SHOWDOWN (Revised 12/12/23)

Dahl heard the incoming raptor a split second before the enormous beast leapt from the darkness. She reeled to the side, barely raising the table leg in time to absorb most of the incoming blow. The raptor's thick, slimy tail whipped through the dry air, slamming into the metal table leg with enough force to bend it 45°. The twisted steel sank into Dahl's right side, lifting her off her feet, and cartwheeling her through the stale air. She crashed down on her back, glasses flying wild, air exploding from her chest and rolled into a sprawling heap. Her scuffed and torn armor hung in useless ribbons. It's last act of protection was to absorb the brunt of the violent mpact.

The snarling raptor crouched low in the darkness, spit spewing from its hissing maw. It studied its helpless prey, resembling an enormous half crocodile/half hammerhead shark. The empty, sunken sockets where its eye should have formed held nothing but contempt. From sightless socket to sightless socket, its bony head was six feet wide and nearly two feet high. Its massive mouth opened into a tunnel at least three feet round, and countless descending rows of serrated triangular points lined the sticky pink flesh inside. From the tip of its slippery, pallid nose to the end of its jagged, barbed tail, it was 20 feet long and the creature's stubby muscular forearms, offset by its massive hind quarters, left it in a permanent head down crouch.

Only luck and quick thinking had shielded Dahl's fragile ribs from the brunt of the raptor's attack. But the unexpected attack left her suddenly blind, gasping for breath and utterly defenseless. Grabbing her aching stomach, Dahl gulped for every bit of stale air she could force into her starving, deflated lungs. She rolled onto her belly, frantically crawling around in the pitch black, trying to find her missing glasses before the creature reached her. It was utterly futile; she saw nothing.

Crushing darkness fell upon Dahl. She was alone, disoriented, and horror-struck. Fear vibrated up through her quaking body and exploded out through her bulging eyes. Dahl's heart beat as though it were trying to tear itself from her chest. She clawed at the floor, bloody nail beds filling the air with a scent that drove the raptor wild. It licked its dripping lips and crept forward, readying itself gor the kill.

Dahl made ever hurried and widening circles, scrambling around desperately trying to locate her missing glasses. "Where the fuck are they." she screamed. But try as she might, the glasses were nowhere to be found. But no matter, she would not give up the hunt until the inevitable came for her.

The floor vibrated beneath the approaching raptor's giant footfalls. The hot stench of its rancid breath burned her eyes and made her gag. It was close. Too close. If she didn't find her glasses now, she never would. The creature would make certain of that.

There, in absolute darkness, where no human belonged, sheer terror stole Dahl's reason. She crawled away from the approaching steps, having no plan or idea where she was going. Only that going meant she was still alive. Going meant she still had a chance.

The creature's stench faded. But she was certain it could still see her. The gargantuan raptor was the biggest Dahl had encountered yet.

A shrill, terrifying scream erupted through the darkness like a strange mixture of reptilian and human. Dahl's eardrums rumbled with pain and she froze in the center of the room. Another creature had arrived to claim the floundering, scrabling prize. Two unseen monsters circled their lunch, snapping and clawing at one another. Dahl saw neither, but she could hear their labored breathing and lumbering footsteps as they vied for position. But something sounded different about the second creature. It was large, but not raptor. It moved on two feet. A different monster had entered the compartment.

Great. The winner gets dinner, she thought, letting out a manic laugh. Without her glasses, there would be no chance of survival. If she could not see to maneuver through the wreckage or out the fray. She would be lucky if one of them didn't step on her, let alone, escape.

As the titans circled, Dahl raked the floor feverishly, searching for her missing glasses and screaming, "Where are you, god dammit?"A few times Dahl thought she had found them, but it turned out to be bits of twisted rubble. Once she had knocked them further away and clumsily chased after them, to no avail. Her frenzied efforts went for nothing. The glasses evaded her every attempt to reach them. And throughout it all, the two creatures stood over her, snapping and stomping. She was an insignificant insect caught beneath the feet of giants.

Something large bounded up behind her, slid to a stop just inches away, and she froze again. It was so close, she could feel its body heat. Does it see me or is it still in the fight? A giant hand touched her shoulder and she screamed. This is it, the moment my life ends. She heard the creature's deep breathing, felt its hot moist breath on the back of her neck and made to dart away. It slammed its giant fist into the soil beside her. She bounced off it, landed on her butt, reeled in the other direction, and ran. The creature slammed its other enormous fist down in front of her. There would be no escape. The creature leaned out to the side, raking the floor nearby. Dahl heard it rummaging around, grunting in a tone that sounded like disgust. She considered making a break for it, but held her ground. The raptor could be straight in front of her and she wouldn't have a clue. Dahl may as well have had a heavy black sack over head.

But at that moment, something happened Dahl had not expected. The creature shoved something into her hand. It could have killed her with little effort. But it did not. Instead, it gave her something. 

Dahl held something in one hand as the other tried to figure out what the creature had given her. Something long and thin folded out to one side and then the other. Green screens lit up in the dark, and she shouted, "My glasses." She jammed them back on her face and looked up into a set of horrifying chrome eyes. Xenomorph, she thought, turning to run, but coming face to face with a raptor as big as a boxcar. She jumped back, bounced off the xenomorph and reeled around. The two monsters faced off less than two yards apart. And Fahl was center stage, referee to the gight of the century.

The xenomorph scowled down at her. Its all consuming eyes squinted into thin slits. It's actually scowling at me, she thought. She did not know what to do. Her terrified mind went absurdly blank. She just stood there, slack jawed and blinking dumbly, as the thing leaned down inches from her face, shaking its head like a scolding mother. Her senses had gone numb. She was looking down at herself as if having an out of body experience . 

The 7 foot tall xenomorph gripped her shoulder, moved her out to the side and swung her around, placing itself between Dahl and the raptor. Its thick tail coiled around Dshl, guiding her out of harm's way. When Dahl reached the end of its travel,, the xenomorph shoved her away. She tumbled behind the fallen staircase.

The raptor screamed in outrage. The xenomorph screeched back and Dahl thought it looked like a defiant child throwing a tantrum in front of a much bigger parent. Xenomorph or not, the creature was hopelessly out-matched by the oversized titan.

The raptor's gray slimy back was even with Dahl's would-be protector's head. To Dahl's utter disbelief, the xenomorph kept itself between her and certain death. The raptor paused, stepped sideways, trying to get around the xenomorph. The xenomorph mimicked its steps, blocking its path every time it tried to reach Dahl. And again and again, the xenomorph mimicked the enormous beast's movements. On and on it went, until both creatures ended up directly in front of the downed staircase.

Is this thing actually protecting me? she thought. 

The xenomorph's tail curled over the stsircase, tapped Dahl on the shoulder and shr lurched to the side. The tail pointed in the direction of the open hatch. It wasn't as high as the one she entered through. If she could reach the handrails, she could escape.

She heard a woman's voice scream, "Run!"

The raptor reared. The xenomorph screamed, clawed the air and Dahl darted away. She lunged upward at the hanging handrails as the two goliaths collided in a flurry of racking claws and gnashing teeth. A mixture of blood spattered Dahl's face. Her fingers closed around the blood splattered the railing, slipped on the slippery ichor and she fell hard, rolling into a heap in the corner. A split second later, she jumped up, took a few steps back and ran at the railing again. This time her hands hung on for a few seconds of slippery fumbling, then she dropped off, once more. Dahl picked up a piece of debris and hurled it at the raptor. It flew wild, bouncing off a wall.

The tall, two legged, xenomorph took a step back, looking like a boxer ready to throw a crushing blow. Its slimy, grey competitor snarled and crouched like a linebacker doing drills. The boxer swung, the punch bounced off as if hitting steel and the juggernaut screamed in defiance. The xenomorph's hand transformed into a giant bony club. It stuck again. The sightless raptor flinched away this time, faltered momentarily, and then stepped back into the fray. Both creatures screamed with rage. The gargantuan raptor would not go down, fully intending to eat something before it left the compartment.

The raptor whipped its heavy tail around far quicker than either Dahl or her protector would have believed possible. Its massive tail crashed into the xenomorph's chest and a torrent of glowing blood exploded from the xenomorph's mouth, speckling the arena like a star-covered observatory ceiling. The gagging, flailing beast flew away, bounced off the far wall, and slid into a seated position and slumped feebly to one side. After a moment, the wounded xenomorph tried pulling itself onto its knees, only to fall back into a seated position, coughing up copious amounts of blood.

Dahl watched the raptor approach, knowing the fight was over.The xenomorph was down. And maybe it was, but she wasnt. Dahl saw the bent, useless table leg laying a few yards away and without considering the outcome of her actions, darted out, grabbed the useless weapon and ran to the front of the xenomorph. Dahl slid to a stumbling stop, reeled on the approaching behemoth, swinging the pitiful club in its hissing face. It stopped. Whether in shock, amusement or both, Dahl didn't know.

The creature behind Dahl tried to scream, but only managed a weak bubbling gurgle. It waved her away. But Dahl didn't see it. She would not have fled even if she had.

The raptor sniffed the dry air, made a guttural snort, sneezed in Dahl's face, hot blast almost took her off her feet. The creature's rank breath and oozing saliva stank of the last dozen meals it had consumed while meandering through the over turned wreckage. Dahl leaned forward, ejecting a sticky geyser of vomit on the raptors feet.

The creature seemed not to notice. Instead, it looked back over its shoulder, peering into the darkness beyond the reaches of Dahl's glasses. It sensed something. After a few moments, it remembered the two meals in front of it. The raptor swung around, took a single step forward and again, paused, head cocking to one side as if listening to some strange sound Dahl could not hear. Dahl looked around. She saw nothing. 

Dahl moved back slowly and quietly until her foot met the beast's outstretched feet behind her. The downed beast did not move or try to attack her. She couldn't tell if it was alive or dead. But it tried to save her. It put itself in harm's way for her. So she did something. Even if that something was certifiably crazy. And standing toe to toe with this Goliath to protect a creature that might eat her just for saving it was certainly fucking nuts. But Dahl stood her ground anyhow. If she had to die in this empty void, it wouldn't be like a coward.

The giant raptor turned back, lowered its snout to the ground, and Dahl knew what was coming. It scraped the ground with its hind legs, working itself into a feeding frenzy. Dahl hurled the leg with all her might. It spiraled through the darkness like a tumbling blade and hit the creature in the center of its forehead and bounced off, falling unceremoniously to the floor. The creature sniffed it, nudged the leg with its snout, and then picked it up in its dripping fangs and tossed it aside. Then turned slowly back to its prey. It had time to play with its meal. There was no reason to hurry. It was time to savor the coming meal.

In that last hopeless moment of utter defeat, Dahl reeled around, grabbed the xenomorph around the torso and tried lifting the beast off the floor. The xenomorph saw the raptor's blow coming and shoved Dahl to the side with the last of its remaining strength. Dahl landed a few yards away, coming up to find the xenomorph slumped over unconscious.

She grabbed her protector's limp, outstretched hand and dragged it to the side a few feet. She readjusted her grip and heaved again, dragging the xenomorph under the handrail. At least the raptor couldn't come down on top of them. Or so she thought.

The raptor reared up, grabbed the hanging handrails and tore them off, throwing a tangle of twisted pipes across the room. It reared again and screamed. The unbridled fury of its roar was deafening. But before it crushed them under footame down, two things happened simultaneously. Dahl jumped on the xenomorph, shielding the creature with her own body, and a dark figure plummeted from the ceiling.

A second xenomorph drove a jagged length of steel piping through the left ankle of the giant raptor's hind foot. The razor-sharp pipe tore through the soft flesh, sinking deep into the ground like a searing anchor. The creature failed helplessly, running in circles as the pipe twisted in its gushing flesh. It looked like a spurting fountain and the beast squealed like a giant baby.

There are two of them, Dahl thought, as the second xenomorph picked itself off the floor and raced at Dahl like an attacking cheetah. She fell back, landing in the lap of the first xenomorph as the second reeled around, placing its back to her.

The raptor bit and clawed at the twisted pipe protruding from its hind foot, wrenching the jagged metal from its bubbling flesh, and ran full tilt at the compartment wall. The heavy steel gave way as if made of tinfoil. A cavernous hole big enough to fly a small spaceship through appeared as the injured raptor vanished.

In the utter blackness and horrific excitement of the moment, Dahl forgot she was now in the clutches of not one, but two xenomorphs.