Unstoppable Spiderlings

Episode 7: A Shocking Proposition

It's been two whole days since the Scorpion encounter, which means two straight days of no sleep for the Aqua Spider. She has barely taken off her suit, only really needing to lift up her mask to eat (though, she hasn't really eaten much either). Her arms are numb from swinging all over Manhattan, and even across the other boroughs of New York to find any clue as to where Scorpion came from. All she knows is his real name - MacDonald Gargan - from his old coworkers. Apparently, he's always had a screw loose, but he didn't always have that Scorpion suit.

"He doesn't hate us specifically, so why would he try to power himself up just to take down a sales corporation? There has to be someone else - maybe they manipulated him into the change. I'm missing something big here, aren't I?" Aqua asks herself, letting out a giant yawn afterward. "And that poor woman..."

She sighs in distraught when she thinks about that person she couldn't save two days ago. Aqua sticks to the side of a building, halting her swing, and pinches the bridge of her nose with her fingers. That one was my fault, too... She presses her back to the wall and wraps her arms around herself as her body shivers from lack of sleep. Eyes drooping, she stares across the street where an old theater stands, reminding her of another tragic event. The victims just keep adding up, don't they?

She almost starts to tear up, but something strange catches her attention and pulls her mind out of the depressed state. A man is staring right at her from the doorway, narrowing his eyes behind his glasses, his mouth pressed into a thin line. Now, normally she wouldn't think anything of it - lots of people look at the Spiderlings and take pictures as they swing past the buildings - but this guy is giving her a weird feeling, almost like her spider sense is going off. She shakes the feeling away... but then he disappears behind the glass.

"What the...? No, I'm being way over dramatic." Aqua mumbles, about to turn around, but then goes with her gut instinct and continues, "I guess one look won't hurt anyone."

The blue and grey spider jumps down and swings across the street, landing right in front of the automatic doors to the theater. She walks inside, immediately greeted by some confused and surprised looks from the people waiting to buy their tickets. Two little boys break away from their mother and run up to her saying, "It's Aqua Spider! Can you take us swinging around the city? Pwease?!"

"Of course, but I don't think your mom would like that very much," Aqua responds with a wink, crouching down to their height.

"Mama, can we please go swinging with her? We want to! Please, please, please!" the boys yell while jumping back over to their parent.

The mother looks from her kids to the spider, giving her a wary smile. "She looks really busy right now, probably chasing bad guys. I don't think she has time to take you boys."

"But she said-" "Yeah she said she can!" "And I want to beat up villains, too!" "Yeah, I want to face the Jackal!" "I want to beat up Kraven!"

"Thankfully, they're all taken care of. They are facing severe prison charges right now, and hopefully it stays that way," Aqua responds, walking up to the mother in reassurance. "Now, you better get to your movie before the previews end."

"Um, actually..." the mother says, lowering her voice. She gives the kids money to buy some treats and popcorn, but she stays behind. Aqua notices the genuine worry in her eyes as she continues, "My husband never came home from work two days ago... I can't help but feel there is a strong connection with him to the Scorpion somehow."

"He doesn't happen to work for International Sales and Law Reps. does he?" she asks nervously.

"No, he isn't a telemarketer, he's a scientist. For the past year he got a huge raise, but wouldn't tell me why. Ever since then, he stopped talking about work and what he was inventing. It all became normal to me, but it's not right. His disappearance... his secrets... I don't know what to think. You fought that Scorpion guy, and then I lost my husband for two days? Would you mind looking into it?" the woman asks.