by A. E. Lucky
Chapter 4
The Kid, the Clone, and It--part 3
So now the tables have turned on the evil arachnid. It had had our hero and the clone in its grasp but Superkid managed to thwart its diabolical plan and was now leading the spider to a battleground of his choice. The people of Poolington were following along, of course, to see how this epic battle would play out.
What? You're wondering about the clone? Okay, we'll go see...
The clone was knocked out. Okay, now we know. Let's go...
Wait a minute, the clone had been knocked out, but now with everyone herding past him, he was very alert. Getting stepped on will do that to you.
They stepped on every part of his body from his face ("Rnf!") to his fingers ("Argh!") to his stomach ("Oof!") to that very sensitive area that we males are endowed with (this sound can't be translated directly, but it was something like, "Ow! Ow! Why there?! Why there?!"). This went on for five agonizing minutes until at last the last of them had herded past him so now he could roll over and groan in peace. It didn't take him very long to get back to his feet though he was still sore all over. He was Superkid's duplicate, after all.
He grunted as he limped forward, "I can't... let him... fool them into... thinking... he's... the real... Superkid. Got to... save them... from his evil...plan." So grunting, he hobbled as fast as he could.
Meanwhile, the real Superkid continued to lead the enraged giant spider through town. Soon, our hero's destination became clear. His battleground of choice was an old, abandoned... nope, not a factory... not a mansion either... football stadium? Where in the world did you come up with that?
Anyways, no. The battleground that Superkid had chosen to stage his triumph over evil was an old, abandoned... theater. Once, aspiring actors of Poolington had performed there in an attempt to impress their friends and family. But after one dream too many had died there, the theater kind of fell off the map. How poetic that after so long the theater would be the stage for a clash between a hero and a monster. But I've never been that fond of poetry (though if I really wanted to impress you, I could mumble the words "iambic pentameter") so let's cut right to the action, shall we?
Superkid finally touched down in front of the theater doors. Then, with the spider roaring and scuttling close behind him, he ran inside.
It was huge in there. It was big enough for the spider but not for the spider to fight in... which had been Superkid's plan the whole time. Above the doors was a balcony where Superkid could gain an advantage. Unfortunately, he was disadvantaged when the giant spider squeezed itself through the door, forcing him back.
"There you are!" it growled. "Got you now!" It shouldered itself inside, knocking seats aside with its giant legs.
"Catch me if you can!" Superkid taunted and then blew up his cape and rose into the air.
The spider immediately spun itself a length of rope and coiled it onto its leg. Then it spat a glob of spit onto the end of the rope. And finally it spun the gobby end around for momentum and then tossed it at Superkid, aiming for his leg. But just as it seemed it would stick... Superkid tucked in his legs. The rope flopped back down in sulky defeat.
The enormous spider wasn't going to give up so easily, however--or with its temper in check. It roared angrily, charged for the wall and began to climb.
"Ready or not, here I come!"
Superkid drifted toward the balcony, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best plan. The spider crawled onto the ceiling--which creaked ominously though the spider didn't notice--and veered toward our diminutive hero. Superkid saw what was going to happen, so he changed direction at the last minute. He tugged the hose at his shoulder, releasing air from his balloon so that he began sinking.
"Oh no you don't," growled the evil arachnid. It swung its rope around for momentum and then tossed it like a fishing line. The rope literally wound up around Superkid's neck.
"Ghuul!" His breath was cut short. The rope tightened around his neck like a noose. Without breath to blow into his cape, he had to think of something quickly before he choked to death. He grabbed the rope above him and tugged, lifting himself up and loosening the noose around his neck... pretty quick thinking, considering that his supply of oxygen to the brain had been cut for a moment. There was still a little hot air in his balloon so he bounced up a little before sinking down again, which gave him enough time to grab the hose at his shoulder and blow more hot air into his balloon.
Then the spider began to reel him in again. Keeping a couple of fingers beneath the noose to keep it from tightening against his gullet, Superkid blew air into his cape, twisted himself around and then tugged the hose. He shot toward the eight-legged villain.
That evil arachnid expected this. But expecting something and being prepared for it are two different things. So while it had indeed expected this, it hadn't actually thought of how it would counter it. It did shoot out its legs to catch the fearless kid, but he shot right past them and slammed into the side of its bulbous behind.
First came the four right legs of the spider, bringing good-sized chunks of the chalky ceiling with them. Then the four left legs followed, also clinging to ceiling chunks. Having lost footholds in all eight legs, now the bulbous body and head led the way to the theater floor--the head roaring all the way.
Now our hero had expected this but he hadn't prepared for it either. The giant spider still had a tether on him, so Superkid, who was still rising, was suddenly yanked down, which gave him a pretty bad whiplash.
The 800-pound spider crashed through the theater floor to the basement floor below. It bounced to its feet on the concrete floor and then collapsed with a groan. The rope it gripped came free and Superkid bobbed upward.
He quickly worked the noose loose (Hey! I made a rhyme!) and then dropped it to the floor. He glanced down through the chasm in the floor to the unconscious behemoth below.
Whoops! I mean it appeared unconscious until it stumbled to its feet and looked up angrily at Superkid.
"All right! You've had your fun! But now it's time for my kind of fun. Brace yourself for--'the Tarzan!'" It scuttled to the wall and began climbing again.
Me have bad feeling about this, our fearless hero thought.
