Marvel's Princess - Chapter 69
What seemed like a comedy in the movie turned out to be a tragedy in reality, as evidenced by the townsfolk who had been separated from their loved ones.
Bella comforted the rare emotional Natasha, while Samantha, despite her own distress, stood resolutely before the crowd.
“Everyone, listen to me. I’ve contacted the state government and the National Guard. Now, we need to save ourselves!”
Her words acted like a splash of oil on a hot pan, instantly riling up the townsfolk.
“We need an explanation!”
“What’s going on? Can someone tell us?”
“Sheriff, my child is still at home!”
Having temporarily escaped danger, the townspeople began shouting, trying to vent their fear through noise.
Deputy Peter and Charlie were busy taking stock of everyone’s weapons and ammunition.
There were too many spiders outside. This was a large mall, not a military fortress. There were always weak spots, and if the spiders breached any of them, everyone would be doomed.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’m here with you.” Charlie was scared too. This was supposed to be a simple date, but it had become a spider invasion.
He was just putting on a brave face for his daughter.
Who’s scared? It’s you whose legs are shaking!
Having faced many life-threatening situations, Bella was unfazed by a bunch of spiders. Death hadn’t claimed her, nor had crocodiles, so spiders were no big deal.
She interrupted Charlie’s rambling, “We have a big fight ahead. Tell me which gun is best for me and teach me how to use it.”
Firearms were the best way to deal with the spiders. Bella didn’t have a gun permit, and even if she did, gun laws restricted her to using registered firearms only in Washington state. Bringing them to Arizona would be illegal, but they couldn’t worry about laws in this dire situation.
She needed to legitimize her capabilities, at least make them seem plausible.
Technically, Charlie, as the sheriff of Forks, Washington, also had no authority to enforce laws or carry guns in Arizona, but now was not the time to worry about such details.
“You want to learn to shoot?” Charlie instinctively wanted to refuse, believing guns were too dangerous for girls. But seeing Bella’s serious face, he hesitated.
“Alright, the best gun for girls is a handgun. There aren’t many handguns in Prosperity Town, but I’ll explain in detail.” Charlie began explaining the basics of using handguns.
What I really need is a Gatling gun!
Bella listened to her dad’s scattered instructions. Natasha also joined in to listen.
Knowing Natasha was Samantha’s daughter, Charlie hesitated and glanced at Samantha, who nodded in approval, allowing him to continue.
He wasn’t a great teacher, so his explanations were a bit disorganized.
Fortunately, shooting was a classic case of being easy to learn but hard to master. Bella and Natasha just needed to hit the target accurately.
Learning took two minutes; the rest was practice with bullets.
Normally, they’d have to pay to practice at a shooting range. Now, it was easier—spiders everywhere, shoot at will!
Charlie led them to the mall’s second floor, somewhat like taking kids hunting. He sighed, “Don’t rush. To shoot accurately, you need to practice. You girls should first—”
He hadn’t finished when Bella shot and exploded a spider’s head ten meters from the mall entrance, splattering its innards everywhere.
That must’ve been a fluke, right? Before Charlie could adjust, Natasha also fired, popping another spider’s eye.
Both kids have such strong talent. Charlie’s mind was blown.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Gunshots echoed continuously.
Prosperity Town’s guns were old models, poorly maintained, but still modern firearms with decent accuracy.
Bella had secretly practiced for over half a month with some success. Coupled with her superior strength and eyesight, she easily hit a spider with each shot as long as she didn’t move and focused on accuracy.
Her hit rate started at 80% and kept rising as she got more familiar with the gun and bullet trajectory.
Bella’s shooting skills were honed through practice and secret training. On the other hand, Natasha had never touched a gun before but showed remarkable innate talent.
With just ordinary physical strength, Natasha’s hit rate matched Bella’s, and her firing speed was slightly faster.
They treated it like a shooting game, clearing out the spiders within twenty meters of the mall entrance with one shot each.
Charlie wanted to caution them about wasting bullets but held back, seeing their high accuracy.
“Here comes a big one! Charlie, go get help!” Bella’s sharp vision spotted a bus-sized giant spider lumbering out.
“It’s a tarantula!” Natasha, good at biology, identified it by its features.
“Forget what it is! We need to kill it!”
Charlie instinctively ran to gather reinforcements from the first floor. Bella tossed her handgun and picked up a rifle.
Military M16 rifles were out of the question. Prosperity Town had one old semi-automatic AR-15.
Natasha lacked the strength to use the rifle, leaving it to Bella.
She braced the stock against her shoulder, adopting a less-than-perfect shooting stance.
She fired repeatedly, but the rifle’s recoil was stronger than expected, and the distance greater. The first two shots missed, and the third grazed the tarantula’s leg.
“Aim better!” Natasha, using a Glock police handgun, had limited range. No matter her aim, it was useless without a powerful weapon.
Bella adjusted her breathing. The semi-automatic rifle suited her; she pulled the trigger, firing one shot at a time.
She kept adjusting her aim, trying to manage the recoil.
Shot after shot, she exploded two of the tarantula’s eyes and its left foreleg. Thick, gooey blood splattered everywhere, but the spider’s vitality was astounding. Despite Bella’s continuous firing, it crashed into the mall’s iron gate.
With a loud crash, the heavy gate was smashed open, and the tarantula’s sharp legs pierced the dent, creating a half-meter-long, meter-high hole in seconds.
The defense was breached. For the survivors of Prosperity Town, the most terrifying moment had arrived.
Become a Patron to read chapters ahead of public release and support me 😉
Read up to 30 chapters ahead on p atreon.
