Chapter 9. Basics
Spiderman Prime by Sorcerer Prime
Chapter 9. Basics
(Damien's POV)
It only seemed logical that I'd relocate after leading a succubus right to my doorstep, and I did.
However, things weren't the same for me after the encounter with Jenny.
First, I had discovered something more special about my spider abilities. I could not only swing with magic, but also cast spells - when done correctly.
However, the latter wasn't so easy to execute, and after trying to recreate the banishing spell I had performed on Jenny, I realized this.
In theory, it was pretty easy to understand. I just had to weave the magic in the air to some amalgam symbol tied to the kind of spell I wanted to perform, then make a wish.
But practical application was a whole other headache.
To start with, constructing a perfect circle from magical nodes scattered around us is next to impossible, and after countless trials, I was beginning to really appreciate what it meant to be lucky.
I even tried the compass method, where the length of the web line on my hands together with my height were the radius, and the web line attached to my legs would construct the circumference as I swung.
But the result was always a slightly crooked circle attached to some undesirable nodes.
That only made me wish I'd never run out of luck, but we all know that's an inevitable Fate. So, I had to train to perfect the skill before that day came.
And, thus, there I was in the night sky over New York, swinging around for what seemed like hours as I tried to draw a magic symbol in the air.
Drawing the parent object - the circle - got me so frustrated that I cursed from the bottom of my soul each time the arc missed a mark or attracted to an unsolicited node.
After getting annoyed for quite some time, I switched to practicing with a triangle, one of the basic shapes that had been in the banishing spell.
The first one was easy to draw, I just had to swing a web line from a node, attach it to a second, then a third, and complete the diagram with the primary node. All the while, I had to be lucky to miss all the nodes in between that could give the web-line a bump or two.
After the diagram was complete, I felt so proud of my accomplishment that I didn't want to do it all over again and potentially fail.
Besides that, I was curious to know whether the basic structure of the triangle could do anything if some magic with intent was channeled to it.
To channel the magic, I just had to link the primary node structuring the symbol to any random node outside the symbol, and make a wish.
Doing exactly so, I saw Eldritch energy flow through the web-lines forming the triangle like electricity coursing through a wire.
As for my wish, I just figured I'd ask the web for an apple, since I was kinda starving after the whole practice session.
And as the energy nearly completed the flow, I was frankly curious to see the magic happen.
My spider sense didn't go off, and I was certain that it was a safe experiment, even as the energy finished with multiple, daring sparks, and then... Nothing.
Nothing happened, no apple, no consequence... Nothing.
The triangle just stood on the air still, it's glow getting dimmer and dimmer with ever passing second.
"That's disappointing." I sighed as I prepared to detach from the webs suspending me in the air and head back to my new place for rest.
Suddenly, something airborne and approaching my sparked my curiosity.
"Watcha doing pal?" The voice making the inquisition sounded familiar, but it was not until I saw him flying towards me that I recognized him.
"Peter?" I asked as his body flipped towards me.
"Lucky Spider? The Avengers detected something suspicious on the skyline and sent me to... Did you just call me Peter?" He had been in the middle of talking when he realized how I had addressed him.
"I.. uh.. oh.. Yes?" I didn't see any reason to cover it up, but Spiderman was already being pulled back to the ground by gravity.
"Would really appreciate it if we talked where there are buildings to hold onto." Spiderman said as he shot webs to the first building that came to sight.
"Right." I agreed while breaking from the web lines on my back and descending headfirst with the velocity of gravity and my catapult swing.
I left the symbol in the air, supposing that it's diminishing light meant it would finally dissipate since its energy had been used.
"So, am I in trouble with the Avengers?" I asked it as a first question as I glided to where Spiderman had stopped.
He looked like he was readjusting to the atmospheric pressure, and it reminded me to remove the webbing I had wound around my mask. The webbing had been a very useful aid to breathing in the high atmosphere.
"I'm not picking up anything suspicious from my spider-sense. I think you're good." Spiderman said.
"But what were you doing so far up?" Spiderman asked.
"Training." I replied. "Just figured a bunch of other stuff I can do with my powers."
"How did you manage to follow me that far up by the way?" I was genuinely curious while also trying to understand why the Avengers had chosen him for reconnaissance when he couldn't swing in the air.
"Well, it's all about momentum and physics," Spiderman replied. "I use the initial swing to gain altitude, then I let myself fall slightly before swinging upwards again, repeating the process to gradually increase my height. It's like using a pendulum motion to build up energy."
"Yeah, got it," I nodded bluntly, frankly thinking he was done explaining. "You're all about the science, and I'm more into the magic side of things."
"And, for that last swing," he wasn't done explaining. "I utilize the conservation of angular momentum. By swinging in a wide arc and adjusting my body position, I convert my linear momentum into rotational momentum, allowing me to gain height even when there are no buildings to swing from. It's all about converting one form of energy into another."
"Say what?" he could have just said, 'I made one giant, scientifically valid, leap/swing', and save me the trouble of feeling stupid.
However, his explanation wasn't totally worthless, and it sparked an idea in mind.
"Can you teach me how to draw symbols in the air?" I was bubbling with excitement while asking him, even though it sounded like a kindergartner talking to the teacher.
"What do you mean?" Spiderman asked.
"Here, let me explain." It was a coincidental chance I wasn't going to pass up.
Spiderman's brain was right there for picking, and his experience was levels above mine.
Who better to teach me spider-magic?
(General POV)
If birds had a name, the nighthawk flying at night over New York would call itself, Nightwing, because of how heroic it thought its actions were.
Every night, Nightwing would fly above and below New York, doing what could only be regarded as heroic deeds.
While it was basically hunting while it descended on some bug in the city, Nightwing thought it as a higher cause.
With every insect it caught and devoured, it felt that New York was a safer place, especially if the insect was a spider.
And as such, Nightwing had never left New York, and every night, it made the city a safer place.
Once again, our hero was flying as usual, at a high altitude, when it saw something suspicious glowing in the air before it.
From experience, it judged the structure before it as one made out of a spider's web, only less usual looking, and more glowy.
Never had Nightwing ever been caught in a spider's web. And, to gloat, it decided to fly right through the giant hole in the middle.
"Seriously, how does a spider hope to catch anything with that big hole in the middle of it's web?" Nightwing wondered as it showed it's maneuvering skills.
The structure was what humans call a triangle.
"3..2.." Nightwing always loved counting while doing something exciting. "..1."
Pooolng!
Scrrrrruuuuu...
Pfffff..
Kwekwwekeewrkewee...
The impact was palpable, and Nightwing felt like it had crashed on an unbreakable stone placed in the air.
It's brain felt like it had been reduced to a puddle, as its spine gave in to the unbearable shock.
(Damien's POV)
In Marvel, things always go to shit pretty quickly.
I was barely halfway with explaining my abilities to Spiderman, when chaos struck.
They say that trouble comes in twos, and I hate that they are right.
First, Spider-Man rudely interrupted me, saying that he was getting a high-level alert from Jarvis about an ongoing crisis with Hydro-Man. Hydro-man was ransoming New York, threatening to destroy the city if his demands weren't met.
So, we dispatched immediately to go and save the day, as Spiderman showed me how to leverage my body and the environment to swing faster and/or higher for more efficient, unstrained travel.
All the while, Spiderman SUBTLY explained how the process worked scientifically, without seeming to worry about the alarming size of the giant water mass coming into our view.
We weren't even that close to him, but I could see and hear him clearly.
One look at Hydro-man, and I was sure that he wasn't your typical Spiderman villain. He was mostly made of water, and from his resounding voice, he was busy making demands to anyone who was listening.
"One million dollars in cash or I sink your precious city to the ocean." Hydro-man added to what I supposed was a long list of demands.
(To be continued...)
~Prime
Chapter 10: Demon Hunt is available in Patreon.com/sorcererprime for anyone to read.