the 7th sense | mark lee

chapter two

Spiderman knew the streets of New York like the back of his hand. He knew alleyways, dead ends, avenues, even those small streets on the outskirts of New York as if it was general knowledge.

It wasn't too dark outside when the masked number-one hero stepped out of his penthouse apartment. He didn't exactly step out, he jumped out.

Spiderman wasn't the typical hero, he would rather hide behind a mask than show his face to the whole wide world. That's what he did. At first, he didn't know whether the citizens of New York would trust him, but people soon grew to love the masked hero that was rapidly moving up in ranks.

Everyone loved and respected him. His black spider suit would bring fear into the villains' eyes, making them beg for mercy whenever they saw his eyes. The chocolate brown orbs mixed with the death glare that always plastered itself when it came to villains, could make anyone bow to him, begging him to spare them just that once.

Spiderman wasn't the type of hero to use force if it wasn't necessary. But the significant increase of villains with powers meant that he sometimes couldn't hand them over to the police without a fight.

However, some others didn't have such a nice way of taking out the laws on the streets.

Nix was one of those others. She did carry out the law but had different tactics. And those tactics weren't going to change.

Nix never complied with the rules. She thought it was foolish to make everyone follow the same rules all their lives, but she wasn't a villain. Nix just did things a little differently. She respected the laws and was never against them, but she'd rather deal with the villains on her own than get the police involved.

Part of the reason was that her hidden identity could accidentally be revealed that way, and that was something Nix was going to hide for as long as she could.

"As long as you shut up, I will just escort you to the closest police station," Nix sighed as she handcuffed the villain, "In other words, if you do one thing I don't find fitting in this situation, you die. Understood?" the man just nodded in response, too terrified of the black-masked vigilante to respond with words.

"Thank you, Nix." the police officer thanked her as two others took the handcuffed man from her hands, "You're welcome," Nix replied before leaving.

It didn't take long before she heard a commotion in one of the alleyways nearby. Not thinking any further, she made her way to the alley. The teleportation part of her power made it easy to move around at the speed of light. It seemed as if Spiderman had everything under control, so Nix did not need to interfere.

Only after he had given the villains to the police did he notice the presence in the walls, watching his every move.

"I must say," Spiderman started as he looked straight at the shadow, "I'm impressed."

"I don't know why you should be, but I'll take it as a compliment anyway," Nix emitted from the walls, "It feeds my ego, you know. I appreciate you trying to make small talk every time we meet, but I kn-"

"Know what? Know that it's all just an act?" Spiderman asked, one hand pressed against Nix's neck, while the other was used spread webs all over her body, preventing her from moving, "I respect you, Nix. But your ways aren't seen as heroic by the public. You should change."

"Why? Do you have to leave and leave New York defenseless?" Nix stared into his chocolate orbs even though they were under a mask, the death glare didn't phase her one bit. The two had been in situations similar to this one, but it would usually just be friendly talk as if they were close. As if they knew who the other was behind the mask, "Don't stare at me like that."

"Like what?" the hero questioned.

"Like I did something wrong," Nix merged into the walls again, making Spiderman's arm hit the brick wall, "Even if you leave, I will protect the city. Even if I have to do it all on my own."

"There will be other heroes if I leave. You won't have to work alone." Spiderman noted, knowing that the vigilante only ever worked with him.

"I will never work with a bunch of fakes." Nix scoffed as she came out of the wall opposite of the hero and pinned him against the walls instead, "You should know that."

"And if I leave?" Spiderman questioned as he wiggled one of his arms out of the vigilante's hold, "What if you need someone to save you, and nobody is there?"

"Nothing will ever keep you in this city except the crime. And even though I don't know who you are behind that mask, I can promise you that I will take care of everything just fine on my own if you were to leave." Nix smirked, and Spiderman could feel the change in her aura, "And judging by the look in your eyes when I asked, you will be leaving soon."

"I hate you." Spiderman sneered at the shorter.

"Because I can read you like an open book?" Nix countered, knowing everything she was saying was true.

"Because for some reason you make me feel safe with telling you everything. And I can't do that."