The ducts above them groaned.
Not from pressure.
Not from structural fatigue.
But from movement—wet, heavy, intelligent movement shifting through the metal veins of the outpost like blood in a corpse that refused to stay still.
Danny could feel the vibration through his boots.
Mira could feel it in her teeth.
Shadeclaw's ears twitched with every slick drag.
Jake whimpered audibly.
Jade cracked his knuckles because it was that or scream.
Swift simply adjusted his glasses and said:
"We need a plan."
It was said calmly. Too calmly. The kind of calmness only a silver dragon who had already calculated seventeen possible ways to die and deemed them all unacceptable could muster.
The others looked at him immediately.
Swift pointed toward the shattered containment tank.
"This lab held BLOB during its early-stage testing. Which means they had… tools." He knelt beside a broken terminal and pulled loose a cracked holographic schematic lying half-fused to the console. "Tools designed to restrain unstable biofluid organisms."
Jake blinked. "Like… jars?"
"No."
Jade grinned. "Like cages?"
"No."
Shadeclaw narrowed his eyes. "Traps."
Swift finally looked up. "Yes. Containment traps. And I believe we can build one strong enough to neutralize a major BLOB mass—temporarily."
Danny stepped closer. "Temporarily is better than not at all. What do you need?"
Swift already had the list in his head. "Three components. First: a stabilizer relay. It's used to reinforce volatile field generators—basically a harmonics anchor."
Jake raised a hand. "Is that the forklift-looking thingy with the glowy prongs?"
Swift stared. "…Yes."
Jake whispered to Jade, "See? I am useful."
"Second," Swift continued, "we need one of the vacuum anti-slime containment cylinders. They should be stored in Specimen Storage." He pointed down a left corridor. "Level two."
"And the third?" Danny asked.
Swift turned toward him fully.
"You."
Danny blinked. "Me?"
"Yes. Your creation energy is the only force strong enough to harden the field once the relay forms it. It won't kill the BLOB, but it will freeze its mass in place long enough to extract survivors."
Jade slapped his hands together. "Great, love it. Let's build the anti-slime death trap and get out of here!"
Swift frowned. "It is not a death trap. Again—it's only temporary constriction. Think of it as… putting a giant monster in a cosmic jar."
Jake groaned. "Why does the jar have to be cosmic?"
Mira suddenly stiffened.
"The BLOB is moving," she whispered.
All six fell silent.
The wet drag changed direction—flowing toward the central hall from above, spreading out through multiple ducts.
It wasn't hunting randomly.
It was triangulating.
Learning.
Following vibration patterns.
Shadeclaw's eyes glowed faint amber. "We separate," he said quietly. "Swift and Danny build the trap. Mira and I locate the survivors. Jade and Jake contact evac."
Danny nodded. "Good plan."
Jake did not nod. "Bad plan. Terrible plan. Splitting up always gets people eaten."
Jade dragged him by the collar. "Come on, you big baby. We're making the call."
Swift touched Mira's shoulder briefly. "Be careful. It's adapting."
Mira nodded. Her wolf senses were humming like raw electricity. Nearby danger, every direction, but diluted enough that she could distinguish movement from proximity.
"I'll find them," she promised.
Then they broke apart.
Swift grabbed Danny by the arm and practically dragged him into the equipment corridor.
Shadeclaw and Mira slipped into the dark right-side passage, moving low and silent.
Jake whimpered as Jade hauled him toward the communications sector.
The team disappeared down three different hallways—
Just as the ducts above the research hall bulged outward, something inside slamming wetly against the metal skin.
Danny and Swift moved fast.
Specimen Storage was two levels down, through a maintenance stairwell thick with dust and streaked with dried slime trails. Every step Danny took echoed far too loudly in his own ears.
"Swift," Danny murmured as they descended, "you said the containment won't kill it. Why not?"
Swift didn't break pace. "Because killing it is its evolutionary purpose. It regenerates from any biomass—unless every particle is vaporized." He glanced back. "Danny, if you tried to vaporize it in here, half the outpost would go with it."
Danny grimaced. "Right. No full power."
Swift smirked faintly. "And also because Jake would have a nervous breakdown."
Suddenly a vent overhead rattled violently.
Danny froze.
Swift's hand shot up—silent signal.
The rattling grew louder.
A wet sliding noise moved inside, thick and slow, dragging itself across the metal… past the vent… and onward down the duct.
Danny held his breath until the sound faded.
Swift exhaled quietly. "We only have minutes."
When they reached Specimen Storage, Danny kicked through a half-open door. The lights inside flickered faintly—backup power trickling into the emergency strips.
Rows of glass and reinforced polymer tanks lined the walls, most labeled with things like:
Gel-Type 7A
Slime Precursor 9-B
Regeneration Matrix Sample
Most were shattered or empty.
But on the far wall—
Swift pointed. "There."
A tall cylindrical unit, matte black, its interior lined with vacuum coils and containment stripes: the anti-slime containment cylinder.
Danny grabbed one end. Swift grabbed the other.
It was heavy as a boulder.
"Okay," Danny grunted. "What's next?"
"Stabilizer relay."
"Where?"
Swift pointed behind Danny.
Danny turned—
The stabilizer relay stood like a three-pronged tuning fork the size of a grown man, wedged under debris.
Danny grinned. "I can lift that."
He powered golden energy through his arms, easily clearing broken casings and metal plating.
Swift quickly inspected it. "Relay core intact. Good."
He placed the cylinder at the base of the relay and began adjusting the coil alignment. "Now—your part."
Danny knelt beside the relay, palms hovering above its central conductor.
"What do I do?" he asked.
Swift didn't look up. "Channel your creation energy into the harmonic frequency I set."
Danny blinked. "Swift, I have no idea what that means."
Swift finally looked at him.
"Think of a jar," Swift said.
Danny blinked harder.
"A cosmic jar."
"Oh!"
"Pour creation energy into the jar."
"Okay, that I get."
Danny placed both palms onto the relay's conductive surface.
Golden light flared, swirling with Swift's rapidly adjusting field harmonics. The air vibrated with growing intensity as the containment cylinder lit from within—first a dull yellow, then brightening to molten gold.
Swift tightened the last stabilizer.
"Field integrity at 83%…"
"88%…"
"93%…"
The machine hummed, thrummed, then snapped into alignment with a loud KRAK of stabilized energy.
"It's done," Swift said.
Danny exhaled. "Good. Because I can feel something coming closer. And not slowly."
As if in answer—
The corridor outside them echoed with a wet, thunderous slam.
Something massive had dropped from a vent.
And it had landed right outside the door.
Swift's eyes widened.
Danny picked up the containment cylinder. "Time to go."
Meanwhile, Shadeclaw and Mira moved like two shadows woven from instinct and precision.
They entered an access shaft behind the central lab, Mira breathing in faint traces of sweat, old fear, human clothing fibers, soap, burnt coffee—anything that indicated someone had passed.
Shadeclaw sniffed beside her. "Left."
She turned left without hesitation.
"You smell them too?"
"Yes."
She smiled. A wolfish smile. "Good."
They crawled through a narrow maintenance duct barely tall enough for even their compact forms. Mira's claws clicked softly against the metal as she moved, delicately bracing herself to avoid excess noise.
Shadeclaw froze suddenly and held up a hand.
Mira stopped at once.
A cold drop of slime fell onto the duct floor a meter ahead of them.
Inside the metal above, something slithered.
Slowly.
Testing.
Shadeclaw leaned in close and whispered so faintly she almost couldn't hear it:
"It follows heat."
Mira steadied her breath.
The slime shifted away.
They waited.
Half a minute.
A full minute.
Shadeclaw pointed forward.
They continued.
Soon the duct widened into a larger cross-vent, and Mira's ears twitched at the unmistakable sound:
Sobbing. Shaking breaths. Whispers.
"Help…"
"…still alive…"
"…don't let it hear…"
Shadeclaw moved first. Mira followed.
They reached a vent grate—bent by someone in panic. Through it, they saw fifteen exhausted survivors crouched in a cramped ventilation chamber, huddled around a dim lantern.
One woman screamed when she saw Shadeclaw's glowing eyes.
Mira quickly held up both hands. "It's okay! We're Buddies cadets!"
Shadeclaw added, "We are here to take you out."
A man with blood on his shirt whispered hoarsely, "Is… is the slime gone?"
Mira shook her head. "Not gone. But not here. We have to move now."
Shadeclaw tore the grate from its frame and guided the survivors out—quietly, efficiently.
A little girl hugged Mira around the leg.
"You smell like wolves," she whispered.
Mira smiled gently. "Yes. I do."
Jake and Jade sprinted through the comms hallway.
"Well, this is great," Jake panted. "Running from a slime monster through a haunted space moon. Back home my worst problem was failing algebra."
"Focus," Jade said. "We gotta reach long-range comms before something gelatinous eats the transmitter."
They burst through the comm door.
Dark.
Dead.
Jake wailed. "No power?! Why is there never power?!"
Jade shoved him aside, popped open a floor panel, and grinned. "Battery backup."
Jake blinked. "How'd you know?"
"Because illegal street races require really good generators."
Jake nodded solemnly. "That tracks."
Together they rewired the unit—Jade hot-wiring, Jake holding wires and screaming when they sparked—until the panel lit up.
Jade grabbed the handset.
"This is Cadet Jade Killington of the Buddies. Outpost Rhombus has gone dark due to hostile bio-organism infestation. Request Arrowhead evac for survivors ASAP."
Static.
Then a voice:
"Roger. Arrowhead Spiritwind inbound. ETA ten minutes."
Jake clutched his chest. "Ten minutes. We just have to not die for ten minutes. I can do that."
A vent behind him bulged ominously.
"…Probably."
Back in the equipment corridor, Swift opened the door a crack—
A massive BLOB mass towered in the hallway, overflowing from a vent it had burst open.
It was larger than any of the earlier ones—
This was a primary mass, pulsing with stolen biomass, reaching across the corridor like a living tidal wave of translucent flesh.
Danny's grip tightened on the golden-charged cylinder.
Swift whispered, "It's hunting us."
Danny stepped forward, jaw tight.
"Then let's give it something to chase."
The BLOB surged.
Danny activated the trap.
The hallway exploded in gold.
The instant Danny activated the containment cylinder, the air around him warped—bending inward as golden creation energy snapped into a stabilized field. Swift ducked behind an overturned cart just as the harmonic pulse rippled down the hallway.
The BLOB recoiled, its translucent surface rippling like disturbed water.
It sensed danger.
It felt the vibration shift.
It understood—instantly—that something was wrong.
It lunged anyway.
A tidal wave of gelatinous mass surged forward, collapsing the corridor lights, rippling across the metal floor like a living avalanche.
Danny braced himself, planting his feet.
"Swift—NOW!"
Swift slammed the stabilizer relay onto the floor. Its prongs stabbed into the metal plating. A shockwave of blue-white field energy erupted outward, colliding with Danny's golden wave.
The two forces met—
Twisted—
Merged—
And snapped into a single shining dome that bloomed outward from the relay like a supernova held in a cage.
The BLOB hit the field and howled.
Not a sound made by a mouth.
A vibration.
A density shift.
A psychic pressure that slammed into Danny's skull like a tidal blow.
But the field held.
For now.
The massive gelatinous form writhed, its surface boiling with fractals of shifting mass. Tendrils formed, dissolved, reformed, slamming again and again against the golden barrier.
Danny gritted his teeth, sweat beading at his temples. "Swift—how long until the field collapses?!"
Swift checked the stabilizer readings, glasses flickering with diagnostic overlays. "Depends on how much biomass it regenerated since the last event log—"
"Swift!"
"FORTY-SEVEN SECONDS!"
Danny's eyes widened. "That's not enough!"
"Then don't let it out!" Swift shouted back.
Easy for a silver dragon to say. Danny felt like his bones were melting under the weight of the golden energy pulsing through him. Containment wasn't natural for him—creation wanted to expand, not restrain.
The BLOB pressed harder, stretching its mass across the field. The barrier bent inward—
And for one sickening moment—
A tendril pierced through.
Danny roared and forced more energy into the relay, sealing it shut.
Swift cursed. "Danny! You're burning the coil too fast!"
"We need MORE TIME!"
Meanwhile, Shadeclaw and Mira were racing survivors through the narrow maintenance corridors toward the landing platform. Every few steps, Mira would stop, nostrils flaring, listening for the slime's movement.
"In the vents," she whispered. "Above us. But not moving closer yet."
Shadeclaw's eyes were razor-focused. "It hunts the strongest source of heat."
"Danny," Mira said.
"Yes."
They pushed the survivors faster.
A scientist stumbled. Shadeclaw caught him and shoved him forward. "Move."
Mira held the rear, her senses painting the world in layers.
She felt:
The heartbeats of fifteen exhausted humans
Shadeclaw's low, calculating growl
Jade and Jake broadcasting a navigation flare two corridors ahead
Danny's golden energy roaring like a sun
And the BLOB…
Huge.
Growing.
Focused entirely on the brightest source of heat and power in the outpost.
Danny.
"We need to hurry," Mira said.
Shadeclaw nodded. "We will."
Jake and Jade reached the landing platform just as the Arrowhead shuttle roared into view—sleek, angular, wings folding inward as it descended like a metallic predator.
Jake jumped up and waved both arms. "HEY! OVER HERE! LAND HERE!"
Jade facepalmed. "Stop yelling like a tourist at a floating bus!"
The Arrowhead Spiritwind touched down with a thundering hiss of gas vents. Its bay doors slid open, revealing two armored medics and a flight officer who shouted:
"Where are the survivors?!"
Jake pointed frantically down the corridor. "Coming soon! Very soon! Hopefully not chased by goo!"
The officer blinked. "Goo?"
Jade pulled him aside. "Short version: there is a replicating apex-slime inside eating people."
The officer stared, face paling. "Right. Got it."
Jake leaned in. "Please tell me you brought flamethrowers."
"No," the officer said.
Jake cried internally.
Back in the equipment corridor—
Danny wasn't doing well.
The containment field strained like a balloon about to burst. Golden arcs flickered violently, surging back into the relay, which sputtered under the unexpected overload.
Swift's voice cut through the chaos.
"Danny, you're doing too much! You're overpowering the stabilizer!"
"I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Danny shouted.
The BLOB slammed again—harder. The entire field dented inward several feet.
Swift calculated three outcomes, all grim.
"Danny, listen to me—if the barrier fails, it will consume everything in this hallway before we can run!"
Danny's breathing grew ragged.
"Then don't let it fail!"
Swift hesitated.
Then a thought sparked in his mind—something risky, something reckless, something brilliant.
He grabbed Danny's wrist.
"Let me share the load."
Danny blinked. "Swift—"
Swift forced silver energy into the relay, threading through the harmonics like a woven lattice.
The field—
wavered—
flickered—
then stabilized again, glowing brighter than before.
Danny gasped in relief.
"Thanks."
Swift smirked. "We bronze, silver, and gold types have to stick together."
"You're ridiculous."
"You're welcome."
But the BLOB wasn't stopping.
Its entire surface convulsed, rippling like a living storm. It reared back—
The lights in the hallway shattered.
The temperature dropped.
The floor vibrated—
Then the creature SLAMMED with all its mass.
The barrier cracked.
Danny and Swift screamed as the force nearly broke their focus.
Swift shouted, voice cracking with urgency:
"WE HAVE TO MOVE IT INTO POSITION FOR FULL LOCKDOWN—WE NEED SHADECLAW AND MIRA AND—"
A noise cut him off.
Footsteps.
Fast ones.
Then—
"MOVE!"
Shadeclaw and Mira burst into the hallway with fifteen survivors crowding behind them. Jade and Jake sprinted in next, panting.
Jade froze. "WHAT THE—OH NO NO NO—"
Jake shrieked. "IT GOT BIGGER—HOW DID IT GET BIGGER?!"
Swift didn't look back. "We need to get everyone past the barrier before—"
The BLOB slammed again.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the golden field.
Danny gritted his teeth, digging deeper, pulling every drop of controlled energy he could muster.
Then—
Mira stepped forward beside him.
Her claws glowed violet-black, shadow energy rippling from her fingertips. She pressed her hands to the barrier.
Shadeclaw stepped beside Swift, doing the same with a low growl.
Jake hesitated, then put his hands on Jade's back and shoved him forward. "We're helping!"
Jade snarled. "Fine! But if this melts my hair—"
He pressed his hands to the relay.
Even Jake added himself to the chain, trembling.
For a moment—
All six cadets linked their energies—
Creation, silver precision, bronze flame, shadow wolf, street chi, and raw chaotic panic—
And the barrier blazed like a miniature sun.
The BLOB recoiled with a furious, rippling spasm.
Swift shouted, "THAT'S ENOUGH—PULL BACK!"
Shadeclaw yanked Mira aside.
Danny and Swift released the relay.
The barrier snapped downward like a closing trap—
And sealed the BLOB inside a golden cage the size of a cargo pod.
It writhed against the walls, furious but trapped.
For now.
Danny stumbled, knees nearly buckling.
Mira caught him.
Shadeclaw caught Swift.
Jake fell over completely.
Jade stood dramatically, arms raised. "WE ARE GODS AMONG MEN!"
The BLOB slammed the barrier once more.
The field held—but weakened.
Swift swallowed.
"That containment buys us maybe three minutes."
Danny looked up at him.
"Then let's use them."
They ran.
All of them.
Survivors included.
They tore through corridors, past flickering lights, through the main hall, toward the landing platform where the Arrowhead waited with thrusters hot.
Mira sensed movement behind them.
Shadeclaw did too.
The BLOB—
even contained—
was learning.
It shifted.
Compressed.
Began forcing itself through the cracks.
Danny didn't look back.
He didn't need to.
He could FEEL the barrier breaking.
The squad burst onto the landing platform, survivors stumbling forward into the open bay.
The flight officer waved frantically. "GET THEM INSIDE!"
Jade and Jake shoved survivors into the shuttle.
Swift yelled, "DANNY, GO!"
Danny turned—
Just as—
The outpost behind them erupted in a deafening shriek of metal.
The BLOB shattered through a vent above the platform—
A massive, roiling, translucent mass hurling itself straight toward the landing bay.
Mira grabbed Danny's arm.
Shadeclaw stepped in front of the survivors.
Jake climbed halfway up Jade's back.
The BLOB spread itself across the ceiling, dripping down in a hundred tendrils—
Hungry.
Swift screamed:
"PULL OUT! PULL OUT NOW!"
The pilot didn't hesitate.
The Arrowhead's engines roared—
And the shuttle lifted off just as the BLOB crashed down onto the platform like a tidal wave of living acid.
It missed them by inches.
The hatch slammed shut.
Danny collapsed into the nearest seat.
Mira slumped beside him.
Shadeclaw crouched low, catching his breath.
Swift fell back against the hull, gasping.
Jade laughed hysterically. "I am never going to a research outpost again!"
Jake sobbed, "I'm so proud of us and also I want to go home—"
The Arrowhead blasted into space, leaving Outpost Rhombus behind.
Inside the shuttle, the six cadets sat shaking, panting, alive—
Barely.
Danny whispered:
"We're not ready for what's out there."
Mira looked at him.
"No," she said softly. "But we will be."
And the Arrowhead carried them toward the G.A.M.B.I.T., away from the nightmare they'd barely escaped.
Unaware that deep inside Outpost Rhombus—
The BLOB reformed.
Regenerated.
Grew.
And learned.
The hunt was far from over.