Spider Quinn 19 Making the News Amidst the Storms Part 5

 

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.