It's a Little Strange

8. FULL CIRCLE

Michelle ran down the steps that led to Flash's house while Peter chose a quick way down and bounded over the steps. He landed slightly in front of her and kept running beside her. They hurried down the street, both of them looking over their shoulders to see if they were going to get caught. In the distance, they saw Flash run out of his own home, mystified and looking all around to find the culprits. "Hey!" yelled Flash when he spotted the two down the shout. He lifted his legs to run. "Get back here asswipes!"

"Hey!" yelled Flash when he spotted the two down the shout. He lifted his legs to run. "Get back here, asswipes!"

But Flash was no flash. He panted and stopped not that far from his home. He leaned over with his hands on his knees while he took deep breaths. "I'll-" he panted, "-I'll kill you!"

Peter and Michelle made it around the corner of the street before they finally slowed. Peter grabbed onto a stop sign while he searched for any sign of Flash. Michelle's chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. Michelle narrowed her eyes at him. "Dude... how are you... not panting? I never... ran this hard since... I was late to Pride Parade."

He decided that the coast was clear and faced Michelle again. She looked different. Her hair was windblown and slightly messier but... her crown! It was gone. "You dropped your crown!"

"Really?" Michelle touched the top of her head. "Oh well, it's gone. And so are we, let's go!"

"W-Where are we going?"

She pointed down the block. "To go scare some kids. Did you forget?"

"Oh, right." They began the walk down the street but the fact that Michelle was without her crown bothered him. He began to ponder: what if Flash finds her crown and traces it back to her? He couldn't stand idly by while Michelle got blasted by Flash.

He stopped. Michelle raised her eyebrow at him. "On second thought," he said, "hang on." Peter spun on his heels and ran back the way they had come from.

Michelle, already tuckered out from their journey, couldn't bring her legs to move after him. "Peter! Where the hell are you going?!"

Peter jogged down the sidewalk, keeping his eyes open for the golden crown that fell off of Michelle's head. He saw the crown behind a bush because of its shining golden hue. It must have rolled there after it fell.

Without really thinking, Peter stuck his arm out and shot thin webbing that pierced through the bush to grasp the crowd. He pulled back and the crown flew into his hands.

Peter's sticky web wrapped all over the crown.

"Oh geez!" Peter panicked. He tried to pull the webbing off but it clung onto the crown like a magnet. The webbing would dissolve in an hour. Great.

Peter placed the crown in the bush since he couldn't return it back to Michelle. It was already bad enough he was dressed as Spider-Man, no need to be even more obvious than he had to be.

Dejected, Peter walked back to where he left Michelle, but not before he passed a girl and her teenaged sister trick or treating. The little girl wore the sleeping beauty princess costume with the same crown Michelle had.

They walked past him before Peter had noticed them. He skidded on his heels and spun around, almost losing his balance in the process. "Excuse me? Princess?" Peter waved at the little girl. She turned and looked at him. "Hi, there! Wow, you're really pretty."

She smiled, exposing a few missing teeth. "Thank you!"

"I was wondering if you could help my friend out since you're a princess?"