The dragon is the single most revered beast of Planet ULTRA.
At the pinnacle of dragon reverence is, of course, the Mother Dragon, worshipped as the creator of the world through the Ecclesia da Ultra, whose spirit still to this day continues to nurture the rapid evolution of the planet and its people.
There is also Ejderha the Dragon of the twelve (well, thirteen, but not everyone knows that) Celestial Beasts that aided the Mother Dragon in her defense of Planet ULTRA against invading gods, who sacrificed himself by transforming into a massive fireball and orbiting the planet, becoming the world’s sun.
And who could forget Hydragon, one of the founding members of ULTRA TEAM, the legendary squadron of superheroes, whose decades-spanning career of crime fighting inspired thousands around the world, and who single-handedly prevented the world’s oceans from being absorbed by an invading god of water.
Because of their association with some of the planet’s most hallowed heroes, dragons are treated with the utmost care and respect by nearly all ultranians universally.
With one exception….
There have been a handful of sightings over the years of dragon kaiju — wild, gargantuan monsters whose physical appearances are nigh indistinguishable from the revered beasts. Massive, scaled, sometimes winged, sometimes serpentine. To the untrained eye, there is seemingly no difference between a dragon and a dragon kaiju.
But for ultranians, dragon kaiju are blasphemers of the highest order.
Dragon kaiju are seen as monsters who make a mockery of dragonkind. Where dragons are majestic and provide wisdom to the people, dragon kaiju are foul demons who rampage for sport. Dragons use their mystical breath to shape the world, while dragon kaiju use their wicked fumes to scorch and destroy.
Dragon kaiju are offered no respect, no protection. In fact, in many of the world’s nations, it’s against the law to not attempt to kill a dragon kaiju if you are in any way potentially capable of doing so. For the people of Planet ULTRA, dragon kaiju are pretenders who ought to be slain on sight, and to avoid battle with one; to let one roam free, is to sully your name forevermore.
Of course, dragon kaiju also happen to be some of the most deadly creatures to roam the land, and many of them boast even more raw physical power than actual dragons. Dragon kaiju are tenacious, they fight to kill, and they are not vanquished easily.
Obviously, the reason you have been subjected to this sudden lecture about dragon kaiju is because the third beast to emerge from the Ohto Sea, soaring high into the sky above the land surrounding Redvein, was, of course, a dragon kaiju.
And a disgusting one at that. Crooked, jagged, uneven spikes of bone and metal jutted out from gaps in its charcoal-black scales, and a constant stream of black smoke and saliva spewed out from its jaws. Five glowing, green eyeballs were implanted in its misshapen skull, and two more were positioned on the back of its shoulders. It was a quadrupedal beast, with two massive wings sprouting from its back similar to a bat’s.
The ugly grunts and coughs that came from the dragon kaiju’s throat hit the ear like malfunctioning machinery, and sent chills through the spines of each and every denizen in Redvein not currently listening to loud music via headphones. Clouds were shredded to bits and pieces, and birds died mid-flight before their corpses plummeted to the earth.
Down in the Rosso Woods, Captain Carmine’s jaw clenched at the sight of the dragon kaiju, whose wings had blotted out the sunlight provided by Ejderha. What rotten luck for a dragon kaiju to be the next threat facing the city….
She immediately began to issue commands to all members of the militia, making sure to speak with a resolute tone, despite her acknowledgement that a dragon kaiju was a far bigger escalation in threat level than she’d been expecting.
As the teams all scrambled into position, Carmine’s eyes shifted over to the dormant mech, though she didn’t allow them to linger there, instead marching towards a hoverbike.
“Captain?” one of her usual squad members asked, hurrying to her side. “You’re taking a bike? The car is-”
She held up a hand, silencing the militiawoman. “Just fulfill your role in the defense plan. I’m going to the battlefield.”
“Wh-what?! But, Cap-!”
Before the squad member could finish, Carmine hit the throttle and blasted off, soaring through the red foliage and out into the plains towards the dragon kaiju. It was an insane idea, racing to the beast on her own, but as far as she was concerned, she had no other choice.
Anyone or anything that threatened Redvein needed to die, dragon kaiju or otherwise.
* * * *
ULTRA ROCK
* * * *
“Wow, there aren’t any guards outside either,” Rocky commented as he pushed open the door to the prison building and took a look in all directions. “That’s so weird….”
[THEY MUST BE OCCUPIED. WITH ANOTHER WRETCHED ANIMAL, MOST LIKELY.]
“You really don’t like those kaiju things, do you, Rak?”
[OF COURSE NOT, YOU IMBECILE. THEY’RE NOTHING MORE THAN FILTHY ANIMALS PRETENDING TO BE GODS.]
Rocky shut the door behind himself, stretching his arms above his head before he began to take a leisurely stroll back to the heart of the city. “‘Pretendin’ to be gods’? Whaddaya mean by that?”
[AN ANIMAL IS NOT MEANT TO WIELD POWER. IT IS MEANT TO EAT, SPAWN, AND BE EATEN, NOT AMASS ENERGY AND REIGN OVER MORTALS.]
“Hm?”
[YOU MORTALS MAY BE PATHETIC, BUT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF WORSHIPPING GODS. ANIMALS ARE NOT. THE HIERARCHY IS OBVIOUS.]
The gargoyle paused for a moment to stare through the windows of a cat clothing store before responding, “Oh, so it goes animals, then mortals, then gods at the top? And you don’t like kaiju because they’re animals that are in between mortals and gods?”
[CONGRATULATIONS, STONE MONKEY. YOU ARE CAPABLE OF BASIC COMPREHENSION.]
Rocky gave the key around his neck an affectionate squeeze. “Good to have you back, buddy.”
After several more moments of walking, however, Rocky came to a sudden stop. “Huh….?”
[WHAT NOW?]
“Where is everyone?” He turned his head left, then right. “I haven’t seen anyone in town so far….”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
[HM….I DO NOT SENSE THEM, EITHER.]
The gargoyle continued on his walk, craning his head around every corner, scanning the distance for signs of life, though it took a few minutes for him to find any; specifically, a pair of children rushing down the sidewalk. “Hey, you two! Where is everyone?”
The kids turned back to face him, with one of the girls shooting him a nasty look. “At the wall, stupid!”
[HEH HEH.]
After the children spun back around and continued on their run, Rocky said, “Wonder what everyone’s doin’ at the wall?”
[I CARE NOT.]
“I know you don’t, but I’m curious. I wanna know what’s up.”
[THEY’LL CATCH YOU AND THROW YOU BACK IN PRISON, IDIOT. YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE; TAKE IT, IMBECILE.]
Rocky’s natural instinct was, of course, to ignore Rakshasa in favor of investigating why the citizenry of Redvein were converging at the wall, but a part of him was simultaneously telling him to listen to the GODBREAKER. He’d brought up a good point about undoubtedly getting arrested by the Redvein Militia once they spotted him, and if there was any fate that sounded more dreadful to Rocky Roran than missing out on satisfying his curiosity and exploring something new, it was being locked behind bars, forever stripped of any new experiences.
Plus, Rocky did feel somewhat inclined to placate Rakshasa. While he did enjoy ribbing the angry little key, he didn’t want to risk setting him off again into another day of silence. That had been a very lonely time, and had led to Rocky being locked up in the first place, to boot.
And so, Rocky took Rakshasa’s words to heart, fighting against his desire to investigate the wall, and instead making a quick and quiet escape out of town.
* * * *
ULTRA ROCK
* * * *
While Rocky would ultimately never learn the answer as to why the citizens of Redvein were gathering at the wall the day the dragon kaiju attacked, you on the other hand, shall!
During the previous kaiju attacks, the citizens were instructed to stay within their homes, or gather into the nearest government buildings for protection whilst the monster threats were dealt with. However, once the people learned that this third kaiju was indeed a dragon kaiju, an announcement was made that all citizens who were interested in helping fight the monster were to head to the walls, where they would be equipped with various firearms.
Every single citizen of Redvein took the Militia up on that offer.
The battlements were packed almost shoulder-to-shoulder with people, all of whom had been given a variety of ranged weapons to help deal with the dragon kaiju threat. These weapons mostly consisted of long-range firebolt rifles, as Redvein’s connection to the forceveins granted them with infinite ammunition for the weapons.
Even Aren, a man deeply opposed to violence, stood amongst his fellow Redveinians, firing shot after shot at the dark dragon kaiju racing around the sky above the land. He was quite good at it, too, having spent his adolescent years in hunting country.
Red streaks of crackling energy tore through the skies like a storm of arrows flying in reverse, aimed at the black dragon kaiju as it flew over the land, puking out black saliva and flames that eroded the ground, reduced trees to ash in seconds, and carved gashes in the mountains.
While most of the bolts were missing their target, many of them did manage to land. And while the dragon kaiju did not appear to be particularly pained by the barrage, it did take notice of them, aiming its eyes in the direction of Redvein.
But the people did not cower as the monster set its sights upon them. On the contrary! Their voices rang out almost as loudly as their rifles, firing verbal shots with the same killing intent.
“FUCK YOU, DRAGON KAIJU!”
“PIECE OF SHIT!”
“WHY DON’T YOU COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN, HUH?!”
“I’M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS, YOU UGLY BITCH!”
The dragon kaiju spat out an ugly roar, speeding up its flight as it approached Redvein.
Down below, Captain Carmine continued racing towards the dragon kaiju on her hoverbike. The optimal time to strike was fast approaching, and she was more than ready for it.
Still racing in at full speed, she brought her hands up to her forehead, creating a triangle with her fingers.
EYE!
As the purple light washed over her face and amplified her eyesight, allowing her to mathematically break down the trajectory of the dragon kaiju’s flight, her hands moved towards her chest, forming a sphere shape.
BALLISTA!
Red light danced around her body, creating a laser-like wireframe in the shape of, well, a ballista. The massive laser weapon locked into her hoverbike for stability, all while she retrieved her crimson spear, loading it into the ballista.
After calculating the precise moment to strike, Carmine fired her spear from the ballista. The weapon cut through the air, crossing the distance in an instant.
The dragon kaiju hadn’t even had time to properly react before Carmine’s spear stabbed it in the chest, tore a path through its innards, and exploded out its back.
The monster let out a horrid roar of pain, and was temporarily thrown off of its flight path. Its body angled downward, as if to crash into the ground like a meteor, though it was able to recover enough in time to just scrape its shoulder against it.
The spikes protruding from its body tore thick cuts in the earth, uprooting trees in the process. Not only that, the black scales appeared to leave behind some sort of residue in the ground, which began to bubble and boil, melting the unearthed rock and dirt like a mixture of tar and lava.
When the dragon kaiju managed to regain its composure, it aimed its snout skyward, shooting up into the sky at a complete vertical angle before tilting back around in order to face Captain Carmine; the source of far more pain than the bolts coming from the Redvein wall.
While Carmine’s ballista shot had managed to put a very sizeable wound in the beast, she knew she wouldn’t have the opportunity to fire up another one. Not only would she have to recover her spear in order to do so, the dragon’s attention was now on her.
Now was the time to retreat, and lure the monster in range of the Militia’s railguns, as well as the new defensive systems they’d set up.
After unsetting her Ballista and Eye Installs, the captain narrowed her eyes at the dragon kaiju, as if daring it to chase after her. Actually, I shouldn’t say “as if” — that is in fact what she was doing.
It seemed to work, as the kaiju chose to fly towards her rather than Redvein, even as she kicked her hoverbike back to top speed and raced back towards the shore of the Ohto Sea where the kaiju had emerged from.
There were defensive systems in place to lock the beast down, although they hadn’t taken hold because the kaiju just so happened to be a dragon type, and had emerged from the water at an angle that allowed it to soar over them. But now that the beast was much closer to ground level in order to hunt down Carmine, the defensive systems would take hold properly this time.
The dragon kaiju was much faster than the hoverbike even at top speed, so Carmine was cutting it dangerously close. The possibility of the dragon kaiju getting close enough to spew its breath at her before they could reach the defensive systems had a much higher probability than most people would have liked, but in that moment, Carmine had no fear of such a bad roll of the dice. The fire particles in her heart burned away at any such negative thoughts and feelings, leaving only determination, and the resolution to kill the dragon kaiju.
But ultimately, she prevailed, her hoverbike blitzing within range of the defensive systems — massive hunks of machinery and scanners. As their red beams honed in on the approaching body of the dragon kaiju, the machinery opened up, and shot out thick chains of burning red light.
The chains dug into the dragon kaiju’s flesh, locking in tightly. There were eight of them in total, anchored all across the monster’s body. The beast roared in pain, thrashing around in the skies, but was unable to further chase after Carmine once the chains were held taut.
The captain brought her hoverbike to a stop, looking over her shoulder at the now-trapped dragon kaiju, her lips stretching into a smirk. The plan was a success. Now all that was left was for her troops back at Redvein to fire off the railguns and decimate the monster.
But alas, no conflict worth describing in any story worth telling is so easily overcome. The dragon kaiju would not fall prey to the railguns so easily, even in its current predicament.
Whilst it was unable to break its flesh free from the defense system chains, what it was able to do, was shed the black substance from its skin.
It came off of its body like thick, viscous steam and sludge, peeling away and revealing the monster’s true blue-colored scales underneath. The shadowy layer twisted and split itself in all directions as it did, easily bypassing the chains that remained locked-into the dragon kaiju’s flesh, until it was completely freed, hovering in the sky above the monster, morphing into the shape of a nearly identical dragon kaiju.
Carmine’s eyes widened at the sight, leaving her no time to properly react when the shadow dragon launched itself at the defense systems, shattering them to pieces. The blast they emitted when destroyed shot outward, throwing Carmine and her hoverbike dozens of feet away in the process.
With the machines destroyed, the dragon kaiju was now freed. However, the shadow did not return to its physical body. Instead, the two monsters began to take flight in different directions, one spewing black sludge and smoke, and the other spewing acidic flames.
And now there were two dragon kaiju to deal with.