EVENTS:


Peggy looks confused for a moment, but it quicky passes.

Peggy: "Returned? Oh, oh right, yes. It is back indeed. I hope the others manage to locate more food soon, however. Even bugs, if needs be~"


As Rosa and Eigla approach the doorway and Malia backs away, Emilia nods gravely.

Emilia: "Very well. I'll hang back and make sure Klimt is safe."

The darkness below beckons. Will you plumb its foul secrets?

EVENTS:

Peggy shrugs.

Peggy: "Well, it certainly makes sense. Losing one's body has a tendency to make them... Confused, to say the least.

Also, that girl - Malia, I think? Mentioned eating bugs. So, they ought to have found a nest of sorts. I wouldn't know."

Emilia returns, looking a bit worried.

Emilia: "The others, are going to try and lure some creatures out. You should stay back, Klimt. It might be dangerous. I'll take care of any that come close."



Meanwhile, Rosa takes aim at the deepest, darkest part on the tunnel, and fires. There is an echoing bang, followed by a muffled, wet sound, and then a long, painful shriek. Then a long, nerve-wracking silence.


A deceptively nimble, mucus-covered creature leaps out of the passageway, almost too fast for Rosa's eyes to track. Considerably taller than a man, its body is like a long, translucid tubeworm, except covered in parts by a whitish exoskeleton. Two spindly, inverted-joint legs allow it to sprint in your direction, while eight arms connected by a thin membrane brandish wickedly sharp, scythe-like talons. Its face is an angular, featureless white mask, and it is eerily silent as it sprints to battle.



BATTLE!




Before the others' conscious minds even realise what's happening, Malia is already in full control of the situation. Opening her many eyes to predict the creature's course of action, she silently slids a thread within each of her comrades.


Eigla's body slithers around Rosa's, using its flexibility to stabilize the sharkgirl's joints. The gunner quickly and precisely shoots the monster's central nerve node and shared mind connection - Despite not really understanding how she knows to aim for that vital point amid the thing's alien anatomy. A single shot, the smooth bullet hole barely visible.

The creature stands still, frozen mid-charge. It had no time to feel pain, much less notice its own death, and seemingly forgets to topple over or fall. Truly, a clean kill.


From a distance, Klimt and his harem watch in amazement. That was, probably the shortest battl- Oh wait there's more.

Three other creatures appear at the bottom of the tunnel, blades raised threateningly. You probably won't be able to kill them all before they engage! Or, will you?

BATTLE:





The creatures jump forwards without a sound. Realising they're now in range, Rosa kneels forwards to expose her dual cannons, and lets out a deafening barrage of shots. One of the monsters is immediately destroyed, its body turned into swiss cheese from the many high caliber impacts.

A second one actually makes it to the party's defensive line. Detaching herself from her perch on Rosa's belly, Eigla grows a pair of raw, bony legs before sprinting forwards, bisecting the enemy in a single slash of her sword. Its upper half attempts to strike back at her, but Rosa nails it with a full magazine's worth of bullets.


Malia surveys the battle carefully, using one of her strands to absorb a bit more of Rosa's Madness. Can't have the main damage dealer go crazy mid-battle, can she? Oh look, another insect approaches. Looks like she'll have to get her hands dirty~


Walking calmly forwards, she watches as the monster suddenly stops moving, caught in her nigh-invisible web of filaments. Its limbs begin to distort and pop out of their joints as she increases the tension, just enough so it'll remain conscious to see its end coming.

Disgusting. Repulsive. Those are thoughts that cross her mind as she looks closely at the thing's expressionless face. Nothing but a pathetic vermin, to be squashed effortlessly under her foot. She smiles as she gets ready to end its life, and do the world a favour.

Her smile spreads down her neck and along her torso, as her corset begins to unwind, revealing vertical rows of razor-sharp teeth. Her prey is defenseless, and her instincts take over.

____________________

Fragment of Memory: Insects




____________________


Malia pauses, as she notices the others staring. What? Does she have something on her shirt- Oh.

Looking down, she sees her disform, swollen body twitching and churning as it works to digest her recent meal. Did she- Had she really - ?

She feels sick, and almost loses her footing. Gagging and reeling, she claws at her throat until it finally opens up, and regurgitates inhuman amounts of bile-laced goo and chitin fragments. The stomach acid burns at her throat, but she continues to vomit and retch until all that comes out are long, bloody strands of her esophagus's lining.

DISGUSTING. WHY. WHY THIS. GET IT OUT.



Meanwhile, Klimt and his girls watch the violence, then the grotesque spectacle of a giant insectoid monster being swallowed whole, then puked out as a slurry.

It's rather entertaining, in a way.


Peggy looks away.

Peggy: "Them, me, you, anyone. It's a fact of life, or death, I presume. The Mold takes a while to reconfigure itself. I would know, wouldn't I?"