Author’s Note: This instalment of our Gfantis vs “Guest Monster” Series features both the Duke and Zargatron from Timothy Price’s novel Big In Japan. I would like to extend a very special thank you to Tim for letting G-FAN use his monsters and their associated characters, as well as to tell our readers to look out for the next installment of the Big In Japan series, Big in Japan POWER! This Gfantis story takes place in between chapter XV (15) and XVI (16) of Big In Japan!
Japan: The woman howled in agony and struggled in vain against the chains that kept her hands suspended above her head, as the witch dug the knife deeper into her thigh. The witch smiled and then twisted the knife to intensify the woman’s suffering. The woman was an agent of the Earth Intelligence Organization, or E.I.O., and as such she would not divulge information easily, especially when confronted by evil incarnate in the form of Oko Rikoku!
For centuries, the Yokai witch had used various methods in her attempts to slaughter as many humans as she could in her insane quest for world domination. Her methods varied from political upheaval to the unleashing of daikaiju on the various cities of the world.
The witch laughed as she slowly pulled the knife out of the agent’s leg. She mocked the agent in English tainted by a heavy Japanese accent. “You are a credit to your people agent Vinehouse, but you will break. Jack thinks so highly of his silly agents. He sends them around the world pretending to be musicians.” Oko walked around the agent and the woman spit a mouthful of blood at her. The witch deftly stepped aside of the projectile, then moved behind the agent and removed a syringe from her tray of interrogation tools. “Well, if pain will not break your will, perhaps pleasure will!”
Oko jammed the syringe into the agent’s neck and whispered into her ear. “As you begin to lose control of your senses, know that a dose of this magnitude will kill you, but not before it compels you to give me the information that I desire.” She circled the agent and continued to throw insults at her. “It seems that Jack will have to make up another story about one of his musicians dying from a drug overdose!” Oko watched as the agent’s body twisted and contorted in pain, the drug slowly destroying her mind and body. Once the agent had lost the ability to fight against the effects of the drug, Oko grabbed her by the jaw. “Now, I know it is your responsibility to track the monster. Tell me where can I find Gfantis?”
The agents head rolled from side to side as she uttered the last words of her life: “The Great Victoria desert.”
The woman’s body went limp as Oko pumped her hand in triumph. “Of course the beast would be in the desert. It is an excellent place for him to recharge his magnificent body.”
Oko left her interrogation room and descended a set of stairs to the massive underground facility buried beneath her house. In the hangar beneath the house lay the gargantuan form of the ancient daikaiju Zargatron. The beast had been in her service since her family had first begun its war against humanity. The monster’s body had a powerfully built bipedal form, with four arms sprouting from its torso and demonic wings protruding from its back. Zargatron had the face of a bull with the jaws of a lion.
The monster was still badly injured, as it had nearly been destroyed in a recent battle with Jack’s newest recruits to the E.I.O. and rouge daikaiju. Still, Zargatron’s near death was worth the price, considering the prize Oko now possessed. The largest supply of Organic Thorium on Earth had been taken from E.I.O Headquarters and was now hers. The compound was one of the most powerful energy sources on the planet. Even now it was powering an army of massive robots that were replacing the damaged parts of Zargatron’s body with new mechanized upgrades infused with the compound itself. Soon to be reborn as a cyborg, he would possess far more power than he had as a purely organic creature.
There was only one power source on the planet rivaling the store of Organic Thorium that Oko controlled: Gfantis. His solar powered body converted sunlight into kinetic energy at a level greater than the output of a hundred nuclear power plants. With both the Organic Thorium and Gfantis’ corpse, Oko would control the two greatest power sources on Earth, and humanity would be forced to bow to her will.
As the robots finished the last of the upgrades on Zargatron, she spoke to the beast. “Go, my faithful Zargatron. Fly to the Great Victoria Desert in Australia. There you will find Gfantis. Slay the creature and bring his corpse back to me!”
Zaragton’s eyes shot open as the witch used her magic to teleport the daikaiju to the outskirts of the Australian coast. Zargatron turned his head in the direction of the continent, roared, and then lifted off, soaring over the Land Down Under at supersonic speed.
Fuji: A hangar hidden on the slope of the mountain opened as the director of E.I.O, Sir Jonathan Winston (a.k.a. Sir Jack), lead scientist Dr. Takarada, and the other members of the E.I.O stared with pride at their newest weapon: a giant robot created by the Americans. In accordance with their heritage, the Americans had given the robot a cowboy themed appearance, with a massive cowboy hat on its head and what looked like an old fashioned bandolier running across its chest. Even the robot’s weapons were cowboy themed: two photon cannons shaped like twin six shooters. It was also equipped with an eye monocle that, to Sir Jack, resembled an eye patch. The monocle served as the cannon for the robot’s most powerful weapon, an Organic Thorium heat ray. The Americans had extended the cowboy theme to the extreme by giving the machine the call sign of “the Duke.”
Covering their ears and planting their feet firmly on the ground, Sir Jack and the other E.I.O members were assaulted by the sounds and slipstream created by the Duke as it rocketed into the sky. The cybernetic humanoid known only as SCOTT stood erect in a tube at the center of the Duke’s control station. Surrounding SCOTT were the members of the newly formed megaband Vinyl Crush, each in suspended animation in a cubicle, allowing SCOTT to run the Duke’s systems through their central nervous systems without their conscious minds interfering with the process. Their abilities were maximized while, at the same time, human traits such as fear and doubt were eliminated.
Most of the world only knew Vinyl Crush as a hot new band that had recently burst onto the scene, unaware that while the band’s front man Nathan and guitarist Tommy came from the Behind the Music background of garage band to stardom, the other members of the group were a top level secret agent and twin aliens with vast psychokinetic powers.
SCOTT directed his attention to the sleeping form of Tommy. Tommy was the one member of the E.I.O that would talk to SCOTT as if he was a living person. They had engaged in many conversations both related to the E.I.O and random topics unrelated to their training. Prior to the mission, Tommy had asked why it was it that rock stars had been chosen to be the pilots whose brains were connected to the walking armada that was the Duke. SCOTT explained that musicians were most suited to operate a mech because their brains are hardwired to think quickly, and musical talent helps develop the mind’s ability to take multiple variables and bring them together into a cohesive whole. Furthermore, the fine motor skills of a musician are superior to any athlete in the world.
SCOTT had calculated that the brainwaves of Vinyl Crush would achieve a high rate of efficiency in operating the Duke.
The connection between himself, Vinyl Crush, and the Duke complete, SCOTT’s thoughts reverted to the task at hand. The objective for the day was to test the Duke’s ability to maneuver and attack at high speeds. SCOTT turned his head to the left and the Duke flew toward the Pacific Ocean.
Australia: A blazing sun beat down on the vast Great Victoria Desert. The heat created a hot wind that blew across the barren wasteland and caused dust devils to form. Two of the sand filled vortexes collided and merged into a single massive whirlwind reaching nearly twenty feet in height. It twisted across the desert until a shockwave ripped through the ground, causing the vortex to lose its footing and dissipate. The first shockwave was followed by a second one that sent hundreds of rodents scurrying into burrows beneath the desert floor.
A curious
rabbit that had darted into the earth turned around to face the opening of his den. Its eyes went wide when it saw a massive golden foot blocking out the sky. The rabbit attempted to dash out of its den, but the foot was far too large for the small creature to outrun, and it was quickly crushed.
Gfantis walked across the desert, unaware of his effect on the habitat. The monster’s only concern was to follow the sun, allowing his solar powered body to charge to its full potential. Gfantis kept his head tilted skyward, his gaze directed through the cloudless sky and on his power source. The beast’s keen eyes saw a silhouette appear on the horizon. The monster grunted in disgust at the approaching shadow. On several occasions, humans had used their pathetic flying machines to attack him. While the humans’ machines were unable to inflict any real damage on Gfantis, he did find their efforts to be a minor annoyance.
The object emitted a scream that sounded both metallic and organic at the same time. Gfantis altered his vision to bring the object into focus, a massive winged demon with four arms and armor coating most of its body. Zargatron screeched once again and then dived toward Gfantis.
Japanese Coast: The Duke completed a ninety degree turn and then went into a head first freefall toward the ocean. Both SCOTT and the members of Vinyl Crush were unaffected by the G-forces generated by such a maneuver. SCOTT aimed the Duke’s twin photon cannons at two derelict ships that the E.I.O. had towed out to sea to serve as targets. The robot fired a photon burst from each of its cannons. The ships exploded the moment that the photon bursts came into contact with them. Data streamed into SCOTT’S head and he verified his suspicions that the combined talents of Vinyl Crush would allow the Duke to operate at a level of efficiency far greater than any of the E.I.O’s previous robots.
SCOTT’s calculations were interrupted by the voice of the director of the E.I.O. “SCOTT, this is Sir Jack. Your training session has now been upgraded to an official mission. We have reports that Zargatron has appeared in the Great Victoria Desert.” Sir Jack was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath and then continued with his briefing. “SCOTT, we also have intelligence that puts Gfantis in the area as well. If Oko is able to gain control of Gfantis, or even of his corpse, between that and the store of Organic Throium she stole, that witch will possess more raw power than we could ever hope to overcome. It is imperative that you do not let Zargatron leave the area with Gfantis. Stop Zargatron from gaining control of Gfantis by any means necessary! Even if that means reducing Gfantis to atoms.”
SCOTT replied with a simple, “Yes my boss.” He then turned the Duke toward the south. The robot streaked through the sky, picking up speed and creating a sonic boom that ripped through the atmosphere.
Australia: Zargatron crashed into Gfantis with the force of an aircraft carrier dropping from thousands of feet in the air. Zargatron’s impact drove Gfantis into ground, creating an impact crater as long as Gfantis’s body and hundreds of feet in depth. Zargatron screeched as he lifted all four of his claws into the air, then brought them down in an unrelenting barrage across Gfantis’ head and neck.
Despite being repeatedly struck by fists with the force of a Sherman tank behind them, Gfantis forced his head to turn so that he was facing his attacker. Opening his jaws, the Prince of the Monsters unleashed his oral heat beam directly into Zargatron’s chest. The Organic Thorium enriched armor encasing the kaiju’s torso protected him from damage, but the force of the attack threw Zargatron backward and off of Gfantis.
Zargatron used his wings to steady himself as he flew through the air. Seconds after being hit by the beam, the monster landed deftly on his feet. Zargatron sprinted back over to the impact crater, only to find a tunnel burrowed deep into the ground. As the demon looked down in confusion at the darkness, the ground beneath his feet exploded. Gfantis Erupting from the earth, Gfantis clamped his jaws onto Zargatron’s leg. With his teeth latched onto Zargatron’s armor, Gfantis pulled down and sent the cyborg crashing to ground.
Crawling out of the ground, Gfantis leapt onto Zargatron and, sinking his teeth into the upper of Zargatron’s two right arms, used his body to pin the other arm to the ground. With half of his attacker’s arms trapped, Gfantis lashed out with his claws and tore into Zargatron’s face.
Zargatron howled in a pain as a ball of energy began to build between the two horns atop of his head. Seconds later, a beam of bright blue energy cascaded from the ball and scorched Gfantis’s shoulder, causing him to release Zargatron. Gfantis lumbered away on all fours for several steps before coming to a stop and then returning to his bipedal stance.
Gfantis stared at the ancient horror before him with contempt, and roared. As his battle cry echoed across the empty desert, he charged. Gfantis was within arms of length of Zargatron when the demon spread his wings and ascended into the air. The cyborg flew around Gfantis. Once he was behind his target Zargatron altered his flight pattern and dived for Gfantis. Instead of crashing into him again, Zargatron used his lower claws to grab Gfantis under his arms while simultaneously using his upper claws to force Gfantis’s jaws closed. Zargatron flew high into the desert sky carrying Gfantis under him. Once he reached 5,000 feet, Zaratron dived back toward the earth at full speed. When he was within 1,000 feet of the desert, he released Gfantis, sending the golden monster crashing to earth.
Zargaton circled the sky, attempting to see through the dust and sand that Gfantis’ impact had thrown into the air. He flew around the dust cloud twice before Gfantis’ oral beam cut through the dust and struck him in his torso. An anger-filled roar emitted from the dust cloud as Gfantis lumbered out of it and unleashed another volley of his oral beam onto Zargatron. The beam washed across Zargatron’s body, sending sparks flying into the air, but once more was unable to pierce Zargaton’s Thorium armor.
Realizing that the battle would remain at a standstill as long as he was in the air, Zargatron dived at Gfantis once more. After being taken off guard by the aerial attack twice already, Gfantis was prepared for this assault. When Zargatron was within range, Gfantis spun around and sent his thick tail smashing into the demon, causing it to veer off course and crash into the sand.
Gfantis pounced on his opponent, slashing across the face and then driving his foot into Zargatron’s armor coated midsection. Zargatron shook off the blow and used his right two claws to strike Gfantis with a double hammer fist. The blow caused the reptilian daikaiju to stagger backward.
Gfantis regained his footing and was preparing to attack again when he heard a strange sound above. The clash of the titans was brought to a halt as both Gfantis and Zargatron were cloaked in a massive shadow. The deafening sound grew louder and the monsters’ bodies were battered by a combination of wind and exhaust. The Yokai Demon and the Prince of the Monsters looked skyward to see the awesome form of the Duke descending from the heavens!
In preparation for the upcoming battle, SCOTT quickly downloaded several updates through the brains of the Vinyl Crushs members and into the CPU of the Duke: fighting tech-niques of the greatest hand to hand combatants of the past seventy years, downloaded in less than a second. Videos of Muhamad Ali, Don Frye, Bruce Lee, Moe Howard and hundreds of other fighters were assimilated through the unconscious brains of Vinyl Crush, enabling the Duke to internalize the information in a way that a computer never could.
The Duke landed several hundred feet from the two monsters, creating a triangle of titans. Zargartron immediately hissed at the robot which he recognized as one of the machines that the E.I.O had used to battle him for decades. Gfantis shifted his gaze between the Duke and Zargartron, keeping his eyes on both potential threats.
Inside the Duke, SCOTT was well aware of Gfantis’ history. The daikaiju was famous for battling other creatures that he perceived as a threat to himself or to his territory. SCOTT quickly determined that his most logical course of action would be to demonstrate that he was not a threat to Gfantis, while at the same time indicating his desire to destroy Zargatron. The Duke quickly lifted one of his gun shaped p
hoton cannons and fired it at the Demon. A series of explosions danced over Zargatron’s armor, but once more the Organic Thorium shell was undamaged.
The Duke dashed toward Zargatron and then delivered a roundhouse kick to the demon’s head. The mech quickly followed the kick with two jabs to the creature’s face, and then an uppercut to its jaw. Zargatron stumbled backward. SCOTT took a second to scan Zargatron’s new body and confirmed that his armor was indeed infused with Organic Thorium. He took another second to send the information back to the E.I.O., and then refocused all of his attention on Zargatron.
The Duke threw a hook into Zargartron’s body; the beast’s armor absorbed it completely. Unaffected by the blow, the winged horror pounced on his enemy. Zargatron slashed the robot across the face and then slammed into the Duke with his body. The force of the blow sent the Duke toppling over. The robot was flat on its back and SCOTT found himself looking up at the merciless Zargatron. SCOTT directed the Duke to lift up its arms and protect its face when he saw Gfantis suddenly plow into Zargatron. Gfantis lifted the cyborg off of his feet and then threw ancient horror to the ground. Gfantis continued his attack by stomping on Zargatron. With Zargatron momentarily disabled, SCOTT took the opportunity to have the Duke lift itself back onto its feet.
Zargatron blocked a stomp with his upper arms and then used his lower arms to reach under Gfantis and grab the monster’s tail. Pulling on the tail, Zargatron caused Gfantis to fall backward. Zargatron sprang to his feet and prepared to press his attack when he was besieged by another volley of photon bursts from the Duke’s twin cannons.
Zargatron looked toward the Duke and began to charge an energy blast between its horns. While Zargatron was still charging his attack, Gfantis rose up on all fours, bit down onto Zargatron’s thigh, and pulled. The move caused Zargtron’s energy blast to fire harmlessly into the sky. The demon pounded on Gfantis’s head with his claws. Even as blow after blow connected with his head, Gfantis refused to release his grip on the demon’s leg. While Zargarton’s attention was on Gfantis, the Duke took the opportunity to run at the cyborg and connect with a roundhouse punch to his jaw. With his leg trapped by Gfantis, the force of the blow sent Zargatron reeling as he fell to the ground.
Despite the tremendous force imposed by the Duke’s fist, Zargatron was again unharmed, as his armor once more absorbed the worst of the impact. The monster shook off the attack and retaliated as soon as he hit the ground. With his right claws, Zargatron grabbed Gfantis by the neck and shoulder. He then slowly pushed the monster backward, tearing Gfantis’s jaws from around his leg. With his left arms, Zargatron lashed out and swept the legs out from under the Duke, sending the robot sprawling to the ground.
Once he had pried Gfantis free, Zargatron stood up, but still retained his grip on reptilian kaiju. The demon then took to the sky, building energy between his horns as he gained altitude. Within seconds, he was several hundred feet in the air. Zargatron twisted his wrist so that Gfantis was forced to face him, and at that point, he sent a searing bolt of energy into Gfantis’ face. Gfantis moaned in pain through his restrained jaws as he was momentarily blinded.
Zargatron then looked to the coast and appropriately shot for it like a Meatloaf album. The monster could hear Oko’s voice in his head, reminding him that capturing Gfantis was the priority. With the monster’s power added to their arsenal, the new E.I.O robot could be destroyed at any time.
SCOTT returned the Duke to its feet and saw Zargatron fleeing from the battlefield. With his new upgrades, SCOTT quickly calculated that the Duke’s engines on their own would not be sufficient to catch the monster. SCOTT realized that he would need a boost from the members of Vinyl Crush. SCOTT ran thousands of scenarios through his CPU in mere milliseconds, but none of the methods he could calculate resulted in him catching the quickly fleeing Zargatron. At that moment, SCOTT remembered a conversation that he had with Tommy. Tommy was telling him about the time he had managed to obtain tickets to see the Rolling Stones live. Tommy spoke with great enthusiasm about how the band ran out onto the stage to start their show, just as they had every other show over their long career. Tommy had even gone so far as to reenact the run out. As Tommy sprinted across the room, SCOTT had noted that Tommy ran far faster than SCOTT had ever seen him run before, even faster than his calculated maximum. SCOTT hypothesized that this particular memory had excited Tommy to the point of causing adrenaline to course through his body, giving him a temporary burst of increased speed and strength.
SCOTT realized that the time had come to access his “friend’s” enthusiasm and adrenaline. The android sent mental images of Tommy standing to the side of the stage between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Mick put his hand on Tommy’s shoulder and said, “Come on kid, let’s do this right.” In his sleep, Tommy smiled and jerked his legs as adrenaline coursed through his veins. The same infusion of power that coursed through Tommy’s body was also transferred to the Duke.
The robot shot into the sky, causing a sonic boom a mere three seconds after takeoff. Within ten seconds the Duke had accomplished what SCOTT had calculated impossible; he caught up to Zargatron. The Duke grabbed Zargatron’s foot, and then landed a punch to the demon’s groin. SCOTT thought that Tommy would appreciate it if he had said something sarcastic like, “Today there is no Sympathy for the Devil!”
The Duke caught Gfantis by the leg and quickly lowered him to the ground as Zargatron crashed onto the desert floor. When Gfantis’ feet had returned to the ground, he looked at Zargatron and unleashed a roar that shook the desert. Side by side, Gfantis and the Duke marched toward Zargatron. As they approached the horror, SCOTT reviewed Gfantis previous battles with other daikaiju and calculated that if they could force Zargatron to the ground for a minimum of five seconds, Gfantis would utilize an attack which, in conjunction with a specific weapon of the Duke’s, might be able to penetrate Zargatron’s armor.
Zargaratron had returned to his feet by the time the Duke and Gfantis had reached him. Gfantis attacked Zargatron from the left, biting and clawing at the demon, while simultaneously, the Duke attacked from the right, throwing punches and elbows which SCOTT timed so that he would not accidently strike Gfantis. Zargatron thrashed his claws wildly at his attackers but his counterattack was in vain. After exchanging blows for several minutes, the combined might of Gfantis and the Duke had overwhelmed Zargatron. His claws fell to his sides in exhaustion, allowing Gfantis to wrap his arms around Zargatron and toss him to the ground face first.
Gfantis stood above Zargatron, and the crescent horn at the top of his head began to glow. Seeing that the opportunity he had been waiting for was at hand, SCOTT immediately opened up the robot’s monocle and powered up the Duke’s Organic Thorium Heat Ray. Gfantis crescent beam shot forward and struck Zargatron just under his tail. Instantly, Scott focused the Duke’s heat ray on the same spot. A blazing wall of light began to form on Zargatron’s backside and grew until it exploded, propelling Zargatron forward. SCOTT’s sensors instantly detected that Zargatron’s armor had been pierced in the most sensitive of places.
With his armor damaged and two powerful foes attacking, Oko ordered Zargatron to retreat. Back in her stronghold, Oko cursed the E.I.O. and the Duke. She realized that she would have to destroy the E.I.O. prior to gaining control of Gfantis. Oko smiled as she gripped the pendant around her neck and thought that she more than possessed the means with which to destroy the E.I.O. from within!
The Duke and Gfantis watched as the demon flew off into the setting sun. SCOTT turned the Duke toward Gfantis in case the monster decided to attack, but the Prince of the Monsters simply began walking toward the setting sun. With his mission complete, SCOTT directed the Duke back to Fuji.
When the Duke arrived home. the members of Vinyl Crush were taken directly to their rooms where they would wake up unaware of the battle that had occurred.
SCOTT was standing by while Tommy’s sleeping body was taken out of the robot. As Tommy was being carried away, Sir Jack a
nd Dr. Takarada approached SCOTT. Sir Jack placed his hand on SCOTT’s shoulder. “That was fine work out there. Had that witch gained control of Gfantis, she would have been practically invincible!” Sir Jack sighed. “Even without Gfantis, she still possess enough Organic Thorium to pose a serious threat. We may need to bring the Duke into play again soon. Tell me SCOTT, how did the robot synch up with the members of the band?”
Normally SCOTT would have given a detailed account of how he had utilized Tommy’s enthusiasm for the Rolling Stones to prevent Zargatron from escaping with Gfantis, but his interactions with Tommy had given SCOTT some insight into how a human’s emotions could affect him either positively or negatively. Given Sir Jack’s past, SCOTT calculated that informing him that it was a memory of the Rolling Stones which spurred the Duke on to victory might have a negative impact on his ego. Scott knew that with the current crisis, Sir Jack needed to be at his best. His computerized brain recalled how Tommy had often used words and phrases with double meanings to connect multiple ideas with a single thought. SCOTT turned to Sir Jack. “My boss, let us just say that I got by with a little help from my friends.”
A smile appeared on Sir Jack’s face and SCOTT knew that his choice of words had achieved the desired effect.
The End