Story cover art is by MisconToku, who you can find on Newgrounds.

A/N: This one is the longest chapter so far! It clocks in at about 9.5k words. We're getting closer and closer to the appearance of the Spider-Fam, but we're not quite there yet! Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far! :) It's such an amazing feeling knowing someone out there is enjoying my writing! Just so you know, there will be a delay for the next chapter, specifically I won't be updating this story till January 2021. That's cos I'll be working on an xmas story for the Zombieland Saga fandom that I've had planned for over a year! I'll also be updating my Into The Spider-House story where possible. I'm not abandoning this one though! So hang tight!

Recap of last chapter: Last time we left off, Peni put in the work to update her mech's old-fashioned neural amplification system (and fixed the seatbelts too)! Then in the middle of the night she got an Oscorp alert, but somehow the people she fought weren't really enemies at all!? Mr. Osborn, who insisted that the only thing that had attacked Oscorp was Peni herself, confiscated the mech and sent her home with Aunt May. Then, while lying in bed, Peni got a strange message from Cindy: her friend was developing the ability to shoot webs from her hands. In order to find a solution to this predicament, the two young girls head out early in the morning to seek help at the Reed Richards Science Center...

Chapter 10: Heart-Shaped Box (Part 3)

5.40am. I spotted Cindy shivering beside a trash can on the corner of 59th and 1st Avenue. I ran up to her and squeezed her in a tight hug.

"Sorry I kept you waiting! Are you… cold?" I asked, already feeling sweat on the back of my neck from the eternal humidity of the city.

She put a finger to her lips, "Shh!"

"What-"

"Shh! Peni, let's just go already, okay?"

She took my hand and started charging down the stone steps to 1st Avenue's subterranean shopping district.

"Cindy," I whispered, "what are you doing!? We don't need to be down here!"

"I can't keep it in."

"You can't keep what in?"

"The webs. I can feel them in my wrists. They're gonna burst out any minute."

1st Avenue was a long, long, long street, but most of all it was a dark street, at least when you were on 'true' ground level. Shops had been stacking on top of one another there since before the floods started happening way back when. Now you never got natural light at the bottom.

"Okay, so," I mumbled, thinking as quickly as I could, "let's just go down one of the side streets or something. You can let it out there, then we can go back up."

"Someone'll see."

"No one's gonna see anything in this light! We just need to find a quiet spot. There's gotta be one round here somewhere."

She peered around the corner, eyeing up the stairway onto East 62nd street, "What about the cameras?"

"What about the cameras?"

"I dunno, okay! I just, if Oscorp finds out, I-"

"Wait!" I said, digging my heels into the ground as she tried to pull me away, "This'll do."

"I can't see anything…"

"Look closer."

She stared at the tiny alleyway between two run down sushi restaurants.

"That's…"

"Yep! Completely private."

As those words left my lips I thought I heard the sound of distant footsteps. I checked the street, eyeing up the darkness on either side of us. Empty. Silent. Yet somehow I felt like we were being watched.

"On second thought, Cindy, maybe we should-"

I paused. Cindy was trembling from head to toe, "We should what?"

It became clear to me then that we didn't have time to reach somewhere else. The alleyway was the best we were gonna get.

"Never mind. I was just thinking out loud. You go. I've got your back."

She squeezed into the alley as quickly as she could. I stood guard, watching the gloomy retail underworld while she did her thing. I heard a hiss, a splat, then a huge sigh of relief. SP/dr scuttled onto my cheek as Cindy patted me on the shoulder.

"Okay, I think I feel better now," she said.

Her relief became my relief, and as we moved on I started to think I'd imagined the whole 'being watched' thing.

The lack of sleep must be getting to me.

"If you need to dip out of sight again just let me know, okay?" I said, "I have a pretty good idea where the cameras are even without my mech."

"Thanks, Peni. I don't even wanna think about where I'd be right now if I didn't have you."

I smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, we've got this. The guys at the lab? They're crazy smart. They'll know what to do, one hundred percent. Still, that's a weird power, involuntary web dispersal."

"It's not that weird… I mean, there has to be a weirder power, right?"

"Hmm," I stroked my chin, trying my best to keep a straight face, "I suppose nuclear fart rays would be pretty weird…"

She gave my shoulder a playful shove, "Shut up!"

When I suggested walking to the lab I knew that it wouldn't be simple. In my crime fighting duties I'd scared off many a thug and supercrook from the dark, stinky underbelly of 1st Avenue. Something about the lack of light and drinkable water really brought the crowds in.

Aunt May's gonna kill me if she finds out about this.

I left her a note saying I was walking to school with Cindy, but that'd only work if she was still asleep. Leaving for school at 5am? Yeah, like anyone would believe that. The later she woke up, the better.

Just gotta get lucky.

"That reminds me - oh, watch out for that!" I said as Cindy nearly walked into a pair of dirty socks dangling from the pipe-covered ceiling, "how did you even get out of your house without your parents noticing?"

"I wouldn't call it a house," she replied with a rueful smile.

"Ah yeah, I forgot."

"It wasn't that hard, in the end. Just had to close the front door real slowly."

"How high up do you live again?"

She looked up at the dim fluorescents glowing overhead, "Technically we're room three-four-two, but…"

"We were room twenty," I said, letting the nostalgia seep into my voice, "didn't feel like room twenty though."

"So you were up there with all the rich people, then?"

I smirked, "I dunno, does 'Ingram Mansions' sound fancy to you?"

"If it was in Manhattan? Maybe."

"We lived in Queens."

"Then no."

"It was tiny, and old-fashioned, and sometimes you could smell your neighbor's bad cooking," I explained, gesturing with my hands, "but we were high enough that the mist was way down below us."

"Wow, not bad."

"The rent was as sky high as the apartment though. That's the only reason my dad stuck with Oscorp for so long. At least that's my guess."

We wandered into an especially dim part of the street, where the fluorescents were as out-of-order as the eternally broken public toilets. I couldn't even see my hand in my front of my face. I felt Cindy grab onto my arm.

"Wish my power was night vision," she groaned.

"You and me both."

"Why are we doing this on foot, anyway? Did something happen to your mech?"

"It's a long sto- UGH! Gross!" I cried as I stomped half my leg into an invisible puddle lying in wait on the floor. As if on cue the fluorescents above my head flickered into life, illuminating my soggy leg for all the world to see. Cindy burst into laughter.

"Oh my god your face," she wheezed, "I'm sorry, hahahaha! I'm-"

I lifted my foot out of the water. Drips of grimy ooze dribbled off the bottom of my shoe.

"Damn it," I sighed, but Cindy just couldn't stop laughing. I felt a smile begin to creep across my face.

"It's not funny," I insisted, trying my best to remain grumpy and failing miserably, "it's-"

But it was no use. Like a pair of idiots we stood there keeled over in the shadows, laughing into the cloudy puddle till we could hardly breathe.

"Okay," I managed to say in-between giggles, "We really should get out of here now. It's safer up top."

Cindy wiped her eyes, "You're right. Still, it was worth it just for that."

I squelched out of the puddle and onto cracked concrete, "Tell that to my shoe."

There were plenty of stairways linking the lower levels of 1st Avenue with the main street up above. You could tell when you were near one cos they all had bright green signs, like the ones they use for emergency exits.

"Finally…" I said as that familiar green glow glimmered in the distance.

Then I felt a tremble under my skin. Danger.

I stretched my arm out in front of Cindy's chest, "Hang on…"

My spider sense told me that there was something up ahead, but the street was empty, and if the leaky pipework wasn't so loud you could probably have heard a pin drop too.

Cindy gave me a nervous look, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure."

We waited for a while, staring into the darkness, looking for signs of movement, but nothing was there - nothing we could see, anyway. I felt SP/dr crawl along my arm down to my hand.

"What do you think, SP/dr?"

But he was as lost as I was. So we kept walking. Slowly, vigilantly, right down the middle of the road, avoiding the narrow alleyways between the run-down stores. Then finally I heard something. Distant yelling. More than one person.

That's a lot of voices.

If I looked carefully I could just about make out their silhouettes in the shadows. They were all huddled together. Laughing, swearing. I heard the crackle of a can being stomped under foot.

Bet that's a beer can.

Then I realized… they were heading towards us.

"Cindy," I whispered, keeping my eyes on the warm glow of synthetic lights in the far distance, a glow that surrounded the mob in a muddy halo, "We should turn back."

"But the exit's right there!"

It was close.

But is it close enough?

We had to take the chance. I glanced across at Cindy. Our eyes met and I saw then how afraid she was.

I shouldn't have brought her out here so early. It could've waited.

I looked back towards the exit sign.

No… she needs this. She needs my help. She needs the science center.

I gently took her hand. She gave mine a squeeze as our fingers interlocked.

I shot her my best confident smile, even though I didn't feel confident at all.

"Don't worry, I've got you."

We ran. Loud footsteps clacking against the wet and worn sidewalk. The revelers paused in their reveling. The sign wasn't far off. Maybe they were just partying. Maybe we didn't need to run at all. Maybe I was losing my mind, but I wasn't about to take a chance, not when Cindy was with me.

This would've been so much easier with my mech!

But there was no time to regret. As the shadowy mob of drunks began to shamble towards us once more we reached the safety of the exit sign's green halo and raced up the stairs hand in hand.

The fresh air sent pinpricks across my skin as my sweat went ice cold. Cindy stopped in place, breathing heavily.

"Hang on," she huffed.

A car rocketed past us, sending my skirt flying all over the place, "We can't wait here! Those guys could be coming after us!"

"I can't run anymore, Peni. I'm not like you."

I spotted an alleyway across the road. It looked empty, and my spider-sense was silent.

It'll do.

"Okay, we can wait, but not here."

I slung her arm over my shoulder and walked her to the edge of the sidewalk. There were no cars, for now…

Gotta be quick.

We shuffled across the road, sweaty and out of breath, and slipped into the safety of the alleyway. I watched the staircase to lower 1st Avenue, waiting for the drunks from before to come out. They didn't. No one came out, in fact.

Cindy tugged on the bottom of my shirt, "Alright, I've got my breath back now."

I looked back at her standing there safe and sound, and my whole body relaxed just a little bit.

I'm never going back in that place again. Not without my mech.

I forced a smile, "Let me just check my phone…"

As I swiped over to the map app I noticed I had a new message.

I must've missed it when we were running.

I opened it without thinking and immediately regretted my decision.

[Run all you want. I'll always be faster.]

Cindy peered over my shoulder, "What does it say?"

I jerked away from her, holding the phone to my chest, "Nothing! It doesn't say anything! It's fine, it's-"

She stared at me, shocked speechless.

Crap.

I quickly opened up the map app. We weren't far. In fact…

"It's just through this alley," I said, showing her the phone.

She eyed me up suspiciously, "If you're sure."

"I'm sure," I checked the time on my phone, "and we won't even be late for school!"

We started strolling down the alley. It was dark, but the synthetic light of high-rise apartments filtered down and created a soft ambience. Just enough to see where you were putting your feet.

Cindy folded her arms across her chest, "This science place will be open… right?"

I stretched my arms over my head and yawned, "I know Anna will be there, if nothing else."

"Anna?"

"My old teacher."

"Ohhhh I remember now!"

"The one I got fired."

She looked over at me, "If you really got her fired she wouldn't have stuck around to teach you afterwards."

"No I definitely got her fired, trust me."

"So she got fired, and now she works at this other place?"

I heard my phone notification sound go off. Trying my best to stay calm I pulled my phone out of my backpack, and without checking the message set it to silent, "Yep, that's pretty much it!"

Cindy gave me a funny look again, "Who was that from?"

"Hm? Oh it's nothing. It can wait."

"You know, you never did say what happened to your mech."

"It's-"

I felt SP/dr dart across from one shoulder to the other. Then it kicked in, almost instantaneously, a jolt rushing down through my entire body.

Spider sense. But what-

"Well, well, well," came a ragged voice from behind us, "looks like I hit the jackpot today, huh?"

The panic started in my throat. Then it spread. Seizing up my chest, locking my limbs in place. I didn't dare turn my head to see who had spoken, because I already knew.

It's him… it's the stalker…

Cindy turned and faced him. Her eyes grew wide in terror. With trembling lips she managed to ask, "W-What do you want?"

The stalker coughed out a raspy laugh, "What do I want? I want that sweet Oscorp money, missy. How much do you think they'll pay to have your friend back in one piece, huh? Think I could get a hundred mill'?"

I heard him shamble closer. Cindy took a step back. If I didn't move soon he'd be on top of me.

Come on Peni! You can take this guy! You're one half of the most kickass team in New York! Come on!

"Come on Peni!" Cindy yelled, "Run!"

My legs wouldn't move. I was paralyzed.

No…

I could feel his breath on my neck. See the cuts on his hands as they wrapped around me. Cindy reached out and grabbed my arm. She yanked me forward. I stumbled, fell. My elbows scraped along the floor. My knees too.

Get up!

"Get down!" a gruff voice, a different voice. I heard something heavy hit the floor, then the gruff voice spoke again, "So you like attacking little girls, huh?"

Then the stalker spoke, his voice frantic with fear, "No man, it's not like that I swear! I swear!"

I rolled onto my back. Standing before me was a man clad entirely in crimson armor. Even his eyes burned blood red. Sharp horns stuck out of his helmet, which covered all but his grimacing mouth.

"Daredevil…?" I mumbled.

Either he didn't hear me or he didn't care. He dragged the stalker up by the collar of his dirty, threadbare coat, and slammed him against the wall.

"This is the part where you tell me who the hell you are."

The man, the stalker, held his hands over his head, "I'm a bum, I'm nobody, I just wanted some money, I swear! You ever tried sleepin' out here in the street, huh? It ain't easy, pal. You and your fancy suit, prancin' around like you're the cat's ass! You don't know shit! You think I can just walk into the bank and they-"

Daredevil punched him in the gut, "Wrong answer."

"UGH… It's the truth, god damn it! Ain't it obvious? Look, I'm sorry I made fun of your suit, just let me go already…"

Daredevil stared into his eyes. The man stiffened.

"Oh god…are you with the K-Kingpin?" he stammered, "Is that it? I'll get your money, alright, I promise, I'll get your-"

Daredevil grabbed him by the throat, "I am not with the Kingpin, but if you see him again you can tell him Daredevil said hi."

Then he threw him to the ground. The man looked up at the vigilante, fear in his eyes.

Daredevil snarled, "Go! Before I change my mind!"

He did as he was told and sprinted away as fast as he could. Daredevil turned and faced me.

"You're just gonna let him leave!?" I asked.

"He was telling the truth. Round here addicts are a dime a dozen. Kingpin's men will come for him eventually. They always do. That's when I'll make my move."

"But he was… he was…"

He stood completely still. I realized I couldn't finish my sentence, not without putting both him and Cindy in danger.

I have to deal with the stalker myself.

I pushed myself off the ground till I was sitting upright and winced as the cuts on my elbows began to burn, "He was pretty scary. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't showed up."

He frowned, "We need to talk."

That feeling of panic came back again, "What do you mean?"

"I knew something was wrong when you called yesterday. Now I find you out here without your mech."

I stood up and brushed my skirt down, "That's not my fault. Mr. Osborn he… took my mech away."

Cindy sighed, "Right, so that's why we had to walk here on foot."

I waved my hand dismissively, "It's just temporary. There's nothing wrong, not really. I'm gonna get it back today."

Daredevil didn't seem convinced, "Then what are you doing all the way out here? I thought you studied at Mason Banks."

"We're just going to see someone. A friend."

His voiced stayed level, "At six in the morning."

"School starts early."

"So I hear."

I felt a rumble in my backpack. Immediately my heart started racing.

My phone…

Daredevil tilted his head, just slightly, as if he was listening for something.

Please god don't let him be listening to my stupid heart.

I turned to Cindy and shook my head to the side to indicate that we should leave, then said to Daredevil, "Well, thanks for saving us and everything. We've gotta go now, so…"

We went to leave. Then he said, "Don't you wanna check your message?"

I almost stalled, but somehow I had enough presence of mind to keep walking and calmly reply, "I'll do it later. It can't be that important."

He didn't call out to us again. I looked over my shoulder at one point to see if he was still standing there listening, but he was gone. The alley was empty. It was just me and Cindy and the long stretch of trash and muddy puddles on the way to our destination: the Reed Richards Science Center.

When we arrived it was just the same as it was when I visited years ago: run down and near invisible in the shadow of the enormous department store it was hidden under. A sign next to a scratched and graffiti'd garage door said 'Reed Rich_rds Science Cene_'.

"Hm," I said to myself, "it's missing both an A and an R this time."

Cindy rested her hands on her hips, "This is the science center? For real?"

"It's better than it looks."

"That's not hard."

I knocked on the garage door, "Trust me."

As if on command the door began to inch open, rattling and shaking as it trundled up to reveal the empty garage inside.

Cindy wasn't impressed, "Uhhh… correct me if I'm wrong but, isn't that just an empty room?"

I raised my index finger knowingly, like a wise mage, "Hehehe, you are not looking closely enough, young Cindy."

She smirked, "Alright, alright, what am I missing O Wise One?"

I motioned for her to follow me and crept inside. Even though I knew what was coming, it was still kinda strange walking into total darkness. To my left I saw yellow light trickling out from under the flimsy door that led to Betty Brant's office.

I guess she starts early too.

Suddenly a voice echoed through the room, "Peni!? Long time no see!"

"Betty!?"

"How's school going? New year for you now, right?"

Whatever speakers they were using needed replacing. The sound was about as tinny and fuzzy as it could get.

"Going great!" I lied, "Is Anna here?"

"Same as always. Does she know you're coming?"

"No."

Silence, then, "Well she knows now. Go to gene lab two. It's got a big red door, so you can't miss it."

"Thanks! So do we have to come into your office first or are you just gonna-"

Without warning the floor began to sink beneath our feet. Cindy screamed and grabbed onto me.

"It's okay!" I yelled over the deafening rumble, "it's meant to do this!"

Cindy screamed some more. I felt SP/dr dash under my shirt as Cindy's arms slipped up to my neck.

"Agh!" I croaked, "Cindy! Can't breathe!"

All at once the floor settled into place in the big basement garage. Cindy started falling backwards. Her arms were still round my neck. She pulled me, still falling. We both went down. As we tumbled to the floor my head thumped into her chest and there we were, staring up at the ceiling of the ground-level garage far above.

"Maybe next time warn me before the floor drops out from beneath my feet," she said breathlessly.

"Only if you promise to warn me before you choke me half to death."

"Deal."

The science center was just as much of a maze as it ever was. Every hallway looked the same as the next: blue carpet on white wall, window-door-window, all grey. Even the potted plants seemed to be identical.

"It'd help if the signs actually took you to where they say they do," I grumbled.

"Was it always this complicated?"

"Yes."

I felt SP/dr crawl down my arm and onto my hand. I could feel his energy in my mind, like a faint background noise.

What're you trying to tell me, SP/dr?

As I focused on his presence my mind began to relax. Slowly, an awareness of his thoughts and feelings, an awareness of our connection began to seep through my senses, like when your limbs get pins and needles. That was my mind. Tingling numbness, slowly giving way to clarity.

Did I really have you blocked off all this time…? For how long, I wonder… maybe since the alley, maybe before…

Cindy waved a hand in front of my eyes, "Peni?"

"Hm? Oh…" I followed SP/dr's instinct, "we take a left here."

"Oooh, you remember now?"

I smiled, "Yeah… yeah I do."

As we wandered through the egg-white halls of the Reed Richards Science Center I completely forgot about the unread message sitting on my phone. Instead my mind flooded with memories of altering my mech with SP/dr, way back in 3142. Bittersweet memories, as I would never have had to come here if Dad hadn't died.

We walked past the huge silver doors to the robotics lab. The lights were dim. We were so early no one had even arrived to work yet.

Anna must be the first one here every day, after Betty.

I took one peek through the windows before we moved on, but I couldn't make anything out except for the huge 3D printer. I grinned at SP/dr.

"Do you think we should get 'em to print some spoilers for the mech before we leave?"

I could feel his disapproval.

"Aww you're no fun!"

Cindy gave me a puzzled look, "I didn't realize you could literally talk to him like that."

"Oh I can't," I explained as we continued down the wide hallway, "but I can get the gist of what he's saying. I don't hear words or anything like that, but pictures, sound, emotions… those things come through crystal clear. Like a silent movie or something, you know?"

"Can you turn it off?"

"Turn it off…? Why would I turn it off?"

She shrugged, "I was just thinking it'd be pretty noisy with someone else's thoughts constantly entering your head."

I frowned.

It doesn't feel noisy… is it noisy for you, SP/dr?

I glanced down at my co-pilot, a fuzzy little blob on my hand. He seemed pretty content.

Good.

A few turns and a couple of potted plants later we finally arrived at gene lab two. Unlike the labs that surrounded it, gene lab two didn't have windows, but you could see the cool blue of the synthetic lights trickling out from under the tomato red door.

I guess it doesn't need to be airtight.

"This friend of yours… is she nice?" Cindy asked as I grabbed the door's metal handle.

"Totally!" I replied, pushing it open, "But she's not great at first impressions."

As if on cue Anna appeared before us, gloved up and masked up, with tinted goggles and a box full of wriggling goo in her hands, "Stand back kids, this thing's lively!"

We both hurried back, giving her a wide berth as she stomped out of the lab. Her coat was so big for her that it dragged across the floor.

Cindy whispered into my ear, "She's really-"

Anna's eyes shot across the hall and locked onto us with laser precision, "Yes, I'm a dwarf. No, I'm not deaf."

Cindy look mortified, "I wasn't gonna-"

"Don't sweat it kid. You aren't the first, won't be the last. So what, you two dating or something? You make a cute couple."

"No! We're just friends!" I yelled.

Anna didn't so much as raise an eyebrow, "Alright Peni, calm down, we get it: you're still in the closet."

"No that's not-"

The goo in the box started to writhe about violently, "I better get this little monster sealed up. Follow me. We can talk while we walk."

Despite her size, Anna was a fast walker. She strode down the hallway like she was Captain America. All she needed was a shield and flashy costume and she'd be set.

"So," she said, "you're telling me this girl - what's your name again?"

"Cindy."

"Cindy, now that name rings a bell."

I explained, "I've told you about her before, on the phone."

"That's right, she's the other weird one in your class."

Cindy gave me a look.

"Well, we are kinda the weird kids, aren't we?"

Anna continued, "So she shoots webs out of her hands. That's right isn't it? Webs? Involuntarily no less."

I nodded, "That's right."

"And you want me to… what? Stop it?"

Cindy did her best to keep up with Anna's pace, "If my parents find out, if Oscorp finds out-"

"Ah right, Oscorp, of course. Say no more."

I was starting to get out of breath, "So can you do it?"

She thought for a moment, "No."

"No!?" Cindy and I cried in unison.

"No," Anna repeated, "But luckily for you, the guy who can decided to clock in early today."

"You mean Doctor Connors?" I asked.

Suddenly Anna stopped. I almost tripped over my own feet as I span around to face her. She was staring at a white door.

"Anna?"

The box was still jerking around wildly.

She looked my way, "Could you open the door for me? Kinda got my hands full."

Cindy stepped in, "I'll get it."

She opened the door, watching closely as Anna wobbled through. We both followed after.

"Aha!" greeted a cheerful voice, "you managed to extract the little devil! Marvelous!"

The voice belonged to a tall man in a dark skintight suit. It looked like something a wrestler would wear. He had a thick beard, brown with flecks of gray, and his eyes shone brightly as he took the strange goo from Anna and put it into a metal box.

"Twenty dollars says it survives the journey," he said as he tweaked various knobs and dials on a makeshift keyboard hanging from the wall, "What do you think, Anna?"

A faint smile crossed her lips, "I think you're out of your god damn mind, Professor."

He laughed, "I won't argue with that."

Suddenly the box lit up. Sparks and flashes of light coiled around the container. It started to fizzle, smoke, then all at once it stopped, and-

-DING, another container, placed on the opposite side of the room, flung open its door.

The professor ran over, "Well, well?"

Anna held out her hand, "You owe me twenty bucks."

"Blast it! I was sure it'd work this time!"

I held my hand up, "Uhm… what's going on?"

The two scientists stared at us in silence, then the professor explained, "Instantaneous transmission, young lady."

I frowned, "Can't we already do that?"

"Not for living organisms we can't. But I know that it's possible! It has to be!"

Cindy gasped, "So you mean, that blob thing, it's-"

"Dead, yes. But fear not, it was never alive, not in any meaningful sense. It's a clone of a clone. Specifically, it's a synthetic imitation of cells taken from tissue in my left arm."

Now I was even more confused, "From tissue in your arm?"

"Yes, we took some adipose, animated it, then entangled it on a quantum level with a specially synthesized material. The material in question can perfectly mimic the state of being of anything it is entangled with. By entangling it with living, non-sentient tissue, I can transform it so that for all intents and purposes it is living tissue."

"Except it's not actually alive."

"Exactly."

I stared at the container the clone had been sent to, "Is it painful? For the blob thing."

He rubbed his chin, "It shouldn't be. It doesn't actually have living tissue such as nerve cells and what have you, it just reacts as if it does."

"But you're not sure?"

"I'm as certain as I possibly can be. If I told you it definitely isn't painful I'd be supposing a level of certainty that I simply do not have. But I'm confident in my assumption. I have to be. This is the only way to do this experiment humanely. The only other option would be to use actual living organisms, and they'd need to be complex too, not just single cells."

Cindy asked the question that was on my mind, "Do you mean like, animals?"

"Yes, something like that."

My stomach lurched, "No! You can't! You can't put an animal in there!"

He ruffled my hair, "Don't worry young lady, I have no intention of harming anything in my experiments. Science may offer us limitless possibilities, but that doesn't mean we should explore them all indiscriminately."

He grinned, "Besides, I couldn't use live subjects even if I wanted to! It's simply too expensive. Cloning my own tissue is much cheaper than any of the alternatives, as the tools I employ are reusable and I own the patent for the all-important mimic material."

"I didn't realize animals were so expensive…"

"You'd be surprised. Oscorp has a monopoly on the biomechanics market. Even farmed animals fetch a high price."

In my mind's eye, SP/dr showed me an image of insects stacked one on top of the other in clear boxes.

That's right… you were an experiment too…

The professor yanked a lab coat off a hook on the wall and turned to Anna, "Well, it seems I have to go back to the drawing board. You have my cells, so start the cloning process up again."

He took one step out of the door. Before he could take another Cindy grabbed the sleeve of his coat, "Wait!"

He looked back, "Hm?"

"Aren't you gonna help me?"

"Help you? Ah, did I forget one of my appointments again? I don't remember agreeing to help any children but as you can see I've been busy so it's not outside the realm of possibility that-"

"No, we haven't got an appointment or anything," she explained, "but Anna was saying that there was someone who could help me."

I interrupted, "You meant Doctor Connors, right Anna?"

Please Anna, you can't seriously be relying on this crazy man to-

Anna shook her head, "No, your friend is on the money, kid. Professor Richards is your guy."

The professor seemed to find it all very amusing, "You arranged this behind my back did you, Anna? Apparently my reputation precedes me. Very well! How can I help you then, young lady?"

At that moment Cindy bowled over, clutching her stomach.

"Cindy!?" I cried, holding her to stop her from falling flat on her face.

Then it happened. Webs blasted out of her wrists, a huge mass of silk all at once. One blast pinned me to the wall, the other gunked up the instant transmission equipment. The professor stroked his chin again.

"I see," he said in a low voice, "intriguing. So you're a mutant?"

Cindy rested her hands on her knees, panting, "I didn't used to be."

I tried to wriggle free from the web, but it was strong stuff. SP/dr gnawed at the strands under my neck, but he couldn't so much as make a dent in it.

The professor continued, "So how long have you had this… ability for?"

"Since yesterday, but my wrists have been hurting for months."

"And you haven't taken any new medication?"

"No."

"No radiation exposure?"

"No, none."

I struggled under the dense silk, "Can people just do that? Mutate for no reason?"

He looked at me, "Humans are mutating all the time. The cancer vaccine is just an anti-mutagenic agent."

"Yeah but people don't usually get super powers out of nowhere."

He smirked, "Don't be so sure. Anyway, I will look into this for you, but I'll need blood, tissue and urine samples."

Cindy groaned, "Really? You need my pee?"

He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and started typing into it furiously, "May I ask: are you currently menstruating?"

"Excuse me?"

"Reproductive cells can be useful in the case of whole-body mutations, that's all. Nothing to be squeamish about. Now, as for this silk…"

He started prodding me. Then he picked up a sharp-looking knife from a nearby desk.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" I said, "This web is really tight."

His face was dead serious, "How attached are you to these clothes?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "It's my school uniform so… very?"

"Hmm, that makes things difficult. Wait here while I get a dissolving agent."

After taking a sample from the other mass of webbing he dashed out of the room without saying another word. Anna looked at her watch.

"You'll wanna get settled in. He's gonna be a while."

I waved my dangling legs back and forth idly, "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"What time does school start?"

"About eight."

"Eight, huh…"

Cindy sat down on one of the chairs, "What time is it now?"

Anna cracked her knuckles, "Time to give you a blood test."

After Cindy had had her bloods taken and I'd been successfully dissolved off of the wall, we waited for Professor Richards on an old sofa in the printing room, beside a couple of shiny white vending machines. All the craziness had drained what little energy I had left. Now my body was just a dead weight melting into the sofa's cushions. Groggily, I unscrewed my half-drunk bottle of cola. Liquid alertness. Just the smell made my mouth water.

"You sure you don't want a drink, Cindy?"

She stared into the tiled floor, "No, I'm good."

I leaned back and downed some of the sugary solution, trying to think of something to say. As I re-sealed my soda I noticed SP/dr had vacated his usual spot on my shoulder and wandered over to Cindy.

"Peni, am I being stupid?"

"In what way?"

"Maybe I should just tell them."

"Your parents?"

"It's not even like it's a cool power."

SP/dr crawled onto her forearm. She didn't seem to notice.

"You're not stupid," I said, holding back a yawn, "I'd be nervous too."

"You would?"

"Yeah! If I had silk bursting from my wrists at random intervals, I don't know what I'd do!"

Cindy rubbed her eyes. She looked as tired as I felt, "Do you think they can get rid of it?"

"Well," I began, not knowing how I was gonna continue, "he did say he was gonna give you medicine."

"Mmm…" she agreed, finally becoming aware of the tiny arachnid on her arm. "You know, I think your spider is the only spider that I'd actually call cute."

"Well that's cos he is! Aren't you, buddy?"

Suddenly my phone started buzzing.

I thought I set it to silent?

I could feel it vibrating in my backpack between my legs. I could hear it rattling as it juddered against the hard floor.

A phone call…?

I quickly unzipped the bag and yanked my phone out. It was Aunt May. The look on Cindy's face told me that even without words she knew… we were in trouble.

"Aunt May!" I said brightly.

"You didn't reply to my message."

"Your message? Oh, my phone was on silent. You know, for classes."

"Classes don't start for another half hour."

"Well we're waiting outside the school now," I lied, "it didn't take as long as I thought it would."

She didn't reply. I looked at Cindy and pretended to slit my throat with my free hand.

"Peni," Aunt May's serious voice, really not good, "I saw something on Gene Pop this morning."

"Why are you reading that garbage?"

"To protect you, sweetie. I need to know the kinds of things they're saying about you."

"It's all lies."

"I know. But one of them worried me. I thought I'd call and check with you that it's not true."

I could feel it coming, the bad news, "…what's worrying you?"

"They're running this story about you and Cindy going to the Reed Richards Science Center."

What!? Why are they dragging Cindy into this?

It occurred to me then that I hadn't turned my phone's GPS off. It wouldn't take much for Aunt May to find out the story was true. I tried to keep my breathing steady.

"Reed Richards? No, we're at school. Anna wouldn't even be there this early anyway."

I could almost see the blood draining from Cindy's face.

"That's what I thought," Aunt May continued, "except they had a photo."

"It's gotta be a deepfake," I said, my nerves trickling into my voice, "they had fake photos of me in a bikini at one point."

"I know what you're saying, but something about this feels different."

"Seriously, it's fine. Don't worry."

"…Okay," she said, pausing for a moment before she continued, "I just wanted to check. I'm sure you remember what happened last time you went there unsupervised."

"Things were different then."

"I know. I trust you."

She didn't sound like she trusted me, but I had to take her word for it, "Thanks Aunt May."

"You left your gym clothes here though."

I felt my neck go stiff, "Sorry?"

"You have gym today, don't you?"

We did.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I must've forgot. I didn't sleep great. You know, cos of everything that happened at Oscorp."

"I understand. I'm sure Mr. Osborn will give you the mech back today. But about gym-"

"I'll tell them I can't do it. It's no big deal. Showering with everyone is kinda awkward anyway."

"Don't give me that," she chided, "Gym is important! It helps build teamwork, and it keeps you healthy."

"I get plenty of exercise, Aunt May!"

"But this is fun exercise."

"It is definitely not fun."

"Look, you need to do gym. I have time before work, so I'll bring your stuff up for you. You're outside the main entrance, I take it?"

My mind went blank. Cindy looked horrified. Could she hear what we were saying?

Aunt May noticed the silence, "Peni?"

I forced myself to reply, "Uh, yeah, yeah I'm there, we're there, outside the main entrance."

"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes then. Love you sweetie!"

"Love you too!"

I hung up. My hands were shaking again.

"Sooo… did you hear-"

"Yes. All of it."

"We have to go."

She glowered at me, "Why did you tell her we were at school!?"

"I… I thought, I know you wanted to keep your powers a secret and-"

She sank into the chair, "This sucks so much. We're never gonna get there in time."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's… it's fine," she mumbled into her hands, scaring SP/dr off of her arm, "She probably woulda come out no matter what you said."

"I don't think she's told your parents anything yet, at least."

Cindy rubbed her face, "I hope not. What was it she said about a photo?"

"Gene Pop are running some stupid story about you and me coming here."

She pulled out her phone. I felt SP/dr find his way back onto my hand.

"Cindy? What are you doing?"

"Checking Gene Pop."

My chest felt heavy, "You probably shouldn't-"

"Might as well see the story they wrote about me. It's my first time after all."

"Seriously, it's not worth it."

She looked me in the eye, sweat shining on her brow, "Don't you wanna know what they said about you? About us?"

Her voice was shaky. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't find the words I needed. Her gaze returned to the artificial glow of her phone screen. Fighting back a growing feeling of nausea I leaned across to see the story for myself. Sure enough there we were, standing outside that beat-up garage door. The headline: CORPORATE ESPIONAGE.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I said. Cindy remained silent.

Why the heck would they fake a story like this? Why the Reed Richards Center? Why now?

I couldn't tear my eyes away from it. Way back when they first started writing fake stories about me I thought that it'd get easier over time. Nearly every celebrity has a scandal or two, or three. Some have a new one every day. You just ignore it. That's what I thought, I can just ignore it, and I did, in a way. When you don't open the app you don't need to see the stories. When you don't talk to people at school you don't need to hear what they think about you. When you spend all your time in a battle mech it just doesn't matter what Gene Pop writes. No matter how awful things may look, when you close your eyes it might as well not exist. It's an effective strategy.

Or at least it was, when it only affected me.

"Cindy, it's okay," I said as she scrolled down a whole paragraph dedicated to questioning the validity of her parents' citizenship.

"Oh god…Peni…"

A tear dropped onto the screen of her phone and trickled down past her thumb. I pulled her into a gentle hug.

"I'm so sorry, Cindy," I said into her hair, "This is my fault."

She was shaking so much that she was almost making me shake, "Peni, how do they know all this stuff about me?"

"They probably just guessed."

She sobbed, "No but it's… it's so accurate. How do they know?"

"I won't let them hurt you Cindy."

"I can't breathe."

"Cindy-"

"Peni I can't, I can't-"

Then suddenly as if out of nowhere Professor Richards sprang in front of us.

"Right!" he said cheerfully, shoving a jar of pills in Cindy's face, "Here's the medicine. You'll want to take it three times a-"

Cindy slapped it out of his hand and screeched, "FUCK YOUR MEDICINE!"

Her phone fell out of her lap and onto the floor with a metallic thud. The professor stood frozen in shock, his mouth open just enough to reveal the top row of his perfectly white teeth. SP/dr dashed up my neck and retreated into the safety of my tangled hair. I waited, holding my breath without being fully aware of it, only noticing when I exhaled in relief as the professor finally broke the silence and said, "Is something wrong?"

Cindy just stared at him wordlessly, her eyes looking to somewhere beyond the empty room we were waiting in. I turned to the professor.

"We need to get to Mason Banks, and fast."

He squinted in confusion, "What? Why is that?"

"It'd take too long to explain."

"Mason Banks… that's Oscorp's school, isn't it? The middle school?"

"Well it's technically an elementary, middle and high school but - wait that's not important! We just need to get to the main entrance as soon as possible, please!"

He picked the medication up off the floor, "Is someone threatening you?"

"No it's…it's complicated. We can handle it."

"It's okay to ask for help, you know?"

"Driving us to the school would be all the help we need, if you can do it."

He held the jar of pills out to me, his lips curved in a soft smile, "Of course I can. It's the least I can do to repay you for everything you do for this city."

Cindy, who'd gone still during our conversation, shuddered as the professor pulled out his car key.

"Cindy?" I said, concerned.

"I'm fine," she insisted, picking up her phone, "Let's… let's just…"

"It's okay, you haven't gotta say anything."

The three of us walked through the lab's maze of corridors towards the professor's car as quickly as we could. He'd parked it in the same place the entrance was, right next to the huge elevator hidden in the floor. The elevator-floor was currently raised up, pretending to be the base of the run-down garage. It was held up by enormous metal pistons wrapped in a rainbow spaghetti of wires. Beyond the pistons was the employee parking lot, illuminated by a couple of yellow ceiling lights.

"You want the blue one," he said as a distant car flashed and beeped at us from behind a minivan.

The seats were super soft and comfy, and the doors didn't groan or creak as they silently slid closed. I glanced over at Cindy; she was back on her phone, doomscrolling.

"Cindy, come on."

I placed my hand over the screen. Her eyes were still wet with tears. Wordlessly she nodded, and put the phone down on the seat beside her.

"Tomorrow everyone's gonna forget about this," I reassured her, "It's me they want, not you."

Professor Richards pushed a button on the dashboard. Static flared over the speakers, then out of the noise came Betty's voice, "Y'ello?"

"Betty, it's Reed. I'm going to take a short drive. Could you lower the platform please?"

"Sure thing, Professor!"

"Thank you."

I watched as the pistons slowly retracted into the concrete, sinking down, deflating as the wires coiled in and the elevator clunked into position. When it was done it looked natural, as if it had always been there in the parking lot, as if all the mechanisms beneath it had never even existed.

We hovered over the platform. As soon as we were in position, and without any prompting, the concrete elevator began to rise back up again.

My spider sense didn't go off even once. How could I not notice that someone had followed us here? Unless we weren't followed. Maybe they had cameras laid out ahead of time.

That was something too elaborate even for Gene Pop. Faking an image was easy, there was no need to take a real photograph. They made fakes of me all the time. But never of Cindy, not until today. I opened the app up on my own phone and found the story. The photo stared back at me like an unpleasant mirage. It seemed to have been taken at the exact moment I knocked on the garage door. It looked real, too, at least to the naked eye - but then they all did, even the fake I knew, deep down inside me, a gut instinct; I knew… it was real.

Someone really took this.

And I already knew who that someone was, too. I opened up the messages I'd been ignoring. The oldest was from Aunt May, just like she said, asking if I'd got to school safely, asking why I'd left so early. The rest were exactly what I expected.

[How does it feel to have no mech, Peni? How does it feel to be powerless?]

[You're nothing without that glorified hunk of metal. 'New York's Hero'? Hah! You disgust me]

[I'm watching you, Peni. I'm always watching you]

[I'm going to show them all who you really are]

I clenched my fist around the phone, digging my fingers into its sides till my wrist hurt. The stalker had gone too far this time.

I'm gonna make you pay for this, you monster.

Cindy tapped my shoulder. I thwipped my head in her direction, "You okay?"

She looked a lot better than she did a few minutes ago, "Do you still have that soda?"

I reached into my backpack. Sure enough, there it was.

Wasn't gonna just leave this bad boy behind.

I handed her the half-drunk soda and she glugged down a few mouthfuls.

"You're gonna get my cooties now," I joked.

She managed a quiet smile, "I guess I am."

The professor looked over his shoulder, "You should take one of the pills while you're at it."

Her smile vanished, "Oh, yeah."

She swallowed the medicine and handed the soda back to me. There was almost none left now, but that didn't mean I wasn't gonna try and soak up every last drop I could.

"We'll be at your school in a moment," Professor Richards said, "Before we part ways I want you to know: whatever's going on, you can always count on the support of the Science Center."

"Thank you Professor Richards."

"No need to thank me, Peni. It's my duty, in fact I think it is the duty of every human being in this world to use their abilities to help those in need. In my case, I was blessed with great intellect. Some people say I'm the smartest man on Earth, though maybe they don't say it quite as often as they used to…"

He laughed to himself, then addressing Cindy with a warm smile added, "I know what it's like to get bad press, young lady. It'll pass, trust me. They'll forget eventually. They always do."

You're wrong there, I thought as we pulled into the parking lot of Mason Banks' main entrance, they never seem to forget me.

As we stepped out he whispered, "I'll be in touch about you know what."

We waved him goodbye and he drove off. A few minutes later Aunt May pulled up in front of us. Her eyes were glued to Cindy as she handed me the bag with my gym outfit in.

"How are you doing, Cindy?" she asked, worry written across her face.

"Oh," Cindy replied, "I'm… okay."

I jumped in, "She's tired. We both got up real early."

Aunt May immediately fired back with another question, "How early?"

"Uh, well," I stuttered, "you know… early."

"I would've been happy to drive you to school, you know?"

"I needed the fresh air."

Cindy sniffled. Now Aunt May turned to me, "Oh my god your knees, what happened to your knees?"

"It was real dark. I tripped on a bottle."

"Have you cleaned these wounds?"

"Yeah we- uh, I mean, I had some stuff in my backpack."

She stared at me. I tried not to look nervous.

"You'll have to let the nurse know. They probably need dressing."

"I'll let 'em know as soon as we get inside."

She didn't look satisfied, but she didn't ask any more awkward questions. She glanced at her watch.

"I better go. Have a nice day you two, and stay out of trouble. Peni, we can get your mech on the way back. I'll explain the Gene Pop situation to Mr. Osborn for you as well."

"Got it. Thanks!"

"Take care!" she waved as she walked back to her car.

Cindy waved in return. I checked the time on my phone.

"Holy crap, it's almost time for class! We better go in!"

We hurried through the main gates, past the security guard and on to one of the many locker-filled halls. As I jammed my gym gear into my locker for later I heard a familiar snickering nearby.

"Hey Parker, I see you're with your new girlfriend."

I closed the door and was greeted with the smug grin of Flash Thompson. I didn't glorify his dumb comment with a response.

"Come on Cindy, let's go," I said, taking her hand.

Flash followed us, "Aww did I hurt your feelings, short stack? I feel more sorry for your girl, being stuck with a runt like you."

We kept walking.

"Everyone's talkin' about it," he continued, his lackey Kong giggling like an idiot by his side, "I don't know which of you is packin' but with the amount of white stuff that came out… I'm just sayin' - someone's hiding a meaty secret, am I right?"

Cindy came to a halt. I noticed then that everyone in the hall was staring at us.

"Peni…" Cindy whispered, "white stuff… you don't think they mean-"

I turned and faced Flash, "Listen to me, you moron, I don't care what dumb rumors you've been spreading, but Cindy and I aren't dating, and no one has any 'meaty secrets', whatever the hell that means."

He held his hands up, "Don't shoot the messenger, small fry. It's not me that spread the news this time. You can thank Gene Pop for that."

I tutted, "That dumb corporate espionage story? It's fake, like all the rest of the crap they say about me."

He cackled, "Oh my god, you haven't seen it have you? Kong, man, she doesn't know."

Kong parroted his blonde buddy, "She doesn't know, Flash."

I crossed my arms, "What don't I know?"

I felt Cindy tug on my shirt, "Peni, it's-"

Flash shoved his phone in my face. As I read the headline ('SECRET LOVERS?') a video started playing. Footage of a dark street, below ground.

Is that…?

1st Avenue. The camera focuses on a shadowy alleyway. Heavy breathing over the mic. 'Peni… Peni…'

That's Cindy's voice…

White gunk shoots onto the walls, just about visible in the darkness. A sigh of relief. I step out of the alley. Cindy follows.

Flash could barely contain himself, "Aren't you still a middleschooler? Man, Cindy," he pointed at her, snickering like an idiot, "You fucked a middle schooler. Fucking cradle snatcher."

"I didn't!" she yelled.

"Cindy the cradle snatcher!"

"I didn't! We didn't! Nothing happened! Nothing is-… Peni, tell him!"

I'd had enough. I'd had enough of Gene Pop. I'd had enough of fake news. I'd had enough of being told what to do by Oscorp. I'd had enough of that goddamn stalker. But most of all, at that moment, I'd had enough of Flash fucking Thompson.

Taking the advice of a video I watched on youtube, I balled my hand into a fist, slipped my thumb over my fingers and swung my arm forward with all the force I could muster. I hit my target, a clean bullseye right on that blonde bonehead's nuts. As my fist connected with his crotch he let out a scream that was more animal than human. Like a dying kaijuu he crumpled to the floor with a satisfying thud. He rolled side to side, whimpered, swore over and over, but he didn't get up. Still angry, I glared at Kong. He was rightly afraid of what I could do. He made the wise decision and ran off.

Soon the adrenaline rush faded and I came to my senses. Sweat was streaming down my arms. I turned back to Cindy; she looked horrified.

"Phew," I sighed, "I think that's the first time I've punched someone who wasn't a crook."

Cindy nodded absentmindedly. The other students in the hall began to shuffle away, occasionally glancing at us over their shoulders. I remembered the Gene Pop story.

I should tell her. I should tell her that I know who it is.

As if she read my mind the words left her lips, "Who's doing this?"

She held her head in her hands. If I told her, it would only get worse.

Can it even get worse than this?

It could. I had no idea what Oscorp would do if they found out Cindy was mutating. That's assuming the stalker didn't just kill her outright to spite me.

The stalker's not gonna stop, no matter what I do. This is just the beginning.

That's right. This was just a taste. Everyone I knew was at risk, as long as they were near me.

That's what the stalker wants. To isolate me.

But I didn't have a choice. At least if I gave the stalker what they wanted they might leave the others alone.

I need my mech…

Suddenly Cindy pulled me in for a hug.

"Peni," she cried, her voice muffled in my hair, "make it stop."

I squeezed her close, "I will Cindy. I'll do whatever it takes, I promise."

The school bell rang. I closed my tired eyes. It was gonna be a long day.