The Spider Queen

The hunger.

After every kill, Sophie could feel the terrible bloodlust coursing through her veins and filling her mind with thoughts of death and destruction.

She was a beast.

A monster.

A killer.

Sophie's scarlet eyes darkened as she scuttled up the staircase like a possessed demon.

The faint scent of blood was driving her mad.

There were fresh meals waiting to be consumed.

The occasional pale-skinned alien that crossed her path was instantly torn apart into chunky pieces of flesh.

Sophie's thin thread of reason had long snapped and now there was only a vague urging sensation to reach the upper deck.

Even her mental connection with the clones had been thrown to the back of her mind as Sophie focused only on the hunt.

Step by step she moved closer and closer to the reinforced metallic barrier that separated the command deck from the other floors.

Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!

Alarms continued to blare out but there were no more security teams left to deal with the multiple intruders.

All units had already perished in battle or had fled out of fear.

The sheer terror of facing an apex predator had shattered the fragile minds of these once brave aliens.

In the face of death, all of their prayers to the Sun God went unanswered.

The deity beyond the void could not protect his followers from the monster driven mad by excitement.

A permanent grin of ecstasy was plastered across Sophie's face as her fangs lengthened into sharp quasi-blades.

These fangs were perfect for tearing into the soft underbelly of the alien creatures and ripping into their fragile organs.

Scratch! Scratch!

Sophie's footsteps quickened as she realised that someone had already reached the barrier!

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Sophie's figure blurred and then vanished immediately from the spot.

No longer did the hybrid girl bother to conserve her qi since the only thought in her mind was to kill.

The top of the stairway contained a door which Sophie easily pushed open with a casual strike from her palm.

She entered a long corridor that was blocked by an enormous barrier created from several layers of metalloid alloys and covered by a thin translucent coating of a greenish substance.

In front of the barrier, there were two humanoid figures whose appearances were identical to her own.

Sophie growled darkly and approached the clones waiting for her by the barrier.

One of the mirror images turned to Sophie and gave a friendly wave before speaking,

"Alright since we are all here… we can just…"

"Urghh!"

The clone's eyes widened with shock as Sophie's right palm entered straight into her unguarded chest.

The other copy took a few steps backwards but did not see the fast-moving bladed appendage heading right for her neck.

Slash!

The headless corpse crashed to the ground with an expression of disbelief still present on the face that rolled towards Sophie's feet.

The clone whose chest had been penetrated by the deadly strike groaned painfully,

"Wait… why…"

There was no response as Sophie mercilessly tore the clone's body apart with her bare hands and reached for the heart.

A flood of painful memories immediately entered Sophie's mind as she reached for the clone's heart that caused her expression to change.

"Grr… grr…." Sophie uttered animalistic growls hoarsely.

The influx of memories was piercing her foggy mental state but the allure of warm blood coming from the other side of the barrier proved to be too enticing to refuse.

Sophie shook her head multiple times like a dog and reluctantly turned away from the dead bodies of the creatures who looked identical to her.

The blood and flesh of her clones were not appealing as Sophie could sense that she could not extract any qi energy from eating their remains.

Sophie slowly walked towards the green barrier and poked at the mesmerizing translucent coating covering the metalloid layers.

Buzz!

A thin current of electric ran through her body from the tip of her finger but it was not enough to stop her from breaking in.

Sophie pulled back her arm and launched a fierce series of punches on the barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She struck with such force that the walls of the corridor began to shake violently from the mere shockwaves coming from her attacks.

Channeling qi energy into her palms made the blows even stronger and soon the metalloid layers started to crumble.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each punch struck with the force of a thunderous gunshot and created a small hole in the barrier that only got bigger and bigger.

This was the final obstacle separating Sophie from the grand feast awaiting her.

Nothing would stop her.

Even as the flesh on her knuckles started to bruise and bleed…

She continued to punch.

Even as the electric voltage coming from the translucent coating gradually amped up until her hair started to singe.

She continued to punch.

Bang!

With one final strike, Sophie destroyed the final metalloid layer and dashed towards the terrified aliens cowering with plasma rifles in hand.

Sophie had not bothered to destroy the cameras and listening devices as she made her way up the starship, so the crew had seen firsthand what the monster hunting them down was capable of.

Some had thrown up after seeing the brutal carnage while others had gone into shock and were muttering nonsense.

The commander of the vessel desperately tried to rally his crew to form some kind of final stand but after seeing the monster breach the barrier…

The only thought on his mind was how to escape.

"Fire! I don't believe that this beast is immune to plasma rounds!" the commander roared.

The shaking logistic officers and engineers present on the upper deck pressed the trigger button on their weapons, but their shots were wildly off.

It was incredibly easy for Sophie to dodge and weave her way through the flurry of plasma bullets and arrive in front of the commander.

To the credit of the commander, he reflexively flung a pocket explosive at the beast and then immediately turned around to flee.

But it was already too late.

Sophie casually plucked the explosive out of midair and threw it towards an unlucky alien at the back of the room.

Boom!

Blood and body parts splattered across the room that seemed to pour gasoline on the already burning madness infecting Sophie's mind.

The captain didn't have time to react before a bladed appendage separated his legs from the rest of his body.

He could only manage a muffled cry of pain before multiple needles entered his torso which caused his flesh to turn a purplish-black colour.

He died within two seconds.

A piercing scream of terror escaped from the mouth of the officer closest to the commander's lifeless corpse.

Sophie kicked the commander's body and stared at the rest of the aliens with a hungry glint in her eyes.

The true slaughter had only just begun….

(Minutes Later…)

"Oh, by the Sun God… I DON'T WANT TO DIE"

"Please have mercy! I WILL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT!"

"I…I can fly the ship… I can be your slave… just let me live..."