The city lights flickered in the distance as Kenna, Big Jim, Benjamin, and Cyrus approached the outskirts. Something felt off. Wrong. The horizon glowed red, as if the sky itself were bleeding.
Cyrus slowed his pace.
"Feels like a storm," he muttered.
Benjamin shook his head.
"No. Storms don't breathe like this."
Then—
A sound tore through the sky.
SCREEEEEE—EEEEEE—EEEECH—!!!
A burning meteor streaked overhead, ripping across the skyline like a flaming god.
Kenna's eyes widened.
"RUN!"
The meteor hit the center of the city with a deafening BOOM — !
The ground lifted beneath them, throwing all four across the pavement.
Buildings cracked.
Windows exploded.
Dust rolled through the streets like a living wave.
Then came the screams.
High-pitched.
Tearing.
Human.
Kenna was the first on her feet, coughing, stumbling toward the source.
A woman clung to the edge of a shattered road, dangling over the crater, a baby wrapped tightly in her arms.
"HELP—! PLEASE!"
Kenna sprinted without thinking.
She dove, catching the woman's outstretched hand before she fell.
The street buckled under them.
A tiny baby spider — fist-sized and covered in pink fuzz — crawled onto Kenna's shoulder and began chirping.
Kenna shrieked, "WHAT IS THAT—?!"
The mother screamed, "DON'T LET GO—!"
Kenna held on with both hands, ignoring the spider clinging to her neck.
Meanwhile Big Jim, Benjamin, and Cyrus spread out, pulling survivors from rubble, dragging people back from the collapsing edges—
Until a new sound rose from the crater:
skritch-skritch-skritch-skritch—
Millions of tiny legs.
Moving fast.
Benjamin paled.
"Oh hell no."
Cyrus stepped closer to the crater rim—
And the center EXPLODED in a fountain of tiny black dots.
Baby spiders.
Thousands.
Then millions.
They swarmed over people, covering them in seconds.
Screams cut off as bodies were eaten alive.
The sound of clicking jaws, wet tearing, and bones snapping filled the air.
Kenna yanked the woman upward with a final heave—
But something else caught Kenna's leg—
A pull.
Not a tug.
A command.
The ground split open.
And THARA rose from the crater.
Tall.
Dripping black webs.
Hood shadowing her face.
A massive spider sigil embedded in her forehead.
Spiders crawled over her shoulders, across her chest, and out of her sleeves.
Her voice was soft.
Ancient.
"More food…"
Kenna nearly dropped the woman from shock.
But another presence moved behind Thara—
Inhuman fingers twisted like roots.
A smile too wide to be human.
VEIRA stepped into view, golden eyes glowing with manic hunger.
"They scream so pretty when you peel the skin first."
Benjamin gagged.
Big Jim backed away.
Cyrus tightened his grip on his blade.
But the nightmare wasn't finished.
A crackle of pink lightning snapped from the crater wall—
ARACHNEON crawled upright, chest glowing with pulsing venom, eyes bright pink like twin embers.
Her skin pulsed like a living hive.
"Mother," she said sweetly.
"There are more inside the buildings. Should we fetch them?"
Before Thara could answer—
A long tongue slithered across the air, brushing Kenna's cheek.
Kenna screamed, stumbling backward.
From the webbed shadows emerged NYSESSA, eyes glowing red, venom dripping from her lips.
She giggled.
"Ohhhh… I like this one."
Kenna's heart froze.
Big Jim pulled his gun.
"Back. BACK!"
Another voice whispered directly behind him.
"No."
NARYA appeared silently at his side, black eyes void and endless, her skin webbed with pink-cracked sigils.
She pressed a finger to Big Jim's temple.
He dropped instantly, screaming as visions tore through his mind.
Narya whispered:
"I saw your death three days ago."
The swarm thickened.
The air grew tight.
Thara lifted her hand.
"Eat."
The baby spiders surged forward.
Benjamin grabbed Kenna, Cyrus, and the woman with her baby.
"MOVE. NOW!"
Kenna's arms burned as she clutched the infant.
The five sisters stepped out of the crater in unison, eyes gleaming.
A full brood.
A full massacre.
The city wouldn't survive.