There was a silence as Ace finished, as Minerva did her best to maintain control of her composure at this turnabout, not only being outdone, but dismissed! As Arachne showed a rising dread at what was about to come...<br/><br/>It was Silvia who spoke first.<br/><br/>"'When the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity," she said, the fear in her eyes diminishing at the sight of Ace's kindness and utter fearlessness, "then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.'<br/><br/>Kierkegaard. She laughed, you know. When I told her about your offer. She said I wouldn't last a week even if I wanted to. If that's not underestimating me, I don't know what is. Ace, has anybody ever wanted to become the world's greatest superhero just out of<em>spite</em>before?"<br/><br/>Slipping out of Arachne's grasp, she clasped Ace's offered hand in both of hers.  Her eyes blazed with determination, a fierce independence of spirit that heroes and villains alike could cow and chain and manipulate but never extinguish. "I don't know if I'll be any good at it. I don't know if I'll last any time at all. I don't know if I'll recognize myself at the end. But if you'll have me, I'll try."<br/><br/>The effect on her patron chimera was almost instantaneous. Some might have described Minerva as exploding in anger, or having a meltdown. This would have been<em>exceedingly</em>literal, as a wave of heat and force flipped over  or melted all the furniture in their little room. Silvia dived on top of Ace on reflex and tackled them both to the ground. The explosion passed over both of their heads, singing Silvia's braids. Another one quickly followed, as the chimera swelled in size, great lion paws and dragon-heads and goat's heads and more wings sprouting from it with every second, each mouth emitting a scream of rage.<br/><br/>"Oh, fuck. Why here? Why now?! Get your shit together!" Arachne responded to the chimera's explosive growth with strands of webbing that held some of it in place, and was bitten by four newly-sprouted venomous snake-heads for her trouble; her once-ally was currently a berserk monster that knew neither friend nor foe. With one of her  limbs the drider hit an alarm and kaxons blared in the enclosed space of the tunneling machine.<br/><br/>"Hey Silvia. Get. Should be a couple of emergency 'porters up front." Arachne pointed in the direction of what Ace could identify as the cockpit.<br/><br/>"She's going to kill you!" Even after all that, she still sounded concerned for her fellow spider.<br/><br/>"Hah, I've been aching to beat her up for ages! Seriously, this is<em>literally</em>why she keeps me around." Arachne turned a moment to flash her a smile that said, 'you're probably right, but what can you do?' as she bound another collection of heads together. "Uh, tell the pilots to surface asap? Sil. I'll be fine.<em>Go.</em>Do your thing. I'll catch up with you later. That's a promise."<br/><br/>Silvia looked from Ace to the unfolding battle, tugging on her arm. "I... think we should let them work out their issues together?" she said hesitantly, "Not that I'm afraid of being cooked alive when she blows a hole in the hull, but..."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Mechanics</div><div class="spoiler_body">Emotional Stress-Out! Minerva flips her shit, becoming an unbound rage-driven force of nature! Arachne attempts to get her under control. Prognosis: DUBIOUS.<br/><br/>Silvia has joined the party! 'porting out will (probably) result in rejoining the main party.<br/><br/>Combat is OVER. Ace also qualifies for her 3XP trigger, turning certain doom into (potentially) a leisurely stroll away from danger. Well. Maybe a quick stroll away from danger.<br/>Edit: And the 10xp, having saved the villain. Well, one of them, anyway, and metaphorically, but saving Silvia from a probable life of abuse and near-slavery in Arachnos totally counts!</div></div>