The thunder had never sounded like this before. Not even in the most violent tempests had the sky cracked open in such a raw and vengeful manner, as though the heavens themselves were being torn apart by something older, crueller, and far less forgiving than nature.
From the ruins of the Antarctic outpost, the colossal, golden hydra that humanity would later come to know by its ancient name; Ghidorah, rose with a shriek that deafened even the static-ridden satellites struggling to broadcast its image to global intelligence.
Its wings unfurled like massive banners of apocalypse, their sheer span blotting out the faint light of the southern sky. Each head moved with terrifying autonomy, scanning the terrain, shrieking in unison, fighting one another for control as their necks wove together in chaotic symphony.
Eyes glowing with incandescent malice, the creature took to the skies, leaving only a frozen crater and broken bodies behind.
Within moments, something far older and more grounded in the natural balance stirred from the depths.
Godzilla.
The ocean churned like a writhing beast, and out from the great black abyss rose the ancient leviathan himself. Roars echoed beneath the waves as the Apex surged toward his unnatural rival.
The clash was inevitable.
When the two titans met, it was a storm of flesh, scale, and raw power. Ghidorah's golden form radiated with pulsing arcs of energy, lightning forking from his mouths and smashing into the terrain around him.
But Godzilla did not falter. He responded with tooth and claw, tail and fury. Massive jaws clashed, and the earth beneath their conflict quaked as if protesting the very idea of their existence.
…
The humans could only watch. In the depths of the sea, far from the battlefield, another creature stilled its rampage. Mark. No longer the same beast that had once been a mutated kraken, he now rested half-curled in a glowing underwater trench, still processing the aftereffects of his latest spicy lunch.
He had fed on warheads, absorbed radiation, and pushed his physiology into realms uncharted by nature; but now, something had shifted.
Something... had returned.
He opened his twelve eyes, all of them narrowing beneath MUTO-hardened eyelids as his Omni-Sensory Grid roared with new data. The clash between two Apex signatures; Godzilla and something else.
Something unnatural.
He remembered. From the his past life, the knowledge stained him mind, this was Monster Zero; Ghidorah. That three-headed dragon was not of this earth, nor of any natural order.
It was alien, an invasive king, a false ruler, a destroyer.
And if the memory was correct, Ghidorah had only just fought Godzilla to a standstill... before flying away.
Mark's muscles tensed as the trench water vibrated with the echo of the distant battle ending. He let his tentacles drift for a moment, tasting the radiation still embedded in the water.
A frown formed deep in his mental core. He could continue feeding on the world's nukes. That would eventually grant him enough power to surpass both of them.
But no; he needed to understand. He needed to watch. Because if what he remembered was true, the humans; short-sighted and desperate, would soon unleash a weapon meant to kill Ghidorah, but in doing so would bring Godzilla to his knees.
And that moment, that moment, would be Mark's perfect opportunity.
…
Elsewhere, amidst flickering monitor screens and the cold light of subterranean command stations, Dr. Emma Russell stood in silence, staring at the aftermath of what she had just unleashed.
She did not blink. She did not flinch.
Her hand remained firm on the ORCA device that hung by her hip, the frequency display still blinking from the last broadcast.
"You really did it," whispered one of the soldiers beside her, unable to look away from the screen showing Ghidorah tearing through the clouds like an angry god, "You actually woke it up."
Emma said nothing. This had always been the plan. Ghidorah was nature's correction to imbalance, a weapon to awaken the sleeping titans and force the world to restore order.
At least, that's what she had convinced herself of. Humanity had done enough damage. Perhaps these creatures, these Titans, could force change where diplomacy had failed.
She turned to a second monitor. Another point on the map glowed red. Isla de Mara. Another titan. One that had remained dormant beneath the volcano's crust for thousands of years.
She gave the order. The team obeyed. Explosives were placed. The frequency tuned. The ORCA screamed its call, and beneath the island, the lava began to churn violently.
When the volcano erupted, it did not do so with just magma. A living inferno tore out from beneath the earth; a giant pterosaur with wings of fire and a body that glowed like molten stone.
Rodan.
His wings cracked the sky open as he emerged, shrieking with volcanic fury, his talons sharp enough to cut the wind itself. Ash and flame fell like judgment upon the land as Rodan soared into the clouds, a demon reborn in flame.
His flight path drew him to the sky, where Dr Serizawa and the team from Monarch lure it towards the beacon of power; toward Ghidorah.
Emma watched from the chopper as the battle began anew, Rodan slamming into the golden dragon with elemental fury.
Claws met teeth. Flame met lightning.
But the truth became clear all too quickly; Rodan, for all his speed and aggression, was no match for the alien tyrant.
Ghidorah batted him aside like a fly. Emma clenched her fist as Rodan spiralled downward, his body burning bright even as it fell toward the sea.
The ORCA buzzed again, waiting for the next command, the next titan to awaken.
But in her heart, she wondered whether they had truly awakened salvation…or damnation.
[AN: Sorry for publishing late. The world was going to sh*t and America just bombed Iran... I don't even know what is going to happen next... hopefully they all just calm tf down soon.]