I'd like to tell you that I stood my ground and brought all my magic powers to bear on the Tank Beetle, but you know me better than that by now. I turned and ran as fast as my little legs would take me. The beetle thundered after me and slammed into the tunnel, its bulk taking up almost the entire width. It roared again. I didn't look back. I just kept running.

  I hit the platform and skidded to a stop, trying to think through my next move. Did I really want to run back down the tunnels and have that thing chase me? I wondered what its flat-out speed was, and I bet with six legs and wings, it could catch me faster than I could get away. I didn't want to trap myself in a straight line with this thing.

  Then the beetle was on me. I threw myself to one side just as it flew past. The monstrous creature slammed hard enough into the far wall of the next platform to send dust raining down on me. It whirled as if flying face-first into concrete was a minor inconvenience and leaped at me again. I threw myself backwards, and it landed with a thud so heavy it cracked the concrete on the platform. I was up on my feet in a second. Drawing my Grandad’s bat out of instinct, I swung it as the beetle lurched towards me. As it tried to gore me with its horns, I managed to land a solid blow on one of them. The explosion Rune activated on the bat, tossing the beetle's head to one side, staggering it for a second and almost ripping the bat clean out of my hands.

  I spun and stumbled away, trying to create a bit of distance, but the beetle was on me again. I swung my bat again, hitting it this time on what I guessed was maybe a shoulder. The Rune ignited and sent another shockwave through the beetle, but this time, it didn’t even flinch; it just kept coming at me. It lowered its horns, trying to gore me through the stomach. Fortunately, being so skinny, I just about turned sideways and got in the middle of the two horns. The beetle scooped me up as if I weighed nothing and hurled me backwards over its head like a raging bull in a rodeo. I landed in a heap, the wind driven out of me. It was only fear and adrenaline that got me back to my feet so quickly.

  The beetle was so thick and wide that its turning circle was similar to an 18-wheel lorry. It scuttled its legs forward and then scuttled them backwards, trying to turn around in the cramped space of the platform. Then I did something incredibly stupid. I shot my Grapple Cord at it, wrapping around its horn and yanking, which did absolutely nothing, and instead gave the beetle another opportunity to turn me into a flying pi?ata. It whipped its head, jerking me by my wrist and flinging me all the way across the tracks to the next platform. I hit the smooth surface of the platform and slid into one of the dark tunnels, feeling like all my bones had been disconnected.

  I groaned and rolled over, crawling first, then staggering to my feet and running down the tunnel as I heard the beetle land on the platform behind me and start pursuing me into the tunnel. I ran, ignoring the pain thundering through my hip from where I landed on the platform, and I followed the winding tunnel as far as I could until eventually I came to another platform. This one was a single-sided platform, and there was nowhere else to go other than back into the dark tunnels of the train tracks or headlong down the platform. I still didn't want to get stuck in such a confined space with the beetle, so I chose to run down the platform, saw another tunnel leading back the way I came, and sprinted down it, hoping to maybe confuse the creature and buy myself some time to get away.

  How the hell did the Pigeon King think that some electrified knuckles and a magnet Rune would be able to beat that monster? As I ran, I lost track of where the beetle had gone. I didn't hear it behind me anymore. Maybe I'd lost it, maybe it was back on the platform looking around, confused. And then I realized something almost as horrifying as the beetle itself: I had no idea where I was. Even if I managed to lose the creature, I had completely lost sense of which way I had come and what platform I was on. I didn't even know which train track or direction I had come from in the first place. The feeling of being lost underground in the pitch dark with a monster is enough to make anybody lose their cool. My breath began to come hard and fast, and I realized that I might be dead already and just delaying the inevitable.

  That's when the beetle reappeared. It lurched into the mouth of the tunnel I was running down and screamed at me again, its carapace flying open and its wings beating in some sort of primal gesture of dominance. I skidded to a halt, my boots squeaking on the tiles, and the thing lurched into the tunnel, horns first. I just about managed to avoid getting skewered, but it was right on me. There was nothing else I could do other than grab hold of its horns and try to stay away from the pointed ends. In sheer panic, I raised my fist, the shock Runes crackling, and I brought them down on what I guessed was the thing's face. The knuckles zapped and jolted, sending sparks flying, and the beetle lurched backwards from me in surprise. It gave a high-pitched scream and shook its head, snarling in confusion.

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  Oh man, I think I made it angry.

  I looked up and saw a channel of metal running along the ceiling to which the broken lights were attached. Without thinking, I jumped and threw out my hand, palm up, sending manic energy into the magnet Rune. It activated with an almost imperceptible buzz and I was glued to the ceiling. I kicked my legs and swung over the beetle while the maddened creature was still stunned by the shock Rune. I landed and skidded on the tiles, gathering my feet underneath me, I sprinted back out of the tunnel.

  Stopping for a second to gather myself, I looked up and down the platform before leaping down onto the rails. Just as I was trying to jump back onto the other side, the beetle took flight and landed in front of me. It hit the platform so hard it shook me loose, and I fell back onto the tracks. The beetle lunged over the side of the platform, and I lashed out again with my Zap Knucks, catching it on the horn. This time, the effect wasn't as powerful, but it still seemed to sting the beetle and made it wary of committing to a frontal assault. It scuttled backwards and snarled, its wings flapping.

  Heaving myself up, I unsheathed Grandad’s bat, and swung it wildly at the beetle, trying to keep it back. I knew I was trapped. If I tried to run back to the other platform, it would just fly over and cut me off. I guessed that if I turned to try to run down one of the tunnels, it would either cut me off before I made it or corner me inside. I had no idea how long those tunnels went on for, and I definitely didn't know how long I could sprint. I was already breathing heavily, feeling my chest getting tight, and my muscles becoming weary. All the beetle had to do was outlast me. I wondered if it ate people. Was I going to get eaten by a giant beetle deep under the city?

  My stomach grumbled as bile filled the back of my throat, fear making me want to vomit. The beetle’s carapace opened and its fine silken wings flapped. The giant beast took flight and zipped over my head. I wasn't sure why or what its plan was, but I wasn't going to wait to find out. I swung my bat up at it and caught it on one of its legs as it flew by. The Runes went off, and the thing's leg twitched and then bent with an audible crack. The beetle landed in a heap on the other platform, swaying unsteadily as it tried to stand up, one of its legs on its left side bent at an awkward angle. Now it was really pissed. It snarled and stomped the floor, flapping its wings, lowering its horns, and it charged at me, flying straight off the platform down onto me.

  I didn't have a chance to do anything. I tried to swing my bat, but I might as well have been holding a toothpick for all the good it did. The beetle knocked me from my feet, and I landed hard on the iron rails, my head whipping back and almost knocking me senseless. I felt pain lance through my knee as I collapsed awkwardly under the beetle’s bulk. The beetle reared backwards. I think it planned to just bring its bulk down on me and squash me like a bug, if you pardon the pun. I raised both my hands, my fists locked together. The Runes crackled, sending out sparks that burned my skin, and I punched both fists into the soft underbelly of the beetle. This time, the creature was completely off-balance and couldn't escape the blow. It reared backwards and tumbled on to its back, its legs kicking wildly in the air.

  I leapt to my feet and drove my fists into its stomach, bearing down on the monster, the Runes buzzing and crackled. I could smell burning. I didn't know if it was the beetle or if it was me that was on fire, but I kept pushing the Runes into the underbelly of the monster. They sizzled and spat, and the beetle squealed, then lashed out with one of its legs and caught me across the side of the head, slicing me open and knocking me almost senseless. I stumbled away and fell, feeling the hot drip of blood down the side of my head. My goggles had been knocked askew, and for a second, there was complete darkness. I thought that the beetle had somehow blinded me or hit me so hard it had broken my vision. I stumbled blindly forward, crawling on my hands and knees, hastily trying to put the goggles back in place.

  As I did, I looked over my shoulder and saw the beetle, its belly smoking, righting itself. It chittered and snarled, searching around for me. It was obviously in great pain, one of its legs broken and its stomach searing and crackling even now. It located me again and began limping towards me. I only had one option, and that was to run headlong into the tunnel. I pulled myself to my feet, dragging my injured leg behind me, and I wheeled my body into the dark tunnel. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to get away. I flung my battered body into the tunnel, wheezing, tears stinging my eyes, and panic flooding through my chest as I limped into the darkness and the beetle followed.