Man-made creature
A giant slug like creature that grows mushrooms out of multiple parts of its body
A mushroom discovered by scientists that eats plastic slowly begins to infect a population of slugs
This mushroom has been studied in a lab for years
Scientists find the mushroom secretes enzymes that can break down plastics chemical bond
One day a scientist leaves the lab due to a family emergency, but forgets to take his lab coat off that’s been covered in this mushrooms spores enzyme
The spores are blown off the scientists coat and into the air
These mushrooms begin to grow in this new environment and are eaten by slugs
The mushroom enzymes bond to the enzymes on the slug and begin to mutate the slug
The slugs become addicted to the mushrooms and eat every single one they can, causing some slugs to begin to grow rapidly and begin to grow mushrooms on their bodies
Capabilities
Slug slime trails can erode almost any material
Slugs can climb on buildings, foliage, crops, etc (basically anything)
The slugs travel constantly and almost never stop, spreading the mushroom spores as they go and making more mutated giant mushroom slugs how
Weaknesses
All amounts must be proportional to how large the slugs are
Salt
Antimycotics
Bleach/to a lesser extent vinegar
How could you use this in a story?
Dystopian novel where the mushroom mutates again and infects more animals, slowly killing out humanity. Humans vs nature
Slug gets big enough to start causing major damage. Military gets involved to kill off all the slugs and destroy the mushroom. Military has to quarantine the city in order to kill off both the mushrooms and the slugs. City dwellers begin to panic and riot. Story can be told from either the military perspective, a perspective of a person who’s trying to get out of the city, or both. POV could also be from the scientist who started it.
The lesson here is: take your lab coats off before you go outside!!