A/N: Whoa…So many hits on this story…I'm just amazed at it! Thanks to those who review – but updates for this story will be long in coming as I devote most of my time to Tinywarz Rangers. And…there will be NO happy ending to this story. Enjoy!

Chapter Four – Ironic Victory

It was a late night in downtown Berkley. What little light there was came from the numerous spot fires that dotted Telegraph Avenue. The sprawling campus of UC Berkley had turned into a breeding ground for the Bigfoot monsters. Bodies lay everywhere – expressions of fear and shock still visible on their rotting faces. In an alleyway, two giant figures were surveying the damage that they had inadvertently done. It was all supposed to have been so simple – replace the thirteenth monster to allow the portal to remain open and then to control whatever came out. In reality, that hadn't been the case. One of the Watchers shook his head – trying to block the memories of five years ago…

Flashback

While scouring the rooftops, they had come across the body of a turtle creature – and they thought they had hope. But, as they rolled the body over, they saw the gash in its neck, saw the impossibly red blood weakly drip out. Whatever this creature was, it would have been of use to them – if it were alive. They didn't have all thirteen monsters, so their "curse" would continue.

If they had to…they'd sacrifice their "brother"

End Flashback

That hadn't turned out so well. Their brother had tried to run, but the strongest of them had thrown him into the portal – hoping to close it for good. Unfortunately, their actions caused the portal to hyperextend for about fifteen minutes – bathing everyone in a thick slime – before closing. The results had been disastrous. By the time they had picked themselves up off the floor, there were already reports coming in of monsters appearing everywhere. Monsters that showed no mercy. Monsters that could not be controlled.

It was almost laughable what had happened next. In a blind panic, they had burst outside to try to round up as many monsters as they could find. People screamed in panic – causing them to panic and freak out even more. After about twenty minutes, it became painfully obvious that unless they could teleport all the monsters back – they weren't going to have their army. So, they had tried a different tactic. Instead of fighting with the monsters, they would carve out a niche of terror for themselves.

That had gotten old really fast.

No matter where they went, the monsters were there first. The Human species was practically forced into waging a war of survival against the monsters, but they were being defeated. The Watcher sighed once more, causing his comrade-in-arms to look up at him questioningly. He sighed and shook his head, then returned to his thoughts.

They had to fight – if not for the humans, then for their very survival. Even though they were impervious to most weapons – they could still have parts shatter. That was the bad part about being an immortal stone general…you could still get hurt. The four had agreed to spread out all over the world, taking down as many monsters as they could. After hearing a few short reports, they had decided to stay away from Australia. It had been almost fully overrun by mutant Cerebri. There were reports of a stronghold keeping them out of Sydney – but the defenders were boxed in from all sides. The ocean held little safety. Monstrous beasts such as Kraken and Leviathans had set up shop there – destroying anything and anyone stupid enough to sail through their territory. Even the skies above swarmed with mutant bats, insects and the odd Dragon.

The world had been totally overrun. Within the span of two weeks, monsters were the dominant life form on the planet. Humans were defending themselves as best as they could – but nuclear missiles had done nothing to stem their numbers. The Stone Generals had been forced to fight side by side with the Humans on more than one occasion – something they tolerated, if only just. Over the years, their barely-there tolerance had grown into mutual understanding and acceptance. The Generals had become the Humans public protectors – now that Karai had mysteriously disappeared. They had come across a few of the Turtle creatures, but had always fought alongside them – never with them. They were formidable fighters – killing monsters with ease, but they had always run off after the battle. The Watched shook his head, before looking at the shattered remnants of his left arm. He had swung out too hard on his last outing – striking a reinforced concrete wall. He knew that he could easily "create" a new arm for himself – or even a new weapon, but he wore the stump with pride.

He watched the smoke drift lazily over the street, before nodding once.

General Aguila and General Mono faded into the shadows, away from their ironic victory.