Godzilla Warriors 8: Zenith

Chapter 17: Rise of the Phoenix

"It's so hot... I think I'm burning..." A voice said in the darkness of Rodan's mind. "Am I... am I dead? Is this death?" He was silent for a brief moment. "No... no, I'm still alive."
His eyes opened. All Rodan could see was a bright burning orange. He took a breath, and inhaled a huge gulp of boiling magma. He coughed and sputtered, but realized he wasn't in much pain.
"I'm burning, but it doesn't hurt..." He thought. "Why... why doesn't it hurt?"
He looked at his hands, and saw they were bright yellow. His legs were also bright yellow. If he could see his face, he guessed his whole body would be glowing. But he was alive.
"What happened to me?" He wondered. His mind ran through the past few moments. He tried to fight Red, he failed, and he was dropped into the lava below. That's where he was now; the lake of lava around Red's tower.
"But... why aren't I dead?" He wondered. He felt strange, but good. Really good. In fact, he felt extremely good. He took another deep breath, allowing the heat to fill his lungs. He didn't mind the heat anymore. In fact, he liked it. A lot. It was filling him with energy.
"I may not know why I'm not dead," he said, "but damn whatever it is, it feels amazing!"
He suddenly shot upwards, eventually breaking the surface of the lava. He wasn't surrounded by heat anymore, but he still felt great. He looked down at himself, and saw that he was literally glowing. His skin was a mix of orange and yellow, and looked like molten metal with flames flickering all over his body. Then he remembered something; his hair. He hoped it hadn't burned up in the lava. His hands shot up to his head, and when he felt his hair was still there, he sighed in relief. But that's not all he noticed. From the corners of his vision, he saw two appendages he did not have before; wings. Two flaming dragon-like wings had sprouted from his back.
"What!? This is awesome!" He laughed in sudden renewed joy. "Wait... where's Godzilla?"
He looked out, and saw that Red's tower was pretty far away. He must have floated out a bit after he was thrown into the lava.
"He's probably gonna need some help." He said. He shot out towards the tower, leaving a trail of fire behind him.

Godzilla had never used a shield before in his life. This style of sword was foreign to him too. But despite this, he was able to use them without any issues. He was able to block every attack from Red with the armour and shield. He guessed this was Accacius working through him. Red's rage at seeing the armour of his sister on Godzilla was making him attack more erratically. He tried to land a particularly devastating attack at Godzilla's head, but he was blocked once again by the shield. If Godzilla hadn't had it, the attack would have certainly killed him. 
"I really like this shield." He said. Red growled in anger and got back into a battle stance.
"You may be able to block my attacks now, but you still haven't landed one of your own." Red reminded. "Attempting to strike me would leave yourself open. You have to try eventually. And when you do, I'll slice you into bits!"
Godzilla realized he was right. He had been battling Red for almost five minutes now, and hadn't landed one hit. He couldn't keep fighting Red forever, and he guessed his stamina was much lower than Red's. As he thought about what he could do to defeat Red, he heard a sound above him. It sounded like a meteor flying through the air. Eventually, Red could hear it. He scowled and looked around the sky for the source. Suddenly, the thing causing the sound crashed down on the other side of the tower. It was a tall figure engulfed in flames. It glowed a bright orange, and it had two massive flaming wings sprouting from its back. Its eyes were large and round, and glowed bright white. Both Godzilla and Red stepped back in surprise.
"Whoa!" Godzilla said. He turned to Red, expecting it was one of his minions. "What the hell is that, some kind of demon!?"
"How should I know?" Red spat. "Whatever it is, it's not one of mine."
Godzilla drew his sword and pointed it at the figure. It suddenly turned towards Godzilla, holding up its hands in defence.
"Wait, Godzilla, stop!" It said. "It's me, Rodan!"
Godzilla's eyes widened. "R-Rodan!?" He asked. He didn't have trouble believing him. After closer inspection, he could tell the figure had Rodan's voice, though it was slightly different, almost distorted, as if Rodan had another voice whispering under his own. Not only that, but it was hard to mistake that spiky hair.
"What happened to you?" Godzilla asked.
"No idea!" Rodan chuckled. "I guess because I normally get my power from absorbing the heat from the sun, the heat from the lava supercharged me somehow. I'm completely healed too."
"Enough!!!" Red shouted. "No matter what has happened to you, Rodan, it doesn't matter. You'll be returning to the dead soon enough, along with Godzilla!"
Rodan turned towards Red, and got into a battle stance. He glanced back towards Radon and the others. Even though they were trapped in stone, he could feel them staring at him, cheering him on. His love for Radon was all the motivation he needed.
"I'm not just Rodan anymore." He said, turning back to Red. "I'm something else. Something new. Something that's been locked away for too long. And now I'm out. No, I'm not just Rodan..."
He closed his eyes for a moment, focussing all his energy into the fire generating from his skin. When he opened his eyes, the fire burst out in a display of his new power.
"I'll call this new form... Fire Rodan!" He exclaimed.
Godzilla raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's what you're gonna go with?" He smirked.
"Well, at least I'm not ripping off Dragon Ball, 'Super' Godzilla." Rodan shot back. Godzilla glared at him, but that argument would have to wait. Red was rushing towards them, scythe drawn. Godzilla dodged out of the way, only narrowly dodging the blade, while Rodan wound up like he was pitching a baseball, and tossed a fireball at Red. It his him square in the face as he passed them. He growled once again, and looked at the two Kaiju in pure anger. But suddenly, his scowl turned into a malicious grin.
"Rodan... You are not the only one with a more powerful form." He said.
"...What are you talking about?" Godzilla asked.
"This humanoid appearance is only a formality. Perhaps it's time I reveal to you my true form." Red said. As he said the last few words, his voice became low and demonic, and his eyes went completely dark. His bones began shifting and cracking as his body began to transform. He reached up to his cape and ripped it off with his hand, which had become a giant red claw. As he ripped off the cape, two crimson wings erupted from his back, spraying blood onto the ground. He raised his arms, and two more burst out of his sides in another spray of blood. They became covered in a bone-like armour. Finally, he began to almost double in size, becoming a giant. He was no longer humanoid. Now he was a true demon. Godzilla and Rodan backed up in fear.
"Whoa... he's big now." Rodan gulped.
"You know what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Godzilla said. He rushed towards Red and sliced at his leg. He actually managed to wound him. Before he could do it again. Red grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Meanwhile, Rodan shot into the air, leaving a trail of fire behind him. He flew around Red, shooting him with two blasts of fire with his hands. It burned him all over as Rodan flew around him, until he finally reached Red's face. The demon shielded his face with his hands, letting Godzilla go, but not before Rodan's fire damaged one of his eyes. He thrust his hand out, and sent his own crimson fire blast at Rodan, countering against his yellow fire blasts. Rodan summoned more of his heat energy to his hands, unleashing more and more fire at Red. While the two were distracted, Godzilla got up and jabbed his sword into Red's thigh. Red screeched in pain, and swatted Godzilla away. He tumbled on the ground and almost fell off the tower, but managed to catch himself on a loose brick on the side with one hand. Meanwhile, the distraction caused Red to take his attention and fire away from Rodan, who unleashed his fire blast full force into his face. He roared in pain and stumbled back. Now his other eye was damaged. He could still see, but he was in intense pain. Rodan grinned as he saw this, but noticed something unfortunate. He tried to send another blast of fire, but nothing came. Not only that, but his skin was back to normal, and his wings were gone. He was back to normal. He quickly realized the downside of his new form; if he expelled too much energy, he would go back to his normal form.
"Uh oh." He gulped. He flew around the tower and found Godzilla hanging onto the side. He grabbed his arm an helped him back up to the top.
"Thanks." Godzilla sighed in relief. "Hey, you're normal again."
"Yeah, I guess using too much energy makes the Fire thing go away." Rodan shrugged.
Red suddenly roared and ran towards them. Godzilla dodged out of the way, but Rodan wasn't as lucky. Red grabbed him and threw him across the tower. He landed on the other side, right in front of the statues that were once his friends. He looked up to see Radon, who he could swear was staring down at him, begging him to win. For her sake, he had to defeat Red. But he was starting to doubt this was even possible. Before he could get back up, Red jumped into the air and landed on top of him, grinning in utter evil as he stared down at him. He brought up a hand, which had transformed into a giant blade, and jabbed it down at Rodan. Luckily, he rolled out of the way before he had a chance. Red grimaced and tried to stab him again, but Rodan dodged once more. He tried to get up and run, but Red grabbed him with he two tower arms and held him down. This time, there was no escape. Right as he was about to seal Rodan's fate, he released a pained scream and stood back up. This allowed Rodan to escape his grasp and see why Red had screamed in pain. When he saw it, hope filled his mind again. Godzilla was standing on Red's back, holding onto his wing for support. And his sword was stuck deep into the back of Red's neck. Godzilla raised his sword and brought it down again. He was going to keep stabbing Red until he was dead. However, he had forgotten that Red could fly. He flapped his massive wing, taking Godzilla along with it, and shot into the air. Godzilla hung onto Red's wing for dear life, but holding onto the wing and the sword at the same time was difficult. Red flew around erratically, trying to shake Godzilla off. Rodan immediately jumped into the air and flew after him. He didn't have his Fire form's wings anymore, but he was still one of the fastest Kaiju alive. He caught up to Red quickly. Luckily, it appeared that Red didn't notice him. He had to think fast, or Godzilla would surely fall into the lava below. Suddenly, he felt a tingle in his arm. He looked at it, and saw a little bit of his skin still glowing. It looked as if the blood in his veins was lava, glowing through his skin. He still had some Fire energy left. Using up all the very last bit of his energy, he summoned another fireball in his hand and threw it at Red's face, throwing him off course. However, this also caused enough turbulence to dislodge Godzilla from Red's wing. Rodan gasped and flew down as fast as he could to catch Godzilla. He caught him right before he hit the lava, and flew back into the air after Red.
"You okay?" Rodan asked.
"Don't worry about me!" Godzilla said. "I just need one more good hit, and Red's going down!"
"You'll never be able to get on him again!" Rodan said. Godzilla knew this was true. Even if Red landed on the tower again, he would never let his guard down enough for Godzilla to get on his back again. Godzilla had only one option.
"Throw me at him!" He ordered.
"What!? Are you insane!?" Rodan asked.
"Do it!!!" Godzilla demanded.
Rodan had no other choice. He had to have faith in Godzilla's plan. After flying a bit closer to Red, Rodan readied himself to throw Godzilla, holding him with only one arm.
"I sure hope you know what you're doing!" He said. With that, he threw Godzilla with all his might. Godzilla raised his sword as he sailed through the air. As he reached Red, he landed on his back and brought the sword down directly on Red's head, all in the same motion. Red let out a final screech of pain, and immediately fell. Godzilla jumped off of his back and grabbed onto Rodan's arm as he sailed past. When they reached the tower, they both watched as Red's body plummeted into the lava. As soon as it hit the magma, he began to crumble into rock. His body broke apart, and the last part of him to melt into the lava was his hand. Godzilla breathed deeply. Red was finally gone. It was over. Rodan stared out at the lava in shock and amazement.
"That... was amazing!" He said. "Holy shit! I can't believe you did that!"
"Hey, I couldn't have done it without that new form of yours." Godzilla chuckled. "That was pretty cool. I hope we can use that thing in battle again."
"Yeah, me too." Rodan replied. The two of them heard rock crumbling behind them, and remembered their friends were trapped in stone. They swivelled around to see Anguirus, Mothra, and Radon emerging from their stone prison.
"Oh, man! That really friggin' hurt." Anguirus said, cracking his back and stretching his arms. "Being trapped in rock sucks. But holy crap, I can't believe you guys killed Red!"
"And that Fire form of yours, Rodan... wow!" Mothra said. "I was cheering for the both of you through the stone."
Everyone was glad to be done with Red, but nobody was happier than Radon. She stared at the lake of lava around them, specifically at the spot where Red had sunk into.
"He's... he's gone." She said. A tear ran down her face as she smiled. "I can't believe he's finally gone. I... I feel free for the first time in 14 years."
Rodan saw her at the edge of the tower. He walked over to her to comfort her, but he didn't get a chance to. To his surprise, Radon suddenly jumped in the air and let out a loud cheer of joy.
"We won! Rot in hell, dipshit, we won!" She shouted out at the lava, holding out her middle finger.
"Uh... Radon, are you okay?" Rodan asked. Radon turned towards Rodan, and he could see her face was one of absolute joy.
"Oh, fuck yeah I'm okay!" She laughed. "That bitch is finally dead! I feel okay for the first god-damn time in fucking years!"
"Radon, language..." Mothra muttered, placing her hands over her ears.
"Sheesh, Radon, calm down." Godzilla said.
"You're right, sorry." Radon chuckled. "I'm just... so glad he's dead."
"We all are." A voice said from behind them. They all turned around to see none other than Solomon. He had his arms crossed, and a smile of admiration on his face. Everyone ran up to him.
"Solomon! You're alive?" Godzilla asked.
"Seems that way." He chuckled.
"But... how?" Mothra asked.
"It's the same reason Godzilla has that armour." Solomon explained. Godzilla knew exactly what he meant. Acacius had brought him back to life. Suddenly, the armour on him dissolved into gold sparks and disappeared, presumably back to Acacius. Nobody else payed this any mind.
"Now, if I recall, you don't have much time left to go through the portal." Solomon reminded.
"Oh, shoot, you're right!" Godzilla said. "How're we gonna get down from here?"
Solomon snapped his fingers, and a staircase appeared behind them, leading them down to the bottom.
"The lava should be gone by the time you reach the bottom." Solomon assured.
The others rushed down the staircase, but Godzilla remained behind. He placed a hand on Solomon's shoulder.
"Thank you, Solomon, for everything." Godzilla said. "We couldn't have done this without you."
"Don't mention it." Solomon replied. "And don't worry, I predict we will see each other again, and soon."
Godzilla nodded, and followed the others down the staircase. Finally, after days of journeying through the worst horrors imaginable, he was going home.