The Spider Queen

(Volteren City- Inner Region)

(Grand Central Plaza)

There was a raised platform in the middle of the plaza where several loudspeakers and audio equipment had been placed.

A large crowd of nobles dressed in skimpy outfits had gathered in front of the raised platform. 

Smiles and flirtatious winks were exchanged as the nobles bumped and grinded their bodies against one another. 

The music continued to play loudly and could be heard from several miles away. 

It was a fast-paced beat with heavy thumps that made the ground shake.

The nobles who usually came to the city of pleasure were those who had little to no chance of succeeding as the head of their house.

Most would spend the rest of their lives drowning in pleasure and using their vast wealth to live a life of luxury.

Hence there was no need to maintain their image as members of the upper class of society.

A handsome young man with short black hair jumped on the stage and grabbed the mic. He cleared his throat once and then addressed the crowd of partygoers.

"My name is DJ Big Man, and I will be your host for the afternoon!" the young man shouted.

"Are you ready to make some noise?!" 

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU…. I SAID ARE YOU READY TO MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE!"

Loud cheers and screams filled the air as the DJ screamed into the mic. 

The atmosphere was electric, and Sophie could not help but get caught up in the excitement.

She was standing at the back of the crowd and enjoying the music. It felt good to be finally doing something that someone her age should be experiencing.

Of course, she had no plans on joining the crowd and dancing with a bunch of strangers, but Sophie was content to be part of the experience.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Sophie stumbled for a moment but used her bladed appendages to dig into the ground. Several of the partygoers were not as fortunate and crashed to the ground unceremoniously.

The DJ was currently playing a song with heavy bass. The music was so loud that Sophie could see the air vibrating in front of the speakers.

Thank goodness everyone who attended this party was a noble who could afford buying a healing serum.

Sophie was convinced that several of the nobles here must have already gone deaf. 

How their eardrums had not ruptured yet was a mystery that would have to be solved at a later time.

Sophie closed her eyes and swayed her body from side to side as she lost herself in the madness.

Her bladed appendages and hybrid appearance were enough to cause the nobles in the crowd to keep their distance, so Sophie had enough space for herself.

She knew this would happen, so that was the reason why she decided to hang out at the back of the crowd and not bother the partygoers. 

The DJ switched tracks and another song began to blare out from the speakers.

"Baby put your hands up! Step to the right!"

"Step to the left! Wiggle! Wiggle! Wiggle!"

"Make that booty pop! Show them what you got!"

Sophie opened her eyes and gasped in surprise as she saw several noble girls and some boys drop to the floor and begin to shake their ass.

Cheers and whistles erupted from the spectators and one of the braver souls slapped a boy on his ass.

Sophie was originally going to take a few pictures of the rave to send to Cleo but now she decided that it was probably not a good idea.

"Excuse me miss but would you like to join us?" a soft voice entered Sophie's ears.

The hybrid girl turned around and saw a small girl with a pair of glasses on her face who was also wearing a black tee shirt with the words 'Staff' printed on it.

"Sure! What are you going to do?" Sophie asked over the noise of the music.

"We're running a bit short on the water dye crew, so we need some volunteers to help," the girl explained with a smile.

Sophie considered her offer for a moment and then decided to accept. 

The crowd was getting a bit too sexual for her liking so it would be good to take a break.

She followed the short girl to an area in the corner of the plaza and saw a group of young adults also wearing black shirts.

"I got one of the nobles to help us!" the short girl clapped her hands happily.

"Vaeri… how many times does the supervisor have to warn you not to bother the nobles," one of the boys complained.

The eldest of the group was a red-haired girl in her early twenties called Rose. 

She had a fairly tall and slender build but appeared short in front of the seven-foot-tall hybrid noble.

She had been working in the city for around five years now and her typical experience when dealing with nobles was anything but pleasant. 

Rose didn't know what game this hybrid noble was playing since there was no way that she would be willing to help out the staff.

"Look sorry miss… she's new," Rose stepped forward and apologetically bowed to Sophie.

"No, it's okay… I'm happy to help," Sophie replied as she saw the downcast look on Vaeri's face.

"Are you sure? The pay isn't very high… I mean not that you need it miss," Rose stuttered as she spoke.

Sophie rolled up her sleeves and flexed her arms confidently. 

Her actions clearly broke the heavy sense of tension in the air and other staff members looked visibly more relaxed.

Rose still looked a bit suspicious but she was unable to do anything to the nobles who visited the city so she could only pray that nothing went wrong.

"Alright everyone we have five minutes before the main show begins so let's get to our stations and prepare," Rose ordered firmly.

"Vaeri please take our honoured guest to your station and have her do whatever tasks that she feels comfortable with."

Vaeri nodded twice and then rushed in the direction of her station without looking back to see if Sophie was following.

Rose let out a heavy sigh and once again bowed and apologised to Sophie whose lips were gently curved upwards.

Sophie could easily track down Vaeri using her enhanced senses, so it didn't take long for her to reach a large cannon-like device.

There was a metalloid console next to the device with a series of buttons prominently displayed in various colours.

"Sorry… I… rushed ahead," Vaeri hesitantly spoke.

"Don't worry about it. I was right behind the whole time," Sophie graciously replied. It wasn't a big deal, and she was excited about this job.

"So, what do I have to do?" Sophie asked curiously.

"I need you to aim the cannon at the crowd! When I count down just aim it upwards and a wave of colourful dye will shoot out!" Vaeri explained.

Vaeri rushed over to the console and began to press the buttons in a seemingly random order. 

The cannon-like device began to glow blue as its systems powered on. A happy smile spread across Vaeri's face as she continued to press the buttons.

"Systems are running fine… let me just do a diagnostic test…" Vaeri muttered to herself. Sophie walked behind the cannon and inspected it closely.

She placed her right hand on the device and began to adjust it so that the barrel was tilted a bit further upwards.

Sophie didn't want anything to go wrong so she secretly cheated. Her golden eyes briefly turned white as she peered into the future.

Her vision shifted into a strange world of black and white. Shadowy figures of her potential future paths appeared in the corner of her vision.

Sophie wandered this strange world for what seemed like an eternity looking at the different outcomes.

There was one future where she accidently fired the cannon at any innocent lady several feet away from the plaza and her entire body turned purple.

Sophie blinked and her eyes returned to their normal golden colour.

After making a series of small adjustments to the cannon's position, Sophie stepped back with a satisfied grin.

It was show time!