Author: Dao Zang Moua | Banner: Dao Zang Moua

It’s been three years since civilization fell to the monsters.

Dust and debris coated the desolate streets of the Central Valley, with stores and buildings pockmarked with shattered windows or missing chunks of walls. Hiding within a large supermarket, a young woman in a black hoodie and a large backpack peered over the bricks towards a four-way intersection. She could hear the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart as she noticed three man-sized winged creatures voraciously tearing into the corpse of a large grey reptilian monster, their horrid triangular heads dribbled with flesh and blood as they scavenged. As one of them turned towards the store, the girl ducked her head down as she searched for a place to hide, holding a small green magatama.

Humanity arrogantly thought we could defend our nations from any attacks that could happen, whether it be by land, air, or sea.

Panicking, she jumped behind the nearby counter and hid beneath the partially destroyed wood. A loud screech echoed through the air as the creature landed on the destroyed wall. Bricks shifted and fell as the monster surveyed the inside of the store. As it walked about within the store, the girl pulled out a knife that was tied onto her belt. She could smell the foul stench of decaying flesh on the creature as the monster walked closer.

They hadn’t prepared for an attack from all three simultaneously.

The creature released a loud, high pitch screech forcing the girl to cover her ears. Dropping to the floor, a yellow beam of sonic energy sliced through the wooden counter and into the wall just above her. With a burst of adrenaline, the woman started to sprint towards the open doorway. Upon seeing the fleeing girl, the Gyaos cackled in hunger as it took flight.

The skies were overtaken by hordes of Gyaos and Meganeura, devastating the air force.

She continued to run for the nearest cover as the other two Gyaos noticed her presence and followed suit. Just before these creatures could take her as their meal, a long tongue flew through the air and wrapped around the Gyaos closest to the woman as she ducked into another building. Behind her, the Gyaos was pulled into the sharp maw of another monster. This one was of the same species as the creature being devoured by the Gyaos previously. It was bipedal with a long, slithering tail with a bony armored face.

The armies were hit by surprise when the attacks came from all angles from underground to the skies themselves.

It crunched down on the bones and flesh of the Gyaos, blood splattering onto the surroundings. Quickly swallowing the bird, it twisted around and slammed its tail into the second Gyaos, sending it through a window, dead. All the while, it captured the third in its long tongue, where it brutally crunched down on its body. The head and wings of the Gyaos fell to the ground as they were bitten through by the sharp teeth of this sneaky predator. Its deep roar called through the destroyed streets as it stalked past several buildings.

Naval forces were sunk beneath the waves after continuous attacks from aquatic monsters such as Gezora, Ganimes, and Kamoebas. Swarms of invisible Kamacuras and endless waves of the monsters labeled “Skullcrawlers” devoured all traces of land military forces. With no defenses left, the world became a hell filled with monsters.

Watching the Skullcrawler walking away towards its nest, the girl released a sigh of relief. She walked over towards the dead Gyaos and stabbed it in the neck, wanting to make sure it was dead before she took it with her as the blood seeped out of its wounds. Picking up her bag of canned food, she walked cautiously out of the store. Food was scarce these days with the livestock all gone and the farms destroyed. Most stores held decaying meat and plants while canned food slowly disappeared from looting. Dragging the dead Gyaos, Alice Angelo surveyed her surroundings carefully. She knew that most of the Central Valley belonged to the Skullcrawlers, but she had seen several Kamacuras hunting in the past couple days. She knew that her survival today was pure coincidence and that she would have died had the Skullcrawler not decided to make a meal out of it.

Alice was in school when the monsters attacked her town. She had only survived when rubble covered the table she was hiding under, leaving her hidden from the reptilian monsters. She was forced to watch as they devoured those who were less fortunate during the attack. The other survivors of the attack had either left to find family or died scavenging for food, leaving her the last human hiding within the school. Placing the dead Gyaos on a shopping cart, she started back in the direction of her school. It was the safest shelter she had with working electricity due to some of the solar panels still functioning. Heading into the schoolyard, she passed by the makeshift graves that were made for her fellow students. A skittering noise echoed nearby, the sound of something moving closer put her alert. Pulling out her knife, she turned around quickly preparing for the worse to happen. Sighing, she put her knife away as she moved towards a snail-like creature with long yellow and orange tentacles. Its head was rounded with three stubby hornlike protrusions and black spherical eyes on the side.

“Nice to see you too Iris,” she said as she patted the creature’s head tenderly. The baby monster mewled, rubbing its smooth head into the girl’s hand. She had found Iris’s egg while scavenging one day, trapped within a museum with a Gyaos chasing after her. The egg had hatched when she picked up the magatama amulet next to it in the display case. The Gyaos was quickly pierced and drained by the newborn monster the moment it hatched. At first, she was scared that it would do the same to her before she had felt some sort of emotional bond form between them, with the magatama glowing brightly. After taking care of the creature for a while, she decided to name it Iris after her favorite flower. Looking behind the baby creature, she noticed the drained empty shell of a large Meganulon hunched over in the rubble.

“I see you found some food already,” she noted, moving back to the cart.

Pulling the cart over towards the school cafeteria, she dumped the body onto the ground outside and grabbed her bag of food. Seeing the body of the dead Gyaos ripe for the taking, Iris lifted up one of its many tendrils and stabbed into the creature’s neck. The tendril then began to bulge as the tiny creature drained all the fluids, leaving behind only skin and bone. Meanwhile, Alice was busy opening a can of beans and started cooking with what little seasoning she could procure. Baby Iris levitated nearby as he watched his human preparing her meal. A loud skittering noise could be heard from outside along with high pitch chittering. The sounds of things being knocked over outside caused the girl to shudder in fear. Several glowing eyes could be seen outside the broken windows moving closer to the building. Feeling a sense of calm from her magatama amulet, she patted Baby Iris on his shell.

“Iris, dinner time,” Alice remarked, taking cover as the Meganulon pounded on the walls and windows of the room. The floating Baby Iris moved over towards the windows and pierced multiple Meganulon through their eyes and began to feast on his prey. Several of the smaller Meganulon burst through the windows over their larger brethren as they attempted to spray the human with a suspicious green sticky fluid, covering the ground and table she was hiding behind. Iris smacked away the Meganulon with his free tentacles as he pierced through their shells to devour their precious fluids. Alice felt a warmth flow through her body from the magatama as it glowed warmly around her neck. Moving out from the now sticky table, she turned back towards the cooking beans. Baby Iris mewled out towards his human as he dragged the husks of the Meganulon away from the building.

After they had their meal, Alice set up one of the nurse beds as she prepared to sleep the day off. The sound of Gyaos fighting in the night sky reminded her of the dangers night brings as she barricaded the doorway. Taking care to block off all entrances, she then went to rest as Iris laid its head on her peacefully.

*******

Several hours into the night, the sound of footsteps outside awoke the young kaiju from its rest. Taking care not to awaken its priestess, Iris began to inspect his surroundings carefully. He slowly made his way towards the noise, whispers in the distance, with his tendrils ready to attack.

“I told you, this place would be one of the first couple of areas that would be looted,” a feminine voice whispered outside.

“Shut up and check for anything that might be useful,” another voice said, this one male. The two slowly made their way closer to the building as Iris prepared to strike.

The doorway slowly crept open as a figure began slowly making its way inside. They didn’t make it far however, as once the figures crossed the threshold, Iris struck. His tendrils quickly slammed the figure in the gut knocking the air out of their body. Iris then quickly wrapped her up in his tentacles and held his draining spear point ready as a precaution.

“Sam!” The male voice yelled as he broke through the doorway, awakening Alice from her sleep.

“Wha…?” Alice awakened with a mild yawn, confused and out of focus, until a gunshot fired in the darkness, causing her to flinch erratically.

Iris, sensing his partner’s fear, screeched in anger as a bullet ricocheted off his shell. He quickly knocked this new man away with a blow from his tendril. The man quickly smashed through a desk, his gun slipping from his hand. Before he could reach for it, he found a sharp tendril aiming at his head, receding for only a second before shooting forth.

“Iris NO!” Alice shouted, causing the tendril to stop mere inches from the man’s eye.

Backing away, the man went to reach for his gun, only for the tendril to stab into the ground between his hand and the weapon. Now fully awake, Alice surveyed the room and saw two unfamiliar faces in her sanctuary. She picked up the gun and aimed it at the mysterious intruders before turning to Iris, seeing him squeezing a girl in his tendrils.

“Release her, now!”

Begrudgingly, Iris obeyed as he released the girl from his grasp, dropping her next to the man as they held their hands up in surrender.

“We’re sorry for intruding,” the girl apologized, “we didn’t know anyone was living in these ruins.”

Alice stared at them suspiciously before checking outside to see whether any monsters had heard the commotion. Seeing none, she slowly closed the door and began to question her new captives.

“I don’t know who you are, but I don’t have much food to spare for more than a single person to survive,” she stated, putting the gun down.

“Could you tell your little abomination to back off?” the man barked bitterly, adding “Please” begrudgingly as Iris held his tendril closer to his neck at the insult.

A small glow from the comma shaped bead of orichalcum was all that was needed as Iris pulled away its tendrils, holding them protectively around his bonded partner.

“So why here?”

The girl opened her mouth to answer, only for the man to hold a hand out and sighed, prepared to explain. “There was a military announcement over the radio about a week ago about a bunker in Devil’s Slide just three days north of here. It called for any survivors in California to try to make it there. Said they had enough emergency food stockpiled to feed a city and enough firepower to drive away the kaiju for some time.”

“We were passing through searching for food when Chad and Tim here decided to check out the nearby school for supplies,” Sam, the girl, explained.

“Wait, so there’s three of you?” Alice asked.

Just then, the fire alarm system in the school started to sound out in the overhead speakers, causing the three to hold their ears at the sudden noise.

“Damn it! Turn them off!” Alice shouted, rushing out of the building towards the main office. The moment she entered the office, she found a large man fumbling about trying to turn off the PA System alarm.

“Shit! Why does this place still have electricity!” He shouted in a panicked sweat, smashing the system to pieces to finally shut down the alarms. Wiping his brow, he turned his head only to receive a punch across the face.

“You idiot! You’re going to attract the bigger monsters!” Alice scolded, with Sam and Tim rushing in after her. Tim helped Chad up as Sam held back Alice. “You have no idea what monsters live in this city.”

Chad held his face as he stared at the girl in front of him.

“Who the hell is this chick?” He quizzically remarked, trying to push forward. Sam and Tim held him back as Alice checked outside. The four then started on their way back to the nurse’s office when Alice felt Iris push a warning through their connection. Holding her amulet, she motioned for the three to quiet down as she listened to the surroundings. For several seconds, there was only silence. It was only the distinct rumbling of the Skullcrawler that alerted her to the dangers around them. Looking forward, she saw the dim moonlight slowly light up an elongated bony head. Two beady eyes stared at the four meals in front of him as the rumbling grew in intensity.

“RUN FOR IT!” Chad shouted out as he pushed past the three others, knocking them to the ground. The three rushed to get back up only to hear the screams of Chad as he found himself being pulled back and up over their heads. The red tongue retracted as a multitude of sharp teeth tore into the flesh of the human, gulping him down. The remaining three humans then split off into different directions prompting the Skullcrawler to screech out in joy at having such energetic prey.

The reptilian creature then rushed forth giving chase towards the male of the group, knocking the others away with a wild swipe of its tail. Tim reached down to his side, only to remember that Alice still had his handgun. Cursing to himself, he ducked into a nearby building causing the reptilian predator to follow after, smashing its head into the building. Alice was quick to roll back to her feet as she ran for the nurse’s office. Iris floated out of the building with her backpack of food in one of its tentacles. She then jumped onto the creature’s large shell, as she grabbed and slung the bag over her shoulders. The monster-human pair then started to float upwards towards the roof where they would be out of view. Before they could make it far, however, a hand grasped onto Alice’s leg.

“Take me with you!” Sam pleaded as she held tightly onto the other girl’s leg. “We have a truck out on the street to help us get away.” Tim started to run over to the two as Iris began lifting into the air slowly. A loud crashing sound resounded as the Skullcrawler smashed into some rubble.

“Let go!” Alice shouted, Iris struggling to keep afloat with both women weighing him down.

“Wait for me!” Tim screamed in a desperate plea as he rushed towards the two. However, ravenous jaws quickly snapped upon his body and clamped shut around his abdomen. The man’s lower half fell to the ground as the creature greedily swallowed the meat in its maw. The Skullcrawler roared out as it noticed the other two humans and Iris in its vision. It then rushed towards them with its maw open.

Moments before it could chomp down on the three, a loud whooshing noise sounded out. The Skullcrawler found itself being lifted skyward as it started struggling against some invisible force. Fluids dripped from the sky as a single Kamacuras chittered in delight. It had been searching for food for some time now, and its prey had walked right into its path. The two girls watched as the insect brought the small reptile towards its powerful mandibles. The crunch of bones being shattered snapped some sense into them as they ran towards the street. Blood fell to the ground as the screams of the Skullcrawler faded.

“Let’s just get to that truck of yours and get out of here while we can,” Alice exclaimed, with Iris floating behind them. The ground began to rumble around them as Alice grabbed hold of Sam and dove into the overgrown shrubbery. Moments after, a white foot slammed down onto the area they were standing as a long tail swung through the air. The whip-like tail slapped the Kamacuras across the face, forcing the insect back. The body of the partially eaten Skullcrawler fell to the ground as the tail retracted back towards the nearby neighborhood.

The insect chittered in anger as it searched for its attacker. It didn’t take long as a second, larger Skullcrawler rose up on its two legs, a partially eaten Gyaos in its maw. Swallowing the dead bird, the vile lizard barked at this intruder in his species’ territory, with Kamacuras returning the challenge with its own territorial screech. The Skullcrawler charged forth, shoving the insect backward through the school ruins.

“We have to go now!” Alice shouted, as she headed towards the only vehicle that wasn’t crushed or burned down. “One problem,” Sam pointed out, as Iris sat on the truck’s back with the backpack held tightly. “Tim has the keys.” Alice stared back towards the school as the two giants fought for dominance. “Damn it,” she muttered, rushing back to where the first Skullcrawler had died.

Above the school ruins, the two monsters struggled to push each other back. The Skullcrawler rushed forth as he bit into the insect’s abdomen and began to wrap his long body around it, the mantid screeching out as it felt the sharp teeth of the reptile pierce its body. Lifting up its claw, the Kamacuras began to slam it down on the monster’s back, only to strike the bony armored ribs of the Skullcrawler. As the long tail wrapped around its body, the insect found itself struggling more and more as it continued its assault on the ravenous predator.

The gluttonous reptile squeezed as he felt the insect’s tough armor beginning to crack under the pressure. Then he felt a sharp pain in his side as the mantis finally managed to pierce flesh. The reptile released his bite on the insect to howl in pain. Taking the chance, the giant mantis slammed its sharp claw into the monster’s face, batting it aside. With swift speed, it latched its claws around the Skullcrawler’s head and neck, holding it shut as the monster struggled to free itself. Leaning down, the insect opened its mandibles and pulled the reptile in close, knowing these mandibles evolved for slicing through armor and easily tore into the bony exterior of the Skullcrawler.

The reptile began to panic as its facial armor was easily ripped through. Unwrapping itself from the insect’s body, the reptilian menace of Skull Island lashed out. The long tail wrapped around the insect’s neck, pulling the Kamacuras away from the reptile’s head as it started using its elbow claw to push against the strong grip of the insect’s claws. As they struggled, the large mantis began to push back the Skullcrawler, trying hard to knock it down to feed. Blood poured from the open wound on the reptile’s face as it twisted its arm and stabbed the sharp elbow spike into the mantis’s body.

Kamacuras screeched in pain as it released its hold on the lithe lizard. Claws freed the reptile as it rushed to gain distance from the dangerous insect. Red liquid slowly poured from a large hole in the reptile’s bony head, revealing flesh beneath. On the opposing side, the large mantis reeled back as yellowish green fluids dripped from its wounds. The insect chittered as it lifted its wings and took to the air. The Skullcrawler began to warily stare about its surroundings, trying to catch sight of the insect. A sudden blow to the side forced the subterranean reptile to reel back in pain. Another blow hit from behind followed swiftly by another blow to the side.

******

Below the action, two humans were struggling to avoid the battle as they searched through the rubble for the remains of the men. They were forced to duck as the Skullcrawler was knocked down over them, crashing to the ground just meters from their bodies.

“I just had to forget about disabling the fire alarm,” Alice cursed under her breath as they ran to avoid being crushed by the large reptile. As the Skullcrawler rose, they noticed a crushed body below it as the monster roared to the sky. Seeing this, Alice rushed forth as the great beast barreled forth towards its invisible foe. The whipping tail of the large monster flew overhead as she slid across the ground towards the two crushed bodies. Searching through the pockets, she managed to find a bloodied car key, grabbed it and began to turn towards the street. The moment she did, a drop of drool landed in front of her.

Looking up, she saw the drooling maw of the injured Skullcrawler staring down at her. As it opened its mouth, she saw the multitude of teeth inside as it shot downward. She flinched as the Skullcrawler dove down towards her; whether it was fate or pure luck, she would never forget the terror that was pouring through her. Two claws latched onto the jaws of the Skullcrawler as the Kamacuras landed on the back of the reptile, pulling it skyward. Tentacles quickly wrapped around her body as Iris pulled his priestess out of the falling behemoth’s path. Now on the street, the two girls ran back to the truck and went to start its engine.

“Woo! Got it working.” Sam celebrated, pushing down hard on the gas pedal. The truck powered forward, driving over the various rocks on the street as they passed by the battle. Iris held tightly to the back of the truck as it stared at its surroundings passing it by fast. “Devil’s Slide, here we come!”

The ground began to shake as they drove along the street. Alice began to stare around warily for the cause only for the ground in front of them to burst open, a large bony head rising from the ground.

“Turn around!” she shouted as the truck skidded to a stop just in front of the giant reptile, almost double the size of the currently occupied one. “Oh no,” she said with dreaded anticipation, watching the giant skull rising higher, “the big one’s awake.”

The massive Skullcrawler sniffed the air around him as he climbed out of the ground. It had been some time since he had awoken, but a constant rumbling in the ground had warned him that something was trespassing on his territory. The sound of the truck’s engine caught his attention as he watched the vehicle driving away. As his stomach began to rumble, the Alpha Skullcrawler rushed forth, wanting to settle his hunger.

******

Kamacuras held tightly onto the Skullcrawler’s face as the monster bit down on its claws. With its major weapons held tightly in its maw, the mantis quickly began to flap its wings, dragging the reptile across the grounds and slamming it through the rubble of various buildings. With concrete and bricks slamming into his face constantly, the Skullcrawler attempted to lash out with its tail with little success. It began to use its powerful legs to try to push against the ground only for the mantis to forcefully slam its head into the ground.

The giant mutant mantis took great glee as it continued to slam the reptile into the ground. Then with a spark of inspiration, it stopped its path of destruction to fly higher into the sky. Slowly, the large insect began to lift the heavy reptile into the sky as the Skullcrawler continued to hold onto the two claws in its maw. With a loud screech, Kamacuras pulled the lizard close and opened its mouth. The Skullcrawler saw the mantis leaning closer to its eye and released its bite; the moment it did, Kamacuras released its hold on the massive reptile.

The Skullcrawler fell to the ground in a large mess, one of its arms had broken from the fall. Collapsing to the ground, the reptile laid unmoving as the large mantis landed in front of it. Seeing his foe unmoving, the large mantis screeched in happiness as it went to eat. As it leaned down, however, the Skullcrawler opened its mouth as its long tongue wrapped around the insect’s neck, pulling it forward. Kamacuras reeled back in surprise as the large reptile crunched down on the insect’s neck, trying its hardest to break through the tough chitin. The two slammed into the ground with the Skullcrawler on top of the mantis.

Kamacuras went to slam its claws into the reptile’s flesh, only for the reptile’s two arms to slam them to the ground. Pinned to the ground, the insect had no choice as it screeched into the sky. A loud crunching began to echo as the Skullcrawler slowly made progress in breaking through the insect’s body. A loud buzzing sounded out above the the skull-faced cretin as something barreled into its side. Now freed, the Kamacuras stood up as a second mantis made its presence known. The two mantis had separated from their swarm to hunt and nest. The female mantis smacked its mate as they turned to the reptile in front of them. Its flesh would be able to feed them for some time if they managed to take it down. The injured Skullcrawler glared at its two opponents as it limped upright. With a loud roar, it went to strike as the two insects took the skies.

In the distance, a lone truck weaved through rubble as a large monstrosity chased close behind. The roars of the Skullcrawler sounded out as it chased after the humans and baby monster driving away from it.

“Sam, he’s still following after us!” Alice yelled, as she watched the large reptile chasing after them. Taking aim, she started to fire the handgun trying to hit the large monster’s eyes with little success.

“I know that, now shut up!”

The large reptile then snapped its jaws just behind the truck, pushing it forward as Iris stared at the large monster following. The baby kaiju seemed to call out as the orichalcum bead began glowing. Alice felt Iris’s mind connect with her own. Several plans began to go through their minds as they watched the larger monster gaining on them.

“Quick, we need to turn around,” Alice shouted, clenching the orichalcum bead that hung from her neck.

“Are you crazy?” Sam shouted as a second bite nearly knocked over their truck. “You want us to go back to the fight with the Kamacuras and Skullcrawler!?”

“If we bring it to the fight, it will probably join its brethren in defending their territory from the Kamacuras,” Alice explained. “Kaiju are very territorial.”

Thinking it over quickly, Sam grumbled as she saw the mammoth Skullcrawler’s mouth coming closer. She then made a quick turn causing the Skullcrawler to trip as it tried to snatch the truck in its maw. It quickly got back to its feet and started chasing once more, watching as the truck went back the way they came.

The injured lizard shrieked at the pair of insects as it swung its body around. The long tail whipped through the air, but struck nothing as the two insects continued buzzing around him. The male Kamacuras acted quickly and slashed into the injured leg of the Skullcrawler, forcing it to the ground before flying away. The moment he did, the female Kamacuras slashed the reptile across the side, cutting into its flesh. The all-consuming fiend screeched in pain as it twisted about only for a Kamacuras to slam its claw into the bony head of the reptile. Dazed, it found itself being pinned to the ground as the two mantis began to slash and tear into its flesh. The female mantis lifted its claw and brought it down onto the opening in the Skullcrawler’s calcified anterior, tearing through flesh and killing the reptile. As the two insects celebrated their new meal, a new sound caught their attention.

The sound of an automated vehicle caused them to turn and watch as a single truck sped past them. Compound eyes remained fixated on the truck, flexing their mandibles in hungry anticipation. Though without realizing it, quiet footfalls shuffled behind them, slowly and cautiously slithering through the ruins. Then, when the moment was right, the the Alpha Skullcrawler barreled into them. The male Kamacuras screeched, as powerful jaws latched onto his side and started to sway from side to side. This new larger Skullcrawler continued to swing the male mantis about, trying to tear through its tough bug chitin.

With a loud roar, the Alpha Skullcrawler swung its body around to slap the other female mantis with its long tail. The female took to the sky, avoiding the tail before it descended upon the larger Skullcrawler. Latching onto the reptile’s back, the mantis began hacking away at it. Her sharp claws bouncing off the tough bones covering the back of the reptile as the Skullcrawler slammed the male Kamacuras into the ground, before releasing the mantis and slamming his sharp claws into the male’s chest, effectively pinning it to the ground. Grabbing hold of one of the mantis’ arms, the reptile tore off the appendage causing the male insect to cry out in pain.

In response to seeing her mate being injured, the female Kamacuras latched its claws onto the reptile’s two legs and pulled them inward. The Skullcrawler found itself falling onto its face as the female pulled its legs out from under him. The male Kamacuras cried out as the head of the Skullcrawler smashed into his body. Lifting his remaining claw, the male jammed it into the eye of the Alpha Skullcrawler, causing the reptile to reel back in pain.

Now freed, the male mantis flew into the sky with yellow blood leaking from its wounds. The female mantis released her hold on the Skullcrawler’s legs as she joined her mate in the sky. The Alpha Skullcrawler roared into the sky as the two insects screeched back and began to fly around the reptile at high speeds, leaving afterimages of their bodies around the reptile.

The Alpha Skullcrawler roared out as he lunged forward with his maw open, slamming them down on an afterimage. The moment he did so, he was struck in the side by the sharp claws of the mantises. Twisting around, he began to whip his long tail throughout the air trying to strike one of the two speedy insects. More blows began to strike his tough bony hide as he continued his assault on the air.

Sniffing the air, he began to watch the images closely as more strikes hit his body. He noticed that the male was lagging behind before each strike and took advantage of the injured insect. Opening his mouth, the reptile shot out his tongue into the air and the male Kamacuras found itself slamming into the long muscle. The tongue shot back towards the large reptile with its prey captured as the male struggled to get free. Moments before he managed to reel in his prey, a green blur flew past and sliced through the tongue, freeing her mate.

The Alpha Skullcrawler roared out in pain as blood flowed from his severed tongue. Twisting around, he latched onto the male Kamacuras with his long tail and pulled. The large insect found his body being swung around before being slammed into the ground near the Skullcrawler’s face. The large reptile lunged forward and tore into the insect’s head, tearing through one of the insect’s bulbous eyes. With blood pouring from his wounds, the male Kamacuras began to slam its claw into the calcified face, its blows bouncing off. Before more damage could be done to her mate, the female lashed out with its claws, prying open the Skullcrawler’s mouth, freeing him from its hold.

The large reptile then flipped over intending to crush the insect under its weight. Acting quickly, the female mantis flew into the air as the Skullcrawler landed on its back. With its belly revealed, the female quickly slammed her body into the unarmored flesh. The Skullcrawler bellowed in pain as it felt the insect slamming into his body. He started twisting around trying to right himself, only for the male to pin down his arms. Together, the two insects started to slice and tear into the unarmored flesh of the Alpha Skullcrawler, drawing blood and tearing out organs. Slowly, the struggling of the reptile began to die down as the two insects continued to tear into its flesh. Not wanting their prey to fake death again, the male Kamacuras turned its body and slashed its claw through the reptile’s neck. Triumphant, the two insects started to devour their new fresh meat, savoring both its taste and the knowledge that this part of the valley would now be their territory.

Several blocks away, a single truck drove through the ruins of the city and away from the battle behind them.

“Well, at least your plan worked,” Sam sighed with relief as the truck continued speeding through the rubble of the abandoned city.

“Of course it worked,” Alice smirked as the magatama stopped glowing. “Iris thought it up.”

“As if some small monster in the back of a truck could somehow speak and tell you a plan,” she replied sarcastically. “By the way, the road ahead is going to be rough. Who knows when any of those monsters infesting this state might appear and try to kill us.”

Alice merely smiled, leaning back into her seat. The sun slowly began rising, warming them up slightly with its gentle glow. Holding tight to her amulet, she could feel the warmth radiating from it as Iris sent its excitement at travel and the chance to hunt through their connection.

“As long as they aren’t too big, Iris should be able to handle them.”

Winner: Kamacuras (Universal)