“Good afternoon, all you denizens of the planet Earth. This is GNN and I’m your host, Brendan Baird, bringing you all the updates you need. Today we’re joined once again by Dr. Maximilian Fraser from the ILS, who has an update for us on the ongoing crisis. Dr. Fraser, thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“So, Dr. Fraser, I understand you have something to share with us, specifically about the animals affected by the ongoing crisis?”

“Yes, I am here to announce that the ILS has confirmed the existence of an intelligent mutant animal.”

“My word.”

“Indeed. The subject displays human levels of intelligence and the ability to communicate in human languages. Originally we believed all such cases to have been especially mutated humans, but we have confirmed at least one case that originated from an animal.”

“How is that possible, if I may ask?”

“We believe since this serum was designed for use on humans, it will attempt to replicate certain human structures and organs when mutating another species, bringing them more in line with the intended target. Most of the time these changes are subtle, or simply don’t pan out at all, but in a some very rare cases the subject animal gains a more human-like brain, and sometimes even a more humanoid form.”

“You said these individuals are capable of communicating, correct? Would it be possible, then, for us to communicate with them and form some sort of consensus? Or…for them to do so with one another?”

“I do not believe that would be possible.”

“Oh?”

“They gain human-like intelligence and forms…but they were still animals to begin with. They lack the years of social interactions necessary to understand human behavior, and their own behavior is driven by their original instincts and experiences and the added aggression from the serum’s side effects. Such individuals seem to be highly unstable and have yet to display any inclination towards peaceful communication. Given all this, I would suspect they would have trouble communicating with each other as well, unless they happened to be from the same species. Even then, many animals do not get along with one another, even within the same species, so I suspect it would be a long, long time before we see any serious attempts at communication or cooperation.”

“I see, thank you, Dr. Fraser. This has been most enlightening.”

“Thank you for having me.”

Bob stood in front of a swamp. He crouched down in the mud, setting up an incense burner and a large plate of raw meat. Then he took a few steps back and picked up a tesla cannon, charging it up.

Slowly the water began to bubble in front of him, before it exploded into a column of water.

A massive, scaly foot stepped out onto the mud.

Massive green jaws swallowed the meat whole.

An alligator, several times larger than normal, growled at Bob, making eye contact with him. It opened its jaws and spoke with a deep, raspy voice.

“So, human, have you come to hunt me?”

Bob shook his head.

“I’ve come to talk.”

The creature laughed at him, producing a deep rumbling noise.

“The device in your hands says otherwise.”

Bob shrugged.

“The prey needs some insurance when speaking to the predator.”

The creature laughed once more and stared Bob in the eyes.

“It is good you know your place. Tell me then, what would the prey speak to its predator?”

“A message. You are invited.”

“Hm?”

Bob took out a metal plate and tossed it towards the beast. The alligator lowered its head to sniff at the plate.

“King Hippo claims dominion over all the Elevated. He has invited only the strongest to celebrate his coronation…or to challenge it, should they find him unworthy.”

The alligator rumbled once more.

“You are brave to bring me this message, human. I will answer this…King Hippo’s call. He may come to regret it. As will you.”

The alligator’s muscles tensed. Bob lifted the tesla cannon, fully charged and humming in the air. The alligator eyed it, then slid back into the water.

“Goodbye, brave human. I look forward to our…next encounter.”

Bob backed away slowly and then activated grav-boots to float up into the air, where a grav-jet was waiting for him. Once on-board and in flight, he let out a sigh and powered down the tesla cannon. Being a monster messenger was so annoying.

He pulled out his phone and opened up a video. Time to check on 'His Majesty'.

A large alligator floated in the air, its eyes swirling around. Two massive gray arms lifted it. The alligator cried out as a massive maw crunched down, snapping the reptile in half.

King Hippo let out a cry. He stood upon his two hippo legs, the smooth skin giving way to a humanoid torso filled with rippling muscle and covered in leathery, gray skin.

His head, of course, was that of a hippo, only several times larger, and filled with wicked tusks covered in blood.

He took his stance and crossed his massive humanoid arms.

“That’s right, I’m the strongest! That’s why I’m the King! Now which one of you idiots is next?”

King Hippo stood in a forest clearing, surrounded on all sides by mutated animals of all shapes and sizes, a three-headed dog trotting up to his side and sniffing at the alligator corpse at his feet. The mutated animals glanced at one another and started to avoid eye contact with the hippoman.

“Well if none of you cowards want to challenge me, then kneel before your king!”

The mutated animals hissed and growled…but one by one they began to bow. The three-headed dog growled at the few stragglers, until all but one were on the ground.

King Hippo narrowed his eyes at the last one.

“Oh my, well if there’s no one left, how would you like to dance with little ‘ole me?”

A pale spider woman stood among the kneeling animals.

“Arachnalich, I should have known you would interfere. Begone, human, your kind is not welcome here.”

Arachnalich began to stroll forward past the kneeling animals. She held out her hands, extending her spider legs into the air.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Your Majesty. We are all monsters here, are we not?”

King Hippo growled at her, his body tensing.

“That’s the problem with you humans. Everything different from you is a horrible monster. Even if you look similar, you can never understand the Elevated. And so you will die with the rest.”

Arachnalich sneered.

“Oh I understand, all right. You claim to rule by strength, do you not? So then, why does it matter if we were human or animal before? All that matters now…is how strong we are, right?”

She licked her lips and stared him in the eyes.

“Unless you think you’re weaker then little ‘ole me. I can understand if you’re afraid to lose to a human.”

King Hippo let out a laugh, then narrowed his eyes at the spider woman.

“Oh, I will enjoy ripping you to shreds. Come, Arachnalich! I will show you a monster!”

King Hippo rushed at Arachnalich, the ground thundering beneath his heavy steps. Arachnalich crouched down and leapt into the air. She thrust out her hands and a net of sticky web shot out, covering the Hippoman.

King Hippo simply kept running, and the web snapped.

“Weak! You are weak!”

King Hippo spun around and leapt at Arachnalich once more. She leapt above him, her spider legs carrying her up a tree.

“Get back here, you coward!”

Arachnalich tilted her head and placed a finger on her chin. She hummed for a few seconds.

“Nope. I don’t think I will. Why don’t you just come up here?”

King Hippo roared at her and rushed into the tree, wrapping his arms around the trunk. His muscles bulged as he pulled. The wood of the tree creaked…then cracked…and then broke apart as King Hippo ripped the trunk off its roots. He swung the tree into its neighbor, trying to flatten the spider girl.

“Oh my, how violent. What did the poor tree ever do to you, Your Majesty?”

Arachnalich soared through the air, landing gracefully in the clearing. The ground thundered as King Hippo charged at her once more.

And then the spider woman yawned.

“I thought it might be fun fighting the ‘strongest’ monster, but you’re kind of boring, you know? All you can do is run in straight lines.”

King Hippo roared and leapt at her, his massive maw opened wide. Arachnalich stood still, making no move to dodge.

Just then something black flashed through the air and slammed into King Hippo, knocking him off-course. The three headed dog growled as it bit and clawed at the hippoman.

“Cerberus you traitor! What are you doing?”

King Hippo backhanded the dog away. Cerberus flew back with a yelp and then walked over to Arachnalich, who stroked one of the dog’s heads.

“Oh my, don’t be so harsh on the poor boy. He and I had a little chat long before you battled him for supremacy, you see. He was never a part of your pack to begin with.”

King Hippo let out a cry as something sharp pierced his leg. A giant black spider had quietly climbed down a tree while he was pre-occupied with the dog, and now sank its fangs into him. He slammed the spider into the ground with a fist, and then stomped on its head.

He turned around and found Arachnalich and Cerberus now spread apart, circling him from opposite sides. He charged at the spiderwoman, but the dog pounced and bit at his heels. He kicked at the dog, only to get a glob of web in his eyes. Everytime he went for one, the other intervened. Everytime he tried to counter, the first one would double back.

And his body was growing numb, and harder to move.

Eventually…the hippoman fell to his knees, unable to move anymore. Arachnalich strode up to him, a wicked smile on her face.

“Hah, you think this is over? You think this means anything? It doesn’t change the fact that you’re weak, human. You didn’t beat me. You just cheated and lied. The others won’t accept this, won’t accept you. So go ahead, kill me. The others will tear you apart.”

She placed a single finger on his chin and slowly rubbed it.

“Your Majesty, don’t be so hasty. I’m not simply going to kill you. Don’t you know what spiders like to do?”

His eyes widened as she licked her lips.

“They immobilize their prey, then liquify their innards and slurp it all up. But well, that would take a long time, so fortunately I’ve found a better way.”

She stabbed one of her claws into his skin, coating it in his blood. Then she drew a geometric pattern over his chest and took a step back. She started to chant, and her eyes began to glow with purple light.

As did the pattern on the hippoman’s chest.

And for the first time since he awoke…he felt fear.

She finished her chant and the circle flashed. Purple light began to stream from the circle into the spiderwoman. King Hippo cried out. His veins ran cold. He couldn’t feel his arms or legs. His thoughts began to slow, his eyes began to dim, and the world grew ever more quiet…

Until the last of his life drained out of him, and he dropped to the ground.

Arachnalich giggled as her body was surrounded by a glowing, purple aura.

“And now…”

She turned to the monsters. They hissed and growled at her. A giant, two headed cougar stepped forward.

“This means nothing, human. You had help and you cheated. You are not strong.”

She grinned at the beast.

“Is that so?”

She stuck her hand out, her palm glowing purple. Two of King Hippo’s ribs tore through his corpse and formed into spears, impaling themselves into the cougar’s heads. She glanced around at the rest of the monsters.

“Law of the jungle: the strong survive, the weak die. King Hippo died, I survived, and that makes me stronger. If you disagree, feel free to challenge me, and we’ll see who survives in the end.”

The rest of the animals looked at one another but none of them stepped forward.

“No? Then bow before your new queen.”

Cerberus growled at them and one by one, they began to bow. Arachnalich’s face curled into a smile.

The spider continued to weave her web.