Monsters Collide

Pluto moves first. The giant mutant lunges down the tunnel with a roar so loud it rattles dust from the timber supports overhead. His crude axe whistles sideways through the stale mine air toward Chameleon’s head. Chameleon twists away at the last possible second. The axe smashes into one of the support beams hard enough to split the timber with a deafening crack. Wood explodes across the tunnel.

I scramble backward through the mud on my elbows and heels, pressing myself against the wall as the two monsters collide beneath the flickering amber bulb overhead. They hit each other like runaway trucks. Pluto drives forward with sheer brute ****, grabbing Chameleon around the throat.

Pluto slams him bodily into the rock wall hard enough to shake the entire tunnel. Gravel rains down from above while the reptilian mutant snarls and claws wildly at Pluto’s face. Chameleon moves frighteningly fast. His scaled body twists and slips through Pluto’s grip almost unnaturally.

One second Pluto has him pinned against the wall, and the next Chameleon melts sideways into the shadows between the support beams like a lizard disappearing into stone. Then he strikes. Chameleon explodes out of the darkness onto Pluto’s back with a screeching howl, clawing at the giant mutant’s face and shoulders.

Thick scaled fingers rake bloody lines across Pluto’s bald scalp. Pluto bellows in rage. He throws himself backward into the tunnel wall. The impact crushes Chameleon between several timber supports hard enough that I hear something crack. Chameleon shrieks.

Pluto grabs him immediately. Huge hands close around the reptilian mutant’s throat and shoulder before Pluto hurls him across the mine tracks like a sack of meat. Chameleon smashes into a rusted mining cart. Metal screams violently. The cart tips sideways and crashes over in a shower of sparks and debris.

For a second everything stops. The generator hum drones endlessly beneath the silence. The hanging bulb overhead flickers weakly. Then Chameleon slowly rises from the wreckage. Blood drips from his mouth. One cloudy eye twitches violently. The scaled mutant hisses low through broken teeth while his body shifts into a crouch against the tunnel wall.

In the flickering light, his skin blends almost perfectly into the surrounding stone again until only his eyes remain clearly visible. Pluto spits blood onto the tracks. “You sneaky little bastard.” Chameleon darts forward again.

He slashes both claws across Pluto’s stomach and dives past him before the larger mutant can react. Pluto roars and swings the axe wildly, but Chameleon is already gone again, vanishing into the darkness beside the tunnel. Then I hear movement above me.

I look up just in time to see Chameleon clinging to the ceiling supports overhead like some enormous cave spider. “Oh God...” He drops directly onto Pluto. The two mutants crash into the mud together in a snarling tangle of claws, fists, and teeth. Pluto’s axe skids across the tracks and disappears into the darkness.

Chameleon claws savagely at Pluto’s face. Pluto answers by driving his forehead directly into Chameleon’s nose. The crunch echoes through the mine. Chameleon recoils screaming. Pluto surges upward with terrifying strength and grabs the scaled mutant by the throat with both hands.

Muscles bulge beneath his scarred skin while he lifts Chameleon completely off the ground. “Papa said she his!” Then Pluto slams him headfirst into one of the timber supports. Once. Twice. A third time hard enough to crack the beam itself. The hanging bulb overhead swings violently.

Chameleon goes limp for half a second. Pluto hurls him down the tunnel. The reptilian mutant tumbles across the muddy tracks before crashing hard into the rock wall near the darkness beyond the lights. Silence settles over the mine except for heavy breathing and the endless hum of the generator.

Pluto stands in the middle of the tunnel like an executioner, chest heaving, blood running down one side of his face. Chameleon slowly lifts himself onto trembling hands. The fight is gone from him now. One arm hangs limp at his side. Blood pours steadily from his shattered nose.

For several long seconds he stares at Pluto with pure animal hatred. Then instinct wins. Chameleon backs away slowly into the darkness beyond the hanging lights, never taking his eyes off the larger mutant. His scaled skin blends gradually into the rock walls again until pieces of him simply vanish into shadow.

Pluto points after him. “Yeah,” he growls. “You crawl on outta here.” The reptilian mutant snarls one final time before disappearing completely into the tunnels beyond the light. He's gone, but not dead. And somehow, deep in my gut, I know that I haven't seen the last of him.