A Dragon.
What is a Dragon?
You would be surprised by the variety of answers that one would receive from asking just that question.
To those from Britain, their answer would most likely align with the general definition of Dragons defined by the coat of arms of their ancient nobility. A fire-breathing giant lizard capable of flight with its bat-like wings.
The number of limbs that this kind of Dragon has usually varied according to what the thinker thought possible.
However, the answer you'd received from a Chinese person couldn't be any less different.
To them, a Dragon was the manifestation of nature's will, or perhaps a deity by itself.
Named the 'Lung', the Dragons of China were benevolent divine chimeras possessing a camel's head, a deer's antlers, a rabbit's eyes, a serpent's neck, a tiger's paws, a hawk's talons, a cow's ears and a clam's belly.
Unlike the Dragons of Britain, the Lung were more closely associated with rain than fire and brimstone.
And even then, there were still many other answers to the question. The 'Naga' of India, the 'Wyrm' of Europe, the 'Hydra' of Greece...
Ultimately, these creatures all fell under the category of Dragon even with their unique traits. The reason why became simple once you took a few steps back and observed.
In essence, a Dragon was the symbol of mankind's insecurity that one day, they would be toppled by another species as the dominant force in the food chain.
That was the reason why they all resembled snakes.
Serpents were the number one greatest fear of ancient humans. Their venom was the cheapest ticket to the afterlife that anyone could possibly afford.
Just one wrong step in the tall grass meant certain death.
What could be more terrifying than a giant, flying version of that who could also breathe fire or possess some other special gimmick and ability?
Actually, it's quite obvious. A version that could also talk.
Talking signified the barrier between man and beast. A talking beast was a threat that couldn't be fathomed. A talking, fire breathing giant beast on the other hand?
Still, even if it couldn't actually talk, the idea that such a fearsome creature would also have the boon of human intellect was not something that would spell a good future for the human race as a whole.
Luckily, Dragons weren't real.
They were, and would remain a mere figment of humanity's ever-expanding imagination. A token of fiction that would serve only to entertain the vivid minds of artists and storytellers.
At least, that was how it should be, and that was how it was in the public eye.
But behind closed doors, the US government thought otherwise.
Because to those in the know, the world which humans had evolved in was one that contained countless mysteries, many of which could not be explained by conventional science at its current level.
Giant monsters could be found in every corner of the world if you searched hard enough.
The 'Hollow Earth' theory, stating that the surface of the planet was merely the shell of a vast and occupied interior, was far from mere pseudoscience. It was undoubtedly real, and very much home to the countless monsters that have been documented in humanity's earliest myths.
Luckily for the human race, these giant monsters preferred the subterranean world rather than the surface one.
It had something to do with the 'Great Flood' that devastated these giants and drove them beneath the earth thousands of years ago. Presumably, the very same flood documented in the stories of Noah's Ark, Epic of Gilgamesh, Matsya Avatar, Deucalion, and the many other myths sharing those same story beats.
Perhaps, the 'Nephilim' documented within the Bible and Torah are indeed the same giant monsters that ruled the planet back in ancient times before being subsequently driven beneath the earth.
However, even if the general trend for these giant monsters was to remain in the Hollow Earth, there were some outliers. Take for example the existence of the 'Lost World', otherwise known as Skull Island for its geographical shape.
The discovery of this miraculous piece of land that harbored living dinosaurs became public knowledge when that giant primate King Kong was brought to New York City in 1933 to be presented as the 8th Wonder of the World, only to then break out of its containment before being shot down from the Empire State Building to its death.
However, to use the term 'discovered' was quite an insult to those in higher circles.
Skull Island was not exactly a discrete place. In fact, were it not for the combined efforts of multiple governments, it would have probably been settled by foreign powers long ago.
There was something in that island that made it absolutely imperative that no colonies be made there.
An entrance to the Hollow Earth.
One does not simply dig their way down onto the Hollow Earth. With the current technology available, such a venture would not only be nearly impossible but outrageously expensive and time consuming.
Instead, these entrances were either the result of natural geographical phenomenon, or from a giant creature digging through in the past.
The entrance on Skull Island was one of the few known tunnels directly connected to the Hollow Earth.
There had been several attempts at entering the Hollow Earth through the other known entrances, but all have resulted in the expeditionary force vanishing into the depths of the abyss with no sign of them remaining.
So the interior of the Hollow Earth itself, as well as what lay within was unknown. But what came out was all too familiar to those in the know, so it was safe to assume that whatever was down there should continue to stay down there out of human sight.
There was no telling what manner of monstrosity could come crawling out of that entrance. Overhabitation in the area was just asking for unnecessary casualties.
Indeed, all the strange fauna of Skull Island was a direct result of the existence of that entrance. Although not all of the animals might have directly migrated from the Hollow Earth, there weren't many that didn't possess ancestry linking them to some ancient, monstrous creature from the Hollow Earth.
In order to preserve the current order of things, Skull Island was to be isolated from the rest of the world. This decision was unanimously made by those who possessed the highest authority in the world's governments.
The possibility of unauthorized personnel discovering the entrance to the Hollow Earth and subsequently attracting the attention of a giant monster from below was not something they wanted.
So imagine their faces when an exploratory film crew captured footage of the island's creatures and even brought one to the public eye.
The film crew had been extremely lucky that they hadn't encountered the Hollow Earth entrance, else they might have been cursed with 'coincidental' fatal accidents back to back.
The narrative they went with was that Skull Island was a 'Lost World' that housed previously thought to be extinct creatures, the last reservoir of living dinosaurs.
Nothing about the actual Hollow Earth or its cataclysmic implications. They had been unknowingly saved by their own ignorance.
Nevertheless, this incident had opened the eyes of many people.
Dinosaurs still roamed the earth and regularly fought giant apes.
The idea itself seemed fictitious if you had never seen the footage, but it was completely undeniable, and the broader scientific community was in an uproar.
It became the new 'craze' of the era.
Suddenly, every billionaire and rich tycoon wanted their own piece of the pie.
Whether it be to have the 'glory' of hunting such a creature with their guns and parading the corpse around, or capturing them to study.
But it had incidentally also opened up an opportunity for those who were truly in power.
Because now that the existence of living dinosaurs was no longer a secret, using them as weapons of war became significantly less controversial.
And so, the secret government project 'HERE BE DRAGONS' was set into motion, otherwise known as the Seattle Project.
It was a project that united the uppermost elite geneticists and biologists from across the US and beyond, just like how the Manhattan Project employed its world-class physicists.
The goal? Simple. To create and bring forth a creature of myth that those in the past could have only dreamed of.
A Dragon.
It was the ultimate subjugation of nature. This mythical creature that had terrorized humanity in their fantasy was now made real for the sole purpose of serving them.
Of course, there was no dinosaur that directly resembled the Dragons of myth.
So they had to get creative and fill in the gaps with what they had.
The results spoke for themselves. Hybridized giant reptiles spliced with genes from across the animal kingdom, shaping them into the mythical image of the Dragon.
These artificial Dragons were planned to be used as beasts of war, and so they were made with specific uses in mind.
After all, it was impossible to create a truly anti-ground, anti-air, anti-sea predator of such magnitude.
It took numerous failed attempts, but eventually, the success that had been predicted came at last.
Particularly, three stood out amongst the rest in their respective specializations.
The first, Specimen A7 (SEVEN), was created with the genes of the pterosaur as its base, and then further combined with the genetic materials of birds of prey and then some.
It was the ultimate anti-air predator, equipped with a special ability of projecting sonic screeches gained from its bat DNA, which when combined with its startling speed, made a deadly combination.
The second was Specimen B9 (NINE). The basis of this Dragon's genetic structure was that of the ankylosaurus, amplified with the DNA of pachycephalosaurus, as well as modern beasts of burden, such as bulls and horses. Yet its sharp fangs obviously denoted its identity as a carnivore, having additionally been combined with the blood of such animals.
In other words, it was the ultimate anti-ground predator, equipped with an impregnable spiked carapace that had stood its ground even against high-grade mortar shells.
It even had the ability to dig underground and create tunnel systems beneath the earth due to its mole rat and American badger DNA.
And last but not least...
Specimen C11 (ELEVEN), the ultimate anti-sea predator.
Unlike what you would think, the base they used for this Dragon was none other than the tyrannosaurus rex.
It was for the tyrant lizard king's legendary bite force, which was further amplified by the genetics of countless other theropod dinosaurs.
For its underwater capabilities, Specimen C11 was given the DNA of sarcosuchus and mosasaur, with the gills originating from its strong axolotl genes.
Its special ability was subtle, capable of producing a hot, foggy steam from its mouth to shroud the battlefield in darkness.
How they achieved this was with a combination of the bombardier beetle's acidic spray as well as the colossal squid's ink.
These were the greatest results of the Seattle Project. With it and the currently ongoing Manhattan Project's nuclear arsenal, the US's future seemed optimistic.
However, there was just one thing that still needed to be done with these specimens.
And that was to properly test their combat abilities against true superpredators.
Those in charge of the operation quickly decided on the most optimal opponent for a trial of combat.
...Skullcrawlers.
***
That's chapter 2 done. Any thoughts?
Oh, yeah. In case there are some confused readers, this is not the Monsterverse or someother Godzilla continuity.
I'm making a crossover universe here, so be sure to recommend some compatible franchises if you can.
Do share with us your vote and power stones.