Monster - A. Lee Martinez [96]
It turned out that Monster wasn’t completely invulnerable when blue. His kamikaze attack against an unstoppable godlike being resulted in several lost teeth, a broken arm, and maybe some internal injuries.
The only light filtering into the basement came from the hole in the ceiling. He could see in the dark when chalk white, but he was stuck in regenerative turquoise. His broken arm mended and several new teeth pushed their way out of his gums. The pain lessened.
Monster felt around for Lotus. There was a hole in the foundation in a vaguely human shape, but she wasn’t there.
Someone hoisted him by his collar and flung him across the basement. He crashed into a pyramid of cardboard boxes and was buried under a mound of moldy clothes, trilobite fossils, and discontinued soda bottles Lotus had collected over her many millennia.
Lotus grabbed him by the throat. Invulnerable blue didn’t seem capable of stopping her from crushing shut his windpipe. Monster’s vision blurred. He could still be only one color at a time. Shifting to anything else would risk having her tear off his head. But if he didn’t do something soon, she’d strangle him.
Monster turned lightning bolt gray and put both hands on Lotus’s head. He pumped a few thousand volts through his fingers. The electricity surged through the both of them, sending them hurtling in opposite directions.
A few moments of turquoise allowed his throat to repair itself. Lotus was already on her feet, unharmed except for a few strands of sizzling hair and some cracks along her skin, exposing a sickly yellow flesh beneath.
“Who are you?” she asked. “You seem human, more or less. A few tricks at your disposal, true, but I just don’t see your place in this, other than to cause me a few moments of inconvenience.”
“I’m just some guy.” He turned laser-vision peach and unleashed a blast of pure destructive power. The lasers sizzled against her chest. The smell of burning flesh and vanilla incense filled the air as Lotus advanced. He tried to think of something else, but he was pumping out enough force to disintegrate a tank.
Monster stopped, rubbing his burning eyes.
Lotus said, “You can’t stop me. You can’t even hurt me. So why do you keep trying?”
He became superstrong green and threw a punch. She caught his fist and twisted his wrist. He fell to his knees.
“You’re like a bug I can’t squash. It would almost be intriguing under normal circumstances, but…” She offered a bemused smile. “You’re not important. You’re just an inconvenience, a puzzle to keep me distracted.”
She cocked her head to one side and addressed the universe directly.
“How very clever. Taking advantage of my curiosity, I see. You’re getting smarter, aren’t you? But not smart enough. Not by a long shot.”
She vanished.
Monster rose. “Damn it.”
He flew through the hole and into the den above. Chester and Ferdinand, surrounded by clashing cats and imps, were locked in battle. Chester was ragged and torn, barely recognizable in his bear form. Ferdinand punched a hole in his chest and ripped off his head.
Monster came up behind her and put his hand on her back. The sharp shock of magic, like a sting of static electricity, passed between them. Ferdinand gasped as a tail burst out of her pants, and her face lengthened. Fur sprouted on her face.
“What did you… moooo?”
She ripped out of her clothes and fell to all fours as her body twisted and grew.
Monster checked on Chester, who folded himself back into his gnome shape. He went slowly, but bits and pieces still tore off in the process.
“Are you okay?” asked Monster.
“Been better.” Chester stood, but his movements were slow. “Ouch.”
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s not so bad.” Chester shrugged, and a rip split his back. “The pain I feel is more of a static feedback. More irritating than crippling.” He winced as his paper leg crumpled. “Ow. How do you material entities deal with this on a daily basis?”
“You get used to it.”
The brown cow in the den blew a huge bubble that popped and covered her nose.
“That’s a nice