//------------------------------// // Under Their Spell // Story: Spider-Pip: Origins // by ZombieBrony22 //------------------------------// You didn’t know that you fell Now that you’re under their spell The tagline of our song for tonight—and it was amazing... “Wow... guys, this is incredible!” I said, holding the sheet of paper. Adagio smiled as she took the paper from my hands. “Why, thank you, Pip—but the performance needs to be just as good...” Adagio said. We were sitting in the band room, waiting for the last performers before us... needless to say, I was nervous—I never really did anything like this before, despite only doing drums... “Hey, Pip—you doin’ alright?” Aria asked, taking a seat next to me. I glanced up at her and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just... I never thought we’d have a chance against the Rainbooms... they’ve tormented all of us in their own special ways for almost three years, now... so many lives were ruined because of them—so many teachers fired, students expelled... mainly because of my aunt’s faith in The Rainbooms.” I let some anger into that last part... Aunt Celestia was only doing what she thought was right—but what happens when she realizes that all of those students she expelled were all innocent? Aria sighed and leaned back. “Yeah-- we haven’t been here too long and I can only imagine—especially with that Pinkamena one...” Aria shuddered at the idea of the pink psychopath. I went to say more, but a phone call interrupted me. From Flash. “I’ll be right back.” I said as I went to answer the phone. “Hello?” “Hey, Pip?” I asked him, up on a wall in an alley. “Yeah, what do you need?” He asked me. “Okay, so I found this guy—one of Sombra’s enforcers... I think we can take him.” I said, Venom enveloping me as I put the phone up to my ear. “Really? You think so?” He asked me. “Yeah-- it’s just him and as long as I keep Venom in check, the guy shouldn’t get too seriously hurt.” I said. Awww... You’re no fun. Hey, just be lucky I agreed to this whole idea. But come on—we need to face facts, how long until he gets out? How long until he gets his slimy hands on some mob lawyer? Or whatever that means... It doesn’t matter—we're only doing this just so we can get some practice, and Pip can actually make his relationship work. But what about ours-- I mean, yours? I stopped for a moment, now climbing up and leaping onto another rooftop, trying not to lose the enforcer. We’ll cross that bridge later, let’s just handle this for today... remember-- no killing or maiming, got it? I’d never do such a thing-- I swear... The enforcer entered a building when I landed on the roof facing it. Was... that sarcasm? No response as I then let Venom take the reels as he leaped into an open window and slid under some cover. “...and we need to talk about that eight-armed chick—Twilight Sparkle?” There are more of them here... handguns and rifles. Can we take them? ...Most certainly. I smiled under Venom’s mask as we then started to get closer. “We can worry about her another time—right now, we need to focus on Sunset Shimmer—she's still fuming from Sombra putting a bullet in her ex.” I froze, and that caught Venom’s attention, now staying in place, in the cover of darkness. “Yeah-- Sombra screwed up... big time. I heard from a higher-up that Sombra got blackmailed into doin’ it... what I do know is that Pinkamena’s trackin’ him down... I don’t wanna know what that freak’s gonna do to him.” Who’s Pinkamena? A psychopath who killed her family a few years ago. She kept on killing after that, usually a student a year, making it look like an accident. She got caught and was sent to a psych ward, but the Rainbooms got her out early... That sounds extremely unlikely and also somewhat illegal... Everything they do is illegal—now shush. Here’s our chance to get some info. “Okay-- so did they uncover a body?" Another enforcer asked. “No-- Sombra assigned Twilight to do it, but people in his apartment said he was up and about a few hours later...” This conversation is going nowhere, fast. “Okay-- we’ll have to talk at another location, with Spider-Man swinging around out there, we can only converse in one spot for so long... let’s talk in the car.” That was our que—we swung down and pulled one enforcer in with our tendril, webbing the door shut so the others couldn’t escape. The enforcer we pulled in was screaming at the sight of us as Venom formed an ugly mouth... Venom—we both agreed no killing! I know—this is just me having fun. We then threw the enforcer against the concrete wall, shooting another web to hold him in place... “Spider-Man!” One other enforcer cried, pulling out a handgun and getting a shot in— I then felt the bullet be stopped and Venom push it towards our wrist—before aiming it and hitting the enforcer in the knee, capping him and causing him to fall to the ground in pain. He’ll live. Oh, that was badass! Venom flashed a smile as his mouth concealed itself again and we leapt onto the last enforcer... “What the hell are you?!” We smiled as Venom unwrapped half of our face, showing me inside... “We... are Venom.” “...Flash?” We roared as we knocked the enforcer out with a simple punch to the face. “Outstanding! Truly remarkable!” Yeah... I gotta admit that was fun... Now, I gotta make a stop... Venom pulled away from me as we left the warehouse looked around for the destination... once I found it, I somberly started approaching it. Flim & Flam’s General Store. “...now that you’re under their spell...” Adagio concluded our showing with the lights cutting to black, the students clapping and cheering as I glanced at their necklaces... glowing bright red for a split second. The lights came back on where Mom was clapping hysterically while Aunt Celestia was skeptical. “Amazing performance from the Dazzlings! An absolute wonder to watch!” Mom said. As we took in the applause, Aunt Celestia let her voice be heard. “Despite an incredible performance, I believe that we should not allow mockeries of authority to be upheld in this school...” She said. Mom then turned to her, completely perplexed. “No offence, sister, but I didn’t hear that at all—the song seems to uphold fear as the enemy— not authority... and also, the lyrics captures the feeling of inspiration to stand up to terror, something very prominent with the rise of the Spider-Man vigilante...” “Exactly-- we need to encourage supporting authority—as in police, not a vigilante.” She always seemed a tad too supportive of what I do... The two went back and forth as Adagio turned to me, confused over how my mother knew so much about her song. “She was a rock star back in her day—Nightmare Moon, she was called...” Aria quickly gasped in shock... “What’s wrong?” I asked her. “You mother is the NIghtmare Moon? Mistress of the Night?!” She whispered. I chuckled, recalling all of those albums she showed me. “Yeah-- she retired soon after she got pregnant with my sis--” I stopped... Adagio noticed my hesitation and seemingly decided to ignore it for now... “And the winner, for the second round of the Fall Battle of the Bands... The Dazzlings!” Mom declared. The auditorium then erupted once more, applause filling our ears... Needless to say, I was caught off-guard, taking in the cheer, and hoping that Flash’s first patrol went well... And sighed, knowing that I had a stop to make afterwards. I went inside the ordinary store, looking around and found the ordinary clerk going through the freezer... Except, for me, this wasn’t an ordinary store, and that wasn’t an ordinary clerk... “Flam.” I called out. The tall store-owner jumped as he recognized my voice, pulling out a handgun. What the hell?! BREAK HIS LEGS! Venom started pulling my hand out, but I stopped him. “No! It’s alright... I’m not here to hurt you.” I told the two. Flam kept the gun held on me, his aim shaking... “What do you want? My brother already paid Sombra’s fee—and extra!” He screamed. Flash, what is he talking about? I didn’t answer as I slowly reached into my front pocket, pulling out a small check... “I took up a job at my landlord’s bakery—saved up for a few weeks... it’s everything Sombra ever charged for you... and a whole lot of extra.” I said, setting it on his counter. Flam then put down the gun, slowly and with hesitation... “...Why? You... you killed my brother!” Flam pulled it up again, and we were back at square one. I almost teared up at the mention of Flim... but I swallowed my tears and held my hands out. “If you wanna shoot me, just shoot me... but it won’t bring Flim back... as much as I wish it would...” Venom swirled around in nervousness, ready to strike whenever I let him... Flam began tearing up his finger then went around the trigger... If he shoots you, I can just heal you up again... just say the word and I’ll take the gun away from him. Flam held the gun for a few more moments, making me wonder if he was actually going to do it... And then he cries out, tossing the gun to the floor and crumbling. “Get out of my store... never come back, you hear me?” I sighed and nodded... “I’m sorry... for everything.” Flam went over to the counter, looking at the check before leaning into the table, his head covered by his arms. “I know you are... now go.” I didn’t wait as I left the store, tears starting to stream... Flash... what was that? “...Me making things right.” I said, starting to head home... Tonight could’ve been better, but we did some good overall—those enforcers were arrested and I managed to somewhat make things better with Flam... Yes... we did good tonight. Perhaps this hero thing isn’t as bad as I thought it would be... Yeah... I actually kinda like it... Now let’s go home. Come and see the Scorpion! Tonight at 9, watch the infamous fighter take down newcomer BLOB! The sign was coded in a unique pattern of numbers and random letters to avoid detection, but Fluttershy taught me all about deciphering them... I knocked on the warehouse door four times, indicating that I was welcomed there before. The door opened and I saw a massive body-guard who seemingly recognized my birthmark on my eye... “You got big...” He said. “I had a growth spurt...” I chuckled. The guard moved out of my way and I entered to see the stage lights and hearing the small crowds chanting out for the Scorpion. I looked past them and saw that indeed, Fluttershy was in the ring, choke-holding an enormous, rather fat man... I assumed that was the Blob from the poster, and she was indeed taking him down. The Blob resorted to tagging out, his face turning a deep shade of blue. “And the winner of this round, with 145 wins in a row... The Scorpion!” For the second time tonight, I heard a crowd erupt in applause. Fluttershy basked in her victory, throwing up her arms as her dark green tanktop moved up with her. The lights faded and I knew that meant Fluttershy was leaving... She put on her crocodile-skin jacket and quickly went out the back door and I followed, going out the front and quickly scaling the building, running onto the roof and spotting her head down an alley... I leapt out and shot a web on a roof near the alley, pulling myself in to launch me into the night air... I rolled onto the roof and jumped into the alley, landing on all-fours behind Fluttershy, rising up before I called out to her. “Fluttershy...” The underground fighter stopped and turned, facing me. “Pipsqueak... it’s been a while.” She smiled, readying a fighting stance. I chuckled and followed suit, ready to win... Fluttershy broke the distance between us with a jump-kick, but I jumped onto the wall, landing off as fast as I could. She turned and came at me again and I simply moved out of her way, causing her to become frustrated. “The same move won’t save you, Pip...” I chuckled and went on the offensive, going for a grapple which resulted in her grabbing my arm and pinning me to the wall, laughing while she did so... “Ah, I missed wrestling with you...” She smirked, uncomfortably close to me... If that were a year ago, I would’ve embraced the moment in open arms, not questioning the morals of my choices... But that wasn’t a year ago. I waited for her to let her guard down and I broke her pin. “Sorry, Fluttershy—but I’m seein’ somebody...” I told her, knowing she respected relationships... well, save for her own. Fluttershy’s smile faded as she leaned against the brick wall... “Hmm... I heard about the cheeto-puff. We know all about her, Pip, and let me be the one to tell you that she has quite the skeletons in her closet--” “I don’t care... I didn’t come here to talk about Adagio, I came here to talk about Sunset—more so that crown she’s obsessed with...” I interrupted her. Fluttershy was always confident—she never let anyone or anything scare her, especially not Sunset Shimmer... That discipline faded for a split second as I saw fear in her eyes... true fear. “I... don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said, crossing her arms. I sighed and leaned on the adjacent wall, ready to wait. “Rarity told me everything... Sunset went back to... whatever Equestria is, and came back with that crown, when she lost it, she hit you... and you let her. Whatever that crown is, it’s important, isn’t it?” I asked her... Fluttershy quickly charged at me, but not in a playful manner... She landed a stomach hit and caused me to lose my wind... I fell to the ground for a moment before grabbing a foot that went for a kick to my torso. I used it as leverage and pulled myself up, tripping Fluttershy to the ground and took a fighting stance, our way of showing that the fight was over... I had beat the Scorpion... and I had no time to admire that victory. “Flash is dead... There’s nothing left to hold Sunset back, now. If she gets her hands on that crown... it’ll be hell on Earth.” She promised me, staying on the ground as rain began to pour... I held out my hand and she took it, helping herself back up. “That... was a good match, Pip. Whatever happened to you during that trip... keep it up.” She told me. I smiled, knowing full-well that I wasn’t going to stop yet. “I intend to...” With that, we both went our separate ways, Fluttershy going out the alley one way and me the other.