King Ghidorah’s Prophecy
He
had the most charming of voice she had ever heard. It was no wonder
he was such a hit on TV. Kaiser Goldstein, world renowned psychic,
had the power to reunite the living with the dead. He had the power
to speak to the dead and to let those who lost their loved ones that death
is but another life in another plane. Kaiser was not biased to
religion or doctrine. He tried to keep religion out of his studies,
saying that the dead is in neither Heaven nor Hell. Though, even
with this belief system, he was bound to have religious people after him.
But she was not one of them. Victoria Swanson approached KG
with a slight smile on her face. She wanted to know about her late
aunt, whether or she was all right in the afterlife. If Kaiser could
not tell her, then no one will. His powers were odd. He did
not channel the dead through his body, like some of the so-called psychics
did. He just pointed things out about them, things that the friend
of family member would know. Kaiser had soft golden blond hair and
his eyes were ruby brown, a unique color for a man from Eastern
Europe. And his voice, it was tinged with a German accent. She
pulled her red hair back and sighed.
"Excuse me, Mr. Goldstein," she began.
"Oh, hallo!" he said. "May I help you?"
"I know you don't give up front readings, but I need to know about my
aunt," Victoria said.
"Yes," Kaiser began. "What about your aunt?"
"She died only a few weeks ago," Victoria sighed. "She went
peacefully."
"If she only died a few weeks ago, I'm afraid that I won't be able to
sense her yet," Kaiser began. "You see, death is like being born
again. It's disorienting at first and she needs time to remember
where she is. Then, when she feels like it, she'll be ready to make
contact. I can't force her to come forward. She will contact
me. I'd give it a few months before she is ready."
Victoria felt a sob reach up and grab her throat. A tear trickled
down her cheek.
"Now, don't cry," Kaiser said comfortingly. "Just because I
can't sense her now, doesn't mean I won't later."
"Thank you, Mr. Goldstein," she sniffed. "I'm sorry to
bother you."
She turned away from him and began to walk slowly away.
"Wait, Miss," Kaiser called. "What is your name?"
"Victoria Swanson," she said, sighing gravely. "But
everyone calls me Vickie."
"Vickie," Kaiser smiled. "You will be alright. I
assure you. I am most sorry for you loss. Good bye."
He turned around and went back to rejoin his agent. Kaiser sighed as
he looked back to see Victoria walk away. Then, he sensed something
from her. He could not really understand what he was sensing. Like
a flash, he saw her screaming loudly as a building fell over her. A
familiar sound, a monstrous roar and a winged shadow enveloped her. Kaiser
shook his head and ran after her.
"Wait, Miss Swanson!" he cried. Vickie turned around.
"What is it?"
"Wait," Kaiser hefted as he slowed down to her. "Could I
interest you in a cup of coffee?"
"Yes," she began with some uncertainty. "But why?"
"Oh, perhaps I might sense your aunt while we are together,"
Kaiser held out his hand. Victoria smiled and took it.
Kaiser hungrily poured the chocolate syrup into his cup of coffee. Victoria
could not help but laugh. She did not know that he had a huge sweet
tooth.
"My, that's the 5th coffee with all that chocolate you had,
Kaiser," she laughed.
"Well, I like my sweets," Kaiser smiled. "And I'm uh,
diabetic."
"What type?" she asked.
"Uh, the bad type," he replied.
"Okay," Vickie nodded. "So, what made you want to use your
gifts to reunite people with the dead?"
"Well, I want people to know that though they have lost their loved
ones in this life, but they had not truly lost them," Kaiser began.
"Its hard to say. I mean I try to help people get passed that
point in their lives where they question death and perhaps doing this
might do that. It gives the living some comfort that there is hope
in life after death, that they will be joined with their loved ones when
they die."
"Comforting," she began. "Yet creepy. I'm sorry it
just sounds strange. Why are you so fascinated with life after death?"
KG cleared his throat. She touched something in his heart and a
memory of his deeds long passed. He tried to forget his other life
as much as he could. Only the dead can comfort him. He sipped
at his sugared brew and tried to shut that part of his life out. He
was not creature anymore, he was a new man now. He was a man now.
Nothing of that old life can disturb him, no ghosts of the past can
keep him from his new life. Kaiser looked at Victoria and smiled.
"One time, you would have thought me a monster," he began.
"I did very horrible things in my past. So, now I am trying to
live the rest of my life truthfully and when I die, I will know that I
went with an empty slate, and a clear conscience."
"Not many know of your past," she said. "They only know
what they see on the screen."
"And that is what I want them to see," Kaiser smiled. He
sipped again at his coffee.
Kaiser's ears perked up in shock when he heard a sound echo outside.
The sound was monstrous. A shadow swiftly flew over the café
window, catching Kaiser's attention. He heard people scream loudly
as the shadow circled. Heat irrupted from the sky blasting the
nearby buildings and engulfing them in inferno. Kaiser and Victoria
ran outside to see what it was. Kaiser's eyes opened wide with shock,
fear and recognition. A reptile with wings, few over the towering
skyscrapers--a pteranodon. The reptilian bird flew gracefully over
the city, igniting the tops of the buildings with its heat ray.
"Rodan!" cried Kaiser. "That's Rodan!"
"Rodan?" Victoria asked. "This is New York, not Tokyo.
I thought those creatures only attacked Japan."
Kaiser growled and shook his head. He grabbed her tightly as they
began to run down a dark alley. Kaiser's memories came back,
thrusting themselves into his mind. It was the screaming and the
explosion. He could not relive those memories again. Rodan
fired again sending a wave of debris down into the alley. Glass
scraped and cut into Kaiser's face. He leaned Victoria over, trying
to shield her from the dangerous cloud of glass and dust. Rodan
circled the alley, squawking loudly. Victoria looked up, her eyes
wide as she saw the massive reptile's shadow fall over her.
"What does that thing want?" she squeaked.
"Quiet!" Kaiser hissed as he covered her mouth. Rodan's
neck arched back and his mouth dropped. Once more, another wave of
fire race from his jaws, this time down into the alley itself. Kaiser
braced himself for the blast, covering Vickie's body protectively. The
fire hit his back, singing his golden hair. Kaiser burned, crying
out in pain from the heat.
"Ghidorah..." Kaiser
heard Rodan squawk. He could understand the monster's call.
He was the only one there that could. "Ghidorah...come
out!"
"Go away, you pesky turkey!" Kaiser roared loudly. "Leave
me alone!"
King Ghidorah, come out and play...
Kaiser shook his head and screamed, his eyes glowing wildly. Like a
push on his psyche, he sent a wave of thought racing towards Rodan. The
pteranodon squawked in pain, quickly falling out of the sky. His
wings flailed madly, trying to pull himself out of the deathly plummet.
His shadow disappeared from Kaiser's sight. Kaiser sighed and
grimaced for a moment. He leaned back, making sure Victoria was all
right.
"You saved my life, Mr. Goldstein," she breathed as she wiped
the tears from her eyes. "But why did that thing come here? This
is New York."
"In 1969, all the monsters of the world attacked every major city,"
Kaiser began. "The Kailax controlled the monsters' movements. New
York was one of those cities. Godzilla destroyed it, you know.
So, what? You think Japan is the only thing that gets hit by
these creatures?"
He gripped his back, feeling the burning sensation ride up to his neck.
"You're burned!" Victoria called. "And you're face is all
cut up. You need a doctor."
"I know what I need right now, more than you do," Kaiser began.
"I've survived worse. I'm sorry for the disruption."
"Its okay," she said. "Maybe next time. But right now
you to go to the hospital."
"I'll call you," Kaiser smiled and winked at her. He got
up and ran away from her, disappearing around the corner and into the
darkness.
"Kaiser!" Victoria cried. The next thing she felt was a
gush of wind and a dark shadow fly over her. Her mind began to
believe that Rodan had returned. She knelt down, quivering in fear.
Then, she heard a sound, a call that rang loudly like a bell. Three
voices sang out loudly. They sounded beastly and alien and yet
beautiful. A flash of gold streaked across the sky. Victoria
shook her head as the gold flash disappeared into the sun. The
voices faded away.
"What the fuck was that?" she breathed. Victoria got up
and dusted herself off.
Kaiser sat down on his bed. He smiled and began to laugh. Rodan
came for him.
"After all these years, they are looking for me," Kaiser laughed.
"How did they know that I was alive? How interesting. But
I will not let my past ruin my future. I am not that creature
anymore. I am a famous man."
He let his mind drift off into slumber. Kaiser sighed, thinking
about the day's events. He had hoped that his past would not catch
up to him. His mind went to Victoria. For the first time,
someone actually worried about his health. She was beautiful, more
beautiful than anything he had ever witnessed. Her hair was like
fire, and she was a fire in his heart. Kaiser smiled for a moment
when he thought of her. He began to concentrate on her request,
trying to find in the dark recesses of the Void for her late aunt. He
had hoped that the next time he saw her he could tell her something.
But unfortunately, he sensed no sign or energy from it. Only,
the souls of the dead swam in the murky darkness, but none sensed or
recognized Vickie's name. Kaiser felt a strain on his mind and he
quickly went to unconscious.
King Ghidorah, I come for you!
Deedra! NO!
Kaiser
awoke in a cold sweat. He heard the sound of the telephone ring, on
the side of his bed. Kaiser yawned and reached over to answer the
phone. His answer was not what he expected to come from his mouth.
It sounded alien. He chimed the call like a bell. Kaiser
shook his head.
"Kaiser?" called the voice on the other line.
Kaiser cleared his voice: "Tom, is that you? Sorry about that,
I had the TV set too loud."
"Are you watching a Godzilla movie again?"
"Uh, Ja! King Kong gegen Godzilla," Kaiser replied in
German.
"Knock off the German, you know I can't understand you when you
speken se Duetch."
"I meant to say I was watching Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla,"
Kaiser corrected himself. "It's a good movie."
"Sounded like King Kong vs. Godzilla."
"Nein. We just call it that in germany." he said. "Why
you call? It's early. You're usually not up before noon."
"Because I was awaken by a call from the studio heads, Kaiser,"
Tom sighed. "Remember that attack by Rodan?"
"Ja, I do," Kaiser began, not liking where this was going.
"Well, that damned buzzard wrecked the studio!" Tom screamed
into the phone.
"What?!" Kaiser let his accent go in his surprise. "He
vhecked the schtudio? Scheiße! Was are we to do? I'm
supposed to do a show today. Vith out no shtudio, I have nothink!"
"Calm down, Kaiser," Tom began. "Don't get too excited.
When you do, you're W's sound like V's."
"Sorry," he sighed. "Well. What now?"
"I'm working on it," Tom began. "We may have to rent
another studio. For some strange reason, he only wrecked our studio.
He left the other ones alone."
"Das ist strange..."
"Dude, accent!" called Tom. "We've got the money, we can
just rent. It's that simple. At least until we fix the one
that Rodan destroyed. I'm just trying to figure out why he'd want to
wreck ours an not the other studios."
"I look into it later," Kaiser sighed. "I'm worried about
the show. What studio did we rent?"
"I haven't signed the papers, but its Studio D," Tom replied.
"You got the stadium?" Kaiser smiled excitedly. "I'm
impressed. How much did you shell out?"
"They said it would boost their ratings to have the 'Sooth Sayer' on
their program," Tom laughed. "We'll shoot Over the Brink with KG
in the studio. But hurry, we're starting to fill up."
"I'll be over soon," Kaiser nodded. "See you when I get
there. Good bye."
"Yo, Kaiser, don't take the Tunnel," began Tom. "And forget
the street. After Rodan's little visit, everything's blocked from
here to Jersey."
"Ah, sheet," he sighed. "I'll figure a way to get there."
Kaiser hung up the phone and laid back on his bed. He sighed for a
moment and closed his eyes.
"Was mach ich jetzt?" he asked himself aloud. "Das muß das
Werk von Deedra sein. She's trying to ruin me. It von't vork.
Money means nothing to me. One time, I had none. Zo, I
may be broke again. So vhat! I shtill have my freedom of
mind."
He calmed his mind down. KG grabbed his clothes and quickly put them
on. He tried to forget his visions of Deedra and concentrated on
getting to work.
Kaiser quickly ran down the street. He glanced over to the side,
noticing the pile up of cars on the street. The lanes filled with
the blaring noises of furious horns from irate drivers. The attack
on New York made by the monster Rodan disrupted not only everyone's day,
but also their patience as well. Kaiser shook his head. He
smiled for a moment, realizing how the other end of a monster attack now
felt like. Kaiser could not help but laugh at the odd feeling of it.
At one time, he was on the monster's side of an attack, now he was
on the human end of an attack.
"This could take some getting use to," Kaiser murmured under his
breath. He continued to run down the side walk, trying to mind the
other pedestrians along the way. Kaiser tried to weave quickly
through the maze of people who flocked over to a toppled building. He
slowed down for a moment, trying to see what was grabbing their attention.
Kaiser finally saw what caused the congested pileup on the street.
An apartment complex crumbled over the street, casting stones and
bricks into the pavement. Firefighters and medical teams were still
working in the scene, trying to get people out of the building. The
apartment complex had toppled other buildings as well. Kaiser shook
his head. Rodan was after him. He could have stopped this by
facing the enormous reptilian bird. KG sighed. He had grown
soft over the years. He grew a heart. Kaiser shook it off and
forced his mind to get back on task. Kaiser began to run for the
studio. His mind turned back to Rodan for a moment. Though,
with the thought of Rodan, he was not watching where he was going. Suddenly,
Kaiser fell over, colliding with something fiery red. His gold hair fell
into his eyes as he fell to the sidewalk. Kaiser glanced up to see
the face of who he bumped into.
"Mr. KG," called a familiar voice.
"Vickie?" he asked. "Vickie? I'm sorry. I
should have been watching where I was going."
"I'm alright," she said. "But you, look at you! Your
cuts, they're all gone."
"I told you I knew what was really best for me," Kaiser smiled
as he got up.
"You're a strange man, Kaiser," smiled Vickie.
"I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk," he said. "I'm sorry,
I'm late. I have to get to the studio."
"I was just heading over there," she said. "I have a client
who wants to press some charges on the construction of Floor 8 of the
building your studio is located in."
"Charges?" he asked.
"Yes, you know for a psychic, you're not very good at it," she
laughed. "Didn't you know, I'm a lawyer."
"Oh, so you're more of a reptile than Rodan, huh?" Kaiser
grinned.
"Hah!" she snorted. "Well, are you coming with me?"
Kaiser smiled and nodded, he took her hand and they began to run for his
building.
"What sort of charges are you pressing?" he asked.
"Asbestos charges," she replied. "There is some asbestos
giving problems to the health of some of the cleaning crew. Floor 8
is storage. They cleaned out the asbestos in the main floors like
the studio where you work, but not Floor 8. They're suffering from
mesophelioma, the illness caused by asbestos, and they want to sue some of
the managers who own that building. The settlement is pretty costly."
"And I'm sure you'll get a certain amount of percentage from the
settlement," Kaiser chuckled.
"That's what I'm hoping for," Vickie laughed. "I've got a
30 percent cut if we win the suet."
"And you wonder why I called you a reptile?" he asked.
"I saw your building," she said. "The floor that was
completely obliterated, that was your floor, right?"
"Yes," Kaiser nodded.
"Why would Rodan just destroy your studio? And why are you
still holding a session in the building?"
"We're not," he said. "We're holding it in a building about
a block from our studio. It wasn't hit. That manager owns more
buildings than just our studio."
"I wouldn't mind sitting in on a show again," Vickie smiled.
"You are so talented. Its hard to believe that you can talk to
the dead."
"It is a gift and a curse, I suppose," Kaiser sighed.
"Well, is that all you can use your psychic powers for?" she
asked.
"One time, I used them to control people," Kaiser sighed with
some sadness in his words. "I--was--controlled by another to harm
people. When I broke free, you might say cruel fate stepped in and
made it to where I only see the victims of my atrocities. Then, I
refined it. I wanted to be able to give people closure for their
losses. That's what this is all about, its what matters to me now."
"That's sad," Vickie said.
"I cannot have forgiveness, but I will have peace of mind," he
smiled weakly. "That monster who terrorized people died that day,
only to be reborn as the man you see now."
"And what was this monster's name?" she grinned playfully.
"King Ghi..." Kaiser broke off. He caught himself. Another
sound broke his thoughts. It was familiar, too familiar for his
comfort. KG glanced behind his shoulders, his eyes were wide. "No,
it can't be!"
"What the fuck was that?" Vickie cried.
A gargantuan roach with a spire on its head and spinning drills for claws
toppled the low buildings behind Kaiser. He grabbed Victoria and
shielded her from the dust and debris.
"What is that giant bug?"
"You don't recognize Megalon when you see him?" Kaiser asked.
"I don't keep up with the world's monsters, Kaiser," she said.
"That's Megalon?"
"Yes!" Kaiser cried. "Come on!"
He began to lead her down the side walk. Kaiser reached for his cell
phone and speed dialed for his manager Tom Murdock.
"Hello, Tom?" he began.
"Kaiser, where the fuck are you?" Tom demanded. "The show's
gonna start in a few minutes."
"Look out the east window, you'll see why I'm late," Kaiser said.
He knew the answer.
"Holy Christ!" Tom screamed. "Is that what I think that is?"
"Yah!" he said. "It is. Listen, get everybody out of
the studio immediately. Forget the show, just evacuate."
"Man, this is nuts," Tom said. "What are these monsters
doing here? This ain't Tokyo!"
"Damned, don't you know your history?" Kaiser roared into the
phone. "Remember the Kailax?"
"What? Those metal women?" he asked. "The ones who
sicked King Ghidorah on every monster in Ogasawara Island? If
you ask me that was the major idiotic stunt of the decade. Doesn't
matter how strong that three-headed excuse for a space monster is. He
could not take them all down."
Kaiser snorted. He almost felt offended by Tom's remark on King
Ghidorah.
"Well before they did that, they controlled all the monsters on
Monster Island," Kaiser called. "And they used them to attack
major cities around the world. Godzilla actually came here and tore
the place apart."
"You sound like you remember the detailing," said Victoria.
"Like you were there."
"I was," he said.
"Yeah right," Tom said. "You were born in '66. I
doubt you would remember a thing from all that. Besides, Germany was
not one of the countries on the hit list."
"It seems like every time I see you," began Vickie. "Some
monster attacks."
"You only saw me once."
"Yeah, and Rodan attacked," she said.
Megalon turned towards the fleeing humans. His eyes spied his target.
"King Ghidorah, I come for you!"
Kaiser heard the monster say. The words were for him and no one else.
Kaiser screamed for a moment and slowed down his running. He
glanced back at Megalon. Megalon's beam weapon irrupted from his
star tipped horn, racing passed Kaiser's head and exploding behind him.
Kaiser grunted and glanced at Megalon fiercely. Victoria
pulled her red hair from her eyes.
"Kaiser, get out of there!" cried Tom over the phone. "I
heard that explosion."
"KG!" cried Victoria. "Let's go!"
"You go," he said. "I'll be alright."
"Are you insane?" she cried.
"Yes, that's exactly what I am!" he laughed.
Another voice joined Megalon's destruction. Kaiser turned towards
the voice as a beaked monster with sharp scythes on the tip of its
forearms stepped forward. It was gold and green, with a strange buzz
saw set in the center of its chest. It looked like a Cyclops, the
eye glowed red with power.
"King Ghidorah, I come for you!"
the monster careened.
"Gigan!" Kaiser cried.
"Two monsters?" Victoria cried. "Kaiser, I don't want to
stay here. I want to go, now!"
She tugged on his arm with all her strength. Kaiser's eyes were
fixed on the two monsters.
"Closure," Kaiser sighed. "So this is what you want, Gigan.
Closure?"
"Closure?" Vickie asked. "We're about to get stomped.
Those things are heading our way."
"Closure..." Kaiser
heard the wind whisper.
"What a reunion!" he laughed. "But I've got another life.
You're disturbing it."
"Then forgive my intrusion,"
Gigan replied. "But this needs
to be settled. You and I have a score."
"Ve have nothink!" Kaiser cried, his accent becoming dominant
again. "Vhat ever ve had, eez water under bridge! You know, I
know, the cockroaches know especially. And you let Angilas sling at
me back first, you pathetic cyborg!"
"Closure..."
"You vill get none," Kaiser called. "Dis I make promise.
Now leave me alone! I have life to live, new life. Go
back to space vhere you belong. Don't come to my planet again."
"You're not of this world..."
"Leave me!"
"Who are you talking to?" Vickie asked.
"Eh, Tom?" Kaiser smiled, pointing to the cell phone.
"No you're not," Tom roared. "You're starting to scare me,
Kaiser."
Kaiser glanced back at Gigan and Megalon, they stopped before him.
Kaiser stepped back. Victoria grabbed his shoulders and braced
herself against his back.
"I'll give you 100 dollars, Vickie," he began. "For cab
fare. To get as far away from here as you can."
"But what about you?" she asked.
"Don't vorry about me," Kaiser said. "I find a way and I'll
find you. Now, please, go!"
He slipped her the money and she bolted down the sidewalk, joining the
other fleeing people as they ran from the two monsters. She did not
look back and she feared for Kaiser's safety. Tears streamed down
her eyes, blurring her vision as she ran. She kept running,
commanding her legs to swiftly carry her to safety. Her muscles
began to ache, but she pressed them onwards. She had to look back.
She heard Kaiser's voice, his German accent was dominant over the
crowd. In fact, it was dominant over everything. His voice
boomed loudly as he mocked the other two monsters. She had to look
back and she did. Her eyes were wide when she glanced behind her.
A golden haired man did not stand in the spot she left, but an
enormous dragon stood in his place. Three heads topped the lengthy
sinuous necks of the dragon. Its wings were folded to its sides and
twin tails trailed behind it. Each head bore three horns, two long
crooked horns and a central crescent moon shaped horn. The center
head's outer horns were branched majestically like the antlers of an elk,
baring 4 points on each horn. Each head was covered in long golden,
shaggy manes, the same color as Kaiser's hair. The dragon was
covered in a pelt of triangular shaped glistening, clean golden scales.
The scales radiated the sun light that danced across them, adding a
majestic holy gleam to the dragon's stately look. The dragon was
nearly 5 times larger than the other two monsters. Something did not
seem right. Victoria knelt down, breathing erratically. She
fell to her knees, tears streaming down her eyes.
"KG?" she asked. "Kaiser Goldstein? No, King Ghidorah."
She heard Kaiser's Eastern European accented voice emanating from the
majestic beast: "You vant closure? Zhen, here it be..."
The dragon--King Ghidorah (Kaiser?) spread his enormous wings and launched
himself into the air. Gigan began to follow his moves, fanning his
fins out, until a barbed tail wrapped around his neck. King Ghidorah
chuckled, sneering at the flailing monster. Gigan tried to hook one
of his sickles around the dragon's attacking tail. King Ghidorah's
ruby red eyes narrowed, as his central head's forked tongue licked its
lips. Pulled tighter around Gigan's neck, cutting off his air.
Megalon jumped up to tackle the dragon, thrusting one of his drill
arms towards Ghidorah. King Ghidorah swung heads over heels,
throwing Gigan at Megalon with one of his tails. The two collided
with each other, then collided with a near by building. He quickly
recaptured his flight, back winging to gain more altitude. It was an
easy toss, Gigan seemed a lot smaller than the last time King Ghidorah saw
him. The dragon could not help but to take some notice as to how
much he had grown in the last few decades. Both monsters seemed
rather smaller than he remembered. King Ghidorah glanced towards the
two monsters, his eyes widened for a moment.
"I had to send them crashing into my favorite drug store," he
sighed.
King Ghidorah landed and approached the two monsters carefully, watching
where he stepped. It was the first time he did so.
"Look, you two mashuganas," King Ghidorah began. "Play time
over. You vecked Downtown last time. I vant nothink for you
and from you. Now get out!"
"Score..."
"Nein!" he called. "Nein!" The next sentence was
a little in audible. King Ghidorah was cursing them in German.
It all summed up into one word.
"Zur Hölle mit euch allen! Ich will nichts! No more.
Und
take that to your master as vell! I quit!"
"We will return..."
breathed Gigan. Megalon and Gigan disappeared.
"Kaiser!" cried a voice from the streets. King Ghidorah
glance down and his tail picked up a bashed up cell phone. He held
the phone up to his central head's ear.
"Guten Tag?" he asked.
"Kaiser, those monsters disappeared but I think you'd want to get out
of there," began Tom.
"Ja? Vhy?" King Ghidorah asked innocently.
"King Ghidorah is there!" Tom cried.
"Good idea," said Kaiser, holding the phone up with his hand.
"But you might want to look again, I think King Ghidorah left. I
just hope I can get a new phone. Vait, ve have lunch and some coffee."
"How can you think of coffee at a time like this, KG?"
"I need sugar," Kaiser chucked. "I'm diabetic, remember?"
"Shit, Kaiser, don't you take insulin?" Tom roared.
"Its not that type of diabetes," he said.
"I'd have your doctor take another look at you," Tom began.
"That's all you eat is sugar, chocolate, candy bars, and lots of
caffeine. That's not healthy."
"I'm not worried about that, Tom," KG sighed. "I just hope
that Victoria took the cab out of this place."
He felt someone take the phone out of his hand. KG turned around and
his eyes widened. Victoria stood before him with tear stained cheeks
and reddened eyes. Her lip trembled and quivered.
"You needn't worry," she said. "I never left and I saw the
whole thing. A monster huh? You were once a monster? I'd
say you're still a monster."
"Vickie, I can explain," Kaiser sighed.
"What's going on?" asked Tom over the phone. "Okay, I'm
heading down there! I'll see you in a bit, Kaiser."
The phone clicked off. Vickie dropped it back on to the street.
"Well, I was going to get a new one anyway," Kaiser shrugged.
Vickie shoved the hundred dollars to his chest.
"Here, I didn't spend it," her voice quivered. "Thanks
anyway, King Ghidorah."
"You saw?" he asked. "You saw me change?"
"No, but I saw the product," she sighed. "One moment
I saw a man who looked he was about to be stepped on by two giant monsters,
the next I saw was a three-headed golden dragon towering...literally
towering over them." She gestured with her hands the size of
the beast. "And all I had to do was put two and two together. So,
that's why you have ESP. You're King Ghidorah. And that's why
those monsters were after you."
KG gripped her arm for a moment, leading her away from the middle of the
street. He lead her into a back alley. Kaiser sighed for a
moment, lowering himself to the pavement. He placed his hands
together, draping them over his knees. He looked up at her for a
moment, trying to find the words to say.
"Vickie, listen," he began. "I'm trying to put my life back
together. Too many years I lived and well did very bad things.
So, I'm just trying to set things right."
"Okay, I can understand that," she nodded. "So, hiding out
in a human form helps you do that? Is that why you want to 'reunite'
the living with the dead? So that you can feel better about yourself?
So you can find some peace of mind amongst all this? How
ridiculous can you get?"
"Look, I asked for this life now," Kaiser cried. "This is
my choice!"
"I remember in 1998, you came back to Earth and attacked Japan,"
began Vickie. "You kidnapped children, controlling them with
your psychokinetic powers and fed from their essence when you got a hold
of them. You fed off of the children, because their essence was the
sweetest thing of all, because of their innocence. You are a
disgusting creature."
"And don't think I'm not being punished for that," Kaiser began.
"Remember my diabetes? Well, I don't really have that, I just
say that because for evermore I have a bad sweet tooth and crave sugar
constantly to compensate for the taste the essence of youth gave me."
"Damned!" she cried.
"Look, I don't ask for forgiveness," he began. "I just want
to be left in peace."
"Good-bye, Kaiser," she said as she turned away from him.
"Wait, Vickie, that's not what I meant!"
Vickie shook her head as she ran from him, tears streaming down her face.
He rushed after her watching her with an aching heart as she
disappeared into the crowd. KG slowed down and glanced into his
reflection the window of a building. He stared at it with resentment,
watching the face shift and twist, becoming three golden dragon heads.
"King Ghidorah, you've ruined my life," Kaiser growled at the
reflection. "Now, you've ruined it for me again. How the fuck
am I suppose to get a date now? What mistake you've made, you will
fix."
He turned away from the reflection as it once more melted into a more
human form. Kaiser pulled his jacket over his head and disappeared.
A shadow flowed over the chaotic streets, spreading its wings wide.
Everyone turned their heads to a sound, a bell call ring out and
echoing off the tall skyscrapers. The shadow swooped over them,
three heads searching. The gigantic form flapped its wings
gracefully and slowed down, landing on top of the Chrysler Building.
King Ghidorah, sat perched on top of the great spire, his heads
roving slowly over the city skyline. His claws dug into the concrete
and his wings fanned out slightly to give him balance. His twin
tails wrapped tightly around the towering skyscraper. Each head
pointed out into different directions scanning the roar of the crowd below.
He searched with his ears, his eyes and, also his mind.
In my human form, my mental powers
are dampened, only good for seeing ghosts. I can't sense anything
else, but in my full dragon form, I can hear the thoughts of everyone in
the city and beyond, King Ghidorah began mentally. I know what they know, and I can hear her thoughts. Victoria
Swanson, I am sorry you had to find out about me. Please, I want to
talk to you.
The dragon turned his heads slightly, roving over the skyline once more,
watching for her movements. He did not know what possessed him to
seek her out like this. He was thinking of her. King Ghidorah
chuckled to himself. He began to realize how long he had been in
human form. A decade had passed on this planet and he was amazed
that he even remembered how to fly. Ten years, he had grown a human
heart. The dragon sighed with some sadness. Humans were more
powerful than he thought. He was amazed how they were able to handle
at least most of the emotions they felt with some ease. Now this new
emotion came to him when he thought about Vickie. He only had known
her a couple of days, but he found himself growing fond of her. It
was that human male instinct, that feeling of knowing that he had met the
'right one' for him;his exact perfect mate. King Ghidorah shook his
central head, keeping the other two heads on the guard. What was he
thinking? She was not a perfect match to him. She is human,
and he is a space dragon. The ruby eyes on the central head crossed,
trying to contemplate these thoughts and conflicting emotions.
"Ick," he snorted. "Too confusing."
Though, he continued his search for her. A familiar voice
interrupted his thoughts and his search.
"Kaiser!" cried the voice. "I found your cell phone. It
looks all hacked to pieces!"
Tom? King Ghidorah thought. Shit,
I forgot he was heading over here.
"Kaiser!" Tom cried. "Come on, man! We need to get
out of here, I heard on the reports that King Ghidorah is still in the
vicinity."
"Oh, you think?" King Ghidorah replied with some sarcasm. "Where?
I don't see him."
"Kaiser, where the fuck are you?" Tom cried. "I don't want
to be here when that three headed monster comes back. Kaiser?"
"Here we go..." King Ghidorah sighed. He leaned all three
heads down. "If you yell any louder, human, that three headed monster
just might hear you!"
Tom glanced up, recognizing the voice. He glanced over to the
Chrysler Building, expecting to find the dragon perched atop it. The
building was empty. A hand tapped his shoulders. Tom quickly
turned around, his eyes meeting the rusty red brown eyes of Kaiser. KG
crossed his arms.
"I was waiting for you," he said. "But you no show, so, I
went into café."
"Where the did King Ghidorah go?" Tom asked. "For a strange
moment I thought I heard your voice coming from him. And he was on
the Chrysler Building!"
"Where?" Kaiser asked, looking up at the building. "I don't
see him."
"He was there a minute ago," Tom began. "Oh well, he might
have flown off. I heard he could fly really fast." He
lifted the cell phone up to Kaiser. "I found this."
"I know, I need a new one," Kaiser sighed.
"Where's you lady friend?" he asked.
"Ran off," Kaiser shook his head in dismay.
"Sorry, man," Tom began as he placed a hand on Kaiser's shoulder.
"You know, I was almost hoping that you've found someone. I
mean, ever since we've met, I've noticed that you have not gone out with
any girl that came you way. And I really wondered about you, Kaiser,
about your choices."
"Vhat?" Kaiser cried shaking his hand away. "You think I'm
sort of ferie?"
"No, Kaiser," Tom laughed.
"You did!" KG roared. "I can't believe it! Every
American thinks that most of us German men are feries. Just because
of Sigfried and Roy! Well, I assure you, I am not gay. If she
hadn't ran off, I would have gone out with her."
"I'm sorry," Tom began.
"I was waiting for the right one," Kaiser sighed. "I
thought I found it in Victoria."
"Why did she run off?"
"Because I shared with her a little secret of mine," Kaiser
shrugged. "She didn't except it."
"Don't worry, man, its not the size that counts, its how you use it,"
Tom smiled.
Kaiser's eyes widened and he glanced back at Tom.
"You're an idiot!" Kaiser cried. "That's not the secret!
I am very confident in my equipment!"
"What were you talking about?" he asked.
"Why should I tell you?" Kaiser asked. "You're twisting
everything I say."
"I'm just trying to help," Tom said.
"First you thought I was queer, now you think that I've got a small..."
Kaiser shook his head for a second. "Trust me, this is not for you to
know."
"What, it doesn't work right?"
"Just stick to managing my show and leave my personal descriptions
alone!"
"I'm just making a suggestion. You want your love life to be exciting,
right?" Tom asked, smiling.
"Look, keep out of my personal life," Kaiser growled as he poked
Tom with an angry finger. "I was trying to find her."
"I didn't see her," he shrugged. "Come on, Kaiser. Gigan
and Megalon wrecked a lot more than just the street you were standing on.
I'm just trying to figure out why Ghidorah didn't do as much damage."
"Looked like he was trying to save the city, rather than destroy it,"
Kaiser smiled.
"Yah? That's totally out of character for him," Tom
chuckled. "Isn't he the one who does the damage and Godzilla comes
and kicks his rump of our planet? So, why was Ghidorah trying to
save the city?"
Kaiser shook his head: "Look, I'll see you later at the Center Park
Café. I need to go and think."
"If you find your girlfriend, we can do a double date tonight,"
Tom said with a grin. Kaiser ran from his sight, disappearing behind
a corner and into the dark alley. Once more, an enormous shadow
swooped over the city street. Tom glance up, his eyes wide. He
backed away as he saw King Ghidorah perch himself once more on the
Chrysler Building. The dragon's heads rove around, searching again.
"Tell me, Kaiser, you don't see that," Tom breathed. "Because
I do!"
One of the dragon's heads stopped for a moment, peering down to look at
him. Tom felt a knot of fear in his throat as he stared into the
ruby gems of the golden dragon. Though, staring into the eyes, he
felt some familiarity of the beast. The head turned away, continuing
to search just like the other heads. Tom sighed and turned away,
running down the street. King Ghidorah was just sitting on that
building, and nothing more.
"Wonder what he was looking for," Tom sighed as he head down the
street.
Kaiser
tugged on his noose tie and brushed off his blazer with a quick swipe from
his hand. He gripped the bouquet of roses tightly in his other hand
and tightened his arm around the heart shaped red box of chocolates.
Sitting on the Chrysler Building earlier had indeed helped him in
finding Victoria. He cleared his throat, practicing his apology to
her for his actions earlier. Then, he said a little prayer, hoping
if a god was listening, he or she would not allow anymore interruptions
for the rest of the evening. He smoothed out his golden hair. He
had to make himself presentable to her. KG grinned. He stepped
up to her apartment door and rapped rhythmically on it.
"Coming," came a voice from the other side. The door
opened. A spark of red flashed into Kaiser's eyes. His smile
broadened. She poked her head out, her eyes wide.
"Victoria," Kaiser began. He held out the roses to her.
"These are for you."
"King Ghidorah?" Vickie asked.
"I wish you would not call me that," he said. "At least in
my human form. Its just Kaiser, or KG."
"What do you want?" she asked with some disgust in her tone.
"I want to apologize for my actions today," KG began. "I do
not know how to express myself when it comes to human women. What I
meant to say is that I want the monsters to leave me alone. But I
want to see you."
"Look, you're a space dragon," she said. "We're not exactly
compatible."
"Not for long," Kaiser began. "Soon, I will be completely
human and undetectable by monsters."
"What?"
"May I come in? Please?" Kaiser asked. Vickie stood
aside, gesturing for him to enter. Kaiser handed her the box of
chocolates. Vickie took them and opened them up.
"What do you mean you'll be completely human?" she asked.
"Well, maybe not completely," sighed Kaiser. "But
undetectable to those monsters. You see, I've been working on
something called transmutation."
"What is that?"
"I'm reformatting my body," Kaiser smiled. "What you saw is
my full dragon form. But in about 80 years, that form will no longer
exist. What will be in its place will be a form hybrid, about--oh--2
meters tall, with mostly human features, and a few reptilian features.
Take another decade and that form will be completely human. King
Ghidorah will not exist."
"Why are you doing that to yourself then, Ghidorah?" she asked.
"Why are you torturing your body like that?"
"I'm not, Vickie," Kaiser began. "You see...perhaps I
should start at the beginning."
"May be you should," she snorted.
"May I sit down?" he asked.
"Sure, sit," Vickie shrugged.
Kaiser sat down on her wide couch. He sighed for a moment and leaned
his head back.
"Millions of years ago, I was the ruler of a planet filled with
monsters," Kaiser began. "Mostly draconic monsters...dragon like.
I was their ruler. That's why I am called King Ghidorah.
I am a real king. Well, power became my one desire and my
heart darkened. I became evil and I usurped the powers of my council.
I absorbed them into my being and I grew more powerful. Soon,
I had gained the power to destroy the planet itself. My foolishness
destroyed my home world. So, I searched for other planets to conquer
and destroy. My search for more power drove me into mental insanity.
I was so power hungry that I would sell my services to anyone who
would promise me great power in return. I became a whore, almost,
thriving on the will of others to pay my way. This, I am not proud
of. Soon, my mind broke down and I was nothing more than a tool for
any conquering alien species that need a perfect weapon to dispatch on a
planet. In 1963, I came to Earth, sent here by an alien race. That
same alien race used me to destroy all life on Mars. My coming was
forth told by a prophetess, in the guise of a princess."
"I heard about that," Victoria nodded. "She was a Middle
Eastern princess, wasn't she?"
"Yes," Kaiser said. "She was. Well, after being
defeated by Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, I was captured by the Controller
of Planet X. And again, I returned to your planet to destroy it,
being controlled by the Controller. This time it was just Godzilla
and Rodan who defeated me. I did not return until 1969, when the
Kailax took control of me and well, again used me as a weapon to aid their
planetary conquest on Earth. This time they had the other monsters
under their control as well. They got free, but I was still within
their grip. I was brutally defeated by every Monster Island
resident. I disappeared underground for a while, to heal. During
that time, I began to heal my mind from the years of control that had
weakened it. In 1972, I broke free, but was quickly snatched up by
the Cockroaches who needed a liaison for their plans of "Perfect
Peace." This time I was joined by Gigan. We attacked
Japan and Godzilla, but the control was cut short and I mentally broke
free of my captors. I stayed and fought Godzilla before flying
away to lick my wounds. It was in space that I manage to heal the
rest of my mind from the years of captivity and control. So, I
wandered space, until I came across another alien race who needed an ace
in their deck. I was captured. But this time, my captor gave
me an interesting proposition. Her name was Queen Deedra. She
took me into her care. She heard about my history and was intrigued
by it. She gave me a proposition, marry her and I will receive the
universe."
"Did you?" she asked.
"I did not," he shook his head. "I had to prove myself
first. She empowered me, infusing me with the magic of Life Force.
My form grew, becoming the size it is now. My features changed
of course, you saw the center head and its branch like horns, yes?"
"I did," Vickie said.
"That was only part of the transformation," he continued. "With
that, I gained nearly godlike power. And she gave me something else,
my psychokinetic powers. Telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, sooth
saying, teleportation, planar shifting, and even polymorphing, they were
my gifts from her. Deedra sent me to Earth as well. She said
that the powers needed feeding and that I must feast upon the life essence
of all living creatures. She said that I would find the essence of
children more alluring, because of their sweet taste and power boost.
She said that she and I would be working side by side, capturing
life force of all that lived on this planet. Earth was going to be
the first, then the other plants of the universe would follow. She
fed my dark heart. No one had ever done that. No captor had
fed my dark heart like she did. She treated me as her equal. And,
for the love of God, she loved me!"
Kaiser grimaced in horror of the thought of Deedra. He bent over,
holding his head in his hands, weeping into them.
He struggled to continue his story: "I went back to Earth. The
year was 1998. I came in all my glory and captured half the
population of Japan. I set my sights on other countries as well,
feasting on their essence in some sort of orgasmic frenzy. I never
felt so hungry before."
"Now I know about the sweets," Vickie said. "Its your
pacifier so that you won't feed on our life force energies."
"That and for some strange reason, they are a perfect substitute for
life force essence," Kaiser laughed. "It's strange, I know, but
they are a substitute. It's the sugar inside. Even starch does
wonders. I think it's my chemical make up. Mine is so
different than yours. My metabolism works differently. It
turns the sugar into the essence energy I need to sustain my great
power." He sighed. "Well, Godzilla and Mothra came to the rescue
this time. But they were met with a more powerful and much larger
King Ghidorah. I literally ripped them apart, both mentally and
physically. And they did not defeat me this time. Deedra
wanted to reward me for my duties, but I saw another side of her. Using
my telekinetic powers, I saw through her plans and betrayed her. She
tried to control me, but I fought through her powers and her magic, and
completely freed myself from her grasp. Though, her power nearly
equaled mine and so I was left slightly weakened from the fight. I
fell out of the sky and ended up in Eastern Germany. I hid myself
from Deedra as best as I could. The first human language I learned
was German. That's why a space monster has a German accent. But
something else was left with me. You see, when I learned how to make
myself human, I found that I had more freedom on this planet as a human.
I could wonder around undetected through your streets. That's
when I began to realize that the only way to become free is to become
fully human. I don't want these powers. But it left me with a
mark. You see, in my dragon form, I have all my powers. But in
human form, I have only one thing, the ability to see the dead. It's
a punishment. For all the killings I have done in the past, I must
now be visited by the ghosts who were my victims. I refined that
power, using the ability to help others find closure for loosing their
loved ones to death. I drew strength from that. But I found
that my human form was a little weaker than my dragon form. In my
human form, I am as any human would be. A mere bullet can kill me,
where as a million missiles tried to. I can get sick. I have
in the past gotten sick of various diseases. I suffered a double
dose of the chicken pox. I was once bitten by a viper in Florida and
nearly died. Luckily Tom rushed me to the hospital for the anti
venom. Though, I found that any wound I sustain in my human form is
easily healed in my dragon form. When I was burned by Rodan, trying
to protect you, I ran off to transform into my dragon form to heal myself.
That's why when you saw me earlier today, my wounds were completely
healed."
"But without your dragon form," began Vickie. "When you
completely become human, you won't have that ability to heal yourself from
lethal wounds like that."
"If I am to die, I will die human," Kaiser said. "That is
my wish."
"I still say you are torturing yourself," she shook her head.
"You should except things as they are."
"Would you?" he asked. "King Ghidorah has caused so much
pain for this poor planet. I merely wish to live in it and help
those who I cause so much agony to feel closure. I don't want this
world to suffer anymore because of King Ghidorah."
Vickie sat down beside him and held his hand: "When I saw you in your
dragon form for the first time, I was afraid, but I heard your voice.
Yah, it shocked me, but what I saw was not some horrible monster.
With the sun gleaming of your scales, I saw the most beautiful
creature stand before me, trying to save this town from those two monsters.
I'm sure your actions have shocked everyone here. King
Ghidorah had a change of attitudes."
"You think I'm beautiful?" Kaiser asked, a little shocked.
"Yes, I did," she said. "You're very handsome for a three
headed dragon."
Kaiser reached over and took hold of the box of chocolates. He
handed it to her with a smile.
"Chocolate?" he asked.
"You and your sweet tooth, King Ghidorah," Vickie laughed.
"I'm sorry, I mean Kaiser."
"No, that's all right, you can call me King Ghidorah if you want,"
he said. "I've now come to accept that name coming from you."
"Ghidorah," she giggled. "The planet's first German space
dragon."
"German space dragon," Kaiser laughed. "Ja, that too."
She took a piece of chocolate and placed it slowly into her mouth. Kaiser
watched, swallowing a lump that had just formed in his throat. He
was trying hard to fight the urge not to kiss her. He swallowed
again, feeling awkward as he watched her chew the piece of candy. Kaiser
was loosing himself in her beauty. Victoria turned to him and smiled,
winking at him. She took hold of his tie and drew him close to her.
Kaiser felt her warm breath on his lips. His eyes grew wide as
he felt his body move closer, taking hold of her slender figure into his
arms.
"Kaiser..." Vickie breathed as he pressed his lips against hers.
She closed her eyes, welcoming him into a passionate embrace.
Kaiser leaned her back against the cushion of the couch, welcoming her
embrace. He lost himself to the kiss. Kaiser could not believe
he was saving up for this moment when he had found himself someone to
share his feelings with. He saw his future in the face of this
human. His body glowed brightly, shifting. He was loosing
himself, even control over his own magic. Victoria pulled away,
feeling his weight increase on her body. She heard the sound of
fabric ripping.
"Uh-oh," she heard him rumble. Victoria opened her eyes,
staring into the soft ruby glow of the central and dominant head of a
human sized three-headed, golden dragon. She found her body wrapped
up in his wings.
"You're squishing me, Kaiser," she grunted.
King Ghidorah pushed off of the couch with his wings and leaned back
against the armrest. He closed his eyes, shaking his heads in regret.
His shirt had become nothing more than tattered pieces hanging from
his golden scales. He folded his broad wings around his body, trying
to cover himself up as best as he could.
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry, Vickie," he began. "At times of
emotional stress, I loose my consentration...and well, this happens.
You might say its like lycanthropy, I'm like a werewolf. I
regret you realizing you were just kissing the lips of a dragon."
"Actually I kind of liked it," Vickie giggled. "Especially
when right before you pulled away, you flickered you forked tongue on my
lips."
King Ghidorah looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed. He got off
the couch, still trying to cover himself with his wings. The dragon
backed away from her.
"I've got to go," King Ghidorah said. "I'm sorry. I
did not mean for this to happen. I wasn't expecting myself to
transform."
"No, stay," she insisted. "Please, I'm not one bit
horrified, or uncomfortable."
"I know," he smiled slightly. "But I am. It's strange,
ja? That it would be the man not wanting to push the
envelope...going to second base. But in this case, I can't. I'm
just not comfortable in this form around you. I'm not comfortable of
you seeing me like this."
"You still hate yourself in that form," Vickie sighed.
"Okay. I understand. You're right, it is strange. It's
usually the girl who pulls away in this situation. But given the
circumstances, perhaps you should go. But that doesn't mean I don't
want to see you again. Kaiser or King Ghidorah, I want to see you."
King Ghidorah gripped the handle of the door with one of his tails and
turned it, pushing it open with his back.
"Come to the studio tomorrow," he said softly. "I'll see
you there."
Vickie came close to him and pulled on King Ghidorah's center head. Once
more he felt her lips press against his. His tongue flickered
slightly, grazing opening of her mouth gently. He pulled his head
away, licking his lips like a cat, trying to gather as much of the taste
of her lipstick as he could. He swallowed again and slowly backed
away from the door.
"I'll just say that I came from a costume party if anyone sees me
like this," he chuckled. "Good-bye, Victoria Swanson."
"Good-bye, King Ghidorah," Vickie grinned.
King Ghidorah turned and walked away, slowly trotting down the hallway,
his wings folded tightly to his side. He wrapped the two outer heads
around the trunk of his central head's neck, hooking them to the back of
his shoulders so that they would not get in the way. The two wrapped
heads closed their eyes and King Ghidorah began to focus his sight with
his central head. His thoughts turned to Victoria again and he could
not help but to smile. His form faded into the darkness of the
street.
King Ghidorah sat perched on the Empire State Building, his twin tails
coiled tightly around it. His wings fanned out, their golden
membranes glistening in the street lighted city. He sat, perched
majestically, looking over New York with his three pairs of ruby eyes.
He knew that the recent monster attacks were caused by Deedra.
He could sense that she was searching for him, or that she was
trying to force him to reveal himself and come to her. He had
finally revealed himself, but he was not going to come to her. He
was not going to be someone's lackey for world domination again. This
time, the Earth held people he cared about. King Ghidorah did not
want to see them hurt in any way. He thought about Vickie for a
moment and made a vow. King Ghidorah swore to himself to become
something that was not in his character to do, become a protector. He
had a reason to protect this city. He knew there was no innocence in
this crowded town, but they did not deserve to die by the attacks of
monsters. If they were to die, then let them die through their own
means and not Deedra's. He sat there, silently watching over the
city and waiting for the next monster to come for him. He had a
reason to protect it, and he reminded himself of that reason.
To be Continued…