//------------------------------// // The Clone Saga, Part II // Story: Spiders and Magic: Edge of Time // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// Tarantula slashed its claws in the air, aiming for the three Spiders that were attacking him. Its back spider-legs were raised and aimed themselves at Peter, who grabbed the strange protrusion with his hooves. "Ugh... This is possibly the weirdest thing I've ever touched." he gagged aloud. "We can worry about that later, Parker." Miguel reminded him. Peter lifted the leg away from him, "Right. Can any of you track down Anti-Venom and tell him to hurry up?" he asked, focusing on Tarantula. "Ya got it, Pete! C'mon, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash answered. "Oh, um, okay." the yellow pegasus agreed, running with her friend to find the missing symbiote. Twilight hovered in the air, shooting a lavender beam from her horn. The monster swiped it away, but still felt a burning sensation on its arm nontheless. "How powerful is this thing?" she asked Kaine, knowing he had the most knowledge on the creature. "I'm not too sure." replied the First Spider. "How do I shoot webbing in this body?" "You got organic webbing too? Flick your hooves. It works for O'Hara." Peter explained. Kaine nodded, hitting Tarantula with a web-ball once he did what the hero told him. "Nice." he said, seeing Tarantula flinch upon feeling the gossamer hit his body. He flipped upward, driving his hooves downward, the creature feeling the attack on its back. Kaine flipped off Tarantula's body, landing on the ground on one knee. "That should leave him for easy pickings." Sunset tried to hold down the monster with her magic, allowing Applejack and Pinkie to get a hit in with a hard buck. Rarity used her magic to throw various branches and loose robot parts at it, the monster struggling in the magic aura in the meanwhile. The unicorn saw Trixie add her magic, keeping it still for longer. Spike and Black Cat hopped up, using their claws ro slash at Tarantula, who roared in pain. It screamed as the two made their way away from the monster. Somehow, it escaped the unicorns' hold they on it. Now Tarantula was angered. "Alright, Man-Spider. Learn how to play nice!" Spider-Mane ordered, punching its fangs with an uppercut. Tarantula staggered backwards, feeling the force of the punch. "Oh, that'll definitely work. Scold it some more." Kaine responded sarcastically. Spider-Mane 2099 flew, pulling himself forward with an Accelerated Decoy, attacking Tarantula. "Well, I don't see you coming up with any shocking plans, Kaine." he grunted, flying away from the mutated clone before it could attack. "We can't bring him back without Anti-Venom, dumbass." Kaine muttered aloud. "Hey! That's not nice!" Pinkie scolded the clone. "Say you're sorry, now!" The First Spider sighed, "Fine. I'm sorry. If it'll shut you all up." he said through gritted teeth, "I'm just exhausted." he lied, rubbing his aching head with his hooves. "You have a serious attitude problem, Kaine. I kinda like it." Felicia teased. "I don't need your approval, Cat." mumbled Kaine. Spider-Mane and Twilight hovered around Tarantula, the webslinger swinging around the monster. Tarantula slashed about, cutting Peter's web and making him collide with a tree. With a thud, he slide down the bark. "Anyone get the number of that Groot?" he asked, seeing stars circle around him, pointing at the tree behind him. "What the shock is Groot?" Spider-Mane 2099 asked, taking another shot at the monster. Trixie warped away, appearing behind the monster and hitting it with a concussive blast from her horn. Tarantula turned around, too distracted to notice Sunset hit him with her own shot, and Spike hopping on its back to slash his claws on it. The creature tried to grab the dragon with its spider-legs, but Rarity used her magic to carry him away, "Nopony will hurt, Spikey-Wikey." she threatened. Roaring, Tarantula charged after the group. Miguel used his Accelerated Vision to slow down everything around him and give him an advantage. 'I haven't shocking used this ability since I found the tablet fragments. I don't have much time to waste. Gotta take down this glitch before he can harm anyone else.' he trotted forward, leaving a decoy for the monster to see. Spider-Mane 2099 leaped up, slicing the creature's face with his hoof talons. He could see the monster recoil to his attack. Eventually, time began to flow normally for him as he decided to turn off the vision. The ponies looked in wonder as they as Miguel already attacking before any of them could react. "Stay the shock down, jam it!" "Nice job, dude." Peter complimented. Miguel landed, seeing Tarantula stumble backwards. "Yeah, that's still bizarre." "We need freaking Anti-Venom to cure him already!" Kaine shouted in annoyance. Sloan reappeared at the other end of the forest, hearing a roar. "It seems Tarantula has made it and encountered the heroes finally." he noticed, looking around. A light tentacle popped out in the dark of the night, "Seems you finally returned. Did Anti-Venom prove a success?" asked Doc Ock 2099 revealing herself. "Yes and no. He was a viable distraction, but the Spider-Men and their friends brought him back and got Professor Warren's first clone to join them. Something I'm sure he won't be too pleased about." Sloan explained. "We are running out of options at this point." "Do we have the energy necessary to initiate phase two?" Serena questioned. Walker shook his head, "Not yet. While I was back in 2099, I noticed that the energy we have collected is not enough to create a stable portal back in time. The rifts to this world is all we have for now. The only other rift we have is the one Warren investigated. And he still hasn't come back from there yet." "He must be planning something there." Patel suggested. Putting a hoof on his chin, Sloan nodded, "Most likely. For now, we must lay low and away from the heroes' line of sight until Warren comes back to us with an update." "Where will we go?" Doctor Octopus 2099 wondered. "The ponies dwindled my robot army while you were gone." "Wherever. Close to our objective, but far from Spider-Man. The town will probably recognize us if we were to step in there. So, we must hide out in a smaller town away from the chaos that has ensued here." "Did somepony say chaos?" A strange voice got the attention of the villains. An astral projection of a chimera appeared in front of Sloan and Patel. "I'm all about that, you know." he bragged. He snapped his fingers, warping behind Sloan, who raised a brow in confusion. "Who are you?" The chimera laughed, "Who am I? Well, I'm the Master of Chaos himself, Discord. I've been watching you, Sloan. You reopened the rift back to Earth on your own. I gotta say, I'm impressed." Serena's jaw was agape at the mere sight of the projection, "You're a chimera." "Oh my, the genius has it all wrong. I am in fact a draconequss. I've been interested in your plan for while now. And I have a proposition for you." Discord simply offered the geniuses. "Speak your terms." Discord clapped his hands together, "I've been itching for more chaos in this world. I can give you a place to hide out while Warren takes his chances against the heroes. In exchange, with the chronal energy and his creations combined with a small bit of my power, I can create a little more... Necessary destruction. I want any excess energy to use for a later purpose." "That's it?" Patel questioned. The Spirit of Chaos sighed, snapping his fingers, a scroll appearing in front of them. "Yes. Read the fine print, Lady Octopus." he offered to the two. Sloan and Serena glanced over the writing, seeing that his offer was in fact legit. The mastermind exhaled, seeing as he truly has no other option at the moment. "Very well." Discord chuckled, "Oh, the lot of us are going to have so much fun!" he said, snapping his fingers again. The two vanished from their spots, the projection fading after he did his job. "Where the hell is he?!" Anti-Venom hissed. He continued running through the forest with no end in sight. The symbiote turned his head, unable to see anything in the dark of the night. 'He can't have gotten far at this point.' "Yo, Brock!" The symbiote turned around, seeing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy coming right behind him. "Why are you here? I said I'll handle searching for them!" "Well, ya gotta get back! Tarantula's back there fighting our friends! We need you to cure him or whatever it is you do!" Rainbow Dash told the host. "Please..." Fluttershy squeaked. "They were having trouble when we left them. Sloan warped away... We have no idea where in Equestria he could have ended up. We promise we'll help you find him." Anti-Venom looked back, before turning to face the pegasi. "Fine." he grunted, making his way back to the area near the rift. "Let's make this quick." Spider-Mane and Black Cat hopped away when Tarantula dug its spider-leg into the ground, "Just like old times, huh Spider?" Black Cat asked the hero. "Kind of. Y'know, when you're not busy playing cat and mouse with me." Peter responded, seeing Tarantula lift the leg up, it once again raised above its back. Twilight used her magic to shoot Tarantula's leg, burning it slightly while it was raised. The momster roared, slashing its claws at Twilight. Before it could have a chance to hit her, something jumped in front of her. She saw that Kaine had taken the blow. "Agh!" he grunted, feeling the scratches on his chest. "Sweet Celestia!" Twilight ran to the clone. "Are you all right, Kaine?" she asked worriedly. The First Spider held his hoof at the cuts, seeing small drops of blood on it. "I'll be fine. I suffered worse." he comforted the worried alicorn. "Let's get back to stalling my brother." Spider-Mane 2099 nodded, he unfurled his wings once more, hovering above the others. He saw Sunset and Trixie combine their magic once more while Applejack, and Pinkie bucked the monster in its leg, making it scream in pain. Spike breathed fire at Tarantula, burning him more. Spider-Mane spoke, "It's over, dude, the heat will make you a barbacued spider for dinner." he said. "Ugh. How long does it take for you to make a lame joke." Kaine groaned loudly. Peter shrugged, punching Tarantula in the chest, his hoodie not providing protection obviously. "My fist meets your fangs." he said. "Would you shut the shock up, Parker?" Spider-Mane 2099 exhaled in annoyance. Before anypony else could response, something grabbed Tarantula. They all turned around and saw Anti-Venom had grabbed Tarantula. The tentacles he had began to shrink the monster, leaving a stallion lying on the ground with a blue hoodie lying over his head. "You're welcome, everypony." Rainbow Dash said, her and Fluttershy appearing behind him. "Woah. He also looks like me." Peter noticed. "How many stinking clones are there?" "Only us two." Kaine assured. Twilight lifted him up, an aura surrounding his body, "We should head back to Ponyville. We'll worry about this situation when he wakes up. I'm sure everypony is tired by now." "Yeah." agreed Peter. "You staying with us, Brock?" Anti-Venom nodded, the symbiote retracting. Eddie spoke, "For now. Until we find Sloan." "Good." said Sunset. "Let's catch the final train home before its too late."