Spider Quinn Let’s do this one more time. My name is Quinn Morgendorffer and for the past several years, I have been the one and only SpiderGirl. But let’s start at the beginning… 01 Quinn and the Spider It was an ordinary day at Lawndale High. Quinn Morgendorffer certainly thought so as she headed to her science class. “Good morning, Class,” Ms. Janet Barch said. “The field trip is today. I hope you have given your permission slips to the office. This field trip will cover much information on Genetics and Entomology, so be sure to take notes. There will be a test next week. Oscorp is one of the leading companies in biotechnology today. Too bad it’s lead by a MAN!” Everyone in the class was familiar with Barch’s opinion of men, so they didn’t asks questions about that. They were soon on their way. “Have you heard about Brooke’s latest surgery, Quinn?” Sandi Griffin asked. “I have, Sandi,” Quinn replied. ‘Ew!’ She didn’t want to think about it. “I haven’t, Sandi,” Stacy Rowe answered. “Wha-at?” Tiffany Blum-Deckler asked. Sandi sighed. “What do you think this field trip is about?” Quinn asked, trying to change the topic. ‘Something about genes?’ Sandi glared at Quinn. “Qui-inn! That is a question I would expect from the mouth of that girl who lives with you!” “No, she would already know, Sandi!” Quinn pointed out. She didn’t like to be reminded of Daria by Sandi! Stacy gave a nervous look. “I give you that, but you don’t need to know, Quinn,” Sandi said. “I hope we don’t have to wear those ugly safety goggles,” Stacy said. “Ugh!” “Would those make me look fat?” Tiffany asked. Quinn sighed. “Back to Brooke,” Sandi said. “Let’s not,” Stacy said. Sandi glared at Stacy. “Eep!” “We are talking about Brooke,” Sandi said. “She’s suddenly so weird,” Tiffany added. “I wouldn’t know,” Quinn said. “I haven’t seen her around.” Sandi sighed. The bus soon arrived at the destination. Ms. Barch supervised the class as they disembarked. “Make a straight line as we wait for our guide.” She grumbled as the thoughts of her ex husband came to her mind yet again. ‘I hope it’s not a male!’ ‘How likely is that?’ Quinn wondered. A guide soon approached. “Welcome to the Oscorp Lawndale Genetics Laboratory,” she said. Ms. Barch gave a quick smile before they followed her inside. After going through other rooms, the class entered a room filled with cages containing spiders. “One project is the addition of genes from multiple species to create a hybrid,” the guide explained. Quinn noticed that one cage was empty. She wasn’t the only one. “One of them is missing,” Joey Black said. “The researchers are probably working on it,” the guide said. In fact, the spider had escaped! It was spinning a web near one of the air vents. A sudden gust dislodged it from the web! It fell on Quinn’s shoulder! She noticed it. “Ew!” She tried to brush it off. But it bit her. “Ugh!” She squashed it. She then went pale and her vision went blurry. “Quinn, are you OK?” Stacy asked. “Dizzy!” Quinn said, before stumbling. Sandi saw Quinn stumble after Stacy asked if she was OK. “Ms. Barch! Quinn isn’t feeling well.” “Wha-at?” Tiffany asked. Sandi saw that the bite site was swelling. “What’s wrong?” Ms. Barch asked. “Quinn’s not well!” Stacy answered. “There was this spider,” Quinn explained. Ms. Barch looked at Quinn. “Class, we’re going back to school.” Nurse Chase turned to Quinn. “Here’s some antivenom.” She injected it into Quinn’s arm. “Good thing, you have it.” “There are spiders that Pavlov misses. But you still need to go home for the rest of the day.” “Thanks,” Quinn said. Helen was home early. “Mom?” Quinn asked as she came inside. “I was concerned when I received the call,” Helen responded. “I’m feeling a little better.” “Go up to your room and rest.” Quinn didn’t argue. Quinn entered her room in a daze. She looked at herself in the mirrors. “Gosh! I look pale!” She flopped onto her bed. She was asleep before she hit the sheets. She began to dream. In the living room, her father was fretting. “Quinn was bitten by a spider! On no! We should take her to the hospital!” “Jake! The school nurse gave her antivenom,” his wife, Helen said reassuringly. “She would have sent her to the hospital if she had concerns. We’ll see how she is in the morning.” “The morning?” “Yes.” Quinn’s sister, Daria was in her room, on the phone with her friend Jane Lane. “…. So now, Quinn is recovering in her room,” she said. “I suppose whatever date she was going on was cancelled,” Jane said. “No doubt.” “You’re going to be easy on her?” “Not a chance,” Daria answered. “She will be back to her usual self tomorrow.” “Or maybe she’ll be more insufferable.” “Is there a word for insufferabler?” Later that night after her parents and Daria had gone asleep, Quinn stirred, but remained asleep. However, she then started sleepwalking. She got out of bed and went downstairs. She grabbed some food from the fridge and ate it. She headed back upstairs and to bed. She awoke after sunrise. “I feel better, but something’s weird… What is it?” She went over to her mirrors. Something was off about her appearance. She found that her abdominal muscles are more defined. “What’s going on with me? Is this a nightmare?” She decided to try to go back to sleep. She awoke again and looked at the time. “Breakfast!” She slipped at the top of the stairs. She summersaulted and then landed on her feet. “What just happened?” she asked herself. She wasn’t sure. Helen was preparing breakfast when Quinn entered the kitchen. “How are you this morning, Quinn?” “I feel a lot better.” “We were worried.” “You mean, Daddy was,” Quinn responded. “Yes.” Daria then entered the kitchen. “Oh. You’re up and about,” she said. “I feel a lot better,” Quinn said again. “I didn’t expect otherwise,” Daria said. Quinn met Sandi and Stacy at a door as she arrived at the school. “Are you feeling better, Quinn?” “I do,” Quinn responded. Sandi gave a dubious look. “There’s like, a Fashion Club meeting this afternoon.” “That’s fine,” Quinn responded. “I’m a lot better.” Sandi gave another dubious look. “Good,” she said. Later, in between classes, Quinn saw Brooke Peterson approaching. “I see you were sent home yesterday,” Brooke said. “So what?” Quinn asked. “Something happened, didn’t it?” Brooke asked. “Something,” Quinn murmured. Brooke then tried to attack Quinn. Some sort of tingle caused Quinn to move out of the way. Brooke tried again, but she missed! “Uh!” Brooke said. She swung again, hitting another locker. “Stay still!” Quinn moved out of the way again. Brooke then leapt at her. Quinn jumped, quite high, right over Brooke! Quinn was confused, something was definitely happening to her. She ran. Quinn ended up on the roof. ‘What is happening to me?’ she wondered. ‘Was it that spider?’ She suddenly realised that she needed to get to class. She grabbed the doorknob. Her hand than somehow stuck to it. “Oh no!” she said as she panicked. The knob then came off in her hand. “Oh no!” Then a web came out of her wrist! “Ew!” She was shocked and sat down. ‘What has happened to me so far?’ she wondered. She sorted through the memories from earlier in the day. That her muscles were more defined. That there was some sort of danger sense that allowed her to avoid being hit by Brooke. That she was sticking to things. And that a web had come out of her wrist. She thought more on this before looking at her watch. “Yikes!” Quinn ran late into History. “You’re late, Ms. Morgendorffer!” Mr. DeMartino said. “Sorry, something came up,” Quinn said. “That’s alright, Ms. Morgendorffer. Just don’t do it again!” The rest of the day went by without further incidents. “See you at the meeting,” Sandi said they left the school. ‘I didn’t forget the meeting, Sandi!’ Quinn groused to herself as she walked away from the school. She headed downtown. ‘This is a good time to test what I can do now.’ She looked at her right wrist. “What can I do with these webs?” She looked at a nearby building and remembered seeing a spider spinning it’s web. “Right!” She produced a web but it didn’t get far. “Again!” she said with determination. The second web came out faster and hit somewhere higher on the building. She then jumped high, but came down on the ground. ‘I’ll try again.’ She ran and shot a web. This time she swung up at an angle. But she still slammed into a wall. “Ugh!” she said as she fell down the wall. But not far. She found she was sticking to it. “Oh!” ‘I’m sticking to the wall! Can I climb down? Or up?” She moved down the wall to the ground. “Even more like a spider! Ew! But can I climb up?” She then climbed up. She got to the eave. “Time to try swinging again,” she said as she looked at it. She produced webbing again, and swung. This time she ended up on the roof. “That worked!” She walked to the edge of the roof, and shot another web. Soon she was going from rooftop to rooftop through Lawndale’s downtown. But she soon came to the edge of the downtown, where it and the suburbia met. ‘This is going to be more difficult,’ she thought as she looked over the sprawl towards home. She swung to the ground. As she went towards home, she wondered if she could swing from trees. There was only one way to find out. She shot out webbing and it connected to a branch. She smiled and swung. She found that it worked, but not as well as in the built up area. Ten minutes later, she swung up onto the roof of her house. She looked back in the direction she had just come. ‘I wonder what the future has in store.’
02 With Great Power Sandi Griffin was annoyed. Quinn was late to the Fashion Club meeting! Quinn then entered the house, breathing heavily. “You’re ten minutes late!” “Sorry, something came up!” “Meeting starts: 415,” Stacy said. It was a usual Fashion Club meeting. “Meeting concludes: 4:55,” Stacy said. Stacy met Quinn downstairs. “Are you fine?” she asked with concern. “Yes,” Quinn answered. “You seem different.” “I’m not any different. Same old Quinn.” Stacy was uncertain. As Quinn left the house, she reflected on Quinn eating more than usual at Lunch. Quinn closed the door and left the porch before looking around. ‘No one,’ she thought, before producing webbing and swinging up onto the Griffin’s roof. She noted that her stance was improving. As she swung away from the Griffin’s place through the trees towards home, she thought on what her friends’ reactions to her new powers would be. ‘I don’t think telling Stacy would be a good idea. She would panic. Sandi would at least tell her mother, if not the entire school. Tiffany wouldn’t understand.’ Upon arriving at home and entering through one of her windows, Quinn looked in one of her mirrors. ‘What else can I use these powers for?’ she wondered. The next day, Lawndale awoke to find that winter had come early, for there was significant snow on the ground. (But not significant enough for a ‘snow day’ school closure.) “There’s something up with Quinn,” Daria said to Jane as they headed towards school. “That isn’t news,” Jane responded. “I mean it, Jane. Something is up with her. Something new.” “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” “It’s a hunch,” Daria admitted. Meanwhile, Quinn and Jake were having breakfast. Quinn was looking at the large amount of food on her plate as she started eating. ‘I suppose all that webbing has to come from somewhere.’ She thought about the swinging. ‘And I’m getting a lot of exercise.’ “I haven’t seen you eat so much, Quinn,” Jake said. “Maybe my appetite has improved,” Quinn responded. Jake wasn’t sure. “Gotta go!” Quinn said as she left the house. She saw that her father was still in thought. As she swung towards school, she found that the snow made it more difficult. She arrived on the school roof just before the bell rung. “Just in time.” At lunch time, Sandi noticed that Quinn was again eating a lot. “Gee, Quinn, a little hungry are you?” Quinn glared back before saying; “I’m exercising a little more. That’s why my appetite is bigger.” Sandi noticed Stacy giving a dubious look. After school, Quinn was again on the roof. “What am I becoming? What would happen if others found out? I need some way to hide myself as I swing using the webs.” Jane saw Quinn where she didn’t expect to see her, in a stationary supplies store. “What is she up to?” she wondered as she saw her buy a sketchbook. Was it something to do with Daria’s hunch from that morning? As Quinn left the Mall, she heard a car radio say that there was a snowstorm approaching Lawndale. ‘I have to hurry,’ she thought. Daria heard a sound from her room. She went and closed her door. ‘It’s not my business,’ she thought. Quinn closed her window, to stop the snow coming in. She then opened the sketchbook and started work. By the time she had finished her first sketch the storm had started. She looked out and saw that her father had just got home. ‘I’ll get the fabric tomorrow,’ she decided. At dinner, both Daria and Helen noticed that Quinn was eating as much as the previous night. Quinn buys a large amount of fabric after school the next day. It would take her two evenings to complete the first version of the costume. She tries it on experimentally. ‘I know it needs more work, but it will do for now,’ she thought. “A snowstorm warning has been announced for Lawndale and Oakwood.” “I can get back in time,” Quinn said, looking at the clouds approaching the town. She then swung off the house towards downtown. However, as she got caught in the snowstorm, Quinn realised that her powers didn’t work as well in the cold. “Great!” She had to walk home, and got home late. The next evening, she opened the sketchbook again. “I need more layers,” she said. That night, Joey rang the Morgendorffers’ doorbell. He wanted to know if Quinn wanted to go on a date with him. Her father opened the door. “Quinn! Your date is here!” “Actually, Actually, I was asking Quinn if she would like a date,” Joey said. Quinn came down the stairs, after hearing her father call out. She realised that she hadn’t been on a date since before the bite. “I’ll come, Joey!” “Cool!” Joey said. They went to one of the smaller restaurants. Joey didn’t notice that Quinn had ordered a large meal until hers came. “Quinn, you’re going to eat all of that?” Joey asked. “Yes,” Quinn answered. “You usually eat less.” “I’ve found that I have a bigger appetite since what happened,” Quinn explained. “Oh,” “Like, something might have changed. Or I just want more. I’,m not sure.” “It’s fine. I was just curious.” The rest of the date went well. The next day, at lunch, Joey decided to tell Jeffy and Jamie about the date. “How did it go?” Jeffy asked. “It was the usual kind of date,” Joey answered. “There’s something else,” Jamie said. “She had a larger meal than usual, that’s all,” Joey responded. “Oh,” Jamie said. “So, she is better, after that Spider bite?” Jeffy asked. “I think so,” Joey said. “I’m still worried,” Jamie said. “Then you can ask her on a date,” Jeffy said. “I shall,” Jamie decided. Jake Morgendorffer answered the door for the second night in a row. “Quinn! Your date is here!” Quinn came downstairs. “Again?” she asked. “As usual, I’m sure,” Jake said as he opened the door. “Jamie?” Quinn asked. “Hi, Quinn,” Jamie said. “You want to come out somewhere?” “Of course,” Quinn said. Quinn and Jamie went to a different restaurant than she went with Joey the previous night. Once again it happened after their meals arrived. “You’re eating more than usual,” Jamie said. “Am I?” Quinn asked. “Yes.” “Joey said the same thing.” “I’m concerned, Quinn,” Jamie said. “I’m fine.” Jamie then looked like he didn’t believe her. The rest of the date went as usual. When she got home, Quinn put the finishing touches on the costume. She looked at the clock. “10:13. It’s not too late.” She then put it on, and left via the side window. As she swung through an older part of Lawndale, Quinn wondered what exactly she was going to use her powers for. ‘Like, I’m not sure.’ She then went down to the street level and saw some fliers. “What’s this?” Lawndale Ultimate Wrestling. Winner takes home $1000! “I suppose that is one thing,” There was more information on the reverse side, so she decided to take it home and read it. The next day, she swung to the address listed on the flyer. She decided to not take the costume off. She didn’t want anyone to find out it was her. “Name?” the woman behind the counter asked. Quinn saw that she was goth, wearing all black and pigtails. She found that it worked. “Amazing GirlSpider.” “GirlSpider? Doesn’t sound that amazing.” “I guess not,” Quinn responded. “SpiderGirl then.” “SpiderGirl,” the goth responded and wrote it down without a space. “You get a lot of costumed people?” SpiderGirl asked. “Yes. Mostly luchadores, or those who are imitating such.” “Right.” Quinn then then headed home again. But she found that the webs didn’t work as well in the heavy snow. Then there was a strong reaction from her Spider Sense! ‘Uh oh!’ She changed direction. But a few minutes later, there was a gunshot. She saw a strip mall in the distance. She could lose them there. After arriving at the strip mall and running amongst the people there, she lost the assailant. She then headed home. “Who was that?” she wondered after closing her window. She wanted to prepare for the wrestling match, not whoever wanted to shoot a mysterious figure swinging through trees. “Maybe I’ll make the costume brighter.” Over the next week, Quinn prepared for the wrestling match, although she did look out for the mysterious assailant. Others were still concerned for her regarding her increased appetite… She does do well enough in the Genetics test. “Quinn!” her father called as she went to the door. “Yes, Daddy?” “We need to talk.” “I have a date.” “We haven’t really talked since you got sent home after that field trip.” “Really?” “So, I’ll take you to wherever the date is.” “Chez Pierre,” Quinn responded. It was close to where she was going. “I know things are changing for you,” her father said after they had turned off Glen Oaks Lane. “Not this again! Mom told me!” “Not the birds and the bees. Something else.” “I see,” Quinn said. “I don’t know what’s going on with you.” Quinn looked away. He was as clueless as ever! But she did hear what he said next. “With great power, comes great responsibility.” As she walked from Chez Pierre towards the wrestling arena, her father’s words were on her mind. What did they mean. However, she then focused on winning the prize money. “And now, the Wimp Crusher against the Amazing SpiderGirl!” The Amazing SpiderGirl had prepared. She had used the basement to practice when she was sure no one else was home. There was some damage down there, but nothing she couldn’t get any boys to fix. She had also had done ballet and gymnastics when she was younger, along with other physical culture practice, including aerobics. She had also started yoga classes with the Fashion Club. As such she was quite flexible and nimble. Certainly a lot more adept at moving about than the quite large so-called ‘Wimp Crusher.’ As such the audience was treated to something that was more like a chaotic dance production than the straight up crush-fest that they were used to. It helped that the Amazing SpiderGirl seemingly had a lot more energy than her opponent, who was tiring after each failed attempt at nailing her to the floor. Thus the girl won, hardly getting a hit on her, due to the Spider Sense giving prewarning. Her hits on the opponent went to places where she knew pressure points were, thus avoiding any need for physical wrangling. “Winner is ‘The Amazing SpiderGirl!’ She collected her cash. But shortly afterwards someone held up the cashier. “Hey! SpiderGirl Help!” “Not my problem! Got to go!” SpiderGirl said before leaving. But she did catch more than a glimpse of the assailant. She arrived back at Chez Pierre and waited. However, after more than half an hour of waiting, her father still wasn’t there. Suddenly her improved hearing picked up the sounds of police sirens nearby. She felt weird, as if the Spider Sense was acting up. She decided to go and investigate. She turned a corner and her heart started beating rapidly. For she saw a familiar Lexus pulled over at the side of the road, surrounded in Police tape. She ran forwards. Officer Xanthe Peterson saw the redhead approaching. “Woah, girl! This is a crime scene! Someone’s been shot!” “Shot?” “There was an attempted car jacking, and the driver was shot before the assailant ran off.” “That’s my father’s car!” the girl cried. “Father? Your last name’s Morgendorffer?” “Quinn Morgendorffer.” “Accompany me,” Peterson said as an ambulance pulled up. The female officer lead Quinn up to the car, where her father was lying next to it on the road. “Daddy!” she cried. Her father stirred. “Quinn!” “Daddy!” Quinn said, crying more. “Remember, With great power… great responsibility.” He then became still. Too still. The paramedics moved in. The next few minutes would be blurred in Quinn’s memory. The paramedics tried their best, but… Quinn ran from the scene after Peterson gave her the dreadful news. Jake Morgendorffer was dead.