Secret Origins, Part Two

Frank hadn't escaped punishment of his own, once he got home. His father attempted to calm his mother down, but it was no use, she was too angry at their son for his actions. During the argument, he grabbed his mother's sewing kit and quietly escaped to his bedroom. There, he took the silly Wolverine costume that Charlie had bought for him, and turned it into Seeker's costume.

Seeker, it wasn't the name he'd have chosen, had he gotten to choose his name, but when that woman stood over him and changed him from Francine into Frank, she told him that his new name would be Seeker. He assumed it had something to do with his ability to sense footsteps through the ground, though he couldn't figure out a way that jumping really high could be involved. Maybe just the fact that he could jump high meant he could seek out targets quicker, he didn't know.

His modifications to the costume involved mostly just cutting the sleeves off and making the arm holes look like arm holes instead of torn sleeves, and his last change was taking off the X-Men logo, so that nobody sued him for using their property. He did think it was funny that he nearly got his ass kicked by some girl who could make things explode with her hands, and he was worried about getting sued.

His phone rang. He reached into the one last thing he still had that reminded him of his former female existence: his purse. He laughed to himself, then pulled out his phone and dropped the purse on his bed. He didn't recognize the number, but he answered it anyway. "Hello?"

Not exactly surprisingly, it was Charlie's voice on the other end. "Bet you didn't know that being a cop's daughter means I can find any phone number I want."

He smiled. "No, I didn't know that. So you went looking for mine?"

"No, my dad went looking for your number. He just gave it to me." It sounded like she took a sip of something. "So, did your parents grill you, too?"

"Yeah. Mostly just my mom, but my dad got a few licks in, too. How about you?"

"Just my mom. My dad was on our side, hilariously enough. You'd think a cop - the chief of detectives, no less - would be a little more adverse to the idea of costumed idiots running around and beating people up."

"So, you grounded, or anything? Jury's still out for me."

"Pretty much. I'm supposed to be either with my mom, or with my dad, but my mom gave me a little leeway."

"What's that?"

"Tomorrow, after school, I have to go out and find a job."

Frank sighed. "You're headin' out to the Brigade to get a job as a photographer, aren't you?"

He could practically hear her scowl. "Hey! I liked taking pictures before I was the female Peter Parker, I'll have you know!"

***

This was it, moment of truth, time for everything I've done in the last two days to be insignificant. This was it. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked into school. It was an odd experience, after being gone for two days. Nobody looked at me and said 'Hey! Charlie's a girl!' or anything like that. Nobody actually even seemed to notice me. I was just another girl among many, interspersed with just as many boys, all chattering about this or that.

Nobody even seemed to care, actually.

According to Dad, the process of pulling a kid out of school and replacing him with a similarly named kid of the opposite gender was easier than it really should have been. Charles Harkins was no longer a student, Charlotte Harkins was, it was as simple as that. Sure, I had all new classes, and I'd have to introduce myself to people, but it wasn't any big thing in any way. I laughed at the absurd simplicity, actually.

I maneuvered my way to my new locker, which was suspiciously my old locker, as well, and opened it to find that all my stuff had been taken out. Not a big surprise, as far as the school knew, Charles was never coming back while Charlotte was here to stay - and I hate having to refer to myself as Charlotte, but hey, it's not a horrible name.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around to find Cindy Cooper staring at me. "Hi, I'm Cindy, and you are not the person I was looking for. What's your name?"

I braced myself. Cindy knew me, we'd been friends for years and dated for a short (painfully short) period of time. "I'm... Charlotte Harkins," I said, and already I saw the wheels turning in Cindy's mind.

"Charlie, why are you cross-dressing?" Great, she figured it out in about two seconds. Good work, Charlie.

"I'm not cross-dressing." I pointed at my breasts, pretty obvious thanks to my tight shirt. "See? Boobs!"

"Okay, so you're not cross-dressing, why are you a girl? Finally find out we've got all the better clothes?"

I shook my head. "No. I hate my clothes. My mom won't let me get anything that doesn't emphasize my chest. I think it's supposed to be punishment for having been turned into a girl."

"Wait, somebody did this to you?"

She and I walked down to the cafeteria, where kids hung out before school started, and I told her the whole story, from waking up with that thing standing over me to defending my honor from a bunch of Upscales, to meeting Frank, to finding out about all the other Chosen thanks to my dad, to trying my hand at being a super hero and almost dying because of it. She listened very intently, hanging on every word I said. When I was finished with the story, she simply sat there, wide-eyed. "What?" I asked.

"You mean to tell me that you were the dopey girl in the Spider-Man outfit who got her ass kicked by a chick who can blow up walls with her mind?"

I was a little loud, but no one heard me, thankfully. "I didn't get my ass kicked! Besides, she dissed me. Called me a powderpuff."

Cindy giggled. "You are kinda small, Charlie. Well, everywhere but where the boys'll notice."

I folded my arms under my breasts. "That's not what she meant. I know, I was there."

She leaned back in her seat. "So, you can do anything a spider can do? Can you shoot webs out your butt?"

"Ugh, no! My fingertips, yes, but not my butt."

"How come this happened to you, anyway? Did your dad find anything connecting any of the Chosen?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. It just seems to be random."

"There's no way. Six hundred people, and all of you were random? No way. There's gotta be some pattern to it."

"I doubt that," Frank said, sitting down next to us. "Otherwise, I bet they woulda picked my sister instead of me."

"Who are you?" Cindy asked.

"This is Frank, I told you about him," I answered. "The Amazing Jumping Boy?"

"The name's Seeker, cute stuff," he said.

"Cute, huh?" Cindy said, a glimmer of interest in her eyes.

"Well, you're cute, too, but I was actually talking about Charlie."

"Please don't," I said, meekly, "my dad already calls you my boyfriend."

Cindy gasped. "Wait, you don't like boys?!" Then she giggled.

I sighed. "I don't know yet! I've only been like this for two days. Hell, the only boy I've even been around is him, unless you count the guy at the costume shop working at the register."

We talked and laughed and just pretended to be normal teenagers until class started, and I enjoyed it. It was fun to just be Charlie again, instead of thinking about the fact that I had super powers. Maybe this whole grounding thing could work out well.

***

ACROSS THE ROOM:

Avenger watched the two Chosen as they conversed as if they were human. He knew now that the Chosen were nothing but a curse, a plague on the Earth. His Master had tasked him, one of the unlucky ones that had been Chosen, as their eradicator. After all, his Master was getting old, and couldn't carry on the fight as he could millennia ago. It was up to Avenger to carry the torch, and destroy the Chosen.

His Master told him that there were thirty-one Chosen who would gain powers from the Event. Thirty-one. Out of over six hundred innocent beings, thirty-one were chosen to lead mankind into the next stage of human evolution, and none of them could be allowed to live. It was the ultimate system of checks and balances, many were given the ability, the majority of them died from it, and the rest were systematically wiped out because humanity was not ready for the next stage in its evolution. His Master was the only one out there who saw that.

Avenger made his way toward the two girls and the young man. The young man and one of the girls were both about to die, but he might just enjoy himself and kill the third one, as well. At least, he'd enjoy it if he still had emotions.

***

I had to thank my spider-sense yet again. I dodged just as the table flew right past us, Frank pulled Cindy to the floor, and kids all over scrambled for cover or just to get the hell out. I peeked out over our table and saw a guy wearing a trench coat ripping off a piece of the pillar across the room from us. He was big, maybe twice the size of that Guardian guy I met the day before. At the risk of sounding extremely cliche, his muscles had muscles. I rolled out of the way just as the pillar flew past my head.

"Just me, or is that guy tryin' to kill us?" Frank asked.

"I'd say that's a safe bet," I answered. I looked around and saw that the cafeteria had pretty well emptied in one hell of a hurry. Apparently, looking away from a pillar flying straight at your face makes you miss out on the other stuff. Cindy was still cowering behind the table with us, though. I took another peek over the table, but the guy was gone.

That was when he hoisted me over the table.

"Hey! Lemme go!" I shouted.

He replied in a very disturbing monotone, "You are Chosen. You must die."

"I don't think so!" I said, kicking him in the face and jumping away from him. I landed on a table and watched as the big guy shrugged off my blow and simply stalked toward me. I looked over at Frank and saw him getting undressed. "I'm not entirely sure he swings that way!" I said to him. I turned back to the big guy and shot some webbing at his face. Thankfully, he struggled with it. I hopped back down by Frank and Cindy and saw Frank slipping on a black rubber mouth mask. "I really don't think he's into BDSM."

Frank shot me a look. "It's my costume, girl!"

I looked at him and saw that he'd taken the Wolverine costume I'd bought for him and taken the sleeves off. He'd striped off the X-Men logo and replaced it with a fancy looking 'S' symbol. With the mouth mask and the whole outfit, he actually looked like a super hero, and all I had was a pair of jeans and a pink shirt (damn you for that, Mom!)? I needed a new costume. "Wait, you brought that to school? I thought your parents didn't want you out being a super hero?"

"They don't, but this guy's trashin' our school! How am I supposed to just let this happen? Especially when he's gunning for us! By the way, get the hell out of the way!"

I felt it at exactly the same time he warned me, and shot a webline up at the ceiling. I climbed it and just hung there, just as the big guy barreled through the table. Frank - or, Seeker, I guess (that name is so lame) - used one of his super kicks to knock the big guy down on his back. I landed on the floor and grabbed Cindy. "C'mon, we need to get out of here."

"Even you? But you're a super hero, too!" she cried.

"Yeah, super hero with no costume, people'd pick me out quick." I turned to Seeker. "You got this?"

He nodded. "Just get out!"

I nodded.

***

Harkins pulled up to the school and saw kids, teachers, custodians, by the hundreds, standing outside. His officers were trying to keep everyone calm, but it obviously wasn't helping. He walked over the lead officer. "Tell me what they're saying."

"Sir, this kid," he pointed to a pretty tall looking teenage boy, "says that a guy the size of the Hulk walked in there and started throwing stuff af a specific table, with only three kids sitting at it."

"Who were the kids?"

"Two white girls and a black boy, he said."

Why do I bet my entire year's salary on two of those kids being Charlie and Frank? His internal question was answered five seconds later, when Charlie walked up to him, Cindy Cooper behind her. "Charlotte, what the hell is going on?"

She hit him in the arm. "Don't call me that!" In a quieter voice, she said, "This guy who knows that Frank and I are Chosen came in and tried to kill us. Frank's in there now, fighting him."

"You let him do it alone?"

"He told me he had it. Besides, I don't even have a mask, or anything."

He sighed. He turned back to the lead officer. "Gimme ten men, submachine guns. We're goin' in."

***

Seeker was suddenly hating the mask over the bottom half of his face. He knew his lip was bleeding, and he couldn't wipe the blood away. He'd taken a little of a beating after Charlie left, from two left hooks to a knee in the stomach, but he was hanging in. Clearly, in addition to being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and feeling tremors in the still ground, he'd gained some degree of enhanced durability. It was a good thing to know, finally.

He jumped in the air and then kicked off of the big guy's face, knocking the sucker all the way into and through the opposite wall. Seeker landed on his back, though the pain elsewhere distracted him from the pain in his back. He got back up and was shocked to see the big guy was already back on his feet and stalking toward him. He didn't like to go anywhere fast, it seemed. Seeker was ready for him, though, he was ready to take him down.

Then his vision started to double. He fell to his knee and rubbed at his eyes, but those blows to the head were finally taking their toll. He watched as two of that big guy slowly walked toward him, their footsteps slow and even, and it was when one of them started to run and the other simply stood back that he realized that his vision hadn't doubled, there were really two of that big guy there!

Oh, crap! He braced himself for the beating he was about endure when several automatic gunshots rang out. The big guy who'd been standing there fell down, then disappeared. Seeker looked over to his left and saw several of East City's Finest standing there, including Charlie's dad, all carrying automatic weapons. "This is the ECPD, whoever the hell you are, stand down!" Charlie's dad shouted.

The big guy grabbed a table. "I am Avenger, and it is my sacred duty to destroy the Chosen!" He threw the table at the line of cops, most of which ducked. Charlie's dad rolled underneath it, then got right back to shooting at Avenger (as Seeker now knew he was called). Seeker ran at him and jumped, then kicked the big guy in the face once again. All Avenger did was snap his jaw back into place. This doesn't look good...

***

Avenger couldn't understand why these humans were trying to stop him. He was doing what his Master said would cleanse the Earth, and they were firing weapons at him. The Chosen he was fighting made sense, but the police did not.

The Chosen was putting up a good fight, as well. His abilities were tied primarily to his feet, and Avenger could tell that his strength and endurance were also far more enhanced. Avenger was nearly invincible, but the Chosen had knocked his jaw out of place for a second. He was enjoying this fight almost just because of this Chosen, though he was disappointed that the other had fled. She would have been an easy kill.

The officer that had shouted at him was continually firing away at him with his useless hail of bullets. They may have taken down his duplicate, but they wouldn't even pierce Avenger's skin, unless they were tipped with a special coating. He considered leaving the Chosen alone for the moment and killing the police, but he knew his Master wouldn't accept that.

The receptor in his head filled his mind with his Master's pleasing voice. "Avenger, escape. The police have surrounded the building, and will destroy you unless you escape, now. Return to me via the secret direction."

His Master gave him an order, he needed to follow it. He ran toward the wall opposite the police and burst through it, then jumped over the crowd of people standing there. Several police officers fired their weapons at him, but he did not feel the impacts, nor did the bullets harm him. He landed about twenty feet away from the crowd and jumped yet again. He might not have the leaping abilities of the Chosen he'd been fighting, but he could still jump quite high and quite far.

He had no idea why his Master would have pulled him out of the fight, but the most basic thing that Avenger needed to do was follow his Master's commands. It was how he was made.

***

I nervously waited for Dad for leave the school. I'd heard all the crashing and the banging and the gunshots, but I was really scared that my dad wouldn't be coming out of that school on his own. Then came the thought that Frank could have been hurt, and I was doubly worried. Thankfully, both Dad and Frank walked out of the building. Frank had even changed back into his regular clothes.

I don't know why I was so concerned about Frank. Maybe my dad was pretty close, calling him my boyfriend. Granted, I didn't know if I liked guys, but considering how fast all these new emotions were hitting me, it wouldn't surprise me in any way.

"Hey!" I called to them, waving my hands. "What happened in there?"

Dad answered, "Well, that tough sonuvabitch got away. He took no less than a thousand bullets and didn't go down. Not to mention about a half dozen kicks from your boyfriend, here."

That set me off. "He's not my boyfriend!" Cindy, standing behind me, laughed.

Dad grabbed me by the shoulders. "Sweetie, calm down." He moved his hands away. "I'm heading back over there. Hopefully, some other officers caught a glimpse of where he went. Go tell that officer," he pointed at one of the cops directing the crowd, "who you are, and that I'll take your statements later."

"Who I am, as in Lieutenant Harkins' daughter?"

He pulled out his badge. "Actually, it's Captain Harkins, now. That stuff at the bank the other day earned me a promotion."

"You didn't say anything about it."

"I wanted to surprise you and your mom." He stuffed his badge back on his belt. "Now, go tell the officer that I'll take your statements, then get home."

I nodded. He walked away, and I led Frank and Cindy over to the cop that Dad had pointed at. "Um, officer?"

He turned to me. "We'll get your statements in time, ma'am, just wait here until we do."

"Actually, I'm Lieu-Captain Harkins' daughter. My dad said he'd take mine and my friends' statements later."

He looked us over, then grabbed his radio. "Captain Harkins, there's a girl here claiming to be your daughter, says you'll take her and her friends' statements later?" I heard my dad's acknowledgement, then the cop said, "Yes, sir." He turned back to us. "Alright, you check out. You can go."

We walked for a while, since my apartment was about twenty blocks away from the school, give or take a block. Mom hit me with concern as soon as I opened the door. "Are you hurt? Did you get hurt? Did you fight him? Did he hurt you?" Yes, the word hurt was in most of her questions, and yes it did get annoying.

"Mom, I'm fine, I got out as soon as possible. Frank, here, on the other hand, is a different story."

She turned to him. "Are you okay?"

He answered, "Yeah, Mrs. Harkins, I'm fine. A little achy, but as soon as your husband got there, that sucker ran!"

She turned to Cindy. "And you? Are you okay?"

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, Charlie got me out ASAP."

"Has Charlie explained everything to you?"

"Yeah. I think it's cool having super hero best friends."

Mom folded her arms under her breasts. "Wait until you have a cop for a husband and a super hero for a daughter, then you'll sit at home all the time worrying about them."

I said, "Mom, we're fifteen, and I have no intentions of getting pregnant at least until I'm thirty, I don't think any of us has to worry about super hero kids for a while." I turned to Frank. "You should probably call your folks, if they saw this on the news, they're probably worried."

He nodded. "Yeah. Can I borrow your phone?"

"Where's yours?"

"Broken in pieces on the school floor."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed it to him. He walked into the bathroom to have some privacy, because I'm sure his parents probably chewed him out something fierce. I led Cindy into my bedroom and just sat down on the edge of my bed, while she pulled my Spider-Man costume out of my closet.

She giggled. "Did you tear the chest open for some particular, uniquely feminine reason?"

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Shut up, you know exactly why I did it. Maybe if you had bigger boobs, you'd understand!"

She rooted through my clothes. "Hey, you've still got a lot of your boy clothes in here."

"Yeah?"

She pulled a bunch of clothes out and dumped them on my bed. "Well, c'mon, Spider-Girl, we're gonna find you stuff to patch together into a costume."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're actually encouraging this, aren't you? I did happen to mention the whole 'I'm grounded from super hero-ing' thing, right?"

"So what? What about when you're un-grounded?"

"That'll probably be when I'm twenty-six, or something like that!"

"Still, what about when you're at school, like today? Frank had his costume with him, so he could fight that guy. If you'd had a costume, you wouldn't have been stuck on the sidelines, worried about him."

I rubbed at my arm. "You could tell I was worried?"

She laughed. "Girl, anybody who looked at you could tell."

"Hey, I don't even know if I like boys, okay? I'm just close to Frank because we're the same, we were both thrown into a crazy situation. Maybe meeting him is why I'm so comfortable being a girl, I don't know. He's not my boyfriend, though."

Cindy sat down on the bed in front of me. "Kiss me."

"Um... okay... this is unexpected."

"Do it."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay! Okay!" I felt really awkward about this, even though I liked Cindy. I leaned forward a little, pursed my lips, and... then stopped. I couldn't do it. "I can't," I said, looking away.

"Well, you clearly don't like girls anymore."

I leaned back. "Seeing as I've got a pair of 'girls', it obviously makes sense. Is that why you wanted to kiss? To find out if I still liked girls?"

"Kinda. I also wanted to see if you were a better kisser as a girl than you were as a boy."

I scowled. "Are you telling me I was a sucky kisser as a boy?"

She shrugged. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Either way, we need to get back to picking out stuff we can cannibalize into your costume."

***

THE DAILY NEWS BRIGADE:

Anna dropped her story down on Barry's desk. "Now, tell me why I can't push this?" she asked.

Barry sighed. "Look, Anna, there's pieces on all these new super heroes going up on every other paper in the city, and you want to give me a piece on tech heists? It's not something I want, not even something I need. You seemed pretty up about that Guardian guy the other day, why not try and find him and get some word out of him? Hell, he could be from another planet for all we know!" The phone rang, interrupting him. "Brindleson," he said, answering the phone. "Yeah? Yeah? Send her up." He set the phone back down on the receiver. "Stay here," he said to Anna, "there's a kid coming up right now, lookin' for a job. I want you to do the interview, under my supervision."

"I'm way overqualified for this, Chief."

"I don't care, you write for me, you work for me." Minutes later, the door to Barry's office opened, and in walked a fifteen year old girl with light brown hair. "Ms. Harkins, please, sit down."

"Thanks," the girl said, sitting on the chair right beside Anna. Harkins, Harkins... Where had she heard that name before?

"What's your name, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Charlotte, but I prefer Charlie."

"This is Anna Adamsen, if you've read our paper, you've probably read her stories before, she's usually our front page gal. She'll be conducting your interview."

Anna hated this, but she turned to the girl and put on a smile for the chief. "So, Charlie Harkins, huh?"

"Yeah. You've interviewed my dad before."

"I have?"

"Yeah. Captain Henry Harkins, ECPD? He's talked about you before."

"Oh! You're his kid? I didn't even know he had one."

"Two, actually, me and my little brother."

"Anna," the chief said, "get on with the job interview."

She sighed. "Right. So, Charlie, what job were you most interested in here at the Brigade?"

The girl looked around for a moment, as if thinking, then said, "I was kinda hoping there was a spot open for a photographer."

Anna turned to Barry. "Chief?"

He had been sitting there with his fingers interlocked in front of his mouth, then he set his hands down. "You got any examples?"

The girl pulled her book bag up and unzipped it, then handed Barry a file folder. "Just some, not a whole lot. My computer fried on me the other day, and I lost everything but what was in my camera."

He flipped open the folder and Anna saw him looking through close to twenty pictures. Clearly, the girl was a hardcore photographer. "Wait a minute!" Anna said, "Give me that one." She didn't wait for him to hand it to her, she just grabbed it out of his hand. It was a picture of the Guardian from the other day, floating above that Quake bitch. She turned back to the girl. "You were at the bank the other day?"

She nodded, meekly. "Yeah. I took a few pictures, then my dad told me to get out of there."

Anna took another look at that picture and said, "You're hired."

Barry bolted up from his chair. "Wait, what?!"

Anna stood up. "No buts, Chief. You told me to interview her, I want her. She can be mine and Keith's photographer."

The girl asked, "I can?"

He sat back down in his chair and let out an intense sigh. "Yeah, sure, kid. You're hired. Anna wants you in her corner, you can be in her corner."

Anna pulled the girl up and out of the chair. "C'mon, Charlie, we've got to get going. Chief there wants a new front page piece, and we're gonna go out and find it."

Charlie just managed an "Okay," before they left Barry's office.

***

Ms. Adamsen almost threw me in the passenger's seat of her car and then we sped off, before I even had a chance to get my seatbelt on. I reached into my backpack and pulled my camera out and slipped the strap around my neck. "Um, where are we going?"

She smiled. "There's heroes all over this city now, kid, and we just need to find one for you to take a picture of."

"Oh," I said, already dreading my dream career choice.

***

The Guardian landed on the roof, where Lieutenant Harkins was waiting. He walked up to the cop and held his hand out. "Lieutenant," he said, regarding the other.

"Captain, actually. I want to thank you, for saving my daughter."

Guardian nodded. "She's a brave girl. The costume's a little odd, but," he waved around his own costume, "who am I to talk?"

"She's workin' on it. Listen, I need your help. You heard about everything that happened at the school a few hours ago?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Well, we took care of it. The Force, not the kids. But the guy got away. Big sucker, too, probably twice your size."

"And?"

"We haven't been able to find him, and since I'm assuming you've probably got all of Superman's powers..."

Guardian cut him off. "Not the x-ray vision, sorry."

He sighed. "Actually, I was thinking something more like the heat vision."

***

ACROSS THE CITY:

The cloaked man again took his saw to Avenger's head. Luckily, Avenger was unconscious. If he hadn't been, than the man would probably be dead. He reached in and took his chip off of Avenger's head. If the police or anyone else discovered that chip, his plans would be discovered. It was because of this very thing that he took a welding torch and severed Avenger's brain from his body. He tore the brain in two and pocketed the chip. It was time to move.

***

Guardian landed on the building and broke through the roof. The room was full of computer equipment, just as Captain Harkins had said it would be. He had to commend the man for his skills. It made sense that whoever sent out the Avenger would have set up shop recently, either just before or just after the Event, and the captain tracked down computer and technology purchases and discovered that building, where whoever had sent the Avenger had set up shop.

And 'shop' was probably the operative word. Several of the items in the building still had tags on them from where they'd been purchased, nothing had fingerprints, everything was in a neat place, like the owner was the world's leading neat freak or organizer.

Everything except the dead body of the Avenger on the surgical table.

He pulled the radio from his belt. "Captain Harkins, we were too late. The man behind the scenes is gone. He left Avenger's body, however."

"Body, huh?"

"Yes."

"I sent a forensics team, they should be there in the next couple minutes."

"You're probably not going to find anything."

Mere seconds later, Guardian fell to his knees thanks to an earsplitting sound. He covered his ears and tried to block the sound out, but it was no use. In the midst of it all, he heard a voice say, "You may have found my former base, Chosen. It is but one of a thousand more. Enjoy this small win, for you and your kind will soon be no more."

***

IN THE CITY:

The man in the cloak placed the brain of Avenger into the prototype. He took the chip out of his pocket and smiled. The most important piece of the puzzle was still in his hands. He slipped the chip back into his pocket and returned to recreating the Avenger. "You'll do just fine for me, won't you? Of course you will. You're an Avenger, one of the many, created to eradicate the few."

He knew Avenger could not answer. Avenger would never be able to answer again. It was no longer human, and had no voice. It was simply a machine, and that's what he needed. The only thing the new Avenger required was the old one's memories, they were the key.

Avenger's photoreceptors lit up, and the man in the cloak smiled.

***

Ms. Adamsen drove like a maniac, and I'm not entirely sure why. We were only about six blocks away from where Guardian was last spotted, along with my dad. That got me pretty nervous, since he didn't know I was a photographer for the Brigade.

"Okay, kid, when we get there, you need to take pictures of everything, and it all needs to be front page material. You get me some good snapshots of Guardian, and maybe a couple of him talking to your dad." She looked over at me. "I did tell you your dad was gonna be there, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you did."

"Good. I was hoping I didn't leave that part out. It's important for a kid to see her dad every chance she can."

I didn't mind her attempts to try and bond with me. If she wanted me to be her personal tag-along photographer, it made sense. She wouldn't want me to hate her, after all. Sadly, it was getting just a little annoying. I already liked her, since she got me a job, but trying to get me to like her more every ten seconds was just... ugh!

We pulled up to the building that all the cops in East City were combing through. I got out of the car and instantly started taking pictures. Dad was talking to Guardian, so I snapped a couple pictures of them. Ms. Adamsen pulled me a little closer to them. Dad was quite surprised to see me, but he didn't get a word in just yet.

"Mr. Guardian," Ms. Adamsen began, "this... laboratory, or whatever it is, was supposedly the location that big freak that attacked the school came from, correct?"

Guardian smiled. "It's just Guardian, Ms. Adamsen. And yes, the man known as Avenger did come from this laboratory." He patted Dad on the back. "Credit goes to Captain Harkins for following a paper trail here."

Ms. Adamsen turned to Dad. "Captain, can you elaborate on that?"

He nodded. "Back when I was a detective, I ran more than one case that involved tracking purchase records by date. Unless this guy's been operating here for decades, he would have needed to get his equipment quickly, and it couldn't have happened long before or after the event that caused all these super peoples to show up." He gave me a little glance when he said super peoples. I blushed, nervously. "People aren't buying millions of dollars of computer equipment on a daily basis. That's how we tracked him down."

"And was this person Avenger, or someone else?"

Guardian was about to speak up, but Dad cut him off. "We're not sure at this time. Neither Avenger nor any mysterious benefactor was found, and nothing's got any finger prints on it."

I looked at Dad cautiously. They must have found something for him to have cut Guardian off.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Ms. Adamsen said. "Thank you for your statements, gentlemen." She turned to me. "You get enough pictures?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Alright. I've got to go run this past my editor, and Charlie here needs to get her pictures developed. Sorry to run, boys, but there's work to be done."

Dad put his hand on my shoulder. "Can I have a word with my daughter for just a second before you go?"

"Of course. I'll be waiting in the car."

Dad didn't look happy. He spoke in a low voice. "Newspaper photographer? When your mom told you to get a job, I figured something along the lines of the drive-thru at the McDonalds about two blocks away from the precinct, so I could get a Big Mac from you after work every day."

"That McDonalds is five blocks away from the precinct, and they're actually not hiring. I applied there two weeks ago."

"And what, sweetie, made you change your mind and go for newspaper photographer?"

I shrugged. "I like taking pictures."

"And the little fact that Peter Parker's a newspaper photographer?"

"Well, not exactly a coincidence, but I was planning on applying before the spider powers happened anyway."

He sighed. "You know your mom's not gonna like this. This just gives you an excuse to slip away and do some crime fighting. Just because I don't mind you doing it doesn't mean either of us is going to survive your mom."

"I told her I was gonna apply for a job at the Brigade."

He sighed again. "Alright. Get back to the reporter, you've got a job to do. I'll see you at home later, honey."

"Bye, Dad. Love you."

"Love you, too, kiddo."

I walked back to Ms. Adamsen's car, got in, and we took off back to the office.

***

Captain Harkins watched Charlie walk away, then sighed yet again. He knew she was telling the truth, that she had told her mother where she was going for a job, but it still didn't sit right. The second his wife found out that Charlie was swinging though the city looking for muggers to beat up, she was going to have her locked up somewhere, probably.

He turned back to Guardian. "I'm sorry for cutting you off, there, but I don't want the papers accidentally tipping whoever Avenger's boss is. It's bad enough I told them how I followed the paper trail, but that's about as much as we can afford to give them."

Guardian raised an eyebrow. "That actually seems like more than they need to know."

"Only because I said I looked for computer equipment."

***

She told them her name was Quake, but that was only because of how embarrassed she was to explain her situation. It's not every day you're picked up as the latest Upscale beat-down recipient and then you turn into their ace-in-the-hole. If Jose Montoya hadn't told them she'd help them, she'd probably have been raped. She sat in her cell, her hands in restraints behind her, and sighed. What she wanted more than anything was to go home.

She stood up and walked across her cell to the bars. There weren't even any officers keeping watch over her. They didn't seem to think she was a threat if she couldn't make walls explode, and they were probably right.

She sighed. She regretted her decision to join the Upscales. If her parents were still alive, they'd hate her (granted, if her parents were still alive, she probably wouldn't have been picked up by the Upscales, since she wouldn't live in East City). They'd have reason to, as well. She'd made a big mistake, then made it worse when she trash-talked that Guardian guy. Then came her attempted murder of the Spider-Girl. She was probably going to be tried as an adult.

Quake sat back down on the cot and considered sleeping. It wouldn't be comfortable, just like it hadn't been the night before, but at least it would pass the time by. She didn't like being alone.

A cop walked up to her cell and opened it. He waved her forward. "C'mon, kid." She stood up and was outright surprised to find her Aunt Holly standing there, arms crossed.

"Hi, Aunt Holly," she said, meekly.

"Jose."

"Quake!"

"No, I'm not calling you that." She walked around behind Quake and unlocked her hand restraints. "You're pretty lucky the judge still isn't believing all this super power stuff, otherwise you'd be in jail for life instead of just being released to me."

Quake rubbed at her wrists. "Can I explain?"

"You can try, but that doesn't mean I'll care." She turned to the other cop and told him to leave. Then, it was just the two of them. "Alright, explain."

Quake sighed. "I was walking to school that day, then these four Upscales grabbed me and stashed me in a van. They were just about to beat the crap out of me and rob me, and then this weird glowing woman just appeared and told me I'd been chosen. She told me my form was wrong, or something, and then, suddenly, those a-holes were groping me and telling me not to scream."

"And your powers?"

"They took me to this garage and got ready to... y'know... look, I've got a whole new respect for rape victims, now, Aunt Holly."

She sighed. "I'm glad for that, even though I don't agree with what you had to go through to get it. Now, how did you find out about your powers?"

"I accidentally blew up that van. Nobody was in it, nobody got hurt. I kinda wish they had."

"I understand that. So, what happened then? You found out you could blow up walls but you didn't try to escape?"

Quake shook her head. "No. They kept one guy near me at all times, and this guy looked like he just wanted to rape me whether he got permission from his buddies or not. After that, they told me either I help them rob a bank or I get my throat slashed and my corpse defiled."

"Think you could name any of them?"

"No. They didn't use real names, just stupid ones." She choked out a laugh. "Kinda like 'Quake'."

"What about recognize them?"

"Sorry, Aunt Holly, I tried not to memorize their faces. I just wanted to get the hell away from them. I guess when everything happened at the bank, I just acted like they wanted me to."

Her aunt patted her on the shoulder. "Look, baby, a judge who wouldn't believe in the Guardian if he showed up got you off with community service and an aunt with a watchful eye, you need to keep your nose clean if you don't want to end up in jail for robbery."

She nodded. "I know, Aunt Holly."

"And we're gonna have to find you a new name. Purple-haired girl with a figure like yours can't just go around calling herself 'Jose'."

"Monica? I've always kinda liked that name."

"Monica Montoya?" Her aunt sighed. "Well, there's a superman flying around, a girl who can stick to walls, and a big bastard hunting down kids in high school, I guess a comic book name is just par for the course these days." She poked her finger at her niece. "But dye your hair. Enough people are gonna tell you that you look like the girl who robbed the bank the other day, we don't want any of them realizing you are the girl who robbed the bank the other day."

The newly minted Monica nodded, then followed her aunt out of the building. She was quite surprised to find an odd sensation lifted from her mind, almost as if someone had been there the whole time, in her brain...

***

Despite the fact that a freak of nature had shown up, attacked some students and destroyed the cafeteria, school was still in session the next day. I wasn't as nervous as I had been the day before, despite not actually having gone to any classes. Maybe it was the fact that I was walking to school with Frank and Cindy, I don't know. It was nice to have the support system of my friends there, that's for sure.

We arrived to find that the school courtyard (basically, the school was a giant square with an empty section in the middle, that was the courtyard) had been turned into a makeshift cafeteria. There were kids all over, munching down on whatever the lunch ladies were serving in the morning before class started. I, myself, had a breakfast pizza, which was just a rectangle shaped piece of sausage pizza.

"Hey!" Cindy just exclaimed in the middle of whatever the hell it was we were doing. In a far quieter voice, she said, "I finished your costume last night."

"Oh, so the jury-rigged Spider-Man costume didn't work?" Frank asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you ever gonna let me live that down?"

He chuckled. "Nope." He turned to Cindy. "Okay, let's see this costume."

She pulled it out of her bag and handed it to me. Out of sight of everyone except Frank and Cindy, I unfolded it a little and saw a slightly-different-from-Spider-Man's symbol on the chest. "I'm not gettin' sued over this, am I?"

Cindy giggled. "Please, they'd have to know your secret identity for that, and I assume you're not answering to Peter Parker."

"Good point." The primary colors of the costume were yellow and black, completely different from Spider-Man, thankfully. "And you're sure this thing'll fit me?"

"Duh! Why do you think I took your measurements before I left yesterday?"

"Hey, that actually looks kinda cool," Frank said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

I giggled, despite my best efforts. "I can't help it if I have a better costume designer than you."

He hit my lightly in the arm. "She just went overboard on it because you two used to date."

"No I didn't!" Cindy almost shouted. I couldn't help it, I was full on giggling like a maniac now. Damnit, you two!

"Okay, okay! Calm down, everybody!" I said, though the giggles. "Cindy, I love the costume, I'll put it to great use."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to toss away all my hard work."

The bell rang, and everyone else started gathering their stuff. "C'mon," Frank said, "let's get to class. I can't afford to miss another day."

"You're technically a new student, how are you gonna miss?" I asked.

"Well, I missed yesterday."

"So did the rest of the building."

***

Frank and I walked home together. Well, we walked to his place together. It's only about a forty minute walk (or ten minute swing) away from the Brigade, and I had a sort of "new employee orientation", to get to. According to Ms. Adamsen, I could skip it and be just fine, since I was a special hire, but I didn't want them to think I was a slacker who couldn't show up for work. That would be helpful later on down the road.

We rounded a corner onto 132nd street and a fist hit me right in the face. I landed on the ground and looked up. Standing over me, holding Frank by the neck, was a frickin' robot! A robot! Straight outta sci-fi and standing on top of me. All around us, there were dozens of people just standing there, watching. I couldn't do anything, even with my freaking costume in my bag. I merely laid there, with a robotic foot on my stomach,

The robot never talked. It held Frank by the neck and just started crushing. Never said a word. Even though its eyes were just red-gold orbs that looked like they came off of a Star Wars reject, I could tell that it was somehow connected to the Avenger. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. Something metaphysical was keeping my mouth shut as I watched the robot drop Frank's body to the ground. It then jumped up, and made a run for it.

I quickly twisted around to check on Frank. He was barely breathing, his neck a bruised mess. He could barely open his eyes. I whispered to him, "Don't worry, I'm gonna get help, don't worry..." I turned and shouted to those around us who had just watched. "Somebody call an ambulance!"

***

The cloaked man smiled. The female was of no consequence, not even a Chosen, according to Avenger's identification registry. He'd had Avenger knock her out of the game and then kill the other one. Unfortunately, there were too many people around for Avenger to finish the job, so he told it to run. The boy would be dead, it was that simple.

The man smiled. Soon.

***

Charlie was already standing outside Frank's room when Captain Harkins arrived at the hospital. He embraced his daughter and felt her crying against his shirt. He could tell that this had gotten to her. He patted her on the head and asked, "How come you're out here?"

She dried her eyes a little. "They said just family. His mom came out a little bit ago and told me that he'd been stabilized, but that his spine might be too damaged. I couldn't move when it attacked us, Dad, I just couldn't move."

"When what attacked you?"

"Avenger. It had to be, I'm sure."

He sighed. She still didn't know. "Honey, Avenger couldn't have attacked you. He's dead."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know?"

He leaned in closer. "That's what I didn't want that reporter to know yesterday. When we raided that lab, Avenger's brainless body was lying on that surgical table you saw."

"Wait, brainless?"

"Yeah."

She looked as though she was putting something together, then she finally spouted, "That's it! It's gotta be Avenger's brain inside that robot!"

She pushed away from him and started running down the hall, almost knocking down a nurse as she did.

"Wait, where are you going?" he called after her.

"See ya at home, Dad!" was all she said in return.

Henry Harkins sighed, then turned to see Frank's father coming out of his son's hospital room. "Captain Harkins," he said, holding out his hand. Harkins' shook it. "Thanks for coming to see Frank."

"He's my daughter's boyfriend, how could I not?"

***

The costume that Cindy made me was quite snug. Not uncomfortably so, but still pretty slick. Thank God I was a tiny girl (well, save those things all the boys at school stare at), otherwise I'd probably have to tear this one in certain places, too, and since Cindy went to the trouble of actually making me a costume, I decided against it. There was a small hole in the back of the head of the mask for me to fit my hair through if I tied it in a ponytail. I was considering getting a haircut, but Mom wouldn't let me.

I looked at myself in the mirror and took a deep breath. This was it. This was my chance to prove myself an actual hero. Granted, all I was doing was hunting down a robot to kick its ass after it roughed up my boyfriend (yes, I'm calling him that, just for the sake of speed, because I need to hurry the hell up!), but it doesn't matter, it was time for... well... Me, I guess, to make her name in East City. Oooohhh, I'm gonna need a name.

Instead of climbing down the fire escape like I normally do, I climbed up. The walls of the apartment building had been good tests for me when I was just experimenting with my powers, but now I needed to really use them. All that stuff at the bank the other day was nothing but a trial, for this. Once I got to the roof, I spotted the tallest building I could that led off in the direction the robot went and fired a webline at it. Taking another deep breath (I don't know why, I've done this dozens of times, now), I ran off the edge of the building and swung, and swung, and swung, and swung, and swung and swu... Y'know, I think you get the point now, I was swinging, it was special. La-dee-da-dee-da.

About thirty minutes later, I found the robot, stalking along the rooftop of a building. I swung down and kicked it in the back of the head as I swung past it. I landed behind it, after it turned around to face where I had come from. I shot a web at its feet and pulled it down, onto its face.

"Like that, tin man?" I asked. I walked over to it and kicked it in the head. "Like hurting people?" I slammed my foot down on it. "'Cause I like hurting you a lot!" I went to kick it again, but it grabbed my leg and knocked me down, then stood up. Suddenly, those red-gold eyes that had stared at me before stared at me again, and I wanted to pee my pants.

***

The cloaked man couldn't believe it. Judging by the voice, this girl in the costume was very clearly the same one Avenger had deemed a non-Chosen earlier that day, yet she was quite obviously one of them. "Destroy her, Avenger," he said to his warrior. Then, he sat back and watched.

***

The robot lifted me up over its head and was about to bring me down on its knee until I webbed up its eyes and jumped out of its grip. "You're gonna havta do better than that!" Still, the damn thing didn't speak. It must not have had a mouth to speak with, I guess. I did a spin kick and knocked the robot down again. This time, I picked it up and threw it off the building and onto the street below.

I jumped down after it. It swiped at me with its arm, which had transformed into a sword, and cut just below my left shoulder. I grasped at my arm to cover the wound. It stood and came at me with the blade again, but thanks to that trademarked spider-sense (seriously, I'm a little screwed if I ever decide to write a book about being a super hero, or something), I was able to dodge every attack. On the last swing, I ducked and tripped it up with a leg swing.

A lot of people had gathered to watch me fight the robot. Most of them I actually recognized from earlier that day, when the robot nearly killed Frank. The robot was about to lunge at me, but I stomped on its head, a jelly-like substance flowed out from the cracks in its armor. Suddenly, all those people were cheering for me.

I couldn't stay there. It was too overwhelming, and I'm the girl who said I wanted to be a super hero. I shot a webline up at the nearest rooftop and swung up, out of everyone's sight. I sat there, perched on top of one of those stone gargoyles that look cool on TV but outrageously disturbing close up. I pulled off my mask and sighed. What had I just accomplished?

A weird light appeared to my left. I shielded my eyes and tried to see what it was, and what I saw took my breath away. "What the hell are you?" I asked.

It was an angel, pure and simple. An extremely beautiful woman with bright, white wings, giving off an equally bright, white aura. She looked down at me and smiled. "I am Angel, and I'm here to speak with you, Charlotte."

"How do you know my name?"

She giggled. "It's a gift, sweetie. Much like yours."

I sighed. "I just used my gift to beat the crap out of a robot. Some gift."

The angel landed beside me. "That robot harmed your friend. You were defending him."

I just sat there, staring down at the city. "Yeah, but if I'm gonna be a super hero, this sort of stuff will keep happening, and this wore me out. All I did was fight a robot, and... Those people down there wanted to talk to me, they were cheering for me! All I wanted to do was get away from them."

She put her hand on my injured shoulder, and suddenly the pain went away. "Not everyone can be as public a super hero as Guardian is."

"I didn't even want them to look at me, and I'm still no closer to finding out who sent that stupid robot after my friend in the first place!"

She smiled and hugged me. "Not every mystery needs to be solved right away. You've still got a long life ahead of you, and you need to be ready for every challenge it sets for you. Spending all your time devoted to this one question will be the end of you."

I didn't react. I didn't move. I just let her words soak in, like I was taking a bath. Was she a Chosen, as well? She said her gift was like mine. When she let go of me, I looked up at her face and saw nothing but positivity and hope in her eyes. Yep, this day was getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"So, what do I do now?" I asked.

She folded her arms under her breasts. "Well, your first act should be to find a name that doesn't reek of copyright infringement, then you need to get home. Your parents are worried about you."

Before she flew away, I asked her, "Angel was the name they gave you, wasn't it? The things that 'Chose' us?"

She nodded. "Yes, it was."

"Seeker was the name they gave my friend, Frank. And I bet Guardian is the name they gave him, too."

"So, what do you chose?"

I thought back to what the being had said, and then I repeated it. "Arachnya."

She smiled. "I like it. It suits you very well." And with that, she was gone.

***

Frank couldn't move. They'd told him that, that he probably wouldn't be able to move the rest of his life. He didn't want to think about it, he just wanted to go home, to find out if Charlie was okay. He hadn't seen her since that robot knocked him out, and he hoped it hadn't hurt her, as well.

He turned his head and saw a strangely blinding light peeking through the curtains. He closed his eyes as the light brightened, and then was moving his arms. He opened his eyes and saw a beautiful woman with angel wings standing there, her hands on his chest. "Your friend is alright," she said. He was about to ask her what she meant, but she shushed him with her finger. "You don't need to speak. Charlotte is fine. She's at home, with her parents, reveling in her discovery."

He asked, "What discovery?"

"She needed to find her calling, her reason, and I helped her, much like I'm helping you." She took her hands away from him. "You can tell the doctors what I did, but I doubt they'll believe you. It's not every day an Angel saves your life, after all." She moved back toward the window, then turned back to him. "Use your gift for the right thing, Francis, and don't let your gift be used against you." And then she flew out the window.

And Frank just sat there, completely confused.

***

Monica played with her Rubik's Cube for a while and then set it back down on her bedside table. She was quite bored after going home from school. She just laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling, nothing else to do. I need a hobby, she thought. Maybe there's a demolitions crew hiring seventeen year old girls. She chuckled to herself. Nope, it would probably be fast food or convenience store clerk for her.

She sat up on her bed and grabbed her remote. The TV came on to a news report. "And what you're seeing here is this amazing young woman swinging away on what appears to be thread. We don't know where she's going, but we're glad to see that someone has taken care of the strange robot that had injured two Midtown High teens earlier today."

Hey, it's that girl from the bank. The image then changed to that of the robot and Monica's heart stopped.

The Upscales had had that same robot in their garage, that day.

***

"You could have been killed!" Mom shouted at me. I sighed. Same speech as when I was at the bank, the other day. I just sat there and took it, until, much to my surprise, Mom threw her arms around me and hugged me. "I'm so proud of you, Charlie!"

I pushed away, completely shocked. "Wait, what?!" I asked, "Proud?!"

"Charlie, you risked your life to defend Frank, your best friend."

"Boyfriend," Dad called from the kitchen.

"Dad!" I screamed.

Mom carried on. "That took a lot more than just joyriding... or, well, joyswinging, I guess... around the city looking for crimes to stop. You did a very selfless thing, and that is what a real super hero does."

I rubbed at my arm. Damn, Mom! I asked, meekly, "So, does this mean I'm not grounded, anymore?"

She poked her finger at me. "You keep your grades up, you don't skip out on work, and you do your chores, and no, you're not grounded anymore."

I threw my arms around her this time. "Thank you so much, Mom!" I squealed.

***

Cloak, as he was truly known, watched the playback of Avenger's footage and sighed. The girl had fought gallantly, and had destroyed his one and only force of retribution against the Chosen. Oh well, he thought, Avenger doesn't matter anymore. There are always others to find and use to my advantage. This fight isn't over yet. As a matter of fact, it's just begun. He took a sip of his coffee and looked over to his guest, watching the monitors on the other side of the room. "So, how did you like my demonstration?" he asked.

The guest touched each monitor as if it would tell him a story, then said, "It was enjoyable, to say the least. What can you tell me of this girl?"

Cloak stood and walked over to his guest. His metal leg braces clanked as he did so. "Unfortunately, nothing. The list my equipment gave me had the names of thirty-one individuals who would become Chosen, and this girl wasn't on it. Twenty-nine of those have already been eliminated, but if there are Chosen that I know nothing about... This could be disastrous."

The guest smiled. "Don't worry about that. I've already taken them into account. I've been monitoring one such 'Secret Chosen' using my own gift, and she's been instrumental in my vision for the further future."

Cloak felt insulted. "And you had no plans to tell me this?"

"I need tell you nothing, Cloak. You are merely the tool I've used thus far." The guest walked over to the railing. "You're sure the police cannot track you as they did before?"

Cloak shook his head. "Of course not. They tracked me through my surgical equipment, and nothing at this facility has been recently purchased. The only way they can find me now is if I make a mistake."

The guest nodded, slowly. "Good, good." He put his hands on the railing. "This is no longer the mighty quest we've been undertaking for centuries, my friend. This is a new age, a Silver Age. These are not the same simple Chosen we've killed thus far, either. They are stronger, they are wiser, but more importantly, they are quieter. They'll hide more, they'll be more secret than they have been in the past."

"How does this help us?" Cloak asked his guest.

The guest smiled. "It's more fun."