AVP: Alien vs. Predator

“Back off!” Sebastian cried.

He grabbed Weyland’s shoulders and dragged the man away from the sight. Then Sebastian drew his survival knife and cut the net—or tried to. But the thread literally severed the knife, and its broken titanium steel blade rattled to the floor.

“Stay back!” Weyland croaked, leaning against a wall. “That damned trap gets tighter every time you touch it.”

Blood pooled on the flagstones as red, raw agony sapped Stafford’s consciousness. Fighting to stay alert and alive, he forced his eyes open, to see a blur appear behind Sebastian’s right shoulder—a second Predator.

His lips writhed soundlessly before words finally came.

“Lookout—”

But the hoarse whisper came too late.

As the other Predator uncloaked between Sebastian and Weyland, it kicked its powerful leg. The clawed foot hit Weyland like a jackhammer, dashing him to the ground.

Visible now, the second Predator grabbed Sebastian by the throat and lifted him off the floor. Sebastian kicked once, slamming his boot into the creature’s belly, but the blow had no effect.

Arm extended, its helpless prey struggling in its grip, the creature threw its head back and unleashed a guttural roar. Sebastian pounded the monster’s fist with his own until, annoyed, the Predator slammed him against the stone wall.

Sebastian’s head lolled, and his arms dangled like empty sleeves.

Still clutching the stunned human, the Predator raised a long, barbed spear. With his other hand he braced himself to administer the fatal blow to the man still ensnared in the net.

Lex, back against the wall, cast about for a way to rescue her comrades. In the wavering light she saw Stafford’s MP-5 and lunged for it.

But the Predator was faster. A shimmering shape crossed the corridor and slammed an armored boot down on the machine gun, crushing it.

Then the Predator swatted Lex aside with the back of its hand.

She struck the wall and slid to the hard floor. Immediately, she tried to rise, but the Predator administered a kick that sent her spinning back against the stone. Blood spurted from her nose and the room spun. Swallowing the pain and her own blood, she quickly rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a second savage kick.

The Predator roared and chased her.

Meanwhile, held fast in the ever-tightening web, Stafford shared a look with Charles Weyland, who leaned against the wall only a few feet away from his faithful assistant. Weyland was winded, helpless, with blood seeping from his hands and wrists.

“I’m sorry…” he sobbed.

Stafford’s eyes—red-rimmed and pain-ravaged—were resigned as the Predator drove the spear through the net, through Max Stafford’s heart, and into the hard stone floor beneath him. A red tide flowed outward, and Stafford twitched once. Then it was over.

Through tears of pain, Lex watched Max die.

“Oh, God,” she cried.

Her eyes darted, seeking a way out. Then Lex spied Sebastian still hanging limply in the second Predator’s grip. She called his name.

Sebastian’s eyes fluttered, so she knew he was still alive, if barely. Seeing him there and Max slaughtered on the floor filled Lex with a cold, helpless fury. With a defiant shriek, she reeled to her feet, searching for something, anything to use against the monsters. She wanted nothing more than to lash out, to hurt them, butcher them—the way they’d murdered the members of her party.

Then cruel fingers encircled her head and forced it back to expose her tender throat. The reptilian stink of the invisible Predator curled her nostrils, and Lex heard a metallic snick as twin curved blades slid out of their sheath and touched her throat.

The creature’s arm and face were visible now, though the rest was still cloaked in a shivering blur. It was as if some hunter’s ethic compelled this race of warriors to reveal themselves to their prey at the point of climax.

Her head was wrenched from side to side, yet Lex saw the monster staring at her through slits in its expressionless mask. Snarling, the warrior drew its arm back for the killing stroke.

Powerless in its grip, she refused to struggle any longer, or to look away. Death held no terror for Alexa Woods. She would face it squarely, eyes open.

The woman’s fearlessness disconcerted the Predator. The creature actually hesitated for a moment—long enough for a black shape to drop from the ceiling and for its razor-sharp tail to plunge through the Predator’s reptilian flesh.

Suddenly the hand that held Lex convulsed. Then the fingers parted, releasing her. She stepped back as bright fingers of raw energy crackled across the Predator’s torso. The monster twitched and flung its arms wide.

Flattening herself against the wall, Lex heard the crunch of snapping bone and a wet gurgle. Then a black, barbed spike burst through the Predator’s chest in a torrent of phosphorescent gore.

Lex whimpered as the hot, steaming liquid spattered across her cheek, but still she could not turn away.

Unbelievably, the Predator was now helpless in the grip of a destructive force more savage than itself. Limbs flailing, wailing madly, the hunter was hauled upward, disappearing in the shadows.

Lex heard bestial sounds, and the ripping of meat and bone. Sparks rained from above, followed by a deluge of gore. In the intermittent flashes Lex observed a black, insectlike shape curling in the arches, its long, clawed arms tearing at the beleaguered Predator.

With a final crunch of bone, the Predator died, its corpse dangling limply on the barbed tip of its killer’s tail. Gouts of flesh and streams of reptilian blood plopped onto the flagstones, steaming in the frigid air.

The second Predator spied the black obscenity as it dropped to the ground and crouched on two spindly legs. Tossing Sebastian aside, the Predator assumed a fighting stance, an undulating rumble gurgling in its throat.

The Alien whipped its bony tail around, dislodging the dead warrior and hurling its battered carcass into a dank corner. Legs spread wide, clawed arms raised, the Alien kicked Max Stafford’s bundled corpse aside as if it were clearing the arena. Slime oozing from its lipless mouth, the Alien bobbed its shiny, elongated head and thrashed its tail from side to side as it issued a sibilant challenge. Finally, its toothy mouth opened and the black beast spit at the Predator in angry defiance.

Only dimly, Sebastian had felt the crushing grip relent, and he’d slid down the wall. He would have remained there, too, except for the strong hands that encircled his waist and hauled him to safety.

Sebastian looked up to see Lex standing over him, her face stained with an eerie green phosphorescence, like some strange, futuristic war paint. Then he heard hissing and an angry roar. Rolling onto his side, Sebastian watched two demons out of hell squaring off for a duel.

CHAPTER 24

In the Labyrinth

The tittering obscenity and the reptilian humanoid slammed together with a shuddering impact that sent both creatures reeling. Howls and thrashes accompanied their charge.

The Predator lashed out, striking a backhanded blow against the Alien’s gnashing jaw. The Alien staggered. Then, in a scorpionlike motion, the black monster attacked with a flash of its spiked tail. Springing back, the Predator used its wrist blades to counter the strike—and in a quick twist, it severed the Alien’s tail.

Yowling, the Alien whirled, spraying deadly venom from its bloody stump. Whatever the steaming droplets touched burned, sizzled and pitted.

The Predator pulled back its arm to thrust again but discovered that its wrist blades had been reduced to smoldering, molten stubs by the Alien’s acidic blood. Snarling, the Predator leaped at the Alien and brought it down. As they grappled, sparks—struck from solid stone or from the Predator’s shredded armor—created distorted