Chapter Thirteen:

Cornered at The Warehouse

Haeridem slapped his foot down hard on the pedal, and hardly checked the gas meter on the motorcycle. To be caught was not one of his options, and his heart pounded whenever he looked back to shoot at the pursuing Inkling in the Spider-Squid costume, even when he took his shots at him.

Just how could there be two of them now?

By the sunlight, it didn't matter. All that mattered was escape to safety, and Haeridem wasn't about to lose the wallet he'd nabbed from that green-haired Inkling with the glasses.

The crook ducked his head when a web flew over, and he looked up to see the warehouse on the other end of the street. Hopefully, he'd be able to find other gangsters who could keep the Spider-Squid away, and maybe they'd skirt being arrested by the cops too.

Unsettled, and crooked Haeridem veered hard, racing onto the warehouse's premises, while rushing past the crates. He looked back to see his pursuer head to another building, and the Inkling thief parked the motorcycle, which had a smoking pipe now, by a container. He climbed off, and ran to the warehouse as fast as possible.

Gasping in an uneasy fashion, Haeridem morphed into his squid form, and dashed to the warehouse. He slid under the door, and changed back into his standard humanoid form, then the shelter-seeking squid criminal looked around the room full of crates.

If this had been Walleye Warehouse, he would be having trouble finding a safe spot with all of the Turf War activity.

He heard a clattering, and drew his gun, aiming it around the room with wide eyes, dreading the chance that masked squid had found him and was about to web up the crook. Haeridem breathed, and put away his weapon after a moment.

Nobody else seemed to be here, but the Spider-Squid wouldn't hesitate to come around at some point.

Haeridem walked at a near-run, moving around the maze of crates and containers while he studied the wallet he'd nabbed from the squid he'd shot in the shoulder. Inky sweat rolled down his forehead, and humid air flooded his nostrils, along with moist that had gathered on the containers. Timid Haeridem rolled up his mask, revealing his smooth face.

A thump sound prompted him to wheel around. Nobody was behind him, but the noise was close by. With his heart thumping, he made a mad dash around a stack of crates on his left, and put the wallet back in his pocket.

Seconds later, he heard a slight clatter, followed by another thump. He held up his gun, tempted to loudly demand; "Who's there?"

No word left his mouth. Only small pants for breath. Haeridem gripped his weapon nervously, and noticed a shadow dance on the wall. It looked like an Inkling. He wheeled around, hearing the sound of someone sliding down rope.

'Nobody here.'

KCHT!

Something sticky slammed into his foot, rooting the crook to the floor, and he gasped in shock. Seconds later, Haeridem found himself being hit in the chest as the costumed, web-slinging Inkling who'd chased him through the streets swung in and kicked him. The crook found himself tumbling into a crate near a wall, and the gun fell from his hand.

"Did you actually think someone would let you off the hook?" Makerboy asked.

"Oh, Cod! Oh, Cod! D-Don't hurt me!" The criminal begged.

"What about that Inkling you shot? Did you think about not hurting him?! And I bet you took his wallet..."

THWIP! Before Haeridem could react again, a web sunk into his pocket, and the Spider-Inkling pulled out the wallet. Under the mask, Makerboy smiled as he put away the wallet on his person to return to his father, then he glared at the crook again.

"You're bad at hiding what you steal, and you're bad at proving you didn't hurt anyone." Makerboy said to Haeridem with anger in his voice, "AND YOU HAD IT COMING WITH YOURSELF TO BLAME!"

He approached the crook, and grabbed the scruff of his shirt, then the green-gray web-shooting squid slammed his fist across the Inkling criminal's face. Haeridem groaned in pain, and wailed for the "Spider-Squid" to stop, even as the blows kept coming. His vision darkened, but his heart still pounded, and he slumped over in an unconscious haze.

Makerboy pulled back, and struck again. Rinse, repeat. He kept hitting his father's shooter, even after he was out, even when he could hear sirens in the distance.

Unbeknownst to him, a dark-colored alien ooze had entered the area, and was watching Makerboy as it moved closer, and closer, and closer, eager to bond with the costumed Inkling superhero.

"Alex!"

The fresh Inkling ceased his brutal attack, and pulled away, hearing his comrade Parker arrive. The red-blue super Inkling swooped in, having entered the warehouse through an open window, and joined Makerboy near the unconscious crook.

"Oh... Oh, cod..." Makerboy gasped, staring at the unconscious Inkling criminal as ink ran down his nose, "Oh my cod..."

"T-Take it easy, man. Just take it easy." Parker comforted the Inkling, "With great power comes great responsibility. We gotta remember that. The police will take it from here, and your dad will be fine. It was just a shoulder wound, and your mom's taking him home. If it was my dad, I'd be terrified and angry too. Just don't go off the deep end again."

Makerboy smiled. And that was when the ooze made itself known.

It darted across the floor, and leaped onto the green Inkling's leg, then the ooze began spreading around Makerboy's leg, going from the legs all the way to his torso as it merged with his costume. The super squid yelped with surprise. Even Parker was caught off guard. He stepped back, watching as the mysterious alien substance swarmed around Makerboy.

"Whoa! Holy carp!" The young superhero Inkling exclaimed.

Even though he wanted to resist, the ooze spread quickly around him, forming a black suit upon Makerboy's body as it began to swallow his neck. Seconds later, white web-line symbols began to appear, and a white spider symbol materialized on the front.

"Dang, what the heck is all this?!" Parker remarked with surprise, "It looks like nanites."

"I don't think it is!" Makerboy said, "Would you say it's too soon to get a new outfit?"

Parker watched as the ooze began to swallow his friend's face; "I don't think you're getting a new superhero costume. It's more or less along the lines of getting your outfit dyed and customized."

The black substance wrapped around the mask upon Makerboy's face, and the green Inkling gasped, wondering what was next. Seconds later, the ooze merged with the mask, and two white eyes opened just as web-linings appeared around them as the black substance solidified, becoming one with the already freshly-made, but dyed Spider-Inkling outfit...