This chapter took FOREVER to get right. The first few pages were rewritten about five times, so hopefully all that work was worth it. We'll see. And sorry it took so long, but now you've heard my excuse. Oh, and here's a little challenge for you guys. The first person to figure out what's unique about the chapter title will get a special acknowledgement in the next author's note.

Funness – I'm glad you like my mutants and Nikki's name. This isn't gonna turn into an X-men fic or anything, so no one has to worry about that. But they will be mentioned as though they also exist.

Jolly Jeff – Hmm, I think I know who you're talking about. C-Cat and Jake your favs? Heh, I didn't realize this until later, but I ended up making the two nicer characters boys. Oh well!

Racetrack's Goil – Good to know some one else feels the same way I do. It really bugs me when people put all that language and other trash in their stories. They don't need that! So I can promise you that there will not be anything like that in here.

jjonahjameson – Hey, you know some Spanish? Way cool! ¡Yo también! ¡Pero sólo un poco! I fixed the part about the stairs, but I'm not quite sure what you thought was cliché-y about his eye color. The reason I had him have green eyes in the first place is so that he wasn't such a stereotypical "tall, dark, and handsome" or "blonde and blue-eyed".

laurajslr – Being original was something I was aiming for, so it sounds like I did at least one thing right. As far as Peter and MJ and Spider-man go, they won't have as big a part in the story for now…

hotsauce6548 – Thank you!

Mary Jane Watson-Parker – Thanks! It was one of those, "hmm, I need a name for this girl. Let's see, her powers are kinda like a ghost. AHA! I'll look up ghost in this Spanish-English dictionary and – voila! – Fantasma is born!"

Starlight-Dagger – Heh, I try! Thanks for the compliments!

Thanks again to Tokoyo who did a fabulous job as my beta for this chapter! And now, on with the show!


"All right, enough fussing. The coffee's done and I'm getting some before it's cold," Thorn announced and stalked brusquely into the kitchen.

Jake gave Nikki one last winning smile. Then he headed off, hollering, "Don't drink it all, Thorn!"

Nikki watched them all slowly return to what they had been doing before she'd arrived. It was as if they had paused a game for a few minutes in order to greet her but now had to start playing again. In a way, she got the sense that life actually was a kind of game to them.

Jake and C-Cat sat down next to the chess set and instantly became absorbed. Allie started her homework, and Thorn never left the kitchen. Everything became quiet except for the occasional click of a marble chess piece. Still in a bit of a daze at her new found luck, Nikki sank down onto the couch, eyes glazing over in growing fatigue. She'd only slept for about a half an hour. How could these people stay awake? They seemed to be waiting for something.

"Check!" Jake shouted triumphantly, startling her.

C-Cat's grin faded only for a moment. Then he moved his knight to take his opponent's queen and began giggling hysterically. Though he didn't actually say anything, the look in the twelve-year-old's eyes told Jake that it was over. Checkmate.

Jake scowled and studied the board furiously for some mistake, but at last he admitted defeat. C-Cat got to his feet, the peculiar smile returning to his face, and disappeared.

Nikki jumped slightly in surprise, knocking a pillow off the couch. She wasn't sure that she'd ever be able to get used to the boy just vanishing without warning. It didn't seem to bother Allie who was sitting on the other end of the couch, writing in a notebook.

A shriek told them that C-Cat was now in the kitchen. Thorn came rushing out, enraged, and began to wrathfully scour the room. "C-Cat, you are dead when I find you!" she screeched.

Nikki caught a glimpse of the trademark smile floating mischievously behind Thorn. "Apparently hide and seek was never one of Thorn's favorite games when she was little – and her skills haven't improved much since then," she mumbled under her breath. Jake and Allie heard her and started sniggering.

Thorn didn't catch what was said, but she was smart enough to realize that the joke was about her. Throwing the innocent faced newcomer a hate-filled glare, she stormed up the steps at the same moment Veron Odrade returned from closing shop. Thorn shoved past him irritably. "I'm going out. Be back later," the fuming woman snarled even though he didn't ask anything.

Nikki watched Allie narrow her eyes in concentration and point her first finger at Thorn. Small, crystalline letters formed on the back of Thorn's dark blue shirt that read: Out of my mind, back in five minutes.

Raucous guffaws rang out the moment the door slammed behind her. Veron didn't look amused, but Jake said amiably, "You finally worked up the nerve to do it, huh Allie? We've been talking about that one for a while." He got up from the chess game and flopped down between the two girls on the couch, draping his arms around each of them as though they'd all been best friends forever.

Nikki was extremely aware of his hand on her shoulder, but even more conscious of the deep glowering frown that covered Allie's face and saw her Allie stiffen visibly under the weight of his arm. She tried to ignore it. "I thought Thorn lived here," she told Jake quizzically as Veron wearily slumped into one of the leather armchairs across from them. C-Cat was gone again.

Jake rolled his eyes and shot Allie a knowing grin. "Thorn doesn't live anywhere. She just haunts places for long periods of time."

Allie nodded solemnly, refusing to laugh at the joke. Her pen continued to scratch roughly against her notebook, a little too hard, Nikki thought. It couldn't have been more obvious that she didn't approve of their newest team member than if she had stood up and screamed it at the top of her lungs.

Nikki's laughter quickly fell hollow and died away when she realized she was alone. For a few minutes, the room was shrieking in its awkward silence. Then Veron finally broke it with an attempt at intelligent conversation. "Maybe you guys could all tell Nikki a little bit about yourselves."

Jake raised his hand, his voice imitating a nerdy student. "I'm Jake, I like playing basketball, and my favorite food is pizza." Nikki giggled.

Veron groaned. "Never mind him. Allie?"

"I'd rather not discuss it, if you don't mind," she informed them icily, not once looking up from her work.

"What, were you caught robbing a bank or something?" Nikki laughed. She hardly expected the response she got. Her comment was met with somber stares. Glancing about worriedly, Nikki tried again rather falteringly. "You guys aren't, like, thieves or something are you?"

Once again, she got no real answer. Veron kept fumbling distractedly with his hands and Allie was obviously not really paying attention to what she was doing anymore. At last Jake spoke up. "Listen, Nikki. You have to understand…" His voice trailed off and he gave Veron a helpless look, but the man avoided his gaze. He wanted Jake to explain this. The boy needed some experience as a leader. Thorn wasn't going to be there forever.

"Look at us!" Jake finally said, exasperated, giving up on Veron. "We're not old enough to get proper jobs to provide for ourselves, but we still have to get money from somewhere."

Veron Odrade took over. "I need to start telling you about our – uh – little organization, Nikki." Allie stopped scribbling long enough to glance up at him and lift one of her perfectly styled eyebrows.

"It's Fantasma," Jake interrupted, giving Nikki a friendly smile.

Veron nodded rather approvingly and continued, though not without Nikki noticing that he had ignored Allie's look and getting a little suspicious. "I'm sure you've noticed by now that I probably couldn't afford a place like this with only what I make from my food mart."

Nikki's eyes strayed to the emerald and diamond studded grandfather clock that stood majestically against the wall. "No, really? I just figured you did a booming business selling groceries."

Veron caught the sarcasm and smiled nervously. "Yes, well, I wouldn't have been terribly impressed if you hadn't been able to figure that out."

Jake watched them both closely, wondering how well this would go. Even Allie seemed to have forgotten her books for the time being. She hadn't noticed her pencil drop onto the well-carpeted floor and roll away, landing near her foot.

Feeling rather unimpressed herself; Nikki nodded stiffly and asked, "So how do you pay for this?" This was it, she thought with a hint of anger. Now he was going to tell her that she had to work to pay her rent or get thrown back out on the street. She had nowhere else to go but home, and that sounded extremely unappealing right now.

"I have one very simple job for my, ah, boarders in exchange for the cost of giving them a home, meals, and something to do." Veron cleared his throat dramatically. "They train to become thieves. With the help of their powers, of course."

A high pitched chortle interrupted him. C-Cat's floating head had appeared in the middle of the living room, beaming impishly at them. Allie groaned aloud, dropping her head into her hands and Veron began threateningly began to rise to his feet.

With a swift grin aimed at Nikki, the rest of C-Cat materialized below him. He was holding an overripe banana that had most likely been filched from the store upstairs. He began peeling the bright yellow skin off with great relish, obviously enjoying the attention he was getting, even if it was only because he had disrupted their conversation.

Veron's face had begun to turn a rather sickly shade of puce as her watched the boy. Allie's white fingers had unknowingly scrunched the paper in her lap into a ruined mess. Even Jake was chewing rather apprehensively on his bottom lip.

C-Cat seemed to be a bit of an embarrassment for the group, and each one of them seemed to have turned into time-bombs, just waiting to blow up. They were under enough stress right now and dealing with an immature twelve-year-old was certainly not helping the situation. C-Cat remained utterly oblivious to the welcome, or lack there of, he was getting. Instead, he took an enormous bite out of the stolen treat, still grinning foolishly.

Nikki was now staring in fascination at a small twitch that had started flicking at Veron's narrowed eyelid when he watched C-Cat chewing. As C-Cat started on his second mouthful, it happened; the three people exploded.

Leaping to their feet, they all bellowed in unison, "Kitchen, C-Cat. NOW!"

Almost instantly, he vanished, the smile on his face made even stranger by the look of surprise in his eyes. Everyone began breathing again and looked at each other as soon as he was gone. Suddenly they all burst out laughing. The room regained its warm atmosphere and the tension seemed to follow C-Cat into the kitchen.

"All right, you guys," Veron told them when they'd settled down a bit. "You better head off to bed." He turned to the potential recruit. "Nikki, why don't you think over what I said and let me know in the morning?"

He stood up and stretched. "If you would rather go back to your family and live a boring life trying to suppress the potential you have with your incredible ability…" He shrugged. "That's fine." Then Veron gave her another disarming smile. "But if you'd be willing to become Fantasma, our final team member, I can arrange everything from a new school, to even a costume. Allie's quite the fashion designer when it comes to that sort of thing."

He smiled persuasively at her and turned to walk down the hallway to his room. "Do think it over, Nikki. An opportunity like this won't often present itself."

She watched him go wordlessly. Her eyes dropped slowly to the floor and when he was gone she said flatly, "This is stupid."

"What?" Jake asked, turning to look at her with unmistakable concern in his gaze. "What's stupid?"

"Everything. The only reason Veron wants to 'help' is so that he can blackmail me into becoming his little thief." Nikki took a shaky breath, forcing herself to calm down. She jumped when she felt Jake wrap his arm about her gently.

He shook his head. "No, no. It's not like that at all." His tone was soothing and his touch, comforting. Jake made her feel like she belonged. "Think about it for a minute from our perspective, Nikki. All of the sudden you have nowhere to go. Just when your prospects are looking considerably bleak, someone shows up and offers you food and shelter in exchange for you to do a little thieving for him. We don't really have much choice. And besides, it is pretty exciting." A roguish grin lit up his face.

She forced a smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Jake got up, yawning and started for the hallway, pausing to glare at the chess board. "I can't believe I was beaten by a kid who's four years younger than me. Ouch." He chuckled and waved before leaving them. "Please stay, Nikki," she heard him say quietly, almost pleadingly. Then he was gone.

The room was quiet for a minute; both girls were painfully aware of each other's presence and neither one wanting to acknowledge it. Nikki tried to break the ice. Allie looked to be about the same age and she would need to make as many friends as possible. She didn't have many options. "So, uh, you've been here for a while?"

"No," Allie shook her head, gathering up her books. Her star-colored hair shimmered as it reflected the light. "Not much longer than Jake."

"Oh," Nikki said. Why did this girl have to be so much prettier than her? "But you design costumes, right? That sounds fun." She became even more aware of the fact that her own tumble of brown was in a state of impossible tangles.

Suddenly, Allie grinned evilly, though it just made her face glow with even more radiance. "Making Thorn's was the most fun. Originally I created something that looked like it came out of a fairytale princess book. You can imagine her reaction."

Nikki laughed hard. Perhaps they could be friends after all. "I'll bet! I'm sure Jake and C-Cat got a good laugh out of it too."

Allie became deadly serious. "You realize that Jake and I are a couple, right?"

A little taken aback, Nikki bobbed her head in bewilderment. The girl's searing gaze was definitely not one to be taken lightly. This was probably the only warning she would get. Then it could get ugly.

"Good." Allie began walking back to her room, calling over her shoulder cheerfully, "See you in the morning."

So now I'm a threat? Nikki thought, surprised. A noise told her that another door had closed and she realized C-Cat must have gone to bed, too. Sighing, she staggered tiredly back to her room and collapsed onto the welcoming jewel studded four-post. Her room. The thought had a nice ring to it.

It seemed a little funny to be sleeping somewhere else, but it was really only for a night, she told herself. Somehow though, Nikki knew that it wasn't. She had a feeling that she'd finally found the place to belong, even if she had to put up with a girl who thought she was hitting on her boyfriend.

As she tossed about restlessly, Nikki wondered what her family would think of their daughter being a thief. This brought up unwanted thoughts: her mom crying, her dad trying to comfort her, and her little brother and sister sitting alone, scared. She pushed these away and snuggled down under the warm comforter.

Her parents had always instilled strong moral values in her, even as a little girl. Obviously her dad had used his powers for good. But now Nikki faced the same choice: she could become a hero like him, or she could become a thief. Why was it that this little group seemed to pull her in like a magnet? Maybe it was because her dad was a hero, and she didn't want to be like him.

"I'm old enough now," Nikki whispered softly to herself. "It's time that I chose my own path." Even with her new determination, sleep was long in coming and when it did, her dreams were strange.

She was watching a group of high school students walking around some sort of science lab. A boy of about eighteen years of age hung back from the group to talk to a pretty redhead. As he began taking her picture, Nikki saw a small eight legged creature crawl down a silver thread and land on his hand. Just as the girl hurried away, the spider sunk its fangs into his thumb.

The boy suddenly disappeared, but now she stood in his place. Nikki could feel the venom burning in her hand like a tiny inferno. Nikki stared at the bite feverishly. Turning her hand over, she gaped in horror as giant slits appeared on her wrists and sticky white strings shot out.

Before she had a chance to cry out in pain or shock, a thick blue liquid came rushing in out of nowhere, quickly filling the room. Nikki was knocked to the ground by the flood, feeling the pressure pushing her downward, forcing the very air from her lungs until she began falling through the floor.

She landed in a crouch in the middle of the lab basement and straightened up uncertainly. Smearing the chemical off of her face, Nikki looked at her wrists again. A blue glow had surrounded the slits. As she watched, they sealed closed just as quickly as the scalpel wound had.

Nikki squeezed her eyes shut and her mind finally released her from the bizarre and yet strangely horrifying dream; letting her drift off into a calm and undisturbed sleep. She didn't remember any of it in the morning.


"MJ, honey, I'm so sorry." Peter's voice cracked as he gathered his wife up in his arms. She sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder for what seemed like eternity. He buried his face in her hair, wishing desperately that none of this had happened. Peter had always felt like the luckiest man in the world when he held Mary Jane. Now guilt was seeping in and ruining this moment that used to be paradise. It was his fault she was crying; his fault Nikki was gone.

Slowly, Peter raised his head, eyes narrowing in determination. "I'm not going to stop looking for her, Mary Jane."

To his surprise, she pulled back and stared up at him, gripping his hands tightly in her own. "No," she whispered. "No, you can't kill yourself. I've already lost some one, and I'm not gonna lose you too. You've done everything you can." MJ's eyes dropped hopelessly. "It's over."

Her words, 'You've done everything you can', struck a painful chord deep inside him. It was almost exactly what the police had told him earlier that day. Their pitying faces were probably the worst part of this endless nightmare.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Parker, but we've done everything we can. We'll keep looking, though." Peter knew they wouldn't.

"Go and get some rest. You've been out searching for over two weeks now with barely more than a few hours of sleep." Mary Jane gave him a concerned look and pushed him toward the door. He allowed her to lead him, utter exhaustion suddenly dragging at his limbs as though it had been waiting in hiding all that time to jump out and pounce on him.

He walked slowly up the steps, stopping only to cringe when he heard MJ begin crying again. Those tears were not only because of a great loss. They were also the beginnings of letting go. Letting go of Nikki.

Trying to block the sound from his mind, Peter hurried on. He veered sharply as soon as he reached Ben's room where he knew his children would be and knocked on the door lightly. It was time to do what he should have done with Nikki long ago. He could only pray that they'd be much more forgiving.


So what did YOU think? Please let me know and review!