Odin waved his hand over the distortion to show a huge robot that resembled an ancient samurai. “As the humans on this Earth faced extinction, their guardian used his mech to lure the monsters to one another. One by one, the monsters slew each other across North America. Many of these monsters would be killed by Atomic Rex who as you reported is able to release the power stored within his body as a deadly blast.” Odin shook his head. “Atomic Rex has slain countless other monsters on his Earth and because of his power and ferocity, the Dark Ones have snatched him from there and brought him to your Earth. He will destroy everything in his path until nothing remains. Furthermore, I suspect that after laying waste to Africa, he will attempt to return to what he considers his home in the Americas.”
Odin shifted his one eye toward Luke as the distortion faded away. “I doubt even your Chimera will be able to stand against Atomic Rex.”
Luke shook his head. “You didn’t think that Chimera could defeat your son either, but he whooped Thor’s ass pretty good.” Odin glared at Luke in anger and clenched his fists.
It was Parsons who focused the conversation back on the task at hand. “These attacks are just a first strike. The Dark Ones are planning something else, aren’t they?”
Zeus nodded. “You are indeed wise in the ways of war, General. We suspect that the leaders of the Dark Ones, Cronus, Tiamat, and Surtr, are using these attacks to destroy as much life as possible. They will then collect that life force to increase their power and use it to enact whatever tactic they have in mind to end all life on the planet.”
Parsons sighed. “What can you two offer us if we work with you to fight back this attack from the Dark Ones?”
Zeus lowered his head. “As I said, I have not yet recovered my full strength since Chimera destroyed the pillars that provide me with power. I can, however, offer you the final two creatures in my stable.” This time, it was Zeus who created a portal to show two winged creatures. One of the monsters was a giant bird with bright blue flames cascaded across its wings. The second monster was a huge creature with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. “The Phoenix and Griffin shall assist you in fighting the monsters that are attacking. I can also assist in transporting these beasts and Chimera to various locations as needed to battle the Dark Ones’ creatures.”
The geek girl inside of Diana came out as she giggled. “Since it’s going up against the Dark Ones, the Phoenix isn’t going to get corrupted and go all Dark Phoenix on us, is it?”
The two gods and Parsons simply looked at Diana in confusion. Luke, who had been keeping up with what Diana had referred to as essential comic reading, got her reference and smiled.
Zeus shook his head. “The Phoenix is under my complete control.”
Luke quickly turned his head toward Zeus. “Wait. If you are able to teleport monsters, why can’t you just send the Dark Ones’ creatures and this Atomic Rex back where they came from?”
Zeus shook his head. ‘The Dark Ones’ power far exceeds my own at this point. They will have shielded their creatures against the use of such a tactic.”
Luke shrugged. “Can you at least keep your EMPs to a minimum when you teleport us? It would be helpful to have working communications when we are entering into a battle.”
Zeus nodded. “You shall have all of your technology at your disposal when entering a battle. I shall calibrate my powers to prevent them from destroying your machines.”
Parsons shifted his gaze to Odin. “What can you do?”
Odin was silent for a moment as if what he was about to say was of grave importance. “If you still possess the belt of strength that you removed from my son Thor after his battle with Chimera, give it to me. I shall place it on myself and engage in battle directly.”
Diana was about say something and she turned toward Parsons. She made eye contact with Parsons who winked at her. The wink indicated to Diana that Parsons knew she wanted to say something, but he wanted her to wait until later. She smiled and looked away from the general.
Parsons nodded. “I will see that you get the belt; however, be aware that we’ve been developing a portal to Asgard from the remains of the Rainbow Bridge you left in Norway. If I even suspect you of trying to attack us again, I will not hesitate to use the portal to send Chimera to Asgard itself with the command to destroy it.”
Odin glared at Parsons. “Agreed.”
Parsons held Odin’s gaze for a minute and then he started shouting out orders. “This is what we are going to do! Luke, I want Zeus to send you and Chimera to Boston to battle the Kraken. If Chimera is up to it after that, I want you to travel to Baltimore to take on the Hecatonchires. In the meantime, the military will have to try and slow that monster down. The Argos is stationed in Annapolis. It’s our nuclear-powered flagship and the vessel we use to transport Chimera over long distances. The Argos is currently under the command of Captain Brand. I will have him sail to Baltimore and provide backup for the ground forces there. If all else fails, the Argos should have more than enough firepower to at least keep the beast occupied until we can come up with an alternate plan.”
Parsons looked at Zeus. “I want the Phoenix to travel to Texas and to take on Atlas.”
Zeus replied, “As powerful as the Phoenix is, she is but a monster. Atlas is the largest and strongest of the titans. The Phoenix will not be able to defeat him as he is many times larger than she is.”
Parsons nodded. “I don’t expect her to defeat him. I just need her to hold him off. I will go to Texas as well and lead whatever military forces we have there to support her.”
He turned to Diana. “Call the closest stone quarry to Atlas. Give them the size and dimensions of Atlas. I want them working on Project G in response to counteract this threat. I want you to oversee the project yourself. Tell them speed is more important than appearance.”
Diana nodded. “Yes, sir.” She then pulled out her phone and started dialing.
Parsons looked back at Zeus. “Send the Griffin to Africa. I want to stop Atomic Rex before he makes his way here.” He then looked at Odin. “I will have your belt ready and I will give it to you when the time is right to put you into battle.”
Odin’s voice boomed with anger. “You presume to give me orders!”
Parsons shrugged. “You are on my base and I am in possession of the item that you desire. I hold the cards here and you will abide by my orders if you want to get your belt back and help win this war.” Odin didn’t reply; he simply turned away from Parsons.
With the question of command settled, Parsons finished his orders. “Luke, you and Zeus head outside. As soon as he sends the Griffin to Africa, and us and the Phoenix to Texas, I want you and Chimera in Boston.”
Luke nodded and ran out the door, knowing that he needed to make sure that Chimera remained calm when he saw Zeus.
Zeus turned away from Parsons and closed his eyes. Parsons assumed that he was teleporting his monsters to their designated locations. The general gestured for Diana to follow him. When they entered his office, he closed the door. “Something caught your interest when Odin asked for the belt.”
Diana nodded. “In Norse mythology, Odin dies in the battle at the end of time known as Ragnarok. In the myth of Ragnarok, the Norse gods, as well as the nearly everyone on Earth, dies.”
Parsons nodded. “Explaining that mythological monsters are creatures from other worlds that were placed here by interdimensional beings is one thing that at least can be grounded in advanced science. Predictions about the future though…are those something we can really put stock in?”
Diana shrugged. “I don’t know, sir.” Despite her best efforts, a small smile crept across her face.
Parsons looked at her. “What’s going through your mind now?”
Diana’s smile grew. “I am all for combining other mythologies for ways we can fight the gods and titans, but how cool were those Pacific Rim-style mechs we saw? If people on other Earths can make them, is it possible that we could? Just
imagine the next time we go into battle if we had our own giant robot!”
For the first time since Diana had met him, Parsons smiled. He then stood up and started walking toward the door. “Right now, we have to focus on Project G, but we can talk about mechs later.”
Diana grinned and said, “I want my mech to look like the robot the Kaiju Noir guy on YouTube has for a mascot. That thing is kick ass!”
When Parsons’ door was closed, a young female soldier with blonde hair stood up from her workstation and walked toward the woman’s room. The woman was strikingly beautiful and she caught the eye of several male soldiers in the hangar as she walked by. When she was gone, all of the men were talking to each other about the new recruit. Most of the conversation was focused on how attractive she was. The conversation over her seemingly perfect body led to the men pushing aside the fact that none of them knew her name or where she had come from.
The woman stepped outside and walked toward an alley between two hangars. When she was out of sight from any of the men on the base, she disappeared.
The Congo
The woman reappeared in a cave deep in the jungles of the Congo. Inside of the huge cave were more than a dozen children, each appearing to be roughly ten years old, running around and playing. One of the children picked up a boulder that weighed several tons and tossed it to another child who caught the huge rock and tossed it back. The woman smiled at the children, and when they saw her, they all came running over to her yelling, “Mama Allison, you are back!”
The nymph smiled at the children and she knelt down to hug them. Behind the children, she could see their mothers slumped against the cave wall. The women were exhausted, and she knew exactly why they were so tired.
One of the kids rushed up to Allison and said, “Today, we learned knife fighting from the warriors. I now know the best way to stab a man in order to kill him as quickly as possible!”
Allison patted the boy on the head. “That’s excellent! Where is your Uncle Aiden? I have some very important news to discuss with him.”
Allison’s twin brother suddenly appeared behind her. The young man was as strikingly handsome as she was beautiful. Allison wrapped her arm around her brother’s arm and she walked with him toward the front of the cave.
One of the kids grabbed Allison’s hand. “Mama Allison, is today the day that we get to leave the cave?”
She smiled at the boy as several of his brothers walked up behind him with eager eyes for an answer to the question. “No, not yet. We want it to be a very special day when you leave the cave, and today is not that day. You kids go and play. Keep up that boulder tossing. I want you to be as strong as you possibly can because your time is coming soon.”
The kids obeyed as Allison continued to walk her brother to the front of the cave. Aiden whispered in his sister’s ear, “Did the gods or humans notice your presence on the base?”
Allison nodded. “I drew the usual attention of some of the human males but no one of importance noticed me. Luke Davis mentioned us but even then, the gods were too arrogant to see if I was around. We are only worth the gods’ notice when they require our services.”
Aiden nodded. “So was your prediction correct? Did the gods come here to battle the Dark Ones?”
Allison smiled. “The gods’ ranks are severely depleted from their war with the humans and Chimera. They have come to forge an alliance with the humans to try and challenge the Dark Ones. In addition to their own monsters, The Dark Ones have also brought a fearsome monster known as Atomic Rex to this Earth to battle on their side.”
Aiden nodded. “The Dark Ones will destroy life in all of its forms. The gods are right to forge alliances to challenge them. Should we have the children join with them and fight the Dark Ones?”
Allison scowled at her brother. “Did I somehow take your intelligence when we were in mother’s womb?” She shook her head. “No. A war between our enemies will weaken them all. The Dark Ones, the gods, even the humans and Chimera will all come out weaker from this war. When the war nears its end, then if we need to strike, we will. In a war such as this, there will undoubtedly be opportunities for us to obtain weapons and artifacts that will strengthen our forces.” She turned and looked back at the cave. “Besides, our young warriors are not yet ready to challenge their sires or Chimera, and should they leave the cave, the gods would immediately become aware of their existence. We want to keep all of our assets a secret for as long as possible. Just as Zeus hid in a cave from Cronus, so do his bastards hide from him.” Allison looked back at her brother. “How was their training today?”
Aiden shrugged. “The warlords of the area employ remarkable fighters. The demi-gods are learning much from them. The warriors continue to accept the children’s mothers as payment.” Aiden rolled his head a little from side to side in discomfort. “I am not sure how much more the woman can endure. The treatment they receive at the hands of the warriors is mentally demeaning and physically harsh.”
Allison turned around and slapped her brother. “We have had to endure far worse depravity at the hands of the gods and goddess for centuries! How long did we have to survive by servicing their needs? Those human females have only had a small taste of what we have gone through. Their suffering will end, and they will be rewarded when their sons inherit this planet. Our time will come when this war ends.”
Aiden nodded. “What of Toombs? How is his work coming?”
Allison sneered. “That toad of a man’s newest project is almost complete, but again, we shall hold that chess piece until the last minute. He is currently working in Russia. It took a few distasteful encounters on my part, but I was able to convince the men in power there that Toombs could create them a monster even greater than Chimera. The fools actually think Toombs’ allegiance is to their money when in reality he is my puppet for a little more than a smile and a hug. Again, when our time arrives, Toombs’ new monster will crush those who financed his creation and join us.”
Chapter 5
Outskirts of Sahab, Libya
The hot sun continued to beat down on Atomic Rex as he made his way across the seemingly endless desert. The temperatures that were well in excess of one hundred degrees Fahrenheit did not physically affect the monster. When Atomic Rex unleashed his Atomic Wave blast, his skin was near the temperature of ground zero of a nuclear explosion. It was the endless sight of dry sand around him that was taking a mental toll on the monster.
Atomic Rex had always preferred to stay near the ocean whenever possible. He had found that food was more plentiful in the ocean. He also found that it was much easier to maneuver his massive body through the water than it was to walk across land. The lack of water around him made the volatile kaiju even more aggressive than usual. Even though he was on an Earth that was different from his own, Atomic Rex still had an innate sense of where he was in relation to the territory that he considered his. The kaiju knew exactly where North America was, and the monster was moving at top speed to reach his home. With his long strides and a body that was built for moving quickly over long distances, the monster had already traveled several hundred miles. Part of the reason that Atomic Rex found the walk through the desert so frustrating was that he knew he could reach North America much quicker by turning north and heading toward the Mediterranean Sea. By entering the water, the monster would be able to move at more than twice the speed that he was able to move on land. Additionally, he would likely find larger sources food in the water to help sustain the hunger that was slowly growing in his stomach.
The people and livestock that Atomic Rex had eaten since he had entered this world were not enough to satiate the kaiju’s need for meat. Atomic Rex was sure that the seas and oceans would hold large whales and fish that he could feast on if he reached the water. The monster was quickly growing hungry once again and while he knew that heading toward the Mediterranean Sea was in his best interests, there was some force that was compelling him against his will to make the trek to the Atlantic
Ocean by land instead of through the sea. As much as heat, hunger, and the endless desert angered Atomic Rex, the knowledge that something or someone else was causing him to go against his own will was enraging the beast.
Directly ahead of him, the monster could see the buildings of another city rising out of the desert. The nuclear theropod roared, as he realized that on this Earth, the sight of buildings meant the presence of humans. Atomic Rex knew that no matter how many of the small creatures he devoured, they would not be enough to truly ease his hunger. Still swallowing several thousand of the tiny creatures would ease his hunger until he reached the next city.
With the thought of eating driving out the realization that some outside force was influencing his decisions, Atomic Rex lowered his head and began charging toward the city of Sahab.
The kaiju was roughly two miles outside of the city when a strange cloud suddenly appeared in the sky above it. The cloud was dark and gray with lightning streaking out of it from all sides. Atomic Rex had seen many storms over the course of his long life, but he had never seen a single massive cloud that had lightning shooting out of it, not only toward the ground but also to the sky above it and toward the horizon.
Atomic Rex_The Conquest of Chimera Page 6
