Match 8
MEGA SHARK VS. GIANT OCTOPUS VS. MEGA PIRANHA: BIG OCEAN DUEL
In the blue depths of the ocean, two giants were locked in combat.
Powerful tentacles wrapped around a writhing body, struggling to grip sandpaper-like skin. A monstrous pair of jaws hyperextended, serrated, triangular teeth gnashing together. A horny beak snapped on empty water. Soulless black eyes rolled back in their sockets for protection. Slimy, shapeless flash flashed brilliant red in frustration. A huge caudal him churned the water violently, powered by a muscular tail. This thrashing, combined with jets of water from a great siphon threw up a cloud of sediment from the seabed, the dark mass of debris engulfing the two combatants. As the sediment fell, two super-sized relic of the prehistoric ocean were revealed-
Carcharias megalodon, an ancient shark, and an enormous octopus.
Jaws snapping wildly, the megalodon broke free from the octopus's grip. Piston-like muscles in its tail pumping, the shark speed from the great mollusk's tentacles as they serpentine appendages chased after the retreating fish. Banking, the megalodon charged. Row upon row triangular teeth jutting forward, the shark slammed into the octopus. Its jaws snapped down on a wriggling tentacle, cleanly sheering off the limb in a cloud of dark bodily fluids. The octopus flinched in pain and wrapped its remaining arms around the shark. Lunging forward, the invertebrate pressed itself against the megalodon. The shark arched its back in pain as the cephalopod's beak took a chuck of of its side, hacking through flesh and cartilage. The tentacles squeezed the shark more tightly, threatening to cause internal bleeding, rupturing the fish's organs. But the megalodon- a creature that needed to keep moving to breath- would suffocate long before it bled out. Not that it had any intentions of doing either. As the shark began wriggle under the octopus's tight hold, a stray tentacle grazed the shark' open jaws. The jaws closed instantaneously, biting down into soft flesh. With a silent wail of agony, the octopus releases the shark and jets back, pressing itself against the seabed.
Circling each other warily, the two mega-predators were at a standstill. While the octopus had the edge in pure strength, intelligence, and craftiness, the megalodon's dangerous jaws, maneuverability, speed, and tough skin made its a lethal foe. It was a deadlock, just like when their species had clashed in the ancient past, practically driving both races to extinction. They were the last of their kinds. But that wasn't going to stop them from fighting to the death.
With a flick of its caudal fin, the megalodon darted in, jaws lurching open. The octopus jerked back as the shark snapped at it. Making a broad turn, the shark make another rush at the invertebrate. As the octopus desperately attempts avoid the fish, the megalodon bites down on another of the mollusk's tentacles, teeth easily sawing through it. The enormous cephalopod shudders in agony as it's left with only five of its original eight limbs. The remaining tentacles wrapped around the shark's head vengefully, holding the megalodon's jaws shut. Slithering forward, the octopus's beak chopped down, taking another bloody bite from the shark. Jumping in pain, the megalodon's tail struck the octopus's soft mantle, battering its internal organs. Briefly parlayed by pain, the invertebrate's arms slipped from the shark's rough skin and the megalodon bolted away. Turning sharply like an aquatic jet, the great fish charged again. Rearing up, the octopus unleashes at dark cloud of ink. Moving too fast to change course, the shark plows straight into the mass of chemicals. The ink begun to burn its open mouth and eyes. Shaking its head in pain, the megalodon managed to navigate his way from the ink, but was unsure of where his adversary was. This question was answered for him as a tentacle shot from the ink cloud and wrapped around its tail. The powerful limbs began towing the shark backwards. Panicking, the megalodon went berserk, twisting and thrashing about, the violent struggling dispersing the ink cloud and revealing the octopus. Arching its side as far as possible, the shark just manages to hook the mollusk's mantle on its jagged teeth. Throwing its body in the opposite direction, the megalodon tears away a piece of the octopus, white rings of pain rippling out from the wound. Releasing the fish, the cephalopod jets back, tentacles waving in anger.
Back to square one, the two throwbacks stood off, the megalodon slowing circling the giant octopus, who was constantly repositioning itself to face the prowling fish. A great swarm of normal-sized shark had already gathered, attracted by the blood and struggling. But none of the predators dared attack now. Instead, they would wait for the battle to end and fest on the corpse of the loser. O loser as the current condition of both combatants suggested.
But something far more sinister was approaching.
Both the megalodon and the octopus froze in shock as overpowering vibration swept over them. Quickly regaining their senses, the two rivals turned to face the deep, ignoring each other in favor of the new arrival. To create such powerful vibrations, this beast would have to be vast, making both of them look minuscule.
Or it was an equally huge swarm of huge creatures.
Racing from the black depths of the sea came a hoard of voracious carnivores, each desperate to fulfill their endless appetite. As the first wave of these predators cleared the deep, more and more emerged from the darkness to replace them. As the end of this great swarm revealed themselves, both the megalodon and the octopus knew they were doomed. They could flee, but the swarm would simply overtake them. After all, who could outrun a school of piranhas? Especially when they a mutant strain of extinct piranha.
Teeth snapping in gnawing hunger, the piranhas struck.
The octopus thrashed madly as the fish began devouring it from the tentacles down, his limbs disappearing so fast even the greatest of magician would be impressed. The megalodon churning the ocean erratically as the piranhas chewed through its thick hide. The two giants had never felt such pain! The piranhas continued to the octopus alive, done with the tentacles by now and moving on to the mantle. The shark was already dead, disemboweled and squirming with piranhas. The octopus managed to let loose one last blast of ink before it vanished under a mass of piranha.
In less than a minute the megalodon and the octopus were gone. But the piranha didn't stop there. They were still hungry. So they began to eat each other.
Turning the ocean a sickening crimson hue, the genetically altered fish turned on one another. The fish spun in circle, eating at each other's tails, forming a twisted Ouroboros. The piranha were the perfect killing machines. Too perfect in fact. Their hunger and viciousness was so intense that the were doomed to eventually destroy themselves, as they were doing now. By the time the feeding frenzy ended, only a few whole fish were left to nibble weakly at their own innards. The sharks that had been spared from the violence moved in to begin feeding.
In one day, one event, three aquatic forces of destruction had been wiped out. Was it only by chance that these three races had met? Or was it fate? Or was it simply proof that Mother Earth had Her own ways of dealing with those who didn't belong in Her delicate web of life.
Whatever the case, the three great predators that had shortly ruled the ocean were gone and the world as a whole could now breath a sigh of relief...
...at least until another mutant monster or prehistoric beast or illegal genetic experiment was unleashed upon the world. Sometimes one had to wonder why Mother Earth simply didn't destroy Mankind and save Herself the trouble later.