- [Reggie] The moment I first laid eyes on the monster,

I wasn't scared.

I didn't scream the way I knew most people would

at the sight of the towering beast,

with it's horned head, its evil red eye,

its bloody saw for an arm.

No, when I saw Colossus for the first time,

I'm telling you, I was hyped.

Excited as hell, I grinned,

knowing that I just discovered the monster

that would make all other competitors tremble.

That would prove I was the best brawl wrangler

in the business.

That would make Myka's pathetic troop of monsters

look like a bunch of puppy dogs in comparison.

Colossus hadn't been easy to capture.

We had to electrify him with cattle prods and tasers

hooked up to a 240 watt generator.

And that was just to get the big creep down to his knees.

Only then, after he'd already slaughtered three of us,

was I able to get the shock collar around his neck.

Now, I stared at him, heaving and roaring with anger.

Standing in the middle of the fighting ring,

and I couldn't wait to see how he was going to perform.

Monster Brawl was tomorrow.

An organized fight between real monsters,

where audiences could bet on the monster of their choice.

Today was just a warm up,

but what a warm up it was going to be.

Colossus tried to rip apart the fence again,

and it electrocuted him. (electricity sizzles)

Making the bad man shake

like a kid with a fork in the socket.

I would've thought I'd've learned his lesson by now.

That's the thing about monsters,

they might be tough but some are dumb as rocks.

"You'll get good, Reggie."

I turned to see Mars, the boss' new assistant beside me.

A pretentious twit, if you were asking me.

"Boss is gonna love this.

"A premium fighter like Colossus,

"that's gonna translate to a lot of tickets, man.

"Cold, hard cash."

"You don't need to tell me," I said,

unable to keep the smug satisfaction out of my voice.

"I've been doing this a lot longer than you."

Mars nodded, "Fair enough.

"Just remember, Myka is the jealous sort.

"She gets wind of this,

"she's bound to come knocking."

Myka was the leader

of the biggest fight night in the Midwest.

A creepy, little, old woman with a nasty set of nails,

that looked scarier than half the monsters

she employed to entertain the masses.

She was our biggest competitor,

and the boss didn't like her.

None of us did.

Only this kid, Mars,

seemed to have some sort of strange fascination with her,

almost like he admired her.

I stepped into his face.

"She won't get near him.

"That monster belongs to us, got it?"

Mars held up his hands in surrender and sauntered off.

I shook my head, annoyed,

then nodded to the guys by the cages.

"Bring in the ugly one," I shouted.

"Let's introduce the fighters to each other."

"You sure, Reggie?" one of the guys asked.

"Boss said to keep the other one in its cage

"until showtime tomorrow.

"Said he was too dangerous for a warm up."

"Don't make me repeat myself," I said, gritting my teeth.

I wasn't gonna wait for tomorrow.

I want to see how strong Colossus really was.

If anyone was a match for my monster

it would be the one they found in the hole,

the one they called.

"Brute," the men shouted,

throwing it into the middle of the ring,

temporarily disabled by the shock collar around its neck.

It was a massive, fleshy creature,

with a head shaped like a football,

and a protruding set of fangs that looked more alien

than monster.

So ugly, he made Colossus look downright cuddly

in comparison.

"Let's see what you two are made of," I shouted,

adrenaline coursing through me.

There was nothing as good as watching two monsters fight,

nothing as pure as the collision of flesh and blood,

the sound of cracking bones,

gnashing teeth,

blood spurting, these were music to my ears,

and right now I was expecting an orchestra.

Colossus fixed its red eye upon the Brute,

and roared through its metal mask, rearing its horn,

like a rhino about to strike.

The Brute got up from his knees, growling with a wet,

guttural noise that gave you goosebumps just hearing it.

Although the Brute was shorter than Colossus

by a decent foot,

he more than made up for it with speed.

He didn't have the armor Colossus did,

he was pure, rotten flesh.

The two monsters stood there, frozen,

facing each other like two cowboys in a spaghetti western.

"Who's gonna draw first? I wondered with a dark smile.

"My money's on Colossus," I shouted.

I knew we weren't suppose to bet until Monster Brawl,

but how could I resist?

I had caught the monster,

surely I should be able to make a profit off of him.

And then it happened,

Colossus charged at the Brute,

swinging his massive, mechanical saw at the creature

with the force of a cargo trailer

barrelling down the highway.

I was sure he was going to make contact.

Nothing could dodge an attack that powerful.

But the Brute swerved out of the way just in time,

leaping onto Colossus' back,

and ripping his ugly fangs into the monster's neck.

If it hadn't been for the shock collar

he probably would've torn a hole clear through him.

A second later,

Colossus grabbed the Brute with his clawed hand

and swung him over his head,

slamming him into the ring floor like a pro wrestler.

He lifted his foot to crush the ugly beast.

My hands clenched into excited fists, he was gonna do it.

He was going to destroy the Brute.

Again, the ugly monster was too fast for him.

Spinning out of the way,

slashing at Colossus' exposed knee,

making his leg buckle, blood spurt.

Blood was drenching the floor.

Clearly the Brute had hit an artery.

And now the Brute was seizing its chance.

Leaping on top of him once again,

biting the exposed skin of Colossus' shoulder,

ripping off a whole chunk of flesh.

"Dammit!" I shouted, frustrated.

"Where's the remote?

"Get him off!"

I saw Mars in the control booth, watching.

Then he nodded, electrocuting the Brute,

forcing him to fall off at once.

"Let's try that again," I said, hiding my disappointment.

I knew the Brute was fast,

but all it would take was one hit from Colossus

to put the monster in its place.

"Come on," I growled at Colossus as he slowly turned around

and picked up the Brute with his clawed hand.

"Hit him!"

To my delight, Colossus did as he was told,

jamming the saw through Brute's stomach,

making blood spew all over the slippery floor of the ring.

One of the guys blanched.

"Reggie, how we gonna patch him up before tomorrow?

"Enough!"

"It's enough when I say it's enough," I shouted,

blood lust taking over now.

I didn't care if the Brute had been disgraced.

The thing healed inhumanely fast

and I watched as it backed away up against the fence,

cornered,

as Colossus stalked closer and closer.

My hands were clenched into shaking fists.

The tension in the air was thick.

Unbearable. (monsters growling)

I was about to see my prize, my Colossus,

defeat the most powerful monster we'd ever found before.

He lifted his bloody saw,

roared once more.

"Run it down!"

But the dummy swung too close to the fence again.

It shocked him, frying him to a crisp.

The Brute seized his chance,

ripping at Colossus' torso,

taking chunks of flesh clean off.

(metal clanging) (blood spurting)

"Mars," I shouted, "hit the juice again!"

But when I turned to look

at the window of the control booth,

Mars wasn't there.

"Mars!"

That's when the lights went out.

The power died,

and all was quiet.

"Reggie," one of the guys shouted, terrified.

"What happened?

"Where's?"

A moment later I heard the unmistakable sound

of a head being ripped right off its shoulders,

which meant. (electricity sizzles)

The backup generator kicked in and I stared

aghast at a massive hole in the fence.

Both of the monsters were out.

They were slaughtering all of the brawl wranglers

one by one. (metal whooshing)

Turning our arena into a bloodbath.

I had to get to the remote as fast as I could

to activate their shock collars.

I ran toward the control booth,

but as I entered the door swung open on the other side

and Mars stood there holding it,

smiling.

"Looking for this?

"You may wanna look behind you instead."

My eyes widened as I heard the sound of its heavy,

inhuman breathing through the metal mask,

smelled the hot stink of the creature I had captured,

felt it looming over me, impossibly tall.

Colossus was right behind me.

I slowly turned around to face him

and that's when I felt it,

jagged, piercing sensations as it rammed its blade

right into my stomach. (blood spurts)

The saw activated, (saw whirs)

splitting me even further,

tearing my intestines out like a tangle of electrical wires.

Its red eye bored down on me as I shook.

(saw whirring drowns out speech)

Blood pouring from my mouth.

It raised its clawed fist to cave in my skull.

This was the end.

"Enough," a high pitched croak resounded.

And then,

Colossus' shock collar activated and it dropped me.

Lurching backward, under control once again.

"We have what we came for," the old woman's voice said.

"Colossus will make for a wonderful addition

"to Fight Night.

"You did well, Mars."

"But what about the Brute?" he asked.

"Forget the Brute, we'll get it later."

I turned on my side,

faintly noticing that my entire stomach

had a hole clear through it.

I turned to look at the source of the voices.

It was her, Myka, the leader of Fight Night,

the largest monster fighting competition.

She had come to steal my monster.

She had come to destroy Monster Brawl.

Mars was her lackey all along.

I spat out blood, laughing, delirious.

"You think you can control them without me?"

I asked, feeling my life drain from me.

"He'll kill you all.

"I'm willing to bet on it."

Myka tsked, looking bored.

"But you already placed your bet, didn't you, Reggie?"

She nodded to Mars, the traitorous scum.