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The city was quiet, draped in a thick, inky darkness only his universe seemed to be capable of. A shadow sagged into the doorframe, mumbling a silent prayer as shaking hands fumbled to open the lock before stumbling into the dingy apartment. The first thing he did was discard the mask, all but ripping it off as he greedily took in air, his lungs sputtering like a fish out of water. He then tossed it to the side before rolling his shoulders with a low groan.Now what he should do now is put his suit away and start patching up some of the open wounds to help with the healing process, but.. it had been a particularly long week on a waning trail, only for it to become a bloody trip for biscuits. So, It was safe to say he wasn’t exactly feeling up to anything other than sleep at the moment.Dragging his feet across the creaking floorboards, he recalled the weeks troubling events like a bad dream. A young woman had gone missing. Not rare by any means, but not everyone sought out his particular “expertise” to help in finding their missing loved ones. Unlike other spider-people, ( because there were more of them out there apparently) Noir wasn’t too well known. He was more of an urban legend, a scary story that parents told their children to make them behave. He was also pretty sure the nazi power thought he was multiple people starting a sort of copy-cat revolt. But those who really knew about him had learned to either fear him or pretend they never saw him.It was rare to rescue someone without them screaming bloody murder- which is real dandy to deal with when trying to keep a low profile by the way. There were a few who thanked him here and there, rare as it was. Once and a while a sweet dame even gifted him with a peck on the cheek, leaving behind the feeling of pins and needles. So, he would take what he could get. The person who had approached him was an older gentleman, which was impressive in itself. Guy must’ve been in his early to mid 50’s or so. A real arctic fellow, by age or stress he wasn’t quite sure. Most likely a grandparent of the missing girl. He looked faded, eyes wandering and glassy. The perpetual knot in between his brows and rattling breaths he took made it obvious he was on his last leg. Hell, guy looked like a lunger. Noir knew the look all too well.He had denied all payment the man offered, nearly threw at him really. Noir was certain he’d offer the clothes off his back and then some if he simply asked for it. Desperate souls were good and plenty in his neck of the woods, and seemed to gravitate to him wherever he went. But he shut those thoughts down and proceeded to put all of his time and effort into the investigation, checking in with the man regularly with any new information they’d been able to gather. It was only on their third meeting that Noir learned the man’s name. They had been rifling through pictures of suspects, news articles and backhouse ads when the older of the two spoke up. The statement was bold and sure, but unwillingly soft and raspy from being unused as of late. “Charles.” Now at first he thought he was hearing things again, but one glance at the man debunked that, he had stopped studying the papers for the first time since they had laid them out. “I’m sorry?” “My name. It’s Charles. I’d like to thank you again, Spider, for taking this as seriously as you have been. The police, well.. they had their hands full, or at least that’s what they’d tell me. I honestly can’t thank you enough for looking into this for me.”
He wouldn’t say it out loud, but the look of genuine appreciation and warmth in that ghost of a smile left him a little breathless, and he felt his chest constricted oddly at that moment. Not trusting his voice for a second, he replied with a slight nod before speaking. “It’s my job.” His job. Was this his job? It was like he had given the man hope for the very first time, and oh how he wished he hadn’t. When he found the body.. well, he would spare that poor man of the details. Lord knows that man- Charles, wouldn’t be able to take it on top of everything else. But they would be forever burned into his own memory, like so many before. She was kept on the 6th floor of an abandoned shoe factory. Tiny thing was chained to the damned pipes as if she’d be able to put up a fight to begin with. Stripped buck-naked and mutilated with whatever equipment they found collecting dust nearby. Her temple was concave due to blunt force trauma, the skin and muscle dipping into the collapse. There was a gash on the back of her head as well, most likely the cause of the left eyeball bulging out of it’s socket like that.Her nails were all there, surprisingly enough. Blue and purple from how long she had been laying on her side without circulation. Her hair wasn’t cut and her fingers weren’t broken. They hadn’t gone and tortured her slowly, they acted on impulse. No information needed, just because they could. He briefly glanced over the rest of the damage. Her genitals were flayed, burned, and half covered in soot. He didn’t want to think about what went down then, he just hoped that she had been dead by then. Save her the misery. But that thankfully seemed to be the extent of it all.
“̛̖͍Ḿ͕͓̤̼̗̗̘a̬͕̘̳̰̠̱g̜̱̬̕g̫͖̀o͏t̗͉s҉͇ ͕̯̜͎͞a̗̤͉̥̕r̴̞̥̗̳̲͚e҉̠̩͓̩ ҉̖͔f̤̤͇̫̹́a̪̻͜ͅs͙t͇e̛̞̭̞͇͉̞̝r҉̝̰̜̝̖̝ t̥̖͙̖̻h̹͉a̴n̞̥͉͝ ͘s̟͉̰̦̼͡p̛͇̮͔͔͎ͅi̷̳̬̦͇̻d͚͚͍͍̺̜̕e̷̜̥̰̮͇̺r͍ș̪̫͘?”
He used a tarp covering some of the old machinery to wrap her up, gently tucking her head to his chest before swinging away from the bloody scene.She felt like a bag of broken glass.
Standing there, faced with defeat, It was like there were two dead bodies in the room. The man before him was utterly destroyed, stock still like his grandchild who now lay on the table between them. No words were exchanged, and it felt like hours had passed before the man’s trembling hand, scarred and thickened like leather, reached for her head. “Wait.” The hand stopped immediately, even the trembling seemed to lessen on command. “Don’t remove the cloth. Not unless you’re sure that is.” The hand dropped. It was time to leave. He was able to sniff out the rotten eggs just a day later after going back to the crime scene for a more thorough investigation. His spidey senses honed In on three joes hanging around the gin mill in the same area. One was larger, all brawn and hopefully no brain. The other two were on the smaller side, definitely packing iron. He successfully lured them into an ally by the mill, swinging out a smooth insult or two to rile them up and lead them further into the darkness.They’d have been easy enough to wrap up if one the smaller ones didn’t have that damn vile. Where he got the damn thing, he wasn’t sure. His spidey senses all but screeched at him to get away before the vile was broken over the bridge of his nose and concentrated mustard gas stole his breath and burned his skin through his mask. For a moment, he was blind, leading to a few blows to his exposed midsection before he gathered his senses enough through the blur to land a sharp uppercut to the gunsels chin and stick him to the bricks. He allowed himself a moment to panic, arms flailing around to scrub at his face as his eyes watered and his throat burned. He coughed and gagged, salivating uncontrollably as he gasped for breath. It felt like his face was dipped in acid. By God's good grace, he was able to make it home. The burning on the right side of his face and over his nose had only gotten worse, but his sight was clearer now and it felt like he could breathe again. What a shit week.There were only two things that could possibly make him feel better; a good few hours of sleep, and his cat Magdalene. The Japanese bobtail had been gifted to him at an antique shop that was going out of business just two years back. At first he had tried to politely decline, but the owner left him little choice, plopping the already year old cat into his arms and ussering him out the door. She was a boyish one, very curious and smart. He wasn’t really a cat person, but she was more like a dog than a cat really. White with dark spots and that signature stump of a tail that flicked side to side when she was excited or upset.There was the youth of a kitten in the way she held herself, but Noir could see the wisdom and age in her eyes. The current times reflected back at him. “Here kitty kitty kitty~ *tut tut tut*” He rasped out. Jesus, His voice would definitely be gone in the morning.As expected, Magdalena came galloping into the the front entry, only to stop in her tracks when she focused on his face. Noirs stomach dropped as the fur on her body stood on end, back arching defensively as she began to hiss at him, nose chuffing and flaring. It didn’t take much to send her rocketing away, and Noir had to stop himself from going after her and scaring her further. Instead, he went to the bathroom and looked into the mirror.Half of his face was an angry dark grey, burning and exposed to the cool air. One of his eyes had a broken blood vessel near the cornea, making it look pitch black with his grey iris. Not to mention the ugly bruise and cut across his nose from the vile breaking on it.Magdalena didn’t recognize him, couldn’t stand the smell of him either he bet. She was afraid of him, and he couldn’t blame her… but damn if that wasn’t just the icing on the shit cake that was his week.He stared at his reflection for a while, maybe hoping to catch it blink, Prove that this monster wasn’t him. He had always been bothered by his more, inhuman features, but with Magdalena, it was like it didn’t matter. She didn’t see what he saw when he looked into the mirror. She would wake him up with a loud meow and a wet sneeze or two in his face before scampering off to her empty bowl, not giving a damn about how he looked and demanding breakfast… but this apparently, was too much, even for her accepting nature.The room suddenly began to tilt, and he felt the air start to thicken. He sat heavily on the edge of the tub, trying to will his panic away, but it was really too late. Felt like he was trying to put out a fire with his spit at this point. Damn, He really was a monster, huh. All God’s creatures disdained him, feared him. He was hellish, unloveable. His vision started to tunnel as he began to lose touch with his surroundings. He tried to think of something positive in his life, anything. M̩̝͕̭̥̠̬̣̃͊ͯ̍͂ͨ̎̋̌ͣ͋̚͘ͅȏ̶̠̖͕̱ͮͪ͒̓͑̅̅̑͝͝ŗ̴̺̟̟̞̱̮̯̠͕͖͎̖ͣ͌ͮ͒̈̄ͧͤ͆́͠ę͔̱̺̮̮̘̦͎̲̮͙̭̤̞̆ͧ̾̈̂̏̉͑ͣͪ͋̄ͥ͘̕͟ ̶͈̹͚͇͔̞̣̮̰͖̘͎͖͓̊̓̄̾̋̆̽͝t̷̵̪͎̮̘̝̬ͮ̆̔̆͒̌̈̋̂͝ͅh̡̘̼̤̹̳̳͓̫ͮ̅ͫ̐̏͌̚͘â̶̛̮̯̳̝͇͉̤̗̙̦̲̻̟̗̘̙̔̈́ͤ̆ͤ̚͘͟͠nͣ͌ͯ͋̄ͤ̊ͬͦͯ̐̅͗̀̚҉̭̳̺̻̜͙̼͎͇͘ ̧̛͍̗̞̠̱̭͇̥̺͖̥̘͂̐̍̇ͩͯ̊ͨ̌̔ͧ̊̓̄͢͝ͅͅő̧͓͇͔̈́͒̇͑̌ͭ̕͘n̲̖͇͈̪̥͕̪͓̦̗̩͇̪̹̳̠͌̌ͥͪ́̇̓̓̊̈̍ͬ̀ę̜̜̱͕̠̳͍̪̤̯̭̙͉ͣ͒͗̃̏͐̓̓̀͡ ̦̼̫̬̟̉ͧͨ̔ͩ̓̀͢ There were more people like him....That’s right. They had names and families, faces, hobbies… they were an unofficial team of sorts. Peni, that wonderful little girl had fixed up that doohickey that allows them to talk to one another. He wasn’t sure what they were really called, but he heard Pater B call it a goober once, and that was simple enough for him. With a half assed plan, Noir pushed himself off the tub and nearly fell out of the bathroom. His breath was coming out in short bursts and it felt like someone was sitting on his chest, but he was determined to give this a shot.He grabbed his mask where it was left on the floor and slipped it on, leaving his nose and mouth uncovered. he resisted the urge to curl in on himself throughout the whole process, resorting to a sort of crouch walk as he crept into the kitchen and snatched his goober off the counter top. He leaned onto the wall and tried to remember how to work the stupid thing, all while horrible images and thoughts raced across his vision. “G-get yourself together sol-soldier.”He couldn’t think straight, everything was getting fuzzy again. He slid down the wall and instead of working on the goober, focused on breathing for a while. Everything was just too much. Panic attacks weren’t terribly common for Noir, they happened, sure, but rarely did he experience one as bad as this. He'd at least make it to the couch if he was lucky- which was a blessing compared to when he could only sit on the floor, biting his tongue and covering his ears until it passed. Regaining some motor functions, he opted to harshly jabbing the touch screen on the device in frustration, tapping anything he could in hopes of reaching one of the other spiders. When the device suddenly beeped, he halted all movements. He waited..... “Yellow, Checkerboard? is that you?”Peter B. They didn’t exactly get along as well as the rest of the spider gang, but hearing his voice at that moment was like music to his ears.“Peter.” He gasped out, clutching the goober to his chest like someone would snatch it away at any moment. “Yeup, that’s my name. Whatchya calling for?” What was there to say? He was drawing a blank. Was there a way to describe his situation? There was some background noise over the call before Peter spoke again.“You sure are a mouth breather. Can you prank call on these things? Never mind. If you butt-dialed me, that’s okay. Happens to me all the time, trust me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gunna go-““Wait!” Yelling was a mistake, his throat started to burn again, sending him into a fit of coughs. “Wow, hey. You okay over there, buddy? You sound.. not good.” Again, Noir struggled to find the right words. Focusing on anything other than breathing was proving to be difficult at the moment. What came next was complete and utter word vomit.“Thsgirl… sh-she I-i found.. not good… can’t-cant stop thinking’bout“ he hiccuped, emotions starting to bubble up in his chest and prick in the corners of his his eyes as flashes of what had happened replayed in his head again and again. “Not… shsnot. A-and Ma-Magdalena didn’t… She didn’t r-recognize *hic* me a-and-““Hey hey wow. Slow down, champ. It’s okay. You see that little green arrow near my contact?” Noir sniffed, blinking down at the screen and taking note of the little arrow in the unidentifiable color now known as green near Peter B’s name. “Yes..” he replied, followed by a another hiccup.“Great. That’s great, bud. Can you do me a favor? Give it a small tap. I’ll tap mine too, that way we can get you someplace where we can have a good’ol chat. That sound okay to you?” Noir nodded, not really caring that Peter couldn’t see his reply as he tapped the colorful arrow. Immediately, a portal was shot out of the goober and held a place directly in front of Noirs huddled form. It was like a window into a colorful paradise compared to the dreary world surrounding him. He slowly stood up, reaching his hand out to the portal, he was almost scared that it would disappear. He hadn’t seen this much color since Peni visited him with the upgraded goober. There was so much life and expression, he had completely forgotten everything she explained to him about the damn thing. And suddenly there was a figure in front of him. Peter B was dressed in sweatpants and a stained colored t-shirt. As to what color it was, Noir was wasn’t sure, but it vaguely resembles one of the colors on his cube.Meeting Peter’s eyes, he found a look of concern, the others gaze flicking over Noir, clearly cataloging every obvious injury on him before taking a slow step into the monochrome world. Noir stood as silently as he could. His heart continued to pound away behind his battered ribs, and his chest heaving with each rushed breath, barley keeping himself together in front of the other man. Finally Peter got close enough to place steadying hand on his shoulder, gently steering him out of the room and into his own dimension.