Polaris North

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Where the fuck am I, Nowhere}

Caty's brother— Danny— answered first and Sam had to swallow back a chortle. "Yeah, that explains a lot about what you guys do." It was someone with power's responsibility to help others? That was funny considering how there were probably a lot more people with powers who decided to use it for something more selfish. Besides, Moronov had just been like Anansi, making deals and giving them supernatural powers to commit countless crimes but she held her tongue. There was no use arguing with superheroes— she had already tried as much with Caty once before and it only exhausted her thoroughly.

So she just let out a sigh and listened to Anansi and his answers. How Oliver's mentor— Doctor Connors— would always be some sort of villain. How Anansi was simply an observer and that was why they had to step in to save his sorry ass because, you know, the spider totems should save themselves or what have you. And finally, how Otto's girlfriend, Anna, only died in this universe because he decided that he had a bone to pick with Fisk.

Stupid.

This really was all stupid.

Sam promised herself she wouldn't work under another damn person and, here she was, thrust into a situation where she couldn't exactly say 'no' and leave. She'd likely get branded as one of those corrupted Spider Totems. On the other hand, if she decided to leave and they visit, she'd either have to join or get killed herself. What a damn headache. Maybe she should have simply thrown herself into the line of fire back when the Crimson Court was being taken down en masse.

The older spider couldn't help but grin at the mention of why they had all been chosen; or rather, why she had been chosen. While the others were on their best behavior, it appeared that her willingness to just go with the flow of where she could get the most fights without getting into the other side of the fist of a hero who was relentless. "Had to get to me first before they could, huh? Think I'll join them?"

"Fight like how they fight, huh?" Sam muttered, clearly something else entering her mind. She had always played a bit dirty, a bit ruthless. They were fellow Spider Totems anyway, they could take a few bullets or three. Maybe if she could get her hands on something from the police or the military, it would be for the better. "Okay... okay, I think I'm hearing you." She took another drag of her cigarette, seemingly satisfied with the conclusion her own brain had made. Save them? Sam had a surefire way of "saving" them from this whole darkness in their hearts.

Oliver seemed to come to the idea before he finally noticed that Anansi had been using their real names this entire time. "Right? Like, look, I love not being known by everyone and their mothers. That's the whole point of secret identities." She huffed.

She looked over the the trench coated spider who was silent this entire time and nodded along. "Agreed. Let's just get this over with so I don't have anything to owe this... Spider-God."

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Where the fuck am I, Nowhere}

"So much for secret identities, huh?" The older spider huffed with a roll of her eyes but made no move to remove her mask. This whole talk about Spider-Totems, about how they got their powers from this one guy... god... felt like some sort of hilarious joke. But hey, they lived in a universe where that was possible— where gods and devils and all the like existed and they handed off powers to the most random people ever whether they deserved it or not.

Her eyes narrowed as Anansi continued to explain his origins and then came the root of the problem. Of course, this wasn't just some creator saying hello to his creations. No, this was a recruitment. A forced one too.

"Hero...?" She muttered, the word feeling foreign and wrong in her mouth. Vigilante, thrill-seeker, someone who was too used to the battlefield to really leave it, those were the terms that could be used for her. A villain might have been even more appropriate term to use for her. To assume so much of her made Sam scoff around the same time as Oliver when he began speaking.

His question made some sense. From what she saw in one of those multiversal webs, there had been a Sam who was still working with the Crimson Court. Sure, she was getting her ass beat before Smoke had come over to get her out of dodge but that implied they survived in other universes. Did her getting bitten by this spider activate some weird butterfly effect that led to the fall of the Court? She wasn't complaining, per se, but it took her family from her.

"Besides, why are we so obligated to help you? If they're also Spider-Totems, then that means you chose them too? And even if it came from the Great Weavers of the past or whatever, couldn't you just take it away? You're a god. What are you so afraid of?" Sam clicked her tongue as she noticed her cigarette had run its life and she let it fall to the ground before stomping out the embers.

She turned to Caty, one of the few who knew Sam from a time when she wasn't some vigilante who saved people. "I don't get why you're so gung-ho about this hero thing. Look at what happens when you help someone, suddenly it's just a barrage of requests with no pay."

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Where the fuck am I, Nowhere}

Araltus moved to the side once the mini-spider bots had come in like a locust swarm. She sat down on one of the buildings again and she took out a cigarette and lit it before pulling her mask up halfway to start going through it. Spider-Woman had begun to sing to the Spider-Monkey and that, mixed with whatever the spider-bots were injecting into it, had completely conked out their large enemy. For a moment, Araltus had expected it to fall but the beast was simply attached to the building as it slept.

Well, that was that. Araltus took another drag of the cigarette. She wasn't going to stick around for some sort of debriefing with the other spider-people. If Otto or Caty had something to tell her, they would just tell her some other time because—

Araltus couldn't even finish the thought when a voice reverberated around the area. "What the- urk!" The ground she was sitting on quickly disappeared into a portal. Now, Araltus was no stranger to passing through solid objects or going through portals; however, usually, there was a warning before it happened.

---

Araltus landed on her feet much like the others. Mainly, she looked down at her hand and let out a breath to see that her cigarette was still there. The area they were in looked trippy and Sam was reminded of when the Crimson Court would convene in that weird magic place Mikhail liked putting them in. Unlike that place, though, Araltus was looking at different worlds and different people.

What in the everliving fuck was happening.

Then someone appeared. This green-suited spider-guy who called himself Anansi and welcoming them to the Web of Life and Destiny or whatever it was. Spider-Man, or Danny Davis she now learned as he unmasked himself, began to ask his questions. Argyros was mumbling something to himself and appeared as lost as Araltus was.

"This isn't a no-smoking place, right?" She took another drag of her cigarette nevertheless, blowing the smoke away from the others as an act of courtesy.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Cars be flying out here in New York City}

Maybe Sam was speaking too soon.

She watched as the Spider-Monkey appeared to finally have free reign once his weapon was gone. He wasn't only on a defensive now, he was on the offensive. Suddenly, things seemed much more dire and, really, Sam should have taken the opportunity to just bolt. But that was life. She was in this situation now and she should just accept that.

Out of the Spider-Monkey's ass came out webs and locked Spider-Woman and Arachnid into their own webby prison alongside that other spider-folk she didn't know the name of. And as if that wasn't enough, he hurled two vehicles. And one of those vehicles was unfortunately headed straight for her and Spider-Man.

She felt a push, completely disconnecting her from the building and a minivan smashed straight through the building spreading the glass shards across them like some sort of makeshift hail. Sam was quick to slow her descent with a well-placed web and landed on the ground with a small hop. Spider-Man came soon after, fussing over her. This made Sam let out a chuckle. "Calm down, calm down. If that's enough to take me down, I wouldn't be here with you guys. Get back out there, kid."

Sam gave him a wave before brushing herself off, ridding herself of the glass that had fallen across her own costume. She was wise to have made this out of some pretty resistant fabric. The last thing she wanted to do was spend a few hours stitching her costume back. She stretched her back until it popped and she shook her head. Man, was she getting too old or something? It must be the swinging.

Those thoughts aside, Araltus ran forward and shot herself forward just as Spider-Man hurled a large ball of Spider-Monkey-made webs back at its creator and their colorful-costumed buddy had something planned it appeared like. Risky move. So, Araltus decided to hang back for a more supporting role as she followed behind Arygros. In the case that he would fail in his endeavor, she was planning to pull him away with a web to get him out of the way of the Spider-Monkey's wrath.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Out in the goddamn open, New York Times Square wondering if she can get away with stealing some whiskey after}

By some miracle, the plan was actually working. Or, working as well as it could work. After all, she could only think that the weird spider-monkey thing also had super strength but multiplied by a hundred compared to them. But working together and having a bunch of people doing other things to distract the beast was beneficial to their cause. Sam had half a mind to swing away and leave this to the others now that things were going right but she didn't doubt that Caty would nag her ear out for abandoning a mission halfway.

Scratch that, now that Otto had finally graced them with his presence, she would get nagged twice as hard by people who are younger than her. The thought was a little funny but she'd rather avoid that outcome for now.

With his additional help, the staff was successfully pulled away from the spider-monkey. It hurtled towards the ground at a surprising speed and Spider-Woman's voice resonated across the area as she barked off their orders. She chuckled as she swung to one of the buildings, temporarily leaving her post as the mosquito and waiting for Spider-Man to launch the staff. The window was shattered so she swiped her hand against the shattered glass and sat down. There was a surprisingly good view around this altitude; shame that it was so dangerous that no one could observe from here. Well, that was false. If her old teammates were still around, they would likely be perched just like this, watching in clear amusement as one of them breaks their back trying to secure a mission.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back. "It for sure means that you're a great match up for him, kid! Go knock 'em dead!" She then clapped her hands like some sort of adoring audience watching the destruction of New York City Spider-Monkey version. "Doing great guys! Tens across the board!"

Once Spider-Man made his move to bring the staff up, Sam would begrudgingly leave her perch and start to web up the staff against the building, making sure to apply as much as she could to ensure it wouldn't suddenly rip off mid-fight and fall onto the pavement below. Once it was done, she observed it for a moment and nodded to herself. "Not bad as a work of art."

Magus Reaver: Scions of Sorcery

S H A V I S N A M I S T A

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^{Mission: Idle | Interactions: @AzureKnight}

Shavis couldn't help but wonder what the Church was pulling— a recreational activity? From how Elaine responded, it didn't seem like this happened a lot... or ever, at all. However, it didn't seem like anyone else was on particular high alert so she thought it would be fine. If it was just a series of tests, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She mused about the idea that it might even be some sort of small competition between the knights of the church and the reavers if they were really trying to test their strength.

When the church members left, and Shavis couldn't help her eyes lingering on Leon as he was taken along by one of the church members, she stretched her arms and let out a long sigh. No rest for the wicked or something like that. Still, it wasn't like she had a lot to pack especially since she had just gotten back from the mission. Her ears perked up when she heard Xashan mention that Scarlett had been among the reavers who weren't present. Shavis thought that her little charge was in bedrest but it appeared to not be the case? Well, she just hoped that she wasn't getting into trouble. The last thing they needed was her to cause a scene with the church members around.

She weighed her options on what to do to pass the time but ended up just walking towards the Alchemy Lab where Nadia was, dragging along the spoils of war she had collected from their previous mission. After ensuring that the church members had long since departed the lab, because she was not going to deal with that, and knocked on the door. "Miss Nadia, you in here?" She called out after. She had a lesson to attend to after all and maybe they can squeeze in a few minutes without getting interrupted this time.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Out in the goddamn open, New York Times Square}

So maybe attacking in head-on wasn't the brightest idea as catching it by surprise seemed more difficult than she had first thought. Even with the support of another spider-folk who had shot webs to its eyes, the spider-monkey had moved to intercept both attacks with just his staff. Thankfully, Sam managed to swing away directly after that to avoid any undesired punishments from their monster of an enemy.

Thankfully, a familiar figure had arrived on the scene and Sam quickly swung after them and landed closeby. Her fingers twitched to reach for the cigarette pack in her pocket but maybe that wouldn't be the most appropriate response while something was still actively terrorizing them.

"What a crew. Making me wish I just stayed back at the bar to continue drinking." Sam dryly joked as she gave a nod of acknowledgment to Spider-Woman. It really was quite a group. At most, she had only teamed up with one or two and never at the same time. Overkill, or something like that. Wouldn't want to traumatize the terrible citizens of New York with a shitton of spiders raining upon them, right?

Okay, getting off-track. "So, you want us to get that big 'ol staff away from the big 'ol spider-monkey? Easy. For sure." Despite how sarcastic the statement might appear as, there was no doubt that anyone who knew her would know she was likely grinning from ear to ear. Nothing like presenting a fresh challenge for someone whose entire life was marred with countless bounties. "Oh, by the way, I'm like... ninety-nine percent sure that fucker's like us with the whole tingly sense thing so, yeah. Should be fun."

Sam watched as the more colored spider-folk entered the fray first. "What I'd do for a rocket launcher right now..." She muttered to herself before taking a step back and giving the group a theatrical bow before turning around and running forward before sending out a web to a building to carry her up. So, sure, she didn't have much of a plan on how to remove a weapon. Disarming humans were easy— just loosen their grip and grab the offending item. Then, preferably, smack the other. However, that was the procedure for humans; not kaiju-level beasts.

But maybe it had the same concept, no?

Sam was extremely sure that even the illegal amounts of volts packed into a shock baton wouldn't phase the spider-monkey specifically but hey, it was worth a try. She reached backward to grab her shock batons as she flew through the air. She charged up the baton and, well, hit-and-run tactics worked, right? However much it could. High risk, high reward, or whatever it was.

While their aquatic-looking spider-friend kept shooting webs at the spider-monkey to distract him from above, Sam decided to come from under. At the very least, it might serve to allow other spider-folk to come from other directions. Once she was close enough, Sam would jab the activated shock baton onto the spider=monkey's hand before leaving the premises before swinging around to do it again.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{Out in the goddamn open, New York Times Square}

Sam wasn't exactly sure what she had expected this giant monkey spider thing to do, but it was for sure something that wanted to terrorize the people of New York City. Why exactly it wanted to do that was up for debate. She had been on the other side of the fight once before but her reasonings were pretty clear cut— a contract and a shitton of money.

Well, she shouldn't dwell on its reasoning too much because, during that time, she saw it web up a bus and shoot it straight towards other panicking civilians. Perhaps it was a bit cruel to not immediately have the instinct to swing off and save those people. But the consequences for her hesitation— or lack of instinctual heroism— would not be seen in the next few moments as Spider-Man rescued the bus and the running civilians.

Good, she supposed.

At least Sam could focus on the thing that really piqued her interest. With a wide grin underneath her mask, she swung forth and towards the monkey. Its sheer size dwarfed her completely but even annoying flies could do its damage if left to their own devices. Witty banter was something Sam did like to partake in every now and then but she doubted Mr. King Kong expy was up for it.

So, she decided to swing straight into the monkey's head, aiming to drive a kick into it before swinging away.

Magus Reaver: Scions of Sorcery

S H A V I S N A M I S T A

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^{Mission: Idle | Interactions: All}

Shavis wasn't exactly quite sure what the gravity of the situation was regarding the visit around the Church representatives. She understood that they were extremely important in society but, as far as she was aware, they did their thing and the Magus Association did theirs. It wasn't exactly rare for her to hear negative opinions about the church back when she was in the association headquarters but Shavis tended to stay away from people like that.

Ah, whatever. It was best to just get this over with.

Shavis shouldered on her coat to at least make sure that she looked formal enough to meet with such high-ranking representatives before falling into line with the others after breakfast. As they made their way closer to the conference room, the weight of the magical energy the representatives held made itself quite known. Hah, well, Shavis guessed you wouldn't exactly be in a high position if you weren't powerful enough, right? Instead of nerves, however, it was more of a thrill that Shavis felt. It wasn't every day you met someone powerful— well, aside from the Tower.

She noted the Church officials and idly wondered what Elaine was asking about earlier... why was the Holy Seer here? Well, Shavis wasn't going to pretend she understood what those folks in the church thought so Shavis just shrugged it off and listened to their introductions.

The doors opened again to reveal Asterope and Shavis perked up. She had heard that Asterope had a few things to deal with and another mission but it was good to see her again. She gave her friend a smile and a small bow of her head, a silent promise that Shavis was definitely going to corner her at another time to talk to her.

Lanus and Renee had introduced themselves next. Fun as ever, those two aren't they?

Shavis stepped forward next and she kept in mind that she had to be formal. So, following the lead that both Asterope and Lanus had paved, Shavis began to introduce herself. She placed a fist over her chest and gave them a deep bow, their own tribe's most respectful actions to authority. "I am Shavis Namista and I also came from the Great Ithaca Forest.

With that, she straightened up again and stepped back.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

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^{In a bar, New York Times Square}

"Another round for us, boss."

Sam raised a hand with a cigarette pinned between two of her fingers as the bartender acknowledged them and took out a bottle of scotch to pour into their glasses. She wouldn't say that she was a regular drinker. She preferred the company of a cigarette more than the mind-addling effect of alcohol, but it was a special day! Christmas was right around the corner and she thought she deserved a break or two from the whole writer and vigilante thing.

"Thanks for covering the tab for this, Rye." She said as she turned to her companion. Four drinks in and she supposed that the whole spider-powers thing really helped with metabolism because she was not as tipsy as she expected her to be. Maybe she should try taking shots of tequila next time?

The editor snorted as he picked up his newly refreshed drink and held out the glass to which Sam responded in kind. "To a prosperous year to both of us."

"And may we have more money this time around. Cheers."

The two of them downed the drink in one go. Sam would have liked to talk more, really, but there was a buzz at the back of her mind. For a moment, she thought that maybe the drinks were finally getting to her. However, her hopes were soon dashed when she realized this was another thing entirely. She let out a deep sigh as she put down the glass. Technically, she could just leave this to the others. Surely, Otto or Caty would be on the case. If not, then there were plenty of other heroes in New York City.

"I need to make a call with a friend." Sam said and Rye made a dismissive hand wave as she made her way out of the bar with her backpack.

Of course there was a large-ass portal in the middle of fucking Times Square. Onlookers were still captivated, perhaps not sensing that this was abnormal. With another heavy sigh as a rope of web shot out of the portal, Sam turned around and made her way to one of the alleys. And just as chaos began to erupt from the scene as some monster exited the portal, Sam walked into the shadows.

After a few moments, Araltus shot out of the shadows, swinging to a higher vantage point where she could see the monstrosity in full view while sticking to a glass pane window of one of the buildings. What in the ever living fuck was that? Like, Araltus didn't deal with that kind of shit unless someone else called her to help them. For a moment, she idly wondered if that thing was an ape that got bitten by a radioactive spider like she and the other spiderfolks did.

That would be kind of cool, having a spider monkey pet or a spider pig pet or a spider animal thing.

Araltus took another long drag of her cigarette before snuffing it against the window behind her as she surveyed the scene. Spider King Kong was likely going to wreak havoc in the city (nothing new) and civilians were going to get in the way (again, nothing new) so they probably needed to wrap this up soon. She spotted someone already swinging towards the scene of the disaster. She let out her breath, watching as the smoke dissipated in front of her before dragging her mask down.

"This better be fun."

With that, Araltus leaped off of the building to join the chaos.