Author: Christian Salabert | Banner: Jackson Morris

A pair of slaves ran across the sandy shores of Letchi Island, trying desperately to escape their terrorist captors. As they reached the waves, they realized they were left with no other choice and leapt into the water, swimming as hard and as fast as their bodies could handle. Catching up too late to stop them, the soldiers chasing them fired their machine guns at the fleeing duo, but they were already out of range.

But despite the potential escape of the two slaves, the Red Bamboo Captain grinned evilly. 

“They may have escaped from us, but they won’t escape from Ebirah!” he cackled. 

He quickly redirected his men to the base’s dock to get a better view of the slaves’ fate.

Just as the group of soldiers reached the dock, the water began to churn and bubble. The Captain’s grin got wider as a huge, shelled form began to rise up out of the ocean. But his look of evil glee soon turned into a look of shock and confusion when, instead of their captive beast, out of the sea rose the tentacled beast Crustaceous Rex!

Opening his floweresque face, C-Rex let loose with a whale-like cry. Looking downward, he spotted the fleeing slaves, who noticed the mammoth creature too late. Before they could even begin to turn and try to swim back to shore, they were ensnared by thrashing tentacles, hoisted high into the air, and stuffed into the sea creature’s mouth. The mutation swallowed the two a moment later, but their meager size failed to sate his hunger. Looking for more food, the abyssal predator began making his way towards the island.

The interloper had barely taken two steps towards the island, however, when the ocean waves once again began to churn behind him. One dark red claw pierced the surface, then another. Pulling the rest of his mass up out from beneath the waves, Lecithi’s devil let out a high-pitched screech, quickly grabbing the attention of the split-jawed beast. The yellowish mutation turned to face the new arrival, letting out a battle cry and flexing his tentacles. The super shrimp began waving his arms around, snapping his pincers open and shut, ready to drive this strange beast out of his waters. Both sea monsters immediately went on the attack, lunging towards each other. 

Thick claws clamped down on the Jamaican monster’s powerful legs, but the mutant’s tentacles lashed out, wrapping around armored arms. As the Red Bamboo’s guard dog tried snapping his foe’s legs in half, the deep sea monster began pulling on the lobster’s arms, trying to wrench the limbs out of their sockets. The overgrown shrimp’s claws began cutting into abyssal flesh, leaking green blood into the water. Groaning in pain, the tentacled terror opened his face once again and unleashed a thick torrent of tar from his mouth, covering his foe’s face. The mighty crustacean released his opponent’s legs and shrieked as the boiling, black gunk covered his face. As the unnatural predator righted himself and readied to attack, the Horror of the Deep plunged under the waves, trying to wipe the tar off his face. Flipping around, he swatted the biped’s legs with his tail, sweeping them out from under him and sending him crashing beneath the surface.

Sinking to the ocean floor, Crustaceous Rex managed to get back to his feet and spotted Ebirah, who had succeeded in getting the tar away from his eyes, allowing him to zero in on the tentacled monster. Moving his tail up and down, the gigantic arthropod made a beeline for C-Rex, his arms outstretched and his pincers open. But the deep sea monster was ready for him, raising one of his legs up and smashing one of his large feet into his pointed face, stopping the lobster’s charge cold. The decapod was quick to respond, however, backhanding the larger creature with his left pincer, staggering the mutation. With the yellow beast reeling from that blow, Ebirah raised both his arms and brought them down hard onto the sloped back, sending a thunderous crack reverberating through the water as their bony armor collided against each other. The bipedal beast reacted quickly, snatching the crustacean’s right arm and legs with his tentacles. With a mighty heave, the arthropod monarch brought his heinous foe down and smashed him into the rocky ground, stunning the oversized shrimp.

As the sea monster tried to regain his wits, the mutation raised his leg and stomped down on his foe, trying to crush him underfoot. The ridged shell started to crack before the lobster even realized what was happening, and he began writhing about, trying to get a hold on his foe, but he was too far out of reach. It was then that he realized that the giant’s leg, the one he was standing on, was not too far away from him. Pulling his arm back, the Red Bamboo’s watchdog stabbed his smaller pincer directly into the three taloned foot, just as a large crack broke across the main section of his shell. The oil eater staggered back, wailing in pain as his foot leaked blood, while the shrimp monster climbed onto a nearby rock and came up with his next move.

The pain in his foot subsiding, the flower faced fiend turned to face Ebirah, moaning angrily. The mammoth lobster shook his pincers at his foe and screeched, taunting the mutation. Furious, Crustaceous Rex charged, extending his tentacles. The Horror of The Deep leapt off the rock, opening his pincers. They met violently, their impact sending a shockwave through the sea. Their clash was brief but fierce, each creature trying to end the other as fast as possible. Screams of agony suddenly echoed throughout the waves, and both monsters quickly backed away from the other.

Three of the C-Rex’s tentacles fell to the ocean floor.

The Letchi devil’s large pincer similarly hit the rocky bottom.

The two underwater behemoths glared daggers at each other as they momentarily licked their wounds, formulating their next move. Their main weapons had been weakened severely, and they both knew they had to be careful with their next attack. The decapod soon climbed back onto the rock he had leapt from before, eyeing the tentacled terror, whose own eyes hadn’t left the crimson crustacean. He quickly glanced at the ocean floor, spotting a weapon he could use, then returned his vision to his foe. He stepped forward, ready to attack.

Once his foe was close enough, Ebirah leapt towards the mutant predator again, aiming his one remaining pincer at the mutation’s face, planning on spearing his head with it. The larger beast was quick to react, however, and his last tentacle reached down to the ground, ensnaring the dismembered claw. As soon as the enormous shrimp was close enough, C-Rex thrust his tentacle upward.

The lobster’s pained screech was cut short as his own pincer sliced into his soft underbelly and burst out the broken shell covering his back. The tar eater released his grip on the claw and stepped back, allowing the sea monster to sink to the bottom floor, twitching and bleeding. Writhing about in the mud and rocks, the crimson creature tried to strike back at Crustaceous Rex, but his life was ebbing away too rapidly. Within moments, the Horror of The Deep lay still.

C-Rex stepped up to his kill and, using his sole tentacle, started to peel away the shattered shell. Ripping out a chunk of meat and stuffing it into his mouth, the mutation wailed contently. This was far more satisfying than squid.

Winner: C-Rex