Primate Mantis

It was impossible. Its long, extremely well muscled arms bulged with thick veins under short black fur. Its chest was massive above a tapered waist and what could only be called vestigal legs. Its head was what made her scream. four black eyes, slick with moisture, blinked on a skull that started as a hairless gorilla and ended in an obscene mandibled mouth that dripped with saliva and gore. It rose up on its huge front legs, a full 10 feet tall. She didn't know if it was an insect that evolved to have ape-like qualities or the other way around.

She didn't wait to find out. Everything seemed to slow as it started running toward her. The ground shook as its wild, mad eyes glistened in the twilight of the jungle, catching the light and turning green. She jumped backward, bringing the pistol up, and fired. The laser ripped through the center of its left forearm as her back hit the hard cave floor. It tumbled foreward, howling wildly as it rolled. She sat up and fired again, but it lept high into the air, the laser beam missing it completely and only succeeding in burning the tips off of the fern leaves.

Her breath was deep, her eyes sharp. She watched for movement outside, ready to discharge her weapon. She took long, slow breaths, willing her aim to be steady and her heart to calm down.

It was then she smelled blood, and remembered where she was. She rolled to the side and turned around, bringing the gun up as she saw the huge red bastard wind up to throw the axe toward her. Something wasn't right...