A thick slime coated the bottom of the crack, as they descended slowly. Even though they had clinging in the lizard form, the slime made it very difficult to get a good grip on the stone.

“I hope this stuff leads us to something edible, and not a giant slug or something,” mumbled Olivia.

Dustin didn’t respond as he was making sure he had a good grip on the rock before taking his next step. This stuff was worse than ice.

A rhythmic noise ahead, had them moving even slower and more cautiously. As they came around a bend, the crevasse opened up to a roundish tunnel. To their right, it continued pretty much in a straight line, but to their left, they saw the rear end of some creature that was rhythmically digging away. The crack they had been following continued before them, and the slime seemed to be contained to just the crevasse.

The creature to their left had skin that strongly resembled the rock around it, and as they stepped onto the rock, and off the slime, it paused. Turning around, they saw that it had no eyes. The entire front of its face was made up of a giant mouth. The teeth inside were rounded, not pointy, and as it turned, they could see that it must eat rocks or minerals.

Its six legs were broken up into three different functions. The front two had thick claws that were capable of digging through the tough rock and dirt. The second two seemed to be solely for moving the creature. The last two were flat, like shovel, and were obviously used to scoop the extra dirt and rock behind.

Judging from the lack of extra dirt and rock in the tunnel, it was pretty clear it must be eating it. Olivia grimaced as Dustin moved towards it, stepping lightly.

Just behind its jaw, there were short pits and tiny hairs that he was pretty sure could sense tremors in the ground.

“PED, can you give me my cutting hands?”

(INITIATING EVOLUTION)

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

It seemed to be waiting for him to get closer, and he obliged. He didn’t know if this thing was edible or not, but he was hungry and wanted to get back to work. If it was edible, it was big enough to feed them both for days.

Just as he got close enough to strike, it lunged forward, opening its mouth to swallow him whole. Dustin fell flat on his butt, jumping back, and slashed out with both cutting hands. They bounced off the things tough skin, causing no damage. He had to roll to the side, to avoid its huge clawed foot, that slammed down where he had fallen.

Olivia started jumping up and down, and it paused. Taking advantage of its confusion, Dustin tried to attack it again, but again, his blades just skittered across its skin. Whatever it was made from, was too tough for him to cut.

Olivia stopped, and they both froze for a moment, as the creature seemed to be huffing into the air. This thing didn’t even have a tongue to bite. Not wanting to lose a tooth trying to bite it, he backpedaled until he was next to Olivia again.

“Maybe we need to find something easier to kill?” he asked quietly.

The thing huffed a few more times, before turning back around and continuing with its digging.

“I don’t think it was very impressed with you,” she said, turning to face the slimy crack again.

“Well, we have two options, then. We can continue going down the slimy crack, or we can go back along this guy’s tunnel.”

“When you put it that way, I’m for the tunnel.”

“You go that way?” he asked with a grin.

With a grin, she said, “Only when I’m on top.”

“I tend to remember that,” he said, thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling of the tunnel.

“Oh, really? What else do you remember?” she asked, raising her brow ridge.

“That you make these awesome little panting noises when I bottom out.”

“Oh, ho! Now I’m really curious! I don’t think I remember anyone doing that before.”

“We need to find something to eat fast, if we’re going to squeeze sex in before we escape.”

“Then stop talking and start walking!”

“I am, woman!”

“That’s mistress, to you!”

Chuckling, Dustin turned down the tunnel. After what seemed forever, they encountered an actual cave. There were several other tunnels, similar to this one, that led them to believe there were more of those things, digging around, but they opted to stay in the one tunnel, so that they didn’t get too lost.

As they stepped into the cave, a cold chill swept over them, and they glanced at each other in surprise. What could cause a wind in a cave this deep?

Movement to the side caught their attention, and Dustin took in a deep breath to keep from making any noise. A giant cockroach was perched on top of a fallen stalactite. Its antennae waved in the dark, mostly in their direction. It was big enough, that even from this distance, they could tell it had no eyes.

Taking several steps towards them, its antennae waving like mad, Dustin tried to figure out if his bladed hands would hurt it. As far as he could tell, it looked like a normal cockroach, only bigger and lacking eyes, so that meant, no weird stingers or claws, and no odd skin or alien appendages.

Surely, he could take out one giant bug, right? After all, he’d already killed a lot of them, including that fucking huge crystal one.

Raising his hands, as he fought to keep his breath under control, Olivia charged with a loud scream. Startled, he watched as the walls all around them came alive with movement. Of course. No cockroach is ever alone. Why the hell hadn’t he noticed their heat signature?

Taking off after her, all he could think was, there was no damn way he was eating cockroach!