Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

(The Hollow Realm/ Many Years Ago)

"SKREEEEEEEEEEONGK! SKREEEEEEEEEEONGK!"

The Apes continued to flee across the different landscapes of The Hollow Realm as roars of their enemies followed them, the multiple loud ear-splitting screams almost shattering their ear drums. 

The alpha of the pack charged forwards, leaping out of the forest and into the rocky plains of the realm which he then began to run across with his family. Rock Critters emerged from beneath the earth as The Spes fled through their territory, clicking their claws and screeching angrily as they scurried out of the large mammals' path. 

The alpha looked over his shoulder at the remaining apes he still had left under his command, frowning with worry when he realised just how low their numbers now were. 

Yesterday there had been twenty of them. This morning there had been. Now there were only ten members of his troop including him. Four males, three females, and three babies. One of which was his daughter who was clinging tightly to his back, whimpering fearfully beside his ear as the roars of The Gojiras continued to echo across the realm.

The alpha made his troop travel a little further across the rocky terrain before releasing a loud roar to order them to stop for a moment. His troop obeyed without question and slowed to a stop, turning around to keep watch for their pursuing foes. The alpha held his own axe close as he knelt down so his frightened daughter could climb down from his back and turned around to face her. He crooned softly at the frightened young ape, holding his hand out for her to grab.

The baby ape latched onto her father's finger as her mother rushed over, whimpering as she hugged him tightly. 

The alpha crooned softly to his daughter as he picked her up, telling her everything was going to be okay as he handed her to his mate. The female ape crooned softly to her child and hugged her close to her chest. 

"SKREEEEEEEEEEONGK!"

The Apes turned sharply as another roar erupted in the distance. This one sounded much more closer than the previous two. Hellhawks and Leafwings screeched in terror as they fled their trees, flying away from the forest they'd been residing in and over the small group of apes into the sky. 

The alpha growled when he realised the Gojrias were getting closer and looked around at his troop, noticing how tired and exhausted they all were. He didn't want to keep pushing them so hard but he knew he had no other choice.  

The alpha grunted in frustration, enraged that after all the years he and his species had spent fighting this was how the long war between their kind and The Gojiras, he and what remained of The Apes were now being forced to flee from their home. 

The Apes had known for a while now that the war between their kind and their powerful rivals had been reaching its end. Their enemies had become far too strong over time and there were still so many of them left.

In the past The Apes and The Gojiras had tried to coexist peacefully together. They'd tried to accept one another and had attempted everything they could think of to prevent war but nothing had worked. In reality war between the two titan species had been inevitable from the moment they met. The Gojiras hadn't liked how advanced and powerful the apes had been becoming. They'd started to see them as a growing threat to both themselves and the rest of The Hollow Realm and had even begun to threaten them to try and make them stop seeking out new pieces of land to expand their territory. 

So war had begun, claiming the lives of countless apes and Gojira's over the years it raged on. But now the war was coming to an end and as much as it pained The Apes to accept, The Gojiras had won and they had lost.

Those violent aggressive dictating lizards had taken everything from them. Their land, their home and almost all their people. Only he and his family were what remained of The Apes in The Hollow Realm. All the others had been wiped out.

This war had almost completely destroyed their species. The Gojiras had suffered heavy losses too but they still had the advantage in numbers. Now what remained of these radioactive lizards were on the hunt, chasing after him and his troop all over The Hollow Realm. 

The alpha knew The Gojiras would not stop coming after them until they'd succeeded in slaughtering them all. Those creatures were stubborn and vindictive and would not rest until they'd made sure The Hollow Realm was free from The Apes for good. 

The alpha frowned thoughtfully as he studied his tired apes. He and his troop had been on the run for days now ever since The Gojiras' surprise attack on the temple. 

Those powerful brutes had somehow managed to track down the location of their hidden hideout and raided it during the night, killing many apes in the process. The alpha had barely had time to gather the remaining members of his family and grab his battleaxe before ordering his apes to flee the temple. 

Sometime after he and his apes had The Gojiras must have discovered the other battleaxes they'd been forced to leave behind, judging by how angry their enraged cries in the distance had been on the night his troop escaped. 

The alpha looked down at the axe in his hand. He supposed he couldn't really blame The Gojiras for being angry at them for making these weapons. After all, The Apes had crafted them out of the bones and dorsal plates from fallen Gojiras to create them in the first place. 

These battleaxes were just one of the many reasons why the hatred between The Apes and The Gojiras had continued to boil over time. 

Sometimes the alpha wished his kind had never discovered how to make these things. Yes, the battleaxes were amazing weapons and had given The Apes a better chance at fighting The Gojiras than they had before but once the atomic reptiles had learnt about the existence of these weapons, their desire to wipe all The Apes out had grown exponentially.

Still, at least the axes had finally managed to give his kind an edge over The Gojiras' strange blue fire. Not that it mattered now. 

One strong ape with one powerful battleaxe would not be enough to stop the horde of Gojiras coming their way. But...it might just be enough to buy the others time to escape. 

The alpha looked over his shoulder, his eyes landing on a tall mountain a few miles away. It was on the other side of the forest, stretching high and almost touching the upside-down islands above its location. 

That was their destination. That was The Apes' last hope of survival. 

Last week before the Gojiras attacked, the alpha and his fellow ape leaders had been searching for a way to save what remained of their dwindling species. They had already known back then that the war was going to end soon and that The Gojiras would be the victors when it did. 

So rather than waiting around for extinction, The Apes had decided to search for a new place to call home. One where they would never have to be bothered by The Gojiras ever again.

And they had found it. 

A portal leading to a new realm. A new world where they could be free from The Gojiras once and for all. 

The alpha and two other ape leaders had discovered the portal deep within a cave inside the mountain. It was some sort of bright glowing blue vortex located at the bottom of a big hole beneath the mountain. 

The Apes had been hesitant to investigate the vortex at first as its bright blue glow reminded them of the flashes of energy from a Gojiras's dorsal plates. But since The Gojiras had no way of knowing about this portal and therefore couldn't have any sort of connections to its existence, The Apes had bravely leapt into the strange portal to see what awaited them on the other side. 

The journey through the vortex had been nauseating and unpleasant. All The Apes had been able to see were bright flashes of blue lights as they travelled through the intense spinning vortex. They must have been moving pretty fast too because their bodies had been thrown out of the portal as if they'd been shot from a cannon.

Still, they'd managed to survive the journey and had found themselves on a strange island shaped like an odd skull. 

The Apes had awoken inside a dark cave, confused and disorientated before eventually managing to get their bearings. 

The alpha and the other two apes hadn't seemed to have suffered any serious injuries during the journey through the vortex. Although he had suspected one of his fellow apes had hit their head when the portal spat them all out as they had claimed they had seen something following them through the vortex shortly after they'd all woken up. 

Something large and hairy that had sported two large wings, razor-sharp claws and a pair of bright red glowing eyes. 

But The Apes had only been passed out for a few seconds after exiting the vortex and hadn't found any evidence of such a creature having followed them through so they'd brushed that thought off. 

After finding their way out of the cave The Apes had quickly discovered signs of other titans living on the island too. Titans who had found the portal before them had crossed over from The Hollow Realm and were already living in this strange new world. 

Skull Crawlers, Sker Buffalos, Sirenjaws, Spirit Tigers, Leafwings and more titans from The Hollow Realm were thriving up here, proving to The Apes that this island's ecosystem was able to sustain creatures of their immense size. 

Which meant that if titans such as big as sirenjaws and skullcrawlers could survive up here, so could a herd of colossal apes. 

That was how their plan to escape into what they now knew to be The Demon Realm had begun. 

The apes knew that The Gojiras would not risk abandoning The Hollow Realm to follow them here. After all that time those reptiles spent trying to obtain full control and dominance over The Hollow Realm, they would not dare risk losing everything they had worked so hard for over the years just to chase them down. 

Besides despite their hatred for each other, the apes knew that The Gojiras goal hadn't originally been to kill them. They had just wanted the apes gone so they could regain control over The Hollow Realm. It didn't really matter to them how they did it just so long as it was done.

With this knowledge in mind, the alpha ape and the other two leaders had travelled back through the vortex (much to their dismay) and returned to The Hollow Realm so they could inform the rest of their kind about the vortex. 

After informing the rest of The Apes about the portal, The Demon Realm and the strange island their species could begin a new life on, the large gorillas had hastily started making plans to move their small colony to The Demon Realm.

They would have left right then and there but they had needed time to gather all the remaining apes scattered across The Hollow Realm so they could bring them back to the temple. The plan had been to locate all the survivors before beginning the journey to the mountain where the vortex was hidden.

They had been so close too. The Apes had managed to finish gathering all their survivors yesterday and had planned to set out for the mountain in two days. 

But then The Gojiras had attacked, ambushing them in their sleep and killing hundreds of apes. Now those brutes were coming for his family and judging by how tired his fellow apes were, it wouldn't be hard for the radioactive lizards to catch up to them. 

The alpha sighed and lifted his axe. He knew what had to be done to ensure the survival of his kind. The loss of one more ape before the war officially ended was a small price to pay if it meant his troop, mate and child got to live another day. 

The alpha ape turned to his family. He crooned softly to get their attention, his eyes saddening as he walked over to them. 

He dropped his axe briefly and raised a hand each to his mate and daughter's faces, brushing his thumbs across their cheeks. He grunted, informing them of his plan to stall The Gojiras while they and the rest of their troop flee to the vortex and cross over to The Demon Realm.

The female and baby ape immediately began to protest, begging him to come with them. The alpha released a small sigh and shook his head. It wasn't possible for all of them to outrun The Gojiras now. The only way to ensure his family survived was to stay behind. The Ape crooned and pulled his mate and child close, hugging them both in his arms tightly as they hugged him back.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEONGK!"

The alpha and his troop turned sharply, their eyes landing on the forest they'd emerged from earlier. The male ape growled when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching and noticed the trees beginning to shake. The Gojiras were closing in on their location. It sounded like there was only one of them for now but the others that had been chasing him and his troop couldn't be far behind. 

Well, if this approaching Gojira wanted a fight so badly, the alpha ape was more than happy to give him one.

The alpha hugged his mate and daughter goodbye one last time before retrieving his axe from the ground. He then pointed toward the mountain with his weapon and roared, ordering his troop to leave him and continue their way to the vortex. The Apes stared at their last leader in shock, some grunting and crooning in protest. But another loud and more fierce roar from their alpha quickly made them realise arguing would be pointless. 

His decision was final. He was staying and no one could change his mind.  

Knowing they didn't have much time to flee before The Gojiras showed up, The Apes quickly departed. The female lifted her daughter onto her back and cast one last look at the alpha before reluctantly running after the rest of her troop. The alpha watched his family disappear into the other forest, locking eyes with his daughter a final time before both she and her mother vanished into the bushes. The alpha sighed and lifted his weapon, sending a quick prayer for his family's safety before turning around. His gaze landed on the forest where he could hear The Gojiras, his eyes hardening as the sound of rustling leaves entered his ears.

He held his axe tightly in his hand, breathing his chest with his other fist as he roared to catch his approaching foe's attention.

"RRROOOOOAAARRR!"

The rustling leaves and heavy footsteps stopped abruptly, followed by an eerie silence as the ape waited patiently for a response. 

Then, he got one. 

"SKREEEEEEEEEEONGK!"

The ape gasped when a massive beam of blue fire suddenly shot out from the trees, travelling over the rocky landscape towards him. Rock Critters screeched in terror as the blue fire tore across the sky and burrowed themselves beneath the earth to take cover. The ape growled and quickly held up his battleaxe, adjusting his stance just before the beam reached him. 

The blue fire slammed into the axe, colliding with the dorsal plate serving as the blade. The impact almost knocked the ape off his feet but fortunately he managed to maintain his stance. The large gorilla grit his teeth, the handle of his weapon shaking in his hands as the axe continued to absorb the blue fire.

The ape stumbled forward when the fire suddenly stopped, catching himself before he could fall. He huffed and lifted his axe, turning the now charged and glowing dorsal plate over as he examined it. His gaze was torn away from the powerful weapon when he heard an angry growl, causing him to scowl when he spotted a pair of blue glowing eyes shining out from the darkness of the forest. 

(Gojira's POV)

A lone Gojira stepped out of the forest, growling as his foot slammed down into the rocky ground and startled a couple of nearby Rock Critters to the surface. The large reptile growled at the ape, his eyes and spikes flashing bright blue as he began to walk across the rocky landscape.

The large reptile scanned his surroundings with his eyes and sniffed the air, trying to detect the rest of this ape's troop. But they were not here. He was all alone. 

The Gojira snarled in frustration and turned back towards the single ape, growling angrily as his eyes flashed bright blue.

The ape growled back and held up his weapon. He quickly analysed his approaching opponent with his eyes, studying every little detail that may assist him in battle. Since The Gojiras were a race that age seemingly had no effect on, these guys could technically live for centuries and still look both young and old. The only way to determine how old a certain Gojira may be was to compare their size and the shape of their dorsal plates to other members of their species.

Judging by the height and size this Gojira wasn't a fully grown one. It was an adult for sure but not as old or tall as the massive ones his kind usually fought. It also donned dorsal plates that were thin and pointy instead of curved and evolved spikes like the one the ape had on his axe. 

This Gojira was a younger one. Not young enough to be below middle adulthood but still pretty young compared to other members of its species. 

The Gojira snarled as he reached the ape and stood two feet away, his eyes locked intensely on the pulsing dorsal plate attached to the axe. He growled aggressively when he realised the weapon had been crafted out of the dorsal plate and bones of one of his fallen comrades, fuelling his already boiling temper. 

The Gojira lifted his eyes to the ape's face, snarling at the mammal with disgust and hatred. The Apes had no right to disgrace the bodies of his people like this! It was insulting, offensive and above all else sickening to see what had been done to the deceased bodies of his kin.

This shocking discovery made The Gojira even angrier than he already was, causing him to huff an angry puff of smoke out from his nostrils. This was why he and his kind had started their war with these monstrous apes in the first place. These mammals had grown far too dangerous over time. 

From the moment The Gojira's had first met The Apes he'd always had a bad feeling about these intelligent and incredibly strong creatures. Now in fairness it wasn't entirely their fault. The Apes had only been trying to survive and The Gojiras had been happy enough to leave them alone when all they were doing was collecting food from forests and living inside of caves. 

But as time went on the large apes had begun to evolve. Their minds had grown smarter and with it so did their senses and their unique ability to craft weapons and even build structures.

This was where The Gojiras had started to take more notice of The Apes and what they were doing. The first straw had been when The Apes started to construct some sort of temple in the centre of The Hollow Realm for them to live inside. The second had been when The Apes began to expand their numbers.

But the third and final straw was what had really enraged The Gojiras.

Shortly after the construction of their temple had been completed, The Apes had started claiming more and more land for themselves, forcing out any other titans living there at the time and even killing the ones who'd refused to surrender their homes. 

That was when The Gojiras had chosen to declare war against The Apes. 

Their advanced intellect and incredible architectural skills had already made them a big enough threat but when The Apes had started spreading across The Hollow Realm to claim more land they had become an even greater threat to the realm and its inhabitants. 

The Gojiras' had first tried to resolve the growing conflict by approaching The Apes and demanding they cease their expansion. Of course the stubborn gorillas had refused, claiming they had every right to live in this world just as The Gojiras and the other titans did and would not stop expanding their territory until they had enough to sustain their growing species. 

So naturally this had made The Gojiras very very mad. So mad that one of them had fired their atomic breath at The Apes without thinking, killing one and injuring another in the process. That outburst of rage had marked the beginning of the long and brutal war between The Apes and The Gojiras. 

Hundreds of battles between the two species had been fought over the years, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of apes and Gojiras each day that passed. The death toll only got worse when The Apes discovered that The Gojira's dorsal plates could store radiation, influencing them to mutilate and steal bones and spikes from already dead Gojiras. This was what had led them to create their deadly and powerful battleaxes, the sight of which had both disgusted and enraged The Gojiras the first time The Apes had used their weapons in battle. 

In conclusion, the creation of these morbid battleaxes may have given The Apes a way to counter their atomic breaths but by doing so they had also urged The Gojiras to fight even harder, destroying all forms of mercy as well as any chances for peace they may have had left. 

Now here they both were years later. 

Both The Gojiras and The Apes had pushed each other to the brink of extinction. There was only a handful of Gojiras left and the small group of apes who'd escaped the temple during the attack a few days ago. The same group of apes that he and his fellow radioactive reptiles had been tracking.

His leader, a fully grown and evolved Gojira, had ordered him to scout ahead to make sure they were still following The Apes. 

The younger Gojira had followed his alpha's orders and had travelled ahead of his pack to locate the apes. The Gojira had managed to find footprints and had released a short roar to alert his pack before following the trail, leading him right here where the leader of the apes was waiting with his axe in hand. 

The lone Gojira snarled and flashed his spikes in warning as he and the ape began to circle each other, trading growls with the tall gorilla. The Gojira knew he was at a major disadvantage facing this ape since this he was just slightly taller than him and had one of those horrid battleaxes in his hand. 

Only his pack leader, a fully grown and evolved Gojira, could have a better chance at beating this particular ape than he did. But his leader and the rest of his pack were still far behind, meaning he had no other choice but to face off against an opponent both taller and better equipped than him.

Yeah, the odds were not in his favour. 

Still, The Gojira refused to be intimidated. He was no stranger to fighting and killing these apes. He had been forced to clash with hundreds of them during the war. One more battle before the war officially ended for good shouldn't be too much of a challenge. 

The Ape and The Gojira continued to circle each other slowly, their eyes locked and their teeth bared. The two titans traded more growls, snarls and small roars with each other, both daring their opponent to make the first move. 

The Ape kept a close eye on The Gojira, watching the lizard's movements as he raised his weapon. If The Gojira chose to fire its atomic breath again he would be ready to block it with his axe and use the dorsal plate to store the energy until it could be dispelled in a swing. 

The Gojira snarled as he eyed the glowing axe, knowing exactly what those already dangerous and deadly weapons were capable of doing to his kind if they were fully charged. The small blast he'd fired earlier had already partially charged the weapon. 

The Gojira knew that if he used his atomic breath again and the ape managed to block his fire a second time, that axe would become fully charged and if that happened there was only one way this fight was going to end. So for the time being, his atomic breath could not be used against the ape. However, that did not mean it could not be used in this fight at all. 

The Gojira snarled at the ape and raised his head high, the spikes on his back and tail humming as they began to build up energy. The ape growled and raised his axe, preparing to block the barrage of blue fire he knew was coming. But instead of firing directly at the ape, The Gojira instead aimed downwards and fired a small blast of his atomic breath into the ground. 

The ape yelped as the blast exploded the earth in front of him, shaking the ground and forcing more Rock Critters to emerge from hiding and flee in terror. He raised one arm to shield his face as a wave of dust from the explosion passed over and surrounded him, making it almost impossible for him to see. 

The ape roared as he lowered his arm back to his side. He squinted his eyes and tried to see through the dust, sniffing the air and listening closely to predict where his opponent might be.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEONGK!"

The ape spun around when he heard the roar and spotted The Gojira. The large lizard had managed to sneak behind him and was now charging towards him with a raised claw. The ape growled and quickly jumped back, dodging the claw before it could slash him. He then snarled and lifted his battleaxe, swinging it forwards with a mighty roar. The Gojira ducked before the blade could pierce his skull, yelping when the axe clashed with and bounced off his dorsal plates. The large reptile roared and turned to the side, swinging his tail around his body and lifting it off the ground. The ape grunted in pain as the tail slammed into his chest, knocking him back. He staggered for a second before managing to catch himself, slamming the handle of his axe into the ground to keep him from falling. 

The ape looked up at The Gojira and growled, beating his chest with one hand and taunting the lizard with a loud roar.

"RRROOOOOAAARRR!"

The Gojira snarled and charged forwards, roaring loudly as he raised his claws. The ape roared back and spun his weapon around, holding the bone handle in both hands which he then thrust upwards. The Gojira's teeth and claws clasped tightly around the handle, his eyes burning with rage as he glared and growled at the ape. 

The ape met the reptile's firey gaze and snarled as he began to push against the lizard, lifting his opponent's head further away from him. He then raised his leg and delivered a hard kick to The Gojira's stomach, forcing the large reptile to release the weapon as he roared in pain.

The ape roared and grabbed the winded lizard by the throat, choking his opponent as he spun around and threw him to the ground. The Gojira groaned in pain and tried to stand but the ape quickly moved forwards and stomped down on his neck, pinning him to the ground.

The Gojira roared angrily in protest and tried to free himself but it was no use. His opponent had him and he had no hopes of escaping. The ape growled and raised his axe, aiming for the lizard's head. But just as he was about to bring the weapon down and kill his foe, the ape suddenly released a loud cry of pain when a giant blast of blue fire slammed into his back. The large ape was thrown forwards, his axe falling from his hands and clattering away across the ground. He landed heavily on his stomach, his back sizzling as smoke drifted up from his burnt skin. 

The Gojira groaned and groggily turned its head, spotting his leader standing in front of the forest with the rest of his pack slowly emerging from the trees behind him. 

The larger and fully grown Gojira growled as the blue glow in his eyes and dorsal plates diminished. He moved forwards, his heavy footsteps shaking the ground. He cast a brief glance at the younger Gojira on the ground and nodded towards the pack, ordering his fellow reptile to rejoin the others before making his way towards the ape. 

The ape groaned and rolled onto his back as The Gojira reached him, hissing in pain as he looked up and locked eyes with the other titan. He growled and snarled at the reptile before attempting to stand. 

The large Gojira growled back and quickly slammed his foot on top of the ape's chest, holding the weakened titan down. He snarled at the ape and opened his jaws, his dorsal plates humming loudly as he began to build up energy. 

The ape glared at the lizard before tilting his head back, taking one last look at the mountain in the distance where he knew his apes were going. By now his troop would have reached the base of the mountain and located the cave leading to the vortex. They could even be crossing over to The Demon Realm right now. As much as it pained the alpha ape knowing he was never going to grow old with his mate or see his daughter grow up, at least he knew they were now safe. Even if The Gojiras managed to track his troop down again, they would not follow them through the vortex to The Demon Realm. 

He had done it. He had given his family and species one last chance to survive and rebuild.

The ape smiled happily and closed his eyes, his thoughts drifting to his mate and daughter one last time before the large Gojira fired his atomic breath. 

(Godzilla's POV/ The Demon Realm / Present Time)

Godzilla groaned and slowly opened his tired eyes, his vision blurry as he woke up. 

The large reptile huffed and rolled onto his side, blinking slowly as he stared up at the ceiling. He growled when that dream he'd had of The Hollow Realm flashed in his mind, reminding him of his humiliating defeat against that ape with the axe. Even though it had been years since that fight, The King Of The Monsters still felt a great sense of rage and humiliation every time he was reminded of it. The knowledge that he had been overpowered and beaten so easily was enough to make his nostrils flare. His old pack leader, the large Gojira who'd saved his life, had fortunately been somewhat sympathetic about the whole situation. His leader had understood he was a lot younger than the rest of their pack back in those days and hadn't expected him to win a fight against a fully grown ape. Especially not one wielding one of those cursed axes.

The rest of his pack had been somewhat sympathetic too but Godzilla still felt disappointed and even angry at himself for being defeated so easily. His mood hadn't improved a few hours later either when, after finally picking up the trail of the other apes and tracking them down, their enemies had already escaped.

Godzilla growled as he remembered him and his pack stumbling across the vortex those clever mammals had used to escape The Hollow Realm.

If had been up to him, he would have followed the apes through that strange blue vortex but his leader had ordered him and his pack to use their atomic breaths to collapse the inside of the mountain instead, destroying the portal and sealing the apes out of The Hollow Realm forever.

That was how the war had ended. With both sides dwindling in numbers and never knowing what happened to the other.

Godzilla had always wondered what happened to those apes who'd escaped The Hollow Realm. He knew the portal they'd fled through had led them to The Demon Realm but he had never managed to figure out where. In his mind, those large mammals were just as bad as Ghidorah. Just like his deceased golden rival the apes had tried to take full control over a world he and many other creatures called home. Both Ghidorah and the apes had killed and destroyed in order to further their own goals, not caring at all about how their actions affected the lives of all other life living in the realm.

That was another reason why Godzilla had been so determined to stop Ghidorah. He had seen what could happen to worlds when ruthless tyrants like that dragon and the apes tried to take control over them. But while he may have been angry that the apes escaped, he had been happy that The Hollow Realm was at long last free of them. 

Until everything went wrong a decade later when The Mutos showed up and began hunting down the remaining Gojiras, killing them all until he was the only one left. 

That was when Godzilla had decided to leave The Hollow Realm and claim control over The Demon Realm instead. His decision to leave his old world behind had been an easy one. With most of his species killed during the war and his pack murdered by a group of ravenous Mutos, the last Gojira no longer had any reason to remain down there. The large reptile had known he had no hopes of reclaiming dominance over The Hollow Realm all by himself. Besides even if he had been able to regain control over his species' old Kingdom, Godzilla hadn't wanted to stay down there anymore. The memories of the war and the many deaths of his fellow Gojiras had just been too much for him. He couldn't go anywhere without seeing the skeletal remains of Gojiras and apes littered across the various battlefields the two species had fought on. 

So, Godzilla had decided to take a page out of the apes' book and leave. 

Escaping The Hollow Realm hadn't been easy. Since he and his pack had destroyed the original portal the apes had used, the large reptile had been forced to wander the realm in search of another. It had taken weeks but luckily he'd managed to find a second one which, after passing through, had spat him out in one of The Demon Realm's more snowy regions. 

After arriving in his new kingdom Godzilla had spent the first few weeks searching The Demon Realm for the escaped apes, wanting to know if they still existed and were still a threat. The King Of The Monsters had searched North, South, West and East, checking every single island and land he came across. But he'd never been able to find or sense the apes anywhere. It was almost as if they'd vanished without a trace. After two more months of looking for the apes, Godzilla had given up his search and decided to accept the possibility that the remaining apes had all died out from natural causes. 

For their sakes, Godzilla hoped the apes had all died peaceful deaths. Because if he ever find evidence that one was still alive, The King Of The Monsters would make sure to finish what he and his kind had started so long ago. 

Godzilla huffed and closed his eyes, taking a second to calm himself down and push the memories of the war out of his mind. He groaned and pressed his hands against the cave floor, lifting himself from the ground as he tried to forget about that memory from his past. Godzilla stretched his back and yawned, his dorsal plates flashing a faint shade of blue as he stood to his full height. He groaned again and quickly shook his head, blinking drowsily as he tried to get his bearings. 

The large reptile looked around at the cave he was in, recognizing it to be the inside of a small mountain located on the island Timat had tried to steal from him three years ago. 

Three years.

Godzilla still couldn't believe that was how much time had already passed since he had finally defeated Ghidorah. 

It had been three long years since his final battle with the large golden dragon. Three long years since he had met Luz Noceda and her friends. Much had certainly changed in the realm during that time. After Ghidorah's defeat there hadn't been much other titan activity within the realm Godzilla had needed to be concerned about for quite some time now. Aside from his brief issue with Timat a few years ago, as well as some other minor disagreements between two or more other titans he'd been forced to resolve, Godzilla had managed to enjoy his return to this strange world without any other major problems. 

It was a good feeling knowing his title as King Of The Monsters was no longer in danger of being taken from by Ghidorah. The only downside to the golden dragon's demise was that Godzilla no longer had an arch nemesis he could use as to use as a practice dummy for fights or unleash the full power of his atomic breath on anymore. 

But oh well. No victory was ever achieved without the victor paying some sort of price. Besides its not like he actually missed the three-headed tyrant. No one would ever miss that monster. 

Godzilla yawned again and smacked his jaws, turning to leave the cave and head outside for some fresh air. But as he began to move his legs the large titan frowned when he realised his movements were a bit sluggish and his head was still a little foggy.

Godzilla stopped, groaning and shaking his head once more. For some reason, he was feeling a little...off today. He couldn't explain what but he knew there was something wrong with him today. Usually when The King Of The Monsters first woke up to begin his morning routine of patrolling the oceans, his body always felt well rested and his dorsal plates felt fully recharged. But for some reason today he did not. In fact, he strangely felt even more tired than he had been the night before.

Suspecting he might know what the problem was, Godzilla looked over his shoulder at his dorsal plates and attempted to flash a small intimidation display. The spikes pulsed weakly, their glow faint and dull. Godzilla frowned and tried making his spikes flash again. This time he felt an overwhelming feeling of heaviness inside his head as his dorsal plates faintly lit up, causing him to groan tiredly as they powered back down.

The large reptile lowered his head and huffed in frustration, knowing exactly what the issue was. His body was running low on radiation and needed a recharge. Which was a very big problem considering how there weren't many places in The Demon Realm he knew of that contained the radioactive particulars his body and cells needed. 

Godzilla growled with irritation and smacked his tail against the ground. He'd been afraid this would happen. 

You see unlike most of the other titans he shared his Kingdom with Gojira's did not require food or water to survive. Instead their bodies relished off the sustenance of radioactive materials in order to keep him alive. 

Once every century or two the radiation Gojiras kept stored inside their bodies began to diminish, draining them of their energy slowly before eventually burning out. When this happened a Gojira would need to seek out a source of radioactive matter they could absorb to restore their radiation, thus increasing their lifeforce and expanding their life span. That was the secret to how his kind managed to outlive most other species. Or at least it had been before the remaining Gojiras who'd survived the war had been hunted down and killed by The Mutos in The Hollow Realm centuries ago.

Now Godzilla was all that remained of his kind. He was the last Gojira. But if he did not find a fresh source of radiation he could absorb soon, he too would perish like all the other Gojiras before him. 

Godzilla sighed and turned towards the exit again, annoyed about having to put his patrol on hold. He didn't like leaving his Kingdom unattended for any reason but this was a pretty big emergency. At best The King Of The Monsters knew he had at least a week before what little radiation he had left inside his body completely depleted. If he did not reach a fresh source by then, he would perish. 

Godzilla huffed, dragging his feet across the floor as he stomped sluggishly through a cave tunnel. This annoying task would have been so much easier to complete if he was still living in The Hollow Realm. That place was practically rich with radioactive crystals and other powerful energy sources. 

But going back there was not an option. 

Even if Godzilla was willing to make the journey (which he was not) the large reptile didn't think he could face that place again. He had left his old world for a good reason and had no plans of ever going back. There was nothing left for him there now that the rest of his kind were all extinct. Fortunately The King Of The Monsters already knew of a place that might still contain some radioactive particulars for him to absorb. One that was not very far from here. 

His old lair. The temple that had been built for him all those years ago by the people of The Demon Realm. 

Godzilla hadn't been back to his old home ever since it had sadly been sacrificed in order to save his life. He'd been in a similar predicament with his radiation back then too after being hit by that strange metal pointy thing. The metal object had exploded against his back and drained the energy from both his dorsal plates and body dry, leaving him stuck in a weakened and delirious state. 

It was only thanks to the efforts of Luz and Hunter that he had managed to regain his lost radiation and face Ghidorah in battle again. If they hadn't found a way to reach his underwater lair and set off that large blast of Mothra's magic, Godzilla knew he would have surely perished on that day. 

Godzilla's eyes softened as his thoughts once again drifted to the brave young human girl, Luz Noceda. A sad croon escaped him as he reached the exited the mountain and began to make his way across the forest towards the beach. It was no secret that he still missed her terribly. Despite the short time, they'd worked together The King Of The Monsters and the small human girl had formed a strong bond with each other. 

Occasionally Godzilla would pay secret visits to The Boiling Isles to check up on Luz and her friends, keeping a watchful and protective eye over his brave young allies just in case they ever had need of him. During each of his visits the massive reptile had made sure to watch from afar and keep his spikes submerged beneath the water. He could never swim too close to the town but he could circle the rest of The Boiling Isles and in search of the kids since they mainly hung out outside of the town anyway. But since he couldn't actually search for the kids on land he didn't always manage to find them. There had been many times when he would circle The Isles for days and still not find any traces of Luz or her friends. 

But there had been some occasions when he'd gotten lucky.

The first time Godzilla revisited The Boiling Isles to check on Luz he had found her with Amity. The human girl and the young witch had been dancing beneath a large pink tree located on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. Godzilla remembered smiling at the sight of Luz and Amity dancing with each other. He was pleased the human girl had found a mate who made her happy. Mothra would have been happy for her too.

The next time Godzilla visited The Boiling Isles had been six months later. Luz and Amity hadn't been at the pink tree this time so he'd decided to search for them elsewhere and found them on a beach near the titan's skull. Godzilla had enjoyed that second visit because after finding Luz and Amity on the beach, the large reptile had soon realised they were not alone. Luz and Amity had been hanging out with their friends that day, playing a strange game involving a colourful rubber ball and a net they had to keep hitting it over.

It had taken him a moment to remember the other kids' names but once he had, Godzilla had been able to identify the three other kids as Willow, Gus and Hunter as well as the little hairy demon child called King. 

Godzilla had learnt their names by swimming as close as he could to the beach without being spotted so he could hear the kids' talking. It had been a bit of a risky move swimming into the shallows but he'd managed to find a spot still deep enough to hide him and one that was close enough for him to hear what the kids were saying. Godzilla remembered observing the kids for ages as they played the game they called volleyball. He hadn't been able to hear the rules but his best guess was that the goal of the game was to see which team could score the most points by making the rubber ball hit the ground on the other side of the net. 

The kids' had divided into teams of two, the first consisting of Luz, Amity and Gus and the second of Willow, Hunter and King. The kids also agreed they were allowed to use their magic and powers while playing to make things interesting. Though Godzilla suspected the original reason was so King could use his sonic shouts to keep hitting the ball back over the net since he couldn't reach it on his own. 

The King Of The Monsters had observed the kids quietly for hours as they transitioned from playing volleyball, eating food from the picnic they'd brought with them and resting on the shores of the beach on top of the blankets they'd brought. Godzilla remembered seeing how happy Luz was being around her friends. He was pleased she'd managed to find such a loyal and supportive pack to be a part of. 

After Luz and her friends packed up their things and left the beach Godzilla hadn't seen her again until a year later. 

He had next found Luz sitting on the ledge of a cliff on the south side of The Boiling Isles. The one located right next to that large house she lived inside of with her family. Her mentor, Eda The Owl Lady, had been with her too. Sitting beside her as they both looked out to sea. During that visit, Godzilla had made sure to be extra careful about not being seen. He knew Luz's mentor didn't really like him that much and knew she wouldn't be happy if she saw him. 

The King Of The Monsters was honestly unsure why Eda disliked him so much. At first, he'd assumed it was because he'd destroyed Bonesborough when he'd gone thermal nuclear to stop Ghidorah. But the town had been rebuilt since then and when he looked back to his first meeting with Luz and her friends, he remembered seeing The Owl Lady's eyes filled with anger and hatred when she looked at him. 

It was almost as if Eda had already held some sort of grudge against him before they'd even met. Almost as if he had done something to offend her. Whatever the reason, Godzilla had known it wouldn't have been wise to observe Luz and Eda for more than a couple of minutes that day. The Owl Lady was a rather perceptive witch and would have definitely caught wind of his presence if he'd stuck around for long. 

Eda and Luz had appeared to be hanging out with each other when he'd come across them. They'd probably chosen to come outside to the cliff so they could spend some quality mother and daughter time together, seeing as how they'd both been smiling and laughing with each other.

When Godzilla first spotted Luz he had been a little surprised to discover how different the young girl looked since he had last seen her. Over the course of the year the human girl had grown a little taller, suggesting her birthday may have recently passed and that she was now fifteen years old. Her hair had grown longer too and was now kept tied back in a small ponytail behind her head. Luz's outfit had started to change too. Her hoodie had been replaced by a black and grey sports jacket sporting a golden star on the right and the letter E on the left. She had also begun wearing an orange beanie on top of her head. 

Godzilla had felt a mixture of both happy and sad when he'd seen Luz's new look. He'd felt sad because it was a reminder she was growing up but happy since it showed him she was evolving and still moving forwards with her life. She hadn't let her traumatic experience with Ghidorah prevent her from enjoying the rest of her life. 

Eda hadn't really looked that much different since the last time he had seen her. Her clothing and hairstyle hadn't changed and she had still been the same height. However there had been one small noticeable difference about The Owl Lady. Something he had almost missed when he first saw her again. 

Eda now wore a single small golden ring on her finger.

At first, Godzilla hadn't thought much of the ring, assuming it was just some new little trinket. But a few minutes later Raine had shown up to inform Eda and Luz dinner was ready and when they'd stepped a little closer into the light, Godzilla had spotted a matching golden ring on their finger as well. 

That was when Godzilla remembered Mothra telling him about a tradition the people of The Demon Realm had called marriage. Apparently, her old caretakers had taught her about it ages ago when they were still alive. The Queen Of The Monsters had explained to him that marriage was something the small inhabitants of this realm did when they wished to form a lifelong bond with their chosen mates, binding them even closer together. 

Godzilla hadn't really understood marriage very well at first since it wasn't something titans did. When a titan found a potential mate, and if that mate displayed interest in them as well, they formed a lifelong relationship right then and there. They didn't go through any of this marriage process. 

Anyway, he remembered Mothra telling him something about rings symbolising marriage between two people and since Eda and Raine both wore identical ones, it seemed as if they had gotten married at some point. It was a comforting thought knowing Luz now had a second guardian to look after her. She seemed to like Raine too since Godzilla had witnessed her spring to her feet when they'd first shown up and hugged them tightly. 

After talking with each other for a couple of minutes beside the cliff Eda, Raine and Luz departed and returned to The Owl House. He'd stuck around for an hour or two to see if any of them would come back but unfortunately they hadn't. So Godzilla had swam back into the depths of the ocean, leaving The Boiling Isles and Luz behind him once more. He'd returned a few other times since that day, frequently searching all the likely spots where he knew the human girl liked to hang out.

Godzilla's latest trip to The Boiling Isles had been a couple of months later. He'd found Luz and her friends hanging out on that same beach again and watched them quietly for a while. However just as he'd been getting ready to leave, Godzilla had overheard one of the kids mention his name and had decided to wait around a little longer to learn why they were discussing him. That was how Godzilla had learnt that Luz and her friends had been searching for him all across The Demon Realm ever since he left them all that time ago.

Godzilla had first caught wind of this when he'd overheard Willow mentioning something to her friends about discovering new islands they hadn't searched yet and saw her produce some sort of large map from her pocket which she'd quickly unfolded. After setting the map down on the beach, Godzilla had quietly observed Luz pulling a pen out of her pocket so she could circle the new islands Willow had added and cross out what he assumed were other islands they had already searched. 

Godzilla had been forced to quickly depart after that when Gus had looked over and almost spotted him sticking his head out above the surface. He'd retreated back out to sea, a worried frown on his face as he dived further into the depths of the ocean. 

As happy as he was to learn Luz and her friends hadn't forgotten about him and were trying to find him, this new knowledge also worried Godzilla. There was a reason why he had left them all in the first place. A reason why he hadn't revealed himself to them during his many visits. Godzilla didn't want the kids to find him because of how big of a magnet he was for danger. As King Of The Monsters, the large reptile had many enemies. Some who may even be just as powerful as Ghidorah. Luz and her friends had almost died several times when The One Who Is Many was released. He never wanted to put her or the rest of his young allies in that sort of danger ever again.

That's why he'd taken such a long and reluctant break from revisiting The Boiling Isles since his last trip to see Luz. He'd been worried the human girl was catching onto his visits. 

There had been plenty of close calls when either she or one of her friends had almost spotted him. There had even been one occasion when Amity noticed the tip of one of his dorsal plates sticking out of the sea and pointed it out to her friends, causing them to summon their staffs and fly over to investigate. 

Luckily Godzilla had been able to quickly submerge and swim deeper into depths before the kids' reached his location. He remembered watching them closely above the surface as they searched the water, trying to locate the "pointy thing" Amity had seen. It hadn't sounded like Amity had realised the mysterious pointy thing had been one of his dorsal plates so fortunately for him the kids' hadn't spent long looking around before giving up their search after a couple of minutes. After learning Luz and her friends had started and were still actively looking for him, Godzilla had chosen to remain here on his island for the next two years, only leaving to attend to his kingly responsibilities when he was called upon. 

His hope was that Luz and her friends would give up their search for him if reduced his activity across the realm. There was no doubt in his mind that the human girl and her friends had already found evidence of him on visiting other places in The Demon Realm. After all there had been plenty of times when an out of control titan needed to be put back in their place.

With every location Godzilla visited he always left behind some sort of evidence that he had been there. Large footprints, blast marks and ash from his fire. Not to mention all the destruction around the environment were all a pretty good indication of his presence. 

Godzilla had been lucky that every island and mainland he'd been to since leaving The Boiling Isles hadn't been inhabited by any witches or demons. The fever eyes that saw him the better. 

Since Luz and her friends would have definitely stumbled across something to give them a clue of his whereabouts Godzilla figured the best way to make them give up their search was to limit how often he left the island. As much as he wanted to reunite with Luz and her friends again, he would not put their lives at risk again. The further away they were from him, the safety they would all be.

Godzilla released another sad croon as he reached the beach and sluggishly lowered himself down onto his hands. 

As he began to crawl across the sand and into the ocean, the large reptile began to wonder how Luz and her friends were doing. Two years of not checking up on them had left him feeling a little curious about what they might be up to. Maybe after he'd managed to fix this radiation problem he could afford to pay them a small visit? Surely they had given up their search for him by now. But even if they hadn't one small little visit would not do any harm. 

Godzilla groaned when his head began spinning again as he entered the water, reminding him of his current task at hand. He could make a decision about visiting Luz and her friends again later. Right now he had some much needed radiation to soak up.