By Moonlight (P.P + M.J)

7. Chasing Tails

He saw it.

He saw it for a split second.

As Peter rescued the passengers from the bus, all he could think about was the creature that had jumped away, blending in with the rising smoke as it leapt up the nearest building. The large, bushy-tailed thing stayed in his mind's eye as he set down the few passengers on the bus, and after he'd given a thumbs up to a nearby cop, a signal that it was all clear, Peter took off into the sky.

Using Karen, Peter desperately scanned the area for the creature, tracing every abnormal heat signature, every oversized figure, but it had disappeared. How does something like that just vanish? He stopped at the top of a nearby water tower, his hope of finding it completely disintegrating.

"Did you see anything from the bus, Karen?" Peter asked his A.I companion, sitting down on the tower in defeat.

I'm sorry Peter, there was too much smoke. I didn't get anything.

Peter sighed in disappointment, burying his face in his hands. Agitated, he took off his mask and ruffled his hair. He reeked of smoke, and shook his head.

After letting the afternoon air cool his face, he put back on his mask and replayed the seconds of the creature's appearance. It had had its back to him and Peter thought he could make out a black pelt, almost like fur. He must have replayed it twenty times before Karen suddenly addressed him.

Peter, your friend from last night was at the scene.

"What?! Where?!" Peter questioned, panic striking as his stomach turned in fear. What if Michelle had been in the bus? Had he been blinded by his own thoughts that he didn't even see her?

I was running through the footage and I saw her standing on the sidewalk.

Karen relayed the video to Peter's lenses, and he saw Michelle standing right where Karen said. She had her phone out, and then started walking through the crowd. Maybe she saw the creature, and could give him some answers. But he didn't want to wait till Monday to ask. Besides, there was no way he could ask anyway. Peter Parker wasn't even at the scene. Spider-Man was. That meant he needed to find her now, bearing only a semblance of an idea about where she was. He might not be able to find her if he let her slip away.

"Take me back to the crash," Peter ordered Karen in a brisk manner, and the A.I had a route mapped out in seconds. Peter retraced his swings and arrived back at the scene, which was now swarming with police and reporters.

"Run a facial scan," Peter said, leaning forward off the roof he crouched on. Zoomed-in faces began appearing on screen, no one being the one person he was looking for.

Something tells me, by the direction she was moving, that she's going down the street.

"Like, toward downtown?" Peter asked.

That's what's something's telling me.

"I'm pretty sure that "something" is a battery, Karen," he joked, laughing.

Well, at least I'm doing more with my battery than you with your brain.

"Wow, that was savage," Peter said, almost impressed by the sarcastic quip.

If I knew what that meant, I would agree.

Peter rolled his eyes, and then shot a web, leaving his roof behind as he took off toward downtown. He heard some people cheer as he swung by, but he paid them no mind. He couldn't afford to get distracted.

But the more he traveled, the further his hope fell. He landed on a roof and looked around at the street below. Disheartened, he sighed and shook his head.

Then, a thought occurred to him.

"Hey Karen, where's the Daily Bugle?" He asked.

Another eight blocks.

Not needing a GPS, Peter leapt off the building. He hoped that Michelle would be doing what he thought she would be doing.

Karen made the route appear while Peter was in the air. Following the street, he kept his eyes glued to the sidewalk. But it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Right!

Peter had both a heartache and a surge of hope as he swung to a halt, colliding into the nearest building on his right. He gave the woman on the other side of the window quite a fright, and he waved apologetically before crawling into a nearby alley.

Looking down, his eye lenses widened. There she was, camera pointed up to take a picture of him. He waved to her and dropped down lower, not leaving the wall in case he needed to make a quick escape.

"You know, for someone who's very secretive about who they are, you do like getting your picture taken," Michelle observed with a smirk.

"What can I say? I'm photogenic."

I'm posting this much later than I wanted to, but with college coming up, I've been pretty swamped. But yeah, here's Chapter 9.

Quick Add: I tend to use pov headings only when it's not Peter. If it's Peter's pov, then there's no heading. The more you know, you know?

~Fargone5