The creature that crawled through the window didn't roar. It didn't screech. It hissed, a sound like a tire leaking air. It was shaped like a man, but made of black, oily sludge. Where a face should be, there was only a white, painted circle. It dripped onto Ben’s carpet, sizzling as it touched the fibers.

  Mia stared at it, her wrench trembling in her hand. "Is that... is that a guy in a suit? Is this a robbery?"

  "It is a Hunter," Vala said, her voice low and tight. She stepped in front of Ben, raising her broadsword. "A Silent Stalker from the Void Verse. Do not let it touch you, mechanic. It dissolves flesh."

  "Dissolves flesh?!" Mia squeaked.

  "Shhh!" Ben hissed, waving his hands frantically. "My Grandma is ten feet away watching a game show! If she finds out I have a sludge-demon and a sword-lady in my bedroom, she’ll have a heart attack! Keep it down!"

  The Stalker lunged. It moved unnaturally fast, shooting across the room like a shadow. Vala was ready. She swung her massive blade in a horizontal arc, aiming to cut the creature in half.

  SPLAT.

  The sword didn't clang against armor. It passed straight through the creature's midsection, splashing black goo against the wall. The creature didn't even slow down. Its body simply reformed around the blade.

  "It has no solid form!" Vala realized, her eyes widening. The creature backhanded her. It wasn't a slap; it was like getting hit by a sandbag. Vala flew backward, crashing into Ben’s desk.

  CRASH. Robot parts, circuit boards, and the soldering iron went flying.

  "Benny?" Grandma’s voice came from the living room, muffled by the door. "Everything okay in there? It sounds like you're moving furniture!"

  Ben froze. The monster was inches from him. Its blank white face stared at the glowing Red light under Ben’s jumpsuit. Ben yelled back, his voice cracking, "I'm fine, Grams! Just... uh... doing burpees! Exercise! Getting swole!"

  He looked at the monster. "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me."

  The monster raised a liquid claw. Ben instinctively slammed his fist against his chest, praying for a glitch. THUMP. [ERROR. COOLDOWN ACTIVE. 20 HOURS REMAINING.]

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Useless rock!" Ben shouted.

  Suddenly, a stream of white foam sprayed into the monster's face. FSSSSHHHHT.

  Mia was standing there, holding a small red fire extinguisher she had pulled from her overalls (or maybe the corner of the room). "Back off, slime-ball!" she yelled.

  The chemical foam hit the sludge, and for a second, the monster recoiled. The foam seemed to irritate it, turning the black oil grey and stiff. "It hates chemicals!" Mia yelled. "It's hardening!"

  "Ben! The current!" Vala shouted from the floor. She pointed at the mess of wires on the floor where the desk had collapsed. "It is liquid! Conduct it!"

  Ben looked at the floor. The soldering iron he had been using earlier was broken, but the power strip was still plugged in. He looked at the monster, currently distracted by Mia’s foam attack. He looked at the exposed wire of an old lamp on the floor.

  "Mia! Move!" Ben grabbed the exposed wire. He didn't think. He didn't plan. He just lunged.

  As the monster shook off the foam and turned back to Ben, Ben jammed the live wires directly into the creature's wet, oily chest.

  ZAAAAAAP.

  Blue sparks exploded. The room lit up like a disco ball. The monster didn't scream. It convulsed. The electricity tore through its liquid body, boiling the sludge instantly. It vibrated violently, turning from a solid shape into a puddle of steaming, twitching tar.

  The lights in the bedroom—and the hallway—flickered and died. Total darkness.

  Silence.

  Ben stood there, panting, holding the smoking wires. The smell of ozone and burnt oil filled the air.

  "Did... did we get it?" Mia whispered from the dark.

  "I think I fried it," Ben whispered back.

  Suddenly, the doorknob jiggled. "Benny?" Grandma’s voice was right outside the door. "The power went out! And I smell smoke! Open this door right now!"

  Ben panic-meter hit 11/10. He looked at the puddle of demon sludge. He looked at Vala, who was getting up, her armor glowing faintly in the dark. He looked at Mia, holding a fire extinguisher. He looked at the shattered window.

  "We can't stay here," Ben whispered to them. "She can't see this. She can't see any of this."

  "The window," Vala commanded softly. "We go. Now."

  "We can't jump four stories!" Mia hissed.

  "I can," Vala said. She grabbed Mia by the back of her overalls. "And I can carry the small one."

  "I am NOT a small one!" Mia protested, but Vala had already hoisted her over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Vala jumped onto the windowsill. "Carrier! Move!"

  Ben looked at the door. The knob was turning. "Coming, Grams! Just... putting on pants!" Ben grabbed his backpack, shoved a handful of spare batteries and a protein bar into it, and scrambled to the window.

  He looked down. It was a long drop to the alleyway dumpster. "I really, really hate Tuesdays," Ben whimpered.

  He jumped.

  Seconds later, the bedroom door opened. Grandma stood there with a candle. "Benny?" The room was empty. The window was broken. The curtains were flapping in the rain. And on the floor, a puddle of black sludge was slowly beginning to bubble... and reform.

  [TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 5]