Excerpt of lyrics from the Devil's Triad song: Web of Dread

Livin' on the edge, I'm big steppin' with Sheds. They bled red, gold in my veins crept in they heads. Gottem goin' insane, my web's growin' in brains but I'm just catchin' my bread.

I'll swing right by at 'Masa without needin' no cred. Slice the Souls right out, leave em' bleedin' crimson threads. Bring the Devil to they heel, with a needle of lead. And the Heavens can't hold me, I still be killin' in hell.

Yeah, heaven or hell. Blessin the fell. Lowkey, scammin' the skel.

Catch me if you can, but I ain't the type that's gonna be held. A Web of Dread's what you're after— Fall-in- -my fangs're itchin to kill.

8:38 PM October 12th

Ripley

Looking through the snippet of the song they'd sent I… I wasn't sure how to feel about them. On one hand, I tastefully found the lyrics a bit lacking, but the production was solid and the delivery better than I expected. However, I was not expecting the song to be about… me, as much as it was.

Web of dread.

A bit on the nose. Though I couldn't deny that it was certainly cashing in on my name and… was this even legal? I mean, they were using my likeness for the song lyrics and… well, it wasn't like I could copyright myself since I was a mercenary — could I?

And on another note, this song was pretty much having me call out all the damn gangs in the city. I'd been trying to get my reputation solid with them after my previous encounter had me… eliminating key figures. This, though was like lightning a bonfire next to fuel.

"I kinda like it." Topaz played it back. He was here in Elsa's lounge, demanding to see me off before my… video shoot. "I mean, it's kinda dogshit in all the right places, but that's why I like it. Perfectly fits you, Ripley."

"Hey…" I motioned to my gun. "I'm strappin' to kill."

Elsa broke into laughter at that, her eyes glazed over as she scanned through the net. "Alright, Rip. Looks like this isn't an elaborate ruse to cash out on your bounty. Diablos is serious about making this vid."

The plan was simple. After some back-and-forth between Missy, my 'manager,' and the local rap group Devil's Triad, they sent me a map with a few highlighted streets that I was to swing through while they captured the footage for their video.

"Ah right, Elsa. Got something for you." I pulled out another mask for her, it was a beautiful curving sheen of lavender and silver with tiny highlights of red and blue chrome depending on the angle. "Was thinking I could… well, since you were going to be close by anyway, I was thinking I could swing you over to a rooftop. This is to keep your identity hidden in case anyone sees us."

"Oh." She held up the mask. It was shiny enough to be a mirror, but the reflection was warped, like a Mirage. "This is… really pretty, actually."

"Right? Figured out how to make metal change color, well actually it's the paint I developed based on the hair you gave me, so you could make it red or blue depending on whose in control at the moment."

"What's this about hair?" Topaz looked me up and down. "Oh, now that I look at you, your hair is different."

"Not that it makes a difference under my mask." I tapped my frame, the bulky extension on top of it spreading to form a black and gold mask over my face. Dreadwire settled in, the ego taking over. "Ah, wait, need to pocket this."

I took off the necklace with my dad's name on it and stuffed it into one of the pockets of my Dreadwire suit. Elsa wore the mask herself. It fit over her perfectly.

"Ready," she said, the excitement in her voice palpable as she moved into my arms. We opened the windows of her building, the quiet alley's cameras all defunct at her will. I heard the sound of her breath get louder as she stared down at the expanse. She lived really high up.

"We won't be going through the Pleasure Lanes." I tried to relax her. "Just focus on staying close, enjoy the breeze."

"Right." She held on tighter, and one of my lower Arachne limbs extended to cradle her even closer as my arm went under her shoulders. "We'll be fine."

With that, I took a step out, and my upper two Arachne limbs shot out their javelins of Livewire, propelling us both up into the alley. She gasped tight, her masked face burrowing into my clavicle as the roads flowed beneath us.

With each hook and reel, momentum built and shifted as the lights elongated into streams the quicker we went. "Look. It's beautiful."

Elsa summoned her courage, facing forward to witness the glorious October night ahead of us. It was noticeably colder now compared to a few months ago, the wind slicing through us but providing an almost exhilarating pulse with every curve and lift ahead. I made sure to increase the heat being radiated by my Shardware, not complaining as she held tighter for warmth against the frigid breeze.

The powerful towers of steel and concrete seemed smaller as we rose up their levels, but their magnificence couldn't be easily ignored. Life seemed so simple. It was just me, my girlfriend, and the city's lights beneath us. Nothing but the wind and our passion running free as she found herself in the pleasure of the moment.

"This is incredible, Ripley." Elsa was captured as lights, sounds, and wind rushed at us, like adamant guards determined to stop our advance up the city's framework. "Everything's so…"

"Free…" I completed. "Do you want to try swinging by yourself?"

She chuckled. "I don't have an Arachne now, do I?"

I clasped my right hand's claws deeper into her sleek limbs, the tips extending thin hooks that settled into her seams without damaging the Shardware. Five thin wires pulled out, as I removed the rest of my hand from the tips. "You don't need to but… I want you to feel how it is."

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Elsa nodded at me, determined as her grip began to loosen.

Flipping myself backwards, I let go of her as my Arachne slowed down just enough to control both of our momentums. She flew back, a bit clumsy at first, but the golden chords connecting her arm to me twisted her into a pendulum of motion, our attachment keeping her safe as she swung above the city with unbound freedom.

There we were, bound by a singular golden chord through which we were free for a singular fraction of a moment. Free from this city, above it. She swung up with stunning grace, my claw tips detaching as my hands stretched out to catch her lithe body in my grip.

Her chest rose up and down, and I didn't fault her for being so shaken. This city, as dark as it was, the lights that shone through it sang of hope. Above the streets, it was like standing above a maze of constellations, or at least that's how I saw it.

But she didn't. Her eyes weren't looking down or forward; they were looking at me through her mask.

Her head thumped against my chest, and she rested it there as we continued our traversal.

———

I settled Mirage down on the rooftops of a building nearby to my little videoshoot, her mask turning a faint blue as Daylight's excited voice shimmered though. "Can you swing me around too, Rip?"

"Yeah, sure thing… on the way back." I stretched myself as further details came through my optic feed of sketches sent from a Los Diablos middleman. They were poses they wanted me to pull. Easy enough.

Elsa took control as she put her hand on my shoulder, the warmth in her metal never failed to soothe me. "I'll be keeping a lookout from here, if anything happens — Midnight's ready. And Diamante is on standby too."

"He didn't need to be." I took a step closer to the ledge.

"Yeah, you're right." Elsa's grip got firmer. "I… I was thinking Ripley… do you… after your mother is saved. Maybe we don't need to-"

[We're all set Dreadwire!]

The messages came up to us both, Elsa keeping watch of the transmissions in case of any trojan horses. Though, my new Gold DataShield could probably handle it.

I looked back at her. "What were you saying?"

"We'll talk later, Ripley… have fun. I'll take control of the cameras on your route to make sure you're safe."

I tapped my mask against hers. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more." I could hear her smile behind the mask, and that was all I needed to have the confidence to step off backwards.

My Arachne pulsed twin gold harpoons that swung me around the building, arcing out of the alleyways and into the direct streetlight to make my presence visible for all. The choked traffic of pedestrians and vehicles alike all seemed to stammer at the sight of my flying form.

There would be hundreds of pictures of my new suit on the Net today, a whole lot of discussion would build up. That was good, I needed people not just discussing Dreadwire but also his Shardware, which also took a different turn today.

Over the past month, I'd made adjustments to my limbs and their shells. The plan was for Ripley and Dreadwire to use the same Shardware all the time, but to have them appear visually different depending on the alter-ego.

I vaulted over a building, spotting a drone on the side catching a picture of me as I flipped over a gap with an Arachne-empowered leap. As Dreadwire, I was sleek like a blade, a golden razor hidden in black, deadly metal — 'Ripley's' Shardware had to almost shrink to become Dreadwire's, condensing its potential into black and gold gauntlets of hellfire and slashing.

My claw tips shot out like precise cannonfire, hooking to swing down under a bridge so that I looped upwards, my Arachne pointed to a billboard of SynTec's sponsored Shard Op' Clinics. Shooting towards it, I razed my claws along the glowing screen, discordant pixels flashing out as I passed it.

In time, a new Shard Operator would be making their mark. It wouldn't be Ripley Donovick, however, he needed his identity as Harold Anderson's poor overworked Bronze assistant. His Shardware was clunky but resourceful, a real smart kid with potential to grow greater — but not outrightly terrifying.

The real threat would be whoever I'd make The Ripper into. A third Ego — one which would be bringing in a deadlier shade of customers in which I could make my income.

I crossed over a busy intersection, cop cars alighting as they saw me pass over them. In seconds, I was around the corner, and they were lost as I slipped between alleyways and streets with calculated precision.

Finally came the-

"Dreadwire! Sniper at your seven o'clock!" Elsa's voice jerked me, my Gold flowing through my suit as its stealth functions activated, a field of refracted light growing along me. Although I said I'd fixed it, I hadn't exactly made it as good as it used to be.

The invisibility could only last for a few seconds, but that was enough time to make a move. I spotted the faint glint of a sniper scope pulling away from a rooftop nearby, and I forced my Arachne to reposition as the refractory field was disintegrated by my flow of Energy towards the two spider legs.

The sniper's glint turned back towards me, and the shot rang out.

My arm outstretched, I flooded it with gold and tensed Meta-Manipulation. The bullet splattered a spark of red embers as it cracked against my palm, the metal only slightly dented. Though if that had hit my suit, it would have likely pierced through me — that was a powerful shot. High Bronze-Grade ballistics sniper, had to be.

It was ironic having limbs more sturdy than your armor, but that was hardly something I was distraught over. I was too busy being angry, at first, thinking Los Diablos had betrayed me — then I saw the colors of the assassin.

Black and white, long robes and a black dragon mask on their face.

Muramasa Dynasty. Momentum was in my advantage, and I took no liberty in leaving my landing smooth. My legs let out a burst of kinetic release that sent me at them like a spear, but I didn't go in for the kill just yet.

My left arm exploded two thin whip-blades that swept through the air as my Arachne caught my landing, all of them currently in their heat-blade configuration to sear through the sniper rifle in one clean go. Shit, I'd tried to take out an arm too.

The assassin lifted up their arm, and it stretched open to reveal a cannon filled with needle-like blades. Each of them shot forth before my velocity could stop, thin red wires attached to them — some silk-like Warp Material.

Each of the thin blades had a mind of their own, curving out of their predicted trajectories as tiny thrusters maneuvered them to wrap around me and tighten my Arachne limbs down. Now that's interesting.

I activated the Hammer module as the assassin shot towards me with a long dagger.

Hammer Module: [B] Overclock / [B] Overclock

The thin silk exploded into frays of blood-like liquid as my Arachne easily ripped through them and jabbed out to tear into the dagger-wielding arm of my attacker. Then my second Arachne pierced into the other arm, and I lifted my struggling attacker up by their broken limbs.

I rose higher with the aid of my lower two Arachnodyne arms until I was eye-level with my assassin, my claws sharp and precise as I pried the mask off them. The assassin was a young woman, her eyes a piercing ruby that seemed on fire at the sight of me. "Get your hands off me, you damn plagiarist!"

"Plagiarist?" My chuckle was a deep echo under the rumble of my mask. "Now what's the explanation for that?"

"I'm Black Dragon Webspinner!" She growled at me. "You and Los Diablos shall pay for stealing from Dragon's Breath! This was my role in the city! That production beat was meant to go to us! And there's already songs about me spinning my web in Westcrook!"

Dragon's Breath? I remembered, while researching this, apparently even Muramasa had a part in the underground music scene with a band sharing that name. By Mazhyr, what had I dragged myself into? Was Dreadwire now officially going to be known as a figure that involved himself in drama like this?

I sighed, staring at her with deeper intent. "I don't care."

Then I tore her arms off her, they were the most interesting piece of tech I'd seen on a Muramasa crook. "I'll be taking this."

For a second, I pondered my next move as I saw her eyes quiver in the emotion I named myself after. Dread. She was defenceless unless her legs had a rocket launcher in them, but I was fast. Maybe too fast for my mind to catch up.

Her throat was already slashed by new Arachnodyne blades the moment she hit the floor. With precision, I tore out her Bronze BUG, pocketing it for myself as I stared coldly upon her twitching corpse.

[Holy shit.]

The message from Los Diablos came through my lens.

[This is going to be the best music video ever!]

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