Spider Quinn 15 The New Challenge - Part 1

 15 The New Challenges Part 1

Helen Morgendorffer entered her kitchen to see an unusual sight. “Quinn? Why is Jamie getting his hair cut in our kitchen?”

 

“Because his usual barber has left Lawndale,” her daughter, Quinn, answered.

 

“That doesn’t answer the question,” Helen said.

 

“And Daria was in the bathroom,” Quinn added.

 

“You could have waited.”

 

“I didn’t want to wait, Mrs. Morgendorffer,” Jamie said.

 

“I see.”

 

“And he really needed one,” Quinn added.

 

“At least clean up when you’re done,” Helen said.

 

“I always do,” Quinn said.

 

“You’re taking a lot off,” Helen noted.

 

“That’s what he wants,” Quinn said. “And he’ll thank me.”

 

 

Soon, Quinn was done and Jamie White looked at himself in a hand mirror. “It’s great Quinn,” Jamie said.

 

“Thanks!”

 

 

“And I know you’re now cutting Daria’s hair too,” Helen said as Quinn cleaned up Jamie’s hair.

 

“More like just dusting off split ends,” Quinn added.

 

“After all these years keeping it the same length… and now she’s changing.”

 

“I know.”

 

 

Jamie looked at himself in the mirror in the cramped downstairs bathroom. The haircut looked good. Quinn had done a very good job.

 

 

He came out into the kitchen. “Thanks, Quinn.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

 

Jamie soon left as night fell over Lawndale. As he drove home, he thought about the recent events in the town, from Groundhog Day onwards.

 

 

Quinn went up to her room and looked at her closet. The modifications she had made so far were rudimentary. Just enough to hide her SpiderGirl gear in the chute and gain access to the attic from her closet. She hadn’t done much with the hidden area of the basement, just to store various maps of Lawndale and the surrounding areas. ‘There’s more I can do,’ she thought as she took out her sketchbook.

 

 

Meanwhile, Sandi Griffin was ready to do another search. “Cindy Brolsma,” she considered.

 

She downed the energy drink. “Finndu mann sem heitir: Cindy Brolsma!”

 

Cindy was found at her place somewhere to the north.

 

 

The Enigma approached the Morgendorffers’ place after midnight and saw that Daria’s light was still on as usual. She climbed up to one of the windows and opened it with her powers.

 

Daria was waiting.

 

“So, where are you investigating tonight?” the Enigma asked.

 

“Around the Historia,” Daria answered.

 

“Sure.”

 

 

Twenty minutes later, they were in the vicinity of the Historia. “What are we looking for?” the Enigma asked.

 

“Anything out of the ordinary,” Daria answered.

 

“Of course.”

 

They wandered around, looking for clues. They didn’t find much, other than some new graffiti on some of the walls behind the Historia.

 

The Enigma took photos of the tags. “I will cross reference them later.”

 

“I will too,” Daria added. “Time to go.”

 

 

Lawndale Sun-Herald

Wednesday, February 14, 2001

More on the Oscorp Expansion Plans by Penelope Jericho

 

As Jamie arrived at school his new haircut drew attention.

 

“Is that Jamie White?” Elly Aitkin asked herself. She looked again. ‘Is he cuter now?’

 

“Hello, Elly!”

 

“That’s a cool haircut, Jamie.”

 

“Thanks!”

 

“I’ll see you later!”

 

 

Jamie entered the library, passing Anna Coultard and Ben Harrod holding hands as they walked out. He saw Quinn talking to Brittany Taylor in the distance. “Quinn!”

 

 

“…So, Oscorp is still a concern,” Quinn concluded as she heard Jamie in the distance.

 

“We’ll need to keep an eye on them,” Brittany agreed.

 

“Keep an eye on who?” Jamie asked as he came up.

 

“Oscorp,” Quinn answered.

 

“Right,” Jamie commented. “What are you doing this afternoon, Quinn?”

 

“I’ll be at the Historia.”

 

“Oh, of course. It’s Wednesday.”

 

Jamie turned to Brittany.

 

“Kevie and I haven’t been having problems,” Brittany said.

 

“But he says you’re hardly around.”

 

“No other problems.”

 

 

SpiderGirl headed southwards from the school, towards the Historia. ‘Lawndale is resilient,’ she thought. The troubles of the past couple of weeks seemed to have subsided. She patrolled the downtown for half an hour before she stopped at the top of the Historia.

 

 

“Quinn!” Elisabeth Rowe, said when she saw Quinn enter the café.

 

“What’s wrong, Mrs. Rowe?”

 

“Something is causing power fluctuations in this part of town.”

 

“That’s not good,” Quinn commented.

 

“It isn’t and the power company hasn’t been able to localize it.”

 

“We need to get to the bottom of it.”

 

“That’s true,” Elisabeth said. “We can’t exactly run the café on inconsistent power.”

 

“It’s just been happening this afternoon?”

 

“Yes. It started about lunchtime.”

 

“I guess this could be something Daria can investigate this evening,” Quinn mused.

 

The lights in the café dimmed.

 

“Or maybe now,” Elisabeth said. “I’ll give her a call.”

 

 

Daria was doing her homework when the phone rang. “Daria here.”

 

“Mrs. Rowe here. The Historia has been having power outages all afternoon. But it’s not just the Historia. The problem has been affecting most of the street also.”

 

“Oh. I shall investigate shortly. I’ll just finish these homework questions.”

 

“I’ll see you soon.”

 

 

Daria entered the café a half hour later. As she went over to where Quinn was behind the counter, the lights dimmed momentarily. “I can see the problem,” she said.

 

“Like, it’s causing problems with the coffee machines and the fridges,” Quinn said. “The coffees are lukewarm and the milk isn’t getting cold.”

 

“That is a problem,” Daria said as she took it in.

 

“Mrs. Rowe is in the office,” Quinn said.

 

“Thanks.”

 

 

 “I already showed this to Quinn and Joey,” Mrs. Rowe said.

 

“Right,” Daria said as she looked at the map behind Mrs. Rowe. She could see that the outages were mainly on Main Street between First and Fourth Streets. “So, what is causing the problem has to be in that area.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I shall go and talk to the business managers there, although it’s already nearly six.”

 

The lights dimmed in the office. “I don’t think it’s a business hours issue,” Mrs. Rowe pointed out.

 

 

Daria went up to the roof and looked out over Lawndale. The sun was setting and the street lights were coming on. ‘Is there a pattern in the brightness?’ she wondered.

 

“You’re here too, huh?” someone said nearby.

 

“Brittany?” Daria asked.

 

“I was looking into those problems too,” Brittany said.

 

“What have you found so far?” Daria asked.

 

“Not much, just that the Historia is far from the only place affected.”

 

“That’s what Mrs. Rowe said, and she has a map.”

 

“I have been to two of them,” Brittany said. “Zammits Boutique and a dojo.”

 

“A dojo?”

 

“Yeah. I go there twice a week, for Karate and Taekwondo.”

 

“Got it,” Daria said. “And Zammits. That would be Angie’s mother’s shop, right?”

 

“That’s right. It’s just across the street,” Brittany said, pointing down.

 

“Then that’s our next stop.”

 

“Sure, but Mrs. Zammit didn’t know much.”

 

 

Even so, Daria and Brittany went down and crossed the street. Mrs. Zammit was closing as they came up. “Back, Brittany?” she asked.

 

“Yes, Daria is investigating the blackouts for the Historia.”

 

“Daria Morgendorffer.”

 

“Quinn’s sister, right?” Mrs. Zammit asked. “Angie has said that she’s been very helpful the past month.”

 

“Yes,” Daria answered.

 

“So, what are you curious about?” Mrs. Zammit asked.

 

“When did the outages start?” Daria asked.

 

“Shortly after one. A customer couldn’t use her credit card and she didn’t have enough cash on her,” Mrs. Zammit said with annoyance.

 

“I can see how that can be a problem,” Daria said.

 

“And they continued to cause problems all afternoon.”

 

 

“That didn’t tell me much,” Daria said after they had crossed the street, back to the Historia.

 

“We can still go to the dojo,” Brittany suggested.

 

“How far is it?”

 

“Only one block,” Brittany answered as she pointed to the east.

 

 

Daria looked at the various stores as they passed them. The flickering of the street lights gave the street an earie look. Only some of the businesses were still open. Brittany opened the door of the dojo. ‘I suppose there are evening classes.’

 

 

“Ms. Taylor, I didn’t expect you back this evening,” Sensei Takhata said when he saw the blonde come in with an auburn-haired girl.

 

“This is my friend, Daria,” Brittany said.

 

“Daria Morgendorffer,” the girl said as introduction. “Brittany told me that you have also been affected by brownouts this afternoon.”

 

“Yes, Ms. Morgendorffer,” the sensei said after a little thought. “It can be difficult when the lighting is inconsistent…”

 

 

Daria listened as Sensei Takhata explained what had been happening. It was the same as at the Historia and Zammits. It didn’t tell her much. ‘But maybe I could salvage this in another way,’ she thought as she grabbed an information sheet.’

 

“Are you interested in learning something, Ms. Morgendorffer?”

 

“Yes, but I’m not certain which,’ Daria answered. “Anyway. I will need to gather more information on the outages.”

 

“Take your time. I advise you not to try to learn an art you don’t want to learn.”

 

‘But which will help me most as Dafoanairi?’ Daria wondered as she put the sheet away.

 

 

“Where now?” Brittany asked Daria when they left Takhata’s Dojo.

 

“Back to the Historia, so I can fill Mrs. Rowe and Quinn in on what I have and haven’t found. And maybe then Dinner.”

 

“I’ll come too. Kevie was meeting me for dinner.”

 

“He told me that you’ve hardly been around,” Daria said.

 

“When was that?”

 

“Just after Groundhog Day.”

 

“We have been on one date since then,” Brittany answered, although that date had been interrupted.

 

 

Back at the Historia, they saw that Kevin was already there. “There you are, Babe! I was beginning to worry.”

 

“No problem, Kevie. Daria and I were looking into something.”

 

“What was that?” Kevin asked.

 

“Blackouts,” Daria answered as she went towards the office.

 

“Oh,” Kevin responded as Brittany looked at the menu.

 

 

“So, Zammits and Takhata’s Dojo,” Elisabeth said. “They’re both on the map.”

 

“I’m sorry, I haven’t been able to get more information,” Daria said as the lights in the office went off for a few seconds.”

 

“That you tried is enough.”

 

“I’ll go up on the roof again and try to guess where the problem might be.”

 

 

Five minutes later, Daria was up on roof with a flashlight and a photocopy of the map. “Flickering streetlights…” she considered as she looked around. She could see that most of the streetlights in the downtown area were flickering, but the rest of Lawndale seemed unaffected. ‘But how long would that last if the problem doesn’t go away?’ she wondered. She looked at the map again. The area of flickering street lights was only slightly larger than the reported outages. ‘That doesn’t tell me much.’ She then went back down to have dinner herself.

 

 

“Power problems in downtown Lawndale continue this evening…” Sandi switched off the radio and took out her yearbook again. After Cindy Brolsma was Melinda Brosnan, who had a brown pixie cut. ‘She still has that,’ Sandi thought as she grabbed the energy drink.

 

“Findu mann sem heiter: Melinda Brosnan!”

 

She found that Melinda was at the Historia, and looked annoyed at the brownout that was happening.

 

 

Quinn noticed yet another tingle as she brought out some fries. “Here you are!” she said to Melinda Brosnan. “At least the gas is unaffected.”

 

“Thanks, Quinn,” Melinda said. “it’s one thing after another isn’t it?”

 

“Yes,” Quinn said quietly.

 

“Like, everything that’s been happening the past few months. Now these power problems.”

 

“I’m sure the problem will be found soon.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

 

Daria headed home after having dinner. She placed the map of the outages on her wall. ‘It is going to be overwhelmed, isn’t it?’ she wondered as she looked at the articles on SpiderGirl from late November.

 

 

“You’re staying here?” Kevin asked Brittany after he had finished desert.

 

“Yes. I’m talking to Quinn and Joey about something when they finish.”

 

“OK.”

 

 

Later, SpiderGirl joined Ninja Talon on the roof. “So, you were with Daria earlier?” the former asked.

 

“Yes,” Ninja Talon answered and explained about their trips to the boutique and the dojo.

 

SpiderGirl took that in. “It is still not much to go on.”

 

“But maybe she can find something we can’t?”

 

“Probably,” SpiderGirl considered. She then took out a copy of the map Mrs. Rowe had made. “This doesn’t say much about where it’s coming from, other than it’s somewhere in this area.”

 

“Maybe look for a place that does have power, but isn’t blacking out?” Ninja Talon suggested.

 

“I can’t think of anything else at the moment.”

 

 

An hour later, they returned to the rooftop. “There’s too many,” Ninja Talon said.

 

“True. It will take hours, and we need to get home,” SpiderGirl agreed. “Maybe we can meet back here in the early hours.”

 

Ninja Talon agreed before climbing down the southern side of the Historia. SpiderGirl then swung off to the west.

 

 

Quinn emerged from her closet and clapped her hands, switching on her desk lamp. ‘Still needs work,’ she thought, referring to the hatch from the attic she had just used. That and the pully mechanism in the chute was still making noise. She went over to her desk and took out the map of the outages. ‘This is probably something that SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon can’t solve, but we have to try.’

 

 

Daria was writing when Quinn knocked on the door. “No, I still have no idea about the brownouts,” she said.

 

“I was about to suggest that you and the fourth vigilante could investigate tonight.”

 

Daria thought about telling Quinn the name said fourth vigilante used, but thought better of it. “I was out with her last night.”

 

“Oh,” Quinn said, disappointed

 

“But I’ll look into it in the morning before school. Or maybe it’ll be Sandi.”

 

“Or Tania Ashworth?”

 

“I doubt it,” Daria said. “She hasn’t said, or done anything since Friday night.”

 

“It was a long shot,” Quinn said before heading back to her room.

 

‘Maybe, either Sandi comes, or Dafoanairi goes to High Hills Park and implies she’s the fourth vigilante rather than the fifth,’ Daria considered. She shook her head. Tania already knew what the fourth vigilante and the Shadow looked like.

 

 

After midnight, Dafoanairi climbed out the hall window and down the ivy covered trellis. She then left the Morgendorffers place into the laneway behind and headed towards High Hills Park that way. She was wearing dark clothes and a cloak that effectively hid her long auburn hair which she had tied in a simple ponytail and the fact that she was squinting without her glasses.

 

 

Sandi arrived a few minutes later and saw that Daria’s light was out. “Oh. Looks like she’s asleep,” she commented. She then changed to the Enigma and headed downtown.