“Why would Sam Griffin be here?” Tania asked as she looked out the window.
“He probably followed us here,” Dafoanairi said, “as we were going along the ground.””
“I can think of one reason,” Tania said.
‘That she’s guessing that either of us is Sandi,’ Dafoanairi thought. ‘It was going to happen sooner or later.’
“That’s probably not it,” the Enigma responded, although her voice wavered a bit.
“We’ll let’s see what he’s up to,” Tania said.
Sam saw Sandi and Daria as their vigilante alter egos come down from the roof with Tania. “You’re recruiting Tania?” he asked.
“No,” Dafoanairi answered. “She’s an ally.”
“I don’t want to be a vigilante,” Tania said. “I just investigate with them sometimes.”
“Sounds like you’re into it,” Sam said.
“I’m not into it. If I was, I would have been wearing a disguise on the roof as well,” Tania said.
“She isn’t a seventh vigilante,” the Enigma said.
“Oh yeah, the Violet Force is the sixth,” Sam murmured, barely remembering to use his mother’s moniker.
“Why are you here?” Dafoanairi asked.
“I wanted to ask something,” Sam answered.
“What about?” Dafoanairi asked.
“What’s going on. The middle school has the favorite animal fad too,” Sam replied.
“Is that all?” the Enigma responded in an irritated tone.
“My sister didn’t help much,” Sam said.
‘I didn’t,’ the Enigma thought. ‘I was still being selfish. I’m still ‘Linda’s mini me’ in that respect.’
“I’m sure she’ll make it up somehow,” Dafoanairi said with a quick glance in the Enigma’s direction.
Tania caught the glance Dafoanairi made. ‘That narrows it down.’ That the Enigma was Sandi, not one of the Morgendorffers as she originally thought, made sense. But she still wasn’t entirely sure.
That the fad was present at the middle school also made sense. “I was saying to these two that I was annoyed by it too,” she said to Sam.
“But what to do about it?” Sam asked.
“That, I have been thinking about, but I’m still not sure,” Dafoanairi answered.
“Is that all?” the Enigma asked.
“Not really,” Sam said.
“No, you can’t come along with us on a patrol. I’m sure you saw our confrontation with that Oscorp agent?” Dafoanairi said.
“Not even to the Historia roof?” Sam asked.
“No,” the Enigma said. “Oscorp could be watching there.”
“Unlikely,” Sam shot back.
“Very likely,” Dafoanairi responded.
“Go home,” the Enigma said.
Sam sighed. He didn’t want to accidentally reveal his sister and Daria’s identities to Tania. He turned around dramatically. “But what if there are more of those agents?”
“It’s not far to your place,” Dafoanairi said.
“Or he could stay here,” Tania suggested.
“Up on the roof?” Sam asked.
“Of course not,” Tania responded. “You can wait in the rumpus room. Just don’t make any noise.”
“Fine,” Sam said.
Soon, Tania, the Enigma and Dafoanairi headed downtown. “What are we looking for?” Tania asked as they soon as they were in the laneway.
“The usual,” Dafoanairi responded. “We find crimes in progress and intervene.”
“Rescuing people from muggers,” Tania commented.
“And stopping robberies,” the Enigma said.
“And helping the other vigilantes if Oscorp agents are confronting them,” Dafoanairi added with a twirl of her staff. Tania was sure that she was showing off.
They scaled the Historia to find that they weren’t alone on the roof. The Shadow, the third vigilante, was already there.
The Shadow hadn’t expected any of the other vigilantes to show up. She turned and saw the Enigma, Dafoanairi and Tania come towards her. “I should have known.”
“Known what?” Dafoanairi asked.
“That other vigilantes would come here while I was here,” the Shadow responded.
“You wanted to be alone?” Tania asked.
“I’m sure you’re aware of what’s happening at Lawndale High,” the Shadow groused. “Not something that one can battle with gadgets or superpowers.”
“No, it’s something we investigate,” Dafoanairi said.
“I know that. It’s that I don’t know where to start. Other than that the fad probably came from either Middlebury or the internet, and that Mr. O’Neill might have got the idea for the failure assignment from a professional development seminar.”
“How did you find that out?” the Enigma asked.
“I snooped as my secret identity.”
Earlier
Shortly after school let out, Jane approached the Language Arts Faculty Office. She hoped Mr. O’Neil would still be in. She knocked on the door. But there was no response. ‘Maybe he isn’t there,’ she thought. But that was unlikely. She took out a lock picking tool her mother had given her and quickly opened the door.
Once inside, she carefully closed the door and went towards Mr. O’Neill’s desk. She found a binder with the name of the professional development conference he and the other teachers had been attending on Monday. “Maybe there’s something in here,” she murmured before opening it.
She quickly found a piece of paper with Mr. O’Neill’s neat handwriting.
Failure is the signpost that points the way to success!
What if there is an Edison in one of my classes waiting to be encouraged.
Succeed at failing.
There were several more aphorisms written down.
“I guess that answers that question,” she murmured as she closed the binder and placed it exactly where she had found it.
On the Historia rooftop
“That makes a lot of sense,” Dafoanairi commented.
“So, that’s how,” the Enigma said. “But there’s no way to dissuade him.”
“I suppose he would listen to DeMartino or Barch, for different reasons,” Tania said.
The Shadow didn’t want to think of the reason O’Neill would listen to Barch, but then she realized something. Both Tania and the Enigma were there. “Oh.”
“Oh, what?” the Enigma asked.
“You’re here, and Tania is here. Therefore, Tania is not your secret identity,” the Shadow said.
“We have all leapt to conclusions regarding the others’ secret identities,” Dafoanairi said.
A while later, Dafoanairi thought about the encounter as they headed back to the Ashworth’s. That the Shadow had suspected Tania as the Enigma didn’t surprise her that much. It was more what she had revealed. “I suppose someone could go to Ms. Li about it,” she said.
“But wouldn’t she then know that someone broke into the faculty office?” Tania asked.
“She wouldn’t know who did so,” Dafoanairi argued.
The Shadow had remained watching Lawndale from the Historia rooftop. ‘There’s something about Dafoanairi,’ she thought. She took out her sketchbook and quickly sketched the staff wielding vigilante after turning the page from where she had sketched the conflicted Kevin at the Strawberry.
“I know who she is not,” she murmured when she was finished.
Who Dafoanairi isn’t
Tania Ashworth
“But still many at school.”
Sam was playing chess against himself when Tania led the two vigilantes into the room.
“Finally,” he said.
“We just talked to the Shadow,” the Engima said.
“The third vigilante,” Sam asked.
“Yes,” Dafoanairi answered.
“Right,” Sam said, disappointed.
Lawndale Sun-Herald
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Rumors of potential hostile takeovers of local companies by Oscorp
SpiderGirl put the paper aside. ‘So, what Jodie said to Talon may be true,’ she thought. She still didn’t want to think much of the implications of an Oscorp takeover of Landon Engineering. She looked towards the Oscorp tower in the distance. ‘I will expose what you’re up to, Osborn!’
As the school day started, the students were less involved in the favorite animal fad than the day before. Mostly because they had found out their friends’ favorities then and it was starting to become old hat. Even so, many were asking those they didn’t hang out with all that often.
Daria saw that Jane was dressing more conventionally. “Is that your response to Mr. O’Neill’s assignment?” she asked.
“Yes. To see if I would fail at being conventional or not.”
The old Daria, before everything that had happened since her father passed away, would have hated it. The new, still changing, Daria was merely uncertain. “Really?” she asked.
“You really have changed, haven’t you?”
“I’m still a sarcastic cynic.”
“Yeah, but your cynicism has changed,” Jane said.
“If it’s change, it’s because it has been redirected.”
“To Osborn.”
“Not just him,” Daria responded, as they came to a door.
“To those not holding him to account as well.”
“Exactly.”
On the roof, Sandi sighed after changing from the Enigma. She still hadn’t chosen an extracurricular activity after looking at the list before breakfast. “I’ll ask Harry about it,” she decided as she headed down.
Down on the ground floor, she found two of her classmates arguing. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“What is it to you, Sandi?”
“I’m curious as to why you would be close to fighting in the corridors.”
Freya Daniels relaxed. “We were talking about Mr. O’Neill’s assignment.”
“Oh. I’m struggling with that myself,” Sandi said.
“And Freya was saying it has nothing to do with the fad,” Erin Archer said.
“And you think it does?” Sandi asked.
“It can’t be a coincidence,” Erin said.
‘I can’t tell them what the Shadow said without potentially revealing that I’m the Enigma,’ Sandi thought, as she pondered telling them that. “I’m sure it is,” she said before the bell rang.
The juniors had Language Arts before Lunch.
“First I’d like to ask how your assignments are going?” Mr. O”Neill said.
“I haven’t found SpiderGirl,” Kevin answered. “Although I went to the Historia and the Giant Strawberry.”
“Did you wait?” O’Neill asked.
“At the Strawberry I did.”
“Maybe you can wait longer at the Historia tonight. I have heard that she’s often there after the café closes on Wednesdays.”
Brittany tensed. She had to tell Quinn!
“Are you OK?” Jane asked nearby.
“Just annoyed at Kevin for choosing that for his assignment,” Brittany obfuscated.
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Brittany was doing her homework, going over a problem she and Daria had talked about at the tutoring session, when she heard an email notification on her laptop.
“Oh, Andrea sent something,” she murmured before reading it.
She then forwarded it to Quinn, adding I think we need to talk about this tonight.
Quinn soon responded. Can you be at the Bridge in half an hour, given what Jodie told you today?
Brittany twirled a pigtail as she thought about it. She could pull it off. I’ll be there.
SpiderGirl slipped out of the house via one of the rear attic windows a few minutes later. She decided that she could patrol for a short time before meeting Ninja Talon at the Bridge.
She averted a few muggings before arriving at the Bridge to find that Brittany wasn’t there yet. ‘She’ll be here soon,’ she thought as she unmasked.
She didn’t have to wait long. Brittany arrived and unmasked a few minutes later. “Hey, Quinn,” Brittany said in her usual playful tone.
“Hey, Brit,” Quinn responded with her usual exuberance.
Brittany took out a map of Lawndale. “Landon Engineering is larger than I thought, but I found the location of the warehouse.”
Quinn looked at the map, which also showed the locations of other Landon Engineering properties. “I suppose that’s one reason why Osborn wants to take it over.”
“I agree. But we need to be cautious, given the agents.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Osborn to have agents present around there, but they wouldn’t be there all the time.”
“That’s true, but they may be there tonight,” Brittany argued.
“Then we’ll approach along the ground. They won’t expect that.”
“The streets or the alleys?”
“The alleys,” Quinn decided. “Less open.”
Ten minutes later, SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon approached the warehouse in question. They saw agents moving on the rooftops nearby.
“Oscorp is definitely doing something,” SpiderGirl whispered.
“We can approach slowly,” Ninja Talon said.
SpiderGirl nodded and the two heroes approached the warehouse carefully.
Osborn was present personally. He had wanted to see if what his sources told him about what Andrew Landon was working on was true. He had broken into the premises when he realized something was wrong. Some of the agents tensed up as radio channels went silent. “Vigilantes!” he said to one of the agents. “Find out who they are.”
But the agent hadn’t moved when he heard a tell tale thwip! “SpiderGirl. You’re always getting into my business!”
“Always?” SpiderGirl asked. “Not always. Just when you’re breaking the law.”
“Just as well, I’m prepared, SpiderGirl,” Osborn said as he took out a pumpkin bomb.
A shuriken knocked it out of his hand before he could arm it. “Ninja Talon!” he grumbled.
“Why are you breaking into a place you’re trying to acquire?” Ninja Talon asked.
“Seeing what Andrew Landon is up to.”
“So, you admit that Oscorp is trying to take over Landon Engineering?” SpiderGirl asked.
“It must have leaked,” Osborn murmured. “Or… you were told by Andrew’s daughter.”
“You can’t find out who we are that way,” SpiderGirl taunted.
“No? I’ll try,” Osborn said. “But this hasn’t been a total loss. I know you’re here.”
“A distraction,” SpiderGirl said.
“We’ll find out what you’re up to though,” Ninja Talon added.
“True, but too late,” Osborn said. He wanted to do what he came for, but the vigilantes’ presence made that impossible for the time being. He brought up his radio again. “Withdraw,” he ordered.
SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon watched Osborn and his agents withdraw from the roof. “That was weird,” SpiderGirl commented.
“But what do you think he meant when he said he wanted to know what Mr. Landon is up to.”
“His trade secrets probably,” SpiderGirl said. “But that means we probably need to infiltrate Landon Engineering too.”
“Andrea probably wouldn’t go for that.”
“Maybe if we tell her everything, even if we don’t have much.”
“She’ll at least think about it,” Ninja Talon responded, as she made a twirling motion with her left hand as if her hair was in its usual pigtails.
“Then let’s go there now.”
Osborn returned to his mansion. He was still annoyed that the first two vigilantes had shown up. ‘They had to have found out somehow.’
One of his security division was waiting for him in the home office as ordered. “You wanted to see me, sir.”
“Yes. I want you to find out who Jodie Landon hangs out with most, besides Michael Macckenzie, at school.”
“Wouldn’t Fields be better suited, sir?”
“No, I’m asking you. Fields won’t do it well, or drag her feet.”
“Understood, sir. First thing in the morning.”
SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon arrived at the Hecuba-Croft’s to find that only Andrea’s light was on, as usual.
Andrea opened her bedroom window. “Quickly,” she said.
The two vigilantes clambered inside.
Andrea took in what Ninja Talon and SpiderGirl said. That Norman Osborn was trying to take over Landon Engineering didn’t surprise her.
“But he might be right that Andrew Landon might be up to something,” SpiderGirl added.
“Or he wants you distracted,” Andrea said.
“I realize that,” SpiderGirl said.
“But maybe finding out what he might be working on will help us,” Ninja Talon added.
“And provide something to the Sun-Herald again,” Andrea mused.
“Penelope Jericho has been digging up information on her own,” SpiderGirl said, referring to one of the paper’s more serious journalists. “We only leaked the expansion plans shortly after Groundhog Day.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me,” Andrea said. “I’ll dp it tomorrow night,” she decided.
It was in the early hours when Dafoanairi and the Enigma met on the Morgendorffers’ rooftop. Dafoanairi could see that the Enigma was tired. “Couldn’t sleep?” she asked.
“I was thinking about the list, as well as the fad,” the Enigma answered with a yawn.
“I didn’t to sleep straight away myself. I’m sure that all this nighttime vigilantism has given me insomnia.”
“Most likely.”
“But I have the feeling that something is happening tonight,” Dafoanairi said.
“Sounds like a hunch.”
“More that the fad is a distraction, even if Osborn has nothing to do with it.”
“Probably,” the Enigma said, as she looked to the south, over Glen Oaks Lane towards where the Osborn mansion was hidden behind many blocks of houses and the occasional warehouse.
“I was thinking we’ll talk to Tania first.”
“Isn’t it a bit late for that? The Wiccans would have finished by now.”
“But she might still be up,” Dafoanairi said.
“Lead the way,” the Enigma said with a sigh.
They swung down to the back yard with a rope and headed towards the Ashworth’s to the southeast through the laneways.
But something happened halfway. Oscorp agents appeared at the end of one block. The Enigma reacted quickly, and raised a forcefield protecting both her and Dafoanairi.
“Fourth Vigilante! Mr. Osborn doesn’t want you out this late,” one of them said.
“Oh, really?” the Enigma asked rhetorically. “Then this is my message. He would have to do a lot more to stop me from defending Lawndale!”
“We’re not stopping,” Dafoanairi added as she twirled her staff for emphasis.
“I knew you would say that.”
“And you know what happened the last time…” the Enigma said as a threat, while breaking a nearby tree branch telekinetlically.
“Mr. Osborn is on edge due to an encounter with other vigilantes earlier tonight.”
“You mean SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon?” Dafoanairi asked.
“No comment.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Dafoanairi said. “Where was this?”
“We’re not answering your questions.”
“You’re not escalating,” the Enigma noted. “Probably because Mr. Osborn wants minimal disruptions. Like, not disturbances of the peace.”
The agent was then silent.
“Then we’ll be, like, on our way,” the Enigma said, as she expanded the forcefield in his direction.
“No!” the agent said as he extended a baton.
“That’s not a threat,” Dafoanairi stated.
“Actually….” The Enigma started as she picked something up through her enhanced perception.
“It’s not a normal baton, got it,” Dafoanairi snarked. “It’s going to be one of those nights.”
The agent swung the baton against the forcefield. Electricity and the Enigma’s energy sparked. “That’s the best Oscorp can come up with?” the Enigma asked.
The agent just lunged again.
“Enough!” the Enigma said with annoyance before telekinetically exploding the baton in the agent’s hand, although the part he was grasping remained intact.
“Agh” the guard said as he dropped the remains of the baton. He then ran off.
“Like, he won’t be scared off for long,” the Enigma commented as she lowered the forcefield.
Tania Ashworth was still awake when she heard something out in the yard. She looked out and saw the Enigma and Dafoanairi there. “Of course,” she groused to herself. She opened the window. “I’ll meet you on the roof.”
On the roof, Tania listened as Dafoanairi told her what had just happened.
“It’s like last week,” Tania groused as she recalled being followed by agents after leaving High Hills Park.
“It is likely to get worse before it gets better,” Dafoanairi said.
“And now there’s this fad and Mr. O’Neill!” Tania grumbled.
“How did you handle the question?” Dafoanairi asked.
“By saying something unusual, like a bee, ant or butterfly,” Tania answered. “Eventually I refused to answer, but that was after Language Arts.”
“That is quite annoying,” the Enigma said.
“More than annoying!” Tania said. “I know what failure is like! I don’t need Mr. O’Neill’s wishy washy… What does it have to do with Language Arts anyway?”
“Not much,” Dafoanairi admitted. “But others are using it for Language Arts adjacent assignment attempts.”
“Of course they would,” the Enigma commented.
“Who?” Tania asked.
Dafoanairi hesitated before answering, “According to rumor, Quinn Morgendorffer.”
“I could believe that,” the Enigma said quietly.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Probably due to her tutoring Anna and the others,” Tania said.
Dafoanairi didn’t think saying what she said about Quinn would expose their identities. She then noticed the Enigma looking out the window. “Is there an agent there?”
May had thought that she would rest for a while after winning the Hoenn League. But back in Littleroot Town, her mother had a surprise for her.
“Mum?” May asked.
“Someone has been trying to call you,” her mother said in a serious tone.
That caught May’s attention. “Who?” she asked.
“No idea, but the Caller ID places the origin in Kanto.”
‘Kanto,’ May thought. She could think of many reasons why someone in Kanto would be calling the new winner of the Hoenn League, and she didn’t like any of them. She breathed deeply. “I’ll put my stuff in my room and then I’ll call them back.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“They could send someone here,” May responded.
“But I don’t want you to get entangled in something…”
“You can stay here.”
May called the Kanto contact back.
“Is this the new Hoenn League Champion?”
“Not really. Steven Stone is still the Official Champion for now.”
“But you are the one who passed the League.”
“Yes.”
“Giovanni has been waiting for your call.”
May’s eyes opened wider. Out of all the reports that had come out of Kanto regarding the situation there, one thing had been consistent. The one at the top of the new power structure was named Giovanni. “Giovanni?” she asked. Why did he reach out to a Hoenn trainer who had managed to beat the Champion?
“Yes. I’ll put you through now.”
“Giovanni?” Caroline asked May.
“I can handle it,” May said.
“I’ll be here.”
It wasn’t long before Giovanni responded.
“Is this May?” he asked.
“Yes,” May answered defensively. “What do you want?”
“There is something we would like you to do for us.”
“No.”
“I haven’t told you what it is yet. What do you know of the Sinnoh region?” Giovanni asked, as a map of Sinnoh appeared alongside him on the video feed.
“Not much,” May admitted. “It’s a region. People and Pokemon live there. The people also speak Johtogo, as we do.”
“Good answer,” Giovanni responded. “But it’s not the language that’s important. It’s culture, and the Regions Legendaries.” The map zoomed in on the center of Sinnoh, and a point then indicated Mount Coronet. “A local organization has taken over the ruins on top of this mountain.”
“So, you want me to deal with something, as I did Teams Aqua and Magma? Why do you want me to deal with it?”
“I haven’t finished. The leader of this organization, a man named Cyrus, is planning to use the Legendaries to create a new universe.”
That sounded crazy, May considered. But Giovanni sounded very serious. He wouldn’t be reaching out to a trainer in Hoenn without sound reason. “I’m sure you could send someone to do it.”
“I considered that, but I have to consider what happens afterwards. Tensions between Kanto and Sinnoh have been high recently, and I would rather not have Champion Cynthia’s full attention.”
“Then why not leave it to her?”
“Because my sources state that she’s taking time to respond.”
May sighed. Giovanni was aware of what was happening and authorities in Sinnoh were aware of what was happening but the latter were moving too slowly for his taste and he wanted the crisis over. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Very good. A transport will be in Littleroot Town this evening.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“May. Are you sure you want to go?” Caroline asked as she watched her daughter look up more information on Sinnoh online.
“Yes. Getting to Sinnoh otherwise might take time and this Team Galactic might have done something to Champion Cynthia, although there is no proof of that.”
“But going with Team Rocket?”
Both Caroline and May paused, as it was uncertain how much of the organization Giovanni had led before his takeover was involved in actually running Kanto.
“It’s the quickest way to get to Sinnoh,” May answered. “It is in the north, beyond Johto, Kanto and Kitakami.”
Caroline sighed. “I know it’s urgent, but you should watch yourself.”
“What do you think I have been doing?”
An hour later, a large aircraft landed in the middle of Littleroot Town, where May was waiting. It was mostly black with stylized Ks. ‘Those Ks were probably Rs,’ May thought as a loading ramp opened in front of her. A teenager girl with long blonde hair, not much older than her, emerged. “May, right?” she asked.
“That’s right,” May responded. “And your name is?”
“Cassidy. We’re on a tight schedule. It will take hours to fly to Sinnoh, and we have to stop over in Lavender Town, on Kanto’s east coast, to meet with Giovanni before continuing the rest of the way.”
“In case more information comes up?” May asked as she followed Cassidy up the loading ramp.
“Yes,” Cassidy answered. “We do have agents in Sinnoh, but we can’t afford for them to be seen moving openly, even against the clear existential threat that Cyrus presents.”
May sighed. “Yes, Giovanni explained that to me.”
“We’ll take off in a few minutes. Our presence in Hoenn is complicated.”
May sat in a large center cabin where there were many consoles that were showing sensor data from Sinnoh. She looked out the window as the aircraft took off and watched as Littleroot Town vanished into the distance.
“Welcome to the Historia, Kevin,” his classmate, Nikki Dowling said. “How may I help you?”
“I’d like to get up on the roof.”
“Why?”
“Because SpiderGirl might be up there,” Kevin answered.
“I don’t think she is up there now. Would you like something?”
“I’m cool for now, but I would like to see if she is.”
“Fine, it is the second door to the left when you come in, after the bookshop,” Nikki answered.
“Thanks, Nikki.”
“But are you sure you want to meet her on the roof? I don’t think she would want to go out with you.”
“I want to ask her,” Kevin said as he turned away.
Nikki sighed as she watched Kevin leave the café. “At least he’s no longer bothering Quinn,” she murmured. She supported Brittany in her decision to permanently break up with him. She still didn’t know what she had seen in him.
Kevin emerged onto the rooftop, which was empty. SpiderGirl wasn’t there. But waiting was boring, especially when it was long. ‘I can look at Lawndale, maybe I could see her in the distance.’
He wasn’t methodical. His gaze wandered over the sprawl of Lawndale randomly. He saw nothing but the streetlights, buildings and vegetation where they were lit up.
After about two minutes, he glanced at the Giant Strawberry. “Wait, I heard SpiderGirl had been seen there sometimes.” He paused, briefly. He didn’t want to miss her by going on a wild goose chase.
He looked around at Lawndale again before he heard a sound. He turned in a slight panic. The same kind of panic he had had since he had been kidnapped by Lynn Anders over a week earlier. “Who’s there?”
“Relax, Kevin,” Jane said as she came out from behind the roof access, carrying a sketchbook.
“Oh,” Kevin said. “I was just looking for SpiderGirl.”
“I know you told Mr. O’Neill that you’re looking for her, but I think you should have chosen something else.”
“I didn’t like the fourth vigilante.”
“That makes sense,” Jane said.
“Oh yeah. She helped rescue you, right?” Kevin asked, referring to the time Jane and some theater critics had been abducted by Quentin Beck.
“She did, but I didn’t meet her then.”
“So you met her another time?”
“Yes,” Jane answered. She had thought about lying about having met the Enigma (he was certain to blab about it if she did share the name, not that she considered it) but even Kevin would pick up on the lie. ‘He won’t press about it, given his focus on SpiderGirl.’
Kevin turned and looked at the Giant Strawberry again. “Maybe she’s there.”
“Or maybe she isn’t.”
“I’m going anyway.”
‘Of course he is!’ Jane thought. ‘I guess I can follow as the Shadow and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble if he does start a wild goose chase across Lawndale.
“But first, what did you choose to try to fail?” Kevin asked.
“Being conventional.”
Kevin laughed. “Really? I’d like to see that,” he said as he went to the door.
Jane waited until she was sure that he was well down the stairs before she changed to the Shadow and used her grapple gun to rappel down the rear of the Historia to where she had parked the Shadow Car in the alleyway behind. She then found Kevin’s jeep and placed a tracker on it so she could follow if he meandered through Lawndale instead of making a beeline for the Strawberry.
Kevin emerged from the Historia and went to his car. He was sure that going to the Giant Strawberry was a good idea. ‘She has been seen all over town, but the Strawberry is the second most common place,’ he thought as he started the engine. He was quite sure.
The Shadow listened to the police bands as she followed Kevin at a distance. Lawndale was quiet but there was still chatter. It just wasn’t something she needed to respond to.
At the same time as Kevin driving to the Giant Strawberry, Sandi finished looking through the list of extracurricular activities offered at Lawndale High for the umpteenth time. “Ugh! The only thing I’m failing tonight is, like, failing to make a choice!” she grumbled.
She turned to her yearbook, which lay open to where she had left it two nights earlier. She had been searching for SpiderGirl’s identity every night, but she and Daria had gone to Oakwood the previous night, which had precluded the search.
“Emma King,” she said as she looked at the next girl. She grabbed her energy drink.
“Findu mann sem heiter: Emma King!”
She was getting better at it. The search process took a second less than when she had started her search several days before Groundhog Day. She found Emma at her home not far from the Giant Strawberry.
“Thirty-eight down,” she said. It was still only a fraction of the girls at Lawndale High.
She then turned back her homework.
Kevin arrived at the Strawberry and parked. “Now, the telescopes are at the top. Maybe I can see SpiderGirl through them.”
He ran from his car to the landmark and started climbing the stairs inside.
The Shadow parked a short distance away before approaching the Strawberry and scaling the western side, so as not to be seen most of the town, if they had happened to be looking in the direction, as even without the direct moonlight, the lower half of the landmark was well lit.
While he was looking through a telescope at the downtown, Kevin heard something. He jumped, hitting his cheek against the scope. “Ow!” he said as he rubbed it. He didn’t see anyone at first. “SpiderGirl?”
A cloud appeared and a figure walked out of it. “No, I’m the Shadow,” she said.
Kevin calmed down. “Oh. Why are you here?”
“Oh, making sure that nothing untoward is happening at the Strawberry. There are also rumors at school that the quarterback wants to meet SpiderGirl to ask her out.”
“That’s true. I do want to ask SpiderGirl out, as I’m the QB!”
“Is that because you were rescued by her over a week ago?” the Shadow asked.
“That’s right.”
“But I don’t think SpiderGirl wants to go out with you. I’m certain that she has heard about it as her secret identity by now.”
“Oh, yeah,” Kevin said. “All of you go to Lawndale High.”
“That hasn’t been in doubt, but I don’t know any of the others’ secret identities.”
The Shadow thought about that as Kevin took in what she said. She still suspected that Tania Ashworth was the fourth vigilante, but she wasn’t going to tell Kevin that.
“I wasn’t going to ask you that. I know that Ratboy never answers when he’s asked.”
“This isn’t a comic book. But does anyone try to ask Ratboy out?”
“Not in any issue I’ve read,” Kevin admitted.
“So, asking SpiderGirl out is wrong.”
“Exactly.”
Kevin wrestled with his thoughts with his thoughts for a while. His crush on SpiderGirl was intense, and he was sure Mr. O’Neill would ask him to find something else to try or fail at if he changed his mind.
The Shadow waited as she looked over Lawndale. She itched to sketch the scene, and the conflicted quarterback, but she decided to wait until Kevin had gone, as there weren’t all that many Lawndale High students who identified themselves as artists.
Kevin looked at his watch. “I better get going, Mom’s going to wonder where I am.”
“But what’s your answer?” the Shadow asked.
“I haven’t changed my mind. I still like SpiderGirl, and I don’t want to come up with something else for O’Neill.”
“You can’t just blame O’Niell.”
Kevin just left.
The Shadow waited until she saw Kevin drive away before taking out her sketchbook, and sketching his conflicted look from the surreptitious photo she took with the camera in her mask.
After dinner, Quinn told Daria what she had decided about Mr. O’Neill’s assignment.
“So, you want me to recommend a book for you?” Daria asked, as she opened her bedroom door.
“Yes,” Quinn answered. “Even if I fail to get through it, I will be exposed to more literature.”
“That’s a good point. You know that I have a great many here.”
“Let’s look at your shelf.”
Daria’s shelf was bursting at the seems as it were. Quinn was sure Daria also stored books elsewhere in the room.
“What genre would you like. I have a variety.”
“I was thinking something classic,” Quinn answered. “Maybe something about change.”
“Many of these books have change at the core. You just want me to recommend something, don’t you?”
“Consider that part of the assignment,” Quinn answered with a slight giggle.
Daria took out a large book. “You can’t go wrong with Charles Dickens.”
“Little Dorrit.” Quinn considered. “I suppose a large book would have a lot of change in it.”
“Yes,” Daria said as she took out another book. “David Copperfield, there’s less change, but more villainy, but different to what’s going on in Lawndale. But inspired by what Dickens saw around him.”
“If I can get through this… I might try that other one. Thanks, Daria.”
Daria put the volume of David Copperfield back after Quinn had left. ‘I don’t think Osborn is like the Murdstones, Steerforth or Uriah Heep, but there might be those like them here.’ She shook her head. She wasn’t sure how she would be able to deal with such villains as Dafoanairi, especially any Murdstone-like ones. ‘If there is anyone like Uriah Heep here, Upchuck would seem likely.’
Around 9:30, Andrea received a tip in her email inbox.
Tip – Possible break in at Landon Engineering warehouse
Andrea clicked on it. She saw that there was a possibility of Oscorp involvement. ‘I’ll forward this to Brittany,’ she decided. ‘I hope she and SpiderGirl can do something.’
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Anna thought about it. “Maybe you could do something similar to Ben. Like remembering all the moons of Saturn or something.”
“Saturn does have the most moons,” Gerald considered.
“So, is that it?” Quinn asked.
“Or I can add Jupiter too,” Gerald said. “Yes.”
At the same time, Daria was talking to Brittany.
“A marmoset?” Daria asked, rhetorically after Brittany had answered her about the fad. “I suppose they are cute, in a way.”
“That is one reason,” Brittany responded as she opened her Math textbook.
“But what are you considering regarding O’Neill’s assignment?”
“As I said, the science thing.”
“Sure,” Daria said. “But in what branch of science?”
“Botany, maybe? Try to tell the difference between different kinds of plants.”
“That would be a good start.”
The Enigma paused her patrol on the roof of the Historia half an hour after school had let out. Lawndale was quiet, but she knew that the tensions were still beneath the service, and she had prevented a mugging on Dega Street.
‘The muggers still think they wont get caught,’ she thought as she looked at that street. But she knew that she and the other heroes were making a difference. She turned and looked at Oscorp tower, which loomed ominously to the southeast. ‘Osborn may know who I am, but he hasn’t really done anything with that.’
Then there was the fact that she hadn’t really confronted SpiderGirl yet. ‘It will happen soon, I’m sure of it,’ she thought. She then changed to the ordinary Sandi and headed down to the café.
Stacy Rowe was having a normal afternoon working at the Historia. It was relaxing compared to the school day. The animal fad had her slightly more anxious than usual. She shook her head as she saw Sandi come up to the counter. “Your usual, Sandi?”
“Yes.”
“It will be ready shortly,” Stacy said before pausing. She then added. “Thanks.”
“Thanks for what?” Sandi asked in surprise.
“For not asking the question nearly everyone else has been asking.”
“I’m tired of it too.”
Sandi sat next to a window and looked out across the street at Zammit’s Boutique. ‘How long is it since I have been there?’ she wondered. She saw that they still didn’t have the SpiderGirl knockoff clothes that had arrived the previous week. ‘I don’t think they have been selling.’
Stacy soon brought out Sandi’s latte. “Here you go,” she said before retreating back to the counter.
“Thanks,” Sandi said.
“Now I know something is up,” Stacy said.
“I’m thinking about things.”
“That’s obvious.”
“You know, you’re getting more confident,” Sandi said in an appreciative tone.
“I don’t feel like it most of the time. But that’s what happens when one is working in a café,” Stacy responded before heading back to the counter.
‘Of course,’ Sandi thought. ‘She’s turning out to be a great barista.’
After their mentoring sessions had ended, SpiderGirl, Ninja Talon and Dafoanairi left the high school in different directions. SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon were patrolling in different areas before heading to their spot below the Jefferson Bridge.
Dafoanairi headed towards the Giant Strawberry. As she approached, she reflected once more upon the events since Groundhog Day. It seemed that events in Lawndale were still getting worse. ‘There are still Oscorp agents chasing us, albeit not this afternoon,’ she thought as she crossed the parking lot and looked up at the observation platform at the top of the structure.
As she looked over the town through the telescopes, she thought about the animal fad and O’Neill’s assignment. ‘It’s definitely a coincidence, that they’re occurring at the same time, but it’s adding to the chaos in this town.’
She paused a she made a note in her notebook. ‘No agents visible. They could have been instructed to hide from the Strawberry.’ She pondered that. ‘But who knows about this? The Enigma and I. Possibly SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon. Osborn hasn’t been reported having been seen here. But he could have learned about it anyway.’ She shook her head. It was unlikely that the agents would have been instructed that way. ‘But who to talk to about it. The Enigma is on her own patrol and I don’t know where Jane is.’
Although if Jane was sketching from rooftops, she might have been visible. Dafoanairi shook her head. She wasn’t going to spot Jane that way. ‘Maybe Sam Griffin, given that he knows our secrets,’ she thought as she looked in the direction of the Griffin residence, despite it being out of sight behind a ridge line. ‘I’ll do that.’
Sam Griffin was bored. His younger brother, Chris wasn’t home yet, and he didn’t want to do his homework. He was about to start to do it anyway when he heard a knock on the sliding door.
“Daria?” he asked as he let her in.
“I wanted to talk to someone, and Sandi is on her own patrol,” Daria said as she sat on one of the couches.
“Oh. About what?”
“I’m sure the students in the middle school are also asking each other about their favorite animal?”
“Oh, that,” Sam said. “It’s just a fad, isn’t it, even if both schools are doing it.”
“I doubt it’s just Lawndale High and Glenfield Middle School, but every school in Lawndale, including Fielding.”
“There is more isn’t there?”
“That one of the teachers has assigned a crazy project,” Daria said.
“Isn’t that normal?”
“Not this project. I’m sure Sandi has told you something about Mr. O’Neill.”
“Not so much, but I have heard her complain to mother about him many times,” Sam responded. “Go on.”
“He wants us to learn by choosing something to fail at, on purpose and then explaining how that has taught us something about ourselves,” Daria answered.
“That sounds like what Sandi was describing.”
Daria sighed.
“I don’t know what else to say, but what are you getting at?”
“That the combination of that with the animal fad is making Lawndale even more chaotic.”
“Maybe. But that’s not something superheroes can do anything about,” Sam pointed out.
“Of that I’m aware.”
Shortly afterwards, Quinn hadn’t been waiting at their spot below the Jefferson Bridge long when Ninja Talon arrived and unmasked as Brittany. She could see that her friend was a little concerned. She was concerned herself. They were quiet for a few minutes as they looked at the Creek and what could be seen of the town’s buildings. ‘Not many of those belong to Oscorp I wouldn’t think, and Osborn won’t think to look for us here.’
“What are we going to do about O’Neill?” Brittany asked, as she twirled some loose hairs.
“No idea. The assignment is something we can’t do anything about.”
“What about through the Lowdown?”
“That is something I hadn’t thought about yet,” Quinn answered. “The day has been busy.”
“It has been. There’s something else. Something Jodie said this morning.”
“What was that?”
“That Oscorp is trying to take over her father’s company,” Brittany answered quietly.
“That…” Quinn began as she thought about the implications of what Brittany had just said. “Landon Engineering is quite large. They’re a significant employer in the County!”
“You had looked into it?” Brittany asked.
“Yes. We have been looking for alternative sponsors for the Historia since Osborn got hospitalized. Guess we may have to cross Landon Engineering off the list.”
“But what about Mr. Landon?”
“There’s not much we can do to help him, and I can’t exactly talk to Mom about it without revealing too much,” Quinn answered, with a slight tear in her eye.
“That’s true. But what about the firm as a sponsor?”
“Daria and I had thought about it, but neither of us trust the Senior Partner.”
“I had heard about him too,” Brittany said.
“But back to what’s going on. The fad was still going on at the end of the day. Gerald was late to the library because of it.”
“He was?”
“Yes, and Anna and Ben were annoyed by it too,” Quinn answered.
“Daria and I only talked about it briefly.”
“But what are we going to do about it?”
“Just keep an eye on it?” Brittany asked as she twirled the loose hairs again.
Quinn nodded and they then sat there for a while, relaxing and listening to the town from there.
SpiderGirl arrived home shortly after sunset, entering via the backyard hatch. She and Ninja Talon had remained at the Bridge for about twenty minutes, mostly enjoying each other’s company as the close friends they were. ‘It will take time to come up with something to deal with the fad,’ she thought as she slid open the hidden area in the basement where she kept most of her gear.
In there, she unmasked and wrote in her journal about the school day.
Helen Morgendorffer arrived home to find Daria and Quinn talking in the kitchen.
“…So, you agree that it is a distraction?” Quinn asked.
“Yes. They could be thinking about that, or ignoring something important in favor of it,” Daria answered.
“Evening, girls,” Helen said as she entered the kitchen. “What is that distraction?”
“A fad,” Daria answered.
“Everyone asking everyone else what their favorite animals are,” Quinn added.
“That’s unusual,” Helen commented.
“But that’s not all,” Daria said. “Mr. O’Neill has given an assignment about failure.”
“That doesn’t bad,” Helen said.
“With a practical application,” Quinn added.
“Go on,” Helen prompted.
“He wants us to ‘succeed at failing’,” Daria said before tilting her head a little and shrugging. “You know, his usual babble; which isn’t good at the best of times.”
“And you think that now isn’t the best time,” Helen asked rhetorically.
Both Daria and Quinn nodded.
At the same time, Kevin arrived at the Historia after having slipped out of the house before his mother started dinner. “Now, SpiderGirl is often on the roof, but where’s the way to the roof.” He went into the café.
Daria considered Harry’s remark. ‘Not that harmless,’ she considered. She could see how some of her peers might have favorites that would cause them to be teased about it. “It’s at best, a distraction,” she said.
“A distraction from what has been going on since Groundhog Day?” Jane asked.
“Yes,” Daria responded. “A very Lawndale thing to do. Something earth shattering happens. They try to get on as if nothing happened.”
“Not everyone is like you, Daria,” Sandi said.
“That’s certainly true. But the town’s changed, and most of the students are trying to ignore it,” Daria said.
“Not entirely true,” Jane said. “Remember what happened after the fake interview?”
Daria recalled that nearly all of the students had called around when the fake interview had aired, and they had managed get a copy of the interview within a few hours. “Good point.”
“And then there’s Mr. O’Neill’s latest brainstorm,” Jane added.
“Ugh!” Sandi said. “He’s foisted it on the junior class too. I have no idea what to succeed or fail at.”
“We could talk about that later,” Daria said.
“Sure,” Sandi said.
‘Is Daria just trying to make sure we’re focused?’ Harry wondered. He thought about what had happened since he had arrived in Lawndale.
Daria saw Tori exit the server area. ‘I should ask her about it now.’ She got up.
“Daria?” Jane asked.
“Tori’s here.”
Tori Jericho saw Daria Morgendorffer wave her over. She looked around and saw that Quinn wasn’t there yet, so she went over and sat next to her and across from Harry. “I suppose you’ve been talking about the latest craze?” she asked.
“Yes,” Daria answered. “It’s spread through the school like wildfire.”
“Tell me about it. It’s exhausting giving the same answer over and over,” Tori responded.
“And that is?” Jane asked mischievously.
“A Meercat,” Tori answered as she took a bite. “They observe their environment.”
“You liked Timon when you saw The Lion King, didn’t you?” Jane asked.
Tori felt a flush of embarrassment. “That might have something to do with it,” she admitted.
“But how did this fad start?” Daria asked.
“How does anything start?” Tori asked. “I have no idea at that the moment. I just find it annoying.”
“It’s more of a distraction than anything,” Daria said. “But a distraction nonetheless.”
“Not everyone is interested in what’s causing Lawndale to go out of control,” Tori said. “But I have been keeping my ear on the ground, as it were.”
“And you haven’t heard anything?” Daria concluded.
“It might have come from Middlebury,” Tori answered after some thought. “My cousin there said something about it a week ago. But it might also have come from the Internet.”
“So, a meme, or more like one of those chain emails,” Daria considered as if she wasn’t sure what to make of that.
Quinn saw Tori sitting with Daria and Sandi. “I’ll talk to her later,” she murmured. She then noticed Anna Coultard and Ben Harrod, two of her fellow students she was mentoring.
Anna turned to Quinn as she sat. “Hi, Quinn.”
“I see you’re not asking what everyone else is,” Quinn said.
“I got tired of answering after the first half dozen times,” Anna responded.
“I’m tired of it too,” Ben added. “A few even joked about the time I got bit by that Copperhead!”
That almost startled Quinn. “Really?”
“Yes,” Ben answered with annoyance.
“That’s not right,” Quinn said.
“I told them that,” Anna interjected as she took Ben’s in hers.
Quinn changed the topic. “How do you feel about Mr. O’Neil’s assignment?”
“Like, why set us up for failure?” Anna asked. “Either way we fail something, or fail the assignment.”
“That’s a good point,” Quinn responded. “Do you think I should bring that up with Ms. Li?”
“It may be a good idea,” Ben answered as he paused in his careful eating.
Meanwhile, Brittany had joined her friends and fellow cheerleaders Angie Zammit and Donna Bolton.
“So, Brit, tired of this fad yet?” Donna asked. “I’m sure I have given more than five answers.”
“A little,” Brittany answered. “But I am a little curious.”
“Really, Brit?” Angie asked in annoyance. “Besides, my favorite is a spider.”
“You mean, SpiderGirl,” Brittany said in a slight ribbing tone.
Angie shrugged. “Well, her powers had to come from somewhere.”
“But what answer have you been giving, Brit?” Donna asked.
“Like a marmoset,” Brittany answered while twirling a pigtail.
“Good choice,” Angie said.
“It has been cat, mouse, dog and giraffe most often,” Donna added.
“That makes sense,” Brittany said.
At the Oscorp tower, Osborn’s assistant Fields was having a usual day, trying to organize Oscorp’s operations in Lawndale in a way that Osborn would find appropriate. She didn’t jump when Osborn entered the office in a storm.
“Find out more on Angier Sloane that is not publicly known,” he directed.
“Yes, sir.”
“And look into the ownership structure of Winged Tree Country Club.”
Fields nodded, although she was sure that the members were the owners.
Osborn entered his office, and looked out over Lawndale towards where the Country Club lay to the southeast. ‘But maybe an Oscorp buyout would be too obvious.’ He opened a file on his computer that he had read earlier that morning.
Oscorp Industries Glider Prototype Mark II
Construction complete.
Entering testing phase.
‘Maybe I can use it to destroy that building. But what about the vigilantes?’ He knew that the agents hadn’t really stopped them in their tracks. ‘But there are many ways they can be distracted.’ He looked at a map of Lawndale on one of the walls. ‘Five or six places…’
Daria and Sandi met on the roof as school let out. “Brittany is waiting in the Library,” Daria said, as she tutored Brittany in various subjects twice a week.
“She can wait,” Sandi said as she looked out over the town.
“She’ll ask why I’m late, but alright.”
“You said we could, like, talk about Mr. O’Neill’s assignment later.”
“I was going to suggest choosing an activity from the list of extracurricular activities,” Daria said.
“I’ll have another look.”
“And that way, even if you don’t like it, Mr. O’Neill will be satisfied, in a way.”
“I guess so,” Sandi said, as she tied her hair back, ready to be the Enigma for the afternoon.
“But otherwise, no pressure.”
“There’s still, like, some pressure from O’Neill, but it could still be worse.”
“Let’s not tempt fate,” Daria responded.
In the Library, Quinn saw Anna and Ben arrive. “Have you seen Gerald?” she asked, referring to the third of the students she was mentoring alongside the couple.
“I saw him between fifth and sixth period,” Ben said. “Arguing that he doesn’t need to pick a favorite animal.”
“Good for him,” Quinn commented, “but where is he? Is he concerned that I’d be asking? Or that you two would be?”
“I wouldn’t,” Ben said.
“Let’s start anyway,” Quinn said with a sigh. “But we’ll wait about five minutes.”
Gerald Brown arrived in a huff in slightly less of that time. “A very annoying day!” he grumbled.
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking you the question,” Quinn said.
Gerald breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down.
“I may not be asking about that fad….” Quinn began.
“But about O’Neill’s crazy assignment,” Gerald interrupted.
“Yes,” Quinn said. “What are you doing about it?”
“I was wondering what you are going to say about it,” Gerald responded.
“What Mr. O’Neill probably intends. For us to use it as a learning opportunity,” Quinn answered. “It’s like what my mom sometimes says. That you’ll never know what we can handle until we try.”
“That’s a good point,” Ben said. “Looking back. The past couple of months, since this started have been good for us, despite what else may be happening in town.”
“That’s obvious. I have been keeping track,” Quinn said. “But I’m not having Mr. O’Neill inadvertently sabotage this.”
“He won’t and he hasn’t,” Anna said.
“A good attitude,” Quinn said.
“But what are you getting at?” Ben asked. “Something like O’Neill’s challenge. Pick something we’ll know we’ll fail at and learn from that?”
“Something like it,” Quinn said with slight annoyance. “More like, going out of your comfort zone. I’ll be doing that myself. Reading at least one book Daria will recommend.”
“Given how Tempest is layered with meaning, that book could be anything that’s a classic,” Anna said.
“But whether I’ll like it would be another thing,” Quinn said. “But at least I’ll know my tastes for literature better.”
“Maybe I’ll do something similar,” Anna said. “Branch out to Greek mythology and try to read The Odyssey.”
“That’s a good choice,” Quinn said.
Ben thought about what Quinn had said, and what Anna had chosen. He too could branch out. “Something related.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Quinn said.
He looked to Anna, and her expression backed up what Quinn just said.
“I guess it could be trying to memorize the names of all the insect orders,” he said.
“That sounds achievable,” Quinn said.
“But it’s tricky. The naming convention seems consistent, but it isn’t that straightforward, and there are so many,” Ben said.
“But it is the challenge. The balance between what O’Neill tried to set out and being defiant against it,” Anna contributed.
“Absolutely,” Ben said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
“And you, Gerald?” Quinn asked.
Gerald sighed. Quinn was her usual enthusiastic self. ‘The favorite animal thing hasn’t really affected her,’ he thought. But it had affected him, so he hadn’t really given O’Neill’s brainwave of an assignment challenge much thought. He said so.
“Something to do with Astronomy, right?” Quinn asked. “Trying to view something in the sky despite the streetlights?”
Gerald shook his head. “That would just cause eye strain. That’s not worth it over this.”
“That’s a good point. I’ve seen Daria struggle at the times she needed new glasses,” Quinn said. “It obviously not pleasant for her. But what else could there be.”
“And I still haven’t got far with the elocutionist. So, no dramatic reading yet,” Gerald added.
Peter considered webslinging back to Glen Oaks Lane, but decided against it. Spider-Man appearing in Lawndale would draw too much attention. ‘But I can still get there quickly. Maybe Claire is still here.’
Claire was surprised when Peter came up to her. “Peter?”
“I need a lift,” he said.
“Why? Lawndale has a good bus service.”
“I need to get to Glen Oaks Lane quickly.”
“Is that where you’re staying?” Claire asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll take you.”
Brittany pulled up into the Morgendorffers’ driveway. “See, five minutes. I guess they’re out the back,” she said as she turned off the engine, while also twirling a pigtail.
“Yes,” Quinn answered.
“In the yard?” Stacy asked.
“Yes, we don’t need to go through the house,” Daria said a she got out.
Kaelyn emerged from the TARDIS as Quinn lead the group around the side of the house past the kitchen door. “Kim and Ron have gone home overnight,” she said.
“But has the Doctor found more?” Daria asked.
“Yes, but it’s best that he explains it.”
“We still need to wait for Peter,” Quinn said.
“The Morgendorffers,” Claire said as she pulled up. “That’s where you’re staying?”
“For now,” Peter answered.
“Or something’s going on,” Claire said.
“No comment,” Peter said as he got out of the car.
The Doctor saw Quinn lead the other girls into the TARDIS.
“It’s bigger on the inside!” Stacy commented in a slight panic.
That was new. No one had been in a panic before as they said that.
“Dimensionally transcendental, according to the Doctor,” Quinn said. “And it’s perfectly safe, Stacy. It’s where the Doctor would take it that would be dangerous.”
“Oh.”
“But she’s stuck in Lawndale for the time being,” the Doctor added.
“What happened?” Brittany asked.
“She picked up the portal machine before Quinn and I activated it,” the Doctor answered.
“But what have you found?” Quinn asked as she and Stacy came up to the console.
“Energy readings, scattered around Lawndale,” the Doctor answered.
“Not scattered,” Stacy murmured.
“There’s a pattern you recognise?” the Doctor asked.
“A little,” Stacy answered. She pointed to one of them, in the middle of the extensive suburbia to the west of the downtown area and southeast of the Morgendorffers. “This is the Coulthard’s, my next-door neighbors.”
“Anna is in our grade,” Quinn added.
“What about the others?” Kaelyn asked.
“One is the Giant Strawberry,” Stacy added.
“I see that,” Daria commented.
“Wait!” Jane said as she came up to scanner screen.
“You see something?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes. It’s like a flower blooming across Lawndale. The Strawberry is at the end of one petal,” Jane explained.
“I don’t see any flower,” the Doctor objected.
“It’s not just the flower,” Jane said. “But the floral part is the most obvious to my mind.”
“Right, but what does this mean?” Brittany asked. “What are the energy readings?”
“They’re similar to the portal,” the Doctor answered. “Meaning that they may be similar tech.”
“And would there be similar readings in Middleton?” Kaelyn asked.
“I guess I’ll have to go and check,” the Doctor answered. “Kim and Ron won’t be back for a while.”
Jane took out a sketchpad and started copying the flower pattern. “All of Lawndale,” she commented.
“I said that, didn’t I?” the Doctor asked.
“No, you said ‘across Lawndale’, not ‘across all of Lawndale,’” Kaelyn responded.
“Semantics,” the Doctor said as he watched Jane continue to sketch.
“Can you broaden the range?” Jane asked.
“Certainly,” the Doctor responded. “How far?”
“Oakwood for a start,” Jane answered.
“Sure,” the Doctor responded. He input a few commands, and the screen zoomed out to show Oakwood, not far to the west of Lawndale. “There are only two readings in Oakwood.’”
“And in the eastern subdivisions,” Daria commented.
“Maybe it is just Lawndale,” Jane considered, “But zoom out to the entire county to be sure.”
The Doctor zoomed the screen out.
Carter Lawndale County
Energy reading concentration, Lawndale
“Nowhere near Middlebury or Cumberland,” the Doctor said.
“So, practically just Lawndale,” Kaelyn considered.
“The furthest is on the other side of the lake,” the Doctor confirmed.
Quinn thought about the situation. “But did they appear before, or after we activated the portal?” she asked the Doctor.
“Checking that now,” the Doctor said. He scanned back to the morning again, and they saw that the energy readings slowly appeared after the portal was activated.
“Would that mean they would be in Middleton too?” Brittany asked.
“Quite likely, but the TARDIS can’t scan through the portal, and I’m not sure she would travel there.”
“You can try,” Daria said after crossing her arms.
“Right,” the Doctor said. He input the coordinates in Middleton, and set the TARDIS in motion.
It was still in the early hours when SpiderGirl responded to alarms at the facility on Lawndale’s northern edge, not far from the Interstate.
She saw that a window had been smashed. “Subtle, aren’t they?” she quipped as she swung onto the roof, where she found an open vent and crawled inside.
On the ground floor, she found a mess. “You must be new. There usually isn’t much of a mess,” she quipped as she crawled on the ceiling.
She soon found the thief and was surprised. “Sam Elders?” she asked.
The would-be thief turned from where he was upending some materials. “SpiderGirl?” he asked in surprise. “I thought it would be one of the others.”
“You knew you would get caught by one of Lawndale’s heroes, and yet you’re here.”
“It was worth the risk,” Sam responded.
SpiderGirl swung down. “It totally wasn’t,” she said as she tried to web him up.
He avoided the webs by ducking behind equipment.
“Uh!” SpideGirl said. “You know that will just make me make more of a mess, right?”
“And get arrested by Officer Peterson again?” No thanks.”
“Well, duh! How did you get out anyway?”
“How else? Bail!” Sam answered as he was cornered and got caught by a web. “Crap.”
“Of course,” SpiderGirl groused as she webbed Sam up securely.
Half an hour later, as the Sun rose, Officer Xanthe Peterson found Sam webbed up in the facility foyer. She sighed. “Yes, SpiderGirl called it in,” she said as she took out her cuffs. “Sam Elders, you’re under arrest for breaking and entering.”
“What about SpiderGirl?”
“It’s the same as at the Solarium,” Peterson answered.
Sam was silent as she led him away. Of course it was.
Lawndale Sun-Herald
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Oscorp Interference with Mound Site Unconfirmed
Melinda Parris
SpiderGirl arrived on the school roof a half hour before homeroom. She then changed to her usual persona of Quinn Morgendorffer, slowly improving, involved, sophomore student. ‘Brit should be here shortly,’ she thought.
Indeed, it was only a few minutes before another vigilante hero arrived on the rooftop and changed to her student persona; Ninja Talon, or rather, Brittany Taylor. “You said something happened in that message,” she said.
“Yes,” Quinn answered and explained about finding Sam in that facility.
“You think he’ll get out again?” Brittany asked.
“Most likely,” Quinn said as she opened the door to the stairs down. “But the next question would be, who?”
Brittany twirled a pigtail. “No real idea, other than maybe Osborn.”
“That’s only one possibility,” Quinn said as she opened the door.
On the ground floor after she and Brittany had gone in different directions, Quinn ran into Jamie White.
“Morning, Quinn.”
“Morning, Jamie. Something up?”
“It’s that most people are talking about their favorite animals,” Jamie answered.
“It’s probably just a fad,” Quinn responded. “As a way to distract from what’s going on.”
“I guess so. But some advice? You're about to embark on a journey that will change your life. What snacks would you bring along?”
“My life has already been changed, but my snack preferences haven’t.”
“So, carrot sticks?” Jamie asked as they walked along.
“But what does that tell you about my favorite animal?”
“A rabbit?”
“Not really,” Quinn responded. Her actual favorite animal was a small mammal, but Rabbits and Hares weren’t it.
The junior grade had Language Arts first period. Brittany wondered what Mr. O’Neill would be talking about as she entered the classroom. She was sure to arrive early, to make sure that she and her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Thompson, wouldn’t be sitting near each other. As she entered the classroom, she saw that Jodie Landon was already there. “Good Morning, Jodie.”
“Morning, Brittany,” Jodie said, with an undertone of sadness.
“Is something up?”
“Oh, it’s just that Oscorp is trying to make moves on my father’s company. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
“I won’t spread it,” Brittany responded. ‘I’d tell at least Quinn, maybe Daria.’
“Thanks, Brittany.”
Then Mr. O’Neill arrived. “Oh! Only you two,” he said.
“Yes, Mr. O’Neill,” Brittany said.
“I don’t understand why the homerooms are scattered about the school,” O’Neill murmured.
“Probably the best that Ms. Li could do,” Jodie murmured, before more students entered the classroom.
“So class, your assignment is to pick something you know you'll fail at. To prove that failing isn't the end of the world,” O’Neill said to the class.
“There goes my motivation,” Quinn’s older sister, Daria, commented.
“Relax,” Jane Lane said. “At least he’s not making us guess people’s identities by feeling their hands.”
“Again?” Daria asked rhetorically.
“Brittany, what is something you’re sure you’d fail at?” O’Neill asked.
Brittany twirled a pigtail. “I suppose, learning something really complicated.”
“Excellent! Although it depends on what that is.”
“Some science thing.”
‘That will have to do, although Janet won’t be pleased, ’O’Neill thought, thinking of the Science teacher he was involved with despite the principal’s anti fraternization policy. “Brittany! You’ll fail at the science thing.”
‘I hope not, because I’m sure she’ll bring it up at the next tutoring session,’ Daria thought.
“Who else wants to pick what they are going to fail at? Kevin, what about you?”
“Me?” Kevin asked. “I’m the QB. But I’m going to ask SpiderGirl out.”
Brittany heard Kevin. ‘Quinn told me about that. That he got a crush on her as Spidey after she rescued him.’
“So, you’re going to fail at trying to get a date with Lawndale’s first superhero? Isn’t that a bit much?” O’Neill asked.
“No!” Kevin said. “I’ll find her.”
“She may say no,” O’Neill said.
“Probably. But I’ll ask again.”
‘I’ll have to tell Quinn later,’ Brittany thought.
O’Neill turned to Jodie. “My parents make me spend my entire summer doing volunteer work that'll look good on my college application. I'd never be able to get the summer off.”
“Perfect. Mack?” O’Neill responded.
After the class, Jane Lane and Daria talked about it as they headed to their next class. “This is the most stupid idea he’s had,” Daria said. “If not for everything else happening in Lawndale these days, it would have been one of the strangest.”
“Especially with there being two superheroes with strange powers.”
“Especially that. Speaking of, what do you think of Kevin’s quest?”
“He’s wasting his time,” Jane said. “SpiderGirl appears where she wants to.”
“Then there is the fact that people are asking each other about their favorite animal.”
“I don’t know how that started.”
“I guess I could ask Tori,” Daria responding, referring to one of Quinn’s friends.
“But that probably won’t be until lunch,” Jane responded.
“I know, but we can ask others if we run into them.”
Elsewhere in Lawndale, Norman Osborn entered the Main Office of Grace, Sloane and Page, a so called ‘class firm’. He went up to the reception desk.
“How may I help you?” the impeccably put together receptionist asked.
He handed over a business card. “Osborn to see Sloane at 10:00.”
“Mr. Sloane is ready now, sir.”
Angier Sloane didn’t really want to meet Norman Osborn. But circumstances had brought the meeting about, and he couldn’t put it off any longer. He saw Osborn enter. “Welcome to Grace, Sloane and Page, Mr. Osborn.”
“Lets get to the point shall we,” Osborn said.
“Of course,” Angier said as he grabbed a printout. “Your request to join Winged Tree Country Club is denied.”
“I knew that,” Osborn said with annoyance.
“I was getting to the reason. That recent news regarding Oscorp has brought up concerns about your influence on Lawndale.”
“But that’s hearsay!”
“Nonetheless, that is the truth,” Angier responded.
“That isn’t all is it?”
“I am aware of your manipulations of the City Council, and of what really happened to Lynn Anders.”
“All just malicious rumors,” Norman said.
“I know there’s no real proof, but whatever you’re going to say is not going to change my mind.”
“You’re going to regret this.”
“And that’s another reason,” Angier added.
The refusal stung. ‘Just because the Sloanes retained their wealth, and Angier went to Bromwell!’ Norman groused as he stepped out of Grace, Sloane and Page a few minutes later. He had to work to get himself through Empire State, work to establish and grow Oscorp. He turned and looked at the old-style building. He had done his research, and knew that the Sloanes had been in Lawndale since it’s founding. ‘I will bring you down, Angier!’ But that was a long-term project.
But he had another idea.
Shorty after the beginning of lunch, Daria entered the cafeteria and heard the students already in there discussing the ‘favorite animals’ fad, as well as participating in it. ‘But is Tori here?’ she wondered as she looked around. She found that Tori Jericho wasn’t there yet, but she saw Jane sitting across from Sandi Griffin, with the two glaring at each other the way they usually did, as well as Harry Osborn.
“Daria!” Jane called when Daria arrived with her meal. “Harry has heard something.”
“What is that?” Daria asked. “Is it something to do with this fad? Or is it something else?”
“Something else,” Harry answered.
“He’s been talking about the vigilantes again,” Sandi guessed.
“Not this time,” Harry said. “He was saying something about the Country Club refusing him.”
“They probably resent that he is trying to take over Lawndale,” Sandi suggested.
“I can see how they would think that,” Harry said in a thoughtful tone.
‘Thing is, Harry, your father is trying to take over Lawndale,’ Jane thought. She kept that to herself, as she was sure that no one at school still knew that she was the Shadow, the third of Lawndale’s hero vigilantes to appear, after SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon.
“Still, it’s probably a good thing that they refused him,” Daria said.
“But he’s going to be complaining about it,” Harry said.
“And probably plotting,” Sandi added.
“Of course,” Daria said. “But we can probably do more about the favorite animal thing.”
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Healing
Luke 4:14 - 21
Jesus was announcing that He was Messiah and what He was going to do.
Paul
Galatians 4:13 - 15
Galatians 6:11
2 Corinthians 12:6, 7
Thorn in the flesh.
God wanted Paul to the humble.
You don't have to be perfect for God to use you.
Acts 9:40
Peter was praying to God, calling upon Him.
Peter prayed first. We shouldn't jsut tell dead people to get up! It's not in our authority. We don't get to tell God what to do. It is according to His will.
God answered Peter's prayer.
God was doing the healing.
Spider Quinn 21 A View of Oakwood and Ruins - Part 8
“Are you sure?” Dafoanairi asked, having figured out what the Enigma intended to do.
“Not entirely, but do you or Ninja Talon have any better ideas?”
“Not right at the moment,” Dafoanairi admitted.
“Um, no,” Ninja Talon added.
Dafoanairi figured that Ninja Talon had figured it out too. “We need to defend her,” she said.
“I’ll do so too,” SpiderGirl said.
Dafoanairi saw that an agent had exposed more of the stone. ‘Trying to bury it in the short time left would be difficult,’ she thought.
The sun began to rise, illuminating everyone there.
“Now, you’re going to witness something.”
“That’s, like, what you think,” the Enigma said. She then concentrated as she tried to telekinetically lift a large amount of soil nearby.
Dafoanairi watched as the Enigma strained. ‘It would take at least ten minutes to get her home if she exhausts herself,’ she thought.
The Enigma strained and realised that she was trying to pick up too much soil too fast. She settled for just ripping up a sheet of grass.
“How long can you hold that up?” Osborn asked as he watched the grass block the rising Sun.
“Long enough,” the Enigma said, although she wasn’t sure.
But the lack of sleep that night had taken its toll on her and her hold on the grass slipped after another half of a minute. “Sorry,” she murmured to Dafoanairi.
“We’ll have to….” Dafoanairi started before the Enigma let go of the grass and leaned against her in exhaustion. ‘She’s not as out of it as before,’ she thought.
The stone glowed as the sunlight hit it. The mound started shaking.
“Uh olh!” SpiderGIrl said.
“Finally!” Osborn said.
The vigilantes struggled to maintain their footing, with SpiderGirl struggling the least. She took Ninja Talon’s hand and steadied her.
“I would have thought I’d be able keep my balance,” Ninja Talon said in slight embarrassment.
“This isn’t like anything else we’ve experienced,” SpiderGirl said.
The soil shook free of the mound, revealing that they were standing on a structure similar to a ziggurat. Bright lines covered it. It stopped shaking and Dafoanairi examined some of the inscriptions she could see.
“Sort of looks like hieroglyphics, from Egypt,” SpiderGirl commented.
“Not really,” Ninja Talon added.
“It isn’t that,” Osborn said.
“Not hieroglyphics,” Dafoanairi said. “More like Cuneiform. But what would something similar to Egypt or Sumeria be doing in what is now Pennsylvania?”
“I have no idea,” Spark responded. “But it’s going to spark interest once it gets out.”
“But it won’t get out,” Osborn said.
“Not in the way you think,” Ninja Talon said as she pointe to the southeast.
Everyone looked and saw a large craft approaching. It had a pair of dirigible envelopes with a platform between them.
“SHIELD!” Osborn declared with annoyance.
“Must be one of the calls the professor made last night,” Ninja Talon said.
A quinjet lifted off of the Dirigible Carrier platform and approached the site.
The quinjet landed and three men stepped out. One of them produced his badge. “Agent Phil Coulson. Director Fury has ordered us to secure this site.”
Osborn grumbled. “Of course he has.”
Coulson turned to SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon. “Ninja Talon, is it? The professor sends his regards.”
“So, what now?” Ninja Talon asked.
“Despite the events that occurred here both yesterday and this morning, and at the Oakwood hospital last night, Osborn hasn’t done anything technically illegal,” Coulson answered with annoyance in his professional tone. “This is officially a warning.”
“Got it,” Osborn said. “I shall clear off. But Fury will be receiving a complaint!”
“And he’ll read it,” Coulson responded with the same tone of annoyance. “But please leave immediately.”
“We’ll be leaving also,” Dafoanairi said. “I need to get this one somewhere to rest,” she added, indicating the Enigma.
“Go ahead,” Coulson said.
SpiderGirl thought about it, as she and Ninja Talon headed back into Oakwood. “SHIELD,” she murmured.
“Huh?” Ninja Talon asked.
“I was just thinking about what that agent said, I think he was saying that SHIELD has no solid proof that Osborn was up to something.”
“I think he was saying that he’s aware that he’s up to his neck in it… Exactly.”
“I think the First Nations people probably wouldn’t be happy with SHIELD occupying the site. I don’t know what they would think of the step pyramid thing.”
“I don’t know either.”
Dafoanairi and the Enigma reached the latter’s mother’s car where they had parked it earlier before changing back into the usual Daria and Sandi respectively. Daria looked at Sandi, who still looked exhausted. “We should go back to Lawndale.”
“You know that Mother will just tell me to go to sleep.”
“And she’d be right.”
“I know,” Sandi said with slight annoyance. “I’m not sure what she’ll make of this situation though.”
“She does need to know,” Daria said as she started the car.
Sandi nodded.
Oakwood Chronicle
Monday, March 12, 2001
Police Called to Hospital Last Night
SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon arrived on the Story Oak’s roof half an hour after sunrise.
“I don’t think Joey will be up yet,” SpiderGirl said. “But I probably won’t get much sleep.”
“Neither will I, but I better get back before Ashley-Amber sees that I’m not home again,” Ninja Talon said, referring to her step mother.
“I’ll see you later, Talon.”
Elsewhere in Oakwood, the silent vigilante arrived back at her home and took off her mask, certain that her mother was still asleep. But she was wrong. Her mother emerged from the kitchen. “Sarah Robyn? You’ve been out again?” she asked rhetorically.
Alex Brown knew that her daughter had been up to something. The look on her face confirmed her suspicions. “I know that you think you need to do what you’re doing, Sarah Robyn, but I don’t want to lose you. She went up and hugged her. You know that I miss hearing your voice.”
Sarah Robyn backed off and signed. I met SpiderGirl last night.
“Have you been going over to Lawndale?”
No, it was here in Oakwood, at the hospital.
“Oh! But I hope that what’s happening in Lawndale is not going to happen here too.”
I hope so too.
“But we do need to talk about what you’re doing.”
Sarah Robyn breathed out in a silent sigh.
Quinn entered the apartment to find that Joey was still asleep. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, how long until breakfast? I think Larissa said that the Story Oak will open at 8:00 today.” She looked at the time. 7:55. “It’ll be quite soon, and I get the feeling that I need to be in Lawndale by noon.”
After waking up and dressing, Joey saw that Quinn was waiting in the main room of the apartment. “Oh, you’re here,” he said. “But you…”
“Look like I haven’t slept?” Quinn finished for him. “I didn’t get much sleep at all, but I’ll be fine.”
“We don’t have to go to breakfast right now if you don’t want to.”
“No, I’m up and so is the sun, let’s go.”
The café wasn’t that busy yet, so Quinn saw that Larissa was already there. “Morning, Larissa,” she said as she came up.
“Morning, Quinn,” Larissa responded with a yawn.
“I guess you’re worried about how the Story Oak will do.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure it will do fine,” Quinn said in reassurance.
“Did you find anything last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were investigating what is happening out in the mound right?” Larissa asked. “Everyone is going to notice that SHIELD Dirigible Carrier.”
“Not much, but I’m sure that the professor knows,” Quinn answered. ‘Sorry, Larissa, only Brittany and Officer Peterson know I’m SpiderGirl.’
“So, you’r going to talk to him before going back to Lawndale?”
“Yes, but after breakfast.”
Larissa watched Quinn go to order as she reflected on the night just passed as a crackle of static flickered between her and the table.
“So, what did you do last night?” Joey asked.
“Looking around Oakwood,” Quinn answered, as she did do that on her way towards the mound. “And we’re going to talk to the professor before we go home.”
“I want to know more myself. But what if SHIELD is at the hospital?”
“I’ll just talk my way past them.”
“But they aren’t teachers or other students,” Joey responded.
“I’ll make it work.”
It turned out that SHIELD wasn’t at the hospital, but Quinn saw that Officer Vale was. He didn’t look in her direction more than once. She relaxed. Peterson had kept her promise and hadn’t shared her knowledge of her secret identity with him.
“Professor Aldridge is awake,” an orderly said, after Quinn asked about him.
“Thanks,” Quinn responded.
Professor Aldridge was looking out the window at the Dirigible Carrier when Quinn and Joey came in.
“Good Morning, Professor,” Quinn said.
He turned to face her and Joey before motioning for them to sit. “Morning, Ms. Morgendorffer. Ï’m sure you and Mr. Green have a reason for stopping in so early.”
“We’re heading back to Lawndale today,” Quinn responded. “And I have heard about SHIELD taking over the site instead of Oscorp.”
Aldridge sighed. “Yes. I can tell you that SHIELD is now occupying the site. A necessary evil. It’s better they have taken it over than Oscorp. As an aside, I knew Agent Coulson when he was a student.”
“So, you called in a favor?” Joey asked.
“Yes,” Aldridge answered.
“But what do the First Nations people think?” Quinn asked.
“They don’t like it, but Coulson has allayed their concerns,” Aldridge said.
Quinn thought about that answer. ‘That has worked out,’ she thought. ‘But there being a ziggurat, or whatever it is, there is probably their biggest concern.’
17th
Evangelism
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
Luke 15:1 - 10
Lost people matter to God.
vs 1, 2
The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law muttering about who Jesus was associating with.
God's heart is broken when His children are lost.
vs 10
Luke 15:11 - 32
Therefore they should matter to you.
You can share the Gospel and be yourself.
As there are many ways of teaching, there are many ways to be an evangelist.
Peter - Confrontationist
Paul - Intellectual
Acts 17:22, 23
Blind Man - Testimonial
John 9:25
Matthew - Friendship
Samaritan Woman - Invitational
Dorcus - Service
Ephesians 4:7 - 16
Roles
Apostles
Pastor
Teaching
Evangelism
Prophecy
We are all called to be evangelists
Matthew 28:18 - 20
Acts 1:8
2 Timothy 4:8
Do the best you can
God has given us the responsibility, to tell other beggars where to find bread.
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Spider Quinn 21 A View of Oakwood and Ruins - Part 7
The Enigma lowered the forcefield she had used to protect herself and Dafoanairi. “Of course he’d trap it like that!” she groused.
“Whatever this thing is, he’s considering it worth the risk to sacrifice vehicles for,” Dafoanairi snarked.
SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon then swung down from the trees. “You tripped a trap?” SpiderGirl asked.
“You’d do the same,” the Enigma retorted.
“Not the same way,” SpiderGirl responded. “I’d throw the parts clear.”
“But if we’re might careful, he might also booby trap the mound,” Dafoanairi pointed out.
“I won’t let that happen,” SpiderGirl said. She swung back up into the canopy.
She approached the spot where Osborn was talking to the new arrivals.
“According to the satellite scans, Aldridge was going to find it either tonight or tomorrow. Just hold off the vigilantes and I’ll have it unearthed by sunrise,” Osborn said.
“But they may act in unpredictable ways,” one of the agents spoke up.
“I’m aware of that, but it would take them time to come up with a strategy that would work for them. Time they won’t have.”
‘That’s what you think,’ SpiderGirl thought as she swung back in the direction of the other vigilantes.
Ninja Talon had been thinking about a strategy. But the biggest issue was that she hadn’t really seen the silent vigilante in action. But she did know the Enigma and Dafoanairi’s strengths and weaknesses well enough. ‘We can disrupt Osborn’s plans by keeping the agents busy, but also feinting attacks on him. Spidey and the Enigma can be flashy and can use their powers to disarm and restrain them. Dafoanairi and I can keep them on their toes and try to distract Osborn.’
SpiderGirl returned. “Osborn thinks we’ll take too long to come up with a strategy.”
“I already have the basics,” Talon said.
“That’s great!”
Dafoanairi thought about the strategy Ninja Talon laid out. She had to admit that it was very good. ‘That still doesn’t narrow down who she is,’ she thought. But that wasn’t what she wanted to dwell on while trying to stop Osborn from desecrating a First Nations site. “I can certainly do it. But it will get tiring well before sunrise, given it’s still several hours.’
“Let’s do it,” the Enigma said.
“Of course you would be enthusiastic about this,” SpiderGirl said. “We have to be responsible about this.”
The Enigma rolled her eyes. “Oh, like, this again?”
“I’m not going to argue about it now,” SpiderGirl said. She then paused and twirled on her feet. “Someone is coming.”
Dafoanairi looked and saw another vigilante arrive. A young woman, about their age, wearing a mask and cloak with yellow accents, climbing up the trees.
SpiderGirl waited until the new vigilante had come up to their level in the canopy and sat on a branch close to her and Ninja Talon. “So, you’re new, and from Lawndale or Oakwood?”
“Oakwood,” the new vigilante answered. “I haven’t been active much yet, but I heard about what was going on here earlier tonight.”
“We were just talking about how to deal with Osborn,” Ninja Talon said.
“That’s cool, Ninja Talon, right? I’m Spark,” the new vigilante said as she held out a hand.
Ninja Talon shook it.
“Spark?” Dafoanairi asked.
“Yeah,” Spark responded. “I can generate electricity.” She held out her hand and sparks shot out of it a short distance.”
“Impressive,” the Enigma responded. “Although that’s not much compared to my powers.”
“I was holding back,” Spark said defensively.
“That’s fine,” SpiderGirl said. “But we now need to include you in our plan.”
Spark nodded. “Go on,” she said.
Ninja Talon laid out the plan again, this time including Spark alongside herself and Dafoanairi.
“Ready?” Ninja Talon asked when she had finished.
All five other vigilantes nodded.
SpiderGirl quickly webbed up two of the agents, but the third was quick to use the web dissolving fluid. “How much of that do you have?”
“I’m sure your webs are finite too,” the agent responded.
“Maybe,” SpiderGirl said. “But I haven’t yet run out at a critical moment.” She had wondered what would happen if she did, so she had been working on a mechanical solution. (But that was slow going.) Even so, she shot more webs such that the agent couldn’t access the fluid.
“Hey!”
SpiderGirl turned and signalled the silent vigilante who was still waiting in the tree canopy.
The Enigma shot projections around where Osborn was walking to the exact site where Aldridge had been digging.
“You’re holding back, Enigma,” Osborn said. “You don’t want to damage the site.”
“Well, I have no idea what is under there, nor how it would react to my projections at their full power.”
“That is a good attitude to have.”
“Yeah, but we’re still going to stop you,” the Enigma said.
Osborn just smirked.
Dafoanairi watched Ninja Talon swiftly take out an agent nearby. ‘The Enigma better not get too cocky when she eventually confronts SpiderGirl.’
This continued for the rest of the early hours, with Osborn slowly calling in more agents from Lawndale, and the hero vigilantes defeating them.
“Problem,” Ninja Talon said as she looked at the early dawn light appearing over the glow of Lawndale’s streetlights.
“The agents could recover,” SpiderGirl guessed.
“Exactly,” Ninja Talon said.
“We just take them out again,” the Enigma stated.
“That is irresponsible,” SpiderGirl said. “Increases the risk of permanent injury.”
“I’m aware of that!” the Enigma said as she stepped closer to SpiderGirl.
Dafoanairi interjected by placing her quarterstaff between the two. “That’s enough. There’s little time for this.”
“Do you do this a lot?” Spark asked.
“Yes, I’m her rival!” The Enigma answered.
“It’s just unresolved due to everything that’s happening,” Ninja Talon said.
“But what we can do, we have already been doing,” Dafoanairi said.
“I think we need to secure the actual site, or Osborn may dig it up as the sun rises,” SpiderGirl said.
Ninja Talon looked at her watch. “We have about forty minutes.”
“That isn’t much time,” Dafoanairi pointed out.
“Then we force our way through,” Ninja Talon decided. “With all of our abilities we can do it.”
“So, we just overwhelm Osborn?” Spark asked incredulously.
Ninja Talon nodded. “But he might have some of those pumpkin bombs with him.”
“I confronted him in his office about the agents,” the Enigma said. “Something you didn’t do.”
“I didn’t because it’s reckless and irresponsible,” SpiderGirl said.
“Enough!” Dafoanairi said.
SpiderGirl backed off and leaned back against the trunk and Ninja Talon. The Enigma calmed down and also sat back. “Sorry,” she said, more to Dafoanairi than to SpiderGirl.
‘I know Enigma is impatient about the confrontation, despite her changes,’ Dafoanairi thought.
“Right… We modify the earlier plan, and go on the offensive,” Ninja Talon said. “Enigma, your forcefields are really the only we defense we have in close quarters if he uses those pumpkin bombs.”
“I’m ready,” the Enigma said.
Osborn wasn’t that surprised when a bolt of Spark’s lightning followed by one of the Enigma’s projections shot past him.
“Making a move now, are you?” he asked rhetorically.
Dafoanairi and Ninja Talon flanked Spark and the Enigma. “You won’t get whatever it is you’re after,” Dafoanairi deadpanned.
“Repetition won’t help you,” Osborn said. He clicked his fingers and agents flanked him, firearms raised. “Move any closer and I’ll give the order.”
“I don’t think so,” SpiderGirl said as she webbed one of the guns from an agent’s grasp.
“Can you stop them all?” Osborn asked.
“We don’t have to,” Ninja Talon said as she threw a shuriken past him, knocking a firearm out of another agent’s grasped.
“Fire!”
The Enigma raised a few forcefields, blocking the bullets. She then pulled two out of guns out of the agents hands telekinetically.
As this was happening, the silent vigilante slipped around, behind Osborn, and arrived at the site. She looked towards the increasing brightness on the eastern horizon. ‘Now to hold.’
Osborn was annoyed. ‘Even without the Shadow, and Linda,’ they are besting my agents. He grabbed a remote. He still had more aces in the hole.
“Are you really going to use bombs in a sensitive archaeological site?” Dafoanairi asked.
“I’m taking the risk. Think of it as a bluff,” Osborn responded.
“Given your track record, I don’t think so,” SpiderGirl said as she swung and webbed another gun out of an agent’s hand.
“You’ve got very good at that.”
“This is America, duh!” SpiderGirl said.
“More light,” Spark commented.
“If there’s nothing else, I have an appointment with the sunrise, and I don’t want to miss it,” Osborn said as he turned and headed back towards the mound.
“I, like, still have tricks up my sleave,” the Enigma said.
SpiderGirl grabbed Ninja Talon and Spark and swung with them around the mound to the dig site. The Enigma marched forwards with Dafoanairi, keeping her forcefields up.
Osborn reached the spot and grabbed the shovel. “If I have to do it myself… Or is it just one of the brushes.” He put the shovel down and grabbed a brush. He quickly brushed some of the soil away, and something was revealed. It looked like plain stone, but he knew it was what his satellites had picked up. He heard something nearby, and turned to see the silent vigilante with a tarpaulin very close by. “You can’t block the sunlight with that.”
“No?” the Enigma said from nearby. “Because I can see a lot of things that can block it.”
“I don’t think your powers are that strong,” Osborn said.
06 The Lawndale Files
A pair of government agents at school, and strange behavior by Quinn and Trent, serve to amp up Daria and Jane's paranoia levels, with the weirdness quickly spreading to everyone else. SpiderGirl tries to avoid attention, but is noticed by Brittany Taylor, amongst others.
