Chapter 12. Microscopic Spider

Spiderman Prime by Sorcerer Prime

Chapter 12. Microscopic Spider

(Damien's POV)

"CHhhh..ppfffff...---Chshaahhaahhhhh...!" Another fire hydrant gave in to the pressure, just like all the rest were.

"For the first time, Hydro Man chose his location perfectly. We're not in an environment where we can successfully dehydrate him, without him replenishing his water source, or in a lab where we can freeze him at a molecular level," Spider-Man noted as we continued to battle the gloating Hydro Man, our attempts at defeating him proving futile.

Hydro Man kept mentioning how he was going to kill Spiderman and the world would remember him for it.

"Isn't there like a portable 'Frost Blaster' we can fetch from some lab and use it for the latter?" I pointed out at Spiderman's lab mention.

"Know of one?" Spiderman asked, not really sounding hopeful. And from his tone, I observed a hint of curiosity.

"No, but if you are open to it, it sounds like something the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. would already have." I answered delicately as things with Hydro Man scaled to more terrible heights.

"Sadly, that's currently not an option," Spiderman replied.

"Okay," I knew I shouldn't have brought up the idea of outside help, despite our situation getting incredibly out of hand. There was still a possibility that we could sort it out by ourselves, despite how bad things were looking.

"Still, we are at an advantage if we can trap Hydro Man and control how he is manipulating the city's water supply," Spiderman suggested.

"I get that by 'absorbing' more water Hydro Man is diluting himself, and we can electrocute him successfully again, but how do we trap something we can't catch in a localized place?" I genuinely asked, failing to see how we could control a water freak that was now flooding the city.

You know how Hydro Man was already enormous and terrifying before we even engaged with him? Now, he had tapped into the entire city's water supply, multiplying exponentially. He was flooding Manhattan by just being there.

It was as if a sudden storm had engulfed the borough, and was extending toward other regions, even making contact with the East River.

The small-time Spider-Man villain was looking so powerful that local authorities were struggling to evacuate people from the streets to higher ground. It didn't help that 'Water Guy' was also smashing through buildings with solidified fists, trying to land a blow on either of us.

While the idea of having Hydro Man take in more water meant that we could potentially electrocute him and defeat him, it wasn't practical. He was connected to water sources all over the city, and electrocuting him would risk harming all the people currently being washed away by the flood, with a 'gajillion' megahertz of electricity.

On another note, I didn't think we needed to call the Avengers for help. Hydro Man's rampage screamed "Avengers Threat Level," but they were nowhere in sight, leaving only two spiders to deal with the mess.

I wanted to wonder why it was so, but I was looking forward to avenging the beating Hydro Man had given me earlier.

"We can control Hydro Man using our webs," Spiderman explained while already webbing up one side of the road we we were currently in. He was attaching a web to a building and connecting it to the building on the other side, while repeating the process with speed and agility, all the while while staying above the rising water.

"Are you trying to build a dam in the middle of a city?" I saw how 'bowling' Hydro Man could work, but I was also fascinated that Spiderman was crazy enough to actually do it. "In the middle of a flood?"

The idea was not to really contain Hydro Man, but simply disconnect him from the water flooding in the city, thereby making electrocuting him inconsequential.

"I think you should too," Spiderman suggested. However, Hydro Man was still pretty focused on the both of us to let us do it freely.

"I'll instead focus on keeping him within the dam area. You do the knitting," I decided to focus on keeping Hydro Man's fists and projectiles engaged.

"What principle are you using again? Cohesive forces?" I asked while throwing pointless kicks and punches at Hydro Man, just for the sake of angering him and keeping him solely engaged with me. Every time I punched or kicked, I just slid through the water.

Spiderman's webbing skills were top notch, and he had already webbed up a good potion on one side of the street.

"Adhesive,"Spiderman answered while swinging to another side while webbing the places in between.

One thing I noticed about his webbing was how it was intricately structured to not only stop the water from flowing but also guide its motion and cater for waves, like the shore of a beach. In layman's terms, it was strategically slanted.

"My body not making contact with you is pissing me off." I hated that I couldn't grab Hydro Man and bounce him up and down vigorously for a vengeful pounding.

"You may dodge my hydro bolts, but this fight is already decided. You may successfully electrocute me, but it won't last long buddy." Hydro Man taunted. "The Doctor said I have a remarkable immunity. And that all I need to kill Spiderman... and whoever you are."

"First off, I don't really hate 'Hydro bolts' as a name for your projectiles, or the fact that you don't know me," I started what turned to be a long line of thought. "Secondly, I hope you will remember your doctor's location when this is all over. I need to reserve an appointment because I'm getting sick of his nonsense."

"Thirdly, I wasn't done with my own thoughts. I was about to tell you how I think my webs can stick on you, and give me the grab I need to give you a beating I so desperately want," I said as I swung like a mosquito around Hydro Man while pulling a web-line with me. "I just realized I've been sitting on the idea for a while now."

Hydro Man's big eyes and hands were following my swinging body around the cityscape skyline, with a view of the top of most of the buildings. Gratefully, he was distracted from noticing Spiderman's activities beneath him; one less strategic thing about being a towering giant.

"And lastly, and most importantly, I am not your buddy!" The feeling of finally hitting a part of Hydro Man felt gratifying, especially when it was so hard that he bent like an air dancer from his waist area, but I pulled him back with the web line for another hit.

I was seriously disappointed that I hadn't stopped to think and apply the method I was currently using before, when it was right in front of me.

Web lining, fighting Jenny... Breathing at high altitudes - it was something I had already done, and I should have realized what it meant instead of using it on autopilot just because I had seen Spider-Man Noir use the technique to breath longer underwater.

"I know you are wondering..- how I can do this!" I taunted Hydro Man despite his yell, as I swung around him and landed another powerful kick. All the while, I used the web line to wrap around him.

"You might even be wondering why you can't even slip away from my web," I added, while every round of hitting a guy made out of water made me feel glorious. However, I had to do it where my web line had crossed through Hydro Man's body.

"And it's good you are wondering. It'll give you something to distract you from the incoming electric current." I finally stopped landing gratifying hits and spun the web line around him a bit longer, before letting go.

Normally, Hydro Man should have been able to escape a spider web in his liquid form, and he was bound to do so sooner or later. However, my web lines had a way of interacting with nature's small particles, which, in spider terms, meant that they could stick to them, just as they had with Jenny's pheromones, or the air molecules that I had used to keep my body pressurized at high altitudes. [Chapter 9]

Relatively still water (like Hydro Man's massive form) was also not an exception, but since he was moving and flowing rigorously, I was sure he would manage to shake off my stickiness sooner rather than later.

But Spider-Man had completed constructing his web dam in time, and just as Hydro Man was shaking off and starting to brag again, an immense electric current flowed through his ionized body, and Hydro Man was back to 'shaking it off' with the electric current.

"I don't think he'll fully incapacitate before Doc Ock's solution re-ionizes him again," Spiderman said with a serious tone. He had already made his calculations as he notified me while sticking at higher ground, to avoid the cataclysmic clash of water and electricity.

"Re-ionizing. Isn't that a good thing? It makes Hydro Man conduct electricity, right?" I wondered what Spiderman was trying to mean.

"Yes and no." Spiderman answered paradoxically, but he explained further. "It's possible that Doc Ock's solution works by flooding Hydro Man with a lot of ions that he gets insulated from electric shock."

Spiderman's theory greatly differed from my hypothesis: that Doc Ock's solution worked by distilling Hydro Man, therefore purifying him by removing all the ions. But now that I thought it over, where would all the ions go?

Maybe both theories were scientifically plausible, but it wasn't a time for debate, and I chose to go with Spiderman's theory for the time being.

"So, we somehow have to stop him from fully ionizing, so that he can completely disperse into water drops." I wondered out loud as I racked my brain.

"Are spider webs good conductors?" I inquired blatantly as an idea sparked in mind.

"My are protein-based, but yours..." Spiderman left for me to fill in. "But why do you ask?"

"I'm about to go ion-fishing," I replied while throwing a web into Hydro Man and linking it with a web line, despite the risk of electric shock.

The shudder of fright that I got as my web mixed with Hydro Man and the electricity reminded me of my decision to think things over instead of acting out of adrenaline. However, I wasn't electrocuted.

"My webs kinda stick microscopic particles, but they have to be still for the interaction." I explained. "However, since there will be a build-up of ions, I guess it won't be hard to snatch a few ions and remove them if Hydro Man looks like he's recovering."

"Sounds like a plan." Spiderman agreed. "Especially considering that the solution is making Hydro Man withstand a 'gajillion megahertz' longer than usual."

(To be Finished...)

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~Prime

Next chapter available for free in Patreon.com/sorcererprime - also concept art