The Great Belligerency [Round 4: Static]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Cole sized up his visitor. He had only spoken to Girnham once before, he realized; he did not know what the man had been doing since.

A thought occurred to him. It seemed unlikely, but at the same time, there was little harm in asking.

"Did you, by any chance, leave me a note at the museum?"

Phil shook his head. "No. I haven't been to any museums. Why?"

"Never mind. It isn't important." There was a pause before Cole spoke again. "What do you make of this city?"

"Huh?" Phil was confused. He hadn't taken Cole as the type for small talk.

"It is a simple question. This is a city filled with amazing technology, some of it beyond what I could have ever imagined. More than, that, however, the life that fills it is fascinating. Before arriving here, I had never seen an intelligent life-form other than humans. Now, I can step outside and see literally thousands, many of them unlike any form of life I have ever seen before. Is that not amazing?"

Phil shrugged.

"I guess. I hadn't really thought about it much."

If it were possible to glare with compound eyes, Cole would have done so.

"A pity. Perhaps you should think about it more."

A set of dragonfly wings sprouted from Cole's back, and he lifted himself off the ground.

"I will continue looking for insects of interest. As long as you do not interfere, I have no reason to harm you."

With that, Cole flew away. However, he was not, in fact, searching for insects; he had already found what he was looking for.

The spider he had acquired had evolved a very distinctive ability, which had made it a valuable prize. Its webbing contained a potent acid that was both highly corrosive, and highly volatile.

In short, Cole now had a deadly weapon on hand. But he needed to be careful with it. Webbing had never been Cole's expertise; when he used it, often some loose strands would stick to his body. It was a mild inconvenience at worst, and usually ignorable - but this was not the case if those loose strands could melt through his body and then explode.

Regardless, it was a worthwhile addition to his arsenal. He would simply have to practice working with regular webbing if he could find a safe place to do so.

Cole's thoughts were soon interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Hey, is that beetle over there any good?"

Cole turned around to see Phil following him, and pointing at a large stag beetle crawling around on the wall. A nearby plaque indicated that this was a newly-bred species, and that its horn was harder than diamond. Only the fact that it had plentiful food and no rivals had kept it from breaking out of its cage.

Cole flew over to the beetle and grabbed it. How fortunate. He turned to his guest.

"Yes, this will be quite useful. Thank you. Now, why exactly are you following me?"

"Because I don't have anywhere else in particular to go just now, and if that crazy goddess comes back, I'd rather not face her alone." And I just got a call telling me to follow you, but you don't need to know that.

Cole reflected on this for a moment.

"Well, then. I believe I have sufficient reason to cut my business here short. So perhaps you can make yourself useful, and assist me with my next objective."

"What's that?"

"You may recall that I mentioned a note before. I am looking for its sender, one 'Minotaurus'. I doudt you have any information, but if you do..."

"As a matter of fact, I do," Phil interrupted. He was lying, but the message he had just received had been clear enough.

"Say exactly what I tell you to, or she dies."