The After Party

"Must be that spider-DNA, kid, you're healing faster than most people do," the doctor said to me as he looked over my torso and then at my chart, almost as if in embarrassment. Granted, he was looking at a rather attractive sixteen year old girl, and he was old enough to be my father, so he could very well have thought this somewhat inappropriate. "Three days and you're ready to head back out there."

I slipped my shirt back over my head. It stung a little, but that was because I was just mostly healed, not completely. I was happy to know that I could leave. "Nothing broken in there, or anything?"

"Just your hymen."

My eyes widened in shock. "My... uh... my what?"

He gently laughed. "Sorry, kid, just a little joke. I assume you're still a virgin."

I giggled nervously. "I... um... Yeah. So, uh, you're not a Harpie, are you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

"Sorry. The last couple days, I've just been laying in bed with my phone, reading stuff online. People on message boards have taken to calling members of HARP 'Harpies'."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh. Those people. No, Ms. Harkins, I'm not a member of HARP. That dishonor belongs to my daughter. She lives in Pine Ridge."

"Oh. Was she a part of that little demonstration yesterday, when HARP kidnapped those three Chosen?"

He shrugged. "Probably. She and I haven't actually spoken since she joined that group of whackos. You have any family with them?"

I shrugged. "If I do, it's family I haven't spoken to in forever."

"Good. It'd make for an awkward family reunion."

I sighed. "This whole week is gonna make awkward family reunions. First, I'm tortured by a guy with a purple fetish, then I accidentally out myself as a super hero, there's a multitude of deaths, including one of my best friends, and last but not least, it's almost like all the Chosen are taking sides, now."

I turned and looked out the window, at Larsen City beyond, and sighed. How long would it take before this place wasn't just a gang battlefield, but a super battlefield? Thank you, HealAll. I wonder if you even realize the shitstorm you're about to unleash.

I turned back to the doctor and gave him a smile. "So, I'm all ready to go home, and everything?"

He nodded. "You are ready. Though, I'd suggest against any unnecessary swinging for the next couple of days, until you're completely healed."

I nodded. "I see what I can do. I don't exactly have a car, so swinging around on my webs is really the only form of transportation I have aside from my feet."

He patted my knee. "Use the feet a little bit more."

I smiled again.

***

And then I was frowning. "You fired me?!" I asked Mr. Brindleson as soon as I got to the Brigade. "You fired me?"

He looked like he was about to pass out from exertion. "Only temporarily."

"Temporarily?! From where I'm standing, I get violated on the job, so the job just fires me for no reason!"

"Look, kid, your mom needed a little extra while you were in the hospital, and your severance pay covered it, so I temporarily fired you and handed your mom the check to pay the bills for a couple days. You ready to come back, or no?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to come back!"

"Then get your ass out there, grab Adamsen and get to work! The pictures don't take themselves, the articles don't write themselves, and you two are on the clock!"

I smiled. Everything was getting back to normal.

***

"Get that Power outta here!" one of the cops shouted as we drove past them. Ms. Adamsen gave me a sympathetic smile. Clearly, getting forced to go public didn't do me any favors.

"When did Power become a derogatory term for super hero?" Ms. Adamsen asked.

"I guess when HARP turned into a nationwide movement against people like me."

"Hey, just between us, you ever meet that one from Pine Ridge? Probe Tech, or whatever his name is?"

"Pro-Tech," I corrected, "and, no, I haven't. I read about him online. There's people talking it up about him all over the internet. And, I guess there were a couple of new Chosen over in Glassview City a couple days ago, too. It's amazing how much you miss when you're recuperating in a hospital after a maniac slashes you to bits."

"And did you get any good internet press?"

I sighed. "'Arachnya: Has She Put On Weight Since Being Hospitalized?'" Ms. Adamsen started giggling. "Stop! My costume's so tight, I need to keep a certain weight!"

"Well, sweetie, if the only thing you have to worry about is a few HARP goons shouting at you and some online gossip about your weight, your life probably hasn't changed much since being forced to come out as a super hero."

I smiled. "Well, now the Harpies actually know who I am, as opposed to before, when they just shouted at me when I was in costume."

She raised an eyebrow. "Harpies?"

"HARP goons."

"Harpies?"

"I read it on the internet."

"Oh. Grab your camera, hotshot, we're here."

Ms. Adamsen stopped the car right beside a group of cop cars and we both got out, walking around the police barricades to enter the building. Captain Montoya was busy talking to some of the witnesses as we got to the third floor. I snapped a few pictures, while Ms. Adamsen walked up to Captain Montoya.

"It always amazes me how the Brigade just chooses to show up, instead of waiting for us to issue a press release, like most papers," Captain Montoya said, shaking Ms. Adamsen's hand.

"It's what makes us East City's best selling newspaper, Captain. What's the deal here, anyway?"

She sighed. "From the looks of things, double homicide. Looks like HARP was behind it, too."

I rolled my eyes. They were really getting to be a threat. I turned around to take some pictures of the other side of the room when a cop stepped in front of me and shoved me against the wall. "Hey!" I shouted.

"It's because of you that these people are dead, Power."

"But I didn't do this!"

"Sergeant!" Captain Montoya shouted at the cop. "What's going on here?"

"Captain, I think this Power should be removed from the premises. She's only making the situation outside worse."

Captain Montoya looked at me, then at the cop. "She stays. She's with the Brigade. If I kicked her out, I'd have to do the same thing to Ms. Adamsen, and that would be extremely bad for the department."

He turned away from me. "It's because of her that HARP has gone out of control, ma'am!"

Captain Montoya shook her head. "No, it's because of the Joker. Ms. Harkins was just an unfortunate victim that didn't ask to be put in the public spotlight. And I'll kindly ask you not to use the term Power when speaking about a family friend."

"Captain!"

She held up her hand. "Sergeant, either accept that Ms. Harkins is here to do her job, or yours finds itself subject to extreme jeopardy."

He was staring her down. I don't think I've ever seen somebody glare at someone else that intensely. I was almost afraid for Captain Montoya, until he turned and walked back to the barricade by the stairs. I felt relieved. That guy was scaring me. I turned to Captain Montoya and said, "Thank you so much."

She patted me on the shoulder. "Hey, you deserve a lot of credit for handling the situation the way you did."

"You mean yelling at him?"

"Not that situation. I saw that press conference you had the other day. You handled that very adult-like. Your friend and your dad would both be proud."

I smiled. "I hope so."

***

Sergeant Clancy Grunburg of the East City Police Department watched as the captain talked with both the reporter and the Power, like they deserved to know what the police knew about the crime scene. He wanted to take his gun out and shoot the Power, but that would most certainly get his ass kicked off the Force, and he couldn't let that happen. He was already a little nervous that his fingerprints might be found on the crime scene, seeing as he was the one who'd committed the murder.

Of course, since they were both Powers, he didn't exactly consider his actions murder. He considered his actions necessary, and very much a service to mankind. The Powers didn't need to exist, and he was one of many such people doing HARP's good work across the nation.

Clancy unlocked his apartment door and set his jacket down on the half wall between the kitchen and the door. He walked over to the fridge, pulled out a beer, walked over to his comfortable chair in front of the TV, popped the top, and turned on the TV. As usual, there was little on aside from the infomercials, but that happened at three o'clock in the morning.

He heard his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the number of his alcoholics anonymous sponsor. He hit the ignore button and set the phone on the table beside his comfortable chair. He hadn't spoken to his sponsor for some time, ever since he first saw the Powers showing up in the city. She hadn't wanted him to join HARP, but he knew it was his duty. He swore an oath to protect and serve, and that meant keeping the Powers from doing what they do, and keeping them from taking over.

His phone buzzed again. He picked it up and saw this time that his caller was the station. He pressed answer, this time. "Sergeant Grunburg."

"Sergeant, this is Captain Montoya. I'd like to see you in my office as soon as possible."

"Ma'am, I'm a little intoxicated at the moment. Can this wait until morning?"

"Now, Sergeant. I already called you a cab." With that, she hung up, and Clancy was concerned.

***

Clancy walked into the captain's office and was immediately greeted by a look of contempt. She scowled at him from behind her desk and then stood, very slowly. "Sergeant Grunburg, I'm going to have to ask you to hand in your badge and your firearm."

He narrowed his eyes. "What?"

She tapped at a file folder on her desk. "You've been a regular attendee at HARP meetings the past two months. Or, at least until they stopped sending us their attendance rosters when they finally started breaking the law."

"Ma'am, my being a member of HARP has, in no way conflicted with my oath as an officer of the law."

She slid the first file to the side and tapped on another. "And your fingerprints were all over that crime scene today, including on the murder victims. From the looks of the autopsy report, you strangled them with your own hands."

Clancy grit his teeth. "And?"

"Grunburg, that's Murder One, and you're not even denyin' it! Why would you kill two innocent people like that?"

He stepped forward. "Innocent? They were Powers, and I dealt with them, like a good cop. That's what we should be doing, not helping the Powers get away with whatever the hell it is they want to get away with!"

Captain Montoya stood up. "You better cool it, Grunburg. The one you personally assaulted at the scene of your own crime happens to be the daughter of the Late Captain Henry Harkins."

"Just because her father was a cop doesn't make her any more special than the rest of the Powers. She's just as much of a monster as they are!"

"I happen to know Ms. Harkins very well, so I'd suggest you hold your tongue before you say something that'll land your ass in a much deeper jail that you're already going to."

"You can't arrest me for hating the Powers, captain."

She smirked. "No. But I can arrest you for killing two of them."

***

I woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. I hauled my still somewhat achy ass out of bed and found that Mom was gone. There was a note on the fridge that read Charlie, I'll be back at noon, please babysit your brother until then. I just shrugged and went to check to see who was at the door. I looked through the peephole and saw Ms. Adamsen looking extremely impatient. I unlocked and opened the door and asked her to come inside.

"Why don't you answer your phone, kiddo?" she asked.

"Well, it was my first night home from the hospital, I kinda wanted to sleep on a normal bed, so... y'know. I put my phone on vibrate. What is it?"

She handed me a newspaper. "Read this, kid."

The picture on the front was the mugshot of the cop that had hassled me the day before. Officer Clancy Grunburg was his name, HARP was his game, apparently. Not only that, but he had been the murderer of the two Chosen that we'd seen the crime scene of!

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

"No kidding!"

"I wonder if he was the only member of Harpie in the ECPD."

Ms. Adamsen shrugged. "I dunno. Coulda been, but I doubt it. I bet you guys are gonna have to deal with quite a few police Harpies from here on in."

I groaned. "Gee, I'm sure that's gonna be fun."

She smirked. "So, what say we put in an early day at work?"

I shook my head. "Can't. I've gotta babysit my baby brother. After that, I plan on spending some time swinging around."

"Still in costume, I hope."

"Well, yeah, even though I don't need to. It's a super hero thing."

***

As it turned out, I couldn't wear all of my costume. My mom had taken all but my mask downstairs to the laundry room, and they wouldn't be clean for a couple hours. So, instead, I improvised. A gray tee-shirt with a circular Deadpool face on the front, holey blue jeans and sandals, along with my mask. I looked outrageously goofy.

I swung by one of a dozen skyscrapers that all looked the same and landed on the roof of a building across the street from a Burger King and almost laughed. There appeared to be two guys robbing a Burger King. Matter of fact, I did laugh. I swung downward, landing on the sidewalk, and then walked into the resturaunt.

Neither one of them had noticed me as I walked inside. They were too busy getting all the money out of the registers. I walked up to the closest one and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and attempted to shoot me, but thanks to my spider-sense, I managed to dodge his bullet in a flash. I grabbed his arm and forced the gun out of his hands. "Y'know, it used to be that a girl could walk into a fast food joint, grab a Big King, and then be happy for the rest of the day." I punched the one I was holding the arm of and knocked him unconscious. "Now, c'mon, make my day a little easier, and just give up."

The other one had turned around by then, and he looked like he was going to burst into laughing tears. "You're that Arachnya girl, right? Harkers, or somethin' like that?"

I sighed. "Harkins, but, yeah, I'm Arachnya." I motioned toward my clothes. "Not that you could really tell, though. Sorry about that, but my mom's washing the rest of my costume."

"Damn, girl, you're pretty hot even in baggy clothes!"

I sighed again. "Thanks, but, this'd really go a lot easier if you just give up now. Seriously, you're robbing a frickin' Burger King, that can't be something you wanna do for the rest of your life."

He raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean?"

I took my chance while he was completely off guard, because we were having a calm chat, and webbed him up. I apologized to everybody in the Burger King, mostly getting cheers and thank yous (only the occasional "Shut up, you stupid Power!") and I grabbed the two geniuses and carried them outside, where I proceeded to web them to a street light. I then climbed said street light and continued my little chat with the one idiot. "See? This is what I mean. You'll just end up here a thousand friggin' times, probably with me webbing your ass to the lamp post each time. Do you really wanna do that? Is this really the best life you can imagine? Ripping off Burger Kings? McDonalds and Wendys at least make more money."

"Look, girl, it's kinda tough out there for guys like me. I ain't got no super powers, and none of my friends is rich!"

I laughed. "You think I've got rich friends? I only know one rich guy, and he's an a-hole. Even so, the whole super powers thing isn't exactly all that great. I took one wrong turn, landed in the hospital and ended up outing myself. Why does everybody think this whole super hero thing is fun and games? Swinging around takes a lot of arm strength. Try climbing a rock wall a few times, then you'll understand how swinging through a city feels. Then comes the super villain fights, when I've got to do more than simply beat the poop out of a couple goons trying to rob a Burger King. There's some big guys out there, with super powers, who want to kick my ass every now and again, and I have to deal with that. Those guys aren't easy to take down, and I've had to do it on an almost daily basis, it sucks. Then I've got the Harpies to deal with, and that - "

"Harpies?"

"Yeah, members of HARP. I read it on the internet."

"Hey, girl, I understand you. It sounds like it's even more tough for you, seein' as you've gotta deal with them super villains. Bet you never know when your next meal is, or anything."

I looked down at my dangling feet. "Well, no. I always know when I'm gonna eat, and all."

"See! See! Girl, you ain't got nothin' to deal with!"

I sighed. "Well, my food situation is dealt with by the fact that I have a job! Maybe you should go out and get one!"

"C'mon, girl, way the economy is now? I ain't gonna get no job!"

"So try! Even before I got my powers, I was getting ready to get a job. It just happened that I became a spider-powered girl before that could happen. You need to get a job. You'll be a much happier person when you get a job, and then you won't have to hold up fast food joints just for money which would probably be used at fast food joints!"

He sighed, this time. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But where the hell am I gonna get a job?"

"What's your skill set?"

"Chemical engineering."

He couldn't see it under my mask, but I had the most confused face I could possibly have. "Chemical engineering? You're a goddamn chemical engineer, and here you are, holding up a Burger King?! What the hell?!"

"I got out of Yale, and then there wasn't no work, so I went from dead end job to dead end job, til finally, I got fired from my last dead end job a couple days ago."

"What was that?"

"This Burger King."

I facepalmed. I didn't want to believe something so stupid could be true. A chemical engineer, working in a Burger King, getting fired from said Burger King, and then robbing said Burger King. It sounded so stupid. "Well... I can't actually say anything to that. Hopefully you find something worthwhile on work release." I stood up and shot out a webline as soon as the cops showed up. I swung past and made my way toward work.

***

Clancy sat in a cell, next to the rest of his HARP family, and cursed whichever beat officer would walk past them at any given time. He spoke to the four that inhabited the cell with him. Mr. Scott he recognized, he had been the leader at all the meetings up until he and the rest of his team were arrested for trying to stop that Arachnya movie from being produced. Harmony Sprite he also recognized, as she had murdered Captain Harkins and tried to implicate Arachnya in the murder. He wished that her attempt had succeeded, even though he hadn't wished Captain Harkins dead.

Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Jenkins, on the other hand, were complete strangers to him. He vaguely remembered seeing them at meetings, but that was all. He didn't care, they were brothers to him. More so than the East City Police Department had been, despite the oath they had all taken and the badges they all wore. He felt betrayed in a way, but he also knew that being released from the police department meant that he was free to do whatever it was HARP asked him to do.

Like he was about to do now.

He reached into his mouth and forced himself to vomit onto the floor. He retrieved the key and the syringe from the sack that he'd swallowed and walked back over to the cell door. He made sure none of his former fellow officers were anywhere nearby. After that, he unlocked the cell and motioned for his four fellow inmates to follow him.

"Here," he said, sticking the syringe in Harmony's arm. "Courtesy of someone who says they know you."

"What is it?"

"It'll activate your powers again."

"What?" Mr. Scott said, stepping between them. "She's a Power!"

Clancy looked over at him. "I know, but the one who gave me my instructions said to get her out and give her her powers back. I don't know why, and believe me, I'm as apprehensive as you."

Harmony's eyes glowed a white orange, and then she smiled. "Don't worry, boys, I'm one of the good Powers." She raised her hand toward the door at the end of the hallway and a fireball burst forth from her palm. The door exploded outward, directly into the detective's room. Six cops all drew their weapons and set to work shooting at the blonde woman in front of them, but most of them failed.

Clancy walked toward the only other occupied cell and unlocked it. He looked in at the three occupants, a man and two women, and nodded at them. The man seemed to understand what was going on, while the woman who had hair swore at him in Russian. Or, well, Clancy assumed it was Russian. It sounded like that language.

He walked back over to the rest of the HARP members and followed Harmony's assault out of the building, into the unmarked black van that was already waiting for them outside. He smiled as he slammed the back door of the van shut. He was home free.

***

Boy, was I surprised to find that while I was gone, they moved the photography department out of its little closet onto the main floor. Timmy and I had our own desks with the rest of the reporters, now. Made me feel a little special.

At least until I finished with my work and found I had nothing left to do except spin around in my chair. Which was what I was doing when the Brigade's oldest reporter, Carter West, walked up to me and dropped a stack of pictures on my desk. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"These need filed."

I shrugged. I wasn't exactly the file clerk, but I didn't have anything else to do. I leaned over and opened my file cabinet. "Um, which file?"

"It's all the way in the back. June fifteenth, nineteen ninety-eight."

I rifled through the files and found the one he was looking for. I pulled it out and saw that there were dozens of photos already in the file. "I don't know if I can fit these in here."

"Charlie, look at the pictures."

Wow, he knew my name. Granted, most people knew my name, let alone most people here at the Brigade, considering almost everybody took a shine to me as soon as I started working here, but Mr. West hadn't said two words to me since my first day. I picked up the pictures that he placed on my desk and something. Just. Didn't. Add up.

Tim was in the pictures. "What's up with these?"

"I found those in my personal files. Now, am I wrong, or isn't that around the time you were born?"

"It was, yeah, but, what's with Timmy being in them?"

"I don't know, kid. You'll have to ask your boyfriend yourself."

I looked down at the photos again, and scratched my head.

***

I gathered up some of my stuff as soon as Ms. Adamsen walked up to my desk. "So, anything special planned with the boyfriend tonight?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. I just wanna swing by his house and show him some pictures."

"Ah. And by swing, you mean..."

"Hey, I can actually mean swing, now. I don't have to hide from everybody." I giggled. "Much as I hate the fact that everybody in my life is a target, should some uber-villain decide I'm big threat, I love the fact that I'm free to be me. Kinda like Peter Parker in that one scene in Spider-Man 3, except that he was being really stupid in that scene, because nobody knew who he was and yet, there he was, swinging through the city streets so obviously."

She patted me on the shoulder. "Kiddo, I'm not a comic book nerd like you, okay?"

I shrugged. "I know. Well, I'm heading over to the boyfriend's place. I'll see ya tomorrow."

She held up a hand to stop me, then reached into my desk drawer. "You forgot this." In her hand she held my mask. I wanted to punch myself.

***

Clancy opened the back doors of the van as soon as they reached their destination, and was immediately greeted by an elderly man with leg braces holding a gun on him. The only one in the van who didn't look surprised was Harmony, who stood there with a smile on her face. What the hell is up with her?

His mental question was answered not with words, but with a bullet in his chest. He looked down and saw blood seeping from the hole in his chest, then he looked back up at the man with the leg braces. He'd suddenly been joined by another man and a young girl, about seventeen.

The second man turned to the girl. "Remember what I taught you, Korra. Take his mind, store it, and then release it. Officer Grunburg will be quite useful." The girl nodded to him, then walked toward Clancy and placed her hand on his forehead. He felt a very sharp shock, like the kind you suffer from static electricity, only a thousand times more amplified and localized directly on his brain.

And then Clancy Grunburg was no more.

***

I felt my spider-sense tingle just as I landed on a stop light on fifty-fourth and Honduras (yes, believe it or not, there's a street here in East City called Honduras. I didn't believe it either, until my dad drove me past there one time when we were on our way to a ballgame). I looked around, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

At least until a 1997 Buick almost hit my square in the face.

I jumped up, used some webbing to keep the car from landing on any friendly people, who were all probably secretly members of HARP, or something, and then landed on the underside of the car, which was now suspended above a Rav4 that I just could not stand the color of. I looked in the direction the car had come from and saw one of those robots like the one I'd broken to pieces back in the first days. It stalked towards me, and then it was suddenly joined by a second, then a third, then a fourth. Woo, boy. I was about to have my work cut out for me.

"I would honestly like it if everybody ran!" I shouted to the people who appeared to be frozen in their cars. I springboarded from car to car, making my way toward the robots, and shot several web balls at their feet. I leaped onto the closest one and looked around for something that looked either important or wire-y, and instead found a simple word.

HARP.

Great. So the Harpies were behind these robots. That's just plain fan-damn-tastic. I was about to twist the head around manually, but the robot did it on its own, so I simply punched it in the optic sensor, causing it to fall over in a please take me up the ass position. I assumed this one was out of commission and made my way to the next one.

The next one was already free of the webbing I'd nailed its feet to the ground with, and was busy picking up the nearest car, which it proceeded to throw at me. I dodged the wayward Dodge (heh heh, get it?), which did part of my job for me by landing on one of the other robots. Yippie for accidents! I landed on the robot's stomach, then I started crawling around it while covering it with webbing.

This, of course, was also a good thing, because the final robot had freed itself of my initial webbing and was charging toward me, ready to punch me in the face and probably take my head off in the process. Lucky me, because it hit its friend by mistake, knocking its head clean off. I rolled off of that robot as it fell to the ground and shot two straight webs at the final one, pulling it down to the ground. I then held it down with my knee (thank God for spider-strength, whatever the hell that's the equivalent of; seriously, how does equivalent strength of a spider mean anything good for a human being? We can crush spiders with our bare hands, that's not exactly strength) and yanked its head off with my hands.

I stood there as rain started to fall, and cops started to arrive. I stood there wondering why the hell the Harpies decided to send these things after me now.

***

"Well, kid, that was pretty impressive, from what the traffic cameras show," Captain Montoya said to me as she handed me a bottle of water. I offered her a weak smile for a moment, then took a drink. "Any idea who sent these things?"

I nodded. "I know exactly who. It was those damned Harpies."

She raised an eyebrow. "Harpies?"

I glared at her. "I read it online."

She sighed. "Whatever. Does this explain that HARP breakout earlier today?"

"I didn't know there was one."

She nodded. "Yup. Harmony Sprite, Scott, Wilkins, Jenkins, Clancy Grunburg, all of 'em."

I shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just glad these four are done with. I hate these stupid things."

***

Korra Reston tried to concentrate on the memories of the four HARP members who's consciousnesses she'd bio leeched from their bodies. She couldn't, though, just like he'd said she couldn't. All she felt was a nagging sensation that some part of her was gone forever. She looked down at the electricity coursing between her fingers and sighed.

Instead of focusing on that, she looked at Harmony, who was leaning against a wall. "What?" the older woman asked, an annoyed tone in her voice.

Korra shrugged. "Nothing. I'm just thinking about those four."

Harmony walked over to her and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about 'em, kid. They weren't anything special."

Korra looked up at her face. "Is there some reason the robots need human brains to work?"

Harmony shrugged. "I dunno, but the Benefactor knows what he's doing. Everything'll be better soon, kiddo."

Korra nodded. She knew that Harmony was right, even if she didn't know what exactly the Benefactor was planning on doing.

Even if she didn't know what the Benefactor needed her for, because he could have bio leeched those four just as well as Korra herself could.