"So tell us what she said," Luna repeated. "Word for word, if you have to."
Luan shifted in her seat. "She said she tried to sleep away her problems. I just thought she was tired, maybe a little bummed out, but…"
"She's not in a good place," Luna summarized.
Luan shook her head.
"So the changes in her behavior aren't necessarily because of the explosion," Lisa thought out loud. "Or perhaps the radiation enflamed it."
"There's nothing wrong."
The three girls turned their heads to the lone boy in the room. His head was lowered, his back was leaned against the wall, and he had a sour look on his face.
"There's nothing wrong with her." he repeated.
The girls shared a look before returning it to their brother.
"Linc," Luna tried, "Dude… It's not like we're conspiring against her. We're worried about her. You saw what that radiation did to those criminals. How do we know it's not doing the same thing to her?"
"Because she's helping people!" Lincoln shouted, "She's doing good things! How is helping people a bad thing?!"
He took a breath, and when he looked at Luna he added, "Unlike you! All you've done is put her down!"
Luna put a hand on his shoulder, trying to find the right words, but Lisa changed the subject.
"It's not the action, it's the emotion behind it," she said. When the others looked at her quizzically, she explained further. "Well, that's the theory so far. Crusher is a bank robber, so perhaps his eagerness, greed, and pride afflicted his actions; while also providing the physical strength to act. Meltdown lost his mother and was perhaps working out his anger at the gym when he was hit. Dream Queen was depressed, and perhaps feeling more nihilistic than usual. And Leni…"
The room fell silent.
"What was Leni doing, exactly?" Luan wondered.
"O-M-G! Can you believe we have an actual superhero?!"
"I still feel like I'm dreaming!"
"Eh, I give it a week before she goes crazy like the rest of them."
These comments and more filled the air of the mall as Leni folded the clothes. People are out and about again, and Leni was called into work to help with the rush. She was happy to help; after weeks of stress and punching people, the monotonous act of folding clothes, or answering questions about size, or just giving off a fashion related opinion, was therapeutic to her. The only difference between this and shopping was where the money was going.
"What do you think, Leni?" one of her coworkers, Fiona, called over to her.
"Hmm?" Leni answered, folding clothes and off in her own little world.
"The superhero," Fiona reiterated. "Sky Girl!"
"Oh, uh…"
Leni thought back to her conversation with Lincoln: about how to keep a secret identity… secret. One of the methods is to be a little harsh on your secret identity. "Offer something you think you could do better," Lincoln had told her. "No superhero is their own biggest fan."
"She could do better," Leni answered.
Fiona blinked. "Wow, really?"
"Yeah," Leni set down the sweater she just finished. "I mean, she's so violent, and mean. I don't think she should be punching people so much."
"Leni," Miguel reasoned. "They're criminals."
"Still…" Leni lamented. Her friends shrugged.
Before Leni could break her wrist by patting herself on the back too hard, a scream cut through the air. All heads snapped to the malls main hall. Something fired itself to the ceiling- some kind of rope- pulling a figure from the ground level through the air. People gasped. Leni gasped.
"Was that…?" Miguel wondered.
"I… think so…" Fiona agreed.
Everyone started to shuffle out of the store. Leni was in just as much awe as the rest of them. It couldn't have been…
She ran to the break room, where her bag is: which contained her phone, and a particular change of clothes.
"Leni?" Fiona called. "Where are you going?"
"I'm getting my phone!" she called back. "I need to get a picture!"
It was an excellent excuse, and it gave everyone else in earshot the idea to try and get their own pictures. Leni retreated to the other room. She was able to change into her costume in record time, and flew out above everyone else's heads. People shouted and cheered, flattering the girl. She gave a shy wave with a smile, and resumed her focus on the task at hand.
There, on the ceiling, and exiting through the skylight, was a wallcrawling teenager, wearing a Spiderman costume.
He was also carrying a bag, and the sirens below are screaming that they've been robbed. Maybe Spiderman would know something about that.
She flew up through the skylight, following the fleeing teenager across the rooftop.
"Hey!" she called out. "I hope you have a good explanation for having that bag of jewelry!"
The guy turned around and stopped, staring at her. It was a shoddy costume, straight out of a Halloween shop. The hands and feet were bare, and the mask didn't even connect to the rest of the suit. There was a shoelace string tied across his shoulders.
Whoever this guy was, a skilled tailor he was not.
"You're breaking a lot of hearts today, you know that?" Leni hand her hands on her hips. "Particularly Tom Holland fans."
Spiderman flopped his hands at his sides, giving a "sorry-not-sorry" shrug.
"Superheroes gotta eat," he argued. "You know how it is."
Leni drifted down and walked towards the boy with her guard up.
"Drop the bag," she ordered, "And surrender. I'll make sure you're treated fairly."
"Treated Fairly?" The imposter Spiderman mused. He dropped the bag and held his hands up. "Te equivocaste hermosa. You got it all wrong, beautiful. Cops don't treat anyone fairly. You're either feared, or your nothing."
"We'll have to agree to disagree," Leni answered as she approached him.
She grabbed his wrist, and was ready to take him to the police, but he grabbed her wrist in response, flipping her over his shoulder and slamming her to the ground. Leni looked up, dazed, as the costume stood over her.
"Agree to disagree," he echoed. There was something over his shoulder, and it was pointing down at her.
Leni rolled away and dashed forward. She kept a few feet of distance between the two of them and regained her bearings.
Spiderman had gained a couple of extra limbs. Two spikes were hovering above his shoulders, attached to long stalks with multiple joints that sprouted from his back.
"It's a nice trick," the ever-deforming Spiderman casually mentioned. "But it's not as good as what I can do."
He pulled off his mask and tore the costume to ribbons. He was wearing a white undershirt and some brown cargo shorts, but that was the last thing Leni noticed. He was covered in black hair, head to feet. His feet had two prongs, instead of toes, and the tips of his fingers had claws at the ends of them. His face had two set of beady red eyes, and a pair of fangs that flashed every time he grinned. The spiked appendages had doubled, providing four massive spider legs.
Leni wanted to cry. She wanted to curl up and die. Some other superhero can come along and handle this. Why did it have to be her?!
"We met before," the Spider-monstrosity told her. "You were having a… En equipo… A Team-up. Avengers, and all that. I was the one who got away.
"Now I got this power," he clenched his own hands. "The biggest freaking high I've ever had! I'm doing more than just surviving, I'm thriving now! Not just a spider anymore…
"I'm the wolf!" he declared. "Or, better yet… the Wolf-Spider!"
Leni whimpered, curling up in mid air.
"And once I kill you," he pointed at her, "I'll get enough cred to run this town!"
"No." Leni shook her head, floating backwards. "No, no, no, no!"
She turned and flew away. Tears were in her eyes.
She couldn't handle this. She didn't want to do this anymore. Somebody else can be the superhero and she can go home and crawl under her blankets!
She flew through the city, just trying to get away from the villain, but the more she ran, the more thoughts ran through her head. She slowed to a stop, floating over an intersection with her head bowed in deep thought. Could she really do this? Could she really be so… cowardly? She hated spiders, yes, but that guy isn't just a spider, that's a person! She can't just leave a criminal to run wild.
She pulled out her phone (suddenly thankful that she thought to add a "utility belt" to her costume) and called her brother.
"Lincoln?" she prompted when the phone picked up. "It's me."
"Leni?" Lincoln wondered. "What's wrong?"
Words started to flow out of her mouth. Her brain on full panic mode.
"Okay so I thought I was catching a Spiderman thief but he wasn't a Spiderman thief and I followed him and I thought it'd be easy or cool that Spiderman would exist because Tom Holland is cute but he's not Tom Holland he's a criminal that just got hairy spider legs and creepy beady eyes and he's covered in hair! And-"
"Leni," Lincoln called, "Leni! Breathe!"
Leni exhaled a big puff of air. She started breathing back in, just on the edge of hyperventilating. She swears the flags swayed on their poles because of her.
"You said it was a spider-guy, right?"
"Yeah…" Leni drooped. "I'm sorry, Lincoln. I ran. I just… I freaked out."
"It's okay, Leni," Lincoln assured her. "I'm going to hang up on the phone, okay? I'm contacting you on the earpiece."
"Okay." She hung up and put her phone away. There was a sudden chill up her spine, and she turned to see the shadow of a pursuer she didn't realize was stalking her.
"Gotcha!"
Leni was tackled downwards, the two bodies spinning and landing on the sidewalk with a hard thud.
"No escape," Wolf-Spider stood over her. The people around them were staring in horror. "You're mine, now."
"No!"
Leni kicked off the ground, shooting herself forty feet into the air. She looked back down and saw the Spider leaping up after her. She dove out of the way, letting Spider land on the side of the building next to her.
"Can't run forever," the villain promised. "I'm the Spider, and you're the fly."
"Yeesh. Original, and disgusting," Luan commented. "Stay away from him, Leni!"
Spider made another lunge at the girl, leaping off the building to get at her. Leni dodged him again, and watched him land on the four legs sticking out of his back.
"Leni. Run," Luna ordered.
Leni dashed away, flying down the street, but keeping an eye on Wolf-Spider as she fled. Spider, using his new agility, skittered after her. He climbed up the wall with ease and followed her.
"He's… not using webs," Lincoln noted in Leni's ear. "He's not swinging around."
"That's good," Luna added. "He can't grab her that way."
"Maybe now would probably be time to call an exterminator," Lola noted in the background.
"Or maybe just get a flamethrower," Lynn helpfully added.
"Guys," Lincoln called. "Focus."
Leni watched as the villain climbed the walls next to her, rising above her, and lunging at her.
"Kill you!"
Leni screamed. A flash of red heat streaked between the two of them, smacking the villain away.
"Bullseye!" a voice from above called.
Leni looked up to see her ex-friend, standing on the ledge of a building.
"TJ," Leni recognized.
"Oh boy," Lola sighed. "Here comes the drama."
Leni looked at the villain, now splayed out on the dented roof of a car. His chest had a scorch mark across it, and he groaned in pain.
She decided to go see the teen who saved her. He had been wandering about, unchecked, for a couple of weeks now. They're long overdue for a talk.
"Meltdown," She crossed her arms.
"What?" He tilted his head.
"Meltdown," she repeated. She started to feel ever more self-conscious as she explained herself. "That's your… super… villain… name…"
The two stared at each other for a minute, before yet another voice pierced the air, cackling with laughter.
"Pffft-Hahaha!" the girl approached them, holding her sides. "That's right on the money! She's got you pegged, dude!"
The girl had her own little style to her. She had a cute little leather jacket, a black skirt, a pair of black boots, and aviators. Her T-shirt was white with a cracked pink skull on it. Her hair was flipped off to the side, with a slice of it dyed purple. Her hands were completely covered up to her elbows in some kind of black and purple substance. It looked like oil.
She put her hands on her hips, with a wild grin on her face.
"You're Meltdown now," she declared. "Deal with it."
"Don't I get say in this?" the pyro asked. "We agreed my name would be-"
"Nope!" she interrupted. "Meltdown."
TJ glowered at his partner for a moment but just shook his head.
"I heard you got a name now," TJ crossed his arms. "Sky Girl, right?"
"Be on your guard, girl." Luna advised.
"Yes." Leni answered, giving nothing else away.
"Well," TJ continued, "This is my new buddy, Ink. We've been working together."
"That's nice," Leni tried not to fume. "Thank you for your help. And thank you for not killing anybody today. But I need to go take in Spider now."
"Whoa, whoa, hey," TJ waved her back. "Hold up a sec. I wasn't just in the neighborhood, you know. We've been looking for this guy."
"You have?" Leni wondered.
"Uh-oh." Lincoln muttered.
"Word's been getting around," TJ explained. "This guy has a stash of superpowers for sale."
"I'm sorry, what?" Lynn exploded. "Where is it!?"
Leni held a hand to her ear in an attempt to silence her sister. A lot of muffled talk could be heard over on the other end of it, trying to subdue Lynn.
"Seriously though," Lola commented. "Where is this deal happening?"
"You okay there?" Ink wondered.
"She's got a setup talking in her ear," TJ explained. "I'm going to say… other kids? Friends? No, siblings. Maybe excited about getting superpowers of their own?"
Ink cocked an eyebrow, and Leni felt herself cringe. Can she have any secrets? Just one? Is that too much to ask?
"Huh," Ink only said, "Well, when her team pulls it together, we can grab Spider down there and have him get us the goods."
"We're fine." Leni cringed again. "I mean, I'm fine."
"We'll meet you on the street, Fly Girl," TJ turned away with a smirk.
"Doesn't he mean Sky Girl?" Lola wondered.
"No, he doesn't." Lincoln confirmed.
Leni didn't bother to correct them.
"Leni," Lincoln assisted, "Lisa mentioned she put some experimental zip-ties in your belt. They should be harder to break than the usual brand."
Leni fetched into her pouch and found the ties in question. She went over to Spider and flipped him over and off the car.
With a shiver, she positioned the hairy extra (and extra hairy) legs down on his back, pinning his arms over them and tying them together. When she was done, and he was secure, she did an involuntary and squeamish dance in place. She flapped her hands in front of her, gave a girlish squeal, and stamped her feet in her disgust.
Spiders. Why, oh why, did it have to be a spider?
"Should we have helped?"
Leni looked over to Meltdown and Ink, who had appeared next to her on the sidewalk somehow.
"Oh no," Ink answered her partner. "I'm enjoying this far too much."
"Anyway," Meltdown moved the conversation along. "We never got you answer. This guy is selling some bad stuff. I know you've seen what these powers can do in the wrong hands. Dream Queen will look like a puppy by comparison."
Leni looked back at Spider, who was slowly gaining consciousness.
"Leni," she heard her brother in her ear. "I don't think he's lying, but it's up to you. We're behind you, every step of the way."
Leni nodded. "Okay."
She turned to the two vigilantes. "I'm here to help. But only if we give Spider, and whatever he's selling, to the police."
Meltdown shrugged. "Deal."
Leni nodded. "Okay. How do we find his… stash?"
"We ask him," Ink answered. "Nicely."
Meltdown went over and picked up Spider by his arms, handling him like a cop escorting someone through a police department.
"Get the door, would'ya partner?"
"Gladly."
Ink walked over to a brick wall, and with a flick of her hands, started grazing her fingers over it. Everywhere she touched, she left a black mark, like paintbrushes. The marking grew and pulsed like if a sharpie had a heartbeat. When she was done, there was a black arch painted onto the side of the wall, with a diamond shape floating in the middle of it.
With a snap of her fingers, the archway covered its inside with its own ink, a swirling vortex overtaking the picture within. Leni felt uneasy, just looking at it.
"Ink opens portals," Meltdown helpfully explained. "It's pretty handy."
Without another word, he shoved Spider through the opening, and followed him inside. Ink waited by the entrance.
"Ladies first," she bowed with a wave of her hand. Leni got the sense she was being mocked.
Leni looked around and noticed the growing crowd of people staring at her. She agreed to this, but maybe that was a mistake.
She rolled her shoulders back, trying to stand taller, and strode through the doorway.
The trip was weird, like walking through a doorway in a dark room, only to be greeted with sunlight again when she fully breached to the other side.
"Whoa. That's kind of barfy." Lola commented.
"Don't let it spiral out of control now!" Luan added. "But seriously, be careful."
She was standing on a rooftop now, across the street to a line of warehouses. They were on the other side of town.
When she stepped through, Meltdown was already starting his interrogation, leaning Spider over the edge. He was threatening to push him off?!
"Might as well tell us, hermano," Meltdown said to him. "The only way your getting down there is by jumping or talking."
Spider looked down, and looked up and around in front of him. He seemed to be in a state od disbelief.
"Eres estúpido o algo?" he sounded surprised. "What are you, stupid? We're here!"
"Oh," TJ noted. He turned to his partner, standing beside Leni. "See? I told you I narrowed it down to this street!"
Ink rolled her eyes and gave a disgusted sigh.
"Now you're going to show us which unit," Meltdown yanked him back.
They walked back to Ink's portal, now standing on the street down below and making their way to one of the warehouses.
"…S'here." Spider muttered, walking them over to one of them.
They walked inside, seeing it largely abandoned with crates of some bankrupt toy company strewn about and forgotten. Spider led them to a back office.
"The gangster has an office," Ink noted.
"The safe is stuck to the concrete wall," Spider explained. "You need a wrecking crew to get it out, and nobody's cared about this hood in a long time. Makes it the perfect warehouse for business."
"Yeah, yeah," Meltdown shoved him. What's the code, Long-legs?"
Spider gave a short, abrupt, and rude answer.
Meltdown glared at him. "Fine," he said, "If you want something done right…"
He over to the safe and, without even bothering with the lock, he reached over and put his hand through the locking mechanism. The metal instantly turned orange and fell over like heavy clay. He dug into the door, until there was nothing left of it. As the metal cooled down, he reached inside and pulled out two glowing crystals.
Leni could tell they were the real deal, as just looking at them felt like seeing gold. Not that she's ever seen gold in person. Of course, maybe gold didn't add a vibrating hum in your ears as you looked at it. The two crystalline rods looked ethereal. Looking at them, Leni relived the moment she got hit. Honestly, it kind of scared her a little bit.
"Well alright," TJ smirked. "That wasn't even five minutes. Way to go team."
"Only two, though..." Ink noted.
"Well, two's enough," TJ corrected. "Two too many, and now: two less."
Leni blinked, and refocused on the young man before her.
"Remember the deal," Leni reminded him.
"I remember," Meltdown nodded. "But, I have a counteroffer for you."
"Shhhoot." Lincoln almost swore in her ear.
"You see," he said, "Like I said, some bad people are running around with superpowers. Can't do anything about that. We're all doing are best, picking up the slackers and loud ones... But we can't be everywhere at once, right? It's the one superpower I haven't seen yet."
"I don't like where this is going..." Luan commented.
"What are you getting at, exactly?" Leni asked.
"I want us to work together," TJ said. "Like before. We meet up, we work together, we keep other bad people like Spider here from teaming up."
Spider here made a disgusted sound.
"Tch." He shook his head. "Don't sound any different from me. Don't be fooled, chica. He's not saying it directly, but he's starting a gang. Just beat me to it."
"Look," TJ interrupted, "I'll even sweeten the deal for you."
He offered one of the crystal rods, leaving it outstretched in his hand.
"One superpower," he told her, "For anyone of your choosing. Just break it over your knee and… presto!"
"Whoa." Leni couldn't tell which one of her family said that, but it sent a shiver down her spine.
She could give one them a superpower? Just like her? Or…
Just like them.
"No." Leni answered. "That doesn't make this- any of this- right!"
"Oh, come on now," Ink complained. "It'd be nice to have another girl on the team. It's a total dude fest so far!"
"Dude fest?" Leni blinked. "Team?"
"Well," Meltdown sighed, "No use in lying about the surprise.
"We've got a growing club, here," he continued, "And we'd love for you to be a part of it."
Some rumbling erupted outside of the tiny office. Leni spun around and threw the door open; seeing three other people had shown up.
"Sky Girl," TJ stepped out with her. "Meet the team. Springlocke, Mole-Man, and Nox."
Springlocke was a red head with a wide and toothy grin. He wore overalls and a white t-shirt, and was missing a tooth. He was a lanky fellow, but his legs seemed longer than what they should have been. From his knees to his ankles, there was a metal coil wrapped around his shins, each end merging with the skin. He bounced from one bare foot to the next, like he just got done running but still had energy to spare.
Mole-Man was halfway out of a hole in the ground. He had goggles, and a long nose. He rested on his elbows, and has long curved claws replacing his fingers. His clothes were covered in dirt and stains, making it impossible to tell what he was wearing exactly.
Nox was the worst looking one. He had all black clothes; jeans, combat boots, shirt, and a leather jacket with a chain hanging off of it. His shaggy hair covered his eyes, but enough of his face showed that he was pale, and sickly. His cheeks had a green hue, and he was breathing through his open mouth. Green puffs of air appeared and dissipated as he exhaled. Leni got a queasy feeling just looking at them.
Leni looked from the three of them, to the three in the room behind her.
"We could do a lot of good together," TJ said again. "But none of us are fliers. Or people persons, now that I'm thinking about it. Your… friendly and caring demeanor could be what we need to get some people on our side."
Leni just stared at him. Her fist clenched in frustration as her eyebrows knit together. Can't he see what he's doing?! Why can't he just…
"Here," he tried handing her one of the crystal rods again. "Just take one. Think it over."
Leni blinked away some tears and gave an ugly sniff. After wiping the frustration and sorrow from her face, she shouldered past them, picking up Spider by his arms, and flying back out.
"The next time we meet," She promised before flying out, "I'm taking you to the police. You need help."
She looked to the rest of them. "You all need help."
She flew out the door and back over the city, the criminal in her grip staying quiet. She dropped him off on the stairs of the police department, with a knock on the door. She was gone before anyone knew she was there.
She took her time flying home. She had plenty to think about.
Sorry if the Spanish isn't correct, I use Google Translate.
