Chapter 7: The Solitary Spider
Madison flew back as the punch landed perfectly on her jaw. "Ow!" she exclaimed, sitting up and rubbing it. "Watch it, will you?"
Spiderman smirked at her. "This is training. You have to quit being such a baby. Besides, you could have dodged that last one. You're distracted tonight."
Madison ripped off her black face mask and wiped her sweaty hair out of her eyes. "So what if I am? This is so frustrating!" She sighed and perched on the ledge of the building they were on, staring at the world below. "I'm so tired, this double life is killing me, how do you do it?" She turned to eye him as if he was hiding the secret to constant perkiness in his spandex outfit.
Peter laughed and joined her on the ledge, reaching up with one hand to remove his own mask. "Your body just gets used to it, I guess," he said.
She was about to answer when a ringing filled her ears and the world seemed to spin slightly. She stumbled backwards for a few seconds until it calmed down.
"Damn stupid 6th Spider Sense or whatever the hell it is," she muttered, raising her eyes to look at Peter. "I guess you're gonna have to be going now?"
He nodded. "Stay here and practice your aim," he ordered as he replaced his mask and swung off. Madison scowled. One of the many things she couldn't stand was to be ordered around. And right now, with a splitting headache, five hours of sleep in the past four days, and nothing but a little super-caffeinated latte in her stomach, that order was the breaking point.
"Practice my aim?" She grinned demonically. "Oh, I'll practice my aim. Looks like you're going to have a little help, Superhero."
Laughing softly into the night air, Madison tugged on her black mask and straightened her belt as she strode over to the edge of the building.
Suddenly she was nervous. For some reason, her webs never seemed to work properly for her. She just couldn't get the hand motion right. Staring at the building in front of her, Madison took a deep breath, lifted her hand, and took aim.
Nothing.
"C'mon," Madison muttered as she shifted hand positions slightly. "C'mon, you stupid web, fly, damnit," she changed her hand again and shook it angrily. "C'MON!" She yelled, and suddenly the all too familiar milky- white substance shot out of her wrist. She grabbed in quickly.
"Ok, girl, you can do this," she whispered. "Just ease your way over the edge, and . . . "
Her foot slipped and she plummeted towards the street, holding tightly onto the webbing for dear life.
"AHHHHHH!!!" she screamed. Suddenly she noticed the building right in front of her. "AHHHHH!"
Lifting her wrist to change her position, Madison prayed that for once the damn web would work. It did, and attached to another building, successfully changing her course. Unfortunately, Madison had misjudged the distance between the two buildings and before she had a chance to aim again . . .
SMACK. Madison groaned as she began to slide down the building. Quickly placing her fingertips on the wall, she made her way up the side and onto the roof, where she sat down, nursing a splitting headache and a bruised ego, before getting up and trying again, determined to reach Peter.
Leave her behind, would he? Not anymore.
xxxxxx
Spiderman had just finished off ten or so big, heavily muscled men in black that had come upon him from the darkness of an alleyway, apparently having lured him there by robbing a store. They had come from all angles, but although it took a bit longer than usual, they were finished before he even had to break a sweat. He was just taking on the last two thugs when Madison arrived and hid in the shadows of the alleyway.
One of the thugs charged him. Spiderman casually stepped aside and stuck out one foot. The thug tripped and flew headfirst into the remaining thug.
"You should watch that last step," Peter smirked under his mask. "It'll get ya."
Slow, mocking clapping echoed from the shadows. "That was beautiful." A sarcastic masculine voice rolled out of the darkness. "You passed that little test with remarkable ease. Not that I had any doubt."
"Show yourself," Spiderman ordered.
The figure stepped out of the shadows, though there wasn't much to see. He was clad all in black, his outfit even more somber than Madison's. "Hello, old friend," the figure hissed.
"Who are you?"
The figure laughed softly. "Now that would spoil the surprise." Suddenly the figure growled. It was the only warning our hero had before the dark man lunged.
The man's fist's seemed to be everywhere, moving at an almost superhuman speed as he pummeled our hero. Spiderman was so shocked that at first he was using only defense moves. There was something wrong- this wasn't a normal human he was dealing with.
"Who are you?" Spiderman shouted after narrowly missing a punch. The figure just attacked harder.
The dark man drove his fist upward at Spiderman's head, a move that could easily have broken his nose or worse, shattered his skull. Knocking the fist out of his way, Spiderman lunged and went for his attackers eyes. Moaning in agony, the man reeled backwards, but before Spiderman had a chance to finish him off, he charged again, now trying to trip his adversary. Spiderman shot webbing out of his wrists and attached them to beams sticking out over his head, using them to pull himself up to miss the leg that swung to trip him. Unfortunately, he stumbled while coming down, and was just getting his footing again when powerful hands seized him around the neck and slammed his head into the brick wall. The man's finger's tightened around Spiderman's neck as he continued to bash his head in, making it harder and harder for our hero to breathe. This man wasn't just trying to kill him- he was trying to see him suffer. The killing, it was assumed, would come later.
Spiderman was just struggling to grab at his attackers face when a tall, lithe figure in black swung cleanly down from some hidden area and swiped the dark man off of his feet with her heels. Doing a double flip in the air, Madison landed and held out her hand to the superhero.
"Looks like you could use a little help."
Peter was too thankful at the moment to be angry- he'd get to that later. Nodding, he was just getting to his feet when Madison was knocked to the side by the dark man. She skidded several feet and slammed into the wall.
"I have no quarrel with you," the man hissed. "But be assured, I will if you continue down this path."
"Why don't you fight someone you do have a 'quarrel' with?" Spiderman's mocking voice rang from behind them. The man spun around, but this time, our hero was ready.
Now that the fight was equal, it was the dark man who was using strictly defensive maneuvers. After only a few moments of fighting, however, his body changed as he seemed to realize something important.. Throwing in one last punch that sent Spiderman flying into a wall, he spun around with one last growl and vanished into the night.
Madison got to her feet, a bit dazed. Luckily, her Spider Sense went off just in time to notice another black figure diving at her- one of the thugs. Slamming into her, they rolled on the ground for a moment, his fist's railing into her body. Hissing under her breathe, Madison managed to get him pinned on the ground and slammed his head into the cement. Then, after a moment's pause, she ripped his ski mask off.
Her eyes widened. She knew this man.
He lived on her block- he was a regular at the grocery store that she went to and the coffee shop that she frequented. She had often smiled at him and his family: a young, pretty wife and newborn baby daughter. He was well educated and sophisticated, but mainly he was nice. He had even offered to set her up with one of his college friends when he had noticed Madison's perpetual lack of a steady boyfriend. And his wife adored him, epitomizing everything Madison thought that love should be.
He was perfect. His life was perfect. She had envied his idyllic home life and happiness more than she cared to admit. And here he was, wearing a mask in both the literal and figurative sense. He brought out her old hatred of humanity with a new and frightening intensity.
Madison growled, an altogether frightening, feral sound when it was coming from her. She swung her fist, punching him over and over again until she thought that he must have lost consciousness. Amazingly, he was still awake.
"Who are you?" he whispered, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
Madison stared. "Who am I?" She whispered. Snatches of many conversations flitted through her memory, culminating at this one, exact moment.
'Isn't that one of those 'sacrifices' we as super people have to make? Never being able to fall in love?'
'This power, this life, this is my destiny. I can swear to you now that I will I will never fall in love.'
Memories of her high school science class rang in her head.
'The Black Widow, a solitary spider, they are called so because they devour their mates after mating . . . .Black Widow, the solitary, deadly spider . . . .'
Madison smiled grimly from behind her mask. Morbid, yes, but in some twisted way, fitting.
The bastard's of the world didn't know what was coming to them.
Madison threw in one last punch for good measure, watching in disgust as the idiot finally blacked out. Standing over his prone body, she laughed coldly.
"Who am I? I'm Black Widow."
The dark man had seen enough. Satisfied, he rose from his hiding place and vanished into the night.
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Madison flew back as the punch landed perfectly on her jaw. "Ow!" she exclaimed, sitting up and rubbing it. "Watch it, will you?"
Spiderman smirked at her. "This is training. You have to quit being such a baby. Besides, you could have dodged that last one. You're distracted tonight."
Madison ripped off her black face mask and wiped her sweaty hair out of her eyes. "So what if I am? This is so frustrating!" She sighed and perched on the ledge of the building they were on, staring at the world below. "I'm so tired, this double life is killing me, how do you do it?" She turned to eye him as if he was hiding the secret to constant perkiness in his spandex outfit.
Peter laughed and joined her on the ledge, reaching up with one hand to remove his own mask. "Your body just gets used to it, I guess," he said.
She was about to answer when a ringing filled her ears and the world seemed to spin slightly. She stumbled backwards for a few seconds until it calmed down.
"Damn stupid 6th Spider Sense or whatever the hell it is," she muttered, raising her eyes to look at Peter. "I guess you're gonna have to be going now?"
He nodded. "Stay here and practice your aim," he ordered as he replaced his mask and swung off. Madison scowled. One of the many things she couldn't stand was to be ordered around. And right now, with a splitting headache, five hours of sleep in the past four days, and nothing but a little super-caffeinated latte in her stomach, that order was the breaking point.
"Practice my aim?" She grinned demonically. "Oh, I'll practice my aim. Looks like you're going to have a little help, Superhero."
Laughing softly into the night air, Madison tugged on her black mask and straightened her belt as she strode over to the edge of the building.
Suddenly she was nervous. For some reason, her webs never seemed to work properly for her. She just couldn't get the hand motion right. Staring at the building in front of her, Madison took a deep breath, lifted her hand, and took aim.
Nothing.
"C'mon," Madison muttered as she shifted hand positions slightly. "C'mon, you stupid web, fly, damnit," she changed her hand again and shook it angrily. "C'MON!" She yelled, and suddenly the all too familiar milky- white substance shot out of her wrist. She grabbed in quickly.
"Ok, girl, you can do this," she whispered. "Just ease your way over the edge, and . . . "
Her foot slipped and she plummeted towards the street, holding tightly onto the webbing for dear life.
"AHHHHHH!!!" she screamed. Suddenly she noticed the building right in front of her. "AHHHHH!"
Lifting her wrist to change her position, Madison prayed that for once the damn web would work. It did, and attached to another building, successfully changing her course. Unfortunately, Madison had misjudged the distance between the two buildings and before she had a chance to aim again . . .
SMACK. Madison groaned as she began to slide down the building. Quickly placing her fingertips on the wall, she made her way up the side and onto the roof, where she sat down, nursing a splitting headache and a bruised ego, before getting up and trying again, determined to reach Peter.
Leave her behind, would he? Not anymore.
xxxxxx
Spiderman had just finished off ten or so big, heavily muscled men in black that had come upon him from the darkness of an alleyway, apparently having lured him there by robbing a store. They had come from all angles, but although it took a bit longer than usual, they were finished before he even had to break a sweat. He was just taking on the last two thugs when Madison arrived and hid in the shadows of the alleyway.
One of the thugs charged him. Spiderman casually stepped aside and stuck out one foot. The thug tripped and flew headfirst into the remaining thug.
"You should watch that last step," Peter smirked under his mask. "It'll get ya."
Slow, mocking clapping echoed from the shadows. "That was beautiful." A sarcastic masculine voice rolled out of the darkness. "You passed that little test with remarkable ease. Not that I had any doubt."
"Show yourself," Spiderman ordered.
The figure stepped out of the shadows, though there wasn't much to see. He was clad all in black, his outfit even more somber than Madison's. "Hello, old friend," the figure hissed.
"Who are you?"
The figure laughed softly. "Now that would spoil the surprise." Suddenly the figure growled. It was the only warning our hero had before the dark man lunged.
The man's fist's seemed to be everywhere, moving at an almost superhuman speed as he pummeled our hero. Spiderman was so shocked that at first he was using only defense moves. There was something wrong- this wasn't a normal human he was dealing with.
"Who are you?" Spiderman shouted after narrowly missing a punch. The figure just attacked harder.
The dark man drove his fist upward at Spiderman's head, a move that could easily have broken his nose or worse, shattered his skull. Knocking the fist out of his way, Spiderman lunged and went for his attackers eyes. Moaning in agony, the man reeled backwards, but before Spiderman had a chance to finish him off, he charged again, now trying to trip his adversary. Spiderman shot webbing out of his wrists and attached them to beams sticking out over his head, using them to pull himself up to miss the leg that swung to trip him. Unfortunately, he stumbled while coming down, and was just getting his footing again when powerful hands seized him around the neck and slammed his head into the brick wall. The man's finger's tightened around Spiderman's neck as he continued to bash his head in, making it harder and harder for our hero to breathe. This man wasn't just trying to kill him- he was trying to see him suffer. The killing, it was assumed, would come later.
Spiderman was just struggling to grab at his attackers face when a tall, lithe figure in black swung cleanly down from some hidden area and swiped the dark man off of his feet with her heels. Doing a double flip in the air, Madison landed and held out her hand to the superhero.
"Looks like you could use a little help."
Peter was too thankful at the moment to be angry- he'd get to that later. Nodding, he was just getting to his feet when Madison was knocked to the side by the dark man. She skidded several feet and slammed into the wall.
"I have no quarrel with you," the man hissed. "But be assured, I will if you continue down this path."
"Why don't you fight someone you do have a 'quarrel' with?" Spiderman's mocking voice rang from behind them. The man spun around, but this time, our hero was ready.
Now that the fight was equal, it was the dark man who was using strictly defensive maneuvers. After only a few moments of fighting, however, his body changed as he seemed to realize something important.. Throwing in one last punch that sent Spiderman flying into a wall, he spun around with one last growl and vanished into the night.
Madison got to her feet, a bit dazed. Luckily, her Spider Sense went off just in time to notice another black figure diving at her- one of the thugs. Slamming into her, they rolled on the ground for a moment, his fist's railing into her body. Hissing under her breathe, Madison managed to get him pinned on the ground and slammed his head into the cement. Then, after a moment's pause, she ripped his ski mask off.
Her eyes widened. She knew this man.
He lived on her block- he was a regular at the grocery store that she went to and the coffee shop that she frequented. She had often smiled at him and his family: a young, pretty wife and newborn baby daughter. He was well educated and sophisticated, but mainly he was nice. He had even offered to set her up with one of his college friends when he had noticed Madison's perpetual lack of a steady boyfriend. And his wife adored him, epitomizing everything Madison thought that love should be.
He was perfect. His life was perfect. She had envied his idyllic home life and happiness more than she cared to admit. And here he was, wearing a mask in both the literal and figurative sense. He brought out her old hatred of humanity with a new and frightening intensity.
Madison growled, an altogether frightening, feral sound when it was coming from her. She swung her fist, punching him over and over again until she thought that he must have lost consciousness. Amazingly, he was still awake.
"Who are you?" he whispered, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
Madison stared. "Who am I?" She whispered. Snatches of many conversations flitted through her memory, culminating at this one, exact moment.
'Isn't that one of those 'sacrifices' we as super people have to make? Never being able to fall in love?'
'This power, this life, this is my destiny. I can swear to you now that I will I will never fall in love.'
Memories of her high school science class rang in her head.
'The Black Widow, a solitary spider, they are called so because they devour their mates after mating . . . .Black Widow, the solitary, deadly spider . . . .'
Madison smiled grimly from behind her mask. Morbid, yes, but in some twisted way, fitting.
The bastard's of the world didn't know what was coming to them.
Madison threw in one last punch for good measure, watching in disgust as the idiot finally blacked out. Standing over his prone body, she laughed coldly.
"Who am I? I'm Black Widow."
The dark man had seen enough. Satisfied, he rose from his hiding place and vanished into the night.
Reviews most welcome, ya'll come back now ya hear!