"Are you okay?", asked a female voice standing over her. Alexia blinked against the bright florescent lights beaming down on her. She stood easily, all signs of the mystery pain gone. But she couldn't remember the pain. She couldn't even remember why she was in the washroom.
"Why were you on the floor?", the woman asked.
'Good question', Alexia thought. She tried to think back to how she'd gotten there. She remembered talking to Peter and MJ yesterday, and driving to the science fair, then… nothing. She couldn't remember anything past walking into the building.
The woman looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.
"Uh, it was just… cramps", was all that Alexia could think to say.
"Maybe you should see a doctor about that", the woman suggested.
"Maybe", Alexia mumbled.
The woman stepped back out of the stall.
"Well,
you'd better get going. We close in ten minutes."
Both
feelings of panic and relief came to her when she realized that the
woman was a security guard.
'I'm supposed to tell her something', Alexia thought. What was it? It was no use. She couldn't remember.
"Yeah", she replied, stepping past the woman.
Alexia left the building and drove home, wondering if she should take the woman's advice and see a doctor. She parked and went into her apartment, and realized that she hadn't eaten anything for several hours. She turned on the t.v. as she dumped a can of ravioli into a bowl and put it in the microwave.
"As you can see, both the FBI and the CIA have arrived at the scene of the theft of genetic research from a building owned by Quest Aerospace, which was used for a science expo today. Police believe that one of the attendants broke into the research lab-,"
Alexia's memory suddenly clicked into place. She remembered following the thief, the attack-
Latrodectus Mactans. The label on the syringe. What did it mean? Whatever it was, it had been enough to knock her out. Who knew what it could be doing to her?
Alexia grabbed her coat and her keys, practically flying down the stairs to her bike. She needed to get to the emergency room. For all she knew, the liquid the thief had injected her with was killing her.
She braked to a stop when she realized that her motorcycle was almost running on empty. She headed toward the nearest gas station and pulled up to the self-serve station, taking off her helmet. She started to reach for the pump when something happened. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Danger was coming. Alexia had no idea how she knew, but she did.
"Hey, baby", said a male voice said behind her. Alexia heard the sound of footsteps. There were at least five of them. Alexia turned around slowly.
"Gimme your money", one of them demanded.
"No."
Alexia said the word with certainty, unafraid. Maybe it had something to do with her near-death experience earlier, but she felt a wave of power run through her, a feeling of immortality. These men couldn't touch her.
The moon light glinted against a knife one of them had pulled out.
"You're gonna give me your money", the man said.
"I don't think so", Alexia replied.
Two of the men tried to grab her arms, but she was already out of reach. She had sensed their intentions somehow, and had back flipped onto a parked van. She jumped back down onto the ground.
"Come and get it", she challenged.
One of the men came running at her. He seemed like he was moving in slow motion to her. As he neared her, Alexia grabbed his arm with one hand and his stomach with the other, and flipped him over her head. He went unconscious instantly upon hitting the ground.
The man with the knife tried next. Alexia grabbed his knife arm and lifted a knee up into his chin, knocking him out as well.
The remaining three came at her all at once. She ducked their fists and swept their legs out from beneath them, and waited. They ran at her again. She hit one of them in the face, breaking his nose and sending him flying into the self-serve station. She kicked one of them in the stomach, causing him to double over and stay down. She spun around and grabbed the last would-be mugger by the throat, lifting him up and pushing him up against the van.
"Don't!", he chocked out. Alexia looked into his eyes. He was terrified. How many times had he made innocent people afraid? How many people had he hurt or threatened just to get their money? Would the world be a better place without him?
'What would Peter do?'
The thought came unexpectedly.
'He deals with this kind of thing every day. What would he say if he could see me now, thinking about killing another person? He'd probably be sorry he'd saved me.'
She let go of the mugger, and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath. He looked up at her for a moment, then scrambled to his feet and ran away.
Alexia turned back to the men on the ground. How had she used so much violence? Another thought came to her. How had learned to fight? Sure, she'd witnessed gang fights back in L.A., but she'd never participated in a fight before, let alone against five people at once.
"- the theft of genetic research from a building owned by Quest Aerospace-,"
The words of the news broadcaster came back to her. What had the thief injected her with? Something that had made her strong enough to send someone flying into an object several feet away? To lift a fully-grown man by the neck and not even feel the weight? What the hell had he done to her? There was only one way she could think of to find out.
She filled up her bike's tank and drove to the central library. She sat down at one of the computers and pulled up the first search engine she thought of, and typed 'Latrodectus Mactans' into the search bar. She clicked on the first link she saw. It was a news report about genetic research on spiders, conducted at Columbia University. It talked about how it was possible to transfer DNA from spiders into other animals. It had been successful with goats several years ago. A man actually had web-producing goats on his farm. At the bottom of the page was where the match had been found.
It was another link, displaying the names of spiders. Latrodectus Mactans was one of them. She clicked on it, and the page filled with information about different species of spiders. She scrolled down to the spider she was looking for. Under the title was a picture and profile of the Black Widow spider.
There was no way she could go to the hospital now. What if they tested her blood? What would they find? The DNA of a spider intertwined with her own?
Then a thought came to her. What had happened to Peter to give him his abilities?
She needed to know what was happening to her, and Peter was the only one who might know the answer.
