//------------------------------// // Clues // Story: Along Came A Spider // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "Are you alright?" Stonewall asked Spiderman, who was still trying to process the fact that he had just been saved by a pony that he loathed. The alligator and the chameleon roared and turned both of the stallions attentions to the monsters, who were charging towards them. Stonewall roared with fury before he slammed into the chest of the chameleon, struggling against the superior foe with all of his might. "What are you doing, you idiot?!" Spiderman roared as he fired a strand of webbing into the back of the stallion, yanking him back right as the teeth of the alligator snapped at the air where he had been. "You are severely outclassed by both of these monsters, yet you try to play the hero?! Why don't you do what the rest of the ponies here did and run for your foolish life?!" "Because then you would have to face these beasts by yourself," Stonewall replied in a tone that took Spiderman by surprise, but before Spiderman could try once more to change the pony's mind the beasts resumed their attacks. Spiderman hurled Stonewall out of the way before catching the alligator with all of his might. Spiderman began to push the reptile back, but his spider sense then blared like an alarm and a moment later the chameleon drove its tail into his stomach. Spiderman was sent flying across the room, but he managed to tumble in the air and land on his hooves. 'These two are far tougher than the others that I have fought,' Spiderman deduced as he leapt onto the ceiling to avoid being double teamed once more. The beasts roared with fury as they looked up at the spider, who narrowed his eyes into slits in response. 'And their teamwork is impressive. If I hope to stand a chance against these creatures, I am going to need to separate them.' From the ceiling Spiderman fired two strands of webbing that entangled the chameleon, causing it to roar before he hoisted it into the air. Once it was airborne Spiderman leapt down and drove both of his hooves into the chest of the monster, sending it crashing back down into the floor below. His spider sense warned him of a sneak attack and his reflexes allowed him to leap into the air to avoid a slash by the alligator. Spiderman kicked the beast in the face and sent it staggering back, but the chameleon recovered faster than he thought it would be able to and kicked him in the side of the head. Seeing an opening, the alligator raced forward and snapped its jaws at Spiderman, who recovered just in time to reach out and catch the top and bottom of the jaws with his hooves. Yet even with his insane strength, Spiderman felt himself struggling against the force that the jaws were producing. Spiderman strained with all of his might and began to push the jaws open, but then pain lashed across his back and he roared in agony. As he struggled to avoid falling to his knees, Spiderman glanced over his shoulder to see that the chameleons tongue now had barbs along it, turning it into a lethal whip. 'I could dodge that whip with little issue if I was not in my current predicament,' Spiderman thought with a snarl as he felt the jaws begin to close around him once more. 'But if I release my grip for even a moment, these jaws will tear me in half. Think Otto, there must be a way out of this!' The chameleon let out a roar before it let its tongue fly at Spiderman once more, who gritted his teeth as he braced himself for impact. But to his surprise he heard the sound of the tongue striking metal and not his flesh. Spiderman glanced over his shoulder once more to see that the tongue had wrapped itself around one of the chairs, which was being wielded by a stallion that Spiderman was beginning to think was far more stubborn than him. "Did you not hear me, you deaf fool?! I said to run for your damn life!" Spiderman yelled at Stonewall, who strained against the chameleon with all of his might. "And like I told you, I'm not leaving you alone to deal with these monsters all by yourself!" Stonewall roared back before he thrust the chair into the face of the chameleon, knocking it off balance as the barbs dug into its eyes. AS the beast howled in pain, Spiderman used what strength he had left to pry open the jaws of the gator. He fired two blasts of webbing down the throat of the gator, causing its eyes to bulge as it gagged for air. But the webbing allowed none through and a moment later the gator was writhing on the floor as it slowly suffocated. With one of the monsters out of the way, Spiderman was able to turn and kicked the chameleon in the side of the head, sending it sprawling amongst the chairs that had been hastily evacuated. He grabbed two chairs with his webbing and slammed them into the chameleon's head, making sure that the beast stayed down. "There will be no escape for you this time," Spiderman promised the creature as he leapt onto its back, using his superior strength to keep the creature pinned down. He then began to unleash blow after blow into the back of the monsters skull, until all the beast could do was lie face down on the ground and drool. With one last hammer like punch to make sure that the monster stayed down, Spiderman slowly began to regulate his breathing before he looked around at the area. All of the chairs had been overturned, clothing lay in multiple different places as it had been shed for a quicker escape and some of Spiderman's blood decorated the walls. But he had won and that was what matter. With both of the monsters down for the count, Spiderman slowly turned to face Stonewall, who was giving Spiderman the same kind of look that Spiderman gave him from beneath the mask. "You are not getting a thank you, if that is what you are waiting for," Spiderman informed the pegasi, who smirked at Spiderman's words. "Wasn't really expecting one from you. At least I'll always have the knowledge that I saved your life." "You did not save my life. In fact, your interference cost me quite a bit of blood and nearly allowed these beasts free reign of the entire city," Spiderman corrected the stallion in a heated tone, but to his increasing frustration Stonewall showed no visible signs that he was the least bit sorry for his actions. "Do you believe that your actions here make you a hero? A soldier? They do not. All they do is show that you are someone that doesn't know when to mind their own business." Spiderman expected some kind of rage or indifference in reply to his words, but once again Stonewall surprised him by simply smiling and shaking his head. "The ponies here are safe and the threat has been dealt with. I don't need to be called a hero or soldier to know that's all that matters," Stonewall replied before turning and heading towards the exit. "You're welcome, by the way. Try not to lose anymore blood on the way home." 'Infernal tool,' Spiderman thought to himself before he leapt to the ceiling, crawling along it to find a way out of the building. 'Coco will most likely be worried about my disappearance and that poor dear has gone through quite enough for one day. I will find my way back to her and show her that I am fine.' \\( )// //; ;\\ "He's not anywhere! I can't find him!" Coco exclaimed in absolute worry as she danced back and forth through the ponies, looking around in desperation for Otto. Stonewall followed after her, keeping an eye out as police ponies swarmed the building. "Calm down Coco, I'm sure he's fine. The heavens would not let him die so easily, lest they make me happy," Stonewall in an attempt to comfort her, but all his words did was cause Coco to go into an even greater frenzy. The mare ran around in a near panic until she finally spied the stallion she was looking for walking out of the building. With a cry of relief she raced over to him, planning on giving him a hug of relief when she got to him. But when she reached her friend she gasped in horror when she saw the bloody bandages that had been applied around his midsection. "Otto, what happened to you?" Coco asked him with terror in her eyes, but when Otto glanced at Stonewall he found that the stallions face was practically unreadable. "Am I fine, Coco. I just had the misfortune of running into one of those beast in my efforts to escape them," Otto promised the mare, but to his surprise he found that when he looked into her eyes she didn't seem as worried as he believed she would be. She still gave him a smile of relief a moment later before gingerly pulling him into a small hug. "At least you're alive. That's all that matters." With the show being canceled on the accounts of what had happened, the three of them began their walk back to the boutique while discussing what they had learned. While they talked Otto noticed that the spider bot that he had made to follow around Coco was nowhere to be found, causing him to grimace while wondering if it had been broken in the battle. "Otto, are you listening?" Coco asked him for the third time, finally breaking through the fortress that was Otto's mind and turning the stallions attention to her. "We were talking about what happened back there." "We know what happened. A pair of monsters decided that the fashion there was a crime against nature and took matters into their own claws," Otto replied in a dismissive tone, but a cold glare from Coco got him to sigh in defeat. "I meant about what we learned about Cherry Bomb," Coco repeated for Otto, who actually turned an ear towards the conversation to listen in. "She didn't use my design at the competition. Actually, her dress wasn't even remotely close to the one that I had made. But if she had stolen my ideas, why didn't she use them?" "Maybe she realized that by using anything close to your design she would expose herself as the saboteur?" Stonewall suggested, but both Otto and Coco shook their heads at his answer. "No, I do not believe that is the case," Otto interjected. "I am almost certain that Cherry had nothing to do with the destruction of your boutique and that we may have been hasty to place the blame on her...perhaps if we spoke to her about what has transpired, she may be able to help us find out who really did it." "Maybe...or maybe there's more to the damages that we originally thought," Coco put forward, turning both Otto and Stonewall to her. "There have been four attacks in the city so far. First the giant monster, then the chimera. Next was that snake I read about and finally tonight. And we've been at three of them." "Are you suggesting that the attacks are somehow linked to us?" Stonewall asked with utter confusion in his voice, yet his eyes did not match his tone. "What could we have done to warrant such an act even if your theory is true? Besides, the crazy behind these attacks has already unleashed his monsters upon each of the cities and towns in Equestria. He hasn't been targeting us from the beginning." "Maybe not at first, but it seems he is now..." Coco said in such a quiet voice that even Otto could barely hear her. She then shook her head and gave the both of them a kind smile. "Well, it's all just speculation. Perhaps I'm simply paranoid after being too close to these attacks. Come on, we should probably get some sleep," she suggested as she opened the door to the boutique. "That reminds me Coco, what happened to Sapphire Shores?" Stonewall asked as they entered. "She was being hounded by the media last I saw of her. I was too busy looking out for Otto to see how she was doing," Coco replied. Stonewall nodded and walked off into the other room. Otto tried to walk by Coco to enter, but before he could she placed a hoof on his shoulder to stop him. He glanced over at her to see that she was looking into his eyes as if to find her answers. "Otto...you don't have a history with the monster behind all of these attacks, do you?" Coco asked in a whisper. "I mean, I know it might seem that I'm being foolish, but with you being a supervillain in your past and him being..." "I understand your concern and see why you would make a connection. But I can promise you that I have never before met or collaborated with this fiend. The first I ever heard of him was when you told me about him," Otto promised Coco, who looked deep into his eyes for a moment before she smiled in relief. "Well, I trust you. And you do seem really upset by what he's done," Coco added before walking inside, yawning loudly. "Whelp, I'm going to bed. Today has been a crazy day and I want to sleep it off like a bad dream. Otto, if your wound gets any worse, tell me and I'll take you to the hospital." "That I will do," Otto said. He watched Coco as she climbed up the stairs before he turned on his hooves and walked into the boutique, eyes narrow as he began to look around the room. He searched under the tables, next to the chairs and around the areas where the dress had been torn apart. For an hour he searched in vain, but his patience was rewarded when he looked near where his workshop was to find three very small claw marks upon the ground. 'This is a strange turn of events,' Otto thought to himself as he began to look around the room, suddenly missing the extra sets of eyes that he had built. 'If this means what I think it does, then the Beasts, as he called himself, was the one that tore apart Coco's dress and ripped this place apart. But what would he have to gain from such wanton destruction...perhaps destruction wasn't his goal. Perhaps he was searching for something.' Otto's eyes narrowed slightly before he shook his head and turned towards his room, far too tired to think any more. 'But what could he be searching for in a place like this. It is inconceivable that he managed to pierce my disguise and found where I live. This act was before he had the chance to meet me. So what was he looking for?' He then glanced at the side of his bed to see that there was a envelope on the nightstand. He picked it up and opened it, finding that there was a letter inside. 'Dear Otto, Thanks for bailing me out at that fashion show. Couldn't believe who it was saving me until I heard him rip Stonewall a new one. But there's no mistaking those insults. Only you can bash somepony so savagely. Guess you really do care about me deep down. How about you and I go out somewhere nice, so we can talk about what you do in your spare time?' 'Cherry Bomb.' 'Well shit,' Otto thought.