Episode 41: Marémon Death Match (Part 2)

"You can't be serious," MJ objected upon hearing Don Fortunato's proposal. "You want our Marémon to fight to the death against the Rose and Black Tarantula's Marémon?"

"I said what I said," replied Don Fortunato. "Now, untie these children."

Don Fortunato snapped his finger, and the two bouncers that knocked MJ and Peter out earlier appeared. They untied the two from their chairs and gave them their PDBs back.

"You may use any means to assure your Marémon's victory over my colleagues, including Healing Factor Juice," Don Fortunato said while scratching the back of his pet wolf. "But if you use your Marémon to escape, I won't hesitate to have your friends executed."

To prove Don Fortunato's point, the bouncers walked over to Ben and Thor pointing their guns at the boys' heads. Peter tensed up, and looked down at his PDBs. He knew Spidermin was put in one of them against his will, and felt responsible for putting him in this situation. Suddenly, his mind drifted to the time when he found his Uncle Ben bleeding out on the street near the Marémon License Test facility after he was shot by the thief.

"Peter," MJ said, shaking Peter's arm. "What's wrong?"

"Come on, niño," Black Tarantula said. "We don't have all night."

In Peter's mind, he remembered kneeling next to Uncle Ben and trying to stop the bleeding. Uncle Ben then whispered something, forcing Peter to lean down to hear what he said. Then the next minute, Uncle Ben became lifeless in Peter's arms. Peter couldn't remember what happened after that, but he never forgot his uncle's words:

With great power comes great responsibility.

Gripping his PDBs tight, Peter sighed. "I refuse to participate in this death match."

This came as a surprise to everyone, though especially Don Fortunato. "What did you say?"

"I won't let my Marémon get killed just for your amusement," Peter said, putting his PDBs on their holsters along his belt. "They are living creatures, who need to be cared for and nurtured."

"And yet you use them to fight your battles in those silly realms and theaters," Don Fortunato pointed out. "How are those things any different from what we're doing here?"

"Because those activities are not meant to kill Marémon," MJ interjected. "What you propose is disgraceful, and so I too will not participate in the death match."

"MJ," Peter murmured while MJ placed her PDB back on her belt holster.

The Rose suddenly chuckled. "You really are foolish children. If you won't fight me and Black Tarantula, then I guess we have no choice but to kill your friends anyway."

Before the bouncers could pull the triggers on their guns, though, something crashed in through the air vent above. It was Delilah, who was wearing her usual pink outfit and glaring daggers into the Rose.

"Delilah," the Rose said casually. "I thought I made it clear you weren't needed for tonight. So what brings you here?"

"You know exactly why I'm here," Delilah growled. "You wouldn't let me go after the brats, even though they've foiled my operations twice now, and you stole my Rikoshay!"

"I didn't steal your Rikoshay, Delilah dear," Rose corrected. "Technically, I own him as your employer. So he's mine to do whatever I want with. And if you want to take care of the brats, they're right behind you."

Looking back, Delilah saw Peter and MJ. She was surprised to see them, but hid it with a deep frown. Then she glanced at the Rose.

"As tempting as it would be to finish off the kids right now, I'll only do it for you if you give me back my Rikoshay," Delilah said, holding her hand out.

The Rose reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a PDB that had pink-colored casing instead of the usual silver-gray color.

"Very well." The Rose tossed the pink PDB to Delilah, who caught it. "The kids are all yours."

Delilah then turned around to face Peter and MJ, pressing the front button on the PDB to summon Rikoshay. This forced Peter and MJ to summon Spidermin and Noirstel from their PDBs. Behind Delilah, Don Fortunato signaled the bouncers to press their guns against the heads of Thor and Ben. It was then that Thor's body glowed with electric sparks.

"What is this?" Don Fortunato noticed. "Don't tell me this Asgardian has magical abilities."

"He sure does," MJ said. "Use Invisible Web on us and Ben, Noirstel!"

Immediately, Noirstel generated an invisible web that was big enough to cover MJ and Peter. He also shot a similar web at Ben, which covered him as the bouncer next to Ben backed away with the gun. While Delilah blinked, Thor unleashed an electric wave that electrocuted the bouncers, Don Fortunato, the Rose, Black Tarantula, and Delilah. The refractive light that Noirstel's invisible webs were made of managed to absorb the electricity, allowing Peter, MJ, and Ben to not be affected. Once the webs burned through, Peter and MJ saw everyone in the room was writhing on the floor in pain except for Ben and Thor.

"Sorry I didn't use that ability sooner," Thor apologized once MJ took the gag was out of his mouth. "I still don't have control over it, so I didn't want my friends to get hurt in addition to the bad guys."

"Well, I was taking a gamble on Noirstel's Invisible Web being able to absorb your electricity," MJ admitted as she untied Thor from the operating table while Peter did the same for Ben. "And it worked better than I expected."

"This is all my fault," Ben said after he was untied. "If I had just gone after the Rose and Black Tarantula myself, you guys wouldn't have gotten captured."

"But then you would have played into Don Fortunato's hands and gotten killed," Peter pointed out. "Now let's find Ben and Thor's PDBs, then get out of here before—

"You're not going anywhere, niños," Black Tarantula said as he was slowly getting up.

To be continued…