The city was always a fair bit better to look at from three hundred feet in the air, swinging on webs like Tarzan…without all the screaming and shouting. Seriously, why did Tarzan need to scream? Was it to strike fear in the hearts of men? Or tigers? Do tigers really freak out at screaming? Mental note: Google this. All nonsense aside, and the Arach-Knight was indeed capable of copious amounts of nonsense, it was a fairly nice night.
Did I remember the grocery list? Check. Extra underwear? Check. Oh mom would be so proud. Her little baby is all growed up. The Knight swung up and onto a roof, and then hung down over the edge to get a look at the street signs below. Okay, if that’s Twenty-fifth and Vine, then I need to go two more blocks over and one up. Or is it down? Which way is north? I really need to stitch a compass into this costume.
Then there came a horrid screeching sound like every kid in America deciding to simultaneously scratch a chalk board, but not for just a second, more like a five minute long affair that lasted until the very sound sank deep into your bones and became a part of you. Needless to say, it was an unpleasant sound. The Arach-Knight turned his head slowly, as the sound was coming from behind him, and what to his wondering eyes should appear…no, not a fat guy in a red suit, but a pile of junk with flashlights for eyes.
“What are you, like Recycle-Man, making the planet green one garbage bin at a time?” the Arach-Knight asked as he turned fully around to regard the strange junk creature. But no response came from the thing. “Well you have me at a bit of a loss,” he continued. “While you appear slightly menacing, you’ve done nothing to make me want to hit you.” The junk creature cocked its head as he spoke. “So, I guess then I’ll be on my way, but I’m watching you, so behave yourself young man, or old man, or whatever you are.”
As the Arach-Knight turned to leave, his warning sense kicked in and he leapt high into the air, narrowly avoiding the sharpened shrapnel the junk creature shot out at him. “Now come on, that’s just rude. Seriously? You wait until I turn my back?” The acrobatic arachnid landed on the roof once more and then performed a leaping back flip over the monster, coming to rest behind it. Unleashing a punishing punch into its back, the creature shattered into a thousand tiny bits.
“Wow, well that was easy,” the Knight said as he looked down and toed the junk lying on the roof. “What on earth was the point of this?”
Then, as if in answer to the query, the junk reformed, shooting up into the air and slamming the Arach-Knight in the face. Our hero fell backwards onto his rump and bounced three times before coming to rest against the wall behind him. The junk monster growled something unintelligible as it looked down at the Arach-Knight.
“I really need to just take my victories and run with them,” he said, rubbing his jaw and standing up. There was a cool draft on his backside, so he chanced a glance behind and saw that the seat of his pants had torn. “Come on! Now I’ll be mooning people all night! Hey kids, do you see that? It’s the Arach-Knight! Ewww daddy, I can see his butt! Although on the bright side, if some model happened to see me and thought I had a cute posterior, well then it’s date city!” While prattling on, the Arach-Knight yanked a random pipe off of the wall and hefted it in his hands. “This should do,” he remarked as he swung it at the junk monster, sending the beast skidding across the roof.
The junk squawked again and then leapt to the roof across the street and began running. “The chase is on,” the Arach-Knight shouted in a horrible cockney accent as he ran towards the edge of the roof. A glint of light caught his eye and he stopped. Down on the ground was an old brass compass. “I believe my luck just might be changing tonight!” he proclaimed as he bent down to pick it up. Then scanning the rooftops he spotted the monster heading to the…the Knight checked his compass…west!
“Tonight’s my night, monster! Here I come,” he shouted as he let loose a web strand and yanked his way across the street. As he did, unbeknownst to him, three sets of Fury eyes followed him. It figures, just when things were looking up he gets led into a trap.
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