Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ughhhh…”

Hornet slumped against her apartment door, head thunking back against the wood.

Her injuries throbbed at the movement, luckily only bruises, but damn, they were bad bruises.

She slowly attempted to stand after a moment of moping, wincing as her sore legs wobbled uncertainly.

She flung her backpack in the vague direction of the couch, and joined it gracelessly as she flopped down onto the cushions.

So. That patrol went badly.

In her defense, how would she know that both Isopod and Chantilly were going to be around at the same time that she was on her routine?

A faint clink from the floor snapped her out of her self-mourning, and she looked down at where she had thrown her bag. 

Her needle was poking out of the top, leaning slightly against the coffee table nearby. Hornet sighed, and forced her aching arms to push herself up, not wanting to fall asleep on the couch and make her pain even worse in the morning.

She kicked her bag closer to the couch, having tripped over her own weapon far too many times to count, before trudging down the hall into her own bedroom.

A loud fw-ump! shook the bed frame as she flung herself onto it, not bothering to even change out of her clothes just yet.

Hornet was quickly getting close to the edge of sleep, her mind nearly blank and the aches on her poor body fading away into a small stinging, when she was snapped back into consciousness by her phone buzzing against her hip.

She sighed, lifting her face from where she had buried it in the blankets, and pulled the offending device out from her pocket.

< tall jerk > I see that you got beat up again, need me to come over with the kit?

Hornet huffed at the phone, squinting against the bright light. She’d been forgetting to carry around her blue light glasses recently, and was now regretting it.

< the itsy bitsy spider > im fine, just bruises

< tall jerk > That's good. But you need to be more careful during the day, you were on a live broadcast earlier.

That was news to her. She hadn’t noticed any reporters or helicopters around during the fight, but in her defense she was also pretty preoccupied with other stuff. Like getting her ass handed to her.

Her sibling had already sent the broadcast, knowing that she’d want to see it. 

Hornet clicked on the link, bringing her to a separate tab where a small news station had broadcasted the fight from earlier. It looked to be from a floating perspective, probably a small drone, since she definitely hadn’t noticed the annoying roar of a helicopter nearby during the fight.

She skipped the first couple of seconds, ending up on a scene of her fighting Isopod. She had been in the fight firsthand, but still took a bit of time to analyze the hero’s movements in the broadcast, it always helped to have a third person perspective.

A white blur danced across a rooftop nearby to the two blurry figures clashing weapons, and Hornet groaned internally. 

Chantilly entered the scene quickly, flinging herself into the fray just how Hornet remembered. The zoomed-in fuzzy footage didn’t show it clearly, but she recalled how the hero had had a wild smile on her face as she charged in from the side of the fight, instantly targeting Hornet head-on and with zero mercy. Isopod himself had actually taken a backseat in the fight, only really jumping in to help defend his co-worker (Co-worker? Was that the right word? Hornet wasn’t sure) when she had managed to stagger the other hero a rare couple times.

Hornet sighed, and flicked off her phone in the middle of the second replay, setting it down on her pillow. She curled up in the soft blankets, attempting to ignore the fightrepeating in her head over and over again.

It was a bad habit of hers, overanalyzing the battles long after they had happened.

Eventually, her mind began to fuzz out again, only leaving behind one image as she faded off to sleep:

Chantilly’s determined grin.

Chapter Text

Hornet tugged her gloves down nervously, black leather reassuringly cool against her skin.

Her facemask slipped a bit as it settled, goggles and gasmask underneath providing protective reassurance to her anxieties.

Even after a little over a month of doing regular patrols in the getup, Hornet still found herself nearly constantly readjusting and fidgeting with the outfit, her worries not letting her rest until she was sure that every bit of her body underneath the clothes had been hidden under at least two layers.

A faint beeping in her ear snapped her out of her thoughts, and she glanced down at her spare phone at the noise,

Public Camera Alert: Confrontation on 8th alley, Phar. L St.

Hornet tugged at her gloves once again as she rose from her crouched position, her phone automatically finding a quick route to the location and helpfully supplying it to her through the earpiece. She needed to thank Lemm and Smith again for helping her make the device and linking program, it had become one of her most helpful tools within the past few weeks.

She leaped across a short gap between two buildings, her short cape flickering behind her as she ran across the rooftops. 

It felt freeing to finally have an outlet for all of the energy she had kept pent up all of her life, even if that outlet was slightly illegal by government standards. 

Long gone were the days of just plain smacking people when they slightly bothered her, she-

Oh, who was she kidding. She still did that. But at least she had better control over it now, aggression and nearly-everlasting energy slightly tamed by often exhausting herself running for miles on patrols. The type of happiness and relief that no sport could ever give her.

Her earpiece beeped as she slowed down, reaching the reported alleyway. 

As per the notification, a small scuffle was happening down in the dark, droplets of blood and flying fists visible even from her high vantage point on the roof.

Two minutes and eleven seconds since alert was given.

Hornet nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected noise, forgetting about the auto-timer that had been added by Lemm to test how fast she could arrive to an alert’s location. She had done well this time, her time even smaller than the last alert’s timer, and mentally filed away a reminder to gloat to Smith about it.

She dropped down onto the fire escape below, then hopped from windowsill to windowsill, making sure to avoid any windows with the lights on or blinds open. She kept to the dark, letting herself sink into the shadows and tuck her white facemask into the hooded collar of her cape.

Noises from the fight below were easily heard now that she was closer. Loudly shouted profanities and slams of boots echoing around the small space. Hornet dropped onto the alleyway ground, not having been noticed yet by the three figures nearby.

She stepped out from the darkened corner of the alley, drawing her needle with an interrupting shhihng!

The people looked over at the sound, one of them clearly ready to hit another of the group, by the way they had grasped their collar and were rearing their fist back.

Hornet cocked her head at the staring she was receiving. The silver of her weapon shined from the light from the street filtering into the alley, and she twisted it slightly to draw the people’s eyes down to it. 

A small step was heard, before one of the people split off from the other two, probably scared away by the prospect of an actual weapon being threatened against them.

The other two people stared at their retreating form as they turned the corner into the main street, then looked back at Hornet. One of them smirked, letting go of the other’s shirt collar.

“New hero, huh? Pretty little sewing needle y' got there, looks like it’d realllyyy hurt... some ants.”

Hornet twisted her needle again, the tip tracing a small circle above the ground as the main brute approached her.

“Betcha’ not even been in a fight before, huh? Sent out all alone by your fancy company to flash your cute needle at some bad guys and scare 'em away without even liftin’ a finger.”

She felt a distant hum in her fingertips, the familiar feeling making her shift her stance automatically.

“Ain’t even talkin’ back? You scared stiff? Then maybe I can help get your blood going!”

The last words were said in a rush, the brute rushing towards her, small stiletto knife clutched in one hand and aiming right towards her chest.

Hornet stepped to the side, snapping out a foot to trip the attacker on their way past her. A loud swear echoed around the alley, followed by a stumbling sound as they attempted to catch themselves.

A small shift in the noise behind her made her swing her needle around, the metal of a small pipe clanging against her own weapon with a clashing noise that rang out in the night.

The other person had apparently (stupidly) decided to take the side of their own attacker, expression angry as they braced themselves against Hornet’s needle.

“I’ve always hated heroes! You lot get in the way of the fun stuff, just let us sort ourselves out without interruptions!”

Hornet tilted her head, then shoved back against them, sending them reeling backwards. She then flung out her needle, string humming to life as she threw the weapon at the brute who had just begun to attempt to rush her again.

The glowing thread lit up their shocked face as the weapon pinned the side of their coat to the wall, slamming their back into the brick. Hornet would have chuckled at their expression if she wasn’t busy kicking the other charging attacker in a place where the sun didn’t sun, effectively sending them down to the dirty concrete for a bit.

Twin groans from the two people made her huff out a small laugh against her better judgment, and she called back her needle’s thread, letting the brute be free from the wall.

She sent out the string again with a twist of her weapon’s handle, looping around both of the people’s ankles. Hornet quickly turned her body at the hips, sending them out of the alley in one movement. 

They both took a moment to scramble to their feet, staring at her for a moment, then scampered off in opposite directions down the road.

Hornet let herself sigh, leaning against her needle as she rested for a moment. The fight was easy and hadn’t taken much out of her, but she still felt tired. Probably from having already done too much exercise earlier in the patrol.

Righting from her slouched stance, she prepared to leap up onto the fire escape’s platform edge, tucking her needle back into its sheath underneath her cape-

A small flicker of movement alerted her, her eyes tracking a white smudge at the corner of her peripheral.

Hornet found herself slammed into the brick wall of the alleyway before she could even react, grunting as the air was forced out of her lungs. Her body was slow to catch up to the situation, much less her mind.

A pin, similar but oh-so different from her own needle struck the surface next to her head, and she instinctively flinched away from both the loud cr-K! it made, and the fact that it was very obviously not friendly.

She looked towards the figure now standing close in front of her. 

A fancy white shirt was the first thing that caught her eye, the collar heavily embroidered and layered with lace insertions, small pearls even sewn near the top of the neckline. Puffy shoulders with multiple tulle layers followed by tight-fitting arm sleeves made Hornet’s eyebrow raise underneath her double masks. Fancy fashion wasn’t often found in people getting themselves into fights.

“So. You’re the popular little vigilante."

The term “little” being used towards Hornet almost made her laugh for the third time that night. She was a solid couple of inches above her foe, and nearly had to actually bend her head down to look at them. It would have been funny if she wasn’t currently standing pinned against a wall, with a sharp weapon inches from her head.

Her foe continued on, heedless of Hornet’s unresponding silence,

“You’ve created quite the fuss in the departments. Nobody can seem to know where to put your file! You’re quite the mystery to us! Aren’t you, little spider?”

Hornet didn’t exactly know how to respond. 

On one hand, she had very clearly been known about by the heroes for at least a while.

And on the other… 

She kicked out towards the other, attempting to quickly draw her needle from its sheath again.

The pin beside her head was deftly removed from the wall, and her foe twisted to the side, letting Hornet’s boot graze past her before sliding her weapon underneath the vigilante’s calf. They grabbed the hand reaching underneath her cape, yanking harshly and pinning her hand against their own chest.

Hornet’s leg began to tremble as she tried to hold it’s raised position, very badly not wanting to get cut by the rather sharp looking pin placed underneath it. 

Attempting to shift to the side proved to no avail, as her opponent simply unbalanced her even more with another threatening inch of the weapon raised and a tug of her own hand towards themself. The pin was horizontal against her leg, and she knew that she couldn’t attempt another movement without her leg giving out and possibly having an artery sliced.

She was stuck. Caught like a fly in a spider’s web.

The hero was still looking at her, their faces closer together than they had been previously. Hornet realized that they were grinning, sharp canines glinting against the faint light.

“Not very clever, little spider. You’re fast, but I’m faster.”

Hornet’s eyes flickered around the alleyway, looking for a way out of the situation before she ended up thrown in a cell. She wasn’t particularly fond of that option ending her patrol tonight.

There! A small bar ledge was secured onto one of the window sills opposite the pair.

Hornet twisted her free hand in a tiny moment, a hum once again settling into her fingertips and shimmering slightly into view in the corner of her eye.

The hero hadn’t noticed her plan yet, still grinning at her and teasingly tapping the edge of their pin against the fabric of Hornet’s pants leg. It was only a matter of time before they got bored of her silence though, and brought her in to the Nest.

The humming grew, a faint white light flickering into existence between her splayed fingers. Her foe glanced to the side at the change, one side of their facemask raising.

“Tha-”

Hornet flung out her free hand, shoving against the hero. It was a risk to move them while distracted and possibly slice her own leg on accident, but she took it. They stumbled back slightly, loosening their grip on her wrist slightly as Hornet moved to the side hurriedly, finally resting her strained leg back against the ground.

She had escaped the web’s tangle, but she wasn’t done yet.

Hornet sharply twisted her free hand, the light in her palm manifesting into a white glowing thread. She flung out her arm towards the windowsill bar, feeling the humming run down her elbow as she was yanked forwards once it grabbed ahold of the metal.

She kneed the hero directly in the stomach as she shot forwards, yanking her hand back from their grip easily with the momentum. Her boots thunked against the brick wall as she planted herself onto the vertical surface, flinging out her now-free arm towards the roof ledge above.

The thread looped around her outstretched arm, creating a makeshift harness around her shoulders as she clung on with both hands and let herself soar through the air, onto the top of the building. Her needle hummed angrily against her side, and she clenched her teeth through the uncomfortable feeling of not having used the conduit for her thread.

She landed heavily against the roof, afterwards able to hear a small crash from below in the alleyway, followed by a faint curse and light footsteps hurrying up the fire escape. 

Hornet didn’t let herself catch her breath, dashing across the building and unsheathing her needle to let the thread unravel itself from her arms, instead lashing around the circular hook at the end of her weapon.

She followed her instincts all the way to a nearby safehouse that she had set up in somebody’s old garden shed, resting her back against the rotted side as she heaved out gasps.

Hornet had seen that hero before. That same frilly shirt, sharp pin, black masquerade mask and whited out eyes.

Chantilly was known as one of the trickiest heroes, quick on her feet and fast to catch any unruly villains or illegal vigilantes. She had nearly caught some of Hornet’s friends a while ago, and she had first-hand seen the damage left behind by the hero’s failed attempts of capture.

Hornet was lucky to still be standing on two legs.

-

In the morning, after Hornet had returned home from a couple of long hours of waiting in the safehouse to make sure she hadn’t been tracked, she checked her phone. A new article instantly popped up in her recommended, the title catching her attention.

New vigilante on the loose? Look out for the Crimson Spider! Reports updated daily.

Little spider, huh.

Chapter Text

Hornet shivered slightly, shoulders hunching up to her ears in an attempt to keep herself warm. 

She knew that the effort was fruitless, night breeze whipping into her outfit and feeling like it nearly reached her bones. But the thought counted.

...Though, it certainly didn’t help that her clothes had been designed with ventilation in mind.

Wanting to keep heat stroke off of the “bad things about being a vigilante” list was pretty important to her a few months ago, but the worry of getting frostbite was slowly climbing up that list’s numbers with every minute that she spent outside in the chilly wind.

Hornet mentally sighed at the situation she had found herself in, cutting off her wandering thoughts.

She was half-frozen, perched on a random pitch black rooftop, and staring down at an empty parking lot.

At four AM.

Why was she here again?

Oh, right. Because she had signed herself up to protect the city from stupid people who did arms trade deals in the middle of the night.

Wonderful.

Hornet shivered again, pulling her cape tighter around herself as she shuffled her feet slightly, attempting to keep her circulation flowing before she actually got frostbite.

The sound of metal ringing quietly made her jerk up from her hunched pose, whipping her head back in surprise.

Chantilly stood casually behind her, pin held off to her hip and a mocking grin stretched across her face.

“I guess the fact that spiders get slow in winter is true.”

Hornet glared at the hero underneath her mask, stiffly uncurling her legs from where she had tucked them underneath herself. Her shaking fingers unsheathed her needle, the blade clinking quietly against the side of her leg armour as the cold wind hit against her turned back.

“C-Chantilly. How d-d- how did you find m-me?”

Hornet internally winced at her own stuttering, her shivering affecting into her normally neatly-clipped speech. At least the voice changer she wore didn’t show the slight fear in her tone.

Chantilly rested her pin against the rooftop, leaning against it with an exaggerated pout on her lips.

“You’re never one for talk! Always getting down into business so quick.”

Hornet impatiently tapped her weapon against its sheath at her side, the sound snapping Chantilly out of her usual routine.

She sighed dramatically, then levered her pin at Hornet’s chest.

“Fine. If you insist on being so rude. I was told there was an illegal deal going on down here. I found you by complete accident.”

Hornet ignored the slight shock at the hero’s words, shifting her own stance into a more natural one.

“I’ve been waiting here for that as well... it doesn’t seem like it’ll be happening, th-”

She was cut off by the sound of tires crunching across grass-ridden pavement, her stance instantly dropping down and hiding herself into the rooftops shadows. She felt Chantilly do the same behind her, for once not making a dumb quip.

A small car was pulling into the parking lot, windows tinted suspiciously dark. Hornet peered over the concrete roof ledge, watching as the vehicle stopped beside one of the lot’s walled edges.

She felt movement behind herself, and tensed, not wanting to move and alert the possible traders below. Hornet watched Chantilly come to her side out of the corner of her eye, instinctively expecting the press of a sharp pin against her side.

But the familiar feeling never came.

The hero appeared to be observing the new arrival just as she was, seeming to find it more important than capturing her self-stated “sworn enemy”.

A new car pulled into the parking lot from the opposite side’s entrance, slowly rounding the wall’s perimeter, before eventually coming to a stop beside the first car.

Both of the two vehicle’s front doors opened slightly; a quiet conversation echoing around the lot’s walls, unfortunately unable to be clearly heard through the distance.

Eventually, the doors of the cars shut, the conversation seemingly finished. Both vehicles started up again, then circled around the parking lot together again, before heading out of the same exit.

Hornet waited a moment before moving, tilting her head to look at Chantilly still crouched silent at her side.

The hero’s face was scrunched up slightly, clearly lost in thought. She seemed to snap out of her focus once she noticed Hornet looking over at her, and grinned back at the vigilante.

“Say, Spider. You interested in working together for a little bit?”

Hornet froze, staring at the hero.

The hero who had repeatedly attempted to capture her for months straight, who had beaten her to a pulp on multiple occasions, and who had always done so with a wide smile matching the one that she was wearing now.

“What?”

Chantilly stood, sheathing her pin as she stepped back slightly.

“There can be time for questions as we follow those cars. I don’t want to lose them, since that very clearly wasn’t the actual arms deal.”

Hornet hesitantly followed her lead, standing and sheathing her needle as the hero turned and began running across the rooftop, before leaping across the alleyway opening gracefully. She hurried to follow her, joints still slightly frozen from the cold night air.

Hornet kept pace with the hero, noticing that she was purposefully slowing her gait down. She knew that it was probably to keep the pair out of notice from the two cars now heading down the street they were running alongside, but was still thankful that it let her stiff body warm back up gradually.

The pair leaped across a tiny gap between two buildings, landing together with twin thumps.

“Exp- explain.”

Hornet wasn’t too winded, but her request still came out a bit rushed from the sudden exercise that she was getting.

Chantilly glanced over at her for a second, then looked back ahead.

“We both have the same goal for this mission, so I don’t see the point in making an effort to catch you and end up just losing the lead.”

“Wouldn’t your fellow heroes be unhappy to see you teaming up with a wanted criminal?”

The hero looked back at her, and winked, smirking at the vigilante.

“This is just temporary. So don’t get any ideas, Spider.”

Hornet snorted in amusement, diving into a roll as she hit a rooftop too forcefully.

“I don’t think that you’d give up on something that easily, Mushroom.”

Chantilly didn’t grace her mocking with a response, simply speeding up and forcing Hornet to adjust her stride to follow along. The pair of cars below were turning down a darker street, roadside lights broken and dimmed more often than not.

The hero paused for a moment, then leapt down at one of the less-rusted streetlights, perching on it for a beat before she launched herself across the road and landed safely onto a short rooftop.

Hornet didn’t give herself time to feel nervous, diving feet-first at the lamp and wobblily landing on its top, before matching Chantilly’s long bound with one of her own.

She hit the rooftop’s ledge stomach first, knocking the wind out of herself. The vigilante started to scramble to pull herself over the small wall as she started to slip down, before feeling hands hook under and yank at her armpits to return her to stable ground.

Chantilly peered down at her from where she was standing, letting Hornet catch her breath as she laid on the roof for a moment. 

The hero offered a hand down once the vigilante had finished her painful wheezing, gently stabilizing Hornet as she stood up.

“The cars seem like they went into a warehouse after this alleyway. Let's move slowly.”

Hornet nodded silently, and took her hand back from where the hero had still been holding it.

Chantilly turned, and started jogging across the rooftop, leaping over one last gap before ducking down into the shadows. Hornet followed her movements, tilting her mask slightly back as she rolled across the concrete. The visible sliver of her gasmask underneath would be definitely noticed by the hero, but she doubted that that small slice of knowledge would be anything important to her.

That, and she valued not risking her mask’s horns being spotted more than she wanted to hide the second mask she had on.

The warehouse across the small alley’s gap was dimly lit from inside, tiny barred windows showing only empty walls within. Hornet distantly heard car engines shut off from inside, followed by the quiet slams of doors being opened and shut.

She felt movement at her side, watching as Chantilly flipped open a flat bracelet with an inset screen, ducking down to quickly type something into it. 

The hero popped her head back up a moment later, nudging at Hornet’s leg and offering her a view of the exposed screen.

A camera’s perspective stared back at her; two cars parked nearby eachother, and people stationed in protective stances around three figures. Chantilly tapped twice on the screen --the pixelated image somehow turning even more grainy than before-- and zoomed in on the trio of people standing together.

Without the distance making Hornet squint awkwardly at the feed, she could... slightly discern what the blobs of grey-black looked like.

A taller person stood nearest to the camera, black.. jacket? draped over their shoulders and revealing a lighter undershirt. They were gesturing vaguely at one of the cars, subtler movements clearly muted by the footage’s quality.

The other two people were standing beside eachother, both wearing lighter clothes and standing still. One of them appeared to have a grey shape at their side, possibly a bag or holster for something.

The feed didn’t have any audio, but Hornet could faintly make out the first person’s voice just from how loud they were talking within the nearby warehouse. Their tone seemed frustrated, voice pitching up in anger every few seconds. If the pair they were talking to were affected by the emotions though, they didn’t show it well enough for it to register on the camera’s video.

After about a minute of the same angry one-sided argument, the taller person turned slightly, seeming to speak to one of the armed people standing close to them. Their shorter blurry shape began moving towards one of the cars after a moment, opening a trunk. But whatever they were focused on pulling out from the parked vehicle, the camera's perspective couldn’t see.

Hornet jolted slightly as Chantilly snapped the screen closed, the hero raising herself slightly on her heels.

The vigilante watched as she tapped a foot up onto the rooftops ledge, then deftly launched herself across the dark gap, disappearing into the shadows above the dark warehouse. The smooth movements hardly gave Hornet time to think, making her mind go blank for a second on what she was supposed to do.

Hornet let her brain refocus after a moment of pause, then quickly followed the hero’s motions; bending her knee slightly and taking a shallow breath in,

and taking a leap of faith into the unlit night.

Chapter Text

Hornet landed heavily onto hard concrete, rolling over her shoulder to disperse the momentum. She crouched down smoothly after the movement and sat still for a beat, letting her breath settle into a calm rhythm.

A gloved hand grabbing her exposed wrist nearly made her jump straight back off of the warehouse roof, heartbeat suddenly heavy in her ears. Faint whispering sounded next to her head,

“I assume you don’t have night goggles underneath that little mask?”

Hornet shook her head slightly, jumpy nerves smoothing back down just from Chantilly’s voice.

“I’ll lead you until we get into the light. Stick close.”

A tug at her wrist urged the vigilante to stand slowly, only hearing quiet shuffling come from the hero holding onto her. 

The fact of Chantilly having complete control over where she was going, and presumably having night goggles when she herself didn’t, should have worried her. But it somehow didn’t.

...Hornet tucked that little piece of information into the back of her mind to think about later.

The steady pressure at her wrist made her trod carefully after the hero, sticking close enough to make sure that she didn’t trip over anything around the pair. 

Chantilly suddenly stopped after a few moments, moving Hornet’s hand to rest onto her shoulder as she presumably did something that required both of her hands.

A cl-dink! reached the vigilantes ears, followed by the sound of something unsealing. A slight breeze made Hornet’s cape flicker around her hips, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on Chantilly’s shoulder.

The hero began moving again, the surrounding air changing distinctly as the pair walked together. It felt staler, the faint smell of rusted metal and mildew reaching her nose.

Hornet felt the tip of her mask hit against some part of Chantilly as she stopped suddenly, the shoulder underneath her hand disappearing in an instant. She blindly felt around with both hands for a moment before feeling a tug at the edge of her cape, telling her to crouch down.

The sound of voices had gotten gradually louder as the two moved together, now allowing her to make out actual words instead of just vague tones. It seemed like the pair were in some sort of loft space above the group of people from before, thin floorboards the only concealment given to them.

“-its power is completely reliant on your own! Just needs a little boost before doing anything!”

A quieter voice, monotone obvious even from how high up Hornet was in the ceiling,

“And the levels of power? Are they only dictated by the user’s control?”

“Nope! There's a little knob on the side- see! Fully adjustable!”

A hum, 

“Which levels are lethal?”

Laughter grated against Hornet’s ears, making her flinch slightly from the sudden burst of noise.

“All of them, of course!”

A small scratching sound made the vigilante sit up from her crouched position, looking towards the origin.

A tiny sliver of light was slowly being opened up, revealing the glint of a small blade held by Chantilly's white gloves. Hornet peered downwards into the revealed warehouse after the floorboard was set off to the side.

The scene was familiar, simply the camera feed the two had watched but from a different perspective. And now with color.

The taller person was holding a large weapon; yellow-striped end pointed downwards, thankfully. And the pair of people were still standing together, arms crossed stiffly and matching postures screaming “I’m important and you know it.”.

The sounds from below were clearer without the thin floorboard blockage, echoing around the small loft space easily.

“We’ll take four thousand and five hundred for the whole of them, boxes included.”

Another laugh, more nervous than the previous one,

“I’m- Huh- Sorry? My supervisors requested at least sixty thousand for half of the stock. That price could buy… maybe one?”

“Excuse me? We had a deal, yes? These are nice, but not worth nearly that much.”

“Well- the materials are hard to come by! The ceramic molds are always tricky to use, and Ta-Tu alloy is-”

“We’re not interested in arguments. We’re here for the weapons, and we will get them.”

A sharp snap of fingers made half of the armed people standing around move into action, guns pulled and safeties loudly clicking off one-by-one.

Hornet felt movement at her left, and glanced over; Chantilly was gripping onto the open space’s edge, her other hand nimbly unsheathing her pin, flipping open latches along the side. Hornet hurriedly followed her lead, quietly taking out her needle from its place and bracing herself against the wooden floor.

Chantilly’s free hand flashed out and gripped around her wrist again, tugging her close as she leaned down towards the empty air. The vigilante felt panic flash around her mind for a moment, before any thoughts were whipped away by the wind rushing around her tumbling body.

The hero kept a tight grip around her wrist as they fell, other free hand simply waving her weapon around in odd movements. Hornet recognized the motions, and attempted to right herself feet-first while falling in the air.

Thin strings of light appeared below the pair’s feet as they fell, quickly solidifying into a brightly glowing platform. The threads made an elaborate structure that felt reassuringly solid, halting any possibility of Hornet turning into a vigilante-pancake on the warehouse floor below.

Chantilly let go of her wrist, and continued waving her pin around to support the platform’s descent. It faintly reminded Hornet of an opera conductor, graceful movements almost mimicking those of a trained professional.

Loud shouts were now echoing around the warehouse, bullets starting to ricochet off of the woven structure’s bottom. Hornet held no concerns about the possibility of stray gunshots hitting her, having seen first hand that the hero’s constructs were near-indestructible.

The woven light circled around the duo in spirals, forming detailed walls that shielded them as Chantilly sped up their descent down to the ground floor.

Any movements stopped suddenly, glowing strings continuing to flicker and pulse faintly, but freezing in their positions sharply. The hero still had her pin raised, eyes shut lightly. 

Hornet tensed her body, needle raising up to its position at her front.

She knew what came next.

The woven structure shattered as Chantilly harshly swept her weapon down, sending the two landing on the solid ground a few feet below from where they had been hovering. The broken strands of light hit against anybody nearby, sending them to the floor and guaranteeing that they’d be down for a while.

Hornet spun her needle in a twirl, sending it stabbing through one of the armed people’s guns nearby. They jolted back, shocked face looking down at her, then were slammed backwards as her foot kicked them in the stomach.

She let the gun slide off of her needle’s edge, jolting her head up as a fearful gasp came from nearby.

The tallest of the speakers from earlier was stumbling back, scared eyes staring at her as their mouth gaped open like a fish. Hornet advanced on them, spinning her weapon neatly and sending the hilt into their temple. They dropped like a rock, limply tumbling to the floor in a heap of long limbs.

A shout from behind made her spin, hurriedly summoning glowing flashes of uncoordinated light with a wave of her needle as bullets streaked towards her. They thumped dully into the makeshift shields, falling to the floor with tinny clatters as the scattered clumps of power formed into a long string of pure white. Hornet twirled the blade of her weapon in a tight circle, sending the thread lashing out at the small group of armed people standing together. Their backs hit against the wall a few meters away, sliding downwards a couple inches and groaning quietly.

Hornet let the thread flicker back to herself, pausing to catch her breath for a moment.

A movement from her side made her harshly jolt out of her impromptu break, stepping forwards slightly and dodging the knife that had been headed straight for her shoulder.

Another of the trio from earlier was standing close to her, tightly gripping serrated dual blades as they launched themselves forwards. Their weapons clanged loudly against her needle’s raised edge, sending Hornet stumbling back a step unsteadily. Their face was almost blank, only a pinched brow reflecting their internal emotions.

Distracted by her opponent’s quick movements and unnervingness, Hornet felt a foot hook around the back of her knee, sending her downwards into a kneel. A knife was shoved underneath her chin, matching the hand gripping tightly around her cape’s front, forcing her to jerk her head up and look at her foe.

Their face hadn’t changed even slightly from its practically emotionless expression, cold grey eyes glaring down at her,

“You know, we were expecting heroes to show up. Not little wannabe pests. ”

The last bit was spat out, revealing the distaste that the person held for vigilantes. Hornet felt the knife pressing against her neck slide smoothly through the thin fabric she wore, sparks of pain flickering into life as it hit her skin. Dread filled her mind, any plans of escape that she had been thinking of snapping out of existence in an instant.

This is such a stupid way to die.

The pressure disappeared suddenly as the thought filled her head, making Hornet open her eyes. She hadn't even realized that she'd had shut them.

Chantilly was twirling her pin in a blur, making an intricate cage weave around her attacker. They dropped both of their knives to the floor as their arms were constricted to their sides, hissing between their teeth at the hero.

Hornet stood from where she had been kneeling, picking up her needle and huffing quietly as the movement made the new injury on her throat flare with pain. Chantilly glanced over her shoulder at the sound, furious expression turning into one of… relief?

That was odd.

Hornet spotted the last of the trio of speakers from earlier attempting to open one of the warehouse side doors, tugging frantically at the handle. She sent out her needle towards them, summoning a long string to lash around their torso and tug them back to where she stood. They gasped as their back hit against the concrete floor, joining the taller of the group on the cold ground. 

Chantilly finished her weaving; floating the last person over the pile, then dropping them down suddenly, making the two remaining conscious people groan quietly.

Hornet smiled underneath her mask, pleased at how quickly the pair of them had gotten rid of the threat. She turned to the side as the hero strode up to her, typing away at her wrist communicator as she spoke,

“I’ve notified a cleanup team to come down here, they’ll let the local police know about this as well.”

The vigilante nodded as Chantilly closed the screen, looking back up at her with a smug expression.

“It was nice to work with you, Spider.”

Her smile changed, switching into a grin that Hornet was all too familiar with.

“Even if it didn’t last that long.”

Hornet ducked down to avoid the pin sweeping at her head, tucking into a roll and letting her needle rest at her front once again.

“Unfortunately, I still follow the hero's rules. Which means that you’re coming with me.”

Chantilly began to spin her pin’s edge, tendrils of light reaching towards Hornet like grasping hands. She slashed her needle through the half-formed constructs, quickly spinning on her heel and sprinting towards one of the nearby walls. Turning her back to Chantilly was a risk that she was willing to take, her mind starting to settle back into the instincts she held while fighting the hero.

A window was set into the wall a couple feet above where she was, and Hornet let the buzz of her powers trickle down and settle into her needle. Its blade vibrated like an angry wasp, making her hand’s skin feel like it was trying to crawl off.

An angry shout from close behind her let the vigilante know that Chantilly was hot on her heels, forgoing the intricate constructs she usually used in favor of simply chasing after her. Hornet sped up, flinging her weapon off to the side in a sweeping motion.

The movement triggered a chain reaction, making glowing threads appear around her body in a loose cage, and simultaneously sending them out into a writhing form. Hornet bent her knees slightly, then sprang upwards, letting the moving strings boost her upwards to the window.

A faint sound of ripping registered in the background of her mind, her thoughts focused on simply going up, up, up.

The window’s ledge was below her feet before she knew it, the strings around her body dissipating into shimmering after-images. Hornet glanced down at the ground floor for a moment, seeing Chantilly below, her frustrated face looking back at her as the hero slowed her sprint to a stop.

There was a sucking pop! as Hornet unsealed the window from its lock, ignoring the chill that instantly cooled her body from its energized warmth. She dived through the open frame, morning light hitting against her needle’s blade and glinting brightly. Her glowing threads shimmered as she laughed, letting the first sun rays of a new day return some of the heat to her bones.

-

Chantilly stared after the retreating vigilante for a moment, before sighing, turning on her heel and walking back to where the arms dealers were tied up. The joy of finishing the mission successfully was dimmed for a reason that she couldn’t explain.

One of her strands from earlier circled around her arm, settling something into her palm before winking out of existence.

The hero opened her closed fist, peering down at the scrap of red fabric. Its color matched the flowing cape that mocked her so often, crimson shades slowly making her smile return.

She may have lost this time, but every meeting...

She got closer.

Chapter Text

SLAM!

Hornet jolted at the door’s loud noise as she shut it, hurriedly tossing her bag onto the shed’s floor. She propped a thick wooden plank underneath the handle, gloved hands twitching anxiously.

Her startled heartbeat began to calm into something more natural as she slowly stepped back, breathing deeply in an attempt to sooth her spiked nerves.

Hornet felt her shoulders sag in exhaustion.

No encounters with Chantilly tonight, thankfully. She didn’t have her tiredness to blame on the hero for once.

Tonight’s game of (essentially) cat-and-mouse had been nothing like her usual fights, and it showed.

Hornet was way too used to duels.

Fool had chased her for over thirty blocks halfway during her patrol’s start, hardly letting her rest until he had been satisfied that she didn’t have any odd “schemes” planned.

Hornet glared at the wall as she remembered the hero, her harsh expression quickly changing into one of pain as her aching legs flared up angrily.

Maybe it didn’t help that she insisted on just calling him Fool, instead of Fool’s Fighter. But in her defense, almost all of the other heros called him that too.

Ego issues were prevalent in the professional crime-fighting biz, it seemed.

Hornet leaned away from the shed’s front, turning around and stepping towards where her bag had landed. She crouched down with a pained groan, making a mental note to buy more of those hand-warmer heat packs she had recently discovered.

A quiet ding from her bag’s front pocket interrupted her thoughts, and Hornet unzipped the top, pulling out a phone from within.

< tall jerk > You get done with patrol ok?

Hornet smiled down at the glowing screen, blooming warmth from the caring message soothing some of the pain on her body.

< the itsy bitsy spider > all good, just getting un-vigilante’d rn

She set the device down on the floor, settling down more comfortably onto the cold concrete.

Her main mask was the first thing to always be removed, hooking clasps along the sides securing it to her protective underlayers.

Hornet took a moment to brush her thumbs along the white surface after she removed it, staring down at the blacked-out eye holes and tall horns.

Small hands danced in the air, fingerspelling Hornet’s name patiently. 

She bent down at the hip to look at her seated sibling before they had even finished the name, a smile already stretching across her face.

“What's up, Ghostie?”

“I designed you an outfit! For the bad guy fighting stuff!”

Hornet perked up instantly, crouching down properly to be at eye level with Little Ghost’s sitting form,

“Oh! Let's see it buddy! I’m sure it’s great!”

A rare, shy expression crossed her sibling’s face as they picked up one of the numerous drawings littering their bedroom floor, nervousness showing through in fiddling hands as Hornet lightly took the paper in her own hands.

A red-caped figure stared up at her from the surface, white mask outlined with careful intent. Large black eyes peered into her own, horns poking up like a broken halo.

A tiny finger tapped at the drawing's details, retreating quickly as Hornet followed the movement.

“I made your mask look like a M-A-C-R-A-C-A-N-T-H-A spider. They make things that look like your threads!”

Hornet faintly remembered the name from one of her sibling’s books, recalling the image of an oddly horned creature depicted on one of the pages.

“That's so cool! I’ll show this to Lemm and Smith, and see if they can make anything similar, thank you so much!”

She let Ghost bowl her over with a hug, landing on her back laughing and clutching her sibling tight as they grinned happily up at her.

Hornet carefully set the mask down in her bag, tucking the side straps gently underneath it.

She resumed removing her other gear after a moment, sliding her hood down and pulling off her tinted goggles in one smooth movement. Hornet squinted at the shed’s now-brighter light, looking downwards as she unclipped her gasmask’s locking straps.

She savored the unfiltered air finally entering her lungs, allowing herself to release the tension that she had kept in her shoulders for all of the patrol. Hornet quickly switched off the voice changer added into the gasmask, not wanting to hear the annoying feedback of its speakers any longer.

Next was her red cape, the light material quickly being shucked off and stuffed into the bag’s pocket. Her leg braces, soft body armour, wrist guards, spare phone strapped to her arm, and wireless earbuds all followed after it, each piece of weight removed relieving some of the nerves that Hornet wore like a second skin. Her needle folded up neatly with a twist at the handle, metal frame clicking quietly as she settled it into the now-crowded bag.

Remaining just in her black longsleeve and sweatpants, Hornet slung the heavy bag over her shoulder, snagging a spare bright green hoodie from one of the shed’s jacket hooks.

Kicking a foot against one of the shelves nearby to move it slightly, Hornet wiggled her way into the hidden breezeway space, keeping herself quiet and tense as she squeezed past the damp bricks.

After a couple feet of awkward shuffling, Hornet finally reached the end of the space, swinging her bag out into the open to lure any potential attackers out.

No sound besides from the distant hum of AC machines reached her ears, so she pushed herself out into the larger alleyway, ignoring the way that the breezeway’s bricks grabbed at her clothes. A mouse skittered past Hornet’s foot as she walked across the wet concrete, tugging on the borrowed green hoodie and keeping the hood flipped down and loose.

The way home from this safehouse was one that she had well memorized, planning out multiple routes to get her back to her apartment building just in case one was unavailable. Her favorite way to get home seemed to be open, and she internally cheered for not having to trudge through spilled garbage bags tonight.

Hornet scooted past a bakery’s dumpster, politely nodding to the people leaning against the small container. They ignored her as usual, muttering to eachother quietly as one of the night shift employees helped them sort through the recent throw-outs that they had left over from the day.

The back of the alleyway opened into a smaller space, murmurs of conversation faintly heard from some of the ground floors nearby. The smells of takeout and laundry detergent made her energy perk back up, happy that she was getting home so quickly.

She let the puddles along the concrete splash against her boots, humming out a quiet tune out into the night’s murmurs.

Hornet forced herself to slow her pace down as she turned a corner, tugging her bag’s strap more securely onto her shoulder. The area around her apartment was thankfully in a near-ideal location; being in a slow spot for hero patrols, but not having many issues with crime or villains because of that. It was a hotspot for vigilante patrols, though, which always made her both thankful and annoyed. She often found herself being randomly interrogated by some newbie, their tense demeanor quickly dissipating into awkward apologies if she told them the excuse that she had simply been taking out the garbage.

The sight of her apartment made the ache in her legs return, and Hornet groaned internally as she remembered the stairs at the side entrance.

Reaching the faded red brickwork, Hornet forced herself to go up the three stairs with one single hop, wincing at the strain that made her muscles shriek in indignation. Better than having to suffer through every single step up. She quickly pulled out her keycard from a pocket as she walked up to the entrance, tapping it against the scanner. The door clicked open with a beep, and she practically yanked it open, stepping inside hurriedly.

The smell of homemade food instantly made Hornet’s stomach rumble, hunger roaring into life as her body finally processed that it was very exhausted. She ignored the added ache gnawing at her torso, clicking the elevator button and thanking everything holy that they were so close to this entrance.

She continued clicking the elevator button quickly as the sound of the lift’s descent made her tiredness grow. It was always a fun game to see how many button presses she could get in before the doors opened, and she was proud of her current top score of thirty-six.

Ding!

Damn. Only twenty this time.

The elevator shook slightly as she stepped into it, closing her eyes in a semblance of rest as the floors passed by with tinny beeps.

Hornet shook herself out of her daze as the elevator jolted to a stop, doors sliding open on the fourth floor. She stepped out, knocking her knuckles against the edge of the metal wall lightly, before starting to walk down the short hallway, shaking her head to clear itself of the fuzziness that had slowly grown during her walk home.

I can sleep once I’m inside. I can’t just pass out in the hallway again.

Reaching her apartment, Hornet was grateful that the door clicked open on the first pass of the keycard, jaw clicking loudly as a yawn made her struggle to keep herself standing upright.

She kicked off her shoes at the door, stumbling slightly over a smaller set scattered across the carpet. Something in her instincts was yelling at her, but she ignored it, only having eyes for her open bedroom door nearby.

“You seem tired.”

Hornet’s half-shut eyes snapped open in alarm, instinctively shifting her stance and flinging her heavy bag towards the source of the noise.

“Oof!”

Familiar giggles coming from the couch jolted Hornet out of her panic, making her relax out of her stiff pose.

“Hey Holly. Ghost. Sorry, I forgot you two were coming over.”

Her older sibling clutched Hornet’s bag to their chest, thankfully having seemed to have caught it against their stomach instead of their face. They gave her the barest hint of a smirk,

“Is this always how you greet your guests?”

Hornet sighed, and strode over to her siblings, dropping down heavily next to Ghost on the couch. They jumped slightly with the movement, and resumed their giggling as they flopped across her chest. She smiled at their antics, ruffling their white hair playfully.

“Again, sorry. You startled me, I’m exhausted from patrol.”

Holly peered over at her, their normally blank expression shifting slightly as they raised an eyebrow by a millimeter,

“...I couldn’t tell.”

Hornet took her bag back from her sibling’s grasp, setting it down on the floor. She felt Ghost wiggle to become more comfortable against her front, resting their head on her collarbone.

“Have you guys been waiting for me to get back?”

Holly shrugged, “Ghost wanted to, and I’ve just been watching random movie reviews since we got here.”

Hornet looked off to the side at her wall clock, its face reading 4:38 AM. Patrol had ended a bit late due to the hero she had to deal with, and Hornet felt the hints of guilt creep into her tired thoughts.

She looped her arms around Ghost as their wiggling turned into a wide yawn, pulling them up to rest more comfortably on her chest. She felt her other sibling slowly ease their own weight onto her side, pulling a red blanket from the back of the couch to cover the trio.

The scene brought back memories to Hornet’s mind, of the first time that she had ever seen her two siblings. 

They had been alone, in a huge white house with only eachother to keep company. Their dark clothes made them almost seem like shadows in the pale home.

Hornet still dreaded the idea that if she had never been told about them by Herrah; they would still be there in that cold building, shuttered windows keeping them forever closed off from the outside world.

She held Ghost tighter to herself, wiggling out an arm from around them to grip at Holly’s own hand. They squeezed her fingers lightly for a moment, reassuring pressure telling her that they weren’t going anywhere any time soon.

Hornet felt her mind slowly slip into unconsciousness as her sibling rubbed a thumb along her palm’s surface, soothing motions lulling her to sleep quickly.

-

“-I can’t understand why you never told me! They’re my siblings! Family that I never even knew I had!”

Herrah looked down at her in frustration, eyes squinting into narrow slits.

“They’re not important to you. Your father has plans for them that differ from your own. You-”

“I’m not a stupid plan! I have thoughts! I’m a human being! I want to have my own choices in life, and I want to meet my siblings!”

Hornet glared up at her mother, distant flickers of threads shimmering around her hands as an automatic reaction to the raised emotions.

“Spiderli-”

“No! I’m done with that stupid nickname! You don’t get to call me that anymore, I’m not your little bug to shove around and push away when you’re bored with me!”

She sharply turned on her heel, stomping towards the nearby open door.

“Hornet! You don’t understand! They’re not like you!”

Hornet whipped her head back, lips pulling up into a snarl.

“What. Do. You. Mean.”

Herrah looked nothing like what Hornet was accustomed to, nervously twisting her hands in the spotlight of her daughter’s rage,

“They’re not.. human. Your father’s power allows him to create... things. He can weave shadows to create life, and your siblings are the result of that.”

Hornet took a step towards her mother, tilting her head to one side,

“Do they have thoughts?”

Herrah looked hesitant, the rarely seen emotion being visible on her mother’s face bringing satisfaction to Hornet’s anger.

“Well- yes. I’ve met them before in passing, and-”

“Names? Preferences? Personalities?”

With each question thrown at Herrah, Hornet took a step forwards, teeth bared dangerously.

“Y-yes. Powers too, as your father wanted them t-”

“I don’t give a single damn about what he wanted them to be, and what his “plans” are for them aren’t important!”

Hornet turned back around, cocking her head towards her standing mother as she reached the doorframe. She rested a hand against its surface, glowing threads drifting in and out of existence around her body.

“I’m going to go see my family, my siblings. And neither you or that failure of a father will be stopping me.”

Chapter Text

Hornet wondered if she’d ever have a relatively normal day for once.

Currently, the record stood that she would not. As proven by the fact that she was at the moment, watching Chantilly fight a villain right outside the cafe where she sat. 

Hornet stood, setting her half-eaten muffin to the side of her table. At least she had managed to drink her tea before the fight started.

She sighed, walking over to the exit of the cafe. Most of the other patrons were either completely ignoring the scene outside, or holding up phones to film it. She ignored their annoyed scoffs as she walked in front of their camera shots.

Hornet wasn’t in her vigilante outfit, not even having the bag that she normally kept her gear in. But she still felt responsible for the people on the street nearby.

Guess it was time to play “heroic-civilian-helps-a-hero” again. She hadn’t done that in a while.

The door’s bell jingled as she opened it, clicking the lock behind herself as she stepped forwards onto the sidewalk. People could be seen running away from the scene, though most had remained around the area, apparently willing to risk their lives just to get photos of the fight.

Hornet tracked the villain's movements, analyzing their patterns quickly. They seemed to be made of some sort of sand, propelled by gusts of wind centered around a floating figure in the middle of the fight.

Chantilly looked like she was having a hard time fighting them, her woven platforms getting easily blown sideways by the strong winds. She kept trying to get close to the person controlling the breezes, though only succeeded in being slammed back down into the street’s pavement.

Hornet changed her pace as she walked forwards, forcing herself to look nervous and hesitant about approaching the fight. Sand buffeted against her side as she walked, making her groan internally about how much of it she’d find in her clothes for weeks to come.

Finally getting to a safe-ish location next to a rocking van, she inhaled deeply, putting her hands up around her mouth,

“HEY!”

The figure in the sandstorm jerked towards her, shadowy outline cocking their head curiously.

“YEAH, I’M TALKING TO YOU!”

The wind around her sped up, making her smile slightly. Chantilly looked up from where she was swiping at one of the sandy clouds, seeming confused at the interruption.

“I THINK YOU GOT THE WRONG TYPE OF BEACH BODY, BUD!”

The villain drifted towards Hornet, sending gusts of sand slashing towards her.

“WHAT KINDA SAND-MAN RIPOFF ARE YOU, HUH? YOU’LL JUST SEND PEOPLE TO SLEEP WITH HOW BORING YOU ARE!”

Chantilly seemed to catch onto what Hornet was doing, retreating backwards until she was about two feet away from where she was standing.

Sand stung against Hornet’s face as she heard a muffled yell from within the storm, stepping quickly to the side as a lamppost hurtled into the pavement next to her.

The hero looked back at her as Hornet grinned, finally understanding what she was trying to do.

Hornet sharply turned on her heel, spinning to the right as the wind pushed at her back roughly, 

and started running.

-

The sound of Chantilly’s heels clicking on the street followed Hornet as she began sprinting, the blasts of sand hitting against her head telling her that the villain had taken the bait.

“I’ll follow your lead, Red!"

Hornet felt momentary panic flash through her mind for a second at the hero’s voice, before remembering that she had (stupidly) decided to wear a red jacket that morning.

She doesn’t know who I am, it’s alright.

Hornet sped her pace up as the sound of the wind crept closer to herself, boots loudly thumping down the street. People could be seen hiding behind cars and in alleyways down the road, phones flashing up to catch a video or photo of the scene. She ducked her head slightly to shield her face from their view.

The sound of Chantilly’s footsteps disappearing made her look back quickly, catching view of the hero skillfully weaving a platform in midair. The glowing strands distracted Hornet for a moment, making her automatically tense up in alarm.

She looked forward once more after a moment, a large white building beginning to come into view ahead. The sight of it made her speed up, knees beginning to ache from the continued sprint.

Hornet turned sharply as she entered the corner intersection next to the pale building, her soles squeaking from the friction. She didn’t let herself stumble, recovering her titled balance as a rush of wind and sand flew past her back. An angry shout followed after Hornet as her eyes searched for the side street she knew was close by...

There!

The main road led up onto the sidewalk, wide space opening into a large courtyard. The main focus of the bricked area was a huge fountain in the center, water streaming down from the carved tiers. Hornet was thankful that the water was still on, even in the middle of fall.

A breeze tugged at her legs as she sprinted towards the opening, making her grimace slightly at the feeling of sand creeping its way into the holes on her pants. 

Maybe not the best day to wear ripped jeans.

The smooth pavement switched into bricks suddenly as Hornet jumped up on the curb, curving her pace sideways to dodge the wind building up around her body.

Any people walking within the courtyard quickly disappeared, ducking into small shops off to the sides of the large space. Hornet was thankful that at least they had some form of common sense for once, though she still spotted a few phones filming from within the store windows.

The fountain was about a foot away now, and Hornet bent her legs slightly, ducking her head forwards in preparation for what she was about to do. Another yell behind herself just confirmed that the villain was still following after her, not having realized her plan yet.

Hornet sprung forwards, launching herself up the fountain edge and through the water pouring down the multiple layers of smooth stone. 

The sound of a panicked shout behind her made her smile, even as she landed heavily in the pooled water at the other side of the fountain.

A wet flop! made Hornet turn, watching as the soaked sand now revealed a rather ordinary looking person, laying facedown in the cold water. Her plan worked, and the sandstorm’s wind was now suddenly absent from the courtyard, leaving the air still and silent.

Chantilly slowly descended on her woven platform, pin tucked neatly to her side as she floated next to the immobilized villain. She looked up at Hornet after a moment of peering down at them, curious expression making her nerves spike slightly.

“You helped well with that… situation. Thank you, Red.”

Hornet slapped a grin on her face, sagging down her shoulders to make herself seem more exhausted than she actually was. Gotta sell up the civilian act even more now.

“No problem! Happy to help a hero!”

Chantilly looked her up and down after a moment, raising a mask-covered brow.

“By the way, are you aware that you’re sitting in extremely cold water?”

Hornet jerked a foot up, feeling the wet chill seep into her boots as soon as she was reminded of her current situation. Her shirt and pants were tightly stuck to her torso, jacket hanging heavy on her shivering form. Thank god her phone had a water-resistant case.

“Ah- Well! Now I am!”

The hero huffed out a laugh, twirling her pin in a tight circle to summon threads around the groaning villain. The lattice slowly lifted up their sodden form, interlacing across eachother to trap their limbs together in a tight hold.

Hornet stepped up onto the fountain’s lip, hopping down and shaking out her wet hair from where it had plastered itself to her cheeks. She shivered again, feeling the numbness begin to seep into her legs.

“Red.”

She turned at the call, facing Chantilly again.

“You did good, thank you. Again.”

Hornet smiled back, the picture of an innocent totally-not-a-vigliante civilian.

“I can recommend you to one of my training advisors if you’d like, you seem to have a knack for making plans on the fly. You might just become a hero, if you wish.”

Her grin dropped for a moment, before coming back full force. Hornet felt hints of anger fill her chest at the suggestion, memories of being rejected time and time again by multiple agencies that weren’t even willing to listen to her.

“I’m just happy to help.”

Chapter Text

SLAM!

Hornet’s body rolled across the rooftop in a blur of limbs, only stopping once she hit the stairway shed nearby. The air in her lungs wheezed out harshly as she collided with the bricks, making her cough.

She had absolutely zero clue how she had gotten into this situation, honestly.

Her day patrol had actually been going pretty well, for once. She had only had to stop a couple non-armed muggings, and hadn’t even been chased down by any stuck-up heroes.

Another body tumbled past her own, familiarly yelled curses making her sigh. Fool was here too, then.

Hornet attempted to sit up against the wall behind herself, groaning at the aches that throbbed through her ribs at the movement. She squinted at the other side of the rooftop where distant yells could be heard, instantly tracking a white blur that moved gracefully between attacks.

Her side protested as she propped herself up, raising a hand to rest against the shed’s bricks. A loud rushing of wind made her quickly look up, shoving herself to the side as a large slab of concrete slammed into the spot that she had just been in.

Hornet stood shakily, resting her needle’s tip on the ground to act as a makeshift crutch. The sounds of the fight echoed across the rooftops, distantly wailing sirens adding to the noise. 

Footsteps approached her side, and she turned her head to face them, seeing Fool limping towards her.

“Anything broken?”

Hornet huffed out a laugh, quickly scanning the hero's form to make sure that he wasn’t about to collapse.

“Ribs hurt a bit, but I can still help.”

Fool nodded, changing his direction to walk back to where the fight was still going on,

“Good. Let's go.”

Hornet sped up her pace to follow him, raising her weapon to its place at her side once she was sure that she wouldn’t fall over without its support.

The fight up ahead looked to be doing fairly well without them, Chantilly and Isopod working together with another hero that she didn’t recognize to draw the villain’s attacks away from the civilians crowded below the building.

Zero self preservation, I swear.

Hornet started sprinting as she neared the rooftop’s edge, leaping across the small gap between the two structures. Fool landed next to her in a smooth roll, popping out of it in a defensive pose. She rolled her eyes at his dramatics, continuing to hurry closer to the fight.

The villain appeared to be new, their unnaturally large form backlit by the sun behind them as they floated in the air. Hornet stepped to the side as a beam of energy shot past her, glowing a pale yellow and shaped into a sword-like form. She looked back up at them as she slashed another beam in half with her needle, running towards the ground below where they were. 

They appeared to have some sort of crown on their head, the three prongs stabbing up into the air like grasping claws. Pale clothes flickered around their form, light grey strips of fabric flowing like tentacles along their extended arms. Their glowing eyes showed no emotion to the attacks aimed at them, simply facing forwards rather than following the heroes’ movements.

Hornet rolled to the right as another attack stabbed itself into the ground at her feet, popping out of the tucked position beside where Chantilly was catching her breath. The hero hardly spared her a second glance, wheezing harshly as she idly spun her pin.

“Anything to know about them?”

Chantilly nodded, taking a deep breath before speaking,

“Ranged attacks work best, they just throw you away if you try to directly target them.”

Hornet winced at the sentence, her ribs flaring up in pain at the reminder of her past attack’s plan. She had already learned that the hard way.

Her needle hummed at her side as she let a trickle of power into her arm, energy buzzing in the air around it.

“I’ve got an idea.”

The hero looked over at her for a moment, nodding again in acknowledgment. Hornet took that as her cue, and started running towards the villain, holding her weapon against her hip. She sidestepped beams of light that cracked the concrete where she had just been, ignoring the feeling of her chest burning as she strained herself.

She waited until she was only a couple yards away from the floating figure, then suddenly twisted herself to the side, flinging out her needle with the force of her movement.

Predictably, the villain simply drifted to the side to dodge the flying weapon, letting it sail past themself. Hornet grinned at that, and released the energy that she had built up in her arms as she ran, feeling herself jerk slightly forwards as her weapon was caught by the glowing string that now trailed after it.

She spun on her heel quickly, gripping the thread tightly with both hands. The feeling of it wrapping around something made her smile widen further, digging her heels into the concrete as she leaned forwards to keep the line taught.

Hornet felt herself be tugged backwards by the string, and gritted her teeth in annoyance. 

Alright. So it was gonna be like that, then.

She squinted her eyes into slits, focusing on the power that thrummed through her arms. The thread gained a momentary second of slack as she reeled in the actual energy that connected her to her needle, before it tightened again harshly. 

Hornet spun back around to avoid the string accidentally wrapping around her neck, facing the villain once more.

They didn’t appear to be struggling against the thread, simply attempting to keep themself in the air above where Hornet was standing.

She tugged on the string’s raw power again, bringing it back into herself as the figure slowly - but surely - began to descend from where they had been floating. 

A hand landed on her shoulder as she stepped backwards, Chantilly settling herself beside where she stood. In her peripheral, Hornet could see her pin twisting quickly in the air, its movements matching the complex cage that had started weaving itself around the villain.

Fool as well ran over to where the figure was now only a couple feet in the air, followed closely by Isopod and the hero that Hornet didn’t recognize.

She kept up the tug of power as the villain reached the ground, a bead of sweat rolling down her back as she pushed her energy to its limits. They were still straining against the thread even as the three heroes surrounded them, Chantilly breaking off from where Hornet was standing to join the group.

Hornet kept her distance from the scene, still gripping the glowing string with both hands to keep the figure from attacking the others. Her needle was hanging limply from the villain’s side, the thread around its handle looped into a tight knot.

“You are under arrest for attacking civilians, destroying public property, and targeting heroes intentionally. Power-limiting cuffs will be given to you, and if your power determines whether your life will be secure or not, please speak up in an honest statement.”

Hornet rolled her eyes at hearing the formal speech, even Chantilly sounding annoyed as she said the words.

Another yank at the thread distracted her from her thoughts, making her stumble slightly before regaining her balance. Hornet snapped to attention at a raspy voice responding to the hero’s, hearing it clearly from where she stood despite it sounding like a whisper.

“You can say your silly words hero… I am not trapped here. And will never be.”

Chantilly huffed at that, still moving her pin to keep the cage woven neatly around the villain’s sitting form,

“Alright. You can say that while you’re in a cell.”

A wheezing laugh sent shivers up Hornet’s spine, and she tightened her grip on the glowing string in her hands.

“There will be no cells when I rule… only freedom. Freedom from your rules… and your minds.”

Hornet felt a creeping coolness settle around her chest as the words were spoken, the edges of her vision gaining an orange tint. Panic spiked through her heart, and she shuddered in the sudden chill that wrapped itself around her.

A prodding sensation scattered her thoughts from where they were rushing in fear, her body freezing instinctively.

“Your powers will always be your downfall… always controlled… always trapped.”

The figure raised their head from where they had bent it, their eyes glowing like the sun itself was trapped in their head.

“I will free the energy you keep so tightly locked up… I will bring freedom to the world… and I will lead that freedom... to the radiant light of glory.”

Hornet’s heart jerked harshly, eyes growing wide at the unsettling feeling of something touching her powers at their raw source.

She instinctively snapped back her hands from where they were wrapped around the thread, realizing then that the glowing of her power had gained an unnatural orange tint to its light.

The string buzzed as its energy lost its tether, being yanked back to where the figure sat on the rooftop. The loops around them slackened and fell to the floor, fading into nothingness after a moment. Hornet’s needle clinked to the ground loudly in the silence that fell over the group.

Chantilly had turned at some point, and was now stepping towards her, free hand outstretched to where she stood frozen in place.

“...Spider?”

Hornet could hardly hear the hero over the rushing in her ears, thrumming pounding in her head like a drumline. Her vision had lost its orange tint as soon as she had let go of the thread, but she shivered as a crawling sensation still wormed its way underneath her skin.

She stumbled backwards, away from the group. The villain had stopped speaking, and was now staring at her silently. Their eyes were glowing brightly, orange light glinting off of her needle that had fallen to the ground.

Chantilly turned from where she had been creeping towards Hornet, looking back at where the figure sat,

“What did you do to her?!”

The villain made no attempt to respond, simply continuing to stare at Hornet with those piercing eyes. She found herself unable to look away from them, caught in the gaze like a fly in a trap.

-They looked away after a moment, and Hornet felt the air rush back into her lungs. She gasped harshly in surprise, attempting to regain her now-shaky footing.

“You cannot hope to stop my plans… freedom will become imminent. And I will be the orchestrator of its reign.”

Their voice rang clearly out across the space, making Hornet flinch back at the words. A sudden flash of light made her whip her head up, looking up just in time to see Chantilly’s woven cage be shattered by the villain.

They rose up in the air once more as they were freed, their eyes seeming to glow even brighter than before; before suddenly vanishing in a blinding flicker of orange.

Hornet stared up at the spot that they had just been for a beat, before looking back down at the stunned heroes still standing together.

A gentle voice snapped her out of her frozen position, Chantilly quickly raising her hands in a show of mercy as she snapped her head towards the hero.

“Spider? Are you alright? What... What just happened?"

Hornet stepped a foot backwards, fear clouding her mind even at the harmless display. She hesitantly let a flicker of power buzz at her fingertips, tension dropping slightly as she didn’t feel the cold sensation accompany it.

She twisted her wrist sharply, tugging her needle back to herself. Chantilly stepped backwards slightly, still keeping her hands raised even as nervousness clearly showed on her face.

The clinking of metal nearby made her glance to the side, Fool beginning to step towards her. He looked hesitant, but determined, raising his spiked shield in defense at her gaze landing on him. Hornet stepped backwards again, then turned on her heel sharply, running towards the rooftop’s edge. Footsteps followed behind her quickly, and she sped her pace, ignoring the burning pain returning to her chest.

She leaped off of the ledge, throwing her needle at one of the shorter buildings below. The thread unconsciously looped itself around her body in a secure hold, her mind elsewhere as she left the heroes behind.

“I will free the energy you keep so tightly locked up… I will bring freedom to the world… and I will lead that freedom... to the radiant light of glory.”

Hornet felt fear spike her mind at the memory’s reappearance, before quickly brushing it to the side as she landed on another rooftop.

It’ll be fine.

Chapter Text

“JESUS CHRIST!”

Hornet started laughing at the loud exclamation, bracing a hand against the closed window’s surface. Lemm glared at her from the other side, rattling off every curse that he knew.

“You could have knocked!”

The vigilante laughed even harder at that, bringing her other hand to grip at her aching ribs. She jokingly tapped on the window with a single knuckle, receiving a glare from Lemm that made her wheeze even harder.

The panel slid open with a quick motion, and Hornet retreated her hand from it before it could get caught in the frame.

“Alright, get in here- You jerk.”

She wiggled her shoulders through the slim frame, still giggling slightly. Once she landed on the wooden floor, Lemm slammed the window shut, closing the curtains tightly,

“Smithy is out, so you’re getting fixed up by me.”

Hornet groaned playfully, wincing as she moved a bit too quickly. A flare of pain shot down her chest, and she shuddered in discomfort.

Lemm's worried face looked back at her as she walked slowly towards the couch, before being wiped away by a forced expression of indifference. She slumped down on the soft cushions, huffing as the movement sent flames up her ribs again. Lemm walked across the room, disappearing around a corner.

Hornet tilted her head upwards to face the ceiling as he left, staring at the popcorn texture above. A discolored stain sat in one of the room’s corners, small and unnoticeable if she wasn’t looking right at it. The TV nearby buzzed with electricity, making her sigh in frustration. At least this apartment didn’t have fluorescents in it.

The sound of footsteps made her look to the side, watching as Lemm walked back around the corner, now carrying a large grey container with him. Hornet hurried to unclasp her cape from around her neck, settling it against the couch arm. She attempted to pull off her black shirt after managing to get it untucked from her pants waistband, though sucked in a breath between her teeth after the pain made spots flicker into her vision.

Lemm rested the first aid kit on the coffee table, walking over to her with a roll of his eyes. He silently extended a hand towards Hornet, and she nodded at the offer, raising her arms to where they didn’t make her chest scream in agony. He carefully pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it on the seat next to her. 

Hornet then unbuckled the protective armour strapped across her chest, wincing slightly at the pain that the relieved pressure sparked back up. She kept her tank top on, though rolled its edge up to the place where her chest stopped hurting.

Lemm hummed as he kneeled to look at her front, bringing up a hand to prod gently at her side. Hornet hissed at the flare of pain, squeezing her eyes shut before she forced a light smirk onto her face,

“Give it to me straight, doc.”

“I don’t think I can do that.”

She fought her laughter at the response, not wanting to jostle her ribs even more.

Lemm opened the kit’s lid, rummaging around within it for a moment before pulling out a large ice pack. He cracked it over his knee, wrapping a hand towel around it. Hornet took it as he offered it over, placing it on her chest with a wince.

“They seem bruised, not broken. But no crime-fighting until they stop hurting whenever you move.”

She sighed in resignation, already knowing that her friend would say that. 

“Alrig-”

Hornet jumped as she was interrupted, a loud beeping ringing through the apartment. She looked around in confusion for a moment before Lemm tossed her arm communicator at her lap, seeming just as unsure as she was.

She slid her small phone out from the pouch that kept it safe, flipping it over to look at the screen. Her regular phone’s number flashed on the device’s front, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Hornet answered the call after a moment, putting it up to her ear with one hand.

The familiar tones of a robotic voice made her even more confused, tilting her head unconsciously.

“Holly is missing. Left apartment minutes ago. Don’t know why. They didn’t respond when I asked. Was acting really weird.”

Hornet strung the stilted sentences into cohesion with her tired brain, quickly putting together what had happened. She set the ice pack on the table in front of herself, slowly sitting up from her slumped position. Lemm glared at her movements, crossing his arms. She ignored him,

“I’ll be over there in a bit, just stay in the apartment. If Holly comes back then call me again.”

The call ended silently after she finished speaking, and Hornet attempted to stand fully, gritting her teeth against the pain flashing up her front. A hand rested against her shoulder, the other settling underneath her elbow. She looked to the side, seeing Lemm peering down at her.

“What's happening?”

Hornet took a hesitant step forwards, clicking her tongue in frustration at her movements being so restricted,

“That was Ghost, Holly went missing and was acting weird before. I need to get home.”

Lemm shifted his hold on her arm, hunching over to allow her to use his shoulder as a crutch. He matched her steps as she walked towards the door, looking up at her from his position,

“I’ll drive you, let's go.”

Chapter Text

Hornet sighed into the cold air, watching the wind carry her breath away in a pale cloud.

No luck on finding Holly tonight.

She stood, swearing under her breath at the tug of her still-healing ribs.

She was beginning to get desperate. 

At first she had done daily patrols all across the area where her apartment was, then she had expanded her search to the places between her apartment and Holly’s own home that they shared with Ghost. She had filed a missing persons report to the police on the night that they went missing, but hadn’t seen or heard anything about it since she submitted it.

Ghost wasn’t sleeping well, often staying awake during the night - just in case their sibling suddenly returned. Hornet had set alarms to regularly wake herself up and check if they had passed out on the couch, usually ending up carrying them back to her own bed so they wouldn’t be alone when they woke up.

She was tired.

Patrols from dawn to dusk almost every day were exhausting to keep up with, and Hornet found herself often nodding off during her college classes.

She slowly walked to the rooftops edge, weaving a thread around her back in a looping pattern. She stepped off of the edge, free-falling for a moment before flinging her needle out to swing herself across the large gap between buildings.

Hornet carefully landed on another rooftop, grunting as her knees bent and knocked against her chest for a moment.

She froze as voices echoed across the space, dropping down into a hunch despite how badly it pulled at her ribs.

“-go across Crystal. P Street, then meet back at the end of Dirt Road.”

Hornet slowly crept across the building, reaching the side where the voices were coming from. She peeked over the edge, looking down into the alleyway below.

A small group of heroes was standing in the dark space, looking completely out of place in their bright outfits. Hornet peered straight down, flinching back slightly as she caught sight of Chantilly’s familiar white costume.

“Is the road still blocked off at the crossroads? I saw some construction going on there a couple days ago.”

Hornet fully retreated from where she was looking over the small ledge, placing her back against it. A thought was spinning in her mind, and she caught it before it could disappear. It wasn't one that she'd have even considered before Holly vanished, but now...

She squinted in concentration as she mulled it over, before eventually nodding in decision.

This was probably a horrible idea, but she was desperate.

She just hoped that it wouldn’t go too badly.

The conversation below was drawing to a close, so she needed to act fast. Hornet stood from her seated position, turning back around to face the alleyway again. She hadn’t been noticed yet, but she planned to change that. Quickly.

She drew her needle from its sheath, taking a breath before leaping downwards and stabbing the metal tip into the bricks at her side. It made a horrible scratching sound, but was more than enough to draw the heros' attention up to her.

Hornet jumped down onto the rusted fire escape a couple feet below, hiding her wince of pain with a casual flick of her cape. The heroes were successfully now staring up at her, weapons drawn and powers glowing in the darkness. Hornet leaned against the railing, looking down at them with feigned confidence.

“Nice night, isn’t it?”

Light glinted off of Chantilly’s pin as it quickly moved, and Hornet flung her needle down at the hero, knocking the weapon out of her grasp.

“I’d prefer if we could just talk. I’m running low on time, currently.”

Chantilly glared up at her, leaving her pin on the ground as she looked up at the vigilante,

“What do you want, Spider.”

Hornet snorted, tilting her head to the side in a playful motion. “Just to inform you of something. And to make a request.”

Fool shifted his shield, the spikes along the edges flicking out soundlessly,

“We don’t take orders from criminals!”

The hero that Hornet didn’t recognize from before rested a hand on his shoulder, making him quiet down.

“Let's just hear what she has to say.”

Hornet nodded down at them, taking note of their kindness for future reference.

“It is to my knowledge, that somebody has gone missing in this area.”

Chantilly shifted her stance from the defensive pose she was in, seeming now curious rather than wary,

“Where did they go missing?”

“Along Greenpath Street. I only found out because of my… connections within the police. There was a missing persons report submitted the night they went missing, and no search teams have been issued to look for them.”

The heroes glanced between eachother, unsureness clear. Hornet didn’t actually have any connections to the police, but she couldn’t just say that she had somehow randomly found it and totally wasn’t related to the case at all. It also helped that that fact seemed to unsettle them.

“I have a theory that they may have been influenced by another’s powers, as the report didn’t state any signs of a struggle or kidnapping.”

The unfamiliar hero spoke up again, leaning against their weapon,

“Are you asking us to help look for them?”

Hornet nodded, gesturing vaguely with a hand,

“I can’t exactly go out during the day, and can’t really properly search for somebody if I have you guys chasing after me every night. We can help eachother; you get good rep if the person is found, and I can supply you with information about them.”

Chantilly rested her hands on her hips, cocking her head up at Hornet. “How do you know that we don’t have the same information that you do?”

Hornet smiling, despite it being hidden by the masks that she wore. 

“Because you had no clue about the report, and I have my ways of… finding things out.”

Fool snorted, spinning his shield casually,

“And how do we know that this isn’t just one of your plots?”

Hornet gave him a blank look, knowing that her mask would reflect it well enough.

“I don’t ‘plot’, for your information. And even you should know that I wouldn’t endanger a civilian, I’m a vigilante, not a villain.”

The new hero nodded as she spoke, still looking up at her,

“Alright. We’ll keep a watch out for them. Thank you for telling us.”

Hornet dipped her head politely, tossing her needle behind her back to fling herself up onto the rooftop again. She landed neatly on the ledge, turning again to look at the heroes.

“That new villain is still on the loose, so... be careful on your patrol.”

Without waiting for a reply, she spurred herself across the flat concrete, letting out a breath as the tension dropped from her shoulders. That was the first proper conversation she’d ever had with more than one hero, probably. She was thankful that she hadn’t ended up in cuffs.

Hornet let out a quiet swear as she landed on another rooftop, chest burning as she moved.

I need a nap.

Chapter Text

Hornet sneezed.

The loud sound made her jolt harshly, headache stabbing behind her ears.

I hate the cold.

She peered forwards into the darkness, not looking at anything in particular. The sun had set a few hours ago, leaving her on the cold rooftops with nothing but her own body heat.

Her patrols had been going… better, recently. She hadn’t found anything of her missing sibling, but she also hadn’t been chased down by the heroes since her conversation with them a couple nights back. It was nice, to head out around a warm(ish) evening, rather than pitch-black night.

A door slammed somewhere in the distance, and Hornet jumped.

She focused her gaze on the taller buildings she could see, watching their white lights flicker off as people left for home late.

Her own job had thankfully let her take the week off, somehow finding out about her… less than ideal family situation. Her college was less merciful, and she had a backlog of homework that she needed to work on once she got back home.

She regretted having an interest in engineering, sometimes.

A buzzing on her wrist nearby made Hornet fall over from her kneeled position in surprise, scrambling to grab onto the rooftop ledge before she could turn into a vigilante-shaped pancake in the alleyway below.

She hurried to rip off the protective fabric that covered her communicator, glaring down at the glowing screen.

< (UNKNOWN NUMBER) > We found information about the missing person, meet us at the end of Dirt Rd. There's a yellow storage unit group, go to the roof there.

Hornet felt her heart rate pick up as she read the message, starting to move from where she was crouched. A thread idly danced around her arm in excitement, her power humming loudly to be released. She flipped the fabric back over her communicator, drawing her needle. It glinted in the city lights, sharp edge shining. 

Ignoring all of her mind’s cautions about running to a situation with somebody unknown leading her, Hornet leaped off of the rooftop, diving down headfirst into the street. She tossed her needle into the building across the road, the jolt swinging her forwards and up. Her string glowed brightly in the darkness, fueled by her own energy. 

Hornet twisted neatly in the air, stabbing her weapon into another wall as she swung above the honking cars down below. She ignored the loud sounds, mind fuzzing out of focus in the midst of her rushing thoughts;

Holly might still be alive.

Chapter Text

Hornet landed gently on a ledge, peering down at the storage units. Odd shadows moved on one of the small roofs, the mumble of speech reaching her ears faintly. It didn’t look like a fight, or a trap, just a... group of people, standing together in the darkness.

She took a shallow breath, shoving down the nerves that rose up in a tidalwave. Nobody could have known about Holly’s disappearance other than the heroes she had told.

They could have betrayed you. Sold you out to the other less vigilante-friendly people of the city. It could be a trap.

Hornet gritted her teeth, standing fully on the rooftop in a sudden movement. If it was a trap, then so be it. She couldn’t afford to ignore any leads on her sibling.

She flung her needle down more harshly than necessary, stabbing it into the 'floor' between two of the shadows. The talking quieted as Hornet smoothly swung down, not bothering to duck into a roll despite the distance. Looking up after, she instantly knew that this wasn’t a trap.

“Ah, the scarlet Spider finally makes a presence! How... unfortunate.”

Hornet glared at the Troupe Master, yanking her needle out of the ground roughly.

“I see that you’ve still not improved your ridiculous costume, clown face.”

The other vigilante seemed unfazed by her words, simply tilting his head to the side.

“And I see that your colors haven’t changed, little mimicry. Tell me, what-”

A blur of silver shot between the pair, making Hornet take a step back in caution. Troupe Master did the same, glaring at the source of the attack.

Chantilly stood a couple feet away, neatly catching her pin as it snapped back into her grip. An expression of frustration made the mask on her face crinkle amusingly, and Hornet had to stop herself from snorting at the sight.

“Are you two done squabbling? We can start the mission now that Spider is here.”

Hornet turned to fully face the hero, resting a hand on her tilted hip,

“Are you the one that sent me that message? How did you find my number?”

Chantilly smiled at her, teeth glinting threateningly in the few lights that illuminated the storage units.

“I have my ways, little spider.”

Wow! How totally not terrifying at all!

“Should we debrief, or are we just going to go in?”

Hornet looked towards the new voice, turning away from Chantilly. Isopod stood a couple feet away, facing her with a tilted head.

“What information did you find about the missing person?”

The hero stepped forwards slightly, raising a hand to adjust his mask-helmet.. thing.

“We got a tip from one of the minor villains around here that the new big bad was sighted nearby, then another one was more recently delivered about a civilian acting… odd in this area.”

“The civilian’s description matched the missing person's report closely, so we figured it was worth a shot to check it out.”

Hornet nodded slowly, turning slightly to face the new hero who had joined the conversation. They were the same one as before, the same almost bag-like covering shielding their face from sight.

“If you think that the new villain has something to do with this, why didn’t you bring more… hefty reinforcements?”

She ignored the scoff that game from Troupe Master nearby, crossing her arms in front her chest.

Isopod and the other hero looked towards eachother silently, fidgeting in almost nervous movements.

“We… thought it’d be best to go in with a smaller group. And most vigilantes tend to know this area better than us, since they don’t stick to the main city.”

“What he means to say, is that our employer is an asshole who doesn’t care about things that don’t affect property value.”

Hornet startled at the voice, turning around quickly. Chantilly stood nearby with her own arms crossed, frustration clear despite the mask partially hiding her face.

“Yeah, we… didn’t really feel like trying to get this approved.”

Troupe Master sauntered up to Isopod’s side, clapping a hand on the hero's shoulder,

“Now you’re just as illegal as us!”

Hornet forced down a laugh at the appalled expression on Isopod’s face, finding that she couldn’t disagree for once with the other vigilante’s words.

A loud bang! close by made her instinctively drop down into a crouch, silence quickly falling over the small group as the others mimicked her movement. She waited a couple of heartbeats, frozen in place on the cold cement.

A small movement made Hornet twitch her head to the side, watching Isopod slowly move to peek over the short ledge. The hero looked around for a moment, then turned back to the group, raising a hand in a thumbs-up.

Hornet let out a breath, standing slowly. 

“I’ll lead towards the suspected location, follow closely.”

Nods came from the whole group at the whispered instructions, and Isopod stepped between them to the unit’s edge, speeding up his pace quickly before he launched himself off. Hornet followed a couple meters behind the hero as he jumped between the thin gaps of the buildings, avoiding the circles of lamppost lights in some spots.

Small scuffs of feet trailed after her, and she heard the familiar nearly-silent clinking of Chantilly’s pin in its sheath.

Isopod slowed suddenly though after just a few seconds, stopping at the edge of where the storage units' pale rooftops dropped into darkness. A distant shape loomed ahead of them, dimmed lights showing dark grey paint covering the building’s surface.

He turned back, facing the group fully, then raised his hands.

It took Hornet a moment to recognize the signs, and she felt oddly shocked at the heroes knowing ASL to communicate silently. Though it probably shouldn’t have surprised her as much as it did, to be honest.

“Spider and T-I-L-L-Y go around left of grey warehouse, I’ll lead the rest right. Only enter when T receives signal.”

Hornet nodded at the instructions, already moving towards the edge of the storage unit. Chantilly took a moment to quickly sign something at Isopod that she couldn’t catch, the other hero nodding sharply in response after a moment.

Chantilly turned to follow after her movements, and Hornet took that as a signal to jump into the unlit space below, lingering in the darkness until she heard a heavy thump! land beside her. A familiar gloved hand wrapped around her wrist, and Hornet felt her nerves relax.

The hero tugged her forwards quickly, leading her further away from the lights of the storage units. Wet grass squished underneath Hornet’s boots, and she stepped closer to the hero’s presence.

A sharp rattling made her pause, freezing in place as Chantilly guided her hand up.

Cold metal pressed against her palm, the chill still reaching her even through the gloves that she wore.

Hornet wrapped her fingers around the thin lattice, realizing that the pattern was that of a fence. Chantilly’s hand disappeared suddenly, the movement followed by a quiet rattling audibly ascending beside her.

She raised her other hand to the metal, bracing a foot against the fence to follow after the hero. 

Ignoring the unstable shaking of the barrier, Hornet quickly scaled the surface, dropping down over the other side once she reached the top. Chantilly’s hand found her own again, gripping her palm instead of her wrist this time. The hero’s tug of movement made her mind snap away from the new sensation, and she filed the warm feeling away to think about it later.

The warehouse's lights slowly grew brighter as the pair jogged across the grass, and Hornet squinted at the large shape.

No cameras appeared to be on the outside, doorways shut and dimly lit by flickering bulbs. It honestly looked abandoned, dark paint blotchy and peeling into paler shades on the bricks of the building.

Chantilly led her to a taller building beside the warehouse, dropping her hand as the grass faded into concrete underneath their feet. Hornet followed after the hero as she quickly scaled a ladder hanging from the wall, pressing down her nerves at the rusted creaking of the metal bars.

Chantilly crouched down at the edge of the building, bracing her hands on the raised ledge. Hornet mimicked her position, peering down at the warehouse.

Large windows were positioned a little bit downwards from where they were, small ledges peeking out from their bottoms. No visible security systems seemed to poke out from their tops, and Hornet took that as a safe way to get inside. The door further down wasn’t even considered to be an option, the solid wall that surrounded it a safe and sure way to accidentally set off a hidden sensor.

A tap on Hornet’s shoulder made her glance over at Chantilly, looking down at the hero’s quick signing.

“We’ll go in through the closest window. Can you jump over and crack open the frame?”

The vigilante nodded, already rising from her lowered position. Unsheathing her needle, she flung it into the brick above one of the windows, stepping off and letting her string yank her upwards to the ledge.

Landing on the tiny platform carefully, Hornet tucked herself against the brickwork’s lip, keeping a hand wrapped around her thread to help stabilize herself. She peered curiously into the warehouse through the glass, feeling disappointed when all that she could see was darkness, only once interrupted by the distinctive red light of a breaker box.

Hornet lowered her free hand to the window’s bottom lock, feeling an unyielding tug when she pushed on it at first. She frowned, before taking a moment to dig through her meager toolkit, producing a folded knife from her hip bag and flipping the blade out, before tapping it once on the latch's seam.

I really hope there aren’t any alarms.

With that small prayer, Hornet raised the knife slightly, then plunged it down into the lock's thin gap, hearing the old wood creak under the new pressure. Wiggling it to the left, a sharp crackling sound made her flinch slightly, and she yanked the knife out of the latch. 

Hornet hesitantly pushed on the window’s bottom again, feeling it stick for a moment before flipping upwards under the force. Some part of the lock tumbled down beside her boot’s toe, and she felt slightly guilty at destroying the old mechanism.

The vigilante looked towards where Chantilly was watching her, giving the hero a thumbs-up as she yanked her needle out of the bricks above.

“Good to go, I-S-O-P-O-D signaled.”

Hornet nodded again at the signs, bracing one hand against the windowsill’s top, and one at its side. She leaned over into the open space, not for the first time wishing that Lemm would install some sort of night vision into her mask.

The vigilante held her breath as she swung her legs into the cold air of the warehouse, turning her head back to face Chantilly as she propped her lower body up on the ledge.

Hornet grinned underneath her mask, even though the other couldn’t see it, and playfully saluted the hero with one raised hand,

Then pushed herself off into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Hornet dropped into a stilted roll as soon as she felt the ground touch the tips of her boots, flopping gracelessly down onto the concrete floor in a pile of limbs.

At least she didn’t bust a knee.

The vigilante sat up carefully, internally groaning at the small ache wrapping itself around her right ankle.

Scratch that last thought, it turns out that she can't go a single mission without getting injured.

A heavy-sounding weight dropped down beside her, landing much more gracefully and silently than Hornet’s own attempt. A warm hand pressed against her shoulder, and she smiled at the comforting feeling it gave her.

Then instantly dropped the expression.

Chantilly is the enemy! Why does my brain feel safe with her around?

Hornet brushed away her distracting thoughts, slowly standing up. The spike of pain in her ankle helped to get her mind away from the odd emotions lingering in her chest.

The hero gave her a moment to collect her bearings, then slid her hand downwards to grip Hornet’s own again, tugging the vigilante forwards. 

I really need to ask Lemm to get some night vision on my goggles. Being led around by a hero in the dark isn’t… the best situation.

Hornet’s thoughts snapped off suddenly as her foot brushed against an odd shape, instinctively making her jerk forwards in surprise. 

The change in movement unbalanced her, and the vigilante felt herself begin to rapidly fall through the air, panic spiking through her mind.

Jolting to a harsh stop, she blinked down at the concrete floor that was just a foot away from her face.

Wait, she could see it?

Looking further down, Hornet’s heart jerked in fear at the familiar sight of Chantilly’s woven, glowing threads wrapped around her torso, then remembered the situation.

She peered sheepishly upwards at where the hero stood in front of her, raising her gaze to her unimpressed expression.

Bringing a fist up to her chest, Hornet circled it quickly, feeling the odd warmth of the others power slowly start to dissipate back into darkness.

Chantilly snorted out a quiet laugh, lowering one hand in the dimming light to help the vigilante not fall flat onto the ground like she nearly already did.

Hornet took it, dropping into a kneel as the structure completely faded away, leaving her chest buzzing weirdly.

“Come on. We still don’t know if this place has security systems, and-”

The hero’s whispering was cut off by an odd noise to the left of the pair, echoing around the space in a way that distorted the sound into an ominous rumble.

Hornet snapped her head towards the source, unconsciously gripping Chantilly’s hand a bit tighter as she froze in her movements to stand back up.

Orange specks were flickering on in the darkness, surrounding where the duo stood together. More of what she quickly realized were groans followed after the first, toned in different voices that rose and fell in waves.

The vigilante felt herself be roughly yanked upwards to stand, the familiar sound of Chantilly’s pin being drawn adding to the growing noises around the warehouse. Hornet followed suit and unsheathed her own needle, the shimmering thread flickering hesitantly in the unlit space.

For a moment, the vigilante swore its light became tinted orange, before it switched back to its natural white shade. Hornet felt her nerves spike at the sight.

A sharp hissing made her head snap to the side though, turning her needle to face the new noise.

A face shown through in the darkness, illuminated by her power’s dim glow. 

A person was standing around a meter away from the pair, a couple inches shorter than Hornet, and with messy hair framing their face gently. A… flashlight? Rested on the crown of their head, the strap looped above their ears carefully.

The vigilante wasn’t too focused on their appearance though, only having eyes for the other’s own.

Two bright orange lights made her needle glint in the new light, shining like spotlights in the darkness. Hornet felt a shiver creep up her spine at the sight.

Backing up slightly, her shoulder knocked into Chantilly’s, a tremble making its way from the hero’s body onto her own.

Hornet snapped out a quiet whisper, pressing herself against the hero’s back with a flinch at the hissing growing in volume,

“Wasn’t Isopod supposed to be in here?”

“He said they’d go around another way!”

The person that Hornet was still facing snapped their jaws, teeth clicking together in a sharp sound. Orange goop spattered out of their mouth, landing on the ground a couple inches away from her boots.

“Fuck.”

The sound of shattering glass made both the vigilante, hero, and the… infected? person snap their heads towards the interruption.

A dark silhouette was perched in one of the largest rooftop windows, high above the collection of other people in the warehouse. Shards of sharp glass rained down onto the empty floor below, shining in the moonlight entering around the figure.

“We have arrived, puny insects!”

Not for the first time, Hornet wished she didn’t have a no-kill policy.

Troupe Master stood in the now-empty frame of the window, torn cape flickering dramatically in the space.

Where on earth is that wind coming from? It was perfectly fine weather a couple minutes ago!

Another round of hisses built up from the crowd of people in the space, orange eyes now pointed upwards at the vigilante.

Troupe Master seemed to finally notice the situation below, tilting his masked face down at Hornet and Chantilly.

“...Oh dear.”

The infected mob seemed to take that as their cue, surging into movement as one single force. Some jumped upwards, spitting orange goo at the vigilante from far away. While others looked towards the pair standing together on the warehouse floor, and bared their teeth in threat, stepping forwards as one.

…Shit.

Chapter Text

Hornet dived to the side to avoid getting bitten, sending a whipping loop of thread to knock a couple of the converging people to the ground. They got right back up afterwards, snarling with orange froth lining their mouths.

Annoyed shouts came from the broken window’s direction, though she didn’t spare a moment to glance up at the noises.

Chantilly barreled past her side, leaping directly into a horde of people. Hornet felt a spark of panic jolt down her spine as she watched the other, before it eased as she noticed the hero’s latticework quickly surround and trap a good portion of the infected.

The vigilante slashed her needle around in a spinning motion, sending back a couple people that had gotten too close in her moment of distraction.

A small, stocky shadow dropped down in front of her, and Hornet nearly stabbed the person in surprise, thankfully stopping herself just in time.

The new hero from before nodded sharply at her, then stepped up to her side, brandishing a thick club at their front. A glance towards Chantilly told her that Isopod had joined the hero, and Troupe Master’s pinkish flames could be seen flashing from across the warehouse, their color dimmed down into a low heat.

Hornet twisted her needle’s end sharply, stabbing it down then up in a sudden movement. Her glowing string wrapped itself around a smaller group of infected, then launched them back into one of the warehouse's corners, keeping them low enough to the ground that no bones were at risk of being broken. On her left, the hero slammed her club on the ground, causing vibrations to buzz up Hornet’s legs. The motion seemed odd until the vigilante noticed a large sinkhole dropping down the floor nearby, its walls deep enough that the people trapped inside couldn’t climb out easily.

Hornet jerked backwards as an infected charged towards her, her thread busy pressing a group of people back into the new hole’s space.

A blur of movement flashed in front of her, and the vigilante flinched slightly in surprise as Isopod slammed into the person’s front, sending them hurtling back.

The hero looked towards her, weapon raised to defend his open side,

“There's more of that orange stuff leading down to where I think the basement is, we’ll hold off and trap the rest of these people if you can scout out what might be down there.”

Hornet gave him a thumbs-up, snatching her needle out of the air as it snapped back to her. Isopod turned back to the fight, spinning smoothly to avoid an infected sinking their jaws into his arm.

The vigilante glanced around the space, finding the place that the hero had mentioned easily. Glowing orange blobs littered the wall around the open doorway, their light continuing down into the faint shadows.

She started running towards the spot, leaving Isopod to stay with the other hero. (Hornet really needed to ask for their name)

She waved at Chantilly as she passed by her and Troupe Master, huffing out a laugh at the other vigilante’s obvious struggles to not accidentally burn the large amount of infected people converging on him.

Turning on her heel, Hornet stepped up to the doorway that Isopod had indicated. Orange light glinted off of the metal railing leading down into the stairway, and she felt her nerves spark up again in full force.

Swallowing down the growing feeling of fear, Hornet started hurrying down into the darkness, leaving the loud sounds of the fight behind. And as she walked down the steps, she watched as more and more bulbs of orange flickered into brightness at her disturbance. 

I’m never drinking orange juice again after this.

The vigilante squinted into the dim lights that surrounded her, holding her needle’s handle in a white-knuckled grip.

A change in the shadows made her pause for a moment, the sudden stop making the shaking in her hands ever the more obvious.

The stairwell opened up into a darker space up ahead, orange blobs suddenly dropping off into complete darkness.

Goddamn it.

Hornet didn’t take a moment to let her nerves grow even more, resuming her pace down the stairs and crossing the threshold of light as soon as she reached it.

A chill surrounded her body suddenly, and the vigilante watched from her peripheral vision as the meager source of illumination dimmed down into a complete wash of black.

Goddamn it!

The sudden sound of something rattling made Hornet tug on the buzz of her power, the glowing string flickering in time with her fluttering heartbeat.

It hardly illuminated everything, and the vigilante felt frustration spark in her mind at the weak light.

Her annoyance faded suddenly  though as a bright flash flickered into life, making her slam her eyes shut. The rattling continued loudly as she stumbled backwards.

After a moment, Hornet cracked open an eyelid, hesitant just in case something would surprise her again.

The space around her was illuminated now, dulled, orange blobs resting along the walls of the small basement in short mounds. Grey tiles covered the floor, scuffed and scratched deeply with years of use and carelessness.

Raising her gaze from the ground, Hornet stepped back slightly in shock, staring ahead into the center of the room.

Chains were hooked onto the floor and ceiling of the basement, cracks spreading out from where they were attached. They moved in jerking motions, clinking against eachother loudly.

Hornet’s mind wasn’t focused on them, though. 

A figure was wrapped in the chains, tall form swaddled in them like a blanket. A mask rested where their head would have been slumped, the horned shape an unsettling mimic of Hornet’s own.

A familiar grey sweater was criss-crossed over with the silver links, torn and haggard rather than the careful neatness that she was so used to seeing.

She stepped forwards hesitantly, reaching a hand out in a plea for the person to respond to her presence,

“Hollow?”

Her sibling’s head snapped up, black eyeholes looking down at Hornet.

She slowly lowered her needle from where it had been raised at her side, keeping her posture unthreatening,

“I’m here to get you out, alright?”

They didn’t respond, voice silent and hands… well. Their hands were trapped at their sides, though they didn’t twitch or give any indication of trying to sign to her.

“...Holly?”

Her sibling jerked at that, body convulsing in the chains in a jerking motion. Hornet ran forwards to them, dropping her needle to the ground in a loud clatter.

“Holly! Holly- please! I’ll get you out in a moment, just please-”

A horrible tearing sound rang through the basement, the grating noise of metal screeching making Hornet force herself to not step back from her sibling. Their struggles grew into violent wrenches, chains clanking loudly underneath the other sounds. 

Sharp beams of white light suddenly shot out from Holly’s form, slamming into the ground where the chains were attached. Their body dropped harshly as the links suspending them in the air were severed, heavily landing in front of Hornet in a hunched stance.

She stepped forwards slightly, raising her palms in a gesture of peace.

“Holly?”

The mask that her sibling wore slowly raised to look at her, tall horns tilting backwards.

Hornet met their eyes, feeling her heart lurch at the sight before her.

An orange light pulsed in their mask’s eyeholes.

Chapter Text

Hornet was first told about her father when she was eleven.

Herrah had raised her for all of her life, teaching Hornet how to survive in the world. She wasn’t the… greatest mother, but she tried her best. 

But as Hornet grew older, she wondered why she never remembered having a father. Some other kids at her school also only had a single parent, and always told her that they recalled at least knowing that they existed at one point. Hornet had nothing.

One afternoon, she decided to ask Herrah,

“Do I have a father?”

Her mother jolted slightly, snapping up from her position at the piano. 

She tilted her head to the side curiously, looking down at Hornet’s shorter form,

“Why do you ask?”

“Did he die?”

Herrah sighed, fully turning around to face her,

“No, spiderling. Your father is alive and well.”

Hornet furrowed her brows, clutching the small pillow that she held closer to her chest,

“Then why isn’t he here? Does he not like me?”

“Your father was… specific about your upbringing. I haven’t seen him myself since you were born.”

“Does he not like you?”

Her mother chuckled, sliding off of the piano’s seat to kneel in front of her,

“In a different way than you’d expect, spiderling. I’ll explain this more when you get older, but for now, you’re still a bit too young to know about it.”

Hornet pouted, huffing in frustration at the answer. Herrah smiled at the expression, patting her head gently.

-

Thoughts of her father followed Hornet for years after that discussion, haunting her nights with questions left unanswered.

And when she was fourteen, she decided to find out more. Whether her mother wanted her to or not.

Her socks padded silently across the floor, heels raised carefully as she kept to the walls, shadows deep around her.

Hornet reached the study’s door, resting one hand against the doorknob as she took a breath.

She swung it open a couple inches, then wiggled her way inside, closing it carefully after herself.

Hornet took a small flashlight out from her pocket, flicking it on. It illuminated the dark room in front of her, shining onto the closed curtains.

She swung it to the left, watching as its beam landed on a skewed desk, resting against one of the walls.

There it is.

Hornet quickly hurried over to the desk, placing her flashlight between her shoulder and cheek. She tugged open one of the drawers, closing it as soon as she saw the empty space.

She continued her search through four more drawers, only finding small collections of pens or other stationary tools.

On the last drawer, Hornet paused before opening it, taking a moment to breathe. 

She rolled it open, smiling slightly at the sight that was revealed.

Her flashlight shown down on a large slip of paper, violet colors dulled under the bright light.

Hornet carefully pulled her birth certificate out, setting it down on the floor below. She started searching the small, neat writing for what she came for.

Name, birth date, birth place… where is it?

She chewed on her bottom lip anxiously, eyebrows pulled together in concentration.

Mother’s maiden name… There!

Father’s Name: Pallidus King

Hornet quickly wrote down the name on a slip of paper, stuffing it into her pocket. She set her birth certificate back in the drawer, shutting it slowly.

She turned back to the study’s door, clicking her flashlight off as soon as it creaked open under her pull.

The floor outside was cold under her feet, chilling her even through her socks.

She started the journey back to her room, rush of adrenaline gone now that her goal had been achieved.

“Hornet? What are you still doing up?”

Her head snapped to the side, landing on Herrah’s form, standing across the hallway.

Brain still struggling with the crash of energy, she took a moment to answer, fumbling with her words awkwardly,

“I was- I just couldn’t sleep. Decided to take a walk.”

Her mother’s eyebrows creased slightly, and she strode towards Hornet.

“Well, let's go back to your room. It's cold out here, and I don’t want you to get sick.”

She nodded, allowing Herrah to lead the way down the hallway. 

Her hand idly found its way into her pocket as she walked, fingertips brushing against the piece of paper inside. 

Hornet smiled slightly, heartbeat thrumming again in excitement.

Chapter Text

Hornet flinched back at the orange light glimmering within her sibling’s mask, a cold feeling trickling down her spine.

Their head followed the movement, hunched posture leant down to match her own height.

Hornet looked down at a sudden scraping sound, heart still pounding heavily in her ears.

A long needle, nearly identical to her own, was grasped tightly in Holly’s hand, cracked blade glinting dully in the orange light surrounding them.

It moved against the ground again, tip leaving a thin scratch in the stone as it was brought forwards.

Hornet was suddenly very aware of her own needle laying on the floor, feet away.

The sound of metal rattling brought her out of her rushing thoughts, and she looked towards the noise.

Holly’s legs were still bound in silver cuffs, trailing links moving as their feet slowly shuffled forwards. 

Hornet stepped backwards slightly as her sibling moved, raising her gaze to their mask again. The same orange eyes stared back at her, piercing into her own coldly.

Something suddenly shifted in their stance, Hornet’s peripheral vision catching the new movement. Her body was jolting to the side before she could realize what had happened, a loud ringing sound echoing in her left ear.

Once her thoughts had caught up, she found herself kneeling on the ground, knee digging into a loose pebble uncomfortably. Her head quickly turned to face where she had previously been standing.

Holly’s weapon was embedded in the concrete, mask turned downwards. Their gaze slowly lifted towards her, emotionless eyes sending chills down her back again.

Hornet flung herself backwards on instinct, wind buffeting her cape to the side as she moved. Her sibling stood in front of her, needle extended into the space where she had just been. The edge shined threateningly.

Her foot shuffled slightly, clinking against something with a small sound. She ignored the instinct to look backwards.

Another twitch from Holly made her spin to the left, leaping upwards to avoid the slashing blade aimed towards her legs. She landed on the floor in a smooth movement, pulse beating in her wrists heavily.

Hornet ducked once more at another swipe, stumbling backwards awkwardly. Her foot hit against something again.

She risked a glance down, eyes widening at the sight of her needle resting against the ground. A stab cracked into the concrete beside her, far too close for comfort.

Another shuffle backwards from her, another lurching movement forwards from Holly. It felt almost like a dance.

Stepping to the right, she gained an opening for a moment.

Hornet took it, tugging on her buzzing power harshly. A string looped itself around her hand, whipping out into the open air towards her needle.

It snapped back into her palm with a yanking sensation, cold handle making the fear in her chest ease slightly.

Her sibling’s attacks paused for a moment, orange glow almost seeming to dull. Her heart jolted violently at the sight, before sinking back down as the brightness returned full force into their eyes.

Hornet raised her weapon in a block as Holly swung at her again, the force of the blow unbalancing her as the sound of metal clashing rang in her ears. She stumbled to the side for a moment, messily dodging another attack aimed at her chest.

I can’t keep this up.

The thought came to her as another crack was added to the concrete near her boots, close enough to make her legs buzz with the needle’s force. Her eyes flickered around the space, looking for something, anything to help her in the fight. Silver chains and orange blobs were the only things that she saw.

Hornet paid for her distracted moment with a hit against her right hip, her sibling’s weapon easily slicing through the pouch on her waist. 

She hissed at the sharp sparks of pain, pressing her left hand against the new wound as she flinched backwards. It was already wet, and she didn’t have to look at it to know that she was bleeding down her leg.

Gaze landing on one of the longer chains trailing from her sibling’s arm, a plan started to slowly form in her mind.

Hornet blocked another stab at her leg, using the movement to step to her left. Holly followed her movements quickly, eyes like orange spotlights. She jogged backwards in half-faked caution, leading her sibling forwards. Her needle was kept out in front of her, raised in a defensive position.

A triumphant brightness shone through their mask’s eyes, seeming to think that they had succeeded in making her drop all thoughts into panicked instincts. Hornet kept the act up as she froze, suddenly standing still.

Holly raised their weapon in a great sweeping motion, then sent it hurtling down straight towards her face.

Hornet dived to the left, letting the needle embed itself in the sunken ground behind where she had been. Pre-existing cracks grew as the blade was shoved into the concrete, the sound of small rocks hitting metal echoing around the basement.

Her sibling tugged up on the needle once they realized that she wasn’t speared on it, arm straining to pull the weapon out of the hole.

It didn’t budge, only an ominous creaking sound resulting from the attempt.

Hornet smiled wildly underneath her mask, the pain in her hip being shoved into the back of her mind for the moment. She stood quickly from her crouched position, Holly still distracted with trying to yank their needle out of the floor.

Her own weapon buzzed with power, and she idly shifted her grip on the handle.

Hornet’s boots crunched loudly against the debris littering the floor as she walked forwards, grey dust surely now coating her clothes in a thick layer. Her sibling’s mask snapped up to face her as she moved, finally noticing the noise. 

She forced down the involuntary shiver as she met their gaze, speeding up her pace. 

They abandoned the weapon stuck in the ground, lurching towards her with hands outstretched. She dodged the attempt, letting them grab at the empty air beside her.

Hornet’s hip sang with discomfort as she raised her arm back, a faint shimmer of white thread looping itself around her wrist.

She flung the needle forwards, metal ringing in the air as it flew. Holly’s attention remained focused on her, hunched gait moving to step towards her.

Their progress was brought to a sudden halt as a glowing string circled around their arm, twining itself in the chain that hung from their wrist. They looked down at the distraction, focus broken for a moment.

Hornet’s needle snapped back to her palm in a sharp movement, and she threw it out again just as quickly as it returned. Another thread spiraled around her sibling’s shoulder, and she tugged roughly on her weapon as soon as it reached her hand again. The movement tied the two separate tangles together, making Holly’s arms snap together at their sides. They stumbled uncertainly at the restriction, legs awkwardly splayed out for balance.

Hornet’s head buzzed in a faint ache as her power was strained, pain flickering up from her side in waves. 

Her needle thrummed as she sent it out again, circling her sibling’s legs in a twisting pattern. She yanked against the metal again as it hit against her palm, and Holly’s knees buckled in a sudden jolt. 

They kneeled in the dust in front of her, head raised and orange eyes glowing angrily. The sight didn’t deter her from walking closer to them, right leg limping slightly.

“I… really hope this works. I’ve missed you, Holly.”

Hornet raised her needle in one hand, taking a breath, 

then plunged it downwards.

The tip of her weapon made contact with the space above their right eyehole, a loud cracking sound accompanying it.

As she watched, a large split formed across their mask’s face, thick lines crossing over their eye. No gasping or screaming came from them, silence falling heavy in the space. It was almost worse than if they had made noise.

The orange light within their right eye dulled down, turning into a deep black. Hornet loosened her grip on her needle at the sight.

The left side of their mask slowly started to separate, shadows splitting to reveal a pale face underneath. 

A clatter echoed around the space as the mask fully fell off, split in two. A small breath followed after the sound, gentle and natural.

Hornet ignored the blurriness in her eyes as she gently rested a palm against her sibling’s face, watching as their eyes opened fully, blinking.

Deep grey eyes stared back at her, bloodshot and bleary, but no less the same as she remembered.

She smiled underneath her mask again, a sob shaking her chest roughly,

“Hey there, Holly.”

Chapter Text

“You are really heavy.”

Holly huffed in response to the statement, weight shifting to be more on Hornet’s shoulder. She stumbled slightly at the change, righting herself with an annoyed glare towards them.

The alleyway around them was almost completely dark, moonlight just barely illuminating the tops of the trash cans nearby.

They’d already tripped over six different things, and Hornet was getting frustrated at the slow pace.

She knew that her sibling was moving as fast as they could, effort obvious in each lurching step that they took. But it still made her nervous to be out so late in the evening. The sun would come up in just a couple hours.

At least they were away from the warehouse now, small blessings. 

Hornet had only just managed to convince the heroes gathered at the stairway’s top that she could help Holly to their home, and it had taken some arguing before the new hero (who she had found out then was named Warrior) brought up the fact that the mission was still considered unauthorized by their higher-ups, so they needed to get out before the police got there

The heroes reluctantly left after that, leaving Hornet with Troupe Master. The other vigilante hadn’t even offered to help her with Holly, leaving the pair with an overly dramatic wave of his cape before he ran off. 

She didn’t expect anything less from him, to be fair.

Though navigating by street rather than rooftop was… harder than it seemed, it turned out. Hornet had already gotten lost twice before her sibling could check the road signs and figure out where exactly they were. Even in the half-asleep and injured state they were in, they still helped as much as they could. It reminded Hornet of how much she had missed them while they were gone.

Something clattered in the darkness, a pale blur moving past them. Hornet stopped walking at the disturbance, taking a hand off of her sibling’s shoulder to rest against her needle.

A small white cat meowed down at her from its vantage point on top of a garbage can, tilting its head curiously.

Her breath rushed out of her in a relieved sigh, nerves easing back down from where they had spiked. She raised her hand to Holly again, patting their back in reassurance. 

“Just a cat, let's keep moving.”

Her sibling stepped forward again, bowed head turning back to face front. Hornet followed after them, keeping an eye on the path ahead.

-

“What the fuck.”

Hornet waved awkwardly at Lemm through the door’s screen, shifting her grip on Holly’s slowly collapsing form.

“Heyyy buddy! Pal! Frien-”

“Get inside.”

She nodded hurriedly at the order, stepping forwards into the opening. Her sibling jolted as she moved them, almost like they had been fallen asleep, and been woken up.

Lemm kicked the door closed with a foot after they were inside, turning around to rush off into a hallway nearby. Hornet looked to where she knew the living room was, feeling faintly guilty at not being able to take off her dirty boots before stepping onto the carpet.

She didn’t notice her hold on Holly slipping until they started to tilt sideways, head lolling in an awkward position. Hornet’s exhaustion snapped out of her in an instant, and she rushed to catch them underneath the shoulders. Their limp weight nearly dragged her down to her knees, exhaustion seeming to have finally caught up with them in the form of unconsciousness. Hornet gritted her teeth, tugging her sibling towards the nearby couch.

After a good bit of straining, she succeeded in managing to lay their body propped up against one of the arms, legs splayed out loosely on the floor. She wheezed heavily, bruised chest burning against the exercise.

“So, you finally found them?”

Hornet startled at the voice, turning around to face the open doorway. Lemm stood a couple feet away, one eyebrow raised curiously. 

“Yeah… had some help, though.”

Her friend hummed in acknowledgement, stepping closer to where Holly’s sleeping form sat. He set a large medkit beside them, opening it quickly.

“Is that a new kit? I don’t recognize it.”

Lemm didn’t look up at her, keeping his focus on her sibling as he pulled out a pair of blue gloves from the box,

“I’ve always had it. It's just higher quality than the one I use for you.”

Hornet glared at the side of his head, slowly lowering herself down onto a beanbag across from the couch,

“Am I not worth good quality stuff?”

Her friend glanced over at her, an incredulous expression across his face.

She didn’t bother responding to that.

Hornet slipped a hand onto the back of her head, unclipping her mask from her hood’s edges and pulling it off. Her gas mask and goggles followed after it, and she set them down on the ground at her feet.

The sound of a light switching on made her look up, watching as Lemm shined a small penlight into Holly’s eyes while he held the lids open. 

He flicked the light off after a moment, facing back towards where she sat,

“No concussion or severe injuries that I can see. They seem malnourished and dehydrated, so I’ll get some juice and soup for when they wake up.”

Hornet nodded as he spoke, thankful that a hospital visit wasn’t absolutely necessary. Her sibling hadn’t seemed too injured as they walked in the alleyways, just tired. She was glad that that was the case. She watched as Lemm carefully lifted Holly up onto the couch’s side, resting their head back gently.

“Are you injured at all?”

Her drifting thoughts were snapped back into reality as Lemm continued speaking, startling slightly at the noise.

“Uh- I feel... fine?”

He squinted disbelievingly, before rolling his eyes and standing,

“Think back a bit to make sure, I’m gonna go get some stuff for Holly.”

Hornet tapped her fingers against her knee idly as she thought, mind flickering from the memories of past hour’s events. Had she been injured? She just felt tired, though she did remember feeling… something hurt during the fight. Did she twist her ankle or something?

She looked down at her boots, rocking her heels slightly to test how it felt. It didn’t send any pain shooting up either of her legs. Maybe she was fine?

Her cape tugged on her neck uncomfortably as she moved, and she huffed in annoyance at the feeling, raising a hand to unclip it. The red fabric made an odd sound as Hornet laid it across her lap, almost crackling. She looked down at it in confusion, turning it over so the inside was facing up.

A dark stain covered one side of the cape, tinting the material into a deeper shade of red. Hornet touched it gently, small flecks of dried brown coming off onto her gloves.

The sound of footsteps made her look up, watching as Lemm reentered the room with a small collection of juice boxes and plastic bowls in hand. He set the items down onto the coffee table, glancing back over at her as he did so.

“Find anything?”

Hornet shrugged, tapping a finger against her cape in a fidget. Her friend’s eyes tracked the movement, suddenly growing wider in an instant. He stepped over to her quickly, roughly grasping the fabric in one hand.

“Blood? Where were you hurt?”

She leaned back at the questions, raising her arms in defense,

“I’m not sure! I just feel sore, not stabbed!”

Lemm rolled his eyes, settling down into a kneeling position before her, “Well, this is obviously yours. You can’t really get an enemy's blood on the inside of your outfit!"

Her friend’s hands prodded at her front cautiously, tugging on the layers that she wore. Hornet let him work, lifting her arms to give him space,

“I was walking fine when I got Holly here, maybe it's just-”

Her sentence was cut short by a sharp, painful sensation ripping through her right hip, making her breath shudder loudly.

“Yeah, that's not nothing. C’mon, sit on the couch.”

Hornet allowed Lemm to pull her up by the arm, bringing her other hand to gently poke at where the feeling had come from. Another flare of pain made her retreat quickly, lowering herself carefully down onto the couch’s cushions. She watched as her friend pulled out another pair of gloves from within the medkit, accompanied by a set of small scissors.

“This is why I hate the fact that you wear black, I can’t see when you’re hurt.”

Hornet set a hand over her heart, grinning down at the man from where he crouched,

“Aww, it almost sounds like you care about me! How swee- SHIT!”

She forced herself to not keel over at the sensation of something yanking on her injury, gripping the couch’s armrest so hard that it creaked.

“‘Not hurt’ my ass. Hold still.”

“Shhh- mm… what do you think I’m doing- moTHER FUCKER!”

The sound of snipping was quiet underneath Hornet’s rushing pulse, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain tearing through her side.

The feeling eventually ended after what felt like hours, and she hesitantly blinked open her blurry eyes. Lemm’s hands retreated from her side after a moment, clinking making her look down.

Her friend peered back up at her in frustration as he looked through the medkit, extracting a small, white box from one of the sides. He gestured at her side in an annoyed movement, taking off his gloves.

“This is what happens when you get enough adrenaline that you don’t notice yourself bleeding out. Be thankful that you didn’t pass out or something.”

Hornet looked down at where he had motioned to, ignoring the small flares of pain dancing up her torso. A clotted wound stared her back, an odd black color crusted with brown in a jagged line down the center.

Wait, why was it so dark?

“Why is my blood… black?”

Lemm returned to her front in a swift movement, point at the injury with one finger,

“That's not your blood. That's fabric stuck to the wound.”

Hornet’s stomach lurched at the statement, noticing the pattern of knit material now that it had been pointed out.

“How… are you gonna get it off?”

Her friend stood up, holding out a hand to her,

“Water. C’mon, let’s get you to where you won’t bleed all over my furniture.”

Chapter Text

Hornet banged a fist against the sink’s counter beside her, violently cussing out the ceiling above.

Another snip! made her flinch. Both from the sharp cutting sensation moving against her skin, and the sound. 

“I’ll end up cutting off your skin if you keep moving like that.”

She hissed between her teeth in response, eyes blinking rapidly against the burn of tears.

The cold metal of scissors brushed against her side again, and she readied herself for the next cut,

Snip!

“Lemm, have I ever told you how much I love you as a friend?”

The man crouched in front of her hummed, not looking up from his work.

“No, but I appreciate the gesture. Though compliments won’t get you out of this.”

“Dammit.”

Snip!

“Hornet. Your flesh is literally stuck to your shirt. I cannot leave you like this in good conscience.”

She huffed in frustration, biting the inside of her cheek in an anxious movement,

“Ok, but. Can you at least like, knock me out?”

“My conscience has no problem with you suffering a little bit. You got yourself hurt, you deal with the pain.”

Snip!

“H- My enemy had a giant sword! I can’t dodge that easily!”

Lemm looked up at her, a blank expression across his face,

“Get good, then.”

Sni- CRUNCH!

Hornet jolted at the feeling of scissors slicing too close to her skin, just barely managing to keep the movement restricted to her arms. Her friend stood up, setting the small tool on her knee as he stepped away,

“I’ve gotta soak that part some more, hold on. Nearly done with getting the fabric off.”

She perked up at the statement, following Lemm’s movements eagerly,

“Does that mean you can bandage me up and I can rest soon?”

The man raised an eyebrow towards her, a small smile flickering across his face,

“Nope. I’ve still gotta stitch you up.”

Hornet’s head thunked back on the wall behind her,

“Fuck.”

-

“Pop those stitches and I’ll make sure you don’t do any vigilante-ing for at least three months.”

Hornet groaned loudly at Lemm’s threat, flopping down onto the couch gracelessly,

“I know, mom.”

The man grimaced at her prod, tossing his blue gloves into a small plastic bag.

“Eugh. You’ve talked about your mother before, don’t call me that.”

She smiled at his response, splaying her legs out against the carpet. Her boots were gone, replaced with soft green socks that Lemm had tossed at her once he saw how many holes her own had.

A small object hit against her chest, startling her into sitting up slightly. She looked down at her lap, finding a small bottle facing up at her.

“Oh, so now you give me painkillers?”

Her friend’s laugh echoed from across the room.

“You can’t complain about aching if you’re asleep.”

Hornet snorted, shaking out two pinkish pills into her palm.

Chapter Text

Hornet stared up at the pale building in front of her, heart slowly sinking with each detail that she noticed.

Even if her siblings were here, they’d be miserable.

Blackout curtains lined every single window, tightly drawn closed. She’d not have actually noticed the fabric, assuming the lights were just off- if not for the subtle moving of one of them.

She set her helmet down on the seat of the motorcycle beside her, unstrapping her gloves and stuffing them in a pocket.

Even the house’s door didn’t look particularly welcoming; dark wood carved with a pattern of geometric sections lined down the surface. It reminded her of cell bars.

Hornet gathered her nerves, taking a slow breath. Even if the building looked inhospitable, her family could still be in there. And she needed to find them.

She started to walk forwards, the light stone making almost no sound as her boots stepped across it. It made the whole place even more creepy, if that was somehow possible.

As she got closer, Hornet noticed things that she hadn’t previously seen, small as they were,

Thin metal lattices lined the pathway she was on, gleaming faintly in the setting sun’s light. Their patterns spiraled up the sides of the staircase ahead, ending once they hit the building’s side. Sharp spikes tipped their edges, reminding her of a shark’s mouth.

They definitely didn’t help to soothe her worries.

Reaching the stairs, she looked up at the door again, unsurprised at another thing that she hadn’t seen.

Within the door’s carvings, silver metal shined. With the way that it was set into the wood, it almost looked like… wounds. Deep gouges marked into the surface with shining blood resting just underneath the surface.

Very welcoming.

Hornet rested a hand against the door’s handle, instantly regretting having taken off her gloves as the warmth was leached from her palm in an instant by the metal. 

She pushed it down though, unsurprised at the way that the lock gave a sharp click! and didn’t budge any further.

Reaching a hand back into her pocket, she pulled out a small fabric strip, unfolding it on her palm.

Thankfully, she had come prepared for this.

Setting a small wrench into her hand, she pulled out a pick with the other, kneeling down on the floor as she put her other tools down for the moment. She ignored the instinct to shiver as her fingers touched the cold metal handle of the handle again, pinching the two objects tightly as she set the wrench into the keyhole, then carefully pushed the pick above it.

Three minutes of twisting the two items in the lock, a loud cli-lak! signified the door’s opening, and Hornet smiled proudly. 

She stood, shoving the wrench and pick back into the fabric bundle, resting a hand again on the door’s handle.

Ignoring the shivers that went up her arm at the chill, she pushed it down, meeting no resistance this time.

Hornet let the door swing open into the house, heavy wood soundless as it moved. 

A dark space met her as she stood in the new opening, faint light from the sun at her back only illuminating the floor a couple inches in. 

She took a breath, balling her hands into fists at her sides,

then stepped inside.

Chapter Text

“Chantilly? You alright?”

Lace jumped slightly, whipping her head up towards the voice. 

Isopod stood a couple feet away, fiddling with the edge of his bandana. She sighed,

“I’m fine. Just… thinking.”

“Well yeah, I assumed. Unless you don’t have a brain up in that head.”

Lace snorted, swatting away the other hero's hand from where it was poking at her temple,

“Says you.”

Isopod gasped in mock offence, dramatically placing a hand on his chest. Lace let out a proper laugh at his antics, before turning back around to face the rooftop’s edge again.

A heavy arm slung itself over her shoulder, and she glanced to the side.

“Well, care to tell me about what it is that's got you lookin’ so grumpy?”

The hero crossed her arms, raising her chin away from the other,

“Rude.”

A car beeped loudly below, swerving to avoid a bicycler that had gotten out of their lane. Lace felt Isopod twitch slightly, automatically ready to dive down and help. He didn’t move anymore after that, both of them watching as the people simply flipped eachother off and drove in opposite directions. The arm around her shoulder sagged slightly in relief.

“I’m worried about Spider.”

Isopod’s head moved in her peripheral, turning towards Lace. She continued her thought, ignoring the shift,

“I haven’t seen her since we fought that goopy villain, and she had been carrying that person all by herself when we left.”

The other hero huffed quietly, scratching at his chin,

“I’m sure she's alright. Probably just healing or something.”

Lace sighed, nodding in response, “I know. But I’m still concerned.”

Isopod’s hand gently patted her shoulder, slipping off as he stepped away afterwards.

“I’ll keep a lookout for you. But remember that she's still a vigilante. Our enemy.”

She nodded again, even though the action felt empty.

...Our enemy.

Chapter Text

Even with stitches in her side, Hornet was still expected to go to class.

Well, to be fair, her college didn’t know that she had been injured. It seemed like a bit of a risk to call her professors and say: “Hey I can’t go to class for a bit because I got stabbed in a totally non-suspicious way. Also, don’t look at the news!”

So, school it was.

Hornet swore quietly as another twinge of pain was sent through her hip, and she regretted (for around the fifth time that day) not bringing painkillers in her bag.

Though it did feel pretty ironic going to her criminology class after having over twenty stitches sewed into her side.

At least the building was nearby to where she had parked, being only a couple yards ahead from where she was walking. Small mercies.

Hornet quickly rescinded that thanks as she struggled to open the building’s heavy door, scowling at the metal. She could feel her stitches straining with her lean back.

“Need some help?”

Her head jerked to the side at the voice, letting the half-open door rest on her shoulder.

A shorter man was standing nearby, an amused expression stretching across his face. She frowned back at him,

“I’ve got it, thanks.”

He shrugged, walking past Hornet into the building. She followed after him, the door slamming after her.

The man looked back over his shoulder, still smirking slightly. He turned around fully to face Hornet, continuing to walk backwards easily,

“So, what class are you going to?”

“Criminology. You?”

He smiled wider, sticking his hands into his pockets casually,

“Same! Thought I’d seen you before. Nice to meet you officially.”

Hornet nodded politely, turning to the right as her classroom came up. The man startled, then jogged back to her, seemingly not having noticed that he had passed the door. She snorted in amusement.

Thankfully, the wooden door was much lighter than the one before, and she opened it easily. The man squeezed past her into the room, and she resisted the urge to stick a foot into his path. 

Her usual seat was luckily still empty, and she sat down carefully, releasing a breath when she didn’t feel her stitches tug.

Another presence beside Hornet made her look to the side, instantly scowling as she saw the guy from before plopping down his bag in the space next to her. He grinned at her when he noticed her glaring,

“Been wanting to move closer to the front for a bit!”

She tore her gaze away from him, deciding to ignore his entire existence for the rest of the class. 

“So, what's your name?”

Never mind.

“Hornet.”

A sharp bark of laughter made her jump slightly, snapping her head to the right.

“Really? Oh my god- sorry, but that's such a weird name!”

“Oh? What's yours then, asshole?”

The man’s smile dimmed, replaced by an embarrassed flush,

“...Tiso.”

Now it was Hornet’s turn to laugh, leaning back in her chair despite the pain it sent through her side.

“That's even weirder! You can’t judge me when you have that as a name!”

Tiso’s blush intensified as he crossed his arms, fake-pouting in offense. It only made her wheeze more.

Chapter Text

CRASH!

Well. Hornet’s first patrol back was going nicely.

The wind rushed out of her as a rebar pole hit her stomach, knocking the vigilante back a couple feet.

Another rumble shook the entire building, and she gritted her teeth against the pain in her front as she staggered back up. Her breath came out in short wheezes, and she knew that something had been at least fractured from the hit.

Well, that’ll be a problem for future me to deal with. And Lemm.

She stumbled slightly as another rattle nearly sent her down to her knees, and she scanned the area for the source.

A small figure was positioned in a rounded courtyard nearby, kneeling down with their hands braced against the floor. Hornet didn’t need to see their eyes to know that their power was in use.

She had been hoping for a calm patrol, the wound on her side only freshly healed. Lemm had hardly cleared her to go out on the streets again, and had given her a very stern glare while making her promise to be careful.

That promise seemed impossible now, as the floor tilted underneath her feet, making her flail her arms out awkwardly.

Something grabbed around her wrist as she wobbled too far back, keeping her from falling over completely. It felt warm through her glove.

Hornet turned her head to the side, instantly ending up face-to-face with Chantilly’s black mask. The hero stepped back slightly, letting go of her hand.

“...Spider.”

“Chantilly!”

The ground lurched again, and the woman tilted dangerously backwards. Hornet grabbed her hand this time, bringing her back up into a standing position. The hero huffed in response to her help once she had stabilized, drawing her pin with a sharp noise,

“I’m your backup, Isopod is busy helping civilians.”

The vigilante nodded at the sentence, already bringing a hand to rest against her needle’s hilt. It buzzed quietly at her touch, power straining to be used after weeks spent dormant.

Another rumble of the building made the pair spring into action, taking the movement under their feet as a cue to dash across the debris. Hornet’s boots crackled across shards of shattered glass easily, the villain’s head snapping up at the loud sound.

They twisted to the side as a glowing thread lashed out towards them, smoothly ducking underneath the attack. Their face turned upwards to grin at Hornet, smug expression obvious as they began to crouch again, arms already extended downwards.

A lattice snapped itself around their hands, cutting off their movement with a surprised jolt. Their face fell into shock as Chantilly stepped out from behind a shattered pillar nearby. Her pin spun carefully in the air, the hero’s own smile growing.

“You are under arrest for attacking civilians, destroying public property, and targeting heroes intentionally.”

Hornet groaned internally at the recitation, already beginning to tuck her needle back into its sheath at her side. She’d heard this speech more than enough times before.

“Power-limiting cuffs will be given to you, and if your power determines whether your-”

The vigilante distantly noticed the villain moving, still kneeled on the floor in front of Chantilly. It was just a small movement, and Hornet’s mind only vaguely tracked it.

“-life will be secure or not, please-”

They kept moving gradually, head still turned up towards the hero as she spoke. Hornet squinted at them, trying to figure out what they were doing.

“-speak up in an honest statement.”

They’re trying to touch the ground.

The realization came far too soon, the vigilante only having time to step forwards slightly before the entire building tilted sideways. Chantilly obviously hadn’t noticed either, being suddenly thrown off of her feet and sliding backwards on her back.

Hornet acted on instinct, diving after the hero feet-first and unsheathing her weapon as she moved. The villain remained steadfastly sat on the ground as she moved past them, bonds breaking into dimming white specks. 

The vigilante winced at the sound of shattering glass, almost unheard underneath the grinding sound of the building’s structure crumbling to pieces beneath her. Her needle scraped loudly as it dug into the ground, cracked tiles splintering as she used it to slow her descent.

Chantilly was perched below her on a nearly horizontal window sill, pin stabbed deep into the floor in front of her. The whipping breeze of the broken window behind the hero tugged on her mask’s tassels, sending them flaring up around her head.

Hornet settled beside her carefully, toes only just peeking over into empty air. Another shake of the building nearly made her fall over, the wall titling ever so slightly more to the right. She gripped her weapon’s handle tighter,

“We need to get out!”

Her shout would have been hardly heard over the cacophony of noise around the pair, but Chantilly still nodded in agreement, reaching a hand towards the vigilante.

Hornet took it tightly, hauling the hero up towards herself into a more stable position. A concrete chunk fell down only a couple inches from her head, and she felt her heart lurch. The sounds of more debris sliding towards them only grew, and she looked towards Chantilly in panic.

The hero yanked her weapon out from the floor-turned-wall, then looked towards Hornet, a grim expression across her masked face. The vigilante glanced towards her own needle, tugging at it roughly until it dislodged itself. Her feet started to move forwards as gravity took its hold on her, and she gripped Chantilly’s hand harder in reaction.

The hero fell before her, body angled downwards in the air. Hornet was pulled after her only a moment later, cape flaring out around her body.

As the pair went weightless in the air, a finally rattling crack went through the building, movement halting with a sharp jerk. Rocks and glass followed after them in their descent, knocking together with tiny sounds barely heard over the vigilante’s pounding heartbeat.

Hornet twisted her head to the side, facing where Chantilly still tightly held her hand. The hero’s pin was flickering madly, turning into a silver blur of movement.

Woven white strands surrounded the pair as they fell, pushing them closer and closer together until they found themselves with arms wrapped around each other, eyes squeezed tight.

Chapter Text

Hornet woke up confused.

Her entire body ached, small pinpricks of sharper pain reaching through in some areas.

And not only that, but everything was pitch black.

‘Am I dead?’ was her first thought. It was directly followed by a spike of pain lancing through her shoulder.

Alright, scratch that. Being dead probably wouldn’t hurt this much.

Hornet attempted to twitch her toes, happy at the feeling of them curling inside her boots. Her fingers scratched against the hard floor as she moved, gloves still somehow intact.

Nothing felt numb, too warm, or wet, so she assumed nothing was bleeding or broken. Somehow, she had fallen out of a twelve-story drop with just some aches. It felt almost impossible.

She slowly began to shift her head to the side, gradually turning her body over onto its back. Her shoulder burned with the movement, and she hissed between her teeth in discomfort. The sound of something metal made her pause for a moment, gingerly reaching out a hand towards the noise.

A cold handle pressed against her fingertips, and she faintly smiled. Her needle hadn’t been lost, then.

Hornet grabbed it fully in her hand, feeling the buzz of her power hum quietly at the touch. She reached out towards the sensation, mind still sluggish.

A pale string looped itself around her wrist, thin and weak as its light shimmered dimly in front of her. It illuminated the small space around it, grey concrete dull and cold.

It flickered out after a moment, and Hornet gritted her teeth in frustration at the darkness that swallowed her again. Another stab of pain flared in her shoulder, and she cursed under her breath.

She let go of the needle’s hilt, carefully settling it against her knee. With her now-free hand, she reached towards the source of the discomfort, gently touching against her clothed arm.

The pain coming from it nearly made her pass out, her head spinning violently as she resisted the urge to vomit.

Dislocated?

Hornet brushed a fingertip down her arm, feeling out where the bone would usually settle against her side. It was positioned a couple inches downwards, slumped limply away from her torso. A sharp protrusion extended out from where it curved upwards, and she snapped her finger away from it in alarm.

She raised her hand upwards, prodding around her left collarbone. The difference was hard to sense with a blind view and two layers of clothes, but it felt like it had been raised slightly, jutting at an awkward angle in comparison to what she remembered.

Dislocated.

Hornet groaned internally at the realization, pulling her hand away from her torso. Getting out from… wherever she was would be impossible with her shoulder in this condition.

A faint memory came to her mind suddenly;

Lemm sat before her on the bathroom floor, carefully settling her right arm into a sling,

“If your shoulder ever gets dislocated again, try to set it yourself before coming to me.”

Hornet snorted, leaning back as her friend finished buckling a strap over her left side.

“You assume that I know how to do that?”

“Hah! No. That's why I’ll teach you.”

The vigilante snapped back to the present, staring blankly into the darkness around her.

Well. Maybe Lemm’s nagging would finally come in handy.

She slid her right hand down her limp arm, gripping around her wrist once she reached it. This almost certainly wouldn’t be pleasant.

Hornet gritted her teeth as she tugged her arm forwards and up, feeling the burn of pain tear through her shoulder as it moved. Pulling on her wrist, she yanked straight out in front of herself, a quiet click reached her ears from underneath the sound of her pounding heartbeat. The pain didn’t stop, and she huffed through her mouth in frustration.

She tugged upwards again, moving slightly to the side as she did so. This time, a louder pop echoed around the space, and the pain dulled into something more manageable. Hornet let out a sigh of relief, leaning back as she released her arm.

She stayed that way for a bit, blinking heavily into the void around her.

After a minute or two though, she started moving again, pulling her knees up and towards herself. No other injuries stood out, and she felt thankful that the dislocated shoulder had been the only serious one, despite feeling horrible to fix.

A loud clatter of metal against stone made her flinch, automatically whipping out a hand towards the source.

Cold steel reached through her glove, chilling her palm.

Oh, right. Her needle.

She pulled the weapon closer to herself, tugging on the buzz of her power as she moved. White thread hovered in the air around her hand, swaying gently as it illuminated the space around itself. It seemed stronger than before, and Hornet felt relieved.

She leaned forwards, sitting up cautiously as she looked around. Broken concrete surrounded her on all sides, but the ceiling of the space was oddly curved, metal poles bent suspiciously neatly above her.

Remembering the woven lattice of Chantilly’s power that had surrounded the pair as they fell, it made sense to her.

Wait, where was Chantilly?

Looking around, Hornet let her glowing string press out, lengthening to fully brighten the entire area. The hero couldn’t have fallen too far from her, maybe she was still unconscious nearby?

The vigilante grunted as she shifted forwards, resting her knees against the dusty floor. No white fabric or dark hair could be seen in the rubble, and she twisted around to look behind herself just in case. Nothing.

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Had the hero already gotten out of the rubble, and simply left her behind? It didn’t seem very likely.

Hornet scooted forwards in the crouched position, trying her best to keep from brushing the ceiling. Dust spun up in small puffs as she moved, caking her already-dirty outfit in even more grime. She mentally thanked her past self for deciding to wear a respirator under her mask.

Reaching a corner of the space, the vigilante squinted against the darkness, reaching a hand towards one of the edges. A tiny amount of light was seeping in through a gap between two concrete blocks, resting against her glove as she neared it.

Her needle scraped loudly as she pulled it towards herself, wincing at the ache still persisting in her left shoulder. The light of her power flickered slightly, threads pulling nearer to where she was. Hornet ignored the change though, propping her weapon up on a rebar pole in front of herself. She pushed the blade forwards, sliding it into where the outside light was coming from. Some small chunks of concrete dislodged themself at the movement, bouncing against her knees as they fell.

She leaned her weight on the needle’s handle, pushing up. Her shoulder burned with the usage, but she shoved down the pain.

Shuffling forwards, Hornet huffed as she leaned her back on the wall, switching her hold on the weapon’s hilt as she readjusted.

The sound of stone scratching was loud beside her ear, and she dug her boots into the debris-covered floor to add more force to her pushing.

Something creaked above her, and she instinctively ducked, power whipping around her in a protective tangle of force.

The wall behind her suddenly gave out, and she tumbled backwards, needle clinking away from her hands.

Peeking her head up from where she landed, Hornet watched as the top of the space she had just been in collapsed, rubble crashing as it fell down not a foot from her boots.

...She scooted back a bit.

Looking around after the dust settled down, the vigilante slowly began to move, pushing up from her sprawled position on the debris. Evening light filtered over the space from large gaps in the ceiling, massive concrete slabs perched over her like waiting vultures. At least it was better lit than the small crevice she had been in.

Hornet shakily stood, grabbing her needle from the floor as she moved. Her black gloves had become a light grey, bits of dust crumbling off of them at any movement. She knew that the rest of her outfit probably hadn’t fared any better, and suddenly had an odd thought that she could be easily mistaken for a pale ghost, looking like this.

She snorted at the thought,

Well, I nearly did become a ghost.

Her mind’s ramblings were interrupted by the faint sound of a cough, instantly snapping into alertness at the noise.

Part of the rubble that she was facing… shifted? It was an unnatural movement for a hard slab of stone, moving upwards slightly.

Blinking heavily in confusion, Hornet squinted, stepping a foot forwards towards the oddity. As she moved, the distinctly non-concrete thing shifted again, hand-shaped formation curling slowly.

Wait. That was a hand.

Staggering quickly towards the pile of debris, she knelt down beside the hand, looking around the area nearby it. Dark coils covered in dust peeked out from the grey landscape, accompanied by the sight of a familiar ruffled shirt.

Hornet rushed to yank at the concrete around Chantilly’s body, pulling large stones off to the side. It was a struggle to not let any of them fall directly down onto the hero, but her rushing thoughts didn’t let the vigilante think about that for too long.

Another cough, harshly shaking Chantilly’s form. Pebbles fell off of her as she moved, clacking quietly against the rubble. Hornet wiggled her own hand underneath the hero’s shoulder, tugging backwards.

The woman groaned as she was moved, back scraping against concrete chunks and metal rebar. The vigilante adjusted her hold on her, wheezing with the exertion of her aching muscles.

Eventually, she found herself far enough away from the debris, settling onto her knees behind the hero for a moment of rest.

“Ugh…”

Hornet jumped at the noise, leaning over Chantilly’s head and pressing a hand against her shoulder,

“Chantilly?”

The hero’s head moved slightly, eyes covered by her black mask’s white shields,

“...Spider?”

The vigilante let out a breath of relief, head sagging down.

“Are you alright?”

Hornet huffed in amusement, scooting over to the woman’s side.

“I should be asking you that.”

Chantilly moved backwards, shifting onto her elbows carefully, “Personally, I feel like I’ve gotten hit by a bus.”

The vigilante placed a hand along the hero’s back, helping to push her up into a seated position.

“Same. Falling from a building will do that to you.”

Chantilly groaned, leaning forwards slightly,

“Remind me to never do that again.”

Hornet snorted in response, not bothering to make any promises that she knew she’d break. This line of work was dangerous, and they both knew it.

A loud crash suddenly echoed around the space. It seemed far away, but the pair still tensed until the noise stopped fully, leaving them in silence.

“...We should probably get out of here.”

The hero nodded at her statement, moving forwards as she gathered her knees underneath herself. The vigilante followed her actions, standing slowly and stretching her aching back upwards.

“Where do you-”

Chantilly was cut off by a wheeze, keeling to the side as soon as she started to properly stand. Hornet dived to catch her as she fell, straining to keep the hero on her feet.

“Chantilly!”

“...Shit…”

The vigilante stayed still as the other woman began to regain her footing, leaning heavily on her shoulder as she moved. (Thankfully it wasn’t the one that had been injured.) And only once Chantilly was relatively stable, Hornet kept an arm around her back, supporting part of the hero’s weight,

“Hey, you back with me?”

A grunt. She took it as a yes.

“I’m gonna try to move us outside of this place. I’d carry you if I could, but my arm was hurt.”

Another grunt. Hornet took a small step forwards, the movement followed by the woman at her side.

The vigilante looked around where they stood, finding a small spot along one edge where the concrete had fallen backwards rather than forwards.

She started the trek towards it.

Chapter Text

Chantilly hissed as she was gently settled down on the ground, one hand still gripping tightly onto the edge of Hornet’s cape.

In the time that it took to leave the debris-ridden area and make their way into a dark alleyway, the vigilante hadn’t figured out exactly how the hero was injured.

It should have been obvious- The woman’s reaction at standing up making her automatically think of a leg injury. But the hero hadn’t been limping while they walked, and Hornet didn’t spot any trail of blood or anything on the ground behind them.

...Maybe a stomach injury then? But then she’d be hunched over, and also probably bleeding. A lot.

The vigilante subtly checked over Chantilly’s body as she sat, only seeing dust-covered white clothes and dark skin. No blood or obvious injuries.

The hero was wheezing gently in front of her, head tilted forwards.

“Chantilly?”

Her head didn’t move, but a small grumble came from the woman.

“Can I check your head for injuries?”

“Mmhf.”

Hornet gently patted a hand against the hero’s arm, beginning to take off her gloves afterwards. And after the grimy fabric had been shoved into one of her pockets, the vigilante gently set her fingers against the other woman’s jaw, beginning to tilt her head upwards.

Chantilly groaned quietly as she was moved, but didn’t attempt to shift away or speak.

Cradling the hero’s chin in one hand, Hornet swept the other across her head, fingers flitting carefully across the scalp slowly-

Her fingertips suddenly brushed across a raised lump, the sound of a sharp gasp accompanying the feeling. The vigilante quickly withdrew her hand, returning it to hold Chantilly’s jaw.

Probably a concussion, then. She’d prefer to be able to check the hero’s eyes for pupil differences, but her mask would get in the way of that.

A distant siren started up, even the faint noise making the woman in front of her wince in discomfort. Hornet placed her hands on her ears, blocking the sound.

Chantilly slowly leaned forwards, settling her forehead against the vigilante’s shoulder. She froze at the other’s movement, breath stuttering.

“...Thanks for helping, Spider.”

Hornet smiled slightly, body relaxing slightly at the statement,

“No problem.”

Chapter Text

As it turns out, falling from a building wasn’t the best for your health!

Hornet had found that out after she collapsed halfway through her journey back to her apartment, keeling over to hold her stomach as pain violently lanced through it.

Lemm had scolded her for fracturing her ribs. She’d retaliated by telling him about her shoulder.

...She’d been banned from crime fighting for two weeks.

At least it wasn’t too bad. She’d finally got the chance to catch up on some of her homework, and her nearly nocturnal sleep schedule had begun to improve for once.

Hornet thought of it as a vacation, which was her first mistake.

Her second was not checking the news that morning.

In her peacefulness, she’d honestly forgotten about the possibility of a villain attack while she was walking to college, leaving her without any of her usual alertness.

But now, as she hung sideways from a lattice of metal cables, arms pulled back into an uncomfortable position above her head, Hornet reminisced upon the irony of being trapped by a spider-themed villain. At least this one didn’t seem related to her mother’s creepy group, though that was just a small blessing. 

Only one of her legs was bound, leaving her to struggle to keep the other from falling down. Her satchel had looped itself around her back when she was first captured, and she could feel the sharp ends of her pencils poking directly into her spine.

All in all, not a very fun situation.

...Her professor would definitely take points off if she was late, despite the very good excuse she could give him. 

The distant sounds of yelling echoed down the street, not having stopped since Hornet had been grabbed. The villain seemed to be intent on just terrorizing as many people as possible, not having actually injured or killed anybody that she could see.

A louder shout broke through the noise, leaving behind an angered scream in its wake. The heroes must have arrived, then.

Hornet shifted slightly in her binds, attempting to get rid of the pencils poking into her back. The movement somehow only made it worse.

Metal screeching came from nearby, closer than before. She peered down the street nervously. Distant flashes of light could be seen coming from one of the corners ahead, accompanied by yelling.

A huge form barreled around the edge of a building, nearly smashing into the opposite shops in its rush. Hornet swore quietly as she recognized it as the villain who had trapped her. 

Blurry shapes trailed after the giant spider-like mechanism, bright colors revealing them obviously as heroes. The metal web she was in shook as the villain spun around, sharp legs stabbing into the concrete easily. 

Were they going towards her?

Hornet squinted, mentally cursing herself for always refusing to wear her glasses.

Fuck, they were.

If she could choose how to die, it definitely wouldn’t be “getting squashed by a massive spider villain”.

She started to struggle more violently, twisting her shoulders and hips in an attempt to get the cables wrapped around her body to loosen. It was to no avail, only making her loose leg wiggle wildly as she panicked.

God, this would be such a dumb way to kick it.

A brighter flash of color made her glance back to the fight again, ignoring the rise of fear at how close they had gotten in the time that she’d been distracted.

A white blur flickered across the rooftop closest to her feet, moving fast enough that she almost didn’t recognize it.

But luckily, she’d been running away that blur for the past few months, so she was more than sure of who it was. Nearly getting skewered every week tended to make her remember things like that.

Chantilly landed gracefully on the rooftop where the metal cables were latched, quickly moving to jump down onto the thick ropes. 

The disturbance made Hornet’s body bounce, rattling her jaw. She watched as the hero made her way down the lattice of silvery metal, needle glinting brightly in the sunlight.

“Took you long enough.”

Chantilly looked up as she spoke, almost seeming startled at her non-panicked, annoyed tone.

Her calmness was fake, of course. She was terrified.

The hero stepped carefully over her horizontal body, gripping the cables with one hand while the other held her weapon out to the side,

“I’m going to cut you out of these, so I need you to stay still. Alright?”

Hornet nearly nodded in response, but decided against it. Any movement shook the entire web, and she didn’t want to delay getting rescued any longer.

“Got it.”

Chantilly curled over slightly, moving her needle’s edge to the binds wrapped around her right leg. Hornet anxiously watched as the hero sawed through the individual strands, feeling relieved as they split apart easily.

The sound of shattering glass suddenly made her look to the side. The fight had drawn even closer, now just two buildings down from where she was. The villain was still moving backwards, not looking behind themself as two heroes jabbed at them.

...Did they not even know she was here?

The feeling of her right leg falling loose made her glance back at Chantilly, watching as she awkwardly crawled to position herself above Hornet’s chest. She resumed her sawing, moving even faster than before. 

But as the pressure around her torso began to ease, body relaxing into the sudden tug of gravity; Hornet felt more than heard a heavy thump shake the entire cable web, making her head jolt violently.

The villain was unsteadily leaning backwards, front legs raised in the air as they flailed about. It felt like time had turned into syrup as she watched them, the massive spider mechanism casting a shadow over her entire frame. Hornet slammed her eyes shut, her mind shutting out all sensory input in an attempt of preparation for the probably-unpleasant feeling of getting squashed.

And her last thoughts, before being mashed into a pancake on the street, were; 

“Fuck, I wish I’d just skipped class today.”

…

Except, she didn’t feel the crushing weight pressing her into the street below. No pain registered at all, leaving her mentally fumbling out of surprise.

Huh?

Hornet hesitantly blinked open her eyes, finding herself facing an expanse of intricately woven white fabric. She glanced up, feeling her eyebrows raise in shock.

Chantilly wasn’t facing her, but she didn’t have any trouble recognizing the hero. She was looking up and off to the side, shoulders hunched up.

Hornet’s senses slowly came back, numbness retreating. Her hearing was first, the loud wailing of a siren nearby making her wince.

The hero above her looked down at the movement, face visibly relaxing into an expression of relief,

“Are you alright? You were out for a minute.”

Hornet’s brain was still attempting to catch up with the situation, and took that exact moment to notify her that there were two arms gently cradling her body, her right side warm with the heat of another person.

Right. Ok. Yeah.

She purposefully tried to push the feeling of Chantilly’s comforting warmth away, thoughts rushing to think of an answer to the hero’s question.

Clearly, her brain was still working to rebuild itself, because her first response was to shakily lift a thumbs-up to the woman, and squeak out a sound that faintly made her think of a terrified mouse.

The hero smiled down at her, the sight alone making her pulse spike into dangerously lethal levels,

“Take all the time you need. I won’t leave you.”

Fuck.

Hornet was in trouble.

Chapter Text

Hornet glared out across the rooftops, intently ignoring the shape visible in her peripheral vision.

Her night had started off bad, and had continued to be bad. It was almost impressive, honestly.

“Did you know that your cape is ripped?”

She didn’t bother to turn towards the voice, already knowing who had spoken.

It continued on, even as she failed to respond.

“Your mask is truly ridiculous, the horns are impractical.”

Hornet still didn’t react.

“And those boots are falling apart, I can see where you glued them toge-”

The vigilante spun around, letting her cape flare out and nearly smack the person sitting nearby. Troupe Master tilted his head to the side, clearly unimpressed by her theatrics.

Hornet stepped closer to him, jabbing a finger into his mask’s center.

“Shut. Up.”

She turned back to the rooftop’s edge, staring down at the door in the alleyway below.

“Really, you must work on your insults. That was hardly even an attempt.”

The vigilante barely restrained herself from skewering the other on her needle. It was a near thing, though.

“Aren’t stakeouts supposed to be quiet?”

Troupe Master helpfully shut up after that, though Hornet could faintly hear the sounds of him grumbling under his breath behind her.

Her night was going fantastic.

-

The pair thankfully only had to wait another hour before something changed.

The door below opened suddenly, screeching hinges making them both wince at the sound. A short figure poked their head out of the gap for a moment, before retreating quickly, the door slamming shut after them.

Both Troupe Master and Hornet glanced at eachother- having clearly seen the orange glow to the person’s eyes, despite how quick their disappearance was.

Hornet turned to the other vigilante, making sure to keep her voice low.

“Could be another… nest of sorts. Like the warehouse.”

Troupe Master nodded, tapping at a small device along one arm,

“Just sent this location to more people. They’ll keep an eye on the place until we figure out what to do.”

He stood, Hornet following the movement quickly, “I’ll change my patrols to run by here as well. Doubt anything will happen during the day, but I’ll still check.”

The pair started to move across the rooftop, satisfied with their discovery of the night.

---

Chantilly watched as they left, perched along the edge of a broken window frame. 

Her eyes flickered over to the building that they had been watching, squinting at it.

Tiny dots of orange lights glowed from between boarded-up sections, making her clutch her pin tighter.

Crap.

Chapter Text

Holly hadn’t woken up in days.

They’d been awake occasionally after the rescue, but had remained motionless and silent since last Monday. Their hands were still, laid across their chest comfortably.

It worried Hornet. She knew she should take them to the hospital, get them checked to make sure they didn’t have brain damage or something.

She was too scared.

How would she even afford the costs? Her sibling’s insurance was still linked to their father. And even though she’d never met the man, Hornet knew she didn’t want him knowing where they were.

Lemm at least could monitor them almost constantly, reassuring her that if anything changed, she’d be the first to know.

But her apartment still felt empty without them. 

Ghost rotated between staying with Holly in Lemm’s house, and coming home with Hornet after her classes were finished. They stayed near-silent most of the time, only responding with simple signs when asked questions.

She didn’t know what to do. 

They were acting like their namesake, drifting from one place to the next in faint brushes of air. Hornet made sure to keep them close, terrified that they’d just fade away into nothingness if she wasn’t near them.

Her patrols were hard as well, happening more often in the evening and morning than any other time. They left her exhausted, power strained to the edges of her limits.

Hornet knocked on the door in front of herself, feeling her arm start to tremble before she let it fall back to her side. Lemm opened it after a minute, offering a nod to her, and a small smile to Ghost. They didn’t respond to the action, staring ahead with blank eyes.

She stepped inside, toeing off her shoes and kicking them to the entrance’s side.

“I’ll get some water for you two. And a juice for Ghost.”

Hornet nodded in thanks, already starting to walk down the hallway. Her sibling followed after her, one hand coming up to grab onto her sleeve’s edge.

The room’s door creaked quietly as she opened it, the sound being familiar to her ears.

She let Ghost enter first, walking slowly after them. They awkwardly scrambled up onto the bed in one corner of the space, curling up on their stomach after a moment. Hornet sat down on one of the chairs, leaning back with a sigh. 

Holly laid in the bed, pale hair neatly braided to one side of their head. They slowly breathed as she stared at them, fingers carefully crossed over their chest.

They didn’t stir when Ghost crawled up to their pillow, small hands gently brushing their hair out of the braid. They combed through it, then started to split the strands again into two sections, using their sibling’s natural part.

The pattern of another braid formed as they worked, Hornet watching as they kneeled carefully beside Holly’s shoulder.

The room was silent, only broken by the small shuffles of fabric as Ghost moved. 

It felt wrong.

Hornet felt her eyelids start to dip down as she let her head tilt to the side, letting her eyes unfocus as her sibling finished the two braids. 

A small pressure tapped against her leg, making her sit up sharply in surprise.

Ghost was still crouched on the bed, but was facing her now, a hand gently resting against her knee.

She answered the silent question by opening her arms, letting her sibling curl into her embrace. She rested her chin on their head, letting her eyes shut again.

They’d make it through this.

They always did.

Chapter Text

Moving was hard, especially when you didn’t legally exist.

It wasn’t a problem for Hornet, her mother had willingly let her move out, even providing her with enough money to start rent on an apartment in the city. 

The problem, was her newly-discovered family.

Both of them weren’t registered in any known database, and Hornet hadn’t found any birth certificates or forms of any kind when she explored their old home. To the law, they simply didn’t exist. This presented problems when she tried to provide ID for them when moving into an apartment.

And that was when she had met Lemm and Smith.

Smith was oddly well-equipped to create fake documents, and within a month, Hornet had two piles of paper sitting on her desk; one labeled “Hollow”, and the other “Ghost”.

After that, her two siblings started to adjust to living outside of their prison of a house. Both of them already used ASL to communicate, but Holly started to slowly learn verbal speech, voice quiet but confidently growing in volume with each word that they spoke. Ghost used Hornet’s phone for the text-to-speech feature until she bought them an AAC tablet, and they gradually added their own words to the device, happy to tap at the board when they weren’t signing.

The pair taught themselves about the unfamiliar world, and Hornet helped by buying them textbooks and novels to pour over in the empty days. She started a semester at the city’s local college, finally able to pursue her own interests in the programs there.

Lemm and Smith helped them all the way, providing legal papers whenever they hit a rock in their plans. They made it seem like Ghost and Holly had always been there, fitting them seamlessly into the system.

One night, Hornet arrived at their apartment to pick up a form that they had finished earlier that day. She hadn’t notified them before, assuming that they would be expecting her soon.

The warning was apparently required, as she found them stitching up a costumed person on their couch, hands stained with blue blood.

After that, she fell head-first into learning about vigilantes in the city, their clear goals instantly attracting her to the business. 

Lemm introduced her to Stag, a retired fighter who instructed her on how to wield a weapon and use her powers in ways that wouldn’t harm unless meaning to. Her progression towards vigilantism took a total of three months, and she tried her best to keep it a secret from her siblings.

Of course, they found out within the first two weeks.

Ghost had found her needle, carrying the heavy weapon in both arms as they confronted her with quick signs. She’d told them the truth, then later learned that Holly had known since before she even met Stag.

The two were far too clever for their own good, but helped tremendously before and after her earliest patrols. Her costume was carefully constructed by Lemm, the red cape and mask marking her as a new appearance in the crime-fighting scene.

She became the Crimson Spider.

Chapter Text

Hornet woke up slowly, gradually letting her mind stretch out and relax.

She hadn’t slept that well in days, and it felt like something inside of her had been smoothed over. Her eyes blinked open sleepily, finding herself staring down at Ghost’s pale hair below her chin. 

She raised her head up, looking around the room. Her neck’s muscles pulled a bit, having been tucked over when she fell asleep. Despite that, she felt comfortable.

As she looked towards where Holly had been last night, she felt her thoughts lag slightly, still supplying her with past memories of them in the bed.

She blinked, staring at the now-empty blankets in front of her.

Shit.

Hornet sat up straighter, swiveling her head around to look at the entire bedroom. No sight of her older sibling appeared, but the room’s door was wide open.

A tiny grumble came from Ghost, still laid curled on her lap. She shook them gently, trying to gently wake them.

They looked upwards after grumbling for another second, eyes squinted towards her in sleepy annoyance.

“Hollys missing- I don't know where. Can you stay here while I look for them?”

That certainly woke them up, and their head snapped towards the empty bed to confirm what she had told them. Small hands gripped tightly at her clothes, drowsiness being quickly replaced by fear.

Hornet moved her hands underneath their armpits, lifting them carefully onto the bed,

“I’m gonna go ask Lemm if he saw them, then I’m gonna go out on an early patrol to look around. I’ll be back soon, alright?”

Ghost nodded, staring up at her with obvious worry. She stood from her chair, moving towards the open door. 

Lemm wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, and she quickly hurried down the apartment’s hallway, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

Hornet flung open the bedroom door, catching it before it could slam into the wall. The room was dark, but she could see a slight lump on the bed nearby.

“LEMM! GET UP!”

The lump jolted, a puff of messy hair poking out from the blankets.

“...Whassit?”

She flickered the bedroom’s lightswitch a couple times, producing a loud groan from the half-asleep man.

“Hollys missing, did you see them up at all last night?”

Lemm rolled over slightly, sitting up,

“No? Been asleep since… mm. Nine…?”

“Fuck.”

She spun around, half-running back out of the room. 

They weren’t in the apartment, which left… a lot of places that they could be. Maybe they went back to their own place? Or Hornet’s. They might have woken up and been confused about where they were, and left without saying anything. 

Hornet felt thankful that she’d started carrying her costume around whenever she left her apartment, a recent upsurge of daytime villain activities making her constantly alert and antsy.

She grabbed the large duffel, rushing into the bathroom nearby. 

-

Her mask snapped into place quietly, clips securing it onto her hood’s edges. Hornet swung open the bathroom door, leaving behind the duffel that was now full of her normal clothes.

She hurried towards the apartment entrance, pulling on her padded gloves as she moved. 

A small tug made her look down, startled out of her focus. Ghost stood beside her, one hand still tangled in her cape’s fabric. 

Hornet kneeled down to their level, letting them step closer to her.

“Will you be back soon?”

She smiled at them, before remembering that they couldn’t see it from under her mask,

“I’ll try to be quick. You have my number if you want to call me, yeah?”

Ghost nodded, still looking unsure.

“I promise I’ll come back. As soon as I find them.”

“Stay safe.”

“I’ll try, let Lemm know if you need anything.”

Hornet stood, ruffling her sibling’s hair playfully before turning around to face the door. Heavier footsteps came from nearby, and she could hear Lemm leaning on a doorway.

“Don’t break a bone, loser.”

She turned her head back to look at Lemm, waving at him,

“No promises.”

Chapter Text

Hornet was getting a lot of déjà vu currently.

Staring down at the warehouse where she had rescued Holly, it felt like a sick mockery of that event.

She'd searched almost everywhere. Her apartment, Holly’s own apartment, the restaurants and shops they liked. (some of the employees hadn’t taken kindly to a random vigilante showing up at the crack of dawn, but that couldn't be helped)

She’d ran up and down lanes of streets, scanning alleyways while she jumped across rooftops. Nothing had shown up, not even hints of her sibling having been anywhere.

The warehouse was one of the last places she could think to check, though it certainly was a risk. She didn’t know if any of the weird orange goop from before was still there, and she certainly wasn’t a fan of possibly encountering any people infected with it.

Hornet took a moment just to breathe, letting her eyes close.

And if Holly was in there again, she didn’t know what they’d… be like. 

Her eyelids flicked open, and she started to move towards the rooftop’s edge. 

Only one way to find out.

-

God, Hornet hated this place.

The empty warehouse felt like a tomb, shadows stretching wide over the floor. She swept her flashlight's beam over the space, thankful that no remnants of the goop could be seen. 

It was still eerie, though- the caved-in floor and shattered windows, left to degrade and rot. She shouldn’t have expected the heroes to clean up their mess. They never did.

She slowly picked her way over to the stairs, careful not to trip on any chunks of concrete that had been uprooted. Her previous time here had been so full of sound and movement, it felt unnatural that it was silent now.

A breeze made her cape flicker to one side as she approached the stairway. The rescue had been weeks ago, but she still felt her heartbeat pick up as she looked down into the pitch black space.

She tightened her hold on her flashlight as she started to step down, her other hand white-knuckled on her needle’s hilt.

-

Hornet let out a breath once she reached the staircase’s bottom. 

Nothing was there. Just cracked cement and the remains of the chains that had trapped Holly. No orange, no weird voices speaking in her head. It was fine.

She spun around to look at the entire space, shining her light at the ceiling. Just mildewy rock that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a decade. The only unsafe thing here was the possibility of the building collapsing under its own weight.

A sudden buzz one her arm made Hornet jump, startled out of her thoughts. She pulled her other hand out of her cape, peering at it.

A message had lit up the screen of her phone, and she squinted,

< loser beard man > I lost Ghost

Hornet felt her stomach lurch, and she quickly typed out a reply,

< You > what?? weren’t you watching them??

< loser beard man > took a shower and when I got out I couldn’t find them, but I think they left a note

An image followed after that message, and she clicked on it, ignoring the fact that her fingers were shaking slightly.

A small scrap of notebook paper could be seen, the writing across it messy and large. Ghost was still learning to write, their hands unsure whenever they held a pencil.

im going to help Hornet

i will staye saf but i want too find holow with har

sorry!

Hornet started to rush back up the staircase, flashlight held tightly. Her sibling couldn’t have gotten far in the time that it took Lemm to see the note.

Another buzz in her hand made her pause for a moment, expecting another message from her friend.

Instead, it was from the same number that had first brought her to the warehouse.

Chantilly.

< (UNKNOWN NUMBER) > Isopod and I found a new location where the villain might be hiding out. There aren’t any infected people, but we think we saw somebody inside. You know where the abandoned Black Egg Temple is?

Hornet nearly tripped face-first on the stairs, still moving upwards albeit at a slower pace than before.

Could Holly be there?

It was a high possibility, especially if the villain was active there.

But Ghost had gone after her, and she needed to make sure that they hadn’t gotten lost.

Her thoughts split in half, both sides arguing with the other over what to do first. Find her missing-and-possibly-infected older sibling, and make sure that the heroes didn’t hurt them? Or track down her little sibling who had decided to run after her, and was probably following her trail right now.

She pulled up the directions for the abandoned temple, and started to move towards one of the shattered window frames.

Ghost would find her.

They always had.

Chapter Text

A couple months after Hornet had first found her siblings in that pale, empty home, Ghost went missing.

She had fallen asleep on the couch, head pillow against Holly’s legs, with her younger sibling resting against her chest.

She’d woken up hours later, to her older sibling panicking, and Ghost being gone from the apartment.

They hadn’t called the police, still unregistered in the city and unwilling to take the risk of being discovered. So Hornet had left Holly in the apartment while she searched for their sibling, telling them to stay just in case they came back while she was out. 

She’d driven through a quarter of the city before she found them, sitting on a swing in one of the older parks. They didn’t seem surprised to see her, and thankfully weren’t hurt in any way.

When she’d asked why they’d left, they told her they’d been led there by their shadow.

Their power had manifested over the night.

They said that they’d been following the shadow as it drifted from place to place, eventually disappearing once they arrived at the park. It had steered them away from any dangerous areas, keeping them tucked away in alley corners whenever people appeared. 

Hornet had seen it then, out of the corner of her eye,

It looked exactly like her sibling’s regular shadow- but with circular, empty holes where eyes might be, and branching horns along the sides of its head. It seemed happy, as Ghost swung back and forth.

It didn’t seem malicious.

Since then, she’d seen it every so often. It replaced her sibling’s normal shadow occasionally, usually when they were happy. It reminded her of a shy kid, always flickering away anytime she directly interacted with it.

It had kept Ghost safe. Hornet remembered a time where somebody had become angry with her sibling because of their silence, and before she could even start to explain, the shadow had appeared. It had tangled itself around the person’s feet, making them fall heavily to the ground. 

She’d thanked it quietly, that night. After Ghost had fallen asleep.

Empty eyes stared back at her from under the covers, blinking slowly.

Her sibling named it Shade, and hadn’t ever gone missing again.

(Or, at least they hadn't for a while.)

Chapter Text

It felt weird, to walk on actual ground for once.

Hornet was so used to leaping across rooftops and clinging to sides of buildings, that simply walking across the forest floor seemed almost unnatural. Her instincts screamed to climb a tree, to find higher ground where she could see things more easily.

Unfortunately though, it was pitch black in the woods. So she already couldn’t see anything.

The location was in an odd place. The city’s buildings had died off as she grew closer to it, leaving her walking along a gravel road with no lights. She felt exposed, out in the open like this.

She hadn’t had any confirmation that Ghost and Shade were following her, but she trusted that her sibling’s power would lead them to her.

The path she had been walking along was outlined by two lines of dark fences, their metal gleaming in the faint moonlight. They weren’t overgrown by any plant, which seemed… odd to her. But, not the focus of her attention.

A distant shape loomed in the distance, making Hornet pause for a moment.

Sharp spires stabbed upwards, their bases curling down; leading into two massive windows that started from the building’s base. An open doorway between the frames was dimly producing orange light, confirming her suspicions that the temple was inhabited by the new villain.

As she grew closer, she realized that the light was flickering slightly, its brightness dipping down occasionally. She squinted at it.

...It almost looked like a heartbeat’s pulse.

“Spider!”

Hornet snapped out of her focus, turning towards the sound. Isopod’s shadowed figure could be seen deeper in the forest, waving at her. She moved towards the hero, spotting Chantilly standing nearby. Her outfit still had the same glamor and flash as usual, but the usual white fabrics were interspersed with darker blacks and grays, concealing her oddly well in the night. 

“Can we head in soon?”

The hero tilted her head playfully, a smile crossing her lips, “Impatient, are we?”

Hornet huffed, scowling underneath her mask. She kept an ear out for any sign that Ghost was nearby, her fingers nervously drumming across her needle’s hilt,

“I just don’t want to stall too long.”

Isopod stepped forwards, one hand gripping his own weapon,

“We’ve already checked around the temple, there's no place to get in aside from the main entrance.”

Hornet nodded, unsurprised,

“Let's get moving, then.”

The two heroes followed the command, sinking into the shadows as they moved. The vigilante followed closely after Chantilly, hoping that the hero’s darker outfit would conceal her cape’s stark color.

The temple was massive, even the doorway towering high above them. Hornet didn’t know much about its history before it got abandoned, but she had heard something about it being once used by a trio of villains for hidden meetings, until the location had been discovered.

Even now, vandalism didn’t coat the walls. An uncommon sight for any abandoned buildings. Apparently people considered it enough of a bad omen to not tag the massive structure.

The orange light grew even brighter as they approached, still dimming every so often. The heartbeat-like pulse was unmistakable now.

The group stopped before reaching the light’s edge, standing just in the shadows of the woods. Hornet anxiously twisted her needle back and forth, looking over at the heroes nearby.

Isopod took the first step forwards, leaning into it with his weight,

before bolting towards the doorway.

Chantilly followed closely after him, then Hornet. The faint light around them brightened, turning into something nearly blinding. She squinted against it, turning her head downwards to make sure that she didn’t trip over anything. A faint humming built up as she ran, filling her ears with a ringing sound that made her feel disoriented. A hand wrapped around her wrist as she slowed momentarily, tugging her back into a sprint. She looked up for a second, realizing that it had been Chantilly that snapped her out of the odd state.

She caught sight of Isopod disappearing into the orange light ahead, silhouette temporarily outlined in shadow before being consumed fully by the brightness. Hornet slammed her eyes shut as she and Chantilly both reached the light themselves, the backs of her eyelids hardly doing anything to block out the intensity.

As she stepped forwards, led blindly by the hero still latched onto her wrist, the humming in her ears disappeared, replaced by sudden silence. It felt even more startling than the sound before, making her stumble out of surprise.

The noise of a weapon being drawn made her open her eyes, blinking quickly to clear the remaining spots from her vision.

A small form was visible ahead, faintly outlined in the orange light in front of them. A tiny needle, not unlike her own, was held out to one side. 

Hornet looked towards where the previous sound had come from, stepping back slightly from instinct at the sight of Chantilly’s pin. 

She took a moment to glance around the entire space, realizing that the light from before was so strong because of the orange blobs piled near the doorway and windows. The building was thankfully lit normally - as normal as orange gunk hanging from the walls and ceiling could be.

“Drop your weapon!”

Isopod’s voice rang out clear in the space, echoing slightly. The short figure jumped slightly, neck twisting around to look back at the sound.

Hornet froze at the revealed sight before her.

A familiar mask, made by her little sibling as a joke. It was lumpy and painted messily, but still recognizable.

Ghost had created it on accident, initially intending to make an exact copy of hers, but ended up with a completely different shape. They still loved it, wearing it with pride on Halloween, accompanied by a cheap store-bought cape. Hornet had thought it was adorable.

(It still was, albeit that certain emotion was buried underneath much, much stronger feelings of shock and worry currently.)

She stepped forwards slightly, one hand starting to raise towards them.

Then she froze, remembering who else was nearby.

“Drop it!”

Her eyes drifted towards the indicated item, realizing quickly what it was.

Another part of their Halloween costume. A fake replica of her own needle, but downsized in order to fit in Ghost’s much smaller hands. She felt her stomach sink at the thought.

Her sibling had come to help rescue Holly, armed with a cardboard weapon and paper mache mask.

Armed with toys.

Chapter Text

“Drop the weapon!”

“Isopod, that's not the villain!”

The other hero hardly twitched at the statement, still resolutely pointing his own weapon at Ghost,

“But they might be controlled by them, like the people in the warehouse.”

“They’re not.”

Isopod looked over at Hornet, confusion clear despite the mask on his face. She gestured at Ghost,

“Look at them. Their eyes aren’t orange, that’d be evident even through the… disguise. Maybe it’s, uh. A new vigilante?”

The hero huffed, then lowered his needle slowly. Hornet let out a quiet sigh of relief,

“Here, I’ll go talk to them. You two stay back to see if anything else comes through that doorway.”

She stepped forwards, not waiting to see if the two had agreed or not. She didn’t care either way. She wasn’t about to let Ghost get hurt by some overconfident heroes.

Hornet sheathed her own needle, hands raised slightly as she walked towards her sibling,

“Hey, uhm. Person? What’re you doing out here? It's not very safe.”

Ghost stared up at her as she approached, fake weapon grasped tightly in one small hand.

As she grew closer, Hornet lowered her voice, making sure to not let it echo and be heard by the heroes behind herself,

“Did Shade lead you here? I wasn’t joking when I said it wasn’t safe, this isn’t a good place for you to be right now.”

Her sibling shifted slightly, looking behind themself for a moment, before returning their attention to Hornet. She followed their gaze, realizing that the once-bright light was dimming considerably, shrinking to the shape of a floating figure in the air.

“Shit!”

Hornet dived forwards as a sharp spike of white energy stabbed into the ground where she had just been, moving to wrap herself around Ghost as she fell. Loud shouts rose up behind her, but her focus was kept only on her sibling, making sure to protect their head against the hard floor. 

She twisted out of her curled position after a moment, letting Ghost rest on the ground again. Their hands were moving quickly, turning into a blur of motion,

“Sorry, sorry. I was trying to keep their attention on me so Shade could find Holly, but you showed up and- Now you’ve gotta fight the scary moth, I’m sorry-”

It was a ramble of words, rushing through their clear panic in a stream of explanations. Hornet gently rested a hand against their own, easing them downwards as she spoke,

“It's alright, I’m not alone in fighting them. I’ve got the heroes, yeah?”

Her sibling nodded shakily, hands twisting rapidly in excess energy- adrenaline.

She had never wanted to see them like this.

Hornet looked behind herself, finding the villain now fully visible and being fought by Isopod and Chantilly. By the way things were looking, it was a decently matched fight. The enclosed space made for an awkward terrain to hover in, especially as Chantilly kept summoning platforms to launch herself higher and higher in the air.

A sudden brush of wind made her cape flutter slightly, making her feel confused. All of the windows were intact, weren’t they? 

A large form slammed into the ground where Isopod had just been standing, massive needle causing cracks to spread out on the stone. More shouts between the heroes rose up, Hornet wincing along with them.

The figure straightened slowly from their hunched pose, yanking the weapon out of the floor after a moment of stillness. 

Their head turned slightly to face the floating figure, orange light growing even stronger as they looked at them.

Hornet hardly felt Ghost’s hands grab onto her cape’s edges, thoughts focused on the sight before her.

Holly stood, previously-broken mask now repaired, light spilling out from the eyeholes.

It was nearly the exact same scene as weeks before, when she’d fought them in the warehouse basement.

Except this time, with her little sibling.

At least I have backup, she weakly thought.

Chapter Text

Holly took a lurching step towards the floating figure, needle dragging on the ground behind them. Their eyes pulsed with the sickly orange light that filled the building, almost acting as spotlights.

A wave of brightness came from the villain above, and their movement stopped suddenly.

Another wave, they tilted their head to one side.

Another,

They looked directly at Hornet.

She swore quietly as they started walking towards her, already moving faster than before. Ghost gripped her cape even tighter, head tucked into her chest. She placed one hand on their back, other hand loosely gripping her weapon. 

Holly kept coming, their needle making a horrible scratching sound against the stone as it dragged behind them. The heroes had stopped fighting, Isopod lying collapsed on the ground with Chantilly knelt at his side. She hadn't even seen him fall.

Ghost had wrapped their legs around her waist once she started to stand, getting the idea of what she was planning.

Holly was only a couple yards away now, and nearly running. Hornet took a breath, adjusting her hold on her weapon.

I’ve beat them before. This isn’t any different. I can do this.

Three yards now. Her older sibling moved to lift their needle up, shoulders bending in unnatural ways that made her own stomach lurch in sympathy.

She twisted to the side suddenly as they stabbed down at where she was, narrowly missing getting clipped by the metal weapon. Their masked face snapped to track her, bright eyes flashing faintly.

They were faster than before.

Her needle sang loudly as she blocked another swipe at her front, stepping back to regain her balance. She felt a flinch come from Ghost at the echoing sound, momentarily distracting her.

Her lapse in focus didn’t go unnoticed, a slash aimed for her legs snapping her back into the present. She looked behind Holly at the heroes, finding Isopod now sitting up, and Chantilly standing with her pin drawn.

Hornet ducked underneath another swipe, then dashed forwards, nearly touching Holly’s side with how close she came to them. The sudden change in movement had the intended effect, and she heard a startled sound come from them as she bolted past.

She blindly threw out her needle backwards at her sibling, catching the weapon as it snapped back into her palm. She felt her power catch harshly, and knew that her lackluster attempt at slowing down Holly had at least worked for a second.

Chantilly made a noise of confusion as she stopped before the hero, lowering her pin slightly. Hornet gently tugged at the back of Ghost’s shirt, kneeling for a moment to let them drop to the ground safely,

“Protect them. I’ve gotta keep fighting Ho- uh, the infected person.”

Chantilly nodded, extending a hand for her sibling to take. Ghost looked back at her momentarily, before giving her a small thumbs-up.

She smiled at the sight, then turned back around, facing where Holly had been. They were sprinting directly for her, taking lurching steps. Her distraction clearly hadn’t deterred them for very long.

She extended her needle out to one side, crouching down slightly. The sound of running steps came from behind her, letting her know that the heroes had taken Ghost out of the way.

Hornet waited as her older sibling came closer and closer, head lowered like a charging bull. It was almost like a different person, Holly’s calm and patient demeanor nowhere to be seen in the person running towards her.

Their weapon flashed as they twisted mid-step, orange light glinting off of the metal. Hornet lept up to dodge the swipe, using a thin thread of power to boost her further upwards. Her sibling’s mask didn’t track the movement, still staring ahead at the wall before them. Her breath caught for a moment as she realized they weren’t turning around.

A hand suddenly snapped upwards, grabbing onto her ankle at a speed that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. 

The momentum of Holly’s rush forwards brought her with them, spinning her in the air in a tangle of limbs. Her movement only stopped as she was slammed into a wall, wind rushing out of her in a wheeze. Her head cracked back against the hard surface, making darkness flicker into her vision for a split second.

Ow.

The hand around her ankle dragged her downwards, making her back scratch against the rough stone. She hissed between her teeth at the feeling, still trying to regain her breath.

That pause was a mistake.

Her body was slammed down again, this time into the ground. Face-first.

Hornet felt something in her chest snap, but didn’t feel any pain erupt from the spot yet. A faint crackling sound came from her face, making her worry for a moment before realizing that it was probably her outer mask.

Her ankle was released after a moment of lying prone on the floor, letting her leg fall limp. She still didn’t move, mentally assessing her body’s state.

Nothing hurt, which was a really bad sign.

Lemm was gonna kill her, if she didn’t die before he managed to.

Her instincts sparked to life as a slight rush of air shifted past her, making her body force itself to roll over on her back. Holly’s needle cracked the stone where her head had previously been lying.

Her sibling loomed over her, orange eyes bright and gleaming. Her hands twitched, remaining her of her own weapon still grasped tightly. How she hadn’t lost hold of it while being thrown around like a plush doll, she had no idea.

Holly’s large form was backlit by the same light that shone from their mask’s eyes, making it almost look like their head didn’t even exist behind the holes. Pale horns arched upwards, stabbing into the air with jagged, sharp tips.

Her mind caught on that detail, circling it over in her thoughts for a moment before it caught on something. A plan started to formulate in her head.

Her sibling roughly yanked their needle out of the ground, leaning back slightly as they drew their arm up.

She narrowly dodged another stab aimed at her head, the metal edge just brushing against her mask’s side. Following through with the movement, Hornet sat up properly, moving to kneel at Holly’s left. They didn’t follow her shift, focused on getting their weapon out of the floor again.

She swung her own needle out, throwing it lightly behind her sibling’s back. It twisted around their curled form as she mentally tugged on her power, a pale string following its arch through the air. 

Hornet caught it as it snapped back into her palm, still remaining crouched. Holly’s arms were bound against their sides now, leaving them in an awkward position on the ground. They still weren’t looking at her, one hand stubbornly refusing to let go of their weapon’s hilt.

The vigilante hissed as she stood up, a small ache finally worming its way into her chest. She’d have to get this over with before she collapsed from the pain of her injuries catching up with her.

Holly’s position made it so that their head was held low to the floor, horns tilted towards the wall before them. She stepped back around to their front, keeping on hand on her needle. Their mask jerked to look at her, eyes flickering for a moment. 

Hornet didn’t give them the chance to make a move, swinging her weapon at the barely-visible crack over one of their eyeholes. They jerked backwards, and her needle’s tip just barely managed to scratch the white surface, leaving behind a stark black line.

She stepped back as they started struggling against her thread with vigor, head whipping forwards. She narrowly managed to avoid getting stabbed by their mask’s horns, swearing under her breath at the sight before her.

Hornet knew she didn’t have much time to act. Her power didn’t last forever, and she could feel the strain of Holly’s strength against it. Why they hadn’t yet used their own powers like before, she didn’t know.

She crouched as an opening emerged, their head rearing back violently in the air. Her weapon hummed as her string threatened to snap, but she ignored the buzzing echoing up her arm.

She dashed forwards, keeping herself low just in case her sibling decided to crash back down as she was near their front. Another pulse of pain echoed from her chest, but she ignored that too.

Hornet leaped upwards, boosting herself again with her power to gain an extra foot of height. She had reached the level that Holly’s mask was at, and tucked her feet to land.

Her sibling hardly even twitched as she braced herself against their front, boots landing heavily near their collarbones. Their mask was still tilted back, orange light flickering in a fast pattern that hurt her head to look at. She used her free hand to grab at one of their horns, keeping their head still for the next part of her plan.

Her needle hummed again as she rose it, gently resting the tip against the crack that split the mask. Holly’s shoulders jerked back as she did so, realizing far too late what she was about to do.

Hornet took a breath,

then stabbed the mask.

Chapter Text

Before, in the basement, there hadn’t been any sound when Hornet first broke Holly’s mask. 

She’d hated it- The fear of being unsure if her sibling was even still breathing, or if their life had been claimed when she took the villain’s infection away from their controlled form.

She’d hated silence ever since then.

But now, there was screaming.

She wasn’t sure which one was worse.

It wasn’t her sibling’s voice, she knew that for sure at least. It was higher-pitched, almost like a rush of wind rather than a voice.

And it was loud.

She clamped both hands over her ears as the sound split the air, causing her to fall backwards off of Holly’s shoulders. She hardly even registered her body hitting the floor, mind still stuck in the screaming that was now starting to taper off, but still remained deafening.

A ringing sound started up in her ears after a while of her laying there on the stone, making her twitch slightly.

Hornet slowly released the grip on her ears as she uncurled herself, cracking open her eyes cautiously. While the ringing continued, the original noise had finally passed on, leaving her feeling disoriented.

She sat up cautiously, reaching towards her dropped weapon on the ground. It hummed against her palm faintly, like a lazy bee.

Holly’s form was also nearby, crumpled forwards into themself. Even though she couldn’t see their face, shattered chunks of their mask were scattered around their head.

She extended a hand out towards them, tapping her knuckles against the floor purposefully. They twitched, clearly not having been as affected by the loud sound as she had.

The tiny vibration of footfalls close by made her twist around sharply, needle held out to shield her sibling’s body as they slowly moved. She squinted towards the movement’s source, vision blurring at the edges.

Hornet let go of her weapon as she saw Ghost approaching quickly, still wearing their paper mache mask as they ran. Isopod and Chantilly were moving slowly behind them, seeming unsure as they walked.

Her younger sibling crashed into her arms heavily, making her wheeze faintly at the new pressure on her ribs. The ringing in her ears was slowly subsiding, and she could slowly begin to hear again.

Ghost looked up at her after a moment of clinging to her chest, hands beginning to sign rapidly,

“Are you okay? Is Holly ok?”

She cut off their fearful rambling with a gentle hand resting over their palms,

“Holly is alright, just tired. I’m tired too.”

She spoke quietly, unsure of how loud she could be because of the ringing still preventing her from hearing her own voice correctly. The heroes were continuing to approach, Isopod having a limp to his step that slowed him slightly.

A faint pulse of light made her look away from them, drawing her attention upwards, to where the villain was still hovering in the air.

They seemed… angry, despite her being unable to even see their face through all the glowing going on. Their pale sleeves were flickering quickly, looking almost like flames.

As she watched, their light pulsed again, making her squint against the brightness in discomfort.

Ghost tugged on her hood’s edge lightly, making her look down at them again,

“When you broke Holly’s mask, all the light in it went back to the moth.”

That made sense, but scared her a little. If her older sibling had only just a fraction of the villain’s power controlling them, how much damage could the person do themselves?

Or, well. She technically already knew the answer to that question, having witnessed multiple heroes (and herself) get easily tossed around like ragdolls by the villain. They were incredibly powerful, that much was obvious.

Hornet looked up again as the light grew, catching sight of the pale orange glow around the villain shifting, forming into long, wicked blades.

She found herself looking down the center of one as it moved to point directly towards her, glimmering faintly. The faint sound of footsteps grew even louder, turning into a run. A shout cut through the ringing, making her jolt out of her frozen position.

“Spider!”

Her eyes moved down to look at Chantilly as the hero sprinted towards her kneeled form, pin drawn and flickering in a blur of movement.

She looked terrified.

Chapter Text

The sight of Chantilly looking scared seemed… wrong, almost. 

The hero was somebody unshakable, always having a plan of attack or help. Even after she’d had a building practically fall on top her, she was still calm, not once snapping at the vigilante as she tried to help.

Chantilly was never scared, it just didn’t happen.

But now it had, and Hornet herself felt terrified at that realization.

She felt like a carved statue, simply watching the events as they happened around her.

The blade of light started moving, growing closer between every heartbeat she felt echo around her aching chest.

Chantilly’s pin twisted upwards, and a lattice of unusually-messy threads formed themselves in the air.

The villain floating above glowed even brighter, pulsing with sickly orange light.

The woven form of the hero’s power slammed into Hornet’s side, carrying both her and Ghost over to fall onto Holly’s body. 

A massive cracking sound split the air, making her flinch and curl towards her younger sibling protectively. 

And after that, there was silence.

The ringing in her ears had dulled enough for her to hear mostly properly, finally, and she could hear the wheezing breaths of her older sibling underneath her back. 

The sudden feeling of a hand against her arm made her jolt, lashing out with one hand towards the intruder.

Chantilly quickly backpedaled a couple steps, hands raised in peace,

“Calm down, I wasn’t sure if you were conscious or not.”

Her pin flicked slightly, and the lattice of light surrounding her and Ghost disappeared, dimming away into nothingness. The hero stepped closer as it did so, kneeling down,

“Are you alright?”

Hornet nearly laughed at the question, but just barely managed to restrain herself from doing so. The other had definitely seen her get slammed into both the wall and floor. Hard.

“I-”

A bright flash of light cut her off, making her squint towards the source in confusion. The sound of metal screeching made her wince as well, instinctively lurching away from what seemed like the source- just a few feet from her

As the sudden glow started to dim, the villain’s form became visible, again, still hovering in the same place as before.

Now though, multiple of those blades of light were surrounding them, spinning like a convoluted halo around their body. Dust rose up around her, revealing two new spears that had driven into the ground between the heroes and Hornet's family.

“Shit.”

Chapter Text

Usually, Hornet had a plan.

Usually, she could at least think of something to do.

But right now? She had nothing.

Maybe she could try to toss her needle at the villain, but in all honesty they could probably still control their blades of light even while being restrained.

She couldn’t dodge all of the blades. That just wouldn’t be possible, even when she took out the factor of her siblings being targeted as well.

Movement out of the corner of her eye made Hornet jerk to look towards Holly, watching as they finally started to sit up. They looked disoriented, but quickly focused in on the villain hovering above.

They raised a shaking hand, flicking it forwards. The motion was familiar to Hornet, being how her sibling summoned their power. She felt hope burn in her chest for a moment-

Nothing happened. Not even a spark or glow coming from their extended hand. They dropped it after a second, still staring upwards.

Their power was gone.

Whether it had been gone since the warehouse before, or had only just disappeared, she didn’t know. But the difference didn’t matter. 

If Holly had had their power still, they could have had a chance at fighting the villain’s own blades off. Now Hornet knew that her hope of that was completely shattered.

Her own weapon was laying on the ground a couple feet away, partially covered by a chunk of broken stone. She reached out towards it, letting a thin thread tug it towards herself and snap back into her palm.

It was an empty prayer. Her needle couldn’t do anything to the villain, despite maybe stop them from moving a bit. 

She glanced back towards where Chantilly and Isopod had been a moment ago, unsurprised to see them collapsed backwards on the cracked ground. The heroes must have faced the brunt of the villain’s attack.

Hornet looked back up at the villain, realizing that their blades of light were now spinning even faster than before, almost making a solid circle of light in their movement. She didn’t know what that meant, but it probably wasn’t anything good.

A tap at her hand made her look down, being met with Ghost’s mask staring up at her. They began to quickly sign, hands flickering in the air,

“Shade says they know how to fight the moth.”

Hornet glanced behind them, realizing that Holly was watching as well. They seemed to be recovering quickly, body not shaking as violently as before. An unnatural shadow was visible across their folded legs, empty eyes boring into her own.

A small hand slapped on her chest, making Hornet jump slightly and face her younger sibling again.

“Can you trap the moth? I can’t explain the plan yet, but I trust Shade.”

She nodded, already tugging on the wisp of her power still remaining. Another glance thrown up at the villain above confirmed that the circle of light around them was now nearly solid, and their tattered sleeves were moving erratically.

Her needle buzzed quietly as she stood, her powers reflecting her regained energy to fight. She pushed aside the dizziness and splitting pains in her head and chest. She couldn’t stop trying to fight. Not when her family was in danger. Leaving them to become injured wasn’t an option she could take, much less the risk of an even worse fate.

Hornet gripped her weapon tightly, feeling her hand shake. She glared up at the villain floating high above, widening her stance to balance herself out.

She reeled her arm back, an angry white string coiling itself around her body. Its light was almost blinding, pushing back against the sickly orange colors filling the building’s space. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ghost press their hands on the ground, Holly leaning over them protectively as they watched Hornet.

She looked fully back towards the villain, gritting her teeth,

“Get fucked .”

Then she threw the needle.

Chapter Text

Honestly? Hornet really wasn’t expecting that to work.

The villain could have easily knocked her weapon away as it flew towards them, ruining Ghost’s plan before it could begin.

But instead, her needle tangled itself around their body, making their extended arms snap down to their sides. The blades of light behind them almost seemed to pause for a moment, like they’d been startled by the sudden interruption.

Hornet gripped onto the string tightly, looping it around her wrists. The villain didn’t struggle to get out of her power’s hold, simply continuing to float above. They weren’t even looking at her.

She glanced to check on Ghost, nearly jumping in surprise at the sight that she was met with,

Their arms were almost completely covered in deep shadows, hands fully lost in the darkness. Shade’s eyes and horns were visible along the edge of the growing mass, flickering back and forth. As she watched, the shadows made their way up to Ghost’s torso, covering their legs and lower body quickly. Her instincts yelled for her to help them, to save them from the consuming darkness, but she pushed those thoughts down.

She trusted Shade, and knew that her sibling did too.

Looking back at the villain, Hornet realized that the light behind them had dimmed slightly, leaving parts of the building lost in shadow rather than being illuminated by an orange glow. 

And, they were also looking at her now.

Or, no.

They were looking past her, towards where Ghost was kneeling. 

She stepped to the side at that realization, protectively putting herself between their gaze and her sibling. The thread in her hands buzzed faintly, her power flaring up in a flicker of bright white light. The villain didn’t react to the change, resolutely staring down at her now.

Her own gaze was suddenly drawn behind them, a sharp lack of movement making her confused for a moment. The blades of light that had been spinning were now completely still, frozen in the air. Small trickles of shadow outlined them starkly, making them look thin and fragile.

Hornet flinched at the feeling of a hand against her shoulder, snapping her head back towards the source. Holly stood behind her, one hand extended as they shakily held themselves upright. They met her gaze after a moment, jerking their head to the left. 

She followed their indication, breath catching at the sight that she saw.

Ghost’s body was a mere smudge of grey within the void-like darkness surrounding them, spreading along the ground and walls as a defined form solidified from the shadows.

Shade’s eyes and horns were still visible within it, but had grown in size by at least ten times, and were splitting off into more and more sections as she watched.

“Holy shit.”

Holly’s grip on her shoulder tightened slightly, and she saw them smile faintly out of the corner of her eye. How they weren’t fazed by the sight of their sibling becoming a giant shadow monster, she had no clue.

Hornet stared at the growing mass of void, watching as it began to move forwards, almost flickering from one spot to the next. Ghost’s now-standing grey shape thankfully remained visible throughout the movement.

They slowly made their way to the gap between Hornet and the villain floating above, stopping before they reached the place where her string was stretched upwards. Their… head? looked back at her and Holly for a moment, almost seeming to loom over them. 

It felt like looking at a fractal, dark tendrils and spikes infinitely poking off and shifting as she tried to follow them with her eyes. The torso of the creature spread out near the bottom, almost like a tree’s base- roots included. She could hardly focus on one detail, head starting to ache as she tried.

She eventually settled on simply looking at what vague face the shadow had, finding eight massive eyes staring back at her. They were glowing brightly, one of the few lights not dampened by the darkness around them.

Their 'head' turned back towards the villain, tilting up to look at them. The shadows almost seemed to grow as they paused again, oddly avoiding the space where Hornet and Holly stood. It left them in a messy circle of pale stone, even Hornet’s glowing thread not seeming to be affected by it.

As the giant creature faced the villain above, long tentacle-like forms along their sides shifted, changing into four shapes that could be called arms if she squinted enough. A sudden tug at the string in her hands made Hornet jolt forwards, sliding across the ground for a moment before she dug her heels in.

Looking up again, she saw that the villain was struggling against her string, wriggling violently. The four hands of the monster were reaching up towards them, fueling their fight to escape even more.

Holly’s hand moved from her shoulder, fingers wrapping around her own as they leaned backwards. She hissed at the continued yanking on her arms, jerking her shoulders back to avoid a dislocation. The villain seemed stronger than when she had first fought them on the rooftop so long ago.

Her older sibling wrapped one arm around her chest as she struggled to keep upright, other hand remaining to help her hold onto the string. Another harsh tug made them both stumble forwards, thrown off balance by the force of the villain’s struggles.

The shadowy monster was now touching them, massive hands blocking their flickering light. The villain thrashed even harder as the creature reached towards their head. 

A claw-like finger moved to cover their face, and the villain’s wriggling suddenly stopped, making both Hornet and Holly stumble from the thread going lax.

The monster’s body shifted as a part of its side… detached? The section curled and lengthened into a spiked tendril, sharp edges whipping back and forth in the air. And as she watched, more of the tendrils emerged, writhing like an angry octopus. More and more appeared, blending into a black void that hardly let the villain’s sickly light shine through. 

As one, they suddenly snapped upwards, aiming for the figure floating above. They covered their body quickly, drowning them in eclipsing darkness. The spikes along the sides jutted out as they slowed their movements, making it look like a ball of thorns in the air.

A flash of light made Hornet slam her eyes shut, flinching back. The string in her hands buzzed faintly, echoing up her arms. 

She cracked one eyelid open after a couple moments, squinting up at where the light had come from. 

The void creature was gone now, only natural darkness covering the building.

No orange glow illuminated the space, and she realized that the villain was fully gone, having disappeared from their place in the air above. She blinked in confusion, then looked down, realizing that her thread was now lying limp on the floor.

Hornet released her grip on it, letting it dim into the shadows. She looked around the ground again, eyes landing on a small shape that was just a bit greyer than its dark surroundings.

A quiet noise came from it, making her quickly move to step towards it, before being stopped by the arm still remaining over her front. She looked back, patting Holly’s hand gently. They blinked open their eyes, squinting down at her for a second, then released her, seeming relieved.

She started walking towards the shape nearby, hearing her older sibling move to follow after a moment. She sped up as she came closer to the collapsed person, quickly realizing that it wasn’t, in fact, the villain from before.

Ghost’s mask was skewed on their face, tilted awkwardly to one side. Hornet gently shifted it to lay properly as she kneeled down, jostling their shoulder lightly.

They made a noise of annoyance as she did so, wiggling around to lay on their back. They thankfully didn’t appear injured, just tired. Hornet let a coil of anxiety untuck itself from her stomach.

“Can you sit up?”

Another grumble, accompanied by them slowly attempting to prop themselves up on their elbows. She could feel their glare through the mask. 

A gentle tap on her arm made Hornet look away from Ghost, facing where Holly was crouched close by. They didn’t say anything, simply pointing behind her. She followed the indication, eyes landing on where the two heroes were now struggling to their feet a couple yards away.

Chantilly’s eyes met her own as she stood, outlining white frames almost glowing in the darkness surrounding her. Isopod was favoring his left leg heavily, but managed to balance himself enough to stand beside the other hero, also facing Hornet.

She watched as the two started to move towards her, stepping cautiously through the scattered rubble. Both of them still had their weapons out.

Isopod’s head tilted to the side slightly as he stared at her, making Hornet move to follow his gaze. 

She met the eyes of Ghost’s mask, staring up at her silently. Holly was curled protectively around them, arms pulling their sibling into their lap.

Hornet looked back towards the approaching heroes, fingers twitching towards her own needle. 

A small movement on the floor made her look away from them for a moment, thinking that Ghost had decided to move.

She tracked the shifting shape closely, quickly realizing that it was Shade, back in their normal form. They flickered across the ground, eyes seeming to look towards the heroes. She followed their gaze with a glance, almost laughing as she saw the pair freeze out of uncertainty at the sight of the shadow. 

Shade turned away from them after a moment, moving towards where Ghost was sat. Her younger sibling patted the floor gently where it's darkness spread, staring down at the shadow. They shifted back and forth quickly, eyes large and empty in the darkness.

The sound of rocks crunching made Hornet snap her head back towards the heroes, mentally scolding herself for taking her eyes off of them. They were moving even faster than before, snapped out of their frozen positions.

Hornet grabbed the hilt of her weapon, pulling it towards herself as she shifted onto her knees. They didn’t seem angry, almost looking worried as they approached. 

A light tug at her sleeve made her look back down, meeting the sight of Ghost’s mask again. They had scooted closer to her, one hand gripping tightly onto her shirt. Holly’s fingers were in their other fist, extended palm held out for them to hold.

Shade’s outline appeared again, swirling on the ground around the trio. As she watched them, their horns lengthened into long spikes, eyes splitting and multiplying down where their head would be. It looked like the creature from before, albeit much smaller.

The approaching footsteps grew louder and louder as Hornet watched Ghost’s power move around them, shadows breaking off from the floor’s flat space.

“Spider!”

She turned her head back at the shout, meeting Chantilly’s panicked face. The hero was only a couple feet away now, pin twisting in the air. 

Darkness moved to cover her vision as she watched the other, void swirling in a circular motion around her. She could see the heros eyes widen, growing panicked.

“No-!”

Sudden silence cut off the exclamation, leaving her feeling dizzy from the sharp change. Her body felt weightless in the void that remained, only kept from drifting by the small hand holding onto her sleeve. She could have spent hours in that place and not ever notice the time pass by.

Hornet let out a yelp as her legs suddenly slammed into something, making her snap her eyes open out of surprise. When she had closed them, she didn’t know.

She found herself staring up at a popcorn ceiling. A small stain colored one of the corners into an ugly shade.

A familiar voice came from above her, and she tilted her head back towards it, seeing Lemm standing in a doorway nearby- his own eyes wide, likely at their sudden appearance.

“What the fuck.”

Then, she passed out.

Chapter Text

Hornet really wasn’t prepared for this.

Finding out she had secret family? Sure, that was fine. Rescuing them from a weird mansion? Yeah whatever. Realizing that that family really… doesn’t know how to exist? That was what she couldn’t handle.

She could make them food, give them beds, keep them safe; but they knew literally nothing about the world outside of their home. They asked her questions that she was still asking herself, making her feel useless in their confusion.

Though, she never did resent them for it.

Their father (and by extension, hers), had done this, not them. They didn’t decide to live in a home without color, they didn’t decide to only catch glimpses of the outside world, they didn’t even know other family existed. 

So, they learned together.

Hornet learned how to fake documents with Lemm. Ghost and Holly learned how to lie about themselves to follow the story that she created. 

When her older sibling wanted a home of their own, she showed them how she bought her own apartment. When Ghost wanted to learn more about the world around them, she figured out a homeschool program that they could use. 

Her siblings slowly got used to living freely.

They still struggled at times, sure, Hornet couldn’t change that despite her best efforts; but she gave them a home to return to if they had nightmares, if they felt overwhelmed by the still unfamiliar world.

She made mistakes, she knew she did. But she tried her best to fix them, to do bette- despite the struggles. 

Her own problems were tiny compared to theirs, but Lemm and Smith still saw them, and kept her grounded throughout her own fights.

She wasn’t left alone.

It was part of the reason she became a vigilante. The desire to protect her siblings grew out of her range to follow it, unable to continue fighting invisible enemies. Her mind kept fixating on her father’s existence, fearing that he’d suddenly reappear and take Ghost and Holly away again.

She couldn’t lose them, she wanted- needed, to let them live normal lives outside of a pale cage.

So she fought the villains that did exist, keeping people besides from her siblings safe. It gave her an outlet for her energy, letting her focus on simply giving them a normal life rather than constantly fearing for them.

Chapter Text

Hornet snapped awake at the feeling of a slap against her face, jolting upwards in surprise. 

“Bwuh?!”

Ghost was standing over her, resting one arm against the couch’s edge as they stared at her. They lowered the hand that had smacked her, smiling innocently.

She glared at them, reorienting herself as she woke up. Her masks were gone, leaving her feeling oddly exposed without them covering her face. Glancing around the room, Hornet realized that she was still in Lemm’s apartment, presumably having been moved onto the couch while she was unconscious.

A sharp poke at her arm made her look back at her sibling, following their quick signs.

“Holly is resting in the second room, Lemm is watching them. Smith is making food.”

“How long was I asleep?”

Ghost wiggled their hand side-to-side, looking unsure,

“A few hours? I fell asleep after you did. I was really tired.”

Hornet nodded at the reminder. She was honestly surprised they weren’t still asleep. Their display of power earlier certainly hadn’t looked simple or easy, especially for an eight year old.

A loud clanging sound made the pair jump, Hornet instinctively reaching for her needle.

“All good! Might’ve dropped a pot but that's alright!”

Smith’s voice from the kitchen made her relax, easing back into the cushions.

Lemm stepped into the living room, peering around the doorway at his partner,

“Don’t you dare break my pans.”

Hornet raised a hand in greeting towards him, smiling slightly- before it dimmed as her body remembered how tired she was.

“Is Holly all good?”

“They’re asleep, and there's no window in that room.”

She winced at the implication that sentence gave, remembering how she woke up alone with Ghost last time she was in the apartment. 

Another crash came from the kitchen, making Lemm glare towards the doorway.

“You can make specialized weapons in a forge, but can’t figure out how to cook some spaghetti?”

“It's going great!”

Somehow, Hornet doubted that claim.

Movement made her look down again, watching as Ghost struggled to climb up onto the couch edge. She huffed out a laugh at their wiggling, then gently lifted them up from under their arms. They settled down after a moment of twisting, curling up on her chest.

She looked towards the room that Holly was asleep in, feeling like something was still missing,

“I’m gonna go keep watch over Holly, let me know when the food is done.”

Lemm waved a hand towards her, peeking again through the kitchen doorway. A hushed argument could be heard from within the room, but that wasn't even close to being her business.

Her younger sibling made a noise of complaint as she shifted them into her arms, grabbing onto her shirt. She patted their messy hair gently, moving to stand from her position on the couch.

Hornet wavered in the air for a moment before she got her balance back, walking slowly just in case she did fall over. The aches in her head and chest were still present, but she really didn’t want to get yelled at by Lemm just yet.

The guest room door creaked loudly as she pushed it open, revealing her older sibling lying still in the bed. The scene was familiar to her memories, but different in a way that made her smile.

Holly had curled up on the bed, making the covers twist and bunch up in awkward piles around their body.

They didn’t look like a corpse, not like before.

Hornet settled on the edge of the mattress, letting Ghost crawl out of her hold. They tucked themself into Holly’s arms, pressing against their chest. Her older sibling mumbled something faintly, shifting to hold onto Ghost in their sleep.

She smiled at the sight, working to kick off her boots as quietly as possible. She wriggled up the bed’s side, crawling to where Holly’s back faced the wall. She threw one leg over their hip, laying on her back. If her sibling got up, the movement of her own leg would wake her up as well. 

It was horribly uncomfortable. Her older sibling’s knobby spine was jabbing into her shoulder, Ghost’s snores sounded like a weird whistle, and she couldn’t cover herself with blankets without making Holly get up. It felt like when she had first brought them back to her apartment; the siblings being terrified whenever left alone, so they all had to sleep together until they got used to the new arrangement.

Hornet knew she wouldn't fall asleep for at least an hour, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

She had missed it so much.

Chapter Text

Hornet had missed this.

For the past month she’d practically been crawling the walls of her apartment, itching to just run .

Unfortunately, Lemm had strictly forbidden her from anything even remotely tiring. He’d spouted off things like “bruised brain”, and “severe rib fractures”, and more excuses like that. The only reason she’d managed to not wiggle out of a window by now was Ghost and Holly giving her pleading looks every time she stared at her cape for too long.

So she’d stayed inside, only leaving for grocery runs and classes; The former always with somebody else accompanying her.

It sucked, but she understood the importance. Even if she let Lemm think that she didn’t. Though it was practically torture, watching fights broadcasted on TV and knowing that she couldn’t jump in whenever she liked. 

But what made it undoubtedly worse, was Chantilly.

Hornet hadn’t missed a single broadcast of any fights after Holly’s second rescue, still wanting to stay updated even if she couldn’t help.

And in every one of them, the hero had seemed… different.

It wasn’t drastic enough that she worried about a villain’s plot, but still noticeable in a way that she saw.

Chantilly had lost more than usual, getting hit against walls and floors multiple times within a fight. The hero had always been able to easily dance out of harm's way, sending out smug grins and echoing laughs as she wove traps around villains.

Now? She just seemed... almost sad.

It had taken Hornet a while to recognize the emotion, unused to seeing it on the hero that she thought she knew so well. 

But it was doubtlessly sadness. 

Why, the vigilante had absolutely no clue. She’d argued theories about it with her siblings for hours at a time, Ghost taking use of their tablet’s AAC app to annoy her even more. They’d not contributed much to the actual discussions, simply stating “You know why.” at full volume on the device.

She, unfortunately, did not know why.

But now! Now she was finally out! Maybe she could finally stop the arguments by actually asking the source of her confusion. 

Hornet grinned down at the street below, idly spinning her needle in one hand. Lemm had finally given her the clear to start patrols yesterday, though threatened to re-break her ribs if she got injured again.

...She wasn’t sure if he was joking.

Her power felt like a swarm of wasps underneath her skin, buzzing with energy. She didn’t summon a thread yet, simply staring down at the city. 

She’d missed this so much. The loud horns echoing up from the street, faint yells between neighbors as they spoke about their days across buildings, the reek of a full dumpster-

Hornet made a disgusted sound, turning her head up to escape the smell. Maybe not that last one.

The TV had been full of recent news about an upcropping of villains. Apparently, something had happened in a nearby city, causing people to retaliate by challenging the hero’s forces tenfold. She really didn’t know the specifics, and didn’t plan to learn them if she could help it.

The main thing that she was worried about, was Chantilly.

It should have been concerning, how much she thought about the hero. They were enemies, that couldn’t change despite what had happened in the past. Despite how much Hornet enjoyed being around the other. Despite how she-

She was getting off topic.

No pings had come through her phone within the past hour, even though she knew Smithy had set up a system to send her updates of any fights breaking out. Maybe the villains had taken an off-day?

Hornet snorted, twisting her needle sharply. Unlikely, they were probably just planning something. And if they were planning something, they’d be doing it near Phar. L Street. 

She stood out of her crouched position, shifting her stance to be more secure. Her power hummed as she let a thread wrap around her torso, remaining loose near her ribs. She’d just wait for the villains to come to her, rather than searching fruitlessly for them all day.

Hornet started to lean forwards, fixing her gaze on a building nearby. She raised her weapon up, aiming it above a small window.

The air whistled quietly as she began to fall, surrendering herself to the wind for just a moment-

Then, she was yanked back.

Wait, what?

Hornet felt her string shatter into shards of light as she fell backwards, pulled out of freefall by a strong grip around her shoulders. The breath rushed out of her suddenly as her back hit against something solid, wheezing quietly in surprise. She splayed her arms out for balance, despite now being still.

She hesitantly flicked her eyes open after a moment of pause, finding herself staring ahead at the building, albeit now not moving at all.

The force that had pulled her back gripped her shoulders again, forcing Hornet to spin around towards the source. She tightened her grip on her needle as she moved, stumbling awkwardly from the sudden change. She aimed a sharp glare at the offender as she turned around, despite her masks completely covering her face.

Then her expression dropped, relief filling her like a flood.

Chantilly stared back at her, mask creased upwards into a concerned fold. As she watched, the emotion dissolved into a small smile, the hero speaking breathlessly,

“...Spider.”

Hornet grinned right back, dropping her weapon to the ground as she mimicked the woman’s grip on her shoulders,

“Chantilly!”

The hero’s smile seemed to grow at that, and the vigilante suddenly found herself enveloped in a strong hug. She froze for a moment, shocked at the action, before she returned it. She resisted the urge to simply pick up the hero, their height difference obvious as she had to bend down to rest her chin on the other’s shoulder.

Chantilly pulled back after a moment, still hanging onto her shoulders. Hornet didn’t stop her, feeling comforted just by the simple weight of her hands.

“I thought you were- you had gone, Spider. I watched you turn into shadows!”

Hornet huffed in amusement, tilting her head to one side,

“It takes more than that to kill me, hero.”

Chantilly’s mask screwed up into a scowl, and the vigilante found herself being brought into another crushing hug, the force of it making her wheeze quietly.

The hero’s voice was only a murmur beside her ear as she spoke, making Hornet strain to hear the words.

“I thought you’d died before I…”

She trailed off, hugging the vigilante tightly before stepping back again. The mask covered her expression well, but she could still see the hero’s sadness easily enough,

“You made me worried, Spider.”

Hornet felt guilt lance through her chest. The hero’s tone was broken, though full of relief. She gripped Chantilly’s wrists gently, pressing them away from her shoulders. 

A thought was idly dancing in her mind, making her pause for just a moment. 

It was risky, but she’d considered it multiple times in the past. She'd thought more about it during her forced pause, especially during those sleepless nights, too afraid to lay down for fear of waking to find her siblings gone again.

She released the hero’s arms, letting them fall back to the woman’s sides. 

Maybe it was finally time to act on it.

Hornet stepped away, further from the rooftop’s edge. Chantilly followed hesitantly, mask scrunching up above her eyes.

“Can you keep a secret, hero?”

The other woman tilted her head slightly, seeming confused at the question,

“What do you mean?”

The vigilante huffed in amusement at the answer, bringing her hands up to frame her mask in answer.

Chantilly made a quiet noise of surprise, posture stiffening suddenly.

The hero seemed to think for a moment, before relaxing, a small smile growing across her face. She seemed almost thankful,

“For you, I’ll die before I share that secret.”

Hornet felt tension drain out of her shoulders, relieved at the answer.

She didn’t respond to the other woman’s statement, simply moving to unclasp her outer mask from her hood with deft fingers. Her anxieties flared up in a wave as she pulled the shell off, tucking it underneath one arm.

Chantilly coughed suddenly, the noise sounding suspiciously like a badly hidden laugh. Hornet shared the sentiment equally, she looked absolutely ridiculous with just her respirator and goggles on.

“Sorry- You look… nice?”

The vigilante rolled her eyes, at least knowing those could be seen through her goggles,

“Don’t worry, I know I look silly. Though if you laugh when I take the rest off, I might be a little more offended.”

Chantilly snorted, crossing her arms,

“No promises not to.”

Hornet rolled her eyes again, making sure not to drop her first mask as she reached up to her face again. Her worries grew as she unhooked her goggles, resolutely keeping her eyes on the ground below.

Her fingers fiddled with the respirator clasps as she paused momentarily, worries growing in her mind.

What if the hero arrested her? What if her identity was exposed publicly? What if-

A gentle pressure at her wrist startled Hornet out of the spiral of thoughts, making her look back up. 

Chantilly was staring at her, frowning in concern. She was closer than before, head tilting back to look at the vigilante,

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

Hornet nodded slowly, realizing that the hero could now see her eyes. That realization spurred her body back into action, and she unclasped the respirator’s straps behind her head, letting it fall loose around her chin.

Chantilly let go of her wrist, hands twitching upwards towards her face. The vigilante tilted her head forwards in acknowledgement, holding still as the hero moved.

She surprised Hornet by not immediately taking off the mask, instead pausing for a moment. The hero then reached towards her own face, fingers disappearing into a space beside her ear. 

The black cloth covering her upper face loosened, then suddenly fell away, the woman holding it in one hand as she looked back up.

Hornet felt her breath catch, lungs freezing sharply. 

She was gorgeous.

The pale patches of skin on the woman’s exposed chin and mouth extended up into where the mask sat, finishing the pattern that the vigilante had found her eyes drawn to so many times. Two tiny pearls sat on the bridge of her nose, and she found herself shocked at the sight despite how well it fit the other. Why she hadn’t expected the hero to have any piercings, she had no idea. But it added even more to the woman’s appearance.

Raised scars and bumps littered her skin in some places, a particularly long scratch above her right eye catching Hornet’s attention. She found her fingers unconsciously twitching towards it, concern sparking in the swirl of thoughts in her mind.

The hero smiled slightly, eyes scrunching up,

“It was a childhood accident, I fell into a rose bush.”

The vigilante froze at the statement, hands stopping mid-air as she huffed in amusement at that explanation,

“Of course you would.”

Chantilly faked a scowl, the angry emotion somehow still looking incredible on the woman. The expression dropped after a second, and the hero grinned widely up at her,

“You should have seen me after my powers manifested. It looked like a radioactive spider got into the house.”

Hornet snorted, remembering the mess she herself had made as she first learned to control her threads. Herrah had despised it, making her train outside once her powers got strong enough to actually break things.

The vigilante pulled her hands back, gently resting them on her respirator again. Chantilly’s smile softened, and the hero’s eyes flicked up to meet her own.

She was asking for permission, Hornet realized. And she dipped her head down again. She kept her eyes fixed on the other woman, feeling a blush grow on her face. Her anxieties were gone, replaced by a fluttering sensation in her chest.

Cool air met her skin as the last part of her mask was taken off, revealing her face to the hero in front of her. She closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for the other to speak first.

The woman kept silent, and the only reason Hornet knew she was still there was the sound of her soft breathing.

A warm pressure rested itself against her cheek, making her eyes flicker open in surprise at the feeling,

Chantilly was staring up at her, a hand extended to her face. Hornet found herself unable to decipher the hero’s expression. It was… soft, like relief, but more gentle.

Almost.. loving, a part of her mind whispered.

The vigilante brought her own hand up to cup the heros', realizing that the woman had taken her glove off. Her skin was warm, and Hornet regretted that she’d left her own glove on. The fabric muted the warmth, making her feel like there was still a barrier resting between them.

She stared down at the other, eyes drawn to the dark blush growing across her cheeks. The reddish tint mimicked that of what she was sure her own face looked like in the moment.

Chantilly’s eyebrows turned upwards, expression softening faintly,

“You’re beautiful, Spider.”

Hornet spluttered out a jumble of words, eyes growing wide. She could feel her ears burning as if they were on fire. In no imaginary sequence had she ever predicted the woman calling her… that.

The hero laughed at her panic, still keeping her hand raised to the vigilante’s face. 

Slowly, Hornet managed to calm herself, a nervous smile stretching across her lips,

“Thanks, and… call me Hornet.”

Chantilly’s eyebrows raised in surprise, followed by her grin growing even more. She leaned in slightly, voice dropping into a softer tone,

“Well, Hornet. Then you’ll need to call me Lace.”

Hornet snorted, dipping her head down to the hero as well, only a few inches separating their faces.

“I think I can manage that.”

Chapter Text

ITS FINALLY OUT