Chapter Seven

"Freeze!"

My heart was pounding like I had just run a marathon. I heard the scrape of shoes on hot aphsalt as both pilots were hauled to their feet. Then I heard an entirely different sound.

CLICK! CH-CHIK! CLICK! CH-CHIK!

Shaking my head, I scrambled to my feet and whirled. At least ten police officers were standing in a semicircle around me, sunlight glinting on the ten accompanying revolvers leveled directly at my head.

"What...what are you doing?" The words were thick and alien in my mouth. The damp mask seemed to seal itself more tightly around my face, cutting off my air.

The nearest officer, a young man who looked to be in his twenties, stuttered again, "Freeze!" Sweat was pouring down his face. His eyes were wide, and his hands, both wrapped tightly around the handle of his gun, were trembling as if he had palsy. I glanced surrepititiously around at the others. They were terrified! Of what?

Of me? They couldn't be terrified of me, could they?

I slowly raised my hands, palms forward. "Look, I-"

"One more move and you're dead! Facedown on the ground, hands behind your head! Now!"

They were trying to arrest me! Why? What had I done? I had just saved the lives of two people, that's what I had done! And they were going to arrest me for that?

"Aw, man, let her go, she was just..." one man from the crowd of spectators began, but he trailed off into silence when no one else supported him.

I should have been angry. I had done all of this, risked my life for them, and this is what they did. But all I felt was an exhausted, aching emptiness. Without a word, I tensed my legs, sprang into the air, and shot a line of web at the top of the bridge.

No bullets followed me.

It was only five o' clock by the time I had found my clothes and taken the bus home. I stumbled inside, kicked the door closed behind me, and made for my room. Mom was in the kitchen, and Benny was in the den. I could just go upstairs and sleep. Just collapse on my bed and sleep.

Was this what being a superhero was like?

"Mayday! Mayday! You've got to see this!"

Benny came bouncing into the hall as I blinked blearily at him. "Huh? What?"

Benny grabbed my arm and began hauling me into the den. "Come on! Hurry!"

I groaned. "Benny, I'm really tired..."

"Let's look at that footage again, Bob. All right, what exactly are we seeing here?" the anchorman asked from the TV. The words "Special Report" were scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

"Well, Dave, this is the view from the Channel 11 helicopter, about five minutes after the crash. Almost...there! Freeze it! Can we get a close-up here?"

There, frozen blurrily in the middle of the screen, was a flash of red. The camera zoomed in, and the figure became startlingly clear. It was me! Me, hanging unsupported in midair, fingers braced to websling again.

"That's her. This is absolutely incredible, isn't it? Look at her! Hey, did anyone find those old broadcasts from '97?"

"Just a minute ago. Here they are. Can we get those in the same frame together?"

The image of me narrowed and slid sideways, and another, grainer image appeared on the right. It was an image of Dad! Dad as Spider-Man, in the act of webswinging somewhere in Manhattan.

"That's no coincidence. They've got to be related. How many people can do stuff like that? We didn't get any recordings of her voice, but eyewitnesses report that she sounds like a teenage girl, probably fourteen or fifteen. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking it, Greg, I'm thinking it."

Suddenly, I was wide awake again. Benny bounced up and down on the couch. "Is this cool or what? They're already calling her 'Spider-Girl'. I know what this means! There's like a new race of mutant spider-people! I bet they were created by some mad scientist, who tried to use them to take over the world or something, but then they decided to be good guys and fight crime from their secret spider-cave under Manhattan."

"Probably nothing that complicated," I muttered, eyes glued to the TV. This was snowballing out of control! How could I have been so stupid? Of course the media was going to find out, not to mention...

"Benny? I changed my mind. You can go over Jim's house if you want. Just for one hour though, okay?"

Mom.

She was standing in the doorway from the kitchen, arms crossed. Benny stared suspiciously at her for a moment, then turned to me. "Okay, Mayday, whadja do?"

"Benjamin..."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I understand. One of those teenage girl things. Sayonara."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I called after Benny. He grinned and shut the door behind him. Jimmy lived two houses down.

Mom switched off the television. I swallowed.

"May, why didn't you tell me?"

I glanced shamefully at Mom, then stared at my shoes. The air was hot, and the two layers of clothing made the room almost unbearable. Mom's eyes were glittering, but they weren't tears of sadness. She was furious.

Mom let loose. "May Parker, I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell me? How could you go out there and do something so stupid? You could have been killed! Who do you think you are? You're fifteen years old, Mayday! You're still a kid! How could you put your life on the line for-"

"What was I supposed to do, Mom? Just stand there and let them die? Tell me, Mom! What was I supposed to do?" I exploded.

Mom's blue eyes blazed. She flung the magazine she hand been paging through on the coffee table with a loud slap.

"You're not going to do that again! You are not Spider-Girl! There is no Spider-Girl! You're never doing that again! Understand? Never! Do you hear me? That's how your father got killed!"

Mom seemed to tremble, realizing what she had just said. The words hung in the air, vibrating in the silence.

"You think he's dead, don't you?" I asked finally, in a broken whisper.

Mom didn't answer.