9.06

Here is a summary of Chapter 9.06 of Worm, maintaining the original tone and style, and condensed to approximately 1066 words:

Shadow Stalker, perched on the roof of Hillside Mall, was annoyed. The police presence deterred looters, ruining her plans for a violent outlet. She called Emma, venting her frustration with the Wards. “They’re children,” she complained, “living in their comfortable, cozy little worlds.” Even after Leviathan’s attack, they clung to the illusion of fixing things, a naivety Shadow Stalker, who’d “waded through this shit from the beginning,” found infuriating.

Emma reminded her of her probation, two and a half more years until she was free. The thought was galling. Shadow Stalker mused that Leviathan had at least ripped away the “fucking ridiculous veneer” of the city, revealing the “desperate, needy animal” beneath. He’d made things honest.

A convoy of dark trucks caught her attention. Two possibilities: supplies with capes, or Coil and his troops. She hung up with Emma, eager to investigate.

Shifting into her shadow state, she leaped from rooftop to rooftop, following the trucks. It was five minutes before Menja attacked, driving her spear into the lead truck. Miss Militia responded with grenade fire, while Hookwolf, Stormtiger, and Cricket joined the fray. On the PRT’s side, troops and Assault emerged from the trucks.

Shadow Stalker took down Cricket with a tranquilizer dart, then targeted Hookwolf’s thugs, the ‘Fenrir’s Chosen’. Miss Militia blasted Hookwolf with a mortar, her gun transforming into assault rifles to spray the enemy with rubber bullets.

Spotting a group of Chosen attempting to flank, Shadow Stalker considered joining the melee, craving the catharsis after dealing with Vista. But then another figure emerged, a spindly girl with a yellow-lensed mask: Skitter.

A feral smile crossed Shadow Stalker’s face. She watched as Skitter, with her swarm, took down the Chosen. Skitter grabbed a bag from the truck and retreated. “Hungry, are you?” Shadow Stalker murmured, following in her shadow state.

You saw my face. Operating solo means there’s nobody to miss you.

As Skitter passed beneath her, Shadow Stalker felt a group of insects pass through her, and Skitter started running. Shadow Stalker pursued, amused. “You want to run? I don’t mind a bit of a chase.”

Skitter waited, attacking with bugs. Shadow Stalker’s hand passed through Skitter’s throat, but she recovered, kicking Skitter down. She raised her crossbow, but Skitter’s baton lashed out. Shadow Stalker shifted, letting the stick pass through her, then taunted, “You really want to fight me?”

Skitter didn’t reply. Shadow Stalker, despite finding her creepy, almost respected her as a fellow predator. Skitter used pepper spray, forcing Shadow Stalker to raise her cloak as a barrier. She lunged after Skitter, who was running again.

Skitter climbed a fire escape, then leaped down, putting a chain link fence between them. Shadow Stalker fired through the fence, but sparks erupted. The fence was electrified.

Moron. I can walk through that fence. She loaded her crossbow, aimed, and fired through the fence at the girl.

A flash and spray of sparks erupted as the shot made contact with the fence. Skitter stumbled as the bolt hit her, but Shadow Stalker couldn’t see if it had done any damage.

No, what concerned her was the flash. She ignored the fact that Skitter was disappearing, entered her solid state and touched the side of her mask.

Lenses snapped into place, showing a blurry image of the alley in shades of dark green and black. The chain link fence, however, was lit up in a very light gray. Similarly glowing, a wire was stapled to the brick of the building next to the fence, leading to a large, pale blob inside the building. A generator.

The fence was electrified.

Shadow Stalker snarled. Skitter had known. Was it a trap laid in advance? Or had she just studied the area? It troubled her that Skitter might have figured out one of her weaknesses.

Shadow Stalker caught up, firing at Skitter. The swarm split, creating two figures. Shadow Stalker fired at both, then lunged after the one that slowed. A trick.

The swarm split again. Shadow Stalker attacked, hitting nothing. She fired at two more, no reaction. She dove after the last one.

She drove Skitter’s face into the water, shifting to hold her down. Skitter turned over, trying to stand, but Shadow Stalker forced her back down.

Shadow Stalker held a bolt to Skitter’s throat. “Game over.” Skitter went limp. “Guess I don’t need to worry about the villain who saw my face, now.” She drew the bolt across Skitter’s throat, but the fabric didn’t cut.

Suddenly, darkness fell. Shadow Stalker tried to run, but the darkness was oppressive, slowing her. Her power shifted her to a middle ground, making her slower, heavier.

She baited me.

A massive shape tore through her, then another. She was enervated, barely able to move. The darkness dissipated, revealing her opponents: the Undersiders.

Shadow Stalker laughed. “All that drama, all that nonsense about allegiances, betraying your team, was it a trick, some joke?”

Skitter shook her head. “…Things are different now.”

Skitter drove Regent’s scepter into Shadow Stalker’s stomach. It didn’t hurt as much as she expected, but her body was unresponsive.

Grue spoke. “Skitter, lift her legs. Regent, support her midsection. Imp? Give me a hand with her upper body, take the other shoulder. We lift on three, alright?”

“Right,” someone said.

“One, two, three!”