260Chapter 20: Fighting Crime, Bleeding Webs
The occupation – the resistance against The Kingpin's rule got only stronger, with Professor Xavier planning to use The X-Men to hunt down the trafficked mutants that were a part of his global operation, both Peter and Laura would fight at the front lines as Spider-Man and Talon, and behind The Kingpins line with the X-Men. Following their first huge step in taking down his criminal empire from the ground up by shutting down operations and arresting multiple super criminals who were now being processed in the maximum super prison – The Raft. Chief DeWolff in a press conference shed a small light on the circumstance, saying that criminal syndicates were responsible for the surge of crime taking place. That was all the red-headed authoritative police chief had said, refusing any further comment or questions relating to it, and the superheroes who were 'reportedly' working with them.
In the battle they were in, this was an aggressive move – a threat to all those who were a part of Wilson Fisk's coalition.
A threat that would be followed through with actions far more brutal than the words themselves.
On the night of his arrival and over the course of a few days, while fighting back against the various organizations who despicably flooded the streets with drugs, murdered, extorted, and trafficked those who were undeserving of such unspeakable acts, Laura Kinney would find herself a student in "The Peter Parker School for a troubled Teenage Superhero." Ignoring the frivolous name, they had a shared goal – an objective that both of them passionately wanted to reach, and that was to have Laura overcome the childhood programming that was ingrained into her being – into her very nature.
"AGGGHHHHHHHHH," A blood-curdling howl echoed through the building that had been sieged upon by the army of two who came with vengeance. Crimson ichor leaked from two deep wounds that pierced the trafficking scum's shoulder, causing the man who was the root cause of people's trauma to fall, just like the rest of his men.
Two metal prongs were retracted back into the small hands they came from as green eyes underneath red lenses intently turned to look at covered blue ones, awaiting their thoughts.
"Well…he's not dead – or close to being…" Spider-Man noted with his hand on his chin. Instead of two holes in the abdomen, it was now on the shoulder, and while they were still highly vascular with the threat of death still being there, Peter theorized that the wound would cause more damage to the wounded arm than take his life.
It was within the acceptable threshold but the wound was still too severe for the regular thug to endure – even if he was scum.
"Maybe a little less stabby-stab-stab and more slash?" Peter precariously recommended, believing that slashing would be a better alternative to stabbing, but given Laura's background – which he always kept in mind, all of this was a better alternative than them being on the brink of death.
Laura nodded, figuring out ways to alter her approach to fit his recommendation. Hardening her gaze upon turning back to the man who withered and squirmed in pain, she thrust her boot into his face, causing blood to splatter all over it with the flattening of his nose, viciously knocking him out and allowing the two to free those he helped keep in captivity.
Getting back into the groove of being Spider-Man once more, Peter followed through on his promise of printing their 'title cards.' Every time they dealt with someone, every building they waged war against, a card was left, 'Courtesy of your Astonishing Spider-Man & Talon,' it read.
It was redundant given the scene they left behind so she did not care, there were no adverse effects to him doing this. Her claws were used sparingly, not because of the sheer lethality they were trying to reduce, but because of the signature two slashes they left behind which would arouse suspicion and attention of those she did not want.
One would think that this would be a disadvantage – that having her fight barehanded on occasion would be less painful…
Like a cornered animal forced to fight, the man who unfortunately had to go against the girl threw a wild punch at the long-eared devil he faced, but in an instant, the shadow had weaved – had taken control of the arm that was now painfully dislocated and used the opening his ghastly shriek brought to silence it by bashing his head against the cold brick wall of the gutter alleyway they were in.
… it was the adverse, and those she faced wished they chose to get punched by Spider-Man instead.
Talon started appearing in headlines with Spider-Man as Peter and Laura conducted their duties as students of The Charles Xavier Institute. Those duties were sparse as of now, their only responsibility being the strict and necessary attendance of Danger Room sessions they partook in with others with the intention of team building, but that had gone over the heads of the two who were vastly more experienced than the others…
After cleaving through turrets and appendages, Laura had been pulled from the ground by a magnet which lifted her towards it at ramping speeds. Powering through the magnetic pull just enough, the girl used the magnet against itself and shifted her weight just enough that the pull flipped her over, slicing through the lifting magnet in less than a second.
Gravity took hold of her again, bringing her back down into the path of flamethrowers and mechanical appendages that would tear her to shreds.
She would meet them head-on, already knowing how to proceed based on the patterns she had observed.
But in her free fall, she was caught before she could do any of that.
Holding the green-eyed girl snuggly in his underarm, Peter Parker swung through the room using a destroyed mechanical appendage that hung from the ceiling, preventing the deadly training weapons from ever reaching her.
"I had that under control," she stated in abrupt irritation, instinctively retracting her claws the moment she knew it was him.
"You're welcome," Peter amusingly replied, which caused her brow to sink deeper.
"There were seven different outcomes where I escaped unscathed," she declared, refusing to thank him as he carried her through the dangerous room like a sack of potatoes.
"Yeah, but did you think about the eighth one where I come and save you?" he wittingly and charmingly replied with a wink.
She grumbled and furrowed her brow.
He snickered.
She did not think about the eighth one where he 'saved' her.
They routinely ended their simulations and left with each other to the secret areas they claimed as their own. Laura's preferences of being away from the others – not counting Peter whom she preferred to be with, and his preference to be with her, while unintentionally allowing her to take the lead of where they went, mostly kept the two isolated from the others. In these moments of peace, she read her book which intentionally had the jacket off to keep it a secret as Peter brainstormed ideas for his new web-shooters, potential gadgets, and his X-Men persona. With each of these subjects, he always asked the girl who accompanied him for her opinion due to her strategic genius and input he just genuinely cared about. This input however would bluntly shut down all his excessive ideas of what his new web-shooters could do, and gadgets like his spider-tracers much to his disappointment. His proposed ideas for his web-shooters would turn them from mechanical to technical, meaning that they would be vulnerable to short circuits and rendered useless, and his spider-tracers – though a resourceful tool, had a weakness that had her eyes widen in shock and bafflement.
They operated on his Spider-Sense's radio frequency which allowed him to trace whatever they were on.
She did not know his Spider-Sense operated on a radio frequency and he was oblivious to the urgency which caused her to sit upright and force him to burn all his proposed ideas concerning them in one of the mansion's fireplaces, not even bothering to explain just how compromising it would be if one were to find out that his sixth-sense that warned him of danger, that mapped out areas, and possibly could do more, operated on a radio frequency which could be detected.
Her harsh demands startled him but he complied upon hearing her reasoning which was layered with strategic urgency and care. Though disappointed that his grand ideas were all discarded, Laura had reminded him that his web-shooters were a creation of pure genius that did not need to be upgraded so vastly outside of the quality of life changes and accommodation of his stingers he proposed.
She also offhandedly reminded him that tracers were redundant given her talents which were at his disposal.
This reminder quickly made a smile cross the childishly sulking face of Peter Parker, leaving the topic of his mutant identity the focus of his endless sketches.
"Prodigy?" Peter asked, displaying the artistically good sketch that showed the ridiculous costume he proposed, "An old-fashioned good guy who speaks in a grandiose way and leaps from rooftop to rooftop?"
It only took a glance at the sketch of the golden Knight that had a long crimson cape before Laura shook her head.
"The equivalent of putting on a dunce cap," was all she said before turning back to the book she currently was immersed in. Peter didn't know what it was about, but he was interested due to the royal purple and regal gold design which captivated his attention.
"True…capes are stupid anyways…" Peter chuckled at her statement, quickly scrapping the idea of Prodigy which was doomed to fail because of the banal costume, corny personality, and pompous name.
Only an egotist would take up the name of "Prodigy," Peter concluded before sketching more designs he would propose to Laura, oblivious to how she occasionally peered past her book to look at him.
With the fading of daylight, midnight tones of dark blue and purple silently coated the city. Golden bright lights, brilliant neon signs, and giant digital screens were what fought against these midnight colors, contrasting against them with such vibrancy that even in the blackness of night, the city was still immersed in color that only amplified the night time atmosphere Spider-Man and Talon conducted their crusade – their mission.
Gunshots between those who worked for the Kingpin and those who were aligned with his enemies battled it out in the middle of the street with an array of bullets and explosive armaments that caused mass panic.
But the conflict was shut down the moment a 'thwip' echoed down the street.
They couldn't even turn to look when a spiraling torpedo of darkness aggressively arrived at the scene, beginning their explosive assault that slashed not just the weapons, but lacerated the warring enemies at speeds they could not compete with. Her brain pinpointed all of her target's weak points and informed her of all the lethal moves she would've made, but instead of toning it down as she had in the club, she ignored what her brain commanded, making the conscious effort not to stab or maim but to slash lightly, slicing through meat and skin, but nothing more.
Her target's broken weapons dropped as they screamed in agonizing pain at the burning sensation of skin and muscle getting torn, but their cries were silenced by a streak of light that accompanied the shadow as soon as she arrived, keeping a step behind to finish off her enemies with his crushing blows that contained the strength of a thousand men.
The quiet told all who were the winners.
Standing beside the streak of light was the shadow who waited to hear his opinion.
"Okay, that's better…" Peter noted, satisfied with the lack of lethality Laura was now showing. Instead of stab wounds or leaving people near death, those she faced only suffered from slashes which brought immense pain.
"I think we just found the way to use your claws to fight regular bad guys without maiming or stabbing," Peter excitedly declared as the girl looked at the damage she had inflicted. The thing she noticed was that she did not incapacitate their foes like Peter did, needing him to finish them off.
She would try incorporating physical attacks into her slashes.
Right now, it was easy to be able to find and adjust strategies to have her be less lethal but she wondered if any of it would stick when pushed…
She was a wolf…
"Spider-Man and Talon – one, child programming – zero," He proudly declared with a hand up high, gesturing for her to 'high five' it, but all it did was cause the girl to lightly shake her head.
….But she was learning to be a lion…
…She would choose to be one…
She still had many ways to go…
… fortunately, The Peter Parker school had more than one instructor…
The five-five one hundred thirty pound figure of Talon was dwarfed by the six-five, two hundred and sixty-pound man she faced, but her knowledge of the martial arts equalized that. She flipped the man over and onto the ground with a reversal before dodging a punch from his skinnier accomplice and grabbing his arm before breaking it with the smashing of her elbow that swiftly proceeded to shatter his jaw as well.
The aggressive hitting of her heel against the bigger man's face knocked out all ambitions he had of getting up.
This went in synchronization with another set of two falling, one from a punch to the face and the other from an uppercut after a set of weaves. Ceasing the bouncing he did between his toes and dropping the fists that guarded his face, Spider-Man and Talon turned to the man who gave them the parameters to beat their foes.
"Your boxing is better than the last time we did this, but you still fight instinctually and though that's good, instincts are what you want to fall back on as a fighter – not what you start with. You need a plan going in as well with skill, Spider-Man,'' Daredevil critiqued Peter who sighed – who the blind vigilante knew what holding his tongue from saying he didn't need skills because of his powers, but powers could only get you so far – even the boy's new ones with his brow lifting revelation that he was now a mutant.
The horned vigilante who was able to quell the young boy's mouth turned to the girl he partnered with, "You fight amazingly, your technique, your form, everything is perfect but you fight only with a plan – with scenarios…sometimes you need to rely on your instincts or else a good fighter will read right through you," Daredevil lectured the girl who had the exact opposite problem Peter had.
"My instincts tell me to kill, not incapacitate," She informed the blind man who already knew that.
"Is it really your instincts or is it your brain that was coded to kill?" He pointed out to the girl who tried to differentiate the two.
"What is the difference?" Laura asked Murdock, not being able and wanting to know what differentiated the two.
"One requires you to listen, the other requires you to trust yourself," he lectured Laura. From her very conception, she was nurtured to kill but nurture did not equate to nature. Nature was innate, the very soil that everything else was rooted in, and instincts came from that.
"That is hard," Laura confessed, the voice of a hunter telling her of her nature echoing throughout her mind.
"You told me that you spared a boy even though you were ordered to kill him, right?" He asked Laura who even remembered the boy's face.
It was a mission.
She had three targets, the parameters were to make it look like a fire and she had twenty-two minutes.
One of her targets she killed with great pleasure, the other was one who would continue the haunt her.
The last one was a child – a boy, the same age as her…
…holding onto his toy as he fearfully hid in his closet.
Laura nodded as Peter listened keenly, his strong and unbreakable beliefs about her only getting strengthened when he heard more about earlier life and the choices she made.
"Tell me, why do you think you did that?" Daredevil asked Laura who was at a loss of words, unable to answer – not wanting to, though the aversion of her gaze only made it so the one beside her took up most of her vision, reminding her of his beliefs.
"Because…I am…good…?" She wobbly answered with diffidence and hesitation, sure that was the answer the blind man was looking for, but the words – the phrase, sounded wrong when they came from her mouth – from her voice.
The blind man nodded, "Believe in your instincts, Laura, they come from your nature, and yours is good," Daredevil reaffirmed the belief Peter Parker constantly reminded her of.
They were in the garage with each other, getting ready to use the alternative means to get to New York that Laura greatly preferred over public transportation. Grabbing the pair of keys she always did and picking up the helmet that belonged to her as Peter sheepishly followed, wondering if it really was alright to steal Logan's motorcycle.
"He does not mind," Laura absentmindedly said, donning her preferred striped tank top attire as Peter did his blue shirt one, though he was missing the undershirt – he keeps forgetting to ask Laura for it back.
"Well that's one guy down but what about the cops when they don't see me wearing a helmet?" Peter pointed out, knowing that they would most definitely get pulled over the moment they caught a glimpse of his free-flowing brown hair.
Laura was not oblivious to this though, it was why she had not driven them prior, but the incident of missing the train which forced them to wait for a painstaking two hours at five in the morning had her not wanting to use public transportation ever again.
She grabbed the helmet that she kept beside hers.
"Here," She stated, handing Peter the helmet. It was the exact same model as hers though, where Laura's was black with a black visor that obscured her identity, the one she handed to him was painted with a deep red metallic shine with a mirrored visor.
"Who's…who's is this?" Peter wondered, looking at his reflection within the visor and then back to Laura who had a softer expression on her face.
"It is yours," She informed him, causing great surprise which was quickly changed into immense gratitude to wash over his humbled face.
"You…You didn't have to do this, Laura," Peter tenderly stated, expressing his gratitude to her as he gazed at his reflection within the silver mirrored visor.
"I didn't. Now get on," She simply demanded, putting on her own helmet and starting the motorcycle that he would join her on.
Peter Parker grinned and did as told, wrapping his arms around Laura after putting on her gift which was a snug fit.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" His voice boomed behind the girl as they sped down the highway, going at exhilarating speeds which he only believed could be found when he web swung.
He was wrong.
Speeding down the highway at seventy miles per hour, Peter Benjamin Parker submitted himself to the whims of Laura Kinney with a great big smile, his young teenage mind and thirst for excitement and fun eclipsed his sense of responsibility which was satiated by the fact that one of the best drivers in the world piloted the vehicle with a passenger who had a sense which warned him of danger.
"This is awesome!" Peter roared with an open smile that the helmet hid as he held onto the girl who disregarded just about every traffic law that existed – granted, there was barely anyone on the highway.
"Do a wheelie! Do a wheelie!" he childishly asked the girl whom he held onto for dear life.
Laura rolled her eyes and revved her engine.
Doing just that.
Peter laughed in excitement as the stoic expression of Laura's lightened up, but that was all disturbed when the sound of sirens instantly caused the two to perk up – a habit of their superhero activities.
"Pull Over!" but for once, the sirens were blaring for them.
"Uh…Snikity-Snikt…" Peter anxiously pointed out, unable to form words as he watched the little traffic on the empty highway move out of the way of the cop car that was chasing after them.
"I am not stopping for them," She immediately told him, shutting down the boy-scout response she expected him to give her, bringing her front wheel down so that she could speed up.
"Are you crazy?" Peter asked the girl in the most baffled tone she'd ever heard, "Stop for them? Are you forgetting I'm on the most wanted list? We stop for them here, we're gonna go to prison – federal prison – not even that – We'll be going straight down to the Raft – and I'm too young to go to the Raft!" he urgently and humorously informed the girl in a single breath.
"I was gonna say that I want you to go faster," The boy who frequently ran from the cops finished in a mischievous voice that quickly became a yelp as Laura greatly picked up speed to escape the pursuit they found themselves in.
Startled by the sudden increase, the boy who had only been on a motorcycle twice in his life significantly increased his hold on the girl, putting his life in her hands as they commenced a highway chase of the ages.
Laura Kinney would provide transport to Peter Benjamin Parker and in turn, Spider-Man would provide the same for his partner Talon.
"YOU'RE NEVER TAKING US ALIVE!" Spider-Man's voice echoed at the cop cars he and Talon – who was holding on to him as tightly as she possibly could, left behind with each high-speed swing he took.
He wasn't going slow for her anymore, and she experienced just how truly fast he could swing. In one line, they sped past multiple blocks before being launched high into the air. The people – the surroundings, everyone save for Peter – which she fought the wind desperately to hang on to, were speed lines and blurs until they briefly levitated into the air from their propulsion, granting her sight and feeling like no other until gravity pulled them back down again.
Peter's laughs and exclamations of joy were accompanied by the opening of her mouth that let out her own silent screams and wide eyes at a sensation she quietly enjoyed.
That was until she registered that she was no longer hanging on to him but fully suspended in the air.
Time slowed.
She did not know what he did, but at the highest point of the swing, he let go like he always did but this time he flipped his body in a way that flung her off him which surprised her greatly. Her back was to the sky as his was to the ground, the shape of their bodies forming a circle as she aimlessly tried to grasp at the boy who had his arms behind his back and legs crossed.
He found himself at home in the heights they were in, greatly amused at the extremely expressive face of Laura who almost resembled a cat that had been thrown, desperately scrambling to grasp anything.
She had never expressed that amount of panic and surprise in her life before. Her heart raced when gravity pulled them back down causing her to instinctively – frantically, try and grasp the boy who fell faster than her.
She clutched his front dearly as he cradled her with one arm, laughing at her state as he began their webswing again. Coming back to her senses after the event that lasted less than a minute, all the abrupt emotions she felt turned into irritation upon feeling the uplifting of his chest which tried to stifle his laughs.
She gritted her teeth and growled at him, glaring at the boy who had just involved her in a stunt and spurred various reactions without a warning.
Peter looked back at her with a smile and laughed at her frustrated face.
She grumbled.
He fired another webline.
Her eyes widened when she saw nothing come out of the web-shooter he used.
Peter moved Laura to his other arm quickly, trying to use the other one which surely had webfluid.
The empty 'thwip' proved her wrong.
"This is not funny anymore," Laura growled through her teeth, glaring as fiercely as she possibly could to display that she was not amused by any of this.
"...Oh no…" Peter muttered, panic slowly making its way onto his face as it did with Laura's.
This was not a joke.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Falling from more than eight hundred feet, Spider-Man – Sixteen-year old Peter Benjamin Parker, caused everyone from New York all the way to Westchester to freeze upon hearing his blood curdling, spine-chilling, terrified scream that was quickly silenced as his body that cradled the equally out of her element Laura, crashed into the edge of a building, shattering it, changing his course and causing him to plummet into a wall, a fire escape, another fire escape, and then finally, an open dumpster that shook so violently with his impact that the lid came crashing down, entrapping the two in a box of darkness and garbage.
"Ughh…my back…" Peter groaned, finding comfort in the trash that broke his fall.
Disorientated, surprised, and most of all, worried, Laura scrambled amongst the trash to check if Peter was alright, and after making sure that he was, all her worry, all her surprise, all her emotions quickly turned into sour, bitter, unfiltered, uncontained, anger.
She did not talk to him for a couple of hours.
She ignored his frantic and sincere apologies as best she could – not wanting to hear them, even after they returned together.
She scowled and growled, recalling the fall that soured her mood and the appearance of the boy who typically brought the opposite.
That dimwitted idiot – that foolish twit, how could he not know that he was out of webfluid?
"…there were no indicators on the web shooters so how could he really know?" She genuinely thought in the boy's defense.
He knew as much as she did, and he even used his body to shelter her from the fall…
…that did not excuse his negligence.
She shook her head, trying to dissuade the growing thoughts that defended the stupid boy.
The stupid brunette boy who she trusted…
…The amusing, idiotic, caring, stupid, thoughtful brunette boy…
Where even was he?
She could detect that he left the mansion after she dropped them off, but what business did he have?
She should have gone with him…
…She growled…
There was a knock on her window and she instantly went to answer. Pulling her blinds hastily to the side, the girl looked on – hoping while also not hoping, to see the boy who plagued her mind.
She did not get that.
She got a plastic bag webbed to her window that had a note attached to it instead.
She went to reach for it and opened her window, and in that instant, the pleasing, pleasurable scent that delighted her sinuses reached her, telling her what was inside the bag…
…It was twenty-five chicken noodles.
Her favorite food.
From her favorite place.
She had told him that.
She looked at the note which had a crudely written 'I'm sorry.'
She grabbed the fresh meal which pleased her nostrils, still glaring at the note.
Peter Parker sulkily ate his dish alone in his room, wishing he could eat with the girl but given how angry she was with him at the moment – which was understandable, he knew that wouldn't happen and would settle on depressingly slurping her favorite dish – which was now one of his newly favorites too, late at night or early in the morning, on the floor…
…alone with a frown on his face.
His door swung open, causing him to instantly go under his sheets to hide his costume, leaving the food he was eating on the floor.
He pretended to be asleep.
His door was shut and he could hear footsteps walking around his room which caused him to question many things.
"You are the stupidest boy I have ever met," a voice that made his heart skip a beat exhaustingly declared, flicking on his bedside lamp to cast a small glow.
Peter turned around to look at the girl who placed herself beside his box of food, her own within her hands as her eyes told him to escape the sheets that fruitlessly hid him so that they could eat their food together.
Laura Kinney couldn't stay mad at him, no matter how hard she tried.
Despite how seemingly mindless he could be at times, throughout Peter's first five days in the mansion, Laura learned a lot from the countless hours he spent telling her and teaching her what it meant to be a hero. When they were not swinging or running through the rooftops, they were typically perched on gargoyles far above the city streets, and where she would watch him from behind, wondering what he was thinking about when looking at the breathtaking sight being a thousand and forty-eight feet in the air provided, she now understood.
She gazed down at the masses below who were mere specs that could and would be easily ignored by anyone else, but she was not like anyone else, she was aware of them. She was aware of the familiar patterns people followed and looked on at those who sought to go home after a long day's work, watched as others strolled through the night with their partner, their friends, and their family with smiles, joy, mischievous laughs, and pleading words. Laura looked on, watching people live a life she never could, but that notion only gave fuel to her desire to help, to do good, to protect. The onyx heroine stared at a beautiful sight with a sky that dwarfed her – isolated her…
It would have also made her feel alone with melancholic sadness if it weren't for the presence of someone else.
The sound of sirens instantly caused her to perk up.
Without words, without confirmation, the girl instantaneously leaped off her vantage point, letting the pull of gravity have her plummet thousands of feet in the air.
She did so without a parachute or anything below her that would break her fall.
She did so without fear…
Though primordial and powerful the force may be in its desire to have her be nothing but splatter…
…She had someone to prevent that.
Her freefall was joined by another who she knew was smiling at her.
She grabbed onto his back as they skydived and with a single 'thwip', they turned the pull of gravity into a force that would carry them through the skies.
"Alright, are you ready?" Peter hastily asked the girl as they began lifting up into the stars once more.
"Yes," Laura broadcasted to him that she was indeed ready for what he had planned.
With her confirmation, the boy let go at a specific angle that instead of lifting them up, propelled them forward at a hellish speed.
Holding onto him tightly around the neck, Laura twirled with Peter before the boy whose genius now had resources, extended his arms out as wide as possible, and fully extended his translucent web-wings that were now able to have them soar through the skies.
"ARE YOU SEEING THIS, SNIKITY-SNIKT? WE'RE FLYING! WE'RE FLYING!" Peter loudly and proudly declared with the utmost disbelief and amazement at his new mode of transportation, excitedly looking past his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the girl whose tame reaction – which was the raising of her eyebrows displaying the same emotions he was feeling.
When she saw him make adjustments to those wings earlier she was intrigued, knowing that they had not suffered any damage the previous night. To her surprise, on a whim, Peter created a new version of nylon that was strong enough to slow down rapid descent, create lift, and give the ability to glide.
In short, his suit now operated in the same manner as a wingsuit.
And he did that on a whim…
…his genius and aptitude for the sciences amazed her.
What didn't amaze her – what caused her eyes to widen, was how he was so busy trying to gain her already given attention, that he failed to notice the construction site he was speeding towards in his pursuit of the sirens. Thinking quickly, just as his spider-sense was warning him, Laura shifted her weight, piloting him through the site they flew through at a brisk one-hundred-and-forty miles per hour.
When they exited through the site, Peter hesitantly looked over his shoulder to see the unamused expression of the girl who piloted him.
"Do you see that we're flying?" She irritably asked the embarrassed boy.
The more time Laura spent with Peter, the more she found herself getting accustomed to his antics…
A loud boom, a bright combustion, and an ear-rattling explosion shattered the dirtied windows that belonged to a vast uncleaned warehouse used for the smuggling of weapons and people. The thirty men against the unstoppable assault paused, sweat dripping from their temples in uncertainty if they had won or not.
The freeze frame of Spider-Man swinging through the explosion, pointing at them excitedly as his partner charged at them with her mouth open as wide as possible to let out a horrifying roar was what all the men saw before their brains that worked faster than possible slowed down, unpausing the terrifying sight.
Slashing a man across the chest, Talon used the movement to go into a sweeping kick, taking him off his feet before launching him into the air with another kick in the jaw.
Propelling him right into the airborne Spider-Man who followed her, he put the man's head in a face lock with his jaw just above his shoulder as he fell forward – performing the cutter, which did more than its namesake for when the man's body hit the ground, his body bounced on the hard pavement in immeasurable pain, knocking him out.
Already moving onto three foes after this, the onyx heroine found it easier to fight – easier to ignore her brain. With each slash, elbow, or kick she gave, the less and less did she have to think – did she have to consciously ignore her brain.
The more she trusted herself.
Fighting against the gang they intercepted, in tandem with Peter whose powers were just as lethal as hers, but restrained to a nonlethal point – just as hers, Laura was not just standing as a heroine now, but fought as one too.
Fought as a lion.
Her once lone puzzle piece had found itself snugly connected to the piece of Peter Benjamin Parker and all that came with it…
"Okay, okay, so you hold onto the triggers until it hits something, which is when you let go and grab onto the line," Peter Parker lectured Laura who found herself immersed in his escapades once more. They stood on an elevated platform in The Danger Room, his newly built web-shooters which accommodated his stingers now on her wrists. No longer did they take up the majority of the forearm, now they took up as much space as a watch did. They still retained the nozzle and the trigger but had greater capacity for webfluid with a new last-minute addition which caused them to make a sound when they were running low.
Laura recommended that.
Aggressively.
She had been coaxed by him to learn how to swing using them since being acquainted with the various things the ingenious gadgets could do would be important so she allowed herself to be involved with his shenanigans once more.
Her interest and curiosity in them played a big part in that decision as well.
Laura did as instructed, aiming at the ceiling and firing a webline, letting go when it connected to the wall and grasping on the silk string which she pulled to make sure it was able to hold her.
"What now?" she asked the boy who was holding back a laugh which she was not given enough time to react to.
"Now I push you."
She couldn't even react before she found herself gently pushed by the boy, sending her off the platform they were on and into the air, the only thing keeping her from falling being the thread she held onto.
Her startled expression quickly morphed into one of expected annoyance and irritation with the furrowing of her brow. As she swung forward and back, she could hear Peter's wild laughs which took great joy in the act reverberating through the room.
His laughs ceased when he felt her cold gaze pierce through his body, having him enter a freezing sweat upon feeling the exasperation he brought upon his partner.
Laura had an idea.
Growing comfortable on the line she spun, the girl had one of her hands abandon it in favor of being aimed right at the boy who knew exactly what she was going to do.
Panic crossing his face, Peter scrambled to jump out of the way of the webs that approached him with a 'thwip' but this was all a bait to get him in the air. Firing another string of webs at the boy, Laura's expert aim managed to strike his leg, ceasing the momentum from his jump and causing him to faceplant on the cold metallic ground.
Disorientated and dazed, still registering what had just occurred, Peter Parker struggled to place himself on his butt and once he did, he gazed at the looming figure which cast a shadow over him.
The dumbstruck boy whose face was as red as could be looked up at the aloof girl who glared at him.
The aloof girl grumbled.
The dumbstruck boy began to chuckle.
His chuckle became a laugh which had him rolling on the ground in tears.
The girl shook her head and huffed.
Her huff became a snort.
And her snort became a battle to silence stifled quiet laughs.
At the end of it, Laura had to turn away from him just to regain composure but just looking at the stupid smile he had – hearing his dumb contagious chuckles, she rolled her eyes and held herself, the smile she sought to drown out quickly appearing once more as she shook her head.
"You are unbelievable," she gently sighed in complete amusement.
….And she enjoyed it…
…even Peter Benjamin Parker's antics…
"I cannot thank you enough, young man," An aged but joyful woman expressed her thanks, having her hand leave the arm that supported her from crossing the street in a timely manner.
"Good thing you don't have to," Peter amiably stated, charming the elderly woman who gave him a fond and amused laugh.
Laura watched, the edges of her mouth once again curling.
…especially his antics.
"Ricochet," A new persona was recommended. The costume was jet black, save for the mask that was gray and the shoulders where the gray would follow their shape and arch towards the center of his chest. From there, the gray would begin to form an X, with the top part of it being shaped by an inverted triangle that's base followed the center of his clavicle. The lower half of the 'X' reached down to his lower chest, contrasting against the black outfit, with it resembling the shape of the lower legs of the spider emblem on his Spider-Man costume, giving it an insectoid look.
The eyes of the mask were narrow scalene triangles that were blood-red and outlined in thick black, with the top being open to allow his hair to flow freely.
Ricochet's most iconic feature would be the jet-black leather jacket he wore which was accompanied by a thick leather thigh pocket that would house extra gear.
However it was not Laura who was the judge of it but Peter, looking on at the design and name Laura had made for his new X-Men persona – ending his struggle to create one.
It was simple, Peter was fast, with the ability to bounce – ricochet off walls, a far better identity than his previously recommended 'Mutant-Man' persona which had forced her hand.
Peter gave her a look as if she had just stumbled on gold but she was not done.
"A reckless, foolhardy, idiotic, cocky, brash, annoying, and incessant hero that cannot be quiet and who does not listen," She expressed with a furrowed brow, obviously noting his more headache-inducing traits, "Who uses his immense and incredible gifts to help and care for people in any way he can because he cares," she finished off in a tender soft voice, listening off just a few of his traits she endeared – leaving out how he can be funny intentionally, as he looked at the sketch created by the girl who's personal style greatly influenced the rebellious and cool looking mutant hero.
"Like, Spider-Man?" Peter asked the girl as he took his notebook, admiring the sketch but thinking about minor alterations that suited him more. Maybe replace the gray with white and make the eyes white too – but that was if The Professor was okay with his uniform not being the standard yellow and blue.
"No, like Peter Benjamin Parker," Laura staunchly corrected.
Bringing us to where we are now…
Scarlet blood seeping from wounds that would not heal, poured into the dirt that was half soil, half trash. Hidden away by trees that sprouted from flourishing land which once was death and waste, the towering evergreen shrubs with their dagger-like malformed branches blocked out the sky – warding off any intruders. Influenced by the land that had grown from its tainted origins, vines strangled the wildlife and obscured the horizon with the darkness, entrapping her as her adamantium claws clashed against the cold metallic body of a spear once more.
Her violent roar which echoed the strength of lions raged against the dying of her light – against the fate that would befall the innocent girl should she fail, amused The Hunter she clashed against as he challenged everything about her in his great hunt which threatened both her, and Peter's life.
Next: Hunted.
I like this length. I wanted to show what every character was doing, and add more depth with a dinner scene for the X-Men but all my ideas made this much longer than it shouldve been so i shortened it, just keeping it on Peter and Laura and their progression. I wanted to add another prominant character here which is important to the plot but I'll save her for the next one. Anyways, for those of you asking me to do this or do that, I appreciate the recommendations but I have a plan, alright? I have all these characters in this story and more on the way for more minor roles, but I've thought about the impact and influences they can bring on our two main characters (Peter and Laura). The next chapter is something I'm exicted to write, I havent started it because i have like 10 drafts of this chapter all with varying lengths but I think I can get a rouge draft in a couple days, just remember okay? I'm like you, I have a social life, a college life, a work life, so I can be busy. I can't really make money doing this and money is kinda important so...look, be paitent, I'm not abandoning this story like i did before, I really like it, i love it, and i'll keep writing it for the forseeable future.
Anyways, i'm glad you guys like my X-Men, we'll get more of them, and more depth of them in the coming chapters I have all planned out. Not to get excited or anything, but though Peter Parker and Laura are our main characters, The Charles xavier Institute wont suddenly just cease getting new students, theres more on the way who'll have minor or importantish roles in the story or to our characters.
Peace, i hope you enjoyed this small chapter, The Next one will be action packed and I think I'm cooking something good with where i want the fight to take place.
Also Cruden, They arent concussive blasts, but energy from