Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't want me.
…
A three-dimensional map of the Hive Empire floated before Parasitica, every galaxy made of thousands of luminescent corpse flies. The map was divided into two primary colors; gold, and purplish-black. More than half the map was purplish-black, but as she watched, several of the flies flickered and turned gold. Snarling angrily, she dismissed the flies with a gesture, and they scattered out of the throne room.
"I don't understand," a confused Vespi spoke up, sitting in her mother's lap. "Just this morning we had almost two-thirds of the Hive under our control. What went wrong?"
"Our Fungigas was defeated," Parasitica seethed.
"So? It was just one monster," the child protested. "Why would that make such a huge difference?"
"The Fungigas, much like the new strain of fungus, the upgraded Funghouls, and the Fungal Beasts, were supposed to be a new weapon of mass destruction, unlike anything our adversaries have ever experienced," Parasitica explained, trying to reel in her anger so as not to frighten her daughter again. "By unleashing it all here, on this wretched mudball where my dear sister has been hiding, I would be sending a message to the resistance back home that I could have used such horrors at any time but chose not to and give them the impression that every hard-earned victory they've won so far was only because I didn't care enough about them to unleash my full power, destroying their morale. That, along with me conquering this pathetic planet, killing their beloved Queen, and shattering the Buzzing forever would have utterly crushed what little hope they had left, and we would've swept up what was left of the Hive with ease."
She dug her claws into one of her armrests, cracking it. "And then my beautiful weapon was destroyed in his first battle. And not by true members of the Hive, but mammals. Mammals who have somehow gained the favor of the ancient gods of the Hive, who were apparently here all along! In doing so, not only have they proven that I am not, in fact, invincible, but further legitimized these unworthy saviors in the minds of the entire Hive. They've become something other than my sister for the rabble to rally themselves around, something to give them hope. And because of that hope, we are beginning to lose ground."
She sighed and leaned back in her throne in frustration, stroking her daughter's antenna. "To make up for this I'm going to need to start deploying Fungigases and the new strain of fungus sooner than I expected, and now that the entire Hive has witnessed that these new weapons can be beaten, they won't be as afraid of them as they should be, and that lack of terror will make them less effective. And if that ladybug does manage to find an antidote, or some way to replicate whatever the butterfly did to make her team immune to infection, the knowledge on how to do so will be relayed instantly throughout the Buzzing and they'll be able to start producing it in vast quantities across the Hive, nullifying our primary means of conquest."
Frustrated, she looked down at her daughter. "In a very real sense, it's possible this setback might be the first step to losing the war."
Vespi gasped, horrified. "What? No! We can't give up!"
"I never said we were, daughter," Parasitica assured Vespi. "We will simply have to… Change our plans. Again. Develop new strains of the fungus. Create new breeds of monsters. Find new vectors for invasion."
Her antenna twitched, and she gestured, summoning back the corpse flies, who created a three-dimensional map of Earth. While most of the globe looked exactly like the real planet did – aside from being made of bugs – a few spots on the map were starting to turn purplish-black. "And thankfully," she said with a malicious grin. "We may have a foothold after all, though I will need to be careful in how I leverage it. We probably won't be able to repeat an all-out attack like we did today.
"And, of course, there is… One other thing to consider."
Her grin widening, she steepled her claws together, much to the disappointment of Vespi, because now nothing was stroking her antenna. "The Great Divine Insects mentioned an ancient evil, one so powerful that even they had difficulty defeating it. They said it was sealed away, rather than destroyed. If I could find this evil, infect it, and bring it under my control, well…
"That opens all sorts of possibilities, doesn't it?"
…
When Bug-Ōhi arrived in Hive City, she received a hero's welcome. The festivities were already in full swing, with dancing and celebrations in the streets, fireworks and sky dances in the air, and more than a few public orgies. Statues of the Bugrangers, the Great Divine insects, and Bug-Ōhi had already been erected all over the city, sonnets and poems were being composed over their victory, and over half a dozen reenactments of their triumphant first battle were being performed by some of the Hive's finest theater troupes and circuses.
(Hive artisans work very fast.)
Bug-Ōhi took all this in stride, although the human parts of her were a little overwhelmed by it all, accepting the accolades of the grateful populace with good cheer and grace, allowing flowers and streamers to be festooned across her immense form, and standing still so that children and other giant robot enthusiasts could clamber across her form.
The flow of the festivities inexorably drew the newborn goddess towards the center of the city, where Apista was waiting on a balcony of her palace along with Philia, radiating so much pride and gratitude she nearly outshone Bug-Ōhi herself in the Buzzing.
"Bug-Ōhi… Great Divine Insects… Bugrangers… Whatever you wish to call yourselves, thank you for what you've done today," Apista told the mechanical deity, bowing gracefully. "You have succeeded beyond my wildest imaginations. Not only have you thwarted my sister's initial attempt at invasion, you've given the entire Hive new hope. Even as we speak, our forces back home are beginning to make headway in reclaiming our galaxy group… but of course, this is not news to you."
"IT IS NOT," Bug-Ōhi replied humbly, bowing her head. "BUT IT IS GRATIFYING TO KNOW THAT OUR EFFORTS HAVE INSPIRED OTHERS EVEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE." She extended her hand, opening it to reveal the frozen Funghoul, along with all the bags and containers filled with the samples Nushi had taken during the battle. "I KNOW IT IS NOT MUCH, BUT I HAVE A PRESENT FOR YOU. HOPEFULLY, THIS WILL HELP US IN OUR FUTURE BATTLES. YOU NEED NOT FEAR INFECTION; I HAVE CAST NUMEROUS SPELLS TO MINIMIZE THE RISK OF CONTAMINATION."
"An unorthodox present, but one which I shall happily receive," Apista told Bug-Ōhi as some drones flew over to pick up the Funghoul and samples for transport to a safe facility. "We will begin analysis straightaway, and you are more than welcome to join in at any point, Nushi, whenever you are ready."
"I – SHE – OH BOTHER, THIS IS RATHER… HOLD ON A MOMENT."
There was a flash of light, and Bug-Ōhi disengaged into her component mecha. The Bugrangers hopped out of their cockpits and landed on the balcony before the Queen and Princess, looking a little dazed as their outfits dissolved into clouds of tiny mechanical insects and dissipated.
"Phew! That was… Something else," Ariel remarked. "When my family combines into a giant mecha, they all retain their individuality and regain their human forms, not… Whatever that was."
"I didn't mind it, though," Nushi said softly, glancing at the fox. "It was… Really nice. All of us are already in each other's heads, but… It's one thing to be connected to the Buzzing, and so be a part of something bigger than ourselves, but…"
"We just LITERALLY became something bigger than ourselves," Shin agreed.
Goro nodded. "Bug-Ōhi… She was more than the sum of her parts. She was a person in her own right. But… Even though we've all split apart, I feel like she's still here, just waiting for us to call her back into being again."
"Something I'm certain we will have to do many times, in the battles to come," Manti pointed out. "I… Am rather looking forward to it, actually."
"Is it weird that I kind of want to turn back into her right now?" Nushi inquired. "I felt… Good. Really good. Better than I've ever felt in my life."
Ariel shook her head. "No, we all feel the same way."
"Going from being a single God to just… Us again, it's a bit of a letdown," Goro agreed.
"It was nice being complete again," Lepidoptera said wistfully. "Even if it was just for a little while."
WHILE IT WAS INDEED A PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE, IT WOULD NOT BE IN YOUR BEST INTERESTS TO STAY IN THAT FUSED STATE FOR TOO LONG, Great Coccinella warned the Bugrangers. YOUR MINDS AND SPIRITS ARE STRONG, BUT THEY ARE STILL MORTAL.
Ariel opened her mouth.
COMPARED TO US, Great Formic added.
Ariel closed her mouth.
IF YOU HAD STAYED COMBINED WITH US FOR TOO LONG, YOU WOULD HAVE BECOME FULLY ABSORBED INTO THE GESTALT CONSCIOUSNESS THAT MADE UP BUG-ŌHI, AND BE UNABLE TO SEPARATE AGAIN, Great Caelifer warned them.
AND WHILE WE UNDERSTAND THAT, HAVING EXPERIENCED THE SENSATION ONCE, THE PROSPECT MAY NOT BE AS HORRIFYING AN IDEA AS YOU MIGHT HAVE FIRST THOUGHT, Great Manti warned them. REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE LIVES OF YOUR OWN OUTSIDE OF THIS. PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT YOU AS INDIVIDUALS, NOT AS COMPONENTS OF A DIVINE BEING.
THEY COULD STILL SPEAK TO YOU AS BUG-ŌHI, Great Lepidoptera added. BUT IT WOULD NOT BE THE SAME.
"Right. Of course. We know that," Nushi said quickly.
"But even so… It's still a little appealing," Ariel confessed.
She wasn't the only one who felt that way.
Doing the psychical equivalent of clearing her throat, Apista bowed to the Great Divine Insects. "Great Divine Insects, thank you for coming to help us in our hour of need. The fact that you somehow happened to be on the same world we have taken refuge on, just when we needed you most, is nothing short of a miracle."
FOR YOU TO END UP ON THE SAME PLANET AS US IS THE TRUE MIRACLE, Great Coccinella replied as the Great Divine Insects all bowed their heads.
WE CAN SEE INTO YOUR SOUL. YOU ARE TRULY A WORTHY SUCCESSOR TO YOUR ANCESTOR, THE FIRST QUEEN, Great Formic declared proudly.
WE WILL BE HONORED TO SERVE YOU, JUST AS WE DID HER, Great Manti assured the Queen.
"I would love to hear more about her," Apista said eagerly, radiating curiosity and excitement. "She lived so long ago, not much is known about her. Too much has been lost to time, even with the Buzzing. Anything you can tell me about the first to bear my name, I would be more than willing to learn."
"Me too!" Philia chirped. "Especially since I'm going to be the next Apista someday! Hey, I don't suppose there's a Great Anthoph that I can combine with once I inevitably become a Bugranger?"
THERE IS, Great Caelifer confirmed.
AND SHE IS AMONG THE MIGHTIEST OF US, Great Lepidoptera said reverently.
Philia's eyes widened, excitement and anticipation washing off of her in droves. "Ooooh."
"Philia, we've talked about this," Apista reminded her daughter a little testily. "You're too young. When Anthoph recovers, it will be I who takes to the field again, not you."
Philia rolled her eyes. "Right, absolutely, because you're going to be fully healed and in fighting shape once she recovers, unlike me, who is totally healthy and in a much better position to use her."
"Philia, you are too young," Apista repeated sharply. "You may be healthy, but your body isn't ready to undergo metamorphosis yet. It could kill you if you try."
"Just like fighting could kill you in your current condition," Philia reminded her mother. "We can't lose you, mom. You may think I'm too young to fight, but that also means I'm too young to take your place if something happens to you. If I'm not ready to become a Bugranger, then I'm definitely not ready to be a queen."
Apista grimaced, acknowledging her daughter's point. "That may be true, but-"
"And besides, I'm more expendable than you," Philia said calmly.
Apista reeled back, aghast. "What?! No, you aren't!"
"If I die, you can always lay another Royal egg someday," Philia pointed out. "But if you die, then that might just be it for the Hive."
Apista grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, shaking with fury and horror. "You must never think such things!" She practically shouted in her face. "You are irreplaceable, Philia! I could lay another dozen Royal eggs, but none of them would be you!"
"The Hive cannot exist without a queen," Philia shot back. "You're way more irreplaceable than I am!"
Nushi put her hands on both of their shoulders. "Both of you are irreplaceable!" She interjected, startling both of them. "Your Majesty, the Hive would quite literally fall without you! And Philia…" Her eyes softened as she looked to the Princess. "Your mother would fall without you. A parent should never have to outlive their children. In China, we call them "Shidu," and to be one is one of the most tragic things imaginable."
"Your Majesty, you know that Philia doesn't want to become a Bugranger because she thinks it would be cool, but to protect you," Goro pointed out. "And Philia, you know that your mother doesn't want you to transform because you're the most important thing in the universe to her and she doesn't want you to get hurt."
"… Yeah, we know," mother and daughter admitted, some of the tension fading from them as they gave each other apologetic locks.
"We promise we will do our best to end the threat of the Swarm before either of you need to risk your lives," Mibojin promised.
Ariel nodded in agreement. "Yes, and when we inevitably fail and Philia is forced to undergo a premature metamorphosis and become a Bugranger to save us all anyway, I promise she will be warmly welcomed onto the team and we'll do everything in our power to keep her safe."
Philia perked up at this, and Apista shot the sorceress a withering look. Ariel shrugged, unapologetic. "What? That's the way the sort of thing usually goes!"
"She's right, it is," Shin agreed.
Apista glared at him as well, her displeasure bearing down at him through the Buzzing, causing him to suddenly feel very small and insignificant.
He often felt that way, though, so it wasn't that big a deal.
"Anyway," Nushi said loudly as she let go of the Royals, turning back to Great Coccinella. "So there's a Great Anthoph, and I think you mentioned there are other Great Divine Insects scattered around the globe. Should we go wake them up?"
The Great Divine Insects exchanged looks before glancing at the much, much smaller human. WE… ARE UNCERTAIN THAT IS THE WISEST COURSE OF ACTION AT THIS TIME.
"What? But why not?" Nushi asked in dismay.
"Considering the threat we are up against, we need every advantage we can get," Goro agreed.
"And given how powerful we were as Bug-Ōhi, if we had more Great Divine Insects on our side, we would be unstoppable," Shin added.
"Plus, it would be really cool," Ariel pointed out.
"Yeah, it would be!" Philia agreed eagerly.
WHILE WE COULD LOCATE AND AWAKEN THE REST OF OUR KIN, MOST OF THEM HAVE YET TO FULLY REGAIN THEIR STRENGTH, SO THEY WOULD NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE AS YOU THINK, Great Coccinella warned them.
IN ADDITION, THERE IS THE MATTER OF THE SEAL, Great Formic spoke up.
Shin frowned. "The seal? Wait, don't tell me, one of the reasons you guys have been sleeping for so long is because you're reinforcing the seal on the great evil you fought eons ago, and if all of you wake up, there's a chance it could break free?"
Great Caelifer nodded. CORRECT.
Goro grimaced. "Oh, so it's one of those situations."
"Does that mean that by waking the five you up, we may have put the planet at risk?" Mibojin asked in concern.
OUR AWAKENING HAS WEAKENED THE SEAL, YES, BUT IT IS STILL FAIRLY STRONG, Great Manti assured her. TRUST US, IF THE EVIL WERE AT RISK OF BREAKING FREE, YOU WOULD KNOW.
IT ISN'T EXACTLY SUBTLE, Great Lepidoptera agreed.
Ariel frowned. "Wait… Is it possible the reason all of you have needed to take so long to recharge is because the evil has been passively draining you of your strength all this time and it could break free anyway? I heard that happened with one of the many, many things that threatened the world in the age of the dinosaurs."
Great Lepidoptera shook her head. NO, WE MADE SURE IT COULDN'T DO THAT. IT CAN'T BREAK THE SEAL BY DRAINING US.
Ariel sighed in relief. "Well, that's something."
"What, exactly, is the nature of this great evil?" Apista asked.
WHEN WE CAME UPON EARTH ALL THOSE EONS AGO, THE GREAT EVIL WAS ALREADY HERE, Great Coccinella related solemnly. THE SOLE RULER OF AN EMPTY, LIFELESS WORLD, AN EMBODIMENT OF THE DARKNESS AND CHAOS THAT EXISTED BEFORE THE UNIVERSE CAME INTO BEING.
IT HAD REIGNED THE ANCIENT EARTH FOR UNTOLD AGES, A CREATURE OF ABSOLUTE SOLITUDE WHO SO THOROUGHLY DESPISED THE CONCEPT OF LIFE OTHER THAN ITSELF EXISTING THAT IT HAD ERADICATED ALL POTENTIAL FOR LIFE DOWN TO THE SMALLEST BACTERIA, Great Formic continued.
SO, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT WASN'T EXACTLY HAPPY TO SEE US, Great Caelifer quipped.
"I imagine not," Mibojin agreed.
OUR EXISTENCE CAME AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE TO IT. IT HAD BEEN SO FOCUSED ON KEEPING THE PRIMORDIAL EARTH LIFELESS AND EMPTY IT HADN'T EVEN CONSIDERED THAT THERE MIGHT BE LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS, Great Manti went on.
AND ONCE IT BECAME AWARE OF THAT FACT… IT DECIDED THAT IT WOULD HAVE TO KILL EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, UNTIL IT WAS THE SINGLE, SUPREME EXISTENCE IN THE UNIVERSE, Great Lepidoptera related grimly.
UNDERSTANDABLY, WE COULDN'T LET IT DO THAT, Great Coccinella resolved. AND SO, FOR THE SAKE OF ALL LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, WE BATTLED THE EVIL, CAGED IT, THEN SEEDED THE PLANET WITH LIFE BEFORE FALLING ASLEEP TO REPLENISH OUR STRENGTH AND MAINTAIN THE SEAL, SO THAT IT MIGHT NEVER THREATEN ANYONE EVER AGAIN.
SO, BASICALLY, WE ARE THE REASON ANY OF YOU ARE HERE NOW, Great Caelifer pointed out.
"Thank you," Nushi replied, head spinning at this revelation.
YOU'RE WELCOME.
Shin whistled. "Okay, I see why you would rather not risk waking up the others if it might let that thing out."
"We may not have a choice in the matter," Mibojin pointed out. "I doubt Parasitica will simply send more and more monsters like the ones that we battled today, creatures that can easily be vanquished by Bug-Ōhi and ourselves. She will only create deadlier weapons and beasts in hopes that one of them will be strong enough to defeat us, and we will be forced to make ourselves stronger to deal with the growing threat, and she will send even more lethal opponents in response…"
"And before you know it, we'll be forced to wake up more and more of the Great Divine Insects to try and fend her off, bringing the great evil that much closer to returning," Shin finished grimly.
"Your Majesty, what about the mecha the Hive has been working on? Can we use those instead of waking up the Great Divine Insects?" Goro asked.
Apista shook her head. "No, they aren't nearly as strong as Great Divine Insects. They are merely machines, lacking souls, or any spark of the divine. If that Centicollosus and Gigasp you fought were among the weaker of the Fungigases my sister has available to her, I doubt we can build any mecha strong enough to effectively fight them, though our engineers will certainly do our best."
"Maybe we won't have to fight anymore Fungigases?" Nushi suggested. "You've reinforced the planetary barrier to prevent a similar attack like what happened today, and the meteor that hit Munich is the only sizable mass of fungus that landed on Earth. Without a large enough mass of fungus, she can't transport anything to the surface, even a Funghoul."
Ariel shook her head. "No, she'll find a way around that. Bad guys always do."
Apista nodded in agreement. "Indeed. In fact, it's possible she already has."
They felt the hum of the Buzzing, and suddenly all of them found themselves rewatching footage one of the fungal meteors that had made it through the planetary shield earlier that day being attacked by Hive drones. As they watched the scene play out for second time, drone fighters targeted the meteor with their weapons and obliterated it in a few seconds of heavy fire, then quickly targeted and destroyed the resulting fragments before they could spread too far.
The view then zoomed in on some of the leftover spores. As they watched, one by one the spores burned up in reentry and were no more…
Except for one single, stubborn, recalcitrant spore, which heated up but did not burst into flames, and continued drifting, unnoticed, towards the planet below.
"We missed one," a horrified Goro whispered as they returned to the balcony.
"And if one spore made it through…" Mibojin began.
"Others might have as well," Shin agreed grimly.
"But… Then why hasn't anything happened yet?" Wondered a very worried Ariel.
Apista sighed and spread her arms, radiating uncertainty. "I do not know. Perhaps a single spore is not enough to generate fungal mass as large or voraciously as what afflicted Berlin? As we speak, drones are sweeping the planet to try and find them. If they pick up even the slightest hint of fungal growth, we will know about it right away."
"Probably too late to do anything about it," Ariel remarked with uncharacteristic pessimism.
"If nothing's happened yet, that means we have time to come up with a plan," Nushi reasoned. She turned the Great Divine Insects. "I'm guessing you still don't think it's a good idea to wake up your friends."
They shook their heads. NOT JUST YET. WHILE THE SWARM IS INDEED A GRAVE THREAT TO THIS WORLD AND EVERYONE ON IT… THE GREAT EVIL IS WORSE, AND WE DO NOT THINK WE SHOULD REVIVE THE OTHERS UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
Nushi nodded, having expected this. "Okay. In that case… What I need to do right now is get to work studying the samples we picked up from the field. If we better understand how the fungus works, it'll be easier to fight it and anything else Parasitica throws at, so that whenever that leftover spore, and any others like it, start causing the problem, we'll be ready. Your Majesty, given that the mecha you have under construction are weaker than the Great Divine Insects, do you think we could cannibalize them for parts and use them to upgrade them? I hate to throw around the word 'obsolete'…"
THEN WHY DID YOU SAY IT AT ALL? Great Caelifer complained.
"But Hive science and technology has improved significantly since their time, and given how strong they are already, just think how much more powerful they'll be once they've been fully updated to the modern standard!" Nushi suggested excitedly.
WE ARE A BIT OUTDATED, Great Formic admitted grudgingly. I SUPPOSE IT COULDN'T HURT TO GET SOME FULL-SPECTRUM UPGRADES. IT WOULD MAKE IT EASIER FOR US TO RUN THE NEW SOFTWARE, IF NOTHING ELSE.
MY PROGRESS BARS HAVEN'T MOVED EVEN A FRACTION OF A PERCENT SINCE WE WOKE UP, Great Lepidoptera complained. DON'T YOU JUST HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS?
Everyone nodded in agreement, transmitting sympathy to her and the other Great Divine Insects.
"While we're at it, we might as well upgrade the ShinLiner, like we discussed," Shin pointed out. "That sword move we pulled off with it was pretty impressive. Just think how strong it'll be with some Hive augmentations!"
"Speaking of, we should probably start training in earnest," Goro added. "Considering how well we did operating basically on instinct, once we really know how our powers work, we'll be even more formidable."
"And while we're at it, perhaps we could help to train the Hive's military," Mibojin suggested. "While I am aware that we are to be the first line of defense… We cannot be everywhere at once. Now that we know my clan has pre-existing ties to the Hive through our veneration of Great Manti, I'm certain they will be more than happy to help train the ninja corps, as well as aid in the global search for Swarm influence that the drones might miss."
Goro nodded in agreement. "My contacts in the Army can help with that as well. If that's permissible, your Majesty?"
Apista nodded. "At this point, we need every advantage we can get."
"And on that note, I should reach out to my family and the Heavenly Saints," Ariel offered. "We already know that neither the Hive or the Swarm has much experience with magic, so that could be a big help. Especially if we can teach the Hive how to cast spells! That'll be a major advantage over our enemy!"
"Can I be your apprentice?" Philia pleaded desperately.
Ariel glanced at the Queen. Apista sighed in resignation. "I suppose so."
"Yes!" The princess cheered, her joy flooding the Buzzing.
Nushi smiled as hope and resolve started to flourish within her team, her friends… Her family. "I know things may look tough," she told them, drawing everyone's attention back to herself. "Parasitica is probably plotting some new scheme as we speak, and there's some ancient evil lurking beneath the surface. But remember, we've already won our first battle. We know the enemy can be beaten. And if or when this great evil becomes a problem? Well, it was defeated once too, which means it can be beaten again as well! And it'll be easier this time, because this time the Great Divine Insects won't just be fully upgraded with the latest and Hive technology, but they'll have us fighting alongside them as well, the greatest champions the Hive has to offer!"
"You are so hot right now," Ariel whispered, staring at Nushi reverently. "We are so going on a date once you finish your speech."
Nushi turned very red at this, but smiled proudly at everyone, taking pleasure in how much their spirits were being raised by her trust and faith in them and trying very hard not to think about how all the rather licentious thoughts rushing through the fox's mind right now regarding what the two of them were going to do during and after their date were making her heart race. Clearing her throat, she said, "Being a part of the Hive means that you're never alone, so as long as we stick together and give it our all, I don't think there's any challenge we can't surmount!"
…
Elsewhere…
The city lay in ruins.
Off in the distance, backlit by flames, two monstrous silhouettes resembling a spider and a scorpion rampaged, demolishing what was left of the skyline.
In the collapsing audience chamber of a ridiculously opulent – some might even say tacky – palace, two figures approached a dais at the back of the room, casually stepping over the corpses of dozens of soldiers, guards, robots, mercenaries, and bounty hunters. A grotesque, slug-like figure reclined on the dais, resembling a Hutt but even fatter, slimier, and more repulsive, looking more annoyed than afraid of the duo that had just massacred his best fighters.
The last line of defense standing between the master of the palace and the duo were half a dozen buxom slave girls wearing practically nothing at all, trembling in fear as they leveled guns and polearms at the intruders, the look in their eyes showing that as frightened as they were of the killers, the monster behind them scared them more.
The duo paused in front of the frightened, much-abused slaves, their expressions unreadable…
Mainly because they were wearing helmets. One of them was slender, incredibly curvy, with an impossible hourglass figure which barely seemed to be contained in the incredibly tight form-fitting bodysuit covering her from top to bottom, made of interlocking black octagons with a large red hourglass emblazoned on her chest and back. Spiderweb patterns covered her boots and clawed gloves, and four multi-jointed appendages grew from her back, clicking against each other and folding and unfolding in the air, fresh blood dripping from their tips and from her claws. Her shoulders were covered in armor resembling spiderwebs, and a device resembling a mechanical spider was wrapped around her left wrist. Over her head, she wore a helmet with a spider clutching what could only be a Hive microprocessor on her forehead, a red visor formed from a cluster of eight eyes, and a silver mouth plate carved to look like spider mandibles.
Her companion was taller than her by a head, and at least half again as thick, his purple bodysuit made of interlocking octagons looking more like armor than not-spandex, with huge gauntlets resembling pincers for hands, clawed boots, shoulder pads resembling scorpion pincers, and a multi-segmented metallic tail ending in a barbed stinger. His stinger and pincers were also dripping with blood, and a red hourglass shape was on his chest and back as well, and a device resembling a mechanical scorpion was wrapped around his left wrist. His head was covered in a helmet almost identical to his smaller companion's, except there was a scorpion on top instead of a spider.
The slave girls shook in absolute terror, whimpering as their eyes darted back and forth between the two interlopers, wondering which of them would kill them first. Abruptly, one of the spider woman's legs shot forwards, and one of the slaves screamed in fright and fired her gun – completely missing her, of course, it's not as if she'd ever even held a weapon before –
And, much to her surprise, realized she was completely unharmed, as were her fellow slaves. As they blinked in confusion, there was a cracking sound, and suddenly their slave collars fell apart, landing in pieces on the ground.
"Go," the spider woman said, gesturing to the room's exit with her head.
The slaves stared at her, dumbfounded.
"GO!" The scorpion man bellowed, causing the slaves to scream in fright and rush past them, racing towards the exit.
The slug on the dais sighed and rolled his eyes in irritation. "Typical. Then again, what more can you expect from slave labor?"
A disturbingly large smile stretching across his face, he clapped his hands together and straightened up somewhat, which had the unfortunate effect of revealing more of his absolutely disgusting, corpulent body. "All right, you've got my attention. How much to hire you as my new enforcers? Seeing as how you freed up my budget a bit by killing your predecessors so easily, I can afford to pay you a rather hefty sum."
The scorpion man bristled, livid. "I would rather rip off my own carapace then serve a worm like yourself."
"We have no interest in working for you," the spider woman said coldly.
If the slug had eyebrows, he would've raised them. But, since he just had eyestalks, one eye rose higher than the other. "Is that so? May I ask why, then, you felt it was so important to see me that you destroyed my city and wiped out my personal army to the last man just to gain an audience? You could've scheduled an appointment, you know."
"And you would have refused us," the scorpion man pointed out, which was true.
"Or forced us to jump through so many hoops and bureaucratic rigmarole it could be years before you deigned to grace us with your presence, and that's time we don't have," the spider woman added, which was also true.
"Fair enough," the slug conceded. "Why, then, are you here? Seeing as how I'm still alive, I assume you aren't assassins sent by one of my many rivals, ex-spouses, or the rest of my family."
"You are the largest information broker in this galaxy," the spider woman said. "There is something we need to know, and you are our best option to find it."
"You have a question for me, eh?" The slug murmured as he rubbed his many chins, saliva dribbling down his chest. "I think we can work something out. Of course, it will cost you. Given how much damage you've done to my property, you owe me a rather sizable amount. Fortunately, I take cash, credit… The living offspring of some of my enemies…"
A huge tongue, almost as obese and slimy as himself, licked his lips, sending more drool cascading down his chest as he leered at the spider. "I might even be willing to forgo all that if you would spend the night with me…"
Furious, the scorpion took a step forward, but his companion halted him with a palm to his chest. "We aren't paying you anything," the spider woman said calmly. "You will give us what we want, and then we will leave. We may even let you live."
"Though we might not," the scorpion man added, making it clear what he would prefer.
The slug shook his head in disappointment, his many rolls of fat quivering. "Really? Threats of violence? I assumed you were better than that, given your fighting prowess indicates you clearly aren't amateurs. If you kill me, you won't get the information you want. And torturing me won't work, I was willing to watch my wives and children raped and murdered without batting an eye rather than give up information to one of my enemies. I find pain rather… Pleasurable, really."
"We won't need to rely in such crude methods. We have other ways of making you talk," the scorpion gloated.
The slug rolled his eyes. "Goodness, maybe you really are amateurs. Haven't you done your homework? My species is immune to mind probes. Truth serums don't work either."
"Oh, we have something much more… Effective in mind," the spider promised.
Suddenly, one of her extra limbs extended, striking the slug in the forehead and sinking into his soft, greasy flesh. He frowned, his eyestalks twisting down to examine the appendage. "What good is that supposed to do? Didn't even hurt-"
Suddenly, the spider pulled her limb back, slowly… And taking a glistening strand with it, the thread shining with a slick, greasy aura as it was unraveled from the slug's cranium.
Now, at last, the slug showed a measure of fear, sweat rolling down his immense form and making him stink even more. "No… You… You're a Weaver?! I thought the Swarm wiped you all out!"
"Not all of them," the scorpion said smugly as the leg pulled the thread all the way back to the spider woman.
Her other three limbs extended and started pulling on the thread together, passing it before her visor, which was glowing in various different hues as it examined the thread, carefully feeling it with her claws as she gently coaxed it from the slug's head. From the way the crime lord was trembling, this was not a pleasant experience for him, and certainly not one he could take pleasure in.
Suddenly, she paused, fixing her gaze on a portion of the thread which, to anyone else, looked more or less identical to the rest of the filament. Slowly, she leaned forwards, the pedipalps on her face plate suddenly coming to life and tapping on the thread, which vibrated and elicited a strangled moan from the slug.
The spider woman nodded in satisfaction and straightened back up, shaking the thread free with a twitch of a limb and sending it shooting back into the slug's head, causing his head to snap back and briefly reveal that, at one point in his life, he had had a neck. "We've got what we came for," she told her companion. "Let's go."
"As you wish."
The duo turned started walking away.
"You… You think you can just violate me like that and get away with it?!" The slug bellowed, every inch of his obese form jiggling like gelatin. It was incredibly unpleasant to watch.
"You've been getting away with worse violations for years," the scorpion muttered, eliciting a brief laugh from his partner.
The slug didn't take it well. "You think this is funny?!" He roared. "You have no idea what you've just done! I'll hire every bounty hunter in the galaxy to find you! I will hunt you to the ends of the universe, and when I find you, I'll-"
He was cut off when a giant robot spider leg abruptly lanced down through one of the holes in the ceiling and skewered him through the top of his head. His jaw dropped, blood and other fluids secreting from all over his body. After a moment, with more than a little effort, the leg extricated itself, covered in gore and slime, and the slug collapsed on himself, deflating like a popped balloon as his innards became his outerds. A large glowing red eye peered in through a hole in the wall, made a noise of disgust, and scraped its leg against the ground to get as much of the slug's viscera off as possible.
Completely ignoring this, the scorpion asked, "So where do we go from here?"
"A small planet called Earth," the spider replied, holding up the spider-shaped device on her wrist. It lit up, projecting a hologram into the air of a smiling Apista, Philia, and a very pretty humanoid spider wearing a red cloak made of webbing.
The spider woman's visor retracted, revealing eight beautiful red eyes which shined like rubies. Regarding the hologram for a moment, she said, in a softer tone, "It's time for a family reunion."