Quiet as a Cat ~ Miguel O'hara

~ Twelve

~~~

"Cherry blossom... or lavender?" In each of your hands, you held a bottle of perfume. You were stuck choosing one over the other. But one thought struck you, which lead you to pick the lavender. "I could really use some aromatherapy."

Walking to the checkout, you placed your new perfume on the counter to get it scanned.

"That'll be $650." The cashier lady informed you. A floating screen popped up in front of you, displaying the product and the total cost. Below it said 'Press fingerprint here.' with it pointing to a circle. You placed your thumb on the circle and the transaction went through.

That much for a perfume wasn't expensive at all. You have plenty of spare change from the goods you steal from jewelry shops and museums. As much as it's wrong to steal and sell, it makes life easier since it's enough to afford everything you need. You just have a part time job to not be suspicious.

But you definitely could've saved up more money if it were the twenty's. You heard that perfume usually cost around $50 at Bath and Body Works. That's pocket change! If only you could live in that era. There was also a global pandemic where people had quarantine and work from home. That's a dream.

A floating car was parked outside of the shop. The back door opened as you neared it and you quickly got inside. You told the vehicle to take you back home. It hovered over the road and joined the thick traffic.

You gazed out the window, looking at the large images displayed on buildings and the different cars and trucks that drove by. The city was gorgeous, but there's practically no nature in sight.

You definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. That nightmare you had was still vivid in your mind.

"Leo..."

Your thoughts were interrupted when another car rams into yours from the side. The car spins out of control as you shriek in surprise and it powers down, laying limp on the freeway. You placed a hand on the side of your head, trying to ease the pain after banging it on the window. Once you thought you were fine, you unbuckled your seatbelt and exited the car.

The scene was a lot to take in. Cars were scattered, people ran across the streets, and electricity zapped everywhere. Chaos was everywhere, and it appeared to come from this glowing robot that was charged with loads of electricity. He stood atop a building, looking at the man in front of him. Spider-man stood on the building across him.

Instead of being rational and running away to safety, you simply stood there and watch the scene play out. That was until you heard a cry for help.

"Agh! Someone! Help!" A woman screamed as loud as she could in hopes that someone would hear. And luckily, someone did hear. The only issue was that it was you.

You weren't a hero. If it's not your problem, then it's none of your business. Besides, Spider-man can save her.

"I'm going home." You turned around and made a few steps before stopping.

But Spider-man wasn't there since he was busy dealing with electro. You looked back until you changed your mind.

"She won't die" A piece of the buildings above broke off and fell right onto the freeway, giving it a fatal crack. The ground shook and you steadied yourself.

"Maybe I should help her." You turned back and ran to the damsel in distress.

After moving between cars and trucks, you finally found the woman. She was trapped in her car. The door was completely gone but the thing that kept her stuck was the seatbelt.

She saw you and only screamed louder, "Please! Help me!" She yanked on her seatbelt, only for it to resist.

You hurried by her side and tried clicking the button to remove it, but it seemed jammed. It's refusal to budge made you mad and you ended up simply ripping it off, freeing her.

The woman gasped in relief and pushed you aside to get out. Afterwards, she ran away without a word.

The frown on your face couldn't be bigger, "Wow, no thanks?"

The ground shook again and this time you fell to your bottom. If only you had your gadgets to just fly out of here.

In front of you, the freeway cracked and began to collapse. Quickly, you got up and started running the other direction. But to your dismay, it wasn't enough to avoid the large pit that came under you.

Your heart dropped and you screamed the first thing that came to mind. "Spider-man!"

As if your wish was requested by a genie, you fell into the arms of the arachnid hero. All your feared washed away now that you're no longer falling to your death for the second time. Now that you thought about it, this was the second time Spider-man caught you before you fell to your death.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, scared of falling off. Unlike last time, you took the initiative to speak first, "Hey."

"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah. A little shaken up but I can do better." You looked directly at him. Spider-man felt like you could see him through the mask. He slowly got lost in your eyes at the two of you swung from building to building. He then landed on the ground, lowering you down. You unhooked your arms and stepped away from him. He simple stood there looking at you.

"Everything okay...?" You asked, shuffling under his gaze.

"Yeah- I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"You just asked- I think you should lookout behind you." 

"What?" He turned around and saw his enemy, Electro, speeding towards him from this air. He quickly hooked his arm under your waist and pulled the two of you away using his web shooter.

This time, he swung through buildings more recklessly since he had to get away from Electro. All you could do was hold onto him and pray to whatever gods were out there.

Spider-man had to find a safe place to take you while also preventing Electro from causing more damage. He couldn't go too far, or else he'd be destroying more of the city. He also couldn't put you anywhere near the ground or else you'll be crushed by falling debris. So he placed you high on top of a building. Unfortunately, there's no exit so you were competent stuck.

"Stay there! I'll get you once I'm done!" He ran off.

"Seriously?"

"Don't worry! I got this!" The man swung away and led Electro somewhere where you weren't in danger.

You sighed and sat down, waiting for the superhero to do his job.

~~~