Tunnel Rat

Ten students surrounded the machine Professor Arlothe was working on, holding tools, machine parts, and wire coils. The professor had declared that from now on, each day would be spent experimenting with new ways to generate electrical power and storm-aspected mana. And, of course, finding ways to unleash that power. Arlothe had awoken that morning and realized he was wasting his time doing anything else! This was how he should be serving the Hollow! He had walked through the tower, lecturing on the glories of the storm and the power of electricity, slowly gaining a following of glassy-eyed students that shared in his new vision. The ten students had followed him down and out of the tower, standing nearby, ready to assist him as he tore apart and rebuilt the generator by the waterfall.

Throughout the next few hours, the machinery underwent a half dozen rebuilds. Some things worked, and most things didn't. The machine was most efficient when a stave used to cast spells was wired directly to the generator, negating the need for storage. They spent a full hour launching spell after spell at the targets, not needing to recharge their mana. Then the wires in several coils fused into solid lumps of copper, and the generator froze. Arlothe let the students begin tearing it apart and took a cup of tea. He doubled over in pain as the poison hit him a moment later and smiled; his wife had left him a small reminder of her affection.

While rebuilding the generator, a 4th-year student named Silvertip had a moment of inspiration and stole a few parts. Adding them to his staff, he found a way to double the storage capacity. This led to a competition to create the best staff, with various levels of success. The schism threatened to tear apart the group: Should they work on generating more power? Or storing more energy in their staves? Arlothe had an inspired thought. “Why not both?" The students nodded; both was good.

An expedition to his private laboratory resulted in many boxes of spare parts being brought down. The group worked concurrently on two projects: Higher mana output from the generator and larger capacity in the staves that could be plugged into it for recharging. The sound of overloading fuses and the smell of ozone wafted through the Hollow.

Nearby, Professor Cremona was dueling with a dozen of her proteges. The strangely serious students seemed dedicated to the idea that they must train daily to protect the Hollow and conquer their enemies. They glared at the 'spark-heads' from time to time before returning to their duels. Professor Cremona produced two baskets of cleansing cheese and poison-resistance potions. The students would need both remedies to keep them alive and dueling until their resistance levels increased.

She had noticed her husband taking his tea and then doubling over in pain. This pleased her to no end. It was so hard to poison him after their years of dueling. While Arlothe had his head inside the generator, she snuck over again to his teapot to add another dose, not noticing the thin copper wire connected to the handle. The discharge of the powerful electrical field left her with her fur blackened and smoking and the hair on her head standing straight up. Alothe lifted his head from the generator and blew her a kiss.

The spark-heads and the poison-claws seemed unconcerned as panicked gatherers came racing through the tunnel to the large caverns where vegetables and mushrooms grew. The ratkin running from the spiders behaved oddly as well. As soon as they were safe, they went to the mess hall to drop off the contents of their gathering sacks and then to the smaller fields inside the Hollow itself to continue picking and planting.

Having overrun the fields and dealt with the lone guard, the spiders advanced on the Hollow and began working their way through the short tunnel, emerging near the Tower of Strife. H'Splat was jubilant. Her army was sweeping all before it. There was no reason not to move further into the lightly guarded Hollow and conquer it.

Cremona saw four giant spiders emerge from the tunnel and yelled to her students. "Excellent! New people to play with. Please welcome our eight-legged visitors who have volunteered as targets!"

Arlothe looked with disgust at his wife. "You'd waste perfectly good test subjects on dueling? I have data to collect! Students, quickly! Use your best spell, and be sure to note the damage done in your journals and any other interesting effects. Most of our data is on mammals. This is an excellent chance to see how spiders react to electrical arcs!"

The two groups of students began throwing spells at the advancing spiders while Cremona critiqued their dueling stances and Arlothe walked around collecting observations and asking questions. After the first four spiders were turned into crispy piles of legs, the others backed off into the tunnel and took cover.

The picnic-tea party to celebrate the victory over the Pickle Gang was ending. Everyone agreed it had been a great success. Pie and cake with whip cream were about to be served when Larry stood up suddenly, his eyes wild and his fists clenched.

"Something has happened! Something bad! Big Brother Justin is in trouble! Larry needs to go home!"

The Puffyfurs stood up, worried, and the fairies flitted around Larry, not knowing what to do.

Larry was hopping from foot to foot and yelling for the Tunnlemuggle. "Brinka! Larry needs to go home! Larry needs to go home NOW!"

The Tunnlemuggle stuck her head out of a hole in the ground. "I can try, Larry, but I'm still very tired from the last hole. It was so hard to bring all of you here." The exhausted mugggle strained, but only a tiny crack appeared in the air before Brinka collapsed on the ground, panting. The sound of spiders hissing and clicking their feet together came through the break.

Larry looked at the tiny hole in despair. "Larry won't fit. Larry is too big! Larry is always too big!"

Putting his eye to the opening, he saw Justin kill a spider and then fall to the ground as one of the giant, black spiders stung him in the back, and several more bit his legs. Spiders swarmed over him, biting and binding him in webbing. Justin fell over, and the spiders swarmed over him.

Larry roared at them, scaring spiders, fairies, muggles, Puffyfurs, and badgers alike. A roar held a lifetime of anger and hurt as he realized he couldn't help his brother.

"Larry is coming, Justin!Larry will make his own hole!" The tips of his claws could just fit in the small crack, but that was enough for him to get a grip. Larry strained against the barriers between the worlds. Brinka would later explain to him that it wasn't strength that let a Tunnlemuggle make a door; it was intent and determination. It was the need to make a door. In some places, the walls between a fae realm and someplace else became thin, and then a Tunnlemuggle could make a hole for brave fairies to explore and bring back treasures. Brinka had made many holes into this spot, wearing the barrier thin.

Larry committed his sheer fury at the spiders and his love for his brother against the barrier, and the barrier lost. The fairies gasped as the Hero of Flower town tore a Larry-sized hole between the world of the fae and Limburger Hollow. It wasn't a nice hole like tunnlemuggle would make; it was a jagged, glowing tear that got wider and longer as Larry strained to make a hole big enough for him to fit through. With a last effort, the tear became big enough, and Larry leaped into it, emerging a few feet in the air.

The spiders had no idea what was happening as reality tore asunder and a half-ton of enraged Cheese Fiend turned Hero came to protect his big brother. One unlucky arachnid was killed as Larry's feet landed on it, crushing its head and thorax. Larry grabbed a spider in each hand, squeezing and popping their heads off. He spun, and his tail lashed out at any spider nearby, breaking legs and cracking armor. Larry roared and sent hundreds of spiderlings running to find cracks to hide in.

Behind him, Clan Puffyfur jumped through the crack with staves ready to cast spells. After a moment, all of the fairies were as well, forming a defensive spell around the ratkin spell casters and sending confusion and fear spells into the spiders. Bernie Badger stayed behind to guard the uneaten dessert.

Larry ran to where Justin lay unmoving and screamed again at the spiders. He stood over Justin's body, stomping spiders, slashing spiders, and bludgeoning them with his tail. His instincts told him to move on all fours and give into his rage. He was nearly lost in his rage when he heard the tiny bells the fairies wore on their wings. The sound of the bells jingling as they flew was the music Larry had heard since he became a Hero. He stood upright and glared at the horde of spiders circling him. Five small ratkin mages were at his feet, determined to help, and overhead the Fairies of Flower Town were working their magic.

Larry danced towards the spiders, leaving his friends to protect Justin. It was Hero time.