Travis had until just moments ago felt like everything was under control. They may have been in a cavernous, endless black hole under the ground somewhere unknown to both Travis and his new companion, Fayth, but they had felt like they were on top of that at least. It was dark, your eyes never saw a thing, your ears would hear only the faintest echo in the farthest distance, your body would shiver and squirm, either from the cold or the unrest; yet Travis had been reassured within himself. His reassurance had hung on the balance of a few small things: one was his ability to see within this endless darkness with his true "eyes" and the other was the lack of any more big bugs trying to bite, claw, rip, or tear at their rather tender flesh from their first encounter at the start of this cave. Of course it didn't hurt to have a new friend at a time like this, Travis had only met her a short time ago, despite her punching him in the nose and thinking him useless due to his blindness; here they were together, pushing through the darkness, she was the one warm presence in the previous emptiness and in return he was the light to her darkened eyes. It felt good to be useful for a change. Blind people were never useful.
They now stood in an illuminated chamber after wandering in darkness for so long, Travis no longer felt Fayth's soft hand in his or the warmth of her body near his and something began tugging at his auditory senses. His eyes never saw the light; in fact he couldn't even tell there was no longer darkness if it had not been for the fact that he could see the swinging light bulb hanging from the ceiling as it slowly paced back and forth until eventually coming to a standstill. The noise the light bulb now made was almost deafening after the sheer silence they had walked through, hearing only the odd movement or shift in the air. Travis could tell there was electricity being sent down here through cables, they must have been specifically put in for an occasion such as this, or maybe the spiders just liked the faint heat it gave off. Either way, someone put it here, right at this spot, almost to lure you to it; it was no accident that Travis had come this way, all the time he had been walking right into someone's carefully laid trap and what was worse is that he had brought Fayth along for the ride.
Travis had accepted many things in his most recent years off life, people could be different, he was after all very different. He had met Fayth, who he had also learned was able to hear people's thoughts, two strange individuals in a big world. He had seen monsters, even beaten one to a bloody pulp with his bare hands but nothing seemed as surreal as what was about to unfold next for him. He realised that he couldn't feel Fayth's warmth anymore because they had drifted apart, Fayth had found what they had come all the way down here to find in the first place. Reina was sitting cocooned in webbing from head to toe, in fact little off her wasn't covered. She was meshed in between what could only have been the main food source for the spider they had encountered earlier. He scanned the area quickly with his eyes, sweeping from left to right and when he refocused his eyes, there was something new and awful to greet his eyes. First it was a mass of eyes and legs, clearly a spider but nothing about it was normal. It crawled forward with deep rooted intent, closing the distance it began to change however, its eight legs slowly reducing down to two, its black hairy skin changing to soft and squishy pink flesh. Once a spider, now a man stood before the two friends, one that seemed to have an odd connection to Travis' new friend.
The man that had transformed from being the world’s biggest spider into the most annoying little naked man Travis had ever met spoke to Fayth alone, he clearly never even registered that he was there. Though that wasn't new, most people ignored him because he was blind but here at least, he wouldn't be able to tell he was blind, he was simply an ignorant ass. He addressed Fayth by name and instantly Travis' anger spiked rapidly, he didn't know why but he didn't like the way he spoke to her, he didn't even like the annoying way he spoke in that awful half insectoid screech, half lazy human drone he had for a voice. The air he had around him was one of arrogance and ignorance, neither qualities that were desirable but right now that didn't matter, even without this ugly little man's bad attitude there was no way he was down here for just a friendly chat, this was serious, or at least would be in a few minutes. He made moves towards Fayth in this awkward waddling, strutting fashion and Travis moved to step in front of him but as he went to move, something tugged back upon his calf muscles as he tried to step to his new friend’s side.
Travis twisted his head round to glance at his leg to see it completely covered in white, on second glance he realised it was the thick threaded spider webbing that had covered their victims that hung on the ceiling above him right now. It had only covered his foot at this point, but as his mind tried to figure out what was going on, more webbing began to entomb him as it crawled up his leg making it impossible to move his right leg at all now. He wriggled his left violently, hoping it would still be free but the bottom of his leg was being coated in the same trapping substance. He managed to break some of the webbing on his left leg and he moved forward an inch, trying to drag his whole body with him, the spiders had done a good job of tying him up however and that would be as far as he got, soon he realised it wasn't just the webbing he would have to worry about. The spiders themselves had decided that if he wouldn't come willingly they would make him come by force as sinister black and brown bodies wriggling and slithering from the shadows towards their new target, full of dark purpose and filled with their master's malice. It was no time at all before ten or twelve differently shaped yet all deadly arachnids had surrounded him.
It was only seconds before they were all on him, at first they scrambled over his back and hands, seemingly trying to get to the very top of him, if they got to his head, they could easily have him wrapped up in seconds, or worse yet, simply wrap up his face or mouth leaving no space for him to breathe and he would suffocate right here and that would be his end. A sense of dread, anger, frustration at his weakness, sadness, and recklessness washed over him as the adrenaline spiked within his body to an all time high. He was moving without even thinking, his body felt like it was on fire, brimming with new found strength, his will to survive was strong. He was thrashing at his new enemies in a blind frenzy, his fists connected with jaws, thorax, and spine equally, crashing hard against his would be attackers, some falling and others doubling back to calculate their next move as their comrades took up the fight a new with each swing off Travis' now bloody fists. His powers were now turning themselves on and off at random now as his madness grew with each blind swipe he took at his attackers, his fists always connected and after a few blows he could tell he had probably killed another few spiders here or there. His fists would catch the sonic energy every now and then adding extra weight and force to his punches knock loose the odd spider or two and killing whoever it would meet square on.
He kept fighting and fighting with what felt like an army of these spiders, each time he struck a few down, he could feel new fangs begin to bite at him and all the while when they could the spiders would coat more and more of him in their webbing, reducing his movement and reach capabilities. His feet were completely rooted to the ground, parts of his arms were webbed together and his shirt was wrapped tight to him but he could still move his arms and that was all he needed. His mouth had been coated in webbing and he could not shout out or call for help from Fayth but his left nostril was still clear so he could breathe, although laboured. He realised that with little oxygen being supplied to his body and his continuous fight with the spiders it was more likely he would die from exhaustion rather than anything else now. Panic set in and, beneath all the trappings of the webbing, he left out a muffled scream for help as he felt the lactic acid building up in his muscles from overuse. Doing anything now created its own little ripples of pain along his arms and legs and he could barely move anything anymore, but he would not give in; blood dripped from all the bites he had taken in the fight, which coated the white webbing a dark shade of ugly red as it dripped slowly from brow line down to his toes. He screamed again, sucking in what sonic energy he could to try and amplify his cries of pain and panic. He wasn't ready to die, not here, not yet!
His screams of panic were just audible to the ears of Fayth and "Insect Boy", snapping the pair out of their previous entanglements with each other. It could not have come at a moment later as Travis began to feel the life draining from him, with each move he felt his muscles weakening and preparing to give out, and his breathing was more laboured with each action. Soon he would pass out and his world would go blank, possibly forever if someone could not stop the endless torrent of attacking spiders that seemed to have made him public enemy number one. Travis sensed the shifting mood of the true enemy, as "Creepy Crawly Dude" was most displeased with all the crushed and broken corpses of his only friends. He had left Fayth and his focus changed to Travis and with his shifting attention, so to came the shifting of his own form. He went from soft, squishy human to enormous, green and deadly killer insect. He had changed his form into some sort of Mantis like super bug, which was ugly to the eye, but more worryingly was the rather large and very sharp like scythe-like arms, barbed and tipped with razor like edges that were swiftly making their way towards him. Travis bashed a spider beneath him by bringing his knee down on top of it from above and he saw a brief glimmer of displeasure rupture through the big bug eyes staring down at him.
His victory was short lived and any joy he could of taken from giving his enemy one last moment of displeasure was gone within seconds as he felt the air rush out from his lungs. The two scythes met each other and wedge awkwardly between the fleshy muscular chunks of flesh on his arm and reaching to within the outer layer of his stomach. Spiked barbs and points dug into him as he was trapped there, agony welling up within him to meet every new pained breathe he struggled to take, tingling all over as the spiders crawled back to their master. His mind started to go blank as he was at the last of his energy. His mind flashed through all the images of his life rapidly, he believed this must really be it, he thought when he died at least the pain would stop, his mind would fog over and it would all be gone. That one last breath that hurt and then it would be over but as his mind and vision faded the pain remained. It felt like time had kept moving without him as he felt the harsh grip on his pained body begin to release somewhat. In his blurred vision of his senses, he caught the faintest glimpses of Fayth within his mind; her tone was authoritative and full of intent. She ordered something that Travis' mind struggled to make sense of, as hurt was all his senses seemed to know right now.
He thought he must have finally descended into delirium as the spiders that had once crawled over him in anger in an attempt to end his life now seemed to have turned on their master and had begun to gnaw at him instead. He left his mind drift for a moment, as things swirled in and out of focus for how long he could not tell from blood loss and exhaustion. His powers played tricks on him as for a time there was no sound or sight, just emptiness until an all too familiar sensation hit him. Pain surfaced once more, this time it was all over him, he felt it hit him and he realised that it wasn't clawing or stinging, it was the dull thud of a fall. He had fallen to the floor, he knew he wasn't dead or he wouldn't have felt the sting as he hit the ground, he thought that his opponent had grew bored of him and had discarded him, mustn't be worth the killing at this point. He laid still on the ground for a time as blood trickled from his cuts and his bruises made themselves known to him as each second they spiked his pain receptors every few seconds. He swam in his own thoughts; his mind reeling from all that had went on. He was content to just lie down on the floor and take whatever came next when suddenly a new thought bloomed within his mind, a question of why he was left on the floor, what had taken the focus of his attacker from him?
Things moved in and out of his blurred vision, even using echolocation or "seeing with your ears" seemed to distort and twist when Travis was in this much pain. He realised that he wasn't in control of his powers right now, as sound came and disappeared at irregular intervals with no prior warning. He guessed his cuts had probably hurt a lot more than he could even feel right now, the rush of adrenaline as the response to his original fight or flight instinct made him numb to the worst of it he had no doubt. He still had this intense feeling that the bugs had changed their attention to "Bug Guy", not that that made any sense but his senses were working on over time right now and he wasn't sure he could ask for much more from them. He told himself he would close his eyes for a few minutes but every time he felt his eyes get ready to close, pain would shoot through him and the thought of what he had left behind lingered making his mind drift back to the here and now. He pushed himself up on one hand and tried to take in the scene that would greet him. He had been right all along, Fayth stood alone and unaccosted by the Spiders and instead they attacked their former master with reckless abandon. It was almost like something had driven them mad.
He shifted his weight trying to get to his feet, pushing and pulling in any direction he could just to get up, but he hurt so much he could only struggle up a little bit at a time. He was glad he was in good physical shape or he guessed he wouldn't have even got this far at all. When he reached his feet, he felt sick and tired, his head still swirled but he was no longer fighting to stay awake, and his "eyes" had even focused so he could see the world around him clearly again. Fayth stood alone, she seemed to be rooted to the spot, all her focus clearly on their enemy but it was eerie, it felt like the atmosphere was empty, the bugs attacked their master enmass at any chance they could get, but they were swatted away, mostly knocked out or threw off in a hurry, though they came back almost frenzied. He knew Fayth could hear thoughts and talk to people mentally but he had no clue she would be able to turn the spiders against their own. Suddenly the feeling in the air changed when the spiders stopped altogether, they fell back and did not attack they simply stood in place and watched their two fighting masters in equal amounts and silence was all that remained, however short lived it would be. The next noise he heard was a piercing scream, so shrill and high at first he thought it was Fayth's voice until he saw the giant bug in front of him slowly turning back to its human form, clutching his head and screaming in that drone-like tone full of agony.
The sound was so deafening to the human ears that Travis had to shut out all outside noise, even only hearing the first few seconds had caused a constant ringing in his ear for the next few minutes. Shutting out all noise was possible but required severe concentration, the ringing in his ears made it awkward so every now and then damped soundwaves would make their way through. It still hurt to hear it but at least he was able to dull it as he slid along the floor, his wounds still bled and ached but he had to move, Fayth had proved her point, now it was time to go home and shut off the squeals of the beaten man. He finally made his way to Fayth's side, her face was full of rage and a hint of terror as she stared endlessly at the wailing mess of a man opposite. Fayth never blinked, Travis called her by name a few times and slowly walked round until he was in front of her. He called her name again, he waved his hand in front of her eyes but it was like looking upon glass as she seemed to see nothing. He shouted at her and took her in his hands and tried to shake her out of it. It had no effect so he shook her harder to no avail still. Something was wrong, very wrong. He didn't know what to do next; he was stuck here watching as she seemed to be mentally eviscerating him as his screams grew louder and more pained. He was lost outside their mental battle.
He went to Fayth and slowly tried anything he could, he poked her chest, then grabbed her shoulder firmly trying to apply pressure to see if she would respond to pain but it seemed to be pointless as nothing changed. The screams continued and Travis' grip on silencing both the pain in his body and in his head was slipping constantly. He looked at Fayth and for some reason he took both hands and placed them upon her head and as he did a new kind of pain hit him. A clawing at his mind perhaps as pain overwhelmed him in ways he didn't even think were possible. This must have been what she was doing to that other guy as he began to scream himself unable to control the pain. It wasn't like physical pain, it didn't have an entry point that it would hurt from, it felt like everything within him was on fire then frozen, electrocuted and then left bare, only for it all to start over and over again. It hurt like this for a time till eventually he sensed he had left his body or died as the pain disappeared altogether and he stood alone in a place he had never seen before. It was an empty space, a plain white building with an endless corridor, rows of seats all along the walls and there was nothing but the same scene repeated over and over as far as his eyes could see.
Strange, his eyes could see, his real eyes, there was no rush of sound or the usual static sounds that came with his over-sensitive ears. He didn’t have to bounce noise around the room to see, he just saw with his eyes like he used to when he was younger. He didn't have to block out the awful noises that came with his powers and he didn't feel the pain he had been up until now. In fact he realised he wasn't even hurt here, he was wearing only plain white clothes and he was completely unhurt. There was no bleeding and no screaming, he stood alone or he had until he turned around to be greeted by a somewhat familiar face. A young girl looked back at him, she was a good head and shoulders smaller than he was but she stared at him intently and something about her seemed familiar like he knew her. She spoke softly to him in voice he couldn't mistake but it didn't match the person it came from. "You’re not welcome here, go now or we will hurt you like we have hurt the other." The voice said, a tone of authority but not of menace. He was going to say something until suddenly beside the little girl came the same little man that he had been fighting only moments ago. He lay on the ground naked and afraid, clutching at his head and mumbling to himself.
Clearly still in pain and every now and then he would look up to see the little girl and he would retreat in fear from her gaze like a man who has seen into a demon's eyes. She looked at him with a plain look and then back to Travis once more. He felt like he could hear voices in his head as she looked at him, soft voices, then angry voices and then silence. He didn't know what was going on but he had to do something and he now stood beside the little girl as the scene changed again and the two were alone watching over three people in a dark lit room, two were dead and one was crying in the middle of them. Travis realised that the one in the middle was Fayth as she wept into her hands, the pathetic little man sat on one side and on the other he saw the lifeless form of himself face down choked on his own blood. He turned to the little girl and he went to his knees and he tried to cry out and tell her to make it stop but no noise was heard, he just shrank to the floor and held her shoulders, shaking and pleading in silence. He wanted so badly to scream, to make a sound, something he was so used to but now without it he felt so lost and all that flashed through his mind was the image of him left there lying in his own blood to die. He hadn't come this far to let it all end here.
Something hot and warm sprang forth within him; it spread all over him like the rays of the sun and then retreated back to a pinpointed mark on his forehead. Pain was the first thing he came back to, all his own aches and pains still remained but now a new one joined his already long list of woes. The warmth he had felt before he had come back to the real world was a thin trickle of blood on his forehead, he placed his hand up to feel why it was there but nothing was clear. He came back to the real world and saw both Fayth and the little man he had at once been at war with on the ground, though Fayth was lying in a heap right at his feet. He leant down to check she was fine, she was still breathing but had become unconscious somehow, till when running his hand over her face he felt the same little trickle of blood that was on his forehead on her's too. He had in his pain and confusion taken the only course of action he had believed was left available to him. He had headbutted her knocking her out and releasing her mental hold on him. He checked "shapeshifting spider boy", he was breathing too but unconscious, the attack had clearly taken to much out of him as he was trapped in that world of pain longer than Travis had been.
He tore off his shirt in strips and fixed them onto his deeper cuts, patching up what he could with what material had been left after all the spider bites and mantis claws. He tied them tight and could feel them soak through the cloth almost instantly. He scanned the area and sensed the one thing that had brought them here all along. Directly behind his fallen friend hung the very thing they had come all this way and endured all this pain for. Reina, a girl Travis did not know and had no knowledge off hung wrapped in spider silk, he guessed she was unconscious and unmoving but at least he could still hear faint breathing, she was fine and now they could leave. He rushed to over her, quickly channeling sound energy through his body, he brought down force behind his body and within seconds he had bashed his way through the webbing that held her trap within its bindings, taking her in his arms and leaving her down gently beside Fayth. He bent down to lay her there beside her friend and as he stood his feet felt like they had turned to water and he felt the rush of the ground as it charged up to meet him, falling slack on the ground as the very last of his energy was spent and his eyes finally closed.
