Chapter Nine: "Fitting In"

When Dark Dream plunged the Dark Hemisphere into a long slumber, not many had dreams. Of those that did have dreams, was Webstor. His dreams were vivid and centered around a central image - that of a legion - an entire army of fellow Spiders. These Spiders were marching, armed and dangerous, towards an unseen enemy somewhere off in the distance.

The dream didn't make much sense to Webstor, seeing as Spiders were perfectly happy living in their dark and dank forest in the barren regions of the Dark Hemisphere. They hated to invade, hated to war, hated to attack. It was only because those of the Spider Forest didn't exactly like Webstor now that he wasn't living with them in the isolated peace.

However . . . as strange and bizarre as this dream was, it haunted Webstor night and day since awakening. For example, it's on his mind right now - which really isn't the best time at all.

"WEBSTOR!" cried Tri-Klops, eyes producing energy beams while his sword struck down another assailant. "I need some back-up!"

Webstor's attention snapped back and he turned to his companions. They were in the Pelicon Prison Tower, currently in the middle of a rescue attempt going badly. Webstor pulled out his laser and opened fire, wasting two Pelicons.

"Where's Blade and Two-Bad?" asked Webstor, firing at his enemies.

"They're on their way! Beast-Man and Jitsu are covering their backs!"

Webstor fired a few more blasts, knocking down more Pelicons. He was suddenly reminded of the dream - Spiders, hundreds of Spiders marching onto war with an enemy not known or seen or -

"AH!" Tri-Klops shouted. One of the Pelicon's energy beams slashed his arm, causing him the villain to stagger back. "Damn it, Webstor, pay attention!"

"Sorry."

A sudden explosion rocked the corridor. Beast-Man, Jitsu, Blade, and Two-Bad came running around the corner. Behind them was Mer-Man and Clawful, the two this rescue mission was for.

"Call him! Call him!" yelled Blade, swinging his swords at a pair of approaching Pelicons.

Behind Webstor and the injured Tri-Klops was a crashed wall. Tri-Klops yanked out his communicator and began to shout into it.

A few seconds later, a Collector appeared at the hole. It's door opened and a ramp came sliding out.

"Come on, come on you dolts!" shouted Karg.

Pelicons came flying down from the sky then, unleashing their weapons upon the Collector. At its controls, Trap-Jaw and Whiplash did their best to return fire - though it was of little avail.

"We're in," shouted Webstor, who was the last to enter into the Collector. The dream had faded from his mind, but it would be back on the return trip.

The Collector lifted up from the Great Nest and blasted away from the Pelicon capital, shooting east towards the Dark Hemisphere and then Snake Mountain.

"Seriously, you two, I can't believe you got yourselves caught like that," Trap-Jaw complained to Mer-Man and Clawful.

"Just shut up and get us out of here," Mer-Man replied and went to find someplace to rest.

"Just tell me you two didn't drop the soap," laughed Blade.

Clawful and Mer-Man gave each other a look that spoke secret volumes of their time in prison. An uncomfortable silence filled the cabin.

"Uh . . . of course not," Clawful attempted.

Blade laughed it up.

The cabin then became a haven of idle chitchat. Webstor, however, didn't want any part of it. He retreated to a small room in the secondary section of the Collector that had a small bed. The Spider fell onto the bed like a drunk would onto a couch.

The sleeping world came upon him and Webstor once more entered the dream.

There was a sweeping wind, a hot wind that would relieve no one. The march of Spiders thundered through the heated air, rumbling beyond the plains that the army barreled into. Webstor looked around and found that was in the center of this massive army - but he wasn't a soldier. No . . . he was a leader.

The army moved around a tall rock like water around a sandbar. Webstor came up onto the rock and looked west. The lands of Eternos were before them all and the army was heading there. He looked east. The Spider Forest was their starting point. Slowly, it was all starting to make sense.

And that's when Webstor woke up.

He legs propelled him forward and he sent his palm against the back of Blade's head. The swordsman went immediately unconscious. As Webstor began to peck his fingers at the navigational controls, Karg ran over with Trap-Jaw right behind him.

"What are you doing?" asked the one-handed commander.

Webstor jerked his head to him and hissed; two new fangs visible in the light. He slammed his hand across Karg's face, then unleashed a bizarre blob at Trap-Jaw. The blob expanded into a web and covered Trap-Jaw, trapping him against the wall.

The Collector lurched into a new direction, which brought the attention of Clawful, Jitsu, Beast-Man, Two-Bad and Tri-Klops to the bridge from the small galley. Webstor fired out two more web-blobs and they slammed into Beast-Man and Jitsu. Webstor then jumped up and kicked both of Two-Bad's heads, sending them (him) sailing backwards.

Tri-Klops got off one missed shot before a web-blob smothered his face. Mer-Man came running over, trident out and ready. Webstor pushed his shoulder into him, then leapt up and knocked Clawful right into Mer-Man.

Webstor returned to the navigation controls and worked at them. However, he caught Trap-Jaw in the corner of his eyes. The web was burning right off thanks to Trap-Jaw's laser arm. Webstor hissed at his former compatriot. Trap-Jaw was suddenly free and fired at the Spider. Webstor jumped out of the way and the laser demolished the navigation.

They exploded in smattering of sparks and smoke. Webstor saw this, hissed again at Trap-Jaw, then threw the door open. Trap-Jaw ran over just in time to see Webstor leap out. As the Spider fell, his hands criss-crossed amazingly fast, spinning a web-based parachute.

Trap-Jaw looked over the navigation and saw what kind of shape it was in. Then . . . he watched as the ground came ever closer and closer.

"We're going to crash," Trap-Jaw realized and quickly started to wake the others.


Webstor landed and just went into a sprint. The sprint became a run and he ran. He ran and ran and ran, rushing across the barren, hardpan lands. After a few hours, he became to pass spots of weeds that supped on the small water that festered here. By sunrise, Webstor saw that he was now in a dry, tall grassed field.

At the edge of the field was huge, thick-treed forest. Spider Forest. He entered and stopped, his lungs heaving. All around, he could hear the scuttling of his people high up in the canopies, making their webs, their homes. The trickle of the few streams that ran through the forest caught up with his ears. There were clicks from all around him.

A fly drifted near him and Webstor snatched it into his mouth in a flash. With such small nourishment, he began to run through the forest, leaping over gnarled roots that suck out of the ground. Webs fired from his hands, allowing him to swing to his destination - the heart of Spider Forest.

When he came to the huge encroachment of webs and trees and rocks, he stopped at last. This was where the dream was telling him to go - as if by some sort of bizarre instinct - and this was where he ended up. Treading carefully, Webstor walked along the dirt that surrounded the mighty structure.

A pair of guard Spiders at the entrance ignored him, admitting him inside. Within was a huge web structure where Spider males waited in huge canopies of web before their time of mating with the queen would begin. Webstor regarded them with a swift glance, then walked into a tunnel that took him underground into a huge chamber.

Within this huge chamber was a massive female Spider. The Queen. Her body was unlike any other Spider - most especially the males. From the torso up was a on that looked humanoid, with a chest, thin waist, eight eyes, and four arms. However, that was where the similarities ended. The bottom portion was her body was huge and sat in a shallow pond behind her humanoid body. It was massive abdomen that was crawling with small, black spiders. The abdomen was nearly twenty feet high and at least that in length.

A few female Spiders were on the other side, helping her tend with birth and then prepare the Queen for mating with the males that waited outside.

"Webstor," the Queen addressed with coo. "Webstor, so good to see you."

"Your majesty, were you sending me the dreams?"

"Of course I was, Webstor. The time has come. We must make Eternia know that we are indeed a power on this world. Our population is expanding rapidly and the many people of Eternia shall be our food. I want you to lead an army of our finest males and take Eternos."

"Eternos?!" gulped Webstor. "Your majesty, that is a difficult feat."

"Of course, but I have confidence in you."

"Why me?"

"You have the most experience with Eternia, Webstor, and with Eternos. You are the perfect warrior. Will you accept this honor?"

"Of course!" Webstor replied. "My exile? Is it over, then?"

"Yes. Come forward, Webstor, and take my power!"

Webstor took a few steps forward and the Queen put her hands onto his shoulders. The Spider began to feel an incredible surge of power from her and began to feel his body grow and change and mutate into something completely . . . stronger.

Two huge spider-like arms exploded from his back. Six new eyes appeared on his face. He was growing larger, muscles expanded and building.

When it was over, he threw up his six hands in a sign of power.


"Alone."

Pelicor stood upon the edge of balcony and gazed out at Eternos in the glittering afternoon sunshine. It was a peaceful sight as well as busy one. A lot of the construction was finishing up, but everyone was still at it. However, amongst such people (or rather, above them), Pelicor never felt so alone in his entire life.

He glanced down at the courtyard and saw both Prince Adam and Kathryn sitting on a bench together, talking sweetly. A fit of jealously filled him - would he ever hold one of his own like that? Would he ever love someone that wasn't an Pelicon? The very thought of that made him nauseous.

"Pelicor," Man-At-Arms said from behind him. "I was wondering you could help us out."

Pelicor pushed away his angst and turned to Man-At-Arms. "Yes?"

"There's been a Negator sighting in the borderlands. He's one of the enemies that attacked us a few weeks ago. We're sending a team, but they could use your help."

Pelicor nodded. "If I'm needed, then I'll help."

"Good."

"Who is coming with me?"

"Some of the other Heroic Warriors. Roboto, Ram-Man, Sy-Klone, Meckaneck, and Man-E-Faces."

"Should be an enjoyable trip."


"So, then what's she say?"

"Get this! 'What's in a name?'"

"And what did you say?"

"I replied: 'What's in a name?! WHAT'S IN A NAME?! Honey, my name is who I am! I'm Ram-Man!'"

Laughter filled the Talon Fighter. Behind them was a Prison Transport filled with Royal Troops, all of them heading towards the sighting of Negator. The borderlands was the area of the southern desert that hosted a few villages and small array of coastal mountains. Not the most likely place to find Negator, but that was probably Negator's thought in it.

Pelicor strained to get comfortable in the packed Talon Fighter. The jokes were bad enough, but the fact that Ram-Man had eaten beans before taking off and Sy-Klone was just doing his best to keep the farts away from his own nose and not caring about anyone else was worse.

"How ya doin', wings?" asked Man-E-Faces. "Havin' a good time with just us boys?"

"Well, actually . . ."

As soon as they crossed over a small mountain, a steam of energy sliced through the air and struck the Talon Fighter. An explosion roared from the engines and the Talon Fighter began to lose it's altitude. Pelicor began to loosen up his wings, as he did often during a stressful occasion. However, when he looked at the others as the Talon Fighter went plummeting to the ground below, he saw the perfect expressions of calm.

"Something tells me that was Negator and he's not happy about seeing us," Ram-Man deduced.

"You're brilliant," Meckaneck replied, struggling with a few of the controls. "Roboto, contact the Prison Transport."

"I already have, Meckaneck," Roboto returned. "They are making a landing."

"Make sure they know that we need to get in their first. Remember gentlemen - Negator isn't about to back down from a fight. He's just that stupid. Sy-Klone?"

"I'm ready when you are."

"Man-E-Faces, I need you to do a quick trajectory scan for me."

"On it."

Man-E-Faces face spun until it reached the Robot. When it did, the eye-panel lit up. "The Talon Fighter will be crashing in an empty area."

"Alrighty," Meckaneck said. The ground was getting closer and closer now. "Pelicor, we're going to pop the lid on this thing and then we're all going out. Sy-Klone is going to create a wind tunnel for us. If you're anything like Stratos, it'll be a good idea if you make your own way down. Fly out behind us, away from the wind tunnel."

"Understood, sir."

Meckaneck smiled. "Don't call me 'sir', buddy. We're all just doing our jobs. I just happen to outrank you all."

"Seniority means nothing!" cally-called Man-E-Faces.

"Shaddup. We're running out of time. On my mark - 1 . . . 2 . . . 3!"

Meckaneck pressed three keys at once. Immediately the top of the cockpit blasted off and went flying away from them. Pelicor unbuckled his belt and let the winds fill his wings and left the Talon Fighter. From afar he watched as the others leapt out of the Talon Fighter and then were sucked into a mini-tornado created by Sy-Klone.


Below, Negator must have missed it as he took a few potshots at the Prison Transport, which missed terribly. He turned away from it and saw the Talon Fighter crash into the ground. He would escape now, while he had the chance.

As soon as he turned, however, he was immediately faced with a bodiless head. Meckaneck.

"I gotta tell ya, Negator ol' pal, I'm disappointed in ya. You didn't think we'd get ourselves out of a simple thing like that?" Meckaneck taunted.

"Seriously," added Ram-Man as he, Roboto, Man-E-Faces, and Sy-Klone landed. Pelicor was right behind them.

"Get away from me, you fools!" shouted Negator, firing an energy beam at his enemies.

The Heroic Warriors leapt out of the way, completely avoiding the energy beam. Roboto laid out a series of laser blasts at Negator's feet, causing him to leap up and avoid each one. Sy-Klone went to action then, causing a tornado to lift Negator into the air, spinning him around and around.

"Ram-Man, he's all yours!" Meckaneck ordered.

"Gotcha," Ram-Man replied, timing the spinning just perfectly. At just the right second, Ram-Man fired up and slammed right into Negator. Precisely at that second, Negator went crumbling to ground. Ram-Man landed just fine.

"Okay, Man-E-Faces, get ready and - "

Pelicor stepped up and shot towards Negator. "I'll get him from here!" he shouted.

"WAIT!"

As Negator began to stand up on weak legs, Pelicor came right at him. His hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and he spun him back onto the ground. Pelicor then kicked Negator a few times in the head, then . . . pulled out a long, curved knife. He lifted it up, ready to come down onto Negator's neck.

Without warning, Negator's eyes lit up with energy. Two bolts streaked out, smashing right into Pelicor, sending him sailing backwards. The villain stood up, hands brimming with electricity.

"Who's next?"

Two huge arms wrapped his body, then, as Man-E-Faces grabbed him from behind in his Monster form. On his hands were two large pads that he held firmly against Negator's chest.

"NOW!" roared Man-E-Faces. He quickly changed into Robot form just as Roboto appeared in front of Negator.

A lightning-like stream of electricity fired from Roboto's hands, streaking Negator. Negator gasped as the electricity then flowed right into the pads that were pressed against his chest. There was sudden burst of electricity and energy and then . . .

Negator crumbled to the ground. Man-E-Faces threw the pads off to the side, then rushed over to Pelicor.

"Hey! You okay?"

Pelicor's huge eyes opened. He pushed Man-E-Faces away harshly. "Get away from me!" he snapped, wings shaking.

"Whoa, calm down! Take it easy!"

"This is madness! Madness! How dare you don't inform of the plan!"

Meckaneck rushed over. "There wasn't really much of a plan, Pelicor. It was all just basically improv. We knew we had to short-circuit Negator and that only these two could do that, but . . ."

"Enough," snarled Pelicor. "Just . . . enough."

Just then, five Laser Bolts came barreling over, along with a Hover Craft.

"Commander Green!" shouted Sy-Klone. "Over here!"

The leader of this small group - Commander Green - came over to Sy-Klone, Meckaneck and the fallen body of Negator.

"Commander, make sure you pump him full of sedatives then you get your asses to Eternos ASAP," Meckaneck told him.

"Of course. I'm afraid there's no room for you guys in the transport. I can leave some men behind and - "

Meckaneck waved his hands. "Nah. Just go. Ram-Man? Isn't there a town around here?"

"About a mile south, near some of the old mines. Should be a bar."

Meckaneck nodded. "Just contact the Great Towers and have them send some transportation when they get the chance. We'll be at the village."

Commander Green nodded and began to order his men around. Meckaneck walked over to Pelicor.

"Have a few drinks with us, Pelicor. You'll feel better."

"I . . . I don't think so."

"Trust me, ol' pal, it'll be just fine. We all screw up once and a while," Ram-Man attempted.

Pelicor grunted. "Not me."

Ram-Man laughed. "Well, if that doesn't sound like an excuse to get drunk, then I don't know what does!"