Chapter 15 – Landfall
Salt spray burned Lin's cracked lips as he burst from the boiling surf like a shot from a cannon. His arms carved the water, each stroke fueled by the last dregs of Resonance energy flickering through his veins. The storm above split wide with a flash of lightning that made the whole horizon look like shattered glass. Behind him, something huge moved under the waves—its wake forming a trench of white foam that chased him toward the island like an angry god.
"Holy hell…" Lin hissed between gasps. His muscles screamed. The Resonance pattern that usually pulsed calm blue through his veins was now flickering in sickly neon green, like a glitching circuit. He wasn't at full power. Not even close.
Another roar rolled across the sea, so deep it rattled his ribs. The unknown Titan had followed him all the way here.
A jagged reef cut his leg as he swam the last meters. He barely felt it. His body was in survival autopilot now, pure fight-or-flight. His hands slapped wet rock; he clawed his way up like a drowning animal and collapsed onto the black sand of Skull Island.
For a moment he just lay there, coughing brine, his hair plastered to his forehead, his mind a blur. Around him the jungle loomed like a living wall—twisted trunks, glowing fungi, huge leaves that dripped with mist. The air smelled electric and ancient, like ozone after lightning.
"F—k," he muttered. "So this is it. Skull Island."
He'd read the reports in stolen Project Aegis files—ruins older than any known civilization, a hotspot of Titan energy. But nothing prepared him for the sheer weight of the place. It was like standing in a cathedral built for monsters.
A rustle behind him made him jerk upright. Not the sea. Not the Titan. Footsteps.
Down the beach, a cluster of survivors stumbled out of the mist, dragging a dented equipment crate between them. Torn uniforms. Bruised faces. Project Aegis patches. Lin recognized the tall woman in front instantly: Keller, one of Aegis's lead scientists. She'd been on the carrier when the unknown Titan attacked.
She froze when she saw him. "You—" she gasped, half disbelief, half fury. "You're the one who stole the SERAPHIM data."
Lin pushed himself up on one knee, hands raised. "Look, lady, now's really not the time for a blame game."
Her eyes darted past him to the ocean. The water was boiling again, rising in a slow dome. Something was coming.
"Holy moly…" one of the soldiers whispered. "It followed us here."
The unknown Titan's dorsal spines broke the surface, glowing a faint red. It wasn't as big as Godzilla but it was longer and sleeker, like a crocodile crossed with a centipede. Rows of legs clawed at the shallows as it surged forward.
"Everyone move!" Keller barked.
Lin turned to run—and froze. Because the jungle behind them had gone silent. Dead silent. Even the insects had stopped.
Then the earth boomed.
A shadow detached from the tree line, rising higher and higher until Lin had to crane his neck to see the face. Dark fur matted with mud. Shoulders like boulders. Eyes like molten amber.
Kong.
Up close he was even more terrifying than the footage. Thirty meters of muscle and scars, fists the size of trucks. He stepped onto the beach with a slow, deliberate grace that sent tremors through the sand.
He looked at Lin first, nostrils flaring as if scenting his Resonance energy. Then at the unknown Titan thrashing in the surf. His lips curled back, showing teeth.
The soldiers raised their weapons automatically. Keller hissed, "Don't. Just… don't."
Lin's mind was a tornado. He'd wanted to find Kong, but not like this—not weak, bleeding, hunted. He had no plan for a three-way standoff.
The unknown Titan screeched and lunged, water exploding around its legs. It charged straight for the beach.
Kong roared, the sound blasting across the shore like a thunderclap. Birds erupted from the canopy in a black cloud. He slammed a fist into the sand and squared his shoulders, as if saying, this is my island.
Lin swore under his breath. He could either run into the jungle and risk getting crushed by Kong, or stay on the beach and get shredded by the sea monster. Neither was great.
The Titan reached shallow water, spines glowing brighter. A jet of superheated steam burst from its mouth, cutting a molten scar across the sand. Soldiers dove for cover. One screamed as the edge of the blast seared his leg.
Lin's Resonance pattern pulsed. Instinct took over. He stepped forward, between the soldiers and the monster, and drew in the island's Titan energy like a sponge. Blue-white veins crackled up his arms. His eyes glowed faintly.
He looked up at Kong and shouted over the roar of the surf: "You want this thing off your island? Then help me!"
Kong blinked once, a flicker of something like recognition passing through his eyes. Then he bared his teeth and pounded his chest with both fists. The sound was a war drum.
The unknown Titan lunged out of the water, claws snapping. Kong met it head-on, swinging his fist like a wrecking ball. The impact sent a shockwave through the beach, spraying sand and foam.
Lin dove sideways, rolling to his feet, and threw out his hands. Resonance energy coiled like a whip and lashed across the monster's flank, leaving a smoking gash. It howled and spun, striking at him with a tail like a battering ram.
He dodged, barely, the tail smashing a crater where he'd been. His heart hammered. He could feel his power spiking dangerously high, his evolution meter at 98%.
"Stay focused…" he muttered. "Don't fry yourself now."
The soldiers scrambled up the dunes, setting up a portable railgun from their crate. Keller barked coordinates into a battered comm unit. "We can drive it back into the sea—just give us time!"
Lin gritted his teeth. Time was exactly what they didn't have.
Kong wrestled the Titan in the surf, both of them roaring and throwing up geysers of foam. The Titan's spines flared red; it was charging another steam blast point-blank.
Without thinking, Lin sprinted forward. He leapt onto a rock and launched himself at the Titan's head, Resonance crackling around him like lightning. He slammed both palms onto its skull, pouring raw energy into it.
The Titan shrieked and reared back, breaking free of Kong's grip. Steam vented uselessly into the sky instead of Kong's face.
Kong seized the opening. With a bellow he swung a massive fist up under the creature's jaw, lifting it clean off the ground. It crashed back into the shallows, dazed.
Lin landed hard, skidding through wet sand. His whole body buzzed, his vision flickering at the edges. He was burning through energy too fast.
The Titan staggered upright again, spines flickering erratically. It glared at both Kong and Lin as if realizing it was outnumbered. Then, with a guttural roar, it backed into deeper water, tail lashing, and dove beneath the waves.
Silence crashed down like a hammer. Only the surf remained, hissing at the shore.
Kong turned slowly to Lin. His chest rose and fell like a mountain breathing. They stared at each other, predator to predator.
Lin swallowed hard. "Yeah… hi," he said hoarsely. "Thanks for the assist."
Kong tilted his head, nostrils flaring again. He stepped closer, each footfall making the ground tremble. His shadow swallowed Lin whole.
Keller and the soldiers watched from the dunes, weapons half-raised. No one dared move.
Lin's Resonance flickered weakly around his hands. He knew he couldn't fight Kong in this state. Not yet.
Kong crouched slightly, bringing his massive face down until his burning amber eyes were level with Lin's. He sniffed once, a gust of hot air that whipped Lin's hair back. Then he rumbled low in his chest—a sound Lin couldn't read. Warning? Curiosity?
Before Lin could react, the ground beneath his feet vibrated again—not from Kong this time, but from deeper within the island.
The jungle beyond the beach glowed faintly as ancient runes carved into the cliffs began to pulse with light.
Lin's heart lurched. Skull Island itself was waking up.
Kong straightened, muscles tensing. He looked toward the jungle and let out a deep, rolling growl.
Lin took a shaky step back. "Oh, sh*t…" he whispered.
The runes flared brighter, and somewhere far inland a roar answered—older, deeper, and colder than anything they'd heard yet.