Part VI: Kumonga
My name is Wes Atkins and I have pursued the profession of studying the most interesting creatures that nature has to offer… Kaiju! And there's no shortage of them here on Monster Island. My job is to venture out into this great land and show how Kaiju live in their natural habitat. But as you all know, I never go alone and I'm more than happy to share my experiences with many of you across the globe. So let's not delay and begin another adventure into the Wild World of Kaiju.
The opening shot shows Wes running through the jungle, quickly maneuvering past the dense foliage. The camera is traveling alongside Wes, keeping up with him as he continues to run while occasionally looking over his shoulder. After a short while he finally stops to rest and regain his breath.
"Welcome back folks," Wes still happily says while breathing heavily. "We hit a bit of a snag in the beginning. Today we were going to observe Kumonga, a giant arachnid that is 40 meters tall (131 feet) and 80 meters across (330 feet). Usually the larger Kaiju don't prey on humans because we're too small of a meal, but Kumonga was very interested in us for some reason. The encounter was too close for my liking so we ran away as fast as we could, unfortunately losing our camera and all the footage we had on Kumonga. Luckily we safely escaped and Shawn, being the outstanding cameraman he is, brought a spare with him. We managed to lose it in this denser part of the jungle and now we're going to try and navigate our way out of Kumonga's territory. But we'll keep the camera rolling just in case we come across something incredible."
Wes' breathing goes back to normal and he begins traveling through the jungle, with the camera following him from behind.
"I have to say, after our past couple of outings, I really miss being out here in person." Wes says with a chuckle. Suddenly the smile leaves his face and he grabs the cameraman, throwing himself and Shawn against the trunk of a large tree.
Just around the corner of the tree is a lone Kamacuras searching through the foliage for any potential prey. The large insect then slowly makes its way to their side of the tree. The Kamacuras seems unaware of Wes and his cameraman for the time being. It continues to scan the area, wildy darting it's head in different directions while creating a chattering sound with its mouthparts.
Wes continues holding his cameraman against the tree, remaining calm and keeping his gaze on the creature that is only a few yards away from them. The Kamacuras turns its back on the two and starts to scuttle away with its four insect-like legs. Wes begins to relax his body and releases the grip he had on his cameraman.
"Perhaps I was a little premature with my comment," he whispers to the camera while still keeping his eyes on the Kamacuras. "Never thought we would be seeing one of them again, ey? I understand why because this dense jungle environment hides them from larger Kaiju just as well as the trees that cover the Kamacuras' territory. I can completely relate with hiding from things that want to eat you. But we should try and get going because if you recall, Kamacuras are pack hunters and the rest are usually not far behind."
The camera then shifts to the lone Kamacuras currently heading away from their position. But without warning, some kind of net emerges from the ground below the Kamacuras and envelopes the entire creature. The Kamacuras ferociously tries to break free but the net seems to trap the creature the more it struggles. As the camera zooms in, it's revealed that the net is made out of a yellow colored webbing.
The struggle gets the attention of Wes as he walks into view of the camera, hiding behind a tree as he gazes at the scene straight ahead of him. Wes then appears to notice something up in the trees and guides the camera by pointing at it. The camera follows his direction and directly above the trapped Kamacuras is a spider, dangling by a yellow thread of webbing.
The cameraman then makes his way to Wes' side, still maintaining a shot where both the host and the creatures are in frame.
"Now that ladies and gentlemen is known as a Spiga which are a species of spider that can grow up to 2 meters tall (6 feet) and 4 meters wide (13 feet). These arachnids are actually related to Kumonga and research has determined that they might be a subspecies of the Kaiju. But other than them being large spiders, they are actually very different from each other. A Spiga's legs are much thicker than Kumonga's and allows them to expertly climb the trees that they live in. Another difference is that Spigas have all eight of their eyes clustered in one area on top of its body known as the cephalothorax, which is the fused head and thorax of the spider. On the other hand, Kumonga has its eyes in the front and sides of its cephalothorax. The final distinction is that Spiga's have a long proboscis, which is a tube-like mouthpart that acts like a needle. The Spiga will use this to inject its prey with venom and then suck out all the goodies inside like a straw. This proboscis mouthpart is not seen in any other species of spider and is completely unique to the Spiga."
After a few minutes, the Kamacuras tires itself and stops struggling. The Spiga takes notice and begins rappelling itself down by the web strand.
"Unlike the Kamacuras, Spigas are ambush predators." Wes continues. "What the Spiga will do is craft a net with its webbing and place it on the jungle floor. It will then cover the net with dirt, leaves, and other foliage to hide it. The Spiga then climbs back up into the trees where it can safely wait for prey to walk over its trap. When a prey animal is over the net, the Spiga will pull on a thread, that's connected to the trap, and the unsuspecting prey gets enveloped in a webbed netting that is very difficult to escape from. Then it's only a matter of time until the Spiga comes to claim its prize."
The Spiga touches down onto the jungle floor and gets close to the Kamacuras, separating its mouthparts and flickering its proboscis in and out. As the Spiga was about to administer its venom, the Kamacuras springs to life and uses its sharp appendage to slice off one of the Spiga's legs. With its now free arm, the Kamacuras begins slicing through the net and freeing itself from the trap. It then pounces on the injured Spiga, and both creatures begin grappling with one another.
"And just like that, the tables have turned on the predator." Wes commented.
The Kamacuras and Spiga, still interlocked, struggle to gain the upper hand on the other. One is injured while the other is struggling with fatigue, yet neither are relenting in the battle. The fight is evenly matched among the two but a familiar screeching is heard nearby. Two more Kamacuras emerge from the jungle and rush to the aid of their pack member. The Spiga manages to use its legs to throw off the lone Kamacuras and gets back on its legs. However the Spiga then finds itself surrounded now by three Kamacuras. Despite its disadvantage, the Spiga holds its ground and splays out its legs in different directions, giving it a more imposing appearance.
"While they're distracted, we better make our escape before anymore show up." Wes says as he carefully slips away from the scene.
The camera looks away from the battle and follows Wes as he starts trudging through the jungle vegetation, while the sounds of the sounds of the Kamacuras fill the air. Wes continues traveling through the area and comes across an opening to a cave. He slowly approaches the entrance and turns one of his ears towards the cave.
"Nothing appears to be inside, so it should be safe to use this cave as a temporary shelter." He says after a moment of silence.
"Should?" the cameraman repeats.
"Don't worry Shawn, I activated our distress beacon so we just have to wait until we get airlifted out of here. It sounds like the Kamacuras are still nearby so I don't want to take any chances." He reassuringly says to his cameraman.
Wes begins entering into the cave with the camera focused on him as he does. The entirety of the inside is made out of an undefined type of rock with water leaking from small pockets in the walls. From outside the entrance, the cries of the Kamacuras sound louder and appear to be getting closer.
Wes immediately grabs his cameraman and rushes into the darkness. As Wes continues deeper into the cavern, it's discovered that the cave is much deeper than it appears. It becomes increasingly harder to see and the camera is eventually consumed by the darkness. The atmosphere eventually gets so quiet that the mics are able to pick up the sounds of water droplets hitting the cavern floor.
After several minutes of maneuvering through the dark, the camera picks up a small bead of light and the pair immediately start heading towards it. Getting closer to the light, the source is revealed to be a narrow opening in the rock wall. Wes goes through first, squeezing himself in between the opening. After making it through, he signals his cameraman and follows the host through. The cameraman squeezes through the tight fit and emerges on the other side.
The camera pans around to show the inside of a giant empty cavern. Across the way, the camera shows a large opening that leads back out into the jungle. A very noticeable detail was that the cavern walls were covered in a thick webbing that stuck to Wes' hand as he went to go touch it. Wes closely inspects the webbing and doesn't take long for him to realize where they were.
"I cannot believe it folks, we seem to have stumbled upon Kumonga's den." He says with a sense of amazement. "I am simultaneously delighted and terrified right now. Very few researchers have been able to see the inside of Kumonga's den and live to tell the tale. But not only do we now have documented footage, you folks can see this place for yourselves."
After finishing his statement, Wes walks over to inspect a large ball of webbing nearby.
"Wes let's go before we end up here permanently," The cameraman begs while still maintaining a shot on the host.
Wes then runs over to the camera with an overjoyed expression on his face.
"Do you know what that is Shawn? It's an egg sac, which not only means that our giant arachnid is a female but it explains why she was trying to hunt us. Kumonga is gathering food for when her spiderlings hatch." Wes ecstatically says. "Ok fine, as enriching as this was, we better start to make our way out before we become part of their menu."
The camera follows Wes as he quickly begins to make his way towards the opening to the cavern. Without warning, Wes hears an all too familiar noise coming from outside and three Kamacuras suddenly scurry in from the mouth of the opening.
Wes and his cameraman hide behind a rock formation as the Kamacuras begin sweeping through the cavern.
"If those Kamacuras manage to find the egg sac, they won't hesitate to make a meal out of it. I normally won't interfere with nature, but I can't just let those eggs get eaten. Especially when Kumonga isn't here to defend them herself."
Wes then starts digging through his backpack, looking for something in particular. After fishing through the contents he pulls out two metal cylinders and shows them to the camera.
"It's a really good thing that I still have these smoke grenades. I brought these during our second adventure but we didn't get a chance to use them. Now we're going to test my theory and see if these will work on the Kamacuras." Wes says as he pulls the pins from both grenades and throws them near the three creatures.
The sound of the grenades hitting the cave floor gets the attention of the Kamacuras and the three turn around to investigate the source of the noise. Both grenades then erupt into two plumes of thick smoke, startling the Kamacuras. The large insects begin shrieking their shrill cries at the smoke and one takes a swing with its sharp appendages. The other two soon join in on the assault, with each of their swings ineffectively passing through the smoke.
"The best part about testing out theories is when you discover they are true. It's safe to say that the smoke grenades absolutely work in distracting Kamacuras." Wes says as he continues to watch the praying mantises attack the smoke.
The Kamacuras are so focused on the fumes that they are oblivious to approaching danger. A thick strand of web shoots through the smoke and traps the praying mantises in a clump of thick silk. The webbed attack was followed by a distinct set of chirping sounds and the camera focuses on Kumonga entering through the cave opening.
The giant arachnid was all brown and covered in hundreds in fine hairs. Its 8 legs were long and slender, along with 2 smaller legs near its face. In between its smaller legs were 2 long fangs that pointed downwards. On top of its cephalothorax were 8 of its spider-like eyes that were a white color. As Wes stated, 6 of the eyes faced forward while two flanked both sides of its face.
"I think Kumonga was nearby and the smoke grenades were enough to get her attention." Wes whispers to the camera. "She is so spectacular but very chilling to see up close. Now if you see with her fangs, they point downwards and that makes it rather difficult to bite other large Kaiju. Like tarantulas, she has to rear up her whole upper body just to bite her opponent and that expends too much energy as well as exposes her underside. Because of this, she relies on an ability that is unique to Kumonga herself. She can spray streams of web from her mouth parts, known as pedipalps, due to her silk glands being located in her cephalothorax. All spiders usually have their silk glands in their abdomen and expel it by spinnerets. Most spiders also have only about six silk glands, depending on the species, but not Kumonga. She has 12 glands, double the amount, and how she shoots it is that her glands tense up and pressurize the silk. This allows her to spray her silk up to a kilometer away (0.62 miles) and with so many silk glands, she can keep producing web for a much longer time. Kumonga's silk is also incredibly strong but it was discovered that fire, or any high heat, is the only thing that can break it. So if you ever find yourself stuck in Kumonga's webbing, a simple lighter is enough to get you out of it."
Kumonga, oblivious to the human's presence, steps over the camera with its 8 long legs. It walks over to the immobilized Kamacuras and crouches down low to them. The spider then begins shaping the web around the praying mantises into a silken ball. After successfully encasing the Kamacuras into a tightly woven ball of web, Kumonga picks up her catch and proceeds to carry it into her den.
With the Kaiju out of sight, Wes and his cameraman exit through the cave opening. They travel a good bit away from Kumonga's den and stop when they see an aircraft circling around their position.
"It looks like our friends in the Defense Force have found us and just in time too. I don't think Shawn could've lasted much longer. But despite today's hectic adventure, I still had a blast!" Wes says joyfully. "We got to see some creatures, old and new, as well as discovering new revelations about Kumonga herself. When we get back, I'll be sure to inform the Defense Force about her eggs so that they can help ensure they will hatch into healthy spiderlings. I hope you found this adventure to be as thrilling as I did. Thank you folks again for joining me and I hope you will be back next time when we return to the Wild World of Kaiju."