The sheddings were... nervous.

Gren was practically gnawing on his own mandibles as he watched the Bestmonster and the Secondbest relaxing with Nahma, and playing with small pieces of rectangular cardboard.

What were they doing!?

Gren buried his head in his claws, groaning to himself. The assembled sheddings were cautiously putting away their Many Eyes disguise, and it was getting harder and harder to conceal their thoughts from Nahma. So it wasn't exactly helpful when Nahma was at point-blank range, and thinking about heroism! And he'd decided to be a hero!? That meant that Nahma couldn't hurt other heroes!

The shedding had not previously been aware that he was capable of either crying, sweating, or really anything that involved body fluids leaving him. He was currently doing both in no small amounts.

Many Eyes was a villain! That meant that the sheddings were on the other side!!!

Trembling, Gren dragged himself over to the worried sheddings. "Family," he said wearily, "We need to talk about Many Eyes."

The sheddings looked up at him nervously, scuttling on top of each other, and Gren continued. "I am not sure we can continue being him."

Many heads hung at the words, and one of them asked sadly, "No more death?"

Gren nodded. "No more death."

Most of the sheddings stopped moving, staring at Gren in horror. Brahkus tentatively stated, "What if... what if we made less enemies?"

Turning his gaze to him, Gren asked, "What do you mean?"

Brahkus wiggled his antennae, crawling over some of his brethren to get a better vantage. "Being a villain is very fun, and we are considered very powerful, yes?"

Gren nodded again, and Brahkus continued. "So why do we not find other villains and... make them not fight Nahma?"

Gren shook his head. "That will not work. No one will want to fight Nahma if they have even a little bit of a brain."

The assembled sheddings began discussing the issue among themselves, a gentle and yet somehow mildly stressed hiss building as more of them got involved. While they spoke, more sheddings began to crawl in through the walls, putting the plates aside and replacing them as they did.

Carefully, Gren considered all of the options, all of the angles. He just couldn't think straight - he hadn't received his name for some great honor. He'd just been the one closest to Bain when the young monster had decided to give a name to the sheddings.

The only shedding who had earned his name wasn't here. He was deeper and further down in the tunnels than any other shedding in existence.

Gren's brain sparked, and he raised his head. Why not just go down?

Quietly, without garnering any unnecessary attention, Gren slid downward.

He had to push a little harder than normal. The deeper in the tunnels they got, the harder it was to use powers. Gren wasn't sure why, but regardless of the added difficulty, the Deep sheddings didn't have any issues with it.

Sliding into space, Gren blinked. Everything was pressing in on him so much tighter than higher up. It was arrogant of him to have thought that the tunnels he'd been occupying were deep in comparison.

Looking around, Gren discovered that he was in a massive cave, flashes of light and dark shadows wriggling across the floor. Squinting, Gren's eyes widened in shock as he realized that the six-hundred-foot long shapes clawing and tearing through the six-story rats were sheddings.

Mandibles falling open, Gren could only stare in shock at the incredible spectacle. There were sheddings here using nearly as much power as Nahma's full shed, but dozens of them, and the rats battling them were on even ground. They were supposed to be food, not enemies! How were these things so powerful?

"What are you doing here?"

Gren turned and his eyes widened impossibly further as he took in the sight. Only eighteen feet long and possessing more abilities than any other out all of Nahma's sheddings, just over five hundred years old and one of the greatest tactical minds underground, Goodest was hands-down the most powerful shedding presently in existence. With two short, hooked antennae sprouting from behind the heavy plate decorating his forehead and only six eyes, Goodest gazed down at Gren curiously, then repeated his question. "What are you doing down here? We do not need reinforcements."

Blinking, Gren hissed inaudibly, "Um. I am Gren. We have a problem with Bestmonster Bain."

Goodest coiled up pleasantly, replying, "Ah, Bain. What is the issue?"

A rat larger than an apartment building loomed over them, buckteeth bigger than Bain's cube house hanging from a mouth that could swallow the bread-person's baguette easily. Goodest didn't even glance at it. One of his antennae swept down, and a white blade extended out from it and hooked across the cave, carving through the rat and looping back into the end of his other antennae. A moment later, the rat fell in half, and a rain of blood showered down on them a moment later.

Staring at it in shock, antennae flat against his head, Gren barely even processed Goodest's relaxed question. "You have a name? How did you earn it?"

Gren blinked as he snapped back to reality. "Um. My apologies, Goodest. I got it from Bain because... I was the closest shedding to him. I did not earn it, unfortunately."

Goodest nodded contemplatively. "I understand. There is no shame in having received a name without earning it. Nahma himself had to have given his own name to himself at some point. All you must do is make your name one to be respected, and then you will have earned it for yourself."

Gren stopped dead as he considered the prospect. He'd never even thought about it from that perspective before. "Thank you, Goodest."

The Deep shedding nodded politely, then asked for the final time, "So, what is the problem?"

Scratching his head with a claw, Gren explained the whole situation. Goodest proved to be an excellent listener, only interrupting to ask the occasional question and to clarify the odd statement. Overall, it only took a few minutes to cover everything, and Gren felt remarkably relieved to have set it all out like that.

Contemplating the information he'd acquired, Goodest told him seriously, "It seems to be quite the problem. We must never be in disagreement with the Beginner, as you know, but simply erasing Many Eyes from existence would prove both difficult and a waste. I would advise finding the most powerful villains aside from yours and creating an alliance, and then figuring out some way to twist their desires to your own."

Gren nodded agreeably. "Yes, Goodest. Thank you for your wiseness."

Goodest smiled, his four mandibles spreading in a macabre grin. "Certainly, small shedding. Out of curiosity, are there any news that I am presently unaware of? I have not been to the surface in some time - few possess the capacity for healing, and I am one of them."

Gren thought about all of the most recent occurrings, coiling up and tapping his chin with a clawed limb. "Hmmm... Well, first, Bain was approved as a hero, he lost an arm, the evil corpse betrayed him, they made up, a shedding went to the big firey ball and came back - there is no new food there, by the way - the Nahmists came back, Bain has his own territory now, and Nahma came to the surface to personally battle an enemy. Oh, and we have a new sibling. Her name is Hetty and she is the Secondbest."

Goodest's eyes had been widening incrementally over the summary, but at the final part, he retreated in surprise. "Truly? Bain has a sister now? Does she share his appearance?"

Gren shook his head, happily thinking about her and her willingness to share her hunts with the sheddings. "No, she has many tentacles that shred and tear nicely. She is a little bit quiet, but very nice."

Goodest was pleased. "I should come up and meet her sometime. She sounds like a good sibling for Bain, and a good... what's the word?"

"Daughter?"

Goodest waved a leg appreciatively. "Yes, daughter. She sounds like a good daughter for Nahma."

Gren watched out over the ensuing, perpetual carnage that Hetty would hopefully never see. "She is."