Justice League Fan Fiction ❯ Speed of Lyght ❯ Justice ( Chapter 7 )

Sgt. Lyght finally met Spider-Man and she had to admit that he was more impressive… and toned in person than she ever imagined. Another thing that she also had to admit; she was infatuated with Spidey. She imagined that he was like her in a way; living a normal life in the day (sometimes not even then; he had been seen numerous times in broad daylight), trying his best to keep his true strength and abilities at bay. Spider-Man could be anyone in the city. She couldn’t wait until he gained even more trust in her, unmasking himself to her. In order for that to happen, she concluded, Tabitha had to change up her schedule and go on patrol every night.

As much as she wanted to squeal and confess to Peter and MJ that she had finally seen Spider-Man up close, she knew that she couldn’t. She didn’t want to sound like some crazed fan when all the time, she had been keeping her comments to herself. Questions would definitely be asked and the only way to answer them would be to lie. The three were close; she didn’t want to lie to them when it wasn’t necessary. She made the decision to keep her mouth shut for the time being and go on acting like everything was normal.

After numerous outings together, Spider-Man actually insisted that she become his sidekick. He admitted that she made the nights much easier on him; although their main objective was to hunt down Alpha and the “White Hairs” (this is what the media finally pinned on the supercharged kids), it didn’t cease other crimes from happening. She was glad to be his sidekick; she saw that they were actually a great team and made quick work of any criminal.

She was in the diner, sipping on coffee and studying when a newspaper was abruptly placed on top of her book. She looked up at Mary Jane first and then put her attention back to the newspaper. It was The Daily Bugle and on the front page was Spider-Man; that was no surprise. J.J. Jameson, editor-in-chief, had a personal vendetta against him; little did he know that regardless of the headline, putting Spider-Man on the cover every time he did something only made him even more popular.

It wasn’t until she saw who was beside him that surprised him; herself. From the looks of it, they were calling it a night and had been probably caught on camera by one of the photographers; Spidey throwing out his patented web string and she looked as if she was riding on a flash of light. It made her smile a bit; so that’s what it looks like slowed down! Her smile left when she saw the headline: “Spidey’s New Sidekick: A White Hair?!”

She looked back at Mary Jane as she sat down across from her.

“You’re showing me this because…”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your sudden interest in crime and Spider-Man!” she smiled. Tabitha put her attention back to the paper.

“A White Hair?” the picture actually did make someone pay more attention to her hair than anything else, “They’re joking, right? This is photo shopped like hell…”

“Actually, it’s not. If anything’s good about the Bugle is the integrity of their photographers. Don’t even bother reading the article; it’s wrong as always. She’s a good White Hair. She’s only been seen with Spidey… no one else.”

“How do you know?” she actually asked the question absentmindedly. She was more excited that she had been photographed and identified… sort of. All thanks to The Daily Bugle, people knew that Sgt. Lyght existed.

“Well… at least she’s not been seen with the other White Hairs…”

“She could be the leader of ‘em…”

“Possibly… but not likely.” Mary Jane tried to argue. Tabitha just smiled at the photo.

“So… a possible new superhero, huh?”

“Super heroine…”

“Oh, no thank you; I don’t do drugs…” she teased but kept her eyes on the paper. She couldn’t help but to laugh as Mary Jane roared with laughter, “What does P think about all this?”

“Oh, he’s thrilled about it! He said that the whole staff is, except for his boss.”

“Figures. Then again, bad news is good news to him. If she’s what she’s acting like she is, this could be promising.” she noted. Mary Jane nodded. She pointed at the white flash of light on the paper.

“See that?”

“Yeah… what is that…?”

“Lightning. She’s the only White Hair that can do it. She’s way different from them…” she confirmed. Tabitha only nodded and continued to study the picture.

 

It was a bad night to be out and about but superheroes couldn’t be picky; they had an unwritten job to do regardless of the weather. The rain threatened to drench anyone unlucky enough to be in it but Tabitha didn’t mind it; she stayed on the rooftop, calmly scanning the city as she always did. She was actually waiting on Spider-Man; it was where they had agreed to meet up at every night, seeing that it was the same rooftop where they had first met. She couldn’t help blushing at that fact.

“Didn’t think you’d be out in this…” his voice almost startled her. She turned and smiled at him.

“I’m made of lightning; a little rain won’t hurt me!”

“Good! I think I have a lead, then. Follow me.”

“Wait.” she got half the nerve to say. She wished that she could see his face expressions at least but his mask concealed everything, “There’s something I’ve always wanted to try.” she smiled. Before he could respond, she wrapped her arm around his waist, “Won’t be needing your webs tonight! Where we heading?”

“The docks.”

“Hold on tight!” she warned him and immediately used Lightning Cloud. The two were at the docks in a little over ten seconds.

“Wow… that was a rush!”

“Take me out on a swing one night and we can call it even!” she winked.

“It’s a date.” his words made her turn away, slightly flustered. It also reminded her of how she teased Peter with those words; it put her in stitches to see his face slightly redden whenever she said it, “So, there’s another cargo load coming in and there’s word out the White Hairs will be here for it.” he continued to explain. Before she could nod in agreement, she spotted someone. There was something not right about the guy. Even from afar, she could see that he wasn’t dressed properly for the weather (the same could be said about herself but she was a super heroine; she had a legitimate excuse); there was a brisk chill in the air but he had on a sleeveless short and pants.

The guy looked her way and started to smile. When he started to approach them, Tabitha put a hand on Spider-Man’s arm, drawing his attention.

“Spider senses not tingling, yet?” she asked, still looking at the man.

“… They are now…” he said. As the man finally came into view, it made Tabitha tense up. Rage started to build inside of her and she really wanted to focus. However, she couldn’t: she was staring right at Alpha. He smiled as currents flowed over her in quick, angry spurts.

“… Sergeant…?” Spider-Man tried but she had fallen deaf. On top of his ability to warn him of someone or something dangerous nearby, he could also feel the heat of her built up rage; it was enough to make him back away from her.

“Well, well, well; if it isn’t Sgt. Lyght! Looking really good for a dead soldier.” he teased her. Despite being raged, she could tell that he had… transformed. His once salt and pepper hair was jet black and his skin was bronzed, giving him a metallic look. The dull yellow shirt showed off muscles that she would have never thought he had, even in the uniform.

Spider-Man was slightly taken aback; the two acted like they knew each other… very well. The man didn’t hesitate to call her by her super heroine name; he realized that it may be her actual name. The two never talked about their personal lives or even shared with each other how they came to be; their main priority was to stop crime. He had a feeling that Alpha did play a part in the reason how Sgt. Lyght came to be but he always wondered why she was more powerful than the other White Hairs.

She didn’t respond verbally to his cruel taunt; she had every intention to respond physically. She charged up with all her might and threw a massive surge of lightning towards him, every bit of her energy put into it. The attack engulfed Alpha, knocking him a few feet back. There was no way Spider-Man or anyone else could’ve stopped her; she was enraged and wouldn’t have listened to begin with. It still didn’t make it right; she killed him with ease, without even thinking… and it was the most terrifying feeling Spider-Man ever felt.

It had to be the most energy she had ever released since becoming a mutant and it not only left her slightly exhausted but snapped her out of her enraged state. The only thing she remembered was becoming upset when she saw his face; next thing she knew, she was watching as the surges pulsated around his body. She admitted that it left a bit of satisfaction in her heart to see him dead; it was what he deserved, really. The feeling was short-lived as she realized that there was no familiar scent of charred flesh… and that Spider-Man was probably giving her a disapproving look underneath his mask.

“Sgt. Lyght!” his tone changed to a moralizing one. He couldn’t condone killing anyone, regardless of what they had done. It was one thing to accidentally kill someone but she had done it blatantly. When he thought about it, he really couldn’t put the entire blame on her; she had become blinded with rage.

Before he could continue to show his disappointment, he noticed that the surges that had covered Alpha’s body started to bounce off his body and dissipate. His body started to slightly shake but not because he had just been electrocuted; he was… laughing. He slowly got up, still laughing. Tabitha’s eyes widened.

“What the hell…” she thought out loud.

“That… should’ve killed him…” even Spider-Man was in shock. Part of him was glad that he wasn’t dead but it didn’t make the situation less confusing.

“Gaddamn excellent, sergeant! Whew; that actually felt good! Now… it’s my turn…” he gave her an evil grin. She couldn’t move as she saw that he was charging up.

“Wha…” before she could finish, a ball of red energy engulfed her. It was the most painful thing she ever felt in her life; the excruciating pain gave her no choice but to drop down in agony. She could barely lift her head up but knew she had to retaliate. When she tried to, however, nothing flowed out of her arms or hands. Alpha smiled more as he calmly made his way towards her. She looked up at him, the pain still slowly coursing its way throughout her body, “H-how…”

“Did you really think that I would have a unit full of supercharged teenagers and not do anything to make them think twice about turning against me?”

“Leave her alone!” Spider-Man immediately went towards him. A streak of red zipped by, narrowly missing his head.

“This has nothing to do with you; soldiers!” Alpha bellowed. To Tabitha’s disgust, a large group of White Hairs appeared instantly, almost double what she had to fight off. She tried yet again to throw out lightning towards the group, trying to distract them but nothing came out. Alpha shook his head at her, “That won’t work; at least for a short while. Afraid I’ve nullified your powers for the time being.”

“W-what… did you… do…?” she managed; the pain was so great, it hurt her to even speak! She tried to turn her head towards the White Hairs who were throwing their lightning towards Spider-Man; she had hoped that he was trying to fight them off or at least evading their attacks. The grumbling of frustrated teens told her that he was indeed invading them.

“No time for a full explanation; just know that I’ve created an antiserum and overdosed on it. I’ve become… ionized; your lightning powers are useless against me, now.” he halfway explained. He easily picked her up from the ground. Before he could carry her away, he felt a swift kick in his back and dropped her.

“She’s not going anywhere, pal!” Spider-Man told him and gave him another kick to his face. Alpha immediately retaliated with a red stream but Spider-Man dodged it, “Won’t work on me; I’m not made of lightning…” he told him as he came at him with a series of punches. The pain was finally starting to reside from her body as she couldn’t do anything but watch the fight between the two. She was able to move a bit and did so, trying to push herself off of the ground.

Out of nowhere, a small streak of lightning hit Spider-Man, causing him to stop his assault on Alpha. The White Hairs approached him, coming to the aide of their leader. He became overwhelmed as they started to deliver light shocks to him.

“S-Spidey!!” she could finally yell with little pain. The urgency to move outweighed the pain and she was finally standing upright. While she was glad that Alpha had completely forgot about her, she had to stop the onslaught of shocks the White Hairs were giving her partner.

She tried one more time to use her lightning ability and was elated that they were finally back. She quickly threw a few streams towards the group and was glad that a few turned their attention to her. She started charging up and motioned for them to come after her. They did so, as she expected and without warning, she did a Lightning Cloud towards the first White Hair. She ended up behind him and released all the energy she was charging up on his back. She went towards the next victim, grabbed him by his neck and shocked him as well with all of her might. She had learned her lesson from the last time she went against the White Hairs; she couldn’t afford to waste time on attacking them. Her number one priority was to reach Spider-Man and get him to safety.

Alpha took over with the torture of Spider-Man; he lifted him up and threw him against a container. From where she was, Tabitha couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not; she knew that she would be able to withstand the shocks however, she had no idea if his suit was able to absorb most of the hits. Alpha gave him a hard jab to his face and a powerful ray of red to his chest; if he wasn’t unconscious before, he was definitely unconscious now, Tabitha winced.

“Although you’re not made out of lightning, it’s still very painful… isn’t it? Now… to see who Spider-Man really is!” it put a smile to his face. She didn’t make it over to him in time; Alpha unmasked him and it made her stand frozen in her spot, in complete awe.

“…P…?!” she couldn’t help it. No way, she repeatedly thought. Alpha gave him a disappointed glare and so was caught off guard when he felt the sting of electricity on the back of his neck. Before he or any of the other White Hairs could retaliate, Tabitha had grabbed Peter’s mask and Peter, and did a Lightning Cloud to somewhere safe.

She was glad that she remembered that Peter kept the window unlocked in what was now the extra bedroom in his Aunt May’s home. She was weary but sighed as she knew that he was in a definite safe spot as she laid his limp body in the bed. She continued to look at him in disbelief and slowly shook her head.

“… P is Spider-Man…” she thought she had said it low enough. He stirred and moaned slightly, making her debate on whether she should stay there. She quickly decided against it, put his mask back on and went out of the window. She secretly waited and watched until he slowly came to, sitting up and holding his head. When he became familiar with his surroundings and looked out the window, he barely missed as she did a Lightning Cloud back to the dorms.

 

It racked her brain for the longest. Tabitha was in total disbelief; why had it never occurred to her that Peter Parker was Spider-Man? Well, for one: Peter was often soft-spoken and shy, not wanting to really be around too many people. The only people he actually hung out with were Mary Jane, Harry Osborn; his friend from high school, and herself. He avoided confrontation at all costs. She had never seen his frame and realized that he almost always wore double layers of clothing, even in the warmer months. Or, his clothes seemed to try to fall off of him.

Spider-Man, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: brave and scrappy with a nice physique. He was cocky and always quick with a brash comeback of some sorts. He was willing to protect those who needed protecting. She tried her best to try to find something to compare the two, something that should’ve given it away that Spider-Man was Peter; she considered him her best friend and it slightly angered her that she hadn’t caught on. His voice, maybe? She thought about it: the only thing different was the tone that Spider-Man used. It made her immediately think about another important thing; she never tried to disguise her own voice. For all she knew, Peter already knew who she was; how many southerners lived in New York?

She had a dilemma; would she let him know that she knew who he was? That made her think about another dilemma: what if he really didn’t know that she was Sgt. Lyght? If she confessed to him, it would also be confessing who she was. They had been good friends for almost a year now and superhero partners for a few months; maybe it was high time that she went ahead and fessed up.

She had overslept and rushed to meet Peter at the diner. The two had lucked up and were finally taking a class together; he insisted that the two studied at their favorite spot over coffee. She really needed a few cups; she had foolishly taken a break from crime fighting and attended a party with Samantha.

As she rushed inside, almost knocking over a customer, Peter looked up and smiled at her. She sat down and started pulling out her books from her book bag.

“Forgot?”

“Oversle pt! Alarm clocks are shit…” she started and he laughed. The waitress placed Tabitha’s coffee on the table and she prepped it with creamer and two sugars, “Okay, I’ll admit; I went to a party with Sammie last night…”

“Tabby Cat…”

“What?! She forced me! Something about I needed to loosen up or something like that…”

“Well… I see nothing wrong with the Tabitha Lindsay in front of me, now…” he smiled. She gave him a smirk.

“I’m telling MJ…” she warned and it was enough to send him into a laughing fit. She took a long sip of her coffee and decided to go ahead and confess. She would had rather to have done so in the comfort of his Aunt May’s house but he had insisted to be at their favorite hangout. She knew that if she didn’t do it now, she wouldn’t get the nerve to do so any time soon.

He looked up at her and was about to mention that she had a thick strand of hair falling out of her signature t-shirt head wrap; he was going to simply excuse it as her being in such a rush that she didn’t put on her wrap tightly enough. It wasn’t until he saw the color of the strand that made him stare: it was a perfectly snow-white strand of hair… just like a White Hair…

She sighed and looked up at Peter who she noticed was giving her a weird look.

“What’s up?” she simply asked. He blinked a couple of times, leaned over and grabbed the strand.

“Your… hair…” he couldn’t believe it; it really was white. Was she really a White Hair, he wondered. She was older than them; there was no way. Then, it felt as though his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. Tabby Cat… is Sgt. Lyght, the thought thundered in his head.

She wanted to cry as she tried to stuff the hair back in the head wrap; this wasn’t how she wanted to tell him! She bit her lip and pulled him out of his seat.

“We’ll be right back…” she told the confused waitress as they made their way outside. She pulled him around the corner out of sight from anyone.

He couldn’t let her know that he knew exactly who she was; he had to pretend that he had no clue.

“Are you... are you a White Hair?” he tried. She let out a heavy sigh and pulled her head wrap completely off. Working with Sgt. Lyght, of course he had seen it in the moonlight and under street lamps; her hair had mesmerized him if anything. But, now it was attached to his best friend; he couldn’t help but to look in awe. To be able to put a full face to everything else was almost mind blowing. Then again, it was actually a relief; for all those months, he didn’t have some strange, new super heroine on his side: his best friend was his sidekick, “Whoa, Tabby Cat… wait… you’re Spidey’s sidekick?!” he had to act surprised; for all he knew, she still had no clue that he was Spider-Man. She found it cute that he was acting like he wasn’t. All she had to do was simply say: I know who you are. However, if he wanted to pretend that he wasn’t Spider-Man, she figured that he had a good reason not to confess at the moment. She would tell him later.

“… Yeah.” she sighed. She took the time to tie the t-shirt around her hair properly… and tightly as the two made their way back into the diner. They sat in silence, not wanting to look at each other.

“… Why didn’t you tell us from the start?” he silently asked. Maybe had she told them, he would’ve automatically told her who he was. She shrugged and almost laughed as another thought came to her: Mary Jane knew that he was Spider-Man. She had probably known from the start. It made sense to her now; the remark about if she was ever in need, Spider-Man would save her: she knew that Peter wouldn’t hesitate to help out his best friend.

“I… because admitting it out loud would mean to… tell you how it happened. I… wasn’t ready to do that…” she admitted, looking away. He nodded sympathetically. He had a feeling, just like the other night, that Alpha had a major part of it but he wanted to really hear it from her mouth. He gently grabbed her hand.

“I’m here to listen…” he tried. She looked at him and slightly sighed. He was her best friend… and her crime fighting partner; maybe he needed to know.

She lowly explained everything to him, starting from the experiment to the last encounter with him; she left out the part that he unmasked Peter. When she started talking about what Alpha had done to him, he noticed with a heavy heart that her eyes moistened. Yet again, she had been too slow to prevent things from happening… and it really angered her. She couldn’t let things like that happen ever again; she couldn’t risk losing another friend.

He didn’t let go of her hand as she explained everything. It almost made him sick to his stomach that someone like that was allowed to become a general, was even allowed to be able to walk the streets freely. He may had accidentally turned Tabitha into what she was now… but Peter saw that he had no remorse, especially seeing how he was turning impressionable teens into nearly the same thing. They were more dangerous than Tabitha ever would be; they didn’t care who they hurt. Tabitha on the other hand…

It made him think about the other night. He knew that she wouldn’t usually hurt anyone; all the times that they worked together, she either gave people light shocks or showed off her abilities in a way to where they would give up, not wanting to feel the shock that she could produce! It was very different with Alpha; she wanted him dead, no doubt about it. After learning the entire story, he felt a bit guilty admitting that he really didn’t blame her. However, it wasn’t the way he did things… and he didn’t want her resorting to it.

“Tabby… wait, that is your real name, right?” he asked. She laughed a little.

“Smart ass! Yeah… but my last name is actually Lyght…”

“Ly…” he couldn’t help but to laugh, “Wow; that really suits you…”

“Yeah; that damn general thought so, too…” she looked away. He sighed, feeling bad that he even brought it up.

“Tabby Cat, listen to me; it’s horrible what he’s done to you. I would sleep so much better at night knowing that you and Spidey got him off the streets. But… I don’t think you need to get over your head on this. You don’t know what’ll happen if you’re too enraged at him. You might… end up hurting others instead.” he remembered the massive attack she gave Alpha. What would have happened if she didn’t have full control over that huge amount of lightning; it could’ve hit someone else.

“P, I’m good. He just needs to pay for everything he’s done… to me, to the others… and to Spidey…” she looked dead at him.

“He’ll pay for it the right way… I’m sure of it…”

 

Another night of crime fighting, he thought. As he made his way to the rooftop of their usual building, he smiled underneath his mask at the sight of his friend. She smiled and approached him.

“Tonight’s slow. I have a feeling that we’ll run into Alpha and his crew of White Hairs tonight, though.” she stretched and cracked her fingers. It was enough to make him sigh a bit; it was as if she ignored his advice: she was still bent up on getting revenge on Alpha.

“Sergeant… I think you’re being a bit overzealous about Alpha.” he sighed out. She simply looked at him.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Every night, you expect to find him. You’re concentrating way too much on him.”

“So… we’re just gonna sit here and let him get away with everything he’s done?” she had been trying to disguise her voice until that point; it slightly offended her that he would suggest dropping the hunt.

“Believe me; I want to stop him, too. But we shouldn’t exhaust all our resources on him.”

“How can you be so calm about all of this?”

“Because… I’m not letting it take total control over me.” he felt that it was what she needed to hear. She widened her eyes at him.

“You think I don’t have any control?”

“I was there that night, remember? I’m just looking out for you, Lyght; that’s what partners do.”

“Yeah? Partners also trust each other. If you don’t trust me enough to have any damn control when I fight, then why the hell am I your partner?!” she actually surprised herself that she was getting really upset with Peter. He sighed yet again.

“You know, after that night… I don’t know what to expect out of you the next time we see him. That’s what worries me. I can’t let him render you powerless, again.”

“I… can take care of my fucking self!” she tried to choose her words wisely but they just flew out of her mouth.

“Really? So, tell me, then; what happens the next time he hits you with his ionization? You know what; you don’t have to answer that. I’ll tell you what will happen: you’ll be on the ground, paralyzed while I’m left to fight him and his White Hairs and tend to you!” it hurt him more than he wanted to admit to yell at her however, he didn’t know how else to put the point across to her.

“I don’t have time for this; fuck you, P! I ain’t gonna sit here and let you lecture me on some stupid shit! If you don’t like me going after Alpha, then I guess you’re gonna have to stop me!” she raged and did a Lightning Cloud off the rooftop. Peter took off after her; did he hear what he thought he heard? She already knew who he was…

He hadn’t realized how fast her ability actually made her until that moment; the only thing he could do was follow the random streaks of lightning that he barely saw in front of him. He found her at the docks, wreaking havoc on a random container bin.

“Tabitha!” he needed to stop her. He took a risk and grabbed her tightly around her shoulders. He was glad that she didn’t shock him… but she sure did know how to throw a vicious hit; her elbow landed hard on his nose. She turned around and stared at Peter rubbing his nose through his mask.

“Why won’t you let me fight…?” her voice quivered.

“Because you can’t… not against him… not now.” he told her softly. She slowly came back to her senses; he was right. Now that Alpha had powers, powers that nullified hers, there really wasn’t anything that she could do to hurt him. All he had to do was hit her… and she was done for.

“I’m sorry, P…” she said it before she could stop herself. He took his mask off and looked at her.

“How did you know? When did you figure out who I was?”

“You were knocked out… and Alpha unmasked you.” she confessed. He nodded and hugged her.

“So, you were the one who took me back home…” he finally had a definite answer. He had a feeling that she was responsible for getting him to safety; after feeling the horrible combination of Alpha’s powers and the White Hairs’ jolts, his body made him pass out and he remembered nothing else. It had dawned on him then; he should’ve figured out that Sgt. Lyght was Tabitha at that point; besides Mary Jane and Harry, she was the only other person who knew where his Aunt May lived.

He sighed, glad that she was willing to listen now. He was about to propose a compromise: he would take care of Alpha and she would take care of the White Hairs. All of the sudden, he felt that unwanted yet familiar sting take over his body. He dropped down to his knees and looked up at Tabitha, who was looking at him wide-eyed. He saw her open her mouth but then she was immediately engulfed by a red energy. She had to have yelled out in pain, he definitely saw her mouth moving. However, the whizzing of the red energy coupled with the snaps of electricity had drained all other sounds out. Peter tried to reach out to Tabitha but was knocked out cold by another deafening hit.

A smile crept on his face as his “soldiers” gathered around the two. One looked back at him.

“What do we do with the spider, boss?”

“Leave him.” Alpha ordered. He approached Tabitha and flung her over his shoulder, “I got what I wanted.” he gave her another powerful dose of his power to knock her out.

Peter finally came to with a slight headache. He moaned slightly as he sat up, feeling a bit dizzy. Once the feeling left and he focused, he realized what happened. He immediately put his mask back on and looked around the area. Of course, she was nowhere to be find: Alpha and the White Hairs had taken her.

To where was the big question. They had to have a hideout, he thought as he began to swing through the city. And, he knew that he would keep her alive; she was way more valuable alive than dead. The White Hairs Alpha had created were powerful… but watered down versions of Tabitha; he would want to clone her.

How was he going to find her? She could be anywhere, he thought. When his spider-senses started to tingle, he perked up. It was a longshot; his senses were never honed onto a certain person, just overall imminent danger. However, he didn’t want to risk not following it. They started going haywire as he got closer to a building that looked abandoned. Peter didn’t think that it was a coincidence that there were a few White Hairs roaming around outside the building. He waited until they went inside before he quickly scoped the three-story building out.

The first floor was wide; it seemed to look like a warehouse area. It looked as though it was made for training. Scaling the side of the building, Peter made his way to the second floor and looked through the various cloudy windows; there were a few rooms used for sleeping, a kitchen area and another room that looked it was for training as well. It was the third floor where he was glad he found his answers: it was separated into two large rooms, both looked like elaborate labs. Peter was about to crawl into one of the open windows until he looked in and immediately saw Tabitha. She was in a hospital gown and strapped into a gurney bed, her vitals being monitored by two medics, a man and a woman. Peter watched as she finally came to and noticed that she was covered in something; he didn’t know what it was.

Her eyes focused and she noticed that she was being restrained when she tried to move. She charged up and yelled out in slight pain as the shock cascaded over her; it grabbed the attention of the two medics. The man went back to his business, tending and tracking the monitors as the woman looked at Tabitha with sympathetic green eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted as Alpha walked in.

“Status.” he coolly ordered. She reluctantly went back to the monitors.

“Stable. Heart rate is elevated… but that’s normal…” Cheryl mumbled her last few words. He ignored her and approached Tabitha. When she saw him, she writhed more furiously and tried her ability once more, only to shock herself, again.

“Ah, ah, ah… the last thing we need is for you to hurt yourself…” it sounded as if he really was concerned. She tensed up in her restraints and glared at him.

“Let… me… go…” she struggled. He smiled at her.

“In due time. Oh, just a reminder…” he placed his hand on her arm and applied his own power to her. She was painfully reminded that it may not be a good idea to cross him as she cried out, “If you try anything when you’re released, I won’t hold back.” he returned her glare, “Now… I know that you have a few questions for me; like how you’re unable to use your powers. You are... but who would’ve thought that something simple as hydrogel would make them only hurt you?” he smiled at her. She wondered why she felt slightly weird, as if she was weighed down; the mad man covered her in the gel so she would absorb her own lightning powers. To make matters worse, she couldn’t do anything but grit her teeth in pain as the red energy flowed over her, “Let’s see; any other questions you may have… oh; what do I want from you. It should be obvious; you’re my greatest creation and I wish to… duplicate you. Cooperating will keep you alive; I would rather have you that way.” it sounded like a warning. She still couldn’t move as he gently wiped the hydrogel off of her, “My current batch of soldiers are nothing compared to you. Their powers last longer than your friend’s did but they still have to get the serum injected into them. But, you? Why, you’re perfect. No serum, just raw ability. And to think; those two professors wanted to get rid of it…” he finished wiping her down. Alpha looked at the two medics, “Have her ready in ten minutes. Don’t worry, love; this won’t hurt you at all.” Alpha caressed her cheek before leaving. She could barely move her head but was glad that she did; she looked up and saw Peter in the window. She wanted badly to try to get out of her restraints but the dull ache made her paralyzed. As soon as Alpha left the room, Peter saw his chance to save his best friend. He went through the window and landed silently besides her. It still made the medics perk up and when they approached him, he covered their mouths with his webs.

“Ssh; let’s just make this simple and quiet as possible…” he slightly warned them. Peter immediately undid the straps and picked up his friend who was slightly shaking. She was glad that Alpha didn’t apply as much power as he did the last time she felt his sting; she was slowly recuperating. Peter noticed that she was trying out her lightning ability and carefully put her down, “Think you can walk?” he asked. She steadied herself for a moment and then nodded. After that, however would be a blur. She thought about what Alpha had told her; how he wanted to duplicate her. It almost made her sick to her stomach to think that he actually wanted to make people like her. It angered her that it seemed that he had no remorse whatsoever about how he treated her. Just like when she faced Tony, her body became numb and her vision started to fade to black. The general was going to pay for all the hurt he did to her.

Peter had to jump back quickly as waves of currents erupted all over her body. Before he could stop it, Tabitha had painfully clawed away at the webs around the medics’ mouths and had both dangling in the air by their throats.

“Tabitha!!”

“W ho dumped me?” she hissed. When they didn’t respond, she tightened her grip around their necks, “Who… dumped me?!” she tried, again. She was quickly losing all reasoning and she knew that it didn’t matter what they had responded.

“W-We had no other choice…” Cheryl tried to explain. However, it was the last thing she heard before she finally succumbed to her rage; Tabitha charged up both arms and sent electrical currents to their throats.

“Tabitha, no!!” Peter tried again. He had seen it unfold and couldn’t move. Her brown eyes seemed void; she was now on autopilot. Tabitha dropped the two and stormed out the room. Peter looked down at the two and knew that there was nothing he could do for them, the stench of burnt flesh already filling the room. At first, his objective was to get Tabitha to safety and worry about Alpha and the White Hairs later. Now, his goal was to stop her.

He left the main lab room and saw that she was nowhere to be found. Peter went down to the second floor and saw that she was being approached by two White Hairs. She did a Lightning Cloud towards the two and slammed them against the wall. They were in too much disbelief to attempt to shock her.

“Where… is Alpha…” she growled.

“We don’t know; we don’t know!” the girl’s shaky voice rang out through the hallway. Tabitha gave them a sinister grin.

“Wrong answer…” she immediately sent powerful waves of electricity through their bodies.

“Tabitha, stop!!” Peter yelled after her but she had long fallen deaf from rage, at least she had fallen deaf if it didn’t concern finding out where Alpha was. Others who heard the commotion came out to fight her but she immediately shocked them, using all of her energy. Peter had hoped that they had some serum in their system; if not, they were definitely dead.

She did a Lightning Cloud to the bottom floor and saw Alpha surrounded by a few White Hairs.

“Alpha!!!” she yelled out. Before everyone could turn around, she sent a massive wave of lightning towards the group; at that point, she cared less who got in the way: as long as she had hit Alpha. In her enraged state, she had forgotten that Alpha was the only one safe from her attacks; he looked down at the dead and unconscious teens and looked at her in surprise.

“Out-fucking-standing…” he smirked. She did a Lightning Cloud towards him and was face-to-face with the old general. She charged up, placed her hands on his face and let all of her energy loose. The attack sent him flying across the room. Before he could land, she met him with another Lightning Cloud and gave his face a roundhouse kick as hard as she could, sending him flying to the other side of the room. She was in his face yet again before he could hit the wall and punched him in the face.

When he finally got his grounding, Alpha backhanded her as hard as he could; it was enough to draw blood from her mouth. She spat at him, clasped her hands together and swung at his face, putting him on his back. She started to kick him, lightning striking his sides with every blow. Peter was not that amazed that he was actually being stunned by her attacks; he may have been able to absorb lightning but he doubted that Alpha was able to not feel the actual blows. Out the corner of his eye, he saw a couple of White Hairs coming to and immediately threw webbing at their hands and feet, just to make things fair.

She was about to unleash another fury of attacks to his side when Alpha suddenly caught her foot. He sent a bright flash of red to it and the energy cascaded through her body, making her drop to the floor in pain. He wrapped his hand around her neck and sent another painful wave into her body.

“Nice try, girl. I didn’t escape from stockade just to get overwhelmed by a mistake! And, this is the reason why I overdosed on that serum!” he picked her up by her throat and threw her across the room, “I was trying to be nice… but I see it’s impossible with you! You could’ve had all of this; you could’ve became the true alpha of everything!!” he started to rage. Peter swung over and kicked him in the face before he could attack her yet again. He quickly wrapped him up with his webs and rushed over to Tabitha. Before he could scoop her up in his arms, Alpha freed himself using his own powers and sent a streak of red towards the two, hitting Peter. He went over and lifted him up by his neck, “Stop interfering!” he flung him across the room. Tabitha looked up wearily only to be met with another flash of red. Peter recovered quickly and threw a web at his hand before he could attack Tabitha again. He swung over for another attack, his foot landing on Alpha’s jaw. Out of frustration, he threw a stream of red in Peter’s direction, narrowly missing him. He came up with a small plan, one that would keep Alpha away from Tabitha.

He swung back over, quickly kicked Alpha in the back and retreated towards the wall, triggering another discouraged stream of red his way. He smiled underneath his mask.

“What’s the matter, pal; can’t kill a spider?” he taunted. He went across the other side of the room in hopes that he would be followed. Irritated, Alpha sent stream after stream of red energy towards him, missing him by a wider margin than the last. It was working, Peter realized; he was getting tired. To make matters worse for Alpha, he jumped and crawled all over the room, every now and then coming in close range for an attack.

Alpha finally let out an infuriating growl and started to charge up. Peter landed on a wall and waited for the attack, slightly laughing.

“Eh… charge up all you want; it’s just going to go to waste…” he knew that it was enough to put him over the edge. Alpha released a massive sea of red streams towards him and Peter was lucky that he jumped out the way in time. He hadn’t realized that he was covering a mirror and watched in astonishment as the streams ricocheted off and went flying back towards Alpha. The surges engulfed him, making him yell out in pain. When he finally collapsed, Peter wrapped him up in a large web and went over to help his friend.

“Tabby Cat…” he sighed; she was barely moving. When he picked her up, she wearily smiled at him.

“Now… that’s what I call a web-slinging ass whooping![1]” she managed and he laughed.