//------------------------------// // Chapter 40 – The King in the North // Story: The One True King // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// Chapter 40 “And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.” — Book of Revelation Crystal Empire The enemy wielded the storm. It came as a cloak of unyielding darkness, with a cold unforeseen and unheard of meshing within the chilling winds of the Frozen North. The dark clouds gave up its rain, gushing with torrents that froze mid-air and transformed into sleet. Into snow. Pelting the Crystal Empire relentlessly with a second blizzard. An unnatural one. Joining Sombra’s. As the clouds consumed the skies above the empire, an unsettling stillness washed over the streets and crystal buildings. Including the Titans that hid within it all. Baphomet and Typhon remained hidden behind the jutting towers of black crystal courtesy of their king. Amhuluk crawled across the side of a massive, jagged crystal, remaining still as darkness enveloped the land. Trying to blend in. Sargon curled up his limbs and tail behind the castle. Yamata no Orochi was below ground and out of sight. And as for their king… as for Sombra… he was there. Everywhere. Within the atmosphere, every infected snow petal, every last one of his black crystals. Every shadow they casted from the bursts of golden lightning. He watched as the gold shot forth and illuminated his empire, joining the tremoring booms and cackles of the thunder. Sombra knew that cackle. He knew who had arrived. The enemy not only wielded the storm. He controlled it. He raged with it. He was the storm. He came. King Ghidorah ripped through the heart of his hurricane and landed with a thunderous crash in the Crystal Empire. The cold was a familiar sting that Ghidorah knew all too well. Echoes of an old war resurfaced with every piercing cry of the wind, or the stabbing cold trying to pierce his golden scales. Nightmares of a resilient Titan rising up to beat him down, trapping him within the ice for a million generations. That cold would forever be stained on Ghidorah’s minds. But it was a natural offense, and nothing the Demon of the Stars couldn’t handle. The memories, however, made him sneer and hiss, all three heads rising up to observe the folly of rebellion. He knew the cry. He had heard it before and now it called to him once more. Slithering his gaze about, King Ghidorah could see a rapid infection spreading across the Crystal Empire. An infection of dark crystals holding an essence of irredeemable evil. Ghidorah growled softly, Ichi and Ni spewing torrents of heated fog from their jaws. San sniffed the air, flicking his forked tongue. He could taste it. He could sense it. They all could. There was one alpha left, one rival who dared to meet Ghidorah’s voice with his own and openly challenge him. Ghidorah twisted his necks back to the edges of the empire, cackling and calling with his own alpha cry. Calling his army north. To him. That was as much as Sombra could take. He revealed himself through the shadows and reforged his body. By the mists of darkness coiling across every corner of the Crystal Empire, the MUTO Prime had returned to one full body and King Sombra made his presence known to the usurper. He cried out and charged him, Ghidorah twisting back rapidly to be met with a ferocious tackle. The attack surprised him, to be sure. But Ghidorah had seen this once before. He met Sombra’s charge and countered it, each head biting down on a specific part of Sombra’s back. The fangs sank in deep, Sombra howling. Planting his feet firmly into the crystal and shattering several yards beneath him, Ghidorah twisted his necks and flung Sombra clear off his feet. The MUTO flew for a short while, crashing through various crystal buildings and eventually rolling to a sagging mesh of bleeding Titan. Cackling with sinister intent, Ghidorah glared at the prone form of the weakened, so-called king. The “alpha” who chose to challenge him once more. And yet he could barely rise, hardly even stand on his own feet. Sombra hissed, his limbs trembling as he planted each forearm fiercely into the ground to rise. Ghidorah would not allow it. He would not give him a second more to believe he had any chance to be his equal or—dare say it—his superior. His cackled could be equated to laughter, a sick, demented cheer as the God of the Void kicked off the ground and flew directly over Sombra. He drove his feet onto the MUTO’s back, tightened his claws around his hardened shell, and then proceeded to bring Sombra back to his feet. Several feet above the ground. Several yards. Several hundred of them. Flapping his golden wings, Ghidorah proceeded to drive Sombra into various buildings and black towers of pure crystal. They all came down just the same. The king cackled with unhinged cruelty, flying faster and faster and slamming Sombra into every tower he could find in that moment. So many remained standing. So little were destroyed. But Ghidorah had his fun. He released his grasp upon Sombra and let the Titan fall. With the added momentum, the pony in the monster’s body crashed and rolled and decimated anything beneath him. Skidding to a halt after creating what could have been a mile or more of pure destruction, Sombra finally settled into a broken, prone form. He laid on his side, jaws barely apart, visor-like eyes weakly gazing to the dark skies. Standing over him was the Golden Demise. That Demise spread forth his wings and cascaded his shadow, his horrifying image onto Sombra one last time, ensuring the last thing Sombra saw was his power exemplified to its grandest height. The Demise breathed in deeply, necks shimmering pure and unholy gold. Sombra stared into the light and saw him. His demise… What could have been… had Amhuluk not leaped from the crystal and drove his teeth into Ichi’s windpipe. It was a cavalry of monsters, rushing forward to defend their king in his desperate moment of need. As if they had a choice, their minds infected with Sombra’s screaming voice ordering them to engage, attack, and destroy. Nothing else would matter to them. They would not acknowledge their pain. They would not wither to their suffering. They would not cower and they would not hide from the serpent. They charged under the influence of the Shadow King. Amhuluk thrashed and shrieked, driving his claws deep into Ghidorah’s scales and attempting to slash and gut out as much of the hydra as he could. His fangs sank in deeper, Ichi crying out and eventually slamming his own jaws onto the Titan. He tore out a helping of earth and wood, several other shards of debris of which Amhuluk had accumulated on his journey. It was enough for the Titan to scream, Ni and San proceeding to strike and latch onto his limbs. Pulling them apart, and thus holding the Titan outward, Ghidorah glared at the thrashing beast. Ichi narrowed his heated glare, breathing in deep to finish him off. The others arrived. Baphomet struck from behind and latched himself onto Ghidorah’s back, slashing his necks, his wings, and screeching all the while. Typhon flew down from above, dive-bombing the Three-Headed Devil and wrapping his serpentine tail onto him. In the following impact, Titans were flung about and bodies rolled across the crystal roads. Baphomet and Amhuluk crashed against various buildings. Typhon would not release Ghidorah, his serpents biting and latching onto the Titan. Ghidorah cried. He spewed forth a volley of gravity beams that severed the heads from two of Typhon’s serpents. Breaking off, rolling away, screaming in agony, Typhon clawed at the street to avoid Ghidorah’s continuous stream of golden lightning. Monster Zero kept up the fire, intent on seeing the red dragon flee until he couldn’t any longer. And then he would crumble, wither and cry beneath his almighty power. He didn’t see the rampaging scorpion charge him from his blindside before it was too late. Sargon drove himself into Ghidorah’s legs, knocking away the king’s balance and thus causing the mighty beast to collapse. Crushing a cluster of buildings beneath him, King Ghidorah turned to the assault, watching as the massive scorpion proceeded to crawl on top of him. His tail was raised high, stinger poised to strike. Ichi, Ni, and San watched Sargon’s tail reach its peak, and then quickly shoot down. Straight for Ghidorah’s heart. All three heads cackled. His golden tails were quicker, wrapping tightly around Sargon’s own and stopping the stinger from reaching an inch more. Pressing his feet upon the scorpion’s underbelly, Ghidorah kicked harshly and launched Sargon off of him. The Titan flew backward, crashing into a tower of black crystals and disappearing beneath the falling rubble. Ghidorah rose up and breathed. Couldn’t even exhale as Yamata no Orochi burst from the ground and latched his many mouths onto him. Leaving him open for King Sombra to finally retaliate. Shaking away the weariness that gripped him still, Sombra turned his focus onto the constrained usurper. Ghidorah was fighting against the strength of the burrowing Titan, and was quickly beginning to gain some form of footing. Sombra could not allow that. Not when he was so close. Taking in a sharp breath, Sombra empowered his horn and let the dark magic flow through his body. Keeping his jaws agape, the magic curled and electrified deep within his throat until he could not hold it in a second longer. He cried out the magic and let loose the most devastating dark roar he had ever released. The scream shattered entire buildings as the shadowy blast soared over them. Shock waves alone ripped apart the road, severing the storm momentarily and ceasing all flow of snow and sleet within the area. The dark roar ripped through it all. Until it reached its target and struck King Ghidorah directly in the heart. Yamata no Orochi cried out in pain, quickly relinquishing Ghidorah as the dark roar nearly decapitated his mouths. The mighty centipede fell back, not even able to witness the One Who is Many finally crumble before his king’s wrath. But it was glorious all the same to see the aftermath. Ghidorah fell. Under the dark tides of his raging, swirling hurricane, the one who wielded it collapsed onto his back. The dark magic coursed across his golden scales and tried to infect even deeper than that. Though his will was strong, his body needed a moment to recover, and in that time Ghidorah was momentarily vulnerable. His heads cried out again and again, his wings trying to push his body up, his legs acting with them. Nothing happened. Nothing worked. Ghidorah lifted all three heads to see Sombra’s mouth finally come to a close. The sulfurous essence of the dark magic faded away into the snow and fog, but still Sombra’s vision remained bright. His green visor radiated a raw hatred that illumined brightly under the dark storm. He didn’t even have to move, or even to speak. His voice had traveled and was understood immediately by his followers. Emerging out of the fog, all five Titans proceeded to surround Ghidorah. They moved swiftly past their king, Sombra standing within their center and watching the scene unfold with glorious purpose finally imposing itself upon his being. The end of the usurper had come. Sombra’s reign as the true king of the Crystal Empire, of the north, and of the monsters was soon to be realized. It all began with a single order. One whispered into every mind bent to his will. Thrashing out his claws, unhinging his skull-like jaws, and screeching out for all the Crystal Empire to echo, Baphomet leaped forward for a pouncing strike. A killing blow. One that Sombra allowed. One that Ghidorah allowed himself to watch and do nothing. Because he heard the responding roar. He felt the heat pierce the cold and watched Rodan dive-bomb Baphomet with fiery fury. Breaking through the storm, Rodan howled in his descent but still was not stopped. As if he ever could have been. He drove his talons deep into the blackened coat of the screeching Titan, the two colliding in mid-air and Rodan pulling him away from his king. The other Titans gaped in shock, mirroring Sombra’s reaction. Ghidorah hissed, chittering words of satisfaction. Watching every last second unfold in his favor. Rodan drove Baphomet into the crystal street, spreading cinder and flame across the area and rolling in unison with the Titan in his grasp. Breaking free, rolling to his hooves, Baphomet slashed at the air but struck nothing, screeching at the Titan flapping his wings above him. The Fire Demon responded in kind, roaring back and diving down to latch himself onto Baphomet once more. Rodan wasn’t alone. Stampeding through the fog, thunderous stomps accompanying him, Behemoth laid siege to the empire and to the Shadow King’s subjects. He swung his tusks about and nearly smacked Typhon and Sargon. Only Amhuluk was the unfortunate Titan to be directly in Behemoth’s path, practically getting gored through his chest by a tusk and slammed into various buildings and towers of crystal. Launching the Titan off of him, Behemoth watched the creature writhe and squirm, moments before Amhuluk found his footing. He lowered himself accordingly to Behemoth, Amhuluk baring his fangs and whipping his tendrils in an act of intimidation. Behemoth was hardly intimidated, snorting and slamming his tusks into the crystal beneath him. Scylla moved faster than she ever had before. Her towering legs earned her several hundred yards with every step, eventually bringing the spider-like Titan into collision with Typhon. The two clashed, Scylla gaining the advantage upon the surprise attack and slashing a clean cut across Typhon’s chest. The dragon roared, spewing a volley of flames onto Scylla’s hardened shell. She responded by wrapping her tendrils around Typhon’s throat, the serpents then proceeding to snap and bite at her. The Queen MUTO was unstoppable in her rampage, her bellowing cry filling the empire moments before she drove herself into Sargon. Sombra could only turn and watch on as his followers were taken and overwhelmed. It happened when the second MUTO rammed her jaws onto Sargon’s pincer and slammed him into the nearest building. It happened when Yamata no Orochi was practically tackled by the charging Methuselah. The mountainous Titan reared low in doing so, ramming his horns into the centipede’s body and flinging Yamata high in the air before he came crashing down onto the street. And Methuselah was right on top of him, driving his legs onto the screaming Titan again and again. One by one, they came through the storm, entering the hold of the empire and making their presence known the second they attacked the opposition. No warnings. No mercy. None their king wanted. Sombra was out of breath, his mind reeling and filled with the agonies his subjects were experiencing. He shook it off, every last overwhelming thought that needed processing. He focused dead ahead and cleared any last warring matter. He gave his monsters the only order they needed: kill. Leaving Sombra to deal with the usurper alone. Leaving King Ghidorah and King Sombra to face each other on equal footing. In essence, it was what Sombra had wanted all along. Just him and Ghidorah. No distractions. No time to waste. He was caught off guard on the initial attack, but now Sombra was ready. He knew what to expect from his foe, and he would not let it disrupt him and his purpose again. Just the same, it was what Ghidorah had sought the moment he made landing in the Crystal Empire. One last moment to prove to all who dared to challenge his rule. One final example to set. One last law to lay bare. His army dealt with the rebels. Leaving him to deal with the lead dissident. Sombra slammed his fists into the earth and bellowed. Ghidorah spread his trembling, towering wings and cackled. All three heads did so. With nothing else needing to be said, their roars echoed across the Crystal Empire and the alphas charged one another. There was no clear intent going through Sombra’s mind as he tore through buildings, through wind, and through snow to reach his target. All he could see was red. All he imagined was murder. His mind was lost to the rage and bloodlust. He wanted his perfect world above anything else, and the last thing standing in his way was the golden hydra slithering faster and faster toward him. It would all end before the sun rose again. Before the sun rose on the world, a new King of the Monsters would be crowned. So Sombra sweared… They struck. Their impact was so deafening that a shock wave was created, pushing both Ghidorah and Sombra backward and into the nearest structures behind them. Ghidorah hit a building. Sombra hit one of his own black crystals. Frozen momentarily, shaking away the weariness, the two went at it once more. For a moment, Sombra believed he was gaining some form of footing. He believed the ground he was taking was ensuring him a quicker, more efficient victory. Instead, he swung at Ghidorah’s heads not knowing the hydra was only toying with him. He bit and roared and slammed his own body into Ghidorah’s not knowing the great serpent had been waiting for him. Waiting for the opportunity for Sombra to leave himself open. When the opportunity presented itself, King Ghidorah struck like a ravenous viper. Using every weapon of his body, Ghidorah ensured that Sombra felt the full extent of his wrath. His jaws snapped and bit and tore piece by piece from Sombra’s body. His tails swiped low and knocked out his legs from under him. His wings lifted his body high into the air, ceasing his flight and crushing Sombra beneath his weight. Ghidorah beat him bloody. He beat him senseless. He bit down onto his ravaged body and dragged him across his own empire. Dragged him until Ghidorah had enough. Relinquished him and watched Sombra’s mutilated form barely moving. Barely breathing. Even then, Ghidorah would not have satisfaction. Not until he had it all. Pressing his golden-scaled foot onto Sombra’s neck, the Death Song of Three Storms let his storm be heard. He let his cackle fill the eye of the hurricane and unleash a fury of piercing, yellow lightning bolts. Bolts that struck towers and crystals and even the castle itself. By then, Sombra had seen enough. He had seen it all and still could not fathom it. The power was overwhelming. The might and fury of the monster standing so tall before him made him cry out. All six eyes fell to glare upon his form, and they all shimmered that same gold. The same gold of a tyrant king hellbent on seeing the world burned to its core. Staring into all six of those eyes, knowing them to be wrongful and alien in every sense of the word, Sombra could do nothing more. He did nothing but stare his last into the eyes of the beast, knowing them now for what they were. Seeing it clearly now more than ever. He really was staring into the eyes of the Devil. The monster he could never control. The truest and greatest evil of this world… finally laying his claim upon it. King Ghidorah did so by lifting his necks so high they graced his storms. He breathed in so deep that every ounce of oxygen was absorbed from that area at that specific moment. His jaws fell open and the golden currents of pure lightning pulsated deep within his heart and up his towering throats. The light showered upon Sombra’s face and he still he did nothing. He could do nothing but watch… Wait… And die. The gold was pierced. The screaming cackles were silenced. King Ghidorah was struck dead in the heart by a blazing white sword. No… not a sword. Sombra flinched to the intensity of the blast, to the severity of the heat of which radiated from it, and finally lifted his head to see Ghidorah flung back like he weighed nothing. As if that singular blast was strong enough to throw him off his feet, and yet it was. It had actually happened. What Sombra had witnessed was not false. It was true. It was real. As real as the thunderous stomps so very far behind him. As true as the familiar roar laying its claim upon the world. And Sombra couldn’t believe it. He rolled onto his side, tilting his head back in order to witness it with his own eyes. Splitting the storm and curing the Crystal Empire of the shroud of darkness on its edge, a new light emerged to awaken the wrath of the world. The true wrath of which nature sought to reclaim its crown and throne. Embodied by nature, fueled with that wrath, the fallen king had risen. In his reborn heart, in his renewed spirit, he carried something more, something that shone with a new brightness that Sombra had seen once before. One that made Sombra tremble with unfathomable confusion, rage, and most horrible of all… the slightest hint of terror. But that was what he brought with him. That was his dominating call and presence. That was Godzilla. Bringing with him a storm of his own. The nations of Equus followed him, Godzilla surrounded from the highest to the lowest parts of his body with fleets upon fleets of airships. But that was not all. Multiple machines and creatures followed the fleets in the hundreds, consisting of Solar Bolts, dragons, changelings, Wonderbolts, and so many more. High above the fleets, higher than even Godzilla’s head and pulsating white eyes, the Radiance helped lead the charge for Equus’ armies. But even then, Godzilla was the one leading them all. He gave off a second thunderous roar. He was the one that brought forth the new light upon the Crystal Empire. Sombra could see it. His dorsal plates were renewed, appearing slightly similar to his older spines but holding more of a majestic craft to it. More so in every which way. They pulsated a rainbow of colors. From the brightest, fiery reds to the deepest oranges. The welcoming hue of the yellows to the radiating greens. The vast and deep blues and finishing it off with the darkest purples. Yet in every vein, glowing deeper and brighter than even the blinding colors of the rainbow, a shining whiteness also glowed brightest of all upon his dorsal plates. As was his body infected by that same hue. Pulsating veins from between his scales shimmered the same white, collapsing onto his back, neck, and portions of his body. It radiated and glowed, shimmered and pulsated. It even reached his eyes and left his glare the same haunting whiteness as his veins. As his dorsal plates. And all Sombra could do at that moment was weakly roar. Cry to the oncoming opponent he believed was dead. It was enough to recapture Ghidorah’s attention. The fleet opened fire on him, the Radiance leading the onslaught and unloading a barrage of cannon fire onto the slithering hydra. The dozens of T.I.T.A.N. airships following it did the same. The many more royal airships behind them joined in the bombardment. Tempest Shadow's fleet followed. The following bursts of light from Ghidorah’s body earned a screeching cry of shock from the beast. Before Ghidorah could retaliate, the airships dispersed. The battleground was vast and empty. Leaving only a withering Sombra on the sidelines and nothing else standing between Ghidorah… and Godzilla. They both saw each other. They saw nothing else. Ghidorah could hardly come to believe it while Godzilla only had one thought in mind… Vengeance. It was his to take, his to claim as was his rightful throne. Godzilla unleashed a third guttural, rage-filled scream and proceeded to charge with shocking speeds to his old and hated rival. He decimated anything caught between him and Ghidorah, and the Devil did the same. King Ghidorah bent low in his slithering charge, his necks like serpents, his rampaging screams unlike anything ever heard. That was the blindness of rage, of fury, seeing nothing else and wanting nothing more than to kill. And so, they did. They charged. They clashed. They created a tremoring shock wave upon impact and proceeded to kill one another. For the right to be called the one true king.