A Watery Web

Chapter 24

Peter and Mera were currently in their home, working on a specific type of weapon for their next encounter with Venom. "That was a very clever idea Peter." Mera said, handing Peter a tool.

"Thanks." Peter said. "I knew that uploading the probe's homing device would allow us to see the rest of the probes."

Peter uploaded the device to his Spider-Man mask, as well as Mera's little hand-held hologram feature installed onto both her normal and armored Atlantean outfits. Whenever a probe was on their trail, or if the probe were in the vicinity, it would set off a warning on their respected devices and they would destroy the probes.

"Now we've gotta finish these sonic spiders before Venom makes yet another appearance." he added, holding up a white spider-shaped device in front of him. He pressed the red button in the very center and it let out a loud static noise. Then he pressed it again and the noise ceased.

Mera chuckled at the name. "You know, your little nicknames for these things are rather cute. But the names for the second weapons......a little bit much." she added, eyeing the unfinished little balls on the right side of the room.

"The Hydrophobic Smoke Bombs?" Peter asked, tweaking the settings on one of the sonic spiders.

"Yes. Those." Mera said.

"Well.......okay maybe that one is a bit long." Peter admitted. "Let's call it HSB for short."

Mera stared at him for a moment or two in contemplation. It still sounded odd, but it was more bearable. "So these.....HSBs.....they're supposed to what exactly?" she asked.

"Well, Hydrophobic means water repellent. So once the smoke exits the ball, and enters Hila's body, her powers should weaken." Peter explains.

"Should?" Mera asked. "You're not certain that this will work?"

"Well.....I don't have anything to test it on, so...." Peter trailed off and looked away when Mera gave him a look.

"Yes you do." she said, rolling her eyes.

"But Mera, what if this hurts you?" Peter argues.

"I doubt that will happen. I have the upmost faith in your science abilities Peter. In fact," Mera said, grabbing an HSB. "Let's see it now."

"Wait, but we-" Peter said, but too late. Mera had pushed the button and the smoke erupted, all around Mera. He could hear her coughing a bit and rushed to her side. "Mera! You okay?" he asked frantically.

"I'm fine." Mera said, once the smoke cleared. "I feel fine, just as I said I would."

"Okay.....well let's see if it worked or not." Peter said, getting closer to Mera for her to grab his hand and get into an arm-wrestling position. "And.....go!" he shouted.

In no time at all, Peter's hand slammed Mera's into the table. Normally it would be the other way around since Mera is much stronger than Peter. But it seems that the HSB did its job.

"Ha! Now you know how it feels." Peter said with a smirk. Mera rolled her eyes and gave Peter a half smirk in response.

"You've been waiting for that haven't you?" she asked.

"Of course!" Peter responded with joy. "You know all the times you've teased me about being stronger than me? I'm enjoying this while it lasts." he added with a joker-like smile.

"Whatever." Mera said, rolling her eyes again. But Peter could detect a hidden smile on her face. "So how did you come up with this idea so quickly?"

"Well I had encountered an enemy named Hydro-man. He was made completely out of water. And was a real pain to deal with." Peter explained. "He taught me that water and spiders don't exactly go together."