There was a stand still as if one of the others was waiting for a single movement to take action. But Nova was frozen in fear as she looked at the creature whose glowing yellow eyes shifted from her partner to her. Its hideous grin widened as he looked at her. Making her skin crawl. Does he remember her from a few days ago?
"Uh… you wouldn't happen to be the new home ec teacher, would you?" Spiderman asked, grabbing both Arachnid and the creature's attention with a side glance.
"Seriously?!" Arachnid replied, flabbergasted at her partner.
"Hey, either I try to start a conversation with it or I'm going to soil myself," Spiderman hissed a whisper back at her.
The creature growled, when suddenly a fireball was thrown at both of them. Just in the nick of time, they both dodge either side of the wall by air.
"Hey! No ball playing in the hallways!" Arachnid warned the creature, who just snarled at her.
"Good job using your hall monitor skills Achnid!" Spiderman gave her a thumbs up before a fireball was thrown at him. Avoiding it just in time as he jumped up and flipped right over the monster side. "Listen," Spiderman stated to the green creature, "I don't want to tell you your business, but that's kind of a fire hazard." He said, before sucker punching the creature into a wall of lockers.
"Oh! That's a good swing you did there," Arachnid praised her partner before joining his side.
"Thanks," he replied before turning his focus to the monster that was already down. That was too conveniently easy. Spiderman placed his hands on his hips before speaking, "Have you cooled yourself off now or are you just going to be difficult?"
The creature lifted up his head and growled. Only giving a hinted chuckle. "Ooooooooor" it growled only to stun the duo before it burst into flames.
Yet again, they both dodge and avoid the flame impact that beamed their way. Almost singeing them in the process.
"I don't think he wants to compromise," Arachnid suggested as she landed nearby pushing herself forward and giving a slide kick to the monster's back of the knee, who quickly fell to the ground.
"Then maybe he can listen to this!" Spiderman followed up with a kick in the face right after.
The creature was down once more, but seemily was chuckling.
"I don't think our impact is doing anything…." Arachnid gulped as the creature started to form a ball of flame in his palm.
"Then let's keep hitting him till we find the spot!" Spiderman said as he kicked the creature at the chest and slammed into another wall. Causing the whole building to rumble and crumble all around them.
"Should we take this outside?" Arachnid asked, looking uneasy, "If we keep damaging the school like this, there will be no school left to save."
"Uh…. You might have a point there," Spiderman agreed, "let's see we can lure him out and draw him away from the others."
Arachnid nodded with agreement as they both took sides
"Hey green face!" Spiderman called out, "I'm right over here! Come and get me!"
"Oh no, right over here," Arachnid followed up on the other side, "I bet you you can't catch me~" she rang before dashing off.
It seems to work and the creature was debating who to go after first and it chose arachnid. Suddenly, Arachnid could feel the tingle in her head once more that threw her off balance for a second before she felt something wrap its arms around her upper body and slammed her through the wall window by force. Knocking the air out of her.
"Achnid!" Spiderman cried out her stage name before she slammed once more into the ground below. Feeling the creature's weight pressure into her spine and rib cage all together. She gave out a grunt before feeling herself being lifted up once more and taken up to the sky once again.
Gasping for air, Arachnid managed to twist her body around, which cracked and shifted throughout her body. "Let…. Me…. Go!" She cried before her specs met the creature's face that snarled and chuckled altogether.
Arachnid's throat closed tight, unable to scream and she can see her reflection through his burning eyes.
"Let her go!" Yelled a voice behind.
Both glanced down and saw Spiderman tail kiting behind the creature by a thread that was hooked to his back. The creature snarled as it turned over and lifted one of its arms up and threw a fireball directly at Spiderman.
"Peter!" Arachnid cried out as she watched her partner fall down to the building below. She was not aware how far up they were but this creature seems to be flying up in distance and height.
Before she knew it, they landed on one of the buildings and he held her in place with one hand over her chest and his other hand caressed the other side of her face as he growled something.
"Okay! Okay! You caught me!" Arachnid whimpered, not liking where this was going as she could see his eyes were gazing at her. "You can let me go now… please."
"Noooooo" he growled before one of the claws slip into the rim of her mask and was lifting it off of her face.
She try to move her arms up but his huge hand keeps them bound to her side as the mask is lifted halfway to her nose. Her lips quivered in fear before he stopped and leaned closer to her ear in a growling rumble. "Noooooovaaaaa" it said clearly.
Her blood ran cold when she heard her real name spoken. "Who are you…" she whimpered before he drew back. His toothy grin widened as he was looking down at her with some kind of amusement.
"Nooooooor meeeeeen Ozzzzzzz noooorm" it growled so smugly.
Nova's eyes widen beneath the partway mask. "Norman…." She gasped his name before he let her go. Nova staggered to her feet and would stare at him for a moment. "What…. What happened to you?" She asked before she heard him growling. "Okay….. Well, I'm sorry I can't understand growl language but whatever happened to you, is there a way to fix it?" She asked. But she only got a roar from him to only make her flinch, but she managed to stand her ground. "Okay…. Maybe you don't want to be fixed?" She asked again, which Norman nodded. "But why?"
He smirked as he offered a hand to her, as if he wanted her to take it.
Hesitantly, Nova slipped the rest of her mask on to become Arachnid before taking his outstretched hand. Before she knew it, she was once again pulled against him as he leapt into the air, as if they were hovering for a moment before crashing down. Her heart was racing fast in her chest as she was desperately clinging onto him for a moment and nodded. "Okay…. I get it. You do cool stuff," she admitted before stepping back down and pulling away from him.
Norman snorted, seemily she was right.
"Does Harry know?" Arachnid asked, seeing that the creature's shoulders slump and his eyes darted away. "I see…" Arachnid hummed as she tried to think away. "How about we talk to him about-"
"Nooooooo!" Norman roared before grabbing her with other growls that terrified the young heroine.
When suddenly, something swung in and kicked Norman in the face.
"What did I say about letting her go!" Said the intruder. It was Spiderman!
Arachnid gasped to see her partner with relief and shock at what he just did before jumping in before he made another swing at Norman.
"Wait!" She called out, blocking his punch and had him frozen in confusion. "That's Norman!"
"Norman?!" He repeated as he looked at the creature who was rubbing and placing his jaw back into place. "No freakin way! What happened to him!"
"I don't know," Arachnid responded.
"You don't know?"
"No,"
"Then how in the world do you know?!"
"He told me!"
"He talked to you?!" Spiderman doubtedly asked as he looked back at the creature.
"Well sort of, it's hard to understand him with all the growling but he is trying to communicate," she lightly mumbled.
"Why didn't he do that in the first place?!" Spiderman asked as Arachnid looked back with the same question.
"Yeah, why didn't you just come to talk to us?" She asked Norman, who just shrugged with a devious grin.
"Who cares," Spiderman intervened, "He is dangerous and almost killed us all! Were you aware Harry was there at all?!" He asked.
The grin faded as Norman shifted his attention towards the school direction by the wave of smoke. "Hrruuugghh," he growled, that sounded a bit sad.
"Peter," Arachnid called spiderman by his name, who hushed her, but ignored him as she continued, "We need to help him."
"How exactly?" Peter asked as she shrugged.
"I don't know but whatever happened to him, it really messed him up."
"He is messed up!" Spiderman whispered, "He attacked our school! He tried to kidnap you and trap me! Have you forgotten about that?!"
Suddenly, Nova felt herself being pulled and yanked, by agents something that was followed by a deep, rumbling growl. Norman was just forming another fireball to fire at Spiderman but Arachnid quickly stopped him by pushing his arm away. Firing the flames in a different direction, almost hitting helicopters nearby. Then another one showed up, heading towards their direction.
"This doesn't look good," Spiderman mumbled.
Arachnid felt Noman hoisting her over his shoulder before carrying her away.
"Norman?!" She gasped before she realized she was being carried away, yet again.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Spiderman groaned as he went after them, with his web shooter.
Arachnid was shocked that they worked! She looked over at her wrist and fired her own web directly at her partner. It hit right at his chest before he was dragged along with it. Flapping like a ragdoll, screaming.
"I'm going to be siiiiiick!" He yelled.
Eventually, Norman landed down onto some land and placed Arachnid down on a flat surface. But it was a small place and had no railing all around. Till she realized they were on a bridge.
"What are you doing?" She asked Norman and Spiderman eventually joined them before stepping between his partner and the monster.
"Okay, you need to stop taking her like that!" Spiderman tells him but Norman seems to be ignoring them as the helicopters were heading their way. They seem faster than they look and suddenly, something started to zip right at them.
"Ah shit! They are shooting at us?!" Spiderman gasped as he dodged and avoided every bullet. Arachnid was doing the same and one hit her in the arm, making her yelp in pain.
"Nova?!" Spiderman gasped, almost getting hit by a bullet himself.
Norman seemed unfazed and stepped in front of the two as a wall, assumily protecting the young heros as the bullet hit him directly and barely made him flinch.
Norman roared out as he was about to fire up one of those fireballs again.
"No!" They both cried as they each took his arm to hold him back. But that only made him angry as he threw them both over him, almost causing them both to fall off the bridge.
"I don't know about you," Spiderman mumbled, "I can't tell if he is good or bad depending on how unpredictable he is!"
"We got to help him!" Arachnid insisted, "he is Harry's dad! He is the only one he has left right about now."
Spiderman groaned before getting up and fired a webball at the copper. Covering its windshield made the helicopter lose control.
"There, happy?" Spiderman said before getting slapped away by Norman.
"Norman, stop!" Arachnid called out and she fired a slingshot at his hand, binding them together to prevent him from making any more fireballs.
He then growled at her in anger.
"Well rawr back at you and calm the eff down and let us up!" She screamed at him before she knew it, he was charging at her.
"Nova, look out!" Spiderman called before pulling his cousin down by her ankle that Norman missed right over her and fell off the bridge down to the waters down below.
"No!" Arachnid cried as she was about to dive after him but felt Spiderman held her back. "We need to save him!" She said before a bullet flew past her.
"We need to save ourselves!" Spiderman told her, "I don't want to lose you again so let's go, NOW!" As he pulled her along and headed back to the city. They eventually lost the copper the moment they reached the school ground and slipped their clothes on and removed their mask and gloves. As the helicopter hovered by, it decided to leave and head to another direction. Both teens were able to breathe again and they collapsed on the ground with a sigh.
"Holy shit, we almost got killed!" Nova murmured as the realization started to hit her.
"Yeah…." Peter responded as guilt started to get to them. "We really did try to help him but Nova, he was not fully there."
Nova sighs, not liking to agree but she gets what her cousin was saying. "Yeah… you're right but how can we break it to Harry?"
"We're not," Peter said before sitting up, "No one will know and best we never let him know, no matter what."
Nova frowns at the thought, hating hiding things from him or MJ as well. This felt like a really hard pill to swallow at the moment but she assumed Peter was right and would keep this to the grave as much as possible.
To be Continued?