A Hero At Heart 🕸️

The world burned all around us. I pushed myself off the ground, trembling as I stood. "Please," I pleaded. "Please don't do this."

The Prowler grinned at the broken hero before her and drew her claws. "Please? Oh, I like when you say that," she smirked. She grabbed me by my shirt and slammed me against the wall. Tilting my head up with the blades, the Prowler purred in my ear, "Say it again."

I hesitated but then repeated the word. "Please, I'm begging you–"

"Are you?" The Prowler drawled, clearly bored. "If you were begging, you'd be on your knees."

I couldn't risk the lives of hundreds of innocent people just for my pride. I fell to my knees. "Don't kill hundreds of innocent lives just because of me. If you're going to do that because I'm trying to stop you, kill me, and save their lives." Suddenly we both heard a whirring noise. The Prowler spun around, and we both saw the collider powering up. Oh no. KingPin was rubbing his small grubby hands together and staring at the blazing beams it was shooting.

"You can't let him do this! Not again!" I shook her shoulders.

Prowler swung around, her blades passing inches from my masked face. "You think I plan to? After what he's done to me? Listen. We got to team up here; we don't have much time. This override key is the only way to stop the collider." She placed the chip into my hand, holding it there longer than normal. "You swing up there, use this key, push the button, and blow it up. I'll take KingPin. You need to hide your face; you don't tell anyone who you are. No one can know! He's got everyone in his pocket–"

"What?"

"If he turns the machine on again, everything you know will disappear. Your family, everyone. Everyone! Promise me you'll do this?" She looked at the ground. "I know you're the good guy, and you say I'm the bad one, but we need to work together, even if there's a chance of...death." She looked back at me. "Promise me to do this?"

I swallowed and was frozen for a moment, unable to say anything. I gulped down the lump in my throat and spoke. "I promise."

"Go! Destroy the collider. I'll come and find you." She prepared to attack KingPin, but I held her back, grabbing her wrist. "Stay s–" I paused when she looked back at me and felt my heart beat quicker. "Stay safe. Don't get hurt." Her stone-cold masked face twitched, and I saw the outline of a slight smile.

"You too," she crouched as I released her, then power boosted up to a ledge, and once she landed, she jumped and dove down, tackling KingPin.

"Ay, what's going on here?" KingPin roared, his voice deep and menacing.

Prowler ducked as he swung his fist at her. Her claws unsheathed, and she swung back at him. She ripped his black suit, and he growled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Fisk. Did I touch your clothes?" Her voice changed as if she was speaking to a baby.

"Why are you here, Prowler?" He questioned.

"To stop you." Prowler didn't waste time bluffing.

KingPin chuckled, then he laughed, and soon he was shaking from the deep belly laughter he was experiencing. He slapped his knee, and his face began to turn red, but then he abruptly stopped. "You can't stop me. I'm invincible. Spider-Man tried to stop me; he failed. DareDevil tried to stop me; he failed. Deadpool, Gwen Stacy, Green Goblin, Captain America...need I go on? You hardly measure close to any of them. You can't stop me."

Now Prowler laughed. "After the collider is destroyed, we'll see about changing that."

"You work for me, Prowler. You know how strong I am. Look at our reflection?" He motioned to a shiny glass window. "You're so small and weak compared to me."

Prowler looked at their reflection and saw it was true. He was considerably taller than her and much bulkier, much of him being muscle.

She was muscular with a solid build, but now she seemed so puny and weak standing beside him. KingPin suddenly grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides. "If you want to keep your life, I'd suggest you leave. Immediately." He threw her to the ground effortlessly, leaving her sliding twenty feet away from him.

"I'm not leaving Fisk! Not until you turn off the collider!" Prowler stood up, squaring her shoulders.

"NEVER!"

"Then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

"You are MESSING UP!"

I watched this as I climbed up to the collider and plugged in the override key. Prowler was brave. She unhesitantly jumped into danger, knowing she could get killed. I pushed the button, preparing to jump, but nothing happened. Oh no. I pushed it multiple times, and still, nothing happened. "Oh, come on!" I grunted. Wasn't there anything else to blow up a collider? If I had a bomb..."Prowler has bombs. She has bomb blasters in her suit. How to get her attention. I slid down on my web silently a couple of yards behind KinPin, still hanging in the air, just enough to grab Prowler's attention. She saw me, although she was fighting, and looked at me, confused. "The override key won't work," I mouthed. Then realized my mask made it impossible to read my lips. I pointed to the collider and motioned, putting in the key, then made an explosion movement with my hands, then formed an X with my arms. She didn't understand.

KingPin saw her glancing my way, then spun around. "Spider-Man?"

I dropped down. "Wilson Fisk."

"What a surprise to see you here."

"Is it?"

"Of course not. You're too predictable." KingPin's fists began to clench. "I will never turn off the collider, not until I get my-" He stopped abruptly. "You shouldn't be here." He turned and lunged at Prowler, throwing a punch as he ran. Prowler was shocked and was thrown back. I jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He ran forward and turned right as he was about to hit a wall, heaving the impact onto me. "Oof." I gasped for breath, and my grip weakened. KingPin took my second of weakness and tossed me over his head, smashing me to the ground. I rolled out of the way as he threw a punch and was only inches away from his fist when it hit the ground. I jumped up, glancing Prowler's way. She had stood up, unsheathing her knife claws. She was angry. I could feel the tension building, and I saw her face harden.

We soon ensued into a fierce fight. Prowler was relentless in fighting back to KingPin. He was blocking her and trying to fight her, but I could see him tiring. I was throwing punches at him and hitting him occasionally, but Prowler seemed as if she could do it herself. After quite a bit of struggle, I had him webbed up, and Prowler threw me a bomb. "Get Up there and blow up the collider!" she was breathing hard, and her chest was heaving.

I swung up to the collider and placed the magnetic bomb on it. I couldn't find the button to make it explode. Prowler was by me in an instant. "Right here." She pressed the button and shouted. I saw KingPin on a deck, grinning maliciously. Prowler pushed me out of the way, causing me to free-fall hundreds of feet. As I fell, confused, I realized her feet were caught on the metal rafter by something KingPin must have thrown. I threw up a web, grabbing on, the web burning me as I slid. I bounced back up and quickly fumbled off the trap. When I pulled her down with me, the bomb went off, and the collider began to explode. Chunks of metal began to be thrown, smashing off the walls, then pulled into the collider. A large metal-concrete piece came hurling toward us, and I used my body as a shield. The impact forced us to the ground, and everything blacked out. How long I was out, I don't know, but when I woke, everything was quiet. I lifted the concrete block off of us, straining, coughing. Prowler. Where was Prowler? "Prowler!" I shouted. I scrambled over the rubble and finally saw a piece of her black and purple cape under a pile of debris. I gulped and, as quickly as I could, moved the concrete. "Prowler?" Her body was limp and bruised, and her mask was torn off. I rolled her onto her back and wiped the dust off her face.

I pulled my mask off and began to weep. She sacrificed her life for such an honorable cause. She saved everything, even though she was a...villain. I sighed at the word. Villain. She may have been a villain in the past, but she had died a hero.

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I would love to hear what you think about this! Shoot me a comment down below!!

~Shantel 😘