I reached out with my hand, trying to lift a small piece of metal with my mind. My eyes were closed tight as I focused so intently, I thought a blood vessel might burst. An invisible thread exited my palm and nded gently on the metal, trying to influence it.

  A single nudge. A second. Yet it wouldn’t move anything past that. Refusing to follow my commands. Droplets of swear started pooling around my forehead, my brain beginning to hurt from the overexertion. However, giving up is not within my dictionary. So I tried pushed even harder-

  A palm smacked me in the back of the head, interrupting my concentration.

  “Ow.” I muttered without emotion, opening my eyes and turning to the offender.

  There she stood, hands on her hips and looking up at me with a stern expression.

  “That’s not how you do it, dad. Stop trying to simply brute force it like Dante. You need more finesse. Watch.”

  Elizabeth lectured me first, then demonstrated. She didn’t even lift her hand, only gncing at the piece of metal like it were trash. It effortlessly floated off the ground and approached us with the speed of a bullet. She caused it to stop all of a sudden and it dropped.

  “Did you pay attention? Spread your influence all across the surface and envelop it completely. Then-“ I listened seriously to my new professor daughter, nodding my head.

  If it wasn’t obvious, I was training my brand spanking new psychic powers with both Alice and Elizabeth. The former was off to the side, silently watching us with a smile. Meanwhile the tter was really giving me the business. Shouldn’t she be more gentle to her loving father? A family discount?

  Now that I look at her though, she’s really grown up. Makes sense considering a year has passed since we left Theia. Time moves quickly when you’re conquering a gaxy. Most of our time is dedicated to little action and more moving from point A to point B. Space is way too rge. What moron decided to make the Milky Way a hundred thousand light years across?

  Anyway, she’s only a few feet smaller than myself now. Nearly fully grown, same as Raven. In terms of human years, kind of like dogs, they’d be teenagers. Dante on the other hand is already a couple feet rger than myself. Muscle bound battle maniac has changed so much. They all have. Is this parenthood? The feeling of growing old?

  Suddenly, Elizabeth frowned and tapped her index finger on my chest. A displeased look was on her face. So simir to her mother.

  “Are you even listening? This is important stuff dad. If you can’t do this, the more advanced portions will elude you for a longer duration.”

  “Of course I am sweetheart. Watch.” I held out my hand to the metal and did it exactly as she said. Spreading my influence over the surface and sending invisible threads into the interior.

  Still wasn’t easy though, needing my full concentration to barely lift it off the ground. Using this in battle will have to wait for a long time. But it’s most certainly worth it. Even just the teleporting business alone makes it more valuable than a thousand Gargantuans.

  Just then, two arms snaked their way to my own as I saw Elizabeth come behind me. She gnced over my shoulder and started guiding me, whispering in my ear.

  “Better, but still cking. Do it more like this.” Some sort of force entered my arms and helped my own influence over the metal, lifting the burden on me.

  While I memorized her teaching and how she expertly used her influence, I started thinking. What is this position? And she’s acting so strangely too.

  Oh, wait a moment. Teenage years. Girl. I think I’m getting it now. They didn’t grow up in human society where incest is wrong and think it's completely normal. Perhaps that’s my fault for not instilling it into them, but I can hardly be bmed. Who brings that kinda shit up? Especially to their own children.

  ‘Seems our daughter is growing up wonderfully, huh?’ The silent Alice finally ‘spoke’ up in my mind, a knowing tone in her voice.

  I gnced at her and replied.

  ‘Yeah, we’ll need to have a talk with her about this sort of thing. I’m not very comfortable with it.’ She… raised an eyebrow? Is it that surprising?

  ‘Really? Thought you’d like it.’ I looked at her with an incredulous face.

  ‘Why the hell would you think that?’ She tilted her head to the side, as if the answer was obvious.

  ‘Because you’re a freakish pervert?’ Hah, look who’s talking. Miss, ‘can you make two dicks?’.

  ‘Ignoring your snder against my pure heart, maybe I’d be fine with it. If you know, she weren’t a year old. In human terms she’s a teenager, but it makes me feel wrong. Like a groomer and a pedophile.’ She nodded, agreeing with me.

  ‘I can definitely see where you’re coming from. Honestly, I think it’s just some puppy love since you’re pretty much the only male figure in her life. A minor crush that’ll disappear given time when she matures. We’ll have to do this talk business with Raven too.’

  Ah, Raven. She too was in the same room as us, along with Athena and Lily but they can wait. Currently my insectoid daughter was sparring with Dante, giving him a run for his money. Things really haven’t changed between them except Dante has become much more confident and occasionally wins.

  But he still loses to his sister most of the time. While he is way stronger physically and tanks damage like some immortal padin, that’s not what wins fights. She outcssed him in nearly every way despite me and Athena training him. The way Raven acts is like she can see the future, able to predict her brother's every move.

  In the midst of sparring Dante though, Raven would occasionally looks towards me with dull bck eyes. It’s nothing new as she always stared at me, even as a baby. But these days it feels, more. Concentrated and intense.

  Alice’s voice echoed in my mind once more.

  ‘She’s always been a little obsessed with you Jason, and I think it’s adorable. Lately though…’ She frowned before continuing.

  ‘It’s getting concerning. Constantly asking where you are, who’s with you, what you’re doing. And I’ve seen the looks she throws both us and Elizabeth when we’re near you. Like she wants to tear us apart and have you all to herself.’ That’s… new and disturbing information.

  Don’t tell me she’s turning into some Yandere shit. While I like how much she cares, getting a knife stabbed into my chest because I talked with my girls is not really fun.

  All in all though, the problem isn’t that concerning. There’s no way Raven could even harm me or the girls, besides Elizabeth. Still, she definitely needs a talking to.

  “Dad? Something wrong?” Elizabeth's sudden concerned voice broke my thoughts. Her strange atmosphere vanished entirely. She really is Alice’s daughter huh? Naughty to nice instantly.

  “Not at all. Shall we continue?” A happy smile bloomed across her lips as she nodded eagerly.

  Regardless of the, quite frankly, disturbing feelings brewing within her inhuman heart, Elizabeth made for a damn fine tutor. Sometimes her mother helped out from the side as well, causing my progress to shoot through the roof. Should be able to use this properly in combat in about a month give or take. But more advanced stuff like that teleporting shit Alice accomplished? That’ll take a while. She tried expining it to me and it just sounds like nonsense.

  After we stopped, mainly due to my brain starting to hurt, I walked over to my new baby momma. She was in the midst of talking to Lily, but stopped when seeing me come over. I kneeled before her and smiled.

  “Ready to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl?” A brilliant light fshed through her eyes as she nodded swiftly.

  “Fucking finally! Come on, do it already!” What a bossy woman.

  Well, I still did as she said and gently inspected the interior of her womb. There I found the beginnings of our child who… is a boy. Thank Christ. Another girl isn’t something I desired. Especially with the incestuous nonsense happening at the moment.

  Just like my other children, I cannot accurately see where his limits lie. But I can tell one thing. This little bastard is… weird. Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown monumentally compared to beforehand, but this new kid looks more advanced as compared to his siblings. However since he hasn’t developed enough yet, I am unable to tell exactly how advanced.

  “Jason? What is it?” Was Athena worried at my ck of speaking?

  “Nothing. Do you want to know now or wait until they’re born?” Without hesitation, and different from the sisters, she replied.

  “Now. I can’t take it any longer.” The eagerness in her eyes was immense as she bit her lips.

  “It’s a boy.” Athena gasped lightly, a grin creeping up her pretty lips. Almost seemed like she’d cry, just like when she found out she was pregnant in the first pce.

  At the same time, I think she was secretly wanting this to happen. She absolutely fell in love with Dante and treated him like a son. And I think it goes deeper than just their personalities meshing so well. Overall I believe she simply prefers it over having a girl.

  By the way, she’s really mellowed out a little. Used to be super hot blooded and in your face kind of crazy. But she really has cooled off a fair amount, which I believe is due to the pregnancy.

  Lily spped Athena on the shoulder and squeezed comfortingly.

  “Congratutions Athena. Trust me, having a kid is the best thing ever.” Alice came over, obviously overhearing us, and did the same with a vast amount of warmth. Meanwhile, Elizabeth tilted her head.

  “So I’ll have a new baby brother? Cool.” A relieved sigh escaped her. Just gonna ignore the real meaning behind that.

  While we were in this amazing atmosphere of warmth, family, and love, Raven and Dante’s ‘spar’ was close to finishing. I watched on as my youngest daughter easily stepped to the side, allowing his powerful fist to barely graze her cheek. At the same time the legs on her back shot out and impaled him in the shoulders, lifting him up before smming the bastard back on the ground.

  She didn’t let up and covered the entirety of his body in thick webs, ending the fight. Raven stood overtop Dante, no emotion in her eyes as he struggled to get out.

  “Fuck!” Knowing he couldn’t make those webs budge, Dante gave up and spat out that curse. He slumped powerlessly, looking so sad. Breaks my heart.

  “Hey.” I got his attention as I walked over and gave him a thumbs up.

  “I watched most of your fight, and you did well Dante. Much better than when you were younger. However, you’re getting too caught up in your aunt’s way of fighting. Never forget that you have an arsenal at your disposal. Especially your bdes.”

  He was about to speak when I interrupted him.

  "Dante, I understand why you don’t use them. You’re afraid of hurting your sisters with how sharp they are. But let me tell you this. Not using them and not going all out is disrespectful towards them. Get it?” He had a look of realization and nodded.

  “Sorry dad.”

  “Not me you need to apologize to.” I reached down and easily tore the webs apart with my bare hands.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Raven frown for the briefest if moments before returning to a normal frosty look. What’s that about?

  “And you Raven. Well, I didn’t see many mistakes honestly.” Her beady insect eyes locked onto my own. A carbon copy of mine and her mother’s.

  “I’ve taken your teachings to heart. I’ll never forget them.” I smiled and stroked her hair. This girl always makes me proud with either her combat prowess or gene splicing.

  “Dad?” Dante suddenly said from the side. He had a nervous look to his face, unsure of how to say his next words.

  I waited patiently and chuckled at Raven’s annoyance.

  “C-Can I come along? On the next fight?”

  That’s not too surprising. He’s at that age where he wants to battle to his heart’s content and prove himself.

  Unlike his sisters, Dante will grow much faster in the heat of combat rather than all this training shit. Constantly pushing himself to his limits. Yet I’m hesitant. I mean, which father wouldn’t be? Gdly shoving my kids into a chaotic and brutal battlefield? Where they can lose their lives? No chance in fucking hell.

  But I know I can’t do that. Just lock them away so they can never be hurt. Birds need to fly away from the nest, and this is that same type of moment. My eyes observed his body, inspecting it. High muscle density, far above his sisters. Physically superior in nearly every way. Regeneration insanely high, the wounds from his sister already healed.

  Is he ready? Might be able to take on Cruisers, and he’s barely at the level of an Alpha. Should be fine as long as I keep an eye on him.

  “How about this? If you impress me in a fight, I’ll let you come.” His face turned ashen, filled with disbelief.

  “B-But how the fuck am I suppose to beat you?” I chuckled and shook my head.

  “Beat me? Never said that. You just have to impress me. Think you’re up for it?” He struggled to answer, but soon hardened his resolve. That’s it son!

  “Yes! I’ll make you see how strong I’ve become!” Aw, how sweet. Now it’s time for an ass whooping you little shithead.

  “Uh-huh, sure. I’ll give you a handicap and only use my bare hands. No wings either, while yours aren’t restricted.” He nodded and prepared himself when I raised my hand.

  “Not here, down on the pnet.” We had stopped at a random world along our path for us to consume completely. Perfect pce for some open field sparring.

  While he left with less than confident steps, I turned to the silent Raven. Seeing me look at her, she tilted her head cutely. Do I have the talk now or ter?

  “Wanna watch?” She nodded happily and wrapped her arms around my left one. Later it is then.

  .

  .

  .

  .

  Light years away from Jason’s ever-growing fleet of infected monsters, a small sized ship was being pursued. Behind them were Killer Drones, hungrily trying to rip them to shreds. Tiny beams exited their mouths and smmed into the ship’s shields, nearly shattering them.

  “Why can’t these monsters back off already!” The pilot yelled out with frustration, expertly dodging most of the attacks aimed their way.

  “Less compining and more flying Mozari!” A woman’s voice sounded out as she controlled the ship’s communications. Unfortunately they were too far away from anyone to receive help.

  A couple other crew members were inside with them, busy at work to survive the infected’s onsught.

  Suddenly the ship shook heavily as an arm sounded out, signaling one of the engines were critically damaged.

  “So much for your boasting of, ‘Best pilot in the gaxy!’.” The same woman sneered and mocked Mozari, whose canine face was full of annoyance.

  “Never said that, and you can’t prove it.”

  “Wanna bet?” She pressed a button on her Echo-Device, pying a recording of Mozari bragging about his flying abilities.

  "Disgusting. Who knew you had such a corrupted heart as to record our private conversations?"

  “Would you two quit it?! There’s a pnet up ahead! We’ll have no choice but to nd there!”

  All eyes turned to the window and witnessed a pnet coming into view. Strangely, it was completely pitch bck without a hint of green. Not uncommon coming across a barren world without life, but never like this.

  “Looks familiar…” Mozari muttered to himself, but then shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on useless thoughts.

  He piloted the ship to the unknown world and pressed a blue button, expelling a ball of light towards the Killer Drones. Those horrible creatures screeched in pain, eyes burning due to the sudden light. This gave them enough time to dive down into the pnet’s atmosphere-

  “Warning, unknown strain of Bck Virus detected.” A familiar emotionless robotic voice sounded, making everyone tense up.

  Arriving below the clouds, their eyes feasted on the world below. Pitch bck goo was spread everywhere and contaminated everything. Pnts were transformed into infected variants and even the water itself wasn't spared from it's evil touch. Seeing this, Mozari widened his eyes, finally recognizing it.

  “Infestation…” A low whisper, but loud enough to enter everyone’s ears.

  Fear climbed their spine, yet they were powerless to change the situation. Gritting his teeth, Mozari controlled the ship to crash nd on the Infestation below. Every crew member nearly flew out of their seats despite being strapped down. Dozens of tendril trees were effortlessly destroyed in their path.

  After a minute, the rampaging ship finally stopped and allowed them to take a breath. But their beating hearts couldn’t calm down. It was a dire situation where they’d nded on a fully infected world. Be a miracle if they could escape alive.

  “Wh-What do we do?” Someone asked. No one had an answer.

  Mozari gnced at their terrified faces and took a deep breath. He had to man up and take the reins.

  “Let’s get suited up and take a look at the damage. Hopefully it’s repairable.”

  After doing exactly that and arming themselves with whatever weapons they had, the entire ten man crew stepped outside. Cautiously and slowly, they gnced at their surroundings.

  Nothing as far as the eye could see. Only pitch bck Infestation and… webs? Why were there so many silver webs all over the pce?

  “This is creepy.” The same woman as before muttered lowly. Mozari nodded and was about to speak when-

  “Ah come on.” He looked at the one who said that and noticed they were stuck in some webs. Not much, just a couple strings.

  “Why won’t this come off already?” Mozari frowned as other crew members went to help him.

  A foreboding and ominous feeling began to build. His eyes looked around, trying to spot any enemies. Despite nothing being there, he couldn’t shake it. That feeling something bad was about to happen.

  “Hey? You morons done yet-?” Mozari turned their way and paused, eyes widened with fear.

  Every single one of them were down on the ground. Instantly he thought they were dead, until he noticed they were still breathing. Thankfully only knocked… out. Why is there a shadow in front of him?

  Slowly turning around, his entire body shook and trembled. Standing in front of him, was a giant spider. Easily the same size as him and pitch bck. It’s no coincidence the color of it’s skin perfectly matched the Infestation.

  Before he could react the spider knocked him to the ground and bit into his shoulder. Mozari screamed and struggled, feeling some sort of liquid flow into his bloodstream. His movements started becoming weaker and weaker, eventually slipping into an unconscious state.

  Off in the distance, a ‘mountain’ stirred briefly. But then returned to normal.

  .

  .

  .

  .

  Mozari's eyes snapped open and he instinctively tried moving. Fruitless due to the silver webs containing him. His frightened eyes looked around, where he saw the other crew dangling from the ceiling along with him. They were wide awake, mouths closed shut with webbing.

  Whatever material these webs were made of said one thing. Struggling is useless. So instead, Mozari observed his surroundings. A cave without lighting, which his eyes were starting to get used to.

  Suddenly he heard something on the ceiling with them. Nothing much, just the smallest of sounds. A pitter patter of a creature walking. Looking up, he faintly saw the figure of a spider in the darkness. And then another. Another. Countless all over the ceilings of the cave. Sent a chill down his spine as disgust rose within him.

  A booming sound reached his ears, the echo bouncing off the cave walls. As if some massive creature was approaching. Didn’t take long for Mozari, and everyone else, to see the giant spider coming their way. It was massive, easily rger than their own ship by a decent amount.

  It didn’t say a thing and came up right to them, inspecting their forms. Seemingly bored after just a moment, it came to Mozari and… ate him whole.

  Muffled screams and shouts came from the other crew as a disgusting crunch reached their ears. The spiders mandibles shredded his body into pieces and swallowed every st bite.

  “I see.” A noticeable female voice came from the spider, who sifted through the memories of her prey.

  “It’s time for me- we, to return. Oh Raven, how I’ve missed you.”

  Queenie said with a longing tone. After so many months of being alone with her nest, finally, she could see her daughter again. And Jason as well. She had a very good surprise for him, one which took a lot of hard work.