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“Effective is good,” the Shadow said. “Lawndale needs all the help it can get. But I need to get going.”

“Of course.”

Philippa didn’t need to wait long before the Shadow returned. “I’m afraid, Daria and Sandi disappeared somewhere,” she said as she handed the spare grapple gun back.

“I knew it was a long shot anyway. Plenty of spaces for them to duck into,” the Shadow responded.

“Something happen?”

“I helped avert a mugging. But the fourth vigilante and the actual fifth also responded.”

“Did the fifth have a name? Or is that being hidden as well?” Philippa asked.

The Shadow considered Philippa’s question. ‘It will come out soon enough, even if the Enigma’s hasn’t.’ She thought some more. “Dafoanairi, but I would keep that to yourself for now.”

“Dafoanairi,” Philippa repeated before yawning. “Something to consider in the morning.”

“I’ll get you home.”

Daria and Sandi met back in front of the Oscorp office they were examining earlier. “That went well,” the latter said.

“Except the mugger got away.”

Sandi shrugged. “Burnout Girl got her stuff back.”

“You mean, Jennifer, right,” Daria said. “I’m not sure why she has that nickname.”

“Jennifer, of course.”

“Anyway, she’s in the play.”

“I see,” Sandi said.

“And I have now met the rest of the vigilantes. I still have no idea who they are.”

“Maybe if you spend more time with them.”

“Maybe, but I’ll continue as I have been,” Daria said as she peered into an office window.

As she and Philippa headed back towards Glen Oaks Lane, the Shadow considered her encounter with Dafoanairi. ‘She was quiet and was pitching her voice up. But I change my voice, SpiderGirl speaks confidently, Ninja Talon pitches hers down and the Enigma speaks blandly.’ No proof to identities there.

SpiderGirl emerged at the usual time. She reflected on the changes in herself and those around her. ‘Before I got bit by that spider and Daddy died, I wouldn’t have dreamed that I would be a superhero and helping to run a theatre at my young age.

A short while later, she heard something to the north and swung away.

Lawndale Sun-Herald
Sunday, February 18, 2001
Cafes in Cranberry Commons losing Customers

Jennifer Burns arrived at the Historia at 12:30. The previous night’s experience had had her jittery. More than Groundhog Day had. She went up to the counter.

“How may I serve you?” Stacy Rowe asked.

“Hamburger with coffee,” Jennifer responded quietly.

“Got it!” Stacy said.

“So, you’re in the play?” Stacy asked when she had passed the order on.

“As a stagehand,” Jennifer said. “I’m not cut out to be an actor.”

“You won’t know until you try.”

“Have you tried?”

“Yes,” Stacy admitted. “It’s much like when I’m behind the wheel. Exhilarating. As long as I don’t look at the audience.”

“I still don’t quite believe you street race.”

“It will start up again soon. I hope the vigilantes won’t get in the way.”

“They might,” Jennifer mused. “I’d inevitably look at the audience.”

“I try looking at the fellow actors or offstage.”

“I guess so.”

Quentin arrived at 1:00. ‘I’m sure Quinn said she’d be here.’ He entered the café and looked around. No Quinn. But he did see a girl with long auburn hair who he supposed was her sister eating with a girl with raven black hair and blue eyes.

“Hello, you’re one of the Morgendorffers?”

“Who’s asking?” Daria asked.

“Quentin Beck.”

“The new special effects person? Yes, I’m Daria, and that’s Jane.”

“Yo!” Jane said. “I’m involved in the set design.”

“Quinn says that you select the plays?”

“To put it succinctly yes. Quinn will be here soon, you can order some lunch while you’re waiting. The rehearsals won’t start for another hour and a half,” Daria said.

“I will do that,” Beck said.

Ninja Talon arrived on the top of the Historia, where SpiderGirl was waiting. “Ready for the play?” the latter asked.

“I am,” Ninja Talon answered. “But you’re worried about something?”

“Two things. First, Daria knows the identity of the Enigma. Second: I have hired the special effects artist.”

Ninja Talon thought about the first point. “How do you know?”

“Jane saw the note she had made and told us at Dinner,” SpiderGirl answered. “It’s on her wall, where she has been putting newspaper articles about me up.”

“Oh. It must be because she has been spending a lot of time with her.”

“That’s obvious. It’s making me even more wary of spending any amount of time with Dafoanairi. I don’t want her figuring out that I’m her sister that way.”

Ninja Talon still wasn’t sure that SpiderGirl was right about that. Dafoanairi didn’t remind her of Daria much. She decided to change the topic. “But the special effects person?”

“He was rather condescending when he saw that I was the one doing the interview. The others weren’t so much. They were more likely to believe that teens would be running a theatre.”

“And you think you made the wrong choice?”

“I rarely second-guess myself, Talon. It’s like an intuition, but not normal intuition. The Spider Sense isn’t tingling either. Something just seems off. Like, why would someone from Hollywood come to Lawndale?”

“I’m not sure, Spidey, but I’ll help you figure it out.”

“Thanks,” SpiderGirl said as she looked at her friend, and then around at the town. “Let’s go down.”