So a Spider and an Entomologist Walk Into a Mad Scientist's Lab and...

As the insane doctor approached Arachna again The Hive pushed himself to his feet. He'd put out the olive branch, but was practically ignored as Irrelevant. Irrelevant was better than art, that was for damned sure. Though George liked the sound of neither word as spoken by Mister Lovecraft.

What he liked even less was the man's barking at what some invisible phantom or something that happened to be in the direction of his partner. The Hive's hand moved into his jacket and he stepped closer making sure that he would get a good shot at the man if that was what it came to. Most crazies were placated by having the object of their obsession nearby but when it wasn't they usually were more than a handful, and that was guys without the creepy power to turn corpses into freaks. When Arachna didn't respond violently The Hive relaxed but still kept his hand inside bomber jacket and his eyes on the Fleshcrafter.

Suddenly George thought back to the patrol of rowdy Red Diamonds that were about, they were all fighters, and drinkers apparently with a little liquid courage in them busting up a corner shop last he'd checked and heading their way, eight of them all armed with pipes and knives and a few guns.

"Oh boy, I wonder how close those Red Diamonds are now." The Hive mused looking to the crafted beasts, "They looked so tough with all their muscles and clubs and guns they had, it'd take quite a bit of force to take them down." Not really, Hive could do it in a surprise attack by himself but he was attempting to manipulate Sinew into killing the lot so that he didn't have to. After the Diamond's old man snubbed him, it was the least he could do to return the kindness he'd been shown.

Really it killed two birds with one stone.

Sinew's eyes darted from Lady Arachna to the Hive. "Y-yes... I-I can prove myself. Th-the patrol, the thugs, the mindless drones leave their nest, the den, the den..." He spits out the words incredibly quickly, his excitement brimming. "W-we kill the patrol, we kill the den, w-we... We burn the den!" His eyes light up. "Th-these low life street rats guard their drugs like a dragon guards gold! I-If I can burn their drugs, surely that will prove myself, my art and its beauty, to the Lady Arachna! And the clay, the clay, the clay..." Sinew pulled away from Lady Arachna, giggling to himself like a giddy school girl. "Oh, the things I could make with the dozens of corpses they'd leave lying around... I-I-I could make anything, I could..." He locked his eyes with his muse. "I would construct a creature... In your image... God fashioned us in his for he thought himself greater than all... I will fashion one in yours... In the image of Lady Arachna, yes..." He rushed over to Baskerville, who let out a hideous sound, like something between a wolf's howl and a man's sob, as his maker approached. "Baskerville, you will hunt, you will kill, you will KILL. Are you ready, are you excited?" Sinew certainly was excited; he was trembling with the adrenaline coarsing through his veins. For years he had wasted his life sitting quietly in a hospital, escorting patients from room to room, listening to the steady beeping of machines that announced life, but here... Here he felt alive.
Baskerville shook too, its unnatural sounds pouring out of its misshapen mouth as it began salivating a thick, viscous fluid. Unlike Klaus, it was designed to kill, and so killing drove it. Sinew giggled, Baskerville garbled, and the Rancid Noises hissed and snarled... The Fleshcrafter had not felt this alive for quite some time...

Arachna's lips turned up slowly as the man ranted insanely about how he'd carry out her bidding and craft something in her image from it, sneering wickedly as everything moved according to her plan. She'd already had plans to bring the Red Diamonds toppling over and she'd heard word that they were currently at their weakest. If they could bring down the band of marauders and then carry straight into bringing down an entire stronghold it would cripple the gang of miscreants even further and leave them reeling.

"Yes... We'll crush this small band easily and follow them to their source. I won't be happy with just a few outrunners. I want to devour an entire stronghold!" She pointed a finger toward the ceiling in excitement at the end of her statement before pointing back down and out of the office. "We depart immediately!" If Sinew still found himself lacking in nutrients he'd have to eat along the way.

Wait. George was confused, what was this WE bullshit he was hearing from Arachna now. He'd had his own personal beef with the Red Diamonds, and Mister Crazy was going had designs on their flesh, a thought that made The Hive shudder collectively. But George had figured that his partner had plans of her own to take on the Red Diamonds, but to attack this soon? Striking while the Iron was hot was one thing but they needed a little more in the way of power if they were going to make a serious run of it.

However they could keep their identities hidden during the attack, there would be no bodies to examine, the good doctor or The Hive's army ants would make sure of that. This would be a covert attack lead by Lovecraft. Really George wanted to see the man in action not just his creations.

Whelp! If Arachna wanted to move now George would see it through, he could always abandon ship if things got too heavy or heated for him. Arachna's plan was solid enough that he might just stick around anyways. The Red Diamonds had some supers in their ranks but not enough that a group composed completely of super powered individuals wouldn't stand a chance.

Sinew stood upright and gestured to the door. "Find the patrol, Baskerville. Lead us to them... Kill." He hissed. Without any hesitation, the Great Hound let out a horrifying sound and bolted for the door. Sinew quickly followed, calling out to the Bringer of Gifts to follow them.

Blood. Smell it. Find it. Find it. Open it. Rip it apart. Baskerville was told to hunt. So Baskerville would hunt. The Master commanded it, so it would be done. Six. There were six. One was bleeding. Bleeding. Blood. Blood. The Great Hound dashed ahead, bounding around a corner and letting out his twisted and warped howl. The prey turned to face him, letting out howls of their own. The bleeding one, the bleeding one was first. Metallic red fluid flowed between his teeth, the prey stopped squirming. There were loud noises, banging, and bright flashes. Baskerville felt things hitting, penetrating his flesh, and he looked up to see the other five attacking him. Kill. He lunged forward, burying his teeth in the throat of the next. Klaus joined him, picking up another by its throat and slamming it into the ground.

Sinew watched from around the corner, unable to contain his fits of laughter as his children performed so beautifully. Their choreography was something akin to Broadway, the way they danced with their enemies, who fumbled around with their two left feet... They were so strong, so perfect, so beautiful...

Arachna raced along behind as well, quickly climbing up the nearest roof at her first opportunity, wanting to get a good vantage point of the carnage from above. She'd hide in plain sight where she could see rather than duck her head around a corner out of sight and ability to take in the action. She had to see if these things would actually hold up under a combat test.

She skittered about atop the roof, looking down on those down below as if an empress overseeing some arena combat from on high. To be honest, it wasn't even really much of a show. Though the men had guns, they were only mere men matched against something supernatural and beyond all understanding. The bullets did very little and bullet proof vests would be no match for the tearing teeth and brute strength of both abominations combined into one force of bloody destruction. The two creatures moved through the wave of men like oil slowly dousing the clearness of a pond, leaving nothing but death and red in their wake. Glorious. She had to have this power for herself!

"Excellent!" she called out from above once the final man had breathed his last. "Let's all three conquer the den of diamonds nearby! With the power we three possess, we're unstoppable!" She was perhaps becoming a bit drunk on her authority and the ability of her accomplices, but there was little doubt in her mind that this would be a simple task.

Well George would follow along as well, he would however walk, sending along Dragonflies with Arachna and a few to follow the fleshcrafted's paths, of course from a distance. There was no real need for George to intervene, however he would deploy his wasps as a, in two distinct groups and station them at any exit to slow anyone down if they managed to escape the onslaught of reanimated flesh.

The Hive was also very interest in how Sinew controlled his beasties, he'd keep a Dragonfly watching the man specifically, though he knew that not all communication could be picked up merely through observation it would seem that the man used simple verbal commands to control his creatures of flesh, the commands and the tenants given to it at its creation. It would still be good to keep eyes on him as often as George could.

Finding a way up the walls, via fire escape The Hive would join his partner on the roof, not bothering to look he was receiving updates via dragonfly, those on the perimeter and those secretly watching each of the creatures and Mister Lovecraft. "I don't think this guy knows how to fight. It's like he's relying on the primal instinct of his creatures to do the fighting for him." George commented to Arachna, staying back from the ledge, she must have really liked hi places. George wasn't much different, he knew how to brawl and how to shoot a gun, that made him at least a little useful when his powers were otherwise tied up.

It wasn't long until Baskerville and Klaus had finished off the remainder of the first patrol. Sinew dashed forward into cover, giggling to himself, looking at the bodies. Baskerville was aggressive, rended the meat more than he would have liked, but the job had been done admirably. He turned up to the roof as Lady Arachna called out the next part of the plan, and he grew giddy with excitement again; now he would see how his muse moved in action. Not only that, but the rats that were holed up nearby would be driven out, converted, and used for greater purposes... He turned to Klaus. "Leave the clay for now, there are greater things afoot..." He knelt down and pet Baskerville. "And you, my Hound... Find the rat's nest. Hunt them. Bleed them. Kill them." Baskerville shook like a wet dog, howled, and ran off down the street. "KLAUS! After him! We go! WE GO!"
Go to doom and down a dark path. Bring ruin on yourself and all around you. The Rancid Noises hissed. Sinew shook them off, adrenaline pushing it aside.

"As if he really needs to know how to fight when he can do that." She motioned down toward the creations below, already beginning their race to the next destination where a much more worthy fight should be awaiting them. This would test all of them together. "Hurry. I don't want to fall far behind."

She wouldn't wait for his response before taking off at her top speed, her extra limbs helping her along as she moved. She obviously wouldn't be able to make it to the Diamond's drug den before the hound or the ...other thing as they were both built with leg strength in mind. She would very likely make it ahead of Sinew or Hive, if only just.

Once again, she'd wait after arrival, but this time it wasn't simply to view what was going on. Arachna would wait until the two unkillable creations had drawn the ire of the Red Diamonds before she, as well, would enter to kill silently from the opposite direction they were paying attention to.

Knowing where the drug den was, Hive recalled his wasps dispatched his flying creatures to head off the group, the Dragonflies again were sent in first to give him the location of the outliers, but this time as opposed to leaving his bugs for perimeter patrol he would be attacking two lookouts or sentries, disabling two with Anaphylaxis, and the sudden stinging of twenty wasps, before the Baskerville or Klaus even got close. It would give the pair of meaty monstrosities the element of surprise. Without advanced warning the confusion and terror the things would cause would be immense.

The Hive itself still had reserves, He'd only hustle as his companions ran, he had eyes on the fight before they'd even arrived. With the remote nature of his power he'd not even need to be present to attack, just nearby, close enough that his recall signal would reach the bugs present.

The Wasps instructs were kill lookouts and sentries before falling back to make sure nobody escaped. They formed two groups and communicated with the much faster Dragonflies to make a net with which to ensnare the entire den's population. Arachna and the monsters would form the trident as part of the attack that would do the most damage.

As the hive got close all of the fleas at his disposal would leap from his person in a massive cloud, going in to get their pound of flesh. They would get those that barricaded or hid themselves, and perhaps drive them from their hidey holes or at least make their camouflage and barriers useless.

Arriving both first and last to the party George stopped beside Sinew and smiled. "Beautiful night isn't it?" He asked with a joking smile, as the casual conversation was all they really had to pay attention to. He still had Dragonflies orbiting the good Doctor and Arachna... who was no doubt being watched by the doctor and now The Hive, who was interested in seeing her abilities with his own eyes.

Sinew turned and looked at the Hive, finally acknowledging his existence as more than a simple passing thought. "Beautiful? This night is divinity; a new work of art, the aquiring of clay, the sight of such a muse... Words fail to capture what this night truly is for us..." He turned his head toward the rat nest; Baskerville was pinning, ripping, biting, killing, while the Bringer of Gifts was climbing high on the walls, leaping down on unsuspecting prey from above, eviscerating with his long claws, and strangling life out of his prey. Gunshots and screams filled the air, a cacophonous symphony of pain and beauty. Sinew stared dreamily into the warehouse; there was no way out apart from passed him and the Hive. "Once the rats are dead and the clay brought safely out... We burn it. Burn it all. Before more rats come. My lab, my studio, has been too close to these vermin for too long... I need space and silence for my children..."

Arachna would creep her way through the same entrance the two beasts before her had entered once the building had been engulfed in quick shouting and the flare of gunfire Arachna's methods were much the same as they had been previously, remaining out of her prey's eyesight before striking in a most deadly fashion.

This task was made so much easier by the distraction provided by Sinew's creations and Hive's bugs. With a deadly target already within their sights and being fired at it wasn't difficult for Arachna to flank them from the shadows and drop on them as a spider on the hunt, sinking her mandibular fangs deep into the flesh of her prey to puncture vital organs and end life in an instant. Arachna's attacks were always silent and fatal, preferring to assassinate her targets quickly rather than find herself in prolonged combat. She didn't possess the sort of raw killing potential that the two creatures with her were capable of.

"Some of us aren't poets ya know?" George responded pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with his lighter, "So Beautiful will have to do." He winced as Arachna took a man completely by surprise biting into his neck and killing him instantly. He loved that about insects, they were beautiful and moved with purpose, deadly or otherwise. It was something that The Hive admired about his arachnid associate.

It was funny, after Sinew mentioned burning the place down, George would reach into his bomber jacket and pull out a coke bottle, it had a rag in its top and a liquid within, it smelled of isopropyl alcohol the good stuff the 97% pure alcohol. It would go up in a wonderful fireball, lighting everything around it in and explosive plume of fire. The propane needed to create the drugs and some of the equipment needed to store the drugs was also explosively flammable as George knew personally.

In one hand a lighter, in the other a firebomb. "But alas, I'm not the one who needs to prove himself." The Hive teased the newest team mate, tossing the bottle up in the air just a little. "If only someone, who needed to prove themselves, had use of such a crude weapon."

She was so beautiful, so graceful, the way she descended, twirled, and killed in a single swift move. Lady Arachna truly was the ideal muse for Sinew...
Upon hearing the Hive speak, Sinew eyed the Molotov cocktail; he only just realized that his plan was flawed in the manner that he did not have a way to go about burning the rat nest. "I-I... I need that..." He thought to himself. At least he believed he thought it to himself; in truth, the words pushed out of his mouth. "Once I-I evacuate the clay... I need that." He consciously proclaimed aloud. "If you would be so kind as to let me use it..."
Could always use the needle... The Rancid Voices whispered. Already did it to the vermin you put into Klaus... It wouldn't be hard for the spare.
Sinew shook his head; while the spare was irrelevant, Lady Arachna had traveled here with him, meaning he held some sentimentality at the very least for her. Applying unneeded anesthetic might cast him in a bad light.
Inside, Baskerville was delighting in chasing around one of the last remaining prey. It had given up on attempting to kill Baskerville, as its gun had fallen empty with no effect on him, so it resorted to fleeing, but to little avail. Baskerville would catch up, tackle it to the ground, bite into its flesh a few times, then back away so it could up and try fleeing again. Klaus stared, somewhat bewildered at the scene; the Master had commanded them to kill, and here was Baskerville not killing. Klaus intervened, landing in front of the prey and slashing its throat. The Great Hound began whining and howling its distorted cries at the Bringer of Gifts who had ruined its fun. Klaus stared silently back, incapable of creating an audible response.

Things had grown quiet and the distorted hound had even taken to toying with one of the last men to extend the time left to kill everyone within. Arachna withdrew her right mandible from a man's skull with the wet, raking sound of bone scraping against bone and stood up from pressing her knee into his back to take a quick look around.

She'd walk within easy sight of Hive before silently spinning her finger about in the air, giving him a silent signal to do a quick recon of the area before they could call it finished and ready for demolition once Klaus had removed all the bodies for future use.

The Hive wasn't paying as close attention to the dog-like creature as it started playing with its food like an actual dog would, it was a distraction that could be used against it. That was however something he'd review with his Dragonflies who'd been watching the whole encounter, he'd have a lot to go over after all.

"Well you can hold onto this then, until the bodies are clear. Then go ahead and knock yourself out, but don't say I haven't given you anything." George replied to his conversation partner tossing the bottle to him, simultaneously nodding to Arachna's request for a final check. He would give the recall and organize a search pattern for his insects who would move just into his close communications range before zipping off again in no complete order and no real obvious signs to his actual usage of power outside the consistent buzzing, that fell away. That and the moment of what would look like inattention as The Hive gave his orders to the groups of bugs at his disposal, he'd have the Dragonflies take the outer perimeter and sweep in and the Wasps do a tighter interior search before returning to him, in a slow pattern.

Sinew awkwardly caught the bottle and grinned, excited to prove himself to his muse. He then turned and gave a loud whistle; both of his children immediately came to him. "Klaus, gather the bodies. Get them safely out of the nest. Once you're sure you have them all, start ferrying them back to the Circle." Klaus immediately returned inside to begin his task, carrying five bodies at a time back to the entrance. Baskerville began growling in a wretched tone towards the Hive, but Sinew stepped between them. "Bad!" He shouted at the Great Hound, delivering a swift kick to its snout. "You do not growl at anyone but prey. This is not prey!" Baskerville whined and skulked backwards.
Lastly, he turned towards his muse, a dreamy smile on his face. "Did my children perform to your liking, Lady Arachna?" By this time, Klaus had evacuated all the bodies; combined with the patrol from earlier, this was a hefty twenty corpses; much of the flesh was rended from Baskerville, but it was still a wonderful haul, an exciting amount of clay... Oh, the wonders he could make from so much...

Baskerville's growling was quick to gain Arachna's attention, pausing from her task of grooming her mandibles with her hands to glance in his direction with an expression of slight concern before Sinew handled things with a swift kick to the canine-ish thing's face. Tough love, but then the thing was pretty huge and probably didn't feel pain anyways so it was more the authority behind it than the pain that did the job of shutting it up.

"This was a great success," Arachna responded while almost lovingly stroking the large, sharply pointed fangs at the side of her head, wiping away the blood and other matter that had collected from the killing spree. "Yes, I do believe I'll be keeping your company so long as this pleases you as well." She already knew well enough that it did. "We're making history tonight, gentlemen." She spoke to both men now, looking from one to the other. "Tonight we christen the creation of a new bond between those ...gifted who have seen the truths of the world. We shall be a Legion of Terror unlike anything this generation has ever known!" And at that, she let out a wicked cackle, overjoyed with the progress she'd managed to make in such a short time. In no time at all she'd see the one only known as Father bleeding from the throat as the Red Diamonds crumble to make way for her own organization.

"I must ask, however, that my name never be mentioned to anyone not in our group. For now, at least, I wish to continue my guise as a teacher in the SAFE program. You'd be surprised just how easily a supposed hero can gain more sensitive information..."

This was now a joyous occasion, they would even have a roaring fire to commemorate it! With the warehouse in ashes, and the bodies disfigured by Lovecraft there would be no evidence of foul play of any kind. Nobody to link them to it, it was a perfect operation to cement the foundation of Arachna's plan. Something she reminded them of.

Of course the Hive didn't cackle, he wasn't that type, however he did grin and clap and give a low chuckle. "With M'ladies consent I'll continue working on the streets to supplant the Red Diamonds day to day operations. Knocking over the stores they pull protection money from and knocking off the end vendors of their drugs." He hadn't chosen the thug life after all. But when it chose him, The Hive opted out to the super villain life.

Sinew's heart pounded in his chest with excitement; a muse, and a group of people who would appreciate his art... And an outlet to show them off in and display them. He bowed to Lady Arachna. "I-I will not breath a word of this to another human soul! I-I have a bit of a reputation to maintain myself at the hospital in West Citrine, b-but still..." Klaus was silently carrying the bodies back to the factory as the conversation carried on. "Mister Hive, i-if you would allow me to borrow your lighter... For the cleansing fire." He cautiously held his hand towards the Hive, asking politely for the lighter. Baskerville started growling again to coerce the Hive, but immediately stopped when Sinew let out a loud, "HEY!"

"Of course," Arachna nodded her agreement to Hive's ideas to continue ruining the lives of those who called themselves Red Diamonds. "That would be most agreeable. Then we're all in agreement on our business relationship, yes? We aren't forced to work with one another, but if one of our own needs our assistance we have a certain obligation to lend a hand no matter how small and we will, of course, work together on larger tasks such as what we've undertaken together. No one is allowed to speak with anyone else about the members of our organization until that person is a member themselves. If anyone wishes to escape this deal... the only way out is death. Is this good? If so, then let us celebrate with a bit of... fireworks..." She cast her eyes slowly toward the building that would only seconds from now be engulfed in flames... so long as Hive had a lighter.

George shuddered at the mention that death was the only way to back out of it. Not like such a death pact meant anything to him. As long as the plan was good he was onboard, even if it got a little bumpy. He'd only jump off when he saw the cars derailing in front of him. But as far as he was concerned that'd most likely kill him anyways. He was involved with the big-boys and girls now.

That dog was starting to give The Hive the creeps. It really didn't like him and the talk about death sat the wrong way with George to begin with. But he wasn't going to walk away now, not from this meal ticket, not after all he'd endured this far. He could deal with one flesh monster by itself however its master was just as well to keep it in line, something that now The Hive was thankful for.

"Yeah sure." The Hive held out his hand with the lighter still in it and flicked it open to the man, it was a zippo that had seen better days. It was something old that'd always been with The Hive since before he was The Hive. It represented his old life in a way or at least the larvae of what he was before now. Sentimentality he could do without, but not parted with lightly.

With shaky hands, Sinew took the lighter and flicked it on. It took him several tries, as his finger kept slipping. Baskerville began running around him excitedly, and Sinew lit the rag and threw it as far into the warehouse as he could, which was only about halfway. Regardless, it set the drugs and wooden crates ablaze in a fast-spreading, spectacular fire. Sinew began giggling to himself, which quickly grew into maniacal laughter. Next to him, Baskerville let out several almost-human howls that shattered the night sky. Klaus returned and silently carted a few more of the bodies away. "To many, many tomorrows! To beauty and art! To death and inspiration!" He laughed and stumbled backwards, the Rancid Noises chittering inside his head, joining the cacophony, turning it into a horrific melody of insanity inside of Sinew's skull, fragmenting it from the inside. The pain was blinding, but Sinew didn't care. He had found a muse, two allies, and a company. Nothing could ruin things for him anymore. Not the Rancid Noises, not those children from the graveyard, not the world that pushed back, not the dark corners of the map, not ANYTHING.
All was beauty. All was destruction. All was perfect.

Arachna nodded wordlessly, one hand now on her hip as she retracted her mandibles and watched the blaze begin. It wasn't long before she turned away and waved for the others to follow her. "Let's get out of here," she ordered calmly. The fire department will be slow to respond, but they won't just leave it be to burn to the ground without any intervention. Eventually there's going to be people here and when that happens we should already be long gone. Regroup at Sinew's meat lab for now."

"Sounds good." George wouldn't want to make any other noise, and it was best if they traveled apart. Being the least conspicuous he would stuff his hands in his jacket and start the walk back to Sinew's hideout. It was a pretty quick journey, as most people didn't even bat an eyelash at his passing, just like the infiltrator he was. The Hive might even stop at a store and pick up a couple of bottles of something with a proof rating to share to their victory.

Deciding that might be a little over the top George simply went strait back to the Hideout at a leisurely pace. They had all the time in the world still. And he intended to keep it that way. As long as they flew under the Red Diamonds and Police Radar then they had the advantage.

Soon he'd arrive at the meat lab. Perhaps a little after Arachna who'd left first.