The air whipped past Kodachi as she swung through the New York skies and she revelled in the freedom it brought. Especially in steel canyons with such high walls as New York City. Up here, she felt far away from the cares of her normal life and the role she was trapping herself in again. Up here she was just Kodachi, whatever clothing she wore.
At the moment she was on her way to the Daily Bugle for the obligatory thanks she would have to give to J. Jonah Jameson. In the process, perhaps she could learn a little about Peter Parker as well. There had to be a reason that he was setting her off like he was.
She paused her progress and cut back to another building as her spider-sense flared full and loud. It wasn't that half-buzz like with Parker. No, this was a definite danger.
She took a moment to check her armaments and then continued toward the flaring, toward the danger. Arriving in time to see Spider-Man falling many stories to the street, the Goblin swooping down on him.
****
The goblin laughed maniacally as he snatched the Sensationless Spider and sailed off into the darkening sky. As all eyes focused on the smoke-spewing Goblin and few noted the figure quietly running along the edges of nearby buildings, looking down upon the retreating figures.
****
Kodachi overlooked the scene below her, uncertain of whether or not she should step in. So far, the Goblin seemed to be simply pacing back and forth, waiting, apparently, for her male counterpart to awaken from whatever drug he had used to bring the other Spider down.
So far, the green-clad monster hadn't yet noticed her, so she hadn't been "encouraged" to step forward just yet.
Kodachi had never been one for the direct confrontations of her peers in Nerima. She was well aware that while she had been one of the top three before Ranma had come, that she was bottom rung, just above those...figure skaters ever since.
She had been one of the most dangerous people in Nerima however, and martial arts had nothing to do with it.
Instead, it had been her ruthless, reckless and well-thought out plans that had kept the other Nerimans on the ropes when dealing with her and kept her out of the line of fire. Her plans had always had layers within layers that made unravelling her designs difficult.
Logically, she knew that she should hold back now and let the Goblin lay out his cards and keep her own existence secret, whatever the risk to the other Spider. If, as she suspected, the Goblin left Spider-Man alive and unharmed, she could then follow the miscreant to his lair and handle matters quietly.
That was logic speaking.
Then there was her own insight into the deranged mindset. The Goblin seemed to be a madman of the same bent as she had once been herself: recklessness, caution, megalomania and a flair melodramatic. But he was also apparently a bit paranoid, and the way he kept ranting and arguing with himself made her worry that he was even more unstable than she was.
The Black Rose would have stayed with her original plan. She would have paid heed to nothing that could steer her off her goal. There would have been countermeasures in place, secondary plans for if the original did go to pot, but she would not abandon a plan unless absolutely necessary.
The Black Rose held no doubt.
The Green Goblin, however, seemed almost to be two people and one of them was nothing but doubt. Which meant that he could change his mind and could decide to just eliminate Spider-Man.
Which brought up other comparisons.
The Black Rose did not doubt herself.
The Spider Rose did.
The Black Rose did not think of others.
The Spider Rose did.
The logical plan was too dangerous for her to continue it any further, so she'd try the next best thing.
Silently she leaped into position, landing with a natural grace that seemed almost to be beyond anything of the flesh. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the Goblin to start to turn back toward the Spider.
As soon as he did, a glob of webbing was already released into the air and, before his eyes came to meet the sight of Spider-Man still lying paralyzed, his head was covered in a enveloping hood.
By the time he'd torn the webbing out of his eyes, his quarry was gone.
"Sneaky little spider," Goblin said, half-growling.
****
Peter groggily came to, surprised that he was still alive to do so. Blinking his eyes open, he unsteadily shifted to a more or less seated position and gaped as he looked about the roof he found himself deposited on.
Had that guy just deposited him here and left?
What the hell was going on?
Standing carefully he glanced about and found his answer in the shape of a rose formed out of webbing seeming to grow from a pipe next to him.
****
Kodachi slipped into her home and smirked to herself. Relieved to finally get away from the half-buzz of her senses that had kept her fearing that the Goblin was on her tail. All the way up until she'd dropped off Spider Man somewhere safe.
"So, perhaps I've maintained a bit of my old melodrama," she said, amused.
See other episodes by Thrythlind
(Posted Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:02)
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