The head of the AVS sat at a desk, working on some documents that required his attention. A panel opened on the roof above and behind him. Arachnalich slowly and silently curled out of the roof, lowering herself on a rope of silk without a sound. She quietly reached out towards the man’s neck.

 

“Hello, Arachnalich. I’ve been expecting you.”

 

Arachnalich froze midair.

 

“Oh come now, don’t be so surprised. Only an idiot wouldn’t have noticed what was going on by now.”

 

Arachnalich narrowed her eyes.

 

“You seem awfully calm for a man about to die.”

 

“Well there’s no point in losing my head twice now, is there? Why don’t you have a seat, I’d like to have a word if you don’t mind.”

 

Arachnalich’s mouth curled into a sneer.

 

“Stalling won’t change anything.”

 

The head simply shrugged.

 

“Conversing, not stalling. I’m fully aware Cerberus is waiting outside on your orders. Besides, I’m sure you would appreciate a briefing before you take over?”

 

Arachnalich stood still for a second, narrowing her eyes once again. Eventually, she sighed and lowered herself to the ground. She walked around the desk and took a seat in front of the head, crossing her arms.

 

“Fine, what do you want to say?”

 

The head put down his pen and crossed his hands on his desk.

 

“We’d like to offer you a job.”

 

Arachnalich nearly fell out of her seat.

 

“What on EARTH are you talking about?!”

 

“You’ve put on a most impressive showing. We think you have great potential.”

 

Arachnalich held her head.

 

“No, seriously, what on Earth are you talking about? I’m here to KILL you, in case you forgot, and then take your organization for myself. What possible reason would there be for me to even entertain a job offer of all things?”

 

“Because I am offering you the job you wanted: mine. It would be easier that way, no?”

 

Arachnalich just tilted her head. The sheer audacity of these words had rid her of all emotion and thought. They were so ridiculous…she couldn’t react to them.

 

The head simply smiled at her, and picked up a remote. He pointed to a screen on the side wall and turned it on.

 

“Simply put…we are a tad bigger than you might think.”

 

Arachnalich’s jaw dropped.

 

A video feed showed her sneaking into the Archmage’s ritual chamber and drawing a magic circle on the crystal sphere.

 

“No way…I checked everything. There were no cameras…”

 

The head pressed another button.

 

A video feed displayed her fight with King Hippo.

 

“How did you…”

 

He pressed another button. The scene changed to a spider pulling a component out of the Mega Sunray.

 

And another. This time showing a spider tipping a vial into a cup in Galactic Vortex’s office.

 

“Four out of five. And you did help us with the last one, so we won’t count it against you. I’m sure you’ll learn from that failure.”

 

“What are you saying, these were YOUR elites!”

 

The man chuckled.

 

“Did you truly believe that? Oh, the Association made use of their skills, for sure. Subordinating the monsters, gathering the wayward supers, forming an R&D group to fund our operations, perfecting our extraction methods, and, of course, the communication devices. And finally: someone to clean up those too dangerous to be left alone, once they had served their purpose.”

 

Arachnalich’s vein bulged.

 

“What, you’re telling me you wanted me to kill them?! That you somehow have been in control this entire time?!”

 

“Nothing of the sort, I assure you. We simply assumed that when this many dangerous and ambitious individuals were brought together to work on a joint project, that ultimately one or more of them would seek to betray the others and so thin the herd. It was a pleasant surprise that you were able to handle them all on your own, so please be proud of your own achievement. Which brings us to my offer.”

“At the end of the day, the Association needs to be led by someone with the power and cunning to handle adversaries such as these. Someone like you. We will allow you to rule the Association as you please. Of course, in exchange for some ground rules about the Association’s overall activities and the occasional favor.”

 

The spider woman glared at the man.

 

“Or I could just kill you now.”

 

He nodded at her.

 

“That you could. But then you would lose access to my resources and contacts. Contacts that include assets within the ILS. Would you prefer to start your rule knowing the ILS’s current status and priorities…or by having your entire organization exposed to it?”

 

Arachnalich narrowed her eyes. She stood up with a smirk, holding out her palms to her sides to extend her claws.

 

“Nice try. But I say you’re bluffing. And I did not come all this way to be someone’s lackey!”

 

She leapt at the man…

 

But the door slammed opened and something knocked her to the ground. Three heads growled at her from above.

 

“Cerberus?! What are you doing?!”

 

The man stood up and walked around his desk, bending down to make eye contact with the spider woman pinned to the ground. He smiled and pressed his remote again.

Arachnalich heard her own voice play from the screen.

 

“Oh my, don’t be so harsh on the poor boy. He and I had a little chat long before you battled him for supremacy, you see. He was never a part of your pack to begin with.”

“And that’s how it is. So what do you say, Arachnalich? My offer still stands.”

 

She snarled at him.

 

“Screw you!”

 

She activated a special magic circle, engraved within her body.

In the gap where her heart should be.

Her body began to glow with purple light…and then an explosion filled the room.

Right before it did, Cerberus leapt back and a purple barrier surrounded the girl. The man watched as a flash of light filled the barrier, leaving behind a black spot on the ground. The man then jumped back, clutching his heart as sweat began to drip down his face.

What the heck, Bob?! He said this was safe!

Speaking of which, he pulled out his phone and dialed Bob's number.

 

“Bob!”

 

“Hi Minh, how’d the interview go?”

 

“How did it go?! I almost died! Several times!”

 

"You were aware of the risks when you signed up for the role. How did she respond?"

 

"Obviously it's a no!"

 

“A pity, we’ll move to plan B then. Good work in any case.”

 

“I mean thanks but make sure you get her! This Association stuff is seriously scary, you know! You know how many times I've almost died recently?!”

 

“But you didn’t, and you’re getting your hazard bonus.”

 

“Still!”

 

---

 

Bob stood in a dark room. In the center was an operating table, surrounded by a strange mixture of robotic arms, surgical tools, and geometric formations carved into the floor with crystals, potions, and torches at various points within it.

 

He shrugged as he spoke into the phone.

 

“Well, we’ll see how the second interview goes.”

 

Bob hung up and walked over to the table. Two women worked on computers, while two men checked the geometric pattern. On the table in the center lay a body. A lifeless body.

 

A body that looked strangely like Arachnalich's…save for cybernetic components built into various parts, including the left side of her head.

 

“Looks like it’s a go, are we ready?”

 

Kanna glanced up at Bob.

 

“Hm, cybernetic components are all in place but there’s a limit to what we can test on a dead body, Bob. And I still have reservations about this. Are you truly certain you don’t want to try the intelligence leashing? Given what you’ve told me of this woman…some insurance would make me feel a lot better.”

 

Bob shrugged.

 

“We have insurance. The intelligence leashing was never a sure thing to begin with. And I wouldn’t go to all this effort if I’ll have to constantly give her orders. That defeats the purpose of recruiting her.”

 

Kanna heaved a sigh.

 

“Well, hope Mr. Magic over there is right then.”

 

Bob turned to the men.

 

“Carl, how are we looking?”

 

Carl looked to the younger man. The younger man looked over the formation once more and then nodded.

 

“Good to go here, Bob.”

 

Bob nodded and then walked over to another table. He picked up a small container made of red crystal. Encased inside was a human heart. He brought it over and held it up over the table.

 

“Let’s begin.”

 

Kanna and Klara moved to their work stations, starting to boot up the cybernetic components. The young man held up his arms and began to chant. The geometric formation began to glow with purple light…

 

---

 

Arachnalich opened her eyes and sighed. Fortunately her name was not for show, she had long since tied her life force to a phylactery instead of her body. Her body was therefore expendable.

But it was still very annoying.

If she managed to kill the Association head then all was well. There would be a great deal of confusion for a couple of days but all she had to do was head on over and assume command. The AVS would remain mostly intact and she would have her army.

 

But if he managed to survive…

 

Well, no sense worrying about it. First she had to figure out how much time had passed, and then she could worry about the Association…

Arachnalich froze.

A digital clock appeared in her vision, displaying the time.

 

The first problem.

The date said it had been mere minutes since she had sacrificed her body. Even with the life force she had gathered from the Association elites…she would require days at minimum before her body reconstituted. That date could not possibly be correct.

 

The second problem.

Why was there a digital clock in her vision in the first place?!

 

“Hello, Arachnalich.”

 

Arachnalich shot up and whirled around. A man in a mask stood before her.

 

“W-Who are you?! What’s going on?!”

 

“My name is Bob. You can think of me as the boss’s boss. I’m here to give you a second chance at the job offer.”

 

“What?!”

 

Arachnalich’s mind raced to process the information when Bob held up the container in his hand. Arachnalich gasped and her eyes widened.

 

“H-How did you…”

 

“We’ve been scouting you for a while, Miss Arachnalich.”

 

She heard a sigh to her side.

 

“I warned you, Miss Arachnalich. Resist the urge to check on your phylactery in person. Just set up your guardians and design the wards to alert you to intruders. Checking on things yourself only increases the risk of a security breach.”

 

She spun around and glared at Carl.

 

“Carl! You are so fired!”

 

“You already terminated our contract, Miss Arachnalich. Shortly after you got those spider powers and ran off on your own, if I recall.”

 

“You betrayed me!”

 

Carl crossed his arms.

 

“I did nothing of the sort. I treat my clients’ confidentiality very seriously, Miss Arachnalich. Bob here found your phylactery all on his own, I was only brought in to consult on the ritual.”

 

“Ritual? What ritual?!”

 

Carl nodded back towards Bob, Arachnalich turned to face the masked man once more.

 

“The one that revived you in mere moments. We simply prepared a new body for you ahead of time, with a couple of upgrades.”

 

Arachnalich subconsciously reached for her face. She gasped when she felt metal.

 

“With your phylactery in hand, it was a simple manner to redirect your reconstitution to the body we prepared.”

 

“Y-You!”

 

“Which brings us to the matter at hand. Would you like to lead the Association of Villains and Superbeings, miss Arachnalich?”

 

She went silent, mind still racing to catch up on everything happening.

 

“Know that I expect your full commitment, should you accept. We will be keeping your phylactery as insurance. And we will be monitoring your behavior, courtesy of your upgrades. Any sort of mischief will be met with immediate termination.”

 

She narrowed her eyes.

 

“What choice do I have?”

 

Bob shrugged.

 

“Plenty. You have the option of leaving the Association and going off on your own.”

 

“But you’re keeping my phylactery?”

 

“Obviously. We know very well how dangerous you are, Miss Arachnalich. We will not let you go without some form of insurance. But as long as you don’t cause problems for us, I have no particular problem with letting you live out your life in peace.”

 

Arachnalich grit her teeth.

She thought through her options.

She couldn’t use her suicide attack, not with her phylactery in the room.

Her spiders? But they had shown the ability to track those already, if the head’s videos were any indication. Maybe it was only those few spiders and they wouldn't notice if she used a small one now...but that wasn't enough to bet her life on.

Attack Bob and try to take back her phylactery right here and now? Not wise. There was another necromancer in the room…with Carl on payroll they’d identify if she tried to cast a spell. And she had no idea what the machines they had placed inside her could do. For all she knew, she had a bomb in her head.

 

She was trapped in his web.

 

All she could do…was answer his offer.

Live as a slave…but gain authority over the Association, and hope that they slipped up somewhere she could exploit later? A dangerous game with her life in the balance, being forced to listen to whatever these people told her? With the possibility that she was well and truly trapped and would remain their lackey her entire life?

Or…run away from it all. Start over. But still, with her life in the balance. Knowing these people could kill her at any time. A life of fear, and timidity. Giving up all her dreams and ambitions.

 

She grit her teeth.

 

“Fine.”

 

Bob smiled.

 

“Let’s discuss the future of the Association then, shall we?”