Chapter Twenty

The warehouse was an abandoned, hulking building on the waterfront, covered in grafitti scrawls and greasy soot. Most of the windows were missing panes, and no light shone from behind them. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself against the cold.

"Okay, you got any good ideas?" Harry asked.

"Me? I thought you were the one with the plan!"

Harry and I were both standing on the roof of the warehouse, peering down into a ventilation window that was missing all of its panes. From the light of a flickering street lamp, I could see a maze of catwalks, all piled with plywood containers and crates. Dust particles drifted lazily through the air.

"I had it all planned out up to a point..."

I groaned. "Great. You're supposed to get something for Black Widow, right? You're not going to get it for her, which means she's going to figure everything out."

I could practically see Harry's lopsided grin under the mask. "Okay, I was never really good at long-term planning."

I sighed. This was getting better and better. I had this sudden desire to climb back through my window, crawl under my covers, and bury myself in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or something. I scuffed my heel against the tin roof. Had Mom found the note? What would she be thinking?

"Here," Harry handed me something. "You know, just in case something goes wrong. You need to throw it hard for it to detonate on impact."

"A grenade?" I held it up. It was about the size of a softball, made out of metal, and bright orange. "Wait a minute. Hobgoblin terrorized the populace with exploding pumpkins?"

"Don't look at me, I didn't invent them. You think you can lob it?"

"I was a softball pitcher for three years in middle school. I think I can handle it," I said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay, this is it, then."

We dropped down through the hole, landing on the web of grating catwalks. The warehouse was dim and filthy. A spider scurried over an overturned crate.

"I'd better stay up here."

"All right." Harry cracked his knuckles. "Here goes." He kicked the glider into the air and dropped straight down, landing silently on the bare floor.

I goose-stepped over the junk, stubbing my toes painfully, when-

"It's about time you got here," Harry snapped in a harsh rasp. It was a pretty fair imitation of Hobgoblin's usual growl.

Black Widow dropped from the ceiling suddenly, two of her arms clasping lines of web. I swallowed nervously, holding my breath and trying to blend in with the background. The patterns of my costume were like a sort of camoflauge in the grated pattern of light and shadow from the catwalks.

Black Widow tossed her head dismissively. "I see that you've recovered. What did Spider-Girl inject you with?"

Harry snorted. I could see his hands clenching and unclenching nervously. "How should I know? Ineffective, whatever it was. To the point, what is it you want me to aquire?"

Black Widow smirked. "No time for small talk? As for Spider-Girl, I think your revenge is complete. If I'm not mistaken, she's wandering the streets, powerless and without even memories of who she is."

Huh? Why wouldn't I remember who I was?

I don't know why, but I had a feeling that something wasn't right here. It wasn't like my spider-sense. It was a deeper feeling of unease. What was going on here?

Something scuttled loudly in the shadows behind me. I saw Harry spin around below.

"What was that?"

"A mere safety precaution," Black Widow said. "I don't want to take the risk of being overheard. A few of my little toys are searching the walks above. They'll sense movement. Don't mind them. Now..."

Little toys...? I slid my eyes to the left and got a terrible shock as something scuttled across the grated walkway again, stepping into a spot of pale light.

The thing that crouched less that five feet away from me was about four feet tall, standing on eight steel legs, segmented and pointed like pickaxes. On top of the legs sat an oval body, with a wide black band stretching across its face, like a giant sensor. Below that were a set of foot-long, serrated mandibles. The light glittered off the razored edges. A robot!

I squeezed my eyes shut and felt sweat bead on my forehead. If I moved, this thing would spot me instantly. Without my powers, I wouldn't stand a chance against that thing. I was more helpless now than I had ever been, in my entire life.

A burst of metallic clicking came from the shadows on my other side. I gripped the bars of the grating, trying desperately to control my rising panic. There were two of them. Two of these spider robots advancing from both ends of the catwalk. I bit my lip so hard I drew blood, trembling in terror. Helpless.

"Tomorrow night you will enter Quest Aerospace by any means possible. You will go to storage on level B-3, where I first contacted you. Between seven and nine o' clock, a man by the name of Dr. Robert Hiller will be working. He is tall, African-American, short hair, wearing glasses. You will bring him to-"

"Stop. You want me to kidnap him? Is he the 'item' you wanted to procure?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Dr. Robert Hiller. You will render him unconcious and immediately transport him to coordinates forty one point two north, seventy-five point five west."

"That's halfway to Nantucket. There's nothing out there but ocean."

To my left, the first spider robot took another jolting step forward.

"At those coordinates is a drilling platform that has been out of use for several years. You are to transport Dr. Hiller to this location, upon which your task will be complete. Are we clear?"

Doc Hiller? What did she want with Doc Hiller, I finally realized through my tension. An icy fist gripped my lungs, and I suddenly shivered violently in the freezing draft from the window.

CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKKKKKK!

A piercing, metallic screech burst from directly behind me. I saw Black Widow's head snap up, dead, blank eyes staring at my hiding place. "Lock onto intruder! Destroy!"

"Whoa!" Out of pure reflex I ducked. Something hurtled through the air over my head and clattered to the grating where I had just stood. Gigantic, razor sharp mandibles snapped open and shut. I scrambled backwards and ended up clenching a broken wooden beam in my right hand. I picked it up and swung it forward like a softball bat. The grenade! Where was the grenade?

"Spider-Girl!" Black Widow half-roared, half-shrieked. For a moment, her mouth hung open in astonishment. "How...how could you still...halt!"

Both robots froze in midstep. I saw a flicker of orange in the pile of boxes. Harry's pumpkin bomb! It must have rolled there when the first spiderbot pounced. Both robots were standing between me and the grenade.

"I...I thought you said she was taken care of!" Harry stammered, his growl faltering. "What happened to your miracle venom, eh?" I felt a tiny spot of relief. Harry hadn't blown his cover.

"That's what I'd like to know." Black Widow took a step forward on the floor below, looking up at me. "There's no use in hiding, Spider-Girl. I know you're there."

"You really have a habit of stating the obvious, don't you?" I called down. The spiderbot on the left twitched, and I tightened my grip on my makeshift bat.

"So. So the venom was counteracted. You must have found help very quickly. How did you ever manage that, Spider-Girl? You were bleeding quite badly."

"Ah, just a scratch, Tybalt." I kept glancing at the grenade sitting innocently on the grating. I had to get to it. A two-by-four would smash like a toothpick against these steel monsters. Oh, if only I had my webbing...

"But I would have taken you a substantial amount of time to aquire an antitoxin. You retained your mind, but lost something else, didn't you?"

"Hmmm...nope. Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell."

Black Widow's face split into a grin of pure wickedness. "Then I'm sure you won't mind proving your claim, will you? AK One! AK Two! Kill her!"

"Aaaaah!" I dove ungracefully out of the way both spiderbots bounded down the catwalk at an incredible speed. I felt the breeze as the first blew past me, jaws snapping an inch from my arm. I stretched out my hand and snatched the grenade, icy cold. The spiderbots skittered out of sight in the maze of bins and crates. I crouched down, gasping.

"How long do you think you can play hide-and-seek, Spider-Girl?" Black Widow chuckled, out of sight. "You've gone from a minor challenge to an irritating nusiance."

"I was a minor challenge? I'm flattered," I called. I heard the clinking of pointed legs on the grating. Both spiderbots were working together, scanning the sea of crates in unison. I gripped the grenade and my piece of wood. If I stood up and threw it, it would bounce and wait before exploding. There was no way I could lob it hard enough for it to explode on impact, the way Harry had told me. Unless...

"There getting closer, Spider-Girl. Your ears aren't what they used to be, are they? Look, they're ten feet away from you. Can you hear their jaws clicking? It'll just be another few minutes. I hope the police won't be too traumatized when they find what's left of you."

I was getting thoroughly sick of that kind of encouragement. "Don't worry about the police. Think positive!"

Gathering all of my remaining courage in one swoop, I sprang up out of my hiding place and whirled around. The two spiderbots were crouching just behind the waist-high pile of boxes. I tossed the grenade itto the air, choked up on the beam, and batted it as hard as I could.

The grenade exploded in a flash of fire and noise, hurling boxes in every direction and knocking me back against the railing. Coughing, I saw only a few twisted fragments of lens and a single joointed leg, still twitching.

"And just where did you find something like that, Spider-Girl? A grenade, wasn't it?" Black Widow's voice was dangerously soft. I stumbled around to look at her still seeing spots. Black Widow was turning ever so slightly to face Harry.

"In fact, Spider-Girl, without your powers, how did you get here in the first place? To stretch the point, how did you even know where to go?"

Creeeeaaaaak.

The catwalk shuddered under my feet. I grabbed the railing.

Creeeeaaaaak.

From the blasted pile of spiderbot pieces, a jagged crack in the grating appeared.

"Oh...wonderful..."

The damaged grating began to split under the weight of the crates. The catwalk tilted wildly. Then, with a deep groan, the catwalk disappeared from under me.

"Nooooooo!"

Before I could think, two arms clamped around me, snatching me out of the air.

"What?" I gasped and twisted around. The face of Hobgoblin stared back at me. Harry had caught me! I looked down, seeing a twenty foot drop below and Black Widow, her face twisted into a horrible mask of fury and hatred.

"So, it's you, Harry Osborn. No effects from that injection, eh?" Black Widow's voice trembled with rage. "Of course, you had to save your little girlfriend."

Black Widow switched her gaze to me. "You have no idea how much of an annoyance you are becoming, Spider-Girl. I've had enough of you. I haven't given you nearly what you deserve. All I've done is taken your father. But your suffering hasn't really begun. Wait and see what's in store for you, Mayday Parker!"

"You...!" I felt a surge of terrifying hatred well up inside me. My nails pit into my palms as I stared at the monster below. The air seemed to reverberate around us, vibrating with the force of my rage.

"Have a nice evening, Spider-Girl," Black Widow sneered. Then, as a final jive, she raised two of her arms, webslung, and sprang up to the ceiling and out of sight.

I picked up a small wooden crate and hurled it into the darkness. I heard it smash against the wall.

"Mayday, what are you doing? Will you-"

I rounded on Harry. "Did you hear her? Did you hear what she said? Do you have any idea of what she's done to my family? She stole my father! Do you know what that's like? Do you?" I shouted.

"Yes I do!" Harry shouted back, wrenching his helmet off. "I know what that's like, Mayday!"

I sat down on a crate, my head in my hands, a rush of sadness and anger whirling inside me like a tornado. No. I had to stay in control. But all of those years of bottled-up sadness and worry had turned into a simmering volcano, just waiting to explode. "We...we have to warn Doc," I stammered finally.

Harry nodded. "She'll go after him herself now. What's going on at that rig in the ocean?"

"Who knows," I said dully. I got to my feet, still staring at the floor. "It's almost midnight. Doc won't be at Quest until tomorrow."

"Yeah," Harry pulled his helmet back on. "Come on, I'll take you home."