Anyone who took a moment to listen to Jericho's mumblings would hear him saying "Can't kill him, can't kill him, can't kill him" over and over again, likely referring to Valerius. Eventually he calmed down enough to give an affirmative nod and checked his pistols, pulling one out to make sure it was fully loaded before leaving. "When you're all ready, come get me. I'll be in the cargo hold seeing what parts still need to be installed and what not." With a lazy wave back at the group, he heads out the door then stops and pokes his head back in.

"Oh, and Kidd, that bird is a result of generations of exposure. Worst you'd get from exposure to a radioactive wasteland like Russia is radiation sickness. Which really sucks. But with today's medical advances, it's not just treatable, it's curable." Then he leaves, letting the Furlyne mull that fact over while the others figured out what the non-combat team would be doing.

Anastasia-Ghostly Mother Russia

Anastasia prepped her gear up. The suits were in another crate ready for the crew to go on land. She prepped her railgun and readied herself. She waited for all the crew to put on their suits as well. Once they all readied she raised her voice so they could all hear.

"Listen up all of you. For whoever is joining for the expedition into the city! I will be leading it. I know this city like the back of my hand, even in its destroyed state. We are going into this city to find our bounty and get out. Our bounty is a spider about the size of a small horse. Easy. We are to bring it in dead. No excuses. We would have had an easier time, but someone interrupted me when I was tracking it. I’m not blaming anyone, but now we might run into more trouble. All of you we’re heading out. But one last thing. None of you besides us going into the city are to leave the ship. I don’t care what the captain told you, this is my words. It’s too quiet out there, even for a supposedly dead city. there’d still be stragglers or something. Only we will explore. I don’t care about valuables. There’s nothing valuable left. Now let’s go.”

Anastasia-First Step Into Russia

The bay doors hissed open as the squad stepped out. They took their first breaths in their suits, making tracks in the snow. The snow glowed a light white, the radiation giving it color. Anastasia tapped her communications, trying to talk to the others.

"Come in. Come in. We're on the ground now. Be careful. I hear there's ghosts around now. I don't believe in ghosts nut now wouldn't be a bad time to start. Move forward."

"G-ghosts...?", he said, shaken on the communications. His facial expression changed... He didn't see any ghosts yet, but it certainly looked like there could be some here... As Anastasia went on to say more...

"T-there's no way ghosts exist, ahahahahaaaa....", Valerius trailed off a bit, voice still visibly shaken. His usual demeanour was quite different to how he was now. In any case...

"A-a-a-and if there were... Th-these suits will keep us safe... Right?", no one answered him as he followed Anastasia into the ruins. It was a ghastly sight to behold. These were destroyed ruins, or at least, most of it was not destroyed, there was a wind that swept up the landscape giving it life, yet no life at all. It was dusty, decrepit, and dreadfully devoid of life. The only sound you can hear was the wind, and honestly, Valerius hoped that would be the only sound they hear besides their allies...

Somehow the sub-captain had completely disappeared… though if you really wanted to find her you would’ve just had to look for a slight ooze of killing intent as she lurked in the shadows imagining over 100 ways for her brother to die.
That was until she got bored realising none of them would happen and went back to the ship to find some pleasant gifts in her room which she took time to look at. Sasha spent a considerable amount of time in her room until there was a knock on the door.
“...um is this Sasha’s room?” the voice said.
Sasha got up and opened the door to find a man with long silver hair standing there. she stood there blankly for a minute until something clicked.
“oh you must be my to…. i mean personal servant”

----

Sasha decided it was best to stay behind as most of the ones who seemed capable of fighting left for the expedition. It was never a good idea to leave a ship vulnerable. Though her real intentions where to find out about her toy which she hadn't been able to talk to much yet… yes...talk.

“so were you assigned a name or do i have to choose one for you?” She was extremely blunt in the start of the conversation.

Russia.....Earth....

He knew what had happened to it but seeing the sight for himself was something else. Granted it was only what he could see in the surrounding area that the ship but it was interesting nonetheless. While Ana left the choice of who was going along and staying up to Valerius, but in the end, she disregarded everything he said. It made him wonder who truly was the captain of the ship. He had to chuckle, It was what humans and like-minded races did in such situations, no? Well, it was the appropriate reaction, indeed. The Daily workings of the crew was kind of like those old comedy tv shows. It was quite the collection of characters he --- they had aboard the ship.

Either way, it was quite fortunate that it happened since it allowed him to go along. Well, let's be honest. Even if she didn't intervene like that, he was still going to go. It's been such a long time since he was on earth, there was no chance he was going to sit behind and miss an opportunity to pick up some new information. Also encountering strange creatures, of course. It was just that the intervention justified him going along. He wanted to try to get along with the humans and also wanted to test out the new knives he got. They were supposedly one of the sharpest and durable knives one can get but he wanted to ascertain their quality for himself.

Something else that was quite fortunate was that given his race, a suit wasn't needed. He knew the humans needed them, though. Their body composition can be such a burden sometimes, you just got to pity them. Taking the rear, like a real butler would, he followed them out of the ship and onto earth soil. It was covered in light white snow, which was made glow due to the radiation. In a situation like this, one would say its beautiful, yes? As they continued to move forward Ana said something about ghosts in the area, well, that's what it sounded like anyway. Ghosts, huh? The topic of ghosts date back a long ways in the human race, they were in practically every culture and each have their own stories of them.

Stories about them and other various supernatural related things were always something he found interesting. They in themselves have quite the interesting history. While there was many that believed in them, there was also those who didn't as well those that are afraid of such things. From the looks of it, it didn't seem like any of them would be the type to believe in such things. But like many other things, looks can be quite deceiving. A perfect example would be their seemingly fearless, yet a little slow, captain. The slightest mention of them had him acting differently. It seems that he's afraid of them, huh? Given his reputation, one wouldn't expect such a character afraid of something like 'ghosts'.

His body bathed in black, blending in perfectly with dark setting, appeared right behind Valerius. Bringing his face close to Valerius's ear, in a light but erry voice. "Don't be silly." He paused, taking in his reaction before continuing. "The suits protect against radiation and the like not ghosts. They can easily slip in and out. One could even be hiding in there as we speak now." he smiled.

Jericho was even with Anastasia, his pistols leading the way around every corner and into every room, his armor monitoring the radiation and his vitals. If he felt like it, and it wasn't a bad idea, he could set up the armor to monitor the entire crew. Well, the human and Furlyne members anyways. The Unnamed probably had their own ways of keeping healthy that Jericho wouldn't get. At the mention of ghosts and Valerius's sudden demeanor change, Jericho laughed. "The whole damn planet's got ghosts, Miss Ana. Work crews over in the former US report strange things all the time and with the amount of radiation here in Russia, it could take decades before they start making serious headway here. But it's not the ghosts you want to worry about," Jericho peeks around a corner at an intersection, thoroughly clearing it, before continuing, "it's the beasties the radiation has created."

And that wasn't even taking into account the giant fucking spider they were chasing that was an added outside element. Feels like Agnor Prime all over again... Looking around at all the ruined buildings, he can remember just twenty years prior, when his dad was on vacation, they visited important cities around Earth. Moscow had been their second to last start and as a child, he'd been so fascinated with how everything was different from where he lived in Boise. Now all that was left to remind him of that child hood memory was rubble and ruins. "Deus misereatur," was all he said under his breath.

Anaatasia led the crew down the ruined streets. The small piles of rubble of the slums slowly turned to towering steel skeletons and moutains of ruined buildings. Anastasia settled an uneasy hand on her railgun. It felt awkward around. Despite being a city that was nuked to hell, the silence was uneasy. It felt too quiet, and the dampened sounds didn't help either. She stared around. She caught sight of it in an instant. The rubble from a lesser building moved. Out of the ruins, came a woman with an engorged stomach. An arm was missing and pus poured from every orifice. She staggered towards the group. Her leg was gimped and one eye was missing. Anastasia backed up. The horror spoke up, but it was more croak then voice.

He..lp... me... it... hu....rt...s sooo mu....chhhh......

Anastasia back stepped again and barked out orders.

All of you! Stay back! It's a trick! Watch!

Anastasia swung her gun around to the front of her. Powering it up, she fired, letting it rock. The laser fired right into the mutants head, and it let out a horrific ear shattering scream, collapsing to the ground.

But...but... but.....

Anastasia stammered as she looked for answers. It had to be an enemy. No one could have survived the blasts. No one. Anastasia brainstormed for an excuse. She had to explain killing an innocent person in pain. She thought hard. The stomach bubbled and bubbled. It msde rumble noises. The body raised itself again. Spidery appendages burst forth out of the stomach, spraying black blood all over the ground in front of the body. The limbs grew in size, approaching the ground and hovering the body in middair. Another scream was let out. From the middle of the stomach, a head burst forth, the same features as the head Ana had just blasted before, but now it had eight eyes and a look of ferocity.

Shit! Ana yelled out. She brought up her gun and blasted again. No effect. It phased through the chest and left nothing more than a hole. She fired again, piercing the distended stomach. The screams became louder, cracking the visor of Ana's helm. The body of the host collapsed to the ground. It shuttered and twitched. No more movement. It was finished. Ana breathed and sighed a relieved sigh. No avail. From the cracks of buildings and rubble more and more hosts appeared, already formed. They all had different distensions, ranging from the head to the arms to the legs, giving them all awkward hangs. Anastasia barked out more orders.

All of you! Circle formation! Back to back! Aim for the distensions! That'll kill them quick! Watch your visors! Their screams will crack the material!

Anastasia backed up slowly, hoping the others would do the same.

Anastasia hadn't even finished giving her orders when she felt Jericho's back hit hers, his twin laser pistols singing their triumphant song as each of the hosts for the weird spider creatures hit the ground. "Yeah, clear steel and titanium alloy faceplate. Bought it after hunting down a creature that screeched like this but was much," he ducked beneath a spider creature's leg and brought one of the bayonet's up into it's face, killing the thing and allowing him to continue, "easier on the eyes. Can't remember what it was called for the life of me though."

With his jab made, Jericho became focused on the job, his weapons moving in perfect sync with his body, the dodges, the lunges, the sidesteps. Everytime he moved out of harms way, the attacker felt the brief sting of a laser round passing through it's weakness before falling dead. At one point he even kicked a leg out from under one of the spider things, putting the round in it's head from point blank range. "I recognize the hosts, Remnants is what the restoration workers call 'em, people who survived the radiation of the bombings but carried horrible mutations with them and passed the curse on to their children. Based on what happened to these guys, I think I know what that spider thingy can do now." Jericho flipped over another swipe from yet another spider and kicked it in the head before putting a round in it. He also didn't envy ending up like these poor bastards.

"W-w-what?! In this- Get me outta this thing! Come on there can't be ghosts! There are no ghosts... They're... Stands. Yes! Stands, no, no no no ghosts ahahahahahaa, ghosts, that's silly, stands, right? Right?", he retorted in a panic while scrambling around as if trying to get something out of the back of his shirt, even though he had a sort of hazmat suit on. No on responded to him understandably.

"I-I mean, seriously, ghosts don't exist. They're stands- AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!",

He..lp... me... it... hu....rt...s sooo mu....chhhh......

Immediately out of instinct Valerius shrieked and jumped behind Ana as if hiding from the source of the sound, hugging at her back. She immediately put the thing down, but a horrifying event transpired, with spiders bursting forth, along with an eight eyed head. As things continued on, more of the same things with variations began to appear...

"Well, these aren't ghosts", he stated, pulling out a single lightsaber. The blade of pure energy extended from the handle as he suddenly stood strong again. He changed his demeanour rather quickly, as he stood his ground ready to strike down these mutations. They weren't ghosts, the spiders were creepy, but they weren't ghosts, he can hit them, they're not dead yet, he should be okay... For now.

Anastasia was horrified at all of the creatures. They lumbered but their step was... unnatural. It creeped her out and made matters worse. She raised her gun to fire again when she felt arms from behind wrap around her. Her skin started flushing, turning a deep crimson red, from the unexpected unwanted intimacy. She stepped forward quickly to avoid anymore unwanted advances.

"Kya! Hey you! Captain! Hands off!"

Ana twirled around and fired right over Valerius' head, nearly singing his hairs and shoving a leaping host through the building it was jumping from.

"Is that clear?" And you! Jericho! These aren't just some mutated freaks. Look at that corpse over there when you get a chance.

The stench hit before any of them could look. The body on the ground was quickly rotting, at a much faster speed than should have happened. It quickly disintegrated into nothing but a skeleton. The other bodies were following suit, the wafting air of death hitting all of their senses. Anastasia barked out her next order.

"All of you! Finish them off. They're nearly gone! Go!" Anastasia rung up the comms for the ship. "Anastasia coming in! All of you, stay on the ship! I repeat! Don't leave the ship! There's hostiles all around! Stay safe! Ana out!"

Anastasia whipped out her railgun and started firing off rounds in rapid succession.

Jericho had a witty retort ready to throw the cyborg woman's way when he was forced to duck under the grasping claws of one of the mutants. "Fuck off, you annoying insects!" Spinning around, he holsters his pistols and draws his katana, activating the laser edge and slicing upwards through it's weakness, the spider falling dead with another screech. Pivoting in place, he rams the tip of the katana into another spider creature's weakness, pulling free and then sheathing it again and drawing his pistols again, firing into three more of the creatures and dropping them. He'd never admit it, but his skin was crawling just from the fact that they were bugs, to hell with the fact that it was some kind of twisted zombie effect. But they were almost all dead, so he could go a little longer.

Moving back towards the group, after realizing he'd been forced away by the fighting, he realized that if these were corpses, and little more than skeletons, how-he sidesteps a thrusting claw and cuts it off with a bayonet before putting a laser round in the weakness before resuming his train of thought. How were they moving, or covered in flesh for that matter. Reaching the group again, he spins in time to have to leap over a pair of stabbing clawed legs and shoot their owner. "Anyone else tired of these things?"

XAR quietly went back to the cargo room that had also served as his personal quarter since his cryo-capsule was packed in there and observed the crates that were either labelled with his name, or the ship or Ana's for his idea was either of these crates would be having the goodies for his little walk.

In a crate labelled Ana he found the rail-gun. He remembered the Cyborg's wish and left it as it is and went over towards the larger crate. Opening it revealed his gift or atleast he thought it was his. Two sparkling new laser Gatlings. He removed them of the packing and tried them on. A few minutes later while everyone gathered on the bridge he walked to them. Both arms now holding a Gatling with the power supply worn like a backpack and power chords coiled around arms like giant wranglers from Planet Kospice.

As the view of the land became clear a large bird landed on the deck, like one of those Stymphalians of Planet Terra, it had four wings and a ugly face. XAR leveled his gun at it and it flew away. The Starchaser avoided a hole in it. After a brief check in and consideration the teams were made. Of course he was put on the explorer one. Outside of the Cyborg he didn't think that anyone could handle heavy machinery as he can.

As they walked into the winter wasteland, they were soon face to face with a mutation. There was a lot of wasted potential XAR thought as Ana dispatched it with relative ease. He was still standing there in a haze when a firefight broke out and his companions were busy in wiping the incoming horde of crawlies. Twisted, ugly, writhing creatures that seemed once human ambled out of a building. It wasn't until Jericho shot one on XAR's shoulder that he realized that he was supposed to fight as well. Afterall, he had the biggest gun there, he needed to test its teeth.

He stood in a wide stance and aimed at the building, the button to the battery was flicked and the capacitor was pushed to power up completely, those that strayed close were blasted by a blast of cosmic energy that seem to come from a floating orb over XAR's head. Sort of a self-defence system to avoid getting a crawlie back on his shoulder again. The blast wiped the target from existence. Five minutes passed as he watched on irked, the others were having so much fun. Even the guy introduced as the actor was piling up a great body count. The Captain was also swinging around his sword like a damned Jedi from the Iconium Galaxy and Ana was being an all around badass. XAR was stuck with a gun that was still powering.

'POWER UP SEQUENCE COMPLETE.' a mechanical voice identified. About damn time XAR thought. He pushed on to the firing buttons.

And then,

The building was bathed in red and blue. Red laser beams emerged from his left hand Gatling and fluorescent blue emerged from his right as his feet dug deeper into the ground. Had he not been so heavy, the recoil would have thrown him in the back building.

PEW! PEW!

PEW! PEW!

Taste this mutherfuckahs! would be his iconic line too had he seen some good human action flicks. Sadly, XAR knew nothing like this so he said "I'm bored."

Valerius's reaction was certainly something else alright. To help allay his fears, he started calling them 'stands'. Hmm, stands.... as in that one manga that was popular a few centuries ago? Seems like it. Well anyways, it's not like he has anything to be afraid of. Those things were certainly not ghosts. "So some remained after all. Out for a late night snack?" he mused, seemingly enjoying himself or that's what it looked like at least.

As they began to move closer, he took out his knives and hurled them at the creatures. Some went down but the rest of them didn't. Seemingly going right through them. Well now, isn't this something. It was in that moment where Ana ordered them into formation. Or something like that. The others were forming one it must be what she said. The drawback to not wearing a suit, hmm? But it seemed like Ana caught on to their weak spot, that swelling. If I was human, what would I be feeling at this moment? Pity? Maybe so, those 'things' certainly didn't ask for this but it can't be helped.

Tossing another wave of knives at them, some managed to move in close. With one of his knives in hand, he slashed them down and smashed his fists into the swellings. It was a messy affair but one that couldn't be helped. He must say, while not exactly overpowering, there was quite a number of them, one that might annoy one more than anything/ But if there was anything to not like about them, it was the disgusting smell of rotten flesh. It was quite odd yet thrilling at the same time to see them disintegrate in such speed was quite interesting.

Another bit that was interesting was that even after all that firing, Xar found himself bored. Well, given the history of his race, that's to be expected. With a smile and turned and responded to Jericho. "Tired already? Isn't this tame compared to what you usually do on set?" he teased, joining in on the actor joke before smashing down another one of the insects.

After the expedition team left, the Furlyne mechanic got back to work with cartons of milk at his side. At one point, he figured the comms room would need some fixing up and upgrading as well while the rest of the mechanic crew got to work around the engine maintenance room. He waved his head around the room, checking the general physical status of the machinery. Before he could get his hands on any of his equipment, a familiar, female voice spoke from one of the speakers of the room, warning them of the condition outside. 'Psh, I ain't taking any step outside anyways.', Kidd thought to himself with a roll of his eyes and shrugging off the command. Slightly curious about how many hostilities the expedition team had just encountered, he searched the room for a radar of sorts to track down beings in the vicinity while taking a last sip of milk and crumpling the carton remains.

"Ah hah, here we go. ...Huh. It's pretty ancient, this ain't gonna cover much distance. Hm... Jericho's radar from his ship should do the trick!" With that, he quickly paced back to the room he was previously at to retrieve a couple of equipment and the radar piece, generously donated by the bounty hunter. Before replacing the tech, the male brunette properly checked if the advanced machinery part was compatible to the current state of the tech of the room, result being barely at the minimum requirement. It was still usable, but not to its full potential which Kidd supposed it couldn't be helped as of now. He can readjust it later when he had the time but for now, scanning the premises was more of a priority.

Click. The upgraded radar came to life with a press of a button. Kidd adjusted the radar's area of focus to where he spotted a group of beings with transmitters on their suits, which would have been most likely the crew who had left. Around them were several unidentified beings who were reducing in number every couple of minutes. The boy pressed another button on the main speaker machinery to transmit a message back to Ana and the crew. "Kaaay... I see whatcha mean there, yer pretty much surrounded. And there's this odd one I'm readin' up ahead from where you're at. Better watch your backs."

Valerius moved quick, and slashed with almost perfect precision each time. Watching him was like watching a laser tornado pass through. He swiftly took down the closest ones before moving to take down the ones trying to sneak up on them, after the first one he realized that there was a particular point he had to slash in order to dispatch of them quickly. They were slow, so he was able to strike them before they could properly try to get to him, but numerous, though their numbers seemed to be thinning out. After a couple more he briefly went into ease.

"Jericho is this all CG too?", he asked, before cutting down a few more.

"Tell the crews to stop, this is annoyingly realistic".

A laser round barely misses Valerius' ear as it hits one of the spiders behind him. "Sorry, almost didn't see that one in time." He ducked another swiping claw and rammed the bayonet of one pistol into the following head while using the other to blast the weakness. "Enough jokes. Seriously, I don't know how much longer I can keep from shooting you and I would rather grow to like you than think of ways I can kill you." He slides under the belly of another spider and comes up behind it, lighting it up with laser rounds before reloading.

It felt like they'd been fighting off these things for forever, but the numbers were finally beginning to thing out. Hell, Ana was taking out three or four at a time with her railgun, and Jericho wasn't sure how much aiming she was doing besides the first one. Looking around, he realized that he may have joined up with a crew that was more than just building a name for themselves, but also who might be able to pull humanity out of what ever hell they'd thrown themselves into. He didn't follow closely, he just knew he was one of a quickly shrinking number of alive and well to do humans.

Patches' spider limbs scritched and scratched along the ceiling of the ship, causing an echo. He liked the look of the ship. A nice rustic look, one he would enjoy if the crew of the ship let him stay. Slowly along the ceiling he followed the cat, watching it go into a room. It said something about enemies, and a larger one up ahead. Uh oh. He scurried quickly and dropped to the ground, using his human legs to walk. He shoved the cat out of the way.

Patches spoke into the microphone, his scottish accent shining through.

Um. Hello. Is this thing on? Oh yes, yes it is. Uh, hello, just a fun and fair warning from your friendly neighborhood spiderman, that spider you're hunting? It's about the size of a small skyscraper. Might or might not also spit burning acid. I can't quite remember to be honest. Patches out.

Patches turned around and gave a silent friendly wave to the odd cat. He had never met one of these races in real life, it would be cool to talk to one.



The last host went down with a thud, smacking into the ground and quickly decomposing. The flesh rended from the bone, and nothing was left but a skeleton. The voices echoed on the radio, with Kidd’s coming first. Anastasia listened to the message. She turned her comms on to talk back, but was quickly silenced by the second voice. It was scottish. Oh she hated scots. He warned her about the size of the spider, and its rather… odd… ability.

”Confirmed. Anastasia out.” Anastasia turned around and addressed the rest of the crew. ”Be ready. We have one hell of a fight on our hands. A source says skyscraper sized. Beware its acid spit apparently too.Move out.

The walk was long, and mostly less eventful than the fight before. They trekked and trekked through the snow. Ana stopped for a brief moment. ”Hold up. This is odd. The snow stops here on the ground. It is still falling, but not collecting on the ground. It seems to melt as soon as it hits the ground. It just...disappears.” She looked around again. the buildings had a different sense about them. They were crumbled, but it looked as if something had worn them down past just being broken by a bomb. the breaking points were smooth, not the jagged nature of the rest. The shadow skipped past. She barely caught a glimpse of it. It skittered across the building. She was wary now. ”All of you! Keep low. It’s here somewhere, but I can’t track it. Watch out.”

Jericho dove into the nearest piece of cover and looked over it, frowning when he didn't see anything and looking towards Ana. "This thing's the size of a sky scraper right? How in the hell does a big bloody spide just up a vanish without a trace like this?" Jericho stops and looks around at all the rounded edges and the lack of snow on the ground and shrugs.

"OK, well, besides all the obvious stuff that marks this as it's lair. I mean, sky scrapers are rather large." He moved up slowly, preferring to keep to cover and use it should the thing shoot any acid his way. That would be a very bad day for any of them if they took a hit. Just remember the paycheck and the rep you'll build from this Jericho. Keep that in mind and you won't loose it and make a lethal mistake. Would he still make A mistake? Yes, but at least it wouldn't get him killed or losing a limb or something like that. Frankly, he had no desire to be like cyborg girl that was their unofficial leader.

Upon having suddenly being shoved aside, Kidd was about to protest when he took a glimpse of... whatever the creature that stood in front of him, in total silence for a good couple of minutes, eyes widened in shock. After the human-spider looking mutant finished his piece of advice, or perhaps more of a warning, to the expedition crew and waved at the Furlyne, his senses rushed back to him with a frightened shout at the top of his lungs and throwing of the wrench in his hand at the creature. Since it was a throw without an aim, more of a desperate means of self defense, the small wrench was thrown towards the forehead area of the person [?]. He seemed to speak like a proper human would but his appearance DEFINITELY did not give off the average human vibe or was he even human?

Stepping back a good distance away from the creature, the brunette Furlyne hissed softly while the fur on his ears and tail stood up straight. Another spare wrench was at the strap on his waist as he picked it up and pointed at the spider-human barely threateningly as his arm clearly trembled. "Yo-You! W-What in the world are ya and ho-how'd you get in the ship?! And why are ya fa-familiar with the prey we're huntin' for? A-Are you its ally?! Ta-Talk!"

Patches thought for a second. And then he thought for more. A little bit more time thinking as he rubbed his head from the injury that the wrench caused.

Hmmmm. How did I get on the ship. That is actually a very intriguing and good question. I am not quite sure. I think it was when your friends were leaving. Yes yes, it was when your friends were leaving. Hmmmmmm. Am I its ally. I guess? In a way? It talks to me in my head. Might have to do something with this little spider in my chest. But I like this little buddy. He brought me back to life and we already became friends. Named him Todd, I did. And we both agree that we dislike the mother spider. So actually, in answering your second question. Errrrm, no. We actuallu despise her annoying whispers. In fact she wants us to kill you right now. But then I wouldn't have any friends to talk to now would I? Oh yes. One last thing. Your friends are F-U-C-K-E-D fucked. Pretty doomed. That spider is massive and likes hiding. Probably about to stab your friends as we speak. I do hope they kill it though. This whispering is driving me mad.



Anastasia looked around for the spider. It had to be around here somewhere. It couldn't just disappear. Not at the size it was. She tuned ears in and listened. To the left. The sounds came out.

Scritch

Scritch

Scritch

Ana's eyes widened. Jericho. She vaulted forward and yelled.

Jericho! Hit the dirt! She sprinted and grabbed Jericho by the shoulders, dropping him and herself to the ground. The mandibles shot out moments too late, missing their target by inches. The poison slicked off of them, dripping onto the ground near Ana and Jericho's faces. It sizzled the dirt near her, indicative of the acidic properties. That acid could've been in Jericho, were she moments too late. The mandibles withdrew, and the building rumbled. From withing tiny cracks the spider emerged unfolding itself like paper. Dammit. It could hide itself quite easily that in walls and buildings. It also was quite large. One thing she did not expect was the screech. It let one out, shaking buildings for miles, rumbling them low into the ground. The cracks along Ana's helm webbed, furthering along the visor. Ana dragged herself and Jericho back up, covering his back. Ana found herself barking out familiar orders. "All of you! Back to back! Don't let it ambush you! Keep someone covered! Jericho on me!"

The spider roared again, lengthening its venom tipped fangs.