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fardell2420. The Imitation Tempest
It was an ordinary lunch time in the Lawndale High cafeteria. As ordinary as a lunch time got at Lawndale High after the Groundhog Day Attack, anyway. Quinn Morgendorffer looked at the questionable contents of the servery. “What is that?” she asked.
“I think it’s turkey and vegetable,” Tori Jericho answered.
“But it looks liked they have been pureed together,” Quinn complained.
Tori shrugged. “There’s not much else.”
“No, there isn’t,” Quinn agreed as she began to fill her plate.
“But it’s wrong!”
Quinn turned and saw that it was Jamie White. “How is it wrong?” she asked.
“It’s looks like a pudding, which is a desert,” Jamie said.
“I suppose it does,” Tori said.
Quinn sat at their table and saw her sister, Daria, as well as Sandi Griffin sitting with a few seniors. “I guess Daria’s trying to speed up her investigation,” she said.
“She did say that she was worried that she wouldn’t’ get to them all before they graduate,” Tori said.
‘She’s has been looking more tired recently,’ she thought. ‘More evidence that she’s Dafoanairi.’
Daria took a bite from the pureed turkey-vegetable ‘soup’ (as that she supposed it was). “Ugh.”
“It is a little bland,” Sandi commented.
“But this isn’t what we’re talking about, is it?” One of the seniors, Holly Galway, asked.
“No,” Daria said. “More what has been going on in Lawndale since SpiderGirl appeared.”
“Where to start?” one of the others, Matt Green, asked.
“When she appeared,” Sandi said. “But you can start later if you want?”
“I’m sure you have heard it before,” the third, Margot Gillan, said dismissively.
“But I would like to know your perspective,” Daria said.
“That’s what the others said,” Holly said. “But I think you’ll find that most of us will agree.”
“That’s true,” Sandi said. “But everyone has offered a unique picture of how Lawndale has been changing.”
“I guess so,” Margot considered.
“Or you could start from Groundhog Day,” Daria said. “Or when SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon appeared in the Mall.”
“I was there in the Mall…” Margot again.
At the same time, Andrea Hecuba-Croft came up to where Brittany Taylor was sitting with her friends and fellow cheerleaders Donna Bolton and Angie Zammit.
“Andrea?” Donna asked.
“I’d like to talk to Brittany about something.”
“I’ll be finished soon,” Brittany said.
“Sure,” Andrea said. “I’ll be in the library.”
“What’s that about?” Angie asked.
“I can guess,” Donna said.
“You know how I’ve been changing?” Brittany asked.
“Like, how you’re getting tutoring from Daria and are involved in her play?” Angie asked.
“Yes,” Brittany answered. “Like, I also thought, that I could reconcile with her, as a friend,” she added, leaving out the fact that she was working with her as Ninja Talon.
“And how is that going?” Donna asked with curiosity.
“Slowly,” Brittany answered, with a quieter tone than usual.
Brittany found Andrea in the library.
“You found something that’s up?” she asked. “Something that you want Spidey and I to investigate?”
“Yes,” Andrea answered. “There was chatter last night, about Alchemax, they’re one of Oscorp’s rivals. More specifically, that they also have a presence in Lawndale.”
“So, investigate them too?”
“More that Oscorp is planning to steal something from them.”
“Do you have proof?” Brittany asked.
Andrea took a printout out of her backpack. “Here’s a printout of the forum thread in question.”
Brittany looked at it. “This isn’t much, but I’ll tell Spidey.”
“…And so I have seen Tempest twice, after what happened to Jane,” Margot concluded.
“Thanks for your time,” Daria said.
“We’re reaching a lot of overlaps,” Sandi said as they left the cafeteria.
“I know,” Daria said. “But I want to keep it up. I don’t want to miss anything.”
“But I also see that’s it’s adding to your exhaustion.”
“Along with everything else. Not that you have any more sleep than I do.”
“True, but I’m not involved in the Historia,” Sandi pointed out.
“Not yet,” Daria added with a slight smirk.
“I guess I’m still looking for something.”
After school, Quinn and Brittany met at the back of the Library before their respective tutoring sessions would start.
“Did something come up, Brit?” Quinn asked quietly, using a tone she usually used as SpiderGirl.
“Andrea found something online, about Oscorp. That they are planning to steal something from an Alchemax office in Lawndale.”
“Did she find about where it is in Lawndale?”
Britany handed over a printout. “It says that it’s in the northern business park, but there’s not much information beyond that.”
“I suppose I could find the office tonight, but this doesn’t really say when the Oscorp agents would strike.”
“That’s a good point.”
Quinn then heard something. “Looks like Daria and Anna are here already.”
Daria entered the library with Anna Coultard.
“I saw that you and Sandi were talking to three seniors.”
“At the current pace, I should get to all of them by the end of the school year.”
“There are times when I met SpiderGirl, other than two weeks ago,” Anna said.
“Really?”
“It was in December, just after Quinn had started mentoring us.”
“And you talked to her about it,” Daria surmised.
“Yes. She listened.”
“That’s what I have heard. She listens to those she crosses paths with.”
“Where are Ben and Gerald?” Quinn asked when she came up to where Anna was waiting.
“Ben was in the nurse’s office. He thinks Spring is coming early,” Anna answered. “I’m not sure about Gerald.”
“It’s still quite cold out yet,” Quinn said. “He probably thinks the chill is hay fever.”
“That’s probably it.”
Brittany came up to Daria. “The weekend was busy, but I did get some questions done.”
“Well, we did need to expose that interview,” Daria said.
“Of course.” Brittany said as she nodded. “It might be something I could write an essay on,” she added as she twirled a pigtail.
“That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure how O’Neill would take it.”
“You’re right.”
“But I’d like a look at the math questions,” Daria said.
Ben and Gerald arrived at the Library at the same time. “I thought you and Anna were joined at the hip,” Gerald said.
“No. We may be together but we aren’t ‘lovey-dovey.’ Besides, I had to go the nurse.”
“Still bothering her?”
“Hypochondria doesn’t just go away!” Ben said.
“I thought after that Copperhead…”
“No. But that was a shock,” Ben added as they came up to where Anna and Quinn were waiting.
“You want to talk about it?” Quinn asked with concern.
“He talks about it with me,” Anna said.
“And Mom has organized a therapist, after what happened,” Ben added. “But I haven’t had a session yet.”
Quinn thought about that for a moment. ‘Apparently it does take time.’
“So, what are we working on today?” Anna asked.
“The usual dramatic reading, but with some changes,” Quinn answered.
“What sort of changes?” Gerald asked warily.
“I’d like to see how you go reading the others interests,” Quinn said. “I’ll start with Anna’s folklore.”
“I knew you would change it up,” Ben said. “Then I’ll go for your drawing and design thing.”
“I do stargaze sometimes,” Anna said. “I’ll do a planet.”
Gerald sighed. “Something medical or biomechanical…”
Brittany and Daria finished their tutoring first. Brittany stopped outside the door of the library.
“You’re going to do more reading?” Daria asked.
“Something like that,” Brittany said. She was going to wait for Quinn.
Quinn noted that Gerald had shown slight improvement in his projection. ‘But he’s only had several sessions with the elocutionist. I’m sure these things take time.’
“And that’s why one should rest when they have the cold,” Gerald concluded.
“You did well,” Ben said.
“And you did too,” Quinn said. “I changed it up to see how you would handle going out of your comfort zone, in a schoolwork setting. Not like when we did that field trip.”
“It was a nice change,” Anna said. “I have read up on the Greek legends around Europa.”
“So, you wanted to know about the moon?” Quinn asked.
Anna nodded and stood up. “I heard that Cashman’s has had a new shipment today. All hush hush.”
“I had heard the same thing, from Tori, but she didn’t know much about it,” Quinn said.
Quinn reflected on what Anna had said as she watched her mentees leave.
“They seem to have come a long way,” Brittany said as she came over.
“Gerald has gained some confidence, Ben may still have hypochondria but he’s connecting with both Gerald and myself, and Anna’s growing in confidence as well.”
“Good to hear. Daria thinks I’m getting better at math. But it’s slow going.”
Quinn looked around. “That’s great!” She changed her tone. “I’m going to scope out the Alchemax place before sunset. Check the entrance and exit points.”
Brittany nodded. “I’ll patrol downtown.”
Ten minutes later, SpiderGirl approached the location. The Alchemax facility looked rather ordinary, much like any other office in the area. She noted that the front entrances were all marked. ‘But that’s obvious,’ she thought, as she swung around to one of the sides.
She found that the rear of the building was as expected too. ‘But there is plenty of places where Oscorp agents could hide,’ she thought as she looked at the rear alley between it and another building. Then her cell phone briefly rumbled.
‘What is it?’ she thought as she took it out. There was a text from Stacy.
OMG Quinn, you have to see what is at Cashman’s now!
SpiderGirl sighed. Stacy was still her excitable self despite everything that had happened.
On my way.
Quinn found Stacy in the Lawndale Mall’s Food Court, sipping a diet soda. “What is it, Stacy?” she asked after she had sat down.
“A new shipment of clothes has come in,” Stacy said.
“Really?” Quinn asked. “We haven’t really talked about clothes since the Club dissolved.”
“I know. We have been caught up with everything, including the Historia, and the superheroes…”
Quinn knew Stacy was going to ramble. “I know,” she said. “But what are these clothes?”
“The pattern SpiderGirl used in her suit,” Stacy answered.
Quinn was incredulous. She was sure that it wasn’t likely. “Like, SpiderGirl suits. That explains how the fake got her suit,” she said referring to the previous Friday when someone interviewed a fake SpiderGirl.
Stacy waved her hands as she usually did when something thought she was wrong. “No, No. It’s ordinary clothes, I’d like you to see.”
“So, someone was inspired by the way SpiderGirl designed her suit,” Quinn said, as she wondered whether she should be flattered or annoyed that her design was being used.
“I’m sure they’ll say that they were inspired,” Stacy said.
“Let’s have a look then.”
There was a larger than normal crowd in Cashmans as they arrived. Quinn and Stacy pushed their way through. “You’re right,” Quinn said. “They are certainly inspired.” None were the actual suit. More like various ordinary clothes that one would wear in the Spring. ‘But spring hasn’t started yet,’ Quinn thought. It was still quite cold out. “We need to find out more.”
“How?” Stacy asked.
“We’ll ask Theresa first.”
Theresa Thomas saw Quinn and Stacy come up to her counter at Junior Five.
“I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said.
“We’ve been busy with the Historia,” Stacy said.
“I have only been there once or twice,” Theresa admitted. “But I’m sure you’re not here to talk about that.”
“No,” Quinn said. “It’s because of the new line of herowear.”
“The SpiderGirl patterned clothes?” Theresa asked rhetorically. “I’m as surprised as you are. I only heard about it this morning, when I started work.”
Quinn thought about what Theresa said. ‘They hadn’t talked about it before today, or hadn’t told Theresa about it. But that doesn’t mean that Oscorp has anything to do with it.’
“So, we just need to look at them ourselves,” Stacy said to Quinn.
“That is what I suggest,” Theresa said.
They went back to the section where the new clothes were displayed. Up close, Quinn could see subtle differences between them and her actual design.
Stacy was also examining a shirt. “This seems to be of poor quality,” she said.
“Well, it was probably a rush job.”
“Like it was made in some sweatshop somewhere?”
“That is quite likely,” Quinn answered as she looked closer.
“Then we do need to know more!”
But Quinn wasn’t sure where to start. ‘I’ll have to talk to Daria, as well as Brit.’
It was an ordinary lunch time in the Lawndale High cafeteria. As ordinary as a lunch time got at Lawndale High after the Groundhog Day Attack, anyway. Quinn Morgendorffer looked at the questionable contents of the servery. “What is that?” she asked.
“I think it’s turkey and vegetable,” Tori Jericho answered.
“But it looks liked they have been pureed together,” Quinn complained.
Tori shrugged. “There’s not much else.”
“No, there isn’t,” Quinn agreed as she began to fill her plate.
“But it’s wrong!”
Quinn turned and saw that it was Jamie White. “How is it wrong?” she asked.
“It’s looks like a pudding, which is a desert,” Jamie said.
“I suppose it does,” Tori said.
Quinn sat at their table and saw her sister, Daria, as well as Sandi Griffin sitting with a few seniors. “I guess Daria’s trying to speed up her investigation,” she said.
“She did say that she was worried that she wouldn’t’ get to them all before they graduate,” Tori said.
‘She’s has been looking more tired recently,’ she thought. ‘More evidence that she’s Dafoanairi.’
Daria took a bite from the pureed turkey-vegetable ‘soup’ (as that she supposed it was). “Ugh.”
“It is a little bland,” Sandi commented.
“But this isn’t what we’re talking about, is it?” One of the seniors, Holly Galway, asked.
“No,” Daria said. “More what has been going on in Lawndale since SpiderGirl appeared.”
“Where to start?” one of the others, Matt Green, asked.
“When she appeared,” Sandi said. “But you can start later if you want?”
“I’m sure you have heard it before,” the third, Margot Gillan, said dismissively.
“But I would like to know your perspective,” Daria said.
“That’s what the others said,” Holly said. “But I think you’ll find that most of us will agree.”
“That’s true,” Sandi said. “But everyone has offered a unique picture of how Lawndale has been changing.”
“I guess so,” Margot considered.
“Or you could start from Groundhog Day,” Daria said. “Or when SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon appeared in the Mall.”
“I was there in the Mall…” Margot again.
At the same time, Andrea Hecuba-Croft came up to where Brittany Taylor was sitting with her friends and fellow cheerleaders Donna Bolton and Angie Zammit.
“Andrea?” Donna asked.
“I’d like to talk to Brittany about something.”
“I’ll be finished soon,” Brittany said.
“Sure,” Andrea said. “I’ll be in the library.”
“What’s that about?” Angie asked.
“I can guess,” Donna said.
“You know how I’ve been changing?” Brittany asked.
“Like, how you’re getting tutoring from Daria and are involved in her play?” Angie asked.
“Yes,” Brittany answered. “Like, I also thought, that I could reconcile with her, as a friend,” she added, leaving out the fact that she was working with her as Ninja Talon.
“And how is that going?” Donna asked with curiosity.
“Slowly,” Brittany answered, with a quieter tone than usual.
Brittany found Andrea in the library.
“You found something that’s up?” she asked. “Something that you want Spidey and I to investigate?”
“Yes,” Andrea answered. “There was chatter last night, about Alchemax, they’re one of Oscorp’s rivals. More specifically, that they also have a presence in Lawndale.”
“So, investigate them too?”
“More that Oscorp is planning to steal something from them.”
“Do you have proof?” Brittany asked.
Andrea took a printout out of her backpack. “Here’s a printout of the forum thread in question.”
Brittany looked at it. “This isn’t much, but I’ll tell Spidey.”
“…And so I have seen Tempest twice, after what happened to Jane,” Margot concluded.
“Thanks for your time,” Daria said.
“We’re reaching a lot of overlaps,” Sandi said as they left the cafeteria.
“I know,” Daria said. “But I want to keep it up. I don’t want to miss anything.”
“But I also see that’s it’s adding to your exhaustion.”
“Along with everything else. Not that you have any more sleep than I do.”
“True, but I’m not involved in the Historia,” Sandi pointed out.
“Not yet,” Daria added with a slight smirk.
“I guess I’m still looking for something.”
After school, Quinn and Brittany met at the back of the Library before their respective tutoring sessions would start.
“Did something come up, Brit?” Quinn asked quietly, using a tone she usually used as SpiderGirl.
“Andrea found something online, about Oscorp. That they are planning to steal something from an Alchemax office in Lawndale.”
“Did she find about where it is in Lawndale?”
Britany handed over a printout. “It says that it’s in the northern business park, but there’s not much information beyond that.”
“I suppose I could find the office tonight, but this doesn’t really say when the Oscorp agents would strike.”
“That’s a good point.”
Quinn then heard something. “Looks like Daria and Anna are here already.”
Daria entered the library with Anna Coultard.
“I saw that you and Sandi were talking to three seniors.”
“At the current pace, I should get to all of them by the end of the school year.”
“There are times when I met SpiderGirl, other than two weeks ago,” Anna said.
“Really?”
“It was in December, just after Quinn had started mentoring us.”
“And you talked to her about it,” Daria surmised.
“Yes. She listened.”
“That’s what I have heard. She listens to those she crosses paths with.”
“Where are Ben and Gerald?” Quinn asked when she came up to where Anna was waiting.
“Ben was in the nurse’s office. He thinks Spring is coming early,” Anna answered. “I’m not sure about Gerald.”
“It’s still quite cold out yet,” Quinn said. “He probably thinks the chill is hay fever.”
“That’s probably it.”
Brittany came up to Daria. “The weekend was busy, but I did get some questions done.”
“Well, we did need to expose that interview,” Daria said.
“Of course.” Brittany said as she nodded. “It might be something I could write an essay on,” she added as she twirled a pigtail.
“That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure how O’Neill would take it.”
“You’re right.”
“But I’d like a look at the math questions,” Daria said.
Ben and Gerald arrived at the Library at the same time. “I thought you and Anna were joined at the hip,” Gerald said.
“No. We may be together but we aren’t ‘lovey-dovey.’ Besides, I had to go the nurse.”
“Still bothering her?”
“Hypochondria doesn’t just go away!” Ben said.
“I thought after that Copperhead…”
“No. But that was a shock,” Ben added as they came up to where Anna and Quinn were waiting.
“You want to talk about it?” Quinn asked with concern.
“He talks about it with me,” Anna said.
“And Mom has organized a therapist, after what happened,” Ben added. “But I haven’t had a session yet.”
Quinn thought about that for a moment. ‘Apparently it does take time.’
“So, what are we working on today?” Anna asked.
“The usual dramatic reading, but with some changes,” Quinn answered.
“What sort of changes?” Gerald asked warily.
“I’d like to see how you go reading the others interests,” Quinn said. “I’ll start with Anna’s folklore.”
“I knew you would change it up,” Ben said. “Then I’ll go for your drawing and design thing.”
“I do stargaze sometimes,” Anna said. “I’ll do a planet.”
Gerald sighed. “Something medical or biomechanical…”
Brittany and Daria finished their tutoring first. Brittany stopped outside the door of the library.
“You’re going to do more reading?” Daria asked.
“Something like that,” Brittany said. She was going to wait for Quinn.
Quinn noted that Gerald had shown slight improvement in his projection. ‘But he’s only had several sessions with the elocutionist. I’m sure these things take time.’
“And that’s why one should rest when they have the cold,” Gerald concluded.
“You did well,” Ben said.
“And you did too,” Quinn said. “I changed it up to see how you would handle going out of your comfort zone, in a schoolwork setting. Not like when we did that field trip.”
“It was a nice change,” Anna said. “I have read up on the Greek legends around Europa.”
“So, you wanted to know about the moon?” Quinn asked.
Anna nodded and stood up. “I heard that Cashman’s has had a new shipment today. All hush hush.”
“I had heard the same thing, from Tori, but she didn’t know much about it,” Quinn said.
Quinn reflected on what Anna had said as she watched her mentees leave.
“They seem to have come a long way,” Brittany said as she came over.
“Gerald has gained some confidence, Ben may still have hypochondria but he’s connecting with both Gerald and myself, and Anna’s growing in confidence as well.”
“Good to hear. Daria thinks I’m getting better at math. But it’s slow going.”
Quinn looked around. “That’s great!” She changed her tone. “I’m going to scope out the Alchemax place before sunset. Check the entrance and exit points.”
Brittany nodded. “I’ll patrol downtown.”
Ten minutes later, SpiderGirl approached the location. The Alchemax facility looked rather ordinary, much like any other office in the area. She noted that the front entrances were all marked. ‘But that’s obvious,’ she thought, as she swung around to one of the sides.
She found that the rear of the building was as expected too. ‘But there is plenty of places where Oscorp agents could hide,’ she thought as she looked at the rear alley between it and another building. Then her cell phone briefly rumbled.
‘What is it?’ she thought as she took it out. There was a text from Stacy.
OMG Quinn, you have to see what is at Cashman’s now!
SpiderGirl sighed. Stacy was still her excitable self despite everything that had happened.
On my way.
Quinn found Stacy in the Lawndale Mall’s Food Court, sipping a diet soda. “What is it, Stacy?” she asked after she had sat down.
“A new shipment of clothes has come in,” Stacy said.
“Really?” Quinn asked. “We haven’t really talked about clothes since the Club dissolved.”
“I know. We have been caught up with everything, including the Historia, and the superheroes…”
Quinn knew Stacy was going to ramble. “I know,” she said. “But what are these clothes?”
“The pattern SpiderGirl used in her suit,” Stacy answered.
Quinn was incredulous. She was sure that it wasn’t likely. “Like, SpiderGirl suits. That explains how the fake got her suit,” she said referring to the previous Friday when someone interviewed a fake SpiderGirl.
Stacy waved her hands as she usually did when something thought she was wrong. “No, No. It’s ordinary clothes, I’d like you to see.”
“So, someone was inspired by the way SpiderGirl designed her suit,” Quinn said, as she wondered whether she should be flattered or annoyed that her design was being used.
“I’m sure they’ll say that they were inspired,” Stacy said.
“Let’s have a look then.”
There was a larger than normal crowd in Cashmans as they arrived. Quinn and Stacy pushed their way through. “You’re right,” Quinn said. “They are certainly inspired.” None were the actual suit. More like various ordinary clothes that one would wear in the Spring. ‘But spring hasn’t started yet,’ Quinn thought. It was still quite cold out. “We need to find out more.”
“How?” Stacy asked.
“We’ll ask Theresa first.”
Theresa Thomas saw Quinn and Stacy come up to her counter at Junior Five.
“I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said.
“We’ve been busy with the Historia,” Stacy said.
“I have only been there once or twice,” Theresa admitted. “But I’m sure you’re not here to talk about that.”
“No,” Quinn said. “It’s because of the new line of herowear.”
“The SpiderGirl patterned clothes?” Theresa asked rhetorically. “I’m as surprised as you are. I only heard about it this morning, when I started work.”
Quinn thought about what Theresa said. ‘They hadn’t talked about it before today, or hadn’t told Theresa about it. But that doesn’t mean that Oscorp has anything to do with it.’
“So, we just need to look at them ourselves,” Stacy said to Quinn.
“That is what I suggest,” Theresa said.
They went back to the section where the new clothes were displayed. Up close, Quinn could see subtle differences between them and her actual design.
Stacy was also examining a shirt. “This seems to be of poor quality,” she said.
“Well, it was probably a rush job.”
“Like it was made in some sweatshop somewhere?”
“That is quite likely,” Quinn answered as she looked closer.
“Then we do need to know more!”
But Quinn wasn’t sure where to start. ‘I’ll have to talk to Daria, as well as Brit.’
