At the dawn of the 20th century, fewer and fewer people believed in monsters from myths and legends as science and technology advanced what we knew of the world.
We know better now.
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October 27, 1954
Tokyo was an inferno.
A city of six million people, and there was nothing he could do to stop the flame that had engulfed the city.
Tanks lay knocked over and smashed to pieces. Some melted into slag alongside howitzers at the outskirts where a massive electric fence had been torn apart and set aflame. In the distance, it was still burning.
There were massive, four toed footprints leading from the outskirts into the city. Buildings were knocked over or gouged open in front of the path.
Screams could be heard along with the honking of vehicles, usually followed by a squeal and a crash as they slid off the roads in their haste to escape.
The charred skeletons of soldiers armed with bombs and guns, of fleeing men, women and children unlucky enough to be in the beast's way or who couldn't escape the fires caused by the chaos, lay charred on the outskirts and streets of the inner city. Some skeletons lay frozen in place, some mid-run and others cowering on the ground.
Most of those touched by the flame simply fell to pieces of charred bones on the spot.
There was nothing he could do.
So, he simply kept talking into his recorder.
Beneath the flames, thousands lie dead or dying.
Looking away from the devastation from the vantage point in his room, he turned towards where the fires were highest. Surrounded by dust, smoke, and flame, the middle of the city was heavily obscured as the sound of falling rubble could be heard within.
Flashes of glowing, blue light could also be seen within the ashes.
Then, he saw it again.
A long, black tail with thick scales and white, bladed plates atop it swung through the cloud of ash and fire, sending glass and metal into the air.
A large, black claw gripped the side of a circular building resembling a colosseum, talons gleaming.
Two blazing orange eyes turned to glare ahead, and for a moment he almost felt them boring into him.
A dark grey maw opened, exposing massive fangs.
A roar like that of thunder bursts forwards.
It is a sound that will define the century.
Now it seemed as if Tokyo-
November 3rd, 1954
Had no defense.
Lost in his memories, Steve Martin was pulled from his haze, his bandaged head pounding as he stood aboard a boat.
Shaking it, he looked forwards as he remembered where he was.
The building collapsing. A prayer for peace. Serizawa. Oxygen Destroyer. Ogata had been pulled aboard in his diving suit, and down below Martin could see bubbles spreading around the surface. Still disoriented from his head trauma, Martin stared ahead.
From the speakers, he heard Serizawa shout. "Ogata! It is working!" Then, the last thing he would ever say.
"Live happily with Emiko!"
Down below, Serizawa brought a knife to his line. Before anyone could react, he cut it.
Under the clear waves, a mountain of dust engulfed Serizawa's shape.
Hell came up.
With a pained roar, the King of the Monsters tore through the surface of the water.
Godzilla.
His dark, scaly skin seemed to glisten under the wet water on his form. The bony white armored plates on his back looked as hard as the thick muscles on his charcoal colored torso and limbs. Red patches of radiation on his arms and chest glowed brightly with the thermonuclear light flashing on his dorsal plates, as though every cell in his body was fighting against Serizawa's invention.
Shaking his head as he kept on roaring in pain, Godzilla towered over the boats even as the Destroyer began to pick away at him. Emiko and Ogata and the others yelled in fight.
Not Martin. Still dizzy, he glared up at the massive black shape. Godzilla bared his teeth, leaning over the boat.
In that moment, both the reporter and the reptile met each other's gaze.
Then, with another roar, Godzilla sunk below the churning waters.
Before Martin's very eyes, amidst screams of horror and awe, Godzilla flesh began to steam as Serizawa's invention did it's work. In agony as bone began to show on his torso and arms, Godzilla thrashed around as he screamed underwater, blasts of heated water boiling from his mouth and hitting the seafloor around him.
Clouds of sand began to spread around, obscuring his form.
The seafloor shook, collapsing in Godzilla's panicked struggles. Then, with one final stomp of rage, the ground split open as Godzilla fell into the chasm he had created in his last act of violence, roaring one last time.
One bony hand reached out, charcoal flesh dissolving off of it before it disappeared into the dust swirling in the trench.
[-]
Under the waves, his oxygen supply cut, a man in a diving suit stood, his gaze emotionless. The ground below him collapsed, and he looked ahead as he slowly sunk.
Right below him, he could see a glowing orange eye looking right at him in the dust. It narrowed as he gazed into it, knowing on some level that the man was the cause of his pain.
As the fanged maw leaned forwards in one last act of defiance, he thought of his life up to this point and what he was leaving behind.
Closing his eye, Daisuke Serizawa accepted his fate.
Godzilla's jaws snapped shut around the creator of the Oxygen Destroyer.
Together, man and monster sunk into the depths.
[-]
There was crying all around, but, however hollow, a sense of triumph. Emiko and Ogata stood together, sobbing in sorrow.
Yamane also stood nearby, a grim expression on his face. "There will be another.", he whispered.
Martin also watched, contemplating to himself.
Whatever happened, one thing was certain.
The menace was gone, and so was a great man.
Perhaps, the world could finally wake up and live again.
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After that day in Tokyo Bay, we thought it was over. That Godzilla was a fluke, a product of the Atomic Era. That nothing else like it could exist again.
It would not be true.
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April 23rd, 1956
The newly formed trench practically glowed with radiation, even at night. It would be years until there could be any excavation of bones that, to the scientific community, may not exist.
Those who hoped the pit would remain forever silent would be proven wrong.
A groaning, creaking noise could be faintly heard within the trench.
There was flash of light, and then a sagged, grey claw grabbed onto a cliffside in the trench, cracks forming on the stone as it held on.
Bone was visible on the areas not covered by the thin, slowly generating skin. Red veins on the joints signaled the slow regrowth of muscle.
A single orange eye glowed from within the trench as the creature within began to pull itself out.
Orbs of water floated towards the surface as Godzilla exhaled with an intact throat for the first time in two years.
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Less than a year after Godzilla's first incursion, we learned that he was just the beginning.
Red wings unfurled over the Philippine's as Rodan emerged from a dormant volcano near Albay.
From recently opened mines in Brazil, man eating insects resembling wingless dragonflies poured out, dozens strong into the nearby city of Rio, devouring everything in sight.
In China, Mao Zedong was among the many casualties eaten alive by the flying monster Varan after it emerged from under a lake. The chairman's death fractured China into city states, an arrangement whose consequences carry on to this day.
In Texas, nuclear tests carried out in a desert at another state years ago spawned a giant scorpion and venomous lizard who fought their way through the wilderness.
By the nineteen sixties, more and more began of these beasts began to show up every year.
Mothra made her debut defending her distant island from trespassers, her bioelectric pollen and energy leaving ships dead in the water while knocking missiles out of the air.
Gorosaurus and Baragon proved that simply staying away from the ocean wasn't enough, emerging in the middle of a populated city and rural village respectively.
The emergence of the mineral-based kaiju Taligon from a meteor in Nevada revealed that there was much more to life as we knew it.
Many names have been given to these creatures.
Some call then Titans. Others label them as Giants.
But to most, they are officially known as Kaiju
And after the initial surge of Kaiju attacks, as world politics and landscapes were redrawn, some wondered if it could get any worse.
They were proven right.
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October 30, 1961
Severny Island, Novaya Zemyla
From a distance, one could mistake the white dorsal spines for a coral reef.
He was basically skin and bones. Godzilla only had that moment of sheer determination that let him pull his ravaged body from the sea floor where the weapon had harmed him.
Now it was base instinct and coincidence that let his dormant, weakened body drift with the currents. Coincidence that took him across these waters.
Coincidence that his body had not been found.
And it was coincidence that he was now drifting at the Sukhoy Nos Cape.
Suddenly, there was light and then heat.
It was coincidence that this place just so happened to be the testing site for the Tsar Bomba.
A fifty-megaton nuclear explosion, one unsurpassed since then.
Thermonuclear flame and air blasted outwards. Godzilla's skeletal frame sunk beneath the now churning waters as the energy released by the bomb boiled and burned everything above and below the sea water.
Then, around the chaotic waters and winds born from the explosion, there was light.
Blue thermonuclear power flashed from below as Godzilla rose from the water with a tremendous roar, red and purple flame blazing across his body as flesh rapidly regenerated. His dorsal plates creaked as they began to take on a jagged form, growing alongside his body.
Veins glowing blue as his spines flashed, Godzilla tilted his head back, his crocodilian maw opening wide as white fire burst out.
The fire quickly turned a bright blue as wild flames became a solid beam that rapidly split the clouds above it.
As long as breath came from his mouth, he would keep on moving.
[-]
He returned.
And from then, the world was never the same.
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April 24th, 1963
In Osaka, a hauntingly familiar scene repeated itself.
People ran through the streets, men in military uniforms leading people into large jeeps during a mass evacuation. Ash and flames reflected off a mix of modern and wooden architecture. Tanks lay upturned or crushed, a plane or two grounded and missing a wing, smoke sputtering from the engines.
The beast responsible was a massive, chitinous kaiju with a segmented black body. Hooked brown legs wriggled down its length, mandibles clicking as it emotionlessly swept its red, glowing gaze around from the pagoda it had wrapped itself around. Five red eyes were on each side of its face.
Vishnu
First spotted in Mongolia, what leads the giant centipede here is only known to itself.
Turning its head around, it swept its view towards a fleeing crowd who had yet to reach the main evacuation lines, close to the pagoda on the outskirts of the city.
More than a few of them had old burns under their clothing. Scars of a previous event they had survived.
Crawling down from the pagoda, Vishnu idly rose above them, jaws opening as if it was about to take them mid-bite.
Jaws widening further, Vishnu's mouth shot downwards.
Just as the centipede lunged forwards, a blackened, warped boulder flew through the air in the direction of its face.
Impacting with its left eyes, the boulder burst open and fell to the ground in pieces.
Vishnu's head fell to the side mere feet from the nearest humans due to the force of the blow. The creature shook its head from side to side before rapidly leaning back up, a small rain of yellow blood falling off the left side of its head as it twisted it's head upwards, crowd forgotten.
The situation rapidly deteriorated when the second monster revealed himself.
A massive scaly foot slammed down onto the nearby earth, trees in a nearby park shaking and cracking around it as Godzilla strode forwards, gravel falling from the claw that he had used to throw the boulder.
Orange eyes blazed as a growl built in the back of his throat.
The crowd had stopped running, hiding behind trees now.
Those watching from nearby hills miles away after having evacuated turned and paused.
People still in the city on rooftops stopped in their tracks.
They all had one thing in common:
Utter silence when they realized just who they were looking at.
Vishnu's antenna twitched before it reared up, legs rattling as it stared the other kaiju down.
Stomping his foot down and sending dust and dirt into the air, Godzilla leaned his body forwards and answered the challenge with a wind-splitting roar.
The fight was on.
Godzilla charged forward, claws outstretched as the giant insect did the same.
They collided with a shockwave of power that brought dust and leaves into the air.
Grabbing onto its carapace, Godzilla began to push Vishnu back, digging into the hide with his sharp claws.
The centipede's legs stabbed at Godzilla's hide, sparks flying off each time they hit.
Godzilla kept moving forwards.
From where it was being held, Vishnu lunged forwards, mandibles outstretched as it aimed for Godzilla's head.
A crunch rang across the area.
Vishnu pulled back rapidly from the grapple, yellow blood pouring down the right side of its face where a large mandible used to be.
Spitting the now crunched and broken appendage out, Godzilla promptly grabbed Vishnu by the legs before slamming a fist under its maw. The uppercut sent a splash of yellow blood out of its mouth as it fell back onto the pagoda it had been lounging on.
As Vishnu writhed on top of the cracking, groaning building, it moved its head back to look forwards.
Just in time for Godzilla's scaly mass to slam into the armored chest under its head.
Unable to recover in time, the insect flailed as it fell through the pagoda, collapsing it in a shower of dust and wood.
Vishnu stumbled back then collapsed to the left, slamming it's bleeding head through a nearby office before the shelled body rolled back twice into position.
It quickly straightened itself, backing away as it began to rise, rattling its legs and curling its lower half like a corned rattlesnake. Godzilla stepped forwards through the fallen Pagoda, glaring ahead and exposing his fangs as his dorsal spines lit up, flashing brightly.
Those still in the city stood rigid in place, either in streets, vehicles, or from within alleyways and behind windows as they watched the spectacle. Those who had witnessed the events of 1954 quickly covered their eyes, knowing what was about to happen.
Godzilla's throat flashed as a lance of thermonuclear fire shot from his mouth, hitting Vishnu dead center.
The centipede jerked in the opposite direction, the beam forcing it away before bursting out through the centipedes back in an explosion of chitin and fire.
Godzilla closed his jaws, blue fire blowing out from between his teeth.
Vishnu wobbled from side to side, yellow blood dripping out of the hole in its torso.
The red eyes in Vishnu's head dimmed as its upper half violently creaked and split open, yellow blood bursting out of it.
Hanging from a cord, the centipede's head fell to the street below with a snap, the rest of the blackened corpse following suit.
Godzilla opened his maw and fired off another blast of nuclear energy, setting the corpse on fire.
Marching forwards, Godzilla crushed the burning head of the insect underfoot before sweeping his gaze to the rest of the city.
Fires could be seen nearby, across buildings and on the ground. In the distance, a low rumble and drone heralded the new approach of tanks and planes.
Eyes narrowed, Godzilla almost seemed to grin before tilting his head and unleashing a wind shaking howl.
The Age of Monsters had truly begun.
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When Godzilla returned, political landscapes and military strategy were reshaped once more. His presence almost seemed to herald not only an increase in new monsters, but in kaiju on kaiju combat.
That is not getting into the other outcomes of this past century, with the discovery of the sunken continent of Mu and its ancient technologies, India's rise as a major key clean energy provider, or the discovery of distant islandic and underground ecosystems containing thought to be extinct Mesozoic wildlife amongst other events.
One of the most major events in recent memory, however, is the reveal that humanity has not been alone in terms of being the main civilization in the world, nor have we been the only ones to experiences kaiju attacks.
On July 7th, 2007, world governments would reveal the existence of Liminals to the public.
The additional reveal of the existence of magic was another surprise, but that issue is a whole other can of tuna that does not need to be opened now.
Sometimes called Youkai, Extraspecies, or Demihumans, these humanoid entities have been in hiding from the human race for centuries in the past, before recent developments such as improved technology reduced the effectiveness of their "Masquerade", alongside other factors such as sympathy for humanities own losses against increasing kaiju attacks.
Lauded as the greatest civil rights event of the century, integration has begun to prove surprisingly easier than expected considering past racial issues. However, words from people like famed journalist Franklin West say it best:
"When you've seen all the monsters we've had to deal with since the first bombs were dropped, a few tails or ears on other people doesn't even feel worth the concern."
This leads to another issue: Recent events and historical documentation shown at the start of the cultural exchanges has revealed that one of the main reasons that the "Masquerade" had to be broken. A mutual issue face by most sentient races: None other then the kaiju once more.
Incidents in the past involving Extraspecies and kaiju that show the threat of Age of Monsters is not limited to humans alone.
The first inciting incident would be in March 19th, 1977, when three kaiju attacks happened on the same day worldwide.
This incursion occurred in Kyoto, where Zilla, last seen in 1975 during the Ghana Incident, came ashore in Japan, almost simultaneously coinciding with the sudden appearance of the new specimen known as Tamamo from underneath a nearby shrine.
The ensuing territorial battle was fierce and drove many local hidden Youkai out of their homes due to the ensuing property destruction. The fleeing Youaki were witnessed by multiple civilians and military personnel in the night, and by the end of the year most Youkai and other Extraspecies began contacting human governments to work on the breaking of the "Masquerade" and to find asylum for their species as encroaching kaiju became more and more of the threat to the secret factions of the world.
Prominent examples from then on have been revealed since then.
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Aquatic kaiju like Gaira and Barugaron preying upon nomadic Merfolk races in the early 2000's.
An Atlantic Mer city being devastated by a battle between Titanosaurus and the Atlantic Scourge in the early 90's.
A hidden Sylph and Lamia village being attacked by a three strong pack of young Skull Crawlers, previously believed to be native to Mondo Island.
An underground Dryad settlement burned by a pyroclastic flow, one unleashed by the burrowing activities of the giant salamander known as Urogora a year ago.
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Notably, tunnels dug by ancient Youkai in the Nara and Osaka regions provided a source of shelter to many refugees during the disastrous events of 1995.
It would not be inaccurate to say that normal humans, extraspecies, and kaiju have all equally affected their shared history.
In summarization, since then, the Age of Monsters has shown no sign of stopping, and events from decades ago still reverberate from then on. The Biollante Forest has yet to halt its spread in the Middle East since its birth in 1989. More about Mu is being discovered every year. And that's not even getting into the recent leak's from the Monarch organization. No matter what happens, we are not alone in this struggle.
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TO:
ksmith
SUB: Essay
Dear Aunt Smith,
I've recently finished an essay on recent events for my history class, I was wondering if you could maybe please look it over for me for any errors since you know a lot about this stuff?
Thx.
Sincerely,
N. Smith.
A woman with long dark hair groaned as she blinked at the message that had just arrived in her Inbox.
Sitting in an office, bundled in a blanket, she sighed and promptly looked away from the computer at her desk and got off her chair. She fell down onto a nearby mattress, dropping her glasses onto a stand nearby.
"It's Midnight in Saitama at this time of year…I have things to sign…. I'll look at it another day…urgh." Kuroko Smith groaned as she finally fell asleep.
[-]
Old Tokyo Quarantine Zone
December 6th, 2013
Under the moonlight, mist surrounded the fallen, charred remains of what was once Tokyo. Long abandoned after 1995, cooling magma rivers could be seen from this distance. Much of the west side of Japan looked like this, albeit not as severe. Some parts like Osaka were already being restored to habitable conditions.
Tokyo was still the same. The fallen metropolis, buildings fallen to pieces or overgrown with glowing radioactive plants, was left as a memorial and monument to a tragedy.
The other reason was for the wildlife.
Near a tipped skyscraper under the moonlight, a glowing scorpion scuttled through long empty streets. It moved passed a fallen motorcycle, one half the size of it.
A flash of golden eyes from a nearby window was the only warning it got before a furry dark shape pounced on it. Sharp teeth rapidly tore it to pieces.
The massive rodent had black fur and a gaping, jutting jaw attached to a skull like a boar, one full of fangs. Its body was heavily built and muscly, nearly the size of a sports car. Multiple bony growths could be seen along its body, mainly around its neck and face.
This was a Deutalios, a rat mutated by the radioactive fallout generated by the events of that terrible year. A common K-Spawn in these parts.
But not the top predator.
It passed a nearby rock formation covered in bumps. As it paused to slurp down the remains of its meal, it missed the slight movement from underneath the rock.
It was about to lift a leg to relieve itself when two mandibles shot from under the rock.
The first stabbed through its head into its brain. The second squeezed onto its neck like a vice.
With a crunch, the mutant rats head came off. Crab-like limbs quickly pulled the remains into its shell.
For less then a minute, the sound of ripping and tearing was heard from underneath.
With a sound like snapping wood, the creatures straightened up, rising to around fifteen meters in height.
Previously curled, a segmented dark tail like that of a lobster straightened out. Dozens of limbs like an insects or a crustaceans wriggled around under what was now a green-black shell that merely looked like a large boulder. At the top, under its many limbs, two pairs of bloody mandibles opened and closed as if tasting the air.
It was still not full.
This was a Shockirus. A radioactive parasite, a giant sea louse that lived on larger kaiju, usually the radioactive ones. Normally the size of small children or large dogs, this individual was either an aberrant or managed to live and grow beyond its lifespan.
The creature turned its head, alien senses triggering as it searched for more food.
Most edible things had either gone underground in spaces beyond its reach; others had left this near life-less zone long ago. Tilting its head up, the mutant slowly turned its head to the North. Far away, it felt and sensed a great heat.
Heat usually meant life.
Life meant food.
Leaning down on all its legs, it began scuttling forwards with ease over debris and bones in the direction of the Saitama Prefecture.