Spiders, Spinners, Symbiotes (NewJeans, ILLIT, IVE)

12: Down Came The Rain

minji was outraged.

all she was trying to do was protect her tiny, helpless girlfriend. hanni couldn't protect herself with just her suit! she'd be killed!

was it really so wrong to want to protect someone you love?

apparently yes.

"ugh. this sucks." minji sniffled. currently, she was walking through the streets of new york while invisible. she clutched her suit close to her body, making sure it was invisible too.

the empire state building became very important to her in her time as spider-shock. it's where she had her first fight with heeseo. it's here where she truly became a hero.

and it's here that her career as a hero would end.

she had a cardboard sign strapped to her back. on it were three, technically four, simple words.

"I QUIT
-SPIDER-SHOCK"

above the entrance to the building, minji gently laid her suit. then, she webbed it to the building, and webbed the sign right above it.

when she crawled away, her invisibility power lost its effect on the two items. she remained invisible, watching people react to the news of her retirement.

"how did that just appear there?!"

"she's quitting?"

"it's for the best. spinners forever."

minji sniffled one last time.

was she really saying goodbye to this part of her?

to hanni, to the spiders, to this entire era?

as she teared up again, she ripped her mask off the wall and stuffed it in her pocket. she wiped her eyes and crawled into a bathroom. she dropped down into an empty stall, and went visible again, walking out of the building like nothing happened.

—
hanni was in her now empty dorm. this dorm room was now a monument to everything she lost.

"the suit made you! without it, you'd be nothing!"

it was only empty because she failed to protect her roommate. now, her roommate was dead, and her clone had six arms, 18 fingers, and was barely human.

"the suit made you! without it, you'd be nothing!"

the entire spinneret project was such a failure. she was such a failure.

"the suit made you! without it, you'd be nothing!"

maybe minji was right. she wasn't a hero. she was just a regular person wearing a special suit. anyone could've been spinneret.

"the suit made you! without it, you'd be nothing!"

maybe someone else should've been spinneret.

"the suit made you! without it, you'd be nothing!"

if spinneret was someone else, would they be in the same situation as her? would they have lost all their friends?

—
hyein was conflicted. sure, hanni hadn't been an amazing friend to her as of late, but did that give her the right to drop her completely?

she was going through a lot already. she had literally broken up with minji about a minute before hyein dropped her.

"ugh." hyein groaned out. she got out her phone and texted leeseo.

hyein: LEE
hyein: SEO!
hyein: plz answer plz plz plz.

28 minutes later

hyein: GIRL PLEASE