The spider looked to the air, at this strange whirling contraption that had just attacked him. It bit off the webbing around Steve's neck with a single dismissive motion and shot a second strand into the air. It latched onto the helicopter like a steel claw and the spider pulled himself up hand over hand until he was filling the empty cargo door, casting a shadow on agent Briggs like the moon eclipsing the sun.

Briggs was frightened, anybody would be, and with what she had seen she had more reason to than any. Some part of her had realized that her escape from the creature had been too miraculous to be permanent. She fell backwards in shock as the creature leapt up into the helicopter, dropping her high-powered rifle to the floor. But then, it would have been useless at this close range. In one swift, practiced motion she drew her handgun and unloaded a three-round burst into the creature's chest. It did about as much damage as spitting in the creature's face would have, but she didn't believe in half measures.

The spider lunged at her, swatting her gun away and forcing her arm back, striking out at her face with a jab of his clawed hand. She dodged away, but only barely, the creature's arm moving faster than anyone she had ever sparred with. The tip of one caught her face, just barely missing her eyes but leaving a long, bloody slash across her face. She brought her free hand up, growling at the river of pain running through her skin, the blood dripping down her cheek and into her mouth. She watched through her fingers as the spider readied another strike.

The creature was grappled from behind. The other creature she had seen, the one with the black body and white armor, had jumped up to the helicopter and locked the spider in a grappling hold, pinning his clawed arm back. The spider hissed and elbowed the armed figure in the ribs, forcing him to drop his hold. The armored man fought back.

For a few tense moments they fought, suspended over hundreds of feet of empty air, balancing on the helicopter's landing struts like two dueling tightrope walkers. Briggs held her gun, trying to get a shot on the spider, for all the good it would do, but both of them were moving far too fast for her eyes to track, let alone her hands. They grappled on the floor of the helicopter, the armored figure bending the spider's spine back and bringing both hands to the creature's throat, before the spider was able grasp the masked man's face and reverse the hold.

The spider had seemingly forgotten about Briggs, and slashed at the armored man's chest plate with his foot-long claws, raising a shower of sparks from the white material. The armored man took advantage of his position and kicked the spider in the stomach, both feet striking dead center. The spider fell, but grabbed the armored man's legs, pulling them both down together. They dangled from the landing struts, each one looking for a single advantage over the other. The spider dug and clawed at the armored man, trying to pull his way up his hanging body, the armored figure kicking frantically at the spider, trying to make him drop his grip.

The armored man was strong, but not without limits, and the spider was heavy and his claws were sharp. With the spider climbing up his body he was forced to let one hand drop and strike the monster in the face, but his other hand was already slipping.

Briggs dived forward and grabbed the armored figure's wrist with both hands. She didn't know what impulse had propelled her forward, but she held his arm with a death grip, pulling him back into the helicopter with all her strength. The armored man looked up at her, his bulbous red eyes glinting in the sunlight. As Briggs pulled him up he delivered a vicious kick to the spider's torso, forcing his spine into the landing struts. The spider shrieked and let go, seemingly dropping off into nothingness.

Briggs pulled the armored man up into the compartment before sticking her head out the open door, scanning the ground beneath them.

"Where did he go?" she shouted, her voice lost against the whirl of the blades. The armored figure tilted his head. "He fell, did you see where he landed? We need to recover the body!"

The spider pounced on her from behind, digging his claws into her shoulders. She fought back, bashing the creature's head with the butt of her gun, but that was less than worthless. The armored figure pulled himself up into the compartment and leapt forward, delivering a brutal punch to the spider's face. He dropped Briggs and fell back down, clinging to the underside of the helicopter with fingers and toes, skittering around like an insect on the ceiling. The armored man grabbed Briggs and pulled her to one side, away from the gaping helicopter doors.

"Get off me, get off!" Briggs shouted, pushing the figure away. She rubbed her shoulders. "God, your hands are like steel."

"Sorry," said the armored figure, looking at his black-armored hands. "I'm still getting used to this. You're bleeding."

"I'm aware," Briggs said, wiping her bloody face on her sleeve. "Damn thing probably has all kinds of ancient spider infections on it."

"I told you to stay away from him!" said the armored man. "There's nothing you can do against something like that!"

"And I told you, Tooms," Briggs said, pointing back at him. "This is my job to find something to do, otherwise more innocent people like you are…"

She blinked. She had said it on instinct, and it took her several seconds to realize just what she had said, but then… The immobile, implacable, insectile face of the armed man somehow managed to look embarrassed.

"TOOMS?" she shouted.

"Um…" said what she now was certain was Steven Tooms, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "…I'm actually even more confused than you."

The spider came up from the other side and pounced on Steve, wrapping his hands around his throat. Arms flailing, Steve was dragged to the open door as the monster tried to pull him out, tossing him to the ground. Briggs could only watch as he struggled with the beast, delivering a pair of lightning-fast elbows to the gut that made the spider loose his grasp, followed by a brutal kick to the shoulder that sent the monster flying backwards, away from the helicopter and into the ground. He plummeted to earth, landing on a warehouse hard enough to put a man-sized hole in the roof. Steven stared at the damage, his chest heaving with exertion, until the helicopter flew out of eyeshot.

"Tooms," Briggs said, pulling Steven back in. "…what happened? How the hell did you become… this?"

"I… really wish I could tell you," he said, slumping on the floor. "All I know is I got a magical belt from a dead man and then a talking beetle appeared in my head telling me I had to fight a giant spider."

"…what."

"I know!"

"How badly did your head get knocked around in that thing?" she said, reaching out to touch his helmet. "What is this made of? It doesn't feel like metal…"

"I... I don't know," Steve said, staring at his hands. "I don't know how it happened, I just… I needed it to be there."

There was a long pause, with no noise but the roar of the helicopter blades.

"…how do I make it go away?"

Briggs shrugged.

"We can help you," she said, awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. Comforting victims wasn't her greatest skill, and comforting magical insect superheroes was just a bit out of her experience. "We'll get you the best doctors; find out what this thing did to you. We'll get you back to normal."

"…oh no," Steve said, pushing her off and shakily getting to his feet. "I watch the X-Files! I know what you're going to do to me!"

"The X-Files," Briggs buried her face in her hand. "God damn this keeps happening. Steven-"

"No!" he said, standing in the open door. "I'm not letting you spooks dissect me! I'm getting my own help!"

"Wait!"

She shouted, but Steve was already gone, jumping to a nearby rooftop. He landed square on his face, but still was able to get back to his feet, brushing himself off and limping away across the rooftops. Briggs crossed her arms and sighed.

"Just one simple serial killer," she said. "That's all I wanted."