Chapter 2
Chapter 1
Fifteen Years Later
Chicago
Beep! Beep! Beep! Bee-
The startling, and quite obnoxious, ringing of an alarm clock was silenced by a clenched fist, the alarm clock shattering into pieces. The fist was connected to a pale, slender arm, which snaked back underneath the covers of a mattress lying on the floor of a bare room. The only shown part of the occupant huddled under the covers was a dark-haired head, the raven hair messed with sleep.
Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the door a voice called, muffled by the wood, "Come on, up you get! We have a busy day today!"
Groaning, the person huddled under the covers sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"I know, I know! Just give me a minute!" the person shouted back as she woke up fully.
The figure was a nineteen-year-old woman, with messy, waist-long black hair. She wore a faded black T-shirt with the band name Imagine Dragons on it and blue workout shorts with white trimming. The woman stretched, the lean muscles in her arms rippling slightly, before she stood up and headed to the adjoining bathroom. Inside, there was a sink, a mirror, a shower, and in a glass on the sink, a single toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.
Casually, the woman grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste, squirting some toothpaste onto the toothbrush, and vigorously brushed her teeth for a couple minutes, before spitting it into the sink, before washing it out. She leaned down and opened the cabinet to grab some mouthwash, but frowned when she saw there was none there.
"Oh sure, leave a toothbrush and toothpaste, but take the mouthwash," the woman grumbled, slamming the cabinet door closed… and causing it to fly off it's hinges and crash into the wall.
"What was that?" a voice demanded as the dark-haired woman winced.
"Uh, nothing Mom!" the woman called back.
"Hmm. Didn't sound like nothing."
"It was nothing, okay?!" the woman yelled.
"Okay, okay! But, cut the attitude, young lady. You may be an adult and in college, but as long as you're living under my roof, you're under my authority? Understood?"
"Understood," the woman said, as she looked at the mirror, crystal blue eyes relieved that her mother wasn't questioning her anymore.
"Okay. Now, get dressed. We're going to be leaving in a few minutes."
"Got it, Mom," the woman replied, still staring at her reflection. Letting out a deep breath, the woman braided her hair into a low plait, and pulled off a black elastic on her wrist, tying off the end, and tossed it over her shoulder. Even though most of her ebony hair was in her low plait, some of it hung loose in several strands of midnight hair. She scrutinised her reflection, and determined that was the best she could do, considering that she had no makeup, even though the makeup she used was light.
"Well, that's a little bit more me," the woman commented.
She turned to the bathroom's door, opened it, and walked out. The first thing she noticed was that the mattress and her demolished alarm clock were gone, and the second thing she noticed was that a set of clothes was waiting for her.
Checking to see that no one was looking, the woman grabbed the clothes waiting for her and began to undress out of her pyjamas and into her clothes. But as she pulled on a long-sleeved green shirt on, she felt a tingling sensation, like her whole body was on pins and needles, along with a sound that was like what pins and needles would probably sound like. The woman, standing up, walked to her window and watched as down below, a news helicopter trailed something far below… something dangerous.
Something she needed to stop.
"Honey? Are you okay? Are you nearly ready?" her mother asked.
The woman turned back to the door and answered, "Yeah, I'm okay. But, I might take a little while."
As she said that, the woman headed to the centre of the floor, where she yanked up a floorboard and pulled out a box. She looked at it, before glancing at the door, then the window, then back at the box.
"Oh, okay. We'll wait for you in the living room. Don't be too long, though; our flight leaves in an hour."
"Sure, Mom. I'll be ready in five minutes," the woman called back.
Her mother didn't respond, but she heard the sounds of heels clicking on the floor become fainter and fainter until she couldn't hear them anymore.
Listening for several more seconds just to be sure, the woman opened the box. Inside, was silvery white fabric with a red webbing pattern on it. And, lying on the top, was a white mask with a red webbing pattern and white eyeholes with red trimming around them.
"If I even stop this in five minutes," the woman muttered, before she pulled out the mask and the fabric, which turned out to be a hooded spandex suit with gloves and boots. Checking again, the woman took off her shirt and shorts, pulling on the suit, the gloves and boots. She looked at the mask once, before she pulled it over her face.
"Sorry, Mom. But, duty calls," the woman said to herself as she pulled the hood over her masked head. She then walked to the window and slid it open. She looked in the direction where the news helicopter went, knowing that was where the crooks were.
"Where there's the news, there's the crooks," she quipped.
The masked woman then raised her hand, palm facing the skyscraper across from her apartment... and then a silvery strand of webbing shot out of her wrist.
It travelled across the space between where the woman had shot it and to the skyscraper she had aimed it, attaching immediately to it where it landed.
The woman, knowing the webbing will support her, was about to swing out and chase after the robbery… when a green and black blur swung past her.
"Hey cuz! No need to go after this one; I've got it all completely under control!" the blur shouted, the voice vaguely female, though it was muffled thanks to the mask the other web-swinging heroine wore.
The masked woman, whose eyeholes had widened slightly in shock, smiled underneath her mask.
"Thanks cuz!" she shouted back.
"Don't mention it! Just doing my duty of protecting Chicago!" the other heroine yelled back, her voice growing fainter as she web-swung towards the robbery.
The woman shook her head in amusement, but a proud smile was on her face underneath the mask.
"It seems like Chicago is in good hands," the woman noted to herself, pulling the window down. She then sighed and leaned against the wall next to the window, taking off her mask as she added, "Aunt Janet would be proud of the hero Claire's become."
Sighing again, the woman walked towards the box where her suit had been in. Taking off her gloves and boots as well, she put them back in the box and pulled oh her green shirt and faded blue jeans, effectively hiding her suit underneath.
As she pulled on some blue and white sneakers and her trademark white denim vest, the woman flicked her plait back over her shoulder, after it had fallen off when she had put on the mask.
And speaking of the mask…
The woman looked at it once, contemplating whether or not to place it into her jean pocket as she usually did. She looked at it further, before making her decision, placing it back in the box.
Another round of knocking came, and the obnoxious, familiar voice of her older brother Aaron asked her, "Scarlet, are you ready? Mom and Dad are ready to go to the airport; we're just waiting on you."
The woman, Scarlet, answered, "Yeah, I'm ready, dweeb. Tell Mom and Dad I'll be out there in a few secs, okay? And, you know I don't like being called Scarlet! Call me be my nickname!"
Aaron, who had scowled at being called dweeb, smirked, "Sure, Scarlet. I'll tell Mom and Dad right away."
With that, Aaron walked back to the living room where his and Scarlet's parents waited, Scarlet glaring at the door, hands clenched into fists.
"I'm going to kill him someday," Scarlet growled.
However, she turned back to the task on hand.
Grabbing a backpack filled with stuff she packed prior last night, Scarlet carefully placed the box that her gloves, boots and mask were in inside, before she zipped it close. Slinging it over her shoulder, Scarlet walked out of her former bedroom and headed to the living room, where her parents and brother waited for her.
"Ready to go now?" her father asked.
Scarlet smiled. "Sure, Dad. I'm ready."
Her parents smiled, before they faded into understanding looks as her mother said, "I understand if you're feeling nervous about leaving, sweetie. If you want, maybe you could-"
"No, Mom. Yes, I am feeling a little nervous, but Chicago's in good hands. Claire's going to do a good job protecting Chicago, like I did… and like what Aunt Janet did. Going for a final swing will be too much. I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine," Scarlet assured her mother, giving her a reassuring smile.
Her parents exchanged concerned looks.
"Guys, I'm fine. I'm totally cool with us moving to New York," Scarlet once again assured her parents.
She then walked towards the front door and added, "Besides, Chicago doesn't need Ghost Spider any more. Maybe New York won't need Ghost Spider too, what with that Spider-Man guy. Maybe I can live a normal life and occasionally help out?"
With that, Scarlet "Silkie" Arach opened the door and walked out, her family following after her, now ready for their flight to New York-and for their new lives in the Big Apple.
But Silkie was wrong.
New York needed both Spider-Man, and her superhero alter ego, Ghost Spider, after all.
She didn't know just how soon it would be.
…
Meanwhile
In a warehouse on the outskirts of New York City, an ominous green glow lit up the inside as a woman, who seemed to be in a meditation pose as she sat on the floor, smiled.
"So, the little protégé of Ghost Spider, Arachna Girl, has now graduated to being a new hero of Chicago?" the woman asked herself.
Roaring came, and the woman saw in her peripheral version the hulking body of a massive, eight-legged beast standing in the abnormally dark shadows.
"Oh, don't worry, my dear pet," the woman assured, standing up and walking over to the shadowed beast.
It clicked and made guttural, high-pitched sounds, scuttling closer to the woman as she placed a hand on it's trembling head.
"Shh, my pet. Like I said, no need to worry. Arachna Girl and that pest, Ghost Spider, are still in Chicago, and that weakling Spider-Man will be easy to defeat," the woman said.
She smirked malevolently as she turned and faced the window. Her face and body was heavily hidden by shadows, but her grey eyes glinted wickedly as her smirk widened.
"That red and blue spider thinks he knows powerful enemies, what with that weak-minded Curtis Connors and that promising, but pathetic, Electro?" the woman asked to no one.
Suddenly, her hands lit up in green mystical energy as the supports of the crumbling warehouse creaked and the moans of the dead whispered through the air. The darkness stirred, and with the snap of the woman's fingers, an eerie green flame sprang up from the floor boards as green and white lightning arced overhead. The warehouse began to ripple, shifting between disarray and becoming what it once was at the peak of it's physical condition. It all combined, shadows twisting as the warehouse flickered between what was real and what wasn't. Emerald flames devoured wooden floors and walls, but did no damage, and lightning struck, but didn't burn. Vaporous forms of the dead formed, before they flickered away, and suddenly, everything not attached lifted into the air. The woman raised her hands, glowing with green energy, as the energy surrounding her right hands dissipated, and a long, curving blade of smoky black metal appeared, edges jagged, it's clouded grey handle gripped in her hand.
She smiled, and looked at two pictures, hidden in the darkness, eyes glowing a brilliant, luminous green.
"That Spider-Man and even Ghost Spider have no idea how powerful of an enemy I can be, and how much destruction and anarchy I can inflict," the woman said ominously.
Suddenly, as fast as lighting, she threw the blade.
It arced through the air and landed straight through one of the pictures. Another blade followed it, finding it's target.
The air around the woman rippled and she disappeared, before reappearing in front of the pictures, glaring at them with hatred, especially the right one.
"Watch out, Spider-Man. Hex, the Sorceress of Darkness and Death, is coming for you, this city and then rest of this world. And not even Ghost Spider can help you stop me… not with my loyal pet on my side," the woman, Hex, told the pictures, before teleporting back to her pet, the display of her powers fading, leaving only the luminous green light, as it lit up the pictures… which were Spider-Man and Ghost Spider, who each had a blade in their heads.
So… what do you think?
Don't worry, Peter will come in the next chapter; I promise.
So, Silkie, who is now older, has a few secrets of her own now, hey? And she, and her family, are moving to New York.
What do you think of Hex? She is my own OC villainess, and I hope that she was good enough for you guys, even though she'll have a more prominent appearance in the chapter after next.
Anyway, I saw Avengers: Infinity War today! It was really awesome, but it was intense, and the ending actually made me cry. So, if you haven't seen it yet, you should totally go see it as soon as you can.
Next chapter will come out soon, I promise.
Please read and review!
GhostWriterGirl out!