Chapter Text
Matt closed the window behind him with a thump and pushed the thought of Gus to the back of his mind, Gus was safe, that's all that mattered. He ignored the pang of guilt as he swung to his usual lookout spot in town, instead he chose to focus on his anger. With each swing he got more frustrated, more angry. Every passing second Matt felt his rage grow to the point of no return, he landed at his destination quietly, sneaking near the edge of the rooftop and watching, waiting, plotting his next move, ready to finish Bria, once and for all. At first it wasn't so bad waiting for her to strike, but seconds turned to minutes and those minutes turned to hours, many hours. He began to wonder a little about Augustus, how he'd left things and if he was okay but he had bigger things to worry about when he spotted pink hair some distance away, he swung after the figure quietly, the figure stopped at a large sports stadium, glancing around a bit before entering, not many people had a key into such a place, so it wasn't hard to identify the culprit as none other than Boscha Brightman. Matt scoffed to himself,
“What are you doing Boscha?” he muttered to himself
After a moment of consideration he figured that there's a chance she’d lead him right to Bria, so he silently swung into the stadium through its open roof and hid behind the seats. Boscha entered the empty arena casually, stopped a little ways before the exact middle and waited with what Matt could only assume was a smirk from such a distance. The ground beneath them rumbled, and from the middle of the stadium arose The Purple Devil in her full glory on a throne made of stone, Matt almost laughed at the sight, she sure had pride.
-
POV SHIFT: Bria:
Boscha smiled up at her,
“Nice of you to show up” She mocked,
Bria looked at her and hopped off her throne, giggling as she tackled her partner in crime with a hug and kissed her on the lips
“Ready to do this?” Bria inquired
Boscha held her partners hand and smirked with pride,
“Of course I am, I've already set it up, go ahead my lady,”
“And you're sure the short circuit will be powerful enough for all the lights in town to go out?”
“This town is ass. And this is the biggest building that uses the most electricity, if this shuts down, so will the rest of this pathetic town, so yes, I'm sure bri.”
Bria started to laugh loud and high pitched, which turned into sinister cackling, it sounded so..natural, so evil, she loved it, it was thrilling, fun even. Meanwhile Boscha just smiled and giggled a little herself,
“I love you, ya know that?” Bria twirled at her girlfriends hair, sounding like a southern belle as she spoke,
Boscha grinned mischievously at that,
“Oh I know,” she stated, giving her girlfriend a look up and down in which Bria blushed,
“Oh lord, wrap it up.” A voice spoke from the audience, one lined with sarcasm and annoyance, one Bria recognized.
“Who are you.” Bria demanded, her voice echoing throughout the stadium, a spike conjuring by her side on command
“I know what you did” the voice answered back, whoever it was, they sounded insane. Bria did a 360, analyzing every seat in the stadium only to discover nothing, no one. Bria made sure to hold one of her girlfriends hands as a precaution. Then she heard it, a thwip, it happened so quick she almost didn't realize what was going on
-
Back to Matt:
Matt watched Boscha squirm on the floor, wrists, ankles and mouth covered with web so she couldn't move nor speak. Bria was quick to action but Matt wasn't having it, a spike threatened to strike him and he simply pushed Boscha in front of him, stopping Bria in her tracks but not in enough time to stop herself from slightly injuring the woman she loved. Bria stood there for a distant moment, her eyes were on her girlfriend, Matt knew she didn't care about anything else at that moment, and part of him felt bad, but a bigger part of him thought Bria had this coming.
“What do you want from me, Spider-Man?” Bria asked, Matt noted her voice was lined with a hint of concern, maybe even desperation.
He faked a smile,
“Why’d you kill the captain of the police force Purple Devil?” he asked way to casually
Said girl laughed,
“Steve Tholomule?-
Matt flinched at the name,
“I didn't kill him, flattered you thought of me though.” she finished,
Matt chuckled to himself,
“Alright fine, I'll ask again,”
With practiced ease he summoned a spike, one threatening to hurt Boscha, The Purple Devil only glanced at her, Boscha looked at her with pleading eyes that made Matt roll his eyes, for a girl that bullied everyone she sure was a wimp.
“You won't do it.” Bria said almost teasingly before Matt could repeat his question, a nervous smile on her face like she wasn't sure she believed what she was speaking,
Matt tensed and slowly drew the spike closer, much to Boschas dismay..
“I won't?” he said mockingly
But the girl smiled and stood her ground, she took a step forward, Matt flinched but didn't attack so she took another,
“You’re a hero Spider-Man.” she stated simply, another step forward.
“I see straight through your little act,” another step, Matt watched her quietly, mind abuzz and exhausted, body frightening to give up on him,
“You wouldn't hurt someone who's completely defenseless would you? What kind of a hero would that make you huh?”
Matt breathed heavy as he took in her words, he knew he shouldn't listen, but she was right. He had no intention in hurting Boscha, though he wanted to.
“That's the thing about heroes I guess-” Bria started, Matt narrowed his eyes on her
“-you can always expect them to do something, well, heroic.” she finished, coming to a complete halt a couple feet away from Matt. That's when it happened. Matt felt it on his waist, striking pain of something wrapping around him and sending him flying into the audience seats, he hissed at the pain of the impact and swiftly attempted to get back on his feet but Bria was faster. She came to him in a flash and punched him down before he could get up.
“Or as I like to call it, cowardly.” she growled,
Matt was on the ground being continuously punched by a girl with super strength, not the best feeling in the world. He barely managed to kick her in the stomach, sending her crashing into the arena. Matt stood up as fast as he possibly could, not without gasping at the intense pain he felt, and into the arena using his magic. Him and Bria took turns attacking and dodging each other, in his weakened physical state his magic seemed to be weakened as well, he threw up a wall in defense but Brias magic struck right through it, grabbing him once more and this time throwing him at the flagpole in the stadium, his back hit the cool metal with a loud bang, before he could pull himself together he was trapped, hands inseparable in rock and body seemingly attached to said flagpole. Bria approached him slowly, he’d been defeated, and Bria knew it too. She smirked down at him, wheezing a little herself
“Had enough yet?”
Matt flashed her a cocky grin despite him being in no state to do such,
“Almost.”
And as a last fuck you Matt willed a spike from the ground which struck Bria’s arm, she gasped in pain and looked back at him in anger, she looked as if she was going to strike and Matt flinched, closing his eyes and waiting for impact, but when nothing happened he opened his eyes to see she’d stopped mid motion and looked him up and down with a smile, this made him more nervous than being punched again.
“Ya know what,” she almost yelled, the sound hurting Matt’s ears
“I'm going to leave you here. I have business to attend to, robberies and such, so you sit tight and enjoy sitting in the dark for a while,” she said speaking softer, she knelt down to Matt,
“I'll have my fun with you when I get back.” She paused after that, grabbing his face in one hand, seemingly to examine him, Matt worried for a split second she’d take off the mask, or even that she already knew who he was, but she just stood up and smiled at him,
“Stick around” she chuckled, walking off as she went to get her girlfriend and turn the entire town into a dark abyss.
Matt watched breathlessly as she waltzed away, he’d have something snide to say if he weren't coming close to leaning over and throwing up from the amount of punches he took to the stomach. So he laid his head on the pole and looked up to the sky, soon enough all he could see were stars as he heard an electricity crackle and every light in the stadium turned off, he heard a door lock faintly but he didn't think to hard about it given he was dizzy and trying to stay conscious. He let out a groan, trying and failing to do something . Anything. He was far too weak to break free by himself. He thought of Gus as the night sky began to blend with the stars and the black circles threatening to take over his sight grew. He thought of how he should've listened, how he missed him, how Gus would certainly kill him if he made it out of this alive, that thought made him chuckle a little, at least a weak version of one, which made him grateful he was alone as he lost the fight to keep his eyes open and passed out.
-
It took an embarrassingly long time, but he’d done it! Inched the bed closer to him, grabbed his phone, now he just had to figure out who to ask for help. Gus went to his contacts and stopped to stare at Willow’s name. He couldn't get out of this alone, and Matt needed his help, he’d already wasted enough time trying to get his phone in the first place. He hit her contact and clicked the call button with his thumb, Willow picked up almost immediately,
“Hey Willow! Weird question, do you still have that Sledgehammer…?”
-
By the time Willow arrived 30 minutes had passed and the horrible feeling in Gus’ gut grew larger. Gus yelled that he was up in Matt’s room as if she’d know where that was but she managed to follow his voice and find him, she glanced at him, swinging her hammer over her shoulder and gave him a questionable look,
“Were you and Spider-Cement playing a little game or..” she spoke in her usual bright voice despite the accusatory question
Gus couldn't tell if she was joking or not. If she was implying what he thought she was implying, this was going to be a long night.
“Just help me.” he urged her,
“Alright alright-” she joked, taking the hammer in both hands now, looking almost excited to break something,
“-but you better explain to Matt why his best friend was with Spider-Man in his bedroom.” She side-eyed him, lifting her hammer and slamming it down onto the rock encasing Gus’ left foot, breaking it free. Gus yelped at the hit, not because it hurt, but because his friend was unbelievably strong and he’d expected it to take more hits. She did the same to his right foot with practiced ease. Gus let out a breath of relief and pulled Willow into a hug,
“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” he sighed into her shoulder, Willows hugs were the best.
Willow set the hammer down and pushed her friend back, holding onto his shoulders,
“Of course, are you gonna tell me what's going on now?” Willow forced a smile, seeming concerned
Gus faked a smile and stepped back, placing both hands on his hips for dramatic effect,
“We’re gonna save Spider-Man!” he declared
Willow dead-panned and forced a laugh, but the look on her friends face was one of determination, she picked up and swung her hammer over her shoulder again,
“Oh. You're serious?”
“Yes. And we haven't a moment to spare!” Gus spoke, dashing for the door once the last word left his tongue, Willow startled but followed right behind him until they were out of the house completely.
“Seriously Gus,” Willow started, meanwhile Gus was entering the passenger seat of her car, he paused in his seat and left the car door open to listen,
“-what's the deal with you two?”
Gus blinked at her,
“Huh.”
Willow sighed,
“You and Spider-Cement, are you together? What about Matt? I thought you liked him?”
Gus smiled sheepishly at that, he didn't want to lie to her more than he already had, Willow was his best friend. But he didn't want to waste anymore time either.
“Do you trust me?” He pleaded with her, the words rushing out of his mouth,
Willow raised an eyebrow, her eyes softened at that and she seemed to relax a little, flashing him a small smile,
“Of course I do,”
“Then trust me when I say I will tell you everything when the time is right. I promise,”
Willow frowned a little at that, but she didn't argue, she tossed her hammer in the back and got in the driver seat, adjusted her mirror with its cute dangling crochet plant hanging from it and looked at Gus with a smile,
“The things I do for you,” she teased,
Gus closed his car door with a smile,
“Okay, so, where to?” Willow questioned, with a promising smile ready for adventure as she left the driveway
“Yikes, I hadn't thought about that...”