Spidermanne REBOOT: chapter 6

Hello, readers, and welcome to the waybright saga! This chapter is what i like to call "setting up a bunch of villains" chapter. Minimal Anne. And some familiar faces too :)

Chapter 6: meet the waybrights

"Mom, I'm home!"

Sasha had forgotten her keys again and needed someone to open the door.

Silence.

"Of course," thought Sasha waybright, "she's wrapped up in that stupid police stuff. Again."

She tried calling her dad to see if she could stay over. It rang for a few seconds before going to voicemail.

"Hello! Sorry if your call didn't reach me. I'm probably busy at the moment. Call later if you can."

Sasha groaned. She knew her dad was a nice guy at heart but he was a complete workaholic. Recently, however, there had been pressure put on the company so he was working doubly as hard on whatever he was going to wow the investors with.

Guess she was asking the boonchuys to stay over again. Thank heck it was a friday.

———————————————

Anne was getting out of her suit, after crawling in through the window. She put it on a clothes hanger before hearing a voice.

"Sweetie, Sasha's here. She was locked out. Is it ok if she stays over?"

"Sure, mom!"

She heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Crud! She desperately put the suit in her wardrobe before closing it, just as Sasha came in.

"Hey, Anne! Sorry about this, my Dad is still doing whatever he does and my mom is a workaholic in that stupid police force."

"Tell me about it," Anne chuckled… before possible disaster as she realised she didn't close the wardrobe correctly. It creaked open to reveal some of her suit, minus the web shooters and the mask.

"…Anne?"

"Oh, that? Yeah, I've been making a…spider-woman… cosplay!"

"You have?"

"Yeah…?"

"Awesome! I love her!"

Anne blushed furiously. "Whoah, I never took you for a fangirl. Thought that was marcy."

"Yeah, well, you know a few weeks ago when you said that frogs were cute?"

"Ummm, yeah?"

"…I kinda get you now…"

"Hold the phone," Anne said, "you have a crush on Spider-woman?"

Well, to be fair, I should have expected this. I do keep flirting with her, Anne thought.

———————————————

Police chief Waybright was under a lot of pressure right now. The public was curious about the identity of this new vigilante and her recent proper public debut, in front of the police station. Not only this, but rumours were being whispered of a new criminal group that called themselves "the toads".

And she also had to deal with an investigator.

Stanford pines was his name. Of course, she had heard of him from that news report back in 2012. Some weird anomaly in Oregon that had been hushed up and he had been in the center of it. Recently he'd moved here because unfortunately he was getting a little old to be staying in an isolated valley town. And he'd been helping them with the investigation.

The chief sighed, walked in to the room he was using.

"Hey, mr. Pines? Need anything-?"

She stopped for a second. This dude really didn't know how to clean up. There were sticky notes everywhere, spreading off of the original investigation board. String was crossing the room from all corners. She could see sketches and small notes everywhere, as well as pictures. Some said things like 'average size for females in teenage years?' And others said things like 'is bill connected?'

He turned around from a particularly dense collection of notes. "Oh, hello, Ma'am," he said. He looked quite disheveled. "I'm a bit stuck here."

"I can see that," she said, backing away slightly. "Any leads?"

"Well," he said, "i've listened to her voice and i've been in contact with teachers from all the public schools in the city, and none of them say they recognise the voice. A primary school teacher said the voice rang a bell, but that wasn't really helpful. We know she's probably around teenage years due to her height."

"Quick query- my officers are getting really annoying at this point. Is she a spider or a frog?"

"Funnily enough, that's been bugging me too. She appears to have the powers of a spider. As well as this her suit incorporates bracelets with some pretty advanced technology. I've taken samples of her webs and they seem to be artifical. So her webs are self built, or someone built them for her."

"So she's a spider?"

"Well Yes, but actually no!" He continued rambling. Ms. Waybright grumbled. "Although her powers point to being a spider, she clearly takes inspiration from frogs. Whoever it is, they're clearly quite an expert. Her jumping style greatly parallels a stumpffia tridactylia, a frog well known for their proportionate jump length."

"Well, that answers nothing. I'm going. Thanks, mr. Pines."

"No problem, Ma'am!"

Before she walked out the door, she thought back for a second, and turned back around.

"Wait. You said you've been in contact with all the public schools in the area, right?"

"Yes?"

"What about private? The public education in this city is pretty bad. Lots of parents, including myself, send our kids to private school." And with that, she left.

Mr. Pines looked at the door and then just slumped down in a chair. Now that he thought about it…

Marcy Wu. He'd been in contact with her since that science fair, but he'd never wondered about that connection. She had a spider, didn't she? And she was around the right age. As well as that, she was a genius. She could make that sort of technology.

"I really am an Idiot."

———————————————

Ms.waybright was leaving work at 11 o'clock today, a new record. She wanted to leave earlier but, as explained, there was a lot of pressure.

She checked her phone to see a few missed calls from Sasha and then a text saying "nobody home and i forgot my keys so i'm at Anne's."

She texted back:

"Hey hun. Sorry I couldn't call back, was really busy. You can come back now, I'll let you in. I promise I'll get off earlier tomorrow. Why not go to your dad's instead of Annes, by the way?"

The message was read and replied to:

"Why do you think? He wasn't picking up."

Ugh. This is why she broke up with oliver. A complete workaholic. He cared about Sasha but he never had time for her. Inside she knew it wasn't HIS fault fully, he was always overworked, and it was also a problem she had.

Sometimes she felt sorry for her daughter- when she had time to be sorry.

She texted back again.

"So you ok to come back? I can make dinner."

An immediate response.

"I've already had dinner. I'm good to stay over at Anne's."

Ms. Waybright inwardly groaned. She had it coming. She could swear the boonchuys saw Sasha more than she did. She respected Oum and Bee for taking care of her daughter, but she would sometimes feel a twinge of jealousy.

Did Sasha know she loved her?

Did Sasha love her?

———————————————

Sasha sat on her sleeping bag, looking at her phone.

She was done with this crap. Seriously? Did any of her parents have time for her? Her dad was always working on whatever the hell he was building or making or WHATEVER. She couldn't remember the last proper conversation she had with him that didn't involve three sentences, one of them being "hey dad".

Anne and Marcy were, as far as she was concerned, her REAL family. They cared for her. They'd let her sleep over. They would worry about her.

Then she saw something on her phone that interested her. A post on seddit. It was titled:

"Who else really respects spiderwoman?"

She was enticed, and read on.

"I don't mean finds them cool, I mean REALLY respects. She's fighting for actual, genuine justice, something not many people do nowadays."

She read the whole thing, not finding a single thing she didn't agree with. She looked at the likes and comment section to find nothing.

She decided to add a comment.

"I agree!"

Almost immediately someone responded. The original poster. Someone called "Grimothy."

"Good to see there are people who see the world for what it is. Sometimes the police just disappoint me."

She thought about her mother.

"Yeah. I get you."

She paused for a second, before continuing. Saying something that would change the course of her life:

"I bet we could do something about it."

———————————————

Deep inside Bright-way incorporated, Oliver Waybright was hunched over a computer.

Two weeks?! He couldn't believe the board. They wanted him to finish his 10 year long project in two weeks.

The government had been funding him for years and now they were threatening to pull out. And not only that, but the executive board was telling him that if that happened they would vote him out of the company. Outrageous!

He had a LIFE. A daughter. He loved her but he appreciated he never really got to talk to her.

He pulled out a pocket watch with a picture of 6 year old Sasha waybright, with her signature adorable scowl.

Oh, she hated picture day and everyone knew it. She was always a rambunctious little girl.

His girl.

"I promise, I'll be there for you after this," he said to the picture.

———————————————

"Sir, are you sure about this?" His assistant, Lawrence, asked.

"Lawrence, our voluntary test subject quit. We don't have time to look for a new one. I'm testing it myself."

"B-but sir, the super soldier serum isn't ready yet! There could be unforeseen side effects!"

"Just do it."

He took off his shirt and lay down on the table. Lawrence prepared everything with shaky hands.

"Lawrence? Don't forget to inject the painkillers. If it works, i'm going to be in a lot of pain."

"Already done it, sir."

He pulled the lever and it began.

Immediately fluids raced into his circulatory system, pumping around his body. He could already see his muscles growing. (and decided to ignore the blatant scientific accuracy of this scene).

And soon, it stopped. He sat there, panting.

"Sir, are you Ok?"

Oliver waybright looked up and smiled.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, BUDDY."

"…sir?"

Oliver looked at his hands and smiled.

"Good to be back. Such a shame i'm in this mortal body. No way to return to my former glory, even if I tried. But i can do with this."

"Sir?"

"Oh, sorry, that must've been really awkward for you. Thanks, by the way. Without that insane amount of painkillers combined with your half baked serum, I wouldn't have gotten in!"

"Into what…?"

"Into his mind. The name's Bill cipher, and I may not have my powers anymore…" and he stood up, "but i can still pummel you to death."

———————————————

A few days later, Sasha was in a dark alley. She had arranged with that grimothy figure to meet up here. And yes, she knew he was some adult in his forties. She had confidence that she could take him if things went awry. And YES, she knew about 'stranger danger' and all that on the internet, but honestly she wasn't one to really listen to her parents.

"Good to see you here, miss Waybright. I wasn't expecting a 16 year old but it's fine."

"Huh?"

It was him.

"It's just me. Grimothy. But please, I prefer Grime."

"…good to know."

"Well, I called you here because I want to propose something to you. You interested?"

Sasha took a step back. "Hang on, I'd like to her it first."

"Of course," he said, smiling almost too much. "As you know, we both have a… great appreciation for Spider-woman."

"I know her."

"You-I'm sorry, what?"

"She saved me twice. We've had a good few conversations and she keeps flirting with me. And if i'm gonna be honest I have a total crush on her."

"…good to know, I guess. But you're a waybright, correct?"

"Yes?"

"Your mother is the Chief of police, and your father runs a multimillion dollar corporation."

"Yeah. The media makes them seem so much better than they are, if i'm being truthful. They suck when you get to know them."

"Well, aren't you a rebel?" He said playfully. "Anyway, I'm starting a little band, a crew, a gang. Whatever you want to call it. And i'd like you to join."

Sasha thought for a second. This… did this seem a little dodgy? Yes. She wasn't an idiot.

But was it the biggest way to give a massive "F U" to her parents?

"Sure, I'm in."

Sooo yeah! Bill's back! Don't worry, he can't get his powers back. This isn't gravity falls, this is amphibia. But just because he doesn't have powers doesn't mean he can't cause chaos.

Also, the toads! Was struggling for how to incorporate Sasha in but i sorta did it. I based it a bit off the Meta liberation army. Also just gonna say that grime may have some abilities of his own but i don't know what they're gonna be.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!