Chrysalis

I realise now that my brain, or rather my fancy new antennae, were telling me that I was about to have my legs bitten off in a savage and painful manner by a large creature emerging from the murky waters to my left.

Unfortunately I was simply unable to process the information quickly enough. I mean, when you start receiving sensory messaging from the future, it kind of wigs you out a bit. Up until this pointy my new antennae had only been providing me with a mild buzzing sensation. When it lit up so suddenly I was momentarily overwhelmed. So much so that even though I knew I was about to leg my legs chomped off, it still happened!

Ouch!

The offender is a rather large hippo looking creature with rough leathery skin and a moss covered shell that had been visible above the water line, looking for all the world like a hump of dirt, much like any of the others.

Now the damn fatty looks decidedly smug as I fall to one side, cursing internally and triggering my healing gland. The cold fluid floods my system, rushing to the site of my lost limbs which begin to regrow at an almost visible pace and I scramble with my four remaining legs to get myself clear of the monster.

[MASTER?!] Crinis shrieks, [What happened?!]

["Ambush! Fat Hippo thing on the left! I've lost a couple of legs, cover for me!"] I shout.

[AHHHH!!!!]

My mind is overwhelmed by Crinis hysterical screaming as the little tennis ball on my back EXPLODES with tentacles that start seeking towards the left side, latching onto and tearing at the Hippo-Turtles face at breakneck speeds.

Irritated at the sudden retaliation, the hippo rises out of the water and charges towards us at surprising speeds. Fast! Huge! FAT!

The monster is much larger than I'd first thought and certainly more bizarre! Small piggy eyes and those adorable little flappy ears sit above a typical broken toothed, oversized hippo mouth. The head extends out from under a thick, dome shaped shell on the end of a long turtle neck. The entire thing rests upon four squat hippo legs that pump at a rapid pace as the huge monster dashes out of the water, grunting angrily as Crinis continues to shriek at it and tear at its face.

As the beast runs towards me the ground is rumbling under my feet! I push with all of my might but I can't activate dash without all of my legs! Great time to learn that! Thanks skill! Come on legs, regenerate quick or I'm going to be building a more intimate relationship with this dirt that I was quite prepared for. Just before I get stomped into ant pate and served on crackers, Tiny dashes in from the side and meets the charging hippo with one shoulder.

BOOM!

the water I get a clearer picture of its size. Hippos are quite large creatures back on

hear what I'm

A MINIVAN!

at his

way to a deafening tirade that promises endless violence in the most

Turtle rights itself and recovers its balance after being knocked aside by Tiny, Crinis gradually begins to transfer her tentacles away from the

only is the shell tough as nails, it seems

This

Tiny bellows, the fire

He's ready to go!

himself into the air and brings both fists down in his patented ape smash, directly onto the hippo turtles shell. The flabby beast

crackles over its shell and leathery skin. Snarling, the beast forces

around here have to have such large

engage the monster in brutal battle I bravely continue to crawl through the dirt as my missing limbs slowly regenerate. It's been ages since I lost a

Tiny continues to trade blows with the beast, his fists snapping that head left and right and sending shockwaves through its long neck, Crinis busies herself with ripping into the legs,

some acid,

"Roger!"

his battle. With my instructions given

to sizzle away pleasantly. The big monster groans in pain but cannot now turn away from the

Gravity Bolt!

whip up the spell and blast it out, hoping to assist my pets in their work. Unerringly, thanks to my skills, the bolt strikes home on the creature, directly behind its head. I've seen this before. When the bolt his a creature of sufficient size it doesn't just increase the gravity of the whole monster but rather drags down the body part that

a strong dragging force that wants to pull its head down into the dirt. Tiny takes