The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)

(Rexanera Sea)

Hiding deep below in the murky depths of the Rexanera sea one could find all sorts of horrific and contorted monstrosities swimming freely.

The volcanic landforms on the seafloor had created a stable supply of heat and oxygen that was conductive to the growth of an entire ecosystem.

Millions of years of evolution had led to a rich biodiversity with extraordinary species that would make any scientist eager to dissect and examine their bodies.

One of these aquatic creatures was a race of marine reptiles known locally as 'the swarm.'

These reptiles were only around the size of a baseball, but it was their strength in numbers that gave them their fearsome reputation.

Their greenish-yellow skin blended in perfectly with the natural colour of the Rexanera sea, but it was their odd physiology that truly made them apex predators.

Ninety percent of their body mass was an enlarged mouth that contained rows upon rows of razer sharp teeth.

Two tiny holes in their upper jaw acted as sensory organs that could detect electric signals in the water from vast distances.

They would swim in groups of about one thousand members and their teeth could even rip apart the metalloid hull of ships.

A group of these creatures were slowly swimming towards a large mass floating gently in the water.

'The Swarm' did not know what this object was, but their sensory organs could detect lifeforms present inside the vessel.

What gave them confidence to launch an attack was that this mysterious object appeared to be frozen in place.

Click! Click! Click!

The leader of the group made a series of clicking and chirping noises that caused the creatures to thrash around excitedly.

Looks like meat was on the menu tonight!

These marine hunters came closer and closer until the black metalloid hull of the S.S Annamarie was just a mere five miles away.

Just as the leading reptile was about to give out another series of commands, a robotic voice boomed out from a nearby speaker.

[Unauthorised Lifeforms Detected!]

[Lethal Force Authorised….]

Bang! Bang!

The would-be attackers did not even have time to react before their bodies were pierced by a relentless round of plasma fire.

Bang! Bang!

Round after round of shots turned the once green ocean into a bloody red colour as the remaining survivors of the attack fled to the deeper waters.

Meanwhile on the deck of the ship, Captain Ahab was checking his communicator device and going over the details of the incident.

It had been a simple matter to arrange his miniature fleet in a formation capable of guarding every angle of the ship to prevent any attacks.

A line of text appeared on his device as the AI unit in charge of maintaining the killing zone sent out a report.

[No more Lifeforms Detected]

Captain Ahab glanced at the report and placed the matter in the back of his mind.

The AI unit was unlikely to make a mistake, so the ship was in good hands.

Now the more pressing matter was how to coordinate the passengers who wanted to return to their cabins.

Several passengers had been covered in guts, blood or other nasty liquids and wanted to take a shower while some had not taken all their luggage from the room, they were staying in.

In an ideal situation all passengers would remain on the upper deck until the new transport vessel arrived but there was nothing, he could do aside from trying to place the passengers in groups.

"Okay all passengers on the fourth floor please wait two minutes and then head down with the agent in charge of your group," Captain Ahab yelled.

"Passengers who wish to visit the fifth and sixth floors will be grouped together and can go down once the fourth group returns."

Of course, there was still some minor grumbling from disgruntled passengers but almost everyone had realised that the captain was a responsible man.

Sophie was currently holding Lily in her arms and staring at the rolling waves crashing down along the horizon.

It was oddly hypnotic to see how the waves were created and destroyed in a never-ending cycle.

Lily was eagerly watching the surface of the water to see if she could spot any cute fishes or turtles.

Sophie knew that the animals living inside this foreign ocean weren't going to be cute fishes or turtles, but all adults had to lie to kids sometimes.

This peaceful mood lasted for ten minutes until Lily's mind naturally shifted to another exciting idea.

"Big sister let's play that game you taught me!" Lily suddenly exclaimed after she got bored from staring at the empty sea.

"What game do you want to play?" Sophie asked with a bemused look on her face.

Lily jumped down from Sophie's arms and faced the seven-foot-tall hybrid girl with a serious expression,

"Rock, Paper, Scissor!"

"Alright," Sophie lazily replied and placed her right arm outwards.

The two figures one big and one small faced off against one another with the air of a serious competition of life and death.

Sophie narrowed her golden eyes and stared at Lily while the little girl was determined not to lose and clenched her fist tightly.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors…. Shoot!"

"Rock, Paper, Scissors…. Shoot!"

Sophie confidently tossed out scissors but was met with a cheeky grin as Lily pushed her clenched fist towards her hand while yelling out,

"Rock! Rock! I win!"

"Best out of three?" Sophie was not going to tarnish her image as an unbeatable older sister, so she immediately changed the rules.

(One minute later…)

"Best out of five?"

(Two minutes later…)

"Cough…. Cough… I meant to say best out of seven?"

(Five minutes later…)

"Impossible!" Sophie raised her eyebrows in disbelief as Lily won yet another match.

How the hell was this little girl kicking her ass?

Somehow Lily would just close her eyes and toss out the exact counter to whatever option Sophie chose.

"You are one lucky girl," Sophie chuckled dryly and then proceeded to tickle Lily mercilessly.

Lily collapsed in a fit of giggles and could not help but plead for mercy,

"Hahaha…. Big sister…. stop…. I… hahaha."

Sophie stopped teasing the smaller girl and planted a soft kiss on Lily's forehead so she wouldn't get mad.

Lily pouted slightly and turned away to ignore Sophie as she could not believe that her big sister would tickle her just because she had won!

Sophie just smiled gently and raised her head to take a look at what was happening on the upper deck.

A returning batch of passengers had just come up the stairs and now the agents in charge of their group were ready to welcome a new batch.

Captain Ahab spoke calmly and pointed towards the two men wearing dark purple uniforms,

"Alright now we need all passengers on the fifth and sixth floors to join Agent 42 and Agent 98 who are located to the right of me."

"That's us," Sophie whispered to Lily and picked up the little girl in her arms.

She made her way to the two agents standing near the stairway and waited patiently.

Tragically not many passengers had survived the ruthless slaughter on those two floors so only four more people joined the group.

Three of the passengers were also wearing oversized cloaks or outfits so Sophie could not make out many details about their physical appearances.

The last member of the group was a scrawny alien whose arms were muscular to the point of absurdity as they resembled inflated balloons.

His three eyes constantly scanned the other members of the group and Sophie caught him staring at her with a fearful expression.