The Doc arrived to take Matthew’s place soon after.

  The ‘hostage exchange’ happened without incident. Matthew and the Doc simply met up in an underground chamber whose path Tarantulas opened from afar through a set of secret passages. All of the Association’s efforts to map out the Dungeon had barely revealed a fraction of its full structure.

  “Matthew!” The Doc immediately cast a few check-up spells on his student the moment they met. “Are you alright? Were you hurt?”

  “I’m fine, Doc.” The headache had passed, and besides a few strands of magnetic tape webbing sticking to his shirt, Matthew had left the magma pit unharmed. “Are you really sure you want to do this?”

  The Doc forced himself to smile. “I understand the risks, Matthew… but I would rather take them in your place.”

  A camera whirred in a corner and swiftly projected another hologram of Tarantulas. The monster’s sudden appearance startled the Doc, but he quickly recovered. “Tarantulas, I would presume?”

  “Greetings, Finn lifeform.” Tarantulas’ teeth stretched in a twisted parody of a predatory smile worthy of a Batman—or rather, Owlman—villain “I am happy to establish contact with you.”

  “I’m… happy too…” The Doc cleared his throat. “What is your expression, if I may ask?”

  “I was told that a smile equals human happiness,” Tarantulas replied, its expression unwavering. “High levels of happiness are directly associated with friendship.”

  “That’s for normal smiles,” Matthew said. “Yours is the ‘I’m gonna shank you in an alley and laugh about it’ kind of smile.”

  Tarantulas stared at him in confusion. “I do not understand this information.”

  “What my student means is that your facial expression doesn’t match that of a human being,” the Doc replied diplomatically. “The mismatch is… deeply unsettling.”

  “I comprehend.” Tarantulas’ teeth rearranged themselves into an emotionless and thankfully less sinister expression. “Would modifying my cranial structure improve your happiness levels?”

  “We can discuss that another time,” the Doc said before touching his own navigator. “I am in position, Crypto.”

  “Thank you, Finn. Know that your actions here today are very much appreciated.” Crypto then cleared her throat. “We have provided a new hostage as agreed. Will you answer our queries in turn?”

  “Leverage is a requirement for peaceful and constructive negotiation according to your flowchart,” Tarantulas replied sternly. “I have proven I possess the information you seek. You must now provide a service in return for more.”

  “That will depend on the service you demand,” Crypto warned. “You asked for protection, if I recall? From what?”

  Tarantulas nodded in response, its bones creaking like chalk on a schoolboard. Matthew figured that it had inferred the gesture’s meaning from prior observation, but still required a lot of practice before it could nail it down.

  “Another head is consuming this one from below,” Tarantulas explained. “I have hidden this head’s core, but it is a temporary measure. I want the intruder eliminated.”

  “Another head?” Crypto repeated. “You mean another Dungeon?”

  “This is like the Church?” Matthew guessed. “Twins eating each other?”

  The Doc stroked his chin. “This would explain why this Dungeon has progressed to stage three so quickly; namely, it hasn’t. The next level we detected is another Dungeon trying to assimilate this one.”

  “You have my understanding,” Tarantulas confirmed. “I find this Dungeon agreeable in its current state. The absence of monster and human variables allows me to learn without interruption, and the ambient Flux sustains my existence.”

  “If you need Flux to survive, we can provide it ourselves,” the Doc suggested. “While we can’t give as much energy as a Dungeon, my colleague Matthew is successfully feeding another creature as we speak.”

  Matthew shuddered when he felt Tarantulas’ gaze linger on him, its camera eyes observing his eyepatch the longest. His Doom Sense remained quiet, yet the monster’s interest in him never failed to put him ill at ease.

  Thankfully, Tarantulas shot down the proposal. “I must decline this counteroffer. Agreeing would give you leverage over my survival, which I cannot accept.”

  “I understand,” the Doc replied without pressing the subject further. “Maybe we can discuss it further once we’ve established trust.”

  “Why don’t you destroy the other Dungeon yourself?” Matthew asked with skepticism. He didn’t trust the spider’s intentions in the slightest. “Can’t you just slip your way to the core and destroy it?”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “That course of action has yielded no result,” Tarantulas explained. “The other head identified me as an enemy and closed the path. Expanding Flux to enter it by force would leave me weakened.”

  Matthew snickered in disdain. “So you would rather watch us suffer than risk yourself?”

  “Affirmative,” Tarantulas replied flatly. At least it was honest about its intentions. “The human method of cooperation against an outside threat should solve this issue. I request such an agreement.”

  “I will need to remain constantly in contact with our operatives during the entire length of their stay in your Dungeon, especially Finn,” Crypto informed Tarantulas. “You will also provide a safe route to the next level’s entrance for our members.”

  “This concession is acceptable.” Tarantulas’ teeth once again stretched into a ghastly smile, though thankfully that one wasn’t as wide as before. “Let us become friends.”

  This thing would never stop being creepy.

  Once the meeting concluded, Matthew was allowed to leave the Junkyard Dungeon without any issues. He found his team, Jack, and Mr. Auguste awaiting him outside, though he barely had time to wave a hand at them before Kari glomped him.

  “Oof!” Matthew complained as she squeezed him so tightly he almost struggled to breathe. “I’m okay, mom!”

  “You better be!” Kari replied upon letting him go. “Do not worry us like that again!”

  “Hey, you make it sound like my fault I was kidnapped!” Matthew protested. “I can’t help it if I’m so cute that even monsters want me.”

  “You do have a face only a spider could love,” John replied. Unlike Kari, Matthew’s disappearance hadn’t seemed to bother him too much; perhaps because he had expected him to break out on his own. “I do wonder why Tarantulas prioritized capturing you over everyone else.”

  “Seems obvious to me,” Jack said with a smirk. “Take out the biggest threat first.”

  “Aww, you’ll make me blush,” Matthew replied, his smile fading away. “Seriously, I’m glad you all made it out.”

  “Crypto briefed us,” Kari informed Matthew before biting her lower lip. “Is… is Mr. O’Connor really going along with this?”

  “He volunteered,” Crypto reminded them through their navigator. “Considering he is our Flux expert, Finn believes studying Tarantulas up close will give us precious insight.”

  Mr. Auguste crossed his arms. “I don’t like leaving Finn in there, Crypto. He can handle himself, but I would rather see this spider in a cage than running amok with one of our own; especially after it killed three of them already.”

  “Between us, I wanted to send Charlie,” Crypto replied, with Jack raising an eyebrow upon hearing the name. “But you know Finn. I bet he’s grilling Tarantulas about monster feeding habits as we speak.”

  “A Dungeon needs human lives to feed on,” John reminded her. “What will happen once this one runs out of juice and the spider realizes we have it cornered?”

  Kari scowled darkly. “If it asks that we sacrifice people to the Dungeon, or threaten Mr. O’Connor…”

  “We will cross that bridge once we reach it,” Crypto replied. “If anything Tarantulas told us about this ‘hydra’ is true, then we must investigate further; and quickly.”

  Matthew’s jaw clenched. From the grim looks on his allies’ faces, Crypto had given them a quick rundown of Tarantulas’ revelation; that the Dungeons which caused them so much heartbreak and sowed so much death were little more than the fingers of a greater, unfathomable horror trying to worm its way to Earth.

  Matthew couldn’t even begin to imagine the scale of the hydra entity. The Wreckers had blown up hundreds of Dungeons over the years, and more popped up with each timeshift. If the full creature ever managed to fully cross over…

  “Why all the long faces?” Mr. Auguste asked, his own jovial mood undisturbed. “This is excellent news. If Dungeons all share the same body, then they’ll all die if we kill it.”

  His sheer moxie managed to draw a chuckle from Matthew. “Do you think Lou and you could cook it?”

  Mr. Auguste’s smirk managed to look even more threatening than Tarantulas’. “Can’t know until we try.”

  “I don’t think we can solve all the world’s problems by eating them,” Crypto quipped. “In any case, we’ll call off the mission for the night and proceed with Tarantulas’ task once it provides us with a map.”

  “I’ll drag you kids back home,” Mr. Auguste said before glancing at Jack next. “What about you?”

  “I have my own place, but I’ll drive Matthew back.” Jack quickly invited his old friend to jump into his Corvette. “Wanna try out full speed on leather seats?”

  Obviously, no one in their right mind could resist such a bribe—though both Kari and John declined the offer, preferring to stick with Mr. Auguste and his shiny Porsche instead. Matthew moved to the front of the car and let out a sigh of pleasure upon sinking into the seat. So soft and warm.

  “Do I truly have to get out of this car once we arrive?” Matthew asked. “I could… fuse with it.”

  “Sorry mate, got a gig on my plate after driving you home,” Jack replied with a chuckle. “T’was a fun day though. Shame we didn’t smoke that spider.”

  “Maybe another time.” Matthew hoped for the Doc’s sake that Tarantulas would keep its word, but it would regret it if it tried to harm his mentor. “Jack… do you think we could kill it?”

  “The spider?”

  “The hydra.” Matthew looked through the tinted window at the setting sun. He thought it resembled a blazing eye for a moment, and wondered if the Dungeon entity even had one. “I want to believe Mr. Auguste is right and we can kill it like any monster, but that thing sounds so… so big.”

  Jack’s scoff sounded louder than his car’s engine. “Don’t tell me you still believe in this bullshit?”

  His dismissive tone felt like a slap in the face. “What bullshit?”

  “That destroying these places makes any difference.” Jack snorted. He tested the accelerator while keeping the brakes on, basking in his car’s roars. “I get it, Dungeon raids are fun and profitable sometimes, but that saving the world shit? It’s bullcrap.”

  “We are saving the world, Jack,” Matthew argued. Now more than ever. “We’re making it safer one rescue and explosion at a time.”

  “How did that work out for you?” Jack’s smile didn’t waver, but his tone dripped with contempt. “This Hydra thing is too large for any of us to stop. It’s like trying to prevent a meteor impact. Yeah, maybe you can deviate it a bit, but it’ll hit anyway.”

  Matthew’s fists clenched with anger. He had seen too many fellow Crawlers fall in the line of duty to take that remark kindly. “Somebody’s gotta at least try.”

  “Why waste your remaining time when you could live your life to the fullest?” Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Just do whatever you want, Matt. It’s not like it’ll change anything in the end.”

  Matthew kicked the Corvette’s door open and stepped out. Thankfully, his teammates hadn’t left the Junkyard yet, so he could still hitch a ride with them.

  “Hey!” Jack raised an eyebrow in surprise upon seeing him go. “What’s wrong, Matt?”

  How could Jack even ask him that? He didn’t sound like he was even trying to understand.

  Matthew considered playing dumb, before deciding he couldn’t hold his tongue on that. “I’m starting to see why your sister dislikes you.”

  Heya, the novel is nearly complete on Patreon (since it's a single volume like with Gunsoul) so I'll see if I quicken updates after the next chapter is done.

  (access to advance chapters, arts and other bonuses)

  My Amazon if you wanna check my other books

  Thanks to my patrons on :

  Zhypher Marquis Rider FeelingsandFoibles Micheal Hamm Alvaro Prieto 2190sasasxqs .strano Vik M. Zephhyr gintoki 1 Black Rose JaceNight Sven Jude Merry Stained glass window C. Adkins Blas Borde Zanareth Ethan Hodgdon Zendran Alex Banana Cabbage Sridhar Madala Brown JWR Maddie Andrew Joseph Robinson Manpolar Max Benny Liu Ricardo Testino Noxx Bryce per-arne ipejamas Rahul Sanku 1FantasyFanatic Antonio wyangyang Julie Hong Alexander Huss Alex Han Brian Barrett Shakyamunie sakaria mohamud Grace Talbot Zarathoustra Ancient Yggdrasil Unsheathed Izmir Beqiri Jordan Lopez Hunter Brown Asur Lino inkaral charles dupont JOYBOY Erikbongo Hywolk Josh Smith shep McCauley Edmund Dillon freakinweekend Fenris712 Tilen Praprotnik Martin Endl Nathan Smith ?těpán Srb Xander J W big man Andrew C. Landen Grant .m Azgaroth Elliot Shapiro Aaron Nagy Anthony Britton Merkywater arsha Renn Mike DeadicatedReader Coffee Cake Adrian Ortega ConnectionFaild gostsamo Kyle anon Zordak TheFoud3er12 Spam Kindle John Claudia Will Darcy Cameron Chown Daniel TV Head John Perrin Hardik Paliwal Shio Eeetee CherMi Chris Alfonso Arroyo Thomas Russell Krosh Pagrek Jeffrey Zhou Taccohunter Prem Chanumalla Plaszczykov Shaun norden Pear Adrian Castillo Luis Hernandez sageco David Park dbohomolov Fritz Kühn Seth Baker Federico FaronAan John Lim Rom Yaskant Cap'nSmurfy Insomnia Bombastic101 CrossingInk ryan dougherty krakan delux Warren (Stephen) Rose Andrew B Alexander Sampson Maxime Bray Striker Brendan D. King John Baugher Colonel Doloryas RA Alexzendor Misra Charles eeee elforo Pius Tumwebaze Lemky Wilfire Alex p Daniel David Giles Costaud 3107 Zomboss Zonbikirā DatUser higby Adrian Wright SirDeP Josh DKM Mike Baker MomentarilyDisabled Julio Leite industriousrevolution Almander KingDaddz Aleck E. S.P Montana Peter Parker Maxum Callum Brock Publius Decius Mus Thiago Arthur Ferreira Syom Trasen56 Hudson McBay RepossessedSoul Keith Rowland Kingman ioajfidsnmfomds77 CentaureHeart Ouro Matthew Mocias I Eat Pain Legogredo AnimeKay Douglas Bevil king ramp GloryHound Diego Villa Matthew Escobar CJ Tamberella Leonardo Yang AL Windjigo Meoeu Spoop Reno Miles Paszek Charlie Burstiner Emil Takman Matthew Collins Abbie TPG Sleep J. K. Mohamed William Keith Sean Coker Patrick Booth Terv Jay Yuval Roth Mmaze Jeff G Aaron U'Ren Mr. Nut undercoverducky Shadow Wing Rainer Jenning Runaway_Cactuar MoEl Christopher Hahn Maria Cobos Mateos Arjun Aletty MadAdder FirstKingofthePotatoes Tinman Nithhogg vVip3rzzz Mason Kamer Guessed Tanay Singhvi wahtique Carlos Robert Tylena Simmonds Zharele Alec Ruth Okman202 Lol dogmaster20070 Val Garret Chris hannah922 John Hyland Mikael Markus Malex Seth P Jay Halfcrzy David Maka dxpt12 Hex Federico Bellavista Andreas Mike Warfield Toffi coffe Dylan Alexander Matthew Flowers Tom Scheibe turtle Tri Turtar Silim Chillitsagame Nasa Wofford Santiago Cortes CaptainFlowers locky 0gain Jorge Benedicto Dylan Crawford Colin Love Marquel Miles Veraenderer Hussar L Marc Berkowicz Arxigal Leyse Jacob Ward R3ad Jeff Israel bobnob Aluereon Arthur Ibanda Jimmy J.K. Dixon Gao Lukasz Podgorski H Jayel Savaris Bryce Bazoo juanmi MM George R Ceagle TheLazerCat TMKnight Nomad Revolgod Myrrdin Sarcastic Traitor Kris Bruns Nicholas Al Capone Roberto Tomás Gabryel Scott Igor S. Carvalho mark harrell Persepolis Jnhocky Robert Whitaker Mai0e Samuel Patterson Carlos Torres HonestMan Shadeepta Deggo36 Alexander Ksendzov Baamz jak0b Nayruke The Tallest Tree Stultus Yi xiu DB Alidraco Mad Max richard wechsler Hunter LostOx Droog mea Doctor Zero Benjamin wolfe Kyle Donmoyer J T Lord Freezy Pop Jujuan tillery Evan Fleischer Joel Magnuson Adam Jordy Broussard David Cullen John Ness Janwardha Maulana krapotge PalmTrees Cd Lluis Jimenez Puig Andrew Moreton Angus Losier SCout75 Sam Kyle Badello Trisper Brennon Shippee Halesmash Gres Om V Julian Hinck Connor McCaul Joseph Barratt Fallou Ndiaye Pradian Darrel Kincade Joseph Duchesne sephirothrr Skinnybonz Apotheosis Michael Chermside Joseph Klos ArianaAndBeyond Innes PizzaNachos PcKc Xophos Justin Huddleston hunter117x Joshua Thompson Tamás Bodnár John Young Veracis Jio TheBlackfirebird Blaize Haynes Garrett Smith B1w2c3 Graham Hildebrandt Dirk Kefferpütz Elijah Tan tdb Stoney06 Dimitar Slavchev Django munkasir masud Chris Fox Tom Stapleton Darth Bayes Jukka V?limaa Morgan D Kauffman BoadBoad Trausti Sigurgeirsson Kevin Todd thomas flipsen Alex Jonas Timothy Smith James Ryan Porcine Pirate GrandSageGand Bernardino Campa IV boo Christopher Walker Christopher Sigmann EmliTGM Ikit Claw Alexander Orion1024 David Ford Tim Joseph Dumol padanu Richter Stormstrike Zorro De La Costa Ashlee Jacobsen Raphael Pietro Mengha Duco Van der Ploeg Treeman4 cadis Alex Alex Farmer R. B. Ezo Caleb Smith Kaleb Orduno Ted Berkowitz My name is Klondike Imspinnennetz Kooooomakimi P enyuk Ran Rain song gemer Disclancer Luke Darkdej John Pratt Eddie Christopher Bennett Epiphaner Alan Kwok Chris Ferguson Dallas Gillespie BlueGraine Wei b0urne78 Frostbound slammer evan peat Logan hensley Jason kunsa Niloc Necrologist Mi Iwritestrangethings Alexander Rodriguez Adrien Matricon Slim Dakhch Miran RandomAnkle Geminus Sportpix andrew barnes Dirkk Diggler Jeremy Engelberg Clawseeker Sterban Friz DHNightshadow Trucinox JohnFish William Beyer TheFool Justin Tit HeavenDragon Cal Fiala Jarrod Young Sir Sloth Josh Enterman Pride Ricardian Timothy Felker S T Grosbilljunior Loki Josh Delgado42 ScottDR Contractk4 Adrian Engel Massgamer Deinos AlthePal Amaury Valcry Charlie Hazza Vanderbyl Moosh7 Ivan Kal Thundabear95 Adam Johnston Heikki Aitakangas Richard Lee Erik MaliMi Aleksander Z Ryan Dietz Djinn Necro_32 Kite7 Michael S. evilperson41 edmuck Dalton Cade Spence mhaj58 William Johnson John Evans HarbingTarbl KilledbyBooks Guy Incognito HenryMorgan Zel tom Devon Conor lennon YourFavorite Popcorn Spartanstoryteller MasterofNova Sam Paley Kody Ihnat morganmoll Maalsc TTG Siphor Nikhil Majumdar glare31337 Slipperyfish Birbman Jonathan Spaulding Erriballon Hayden H. Scott Taylor Tilbury Ashley Cameron Ivan Elyshev Tate Browder Ryan Trueman Chris Mezmer Roden Alex Lindsay Sadinar Daniel Everest Ausner Gentil Kyle Reese Zach Svarog Peter Christensen-Calvin Thaco4 Matteo Viktor D victorious Maxwell Margetts Hulg Gohen Karthic PbookR John Carroll mohammedd john Parker Groseclose Zack Grog_Guy BlissForgotten Marc Claude Louis Durand Rhodri Thornber