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The Adventures of Spider Shim and The Vampire Anon

By Nonalucard
Created: 2022-01-30 07:42:18
Updated: 2022-03-13 22:35:21
Expiry: Never
sunset shimmeranoneqgequestria girlssecond personvampiresuperherosuper hero generalspider-manspider-shim

  1. Issue #1 - The Night of the Vampire
  2.  
  3. >The cool night air flew through your hair as you swung on your spider webs through the Canterlot.
  4. >Though usually you were using this as a crime fighter, tonight you were just trying to get to the party set up by your friend on time.
  5. >That would probably not be the case however, as your ears picked up the sound of police sirens and judging by the amount of them, it was something big.
  6. >With a heavy sigh, you changed your path with a sharp turn, spinning around the building.
  7. >Following one of the cop cars, high above the ground, so they didn’t get a chance to notice you.
  8. >At first you were thinking what kind of crazy action would happen on Friday night, even more so after you noticed the cars stopping in front of the museum.
  9. >You swiftly landed on a wall, on a building in front of it and tried to deduce what was happening.
  10. >Though, from the looks of it, before anything would actually happen it would be too late, so you moved into action. With another swing you got to the other side and towards the roof of the museum. Then it was just a matter of sneaking inside.
  11. >You decided to use one of the roof windows, forcing it open before jumping in and sticking to the roof. Then it was just a matter of using your hearing again to find the source of the commotion.
  12. >”Damn it. It was supposed to be a clean job! Kingpin better pay us double for it.”
  13. >Bingo, not only did you just learn who was the reason for whatever was happening, but they also just revealed their position.
  14. >Silently, you moved further into the building, trying to not make any noises that would alert them to your presence, you slinked into a large room with a newly opened exhibit of an old stone sarcophagus found under Vatican. The markings on it suggested it was made in ancient Egypt and no one knew how it appeared under an old house in Italy, but you couldn’t recall more at the moment.
  15. >But what would Kingpin goons want with it? It was valuable, sure, but it’s usually not about the money with him. Or at least not money only.
  16. >”Quit your yapping. We knew that it could happen.” another one spoke, checking his ammo count.
  17. >You gazed at your watch quickly and cringed internally. You were running out of time.
  18. >You had to act fast.
  19.  
  20. >Swinging into the room proper, you landed on a wall.
  21. “Good evening gentlemen. I thought the Long Night of Museums won’t be here for at least another month.” you said coyly as they all pointed their flashlights at you.
  22. >”Spider-Girl!” one of them yelled before pointing their gun at you.
  23. >You weren’t going to give them a chance to get a clean shot, as you jumped to the side, landing on the floor before using your web to close the distance quickly and drop kicking one of them.
  24. >You weren’t the heaviest girl around, even with all the extra muscles you got, so that kick would probably drop him outright, but it gave you some time to grab the gun from the hands of his friend and bend it in half.
  25. >The third one managed to start shooting before you could react, so you quickly used the rope again to slide away to get behind a large stone pillar. You still didn’t really restrain them, but one was now weaponless. One was currently rubbing his probably broken nose.
  26. >Two more to go.
  27. >Hastily, you tried your best to get back up to the roof. Hiding in the shadows once more.
  28. >They seemed to start trying to circle around your previous hiding spot. As soon as they noticed you weren’t there, they started a franting search, shining the lights onto random parts of the floor, walls and the roof.
  29. >This still left you with enough time to get above one of them and use your webs to grab, raise and tie him.
  30. >His friends quickly noticed that and started shooting you again, but this time you were ready. With two swift shots of webs, you managed to blind one and hit the legs of the other, causing him to fall to the floor.
  31. >The guy who you dropped to the floor earlier was getting up, but you were faster, managing to web him as well.
  32. >With all four of them tied up, you dusted off your hands.
  33. “Well boys, it was fun, but I’ve gotta run. Police will take care of you, lot.”
  34. >With that, you used the roof window from which you entered to escape and show the police the way was clear on your way back.
  35.  
  36. >You’ve landed on the roof of the building and quickly started climbing down. Then it was just the matter of quickly changing behind some trash cans. Good thing it wasn’t a slumber party so you could just throw on the clothes onto your costume.
  37. >A blue and red skin tight costume with a spider marking, the symbol of the Spider-Girl, was now replaced by a more casual, jeans, t-shirt and your usual leather jacket, so you could easily enter the party as yourself, Sunset Shimmer.
  38. >You swung your backpack onto your back and left the alleyway, turning right and entering the Sugar Cube Corner. While closed at night hours, Pinkie had a small flat on the floor above it.
  39. >”Finallllyyy! What took you so long?!” As soon as you opened the doors, Pinkie grabbed you into a tight hug.
  40. >Pinkie hugs also often meant that the air would be knocked out of your lungs, as the vice-like grip squished your lungs. You never knew how she could do that. You were super strong, your dexterity was beyond human and you could sustain getting struck with a truck, but Pinkie just always made you lose your breath.
  41. ”Pinkie, be careful… I brought some muffins…” you gasped.
  42. >The girl let go of you and smiled bashfully.
  43. >”Whoopsie, I guess I got too excited. But c’mon! Everyone’s waiting for you!” she locked the doors behind you and proceeded to lead you through the back rooms upstairs.
  44. >You followed her and entered the room, a big smile plastered on your face and waving to all the girls here.
  45. “Sorry I’m late. The traffic was horrible.” you explained.
  46. >Twilight tapped the place next to her and now you finally looked at what they were doing. Playing board games. Well that’s a nice start.
  47. >”We were just about to start” the nerd stated.
  48. >Your smile widened, as you got your chance to sit next to her. You wouldn’t call it a full blown crush, but you just loved looking at Twi. Slightly homo.
  49. “So, what are we playing?”
  50. >”Settlers of Catan” AJ with a shrug. “I still have no idea how to play it.”
  51. >You smiled, it was going to be a fun night.
  52.  
  53. >You groaned as you tried your best to not move too much.
  54. >Pinkie was a great cook and a baker so each time you had a party at her place it ended with all of you lying on the couch, watching TV and eating her cooking.
  55. >Which you always ate too much of and since the amount of sugar in it was usually very high, it always made your stomach ache.
  56. >You were the only one not yet fully in the realm of dreams, looking at the morning news.
  57. >They were talking about last night's escapade, about the goons, Spider-Girl and the Sarcophagus.
  58. >You’ve heard Twilight stirring up awake. Looking at the screen as well.
  59. >”Huh? Something happened at the museum?” she murmured to which you nodded.
  60. >Apparently the Sarcophagus was opened when the police entered the room. The thing inside of it was also missing, meaning it was stolen before you arrived. Or maybe after you missed some of Kingpin’s Henchmen?
  61. >You had to talk to him and learn why he needed it. Which probably will happen soon, knowing him and his obsession with you.
  62. >”Oh this is horrible. I was hoping to learn what was inside of it and now it’s stolen.” Twilight looked upset. “It held a never seen before mummy! I was even hoping I could get onto the team that was supposed to study it. Such a shame…” she shook her head.
  63. >Stupid Adorable Twi.
  64. “Don’t worry. I’m sure the Spider Girl will find it soon enough. She always does.” you tried to cheer her up.
  65. >”Yeah, but it’s already oppened and who knows what those dumb gangoons could do to the precious and fragile mummy inside.” she said and shook her head again. “Well, at least the sarcophagus is still whole, so that’s good at least.”
  66. >Well, you now have to find the mummy so Twilight could look at it. What a weird sentence, you never expected to even think about something like that.
  67.  
  68.  
  69. >You’ve woken up on a monday morning with a slight headache, two weeks after the heist in a museum.
  70. >Though you weren’t Spider-Girl on Sunset Shimmer.
  71. >Your name was Anonymous F. A. Gott and what a shitty first two weeks it was.
  72. >Not only on the same day you arrived, someone broke into a museum, stole some priceless mummy, but you also got some weird flu that caused you to have a high fever for over a week. Luckily, you got over it and could finally go to school, with a slight skid, but after all that sick time, you were now not only really pale, you also started really disliking the sun. >Thought that’s probably because you just spent a whole two weeks in low light and sleeping.
  73. >Your eyes just stopped being used to any bright light.
  74. >Well it wasn’t important right now.
  75. >”We’re here.” said your mother stopping her car, taking you out of your daydream.
  76. >You’ve nodded.
  77. “Thanks mom. Love you.” you said stepping out of the car and grabbing your backpack. “See you later.” you nodded to her and walked towards the school entrance.
  78. >The large building with a weird horse statue in front of it seemed imposing at first, but entering a place where sun couldn’t directly get to you was a welcome change of pace.
  79. >Your first stop was supposed to be the principal's office, where you could get your class plan.
  80. >”Principal Celestia. It’s probably here” you thought before knocking.
  81. >Soon enough the doors opened and a tall, middle aged lady with colorful hair, form fitting yellow jacket welcomed you with a smile.
  82. >”Mr. Anonymous I presume?” she asked.
  83. >You nodded and entered the room.
  84. “Yep, that’s me. I was supposed to be here earlier but I caught a nasty flu.” you answered with a small smile of your own.
  85. >She nodded, reaching for something on her desk, giving you a printed out table with your name on it.
  86. >”Yes, your parents informed me. The important thing is that you’re healthy now. Now, it would seem that your first class is chemistry. You better not be late on your first day.” she smiled, giving you the sheet.
  87.  
  88. >You found the classroom quickly, so it wasn’t too bad. Sadly it meant you had to introduce yourself to new people, which wasn’t exactly on top of your list of things to do today, but you just had to grit your teeth and live with it.
  89. >Some questions about your hobbies, where are you from and similar things and before you could really start being annoyed it was already a lunch break.
  90. >Finding some empty table to sit on, you started staring at your food. It was a perfectly normal, healthy meal, with some vegetables and a small piece of meat and while the meat was all right you just could look at vegetables the same way, which was weird. You weren’t much of a picky eater, but now, it was looking like the least edible thing you’ve ever seen.
  91. >Before you could figure out what to do with it however, a group of seven girls approached your table.
  92. >”Howdy there, care if we join you?” asked one of them. Blonde hair, powerful physique, cowboy hat. Freckles, tan.
  93. >You were a bit surprised but moved to make some space for them.
  94. “Yeah, sure. Be my guest.” you pointed to the seats next to you.
  95. >All seven sat, the cowboy next to you alongside some rainbow haired chick and a nerd of the group.
  96. >Almost as soon as all of them sat down, a girl with pink, puffy hair was in your face.
  97. >”Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie! You’re new here right? Well lucky you! All new people get a free partyfromme! Andyou’retheguesthonor! Isn’tthisamazing?!”
  98. >Though the beginning part was understandable, the longer she spoke, the faster her speech got, until it was all just a blur.
  99. “Uhh, Name’s Anonymous… Hi.” you said slightly confused. “And uh, a party?” you asked.
  100. >That was a mistake. She started speaking again, even faster now so all you could do is just nod and smile.
  101. >”Great! I’ll see you on friday at ten pm at the Sugarcube Corner! You better write it down” she finally said. Not wanting to upset her, you did as she asked.
  102.  
  103. >With her introduction done, the other girls decided it’s their cue to start.
  104. >Rainbow Dash, was the rainbow haired one, apparently she liked sports and going fast.
  105. >Twilight Sparkle was the Nerd girl.
  106. >Applejack the cowboy.
  107. >Rarity had a very tasty looking neck.
  108. >Fluttershy was timid.
  109. >Finally Sunset Shimmer, who probably was lifting with Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
  110. >The idle chatter continued for some time, just as you predicted, it was more questions about you. Though to not seem like an antisocial weirdo, you asked your own questions.
  111. >After some time, the conversation changed to the topic of Spider-Girl.
  112. >You almost forgot that there was a superhero in Canterlot. You actually wondered how it will impact your daily life, besides probably some pictures of her being in some boys lockers. Tight costumes were popular on heroes after all.
  113. >The conversation seemed to stop as a weird smell hit your nose.
  114. >”Oh! Does anyone have a tissue?!” Rarity seemed to panic, but you didn’t seem to focus on that.
  115. >A small paper cut was visible on her finger. Alongside it a small drop of blood formed on it.
  116. >The reaction of your mind and body was strange. Saliva flooded your mouth, your eyesight got more acute and a strange thumping sound was echoing in your ears.
  117. >God, her neck looked so tasty. You could almost…
  118. >You’ve stopped yourself and got up.
  119. >”I… I have to apologize for a moment.” before you dashed out of the cafeteria. Out of the building and stopped next to some trash cans on the side.
  120. >Out of sight of others, breathing heavily.
  121. >You were so hungry. You felt strange warmth in your lungs and stomach. Your blood was running cold.
  122. >Then something moved.
  123. >A stray cat.
  124. >Before you blinked, you held the cat in your hands, it wasn’t moving. You felt the fur and taste of metal in your mouth. Your fangs were sharp but the hunger wasn’t here. You felt normal again. Even the sun wasn’t as annoying.
  125. >It was normal.
  126. “W…what the fuck is going on…” you whispered. Looking at the body of the dead cat, drained of its blood.
  127.  
  128.  
  129. >You walked with Rarity towards the class, her finger now adorned with a colorful bandaid with drawings of puppies on it. Apparently it was the only one Pinkie had on her.
  130. >Though you still couldn’t shake the feeling that the whole situation was strange. Not the paper cut itself but the fact that it caused your Spider Sense to tingle.
  131. >”Sunset dear, you look awfully focused, what’s on your mind?” Rarity’s question caused you to snap back to reality.
  132. >You looked at her slightly confused.
  133. “Huh, sorry? You were saying?”
  134. >She shook her head disapprovingly.
  135. >”I was asking what’s on your mind.” she repeated.
  136. >You smiled bashfully and shrugged.
  137. “Eh, nothing serious, I was just thinking about if I’ll manage to do all my house chores today.” you lied, but it’s not like you even could tell her the truth.
  138. >She looked at you with a small smile.
  139. >”Darling, if you ever need a hand I’ll be delighted to help you.” she said.
  140. >You were about to answer her but you noticed Anon was approaching you.
  141. >Rarity turned to face him and smiled.
  142. >”Hi… I wanted to apologize for running on you so suddenly.” he said looking downwards.
  143. >”Oh, don’t worry darling. I understand some people can’t stand the sight of blood, there’s nothing to be worried about, we all have our weaknesses.”
  144. >”Y-yeah. Pretty intense hemophobia.” He gave you two a weak chuckle. “Well, I have to go to class. See you around.” and with a smile nod, he was on his way.
  145. >You looked at him walking away, then back at Rarity.
  146. “Well, he seems polite. But back to the chores topic, don’t worry, Rarity, I can handle it.” you said, smiling at her.
  147. >Trying to cover the fact that he still struck you as odd. Maybe not dangerous but strange at the very least.
  148. >But you had more important worries than to think about. Like the stolen mummy or no signs of Kingpin acting with it. No strange bids, no super soldiers, nothing. For two whole weeks. Only petty crime for this Spider to catch in her webs. Which wasn’t exactly good for your daily stress intake. You’ll probably have to skip sleeping tonight to run around, so that means sleeping right after school so you could rest at least a little bit.
  149. >This life is going to be a death of yours and probably not because of the villains themself.
  150. >”Well, we should get going as well, don't you think?” said Rarity looking at you.
  151. >You nodded to her.
  152. “Yeah, don’t wanna be late to Ms. Harshwhinny class.” you shudder at the very thought and you two started walking.
  153. >You’ll have plenty of time to worry about your nightly escapades later today.
  154.  
  155. >The rest of the day was seemingly going on smoothly, there even wasn’t too much homework so you’ll probably be able to get close to six hours of sleep tonight. Maybe longer if you do the sweep of the city quickly.
  156. >You were right now walking with the girls towards the mall. Apparently, Pinkie wanted to buy something for a party and needed help with carrying it to her car so, like good friends you all were, you agreed.
  157. >Walking through the town you caught a glimpse of a newspaper with a strange headline.
  158. “Six people found dead… drained of their blood…” you read through it quickly.
  159. >”Hey, Sunset, something happened?” Twilight asks, stopping with you and then looking at the headline. “Oh… oh no.” Soon enough the rest of your friend group is standing around the kiosk and reads the first page.
  160. >Not long after you bought the newspaper and all six of you were sitting at a bench in the park, trying to read it.
  161. >Well, you, Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting, the rest were standing around you, trying to catch the best look at the article.
  162. >”Six people were found dead in some abandoned building, not one older than twenty.” murmured Fluttershy. “D…do you t-think it’s some m-m-m-murderer?” she whisper-screamed, looking terrified. Well, more terrified than usual.
  163. >”I don’t know who did that Darling, but it’s surely not someone who could be called a good person.”
  164. >You nodded.
  165. “Hopefully Spider-Girl will find him and take care of him.”
  166. >”Especially since we’re in the… threat group according to the paper.” Applejack pointed further down on the page.
  167. >Well, looks like no rest for Spider-Girl or Sunset tonight. You had to do some research before going out to town.
  168. >”It recommends that young people stay out of the streets at night. But… the drained blood part is very disturbing.” Twilight seemed to take on a thinking pose.
  169. >”Does that mean we should move the party to some other time?” asked Rainbow.
  170. >You’ve noticed Pinkie deflating a little.
  171. >”Yeah, you’re right. We should move it till after they catch this meanie…” Sad Pinkie was a strange sight. “But then we can make The City is Safe Again and a Welcome Anon party!” she suddenly got much more chipper with this new idea of hers.
  172. >”I guess that means the shopping trip is put on hold?” Asked Rainbow.
  173. >”Yup. We'll go some time later.” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.
  174. >Thanking the gods internally, you go up.
  175. “Well, in that case, I’ll go home. I’ve got some chores to do so the sooner I’ll start the sooner I’ll be done.” you said and said goodbye to your friends.
  176. >It’s time for research.
  177.  
  178. >Looking through various forums and news sites to find anything about the recent killings wasn’t the best thing about being a superhero. But it was honest work.
  179. >At least ten posts on a forum reached the conclusion that it was the work of a vampire.
  180. >Which at first you dismissed, but the more weird comments you saw the more you started thinking it was possible.
  181. >No blood, young victims, seemingly no wounds.
  182. >A nocturnal monster that fears the sun would attack at night, so even that was correct.
  183. >Apparently some people even saw bats.
  184. >You took another bite of your reheated pizza.
  185. >Looking at it, you started to think your diet wasn’t the healthiest, but you just had so little time.
  186. >You really need a boyfriend that will cook for you.
  187. >Or a girlfriend. Either works to be honest.
  188. >But it wasn’t the time to think about your nonexistent love life.
  189. >Not yet content with your findings, you decided to look some more. After all, not being meticulous while hunting a murderer wasn’t a good idea, you couldn’t jump to the first conclusion you found. Even if it seemed correct at the moment.
  190. >Even so, the deeper you dug, the more the vampire theory seemed to be correct.
  191. >You even found some information about neck bites.
  192. >It would seem like it actually was a real life, honest to god vampire
  193. >Which worried you even more, because you never fought anything like that.
  194. >Street thugs, sure.
  195. >Super Villains, yep.
  196. >Even mutants in case of the Lizard.
  197. >But an actual mythological creature?
  198. >Not really.
  199. >You needed something to use against it.
  200. >You saved all the relevant websites before turning off the computer and going to your closet.
  201. >Opening, you’ve reached inside to grab your costume,
  202. >It was time for Spider-Girl to hunt a bat.
  203. >But first, you had to get some silver and crosses and you knew just the place.
  204.  
  205. >While you owned some silver, mainly a small chain made of the stuff, the cross was the harder part.
  206. >But with a swift detour, you managed to get your hands on a small wooden one from the church. You’ll give it back in the morning, before they could even notice that it’s gone.
  207. >Much less people were present at the time right now, not only because it was night, but also they were seemingly scared by the news of the murders, so that at least made your job easier.
  208. >But you still had to swing around, first near the scene of crime, but you imagined whoever did that won't be coming back for at least some time.
  209. >After that it was just some classic web slinging action, until you finally stopped on one of the buildings and squatted near a gargoyle statue.
  210. "I won't find anything with that method and whoever is the killer probably isn't a total moron" you said under your breath.
  211. >You looked at the gargoyle. Thinking.
  212. >Trying your hardest to come up with something, trying to think like a killer.
  213. >It was easier said than done however.
  214. >Sure you had a mean streak in the past, but you never actually were a murderer.
  215. >Your Spider Sense just tingled and even before you could really process that information, you jumped out of the way, just as a metal post dug itself deep into the stone next to you.
  216. >You tried to look down but there was no one there.
  217. >Gingerly approaching the pole you’ve noticed something was written on the side of it.
  218. >On second thought, more like carved in the metal.
  219. “Abandoned Warehouse… Southern building… Downtown…”
  220. >You knew that place. Sometimes Kingpin goons would do some of their business there.
  221. >But he wouldn’t send you info in such a way.
  222. >What’s worse, it smells like a trap and a pretty obvious one.
  223. >But what choice do you have? You’re a Superhero. You have to accept those calls to action.
  224. >With a sigh, you pat the gargoyle.
  225. “I’ll be back when I need some more sulking Bruce. See you around.” you say and jump down.
  226. >You shoot your web and swiftly start swinging towards your destination. Hopefully you’ll at least learn something. In the meantime, you could just try your best to clear your head before the inevitable fight.
  227. >Deep breaths.
  228. >Full focus.
  229. >It was like a meditation, but hundreds of feet above the ground while swinging on ropes.
  230. >To each their own.
  231.  
  232. >You landed at a building around two hundred meters away from the warehouse, squatting on the roof and taking out your binoculars. You started your scan of the area.
  233. >Weirdly enough, there was no sign of Kingpin’s goons. Or any other gangers for that matter.
  234. >Some new villain then?
  235. >Since you started out there weren't many actual super villains trying to destroy you.
  236. >Certainly less than say Fantastic Four had to deal with.
  237. >But at the same time there were quite a lot of threats to Sunset Shimmer and her friends, not to Spider-Girl.
  238. >Like the Sirens.
  239. >You shudder remembering them before shaking your head.
  240. “Focus Spidey. Focus.” you murmur before standing up and checking the web cartridges.
  241. >Replacing the nearly empty ones you shadow box and do some jumps to get into the fighting mood and take a running start, before leaping down and swinging one last time.
  242. >Twisting your body in mid air and using webs on nearby buildings to maneuver in mid air and slow your descent.
  243. >Finally, with the grace of a cat, you land silently on the roof.
  244. >You find one of the broken side windows and enter the building.
  245. >Just as soon as this happened a bright light pointed exactly illuminated you and fourty or something Kingpin goons started shooting you.
  246. >Of course it was a trap.
  247. >Their aim seemed to be much worse than before though.
  248. >Using the metal support under the roof, you swung around, jumping through the tight holes between some of them, you managed to elude the bullets without getting struck.
  249. >Weirdly enough the goons didn’t seem to reload when their guns stopped shooting.
  250. >Instead of that they groaned like wounded animals.
  251. >You stopped and hung down from the ceiling, waiting for them to do something besides yelling.
  252. “Is there a casting for the new Metro Goldwyn lion or are you guys just insane?” you asked.
  253. >Instead of an answer one of them threw the gun at you.
  254. “Well, I guess it’s time to just put you all to rest friends.” you said before taking a plunge. Landing on one of them and shooting webs at another of those crazed goons.
  255. >While they trashed like wild beasts trying to get you down, you instead used your newly trapped opponent like a bludgeoning weapon, swinging him around you and knocking the goons down, before letting him go at another group.
  256. >They were fodder, quite literally. Not one could take more than one even slightly hard punch. But it didn’t seem to be their goal. They seemed to just soak up your attention.
  257.  
  258. >Punching, kicking, dodging and webbing was a hard dance to master. Especially with so many partners.
  259. >With each consecutive punch one fell, two more took his place. Soon even a few police officers got mixed in with the riff raff.
  260. >You took some punches, but it wasn’t anything serious. Just few bruises.
  261. >Someone just punched you in the face.
  262. >Hard.
  263. >Maybe more than a few bruises.
  264. >You used your web again to try and reach the roof, but one of them grabbed your leg, forcing you to attempt to kick him off.
  265. >That didn’t work though, so you instead slammed him against the roof with your legs. Which caused him to fall down.
  266. >You didn’t hear the crunch. Too focused on the horde that was becoming more feral with each passing moment.
  267. >Before you could catch your breath, you’ve noticed another figure hanging on the roof that grabbed you by the neck and threw you down.
  268. >”Step away from her Thralls!” a slithering angry tone, clearly belonging to a woman, echoed through the warehouse as the horde stepped away from you. Now lying on the floor.
  269. >With a smooth motion, the figure landed on the floor.
  270. >”So this is the infamous Spider-Girl. You fight well for a lesser being, but alas, this shan’t help thee.” the woman spoke once again.
  271. >Even with her figure bathed in the dark, you could notice clearly ancient looking jewelry and clothing on her body. Her skin appeared darker, yet still pale. Thick black hair flew down on her shoulders, her eyes sharp and deep red. Her lips full, her figure tall, yet still curvy. She flashed you a wicked grin revealing her elongated fangs.
  272. >You tried to get up.
  273. “Who… who are you?!” you yelled getting into the battle pose.
  274. >”Yesss, I’ve heard of this age’s tradition for your idols to give themself strange names. As a new such idol, I have picked one for myself as well. You can call me Liltu. The Queen of the Vampires.” she started laughing, the most evil and deranged laugh you’ve heard in quite some time.
  275. >But she confirmed it, she was a vampire, so with that you took out the cross and pointed it at her.
  276. >At first she recoiled, but soon enough bursted into laughter again.
  277. >”Don’t make me laugh, child. I am not like the pathetic creatures from your tales. The Blood of Cain himself is in my veins. Your gods do not scare me.
  278. >Before she could continue however, a loud crashing sound could be heard outside.
  279. >The Vampire turned back to gaze at her Thralls which slowly shambled towards the noise.
  280. >Before something… or rather someone kicked the large hangar door open.
  281. >Tall figure, dressed in dark clothing, with its hood up and face covered by a green bandana.
  282. >”All right! Which one of you motherfuckers can tell me what a fuck is going on?!” the figure yelled, looking at all the thralls, you and Liltu.
  283.  
  284.  
  285. >After spending your day at school more introducing and talking about yourself than actually learning you felt exhausted. Not exactly physically, but more mentally.
  286. >That’s why the chance to finally go home was something you welcomed with open arms, though your headache got better after the… cat situation, it came with a new set of problems.
  287. >Like insane stress about whatever was happening to you.
  288. >You never felt like ripping someone’s throat out with your teeth, but today it happened. Which was probably the worst possible time for anything like that.
  289. >With your head full of emotions, you didn’t really pay attention to what was happening around you, instead just hoping to go back to your hidey hole in your room to sulk and think.
  290. >The only thing you could hope for now is that no one would find the cat in the trash can or at least no one would link it back to you somehow.
  291. >Then again, who could imagine that you drank blood out of a cat, there were more people who would be more likely to do that.
  292. >Well, that didn’t matter right now. You just reached your home.
  293. “Hi mom!” you yelled after entering and walking towards the kitchen.
  294. >You dropped your backpack at the door while sitting at the table. Preparing for more questions
  295. >”How was school?”
  296. >It wasn’t hard to guess that would happen. Truth be told it would be harder to not guess that.
  297. “Oh you know, pretty all right, somewhat boring since I mostly had to introduce myself all day.”
  298. >”Found any new friends?”
  299. >You think for a moment.
  300. “Not really. I just got to talk to some girls during lunch and got invited to a party, but no friendships yet.”
  301. >The line of questions continued for all the time you ate your dinner.
  302. >But after all that you finally could just go back to your room and take a nap.
  303. >You didn’t even bother to fully undress, just falling onto your bed.
  304. >A welcoming, dark embrace of your duvet and pillow enveloped you as you let yourself drift into the land of dreams.
  305.  
  306. >As soon as the bell struck midnight, your eyes opened.
  307. >Though it was supposed to be dark, you could see as well now as you could during the day.
  308. >Rising up to a sitting position you looked around you.
  309. >You need to go on a walk, right now.
  310. >But maybe going around the town right now wouldn’t be the best idea.
  311. >After a moment of thinking, you walked towards your closet and grabbed a small bandana to hide your face if the need arises.
  312. >Pocketing it, you walk towards your window and open it. Feeling the refreshing air on your skin you smile to yourself and jump out, landing on the soft grass below, surprisingly without hurting yourself.
  313. >You pulled up your hood and started walking. You don’t know why but you thought you should go downtown.
  314. >You never went there before, but there was something important for you. Someone was waiting.
  315. >Unnatural call, beaconing you.
  316. >It was a long way from here and walking probably would take too long anyway, so you started running. Much faster than you usually run.
  317. >It didn’t feel like a sprint and yet you reached twice your usual speed with ease.
  318. >You didn’t have time to actually walk around most of the things that stood in your way, so you usually just jumped above them.
  319. >Was that how people who do parkour feel? Because if yes it was certainly fun.
  320. “Why am I going there anyway?”
  321. >It didn’t matter. You had to be there.
  322. >You stopped.
  323. >”I don’t even know why I have to go there and I’ve never before been there…” you said to yourself looking up.
  324. >Focusing your eyes on the moon you started thinking.
  325. >What if this is connected to the whole neck biting thing?
  326. >Were you actually becoming a vampire?
  327. >It’s not like the sun hurt you, but the night certainly did make you feel more powerful.
  328. >But that was also the only chance you had to figure out what was going on.
  329. >Though at first you felt yourself being forced to go there, now some new surge of power awakened in you as you took your next step.
  330. >You’ll go there all right, but not because of some weird call or mind affecting effect. You’ll go there to figure this shit out and beat the crap out of anyone who’d try to make you their mental slave.
  331. >You took out the bandana and tied it around your face.
  332. >Not the superhero costume one could hope for, but it had to do for now.
  333. “Downtown eh. Whoever you are… get ready. It’s time to beat the bastards.
  334.  
  335. >The closer you were to whatever was beaconing you, the stronger the attempt to break your will appeared to be.
  336. >Weirdly enough you didn't even really try to resist, somehow it just completely missed its mark, having no effect on you now.
  337. >By the time you’ve reached downtown, the Call felt like a hurricane blowing at your back, yet it somehow had no power to push you even an inch.
  338. >And it all was leading you towards some abandoned warehouse.
  339. >You stood there, looking at it for a moment before noticing someone landing on the roof of it and apparently going inside, out of your vision.
  340. >You looked over the chainlink fence, looking for a way inside, but at the first glance, you found none, forcing you to try and walk around the building itself.
  341. >Finally finding a hole large enough for you to walk through, you step inside and take a deep breath, make sure your bandana securely covers your face and go towards the building.
  342. >Before you can even reach it though, some guy lunges at you, seemingly more like an animal than an actual person.
  343. >At first your instinct was to run, but then a surge of weird confidence caused you to instead hit him with a haymaker, causing him to fly sideways before landing on the floor, knocked out.
  344. >You look down on your fist.
  345. “Holy fuck I have super strength now.” you say to yourself shocked before carefully approaching the guy.
  346. >You squat next to him and try to check if he’s alive.
  347. >You’re no doctor but you think he’s still breathing, so that’s at least good.
  348. >You decide to sneak around a bit, just in case, before going into the building itself.
  349. >Especially since you’re hearing a lot of noise from the inside that suggests a fight.
  350. >And a big one at that.
  351. >Although, you’re not entirely sure what you are trying to find.
  352. >Some occult shit perhaps.
  353. >But no, there were no mysterious symbols drawn with blood nor candles and pentagrams.
  354. >It took you a few moments to go around the whole area before you finally shrugged and decided to find the entrance to the building.
  355. >Before you could reach it however, a few more people, at first glance similar to the guy you knocked out earlier, stood in your way.
  356. >Despite not knowing what their problem was, you had a nagging feeling that they were vampire Thralls.
  357. >You clench your fist, redying yourself, just as one of them decided to strike, to which your response was similar to the first one. Quick punch caused him to drop down.
  358. >You laughed looking at your hands.
  359. “Holy shit this is amazing.”
  360.  
  361. >They didn’t seem to care that you knocked out their buddy, because soon enough the remaining four jumped at you. Trying to punch you.
  362. >It did push you back, causing you to stumble a bit, but it didn’t actually hurt.
  363. >One of them then tried to grab your arm and bite, but you managed to dodge out of the way before kicking him in the face.
  364. >You never felt so powerful before but so far you’ve loved it.
  365. “Don’t let me wait for you.” spreading your hands, you flash Thralls a toothy smile, showing them a line of sharp teeth.
  366. >They seemed to take your taunt as a call to action, because just as soon as you said that, they seemingly all jumped at you, two grabbed your arms before another two started punching your stomach.
  367. >You’ve let this charade continue for a moment before swinging your arms, when they still held you and slammed the four thralls faces together.
  368. >Falling to the ground just like the others. They weren’t exactly great at taking damage.
  369. >It would seem however, that they make up for that in their numbers, as a fresh batch just crawled out of their holes, rushing at you again.
  370. “Oh please! As if that could work!”
  371. >You punched the first one that reached you in the jaw, grabbing his arm and throwing him at two others that were rushing towards you.
  372. >Third managed to reach you and kicked you in the side of the head with enough force to send you flying.
  373. >Landing in the dirt also didn’t hurt. You just nonchalantly got up from the ground and dusted your clothes.
  374. “This is getting annoying.” you said before another thrall rushed at you.
  375. >You didn’t even give him a chance, grabbing his hand and throwing him to the side.
  376. >But that didn’t really stop the downpour. Three others struck just as quickly and you’ve dealt with them even quicker.
  377. >It felt less like a fight and more like a slaughter.
  378. >But then again, you just recently became superhuman, those guys would probably tear a normal person to shreds.
  379. >You didn’t get enough time to think as you got hit in the back of the head with a road sign.
  380. >Flying again, this time, you managed to leave a face shaped mark in the ground as you slid on the ground.
  381. >You decided it was time to stop this dumb game and grabbed the thrall that just approached you.
  382. >Opening your jaws wide, like a snake readying to bite, you did just that, sinking your teeth in his neck.
  383. >With a few large gulps you started drinking his blood.
  384. >Luckily for him, you managed to push him away before draining it all. You even felt an otherworldly surge of vigor.
  385. >You grabbed another one of them, throwing him into the ground.
  386. >Finally, the guy who hit you with the road sign.
  387. >You gave him a swift uppercut which sent him flying far into the air.
  388. “To the heavens!”
  389. On this cool night.
  390. New Prince of Dark Rises
  391. Essence of Dandy.
  392. >Just as you finished your haiku, he landed on the roof.
  393. [spoiler]I listened to this thing while writing that part. Use at your own risk. https://youtu.be/QhfWYJUcQN0 [/spoiler]
  394.  
  395. >You looked around trying to find more targets before finally falling to your knees and gasping for breath.
  396. >The taste of blood in your mouth still lingered.
  397. >You just almost killed that guy.
  398. >Drained him out of his blood.
  399. >He should be all right though.
  400. >You hope.
  401. “Fuck… what’s gotten into me…”
  402. >You felt your stomach churning. There was also this strange tightness in your chest.
  403. >You wiped your mouth and looked at the blood.
  404. “I have to control myself… who knows what would happen if I did this to someone innocent…”
  405. >You slowly got up, looking at the massacre around you.
  406. >They were alive, hopefully. But you couldn’t dare to check. Prefering to just tell yourself they are all right.
  407. >Looking at the building you took a few deep breaths to try and calm yourself before walking towards the doors.
  408. “Get in guns blazing, yell something badass to scare them, get the info. Go back home before sunrise.”
  409. >Another deep sigh.
  410. “Get in. Guns blazing. Yell some badass shit. Get the information. Go back home.” you repeated.
  411. >Yet another deep sigh.
  412. “Get in… Guns blazing… Yell some badass shit. Figure out what’s going on. Go home.”
  413. >This seemed to slowly become some strange mantra for you. One used to keep your mind ready.
  414. >You hoped you won’t suddenly become blood hungry again.
  415. >You weren’t exactly sure if you could stop yourself now from drinking someone whole.
  416. >The call seemed to become even stronger now.
  417. >The sounds of combat inside died down a little.
  418. >It was hard to tell if it was a good or a bad sign.
  419. >You took a few steps back and did a little shadow box to get yourself ready to fight some more.
  420. “Welcome to the battlefield. What brings you?” you asked yourself before approaching the doors one last time.
  421. >Be badass Anon. Be a fucking badass.
  422. >You kicked the door with all your might, denting them and pushing them open with great force.
  423. ”All right! Which one of you motherfuckers can tell me what a fuck is going on?!”
  424. >That was your badass?! Fucking moron.
  425. >Your eyes focused on the older, dark skinned lady, then on the girl in a skin tight costume trying to stand up.
  426. >This is going to be one hell of a fight.
  427.  
  428.  
  429. >Your eyes moved between Liltu and the newly arrived man.
  430. >So that must mean you’re Spider-Girl.
  431. >”Ah, the Fledgling has finally arrived. Good. You’re just in time, my child.” Liltu smiled at him before turning her head towards you.
  432. >You readied yourself to dodge or defend, both him and her, but it would seem that you were outmatched.
  433. >Before you could even react, you were held by your neck above the ground.
  434. >”I’ve found a perfect meal for you. A powerful human, for you to become stronger.” she ripped out a piece of your costume, exposing your neck and placing two fingers on it.
  435. >You of course tried to resist, but your arms and legs were grabbed by the Thralls, stopping you from moving too much.
  436. >At the same time, he started approaching, looking around.
  437. >Liltu licked her lips in anticipation.
  438. >”So you’re the reason why I’m like this?” he asked.
  439. >”Yes my Child. I embraced you as my own. You were chosen by Liltu, the Queen of Vampires, you tasted my blood so you could become like me. Immortal. With my might and your knowledge of the modern world, we shall make them all bow down. Our eternal reign in blood.” he walked even closer.
  440. >”And those guys?” he pointed towards all the Thralls before standing before the Vampire Queen herself.
  441. >You tried to wiggle once again, but she squeezed your neck tighter. While normally this could be considered fun, this was part of her attempt to murder you.
  442. >”Worthless carrion. Only you matter dear.” she took her own step towards him. Planting a small kiss on his cheek. “All you need to do now is drink her blood and then I and all of the world shall be yours.”
  443. >The man once again looked at her, before closing in on your neck.
  444. >You caught a glimpse of sharp fangs, drawing in closer on your neck, your spider sense acting like crazy.
  445. >As you close your eyes, readying yourself for the pain, it never comes.
  446. >The sound of breaking your nose fills the air, as you open your eyes, noticing the guy just punched Liltu and pulling you away from the thralls. Helping you stand on your own.
  447. >”As if I’d help you, you creepy old hag! You turned me into a fucking vampire! Go fuck yourself!” he yelled at Liltu, who just flew into the wall of the building.
  448. >then he turns to you.
  449. >”Can you still fight?”
  450. >You nod and crack your knuckles.
  451. “Yeah. Thanks for the help. Now it’s time to play dentist and rip out some of her teeth.” you said smugly.
  452. >The truth is, you weren't exactly used to fighting alongside another super human.
  453. >So for now you two seemed to instead try and fight separately together.
  454. >You swiftly got back to the elevated point, grabbing a few remaining thralls and smashing them against each other or using your web to tie them up.
  455. >It looked like The Guy was doing the same, so between you two Thralls stopped being any sort of challenge.
  456. >Before you could do more however, Liltu appeared right next to him, punching him with enough force to send him through the wall of the building and making him land on the chain link fence.
  457. >She then grabbed one of her Thralls and bit his neck, starting to drink his blood, before dropping the lifeless body to the ground.
  458. >That wasn’t as worrying as the fact she probably just killed the guy, but you still had to check.
  459. >You shoot your web at the Vampiress, before swinging towards the window, jumping through the small hole and landing next to the fence.
  460. >Standing over The Guy, clutching his chest.
  461. “Hey, you alive?” you asked, trying to help him get up.
  462. >”Blood…” he murmured, grabbing your hand and getting up.
  463. >You almost didn’t catch it.
  464. “What blood?”
  465. >”I need… blood.” he said and leapt past you. Grabbing one of the Thralls which poured out of the hole his body made before biting him.
  466. >Though just as aggressive, he didn’t drink nearly as much as Liltu, leaving Thrall alive.
  467. >”Augh. I’m getting used to it.” he said, stretching his arms.
  468. >Just as he put him on the ground, Liltu passed through the hole as well.
  469. >”A fledgling like you needs a lot more blood than me. Especially to heal your wounds and you don’t even try to drain your enemies.” the Vampiress shook her head. “Maybe it’s a good thing you resisted my call. You’re a pathetic bleeding heart. Unfit to be a vampire. I should just devour your heart right now.”
  470. >Your spider sense tingle just before she dashed at you two. Thanks to it, you managed to use your web and struck her, causing her to lose her footing.
  471. >Thanks to that, The Guy managed to land another punch on her, this time pushing her into the ground.
  472. >Despite being just punched into the ground, she managed to get up quickly now seeing you as her new target.
  473. >You used your webs again, but she managed to narrowly dodge them and grabbed your arm, before throwing you back towards the building.
  474. >Thankfully, you managed to web yourself just in time, so you didn’t share The Guy’s fate.
  475. >You really need to learn his name.
  476. >You landed on the wall.
  477. >Your eyes focused on the vampiric duel. Liltu clearly had the upper hand, blocking and hitting way more punches.
  478. >You needed a plan.
  479.  
  480. >The vampiric bitch was getting on your nerves.
  481. >Not only she tried to control you, turned you into a monster, she also now was threatening to kill you.
  482. >That means you must be Anon.
  483. >Spider Girl was still stuck on that wall, seemingly trying to find a new way to approach.
  484. >Fuck that noise, you are going to batter this cheap Egyptian stripper.
  485. >She kicked you in the stomach, sending you out of the area, before turning towards the Spider on the wall.
  486. “Oh no you don’t!” you ripped out the road sign out of the ground and swiftly ran into the area again.
  487. >Apparently too focused on looking for a way towards the Spider, because she was still standing in her old place when you used the sign to hit her in her left side with all the might you could muster.
  488. >You’ve heard a horrible crunch before she got launched some twenty meters away, before hitting the ground and tumbling further.
  489. >Her body didn’t look too great, but just as you saw a thrall coming next to her you knew you had to charge her.
  490. >She managed to drain him before you got to her, but you landed another hit, which sadly broke the sign.
  491. >Her retaliation, in the form of a punch, caused you to land in the air.
  492. >Spider Girl grabbed you with her web before you could fly too far away, causing you to land on the roof.
  493. >You shook your head and dashed to the thrall you put here yourself before. Biting his neck and draining some blood out of him, before standing on the edge of the building.
  494. >Spider Girl landed next to you.
  495. >”She’s a real piece of work.”
  496. >You could only nod in response. She had to drink blood from time to time herself. Probably needed it to boost her healing.
  497. >But she was right, you weren’t drinking nearly enough to make your wounds go away fully, while she was overfilling herself with it. Surviving all those strikes with little to no issue.
  498. >”You know what her weakness could be? You’re a vampire as well right?” she asked before looking at you.
  499. >You shook your head.
  500. “No clue. I wasn’t even aware that I’m a vampire till like… an hour ago at most. But I know she’s not going all out while I do and that isn’t enough.”
  501. >The Vampires' tilts her head to the side before pointing a finger at you two.
  502. >Before you can react, a red beam flies next to you, as you are pushed away by Spider Girl.
  503. >Thankfully you two didn’t get hurt but… is this something you could also do?
  504. >”If you’re not going to come to me, I’ll come to you!” said the Vampires before a pair of black wings sprung from her back. At first it looked like the shadows formed them, but soon enough, her own blood enveloped the wings and they turned reptilian.
  505. >With a mighty flap, she flew upright and towards you.
  506. “I’ll distract her, you go and grab something sharp and long. Another road sign, piece of the fence. Anything. Then stab her.”
  507. >You said before leaping onto your Kindred and grabbing her by the face, before bringing her towards the ground.
  508. “And SLAM!” you yell trying to smash her head against the ground.
  509.  
  510. >You swung on your web away from the two, quickly grabbing onto the nearest building outside of the warehouse and towards someone’s backyard.
  511. >You scanned the area around you, looking for anything that would fit the description.
  512. >Finally, you’ve found just the right kind of fence. Spear tips, while not actually sharp, would probably penetrate quite well if you apply enough force.
  513. >And the Fleur-De-Lis pattern would surely help when someone tried to pull it out.
  514. >You started ripping the pieces of the fence out of the ground, trying to get as many as you could carry without a problem.
  515. >Then you tied all of your “spears” with the spider web and swung them over your shoulder.
  516. >Hopefully you didn’t waste too much time.
  517. >But by the sound of it, you did. Another crimson beam cut through the sky as you saw the Liltu getting thrown into the air.
  518. >She just as quickly turned around and nosedived. Probably into The Guy.
  519. >Liltu was just about to start punching him before you swung in.
  520. “Bite into this!”
  521. >You were going at full speed, so the force of your dropkick was enough to send the vampire flying away and while she did manage to twist in mid air, she was still far enough away from you two.
  522. >You gave him one of the spears before swinging away.
  523. >But Liltu was relentless, just as you two separated, she speeded towards you, but thanks to your agility, you managed to stab her in the back, but not hitting her heart.
  524. >The Guy in the meantime dashed towards her, trying to stab her. But even with a spear in her back, she still managed to rip it out of his hands and threw it at you.
  525. >You threw another spear towards him, just as she was about to fly at you, but the Guy grabbed her leg and slammed her to the ground. Grabbing the spear.
  526. >Liltu aimed at his right arm, the one in which he had the spear and shot a laser at it, piercing it, but not severing it.
  527. >He threw the spear into his left hand, just as she was about to get up and he stabbed her heart.
  528. >Which you followed with another spear to the back.
  529. >You managed to step away, just as she ripped one of your spears and stabbed The Guy with it.
  530. >She then writhed in pain as he took a few shaky steps backwards.
  531. >”You heathens! Slugs, Animals! Dirt under my feet! You dare to hurt the great Liltu! I shall make you burn! I will eat you piece by piece! You shall know pain.”
  532. >She hissed before a could of dark smoke enveloped all of you.
  533. >Smoke turned into a mist as you grabbed The Guy before swinging out of here.
  534. >He still was stabbed when you took him into a building.
  535. >You weren’t sure what to do.
  536. >”She missed the heart. Just t-tak-e-e it out. Lu-lung…” he said softly.
  537. >You did as he ordered, trying to be as gentle as possible.
  538. “Do you need anything?!” you asked quickly.
  539. >”Bl…blood.” he whispered softly.
  540. >You helped him sit up.
  541. “Me, drink mine blood. Quickly!” you were panicking.
  542. >He leaned towards your face, his eyes half lidded, his mouth twisted in a small smile. You could see his whole face, yet somehow you couldn’t describe any of it.
  543. >He could be even James Dean and you wouldn’t notice
  544. >You felt his cold hands touch your cheek, hips lips slightly opened, it looked more like he was preparing for a kiss.
  545. >Then it stung.
  546. >He bit your neck, still holding your head. At first it was like getting your blood sample taken.
  547. >Then you started feeling warm. Your head was spinning and your breathing got faster. You felt flustered and a slight lightheadedness was creeping its way in.
  548. >Then it all stopped. He let go of you, wiped his mouth and put the bandana back on.
  549. >”Thank you.” he whispered before moving slightly back.
  550. >Your breathing was still heavy and your cheeks warm.
  551. “Yeah. No problem.” you said. “By the way. The mask basically doesn’t work. I can’t… see your face. I mean, I can, but I just cannot remember it. Only your eyes are somehow memorable.
  552. >”Weird. But maybe it’s because of the bite?” he slowly got up, looking at the scar in his chest and his arm.
  553. >You shook your head.
  554. “No. When you… faked the bite earlier and bit those guys, I could see basically everything under the bandana and I still don’t recall anything.”
  555. >He slowly got up.
  556. >”Well… she could use all this magic, maybe I also have some weird powers like that. But mine just let me… hide myself? I don’t really know, but I think I will test it out later.”
  557. >He walked towards the ledge.
  558. >”We should check it out. The fog has cleared.”
  559. >You walked towards it as well and took out your binoculars.
  560. >After scanning it for a few moments you shook your heads.
  561. “Empty. She’s gone.”
  562. >”I don’t think it’s good. But oh well. I guess we’ll have to get rid of her later.”
  563. >You nodded.
  564. “So, I guess we should talk. But first, what’s your favorite shake?”
  565. >”Eh… I don’t know… Banana I guess?” he shrugged.
  566. >You nodded.
  567. “Be right back!”
  568. >You found the Guy where you left him. Looking at his phone, sitting on one of the air vents.
  569. >Landing next to him, you put two shakes between you two and sit as well.
  570. >You grabbed one of them and pulled your mask slightly up to drink.
  571. “Now, we can talk. So hi. I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Girl! And who are you?” you extended your hand towards him.
  572. >He grabbed it and shook it.
  573. >”I have no name. I mean, not a superhero one at least. This thing out there kinda just happened. Ya know.”
  574. >You nodded.
  575. “Well, whatever it is. I hope you are willing to help the city out. I know you’re a… well I can’t lie, you’re pretty scary. With all that strength, blood drinking and not to mention regeneration.”
  576. >He chuckled a bit.
  577. >”Yeah, I guess I am, huh. I guess I really have to become a Hero with all that for people to not be scared shitless.”
  578. >You waved your hand.
  579. “Trust me, I know how it feels. Local press still publishes pieces about me being a public menace anytime I do something wrong. But, people still ultimately understand I’m here to help. Even if I sometimes mess up.”
  580. >You squeezed the cup harder.
  581. “And I’ve messed up a lot. My beginnings were shaky. I’ve beaten up people who weren’t criminals by accidents and my first success still ended with someone dying.”
  582. >He tilted his head slightly as you took a deep breath before continuing.
  583. “And I know it’s hard to start alone. But you’re lucky! If you promise me you’ll use your powers for good, I’ll help you out. Even if you have to drink blood from time to time to survive. You don’t have to become my sidekick or anything like that. We’ll just work together from time to time. And If you’ll have questions, you’ll come to me.”
  584. >You got up and extended your hand again towards him.
  585. “My Aunt always used to say ‘With great power, comes great responsibility’. When I was younger I just used my power for my benefit. But now I understand… If not me, who could protect people from monsters like her?” you pointed towards the old warehouse.
  586. >Then you smiled at him. Since the bottom of your face was now visible, he could see it.
  587. “So, what do you say? Partner?” you asked.
  588. >He was looking at you for a moment.
  589. >But he also smiled, you could tell by his eyes.
  590. >”That was very corny. But sure. I’ll help out. I might be a monster now, but at least I can be a good monster. Besides, you’re my best chance at learning how to use these powers.”
  591. >He grabbed your hand and you pulled him up.
  592. >Though taller than you and probably stronger, you still wanted you two to be equals. It wouldn’t work if you made him your underling.
  593. “I’m glad you agreed. So now, you have homework from me. Get yourself a costume and a name. And a persona. I’m the Friendly one, so you have to balance things out. Yelling and calling people motherfuckers won’t work as well.”
  594. >He chuckled.
  595. >”All right Ma’am. I’ll figure something out.
  596. >This was the start of a very interesting friendship.
  597.  
  598.  
  599. End of Issue #1 The Night of the Vampire
  600.  
  601.  
  602. Issue #2 Hard to Remember
  603.  
  604. >You’ve idly sat down in front of the computer screen, staring at the progress bar.
  605. >Your fight with Liltu in the middle of the night was a few hours ago, but you had more serious concerns now than going to sleep.
  606. >Getting bit by a vampire worries you. In the heat of the moment it seemed like an all right idea but now you were running tests. So far two previous temperature tests turned out normal, but the blood sample was still being tested.
  607. >The biggest perk of living on your own was the fact that you never really had to hide all the equipment a normal school girl shouldn’t own.
  608. >It’s not like you were a normal school girl, but it still saved you explanations that any other teenage superhero probably would have to do.
  609. >You still have your costume to fix and web shooter fluid to fill, but this can wait for now.
  610. >Probably till after school. If Liltu was gone, it would mean you’d finally have a chance to get some sleep.
  611. >At least you hoped so.
  612. >You looked towards your unmade bed longingly. It was so close, yet so far.
  613. >Then a quiet ding caused you to twist your head around quickly.
  614. >There was no abnormality in your blood other than somewhat low iron content.
  615. >You’ll try to get some chocolate before school, maybe it will help you refill what you’ve lost.
  616. >But that didn’t matter at this very moment. You blocked your pc and walked, or maybe crawled, towards your bed before tucking yourself in and closing your eyes.
  617. >The drift into the realm of dreams was stopped, by your alarm clock assaulting your ears.
  618. >Didn’t even manage to actually fall asleep.
  619. “No…” you whined as you touched your phone to stop the alarm and got up. “Ain’t no rest for the wicked… or heroes for that matter.” you said to yourself before slowly getting up and looking at the clock.
  620. >You stared at the time intensely before finally adding another alarm in ten minutes and lying down again.
  621. ”I can sleep for… ten more minutes. I’ll just have to walk faster to school…”
  622. >Then you suddenly opened your eyes wide again and looked at the time again.
  623. “Oh shit, oh shit!” you scrambled to get out of bed as you finally could read the time properly.
  624. >You had ten minutes to get to school.
  625. >You almost threw everything out of your drawer in search of new clothes for today. Then, you ran to the bathroom quickly and started brushing your teeth.
  626. >Then, you looked at yourself in the mirror. Your bed head was horrible but there was no time. You finger gunned your reflection before running out of your flat.
  627.  
  628. >”Honestly Sugarcube, you need to fix your sleeping schedule.” said Applejack, closing her locker. “You look like you’ve haven't slept.”
  629. >You were about to respond but a familiar voice called out to you. As you turned around you noticed Rarity running towards you.
  630. >“Oh Darling! What happened to your hair?” the fashionista called out worriedly. “Ah, it doesn't matter, come here. I MUST fix it.” she exclaimed, reaching towards her purse for a brush.
  631. >While you were getting brushed by Rarity, the rest of your friend group arrived.
  632. >”Hi girls, what were you talking about?” asked Twilight.
  633. >You smiled and shrugged.
  634. “Applejack was scolding me for not sleeping enough while Rarity decided she needs to fix my bed hair.” you chuckled a bit.
  635. >”Well it is horrible how poorly you treat your hair. They won’t stay gorgeous for long if they don't start taking proper care of them, you know?” said the Fashionista, still focused on fixing your hairstyle.
  636. >”Yeah, screw that. You guys watched yesterday's news? Spider-Girl apparently fought some gangsters downtown! Ah, I wish I could see it.” Rainbow Dash interjected, starting her long talk about how the fight probably went down.
  637. >”They also said they found the killer.” Twilight started, catching the attention of all girls around her.
  638. >Has Liltu let herself be caught so easily? You doubted that. You and the Guy didn’t manage to defeat her, so it’s basically impossible for the police to manage that.
  639. “Do you have the article Twi?” you asked.
  640. >She nodded and grabbed her phone, typed something in before giving it to you.
  641. >You started looking it over.
  642. >Apparently the murderer was some gangoon, who apparently went crazy and decided to go into a killing spree and drinking blood.
  643. >It was logical enough, but you knew who was actually responsible.
  644. >Then you’ve noticed something was wrong.
  645. >The date of the article was… today's date, in six hours from now.
  646. >You were pretty much sure yesterday was monday.
  647. ”Wait. Isn't it Tuesday today?” you asked after a moment.
  648. >”See, that’s why I think you need more sleep, Sugarcube. It’s wednesday.” said Applejack.
  649. >Your eyes widened.
  650. >It wasn’t possible. Unless you just slept through a whole day.
  651. “Wait, but I was in school yesterday right?” you ask after a moment.
  652. >”Yeah. We even hung out after it. You don’t remember?” Rainbow Dash looked at you confused.
  653. >Twilight put a hand on your forehead and held it there for a moment.
  654. >”Everything seems to be all right here. Maybe Applejack is right? Maybe you should go get some sleep?” she asked, taking off the hand from your forehead.
  655. >”And don't worry about being absent. Auntie Pinkie will take care of it” Pinkie interjected, taking out a notebook and writing something in it.
  656. >”Um… I can also come… later and bring you some soup… if you don’t mind.” you smiled at Fluttershy.
  657. >Maybe they were right. Maybe your sleeping schedule was getting to you.
  658. “Yeah… I guess I should go and rest a bit. Forgetting whole days isn’t normal.”
  659.  
  660. >You’ve woken up in the middle of the night covered in sweat.
  661. >Following your friend's advice, you left the school today and decided to catch up on some sleep.
  662. >While it did work, making you feel pretty well rested, you were plagued by strange dreams all night.
  663. >Most of them seemed to be you battling someone as Spider-Girl. Some of them were about a day at school. Some event gave you a sense of Déjà vu. Like all of this happened before and you were just now getting snippets of your memories back.
  664. >You shook your head and started trying to feel for your phone in the darkness.
  665. >Weirdly enough, it wasn’t anywhere near where you usually leave it.
  666. >Slowly rising to a sitting position you take a good look around. Maybe you still weren’t fully awake but the place didn’t really feel like your bedroom.
  667. >Or any room in your house.
  668. >You felt a tingling sensation of your Spider Sense activating as suddenly became much more conscious and started looking around.
  669. >It wasn’t your flat. It looked more like some abandoned fighting ring.
  670. >You remembered that place.
  671. >When you first got your powers you got into caged fights here.
  672. >But it was closed some time ago.
  673. >It would seem like the cage was still here and you were currently locked in it. Lying in a metal frame bed, with cheap looking sheets.
  674. >You almost instantly jumped out of bed and started looking around you.
  675. >The seats were destroyed, but some of them still seemed usable. Paint was coming off the walls and some of them were covered in graffiti.
  676. >What didn’t seem to be old however, was the stage itself and a mass of wires leading from the large screen to various cameras in the room and some of the walls.
  677. >As you were looking around, stage lights started shining on you, illuminating the arena before the large screen flickered to life.
  678. >”Ah! Spider-Girl! So nice of you to join me.” a green haired, masked figure, dressed in a short, black tunic covered in white glowing spots, with a gray cape and dark pink accents on her shoulder pads, appeared on the screen.
  679. >”I hope you remember this place. The place where you had your start.” she pointed around you.
  680. >You quickly threw your gaze around before looking back at the screen.
  681. “Who are you? Why did you bring me here?” you yelled.
  682. >She chuckled before taking out a small blue flower from below the camera view.
  683. “My name is Forget Me Not and we have fought before.” she shot you a wicked smile.
  684. >”Although, you probably don’t remember anything from that. Thanks to my powers.” she touched a strange gem in her neckpiece. “What I’m saying, Spider-Girl, is that it’s no Deja Vu. I trapped you here a few days ago.”
  685.  
  686.  
  687.  
  688.  
  689.  
  690.  
  691.  
  692.  
  693. >It was hard to go and enjoy the rest of the night after your fight with the Vampiress.
  694. >Not only did you get some “homework” from Spider-Girl, but you also learned what you are now. A vampire.
  695. >And you needed a costume.
  696. >Sadly, you couldn’t tell anyone that they should make one for you, so all you had was idly browsing online stores for clothes. Trying to mix your search history with normal clothing and things that would be weirder and closer to what you want, so if anyone tries to get you through your cookies, they’ll be more confused.
  697. >You looked towards your wallet
  698. “I think I should buy a VPN.” you say to yourself.
  699. >But that could wait for now.
  700. >You turned off your computer and went to get a quick shower. Soon enough you’ll have to leave for school. Maybe that was a good opportunity to test out the thing with your face being unrecognizable. If it works, you won’t have to worry about the mask.
  701. >There’s also the issue with the name.
  702. >For now however you ignore it. Thinking more about making the costume. What would you need? How do you design it?
  703. >Spider-Girl has a big Spider logo, will you also need one?
  704. >A bat would work, but you feel that it might give people the wrong idea.
  705. >Like it’s not a symbol you even could use because it’s already taken.
  706. >Maybe you’ll just ditch the symbol and go with a style that will be memorable?
  707. >Tight spandex wasn’t your style anyway.
  708. >Spider-Girl looked good in it, but you weren’t particularly muscular.
  709. >Shameful thoughts filled your head, involving Spider-Girl in her costume.
  710. >God she looked good in it.
  711. >But before it went any further, you shook your head.
  712. “You can’t think of her like that. She’ll teach you how to be a hero. Besides, she probably has someone already. In her not costumed life anyway.” you say to yourself.
  713. >You then leave the shower and go back to your bedroom, to continue the rest of your daily preparations.
  714. >Maybe you should include colors in your name?
  715. >Something like Crimson or maybe just Red. It would be fitting. You’re a vampire after all.
  716. “Yeah. Red someone. That will work.”
  717. >Now just to make your costume red.
  718.  
  719. >The school was a bore, but you weren’t really focused on whatever was going on. More focused on getting out of it and testing out your powers.
  720. >You weren’t exactly sure what was a trigger for them exactly, but thinking that you want to go unnoticed or unrecognized seemed to work. People weren’t looking at your face whenever you were thinking about being unrecognizable and whenever you thought about them being able to recognize you, they’d suddenly noticed you were there.
  721. >It worked even with the people who remembered your face before which was great news.
  722. >Thanks to that, you didn’t have to hide your face.
  723. >Hopefully it wouldn’t cause people to think you’re an antisocial creep.
  724. >You’ll have to socialize more.
  725. >And the opportunity seemingly just presented itself.
  726. >Entering the class, you’ve noticed a free space in the back of the class, right next to some green haired girl you didn’t know.
  727. “Hi there, is this seat free?” you asked her pointing down at the desk.
  728. >She seemed taken aback by your sudden approach.
  729. >”N-no you can sit here.” she said.
  730. >You smiled at her before sitting down.
  731. “So, the name’s Anon. I’m new here. What’s yours?” you ask.
  732. >”W-Wallflower Blush…” she says after a moment. “But it doesn’t matter anyway. You’ll forget about me soon enough.” she gives you a somber look before looking down.
  733. >Now you’re slightly taken about.
  734. “I mean, I might be bad at remembering names, sure. But I don’t forget people that easily.” you said with a shrug.
  735. >There was a long pause.
  736. >Clearly she is trying to come up with something. Trying to start a few times.
  737. >”Everyone forgets me. And why wouldn’t they, I’m a weirdo that only leaves her house to go to school.” she finally spoke up. With a lot of spite in her voice.
  738. >She turned her head away from you.
  739. “Hey, I do the same usually. But you wanna hang out after school? I bet there’s something to do around town.” you finally say, putting on your most friendly smile.
  740. >She turned around to look at you confused.
  741. “But you’ll have to be the one that picks the place. I’ve spent my first two weeks here having a horrible flu and I didn’t leave the house until yesterday.” you added.
  742. >After a moment she nods.
  743. >”S-sure. We can go…”
  744. >You smiled again and wrote something down on a piece of paper.
  745. “Sweet. Here’s my number. Meet me after school underneath the big horse statue?”
  746. >She nodded again.
  747. >You start to wonder if the unnatural vampiric charisma is also one of your abilities.
  748.  
  749. >You leave the school and start looking around.
  750. >Finally spotting Wallflower, you approach her.
  751. “Hi. You waited here long?” you asked
  752. >”No, just a few minutes.” she said, rubbing her arm.
  753. >You nod before continuing.
  754. “Oh, good. I was worried I’d be late. So, you’re ready to go?” you asked.
  755. >”Yeah. I know a few good places in the m-mall we can go to.” she pointed towards the direction of where you assumed the mall was.
  756. >It was perfect to be honest. You wanted to go and look at some clothes to get your creative juices flowing.
  757. “Lead the way then.” you say and the two of you start walking.
  758. >Though, she still didn’t seem very sure of the whole situation.
  759. >And you can’t blame her. Apparently everyone forgets about her. Which must suck.
  760. >You didn’t want it to be just a walk in silence though. So you started thinking. What did you know about her besides nothing?
  761. >One thing you’ve noticed was that she was reading some book on plants when you met her in class. Might be good to start with that.
  762. “So, I’ve seen the cover of the book you were reading earlier. You’re into botany?”
  763. >She looked up at you, with a small gleam in her eye.
  764. >”Yeah. I was always fascinated with various kinds of plants, you know. I have a lot of them in my room as well, but I also like to study them, how they grow, how they absorb their nutrients and also their effects. Many of the ones I have can be used to make various helpful substances. I have one that you can mix in with tea and…”
  765. >Truth be told, you didn’t really understand much about the specific plants she spoke of. But you’ve learned about them thanks to her, like that Dandelions were edible. She stopped after a moment.
  766. >”Sorry. I’m probably boring you.” she said.
  767. >You shook your head.
  768. “Not at all. I might not understand everything you’re talking about, but it’s always nice to listen to someone who’s passionate about something. Also, you made me curious about that dandelion pie.” you said.
  769. >You’ve noticed the similar gleam in her eye again.
  770. >”Well, I can prepare some for you someday, maybe?” she asked.
  771. >You put on your most charming smile.
  772. “That’d be lovely. But you don’t have to go out of your way for me. Just tell me when you're doing some and I’ll swing by maybe and try it?”
  773. >You weren’t sure that you’d even be able to eat that. You recently looked at all vegetables with a weird disdain, but it’s not like you could say no to that face.
  774.  
  775. >Spending a whole day with a girl who really likes plants, you’ve felt like you’ve just watched a three hour long video on youtube about flowers and their effects.
  776. >You weren’t complaining really, this was actually pretty nice. She even opened up to you a little. Look at you. Not only did you manage to have a Super-Hero teaching you about being a hero, but you also managed to make a friend.
  777. >”Well, we’re here. Thanks for today.” she said after stopping under her house.
  778. >You waved your hand dismissively.
  779. “Hey, I should be the one thanking you. I never learned so many things in such a pleasant format before.” you give her a sly grin. “Maybe you should teach me some more some other day?” you say, raising your eyebrow.
  780. >”I’d love to. Oh! I almost forgot, I have your number, but you don’t have mine so…” she typed something on her phone.”here”
  781. >Your phone vibrated as you took it out of your pocket. A new message, signed by Wallflower.
  782. “Thanks. You’re basically the first person in this school with which I can communicate outside of the school. Maybe besides Principal Celestia.” you chuckled.
  783. >”Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” she said after a moment.
  784. >You both said your goodbyes as she disappeared inside of the building.
  785. >It was already a late evening and you managed to notice some things you’d buy for your costume already.
  786. >But for now you have to go back home and try and act like a regular kid for a while, before going out again. This time to test out your powers.
  787. >Well, you did test them out now as well. Walking through the streets focused on being unrecognizable.
  788. >People seemed to go past you, only giving you enough attention to not walk right into you. But it’s like they just couldn’t focus on you.
  789. >You stopped in front of a store that had a weird setup with a camera feed going into many of the screens on display.
  790. >Weirdly enough, your face seemed to be recorded as nothing more than a blur on the screen. Like the camera just couldn’t focus on that part specifically.
  791. >You could do so many evil things with those powers.
  792. >A lesser man would probably abuse those powers to win favors with people or be creepy with some girls at his school.
  793. >Well, you weren’t going to do that. Just as much as you weren’t going to drink their blood. No matter how tasty Rarity’s neck looked.
  794. >You turned away from the display and started walking towards your house.
  795.  
  796. >There’s always some abandoned structure in a city as large as canterlot.
  797. >And you were using it to its fullest extent.
  798. >Old, abandoned train depot, while not filled with junkies, was a perfect place for training.
  799. >Now, you were just running circles around the building.
  800. >Being on your tenth lap, you still didn’t feel the need to slow down or any sort of tiredness.
  801. >Amazing how much stronger this body was.
  802. >Lifting things was also much easier.
  803. >While you couldn’t pick up a whole cart, you still could push it. Though, seeing as Liltu was much stronger than you, you figured out you’ll get stronger eventually. With age probably.
  804. >Or blood.
  805. >The latter wasn’t ideal for you. But it was just your nature now. Besides, you managed to stop yourself every single time you were drinking the blood before.
  806. >Causing you to regenerate whole holes in your body and most of the bruises.
  807. >You stopped to lift up your shirt and look at the scar on your chest. It healed very quickly and even the scarring started disappearing.
  808. >Scary stuff.
  809. >Anyway, it was time for some power tests. You were already aware of your strength and speed.
  810. >You tried wall climbing but besides managing to do some steps on a wall if you had a running start, you started slipping too quickly.
  811. >Though climbing was pretty easy when you could just pierce metal with your fingers to make holds which you could use to hold yourself.
  812. >You knew that you could make yourself unnoticed by normal people and your face was unrecognizable. But it was now time for something more crazy.
  813. >You had a full list of vampiric powers you were going to try out.
  814. >Vampiric charisma was currently marked as maybe.
  815. >Sadly you had no idea how to use most of the powers, so you started with the first one.
  816. >Levitation.
  817. >You focused on it, trying your hardest to think your body is either extremely light, or that you can float. So far most thoughts have failed.
  818. >But finally, you tried a different approach.
  819. >You grabbed a piece of stone and threw it on the roof of one of the trolleys.
  820. >Then you just tried to jump up and take it off the roof.
  821. >First try was a failure.
  822. >Then a second one.
  823. >By the third, something clicked and you stayed in the air.
  824. >It was a weird feeling. Your body felt extremely light as you slowly tried your hardest to move.
  825. >Moving didn’t really do much, other than causing you to lose your balance and flipping upside down.
  826. >So it was probably more of a will thing.
  827. >You tried to not think about the movement as it seemed to work better, treating it more like a natural part of your body. Which was difficult at first. But with each slow sway, you started understanding it.
  828. >Soon enough, you could float, though it wasn’t very fast, it was just good enough for you to be more dramatic.
  829. >Though it seemed that the longer you did that, the faster you could move.
  830. >But you’ve hit a limit pretty quickly. So far, running was still faster. But hey, you could use it to walk on roofs and walls, so at least you could look scary.
  831.  
  832. >You slowly rubbed your sore nose, it still hurts after your meeting with a wall.
  833. >Well, more like fighting with a wall.
  834. “No walking through walls. No weather control. No transforming into a bat. Man, I really suck at being a vampire.” you shook your head.
  835. >Yesterday you managed to learn that you had super stamina, agility, strength and speed. That and levitation. Today however, every single skill a vampire should have turned out to be a negative.
  836. >You looked down at the clothes you bought, the roll of threads and a needle.
  837. >Following internet tutorials to learn how to sew wasn’t exactly easy.
  838. >You tried to add a strap onto the suit vest so that you could have a cross shape on your chest as an intimidation tactic.
  839. >Religious symbols didn’t hurt you, despite you being a vampire.
  840. >You imagined any vampire hunter would be pretty scared of that.
  841. >Unless it was actually the norm.
  842. >One worrisome thing was that you didn’t see the Wallflower today.
  843. >Maybe she’s just sick.
  844. >At least you hope she’s just sick.
  845. >For now however, you tried to focus on your sewing.
  846. “Sewing. More like a bad seamstress blues.” you said to yourself trying to finally attach this strap properly.
  847. >You really need to befriend some seamstress that will just accept you being a vampiric superhero and will fix your clothes and maybe help you upgrade your costume.
  848. >After twenty minutes of fiddling with the strap, you finally managed to attach it properly.
  849. >Buying used clothing made it much cheaper to make this costume. By some miracle you’ve managed to find nice black pants and this vest you were working on for dirt cheap.
  850. >But you still had more to buy.
  851. >A tie, red coat and red hat.
  852. >And sunglasses. Turns out they are pretty useful for you in the dark, because strong lights are nothing but blinding.
  853. >”For you…” you say to yourself while browsing the internet in search of fitting clothes to finish your super suit.
  854. >You were going to look so cool in all this getup. Red… still no idea what kind of name you’d use but you still had some time.
  855. >It’s not like you were going to go and fight some crime anytime soon.
  856. >For now, you just have to fight with the school.
  857.  
  858. >”Hey Anon.” you’ve heard a voice calling to you just as you were taking some books out of your locker.
  859. >You take out your earphones and look towards the voice owner.
  860. >Wallflower was standing next to you.
  861. “Hi there. Didn’t hear you approach.” you pointed nonchalantly towards the earphones.
  862. >”Yeah, I was thinking if I should just poke you to get your attention.” she said with a small chuckle. “What were you listening to?”
  863. >You took out your phone and paused the music.
  864. “Anaal Nathrakh. I know how it sounds, but it means snake breath or something like that in Irish.” you say.
  865. >”Sounds pretty intense. Anyhow, I wondered if you wanted to hang out today maybe? I wanted to do that yesterday, but I was sick and just couldn’t come to school.” she asked hopefully.
  866. >You closed your locker and leaned against it.
  867. “How could I say no? Any specific place you want to go to?” you asked.
  868. >”Yeah. I wondered if you wanted to go to a Palm House with me. They have a new exhibit with some newly found tropical plants.” she smiled.
  869. >You put a hand on your chin.
  870. >On one hand, warm places weren’t really your thing, probably because you started feeling pulled towards the chill of the grave.
  871. >On the other hand, you’d get to hear a lot about new plants from Wallflower which would probably be fun. Even if you won’t understand even half of it.
  872. >”Well, I’ve never been to a palm house. But I assume since it’s made to be an exhibit of tropical plants it will probably be really warm there?” you asked.
  873. >Wallflower nodded. Worry visible on her face.
  874. “Well then, you’ll have to deal with me complaining about the heat. I don’t take it too well, but if you don't mind that, I’ll happily go, but I don’t want to be a burden.”
  875. >”Nonono. Don’t worry. I won’t mind, Palm Houses usually are warm and wet, so even I can’t sit in them for too long.”
  876. >Warm and wet was the worst possible combination. But hanging out with someone would be much better than sitting in your room again.
  877. >You need to socialize more, even if only to distance yourself from the persona you were going to use as a superhero.
  878. “So, what time are we going?” you asked.
  879. >Wallflower was beaming with a smile.
  880. >”By the way… Can I hear the song you were listening to?” she pointed to your earphones.
  881. >You chuckled grimly.
  882. “Oh, Wallflower dear, let me show you the magical land of death metal.”
  883.  
  884. >You were running late.
  885. >Well not very late, but still late.
  886. >And for a date nonetheless.
  887. >Actually you didn’t know if you could call it a date. Wallflower just invited you to go to the palm house.
  888. >And here you were, getting lost and running at a speed just reasonable enough to seem normal.
  889. >You’ve spotted her sitting on the stairs of the palm house. Her usual clothes were replaced by a dark green shirt revealing her shoulders. Her pants now shorts and thigh high socks covering the rest of her legs.
  890. >She looked pretty saddened when you stopped next to her, sliding slightly on the concrete.
  891. >You weren’t tired, but you still put on a show of breathing heavily.
  892. “I’m… oh fuck… so sorry. Holy shit I haven’t run that much since… ever…” you gasped. “I know it… it’s bulshit but I got lost.” you stood straight up and placed your hand on your heart and breathing heavily some more.
  893. >You almost felt shocked by not feeling your heart beating. But you slowly started being used to it. The necrotic magic pumped your blood probably.
  894. >She smiled as she got up.
  895. >You felt a tinge of guilt that you didn’t put on fancier clothes, but at least you had your best band hoodie.
  896. >”Don’t worry. I didn’t have to wait for too long.” she said, though it was a lie, you knew that.
  897. >You two started walking towards the doors.
  898. >”The exhibit features a lot of newly discovered tropical plants. Most of them have various effects on humans, you know.” she said almost as soon as the two of you entered.
  899. >”I’ll tell you more when we reach them, but for now, did you know that various species of cactus can shoot…” you again didn’t know much from what she said. Well you know about the cactus that could shoot needles. But she apparently knew much more about uses for their needles and juices.
  900. >Hell. she had something to say about basically every single plant you’ve just seen.
  901. >While you barely knew their names, they weren’t latin.
  902. >You finally reached the exposition with new plants, and while Wallflower was basically glued to the glass, you just silently stood behind her looking at the colorful flowers.
  903. >”Apparently those plants can be used to create a toxic that can cause people to forget whole days. You know, not like… you know.” she said something quietly.
  904. >You nodded to her.
  905. “I do get what you’re trying to say. They remove memories instead of causing people to just be in a daze that causes them to just not form memories, right?” she nodded.
  906. >”Yeah. It’s really scary isn’t it? Forgetting everything. Plants have really strange powers. Greater than many heroes.” she said, turning back to you. “Do you want to… maybe get coffee? There’s a cafe here with air conditioning.” she smiled.
  907.  
  908. >Turns out it was totally a date.
  909. >You never were asked out on a date.
  910. >You two were currently sitting at a cafe, drinking tea.
  911. >”Hey… I know you said you like to listen to people passionate about… things but, I feel like I should let you speak finally. I never asked you about your hobbies, or things you like.” she said after a moment.
  912. >You thought for a moment.
  913. “I mean… I can tell you but I'm a much less useful kind of a nerd. You know stuff about real plants, I on the other hand spend my days reading about vampires, demons and other mythical monsters. I like mythos that involve scary monsters and learning their weaknesses. There’s no way I’d ever hunt something like that but hey, it’s useful if you run any tabletop games”.
  914. >“I always wanted to try and play something like that. Never had anyone to do so with though.” she wrapped her fingers around her cup.
  915. >You leaned back on your chair and chuckled.
  916. “Well now we just need a bunch more people to play then.”
  917. >”I’ll hold you to that. Maybe you can teach me about the games you play next time we hang out?” she asked with a cute smile on her face.
  918. >You rested your head on your hand and smiled back.
  919. >You weren’t sure if you should say it or not. But fuck it, it seemed like a good time to try at least.
  920. “You have a pretty smile.”
  921. >A small tint of red appeared on her cheeks as her smile turned slightly more goofy.
  922. >”Thanks Anon…” she whispered.
  923. >Overall, you’d rate this day as 8/10. Too warm. But at least you’ve spent it with a nice girl you were just walking home with.
  924. >She still was clearly excited about all the plants you two got to see today.
  925. >It wasn’t late yet, but you’ve still spent quite a lot of time together today. Sharing your earphones when listening to more songs she was interested in. Judas Priest this time.
  926. >Death metal might not have been up her alley, but you knew more than one genre.
  927. >You stopped under her house again.
  928. >”Well… we’ll see eachother tomorrow again, right?” she asked.
  929. >She was fidgeting in place slightly.
  930. “Well I hope so. Who else I’d hang out with at school if not you?”
  931. >She chuckled a bit before suddenly hugging you.
  932. >”Thanks Anon, it was the best day I had in a long time”.
  933. >You hugged her back.
  934. “I aim to please.”
  935. >Soon enough, you two broke your hug, said your goodbyes and went your separate ways.
  936.  
  937.  
  938.  
  939. >Be Red… someone. You still haven’t figured this one out.
  940. >You didn’t meet Spider-Girl today. But what you did find was a group of guys taking some crates from the Palm House you’ve been to today and putting them all in a truck.
  941. >All of it seemed really suspicious.
  942. >Mainly because they all wore masks. Not full blown superhero costumes, but animal masks.
  943. >It looks like you had to tail them.
  944. >You’ve noticed that when you were lurking in the shadows, the darkness around you seemed to move around your body, hiding you in it much better.
  945. >You still had to figure out when they were going though.
  946. >You followed the guard patterns with your eyes, waiting for a perfect moment to get into the truck and hide among the crates.
  947. >Not wanting to bet on your ability to make people unable to focus on you.
  948. >Finally, both of the guards turned their attention towards the guys taking the crates out.
  949. >Total of four people, but it was your time to move.
  950. >You left your hiding spot, entered the part of the parking lot illuminated by the lanterns.
  951. >You stayed low to the ground, using your vampire speed to become nothing more than a crimson blur.
  952. >The shadowy tendrils seemed to follow you even as you entered the light and slinked into the truck, going to the back of it and hiding behind some of the crates.
  953. >Becoming one with shadows again.
  954. >They finally closed the back doors and started driving, so you used this opportunity to open one of the crates.
  955. >What you’ve noticed inside was a small terrarium covered in bubble wrap and other materials that would make sure it won’t break during the transport.
  956. >Inside of the terrarium itself, you’ve recognized the plant Wallflower told you about.
  957. >The one that could remove memories.
  958. >Whoever was stealing it couldn’t have a good motive behind it.
  959. >You tried to listen to the talking of the guys who stole all those plants, but the engine was just too loud for you to focus on their speech, so you just sat down and waited.
  960. >The moment the truck finally stopped, you quickly got up and prepared yourself at the back of the truck.
  961. >Doors opened.
  962. >One, two, three, four people left. Doors closed.
  963. >Three steps walked away. Two in one direction, one in the opposite.
  964. >One was approaching you.
  965. >You were getting thirsty anyway.
  966. >Showtime.
  967.  
  968. >As soon as the doors opened, your shadowy hand grabbed the goon by the mouth and pulled him inside.
  969. >You bite into his neck, draining some of his blood, making sure he’ll just get dizzy from it, not full on die. Then, when he was dazed, you dropped him to the ground and left the truck.
  970. >It was darker here, which was perfect for you.
  971. >The building you were right next to now was an old boxing stadium.
  972. >Soon after leaving however, the smell of urine hit your nose. The one pair of steps that went away was probably now pissing underneath a wall.
  973. >You had to move swiftly.
  974. >Dashing quickly behind the goon, you grabbed his neck and smacked him against the wall.
  975. >Gently enough that it wouldn’t kill him, but strong enough it knocked him out.
  976. >The remaining two would be more of a challenge.
  977. >Quietly, you moved towards them. Sadly, they were in an area illuminated by the lamps, both smoking a cigarette.
  978. >As soon as you left the shadows, the darkness around you started falling away, but you weren’t worried about that. It’s not like you had a choice anyway.
  979. >You’ve sped up, now turning your movement from a walk to a full blown run.
  980. >With your inhuman speed, they barely had time to react. You’ve reached them just as they were grabbing their guns. Grabbing both SMGs they carried, you ripped it out of their hands and threw it backwards.
  981. “Hi There! Trick or fucking treat!” your jaws unhinged as you prepared to bite one of them.
  982. >Sinking your teeth in his neck, you drained his blood similarly to the first guy you knocked out, you didn’t drink all of it.
  983. >As you’ve let go of him and wiped your mouth, you looked at the other guy, now lying on the floor. Terrified.
  984. “What’s the matter? You can’t handle a little scare?” you showed him your teeth, looking at him go pale and fainting.
  985. >You pulled out a handful of cable ties from your pocket. This was going smoothly so far.
  986. >As you were tying them all under the car, you looked towards the building.
  987. >You weren’t exactly sure what would await you there. But whatever it was, it seemed dangerous.
  988. >Or at least very clever.
  989. >You fixed your sunglasses and started walking towards the small doors which were probably going to be used by the goons to carry the goods inside.
  990.  
  991. >Someone was repairing the electricity in here. Though the lights were turned off for now, there were a bunch of new looking cameras.
  992. >You still appear as a blur on cameras, but the less they will see the better.
  993. >With a hand reaching into the pocket inside of your coat, you stick to the wall and search for one of the shitty throwing knives you bought.
  994. >Mall ninja shit, but with your strength it still could destroy a lot of things.
  995. >Your target was a camera.
  996. “Worthless, worthless, worthless…” you said to yourself and threw the knife, striking the device and destroying it. Along with the knife.
  997. >The noise was pretty loud, so it was a stupid idea in hindsight.
  998. >You held your breath but no one appeared. All you can do now is walk forward.
  999. >Still sneaking alongside the wall, you looked around you, trying to find anything that would
  1000. >The only things that were leading you were your ears.
  1001. >You’ve heard muffled talking.
  1002. >The closer you approached, the more it felt like something was playing out of the sound system however.
  1003. >”I hope… this place.”
  1004. >you didn’t hear the whole speech, but the part that you did hear was strange.
  1005. >”The place where you…”
  1006. >More muffled sounds.
  1007. >You entered a small room on your left, it seemed like an old office.
  1008. >Unlike the rest of the building, this place seemed to be pretty well maintained, the desk was new that’s for sure.
  1009. >Approaching it, you notice that most of the papers in here were of a scientific nature and talked about plants.
  1010. >You left the room behind, as it wouldn’t really help you right now.
  1011. >”My name is Forget Me Not…” another muffled speech.
  1012. >However it was getting clearer, so you were probably getting closer to its source.
  1013. >Finally, you’ve reached a set of heavy looking doors.
  1014. >”No… this cannot be true!” someone was yelling on the other side.
  1015. >It sounded like Spider-Girl.
  1016. >”Oh but I’m afraid it is! You forgot all of it. And you’ll forget so much more.”
  1017. >You put your hand on the handle and gingerly opened the door.
  1018. >What you saw before you was a fighting area. Complete with a cage in which Spider-Girl was trapped.
  1019. >A large screen was playing a visual of some green haired masked chick who was probably the one taunting Spider.
  1020. >They haven’t noticed you yet it would seem.
  1021. >You took a step towards the stairs and the cameras suddenly all focused on you.
  1022. >Your face is still a blur on the screen.
  1023. >“What’s that? Another pathetic hero? Sneaking around like a thief in the night? Soon you’ll be trapped inside your own mind… silly specter.”
  1024. >Holy shit that’s perfect!
  1025. “Oh please. As if you could trap the Red Specter.”
  1026. you smiled at the camera, showing it all your sharp teeth.
  1027.  
  1028.  
  1029.  
  1030.  
  1031. >At first, the new arrival filled you with dread, but pretty quickly you recognized the distinct unrecognizability of his face.
  1032. >He sure did his homework and created a secret identity.
  1033. >”Oh? We’ll see about THAT!” Forget Me Not flicked the leather behind her and your spider sense activated.
  1034. >A hissing sound started filling the room, as a strange purple mist started slowly seeping in through a few pipes located in the walls.
  1035. >Definitely some poison or toxin.
  1036. “Red Specter, she’s poisoning the room!” you called out to the man, who started walking down the stairs towards you.
  1037. >No, he wasn’t a man. This was some… creature who wore human skin.
  1038. >The glowing red eyes, the large teeth.
  1039. >The crimson wings.
  1040. >The floor seemed to be made out of gelatin, making it really hard to stand straight.
  1041. >The creature seemed to become less and less human with each step it took towards.
  1042. >This combined with mad cackling coming from the screen, caused you to retreat into the further corner of the ring.
  1043. >All of the human features of the red creature were gone now as it reached its clawed arm and destroyed the cage, stepping inside.
  1044. >It hissed at you.
  1045. >You need to defend yourself.
  1046. >Just as it came closer you punched in the face with all your might.
  1047. >It clearly wasn’t expecting that, as your punch caused it to fall through the ring floor, giving you enough time to run past it and jump through the hole it made.
  1048. >You tried to open the door through which the thing entered but it was closed shut.
  1049. “No… no. No!”
  1050. >You turned around and saw it was slowly getting out of its hole.
  1051. >Your heart was beating like crazy, your spider sense was screaming.
  1052. >And the worst part, the mad cackling continued.
  1053. >You frantically looked for another exit out of the ring. But the only one seemed to be the entrance used by the fighters, which was currently blocked.
  1054. >The creature left the cage and hissed at you again.
  1055. >You had to find a way out.
  1056. >This cannot be the end.
  1057. >You started breathing quicker and the creature became even more monstrous than before.
  1058. >It was focused on you for a moment before it turned towards the giantess behind the glass that was looking at you.
  1059. >With a flap of its monstrous wings it flew towards the glass.
  1060. >”Ooh?! A little Spectre isn’t affected?!” the giantess spoke in a booming voice.
  1061. >The creature sneered at you before turning at the screen.
  1062. >It growled at the screen before looking around.
  1063. >You used this as your chance and ripped out one of the chairs before throwing it at the flying creature.
  1064. >You hit it square in the chest, causing it to drop to the floor as you tried to use your webs to get towards the other entrance.
  1065. >It would seem that your web cartridges were empty, so you just threw yourself in a mad dash towards the exit.
  1066. >You managed to get to the larger doors which surprisingly were easier to open just as you saw the giantess put on a gas mask and the video feed disappeared.
  1067.  
  1068. >Running through the corridors while being chased by a monster was probably the scariest experience in your life.
  1069. >”Spider Girl!” you’ve heard it’s monstrous voice call out to you.
  1070. >It was getting closer. It was much faster on foot, but you could fight it off.
  1071. >You turned around to face it and took a battle position.
  1072. >It seemed to slow down and raise it’s clawed hands, probably to scare you more.
  1073. “But I’m not afraid of you, creature!” it tilted it’s head hearing your yell as you charged at it.
  1074. >With a swift kick, you struck it’s stomach, causing it to lower it’s head which you used to kick it again.
  1075. >However this time it caught your leg.
  1076. >You weren’t going to use it however, as you punched the top of it’s head making it recoil and take a few steps backwards.
  1077. >Another hiss and this time it lunged, trying to grab you, however you were fast enough to punch it in the face a few times.
  1078. >It leaned against the wall and you punched again, missing the head and breaking through the wall.
  1079. >It used that to its advantage, grabbing your midsection with one arm and your hands with the other, pushing you against the wall.
  1080. >It seemed to lean forward, probably to do unspeakable things to you, but you still had a fight in you. Kicking it blindly until you finally hit its crotch, causing it to drop you and step away.
  1081. >You pushed it, causing it to hit the other wall in the corridor before it slid down it and groaned.
  1082. >For good measure, you kicked its face, causing it to break through the wall.
  1083. >Then you decided to start running again, taking the first turn on the right, not fully sure where you were going.
  1084. >All you needed to know is that you were putting distance between yourself and the monster.
  1085. >The tight corridors of the building felt like a labyrinth, combined with the thick fog and the walls which seemed to slowly melt you were probably never going to leave it without a plan.
  1086. >And the creature probably still was alive and well. Able to run behind you.
  1087. >Then you’ve heard the audio system turn on.
  1088. >”Oh Spider Girl? Where are you?” a distorted voice blasted through the speakers.
  1089. >You looked around you, confused as you somehow entered a long room with iron walls.
  1090. >Then you’ve spotted another monster.
  1091. >The tentacle-like hair moved in the nonexistent wind. The face seemed to be made out of black tar like substance and the eyes were shining brightly with white.
  1092. >”Itsy bitsy little Spider.” the creature spoke as it started moving towards you.
  1093. >You were just about to turn around, but you saw the figure of the previous monster walking towards you.
  1094.  
  1095.  
  1096. >Your blood ran cold as you covered your head with your arms.
  1097. >But the creature moved past you into the room. Growling at the other monster.
  1098. >”Ooh? Do you still want more? And you’re still not affected? Well then come at me with all you got Spectre!”
  1099. >The creature dashed towards the other monster, but just as it almost reached the Tentacle Haired one an explosion of bright light filled the room.
  1100. >Soon enough, a group of monsters with human bodies but animal heads was around you.
  1101. >The Tentacle Headed creature was nowhere to be seen.
  1102. >”Great… another carrion to be feasted on.” The large creature brandished it’s sharp teeth. “We’ll see what’s behind those animal faces of yours.”
  1103. >You were hoping that you’d be able to just crawl back but the animal headed monsters attacked you as well.
  1104. >You grabbed the baseball bat it used before striking it in the face.
  1105. >A sound of broken glass filled the room as it started howling and crawling away from you.
  1106. >One of the monsters snuck up behind you, hitting you with its bat in the back, causing you to stumble forward.
  1107. >You caught a quick glimpse of the large monster, which was currently ripping the animal skin off the other monster's face before throwing the poor creature to the side.
  1108. >You shuddered at the thought before focusing on the two monsters attacking you now.
  1109. >They weren’t fighting well, swinging blindly in a frenzy. Yelling something about making you regret hurting their friend.
  1110. >And then doing other horrible things to you.
  1111. >A lot of those actually.
  1112. >Sick creatures.
  1113. >You grabbed the lead pipe as it swung at you and punched it in the gut, before swiftly roundhouse kicking the other one.
  1114. >This was enough to knock out one of them, but the other still had some fight, as it punched you two times in the face before trying to grab you.
  1115. >However a high kick in the jaw stopped it from actually closing the distance, knocking this one as well.
  1116. >Now all that was left was the large beast in the middle that was currently sipping on the blood from another monster's neck.
  1117. >It threw the creature aside and turned towards you. But you weren’t planning on running anymore.
  1118. >You’ll take this thing down, even if this would be the last thing you ever did.
  1119.  
  1120. >You started with throwing the lead pipe at it, which it deflected with ease.
  1121. >However you were following the pipe and just as it blocked the pipe, you kicked the creature, causing it to stumble slightly.
  1122. >You landed on the floor and did a leg sweep causing it to land on it’s back before kicking it’s face down into the ground again.
  1123. >Few times actually.
  1124. >Actually it was getting closer to ten.
  1125. >The crimson eyes were still looking at you.
  1126. >“Harder mommy.” it chuckled as you raised your leg to kick it again.
  1127. >The creature rolled out of the way and stood up, leaning on the metal wall.
  1128. >No wait, that was a locker.
  1129. >You were in a locker room. That means you were close to the exit.
  1130. >The creature fixed the red sunglasses that covered it’s monstrous eyes before grinning at you. The monstrous face was slightly less monstrous now.
  1131. >”Seriously though… It really fucking hurts you know?” it… no, he asked.
  1132. >Trying to move but stumbling again.
  1133. >You weren’t going to let it talk for long, with a punch to the gut, followed by two more towards its face.
  1134. >It managed to block the two aimed at the face, so you threw another one, this time an uppercut which caused it to hit its back against the lockers.
  1135. >”Jesus woman, at least buy me a drink first before making me your bitch like that!” it took a few shaky steps back and grabbed the animal faced creature before biting into its neck.
  1136. >You were going to stop it, but it managed to already sink its teeth into it before floating out of your path.
  1137. >It dropped the creature and wiped its mouth as you threw another kick.
  1138. >It managed to grab it before hitting you in the face.
  1139. >”I’m not usually into hitting women, but you forced me, Spider-Girl.” it said pushing your fist away.
  1140. >You did a backflip backwards, before ripping one of the locker doors and throwing it at it.
  1141. >Then another one.
  1142. >Then another.
  1143. >And another.
  1144. >Each time hitting the creature and causing it to take more shaky steps backwards.
  1145. >By the time you were done, it was barely standing.
  1146. >Looking at the floor.
  1147. >”Well then… I guess I have to truly be brutal to do this…” it said before running towards you and grabbing you in your midsection.
  1148. >All you could now do was hit its back and you weren’t going to let it capture you as it started it’s mad dash… towards the exit.
  1149. >You heard him grunt with each strike and you weren’t going to pull any punches.
  1150. >Finally the two of you broke through the set of old doors. Your back was used as a battering ram, which hurt but soon enough the person carrying you fell to the floor, letting you go and lying on the hard concrete.
  1151.  
  1152. >The air here felt much different than inside of the building as you slowly struggled to get onto your feet.
  1153. >The floor was no longer made out of gelatin and the walls weren’t moving.
  1154. >You looked towards the creature but all you could see now was Red Spectre lying on the ground, clearly beaten.
  1155. “Oh god” you whispered before running towards him.
  1156. >His eyes were still open and when he noticed you running towards him he seemed to try and block your attack.
  1157. “Hey, relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” you said softly.
  1158. >He frowned before taking a deep breath.
  1159. >”Don’t give me that shit. You already hurt me enough.” he said, rolling onto his back and looking upwards.
  1160. >At first you were confused but then you started connecting the dots.
  1161. >The poisonous gas must have made you see him as the monster… and beat him up.
  1162. >And you weren’t pulling any punches.
  1163. >Even in your panicked state, you did a number on him.
  1164. ”I… oh fuck I’m sorry.” he looked towards you and grinned.
  1165. >”Shit girl. I was thinking that’s how you thank people who save your ass. I figured out that since you’re a spider, you might as well be a black widow.” Well, he was sassy, so he probably was fine.
  1166. >”Can you check if my ribs are broken?” he asked after a moment.
  1167. >You nodded and started gently trying to touch his ribs. Moving your fingers in search of any cracks.
  1168. >They seemed… fine, but his heart wasn’t moving.
  1169. “Well… ribs seem to be fine, a bit bruised. But your heart doesn’t move.”
  1170. >”Yeah, I’m a vampire and shit. I don’t know how my body works, but my heart apparently isn’t needed for anything in my case. Except maybe killing me.”
  1171. >He slowly raised to a sitting position and grabbed your shoulder.
  1172. >”But Spidey. If your kick in my balls broke ‘em… I’ll be back with vengeance.” he looked at you with a very serious expression.
  1173. >You nodded slowly and he laughed.
  1174. >”Now then… I need a drink… and to check something.” he said slowly getting up with a groan.
  1175. >You cringed at the very idea of him moving but you helped him up anyway.
  1176. “Do you need help getting to your… um, coffin?” you asked after a moment.
  1177. >He chuckled again before coughing.
  1178. >”Jesus girl, first you beat me up, now you wanna kill me?” he asked with a coy smile on his face.
  1179. >You opened your eyes wider.
  1180. “No! No, no. I just… thought you live in a coffin… you know, as a vampire.”
  1181. >He patted your pack as grabbed his arm to prop his body on yours.
  1182. >”Don’t worry… I’m just kidding. And no. It’s… too much of a chance you’ll learn who I am and I don’t think our relationship is at that stage yet.”
  1183.  
  1184. >You two walked towards the back of the buildings, where there were a few tied up guys with similar animal masks to the ones you fought inside.
  1185. >”Shit. The crazy bitch stole the car.” he looked around at the tiremarks.
  1186. >You looked at him.
  1187. “What car? What… actually happened in the last few days?”
  1188. >A visible shock appeared on his face.
  1189. >”Wait, so you don’t know?” he asked as he took his arm off you and walked towards one of the tied gangoongs.
  1190. >He stood next to one of them and bit his neck.
  1191. >The pure terror on the goon face was a weird sign, but soon enough, Red Spectre let go of him and stood up.
  1192. “I’m not getting used to you doing this.”
  1193. >He shrugged, clearly feeling much better now.
  1194. >”Eh, it’s not like a hurt them in the long run. Think of it as a… donation. I don’t take a lot after all.”
  1195. >Well, maybe he had a point. But it still was terrifying.
  1196. “Anyway What car? And how did you find me here?”
  1197. >He took a phone out of the gangster's pocket and rang the number.
  1198. >He then proceeded to tell them the exact address of the place and inform whoever was on the other end about beaten up gangsters and the toxic gas.
  1199. >”Let’s walk. Police can handle the rest.” he said, dropping the phone to the ground and walking deeper into the darkness.
  1200. >You followed him slowly.
  1201. >”So, where do I start.”
  1202. >You were going to say something but then he started talking again.
  1203. >”I took your advice and decided to go out today for a walk. I’ve noticed the guys you saw back there carrying some crates out of the local palm house, which were filled with a rare and exotic plant that can apparently be used to create a substance that erases memories.”
  1204. >So that’s why you didn’t remember anything huh?
  1205. “They probably used it on me. I can’t recall anything from the last few days.” you said after a moment.
  1206. >”That’s horrible. Do you… feel alright? I can buy us shakes today if you need something to take your mind off it or something.”
  1207. >You just shook your head.
  1208. “No, keep talking.”
  1209. >”Well, I snuck up into the car, they drove me here and I knocked 'em out. Then I entered the building. Found you in the cage. Then the whole gas thing started and you started attacking me. I am apparently immune to airborne poisons. Probably because I’m undead.”
  1210. >You looked down on the ground.
  1211. >With no idea what happened during the last few days, you couldn’t form any plans. What if she knew your identity now. Or worse, she did something to you?
  1212. >”As for the truck. She took the truck with the plants. Who knows where she is now.”
  1213. >This was bad. Really bad.
  1214. “We need to meet tomorrow and find her. Or at least figure out what’s her deal.”
  1215. >He nodded.
  1216. >”Soo. Milkshakes?” he asked with a coy grin.
  1217. >You chuckled.
  1218. “Milkshakes.”
  1219.  
  1220.  
  1221.  
  1222. >You are Wallflower Blush.
  1223. >Also known as…
  1224. >”Miss Forget Me Now, I trust the operation was a success.” a cold voice called to you.
  1225. >Yeah that.
  1226. >You were in a large room. Though the decor would suggest it was made out of wood, the building was actually one of the skyscrapers.
  1227. >The wood itself was dark. Similarly to the desk. Few portraits in golden frames, a small fireplace and a red carpet made this place look very cozy.
  1228. >The figure that was speaking was a tall man with graying hair and a goatee. Though you didn’t see him properly as he had his back turned to you.
  1229. >You did notice that he had a large coffee with a crazy straw in it.
  1230. “Not exactly. There was an unsuspected element. I did capture Spider-Girl and I was toying with her. I also didn’t take off her mask as you ordered but… This… Red Specter Guy appeared.”
  1231. >”Oh? Pray tell me about him.” the man turned to look at you.
  1232. >His left hand was metallic and golden, when the other had a yellow glove on it.
  1233. >His eyes had yellow sclera and red irises. One clearly smaller than the other.
  1234. >A singular sharp tooth was sticking out of his mouth and his jacket, that was currently hanging on his chair, was two coloured. Black and white.
  1235. “I believe he isn’t human. My toxins had no effect on him and he drank blood from some of your men Sir.”
  1236. >The man started clapping with delight. The horn from which he drank his coffee levitated next to him.
  1237. >”Oh splendid! A true vampire then? Oh how I wished to see one of them in action.”
  1238. >You squint.
  1239. “Yes, and he saved Spider-Girl and almost stopped me from getting the plants.”
  1240. >He waved his hand.
  1241. >”Come now Miss Forget Me Not. What is a life without a little unpredictability?! But you have your plants now?”
  1242. >You nodded.
  1243. >”Splendid. As for Spider-Girl. It’s still way too early for us to unmask her. The show barely started.”
  1244. >He took a long sip of his coffee.
  1245. >”That means we can begin phase two of our plan. Do you have any particular targets in mind for our… experimental treatment?”
  1246. >You took a step towards him.
  1247. “I have none, but I have one person that I want you to never hurt.”
  1248. >”Oh? Who would that be?” he asked with a coy smile.
  1249. >You took a deep breath.
  1250. “His name is Anonymous F. A. Gott. He’s… my…Friend. Yeah, friend.”
  1251. >”Oh Miss Forget Me Not! Is this a budding romance I see? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure no harm comes to him from any of our new subjects.”
  1252. >He took out a book from his desk.
  1253. >”Use your abilities and plant this in the locker of our first target. Let us make it a… scientific display today, shall we?.”
  1254. >You nodded.
  1255. “I have to ask… What’s in it for you? You never told me why you hired me. Why did you want to help me?” you asked.
  1256. >The man chuckled.
  1257. >”Oh, it’s simple. Because life without a bit of randomness, a bit of entropy, improbability, without little chaos… is worthless.”
  1258. >He smiled.
  1259. >”That’s why life needs a little bit of… Discord.”
  1260.  
  1261. End of Issue #2 Hard to Remember
  1262.  
  1263.  
  1264. Issue #3 On the wings of a Raven
  1265.  
  1266. >You dropped the pen you were using and started staring at the computer screen again.
  1267. >The wave of relief washed over you once again seeing that Sunset was actually responding to things on the group chat.
  1268. >She was gone for a few days, only to return yesterday with bruises, looking extremely tired and stressed, but happy.
  1269. >Of course she also dodged all the questions about it, saying it was just an accident and she had some things to take care of.
  1270. >You knew better, being her friend and all. Even if you knew her for a shorter time than the rest of the girls.
  1271. >Slowly, your eyes went back to your homework and you picked up the pen.
  1272. >You didn’t have to deal with it today, but since it was a friday and the party for the new guy, Anon, was canceled you didn’t really have to do anything else.
  1273. >You gazed towards the screen again, hearing you were just pinged by someone.
  1274. >”Hey Twi, you free next friday? We’ll try to have the party then.” it was Pinkie who asked.
  1275. >It wasn’t like her to usually move parties so far into the future but between the murderers and the Sunset dissapearing for few days, you could see why it happened.
  1276. >Well, that and from your sources, that is, your brother who’s in the force, there was some weird fight in the abandoned boxing stadium between Spider-Girl and some new “Masked Menace.”
  1277. >While not agreeing with your brother that Spider-Girl was a menace, you weren’t exactly convinced an anonymous vigilantism was a good choice for keeping the peace.
  1278. “Heh. Anonymous.” you chuckled to yourself.
  1279. >From all the talks with him, Anon seemed pretty average. Weirdly squeamish around the blood, but hey, you can’t blame him for that, but still. Oh yeah, and his name was weird.
  1280. >You’ve heard another ping.
  1281. “Oh right!”
  1282. >You started typing out your answer.
  1283. “Yeah, I’m free.”
  1284. >Well, you weren’t actually sure, but you’d much rather hang out with the girls than do almost anything else.
  1285. >Maybe besides experimenting, this was still one of your favorite things to do.
  1286. >But that reminded you.
  1287. >Glancing quickly, you’ve noticed you were already done with the homework so you moved all that to the side and reached into your backpack.
  1288. >An old, dusty tome, bound in leather with a strange symbol on the cover. You weren’t exactly sure how it ended up in your locker, but there was a note attached to it while you found it.
  1289. >”Beware the Man in Red and the Spider.”
  1290. >You ignored it because it sounded like weird superstitious nonsense, but you kept the book anyway. No reason to let the perfectly good tome go to waste after all.
  1291. >You opened the book on the first page and started to read.
  1292. >Wondering what you’ll find inside.
  1293.  
  1294.  
  1295. >Washing clothes made out of extremely advanced microfibers was a chore like no other.
  1296. >Sure they were resistant to tears and offered you quite a protection but the material also seemed to just attract dirt.
  1297. >And you had to deal with it.
  1298. >Especially after being in this costume for three whole days.
  1299. "I bet Batman doesn't have to wash his clothes. He has way too many gadgets to not be super rich." You murmured while trying your damnedest to get the stain off.
  1300. >It was probably blood. Red Spectre's blood.
  1301. >Seeing as you used his head to break the concrete.
  1302. >You also remembered how all he said after that was asking you to go harder.
  1303. >And calling you mommy.
  1304. >While it did make you feel… appreciated, it was only more confusing.
  1305. >Either he felt no pain and had way too much sass in him.
  1306. >Or had serious issues.
  1307. >Probably some combination of both.
  1308. >You can’t imagine being suddenly turned into a vampire would help someone with being well adjusted.
  1309. >And since you had no idea who he was before, there’s no telling how it affected his previous life.
  1310. >He did appear shortly after Liltu left her coffin, but that was to be expected as she transformed him.
  1311. >You still were curious how it worked, seeing as his bite did nothing to you but make you woozy.
  1312. >Probably in the same way as mosquitoes inject a substance that stops the pain, vampires do something similar but it has stronger effects.
  1313. >This also made you think about how close a vampire is to Bat Ponies.
  1314. >They had fangs after all and vampires were always somewhat batty.
  1315. >Even if Red Spectre doesn't lean into this aspect too much.
  1316. >In your drugged state he did look like a huge bat abomination. But that was just your imagination. And extreme drugs.
  1317. >You shudder at the thought. You still barely remembered the fight and remembered only flashes from the days before.
  1318. >Finding Forget Me Not will be hard if she could do all those things and now has access to some more crazy plants.
  1319. >Another thing that worried you were her goons. She didn’t seem like the type to actually look for people to work for her, and that must’ve meant someone hired her.
  1320. >That means you’ll have to find her and then also go and find whoever hired her.
  1321. >With no way to contact Spectre, you’d probably have to find him to share your plan.
  1322. >You looked at your costume and threw it into the washing machine.
  1323. “Right. Hopefully that will be enough to finally lose those stains.” you said no one in particular and decided it’s time to change your bandages.
  1324.  
  1325.  
  1326. >School was the last place you wanted to be in, but you had to be there.
  1327. >Which was annoying since you actually already passed school back in Equestria.
  1328. >The degree in magic held no merit here, not only were you unable to actually cast any spells, it seemed like any and all magic here worked completely differently.
  1329. >Well you usually pass most of the subjects here with ease, so that at least was good, meaning you could pass most of it with minimal effort and attention.
  1330. >So despite being really tired, most of the day was still all right.
  1331. >The lessons weren’t the hard part.
  1332. >Your worried friends and anyone else who met you were the hard part.
  1333. >Hiding your double identity wasn’t an easy task with friends who were as inquisitive as yours.
  1334. >But you were pretty good at it.
  1335. >Pinkie was planning her party, again, hoping that this weekend it will finally happen so that Anon could be finally welcomed into the community.
  1336. >And while you were just peacefully eating and listening to her plans, keeping your involvement to minimum, you’ve noticed that Twilight didn’t take her eyes off some strange book for even a single second.
  1337. >This was pretty par for the course with both Twilights, but she usually at least listened and nodded. This time however, nothing. She was absolutely absorbed.
  1338. >Finally Pinkie asked her something and all eyes rested on her.
  1339. >It took Rainbow taking the book out of her hands to finally make her listen.
  1340. >”Hey, give it back!” hissed Twilight angrily before ripping the book out of Rainbow’s hands.
  1341. >”We asked you a question Twi.” said Applejack raising her eyebrow.
  1342. >This only made Twilight more annoyed.
  1343. >”I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. I’m done anyway. I’m going to go read in peace.” she said, her words dripping with venom, as she stood, took her back and left the cafeteria.
  1344. >”I’ve never seen Twilight this angry.” said Rarity raising her hand to her mouth.
  1345. >”M…maybe she just had a bad day?” Fluttershy whispered.
  1346. >”Whatever it is, we have to figure it out! No one just… skips the Pinkie Parties for no reason!” exclaimed Pinkie taking out a magnifying glass out of her pocket. “Detective Pinkie… on the case.”
  1347. >”Well now I can't let you take all the detective Pinkie! Come, we must get into proper outfits Darling.” said Rarity, clearly excited by the idea before the two left the cafeteria as well.
  1348. >You turned to face Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy and all four of you just shrugged.
  1349.  
  1350.  
  1351. >You were currently leaning on a wall, waiting for Wallflower.
  1352. >After a few moments you felt a tug on your sleeve.
  1353. >”Kept you waiting huh?” you looked to your left and saw a grinning Wallflower.
  1354. >You smiled back at her and stepped away from the wall.
  1355. “Eh, only a bit. I’m a pretty patient guy anyway so I don’t mind.”
  1356. >”Good. Now, follow me.” Wallflower grabbed your hand and started pulling you towards the back of the school.
  1357. >You shoot a quick glance towards the trash can where you drank the cat's blood on your first day here.
  1358. >You take two more turns before ending up in a small garden.
  1359. >A garden that was very well maintained and clearly cared for. More than most school gardeners would.
  1360. >”Ta-da~” Wallflower spread her arms like she just revealed a trick to you.
  1361. >You looked around for a moment, taking in the sight.
  1362. “I had no idea the school had a garden.” you said after a moment.
  1363. >”Not many people know about it. But I grew it myself, you know?” you could hear a smile in her voice.
  1364. >That surprised you.
  1365. “No way, you’re pulling my leg.” you looked at her.
  1366. >”Nope, all of those plants I planted, grew and I’ve taken care of myself. Well, maybe not the grass, but you know. I even made most of the decorations here on my own.”
  1367. >If that was true she really had a gift for plants.
  1368. “Wow… I mean, this is amazing Wally. I had no idea you are this good with plants.”
  1369. >You could see pride on her face before the two of you moved towards the bench.
  1370. >”Well, this bench was here before, but I repainted it.” she added.
  1371. >You chuckled.
  1372. “It’s still very impressive.” you said before sitting sideways to face Wallflower and resting your head on your hand. “Sooo, you come here often?” you ask, putting on your best flirty smile.
  1373. >”Yeah, what about you?” she asked before biting her lower lip seductively.
  1374. “Ah you know. Checking the place out. Looking at pretty flowers.”
  1375. >The amount of cheese both of you were producing was out of this world.
  1376. >Lucky for you, the fact that your blood flow was nonexistent, you couldn’t blush.
  1377. >”Well, I think I can tell you a lot about flowers.” she finally said with a smile on her face before leaning in closer.
  1378. >Her face, covered in freckles, was almost red, from all of her blushing.
  1379. >You leaned in as well.
  1380. >Her arm slid up yours and grabbed your shoulder, as you put yours on her waist.
  1381. >If you were more rational, you’d probably think that knowing each other for just a few days was pretty fast for a relationship to move.
  1382. >Unlucky for you, you were a teenager and with all those hormones, Wallflower was the most beautiful girl in the world.
  1383. >Her lips, the softest in the world.
  1384. >Your lips finally touched as you began to kiss, at first very awkwardly, quickly gaining steam.
  1385. >All you could think about was this weird feeling in your stomach. No logic or rationality here.
  1386.  
  1387.  
  1388. >The kissing on a bench quickly turned into another date, this time much more spontaneous.
  1389. >You talked about a lot of things while eating some burgers and fries in her garden.
  1390. >She wasn’t lying, no one was coming here, so it was pretty comfy.
  1391. >For a moment you talked about the stolen plants, she didn’t really seem to worry about that, but you quickly went back to the most important thing of that day.
  1392. >Truth be told, you’ve spent most of the time doing it.
  1393. >That was kissing.
  1394. >It seemed to be the most important thing for both of you tonight, you never thought you’d get into all the lovey dovey crap so quickly and yet here you are.
  1395. >It has been quite some time since you felt so happy.
  1396. >Even Wallflower, who usually looked much more mellowed out, looked like she was in heaven.
  1397. >Resting her head on your shoulder as the two of you talked, looking at the garden.
  1398. “You know, it’s kinda weird, but I’m both happy that no one’s coming here and really mad.”
  1399. >She looked up at you, slightly confused.
  1400. >”Why’s that?” she asked finally.
  1401. “Well, happy because it feels great to just sit here together alone but it’s absolutely appalling that they cannot appreciate this place.” you explained.
  1402. >You felt her hug tighten.
  1403. >”That’s really sweet of you, but I don’t mind. I don’t need them… I have you.”
  1404. >That made you feel warm inside.
  1405. >And you still felt really warm.
  1406. >Even when you walked her back home.
  1407. >After the kiss you two shared and then even some time later.
  1408. >It still felt like a dream come true.
  1409. >Your unmoving heart was fluttering.
  1410. >You had a silly smile all your way back home.
  1411. >And then at home.
  1412. >Your mother quickly noticed your happiness and commented on it.
  1413. >When you said you were with a girl, she gave you a knowing smile and let you go back to your room.
  1414. >You were planning on going to sleep but you weren’t sleepy at all. You were just lying on your back with a dumb expression.
  1415. >However the stillness suddenly became unbearable.
  1416. >Even the happiness seems to stop.
  1417. >Your mind started wandering to something else.
  1418. >You wettened your lips with your tongue.
  1419. >You needed a drink.
  1420. >Something strong.
  1421. >Something… bloody.
  1422. >You got up.
  1423. >Put on your costume.
  1424. “When hope is gone, undo this lock and send me forth on a moonlit walk.”
  1425. >With that, you left through your window.
  1426. >Hopefully criminal activity will be high today.
  1427.  
  1428.  
  1429.  
  1430. >Overlooking the town from high buildings was one of your favorite things about being a superhero.
  1431. >The air here felt completely different than down on the streets.
  1432. >And you could finally relax.
  1433. >After a long day at school, filled with Pinkie and Rarity playing detectives, Twilight being really passive aggressive again.
  1434. >Scratch that, she was actually full on aggressive.
  1435. >You were used to life here being pretty crazy, but today was really crazy. At least as crazy as it can get without a full blown end of the world scenario.
  1436. >Since you were so high, you could sit without your mask for a moment and since you’ve managed to get rid of all those stains, your costume was once again squeaky clean.
  1437. >But you did put: getting more costumes on your list. Unsure how to actually get them.
  1438. >You’ll figure it out somehow.
  1439. >Your relaxation was suddenly stopped as you noticed a cloaked figure floating towards you.
  1440. >Putting on your mask, you made sure it hid all of your features well.
  1441. >The person wore a dark blue cloak, hiding their face with a dark shadow from under which you could only notice a pair of white eyes.
  1442. >”Spider-Girl I presume?” the person asked with a feminine voice.
  1443. >At first it seemed familiar, but it was off somehow. Too low, too distorted, somewhat nonhuman.
  1444. >You stood up and dusted off your butt.
  1445. “Yep. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Girl. Here for an autograph or just to say “Hi”?
  1446. >You leaned on a telecommunication tower and mimicked looking at your fingernails while saying that.
  1447. >”No. I’m here to destroy you.” With that, the person waved it’s cloak open, revealing the feminine body dressed in a tight costume.
  1448. >The cloak seemed to be somewhat feathery, made to look like wings, the hood had a clear bird theme to it. Even the material seemed to shine the same way as the raven feathers would.
  1449. >A beam of darkness shot towards you, but you managed to backflip away from it, grabbing onto the tower.
  1450. “Hah, tough crown ey? Well, no matter.” you shot some web at her, but she managed to weave out of it quickly, floating to the side.
  1451. >She looked at the web flying away and then back at you more like you were a pile of wet garbage than a person.
  1452. >”I am not sure why I was warned about you.” she tried to blast you again, but you managed to jump out of the way and used your web to swing out of the building.
  1453. >With the momentum you got from that, you catapulted yourself up and planted a knee squarely on her jaw.
  1454. >Did a backflip in mid air and swung off another building.
  1455. >Even after such a kick, she quickly gave chase and started flying behind you.
  1456. >That was part of your plan however as you needed a bigger arena to fight someone who could fly and shoot darkness at you.
  1457. >And you had just a place in mind.
  1458.  
  1459.  
  1460. >Stalking the streets at night has gotten much easier since you’ve learned how to fly.
  1461. >Even if it still was rather slow.
  1462. >It still allowed you to grab some unsuspecting thief, who just stole someone's purse.
  1463. >You drank out of him, of course, to quench your thirst.
  1464. >Strangely enough, the time between each time you needed to drink was getting shorter.
  1465. >Sadly, you had no idea why.
  1466. >After giving back the purse to the lady, tying the thief with some zip ties and telling her to call the police, you continued on your merry way.
  1467. >You still tried to “stalk the night” by remaining as hidden as possible.
  1468. >But you’ll probably be famous sooner or later.
  1469. >Might as well make it later.
  1470. >You weren’t sure how to deal with fame, but you’ll probably be just as hated by the local press as Spider-Girl.
  1471. >Speaking of which, she just swung above your head.
  1472. >And with great speed at that.
  1473. >Followed by some cloaked figure throwing darkness at her.
  1474. “Well. I guess I’ll have something to do tonight after all” you said to yourself and started trying to follow them.
  1475. >Which was much harder than it would seem.
  1476. >After your nice little drink, it did feel like you got some extra speed, but the two of them were in another league.
  1477. >All you could do is follow the sound and the leftover webs while flying as fast as you could.
  1478. >You quickly lost sight of them, much quicker that you’d want to admit, but that was to be expected.
  1479. >But the ruckus they were making was enough to lead you.
  1480. >It would seem Spider-Girl was running in a zig zag, Either trying to dodge, or to make it harder to chase her pursuer.
  1481. >A pursuer that you couldn’t recognize, beyond the shape of its cloak.
  1482. >A very cool looking one at that.
  1483. >If you knew the city a little better, you could maybe recognize where they were going, but it seemed that they were aiming at your favorite training area.
  1484. >You tried to fly even faster, but no dice.
  1485. >What you could recognize was a beam of darkness shooting up.
  1486. >So they probably reached it already.
  1487. >Flying above the buildings, you didn’t have to zig zag as much and you were close enough you could notice where the battle was taking place anyway.
  1488. >All that mattered now was a good entry.
  1489. >You had to think of something fitting quickly, you had to look as cool as possible.
  1490.  
  1491.  
  1492. >Superhero landings were bad on your knees.
  1493. >That’s why you didn’t do them.
  1494. >You used your web to swiftly slow down your fall and slid on the ground while turning to face your opponent.
  1495. >She stopped floating and looked down at you.
  1496. >”Finally stopped running?!” she asked, clearly agitated and tired.
  1497. >You shot two more web burts at her, which she dodged, but barely now.
  1498. “Could go for a few more laps. What about you? Tired already?” you asked, just as she launched another beam at you.
  1499. >”I will not tolerate this insolence!” she yelled before pointing both of her arms at a train cart.
  1500. >”Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos!” with that, a dark purple energy enveloped the train cart as it was raised into the air right above you.
  1501. >You were shocked, of course, but you trained yourself enough that it didn’t make you freeze. You managed to use your web to pull yourself out of there, dodging the probably deadly force of a throw.
  1502. “Ugh, someone’s maaaad~” you said in a singsong voice, as she raised her hands up, with them many smaller objects, also surrounded by her magic, floated above.
  1503. >From pieces of metal, old wheels to even a few bottles and she started launching all of those at you.
  1504. >With the grace of a ballerina, you started dodging.
  1505. >Few steps left, a jump to the right, squat, backflip.
  1506. >”Why!” another dodge, this time of a wheel.
  1507. >”Won't!” a few bottles crashed next to you, causing you to use your webs to get on top of a train cart.
  1508. >”You!” this time you had to jump down as she seemed to try and pick up the cart again.
  1509. >”Die!” a series of railroad spikes embedded themself into the wall of a building you were standing next to, as you slid out of the way.
  1510. >She was panting heavily.
  1511. >But it would seem she was still ready for action as she made some symbols with her hands and prepared to throw a ball of flame at you.
  1512. >The ball never left her hand however as she was suddenly thrown out of the sky by a punch to the face.
  1513. >Dark aura surrounded her as she braced for impact with the ground, raising clouds of dust and causing a strange crackling sound as magic touched the soil.
  1514. >Soon enough the beam of darkness shot towards the person that punched her, but the crimson silhouette seemed to dodge it nonchalantly while floating in the air itself.
  1515. >”This is your time to pay…” you recognized that voice.
  1516. >”This is your judgment day…”and this very toothy shit eating grin.
  1517. >Red Spectre was floating in the air just as the figure in the cloak rose out of her dust cloud.
  1518. >”I made a sacrifice and now I get to take your life.” he said, licking his teeth.
  1519. >This was a mistake however as a few more metallic objects flew towards him, which this time he couldn’t dodge.
  1520. >Most of those didn’t seem to break his skin or anything similar but he had to cover his face, which made it pretty easy for her to throw him down to the floor with a strike from above.
  1521. >Just before she could do more, you grabbed her with your web and slammed her to the ground again.
  1522.  
  1523.  
  1524. >A pained and angry groan escaped her lips before she made some more symbols with her hands and struck the ground. A cloud of darkness enveloped all of you.
  1525. >”Pathetic. That won’t be enough to take me down! Now witness the power of Midnight Raven!” she exclaimed and you heard a sound of her levitation, but due to the ever glowing darkness you couldn’t see more.
  1526. >”Oooh, you think darkness is your ally?” Spectre started.
  1527. >Your spider sense warned you, so you managed to dodge her fly by, just barely.
  1528. >Her new target was Spectre.
  1529. >”You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it.” a sound of her magic again, this time it wasn’t aimed at you.
  1530. >”I didn’t see the light until I was already a man.”
  1531. >Another spell.
  1532. >”By then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!” the darkness disappeared as you’ve noticed Spectre holding Midnight Raven by her neck.
  1533. >Her feet dangling as she grabbed his arm, trying hardest to escape.
  1534. >”The shadows betray you, because they belong to me!”
  1535. >His teeth flashed in the dark as he bit into her neck and drank some blood.
  1536. >Before much could happen however a powerful flame pierced through his stomach, leaving a hole in it causing him to drop her and stumble backwards.
  1537. >She quickly flew up and grabbed her throat.
  1538. >”Stay back you… abomination!” she yelled out at Specter who was now barely standing before dropping to the ground.
  1539. “Red! No!”
  1540. >You called out, shocked.
  1541. >This you weren’t expecting.
  1542. >You tried to attack her, but she was probably panicking and slinging her spells wildly.
  1543. >”Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” she yelled out while casting a few beams at your hiding place.
  1544. >Her breath was uneven and her aim horrible, so it was quite easy to not get hit, but sneaking out was a completely new challenge.
  1545. >While it didn’t surprise you, Spectre is… Celestia, you hope he still is and not, was terrifying.
  1546. >She took few deep breaths and straightened her back.
  1547. >”Now! Where were we. I have a lot to do tonight.” she exclaimed picking up a train with her magic.
  1548. >”So be a good girl and just leave your hiding hole so I could kill you.” she added with a wicked grin.
  1549. >You shot a series of webs at her.
  1550. >It seemed that she had a harder time dodging while casting as most of them managed to hit her, covering her body and her mouth, stopping her from casting for a moment.
  1551. >As she dropped the train cart, you decided to jump onto the roof and threw another barrage at her.
  1552. >She managed to get rid of the web just in time though, creating a barrier that prevents most of your attacks.
  1553. >”I have to find that Gods Forsaken book tonight! I don’t have time for your little games!” she yelled out.
  1554.  
  1555.  
  1556.  
  1557. >” I’ll just get rid of you and then I will be free to fulfill my task.” she said suddenly flew up charging some spell, chanting again.
  1558. >”Huddled in the cellar…” another chant joined her.
  1559. >Her spell seemed to weaken.
  1560. >”Fear caught in their eyes…” both of you looked towards the slowly raising Spectre.
  1561. >The hole in his stomach now replaced by a blood that seemed to slowly turn into black tar which was becoming a new form for his stomach.
  1562. >”Daring not to move or breathe… as the creature cries. Fingernails start scratching on the outside wall.”
  1563. >The spell she was charging flew at him, but his body seemed to be dragged to the side by some unknown force, moving less human and more like a puppet.
  1564. >He raised his eyes at her and smiled showing her all the sharp teeth he had.
  1565. >You took a deep breath yourself as the Midnight Raven began to fly, beginning a new chant.
  1566. “What a hell is he…” you said to yourself.
  1567. >”Fingernails start scratching… on the outside walls.”
  1568. >She trembled as he kept his eyes on her. Blood dripped out of its mouth and the black, tar like substance slowly remade his flesh and clothes.
  1569. >”Clawing at the windows, come to me, it calls!”
  1570. >Her fingers started moving to prepare a new spell and this time, Spectre seemed to mimic it with his own fingers.
  1571. >”Atmosphere’s electric as it now descends the stairs.”
  1572. >She clearly noticed this as she suddenly hid her hands underneath her cloak.
  1573. >”Hiding in the darkness is so futile from my glare. Death comes in an instant, as you’ll hope it would.”
  1574. >Finally she shot a beam of darkness which Red mimicked with his own.
  1575. >The black tar from the floor seemed to light aflame as the blood from his hand became a spear that struck her attack, stopping it from hitting him.
  1576. >A magical circle was burned into the ground, though you couldn’t read it from here.
  1577. >”Souls ascend to heaven while I feast on flesh and blood!”
  1578. >With that, Red tried to jump at her, but another dark spell struck him, stopping her ascent.
  1579. >”Argh! I don’t have time for you! I need to get to school before morning!” she yelled out before quickly flying away.
  1580.  
  1581.  
  1582. >You didn’t have much choice but to give chase right away.
  1583. >Spectre was slower than you, so you just decided to make him hold onto your back as you gave chase
  1584. >Even with this extra weight, you moved fast enough to follow behind Raven.
  1585. “What was all that?!” you asked finally.
  1586. >”All what?” he asked confused.
  1587. “You know… all this… being terrifying shit.”
  1588. >He paused for a moment. Clearly thinking about his answer.
  1589. >”I noticed she got scared when I didn’t get blinded and started quoting Bane. I decided to use it.”
  1590. >Wait… he was quoting a movie? A superhero movie nonetheless. That was one of the dumbest things you’ve seen all your life. He was either the luckiest man alive or the smartest.
  1591. “You were quoting Batman?!”
  1592. >He nodded with a dumb grin.
  1593. “And all this… ominous chanting?”
  1594. >”That was just Judas Priest. I was saying the lyrics from their song.”
  1595. >If not for the fact you had to swing on your webs, you would’ve facepalmed. Did he really just trick her with song lyrics?
  1596. “Good to know a hole in a stomach cannot kill you though. But you’re an absolute dumbass” you added.
  1597. >Finally you focused on where you were going and that was even more of a shock than everything else today.
  1598. >She was flying for Canterlot High, it was clear.
  1599. >It became especially clear when she floated towards the… Statue.
  1600. >You had to move faster.
  1601. “Get off. Now!” you yelled and he quickly followed your order. Flying off and trying to keep up.
  1602. >You didn’t care. Seeing Raven casting something near the statue made your heart skip a beat.
  1603. >A huge magical circle appeared around it as arcane discharges started flying in random directions.
  1604. >But that quickly changed as the statue rotated and a staircase appeared to open.
  1605. >Just in time for you to cross the school grounds, because everything outside disappeared, instead a starry expanse covered all of you like a globe. This didn’t stop Raven who flew right inside the staircase and it couldn’t stop you as you quickly rushed down to follow her.
  1606. >You didn’t care what her plan was. All you cared about was stopping, afraid she might destroy the portal.

The Adventures of Spider Shim and The Vampire Anon

by Nonalucard