“SpiderGirl?”
Peterson asked.
“I
have an idea,” SpiderGirl said and told Peterson her theory that turning off
the lights should cause William to revert.
“But
what if it doesn’t work quickly? It would probably then be too dark to
do anything.”
“My
hearing is enhanced. I’ll know where he is, and his hearing may not be.”
“Right,
Cuddy and I will announce it. I hope it will work, Spidey.”
“Are
you sure?” Cuddy asked Peterson.
“I
trust SpiderGirl. Her instincts have often proved correct over the past several
months.”
“OK,
let’s do this.”
“The
assailant is a metahuman who transforms in strong light. Turn off the overhead
lights and close all the curtains, and be vigilant,” Peterson announced
over the intercom.
Dafoanairi
and the Enigma looked at each other as they heard the announcement. “I hope
that would work,” the latter said.
“It
better, but it would take time and he knows what we’re up to.”
“We
better get started.”
“Ahead
of you,” Dafoanairi said as she found a light switch and flipped it off.
The
Enigma smiled as she saw another switch in the distance and flipped it
telekinetically.
The
Shadow heard the announcement as she entered by one of the roof doors. ‘Of
course it’s Peterson,’ she thought. She prepared to switch her mask to low
light mode.
SpiderGirl
heard the announcement and then turned to Doctor Phillips. “Could you help me
with this corridor? I’ll do one way and you can do the other.”
“Sure,”
Phillips said.
SpiderGirl
went to the door and looked both ways. “He isn’t in this corridor, quickly
now.”
William
hurried through the corridors. He wanted to get to Osborn before it became too
dark and he reverted to usual self. He then heard the Enigma and Dafoanairi
catching up behind him. ‘And SpiderGirl is certainly to be ahead.’ He wasn’t
sure that he would last against three of Lawndale’s vigilante heroes. ‘Just as
well Ninja Talon is out of action.’
SpiderGirl
waited near Osborn’s room after reassuring Harry again. She had considered
webbing up the corridor, but decided that wouldn’t be a good idea, given that
it would take time for the cleaning staff to deal with. Soon, there was an echo
as William slammed open the fire doors at the end.
“SpiderGirl!”
he called out.
SpiderGirl
could see that he was beginning to revert, but he was still mostly in his
altered form. “William! I can’t let you hurt Osborn!”
“What?
So his son won’t be an orphan?”
“That’s
part of it! The other is that there are certainly others in Oscorp who are more
responsible than he is.”
“But
I don’t know who they are,” William said.
“I
repeat what I said!” SpiderGirl stated as she saw the tell-tale purple glow of
the Enigma’s powers appear at the door behind William.
William
continued running towards SpiderGirl.
Dafoanairi
followed the Enigma into the corridor and saw SpiderGirl trying to keep William
from entering a room. “Fire some warning shots over his head, but not near
SpiderGirl,” she said.
“I
suppose,” the Enigma said. “Low intensity,” she added as she pointed above
William and then fired.
SpiderGirl
saw the small projection fly over William’s head. “See, the fourth vigilante is
here too, give up!”
“No!”
William cried out.
SpiderGirl
blocked the doorway.
“No!”
William cried out again and tried to get past her. But he found that he
couldn’t move.
The
Enigma was trying to hold him in place telekinetically. “This is very
difficult,” she said.
“Weak!”
William said as he squirmed.
“I’m
not weak!” the Enigma said. “I just don’t want to hurt you. But I will if you
insist on hurting Osborn!”
“The
same here,” Dafoanairi said, as she came up alongside the Enigma and brandished
her staff.
William
squirmed some more and leapt.
The
Enigma was startled by his leapt and so her concentration was interrupted,
causing her to let go of him. “Eap!”
SpiderGirl
saw it and shot a web to the upper door frame and leapt herself. The two missed
each other, and thus William was able to enter the room.
Harry
threw himself protectively over his father. “No!” he said.
William
was continuing to revert as he approached the bed. As he changed back to his
usual form, his resolve wavered. He then felt something. SpiderGirl had shot a
couple of webs onto his back.”
“Let
me…”
“No!”
SpiderGirl said. “It’s over, William.”
“Now
that we know, we’ll also investigate what happened to you, along with
everything else that’s happening in Lawndale,” Dafoanairi added as she followed
SpiderGirl in.
“But
it will be dangerous,” William said, tiredly as he completely reverted, he sat
in a chair, exhausted.
Doctor
Phillips entered the room, passing the fourth vigilante where she stood next to
the door looking around the room. ‘Except at SpiderGirl, it seems,’ he thought.
He saw that Norman Osborn was still in the same condition. William hadn’t done
anything to him. He also saw that William had collapsed into a chair.
SpiderGirl
webbed him to the chair. “Just as a precaution,” she said. She turned to
Phillips. “Could you tell Peterson we have him secured here?”
“Sure,”
Phillips said as he picked up the room phone.
‘Why
am I taking the calls?’ Cuddy asked herself as she picked up the phone and put
it on speaker.
“Doctor
Phillips here. SpiderGirl has secured young Mr. Morris.”
“I’ll
be right up,” Peterson said.
“The
metahuman has been secured. The lockdown is no longer in effect,” Cuddy
said over the intercom.
The
Shadow took that in as she dashed through the dark corridors. “Oh, I was a
little late, then,” she murmured. ‘May as well return home, relieve Jennifer.’
It
wasn’t long before an orderly ushered Peterson into the room where Osborn was
being treated. “Here it is, officer,” he said,
“Thanks,”
Peterson said as she entered the room.
SpiderGirl,
Dafoanairi and the Engima all looked relieved.
“Thanks
for helping out,” Peterson said. “William Morris. I’m taking you down to the
station for some questions as soon as the Sun has set.”
“I
heard you this morning, at the front door,” William said. “Thanks for helping
the Morgendorffers.”
“And
I’ll have to tell Mrs. Morgendorffer about this as well. Her reputation as a
lawyer precedes her,” Peterson added with a glance at Dafoanairi, who was
making a quick exit with the Enigma.
“I
better get going too,” SpiderGirl said.
“Sure,”
Peterson said.
SpiderGirl
opened the window and swung away.
“That
was touch and go,” the Enigma said as they went to the nearby stairs.
“I
agree. It was lucky SpiderGirl came up with that idea. I probably would have
taken longer to think of it,” Dafoanairi said.
“Probably
not too much longer,” the Enigma said as they came up to the stairs.
Brittany
was glad the situation had been resolved. The lights in the Emergency Room had
been turned back on when she saw Quinn enter.
“Quinn
again?” Ashley-Amber asked. “She must be quite concerned.”
“She
is,” Brittany said as she went over.
“I
got them to turn off the lights,” Quinn said quietly. “After I remembered how
dark the basement was, and that Daria and I didn’t have many of the lights on
in the café last night.”
“That
makes sense,” Brittany commented as she twirled a pigtail. ‘I did think that
the basement was a little dark.’
“And
so, Peterson is taking him in after sunset.”
“Well,
that isn’t long.”
Quinn
looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting, that what could be seen
of Lawndale was already in shadow. “True. Anyway, I better get going. Mom is
expecting me to be at home.”
“I’ll
let you know how I go.”
“Thanks.”
At
the same time Linda got home to find Sam waiting for her int the kitchen.
“Sandi is out with Daria Morgendorffer doing something,” he said.
‘Something
must have come up. That’s why the car is there,’ she thought. “It seems that
they are becoming friends, like she is with Harry Osborn.”
“They
said that they were looking for someone.”
Linda
did hear about the situation at the hospital on the way home. “Maybe,” she
said. She was about to say more when she heard the front door open again. She
looked and saw that Sandi and Daria where there.
‘Should
I let Mother know that Sam has been eavesdropping and knows about our powers?’
Sandi wondered as she went over to the kitchen. ‘No, I’ll let her find out
herself.’
“There’s
things we need to tell you,” Daria said. “But not with Sam here.”
“Why
not?” Sam asked.
“Because
of your eavesdropping,” Daria said.
“Sam,
what have I told you about that?” their mother said.
“To
keep my ears to myself,” Sam said in a dour tone.
“Exactly!”
Sandi said.
“Fine,
I’ll go to my room.”
“And
close the door too,” their mother said.
Daria
watched as Sam went up the stairs. She remembered the earlier conversation. ‘He
must have figured it out over time. But what about the younger brother, Chris?’
“Now,
I know something happened at the Hospital, Sandi,” Linda said.
“It
would be better that I explained,” Daria said.
“Oh?”
Mrs. Griffin asked.
“Are
you sure?” Sandi asked.
“Yes,”
Daria answered and started from where she found the poem at her father’s grave.
Linda
listened as Daria explained everything. “And Peterson took this William into
custody?” she asked when Daria had finished.
“Yes.”
“I
rarely encountered such things in Boston.”
“But
you did?” Daria asked.
“Nothing
like what you have described. Just the occasional metahuman villain with powers
hardly worth mentioning, or those who used strange machines they built. But
what I fought most was the Mafia. They had their fingers everywhere, that’s one
reason I came back here.”
“You
haven’t said that,” Sandi murmured.
“I
thought you didn’t need to know. But Oscorp is proving to be unscrupulous,”
Linda said. “This incident just proves that they have been so for some time.
What other skeletons do they have in their closet that are going to affect
Lawndale?”
“That’s
definitely something to think about,” Daria responded. “But for now, I need to
get home.”
“I
don’t doubt that,” Linda said. “And I’m certain that I will see you again
soon.”
At
the same time, Brittany’s results came back.
“Your
bones aren’t broken. It’s just a sprain. But it does mean that you have to take
it easy for a few days. No cheerleading.”
“Oh,”
Brittany commented.
“That’s
good news,” Ashley-Amber said.
“Yes,”
Brittany responded. ‘But no being Ninja Talon for few days either.’
“Don’t
worry, Brit! I’m sure the days will fly by.”
Brittany
wasn’t sure that they would. “Probably not.”
“We
can put a movie on tonight. Something light hearted that can help you take your
mind off things.”
“Sure,”
Brittany said with a slight smile.
SpiderGirl
arrived at her place after a patrol and saw that her mother was home. ‘Of
course,’ she thought. She changed to the usual Quinn in the laneway and entered
through the back door.
“Quinn!
Where have you been?” her mother asked.
“Looking
for Daria. She wasn’t at the Historia or Jane’s.”
“Probably
at the Griffins,” her mother commented with slight annoyance.
“She
has been hanging out with Sandi and Harry at lunch as well as Jane,” Quinn
said.
“Another
way she’s changing.”
They
then heard Lexus pull up and the front door open.
“Here
she is now,” Quinn said.
Daria
went to the kitchen, after hearing what Quinn had just said.
“Where
have you been? That William had been loose, potentially causing trouble after
SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon tried to rescue him.”
“I
heard about it,” Daria said and then told them what happened between Jennifer
telling her and Jane what SpiderGirl had said and her arriving at the Griffin’s
the first time.
“I
see,” Helen said after Daria had finished. “But now we’ll have to follow up on
things.”
“Of
course,” Daria said.
“I’ll
try to reach Officer Peterson.”
