//------------------------------//
// Chapter 27 – Round 2 
// Story: A King to a God 
// by JDPrime22 
//------------------------------//

Equestria, Forbidden Jungle

T.I.T.A.N. Airship Tigerhawk



To avoid any other collisions with Godzilla, T.I.T.A.N. saw it fit to keep him hoisted as high from the water as they could manage. That inevitably led to their fleet of remaining airships carrying Kong in a strange contraption of a net, all the way to the mainland.

The remaining nine airships just barely managed to rest the lumbering Titan onto solid earth once they passed the shoreline. Inside the jungle’s canopy, the net was laid to rest on the jungle floor in a spacious grassland free of any trees. Kong’s immense size and weight ensured at least a few trees were crushed, but for the most part the journey had been a success.

If having narrowly survived an encounter and confrontation with the King of the Monsters was considered a success.

What few ships remained from the fleet docked accordingly near the shoreline, having endured the full brunt of Godzilla’s fury and desperately needing the fuel and repairs if they ever going to be sea-worthy again.

As the airships dispersed, the lead craft, the Silverbolt and Tigerhawk, hovered over Kong’s wearied form. In the bridge of the Tigerhawk, Daring Do leaned back from the windshield and released a growing tremor in her gut… as the biggest breath of relief she could manage. 

“Well, we managed to burn more than half of our fuel supply making the rest of the journey… as well as carrying that 90,000-ton ape. Mind signaling to home to let the princess know how swell we’re handling things?” Daring sarcastically suggested, though the seriousness in her eyes told Shining that she wasn’t joking about contacting Canterlot.

And with that, Shining could agree. He wanted to wait until they transported Kong safely onto dry land, and now that they were here—now that Kong was starting to stir and sit up—the prince turned to the ship’s communications officer.

“Get in contact with Canterlot. Tell Twilight to get the Elements prepared—”

To their far right, practically every head jerked up in attention to the erupting of the ocean surface, and the emergence of some familiar dorsal spines rising from the waters. Simultaneously, all of their hearts plummeted, and a black shadow overcame their internal and external features. After having done everything they could to avoid Godzilla, it seemed that in and of itself was an impossibility. 

Roughly a mile further north of the shoreline, Godzilla stomped forward into the hold of the Forbidden Jungle, shaking himself free of the water that drenched his hide… and shaking his head fiercely to free himself of something else entirely. 

In that terrifying moment of silence, the radios came back and the voices pondered that Godzilla wasn’t paying attention to them. It seemed his attention was elsewhere, as if Godzilla was forcing himself to face the North but couldn’t quite turn in that direction. He continued to stomp aimlessly forward, continued to shake his head from side to side, with his distant growls becoming more erratic. More enraged. More… painful.

Hearing such sounds reminded Fluttershy of that wretched night so long ago, when Godzilla was defeated by the conjoined efforts of Ghidorah and Sombra. The pain he felt that night and the pain he endured now mirrored each other well, and it made Fluttershy sick to her stomach. Especially having to accept the fact that there was nothing she could do as she was.

That’s what her friends and the Elements were for.

That’s what Kong was for.

With T.I.T.A.N.’s confusion leaving them hanging back, Kong took the opportunity to act. He saw Godzilla emerge from the sea just as much as the equines did, and finally taking a short look around to his surroundings, feeling the dirt and grass crushed between his fingers, and standing firmly on solid ground once more, Kong proceeded onward.

But he did not charge in a bellowing rage or stampede, much to the relief of T.I.T.A.N. No, when they finally saw Kong start to move, they watched a king adapting to his new environment. And one that was so similar to his natural habitat, Kong was able to move swiftly, quietly, and efficiently across the Forbidden Jungle toward his target. 

Godzilla never even heard him, let alone noticed him. Disoriented from the dark forces and the raging power struggle in his mind made it too difficult for him to focus on other matters at the moment, giving Kong the perfect opportunity.

Climbing the highest mound he could find, Kong hung back just far enough from Godzilla for him to remain oblivious to his actions. Prying a large boulder out of the mountain beneath him, the King of Black Skull Island snorted quietly and chucked the rock clear over Godzilla’s head. The boulder flew across the sky and impacted a cluster of trees that rivaled even the tallest mountain peaks in the Forbidden Jungle. The splintering of wood and the tremendous crash brought Godzilla’s focus back, and now on high alert, he roared at the disturbance.

Giving Kong the opening he sought, and he leaped high from the mountain and drove his right fist in the back of Godzilla’s head. Roaring his vengeful battle cry the entire descent.

The ambush knocked some clarity back to Godzilla’s mind, as well as knocking him flat on his chest and rolling for several yards across the jungle floor. For the time being, the dark forces settled and left Godzilla to deal with the rival effectively. And with that state of mind, Godzilla cried out and planted his claws firmly into the earth to hoist himself back up.

Only for Kong to pounce on top of him again.

The giant ape was unhinged in his vengeful state, raising high his fists and then slamming them fiercely back down onto Godzilla’s skull, sometimes even ramming his arms and elbows down onto the tyrant king. Godzilla yelped with each deafening impact, and he thrashed about with the strength and adrenaline of a wounded animal fighting with its last breath. Only, Godzilla was just getting started. 

The two shambled across the Forbidden Jungle, between great mountains and crashing through trees that matched them in height. For all of Godzilla’s vain attempts to knock him off, Kong was shockingly nimble for his size, and he held on tight with each of his limbs. A growing sense of panic began to arise in Godzilla when he felt the rival’s bicep snake underneath his jaw, threatening to crush his windpipe if he gave Kong any leeway. 

Crushing the jungle floor beneath him and bringing them both an abrupt halt, Godzilla then proceeded to backpedal, eventually encountering the side of a mountain and flattening Kong between him and it. A fierce yelp of pain escaped the ape’s agape jaws, and he relinquished his grasp on the king. Channeling all of his strength, Kong forced himself to take in a breath, forcefully expanding his lungs and bringing clarity back to his vision.

Godzilla was charging, teeth first poised for Kong’s throat. Tightening his jaw, barring his teeth, Kong held onto the mountain and reared his feet forward, kicking Godzilla across the face. With the sea monarch's mind in a boggled and broken state, Kong pressed his feet to the mountain face and leaped off, striking down with his fist once more across Godzilla’s cheek.

He didn’t stop. Using his momentum, Kong reached low and plucked another boulder from the earth, swinging back and palming the rock with both hands. Slamming it cleanly across Godzilla’s other cheek. His roars conflicted with Godzilla’s own, each one tremoring the earth and thundering the air with each devastating impact they dealt to one another.

There was a certain rage behind every impact of Kong’s attacks. After having barely survived in what was hardly a fair battle in Godzilla’s natural environment, now they could stand on equal footing in what was fairly Kong’s environment. And the king held nothing back, ensuring each blow would leave scars for Godzilla to remember, or even worse. 

He was taken from his home. His status as the defender and rightful king of Black Skull Island was stripped from him. He had nearly lost his life to this mad king, and Kong would do everything in his power to attain the vengeance he deserved was his claim. That claim was made clearer with each punch, with each kick, with each drop of blood he saw fly from Godzilla’s face.

The bloodied boulder was gripped tight between Kong’s hands, and the ape raised it high over his head if but to deliver one last killing blow to the tyrant. But Godzilla was not so easily beaten, nor broken.

The ape was a pretender, a foreign monarch that held no power in Godzilla’s world. And he would ensure Kong felt every weight of that unspoken promise.

With one slash of his tail, Godzilla swiped high and struck Kong in the back of the head, knocking the boulder clean from his hands and staggering the rival king. Palms pressed to the dirt, Kong lifted his eyes only to meet a pouncing lizard, the enraged beast tackling Kong and digging his claws into shoulders. He then proceeded to forcefully handle Kong, dragging him across the jungle, through the trees, and against the side of a nearby mountain. 

Where he eventually flung Kong back to the earth, his bloodied back hitting the jungle first. In the glare of the sun, Kong nearly missed Godzilla’s foot raised high over his chest, but he rolled out of the way just in time. Godzilla roared in agitation, firing a shockingly-fast and continuous atomic beam at the ape’s prone form. Instead, he merely chased the ape in his rampaging escape, the fiery beam of blue atomic fire following Kong across the jungle.

He stampeded clear through the jungle until he reached the rocky terrain of the mountainous regions. Kong leaped high, his hands grasping the mountain peaks and swinging him from mound to mound. The atomic breath followed him, obliterating entire mountains with each fiery impact. A hanging rock edge was presented to him, and Kong grabbed onto it to fling himself high above to the top of the intricate rock structure.

Then, the atomic fire stopped.

Breathless and peering back, all Kong could see were the flaming ruins of the jungle behind and beneath him. A wall of black smoke blocked any attempt for Kong to spot his foe, and Godzilla to do the same. So, he walked through the fire and smoke, stomping forth through the desolate ashes of the Forbidden Jungle where they did battle. Only, Godzilla still could not see his foe.

Across a great valley of mountains and towering rock structures, there was not a single sign of the ape’s appearance. Godzilla snorted, narrowing his burning glare. He knew Kong to have fled, but he did not take the false king for a coward. Not until now. So, the hunt began. 

Stomping into the rocky terrain, Godzilla continuously slipped and slid down toward the valley, having to pull himself back up time and again. The terrain was not built for him, nor could it sustain Godzilla’s weight. He realized his hunt would have to end sooner rather than later, as the dark forces in his mind began their wretched games once more, trying to deter him now that the immediate danger was gone. Trying to tighten the grip on his heart and his mind as it had before.

Only, now, Godzilla was aware of its actions, and fought it every step, no matter how overwhelming they appeared. The battles he fought were not just outwardly, but the battle within was one Godzilla felt was growing all the more important. 

This evil, this Darkness within him yearned for chaos and destruction, for him to turn his focus instead on the T.I.T.A.N. forces and to wipe them all out. No longer was Kong the priority, it told him. When the time came, they would clash one last time and determine the victor, but now his enemies surrounded him and the Darkness demanded that Godzilla take action… or suffer.

He was moving about aimlessly, shambling and fighting in his mind for so long that when Godzilla finally came back… he stood amidst the edge of a great drop. The edge of the rocky valley that overlooked the ocean and led to a horrendous fall. Growling softly and blinking away the surprise, his eyes suddenly widened when he realized he had been deterred. His alignment was out of balance. His purposes were skewered and Godzilla was being attacked by an enemy within.

But worst yet, he realized his rear was undefended.

Just as the mighty Kong jumped from the atop the highest rocky peak with a blade-like boulder between his hands, high over his head, and poised for the kill.

He roared the entire fall, but Godzilla was already turning back just as he jumped. In that leap of faith, Kong saw the dorsal plates light up and Godzilla spin around. But he barely even got off a blast of atomic fury, the fire managing to singe Kong’s exposed side and break his concentration. The sharpened boulder did not pierce Godzilla’s hide as he intended. Instead, both he and the boulder impacted the king and destabilized the floor beneath them.

The edge of the mountain collapsed, and the two engaged in a freefall down into the awaiting waters. They crashed against the surface of the rock wall, bringing mounds of earth and slabs of rock down with them. Rolling and slamming against one another, Kong just managed to miraculously grasp onto a divot, allowing him to then press his feet and his remaining hand onto the mountain.

Godzilla was not as dexterous, and he fell into the ocean with his roars trailing. Followed shortly by a large chunk of the mountain that sank into the deep with him. 

He did not sink forever. The ocean was not his grave. Though wounded and shaken, Godzilla returned. Not to the battle on land, not to the battle with the rival, but to the one within. Once more, he heard it, the cry in the heart of the world. The cry belonging only to the herald of the Darkness, and an old devil. An old enemy that was no longer hidden, for Godzilla heard him clearly now. 

The conflict in his mind was waning, and his true purposes were beginning to shine through the cracking prison cell of his entombed will.

High above the crumbling mountain, most of all the battlefield had begun to settle. He held still to the mountain wall, and Kong leaned outward with but one hand holding him to the rock. For his eyes gazed out into the rapid waves lapping fiercely against the rocks. For several seconds he stared, and then there was silence upon the surface of the deep.

With his free fist, Kong gave a thunderous, victorious roar and pounded his chest.

And through the smoke, the fleet of T.I.T.A.N. aircraft finally peeked out to catch the aftermath. All they saw were the falling remains of the mountain crashing into the sea. Above the destruction, there was Kong, pounding his chest for a well-earned victory. 

Daring Do even seemed to note it as so, boldly claiming to the stifling silence in the bridge, “Guess round two goes to Kong.”

A few heads shifted in her direction, mainly the likes of Fluttershy, Bon Bon, Lyra, and Cadance. Some of their expressions tightened, as if they couldn’t believe Daring was keeping score of all things, like this destructive conflict was akin to a boxing match. But they couldn’t make their opinions known when their radar technicians picked up a disturbance.

“Hold up! We got movement!”

Right on cue, some very familiar dorsal plates broke free of the water. Everycreature of T.I.T.A.N. and Kong especially took notice. However, instead of a continued conflict, Godzilla proceeded to swim away. Particularly, he swam to the North, and it didn’t take long for Kong to climb up the mountain and just as quickly jump off of it.

Crashing and rolling through the Forbidden Jungle, Kong gave chase, following the fleeing Titan in the sea by stampeding on dry land.

And just like that, the chase was on… with T.I.T.A.N. left in the dust.

Before the dust could settle, the communications officer for the Tigerhawk asked, “Uhhh… Captain? Your orders for contacting Canterlot?”

Staring out to the shrinking forms of both Godzilla and Kong, Shining Armor fell back into his seat and sighed. “Tell Twilight to bring some more fuel for the Tigerhawk and the remaining fleet, too. Got a feeling we won’t be touching ground anytime soon.”