Atomic Rex and Chimera crashed into each other with the force of opposing hurricanes. The monsters bit and clawed at each other as they grappled for position. Being the thicker and heavier of the two monsters, Chimera was able to wrap his arms around Atomic Rex. The hybrid monster shifted Atomic Rex slightly to his right and then he shifted the saurian kaiju hard to his left, throwing the reptilian beast to the ground.
Atomic Rex rolled with the momentum of the throw as soon as he hit the ground. The nuclear theropod sprang to his feet and then leapt at Chimera. While Chimera was heavier and stronger than Atomic Rex, the saurian monster was by far the more agile of the two monsters. Atomic Rex clamped his jaws shut around the upper half of Chimera’s right arm and used his claws to tear gashes into the hybrid monster’s back and chest.
Chimera responded by landing three right-hook punches to Atomic Rex’s ribs and a chop to the back of the monster’s neck that forced him to release his bite. Chimera then used his right arm to hit Atomic Rex with an uppercut that snapped his jaws shut and forced his head back. Atomic Rex stumbled backward from the blow and he took a step toward the portal. Seeing an opportunity to force Atomic Rex through the portal, Chimera lowered his head and drove it into the reptile’s chest, causing him to take another step toward Asgard.
The hybrid monster tried to land another punch, but Atomic Rex ducked the blow and slid under it. He then moved behind Chimera and sprang onto the hybrid’s back. Atomic Rex dug the claws on his feet into Chimera’s lower back and the claws on his hands into Chimera’s shoulders. The nuclear theropod then bit down on the back of Chimera’s neck.
Back on the deck of the Hudson, Thor was still screaming. “Mortals, are you deaf and dumb? For the sake of all life in existence, bring me my belt so that I may battle Jormungand! It is our destiny to die fighting each other, but I will not be able to slay him without my belt!”
The fearless general Parsons walked directly up to Thor. “We don’t have your belt! I suggest that you worry about saving your city. Any minute now, either Atomic Rex or Chimera will be going through the portal to Asgard with the intent to destroy it. Unless, of course, if you can send them to wherever Cronus is hiding.”
Thor shrugged. “My forces are prepared to send either your behemoth or the leviathan to do battle with Cronus, but without my belt of power, it matters not. Jormungand will destroy this Earth and every other Earth then he will turn to Asgard and we cannot stop him.”
Everyone on deck was quiet for a moment before Diana screamed, “Wait! There might be a way to give us a shot at defeating Jormungand!” She looked at Thor. “You teleported here, right? Just like Zeus?”
Thor nodded. “Aye, fair one. All thunder gods are able to teleport.”
Diana smiled. “All right, here is what I propose.”
Atomic Rex was having difficulty biting through Chimera’s thick mane in order to reach his spine. Chimera reached behind him with both hands and grabbed Atomic Rex by the neck and shoulder. He then pulled as hard as he could while ducking down at the same time. The maneuver allowed Chimera to slam Atomic Rex onto the ground back first. Atomic Rex stood up only to have Chimera spin around and strike him in the side with his thick tail, knocking the nuclear theropod down once more.
Atomic Rex looked up to see Chimera above him with his fist clenched. The hybrid threw his punch at the saurian kaiju, but Atomic Rex shifted his body to the right in order to avoid the blow. Chimera’s hand slammed into the ground and it caused him to lose his balance. Chimera was trying to steady himself when Atomic Rex sprang back to his feet and wrapped his arms around Chimera’s chest. The saurian monster bit into Chimera’s right shoulder, causing even more blood to flow down the hybrid’s back. Atomic Rex then stepped forward and in a display of his own considerable strength, he threw Chimera to the ground.
The nuclear theropod leapt onto the downed Chimera’s torso. Atomic Rex then opened his jaws wide to tear out Chimera’s throat but before he could do so, Chimera swatted the reptile off his chest. Atomic Rex stumbled off Chimera and then fell onto the ground. Both monsters stood up at the same time and then they stared at each other. Chimera threw his arms out again and roared. In response to Chimera’s roar, Atomic Rex’s scales began to glow a bright blue color.
On the deck of the Hudson, Parsons was shaking his head. “I am sorry, Diana, but we can’t trust the gods! They have already proven that when Odin tried to take over Atomic Rex! Why should I trust his son now?”
Diana threw her hands into the air. “Because we have no other choice!” She pointed to the island and the clashing monsters. “Look at the way those two are going against each other! No matter which one of them wins, the other is going to be in too a bad shape to fight something like Jormungand ! Let Thor help force Atomic Rex through the portal. Then he can take Luke and Pressley in the helicopter, and Chimera to engage Jormungand! It’s the only hope we have! Jormungand will reach the US in less than an hour and we don’t have anything even remotely capable of stopping him! Legend says that Thor is supposed to stop Jormungand but without his belt, Thor’s only hope of stopping Jormungand is with Chimera’s help!”
Parsons gritted his teeth. “Fine, let’s go with your plan.” Thor nodded at Diana and then he flew toward Baffin and the clashing monsters. Parsons yelled at Luke and Pressley, “Get back in the air. You two need to be ready to teleport, helicopter and all, as soon as Thor and Chimera force, Atomic Rex into that portal! Once you get to wherever Jormungand is, radio in your position. Your helicopter likely won’t have enough fuel to return to shore, but we will send the nearest vessel out to retrieve you. If you need to utilize the life raft, make damn sure that you have the beacon on it!”
Atomic Rex lifted his leg into the air and then he slammed it into the ground, unleashing his Atomic Wave. A blue dome of pure radiation shot out from Atomic Rex and stuck Chimera. The hybrid monster had never felt pain or power to the levels that the Atomic Wave hit him with. Chimera could feel the outer layer of skin on the front part of his body being burned to a crisp. The sheer force of the blast him was enough to send Chimera flying backward several hundred feet before he landed on his back.
Chimera looked up from the ground to see Atomic Rex coming toward him. The hybrid turned his head in Atomic Rex’s direction and then he fired a tightly focused sonic blast at him. Atomic Rex’s arms shot out to their full extent, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his tongue slid out his mouth as a result of his central nervous system being disabled. The nuclear theropod took a step backward and then he fell to the ground.
Chimera forced himself to stand. He then started walking over toward Atomic Rex. Chimera stood over Atomic Rex and he delivered two thunderous blows to the saurian kaiju’s head that drove it into the ground. Chimera was about to throw another punch when Atomic Rex slashed Chimera across the stomach with his clawed toes, forcing the hybrid to take a step back. The nuclear theropod quickly stood and slashed Chimera twice across the face with his clawed hands. He then wrapped his arms around Chimera and tossed him back to the ground.
Atomic Rex loomed over the downed Chimera. He was preparing to go for the hybrid’s throat again when lightning began to reign down on him from the sky. Bolt after bolt of electricity struck Atomic Rex, forcing the monster to back away from Chimera and toward the portal. Chimera regained his feet and hit Atomic Rex with another sonar blast that disoriented the monster. Chimera suddenly detected a familiar and hated scent to his left. He looked over to see Thor standing next to him and making the same gesture Luke had made to push Atomic Rex through the portal. Thor then stepped forward and threw his hammer at Atomic Rex. The weapon struck Atomic Rex in the chest and caused him to take another step toward the portal.
Atomic Rex roared in anger at this new creature that had attacked him. The kaiju could sense that this new attacker was similar to the second being who had tried to control him. The one-eyed giant he had slain when they battled in the woods. The monster roared a challenge at this attack
er. Atomic Rex was now determined to destroy this giant just as he had the larger one-eyed giant.
Chimera was unsure of why Thor was helping him, but the kaiju decided to accept the god’s assistance, since he had given the same gesture toward Atomic Rex as Luke. Chimera could see that Atomic Rex was starting to regain his senses, so he charged at the mutant dinosaur. Chimera hit Atomic Rex with two punches that caused the nuclear theropod to move closer to the portal with each blow.
Atomic Rex ducked a third blow then he slashed Chimera across the face with his left claw. The saurian monster head was moving forward to bite Chimera when he was struck in the jaw by Thor’s hammer. The blow stunned Atomic Rex. With his opponent stunned, Chimera lowered his head and rammed it into Atomic Rex’s chest, knocking him through the portal.
Chimera roared triumphantly as Pressley was flying his helicopter back toward the island. Chimera looked at the helicopter to see Luke sitting inside of it. Chimera heard Luke yelling, “Thor, now! Teleport us now!” There was a bright flash of lightning and then the helicopter, Thor, and Chimera disappeared.
Chapter 18
Atlantic Ocean
Chimera dropped down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean roughly two hundred miles off the US East Coast. The monster was surprised to find himself suddenly moved from the dark skies of Baffin Island to a sunny day in the ocean. The hybrid instinctively sent out a sonar pulse to determine what was around him. The monster was confused when the pulse bounced back, indicating that an incredibly huge object was heading his way. Chimera sent out a second pulse which yielded the same result.
Chimera swam to the surface of the water and he looked in the direction the pulse indicated that the object was coming from. Chimera saw a humongous swell of water moving his direction. In the middle of the water swell, Chimera could see the face of a snake that was many times larger than his entire body.
Chimera heard Luke’s voice shouting at him from above. The kaiju shifted his eyes skyward to see Luke in a helicopter with Thor floating beside him. Luke pointed at the quickly approaching swell of water and yelled, “Chimera, attack!” Chimera roared in response to his trainer’s command and then started swimming toward the oncoming Jormungand.
When Thor saw Chimera charging the World Serpent, he screamed, “Truly, the behemoth is fearless!” The thunder god then lifted his hammer above his head, “Hear me, Jormungand, I may not be at my strongest, but I am far from powerless!” Large dark clouds began to gather above Thor’s hammer. Once the sky was completely blanketed with storm clouds, Thor began to swirl his hammer around above head. The movement from Thor’s hammer caused lightning to dance across the dark clouds. Thor then screamed and pointed his hammer at Jormungand which caused dozens of lightning bolts to streak down at the giant snake.
Hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity struck Jormungand, but the World Serpent was unaffected by the attack. The look of confidence on Thor’s face disappeared after his most powerful attack failed to harm his enemy.
Chimera had closed roughly half the distance between himself and Jormungand when he popped his head above water. The monster fired one of his tightly focused sonar blasts at Jormungand in hopes of disrupting the serpent’s central nervous system. Chimera saw Jormungand shake his head but otherwise, the snake was unaffected by the sonar blast.
Pressley looked back at Luke. “Permission to attack Jormungand, sir?”
Luke was surprised that the pilot was asking his permission, but he guessed that Pressley was just following the procedures of his military training. Luke nodded. “Hell yes! Hit him with everything you can!”
Pressley flew toward Jormungand. The massive snake was swimming along the surface of the water and his mile wide and nearly thirty-mile-long body presented the pilot with an easy target. Pressley flew his helicopter over Jormungand’s body, attacking it with bullets, bombs, and missiles. The section of Jormungand’s body that Pressley hit became an inferno of explosions but as with Thor and Chimera’s attacks, Pressley’s assault had no effect on the monster. Pressley shook his head. “What in the hell do we do now? Call Parsons for a nuke strike?”
Luke looked down to see Chimera swimming toward a beast that made the hybrid monster look like an insect. Luke had worked with Chimera long enough to know that the monster was not only brave but also intelligent. Luke was certain that Chimera was fully aware that he was not a match physically for Jormungand. Luke was certain that since Chimera was still swimming toward Jormungand, he had some kind of a plan to attack the serpent. Luke shook his head as he responded to Pressley, “No, we trust in Chimera.”
Chimera took a long breath and then dove deep into the ocean. The kaiju looked up to see the incomprehensible form of Jormungand swimming above him. The World Serpent was so large that it did not even bother to acknowledge Chimera as it swam over him. Once Jormungand’s head was past him, Chimera swam back toward the body of the beast. As large as Chimera was, even he was caught in the wake of the serpent and dragged along in the current he was creating. Chimera tumbled over several times in the water before he was able to extend the claws in his right hand and dig them into Jormungand’s hide. Chimera’s claws were unable to hurt the colossal snake, but they did afford the kaiju a hold on the serpent. Chimera then unsheathed the claws in his left hand and drove them into Jormungand as well. Chimera roared and then began to use his claws as hand holds to pull himself up the side Jormungand’s body. When Chimera broke the surface of the water, even his immense strength was tested by the volume of water sliding alongside Jormungand’s body. The pressure generated by Jormungand moving through the ocean was almost enough to force the monster off the snake. Chimera pressed his body close to Jormungand’s scales and then he continued to climb the side of the monster until he reached its back.
Pressley was doing his best to keep pace with Jormungand, but the snake was pulling away from him. Thor was flying beside them and doing his best to keep a barrage of ineffective lightning bolts focused on the serpent. Luke was watching Jormungand closely, looking for any sign of Chimera. Luke was starting to think that Chimera had either been swallowed whole by the beast or was simply unable to keep up with its speed. Luke’s eyes were scanning up and down the body of the serpent, which was so long that it literally extended past the horizon, when he thought he saw some kind of gray bump on Jormungand’s back. Luke quickly searched under his seat until he found a pair of binoculars. He looked through the binoculars to see that the gray lump was indeed Chimera.
Luke yelled to Pressley, “It’s Chimera! I can see him through the binoculars!” Despite the severity of the situation, Luke laughed. “I never would have thought that I would need binoculars to see something as big as Chimera.”
Pressley refocused Luke on the mission. “What’s he doing? Does it look like he’s hurting that snake?”
Luke no longer needed the binoculars. The speed at which at Jormungand was moving had nearly brought the part of his body that Chimera was on to the helicopter. Luke watched as Chimera pulled one of his claws out of Jormungand’s back, reached forward, and then dug it into another part of the snake. Luke shrugged. “It looks like he’s trying to climb the snake’s body to reach his head. It kind of reminds me of the second Wolverine movie that I watched with Diana. Where he was using his claws to climb along the top of a moving train.”
Chimera shot by the helicopter and Pressley laughed. “She made you made you watch Wolverine Origins before she let you watch The Wolverine and Logan?”
Luke shrugged. “She said watching the first one would help me appreciate how much better the next two movies are.”
Pressley smiled. “If the world doesn’t end, I am definitely taking her on that date.”
Luke laughed. “Even when she is not here, she finds a way to lighten up the apocalypse.”
Pressley shrugged. “We could sure use her now. We have about thirty-five minutes left until we run out of fuel and we are still several hours away from shore.”
Luke took
a deep breath. “Okay, what do we do?”
Pressley pointed to the back of the helicopter. “There is a life raft with a beacon on it in the back of the chopper. Grab it and walk to the side of the helicopter. I am going to fly us low above the water and away from Jormungand’s wake so that we don’t get pulled along by it. Then we are going to inflate the raft and jump into the water. I’ll rig the chopper to fly away from us so that it doesn’t crash on top of us.”
Luke nodded. “What about help? Parsons said that they would be sending help.”
Pressley shook his head. “I sent out a call for help, but no one is coming for us until Jormungand is dead. If Chimera can’t stop him, you and I will be floating together in the middle of the ocean while he destroys the rest of the world.”
Luke’s voice suddenly sounded very confident. “Captain, you can book that date with Diana. Chimera is going to kill Jormungand.”
When Thor saw Chimera clinging to Jormungand’s back, he yelled, “Aye, monster, let us meet Jormungand in close combat as the Norns have decreed!” Thor then shot past Pressley’s helicopter and disappeared over the horizon. The Asgardian flew over Jormungand’s head and then turned around. Thor screamed, “Now, monster! Face me and face your death!” Thor descended and landed on top of Jormungand’s head. The god lifted his hammer above his head and yelled, “Lightning, heed thy master, and help me to slay this monster!” Four bolts of lightning streaked out of the sky and struck Thor’s Hammer. The hammer took on a bright blue glow and Thor brought it down with all of his incredible might into the World Serpent’s skull. When the mystical hammer hit Jormungand’s skull, there was a loud crashing sound similar to a bomb exploding.
Atomic Rex_The Conquest of Chimera Page 19
