Spider Quinn 15 The New Challenges Part 2

 

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.

 

 

Dafoanairi arrived at High Hills Park and heard the Wiccans chanting as they started their nightly worship. ‘But how can I find Tania without my glasses?’ she wondered. She didn’t really think that through. It was even worse with it being around New Moon. She decided to wait until the Wiccans had finished and then call Tania.

 

 

Tania Ashworth was about to go home when she heard her name being called from nearby, within the Park. “Who’s there?” she asked. “Is it the Shadow trying to accuse me again?”

 

“No,” a feminine voice said. A cloaked figure appeared. “I’m Dafoanairi, Lawndale’s snarky fifth vigilante.”

 

Tania raised an eyebrow. That was certainly new. “A snarky fifth?” she asked rhetorically. “Why are you here?”

 

“I’m investigating the brownouts that have been plaguing downtown Lawndale since the early afternoon.”

 

“I heard about them,” Tania said.

 

“So, you may have heard that various businesses were having issues related to them, including the Historia, boutiques unable to process credit card transactions and dojos having to deal with poor lighting.”

 

“I knew about some of that,” Tania admitted, “but why are you asking me about it?”

 

“I heard that you were investigating the other vigilantes last Friday.”

 

“The Morgendorffers may be involved or they may not be, and I still have an eye on Sandi Griffin, but I need more proof.”

 

“What is your answer?” Dafoanairi asked.

 

“I’ll help you with the brownouts.”

 

 

They then left the Park. “Where first?” Tania asked.

 

“The Historia.”

 

“Good choice. It’s a great vantage point.”

 

 

The Enigma was already at the Historia, trying to find a pattern in the flickering street lights. ‘There isn’t a pattern I recognise,’ she thought after fifteen minutes. ‘Maybe I should have woken Daria.’ She thought that dealing with a tired and irritable Daria Morgendorffer seemed easier than trying to figure out what was causing the outages. She then heard something on the western side of the roof. “Who’s there?” she asked, ready for confrontation if it was SpiderGirl.

 

 

Dafoanairi and Tania had scaled the western side of the Historia. ‘Better than revealing to Tania that I’m a Morgendorffer straight away,’ Dafoanairi thought as she finally made it to the roof.

 

“Who’s there?” she heard the Enigma ask.

 

“Dafoanairi, the Snarky fifth Lawndale Vigilante,” she responded.

 

“And Tania Ashworth,” Tania added.

 

 

Tania looked at the fourth vigilante after she and Dafoanairi had come over. “I saw you at the Morgendorffers on Friday, but I didn’t catch what you call yourself.”

 

“The Enigma,” the other responded. “The antiheroic fourth vigilante who will do anything to protect Lawndale and the rival of the Spider-powered first vigilante.”

 

“You didn’t need to explain that much,” Dafoanairi murmured. “So, you’re already looking into the outages?”

 

“Yes,” the Enigma answered. “But I couldn’t find a pattern after looking for fifteen minutes.”

 

“Maybe there is a building that is drawing a lot of power,” Dafoanairi suggested.

 

“That’s possible,” the Enigma mused.

 

“So, we have to climb down again?” Tania asked.

 

“Yes,” Dafoanairi said.

 

“I can’t hold you with my powers, but I have ropes,” the Enigma said. “That will make it easier.”

 

Tania sighed.

 

 

Back on the street, they headed towards the east.

 

 

A short while later, SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon met at their usual spot at the Jefferson Bridge, Lawndale’s southern bridge over the Lawndale Creek. “So, how are we going to find the source?” Ninja Talon asked. “I have some idea.”

 

“Like methodically searching the affected area?” SpiderGirl asked.

 

“But in an effective way, that won’t take up too much time.”

 

“Like, the darkened areas are almost certainly already being taken advantage of.”

 

Ninja Talon took out a map. “We could start from opposite corners and search along each street inwards in a spiral pattern.’

 

“I have no better idea,” SpiderGirl admitted.

 

 

Dafoanairi, the Enigma and Tania returned to the Historia after an hour of searching. “Well, we know where it isn’t,” the Enigma said once they had climbed up again.

 

“It’s like a needle in a haystack,” Tania said

 

“I will continue tomorrow night,” Dafoanairi said.

 

“So will I,” the Engima said.

 

“But I won’t,” Tania decided. “But I will probably look into it after school.”

 

 

They then climbed down from the Historia and went their separate ways. The Enigma thought about Dafoanairi. ‘She’s sort of familiar,’ she thought. ‘Daria?’ she thought. But she wasn’t sure.

 

 

Tania thought about it as she headed down First Street towards the eastern end of Grandstaff Drive. ‘Another vigilante, but I don’t want to leap to conclusions like I did on Friday.’

 

 

Lawndale Sun-Herald

Thursday, February 15, 2001

Brownouts in Downtown Lawndale by Melinda Parris

 

Quinn entered the kitchen to find Daria and her mother talking about the situation with the outages. She was still tired, as she and Brittany had searched for an hour and a half before calling it quits for the night.

 

“Couldn’t sleep, Quinn?” her mother asked.

 

“I still have nightmares about Daddy,” she said, truthfully. “Otherwise, I do get some sleep.”

 

“If you want to talk about it…” her mother began, but then her cell phone rang. “Oh hi, Eric.”

 

 

Helen was annoyed. He had to ring right at that moment. She could tell that Quinn was still struggling with her grief. “Oh hi, Eric,” she said with a slight undertone of annoyance.

 

“Our nine o’clock has been postponed to nine-thirty,” Eric Schrecter said.

 

“Is that all?”

 

“And the firm is still being affected by those brownouts. The assistants may have to search for the typewriters in storage.”

 

“There aren’t enough laptops?” Helen asked.

 

“No. There wasn’t the need until now.”

 

“I will be in at the usual time.”

 

 

“What’s the plan?” Quinn asked Daria.

 

“After school. I will go to the Historia straight away. If the brownouts are still happening, I will go to the other businesses on Mrs. Rowe’s map.”

 

“Good idea. I’ll probably do the same, after I tutor Angie this afternoon. We can cover more ground.”

 

“The more the better. I’ll see if Jane will do it too.”

 

 

Helen sighed as she hung up. The opportunity to help Quinn had passed as she and Daria were talking about investigating the brownouts. ‘It’s probably not something teen investigators can solve.’ She turned on the TV in the kitchen.

 

“Mayor Lawson has called out incompetence in the power company in a statement this morning. Quote. ‘Inconsistent power is the last thing Lawndale needs at this time.’ End quote. The power company has also refused requests for comment…”

 

“Incompetence indeed,” Helen commented. She saw a class action lawsuit in the near future if the issue wasn’t resolved quickly.

 

 

The day at Lawndale High proceeded normally, as the power issues were not yet affecting that area of town. Even so, Ms. Li was trying to prepare. “Don’t stress, Angela,” Margeret Manson, the school counsellor, said.

 

“But if the school gets affected, it will be difficult to keep the heat up and the lights on. Not to mention the computers.”

 

“But it hasn’t happened yet,” Manson said.

 

“I know that,” Angela said with a sigh. “But with everything that has been happening lately.”

 

“You still haven’t talked to me about Groundhog Day…”

 

“I got out quickly! And I met Ninja Talon. She reassured me that Ms. Taylor got out safely.”

 

“That’s another thing. The possibility that all the vigilantes are students here,” Manson said.

 

“I’m already on that.”

 

“The agreement with Oscorp? Is it worth the paper it’s printed on with Osborn in his condition?”

 

“The board may be in disarray, but they have reassured me that it is,” Li said.

 

 

Jamie was in the library when Quinn and Angie entered. “Jamie?” the former asked.

 

“I heard that you and Daria are looking into the brownouts,” he said.

 

“We are, and we’re not the only ones,” Quinn said.

 

“Can I help?” Jamie said.

 

“Sure, but after our session,” Quinn said.

 

 

“What do you think is happening?” Angie asked as she opened the Math textbook.

 

“That someone is drawing too much power,” Quinn said. “It may be that the grid can’t handle it.”

 

“But does that make sense?” Angie asked.

 

“Daria thinks so, and I do too,” Quinn said.

 

 

Daria and Jane headed towards the Historia as they left school.

 

“So, do you think someone is disrupting Lawndale’s power deliberately?” Jane asked.

 

“It is a possibility,” Daria admitted.

 

“Then I hope the culprit is found soon.”

 

 

At the Historia, they found that the situation was the same as the previous afternoon. “It has spread a little further north,” Mrs. Rowe said.

 

“That’s not good,” Daria said as an understatement.

 

“Can I have a closer look at that map?” Jane asked.

 

“Sure. I had copies made earlier,” Mrs. Rowe said.

 

Jane looked at the map and then took out her sketchbook. She then started sketching an artistic version.

 

‘It’s certainly adding to her project,’ Daria thought, referring to a long-term project Jane had started, based on Lawndale’s streetscape.

 

 

Daria had a quick afternoon tea. “I’m heading out now,” she said to Jane and Mrs. Rowe.

 

“I hope you find something,” the latter said.

 

“I do too.”

 

 

Quinn and Angie soon finished and Jamie joined them as they left the library. “So, where are we starting?” he asked.

 

Quinn took out a piece of paper. “Near the Historia,” she said.

 

“Of course,” Angie said.

 

“Like, in the Historia?” Jamie asked.

 

“I do need to talk to Mrs. Rowe first,” Quinn said.

 

 

Fifteen minutes later, Jane saw Quinn, Angie and Jamie arrive. “Hey, how was today?” she asked.

 

“It went as usual,” Angie said.

 

“You have a map too?” Quinn asked.

 

“Yes, another pair of eyes,” Jane responded.

 

Quinn nodded as she went to the counter.

 

 

“A couple more blocks are affected,” Elisabeth said to Quinn.

 

“That’s not good,” Quinn responded.

 

“I would think that the issue is still in the area that was affected yesterday.”

 

“That makes sense. It could be somewhere in the middle.”

 

“I have looked at the other map, and there is an Oscorp office around there,” Elisabeth pointed out.

 

“I wouldn’t but it past them.”

 

 

‘It would be too easy to pin the blame on Oscorp,’ Quinn thought as she went up to the roof. ‘It could just as easily be someone else.’ Perhaps someone who wanted to inconvenience Oscorp while also inconveniencing the rest of downtown Lawndale! ‘Not a good idea.’ She was about to change to SpiderGirl when she heard someone behind her. She turned. “Jamie?”

 

“I saw you come up here,” Jamie said.

 

“Is this the first time?” Quinn asked.

 

“The first time I followed you up here. Joey showed me the way up sometime last week,” Jamie explained.

 

Quinn was relieved. Her secret was safe, for now. “I was looking around before going to investigate the brownouts further.”

 

“I can come with,” Jamie offered.

 

“Sure.”

 

 

They left the Historia into the alleyway behind five minutes later. “I suppose you have explored the entire building?” Jamie asked.

 

“I have,” Quinn answered. “It’s amazing what old buildings hold. Most of the original equipment is still in storage. I’m sure Robert and Daria are planning to do something with it at some point.”

 

“Joey has explained how it’s important to him,” Jamie said.

 

“But why are Daria and I involved?” Quinn asked.

 

Jamie nodded.

 

“Mostly to do something good for Lawndale. It is as Daria said during the opening. And to get experience.”

 

“Right.”

 

 

They then came to a street. “This way,” Quinn said, pointing to the north.

 

“Sure,” Jamie said as he followed.

 

 

Brittany entered the Historia and saw Jane sketching. “Did you see Quinn here?” she asked.

 

“Quinn?” Jane asked. “She was here earlier. Why do you want her?”

 

“I wanted to talk to her about something,” Brittany answered. ‘I guess she got caught up,’ she thought.

 

“You’ve seen what she’s doing with Angie, and want help to?” Jane asked.

 

“I would ask Daria,” Brittany responded. She twirled a pigtail. “That isn’t such a bad idea.”

 

“I’m not sure how she would respond,” Jane commented.

 

“I’ll still ask,” Brittany said. She looked around. ‘She’s probably looking for the source as her usual self,’ she thought. She decided to get something to eat before heading out again.

 

 

‘What is Brittany up to?’ Jane wondered as she continued sketching. ‘I’m not sure that Daria would refuse her anymore.’ Given Daria’s changes, she wasn’t sure of many things.

 

 

“What are you sketching?” Brittany asked when she returned.

 

“The map of the brownouts,” Jane explained. “But in one of my styles,”

 

“Oooh,” Brittany said as she took another look. ‘Maybe her artist’s eye can see something we can’t,” she considered.

 

 

It was getting late, when Quinn and Jamie entered yet another business. ‘I have annoyed a few people,’ she thought. She saw that there was an older man and a cute guy that seemed to be his grandson.

 

“Welcome to the Elders Solarium,” the cute guy said in a bored tone.

 

“Solarium?” Jamie asked.

 

‘I suppose a solarium could draw a lot of power, right?’ Quinn wondered. “Hi, I’m Quinn Morgendorffer, representing the Historia.”

 

“Are you looking for a tan?” the cute guy asked.

 

“No,” Quinn answered. “For one, I burn easily. And second, it’s still winter. Third, I’m looking into the brownouts.”

 

“Brownouts?” the old man asked in a rhetorical tone. “We haven’t been having any of them here.”

 

‘Bingo!’ Quinn thought. ‘But how to approach this?’

 

“How long have you been open?” Jamie asked.

 

“A little while,” the cute guy answered. “But you are?”

 

“Jamie White.”

 

“I’m Sam Elders, your hair cut is really good.”

 

“Thanks,” Jamie said.

 

“Mr. Elders,” Quinn said. “Did you get any new equipment yesterday? It might be causing these brownouts due to the power required.”

 

“We did, but I don’t see how it could be overloading the grid,” The older Elders aid.

 

“Could you show us around?” Quinn asked.

 

“Would you like some juice first?” Mr. Elders asked.

 

“Sure, but I would like to see what you have here,” Quinn said, as she knew deflection when she saw it, given that she had used it since she could talk.

 

“I don’t see how two teenagers would be able to tell if something is drawing too much power,” Mr. Elders groused.

 

‘Maybe if one of them is the town’s first superhero,’ Quinn thought.