Marveldimension Neptunia

Ch. 1

Along came a Spider

"Hey! Neptune! You just gonna stand there daydreaming?" I heard a teacher yell in my general direction. I started to speed up only to get tripped by a foot. "Oops, sorry." I heard a femenine, yet strong voice say. It was B-Sha. "Maybe next time, you should't be such a klutz, Neptune!" She cackled. I felt a rush of wind come to my side. It was Compa, the girl next door. "Gee, Nep-Nep, you seem to get a lot of attention from people like that. Are you okay?" She inquired in a worried sense. "Yeah, just a bit scuffed up." I replied as she helped me up. Me and Compa had known each other since we were tiny, and have always been there for one another. "Let's get inside." I told her.

We walked inside and finally caught up with the rest of the class. I grabbed my camera, which surprisingly (and thankfully) didn't break when I tripped. I started taking pictures of the exhibits when I felt a sharp pinch on the top of my hand and retracted it quickly. "OWW!" I cried in pain as I jerked my hand. The culprit was none other than a spider! The mere sight of it froze me in place. I was unable to move, speak, or do anything. Luckily, Compa was able to snap me out of my comatose state and we walked on, continuing the tour.

After the tour was concluded, I asked to be sent home early. Compa vouched for me and said that a spider bit me and I needed to rest. They agreed and she walked me home. "Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital, Nep-Nep?" She asked, with worry in her face. "Honestly, Compa, geez. You worry too much. I'm fine. It's just a bite. It'll fade with time." I replied confidently. "Okay, Nep-Nep. Just take it easy, okay?" She said, with a parental concern in her voice. "I will, don't worry!" I told her. We arrived at my house. "I hope you get better soon, Nep-Nep." She told me. "Thank you, Compa." I said goodbye and went inside my house.

"Histy, I'm ho-" I was cut short by Histoire, my caretaker, hugging me and exclaiming, "Neptune, I got a call from the school! Are you okay?" "I'm fine, just a bit drained is all. Besides, it was just a bite." I showed her where the spider assaulted me. "Oh, dear. Neptune, go lay down for a while in your room. You need rest." She told me in her tiny, somewhat monotone voice. "Okay." I replied nonchalantly. As soon as I got up to my room, my face hit the bed and I fell fast asleep.

When I came to, everything was upside down. Blood was rushing to my brain and making it hurt. I soon realized I was on the ceiling! 'But how did I get up here?', I wondered. I dropped down and landed on my hands and feet, weirdly not making any noise. I got up and dusted myself off. "Hmm, I wonder..."

I whispered to myself as I shot my butt in the air and grunted.

Nothing happened.

I sighed and sat down on the bed. It was then that I noticed my statue of Purple Heart, a superhero I grew up loving, about to tip over. Relying on pure instinct, I leapt forward and shot a web at it from my wrist to keep it from tipping over and causing a mess. "W-W-What is this?!" I exclaimed, stunned by what I just did. "Are you okay, Neptune?" I heard Histoire say from downstairs. "Yeah, Histy! I'm fine!" I replied nervously. "Oh my God! I can shoot webs and climb walls! What did that spider do to me?" I quietly exclaimed. I decided to throw a shirt on and go back to sleep. 'Maybe this is all a nightmare, and I'll wake up soon.' I thought. Sadly, it was anything but a figment of my imagination.

The next day, I felt energized and ready to go. I grabbed my glasses and put them on, but they were blurry. I tried cleaning them to no avail, so I sighed and put them in my drawer. I grabbed my bookbag and the breakfast Histy made me, and bolted out the door to catch the bus. I took my seat beside Compa. She noticed that I wasn't wearing my glasses. She inquired as to why, and I said, "I just didn't need them anymore." She gave me a slightly worried look, but didn't question it.

At lunch, B-Sha was loading up a spitball wad into a straw and preparing to fire it. A warning went off in my head and I dodged the wad of spit and paper. I could see her stunned expression out of the corner of my eye. She loaded a larger one and fired it at me. Needless to say, B-Sha had some cleaning to do.

After school, I saw B-Sha beating on another student in an abandoned area of the school. "C'mon! Squeal, Parker, squeal!" She laughed maniacally as her foot kept colliding with his ribs. "Ow...B-Sha, please... It hurts..." He groaned in agony. It was that Parker kid who was always the target of bullying and had no friends. Compa gave me a worried look. "You aren't going to try to help him, are you?" "Of course I am!" I exclaimed.

"Hey, B-Sha!" I cried at her. "If you want to pick on someone, pick on me! Leave him alone!" "What're you gonna do, Neptard? Tell the teacher on me?" She said in a mocking voice. "I can't be touched! YOU CAN'T LAY A FIN-" I interrupted the taunt with a punch across her cheek and proceeded to grab and started beating on her. "You! Will! Never! Lay! A! Hand! On! Any! One! Again!" I could only see red with rage. "Nep-Nep!" Compa grabbed my shoulder in an effort to calm me down. "WHAT?!" I snarled in an inhuman voice. "She's gonna die if you keep beating her like this!" She pleaded with me. "Better for it!" I reared my fist back to deliver the finishing blow. Compa grabbed it. "Nep-Nep, no! Don't! You don't want to do this!" She was getting desparate. "And why shouldn't I?!" Anger was seeping from every word I spoke. "Because she's human? WELL, SHE ISN'T, COMPA! SHE TORMENTED ME FOR YEARS AND MADE LIFE HELL FOR ME! SO, WHY SHOULDN'T I TAKE MY REVENGE?!" I lashed out at her. "Nep-Nep...please...just...think about the consequences..." She sobbed. The sound of her sobbing snapped me out of my rage and brought me back to reality. I looked down and saw the horrifying sight of B-Sha, bloodied and battered, and blood on my knuckles. HER blood. Peter was in the corner, shivering in fear at what had happened. Compa was bawling her eyes out now.

It was too much, and without thinking, I ran as far as I could to my house. I caught my breath and bolted the rest of the way to my house. I slammed the front door. "Neptune, where have you-" I bolted past Histoire and up to my room. "Neptune? Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. "GO AWAY!" I screamed at her through the door. I buried my head in my pillow and cried for a solid hour.

I drifted off to sleep soon after, only to be aroused out of my slumber by my phone ringing. It was Compa. "H-Hello?" I stammered, tears still choking me up. "H-Hey, Nep-Nep. I wanted to call and check on you. I was worried about you." She said. "Y-Yeah... I wanted to say s-s-so-sorry!" I broke down over the phone. "It's okay, Nep-Nep. You weren't in the right state of mind." "O-Okay...S-So, how's B-Sha and P-Peter?" I choked out. "They're good B-Sha's pretty banged up, but other than that, she's fine. Peter's okay. He's at home, resting." I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Compa..." "Anytime, Nep-Nep." She hung up. 'This power...cannot be used for selfish reasons. I almost killed someone with it. I need to use it to help others who cannot help themselves.' I resolutely said in my head. I sat down and grabbed my drawing pad. I flipped through my various Purple Heart drawings and found a final blank page. Grabbing my pencil, I brainstormed ideas for what I wanted to call myself. 'Should I call myself Spider-Nep? Web Heart? Nah, those sound too silly. How about something...classic? Aha!' I started hurridly writing on the pad. When I was done, I had these words written on my pad: Spider-Girl.