Symbiosis: At World's End

Revived, yet Attached

Merrick and co. were all seated around a roaring fire, watching the flames slowly die out. They had finished their dinner some time ago and were close to falling asleep. It had been a little over a week since they fled the beach, and they were scouring the coast for any sign of the siblings. They had seen a few pockets of Runners along the beach, but they could tell they weren't the siblings.

Cruz had gotten much better and could now walk for long periods of time without help. They kept the pace slow so that he didn't overextend and get sent back to square one. Wendell had actually proven quite trustworthy and very helpful. Plus, she had some medical background since she needed to know some human anatomy and care for her symbiote studies. She was helping Cruz get back to full health rather well.

Occasionally Merrick, Paula, or both would scout ahead when they were trekking along the coast, just to see if there was anything ahead of them that they should be worried about. Brianna had volunteered, but was turned down since she would be better off guarding her father. Terry was too bulky to scout properly, and they didn't trust Wendell enough to scout, even if she could fly. To a degree, that is.

Merrick was pondering the stone he had found in the box. He had examined it several times, but it had yet to reveal whatever mysterious power the note had alluded to. He had questioned his symbiote about it a few times, but it had absolutely no idea. What he did know was that the stone had a slight glow to it, and was completely indestructible. He had thought perhaps that the 'power within it' meant the power was literally inside the stone and had to be cut free, but thus far, he had been unable to so much as scratch it!

He had the symbiote move away from the stone and he removed it from his neck. He examined it a little, admiring the etchings that formed a spider sigil in the middle. He wondered how the etchings got there. If the stone was unbreakable, then how had the etchings been chiseled in?

All of a sudden, he heard rustling and a twig snap. He whirled around and saw two purple eyes peering out of the shadows. The symbiote reformed his full suit and sucked the stone back into its mass. The others also jumped up when they saw Merrick's sudden movement as well as the sound of the twig snapping. They looked at the glowing eyes, which vanished into the underbrush. Merrick immediately leapt into pursuit, followed by Paula and Wendell. Terry and Brianna helped Cruz up and got him on Terry's back, where Brianna webbed him in place. They all set off, following the others after the eyes.

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Unbeknownst to the group, there was another transport in the area, flying roughly in their direction.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Washington uttered.

Darkhound snarled and snapped his massive jaws together.

"Of course I'm sure! I can sense them down there. They're real close! All we need is to find a good place to land and we can start hunting them on foot."

Washington just grunted.

"The sooner the better. I'm getting real sick of this flying tin can. Can't wait for some payback."

Audrey narrowed her eyes.

"Get in line."

Mitchell stood up.

"I believe that is enough of that! I'm the leader of this crew, and I don't care who gets payback first. All that matters is that we end her before more people get hurt."

Cobra hissed a little.

"Whatever you say, Doc. I'm in this for some good ol' revenge."

Mitchell rolled his eyes.