Story [Daria/Spider-Man] Spider Quinn

Spider Quinn
Let’s do this one more time. My name is Quinn Morgendorffer and for the past several years, I have been the one and only SpiderGirl. But let’s start at the beginning…


01 Quinn and the Spider
It was an ordinary day at Lawndale High. Quinn Morgendorffer certainly thought so as she headed to her science class.


“Good morning, Class,” Ms. Janet Barch said. “The field trip is today. I hope you have given your permission slips to the office. This field trip will cover much information on Genetics and Entomology, so be sure to take notes. There will be a test next week. Oscorp is one of the leading companies in biotechnology today. Too bad it’s lead by a MAN!”

Everyone in the class was familiar with Barch’s opinion of men, so they didn’t asks questions about that.

They were soon on their way.

“Have you heard about Brooke’s latest surgery, Quinn?” Sandi Griffin asked.

“I have, Sandi,” Quinn replied. ‘Ew!’ She didn’t want to think about it.

“I haven’t, Sandi,” Stacy Rowe answered.

“Wha-at?” Tiffany Blum-Deckler asked.

Sandi sighed.

“What do you think this field trip is about?” Quinn asked, trying to change the topic. ‘Something about genes?’

Sandi glared at Quinn. “Qui-inn! That is a question I would expect from the mouth of that girl who lives with you!”

“No, she would already know, Sandi!” Quinn pointed out. She didn’t like to be reminded of Daria by Sandi!

Stacy gave a nervous look.

“I give you that, but you don’t need to know, Quinn,” Sandi said.

“I hope we don’t have to wear those ugly safety goggles,” Stacy said. “Ugh!”

“Would those make me look fat?” Tiffany asked.

Quinn sighed.

“Back to Brooke,” Sandi said.

“Let’s not,” Stacy said.

Sandi glared at Stacy.

“Eep!”

“We are talking about Brooke,” Sandi said.

“She’s suddenly so weird,” Tiffany added.

“I wouldn’t know,” Quinn said. “I haven’t seen her around.”

Sandi sighed.


The bus soon arrived at the destination. Ms. Barch supervised the class as they disembarked. “Make a straight line as we wait for our guide.” She grumbled as the thoughts of her ex husband came to her mind yet again. ‘I hope it’s not a male!’

‘How likely is that?’ Quinn wondered.


A guide soon approached. “Welcome to the Oscorp Lawndale Genetics Laboratory,” she said.


Ms. Barch gave a quick smile before they followed her inside.

After going through other rooms, the class entered a room filled with cages containing spiders.

“One project is the addition of genes from multiple species to create a hybrid,” the guide explained.

Quinn noticed that one cage was empty. She wasn’t the only one.

“One of them is missing,” Joey Black said.

“The researchers are probably working on it,” the guide said.


In fact, the spider had escaped! It was spinning a web near one of the air vents. A sudden gust dislodged it from the web!


It fell on Quinn’s shoulder! She noticed it. “Ew!” She tried to brush it off. But it bit her. “Ugh!” She squashed it. She then went pale and her vision went blurry.

“Quinn, are you OK?” Stacy asked.

“Dizzy!” Quinn said, before stumbling.


Sandi saw Quinn stumble after Stacy asked if she was OK. “Ms. Barch! Quinn isn’t feeling well.”

“Wha-at?” Tiffany asked.

Sandi saw that the bite site was swelling.

“What’s wrong?” Ms. Barch asked.

“Quinn’s not well!” Stacy answered.

“There was this spider,” Quinn explained.

Ms. Barch looked at Quinn.

“Class, we’re going back to school.”


Nurse Chase turned to Quinn. “Here’s some antivenom.”
She injected it into Quinn’s arm.

“Good thing, you have it.”

“There are spiders that Pavlov misses. But you still need to go home for the rest of the day.”

“Thanks,” Quinn said.


Helen was home early.
“Mom?” Quinn asked as she came inside.

“I was concerned when I received the call,” Helen responded.

“I’m feeling a little better.”

“Go up to your room and rest.”


Quinn didn’t argue.

Quinn entered her room in a daze. She looked at herself in the mirrors. “Gosh! I look pale!” She flopped onto her bed. She was asleep before she hit the sheets. She began to dream.


In the living room, her father was fretting. “Quinn was bitten by a spider! On no! We should take her to the hospital!”

“Jake! The school nurse gave her antivenom,” his wife, Helen said reassuringly. “She would have sent her to the hospital if she had concerns. We’ll see how she is in the morning.”

“The morning?”

“Yes.”


Quinn’s sister, Daria was in her room, on the phone with her friend Jane Lane. “…. So now, Quinn is recovering in her room,” she said.

“I suppose whatever date she was going on was cancelled,” Jane said.

“No doubt.”

“You’re going to be easy on her?”

“Not a chance,” Daria answered. “She will be back to her usual self tomorrow.”

“Or maybe she’ll be more insufferable.”

“Is there a word for insufferabler?”


Later that night after her parents and Daria had gone asleep, Quinn stirred, but remained asleep. However, she then started sleepwalking. She got out of bed and went downstairs.


She grabbed some food from the fridge and ate it. She headed back upstairs and to bed.


She awoke after sunrise. “I feel better, but something’s weird… What is it?” She went over to her mirrors. Something was off about her appearance. She found that her abdominal muscles are more defined. “What’s going on with me? Is this a nightmare?”

She decided to try to go back to sleep.


She awoke again and looked at the time. “Breakfast!”


She slipped at the top of the stairs. She summersaulted and then landed on her feet. “What just happened?” she asked herself. She wasn’t sure.


Helen was preparing breakfast when Quinn entered the kitchen. “How are you this morning, Quinn?”

“I feel a lot better.”

“We were worried.”

“You mean, Daddy was,” Quinn responded.

“Yes.”

Daria then entered the kitchen. “Oh. You’re up and about,” she said.

“I feel a lot better,” Quinn said again.

“I didn’t expect otherwise,” Daria said.


Quinn met Sandi and Stacy at a door as she arrived at the school. “Are you feeling better, Quinn?”

“I do,” Quinn responded.

Sandi gave a dubious look. “There’s like, a Fashion Club meeting this afternoon.”

“That’s fine,” Quinn responded. “I’m a lot better.”


Sandi gave another dubious look. “Good,” she said.

Later, in between classes, Quinn saw Brooke Peterson approaching.
“I see you were sent home yesterday,” Brooke said.

“So what?” Quinn asked.

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Brooke asked.

“Something,” Quinn murmured.

Brooke then tried to attack Quinn. Some sort of tingle caused Quinn to move out of the way. Brooke tried again, but she missed!

“Uh!” Brooke said. She swung again, hitting another locker. “Stay still!”

Quinn moved out of the way again.

Brooke then leapt at her.

Quinn jumped, quite high, right over Brooke!

Quinn was confused, something was definitely happening to her. She ran.


Quinn ended up on the roof. ‘What is happening to me?’ she wondered. ‘Was it that spider?’

She suddenly realised that she needed to get to class. She grabbed the doorknob. Her hand than somehow stuck to it. “Oh no!” she said as she panicked. The knob then came off in her hand. “Oh no!” Then a web came out of her wrist! “Ew!”

She was shocked and sat down. ‘What has happened to me so far?’ she wondered.

She sorted through the memories from earlier in the day. That her muscles were more defined. That there was some sort of danger sense that allowed her to avoid being hit by Brooke. That she was sticking to things. And that a web had come out of her wrist. She thought more on this before looking at her watch. “Yikes!”


Quinn ran late into History.

“You’re late, Ms. Morgendorffer!” Mr. DeMartino said.

“Sorry, something came up,” Quinn said.

“That’s alright, Ms. Morgendorffer. Just don’t do it again!”


The rest of the day went by without further incidents.

“See you at the meeting,” Sandi said they left the school.


‘I didn’t forget the meeting, Sandi!’ Quinn groused to herself as she walked away from the school.


She headed downtown. ‘This is a good time to test what I can do now.’

She looked at her right wrist. “What can I do with these webs?” She looked at a nearby building and remembered seeing a spider spinning it’s web.

“Right!”

She produced a web but it didn’t get far.

“Again!” she said with determination.

The second web came out faster and hit somewhere higher on the building.

She then jumped high, but came down on the ground.

‘I’ll try again.’

She ran and shot a web. This time she swung up at an angle. But she still slammed into a wall.

“Ugh!” she said as she fell down the wall. But not far. She found she was sticking to it. “Oh!”
‘I’m sticking to the wall! Can I climb down? Or up?”

She moved down the wall to the ground. “Even more like a spider! Ew! But can I climb up?”

She then climbed up.

She got to the eave. “Time to try swinging again,” she said as she looked at it. She produced webbing again, and swung.


This time she ended up on the roof. “That worked!”

She walked to the edge of the roof, and shot another web.

Soon she was going from rooftop to rooftop through Lawndale’s downtown. But she soon came to the edge of the downtown, where it and the suburbia met. ‘This is going to be more difficult,’ she thought as she looked over the sprawl towards home.

She swung to the ground.


As she went towards home, she wondered if she could swing from trees. There was only one way to find out.

She shot out webbing and it connected to a branch. She smiled and swung. She found that it worked, but not as well as in the built up area.


Ten minutes later, she swung up onto the roof of her house. She looked back in the direction she had just come. ‘I wonder what the future has in store.’

 

02 With Great Power
Sandi Griffin was annoyed. Quinn was late to the Fashion Club meeting! Quinn then entered the house, breathing heavily. “You’re ten minutes late!”

“Sorry, something came up!”


“Meeting starts: 415,” Stacy said.


It was a usual Fashion Club meeting.
“Meeting concludes: 4:55,” Stacy said.


Stacy met Quinn downstairs. “Are you fine?” she asked with concern.

“Yes,” Quinn answered.

“You seem different.”

“I’m not any different. Same old Quinn.”

Stacy was uncertain. As Quinn left the house, she reflected on Quinn eating more than usual at Lunch.


Quinn closed the door and left the porch before looking around. ‘No one,’ she thought, before producing webbing and swinging up onto the Griffin’s roof. She noted that her stance was improving.


As she swung away from the Griffin’s place through the trees towards home, she thought on what her friends’ reactions to her new powers would be. ‘I don’t think telling Stacy would be a good idea. She would panic. Sandi would at least tell her mother, if not the entire school. Tiffany wouldn’t understand.’


Upon arriving at home and entering through one of her windows, Quinn looked in one of her mirrors. ‘What else can I use these powers for?’ she wondered.


The next day, Lawndale awoke to find that winter had come early, for there was significant snow on the ground. (But not significant enough for a ‘snow day’ school closure.)

“There’s something up with Quinn,” Daria said to Jane as they headed towards school.

“That isn’t news,” Jane responded.

“I mean it, Jane. Something is up with her. Something new.”

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

“It’s a hunch,” Daria admitted.


Meanwhile, Quinn and Jake were having breakfast. Quinn was looking at the large amount of food on her plate as she started eating. ‘I suppose all that webbing has to come from somewhere.’ She thought about the swinging. ‘And I’m getting a lot of exercise.’

“I haven’t seen you eat so much, Quinn,” Jake said.

“Maybe my appetite has improved,” Quinn responded.


Jake wasn’t sure.


“Gotta go!” Quinn said as she left the house. She saw that her father was still in thought.


As she swung towards school, she found that the snow made it more difficult.


She arrived on the school roof just before the bell rung. “Just in time.”


At lunch time, Sandi noticed that Quinn was again eating a lot. “Gee, Quinn, a little hungry are you?”

Quinn glared back before saying; “I’m exercising a little more. That’s why my appetite is bigger.”

Sandi noticed Stacy giving a dubious look.


After school, Quinn was again on the roof. “What am I becoming? What would happen if others found out? I need some way to hide myself as I swing using the webs.”


Jane saw Quinn where she didn’t expect to see her, in a stationary supplies store. “What is she up to?” she wondered as she saw her buy a sketchbook. Was it something to do with Daria’s hunch from that morning?


As Quinn left the Mall, she heard a car radio say that there was a snowstorm approaching Lawndale. ‘I have to hurry,’ she thought.


Daria heard a sound from her room. She went and closed her door. ‘It’s not my business,’ she thought.


Quinn closed her window, to stop the snow coming in. She then opened the sketchbook and started work.

By the time she had finished her first sketch the storm had started. She looked out and saw that her father had just got home. ‘I’ll get the fabric tomorrow,’ she decided.


At dinner, both Daria and Helen noticed that Quinn was eating as much as the previous night.


Quinn buys a large amount of fabric after school the next day.

It would take her two evenings to complete the first version of the costume. She tries it on experimentally. ‘I know it needs more work, but it will do for now,’ she thought.

“A snowstorm warning has been announced for Lawndale and Oakwood.”


“I can get back in time,” Quinn said, looking at the clouds approaching the town. She then swung off the house towards downtown.


However, as she got caught in the snowstorm, Quinn realised that her powers didn’t work as well in the cold. “Great!”

She had to walk home, and got home late.


The next evening, she opened the sketchbook again. “I need more layers,” she said.


That night, Joey rang the Morgendorffers’ doorbell. He wanted to know if Quinn wanted to go on a date with him.

Her father opened the door. “Quinn! Your date is here!”

“Actually, Actually, I was asking Quinn if she would like a date,” Joey said.


Quinn came down the stairs, after hearing her father call out. She realised that she hadn’t been on a date since before the bite. “I’ll come, Joey!”

“Cool!” Joey said.


They went to one of the smaller restaurants. Joey didn’t notice that Quinn had ordered a large meal until hers came.

“Quinn, you’re going to eat all of that?” Joey asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered.

“You usually eat less.”

“I’ve found that I have a bigger appetite since what happened,” Quinn explained.

“Oh,”

“Like, something might have changed. Or I just want more. I’,m not sure.”

“It’s fine. I was just curious.”

The rest of the date went well.


The next day, at lunch, Joey decided to tell Jeffy and Jamie about the date.

“How did it go?” Jeffy asked.

“It was the usual kind of date,” Joey answered.

“There’s something else,” Jamie said.

“She had a larger meal than usual, that’s all,” Joey responded.

“Oh,” Jamie said.

“So, she is better, after that Spider bite?” Jeffy asked.

“I think so,” Joey said.

“I’m still worried,” Jamie said.

“Then you can ask her on a date,” Jeffy said.

“I shall,” Jamie decided.


Jake Morgendorffer answered the door for the second night in a row. “Quinn! Your date is here!”

Quinn came downstairs. “Again?” she asked.

“As usual, I’m sure,” Jake said as he opened the door.

“Jamie?” Quinn asked.

“Hi, Quinn,” Jamie said. “You want to come out somewhere?”

“Of course,” Quinn said.


Quinn and Jamie went to a different restaurant than she went with Joey the previous night.
Once again it happened after their meals arrived.
“You’re eating more than usual,” Jamie said.

“Am I?” Quinn asked.

“Yes.”

“Joey said the same thing.”

“I’m concerned, Quinn,” Jamie said.

“I’m fine.”

Jamie then looked like he didn’t believe her.


The rest of the date went as usual.

When she got home, Quinn put the finishing touches on the costume. She looked at the clock. “10:13. It’s not too late.” She then put it on, and left via the side window.


As she swung through an older part of Lawndale, Quinn wondered what exactly she was going to use her powers for. ‘Like, I’m not sure.’ She then went down to the street level and saw some fliers. “What’s this?”

Lawndale Ultimate Wrestling.
Winner takes home $1000!

“I suppose that is one thing,”

There was more information on the reverse side, so she decided to take it home and read it.


The next day, she swung to the address listed on the flyer.

She decided to not take the costume off. She didn’t want anyone to find out it was her.


“Name?” the woman behind the counter asked.

Quinn saw that she was goth, wearing all black and pigtails. She found that it worked. “Amazing GirlSpider.”

“GirlSpider? Doesn’t sound that amazing.”

“I guess not,” Quinn responded. “SpiderGirl then.”

“SpiderGirl,” the goth responded and wrote it down without a space.

“You get a lot of costumed people?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Yes. Mostly luchadores, or those who are imitating such.”

“Right.”


Quinn then then headed home again. But she found that the webs didn’t work as well in the heavy snow. Then there was a strong reaction from her Spider Sense! ‘Uh oh!’

She changed direction. But a few minutes later, there was a gunshot. She saw a strip mall in the distance. She could lose them there.


After arriving at the strip mall and running amongst the people there, she lost the assailant.

She then headed home.

“Who was that?” she wondered after closing her window.

She wanted to prepare for the wrestling match, not whoever wanted to shoot a mysterious figure swinging through trees. “Maybe I’ll make the costume brighter.”


Over the next week, Quinn prepared for the wrestling match, although she did look out for the mysterious assailant.

Others were still concerned for her regarding her increased appetite…

She does do well enough in the Genetics test.


“Quinn!” her father called as she went to the door.

“Yes, Daddy?”

“We need to talk.”

“I have a date.”

“We haven’t really talked since you got sent home after that field trip.”

“Really?”

“So, I’ll take you to wherever the date is.”

“Chez Pierre,” Quinn responded. It was close to where she was going.


“I know things are changing for you,” her father said after they had turned off Glen Oaks Lane.

“Not this again! Mom told me!”

“Not the birds and the bees. Something else.”

“I see,” Quinn said.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you.”

Quinn looked away. He was as clueless as ever! But she did hear what he said next.

“With great power, comes great responsibility.”


As she walked from Chez Pierre towards the wrestling arena, her father’s words were on her mind. What did they mean. However, she then focused on winning the prize money.


“And now, the Wimp Crusher against the Amazing SpiderGirl!”

The Amazing SpiderGirl had prepared. She had used the basement to practice when she was sure no one else was home. There was some damage down there, but nothing she couldn’t get any boys to fix. She had also had done ballet and gymnastics when she was younger, along with other physical culture practice, including aerobics. She had also started yoga classes with the Fashion Club. As such she was quite flexible and nimble. Certainly a lot more adept at moving about than the quite large so-called ‘Wimp Crusher.’

As such the audience was treated to something that was more like a chaotic dance production than the straight up crush-fest that they were used to. It helped that the Amazing SpiderGirl seemingly had a lot more energy than her opponent, who was tiring after each failed attempt at nailing her to the floor.

Thus the girl won, hardly getting a hit on her, due to the Spider Sense giving prewarning. Her hits on the opponent went to places where she knew pressure points were, thus avoiding any need for physical wrangling.

“Winner is ‘The Amazing SpiderGirl!’


She collected her cash. But shortly afterwards someone held up the cashier.


“Hey! SpiderGirl Help!”

“Not my problem! Got to go!” SpiderGirl said before leaving. But she did catch more than a glimpse of the assailant.


She arrived back at Chez Pierre and waited. However, after more than half an hour of waiting, her father still wasn’t there.

Suddenly her improved hearing picked up the sounds of police sirens nearby. She felt weird, as if the Spider Sense was acting up. She decided to go and investigate.

She turned a corner and her heart started beating rapidly. For she saw a familiar Lexus pulled over at the side of the road, surrounded in Police tape. She ran forwards.


Officer Xanthe Peterson saw the redhead approaching. “Woah, girl! This is a crime scene! Someone’s been shot!”

“Shot?”

“There was an attempted car jacking, and the driver was shot before the assailant ran off.”

“That’s my father’s car!” the girl cried.

“Father? Your last name’s Morgendorffer?”

“Quinn Morgendorffer.”

“Accompany me,” Peterson said as an ambulance pulled up.


The female officer lead Quinn up to the car, where her father was lying next to it on the road. “Daddy!” she cried.

Her father stirred. “Quinn!”

“Daddy!” Quinn said, crying more.

“Remember, With great power… great responsibility.” He then became still. Too still. The paramedics moved in.


The next few minutes would be blurred in Quinn’s memory. The paramedics tried their best, but…

Quinn ran from the scene after Peterson gave her the dreadful news.

Jake Morgendorffer was dead.

 

Such a fun tale, with Spidey!Quinn's initiation into Spidering, then the wrestling ... and now, this sadness.

 

03 Comes Great Responsibility Part 1
After running some distance into fog, Quinn took to the rooftops and trees, and swung aimlessly around Lawndale.


Peterson arrived at the Morgendorffer’s place at 1111 Glen Oaks Lane. She dreaded notifying the next of kin. She had tried to follow the daughter, but she had disappeared into the fog. ‘One thing at a time though.’

She rang the doorbell, and a middle aged woman bearing a significant resemblance to the aforementioned teenager answered it. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Helen Morgendorffer?” Peterson asked in a grave tone.

“What’s wrong?” Helen asked in concern.

“It is your husband. I’m afraid, he was shot earlier this evening.” Peterson paused before adding. “He… passed away at the scene.”

Helen was quiet, for a moment before calling out “DARIA!”


Daria was reading when she heard her mother call out suddenly in a panicked tone. The book fell to the floor as she dashed out.

She came down the stairs to find her mother crying. “Daria?” the police officer asked.

“I am she.”

“I’m afraid that your father is dead.”

“Dead?” she asked, her heart beating fast.

“There was an attempted carjacking. The assailant is still loose,” the officer answered. She turned to her mother. “There is something else; your other daughter, Quinn, came upon the scene and was present when her father passed. Then she ran off into the night.”

“You didn’t stop her?” her mother asked.

“There was fog. We are looking for her, as well as the assailant.”

“I will come to the Morgue to identify him,” her mother said. “Then I will look for my other daughter with you.”

“Understood.”

“Daria, stay here and call me when Quinn comes home.”

Daria nodded. The shock was setting in.


And so, Helen left with Officer Peterson while Daria tried to absorb what she had just found out.


Quinn arrived at home as her mother left with the police. She waited for the police car to drive off before swinging down to the kitchen door.


Daria heard the door in the kitchen open. She walked there and found Quinn, rather sad.

“Oh, Daria!” Quinn said, with obvious pain in her voice. She ran forwards and hugged Daria. They remained there for some time.


Helen and Xanthe walked into the morgue. The coroner pulled back the cover and saw that her husband was indeed, dead. “Oh, Jakey! What happened?” she said as she sobbed. She wiped her eyes, and steeled herself. “I need to be at home, with my daughters.”

“I’ll take you back. Maybe Quinn is back now.”

“I hope so! I don’t want to lose her too.”


When Helen got home her daughters were both sitting in the lounge room. Quinn ran to her mother. “Mom!” she said before breaking down and crying again.

“Quinn! What happened?”

“He was already shot! But it’s my fault.”

“How is it your fault, Quinn?”

“If I didn’t accept a ride, he wouldn’t have been there!”

Helen knew that she was holding something back, but didn’t want to press.

“I’ll go now,” Peterson said.

Helen turned and nodded.


The Morgendorffers would then go and prepare for bed, but their grieving had just begun.

“Janie! Daria is on the phone, it sounds like she’s upset,” Trent said.

“That doesn’t sound like Daria,” Jane said.

“Still, it’s Daria.”

“Right.”


“Daria?”

“My father is dead. He was shot earlier this evening,”

Jane could tell that her friend was telling the truth. “Shot, in Lawndale? I will be over soon.”

“You can come over in the morning. We’re rather shook up here. Quinn especially. It seems that he had driven her to a date.”

“I’ll be there in the morning.”

“That would be best.”


Quinn tried to go to sleep, but found that she couldn’t.


Helen received a call from her boss, Eric.

“I’m sorry, but I have received terrible news! Jake has been shot!”

“Oh!” Eric said.

“He’s gone, so I don’t have it in me right now.”

“Right. Tomorrow I will sign the poperwork for bereavement leave.”

“Thanks.”


She too didn’t get to sleep that night.


Lawndale Sun Herald
Monday November 5, 2000
Deadly Attempted Carjacking Downtown
There was a deadly attempted carjacking last night on Fifth Street.
…


The next morning, a rugged up and highly caffeinated Jane, rang the Morgendorffers’ doorbell. She wanted to support Daria in her time of grief.

Helen answered the door. “Jane! Thanks for coming over. I’m sure Daria needs the company.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Jane said. “But what about you?”

“I’m on bereavement leave,” Helen said as Jane entered.

“But your friends?”

“Those who live near Lawndale will be visiting.”

“None in Lawndale?” Jane asked.

“I haven’t had time?” Helen answered with regret. “And my sisters will be here for the funeral.”

“I see,” Jane said as she went up the stairs.

 

Part 2
Jane knocked on Daria’s door.

“Come in,” Daria said.

Jane entered and saw that her friend was still in her PJs and reading a book on her bed. “Daria?”

Daria got up and went and hugged Jane, Jane was surprised, and then hugged back.


They then both sat on the bed. “I don’t know what to say,” Jane said.

“That you’re here is enough,” Daria said. “It was so sudden. Like, he wasn’t the best father in the world, but he was my father. If only I had spent more time with him. I’m going to miss his cluelessness. The time spent reading the paper together and just him being there. What I’m not going to miss is his rants about his own father.”

Jane shrugged. “At least he was here. Not like mine, who only comes to Lawndale very infrequently.”

“True,” Daria said. She paused and breathed deeply, “I’m more concerned about Quinn, than myself or my mother.”

“How so?” Jane asked.

“She blames herself. Dad had gone to pick her up from a date.”

“I see.”

Daria was then silent for a while.


“Stacy!” Stacy’s mother said as she came into the room.

“Mom?” Stacy asked after seeing the serious look on her mother’s face.

“Something terrible has happened. Quinn’s father was the victim of last nights shooting.”

“Oh no!” Stacy said, her eyes full of tears.

“That was her mother on the phone. Quinn is blaming herself. She needs her friends.”

“Of course,” Stacy said. “I’ll go there now!”


While Stacy headed to the Morgendorffer’s, a similar conversation was happening at the Griffin’s.

“I’ll go now,” Sandi said.

“Very good, Sandi. Help Quinn.”

As she left the room, Linda realised that she didn’t know what she would do if she lost Tom.


Stacy rang the doorbell, and Helen answered the door. “Oh, thank you, Stacy. I’m quite beside myself about her. As if losing Jakey wasn’t enough.”

“I’ll go right up.”


Quinn heard the knocking on the door. “Go away!” she said, barely lifting her head from the sheets.

“Quinn! It’s Stacy!” her friend’s concerned voice said.

Quinn rushed to the door.

“Oh sorry, Stacy. I thought it was Mom or Daria!”

“It was your Mom who called me,” Stacy said as she sat on a chair and closed the door.

“But it was my fault, Stacy!” Quinn said. “If I had talked to him more after that spider bite, he wouldn’t have wanted to drive me last night!”

“Quinn, you’re not at fault. It was that guy who is at fault!” Stacy said.

“That’s what Daria said,” Quinn said quietly.

“I’m here now. You can talk to me. I’ll try to keep it together, for you.’

“Thanks, Stacy,” Quinn said, as she started crying again.

There was another knock at the door.

“Who’s that?” Quinn asked.

“Sandi,” came the answer.

“Let her in,” Quinn said.

“Are you sure?” Stacy whispered.

Quinn nodded.


Stacy opened the door. She saw that Sandi didn’t have her usual haughty look about her.

“I’m here for Quinn,” Sandi said sincerely.

“Come in,” Stacy said. “I think she needs both of us.”

“I’m sorry to hear about what happened,” Sandi said as she entered.

“Thanks,” Quinn said.


They were quiet for a while. Tiffany didn’t come, because Helen had forgotten her in her own grief.


After Sandi had gone up to Quinn’s room, Helen called her older sister, Rita.

Rita was shocked to hear that Jake had died. “I’ll get to Lawndale as soon as possible,” she said.

“Just let me tell Mother,” Helen said.

“Of course,” Rita said.

“I’ll hold you to that.”


After calling Rita, Helen called her other sister, Amy.

“I’m afraid that I can’t get to Lawndale until later this week,” Amy said. “Otherwise I would have been there today.”

“That’s alright,” Helen said.

“It will take that long to organise replacements for my lectures.”

“At least Eric was understanding.”

“How so?” Amy asked.

“He offered bereavement leave right away.”

“He probably knows that you wouldn’t be at your best right now.”

“True,” Helen considered.


Jane was watching Daria write something on her computer when Helen entered and held out the cordless phone. “Aunt Amy would like to talk to you,” she said.

“Sure,” Daria said as she took the phone.


“How are you holding up?” Amy asked her favorite niece.

“I’m still shocked.”

“Understandable. It took until the funeral to accept it when my father passed.”

“But I’m sure that you were well into adulthood,” Daria said.

“That’s true, but I don’t think one’s age matters, a sudden death still hits hard.”

 

Part 3
As Amy and Daria talked, Helen talked to her mother.

“Do you know what happened?” Theresa Barksdale asked.

“Just that there was an attempted carjacking.”

“It seems Lawndale is not as safe as you thought it was.”

“Oh no! It was more likely to happen in Highland, than here. It can happen in any town. Our moving to Lawndale is not responsible,” Helen answered.

“According to the latest news, the crime rate is increasing.”

“Where are you getting that information?”

“I have been getting the Sun Herald delivered,” Theresa answered.

“I see.”

“Anyway, I can tell you that it does get easier, with time…”


And so, the day continued, with each survivor of the Lawndale Morgendorffers unloading in a healthy or not so healthy way.

Helen continued taking and making calls, reflecting on how Jake helped her not feel lonely in College and later on, in the Commune.

“…That sounds right,” Willow Yeager considered. “You two completed each other, and now you’re bereft. But you don’t have to be alone. You can always call Coyote and I.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Helen responded.


Daria and Jane hung out together, much as they usually did. Daria told Jane of the good times, she and her father had when she was younger, although she considered them to be few and far between.

“I don’t think they were,” Jane said as she looked at the afternoon shadows in the backyard. “But then, my experience is atypical.”

Daria nodded. “Still, knowing that is all that there will be, does make me sad.”

Jane nodded. “Still, I’ll need to be going. Ms. Li allowed me to skip school today, but I don’t know about tomorrow.”

“True.”


However, Quinn was still taking it quite hard, no matter what Stacy and Sandi were saying, or not saying. As they got ready to go, they knew that Quinn was going to continue taking it hard.


The next day, Daria was back at school, but Quinn wasn’t.

“…And that’s why Quinn isn’t in today,” Helen said.

“I see, Mrs. Morgendorffer. However, I expect her to be back as soon as possible.”

“She’ll be back when I think she’s ready.”


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Thursday November 8, 2000
Obituaries
Jacob Elias Morgendorffer
June 23, 1952 – November 4, 2000
Husband of Helen, Father of Daria and Quinn, Daughter of Ruth.


The Funeral was held on a snowy Tuesday.

The Morgendorffers weren’t religious in any way, although they were New Age during their Commune days. However, there was tradition. Jake’s mother, Ruth was still a regular Episcopalian parishioner. Therefore, the funeral was held at the local Episcopalian parish, St. Andrews.

Helen, Daria and Quinn arrived at the church and met Ruth and Jake’s sister Deborah. Theresa, Amy, Rita and Rita’s daughter Erin arrived shortly afterwards. There were a few others who had known Jake in Lawndale and elsewhere, but that was it.


After a hymn it was time for the Eulogies.

Helen was first.

“Jake was my partner. He was the father of my daughters. He was there for me no matter how hard it got during Law School…”

Then it was Ruth, followed by Daria.

But it was Quinn’s Eulogy that was the most hard hitting, as she poured out her raw emotion.

“…I will not forget the last words he said. For With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.”


After the funeral, Quinn knew that she had to do something. But she wasn’t sure. Her mother and Daria were going on with their lives, but she wasn’t sure. She opened her closet and laid her eyes on the SpiderGirl costume she had used that night. “With great power comes great responsibility,” she repeated to herself. She then produced some webbing and drew it out of the closet. “I know what I have to do!”


The next day, Helen brought breakfast to Quinn. “Are you going to school today?” she asked.

“Not today,” Quinn answered. “But maybe on Friday.”

“I see,” Helen said.


With her mother gone, Quinn re-opened her sketchbook and continued redesigning the suit. She came up with a skin-tight version, with polarised lenses. She had many old sunglasses she could use for that last item. She spent the morning making it.

However, there was a problem, her hair came out the bottom of it, even when tied back in two low buns. The rest of the suit worked well. Nothing showed that she didn’t want to show. She took the mask off. ‘Maybe the hair could come out as a ponytail, pigtails, or a bun?’ she wondered. She spent a while making another mask, to allow the hair to come through as either a ponytail or pigtails.

Another problem. She was sure that there weren’t too many redheads in Lawndale. “So, what is the average hair color and length at Lawndale High?” she asked after taking the mask off again. She grabbed her yearbook and started going through it.


“A light brown,” Quinn considered, in the mid afternoon, after her mother had brought her lunch. She wrote that in her sketchbook. “And shorter. I can live with that.” If she didn’t like it, she could re-grow it, and use a temporary dye. She quickly sketched a picture of herself with light brown hair, slightly shorter than Daria’s.
“Right. I’ll see if I can get an appointment at a salon tomorrow.”


And so, she left her room and went down to the kitchen to look in the telephone directory, as she wanted to use a different salon than the one she had used since she arrived in Lawndale.


“Quinn?” Helen asked when her younger daughter got off the phone.

“I want to try something new,” Quinn answered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I just don’t want you acting rash at a difficult time.”

“I know.”


The next day, Quinn was nervous, but she also wanted it over with.

“So, you want like that?” the hairdresser asked, showing a magazine article.

“Yes. That shade of brown is cute, and not too similar to either of my friends’ shades,” Quinn answered. She didn’t want to be too similar to either Sandi or Stacy, given that the former would be even more of a rival and the latter would be even more panicky.”

“And you’re sure you want to go that short?”

“Yes!”


An hour later, Quinn walked out of the salon slightly refreshed. She knew the shorter hair would take some getting used to, but she had liked what she saw in the mirror. She headed straight home.


Daria was back from school by the time Quinn got home. Quinn entered and Daria thought for a brief moment that she was looking at a popular version of herself. Only the lack of glasses and their clothes really distinguished them from each other. “Oh!” she said.

“Is that all you can say?” Quinn asked.

“Not really. Just that you look more like me,” Daria said quietly.

“Not really, your hair is auburn,” Quinn responded. She ran her hand through her hair. “This is light brown.”

“There’s not much difference,” Daria shot back. She then went up the stairs with her afternoon snacks.

Quinn sighed. With her father gone, she wanted to at least get on better with Daria. She wasn’t sure when she first came to that realisation. She then headed up to her room.


Having put her suit on again, she put her hair up in pigtails. ‘Not too similar to Brittany,’ she thought. That was one reason why she didn’t go blonde, she supposed. She then put the mask on. ‘Perfect,’ she thought as she looked in the mirrors. The black and red of the suit, along with the barely shoulder length light brown pigtails looked very stylish. She looked outside. It was getting late and the sun was beginning to set. ‘Time to start,’ she thought. She opened the side window and then swung up on to the roof.

She looked out over Lawndale towards downtown and then set out to fight crime. She gave a yell as she jumped off the house from above her mother’s bedroom and swung away.


Officer Xanthe Peterson came to the scene, where a suspect was stuck in some kind of web. That was something she was unfamiliar with. She also saw a piece of paper attached. On it, in stylised writing was written; Courtesy of your Friendly Neighborhood SpiderGirl.

There was a sound above as of a thwip! She looked up and saw an obviously feminine figure wearing a concealing suit swinging away into the distance.

 

04 SpiderGirl’s Debut
Lawndale Sun-Herald
Friday November 16, 2000
Mysterious vigilante ‘SpiderGirl’
…. “I only saw her for about a second. All I can be confident of, is that it is indeed a female,” Stated Officer Xanthe Peterson…

Having, read the article, Quinn Morgendorffer left the café. She smiled. The various criminals had been put on notice, in a way. She looked at the time on the court house clock tower in the distance. There was half an hour before Homeroom would start. More than enough time to look over a couple of streets before heading to school. She ducked into a vacant alley, and quickly pulled her mask on and swung up onto a roof where she pulled off the clothes she had worn into the café.


SpiderGirl was seen once or twice that morning.


Arriving at school and having stashed her suit in her bag, Quinn overheard various students talking about the newspaper article.


Her friends met her

“What do you think about it?” Sandi asked.

“What do you mean?” Quinn asked.

“It’s in all of the news,” Sandi said.

“Like, the police are overwhelmed with all the new crime,” Quinn said. “Besides, the person who killed my father is still out there! If she can catch him, that would be good.”

“What do you mean, catch?” Sandi asked.

“I mean, so that the police can charge and then he goes to court and then to jail, duh!” Quinn responded, her voice rising. She then looked around and saw that a crowd had gathered. “Move along. I’m fine.”

“And we need to talk about your hair!”

“I needed a change.”

“There will be an emergency Fashion Club meeting this afternoon.”

“Fine!” Quinn said as the bell rang.

“Wait!”


Quinn knew that Sandi would react that way, as such she had thought about what she would say. But first she needed to find a place within the school that she could use as a base away from home without raising suspicions.


First was the roof space, which she checked at Lunch after taking her food from the cafeteria. However, she found Daria and Jane talking somewhere nearby. “Oh!” she said.

“Quinn?” Jane asked with curiosity.

Quinn came over to them. “Oh, sorry if I interrupted something.”

“Oh, you didn’t,” Jane responded.

“We were talking about SpiderGirl,” Daria said.

“Everyone is,” Quinn said, with a shrug.

“All that I’m sure of, is that she is someone that doesn’t have a strong hold of grammar,” Daria said, with her usual flat tone.

“How do you figure?” Quinn said.

“There is no space in the name. Its run together,” Daria said.

“Or maybe it just adds to the mystery,” Quinn said with a giggle.

“I suppose it does,” Daria said.

“And maybe crime would go down,” Quinn added.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Daria said with her usual tone. “She would have her own agenda.”

Quinn was then silent.

“And what’s with the hair?” Jane asked.

Quinn wasn’t annoyed, she knew Jane would ask. “I felt like a change,” she said. “Although, I’ll have to come up with more than that for Sandi.”

“Daria doesn’t like it,” Jane said.

“So what?” Quinn asked. “She can change things too, if she wants.”


Jane thought about Quinn’s response. The change from quite long red hair that she almost always wore down, to shoulder length light brown hair that she was wearing in pigtails certainly seemed drastic. But then she didn’t know how she would react if she lost either of her parents.

“Why are you up here?” Daria asked.

“I was coming up here to reflect on things, where my friends wouldn’t find me,” Quinn responded. “I guess I’ll have to find somewhere else in the school.”

“There are many places students don’t usually go,” Daria said, “Or aren’t allowed to. But are you sure about that?”

“If I want to talk I will. Sometimes to you,” Quinn said before turning back to the door.


Quinn breathed a sigh of relief as she went down. She wondered how long it would take to search the school.


Indeed, it didn’t take that long at all. She found a disused store room in the science block.


Remembering the Emergency Fashion Club Meeting, Quinn left the school immediately upon the end of the last class. She headed straight to the Griffin’s wanting to be there before Sandi got home.


Sandi was surprised to see Quinn already at her house. “Gee, Quinn, did you get a boy to break the speed limit?”

“Probably,” Quinn said, tossing one of her pigtails.

“I see,” Sandi said. “Stacy and Tiffany won’t be here for another ten minutes.”


Stacy arrived there next. “Why did you call this meeting?” she asked as she entered Sandi’s room. “I didn’t wear that silly clip. And I don’t admire the description of SpiderGirl’s costume.”

“Stacy! We’re not talking about the clip, nor about the new vigilante. But about Quinn changing her look.”

“Quinn looks fine.”

“Thanks, Stacy,” Quinn said.

“I’ll explain once Tiffany gets here,” Sandi said.

Quinn sighed.


Tiffany was tardy, but not by much.

“Why are we meeting to-day?” she asked as she entered the room.

“Quinn,” Sandi answered.

“Oh,” Tiffany said.


“Meeting start at 3:43,” Stacy said.

“Now, I’m sure you’ve noticed that Quinn has cut and died her hair,” Sandi said.

“So, what, Sandi?” Stacy asked.

“Haven’t you noticed that her shade is similar to both yours and mine?” Sandi asked,

“Not really,” Stacy said. “It is lighter. No one would confuse her for either of us.”

“And the length is similar.”

“So, what?” Quinn asked. “My style is different to yours and Stacy’s.”

“Hmh!” Sandi said. “I move to censure Quinn for not notifying us of such a drastic change.”

“I’m sure you would want to make a change after losing a family member,” Quinn said sadly.

“Be it as it may. I still move to censure you,” Sandi said. She looked at the other two. “All in favor?” She raised her hand.

Neither Stacy, nor Tiffany raised theirs.

“Not carried,” the former said.

“What?”

“You’re going to far,” Stacy said. “Remember that Morgendorffer…”

“I know he died!”

“This is a farce, Sandi! I’m leaving!” Quinn decided.


“Wait!” Sandi said as she realised that she made a big mistake.

“Do you apologise?” Quinn asked.

“Yes. Stacy, remove the censure motion from the minutes.”

“Done!”

“Good,” Quinn said, with a low tone. ‘But I’m still leaving now.”


“So am I,” Stacy said after Quinn had gone.

“As you wish!” Sandi said with annoyance.


Quinn exited the Griffin’s house into the backyard, as she was certain that the others wouldn’t expect her to go that way. Even so, she double checked to make sure that they weren’t looking before webswinging up to the roof. There, she quickly changed into her suit before leaving on her patrol of the area. It would give her time to think about what Sandi had tried to do.


Stacy exited the house into the front yard. She didn’t see Quinn anywhere. “Quinn!” she called out.

She then saw SpiderGirl swing across the street. “SpiderGirl!” she called, but the vigilante didn’t hear.

She went to the street and looked around for Quinn. It seemed that she had disappeared. ‘I guess I’ll have to go home alone,’ she thought.


Having left the Griffin’s, SpiderGirl headed downtown.

She found herself going along Dega Street. Suddenly she saw something in an alley. Someone was getting mugged. She quickly moved into action, disarming the mugger, and then webbing him up. She then came down in front of the would-be victim.

“Thanks,” the young lady said, warily. “Who are you?”

“Your friendly neighborhood SpiderGirl!”

“Oh, you’re the one they’ve been talking about?”

“Yes, but we better get going, this isn’t a safe place,” SpiderGirl said.

“Of course. I was taking a shortcut. It hasn’t happened before,” the lady said as she started walking out of the alley.

“Crime has been increasing in Lawndale,” SpiderGirl said.

“Like that recent murder…”

“Yes!” SpiderGirl said harshly. “And it remains unsolved.” They then came out into the street. “You should be safe now. Gotta go!” She then swung away.


Helen was on her way home when a report came on the radio. “SpiderGirl has been sighted again this afternoon near Dega Street.”

Helen wasn’t sure what to think of such a vigilante. Crime was increasing in Lawndale, but it wasn’t yet anywhere near the prevalence it had in Highland. ‘Superheroes. What next, actual magic?’ she wondered.


Daria was in the kitchen when Helen entered. “How was today?” she asked.

“The usual,” Daria responded. “Quinn’s still keeping to herself though.”

“How do you figure that.”

“She was looking for somewhere to be alone on the school grounds.”

“I see,” Helen said.

“Jane and I also talked about that new vigilante.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on there.”

“Like, is a vigilante a good thing?” Daria asked rhetorically. “I don’t think so.”

Helen nodded. She knew that things in Lawndale were going to get more ‘interesting’, in a Chinese sense.


Unknown to her mother and sister, Quinn had overheard the conversation, while was she waiting in the lounge room. ‘I have to do something,’ she thought. ‘Great Power and Great Responsibility and all.’ Still, it wasn’t like there would be anyone with other kinds of powers to interfere. She then entered the kitchen.

“How was school?” her mother asked.

“It was fine,” Quinn responded. “Although Sandi doesn’t like my hair.”

“I see. Is that all?”

“Yes. Stacy doesn’t mind it. I also have some catch up homework. It won’t be like that essay last year.”

“Good.”


Quinn grabbed some snacks before heading up to her room. She wanted to get some of that homework started before going on another evening patrol.


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Saturday November 17, 2000
SpiderGirl sighted again.

 

05 The Trip to Freemont Part 1
Jane looked at the card Daria held out. “Wow. Licensed to drive. The grotesque picture makes it official.”

“Thanks,” Daria said.

“So now that you're in the government's master computer for the rest of your life, let's celebrate,” Jane said.


Inside, Jane took some cake out of the freezer. “Tada!”

“It looks kind of old,” Daria commented.

“Yeah, well, I baked it way back when you took the test the first time,” Jane explained.

“You baked this?”

“Baked, bought. Let's not ruin the moment with a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo.”

Then Mystik Spiral arrived.

“Cake,” Trent said.

“Cool,” Jesse said.

“It’s for Daria,” Jane explained.

“He can have some. I mean, they can have some,” Daria said.

“What’s up, Birthday?” Trent asked.

“She got her license,” Jane explained.

“Whoa! This thing is really hard and cold. You think it's frozen?”

“Could be, Nick, could be. It just might have to thaw out.”

“I’ll wait,” Jesse said.

“No, you won't. We can't hang around, man. We've got a world tour! World tour!” Max Tyler said.

“Then we'd better find a hammer. Come on, Nick,” Jesse said, before leaving.

“Let 'em go,” Daria said. “They'll give it a good home. What world tour?”

“We got a gig in Freemont, 100 miles away,” Trent answered.

“It’s a small world after all,” Daria commented

“If I could talk to the animals. Anyway, I told you about that, remember? I'm the road management coordinator?”

“You mean we're paying you 20 bucks to drive us.”

“Let's not cloud the horizon with a lot of semantic hair-splitting,”

“You ought to come along, Daria,” Trent said.

“Forget it! I tried. She's house-sitting,” Jane said.

“My mother is away for the weekend, I told her I’d keep Quinn from turning the place into a modelling agency.”

“Too bad. It’s gonna be cool,” Trent said.

“Yeah, I was there with my Dad… once…” Daria said, trailing off. His death was still rather fresh in her mind. “Anyway, isn’t it a lot duller than Lawndale?”

“Hey, not after the Spiral gets there! We're criminales! We live life on the edge! You go up against the Spiral, we're gonna take you down!” Max said.

“Even if it’s SpiderGirl?” Daria asked.

“I bet she’s a bored cheerleader with too much free time,” Trent said.

“That doesn’t explain what she’s been seen doing,” Daria said.

“Maybe.”


Elsewhere in Lawndale, SpiderGirl had captured a would-be thief.

“Like, who would try to rob a store in broad daylight?” she asked him.

“It’s early in the morning on an overcast day,” the thief responded.

“I guess so,” the young superheroine said as she looked down the alley the store opened onto. “Now, before I call the cops, I’d like to know if you’re working alone, or are following orders or whatever.”

“Why would you want to know that?”

“I’ll tell the cops, duh! Maybe you’ll get off lightly in court,” SpiderGirl said.

“Right. It was this person…” the thief started before shaking his head. “I don’t know their name. But I do know they’re operating out of Freemont!”

“Freemont? Isn’t that a dull town in the middle of nowhere?”

“He said it would lower suspicion.”

“I see,” SpiderGirl said. “Well, he’ll find that he isn’t beyond my reach.”

“Wait!”

“Yes?” SpiderGirl said as she wrote her note for the police.

“That’s all I know.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I don’t know what he would do when he finds out I told you,” the thief said,

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” SpiderGirl said. She then swung away.


Daria and Quinn got home at the same time and found that their mother was rushing about, getting ready to leave.

“Mom?” Quinn asked.

“Sorry, sometimes I leave these things to the last minute. Somehow without your father…”

Daria closed the door. “It’s OK, Mom, we miss him too.”

“Yes, anyway. I told you that he and I originally arranged this trip for a marriage seminar.”

“Yes,” Quinn said sadly.

“So, now it’s a widowhood seminar?”

“Dar-i-a!” Quinn said annoying.

“You’re right, too soon,” Daria said quietly.

Her mother put her hand on Daria’s shoulder. “I wish, Daria. But somehow, Eric convinced me to turn it into a work trip.”

“I see,” Quinn said.

“Anyway, I have about five minutes.”


Soon after Helen left, Quinn’s friends arrived. Daria noticed that Sandi arrived last. ‘There’s something there,’ she thought.


Things with the Fashion Club were tense. Quinn knew that things between her and Sandi weren’t resolved regarding her hair. ‘But it’s not just that, is it?’ she thought. They had always been rivals since she had arrived in Lawndale. ‘At least it’s the same with Stacy,’ she considered.

Then there was a phone call.

She picked it up. “Hello? Morgendorffers.”

“Jane here. I’d like to talk to Daria.”

“Sure.”


Daria waited before Quinn had left the room to talk to Jane. “You’re where?”

“Jail! You gotta come get us out.”

“What happened?”

“That's the good part. I got it on tape. When Mike Wallace gets through with these backwater cops, they're not gonna know what hit 'em.”


Daria listened as Jane explained what happened. “Wow, sounds really brutal. But why are you in jail if he just gave you a ticket?”

“We're from out of state, so we're supposed to pay the fine at the sheriff's office right away. It's a hundred bucks, and we don't have it.”

“I don’t either.”

“Obviously. Look, go over to my house. Use the door with the broken lock. There's some money in the living room table, in the drawer with the missing handle. Oh, and while you're there, Trent wants you to pick up his song notebook. It's under his bed in the burnt shoe box.”

“How am I supposed to get it to you?”

“You have a license, don't you? And listen, hurry up. I'm a survivor, but I'm not so sure about the other guys.”


It wasn’t far from the Morgendorffers to Casa Lane. Daria got the money and Trent’s notebook. She did take a peek from.


After Daria had left, Quinn called the exchange, and found that the call had come from Freemont. “Eureka!” she said when she had hung up.

“What have you found, Quinn?” Sandi asked.

“Something,” she said enigmatically.

“What?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Sandi turned away in a huff.


Sandi left quicky.

“What happened?” Stacy asked.

“I have no idea,” Quinn answered.

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry,” Quinn said.

“Of course, I’m going to worry!” Stacy said. “You know me.”

She did know Stacy. “I’ll figure it out.’

Stacy nodded.

“But I’m going to be doing something with Daria…”

“Really?” Stacy asked in surprise.

“Yes, Jane and her brother’s band are in Jail and Daria is taking the bail money there.”

“Oh, but you don’t have to go.”

“It’s a rare opportunity to annoy her on a road trip!”

“I see. I’ll get Tiffany and go then,” Stacy said.

“Cool, I’ll probably be back for Buffy.”

Stacy nodded. She liked Buffy too.

 

I'm enjoying your story with these girls. What a tragedy re the dad passing away .. . we can prepare our minds for these events, but not our hearts.

 

Part 2
Upon arriving home, Daria got into the car that formerly belonged to her father, but which her mother said she and Quinn could use. She turned on the engine.

“Okay, let's do it!” Quinn said as she got in.

“Quinn, what are you doing?” Daria asked.

“I'm not gonna just sit here while you drive off to some far, unknown land to get your friends out of jail! What if something unexpected happens?”

“You're worried about me?”

“Let me rephrase that: what if something cool happens?” Quinn responded.

“Well, I suppose it would be smart in case there's some emergency,” Daria allowed.

“Great! I get to choose the music,” Quinn said as she turned on pop music.

“Isn’t there something else on?”

“Forget it. This is the only music I can listen to.”

“Well, can you turn it down?”

“You're not the boss of me! Now, are we busting your friends out of jail or not?”

“Of course,” Daria said as she pulled out.


Once out of Lawndale, Daria was driving slowly.

“Tense?” Quinn asked.

“No. There's a lot of stuff going on. You have no idea how complicated driving is.”

“It’s not that hard.”

“How would you know? Dah! A giant truck!” Daria said in panic.

“Pull over Daria,” Quinn said with annoyance. She wanted to get to Freemont with time to spare.


As they pulled away into the drought-stricken region to the west of Lawndale Daria wasn’t sure why she was allowing Quinn to drive. “I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm letting you do this. I can't believe we're doing this. Hey, when did you learn to drive?”

“God, Daria, what do you think people do on dates?”

“Aren’t you terrified.”


Quinn thought for a moment. It was less terrifying than swinging from building to building through Lawndale. She was sure Daria hadn’t seen her come and go as SpiderGirl. She was rather careful about that. “It's all about attitude. You're too timid, Daria. I could do this all day.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind if…” Daria began before Quinn interrupted.

“Your turn,” Quinn said as she pulled the car over. ‘That hitchhiker could be an excellent distraction.’

“But you just started,” Daria began. “No way!” she said as she saw the hitchhiker. “We are not picking up some insane, murdering serial killer. How reckless can you get?”

‘Reckless?’ Quinn thought. ‘You don’t know the half of it!’ she thought.

“He's not a killer. I recognize him. It's... Stacy’s cousin from Memphis.”

“Mom would crucify us!”

“Right, but taking the car out for a hundred-mile joyride won't bother her at all. Face it, Daria, you're already accessorizing,” Quinn said.

“You mean, I’m an accessory.”

“Whatever. Look, lighten up. You drive and I'll keep him from murdering us.”


“Howdy, I sure do appreciate this,” the hitchhiker, Travis said.

“You’re not going to murder us, are you?” Quinn asked.

“Shoot, no!” Travis said.

“See? All you have to do is ask.”

As she pulled out again, Daria wasn’t sure. ‘Sure, Quinn knows how to handle herself, but Travis looks to be over twice her age.’


“So, you come from Lawndale?” Travis asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered. “It’s a good town, but like, crime is increasing, you know?”

“I have heard about that,” Travis said in a strange tone.

“Not as bad as the town we came from in Texas,” Daria said.

‘I’d hope not!’ Quinn thought. That was one reason she was SpiderGirl. But something about Travis’s tone bothered her. ‘He probably knows something,’ she realised. “Like it’s in the news every night,” she said in a tone that implied that she had ignored Daria.

“I heard about that SpiderGirl. I don’t know what she’s about.”

“Like I’m not sure, either,” Quinn said. There was more truth there than she liked.

Daria sighed.


As they continued along, Quinn wondered what Travis knew about the crime situation in Lawndale. They had to stop somewhere, she realised. “Oh, Daria, if you see a sign for outlet shopping, you can pull over there.”

“But we do have to get to Freemont quickly, and don’t you want to get back in time for Buffy?”

“We won’t be long,” Quinn responded.

“I hope so,” Daria commented.



Twenty minutes later, they found such an outlet mall.

“I’ll just be in the bathroom,” Quinn told Travis.

“Certainly, I’ll be at that café.”

Quinn headed to the bathroom, but after doing her business, she changed to SpiderGirl, using a costume different to the one she had usually been wearing, then headed to the café.


Travis didn’t see it coming. One second he was waiting in line, then the next there was some kind of web around him and he had flown across the room. “SpiderChick?”

“SpiderGirl,” the other said in a low voice.

“This aint Lawndale!”

“No, it isn’t, but sometimes a hero needs to travel and gather information, you know.”

“What information?” Travis asked.

“Apparently there is a crime ring operating out of Freemont, leading to break-ins in Lawndale.”

“I don’t know anything about any crime ring, miss.”

“I heard otherwise,” SpiderGirl said.

“There are rumors, girlie, but that’s all.”

“Tell me these rumors.”

“Are you sure?” Travis asked.

“Yes!”


SpiderGirl took in what Travis was saying. Some of it was contradictory, but she got the gist of it.


SpiderGirl rushed off as quickly as she had appeared, leaving Travis bewildered. He didn’t notice Quinn arriving less than a minute later.

“Travis?” she asked in concern.

“I’m fine, you still want to shop?”

“Yes.”


Daria was impatient, but it turned out that they had only wasted twenty minutes. “Are we ready to go now?” she asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered.


An hour later, they pulled up at a bar, less than 20 miles from Freemont.

“Thank you both kindly. Bye, now.”

“Good luck with your audition!” Quinn said. She got back in the front seat. “What a nice guy... and talented.”

“Yes, he's mastered the art of sticking out his thumb,” Daria said.

“And we'd never have met him if you'd had your way. I don't think you're a cowgirl at all.”

Daria noticed that the radio station hadn’t changed. “I thought you couldn't listen to country music.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me,” Quinn said as she changed the station back. The pop music would help her think about what she had to do in Freemont.


“We made it!” Daria said as she pulled up outside the Freemont Sherrif’s Office. “I did it. I got us here in one piece.”

“Slowly,” Quinn complained.

“But surely. Now, let's deal with the law,” Daria said. But then she found that she couldn’t find the money. “Oh, no. This is very bad. Very bad.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That cute cowboy stole our money.”

“Remember when we stopped at that outlet mall? I gave the money to Travis,” Quinn explained.

“That money was for Jane and Trent.”

“I know, but he got me a new outfit.”

“You spent all of Jane's money on clothes?” Daria asked.

“Of course not! I lent the rest to Travis for a bus ticket home. Don't worry, he's gonna repay us when he gets back.”

“You moron. How are we supposed to get Jane and Trent out of jail?”

“I told you something unexpected would happen,” Quinn responded.


They returned to the bar where they had dropped the cowboy off.

“What are you going to say to him?” Quinn asked.

“What am I going to say to him? You're going to tell him the truth. You gave him money that wasn't yours and you need it back.”

“Oh, Daria. Are we that desperate that we have to resort to the truth?”

“When this is all over, remind me to run screaming into the night,” Daria said as they came up to the bar door.


“Okay, maybe this wasn't such a great idea,” Daria said.

“It's just a bar. They're all alike,” Quinn said. She could see that there were hardly any troublemakers there.

“How would you know.”

“What do you think people do on...” Quinn began before Daria interrupted her.

“Never mind,” Daria said. She then went up to the bar.

 

Quite reasonable ...

And then we have this.

 

Part 3
After some questioning of the bartender and finding that all the people there were similar to Travis, Daria realised it was going to be more difficult than she expected.


Quinn was annoyed at Daria. They hadn’t gotten anywhere. Once outside of the bar again, she asked; “What was that? He didn't tell us anything.”

“I know. These cowboy guys are all alike.”

“Daria, all guys are all alike. The secret is knowing how to ask them.”

“And how am I supposed to ask them?” Daria asked.

“You can't just be all meek and respectful. You have to remember that line about how you catch more flies with money.”

“Excuse me, but if it weren't for your total recklessness, it wouldn't matter that I'm meek, because we wouldn't be in this situation.”

“Don't worry, I may be reckless but I'm also a problem-solver.”


After having changed into the outfit Travis had bought for her, Quinn and Daria re-entered the bar. There was one way to gain their attention, climb up on a table.

“Attention, guys. We're just two little city gals from Lawndale.”

“Lawndale’s a suburb,” one of the men interrupted.

“Right. And we know we shouldn't be here, but some friends of ours got pulled over by the sheriff recently. We brought the bail money to get them out, and now some mean old cowboy's stolen it. Now, I'm not saying all cowboys are mean or old or thieves, but it does make me think twice about ever considering a cowboy for a boyfriend.”

“Well, heck, little lady, I've been pulled over myself. It's humiliating, and bad for the soul. Here's ten bucks,” one of the men said as he put money on the table.

“Doggone it, we're not all bad, little miss. Take 20,” another said.

But a third was suspicious. “Now hold on. How do you know we're not the ones being flimflammed here? You fast-talking suburban gals think you can just march in and con some cowboys? Is that your game?”

“Um, no. Not at all,” Quinn said nervously.

“You think we're a bunch of dumb hicks. What do you know about us?” the suspicious one said.

“I don't call 'em cowboys till I see 'em ride,” Daria said.

“What?”

“Cause a Stetson hat and them fancy boots don't tell me what's inside,” Daria responded.

“Hey, that's Conway Twitty. You like Conway Twitty music?”

“You bet your lonesome prairie campfire I do, partner.”

“All right!” he said as he changed his tune; “Now these are cowgirls. Fellas, step on up here and empty your pockets.”


They soon arrived back at the Sherrif’s office.

“Now, I'm not gonna have to come out and stop you from chasing your husband with a skillet again, am I?” the Deputy Sherrif asked a woman.

“Well, that depends. You think you can come out and stop him from saying or doing something stupid first?” the woman responded.

“I wish. But I don't have time to ride herd on every stupid man in this county. Especially judges,” the Deputy said as the woman left.

“We’re here to pick up our friend, Jane Lane,” Daria said.

“Who?” the Deputy asked.

“Jane Lane, and Trent Lane. They're with a band.”

“Oh, yeah, they're not here anymore. They're with... the sheriff.”


Daria and Quinn entered the hall.

“Finally,” Jane said.

“Sorry. It has been a long day,” Daria said as apology.

“Tell me about it,” Jane responded.

“How’d you get out of jail?” Daria asked.

“Well, it was a little dicey with that jerk deputy,” Jane said. She turned to a girl nearby “Oops, sorry, Tina.”

“It's okay. When Daddy puts on the uniform, he's a whole different person,” Tina said.

“But lucky for me, the sheriff's a big fan of Picasso.”

“Not bad,” Daria said.


While Daria and Jane were talking, Quinn slipped away.


Fortunately, Travis had told SpiderGirl a lot of details, so she didn’t get lost. Following up on his ‘rumors’ was easy. Of course, she was wary in case it was a trap, or if he had misled her.

She found her away to a warehouse on the edge of town. She lowered herself from the roof above some goons guarding an entrance. She realised that she was doing it upside down. ‘Why am I doing it this way?’ she wondered. ‘I’ll figure it out later.’ “Hello! Is the Boss in?” she asked.

The goons brandished some guns, but didn’t otherwise respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” SpiderGirl said before disarming them with webs before webbing them up.


“Are you the Boss?” the feminine voice asked.

“Who are you?” the Boss asked.

“I’m the webslinging girl of justice.”

“What?”

“I’m the protector of a suburban town,” she added.

“Which town?”

“I am SpiderGirl and Lawndale is under my protection!”

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

“I know you’ve been hiring thieves to steal from stores and houses there,” SpiderGirl said.

The Boss looked around, trying to figure out where her voice was coming from. He grabbed a gun from a drawer.

“Oh no you don’t!” SpiderGirl said and he found himself disarmed by some kind of web.

He looked up and saw a feminine figure wearing some kind of red and blue suit hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“Great! Those reports are true! Some kind of freak, swinging from rooftops.”

“Freak! I’m not a freak!” SpiderGirl said. “I’m a superhero!”


SpiderGirl then webbed up the Boss and removed him from the premises before she set off the fire alarm. She smirked as the sprinklers went into action, soaking all the documents she had strewn about his office. She placed a note next to him, written in a different style to what she had used in Lawndale so far, and then made herself scarce.


Quinn returned to the hall as the party was finishing.

“There you are,” Daria said with a slight tone of worry.

“Sorry, I was looking around the town, you know,” Quinn responded.

“There’s not much to see,” Jane said.

Quinn shrugged.

“Anyway, it appears you Morgendorffer girls can actually get along,” Jane said.

“For brief periods, spaced many days apart,” Daria commented.

“We did make a pretty good team,” Quinn said.

“Maybe you should quit the Fashion Club and we could just go around solving crimes,” Daria suggested.

‘You don’t know the half of it,’ Quinn thought. “But that's what the Fashion Club is all about: solving crimes against fashion.”

“I hope jail wasn't too bad for you,” Daria said to Trent.

“Nah,” Trent said.

“We met the guy who invented punk music and introduced rice to the Japanese,” Nick said.

Daria rolled her eyes.


Soon, they were heading back to Lawndale. Quinn thought about what Daria had said.

“Maybe you should quit the Fashion Club and we could just go around solving crimes.”

‘With the way things are with Sandi, the Fashion Club looks quite rocky,’ she considered. ‘But I don’t think Daria would want to work with SpiderGirl. But I suppose I can work with her as myself.’ But she wasn’t sure.

 

This is such darn fun! And I love Conway!

 

06 The Lawndale Files Part 1
It was Assembly time at Lawndale High. Principal Angela Li came to the podium. “Settle down, young people! Now, before the varsity interpretive dance team begins its performance – ‘History, We Are You’ -- we have a brief announcement from some special guests, agents...”

She was interrupted by the agents. “No names,” the male agent said.

“No credentials,” the female agent added.

“Students, we'll be brief. We've received some disturbing reports from this town, and we're asking for your cooperation.”

“Keep your eyes open. Watch for people who are different. They know who they are.”

“And with your help, kids, so will we.”


Quinn Morgendorffer was concerned. ‘I guess I’ll have to be more careful as SpiderGirl,’ she considered. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have been in Freemont on the weekend.’ Things in Lawndale were getting worse. ‘Maybe?’


That afternoon Daria and Jane were thinking about the Assembly as they watched television.

“From outer space to in your face! Aliens walk among us! A Sick, Sad World exclusive.”

“Oh, look, they're going to explain the return of disco,” Daria said.

“The aliens aren't coming. They're already here. They could be your friends, your family. They act almost normal, but something's off.”

“Yes, the TV!” Jane said, annoyed. “If there were any aliens smart enough to come here, they wouldn't be stupid enough to come here.”

“There goes my trick ear again. What was that?”

“Let's say I'm an alien and you're you.”

“Part of this better be hypothetical,” Daria responded.

“Now, why would I, a being from the highly advanced planet Zippotron, travel light-years just to take over your body and go to high school?”

“Because Wednesday's Jell-O day?’

“Exactly. Wouldn't it make more sense to rig up some remote system of control? Neck implants or something? Then they could make you do stuff like go to the mall or think about hair without actually having to do it themselves. Makes more sense than a full-scale infiltration,” Jane said.

“Oh, yes. Much, much more sense,” Daria said with her usual sarcasm.

“All right, then.”

They could then hear some cheerful guitar strumming.

“What is that music?” Daria asked.

“I don't know. It's been going on for two days.”

“You don't know how much I want you to tell me that isn't Trent playing.”

“You don't know how much I wish I could,” Jane lamented.


At the same time, Stacy was reading in her room, when she heard a sound coming from outside. “What was that?” she asked herself as she jumped.

A few moments later she heard the doorbell.


“Quinn?” Stacy asked.

“What’s wrong Stacy?” Quinn asked. Her friend looked a little frightened.

“I just heard something,” Stacy explained.

“Oh, It’s probably something rubbing on the roof, like a tree branch,” Quinn said. ‘Note to self; be careful when webswinging at Stacy’s house.’

“Then it might be SpiderGirl going by, but I don’t know why she would be in this neigborhood, as there isn’t any crime here that I have heard of.”

“Maybe she is passing by on patrol,” Quinn said.

“Then there are those agents that were at school today. What were those disturbing reports they received?”

“They could be anything.”

“That’s true,” Stacy said, looking about. “Come in.”

“Sure.”


Stacy saw that Quinn’s appetite was still the same as before her father had passed. ‘The grief hasn’t affected it,’ she thought. For she knew that Quinn was still grieving. She was quieter for one. She still had chatterbox tendencies, but no longer spoke up against Sandi in the Fashion Club and seemed to be listening more in class. She put out a large amount of various vegetable based snacks.

“What do you think Sandi is doing?” Quinn asked, as she ran a hand through one of her pigtails.

Stacy was still getting used to Quinn having changed her hair. “No idea,” she answered. “I still think you’re not too similar to either of us.”

“Like I’m still rather fashionable,” Quinn said.

Stacy nodded.


They then talked about other things as the close friends they were.


Quinn waited until she was some distance from the Rowe’s house before changing back to SpiderGirl and webswinging away.


Lawndale Sun Herald
Tuesday, December 4, 2000
More Reports of Strange Activity in Town


Quinn awoke early, as she usually did since becoming SpiderGirl. However, she found something wrong. That having Spider powers didn’t make her immune to chaffing and acne. “Great!” she said as sarcastically as her sister. She had to hide it, especially as it was on her neck. She rushed to her closet and soon found a all black outfit. ‘It will have to do.’

She got dressed, grabbed her things, including a SpiderGirl suit and left.


“Come on, Daria. Something interesting must have happened yesterday,” Helen said.

“Nope,” Daria said.

“How about that friend of yours? What's new with her?”

“Not much.”

“What about the newspaper? Read anything interesting lately?” Helen asked, knowing that Daria was at least reading about that SpiderGirl.

“Hmm. I did see an article by an efficiency expert who claims one really intense conversation with your child over breakfast is worth a whole week of unfocused parenting. Did you catch that article?”

Helen knew what Daria was doing. “Well... how about TV? Seen anything good recently?”

“Just the usual crazy guy claiming aliens are walking our streets.”

“Well, of course they are. Many of them can't afford a car. No shame in that.”

“Huh?” Daria asked.

The phone rang, allowing Daria to make herself scarce and head to school.

“Oh, Hi Eric!”


Half an hour later, Daria and Jane arrived at the school. “Look at that,” Jane said.

Daria looked and saw that her sister wasn’t wearing her usual outfit. Rather it was all black and hid her neck. “I see it. She’s even more different now.”

“As I was saying…”

“Not that again. I’m just saying that she’s even more different due to grief.”

“The alien thing is more cool,” Jane said.

“I just think it's strange that she's suddenly covering up her neck,” Daria rejoined as Kevin Thompson and Brittany Taylor walked by.

“When was the last time you saw Kevin without his neck thing?” Jane asked.

“You’re talking implants?” Daria asked.

Brittany turned back. “I heard that, and it's not true!” she said before turning around and stalking away.

“I guess she thought you meant her U.F.O.s,” Jane mused, not realising that she was being overheard by Language Arts teacher Mr. Timothy O’Neill.

“UFOs?” he asked with a shiver. “Have you been watching The X-Files? I know I have.”

“And that’s Good,” Daria commented.

“But you know what's interesting?” O’Neill asked.

“Why do you encourage him?” Jane commented.

“All this creepy science fiction is just a throwback to the old Cold War paranoia.”

“Aliens in the sky, communists under the bed,” Daria commented.

“Exactly, Daria!” O’Neill said. ”And accusations flying, all because of atomic jitters. You're a communist! You're an alien!” He added as Joey and Jeffy walked past.

“Trade you Cuba for Jupiter,” Daria said to Jane.

“One stood for the other in those old movies.”

“Now, what do you think about SpiderGirl?” Daria asked.

“A disturbed individual taking out her frustrations on those who have had to resort to crime to make ends meet,” O’Neill answered.


“Quinn!”

Quinn turned at the sound of Sandi’s voice.

“If you refuse to explain your strange outfit, I'm afraid the Fashion Club will have to consider more sanctions,” Sandi asked.

“I wasn’t aware there were sanctions for my hair. Besides, this is not an anti-fashion statement.”

“I forgot to tell you,” Sandi dissembled. She was about to say more when Joey and Jeffy came along.

“Hey, Quinn, Mr. O'Neill says that girl from your house is an atomic communist,” Joey said.

“Yeah, and her friend's an alien,” Jeffy added.

“Eew!” Stacy said.

“Gross,” Tiffany said.

Quinn quickly made herself scarce.


Kevin continued to think about what he had heard earlier in the day. “I knew it! It's just like when they made us have pep rallies for field hockey. We're being invaded by communists!” he said as he came to his locker.

“Remember that game when you fell on your head?” Michael ‘Mack’ Mackenzie asked. “Remember how you thought Vince Lombardi was sending you plays from hell?”

“Heaven, bro! Vince Lombardi did not go to hell.”

Stacy and Tiffany walked by.

“But... if Quinn's cousin is an atomic communist from Mars, shouldn't she have a more interesting outfit?” Tiffany mused.

“Stop it, Tiffany! You’re scaring me!” Stacy said.

“Sorry,” Tiffany said, not entirely sincerely.

Mack was taken aback. “Yeah, yeah, I heard it, too.”

He, Kevin and Brittany then went to their next class. However, they had been overheard by Charles Ruttheimer III. “Two of my favorite luscious ladies out to enslave Earth males and end gym class?” he asked himself before giving off a growl. “Someone's been reading my dreams.”


Daria and Jane knew it was an unusual day for Lawndale High. “A lot of weirdness around here lately,” Jane commented as they left the school building. She also saw SpiderGirl in the distance. ‘Huh?’

“Yeah. I won't be sorry to see this day end,” Daria commented.

“You say that every day.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Although this one was especially strange. But the worst is over,” Jane said.

However, the doors behind them flew open and they saw Mr. DeMartino being lead away by the agents in cuffs.

“Remove these restraints! Governmental thugs! This isn't Stalingrad!” he cried.

“You're damn right, pal. And it isn't going to be,” the male agent said.

“You can't do this. I'm an educator!”

“Say it again! It only makes it easier,” the other agent said.

“Um, the worst is over now?” Jane asked in slight hope.

“Don’t bet on it.”


The Fashion Club met in Quinn’s room after Dinner.

“Meeting starts: 6:53 PM,” Stacy said.

“Quinn will explain why she is wearing all black, again,” Sandi said.

“After Sandi explains why she added sanctions about my hair without telling me,” Quinn said.

“It was a slip of the tongue,” Sandi explained.

“Didn’t sound like it,” Quinn shot back.

“Fine,” Sandi said. “I wanted to add sanctions for the hair, but I haven’t got around to it yet.”

“Right…” Quinn considered. She also considered just quitting the Fashion Club and telling Sandi to leave. What Daria had said in Freemont about them solving crime together flashed through her mind. ‘Not yet, give her a chance.’ She breathed deeply, and pulled down the turtleneck, showing her, along with Stacy and Tiffany, the zit.

“Oh, I see,” Sandi said.

“So, I had to hide it,” Quinn said.

“Of course,” Sandi said.

“Quinn, I'm so happy you're still one of us,” Stacy said.

“Gosh, Stacy, what did you think?” Quinn asked.

“Really,” Tiffany added.

“Quinn's right, Stacy. Just because she was acting completely weird and not confiding in her dearest, most loyal friends is no reason to decide she'd finally given up her sad charade and revealed herself as a two-faced, little…” Sandi trailed off as Quinn gave an intense glare.

‘How long?’ Quinn wondered, again.

“Meeting ended,” Sandi said.

“6:57. The shortest yet,” Stacy responded.


Unknown to Quinn and the others, Daria had overheard Stacy saying ‘I'm so happy you're still one of us,’ as she had walked by. Therefore she called Jane about her suspicion.

“Come on, not even aliens would give the planet to the Fashion Club. You're getting paranoid,” Jane responded.

“I'm not talking about aliens. But there's something out there. Something stupid.”

“You get rattled too easily,” Jane responded, then changed her tone. “By the way, can you come over here right now? I'm really scared.”

“I see. And to what do I owe this mood swing?” Daria asked.

“It's Trent's song. You gotta listen and tell me if it's getting more cheerful.”

“Now who's paranoid?”

“Come on, I'll order a pizza. And don’t tell your mother where you’re going, I don’t want her getting all motherly.”

“Right away.”


After the meeting ended, Sandi made herself scarce.

Helen saw her going out. “You weren’t here long, Sandi,” she said.

“Quinn doesn’t need me,” she said in a montone before heading out the door.

“Sandi! Wait!” Helen said.


It was only a couple of minutes before Daria left on her way to Jane’s.

“Where are you going?” Helen asked.

“Just a walk, and to think about things,” Daria said, guardedly.

‘Of course,’ Helen thought. “But at night?”

“This area of Lawndale is still safe,” Daria said before heading out the door.

‘Of course it is,’ Helen thought.


Quinn saw Daria leaving. ‘What is she up to. She has been acting weirdly today.’ She looked to Stacy and Tiffany, who were still there. ‘They can stay here while I check,’ she thought.

“Quinn?” Stacy asked.

‘She could be one I could confide in, maybe,’ she thought. “Um, I need to check on something on the street,” she dissembled.

“You’re following Daria?” Stacy asked.

“Um, yeah,” Quinn said. “Could you run interference with Mom?”

“Sure, but how are you going to get out without her knowing?”

“There is a way,” Quinn answered enigmatically. She then went to the window at the end of the hall and opened it. She showed Stacy a trellis which had ivy on it, which reached up to the window.

“You have been climbing down that?” Stacy asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered as she started going through the window.

“Right…” Stacy said.


Stacy watched Quinn climb down, then went back to Quinn’s room.

“Where’s Quinn?” Tiffany asked.

“She’s doing something,” Stacy answered.


Quinn disappeared into the bushes on the right side of the house and waited until Stacy had gone back to her room before going to the shed, where she had stored one of the spare SpiderGirl costumes.

Soon, she was webslinging after Daria, in the direction of Howard Drive.


As Daria approached Casa Lane, she heard a rustle in the bushes at the end of the street. “Come on now. Aliens don't hide in the bushes. It's probably just a stalker. Yes, a stalker out to plant a teen in a shallow grave. Perfectly normal. I feel much better now.”


Brittany Taylor knew Daria was up to something, which was why she was following her. She wasn’t sure why Kevin had to come along, his amorous attentions wasn’t something she needed at just that moment. “But, Kevvy.” He continued to be amorous “Kevvy!”

“Huh?” Kevin asked.

“Didn't you say we were going to follow her and save the world and stuff?” she asked. She liked making him think some things were his idea.

“Oh, yeah. But I don't think we have to save the world right this second,’ he responded.

“Great!” she said. A few more moments of making out wouldn’t go awry, she considered.

Suddenly there was a purr above them. "Que passionato!”

‘Oh great!’ Brittany thought. ‘Upchuck!’

“Hey! We're trying to save the world here!” Kevin said as he shone his flashlight at Charles.

“And I'm trying to find the space maidens' ship so they can take me back and make me their love slave,” Charles responded.

“Oh cool,” Kevin said.

Two more flashlights turned on. “Well, you were right. Everyone has gone crazy,” Jodie Landon said.

“I knew you'd try something, Kevin. I figured I owed it to the team to keep you from humiliating yourself,” Mack said.

Bushes rustled and Mr. O’Neill emerged.

“Mr. O'Neill? Don't tell me you're hunting communists, too?” Mack asked incredulously.

O’Neill laughed nervously. “I wouldn't call it hunting. I heard a rumor about secret police kidnapping educators and spiriting them off to the gulag. But me? No. I frequently go for walks with a, um, flashlight in case the streetlights go out.”

There was another rustle above and SpiderGirl emerged upside down, lowering herself halfway down by a thread. “What’s going on here? Paranormal?”

“Not very,” Jodie said, looking around.

‘Probably meant paranoia,’ Brittany thought.

“These reds come red-hot from the red planet itself. We're talking Mars,” Charles said.

“Really?” SpiderGirl asked, her voice showing incredulity.

“Charles, I think you mean Marx,” O’Neill said as he dropped his flashlight.


Jane answered the door. “You made it. Cool. I was starting to... whoa!”

Daria also looked at the flashing lights in the nearby woods.


O’Neill found his flashlight. “Found it.”

“But why are you all, like, sneaking around with flashlights?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Good question,” Jodie said.

The others all switched off their flashlights.


“Did we just see a U.F.O.?” Jane asked.

“You're getting paranoid. It's probably just an informal get-together of local stalkers. You know, hang out, swap stories, try out each other's skeleton keys,” Daria responded.

“But only an idiot would go stalking with a flashlight, especially with that SpiderGirl about.”

“Come on. This is Lawndale,” Daria said as she went inside.


“Your’re right, SpiderGirl, we’ve all been acting very foolish.”

“Hey, man, speak for yourself,” Kevin objected.

“Oh! Sorry, Kevin, “ O’Neill said. “But I wonder if maybe a rally might be in order. You know, something before classes to promote understanding, remove the fear, and increase the peace.”

“Are you sure?” SpiderGirl asked, before Kevin could get a word in.

“Quite sure. It won’t get out of control,” O’Neill said.

“But, practice is before classes. He's trying to destroy football. He's one of them!”

“No he isn’t,” SpiderGirl said, trying to keep calm.

“Who?” Brittany asked.

“I thought you knew.”

‘Time to go, Kevin,” Mack said.

“I’ll stay and talk to SpiderGirl for a bit,” Brittany said.

“Sure,” Jodie said. She turned to Upchuck. “Come along, Charles, we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

“Yes, I better go too,” O’Neill said.

 

Part 2
SpiderGirl wasn’t sure why Brittany wanted to talk to her. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Um, What is it like being a hero, fighting crime?” Brittany asked, whilst twirling a pigtail.

“Difficult. But the thanks I get from the people rescued from muggers make it more than worth it.”

“What made you start?”

“Someone died,” SpiderGirl answered, trying not to give anything away.

But it seemed that Brittany made some connections. “Like that carjacking, when one of my friends’ father died two weeks ago.”

“Yes,” SpiderGirl said carefully. “That was the last straw. That was when I knew Lawndale is declining into a crime filled…” she paused, seeing that Brittany got what she was saying.

Brittany nodded. “But you have powers, right?”

“Yes, but why are you asking all this?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Like, after that death, I’ve been thinking about what’s been happening. And maybe I could help in some way.”

“I work alone,” SpiderGirl answered. She then saw the dejected look on Brittany’s face. “For now.”

“Oh,” Brittany said.

“I’ll think about it,” SpiderGirl said.

Brittany smiled. “Cool.”

“Are you heading home now?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Yes, in Crewe Neck,” Brittany answered.

“I can get you to the gatehouse. I need to get somewhere, as I left a friend in a tight spot with another friend to investigate what you were up to.”

“Sure.”


SpiderGirl came to the ground and stood up. “You can hold onto me, but it may be more difficult for me to swing if it’s the other way around.”

“The former,” Brittany said as she threw her arms around the superhero girl.

“Not too tight,” SpiderGirl said.

“Sorry.”

“Let’s go.”


What followed wasn’t scary for Brittany, rather exhilarating, as they headed in a southeasterly direction from Howard Drive towards Crewe Neck over rooftops and through trees.


While Brittany was talking to SpiderGirl, Daria and Jane were having their own conversation.

“Is that song getting happier or am I just getting more miserable?” Jane asked Daria regarding Trent’s music.

“It's verging on bouncy, all right. But please, continue with your delightful presentation.”

“You've got these government types at school telling us to watch out for weird behavior. Then the alien nut on TV says the same thing. Meanwhile, your mother is weird, your sister is weird, and all the kids at school look at us funny.”

“That's not new,” Daria said before Jane could say more.

“Yeah, but now there's respect. And that song? Maybe it's the alien signal and Trent's beckoning to the U.F.O.”

“Ah, but the U.F.O. went away.”

“Well, maybe aliens don't like sucky music and he's actually trying to save humanity,” Jane explained.

“When do we get to the crop circles?” Daria asked, before Trent’s music stopped.

“Uh-oh. The music stopped,” Jane said and hid her drawing under the bed.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Trent asked as he entered.

“Nothing,” Daria answered.

“Nada,” Jane added.

“Not a thing,” Daria said.

There was an awkward pause.

“That's some song you're working on. It's different,” Daria added.

“Nothing different about it. Nothing at all,” Trent denied “I gotta go and, uh, practice my same music that uh... isn't any different from the other stuff I play.” He then left.

“What was that?” Daria asked.

“You're starting to get weirded out, aren't you?” Jane asked.

“No, absolutely not.” She jumped a little as the doorbell rang.


Jane opened the door.

“Pizza!” the guy there said.


Artie Walker was a little worried. He was sure that he saw SpiderGirl carrying a cheerleader when he had dropped the last Pizza. He was certain that she was one of Them. At least the Lanes were good customers. “Could you hurry up? I got other pizzas to deliver, and if I don't get them there on time, they're free. I really gotta go.”

“On your way over here, you didn't see any, um, lights in the sky or anything?” the bespectacled friend asked.

“Just ‘SpiderGirl’ and she was carrying a cheerleader away!”

“You think she’s an alien?” Jane asked.

“Don’t you? No human can do what she does!”


Meanwhile, back at the Morgendorffers, Helen brought desert up to Quinn’s room. Except she didn’t see Quinn there, just Stacy looking at something on Quinn’s laptop and Tiffany looking through a magazine. “Where’s Quinn?” she asked.

“Um, in the bathroom!” Stacy said.

“That’s OK,” Helen said, noting her daughter’s friend’s usual slight panic. “I’ll leave her desert with you.”


“Sure.”

“I know Sandi left. Are they OK?”

“I don’t think so,” Stacy answered. “It’s like they’re drifting apart.”

“I see.”

Helen then went back downstairs, thinking about what Stacy had said.


SpiderGirl and Brittany arrived at the Crewe Neck gatehouse.

“Thanks for the trip. It was wonderful,” Brittany said.

“You’re welcome,” SpiderGirl said. “I’ll get back to you about what you asked.”

“Sure,” Brittany said.

SpiderGirl waited until Brittany had entered the gated estate, then started heading back to Glen Oaks Lane.


The Pizza guy was still talking, as they ate their pizza. “... and anyone who tells you aliens are taking over their body is nuts. All they want is our skin 'cause your skin remembers what it feels.”

“Hmm. Hey, you ever written any lyrics?” Trent wondered.

The guy’s pager then beeped. “Fired again? Man, this happens all the time. Ever since my encounter with those darn aliens!”

“Oops,” Daria murmured.


SpiderGirl arrived back at the red brick house on Glen Oaks Lane and quickly changed back to being the usual Quinn.


“I’m back,” she said to Stacy as she entered her room.

Stacy handed her the desert. “Your mom brought this up for us. I’ve already had mine,” she said.

“Thanks,” Quinn said.

“So, what was Daria doing?” Stacy asked.

“She just went to her friend’s place.”

“OK.”

“I might have run into someone else from school, though,” Quinn said.

“Who?”

“Someone who asked me something about Daddy,” Quinn answered quietly. “I don’t need to tell you who they were.”

“Oh.”


Stacy was quiet for a while, before they started talking about other things.


Daria soon returned home. “Are you OK?” Helen asked when she came in.

“I’m fine. I mean, I miss Dad, but that’s not why I had gone out.”

Helen nodded. “Still, I am worried for both of you.”

“I think it’s Quinn you need to look out for more,” Daria said as she headed up the stairs.

“I know.”


Shortly after Daria got back, Stacy saw her mother pull up outside. “I’ll be going,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Wait, Stacy,” Quinn said.

“Yes?” Stacy asked.

“You’re interested in Superheroes right?”

“What brought this on?” Stacy asked. “Is it SpiderGirl?”

“In a way,” Quinn answered enigmatically. “I have seen some of your books.”

“Oh right,” Stacy remembered. “When I was younger, I collected comics and bought books. But that changed after I met Sandi in middle school.” She looked outside again and saw that her mother was coming up to the front door. “But that can wait.”

“Of course,” Quinn said.

“Wait, Stacy,” Tiffany said.

“What now?” Stacy asked, slightly annoyed.

“Could you take me home?” Tiffany asked.

“Sure!” Stacy said.

 

Many goodies in these bits ...

I'm so ready for this!

How compassionate ...

*snerk*

All dialogue rings so true of those ghastly adolescent years ...

There're lots of characters, each well handled. Good job.

 

Part 3
Helen opened the door. “Hello, Elisabeth. Stacy will be down shortly.”

Elisabeth Rowe entered. “How are you holding up?” she asked.

“I’m fine. Keeping busy, mostly. My sisters are helping, funnily enough.”

“You’re lonely, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Helen admitted.

“You aren’t alone,” Elisabeth said taking one of Helen’s hands.

“Thanks, but I don’t know you much,” Helen said.

Stacy and Tiffany then came down the stairs. “Mom, Tiffany would like a lift home,” the former said.

“Sure,” Elisabeth said to her daughter. She turned to Helen. “Would you like to come to a café tomorrow evening?”

“I’ll see if I can swing it with work,” Helen answered. ‘It would be a good idea,’ she thought.

“I’ll hold you to it.”


“How’s Quinn?” Elisabeth asked her daughter as she pulled away from the Morgendorffers.

“She’s still grieving, but she’s coping in her own way,” Stacy answered.

“That’s good.”

“You’re concerned for Mrs. Morgendorffer, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Wednesday, December 5, 2000
Teacher Arrested
Anthony DeMartino, a History teacher at Lawndale High was mysteriously arrested on school grounds yesterday by Federal agents.


When Daria and Jane arrived at school, Mr. O’Neill’s rally was already underway.

“So that's why I say commies aren't team players, so keep them out of team sports. All right!” Kevin said.

“Yay, no commie team!” Brittany added.

“Um, thank you, Kevin. But actually, the communist is your ultimate team player. The team is all; the individual, nothing,” O’Neill said.

“Oh. Well then, never mind. All right!” Kevin then said.

Brittany was about to say something in addition but apparently thought better of it.

“Good morning. As you know, we're here to clear up some misunderstandings and suspicions so we can all feel better about each other and ourselves. So without further ado, I present to you a work in progress, a solo performance I call ‘Nothing to Lose But His Chains: The Life of Karl Marx.’ The year is 1848.” O’Neill pressed play on a tape recorder and an exercise tape began playing. “Oh, dear, that's my exercise tape!”

Mr. DeMartino then appeared.

“Anthony! You weren't kidnapped!” O’Neill said in surprise.

“All right! I finally convinced those glorified dogcatchers from Immigration that I am not an illegal alien. But now I have a question. Who told them I was?”

Daria saw Ms. Barch murmur something under her breath.

“Maybe it was the mind control babes from space, Mr. D., trying to create a distraction,” Charles said.

“Who?” DeMartino asked.

“Them!” Charles said pointing at Daria and Jane.

“Um, I hate to wreck a perfectly good lynching, but you're the ones acting weird,” Daria responded.

“Us?” Kevin asked. “Mr. O'Neill said you're out to destroy football.”

“No! I was telling them about how communists and Martians are the same.”

“That'll clear things up.”

“So there's no communist unfiltration?” Kevin asked.

“And there's no alien takeover?” Charles asked.

“Oh, I don't know. How do you explain that?” Jane asked, as she pointed to where Quinn was joined by Stacy and Tiffany in dressing in all black.”

“We're dressed this way for solidarity,” Tiffany said.

“To help support Quinn in her grief,” Stacy added.

“That makes sense,” Daria murmured as the crowded added a murmur of support.

“Does it?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Daria said.

“I liked it better when they were under alien control,” Jane groused.

“It was more believable,” Daria said with her usual sarcasm.

“So you see, everyone? Mr. DeMartino's disappearance, all these communist and alien worries... simple misunderstandings, all of them. What do you say we cement our newfound unity by joining hands and singing ‘Man in the Mirror’?”

The teens booed and hissed and left.


Later, Ms. Li called Mr. O’Neill into her office.

“It has come to my attention that you organised a rally this morning.”

“Yes.”

“It was unauthorised! You should have come to me if you wanted to clear up the various misunderstandings surrounding Mr. DeMartino’s arrest.”

“I’m sorry. It was off the cuff.”

“It won’t happen again. Do I make myself clear.”

“No it won’t. I’ll call you first.”

“Good. Dismissed.”

She watched the Language Arts teacher leave. She then went back to the reports that SpiderGirl had been sighted on campus.


That night, SpiderGirl thought about the past two days as she patrolled Lawndale’s downtown, swinging from rooftop to rooftop. Conspiracy theories spreading through the school wasn’t a good thing. But at least none of them involved her. She looked over towards a café where she saw Helen and Mrs. Rowe enter. She smiled under her new, more comfortable, mask. At least her mother was reaching out to those other than her colleagues. She then heard police sirens in the direction of the Creek. With a sigh she then swung in that direction.


Elisabeth looked back at the strange sound.

“Elisabeth?” Helen asked.

“I think SpiderGirl was just watching us.”

“Now who’s being paranoid,” Helen said.

“Anastacia has told me all about the rumors at school,” Elisabeth said, referring to her daughter by her full first name.

“Daria said it was she and Jane who started it,” Helen said as she lead the way into the café.

“But how?” Elisabetha asked.

“Things they said were misinterpreted,” Helen answered.

“That makes sense.”

They then went to order their coffees.


While her mother was talking to Elisabeth, Daria was watching Sick Sad World with Jane when they heard Trent’s cheerful music in a commercial break!

“Hey, it’s Trent’s hell music,” Jane said.

“If you don't have a car or your present car sucks, go to Happy Herb with a few thousand bucks. Then you can drive here, you can drive there, drive where you want, Happy Herb don't care. It won't make you better or smarter, that true, but you can drive around when there's nothing else to do. So go buy a car, buy a damn car, hit the road to nowhere in your Happy Herb car.”

“I'm Happy Herb, and I sell cars, so come on down.”

“So now you know,” Trent said, with shame in his voice, from the door.

“Oh, um, nice jingle,” Daria said.

“You don't have to tell me. I'm a complete sell-out. But I really needed the gig,” Trent explained.

“What's the going rate for an artist's soul these days?” Jane asked.

“20 bucks, an hour of free studio time and a set of tires,” Trent answered.

“That’s it?” Jane asked.

“They’re new tires,” Trent explained.

Sick Sad World returned.

“Hey, look, it’s that guy,” Trent said.

“And what unspeakable acts did the space beings perform on you?” the usual reporter asked.

“They took my flesh and replaced it with an alien synthetic skin. A skin capable of sensations you can't even imagine. But that's not the worst of it,” the former Pizza guy said before breaking down and crying.

“Uh-oh, he's gonna get his skin wet and shrink it,” Jane commented.

“They used me, and then they made me lose my job.”

“You saw it first on Sick, Sad World. Alien love goddesses are depriving Americans of their skins and their jobs.”

Then a shot of Daria and Jane in ‘space vixen’ outfits was shown.

“Hey, cool,” Trent said.

“We should be upset, right?” Daria said.

“I don’t know, those outfits look pretty good,” Jane said.

“You’re kidding, right?” Daria asked.

“Nope!”

“Then again. I doubt anyone is taping this.”

“Only very few,” Jane said in reassurance.


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Thursday, December 6, 2000
Teacher Falsely Accused
Anthony DeMartino claims that he was falsely accused of being an illegal immigrant prior to his arrest on Tuesday.
…

Page 2
More Assistance From SpiderGirl
LDPD report another incidence of assistance from the ‘vigilante known as SpiderGirl’ last night when a car being driven by a thief was stopped by one of her webs.


Agent Krista Bell entered the large building on the edge of New York. Once inside she selected the top floor in the elevator.


A few minutes later, the blonde agent was shown into a large office. She approached the intimidating bald African American man with a goatee and an eye patch over his left eye.

Nick Fury, the Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. “Report, Agent Bell,” he said.

“It’s confirmed. SpiderGirl exists,” she said.

“But is there any indication of her identity?” Fury asked.

“Absolutely no clue. It is too early to tell. I recommend sending more Plainclothes agents to Lawndale, sir.”

“I have already done so,” Fury said. “You live there, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Bell answered.

“Then you are to keep an eye out for her. Gather all the information you can.”

Bell nodded.

“Another thing. There are other things happening in Lawndale. We need to know what is behind those too.”

 

Teen psychology explained - if someone wants you to cooperate, don't!

NOW we'll see things done, with Fury on the case!

 

07 Ashes to Ashes Part 1
A car was being chased along a back road. “Come on, pick up!” the woman driving said.

“Hello?”

“Is that Helen Morgendorffer?”

“No, it’s her daughter, Daria.”

“Oh. Is she there?”

“Yes, but who is this?” Daria asked.

“Tell her it’s Linda Ballinger.”


Helen didn’t quite understand what Daria said. “Daria, you know as well as I do, that Linda Ballinger is dead.”

“I know, but this woman says that she is Linda Ballinger.”

Helen sighed. “Here,” she said, before grabbing the phone from Daria. “Hello?”

“Helen!”

‘If it is Linda, she sounds a little different,’ Helen thought quickly. “Linda?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s me. I need a place to stay and Lawndale was the closet place where a friend or family is living.”

“I see,” Helen said. “But I’ll need proof that you are who you say you are.”

“I’ll tell you about something that happened in the 1980’s…”


Helen clicked off the phone.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Daria commented.

“Her story checks out. She said something that only she would know about myself and your late father.”

“Which was?”

“Something embarrassing to say to one’s daughter,” Helen responded. “In any case, she’ll be here in half an hour.”

“Right.”

“Where’s your sister?”

“No idea,” Daria answered.

Helen sighed. Quinn was nearly always out.


SpiderGirl arrived back at Glen Oaks Lane to find an unfamiliar car out front of the red brick house at 1111. She wondered who it could be. She made herself scarce as she saw the door open. She didn’t want to be seen too often in her superhero persona by either Helen or Daria, especially close to the house.


Helen saw that Linda had changed a lot. “Welcome to Lawndale!” she said.

“May I come in? Is Jake home?”

Helen frowned.

“What?”

“Jakey has recently passed away,” Helen explained quietly.

“Oh!”

“He got shot when someone tried to hijack his car.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Linda said.


Daria saw Quinn enter through the kitchen door. “Just in time.”

“Just in time for what?” Quinn asked.

Daria explained what had happened.

“Quite strange,” Quinn said quietly.

“I agree,” Daria said.

“Like, you said, in Freemont, that we could investigate crime. Maybe we could investigate this,” Quinn suggested.

“But you’re still in the Fashion Club.”

“I’m still on the outs with Sandi.”

‘I guess that would do,’ Daria thought. “Right. But we are going to investigate, regardless.”

“Good.”


“Here they are!” Helen said.

“They have grown,” Linda said.

“Daria’s 17 and Quinn, 15.”

“I see.”

“Now,” Helen said. “What happened. You say that you faked your death?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Helen asked. “What happened.”

“First, how long ago did Jake pass away?” Linda asked.

“Nearly a month ago,” Quinn answered quietly.

“Oh. It’s raw.”

“Of course, it’s raw!” Quinn said bitterly. “I saw him die!”

There was shock on Linda’s face. “I didn’t know, sorry.”

There was an awkward moment of silence.


Daria looked to Linda. She still wasn’t sure what to make of her. “So, you faked your death?” she asked, one eye on the still crying Quinn.

“Yes,” Linda answered, and she started telling her story.


It was ten years ago.

Linda pulled up to the Morgendorffers house in Highland. She knew it would be a long time, if at all, before she would be able to see Jake and Helen again. She looked around the street as she went up the door. Most of the houses looked dilapidated.


She rang the doorbell.

Helen came to the door. “Linda! I didn’t know you were coming over today!”

“May I come in?” she asked.

“Of course. I’ll put on some tea, just the way you like it.”

“Thanks. Is Jake home?”

“Yes.”

I have the tea and catch up with you two, as well as Daria and Quinn briefly.


Helen, Daria and Quinn remained silent after Linda told of her last visit at the old house.

‘She hasn’t commented that Quinn’s hair is a different color,’ Daria thought. She didn’t realise until later how important that detail was.

“So, why did you fake your death?” her mother asked.

“People were after me,” Linda explained.

“Could you explain more?” her mother asked.


I had discovered something at work…

Linda returned home from the Morgendorffers. She knew that she had to get away. There were already threats and Highland was suffocating. She had already put plans in place, she just had to initiate them. She grabbed what was essential and went to the backyard. Soon, the place was alight and she was a disguised passenger on a Greyhound coach enroute to Montana.

And so, I found an isolated community in Montana near the border with Idaho.


“I see,” Helen said. There were many unanswered questions, but she didn’t see why Linda wasn’t telling the truth. “We do have a spare room you can stay in.”

“Really?” Linda asked.

“Yes. It’s the least we can do. I won’t even ask you to pay board, at first,” Helen said.

“Really?” Daria asked.

“Yes, Daria. As I said, it’s the least I can do, while Linda settles into Lawndale.”

“I’m not sure why she would want to stay here,” Quinn groused.

“The crime isn’t that bad,” Helen said.

“That wasn’t a concern,” Linda said. “Show me upstairs.”

“Sure.”


Helen then showed Linda the spare room, and the bathroom which she would be sharing with Daria and Quinn. “Their bedrooms are down the hall, mine is at the front of the house,” Helen said.

“Right.”


“I’m not sure what to make of it,” Daria said to Jane.

“You’re welcome to stay here if you’re concerned,” Jane suggested.

“Then who’d watch for Quinn.”

“Hasn’t Quinn hardly been there anyway?”

“She hasn’t been out that much.”

“I heard Stacy and Tiffany talking about Quinn’s habits,” Jane said.

“Jane Lane eavesdropping?” Daria teased.

“Don’t we do that anyway?” Jane asked. “And maybe you could do it with your mother’s friend if you’re staying there.”

“Probably,” Daria said.

“So, you’re just a little concerned.”

“Yes.”

“Other than what I suggested earlier, I’m not sure what to say.”

“You’re no help.”


Quinn too was concerned. “I need to talk to someone,” she told her self as she looked in her mirrors. She was just dressed in the SpiderGirl suit, with her face showing. She saw a girl who was still recovering from her father’s death. ‘I don’t want to have to worry about Mom and Daria, with a strange woman in the house,’ she thought. She made her decision, she would talk to Stacy, but it would be best to do so in person. She pulled the mask down, switched off the light and then swung out of her window, up onto the roof.
She headed in the direction of the Rowe’s, in Eichler Drive.


‘Like, is Linda who she says she is?’ she considered as she leapt over the house behind the Morgendorffers’.


Stacy answered the door. “Quinn?” For it was her friend, dressed in the same outfit she had when she was dealing with acne the previous week.

“Evening, Stacy,” she said. “I need to talk to you about something. May I come in?”

“Of course,” Stacy said, opening the door wider.


Both Stacy and her mother listened to what Quinn said about the mysterious visitor at the Morgendorffers’ house as Stacy made some cocoa for all three of them.


“It’s all very strange,” Elisabeth said as Stacy poured out the cocoa. “Like it’s not as if your mother doesn’t know what she’s doing, but it’s likely that her grief has influenced her judgement in this matter.”

Quinn nodded. “Like, Daria also doesn’t like it.”

“That makes sense,” Elisabeth said.

“And now I have to be more on guard at home,” Quinn groused.

“You can stay here tonight if you want,” Elisabeth suggested.

“Maybe, but I didn’t tell anyone where I was going,” Quinn said.

Elisabeth sighed. “You can call home.”


Helen answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Mom, can I stay at Stacy’s tonight?” Quinn asked.

“Are you there right now?”

“Yes, duh!”

“I see. You’re worried about Linda, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Helen checked to see that Linda wasn’t in the lounge room before going back into the kitchen, “I admit that I am a little worried too,” she said quietly. “I will try to run a background check tomorrow at work. You can stay there tonight, if Mrs. Rowe allows it.”

“She suggested it.”

“I see.”


“So, you’re staying?” Stacy asked after Quinn had hung up.

“Yes.”

“Cool!”

“Just for tonight though,” Quinn said. She doubted that she would be able to use the Rowe’s house as a base for her SpiderGirl activities for long without arousing Stacy’s suspicions.

“That’s OK,” Stacy said.


Daria heard her mother knock on the door. “Come in,” she said

“Quinn is staying over at a friend’s tonight.”

“I didn’t need to know that.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to go over to Jane’s tonight,” her mother said.

“Maybe not tonight. Are you having second thoughts?”

“No. But maybe I jumped the gun.”

“I’ll probably sleep lightly,” Daria said.


Quinn awoke about 2:30 to the sound of police sirens in the distance. ‘Just as well I’m in the spare room,’ she thought. But she knew that Stacy was a light sleeper. ‘I’ll just swing out from the opposite side of the house,’ she thought as she stripped off the nightgown, leaving only the suit on her person. She put her hair up and then pulled on the mask.

SpiderGirl left the window open a crack and swung out from the Rowe’s.


Stacy turned in her sleep, but didn’t wake.


SpiderGirl found the commotion. A car had crashed on the edge of town. She swung down from a tree, recognising Officer Peterson. “What’s happened?” she asked.

“Oh! SpiderGirl,” Officer Peterson said. “There was a report of a crash here, but when an ambulance arrived, whoever it was fled.”

“Oh!” SpiderGirl said.

“There’s not much you can do here.”

“Obviously not,” she groused. She added. “Thanks, see you around!” before swinging away and heading back towards Eichler Street, where the Rowe’s were situated.


As she headed back, she wondered if it would be linked to Linda. ‘Not likely,’ she concluded. Lawndale had a large population afterall. ‘Like over 25000?’ she wasn’t sure.


She was quite tired when she got back, such that she almost fell asleep without putting the nightgown back on. But she managed it and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


Jane met Daria on the way to school. She could tell her friend hadn’t slept much. “I hope you’re not going to go to sleep in class,” she said.

“I might, but that would impact my grades,” Daria said with her usual sarcasm.

“What about Quinn?” Jane asked.

“What about her? She stayed at Stacy’s.”

“You should have taken up my offer.”

Daria yawned and then said. “I might stay over tonight.”

“Cool.”

 

Part 2
Sandi didn’t believe her eyes when she saw Stacy and Quinn approaching. Quinn had her hair in the style Stacy usually wore, and was wearing clothes very similar to those Stacy usually wore. Stacy had her hair in the way that Quinn had been wearing hers after her father’s passing and was wearing clothes almost identical to what Quinn usually wore. “What are you two doing?” she asked with annoyance.

“What?” Quinn asked. “We can’t experiment? Isn’t that part of what the Fashion Club is about?”

“Yeah!” Stacy said, in a slightly confident tone.

Sandi seethed. She was being accommodating to Quinn, really. She then saw Tiffany arrive.


Tiffany knew something was up. She was momentarily confused, then realised that Quinn and Stacy had swapped looks for the day. That was fine with her, although she probably wouldn’t do it herself. She was sure that any of the other’s looks would make her look fat. She looked at Sandi and knew that there was trouble immediately ahead. “What’s going on?” she asked in her usual slow tone.


“Don’t you see?” Sandi asked in response to Tiffany’s question.

“That Quinn’s dressed like Stacy and Stacy like Quinn?” Tiffany asked.

“Yes!” Sandi said.

“No-othing wrong with it, just as there’s no-othing wrong with Quinn’s hair,” Tiffany responded.

‘Very good, Tiffany,’ Quinn thought with a smile. She had initially suggested to Stacy to swap styles for the day as a way to hide bed hair after she had slept in, but from the reactions at school so far, she felt it was a good idea.

“Nothing wrong?” Sandi asked rhetorically. “Nothing wrong? Emergency Fashion Club meeting AT LUNCH!” she then stalked away.

Quinn breathed heavily and looked to Stacy, who was breathing heavily. “Deep breaths, Stacy. We’ll get through this.”

“But!”

“We’ll talk to her together,” Quinn said. “Right, Tiffany.”

“Yes,” Tiffany said without hesitation.

Stacy nodded. “Together.”


Daria and Jane had seen the whole thing. “You think it’s the end of the Fashion Club?” the latter asked.

“I doubt it,” Daria said. “As Sandi recognises it, maybe.”

The bell rang.


Helen finished looking over the case files for one of her latest clients. She got up and stretched before heading over to her assistant. “Marianne, could you get me Mr. Fields.”

“Sure, Helen,” Marianne Galway said.

Fields was a Private Investigator that Vitale, Davis, Horowitz, Riordan, Schrecter, Schrecter, and Schrecter had on retainer.

“He’ll be here in ten minutes.”


“Mrs. Morgendorffer?” Fields asked when he entered the office.

“Here,” Helen said as she stood up from her desk. “You can call me Helen.”

“What is the reason for your call? Mr. Vitale already has me trying to find out who SpiderGirl is.”

“Really?” Helen asked. She didn’t really want to know why the Senior Partner wanted to find out who that vigilante was, but was curious nonetheless.

“Yes, but she’s very elusive.”

“I see.”

“So, what is your request.”


Helen laid everything out about her guest.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Fields said after a moment of thinking.

“Thanks,” Helen said.


As they entered the cafeteria, Quinn, Stacy and Tiffany saw Sandi waiting for them at their usual table.

“Let’s get it over with,” Quinn said.

“Definitely,” Stacy said, with determination.


Sandi saw the three come over to her with looks of determination on their faces. ‘They’re intending to stand their ground, I see.’

“Sandi,” Quinn said as she sat down. “We have done nothing wrong.”

“Is that your defense?” Sandi asked.

“Yes,” Stacy answered as she too sat.

“Tiffany?” Sandi asked.

“I can tell them apart,” Tiffany said.

“That’s not my point,” Sandi said.

“No, your point is keeping control over us!” Stacy said. She turned to Quinn. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I move to censure Quinn,” Sandi said, putting her hand up.

Stacy and Tiffany just glared at Sandi.

“Fine!” Sandi said, looking annoyed. “I move to censure Stacy!”

“No,” Quinn said.

“No,” Tiffany added.

“No?” Sandi repeated.

“I mean it, Sandi!” Quinn said.

“First, you change your hair without consulting us. Then you inspire the others to wear all black…”

“We were supporting her in her grief,” Tiffany interrupted.

“I heard that. That doesn’t explain it,” Sandi said with annoyance.

“Yes, it does, Sandi. Besides, it wouldn’t be have been a good idea to reveal my zit!” Quinn said.

“I guess not,” Sandi said sarcastically. “But now today. You two swapping styles.”

“Nothing wrong with it,” Stacy said, defiantly.

“Hiding bed hair,” Quinn said quietly and in a strange tone.

“There are other ways to do that,” Sandi said as she faced sideways.


They weren’t getting anywhere. “Fine!” Sandi said. “You’re all on leave from the Fashion Club until you come to your senses.”

“Actually, only one person at a time can be placed on leave, with the agreement of the other members present,” Stacy said.

“I know that,” Sandi retorted, clearly annoyed at the newly assertive Stacy.

“In fact, we can do one thing,” Quinn said.

“What’s that?” Sandi asked.

“Article Three, Paragraph Four,” Quinn said.

“You want to remove me?” Sandi asked.

“The nuke option, yes,” Quinn said.

“Qui-inn, you want to remove me as President and dissolve the Fashion Club?”

“You leave us no choice, Sandi,” Stacy said.

“Yeah,” Tiffany agreed.

“Fine! Call the vote.”

“Vote at 1:32,” Stacy said.

“Article Three. Paragraph Four. The Membership of the Fashion Club having found themselves in unsolvable disagreement with the President, vote to remove the President and dissolve the Club,” Quinn said.

Quinn, Stacy and Tiffany all raised their hands.

“Fine!” Sandi said, seeing that she was defeated. “Then leave this table immediately.”

Quinn stood up. “We will. I will inform Ms. Li of the Club’s dissolution.”

They then left Sandi fuming there.


“What now?” Stacy asked as they approached the principal’s office.

“What do you mean. We don’t need a club to do what we have been doing,” Quinn said.

Stacy perked up. “Oh, of course.”


Ms. Li took in what Quinn had said, after she had read what Stacy had written. “Thank you for informing me of the club’s dissolution, Ms. Morgendorffer. I shall remove it from the records shortly.”

“I should also say that I don’t have any other extracurricular activities,” Quinn said.

“Nor do I,” Stacy said.

“I see.”

“I will be looking for something this week,” Quinn said.

“Good.”


Sandi was in a grumpy mood the rest of the day. She wanted to destroy something over what Quinn had pulled. Therefore she ran home as soon as the final bell rang. As soon as she got home she went out into the backyard. There were plenty of plants that she could shoot with her powers. For she had powers that she had inherited from her mother. She walked up to a tree and imagined that it was Quinn. Quinn as she was before her father died. ‘That Quinn died with her father,’ Sandi thought. ‘I don’t know this new Quinn.’
She then imagined that it was the new Quinn, not dressed in Stacy’s clothes, but in her own clothes, and with her hair the way it had been the past couple of weeks. She concentrated and her powers activated, purple energy started glowing around her hands. “AAAGGG!” she shouted and started shooting the tree to pieces with her powers.


Quinn and Stacy met Daria and Jane at the Pizza place that was usually frequented by Lawndale High students. “Quinn?” Daria asked.

“The Fashion Club is no more,” Quinn said.

“What?” Daria asked.

“Quinn invoked the nuke option,” Stacy responded.

“Nuclear,” Daria corrected. “But what lead to that decision?”

“Sandi,” Stacy stated.

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

Quinn took a deep breath and then explained to Daria what had happened.


Daria took in what Quinn had said. That Sandi was still being her antagonistic self despite Quinn obviously still being in grief was unfortunately not surprising. But she had hoped that she would have been there for her. It was obvious that Stacy and Tiffany were.

“Um…”

“Thanks for listening,” Quinn said.

“I always knew Sandi wasn’t a good friend,” Jane said enigmatically.

‘There’s something there,’ Daria thought.


Linda Griffin arrived home to find the backyard a mess, and her daughter seething with her powers active. She activated her own powers. “CASSANDRA APHRODITE GRIFFIN! Explain yourself. Now!”

Sandi turned and deactivated her powers.


It took a while for Linda to understand what her daughter was saying, for she was mostly incoherent.

“So, Quinn invoked the nuclear option. But why was that there?”

“Ms. Li insisted.”

“I see.”

“Also, you should have been more considerate. It’s been less than a month since Mr. Morgendorffer died.”

“Right,” Sandi murmured.

Linda looked around the yard. “You’re going to have to clean this up. Consider that your punishment, along with the loneliness you’re going to feel due to your inconsiderate behaviour.

“What loneliness?”

“Didn’t you say that Stacy and Tiffany went along with Quinn?”

“Yes.”

“See. Now start cleaning up this yard. You will also accompany me to the nursery this weekend.”

“Yes, Mother.”


Helen was home when both her daughters got home. She saw that Quinn was wearing Stacy’s clothes. “You’re going to return those tomorrow, right?”

“Of course,” Quinn said. “Is Linda still here?”

“She is.”

“I see.”

“Then I’ll be at Jane’s tonight,” Daria said.

“Thanks for letting me know,” Helen said. She turned to Quinn as Daria went up the stairs. “What else happened at school today?”

Quinn then told her about the dissolution of the Fashion Club and about Sandi’s behaviour over the past few weeks.

Helen wasn’t sure what to say.

“Stacy and Tiffany stuck by me, though.”

“That’s good, and now I need to start dinner before Linda does.”


Stacy also told her mother what had happened when she got home.

“Good,” Elisabeth said.

“Good?” Stacy asked.

“That Fashion Club hasn’t been good for you.”

“I know you have been saying that. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I guess that I why I backed Quinn up today,” Stacy said with a smile.

“And Tiffany too?”

“Yes.”

“She may have had seen the way things were going.”

“Probably.”


Tom Griffin saw the mess in the backyard and that his daughter was cleaning it up. “What happened there?” he asked.

“Just a mini tornado, dear, nothing to worry about,” Linda said offhandedly.

“Oh.”


Back at the Morgendorffers’ place, the other Linda watched Daria leave on her way to Jane’s. “I get the feeling that they don’t trust me,” Linda said.

“You show up suddenly and claim to be an old family friend they thought was dead,” Helen said. “I would have done the same.”

“Quinn is here tonight.”

“I guess she doesn’t want to impose on Stacy too much,” Helen said.

“I guess.”


Even so, Quinn was sure that she wouldn’t get to sleep. ‘Maybe on the roof as SpiderGirl?’ she wondered. She wasn’t sure that was a good idea. But first, she did some homework until a late hour.

 

Part 3
She looked at the time: 11:34. That was quite late. She switched off the light and then opened the door rather slowly so as to not make a sound. She looked down the hall and saw that there wasn’t any light coming from the spare room. ‘Good,’ she thought. But that didn’t mean that Linda was asleep. She quietly closed her bedroom door before tiptoeing across to Daria’s room. She opened that door quietly and entered that room before closing the door after her. She opened one of the side windows and quickly swung up onto the roof.

Once up there, she looked around to check that the neighbors, both to the side and behind, wouldn’t be able to see. There were hardly any house lights visible in the neighborhood. She then took off her nightgown and webbed it to the roof before putting on her mask.

SpiderGirl walked to the other end of the house and listened. Lawndale was quiet, allowing her to hear that many most of the people in the neighborhood were either listened to the radio in the bed, or up late watching TV. She could also hear trucks on the nearby Interstate. The town was quieter than it had been the past two weeks, other than the sounds of various owls that called the trees in it home. She sighed and then focused to the house below.
Her mother was working late again. That was something she was doing more since what happened, had happened. She also heard that Linda was indeed sleeping. She sighed in relief. She looked out to the north not wanting to swing off over the street. She had heard from her mother at dinner that the Senior Partner of her firm wanted to know her secret identity. She had heard enough about Jim Vitale such that she was rather certain that him finding out wouldn’t be good. Therefore she swung off over the yard. She had left the yard when she heard police sirens downtown. She then swung along the laneway in that direction.


Having dealt with a couple of thieves, SpiderGirl returned to the neighborhood and created a hammock out of webs between two trees in one of the Morgendorffer’s neighbor’s yards. It being a relatively warm night she then went to sleep.

Lawndale Sun-Herald
Tuesday December 11, 2000
SpiderGirl helps capture thieves.

SpiderGirl returned to the Morgendorffer house as the sun began to rise. She grabbed the nightgown before swinging down into her sister’s room. She closed the window before opening the door slowly. The door to the spare room was closed. She quickly entered her room.


Daria awoke early, sure that Jane was still asleep. It was an absolute certainty that Trent was.

“Daria?” It was their mother, who was rarely home, but Daria had met a few times before.

“Hi, Mrs. Lane.”

“Please, call me Amanda,” Amanda Lane said.

“Sure. I was staying over because of a mysterious guest at home.”

“Oh, you don’t need to explain yourself. You’re welcome to stay here whenever you like.”

“Thanks,” Daria said as she grabbed some eggs from the fridge. “You did shopping yesterday?” she asked as said fridge was usually empty when she visited.


Jane awoke early given that it was a school day. “Morning Daria, Mom.”

“Morning Jane,” her mother said. “What can you tell me about this Spider-Girl?”

“Not much,” Jane said.

“The same, other than that she fights crime,” Daria said.

“Oh, Daria. She is misguided as others. She’s making things worse. I have seen it before,” her mother asked.

“Where?” Daria asked.


Amanda thought about her daughter’s friend’s question. She wasn’t sure what information to give. If she gave a specific answer, Daria would press for more. She had to be evasive. “It is a major city, that’s all I can say,” she said.

“I see. I guess I will have to do some research,” Daria said.

Amanda just smiled.

“I’m not sure I really want to know who she is,” Daria said.

“That’s not the problem,” Jane said.

“That we don’t know her motivation?” Daria asked. “That is something I have thought about myself. She shows up out of nowhere and captures the criminals, or rescues would be victims from potential muggings, but why is she doing these things? What has she to gain from it.”

“No idea,” Amanda said. “But then the human mind, the human spirit, is a mystery.”

Daria looked to be in thought.


Sandi arrived at school uncertain as to what the future would bring. Her mother’s chastisement the previous day was also still on her mind. One thing that her mother didn’t say was to create a new Fashion Club. ‘One thing at a time,’ she thought.

However, something happened as she got to her locker.

“So, the club is no more?” Tori Jericho asked.

Sandi glared at the blonde gossip queen. “It is true that Quinn Morgendorffer used the nuclear option,” she said.

“I did hear that,” Tori said. “From Quinn herself, yesterday, as I saw her and the other two leave Ms. Li’s office.”

“I see,” Sandi said.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“You have no idea, don’t you?” Tori said.

Sandi slammed the locker shut as the bell rang.


Overall the day was as normal for the school. At lunch, Quinn thought about it as she went up to the roof. Again, she saw Daria and Jane there. But this time she was looking for them.

“We’re up here a lot,” Daria said when she had come over.

“I wanted to talk.”

“Oh.”

“Linda is still at home,” Quinn said.

“I knew that would be the case,” Daria said.

“Anything else?” Jane asked.

“You know what you said at Freemont?” Quinn asked.

“About us solving crime together?” Daria asked.

Quinn nodded.

“But I wouldn’t know where to start,” Daria admitted.

“Oh,” Quinn let out.

“I mean we can try, but you know that I don’t like getting involved,” Daria said.

“I mean we could talk about it, right?” Quinn asked.

“Certainly,” Daria said. “But it would take time to get going.”

“Of course,” Quinn said, disappointed. She turned to Jane. “What about you?”

“I’m with Daria,” Jane said. “We would have to think about it.”

“I see,” Quinn said.

“But I’m not saying no either,” Daria said.

“Nor am I,” Jane said.

“Thanks for your time,” Quinn said.


Daria watched her sister leave. She wasn’t sure what to make of what Quinn had asked. She turned to Jane. “You think she just wants Dad’s murderer caught? Or does she want something done about Lawndale’s crime?”

“I’m not sure,” Jane said. “You know her a lot more than I.”

“True, her grief is different to my grief. It could be the former.”


Quinn thought about what Daria had said. She knew that she would say something like that. “I guess SpiderGirl will continue to work alone,” she groused.


All day, Stacy and Tiffany avoided Sandi between classes. Stacy decided that the end of the Fashion Club was an opportunity to make more friends. As she came out of the last class, she noticed a flyer. “Anime Club,” she said. “Sounds cool.” She noticed that the next meeting would be the next day. “I’ll be there!” she decided.


Helen didn’t hear back from Fields all day.


Daria and Quinn got home to see Linda cleaning.

“Hi, Daria, Quinn. Just doing some cleaning,” she said.

“You didn’t need to,” Quinn said.

“If I’m staying a while, I need to pull my own weight,” Linda said.

“I can’t argue against that,” Daria said as she went up the stairs.”

“I guess not,” Quinn said as she followed her sister.


“So, what’s happening tonight?” Daria asked Quinn once they were both outside their rooms.

“I’m staying here, although Tiffany is coming over.”

“Tiffany?” Daria asked.

“Yeah, she’s far from as dumb as you think she is!”

“I stepped right into that one,” Daria said as she entered her room.


Helen came home and saw that Linda was vacuuming. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“I’m staying here at the moment. I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”

“I’m sure you aren’t,” Helen said.

“There aren’t that many jobs listed in the Sun-Herald!”

“You’ve only been here a couple of days. It might take a while,” Helen said.

“I know that, but I want to make Lawndale my home! Having a job…”

‘She’s desperate, but why?’ Helen asked herself. “I know.”


“…And so, Stacy is joining the Anime Club,” Tiffany said.

“She told me about it,” Quinn said. “I wonder if they have superhero shows?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Tiffany said. “But Japan does have strange events.”

‘I’ll need to look into those,’ Quinn thought.

There was a knock at the door and her mother came in with the cordless phone. “It’s Mrs. Gupty for you, Quinn.”

“You’re still babysitting Tad and Tricia?” Tiffany asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered as she took the phone.

“Evening Quinn,” Lauren Gupty said.

“Evening, Mrs. Gupty,” Quinn responded as she saw her mother close the door behind her and Tiffany examining herself in the mirrors.

“Lester and I are going out tomorrow evening,” Lauren said. “I am wondering if you will be available.”

“I am available.”

“I mean, I heard about what happened to your father.”

“Yes,” Quinn said quietly, “But I’m coping.” If one could call going out at night and webbing up criminals ‘coping.’

“That’s good,” Lauren responded. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

“I’ll be there.”


“So, you’re baby-sitting tomorrow night?” Tiffany asked, after Quinn had hung up.

“Yes,” Quinn answered. “it will help me keep my mind off the visitor,” Quinn said.

“Right.”


Daria did her homework and then went down to where her mother was working in the loungeroom. “Any progress on the background check?” she asked.

“None, yet,” her mother answered.

“I see,” Daria said quietly.


Quinn awoke in the middle of the night, a nightmare about her father’s demise still fresh in her mind. ‘With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility,’ she thought as she looked over to where Tiffany was sleeping. She saw that her friend was indeed sleeping. She looked at the clock radio. 3:13. ‘A lot later than usual.’ Once again she carefully checked to see that neither Linda, nor Daria had their lights on. Nothing. She closed the door behind her and carefully opened the hall window, before climbing down the trellis.


SpiderGirl found the night to be similar the previous night as she listened to the town from a tree in the backyard. She heard sirens down near the creek. ‘Something there,’ she thought as she swung in that direction.


Peterson saw SpiderGirl arrive.

“Hi, Peterson,” SpiderGirl said.

“A body was found dumped in the creek,” Peterson said. “Discovered by an officer responding to an anonymous call from a phone booth.”

“And the person disappeared?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Yes,” Peterson said with a sigh. “Another murder unsolved.”

“How did they die?”

“Single gunshot wound to the chest.”

“I see,” SpiderGirl said, her voice hard.

“The latest in an increasing trend,” Peterson said. She looked. SpiderGirl was gone.


SpiderGirl was angry. Yet another murder in Lawndale! She wasn’t sure whether the perp was the same one who took her father’s life, but she knew that she wouldn’t head straight home.


SpiderGirl arrived home just before sunrise. She walked up to the house from the backyard. The laneway behind was full of trees, which would make any observation difficult.


Tiffany stirred and saw Quinn re-entering the room. “Quinn?”

“I was looking at the sunrise,” Quinn said.

“Very pretty,” Tiffany said. She often looked at the sunrise if she was up at that time.

“That it is,” Quinn said.


Quinn and Tiffany met Stacy as they arrived at school. “Morning,” Quinn said.

“Morning,” Stacy said cheerfully.

“So, the Anime Club?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, I hope to make more friends,” Stacy said.

Then Tori came up to the trio. “Quinn! Just the person I wanted to see.”

“Hi Tori,” Quinn said.

“A heads up, Sandi is stirring up trouble,” Tori said with a worried tone.

“How?” Quinn asked, although she had some idea.

“Half truths,” Tori answered.

“I see,” Quinn said. “It’s like last week!”

“Like with the aliens and Mr. DeMartino?” Tori asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered. “We need to counter the lies with the truth.”

“Not like Mr. O’Neill pulled,” Tori said.

“No…” Quinn thought. “But first, what have you heard?”

“Are you sure?” Stacy asked.

“Quite sure,” Quinn said.

“First that you used the nuclear option under false pretences,” Tori said.

“We were upfront with her,” Stacy said. “I still have my notes!”

“Good!” Tori said, “But that’s not all.”

The bell then rang.

As they had different homerooms, they then parted, but Tori promised to get back to them at Lunch.

 

Part 4
Even so, Sandi continued to spread her rumors…

“I heard that you and Stacy are together,” Brooke said to Quinn as they met between classes.

“Who told you that?” Quinn asked. She definitely didn’t like Stacy that way. She was also sure that Stacy didn’t lean that way.

“Sandi,” Brooke answered.

“Well, it’s not true,” Quinn said.

Brooke just smirked before making herself scarce.

Quinn grumbled and turned towards where her next class was.


Indeed, Daria and Jane heard one rumor at the end of the next period.

“What was that?” Jane asked.

“That Quinn is just using Dad’s passing as an excuse to act out,” Daria said.

“Sandi!” Jane said, annoyed. “Just like her!”

“Jane?”

“It is likely to be her, right?”

“I know, but there is more.”

“Later, after school.”

“Sure.”


Quinn, Stacy and Tiffany met Tori at their usual table, at Lunch.

“So, Sandi is maliciously spreading rumors,” Stacy said, in a dejected tone. “What else is new?”

“This has happened before?” Quinn asked.

“Yes,” Tori said. “She did it to me, in middle school.”

“And me, for a while,” Stacy said.

“But, I fought back,” Tori said. “By insisting on the truth.”

“And I thank you for that again,” Stacy said.

“You’re welcome,” Tori said.

“So, we insist on the truth,” Quinn said.

“Yes. I have already been doing that,” Tori said.

“Good!” Stacy said.

“When we become aware of a rumor, we must act on it,” Tori said.

“Obviously,” Quinn said.

“So, what rumors haven’t you told us?” Stacy asked.

And so, Tori told of what she had heard, shocking the other three with some of them.


Quinn made up her mind as she went to the next class. Sandi was going to get a visit from SpiderGirl. ‘But is that responsible?’ She wondered. ‘Would I be using that Great Responsibility the way Daddy would want?’ she wasn’t sure.


Rumors or not, Stacy had already made up her mind to join the Anime Club, and so she went to the classroom where they met as soon as the final bell for the day rang.

“Stacy?” a person asked.

“Hi!! Stacy said.

“You’re joining the club?” he asked.

“Yes, and you are?”

“Koichi,” he said.

“Great!” Stacy said with a smile.

“Jenna will be here soon,” Koichi said.

“Jenna?”

“Jenna Oberton-Schwartz. She’s the president.”

“Oh, right.”


It wasn’t long before Jenna and a few others arrived.

“Hi,” Stacy said.

“Stacy Rowe?” Jenna asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re joining today?” Jenna asked. “I heard about what happened with the Fashion Club.”

Stacy nodded. “Sandi isn’t understanding that Quinn is still grieving her father.”

“That’s not all is it?” Koichi said.

“Not really. I do like Anime,” Stacy explained. “And science fiction in general. The latest rumors are in response to what happened on Monday.”

“I just wanted to be sure,” Jenna said. She took out a piece of paper from a folder. “Here.”

Stacy filled out the form. “Favorite anime film? I suppose Whisper of the Heart, I guess. I like the way Shizuku goes about her goal.”

“Good choice,” Jenna said, being a big Ghibli fan

Stacy smiled.


Daria and Jane got to the Pizza place. Once they had placed their orders and taken their seats Daria said; “OK, spill.”

“About Sandi?” Jane asked.

“Yes.”

“We were friends in Elementary school,” Jane said. “Not particularly close friends, but friends.”

“Go on.”

And so Jane explained that as she and Sandi did activities together, that the latter slowly grew more controlling, until Jane had had enough of her behaviour and told her off. Sandi then spread rumors about Jane in retaliation.

Daria wasn’t that shocked.

“I knew you wouldn’t be,” Jane said. “But I’m sure you’ll say we’ll need to help Quinn and the others.”

“Yes.”


After a patrol, SpiderGirl arrived back at the Morgendorffers’. She listened as she approached the kitchen door. Linda wasn’t in the kitchen. She then swung up to her side window.


Quinn changed into one of the other suits. Not the one she had worn to Freemont, but one she had made just after the Agents’ visit. ‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,’ she thought. She then put the all red mask on and was soon webslinging towards the Griffin’s.


Sandi was dressing up in her room. She had a date with Joey that night. Or at least she had asked him out, but he didn’t exactly say ‘yes’ straight away. She had changed into clothes similar to Quinn’s, just with shorter sleeves, when she heard tapping at her window.

‘What’s that?’ she wondered. “Better not be you, Joey!” she said. If wasn’t often that boys climbed up to her window, the most recent time being not long after that disastrous party she had held in competition to the school dance earlier in the Fall. She turned the window and opened it. But it wasn’t Joey! “SpiderGirl!” she exclaimed.

“Hi, Sandi!” the vigilante said in a low voice.

“You know my name?” Sandi asked.

“Everyone at Lawndale High knows it.”

“So, you go to Lawndale High?”

“Did I say that?” SpiderGirl asked.

“No, but you implied it.”

“Right,” SpiderGirl said. She shook her head. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“I can guess,” Sandi said, crossing her arms.

“Rumors about former friends of yours,” SpiderGirl confirmed.

“What is that to you?” Sandi asked.

“Rumors, whether it’s about History teachers being arrested, or about the reasons why a club was dissolved, aren’t good! They can cause more problems at the school than it’s worth.”

“So what?” Sandi said. “Focus on stopping muggers!”

“That’s not all. After all, with great power, comes great responsibility.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

Sandi paused. She wasn’t sure why SpiderGirl was arguing with her, but she didn’t like it. “Get out!”

“Or what? You’ll spread rumors about me?”

“Yes!”


SpiderGirl had thought about that and figured that she could deal with it. She also saw that she was getting nowhere. She sighed. “Got to go! Remember what I said. She then swung out the window and headed back towards Glen Oaks Lane, noticing that the Griffin’s backyard was a mess. ‘Did Sandi take out her frustration there?’ she wondered.


Sandi was annoyed. SpiderGirl had vanished just as mysteriously as she appeared. She looked out her window but saw that she was gone. “Fine! I’ll say that you’re a menace, rather than the ‘friendly neighborhood SpiderGirl’ you want to be seen as,” she said as her powers activated. She fired a burst into the sky before deactivating them again and closing the window.


Stacy had enjoyed the Anime Club meeting. “I had a good time,” she said.

“That’s good,” Jenna said.

“We are heading to the Pizza place. Would you like to come?” Koichi asked.

“Yes!”


Having changed suits again, Quinn also arrived at the Pizza place. As she entered, she almost ran into Daria, who was leaving. “Sorry Daria.”

“It’s alright,” Daria said. “I know that you have been preoccupied lately.”

“That wasn’t what I thinking of,” Quinn said. “Something more recent.”

“Of course,” Jane said.

“Yeah, we’ve talked of that,” Daria said with a look at Jane.

“Jane?” Quinn asked.

“We were friends in Elementary School. Not close, but friends,” Jane said quietly.

“Then what she is doing now happened then,” Daria added.

“Right,” Quinn said. It wasn’t surprising.


When Stacy arrived at the Pizza place with Jenna and Koichi, she saw Quinn waiting. “Quinn!”

“How did it go?” Quinn asked.

“Quite well. Here are Koichi and Jenna. The latter is the president.”

“Hi!” Quinn said to Jenna and Koichi. She had seen them around school.

Jenna sat. “I heard about what happened,” she said.

“Thanks,” Quinn said quietly.

‘She probably wondering how long people are going to commiserate with her like that,’ Stacy thought.


Quinn thought as she and Stacy left the Pizza place. Hearing Jenna and Koichi as well as Stacy talk about anime was a good way to get her mind off things. “That was a good talk,” she said.

“So, you want to watch something?” Stacy asked.

“Not tonight, I have to be at the Gupty’s,” Quinn answered. “Maybe this weekend.”

“Sure!”


Quinn arrived at the Gupty’s just after 6:30. “Welcome, Quinn,” Lauren said as she entered.

“Good Evening,” Quinn said.

‘You look well,” Lester said. “And a little different.”

“I hope that’s not a problem,” Quinn responded.

“Not at all, just a surprise,” Lauren said.

“We’re going now, you know where they are.”


Quinn came up onto the second floor.


“Quinn?” Tricia asked as she entered the room.

“Your parents have left,” Quinn said. She looked more closely at Tricia. She had changed since Daria had taken her spot after she had double booked nearly a year earlier. She had shorter hair for one thing.

“Great!” Tricia said, as she brought out a chess set. “You want to play?”

“I’ll try, but I haven’t been practicing. I’m sure you have been with Tad and your friends,” Quinn responded.

“Sure.”

They played as Tad watched as he read from a copy of The Hobbit.

 

Part 5
“Checkmate,” Tricia said. “But then I think your head wasn’t in it.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Quinn admitted. “It’s not just that my Dad’s gone. Other things have been happening too.”

“Like SpiderGirl!” Tricia said.

“That’s one thing,” Quinn said carefully. “But also, Sandi is not my friend anymore.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Tad said.

“No. She’s spreading lies about Stacy and I.”

“That’s not good,” Tad said.

Quinn shook her head.

“I have something that should cheer you up,” Tricia said.

“I doubt it,” Quinn said as the young girl went over to her drawers.

Tricia came back with a sheet of paper. “This is a picture of SpiderGirl.”

Quinn giggled despite herself. She had to admit, it was a very good picture of her hero persona. “Were you inspired by Jane?” she asked.

“A little,” Trica said. “I mean, I only met her a few times after that time.”

“Of course.”

“And I have been using crayons.”

“But this was with pencil,” Quinn said.

“Yes,” Tricia said. “It is easier to keep within the lines that way.”

“True,” Quinn said.

“You draw?” Tricia asked.

“Sometimes,” Quinn answered enigmatically.

“Could you draw Gollum?” Tad asked.

“I actually haven’t read The Hobbit,” Quinn admitted. “I’ll see if Stacy has it.”

“It is very cool,” Tad said.

“But I can draw other stuff,” Quinn said.


Lauren entered the room to see Quinn and Tricia drawing various scenes. “Really?” she asked.

“Sorry, I got carried away,” Quinn said.

“Not at all,” Lauren said. “These are good.”

“Thanks,” Tricia said.

“But it’s bed time now.”


Upon leaving the Gupty’s Quinn changed to SpiderGirl and headed home.


She approached from the west and saw an unfamiliar van in front of the house. She could then hear arguing from the entry. “I have to get there now!” she said.


Less than a minute later, she entered the kitchen. “Quinn?” Daria asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the Gupty’s.”

“I just finished,” Quinn said.

“Right,” Daria said.

“What’s going on?” Quinn asked.

“We were right,” Daria answered. “Something is up with Linda.”


“So, you’re saying that Linda, isn’t Linda?” Helen asked.

“Yes. She is my daughter,” the person said.

“I have been trying to get a PI to investigate but that’s taking time,” Helen said.

“Let me introduce myself, again. I’m Paula Ren. I live in western Montana.”

“That tracks so far, Paula,” Helen said.

“My daughter somehow obtained a diary of a deceased Texan and became obsessed with it,” Paula explained.

“That is difficult to believe,” Helen said.

She then saw Daria and Quinn come from the kitchen. “What’s happening?” the latter asked.

“This lady claims that Linda isn’t Linda,” Helen said. “Which might explain some things, but not all.”

“That she found Linda’s diary?” Daria asked.

“Yes,” Paula said.

“Where is Linda anyway?” Quinn asked.

“Up in the room, hiding,” Helen answered.

“Right,” Quinn said.

“So, she is here?” Paula said.

“She is, but I’ll need evidence of what you are saying,” Helen said.

“I have told you that she’s lying to you,” Paula said.

“I know that.”


There was more arguing before Paula left.

“It would certainly explain a lot of things,” Helen said.

“So, how would you know either way?” Quinn asked.

“It would depend on how detailed the diary was,” Daria said.

“Yes,” Helen considered. “I seem to remember Linda saying that she tried to put everything into her diary.”

Quinn thought for a moment. “I know Stacy does.”

“Either way, she needs company,” Helen said before going up the stairs.


“It may explain some things,” Daria said once their mother had gone upstairs.

“I agree,” Quinn said.


Helen knocked on the door to the spare room. “Linda?”

The door was opened immediately. “Is she gone?” Linda asked quietly.

“For now,” Helen said.

“Good.”

“I see that you’re worried.”

“I am Linda, not her daughter.”

“I’m not saying that you aren’t who you say you are.”

“But you have doubts?” Linda asked, as Helen entered the room.

“Yes,” Helen admitted.

“I don’t blame you.”

“But we can do something to get your mind off things.”

“Like a board game?” Linda asked.

“Sure,” Helen agreed. “Although the last time I played a board game was with Jake and the girls.”

“Oh?”

“After they were grounded for being out late.”

“You were too busy for it?” Linda asked.

‘She knows me that much,’ Helen thought. ‘But it’s still not proof either way.’ She nodded.

“But what game?”

Helen opened one of the cupboards, showing a large collection of board games.

“I see,” Linda said. She grabbed a box of Checkers.


As Quinn headed out as SpiderGirl again before bed, she heard that her mother was still in the room playing board games with Linda. ‘I hope she gets enough sleep,’ she thought.

But then she knew she was being hypocritical. She had less than 6 hours of sleep each night since her father’s death. She then heard sirens somewhere downtown. She quickly headed in that direction.


Another night, another murder. Peterson thought on the matter as she pulled up to the scene. Things in Lawndale were getting worse. The scene was in an alley between two buildings, one of which had been vacant for some time.

The medical examiner was already there. “Welcome,” he said.

“What do we have?” Peterson asked.

“A young woman, in her twenties. Approximate time of death, sometime around four thirty,” the examiner reported.

There was a sound behind them. They both turned and saw that SpiderGirl had arrived. “I can’t be everywhere!” she groused.

‘Is she blaming herself for not being here?’ Peterson wondered. “I know,” she said.

“I have a life. This isn’t all I do,” SpiderGirl added before shaking her head. “I heard what he just said. Sometime this evening?”

“Yes,” the examiner said.

“Any cameras?” SpiderGirl asked.

“None,” Peterson said.

“Of course not.”

“There’s not much more I can tell you, that isn’t obvious,” the examiner said.

“Yes. She was shot and the murderer took her handbag and everything in it,” SpiderGirl commented. “Why are people taking these risks when these crimes have been in the news? Do they think Lawndale is as it was?”

“That’s probably it,” Peterson said. “They have their heads in the sand.”

“Ugh!” SpiderGirl said. “See you another night!” She then swung away.

“Is that a good idea?” the examiner asked.

“What?”

“Keeping the vigilante in the loop?”

“All I know is, that things would be worse without her,” Peterson said.

“And she was hanging upside down the whole time! A little disconcerting.”

“She doesn’t do it all the time.”


SpiderGirl thought on the matter she headed back towards Glen Oaks Lane. She couldn’t be everywhere she needed to be, but there had to be a way for her to know something was happening. ‘Something to think about.’


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Thursday December 14, 2000
Opinion
Is Crime in Lawndale out of Control?


Quinn, Stacy and Tiffany again arrived at school to find Tori waiting for them.

“Good Morning,” Tori said in a welcoming tone.

“Morning,” Tiffany said.

“Any new rumors?” Stacy asked.

“None, but some are bound to crop up,” Tori answered.

“Of course,” Stacy said.

The four then entered the school, ready for another day.


While there were some new rumors, the trio didn’t hear them.


Tori didn’t know Quinn that well beforehand, but even she saw that the other girl was quieter than before, more introspective, not as likely to just say something without thinking over it first. She thought on that more as the last class of the day let out. ‘There is a lot going on her life,’ she thought. “Quinn?” she asked. There was no answer. Quinn had disappeared. But Stacy was still there. “Stacy? Where’s Quinn?”

“I’m not sure,” Stacy said, with her usual tone of slight panic. “She usually leaves school quite quickly these days.

“Right.”

“But we can catch up with her later, at her place,” Stacy said.

“We can do that then,” Tori decided. “Let’s go to the Pizza place first.”

“Sure,” Stacy said.


Upon leaving the school, SpiderGirl headed downtown, to patrol for any suspicious activity and to be visible, so as to act as deterrent to any would be murders. She paused at the Courthouse Clock Tower and then hung from it to watch towards the Creek.

It wasn’t long before she saw something in one of the alleys. A drug deal. ‘Not on my watch!’ SpiderGirl thought. She swung into action. “JUST SAY NO!” she screamed as she webbed up both people. She then searched both of them, and removed the drugs and produced a lighter. She then lit the contents of a nearby dumpster alight and threw the drugs in there.

“What are you doing?” the dealer asked.

“Quiet!” SpiderGirl said. “Haven’t you heard that song by David Bowie?” She then made herself scarce, satisfied that some people were safe from drugs, for a time. She then did another patrol of the street before heading home.

 

Part 6
Quinn was doing her homework in the loungeroom when she heard the doorbell. She went and opened it. She saw Stacy, Tiffany and Tori. “Come in,” she said.

“Is Linda here?” Stacy asked as she and the others entered.

“I think she is out looking for a job,” Quinn answered.

“Good!” Stacy said. “I mean, she can’t just stay here.”

“That’s true,” Quinn said as she lead the way to the kitchen.


It wasn’t long before Daria arrived home. She was annoyed.

“What’s wrong?” Stacy asked.

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing,” Quinn said.

Daria sighed. “Jane wasn’t there, at the Pizza place.”

“She wasn’t?” Tori asked.

“No, she said she had to do something,” Daria answered.

“Oh,” Stacy said.

“But just for today. It’s rare that she spends time with her mother.”

“The Lane’s mother in Lawndale?” Tori asked. “That is rare.”

“And I see that it’s not unknown.”

“My older sister was a classmate of one of her older sisters,” Tori said with a shrug.”

Daria nodded. She grabbed some water and biscuits and headed up to her room.


Linda and Helen would get back at the same time. But it wouldn’t be long before something happened. Quinn’s friends were still there.

Paula arrived there again, and she wasn’t alone. Helen answered the door and saw that Fields was with her.

“I see that you have found out something,” Helen said to Fields.

“Yes. ‘Linda’ is in fact Paula’s daughter Jenna,” Fields said.


Paula and Fields joined Helen, Quinn, Daria and Stacy in the Dining Room. Both Daria and Stacy had notepads in front of them. Tiffany and Tori were out in the lounge room in case ‘Linda’ were to cause issues with the other people there.

“I’m sorry that I hadn’t been able to get back to you earlier,” Fields said to Helen.

“That’s fine. I know that these things can take time,” Helen said.

“As for what happened…” Fields said. He indicated Paula.

“Jenna has had a hard life. Suffice it to say, she wanted to distance herself from her past. I didn’t expect her to run off to some town in Pennsylvania pretending to be someone else.”

“What I don’t understand is, how did Jenna get her hands on Linda’s diary?” Daria asked.

“That I have no answer to,” Paula said.

“Neither do I,” Fields said. “But I am keeping that line of inquiry open.

Daria nodded. “One thing I did notice when she arrived.”

“Yes?” Fields said.

“Quinn dyed her hair after our father’s passing.”

“That I did,” Quinn interrupted.

“I have a point here,” Daria said.

“Go on,” Quinn said in an encouraging tone.

“I noticed that ‘Linda’ didn’t say anything about her hair color changing. But I had dismissed it as unimportant,” Daria continued.

“Good note,” Fields said.

“But what now?” Stacy asked.

“That is a difficult question,” Helen said. “She has chosen to come to Lawndale for a new start. But she is also effectively stealing someone’s identity.”

“That’s true,” Stacy said with a frown.

“Yes, but you would know more about the legal technicalities,” Fields said to Helen.

“It’s not my area,” Helen admitted, “but yes, she has broken some laws there.”

“So, she would have to turn herself in?” Quinn asked.

“Maybe,” Helen said.

“No!” Paula said.

“No?” Helen said.

“She needs help, not legal complications,” Paula said.

“That may be true,” Helen said.

“I won’t turn her in,” Fields said.

“You won’t?” Paula said.

“No, while I do work for Vitale et al on retainer, I work for myself. I’m no Pinkerton.”

“And that’s good,” Daria said.

“So, we need to leave it to her to make a decision?” Stacy asked.

“Yes,” Helen said. “She can go back to Montana, or stay in Lawndale. It is that the latter would be fraught with risk if this comes out.”

“To everyone here,” Daria added.

“Yes,” Helen said.

“So, we ask her and lay all this out?” Paula asked rhetorically.


Meanwhile, Tori saw Linda come down the stairs.

“You know what’s going on right?” Linda asked.

“Yes,” Tori answered.

“And you’re Quinn’s friend?”

“I think so,” Tori answered. “This is my first time here. I’ve only just started hanging out with her the past couple of days.”

“Oh, after what happened with that Sandi?”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, I see how Quinn is handling her father’s death, compared to Daria and Helen. I admit it’s only been the past several days. But it seems that she’s quite a lot stronger than I am,” Linda said.

“You mean that something similar happened?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to go into it with someone I just met,.”

“I can understand that,” Tori said.

“In fact, taking the identity of a deceased Texan probably was a wrong decision.”

“Like you could have just made a new identity up.”

“Probably, but that would have been more difficult. No records, for instance,” Linda said. She pulled at her hair. “I think I should be myself.”

“So, Jenna, right?” Tori asked, Helen and Quinn having told her earlier.

“Yes, Jenna, not Linda,” Jenna said. “Come up stairs.”

“Now?” Tori asked.

“There’s something I need to do.”


Helen sent out Quinn to find Linda/Jenna. “Where did Tori go?” she asked Tiffany.

“Upstairs,” Tiffany answered. “Linda is Jenna again, apparently.”

“Right,” Quinn said.


Upon going upstairs she heard something from the bathroom. “What is going on in there?”

She entered the bathroom to find Tori using clippers on Jenna’s head, giving her a buzz cut. “Tori?”

“A few moments and it will be done,” Tori said as she removed some hair.

“Sure,” Quinn said.


It was less than a minute before Jenna looked at herself in the mirror. The shoulder length hair she had grown before deciding to find the Morgendorffers was gone. She saw a youngish woman who needed help. More than Helen Morgendorffer and her daughters could give her. She broke down in tears. “Thank you,” she said to Tori.

“You’re welcome,” Tori said.

“We better get down there,” Quinn said, gently.

Jenna blinked back her tears. “I’m ready.”


Quinn led Tori and Jenna into the Dining Room.

“I know I’m not Linda,” Jenna said.

“So, you admit it?” Helen asked.

“Yes, one reason why I did this,” Jenna said, running her hand over her now rather short hair.

“I knew I’d reach you in some way,” Paula said.

“Huh?” Daria asked.

“She usually had her hair quite short,” Paula answered.

“I see,” Helen said.

“And so, I’ll be leaving Lawndale,” Jenna said.

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to impose on you too much longer,” Jenna said sadly. “I’ll leave tomorrow,”

“But what about the legal implications?” Daria asked.

“I won’t press matters,” Helen said.

“That I took Linda’s identity. I apologise for that,” Jenna said.

“Apology accepted,” Helen said.


There wasn’t much more to talk about. It was agreed that Jenna would leave in the morning. Then Fields and Paula left, to come back in the morning,

Tori, Stacy and Tiffany then left to go home afterwards.

“What do you think of that situation?” Stacy asked Tori.

“Quite unusual,” Tori said. “I hope it’s rare.”

“Me too,” Stacy said with more than her usual nervousness. “That someone may not be who they say they are, it’s frightening.”

“I suppose that if it happens again, you can go to Mrs. Morgendorffer about it,” Tori said.

Stacy perked up a bit. “True.”

 

Part 7
Quinn heard a knock at the bedroom door. Just as well she wasn’t doing something SpiderGirl related. She opened it and found Jenna holding a hairbrush. “Jenna?”

“Quinn. I’m not going to need this anymore,” Jenna said, waving the hairbrush.

“Oh. What about Mom or Daria?”

“I thought you would appreciate it more.”

Quinn took the brush. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. “But I already have a lot of brushes.”

“Oh.”

“But I think I know someone who doesn’t have many.”

“That’s fine,” Jenna said.

But Quinn could tell that she was disappointed. “But, I could keep it.”

“You don’t have to,” Jenna said in a reassuring tone.

Quinn nodded with a smile. She decided to change the topic. “So, there’s a reason you did all this?”

“Lots of reasons,” Jenna said. “My life hasn’t been that great. I didn’t have friends at school, and I fell into the wrong crowd at College. Ended up abusing various substances, not just alcohol, and got into a few bad relationships…”

“You don’t need to say more,” Quinn said, after Jenna trailed off and was quiet.

“And I lost various family members. Which is another reason I came in here.”

“I have Mom, Daria and Stacy, Tiffany, and now Tori,” Quinn said.

“And that’s good. But you probably need more help.”

“I’ll think about that.”

“A good idea,” Jenna said. She then said good night and left the room.

Quinn then went back to what she was working on.


SpiderGirl emerged from the side bedroom window in the early hours. She then walked on the roof and sat above the spare room. She could hear sounds coming from below. Jenna was still having nightmares. But then she also was having nightmares. There were many nights when she had awoken from reliving that moment when her father became still on the side of the road beside his car. She shook her head and focused on listening to Lawndale.


She soon heard sirens near the Giant Strawberry. She headed in that direction.


Peterson saw SpiderGirl arrive. “I knew you would be here,” she said.

“What do you have?” she asked.

“Overdose,” Peterson said. “A friend called it in, said that the person was tripping and wanted to climb the Strawberry. Unfortunately, the ambulance wasn’t able to make it in time.”


SpiderGirl was annoyed. It was something she saw occasionally on the news in Highland, but not yet in Lawndale. “I’ll get all the dealers!” she declared.

“I’m afraid that more would come,” Peterson said in a tone of defeat.

SpiderGirl knew that tone from those Highland news reports. She approached the victim. “Not again!” she said. “Lawndale will be CLEAN!”

“Simply saying that won’t help,” Peterson said. “I know you averted a deal yesterday, but you can’t be everywhere.”

“I know,” SpiderGirl said quietly. “But I’ll try.”


Peterson watched as the metahuman vigilante swung away. She hoped that she would be able to make some difference. She didn’t want Lawndale to get worse, although she knew that it would before things got better.


SpiderGirl patrolled various parts of Lawndale until the pre-dawn glow appeared in the eastern sky.


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Friday December 15, 2000
Mayor Promises No Tolerance of Crime

Quinn couldn’t get back to sleep. The image of the dead addict was now prominent in her mind, although it wasn’t any where near as prominent as her father saying ‘With great power comes great responsibility’.

As soon as the alarm went off she jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom.


“Oh, has Jenna been keeping you awake?” Daria asked when she came out.

“A little,” Quinn said. “I do have nightmares, sometimes,” she admitted quietly.

“Me too,” Daria said. “Obviously not like yours. I miss Dad a lot.”

The two sisters then hugged. It more being Quinn throwing her hands around the other than the two actually hugging.

Daria didn’t fight it

“Thanks,” Quinn said as she released her sister from the hug.


Jenna was already ready to leave when the two sisters came down. “Thanks for having me,” she said to Helen.

“You can give me a call when you get back,” Helen said.

“I shall,” Jenna said as she hugged Helen. She waved to Daria and Quinn and then left.


“Constant change,” Quinn mused as she left the house with Daria.

“That’s life,” Daria said.

“This time last week, I wouldn’t have expected that I would dissolve the Fashion Club.”

“Wasn’t that Stacy and Tiffany as well?” Daria asked.

“Yes. But I had hoped that Sandi and I would still be friends.”

“Quinn, she has seen you change due to grief and she’s not sure what to make of it. It says a lot about the other two that they have stuck with you.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Now there’s Tori, although I don’t know her well,” Quinn said.

“I’m sure that she’ll stick around. She may have a reputation for gossip, but I haven’t heard her disparage people much.”

“That’s true.”

“And I still have Jane,” Daria said.

“I’m sure she’ll stick around.”


The day at school was relatively normal. It seemed that Sandi had paused her rumormongering.


That evening, there was another call from the Gupty’s. “Hello,” Helen said.

“Lauren Gupty here.”

“I’ll put Quinn on.”

“Thanks.”


“Mrs. Gupty?” Quinn asked when she had grabbed the phone.

“Evening Quinn. Lester and I need to be out again tomorrow night.”

“I can be there,” Quinn responded.

“Thanks.”


Lawndale Sun-Herald
Saturday, December 16, 2000
Overdose victim found at Giant Strawberry


Quinn brought Jenna’s hairbrush with her to the Gupty’s. She was sure that Tricia would appreciate the gesture.


“That’s pretty,” Tricia said once Quinn took it out of her handbag.

“It belonged to a person who pretended to be an old friend of my mothers. Would you like it?”

“That person won’t mind?”

“I think she'd be happy knowing I gave it to someone with such pretty hair,” Quinn responded.

“Wait…”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ll keep it. Anyway, Tad and I finally have a Nintendo. Would you like to play?”

“I have played Mario Paint,” Quinn said.

“Sounds boring,” Tricia said.

“Not as boring as it sounds. Besides, Stacy has a PlayStation.”


After an hour or so playing Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tad and Tricia were tiring. “Time to get ready for bed.”

“Sure,” Tricia said as she turned the system off.


After leaving the Gupty’s later that night, SpiderGirl patrolled that part of Lawndale, hoping that she was making a difference. She owed Tad and Tricia, and others she babysat that much. ‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,’ she thought as she passed by that house again.