Spider-Bots Rising

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Dark Web

The Dreamseeker's idea had worked! They stepped into the orb as easily as if there was nothing there at all. But once inside, it was like they had all been dunked deep underwater. Complete darkness and silence pressed in against them. It was a shock after the brightness outside.

For one wild moment the Dreamseeker thought she was back in The Council's chamber. She looked at Chuck's face and remembered when it was half bathed in the glow of the vision core's dazzling staircase. But now he looked as though he was made of light himself. Every one of them was still shimmering with blue light.

Still standing in a huddle around the compass, their ears adjusted first. A faint metallic clicking sound was rising steadily all around them. It was a sound they knew. It was the clenching and unclenching of a thousand robotic pincers.

Then their eyes adjusted to the darkness. They saw something coming towards them, fast. Or some things. A gigantic swarm of metal bodies shuffling closer and closer. The spider-bots.

Their imaginanium tanks were empty. Their red sensors had gone from dim to dead. No light shone from their black eyes anymore. Slivers of blue light glinted off those closest to them. . The rest had nothing separating them from the darkness that swallowed everything else.

The bots thundered towards them. It was impossible to see how many there were. One shot out several feet ahead of the others, galloping at full tilt.

Fear blazed through the Dreamseeker's body. She looked wildly around for something to help them. There were so many bots, and they were coming so quickly. Would the compass' power protect them? Was that even possible? Back in the cave she had thought so, but now she wasn't sure. She was just about to pull the others back out of the orb again, when a loud roar erupted on her left.

Nigel charged at the oncoming swarm. Even as he broke his connection with the compass, he remained wrapped in blue light. He swam furiously through the air towards the single bot leading the pack.

"Onwards into the fray, dear friends!" he cried, his tail streaming behind him.

For a moment, everything seemed to happen in slow-motion. Nigel reached out a glowing fin and grazed the spider-bot's smooth, dark head. The bot stopped dead, mid-step. It crumpled to the floor. Then, after a few seconds, which seemed to go on forever, a soft buzz and whir could be heard amid the clanking of metal. The spider-bot's red sensors lit up. But then they winked off again.

"Activate. Total. System. Reboot," it said. Its sensors continued to blink on and off.

"They have been trapped in the W-W-Web for too long," Abby said, watching. "Their systems must reset completely."

"But it worked!" the Dreamseeker cried. "The power of the compass broke the Web's hold on the bot's mind!"

That realization didn't come a moment too soon. Suddenly the army of brainwashed bots was upon them. They flowed around their fallen brother and surrounded the intruders.

The Dreamseeker slipped the compass back into her pocket. Abby, Chuck, and the Dreamseeker stood back to back with Nigel floating just above them.

And just like that, the fight began.

The four of them lunged, all striking out in different directions. The spider-bots surged forward to meet them, pincers gnashing. Chuck did a sort of front flip, landing on the head of the bot closest to him. Instantly the bot sagged and went still. But before its sensors lit up again, Chuck had leapt onto the head of another one. Nearby bots stabbed at him with their sharp legs but Chuck was too fast. He sprung from one bot's head to the next, triggering their reboots at the touch of his gleaming blue feet.

"Take that ya lousy little metalheads!" he laughed as he went.

Nearby Abby was wrestling with another bot. Four of their front legs were locked together: two shining blue, two dark grey. The other bot seemed to have gone into its reboot and become stuck in this pose. Luckily Abby was fighting off attacks from behind with her six other legs.

Nigel floated above the crowd, diving here and there. He seemed to have invented a special method for maximum effect. When he was within reach of the bots, he turned in a wide, shimmying circle. He swooped downwards and fanned out his fins and tail. After having brushed as many bots as he could, he rose up into the air once more. It was like some strange kind of dance.

The Dreamseeker ran through the swarm, tapping as many bots as she could. I feel like I'm playing some insane game of tag, she thought. She ducked below pointy pincers and jumped over flailing metal legs. At least their lasers don't seem to be working. The bots must have been drained of too much power. She couldn't stop or slow down. The bots crawled over one another to try and reach her. As she ran she left a trail of stunned, rebooting bots behind her.

She looked around for the others and felt a great leap of excitement. She could see them fighting across the dark expanse: three swift blue blurs. They were winning! Most of the bots lay still where they had fallen, their sensors blinking. Scattered flat bot voices overlapped all around them droning the same words: "Activate. Total. System. Reboot." Only a few bots were left fighting.

The Dreamseeker tagged the last bot near her and didn't even wait to watch it fall. She picked her way through the motionless bodies, working back towards the others. The three of them fought side by side now, dropping the final few bots where they stood. As she reached them, Chuck sent the very last bot into reboot with a smack that turned its head clear around.

"And take THAT!" he said, panting.

They turned and looked back at what they had done. Hundreds of spider-bots lay perfectly still beneath the high dome of the Web. It was like a dark and sinister junkyard.

It was impressive. But the Dreamseeker knew that their most dangerous test still lay ahead. And her name was Queen Arachni.