The Spider's Daughter

The Spider's Daughter chapter 22

*sigh* I've run out of things to say...

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Chapter 22

"Kayla." I breathed again. Of course, she'd show up when I wasn't expecting her. And on Christmas vacation!

"Miss me?" she sneered.

I sat silently. My heart fluttered in my chest, and I felt a bit of sweat on my forehead.

Without warning, Kayla shot out a fiery fist. My spider-sense barely warned me in enough time. Her knuckles grazed my chin, but I rolled with the punch.

I was falling. The air fluttered around me, cooling the hotspot made by Kayla's fist. I let myself fall, twisting around in the air so I could see my foe.

Kayla hovered above. Her dark hair lifted in a fiery halo, and flames curled off her skintight red suit.

I fell a little more, then shot a strand of webbing. It stuck on the corner of a building, but I didn't swing yet. I kept shooting, letting out more and more webs. Then I stopped.

I was jerked, and the momentum of my fall was transferred into a sideways swing. I spotted the flagpole I had seen earlier, and grinned under my mask. Again, I was jerked, and this time, I was carried up. Then sideways again, then down. Around the flagpole again, and on my way up, I let go. I sailed upwards, feet first.

I slammed into Kayla, pushing her up farther. I landed back on my antenna, clinging with toe and fingertips. Kayla spun through the air, cartwheeling over and over again.

"You'll pay for that, Parker!" she snarled, and I growled back.

"I'm not giving in to you, Kayla. I'm a spider, and we fight to the end!"

"Well, your end is fast approaching!" she shouted as she plunged. A trail of fire followed her like the tail of a comet, lighting the sky with a bloody light.

I jumped out of the way, letting Kayla fly past. Then I had to let go. Her heat had melted through the antenna, and as I fell, molten metal fell with me. I spun in the air, doing my best do dodge the white-hot goop. A drop landed on my arm, and I jerked away.

What? I didn't feel anything... Oh! The suit. I was fireproof. I felt my lips twist into a maniacal grin, and I twisted again. Kayla. She sat, glowing, in the sky.

I shot some webs at her, and she dodged easily.

"Ha! Missed!"

"Who said I was aiming for you?"

"Huh?" replied the oh-so intelligent girl.

I yanked on the webs and flew through the air. I twisted, and again, my feet slammed into Kayla's chest. This time, behind her wasn't open air. She crashed into the building, and a shower of glass, some half melted, rained down on the street far below. People looked up and pointed.

The fire around Kayla died for a moment, then flared up again, brighter than ever. Heat radiated around her, and the glass and metal around her withered in the heat.

Kayla was beyond words. A growl escaped her mouth, and I clung to the wall opposite her.

"Give it up, Kayla! I don't want to hurt you!"

She hissed, or her fire did, and launched herself at me. I let her hit me, and we crashed through the glass windows behind me. People screamed. I flattened a desk under my back, and I kicked Kayla over my head. She landed on something, and a crash echoed through the ruined office building.

I stood up and looked around. Fire writhed around the room. Heat rippled the air, and a fiery monster stood in the middle of the room.

She lunged at me, and again, I didn't move. I let her carry me out of the building into the streets. I flung out my arm and shot a rope of webbing.