I climbed out of the bathroom window and crawled up the wall until I was on the roof. Eric was busy in the common room, and no one else really came to our room. If we got this done quickly, then I’d be able to get back without anyone noticing; and if not, I could just pretend I fell asleep on the toilet. I stretched out quickly before swinging away through the streets. Even though I was taller I felt a lot more agile now. Swinging felt easier, more freeing, and wall crawling on all fours felt natural. Thankfully I wasn’t having any urges to create a massive web and eat bugs, so it was probably just comfort from a physical change, not a mental one. I came to a stop on the side of the Flatiron as people stared up at me. I climbed up to the roof, and spotted Amy in a slightly newer costume. It had the same colour scheme with black trim, and looked slightly bulkier, with more padding.
“New suit?” I said.
“Yeah. It’s a bit more durable so my mum doesn’t have to keep stitching the old one together” she said.
“Wait, your mum knows about this?” I said, astounded.
“Yeah. I sort of just told her when the wings grew, and I’ve just kept her updated since. She’s pretty cool about it” she said.
“Uh… wow. She makes your costumes too?” she said.
“Nah, my sister makes my costumes, but Mum does the repair sometimes” she said.
“Your sister knows as well?”
“Yeah. Anyway, let’s go. I’m going out later so, we have to make this quick” she said.
“Fine by me” I said, I turned to leap off the side of the building.
"Wait?!" Amy said.
"Huh? What's wrong?" I said turning back. She fumbled with one of the pockets and pulled out her camera. She snapped a selfie, waited for the photo to print and then stuffed it back into her pocket. She turned to me and flashed a thumbs up.
"...Was that necessary?" I asked.
"Absolutely" she said, before zipping off into the air.
I leapt from the side of the building and swung, following slightly behind Amy. Now that I knew her name I’d have to remember not to use it. It should be fine. We carried on making our way through the city, before eventually stopping on top of a building in Harlem. Chrysalis crouched down next to the edge of the building, and pointed at an apartment building, nearby. Before she could start talking I held up my hand.
“You know there’s no point in whispering, right?” I said. Amy frowned.
“I do it to set the mood, ok?”
“We’re just going to blast through the window either way right?”
“Well… just let me have this”
“Fine, fine. Go on”
She grinned and leaned in slightly.
“The windows on this apartment are reinforced. My exoskeleton’s not that great against tougher sharp objects, so if it shatters it might cut me. I’m going to go through the wall. Ok?” she whispered. I frowned, but didn’t say anything, putting up my thumbs.
“Alright. Let’s go” she said. She stood up and charged towards the edge, zipping off the side of the building. I followed, diving off the edge and swinging away. I glanced at the wall of the building, then down at the street below. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any debris that fell on the street. I frowned, wait what about the people inside?
“Chrysalis wa-“
What sounded like an explosion drowned out my shout. The wall in front of me seemed to implode, a plume of dust and brick peppered me. I coughed and darted to the side landing on the window next to the wall. I glanced at the street below. Thankfully no one was down there. I heard shouts from inside and looked back at the window. There were a bunch of guys in black suits inside, staring back at me. In the middle of them was a woman whose arms seemed to be glowing. She barked an order in Russian and my sense screamed at me. I dived from the window, and then was instantly deafened by another explosion. Blinding light hit me along with a wave of heat, and my spider sense screamed louder. I contorted my body through the air on pure instinct, avoiding large chunks of brick, and shards of glass as I fell through the plume of dust and smoke. Even with my spider sense sharps of glass and brick cut across me, cutting through my mask and hoodie.
I recovered quickly, actively using my enhanced senses and spider sense to feel out my surroundings in the cloud of smoke. I webbed away, landing on a separate building. What the hell was that?! I looked back at the building hearing shouts and gunfire. There were two holes in the building now. The one where the window had been had burn marks around the edges, with smoke and dust still pouring out. We were dealing with a metahuman. Shit. I darted back towards the building. I needed to get Amy out of there. I landed in the hole Amy had made, to see her pushing against a door that wouldn’t budge. We were in another lab, similar to the first one, and there two people in lab coats on the floor, unconscious.
I looked back up at Amy, she was preparing to smash through the wall.
“A- Chrysalis! We need to go! They’ve got a metahuman!” I shouted. Suddenly my spider sense screamed. I vaulted backwards towards the hole in the wall and webbed Amy, pulling her towards me. A wall of fire burst through the side wall as we fell out of the building. I flipped and webbed back to the wall, letting go of Amy. She floated looking back up, as smoke poured out the side of the building.
“Shit! We have to take them out before they do more damage!” Amy said.
“No! No way! Whoever she is, she nearly just eviscerated us!” I shouted.
“Don’t worry. I’ll deal with her, you take out the guys inside” Amy said. She zipped away at a frightening speed, faster than I’d seen from her before. She flew through the larger whole, where the window had been and I heard a crash from the other side of the building, followed by gunfire. Shit. I fired webs upwards, latching onto the edge of the apartments and sling-shotted myself to the roof. I rushed to the far side to get a better look at what was going on. Amy flew through the air at a ridiculously fast speed, tussling in the air with the lady, who’s entire body was glowing.
They crashed into the roof of a building, skidding across it. Crap. I went to follow, but Amy spotted me as she stood up. She pointed at the apartment below me with a rigid finger. I hesitated then swore, leaping back down towards the apartment, my heart in my chest. Now I had to take on a bunch of guys with guns, whilst my friend fought alone against someone who could create walls of fire. This superhero shit was way too stressful.
I landed on the side of the building and peered through the hole. The suits all stood around one guy, around my age, wearing a brown hoodie and jeans. They were shouting at each other in Russian. Perfect. I fired a constant stream of webs at them, webbing them together in a jumbled mess of limbs. When they fell to the floor, stumbling over each other, I dropped down landing in the building. That had been easy.
My spider sense buzzed, and I jumped to the ceiling as a blast of cold air shot towards me, freezing part of the wall behind me. It had come from the guy in the hoodie. The webs hardened and cracked as the guys skin glowed. Crap. I darted towards him from the roof, but my spider sense buzzed, and I darted to the side. A large icicle tore through one of the suits, narrowly missing me as the brown hoodie stood up. He screamed at me and I felt the entire room grow cold. My hairs stood up on end, and I felt an overwhelming fear overcome me. I screeched, an unholy sound coming from my mouth. Instinctively I dived off the end of the wall, shattering the brick underfoot. I grabbed the guy, digging my fingers into his shoulder, then slammed him into the floor. His eyes rolled up into his head, and he lay unmoving.
My spider sense buzzed with a poignant keenness, and I spun around, punching a guy in the jaw. He flew across the room and crashed to the floor. My spider sense roared again, and I darted to the side. A gunshot cracked behind me. I dodged two more shots, then wrenched the gun from his grip with a web. The gun shattered against the wall as the suit cried out clutching his hand. I leaped at him and slammed him into the wall. I stood over him, my blood roaring in my ears and my heartbeat resounding throughout my entire body. I breathed heavily, slowly becoming aware of the silence. I looked down at my hands. My nails had become long, sharp, black claws. Blood covered my right hand, dripping to the floor, as black liquid seeped from my nails.
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The claws slowly transformed, shrinking back into my regular nails. I felt a fog I hadn’t even noticed disappear, my heart rate slowing down. What the hell? What the hell?! I turned to the guy in the brown hoodie, a dark pool of blood spreading from his shoulder. I watched as it spread, his skin growing paler as some of the veins on his neck turned black.
I rushed over to him, ripping off the hoodie. The gouges in his shoulder leaked a mixture of blood and the dark liquid that had seeped from my nails. A wreath of black veins circled the cuts, slowly spreading. Shit. Shit. I wrapped what was left of the hoodie around his shoulder, pulling it tight to stop the bleeding. I pulled off my bloodied glove and threw it to the floor. Blood still stained my hands. I wiped my hand on my hoodie repeatedly, my breaths quickly growing faster. The blood wasn’t coming off. Why wasn’t it coming off?!
I felt my spider sense buzz, and I leapt to the ceiling, looking behind me.
“Whoa. Calm down Spider, it’s just me” Amy said, landing down as she dropped the unconscious woman on the floor. I felt myself calm down slightly and dropped back to the floor. Amy looked okay, apart from the fact that some of her suit was burned and there was a red handprint that looked like it had burned itself into her skin.
“Crap, are you ok?” she said, stepping over to me. I reached for my face and felt that parts of the mask had been shredded by the debris, and that a small bit at the top of my mask was gone, along with some of my hair. My hoodie wasn’t much better, more of a rag barely holding together, my skin a patchwork of red marks underneath.
“I’m fine” I said. Amy breathed a sigh of relief as sirens wailed, not so far in the distance.
“You tie them up, and I’ll start the search” Amy said. She looked around. “I don’t think we’ll find much, but it’s worth a shot” she said. I nodded absentmindedly, my brain still far away. I webbed up all the people, and sat down on the floor, staring at my glove. I’d completely lost control. I’d felt threatened, really threatened, for the first time since I’d gotten these powers and I’d snapped. That unholy screech hadn’t been me. I felt my shoulders slump. This was exactly what I’d been afraid of. Losing control. I glanced at the injured men in suits, my eyes finally falling on the ice guy. Amy was wrong. This wasn’t a gift. It was nowhere close. Getting rid of it as soon as possible would be the right thing to do.
I felt a hand grab me on the shoulder, and I spun around, slapping it away. Amy stepped back looking at me concerned.
“Spider are you ok?” she said. I looked down at my hands and then the chaos around the room, slowly starting to tremble. I felt like my throat was constricting, and I could barely breath through the mask. I ripped it off, strands of hair sticking to my forehead with sweat as I took in a deep lungful of air. I felt my shock turn into anger contorting my face.
“I- No! This was a mistake!” I shouted. “I- why did you… why…” I fell to my hands, my legs suddenly giving out. Amy rushed over to me, grabbing me.
“Hey! Calm down. It’s ok” she said, her voice soothing. I wiped my wet eyes, and let out a shaky breath, as Amy helped me to my feet. She looked me over again and her expression shifted. She carefully put on my mask, and then picked me up in a princess hold and zipped out of the room.
“I’m fine, you c-“ I started.
“You’re not fine” she interrupted with a harshness I didn’t expect. “Just sit tight, we’re nearly there.”
We carried on flying for a bit before slowing down and zipping down an alley. We landed on a fire escape, and Amy opened a slightly ajar window, before struggling to carry me and step inside. I stopped her and took to my own feet slightly wobbly. All the cuts were starting to sting now, no doubt the adrenaline wearing off.
“Where are we?” I said, leaning against the wall.
“My house. Come on, my sister’s a nurse, she’ll treat you” she said. I shook my head.
“No, no, I’m fi-“
“If you say you’re fine one more time I’m going to lose it” she said, the harsh tone back. “Are you going to get inside on your own or do you want me to carry you?”
“Alright man. Geez…” I said, stepping through the window.
“Sit down, I’ll bring Rachael in here” she said.
“By you desk or...”
“Anywhere’s fine” she said pulling off her mask, then taking out her hairband. Her hair fell around her head stopping at her shoulders. Her expression of concern was much more apparent now. She opened her door a crack and peered out of it, before stepping out and shouting for Rachael, who I assumed was her nurse sister.
I took a seat at the desk, pulling off my mask, and looked around. Amy’s room was not what I’d expected. I don’t know what I’d been expecting, or even if I’d been expecting anything at all. She had polaroid pictures all over her walls, even on the ceiling. The pictures were seemingly random. From pictures of random stores, trees, and places all over New York to family photos and random shots of herself. There was even a picture of someone’s foot on a disco ball. There had to be hundreds. I looked down at her desk. It was messy with utensils and paper strewn everywhere.
Next to the desk and by her bedside was a small cabinet. A Gloria action figure and Icon funko pop sat next to a picture frame. I arched my head to get a better look. A picture of her family laughing in a photo sat in the frame. A tall blonde hulk of a man with a Viking beard, her father, stood at the back laughing as he clutched a shorter brunette with olive skin and a perfect copy of Amy’s signature grin plastered across her face. Three girls stood in front of them. I instantly recognised a younger Amy, with her signature grin, her hair a lot longer than it was now. She looked around eleven in the photo taken. Next to her stood a slightly taller blonde with her eyes crossed, making a silly expression. She looked like Amy, but with a slightly leaner face, paler skin, and green eyes. Her hair was cut really short. The third girl was the oldest, with brown hair like Amy’s, green eyes like her father and sister and a skin tone closest to her mother’s, a small grin on her face. She was pretty cute.
The door opened again behind me and Amy stepped in followed by one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen in my life. It was an older version of the tallest sister in the picture She wore a nurse uniform and had slight bags under her eyes.
“Oh, you took off your mask” Amy said, unsure.
“I- sorry” I replied, not sure what to make of it either.
“Lucas this is Rachael. Rachael, Lucas” Amy said, awkwardly. Heather stepped past her and put a first aid kit on the desk. She had a serious look on her face.
“Could you take your hoodie and shirt off for me. I need to get a better look at the cuts” she said. I paused but obliged.
She looked me over for a second and paused.
“What cut you?” she asked, her face serious.
“Uh… shrapnel. Glass, pieces of brick. Stuff like that” I said. She made a face.
“I’ll do the best I can but this might take a while. There’s a lot of cuts and I’ll need to make sure there isn’t any debris inside before I clean them” she said.
“He can stay. If it’s that bad, he stays” Amy said. Rachael glanced between the two of us.
“I can stay. I’ll get in trouble, but I’d rather not go to sleep with glass shards in my stomach” I said laughing. Amy seemed to relax at my joke, but Rachael didn’t say anything, only frowning.
“I’ll get you some water. It’s the least I can do” Amy said before walking off. Rachael pulled out some tweezers, disinfectant, a needle with thread and a wad of plasters, before starting with the cuts at my stomach. Amy came back with the water quickly, and I sipped at it, grateful. I winced slightly as she worked. Most of the time it didn’t hurt that much, but small stabs of pain from the two cuts that needed stitches had been pretty intense. We sat in silence for a few minutes before Amy spoke up.
“You look a bit better” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Earlier you looked like you’d seen a ghost. I don’t know, you just seem like you’re in less pain”
“I told you I was fine”
“You most definitely aren’t fine” Rachael interjected. “You were probably in shock earlier. I mean this much shrapnel makes me think of a bomb. It’s no wonder you were shaking so much.” Amy and I both went silent.
“I don’t get why anyone would want to do this. I mean how old even are you?” Rachael said, the frustration apparent.
“Uh…” crap I couldn’t remember whether I’d told Amy I was sixteen or eighteen.
“Knock it off sis. You don’t have to give your whole, ‘leave it to the police’ spiel every time you’re treating someone” Amy said. Before Rachael could respond, the sound of the door opening alerted us all. Amy glanced out the door to check who it was.
“Why’re you here?” her voice sounded distant behind the door.
“Wow, way to welcome someone. Aren’t you excited to see me?” a female voice said back.
“Yeah, but you never visit these days, I just wasn’t expecting you” Amy responded.
“Yeah, well I’m here now. Where’s mum? I’m hungry” the woman said.
“She’s working late” Rachael said loudly.
“Hey Rache!” the voice shouted back, “What’re you doing in Ames’ room?” There was a beat of silence, and Amy glanced back inside.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” the woman said, to Amy, her voice filled with concern.
“No, I brought a friend” Amy replied.
The sound of heels clacking against wood panelling grew closer and the door swung open. A tall blonde woman with short hair, a bunch of face piercings, and a stylish set of clothes stared back at me.
“Oh my god! Are you ok?” she shouted.
“I’m fine” I replied.
“No you absolutely are not” Rachael said, glaring at me as she put a plaster on my chest.
There was a horrified shout, and the blonde grabbed what was left of the hoodie.
“Calm down Heather” Rachael said.
“Calm down? Look at the hoodie! This took me hours, and I had to use components I’d made for other projects. Now it’s ruined” Heather said.
“Well you can just make another one, right?” Amy said.
“Oh sure muscle brain” she said sarcastically. Then she turned to me. “Once you’re finished getting patched up, let me take your measurements so I can make you a proper costume. One that will hold up.”
“You don’t-“ I started before wincing.
“Don’t move” Rachael said quietly. Suddenly the sound of the door opening again turned everyone’s heads.
Heather disappeared instantly, rushing towards the new arrival before I could finish my sentence. Crap. I glanced at Amy but she wasn’t looking, watching Heather instead.
“There we go” Rachael said putting a final plaster by my collar bone. “Now don’t do any strenuous activity for a while. No superhero antics or anything like that. We don’t want the stitches coming out” she said.
“Ok. Thanks” I replied. She gave me a soft smile that made my heart flutter.
“You’re welcome” she said standing up. She threw a bunch of tissues, and cotton buds in the bin, then opened Amy’s cupboard. She fished around for a bit, before pulling out a Yankee’s T-shirt and handing it to me. I slipped into it, when Amy slipped back inside.
“Come on. I want you to say hi to my mom” she said.