Make Way for the Spiders

-_-_-_-Peter's POV-_-_-_-

I slammed my fists on the door repeatedly, but to no avail.

"Her blood's on your hands, Peter Dear!" I heard Tempest shout, and I panicked. With a new wave of determination, I rammed my shoulder against the door a couple of times before it finally opened.

I looked around, but saw nothing but an open window. I cursed, before yanking on my mask, kicking off my sweat pants, and pulling off my hoodie. Then, without wasting another minute, I dived out of the window, just in time to see a cluster of dark clouds disappear over a building.

The screams below me made me panic, and I swung as fast as I could to catch up with Tempest.

I was terrified for Rayne, and hated myself for taking so long to get to her.

Lightning struck beside me, and I yelped as I tried to dodge. For a second, I was free falling, and scrambled to get another web out. When I got back into rhythm, I had new determination in my eyes.

Why wasn't Rayne doing anything to protect herself? I had trained her for that specific reason, so that she could defend herself - so why wasn't she doing anything?

The sky rumbled, and I risked a glance up to see dark, murky clouds hovering above me. A small piece of hail nicked my shoulder, and I growled. That woman was asking for an early grave. I finally caught sight of Tempest, and a lump caught in my throat when I saw Rayne lying helpless in the air. I glared, and sent a web directly at Rayne, attaching it to her back, and yanking her back. The wind struggled against me, but I didn't let up, and soon I had her in one arm, and landed on top of a building.

"Rayne, are you alright?" I asked, but didn't dare take off her mask. Too many civilians had taken notice of what was happening. "What did she do to you?"

"I... I was poisoned," she said softly, but didn't make any movement. "She poisoned me, when we went to dinner the other night. That's why I've been seeing things. She... she gave me an antidote, but it temporarily paralyzed me."

I cursed, and cupped her cheek. "I'll kill her," I muttered, and she giggled. "Are you hurt?"

"No." She sighed, and I saw her fingers twitch. "I'm starting to get some feeling back, though."

I nodded, and glanced up, looking for Tempest. Where is she? She wouldn't give up that easily.

I helped Rayne sit up, and she leaned against an old crate.

"Why did you let her in?" I asked, crouching down.

"I didn't let her in..." she sighed. "I didn't look to see who was there. I just opened the door, and I didn't get a chance to stop her."

I gave a soft chuckle, and shook my head. "Not a smart move," I told her.

Rayne laughed, and I noticed that she was starting to move around a bit more. "Why haven't we been attacked yet?" she asked, craning her neck to look at the sky.

"Don't jinx it," I scolded, but looked up worriedly. A piece of hail, the size of a football landed a few feet away, and I gulped. "Too late."

A cluster of clouds gathered, and when they disappeared, Tempest was there, her eyes sparking, and her hair whipping around wildly.

"Peter, I presume," she spat. "I should've known."

"Get out of here," I warned.

She cackled, and my ears popped. Even with her mask on, I saw Rayne cringe. "You think you can defeat me? I'd like to see you try."

"It didn't take long for Connors to get behind bars," I growled, tensing.

"Dr. Connors was in over his head," she spat. "He tried too much, too fast. I, on the other had, have a plan that is foolproof!"

She had a proud look on her face, and her stance was casual. She really believed that she clould do this on her own.

With a grunt, I launched myself at her. The wind picked up, and it was moving against me, making it hard to concentrate. Lightning crackled, and thunder rolled, but aside from those distractions, Tempest wasn't the best fighter. She relied too much on her powers, and flinched at every move I made.

It was a few minutes before I realized that Rayne was swinging around the building, and slamming her feet into Tempest's side, knocking her off her feet and nearly off the building itself. Down in the streets, people were yelling, and I could hear police sirens.

"You little brat," Tempest spat, standing back up. "Can't you see? I'm doing the world a favor. A stronger race, a better race. Everyone can be truly unique, and able to defend themselves."

I flung a web, and it attached itself to her face, blocking her sight. She screeched, and I winced at the sound.

She stumbled back, and I heard Rayne gasp. "Peter, she's going to-"

Too late, Tempest fell from the ledge, and after sharing a look with Rayne, we sighed, and dove off after her.

"The things I do for family," Rayne hissed as we caught Tempest.

The people cheered below us, but a loud boom from above drowned them out. Lightning crashed on our webs, and we began to free fall. I was just able to see a faint grin on Tempest's face as she launched herself out of our grasp, and hurled herself towards the street.

I quickly grabbed Rayne's wrist, and fumbled to shoot out a web to catch us. We landed not as gracefully as I hoped, and stood to face the raging blonde, who had created a small storm around her. It looked strangely similar to one of those cartoons, where the person is in a foul mood.

"We need to get these people out of here, P- Spiderman," Rayne stated, spinning around and observing the crowd. "Somebody's going to get hurt."

I nodded. "You go tell the police what's happening," I told her. "Help them block off this street. I'll keep Tempest occupied."

"No way," she protested, and I could feel her glare. "This is my fight. You go help the police."

"We don't have time for this," I snapped, as hail, the size of golf balls, began to fall.

She pushed me towards to the people, and started to run after Tempest. I watched her for a few seconds, before jogging to the nearest officer, who was talking on his radio.

"Spidey, what's going on?" he asked, eyeing up the two women fighting in the middle of the street.

"Long story," I rushed. "Listen, we need to get everyone out of here. Close down this street, and get everyone indoors." The sky rumbled, and I clenched my jaw. "This lady is serious, and we need to get everyone out, now."

The guy nodded, and started to relay the orders to surrounding officers. Luckily, the citizens had had enough sense to stay back from the fight, and were rushing indoors, or standing on the sidewalk. I sent a few ropes of webbing down the street, sticking them to street signs and lamp posts, then sprinted over to pull Tempest off of Rayne.

I saw a spark, and I went flying back, slamming into a brick wall. I groaned, and stood up, holding my side.

The sky was black now, and it was getting hard to see. The harsh rain wasn't helping, and the occasionally a small bout of hail would slam into me.

"You two are pathetic," Tempest sneered, standing the middle of the street.

Rayne was opposite me, clinging to a lamp post. I couldn't tell what was going through her mind, but I had a pretty good guess. Her shoulders gave a violent jerk, and I became worried. She shouldn't be pushing herself this hard. She should be resting after being paralyzed.

With new determination, I flung a web, latching it to the Tempest's wrist. She cackled, and sent a spark up the web. I gritted my teeth and ignored it, instead swinging over to Rayne.

"We've got to figure something out," she gasped, clutching her chest. "I don't think I can handle being electrocuted anymore."

Electrocuted. I stared at all the water that was pooling in the street due to the rain. My gaze traveled to the lamp post that Rayne leaning against, and I grinned.

"Rayne, have I told you that you're a genius?" I asked, latching another web to the blonde's back.

"Erm... no?" She tilted her head, confused.

"We have to make sure everyone's out of the water," I rushed, shooting a web in Tempest's face.

I could imagine the look on her face as she realized what I was getting at.

"Keep her occupied," Rayne nodded, and swung off to the nearest police car.

I kept swinging in circles, keeping Tempest blinded. She screamed in frustration, and clawed at the webbing, only to get another face full.

"This is pointless!" she screamed. "You are only holding off the inevitable. Stop being childish and fight."

"Doesn't seem like a fair fight," I laughed, shooting at her again.

While she tried to clear her sight, I swung in, and slammed my feet into her, making her fall on her back.

It went like this for ages, me attacking her with random strings of web, and then swooping in for a hit. I don't know how long it took, but Rayne tapped my shoulder, and after flinging another web at Tempest, I turned to face her.

Before I could ask, she nodded. "There are drains at the end of this street," she said, raising her voice to be heard over the rain. "The police are forcing everyone indoors just in case, though. So far, the two surrounding streets are safe."

I nodded, and shot another web at Tempest, this time sticking her leg to the street.

"You two just don't understand much better this world could be," she hissed, making the clouds rumble.

"By mutating everyone?" Rayne asked, flinging a web of her own. It latched itself to Tempest's mouth, keeping her from speaking. "This isn't a gift," Rayne continued. "You can't just go around changing people."

We circled her, chaining her to the street. When we were sure she couldn't escape, we stuck ourselves to the side of a nearby building.

"You know," Rayne laughed. "If this kills her, I'm so going to be grounded."

I chuckled with her, and shook my head. "With her mutation, it should make her much stronger than the average human, like us. The most it'll do will knock her unconscious."

Rayne took my hand, and her gaze was on the lamp post across the street. "We'll have to be careful. If we slip, we could be done for."

"We don't have much time," I stated, my eyes landing on Tempest, who was attempting to get free.

Without another word, we both shot a web, latching it on the post. We tugged on it until I felt it give, and we watched as it came crashing down. Glass shattered, and the light bulbs sparked as they hit the street.

It wasn't as dramatic as I had expected. There were a few sparks that flashed in the water, and Tempest shrieked. The wind blew harder than before, and I clutched onto the brick so that I didn't fall. I gripped Rayne's wrist, and after what seemed life forever, but was really only seconds, the wind died down. Gradually, the rain began to stop, but the clouds remained dark.

When I finally looked down to see the damage we had caused, Tempest was lying on the street, her dress in tatters, and her hair had returned to its straight black. She wasn't as pale, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"Now what?" Rayne asked softly, as if afraid we would be heard.

I shrugged. "We need to get out of there and make sure she's alive. No matter how evil she is, we need to make sure she's okay."

Rayne nodded. "How are we supposed to get down there without being electrocuted?"

Without saying anything, I sent a web flying down.

"Peter, d-!"

It stuck itself to to Tempest's arm, and miraculously, it didn't shock me. I smirked at Rayne, but she couldn't see it.

I gently started to lift the woman up, and beside me, Rayne did the same.

"I wonder how my dad will handle this," she chuckled once we had Tempest on the wall with us.

I chuckled with her, and looked down the street to see if any police were sight.

Tempest started to groan, and Rayne sighed. "There's something I've always wanted to do," Rayne stated, before punching the dark haired woman in the face. She looked up at me, pulled off her mask, and grinned. "You have no idea how happy that made me."