The Spider Queen

(Unknown Location)

"Now can I invite our brave volunteers to make their way to the arena?" the clown politely whispered as he stretched out his hands.

Loud cheers and thunderous applause echoed through the tent as the crowd pushed and shoved against one another.

Four clowns slowly walked towards Sophie and each one was spurned on by the jeers and laughter from the crowd.

Sophie's danger sense kicked into overdrive as she felt a threat stronger than anything that she had felt so far in the exam.

She hurriedly backed away as the four clowns formed a straight line and stared at her with twisted smiles on their faces.

"What's this?! Why do you look so… normal?" the host asked with disgust.

He snapped his fingers and four blue pills appeared out of thin air.

He waved his right palm, and the pills flew into the open mouths of the four clowns who swallowed them gleefully.

"And remember folks… this fight is brought to you by Universal Life Psychedelics Inc. They put the 'drug' in drug- fueled excitement!" the host yelled happily.

"Good luck young Sophie Peterlor… you only need to survive for twenty minutes to win…"

The floating clown clapped his hands twice and the holographic projection changed to become a timer that started ticking down.

He giggled one last time before vanishing from the air and reappearing among the thousands of identical looking clowns in the stands.

Sophie cautiously held multiple needles in her palm as she stared at her four opponents. There was a rare moment of silence in the tent.

One could hear a pin drop.

Just as the hybrid girl was contemplating making the first move… something changed.

The four clowns dropped to the ground and shrieked in pain as thick wriggling green veins could be seen beneath their skin.

Their bodies swelled up almost cartoonishly until they were massive lumps of flesh with vague humanoid features.

"What… what the…" Sophie stammered in shock as she saw repulsive bright red boils that resembled a clown's nose appear on their bloated bodies.

Each boil swelled up and eventually popped to release a foul yellowish liquid that made Sophie want to throw up.

But the worst was yet to come…

Hundreds of tiny mouths were formed on the fleshy rolls of fat, and each had dozens of sharp teeth and a long pink tongue hidden inside.

Hoarse, guttural inhuman laughter came out of the mouths and Sophie could only watch in horror as the bodies began to roll towards her.

She ran towards the direction of the stands but was stopped by an invisible barrier that stretched around the narrow space.

One of the clowns in the crowd swayed his finger back and forth and stared at her with an almost mocking expression.

Damn it!

She was forced to fight!

Sophie growled and the crimson colour in her eyes darkened. The hybrid girl rushed towards the first rolling body and circulated her qi towards her legs.

She jumped up hundreds of feet in the air and then unleashed a fatal technique.

God's Eye - Needle storm!

Sophie threw her needles at the bodies below and wrapped her qi around each pointed tip.

The needles were covered in a golden aura, and they easily penetrated the slow-moving bodies.

But instead of blood, Sophie saw what appeared to be thin strips of confetti burst out of the clowns' open wounds.

They were like giant piñatas…

"Oh… that tickles!" one of the clowns laughed as his belly jiggled merrily from side to side.

"BOYS I THINK WE NEED TO GIVE HER A LITTLE SURPISE!" another one yelled as the mouths on his body began to tremble with excitement.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The clowns' bodies exploded one by one, and a series of shockwaves slammed into Sophie who was still falling downwards.

The hybrid girl screamed in pain as she felt the heat melt away her flesh and leave horrific wounds all over her body.

She fell to the ground helplessly and crashed with a painful thud. Thick heavy purple smoke filled the arena and Sophie shakily got up from the ground.

Ever muscle in her body was screaming out in pain and she felt as though she had just been run over by a truck.

Sophie's ultra regeneration kicked in and her flesh knitted itself back together as if the wounds had never occurred.

The hybrid girl could easily peer through the obstruction caused by the smoke and saw four skeletal-like figures walking over with joyful steps.

The clowns had undergone a second transformation.

Now their bodies were skinny to the point where it looked unnatural as if they were toys that had been stretched out by some mischievous kid.

Their eyes had sunken into their sockets, exposed pieces of bone could be seen at the end of their fingertips and the hundreds of mouths were now gasping for breath.

Wheezing and grunts could be heard coming from the clowns' mouths as they struggled to form a single coherent word.

Cheers rang out through the arena and Sophie looked up at the countdown timer and saw that only five minutes had passed so far.

She still had fifteen minutes left…

The hybrid girl crouched down in a defensive position and waited for the clowns to make their first move.

That sudden explosion had rattled Sophie far more that she would care to admit, and the unsettling nature of this strange place was getting on her nerves.

Rsychosis!

Sophie's figure blurred and then eight identical copies of herself appeared where she had just been standing.

The eight hybrid girls growled darkly as their golden eyes also turned crimson in response to Sophie's heightened bloodlust state.

The four clowns did not seem bothered by their unexpected appearance and looks of excitement flashed across their distorted faces.

They rushed forward and the bony tips of their fingers became long jagged claws that gleamed under the light.

One of Sophie's clones did not react in time and the clown tore open her throat with startling ease.

Of course, the other mirror copies and Sophie herself were not helpless and fought back using their bladed appendages to create space.

Stab!

Sophie's upper right appendage penetrated the throat of the clown in front of her, but it was like stabbing something made out of rubber.

The pointed barb on the end of her appendage simply sank into the flesh and she had to struggle to pull it out.

The clown giggled mischievously and began to jump up and down as if he was performing a strange dance.

Sophie gritted her teeth as she saw his playful antics and furiously slashed at him using a knife that she had pulled out of her pocket.

The clown continued to laugh even as Sophie's blade sliced open his stomach.