Marvel's Kid Arachnid: Vol 1

start a band

Harper impatiently tapped her foot as her gaze darted from Mrs. Wilson to the clock, then back at the teacher, who rambled on about some ‘mathematical bullshit’, as Harper would call it. Her things were already packed and she was ready to ditch school in favor of skating across New York.

The moment the ball rang, Harper jolted up and grabbed her back. She dashed to the door and pushed her way through her fellow students until she entered the crowded hallway. Brooklyn Visions was crazy loud, especially on Fridays. Swinging her bag over her shoulders, Harper turned the corner and shoved her way through another crowd. The most annoying thing was when people were talking in the middle of the hall when you had somewhere to be. And Harper definitely had somewhere to be. Or, more, with someone.

As she was putting one of her earbuds in, Harper saw a friend, Miles, waving at her from the corner of her eye. She waved back and shot a ‘what's good?’ to him and his friend. Ganke, if she was recalling correctly. At the end of the hall was room 208, the digital art classroom. Harper leaned on the doorway as she watched her friend pack her things and walk toward her, saying goodbye to the teacher as she walked.

“Hey, Tanya,” Harper said.

Tanya smiled, holding her art tablet against her chest. “Hey, Harps,” she said, “I've got something to show you.”

“Oh?” Harper raised a brow. She followed Tanya out the double doors and outside. Students were scattered across the front of the school, talking, waiting to be picked up, some doing homework. There was a long line of cars and suddenly Harper felt lucky she had to walk home. Traffic just made her tired and frustrated. But that was New York, wasn't it? A loud, brash, concrete jungle full of angry people in costumes and spider-guys.

“So yesterday I was walking by the Oscorp building-”

“Oscorp?” Harper asked. “How'd you even get over there without getting caught?”

“You know, I snuck around,” Tanya said with a chuckle. “That's not the point. I saw this amazing mural near the building, and I knew you'd love it. So we're going.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Harper softly laughed in return. “Maybe we can scope some walls to tag.”

“Sure, but I've gotta be home by five. You know my parents.”

“Yeah.”

Tanya led the way to the mural while Harper supplied the music. This wasn't the first time they had run off to see some street art- even if it was near the Oscorp Tower, they'd still go just to see something other than a billboard for Osborn or J. Jonah Jameson. For about a half hour they took in the sights and sounds of New York, cars honking, kids laughing, a video of Spider-Man on repeat on a TV display. Even if they were in the middle of it, Harper still felt far away.

But it wasn't everyday you got to snoop around the Oscorp Tower, so she'd take the opportunity. Graffiti was always worth it, at least to her, because she thought it was just so cool.

“Okay, Ms. Bahl,” Harper said, “Where are we going exactly? We've been walking for hours.” Tanya rolled her eyes.

“Dramatic,” she said playfully, as she looked at Harper. “We're almost there. Look.” She gestured to some paint on the wall past a gate. It was a bit hard to tell what it was, but they'd get a full picture soon enough.

Tanya tugged on Harper's hand and she followed without question. A bit of sneaking later, they got over the gate, away from the rich pricks and arrived at the mural. It was a collection of simple roses, but the color is what made it stand out. Small roses were strung across the bottom, so vibrant, they rivaled the sunset. A huge white rose was in the center, almost shining, like a pearl.

After a beat spent just staring at the wall, Harper said, “I think whoever made this likes roses.” She couldn't really think of anything else, other than the new inspiration in her mind. Tanya was already sketching on her tablet.

“Yeah,” she said, gazing down on the screen.

Harper kneeled in front of one of the roses, her eyes quickly passing over the lines, tracing her finger over the curves of the paint. “Wish I could paint like this,” she said, thinking out loud, “Just need a place to call my own.”

“I mean, you got your sketchbook,” Tanya said with a shrug.

“Yeah, I guess. Just doesn't feel like enough sometimes.”

“I know.”

Harper patted down her pockets, quickly panicking for a moment before realizing her phone was there the whole time. She opened the camera and raised it, taking a step back, trying to center the whole piece.

And then.

She let out a sharp wince and smacked the back of her hand. On the ground fell a spider, legs crumpled up like paper, with an odd blue hue to it.

Harper squinted as she tried to get a better look. She kneeled and poked the spider. It twitched. Tanya lowered her tablet and looked at Harper, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“Are you okay?” She asked, already making her way toward Harper and kneeling next to her.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” Harper lied. Not even a second later she grabbed her head with another wince. “Aw, damn,” she groaned, “My head hurts like hell.”

“I'll walk you home, Harper. Come on”

“No, I don't want you walking by yourself-”

“Harper, you're so fucking pale,” Tanya mumbled. Her eyes widened a bit and she grabbed Harper's shoulders to steady me as she stumbled. She wasn't going to make a big deal out of it unless her head split open or something, but Tanya thought otherwise. Harper stood up straight and shook her head, swaying to the side just a tad bit. Tanya caught her.

“Come on, we're going.” Tanya said, firmly.

-

The walk home was mostly a blur to Harper. She said goodbye to Tanya, went through the front door, and was greeted by her parents arguing about something. Harper didn't want to waste energy on making a bet with herself, like she usually did. Head fuzzy, body weak, knees like jelly, Harper fell into her bed and thought she was going to pass out.

And then she stayed up for three hours, tossing and turning…

Dreaming about spiders crawling into her mouth and making her choke, until she woke up with a gasp.