Chapter 16 The Start of a War:
Marcy was jumping from building to building as she patrolled the city. Her phone started ringing. She reached into her pocket and pressed the answer button, putting the phone to her ear
"Hello?" she asked.
"Marcy, where are you?!" a voice shouted.
Marcy moved her phone from her ear as Olivia shouted. Once she was sure her mother was done shouting, Marcy put the phone up to her ear.
"I'm in the city, why'd you ask?" she asked.
Marcy could hear Olivia mumble something about "teenagers" and "deaf when it comes to important stuff".
"Mayor Toadstool called all citizens to city hall for a meeting. I told you this last night," Olivia.
Marcy cursed to herself
'Seriously?! What is it with me and spacing out when someone's talking?' she thought to herself.
"Right! I, um, I'm on my way right now! Talk to you later Mom," Marcy said, hanging up.
She facepalmed.
'Nice going Wu' she thought as she swung to City hall.
Marcy landed in an alleyway. She changed into her normal clothes and walked towards City Hall. Marcy walked into the main room. Luckily for her, the meeting didn't start yet. Suddenly, someone grabbed her by her ear. Marcy cried out in both surprise and pain.
"Ow! Zántíng! Zántíng!" she shouted.
Olivia released her ear as she folded her arms. Marcy rubbed her sore ear.
"Next time don't be late. Especially when it's very important," Olivia said.
Marcy bowed her head.
"Sorry, Mom," she said.
Olivia sighed and patted her shoulder.
"Just don't do it again," she mumbled as she walked away.
Marcy sighed.
"Marcy," a voice behind her said, making Marcy jump.
"AHH!" she shrieked.
Marcy turned around to see Sasha standing behind her. The blonde girl raised an eyebrow.
"Jumpy much?" she asked.
Marcy calmed her racing heart as her eyes flickered from green to brown. Sasha gave her a concerned look.
"You okay?" she asked.
Marcy shrugged.
"I'm just a little on edge,I guess," Marcy said.
Sasha's phone began ringing and the blonde girl grabbed it from her pocket.
"It's Terri," Sasha said.
Marcy nodded and they walked out of the room. Once they were somewhere private, Sasha answered the call.
"What's up Terri?" Sasha asked.
"Is Marcy with you?" Terri asked.
Marcy raised her hand.
"Present," Marcy said.
"Okay, Marcy you remember you saw Andrias' goons loading some pipe bombs into a truck?" Terri asked.
Marcy tensed when her mind went back to that day. Sasha placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Marce?" she asked.
Marcy closed her eyes as she tried to focus on the task.
"Yes," she said.
"Well, it turns out there was huge order of pipe bombs being sent Andrias Industries," Terri said.
Marcy's brow twitched.
"You waited until now to tell us?!" she shouted.
Sasha covered her ears. She gave the younger girl a small glare.
"Blow my eardrums out, why don't ya?" she said.
Marcy mumbled an apology as they listened to what Terri had to say.
"Anyway, it seems Andrias ordered a shit ton of pipe bombs," Terri said.
Sasha and Marcy raised an eyebrow.
"How much are we talking about?" Sasha asked.
There was a pause before Terri spoke up.
"About a hundred crates," she answered.
Sasha 's eyes widened.
"That could take out an entire block!" she exclaimed.
Marcy's face darken as she clenched her fists.
"What is he planning to do with it?" she asked.
"No idea. Marcy, did, um…did he tell you anything about what Andrias is planning?" Terri asked.
Marcy shook her head.
"Nothing except that Andrias is planning something big," she answered.
She could hear Terri huff.
"Okay. Until we can find out what he's planning, I advise you to keep a lookout for anything suspicious" Terri said.
"Will do," Sasha said.
She ended the call. Marcy looked at her watch.
"We should head back," she suggested.
Sasha nodded and they moved to walk away.
"Sash," Marcy called.
Sasha turned to her. Marcy handed her an earpiece.
"Put this in. Use it to let me or Terri know if you see something," Marcy said.
Sasha nodded and put it in. They walked into the meeting room as everyone began to sit down. Marcy sat with her moms and Sasha sat with Anne and the Planters. Mayor Toadstool walked up to the podium.
"Thank you all for coming. I know this is a rough time for all of us. Buildings are being burnt down,crime rates are rising but the most tragic is the death of a young boy who is another victim of this cruel world. Officer Yunnan, we the city council send our condolences to you, your wife and your daughter," Toadstool said.
Marcy looked at the ground as Yunnan squeezed her shoulder.
"So, in order to ensure something like that won't happen again, Hopadiah will go over what will be happening for this city," Toadstool said.
Hop Pop walked up to the podium.
"To start things off, we're gonna have to tighten the security of the banks and other governmental businesses," Hop Pop began.
Marcy tuned him out as she looked around the room. She saw nothing suspicious so far.
"Marcy, do you see anything?" Sasha asked.
Marcy pressed a hand to her ear.
"Not at the moment. You?" Marcy asked.
Unknownst to everyone else in the room, there were some people dressed in black taping stuff to the pillars. Sasha was looking around the room when she noticed a person standing in the back of the stage. They were wearing all black with a mask over their face but what got her attention was the logo on their right bicep that she knew belonged to Andrias Industries. The person looked at her making Sasha duck down. She pressed a hand to her earpiece.
"Marce, there's someone on the stage dressed in black with the Andrias Industries logo," Sasha whispered.
Marcy blinked and looked at the stage. True to Sasha's words, there was a person standing behind most of the city council. Marcy squinted and saw that the person was holding something in his hand.
"Sash, I see him. He's holding something but I can't see it properly," Marcy whispered.
She leaned forward to get a closer look. Marcy could make out a green remote with a circular button. Marcy's spider senses went off as her eyes widened.
"EVERYONE HIT THE DIR-!" Marcy shouted.
*BOOM*
An explosion went off in the back of the room sending Marcy flying to the ground.
"MARCY!" Anne and Sasha shouted.
Another explosion went off making everyone cry out. Yunnan jumped to her feet.
"This is Chief Wu, we need a fire truck and paramedics at City Hall ASAP!" Yunan shouted into her radio.
She helped evacuate the citizens. Marcy felt her ears ringing as she opened her eyes. She was picked up by her arms as she was placed on her feet.
"You okay Mar-Mar?" Anne asked.
Marcy nodded only to wince when her head throbbed in pain. She touched the side of her head and felt blood on her temple.
"I'm fine, just sore," she said.
Sasha stepped forward.
"We need to get out of here," she said.
The three girls ran out of the room. Marcy could see people on the ground either injured or worse. Her spider senses went off and Marcy to see a bomb about to go off beside Anne.
"Anne!" she shouted.
Marcy tackled Anne to the ground just as the pipe bomb went off. Anne grunted as she fell to the ground with Marcy on top of her.
"Marcy!" Anne cried.
She carefully moved Marcy off her. Anne laid Marcy on the ground to examine her wounds. The back of her hoodie was burnt and tore showing the burn mark on her back, the side of her head was bleeding and her left arm was burnt. Anne lifted Marcy's arm and put it over her shoulder.
"Anne!" Sasha shouted, running towards her.
Sasha's eyes widened at the sight of Marcy.
"Are you going to stand there or help me?" Anne asked.
Sasha nodded and grabbed Marcy's other arm. The two girls ran out of the building.
"Hey! We need some medics over here!" Sasha shouted.
Yunan ran towards them and took Marcy into her arms.
"Olivia and Hopadiah, take the kids! I'm riding with Marcy and Grime to the hospital," Yunan said.
Anne blinked and looked at Sasha.
"What happened to Grime?" she asked.
"The blast knocked him out. I think he might have a concussion," Sasha said.
"Girls let's go!" Hop Pop shouted.
Anne and Sasha climbed into the car. The car drove after the ambulance. On top of a building, stood a figure dressed in black was watching everything unfold.
"This is only the beginning, I hope you're ready, Calamity Spider," he said before disappearing into the shadows.
Mandarin Translations:
Zanting( Time out)
