Chapter V: The Spider's Web


Today is May 8, 2039, and it is Mother's Day. For students, including those from Tennouzu High, it was their day off and many spent their day with families to celebrate their mothers. For Funeral Parlor, it is their day off from their usual duties and training.

As Tsugumi with Ayase in her wheelchair explored Shinjuku Gyoen, they see mothers spending time with their children and other family members. Shu, Inori, Heath, Akiko, and Walter followed Ayase and Tsugumi. With them off duty, they wore their casual clothing.

Meticulously glancing at children gleefully laughing with and being held by their mothers, Ayase's face tensed and wore a saddened expression.

"Aya, are you ok?" Tsugumi thoughtfully asked her friend.

"Wouldn't you know it? Today had to be Mother's day," Ayase said ironically.

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" Shu queried.

"No, you don't get it, Shu. My mom's…" Ayase muttered, trying hard to hide her face and hold back her tears.

As he read Ayase's tone and body language, Shu already figured her out.

"I see. Sorry, I asked. Listen though, I understand how you're feeling. My real parents are gone, too, and…" As he tried to relate with her, Ayase quickly spun her wheelchair around and retorted fiercely, causing Shu to withdraw his statement.

"Yeah?! Well, you don't know how I feel!" She shouted. "Not only did I lose my mother, but my life has largely been affected now thanks to Lost Christmas and GHQ! You wouldn't… understand because you weren't there to see your parents die in front of you!" As Tsugumi caressed her shoulders, she felt her friend's gentle touch calming her tense emotions. "All I ever desire is for a normal life. Is that so much to ask?"

Before Shu could respond to Ayase, Heath stepped in and tried de-escalating the situation.

"Hey, that was uncalled for, Ayase! Shu was only trying to be caring!" Heath rebuked, causing Ayase to shift her anger toward Heath, and heatedly got into a verbal exchange with him.

"Well, I didn't ask for his sympathy! And I don't need yours!"

"You don't need to lash out at others like this, Ayase! You could do well to accept others' sympathies!"

"Says who?! You?!" Ayase yelled out as she and Heath glared daggers into each other. While their intense exchange went on, their commotion disturbed bystanders, including the mothers and children who were trying to enjoy their family outings.

As Shu and Akiko moved in to restrain them, Tsugumi stopped the fighting by giving Ayase and Heath hard punches to their heads. Ayase and Heath both held their heads and gritted in pain while Tsugumi clenched her fist over them.

"Knock it off, you two! Did you forget you're fighting where families are trying to relax?!" Tsugumi chastised Ayase and Heath as they noticed mothers and their children watching. "We're sorry. We didn't mean to disturb you!" She bowed on Ayase and Heath's behalf.

"Gee, you two couldn't have caused a bigger commotion?" Akiko remarked.

"What? I wasn't going to let her talk back to Shu like that!" Heath retorted.

Shu deeply sighed and nodded. "It's ok. Just let it go."

"Hey, where are you two going?" Walter asked as Tsugumi pushed Ayase's wheelchair away from them.

"Ayase needs a little space. We'll let you know when we meet up," Tsugumi said.

"Fair enough. Let's give Ayase some space," Walter said as he motioned toward the others. "Where to now?"

"Well, I know I'm starving!" Akiko raised her hand. "Who wants some beef bowls?!"

"I'm down for some," Walter smiled approvingly over Akiko's suggestion.

"Sure, why not," Heath scoffed as he watched Ayase and Tsugumi leave. "Shu, are you down for some bowls?"

"Yeah, sure. Do you want a bowl, Inori?" Shu said as he turned over to the pink-haired songstress, who nodded accordingly.

"Sure," she answered with a smile.


Hours have passed. Ayase and Tsugumi are left alone in Sayama Hills. Having lost track of time, Tsugumi checked her digital watch and gasped.

"Oh gosh, it's late! We really should contact the others to meet us here!" Tsugumi shrieked as she moved Ayase through a forest. "So, are you over what happened today?"

"Yeah kinda."

"Don't take what Shu said the wrong way. I'm sure he means well, Aya."

"I know. I shouldn't have lashed out at him like that," Ayase sighed, realizing she might've pushed Shu from engaging in conversations with her.

"You can always apologize later, Aya. What about Heath?"

"What about him?"

Giggling, Tsugumi replied. "Don't try to hide it. You and he hit off pretty well."

"Yeah, right! And don't think I haven't forgotten those photos you passed off to others!"

Tsugumi chuckled. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist, but no one made a big deal of it. They just see you and Heath looked cute together."

"Oh god, don't make me hurl," Ayase rolled her eyes while her friend tried to lighten the mood while going through a narrow trail and delving deeply into a forest, which was dark enough that Tsugumi produced light from her digital watch.

Even with the light from Tsugumi's watch, the dark forest gave them creepy atmospheric vibes. Treading deeply into unfamiliar territory, they cautiously tried to get out of this forest as quickly as possible. While trying to brave her way through for Ayase's sake, Tsugumi felt a sweaty and tingling sensation across her neck and back. Ayase, too, felt trepidation in a dark forested area.

As they continued their way through the forest, Tsugumi used her watch's light to guide them. When the light exposed the foliage and undergrowth, Tsugumi noticed spider webs covering broken tree branches. Ayase saw giant webbing covering shrubbery and a tree. This wouldn't be a big deal if the webbing wasn't big enough to cover several square inches of the branches and other parts of trees. This was when the girls became more concerned.

"A-Aya, you're seeing this, are you?"

Instead of answering her, Ayase scanned their surroundings and saw more webs covering their surroundings. When Tsugumi turned the light toward the tree canopy, she exposed various objects being webbed up. The objects are dead webbed bodies of white birds, which appeared to have been devoured by something. Some had their heads disgustingly chewed up and others were shriveled up as if their fluids had been drained from their bodies. When the girls discovered these, their eyes widened and their mouths dropped in utter horror. Smelling the putrid aroma of the dead in the air, Ayase covered her mouth, trying to fight the urge to vomit.

"Don't look, Aya!" Tsugumi pressed as she, too, averted her eyes from the dead birds. "Don't tell s-s-spiders can… there's just no way…" As she moved her watch's light around the tree canopy, her skin color drained and paled from what she saw. "Oh god… Aya, please don't look."

It was too late. Ayase gazed upward and her expression matched Tsugumi's, except she became nauseated over what she saw and smelled. The aroma of corpses hit her nostrils, making her vomit. Along with webbed Smew and various forest animals, they saw a few webbed human corpses, which horrified Ayase and Tsugumi.

"Oh my god…" Tsugumi stammered, her teeth chattering and skin becoming paler. She, too, wanted to vomit at the sight of the grisly corpses, whose bodies are already decomposing.

"Tsugumi, I can't take this… get us the hell out of here!" Ayase pleaded, trying not to let the grotesque decomposition smell overtake her senses.

Just then, they both heard loud and audible crunching as if something was being chewed on. Turning her light toward the source, Tsugumi's watch light revealed something they wished they hadn't seen.

The light revealed a giant red mark resembling a blot of blood smeared over a dark blue surface, which moved on its own. The light then exposed more of the creature, whose body is mostly black. Eight slender black-and-yellow legs are seen sticking out of its large body. The creature's face has four blacker spots, making up its eyes. The girls were baffled why a spider this large is in Sayama Hills of all places and much less this large.

However, the girls didn't have any time to think as they saw the giant spider chewing on a few Smew corpses. The audible crunching came from the spider eating its heads. As Ayase further examined the spider, her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh shit… how did it… how the hell is that thing here?!" Ayase screamed with terror.

"Aya?!"

Folding her arms over her legs, Ayase screamed again. "It's that same monster that killed my… my mother! And why I'm disabled!"

"The thing that attacked you and your mother?!" Tsugumi asked her but before she could get any more answers, the spider dropped the Smew corpses and set its eyes on its new prey items. As the spider zeroed on Ayase, it seemingly recognized her face and voice.

"Get us out of here, Tsugumi! Now!" Ayase screamed, knowing that without her Endlave she couldn't fight the giant arachnid.

Without hesitation, Tsugumi pushed her friend's chair as quickly as she could. As its prey escaped, the spider jumped onto the ground and pursued the girls. As Tsugumi tried hastening her pace, the spider was already gaining ground on them with its eight legs. With every move the spider made, Tsugumi's heart raced while pushing Ayase forward.

Ayase never thought she'd ever come across her mother's killer again. She thought she could escape her past but it had come back to finish the job. She knew this spider wasn't just pursuing them as a wild predator would with its prey. It started slowing its pace and methodically toying with them.

"Don't stop just because it's slowing down, Tsugumi! It's just playing with you!"

"You mean, this thing thinks?!"

"It's how this bitch took advantage when it killed my mother and her team, and put me in the state I'm in now!" Ayase screamed as horrific memories of that incident flashed before her eyes. At that moment, the spider sprang forward and expelled webbing from its body, trapping Tsugumi and Ayase.

While the girls struggled to break loose, Ayase recalled that exact night when the incident with this spider took place.


It all happened one year ago. I remember it as it was yesterday and it continues to haunt me to this day. Every time I glanced over my weakened legs, those horrific events lingered.

I remembered the horrific screams and the sound of limbs being torn apart. The crunching sounds were awfully familiar to my ears. It was that grotesque chewing I heard when I saw her eating one of my mother's colleagues.

I remember before that night, my beautiful and strong mother and I had a conversation. She had hair like mine but it was completely black. I inherited her eyes, which were one of my mother's defining features. She had her hair worn in the same style as mine. Despite her tough look and muscle tone, she was beautiful. And she didn't use her looks to attract attention, she commanded attention through her actions. That's what I admired most about her. She inspired me to become what I am today. I was trained as a young soldier, taught many forms of martial arts and firearms by my mother and her colleagues.

I remembered when my mother and I joined a resistance group, which consisted mostly of my mother's friends that helped her through some underground crime networks back in Japan. I didn't care much about their criminal pasts because they were nice to me. They along with my mother trained me so I'd better fend for myself. At the time, I was already a school athlete and on the running team, so I learned pretty quickly. Through my mother and her colleagues, I picked up on kickboxing, karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and some Capoeira, which my mom learned from a Brazilian colleague on her team.

Despite my training, I wasn't prepared for what would've happened next. All in one night, my mother's life and smile were taken away from me. We stormed one of GHQ's facilities, only to find out the place wasn't being guarded by GHQ troops.

No, it was guarded by this god damned monstrosity! In one fell swoop, it massacred my mother and her entire team. Not even my athletic running was enough to get me out of this situation. During a crossfire, a stray bullet meant for the creature struck me in my spinal column and damaged a nerve in it. At that moment, I realized my world had changed as I lay on that cold floor with my lower body suddenly paralyzed, leaving me unable to pick myself up. My aspirations of becoming a champion runner were taken from me. However, I was the sole survivor of this massacre.

What I saw burned into my memories and continued to haunt me. I saw one of my mom's colleagues pinned to the ground by the spider's legs while his head was being brutally pierced and stomped into pieces by one of the creature's legs. I cringed at the sound of his brain being splattered with eyes and teeth falling out of his split head. I saw another seized by the spider's jaws and injected with venom, quickly digesting her victim as his horrific screams filled me with dread. I even saw what appeared to be his bones being liquefied, causing me to vomit. Another's body was brutally slashed in half by the spider's legs.

However, what emotionally destroyed me most was seeing my mom protecting me. By protecting me, my mom's upper chest was pierced by the spider's front leg. Before that thing tossed my mother aside, I saw my mom give me one tearful look. As she suffered heavy blood loss, I heard her final words before she died.

Those words: "I love you, Ayase. Please survive."

After that, my mother drew her last breath. Even when she died, her eyes were full of resolve and vigor. Fortunately, when I lost consciousness and awoke, the monster was gone. However, I awoke in a recovery room where I was rescued and hospitalized by one of my mother's old acquaintances. That person became my caretaker. They covered up the story of my legs being disabled as a result of a car accident. My mother's body was recovered and given a funeral. My mind was cloudy through those events that I couldn't think straight. Who could blame me? I lost my legs and now my mom was taken away from me.

My biggest inspiration was taken away by this monster! This same monster has now decided to come back into my life and finish what it started. What luck that I, in my disabled condition, can't do a damned thing about it!

I'm sorry, mom. One year removed since that event, it looks like I'll be joining you soon.

At least, we'll be reunited.


Ayase and Tsugumi found themselves bound by the monstrous spider's webbing. Unable to break loose even with a combat knife, Ayase failed to undo the spider's thick webbing. She and Tsugumi helplessly witnessed in horror as the spider's mouth closed in with venom dripping from her fangs.

Closing her eyes, Tsugumi firmly locked her fingers with Ayase's hand.

"Aya, please know I love you dearly as a friend."

However, Ayase didn't close her eyes. She faced the creature with resolve in her eyes.

"You remember me do you?!" Ayase shouted. "Well, do you remember the woman you killed?! Do you remember her face is just like mine?! Do you remember Hanazawa Ayase?!" She screamed aloud. The spider prepared to inject Ayase and Tsugumi with her venomous fangs. "Go on but just know… they'll hunt you down…"

As the spider went to deliver her deadly bite, gunfire came out of nowhere and blasted the place where the spider sat. The gunfire and loud commotion caused the spider to withdraw, leaving Ayase and Tsugumi behind.

Turning away from the spider, Ayase and Tsugumi saw Shu, Inori, Fyu-Neru, Heath, Akiko, Walter, Gai, Argo, Shibungi, and Oogumo drive the spider away. When the arachnid tried to attack them, Shu summoned a Void from Walter, which manifested a metallic dog head with two mouths and four eyes from Walter's shoulder. Seizing the two-mouth, four-eyed dog head, Shu attacked the spider with it and drove it away while saving Ayase and Tsugumi from mortal danger.

"You guys made it?!" Ayase cried out.

"You can thank me, Aya. I sent a signal on my watch to give our location during that chase!" Tsugumi smirked.

As Heath and Akiko summoned their humanoid Voids, they assisted Argo, Shibungi, and Oogumo by driving the giant arachnid back with gunfire and offensive attacks. As this went on, Shu, Inori, Gai, and the others helped free Ayase and Tsugumi.

"Are you two ok?!" Shu asked the girls.

"Thanks to all of you, we are!" Ayase screamed, nearly crying from the trauma she suffered.

"Don't worry. We're here now, Ayase. We got Tsugumi's signal that led us here," Gai added.

"I'm glad you came or we would've been that spider's next meal!" Tsugumi frantically cried.

As Heath sent his Tamuramaro Void to attack the spider, the arachnid bounded around evading the humanoid Void's katana. Swinging its ko-naginata, Akiko's Suzuka Gozen quickly slashed the spider's back. The arachnid once again bounced out of harm's way.

"It's quick despite its massive size! Stay on your guard!" Argo alarmed them as he fired rounds at the giant arachnid.

"To think I was named after one of these things!" Oogumo yelled with guns going ablaze on the spider.

Witnessing Shu, Heath, and Akiko utilizing Voids to help fight the spider, Ayase clenched her teeth and fists out of frustration.

"Damn it, why me?! Without my Endlave, I'm just a dead weight!" Ayase cursed her helplessness, drawing the attention of her colleagues.

"Ayase," Inori muttered sadly for her friend, who angrily cried.

"Aya, don't say that!" Tsugumi pleaded.

"Why not?! Because it's the fucking truth!" Ayase cried.

After evading Heath, Akiko, and Funeral Parlor's offense, the giant arachnid shot another web toward Ayase, intending to finish what it started. Shu, while still utilizing Walter's Void, shifted the canine head, which viciously ripped through the webs with its two mouths. Heath was on the move again and attacked the spider with his Tamuramaro Void.

"Aya!" Tsugumi called out as Shu guarded Ayase, who seized his arm and berated him.

"Damn it, Shu! You don't need to cut my connection!"

As Shu faced Ayase, he saw the burning resolve in the young woman's eyes. Gone were her tears.

"Let me stand on my two feet!" Ayase gripped Shu's sleeve and gritted her teeth.

"Shu, you better do something quick! This thing is moving too quickly for the others!" Gai yelled out for the Genome Void wielder. He, too, then joined in and unloaded rounds at the giant arachnid's direction.

As Shu faced Ayase again, he willfully returned Walter's Void. As a clear blue portal opened inside Ayase's chest, Shu prepared to put his hand through. As Ayase nodded with encouragement, he ran his hand through her and pulled out two black-armored, thigh-length legwear that resembled boots.

Upon seeing Ayase's Void extraction, Gai muttered. "Switching out from Walter's Hunter Orthrus and into the Paraplegic's Shoes? Are you going to wear them to fight?"

In a moment that shocked Ayase, Tsugumi, and the others, Shu opted to switch his use of Ayase's Void and placed them on Ayase's legs instead. Ayase watched in shock as the legwear fitted her legs. However, what also surprised Funeral Parlor was Ayase still being conscious to see her Void's extraction.

"Because of this, Ayase is the third person to see her own Void," Gai noted, sensing an unusually high level of Void power resonating from Ayase.

Having seen Ayase's Void merged with her legs, Shu, Heath, and Akiko were left shocked over the developments. Heath wondered if their bond and his saving her was also a direct result of Ayase's new innate power.

"I'm able to use my own Void?" Ayase's mouth gaped as she glanced over her armored legwear.

"Wow, this is incredible, Aya!" Tsugumi gleamed happily for her friend.

As she floated off the ground, Ayase found herself gliding around with her Paraplegic's Shoes. Blue light expelled from the bottom of her shoes, granting her aerial mobility.

"Guess I have two voids for the price of one," Ayase said with a broad smile smeared across her face. Having gained the ability to glide, Ayase could float and walk in the air.

Watching with a proud smile, Heath acknowledged her. "Way to go, Ayase!"

"Hey, heads up!" Akiko called out as the giant arachnid jumped from a tree and launched itself toward Shu and Ayase.

"Shu, get down!" Inori called out, taking out her pistol and firing shots into the arachnid. However, her shots were for naught as the spider attacked Shu and Ayase.

As the others moved in to stop the eight-legged monstrosity, Ayase propelled forward and kicked the spider back with her enhanced legs. As the spider crashed in a heap, Ayase hovered over the arachnid and folded her arms.

"Guess who's back, bitch?" Ayase fiercely called out. When the arachnid quickly sprang up to attack, a barrage of bullets pulverized the creature. She was then slashed by Shu's Singer Sword, who targeted and cut off one of her back legs.

After Shu cut off the other leg, Ayase hastily dove toward the spider and unleashed a flurry of rapid kicks, landing a consecutive number of blows on the abomination. When the spider expelled webbing at her, Ayase swiftly evaded it and kicked the spider's head, disorienting and breaking off one of its venomous fangs with a single kick. Ayase didn't cease her assault as she then kicked and destroyed the spider's left front leg. Having lost one of its front legs, the spider found herself struggling to stand, leaving herself wide open for the others to incapacitate her.

Heath's Tamuramaro cut off two of her other legs with its katana. Akiko's Suzuka Gozen shoved its ko-naginata through the spider's abdomen, slicing open a wound that caused her to blood profusely. Using a machine gun, Gai blasted half of the spider's face off. The others continued pulverizing her with a spray of artillery fire that greatly wounded the spider as she tried to escape.

"No, you don't! You're not getting away!" Ayase yelled out as she seized the spider's front right leg. Then, channeling her newfound Void power into her, Ayase used enhanced strength and threw the spider into a tree. Then, she dove and delivered a flurry of kicks, pulverizing the spider's body enough that blood spilled from her body. "Gai, I'm back in the fight again!"

After delivering vicious blows to the arachnid, Ayase glided into the air. Focusing her power into her right leg, she readied for a final blow and maintained her tense gaze on her mother's killer.

"Mom, this one's for you."

As the spider tried to escape, Heath's Void cut off her front right leg, causing her to collapse with only a few limbs left to walk on.

"Take it, Ayase! Finish it!" Heath called out to her.

As she finished powering up her legs, Ayase dove toward the mangled spider. Delivering a flying sidekick, she unleashed a powerful force that tore through the arachnid's body and caused it to explode in a gory fashion. After finishing the spider, the arachnid's remains and blood splattered all over the forest. As a piece of her head hit the ground, Ayase crushed it beneath her heels, sealing the arachnid's fate.

Raising her head toward the sky, Ayase smiled and muttered. "It's over, mom. Now, you and your friends can rest peacefully."

After finishing her nemesis, the other Funeral Parlor members headed over to congratulate her on her new Void power.

"Shu, Heath," Ayase acknowledged her peers and nodded. "I'm sorry for earlier, you two. Thanks for the help, seriously." When she said this, Shu and Heath smiled and nodded approvingly.

"It's fine, Ayase. I didn't know your full story," Shu replied.

"Yeah, same here. I shouldn't have pressed it but you were awesome just now. I'm even kinda envious," Heath added with a modest chuckle.

"Envious about what? You have a strong Void yourself," Ayase smirked.

"You tell him, Ayase," Akiko said.

"Well done, Ayase," Gai said, patting her shoulder as she smiled at his respect for her.

"Thanks, Gai. Now, I'll be able to lend support more often when I don't need or have my Steiner," Ayase said, glancing over her Paraplegic's Shoes.

"That giant eight-legged freak show couldn't be anything in this world. I'll bet anything it's a GHQ lab experiment," Argo remarked.

"Then, you're a rich guy because that's exactly what it was," Ayase replied.

"You sound like you've encountered this creature before," Shu said.

"I did."

Gai firmly added. "Then, perhaps you'd like to elaborate for us, Ayase."

Heath nodded. "There's so much I don't know about you."

Akiko interjected. "Ahem, you mean we, bro."

"Yeah, right. We don't know much about you, Ayase."

Ayase added with her hands on her hips. "Well, some here already know about my backstory but you're right. I hope you have time for a campfire story about my life."


A/N: Yes, this chapter marks the first original arc in the story, deviating (but entirely) from the canon story. When I said this chapter would highlight Ayase, I meant it. Not only did she get plenty of moments to herself, but she obtained her Void earlier than in the original show. Moreover, the chapter showed a brief flash related to her mother's mother, who was killed by this chapter's monster of the day.

Yeah, this chapter started on a sweet note celebrating Mother's Day, then the mood sours when Ayase vents out her frustrations and then shifts into a creature feature horror. I honestly think the dark atmosphere and the dead bodies are scarier than the monster itself, but if you have severe arachnophobia, then giant spiders should creep you out!

With just Ayase and Tsugumi there, the danger that the spider presented became prevalent. What's even scarier than a giant spider? One that thinks and plans out its next move just like a horror villain. Yikes.

Ayase's flying kick against the spider abomination tributes Kamen Rider, which has pitted Riders against spider monsters as their starter foes.

And as this chapter has illustrated, Ayase wasn't the only one to receive her Void. Walter gets his unlocked by Shu, too. What's better than a sword? A two-mouthed, four-eyed ravenous dog wanting to bite your head off, of course!

I figured switching from third person to a first-person POV would be more effective for the narrative, instead of just summarizing what happened with Ayase (and how she got disabled to begin with) and her mother when they fought the creature. It also paints us a description and personality of Ayase's mother - Hanazawa Ayase. This allows us to get into Ayase's head and see through her perspective of the horrific tragedies she had seen before joining Funeral Parlor.

All There in the Manual - Chapter V

-The spider's name is Yaoshikepu. Her appearance is based on a redback spider, and the colors of the legs are based on the Jorō spider.
-The last name Hanazawa is taken from the last name of Shinomiya Ayase's Japanese seiyuu - Hanazawa Kana. It fittingly is the last name of Ayase's mother.

If you thought this is all the Ayase story you're going to get? You thought wrong. The next chapter will delve more into Ayase and her mother's backstory. Fret not, Ayase's character study isn't over yet. I hope you're ready for a campfire tale.

Until then, leave a comment and a review. Later, AnGC readers!