The portal ripped open as they entered it. The strange spider-thing-a-ma-jig seemed to come alive the moment they hit the retrieval point. Seconds later they emerged into the Andonian receiving facility. Already screaming, the object Stickman held exploded violently.  

Tendrils shot out in every direction, shattering the glass enclosing them. The centre of the thing seemed to implode, creating a hole within it. But he could see things coming out. Black streaks. One after the other. They battered the glass further, quickly causing cracks to form.  

The Andonian monitors scattered in a panic and alarms blared. Cat was pinned against the glass by the tendrils, as was the floating creature.  

Boom, boom, boom! Cracks spread along the glass wall near Stickman, growing with each strike of the black things. Then with a sudden shearing sound, the entire assembly broke and they were free.  

Cat, Stickman, and the creature fell to the floor outside the enclosure. The various black things escaped into the walls, smashing through. Screams of surprise and fear could be heard in the adjacent hallways.  

One of the Andonian monitors, Tokux, came to pull Stickman aside to safety while black streaks continued to emerge from the dark twisting portal within the spider thing-a-ma-jig.  

"What happened, Stickman? What are all these things? How did you expand the ribbon to three dimensions?" asked Tokux urgently.  

"What?! How do I know?" said Stickman, orienting himself. "Cat! Over here! And grab our friend there, whatever it is."  

Tokux shuffled aside uncomfortably as Cat dragged the squirming floating creature to them. They retreated behind a console and watched the destructive scene before them.  

"That thing there is what you guys told me to bring!" hissed Stickman.  

"It was relaying the signal from Doctor Xecia. But... could it be some sort of portable vortex?" suggested Tokux.  

"I don't see Doctor Xecia coming out of that, do you??" shouted Stickman in a whisper.  

A scratching sound startled Cat. He twisted around and saw a small rodent with six skinny legs, two of them seeming to lack skin. Hissing sharply, he bashed the thing with his tool kit. The horrible creature squealed and darted towards them. All of them dashed out from behind the console to avoid it.  

Getting back into the open room, they saw more of the creatures. Some larger, some more wounded. All of them turned their heads to face the startled group.  

"What are they?!" Cat asked through gritted teeth, hair standing on end.  

"I think we'd better get out of here gentlemen," said Tokux. "This way!"  

He entered a passcode for the door and let them out. The breaches in the walls had damaged the security system on the room, allowing them to open the door. Outside the room they found the hallway badly damaged. Holes riddled the walls and long deep claw marks decorated the floor. Many blood smears were scattered about.  

"We need weapons," said Cat.  

Tokux nodded numbly and turned sharply left. Running, they made it to a storage room. All armaments they found were prototypes designed at the facility and securely locked. Tokux cursed as he futilely tried to access the weapons lockers.  

"Move aside, I'll get it. You guys close that door!" called Cat. Opening his tool kit, he pulled out some devices and began working on the locking system.  

A loud crash hit the closed door. Frantic scratching followed. "Llllet me in!" came a wispy voice. "I can feeeel you. Plaaaaay. P-pleeeease?" The voice sounded pathetic and desperate, yet the force exerted against the door was fearful.  

With a small series of chimes, the weapons locker slid open. "Got it!" said Cat triumphantly.  

"How did you do that?!" asked Tokux incredulously.  

Cat reached in and hauled out firearms both large and small. He handed two smaller pistol-type guns to Stickman. Cat perused the remaining larger weapons and only made a decision when Tokux protested his choice.  

"But that's not a gun, my dear Cat!" cried Tokux. "It's not even passed basic safety testing! It's a matter property inverter. You could destroy half the planet if it actually works!"  

Cat seemed to grin as he carried the heavy device away, but he grabbed a more normal looking rifle as well.  

"Ready Stick guy? Open the door," said Cat.  

Stickman leapt atop the floating creature. It seemed to recognise him this time. "Now I'm ready. Tokux? You stay here, lock the door again after we're out."  

Nodding, Tokux got to the door. With a nervous twitch, he unlocked and was knocked aside as the door flew open. A twisted worm creature flopped onto the floor in front of them.  

BOOM!  

Cat released the first shot from his rifle. The worm's head exploded in a messy burst. The floating creature launched into the air, carrying the armed Stickman on its back.  

The hallway was filling with a strange dark mist. Creatures roamed the floor, reaching their torn and bony claws up to grasp them. They all called out friendship and begged to play. But the snapping teeth and bloodied claws betrayed their intent. Lowering his smaller gun hesitantly at first, he fired at a hand that grasped them.  

ZHAAAAP!  

A green light wrapped itself around the hand and melted it instantly. The creature howled with laughter and leapt up towards them. The floating creature levitated higher, raising them beyond their grasp. Stickman lowered his other gun and fired this time at the head of the creature.  

ZAT!! ZAT!! ZAT!!  

Three rapid bursts pummelled the thing, causing its head to be flung sideways, splattering the walls with wet bone chunks. Stickman was almost thrown off him mount. He felt sick and terrified. But the creature he'd shot turned back to him, missing most of its skull, and spoke.  

"Thhhaaank you, my beeloved frieeend. You plaay soo nice."  

Hearing the sound of rifle shots behind him, Stickman's heart hardened within him. Seeing the mist thicken and the sound of scraping claws grow louder, he drew up his weapons and fired into the darkness.

"The engine. It's on the ship. Keta... Xecia vanished," muttered the troubled engineer.  

He walked down the streets aimlessly, holding a plasma attunement rod, swinging it idly at his side. Four orbs followed him vaguely.  

"It's here... ha ha ha... it's here!" he giggled. "Can't you all feel it?" He stopped to listen.  

Spinning around suddenly, he screamed at the small orbs, "I SAID CAN'T YOU FEEL IT?!" Fear and anger filled his eye, his mouth curled evilly. "GET OUT OF HERE!" he bawled, swinging the tool at the orbs, causing them to scatter.  

Stumbling briefly, he stood and paused, staring at the pathetic followers. Then he turned back and resumed his trek down the city streets.  

"Gonna get someone to help. Maybe Visch. What did they do to him? Injected I think. Something unpleasant. That... that bleeding, but things inside," mumbling, he wobbled and turned left. "Let's go this way, Se. It feels stronger this way."

Entoru's cloak was getting heavy from the sludge on the entrail soaked ground. The way was illuminated by Pini's subdued glow. No movement of animal nor insect stirred the air. Their passage had thus far been met with grave silence.  

As they progressed deeper into the den they felt the growing evil. There were many trees, but all seemed long dead. Perhaps this is the way they grew in this tortured land. Frequently Pini would get caught in a slight gust of wind, causing her light to flare up suddenly, bringing Entoru's staff blade sharply up in readiness. But nothing ever threatened them. This land was deserted.  

Entoru held out a hand to stop Pini. There was finally the sound of movement up ahead. Something large.  

Skirting close to the ground, around tree trunks and rocks, Entoru and Pini moved closer to the growing sound. A sound of crunching, snapping, and a deep rumble. The sky gave no light. Not a star shone through the pitch of this region.  

"There!" whispered Entoru, pointing upwards. Pini's light dimmed sharply as they saw it.  

A massive creature loomed ahead. Its body seemed to be a mass of wrecked bodies. Broken bones poked out of its form with muscles wrapped over them haphazardly. It bore eight thick trunks as legs that seemed rooted to the ground. Atop the beast was what had to be a head, as it bore a mouth, but one that seemed to have been ripped open from its own flesh. The thing was thrashing violently, snapping at the air. It was blind.  

Entoru motioned for Pini to follow him. They moved around the creature, examining it from the front. It bore countless rips and cuts throughout its body. As all creatures in the den, injury to the point of death was the norm.  

Then the twisted beast stopped its thrashing. It had detected the two foreign wanderers. Directing its head toward them, it lunged forth its body and snapped its mighty jaws. Entoru and Pini leapt backwards, down the hill they had been on. The wet maw snapped on air, closing with a crunch. For a brief moment, Entoru's eye saw down the depths of that creature's gullet. A dark blackness lay in that pit, more pitch than any absence of light could allow. The mouth could not reach them, due to its eight legs rooted to the ground.  

Eight legs. "Pini, follow me!" called Entoru, now dropping the whisper and starting to run around the front of the creature. Pini floated up and followed quickly.  

Grasping the rotten base of a nearby tree, Entoru began climbing. The creature kept attempting to consume them, but always out of reach. Its own limbs would not allow it to reach its prey. Up Entoru climbed, higher and higher. Pini kept close, floating up the tree just below him.  

When he reached the top, he turned to Pini and said, "We need your light now, dear Pini."  

The little star nodded and floated back from Entoru a bit. With great effort, it vibrated and began to glow, brighter and brighter. The surface of the monster was revealed, shiny and wet. Its thick bulbous body spread over the field, having pushed dead tree trunks aside, its legs splayed out in all directions. A high pitched twinkling sound began, and Pini's last effort shot a beam of light into the sky.  

The black cover of the sky broke asunder! Like a blazing sun, the light of the moon broke forth and bathed the landscape in its seemingly unbearable glare. Entoru could see the creature now. He readied himself atop the tree.  

"Let's go, Pini," called Entoru.  

Then with a deft thrust, Entoru and Pini launched off the tree into the eager maw of the eight legged horror.

It had been six hours since the lock down at the ribbon tunnel testing facility. Nobody had gone in or come out of the buildings. The alarms continued through the night. No one on the inside was giving the all clear signal.  

However, external network facilities connected to the labs were able to retrieve the surveillance footage from within certain sections.  

There was no sign of any known personnel, but shadows of different living things frequently crossed the view field. Oddly, these things never actually entered the sight of any camera, as if they were avoiding them.  

Tarrakton, one of the senior candidates for the next Venture mission, was reviewing the latest recordings. He watched as eerie shadows skulked along hallway walls. From their shape, the were wearing rags or otherwise unkempt clothing. It seemed to be hanging loosely off them. Then he spotted something unsettling. One of the shadows appeared to be dragging a body.  

Before he had a chance to react, something else caught his eye. Another very thin shadow, unlike any of the others. It was deeper, in fact, but... it wasn't a shadow! It was Stickman hiding in a nook behind a console. So they were alive and fearing for their lives!  

A loud announcement shattered his concentration. "Security personnel, report to the perimeter. We have movement near the doors. They appear to be unsealing the main locks."  

Grimly, Tarrakton stood up and left the room, grabbing his energy rifle. Stepping outside, he saw the other troops. Everyone was eyeing what was trying to exit the facility.  

"There's survivors in there," said Tarrakton.  

"Do you think this is them?" asked the commander.  

"No."  

Suddenly the thick door broke open, swinging awkwardly aside. A mishaped worm spewed out of the opening, looking torn and wounded.  

"Hold! It's injured!" called the commander.  

They watched as the thing writhed on the ground. It was huge and terrifying. It bore many holes and tears along its length. Then it seemed to settle down. Some of the team approached it with rifles ready.  

The sickening thing didn't move as they neared. It seemed passive. As they stepped near its head, they could make out some crushed eyes and a mouth. Lifting itself slightly, it oriented its face to the nearest officer.  

With a horrible rasping, it made a noise, "Fffriend?"  

The officer looked at the commander, then nervously back at the creature. "Y-yes, we're friends. We need to get inside there. Are there others?"  

A ripple passed over the thing's body, causing a rattling sound. "Maaany others. All ffffriends. We want friendsss," it said. "Now youuuu play with usss?"  

"Sure, we'll play with you. We just need to get our own friends out of there first. Then we can all play," said the officer.  

"We will play noooow," the creature gasped. Then it convulsed violently and Tarrakton watched in shocked horror as the creature's rib cage inverted and caught the nearby troops around it. With another convulsion, its bones pulled back again, sucking the men into the thing's body.  

Tarrakton turned and ran inside, up the stairs, to the roof. He saw the creature come to life, snaking its way to the other troops. He released the safety on his rifle, lowered the barrel, and held the trigger tightly.  

There was the sound of yells and dripping rasps,  

Muffled screams and tearing flesh,  

A heart pounding, grim determination,  

The squeal of an energy weapon,  

Building up power.

It had been rather a long flight from the capital city, but they were finally arriving at the research outpost. It could be seen out the side viewports slightly. A towering bulbous mass with various docking tendrils. Xetea technology always puzzled her somewhat, but it worked more reliably than mechanical and electrical constructs.  

The shuttle neared a landing platform and was roped in, coming to a jostling halt. The sound of the airlock clamping onto the hull followed by pressurisation signalled the crew to disembark.  

Many Xetean scientists had accompanied her on this trip, as they were to assist her in the observation. She was herself quite excited, since the recent readings from the monitor satellites identified abnormal activity. Nothing in previous record was anything like it.  

A few hours after arrival, the science team was summoned to the observation deck. The satellite was again receiving bizarre signals from the moon gate.  

The viewscreen rotated to focus on it. She dug in her pocket for the protective lenses just as the room was flooded with blinding light. Donning the glasses, she looked at it. So beautiful. So destructive. She hated that thing, but it was her life.  

The computer systems overlaid the signals to show what was being received. It was an amorphous mass of varying intensity across its span. Meaningless to the eyes.  

"Have the linguistic systems matched anything?" she asked.  

One of the technicians fumbled about at a station and called back, "No, miss, nothing yet."  

Her mind was racing. This had never been observed before. None of the ancestor systems had recorded anything even remotely similar to this. She was possibly the first on a new branch. This might be the breakthrough that would solve it all.  

"Miss, we've got something. It's a visual data stream. We'll need some time to normalise it and align it to our visual spectrum," said the technician.  

"Let's just see what you've got so far," she said quickly, running over to the group of Xeteans.  

Pushing through them, she saw the monitor and gasped. Another world! She was looking at what seemed to be a dark forest. There was no visible activity, but to have even this much was remarkable.  

Suddenly she felt a queer wrenching in her whole being. The room twisted around her and she stumbled. Putting her hand out for the console, she found herself grasping one of the Xeteans by the shoulder instead. He was wearing the uniform of a guard, which was bizarre. There was no military presence on the station.  

Looking around, she found the entire room altered. Gone were the viewscreens and the various scientists she knew. Instead, she saw the dark armoured forms of Om invasion troops facing away from her to a podium. She stifled a yelp. One of them slowly turned its gaze back on her.  

"Arha, trouble, Doctor?"

Impact alarms were sounding throughout the base. Troops roused from routine ran to their stations. Dirty motors rumbled into action. Tripods scanned the area.  

A large mass was approaching, bearing down on their position. They couldn't call for help. No one must know of their existence. Supplies were rushed deep underground.  

Suddenly it arose in the distance, casting a long shadow over the plains. A terrible armoured insect-like thing, with rasping maw and feathered feet.  

Retreat, retreat. Against a force such as this there was no defence. Again, down into the depths, shelter on this hostile world.

Something mechanical whirred in the bushes. Little Devil had noticed it while hunting for food and had been following it for a few hours now. It kept slipping away before he had a chance to see it.  

Tiny tapping legs skittered through the underbrush. It knew it had been spotted. Tiny drops of oil flecked a stone. The devil looked hard through the darkness of the evening. It was suddenly quiet.  

Waiting beneath the moonless sky, the Little Devil listened and planned. He knew it was a small thing, for it had barely disturbed the grass and weeds along the way.  

*squeak!*  

A rusty noise cracked the silence. With little effort, the devil launched into the air at the source of the sound. He gazed down, barely making out something moving below him, towards a dark circle. But all too soon the circle began to vanish. He landed with a thud and a loud clang accompanied his arrival.  

Snapping his head around, he spotted the place where the thing had disappeared. In the centre of a flat open area, there seemed to be a small rounded door with a wheel on top. It was still rotating as he watched it. With a sudden grinding sound, it stopped.  

Excitement raced through him. He'd found it! Carefully, he reached out his hands to turn the handle.  

"Come to me."  

The thought came to him on a musty breeze. His claws stopped dead.  

"Come to me now."  

His head turned back, to look at the source of the voice. The Andonian capital city lay in the distance. From there the voice rang.  

Reluctantly, he surrendered his prize and stood. He was duty bound to answer the call.