Sibling Rivalry [Nathan]

[Cory Parker]

The bright lights of Times Square was entrancing; the ads and the boards lit up the night sky as the people down below marched and moved back and forth from one destination to another. Music rang from many's cars, conversations (due to enhanced hearing) were audible. Sitting atop an ad promoting The Lion King, a black and red clad 'hero' watched. This hero, notoriously known as "The Arachnid", looked down with a smirk on his face beneath his mask; this was one of his favorite parts of town. He felt so comfortable with all of the radiant life; this was his home. Hell, this whole city was home -- he protected it. Actually, his home would have needed defending tonight -- at this moment, actually. Racing down a couple of streets were two police cruisers with their lights flaring. Sure, the pepsi ads were bright and attention grabbing, but to The Arachnid, the police cruisers made him act. That smirk grew into a smile as he jumped from the building, front flipping while in the air and coming close to the public being as dramatic as possible. Using his inherited powers, on command, a strand of webbing spat from his pores and attached itself to a building, swinging the hero across the New York blocks.

"No need to fear citizens, your hero is in action!" He shouted, receiving looks from the pedestrians; some in awe and others jeering. Despite hate from civilians because of his unorthodox and often extreme 'heroics', Cory still took it upon himself to be the hero of N.Y (coincidentally, there being many others besides and better than he). Swinging from rooftop to rooftop, The Arachnid followed the cruisers to a nearby housing area. What was found was a group of twenty-somethings fighting in the street... how fun. Of course once the cruisers rolled up, many of them scattered.

"They're running? Not on my watch!" Along with the police, Arachnid swung to the pavements. Using the light posts as leverage, The Arachnid's feet hit the back of two criminals, knocking them to the ground. However, it didn't stop there. After a light kick in the head from the 'hero', the Arachnid was back swinging to collect the rest. Swinging between two buildings, Cory used his organic webbing to tie up a running offender. Having him still on the strand, the Arachnid swung the strand faster, then slammed him against the hood of a car.

"That'll teach ya, won't it, brah?" He teased. He stuck to the side of a wall and looked around, finding the last one running around the block. Arachnid smiled and scaled the building, ending up on the rooftop. Turning his head to the right, he could see the fleeing suspect running near him. Perfect. The Arachnid stood on the railing of the escape and began to spin a transparent web on the empty sidewalk. Just like he expected, the thug ran into it, caught like a fly in his trap. The Arachnid stuck the end of the web to the rooftop, then began to pull him up with him.

"Wait, wait! Let me go!" He begged as he came closer to the rooftop.

"Dude, lighten up. Look, we'll do a trade: I won't stop you from eating solid food if you take a couple lumps to the noggin. Whaddya' say?" Arachnid said, chuckling after pulling his prey.

[Nathan Parker]

Nathan was on patrol, as he did most nights. However, since it was a weekend, he had decided to go out for patrol earlier. He had gone out in his second costume, which was the one that looked like his dads, but the fact it was more dark blue and black in some places. Swinging across the city, Nathan thought about his brother. Granted, they bickered a lot more than they used to before becoming heroes, Nathan did honestly care about his older brother. Landing on top of a roof, Nathan pulled his mask off and took a few breathes of fresh air. However, his friend spider sense activated at that minute. His eyes clouded over and he saw a scene.

Nathan saw his brother tie someone up with a strand of organic webbing, and slam him into a car. The vision ended, and Nathan sighed. While his spider sense showed him visions of his friend or family in danger most of the time, it showed his brother being dangerous sometimes. If his brother would stop being such a hothead, maybe their father would teach him how to be a proper hero. But, until then, a sibling and hero rivalry would exist between "Spider-Teen" and the "Arachnid." Putting his mask back on, Nathan quickly ran towards the edge of the building and swang off of it. The faint remnants of his vision, coupled with the radar like qualities of his spider-sense, allowed him to instincivly know where to go to find his brother.

Within a few minutes, Nathan had arrived on the scene. Seeing his brother pull some one up in a web, and then lower them, he sighed. Using the tremendous strength in his legs, he leapt up to the rooftop his brother was on and landed beside him. Looking at his brother through his mask, Nathan said "Seriously? You're taking our spider powers way too seriously brother. You are also being too drastic. If the carnage symbiote was around, you'd make a perfect host for it!" Nathan was angry at his brother, and when he was angry, he became more gutsy and stood up to his brother and insulted him.

[Cory Parker]

With the now sobbing crook caught in his web and in his grasp, the Arachnid cracked his neck and laughed. Feeling like he was doing both his father and his city a favor by erradicating the scum of the city out, Arachnid's mood increased ten fold. Anyone looking at him could tell without a doubt that he was enjoying himself; his stance told it all. Underneath his mask though, his eyes rolled as he saw the pathetic mess of a criminal with tears and snot running down his face. Seeing a criminal cry was just heart-wrenching; it almost made him want to put him down and give him over to the cops without knocking out teeth. Almost.

"Re...lax. My punches are like being hit by a small bus. Hey, I did say a small one!" He joked. Suddenly, light footsteps made his way next to him. His heart jumped until he saw the costume; oh great, he came to ruin his fun. Standing a couple of inches taller than the other hero, Arachnid pretended not to notice him. At least, not while he had fresh prey in his hand. He silently nodded and placed his hand behind the crook's neck.

"Sorry about this, stranger; family business. See ya when you wake." He whispered in the stranger ear before laying a fist into his stomach, causing the bound body to fall to the ground. Arachnid took a couple of steps back and placed his foot atop the downed crook. A small breeze entered the scene as Arachnid looked over and viewed the area and took it all in with awe. Then, finally, his attention turned to his brother. Arms stretched out, the Arachnid acted as gleeful as ever.

"Broski! How ya' doing, how's patrol been tonight? Hey, I like that outfit, when did you make that one?" Arachnid asked, completely avoiding the reprimanding he had just gotten. He then turned to the criminal and then back at Spider-Teen. With a shrug, he began to pace.

"Bravo, bro, really, I'm shocked. Whose older here, again? You're telling me that I'm being too serious? Actually, I'm not being serious enough. Crime is on the rise, villains are forming, and I even hear that a hero girl was kidnapped, yet you're talking about me easing up on guys like him?" Arachnid shot a gob of web at the crook's mouth, silencing the small grunting that had been coughing up. While Arachnid knew that his brother had his best interest, Arachnid's feeling being the same towards his younger sibling, the fact was he did not want to stop being the badass hero. Someone had to; why not him?

"Besides, Spider-Teen, we're doing this city a favor! What, are you too busy refilling your web cartridges in that old shooter to realize that? Like, come on."."

[Nathan Parker]

Nathan was really angry with his brother. It wasn't enough that he was being a bad hero, but he seemed to revel in the fear that these people had in him. His brother was gleeful as he said "Bravo, bro, really, I'm shocked. Whose older here, again? You're telling me that I'm being too serious? Actually, I'm not being serious enough. Crime is on the rise, villains are forming, and I even hear that a hero girl was kidnapped, yet you're talking about me easing up on guys like him?" This was disgusting to Nathan, and he said "If you mean Abby, I saved her a while ago. Thats how I got that freaking stomach wound you moron!"

Nathan's anger reached its peak and spilled over the top at his brothers last remark. "Besides, Spider-Teen, we're doing this city a favor! What, are you too busy refilling your web cartridges in that old shooter to realize that? Like, come on." Cory knew that Nathan was sensitive about being unable to generate his own webbing, and insulting him about it was not going to make the younger parker any calm. As his dark side began to take over a small bit, Nathan reared back his fist, and punched his brother in the stomach, using the full extent of his six ton strength. He then did a backflip to get away from his brother a bit.

Nathan knew that Cory had a temper, and he did not take kindly to getting punched or attacked like that. However, Nathan had several advantages. While he was weaker in some of their powers than Cory, Nathan's reflexes and spider sense were highly developed. On top of that, the younger parker brother had taken on a deranged clone of their father, and the new Venom, as well as a girl who had a very powerful healing factor. These experiences gave Nathan the advantage, as he had survived them and he could possibly fight his brother evenly. As well as the combat advantage, Nathan was more agile than his brother. Looking directly at Cory, he said "Come on bro. Lets see what you got, or if you are just all talk."

[Cory Parker]

Arachinid took a look at his younger brother's body stance and -- beneath his mask -- could not contain his clown-like smile on his face. Knowing how to poke at his brother's buttons like an expert, Arachnid would continue this pastime of "picking on your younger sibling" just for kicks. Arachnid didn't want to go back home and look up Youtube videos for the remainder of the night; this would just have to suffice. So, like an animal cornering his prey, he began to take light stride walks around his brother as he continued to insult and tease him. To see the look on his face during this verbal thrashing would have been the icing on the cake, although Arachnid would never go as far as to pull his mask off his brother. Even that would be excessive and Arachnid couldn't imagine how awkward and lonely things would be if his brother gained some hatred for him. When Spider-Teen spoke, Arachnid slapped his own head as if he had the answer to an amazingly simple question.

"Oh, that's where those stomach wounds came from! I thought it was the takeout that dad brought home a couple of days ago!" He said laughing. Being apart of the Young Avengers, he had the pleasure of meeting and receiving orders from the young Stark girl. As Spider-Teen mentioned the Stark girl, his mind began to wander. He hadn't been to a Avenger's meeting in quite some time-- whoops.

When Arachnid made the remark of his younger brother's web shooters, even a chill came down the older brother's own spine. That had to be the biggest pet peeve on the younger Parker; his web shooters. While it displayed his inherited intelligence from their dad and his own scientific and mechanical ingenuity to the point were even Arachnid was impressed on the different variations and advances he would make on it, it still was not as convenient as Arachnid's own organic webbing. Still, even with that small tinge of fear that came down Arachnid's spine, he did not move... something that proved to be a bad mistake on his end. Getting ready to insult his brother again, his mouth moved but was quickly shut; the only interjection being spat out was "Oooph!" His brother's fist rammed into his own stomach, sending the older brother skidding across the rooftop and next to the criminal, coughing and clutching his stomach.

"You didn't pull your punch; I won't lie, that one hurt." He said, holding his stomach and coughing. Because of his spider-powers, like his brother, the two were highly durable so taking punches like this, although painful, would not be lethal. However, the grin on Arachnid's face retracted as his own hand balled up into a fist as it slammed into the rooftop, breaking a chunk of it. He rose to his feet and caught his breath, looking down at the now conscious criminal, still bound by his webbing.

"You think that's funny? Huh!?" He shouted, grabbing the guy's shirt and flinging him off the rooftop, quickly making a sizable web to trap the crook before he fell on the pavement. He cracked his knuckles and stared daggers at his brother. He'd gotten better and due to him actually doing missions and training, he was at Arachnid's level. Arachnid was still stronger, though he was a bit rusty.

"After this, you're so gonna get grounded!" He stated, sending off a flurry of baseball sized web-balls moving at a high speed to his brother, trying to either hit him or knock him off balance. "Get ready for a web-slinging ass kicking, broski!"

[Nathan Parker]

Nathan glared at his brother through his mask. He was a bit happy that his punch had managed to knock his brother down and throw him backwards. They never had fights at home....Mostly because their mom and dad had told them when they both developed their powers that they must not fight in the house, otherwise they would both be grounded, among other things. However, that didn't mean they wouldn't fight outside of the house, like in the city and any other wide area vicinity. In fact, this was the first time they had used their powers in a fight against each other. And while Cory had the advantage of being able to produce organic webbing, Nathan was faster and more agile, as well as being more experienced in fighting, due to having faced Venom and several others.

Rolling his neck, Nathan was surprised at the swiftness of Cory's recovery, and he saw the balls of webbing fly towards him. Ducking, he managed to dodge them. However, his brother's rush attack had worked, and Nathan flew away from Cory a bit. This was not good, as his right glove had fallen off, and his left one was still one. The main problem with losing the glove, was that his web-shooters were built right in to the gloves. It was easier, and it was why they were not as bulky as they used to be. Raising his right hand in futile attempt, he tried to generate some freaking organic webbing to regain the glove. However, he was very surprised when it actually worked. He had managed to generate some webbing without his web-shooter and the glove came back. However, the webbing was very weak, and as he landed right at the edge of the building, he tried to fire a ball of organic webbing at Cory, none came forth. His webbing was beginning to come in, but it would take a while before it was ready for full time use. Slipping the glove back on, Nathan cracked his neck.

Looking right at his brother, Nathan thought fast. Cory tended to use unorthodox attacks, like guerilla fighting tactics, and even wrestling. Nathan relied on his improvised style, exploiting weaknesses in his opponents fighting styles to win. And he knew some of his brother's weaknesses, such as his hot-headedness and cockiness. Rushing at his brother, Nathan sent a punch flying towards his stomach. After that, he flipped over his brother and quickly kicked him in the back. Back flipping away, Nathan sent a barrage of web-shots at Cory as he landed.

[Cory Parker]

From his suit to his unorthodox criminal catching procedures, The Arachnid was a terribly aggressive person. Knowing that his brother could tolerate his punches and attacks, Arachnid would not pull any punches or not go soft on his younger sibling. They fought like siblings; though when the matter of justice and hero work was raised, they fought like bitter rivals. Because of their polar-opposite personalities, this battle would certainly not have been their last fight. Though in Arachnid's mind, seeing his brother move around and defend himself, he had to admit that the two were on even playing fields, if not, he was quickly surpassing a rusty anti-hero. Although, Spider-Teen was getting better, he would never admit it blatantly nor would he allow himself to lose. In fact, this was all the motivation that Arachnid needed to force himself back into the game!

After his fury of web-balls missed, his counter attacked had sent him moving back a bit, Arachnid quickly placing his hands up as he was ready to defend himself while looking at his surrounding area. While scoping the area, his eyes scanned a rather pleasing sight. While trying to escape his counter attack, Spider-Teen's glove fell off and landed near him. Arachnid began to wonder how many times that would have happened to his brother, although he did not linger on that thought for way too long since he was in a fight and his brother was more responsible than he could ever be. But now was the time for Arachnid to catch his brother while he was off guard and unarmed! As Arachnid moved towards him, he was shocked as he saw a strand of organic webbing emit from his wrist to catch his web shooter. It was nowhere was strong as Arachnid's webbing, though the fact that he was able to generate it, amazed Arachnid. The amazement then wore off as Spider-Teen shot an organic web-ball of his own at Arachnid.

"Hey! Late bloomer! Don't let the idea of going through spider-puberty excite you, I'm still gonna kick that ass!" He taunted.

Spider-Teen then rushed towards Arachnid, a punch hurdling towards Arachnid. With his right arm, he waved off the punch, causing his opponent to flip in the air and follow up with a well-placed kick in the back. Arachnid stumbled forward, rolled and jumped to his feet. Now he was getting aggrivated as he began put his strength to use. He punched a rather large hole in the roof, taking a chunk of it and using it as a shield against his brother's web barrage. He started to move with his makeshift shield, quickly releasing what was left of it at his brother, while he took cover behind an electric box.

"I'm impressed little bro, I really am. If only that Stark girl could see you in action, now." He said, laughing. Looking around on the roof, there was not much to work with. If necessary, and he may have to improvise, he would take the battle through the New York streets. Oh, the mischief.

[Nathan Parker]

Nathan grinned at the turn of events. His body had obviously just mutated more, as if it had not he wouldn't have been able to generate his own organic webbing. Quickly taking his glove off, he attempted to send another string of webbing into the air. From his wrist, a string of webbing was sent into the air. Grinning, he quickly took off his other glove and put both gloves into a large container on his utility belt. If he needed them, he'd use them. His father had told him that even the biological webbing, when it came in, would run out, and he'd still have to rely on his web-shooters. However, he was going to use his organic webbing until it ran out. Cracking his neck and his knuckles, he noticed how his brother had made a makeshift shield, and he was now hiding behind an electrical box.

Cory's remark about Spider-Puberty stung Nathan's feelings. However, his next remark was even worse. "I'm impressed little bro, I really am. If only that Stark girl could see you in action, now." Nathan felt his anger begin to grow, and turning to face his brother, he growled. “Cory, you're a crap hero! I have faced Venom, a clone of our dad, a mercenary with an accelerated healing factor, the same clone of our father when it had the Venom symbiote and so many others! I have trained with Anti-Venom II who is also my friend, just to hone my powers! I have put up with your bull-crap for fifteen years! AND I DEMAND SOME RESPECT YOU FAILURE!”

Nathan charged right at Cory, and his hands were balled into fists. That rant was something he had needed to get out, because if he had kept it bottled up, he would have continued to be angry with his brother. Running as fast as he could, he leapt at his brother and sent a punch flying towards his face. After the punch, he front flipped over Cory, and landed behind him. Sweeping at his legs. Nathan rolled to the side. Standing up, he aimed his hands at his brother and quickly sent several strands of organic webbing to bind him. After he had sent the strands flying towards Arachnid, and if they managed to bind him, Nathan unleashed a furious torrent of organic web-shots at Cory. As he did this, he said “And I'm going out with Abby! And unlike you, I work with dad at Horizon Labs part time you jackass!”

[Cory Parker]

The Arachnid could hear faint noise from the organic webbing that his brother was now producing. The Arachnid was proud of his brother maturing -- though a small knot formed in his stomach. His brother had gained his organic webbing, that was good. He was going to use it against him though -- that wasn't so good. Still, even with Spider-Teen's new ability, The Arachnid still found a perfect way to enter in a taunt to get on his brother's bad side. Well, even more on his bad side.

"Congratulations, trainer! Your geek has evolved into a full-fledged nerd. Would you like to give him a name?" Arachnid taunted, leaving from the cover of his electric box and coming into the open. The Arachnid was about through with playing back and forth with his kid brother. The kid gloves were off; the real battle would begin. Arachnid began to quickly stretch his muscles out and check for any bruises or so which he knew would have been there. His eyes turned to the edge of the building and looked at the street level. He had all of New York's weapons to work with against his opponent -- why was he limiting himself? However, with emotions, Arachnid knew that he had the advantage. After hearing his brother's rant, Arachnid broke out into an uproarious laughter, followed by a mock applause.

"Oh yeah!? I gave Tim Tebow a high five, I think I deserve some credit too!" He said. "But congrats on your accomplishments! Write a book about it, why-don't-cha?" It was obvious that one cared about his work more than the other, though Arachnid couldn't argue. He had hardly done anything notable, except stop a couple of crooks and heists (with his unorthodox toughness). Even though he did not want to be one of the shining exemplars which kids dress up as on Halloween, he would have liked to carry a couple of victories underneath his belt like his father or brother did. Eh, time would tell.

Right now, a battle much more important was raging on. Spider-Teen vs The Arachnid. Arachnid swung, missed, though ate the punch thrown by Spider-Teen. He was amazed by Spidey's agility as he quickly front flipped over Arachnid. However, when he sweeped at his leg, Arachnid caught the sweep with a hard kick to that leg. Arachnid moved back, then started to slowly veer his brother, before catching some strangs of webbing. Cory then began to back up, cartwheeling to the left to avoid a couple, though getting caught by the rest. While the webbing was not as durable as his, it had him caught for a while. He listened at his brother's achievements again, this time rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah... yeah!" He shouted, ripping the webbing off and jumping off the building. Now untied, he swung from building to building, shooting a couple of web-balls of his own at his brother.

"You're so quick and skilled, eh broski? Let's see that strength and speed on the streets! Come at me!" He shouted, shooting strangs of webbing at a parked car and throwing it in Spider-Teen's direction, watching instensly to see if he would dodge or get hit by it.