Chapter 9

It didn't take long before before I bumped into one of the robbers considering that the man in question came inside the restroom, probably to make no one was inside. Unfortunately for him, I was.

The robber couldn't even raise his weapon when I cast a spell, one of the minor spells belonging to Lighting Manipulation. It was a small ball of electricity that collided with the robber before shocking him. As the robber collapsed, I heard more voices being raised in a panic followed by several footsteps coming towards the restroom.

In a moment of inspiration, I thought of a perfect way to incapacitate everyone. I used telekinesis to lock one of the toilet stalls to trick them into thinking I was inside before casting a minor invisibility spell onto myself and stood in a corner.

Not long after that, around 4 of the robbers entered the restroom and upon seeing the locked stall, surrounded it before calling out for whoever was inside to step out. With their backs turned to me, I dispelled my invisibility before casting a wind spell just in time as one of the robbers turned around. But before he could alert his comrades, I activated the spell a vacuum was formed around the robbers before disappearing after a few seconds. Not enough to kill them but enough to knock them out. After making sure none were following them, I conjured a rope before hogtieing them to one another then leaving them in the restroom for the police.

I looked around with [Sight] hoping to find Peter as his aura was only one I could recognise at a glance. I could only hope that the rest were with him.

However, when I found his aura I was confused due to the erratic movements it was doing. It looked as if he was walking on the walls. I shelved it for another time as I looked around some more. I saw isolated auras around the mall with the majority congregating towards the food court which was probably the robbers herding the hostages together. While it may have been faster to confront the ones in the food court, the ones patrolling around might take me by surprise. Moreover, Peter was also quite far from the food court.

A simple plan began forming in my head as I flew towards where Peter's aura was. On the way, I managed to take down 2 more robbers who stood no chance against me. I managed to reach Peters location which was getting dangerously closer to the food court when. However, just as I turned the corner which should have brought me face to face with him, instead of Peter I found the resident red, blue and white themed, spandex wearing, archanid themed hero, Spiderman binding two of the robbers in webs with his back turned to me. I activated [Sight] Once more and it confirmed my fears. Peters aura was coming from Spiderman. Meaning, Peter was indeed Spiderman. A part of me was in denial but it made sense a lot. How he managed to find where I lived, his sudden growth spurt, why he didn't need glasses anymore and many more.

While I wanted to confront him about this, I refrained so as to keep my identity hidden. Not that I didn't trust him but the less people knew my identity, the better. And so with my voice altered with magic, I spoke.

"Hello there."

Spiderman got startled by my sudden greeting and nearly tripped on the unconscious robber he was webbing. I couldn't help but chuckle audibly at his antics. 'Yeah this is much better' I thought to myself just as Spiderman managed to compose himself.

"Jeez. You startled me." he whispered.

"Sorry about that." I replied.

It was that I saw another robber enter my line of sight from the side. I swiftly shot him with a small orb of electricity, knocking him out. Upon witnessing this, Spiderman turned to me.

"I'm guessing you're on my side." he quipped and I nodded after which he gestured for me to follow him. He walked and stopped infront of a small map of the mall.

"OK. Here what I know. The robbers started their attacks from from the exits, making sure that no one could leave. They then spread out, rounding up the civilians and herding them to the food court. I don't know how many of them are there so I think it's best that we split up. We'll clear out the upper floors and and the outer areas of the mall then go rescue the hostages."

"I can see three other people on this floor aside from us." I interject.

Spiderman looked a little confused before muttering something about magic before asking.

"Are they all robber."

"I cannot say..." I was about to continue when I saw 2 of the auras get nearer before one of them subsequently begin to fade, indicating that he had been knocked out.

"One of them just knocked out the other. Could be another hero. Want to check it out?" I spoke. Spiderman looked a little hesitant before nodding in agreement. The two of us and the mystery helper all converged on the remaining aura on the floor that turned out to be one of the robbers taking a smoke break. Peter was about to subdue him when I stopped him. That's was because I sensed the mystery man right above the robber ready to attack.

Suddenly two white strings of webbing much like Spidermans, stuck on the robber's shoulders before yanking him up into the air. He was then bound expertly much like Spiderman does. Not long after that, the culprit jumped down from where he was hiding and landed on his feet giving both me and Spiderman a view of him.

Based on the curves on his body, the attacker turned out to be a girl who was wearing a costume similar to spiderman but colors black and white.

"Ms are you aware of something called, 'copyright infringement'." Spiderman finally couldn't take it any more and talked as he swung himself onto a wall near the girl, startling her much like I had done to Peter.

"Cause I think I may need to get my lawyers involved for this." Peter continued jokingly.

The girl, upon seeing him began to talk. "Spiderman? What are you doing here? What am I saying. Its a free country. Theres no reason why you wouldn't be allowed here." The girl kept on rambling on until Spiderman came down and held her shoulders in an effort to came her down.

"Breathe." He said and the girl stopped her tirade before letting out a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I got excited. I'm such a huge fan of yours." She practically squeeled like a fan girl and at that point, I made myself known as well. The girl put her guard up upon seeing me.

"Don't worry. She one of the good guys. She's... You know I didn't catch your name." he spoke to the girl before turning to me.

I lowered my gaze, trying to think about how to answer. It took me a few seconds but I managed to find a perfect name to identify myself as. I then turned to Spiderman before answering." You may call me, Valor."

Spiderman looked like he wanted to ask more questions but was interrupted by the girl.

"Well um. I'm Ghost Spider. Nice to meet you." she waved at me which I returned.

"Now that we have introduced ourselves, we should plan how to rescue the hostages." I interjected before anyone could say anything else.

Both Spiderman and the Ghost Spider muttered in agreement as I activated [Sight] once more. I bit back a curse as I saw several auras swiftly moving down to the ground floor and making their way to the food court.

"Guys. We have a problem. The rest of them are moving to the food court. I think we've been made. We should go and take them down before any hostages get hurt." I say somberely and both Spiderman and Ghost Spider nodded in agreement before we made our way down.

As we reached the food court we saw several patrols leading us to hid behind a wall. A cursory glance revealed around 15 robbers, patrolling around. The civilians were huddled up in the center with around 5 guards watching over them.

"Please tell me one of you has a plan." Ghost spider asked.

"I can turn invisible. Maybe sneak past them and put a barrier around the hostages. It should keep them out of harms way... " I propose and got interrupted by Spiderman.

"Letting us take down the rest of these goons without any worries." Peter exclaimed. I nodded in affirmation before turning to our newest addition who nodded as well.

I began chanting and mana began condensing around me. Enough for my companions to see them through their naked eyes. I heard both Spiderman and Ghost Spider whisper 'Wow' causing me to smile a little before casting the spell. The reason why I took longer to use this spell this time was because the longer I chant it, the longer its effects will last.

Once the spell took effect, I wasted no time reducing the distance between me and the hostages. Most of them were laying down sobbing or consoling their loved ones while the guards kept an eye on them.

In my invisible state, I began to proceed with the next step. I dispelled the staff before summoning Dragnir, it's Runes began glowing as I chanted the spell while I simultaneously readied another spell in my free hand. I used the latter first, which was a simple wind spells which I shot at a bunch of chairs. The impact knocked one of them creating a domino effect which toppled the rest of the chairs. Hearing this, the robbers, including the ones guarding the hostages turned towards the noise, their momentary distraction giving me enough time to cast the barrier.

[Arcane Bulwark] I shouted as I became visible once more, shocking both the robbers and the hostages as I began hearing yelps and cries from everywhere. The robbers opened fire on instinct but it was too late as the translucent barrier surrounded me and the hostages, blocking the bullets.

"What the f....?"

"Huh"

Several people yelled out in confusion. Both the hostages and robbers. The ensuing confusion brought a momentary break to the violence. Keyword being momentary.

"Kill that bitch." Someone yelled and almost all the robbers opened fire on the barrier. Yet I wasn't worried. For one thing, [Arcane Bulwark] was an improved version of [Arcane Aegis] that was created specifically to defend multiple people from long ranged projectiles. Unlike its predecessor, this spell had a high range and a gelatinous outer layer made of mana meant to absorb kinetic energy. The smaller the projectile, the faster it absorbs. Meaning I could keep this up until my mana runs out, and their attacks will not even scratch the inner layer of the barrier.

I could see both Spiderman and Ghost spider using this opportunity to advance knocking out several of the goons before anyone could realise. The spider duo managed to take down the majority of the goons when I noticed one of the goons they had knocked out earlier get up before brandishing a pistol aiming it down at Ghost Spider who had her back to the man.

I was about to warn her when suddenly another figure emerged from the shadows before knocking the gun out of the goons hands then executing a roundhouse kick which caught him is the torso. The figure then followed that up with an upper cut, knocking him out. Once that was done, the figure stood still allowing me to see him clearly. The figure was clearly female who wore a black skintight suit that left little to the imagination and wore a mask to hide her face, but what caught my attention was the familiar platinum blonde hair she was sporting. Our eyes met and the girl winked at me before disappearing into the shadows.

I was about to pursue her, when I suddenly heard Spiderman talk. "Valor, mind taking down the barrier?"

I looked at him in a daze before surveying the surroundings. All the robbers had been taken down and bound. Upon seeing that the situation was resolved I took down the barrier before letting out a sigh. This ordeal had drained me both mentally and physically in more ways than one. All I wanted to do now was get home and relax on my bed. So much for a day off.

"Harriet! Peter! Gwen! Can you hear me?" I heard Kamala calling out for us.

'Looks like the bed will have to wait.' I muttered to myself before beginning to look for a place to revert to my civilian attire.

(AN: Let me know if have made a mistake. I'm still not used to writing combat scenes.)