Curse of Arachnaman Read online

  Then it was Calais’ turn. He vanished or went into hyper speed, delivering another massive blow against the spider's thorax. I didn't even see him do it. I just watched him disappear where he was hovering, then the spider's body snapped to the side as though something just hit it, but it stabilized itself. Within seconds, Calais reappeared at another spot, well beyond reach of the spider's legs, while Miss Pyro took her turn trying to take the monster down with her arsenal. BAM! BAM! BAM! One after another, like a fireworks display, white and red fire shot out of her glowing fists, hitting the spider at different parts of its body. The mechanical body shuddered, a couple of its legs raising themselves up and waving, like, reaching out to get her, but Miss Pyro flew off to another point without letting up on her attack. Before long I spotted trails of steam rising up, most likely because of the showers mixing it up with her fire balls.

  "Get him!” I yelled, balling my fists and pounding on the ledge I leaned against. “Get the bastard!"

  Terminator-like-Freddie turned one arm into a machine gun type of thing. I couldn't tell for sure how futuristic it was because of the distance, but I sure as hell saw the lower arm reshape itself and then a spray of bullets come pouring out of it. Smoke rose from different points of the transformed arm. Magnifiman had to swoop down and pluck him off the ledge where he stood before one of Arachnaman's swinging legs knocked him off and sent him falling to the street.

  He set Freddie down on another rooftop, where Freddie immediately transformed into an army soldier, complete with fatigues. He was also heavily armed, judging from the pretty crazy stuff hanging off his belt and draped down his back. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some huge hunting knife or two hidden in his combat boots. He raised something that I thought was a massive, massive gun that looked bigger than his arms, and aimed. He didn't shoot yet. Maybe he was waiting for the green light from someone. It was Magnifiman's turn to pummel Arachnaman, whose robotic body was beginning to show signs of damage and fatigue.

  Its black thorax shuddered and jerked. Arachnaman frantically turned knobs and pulled levers around him. The clear bubble that protected him from the attacks looked pretty stable, but the rest of the body was slowly losing control. On occasion, it would hoist itself up on its four rear legs, its four front ones flailing and stabbing at whichever hero hovered nearby.

  Magnifiman, Miss Pyro, and Calais flew around the thing like little flies, taking turns attacking it. But the giant spider's legs would try to bat them away whenever they got too close, and I saw Calais get knocked away at one point. It looked like it just swatted a bug.

  "Oh, crap,” I breathed. “Peter!"

  Calais vanished in the rain, but he was back in seconds, this time keeping his distance while Miss Pyro took full advantage of her range weapons, and Magnifiman tried to grab hold of a leg and tear it off. Well, at least from where I stood, it seemed that he was doing that.

  Someone yelled again. I guessed it was Calais, who swooped down and got as close as he could. I realized that he was trying to distract Arachnaman by placing himself within shooting distance of the spider's mouth. Another green cloud exploded, nearly enveloping him. Magnifiman managed to wrap both arms around one of the spider's legs at that moment and held on even while the leg waved crazily around to dislodge him. Calais yelled again and then vanished as he went into hyper speed.

  The spider rocked violently from what I figured was Calais’ kick or punch against its thorax. That gave Magnifiman the leverage he needed. As the spider moved from side to side, Magnifiman gave the leg he held a massive pull, breaking it at one of its joints in an explosion of colorful sparks.

  Calais appeared at another area, completely safe.

  I didn't know till then that spiders screamed, but this one did. It was horrible. Like an eagle's cry, but more shrill and hollow. With one leg amputated at the joint, Arachnaman's spider tried to retreat, but it was obviously too damaged to manage more than a jump to another rooftop, one that was only about two rooftops away from my home. I instinctively fell back and ran for safety toward the unused chimney, where Peter and I had tangled recently. Shaking from the cold and excitement, I hid behind the chimney and peered out. With the fight so close now, it was easy for me to catch details from where I stood. Or crouched.

  The spider landed on the roof with a loud crash, damaging the weathered ledge were some of its hind legs attached themselves. A little smoke rose from where it landed. Several broken bits of cement also flew up. The body shook, and Arachnaman continued to work his control panel. Around him the heroes hovered. The downside to manning such a big and clumsy (but powerful) machine was that it was pretty damned awkward to control it once it was damaged. The “injured” leg just hung limp, with sparks shooting out of its joint. The rest of the legs moved jerkily now. They still waved and tried to attack any hero who came too close, though, but they sure made for a pretty difficult escape.

  The screaming sound that came from the monster had turned into a long wail that was like a creepy mixture of an eagle's cry and creaking steel. From above, Miss Pyro let loose a volley of small but super-fast fire blades. From where I was, they looked like boomerangs on fire. One after another, they hit the spider at random points, but a few struck another leg, and they finally found their target. One of the joints burst into flames, with sparks flying all over. The leg didn't lose its movement, though, but it shook pretty badly every few seconds.

  Freddie, who had to be carried by Calais in order to follow Arachnaman, had scrambled over to a pile of crates, and from there, he started shooting at the robot. Many bullets hit the thorax in a bizarre light display where they made contact, but it was soon clear to me that he was aiming for another leg, trying to incapacitate it.

  A sudden flash of light from my right broke through the rain, and I turned to find Spirit Wire flying down and landing on another rooftop. She stood there, rigid. One would have thought that she wasn't alive at all.

  Then something weird happened. The spider froze in mid-action. For a few seconds, it did nothing, while Arachnaman began pounding the control panel with his fists. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was yelling and cursing the whole time. Then he visibly jumped, waving his hands like they just got burned.

  "What the hell...” I blinked several times and squinted, even with my hands shielding my eyes.

  Something glowed. It was his control panel. Buttons, knobs, levers—whatever thingamajigs made up his machine, they all lit up real brightly. Then the spider's remaining legs started moving again, but instead of reaching out for the heroes, they curled back, contortionist-like, and started clawing at the pilot's protective bubble. It was insane. Like something from a nightmare or a really freaky sci-fi movie. The spider collapsed on its belly, while six legs twisted and snapped, their pointed ends pounding and scraping at the bubble till I could hear it break. The leg that Miss Pyro damaged had finally gone limp, and there it lay, useless, twitching and on fire.

  I stood there, horrified, wondering if the legs would continue their attack even after the bubble broke. If so, they'd be tearing the pilot to pieces. Magnifiman and Calais had stopped their power punches and waited. Miss Pyro had a massive fire blade in her hand, ready to let it loose. Freddie kept his humungous gun aimed.

  It was surreal. All I could hear were the rhythmic bashing of some super strong material, the small sounds of cracking glass or plastic or whatever it was, the rain, and traffic below. Police sirens wailed here and there. I stood and watched, completely immobilized.

  "Finish it!” someone yelled. I think it was Magnifiman.

  Two of the spider's legs whipped back and came back down on the bubble, and it exploded in a million bits, shards of the material flying all over. When the legs pulled out, the protective bubble was gone, and Arachnaman was curled up in his cockpit, his head bowed, his arms covering it defensively. He was screaming, but not in fear or anything. Even from where I stood, I knew that it was anger. Possibly pure hate. It made my skin crawl.

  Arou
nd him, the battered spider collapsed, its legs spread out, lifeless, pillars of smoke rising from all over. The heroes just waited for a moment, and then the control panels turned dark. It was over. The thorax sagged for the last time, resting at a bit of an angle.

  "Way to go, Althea,” I breathed, my heart pounding. Just as I spoke, Spirit Wire staggered back and collapsed. I thought she was hurt, but she waved a hand and yelled something. Calais yelled back and turned his attention to Arachnaman. I figured then that Spirit Wire was just totally spent. Eventually she stumbled back to her feet.

  Magnifiman made the first move. He flew down, grabbed Arachnaman under his arms, and yanked him up. I was glad that he wasn't strapped in, or Magnifiman would've torn him, literally, into two pieces. Vintage City's main hero flew off, followed by Calais and Spirit Wire. Arachnaman continued to scream. I shivered from the noise he was making. Yeah, he was screaming in rage and pure hate. I could tell. He sounded worse than an animal.

  Miss Pyro and Freddie stayed behind, no doubt waiting for cops to get there. I heard a whirring sound from somewhere growing louder, and I turned to see a helicopter fly toward them. Miss Pyro signaled with her arms, guiding the helicopter pilot. Meanwhile, what was left of Arachnaman's robot lay in a nightmarish pile of smoldering metal, plastic, and whatever else was used. The rooftops where the battle took place were a mess. I hoped that the people who lived in those buildings had been able to get the hell out when the signs of trouble first came.

  I had to get out of there. Soaked to the bone, I ran back to the fire escape, praying to every cosmic force out there to keep the heroes safe in whatever else they needed to do still. Before long I was back in my bathroom, securing the window and peeling off my wet clothes. I turned on the shower and jumped in for a quick cleaning, my mind still on the fight I saw.

  When I got out, I ran back to my bedroom window to see if I could spot something. The rooftop where the action took place was now crawling with cops. Other buildings across the street from that area also had police officers moving around. Below, traffic was snarled as a couple of blocks, or maybe three, were shut off from the public. Lights from police cars and fire trucks broke up the drabness of the scene. I finally closed my window and went downstairs to recover from the shock of watching the heroes take Arachnaman down. I pulled out a mug and made myself some tea, which helped, but I knew it wouldn't be as effective if I didn't have a few slices of toast spread with Mrs. Horace's jam. For the next half hour, I sat alone in the dining room, eating, while listening to the rain and the occasional police siren outside.

  It was a totally miserable time. No one else was at home with me, the rain got heavier and heavier till it drowned out all sound and light, and I told myself to wait for a reasonable length of time before it was okay for me to call Peter and see if he was safe. Now that they'd nabbed Arachnaman, I was sure that he'd be out all night. In the end, I decided that it would be best to wait for him to call instead.

  Sitting in the kitchen, alone and nervous, was just plain hell.

  I was quiet when everyone came home, all excited and horrified about the big spider monster appearance. Once Dad saw that we were safe, with all body parts accounted for, he dove right into a non-stop monologue about Arachnaman. Liz got into it, too, as did Mom. They were crammed in the kitchen, helping Mom prepare dinner, so I decided to sneak out and creep back to my room and hover over my phone in case Peter called.

  Nope, no messages left. Yeah, it was way too early, but I didn't care. It was still raining pretty hard outside, the books I checked out from the library continued to look boring as hell, the computer threatened to give me a non-stop migraine, so I just plopped down on my bed, listening to the rain, and waited.

  Okay, I fell asleep. The rain tended to work on me like that.

  I also woke up because Liz was kicking my bed. I'd like to say that the rain tended to work on her like that, too, but she always kicked my bed to get me up. It goes to show that older siblings, whether or not they were on a PMS rampage, were all descended from Mr. Hyde.

  "Dinner time, Briar Rose,” she said, standing by my bed with her hands on her hips.

  "Look, if you're going to spend the rest of your life kicking my bed, how about rotating your attacks on the legs?” I snarled groggily. I refused to sit up on her account, so I just glared at her from where I lay. I must've looked pretty intimidating. “That leg you keep victimizing is on its way to collapsing on me. How about kicking the others next time, fer chrissakes?"

  "I really don't want to waste any more time trying to get you to wake up, hot pants. Come on before Mom goes on a rampage."

  "You're just cranky because it's your turn to wash the dishes."

  I sighed and dragged myself out of bed, Liz marching behind me in case I decided to turn tail and run back to my room. You know, the way ordinary teenagers usually avoided their families. The kind of thing that adults tended to forget.

  When we reached the top of the stairs, I caught sight of my special communicator watch because of the way it reflected the light. I stared at it for a few seconds, my heart dropping.

  Peter hurt. Not too serious. Althea will contact you with more info. Wade.

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  Chapter 23

  * * * *

  Peter didn't get hurt from the attack. It happened immediately after, when they were flying Arachnaman away from his machine. Apparently someone decided to watch the action up close by climbing onto the topmost part of an old fire escape at a nearby tenement. It looked like the fire escape had given way under her, and she'd fallen, just as the heroes were flying in her direction. Althea said that Peter caught her, but somehow his body had twisted itself when he got the girl (most likely because she was falling head first), and he didn't have much time to turn himself over and land the way cats landed on their feet. He basically hit the roof of a parked truck and used his body to cushion the impact for the girl, who suffered a few not-too-serious injuries but was mostly in shock.

  I read Althea's message on my computer, my hands tearing clumps of hair off my head while my stomach knotted itself.

  "So what's the damage?” I asked.

  Back pain, she said. But here's the kicker—he's almost fully healed now. Is that crazy or what?

  "What do you mean?"

  Genetics, dude. His healing has sped up. Maybe it's like this when he's in superhero mode, but it's something that never even crossed my mind till now.

  I sank in my chair, heaving a sigh of relief. “It makes sense,” I replied. “Maybe the injury wasn't too bad to begin with. I just...I just hope that he'll never be messed up so bad that his system won't be able to heal itself quickly...or at all."

  No kidding. I hope no one gets hurt bad, period. In Peter's case, I hope he doesn't get hurt again.

  "I have to see him. I have to."

  Aww, how sweet. Sorry, Eric, can't do. He's at the police station with Trent and Wade, interrogating the suspect. Okay, I'm with them, too, but I'm supposed to be taking a quick break and getting myself some coffee and a doughnut. I just had to touch base with you. I need to head back in a bit.

  My eyes widened. “He's still alive?” I spluttered. “Are you serious? Arachnaman? You should've just offed the bastard!"

  Hey, hey, hey, hombre. Calm down. No vigilante crap allowed here.

  "But he—"

  Eric. Calm down. We all know what he did. But we can't do him in like that. Things just don't work the way you want them to, you know? Besides, wouldn't that make us just as bad as him?

  I sighed, raking my hands through my hair. “Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just really upset over everything. Hearing about Peter getting hurt didn't help."

  I know. Don't worry. We've got everything under control.

  "Okay. Hey, what about the girl? The one Peter rescued? Is she with you guys?"

  No. She was taken to the hospital, but she's out now. Peter sustained more damage, but you know how that went.

  I nodded. “T
hanks, Althea. I guess I'll have to sit around and wait for an update from you.” I paused when a thought crossed my mind. “Hey, can you use the communicator watch thing when you get back to me instead? I'm getting off the computer and won't be available."

  No prob. TTYL.

  Damn. I wished that they still had the girl. It was pretty easy to put two and two together, at least from where I was sitting. I'd bet that she was Peter's stalker. I wouldn't be surprised if she happened to be the same girl who was hanging next to me in the arcade when it was attacked. I remembered the way she looked at Peter. If there were such a thing as absolute, total love at first sight, that definitely was it.

  It was just too bad that I didn't have a way of knowing for sure unless she happened to place herself in danger's way on purpose just to be rescued by Peter. Oh, did I mention that part of my hunch? Yeah, I suspected that she went to watch the fight and actually placed herself in a dangerous position just so she could be saved by her idol.

  If I were right, I seriously didn't know what to say to her if ever we'd cross paths again. That was some pretty messed up thinking, and to endanger Peter's safety because of a totally skewed perception of her “romance” with a superhero wasn't getting any sympathy points from me. God, that pissed me off. Come to think of it, I'd been pretty high-strung lately. Was I going through some form of gay boy PMS and stuff? Because it sucked.

  It was almost eight o'clock when Althea “logged out.” I was also feeling pretty restless and under the effects of residual annoyance, excitement, and horror. Eventually I forced myself to go downstairs and relax with everyone else. I kind of eased up pretty quickly. Even though I didn't want to be with anyone at first, I found that just hanging with Dad while he watched TV—Mom was on the phone, and Liz was in her room—helped a lot. I guess it was plain familiarity that made things better. Besides, Dad being a huge cheese ball movie buff, it was always an experience watching his entertainment choices. He was lucky that we lived in Vintage City, where reruns and old movies of every quality enjoyed their second, third, or even fourth lives.