Sally echoed her sister. “Yeah, Daddy, did Chimera get all of those bad monsters?”
Luke smiled at the girls and at the sight of his wife walking in from the back of the house to see him as well. He looked down at the girls. “Chimera is a little scratched up, but he is going to be fine. He beat up a giant crab octopus monster and a giant with like a hundred arms and heads. He ate his dinner and now he is resting.”
Melissa came over and gave Luke a kiss. She then looked down at their daughters and said, “It looks and smells like Daddy could use a shower, something to eat, and some rest too. Why don’t you two let Daddy shower off? Then we can eat dinner and let Daddy get some rest.”
Luke hugged his wife. “Maybe you girls can eat without me. I am going to shower and then catch a nap. I’m really tired. I’ll eat something when I wake up.”
The kids hugged their dad again and then they ran off to play. Melissa followed Luke toward the shower. She didn’t want to press her weary husband too much, but she knew that he would feel the need to talk to her about what happened.
When they entered the bathroom, Luke looked at Melissa. “Sorry, I couldn’t talk to you sooner. We had to move. It’s even worse than last time.”
Melissa closed the door so that the girls would not hear the more horrific parts of their father’s adventures. “I saw on the news about the attacks in Texas, Boston, and Baltimore.”
Luke turned on the shower to further block the sound of their conversation. “Stay calm when I tell you this until I can explain the entire scenario. Zeus and Odin are on the base.”
At hearing that Odin, the god who had kidnapped her and used her to ransom against Luke and Chimera, was on the base, Melissa gasped. She took several deep breaths. “Have we finally captured them?”
Luke shook his head. “No, they have come to us for help to fight creatures they call the Dark Ones. Titans and other beings older than themselves. While the gods just wanted to wipe out humans, these guys want to destroy all life on the planet. It seems they eat life force or something. Anyway, they came to see Parsons to enlist Chimera’s help in fighting off this threat. The titans unleashed some of their monsters on Earth and some kind of atomic dinosaur from another Earth who destroyed his world. Chimera fought off the two monsters I told the girls about, and Diana made some kind of a rock giant that killed the titan in Texas. It seems that the atomic dinosaur killed the god’s monster they sent after him.”
Melissa nodded. “So is this dinosaur the only threat left?”
Luke shrugged. “Parsons and the gods think that this is just sort of a first strike. There may be more coming, and the Dark Ones are most likely planning some sort of Doomsday move to end the world.” Luke finished taking off his clothes and he climbed into the shower.
As Luke climbed into the shower, Melissa locked the door to the bathroom, stripped off her clothes, and climbed into the shower with her husband. Luke looked at her with surprise. “Honey, the kids are still awake.”
She placed her finger over his mouth. “They’ll be fine for a while. Besides, we need to make sure that you sleep well so you can go and save the world later.”
Diana was too excited to sleep when she returned to her house. She was slightly intrigued by the prospect of a date with Captain Pressley. She knew that the pilot was a few years younger than her, but Diana also knew that she was not a typical woman in her late thirties either.
What really intrigued her was the fact that the ritual for creating a golem had worked. Given all that occurred in the war with the gods, she had some hope that the ritual would work, but she was far from sure. Her main concern was the fact that Zeus, Odin, and the other beings that she had encountered were not actually gods but interdimensional beings of vast power. The legend of the golem was connected to the Hebrew God of the Old Testament. This concept had several thoughts running through Diana’s mind and her vast knowledge of mythology and legend. Diana sat down at her computer and began typing out some of her thoughts.
Does the fact that the golem was created mean that what people think of as God truly exists? If the golem does confirm God’s existence, does it also confirm that like Odin and Zeus he is an extra-dimensional being? Will this question bring all of the world’s religion into question? Diana smiled to herself. Am I being too philosophical about all of this? Yes. She stood up from her computer, laughing at how deeply she was examining the entire situation when another series of thought crossed her mind. As she sat down, she added one more sentence to her hastily scrawled notes. If the Judeo/Christian God does exist, does that mean that creatures like the seven-headed dragon and the Leviathan mentioned in the Bible exist as well? If so, will we one day have to face them also?
Suddenly feeling much more fatigued than she had a moment ago, Diana closed out her computer and stood up. She shook her head. “Let’s focus on one Apocalypse at a time.”
Parsons allowed himself six hours of sleep before returning to Hangar Eighteen at three a.m. the morning after his mandatory twenty-four rest period. He walked into the hangar where one of his assistants greeted him with an egg sandwich, a black coffee, and the latest reports on the movements of Atomic Rex. Parsons read the reports as he walked to the command center of the hangar where both Zeus and Odin were waiting for him beneath the main display screen. Behind the two gods, Parsons communications team was tracking Atomic Rex and looking for the appearance of any other new kaiju.
Zeus was the first to speak. “The need you mortals have to sleep is quite time-consuming. We could have been planning the next phase of our defense hours ago if you were able to stay awake.”
Parsons was not usually a man who allowed himself to be irked by petty comments, but the stress he was under combined with a minimal amount of sleep had shortened his temper. He looked at Zeus. “Sleep allows us to refresh our minds and see things with a new clarity. Perhaps if you slept, you would have won the war and we wouldn’t be here right now. Of course, if that happened, you wouldn’t have had us and Chimera around to defeat three monsters for you already.”
The gods didn’t reply; they simply stared silently at Parsons. Seeing that he had made his point, Parsons got down to the task at hand. He turned on the display screen to show a map of Africa with a dot moving across the country of Algeria. “Atomic Rex is still making his way across Africa in a westerly direction. It seems that he is headed for the city if Adrar.” Parsons turned to the gods with a quizzical look on his face. “You had said that the Dark Ones absorb life force and that they would use Atomic Rex to kill as many people as possible. However, when he was approaching the city of Sahab, the kaiju simply passed by it. Any idea why the Dark Ones would’ve had him skip a city with several hundred thousand people in it when they supposedly want to kill as much life as possible?”
Zeus and Odin exchanged glances. “I cannot say. Atomic Rex is unknown to us and his power is far greater than any other creature that we or the Dark Ones have ever commanded. They are not as adept in controlling their monsters as we are. It is possible that their control over the kaiju is not as complete as it is over their other monsters.”
Parsons nodded. “That’s something to keep in mind.” He turned his focus back to the monitor. “Whatever level of control the Dark Ones have over him, Atomic Rex is closing in on the city of Adrar and it doesn’t look like he is going to pass it by. The city is being evacuated, but the evacuation will only be twenty percent complete by the time the monster reaches it. I want you to send the Phoenix to intercept him. Atomic Rex seems like a nasty character, but our reports indicate that he needs to absorb nuclear energy to survive. I saw in her battle with Atlas, that the Phoenix can regenerate herself when she dies. While Atomic Rex may initially slay the Phoenix, your monster can win a battle of attrition. She may die several times, but from what you’ve said and what we have seen of Atomic Rex, he won’t back down from a battle. The idea will be for the Phoenix to battle Atomic Rex until he runs out of energy.”
Zeus nodded as Odin
replied, “You are indeed wise in the ways of war, General. You have a talent for noticing and utilizing the strengths of those under your command.”
Parsons nodded in reply and then he took a sip of his coffee. The general had been in enough negations to know when someone was patronizing him. He was also wise enough to not let the other party know he was aware of the patronizing. He focused back on the issue of the Dark Ones. “We will have to teleport the Phoenix to Algeria in the next twenty minutes before Atomic Rex reaches Adrar. Before we do that though, you had said the attacks so far were simply first strikes designed so that the Dark Ones could amass more life energy to mount a world-ending assault. Do you have any idea what form this assault might come in, and do you think we will need the Phoenix on hand to fight off this assault should it occur soon?”
Odin shrugged. “When the Dark Ones have the power they require, they will attempt to cause some extinction-level event. This event could be in the form of directing a comet or asteroid to Earth. It could be the creation of a new ice age or any other catastrophic event that would extinguish all life on the planet. To attempt such an act, the Dark Ones themselves will need to be on the Earth. The moment that they enter this plane of existence, we shall be aware of it.”
Parsons nodded. “When they enter this plane of existence, will Chimera be able to defeat them?”
Zeus laughed. “Millennia ago, it took the combined might of my gods and the cyclops when I was at full power to defeat Cronus and his titans! Your beast may be mighty, but these are cosmic beings he will be facing. Your monster will die if he challenges one of the Dark Ones alone. He will be as a lamb challenging a lion!”
Odin placed his hand on Zeus’ shoulder. “Still, if you were to return Thor’s belt to me, it would significantly increase my own strength and power. Together, Chimera and I could defeat the Dark Ones. Should the Phoenix be available to us as well, the three of us will crush the Dark Ones!”
Parsons nodded and shifted his gaze to Zeus. “All right then. I want you to send the Phoenix to intercept Atomic Rex before he reaches Adrar. Otherwise, we will wait and see what the Dark Ones’ next move is.”
Zeus nodded and then in a flash of lightning, he was gone.
Parsons looked over at the main display screen. He could see the dot that was Atomic Rex closing in on the city of Adrar. He yelled out to the people working the communications display. “I want the satellite feed as close on Atomic Rex as possible! I also want Luke and Diana here ASAP!”
One of the people at the display screen yelled, “Yes, sir!” He then focused the satellite’s camera as tightly as he could to show Atomic Rex walking through the desert. The monster was moving at a steady pace until he saw a large storm cloud suddenly forming in front of him.
Chapter 10
The desert, 6 miles west of Adrar, Algeria
Atomic Rex could feel whatever force was influencing him attempting to direct him to the city ahead. The kaiju was not hungry, having devoured the Griffin only a day ago. The monster did, however, feel a slight desire to replenish the nuclear power stored within his cells. Atomic Rex could not sense any source of nuclear energy within the city and his keen sense of smell told him that even if he was hungry, the city was already partially empty.
The city currently held no value to the monster and he desired to walk past it and continue his journey back to the Americas, but the entity that was in his head continued to push him toward Adrar. In his mind, Atomic Rex continued to struggle against the will of Cronus, but for now, the will of the titan was winning out.
In the space between dimensions, Cronus struggled to keep his hold on Atomic Rex. The monster’s fighting spirit simply refused to give in to another’s will. Cronus realized that he was using nearly as much energy to control Atomic Rex as the beast gained for him by killing people. He began to reconsider his plan to have the nuclear theropod trek halfway around the world while he directed the monster’s will. Had Cronus simply placed Atomic Rex in the Americas, the monster may very well have taken more than enough lives to deliver the power that Cronus and the others needed to defeat the humans. Cronus had underestimated Atomic Rex and put too much value in his own abilities. The titan considered simply teleporting the kaiju to the Americas, but such an act would prove detrimental to him in numerous ways.
First of all, teleporting the creature would take a tremendous amount of energy and there was no guarantee that the monster would immediately head for the most populated areas on the continents. If the beast did not head for population centers, then Cronus and the other Dark Ones would not receive the amount of life energy that they required to be assured of completing the tasks before them.
The second and more grievous concern was that veering away from his stated plan would show Tiamat and Surtr that he did not have total control over Atomic Rex. Cronus knew that the other two Dark Ones were already beginning to suspect that this was the case. Surtr and Tiamat reluctantly viewed Cronus as their leader since he was inherently the most powerful between the three of them. If they were given the slightest evidence that Cronus was not as all powerful as he portrayed, there was every chance that his fellow Dark Ones would turn on him.
With those factors weighing on his mind, Cronus continued to struggle against Atomic Rex’s will power in order to control the beast. The titan was slowly forcing the kaiju toward Adrar when a storm cloud appeared in front of him and the flame-covered Phoenix sprang forth from it. Cronus could feel the anger swell within Atomic Rex at the sight of another kaiju. The titan knew that attempting to steer the nuclear theropod toward the city was a useless gesture at this point. Once Atomic Rex saw another kaiju, he was immediately overwhelmed by the urge to slay the creature and no force in the cosmos was capable of dissuading him from doing so.
Atomic Rex shook his head and roared at the Phoenix as it flew circles in the sky above him. The Phoenix circled the nuclear theropod three times before slowing down and hovering directly over the reptile. Atomic Rex looked up and roared at the fire bird as it floated just out of his reach. The Phoenix screech in reply to Atomic Rex’s challenge and began to flap her wings in rapid succession. The rate of flapping increased until a pillar of flames shot down from her wings and engulfed Atomic Rex.
Atomic Rex was driven to the ground by the force of the Phoenix’s attack. The monster was lying flat on his stomach as the heat from the Phoenix’s flames scorched his body and turned the sand he was laying on into molten glass. Atomic Rex’s body was racked with pain, but the searing pain only served to further enrage the monster. As the pillar of flames continued to push Atomic Rex to the ground, the kaiju placed his powerful arms beneath his body and began to push himself back into a standing position. The beast’s outer layer of scales was beginning to burn off by the time he had reached his feet. The monster shook his head in anger at the thought of the Phoenix trying to kill him with flames. Atomic Rex had been born in fire and that power was his to control.
The monster lifted his leg into the air and as he did so, he reached deep into his cells to extract the nuclear energy within them. The outer layer of Atomic Rex’s scales began to glow blue. As they did, the flames that were surrounding him began to be pushed back. Atomic Rex roared as he slammed his foot into the ground and unleashed his devastating Atomic Wave. A blue dome of pure radioactive energy expanded out from Atomic Rex’s body. As the dome expanded, it pushed the pillar of fire away from Atomic Rex and when the apex of the dome struck the underbelly of the Phoenix, it burned the creature and threw her into the air.
The Phoenix tumbled through the air and came crashing down onto the desert floor several hundred feet from where Atomic Rex was standing. The nuclear theropod turned toward his prey and charged. The Phoenix was in the process of standing up when Atomic Rex crashed into her and wrapped his arms around her. Atomic Rex lifted the Phoenix over his head and then he slammed her down hard onto the desert floor. The Phoenix was lying flat on her back when Atomic Rex lifted his foot into the air and stomped h
ard on her chest, breaking several of her ribs in the process.
The Phoenix screeched in pain as she felt her bones crack. The Phoenix then threw her wings up toward Atomic Rex. When her wings reached their full extent, twin fireballs sprang forth from them. The fireballs struck Atomic Rex in the chest and face, knocking the kaiju off the Phoenix and causing him to take several steps backwards. The Phoenix regained her feet and threw another pair of fireballs at Atomic Rex before she took to the sky once again.
Once she was in the air, the Phoenix flew away from Atomic Rex and over the city Adrar. When she reached the edge of the city, she made a tight turn and began flying back toward Atomic Rex. As she approached the nuclear theropod, the Phoenix increased her speed and with the increase in speed, the flames that wreathed her body began to expand. The Phoenix had covered half of the distance between herself and Atomic Rex when her entire body became covered in flames.
Atomic Rex saw the living comet streaking toward him and he roared as he braced himself for impact. The Phoenix flew directly into Atomic Rex and when her flaming body struck the reptilian creature, it caused a massive explosion. Both Atomic Rex and the Phoenix disappeared within the blast. The flames from the explosion raced across the desert and toward the outskirts of Adrar. When it had reached its full extent, the blast had covered nearly three-square miles of the desert in flames.
When the flames reached their farthest point, they suddenly snapped back to their point of origin. The Phoenix was standing in the center of a smoke-filled crater as she drew the fire back into her body. Once she had absorbed all of the flames back into herself, The Phoenix turned around to look down at the dead body of Atomic Rex. To her surprise, the kaiju’s body was nowhere to be found. The Phoenix shifted her head from side to side looking for the corpse of Atomic Rex, but her vision was obscured by the smoke that surrounded her. The fire bird began to flap her wings as she attempted to rise above the smoke when Atomic Rex’s jaws closed around her neck.
Atomic Rex_The Conquest of Chimera Page 12
