11.06

Chapter 11.6: Escalation and Revelation

The Merchants’ brutal free-for-all continued, a grotesque spectacle of violence fueled by Skidmark’s promise of power in a vial. Skitter, Lisa, Charlotte, and their escorts watched as alliances formed and shattered within the makeshift arena, the crowd throwing debris and using Skidmark’s power to amplify the chaos. A gunshot further incited the frenzy, turning the Merchants into a frenzied mob.

Bryce, seizing an opportunity, slipped away from his captors and rejoined his girlfriend and her family, who were revealed to be the attackers from the church. They were pulled into the arena by Skidmark’s power, becoming lost in the melee. Lisa, despite Skitter’s urging to intervene with her bugs, refused, fearing it would escalate the situation and expose them to danger.

They decided to wait out the fight, hoping to retrieve Bryce and gather information on the vials. The following minutes were a tense struggle for survival as they fended off attacks from the frenzied Merchants. Skitter, armed with two knives, fought alongside Lisa’s soldiers, sustaining injuries but managing to hold her ground.

Suddenly, Skitter experienced a disorienting vision of colossal, otherworldly beings communicating across vast distances. The vision was fleeting but profound, leaving her shaken and struggling to focus. A blow to the head brought her back to reality, but her senses remained distorted. She used her bugs to gain a tactical advantage, relying on her swarm sense to navigate the chaos.

As she fought, Charlotte noticed something amiss and pointed upwards. Skidmark and his lieutenants were slumped over, incapacitated. In the arena, a boy triggered, his new powers manifesting as destructive flashes of white light. He accidentally injured several people, including himself, as he struggled to control his abilities.

Skitter, Lisa, and Charlotte were also affected by the trigger event, experiencing a similar disorientation. Lisa, seemingly hit harder due to her power, babbled incoherently about viruses, babies, and gods. A slap brought her back to her senses, and she began to recover faster than Skitter.

Skidmark, regaining his composure, called an end to the fight, declaring the five remaining combatants as the winners. Among them was the newly triggered cape, the injured woman, and two others. Bryce and his “family” were nowhere to be seen.

Skidmark ordered the new cape to approach, demanding he choose a name. The boy, still in shock, tentatively suggested “Eraser,” which Skidmark rejected in favor of “Scrub.” He then instructed Scrub to choose a recipient for one of the vials. Scrub chose Doug, one of the two men who had emerged from the crowd, angering the other man, Rick.

As Doug approached the stage, Skitter noticed her bugs on the roof dying or becoming disoriented. She realized that Faultline’s crew, including Newter, had arrived. They tried to leave but found their escape routes sealed by Labyrinth’s power, trapping them inside with the increasingly volatile Merchants and Faultline’s unexpected arrival. The situation had escalated beyond their control, and they were now caught in a dangerous and unpredictable scenario.