//------------------------------//
// Chapter Three 
// Story: Daughter of the Crimson King 
// by The-Black-Knight 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Three



-Manhatten-


The sounds of vehicles, car horns, people walking and talking; filled Twilight’s ears. She slowly sat up, her head pounding. “Oh, my head… W-What was that?” She said, opening her eyes, to see that she was wearing clothes, and in her human form! Only difference from the last time, was that her skin wasn’t the normal lavender… Instead, it was a somewhat dark tan. She looked around, noticing that she was in an alleyway of some city, which looked like Manehatten. “Where am I?”
“Manhatten… Welcome to the big city, girly.” A rough voice said, making Twilight look up to see a muscular man, on the fire escape. He was wearing the fur of some animal, holding two machetes. “And welcome to the Hunt!” Kraven shouted.
Twilight, too weak to actually fight, decided to try and run from this man. Just by how he looked, one could tell he wasn’t a good person. “Where do you think you’re going?” Another voice said, two mechanical arms slamming into the ground, before Twilight could enter the street. Doc Ock lowered himself down, a wicked grin on his face.
The moment Twilight tried to run the other way, she was cut off by none other than the deadly symbiote, Venom. “Don’t run… Save us the trouble.” He hissed, Venom’s long tongue slowly coming out.
There was one last resort, one that would always work when someone was in danger. Twilight screamed, loud as she possibly could. “Someone, help me!” And, like Celestia answered her, two strings of web shot down, attached to her shoulders, and pulled Twilight straight up to the rooftops! Away from the deadly trio.
“Seriously, ganging up on a girl, in some creepy alleyway? Do you three have no shame?” A young voice said, Twilight finding herself in the arms of a man, wearing red and blue tights.
She looked at the iconic spider insignia, before looking into the bug eyes of his mask. “W-Who are you?” Twilight asked.
Her scream had caught the attention of Manhatten’s local hero, who looked at her. “Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, of course!” He said, quickly jumping away from the building’s edge, just as Doc Ock destroyed it with one of his mechanical arms. “Whoa! Easy there, Doc! There’s a lady here!” Once he landed, he quickly put Twilight down, and stood in front of her.
When the smoke cleared, all three villains were also on the rooftop. “Oh, I wasn’t aiming for her, I was aiming for your head, Spider-Man.” Doc Ock said, smirking. “Our benefactor requested, strongly, that she be alive.”
“If you’re working for someone, and they want her, then you better believe I won’t let you have her!” Spider-Man said, taking a fighting stance.
“Please, Spider-Man. Alone, you could barely defeat each of us. What makes you think you could last a minute with all three of us, by yourself?” Doc Ock asked, grinning, as the three of them prepared to fight.
“Easy, who said I’m alone?” Spider-Man said, taking a nonchalant stance.
The three looked at him, confused, until the sounds of metal bouncing on concrete caught their attention. They looked down, to see four small grenades saying. “Got”. “You”. “Didn’t”. “I!?”
“Scatter! Grenades!” Kraven yelled, the three quickly scrambling away from the location. Spider-Man quickly grabbed Twilight, and took her down to the street, right before the grenades went off.
“Deadpool! I said no explosives in the city!” He yelled, before a man in a red and black suit, armed to the teeth, appeared next to them…. From out of a man hole?
“What can I say? I have an explosive personality!” Deadpool said, laughing at his own joke.
“No time for jokes, Deadpool… We got three big problems.” Spider-Man said, noticing the three villains appearing on the other side of the street. “Get to cover, ma’am, while we deal with these bozos.”
“Twilight…” She said, making him look at her. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.” He nodded, before Twilight ran behind a nearby car.
“Heh, she digs ya, Spidey.” Deadpool said, pulling out his katanas, laughing.
“I just met her!” Spider-Man said, looking at the anti-hero.
“Author said you two will be an item.” Deadpool said, shrugging. (Damnit, Deadpool!!!!!).
“Who?” Spider-Man asked, confused.
“Never mind, stance time!” Deadpool said, the two of the taking a fighting stance.
Without a second thought, the five jump towards one another. Doc Ock attempted to grab Spider-Man with one of his robotic arms, only for the web-slinger to dodge it, at the last second.
When Kraven leapt towards Deadpool, the two clashed blades, sparks flying every which way. “Why are you helping the boy, Wilson? I thought you were a mercenary, and didn’t do anything for free?” The Hunter asked, able to see Deadpool’s grin through his mask.
“What can I say? The web-swinger has a special place in my heart.” He answered, before ducking and kicking Kraven’s legs out from underneath him. “You know? Big brother and little brother type relationship… Sicko.”
“Your funeral!” Kraven announced, before sending a swift kick to Deadpool’s stomach, sending the mercenary back.
“Oh! Why do you hit so haaaaaard?” Deadpool pouted, before leaping towards Kraven. “Banzai!!!!!”
With Spider-Man and Doc Ock, the web-slinger continued to dodge the robotic arms with ease. Though, when he shot webbing at him, Doc Ock protected himself with the robotic arms. “Seriously, Doc, why are you doing this? We both know you aren’t someone’s henchman?” Spider-Man asked, just barely dodging one of the arms.
“I’m not. We’re more like…. Business associates.” Doc Ock said, before trying to crush Spider-Man under his claws. “Though, not like you will find out anything more.”
Spider-Man managed to dodge the attack, before shooting several webbings around Doc Ock’s robotic arms. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Doc.” He said, flying out from under the eight armed villain.
When Doc Ock attempted to move, he started to tumble over. “W-What!?” He yelled, just before hitting the ground. He looked, only to see that Spider-Man had placed enough webbing to trap his robotic arms. “Impossible!”
“Not really.” Spider-Man said, shooting webbing at Doc Ock’s mouth. “The webbing, when applied enough, can stop a charging elephant.” The hero soon started to wrap Doc Ock up, to prevent him from doing anything else.
Twilight watched, from behind the car, as the two mutates fought. She couldn’t help but smile at their antics. Despite the seriousness of the situation, they were kind of funny. When they had the upper hand, the two villains starting to lose, it hit her. “Where’s the third?” She said, looking around, but couldn’t find the symbiote.
“Right here, precious.” Venom’s voice spoke up, the car soon being lifted right off the ground. Venom held it up, over his head, showing all those teeth and that long tongue. “Why do you hide, little girl?”
Twilight tried to use her magic, her hands flickering for a second, but she couldn’t do anything. She grabbed a few rocks and started to throw them at the symbiote. Unfortunately, they didn’t faze him at all. “What are you made of!?” She yelled.
“Your nightmares, precious.” Venom said, throwing the car to the side, and reached for her.
Before he grabbed her, a mailbox smashed against his head, causing Venom to look and see Spider-Man preparing to throw a trashcan. “Hey! Down, Venom, down boy!” He yelled, using his webbing to throw said trashcan at Venom. When it collided, trash went all over him, and Spider-Man attempted to punch the symbiote… Only for his fist to get caught by the over grown creature.
“We cannot tell you how long we’ve been waiting for this.” Venom said, before slamming Spider-Man on the ground, quite a few times, then throwing him against the wall behind Twilight.
“Spider-Man!” Twilight said, rushing over to the fallen hero. “A-Are you ok?”
“Ooooow….. Anyone get the number of that symbiote bus?” He asked, holding the side of his head.
Venom grabbed a street sign, and ripped it out of the ground. Twilight saw this, and quickly got in his way, holding both arms out and glared at him. “Out of the way.” Venom growled, Twilight shaking her head. “Out of the way, or you share the same fate.”
“No!” She defiantly yelled, keeping a glare on Venom.
“We warned you.” Venom said, lifting the pointed end of the broken sign up and aimed it at her heart. “Time to die!” Twilight closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen.
“Don’t you dare touch the Princess, you filthy xenos scum!!!” A metallic voice boomed, making Twilight open her eyes, in time to see a heqa staff slam right into Venom’s chest. The staff lit up, causing the symbiote to cry in agony, and then sent him flying into a nearby building.
Twilight looked up, and saw an eight foot tall man, wearing crimson and gold armor. He had strange symbols and scarabs drawn into the armor itself. He wore a blue half robe around his armor, along with a strange headdress on his helmet. The left shoulder plate actually had the same symbol, as the one on Crimson King’s journal, while the right had a gold oak leaf. At the left side of his hip, was a large pistol that matched his size.
Kraven and Doc Ock, who just got out of the webbing, just stared at the armored giant. They looked at Venom, who was actually out cold, then back at him. The giant’s left hand suddenly lit up with crackling energy. “Who is next?” He asked.
They didn’t hesitate, both Kraven and Doc Ock grabbed Venom, and bolted from the scene. Deadpool tilted his head, watching the villains flee. “Whoa… Talk about intimidation.” He said, looking back at the newcomer.
Twilight was trying to help Spider-Man up, looking up at the giant. “W-Who are you?” She asked, Spider-Man also looking up at him.
The giant turned around, and faced the two of them, with a nod. “I am Azhek Ahirman, Captain of the Thousand Sons First Fellowship, and leader of the Scarab Occult.” He said, placing heqa staff over his heart. “I was sent here, by my lord, to protect you, Princess Twilight.”
“W-Wait, you’re a Princess?” Spider-Man asked, looking at Twilight. “Is that why those three were after you?”
“I don’t know why those three were after me, but…” Twilight looked up at Azhek. “Spider-Man needs medical attention, I can tell you’re a powerful sorcerer, by the display you just gave…. Do you know any healing spells?”
Azhek shook his head. “I’m sorry, Princess… But I do not know any healing spells.” He said, looking at the boy. “Nor am I familiar to the where abouts of this world’s medical facility.”
“We can… Go to Stark Tower… I’m sure Iron Man can help…” Spider-Man said, holding his head. “Really wish everything would quit spinning, though.”
“I know the way.” Deadpool said, running up to the three. “Grab Spidey and Miss Princess, I’ll lead the way.”
Azhek nodded, mag-locking the staff to his back before picking the two up. “Lead the way, mortal… There isn’t any time to waste.” He said, looking down at Deadpool.
“Whoa… This guy is bigger than I thought.” The mercenary thought, feeling rather insignificant right now. “Alright, let’s roll!” He waved, before rushing off towards Stark Tower.
Twilight, cradled in Azhek’s right arm, just looked up at the giant’s emotionless helmet. “He bares the same symbol, as Crimson King… Perhaps the two are both part of this ‘Thousand Sons’ group.” She thought, now looking at the injured Spider-Man, who was draped over Azhek’s left arm. “But, before I ask any questions, we need to get Spider-Man to this Iron Man person.”