Stabby breaks his ankle free from the monster's grasp and leaps back towards his brother. Grisha spins around to see what caused the sudden worry.

Now standing side-by-side, the shade brothers watch in awe as the orc-spider hybrid cracks the web-covered ground surrounding it.

The area affected by the uplifting grows as the orc's arm pushes its gigantic lower half out of the dirt. The body of a spider rises above the surface, its black exoskeleton merging with the harsh dark green skin of the orc. It's chest upright, a mark of red that Stabby couldn't see before comes into view, and huge fangs pierce out of its upper jaw.

It howls again. The sound shaking the newfound prey that stumbled into its trap. Its four round eyes lay sight on Stabby, its target confirmed. The long, sharp legs of the beast dash towards the smaller form, bouncing into the air and falling upon him.

Stabby rolls to the side, summoning a short sword. The spider leg stabs into the ground, getting stuck. Stabby attempts to retaliate but gets knocked away by another of its legs.

Grisha responds immediately, skewering the orc with a spear.

The orc, unaffected, looks down at the spear. It grunts as it punches Grisha in the face, causing him to step back. It grabs the spear piercing its chest and pulls it out, now gaining the blood-soaked weapon for itself.

"That didn't work as well as I had hoped," Grisha mutters in disappointment.

The hybrid rushes at Grisha, the spear pointed at his ribs. The attacked shade pulls a claymore from his chest and parries the blow. The creature recoils from the impact, as Stabby teleports from behind and slices the bottom of one of its hind legs.

"How many weapons can you use?" Stabby shouts, his voice hyper from the adrenaline of combat.

"A lot. Weapons happen to be my specialty," Grisha responds, his large blade aimed to sever the orcish torso.

The mutant throws its arm out in defense. The claymore cuts through the limb, but the extra flesh puts just enough space to prevent the hybrid from being cleaved in two. Using its back legs, the orc-spider pushes itself into the air.

Stabby tries to cut the underbelly, but the hardened abdomen knocks back the sword. The pointed tip of the orc-spider's body stabs at Grisha. He steps back, avoiding its sharp edge.

Not giving its prey time to move, a ball of webs shoot from the tip of its spinneret, hitting Grisha dead in the chest, and knocking him back into a tree.

He tries to move, but the webs wrap around his every limb, leaving him helpless.

The last arm of the orc arcs back its spear.

"Slicer!" Stabby shouts, regaining his posture.

The spear flings towards Grisha, appearing as if it became one with the wind.

Stabby melts into the ground, reemerging from a tree to the side. He knocks the spear from the air and crashes in front of his brother.

"That was a bit too close," Stabby mutters, catching his breath.

"Watch out!" Grisha shouts.

The spider once again aims its abdomen at the shades, charging up another watt of webs. It fires rapidly, the sticky silk string spreading upon impact as Stabby jumps and teleports out of the way.

Grisha's attack didn't seem to affect the orc half, and the spider's exoskeleton is too tough to puncture. How is he supposed to kill this thing?

"Get me out!" Grisha yells. "You can't fight that thing by yourself!"

Stabby responds in kind, "I can't get to you! It attacks too often!"

Grisha wiggles his neck free and examines the predator, searching desperately for anything Stabby could exploit. As the creature moves, he notices that the spider half slides down the orc's torso each time it prepares to fire. When that happens, something peaks out from the exoskeleton. That must be a vital point.

"Aim for below the orc's waist!"

Stabby keeps a quiet focus, but acknowledges his brother's advice.

He has to get closer.

He melts into the ground as it fires, then reappears from a branch above the hybrid. But instead of the lack of defense, he thought the creature would have, the orc grabs him by the throat. It slams him against a thick tree, preparing to skewer him with its many legs.

Grisha struggles harder.

Stabby slams the sword into the hybrid's wrist, releasing the pressure. Boosting himself with the tree, he headbutts its chin, delaying it just long enough for him to sever the second arm.

This would be a lot easier if he could fully use his clone, but he wasn't confident enough that the ability will work in its current state.

Before he can land, the hybrid's leg hits his shirt, nailing him to the ground.

His amputation of the creature's arm caused him to get stuck again. He should have focused on making distance.

The monster gathers something in its throat. There's only one thing it could be planning to spit on him, and he didn't like it. Cutting the cloth caught in the hybrid's sharp-tipped leg, he dissolves into the ground. The venom hit his previous location, melting the sturdy earth like ice in an oven.

Right before the venom landed he saw what his brother mentioned. The peaking object is an eye of some sort.

Now with certainty of his target, Stabby charges at the creature, blade in hand.

The hybrid hurriedly shifts in his direction, firing a quick shot of webs that dislocates his left shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he thrusts at the weak spot.

He misses, short a few inches.

Now unable to move, he looks up to see the horrid fangs preparing a second blast of venom.

He might not be able to create a full clone, but maybe...

The shadow emerges from his hand, grabbing the sword and forcing the blade further. The tip hits directly in the center of the unnatural eye. The creature cries as the weapons tears through its weak protection, dropping Stabby to the ground.

It writhes in pain, trying to grab at its wound with the remainder of its amputated arms.

The hybrid suddenly jolts straight up, then falls to the ground.

Silence covers the forest.

The four eyes of the spider shut as it shrivels into dust.

Stabby cuts the firm wires that remain stuck to his shoulder. He winces as the arm falls free, grasping it into a less painful position.

"Cut me free real quick. I'll help you out with that." Grisha says, his head and part of his shoulder wriggling to break free from his current predicament.

"I always have to save you, don't I?" Stabby says cheekily, removing the many layers that keep his brother in place. "This is a lot of work to do with one arm, you know. You better make it up to me later."

Grisha responds with a playful grin, "I'm going to fix your arm. Does that work?"

"Almost. Can you fix my clothes too?" Stabby says, cutting the last restraining threads.

"I don't believe I can. Guess I have to figure out something else." Grisha stretches his neck as he stands, making pronounced cracks. Reaching his arms out, he says, "Here. Give me your arm."

Stabby sits sideways next to his brother, placing his limp arm into the outstretched palms of Grisha.

"This might hurt a bit. Let me know if you need me to stop." Grisha says, pressing against Stabby's shoulder.

It hurt a lot. It hurt more than when it got dislocated in the first place. But wanting to show his strength, Stabby kept quiet.

The bones snap back into place, bringing a last burst of pain. One that was, thankfully, short-lived.

"I have to say, Stabby. You're a tough kid."

The words instantly made the pain worth it. Stabby would go through the most painful of trials to hear more encouragement from Grisha.

His face beams. "I am, aren't I?"

The pleasant moment turns grim as an intense rumbling, much worse than before, quakes around them.

Twisting to see what caused the dreadful tremors, Grisha stands protectively in front of his brother.

Three more of the mutants emerge from the ground, one slightly smaller, one slightly bigger, and one much larger.

The smallest was colorful. She had bright blue fangs dripping with lime green venom. Her legs were sturdy, but she was scrawnier than the rest.

The middle has gray fur and red skin. She has six eyes, two large above, four smaller ones below. Her fangs hang low beneath the skull paint that lines the orc-spider's face.

The large was brown on both skin and fur. His orc half alone was intimidating. He has bulging muscles covered in scars and four arms that sprout from his sides. But that was nothing compared to the battle-zone of his abdomen. Weapons of all variety line his back, interspersed between his thick coat of hair. Bodies of impaled orcs hang off the sides. It was unclear if they were previous allies, put on there to torture the poor creature or enemies he stabbed on there himself. Either way, he was not a creature to mess with.

The good news is they hadn't noticed the shades yet.

Grisha summons a bow and grabs an arrow from his shoulder blade. Hoping not to aggravate the creatures further, he speaks cautiously, "We're running. Move slowly."

The Orc-spiders howl over the pile of dust that used to be their kin.

Stabby speechlessly nods in agreement, backing away.

He almost makes it to the cover of the trees, but not watching where he steps becomes an apparent problem as his foot lands on a web-covered pitfall. A loud crunch is heard as his foot sinks into the ground.

The hybrids simultaneously turn towards the sudden noise, their eyes glowing bright red.

"Run!" Grisha shouts, firing an arrow at the towering orc-spider's eyes.

"I can't!" Stabby responds, his foot locked in place.

The brown orc-spider, unaffected by the arrow, deflects it with his forearm. He grabs four weapons from his back as the females each grab a spear. A battle-ax, war-club, war-hammer, and great-sword now line his hands.

"What do you mean you can't?" Grisha says, his voice tense from the creature's nonchalance.

"My foot is stuck!" Stabby screams back, cutting wildly at his natural cage.

The male charges, swinging each weapon and creating unbelievable momentum. The colorful one climbs into a tree and hop above them, and the gray one dashes behind, to the right of her brown cohort.

"Damn it. Where are our men?" Grisha grunts.

The male arrives first, slamming his battle-ax into the ground in front of Grisha. The war club swings to his left. Grisha creates a shield, blocking the blow, but the impact leaves him bruised. The great-sword swings at his head. He ducks, but as he prepares for the war-hammer, a spear skims the side of his arm, leaving time for the war-hammer to slam straight against his ribs, flinging him back.

Right as he gets to his feet he sees a second spear flying towards him. He deflects it with a scimitar, beginning a dance that keeps him in constant motion.

Briefly looking up, he sees that the long day was almost over. "I just need to fight for a bit longer."

The brown orc-spider reaches him again, his attacks persistent and unyielding. Grisha deflects them all, using the force of the large opponent to redirect the weapons while twisting out of the way of the shots of venomous spittle and webs that fling by him.

The large mutant raising his four weapons and slams them all at the graceful defender. Grisha smiles at the reckless attack. With a flick of his wrist, he deflects all of them, leaving the monstrous brute wide open. He's about to strike, reaching right before the vital eye when he suddenly pauses.

Blood shoots from his throat, and his arms drop to his side, the scimitar falling to the ground.

That damn rainbow orc-spider must have poisoned the spear.

The male recovers, and slams his head against Grisha's.

Grisha slides back, right in front of his brother.

The females hang from two trees that flank the male, the colorful one charging venom, while the gray one prepares a large blast of webs.

Stabby sees their approaching doom and hurries his attempts to free himself.

Grisha, using his last bit of strength, brings forth a long sword and grabs his brother's waist, tearing him free.

The two dangerous balls fling towards him from his sides and the male charges him from the front.

Seeing his lack of options, he jumps towards the web. He cuts a large tear through the silken pattern, large enough for Stabby to slip through. He throws his brother forward. The remaining webs knock him to the ground.

Recovering, Stabby runs to his battered brother. He kneels beside him, ignoring the attacks of the hybrids.

Grisha weakly whispers, "Night... is here."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Stabby whimpers, digging at the thick webs.

Grisha points to the sky.

Stabby looks up to see Sora's orb, along with a tremendous wave of dark mist, pushing back the light of Hikari's sun. Stabby gasps, "You're right."

The orc-spiders close in on them.

Stabby yells into the air, his voice straining, "Two snakes stuck in a web!"

The shout is heard throughout the entire forest. The echo soon followed by the sound of falling trees.

The large hybrid reaches the fallen shades, pulling back his arm to bring the final blow.

The cracking of the trees becomes louder.

The war-club swings down.

A blur of motion knocks the orc-spider out of the way and grabs Stabby from the side.

As his vision clears, Stabby sees the circular shape of Stomper above him, the creature dashing through the woods. Looking to his waist, he sees both him and his brother were being held in Stomper's claws.

"I know you would come," Stabby says, hugging the arm of the hurried creature. Stomper quickly shrugs his arm to the side, venomous spittle flashing before Stabby's eyes.

Stomper grunts at him.

Wide-eyed from the zooming spittle passing by, Stabby says, "Yep, sorry. Not the time for that."

The Kohdok continues to dodge the constant projectiles. It makes distance as it speeds through the forest, its horns knocking tree-trunks out of their way.

The exit out of the forest comes into view. They're going to make it.

A war-hammer flies low from behind them, knocking Stomper's leg off the ground.

The Kohdok slides across the ground. The impact breaks the shades out of the claws and throws them ahead.

Stabby hits his head against an unrecognizable object and falls to his back. His vision becomes faint as he looks up towards the incoming beasts.

"I guess we're going to die..." He mutters.

Bright orange flares in front of him, growing further towards the orc-spiders.

What is that?

A blurry image of a large, green man, with an ax in hand, walks by, heading straight towards the dangerous creatures.

Stabby tries to reach out and warn him, but he falls back down.

The world around him turns black.