Author: Landon Soto | Banner: Matthew Williams

Tropical trees swayed in the cool, gentle breeze and the sound of waves crashing in the distance created a soothing ambience on Monster Island.

Deep inland, a large azure theropod rested on the warm ground, basking in the warmth of the island sun. The ancient predator, given the name Gorosaurus by humans, was enjoying a time of peace; no giant monkeys, or golden hydras in sight to harass this predator.

Hot breath escaped the nostrils of the mighty allosaur as he sighed contently. The living fossil was enjoying this time away from his fellow monsters, even a giant beast like himself needed alone time. However, his quiet was interrupted as the triangular headed carnivore felt an all too familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach, hunger. The mighty dino groaned as he carefully maneuvered his toned legs, and slowly pushed himself upward, using his powerful tail as leverage, time to eat.

The blue-scaled allosaurus grunted as he began making his way to the nearby beach, leaving behind swimming pool sized footprints as he marched towards the water. Once there, Gorosaurus opened his jaws, letting out a hearty yawn before gently bending over and dipping his jaws into the lagoon, allowing plenty of fish to swim between his toothy half-open maw.

Quickly the allosaurus brought his head up and clamped his jaws shut, leaving just enough room between his teeth to allow the salt water to drain from his mouth. Swallowing the large batch of fish, Gorosaurus purred in content as he began to move about, admiring the scenery. Although meals the humans brought him were enough to sustain him, there was nothing wrong with a snack here and there.

The dinosaur was ready to head back to his relaxation spot, and began stomping across the sandy shore in the direction he had come. As Gorosaurus neared the jungle brush, the sound of bubbling water reached his ears. As the sound grew more and more violent, the allosaur turned to see what was causing this disturbance.

Farther out in the ocean, a spot of water was bubbling violently. Faint flashes of blue flickered in and out of the white foamy water and a pair of grayish blue tentacles erupted from the waters, with a dolphin grasped in each one. Gorosaurus watched as the dolphins writhed and jerked as they tried to break free from the tentacle’s crushing grip.

He watched as the feelers slunk back into the water. The water surface no longer bubbled but sprayed out as something began breaching the surface. Two triangular tips rose from the water, and a large bumpy tower of gray revealed itself, resembling that of a squid mantle. The shape clarified and two large round yellow and red eyes were staring back at the dinosaur.

The large cuttlefish, larger than even a giant squid, had been feeding when it stumbled across this grounded allosaurus by luck, and it looked like a far tastier meal than the dolphins it had been hunting. The humans had dubbed this monster Gezora. They had fought a similar creature years ago and managed to kill it, or so they thought. The creature before Gorosaurus now had inherited a virus that escaped its dead host, and infected another unlucky cuttlefish, Gezora.

Gorosaurus groaned, he wasn’t in the mood to fight and roared at the mutated cephalopod to back off. But Gezora stared blankly back at the roaring dinosaur, seemingly unperturbed. Although cephalopods were known for their surprisingly high intelligence, it seemed as though the virus had turned the aquatic creature into a simple minded beast. Confusing the roar as a challenge rather than a warning, Gezora raised its slimy extensions in defiance and let out a war cry as he began charging the irritated Gorosaurus.

The mutant mollusk stretched out its tentacles attempting to grab Gorosaurus, but the primal dinosaur hopped back in time to avoid his grasp and snarled at the cuttlefish. The reptile furrowed his brow knowing he had to fight. Turning, he whipped at Gezora with his powerful tail, toppling the overgrown cuttlefish. The massive cephalopod squealed in anger as it fumbled to stand, and Gorosaurus groaned at his opponents incompetence and the saurian patiently waited for Gezora to stand upright. The mutated cuttlefish once again charged at the allosaur, prompting the giant lizard to in turn charge at the mutant with lowered cranium.

The two collided with Gorosaurus ramming his head into Gezora, clearly overpowering the squishy cuttlefish as Gezora crashed into the salt water. Gorosaurus decided to put an end to this fight and he shot his head forward, toothy maw wide open, and sunk his razor sharp teeth into the Yog monster’s right frontmost tentacle, drawing fresh blue blood. Gezora screeched in agony as Gorosaurus shook his head like a wild beast, sinking his teeth deeper into the cephalopod’s skin. Suddenly, the left foremost tentacle wrapped itself around the allosaurus’ neck and the grip tightened slowly cutting off his airflow.

Gorosaurus groaned as he felt the icy cold appendage choke him. The aged dinosaur released his bite and swung his tail upward, slamming it on the tentacle wrapped around his throat. The spikes along his tail dug into the icy limb and the mighty lizard using his tail like a knife, pulled it back leaving large gashes in the appendage. Blue blood flowed from the tentacle like a river and feeling the grip loosen, Gorosaurus jerked his head to the side. Feet firmly planted in the sand, Gorosaurus hoisted his head up and, dragging Gezora with him, raised his left foot and kicked the cephalopod in its large head, easily drawing blood as his claws scraped the mutant.

Gezora clumsily rose up, retracting the limb wrapped around Gorosaurus’ neck. The cephalopod roared in rage as it shot forth its icy right tentacle and clamped the jaws of the allosaur shut. Gorosaurus scraped at the thick limb with his short claws, before feeling a freezing sensation in his ankles; Gezora had him ensnared. The mutant pulled back its tentacles with all the strength it could muster and the saurian was forcefully dragged to the warm sand beneath him, falling on his back and struggling to break free from the Yog monster’s snare.

The bloodied cephalopod cackled with glee as it watched the carnivore squirm. Gorosaurus frantically searched his surroundings, trying to find a solution to his predicament but he could feel himself becoming sluggish as the cold seeped into his body. The dinosaur felt himself being pulled closer to the overgrown coleoid, and that was when an idea popped into his head.

Gezora stared at the fallen Gorosaurus with its big round eyes, slowly pulling the saurian closer and closer, eager to have a taste of dinosaur. Gorosaurus carefully retracted his legs as he inched closer to the curling, crawling tentacles keeping the Yog monster upright. Gorosaurus could glimpse what looked like a beak in that mess of tentacles, but he wasn’t in a rush to confirm his sighting. The allosaur grunted as he felt now was a good time to enact his plan.

The mighty lizard shot his legs forward, performing his signature ‘kangaroo kick,’ striking the three “legs” supporting the creature and causing them to immediately collapse on themselves. Gezora screeched as it dropped to the ground. The tentacle around his jaws slipped off, allowing the dinosaur to breathe again. Gorosaurus roared in fury as he rose up and launched his head forward clamping his jaws on the already injured right appendage. He began shaking his head and jerked it back, ripping a chunk of meat off the tentacle with the movement.

Gezora screeched in agony as blue blood sprayed from the wound, staining the white sand and splattering on the azure allosaur. As Gezora flailed madly in the sand, Gorosaurus watched in amusement, the cephalopod had brought this on itself, if only it had heeded his warning.

Gorosaurus tasted the meat, it was… exotic to say the least and the mighty dino was unsure of whether he wanted more of it or not. Either way, the allosaur planned on sending a message, and prepared to take a bite out of the mutated creature’s cranium. Gorosaurus carefully prepared his jaws, ready to land a devastating blow, but felt a pressure building on his tail, a familiar cold settling in.

The fierce dinosaur looked back and was surprised to see another Gezora grasping his tail, the bewildered theropod hadn’t even considered this possibility as he was so focused on the first Gezora in front of him. The terrible lizard struggled to get his tail free as the second cephalopod had both its fore-tentacles gripping his tail. Suddenly Gorosaurus felt another pair of feelers wrap around his waist and mouth, the saurischian was grappled and surrounded. Suddenly, he was forced to the sand, and he struggled to break his freezing shackles.

The new Gezora called to the first one and the two released Gorosaurus from their clutches. They began using every available tentacle to batter and beat the allosaur to submission. Gorosaurus roared in pain as he felt the cold radiate across his body, the Gezora duo relentless in their assault. Gorosaurus raised his tail and flung it into the back of the second Gezoras head. Luckily, the bladed tip struck purchase, impaling the cephalopod.

The second Gezora screeched in pain as it felt Gorosaurus’ spike dig into its cranium, the dinosaur yanked his tail out and bit down hard on the first Gezoras “legs,” returning the damage they dealt to him moments before. The second Gezora felt blood flowing from its head, but didn’t allow that to deter its assault. Gorosaurus slowly rose up as he attempted to force the first Gezora back down. Releasing his bite on the first, Gorosaurus bellowed a warning roar to the second Gezora who was closing in, causing the coleoid to stop and contemplate its next move.

Gorosaurus panted as he felt the sun warming his cold blood and scowled at the aquatic duo. He could feel his anger building. All he wanted was to relax, but these two were standing between him and this glorious tropical day. The allosaur turned to the second Gezora and charged head first, kicking up sand in his wake and the second Gezora, taken aback, was suddenly knocked to the ground. Gorosaurus placed his foot on the cephalopod and clasped his jaws on the creature’s head, shaking it head more violently than before.

The first Gezora rose up and saw its comrade in trouble, prompting it to charge at the allosaur. Gorosaurus ripped a chunk of flesh off the creature’s mantle, causing the second Gezora to shriek in pain. Suddenly the allosaur was forcefully knocked over, and was sent rolling along the beach. He struggled to rise and, shaking the sand off, found he was face to face with the original Gezora and roared as he charged at the Yog monster.

Gezora, learning from before, raised its tentacles up like a shield to block against Gorosaurus’ skull, but it wasn’t prepared for the dinosaur’s ultimate technique…

Once close enough, Gorosaurus leapt up, balancing himself on his tail before kicking with all his might, sending the cephalopod crashing to the ground squealing with his ‘kangaroo kick’. Gorosaurus landed on his feet and watched as both his foes struggled to rise. The two slowly made their way around Gorosaurus, making sure to flank his front and rear.

Gorosaurus growled with annoyance as he waited for his opponents to make their move, he didn’t have to wait long though as the duo charged at the allosaur, ready to crush him with their combined might. The two were closing in, but the primeval dinosaur wasn’t phased, and simply snarled as he crouched down readying himself. The two mutated cuttlefish were about to ensnare the carnivore in an icy tentacle prison, but Gorosaurus suddenly sprang backward, causing the two to collide into a mess of limbs.

The two Gezora screeched as they tried to untangle themselves, angrily screeching at each other. The pair were oblivious to the allosaur marching towards them. Moments too late, the two Gezora took notice,but Gorosaurus had already assumed his crouched position and with a burst of power, leaped high into the air.

The mutated cuttlefish embraced each other as they watched in horror as the marvelous atomic dinosaur came crashing down on them. Dirt flying everywhere as blue blood splattered across the sand, the cries of two very unfortunate beasts echoing down the beach.

Minilla poked his head out of the dense jungle to see what the commotion was, but grimaced when he saw the beat down that was transpiring. Making the wise decision the Gezora failed to, he backtracked into the jungle and chose to go elsewhere. Soon the sound of combat died down, there was a calm once again.

—

Gorosaurus carefully laid back down in his original resting spot. His mind at ease once more, soaking in the heat of the sun, the saurischian began drifting away into a well deserved rest.

At the beach, two barely living Gezora struggled to crawl back to the water, their bodies stained with dried blue blood, and littered with bites, and gashes. The pair had learned a valuable lesson today, to leave Gorosaurus alone.

Winner: Gorosaurus