Atomic Rex_The Conquest of Chimera

by Matthew Dennion

  The captain was holding onto his swivel chair as he tried to maintain his footing. Brand had decided that if he was going to die fighting a monster, he would do so on his feet rather than on his knees. Brand continued to struggle to maintain his balance when he saw a massive storm cloud with lightning streaking out of it suddenly appear on shore near the now destroyed national aquarium.

  Brand thought that the storm cloud was some other phenomenon generated by the Hecatonchires that would end the lives of him and his men. The captain started to pray that the good Lord would accept him into his kingdom when his prayers were answered in a very different way. Brand’s eyes went wide when he saw the distinctive sperm whale head and lion’s mane of Chimera burst out of the cloud. The captain called out over the communication system. “All hands, work to stabilize the ship and keep it afloat! Chimera has just arrived! We need to hold out until he can take care of this monster!” Brand heard a cheer echo throughout the ship at the mention of Chimera’s name and the captain allowed a miniscule sliver of hope enter his mind that his ship and his crew might survive this attack.

  Chimera roared the moment that he saw the Hecatonchires heading for the Argos. The hybrid often slept and was fed aboard the Argos. To Chimera, the Argos was a second home. The kaiju did not wait for Luke’s command. He simply charged into the water toward the misshapen horror.

  Luke emerged from the cloud to see Chimera wading into the Chesapeake Bay. Once he saw the Argos, he immediately understood why Chimera had not waited for him. Luke was fully aware of the relationship that Chimera had formed with the ship. He screamed, “That’s it, Chimera! Go and protect your territory!”

  Chimera looked toward the Argos as it listed dangerously from side to side with waterspouts spinning around it and the Hecatonchires quickly closing in on it. The kaiju realized that he was not going to be able to reach the many-armed giant before he destroyed the ship. Chimera fell into a crouching stance and unleashed a tightly focused sonic blast at the mythical monster. Chimera watched in surprise as several of the Hecatonchires’ arms and heads spasmed but for the most part, the monster seemed unaffected by the blast. Chimera leapt forward, deeper into the water, and he fired a second sonic blast with the same result.

  Luke was watching from the shoreline and doing his best to avoid flying debris. He whispered to himself, “All of the arms and heads. The Hecatonchires has fifty brains and a nervous system that is incalculably long. If Chimera’s sonic blast is spread across a nervous system that large, its effectiveness must be severely diminished.”

  Luke lifted his megaphone to his mouth and yelled into it, “Chimera, swim! You are going to have to swim out and attack him!” Luke stared at Chimera after he had given the command. Up until this point, Luke had only given the kaiju one-word commands such as attack or stop. Luke had no idea if the monster would be able to understand a complete sentence.

  Chimera briefly looked at Luke and then he turned back around and strode out into the water. Luke didn’t know if Chimera understood his order or if the kaiju simply realized that his sonic attack was not working on his own and decided to use a new approach. Whatever the reason for Chimera’s change in tactics, Luke was glad that the monster was going after the Hecatonchires because the ancient creature had reached the Argos.

  The storm and the rough seas were tossing the Argos from side to side. With each wave the rolled over its bow, the Argos tipped closer to capsizing. Captain Brand was doing his best to keep his composure as he screamed out the orders for his men to continue to try and balance the ship and pump out any water that had managed to find its way into the Argos. Brand knew that his crew was only buying time and that their only hope was Chimera. He was doing his best to hold onto his chair and keep his eye on the approaching Hecatonchires. The ancient beast had just about reached the Argos and between his limited weapons and the rough storms and waves, Brand was helpless to do anything to stop the creature.

  Luke watched from the shoreline as the Hecatonchires approached the Argos. When the ancient horror reached the ship, Luke was slightly relieved to see that the monster was roughly a quarter the size of the Argos. Luke thought to himself that the Argos was designed to carry Chimera, so it made sense that the Hecatonchires would not be as large as the huge ship. Luke shifted his gaze to Chimera and he could see the monster stretched out and swimming along the surface of the water like a living torpedo. Luke breathed a brief sigh of relief. “There is no way the monster can do enough to seriously damage the Argos before Chimera reaches him.” As if in response to Luke’s claim, the Hecatonchires walked up next to the hull of the ship and the monster’s hundred arms began moving in a blur. Luke shook his head. “My God, it moves like some kind of a giant tree shredder.”

  The blur that was the Hecatonchires’ arms connected with the hull of the Argos, tearing through thick steel as if it were paper. Luke watched in horror as water rushed into the hull of the ship. He then watched as the Hecatonchires reached into a chasm he had created to grab several sailors and toss them into his mouth. Luke saw Chimera rear up behind the Hecatonchires and he cheered at the thought of the horror of the attack being over, but his hopes were quickly dashed.

  Chimera stood up behind the Hecatonchires in what was hip-deep water to the two monsters. The hybrid reached out to grab the Greek horror, but as soon as Chimera’s arms touched the spinning blur, Chimera was thrown backward into the ocean. Chimera fell beneath the churning waves and then he immediately stood back up. When he resurfaced above the water, the Hecatonchires was staring at Chimera. The monster had taken his focus off the now sinking Argos and was completely focused on Chimera. The Hecatonchires’ arms were still moving in a blur around his body with his fifty heads just above them, all snarling at Chimera.

  The hybrid kaiju roared and then threw a punch at the Hecatonchires only to have his hand sliced open and deflected by the movements of the mythical creature’s arms. Chimera pitched forward off balance and before he could regain his footing, several of the Hecatonchires’ countless arms reached out and grabbed the hybrid’s arms. With the man-made kaiju caught in his grasp, the Hecatonchires turned his buzz saw attack on Chimera. The Hecatonchires struck Chimera dozens of times per second, both rocking the kaiju and cutting into him with each blow. Chimera could feel the skin being flayed off his face. The kaiju instinctively tried to fire a tightly focused sonic blast at the ancient beast but as before, the attack was ineffectual against the complex central nervous system of the Hecatonchires.

  Chimera’s own blood was spraying over his body and dripping from his face. Trying desperately to find a way to escape the Hecatonchires’ death grip, Chimera dropped to his knees and submerged his head and body below the waterline. Above the waterline, the Hecatonchires still had a grip on Chimera’s hands and arms. With Chimera’s face and torso below the water, the Hecatonchires turned his swirling attack on Chimera’s arms. Beneath the waves, Chimera roared in pain as the sheer speed of the Hecatonchires’ attack began to tear the skin off his arms. Chimera opened his eyes to see that in contrast to the Hecatonchires hundred arms and fifty heads, the strange creature only had two legs. Realizing his opponent’s weakness, Chimera’s head shot forward and he closed his jaws on the Hecatonchires’ left leg. Chimera tasted the satisfying sensation of the Hecatonchires’ blood filling his mouth and he continued to tear into the beast’s leg. Chimera felt the Hecatonchires’ release the hold on his arms and the buzz saw-like attack stop as all one hundred of the monster’s hands tried to reach down and grab him.

  Chimera felt several of the hands reaching for his mane. The intelligent hybrid knew that if the Hecatonchires was able to pull him back to the surface, he would die. To prevent this from happening, Chimera used the same tactic that the Kraken had tried to utilize on him. Chimera flapped his powerful fluke tail and began swimming farther out into the Atlantic with the Hecatonchires’ leg still trapped in his mouth. The moment that Chimera took off, the Hecatonchires fell back into the water.

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sp; Luke was watching the Hecatonchires’ arms and heads all writhing on the surface of the bay as Chimera dragged the creature out to deeper waters. Diana had recently insisted that he watch the film Jaws with her and as the writhing heads and arms of the Hecatonchires were pulled out to sea, Luke was reminded of the young Chrissy screaming for her life as the shark had its way with her. While Luke felt pity for the character in the movie, he hoped that the Hecatonchires was experiencing the same fear of dying as all of the people he devoured felt as he was eating them. As Chimera pulled the Hecatonchires farther out to sea, the storms, waves, and waterspouts the monster had created began to dissipate. Luke watched as the Argos began to slowly stabilize. He could see the sailors who had managed to survive the beast’s attack manning lifeboats. Luke had been on the Argos long enough to know that the men and women on board were more than capable of making it to shore from their current position. He figured that the Argos was most likely lost, but he thought that most of the crew would escape with their lives. Luke ran to the most stable remaining dock where he guessed that the sailors would head to in order to assist them in any way possible. As he was standing on the dock, he took one more look at the horizon to see Chimera and the Hecatonchires dive beneath the water.

  When the Hecatonchires felt himself being pulled beneath the waves, all of its heads that were above water inhaled. With lungs connected to fifty different heads, the beast could hold its breath for hours at a time, so it was in no danger of drowning. The danger of losing his leg, however, was very real as Chimera continued to maul the appendage.

  Chimera dove and pulled the Hecatonchires underwater where he bit down hard into the misshapen creature’s leg. When Chimera felt his teeth strike bone, the monster twisted his head, causing the Hecatonchires’ left leg to break.

  A stream of bubbles escaped the Hecatonchires’ heads as they screamed in pain and unleashed the oxygen that had been stored in their lungs. When the air left the monster’s body, Chimera could feel the beast’s buoyancy dramatically decrease. With the Hecatonchires left leg still trapped in his jaws, Chimera unsheathed his thick claws. He then reached behind the Hecatonchires and raked his claw across the back of the creature’s right leg, slicing its hamstring to pieces. Chimera put his feet out in front of him as he landed on the ocean floor. He then jerked his head down and slammed the Hecatonchires onto the rocky ocean bottom. A cloud of blood and sand formed around the Hecatonchires as the monster struggled to stand up and make its way to the surface to fill its lungs with air.

  The Hecatonchires had managed to get its legs under itself, but the badly damaged appendages immediately gave way under the beast’s disproportionately weighted body. Chimera swam circles around the Hecatonchires as it struggled to find a way to swim back to the surface. Chimera watched as the Hecatonchires began to move its arms in unison below it to propel itself up. With the monster’s hundred arms now in motion behind it, its fifty heads were exposed.

  When Chimera saw that the Hecatonchires was defenseless, he darted toward it. Chimera slammed his thick skull into nearly a dozen of the Hecatonchires’ heads that were positioned at the top of his body. Most of the heads were completely crushed, while those that survived were badly stunned. Additionally, the blow also knocked the Hecatonchires back to the ocean floor. The Hecatonchires’ lungs were close to bursting from lack of oxygen and its legs were bleeding badly as the monster tried to pick itself up off the bottom of the ocean yet again. The Hecatonchires looked above him to see Chimera swimming down toward him. At the sight of the approaching hybrid, the Hecatonchires panicked. The Hecatonchires’ arms and heads began moving wildly in uncontrolled motions. The beast’s remaining heads looked up one last time to see Chimera’s skull collided with them. Several more heads were crushed by the impact of Chimera’s spermaceti reinforced head. With nearly half of its heads destroyed, and its remaining brains suffering from lack of oxygen, the Hecatonchires’ arms fell limp to its sides. With the monster standing helpless before him, Chimera unsheathed his claws and he began to tear apart the misshapen monster one arm at a time until all that remained of the Hecatonchires was a bloody pillar of crushed heads.

  Chimera pushed the lifeless body of the Hecatonchires away from him and then he swam back to the surface. When Chimera surfaced, he looked toward the shore to see the remains of the Argos sticking out of the water. Chimera dove forward and swam back to the remains of the ship that housed and fed him from most of his life.

  When Luke saw Chimera approaching the Argos, he grabbed his megaphone and yelled, “Chimera, stop!” The monster complied with the request and Luke yelled, “Good job, Chimera!” Luke wanted to at least give the kaiju a verbal reinforcer for following his command. There were still roughly twenty lifeboats trying to make their way to shore and Luke was afraid that the act of Chimera simply swimming to shore could endanger them. Luke looked at Chimera standing next to the demolished Argos. Aside from the blood dripping out of the wounds on Chimera’s arms and face, Luke could see that the kaiju was hurt by the loss of the ship that he thought of as a part of his home. Luke heard a crack of lightning behind him and turned around to see Zeus standing behind him. The sailors that were coming ashore were reaching for any weapon they could find to attack the god. Luke saw what was happening and he yelled, “Wait! I am Luke Davis. Many of you know me and for those who don’t, I am Chimera’s trainer. I can speak for General Parsons that for now, Zeus is on our side!”

  Some of the sailors shook their heads in compliance with Luke’s declaration while others kept their gaze fixed on Zeus. The King of Olympus pointed out over the water at Chimera. “The beast has not only defeated me, but he slew the Kraken and the Hecatonchires in consecutive battles. Truly, he is a force to be reckoned with.” Zeus looked down at Luke. “The general known as Parsons has asked me to return you and the monster to Chimera Base. He wishes to review the battles that have occurred and plan our next missions in this war.”

  Luke nodded in reply. “That sounds good. I am exhausted, and Chimera will need time to recover as well before he fights again.” Zeus nodded and as he lifted his hand, storm clouds formed around both Luke and over Chimera who was still in the water. There was a bright flash and then they were gone.

  Luke found himself back at Chimera Base standing in front of Hangar Eighteen. Luke looked up into the bloody face of Chimera. Luke smiled at his friend and shouted through his megaphone, “Good work, Chimera! You can eat!” He then pointed to the hangar that held the thousands of pounds of beef, squid, and bamboo that Chimera ate on a daily basis. The weary monster walked over to the hangar and as he was approaching it, the men who worked there pulled back the retractable roof so that the kaiju had access to his food. As Chimera was eating, a storm cloud appeared near Luke. General Parsons, Diana, and Zeus all walked out of the cloud. As if he sensed their arrival, Odin also walked out of the hanger to join the others.

  Parsons looked at the bloodied Chimera and then he turned to Luke. “I take it that you two were successful?”

  Luke nodded. “Chimera is a little beat up, but the Kraken and the Hecatonchires have both been slain.” Luke frowned and shrugged his shoulders. “Sadly, we lost the Argos in the process. What about you guys?”

  Diana smiled. “Project G was a success! Grimm kicked Atlas’ ass!”

  Parsons nodded. “We lost some jets and pilots, but we stopped Atlas from reaching another city and the Phoenix is still alive.” He turned to Zeus. “How did the Griffin fair with Atomic Rex?”

  Zeus shook his head. “The reptile’s power is greater than I had thought. Atomic Rex slew the Griffin and he is still making his way across Africa.”

  Parsons looked at Chimera and then at the rest of his team. “It’s clear that Chimera, as well as the rest of us, need some rest. I will suggest that the cities directly in front of Atomic Rex be evacuated as quickly as possible. It’s clear that having the military attacking him will only cost us more lives. We are going to take tomorrow to rest and we will not go back
into battle until two days from now. Throwing Chimera into another battle while he is hurt may cause us to lose him. It’s better to have him rest up to fight another day than to rush him into a fight he isn’t ready for.”

  Luke nodded. “When he is done eating, I will tell him to go into the forest and sleep. He heals pretty quickly. I think in twenty-four hours he will be pretty much one hundred percent.”

  Parsons nodded. “Good. You and Diana rest up too.” A soldier came running out of Hangar Eighteen with a tablet in his hand that he gave to Parsons. Parsons read the information on the device and then he reported it to the rest of the group. “It’s a report from Captain Brand. Most of the crew of the Argos has survived. The Argos’ sister ship, the Hudson, is currently being constructed in the bay of the same name. The ship is roughly fifty percent complete. The construction of the Hudson is now a top priority and it should be seaworthy in a few days. I have also been in touch with General Cabollo. He will see to the disposal of Atlas’ corpse down in Texas. I will catch a few hours of sleep. Then I will confer with Zeus and Odin on what the next moves our enemies will be and how we can address the threat of Atomic Rex.”

  Chapter 9

  Chimera Base

  Luke stumbled into his house on the base. He was exhausted and barely able to stand, but when his two daughters came running toward the door to hug him, he felt slightly invigorated. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around his children. Suzie yelled, “Dad, you’re home! What happened? Is Chimera okay?”