fardell34: February 2025

Quinn was designing something when her door was flung open. “Tania Ashworth?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I know your secret,” Tania said.

‘That I’m SpiderGirl? I don’t think so!’ Quinn thought. She stood up. “What secret would that be?” she asked.

“That you’re the fourth vigilante!” Tania said as she pulled the door closed behind her. “I just saw her enter this house.”

“If the fourth vigilante is here, she’s visiting Daria,” Quinn said. “Besides, it’s not a good idea to be showing up at other people’s houses and saying that they’re one of Lawndale’s heroes.

“So, you’re saying you’re not the fourth vigilante and that Daria isn’t either?”

“Exactly,” Quinn said. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because the Shadow accused me of being the fourth vigilante last night.”

‘It’s like Sunday night,’ Quinn groused, remembering that the Shadow had thought Daria was the fourth vigilante. ‘Obviously she changed her mind.’ “So why chase the fourth vigilante here?”

“I was thinking that either of you were the Shadow.”

‘I know Daria isn’t,’ Quinn thought.

Back in Daria’s room, she agreed to help the Enigma. “But I’ll tell Mom I’m going somewhere first,” she said.

“Sure.”

“Neither of us are the Shadow,” Quinn said. “Now I’m busy.”

“Busy with what?”

“Designing stuff.”

Tania looked at Quinn’s desk and saw drawings of various things. “Clothes?” she asked.

“Not just clothes.”

“Out somewhere?” Helen asked.

“More of my investigations,” Daria explained.

“On a Friday night?”

“I can look after myself.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Helen responded. “Just be careful, OK?”

Daria closed her mother’s bedroom door and then heard quiet arguing near her and Quinn’s rooms.

“There you are!” Tania said as she came out of Quinn’s room.

The Enigma retreated back to Daria’s room. She didn’t want to see Quinn.

“Tania Ashworth?” Daria asked as she entered the hallway at the other end. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh!” Tania said. “Quinn’s in there, and you are there. Neither of you are the fourth vigilante.”

“Obviously not,” the Enigma said. “I am, obviously.”

“Neither of us are, beyond what I have said at school,” Daria said, with annoyance as she came up alongside Quinn’s door.

“What was that, exactly?” Quinn asked from inside the room.

“About our involvement in the Historia and my investigations,” Daria answered. “That’s all.”

“A misunderstanding then,” Quinn said.

Daria nodded.

“I’ll go to the Lanes then,” Tania said.

“Go ahead,” the fourth vigilante said from Daria’s room.

“No, leave Jane alone,” Daria said.

“I’ll go to Howard Drive, but probably not inside their house,” Tania decided before walking back to the window. “See you at school or at the Historia.”

Daria and Quinn watched Tania climb down. “What now?” the latter asked.

“Just be alert. Other than her being a Wiccan, I don’t know anything about her,” Daria said “But the fourth vigilante and I are heading out now.”

“Just be careful,” Quinn said as she went back into her room.

“I will,” Daria said.

Daria grabbed an old broom from the hall closet and took the head off it. “This should work as a staff for now,” she said as she re-entered her room. “Let’s go.”

“Sure.”

The Enigma and Daria rappelled down from one of bedroom side windows to the patio outside the kitchen door. “But which way did Tania go?” the former asked.

“I’m not sure,” Daria answered. “But lead the way to where Beresfield is being held.”

“It’s on Second Street, we can take the laneways,” the Enigma said.

Quinn leant out from one of her side bedroom windows and watched Tania go along the street and Daria and the Enigma go to the laneway. ‘I’ll wait a few minutes before following Tania as SpiderGirl,’ she decided. She then told her mother she was heading out to an investigation date.

With the bedroom light still on, SpiderGirl left the house via the backyard hatch and swung off to the west to follow Tania towards Howard Drive.

Officer Xanthe Peterson looked at the Oscorp building that the anonymous tip had said someone was being held against their will. It looked like any other office building in Lawndale. ‘But has whoever took this Verity Beresfield planned for police involvement?’ she asked herself. All she knew was that the Enigma was on her way.

Back at the Osborn mansion, a part of the roof retracted, and the glider flew out. The pilot gained altitude and looked over Lawndale.

Tania approached Casa Lane. “So, should I case it, or go in?’ she wondered. ‘I’ll go in.’

SpiderGirl saw Tania wander around the Lane’s house. She soon followed.

Jane was in the kitchen when Tania entered. “Tania! What are you doing here?”

“The Morgendorffers are in cahoots with the fourth vigilante,” Tania said.

“I already knew Daria is investigating what is going on alongside the fourth vigilante.”

“And I still suspect that one of them might be the Shadow.”

“I don’t think the Shadow has been reported alongside the fourth vigilante yet. Just alongside SpiderGirl or Ninja Talon,” Jane said. ‘I hope that throws her off the trail.’

“That doesn’t matter. There’s a lot that goes on that isn’t reported.”

SpiderGirl sat on the Casa Lane roof and listened to what Jane and Tania were saying. ‘Tania is paranoid,’ she thought.

“Look! You can’t go around like you have been,” Jane said. “Are you going to go to the Griffins next? It was lucky that Mrs. Morgendorffer didn’t know you were there.”

“I’m sure I can handle Mrs. Griffin.”

“Then you don’t know her.”

“I guess meeting the Shadow last night has me jittery,” Tania said quietly.

“Too jittery, if you ask me,” Jane said. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Tania admitted. “I have been talking to the other Wiccans.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jane admitted. “But I either talk to family members who listen, mostly Trent, and now Daria.”

SpiderGirl thought about it. The effect of the Groundhog Day Attack on Lawndale and the people in it was ongoing. She climbed up to the top of the roof and looked out over the town from there. ‘Looks peaceful, sounds peaceful,’ as she glanced at what could be seen of the Giant Strawberry. It was what she couldn’t see…

Ninja Talon saw the glider low over the rooftops as she did her usual patrol of the southern area of town. ‘Uh oh!’ she thought. ‘I need to tell Spidey!’

Helen answered the phone. “Hello, Eric?”

“It’s Brittany, is Quinn there?”

“Sorry, she’s out on an investigation date.”

“Oh, I’ll see her later then.”

Ninja Talon left the phone booth and followed the gilder at a distance. She remembered when she and Quinn were planning over the blueprints earlier.

Earlier

“So, we find a street, with Oscorp buildings in it,” Quinn said. “And then force it to crash by breaking it.”

“I guess you’re going to web up the street?” Brittany asked.

“Yes, but we also have to plan for his new bombs. From what happened on Monday night, those can cause a lot of damage.”

“True. We have to disarm him somehow.”

“I could try swinging over him and webbing the bombs out that way,” Quinn suggested. “Try to explode them in mid air.”

“A bit risky.”

“Better than having them explode all at once when it crashes.”

Present

‘We’re still not sure what to do about that,’ Ninja Talon thought.

Tania decided to leave. “I’ll try the Griffins,” she said.

“I don’t think Sandi will react the same way as Quinn, Daria and I,” Jane said.

“I know,” Tania said as she went back to the door.

As Tania left, SpiderGirl entered the house.

“SpiderGirl?” Jane asked, trying not to sound as she usually sounded as the Shadow.

“I followed Tania here from the Morgendorffers,” SpiderGirl said.

“You were listening, huh?” Jane asked rhetorically. “How often does Lawndale’s first superhero eavesdrop?”

“Not very often. I was in Glen Oaks Lane when she showed up, but the fourth vigilante didn’t see me. She left with Daria into the backyard.”

“So, you know that the fourth and Daria have teamed up.”

“I heard about it,” SpiderGirl responded in a slightly defensive tone. “But Tania’s getting away. I want to make sure she doesn’t cause problems at the Griffins.”

“See you another time.”

“There it is,” The Enigma said.

“And the police have arrived,” Daria said. She looked closer. “Including the officer who told us Dad died.”

“We can avoid them if you want.”

“No, we need to talk to them. See what they know.”

Xanthe looked as the Enigma and Daria Morgendorffer came onto the scene. ‘Why is Daria with the Enigma? Does she know her sister’s secret?’ she wondered. She was still uncertain that Quinn was SpiderGirl, but she didn’t want to dismiss it either. “Why are you here?”

“It was my mentor who called 911,” the Enigma said.

“There’s a mentor now?” Xanthe asked herself. ‘Even more people with powers in Lawndale!’

“Yes, but she’s a former hero. It was time for the new blood to step up,” the Enigma said.

Xanthe turned to Daria. “Why are you here?”

“I have sort of become the fourth vigilante’s sidekick,” Daria explained.

“The Enigma you mean. Ninja Talon told me the name,” Xanthe said. “As well as SpiderGirl.”

“That’s fine,” the Enigma said. “Beresfield is being held on the second floor.”

“And you know that how?” Xanthe asked.

“My powers,” the purple clad antihero said enigmatically.

“Right,” Xanthe said. ‘Web slinging is one thing, but energy projections and mental powers are another!’

“We’re going to go in,” the Enigma said.

“Wait!” Xanthe said. “I’m coming with you. Three is better than two. Especially when one of the two is an inexperienced teenager with a staff.”

“Sure,” Daria said. “I admit that I’m inexperienced, but I have been practicing.”

“Probably not for long though.”

They entered the building after a locksmith picked the lock. “What about the alarm?” Peterson asked.

“It’s silent,” the locksmith said.

“Of course. And we haven’t been able to get in touch with Osborn.”

“I suspect that he’s indisposed,” the Enigma said.

“What does that mean?” Daria asked.

“You heard what Sandi and Harry have been saying,” the Enigma said, trying not to give anything away.

“Yes,” Daria said, clearly thinking. “I do wonder how that dinner went earlier.”

‘Later, Daria,’ the Enigma thought. ‘Later tonight, after this.’

They came to a stair well without any opposition. “It seems too easy,” Peterson said as she followed the Enigma.

“You’re right,” Daria said, who was grasping her staff tightly.

“Listen,” the Enigma said. “I’m sure there are guards on the next floor.”

“You’re right,” Peterson said. “I’ll go first.”

“I’ll go first. I can do this,” the Enigma said as a forcefield appeared around her.

“But how effective would that be against bullets?” Peterson asked.

“Not sure,” the Enigma said as she lowered it.

“I will still go first, but you can come right behind.”

The Enigma and Daria both nodded.

Officer Peterson came up onto the first floor. She saw some guards responding. She raised her sidearm. “LDPD! Hands where I can see them!”

The guards raised their hands. “Do you have a warrant?” One of them asked.

“There has been a report of kidnapping,” Peterson responded.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the guard said.

“A 911 call was made that said there was someone being held against their will in this building.”

“There are more of us, than there are of you.”

“That’s true,” Peterson said warily.

The guards started to lower their hands.

“Keep going,” she said to the other two.

The Enigma raised one of her hands and two of the guards got pushed over telekinetically.

All three of them hoofed it up the stairs.

“I don’t think that was a good idea,” Daria said as they came up to the second floor.

“It delayed them a bit,” the Enigma commented.

Peterson looked ahead. “It looks clear, which means it might be a trap. Do you know where she might be.”

“At the far corner,” the Enigma answered. “But the guards below are now following.”

“We can close the fire doors,” Daria suggested. “That may help.”

“Good thinking,” Peterson said.

They carefully entered the corridor. “I’ll trip the electromagnets telekinetically,” the Enigma said. “If there is a trap there, it won’t be as risky.”

“Quickly!” Peterson said, as she heard the guards coming up the stairs.

The Enigma tripped the electromagnets and the fire doors swung closed quicky.

Daria took a fire axe and pushed it between the handles and the doors. “That should hold for a while,” she said.

They quickly walked down the corridor.

They came to main cubicle area. “There could be anything in those cubicles,” Peterson said.

“Definitely,” Daria commented.

The Enigma breathed deeply and raised a forcefield around them again. “Let’s be quick about this.”

They walked quickly as they heard the guards behind trying to break through the fire doors.

Suddenly, a mechanism launched from one of the cubicles and clashed against the Enigma’s forcefield. It rebounded back into the cubicle.

“Some sort of robot arm,” Daria commented. “It could have knocked us over.”

“Yes,” Peterson said. “It means that whoever took Beresfield was prepared.”

fardell34

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