> DJ-Spid3r: Vinyl The Spider-Woman > by Smashed Tapes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Bitten > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Vinyl! Wake up!” The blue haired girl woke up with a jolt as her friend yelled and shook her. “I can’t believe you fell asleep on the ride here, it was only a half hour!” “Didn’t get much sleep, let me live.” “You always don’t get enough sleep.” Lyra rolled her eyes and motioned Vinyl to follow as the students exited the bus. She sighed and followed her friend, leading outside a tall tower in inner Canterlot City. She yawned as Principal Celestia called for the students to line up into pairs. “Now students! Form together with your partner and let’s all calmly enter through the front. Remember, no yelling or pushing! Mr Sombra is doing us all such a kind favour to let us visit!” Vinyl fished her phone out of her pocket and went to place her earphones in before Lyra hit her in the shoulder. “I’m sure your music can wait, don’t be rude.” “Uuuggghhh, why are we even here? It’s just some science building.” “It’s Crystal Corp, leading tech company? The one that made your phone?” “Still don’t see the big deal.” “Just don’t get us in trouble, I don’t need detention, I have a date with Bon Bon tonight.” “Fiiine, for you, Lyra.” “Thanks V.” The students all slowly entered the front, giving way to a large room with many seats of stairs, people in suits and lab coats all walking around. Principal Celestia received a pass from the receptionist before leading the class upstairs and to a large elevator. “Now students, reminder that you cannot touch anything you may come across, we are entering an active workspace and we mustn’t interrupt their important work!” Vinyl grinned at Lyra, the green haired girl glaring back. “Don’t you dare, V.” “Okay okay, I’m only gonna touch like, a few things.” “Vinyl. It’s date night.” “Alright, I’ll just look.” The group entered what looked to be some sort of high tech lab once they exited the elevator, scientists moving and working left and right. A tall man with pitch black hair and a stubble saw the class and walked to them, smiling. He spoke with a deep, low voice that made some of the students swoon. “Good morning, Canterlot High! I see the lovely Celestia had no trouble leading you all here. My name is Dr Karter Sombra, but just please, just call me Doc. Welcome to Crystal Corp! Today’s tour will begin just ahead of us in our mobile technology sector. But before we begin, would anyone like to have a guess as to what this current room is used for?” The student’s looked around, confused, trying to piece together the seemingly random projects around them. Lyra raised her hand before Sombra called on her. “Oh yes, would you like to guess?” “Biotechnology?” “Ah! Great eye you got there, miss…?” “Lyra.” “Well, you certainly have an eye for this, Lyra! Yes this current sector is for our biotechnology research and development. Here we look into the many uses of combining technology with that of nature. Sadly I cannot tell you about most of them at this moment, NDAs and all that. But I promise that you’ll be hearing about it soon!” Vinyl raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend. “How the fuck did you know that?” “It was in the travel guide.” “Wow, smart.” Lyra beamed as Vinyl rolled her eyes before raising her hand, Sombra calling on her. “Yes, the blue haired girl in the back.” “Sorry to intrude but do you know where the bathroom is?” “Ah, how could I forget, at any point during the tour any of you need the restroom, just follow down back here and out the door to the right hall. You’ll find it there, don’t worry about getting lost or in trouble, all my workers know about this tour and will be happy to help you back if you get lost.” “Thanks.” Lyra just looked at Vinyl, staring daggers into her. “I swear if you-” “Relax, I just need to piss, I’ll be right back.” The tour moved on without her as Vinyl walked back, trying to find the restrooms he mentioned. ‘Doesn’t help with every door looking the fucking same.’ She wandered around for a bit, confused as to which door to enter, before finding ones with a small restroom sign above them. Before she entered her eye caught a man in a dark suit looking around, making sure no one was looking for unlocking and entering a seemingly unimportant door. ‘Well...I’m not with Lyra so she won’t get into trouble...Okay brain you’ve already convinced me.’ Vinyl quickly walked up and caught the door with her foot before it closed. She slowly poked her head in, whatever worker came in must have gone through the other door on the back wall. She walked inside and saw the large machine in front of her. It was a large cylinder with tubes, inside the glass were about hundreds of different spiders. She wasn’t scared of spiders normally, being seeing that many gave her pause. After the shock, she found herself pretty bored, hoping to see something really cool in a building like this. ‘That’s it? Just a bunch of spiders? Fucking lame.’ She shrugged and left the room, heading back to the restroom, not noticing a small cracked hole in the glass that contained the spiders… Vinyl washed her hands and dried them off with a paper towel, looking in the mirror, seeing how deep her eye bags were. ‘If school didn’t start so damn early, I might actually get a decent night’s sleep one of these days’ She sighed, readying herself for the next few hours of boring nerd talk, not before feeling a sting on her hand. “FUCK!” She swatted at her hand, she felt bitten by something. She looked at her other hand, seeing a squashed spider in her palm. “Ew…” She washed it off her hand and left the bathroom. ‘Eh, didn’t look too big, I’m sure I’ll be fine. Though being sick would get me out of school…’ ----- The rest of the day was the same stuff, seeing a bunch of tech and test tubes while Sombra talked about how cool and important it all was, Vinyl found it hard to keep her eyes open the whole time even if some of the other students actually looked interested. Luckily no one found out about her little detour, so her night was free for mixing and video games, Lyra just seemed thankful to have the night free with Bon Bon. When she got home to her apartment however, her head felt like it was being drilled into, stumbling into her space while closing the door behind her. She felt dizzy, hot and cold at the same time. Deciding to postpone mixing her latest track, she collapsed into her bed, tightly gripping her covers as she hoped that her migraine would be not as bad in the morning. --- Well, the morning started off fine enough, her pain was gone at least. Vinyl yawned and slowly crawled out of her bed, blinking her eyes awake and looking around her room. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and checked it. It was surprisingly early for her, normally she would be rushing out of the door to get to school on time, but she had more than an hour before she had to do that. Vinyl sighed and entered the rest of her apartment, before wandering over to the fridge and grabbing her milk. As she chugged she felt something crawl across her foot, she looked down only to see a large rat on it. “SHIT!” She leaped backwards, shaking the rat off her as it ran away. She chuckled to herself, making a mental reminder to buy more traps. As the jolt of energy calmed down, she looked around, her kitchen was further away now. ‘Damn, so gym class might actually be paying off. Now I just need to get down….wait a moment.’ After realising that there should be nothing to get down from, she looked down at herself. She was up alright. Up on the wall. Vinyl yelped and lost her grip, falling to the floor with a thud. “Ow…” She stood up and looked at her hands, inspecting them more closely than she ever had before. ‘You’re okay Vinyl, you’re just tired, you definitely did not just somehow cling to that wall...yeah.’ Moving on from that experience, she moved to the bathroom, having missed her night shower she thought it best to have one now. She undressed herself and placed her towel on the rack, taking a step forward only for the floor mat to slide with her. She yelled out and grabbed the rack to support herself only for it to come off the wall. She fell on her ass, shaking her head. ‘I gotta learn to dry off all the water on the floor before I leave, this shit’s getting annoying.’ She looked to where the rack had been, shocked that a simple fall broke it off. ‘It didn’t feel that loose though…’ Looking down to her hand and at the rack she felt, she moved it down on the floor only to see an indent of where she grabbed it. Surprised, she picked it up again. ‘Hang on…’ She applied some pressure to the metal, only to feel it fold and twist like paper in her hands. “Okay, gym class can’t be paying off this well.” She was now freaking out, she picked herself up and wandered back to the main room. Looking at her hands and then the wall, she gulped before placing her palms against its surface, and beyond all laws of reason, she began to somehow climb up it. ‘Y-You’re okay Vinyl, you can just crash metal like nothing and CLIMB UP WALLS AND SHIT!’ She continued, eventually crawling to the ceiling, looking at her now upside down apartment before dropping down. “I...what?? What the fuck is happening to me!?” She needed to tell someone, with the first person coming to mind being Lyra, yeah, she wouldn’t spread this out. She ran for the door, only to stop in her tracks. ‘I should shower and uh...actually put on some clothes first’ ----- Vinyl rushed to Canterlot High, earlier than she ever had down before. She walked into the nearly empty halls and turned the corner. She knew Lyra would be here early, checking on Bon Bon’s cooking project for her while they got ready. She still had some time before a lot more students would start showing up, time she needed to tell Lyra what was happening. She entered the kitchen and sure enough, found Lyra there checking the fridge, she turned around and was shocked at her friend’s arrival. “Vinyl? Wow you’re here early, normally you’d be sleeping right now.” Lyra caught the panicked expression on her friend’s face, concerned. “Yo V, you okay?” Vinyl entered the kitchen, pacing around as she tried to form the words needed. “Okay okay okay, so something kinda….big happened and I’m kinda panicking! I….don’t know how or what but-” “Lemme guess, you saw a hot girl in the hall?” “Lyra I’m being serious I-” “Or did you meet some rock hottie at your last show?” “Lyra please I’m-” “Wait wait wait, don’t tell me, you forget we have a math test tomorrow. Well don’t worry, you can borrow my notes-” Vinyl grew impatient and grabbed one of the tall metal chairs used in the kitchen, bending it in half with ease, stopping Lyra’s words in her tracks. “H-How the fuck did you do that?” “I don’t know! I told you something big happened Lyra! I crushed my towel rack like paper this morning, and when I leapt back when I found a mouse I landed on my wall. That’s right, on my fucking wall, because apperently I can cling to shit now!” “C-Cling to what now-” Vinyl quickly jumped up, landing on the ceiling above and sticking to it as Lyra’s eyes widened. “W-What the fuck V!?” She landed back down and looked at her friend. “Yeah! See what I fucking mean now!? Suddenly I can do all this shit and I have no fucking clue how!” Lyra placed her hands on her friends shoulders, motioning them to take deep breaths, which Vinyl did, calming her down. “Okay, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on either. But try looking at this in a different way.” “What different way?” “V, you got fucking superpowers!” “I...what?” “You have super strength! And I’m sure no normal person can just leap up like that so maybe super agility as well! And you can like, crawl on walls!” “I...no don’t you need muscles to be strong-” Vinyl felt her stomach to prove her point, only to feel something much harder and flatter. “Wait the fuck-” She slightly lifted up her shirt, only for a pair of abs to greet her. “When the fuck!?” “Um, I’m pretty sure you didn’t have that yesterday…” “You fucking think!” “Wait, your arms!” “What do you mean-” Vinyl ran a hand up her arm and froze, it was toned and hard too. She had muscles now. In fact, while looking at herself through the metal reflection in the fridge, she was actually a lot more well built now, enough to give even captain of the track team Rainbow Dash a run for her money. “Okay….so I’m ripped now. I can crush shit, I can leap and stuff, and crawl on walls….Not gonna lie still kinda freaked out but….it’s kinda cool.” “See! It is cool when you think about it like that!” “B-But how the fuck did this happen?” “Who knows, maybe you’re an alien sent here from space, only now having your traits come up.” “Haha, very funny.” Lyra beamed as she saw her friend, before relaxing. “Okay okay, we need to test things out, I mean, you could even be a superhero.” “Woah woah, lets not go that far, I just wanna see how far this goes” “That’s fair, I got some free time after school, if you wanna head over to my place?” “What about your mums?” “They’re out for the week, so we got time.” The bell rang through the halls as the sounds of many pairs of feet were heard wandering to their classes. “We should head to class. Don’t worry, I won’t say a word of this to anyone, okay V?” “Thanks Lyra.” They both walked out of the kitchen and down the hall. ‘You could even be a superhero….yeah, fat chance of that happening.’ > Chapter 2: You have powers, Vinyl! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vinyl always found it hard to focus on schoolwork, but today it was much harder to do so, suddenly waking up with superpowers would do that. Math, English, History, none of it seemed important. Gym class proved to be a different kind of challenge, instead of trying to get the energy to do it, she actually had to hold back. Though that didn’t stop her from suddenly doing much better at the subject than ever before, and other student’s noting her new build. Even Rainbow Dash shot her a compliment and asked to exchange work out tips sometime. ‘Try suddenly getting powers, that’s how I got abs.’ Besides that highlight, the school day was mostly a blur, it didn’t feel like long until she found herself at Lyra’s house. It was small and in a packed suburb close to the city, but apparently the rent was decent, so Lyra’s folks moved in at the start of the school year. Vinyl now was standing in the garage as Lyra pulled out a notepad and pen. “Alright! It’s superpower test time! So, we know you can climb up walls, let's see how strong you are now! Hmm….Pick up Ma’s car!” Vinyl looked at her friend in shock. “You fucking serious?” “What? We know you can crush shit like no one’s business. Now see if you can lift!” Vinyl looked at the car, it was small, didn’t even have backseats, used by Lyra’s Ma when she had to work. She sighed and walked up to the vehicle, placing her hands under it. With only a little bit of effort, Vinyl now found herself holding the car above the ground. “H-Holy shit!” “Woah! A-Are you even struggling!?” “Nope! I could do this all day!” “Awesome!” Lyra scribbled something into her notes as Vinyl slowly placed the car back on the ground. “So, super strength, 110%. Hmm, I wonder what your agility is like. How was gym?” “Uh, I had to hold back.” “I’m sorry hold back?” “Y-Yeah, gym was actually too easy, I didn’t want anyone to get suspicious so I held back. I think I could have easily beaten most of the track records too…” “Holy shit Vinyl, that’s awesome! So, super agility is a yes! I wonder what else…” Vinyl rolled her eyes and smirked. “Someone’s excited. Hey if I’m going to be your test subject for today, at least give me a soda.” Lyra chuckled and placed her notes down, walking inside to the kitchen. Vinyl stepped over and had a peek at the notes, there were notes on all the powers they knew of so far, along with what seemed to be sketches of some weird looking logos and different colour ideas. Lyra came back with a can of soda only to see Vinyl looking at her work. “Hey! No peeking!” She threw the can at her, Vinyl suddenly feeling all the hairs on her body stand up. The was this….buzzing type feeling through her, danger, that’s all her brain would yell, danger. Her body moved out of the way of the can, flipping over and landing on the wall. The can fell to the floor as Lyra’s jaw did the same. “H-How did you know I was throwing that!” “I….don’t know. I just, knew that something was happening, so I dodged it.” “Wait….that could be another power!” “...what?” Vinyl relaxed as Lyra scribbled something down in her notes. “Like, some sort of danger sense! Like your body knows something bad is about to happen!” “Oh, that actually sounds really cool.” “This just proves that you have more powers! We could even be missing more!” “Shit, that would be something.” Lyra took her seat before looking at her friend with a raised eyebrow. “V, I think you can get off the wall now” Vinyl only now realised that she never bothered to get off the wall, she was even almost sitting on it. “Oh, well, I’m comfy. Besides I don’t feel that uncomfortable.” “That’s….going to take some getting used to.” “Yeah….Hey Lyra, what’s with all the drawings in your notes?” Lyra slightly blushed in embarrassment, before flipping her notepad over to show her. “Oh you know….costume and hero logo ideas….You know, just in case….” “Wow, you’re still on the hero train?” “I mean, think about it V, you have power unlike anyone else. Look I’m not going to force you if you don’t want to, but imma keep working on it, it gives me a new project to do since I’ve already done all my robotics work for the year” “Shit already? Well, fine, yeah I guess that’s okay” Lyra fidgeted in her seat, clearing looking to ask something but not wanting to say. Vinyl rolled her eyes. “What did you wanna ask me, Lyra?” “Well….CAN I MAKE YOU A MASK??” “What? Why?” “I just think it could look cool! Plus you never know!” Vinyl thought about it, she was right, there could be a time where she needed to hide who she was while using her powers. She sighed and smiled. “Okay, but just a mask” The green hair girl squealed and ran off inside to get supplies. Vinyl just sighed and jumped off the wall, looking to the beat up soda can on the ground. “Awww, it all leaked out…” ----- Vinyl looked up at the night sky as she walked home, her hand feeling the mask in her hoodie pocket. Lyra had been shockingly quick, as it was a simple design, pure white except the blue, spray paint looking eye shapes on the front. Well, they were much larger than her eyes, but Lyra said it would help express herself better. She reached for her phone and checked the time, 12:14am, Vinyl did choose to stay while Lyra made the mask. She had full costume ideas, even hero names, and this weird gadget idea. But Lyra wouldn’t tell her about that one, saying it was a surprise. She sighed and put her phone back in her jeans, Lyra was always a bit of a dork, so no wonder she was getting excited. Vinyl thought about what Lyra said, being a hero sounded all fun in theory, but there were real risks involved in that. Vinyl just couldn’t see herself being the type to risk herself day after day for strangers. She was now in the deeper city, Lyra had offered to drive Vinyl home with her actually having a driving license and all but Vinyl said she needed the walk. Her own inner thoughts were interrupted when she heard a small scream from the alleyway she just passed, she peaked back only to find two men with bars coming closer to this younger woman. “Please! Get back! I-I’ll beat you both with my bow!” “Oh please, just hand over your stuff and we won’t have to get rough with ya.” “Like hell I’ll give you my things.” “Well then, I didn’t want to kick your teeth in, you seem like a nice girl, but I gotta do what I gotta do.” Vinyl threw her head out of view and stood against the wall, that poor girl couldn’t beat those two, fuck. Should she call the police? No, knowing those pigs they would just make things worse. She swallowed, she couldn’t do anything, she needed to find someone that could- Wait a minute. Vinyl looked to her hands. She could do something. She thought against it, this was some random girl, and besides it wasn’t like muggings were a rare thing in this city. Vinyl took a few steps away, before stopping at the sound of another scream. ‘This isn’t your business, Vinyl, you can just walk away.’ Vinyl put her hands in her hoodie, only to feel the mask Lyra made. ‘God fucking damn it.’ ----- One of the two men held the brown haired girl back as the other went through her purse, noting all the cash and cards. He opened a large case the girl was carrying and whistled. “Damn Joe, think this could go for a good price?” “Oh shit, yeah I think that’ll earn us a nice payday.” “YOU LEAVE THAT ALONE-” She struggled against the man as a figure crawled down the alley wall. Hearing movement, the other man stood and looked up. “Did you hear that Joe?” “Huh?” “I think I hear movement….Hey! Just walk away! This got nothing to do with you!” The figure crawled down next to the men, sighing. “Really? You think that’s threatening? I’ve literally seen kindergartners more scary than the two of you.” The men looked to the wall in surprise, seeing a hoodie covered person with a mask somehow clinging to the wall. “H-How the fuck? Look you can just walk away, freak!” “What? You see someone hanging out on a wall and call them a freak? Look that’s harsh man, I got feelings under this mask.” The man groaned in frustration, swinging his metal pipe at the wall. The figure dodged the attack, grabbing the man’s head and slamming it against the wall as they flipped over him. “Seriously? You call that an attack? I got bored halfway through.” The other man, eyes widening at seeing this person, went to grab something from his waist, the additional effort giving just enough room from the girl to escape from his grasp. “Hey! Get back here girly!” The man felt a strong fist against his chest, sending him flying against the back wall, out cold “Girly? Jeez at least have some respect for the person you’re robbing.” The other man slowly got up, rubbing his head as it pulsed with pain from his sudden meeting against the brick. He turned to see his partner out cold. He started to panic, going for his waist and pulling out a handgun. “You fucking bitch! Don’t move!” The girl looked out in fear, looking to her masked helper. “Watch out!” Vinyl turned, seeing the gun pointed at her, she threw her hands up. This was it, this is what she got for getting into this. “Woah woah dude! You don’t gotta go pointing that thing around!” “You bitch just ruined this nice score! Now say goodnight!” Vinyl vinced in anticipation, trying to ready herself to dodge, could she even dodge a bullet? Well she was about to find out. Suddenly the man’s eyes widened, pointing his gun all around. “W-Where the fuck did you go!?” Vinyl looked at him confused, looking to the side, seeing even the girl look arounded, confused. She looked down at herself and was surprised, she was see-through, besides a thin, blue outline around her. With some caution, she walked up to the man, waving her hand in his face with him noticing. ‘Wait….to them….am I invisible?’ Taking her chance, she threw a right hook into the man’s face, knocking him out. Suddenly the girl gasped behind her. “Y-You’re back!” Vinyl turned around, looking at her hands again, she was visible again. ‘Okay, I so gotta tell Lyra about this.’ Before that could happen, she helped the girl up. She brushed herself off before gathering her purse and large case. “Thank you, just thank you so much! I don’t know what they would have done if you hadn’t shown up! Um….Who are you?” Vinyl just stood there, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. “O-Oh you know, someone who just saw you needed help.” “Oh, well I assumed with the mask you had some sort of them. And the things you did! You’re like a superhero!” “I-I guess I am” “Do….you even have a name?” “Uh, no. Not really” The girl brought her hand to her chin. “The way you crawled down, the way you flipped around when you fought….Well if you’re open for suggestions, I guess Spider-Woman would be fitting! All you’re missing are the webs.” Vinyl thought about it, she liked it, had a nice ring to it. I mean, she could climb like a spider, so it did kinda fit. “I….I like that!” “Well, Spider-Woman, thank you for saving me. My name is Octavia” “It’s no problem at all. Hey Octavia, I guess my name is Spider-Woman!” The girl smiled at her, Vinyl did have to admit it was nice to have the person she helped out be a real cutie. She snapped herself out of her thoughts. “I guess I should uh, get going….” The girl nodded and headed off, not before turning around slightly blushing. “T-Thank you again” Vinyl smiled to herself as she watched the girl wonder off. “....This mask is kinda itchy….” ---- Vinyl laid back on her bed as she texted Lyra, the other girl excited to hear about her fighting crime. V - Yeah, then she thanked me and walked away. LyraH - That’s so cool! I’m proud of you for stepping in! V - It was nothing, really. LyraH - It’s something!!! You helped her out when she needed it, that counts for something! :D V - I guess so, well I guess that’s really everything. LyraH - Got it, make the mask less itchy, sounds good. I’ll get started on that tomorrow after school. LyraH - I gotta show this new girl around during the day V - Lol, be sure to tell me if she’s cute LyraH - Oh you know I will. Have a good might V! LyraH - *night V - Might Lyra - stfu Lyra - BTW Spider-Woman is such a cool name!!! I can so work with that!!! Vinyl relaxed in her bed, she still wasn’t sure about the whole being a superhero thing, but she was still happy that she helped that girl out when she did. Before she fell asleep, she opened her chat app again and messaged Lyra one last thing. V - Oh yeah before I forget V - I can turn invisible. It was only half a minute before the other girl messaged back, bringing a smile to Vinyl’s face. LyraH - YOU CAN FUCKING WHAT????? > Chapter 3: Just missing the webs > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Slow down Lyra, I can hardly hear a word you’re saying.” Vinyl found herself once again early to school, apparently having a good sleep cycle was another superpower she gained. She was trying to calm a hyper Lyra as she rambled near the school’s statue. The green haired girl took a few deep breaths before repeating. “Vinyl! The girl said something about just missing the webs, right?” “Yeah….what about it?” Now that she looked closer, Lyra’s eyes had dark eye bags hanging under them. “Lyra, have you slept?” “Nope! Energy drinks kept me up! Because I was making you this!” Lyra reached deep into her bag and pulled out a bulky, metal device with a strap under it. She beamed with pride as she showed it to Vinyl. “I….what is it?” “You’re no longer missing the webs!” “....Huh?” “This, my dear Vinyl, is a web shooter! Well they’re not actual webs, but watch!” Vinyl quickly shoved the device back into Lyra’s bag before the girl could put it on. “I don’t know what a ‘web shooter’ means, but whatever it is I think it can wait till we’re not surrounded by people.” “O-Oh, maybe you’re right….” Lyra blushed slightly as she zipped her bag back up. “Okay, but I’m so showing you after school.” “Sounds like a plan. Now, don’t you have to show that new girl around today?” “Oh right, I should go and do that…” “Don’t worry, I’ll come with ya, it’s on my way to class, anyways.” The pair walked into the school building, Lyra looking out for the student. “So, you know anything about this girl?” “I have a rough idea what she looks like, she looks liiiike….that!” Lyra bounced forward to a brown haired student in the crowd, Vinyl struggling to catch up. But when she did, she froze in place. “So my name is Lyra Heartstrings and I’ll be your guide for today! I’ll be attending the same classes as you so you can get a feeling for Canterlot High!” “Oh thank you, my dear, to be honestly the size of this school is overwhelming and nothing like my last one.” Stood in front of Lyra and Vinyl was the same girl she had rescued from a mugging the night before. She had to rub her eyes to make sure it was real, but there she remained. “My goodness, where are my manners. I’m Octavia Melody, and your friend here is?” “Oh that’s Vinyl, I guess you’ll get to know her today too” “Oh! Well hello Vinyl, I hope we get along!” Vinyl shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “Y-Yeah I hope so too. You know if you’re looking for a less boring guide, I can clear up my classes for today-” She was cut off by Lyra punching her in the arm, which earnt a small chuckle from the other girl. “Oh I’m sure your friend here will do lovely. Actually before we start I require to see the uh, ladies room…” “Down the hall to the left” “Thanks Vinyl” Her eyes lingered on Vinyl for a while before she headed off to the restrooms. The blue haired girl looked at her friend with wide eyes. “Something wrong, V?” “Uh, yeah so….Octavia was the one I saved last night….” Lyra looked at Vinyl, then looked at the direction Octavia went in, and then back again. “No fucking way” “Way” ----- The day was certainly a different one, but a good one. Lyra and Vinyl showed Octavia all around the school, introduced her to Bon Bon, and where all the bathrooms were, for future reference. They now sat in the cafeteria, Bon Bon having joined the group just beforehand. Octavia went on about how small and low tech her old school was and how Canterlot High was so different in comparison. “I mean, it’s just all so new to me, I only moved to this city a month ago and so much has already happened. I even got saved last night.” Lyra and Vinyl shot each other a look, trying not to give away anything as Bon Bon listened, very interested. “Oh? Saved? What do you mean?” “Well, last night I happened to run into two thugs who wanted my things. I’m not too proud to admit that it freaked me out.” “Oh honey I’m so sorry that happened! Please tell me you called the police.” “Didn’t need to, actually.” “Oh really?” “Some kind of….hero saved me.” Bon Bon leaned in, eager to learn more as Vinyl tried her best to look as calm as possible. “A hero?? Oh dear you gotta tell us more.” “Well, they crawled down from the wall. And then they flipped all around! Taking them both out like it was nothing! They were making fun of them the whole time too, which really annoyed them.” Lyra looked at Vinyl, eyebrow raised, it seems she left the joking detail out of last night’s texts. Vinyl reflected on last night’s experience, she never felt so alive, and she was doing it all to help someone that needed it. She never really thought of herself as selfless, but this new experience had her questioning a lot. Maybe Lyra had a point…. Bon Bon simply responded with excitement in her voice. “That sounds so cool! I’m sure glad someone like that showed up.” “That’s not all, she turned invisible! I know that sounds crazy but I know what I saw! Afterwards we talked, it seems like she’s new to the whole hero thing or something. But yeah, I’m glad she showed up, it really was something.” “Oh? It’s a she?” Octavia slightly blushed, poking at her food. “Y-Yes, she sounded like one. And she uh-” She quickly shoved a fork load of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Bon Bon looking on confused. “She what?” Octavia’s blush deepened, she motioned her hands around her chest, making a big motion, causing Bon Bon to smirk. “Oooohhhh, big knockers. Got ya.” “D-Don’t say it like that.” She wasn’t the only one blushing, Vinyl was busy trying to hide hers behind her carton of chocolate milk. Lyra pulled out her phone, Vinyl’s phone buzzing shortly with a text. Vinyl fished her phone out and checked it. LyraH - Get in there ¬‿¬ Vinyl simply responded by punching Lyra, hard, in the arm. Lyra held it in pain as Bon Bon quickly went to pull her closer. “Why did you do that to my Lyra, Vinyl?” “She texted me some weird meme.” Bon Bon scoffed as Octavia couldn’t help but chuckle, this new group she found herself with certainly wasn’t boring. Lyra quickly messaged another text while still in pain. LyraH - SUPER STRENGTH LyraH - ASSHOLE V - Oh shit V - Forgot lol ----- Vinyl found herself once again in Lyra’s garage as she tinkered with the web shooter. She sipped her drink and looked over at Lyra’s work. “So uh, what does it do?” Lyra smirked, placing her screwdriver down and placing the device around her wrist. “This! Is a web shooter! It’s design is….not great right right now, but I can always refine!” “Lyra, I appreciate that, but what-” “I’m getting there! So, I figured what would be a fast way to get around the city, and I thought about the webs comment. Did you know some spiders swing from their webs to reach places? Well, that got me thinking-” Lyra aimed her wrist at a can she placed before, and pressed her middle and ring fingers down, causing a thick string of webbing to shoot out and attach itself to the can. Lyra flicked her wrist back and caught the can with her hands. “Ta-Da! Webbing!” “H-Holy shit Lyra! That’s really fucking cool!” “Why thank you! My guesses are it can handle up to a ton or so” “I’m sorry a ton!?” “Yep! I mean, I really wanted to make sure it didn’t break while you were swinging around.” “Swinging around?” “Swinging around buildings of course! I did mention spiders swing from webs, now you can do that to get around the city.” “Oh, oh fuck no, there’s no way you’re getting me to jump and swing from a fucking building.” ----- “I can’t believe you’re getting me to jump and swing from a fucking building.” There Vinyl stood, on top of a large hotel tower with the same outfit she wore last night, she figured it would be best to side aside an outfit for all this. She pulled at the new mask, looked the same but out of a much nicer material. She looked at the bulky web shooter on her wrist. “You’ll be fine, Vinyl! Just remember to use your two middle fingers to shoot out the webbing!” Vinyl gulped, looking back to Lyra. “Didn’t you say that this has limited webbing?” “Yeah, don’t worry I have extra cartridges, and besides you’d have to swing around for hours to use it up.” She nodded, Lyra’s confidence putting her slightly at ease, she gave one last look to her. “Remember in case this fails, alright? I’ll land in the river bank.” “No problem, I’ll keep an eye out.” It was half the reason this building was chosen to test this, it was built right next to the inner city Canterlot river. Vinyl’s enhanced body would mean it wouldn’t hurt if she landed in it from up here. Well, not hurt that much anyways. Vinyl placed earphones in her ears, blasting one of her favourite tracks, music always did help her calm down. She looked to the edge of the building, and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing” She ran up to the edge, using all her might to leap off it as far as she could. She wind whipped against her clothes as she fell rapidly towards the ground. ‘Better hope Lyra knows what she’s doing!’ Vinyl aimed her arm up, and pressed her two middle fingers together. It took no time at all before the webbing reached the building and latched on, sending Vinyl now swinging. ‘OH THANK FUCK IT WORKS’ That was the end of the test, it worked as intended, but Vinyl felt the confidence to go further. She detached the current web line and aimed to the opposite building, shooting some webbing out and swinging there. What was a terrifying experience quickly became exhilarating as she swung from building to building, gaining speed while doing so. After going a few blocks, she decided to try some tricks. She posed and aimed her legs up, calling upon the breakdancing she did at clubs into her swing. Spinning and rotating in the air, striking different poses. She never felt like this, the defied the ground, no, she styled on the ground. Only thing missing in her tricks and style was a second web shooter, oh with two she could pull off so much more stylish tricks. After some time, Vinyl spun up and landed back on the roof of the hotel, Lyra looking on in amazement. “Y-You did it!” “I sure fucking did!” “I saw your flips! You looked cool!” Vinyl took a moment to breathe as she laughed, her heart still pounding from the experience. “Lyra, you’re a fucking genuis.” Lyra smiled and helped her friend back to the door down to the stairs. “Any notes for me?” “Yeah, I think I’ll need a second one.” “Oh I can so do that” > Chapter 4: Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Woman > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a few weeks since that spider bit Vinyl and changed her life forever. She had gotten somewhat used to the new routine, patrolling at night and stopping crimes of petty thugs. Lyra’s web shooters hugely helped with that and with criminals being strung up in webbing and her efforts had certainly gotten attention. Multiple news outlets talking about the new hero, blurry pictures going viral online. There was even a cash prize out for whoever could get a clear picture of them. But right now, Vinyl was helping out Lyra and Bon Bon in the school’s gymnasium. The school dance was nearing and Lyra had roped Vinyl into helping, as payment for all the help Lyra had been to their Spider-Woman efforts. Even if she was lazy, she didn’t mind lending an extra hand, after all she did so every night. Octavia decided to join them, too, she had rather quickly found herself a part of their little friend group and it was a welcome addition. She scrolled through her phone as Bon Bon and Vinyl brought another fold out table in. “She makes the news almost every time. Though I wish they would stop calling her Spider-Man.” Bon Bon walked up to Octavia and looked at her phone, seeing the news article about a jewelry shop heist that was stopped by the ‘Spider-Man’. “I agree, it’s kinda sexist to assume. Though then again they’ve never got a clear picture of her.” “But people online that have been saved by her have been trying to correct these outlets. I guess they won’t change their tune until video footage comes out.” Vinyl grunted in pain as she set up another table, rubbing her back. ‘Those crooks didn’t have to slam me with their damn car, thank fuck I found about about my healing when I was thrown through a window two weeks ago. Some of that still stings…’ Lyra came up to the two of them, Vinyl soon joining as she took a seat on a foldable chair. “Well girls, since we’ve recently gotten past exams, and the dance isn’t for another two weeks, I got tickets for the four of us to go to the Discord Carnival!” Octavia raised an eyebrow as she placed her phone back in her purse. “Discord Carnival? I haven’t heard of that before.” “Oh it’s a huge thing in this city! All of downtown gets filled with different vendors, games and attractions! It’s a lot of fun, me and Bon Bon went last year.” “Oh? Did you not go, Vinyl?” Vinyl shrugged as she scrolled through her phone, looking at the latest news of her exploits. “Last Fantasy 16 came out the day they went, so I was playing that. Plus I didn’t wanna third wheel. They just got together so they were in the touchy phase.” Lyra and Bon Bon blushed as they remembered the early parts of their relationship, Octavia blinking in surprise. “Oh my….Well I think it would be fun for the four of us. Good thinking, Lyra.” Lyra smirked, Bon Bon grabbing Octavia to help out with some boxes as the green haired girl sat on the floor next to Vinyl. “You’re welcome.” “Huh? For what?” “Oh you know, setting up a nice double date with the four of us.” “Fucking what?” “Oh come on, Vinyl, I’ve noticed all the looks you’ve been giving Octavia. Don’t worry, me and Bon Bon will ‘wander off’ and give the two of you plenty of time together~” Vinyl tried to hide her blush as her friend chuckled. “Yo just relax, V, you’ve been going at this spider thing pretty hard lately. Take tomorrow night to just relax, give her the moves, just let your hair down.” She sighed and locked her phone, maybe Lyra was right and taking a night off to just relax would be a good idea. And hey, it was with Octavia, which was a major plus. “Okay okay fine, you’ve convinced me. Should still bring my spider gear, you know, just in case.” “Im mean, sure, but don’t just focus on it.” “I won’t, trust me” ----- The opening night of the Discord Carnival was certainly a sectical, flashy light up signs and loud music filling downtown Canterlot. The four of them entered through the front, Octavia looking around in amazement at the sheer scale of the event. “This is just simply wonderful! Oh the lights are just….wow!” Vinyl smiled at the beaming Octavia, seeing her this happy was certainly a wonderful sight. They explored the area, seeing the many games and attractions. Bon Bon and Lyra tried out a game with shooting down cups, and surprisingly Bon Bon had a sharp eye for it, knocking them all down in a flash. They all stopped for some food before arriving at a strongman attraction, one where you used a mallet to hit the platform and hopefully send the peg up ringing the bell. The man operating it spoke loudly, trying to gain attention to his game. “Step right up! Step right up! Do you think you have the might to reach the top? Not one person has hit the bell tonight so it could be your lucky chance to claim this special prize! That’s right! If you manage to hit the bell you’ll earn two tickets to next week's exclusive Sunlight Orchestra concert! All tickets are currently sold out- that’s right sold out! So this may be your last chance to earn your seats!” Vinyl looked at the man, caught by his words. ‘Sunlight Orchestra? I heard Octavia talking about wanting to go to that. Maybe I can snag them, maybe make it a date….’ She smirked, motioning Lyra to keep the group walking as she walked up to the man and raising her hand. “Yeah sure, I’ll give this a try if you don’t mind” The man smiled and looked at her, motioning to the mallet on the ground. “So we have someone who thinks they’re mighty!” He leant in and spoke quieter to Vinyl. “Look girl, no shame if you don’t wanna, it is meant for the strong” “Oh, I think I’m strong enough” Vinyl handed the man some coins and grabbed the mallet. The man grinned, knowing the small piece of plastic below the bell would stop the peg no matter what. She smirked and gripped it firmly in her hands. “Hope you’re ready to hand over those tickets” She sent the mallet down, splintering and cracking as it hit the platform. The peg flew up and managed to smash through the small piece of plastic, hitting the bell hard and causing it to ring out. Vinyl calmly placed the mallet down as the man looked on with his jaw open. “H-How did you-” “Wow! Guess I had one hell of a swing! So, if you don’t mind, I would like those tickets please.” The man looked down in defeat as he dug into his pocket, begrudgingly handing over the two tickets. Vinyl smiled and ran up to catch up with the group, stuffing the tickets into her pocket. Bon Bon looked back and saw the girl running up. “Oh there you are, Vinyl. What were you doing?” “Uh, I just saw something that I thought was interesting. Really wasn’t though.” Lyra rolled her eyes, before pretending to look at her phone. “Wow! We still got like, an hour left. Hey why don’t we split up so we can see more? Me and Bon Bon will check the eastside while you and Vinyl check west!” Bon Bon smiled and held onto Lyra’s hand. “Oh hun that sounds like a great idea! You and Vinyl have fun, okay Octavia?” All Octavia could do is nervously nod as the couple pulled away, Lyra quickly sending her friend a wink and a thumbs up. Vinyl looked around the sights before turning to Octavia. “So, should we explore?” “O-Oh! Sure!” The two of them explored the westside, checking out various games together as the night went on. Lyra was right, Vinyl really needed this night to just relax, and she was hoping to top it off with a date offer to Octavia with the tickets. For once in a while, being Spider-Woman was the last thing on her mind. ----- The grey haired man stumbled to his phone as he walked past his equipment. The number was blank, which could only mean one thing. He swiped the screen and put it in speaker. “Grogar” “I’m here boss, what do you need?” He screwed in another bolt as the deep, otherworldly voice on the phone spoke. “Got a job for you” “Oh really? And here I thought you were just calling to say hi” “Quiet. I need a certain piece of land’s value to….drop. A contact of mine wants it in exchange for the things I need. So I’m calling you” “Right right, so what this time? Need me to smash up some pretty home?” “Not exactly. I’ve heard downtown is busy. It would be a shame if that carnival was deemed too much of a….safety hazard in order to continue. When an area gets too damaged, it’s value tends to go down too. You catch my drift?” “So you want me to go cause a downtown wide disaster so it’s land value goes down, correct?” “Correct, my feathered friend. I assume you’re okay with some….acceptable casualties?” The old man smirked and powered up his tech, his black and green suit humming to life. “You should know by now boss, I’m more than okay with that.” ----- The night was slowly coming to a close as Vinyl and Octavia sat down to enjoy their hot cocoa, watching the crowd as it walked by. “I’m definitely coming here next year. There was so much to do! Yet so much to miss! We’re so going to cover the east side next time while they’re here.” “Next time? Is that your way of saying you enjoyed this?” “Of course! After all I have to get you back for you spraying me with that water gun” “Hey! It was an accident!” “Oh I’m sure it was, and the three times after that, too” They both broke out into a laugh, slowly calming down as they sipped their drinks. ‘Now’s your chance, Vinyl, just, bring the tickets out and ask her. You’ve asked people on dates before! How is this any different? Well I’ve never asked someone this….beautiful before- oh shut up brain, you’re not helping.’ Vinyl put her drink on the ground, turning to Octavia. “Hey so uh, you heard of the Sunlight Orchestra?” “Why of course! They’re the most talented orchestra in the western world! Why do you ask?” “Well, I got these tickets and-” Vinyl was cut off by what was seemingly the sound of a jet engine passing right above then, kicking up wind as it went past. The sounds of people worried echoing around as Vinyl managed to get a good look at the source, and it was certainly no jet. What floated above the carnival was a man, covered head to toe in armour as two massive metal wings kept him airborne with two large, sharp mechanical claws around his feat. “Listen up, Canterlot! Your carnival has really pissed me off. So if none of you mind, I’m just going to get rid of it!” The man swooped down into the crowd, his claws ripping apart tents and trailers as people panicked and ran. Octavia stood close to Vinyl as she looked on in horror. She could just run with Octavia and find her friends, she was just another person, she couldn’t be expected to take him on. Vinyl could just stop, she didn’t need to do this… The screams and panic around her filled her mind as Lyra and Bon Bon waved through the crowd to them. “Octavia! Vinyl! We gotta get out of here! We just gotta get to my car!” Bon Bon and Octavia nodded, running into the crowd and to the parking lot. Lyra turned to see Vinyl standing there. “V! We gotta go!” Vinyl slowly turned, she didn’t have to do this, she could just go and be with her friends. She didn’t have to do this…. But no one else could. She had to do this. She was the only one that could. She shook her head at Lyra, the girl looking at her with shock. “A-Are you serious!? Look V playing hero was fun but that’s a big metal guy with wings! He could seriously hurt you, or worse! Vinyl just come on!” “I can’t! You go and help Bon Bon and Octavia! I’ll deal with this!” “....Wow, you’re actually doing this?” “I have to.” Lyra brought Vinyl into a hug, giving her friend a small embrace before pulling away. “I have never been prouder to call you my friend, Vinyl.” Vinyl smiled, returned the embrace while it lasted. She grabbed the tickets from her pocket and gave them to Lyra. “Keep these safe.” “Of course, and V?” “Yeah?” “Kick his fucking ass” Vinyl smirked, nodding to her friend before running to behind the tents, away from the crowds. She reached into her bag and pulled her stuff out, first her outfit, web shooters then finally her mask. She looked down at it, smiling before putting on her fingerless gloves. “Alright Spider-Woman, let’s clip this bird’s wings” ----- The man threw another trailer at a nearby building, this job was almost too easy for him. It’s not like cops could even stop him, he’d be done soon and be paid handsomely for it. His eyes looked upon the ferris wheel, people still stuck in their seats due to being left behind in the panic. “Ah, the perfect finale!” He flew towards his target, only for his wings to be halted as they tried to pull against something. “What the hell!?” He looked behind him only to see a line of webbing attaching him to a nearby wall. A figure swung around him and landed on top of a trailer below. Spider-Woman looked up to him, waving. “Hello Mr birdman! This is a no fly zone! Please put your tin wings down and walk like everyone else!” He looked down in surprise, a girl was just standing there, wearing a normal outfit with a mask. He whipped the edge of his wings against the webbing, slicing himself free. “Ah, I see the media was wrong about you. I honestly thought you were nothing but myth, Spider-Girl, but here you stand. Pissing me off!” “Hey! At least get my branding right! That’s Spider-Woman to you! Speaking of branding, who are you? Birdbrain? Old Crow? Gimmick Wings?” “I suppose it’s only right that you know your enemy before they kill you. I’m the Vulture.” Vulture lunged for her, aiming his wings down to slice her before she managed to flip away. “Let me guess, you thought of the name first and then worked backwards, didn’t you?” He spun around, grunting as he looked at his foe. “Do you ever shut up!?” He lunged for her again, this time Spider-Woman flipping onto his back. “It’s a part of my charm!” “GET OFF!” Vulture spun to attempt to get the pest off him, Spider-Woman clinging to his back as she tried to back off his suit. “Dude! What don’t you get about me being Spider-Woman?” “Ugh!” He flexed his wings back, sending her flying off as she ripped off a part of his jetpack. It sparked and sputtered as she swung to a nearby wall. He looked back, seeing the smoke coming from his suit. “YOU DAMN PEST!” He sped around, flying to the north end of the festival and towards the ferris wheel. “I see you like to think of yourself as a hero, so save them, hero!” He reached his claws forward and swooped down, tearing off the support beams. The wheel cracked and bent as it slowly started falling, those trapped screaming as they tried to hold on. “Shit! Hang on!” Spider-Woman zipped to the building next to the ferris wheel, thwiping some webs to it and holding on, stopping the wheel from falling. She dug her heels into the edge of the rooftop as she struggled to pull the wheel back. ‘Fuck! This isn’t going to hold!’ Thinking quickly, she let go and attached several lines of webbing to the wheel and the building, the lines just being able to hold the weight. She leaped forward, quickly swinging down and grabbing two people from their seats, going down and placing them on the ground. ‘Got to get everyone out before those webs snap!’ Spider-Woman went from cart to cart, getting people out as fast as she could. As she managed to get the last person out, the webs snapped as the wheel bent and broke, crashing into the ground with a deafening thud. Vulture screamed out in frustration at seeing his plan failed. ‘DAMN IT. If there aren’t at least a few casualties, I won’t get paid!’ He turned towards the road, people trying to escape in their cars. After picking one out, he flew down and attached his claws to the roof of a small car, lifting it up. Lyra was driving around the festival, trying to wait for Vinyl before these metal claws dug into her roof. “Fuck!” The three girls held on as they were lifted up, screaming in fear. Spider-Woman, after letting the last person down, saw what was happening and panicked, seeing her friends in danger. “No you don’t!” Vulture lifted the car high into the high into the night sky, Spider-Woman hot on his tail. She felt some heat flow through her arm, she needed to save them, she had to. She leaped up to Vulture, her left arm now glowing and sparking, channeling off sparks and shocks as she clenched her fist, the web shooter smoking and breaking into pieces in the process. “LET THEM GO!” She sent her shocking punch right into Vulture’s face, sending him flying off as the electricity coursed through his body and suit causing it to short circuit. He dropped to the ground as the car was let go. She didn’t even care about where Vulture landed, she fell down and shot out webbing to the car, but only one line came out. She looked to her left shooter, seeing it broken and damaged. Her original plan to hold onto the car and the building wasn’t going to work. She landed on the car and ripped the passenger door off. “Next stop, Spider Street!” She grabbed Bon Bon and Lyra, throwing them down to the ground before shooting out a net of webbing. The two landed on it safely, if not still in shock. The car was about to smash into the ground now, she had to act quickly. She ripped the other door off and reached in, grabbing Octavia’s hand as the girl yelled in fear. She lifted her up and leaped off the car just before it crashed into the ground. Octavia held on tightly to her saviour as Spider-Woman swung out of the way. “Oh hey, we gotta stop meeting like this” Octavia giggled, now feeling safer with them. “I suppose we do. Thank you” She nodded as she swung down, dropping Octavia down next to Lyra and Bon Bon. “Everybody safe?” Lyra nodded, holding her girlfriend close. “Yeah, we are. Thanks Spider-Woman” She gave a two finger salute back, walking over to where Vulture crashed. His suit sparked and smoked, not responding to his movement. She let off a laugh before webbing him down, making sure he stayed there. “Sorry bout your feathers, but I’m sure the pet store will have plenty! Though I’m not sure if they have those in prison.” All Vulture could do is scream out in anger in frustration, rapidly trying to get out of her webbing. “Damn, I guess I’ll leave you some time to cool off. See ya around, Pigeon.” Multiple ambulances, police cars, and news trucks soon pulled into the scene, making sure people were okay. The police looked at the webbed up Vulture, unsure of how to even arrest him in that state. A lady in a grey suit and her cameraman quickly ran in, holding up a mic as she cleared her throat. “As you at home can see, chaos erupted at the Discord Festival tonight as an attack by an armoured, flying male fell on the poor goers here. However for the first time, we have footage and photos of who we have to thank. That’s right, Canterlot has its very own superhero!” She walked up to Spider-Woman while she was making sure people were okay. “Excuse me! You’re the hero that saved these people, we just have a few questions for you. First of all, who are you?” She turned around, noticing the camera and news reporter. She shrugged, thwiping a web to a building to take off, not before answering just one of her questions. “Me? I’m just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Woman!” > Chapter 5: Enter the Prowler > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “You know, if you wanna ask her out, you might wanna do it like soon. Isn’t that concert this weekend?” Vinyl swung past another building as Lyra talked to them, their setup was basic, phone, earphones with a mic, but it did mean they could talk to each other while she went on patrol. “I know, but like, she just gets to me, you know? It’s hard to think straight around her, let alone get around to asking her on a date.” “Vinyl, you’re gay, you never think straight.” “Ha ha, you know what I fucking mean.” Landing on the edge of a rooftop, Vinyl sits down and takes a moment to just watch the city. “Still Vi, you fight bad guys on the daily and asking a girl out is somehow harder?” “I’m sorry, remind me, how long did it take you to ask out Bon Bon again?” “Yeah fuck you too.” They both chuckled for a moment. It was almost midnight now and it was quiet. “There’s nothing out here, I might head back early and call it a night. You heading to bed soon?” “Maybe, I’m still working on your slimer web shooters.” “Oh sweet, when would those be done? These are great but I will admit they are kinda bulky.” “This weekend, actually, if progress keeps going smoothly.” Vinyl lept off the roof and began to do one last round before calling it. “Oh nice, I am really sorry about breaking it last time.” “I should be the one saying sorry! I really hope just having the one isn’t impacting you too much. And you can like, punch with electricity! I think finding that out was worth you blowing up one of them.” Her attention was quickly turned away from Lyra’s comments as she spotted a group of people on a rooftop dressed in black. “Hang on Lyra, I think I got something here, I’ll call you back.” Landing on a wall close by, she looked closer at the group as they were setting up what seemed to be a large harpoon or some sort. “Do these things ever come with instructions?” “Dude just shut up and screw that in, he should be opening that window at any moment.” Vinyl smirked and looked up at where they were aiming, seems like they were trying to rob Crystal Corp, an impressive target for goons like these. “Hey! I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure it’s righty tighty, lefty loosey.” She jumped off the wall and landed onto the device, they all gasped her name in surprise before trying to get some punches in. It wasn’t even a fight, she kicked the end of the machine and caused it to swing into two of the guys, knocking them out. Then all she had to two was throw one against the floor, pieces down, all that was left was one goon and her. “Okay dude so, you’re going to tell me why you’re trying to harpoon a building and I’ll just web ya web instead of knocking you out.” “I-It’s a zipline! W-We were going to zip in when he opened up our way in!” “He? Who?” “Me.” Her spidey sense went wild as she narrowly dodged the incoming attack as the figure swiped at her with giant metal claws. Spinning around, Vinyl saw the figure in question, wearing a purple cloak and outfit accented with green tech and eyes with the large claws in question. He spoke with a deep, obviously modified voice. “Woah! Okay so now I’m two for two with costumed bad guys with big claws.” The figure said nothing as it charged forward, showing he also had some type of rocket propulsion with his large boots and claws. Vinyl managed to dodge again, looking back at him. “Uh hello?? Mr Speedy Stabby! Honestly you try having a decent talk with people these days and they ignore you, so rude.” Lyra always said Vinyl’s big mouth may backfire, and it did in this case, allowing the man to charge forward and grab her, flying with her off the edge and throwing her onto another rooftop. “Apologies, but I’m not one for conversation. Now stay out of my business, Spider-Woman.” Vinyl slowly got up, wincing at the bruises she knew would hurt more tomorrow. “Oh sure! I’ll just leave you to rob places then! Yeah no, that’s not what’s happening here.” “I’m stealing from those who stole it from others. Tell me, how do you think Crystal Corp got so big over these years?” Getting to her feet, she readied herself for another attack. “I’m not defending them, rich assholes, I get that, but there’s also innocent people in there that you’re putting in danger and I am not letting that slide.” “Hmm, so you do actually have a brain under that mask.” Sirens could now be heard from the streets below, finally, someone reported all the racket. “I have nothing against you, Spider-Woman. In fact, I hope our next meeting is more….civil than this.” Vinyl lept forward and threw a punch at him. Dodging and kicking her back to the ground, the man turned away. “Fucking stop! Just who the fuck are you anyway!?” The man chuckled before standing on the edge of the building as Vinyl tried to get to her feet. “Name’s Prowler. And if I can offer you some advice….” He turned his head back around, glancing one last time at her before flying off. “Get yourself an actual suit” Vinyl rose to her feet, trying to see where he blasted off to, but the purple trail of his jets quickly faded, leaving no path to follow. “Where do all these guys come from?” She remarked, wincing in pain once again. ----- “AND THEN THIS SO CALLED ‘HERO’ SWUNG IN AND SAVED THE DAY! Now, some will say that this is great, but I would tell you to OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES! How else could Spider-Woman get there so quickly if she wasn’t working with the muggers in question! Ever since she showed up to Canterlot City she’s been nothing but a menace! A good for nothing-” Bon Bon closed the video on her phone and sighed. "I swear all he does is complain about her." Octavia nodded, placing the music sheet stand down. “He seems to have a grudge… for whatever reason.” “Yeah he kinda gets annoying after a while, don't you agree, Vinyl?” Vinyl looked up from her task of moving the drum set, a task proving more difficult than normal due to her various injuries that she got from the Prowler. “Huh? Oh, I don’t really pay attention to news stuff.” Which was half true, normally Vinyl couldn’t care less what the press talked about, but now this JJ dude was going off his rocker about Vinyl and her hero deeds. With some people being convinced by his words, he annoyed her to no end. “Do….you need some help with that, Vinyl?” Octavia walked over, raising an eyebrow with concern. “Uh, yeah actually. I think I slept funny cause my back is killing me.” The girl quickly took the middle drum and walked over to the other side of the room to the rest of it, Vinyl pausing in awe. “Wow, do you secretly have abs under that vest?” Octavia slightly blushed and placed the drum down. “Well, no. But carrying a cello around for years has its benefits.” Lyra nudged Vinyl as she took Bon Bon to grab more equipment from the back. She took the que and slowly walked up to the cellest. ‘Come on, be cool Vinyl.’ “Hey, uh, you a fan of the Sunlight Orchestra?” “Oh yes! They’re simply wonderful! I tried to get tickets when they announced their dates but they were all snapped up so quickly.” Vinyl reached into her pocket and pulled out the two tickets she had won from the discord carnival. “I actually managed to get some! A….mixing buddy of mine got em. And I was wondering if you….you know….wanted to come see them with me?” Octaiva paused in pace as her blush increased. “O-Oh! That...actually sounds rather lovely.” “A-Awesome! These tickets are for friday, so I guess I’ll pick you up around 8?” “You have a car?” “Uh, no. But I figured we could at least take the train there together.” The brown haired girl smiled and leant forward, placing a small peck on Vinyl’s cheek. “It’s a date then.” Vinyl’s grin turned into a dumbfounded wide smile as Lyra and Bon Bon came back. Bon Bon hauling in a large case. “Octavia? You know these string instruments better than I do, care to help?” “Of course! Well you’re currently hauling a double bass there, here let me…” Lyra walked up to her spider friend with a grin, seeing her with her wide smile. “Soooooo?” “.....got the date.” “Fuck yeah.” ----- “Holy shit, that sounds brutal. I mean, jet boots?” Vinyl finished her can of soda and threw it into the trash can. Relaxing against Lyra’s bed as she finished her story about her encounter the previous night. “Yeah, he was something else. Kinda hard to react to him with only one shooter. Speaking of, how are the new ones lookin?” “See for yourself.” Standing up and walking over to Lyra’s desk, she smirked. “Damn those are tiny compared to the old ones.” “But they still hold just as much webbing. *And* should hold up under your venom strikes!” “....Venom strikes?” “Yeah! Cause you know, stings like venom? Look it’s better than boring ‘electric punch’ or something like that.” “Yeah yeah I guess so.” “Well? Give em a shot!” Vinyl happily did as told, sliding on the new shooters onto her wrists. She shot out a web to an unopened can of sode across the room and flung it to her, catching it. “Fuck yeah! Now try out some of your venom!” Smirking, she charged up her venom into her forearm and into her fist, then letting out a small burst of it, the web shooter still intact. “Lyra you are a fucking genius.” “Please, heap more praise upon me. Fill my ego more.” They both shared a chuckle as Vinyl suddenly remembered. “Oh right, almost forgot. Remember back when you said you wanted to make me a suit?” Lyra spun around to her, beaming. “Yes! Yes I know what you’re asking and I’ll absolutely make you one!” Vinyl opened her bag and threw it to Lyra, a certain page bookmarked. “Can you make me one like that?” Lyra opened up to the bookmarked page and smirked. “You fucking know it.” ----- Vinyl grabbed the edge of the roof and launched herself over it, shooting out another web to the large building. Swinging to the wall and clinging to it, checking out herself in her new suit in her reflection. “Well, suit? Got it. Prowler better prepare himself now.”