EARTH-17246
"Faster!" Mayday's father yelled.
"I'm trying!" she shouted back as she fired another web. It wasn't her fault that her dad had over twenty years more experience in navigating the concrete jungle that was New York City, whereas she was still a rookie only a few months in. When she'd first started training, she'd just assumed it would be easy, but it had instead been one of the biggest wake up calls to how much she had to learn if she was going to truly succeed her father in protecting the city... and then HE showed up, and suddenly their family's survival was the only thing that had come to matter.
"There!" her dad shouted, pointing to an abandoned warehouse just to their right. Releasing her web, May dropped down right behind her dad through a broken window, landing in the dark, decrepit building. Mayday's father went and peered out another window, likely trying to make sure they weren't being followed. He then ran over and got in front of her, nearly doubling over.
"Dad!" she called out, getting down to help him. It was then that she noticed how bad the wound on his left side was, as the blood was still leaking from it despite her father's hand pressed against it.
"Alright, listen very carefully," he spoke up, his breath heavy through his torn mask. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has already gotten your mother somewhere safe where he can't get to her. There's a special pin I've used in the past to contact Nick Fury before; run home and grab it. He'll send people for you so that you can meet up with her. You'll be safe there."
"What about you?" Mayday asked.
"He's after me more than you, so I'll hold him off," her father explained.
"No!" she shouted. "I'm not leaving you!"
"Mayday," her father said, suddenly clutching the tops of her arms near her shoulders. She glanced at his mask; even though she couldn't see his eyes, it wasn't easy to picture the focused, stern look she'd received several times before. "We can't beat him. If we both stay, he'll kill us both."
"I can't just run away and leave you to die," she said. "You always told me that I had a responsibility to..."
"I don't have time to argue with you, Mayday!" her father interrupted. "Now..."
Her father paused, and she instantly knew why, as her own spider sense was going off too. It wasn't just a little tingling in the back of her head, like she'd experienced the first time it had happened when someone was trying to scare her at school. This was a hard, almost overwhelming sensation that threatened to override her other senses.
"He's here," her father muttered, dread lacing his words.
"Indeed," came a low, menacing voice that sent shudders down Mayday's spine. She then watched as the one who'd been hunting them emerged from the shadows, his long, dark jacket floating lightly behind and his red eyes seemingly injecting fear straight into her soul. She also noticed for the first time since their first encounter that he was wearing some kind of fancy metal bracelet on his right wrist. Her father then turned and got in between them.
"You're not going to touch her again," he said, his tone firm.
Before either he or Mayday could react, the man shot forward, grabbing her father by the throat.
"I respect your conviction," he said, "but ultimately, any threat you make to me will prove an empty one."
He then tossed Mayday's father aside like a rag doll, his body slamming into the hard concrete wall to their right before dropping limp to the ground. He then turned back to her, his gaze once again striking like an arrow deep into her heart.
"What are you going to do now, child?" he asked. "Will you continue to fight, or are you prepared to accept your fate?"
Mayday just stood there, her body frozen with fear. She knew she needed to fight, or at least feign a retreat, anything that would prevent her from being slaughtered right then and there, but she could only look upon the living death that seemingly awaited her, her body seemingly losing all knowledge of movement. Her enemy then frowned, his eyes narrowing at her. Suddenly, his hand was at her throat as he hoisted her up off the ground, with Mayday struggling pointlessly against his iron grip.
"I'm disappointed in you," he said. "You come from a lineage of warriors. Across the multiverse have I hunted your kind, scouring the corners of every dimension I've come across. Though they all fell before me in the end, they all proved their nobility before their demise, that they were worthy of the way their worlds revered them as protectors."
Mayday continued to struggle, though she was starting to feel the air being squeezed from her lungs, making it harder to put effort into it. Still, she watched as the man shook his head.
"But you... you are nothing but a pretender," he continued, "so your consumption will only be as means of survival to me, with no pleasure involved."
The man began to squeeze harder still, Mayday growing increasingly desperate to get any air at all into her lungs. Suddenly, the man's grip was released as a large chunk of a wall suddenly struck him, sending him flying and crashing into the opposite wall. Mayday gasped for air as her father hurried up to her.
"Come on," he said, helping her to her feet. The two then hurried back out through the same window through which they'd come in. No sooner had they landed on the ground, however, than the same force of nature that had been pursuing them for over twelve hours now burst through the wall behind them. He seemed only mildly annoyed at them, like a parent whose kid was doing the same little but harmless thing over and over again. After all, that's what every assault they'd thrown at him to that point had proven to be: harmless.
"May, run."
Mayday had heard her father, but she once again found her body uncooperative as she remained in place, her eyes locked on her approaching enemy.
"GO!" her father shouted as he suddenly picked her up and threw her into the air. Her mind finally sending the signals to her body to get it in gear, Mayday's limbs flailed about. She managed to turn around just in time to land her feet and fingers against a building, letting out a heavy breath she hadn't even realized she'd been keeping in.
Hearing a loud cry, she turned back to see her father giving his all as he launched an all-out assault on his opponent, delivering punches and kicks a plenty. He certainly wasn't moving as fast he usually could, but still, there he was, facing down seemingly certain death and still fighting anyway. His enemy even looked a little caught off guard, stumbling back a little at each blow.
May turned away, glancing down at a lower portion of the metal wall she was clinging to. What was wrong with her? She'd wanted this so badly for so long, to be a hero on the front lines ever since she'd learned the truth about her dad when she was ten. Now, as soon as things had gotten tough, all she could do was panic and freeze. Perhaps her father was right; maybe she should just go. At least that way, she could get to her mom and at least ensure they both were safe...
"Aagh!"
The pain in her father's voice caused Mayday's head to spin around, where she discovered the horrific scene before her, with him at his knees and clutching his face in pain, while his opponent held... wait, was that one of her dad's eyes!? She then observed as he devoured it right then and there, right in front of her father, as if he was finding some new and disgustingly primal way to gloat. The man then glanced down at him, smiling and even appearing to laugh.
Shutting her eyes, she clutched her fist, tapping it against the wall in frustration. Slowly, a very different feeling was boiling up inside of her, gradually overtaking her fear: red, hot-blooded rage. Most of it was towards her and her father's assailant, whose most recent gesture had proved just how little he cared for life in general. There was another part though, another aspect to it that may very well be just as strong as the former, the part that pushed her body to finally do what it should have been doing: act.
Leaping back down on the ground, her father's opponent remained unperturbed as Mayday landed behind him. Turning and eyeing the nearest car, she picked up the two-ton metal weapon, hoisting it up into the air. Her opponent had just turned around when she slammed it into him, the impact sending him crashing hard enough into another vehicle that it turned over completely, sending him crumbling to the ground.
Not even hesitating, Mayday ran over, hoisting the car up again as she came over her enemy. He gazed up at her as she slammed it into him repeatedly, her internal rage boiling over in the form of loud, almost feral screams. She'd managed to hit him twice, and was going for a third hit when, much to her surprise, her enemy struck back or rather struck the car with such force that both it and her went flying back out into the road, the vehicle landing well behind her as she tumbled along. She glanced over to see him walking towards her before resting her head on the ground.
"Play weak," she thought to herself. "Play possum; wait for the right moment..."
His footsteps were growing closer, closer...
"Wait for it..."
He was mere feet away now.
"Wait for it..."
Her spider sense went off. He was reaching for her now.
Reacting with speed only one like she could, Mayday grabbed his arm and, in one swift motion, leapt into the air and delivered a powerful spin kick that appeared to stun him. She then proceeded to lay into him just as her father had with blow after blow.
"You've got nothing to lose," she thought. "Keep fighting, just keep fighting..."
She screamed again, her rage and determination still driving her. She knew that the odds were against her, especially since her father's prior attack had failed to do deter their enemy, but she was done standing on the sidelines quaking in fear. Eventually, however, her fears were confirmed as her enemy stopped one of her blows, hoisting her up into the air by her arm.
"Perhaps I misjudged you, my dear," he said. "I'm pleased this is the case."
"Shut up!" she yelled, delivering a kick to his face powerful enough that it caused him to release his grip on her. Mayday then renewed her assault, only this time, her opponent countered, blocking every move with his arm or leg. He smiled the whole time; he was clearly trying to break her morale again, cause her to give up before the end. She resolved that she wouldn't though; she'd already faltered for too long. She just had to keep going, figure out a way to stop him...
"Alright, child," the man said as he grabbed her left arm with both hands. "I think that's enough."
He then twisted it hard, and a horrible pain shot through her body that caused Mayday to scream in agony as she felt the bone in her limb snap. She yelled repeatedly, her closed eyes likely all that was keeping her from unleashing tears due to the pain. When she finally opened them, she glanced up to see her opponent smiling the smuggest smile she'd ever seen. Gritting her teeth, she threw another punch, but this one was caught as well.
"You never learn, just like all the others..."
Suddenly, Mayday's father came flying in, tackling her assailant to the hard ground below them.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" he yelled, but his opponent merely tossed him up just enough to grab him by the ankle and slam him back down into the pavement. Mayday watched as he got on top of him, seemingly ready to deal the final blow.
"No!"
She rushed to her father's aid but was struck by the open hand of her enemy, the blow so hard that it sent her flying at least twenty feet before crashing onto her back. Standing to her feet, she clutched at the shoulder above her broken arm, her gaze meeting her father's. The man was now hoisted above by his head into the air, his body hanging limp.
"May..." he seemingly choked out.
"No..." she muttered, tears finally streaming down her face as she shook her head. "Please..."
He then held out his hand, revealing something in his hand: the metal bracelet from their attacker's wrist. Had he somehow slid it off without the man's knowledge?
"Dad..." she muttered.
"I love you."
He then tossed the device, with it sailing past her on her right side. She then turned back just in time to watch as their assailant finally snapped her father's neck right in front of her.
"NOOOOO!"
Suddenly, Mayday was pulled away, the world around her completely disappearing.
No sooner had she screamed than she was suddenly sucked away, her father and his murderer disappearing from view.
Well, here we go! I finally got tired of letting this series sit on the side lines, so, with any luck, this is the beginning of the final two installments to close this thing out before Avengers: Doomsday! One thing I will say is that, between this and my FNSM series, the installments might not come out on Fridays like they used to; chapters may just be posted as I have opportunity. Nevertheless, I thank all of you who've expressed your support for this series, and I hope your patience is rewarded! Let me know what you think as we go!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me." Psalm 23:4