Match 75: Gaira vs. Ebirah

Match 75: Gaira vs. Ebirah is the 75th Match of the KWC and is written by Kenneth James.

## Story

Ebirah swam through the murky depths of the sea, looking up at the raging storm above, keeping his eyes open for prey. He spotted a fishing boat adrift in the storm, in clear distress. The deep-sea beast emitted a piercing screech as he suddenly rose straight to the surface, emerging next to the ship, looking down at the terrified humans before raising his massive claw to with intent to smash the ship to splinters... and then realized he wasn't the only one with a meal on his mind.

Gaira, the Green Gargantua, stared at this creature from the other side of the ship, having been about to latch onto the vessel himself. The two sea monsters looked at one another in surprise, nether having expected to have a rival for such a rare treat, after all, humans weren't a common food far out at sea in conditions that allow them to strike safely. Gaira, being more aggressive, was first to emit an angry roar of challenge, demanding Ebirah back off. Not one to back down without a fight, Ebirah emitted his shrill screech in return, ordering the ape-like creature to back down. Finally, nether could take this threat to their meal and the fight began. Ebirah lashed out with his pincers, clamping it down on Gaira's shoulders while the massive humanoid's strong arms found Ebirah's secondary legs. The two behemoths pushed their weight against one another, the fishing boat wisely taking this time to escape from the twin terrors in the midst of their struggle.

Gaira finally broke the off stalemate, and one of Ebirah's secondary legs, forcing the shrimp mutation into retreat, screeching in pain. Ebirah's emotion changed quickly to fury as Gaira took the leg and tore a chunk off it with his teeth, swallowing it. Gaira liked the taste and wanted more, lunging at Ebirah, however, the shellfish sea monster suddenly dove, evading the blow. Before Gaira could gain his baring in the storm, Ebirah erupted from the surf behind him, latching his pincers onto Gaira's neck and shoulder, shrieking in fury. Gaira roared in pain, struggling to dislodge the giant shrimp from his body, but Ebirah's strong claws held tightly into his flesh, soon beginning to draw blood. Finally, the ape-like giant managed to grab hold of Ebirah over his shoulders, pulling forwards with all his might. Ebirah screeched in surprise as he was torn off of Gaira and lifted high into the air before the Gargantua slammed him into the water's surface with enough force to send a geyser of water several meters into the air. Before Ebirah could regain his bearings, Gaira grabbed onto his back and sinking his teeth into the shrimp's back. However, all that got Gaira were a few cracked teeth on Ebirah's hard exoskeleton, causing him to roar in pain and recoil.

Ebirah quickly took the opportunity to launch up and stab his claw into Gaira's chest, drawing a trickle of blood. He attempted the maneuver with his second claw, only for Gaira to manage to catch it in time. The Gargantua quickly overpowered the crustacean and shoved him, sending him back through the waves. Before Ebirah could react, Gaira charged through the surf, grabbing him and tossing him into the air. Ebirah slammed hard into the ocean's surface, screeching in pain. Knowing the water's surface wasn't his strong suit, Ebirah quickly dove down as Gaira charged him, wrapping his claw around Gaira's leg and pulling down, dragging Gaira underwater.

Ebirah dragged Gaira deep into the ocean, slamming him into the side of a deep sea canyon. He released him and circled, expecting Gaira to panic like most prey would without air. However, to his surprise, Gaira seemed calm and swam at him with surprising speed, grabbing hold of Ebirah's arms and driving him back-first into the canyon wall, getting a shriek of surprise in response. While Gaira didn't look much like it besides his green color, he was in fact a water kaiju, born and adept to the depths of the sea. Ebirah had been mistaken in thinking that this would give him an advantage. Ebirah struggled in Gaira's grasp, trying to break free, but before he could, Gaira lunged forwards and bit down on Ebirah's shoulder, drawing yellow blood from the sea monster. Ebirah screeched in pain and swung his lower body forwards, slamming his tail fin into Gaira's stomach, driving the monster back. Ebirah took the offensive, stabbing his pincers into Gaira's sides and swimming forwards, ignoring hammer-like blows Gaira sent into his hard exoskeleton before slamming the Green Gargantua hard into the opposing wall.

Ebirah swam back, charging forwards for another strike. However, Gaira grasped a boulder and swung it forwards, smashing it across Ebirah's head, dazing the big shrimp long enough to grab him by the claw and swing him hard into the canyon wall. Ebirah screeched in pain but refused to quit, lashing out with his other pincer, clamping down on Gaira's wrist. As Gaira released his grip in pain, Ebirah latched his claw onto Gaira's forearm, managing to hold it back. Ebirah squeezed with all his might, cutting deep into Gaira's wrist. Seizing the opportunity, Ebirah released Gaira's other arm and clamped down on the forearm behind his other claw, pulling with all his might. Finally, Gaira screamed in agony as Ebirah tore off his left hand, letting it fall into the abyss, blood trailing behind it. Ebirah, not wanting to lose the upper hand, lashed out and clamped his claw around Gaira's throat, planning to behead him. However, while badly hurt, Gaira lashed out with his remaining hand, clamping it down on Ebirah's eye and squeezing, causing Ebirah to release his throat as he screeched in agony. Finally, Gaira's assault caused Ebirah's eye to burst, sending blood and gore floating towards the surface.

Realizing he was in trouble, Gaira grasped one of Ebirah's claws and sunk his teeth into the arm behind it, pulling with all his might. With a final show of strength, Ebirah's claw was torn off the limb and thrown away, sinking to join Gaira's hand in the depths. But Gaira had made a critical error, where he was human-based at his core, descended from a human mutation and had a human concept of pain, Ebirah didn't. Ebirah had lost his arms before. It hurt, but not to the same extent. And this allowed Ebirah to counter attack with his other pincer, driving it's point straight through Gaira's head as he came back up from biting into his arm. The claw erupted out of the back of Gaira's cranium, sending a spout of blood and brain into the water. Gaira's body went into convulsions as it suddenly lost it's control center, then finally went limp, blood pouring from multiple wounds.

Ebirah screeched in victory, dragging the corpse to a more stable area to consume his hard-earned meal, unknowing, or perhaps uncaring, that Gaira's hand had began to regenerate at the bottom of the abyss. Even if he knew, it didn't matter. After all, Ebirah may not of been the biggest fish in the sea, but he was still wasn't to be taken lightly.