Spider-Frog: The Wall Hopper
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Disney don't sue. Please.
Chapter 03: Hop onto The Scene
To say that Anne was tired would be an understatement. Her body, mind, soul, and probably some more things were tired.
Emotionally she was exhausted, a sci-fi gun nearly shot her, and Marcy was injured. They were expecting her to pull through, but she was still unconscious at the moment. Marcy had gotten hurt before but seeing her lying in bed like that was a punch in the gut.
Her parents picked her up and took her home, where Anne just felt so tired. Looking at her hands, she was still unsure how she developed the new powers. Anne could barely make out two bulges on her wrist where webs shot out. Her fingertips had changed; if she weren't looking for changes, she wouldn't have noticed anything. Her fingertips were tougher yet squishy and maybe a little bulgier. Anne wasn't sure if that was the whole solution, but as she could stick to the wall now, she figured that had to do with it. Considering her blanket refused to come to her face for five minutes, she figured there was more to it. Maybe her fingertips were just more sticky. The rest of her body could stick to things too. Her body was changing in ways no other teen was going through.
Her new frog tanks were okay, and she fed her new residents.
Thanks.
Anne blinked as she watched the pink frog eat. She wasn't sure, but sometimes she got something off the frog, a sense of ideas if not exact words.
There was just so much to figure out, and she wasn't the person who could figure it out. If Marcy was, she'd figure it out in minutes. All Anne understood was from the stuff that Marcy had said about comics and movie heroes. Anne considered going to the hospital to get tested, but she was afraid she'd end up in a medical experiment.
Anne would love to ask Marcy for advice, but she'd hate to get her more involved in this. Anne was still struggling to figure out how the gem and the frogs got in her bag. She could only guess that that lady somehow knew she had it. Honestly, Anne was half tempted to sell it, it was probably worth a lot, but she had no idea where to sell it or explain how she got it. And there was always a chance they'd find it and track to her.
Anne dropped the gem into the water of the tank, and she went off to get breakfast.
"What is the city coming to?" Anen heard her mother talking.
Anne's eyes bulged at what she saw in the city, on the TV reporting on it.
An older man with a mustache explained, "The infamous international criminal known as the Chameleon was apprehended last night. While her fingerprints were not on records, her DNA matched to samples found in over two dozen crimes worldwide."
Anne was at least happy that the person who had attacked them was captured.
"Police are eager to question her, but that might take some time after doctors have confirmed a severed arm and the skin on her face being melted off will need treatment. For the moment, she is in a medically induced coma."
"What about face melted off?" Anne questioned.
"Is this some sort of new twisted ability from this infamous Spider-Frog? We turn to our special guest Doctor Ford Pines for answers."
"Spider-Frog?" Anne asked.
"Yeah," Her dad told her, "That's what they're calling the person with the shooty webs at the mall. I'm surprised you didn't see them. You must have missed them in all the chaos."
"Yeah…"
The newscaster turned to Ford, who was sitting next to him. "How dangerous is the acid this Spider-Frog spits?"
Ford looked dumbfounded. "Look, while this Chameleon person has been confirmed to have her face melted, there is no evidence that it was any organic secretion. From the reports, the police have provided its likely sulfuric acid, and some reports of glass shards found it's likely some sort of container was brought and broken."
"So this Spider-Frog brought acid to use and then sliced off the arm?"
"You're jumping to conclusions. There is no evidence of either fact. All security cameras had gone down during the attack. We still do not know about how or why Spider-Frog is doing what she is doing?"
"Do you think Spider-Frog is a criminal?"
"Yes, at the very least, from witness accounts, she was seen fighting the Chameleon. At best, she's a vigilante. At worst, she mutilated a person. She needs to be brought in and questioned and tried accordingly."
"And what if she is one of the witch children?"
Ford sighed, "Yes, I know the stories of these witch children with inborn powers. There has never been any definitive proof of their existence. If Spider-Frogs is some sort of enhanced individual, she needs to be studied."
While Ford would like to think that he put all his weird science in the past, some part of him wanted to believe in the supernatural and what possibilities they could learn from someone with powers. A small sample of blood could tell so much.
On the other hand, Anne paled at the thought. She could almost imagine being pinned to a lab table like a frog in biology class. She was so happy she'd disguised herself at the mall. Even with their picture, there was no way to identify her.
Anne decided it would be best to hide all the proof of her little adventure and try to move on.
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Ford got back to his office and tried to relax. Their investigation with Spider-Frog was going to be a marathon as they dug up every clue they could. To complicate matters were the Chameleon and this Heron. Ford was confident if they found anything on Heron, they'd figure out more on the Spider-Frog.
That's when the door to his office opened up. In came Lilith Clawthorne, a woman with pitch black hair who wore large framed glasses, a green top, a purple skirt, and a black vest. Though she was a tad odd even for Ford, she was a very intelligent and diligent worker. For someone reason, Ford never understood she was particularly interested in disproving stories of the hulking Owl Beast.
"I've got good news, Boss!" Lilith came in smiling. She was like this when she was sure she'd get praise, "I've found everything you asked for, plus doing my research, I checked in with some military contacts."
Ford raised one of his bushy eyebrows as he started to look at her research. "I think we have a starting point."
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Anne was trying not to think about the mess that was her life, one of her best friends was in the hospital, two supervillains had attacked her, and she was developing a superpower and possibly talking to a frog.
Maybe she was too much in her head as she walked into school and bumped into someone.
"Hey, watch it!" Maggie shouted, getting Anne out of her stopper.
"Sor-"
"Whoa! Watch it, Boonchuy! Crap, you touched me! I'm going to get that Boonchuy Luck. I'm going to the next one struck by Boonchuys bad luck!" A few people chuckled at the joke. "Maybe I'll end up in the hospital like Wu-"
CRACK!
The halls had been filled with some people laughing and talking to their friends, but that was all silenced.
Maggie barely registered it, but suddenly Anne pushed her up to the wall and slammed her hand on the wall behind her. Anne hit the wall with enough force that the wall cracked with a giant spider web-like pattern. The hall light above them was flickering off and on, almost obscuring the rage-filled glare Anne was giving her.
"What did you say about Marcy?" Anne's voice was little more than a grumble.
Maggie felt her heart choke in her throat as she was sure if she said the wrong thing, she'd be going to the hospital. No one in the hall moved to her defense as this shocking turn of events had them all stunned.
Well, everyone except one.
"Okay, let's cool it." Sasha gently grabbed Anne's shoulder and helped her pull away. "That was not cool, Maggie. So, maybe you just make yourself scarce today. Okay?"
Maggie didn't respond, but Sasha took that as an answer. Sasha pulled Anne away to talk to her. Maggie just stared at the significant dent in the wall.
"Okay, breath, Remember those breathing exercises we tried to get Marcy into? Just take in a big breath."
"I'm okay."
"Really? Cause you just punched a hole into a wall." Sasha took Anne's hand, inspecting it for damage, "Does it hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." She pulled away. "I just got angry when-"
"No, I get it," Sasha agreed, "I'm going to be honest with you. People are starting to say that you're a bad luck charm. That getting close to you will get people some bad luck, all because you know. Your luck hasn't been great lately."
Anne buried her face into her hands.
"Screw them!" Sasha told her, "You got me, and when Marcy comes out of it, you'll have her too. We're best friends forever."
Anne smiled at the thought, "Thanks," She paused, "Do you think it was my fault?"
"What? Anne, some crazy master of disguise, decided to shoot up the mall? How in any way is that your fault?"
Anne gulped, thinking about the gem.
"I- I- I could have done something. I could have helped Marcy if I-"
"If you what? Got yourself killed? We both love Marcy, and You shouldn't have been in the position to save someone from crazy with a gun. Marcy would never ask for that. If you had tried, odds are you'd get hurt too. Nothing you could have done would have changed that."
"You're right," Anne lied.
Anne had super powers; if she had used them, she could have saved Marcy. So for the rest of the day, Anne decided to lie.
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There was one thing that Anne had been curious about, so she went to them at lunch and returned after school.
Ally and Jess were two, well, not teachers; they ran the extracurricular science lab, helped kids with science stuff, and helped out with the science-focused science clubs. Marcy had told Anne about them, and that gave her the idea. People around school called them the IT Gals.
Anne was a little worried about bringing in the gem to them, afraid it would cause more trouble, but she needed some answers, and well, she wasn't bright like Marcy.
"Huh?" Ally looked at the gem. "Weird rock. The cut seems weird. Not a geology expert or even a jewelry expert. It looks natural, well, as natural as a cut is going to form. I mean, it's not an artificial cut; this doesn't look like anyone cut it. It just became that."
"That's not even the weirdest part," Jess pushed a device forward, "Took some jerry-rigging, but it's radioactive."
"Radioactive!?" Anne shouted.
"Well, kind of." Jess admitted, "This is way beyond us, but-" showing Anne a weird pattern on the device's screen. "That s a peculiar energy pattern, and we had to look up stuff from NASA to get it that the same kind of cosmic microwave background radiation came about from the Big Bang. Like it's supposed to be a relic, just out in the emptiness of space, but the little rock is chuck full of it."
"Is it dangerous?" Anne asked.
"Probably not." Ally offered. "I mean, super low levels of it are supposed to be everywhere. Still, I'd keep it diluted, putting in some liquid or a metal container." She pulled out an old thermos and spilled the liquids into a nearby sink before dropping the gem. "Here, take it in this. We think it used to hold soup, found it behind an old heater."
Jesse asked, "Where did you find it anyway?"
"Uh, it's a secret."
They looked at one another.
"Okay,"
"Sure"
Anne blinked, a little surprised, "Aren't you guys going to ask me stuff? Or try to take it from me?"
They shrugged, Jesse, saying, "It's your gem. Do what you want with it. Plus, even from a scientific standpoint, technology isn't there to do anything with it. In the best case scenario, some big ultra secret corp will study it and patent all sorts of discoveries."
"If you're going to do that," Ally told her, "Wait until you need money for college to sell it. At least you won't have to worry about student loans."
Anne chuckled at that. She wasn't sure she could trust them with everything, but they seemed like good people.
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Anne tried to do regular exercise, she still did Muay Thai since her parents got her on it, but for the last few days, she'd been doing more. She woke up early and ran. In the last few days, Anne could do ten times the number of laps and a fraction of the time. She started using some exercise equipment her dad never used and was lifting everything they had. Anne wasn't sure of her limit, but she was way under it.
Something in her wanted to push it, to know how far she could go.
She talked to the little frog and knew what he was trying to tell her. That gem she kept hidden must have made this possible. She wondered if she should expose the other frogs too. She didn't say to him about that, he seemed happy, but he wasn't sure if it would be the right thing to do.
She and Sasha went to the hospital regularly to talk to Marcy, and she was still out. They'd read her the new comic books and fill her in on her favorite shows and the news about the movies she was looking forward to.
Sasha fixed some flowers by her bed, "We'll watch them all together when you wake up. Hell, if you wake up soon, we'll even dress and go to one of those conventions of yours."
Anne chuckled, "Remember she'd try to get us to do with her and always put on costumes?"
Sasha smiled at Marcy, "If you wake up, I'll even wear one of those skin-tight suits."
"Yeah, she made a few outfits for me for Halloween. I just couldn't wear it, but if she wakes up." Anne stopped herself from crying.
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Days blended into another. At night, when she had trouble sleeping, she'd try out her powers. She'd cling to walls, and she shot the web to the ceiling seeing how strong it was. Sometimes Sprig would join her, he could shoot webs, but his tongue seemed to stretch farther than it should have.
Anne tried everything to keep herself from thinking. There was something wrong, given time she realized something was off. The gem, why would a thief want a stone that could do this? She'd watch the news and check online, The Chemelone was a thief and master of disguise, but they always seemed to work for hire, steal things for the highest bidder. And Anne knew someone had to hire her, and she knew someone else who was looking for the gem.
"The Heron."
A psycho was running around, who sent someone that almost killed Marcy.
Anne sighed, coming off the wall, opened a closet, and looked at a discarded costume Marcy had made for her. There had been a couple of other ones in the closet too. Marcy had made several costumes over the last few years, and she felt terrible that she never wore them. Anne picked up her phone and started looking up cosplay videos and how to make them.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
Anne started to work through the night, putting all the costumes together, changing colors, and adding her details.
She spent the next several nights working on them.
Anne wanted to say any number of things, that it was a stupid idea, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't forgive herself if she left the person who got Marcy hurt run free when she could do something to stop it. She had the power to do something.
Anne decided to lean onto the spider thing, altered the mask by giving it big eyes with some sunglasses, and made a hole in the back. She had to pull her hair through it, or else the mask would get lumpy. She put on a web-like pattern over the mask and the body suit, making it a dark blue web. In the middle of it, Anne painted a spider.
Sprig jumped on the fresh paint leaving a froggy footprint.
Anne smiled at it, deciding to make that her logo and add it to the froggy sweater. She was going to make that a dark blue too and make the eyes less goofy. Anne did consider dropping the hoodie, but she didn't think the suit would do much for warmth. And she added some sneakers cause, well, she was going to do a lot of jumping, and her powers seemed to work through shoes, so why not?
0000
Toomes was fuming. Not only had Renee been captured, but the stone was gone. No matter how far he searched, he could trace it. Whoever had it had found some way to block its energy signature. He wondered if Andrias had it, but that felt wrong. He heard a rumor that something was being brought into the city soon. If he was, and that was the third gem, he couldn't let Andrias have all three at once.
He was going to have to do something bold.
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Sasha sat beside Marcy way past visiting hours.
"Mar-Mar, don't worry, I made sure that women will never hurt you again. I'm going to ensure the person who set her off is gone too." She leaned down and kissed Marcy on the head. "I owe it to you and my old man." She sighed, "If things go wrong… you and Anne will have to take care of each other."
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Andrias was holding an event, and the rich and powerful of the city were all coming out. Officially it was to raise money for the homeless. Unofficially it was for the rich to stroke their egos and mingle and get some excellent publicity.
Andrias welcomed all the rich people, "Welcome, please help yourself to the shrimp. It's fresh. And most of all, remember to dig deep and give from your hearts. We are trying to-"
Something exploded, and down descended the Heron. "Andrias,"
"Have we met? Also, have you met Yunan?"
His bodyguard jumped in front of him.
"Yeah, I don't think she's going to be enough," The Heron fired a blast from his plasma gun.
Yunan pressed a button, and dagger-like claws sprung over her knuckles, and she quickly deflected the blasts.
"I disagree," Andrias interjected, "I only hire the best, and I fire the rest."
Andrias smirked, and Toomes knew precisely what he meant.
"Sir, run! Get to safety!" Yunan ordered as she readied to battle. "Get to safety!"
The Heron fired again, to which the bodyguard managed to deflect.
At this point, the guest was making a mad scramble to escape but was stopped as dozens of drones descended, pointing weapons at them. It was making it clear none of them were allowed to go anywhere.
Toomes wanted Andrias, but if things went sideways, having the city's elite hostage made an excellent bargaining chip.
0000
The news was playing the events across every smartphone, laptop, and TV all over the city.
Sasha watched it on her phone, "Yeah, I guess it's time."
Sasha pulled out the red gem and put it in a chocker she put on.
"It's time to finish this."
0000
Anne watched the news with bated breath, unsure what to make of it. Part of her wanted to ignore it, but she knew this would have to be it. Anne took a deep breath and rushed into her room to get the costume she was working on.
"Sprig?"
Anne noticed the little frog on the costume, and he had on a tiny little aviator goggle hat thing.
"Is that from my old Amelia Earhart doll?"
Well, you're wearing a mask, so…
"Yeah, well, I don't think you need to hide your identity. Why would you need a mask? You're a frog! You're not coming with me! "
I am!
"No, you're not."
Look, I got powers too.
"Dude, you're a frog!"
You're a human.
"Look!"
Listen! You can understand me. And I'm small, no one notices me, if I come along with you, I can watch your back, so no one gets the drop on you.
"My head does a weird tingle when anything nearly hits me."
We can argue all you want, but if you have another person there, I can sneak in for you. I can watch your back.
"I don't have time to argue!" Anne yelled, "Let's go."
Anne quickly got dressed with the little frog on her back. She leaped onto the roof and the next, jumping as far as she could until she hopped on a passing bus. As the bus sped into the city, Anne held out her hands to a passing building and shot out her web. With one more leap, Anne swung into the air.
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Heron was annoyed this bodyguard was more capable than he would have guessed. She was using those claws to climb up the walls to chase him in the air, and she was doing so naturally. He could almost think that was her natural state. Heron was forced to fly into the building after Andrias while fighting the guard.
"You think you will escape the grand Yunan!"
She leaped on his back and stabbed at him.
Heron let out a scream. His armor deflected most of the blade, but he felt the sharp tip dig into his skin.
"Get off me, you crazy bi- " He flew straight into the ceiling to crush her, but she leaped off at the last second.
He barely managed to use that to escape and move ahead.
0000
It didn't take long for the Black Cat to reach the fancy digs that the rich and famous had been trapped in. The police had arrived and were useless, they tried to breach the place, but the drone fired on them.
She sat on the roof and watched for a few moments.
"Okay, let's see the drone. All are looking down, making sure no one is going too far. Simple enough, I guess,"
She snuck into a near sky scrapper and went to the very top.
The drones were simple. They looked down and saw the world as a map. If no one stepped out of the border, they would do nothing. The only issue was about getting into the border, and Sasha found it all she had to do was drop.
She touched the chocker where she hid the gem. She didn't feel different, "Come on, old man. Please be right."
She ran at full speed, kicking off the rood at the last second, she wanted to close her eyes, but she had to open them.
She moved into the air, and she soared. Her kick was enough to get her to pass the border. She felt the air rush past her and her heart beating crazy in her chest. She felt the rush of adrenaline. She said she would not give into the fear. She would control it, and as she grit her teeth. She twisted her body mid-air, forcing it to turn, and she latched onto a nearby flag pole and dug her claws into it.
"Well, I guess that works."
She moved towards the wall, climbed a window, and forced it open.
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"Aaaaah!" Anne screamed, "This is crazy! This is crazy!"
Anne was trusting her instincts to swing herself through the skyline. Spring was screaming too, but more in delight. The little frog was sticking to her with no issue.
Anne regretted her every decision.
She wanted to stop or run away, but she kept picturing Marcy in that bed and how she could have prevented that.
Anne could not let that happen again.
As she saw the building where the party was, she saw police and drones.
"Drones!"
Anne swung closer to them, and they turned to her, and she felt the tingle just as the bullets were let loose.
Anne twisted her body through the air, just dodging the gunfire. The police ducked back, pushing any onlookers away from the gunfire. Anne shot webs at the eyepieces of a few nearby drones, which flew wildly and crashed. The drones started to pay attention to her and only her. Anne shot her webs to try to knock some down. It was getting much harder to do as they continued to fire on her forcing her to doge them.
Anne landed on one of the drones, desperate for a second to catch her breath. She didn't get it as she was forced to leap off it as the other drones fired on it. They managed to swiss cheese it as she jumped away. The gunfire was loud, and she could barely hear it over the sounds of people screaming. As people panicked, some drones started to spread out toward the screaming people. Anne had a flash of inspiration. Anne started to fire her webs at the propellors on the drones. The propellers got gunked up, and they began to crash.
Anne heard a scream as one of the drones spun out of control towards a woman. Anne quickly shot webs at it, yanked it away, and did her best to hurl it away. Anne was aiming toward another drone but didn't have enough practice and ended up crashing it into a police car.
"Ah! My bad!"
Things were chaotic, and her tingle was telling her when to dodge. People were panicking, and Anne could barely keep the drones from attacking them. The more she struck at them, the more they turned towards her, but any that didn't target her had to shoot while dodging.
Run! Inside!
"I'm trying, but the drones! They'll start attacking the other people!"
Yeah! They attack you, and they'll chase you away from them.
Anne blinked, unsure if it would work, but it sounded good. Anne webbed two drones and leaped towards the wall. The other drones turned their attention to her, and she kept pulling them past the border deeper inside. as the drones all turned to her as she ran inside, the guest took the chance to run, the police helping by covering them. Anne rushed into the building letting the two drones she dragged crash into the walls. All the other ones flew behind her.
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The grand ballroom, which was supposed to host the ball at night, was now all but empty. The doors burst open as the Heron flew through.
"Adrian, how good of you to come," Andrias held up a glass of wine, "We have all this amazing wine, and no was just going to waste. They should have opened it until the guest got settled. But then again, I supposed who would predict an avian-themed supervillain."
"You're calm for a man with a gun pointed at him," Heron emphasized with his gun.
"You don't have the guts."
A blast of plasma shattered the glass.
"Are you sure about that?"
Andrias grabbed a napkin and cleaned some of the splatters off, "You still didn't hit me, and considering that shot, you must have an amazing aiming system."
"I think that's the first compliment you've ever given me."
"Well, if you could have produced tech on that level before, I wouldn't have fired you."
"I wouldn't have quit."
"Is that what you tell yourself?"
"You are testing my desire not to kill you."
"If you are sparring me, then why?"
"The gems, I went them both. Give them to me."
Andrias chuckled, "You think I have them? I'm afraid that you are misinformed. I am acquiring the green one, but I'm afraid we don't have anyone now."
"I didn't think the cat was yours, not your style. But you don't have the blue one?"
"I was thinking you stole it from Frakes, but it seems you don't have it either."
"Then I don't have any reason to keep you alive."
Andrias poured himself a glass, "Well, I think she will have something to say about it."
A knife flew through the air, knocking the blast away and pinning it to a wall via the trigger.
Yunan stood with her jacket off, revealing dozens of knives, shurikens, and other items.
"Bullseye," Andrias remarked, "Yunan here does love getting up close and personal in her fights, but her aim is even more impressive than what you have there."
"Well, see about that-"Heron pulled out another blast for it to be taken out of his hand by a pair of sharp pins.
Yunan smiled broadly, "Try to make this fight interesting."
Toomes pulled out a staff that glowed with purple energy at the tips. With a flick of a button, it extended to full length. Yunan charged at him, her claws extended and a wild glee in her eyes. She threw a pair of blades which Heron barely dodged. The staff collided with the claws as they struggled to overcome the other. That fact got under Toomes skin. How could this woman be keeping up against him and a suit with some of the best tech he could come up with it? He considered trying to fly up but indoors- even in a room this big- he could only get so much distance. And Yunan had already proven that wouldn't be enough. A blade erupted on his gauntlet, and he used it to block her next blow. He was a scientist, and though he could make weapons, he wasn't exactly an expert in using them. He needed something to change the tide in his favor.
The lights all turned off, and the slight confusion gave him a chance to fall back. The Suits infrared turned on, and while Yunan was talented, she couldn't see in the dark. He saw her take a pair of blades and prepare to block anything. Toomes considered attacking Andrias at this moment, but Yunan was a step ahead. She put herself between him and Andrias. Toomes could try something but Yunan would take the hit, and he imagined she'd be able to deflect even in pitch black.
"Is this party invite only? Or am I crashing it?"
Toomes turned his attention to a corner where a familiar blonde girl in a suit stood. Before he could take this in, she charged at him, clawed out, and tackled him. She slammed him into the wall knocking the air out of his lungs. His mind tried to process this. How was this possible? She was a teen. She didn't have enough mass to hit her with this force? How did she bridge the gap so fast? She was slashing at him tearing the suit and weapons and damaging his helmet. How could she fight him with such precision? His helmet only let him see so much.
That claw pierced his chest. He looked at her rage-filled face and saw her eyes glowing red.
"Sir, we need to go!" Yunan whispered to Andrias.
Andrias smiled; Yunan was loud and arrogant but genuinely a marvel. In the dark, Yunan, even during the fight, kept a perfect picture in her mind of where he was, where everything in the room was, and even in the dark, she had a perfect picture in her mind. She had no idea what was happening but knew it was time to take Andrias away.
Andrias knew she was expensive but certainly worth the money. They left the room unnoticed as the others continued to fight, well, tried to.
"Aaaaah!"
There were flashes of light as someone ran in screaming with several drones firing.
"What?" The Black Cat asked just as the Heron managed to kick her in the torso away.
The computer in his suit flickered on as he tried to force it on. He quickly broke into the building wifi and the wireless controls to get the light back on; with his helmet damaged, he needed light.
The room was filled with light, and he saw how things had turned.
The Spider-Frog had rushed into the room with his drones following behind her, and she was forced to jump behind the tables for cover. Andrias and his guard her close enough.
Heron laughed out, "AHAHAHAHA! This couldn't work out better than I wanted!"
Heron took control of the drones and gave them new orders to kill anyone who wasn't him.
The drones paused for a moment and turned and prepared.
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The Police officers were busy using this chance to get everyone away from this battle zone. Drones, weird kids in crazy suits, and a guy in a flying suit were way too much for any of them, and they had to do what they could.
When their radios rang out about some important news, other officers were already dealing with the other part, but something interesting was set out for them. They had to get the Heron.
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"Get behind the stage!" Yunan used all her might to push Andrias behind the stage where the band was supposed to perform. With her agility, she grabbed a table and used it for shielding, a few bullets grazing her.
The Black Cat was bouncing off the wall, avoiding the gunfire. The Spider freak was avoiding them by the skin of their hair.
Anne, even mid-dodge, saw Heron laughing. She thought about Marcy. All the extra thought faded away in her mind, even the sound of her heart beating vanished, and she was left with the tingle. She wasn't thinking now, her body moving on its own, avoiding bullets with the ease and grace of a dancer. She moved closer and closer to the Heron.
If there was any thought in her head, it was the image of Marcy in the hospital bed, the idea that Sasha and her parents could end up the same or worse.
Anne couldn't let that happen.
Anne shot her web, dragged a drone toward her, and drove her fist through it. Anne crushed its insides with her fist and held the drone to use it as a shield. Anne charged at the Heron, blocking the bullets with her shield, and slammed into the Heron with enough force to drive him through the wall.
"What the hell?!" the Black Cat yelled; dodging a few more attacks, she followed them through the hole.
Yunan wasn't resting on her laurels, and she was switching tables for tables as they were getting shot at. Then she pulled off a blaster from the wall that she pinned herself.
Taking hold of it, she leaped into the air and fired 13 shots and hit 13 targets, and dropped 13 drones. Yunan smiled, "Oh! I like this!"
"You can keep it." Andrias commended. The blast had burned holes right through the drones. The other drones had followed the strange trio.
He stared at the other blaster and the drones. He took out his phone and called some people.
0000
Heron was getting beat by a second teenage girl, and he had enough of it. A pulse of electricity surged out of his suit and blasted Spider-Frog away. This whole thing had gone sideways. His suit struggled to turn on, but only basic controls remained. It would take a few minutes for it to boot up fully.
Black Cat slammed him again and moved to his neck, her clawed hand gripping.
"You killed him!"
"Wha-"He tried to get out.
"You hired the Chameleon just for a rock!"
Heron felt the tips dig into his neck, blood threatening to escape.
Anne was fuzzy after getting shocked.
Anne! Wake up!
Anne opened her eyes to see Black Cat trying to kill Heron. Part of her wanted her to do it to know that it was over and she didn't have to get her hands dirty. But then she thought back to when she nearly killed the Chameleon.
It wasn't right.
Spider-Frog shot a web and yanked back the Black Cat.
"What?" Black Cat let out. "What are you doing?"
"You can't."
"Do you know what he is responsible for?"
"The Chameleon," Spider Frog told her, "He's the one behind her, and I don't know what else he's done. I know he attacked the musueme."
The Black Cat grit her teeth, "He nearly killed a girl there, he hired the Chameleon who nearly got another girl killed, and know who else. Who knows who else he's hurt!" Tears started to escape her eyes.
"Yeah, but do you want to end up like him?" Spider-Frog forced herself up on her feet.
"I'll risk it."
Before she could react, Spider-Frog jumped her and got her to the ground. Angry at this attempt to stop her, she dug her nails into her side. Spider-Frog groaned in pain, but she almost didn't hear it from the gunfire. Spider-Frog was using her body and the remains of the drone to block the gunfire. The Cat didn't notice the drones coming, but Spider-Frog had, and even arguing, she saved her. The cat pulled out the claws, and she could see her own eyes reflected in the lenses of the spider mask. She found herself looking away.
Cat also realized a girl with a very well-built body was right on top of her.
"Move and Block!" Black Cat pushed Spider-Frog up.
The drones focused fire onto the makeshift shield, and the cat leaped into the air over them, crashing into the drone. The Cat ripped through the drones and hurled another into one. Spider-Frog started shooting her webs into the drones. As they lost control, she began to deliver punch after punch, denting them. The Cat and the Spider found themselves back to back, and they worked on taking down the drones.
They spun together, knocking out the last few drones with kicks.
Both girls paused and looked at each other, "Super Dance Fun Time Fusion."
"Yeah."
The Heron clapped, "That was impressive, but sorry you won't win this one."
He tapped a device on his wrist, "Well, it's a been a blast, girls, but I'm not going to jail."
All the drones started to beep in unison.
"Shit! These things are about to blow. He's going to take us with him!"
The Heron sighed; this was his last-ditch plan. He planned to fly away when this was over and leave a bang. If he were lucky, he'd get Andrias with this blast.
The Cat grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it through a window jumping out of it.
Heron closed his eyes and prepared for the end.
"Come on." Spider-Frog, with some effort, got Heron and up, "Move!"
It was hard. She was tired, but she still forced her body to hold up this man, but she still jumped out the window with him just as the drones exploded.
0000
He hit the ground hard. Even with the helmet, he was feeling the explosion's force. He got some distance from the teen and walked forwards. The wings on his suit were booting up slowly, but the propellers got up, and with a deep breath, he got up into the air. This was at least his chance to escape.
"No!" Spider-Frog shot webs at his feet and held herself to the ground. "I don't want you dead, but I'm not letting you go!"
One last weapon, the wings would shoot out the feathers and hit everything, would throw off his balance, and it was a one-time thing, but if he could escape, it would be worth it.
That was until the cat leaped onto his back and sliced off his wings. The Heron hit the ground hard as the girl ensured he was pinned. Spider-Frog webbed up his hands and legs.
"Get on the ground!" The police barged in, and guns were drawn.
With the fires and the dark of the night, some only caught the barest glimpses of someone running away, but that wasn't the target.
The police all focused their guns on the man on the ground.
"Careful gentlemen, the suit has many safety features, and if you don't know what you're doing, it can harm you."
Someone expertly pressed the hidden button behind the helmet.
Toomes looked up to see Ford Pines examining the helmet, Lilith smiling, holding up plans.
"Thank you, Dr. Pines." One officer thanked him, "We will take it from here."
"How?" Toomes looked around, confused.
"Oh, we looked into anyone seeling this kind of technology to the army." Lilith explained, "It was a bit more basic, and the bird design is new, but he did find you tried to sell a suit to the army."
"A bit busy, honestly," Ford looked at the helmet, "The technology is top grade, too expensive for the government but could see the practicality of the whole bird of prey. Maybe should have tried with the air force."
Ford and his team had dug up mountains of evidence on Toomes dealing and handed it to the police, who were busy raiding his building and finding more evidence. They also warned the police about the safety feature on the suit preventing Toomes from escaping when someone tried to take the suit off.
Now that they had him and more evidence than they needed, they would make sure he wouldn't get out.
0000
Spider-Frog and the Black Cat watched on a rooftop as the police tore off the suit and carried Toomes away.
"He's not going to hurt anyone else." Spider-Frog sighed in relief.
Black Cat watched, "It doesn't undo what he did, doesn't bring people back."
"But it makes sure he won't hurt anyone else." She hissed in pain, holding her side.
"Yeah, sorry about that" She smirked, leaning in close, close enough that her warm breath seemed to tickle her, "Well, next time, know next time I get to be on top."
"Top?" Anne blinked until she remembered when she landed on the blonde in a skin suit and blushed, "Ah! Top-I mean, I- it wasn't-"
The Cat booped her nose, "Aren't you cute all flustered?"
Sprig jumped onto her shoulder and glared at the girl in black.
"You are really going with a theme, aren't you." She grimaced at the frog. "Not sure I would have gone with Spider-frog."
"It wasn't the name I picked, and it's not going to stick, is it?"
"Oh, it is!"
"Ugh!"
"Go with something simple next time. Like Black Cat! That's what you can call me, Spider." She flashed her a brilliant smile that, even for a second and maybe just found some peace from a burden.
"Until next time." She leaped off the building.
Anne, in her stopper, was confused for a second before she ran towards the edge. Anne looked around and didn't see the Black Cat.
I don't like her. She seems to mean.
"Sprig!"
Anne winced. She wasn't looking forward to her swing home.
0000
The Daily Trumpet was covered; the front page was covered in images of the Charity Ball Brawl, as people were calling it. On the front page was a picture of Spider-Frog fighting the drones. Some footage from security cams showed someone Toomes identified as the Black Cat.
The Daily Trumpet was selling out three who printings as their people had not only proven Toomes was the person behind this but were instrumental in his capture. They had details other papers couldn't get.
Sasha and Anne walked into the hospital to find the newly awakened Marcy with all the newspaper on her bed.
"Guys! Superheroes! I woke up, and there was a superhero fight!"
Sasha and Anne smiled before rushing for a hug from their friend. Marcy smiled eagerly to be reunited with her friends and to see this new exciting world.
0000
Three figures stood in the dark in front of several holographic screens displaying people in shadows.
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
The one wearing an eye patch sighed, "A couple of teens just ruined the whole masquerade. I got a Hulking Owl Beast roaming America, people hitting puberty and developing powers, a ghost girl in the midwest, a crazy star-powered witch, and exotic tech about to hit the streets and now superheroes."
The board looked confused, "I expected something else from you."
"Don't get me wrong, this bad. This isn't cracks in the damn—this the damn bursting. We've been trying to keep this hidden for ages, and it was inevitable that something was going to get through. This will encourage people; marvels, mutants, and monsters will come out of woodworks. The next question is, what are we going to do? Hiding them is no longer an option."
"What do you have in mind?"
0000
A red-haired young woman held a golden necklace around her neck that projected the image of three brilliant stars.
"Well, I guess I should look into this."
0000
A blind woman sat in her chair as a parrot sat on her shoulder. She tapped on her staff and mused, "They have been chosen."
0000
Andrias smiled as he walked deeper into the lab, Yunan beside him.
"Olivia."
A woman with short, well-kept hair and wearing a lab coat walked toward the towering figure. "Sir?"
"How goes it?"
"It goes well, and Luckily we managed to disable to self-destruct system before they went off. I've already started to reverse engineer the drones and weapons you acquired. For his many faults, Toomes had some talent in engineering."
Yunan had picked up a new blaster Olivia had been developing. She checked the sight and accidentally fired it, blasting a hole into the wall.
"Not a toy," Olivia took it from Yunan and placed it on a table.
"Good, good, but now onto the main event,"
Olivia gave him a slight smile, "It arrived this morning," She led them a short distance to a secure room where a green gemstone sat in the middle of a container.
"Give me a moment." Andrias smiled. The other left Andrias alone.
The door closed behind him Andrias fiddled with the pin on his lapel, which began to glow orange. "We have one, we've lost the blue one, but I am suspicious of who has it. Maybe even the third one. We might find ways to draw out this so-called hero."
Author's Notes: Well the first arc is done and as you might guess this isn't the last one. I've sprinkled a few hints of stuff thats a head. This chapter was longer then I expected but here we are.
Yunan is going to have elements of Bullseye and Lady Bullseye. I am actually having fun figuring out these mash ups. Tell me what ideas you have for spider-amphibian characters.
Otherwise leave me a review telling what you guys think. What you guys thought worked and what you liked.