Issue #8: X, Encountered.

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(Kane's P.O.V)

Webswinging is criminally underrated.

I know I know.

There is little [T]ruth to that statement but I just couldn't help it.

I know Parkour. Had learned and trained under the very best free movement masters the organization could afford.

But this...this was something else. Different and exhilarating.

Like the rush you get when riding a roller coaster for the first time.

You had to experience it yourself to understand the feeling.

The bio-cable (web), I was swinging on, grew taut as it was stretched to the limit of if it's elasticity.

I let go, flipping my form before extending my right hand out.

There was a slight pressure on my wrists, and then a white shadow, barely visible from a far, shot out of my spinneret.

The result being a bio-cable that attached to another tree, shortening the distance between me and the crash site.

For a moment, I felt the Eyes return. The same ones I had sub-consciously sensed on the first day in the Island.

And this time I felt them clearly. The owner behind the gaze felt amused. Then just as quickly as I sensed [Them], they disappeared.

Lightning crackled above me. I waved to the sky before diving down.

The wind rushed past me, buffeting my form, sweeping through my short hair and brushing against the bare skin of my chest.

I let go of the biocable (web), landing on a branch with nary a sound.

I stepped off it, employing a range of free motion by bouncing off other branches, all the while trying to incorporate my Parkour skills into my swinging for faster movement.

And also because web swinging was not completely viable within the dense jungle.

I was having fun, I admit. It was also a chance to train. To find out the limitations and potential of each new power in my repertoire.

And web creation was by far my favorite ability.

It made me wonder what else I could do with it.

The webs I spinned could not be easily cut or broken.

Surely there were other applications for something so handy besides swinging and creating nets to catch bad guys.

I halted in my swinging as my ears picked up a strange sound. A cacophony of hoots, chatter, grunts and screeches in the jungle before me.

Something was headed my way from the front.

I stood to my full height on the branch, hand going for my hip only to remember I had no weapon or any of my equipment.

I didn't bother to hide my sigh of disappointment.

That said, I brought my hands up in preparation. I hated getting scrappy, getting scrappy meant getting closer to your target.

An assassin's job was to kill as quietly and efficiently as possible. That said, I was no less deadly unarmed, as I was when armed.

Suddenly, I was silenced as a frenzied stampede of monkeys, birds, wild bucks, boars, foxes, and a myriad of creatures surged forth, fleeing from something.

None of them paid me any mind, ignoring me and continuing on in the mad escape.

The strangest thing was yet to happen however.

Above me, a few shadows passed by. Looking up, I was met with the scene of gray colored monsters with large bat wings, scaly hands and legs flying from the direction I was headed to.

They were too big to be birds.

Then behind the rush of creatures, a huge beast of a snake, with green scales slithered through the undergrowth, felling trees and crushing anything on its own path to escape.

Everything seemed to be running the opposite direction of where I was going. All except for me.

Safe in the trees,

I watched and heard the ruckus the snake made on its departure, noticing its sharp yellow eyes and the twin horns on its head.

Good, although I would have preferred to test myself against such a creature, it was neither the time nor the place.

"What could they be running from?"

Curious, I turned my focus to the front.

Above the tree line, dark smoke rose up from a position several hundred meters further in. East of the ranges surrounding Themiscyra.

The branch I was standing on bent as I jumped off it, the force shooting me above the trees.

It was high enough that the entire jungle was spread out before me like a canvas. Across the river that went on to feed into the Ocean, was the origin point of the smoke.

There.

Half a mile away.

At the apex of my jump, I came hurtling down. My right hand stretched, the wrist pointed at a tall tree.

There was a small sound produced as a bio-cable launched out and attached to the branches. A distinctive "Thwip!"

What was the theme song again?

Oh yeah.

"Spiderman spiderman does whatever a spider can..."

I sang, swinging away.

~ ~ ~ ~

Within a minute, I was, overlooking the crash site.

The tree leaves and branches kept my form concealed enough that no one could spot me without actively searching.

A good thing too, as the scene below me was about to be crawling with angry women holding spears and swords.

Speaking of the scene, an area of 50 meters around the bank of the river was burning. The yellow fire crackled as it devoured vegetation, having spread enough that the woods some distance from the river were also in flames.

There was a trench on the ground that led into the water as well.

And on the river's surface, the tail end of an old model aircraft was the only thing visible sinking into the water.

But not with its Pilot.

Oh no. The guy, a blonde and wearing an -airman's- jacket was hightailing it away from the scene, limping rather quickly.

He must have known such a crash would draw attention. Attention that he would not need as a World War 1 soldier in foreign ground.

He could be behind enemy lines for all he knew.

Smart.

You might be wondering on the guesses and conjectures I made.

Easy, wonder Woman lore was coming back to me. About the only thing I enjoyed away from my 'hardboiled' professional life, was more of it in colorful pages, pixelated screens and the odd manga or two. Meaning fiction.

And I swear by all the Isekai nerds out there, begging to be hit by truck-kun, I shall exploit this information to achieve my dream dear brothers.

To become the greatest Assassin ever!

I could even do it like Shadow, the Protagonist from an anime called Eminence in Shadow.

He had a nice philosophy, save beautiful girls and get their eternal servitude.

I highly doubt the same rules apply here though. This wasn't anime, it was real life.

But...the idea wasn't bad. And besides, this hits close to home.

I have decided!

Not only will I be the Greatest And Strongest Assasin in the World, I shall also build the strongest Assasin group in the entire fucking world.

Nein, the whole Galaxy! At least that's how far I'll get before I chalk off the position of High Imperial Warlord Master Assassin! To my first born.

That's so far away in the future though...

But I can do it. I can clean my hands, even if I fear the gunk is stuck too deep.

I had taken the first step...to redeeming myself.

The Organization died by my hands. Because it was flawed. Too corrupt to bring good to the world.

But here...this was a start for me. I'll make Spider-Man's powers my own. I'll escape this Island and I'll take...the second step.

~ ~ ~ ~

Oh shit, during my ruminations, Steve had managed to create enough distance between us, that he left my earing range.

A more immediate problem presented itself with the burning woods around us. And the fire was still spreading, slowly but steadily.

Left unattended to, the whole jungle would be at risk of burning down, thus making my own escape even harder.

I like controlled chaos, this would just create more trouble for me.

"Fuck this."

I jumped down, passing through the smoke into a fiery blackened ground. The fire licked my body intensely, heat blasting my half naked form.

It was akin to being cooked in an oven. How do you handle an inferno like this? The river close by gave me an idea.

I hadn't used my webbing for anything else besides weaving durable bio-cables to swing on. But I knew there was more to the skill.

Having identified the hotspots from an aerial survey, I begun the monumental task of putting out the forest fire.

This was the first time I really pushed one of my skills to it's full potential.

I was releasing webs over the flames, creating a large web blanket that blocked oxygen, an essential element for fire.

The webs that came out of my spinneret needed to be thicker and more fluid like. Heavier too.

Strung together in the shape of a wide white sheet, they smothered the flames.

I also set up a huge barrier of tightly woven biocable net, blocking the flames from spreading out.

The final part was to douse my webs with water and then spray it out on those stubborn pockets of fires that refused to go out.

I eventually succedded, and all the fires were put out.

Without a moment's hesitation, I was back, moving through the treeline, following after him.

Fortunately, his mad dash made it easy to follow the obvious trail of disturbed ground he left behind, even from the trees above.

It was a tad surprising how much ground he covered in just a few minutes. And to think he was limping.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to catch up.

A substantial distance away from the crash site, near a part of the Jungle with sparse vegetation, the only other man on the Island was leaning on a boulder.

Curses that would have had anyone blushing in second hand embarrassment left his lips, as he gripped his bleeding thigh.

I was willing to bet that was the reason for the limp.

He used a knife to tear a part of his trousers. And then wrapped the wound with the cloth, fastening it tightly and professionally.

It would at least hold until proper medical treatment.

I made no noise as I curiously studied him, careful to keep myself concealed.

I couldn't let him spot me. Not at the risk of jeopardizing my plans. But, he could prove useful.

He was tall. About my height, 6'2. Desirable features as well. I confirmed the term 'Comic book pretty' was apt. It was like everyone I had met thus far had filters in place.

Things stayed like that for several seconds as Steve rested.

Eventually, he realized he had to move and got to his feet, now with a walking stick on his right hand and a Luger Pistol on the left.

The weapon told me what time I was in. The 1910's.

The Luger was used in World War 1. By the time World War 2 rolled around, better alternatives like the Colt M 1191 and the Walther P-38 were in use.

Steve cast a gaze around the jungle before choosing one direction and walking it.

Coincidentally, he was headed deeper into the jungle, on the opposite direction of Themiscyra.

Naturally, I was right behind him, keeping my distance while moving stealthily.

The terrain got rougher and the jungle thicker, the deeper in he walked.

Despite it being the afternoon, with the sun prominent in the sky, very little rays managed to seep through the canopy of trees.

Even then, Steve was always careful to keep the river close by, the sound of rushing water was audible from some distance away.

"I see."

I murmured, suspended from a lofty tree branch.

"He's heading for elevated terrain, probably aiming for a full view of the entire island."

With that limp however...making it to the top of the mountain was going to be a challenge and half.

Suddenly, a screech from above sounded out.

I looked to the sky, spotting three of those strange flying creatures diving down towards Steve.

Closer to the ground, I was able to study their features better.

Harpies.