The spider collapsed to the ground, and Grunk, heart pounding, yelled in triumph, “Take that, beast!” His relief was palpable, but it was short-lived. Raising his eyes, he saw shiny green eyes multiplying in the dark recesses of the ceiling. Dozens–no, hundreds–of eyes glinted ominously above him. “I’m spider meal,” he thought grimly.
In a display of unity and altruism, the multitude of spiders leaped down almost simultaneously, converging on their fallen mother. One by one, their bodies began to merge with hers in a grotesque sacrifice, each spider adding to her size and strength. Grunk, witnessing this horrifying regeneration, took a step back. “It’s unkillable!” he shouted, desperation creeping into his voice.
Just as Grunk braced to run, a massive explosion shattered the side wall, sending stones flying through the air, narrowly missing him. The blast created a gigantic hole, filling the room with dust and debris, momentarily disorienting everyone present.
Drones swarmed through the gaping hole, their guns blazing as they targeted the spiders clustered around the mother. However, it was clear that their intervention came too late. The spider mother was not only alive but glowing a sinister greenish hue, a beacon of its burgeoning power. The drones’ efforts were futile; they posed no real threat to the creature.
Suddenly, something massive approached from the newly formed breach. Dark, yellow glowing eyes, billows of dark smoke, and a repetitive deep growling heralded its arrival. Even the formidable spider mother, in the midst of her resurgence and powerful display, seemed to brace herself, sensing the magnitude of the threat now emerging. When it came into the light–a gigantic, golden shining machine was revealed.
Grunk recalled overhearing a conversation where Hammer explained to the Boss about monstrous machines designed to control the arena. He called them Neurons, described as the arena’s nervous system.
With a sudden, powerful lunge, this huge machine tackled the spider mother and smashed through the opposite wall, taking the fight elsewhere. Grunk had no intention of following the chaos into the breach.
However, his plans to escape were quickly thwarted. The drones, now aware of his presence, began flanking him, drawing him into a heated firefight.
