Out of all the chapters I've written for this story so far, I think this one is my favorite. If for no other reason than that I had a lot of fun writing the last six pages. With that said, 'The Loud House' and 'The Casagrandes' are owned by Nickelodeon and Spider-Man is owned jointly by Disney and Sony. Enjoy.

Chapter 4: A Sign of Things to Come

Aside from Nikki getting stung by a bee and Dr. Pinkerton cursing at Mr. Gettys for falling asleep during her presentation, the fieldtrip was a rousing success. Everyone learned a lot about science and at least four new swear words. The only real downside was when they finally got back to school everyone had to run around and collect the assignments from all their other classes. It looked like it was going to be a weekend packed with schoolwork, but fortunately Ronnie Anne and her crew knew how to make lemonade with these types of situations. So in the spirit of making the best of things, they all met by the halfpipe in the park after school to discuss their weekend plans.

"So we're all agreed." Said Ronnie Anne, taking the lead on things as usual. "We do what we can on our own tonight and then meet back here tomorrow so we can spend all day studying."

"Factoring in a lunch break, several snack breaks and the occasional halfpipe break to help us decompress." Added Sid, taking her usual vice-leader position. "And with any luck, we'll be ready for the test on Monday with plenty of time to spare, so we can goof off all Sunday."

The others all gave their nods and monosyllabic expressions of approval and for a moment it seemed like everyone was fine.

Until…

THUD!

It took a few moments for everyone to realize it, but Nikki had suddenly keeled over. Being the child of both a doctor and a nurse, Ronnie Anne was the first to rush to her side.

"Nikki, are you okay?" she asked concernedly as she lifted her friend's head off the cold hard ground. Thankfully she was still conscious, but her face was pale and her forehead was drenched with sweat.

"Huh? Wuh?" Nikki asked groggily as she regained her coherence. "Oh, sorry about that. I just got a little lightheaded all of a sudden. So what were we talking about?"

"Uh… no offense, Nikki, but you don't look so hot." Sid chimed in as she placed a hand on the young blonde's forehead, only to immediately pull it back. "Whoa! Scratch that. You're burning up, dude."

"What? Pfft. No." Nikki replied, attempting to play it off as she tried to get back on her feet like a baby deer learning to walk. "I probably just got overheated on the ride over here. It's all good."

"No it's not." Sameer said sternly. "Nikki, you look like a zombie, and not in a cool way. I think you might be sick."

"I'm not sick. I'm perfectly fine." The young blonde whined stubbornly. "I feel like a million dollars."

"Okay, Mrs. Million Dollars. Then how come your legs are wobbling like that?" asked Casey dubiously.

"Uh… I have to pee."

"Yeah… more like you caught something from someone on the fieldtrip." Ronnie Anne jumped back in; once more flexing the medical knowledge she'd gleaned from her parents.

"OMG! Maybe there was an undocumented containment breach in the pathology lab!" Sid exclaimed; sounding alarmed yet weirdly excited. "Nikki, you could be infected with some kind of prehistoric virus that was cloned from a sample found preserved in amber, or maybe some kind of mutant super anthrax that Dr. Pinkerton created for the government, or maybe…"

"Or maybe she just caught a cold." Ronnie Anne interrupted, acting as the voice of reason. "My mom said there's some kind of 24 hour bug going around her hospital, so it's probably the same thing."

"Well, sure, if you wanna go with the obvious answer." Sid pouted.

"Guys, I appreciate the concern, but there's nothing to worry about. I feel perfectly fi…" the young blonde attempted to say before keeling over again. "Oh, who am I kidding? I feel awful. Maybe I should just go home."

"I think that'd be best." Ronnie Anne replied, once again taking the leadership position. "Sameer, your building's right across the street from hers. Maybe you should make sure she gets home alright."

"I'm on it."

"What? No, I don't wanna spoil your afternoon." Nikki said pleadingly. "I can make it home by myself. Honest."

"No arguments. I'm walking you home." Sameer replied bluntly as he helped prop up his ailing friend. "Easy does it, stretch. I'll see you back here tomorrow, guys."

"Okay, see you later, Sameer. Feel better, Nikki." Ronnie Anne said warmly as she bid her two friends goodbye for the day.

Sid, Laird and Casey all mirrored her sentiments and then they got back to the business at hand.

Namely, deciding on how to spend their last hour of free time before they all needed to head home themselves.

XXX

(Sometime later)

As you may have already guessed, the rest of the gang decided to spend their last hour together skating; not exactly original, but always fun. Afterwards, they all went their separate ways, with the intention of meeting up the next day to study and hang out. Normally, Sid and Ronnie Anne would've walked home together, since they both lived in the same building, but since the Changs were eating out that night, the former had elected to go to the Zoo so she could meet up with her mom, leaving the latter to head home alone. Fortunately for Ronnie Anne, she still had one last friend she could always talk to, even though he was several hundred miles away.

"So on the one hand, I can't stand this guy. Every word that comes out of his mouth makes me wish someone would push him in front of a car." Young Lincoln Loud said via Ronnie Anne's smartphone. "But on the other hand, I can't just sit back and ignore someone being bullied if I know I can stop it. Not even him."

"So what did you do?" Ronnie Anne asked fervently, having become very invested in her old friend's story.

"Well, I took a deep breath, walked right up to Mr. Bolhofner and I said, 'Listen, Mr. Bolhofner, I know Chandler's a jerk and we're all pretty sure he's the one who poured soda in your gas tank, but I can only look the other way so many times. So either lay off, or I'm gonna have to get Principal Ramirez involved.'."

"You didn't."

"You bet I did."

"So what did he say?"

"He said he'd lay off. Mr. Bolhofner's surprisingly reasonable once you get to know him."

"Still, pretty gutsy of you to stick your neck out like that. Especially for someone you can't stand."

"What can I say, that's just the kind of guy I am."

Ronnie Anne couldn't help but laugh at such a corny line, and yet she couldn't hold it against him either. Lincoln was, after all, an avid comic book fan, with an affinity for those that still use the old school style of storytelling, like his beloved Ace Savvy, so he probably had a million cheesy one-liners just like that one tattooed into his brain.

"You're such a dork. You know that, right?" she said teasingly.

"Yeah… that sounded better in my head." The young lad replied, blushing slightly. "Anyway, I'd love to talk some more, but it's almost dinner time. It's Lisa's birthday, so Dad's making meatloaf sandwiches."

"That's cool. I'm almost home anyway. Smell you later, man."

"Not if I smell you first."

And with that, her screen went black, but it was for the best. Ronnie Anne hadn't been exaggerating when she said she was almost home. In fact, she was right in front of the door to her family's apartment. She was about to reach for the doorknob, when she heard a loud crash coming from the other side. The young Latina hesitated for a moment, but then just shrugged it off and pressed on. This was the Casagrande home after all; with so many people living so close together, loud noises were to be expected. However, her relaxed demeanor quickly turned to panic as soon as she stepped through the door.

BARK! BARK!

"RAAAAK! Back off, fleabags!"

The shock was so sudden that at first Ronnie Anne couldn't fully process what was going on, but after a few moments her brain caught up with her eyes and she was able to make sense of what was going on. Sergio, the family's semi-loyal pet parrot, was being chased around the room by a pair of familiar looking dachshunds dressed in stereotypical Italian American attire.

"I said back off, man! I have bear mace and I know how to use it!" the colorful bird threatened, only to have his tailfeathers bitten off by one of the wiener dogs. "RAAAK! They called my bluff!"

And with that, the distressed avian flew off to parts unknown with the two dogs following close behind.

"Oh, there you are, Mija. I was just about to call you." Said the warm and familiar voice of her Abuela as she came to greet her. "How was your fieldtrip?"

"It was alright, Abuela. Mostly just a bunch of nerd stuff." Ronnie Anne replied, pausing briefly to give her grandmother a hug. "What are Big Tony and Little Sal doing here? Did Vito's apartment flood again?"

"No, Nieta, it's nothing like that." The older woman said uncomfortably. "Those two will be staying with us for a little bit while Vito's in the hospital."

"Oh no, is he okay?" the young Latina asked concernedly

"We're not really sure, Ronnie Anne. You see, Vito, he… how do I put this?"

"Vito got whacked." Answered Carl, Ronnie Anne's younger cousin, in the least tactful way possible.

"Carl." Said Carl's mother, Ronnie Anne's Tía Frida, disapprovingly. "I told you I didn't want you using that kind of language."

"And besides, it's inaccurate." Said Carl's father, Ronnie Anne's Tío Carlos; a college professor who could never pass up a teachable moment, not even in his own home. "You see, Carl, in order for Vito to have been 'whacked' he would have to be dead, but he's only in a coma. So really he was only 'roughed up' as the gangsters like to say."

"Not really the point I was trying to make, Carlos." Tía Frida replied annoyedly.

"Just striving to be accurate, mi amor."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Back up a second." Ronnie Anne jumped back in, attempting to redirect the conversation. "I'm confused. Why is Vito in a coma?"

"Because he's a stupid bobo, that's why." Said the unmistakably gruff voice of the family's patriarch, Hector Casagrande, aka Abuelo. He was sitting on the couch, as per usual, but his typically jovial expression was replaced with one of deep frustration. "I told him a thousand times that all that gambling would lead to nothing but trouble, but did he listen? No. He had a 'friend on the inside'. Well that 'friend' just made his own nephew put him in the hospital."

"Hector, cálmate." Abuela interjected. "We don't know for sure that Michael had anything to do with this."

"Rosa, they left the Mercado together and an hour later Vito was in a gutter bleeding to death. What other explanation could there be?"

"I don't know, but I just can't believe Michael would ever do something like this. He was always such a nice boy. Remember how he used to help me carry my groceries up the stairs?"

"Yeah, well if that 'nice boy' ever shows his face around here again I'll…"

"Hector, please, not in front of our bebes." Abuela scolded, to which Abuelo replied with a childish huff, but otherwise gave no further protest. Afterwards, the older woman turned her attention back to Ronnie Anne and, perhaps sensing her unease with the situation, attempted to smooth things over. "Mijita, your Mom and Brother are giving me a hand in the kitchen. Why don't you go see if they need any help, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Abuela." The young Latina replied before heading to the kitchen as instructed.

She tried not to show it on her face, but the news about Vito had really upset her. Not because she was especially fond of the old man; personally she found him annoying. Neither was it because of the violent nature of the act itself; although that was a factor. But rather, it was because it had happened so close to home. She knew that this was the big city and that sometimes bad things happen, but somehow her own neighborhood had always seemed so safe. Now she was faced with the sobering reality that it really wasn't. And the worst part of it was that there was nothing she could do about it; nothing except to be extra vigilant from now on and pray that what happened to Vito was merely an isolated incident and not a sign of things to come.

XXX

(Meanwhile, in another part of town)

Dr. Francis Deidesheimer had been the primary care provider for the Coughlin Family for almost eleven years, and in that time he had built up something of a rapport with its members. In fact, one might even goes as far as to say that he had come to care for each of them quite a bit. Which is why, when he heard that the youngest member of the Coughlin Clan, Little Nikki as he liked to call her, he immediately dropped his plans to go to the movies that night so he could make a house call.

"Hmm…" went the good doctor as he pulled the thermometer out of his patient's mouth and examined the results. "Very interesting."

"What? What's interesting?" asked the girl's father, Joshua Coughlin.

"Is Nikki gonna be alright, Doc?" asked her mother, Daphne.

"It's just as I suspected." Dr. Deidesheimer replied calmly. "The fever, the nausea, the sudden loss of equilibrium. It's the bug alright."

"Bug? What bug?" Daphne asked concernedly, but the good doctor was quick to calm her down.

"Just a little 24 hour bug that's going around. Nothing to get extreme about." He said casually. "I can give her some antibiotics to help with the fever and a little something to help her sleep, but really there's nothing for it except to let it work through her system. She should be right as rain by tomorrow."

"Oh, thank Heaven." Said Joshua, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yes, we're not really sure what it is, we think it might be something someone brought with them from overseas, but by all accounts it's pretty harmless."

"Well, thanks for coming anyway, Doc. Sorry about your movie."

"Not a problem, my dear. I can always go to a later showing." Dr. Deidesheimer replied politely before turning from the girl's mother to the patient herself. "And as for you, Little Nikki. Drink plenty of liquids and try to put something in your stomach to keep your strength up. And maybe pack some hand sanitizer for your next fieldtrip. We can't have our future prima ballerina lying in bed all the time, now can we."

"Don't worry, Dr. D. I'm not gonna let anything stand in my way." The young blonde replied; sounding quite confident in spite of how crummy she probably felt.

"Attagirl." The good doctor replied sweetly before turning back to her parents. "And now, dear friends, there's just the little matter of my bill."

XXX

(Later that night)

Following Dr. Deidesheimer's instructions, Nikki drank plenty of water and grape juice that night and did her best to eat as much of her mom's tomato soup as her nauseous stomach would allow. Afterwards, still feeling too sick to do any homework, the young blonde went straight to bed in the hopes of sleeping off her sickness until morning. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done, for the good doctor's so-called sleep aid didn't seem to be working, so it looked like the poor girl was doomed to toss and turn all night.

It was around 1:15 in the morning and Nikki was feeling as bad as ever. Her face was drenched with sweat, her bones and muscles ached, even the blood in her veins felt like it was boiling; if she hadn't known better, she'd 've been certain she was gonna die.

"Ugh… so hot…" she moaned miserably as she tossed off her blankets in an attempt to cool down; only to have instant regrets. "Ahh! Now I'm freezing!"

It seemed that no matter what she did, Nikki was doomed to have a miserable night's sleep. All she could do was lay there, sweat, toss and turn in a vain attempt to get comfortable and imagine all the horrible things she would do to the person who gave her this bug if she ever found out who they were. She had a sneaking suspicion that it had been her classmate Becky. The two of them happened to sit next to each other on the bus that morning and while trying to start up a conversation, Nikki happened to mention her upcoming ballet audition. And while the tomboy was by no means a ballet enthusiast, she respected any sort of activity that could result in broken bones, so she offered the taller girl a high-five. In retrospect, Nikki should've known better than to accept, since Becky was not known for being especially hygienic.

"Uh… stupid ugly eyebrow girl…" the young blonde moaned miserably, still slightly delirious from the fever. "Can't even wash her hands. She should be expelled…"

It was at this moment that Nikki felt a familiar pressure in her bladder; nature was calling. All that water and grape juice had finally worked its way through her system and it was time to let it out. So, after checking to see if her little buddy Bruce was still fast asleep in his terrarium, she quietly climbed out of bed and tiptoed towards her bedroom door. She was still a wee bit groggy from lack of sleep when she finally reached the door, so she didn't notice anything strange when she opened it and saw only darkness. She did, however, notice when she stepped out into the hallway and instead fell into what could only be described as a black abyss.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nikki screamed in terror as she fell for what felt like miles. Eventually, her throat became so hoarse from screaming that she had to stop and once she did, she began to notice things about her strange new surroundings.

Firstly, the infinite void she was falling through wasn't quite a void in the traditional sense. That is to say, voids are traditionally called voids because they're empty, whereas this was full of spider webs; billions and billions of spider webs, intersecting and spreading out in all directions. Secondly, she saw… things… crawling around in the webs. They were like spiders, only much, much larger; like the size of pickup trucks. And their faces, neither spider nor humanlike, brought to mind the nightmarish abominations of Lovecraft from the books she'd been given by her Granny. And yet, as horrifying as they were to behold, the spider creatures made no move against her; they all just stared at her with those big creepy eyes.

On and on she fell, and eventually she stopped seeing the spider creatures, but that's when things started getting really weird. In this new section of the web, the empty spaces in between the spider threads became like windows, through which she saw vast cityscapes; some looked vaguely similar to her own Great Lakes City, while others looked like something straight from a science fiction movie. She was falling much too fast to get a solid look at anything other than the buildings, but she was able to make out a few garbled pieces of audio coming from several of the windows at once.

This is a snippet of what she heard.

Does whatever a spider can…

With great power…

Sometimes I let matches burn down to my fingertips…

Catches thieves just like flies…

Get shocked!

…radioactive blood…

…black suit…

Like a stream of light…

I frolic and I dance…

Friendly neighborhood…

…Daily Bugle…

…but you're a good person…

Here comes the Spider-Man!

SMACK!

Before she even knew what had happened, Nikki collied face first into something cold and hard. It took a few minutes for her to regain her senses, but when her head finally cleared, the young blonde received an even bigger surprise. No longer was she falling through the black, webby void, but instead she found herself standing on the side of what appeared to be a very tall building; at a ninety degree angle no less.

"This just gets weirder and weirder." Nikki muttered to herself as she looked down and then up; both directions seemed to stretch on forever. "Oh yeah, this is definitely weiraaAAAAAH!"

The young blonde nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around and saw those big, angry eyes starring back at her. Some horrifying new creature had snuck up behind her; not nearly as scary as the spider creatures from before, but still quiet unnerving. It was smaller, about the size of a human adult and it was shaped roughly like a man. It's skin was red and blue and it was covered in creepy black webs. It had no nose, or ears, or hair or even a mouth; nothing but two blank eyes scowling at her with presumably malicious intent. And yet strangely enough, this new creature did not try to attack her. In fact, it seemed to be mimicking her every move.

"What the heck?" she muttered to herself confusedly as she examined the strange figure more closely. Not only was it doing everything she did, but it was doing it as she did it. "Wait… is this a mirror?"

Slowly and carefully, Nikki reached out to touch the bizarre creature and, sure enough, it was just a mirror; or to be more precise, the reflective window of the skyscraper she was somehow standing on.

"Trippy."

Suddenly, more strange figures began appearing in the window; forming what looked like a great mass of beings from another world. They were all similar in appearance to the first one, but with many minute differences. Some were male while others were clearly female. Some wore hoods while others wore trench coats. One in particular she noticed looked sort of like a cartoon rabbit. But for all their varying shapes and colors, the strange creatures all had at least two things in common; mouthless faces with those blank scowling eyes, and symbols on their chests that looked vaguely like spiders.

Just then, Nikki felt an unusual heat on her backside. She turned away from the mirror to see what it was and there, in the distance, she saw a tiny, almost imperceptible point of light. As the seconds ticked on, the light got bigger and bigger and the heat grew more and more intense. Before long, it became difficult for her breathe and she had to cover her eyes for fear that the light would leave her blind. However, for reasons unknown even to her, she felt compelled to look at whatever was coming at her, so she toughed it out as best she could and that's when she saw it.

An enormous ball of fire hurdling towards her like a meteorite.

Nikki was completely paralyzed; both from fear and from her inability to breathe. So all she could do was sit there, eyes wide with terror, as the fiery ball of doom came closer and closer. Then, just as she was about to pass out from the heat, a face emerged from the giant fireball, its mouth wide open as if it intended to swallow her whole, and then…

Nikki shot up like a toaster pastry; her face drenched with sweat and her heart pounding in her chest.

A dream.

Nothing but a dream.

Thank goodness.

The young blonde looked around her room and, much to her relief, everything looked normal. Her books were still on her desk, her hoodie was still hanging from her coatrack, even Bruce was still asleep in his terrarium. The only thing that was off was the time; according to her alarm clock, it was only 11:30, almost two full hours earlier than it had been before her dream began.

Perhaps Dr. D's sleep aid had been more potent than she'd thought and all that tossing and turning had merely been a part of her dream?

Now that she thought about it, she didn't feel nearly as sick as she did a few hours ago. In fact, she felt down right amazing. Those antibiotics really did the trick. Good Old Dr. D.

So, with her horrible illness seemingly behind her, Nikki laid her head back down, closed her eyes and within minutes she was fast asleep once more.

End Notes:

Despite the small number of favs, follows and reviews this story has received so far, I remain optimistic that once it has reached a certain length it will begin to gain more attention. Perhaps this is the chapter where it gains a proper following. Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it and I'll see you in the next one.

Peace.