The dungeon of the Spider-Corroder was a cathedral of webbing and rust. Thick, metallic cables crisscrossed the vast space, anchored to the ceiling and walls like the rigging of a derelict ship. At the center of this lair, suspended upside down from the thickest cluster of webs, the massive Corroder hung dormant.
On its back, held fast by an invisible magnetic grip, was the Adamantine sword. Its blue light pulsed softly in the gloom; a beacon of purity above the bubbling hell below.
Beneath the beast, the pool of liquid Rust churned sluggishly. It glowed with a malevolent orange hue, releasing fumes that could calcify a man's lungs in minutes.
Sophie peeked out from the rusted shell of a shipping container suspended fifteen meters away from the sword's position. Her container hung slightly lower than the beast, giving her an upward angle on her prize.
She looked at the sword greedily.
"You're coming home, Mom."
She turned to the blue lizard on her shoulder.
"Aidro, bridge."
She gave the signal.
Aidro chirped and leaped to the edge of the container. He let out a high-frequency signal.
Skitter-skitter.
From the shadows of the container's interior, hundreds of small, orange-bellied Rotters emerged. They flowed over the edge like a metallic liquid. Under Aidro's command, they linked their bodies together. Claws grabbed tails, and legs locked with torsos. They formed a narrow, living bridge that extended out into the empty air toward the sword.
Sophie stepped onto the bridge of lizards. It swayed under her weight, but the creatures held firm.
She sneaked across the gap. She moved with the grace of a cat, careful not to make a sound that might alert the sleeping titan above.
She reached the end of the line. She was directly below the sword and perilously above the liquid Rust pool. The heat from the bath rose in shimmering waves.
Sophie extended her hand upward.
"Come to me."
She activated Dream Touch.
She focused her mind on the sword. She pulled.
HUMMMM.
The air vibrated. The sword shuddered.
But it didn't move.
"Gah!"
Sophie strained until sweat beaded on her forehead.
"It's stuck. The magnetic binding is too strong."
She realized her Dream Touch had failed against the might of the Corroder's passive field.
"Plan B."
She unwrapped the steel cable she had coiled around her waist.
"Up."
Using Dream Touch on the lighter cable, she tossed the end upward. It snaked through the air and wrapped around the hilt of the sword.
"Gotcha."
Sophie smiled. She grabbed the cable with both hands.
"Heave!"
She used all her strength to pull.
CREAAAK.
The sword lowered slightly. The magnetic field fought back, but the leverage was working.
However, the force of her tug was too much for the bridge she stood on.
SNAP.
The lizards near the container edge lost their grip. The bridge shattered.
"No! Not again!"
Sophie fell. She dangled above the lethal pool, holding onto the cable attached to the sword.
The sudden weight on the sword woke the beast.
SCREEE.
The Corroder felt the intrusion. Its eyes flared red. It realized a pest was trying to steal its trophy.
It shook its body violently to dislodge her, but Sophie wrapped her legs around the cable and held on.
"I'm not letting go!"
The Corroder hissed. It began to lower itself toward the liquid Rust pool rapidly. It intended to dip the pest into the acid and dissolve her.
Sophie saw the glowing surface rushing up to meet her.
"You want to play dirty?"
She put two fingers to her lips.
WHISTLE.
From the shadows of the area below, a blue blur launched itself.
It was her tamed dog Ruster.
The beast leaped across the gap with incredible agility. It intercepted Sophie's trajectory just as she released the cable.
Thud.
She landed on the dog's back.
"Good boy!"
The dog landed on solid ground on the opposite side of the pool.
SPLASH.
At the same moment, the Spider-Corroder crashed into the liquid Rust. The impact sent waves of orange sludge over the walkways.
"Missed me!"
Sophie looked back at the bubbling pool.
"Mission failed. We better get out of here."
She kicked the dog's flanks.
"Run!"
The dog sprinted. It bounded over debris and pipes with ease.
SCREEE-SCREEE.
The alarm had been sounded. Numerous Spider-Decayers descended from the webs above to block her path. Others scurried across the floor to intercept.
"Out of the way!"
Sophie steered her mount through the chaos.
A spider lunged from the right.
"Jump!"
The dog leaped over the attacker.
Another spider dangled from a web directly in front of them.
Sophie whistled again.
CRASH.
A second tamed dog burst from the shadows. It slammed into the dangling spider and knocked it aside, clearing the path.
"Thanks for the assist!"
Sophie dashed through the opening and continued to flee.
The spiders attacked with webs.
Thwip-thwip.
Metallic strands shot out, aiming to snare the dog's legs.
But the dog was agile. It zig-zagged and wall-ran along the vertical surfaces to evade the nets.
"Throwing stuff? Really?"
Spiders on the upper levels tossed heavy debris down at them. Sophie ducked as a rusted engine block smashed into the floor right where they had been a second ago.
Ahead, the tunnel exit was webbed up. Thick layers of steel blocked the way.
"Dream Touch!"
Sophie commanded the five needle spikes in her hair. They flew out and spun like a drill.
Slash-slash-slash.
They cut through the webbing instantly.
"Go! Go!"
She burst through the blockade.
She was no longer confident to face this Corroder, not in its den. It had too many minions.
She was nearing the hole in the wall that led outside when suddenly, a massive force grabbed her.
"Whoa!"
It felt like gravity had shifted sideways.
She looked back.
She wasn't the only thing being pulled. Containers, debris, loose spiders—everything was sliding backward toward the center of the bath.
The Corroder had surfaced. It rose from the orange pool like a dripping nightmare. Its armor glowed with heat.
It intensified the pulling force.
HUMMMMMMM.
The magnetic draw was overwhelming. Sophie's dog clawed at the ground, sparks flying, but they were being dragged back.
Sophie barely held onto the reins she had fashioned from old cloth.
"Don't let go!"
Then, the Corroder reversed the polarity.
BOOM.
A repulsion pulse hit the chamber with the force of a nuclear bomb.
Everything that had been pulled in was blasted outward at supersonic speeds.
"Incoming!"
Sophie crashed into a spider that was flying past her. The impact knocked the wind out of her.
Debris flew everywhere. A steel beam missed her head by inches.
She looked up. A huge shipping container, coupled with a large chunk of dead metal, hurtled straight toward her.
"If that hits me, I'm paste!"
She gritted her teeth.
"Jump!"
She forced herself to dive off the dog just before the container smashed into it.
CRUNCH.
Her mount was crushed instantly.
Sophie rolled and fell off the platform. She hit the lower level hard.
She got up quickly and tried to run, but another pulling force grabbed her.
Thwip.
Webs shot out from the Corroder. They wrapped around her arms and legs.
"No!"
She was pulled into the air. Her limbs were stretched apart as she was brought closer to the monster's face.
The Corroder stared at her. It hissed. It had had enough of this tiny human's interruptions. If it didn't sense the trace of Adamantine in her blood, it would have eaten her whole.
But since she wanted the sword so badly...
The Corroder controlled the magnetism of the sword on its back. It brought the weapon forward.
The blade hovered in the air, pointing directly at Sophie's stomach.
Sophie saw the blue light.
"Mom?"
THWACK.
The Corroder shot the sword forward.
It stabbed into Sophie's gut and pinned her to the ground.
"Gah!"
Sophie spat blood. Even her Dream Armor could not stop the force of Adamantine. The blade went through her chrome skin and pinned her to the metal floor.
The Corroder beckoned the sword back.
RIP.
The blade pulled out of her body and flew back to the spider's back, stained with her blood.
Sophie lay there. Her vision blurred.
"I'm... cold. No… mom…"
Spider-Decayers crept closer to finish the job. They were about to impale her with their sharp legs when…
Swoosh.
A blue blur swooped in. It wasn't a dog. It was a rat.
The blue-cored rat Ruster. It grabbed Sophie by the collar with its teeth.
It dragged her away quickly. It scurried through the small gaps in the debris where the larger spiders couldn't follow.
It slipped into a small hole that led to a lower level chute.
Seconds later, Sophie fell through the chute.
She landed softly on a pile of old boxes and rotting cloth.
She rolled onto her back. She was still conscious, but barely.
She looked up. The rat Ruster stood over her, its blue core glowing protectively. She had deployed this Ruster earlier and had it remained in hiding for an emergency. Her instincts had saved her life.
"You... good rat."
She struggled to lift her hand. She reached for the rat's chest and pulled out the blue core.
"Need... heal."
She pressed the core against her wound.
The absorption began. The blue light flowed into her broken body. Metal scraps from the floor flowed into the gaping hole in her stomach. They merged with her flesh, knitting muscle and skin back together.
A minute later, the wound was closed. New, pink skin covered the spot.
Sophie sat up and took a deep breath.
"I'm alive."
She felt the energy return. She no longer felt tired or dying.
But she was furious.
"I lost three cores! Three!"
She kicked a box.
"I bled for those! And I lost my dogs!"
She slumped against the wall.
"What went wrong? It was supposed to be easy."
She realized the Corroder's power was vast. The magnetic pull was stronger than anything she had faced. It was impossible to sneak up on a creature that could feel the metal in your blood.
"Should I give up?"
She thought of the sword. She thought of her mother.
"No. I won't. I vowed to reclaim her. One way or another."
Something caught her attention at the side.
Aidro climbed out of the chute. He hopped onto a box and then into her arms.
"Aidro!"
She hugged him.
"We failed, Aidro. I almost died. Now I'm back to square one. No weapons. No pets."
She wiped a tear from her eye before looking around to ascertain her surroundings.
"Where are we?"
This place was new. It was a large, enclosed area surrounded by high walls of industrial refuse.
She climbed up onto a pile of crates to look out.
"Whoa."
The center of the area was dominated by a huge statue. It was a Buddha made of gold, tarnished but still majestic. Several pillars surrounded it, and rusted Torii gates were scattered about like a forgotten shrine.
"It looks like a temple."
She saw Rusters moving about, but they were distant.
"I need new cores. I need to hunt."
But she sensed strong presences out there.
"I can't be careless. I lost my spikes. I broke my paint can. I am defenseless."
She dropped back down to the concealed area.
"Scavenge first. Fight later."
She started rummaging through the pile of trash she had landed on.
"Come on, give me something good."
She dug like a rabbit. She tossed aside old boxes, rotting clothes, a broken blender.
"Junk. Junk. Junk."
She found a yellow-orange toolbox. She tossed it aside.
"Useless."
She found a roll of duct tape.
"Keep that."
Then she found it.
"Hello."
She pulled out a large screwdriver. It was massive, almost as tall as she was. It was heavy and coated with rust. The handle was thick yellow plastic.
"This is a weapon."
She swung it.
"But the head is broken. It's blunt."
She thought about sharpening it, but she didn't have anything to use. Then an idea hit her.
"Aidro! Up!"
She commanded the lizard.
Aidro merged with the metal shaft. The rust dissolved. The metal turned to chrome.
"Sharpen it. Make it like a sword."
Under her will, the metal peeled and reshaped. The round shaft flattened near the edge until it became a razor-sharp blade. The base near the handle remained round for stability.
Aidro detached.
Sophie admired the weapon.
"A drill-sword. Perfect."
She kissed the lizard.
"Good job."
In her excitement, she stepped back and accidentally stepped on the yellow-orange toolbox she had discarded.
Click.
The lid flipped open.
FLASH.
A bright light hit her eyes.
"Gah!"
She winced.
"That wasn't a toolbox?"
She opened her eyes. The box had a screen. It flickered and died.
Sophie sat down and pulled the box closer.
"It's a PCT. An ancient one."
She turned it over. The power cell dislodged and fell before her.
"Just needs juice."
"Aidro, jumpstart!"
Aidro zapped the cell.
Sophie shoved it back into the port and taped it in place with the duct tape.
The screen lit up.
"Whoa."
Round sections surrounding the keyboard area projected holographic screens into the air. Three distinct windows floated before her.
Sophie was amazed, not by the computer itself, but by what was being displayed. They were PCTs in the Biome that were more advanced than this one, but she had never seen the information being displayed.
Sophie stared, enthralled.
The first screen showed a broadcast from the previous era.
"Breaking News."
A reporter stood in front of a burning city.
"The metallic entities have breached the seawall! The military is overwhelmed! We are urging all citizens to evacuate immediately!"
Rusters swarmed over cars in the background. It was chaos.
The second screen showed a nature documentary.
"And here we see the majestic reindeer in its natural habitat."
Green forests stretched endlessly. Blue water flowed in rivers. Animals grazed on grass.
Sophie touched the screen.
"It's so green. Is that what the world looked like?"
The third screen showed a woman in a bright room. She was talking to a camera.
"Hey guys! Welcome back to my channel. Today I'm going to show you how to pump breast milk for your little one. It's super easy!"
Sophie watched the woman hold a baby.
"Mom..."
She wiped her eyes.
Then, she pressed a button on the console.
Bleep.
The three screens merged into a single, large hologram.
A man appeared. He was dressed in a sharp military uniform adorned with medals. His face was scarred and stern. He stood behind a podium addressing a room of soldiers.
"At ease."
His voice was gravel and steel.
"I am General Bjorn. And today, we face an enemy that defies nature."
He pointed to a map behind him.
"The Leviathan class entity has decimated Sector 4. It moves like a storm. It eats our tanks and laughs at our missiles."
Sophie leaned in.
"Leviathan? Like the Corroder, or maybe an Oxidizer?"
Bjorn continued.
"Command wants to drop a nuke. They want to turn the city to glass. But there are still civilians in that zone! My family is in that zone!"
He slammed his fist on the podium.
"We will not nuke them! We will kill this beast with strategy!"
He brought up a schematic of a massive Ruster.
"We have analyzed the beast. It has a core. A central heart. But it is shielded. We cannot penetrate it with a single strike."
He looked at his troops.
"So we will use numbers. We will use a multi-pronged assault."
"Alpha Squad, you will draw its fire. Beta, you flank. Gamma, you hit the legs."
"We will overwhelm its sensors. We will force it to expose its core to vent heat. And when it does..."
He mimed a crushing motion.
"We strike. We destroy the heart, and the beast dies."
He paused and looked directly into the camera, as if speaking to Sophie.
"It is mighty. But it is one machine. We are a legion. Against our combined will, it will falter."
The hologram faded.
Sophie sat in silence.
"Numbers."
She looked at Aidro.
"He's right. I tried to fight the Corroder alone. I tried to be a hero."
She touched her new weapon, the drill-sword.
"But to kill a monster that big... I need an army. I need a legion. General Bjorn... thanks for the tip."
She smiled a dangerous smile.
"Time to start recruiting."