Protect Your Heroes Part 2

My sixth sense was going haywire. I could not sleep. I could not eat. Nothing. Part of me thought that maybe Bloodsport made his return that thing was back. That he somehow survived an entire building collapsing that it was still out there, lurking and planning something insidious. But that was not how it would operate.

It was more subtle and so much deadlier. This was different and terrible in its own way.

I got out of the web hammock I had failed to rest in for the past thirty minutes or so, having taking a couple Aspirin when nothing seemed to take my mind off the raging migraine in my head. Then it hit me. There. A concrete direction. Something was coming. Something was here. No time to be lazing around now.

I glanced at Aster.

"I'm heading out."

I pulled a silver briefcase from out under my bed. I pressed a button. Instantly, it popped open, and the red and black suit inside displayed itself. I began putting on the bodysuit before having the defense panels and armoring clamp down the suit, connecting and locking together before leaving the helmet for last.

</Warning. User has not undergone training protocols. Do you wish to continue?>

"Yeah, well, sometimes you got run before you can walk, soooo . . . "

I strapped the helmet in. The eyes and stinger blasters lit up slightly before dimming. I rolled my shoulders before shaking my legs and twisting my ankles. Everything seemed alright so far. Flexible enough. A bit heavier than my original costume. I don't know if it would slow me down at all if I put it through the hoops because something was telling me I would exactly be doing that.

I pointed to Aster, "I'll be back. Stay here."

I leapt out the window of my apartment before firing a web-line.

A series of web-pellets would fire forth from the new and improved web-shooters, each traveling towards the green interloper's face. Once it contacted, it would explode at once, wrapping around his face and shutting off any access to air as well as to the outside world. That should stall Cthulhu's senses long enough for me to do my thing. I leapt forth and planted my adhesive feet onto his face before reaching out and grabbing ahold of the girl, panicking against the green man's grip.

"How about stay and live, huh?"

I needed to come up with a name for this guy as quick as I needed to be about getting this girl free. Only one solution. I grabbed ahold of the shirt and the girl.

RIIIIIP!!!

Whatever handful of clothing Mr. Colorful had would remain in hand, although no longer attached to the shirt of the girl as I leapt away and held the woman in my arms, leaping back and away from the masked man and to the rest of the crowd. I let the young girl go back to her mother before facing this new crazed whacko. Seriously, where did these guys come from?

"Sorry for the indecency, but everyone get clear of here. Now!"

I waved my arm towards the crowd, urging everyone to get going before glancing at the nuclear construct that had been standing there. What to do about that? I had a few ideas.

"Won't know until I try," I mumbled before firing two web-lines, my one attempt at swinging this thing and flinging back to its owner, "'Puter, send out an alert to contacts under 'Amazing Friends'."

The plan? Send the both of these things back through the portal they came from, hopefully before my plan blew up in my face. And half of New York's if this thing was real. Meanwhile, the helmet began dialing and texting everyone. I had a basic message and a series of numbers I was running through the onboard computers of the suit. Luckily, these messages would be sent through a faux number, one that the suit developed, that hid my real phone number from others I did not want to know. It would replay this message three times, in two minute intervals, up to fives times. Hopefully, that would be more than enough warning.

</Sending out alert to contacts under AMAZING FRIENDS . . . Message: 'DANGER ALERT! SPIDER-BITE! REQUIRE BACKUP!' >

I needed to work on pre-programming a few new and different messages, but this basic one should work for now. Every number I collected from every hero I knew, either as Spider-Bite or Cassidy or both, would suddenly get that exact message.

"You know, you're the second guy this past month throwing up portals. Is this one of those themed months I don't know about?"

Did this guy just call me a fool? That is the oldest comeback in the book. Too bad, I know an older one.

"I know you are, but what am I?"

It seems like my plan to send this guy away did not exactly pan out, but I'll figure something out. I just need to think of way to lure him back through or force him off his feet somehow. Although, I had to put my mental planning on halt. Someone else had arrived. Legion. Well, this sure was becoming a party now. And I meant that literally and figuratively. The guy did not even bother to show up, instead sending armies in his stead, repeating the same old mantra as they closed in on Cthulhu. I began firing webbing at their mouths, just to show them how annoying they were and that I was doing a service for everyone.

"See, you get a mouthful of sticky webs. And you get a mouthful. And you. And you. Sticky, sticky webs. Sticky webs. Sticky webs."

I paused before shaking my head as this effectively became a standoff between the armies of shadow, Cthulhu, and myself. Legion's puppets and I may be on the same side, but that did not mean the man was not unbearable. How was anyone supposed to coordinate, let alone think, with his armies repeating the same old line.

"See how repeating something enough times makes it annoying? You might want to take notes, Legion. Yoooooo-hooooo, am I coming through clearly here? You got cable installed in these things?"

I waved my hand in front of its face before noticing a third arrival. Psi. As soon as the psychic arrived, demanding I stop making quips, I merely leap onto one of nearby building walls and clung there with my feet, crouching and shrugging.

"Aw, come on. It's all part of my charm. I'll have this fruity loser eating out of the palm of my hand in five minutes."

And that's when the inane ramblings began. While Cthulhu was discussing a three-way war of galaxies as well as how hopeless our entire situation was and that he had arrived from the future, my head began to spin. Actually, rapidly, spin. My insides felt like wet spaghetti in mud as a thrumming noise began to fill my head. My sixth sense . . . it . . .

I collapsed onto the ground, clutching my head and sides as I sat in a fetal position. I did not notice Aster landing behind me, shielding me with her wings. I only noticed the golden face, the incursion into our reality. Whatever this thing or person was, it was enough of a threat on its own to warrant such a fight-or-flight response without directly posing a danger to me, without its focus on me. This was not an instinctual response. This was every fiber in my body telling me to give up.

What could I do against a god?

Dad, what do I do? I can't stop a war. I can't stop a deity.

How was I supposed to save the world?

Find a way. You have a chance. Put your best foot forward and try.

I slammed a fist into the ground. My powers don't define me. My sixth sense can't tell me what to do or what I can do. I won't let it. I have to get up.

Save one person.

Get up.

Well, this definitely went from bad to worse to crazy. And I was here with a fancy suit from Daystar that made me look like a cheap cosplayer to what? A literal god? Yeah, how about she give me her Daystar costume and powers. I'd be good for it. I definitely got better legs.

Keep joking. Keep thinking. Keep fighting. Psi was telling the magic man to get out of here, but I had no idea if that would be successful or not. I don't even know if we should be helping Cthulhu exactly like this. The man had a few screws loose after what he tried pulling, no matter how justified it may have appeared to be at the time. Still, I am not letting the man die. Not like this. Not to some fake deity who thought he was above it all or could decide who lives and who dies and what is right and what is wrong.

"Activate long-range mode."

</Activating long-rang mode.>

One foot in front of me, raising myself to one knee as I began to get up. That was certainly dramatic.

The lenses of my mask fell upon Aster, "I thought I told you to stay back."

Well, what can I do about that now?

"I have a plan. A stupid, crazy plan. All I got right now. So, just don't let the rest of these guys try and stop me. That's all I need right now."

I took fired two lines of silk, each to a separate building, aiming myself straight at this deity. I began pulling back, causing the lines to go taut and tension in those lines became greater and greater. Then, I released my feet from the ground.

And I flew forward, straight at this strange being. I would fire more webbing, intending to traverse straight up his entire body with webbing and running along his body. Once and if I reached his face, attaching with my wall-crawling prowess, I would crawl over to one of his eyes and begin knocking on it with a hand.

I had a few things to say

"Hello? Is this thing on? Have you heard of a fair trial? A right to defense? An attorney? Or how about the fact you could come up with a far more creative and more reasonable punishment than, oh let's say, instant death or torture or any of those terrible things. What happened to compassion, huh? Discipline? Being decent even when faced with indecency? 'Cause that's what he did in your eyes. Something you think is wrong even though he did it simply to help."

I would glare at this point under my mask.

"Give him a chance. Give us a chance. Be kind. Do the right thing. You have to know what that means. You have to have seen it, being whatever you are. But if you won't listen," I would sigh, "Then I'm going to defend him. I'm going to fight you. And I don't care what happens next. What does that speak about the situation and yourself? Not a single moment of doubt in that flat noggin' of yours? Who judges the judges, hm?"

And on that note I would end it, assuming I got that far.