In honor of my 300th veiw the prequel for my biggest success Costume Inc. has been written.

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“King, another maiden has been capture by the spider queen this is the fifth one in a fortnight. What shall be done about our epidemic?”

“Oh, but there is nothing we can do, she is much to powerful and cunning for us to send in an army, and hope to come out with anyone, it is just best for the peasants to fair for themselves, many less lives will be at risk.”

“But lord, we have many men who are willing to fight the queen, brave men, your knights, or even villagers that have lost their wives already, there are plenty of men willing.”

“I don’t care if the half the kingdom wants to go, I will not let them fight.”

“But… but… Yes my lord.”

“What should I do, many of my men wish to do battle with the spider queen, but none of them are strong enough to scratch her. My men want to fight, but they do not know that they will be throwing their lives away. What to do, what to do.”

“King we have found this man guilty of murder. What shall we do with this scoundrel?”

“So murderer, who have you killed.”

“Hehe, if you must know I have killed several people. The baker in the shop next the market, the village beggar, the royal fool, and quite a few more, but you wouldn’t know them.”

“So I guess you get around quite easily for crimes of this magnitude, send him away.”

“How long in the dungeons for this murderer; twenty years, fifty, for life”

“I am in favor of execution” Said the King. “and I have a very nice punishment indeed. Are you good with a sword, murderer?”

“Not a mouse is living that witnessed any of my acts, so I would be considered to be quite the virtuoso.” He said.

“That sounds promising to me. Now guards I want you to get him fitted with our finest armor.”

“But, why should we let him have our finest equipment, he may turn against us, and what would we hope to accomplish.”

“Send him on his way to the queen’s lair, I am going to show him why we wil not fight her. This man is a very accomplished swordsman, fitted with the greatest armor in the kingdom. He will not return, and the people will see how mistaken they were when they wanted to challenge the queen.” Said the king.

“Right away my lord, he will be prepared for his send off.”

“Very well, let me make my announcement.” He said.

I will gather the crowds.” Said the Knight.

“Very well, let me prepare.”

“King, the kingdom has gathered are you ready to share your announcement.”

“Yes, I am ready, let us go.” Said the king “People of my kingdom, we have achieved a victory today, we have caught a murderer, the people are safe for another day.”

“But what about the spider queen, what about her.” Chimed one of the commoners.

“That is his punishment, and my declaration to you. He is a great warrior who is stealthy, quick, and quite the swordsman, he has been fitted with our greatest armor, he will be sent off the fight the spider queen. If he does not return, it is proof that she is to powerful for anyone to fight. If he does, the man is free to go. He will be sent off at once.”

The knights pushed the murderer down the castle steps on down the path to the castle gate. He was given a horse, some food, a sword, two daggers, and a trained wolf companion that was taught to attack the man if he tried to run from the fight. He did not seem nervous, but he had a fierce look in his eyes. He knew that it would be his death sentence, but he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve so he could get away. He felt that if he walked a few miles towards his expected target, and then he would slay the wolf and make a run for the next kingdom.

He began his long walk to the spider queen’s lair. He made good time because nothing threatened him on his voyage. He had nothing to bother him on his horse. Three hours after he set off he sat down for a break to eat some of his food supply. He took out part of a loaf of bread. When he was about to bite down he noticed a rusting in the bush. He figured that it was just a squirrel or something and threw a small piece of bread so that it wouldn’t bother him. A strange squeal came from the bush, but it grew more distant, so he figured nothing would threaten him.

He continued down the path on his way. He ventured farther into the forest, staying on the path, but looking for a good place to stay on the path, but be more isolated so he could make his get away. The murder’s opportunity never came, and he never found any suitable position to do his deed. Night fell over the land and he had to set up camp for the night. He had many survival skills from his previous retreats from his crimes, so he crafted a small lean-to out of branches and leaves. He ate some more bread before dozing off for the night.
The murderer had no luck falling asleep that night. Every so often he would hear a sharp noise like a twig breaking, or a branch falling to the ground. He slept nervously, even though he held a sword in his hand. His imagination wandered at all the horrid things he could imagine. The night crept on and so did his paranoia, his attempt to sleep was only countered by his fear of what might come.

At dawn, the murderer took a sigh of relief that he made it through the night, even though he knew that he wouldn’t have many more. He gathered his supplies and mounted his horse before he realized something. The wolf was gone! Thoughts ran through his head: did the wolf run away, is it looking for food right now, was there actually something in my camp last night that took it. He quickly dismissed any ideas because he thought the best thing to do was to run. If there was something or the wolf was still there, it would be the best thing to do. He took off on his horse in a panic.

He was no longer thinking of his fateful battle, he had no need to do it now, only if he made it out of the woods alive. His paranoia pushed him to do things that he didn’t think about trying when he was running from the law, even though it would be the same fate: death. He would jump rivers that he would never escape from, and took slid down ravines to look for the fastest way out. His horse collapsed from exhaustion, so he took off running himself.

He continued down any unpredictable path so that he might loose a possible pursuer. He sprinted down the dark parts of the woods and bonded through rocks that stuck of from white-water rivers. The murderer’s legs were about to give out, but he had to keep running. He had no composure, only fear. He came to a dead end against a rocky ledge. His only way out was to scale this 30 foot tall wall of stone. He gave all that he could possibly expel to get onto the top. His arms grew weaker and weaker, but he would not let them give out. He made it to the top and gave himself one final hoist up only to see a large, dark tree covered in webbing. The murderer fainted from shock and exhaustion.

He awoke to his surprise in the same place, being only a few hundred feet from the queen’s lair. He felt his whole body ache, but he had to keep moving if he wanted to survive. He struggled to get up, but he moaned at every little twitch he made. He decided that it was just for the best, and end it all. He reached for his sword to cut his own throat, but he found it incredibly hard to lift. He looked over and saw that it was completely webbed to the ground next to him.

In a panic he flailed around trying to get up again, but his withered body refused to go along with it. He gave up and fell back asleep to consolidate any energy that he had left. He quickly fell back asleep, but a silhouetted figure came from the shadows and carried his body into the tree.




The murderer awoke again. He looked around at his surroundings and knew exactly where he was. He was inside the lair, there would be no escape, and he would be dead in minutes, food for the spider queen. He cried out into the air, trying to attract anything that could do him in as quickly as possible. His cries attracted just who he wanted to see: the spider queen. He huge arachnid body crawled from the top of the massive tree.

“What is with your infernal shouts, this is a place of honor, not an orphanage. I demand respect from you, human.”

“Thank you queen, I needed someone to see me.”

“Well I am glad I came, I needed someone of your species to try something for me, but I need you to cooperate,”

“Never, just kill me now, I don’t want to live, I will never amount to anything anymore.”

“But that is why I wanted the hopelessness of your kind, I can make it all better, change your lives completely to something more meaningful. You would make a fine human for my skills.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you to cooperate, my webs should fix that.”

The queen strung her webbing all around the murderer’s limbs so that he could not move no matter how much he tried. He was pinned through the ground instantly and he was left there for another day to starve.

“Are you ready to cooperate now, are you ready to listen to me?

“Yes, yes, just stop my suffering.”

“Exactly what is was planning on doing, human.”

The spider queen crawled through a crack in the tree and disappeared for a few minutes. It was impossible to figure out what she was doing, the whole was completely black, and no light escaped. An occasional sound of something sliding back and forth was audible, but it distinguished nothing. The queen came back out with a gray pelt of some sort, and walked back to the murderer.

“Do you recognize this?”

“No I don’t… wait! Is that the wolf that was following me?”

“Yes, I killed it myself, I took its skin and changed it a little bit, don’t you like how well intact it is. Here take a look, I’ll cut the webs.”
The murderer got up from his web prison and took the pelt that was held before him. He admired how well it held together. The entire circumference of skin was still there, except for the strip cut from the torso that went all the way down. The paws and head were still intact and attached. However, all the meat was removed.

“Do you like it?”

“This thing is amazing.”

“Well put it on.”

“What?”

“Put it on now, listen to me.”

The murderer peeled apart the cut on the torso, and stuck his foot into the wolf’s leg. He repeated the process with his other. He stood with the legs covering his own, but the rest of the pelt hung back. He picked the rest up by the head and pulled the wolf’s fierce head over his own. He took the arms of the pelt and slid his own into the remaining parts of the fur.

“How do you like it?”

“It is very interesting, to wear an animal’s skin. It is a very new experience.”

“Well you better get used to it; you will be wearing it for a very long time.”

On the finishing of her sentence, the queen turned around and shot a steady stream of thread at the murderer. He queen pounced him, and she went to work forming a cocoon around his entire body. He was immobilized once again, but his body felt very, very strange. He felt like is clothes were disappearing under him, but another feeling of thread coated them again. He felt his mouth press down on itself, but he did not do it voluntarily. He could not breathe through his mouth, so he tried his nose, but it didn’t work either. He grew starved of oxygen, and nearly collapsed, but his mouth opened again and he took a gasp of breath. He felt so relieved that he could breathe again that he did not notice that the entire wolf muzzle opened up when he opened his mouth. He was confined for a small amount of time before the cocoon was opened again.

“So how do you enjoy your new look.”

“What are you talking about?”

The queen motioned him over to a stream that ran through the massive tree. The murderer looked down at his refection. He was staring not at a man wearing a pelt. He was looking at a wolf standing on its hind legs.

“I knew that you would love it, I knew you liked to hunt people, so what better match than the forests best hunter to bring more humans to me. Here are your supplies back. You can set out in a few days after you get used to your new body. It is natural you start behaving like the dog you are, but I fixed most of that problem, so I should be manageable.”

The murderer hobbled around trying to find his center of balance because it was difficult to stand on two paws. He was struggling to adjust to his new body. He felt that he should walk on all fours, but it still felt strange.

“No that is not how you are supposed to move around, you must move around on two legs; that is the way I want it.”

“Is this how it’s going to be for the rest of my life?”

“Don’t worry, you will get used to it. There is no way to change back so make your peace with it.”

The murderer still struggle with his new wolven body. He could not control his tail and it wagged uncontrollably for the next few days. He still could not balance right on his paws, and he found it difficult to look around with his lengthy muzzle in front of his face. In the next few days he continually grew more practiced with his new changes, and he became willing to serve the queen.

“Thank you my hunter of humans, I wish to have more people to help me with my special pelts, so I wish for you to collect some more for me.”

“Yes my queen.”


Over the many years of the faithful murderer, and the many more he had taken for the queen, her tree could not accommodate the growing numbers. The strange creatures that came from the tree invaded the kingdom, and took control of the entire city. When every citizen grew loyal to the spider queen, the people created more of the magnificent pelts within the city walls. A select few were sent out to learn of other creatures, real or imagined so that they may spread the ideas of their lore and culture back to the kingdom. They started to create new pelts, out of mixed furs and things. The few were sent out one more time to venture even farther than before.

Over the next hundreds of years the few grew old, and passed on their beliefs to their children, and the wives they changed themselves. Generations grew from the few that ventured out. Hundreds of years later, they great, grandchildren of the first few return to the kingdom, only to find that it was almost completely buried. Only the spire of the tallest tower peaked out of the windblown dust and sand. The great grandchildren built a building similar to the ones that they had witnessed in their adventures, around the spire. They broke into the spire and journeyed down the stairs to find the lost kingdom. They found the city, and spread the word of what they discovered. The great grandchildren returned to the surface and gave the building a name “Past, Present, Future Costume.” It resided there forever, and the world evolved around the building, and cities formed around it. Every once in a while, someone would wander through the door of the building, and join the queen.