Match 145: Megalon vs. Zandolla

Match 145: Megalon vs. Zandolla is the 145th Match of the KWC and is written by Joshua Reynolds.

## Story

His feet propped up on a technological display, the gold-clad Garoga boss held his head tilted. His facial expressions never changed, but today it seemed as if that eerie, tooth-lined mouth had grown even wider. This was, after all, a swell day for the empire that claimed dominance over an entire galaxy. Ultraman, Zone Fighter, Gamera… even Godzilla. They had failed to stop his conquest of the Earth. Reports were coming in from all over as mankind unleashed their most powerful creations against the Garogas’ Terro-Beast forces.

But they’d fail.

Of course they’d fail. The Garogas were unstoppable! With such mighty behemoths bred for the sole purpose of galactic conflict, what on Earth could possibly stop them?

A silver-hued soldier walked into the command room, bowing down as Gold Garogas spun his seat to face him. “Yes?” He declared, annoyed at being disturbed during his thoughts of absolute victory.

“Sir.” The silver one lifted his body up, “The thirty-third unit has uncovered… a secret city.”

The commander’s head tilted. If his bulbous, black eyes were capable of narrowing, they would have now. “Oh?”

The soldier nodded, “It’s hidden underneath the Pacific Ocean, under the seafloor near the island the Earthlings call Easter.”

“Is it habited?”

“We-We don’t know, sir.” The silver extraterrestrial paused, “We dispatched a drone. But it has gone missing.”

The Gold Garogas turned away from the silver one, reclined back, and propped his legs back on the terminal. “It’s underground. Dispatch Zandolla.”

Emperor Antonio stood on the balcony of his kingdom, viewing the sprawling metropolis that had remained hidden from the rest of the world. His kind, offshoots of humanity, wished no war. They attacked just once, but were repelled. It was a great regret and humility, but mankind had stopped all of their underwater, nuclear testing ever since. His hands behind his back and head lowered, he somehow felt responsible for the mass chaos that he knew would soon reach his doorstep. Seatopia wasn’t like any other civilization on Earth, but it would be targeted none the less. He knew it.

Defenses were heightened. Preparations for mass evacuations made. He even hoped to renew the alliance with Space Hunter M, but the galactic insects had yet to acknowledge.

A female voice came from behind the white bearded mortal. “Scanners detect something heading this way.”

He turned his crowned head, “Another drone? Intercept it. Destroy it.”

The woman shook her head as she trembled, “No, sire. This is something far larger.”

Antonio’s eyes narrowed as a bead of sweat trickled down his temple. He sighed, “Then they’ve finally come.”

“Will our defenses hold?”

Antonio looked up, eyes peering into the artificial sun that loomed over the hidden civilization composed of spiraling crystal structures and pyramids. “No.” He stated coldly, “But Megalon will.”

The rocky ceiling miles above the artificial sun began to fracture. Boulders of tremendous size fell, smashing into the crystal skyscrapers. Thousands of Seatopians fled for their lives as the ceiling gave way, sending an entire downpour of rock into the streets. A flood of Earth swallowed up the section of the city, breaking structures taller than any of those found on the surface. A dust cloud filled the entire metropolis, causing Antonio to turn around, walking alongside the woman and back into the kingdom.

“Get to the evacuation routes.” He declared, ordering her away.

“What about you!?”

“If Seatopia dies, so shall I.”

A thunderous bellow came from the unending downpour of Earth’s crust. A massive shape fell. It was humanoid with two legs and two arms and a dragging tail. Its body a rusty brown and silver, almost metallic-like in appearance. Its hands lacked fingers entirely, but appeared to be more like some sort of spade or shovel. Located within the tips, several small holes. Its head was the most bizarre aspect, or the complete lack thereof. In place of anything remotely resembling a skull, it was tipped with a tremendous, rotating drill. Underneath it, dozens of circular tubes spewed clouds of white, burning steam.

Zandolla pointed its hands at the sprawling structures around it. From the small holes, blasts of hissing steam spat. The steam superheated the crystals, causing some to melt and others to outright explode…

A bolt of lightning struck from out of nowhere.

The ground in front of the Terro-Beast shot up in a mixture of rock and sparks. The thing stumbled back, smashing its limbs into the side of a half-buried pyramid. A booming roar echoed in the metropolis as another bolt of golden power shot down, this time hitting it. Zandolla shouted in a mixture of pain and rage as its chest blossomed into an explosion of lights and smoke. The tubes surrounding its head began to spew even larger amounts of steam, obscuring it from view as a third bolt fired.

Then he landed.

The guardian of Seatopia. A tremendous thud sounded as Megalon’s call was heard for the first time in several decades. He had awoken once more to protect his subterranean home. The insect’s hands dropped to his sides, metallic drills spinning. His star-shaped horn surged with raw electrical bliss. His beetle-like wings clamped shut, forming a protective shell of beautiful black and yellow patterns. His bulbous, yellow eyes reflected the grotesque image of the bizarre Terro-Beast.

Zandolla bellowed in fury. It stepped forward, lifting both colossal arms and spewing a spray of scalding hate. The cloud of steam struck Megalon like a fire hose of tremendous size. The bipedal insect stumbled back, its body raked by the blast. He leapt to the side, dodging another stream as Zandolla turned, waving its steam blasts back and forth. Megalon’s mandibles parted, spitting an orb of crimson. The ball struck the ground and rolled several meters before detonating at the feet of the empire’s kaiju. A booming blast of fire and smoke rose up higher than the Terro-Beast stood tall and covered its entire front half in sizzling napalm.

The drill-headed thing fell back, rolling onto its chest and belly to extinguish the blaze. Jumping once more, Megalon then buzzed into the air as his wings sprang open. His hands joined over his head and the combined drill began to spin. He took the form of a torpedo and began to dive, drill pointed at the fallen monster. Zandolla rolled away, smashing its bulk into the bases of several structures. Megalon smacked the pulverized ground, missing Zandolla entirely. As he stood tall, Zandolla’s arms lashed out, slapping each side of his skull. The insectoid stumbled ahead, limbs flailing as the drill-headed abomination pressed its assault. Lifting his spade arms, Megalon protected the sides of his skull as Zandolla followed his blind charge, smashing through entire streets of the Seatopian city.

The Terro-Beast failed to notice that Megalon’s mandibles dropped bombs.

A domino effect of explosions filled the carnage, leading directly up to Zandolla! The thing moaned aloud, its back catching aflame from the fountain of napalm. Megalon spun around, his arms slamming together. The drill began to spin. He lunged forward, driving the tip into Zandolla’s chest cavity. His shell exploded into buzzing wings, carrying Zandolla upward as the drill began to spin. Scalding steam erupted from Zandolla’s body as it was carried up, mere meters away from the rocky ceiling. Megalon buzzed away, allowing gravity to take effect.

Zandolla began to fall nearly a thousand meters, leaving a steaming trail behind. His wings folding back into place, Megalon pointed his arms above his head and shot down like a missile, his entire body spinning like the drill he was armed with. Zandolla’s arms pointed at the shooting star of a kaiju, tubes spewing concentrated blasts of steam.

But it was too late.

Megalon shot through the cloud, his spinning body impacting Zandolla’s mid-section. The Terro-Beast’s body began to spin with the drill as Megalon’s tunneled into its guts. Thousands watched in awe until nothing but an apocalyptic crash sounded. The entire city shuddered, smaller structures collapsing around the impact zone. A colossal, mushroom-shaped cloud of dust rose as high as the ceiling would allow before blanketing the rest of the underground paradise…

What was mere seconds felt like hours until something began to move. That something gave the Seatopians a sigh of relief, for it was Megalon. The beetle god bellowed, horn surging with electrical power. Had he won?

Then another figure appeared. Zandolla was wounded. A hole in its guts spilled a sort of green, vile fluid. Several of the tubes surrounding its drill were either crushed or broken. And, finally, its left arm was severed entirely, each pump of its dark heart causing a spray of green mist to fountain from its shoulder.

“Zandolla, return!” The Garogas’ commander’s voice beckoned it.

The Terro-Beast turned its back to Megalon. It began to rush, fleeing to the nearest wall. Its head lowered and drill began to spin.

Watching the battle unfold from his palace, Emperor Antonio’s eyes glared. “Don’t let it escape, Megalon. Show these invaders how powerful we Seatopians are!”

The insect’s arms shot to his sides as he roared. His wings unfolded and buzzed to life, sending the beetle shooting ahead. Zandolla reached the wall, burrowing into it at a speed faster than sound. In an instant, it was gone. But Megalon followed, drilling into the same cave it had created. Both Terro-Beast and kaiju tunneled through the Earth’s crust, unknowing of what waited for them topside…

Zandolla exploded from the grassy ground. If it had eyes, it could see the blue, heavenly sky and endless ocean surrounding the small island. It could see the mysterious idols of human faces carved out of stone. It would see that it had appeared on one of the Seatopian’s most holy sites outside of the hidden city – Easter Island.

Suddenly, Megalon erupted from the same hole. Zandolla turned around, but got nothing but a hard smash by the beetle god’s drill. It fell back, its remaining arm spitting steam. Megalon’s left spade protected his face as his horn fired back, zapping the thing with electrical bolts. The drill began to hiss and glow, scorching the flesh at its base. Rolling away from the barrage of electricity, the Terro-Beast climbed to its feet. Megalon closed the gap, swinging his other arm like a bat. A tremendous bang rang out as drill met drill. Point blank, more steam swallowed up Seatopia’s protector. A painful cry came from the insect as he stepped away, firing blindly into the white steam.

Zandolla charged through the barrage, its body lowered and drill positioned to take out Megalon. The Seatopian god leapt to the side, avoiding the charge while a crimson orb catapulted from his jaws. Zandolla turned, but was quickly floored by an exploding napalm bomb detonating at its feet. Its lower torso aflame, Zandolla patted the blaze with its remaining arm. Jumping again, Megalon landed on top of the Terro-Beast. Pinning it down with his weight, the beetle god’s mouth parted and released another bomb, dropping it inside the hole in Zandolla’s stomach. With his left drill, he stuffed it into the hole, plugging it.

A cloud of steam erupted as Zandolla tried its best to remove him. However, the bomb then detonated. A thunderous boom came from within its body as its torso blew in half. Megalon slumped forward, catching himself with both drills as each half of Zandolla catapulted in opposite directions, raining green ooze over the island and the ancient statues on it.

Within the dancing fire, Megalon stood, soaked in the boiling blood of Zandolla. He stood victorious, bulbous eyes watching over the horizon as the sun began to set…

But something was off. Normally, there would be seagulls or something. Something else would be on the island, but there was nothing. As if they had already been scared off…

A series of explosions tore across the ground!

Megalon stumbled back before falling to his knees. More rockets fell like rain, pulverizing the soil around him. Not even the ancient statues were spared. They too were obliterated in the hellfire. His head looked up, tilting as a sort of mechanical demon dropped with a trio of parachutes carrying it. It was the source of the assault. Lightning-like bolts fell in numbers, blasting Megalon down with the force of an army.

When Jikiro touched the ground, it gave way from its titanic weight. The mechanical dragon loomed over the fallen beetle god…

A single beam of crimson light struck its back, splitting apart into dozens of smaller explosions covering its frame. Megalon’s head moved to the side as an all too familiar cry rang. A blue blur flew over Jikiro and landed with a thud, spinning on its heels and pointing blades at the thing…

“Sorry, old friends. We’ve been… a bit busy.” A voice somewhere in space declared from cold lips, “But we do owe these Garogas a bit of a payback…”