***
Several weeks later, the young insectoids had more than quadrupled in size. As they grew, it became apparent that each looked quite different from the next. Thickness of body plates, for example, and horn-like protrusions, differed substantially through a tremendous range of shapes and sizes.
The runt was still at best half the size of his cohorts. Constant struggles against his larger peers had trained him to be more agile, and combined with his thinner than average exoskeleton he had become impressively efficient at evading their attacks. First-hatched brood, by merit of the fresher egg-feast, were among the largest in the cohort. Their privilege was now more fully realized as their brood-mates would seldom challenge them over food.
As he grew the other lower-caste insectoids learned to fear the runt. His lithe frame, while neither stronger nor sturdier than theirs, was complimented by an unparalleled determination. In spite of his low standing, he was often allowed to eat without challenge. As he became emboldened by his now-rising status and physical prowess, the runt began to take more risk to increase his rations of food.
One morning he approached a group of first-hatched, each more than five times his size over, and picked up a piece of food in his pincer. The largest insectoid of the group took notice and spun around to face him, pincers raised in an aggressive display. Despite being significantly out-sized, the runt stood his ground before the massive first-hatched. Suddenly, launching an attack, the over-sized pincer of the first-hatched swept through the air towards the runt. The runt easily dodged the attack, which sent the Goliath off balance. As his soft underbelly was exposed, and before he had regained his balance, the runt deftly cut an incision with his pincer that nearly ran the entire length of his body. In one convulsive burst, the first-hatched insectoid's organs spilled onto the ground below.
Clicking rapidly, each of the nearby first-hatched backed away from the runt, astonished that their peer had been bested.
From that point on, none of the insectoids challenged the runt over food. With access to as much as he could eat, he quickly grew in size. However, even with the benefit of the increased food he was still considerably smaller than the other higher-caste insectoids. In spite of this disadvantage, he easily bested his peers in combat, and after three months had passed, he was one of sixteen remaining.
Broods were culled from several hundred down to a single insectoid for one purpose, and one purpose alone; to determine which would compete to sire the next generation of broods. Early on, the constant struggle for food was adequate to thin the numbers down. While none starved to death the weaker less able insectoids often died from injuries sustained in skirmishes. From this point on, none of the remaining sixteen brood-mates would have to fight one another for a meal, as food was provided in surplus. That's not to say their good fortunes were guaranteed though. In fact, reality was as far from that as possible.
Insectoid bodies were highly capable in water thanks to rows of small paddle-like appendages that lined their underbelly in-between their legs. Over the course of the next three months the brood-mates spent their time learning to hunt eel-fish that lived in the nearby coral reef. The reefs themselves were formed over centuries as large tube-worm creatures fed off the small bits of plankton floating in the currents of the sea.
Eel-fish were deadly, possessing a neurotoxin that paralyzed its victims. Once immobilized, the long slender fish would burrow into the body of larger prey and consume it from the inside out. It often took days for a full grown insectoid to die from the eel-fish's feasting, and while the neurotoxin paralyzed its victim, it did nothing to reduce sensation.
As the young insectoids trained, quickly becoming more efficient at capturing their deadly prey, they continued to grow rapidly. Once a day, the catch of eel-fish was taken to a maggot pit nearby. The maggots were immune to the effects of the eel-fish toxin, as well as the toxin produced by the tube-worms. The insectoids grew the maggots as their primary food source, after enough time had passed the soft fleshy maggot bodies destroyed the toxin.
While the toxins were broken down, their metabolites still affected the insectoids. Within a few weeks of their new training regime and diet, characteristics of their young forms that had once been subtle were now much more exaggerated. Their pincers, two large opposable claws with a third smaller digit near the wrist, seemed to become more formidable with each passing day. Protrusions from their chitinous armor were growing more fearsome as well, and a range of vibrant colors soon covered their formerly drab bodies.
As their time on the reefs neared its end only seven of the original sixteen insectoids remained. It was not uncommon for half of a brood to be lost during this stage. Of those seven, five were large basher type insectoids. With grossly enlarged pincers, they towered over their smaller brethren. Their prodigious pincers were covered in short piercing spikes. Overall, their pincer was more useful as a blunt striking weapon. In some cases the protrusions actually caused their pincers to fuse together, rendering them useless as claws. Four of the bashers were first-hatched, and the fifth, based on his pheremone profile, was not far behind them.
While the bashers were physically quite impressive, the largest of the different insectoid types, slashers were the second most fearsome. Slasher-type insectoids pincers were also highly modified. Slender extensions from the tips of their pincers, triangular through their cross-section, could inflict terrible wounds against even the thickest basher armor plate. The morphology of their pincer also inhibited its use as a claw, however it was still marginally effective in this regard.
The third insectoid variant, crushers, also possessed modified pincers. However, while the slashers pincers were barely usable as a claw any longer, crushers sacrificed cutting power for brute force. Overall, they tended to be intermediate in body size to the bashers, yet once they had a limb in their powerful grasp the outcome was almost certain.
Strangely, the runt did not fit easily into any of these categories. His body, still significantly smaller than his cohorts, had remained largely unmodified. The notable things about his appearance, however, was an unusual degree of flexibility that resulted from his softer armor plates. Small hook like blades adorned the outer edge of his pincers, and he had become quite adept at creating incisions with them using a glancing blow. His armor had become a dull jet-black, and in sharp contrasting relief fractal-like patters of intense orange and yellow now covered his body. If only for his markings alone, he appeared much more formidable than his size would otherwise suggest.
As the days began to shorten, the upcoming contest loomed on the minds of the young insectoids. They sensed that it would soon arrive, yet they did not know what to expect. Instinctively each became more and more agitated, until one day in a frighteningly violent display they descended upon one another. Rage boiled over, and each sought to kill the others. The runt made quick work of his brood-mates, emerging from the conflict without injury or incident. With resolute determination, he dragged their bodies to the maggot pit, tossing one after another into the grotesque frenzy. Once they had consumed all of his peers bodies, he plucked the largest maggot from the pit for his final meal before leaving for his colony's arena.