Fate of the Moon

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"That's not even human anymore!"

"Screw this, I'm out of here!"

"Wh-whatever that thing is, I'll leave it to the pro-heroes!"

"That thing is disgusting!"

"IIs that a spider?!"

"Mo-Mom-?!"

"Ah, another insect to add to my web.."

There was a disgusting squelch that echoed across the city, crowds of people screaming out of horror as they tripped over their shoelaces, expressions twisting into terror as the ground shook and dirt slid across streets. Snow above buildings trickled down, heavyweights of it violently landing on cars.

"Where are the pro heroes dammit!" 

"That kid is going to die!"

The boy wailed, his stomach tingling as he was turned upside down, hanging from a mere string of web that the culprit had tied his foot in. He held his palms to his mouth as he felt liquid run down his neck, the knot in his throat tightening along with the headache that pierced through his forehead. He was trembling and any empathetic human being would let this boy down, but everyone's different. As she would like to say.

"My, look at you so afraid." The boy's eyes widened, his eyebrows furrowing as he's met with eight glowing eyes. Eyes that held in so much hunger, so much blood thirsting lust for mischief and destruction it made his whole body feel light. "Don't worry, I only need you for looks and soon enough you'll be gone upon your away." There was an eerie smile that met his line of sight, haunting every sliver of skin on his body.

He nodded, albeit trembling. The eight-eyed lady only smiled at him, staring into his eyes as if she was looking into his core, studying his every breath, every blood that pumped through his veins. "A-Are you a spider-"

"Are you afraid of me?" She asked, and as a child, he felt guilty for asking such a question even when it was just out of curiosity. 

He didn't answer. Only keeping his hands to his mouth.

"Are you?" She asked again.

The boy blinked, slowly parting his lips to answer, but he stopped when he noticed the look of anger that flashed just in the eyes of the lady. Hot, irritated, anger scorching in her expression made him shut his mouth and the way she looked at him, her thin smile gone from her face, had brought him to shout mercilessly. Screaming and wailing from the thick material of the web, kicking his free foot only to stay suspended in the cold air.

The lady growled at him, her eight eyes boring deep holes into his memory, as she brought him closer, "Children like you are so insensitive.." She grumbled, "You should be put in your place."

His screams died alongside the whistling wind, as she stared at him, gazing at him curiously before letting a smile grow on her face. The boy's eyes averted, although his vision was altered, he knew exactly what that figure was. A sharp, long, single claw was extended in the air, the bright moonlight had shone perfectly against its solid surface and it was directed right at him.

The lady smiled, her eight eyes fidgeting and averting between the boy and her large spider claw, "Children like shiny things, isn't that right?"

He wearily met her eyes, words left empty on his tongue as his ears rung continuously. The boy felt tears run down his face, trickling over a wound on his forehead making him want to wince. But all was left ignored as he screamed in horror, the sharp blade swinging towards him in mere seconds-

The boy feels a gush of wind run through every corner of his body and he feels his stomach churn at a sickening pace. He lets his eyes fly open and for a split minute, he's in the air, violently being thrown away from the web and into the nearest building wall stationed just on the side of the main road. He curls, bracing for impact, only to fall against something soft and not so much the hard glass of a skyscraper.

Before he opens his eyes, he hears a grunt, "Dammit! She almost killed this kid for recklessly doing that!" A familiar voice is what he hears, a voice that he's dreamt of hearing up close and in person for so long. "Hey, hey. Are you ok?" The voice whispers, it's gentle and opposite to her previous tone.

The little boy looks up, slowly his eyes widening as he sees the figure that had just caught him, "O-Olivia Hye?!" He gasps.

She smiles at him, and the little boy visibly trembles but Hyejoo doubts it's out of fear. Nodding, a subtle but soft smile on her face, as she gently puts him down, "Hey kid. Sorry, we took a while, but you're safe now, alright?" She chuckles, ruffling his already messy hair.

He nods, and Hyejoo wonders if he's really listening to her. She opens her mouth to say something but stops when she hears an ear-piercing scream echo in their sector, temporarily deafening her with how insanely loud such a scream was. Hyejoo curses under her breath when she sees another flash of hot fire blunder across the streets, chaotic and barely controlled.

"Your mom is just in the store down the road, run there and don't look back ok?!" Hyejoo shouts, gesturing for the boy to run forward which he does as soon as she says it, thankfully. But she doesn't grant the boy anymore praises considering there were matters she had to attend to and a dilemma she plans on solving.

Is she saving her scatterbrained partner or an eight-eyed, accompanied by four inhumane legs attached to her back, villain who happens to wreak havoc just as they start their new patrol plan? Hyejoo is quick to guess the latter.

*

"Stupid heroes, give me a damn break!" The woman screams, swinging yet another spider leg, busy shaking off the flames that were smeared just on her right. "Agh! Damn you!" 

Yerim pants, her hands extended as she had just finished letting out an armada of hot fire. She quickly wipes away the sweat that trickled over her neck, slightly amazed that she doesn't feel even the slightest bit of wind that happens to pass by; in fact, she more so glorifies its presence having been in a middle of a fight and all. 

"Maybe we can just talk it out?!" Yerim shouts, looking up at the women suspended in the air, "Rather than fighting-"

The women's eyes creepily draw to Yerim, nothing but frustration and rising anger expressed amongst her face, "Talk it out?" She lets out a mockery of a laugh and her smile flashes to a scowl, "How idiotic! Why would I talk to a pro-hero like you?!"

Yerim is given no room for argument as a spider leg had swept her off her feet, making her face practically slam against the cold hard floor. Although the array of flames she had managed to summon up and the pure adrenaline that this fight had put her through was cardio inducing, Yerim froze up as soon as the snow smeared across her cheek. 

She gasps as a sharp claw - spider leg? - digs just beside her cold cheek, both legs rendering her caged in. The woman looms over, all eight eyes leaning forward as Yerim lets out short and uneasy breaths, feeling defenceless when she was lying on the floor while a spider quirk villain had herself just above her face. Yerim feels her heart pump out of her chest.

"You seem new. No wonder you're so bad at this~" The woman smirks, a smug smile plastered across her face. Gone was the anger and instead, there was a sense of arrogance; it made Yerim want to talk some sense into her. "An amateur pro-hero up against me? Aren't you a little ambitious... It's almost admiring." 

Yerim grunts, staring into the woman's eyes, the pair that was centred right where it should be, "Almost-?" She feels the sharp point of the claw press against her side, making Yerim hold in her breath.

"I'm a villain, darling." She smiles, "And you're a mere rookie but look at you. Choosing to go against the likes of a spider who has had far more experience than you."

Yerim winces when she feels the sharp claw press further against her side, most likely bruising her skin as the point practically digs itself deeper. She grunts, wanting to breathe, but how can she when the villain had rendered her useless. Pinning her to the ground and stripping the privilege of mobility, and keeping her still. Yerim opens her mouth to argue but stops when the eight eyes fidget in her direction.

The women giggles, one that was terribly haunting and horrifying. One that had sent an echo in Yerim's mind. "At least you'll die a noble death."

Yerim feels her heart freeze. All thoughts coming to a sudden halt.

She feels a pinch dig into her side, and she knows that the leg had started to break the skin. Starting to slowly rip apart her path of skin and draw blood; Yerim flinches and she can't resist the urge to squirm out of sheer pain that suddenly surges through the rest of her limbs. Her nerves sending a bustling amount of alarm to her very mind, screaming for the slow, stinging pain to just fade. But the woman, this villain, hadn't planned for an easy way out, no.

The villain, this spider of a human, had wanted Yerim to scream and wail.

And the thought had sent Yerim into a wave of fear.

Yerim ignores the sharp pain that had shot up her spine, propping herself up to her elbows and twisting the entirety of her body as she swings her arm. She lets out a painful shout, her hand bellowing with red and orange waves, as she slaps the woman's face with as much strength she can muster up, flames burning in the palm of her hands.

The woman screams, tumbling back as she feels for her cheek, sobbing as her fingers graze the scorched skin. She lets out subtle whimpers, her hands trembling as she winces at the burning sensation that was left on her skin. It takes a few minutes, a few moments, for the woman to look up, her hind spider legs on her back suspending her higher above, "You." She growls.

Yerim heavily pants, pushing herself off the cold concrete. She dabs her finger against her side and visibly deflates as nothing but a quick sting affects her - blood nowhere to be found.

The woman ignores Yerim's quick little self check-up, and pushes herself forward, her hind legs throwing her straight at it, raising itself into the air and just right above Yerim's smaller figure. Yerim catches it at the side of her vision and jumps aside, scrambling to her feet as she scurries away from any area of effect done by the woman's continuous attacks. 

"Of all things, why a spider-" Yerim squeaks as she feels a close attack hit just behind her, making her trip forward, kicking away the little debris from the afflicted concrete. 

"Come here, dammit!" The woman surges forward, a sharp leg flying just towards Yerim's head, and as the latter was just about to shoot another tiring amount of flames, a figure quickly intervenes. A four-legged figure, to be exact, one with glowing gold eyes and a thick built body similar to that of a wolf.

The woman is thrown the side as an accompanying figure, slides just under one of her eight other legs, kicking it with just enough force to bring the rest of her down. She hits the ground with a harsh thud, grunting as she falls on the spine of her back, paralyzed with a brief moment. 

Yerim blinks, standing frozen in her spot as she watches the events quickly unfold before her and it takes her a violent jab to the side to snap her out of her trance. "Ow!"

"Are you hurt?!" Hyejoo, is the one that runs to her. Yerim assumes that it was her and Midnight that had just saved her from a nasty injury. 

"I-I'm fine don't worr-"

"You're not dead, are you?!" Hyejoo looks at her with attentive eyes, ones that roamed over her body, but mostly over her head as she continued to look at her. 

Yerim doesn't feel the need to be embarrassed considering the question had certainly caught her off guard, "I'm literally breathing, I'm not dead, you don't need to worry about me." Yerim crosses her arms, ignoring the way Hyejoo's companion stares at her up and down.

Hyejoo lets out an exasperated breath, "I'm not worried about you idiot!" Hyejoo practically scolds her, "If something happens to you, it will be my responsibility and Haseul will literally kill me!" 

Yerim ignores the slight tinge in her heart at the comment and only rolls her eyes, raising her eyebrow as she meets Hyejoo's rather accusatory eyes, "Well thanks for your concern." She spits out, muttering it as more of a passive-aggressive phrase rather than a thankful one.

"You-" Hyejoo stops when they both hear a grunt behind them. She sighs, putting her hands down as she gazes back at Yerim quickly, "We'll talk about this later. Just stay behind me."

"What?!" Yerim almost shouts, "I have a quirk that can help you, I need to be there too! You can't just shoulder this on your own!" She grunts.

Hyejoo snaps a scowl at her, "I've had training." She answers, "Your quirk is strong but you can barely control it. I doubt you would be of any use." Hyejoo growls, and she says no more as she's quick to sprint towards the spider-like villain. Yerim takes a step forward but halts when she feels that same sharp pain sting the left side of her body.

"Hye-" Yerim looks up, wanting to help, but keeps her mouth shut when she sees the way Hyejoo had pushed a heavy punch right into the woman's burnt cheek.

Hyejoo slips a knife out of the holster on her hip and slashes forward, keeping her distance from time to time as the woman uses one of her spider-like legs to parry back. "Midnight!" The woman grunts as she feels sharp teeth sink into her back legs, making her topple forward.

"Go home, you stupid puppy!" She swings her legs desperately, but Midnight had already escaped her area and ran to Hyejoo's side. 

"She's defenceless as soon as we get two of her legs." Hyejoo swings out yet another knife, one that was sharp enough to pierce metal. "I take right, you take left." Hyejoo doesn't bother asking if her companion had understood her considering there was surely no need for it.

Hyejoo takes sharp turns on her heels, using the ice to her advantage as she slid at the right amount of speed to avoid the continuous jabs the villain had kept taking at her. Easier for Midnight to move around considering all her attention was solely on Hyejoo, who could only curse at the disadvantage she was clearly being held at.

The woman screams as Midnight sinks his teeth deeper into the same leg he had bit into, making the villain's long spider leg to shake at the sensation, falling and giving into the pain. Hyejoo took the chance to run forward, clutching the villain's thin yet solid animalistic legs and digging her knife just into the flesh of it. Breaking the bones and twisting it, slowly drawing out blood as she pushed in further before running it down and cutting the leg open to render it useless.

Hyejoo is violently thrown away by a stray spider leg, her back slamming against a brick wall in quick seconds and soon falling onto the cold sidewalk. She grunts, not wanting to put pressure on her spine, Hyejoo opts to laying face flat on the concrete, staying as still as she can. Hyejoo only flinches when she feels a familiar texture rub against her hair, pushing it in a way that gentle but also annoyingly trying to her make her move.

"Don't touch me," Hyejoo grunts, "You just tasted spider leg, I don't want you to smear that on me." she coughs, pushing herself up with the help of Midnight pushing his snout against the small of her back. Hyejoo winces and pays attention to it, slowly rising from her position and using the wall as a way of support.

"She fainted." Midnight's gruff voice had made its way through the slight ringing in her ears and Hyejoo sighs out of relief. 

"Did you just kill her?!" Is the first thing Yerim says after the few long minutes Hyejoo had just spent trying to dodge all of that villain's reckless jabs.

Hyejoo rolls her eyes, walking towards the girl in a slow and careful manner, Midnight striding just beside her, "No, idiot. She most likely went into shock after what Midnight and I just did. I doubt she'll lose blood though, besides she's still breathing." Hyejoo grunts, her hand finding its way to her back.

Yerim catches it and moves closer, Hyejoo instinctively steps back, "You're hurt-"

"I'll be fine." Hyejoo waves her concern off, "Let's just wait for the police to arrive, that way we don't have to risk her wake up and getting away."

Yerim nods, however wearily taking her eyes off Hyejoo's slightly slouched figure. She stares at the villain laying on the ground, her chest heaving up and down at a contrastingly normal pace. Yerim shudders as she sees the spider-like legs twitch against the snow, fidgeting in a way that was rather eerie and creepy. Yerim doesn't like to judge people for their quirks but this just makes her feel queasy.

"By the way." Hyejoo's voice cuts her from her thoughts.

Yerim looks away from the woman, turning to meet Hyejoo's face. She has her arms crossed now, sitting on the cold floor, using Midnight as a way to lean on something and letting her back relax. 

"We had a plan," Hyejoo grumbles out.

Yerim opens her mouth and closes it, "You were taking too long." Is all she mutters out.

Hyejoo clicks her tongue and she stands up, wincing slightly at some points, "We still had a plan and the moment you broke it, all hell went loose!"

Yerim clenches her fist, "That boy would have died if we stayed still longer!" She argues back, "Every second counts!"

Hyejoo snaps her head to Yerim, making the latter flinch back, "You ran in without a plan in mind, that boy would have died had I not been there to catch him, dumbass." She doesn't shout, instead, her tone is low and almost threatening, "And had I not been able to find you in time, you would've had a spider leg right through your chest." Hyejoo growls.

"But-"

Hyejoo's eyes narrow, "Stop being reckless or else you might actually get yourself or worse, someone else, killed." Is the last thing she says before walking to a nearby wall, leaning against it with her arms crossed.

Yerim's mouth is shut and gives in no effort to argue back.

~

"That will be $8.50."

He looks up and doesn't question the hooded man, only accepting the bill that was slide across the counter. The clerk raises an eyebrow, sighing, "This is a $5 bill, your total is $8.50, buddy. You're $3.50 short." He looks at the hooded man with a tired look, waving the crumpled bill in his hand.

The hooded man doesn't talk.

"Hey." The clerk groans, "Hey! Are you even listening?" 

The buzz of the store refrigerators seem louder than they usually were but the clerk pays it no attention.

"Listen, if you're just going to piss me off, I'd rather you just leave." The clerk lazily throws the bill across the counter, pushing away the items as he turned to organize the shelf behind him.

There was a brief silence, one that was tense and uncomfortable. It sent a sliver of shivers down the clerk's spine, and it made him want to run out and forget about his damned midnight shift as soon as he can. But he made no effort to shake or tremble, just opting to focus on the task at hand.

The built-in heaters continued to drone on and the television volume was at its minimum. 

"Do a lot of people pass by here?" 

The clerk raises an eyebrow, slowly turning around, his hand mid-air just as he was about to place a box of cigarettes on the higher shelf. He grunts as the hooded man is still behind the counter, head down and hand laying lifeless by his side. "What?" He groans.

"Do a lot of people pass by here?" 

Clicking his tongue, the clerk decides to play along, "No. Almost no one does, alright? Now, are you going to buy this and pay properly or are you gonna leave?"

The hooded man doesn't answer. The clerk leans forward, choosing to get close enough just for the customer to feel his breath but him not to feel theirs. He bears his teeth, abnormal ones that's for sure, similar to that of a shark, "Listen, if you don't leave right now I might just bite your neck of-!"

The clerk gasps as he feels a hand shoot to his neck, rough fingers wrapping tightly around his flesh, making him choke and struggle against the hold, "Ack!"

"Did you know that right before death, we see a flash of light?" The hooded man chuckles. "Or at least, that's what I've heard."

The clerk feels heat run up his ears, his cheeks reddening at the sheer attempt of trying to gasp for air as he desperately tries to breathe. He claws at the man's hand but to no avail as the man keeps his grip still, nails digging dangerously into the clerk's neck. 

The clerk whimpers, erratically kicking his legs, fighting against the chokehold he was put in. Suddenly the hooded man places his free hand just above the clerk's forehead, the pads of his fingers pressing hard into the skin of his head. 

 The man smiles, "Why don't you try it for me?"