Godzilla: The Chronicles of War episode 3

The Shadows Arrive

A week had passed since the recent insurgence of Darklings - and the presence of the Devonians had been revealed through the arrival of their god, Gojira. Repairs to the four cities which had been under attack had been all but finished. And now, things were quiet on this particular night. Japan was especially peaceful, since it had been neglected by the recent insurgence. An in the streets in Yokohama, a trio of officers were out on patrol in a warehouse district. None of them expected anything serious to happen, and were relatively relaxed. But that changed when something unexpected began to occur.

A plume of dark energy erupted from the ground, before it swirled into a vortex of purple, and black energy. One by one, out came a group of terrifying figures the policemen had never seen before. It was Empera Seijin, Necrotherius, Vastato, Claudandus, and Karkaro. All human sized for an unknown purpose. Or at least until Seijin remarked in regards to their surroundings. "So........THIS is the realm of light. How interesting."

"At least the process of opening rifts proved successful." Necrotherius said. "Now we can do as we please without limits."

"Perhaps. But first, let us see if we have entered into the correct time frame." He then caught sight of the frightened cops, and smiled villainously. "And it appears we already have some infomercials to help us."

Seeing that they had been sighted, the cops instantly reacted. All of them pulled out their guns, and got ready to open fire. But then Claudandus stepped in, and fired a bright red beam of energy on the left cop. Upon impact, it acted like a hose of water, spreading some kind of flaming, metallic material over him. One it was over, that cop was completely covered in a metal casing - and his body seemed like it had been partially burned away. The remaining cops were horrified at the sight. Yet again, before they could respond, Necrotherius fired his own red beam at the cop on the right. It instantaneously atomized him. Now the last cop was REALLY terrified as he saw the monstrous group approach him. With shaking everything, he raised up his pistol to open fire. Seijin lifted up his hand, and used whatever powers he wielded to pull it out of his hand, and into his own. As he held it, Karkaro examined the weapon to determine its date.

"Ah! Semi-early 21st century. But with some modifications, i see."

"So the humans here managed to upgrade in the last ten years after all. Seeing really IS believing." Necrotherius said, as Seijin crushed the pistol in his hand like a tissue box. Menacingly glancing at the officer with ill intent. "Karkaro: see if this little ingrate of a light-lover knows anything useful."

"Pleasure, Seijin." The tentacled fiend slightly bowed, before turning to the officer. At last his final nerves had shattered, and the officer attempted to flee. But it seems the Cryog had much faster speed. His tentacles immediately shot out, and wrapped around the unfortunate human's legs, tripping him up as he fell down. He was then dragged back to the frilled alien, and grabbed around the neck by the tendril which made his arm. But in his grasp, Karkaro did something rather horrifying: the long, thing tendril which was no doubt his "finger" transformed itself into a thin, needle shape. It was then injected into the base of the man's neck and head, which made him scream aloud. But it wasn't over yet: his skin blackened as the alien's mass seemed to grow through his neck. Instantly, the cop felt a paralyzing pain. As if his body had immediately ceased moving, and was putting him through an unbearable pain which he couldn't get out of. All the while, karkaro seemed to revel in the moment before he began.

"You feel that, human? That agonizing, paralyzing feeling inside? That's me: i've hijacked your whole entire nervous system. And right now, i'm focusing on ever pain receptor you have. But i also cut off your audio functions so you can't scream. It won't do anyone any good with someone as pathetic as you giving in to cowardice. Just tell us what year it is, and i'll won't kill you."

Seeing no real option, the cop strained a reply. "2-2017!"

"Ah! So it HAS worked." Seijin proclaimed. "We are now synced with the Earthrealm. Now we can truly begin our campaign against this realm."

"Excellent." Karkaro said. "But, um.....what do you wish done with this flesh-heap?"

OOH! OOOOH! OHOHOHOH! Can i eat him, Pride?! Can i? Please?" Vastato pleaded like a child.

"Yes, Gluttony." Seijin said to Vastato. "Just make sure you eat ever last bite, and don't leave a mess."

"And don't touch the one I killed: that one's mine to eat." Claudandus stated. 

Karkaro unhooked himself from the human, and threw him on the ground, where he was coughing, and sputtering. But then he looked in horror as Vastato got a savage, ravenous look, with saliva dripping down his metal beak. Turning to Karkaro, he said in a terrified voice, "B-but....you said-"

"I said that I wouldn't kill you." He then made a smile showing his shark-like teeth. "I said nothing about any of the others." And with a horrifying snarl from Vastato, the cop howled in terror as the monster began tearing away into him. Devouring him slowly, and with as much pain inflicted as possible. Claudandus, meanwhile, went over to the human statue he had made, and grabbed it. "Better take this with me. Don't want chubbers to get overzealous. Papa needs hi fix, after all."

"Now,"  Seijin said, turning his back on Vastato as he moved to a selected spot. "Let us begin the operation."

"Empera Seijin: while you know i am not one to question your plans, do you really think the Black Towers will work?"

"Are you questioning our skills, necromancer?" Claudandus exclaimed in outrage. "Because that is ignorance in itself. My mystic arts, combined with the Cryog's science has produced an absolute marvel of TechnoMagic! It will serve its purpose well in dealing with these...........Earth Defenders, as the humans of this realm refer to them."

"But the tower can only do so much. What if even the Darklings aren't enough to handle them?"

"That has already been taken care of." Seijin answered, bringing his hands together in an orb of energy. After gathering enough energy, Seijin let the orb float in front of the group - Vastato having finished his meal - and saw as a new Antilock appeared. It looked similar to the Axheads Godzilla, and his team fought: but this had a thick, bladed horn on its skull-mask shaped face, and it had the shell of a turtle with two smaller appendages which resembled Mantis limbs. And a collection of very small tails which resembled a tattered loin-cloth. 

"A Hundun?" Karkaro said in mild surprise. "Interesting choice, my liege."

"And once the tower has activated, and those hapless fools arrive.......it will destroy all of them in a single strike. Does this comfort you, Necrotherius?"

"Yes.......i suppose, Empera Seijin." Necrotherius said, still somewhat unsure. "I'd just be happier if i was the one ending their existence. At least then, i could be sure."

"Well, rest assured: the Darklings will perform their task exceptionally. I have every confidence." Claudandus said confidentially.

"That makes one of us." Necrotherius spoke under his breath.

Empera Seijin payed no heed to the others, and took his place. His body surged with the dark powers he wielded. And as he summoned a black trident into his hands, and raised it into the air, he began incanting a spell.

Iron, steel, blood, and Dark
In realms where evil's reign shall embark
Creatures of light upon this isle
Darkness finds its presence vile
Come forth, Black Tower, from Tenebris now
And bring death to the wretched, light-loving sows!

A beam of dark, purple energy shot out from the trident, and struck a single point in the sky. The sound of rumbling thunder echoed, confusing many who knew there were no storms scheduled for a long while - least of all tonight. But what they heard was not a storm of the elements: but a storm of darkness to summon something terrible. In the center of the clouds, a rift similar to the one which had opened beneath the pacific appeared. And slowly, out of this terrible rift, floated down a massive structure of terrible design. Its form was black as onyx, and it was a single spire. One that had a pincer-like structure at the very top. With a thunderous crash, it demolished a building beneath it, and then rooted itself into the earth. Moments passed as people stared in awe at the incredible, intimidating sight. The top of the tower suddenly began sparking, and surging with electricity. It then began to gather in between the two points, and form an energy sphere in the middle. It continued building until it was the size of a meteor. And then, with a large boom, it receded as it unleashed a dark pulse throughout the city. And a stream of energy also fired into the sky. Energy fluctuations, and everything connected to a satellite began to go on the fritz. Everything soon went black from that point on. And in that blanket of darkness, something wicked began to brew. As the shadows grew darker, the nightmarish forms of the Axhead Antilocks (their bodies now covered in yellow markings instead of blue), and the Gyaos emerged. The Darklings had been summoned. And as they began attacking the city, with terrified screams echoing throughout, Seijin turned to the Hundun antilock, and gave his order.

"Draw the Earth Defenders here. Use all means available to you. And when Godzilla, and his cohorts DO arrive - kill them."

Hundun roared in acknowledgement, and Seijin used his trident on the Antilock. This made it grow to the same size as the others. Once that was done, and The Avatars of Darkness disappeared in a dark flash of light, Hundun unleashed a thunderous roar into the heavens. He then began attacking the city as well. If this was the way to draw out the ones his master desired dead - then this city will burn before the night is over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And fire!"

Zilla unleashed another stream of atomic fire at the mountainside. Anguirus, and Rodan acted like spectators, watching from the sidelines as Godzilla stood by his closest. Ever since that unfortunate incident with the kaiju called Gojira, Godzilla had been helping Zilla, especially, with some new training he felt he could benefit from. The sun was only just setting where they were. And they'd been going at this for a long time. Zilla was getting especially tired. "You okay, Zilla?"

"Yeah. I'm okay." He said, catching his breath. "Remind me again why we're trying this? Because i've kinda let it slip my mind out of exhaustion."

"I told you: we're helping you to learn to focus your fire into a complete atomic ray."

"Really?" Zilla asked, still seeming incredulous to the idea. "No offense, goji, but i've never been able to breathe anything except irradiated fire all my life. And it's done me okay so far."

"Except for when Gojira almost got you killed the other night. Ang and Rody saw: no matter what you threw, it didn't even phase him. We were only lucky the Commander showed up when he did. I wouldn't have regenerated in time, and you guys would have been killed."

Zilla lowered his head as he mentally shuddered at the memory. That was the closest he'd been once again to near death in combat. But it wasn't the fact he was going to die that shook him up: it was the memory of what it triggered in his mind that got to him. "Alright. I understand that, at least. But what makes you think i can even shoot atomic rays like you? We're not exactly the same species."

"He kinda has a point, goji." Rodan said. "I mean, he's more of a lizard than a super-ultra-mega-dinosaur, or whatever you count as. He just got lucky to be irradiated."

"Maybe. But i used to know a Rodan who could fire uranium beams before he died." Godzilla smirked, upon seeing the shocked expression.

"C-come again?"

"I mean it: an honest to god Rodan who was able to use atomic energy, and fired rays out of his mouth. I don't know how..........but if HE could do it, maybe you could, too, Rody."
 
"I KNEW i wasn't working up to my full potential!" Rodan said, pumping his wings into the air. "And if one Rodan could get something like that: then i'm gonna work as hard to do it, too!"

"Sounds good..........if you ever took the time to practice anything once in a while." Anguirus quipped, annoying Rodan. "Well, just YOU wait: i'll figure out how the other guy did it. And THEN i'm gonna work to be the same as him."

"As unbelievable as that sounds, Rody........i hope you DO figure it out." Anguirus said honestly. "After all, it's not like the lot of us are gonna get some kind of power-ups, and transformations like in those game-things, and anime humans play with."

"You never know, bud." Rodan said.

Godzilla just smirked before he turned to Zilla. "And the same applies to you, Zilla. Even though we're different species, our powers seem to be extremely similar. You just never absorbed radiation like i have before because you probably never needed to. Kinda makes me jealous."

"Why? Cause if you go too long without radiation, you get those withdrawal symptoms of yours?" Zilla quipped.

"Funny, considering how much it looks like such a "Happy Moment" for you!" Rodan laughed, and even got Anguirus to chuckle at the thought of Godzilla's silly dances.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. We're all comedians, it seems." Godzilla said in a bemused tone. "But that doesn't change anything. Even if your power works a bit differently, the potential is still there. And if you could at least learn to turn your atomic flame into an atomic ray, you'd have an incredible advantage. And to make sure something like Marshal Islands doesn't happen again, i'm gonna help you get that advantage. If you're still willing."

"No, i am. I just.........i'm just still trying to take it in." Zilla said slowly. "But if you think i can do it, then i trust you."

'Thank you. Now let's try again."

"Sure thing." And Zilla once again took up a position with Godzilla standing at his rear.

"Now look deep. Seek out the fire raging at the core of your being. The fire of power that burns deep down inside. Focus your mind on channeling that flame."

"Alright." Keeping jr's words in mind, Zilla did as he was bid. His eyes closed, and he began focusing on the flame within him. Godzilla watched with hopefulness, and encouragement - but then a part of him got a somewhat funny idea. As much as he had faith in his mate, he still had a feeling he had a long way to go. But he had a possible method for proving if he could pull it off, or not. It worked when his dad tried it on him: maybe it could do the same now. So, without any of his friends noticing, he crept up behind his mate, as he continued focusing. And pretty soon he was right behind the lizard kaiju, with his left leg raised high.

"You think you got it?"

Zilla was deep in concentration, but still managed to hear Godzilla. "Yeah. Yeah, i think so."

"Then on my mark, get ready to fire with everything you've got. Ready? 1........2.......3 - shoot!"

Just as Zilla's eyes snapped open, and he prepared to open fire, he felt something stomp on his tail with such tremendous force his eyes threatened to pop out of his head from the sheer shock, combined with the pain. However, as he roared in what sounded like pain, this actually yielded satisfying results: instead of a simple torrent of fire akin to a flame-thrower, what came out of Zilla's mouth was a a ray - a complete stream of green radiation. And as it hit the side of the mountain, it actually tore into it, causing a landslide. It didn't seem as strong as Godzilla's - but it was plenty strong. After a few minutes, Godzilla stepped off of Zilla's tail, and the latter ceased his attack. He was left panting while the two friends who had been spectating had quite the shocked expressions. They were at a loss for words, while Godzilla was quite overjoyed, and filled with exciting words.

"YES! YOU DID IT, Z! HAHA, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" he happily exclaimed, nuzzling into Zilla's side. However, it appeared that his reptilian mate didn't quite share in the excitement. "Goji, hun, you know i love you, right?"

Godzilla briefly looked confused. "Y-yeah?"

"And you love me, too?"

"Of course i do."

"Then why..........oh, why...........IN THE F@#$NG HELL WOULD YOU STOMP ON MY F@#$NG TAIL?!"

Godzilla actually flinched backwards from his mates anger, and looked rather embarrassed now, as he nervously chuckled. "Iiiiiii'm guessing that hurt alot?"

"Well!" Zilla exclaimed in supreme sarcasm. "No shit, sherlock! Hey, everyone: look what we got over here! It's Godzilla, and he's a frigging comedian! Except he seems to think stomping on someone's tail with the equivalent force of a giant, f@#$ng bowling ball is a good idea!"

"Yeah," Godzilla winced, rubbing the back of his head, "I kinda figured you'd react like that. I was almost as angry when my dad did it to me."

"Oh, really? You expect me to-" Zilla halted in mid sentence, quickly catching what his mate had said. "Wait.....what?"

"Yeah. My dad did the same thing to me when i was only a few days old. It was part of my own atomic ray training for me to defend myself. All i could produce were smoke rings, so my old man got the idea to stomp on my tail to see if it would help. surprisingly, it actually did help, and i shot my first atomic ray. Believe me: it hurt like hell, and i WAS angry about it for a while. But my dad helped me outweigh those feelings with my accomplishment. Once i realized that i did it: i was proud of myself. Prouder than i ever realized i could have ever been before. But now tell me: did you tell you fired an atomic ray?"

Zilla took a few seconds to answer. "Yeah, i did."

"How did it feel?"

Once again, Zilla began thinking over his experience, and described it in the best detail. "It was.......exhilarating, to be honest. I never felt anything like it. It was like-it was like-"

"Like you felt something truly amazing, and powerful was released from inside you? Like you felt strong enough to tangle with even the toughest enemies alive?"

"Y-yeah. Something like that." Zilla said, with a hint of uncertainty. "But it was so-.......so strong. Frighteningly strong, even for me. How do you handle something like that, Goji? I honestly thought for a minute i was gonna burn up from inside - it was that intense. And your power's even greater than mine - how do you manage it?"

Godzilla saw the uncertainty, and nervousness in his mates eyes, and felt miserable seeing him this way. But he knew something that might help ease his concerns. Placing a hand on Zilla's shoulder, he looked him straight in the eyes, and with all the confidence and honesty in his heart, he said, "Because we're BOTH strong."

That did the trick for Zilla. He knew Godzilla spoke only with honesty, and truth, and knew him long enough to know that he would never lie about something like this. That's part of what drew him to the monster king over ten years ago. And that's what kept him with the big lug - even if he could sometimes be unpredictable. So with the statement accepted, the two reptile briefly nuzzled one another before Godzilla addressed a previous issue almost forgotten. "And i AM sorry for stomping on your tail like that. Even though i had a feeling it worked, i still hated doing it. I'm just a big dummy."

Zilla chuckled lightly. "Maybe......but that's the best thing about you: you're a GOOD dummy. And besides..........i'm sure you'll make it up to me somehow."

"Definitely."

Rodan immediately laughed aloud before spouting. "Wow! Now i know what that human phrase "you two are SO gay for eachother" means!" But when he looked, everyone was giving him a rather funny look. Mostly because none of them had ANY idea what he was talking about. Seeing just how lost his quote-unquote joke was, Rodan simply slumped. "Yeesh. Guess i'm the only cultured one in this group."

Suddenly, the alert signal sounded off. But it was no ordinary alert. This was one the kaiju had long since come to be familiar with. As it signaled something was happening. And it was time for them to get to work.

"The kaiju alert." Anguirus replied, standing up. "Guess we've already got some action our way."

"Hm." Godzilla said. "Let's go check it out. Sorry, Zilla, but it looks like our lesson's gonna have to be cut short for now."

"It's alright. But.........you think i could pull that off again? The ray, i mean."

"Hey: if you can do it once, you can do it again. All you need is the right incentive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes later, and the four Earth Defenders had arrived at the command center. After being given the news of something being up, Ozaki had the holographic projector show a camera's eye-view of something in Yokohama: a strange, black tower shooting a purple beam into the sky.

"And you're sure this ain't some kinda new construction going on that nobodies talked about?" Rodan asked.

"Not if said construction summons a horde of Gyaos, and more of those Ax-head monsters you fought last week."

"The Axheads?" Zilla inquired. "There are more of them out there?"

"Looks that way: and by the looks of it, they've appeared out of thin air, in bigger numbers, and have been going on a building-crashing spree. As for the tower itself: i sent in drones to get a closer look at it, but anything electronic that gets within a few feet of it instantly shuts down. And with all those Gyaos, don't even get me started on aerial assaults. Basically speaking, the EDF has done what it could."

"But now it's up to us to take care of it before things get even further out of hand." Godzilla finished for the Commander.

"That's right. However, given that we don't know that much about what this thing actually is, i don't feel like taking any chances. Hence why i had some extra muscle called in to back you guys up." Ozaki the indicated over to two dinosaur-kaiju who had also been listening to the briefing.

"Hey, no sweat: any excuse to bust up any kaiju heads." Gorosaurus said enthusiastically.

"As long as we can make this quick: i have places in the ocean that need patrolling." Titanosaurus stated.

"This is as straight-forward as it gets: take down the tower, neutralize any hostile threats in the city before things escalate. We're all counting on you guys, so good luck."

"Thanks, Commander Ozaki. We'll get the job done quickly." Godzilla assured the commander before turning to his team. "Alright, guys, you heard the man: let's move out!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple hours later, and the group arrived by sea to Yokohama. Along side them was the Gotengo, who usually accompanied the earth defenders on missions like these, as per protocol for the Earth Defenders/EDF collaboration. Besides, there was never any need for neglecting help. Especially when noone knew what to expect in this already damaged city. As they came ashore, everyone examined the damage, and the orange lights of flame which billowed smoke into the sky. Though upon further examination, they noticed that the sky was abnormally darker than night, and not just cause of the smoke: the flashing, and movement of wings alerted them to the Gyaos' presence in the sky.

"Better keep close to the ground, Rody." Godzilla said as they walked. "No need to let the Gyaos overwhelm you while you're flying."

"Now that you mention it, you won't get any argument from me." Rodan said, as he landed next to the group, and began to walk. "I know the appetite those things have - and i'd rather get eaten by those freaky things."

"Likewise." Anguirus said as they went on.

"So how much further till we reach this thing?" Gorosaurus asked.

"Not much further. Look." Zilla said, as he indicated to a certain location. Everyone turned, and saw past a few tall buildings the Black Tower. Still surging with that mysterious energy shooting into the sky. Something Rodan seemed to take note of. "Am i the only one thinking we should have checked for a purple beam in the sky?"

Noone answered, and the group simply went on. It took a while, but it didn't take much further for them to reach the tower itself. However, they noticed two things beforehand: One, the axhead abominations were nowhere to be seen since they arrived when there were supposed to be dozens of them. And second, once they got within 100 meters of the tower, all of them felt strange. Woozy. Like something had just come over them without any explanation, and they had no idea what to make of it. But it didn't stop them from pressing forward. And soon enough they were standing before the tower which stood several meters above them.

"Alright," Godzilla said. "Let's take this thing down, and take out the other monsters before-"

Suddenly, a ray of neon-blue light shot out of the ground in front of the Earth Defenders. They all backed away from it, unsure of what to expect. But a few seconds later, and they got their answer in the form of the Hundun. Hundun roared in furious challenge at the kaiju he knew were here to destroy the Black Tower - and as such were the ones he was instructed to take out. Out of the shadows beneath them, the dozens of Antilocks appeared, rising like ghouls from the earth. And out of the sky appeared the Gyaos horde. All ready to take down the Earth Defenders.

"Great: looks like Ozaki missed the ball on the new extra." Zilla said in an annoyed tone.

"Take it easy, Zilla." Godzilla tried to assure his mate. "I'm sure Ozaki had no idea there was a new one."

"Besides, with six of us, i should say the odds are considerably fair." Titanosaurus stated.

"Then let's put 'em in OUR favor!" Gorosaurus exclaimed, before roaring aloud. This seemed to usher the others to attack, as well, and all six of them charged. The Darklings also met their charge. But the events which followed did NOT go as any of the Earth Defenders expected. The kaiju began fighting Antilock, and Gyaos off to the best of their abilities. But strangely enough, they didn't actually seem to be their best as the Antilocks, and Gyaos were matching them beat for beat. Though Gorosaurus' kangaroo kick managed to knock over an opponent once in a while, it didn't send them flying like normal. When Titanosaurus tried blowing his enemies away, he was barely able to produce a blister, much less a tempest. Anguirus, Rodan, and Zilla seemed to have grown sluggish in their movements, and their strength even less so. Only ZIlla's atomic flame remained consistent. But it was a small reprieve when they could barely manage to take down one Antilock, and a couple of Gyaos. Even the Gotengo had difficulty fighting due to the interference it seemed to be suffering - just from being several meters away from the tower.

Godzilla was left to fight Hundun. And though the saurian kaiju was at a much higher level, his strength seemed just as diminished as the others. He charged hundun with a trumpet roar, slashing at him with his claws. The monster blocked, and countered with a ferocious slash across the kaiju's chest. Godzilla swiftly recovered, and retaliated with a couple of punches to the face. The third was grabbed, and met with a thunderous punch to the gut, and an uppercut to the face. Godzilla was sent sprawling backwards, feeling the effects of that blow. Either this kaiju was tough, or somehow Godzilla had gotten weaker. Either way, he needed to keep fighting to stay alive. As Hundun approached, Godzilla flipped to his feet, and swept the ground with his tail, actually managing to trip Hundun forward. As he fell, Hundun got head-butted across the face, and sent crashing into a building. As much as Godzilla hoped that did something, all it seemed to do was inconvenience the neon kaiju. The king growled in frustration, and decided to try something more effective. His spines began glowing with neon blue light, and in mere moments he unleashed his Atomic Ray upon Hundun. The latter raised his arms to block the beam. It hit with a good deal of force, pushing the creature back a few meters - but to Godzilla's surprise and dismay, it seemed to only burn the abomination's arms a little. And that seemed to get him riled up. Enough so that, before Godzilla could even react, the monster began running on all fours, and charged him like an angered rhinoceros. At his current strength, Godzilla was barely able to dodge the large, bladed horn as Hundun Zoomed past - slashing Godzilla's arm in the process.

He fell to the ground from the monster's momentum, left wincing from the newly inflicted pain. Much to his concern, it also appeared that whatever was negating his powers, and strength was also halting his regeneration. If he wasn't careful, there was a chance he could get severely wounded - and in the process, die. Hundun seemed intent on making this a reality as he turned around. Standing back up, he roared in fury as he ran towards the downed king. He jumped up, with his right claw reared back, and prepared to run Godzilla through. That was when Zilla charged in, and tossed Hundun away with a headbutt while in midair. Pretty soon, the others had circled around Godzilla, intent on keeping some distance between him, and the Darklings. Which was especially difficult as the Gyaos kept on charging like rabid animals after smelling Godzilla's blood. Zilla's atomic flame took down several of them, and the others managed to bring down any that tried getting past - but it WAS difficult. Fortunately, Godzilla got back up, and fired his atomic ray into the swarms, forcing them to back off, just as Hundun got back up. Godzilla took the lead of the group as they analyzed their situation.

"So basically: something's draining all of our strength, and powers to make us weaker." Anguirus said.

"And all the while, an entire horde of invading monsters lies in wait for us to show up, and then begins to turn the tables on us." Zilla added.

"And with all of us this vulnerable to attack," Titanosaurus began.

"It's a matter of time before we get overwhelmed by these things." Gorosaurus finished.

"So we all agree it was a trap?" Rodan inquired.

"It's starting to look like it." Godzilla said, narrowing his eyes at the horned Antilock. "No way these things could have set up something this elaborate. Someone's behind this."

"Probably the same ones behind these Axheads, and the new Gyaos." Anguirus suggested.

"Okay, but who would it be? Someone old, or new that wants us dead?" Rodan asked.

"Questions for later, Rody." Godzilla said. "Let's just focus on the mission. Right now, all of us are too weak to fight alone. Stick together. And focus your attention on the one with the horn i was fighting: that seems to be the alpha of the horde."

A simultaneous "right" from the gang, and after a few moments, the Earth Defenders charged forward. Godzilla, and Titanosaurus threw the first blows via a left and right hook respectively. Hundun managed to block them both, and slashed them across the chest. Gorosaurus and Anguirus attacked from the side, with Anguirus striking with his fists, and Gorosaurus with his tail. Hundun grabbed the saurian by his tail, and chucked him into Anguirus. Rodan came from behind, and dug his talon's into Hundun's shoulders while Zilla slashed into his chest twice, and then fired his atomic flame. It did little to phase the Antilock, and pretty soon he grabbed Rodan by his legs, pried him off, and swung him round and round until he launched him into Zilla, throwing them both into a building. Titanosaurus got back in there, and began battering the Antilock with his fists, delivering blow after blow. Were he at full strength, his punches would have been enough to hurt Godzilla himself. Now, all they did was irritate Hundun. The Antilock grabbed his arm, bent it the wrong way, and with a loud snap, and a wail of pain, broke it, before punching him in the gut, and knocking him out. The only one who seemed to be left was Godzilla. And he was unwilling to go down without a fight. He seemed to charge for the Hundun antilock in a frontal assault - but then he charged his atomic ray, and shot at the Antilock's leg. It screeched in pain, and was distracted long enough for Godzilla to bite into his neck. He bit hard enough draw neon blood as he gripped the beast, and then threw him into a building. As he got up, Godzilla tail swiped him across the face, making him spin backwards. For a while, it seemed like Godzilla was going to win this. But then Hundun backhanded Godzilla, momentarily stunning him. In a brutal display, Hundun then began headbutting Godzilla repeatedly, and seemingly without end. But eventually, it did end when Hundun threw him behind, and made him crash into the ground.

Right at that moment, Zilla had recovered. And what he saw made his eyes widen: Godzilla was down on the ground, unconscious. And coming up to him was Hundun, who reached down with a claw, and pulled him up by the neck. With a low hiss, he reared back his right arm, and poised to deliver the killing blow. Again this brought back those terrible memories, which washed over Zilla like a terrible wave. Godzilla was about to die again - just like ten years ago. But unlike last time, these memories didn't cause him panic, or hyperventilation: it made something snap inside of him. A fierce rage unlike any he had felt before burned inside his body. A vicious growl escaped his throat as he got to his feet. His maw radiated with green light. And this time, instead of simply flashing across his spines in yellow flash like always, a neon green light lit up his spines - just like Godzilla's lit up blue. And similarly did his fire now burn hot with his unyielding rage. Noone was going to take his Godzilla away. NOONE.

SKREEEEEEENNNNKKKK!

A stream of green radiation - a variation of the atomic ray - was unleashed from Zilla's maw, and aimed straight for Hundun. The antilock had no time to react as the ray, fueled by pure rage alone, tore through his right arm, and severed it. Hundun screeched in agony as he was forced to release Godzilla, who had recovered in time to see Zilla's attack. With growing pride. What's more, the beam tore through several Antilocks before hitting the black tower, which Hundun and Godzilla were directly in the path of. It didn't destroy the tower, but it did damage it. A large, gaping hole was left in the trunk of the tower. And as a result, the beam above began to blink in and out of existence, as if it were losing energy. In that instance, the kaiju actually felt their strength return to them. Their respective healing factors repairing the damage done to them. As Godzilla stood back up, feeling his strength come back to him, and casting a glance at the now damaged Black Tower, he quickly put two, and two together.

"Of course."

Of course, even with only one arm, Hundun was still intent on finishing off Godzilla. A fist formed, and was launched in full assault. But this time, the Antilock found his attack blocked at great speeds. The glare Godzilla delivered him sent a chill down his spine as he spoke in a low, threatening tone.. "My turn, asshole." And with that, a solid punch to the gut sent Hundun careening through several buildings. As his friends, minus Zilla, finally recovered, the other Darklings soon grew fearful as they began realizing what was happening. Once they were recovered, Godzilla made the situation clear." Fellas? I think it's safe to say that the tower was the source of our power drainage. But thanks to Zilla, we don't have to worry about that right now. So please: feel free to go all out on these monsters. I think we earned the fun."

The kaiju looked to one another briefly, before noting that the draining sense that had come over them the moment they came near the tower was gone. They were all back to 100%. And now they could show it to these psychotic abominations. And that was what they did: in the span of over 30 minutes, the Earth Defenders, and the Gotengo, began tearing through the Darkling horde ferociously. Even when it seemed like more, and more kept coming, they stood strong. The tables had indeed turned - and this time back in their favor. And Zilla was especially using his new power to its fullest. He finally understood what it was that truly sparked the power of the atomic ray. And it was a feeling he would use to ignite such a power forever: his own rage for those who would hurt the ones he loved. And his confidence about it had grown with his continued use of it. He feared losing control of it, but he actually maintained it with little difficulty - and used it to great effect. 

Godzilla was right after all: and that made him proud of himself.

Speaking of Godzilla, the king had just blasted apart several Antilocks, and Gyaos before he surveyed his surroundings. He saw his friends were doing far better than before. And that simply proved his theory right. By all accounts, and given how much lower the Darkling's numbers were, it appeared things were coming to a close. Now there was only one loose end to tie up: the Black Tower. But just as he got ready to blast it down, an enraged and savage roar cut him off. Hundun soon appeared before him, with some blood dripping from his maw, and his body seeming broken up. Even so, eh refused to back down. He was charged with protecting the tower, and by the grace of the Dark Lord, he was going to do it. Unfortunately, the odds stacked against him when the other Earth Defenders stood beside Godzilla. Still, it did not matter: Hundun charged the group, intent on ripping into them. But Godzilla dodged a claw-swipe, and uppercut the abomination. Titanosaurus followed this with thunderous punches of his own, followed by Anguirus and Gorosaurus' Mule/Kangaroo kick, which almost knocked him over. Instead, he witnessed Rodan fly up to him, do a midair flip seconds before, and then proceeded to rapidly kick him into the air. With both legs, Rodan launched him into the air - and straight into the glowing energy orb of the Black Tower. Its energy tore through Hundun, electrocuting him with dark energy, and forcing him to endure such agony. Godzilla seemed ready to end things here, and now as he looked to his mate, Zilla.

"You ready?"

Zilla simply nodded, and both turned to the top of the tower. Their spines began simultaneously glowing blue and green as they charged their energies together. The pair was in perfect sync as they got ready to unleash the final attack. Moments later, and the two fired their atomic rays into Hundun. The beams tore into his form without hesitation, and began cracking his form with destructive energy. His body was soaking up incredible energy, and combining with the tower's energy in a very dangerous way. As his body shined brighter, he realized how badly he had failed in his mission. Still, this was better than dying at the Avatar's hands, that was for sure. That was his final thought before an enormous explosion erupted into a thunderous shockwave which tore apart the tower, and reduced it to rubble. The wave itself washed over the landscape, blowing back the smoke in the air, revealing the beautiful night sky. As the Earth Defenders observed, the Darklings, both alive and dead, began to change into black dust as they slowly dissipated. Soon, it was as if they were never here.

The battle was over.

"HOO-AH!" Rodan hollered into the air. "We did it! Aw, yeah!"

"Yeah, we won!" Gorosaurus exclaimed. "That's what happened!"

"And all thanks to Zilla finding his inner flame!" Godzilla proclaimed, placing a hand on Zilla's shoulder. "I knew you could do it, i just knew it!"

"Yes, indeed, that was an impressive display." Titanosaurus complimented.

"It was nothing, guys." Zilla said modestly. "I just found the right incentive, like Goji said." Godzilla, in turn, smiled with pride at his mate for having accomplished such a fantastic feat.

"Still can't figure what was happening, though." Rodan inquired. "What was draining us like that? And why'd it stop without warning?"

"It was the black tower." Godzilla answered. "It was draining us, somehow, and making us weak. When Zilla blasted it with his atomic ray, and damaged it, that must have weakened its effects enough to make us normal again. And from the look of things, it was also making those Axheads, and Gyaos appear. Once it was gone, we get our strength back, and they're caput."

"Huh. That's convenient." Anguirus said. "But it doesn't matter. We won the day. And now we've nothing to worry about."

"I'm afraid you are mistaken in that regard."

Everyone's expressions widened when they heard a voice speak up. All of them turned to a building behind them. And there, sitting on top of it was a figure clad in onyx armor, and a flowing black cape. None of them knew who this was.......but they grew cautious of him. Especially given that their senses were warning them not to fight this figure. If they did, they may end up regretting it. So they stood their ground, and glared at the humanoid the size of a kaiju.

"Who are you?" Godzilla asked.

"I am Empera Seijin: leader of the Shadow of Evil."

"Eh? "Shadow of Evil"?" Rodan whispered to Anguirus. "That's a pretty corny name."

"Shh!"

"And i'm guessing you're the ones behind this, and the attack a week ago?"

"Correct, saurian. It seems you are more attentive than i imagined."

"Just tell us what you want! Why did you send these-these monsters to attack us? Why did you send the tower? What do you want?"

A moment later, and Seijin stood to his full height. Somehow avoiding breaking the building beneath him. And looming over the Earth Defenders with an aura of power, and authority.

"The answer to your questions are simple, and interconnected. These incidents you refer to were nothing more than tests. Though you may not know it, now you shall be made aware that we, The Shadow of Evil, have been observing your realm for many ages. We desire this realm to conquer, and use for our own purposes. Our Darklings, both Gyaos, and Antilock who serve as our minions, were meant to show us how good you remain, even after Ten years of complacency. The same passes for The Black Tower. We wanted to test its abilities against you, and see how well you could  devise a way of overcoming such obstacles. Overall, i would say the tests proved most............. informative, thus far. Now i have arrived to give you light-dwelling mortals a dire warning."

"Warning?" Godzilla parroted as Seijin carried on.

"A war has begun between Light and Darkness. A war that has been spanning for eons outside the knowledge of the mortals of this realm. Your realm of light finds itself at the epicenter of this war - which will decide the future of many more realms in all of creation. We are the children of Darkness - his Avatars made manifest. And we see fit to declare the Second Great War of Revelation against you. Prepare yourselves for the coming days. For we shall strike when you least expect in places you could not consider. In the end, many will suffer from this great conflict. But you will let your allies know that it was you who set this war into motion - whether you understand, or not. And let their anguished cries keep you warm in the days to come."

The Earth Defenders were left with a sense of unease. They could feel that this onyx-clad warrior was not just spouting hot air. He meant business, and it was possible that this business would be something they would not wish to experience. Suddenly, a torrent of purple flames enveloped Seijin's form as he began to vanish. Rodan, out of impulse, charged at him as fast as possible. But in mere seconds, he was gone. "Man! He got away!"

"Okay, that was.........something heavy." Gorosaurus admitted, feeling a little shaken.

"Indeed. Though i'm not one for sensing another's nature, even my instincts told me that figure was dangerous - and it would have been suicide to fight him." Titanosaurus said.

"Least now we know who our mysterious new enemy is." Anguirus said. "Too bad we don't know anything about him - or this Shadow of Evil he was talking about."

"Yeah. Say, Goji," Zilla asked. "You were bound to the Nova Core for a long time, so you MUST have some information it could have provided. Did it ever say anything about any "Shadow of Evil"?"

Though he wished otherwise, Godzilla shook his head in bitter disappointment. "Sorry, guys: it's been a long time since i sent it away. Whatever knowledge it had probably went with it. But maybe Mothra Leo might know something."

"Good idea." Rodan said, hovering nearby. "Maybe he can give us some answers and insight to this little mystery."

"Maybe." Godzilla said. "But maybe later. Let's just go home for now. We have to tell the EDF what we found out. Hopefully next time we'll be prepared for whatever this "seijin" throws at us."

"Tch. With our luck: it'll be something none of us would expect."

All of them remained unaware, even as they left, that part of a massive, living mass of darkness emerged from the ground watching them from a distance. One whose body dripped with the substance, and who was covered in red stones. Everything he saw was most interesting. And it's been a while since he'd seen anything like this. Just as he wondered if his master enjoyed this too, he heard his voice echoing in his mind.

"Yes, my faithful Zalaam: these mortals have grown quite interesting. Let us see how far they can climb........before our true time comes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The energy wavefront carried on throughout the planet itself. The atomic energies of the two Zilla's, combined with the dark magic of the Black Tower, had released a powerful shockwave which spread far, and wide. And even seemed to phase through the very planet itself. It eventually did dissipate, though, once the wave went past the earth's moon.

However, before it did, something had been caused by its presence deep in the underground.

Buried within an unknown facility, down down in the underground, there lay a dormant figure. One whose form had remained prone for an untold count of years. Noone completely knew how it got here, or where it came from. But it was indeed the source of interest. Many attempts had been made to awaken the creature - but all of them failed. It seemed as though it would remain in this deathless slumber for all of eternity.

Then the wavefront passed on through the facility, and even struck the figure as it stood, hung up in the blackened chamber. The body surged with the atomic, and dark energies as though it were adjusting, and assimilating. This soon passed after a while, and the room returned to darkness. And the figure seemed to remain prone.

But then, in that same darkness, it opened its 3 sets of eyes which glowed bright, crimson red. And a bell-like chime seemed to echo out from the chamber. The call echoed through the walls, and minds of those who heard it. The creature was awake. And whatever it was, it was something few could comprehend. Something angry. Something hateful. Something cruel and unfeeling.

Something....................terrifying.

to be continued.