Chapter 11
They opened fire.
Multiple energy blasts lit up the air. All aimed at me.
I threw myself to the side. Flight kicked in automatically. I shot sideways through the air, barely dodging the barrage. The blasts punched holes through a storefront behind me. Glass exploded everywhere.
Okay. Six on one. Not great odds.
I landed behind a parked van. Used it as cover. More blasts hit the vehicle. The metal sizzled and melted like butter.
Geez…Those weapons were no joke.
Think, Adam. Think.
Another blast hit the van. It rocked on its suspension. They were going to punch through any second.
I had to move.
I burst out from behind cover. Shot upward fast. The aliens tracked me immediately. Fired. I jinked left, then right, dodging blasts by inches. The shields on my shoulders absorbed a glancing hit.
I dove toward the nearest alien. It tried to track me but I was too fast. I slammed into it feet first. The impact sent it flying backward into a brick wall. It crumpled.
Five left.
I didn't stick around. Kept moving. Flight made me mobile. Unpredictable. I shot low across the ground, weaving between abandoned cars.
The aliens fired. Missed. Their shots hit cars instead. Windows shattered. Tires exploded.
I came up behind one of them. Grabbed it from behind and threw it into another one. They went down together in a tangle of limbs.
Three left standing.
One of them shrieked something. A command, maybe. The other two changed tactics. Stopped trying to shoot me. Instead they charged.
The first one swung at me with the butt of its rifle. The weapon connected with my armored chest.
Nothing.
I didn't even feel it. The alien might as well have been hitting a brick wall with a stick.
It looked at its rifle. Then at me. Then back at its rifle.
Yeah. That's not gonna work, buddy.
I grabbed the weapon and ripped it out of its hands. Tossed it aside. Then I punched the alien in the chest. The force of the blow lifted it off its feet. It flew backward. Hit a parked car hard enough to dent the door.
The second one tackled me from the side. We hit the pavement. We grappled. Rolling. Fighting for position.
It got on top of me. Started raining down punches on my helmet. Left. Right. Left. Right.
I just laid there and let it happen.
The punches bounced off the armor. Each one making a dull thud but doing absolutely nothing. No damage. Not even a scratch.
The alien paused. Looked at its fists. Then at my helmet. You could almost see the confusion in those black eyes.
I headbutted it.
The helmet smashed into its face with a satisfying crunch. It reeled back. I shoved it off me and rolled to my feet. Before it could recover, I grabbed it by the throat. Lifted it off the ground. Slammed it into the pavement with everything I had.
The concrete cracked. The alien went limp.
They were backing away now and retreating. Guess they finally figured out this wasn't going their way.
One of them raised its weapon. Fired point blank.
The blast hit my chest dead center.
The shields flared bright. Energy dispersed harmlessly across the holographic panels. When the light faded, I was still standing there. Completely fine.
The alien stared.
I grabbed its weapon. Crushed it in my hand. The metal crumpled like tinfoil.
Then I punched it. Full force. The alien went flying. Hit a streetlight hard enough to bend it. Dropped to the ground and didn't move.
The last alien turned and ran.
Part of me wanted to let it go. I was getting tired. The armor was doing all the heavy lifting but I still felt the exhaustion setting in.
But if it got away, it would bring reinforcements. More aliens. Better prepared. Maybe with weapons that could actually hurt me.
I couldn't let that happen.
I launched into the air. Flight came smoother now. I caught up to the alien in seconds. Came down from above. Drove both fists into its back.
The impact slammed it into the pavement. Cracked the concrete beneath it.
It went completely still.
I landed hard. Stumbled. Caught myself against a lamppost.
I'd actually done it.
I looked around. The street was trashed. Cars destroyed. Buildings damaged. Fires burning. But the people were gone. Safe. Or at least safer than they would've been.
Then I heard something. A rumbling sound. Getting louder.
I looked up.
Is that a fucking whale?
Oh come on. Seriously?
I clenched my fists.
This was going to be a long day.
=====
Peter Parker was having what he considered a pretty good day.
He'd stopped three muggings before noon. Webbed up two guys trying to break into a bodega. Returned a woman's purse that some jerk on a skateboard had snatched. And he'd only been late to one class.
Okay, two classes. But who's counting?
"Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" he called out as he swung between buildings, waving at a kid on a fire escape. The kid waved back, grinning.
Yeah. This was the good stuff. This was why he did what he did.
Well, that and the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" thing Uncle Ben had drilled into him. But still. The gratitude was nice.
Peter shot another web, arcing through the air above Queens. The city stretched out below him. Cars honking. People walking. Life happening. Normal, everyday New York.
He loved this. The freedom. The movement. The feeling of flying even though he was technically just falling with style.
Then he heard it. A cat meowing.
Peter's head turned. His spider-sense wasn't going off, but that sound was coming from above him. He looked up.
A cat. Orange tabby. Stuck on a fire escape. Six stories up.
"Oh, come on," Peter muttered. "Really? The cat stuck in a tree thing? That's such a cliché."
The cat meowed again. Louder this time.
Peter sighed and changed direction. Swung up to the fire escape and landed beside the cat. It hissed at him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. The mask is scary. But I'm here to help, Mr. Whiskers. Or is it Mrs. Whiskers? I don't want to assume."
The cat hissed again.
"Okay, definitely not a people person. Cat person? Whatever." Peter reached out slowly. The cat backed away. "Come on, work with me here. I've got bad guys to catch. Places to be. Chemistry homework that's definitely not doing itself."
He grabbed the cat. It immediately started clawing at his suit.
"Ow! Okay! Okay! Ungrateful furball!" Peter webbed the cat to his chest. Not tight. Just enough to keep it from shredding his suit. "There. See? This is why dogs are better."
He swung down to street level and handed the cat to an old lady who'd been calling for it.
"Oh, thank you, Spider-Man! Thank you so much!"
"No problem, ma'am. All in a day's work. Though maybe keep Mr. Angry Claws inside next time?"
The woman smiled and walked away, cooing at the cat.
Peter shot another web and took off. Two more blocks and he'd be at that sandwich shop he liked. The one that made those amazing Italian subs. He'd earned it. Stopping crime worked up an appetite.
Then his spider-sense exploded.
The sky was wrong.
There was a hole. A swirling blue portal right above Manhattan. And things were coming through it.
Big things. Mechanical whale-looking things that definitely weren't from around here.
"What the..."
Then came the explosions. Downtown. Multiple buildings. Smoke rising into the sky.
Peter's stomach dropped.
"Oh no. Oh no, no, no."
He changed direction immediately. Shot a web and swung hard toward Manhattan. His spider-sense was going crazy. Danger everywhere. Too much to process.
As he got closer, he saw them. Alien soldiers. Had to be aliens. Nothing from Earth looked like that. Gray-green skin. Armor. Weapons that shot blue energy blasts.
They were everywhere. Smashing through stores. Attacking people. Destroying everything in sight.
"Okay," Peter said to himself, swinging faster. "Okay. This is fine. This is totally fine. Just an alien invasion. Normal Tuesday."
A blast shot past his head. Way too close.
Peter looked down. Three of those alien soldiers were aiming at him. Tracking his movement.
"Hey!" he yelled. "That's not very neighborly!"
He shot webs at two of them. Stuck their weapons to the ground. The third one fired. Peter twisted in midair. The blast missed by inches.
"Seriously? I just saved a cat! Don't I get points for that?"
He landed on the side of a building. Stuck there. The aliens were regrouping. More were coming.
"Right. Talking's not working. Plan B."
Peter launched himself at them. Feet first. Took out the first one with a kick to the chest. Landed. Punched the second one. It went down hard.
The third one swung at him. Peter's spider-sense flared. He ducked. The alien's fist sailed over his head.
"Whoa! Personal space, buddy!"
Peter webbed its face. Blinding it. Then swept its legs. It crashed to the ground.
"And stay down."
More explosions. Closer now. Peter looked up. One of those flying whale things was passing overhead. It was dropping more soldiers. Dozens of them.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
His phone buzzed. Peter pulled it out of his pocket while dodging another blast.
Text from Gwen: Where are you? Are you safe?
Peter's heart clenched. Gwen. She was probably at home. Scared. Worried.
He texted back quickly: I'm okay. Stay inside. Lock the doors. I'll check on you soon.
Another blast nearly took his head off.
"Okay! Rude!" Peter pocketed his phone and shot a web at the alien who'd fired. Yanked it toward him. Punched it midair. It went flying into a mailbox.
He swung toward Manhattan. Faster. Dodging blasts. Webbing up aliens as he went.
Then he saw something that made him do a double take.
Someone in armor. Dark blue armor with glowing holographic shields on the shoulders. Fighting a group of aliens. And winning.
Peter swung closer, his brain processing what he was seeing.
Wait.
Wait a minute.
That armor. He knew that armor.
"Is that... Grand Chariot?" Peter said out loud. "From Akame ga Kill?"
No way. No freaking way.
Peter had watched that anime last year. Late night binge session when he couldn't sleep. Pretty dark show. Lots of people died. But the armor designs were cool. And that was definitely Grand Chariot. The dark blue plating. The holographic shields. The whole design.
What was an anime armor doing in real life?
The armored figure grabbed an alien and threw it into a wall. The wall cracked. The alien didn't get up.
"Okay, that's definitely Grand Chariot," Peter muttered.
The armored figure was surrounded now.
Peter's spider-sense flared. They were about to open fire.
"Oh no you don't!"
Peter swung down fast. Shot webs at three of the aliens' weapons. Yanked them out of their hands before they could fire.
"Hey!" he called out, landing between the armored figure and the aliens. "Didn't anyone teach you guys to share? Six on one isn't fair!"
The armored figure's head turned toward him. The helmet's visor glowed faintly.
"Spider-Man?"
The voice was muffled but young. Male. Perhaps around his age.
"The one and only!" Peter shot webs at two more aliens, sticking them to the ground. "And you are... anime cosplayer? Really committed to the bit?"
"Not the time!" the armored guy said, punching an alien that got too close.
"Fair point!" Peter kicked another alien. "But seriously, Grand Chariot? From Akame ga Kill? That show was dark, man. Like, everyone dies dark."
"Huh?"
They worked together. Peter's agility and webs combined with the armored guy's raw strength. The aliens didn't stand a chance.
Peter webbed one to a lamppost. The armored guy punched another through a car window. Peter kicked a third. The armored guy grabbed the last two and smashed them together.
Within minutes, all six aliens were down.
Peter stood there, breathing hard. "Okay. That was cool. We make a good team."
The armored figure nodded. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem. But uh, quick question." Peter gestured at the armor. "How do you have Grand Chariot? "
The helmeted head tilted slightly. Like the guy was deciding how much to say.
"It's... complicated."
"Yeah, I bet." Peter's spider-sense flared again. More aliens incoming. "Tell you what. Let's survive the alien invasion first. Then you can explain later. Deal?"
"Deal."
They turned to face the next wave of aliens together.
This day just kept getting weirder.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the late update—things got busy at work. You know how January is, just deadline after deadline. Anyway, I'm back now and regular updates will resume. Thanks for sticking around!