The Sun
was rising when the Shadow arrived back at Casa Lane and changed to the
ordinary Jane. She saw that Trent and Jesse were in the kitchen making a snack.
“Hey,
Janie,” Trent said. “Long night?”
“You
could say that,” Jane answered a she grabbed some coffee. “Investigating the
Mall with SpiderGirl?”
“You
mean that robot dactyl?” Jesse said.
“That’s
definitely something we can write a song about,” Trent mused. “But what did you
find?”
“Hardly
anything,” Jane answered. “Just scuff marks, knocked over kiosks and dings in
the support columns.”
“Nothing
else?” Trent asked.
“We
looked through dumpsters for the controller, but that was a long shot,” Jane
said.
“So,
the person got away with it?” Jesse asked.
Jane
sighed. “Yes. SpiderGirl says that Ninja Talon knows someone who can hack into
the security cameras but who knows how long that would take.”
“We
can’t rely on that,” Trent said.
“I
know. I’ll go back this afternoon after school and look for suspicious
characters. I’ll have a few hours before I have to go to the Historia,” Jane
said.
“And
we’ll ask around Dega Street discretely,” Trent decided.
Quinn
hadn’t slept much. She looked at the clock as she rolled out of bed. “6:33!”
she groaned as she realised that she wouldn’t get much sleep. She quickly got
dressed and turned on the radio. “Mental In the Morning! For a hip wakeup
call in Lawndale and Oakwood! This is Bing and Spatula Man.”
“Now,
what is going on this morning?” she asked as Spatula Man recapped the robot
pterodactyl incident and Lynn Anders wanting interviews with the vigilantes.
“…Like,
I think SpiderGirl doesn’t want any interviews. Just to do her thing fighting
Lawndale’s crime and rescuing people.”
“Exactly!”
Quinn commented.
“The
same applies to the other vigilantes.”
Quinn
read through on her notes on her discussion with the Shadow about the robot
pterodactyl. ‘Nothing new there.’
“We
now have a call coming in,” Bing said.
“You
are now on Mental in the Morning,” Spatula Man said.
“Hi,”
a young sounding woman said. “I’m down at the dock, and there are giant
shrimp swimming around it.”
“Giant
Shrimps?” Spatula Man asked incredulously.
“Yes!
SpiderGirl! Dafoanairi! If you are listening, come down here.”
“Seems
like a set up,” Quinn commented quietly. “But I still need to respond. If
Dafoanairi responds and I don’t, she could get in trouble. I doubt Brit would
do it in her condition. But what about the Engima?”
Quinn
then went to her closet and changed to SpiderGirl before swinging away from one
of the attic windows.
Daria
awoke from a nightmare of the robot pterodactyl. “Agh!” she said as she bolted
awake. She looked at her clock. “6:44? No more sleep this morning.” She grabbed
her notebook and wrote about the nightmare after where she had written about
the attack itself.
‘But
I will probably have to talk to Sandi about it too. She probably has nightmares
about Groundhog Day, although she hasn’t said anything about that.’
SpiderGirl
approached the Creek warily, and sure enough the Spider Sense blared as soon as
she swung past the last of the buildings short of the actual dock. She paused
and hid in a tree and looked towards the dock. She didn’t see anyone there, but
she did see a suspicious looking van parked nearby. ‘Someone’s definitely up to
something,’ she thought. ‘But it’s certainly a trap.’ She then left in the
opposite direction, heading to the Historia.
On
the Historia’s roof, she took a pair of binoculars out from a hiding spot and
looked back where she came. The van was still there, and there was no sign of
Dafoanairi either.
“Wait…
Is there something else happening that I might have been drawn away from?” She
wondered. She listened to the town for a short time. “Whatever it is mustn’t be
obvious. I’ll talk it over with Talon later.” She then swung away to patrol in
Dega Street before returning home for breakfast.
Daria
was reading the paper when Quinn entered the kitchen. “Good Morning,” she said.
“Morning,
Daria. What are they saying this morning?”
“Just
the facts about that robo-dactyl attack,” Daria answered.
“That’s
good,” Quinn said. She looked at the byline. “Tori’s mom is always pursuing
just the facts.”
“A
few people were interviewed and they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary
before the robot appeared.”
“Daria,
do you think more of these things are going to appear?”
“I’m
not sure,” Daria answered. “But with everything that’s going on lately, It’s
almost an absolute certainty.”
“I
agree, and we may need to plan to protect the Historia if something appears
there.”
“We
already survived one incident.”
“But
Beck is still out there. What if it’s him behind the robot pterodactyl?” Quinn
asked.
Daria
looked at the article again to give cover to her remembering the incident. “I’m
not sure. It’s not as theatrical as when he kidnapped Jane.”
‘Another
thing to talk to Brit about,’ Quinn thought as she took a couple of eggs out
and cracked them into a saucepan. “That’s a good point. But there could still
be a link to Oscorp.”
“That’s
definitely a possibility,” Daria said.
“Have
you and the Enigma found anything further?”
“Not
much. Oscorp have increased their security measures over the past few weeks.
That’s one thing that Osborn being indisposed hasn’t affected.”
“That’s
what I expected,” Quinn said as she recalled seeing extra guards around various
Oscorp buildings during her patrols.
Lynn
Anders arrived at the main Oscorp building on First Street, where Osborn had
been working from before he was indisposed. She wasn’t sure why she had been
called there, she thought that Osborn was still in the hospital as he had been
the previous afternoon. The assistant met her in the lobby.
“Mr.
Osborn is waiting for you.”
“I
thought he was staying in the hospital?”
“He
is still in the hospital, but he will be meeting you by video,” the assistant
explained.
“Oh,
I thought I missed something.”
“The
doctors want to be sure that he’s recovered.”
In
the office, the assistant watched Lynn Anders as she looked around the
ostentatious office. “It will just take a moment,” she said as she adjusted the
video camera and television.
“That’s
fine.”
She
adjusted a few switches and Osborn was on the screen.
“Is
Lynn Anders there, Ms. Fields?” he asked.
“She’s
right here,” Fields answered as she pulled Anders in front of the camera.
“I’m
here, Osborn,” Anders said.
“I
have a proposal for you regarding your desire for an interview with SpiderGirl.”
“Oh?”
“Open
the package Ms. Fields.”
Fields
grabbed the package that lay on the table next to the television with a little
hesitation. She wasn’t sure why Osborn wanted to do what he was going to
propose to Anders. She opened it and took out the suit. One that looked
identical to SpiderGirl’s.
“What
is this?” Anders asked as she looked at it. “You want someone to pretend to be
SpiderGirl as I interview them?”
“Exactly,”
Osborn projected.
“But
it’s not the real SpiderGirl! I want to interview the real SpiderGirl, not some
fake!” Anders said.
“But
the only ones who will know that would be SpiderGirl herself, Ninja Talon and
possibly the other vigilantes. And remember, I know that your stunts are
staged, so you don’t have a leg to stand on here.”
“This
is different.”
“From
my point of view it isn’t,” Osborn said in an unnerving tone. “If I
don’t see your interview with SpiderGirl tonight, I’ll leak the information
about your staged stunts to the Sun-Herald or WLND.”
Anders
realised that she was in a bind. “Fine! But remember that I could reveal this
myself at some point.”
“It
would be your word against mine. Have a good day Ms. Anders. You may switch off
on that end, Ms. Fields.”
“Yes,
sir,” Fields said as she switched off the camera.
“I
guess he wants you to be the fake SpiderGirl?” Anders asked.
Fields
nodded. “Not something I expected to be doing when I applied for a job at
Oscorp. I have been in several positions over the past few years after
college.”
“I
see. Be at the studio by six.”
“I’ll
be there.”
As
they arrived at school, most of the students of Lawndale High were talking
about the events of the previous afternoon.
Quinn
considered it unlikely that any of her fellow students were responsible for the
robot pterodactyl, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility. ‘But how to
investigate the use of the school facilities without raising suspicion?’ she
wondered. Being involved in the Lowdown only went so far. She met up
with Stacy, Tori and Tiffany shortly before homeroom.
“There
was more news this morning,” Tori said.
“I
read the paper,” Quinn said.
“If
only Mom didn’t need to stay back late,” Tori mused.
“Someone
has to do it,” Quinn said.
“True,
the Sun-Herald would be all speculative,” Tori said.
“And
Lynn Anders is stirring things up,” Stacy said.
“That
is nothing new,” Tori said.
“Even
with wanting an interview with SpiderGirl?” Quinn asked.
“I
guess so,” Stacy said.
The
bell then rang.
Daria
entered homeroom and looked around. Most of the other students in her homeroom
were already there. She sat at her usual place and picked up a piece of paper
that lay there.
An
Emergency Edition of the Lowdown
will be released on Monday with a retraction of the article where it was
implied that Quinn Morgendorffer was interested romantically in Kevin Thompson.
For now lets say that Quinn is not interested in Kevin that way.
“Oh,
that will clear things up,” Daria said.
“You’re
saying something?” one of the other students said.
“This
doesn’t entirely clear it up,” Daria repeated.
“It
does a little,” the other student, with dark red hair and an Ankh necklace
said.
“Scarlett,
isn’t it?” Daria asked.
“Yes.”
“What
do you think about this?”
“More
of the craziness that Lawndale is started to be defined by,” Scarlett answered.
“I
agree.”
“And
I think Lynn Anders is trying to stir things up.”
“You’re
not the only one who thinks that,” Daria responded.
Quinn
also read the note. “Great, Ted is probably overthinking it. It’s probably what
Ms. Li said to him.”
“That
is likely,” a girl nearby said.
“What
do you think about it, Aleesha?” Quinn asked.
“I
knew that the rumors yesterday were false,” Aleesha Nibblet answered. “But I’m
more concerned about that robo-dactyl. I was shopping in the Mall yesterday,
just before it happened.”
“That
was a close call.”
“Yes.
I saw Dafoanairi respond. It was very brave of her.”
“All
of the vigilante heroes are brave,” Quinn responded. She knew she was.
“But
I ran, so I didn’t see Ninja Talon.”
‘That’s
fine. I’ll catch up with Brit at lunch.’
The
note didn’t entirely clear up the rumors about Quinn and Kevin, but those were
subdued with most of the students talking about whether more robots based on
Mesozoic creatures would appear in Lawndale.
Quinn
caught up with Ted as they both went between their first and second period
classes.
“What’s
the note about?” she asked.
“I’m
still writing the retraction article,” Ted admitted.
“It
doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to get the point across.”
“Trying
to balance not making it seem simple, but also making sure that Kevin can
understand it.”
Quinn
could then tell why Ted was taking his time. “That makes sense.”
“But
it will be out on Monday morning.”
“Thanks,
Ted.”
She
caught up with Brittany in a quiet part of the library early during lunch.
“I
investigated the Mall early this morning,” she said.
“Did
you find something?” Brittany asked.
“Nothing
and neither did the Shadow. But she did see Anders’ show,” Quinn answered and
she repeated what the Shadow had told her.
“I
agree, it isn’t fair. She shouldn’t be trying the turn the people of Lawndale
against us!”
“And
there’s another thing.”
“What
is that?” Brittany asked.
“Someone
called in to Z93 just after 6:30 this morning and said there was giant shrimp
at the dock.”
“And
there wasn’t?”
“No.
When I got there, the Spider sense went off, and there was this very suspicious
van, so I retreated to the Historia,” Quinn explained.
“That’s
not good. It seems that people are trying to catch you or something.”
Quinn
nodded. “As If I wasn’t being careful enough. Anyway, I was also thinking that
Andrea could try looking at the Mall’s security footage so we could see who was
controlling the robo-dactyl that way.
“I’m
not sure that she would go for it, but I’ll give it a try.”
At
the same time, Daria sat with Sandi at the cafeteria. “There are less rumors
about Quinn today,” she said, “but they’re all talking about the robo-dactyl.”
“That’s
not surprising.”
“We
also need to keep an eye on Anders somehow.”
“I
have some ideas,” Sandi responded.
Daria
was about to ask, but Jane then arrived.
“What
ideas?” she asked.
“Oh,
extracurricular activities,” Sandi obfuscated.
“Uh
ha,” Jane said. “Obviously you were talking about something.”
“Wondering
whether Anders considered how hard trying to track down the vigilantes would
be,” Daria answered, as she had been wondering about that at times.
“I’m
sure she has some plan,” Jane responded as she sat down.
“She
was so sure of herself yesterday,” Sandi said.
“You
met her?” Jane asked.
“Yesterday,
at the Historia, at just before the news of the robo-dactyl came on the radio,”
Sandi answered.
“I
bet she was arrogant about it.”
Sandi
nodded.
