I swung through the air, trying my best to maintain a steady altitude. Butterfly girl flew slightly above me. It was darker now, not completely dark, but the sun had nearly fallen past the horizon. I glanced up at butterfly girl. I needed to stop calling her that. What was her actual hero name?

“Hey, Ms butterfly, what’s your superhero name?” I said. She glanced down at me, descending slightly.

“I told you they’re dragonfly wings. And I’m called Chrysalis” she said.

“Chrysalis? But isn’t that what happens to butterfly larvae?” I replied.

“Yes. I know it sounds silly, but Chrysalis just sounded cool, you know?” she said. I shrugged. Fair enough.

“Wait, before we do this you need to have a name. What should I call you?” she asked.

“Uh… Arachnid? White web? Spider? I don’t know man. I’m not a superhero so it doesn’t really matter” I replied.

“Well I need something to call you” she said. She paused, chuckling slightly. “Arachnid sounds like a super villain name, and white web is kind of… lacklustre. Spider’s too simple… hmm how about Black Widow?” she asked.

“No, just call me spider. Black Widow sound like a super villain name as well” I replied.

“You sure?”

“Yep”

Suddenly she veered to the right and beckoned me. I followed and we stopped on a rooftop. She crouched and pulled me down next to her. She fumbled around with her breast pocket before pulling out a mini camera, snapping a photo and putting it away.

“You see that building over there, the one with the graffiti of Athena on the side?” she whispered.

“Yeah? Uh, why’re you whispering?” I asked.

“That’s the building. We go in fast and hit hard till everyone’s down. Then we look around for some clues, tie everyone up, and tip off the police” she said, still whispering.

“Uh, sure. Quick question, why’re you whispering?” I repeated. She zipped off into the air, leaving me behind. Great. I leapt off the building and yanked myself through the air with a web. I shot across the sky as Chrysalis hurtled through the air ahead of me. As Chrysalis smashed through one of the windows, it suddenly dawned on me that I was in way over my head. This was seriously stupid. Well, I’d just let her do all the heavy lifting, grab the money and run. I followed behind her, landing in what looked like a lab.

A bunch of people in lab coats, and masks were already running for the one exit door shouting in what sounded like Russian. Chrysalis went to work, her skin suddenly taking on a shiny glint in the harsh laboratory lighting. She slammed into two of the lab coats knocking them to the floor where they didn’t get up, and then she zipped across the room and knocked out two more. Suddenly the exit door burst open, and in stepped a bunch of guys in black suits carrying guns.

My danger sense buzzed and I dived to the side as gunfire erupted from the doorway. I leapt around the room as gunfire trailed me, my heart in my mouth. My danger sense guided me out of harm’s way but I felt like I was a hair’s breadth from death. I could barely think, which was probably a good think because it let me rely on my danger sense. I just prayed Chrysalis was ok. I wouldn't know what to do if she died. The gunfire stopped for a second and my danger sense faded. I didn’t give them a chance to reload. I grabbed a beaker and threw it as hard as I could at the group of suits. It shattered on the first guys head and he fell to the floor as the others shouted in pain, firing wildly.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I dodged the gunfire, a bullet tearing a hole through the side of my bag. Chrysalis suddenly appeared from behind a cabinet and slammed one of the guys into the wall with a ridiculous amount of force and knocked out the last guy with a quick jab. There was silence for a few seconds, and then I fell to the floor my knees giving out. The sweat on my body suddenly felt cold as wind blew in from the completely obliterated window. There were bullet holes everywhere.

“Jesus christ” I said.

Chrysalis stook a hand out and I took it as she helped me up.

“Cool right?” she said. I looked her up and down. Her costume was riddled with bullet holes. The shiny texture on her skin had cracked in a few places, and small bits of blood seeped out.

“Are you ok?” I asked concerned. She glanced at herself.

“Oh I’m fine. I’ve never fought against people with AR’s before, so it might leave a bruise. I’m not sure” she said. I stared at her dumbfounded, my heart still beating heavily.

“Come on, we need to tie them up before they wake up. Then we look for clues and call the police” she said. I nodded and started searching the lab. She stopped me and pointed at the door.

“We tie them up first. Plus, they only keep stuff for drugs in the lab. Everything important will be outside” she said. I nodded. She pulled out wire from a pocket on her belt and started tying up the suits. I walked over to them and started webbing them up. I didn’t know how long it would last, but it would do the job. We finished tying everyone up, and then she handed me a pair of gloves.

“So we don’t leave any finger prints” she said.

“Wow, you’ve really thought this through” I said. She grinned, pleased at the compliment. We stepped out of the lab and into what looked like a regular apartment. There were pictures of a family in the hallway, and regular furnishings throughout the house. Was this how they kept up a front? Strange.

We split up to look through everything. I didn’t find anything important until I searched the toilet. In the toilet’s cistern there were three bags taped to the sides above the water. Each of them was labelled with something written in Russian. I pulled them all out and ripped them open. A grin spread across my face. Each of them was a bag of money. A lot of money. Perfect. I opened the plastic seal on one of them and emptied it into my bag. The weight from just one stack off bills had me cackling maniacally.

“Spider! Come look at this” she said. I left the toilet and made my way to one of the rooms. Chrysalis was sifting through a bunch of papers.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A fucking goldmine. One of the guys here must’ve been important because he’s got tonnes of letters on important stuff” she said. I stepped over next to her and looked over a bunch of letters, some with pictures paper clipped to the end.

“Uh… they're all in Russian. Can you read Russian?” I asked.

“A little. It’s enough to read the important parts” Chrysalis said. She dropped a bunch of the paper onto the bed, folding the rest and stuffing them into a pocket.

“Let’s call the police and go” she said. She paused when she saw the bags of money in my hands.

“Uh… can I keep one bag?” I asked.

“No. That’s way too much. Take like $50 dollars and leave the rest” she said. I opened one of the bags and looked at the wad of cash.

“They’re all hundreds” I said.

“Just take one” she said, stepping past me. I shrugged and took two bills before sealing it and dropping it on the bed. I wasn’t going to mention the cash I’d already put in my bag. I glanced at some of the documents on the bed, then stepped out of the room. Chrysalis was already on the house phone speaking to the police.

She hung up quickly and turned to me.

“They’re on their way. Let’s go” she said. I nodded, and we quickly left through the window we’d entered from. We stopped on a nearby building.

“You were pretty good back there. I’ll let you know when I find another hideout” she said.

“Wait, this is going to be a regular thing?” I asked. She sighed and crossed her arms.

“Will you really only do it if you get paid?” she said. I thought back to the fuck ton of money I’d just made. If they’d all been one-hundred-dollar bills, then I had to have at least five grand in my bag. If I kept this up, then I wouldn’t even have to worry about money anymore. I felt a small smile contort my balaclava.

“Nah, just call me” I said. She grinned, her posture relaxing. Then her wings fluttered, and she slowly started to ascend.

“I’ll see you around” she said.

“Cool. See you later” I replied. She waved and went to go before pausing.

“Hey Spider. Do you want me to make you a costume?” she asked. I paused before looking down at my clothes.

“Nah. I’m not a superhero, remember?” I said. She laughed.

“Well see you later” she said, zipping away before I could reply. I smiled and leaped off the edge of the building and swung away. Today had been scary as shit. But it had definitely been worth it.