Silhouette

Standing on a dilapidated building not too far from Mother Greenheld's orphanage, a robed figure watched the ongoing carnage. Cloaked in tan and dirtied silk, a wooden mask covered the figure's face, hiding their identity. Though with a close look, their loyalty was easy to decipher, a blue bee the size of a mouse nestled between the figure's raised hood and their neck, any hint of skin hidden away by green bandages tightly woven over their form.

When they spoke, a deep masculine voice left their throat.

"They are getting mowed down."

The bee wiggled its abdomen and buzzed.

"It appears effortless on their part. I have yet to see any of them wounded."

"Bzz."

"Yes, the undead were an unexpected development. We knew this used to be their home, but common sense dictates Silhouette should have had them exorcised. Merkser Duskenfer has been sighted in the area quite often."

"Bzz."

"I understand and I apologize. I should have foreseen that an unnatural abomination would ally with others disregarding the sanctity of life."

"Bzz bzz."

"I thank you for your forgiveness. The question now is, what should be our next step? While there are no faithful on this mission besides myself, we still have the varying degrees of stronger drones you provided me. Should I continue our initial plan and send the weakest champion first?"

"Bzz."

"Are you certain, milord? While they have been skillfully putting down these soulless critters so far, I am unsure they could survive that one. If they were to be wiped out, Silhouette may react more drastically than we wish."

"Bzz."

"Ah, I was unaware. So this pillar of darkness resulted from a weapon, not the creature's work? Impressive. And it means it could be here."

"Bzz."

"Right, if Silhouette spoke the truth that is. I see your wisdom now."

The figure opened their cloak, revealing a bandage-covered slim body beneath and the instrument held between their thin fingers. It was composed of two major parts, a wooden body made of multiple tubes attached together like some sort of hybrid between a machine gun and a pan flute, and at one end of it all was a bulbous sack that comfortably filled a hand. The figure pressed their fingers against the sack, expelling air dextrously to form an odd melody: a mix of a bagpipe's cries and the fleeting sonority of a lighter wind instrument.

As the bizarre music rained down from the ruins' summit, something dwelling beneath the ground moved, shaking the world as it burrowed deeper, preparing itself to attack the orphanage.

The masked one ceased their music once the creature's movements were no longer felt. While the harmony directed the soulless drones, it also presented the risk of being discovered. The distance between the musician and the targets should be large enough for this precaution to be redundant, but Silhouette had already shown that underestimating him and his group was a dire mistake.

Back on the battlefield, Mother Greenheld was the first to notice the disturbance in the earth. Since her body was still in the orphanage's inner court, her only way to warn the rest was to grow a root near Techlord and have it point down. It took a few seconds for the teen to understand the undead dryad's meaning, but he was clever enough to connect the dots before it was too late. His eyes widened, hidden behind his smooth mask, and he quickly activated his radio as he yelled.

"BURROWER INCOMING!"

The Shadow Commando barely reacted to the announcement, but it wasn't as though they hadn't heard it. Each one, armored or not, shifted their stance, ready to take off to avoid the menace beneath. Junior similarly didn't seem to understand their father's words, but that was only an illusion born from the magical abomination's natural clumsy body language, even when fully covered. When a massive claw - easily large enough to rival a small bus in size and cut a car in half - erupted from the ground in an attempt to break the latest member of the orphanage's crew, Junior leaped to the side to avoid the mossy chitin, the act closer to a frog's gait than human movement.

Its initial attack proving fruitless, the underground creature tried again. A second claw, this one thinner but longer, punched through the earth and the tangle of roots that had been trying to hold it down. This time though the claw itself wasn't the threat, it was the mass of fanged vines dripping with poison it held and that flailed wildly, each appendage easily as long as a person. This attack wasn't aimed at a single imposing threat like the last but rather at four members of the Commando close to one another. Their electroshields sparked to life to block the initial strike, but they couldn't do much when the armed guards were sent flying by the impact and skipped off the ground. Luckily, their shields had also burned the poison before it could cover them. Sadly, their pained grunt seemed to indicate they wouldn't be quite as useful in the rest of the battle.

Techlord clicked his tongue before disengaging from the atrocious parody of a centaur he had been fighting, four trunk-like legs stomping down in fury as the emancipated mummy's upper body screeched in fury at the Sunken City's ceiling. Sam didn't leave without a parting gift, pierced through by the creature's proboscis was a grenade that didn't shy away from exploding and turning the monster's brain into splatters as soon as the teen was far enough to be spared from the detonation. Even his suit was spared a gruesome shower thanks to his speed.

With a flick of his wrist, the blade on Techlord's forearm was replaced by a barrel that fired metal pellets at the claw wielding the aggressive flora right as Junior's fist glowed with electric power as they punched the thicker limb. Cracks echoed simultaneously and the thing roared beneath the earth, quickly dragging his claws back to save them from further harm, bits of chitin falling off onto the ground.

Techlord didn't wait before throwing another grenade down the closest hole the creature had made with its appendages. It only took seconds before a booming sound accompanied by violent shaking occurred.

From their position on the distant building, the mysterious figure and their bee studied the scene. While they were too far away to be easily noticed, their sight was vastly superior to a hawk's, and they both got to see exactly what had happened. Their monster was far from defeated, but it already suffered more damage than either of them expected without the involvement of more impactful weapons.

"Those two with the more advanced armors. I must admit, they are remarkable. Are they known parameters?"

"Bzz."

"Uhm, yes, it would make sense. My bet would be the smaller one is the inventor. The way he switches his gadgets around is far more fluid and intuitive than the larger brute."

"Bzz."

"Of course, it is also possible the inventor is a less experienced fighter and relies more on sheer strength, you are correct milord. Still, from their interactions, I continue to think the small one is the right one. The fact the others called them Techlord is in my favor."

"Bzz."

"Yes, a shame. Perhaps we could convince them to renounce Silhouette and technology so that instead they work on symbiosis? They would do wonders if they could design the combinations and arrangements of our kin. I'm sure being shown a living suit better than their synthetic creation would sway them."

"Bzz bzz."

"Apologies milord, but I disagree. The Guides have their failings, but they have done splendid work on the successful ecosystems."

"Bzz."

"I know the number is small, but the quality is high."

"Bzz."

"..."

"Bzz."

"No, I suppose not. That suit would beat one of ours. But that's exactly my point, milord. We need them."

"Bzz."

"Yes, I lack the resources to recruit them or even the right motivator to ensure success, but that can be arranged. I request permission to repurpose this scouting strike into a capture mission."

"Bzz."

"Very well. Let us see how they fare against the drone."

They looked down to see Techlord jumping into the air, thrusters activating all over his form to keep him airborne, right as the burrowing monster finally revealed itself in a burst of rock and dust with a thunderous roar.

It featured a shark-like head covered in red armored plates, though with a nose far too long compared to the rest of it, its disconnected jaws hanging off even at rest. Frankly, it was eerily similar to a hybrid between a lobster and a goblin shark. That comparison didn't end at the head, as more of the body emerged from the earth more segments and fin-like blades appeared as well as the front pair of claws, the limbs still cracked and missing shelling in some spots. More claws followed, two more pairs were as dextrous as the first while the rest served as legs, though still more than capable of opening and closing to grab or crush anything that got too close. There were at least a dozen of these pairs of walking claws before the tail, a massive and muscled thing that occupied a third of the body and ended in a pincer, much like an earwig's abdomen.

All in all, the beast was easily longer than the entire orphanage, and seemingly taller too as it adjusted its posture to fully expose its six main claws, its neck bending down so that its head could stare down at the puny group trying to stop it. Notably, there was another cracked spot on its back, one covered in soot and that smelled of cooked seafood.

The Shadow Commando stared up at the giant angry crustacean fish and a single thought passed through their heads, though only one was brave enough to say it.

"So... If kill it, do we get to eat it?"

For such a well-made armor, Techlord's Tech Suit creaked an awful lot as he turned to stare at the one who dared to voice their thoughts.

"What? Do you have any plan for a giant lobster thing?"

Sam was seething that the answer was no, he did not. He wouldn't do anything without Silhouette's authorization, maybe his boss would decide to dabble in necromancy and recycle the thing, but aside from that he didn't see what they could do with that stuff. The thing's shell wasn't stronger than their current equipment and it didn't appear to have any special organ or ability they could repurpose. It was just big.

Dead roots dug up from the ground near the teen genius, their wood partially burned. Techlord flinched at that.

"Ah, sorry Greenheld. I should have known better."

The closest root gently patted his head. The fact the undead twitched and creaked whenever it moved made the comforting gesture far more creepy and unsettling than planned, but Sam knew better than to comment on it.

The massive creature threatening them all roared once more and readied its dextrous appendages to hammer down on the orphanage. Techlord narrowed his eyes behind his helmet.

"Right, that. Time to cook a lobster!"

The Shadow Commando cheered far too loudly for his liking. But, hey, he had walked right into that one.

"Greenheld, focus on the legs. Ghosts and armored Commando, keep the rest of the horde at bay. The rest of you, fire at the eyes. Junior and I will be breaking some claws."

Shouts answered his orders and soon the chaos resumed. The big monster snarled as electricity pelted its head and wooden restraint rose from the earth and constricted its limbs, its low growl deafening and covering the sound of the other creatures' screeches as specters drained their life with more aplomb than before. The Commando couldn't be dismissed either, valiantly charging into the fray as they fired corruptive metal and energies at the invaders, smashing and slashing at anything that came too close.

Of course, Techlord and his child weren't twiddling their thumbs. The inventor readied himself and began to charge both of his arms cannons without any hesitation, while his creation had a much different approach.

Junior may have been a brute, but they had still figured out how to work their suit. Propulsors and thrusters came to life to launch the armored abomination at the crustacean's equivalent of a torso, the impact of metal of chitin alone cracking the shell, and they didn't hesitate a second to start rampaging, digging into the white flesh behind the limbs. Though taking a second to look a little closer, Sam noticed that the monster's unarmored parts weren't just white, they were covered in mold. The mold made no effort to hide itself any further as white tendrils burst out of every seam on the creature's body, bashing Junior and crawling down Greenheld's roots.

Interestingly enough, the spot that had been cooked by Sam's grenade was free of this fungal growth.

Sam smirked. He knew everything he needed.

"Junior! Go hot!"

They stopped their rampage to look down at their originator and gave him a thumbs up. Then, ignoring the latching tendrils of mold that had grown vicious fangs, they tapped a button on their armored suit twice before spinning another contraption at their hip.

In an instant, the black armor was replaced by blazing flames.

The lobster screeched, momentarily pausing the fall of its claws on the Shadow Den. That instant that killed their momentum was exactly what Techlord had been waiting for and he let his smirk reach his ears as he let loose the energy blast he had been charging, this one free of Silhouette's usual corruptive darkness. No, this blast was made solely of concentrated energy, more specifically the exact kind that turned into nothing but heat as soon as it reached the creature's neck, much higher than where Junior had dug themself a hole.

There was no boom, but there was a sizzling.

The lobster's front half flopped down and stopped moving, its eyes empty. That wasn't to say it was completely done yet. With the front down, the tail rose to the action, bending like a scorpion's to let the pincer at the end aim for Techlord, lunging much faster than the creature had moved at any point so far. Chitinous spikes closed down on the teen's form, pressing his arms against his sides before bashing him against the ground. Once. Twice. Thrice.

On the fourth go, the tail flopped down just as the head had done earlier, releasing a dizzy yet unharmed Sam who stumbled to the hole Junior had made. Well, he tried to at least. He would have collapsed after the third step if one of Greenheld's roots hadn't caught him, and it took two members of the Shadow Commando carrying him for Techlord to reach his goal.

Right as Sam arrived, his creation emerged, no longer burning but holding a strange colorful tumor. The watermelon-sized thing was likely cocooned in mold at one point considering some of the scorched fungal matter was still attached and flaking off.

"Uh, what's that stuff, boss?"

"This was the mushroom's brain."

"Uh. So... Zombie fungus?"

Dizzy as he was, Sam was still surprised that the idiot had understood the idea so quickly. Apparently, even with his face hidden, his surprise was clear as the guard continued.

"One of the guys had some of those in his neighborhood. Told us all about them during the last spooky story night. Nasty stuff."

Sam fought back the urge to strangle the moron. The fact he still couldn't walk on his own greatly helped.

"But, wait, isn't the whole shtick with mushrooms that they don't have a heart or anything? Like, the real mushroom is the roots, and everything else just add-ons?"

That Sam didn't know, though he wouldn't admit it.

"How. How do you know these things?"

"Ma had a thing for mushrooms. Loved making stew. Taught me a lot. And da had a knack for gardening, showed me all the little roots in the pots."

"You know what? Fine. I'll roll with that. But... Wait. If mushrooms don't have a core, then what the hell did Junior find?"

The group exchanged curious looks. They hadn't wanted to bother their boss, but they might need him now.

Meanwhile, the hooded figure and their bee watched the scene with wide eyes.

"Uh. That was unexpected."

"Bzz."

"Right, all without bringing out that secret weapon. Should I... Unleash the rest? We still have a few better drones, not to mention the rest of the fodder."

"Bzz."

"Of course, milord. Any more would be wasteful. I'll leave those we've already sent, it would be suspicious if they retreated, but this will be the end of our scouting strike. Are you sure you don't want to capture this Techlord?"

"Bzz bzz."

"Milord, surely this is the best time to strike. He's weakened and his allies occupied."

"Bzz."

"Silhouette? How could he-"

"Bzz."

"... Very well milord. I apologize for questioning your orders. Though, we must address what they found."

"Bzz."

"..."

"Bzz bzz."

"If that is your wish. I fear they will learn more than you think."

"Bzz."

"Oh! How sharp of you! Of course, this humble servant couldn't understand the great machinations of your elevated mind, milord."

"Bzz."

"Right away, milord. I just wished we could have learned the exact fate of our missing Siblings."

"Bzz."

"Oh? The window- I see it now."

Yes, they could see it. It appeared like Silhouette at a glance, which was why they had failed to notice it so far. The man was too discreet for anyone's good. But this wasn't Silhouette. No, this was merely a copy, one made of black meat.

"How insidious."

"Bzz."

"Worry not, milord. None will harm a Shepherd without going through his flock."

The bee buzzed one last time as the man left, jumping off the building to run far away, a last few presses of his instrument ordering the waiting reinforcements to evacuate with him. Unknown to him, his flight wasn't as discreet as he wished, a camera watching him take his leave from its hidden spot on the orphanage's roof.