It wasn't until Spider Ghost realized the cocoon was empty that she noticed someone standing behind her, disrespectfully tapping her on the head with something like a sword sheath.
Spider Ghost's two twisted arms were still braced against the cocoon. She rotated her head 180 degrees and looked behind her, coming face-to-face with Wu, who had his head cocked to one side.
The moment their eyes met, the whole world fell silent.
With the brain she had left, Spider Ghost couldn't understand how the scene before her had come to be. She stared at Wu for a few moments, then turned back to look at the cocoon she had painstakingly woven. Her eyes, narrowed to slits, brimmed with confusion.
When she turned to look at Wu again, he took a slow breath, then gave Spider Ghost a sincere nod, as if urging her to accept reality sooner rather than later.
It was all real. It wasn't an illusion.
She wasn't crazy.
Once she understood, Spider Ghost was both shocked and furious. Her body tensed, and sharp claws sprouted from all four limbs at a visible rate. Her already ugly, bloated face twisted even further.
The corners of her mouth split open, revealing rows of barbed teeth. She lunged at Wu.
The bones throughout her body shifted out of place, her joints bent backward, and her limbs stretched out grotesquely. She spread herself wide in midair, apparently intending to wrap all four limbs around Wu and tear him apart.
When she felt herself grab her target, Spider Ghost's limbs coiled tightly around Wu's body like an octopus. The claws at their ends dug into his flesh to keep their prey from escaping. Then countless strange black markings, shaped like human faces, surfaced on her pale, waterlogged skin. The faces opened their