Sometimes, I ask myself, Madelyn, what are you most scared of?
Well, the answer to this is rats. Rats absolutely terrify me. But that's beside the point, because this evening I find myself pacing back and forth on a rooftop, all suited up. My hands shake and my knees tremble, and my legs have turned to jelly. I feel as if I may collapse at any given moment. My breath shakes as I breathe in and out deeply, trying to calm myself down.
I'm supposed to be heading to Avalanche's warehouse, but I began to feel nauseated as I swung through the streets. I couldn't think of anything I ate that could have made me feel sick, but when I stood on solid ground I had begun to freak out. So now, here I am, trying to just breathe.
Why am I so nervous?
I sit myself on the edge of the rooftop and pull my mask off, bunching it into my left hand and closing my eyes, wiping at my forehead with the back of my gloved hand. The breeze ripples through my hair and it sits in a frizzy mess after sitting in the mask for some time now.
Could it be about Avalanche?
No. It can't be.
It couldn't be, right? I had seen him only once since my father was killed, and that was to save one of my best friends.
Maybe I am scared.
But why? What could I possibly be scared of? I've dealt with Avalanche countless times and now, all of the sudden I'm literally having anxiety over him. What's going on?
I look at my surroundings and frantically decide that I have to keep going and just brush it off. I'll be fine, I'll be fine. Right?
I take a deep breath and reach around to unzip my backpack and grab the small, torn piece of notebook paper with the warehouse address scribbled in sharpie. I read the address one last time before shoving the piece of paper back into my bag and taking off.
My stomach flips, twists, and turns as I soar through the city, and I find myself just as nervous as I was last year when I had to speak in front of my entire school for a group project. Actually, I'm even more nervous than I was then, which is saying a lot.
I'm not even close to the warehouse location as I feel the all-too-familiar rumbling of the buildings I swing off of. I quickly come to a stop and land on the sidewalk near a group of terrified pedestrians, and stare in horror at Avalanche himself.
My eyes widen and I swallow hard as I look around the area. "Everyone, get out of here!" I scream, and I successfully gain the attention of nearby citizens. They do as they're told and run away, hopefully to safety. Soon, the street is almost clear, however the traffic hasn't moved an inch.
"You decided to show up again?" The Avalanche booms, his voice echoing throughout the streets. I bite my lip nervously, my hands beginning to tremble.
"Let's take this somewhere else," I shout and aim my wrist up at the building just to the right of the man. "These people deserve to live."
"That's where you're mistaken, girl." He scoffs, turning towards me. He slowly kneels down and begins to press his hands to the concrete.
"No!" I cry out, my wrist flying forward and shooting a web that carries me over to Avalanche. My heart races as I manage to throw him to the side. He stumbles only slightly and turns back to me. I can see the smirk slowly spread on his lips in between the slit of his metal mask before he quickly slams a fist onto the ground. I watch in horror as the ground ripples and rips up in chunks of concrete, in a straight, quick path heading towards me.
I manage to carry myself out of the way and stand on a different building, looking down at him.
"Don't you see? They treat us mutants like monsters." He growls and slams his hands against the building I'm on top of.
"Maybe that's because some of us are!" I scream and leap off of the building, managing to shoot a web to the top of his helmet and rip it right off. A smile spreads across my lips as I do so, but it quickly vanishes as soon as the helmet is ripped back.
"How could you say that about your own kind?" He demands. "I don't want to hurt you, Spider-Woman. I want to help you."
"Then you shouldn't have killed my fucking dad," I growl under my breath before releasing a web towards his ankle and letting myself soar with it. I throw the lower half of my body between his legs and trip him, causing him to fall. I manage to get him on the ground beneath me, and as I do, the worst moment of my life flashes before my eyes.
There's a crash, quickly followed by a car alarm, and a scream. It's dark, and the Avalanche stands near me. There's a vicious pounding in my head, but I ignore it as I scramble to my feet and race to where the noise came from.
I shoot webs at Avalanche's wrists and ankles and quickly rip his helmet off again, and tears begin to well up in my eyes. I'm shaking more than I ever have before, and I manage to straddle the Avalanche's large build as I swing for his face.
As I reach the car that's now in flames, I see his limp body sprawled out in the driver's seat of his car. Blood trickles out of his nose and out of random places on his face. His hands are stained with blood, as well as his entire body. The windshield glass is shattered, from what I'm assuming to be his head.
Avalanche rips one of his hands up and throws me to the side like a rag doll, and I roll across the pavement of the street to my left. It's like there isn't any pain at all as I scramble back to my feet and release multiple webs over to Avalanche's writhing body. He struggles to break free of the webs as I repeatedly shoot them at his flailing limbs.
The pounding in my head grows, and soon I can't see straight. Tears stream down my cheeks as I stare down at my father in horror. My arms fly around him and I pull him out of the car and gently sit him on the pavement next to his car. I let out a small sob as I crouch down in front of him.
"I hate you, god dammit, you ruined my life!" I scream, and tears begin to seep into the fabric of my mask as I swing for Avalanche's unprotected face. "Don't fucking lie to me, that's the least you could do, considering you killed my father!" As I continue screaming, he suddenly rips both of his hands free of the webs I had previously released. Using two hands now, he rips me off of him and literally throws me across the street. The memories don't stop when I'm slammed into the brick building.
"Daddy, please," I choke out. My nose starts to run as the tears pour into my mask. "Wake up." His eyes are closed and the blood doesn't stop running. His chest doesn't rise and fall slowly. His eyes don't shine with light like they did when I was a little girl. He doesn't let out his laugh that was like thunder when my mom cracked a joke. He doesn't get up to chase Lucas and I around our tiny apartment. He doesn't lift his hand up to move my hair out of the way when he tucks me into bed.
He lies there, lifeless.
The familiar pounding slowly creeps into my head, and as I wince, I slowly get up with a cough.
"Don't you see?" Avalanche presses on. "They're ruining us. Portraying us as some kind of, of evil. They're forcing us into prisons, they're silencing us. We are forced to hide and blend in-"
"That doesn't give you a free pass to kill innocent people." I interrupt with a shout and stumble into the street, slowly closing the space between Avalanche and I.
Avalanche shrugs. "They kill us. Why shouldn't we do the same?"
"You're sick." I mutter before shooting web to the top of the building directly behind Avalanche. I point my toes out in front of myself as I fly forward with it, and just as Avalanche reaches for his helmet, I smash my feet into his face. I watch the helmet drop back to the ground as he clutches his nose, swearing under his breath.
"I knew you two were connected." The Avalanche states, making his way towards me.
"You dick," I mutter. "You...y-you killed him! You killed my dad!" I scream, turning to face him. I stand up and before I can do anything, he swings for me, hitting me right in the head. I stumble back, and try to shoot a web up on a building. I need to get away. I'm going to pass out. The police will be here.
My father is dead.
"Alright, since you obviously aren't going to cooperate." I hear Avalanche mutter under his breath. I look down at him from the roof of the building, trying to hold back tears of anger as I peer down at him. He raises his hands and smashes them against the building I'm standing on top of, and the building begins to shake rapidly.
I leap off of the building and manage to land directly behind Avalanche, but as he whirls around he rams his large fist right into my cheek. I let out a small cry of pain and stumble back only slightly before I, being the idiot I am, attempt to aim for his forehead and shoot a web. I quickly realize how bad of an idea that was when he, once again, throws me across the street like a rag doll.
"Why do I even bother wasting my time on you?" Avalanche booms. "I have better things to do than deal with a stupid, hormonal teenager like you."
"Oh, fuck you!" I scream and stumble to me feet, my head beginning to pound.
"Look, sweetheart." He continues, walking over to me. I give one last shot at shooting a web at him, but it's no use. The pounding in my head is too much for me to handle.
"You're just a kid. Which is why I'm not going to take you seriously." He says. And all I hear is, 'You're just a kid. I'm not going to take you seriously.' Over, and over, and over again.
"Just give up!" He practically laughs from across the street. He doesn't even bother to look at me as he starts to walk away. As he rambles I'm about how naive and immature I am, all I can see is my father lying in the street, lifeless.
The familiar pounding in my head returns, and my hand flies up to hold my forehead as I wince. Tears of frustration and anger begin to form as I try to keep up with the Avalanche. But it's no use, the pounding in my head is too much for me to handle.
I can barely see straight as Avalanche disappears and leaves me helpless and alone on the street, and I shakily pull myself up to a rooftop of a building and crash onto my knees. I rip my mask off and tears start to pour out of my eyes, and they don't stop.
I cry out of anger, frustration, grief, and hell, even fear. And I sit on top of that same rooftop for a good tour hours, with my head buried in my hands as I weep.
Author's Note
This chapter makes me so sad ugh :( also, so sorry for not updating yesterday! I'm leaving for vacation today and I was packing and planning almost all day yesterday lol. But, anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful day!