Dance with a Demoness (Open)

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

Characters Appearing: Nocturne, Open
Location (s): Barrenwood
Previous Thread Name.: N/A
Plot Summary.: Trouble brews for the demon-looking mutant when she goes digging a little too much…

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

Where a hero like her went, trouble was sure to follow.

Unlike most by now, Talia had not yet settled on one spot, taking up a similar life as her metal companion in wandering around the planet. But, Talia main reason for doing so was to get answers, real answers. She hated sitting idly, listening to the many stories of refugees that came through the Vulpes Forest tree houses, yet none knowing of how or why they had gotten there. Through her own inquiries and listening, she had heard rumors of a possible suspicion of a mysterious Sundial, a place where portal gateways were a constant. Were they in some shape or form connected to their being there? Or maybe something bigger that had brought them all there? There was only one way to find out, and that was leaving the comfort of her temporary home and leaving a note for Steeljaw about her investigations.

But, the metal armor clad demonic mutant knew she would also need supplies after traveling this far. And in a desert setting, supplies would be essential for her own health as a whole. She was no Wolverine or Steeljaw, and she couldn’t just summon something with magic like her mother, so she would have to be prepared. Although, while she was also in town, Talia had figured she could take an initiative, ask some of the locals about the possibility of this mysterious Sundial’s existence or what meaning it might have. An inquiry some didn’t seem to take lightly.

After the blue furred woman thanked the store clerk and settled her pack on her back, she had barely pushed through the doors before she was greeted by some of Barrenwood’s rougher crowd. “Where do you think you’re going missy?” The apparent leader of the mob asked rhetorically, stepping forward while aggressively slapping a piece of wood in his free hand, an irritable glare in his eyes. Feeling her entire body tense, the young woman eyed the crowd, spotting a few faces she had passed at a glance during her inquiries here and there, perhaps furious over her nosiness for answers. Well, perhaps she had been a little pushy at times…”Out of your hair if you would step aside.” Talia answered more calmly than her tense body expressed, which did little to quell the hostility among the small group.

“Not a chance freak.”

“Nosy outsiders like you are more trouble than we need around here!”

As more voices rose from the crowd, so too did they gradually begin stepping towards her. Well, so much for getting answers. Talia mentally signed, extending her retracted tail as her leg muscles became coiled and tensed as she crouched, “You lot are making a big mistake, just saying.” She remarked before springing her body over a pitchfork thrown kn her direction, a bamph sound filling the air as she teleported before appearing on a roof nearby, peering back down of where the initial object now embedded where she had been standing. “Boy do you guys have to work on your aim!” She called from behind, her eyes widening as some turned with guns ready, vaulting herself over the opposite side of the roof as bullets rained across the metal shutters, “Guess I’ll have to play the hard way.” She grumbled under her breath, teleporting once more in the air above and firing several of her red-blue hex bolts, causing the small crowd to scatter with surprise before she was gone in another blink of an eye to appear on the roof of the nearby shop.

More shots soon followed however, causing Talia to gasp and flatten herself down behind the high rise of the store, pieces of wood raining down over her as she covered her head with her hands. Was it really worth this trouble? As the thought ran through her mind, the shots soon stopped rather abruptly, opening a single yellow eye as she listened for a moment before popping her head up upon hearing yells of the men below as if another had jumped in to her defense.

[Deleted]

Miguel had started to take up residence at the mansion. Unlike some of the heroes, he had preferred to do things on his own. It was similar to the other Spider-Man. It was calm that morning, with the sun just peeking over the trees. This time, however, he had gone pretty far from Median city. He saw a sign as it was a place called Barrenwood. This kind of reminded Miguel of the underground. It was a bit darker and dirtier than what he had seen higher up. There villains and bad guys did their work on the lowest of streets in Nueva York. It was hard to breathe down there. Ones like the Vulture, that he had met there were below this area as he came to soar, and he fought him many times.

Miguel had been interested in figuring out how and why he was sent here. With no way back to the future and his dimensional time travel watch destroyed. Spider-Man had no idea, what to do. Miguel knew he couldn’t get any of the parts here. He would have to look elsewhere. While he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he thought he saw something that looked odd. There was thick black smoke like someone had been trying to get out of the way of the mobsters. Miguel hated bad guys, but why did they have to pick on someone who didn’t deserve it. “Lyla, is it a good idea to jump into the fray? I don’t even know that person.” Miguel said. He knew that he hated bullies too. They were picking on someone who looked like they were mad at just about anyone.

“Yes, it is a good idea. However, you could walk away, and none would notice.” Lyla’s voice said over his dimensional watch as the hologram had been studying what was going on. “There is one woman in the group. I have been watching her movements for a short time. She is fast and nimble. I would best not to get on her bad side.” Lyla said

“I think I’ll take the chance this time around wouldn’t hurt to find out what’s going on as we know next to nothing,” Miguel said. He remembered what Otto said to him. Using his webbing on the back of his feet, he glided down to where the mobsters were attacking the blue woman as he brought out one of his claws. “Hey! heads up!” He called out as he slashed the man across the face. Then punched him, and knocked him out. “I never liked bullies. Never did never will.” Miguel said as he dodged out of the way as one of the men had a club that looked just about ready to knock him out, but the good old spidey sense was working today as Miguel had donned his Spider-Man suit with the blue and red. The red skull on his front.

“So, what did you do get these guys so mad at you? I’m Spider-Man 2099, by the way.” He asked. Miguel figured they needed at least needed an introduction. A bullet flew past Miguel as he took his hand and prepared to take the weapon from the man that had been firing from as he hung it up on one of the nearby posts. He had hardly made a dent in the mobsters. But Miguel could keep going until... Wack! Something hit him from behind as he got blindsided that time. His head started to throb badly but he had felt worse.

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

Talia was quite surprised that the individual who had jumped in seemed to be another costumed hero. And no less a Spider-Man of some kind from the distinctive webbing. Only those who had any affiliation to spiders really tended to use them. To say the least, the help was welcomed and she wasn’t about to squander the help.

But her eyes widened when Miguel got blindsided, “Hang on Spidey!” Talia quickly jumped from the roof, her pupil-less eyes darting to a band of what appeared to be horse-like creatures. She had seen them before in the more open areas of the plains, the same place she had met Steeljaw. ‘Maybe they spook just like Earth horses.’ She thought to herself, firing a smaller hex-bolt to the post they were tied to, snapping the would and causing a dark colored cloud to weave around the ropes. Each rope that came into contact snapped or unwound itself, the tamed Nir letting out frightened neighs and rearing back, unsure of what mysterious force released them or the source of the snapping. Their first instinct was to run, panic filling their eyes as they stampeded away for safety, causing the group to howl and scramble for cover.

With the distraction of the Nir and the dust kicked up, the mutant woman took her chance and quickly sprinted over to Miguel. “It won’t be much, but should give us both enough time to get some cover.” She told him, carefully lifting Miguel up slightly and teleporting them into the unknown before reappearing once more in a hay covered barn, which would serve the purpose they needed for now.

“Sorry for no introduction yet, but had to get you out of there before it got worse. Those Nir won’t distract them forever.” She apologized, carefully lying Miguel down, “I’m Nocturne by the way, formerly of the X-Men.” She finally introduced, inching a bit closer after setting her bag aside, “And much as I hate to ask, but you may want to remove your mask. Looks like that was a nasty hit, and I can give it a glance to make sure it’s not bad.” She offered, expressing genuine concern that her unlikely rescuer might have a serious blow to the head, even with a possible healing factor or tough skin.

[Deleted]

“I’d say nice to meet you, Nocturne, but we should have met under better circumstances…” Miguel said. The spider hero heard the men and horses running away from his side of the vision. Miguel didn’t see a whole lot. However, he knew enough that she did something that worked. "Woah!" He called out as he felt the teleportation. That was something new. Miguel had never done that before, and he had seen some crazy things as a superhero... That would take some getting used to. After ending up in a barn. Miguel sat up slowly and was about to object to taking off his mask. However, he felt the throbbing on the back of the right side of his head as he knew there might be blood. Miguel wondered where he was now. The spider hero felt his way around and found there was old wood. Some fresh straw had been left out by the owners, for the animals. The barn smelled like one too, but he could ignore that part.

“Remove my mask? It is a serious no in super-heroics!” Miguel said as he held onto his head. “I will admit I have a pretty good healing factor…. Maybe I need to ask Lyla. Just to be on the safe side.” He said as he brought out his hand. There was a large watch on his wrist. The time travel function on it no longer worked. Miguel hadn’t found any shot of finding parts for the time part to work. The hero was doubtful that he’d get it to work again for time travel. Soon a hologram appeared of a young woman who looked a little bit like Marilyn Monroe.

“Spider-Man, your vitals have shown you have signs of a mild concussion. Your heart rate is 83 bpm. I suggest you don’t move for a day or two before your healing factor works- Oh! Who is this? A friend of yours, Miguel?” Lyla asked as Miguel sighed as he realized she had accidentally given away his real name.

“Lyla!” He said. Miguel almost scolded her. Well, Miguel didn’t do it too hard Lyla was just an AI doing her job and didn’t know any better. She was intelligent, and Miguel thought of her as a close friend. Miguel had kept her since his days of working at Alchemax. Designing her and keeping Lyla had been a huge choice for him. The AI did a lot of things for him checking his vitals, messages that had been going dormant since he got to this world. Not to mention generally looking out for him. “Ok, I can tell you some more, I didn't tell you right away, mostly because the last person didn’t believe me. My name is Miguel O’Hara," Miguel said. And he introduced himself. "I’m from a future timeline of 2099 where things have changed a lot, and I became the newer Spider-Man,” Miguel explained. Well, at least it was better than being chased down by the Private Eye. You couldn’t go anywhere without being chased.

“Lyla, one more thing if Nocturne takes off my mask, I need my glasses… I have sensitivity to light,” Miguel said as he took his glasses out of his watch to avoid damaging them as they had done it before. Miguel took his mask off slowly as the young man revealed light skin, brown hair, but unusual red eyes and fangs. Miguel’s back of his head had a bruised and slightly bloodied wound, but he’d live. Nocturne's blue skin did not scare him at all. Especially after all the villains, he had dealt with in his timeline.

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

Talia could only give Miguel a slightly scolding look of her own. “I’m well aware of the unspoken code of heroics, I’m one myself after all.” She told him as she crossed her arms, “But what good does do either of us if you ended up passing out along the way with unchecked injury? Superhuman durability doesn’t mean you’re not invincible Spider-Man, you’re no Hulk.” She rebuked in response, pointing out how serious it could be if it wasn’t at least given a glance over.

Luckily, he seemed to relent and decided to ask for a second opinion one from a rather intelligent AI in his device. Now that seemed handy.

For the time being, Talia was silent, the mutant woman listening as Lyla communicated with Spider-Man and spoke of his present condition. Though she also inadvertently gave away his true name. A faint smile of amusement shown on her face for a moment before she quickly pushed it aside as Miguel properly introduced himself to her, as well as decided to allow her to look at his head. “2099 huh? Definitely further in the future than my timeline, I’m only about in 2019 in my home universe.” She explained, uncrossing her arms to move closer to peer at the wound. Gingerly, she moved his hair aside, seeing a good sized lump on his head and small gash, but nothing that seemed his healing factor couldn’t fix in a few hours. “Hmm, small lump and a gash, but if you have a healing factor it should be closed up and healed in a few hours.” She informed him, reaching over with her tail to unzip her bag and pulling out a small hand towel and healing ointment and placing them in her hand.

“And since we’re on a first name basis, my real name is Talia Wagner, daughter of Kurt Wagner and Wanda Maximoff. But, I usually stayed with the X-Men.” She introduced herself properly, using the rag to carefully wipe away the blood seeing the bleeding had already stopped. That was a good sign at least. “And much as I hate to override your AI’s advice, we don’t have a few days to rest here. Sooner or later those outlaws will come looking and we’ll be sitting ducks here.” She pointed out, setting the towel aside and twisting the top of the ointment, dabbing a small amount over the bump and open wound to settle some of the pain for the time being. “And there, that should help for now.” She assured, sitting back on her knees before putting the items back and zipping her bag up.

Her yellow eyes soon returned to Miguel, “Besides, I’m on a trip anyhow, and I don’t want to stick around this place longer than necessary.” She added, pushing herself to her feet and picking up the pack she had been carrying. “And the owners of this barn will discover us soon enough I wager, so I’m going to keep moving and not be a sitting target. You’re welcome to stay though if you wish, I appreciate the help either way.”

[Deleted]

“You’ve got a good point,” Miguel grumbled somewhat under his breath as he knew he was tough. His first few times of being Spider-Man, he had fallen from his apartment, and though it had been a test of his glider and a desperate attempt to chase a bad guy, he had done the impossible if he weren’t born with the powers. But Talia had proven his point.

“Yeah, things are all that you’d expect from 2099 flying cars, robots, AI stuff like that… It’s too much even to say in even one sentence, but humans have come a long way.” Miguel said. The spider hero that part was true. He listened to what Talia had said. He had already realized they had a lot in common, and one was the heroics part of work. Their powers might’ve not been similar at all, but they still went by the same code. “In my time, most of the heroes we all know have since passed. Some have tried to make a new version of themselves like a second Vulture or taken an old name… But it’s still the same fight in the future. Villains versus heroes.” Miguel said. “But I have heard of the X-men. I imagine they’re still around, but they tend to keep their names, and of course, heroics on the secret side. Private Eye is our version of the police, and they don’t tolerate heroes much.” Miguel admitted. Miguel knew that wasn't the only thing to worry about. There were other villains. Other rogues and problems the future had. Like the past, it still had plenty of problems going on like the past.

“I’m not defenseless. I have webbing, sharp talons, and that trip up earlier was a mistake," Miguel admitted. He knew he didn’t have to show himself, and he already handled himself in this. Miguel knew that he would make sure that mistake didn’t happen again. He listened to Talia as she spoke up, saying she was going somewhere. This sounded like an opportunity and an adventure that he felt like he could handle. Even with his head injury, his healing factor would be able to take care of it. Even if Lyla was going to tell him to stay down, he knew his limits. Miguel perked up a bit as he heard her say that. It intrigued him. “Hey, I’d like to go with you… Since I’ve been to Median, I haven’t had much of a destination or a task. I can keep up and look after myself, don’t worry.” Miguel said. “Been doing that for several years now,” Miguel said since he had been living on his own in 2099. It’d be a shock to anyone to try and stay in this new world called Median. Doc Ock, one he didn’t know had been sunken in here. That was a bit of a concern for the spider hero, as he wondered if others from his dimension may come through.

Miguel tested his head, finding it a little bit painful. However, the blood had already started to dry. He knew his healing factor started to work, which was good news. The curiosity peeked as Miguel wanted to know where she was going. “So where are you going anyways? I’ve only seen this town, Median Castle, and the jungle where I first landed. I haven’t seen any of this world.” Miguel said. The spider hero was eager to explore it, and he was a little bit stubborn. Miguel knew for sure, Talia was right. If they stay here, they would eventually be found or discovered by the other goons that had been chasing Talia. He wasn't going to press her about it yet, since it seemed like they were just looking for someone to pester or bully. And he hated bullies.

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

“Well, when you have an actual person and an AI saying you should be checked out, think at that point you should swallow your pride and let someone look.” Talia pointed out, more so for future reference. She herself was no stranger to acting tough and concealing pain, but she had gotten better with it. Now, she had tried to be more and more open to the idea of help and not concealing her feelings. Especially after the past losses she had faced. Asking for help had become the only way for her to properly cope with anything.

“Sure it was aided a lot by those such as Tony Stark or the Fantastic Four.” She commented, not seeming surprised that 2099 had far greater advancements than even her own universe. And that was roughly an eighty year difference between them. Given what already existed she could only imagine what the future must be like. “Wow, that would be a first. Usually it’s groups only going after mutants, superhumans, or one group in general. Who would have thought the future would finally just hate heroes as a whole.” Talia’s words were humorous yet dark, having learned to make light of the dark and twisted with an equally dark sense of humor. But, it was the reality of things. There was always restrictions, laws against those like her kind or heroes as a whole. Villains or those who walked the razor’s edge never let that stop them though. By then however, Talia had seen some messed up situations in her life as an Exile, so she didn’t seem too surprised. At least it was progress she supposed. Just very backwards progress.

Finally though, the blue furred mutant got to her feet, scooping up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She half expected for Miguel to go his own way now that they were out of danger for the time being, so his asking where she was going and if he could come along was a bit of a shock. He technically was a stranger and didn’t have to help her or vice versa. Nor did she have reason to trust he wouldn’t try to backstab her if he had the chance, which was always a possibility. Yet, he had trusted her enough to reveal his face and true identity, and she had so far extended that same courtesy. If Miguel really wanted to, he could have easily struck when her guard was down a couple times already.

So, with such considerations in mind, the female neyaphem conceded that an extra hand might be welcomed. Maybe he would see something she missed. As the saying goes two heads are better than one, and two sets of eyes might find something the other missed. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.” She finally stated with a nod, “I’m pretty much on my own most of the time myself and really don’t have a destination in mind, so some company would be welcomed. And it’s an extra set of eyes.” And that way she could also avoid going insane without someone around to speak with as well. “It will be a long journey though since we will mostly be going on foot.” She also warned unless they could find better transportation.

[Deleted]

“Yeah, I guess I am a bit stubborn,” Miguel said with a nod. Miguel would normally, not admit he got hurt or hit in a fight. You were a wounded dog. You would likely become a target. In his case, with the Private Eye always around, and as they were searching for the wanted criminals. He never really had a day off. “Stark Industries is still around, and he aligned with another company at least one of his grandchildren did to better the world. They are still one of the main ones along with Alchemax where I used to work.” Miguel said he knew likely in Talia’s time, Alchemax was still around. It was barely getting its feet off the ground. It would take years for it to build it up.

“Sadly, it’s the truth. The Private Eye say they’re your typical policemen, but even they wouldn’t hesitate on bringing a hero or a villain.” Miguel said with a sigh, but he knew it was the truth. “I hoped at least with Spider-Man around, things might get better, and they have. But I feel like I can never take an off day with all the dirt that piles up.” Miguel admitted.

“So, where are you going, exactly? You haven’t told me a thing about that. I would like to know the destination.” Miguel said. It was true he wasn’t much of a backstabber. His first start of becoming a hero, Miguel barely avoided getting himself killed… Well, he was new to the job. Miguel had told her the truth so far towards her. Not many would’ve believed that most humans would’ve thought he was from the future or that far ahead in it. He had no reason to be here, and he had been planning on skipping through the town without much thought of it. So, it was the next best task at hand. “Believe it or not. I still believe in Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, the motto that Spider-Man before me had. It was a story they usually put kids to bedtime with. I usually keep my words and promises since it is a noble thing to do. Some people here don’t seem to do that at all.” He spoke.

Miguel took a quick step, as he tried to stand up feeling a bit wobbly, as he moved. He recalled that one night when he nearly fell from his apartment room in a desperate attempt to escape the Private Eye and also to try out his flight suit. He had fallen so far; he found the streets in Nueva York, and that had coasted him likely broken ribs and bones… And a stinky pile of trash. “Woah, steady there.” He said. Miguel held onto a rail that belonged to the empty stall. He knew his head was still pounding a little bit. Now at least it had gotten to a steady drum. Though with his eyesight as he scanned around the barn, he saw some odd-looking creatures, that faintly resembled horses in the stalls. He knew stealing them would look bad. But he thought he saw movement on one of the barn windows. “We have a problem. I saw some shadowy figure outside the barn. I’d say we could take the horses, but the last thing I spent my money on was some time ago. Plus, that feels wrong. We better get moving.” Miguel said. The spider hero figured walking on foot was the best option.

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

Well, that was no surprise. Given the type of work Tony was generally involved in, the long time Avenger would most likely would be invested in the betterment of New York as well as the rest of the world. Though Alchemax was always a smaller player in the business industry. Well, at least in her world they were still finding their footing, and it was a bit of a surprise that Miguel had worked for them.

“Not like that would be anything new to me. You just get use to it, as big of a pain as it is.” Talia commented towards Miguel since she had seen such prejudice first hand for her kind. But, she had tried to take the teachings of the X-Men to heart and try to help find a balance for the world as a mutant. Not that it was any easier if course. “But, we do this sort of thing to help people, everything else doesn’t really matter when you’re a hero. Just becomes an occupational hazard.” Though as dimensional hoppers, it probably became even more of a hazard. Still, it still was rather a precarious situation for both of them when it came to their hero careers, and their challenges not quite being so different the more they talked.

After pondering of what to tell Miguel, much less wanting to travel with him, she finally nodded, “Its a place called the Sundial. I haven’t got too much information about it, but a lot of people said that mysterious things tend to happen there and very few have dared to venture that far out.” Talia finally explained, reaching back and opening her pack to pull out an old map, rolling it open to show Miguel and pointing to a worn-out area of the map showing what appeared to be intricate carvings marking the mysterious location. “I guess it’s hard to miss, so we’ll see it when we see it. Apparently it’s suppose to be around here in the desert among the plateaus.” She traced a finger from their location towards the plateaus that were still a ways away. Though looking at it now…It would be quite the walk on foot…

“Whoa, not so fast Miguel. One step at a time.” Talia quickly moved to support the Spider heroes other side, making sure he wouldn’t collapse from being unsteady. He definitely hadn’t been joking about being stubborn. But her gaze went to the barn window, feeling a sense of dread at possibly being found already. They were running out of options, and they may have to forego the concern of stealing. “Look, we may not have a choice Miguel. They outnumber us and I can only teleport so far, so…” Once she made sure Miguel could stand on his own she moved towards one of the Nirs, easily pulling herself up to the horse’s back, “Come on, we need to get our butts moving.” She told him, offering a hand.

[Deleted]

Miguel knew that Talia was right, in every sense of the words, that she spoke. However, the mentioning of the sundial had been intriguing enough. He hadn’t even heard of such an object before even in his world. The future dimension where anything was possible. However, when he had been dropped here, by the portal. Miguel had to rewrite his thinking altogether. Not to mention, he ran into a certain Doc Ock. Most of the ones, he knew, had been villains. Or tentacles in this place. So, why didn’t he attack or cause chaos? It confused him. Nonetheless, Miguel made a mental note that there were other villains in this dimension that had come.

“I hate to say it, but you’re right. The past version of Spider-Man would’ve said something along the lines of: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ When I came to this world. I don’t exactly feel like I can keep up with that. I’ve had to rewrite just about everything. It was a bit of a shock coming here.” The spider hero admitted. He felt like a small piece of dust or sand got trapped in a wave. Miguel had no leads of hope. Nothing to go on. No home. Miguel was pretty much alone. Miguel had run across into a hero of a bat like appearance as well in the jungle. He couldn't move for days. He knew he would have to get up and get going eventually and find his way. Find new meaning. Find something new to do.

Now if Miguel could find other spiders. “Uh, that is interesting. I haven’t seen an object called the Sundial, in my dimension. It is something even beyond the time frame of 2099’s technology.” Miguel explained. The Spider looked uncertain towards the horse-like creature. Miguel's eyes are wide with shock and dread on it. He had never ridden a horse. “Uh is it bad news now to mention that I have never ridden a horse? I saw them when I was in New Mexico… But I wouldn’t dare ride another creature that was just as smart as humans.” Miguel said knowing countless stories of where a horse had thrown someone and broken bones and other bad injuries. On the bright side, he had a healing factor.

“But how hard could it be?” Miguel asked as he began to climb on with the stirrups. He heard the creature give a huff towards him as he climbed on, with Talia's hand, and put his talons away, with a soft moan. Of course, those were famous last words too.

Miguel took the reins and regretted it. The horse lizard-like creature knew what to do, started to bolt, and headed towards the door of the barn to get out. And it was very eager. “Woah, slow down!” He said. The spider hero realized it was bolting for a run. Ok, he had ridden a car. However, he knew he would have to face it sooner or later. The brightness of the day came in as Miguel saw the sun high, overhead, including three moons. It was clear a collision was afoot as he raced past, nearly trampling one of the thugs as Miguel gave them a good webbing knocking them down. “Still got that, at least.” He muttered. Miguel attempted to get the horse lizard under control with no luck.

[Talia "Nocturne" Wagner]

“You…never heard of a sundial?” Talia seemed surprised by that knowledge. “Boy, your world really must be pretty far ahead to have forgotten something that basic. Sundials are the original clock Miguel, they would follow the path of the sun throughout the day to tell time.” She explained, wondering how far along 2099 had to be for others to not know this small detail in history.

Though, this would be something to address later.

The neyaphem mutant was quickly reminded they were on a time crunch, as well as had the thugs they lost before lurking about. She hated they had so few options, but despite their powers they were outnumbered and not exactly in the best position. She would quickly run out of energy, and Miguel was hardly in any shape to be fighting for the long-term. So, their only option was to make a rather criminal move to steal one of these mysterious lizard hybrid horses in the barn. So, Talia had moved to the closest horse to mount, offering a hand to Miguel to help up. “Hey, that makes two of us. Best way to learn is to sometimes just jump in the water and hope you can learn to swim.” Admittedly, Talia was a bit nervous herself regarding riding these alien-like horses. She didn’t know how it would react to strangers, or if it would even listen to them or their gestures.

Though, the horse seemed to have a mind of its own as the moment Miguel grabbed the reins it took off, causing the demonic woman to duck her head slightly as it broke through the door. Well, so much for really needing to urge it on. They would work out the rest later perhaps.

“Well, guess we’re riding in style.” Talia turned enough in the saddle to fire several hex-bolts, triggering explosive reactions from the brimstone energy and knocking more of the thugs back. Reddish blue energy moved across the ground in the aftermath, triggering a smoke screen of dust and dirt to cover their tracks for a short time. “That should keep them busy for a little while.”

[Deleted]

“Yeah, we are far in the future… I went to an event about Egypt at the Smithsonian. However, I didn’t recall seeing any sundials. There were sarcophagi and the paints on the walls, and perhaps they too got lost to time.” Miguel said as he wasn’t going to dwell on it forever. The lizard-like horse finally calmed down after the sudden outburst. Miguel had managed to pull on the reigns as it slowed down to a walking pace. Somehow this felt better going at this pace. He almost forgot about his head throbbing. Miguel knew with some time and patience, his healing factor would kick in. Eventually, heal over. But he knew he didn’t have a fast one like Wolverine. His was much slower.

“Phew, now that the crazy lizard horse is under control…” He said. Miguel trailed off, glancing back towards Talia. It appeared the thugs were long gone as the city was starting to fade behind them. Soon they’d head towards the desert. And it was likely going to be very hot.
“There are some familiar things, that are in my time zone. There is Stark Tower, Avengers Tower, and some other familiar landmarks… Like right now in the main heroic age, the Alchemax building that I work at is still in its infancy. That is also where I got my powers. I became a spider by accident.” Miguel admitted knowing there was a lot to explain. Well, it was better to see than to hear or speak about. Miguel knew there would be others that didn’t believe him. Just like how Otto didn’t believe him at first. If it hadn’t been for Lyra stopping him and Otto. There would’ve been a serious fight.

“So, we’re going out in the desert? I am glad I have my suit with me, as it protects me from some UV rays. However, I can still be baked alive.” Miguel said. If it was anything like his trip to Mexico, he knew how hot it was down there. This desert, however, was different. It could be so hot he’d be melting where he stood… Miguel would worry about that when that came.

“I don’t mean to chat so much, but what do you know of this sundial? Or is it a mystery to us humans? If I remember properly, they tell time by using the sun but never have seen one face to face.” He explained. “I also hope it’s alright if you don’t mind letting me travel with you.” He added. He looked ahead just as the sand dunes were starting to become visible. He knew these next few days would be the longest. He had never traveled this far before. He had to admit, his travelling companion appeared to be very strong. And he was glad he got on the correct foot this time. "You are very strong, Talia I will for sure admire that. I'm sorry if I talk too much that is a trait some spiders can't help." Miguel admitted wondering if they could be friends.