Spider-Man: Duty and Loss Chapter 14: Mutant Part 2

"We'll be the judge of that!' One of the thugs that surrounded Peter shouted out as he heard his reply. Peter not even thinking dodged the blow as his spider sense told him the perfect way to move. The thug was thrown off balance but didn't fall over as he sent a lot of strength into the blow.

The man was dumbfounded as his target instantly dodged him in such a graceful manner. Those that were spectating hoping to see a good sight also froze for a second, before they all pulled out their own weapons. They held them dangerously as if ready to stab Peter at the next given moment.

Honestly Peter thought it was a bit of an overreaction for such a small dodge, but he didn't really care. He could take them down in seconds if he wanted to. He really just wanted to know what they possible thought he had.

Seeing that the homeless person they were trying to shake down didn't even flinch at the sight of their weapons, 1 or 2 of them got a bit jittery. What could give the man such confidence? The guy didn't look old, and was in tattered clothes. Of course they knew that he probably had nothing, this was supposed to be a little bit of fun. Roughing up people like him was a favorite pass time of theirs.

They each gave one another a look before deciding that they would shank the guy. Who would care about another homeless person's death? If they were to know who they were trying to take down, they most likely would have run home and started crying to their mothers post haste. But unlucky them, they just thought he was a no name homeless guy.

Peter had been on the job for years now, and with that came experience. One of the things he had learnt in all that time was the look people gave him when they decide to go in for the kill. He didn't even need his spider sense to know that they now wanted to kill him. His eyes squinted as his muscles slightly tensed, he was about to jump into action.

It was such a trivial matter to Peter that at that moment his thoughts were on something completely different. 'This really is a bad neighborhood. I wonder how that girl likes living around here?' He was just about to jump into action when his spider sense did go off!

Peter's tense body went up a notch as it tried to figure out where the danger was coming from, it certainly was not coming from one of the thugs. His head whipped from side to side as he tried to decipher the situation when he realized something. His spider sense was warning of danger to the thugs, it wasn't pointed at him! It was pointed at those around him!

Just as he realized this a loud voice came from right, beside the group."Rargh!!!" The loud female voice came from the side and took everyone by surprise, it sounded slightly like an animalistic roar for a second. The girl from the warehouse came flying from the side and pounced on one of the men, knocking him over. *Crack* One punch to the face and the man's skull immediately caved in.

Everyone froze as they looked at the powerful blow. Peter who was in the middle also stopped dead. 'The hell.' His brain short circuited for a second. The girl didn't stop there she instantly bounded over to another of the group and wrapped her legs around his upper body. *Snikt* Suddenly 2 metallic claws popped from her clenched fists, splotches of blood flying onto the man's clothes.

His eyes widened in horror and surprise as they pierced right into his chest. "Argh!!" He screamed out loud from the pain before another quick swipe from the girl took his vocal cords. Blood gushed out and landed on the girls clothes but she didn't seem to care.

Peter still standing and watching was completely frozen, he knew that she was dangerous, but he could have never imagined this. "Urgh." *Slash* "Nooo!" *Snikt* *Slash* "I surrender I surrender!" *Gurgle* Before Peter could calm himself and react it was already over. She moved as fast as lightning and in a graceful manner. Her animalistic rage could clearly be seen as she took down the thugs around him. At some point in time she had done a type of flip off one of them as a single claw popped from her shoes and took one of their heads off.

Peter looked at the scene around him as a small little smudge of blood splashed onto his brown coat. His eyes were still wide as he looked at the girl in front of him. She didn't look disturbed at all as she looked at the dead bodies around her, from what Peter could tell, she had seen a lot of death, maybe caused half of it. 'She was so young.' That came to the forefront of his mind as he looked at her.

Looking at what had transpired a word came to Peters mind and he unconsciously said it. "Mutant." The girl's body tensed at the word and her body language went extremely defensive in an instant. Realizing what he had just said and thinking a little about some of the prejudice he had seen in the past, Peter instantly felt apologetic. This was a sore point for her, maybe even a trauma.

"Hey wait, I didn't mean anything by it." He said it as fast as he could, but her body moved back reflexively. Peter lamented in his head, it was like the first time they had met. Racking his brain quickly he tried to save the situation as he realized why she was here.

"Look I don't care what you are; all I know is that you came here to help me. That's why you took down these guys right." Her tense body slightly relaxed at his words as her head nodded ever so slightly. Her blades were still popped and covered in blood, dripping in the cold night. If it was a normal person the sight might have scared them stiff, but Peter had seen worse.

Ever so gently he walked closer and closer to the tense girl and as he got closer he reached out grabbing her hand. "Hey, it's ok. You helped me. Thanks for the help." Peter spoke gently and gave his best smile at the end of his words. That seemed to get through to the girl as the blades retracted.

Peter watched in slight fascination as the skin that was split by the claws instantly healed after they retracted. He might ask her about it later. Giving a small glance at the bodies around them, he shook his head slightly sad that they were dead. He may have been attacked by them, but he still wouldn't want to kill them.

Putting them out of his mind he dashed the thoughts of going out on patrol till later and slowly walked the girl back towards the warehouse. Peter wasn't sure if the police would follow up on such a murder. From the type of wounds inflicted it was likely that they would look into it. They might even think a type of animal caused the wounds.

The girl said nothing as they made their way back to the warehouse. She continued to stare at Peter, wanting to see through him. Peter knew this was a very important moment between the two. If he was to reject her at such a moment it would break all the trust they had. Her trust issues were something he had never seen before and seeing her like this, Peter decided he wanted to help her, to at least give her a friendly face to talk to.

Making up his mind he kept the gentle expression on his face and continuing to say praise. "You really helped me out there." "I would have been in trouble without your help." There was still a bit of hesitation in her eyes as she continued to stare at him, but she was visible relaxed now.

Peter kept his smile as he continued to try and break her shell. "I don't think I've ever said my name." The girl slightly shook her head. "Names Peter. I owe you one now; anytime you need help I'll be there for you, ok. Anytime, remember that…" Saying that he hesitated slightly before finishing. "What's your name?"

The girl continued to hesitate as she stared into his eyes. After a long time and seeing no intent to deceive her, she finally lowered her defenses, if only a bit. "My names Laura." She said it quietly but Peter heard it loud and clear. "Thank you so much Laura!" He said it in a bright voice as they made it back to the warehouse. Finally letting go of her hand and sitting on the floor, Peter knew it was going to be a long night.

As they sat down, Laura continued to look at Peter, a small smile coming to her lips.

Chapter end