The Space Spoon novel Chapter 95

“Equal footing?” Tejeda smirked. “Why would I need to turn in a titanic lifeform when all I need to level out the play field is a tiny grain of sand?”

“I don't know if I should be proud of myself or feel sorry for you.”

“I'm sure you can find a way to do both.”

Rahul laughed. When he spoke again, a terrible gust of wind rushed through the remnants of the cave, and saliva spilled from the monster's jaws.

“I’m going to eat your body and pick my teeth with your silica core.”

Tejeda sneered, displaying his gorgeous, regular human teeth. "Speak with your lips closed until you find a way to freshen up your breathing. It stinks!" He pulled out a bag and shook it in the air. "Do you know what I've got here?"

Rahul opened his mouth wide and released an ear-splitting roar. “I don’t care!”

His hand had grown large enough to pick up over a dozen Tejedas off the ground at once.

Tejeda didn't even flinch as the razor-sharp claws wrapped around his torso, the arrogant sneer remaining on his face. He merely maintained his bag-wielding hand above Rahul's hold.

"Oh, and thank you for the surprise you left for me on Yacleemb, Rahul. You see, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have gotten this Nubilonia sand from the Spreahs' trap. It's only fair to give it back to you."

Tejeda ripped open the sack using Rahul's keen claws and spread it all about them. Purple dust fell on them both, shimmering in the air before settling on Tejeda's skin and Rahul's scales.

Their eyes flickered purple, sensing their bodies reverting to the ancient form. Tejeda hated it, but it was only fitting for them to end this in the octopi aspect.

Rahul took a step back, crushing the ground beneath him. A few of the cave's stones were knocked loose and rolled away.

Once Rahul started losing his titanic appearance, Tejeda fell from his grasp. During his fall, tentacles emerged and managed to hang onto the rocky wall before the landing.

He stood there, watching Rahul change. The transformation took longer since all the excess matter had to be dissolved first. The other Nubilae gazed back at him as the purple ooze retreated.

At that precise moment, Tejeda jumped from the wall, using all his tentacles to push into the rocks. He slung through the space between them and landed right on Rahul, his teeth biting into one of the latter’s tentacles.

Tejeda’s multiple appendices tried to get a hold of his opponent as he sank his teeth deeper into Rahul's tentacle. Somehow, the latter pulled away. A piece of flesh remained between Tejeda's teeth.

He spat it out and licked his teeth. His deep voice echoed through the cavern.

“I want to live a normal life. I’m slowly putting the pieces together, fitting them into the mold. But you're standing in my way!”

“You say you want to be normal,” Rahul said, breath hitched. “Don’t make me laugh! Just look at you now. Anyone would be scared by the monster you are.” Rahul’s head pointed toward the chain with the spoon left hanging by one of Tejeda’s tentacles. “And where does Carmen fit in all that normalcy?”

Tejeda let the chain slip over a rock. The spoon clattered against the stone. Letting Carmen rest there felt safer than having her on him.

“Such care!” Rahul mocked. “It’s just a husk of a Nubilae, a perverted joke Doctor Iadfoc made. He turned the silica core of your beloved wife into a spoon to make fun of your pain. And to make things worse, you carry it with you all the time, damn fool. You’re sick!”