Rooftop Buddies

Something was coming. Something new.

And possibly something dangerous.

The mask was reabsorbed into the suit before reconstituting around Cassidy's head, creating the same old lensed visage with the old web-design to complete the look, to complete the suit. I began to get up and brace myself. A sudden flash of light and energy crackled before me, colored purple and sending waves of burning air and ozone.

And the last person I expected to be at the center of it all, to fall out of the sky, was no other than a friend.

Annabelle.

My lenses widened, enlarging far more than ever. What had happened? Is Annabelle okay? What was that? Why was she talking to herself?

She began coughing and I almost took a step forward. A deep, purple liquid bubbled and burned in the ground before dissipating. What was that?

What had happened to Annabelle? She was pale and her eyes were changing color momentarily and she had slight burns and saliva doting around her mouth. What was happening?

The alien began examining her as its senses as well as my own extended outward. What were those burns? That liquid? Could I still get a small sample from where it disappeared or some sort of resulting chemical from the air?

No, I don't think I could get a sample unless Annabelle puked again that strange substance. All I could do was check up on her and those burns while she sat down next to me.

Should I take her to a hospital? I need to take her to a hospital. I'm not letting her suffer. This isn't normal.

But how would I go about this? She's stubborn, prideful, definitely a rogue agent. Annoying and has no sense of self-preservation. A complete lack of responsibility and doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut.

And Venus's best friend.

And mine too.

"You're going to have to find a different term besides Cape. I don't have one. See?"

I pointed a thumb to my back while I listened to Annabelle's heartbeat and lungs. With ears like mine, I don't need a stethoscope.

"Eh. I used to wear the red and blue. Wasn't too cool."

Perve?

Okay, slurred speech, lack of balance, high altitude, and Annabelle's insults being as weak as she looks? Definitely some sort of decrease in intelligence is happening along with the lack of fine motor skills.

Something happened. What?

"Last I checked, looking at a view is completely normal. And you're the one choosing to sit next to me. Guess you're the real perve, invading my space, huh?"

I extended a hand, one that Annabelle could put her arm or wrist on.

"Mind if I check your pulse? You're not doing too hot, and I know a few things about fixing people up."

One lens would sort of mock acted as a raised eyebrow. The one lens would widen while the other narrowed.

"I don't bite by the way. Besides, your balance and coordination is awful at the moment. You should have someone get ahold of you or you get ahold of someone. Your call. But I don't see anyone else up here with a penchant for sticking to walls and super-strength."

I should take her to a hospital. It would be easy. All it would take is for me to grab her, leap off this building, and head to the nearest medical center available.

But would moving her so suddenly, or, even without warning, worsen her condition?

What even was her condition? A lack of motor skills, slurred speech, and something was causing her to act more ridiculous than normal. Although it seems her wit was coming back on occassion, although it was nowhere near as good as it had been before.

After all, I traded a few blows in the old verbal department for fun with her. This was not at all how she acted. This was more manic.

Unpredictable, as my NanoSym would put it. And she was intruding on my time alone away from the world. It thought I should be rid of the girl and take her to the hospital, right now.

But I thought a slower approach might work better. Annabelle had always been stubborn, and she might still have that tendency, even now. So, it was time to test the waters here.

I reached for the proffered arm.

"I know how to talk a lot in a bunch of ways. My problem is never knowing when . . to .. . stop. . . ."

I almost had her hand, her arm, if she had not suddenly jerked it back away from me. I could have easily snatched it, and, as I reached out a few times more, it seems this was a game to Annabelle, playing keep away with her arm.

"Okay. Stop. That's . . . hm."

The alien was getting tired of this. A hospital bed with her strapped down to it would be a lot more efficient at solving this than what was currently going on. Especially with her breathing and heartbeat being out of sync. Something was happening with her, maybe possibly with her very biology. Was she a metahuman? Was this a side effect? Or was this something else, something worse?

I finally got a hold of her arm as I listened to what she said, although I kept my focus on counting the pulse while the NanoSym kept an eye on Annabelle, observing her. Every burn on her had a strange glow to it, and her pulse count made it seem like her heart would give out at this rate. And, while I only felt a certain modicum of increased heat from her skin, due to the suit protecting me and sensing those sorts of things for me, it was not a normal sort of temperature for her whole body to be under. If anything, I would estimate that her entire body seemed feverish in temperature.

Then there was the palpable energy that cascaded over my senses, particularly my sixth sense, and it was something else. This was the something new. The something dangerous.

And it needed to be dealt with.

"You intruded on my quiet time. Quiet as in peaceful. And you're being the opposite of quiet."

I checked Annabelle over before deciding I would need to do a bit of medical investigation myself. And maybe convince or drag her to a hospital.

"Also, it's quid pro quo. And it'll be this neat little medical service. I'm going to draw a little blood and clean those burns before fixing you up and help get you a bit better. Trust me. It won't hurt."

I held onto her arm, and she would find herself unable to wiggle free as I simply held up a small needle. Not even a normal needle. One that had been created from the suit and was rather thin, thinner than most needles and yet rigid.

I spoke calmly and slowly.

"I'm going to see if the stuff you puked out is in your blood. I should only need a small amount. About the size of a quarter at most. If it's caustic, it should react with this needle a little, and I'll know if you need to go to the hospital or if I need to do something more serious to treat you."

That was not entirely true or false. The suit would sense if the blood had this purple chemical and would see if it tried to burn the needle, ultimately sending a sort of pain signal to the NanoSym. If this stuff was in her blood and it could do that to her skin, I would hate to wonder what it could do to the tissue inside of her.

"So, how about we deal with your problems first before we get to talking about mine, alright? Let's get you cleaned up first. These might help with the burns."

A few extra spider-like arms sprouted from the back of my suit, creating webbing that would be used to try and dab the burns and chemicals away before trying to place the dissolvable yet medicinal webbing onto those burns. They should stay on for a little while and easy to remove to check up on those.

In that moment, the alien and I felt like a pair of babysitters.

Meanwhile, while the arms did their work, I would work to insert the needle quickly into a vein before drawing a few drops of blood without stabbing Annabelle and hurting her with the small needle.

I would be a liar and say that Annabelle jerking herself away from me held my attention.

Instead, it was her blood. A small bite of pain welled in the suit, as it felt the energy inside the girl's body began to rip and tear at the needle, a small part of itself full of inorganic receptors. Once I pulled it out, it stopped, even with blood on that now burned tip, repaired yet broken at the same time. What was happening? All I could gather as well as the NanoSym could understand was that whatever was inside Annabelle was intrinsically tied to her biology, and the separation of the needle and/or blood from her body stopped the effects.

That was the working theory anyway.

I peered at the needle before the suit reabsorbed it. What was happening to Annabelle?

Why was this happening?

I noticed Annabelle had moved away from me.

And she began to talk.

Things she never said to Cassidy, things she never told, things I never knew but might have suspected.

And it was worse. Way worse than I could imagine.

And all I could do was look at her and remember the young psychic. The street girl. And Lark.

Greater good. I never believed that. I believed in strictly doing good, for everyone, and especially the individual, the little guy. And now, right in front of me, I was seeing something I don't think I saw before on the street, with Lark and the rest. Someone who was scared. Afraid. Afraid of me.

People were always scared of me, but like this? And what had I done to alleviate such fears? Nothing. Instead I pushed people to their breaking points, and I threw my weight around, expecting something to change. I went too far. With Lark. With everyone. And I did it out of fear and anger and panic that I let build up for some time. And it wasn't right.

I had to be better. I had to try.

Just try.

I made so many mistakes, but this was my friend. Lark was my friend too, and I treated them like dirt. I can't, I won't, have a repeat.

I am better than this. And what better time than to start now. Everyone had fears. I just needed to help people work through them. If they will let me.

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that about yourself. You are not messed up. You just have problems that need working through. Just like everyone. Just like me."

I nodded a few, short times before continuing.

"I won't let anyone take you or prod you with needles. I'll help you as best I can. If you'll let me. I promise. I'm more afraid of what this can do to you than anyone else. Because it seems to me you're the only one suffering from this right now."

I pointed at her.

"You are absolutely fantastic. In ways you really need to see about yourself. You helped those people, back at the Christmas emporium. Trust me, I haven't forgotten. And, as stupid and reckless as you were, when you should have listened and ran away, you rushed in and tried to help stop that Pumpkin guy. You have a lot more going for you, a lot more of the right stuff, than a lot of people I've met. So don't say that. And never expect me to every say that about you. Because I won't. I never will."

I sighed.

"But I think you need to listen more, especially to the people who genuinely care and love you. And, call it a hunch, but I really think you have those sorts of people in your life. And I think you should talk to them and work with them about this. Even if they can't help, they can listen to you and talk to you, and that's can be just as important."

I kept silent. Should I talk about my problems? To Annabelle?

Maybe. Maybe not. But first, let's see if I can help her and get her straightened out a little.

"I won't force you or take you anywhere you don't want to go unless I see you're in serious pain, and that I can't do anything about it. I won't cross that line otherwise. I won't lay a hand on you."

I extended my hand. I reached out with the palm facing upwards.

Something that Annabelle could grab hold of

"But I can see your unwell, and my suit has healing properties. So, can you please trust me a little and take my hand? I just can't stand to see you in this sorry state. Please."

I would keep my hand open, not moving. Not wavering. Just still.

And, if Annabelle chose to take my hand, the suit, reluctantly and not trusting of what Annabelle's abstract biology and foreign energy could do to it, remained attached to me, but would slowly but surely crawl across her arm and torso, changing her clothing and uniform to black and white as it bonded to her and to it. It would test the waters and begin interacting with Annabelle's cells and body, trying to enhance and heal it, increasing her natural abilities as well as try to stabilize her.

And it would try and draw from my own healing, my own tolerance for pain, and would try to make it her own.

Pain.

That's all I could see in her eyes. And, as her friend, it simply hurt to see her like this. To know all of this. My chest ached as I saw pain that was not dissimilar to so many eyes that had peered back into mine before. And to know that Cassidy was basically powerless to help, wasn't he? All because of my secret.

But Spider-Bite wasn't. He never would be.

"You'll get it back. All of it. Your family too. I promise. I'll help, if you like. I . . . "

I stopped. Not now. First Annabelle. My problems could wait.

"I'll do whatever I can. You don't have to do this alone."

When she grabbed ahold, it was so tight. And I felt nothing. No pain, no squeezing of the hand that was unbearable. My superhuman durability held strong, and I kept ahold of her hand in kind, gentle yet firm. No pain, nothing as the suit crawled up her arm.

I held on.

And I was not going to let go for anything in the world for as long as Annabelle wants me to hold on. Then I felt it.

No, my partner felt it. I was second-in-line to that little bit of fun. Because as much as it was connected to me and tried to begin regenerating, the pain it felt from attaching itself to Annabelle was excruciating. It had never felt so much pain in its entire lifetime, only feeling pain its hosts underwent due to the mental link or from being somewhat damaged in battle.

But how damaged and how hurt could a hyper-durable mass of living, alien mud undergo from simple physical and metahuman attacks? Not a lot.

This time, however, was different. It screamed and panicked and wanted to tear away from Annabelle as it began to realise, in spite of its anguish, I was next conduit for that energy. Because now the two of us, Annabelle and I, were now connected. I was using my powers, my vitality, to heal her.

Too bad I had not yet realized it was a two way street.

"AAAGH!"

It tried to help Annabelle, it really did. It figured helping to enhance her physiology and biology would allow her greater control over this energy, to better resist its corrosive might. But it was far worse than corrosive. It was dangerous and terrible and impossible to describe all at once, impossible to predict.

My vision began to cloud. Something else was happening. Something beyond. My sixth sense screamed at me as it began to tear at my body. Sparks of blue energy began to cascade off of me before that same energy, that same cosmic force, began altering the colors of the electrostatic and bio-electric current running off of me. Green and purple and red and all manner of colors and smells of ozone burning and ozone not burning would fill the air.

The suit began retreating and tried to force me away from Annabelle, to pull back my arm. My sixth sense was yelling at my head to get away. My own mind fighting against myself.

Or was it someone else yelling for it to stop? Someone in red? Who?

I saw them briefly as my vision further blurred. It did not simply leave me. It changed. My senses expanded as my sixth sense took in the danger and a new phenomenon. The phenomenon of peering beyond, far more beyond than it ever had before.

I saw much more, more than I cared and more so that I did care about. I saw myself. Myself with someone else at the end.

And then it pulled back. Another picture shattering across my vision. Showing a much grander scale. And it was all connected, somehow. Almost like by an invisible thread, a soundless and colorless string, unseen by human eyes.

I kept hearing the yelling to stop and a cacophony of much more. I could not tell what was what, where I was, anything.

Where am I? How . . . ?

I only felt one thing. That hand. And it began to pull away. And, in that moment, I almost loosened my grip.

And then I clutched it tighter, not letting go.

I was seeing this through to the end. I would help Annabelle. Not one second less. Not one second earlier. No one more moment of pain for her. Not one more.

No more.

I held on and forced more of the suit to attach itself, even as it struggled against my command. It wanted to peel itself off of me. I kept ahold of it, ahold of Annabelle, and ahold of this energy. All my senses keep splintering, more and more stimuli. Sounds of everything and nothing I ever heard crashed into me. The passage of time felt inconsequential to everything else.

I would not fail Annabelle.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Energy cascaded off of me as I absorbed and shedded it off as best I could, as best as my biology could do. I was not giving up. All I saw now was a small picture now of Annabelle.

And the energy that began to come off me was going to reach her soon enough. What began as sparks could become lightning bolts and tear her as well as me apart if I held on any longer.

I finally let go.

And I fell prone onto the side of roof. I writhed as my back and body began to arched and bend themselves up towards the heavens. The suit began to move and swirl and change and it seemed to harden and unharden rapidly in different shapes at different times. It smoked and burned on occasion as the energy burned through it. My logo and lenses dissipated and then would reappear, damaged and distorted. Brief moments of my clothing I wore underneath, and my skin and body and my head would pop through. However, most of myself was still covered, although portions of the suit were not gone and the burns began to develop on my body.

Whatever energy my biology, unintentialy or not, was storing wanted a big release. It wanted out.

And I could not let Annabelle get hurt again.

"m-move. Get away!"

I slammed a hand into the roof. It burned the very area it struck.

I began crawling away from her, as far as I could as best I could. A few more feet. A few more inches. Just one more.

Release.

Everything left me. A giant surge, an explosion, of energy escaped me as it shot upward and around me and into the ground itself, scarring the very rooftop I was atop of.

I was on my knees now before I fell once more prone. The suit was a black mess. Nothing about the original form or costume was left. Just a black ooze covering me, like a muddy and melted tarp.

And I was so very tired.

I should take a nap. I would like that.

But what about her?