Chapter 48: Major Battle 7: Collapse 1

A Fake Pallax scratched the back of his head as he walked towards the hive cluster at Whisper Stones.

However, the real Pallax was actually inside of a cold-pod. The cold-pod was within an unusual complex, positioned near the core of planet Kiln. Kay knew that because he gauged the distance between the parasite implanted on Pallax and the Zerg Swarm on the surface of Kiln to be around three thousand kilometers underground. Kay measured it to be somewhere below the upper and lower mantles, and somewhere close to the core within the planet.

The parasite that accompanied the general had seen the interior of this place that Pallax retreated to. All of the surfaces were painted with smooth reflective chrome colors. Little light was needed within the Sovereign Crypt since it bounced off of the mirror-like walls, floors, and ceilings to great effect. Inlaid textures and decorative furniture were the only clues to tell anyone traveling within the halls whether or not they were running into a wall, or falling down a flight of stairs. Sadly, the parasite was unable to understand where Pallax's dream-light produced self was, since the parasite was biologically designed to track organic targets using the person it inhabited. Ever since Pallax had entered into the cold-pod, the parasite was forced to stare at only its darkened interior, containing nothing but faintly glowing wires and a sanitary medical gown, worn by Pallax.

The Fake Pallax, on the other hand, couldn't be tracked by the parasite. The parasite that was attached to Pallax could tap into his optical and cochlear nerves, and was able to broadcast telepathic signals to his mind, yet it was incapable of finding out where his false duplicate was located. But the overseers that were watching over the hive cluster at Whisper Stones detected 'Pallax' as he approached the line across the sand, which was the same line that Pallax had made only a few days ago.

"Deelob." Fake-Pallax whispered, stopping a fair distance away from the formation of spine and spore crawlers. "I'm about to make contact with the zerg organisms. Once I say the code-words, launch the particle missiles on my position, and onto the purple growth. I don't have a good feeling about this."

[Be careful, General.] Deelob warned. [You wouldn't want someone like me taking your place one day.]

Fake-Pallax rolled his eyes and sighed. "That'll be the day." He took a deep breath and paused for several seconds. He was getting himself prepared to speak out to the zerg organisms before him, but the line of spine crawlers and spore crawlers had already parted, which created a path that allowed a changelisk to pass between them, which was followed by several zerglings. Fake-Pallax's stomach knotted a little more once he witnessed the zerg's movement, noting that they had moved more slowly in their parting, but they also seemed to twitch more than normal.

The changelisk, which had already shifted into the guise of Kay, emerged from the broken line of the zerg crawler organisms and approached Fake-Pallax. Not-Kay sighed as he came to a stop a few meters from Fake-Pallax, tapping his feet and looking at the general. "You're back."

Fake-Pallax nodded. "Quite obviously." Fake-Pallax then sighed. "But alas, I have some grave news."

"Let me guess. Gollog knows about the little truce made here and wants it to stop?" Not-Kay said.

Fake-Pallax tilted his head and scoffed. "... Somewhat. He has already figured out that we have forged a loosely made truce, if you could even call it that. But now he wants that truce to be broken. I'm just here to tell you now that he expects this land to be cleared of your filth, and everything zerg on it."

Not-Kay gasped mockingly. "Filth?! Why, I am shocked! Little do you know that the creep I walk upon is actually edible to all zerg organisms."

Fake-Pallax stared at Not-Kay. "... Faddoh analyzed that purple sludge and said it has corrosive properties, filled with several kinds of dangerous viruses that infests everything that so much as ingests it, or makes physical contact with any open wound."

Not-Kay shook his head and chuckled. "True, but I do doubt that eating a teaspoon of the stuff will have an effect on you."

Fake-Pallax raised an eyebrow and furrowed his gaze. "... I'm not so sure about that."

Not-Kay shook his head again and smirked. "You are unsure about the creep being able to infest you, even when you are already using a fake self to act in your own stead?"

Fake-Pallax looked like he paled slightly, but he sighed and relaxed. "So you already know that I'm currently not here?"

Not-Kay nodded. "I can pretty much tell from those robots circling around you. They may be invisible to certain spectrums of light, but they are not invisible to me or my detector strains. What are they called again? Gollog called them something funny. Brain-light hover-copters, or something?"

"Dream-light hover-drones." Fake-Pallax corrected.

"Right. But joking aside, it pains me to know that we can't negotiate, or communicate any more. I guess we can't transfer those word documents after this whole 'truce' thing is over between us too. Really hoped for some simple civil discourse." Not-Kay said, crossing his arms and sighing.

Fake-Pallax chuckled. "Shame, that. I actually have completely forgotten that you suggested that. Hah. Oh well!" He said, pulling out a golden pistol and twirling it around. "But anyway, I can't waste any more of my time. We're going to have to fight now. I'm sorry for the change of circumstances, Kay."

Not-Kay unfolded his arms to give Fake-Pallax a hard glare and a devilish smirk. "Then allow me to give you a warning. If you go through with this and attack my hive cluster here at Whisper Stones, then I'm going to make you woefully regret your assault, and remind you that the emperor's decision had sealed the fate of all empire gilanians. Sounds fair?"

"Perhaps to you," Fake-Pallax said. "but I will take my chances. My real self is already safely tucked inside the greatest sanctuary in all of Kiln. It is next to impossible to infiltrate the Sovereign Crypt, and I am confident it will remain that way forevermore. With that said." Fake-Pallax then moved in a sudden motion, his golden handgun pointing to Not-Kay's face. "It is time to continue my emperor's little game of war." A flash of intense yellow light, followed by a deafening sound that was similar to a thunder bolt, struck Not-Kay. The resulting firing of Fake-Pallax's golden pistol had violently exploded Not-Kay into a mist. Unlike other energy projecting weapons that burned through their targets, Pallax's weapon of choice looked like it could completely disintegrate whatever the weapon was aimed at. At least, that was the theory that Kay and Virid had. "Time to stand my ground."

[Code words received. Launching missiles. They will reach your destination in around three minutes. Good luck, General Pallax.]

At the very instant Fake-Pallax fired the first energy projectile, the zerg organisms behind the line of crawlers had started roaring in unison and anger. "Don't need luck when my life is not on the line. But even so... sigh... I really hate Gollog for programming some of the commands that come with the dream-light hover-bots. I SUMMON FORTH MY DIVINE POWER! QUICKEN MY ATTACKING SPEED, AND GRANT ME SIX MORE ARMS!" After Fake-Pallax had shouted that to all the zerg around him, he was surrounded by disembodied arms that looked exactly like the ones that were attached to his shoulders. He brought out another golden pistol, and handed the two in his hands to one floating pair of arms. Fake-Pallax continued to hand golden pistols to the other floating disembodied arms, and armed his own arms with another pair of golden pistols. Virid did not know how many pistols Fake-Pallax had, but she cared not about the number of weapons he carried. She commanded the zerglings to swarm the general. Kay was distracted with his current guest, and wouldn't be able to witness the battle that ensued.

The zerglings stampeded in great numbers as they circled around the fake general. One zergling had been chosen to confront the single enemy, but Fake-Pallax drawled his weapon with abnormal quickness and disintegrated his second target. With another blast of one of his golden pistols, more zerglings were signaled to go after the eight-armed general, seeming to become more maddened after witnessing the death of one of their brothers. But just as one had easily fallen, so too did the other zerglings fell with great rapidity. Fake-Pallax aimed his eight golden pistols at the oncoming horde of zerglings as they continued to rush him, but the speed of his aim and trigger fingers had prevented the zerglings from surrounding him. The zergling that had gotten the closest to Fake-Pallax came five meters close to him before dying in a puff of exploding smoke. Flashes of yellow light erupted from Fake-Pallax's weapons, which looked as though it created a golden halo of light around his person as he defended himself.

Several nydus worms surfaced above the sands, They surrounded Fake-Pallax, and were too far away for the false general to shoot at them. At least he was busy combating the zerglings. The newly emerged nydus worms spewed forth several more zerglings from their maws, and the deployed zerg organisms added to the deadly horde of zerglings. Queens, followed by a few bigger variants of queens, emerged from the nydus worms and planted creep tumors onto the ground. [General Pallax, be warned. Caretakers are in your area. Something seems off about them.]

"Some are bigger. A new adaptation or breed perhaps?" Fake-Pallax grunted as he dodged an acid spine. With the inclusion of ranged attacks provided by the queens and the large queens, Fake-Pallax had to divide his attention between avoiding spines and shooting approaching zerglings. Worse still was the creep that started to grow underneath Fake-Pallax. He knew that the squishy, malleable stuff gave these zerg monsters an increase to their speed, and that treading through this fluid by himself was like walking through a thin, yet viscous carpet of mud. The zerglings were getting dangerously close to him at that point, and any zergling that managed to get close enough were finally granted the chance to swipe their claws at their foe.

But much like the fight between Kay and Gollog in the past, the zerglings' claws that managed to swiped through Fake-Pallax did no damage. Even when no damage was caused onto the dream-light projected general, the zerglings were guided by an overhead overseer that could see past the illusions made by Fake-Pallax's cloaked hover-drones. One zergling tried to attack the hover-drones within the projected general with a sharp claw, but the quick use of a golden pistol ended any further attempts. But another zergling gained a chance to strike at one of the supposedly cloaked hover-drones, despite its quick demise after its turn to attack was over. Again and again, the zerglings were getting countered as they attacked, and Fake-Pallax knew that this stalemate would not last for long. [General Pallax, the missiles will hit your position soon. May I recommend retreating?]

"Not now, Deelob. ... OH SHIT!" Fake-Pallax rolled out the way of a rolling baneling that nearly collided with him. He was so distracted with dodging the acid spines and zergling claws that he had not noticed the bowling suicide bomber organisms approaching him. Acid might not have too much effect on his dream-light projected avatar body, but he knows that banelings can explode with enough force to disrupt his artificial physical form and permanently damage his cloaked hover-drones. A cloud of green erupted over Fake-Pallax as he dodged and attacked more zerglings after he escaped a rolling baneling. He felt his movements slowed to a crawl when green patchy growths covered his person. The roots bore into his person, but thankfully he felt no pain. And yet, it had the unfortunate side-effect of rooting him in place. "GH! DAMMIT!"

With Fake-Pallax rooted on the spot, he had no means to dodge the acid spines from the queens and large queens. Even leaning out of the way of a zergling claw made him an easier target to strike, as the queens calculated his struggle to lean away from their projectiles. One by one, the hover-drones were attacked and dismantled with brutal efficiency. [General Pallax, the missiles will arrive at your location in under a minute. I cannot send reinforcements to recover you, or Gollog's gifts. They will get caught in the blast radius.]

"The point of coming here wasn't just to send a message. It's to deliver a promise." Fake-Pallax grunted as more hover-drones were removed from battle, which reduced the number of arms he fought with and lessened his resistance against the zerg's attacks. Feeling defeat drawing near, Fake-Pallax decided to part with his last few words. "If you're hearing this, Kay, I swear that I will find a way to end this war. If it means an end of my empire, or my emperor finally deciding to set your kind free from our prison, then let it be so."

Before the final cloaked hover-drone was destroyed, the zerg organisms around Fake-Pallax stilled in their counter-offense. One zergling's physical form had changed into the appearance of Kay, which happened to be a changelisk that was hiding behind the zergling swarm. Not-Kay 2 sighed. "Then you better pray that your emperor breaks first, before I find a way out of this prison myself."

An acid spine struck the final cloaked hover-drone and ended Fake-Pallax. But as Fake-Pallax disappeared, a faint shimmer of light flickered over the gathered zerg organisms. When the zerglings, banelings, queens, and other zerg looked up to see what that source of light was, they saw the beginning of their doom. Seconds later, loud and massive explosions rocked the Whisper Stones hive cluster. Zerglings died by tens of hundreds, the spine and spore crawlers were blasted into oblivion, and even the creep was shorn off the surface of the sand violently. The stone pillars as Whisper Stones crumbled in a cacophonous manner as they were pushed down, many of them knocking down other pillars like geological domino pieces. Several craters sprinkled the once zerg-controlled territory, which revealed the victims of the particle missiles located several meters from the missile impacts, looking like cooked remains of unrecognizable body parts or blackened soot. The only survivors of the particle missile blasts were the roaches and the infestors outside of the blast radius. Once the coast is clear of the fallout, they would tunnel under the sand and find other subterranean locales where hatcheries and nydus networks could be created. The zerg were always known to be exceptionally powerful survivors.

The cold-pod that the real General Pallax resided in hummed as it opened, its occupant grumbling awake. "Fuck." As the cold-pod opened up to reveal the real Pallax in a medical gown, he sluggishly stood up and removed the many intravenous tubes from his person.

[General Pallax? Is that you?! ... Or am I hearing a ghost?] Deelob's voice said, making the chrome halls echo.

Pallax's head ached somewhat as he felt like he had woken up from a brisk nap. "Quiet down, Deelob. I made preparations to have our audio communique transfer to an encrypted channel after my uh... 'death'. All you saw was my 'double' dying."

[... I feel like I have not been informed about something.]

Pallax stretched his legs and craned his neck. "Believe me, if you had known about my dream-light double, there is a chance that spies within the Golden Star Empire would get wind of my plan, and form a counter-strategy against me. But right now, I want you to warn Commander Guik that the zerg are going to become more aggressive from this point on. I'll try to meet back with you at Empire Forest Town, within the city hall."

[... But that's on the other side of Kiln! Why all the way over there?!]

"I see this battle ending two ways." Pallax explained. "Either Gollog agrees to help the zerg find a way to escape Kiln and leave the veil that surrounds us, or the zerg are going to come after every citizen of the gilanian empire. And it looks to me like it's going to be the latter."

[... I'll uh... I'll pack my things. Can you grant me a permission pass for a multi-shift MEM transfer to Empire Forest Town?]

Pallax rolled his eyes. "Fine. Are you recording my voice right now?"

[I am now.]

"I, General Pallax of the four armies, hereby vocally grant you a permission pass to make a MEM multi-shift transfer to Empire Forest Town. Now get moving and warn the commander."

[Yes sir. Over and out.]

Pallax pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He knew that his emperor is going to bury himself in a lot more work than he needed. After shrugging off the malaise of emerging from a cold-pod, Pallax turned and set about finding a communication terminal. Little did he know, the parasite that stealthily implanted itself into his person had already witnessed much of the inner workings of this 'Sovereign Crypt' location. At least, much more so than Gollog or Pallax would be comfortable with. After finding a communication terminal, Pallax had made a comm request to his emperor. After Gollog's face had shown up on the screen of the communication terminal several seconds later, Pallax saluted. "Mission is a success. I have annihilated the infestation at Whisper Stones. I had to use a few particle missiles, but they did the trick."

[Good work, Pallax.] Gollog said in a growl. [Now get back into uniform and reposition you command center to your current location. A recent fight between Commander Kralluf and the zerg's commander revealed some troubling data.]

'Data? What kind of data does my emperor have?' Pallax furrowed his brow as he scratched the back of his head. "Data, sir?"

Gollog sighed. [A new zerg organism has been discovered during his battle. I have dubbed them 'dread maws', and they are unlike anything that the empire has ever faced before. Do they look familiar?]

Several images of a giant robot and a couple leviathans that were fighting against it appeared in front of Pallax. Several word documents pertaining to the information regarding the 'dread maws' were also attached to these images. Pallax narrowed his gaze as he studied these images and word documents. "... Is... Is this accurate?"

[The information you received is accurate. Study it well when you have the time, but I recommend getting dressed first.]

Pallax sighed for a lot longer than needed and nodded. "Dammit Kay. ... I'll see to it. Over and out." Gollog raised an eyebrow at Pallax, but then nodded back and terminated the communication channel between himself and his general. Pallax was about to get up from his seat when the communication terminal bleeped, which gave him the notification that someone was calling him. Pallax growled as he accepted the call request while he was putting his gold and red armor back on. However, he was surprised when he saw a shifting mass of cubes with a single glowing square 'eye' staring back at him. Pallax paused, but continued swapping his sanitary medical gown for his empirical general's uniform. "Uh... Am I speaking with a Kiln Keeper?"

[Query detected. Confirmed. Kiln Keeper variant: Intelligent Automaton. Request: Send all available information regarding zerg organism infestation. Preference: Weaknesses. Strengths. Hypothetical. Biology. Tactics. Animal behavior. Growth rate. Reproduction rate. Gestation rate. Food sources. Nest locations. Caste system and types of castes. Commander Faddoh's research files, notes, and experiment data relating to zerg organisms is currently protected by zerg organism force currently occupying population center codenamed Empire City. Additional information is accepted.]

Pallax sighed and raised his eyebrows. It was a first for the Kiln Keeperss to ask for information from the prisoners they kept. However, unlike Gollog that was seeing the Kiln Keepers as a possible danger, it wouldn't make sense to piss off a robot by denying it information. Especially if that information could somehow hinder the zerg menace. "I'll do even better than that. I'll give you permission for level one unrestricted access to all zerg related files. Sounds better?" He said as he continued changing his clothes. Once he got his upper torso properly dressed, he sent the permission codes to the Kiln Keeper. 'Hmm... I'm not sure I should have done that. Maybe I should sober up first? I think I'm still groggy after leaving the cold-pod?'

[Query detected. Confirmed. Acquiring permission codes. Accessing information. Analyzing data. ... ... ... Analysis complete. Deficient unit formation. Deficient unit composition. Upgrades required. Requesting additional assets. No further assets available to request. Modifying equipment. Adjusting strategy. Awaiting assets. Logic loop detected: Assets cannot be acquired when there are no more assets to deploy. Condition met: All key systems are predicted to achieve complete shutdown or complete destruction in the near future. Estimated time of shutdown/destruction event will occur in... ... ... five days.]

Pallax paled and blinked. "... So you're telling me that the world will end in five days?"

[Query detected. Estimations are not basis for accurate calculations.]

He didn't know what to say. How could anyone say anything when they have learned that doomsday was just a few days away? He slumped forward and placed a palm on his forehead, feeling almost light-headed.

[Variables detected. New data detected. Reanalyzing data... Analysis complete. Estimated time of shutdown/destruction event will occur in four days.]

Pallax almost forgot to breathe. "Wh-wh-what?! What is this new data?!"

[Query detected. Several zerg organisms dubbed 'dread maws' detected and analyzed. Underground zerg infestation extends twenty kilometers below Red Mountain, extending ten more kilometers than previous research scan distance.]

Pallax shook his head and pounded on the communication monitor. "Dammit, that is not good! I must contact Emperor Gollog and tell him of this news."

[Variables detected. New data detected. Reanalyzing data... Analysis complete. Estimated time of shutdown/destruction event will occur in three days.]

'Okay, enough of this boxy bot. Time to cancel this call.' "You're not helping!" Pallax shouted, pointing at the screen's image that was showing a mass of floating cubes. "I'm ending our communique. Goodbye." After canceling the Intelligent Automaton's call, Pallax leaned onto the communication terminal and felt a knot develop in his gut. But he had to compose himself. To panic in any situation, no mater how dire or turgid it was, a general must always be adamant in every situation. He would commit to being the second-to-last man standing, no matter how dire the situation became. The only other important person that takes more precedence than himself was his emperor. And speaking of his emperor, it was just then that Pallax had requested a communication link with Gollog once more. After a few seconds had passed, Gollog's face appeared once again. Pallax saluted once the call was accepted. "Sir. I regret to inform you that a surviving Kiln Keeper robotic variant has contacted me recently. It referred to itself as an 'Intelligent Automaton'. He has shared with me some unfortunate news."

Gollog's face was... distant. Despondent. Even destitute. [Tell it to me, Pallax.]

Pallax paused. "... The Kiln Keeper robot has informed me that if we don't stop the zerg, or give in to their demands, our world will be taken over in three days."

Gollog nodded, but didn't change his expression. [I see...]

There was a longer pause afterwards. Pallax finally spoke up about the change in Gollog's tone. "... Emperor Gollog? Is something wrong?"

[... Everything is wrong, Pallax. Everything is gods-damned wrong. I am left with little choice, but to enact my ultimate trump card. I never would have thought I would have to ever use... this new command.]

Pallax furrowed his brows. "... What the... What happened on the surface, Gollog?"

[Hmm. I suppose the Kiln Keeper robot didn't tell you?] Gollog sighed before he hardened his gaze. [Uplink to the camera feed of surveillance camera F-46 courtyard in Empire City, pan sixteen degrees left and thirty degrees up. Set the shade level to twelve.]

Before Pallax could ask why he was being shown a camera feed that was darkened by such a degree, Pallax saw what Gollog wanted him to see. He felt all of his blood leave his face as his eyes grew wide with shock. Pallax had never felt such surprise in his life before, evident by his slackened jaw and dumbfounded expression. Utter terror made his face rigid, and was unable to contain his emotion of fear in that moment. Even when he saw it, and understood what the image was showing him, he still couldn't believe what he saw. "... What... Wha-what am I seeing?"

[Our sun, Pallax.] Gollog bluntly said. [It's been destroyed halfway.]

"How... How did this happen?!" Pallax said, almost shouting.

[I don't know how it happened, but... Apparently, Commander Kralluf had activated his self destruct sequence when he was at the moon. Detonation was confirmed, but the explosion originated almost at the other side of our world, away from our moon. The explosion would have encompassed the entire moon and eradicated the zerg infestation there, but the detonation had been shifted elsewhere at the very last second. And what's worse, my greatest weapon that proved to be very effective against the zerg is... well... um... no longer functioning. My divine smiting attack no longer works.]

Again, Pallax found no accurate words to say. He was completely speechless. He knew that without the orbital laser to clear away the creep and much of the zerg ground forces, the zerg would be able to conquer their world in a shorter time. A much shorter time.

[... Anyway, I shall leave you to your business. There will be many people that will require our guidance, even when the zerg have already disadvantaged us several times in the past. As emperor, I shall stand my ground at my palace. perhaps I can convince our virulent foe to partake in a duel? Yes, I think I will challenge him in my own home.] Gollog said, looking away and nodding thoughtfully.

'This is not good. I need to talk some sense into him. Convince him to give the zerg leader what he wants.' Pallax leaned forward and clutched the communication monitor. "Gollog, no. It is painfully... No... Abundantly obvious that we will lose against the Zerg Swarm. We must grant Kay a way out of our world. If we keep up this fighting, then we will be no more gilanians for you to rule."

Gollog furrowed his brows. [... Pallax, I am surprised of your sudden change of heart. Do you really think conceding to the demands of a bug-man that commands monsters will lead us to a peaceful resolve? If we give him leave of the prison's veil, there is no telling what kind of damage he will do. He may even gain the power of the gods, and seek out a way to remove my right to rule Kiln in the end. I can't let that happen. I will not allow that to happen! As emperor, I must refuse such a potentially dangerous recommendation.]

'No, I need to convince him!' "Emperor Gollog, please! If we continue this conflict, then there won't be any more gilanians left to rule!"

[ENOUGH.] Gollog announced and crossed his arms. [If we are graceful in our actions, and should the gods witness our deeds, then they will reward us accordingly. Once my empire has covered this entire globe, I will usher in an age of long peace that will counterbalance the sins of my past, and of those that reside in my empire. If they are willing, then I can become a god that will end the zerg, once and for all.]

'I NEED TO STOP HIM!' "Emperor Gollog, please reconsider!"

[An emperor never gives in to fear, Pallax. Since you have made the mistake of clouding your judgement with doubt, I have no choice but to temporarily relieve you of duty. You will remain in the Sovereign Crypt until I say otherwise. Rest. Eat. Drink. Request women. Curb your boredom. Strengthen your body. But now, as a long-time friend, I am asking you to meditate. Think about what would be best for our empire.]

'I NEED TO FUCKING STOP HIM NOW!' "Gollog, you gods-damned idiot, they blew up half of the gods-damned sun! If we assist in their escape from the burden applied to us by our own ancestors, then there can be no more needless death of our soldiers!"

[Enough of your grousing. I will call you back when I am good and ready. And when you have learned your lesson. I will not roll over and submit to these monsters, and I never will. If the worst comes to pass... well... I'll be sure to send some female company to keep you busy. Anyway, put some pants on. Goodbye.] Gollog finished with a saddened smirk. After that, Gollog's image in the communication link blinked out of existence, leaving Pallax with no one to talk to.

Pallax felt a sudden loneliness after that exchange. 'I AM SO MAD RIGHT NOW! IMMA TRASH THAT COMMUNICATION TERMINAL!' A hand was clenched into a fist, and it was sent flying into the terminal's screen, shattering it in the process. Pallax looked at his own fist and noticed that his knuckles were heavily lacerated, creating drops of blood that had flown freely from his new wounds. Pallax sighed as he watched his cuts reddening with with his unneeded anger. '... Pfhehehehe, jackass.' Kay quietly and mentally said to Pallax.

Pallax scratched the back of his head with an uninjured hand. "Guh... I better get myself patched up." Pallax said, holding his wounded hand up to make sure that his blood doesn't drip and stain his clothes. He then went to the closest manifestation altar to manifest some gauze bandages and healing ointment, slightly lamenting his decision to attack a monitor's screen with his bare hand.

Kay may have accidentally slipped up and used his own thoughts in his own voice, but Pallax would still be unaware of the parasite that was embedded and linked to his brain. Sadly, without the general being fed orders from his emperor, Kay and Virid wouldn't be able to adapt against Gollog quite as effectively. But with Pallax momentarily disbanded from the war, Gollog had lost his edge in tactical planning and strategic analysis. It was the perfect opportunity for the zerg brood on Kiln to seize the Golden Star Empire's moment of weakness.

Three leviathans had warped into Kiln's atmosphere and right above red mountain. As they appeared, they had dropped several sacs onto the ground and created several hatcheries. Other sacs had contained more than just bio-structures that gestated within the leviathans, but zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks had emerged from the drop-sacs' landing sites. Once the hatcheries had been formed, any larvae that were spawned were instantly turned into drones, and then later into various other bio-structures. The patrols that have been set up to defend the areas around and outside the zerg territory of Red Mountain had been targeted by a large influx of zerg organisms, during the zerg resurgence. Many perished, but a few were lucky enough to rid a few zerg organisms before being exterminated by the army of monsters that they attempted to exterminate.

Once Kay and Virid learned that Gollog's smiting attack had been disabled, they wasted no time in regaining back the territory they lost and more. Creep grew across the sands at an impressive rate, the malignant growth mutation increasing its growth by a great margin. Even the outside of the Day Circle that had been constantly infested with zerg and creep was now completely under their control. The creep had eventually developed into two layers, one on the surface as a thin layer, and one on the sands under Shallow Ocean's body of water. Many of the lighter zerg organisms could swim through the top layer of creep, but heavier castes were forced to wade through the ocean and tread through both layers of creep in the salt and freshwater ocean layers.

Nydus worms had erupted over the surface of the desert sands, and much of the land outside Red Desert. The creep that grew around the nydus worms were extended further by the queens that had arrived after their summoning, and drones were being morphed into several more hatcheries and other bio-structures around them. Aerial zerg organisms were being produced by greater numbers than expected, the faster fliers taking the lead to visit distant, and unexplored lands. Unimpeded by the terrain, the mutalisks, overseers, corruptors and vipers would soon blanket the sky with their numbers, and hunt down any gilanian that was loyal to the Golden Star Empire, or anyone that so much as attacked the Zerg Swarm.

A baroness looked up at the sky with a grimaced frown. She had acquired the report that several strange animals had been sighted, and that they were surrounding her precious citadel. She didn't have to look at the report since several of these 'drifters' now hovered over Gargantua, which gave her people a slight panic. She also knew that if the zerg surrounded her citadel, merchant caravans would not be able to enter the city and bring marketable items for trade. It is true that the citadel was built to be self sustaining, but there were certain limits that Tak was hesitant to exercise. The tension within the city was already reaching a high boiling point, and she didn't want to enforce a curfew to the entire populace if it meant rioting would take place after making that announcement. She was currently on her velvet, scarlet colored bed, which was in the tallest tower of her palace. A communication terminal was brought to her bed, and she had accessed it to contact a certain person she has been meaning to talk to since the morning. [Hello again, Johnny. This may seem odd for me to ask out of the blue like this, but I wish to know your progress on the virgin manifestation altars. How far have you come?]

"It's done." Johnny said, craning his neck as he was baring a content smile. "It took a bit of time, but creating that aluminum and copper chamber to contain that beacon signal had made my job a whole lot easier. Since I blocked its signals, I can modify the programs a little bit to create virgin memory bags. I have already created ten more manifestation altars from the one I built, and I noticed that there was a percent of a percent variance between each new altar made. It is an even better result than I could ever hope for."

Tak nodded. [I see. So you have made it so that the manifestation altars can make redundant copies of themselves. That's more than I could ever hope for.]

Johnny tilted his head. "You... seem somewhat despondent."

Tak shook her head and smiled. [I'm fine. But I am somewhat hesitant to allow you leave of my citadel.]

Johnny sighed. "You're worried that the blade hounds that helped me in the past will betray me."

[Well... It's not that.] Tak admitted. [... Okay, it MIGHT be that, but you also helped me out of a dire position yesterday. If it isn't the blade hounds you should be worried about, then it would be Ponpon's Spiker Titan mercenaries trying to find you out there. They have eyes everywhere, Johnny. If they found out that you were leaving the citadel, then it's possible that they would try and chase you down and recapture you.]

Johnny nodded and scratched at his chin. "Hmm... Well, you already know that I am a master of disguises. Do you really think that Ponpon, as blinded as he is, is going to notice me leaving Citadel Gargantua?"

[He will become aware of your ability to disguise yourself. He may be fat and slow, but he's actually a tactical genius. Any interaction with him will have given him all the details and information he needs to form a plan of action. I know for certain that if you attempt to leave my palace, he's going to try and capture you. And if you leave the safety of the citadel's walls, you'll become an even bigger target.]

Johnny nodded. "Hmm... So I either stay here and live the life of luxury, or fulfill my revenge against the Golden Star Empire as I seek out the blade hounds. ... I think I'll choose to go and seek out the blade hounds."

Tak sighed, rubbing her forehead. [I was hoping I could dissuade you from going on your suicide mission. But... You really seem set on that goal.]

"Indeed I am. In fact, I have already formulated a plan to leave this citadel." Johnny said with confidence.

[Oh? What kind of plan is it?]

"One that involves a combat flier, a manifestation altar, and a hanger where you store and deploy your flier craft in."

[Really? What for?] Tak said, becoming curious on what Johnny's plan might be.

"Can't give you ALL the details. As you said, Ponpon has his eyes everywhere. If that's true, then there is a possibility that our communication lines are bugged, and he can hear into our conversation right now."

[... A rather distressing theory. If your right about that, then why announce part of your plan to me?]

"It will annoy Ponpon to a great extent." Johnny said with a smile. "But even so, I can't leave knowing you would be worried about me the moment I depart from Citadel Gargantua. As of right now, I will not abscond until you give me your permission to leave your citadel."

Tak blinked a few times after she heard that. [... What would you even accomplish by giving me such a privilege?]

Johnny shrugged. "I dunno. Add further insult to Ponpon's injury? Also, I require your surveillance network in the palace area to be temporarily shut down when I make my escape. I also need you to make sure that every living soul has vacated the premises."

[... I don't know what you might be planning, but... I suppose I wouldn't be an honorable baroness if I didn't grant you this permission you seek. Very well. I grant you my permission to leave Gargantua, and grant you everything you need from me.]

Johnny smiled and clapped his hands together. "Great! I'll begin leaving right now."

Tak gasped with surprise. [Wh- Already?! Can't I see you off first?]

Johnny shook his head. "Just look up and wave. Chances are, I'll be looking back down at you. I'll bring a long range communication handheld with me to talk with you when I have something to report. I'll see you again, my ladyship." Johnny then cancelled his communication link with Baroness Tak. Johnny was currently in the bedroom that was re-purposed to be his workshop. He turned around to look at his greatest creation and smiled. A large manifestation altar was built upon several wheels, and a hanging gurney that was installed next to several computer equipment were also attached to this manifestation altar. "Alrighty then. Let's roll you into place."

A giant of a gilanian stomped his way to a run-down command center, which had been set up to grant him access to all audio and video data that several of his goons were analyzing. After a certain mix-up from yesterday, the giant gilanian had his eyes gouged out by throwing knives. Luckily, artificial cybernetic eyes had replaced the damage that was done, which granted him the means to see in the dark and see everything in greater detail, or see things from farther away than before. A slightly reddened patch covered his neck hid a scar from the recent incident. Also luckily, a roach had been following him for quite some time. It began to follow him within his secret hideout ever since he MEM shifted there, the location of his hideout already having been scouted by burrowing zerg, and the two scientists Kay had parasited. But as of now, Ponpon had a vendetta to accomplish. Especially regarding the person that had crippled his eyes. "What do you got for me?" Ponpon, The Gentle Giant said in an annoyed manner. He would rather strangle the one responsible for his previous humility, than to play spy games with a master of disguises.

One of his goons, acting as his surveillance officer, stood up. "Well, we got a recording of a comm link between the baroness and that eye-gouging fucktard. Want to hear it?"

"I need to. Play it." Once his comm officer goon had played the recording of Johnny and Tak's most recent conversation, Ponpon's face dulled into a deeper frown. Minutes later, Ponpon shook his head after the recording came to a close. The conversation between the two of them left a bad taste in his mouth. "Dammit. This Johnny guy is a lot more clever than I thought."

"Is that doubt I hear?"

Ponpon turned away to look at the gilanian that had misspoken. "You wanna say something to my face, boy?"

The gilanian in the dark corner, away from the bustle of Ponpon's command center, made a dismissive gesture with a hand. "No thank you. I just merely wanted to analyze what will be happening."

Ponpon growled, his eyes turning into an intense shade of red. "Who the hell do you think you are? Come out of the shadows and tell me, or I might as well tear your head off."

The gilanian walked out of the dark corner slowly and approached Ponpon. "You make it sound as though I offended you in some way. I do apologize if I had displeased you in a manner unbecoming of an outlaw of your position."

Ponpon stiffened when he realized who he was talking to. "... Zero Wind."

This gilanian was dressed in cloth that was completely black, with metal arm bands, ankle bands, belt and collar that seemed to flicker with unusual light. A single red ribbon was tied around his right arm, and his face bared the image of a shryik serpent with red, feathered scales and intense golden eyes. "And I presume that you are 'Gentle Giant' Ponpon. Your eyes are certainly an upgrade from those dull, fleshy blinkers you used to sport."

Ponpon growled. "Why are you here, Zero? To ridicule me? Clearly the 'bandit lord' has better things to do than watch me take revenge against the shryik dropping that blinded me. Or are you here to complete an assassin contract?"

Zero shook his head. "No. There has been a recent surge of dangerous animals that has been contending with the Golden Star Empire. A menace they refer as 'the zerg infestation'. I have noticed that these creatures plaguing them are giving this city a wide birth. A few kilometers of land, if I were to estimate the distance between the walls and the perimeter they created. Well... Perhaps the floater creatures being the one exception that is. After witnessing certain tactics made by your 'infiltrator', I merely came here to bear witness to your... assassination attempt to him. My business here is my own, so you don't need to worry about me killing you."

Ponpon shook his head and hissed. "Well, as a fellow enemy that's also against the empire, I can tell you that those zerg critters mean nothing to me. As of right now, I am more concerned with capturing Johnny and making sure that I finish what I started. I intend to recollect my runaway slave and convert him fully. After that... I'm going to blind him, and throw him into a dark cell filled with starving krell."

Zero nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting. How far along is he with the slave branding process?"

Ponpon sighed. "I marked him on his forearms and onto his forehead. He didn't scream when I branded him, which was odd in my opinion. I made the mistake of leaving him in a darkened room, and he managed to infiltrate into my ranks and caused all sorts of problems. Had to meet with a cybernetic surgeon to give me my vision back, after that mess was over with. A bunch of my boys ended up dying by some acid and some fungus stuff. A Pyramidal Guard bitch said she was killing them, but I think she might have colluded with the dipshit. At least that's my theory."

Zero shook his head and raised his hand, gesturing to Ponpon to cease. "I don't need your life's story. I saw the recorded communication and noted that his forehead did not bear a fresh slave brand."

Ponpon furrowed his brows, and then looked at the recording once more. After pausing the recording at a certain time, Ponpon blinked a couple times upon the realization. "... Damn. You're right."

Zero pleaded his fingers. "It's obvious that A: He has acquired cosmetic surgery that helped hide his brands in a brief allotment of time. Or B: He is a fast healer."

Ponpon grumbled as he rolled his new mechanically cybernetic eyes. "Well I'm still going to try and capture this fool." He turned to his surveillance goons. "Alright lads. I want my lieutenants to mobilize and cover as much ground of Citadel Gargantua as they can. I want anti-air turrets set up on the farthest outskirts of Gargantua. Put them in farmlands if you have to. I want sixteen teams dedicated to managing combat fliers that will take down any, and every, flier that leaves the palace grounds. Spotters are to go on the ground and stakeout every exit that leads out of Gargantua. Notify them that the current description of the gilanian named Johnny is no longer valid. Send them a screenshot of an image recorded from his comm link with Baroness tak. How quick can we get this plan set up?"

"Sounds like that can be accomplished in about half an hour, boss." A surveillance goon said with a thumbs up. He then went to his surveillance terminal to pass down Ponpon's orders to the Spiker Titan thugs on the field.

Zero nodded, but did not say anything on the matter. But Ponpon was still not convinced. "Do that in less time, and I can promise that the lot responsible for Johnny's capture is going to have a three day R&R, all expenses paid, party at the Fur Fetish gentleman's club. Got it?"

All of his surveillance goons nodded excitedly and went back to work with increased excitement. Zero Wind chuckled. "Rewarding your men with a good time? Have you gone soft?"

Ponpon turned around and glared at the heckler. "I ain't soft. I'm a gentle giant. Now sit back and be quiet."

"This will reflect poorly with the other top wanted criminals. Perhaps asking for assistance can help you gain your slave back? I certainly won't think any less of you if you commissioned my services." Zero said.

"And what did I say about sitting back and being quiet?" Zero didn't answer Ponpon. Instead, he walked backwards and leaned back on the shadowed corner that he had appeared from. "Good. Stay there. I have this handled. ... Oh, and don't steal any of my shit. I know the sneaky types when I see them, and you look like one."

Zero chuckled and nodded, and kept himself silent in that dark corner. But when the silence had started, Ponpon was left with an unexplained sense of unease. It was almost as though he felt like he was being watched by critical eyes. Of course, he knew that that feeling must be coming from Zero of all people. In fact, he felt sure of it! But Zero Wind is also one of the types of people that always speaks the truth. And the fact that he is here means that something big is happening. Ponpon sighed and bottled up this feeling he had, and continued with his revenge plan against Johnny.

Eighteen minutes had passed before half of his goons and thugs were in place. They stood at attention at every exit that lead outside of Citadel Gargantua, but the anti-air turrets and combat fliers that would intercept Johnny's aircraft was still under way. Half of the air-interceptor groups were halfway done setting their planes, and the teams setting up the anti-air turret emplacements had paid off several of Gargantua's guardsmen to look the other way, or were otherwise cleverly hidden.

Another minute had passed before one of Ponpon's goons had found something to report. "Boss! Flier hanger doors at the baroness' palace are rustling open!"

Ponpon had been pacing slowly left and right during those nineteen minutes of waiting. His feet felt sore, but he was committed to regaining his runaway slave, no matter how much cosmetic surgery he used to hide his brands. "Good. Does our boys on the inside know what kind of flier he's using?"

A surveillance goon nodded. "Our insider said Johnny is going to use Tak's personal flier. He says that it has been fitted for combat, since he saw weapon attachments being carted into the hanger."

Ponpon sighed. "Letting a nobody use your slow flier, Tak? Couldn't you just buy him a new one? Hmm... No. If he already knew about us spying inside the palace, purchasing an escape vehicle would give us a chance to read the receipt. Tak, you must really like this guy if you are willing to let him fly one of your toys. When will the interceptor teams and anti-air teams finish setting up?"

"In about five minutes, boss." A surveillance goon responded.

Ponpon nodded back and smiled in a sinister way. By the time that Tak's flier went through its takeoff procedure and flied straight over Gargantua airspace and reach beyond the walled enclosure, Ponpon's goons would have already prepared for his arrival."Come on out when you're ready, Johnny. I'm waiting."

Another minute had passed when a red, large, shiny flier flew out of Tak's palace hanger. It ascended and started circling above the palace. Seconds afterwards, several green, brown and purple fliers filtered out of the hanger and started circling upwards, creating a ring of fliers around Tak's red combat flier. "Boss, multiple fliers have launched from the hanger!"

Ponpon's expression immediately changed to a frown. "What? How many?"

There was a pause. "Uh... Thirteen. Fifteen. Eighteen. Twenty five. Uh... Boss, there's too many for me to count."

Ponpon stopped in his pacing and went up to a surveillance terminal. "... There is no way that the palace's hanger could hold this many fliers."

"Boss, I got new intelligence from our insider. A supersized manifestation altar is making fliers and launching them out of the hangar."

Ponpon growled and clenched his fists. "Factory produced fliers?! ... Dammit, they're dummy fliers!"

"Uh... Dummy fliers, boss?" A goon had asked.

"Fliers being controlled without a pilot." Ponpon explained, as he leaned over the goon's shoulder. "Sometimes they are operated by an autonomous computer, or are remote controlled from somewhere. Looks like Johnny is a lot more clever than I thought he is."

"Boss! The fliers!" A goon shouted, pointing at his terminal. Ponpon winced as he noticed that a giant sphere made up of fliers had started moving eastward.

Ponpon knew he had little time to act. "Oh... Now I get it. He's using the dummy fliers as bodyguards... EVERYONE! JOHNNY IS IN THE RED FLIER IN THAT FLIER FORMATION! SHOOT THE JAG DOWN, AND RETRIEVE THE WRECKAGE!"

Ponpon's flier teams had sent out their airborne pursuers to intercept the mass of the escaping bodyguard fliers, which were guarding Tak's personal flier. Ponpon's air force fired their weapons to take down the whirling formation that protected the red flier in the center, but their shots had only damaged the outermost dummy fliers in the flying formation. More of Ponpon's fliers would soon intercept, but they alone would not be able to down the amassed escaping flier swarm in time. But all Ponpon needed was Johnny, and he believed that attacking the red flier would yield the quickest victory for himself.

And as luck would have it, the swarm of fliers would fly over one of the anti-air teams that had set up their anti-air turret installations. Once the swarm of fliers came close, the anti-air team let loose their noisy ammo onto the approaching spherical formation in the sky. Many more of the escaping fliers were shot out of the sky, including the scarlet cherry flier that belonged to the baroness of Citadel Gargantua.

Much like all the other fliers that have been forced from the sky, Tak's personal flier had finally been struck, forcing it to crash onto soft farmland. It nearly careened as it collided with Gargantua's wall. Many of the assisting fliers that tried to protect Tak's flier had been shot out of the sky, but some of the remaining fliers continued flying in their sphere formation and kept heading east, eventually flying over Gargantua's wall and continuing in that direction. Ponpon's fliers had approached their target after Tak's crashed flier came to its final stop.

Ponpon felt his face tighten into a grin. "Who shot the craft down? I want to shake your hand when we meet."

[Praggun 'Sleep Killer', boss.] One of his thugs on the field said, contacting Ponpon through the surveillance terminal's communication network. [But don't congratulate me just yet. The pilot looks weird.]

"Weird?" Ponpon asked, raising an eyebrow. "How weird we're talking?"

[Uhh...] There was a pause that lasted twenty seconds before Ponpon got his response. [Boss, the pilot was a scarecrow. Like, uh, literally. Looks like someone programmed the baroness's flier to fly in a straight line after enough fliers surrounded her.]

Ponpon was silent for a few seconds before he took in a slow breath and started talking again. "So you're telling me we have been shooting at a decoy?"

[Uhh... I think so boss. ... There's a note attached to the scarecrow.]

"A note? What does it say?"

[... You're not gonna like it. It says, and I quote, 'Fuck you, Ponpon.']

Ponpon exhaled a sigh, then struck the nearest surveillance goon with a heavy fist. The blow was hard enough to break the goon's neck, but also threw the flailing torso into the surveillance terminal he was stationed at. Ponpon then rotated his wrist to get a painful kink out before talking again. "... Now I'm starting to get it. Johnny used Tak's flier to make us think he was in there, but he was really inside one of the other fliers the whole time. Ballsy. Smart, but ballsy. Have the spotter groups check the wrecks of all the other fliers. If there's any pilots in them, bring them to me. I don't care if they're dead or alive, but I prefer them alive."

[What about the dummy fliers that got away? Do we chase after them?]

Ponpon had thought about the suggestion, placing a chin on his head and looking thoughtful. After a few seconds of thinking and contemplating, he shook his head. "Nah. Them flying zerg critters are too dangerous, from what I hear. If Johnny turns around and comes back, we'll be ready for him. If he gets eaten. ... Well... Good riddance I suppose."

"Splendid strategy, but it seems like you have been outplayed at your own game." Zero Wind had finally said, still sitting in the dark corner of the surveillance room.

Ponpon turned around to look at the shadowed figure and scowled. "And you think you could do better commanding my boys?"

"Oh please! I never did work well with others. It's my preference to work alone." Zero Wind said, walking out of the shadowed corner and into the light once again.

Ponpon growled. "Then why the hell are you here for, anyway? One of my boys caused you any trouble?"

"No no, none of your boys. I'm merely here for... THIS!" Zero created two blades from his forearm bands and pierced into the ground. After some measure of great effort, Zero managed to pull a roach straight out of the sandy ground, its legs wiggling in the air frantically and screeching loudly in pain. How a meter and a half tall gilanian managed to pull a zerg roach organism from the ground was beyond Kay or Virid, but Zero still pulled it out of the ground.

Ponpon quickly stepped back as he saw the zerg organism being pulled from the ground. "THE FUCK?! HOW'D THAT GET IN HERE?!"

Zero sliced all of the roach's limbs off and forced it to face a wall. It spatted violently at the wall, making sizzling divots that deepened with time. Zero poked at the upturned roach as it tried to wiggle itself back onto its belly, but failed. "Hmm. I assume that it found a way underneath this facility, and burrowed up its way here. This must be one of those zerg organisms I heard about. And I believe its breed has been classified by the empire as a 'puker'. How does it not digest itself with such volatile bile in its belly?"

Ponpon inspected the shrilling thing with scrutiny and unease. "I think two scientist types said something about a base somewhere southeast being attacked by dangerous critters. I wonder if this is one of them?"

Zero Wind turned to look at Ponpon and nodded. "Certainly fits the description." Zero Wind then turned back to inspect the amputated roach again. "... Oh! I see that the stumps I made are being replaced before our very eyes."

Ponpon tilted his head as he heard Zero's comment, then looked back down at the roach. His eyes widened when he saw the roaches limbs growing back. "... Oh damn! These things heal real quick!"

Zero Wind summoned his armband blades once more and sliced away the regrowing limbs again, making the roach screech in pain once more. "I can see this being a hassle after a time. I'd rather kill my targets and be done with it."

Ponpon looked back at Zero, feeling uncomfortable with the current turn of events. "Zero Wind, could you tell me the reason why you came to my hideout?"

Zero Wind looked back at Ponpon and smiled. "After witnessing these creatures crawl around after a time, I have been training my keen eyes to detect them hiding just under the surface of the ground. After witnessing the attack at your little clubhouse near junction forty-four, I noticed that your little infiltrator known as 'Johnny' had help in his escape. I'll give you a guess what kind of help he received."

Ponpon paused for a while before he pieced the puzzle pieces together. "This critter attacked my boys at junction forty-four?"

"Yes, as well as a few others, plus another breed of zerg organisms. But that's just semantics. However, my purposes here are limited now, and I must go."

Ponpon watched Zero Wind walk away. He shook his head. "But what if there are more of those puker critters in my hideout? Where will you go?"

Zero Wind chuckled. "Oh, I'm not here to save you from destruction. That is not my profession, or in my extensive list of skills. Just look at the ground hard and long enough. If it looks dusty or slightly lumpy in any way, then there's a chance a zerg organism is hiding beneath the soil, sand, and dirt. Same tactic I use to detect shryik serpents, really. And as for where I'm going... I'll go wherever the wind doesn't blow. It's been a pleasure meeting you." He said, waving goodbye and leaving the surveillance command center.

Ponpon followed after Zero, growling. "I didn't say you could leave, dipshit. I want to know why you came here, and I won't let you leave until I get a sufficient answer from you."

Zero stopped and sighed before turning to face Ponpon. "I just wanted to alarm you about the pukers in your base, and came here to warn you that your 'Johnny' fellow is not as he appears. Think about it. A vagabond that just so happens to know how to create virgin manifestation altars, has somehow gained favor with Gargantua's aristocratic leader, and manages to leave a swath of destruction after you have captured him and you cousin, Baroness Tak. He may have infiltrated your ranks, left with your cousin, and blinded you, but he did not single handedly kill all of your men at that juncture. Worse than that, I believe that Johnny has a much bigger resource to draw from that I had not initially expected.

Zero gestured at the roach trying to get itself upright. "I have read restricted and classified information regarding these zerg organisms, from an information terminal that belonged to a high ranking officer of the Golden Star Empire. The analysis and autopsies that their scientists had performed revealed rather disturbing information. Information that has lead me to believe that Johnny is actually a spy for the zerg."

Ponpon furrowed his brow in surprise.

"Oh, and they are all telepathic. I believe that would include Johnny as well. Anyway, as I said, it's been a pleasure." Zero said, waving goodbye once more and disappearing into the shadows.

Ponpon sighed deeply when he finally processed the entire picture that was explained to him. The acid spit that the roach produced and shot onto the wall matched the dissolved flesh and armor that his boys suffered and died by. He could see the roach trying to right itself up as its limbs started to grow back again. Ponpon walked over to the roach, picked it up, and started slamming it onto the ground repeatedly. Even when the roach stopped moving, Ponpon continued to smash the heavily carapaced zerg organism for several more seconds before he ripped the roach's shell open and allowed its innards to spill everywhere. Some of its organs seeped into the ground as its acid producing organ saturated the ground beneath itself. Ponpon sighed. "New orders, boys. Search the hideout for more of these bugs. After that, we vacate to a new hideout."

One of his surveillance goons, shocked by the violence done to the roach, cowardly walked up to inspect the monstrous and dead thing. "... I got a bad feeling about this, boss."

Ponpon slapped his goon upside his head. "Don't say stuff like that. If something bad does happen, I'll wring your neck and task you with cleaning up the killed puker. I'll make you be the first to drink its filtered fluids."

A cacophonous rumble had suddenly shaken the entire hideout. After a few seconds of silence had befallen the hideout, the bandits within had began to recover from the earthquake. "Oh... Ow."

Ponpon took longer to get up and back to standing upright again. After finding strength in his legs once more, he looked around in a bewildered state. "... The fuck was-"

"Boss~! You better come look at this!" One of Ponpon's thugs shouted. The bandit leader of the Spiker Titans recognized him as one of the guards stationed outside of the hideout. He lead the way to whatever might have been the disturbance that shook the hideout.

Ponpon growled and walked after the thug, following him. "The hell are you talking about?!" He grumbled as he stomped after the thug.

After coming outside, the thug pointed up. Ponpon looked to where his thug pointed at, but was at a loss of words. "It's the darnedest thing, boss. I saw it rose out of the ground!"

Some people would have expected a nydus worm to come out of the ground to terrorize the bandits, but this was not the case. Instead, a chrome spire that tapered to a point rose several hundreds of meters above, which had red, glowing circuitry running up its sides which pulsed toward the top of this structure. It was a thousand meters tall, and it invoked an ominous feeling among the bandits and their leader, Ponpon. They had no idea what it is, and they didn't like that they didn't know what it was. Ponpon, on the other hand, frowned and furrowed his eyebrows since he had a feeling that this structure was bad news to them. "Fuck."

A/N: Fanfiction idea: The main character in Hollow Knight crosses over into the Marvel universe and has been dumped in New York. People keep mistaking it as Spider-Man's new sidekick, but shenanigans later, and the Avengers give the little bug an audience to figure out where he came from. :V