguish, the monster rose to one knee. His chest was mangled, muscle and flesh dangling from gigantic holes. And yet, he still managed to rise up on his feet, scarred and all. His vermillion eyes stared down at the awe-struck humans below him. The spines lining his back grew a bright red. Some of the men below prayed and accepted their fate, while many scrambled through the brush, trying to get away from the oncoming inferno. All seemed lost…
And then man and monster heard the shriek. The orb forming in Godzilla's mouth dissipated, and he turned around, his club-like tail narrowly dodging the missile launchers. Taking advantage of the brief respite, the JSDF forces hastily retreated, realizing that they would be unable to take on such a powerful creature. But some could not resist turning their heads to see what had saved them. Or simply delayed their doom.
The owner of the terrifying screech zoomed towards Godzilla, before abruptly stopping and hovering in the air. Rodan slowly descended until his feet touched the ground, talons digging into the earth. Rodan was dwarfed by the saurian creature, his regal crest only coming up the chest of the green-scaled reptile. Godzilla growled threateningly, his wounds beginning to seal up, a sickening yet amazing sight. Gashes and holes in his flesh seemed to repair themselves of their own accord, which was an incredible ability to have. Rodan cocked his head to the side, pondering whether this new creature was a friend or foe. He was unsure whether this was the creature that had caused him such distraught in the past, had forced him into hiding.
Godzilla wasn't going to wait. This was his territory and there was not room for two of them. With a snarl, Godzilla charged forth, lowering his head as he did so. Rodan quickly realized what was happening and launched upwards, nimbly dodging Godzilla's attack. The momentum carried the nuclear leviathan quite a ways before he managed to stop. Turning around, he roared angrily as Rodan stood, unharmed and laughing at him. Nobody made a fool of him! He opened his cavernous maw as his jagged spines grew an ominous red. Rodan quickly quieted himself, confused as to what his adversary was doing. The answer came quite quickly as a beam of atomic energy blasted forth. Rodan screeched as he took to the skies, but Godzilla wasn't giving up that easily. He followed Rodan, attempting to knock the bird out of the sky. Rodan swiftly cut through the sky, nimbly dodging the beam that nipped at his heels. Realizing that he couldn't outrun the fiery beam for long, Rodan sharply turned left – straight for Godzilla. Blazing a trail forth, Rodan slammed right into Godzilla's shoulder, eliciting a cry of shock from the radioactive reptile and cutting off the beam ray. Seeing that an alliance wasn't an option, Rodan decided it was time to attack. Shrieking, he dug his golden beak into scales and flesh, ripping and tearing with tiny, yet sharp teeth. His bronze wings continued to flap, disorientating Godzilla. Filled with rage, Godzilla was through being some sort of toy for an overgrown bird. He darted his head forward and snapped his jaws shut on the gigantic pteranodon's shoulder. The flying creature's assault immediately stopped as a surge of pain overtook the beast. Rodan screamed and attempted to peck the snout of the monster King but it was in vain. With a vicious shake of his head, Godzilla threw the pest off of him, tearing a piece of flesh off as he did. Rodan fell to the earth, groaning as he struggled to ignore the teeth marks in his shoulder. Godzilla grinned devilishly, fangs bathed in red. He strode forward, intent on finishing off this intruder.
Rodan was not ready to quit yet. He rose to his feet, releasing a ferocious roar as he did. Godzilla was not in the least bit intimidated, but it did show the nuclear menace that his foe was not to be taken lightly. The two behemoths charged at each other, colliding in a massive body slam. Rodan was taken aback, being the lighter of the two. However, his spiked armor sliced into Godzilla, causing the leviathan to grunt in discomfort. Rodan swiped at his opponent with his right wing, getting a clean hit on the side of his foe's head before following up with a left strike. Godzilla retaliated with an uppercut that sent Rodan reeling backwards. The radioactive dinosaur slashed Rodan across the chest, chipping off a couple of spikes before shoulder-checking his flying for. Rodan was forced back quite a ways before falling to the ground. Godzilla bellowed at the fallen Rodan, taunting him to continue fighting. Rodan slowly got to his feet and screeched back a challenge. With an almost impossible speed, Rodan took to the skies, rising out of sight. Godzilla grumbled as he scanned the skies for any hint to where his opponent had taken off too.
Rodan dived downwards, letting out a cry of war and slammed right into Godzilla's back, causing the beast to fall to the ground. Rodan once again flew upwards and disappeared. Godzilla snarled angrily as he got up once again. The attack once again came with no warning. Rodan burst from the clouds and collided with the scaled monster again, this time hitting his side. Rodan pecked and bit into Godzilla's flesh, his talons raking flesh from the King's legs. But before Godzilla could even begin to think about retaliating, Rodan had fled the scene. Agitated and in pain he hadn't felt since he fought the alien abomination a year ago, Godzilla stood up from his defensive position. The monster realized that brute strength would not be the answer. His breathing began to slow, and his chest rose and fell gently with each inhalation and exhalation. He closed his fierce vermillion eyes, and stood still, much like a replica stature. Then, he waited.
To the human ear, one would not pick up the whistling that Rodan was making in the sky. Nor would they be able to sense, to feel the aura of a living creature. The ancient being dove once more towards his target. Exposing his dangerous talons, Rodan intended to blind the monster King and finish him off.
A shame Godzilla had a different plan.
Eyes snapping open, Godzilla roared with a furious rage and his hand shot forward, wrapping his fingers around the neck of Rodan. The sheer momentum almost broke the pteranodon's neck. Rodan let out a choked scream as he realized he was in a very unfortunate predicament. Godzilla grinned, knowing his victory was sealed. Lifting up his lighter and smaller foe, Godzilla brutally slammed Rodan onto his back. Again and again he chokeslammed Rodan, several ribs snapped from the immense strength of the attack. Finally, as Rodan struggled to even breathe, Godzilla gripped Rodan's battered body with his other hand. With all the strength the green scaled beast could manage, Godzilla launched Rodan into the air. His spines crackled and glowed with nuclear energy, and all who were observing the battle knew what was next. Godzilla opened his mouth and a blast of scarlet-orange atomic energy burst forth, zoomed across the landscape, and slammed into Rodan's backside. With a squeal of aguish, the beam pushed Rodan through the air and off into the distance, far from both Kumamoto and the shoreline. Satisfied, Godzilla ended his attack, watching as a blackened Rodan fell to the earth far into the distance.
"Are you guys seeing this!"
"Yes Robert. We all are," Miyasaka replied over the sounds of the CCI helicopter's rotors spinning around. The five friends and associates gazed at the battleground, the victor roaring into the sky. He rolled his eyes, annoyed with Robert's childish disbelief. Yuki was snapping as many pictures as she could like a madwoman, while Io and Yuji watched in utter awe, gripping each other's hands tightly.
"Is the Karyu in position," Shiro questioned into a communicator he had pulled out from his pocket.
"Yes, Mr. Miyasaka. Shall we give the go-ahead?"
"Yes. Finish him off." Shiro clicked off the communicator as Yuji turned back, staring at him angrily.
"Battleship Karyu, this is CCI HQ, do you copy?"
"This is Kiriko, I read you loud and clear." The Karyu's main control room was small. Monitors and consoles lined every section of the steel gray room. A door located in the rear lead to the Karyu's maintenance area, while a hatch on the floor was the entrance and exit to the battleship. Two chairs sat on opposite sides while one was placed at the front, where the viewing window was located. This one was where Kiriko, the captain of the Karyu, sat. Bold, daring, and carried a hatred for the monster that had killed her parents a year ago. She was the perfect candidate for the job. She would allow no mercy, nor show any of it. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied into a ponytail. She, along with the other crewmembers, wore navy blue jumpsuits, with black Kevlar vests for added protection in case something went awry. Her helmet was placed at her side. It would only get in the way.
"You have orders to engage the target." Kiriko smirked.
"Finally!" She turned to her two other crew members. Hajime was the jokester of the group, with spiked black hair and a childish smile always plastered on his face. Ironic considering he manned the weapon systems. Yoshino was quiet, reserved. Kiriko liked that. She simply plotted the coordinates and got the Karyu where it needed to go. Not to mention she was pretty well-trained in the arts of medicine.
"Are you two ready to kick some giant monster ass?"
"Yeah! Our weapons will go through him like crap through a goose!" Kiriko frowned at him, while Yoshino shook her head and turned back to her console.
"What?"
"Work on your lines, Mr. Comedian." Kiriko shifted her focused to the viewing window in front of her, the captain's full attention on the leviathan in the distance. It was time. The Karyu lurched forward, its prey within sight. There was no turning back now.