While searching Mega Monster Island for access to the underground lair of the Mega Monster Master, Rook's squad meets each attacking wave of monsters head on. But when they are met by the mutated form of their former ally, the Captain, Rook sends his squad away to regroup with the others, while he transforms into his beast form and takes on the Captain alone.
The Captain's strange new form is unlike anything Rook has encountered before. This creature doesn't have a typical skeleton, and it squirms and rolls and continuously slips from Rook's grasp.
Rook manages to clamp his jaws on the Captain's torso, when-
Another squad of Thinmen ambush Rook, giving the Captain a chance to recover.
While Rook is fighting off the Thinmen, the Captain tackles him and prepares to sink two sets of teeth from two mouths into his neck.
The injured Cyberbike suddenly jumps on the Captain's back and hauls him off of Rook.
Rook sinks his teeth into the Captain's throat and trashes his head back and forth.
With a powerful "riiip", Rook tears the Captain's two-faced head off and tosses it behind him. Momentarily embracing his beastly nature, Rook roars in triumph. He then checks on the status of the Cyberbike.
"Your legs are damaged. I'll carry you out of here..." Rook begins.
"No" the Cyberbike says, "I still have a purpose to fulfil here".
"What are you talking about? We'll regroup with the others and continue our mission..."
"No. The Medic restored me for this purpose, and I must carry it out alone."
"But you can't walk, and I can tell from the damage that you can't transform."
"I can serve my purpose here. Now go."
"I don't understand, our mission..."
"I have my own mission, and you don't want to be near me when I complete it."
* * *
The two Mega Monster Fighters finally make their way out of the jungle and come across a giant stone door...
...and the creature guarding it. This beast has been identified in reports as a Chittering Crunchit. They're known for their razor sharp teeth, incredible jumping skills, and their constant, high-pitched laughter.
Sure enough, once the creature lays eyes on the mechs, that laughter starts. The beast leaps forward and tackles the Grenadier's mech to the ground.
The Medic moves in to engage the Crunchit, but it leaps overhead and comes down behind the Medic's mech.
As the Medic struggles under the weight and gnashing teeth of the monster, he aims his gun backwards and fires into the creature's abdomen.
The Crunchit jumps from the Medic's back and takes a defensive position as the Grenadier pilots his mech back onto it's feet. Before the Crunchit can attack again, it is blasted by three of the mechs' mega weapons. The high-pitched laughter stops.
The two Mega Monster Fighters make sure the beast is dead before they begin working on a way through the giant stone door.
In a sudden flash, the human form of the Master is a gone, and a giant beast stands in its place.
The Master turns to his stunned captive.
"Now, like all those who came before you, you will bow before me!"
* * *
In an unknown location, the Pilot has been captured and is introduced to the Mega Monster Master. Taken to this strange location by a surviving Eye Goo, the Pilot is unsure if he is even still on the island. He has no choice but to heed the Master's commands and bide his time, not knowing what will come next.
"Y'know you and your kind have been a thorn in my side for years now?" the Master says. "Every time one of my children shows up in one of your oh-so precious cities, you murder them! But you will not threaten our survival any longer!"
"Murder? Is that what you call it? When your so-called children 'show up' in one of our cities, they immediately start trying to destroy it! They leave us no choice but to defend ourselves! And what do you mean, 'my kind'? From where I'm standing, you look as human as I do." the Pilot replies.
"I reckon I do. I reckon that to you, I could be any ol' sorry soul wasting away my life in obscure mediocrity (if a century or so late). But what I really am is the next leap forward in evolution. More than that! I am the new creator, and your kind are bent on holding me back! You can't hold back a god, though. No one can."
"I can't say that I've ever met a god before, but no holy book I've ever read has referred to God as a cowboy with a monster-sized chip on his shoulder."
"The small and the weak always question what they can't understand. They couldn't fathom me then, and I can see they won't fathom me now. Another failure of an obsolete lifeform."
"Well, you're Holiness, enlighten me. Who couldn't fathom you before now?"
"The insect demands answers from the god. Very well, small thing. You seek enlightenment? You shall have it. Consider it a consolation for the destruction of your insignificant species."
"In my previous state, I was not a man of note. I travelled the land, searching for discoveries that would help lift my fellow people up, to become more than what we were. It was a time of dirt and death. The many toiled away in the dust while the few grew fat and rich while walking over us.
"Finally, my searches led me to the gateway to another plane of existence - the answer I had been looking for.
"I learned of an ancient elixir created in a far off land, a forgotten potion that could heal wounds, cure disease, transform the body into something greater. I was able to recreate this elixir, and in an effort to support my fellow man, I sold it (for a reasonable price)."
"You were a snake-oil salesman?" the Pilot asks.
"That's what they called me, yes. At first, the unworthy merely fell ill when they drank the elixir. Then, a self proclaimed 'noble citizen' named Duskly learned of my discovery. Like all weak men, he could not understand.
"Duskly and his mongrel sons ambushed me. They destroyed my potions and they threatened me with lynchin' if I ever showed my face in 'their town' again.
"When I tried to reason with them, show them the error of their ways, they beat me. Those 'noble citizens' beat their saviour and left him bleeding in the mud.
"But greatness cannot be stopped. Evolution will not be held back. I made more elixir, and I fed some to one of Duskly's prized chickens. This time, a change took effect.
"I'll admit it wasn't one of my better creations, but I was merely beginning.
"My new creation attacked my enemies, those non-believers who denied their saviour!
"Duskly and his mutts destroyed that creation, but they knew their world was changing whether they were willing to accept it or not.
"Only a fool attempts to fight destiny, but that's exactly what Duskly did. He formed a posse, and they considered themselves some kind of 'protectors of the realm'.
"Quickly, my creations evolved into greater forms, yet Duskly still denied the inevitable.
"Duskly and his posse held their ground for a while, but my creations would we keep coming. My children of a new tomorrow would not be held back!
"I don't know how, but eventually Duskly traced my creations back to me. Maybe he always knew. But he was growing rich for murdering my children, and it wasn't until one of his own sons fell to one of mine that he drew the line. What else could you expect from a man ruled by greed?
"His gathering of non-believers had grown. They should have been bowing before me, but they resisted. Again, they threatened me.
"When dealing with angry children, one must remind them who truly has the authority. When provoked by the misguided, one must stand their ground.
"I most certainly stood my ground.
"Duskly made a grave mistake that day. He so foolishly assumed that I wouldn't partake in my own salvation. Unlike those were merely granted a taste, the elixirs were mine I drank them whenever I desired.
"Dragons once walked the earth, but they were held back by lesser beings. But dragons weren't monsters, they were men - men who were given the gift to become something more! Through my elixirs, I was given this gift!
"Duskly learned his place. He learned that those who oppose destiny will be left trampled in its wake.
"His followers drove me off then, but they could not kill me, for who can kill a god? I left the unworthy behind and found this island. This island, a heaven where I could perfect my elixirs and turn the worthy into what they were always destined to be.
"Duskly's sons and followers continued to search for me, but time, as all things, serves only myself. Now you, and your 'Mega Monster Fighters' continue on with their futile beliefs that destiny can be stopped.
"But I AM destiny. The old world may have shaped me, but the new world will be shaped by me as I see fit.
"My creations can now create on their own. You've seen as much with one of your own followers."
"Rook..."
"He was given the chance to become something greater, to show you all what you could become. I gave him - I gave all of you - one more chance to embrace your destiny. But like Duskly, you could not see the greatness before you, and you spat in the face of salvation."
"That's a fascinating story, and I bet you love telling it. But there's just one problem." the Pilot says.
"Is that a fact? Well now, what don't you enlighten me." the Master replies.
"If you were truly a god, I couldn't do this!"
At that moment, the Pilot activates his Mega Cutters and swings them into the side of the Master's head. With a powerful splat of flesh on stone, the Master's body slams into the ground.
The room is filled with silence. Not even the Master's guards make a move. Suddenly, laughter fills the air...
...and the Master stands up.
"Well now. You almost sounded like you expected that to do something. But if I truly wasn't a god, I couldn't do this."
In a sudden flash, the human form of the Master is a gone, and a giant beast stands in its place.
The Master turns to his stunned captive.
"Now, like all those who came before you, you will bow before me!"
Time to hit pause again! Back in the February edition of AMAMOTM, I had no idea where the story was going to go. I figured I would get new army-men-type figures each month and make a story tie a story together around them, but that would mean ignoring the characters I introduced in January. That left Feb. as the random month that didn't feature the Mega Monster Fighters, but focused on cowboys fighting monsters instead. Well, I wanted to bring them back into the story before the end, so this second-last instalment calls back a lot to the second instalment. Even the monster chicken was mentioned!
Next time: the conclusion of Army Men and Monsters of the Month!
Previous instalments of AMAMOTM:
That is the happiest cricket thing I've ever seen! You really find the most horrifying stuff.
ReplyDeleteSince the Master turns into a dragon, I'm wondering if Rook is halfway between human and dragon, what with being a flesh raptor.
You know, that happy cricket thing was part of the inspiration for AMAMOTM. I bought that and the other bug (seen with the Master) with some army men just because I liked the idea of army men vs monsters. So I had to get him in here somewhere before the end.
DeleteAs for Rook, who knows? He's obviously closer to the Master's form than others, since they can both turn back into humans. I mean, there's no REAL thought behind it. I just made the Master a cowboy so I could bring the cowboys from Feb. back into the story. But it's an interesting idea, and probably true!