"Wanna be any more ol' fashioned?"
Peter bobbed and weaved out of the Rider's different punches - whoever this person was, wasn't a fighter, all of his moves being very readable. There was no style, just the intent to attack. Yet the force of his swings spoke about his prowess, either through the suit or the body that was underneath it. Even though he missed, he still pressed on to fight, taking him and Peter ringing around the awkward circle made of cars. There was even a moment where he positioned his fists into fisticuffs.
"How about we talk about sticks and stones?" He continued.
This has been going on for a while now. How the Rider kept taking the hits that Peter threw at him, speaking to the quality of his suit's making. Intermittently, the Rider would change up his punches by throwing in kicks, uppercuts, even trying to tackle or grab Peter. He found out quickly that his webs didn't stick to his suit, hence why this was going on for as long as it was.
Peter whistled, "Nice to see the new guy have some spirit. Usually, the bad guys say mean things at me before losing. And respect for doing your homework, by the way."
The Rider growled in frustration before trying to double his efforts, which only tired him more quickly. Having only attacked in retaliation, Peter then went on the offense. He slapped his arm that was throwing a punch to the side and jabbed his helmet. The Rider twisted and turned to make a wide sweeping kick in retaliation, which Peter only had to duck to dodge. To throw him to the ground, Peter swiftly kicked the Rider's side as he was still recovering from the sweeping kick.
"C'mon," Peter said, "Its clear that you aren't good at this, despite your fancy gadgets. What's your name, at least? White Knight? Silver Surfer? Robot Flyer?"
The Rider, still not saying anything, dipped his head as he panted.
"Hey, look," Peter said, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but -"
The Rider's fist slammed against the road, creating a web of cracks from the impact. Something about the yellow lights at the Rider's helmet seemed more harsh this time as he pulled himself up from the ground. His panting became deeper and heavier as he raised his fists.
Peter sensed something on Cindy's side. He shook his head - better to get this done and over with so that he could get to her and Miles. After all, the suit he was preparing for her is not done yet. Far from it, actually. He had seen those comments on her social feed and was still rifling through them when he had to go into the lab for something that needed his attention there. A lot of good ideas, like the red hands and feet, but he still needed to separate the wheat from chaff. Sadly, quality can't be sacrificed for quantity, not in this line of work.
Peter lunged, his fist reeled for a more forceful strike in hopes of putting the lights out on the Rider. He struck and metal rang out from the hand that caught his punch. Peter's eyes widened as the Rider's arms shook. A laugh rumbled from under the Rider's helmet before a cry burst out of his throat when he lifted Peter up and over, throwing him to one of the cars that made the ring around them.
It was when he slammed into it, the sound of shattering glass and the alarm amidst the pain, distracting him, was when he felt his senses go off - something under the car. The explosion made him feel the sheer heat singe the cuts in his suit, it was only for a moment but feeling it all at once with the cuts those flying crescents had made…
He tumbled in the air as he was thrown by the blast.
He felt a hand catch his foot,
He heard another cry from the Rider as he was then slammed into the ground, making him cry out in pain.
A hand snatched his throat. The Rider's helmet blocked the sun, making the yellow eyes glaring in its glow. He grunted as he lifted Peter up and slammed him down -
Once,
Twice,
Thrice -
Peter webbed the eyes of the Rider's helmet, even if it wouldn't stick it would at least surprise him to give Peter an opening.
"Cute trick." The voice was raspy and oozing dark thrill.
Peter cried out when he felt the Rider's free hand snatch his wrist and wrench it so tightly that his web shooter burst in a splash of webbing.
Another cry from the Rider when he threw Peter into another car, unbeknownst to whom the purple spheres he had thrown away were rolling into place under his control. One rolled under the car Peter had just hit.
Boom!
Peter's world spun as he was thrown into the air again.
The Rider caught his arm this time -
Slam!
Throw,
Another explosion,
Catch.
The Rider had caught his leg this time. Peter grit his teeth and his other leg pulled up to slam straight squarely into the Rider's helmet.
But he wasn't letting go -
Again,
Again,
Again -
A cackle burst out of the helmet, an evil, joyous cackle. It was such a sheer juxtaposition from how he was before that Peter actually paused to look at him in shock. His senses went off - the Rider's aircraft, the gun barrels on it shifting into place to open fire. Peter webbed the ground only to forget that the Rider broke this web shooter.
He yelped when the Rider's free hand snatched his throat again.
"Forget already?!" The Rider said, as though insulted.
Carrying him like this, the Rider ran for one of the cars and smashed Peter into it. As the Rider was lifting him up to slam again, Peter used the web shooter on his left wrist to zip him out of the Rider's grasp. He rolled once landing on the ground, leapt, and reached out to swing away when the aircraft swerved into his view.
His senses went off again,
He zipped to the ground just as the aircraft opened fired,
He flipped to dodge the gunfire, lining him up perfect for the Rider for his fists to hammer him down to the ground.
The chase,
The cuts,
The explosions,
Being thrown around -
It was finally catching up to Peter.
"Oh, c'mon…" The disappointment in the Rider's voice was clear, almost making his voice sound normal, "Show me how Amazing you are!"
The Rider kicked him away, and as Peter was in the air white color soon enveloped him, oozing through his suit. The white gave way to harsh black lines and white tendrils burst out and smashed into the Rider, who flew into one of the cars.
Peter rolled over his shoulder and reached out to catch himself with his adhesive touch and stayed there on his hands and knees to catch his breath, his head dipped down.
"Atta' boy."
He looked up.
The Rider planted his hands on the car, raised his legs, and launched himself off the car with the kick of his legs. Landing on his feet, the Rider then beat both of his fists on his chests, knocking the small amount of dust on him off.
Peter's head perked up, he looked over - something was wrong.
The aircraft pivoted, strafing into his field of vision to make it clear that it was watching him.
"Got somewhere to be?" The Rider strode forward, "You. Me. Two peas. One pod. Mono e' mono. No distractions." He cracked his knuckles then his neck, "You, or me."
Peter looked back at the Rider before glancing at his aircraft -
So far, he has shown to be abnormally durable - not even taking a step back when he kicked at his head, as well as being capable of lifting him up,
He has those flying crescents and bombs,
And apparently he seemed to have remote control of the aircraft.
To top it all off, his suit was impervious to his webs.
"I'll be honest," Peter said as he staggered up, "Five stars for pushing me this far on your first day."
"Good."
The Rider let out a battle cry as he broke after Peter, who flung out a white tendril from his arm. The Rider flipped to dodge, a far cry from the almost clumsy antics in the fight earlier, and when he got caught by the second tendril, he raised a hand and the aircraft shot a sphere to his hand. He pressed the button on the side and shoved it into the tendril, the explosion soon after caused Peter to yelp and let go.
In that moment where Peter was stunned, the aircraft opened fire, forcing him to use his anti suit to manifest a shield while the Rider continued his mad dash. Peter jumped over, reaching behind to catch the Rider's shoulder with a tendril and slammed him to the ground. The aircraft kept shooting, making Peter grunt when some shots hit him, not penetrating his anti symbiote suit but the force of the impact was still there.
The Rider raised his hand again -
Peter caught his hand with another tendril to stop him from catching the bomb only to cry out when he felt two blades cut across his back - the flying crescents. They darted back and forth, cutting Peter again and again. Despite the loud drumming of the aircraft's gunfire, the Rider's cackle cut through like thunder. He grunted and built up pressure in his suit before crying out to shoot out tendrils in all directions to take care of the flying crescents.
He heard metal rolling around on the ground and saw the spheres he had thrown away before rolling around them in a circle.
Boom!
Peter was thrown up into the air, the aircraft following him and firing at him still. Not wanting the Rider to one up him again, Peter used his tendril to zip him down to the ground to slam his knee where he last saw him. The ground cracked and the smoke from all the bombs blew away. Nothing there.
The Rider screamed as he lunged through the smoke -
One, two, three,
Left hook, right hook, left,
Peter zipped his leg, tripping him -
The aircraft fired on, its barrels turning red -
Peter took hold of him, leapt, flipped, and smashed him to the ground.
His senses went off - he flipped into the air to dodge the aircraft speeding underneath him in an attempt to ram him.
The Rider tackled and grabbed him as he was landing. He sprinted, slamming Peter into a car. Due to his anti symbiote giving him more protection, he raised his fist to deliver a blow only to be swiftly thrown into the side of the car next to them. He slammed into Peter again, shoving the car out of the way and bulldozing Peter into the nearby bodega.
He kept going,
Peter yelped after hitting wall after wall,
The Rider kept going still, into another building - a store.
Wall after wall after wall, another building, then back out onto another road where the screeching of tires was soon heard.
Peter's senses went off. He managed to plant his foot on the Rider's torso and kicked off, out of his grasp, as the aircraft slammed into him. In the air, Peter shoved a tendril into it, causing it to tumble and trail smoke.
He stumbled when landing, falling on one knee.
He panted heavily, catching his breath. He glanced up once he saw the Rider move. Something had changed again - his movements were stiff and jerky as he staggered in an attempt to get up, as though all the steam he had before had finally depleted. He crawled, inching towards his aircraft and reached up stiffly for it, which was still hovering weakly in the air, the smoke black and puffing thick.
Peter forced himself onto his feet, and as he was about to use his tendril to swat the aircraft his connection with Cindy went off again.
There was something familiar about it.
Like the time she fought against Widow, her mother.
That moment was enough for the Rider to lumber onto his aircraft, on his belly. He was already rising into the air when Peter looked back over. He glanced back and forth between him and the general direction of where he felt Cindy was.
He sighed, shaking his head.
He zipped away as the Rider flew off.
"Hold on, Cindy."
"Oh my god!"
"Keep her busy!"
"AHHH!"
"GO, GO! JUST GO!"
"DON'T LEAVE ME! AHH - AHHH!"
"Goddamn! He didn't say anything about Spidergirl moving like that!"
"Just get to the rendezvous, we were able to secure one of the objectives - make sure the Harlem Spider stays under!"
"He better pay us extra for this…! This is not what we agreed on!"
"Just shut up and -"
THUD!
Everyone froze, their eyes going up to the ceiling of the APC.
Everyone was silent.
"Oh Lord…"
Although they were given these suits that were guaranteed to be a match for the Spider people, seeing Spidergirl move like that put them all on edge. That was her edge compared to the original Spiderman and the new Harlem Spiderman. What had happened, it was clear that she was holding back. They woke up a sleeping giant.
"Dart guns," One said, "Get the dart guns -"
The tearing of metal was the fuse that lit the explosion of screams - a white claw, the fingers brought together to make a single point to puncture through three layers of reinforced steel. The fingers splayed out and thick web projectiles began exploding out. Fast, heavy, sudden - the surprise put all the Slayers into a chaotic mess. Even though their suits were resistant against the Spiders's webs, that didn't prevent the force of their impact, some of them were even tripping over each other when those at the front couldn't handle the barrage.
Another claw joined the first - the barrage stopped and they began to pry open the hole, giving the Slayers a chance to recuperate. Those in the back, the least affected by the barrage, scrambled for the dart guns, and when they finally managed to get them they aimed at the hole and opened fire at the claws.
One two three four five, and more darts were fired for the sake of firing as though they were conventional guns. Some landed on the claws, most went wide and bounced off the metallic walls that surrounded them in the cargo compartment of the APC. The sound of their desperation for safety being the crescendo of the dart gun fire with an undertone of the darts bouncing and clattering to the ground.
The barrage continued for a moment that lasted forever until the dart guns clicked and clacked empty. They all stared at the claws that were at the top and bottom of the hole, the darts that stuck to them, deeper than they should be
They stared for a moment longer before those closest to them stepped close, and they realized -
The claws were empty, there were no hands in them, shedded off.
Those on the opposite side, farthest away, screamed in terror.
The Slayers looked back and saw one of their own's head being snatched through another hole, perfectly circular. He was kicking and flailing as his head went through. Those close to him moved back and forth due to the man kicking his legs, but after a moment they got hold of his waist and pulled.
He wouldn't budge -
His kicking went into fervor, his arms waving with the strength of five men, causing those that had him to back off,
His body jumped -
Once twice thrice four times, five - again and again. All the while the sound of something banging against his helmet was loud and clear.
"Help me!" He cried, "For the love of God, help me! Do something please!"
Bang bang bang - THUD!
His shoulders and neck suddenly jerked to the right.
He screamed on and on,
Until there was the sound of something shattering - he went limp, his weight unable to pull his head in.
The Slayers starred in fearful silence, their breaths sounding hollow in their helmets from their hyperventilation. Some were trying to get their shaking hands to coordinate with them in reloading their dart guns.
Then all of them yelped and fell over when the APC spun out, at the surrender of its momentum, the tires screeching until it came to a halt.
One of them held the side of their helmet, "Hey, what's wrong?! Respond!"
There was only silence.
"Respond!"
Nothing.
"Oh god…" Another moaned, "Oh god…"
"We're gonna die… I'm gonna die in a sausage fest…"
"Move! Get off me!"
"We still got these darts. If we land even just one'a 'em it'll put things in our favor."
Thump!
They looked up.
Footsteps -
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!
An initiative few were checking and or reloading their dart guns.
Boom!
Those that didn't have their dart guns started scrambling.
Boom!
Boom!
The metal above gave way and something dropped down.
It was her.
Her head was dipped down, her hair obscuring her face. She looked up, revealing a mask of webs hiding her eyes. Her lips - one could call pretty, all things considered - pulled itself wide in a smile that seemed to stretch the limits of her skin.
The Slayers screamed,
They opened fire.
Her body seemed to snap itself seamlessly into different directions and positions to dodge all of the darts in fast blurs. Those that the Slayers managed to see saw that some of the movements were graceful, bordering on ballet, yet the barrage brought to it a chaotic nature.
Pulling the trigger,
The gunfire of the dart guns,
The darts themselves bouncing off the walls and joining those already on the ground -
The ticking of the doom, and with every dart the hand only sped closer to twelve.
The few Slayers that were shooting at her from behind, they were the first to run out of darts. Their demeanor changed, seeing that none of the darts met their mark, and those that were still shooting weren't landing any of theirs, they scrambled for the controls of the back doors.
Stabbing their fingers,
Scrabbling, their fingers shaking - their suits misreading from their sheer trembling,
Then punching the controls - one of them started punching the door.
The door flew open and they were bulls in a stampede, running for their lives.
The others, however…
Click, click, click!
Silence.
They looked at the God whose mercy they were at -
She only smiled.
Then they heard the thwipping sound of webs.
The world swam in through smeared colors and Miles felt as though his body had turned to lead as he tried to push himself up. He felt something was wrong in his body. He went into a coughing fit. He felt hands grabbing at his body.
"Spiderman." He heard.
He looked and saw the Slayers. Miles blinked in confusion as to what was happening, if he was hallucinating.
Then a scream split the air.
He managed to look over, through the opening of the APC he saw blurs of movement - but he was able to make out Cindy and Widow sped past.
Miles grunted as he fought to push himself up, and with the help of the Slayers he managed to get onto his knees. He took deep breaths, the world slid into focus but the heaviness still weighed down on him and that sick feeling persisted.
Fingers numb, limbs nearly so, but he fought on.
"Why're you guys… helping me?"
"Not with it anymore." One of the Slayers said, the one helping Miles stay upright.
It took a moment for Miles to realize that some of the Slayers had taken their helmets off. Off to the side, a few of them were giving aid to one of their members, one whose helmet was shattered open and was barely held together by a few remaining fragments at the jaw. He managed to hear them talking about how he was still breathing.
"Listen," The Slayer continued, Miles blinked - he saw the Slayer was young, around college age, "We heard this talk about a gig, okay? Large money, single job. We have student debt to pay, alright? We don't know the guy who hired us - just black suit guys telling us we'd get big cash for this, no lie and they would guarantee there would be no strings attached. Swear! Honest!"
There was a thunderous bang against the side of the APC, causing it to jerk and making the other Slayers scream. Miles nearly fell over but he caught himself with his adhesive touch. But his debilitation made his body swing like dead weight.
When he was caught by the Slayers again, he heard ringing in his ears - his head was telling him that Peter was calling him.
He grunted as his finger struggled up to the side of his mask.
He answered -
"Miles?! I've been trying to call you - are you okay?!"
"Just… Woke up… Something's wrong with Ci - Spiderwoman, it sounds like… Like…"
Bang!
The Slayers yelped again.
"Miles?!"
"I'm fine…" Miles tapped the side of his mask again, "I'm here…"
There was a pause, "Okay - got your location! Are you hurt?"
"No… Just hurry, Spiderwoman's acting like how she was at the docks…"
"Take five, bud. I'll be there in a moment…!" By the exertion in his tone at the end, Miles could guess what it was that Peter was doing.
Miles took a moment to take more deep breaths and he gradually recovered to a degree that he could stand on his own. That weight in his body remained. But now that he could see properly he could see the faint blue electrical lines pulsating in his body.
As he paused to look at it, Miles felt a distinct pressure in his chest, as though he was holding onto something inside of him. Driven by curiosity, Miles raised his hand at the opening of the APC. He took a few breaths to focus and redirect the blue electricity into his hand.
It took him a moment to do so, but he let go of the pressure. Miles's arm snapped back as he stumbled backwards from the sheer recoil, nearly throwing the Slayer holding him up down with him. There was the sound of thunder.
However, at once, even though it was only a small amount, Miles felt much better, like throwing up to relieve the feeling of sickness. The weight on his body became lighter but still lingered.
Miles was now able to breathe much more easily, the pressure within him from the blue electricity now tolerable.
Another thunderous bang against the APC,
Miles heard Cindy's voice, her scream splitting the air of glee but there was a hint of growing frustration.
Knowing the nature of this electricity that came from the darts meant to stun them for capture…
He clenched his hand into a fist, where blue electricity arched over his knuckles.
Peter grunted as he stepped back after exerted step against the strain of his two webline.
One…
Two…
Three…
He cried out and drew up his feet, flinging himself into the sky of New York City, crossing a few blocks with ease. He entered an air current and opened the web wings. He kept a close eye on the GPS of Miles's location in his hud. Between his fight with the Rider and this now, there was a disparity of five or so minutes between each other. In addition, Cindy was in the same general location.
He thought of Miles, then of Cindy and Widow.
Not only did it sound like the Slayers had stunned Miles enough for him to go unconscious, being back into a corner like this was what likely triggered that darker side of Cindy to appear. But, considering recent events, why was Widow there?
He then caught glimpses of people in Slayer suits lying still in Times Square. Police were trying to cordon off the scene while a crow was building and watching from a distance. A quick glance had him see what seemed to be people already whispering about what had happened. Even officers were trying to question eyewitnesses.
Inside the cordoned section -
Webs,
Broken armor,
Red -
"Cindy…"
He continued following the crumbs -
Pieces of metal here,
Tire tracks there,
Pieces of metal circles pieces -
There.
An APC of some king with a rectangular cargo compartment that spun out at an intersection. The cargo doors were open. But nearby, on the side of a building he spotted Cindy on an aggressive offensive on Widow, who seemed to stay on the defensive, returning no attack whatsoever, darting her body to and fro. She wasn't even raising her hand to parry or deflect. A far cry from the last he had seen of her.
He spotted Miles zipping out of the APC. Seeing that he was okay, Peter zipped a tendril to Cindy, who flipped up and landed on it and made a mad dash for him. She zipped to him before he could zip to the ground and cried out when her feet smashed into his chest. To prevent her from creating distance between themselves, Peter snatched Cindy's torso with a tendril. However, she used her webs from both wrists to spin herself to the side to dodge.
She zipped to him again to smash him to the ground, and on impact grappled him with her adhesive touch and threw him into a wall of a nearby building. He only had a moment's breath before he saw blue and jerked his body to dodge the lighting bolt. It came from Miles.
"Sorry!" It was the only thing he could say before Cindy was upon him.
Peter put his hand on his chest, altogether, everything so far, he was still feeling the lingering effects of his fight with the Rider. He took fast deep breaths to try to catch his breath when he spotted Widow watching the whole scene from the building side she was fighting Cindy on. She looked at him, then at Miles and Cindy. He saw her head dip down. He spotted movement on another roof nearby - a drone, the same one that Screwball used. From what he could catch from this distance, there was nothing on it. It was merely watching everything unfold.
"Spiderwoman!" Miles said, "Snap out of it!"
That prompted Peter to get back into the fold.
He zipped to the ground then launched himself in an attempt to kick Cindy as Miles focused on his natural bioelectricity rather than the blue one still in his body and surged forward.
Cindy leapt up, kicked off of Miles's head, flipped and axe kicked Peter. He tried to catch her again with a tendril only for her to use her webs to spin again. As he landed, he was hit with a barrage of webs whose forceful impact made him do a danse macabre with their sheer intensity. Then in that moment of pause, large wads of webs pushed up from her hands. She smacked them together into one, then the combined force of shooting with both of her wrists propelled the web wad into Peter, throwing him down, making him vulnerable to immobilize with more web shots.
Peter glanced at Widow again - she was still there on the side of the building, now with her hand on her head and seemingly in some sort of conflict.
He grit his teeth and gathered his strength to tear his upper half free in one sharp motion. For a moment, as Peter got his lower half free he saw Miles catch Cindy off guard with his electricity pulling her in.
He swung his fists, "Wake up!" Peter could hear the restraint in his voice, "Its us! The danger's gone!"
Peter got to his feet and saw Cindy stumble back, holding her head. She was panting fast, nearing hyperventilation, hunching, becoming smaller.
"Spiderwoman!" Peter called out, "Its us! Can you hear us?!"
Cindy gasped and her head snapped to look at an alley near Peter.
Peter's senses went off.
He spun to the same alley -
There was nothing there. Yet his spider sense was still going off. He glanced at Cindy, who was still looking at the alley.
Was she looking at something that was only visible to her?
He glanced at Widow -
She was staring at the exact same spot.
Peter's brows knit - did Cindy and Widow share a connection as well?
Through his connection with Cindy, Peter felt a fear billowing inside of her at once - sudden, almost primal. A shrill scream burst from Cindy's throat, shaking her body.
She shook her head,
Held it,
Her panting becoming aggressive, steadily growing to growling with every exhale as she bared her teeth. Her hunch changed - nervous, vulnerable to alert and predatory.
Miles held up his hands, trying to pacify Cindy,
Peter was trying to consider their best course of action,
And the sound of thwipping webs cut through the tension, and Widow swung by in a kick aimed for Cindy. Who dodged and made to retaliate in not for Widow reaching behind to shoot a webline that snatched Cindy's left hand. Widow zipped to the ground and pulled on the line.
Peter seized the opportunity - he zipped a tendril to catch Cindy's right arm. In that moment, that fear billowed in Cindy's chest again and tried pulling her arms but both Peter and Widow were steadfast and kept her arms taut.
"Spiderman!" Peter called out to Miles.
"Are you sure?" Miles said, holding out his hand, preparing the blue electricity.
"Do it! We need to calm her down!"
Hearing that, Miles hesitated for a moment before shaking his head when realizing that they had no other option, not knowing how Cindy had returned to normal in the first place. She was simply faster than the two of them.
He held his extended arm and planted his feet. His arm began to shake as the blue electricity focused in his open clawed hand. Remembering that Cindy had only just gotten out of the hospital, he made sure the electricity was enough only to stun her, to shock her system to put her back into control.
He grit his teeth,
His arm trembled with barely contained energy -
He let go and his arm flew up, the recoil blew him back five feet. There was the sound of thunder as Cindy was blown back, Widow's webline and Peter's tendril preventing her from flying away. The force of the lightning strike bounced her back and forth. The second bounce had folded Cindy's legs, bringing her to her knees, and her jaw was seen going slack and agape.
When Cindy slid to a halt, Widow took a few steps before stopping as Peter went to her side. Widow stepped back, staring at Cindy before she turned and zipped into the air.
Miles saw her swinging away, and as she did, he caught the time on a clock on one of the nearby buildings - the lenses of his mask widened.
"Spiderwoman?" Peter removed one side of the webmask on Cindy's face, "Spiderwoman, can you hear me?"
Cindy's eyes were completely black, but glazed over, her breathing slow and deep. Her eyes then squeezed shut.
They blinked -
Once,
Twice.
The black went away at once, and her amber irises centered on Peter.
She squinted, "Pe - Spiderman?"
"Spiderwoman…" Peter's shoulders fell.
"What - what happened?" Cindy tried to move her limbs to get up only to find them numb, "Why can't I…?"
Peter helped Cindy to sit up, and in doing so she saw the APC.
Her eyes widened as recognition glinted in her eyes, she looked at Peter, "...What did I do?"
Peter was silent for a moment -
"Tell me!" Cindy yelled.
"Whoa whoa whoa - first things first, what do you remember?"
Cindy took a few deep breaths before managing to put a hand to her face, felt that she still had the other half of the Smiling Spider mask on and she clumsily tore it away with such aggression that it stunned Peter, thinking that she had actually recovered so quickly. But when she tried to put on her scarf, Peter quickly did it for her.
He glanced back at Screwball's drone - it was gone.
"...I remember…" She said, "Miles getting shocked by those darts, the same ones they used against you. It was a new network system, it looked like, where they would shoot off every second. I had to do something. I tore it off. I got shocked. I saw them take Miles and…"
Cindy fought to find the right words, "I… I… I blacked out - I don't know what happened…"
That wasn't true.
Peter could feel it. Perhaps when that moment happened where she went berserk it was like she was stuck in her own mind, her body acting on its own through flight or fight.
Which meant -
Cindy's heart could beat fast enough to where it affects her perception, making her move fast due to taking in information at an accelerated rate. Lasting as long as she could tolerate the pain.
OR
She could go berserk like she did then if the threat she felt was overwhelming and overpowering. But considering the incident at the shipyard, perhaps there were other factors that triggered it.
Either way, Peter felt that trying to prod on this would only seem like trying to pry it open.
"Okay." He said, "Are you okay right now? You're not hurt?"
Cindy crossed her arms, the feeling her limbs returning, "I'm fine." She tried standing and was helped up by Peter, "But, what about you? You said you wouldn't use the white suit unless you had to."
Peter dismissed the anti symbiote suit, shrinking and receding before dissolving under his suit and skin, visible through the many cuts, the signed and blackened edges of the openings as well as darkened and burned patches here and there. There was a chorus of jangling metal as the bullets his symbiote suit caught clattered to the ground.
Cindy gasped, her eyes wide, and her eyes covered her mouth.
"Bro…" Miles said, stepping close to Peter to examine the damage, "What happened to you?"
"Ran into a new guy on the block. You can see that he was a real piece of work - don't worry." Cindy snapped her head to the APC, "I've had worse, much worse." Peter absently ran his hand over his stomach.
Miles's hand hovered his the singed slits and noticed more of the battle damage, "He got your web shooter?"
"He crushed it."
"With what - Rhino strength?"
Peter shook his head, "I don't know," Cindy craned her neck to try to see the inside of the cargo compartment, "He had a suit of armor, but at some point, something about him changed - like he got a shot of adrenaline."
"But you reinforced them, right?"
"Yeah. After Otto I - Spiderwoman?"
They looked over and saw Cindy leaning over, trying to see the inside of the APC.
"Don't worry," Miles said, "Those guys aren't a threat. Its not what you think."
Cindy sniffed,
She stepped back,
Her head hovered near her mouth.
"Omaigod…"
There was a pause. Miles's eyes widened - he zipped to the APC. Peter second, Cindy third. Miles was inside, Peter looked inside, Cindy peeked inside.
They stared and stared, even when the police sirens were approaching. It became a choreographer to their own individual thoughts as the sirens reached their loudest, even as the lights of the police cars washed everything in red and blue.
Its over, isn't it?
Just ended twenty min ago.
I'm really sorry.
Its okay,
You had to get work done.
But this was the band's final tour,
You wanted to see this so bad.
Miles, its fine,
We can do something else next time.
But what if I can't next time?
Is what Miles almost wrote. But decided against it.
Sure,
You gonna be okay heading home by yourself,
Stuff happened.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
He glanced over at Peter and Cindy, all of them having a meal break in silence.
Just taking a breather.
Here if you need me :)
What I want is -
I know,
Take care.
"You okay?"
Miles looked over at Peter, who was leaning back against a ventilation duct of Eddie's Pizza.
Miles sighed, "...Had a date. Left in the middle of it."
"Wait… It was that concert, wasn't it?"
"Yeah…"
"...And I heard that this was their final one."
"Hailey said she always liked their style, their clothes. How they went so far for their stages. She couldn't hear them, but she could see them. Said that was enough for her." Miles paused, "...How did you do it? Balance - well…"
"Yeah!" Peter chuckled, "Bold of you to assume. The only thing I could do was accept that I was going to miss out on lots'a stuff."
Peter shrugged, "That's how me and MJ broke up the first time."
Miles looked down and sighed, shaking his head.
"What's on your mind, man?"
Miles threw up a hand, paced around a bit, "Got too much on my plate."
"I can take over on patrols - I've got the time to do it, Miles. You're not gonna be young forever, bro." Peter patted his shoulder, "Its okay to be Miles Morales from time to time."
Miles cracked a smile, "Yeah…"
Miles's phone rang.
It was his mother.
"Go ahead." Peter said and thumbed over his shoulder at Cindy.
Miles nodded, he answered the call, "Mom? Yeah. We…" He walked off to the side.
Peter approached Cindy, who was off to the side, sitting on the edge, staring down at the street below with a distant look in her eyes - the late afternoon sun making her amber eyes dark. The sun and the sky burning orange red. Her pizza was experiencing a slow death as she nibbled on it, at a glance almost absently. There was a slight hunch to her posture.
He sat down next to her, "Hey…"
Cindy glanced over, "Hmm?"
"How ya doin', kiddo?"
"You're that old already?"
"And you're good enough to crack a joke. That's a sign for something."
Cindy grunted.
"You didn't do it, Cindy."
"But I slipped."
"Hard to say."
"I did." Another nibble.
"You were in a stressful situation. Remember you only just started, Miles wasn't any better than you when he started out."
"He took down Rhino by himself."
"And you saved so many people by yourself. Doing Screwball's challenges, with that much speed without swinging or the wings on our suits - I was on the edge of my seat. You proved that you can handle yourself."
"Felt like I was going to die."
"Then why didn't you give up?"
"It would have been - people would've -"
"Irresponsible?"
Cindy looked away.
"Cindy. You are much more capable than you think. That's why I can't help but think you're holding yourself back."
"Because you taught me -"
"No. Not that."
Cindy went silent.
"Its not one occasion that I can point to, but something I keep feeling."
Cindy turned away.
"What's making you…" Peter motioned with his hand, trying to find the right word, "I can feel… that you want to come out, get rid of that shell. But you keep going back to it."
"That so bad?"
"Yes! Absolutely. I've had moments where my troubles as Peter Parker influenced my effectiveness as Spiderman. Peter Parker is who I am, Spiderman is what I can do."
Cindy turned her head to look over her shoulder.
She paused.
"Its…" She said.
"Complicated?"
Cindy looked Peter up and down. She paused, nodded.
"Heh… When was it not?" Peter said, more to himself, "When I say we're here for you. I mean it."
Cindy paused again, glancing at everywhere but Peter.
"Do…" She said, "Do you think I can talk to Mary-Jane."
Peter leaned back, "Uh, sure. Why?"
"I can't?"
"No, you can. If that's how you wanna start things. Nice jacket, by the way."
Cindy glanced down, noticing that, despite everything that had happened, the jacket was still in one piece, if not somewhat worn in some places already. If those darts had been bullets, or likely if she were any slower, the jacket would have been torn or riddled with holes.
"Thanks. Save it from being thrown away."
"It pretty sweet - no one wanted to have it?"
"Employee said so."
"Huh… By the way, what was it that you wanted to show me?"
Cindy's brows shot up, she pat herself, holding her pizza with her mouth, and slouched in relief when she found the visor still in her jacket pocket, kept closed with velcro.
She handed it over, making sure Peter could see the Oscorp branding on the side of the ear piece.
Peter took it, "What the - where'd you get this?"
"Thugs selling drugs had that in their bag. Actually… you been hearing that some thugs have been showing off shiny stuff they could never get by themselves?"
"Kinda? I thought it was a metaphor for, y'know, bigger guns - being in this line of work, it comes with the territory. Plus, with everything that had happened within the last two years already. God…"
He paused, and was about to speak again when Miles stepped forward.
"I gotta head home. You guys gonna be okay?"
Cindy shoved at the roof with her hand to jump up and wolfed down her pizza, "Yeah."
Peter reached out. Miles noticed as well, looking at Peter for affirmation.
He nodded.
Miles glanced at Cindy for a moment before jumping off the roof and swinging away.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Peter said to Cindy.
"Yeah."
"Heading home?"
"Yeah."
"Want me to go with you?"
Cindy paused, crossed her arms, not looking at Peter.
"I'm fine."
Peter closed his eyes - she wasn't. But she was defending herself, it was no use trying to make any attempts now when it could close her off and keep her distance.
"Alright. We're here for you. We're just one call away."
Peter jumped.
She listened to him swinging away from the rooftop until she couldn't hear it anymore. Now, it was just her. Her and the ambience of the City that Never Sleeps. New York was growing darker. Checking the time, her father would be home within the next two and a half hours.
Then she looked over,
Past the buildings,
At the skyscrapers downtown, at one of them -
It was her.
Cindy glared.
Then she glanced at the shadows of a nearby alley.
Her chest tightened and felt as though it were hollowing with every breath.
There was nothing there.
She tore her eyes away.
"I need to get home."
As she was nearing the vicinity of her house, she remembered that her clothes were still in the water tower. She sighed, she was tempted to get into her house and forgo caution just to get home. But the whims of her mind convinced her otherwise. It helped that she saw the traffic on the way - people were trying to get home.
She landed on the platform,
Found the loose panel,
Crawled in,
And froze.
"Told you, B."
"Yeah yeah…" Rafferty waved dismissively at Lola with a frown before typing in her laptop, then she sighed in relief, closed the laptop, and stretched her arms, "Anyway… Pretty cozy place you got here, Cindy."
"Surprised we didn't see any web hammocks." Lola said, eating a burger and waving her finger above.
Cindy stared at the two of them for a long moment,
Then let herself fall in a loud thud, rolling onto her back where she then let out an exhausted moan, too tired by the events of the whole day to even be astonished.
Rafferty and Lola paused, eying Cindy.
"So do I get the twenty or do you?" Lola said to Rafferty.
I don't like that this took so long. Typing out the fight scenes with the different characters felt like I was mining rocks. It got to the point where I thought I was having burnout, and had to resort to using pen and paper, which really helped get the ball rolling. It might be more of a burn out on fight scenes, the others came along fine.
I didn't help that, because a week has passed I just decided to basically put two or three chapters together into one. This is why the word count usually stays around 2000-3000 words, 4000 sometimes. At times I felt like rushing to the end, but I had to commit. I didn't want to sacrifice quality for quantity, not when I had the time to.
Either way, thank you for being patient.