The Princess and the Spider-Man

Chapter 12

"Mera! Hey." Spider-Man said, stepping closer to the ledge. Mera waived at him, continuing to smile at him. She was wearing her green Atlanean outfit, along with her gold crown, which contrasted greatly with her wet, fiery red hair.

"You're very funny." she said, getting closer to him.

"Thanks. And thanks for the help with grumpy-puss over here." Spider-Man said, pointing back to the still struggling Shocker on the ground. Mera looked like she was going to reply, but as the police sirens came into earshot, Mera's eyes widened and she descended back into the ocean.

Spider-Man quickly went to the very edge to look for her. He could only see her head above water, looking straight at him. "Don't tell anyone about me alright?" she asked.

Spider-Man quickly nodded his head yes, remembering that she wants Atlantis to be a secret. "Will do." he said.

"Thank you. I'll meet you at the building." she said, indicating to the building nearby where they would always meet up at.

"Alright. I'll see you there your highness." Spider-Man said with a little bow. Mera giggled again before she submerged her head into the ocean. He then directed his attention to the police cars coming his way.

Within a few minutes, the police had handcuffed Shocker and were leading him back to the cop car. Yuri walked up to Spider-Man, who was perched on an armored police car.

"Good work Spider-Man. Did you learn anything about his motive?" Yuri asked.

"I tried, but Herman's not very talkative. Plus I think he hates me." Spider-Man said, shrugging.

"You have that effect on a lot of people." Yuri commented with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, but you love me, right?" Spider-Man asked.

"I tolerate you." Yuri said, smirk still in place.

"Wow." Spider-Man said. "That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me." he continued. Yuri rolled her eyes at that last statement.

"By the way Spider-Man, before I leave, I wanted to ask you.......did you see anything out of the ordinary as you were chasing Shocker down?" Yuri asked.

"Nope, not really." Spider-Man answered, kind of confused with where she was going with this.

Yuri quirked an eyebrow in suspicion. "Really? Because I got some reports on the way over here that you were talking to a red-headed woman with hydrokinesis powers." she said.

Spider-Man's face went to shock, as he remembered Mera's words. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, so Yuri never caught on. "Nope, never seen anyone like that." Spider-Man lied.

Yuri's eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted to the side. It looked to Spider-Man like she was contemplating something. "Right. Alright then, that's all I wanted to know." Yuri said, heading back to the cop car. But she stopped on her way over there and said with another smirk, "Maybe you can take that girl to the dance next time."

"Yuri!" Spider-Man called out, but Yuri had already gotten into the car. 'Okay, that went wrong in so many ways.' he thought to himself.

Then he leaped into the air and headed to the building that they always meet up at. He jumped into a nearby alleyway and changed into his casuals, before heading into the building.

"Mera?" he called out, looking around. Before he knew what hit him, he was suddenly forced face-first onto the floor. Somebody had tackled him from behind, and judging by the laughter and the wetness, he had no trouble figuring it out who it was.

"Surprise!" Mera said, getting off of him. Peter got up and grinned at Mera.

"Hi Mera." he said, going in for a hug. Mera returned and surprisingly, and much to Peter's joy, he noticed that she held him tighter than usual, and for a longer time too.