#I SAID BABY I HOPE U THINK I DIDNT BITE UR IDEA | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hi-i-love-u-bitch · 5 years

Text

Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 2

Yo, yo, yo! Y’all ready for the second chapter of this bullshit? Cuz I sure as hell ain’t because that means I have to now start writing chapter three and I have no idea where this story is going! Aaaaaahhhhhhh! But I’m excited though! Again, thank you to @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for their lovely AU! Without further ado please ENJOY!!!!

Master Post

Beginning

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Swirls of colors and sounds filled their head like passing movie commentary you skip over. Small glimpses in and out of consciousness that made no sense by themselves but when put together you get some sort of visual on the puzzle you’re trying to put together.

“…food poising…?”

“…stress maybe…”

“…flu…should rest…”

“…24 hour bug…”

They all made sense when you thought about it but the reality of it was that they weren’t just “sick” they had been poisoned. Not on purpose, though who could say for sure. Who knows what kind of DNA splicing was done on that spider?

Wait, when did they get poisoned?

What spider?

The spider we let out the window?

No, it’s in our room!

We don’t like spiders! They’re icky!

They aren’t so bad.

A soft chuckle. Of course, we’d think that. You’d think that? I’d think that?

Wait, what?

---

Logan woke up with a start, heart pounding and lungs burning. He clutched onto something solid next to him so as to steady himself. He blinked rapidly, eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room in was in, his room? When did he get here? Logan carefully turned to take in his surroundings; he was in bed, dressed in pajamas, right hand having latched itself onto his head board. He glanced at the alarm clock near his desk it read 5am which would explain why everything was so dark.

Logan’s throat felt dry, like every time he swallowed it was like a cheese grater scraping against his vocal cords. He also fest extremely hungry despite the events that had happened previously. Logan carefully got up to go get some water and maybe an early breakfast only to be pulled back into bed.

“What the…?” Logan looked around to see what had happened and found that his had was still on his head board. His brow frowned as he tried to pull it off but it continued to stick as if it had been glued on. He pulled again, a bit harder, but only managed bend over a section of the metal bed frame. Logan’s eyes widen in shock and awe as he pushed back against the bended area and effortlessly straightened it. Now Logan wasn’t weak by any means necessary but he never considered himself athletic material either, let alone able to bend thick metal bed frames!

A soft tap on the door, “Logan, love, are you awake?”

“Uh, yes Ummi,” He replied hoarsely before clearing his throat “what did you need?”

“What are you doing up so early?” She questioned “The doctor said you should be resting?”

When did he go to the doctor?

“When did I go to the doctor?” Logan asked lamely, seriously all these blanks in his memories were going to drive him insane.

“We didn’t, we had called Dr. Smith next door,” Mrs. Quinn explained “unfortunately the Storms had called him as well. It seems Virgil had gotten sick too, very similar to how you did last night.”

Her voice sounded distant, like the memory of it brought her immense pain and that hurt Logan more then he thought it would. Also, Virgil had gotten sick as well, has he also been bitten? He asked, “Is he okay? What happened?”

“He’s fine but I’m not quite sure what was going on with you two,” She sighed “you seemed to be in a lot of pain, both mentally and physically. It was…very unpleasant to say the least.”

That was an understatement.

“Dr. Smith said it was probably a seasonal bug going around as well as stress,” There was a beat of silence “Logan, have you been doing alright in your studies?”

“Yes Ummi,” Logan reassured “everything is fine.”

“And you haven’t been harassed by other students like that boy from yesterday?” She asked anxiously.

“No Ummi, I haven’t,” Logan said seriously “I’m alright, I promise.”

More silence filled the room, unsureness thick in the air because honestly Logan had no idea if he was really fine or not. There was definitely something different about him that’s for sure and it had to do with that spider. He saw it on his desk, siting in the jar he placed it in earlier as if it hadn’t caused all this trouble.

“Can I come in?” Mrs. Quinn’s voice snapped Logan out of his train of thought and in a brilliant moment of word association he said “N-no, I’m…no dressed.”

It was cleat that this wasn’t something Mrs. Quinn expected, “Why are you undressed?”

“I’m getting ready for school,” He replied quickly “this is my normal routine, is it not?”

“Yes, but I would hope you would stay home today,” She said “especially after yesterday’s events.”

“I feel better now,” Logan assured, which was true, he actually felt great just really, really hungry and thirsty.

“Well, you don’t have to be in school until 8am so maybe you should rest a little bit more,” She suggested “and if you’re still feeling up to it then maybe you can go to school.”

“Of course, Ummi.” He nodded, even though no one was there to see it.

“But if I find out that you’re even slightly ill, you’re staying home,” Mrs. Quinn said firmly “understood?”

“Understood.” Logan agreed, best not to argue least she come in her and find Logan in his sticky situation.

“Good,” She sighed “go back to sleep love, I’ll be by to check on you soon. Babá and me have to leave to work a little early today so I want you to make sure you’re completely fine to go to school, okay?”

“Yes Ummi,” Logan sighed and with one last get well his mother departed down the hall. Finally. Logan’s muscles relaxed, not realizing how tense he had been, and he felt his hand slip from the metal bars it was attached to.

Logan blinked in confusion, standing up carefully and walking to a nearby wall. He decided to experiment a little, placing his hand on the wall and tensing the muscles in his fingers, just a bit. Like he predicted it stuck solidly onto the wall, he relaxed and his hand slipped free. He did this a few times more, first with one hand, then with two then with his feet before deciding to see what would happen if he pulled himself up. Logan was able to lift himself a few inches off the floor with nothing but his hands and feet holding him in place somehow.

“Holy shit.” He whispered to himself.

Logan looked to the little spider scuttling around in it’s jar as it effortlessly crawled up and down the sides. He wondered…he detached one hand and lifted it further up, same with the other hand, right foot, left foot, and soon enough he was hanging upside down from his ceiling.

“Something is definitely not right.” Logan breathed out anxiously, wondering how the hell the others were taking to this.

---

Something was definitely not right with Patton. First of all, he woke up tangled in his bed sheets which wasn’t unusual for the most part but it was much more difficult to get out of this morning since everything kept sticking to him. By the time he was able to detach himself from everything he was standing (hanging???) sideways on the besides his bed. Needless to say, he freaked out and spent half an hour trying to get unstuck only to drop back down on his bed and get tangled in his sheets again.

Defeated, Patton settled starfish style on his carpet floor, half the sheet clinging onto his leg as well as other thing such as papers and markers and socks sticking to other parts of his body. Patton really wanted to cry, he had no idea what was going on or what to do about it. But he knew crying wouldn’t do him any good so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

In for four…hold for seven…out for eight…

“I wonder why no one has come into my room yet?” Patton wondered aloud, especially with all the ruckus he was causing.

He lifted himself off the floor, not noticing the things he had stuck too start to slowly slip off, reaching over on his night stand for his phone. He clicked it on and found a few messages from his brother Georgie but aside from that he looked to the date and found that it was Wednesday. It explained a lot, Wednesdays were the busiest for his family with his parents’ bakery always filling up, Alex is having the morning shift at his part time job before heading to university, and Georgie opening up at the dinner he worked at. He quickly opened up his text messages.

Georgeous: ma said shed get off work early if ur still sick

Georgeous: theres soup & crackers at your desk if ur hungry

Georgeous: also water

Georgeous: ma also said u dont have to go to school today if u dont wanna

Georgeous: doc said u should take it easy

Ever the doting older brother Georgie was, always looking out for Alex and Patton even if they could get on his nerves sometimes. He should bake him a cake as a “thank you for dealing with all my oopsies”. Patton sent him a reply along with a few questions.

Baby Shark: thanks but i feel better now

Baby Shark: when did i go to the doctor?

Georgeous: dr. ortega from down the street was alredy coming by to check on romen

Georgeous: turns out he was sick as well

Georgeous: ma asked her to come over when she was done checking him out

Baby Shark: is Ro ok?

Georgeous: yeah doc said it was probably the flu going around an it just got to u 2 realy hard

Georgeous: why didnt u tell us u were feeling sick?

Patton thought for a moment, how could he explain that he hadn’t been feeling sick at all up until yesterday afternoon after…after he got that bug bite. Then that weird dream he had just before he woke up stuck to the wall and tangled in his sheets. How was he supposed to explain that things kept sticking to him and that the world seemed much more sharp now?

Baby Shark: i didnt notice it much

Baby Shark: and when i did i just thought it would pass with a good nights sleep

Baby Shark: i didnt want to bother anyone if it was nothing

Patton didn’t like lying to people but he just had no idea what was going on and he doubt anyone else did either. This would just cause them to freak out and then what? More doctors? Would the government get involve? Were they gunna make him a science experiment now that he’s a freak?

Georgeous: still next time tell us even if its just a stomach ache

Baby Shark: ok

Baby Shark: i g2g and get ready for school

Georgeous: r u sure?

Baby Shark: yeah i feel a lot better now promise <3

Georgeous: ok but if u feel sick just call me an i’ll pick u up ok?

Baby Shark: ok bye love u <3

Georgeous: love u too

Patton sighed, flopping back on the floor. He felt sick again but not like before, this was a different kind of sick. A guilty pit in his stomach kind of sick that probably won’t go away any time soon. Oh well, he couldn’t change anything now, might as well move on with his day. First things first, he had some thank you cookies to make.

He lifted his phone to check the time, 7am, plenty of time to do a quick batch of peanut butter cookies and scones. He should hurry so he could go check on Roman afterwards, he did look a little down when they were walking home yesterday.

“I wonder…” Patton said aloud again as he stood up to get dress. He placed his phone back down on his night stand and noticed his glasses sitting beside his lamp. Patton blinked as he felt his face and found he indeed was not wearing his glasses and yet the world looked crystal clear as if he was.

“Oh geez…”

---

Virgil was very thankful that it was Wednesday, everyone always goes to work early on Wednesday since it was the middle of the week and for some reason Manhattan decided to be a world of chaos. He was also thankful that he grandmother was a heavy sleeper because he had no idea how he was going to explain this!

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Virgil cursed as he desperately tried to unstick his feet and left hand from the ceiling. He had no idea how this happened or why it was happening he just knew that he wanted to get unstuck now!

Knock! Knock!

“Piglet, are you awake?” His grandmother called from behind the door.

“Uh, yeah,” Virgil squeaked “b-but, um, don’t come in I-I don’t have a shirt on!”

It was true, during his earlier struggle to get unstuck from his bed, which he at first thought was sleep paralysis, his hands got stuck to his shirt and tore it open when he was trying to unstick them.

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted breakfast,” She said “I could make you a warm broth so as not to upset your stomach.”

“N-no thanks Mama,” Virgil said quickly, finally able to get his hand free “I’ll just have something at Logan’s house before I go to school.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” His grandmother questioned sternly “You were very sick yesterday and the doctor said to take it easy.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure,” He fibbed as he wondered when he had gone to the doctor.

“If you’re sure,” She said skeptically “just make sure you two don’t eat anything too heavy. I heard Logan got sick last night as well, the doctor said it was a passing seasonal bug.”

“Okay, sure thing,” Virgil gulped “I’m gunna get ready now, don’t worry about me.”

“We will always worry about you, Piglet,” His grandmother said gently “it’s what families do.”

And with that she was gone and Virgil was beyond relieved. Then he fell off the ceiling. He was thankful for the dirty clothes pile in the middle of his room that softened his fall but he also cursed it because that means more stuff got stuck to him.

He groaned, “Come on, come on! Unstick, unstick!”

He hopped around the room like a lunatic and was only able to shake off a few articles of clothes before he tripped. The fall wasn’t as soft this time but at least the floor was carpeted at least so he didn’t knock his head that badly. He had landed near his dresser drawer where JD’s tank rested on, the tarantula in question was practically pressed up against the glass and hissing worriedly at his owner’s misfortune.

“Hey buddy,” Virgil groaned as he pulled himself up to be eye level with the tank and all who inhabit it “I’m okay, don’t worry. Though I’ll be honest, I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Hurt! Master hurt!” JD chittered as he paced anxiously in his tank.

“I’m good really, you hungry?” Virgil asked before he paused to process what just happened. Did…did his tarantula just talk to him? No, no, it couldn’t be, he just hit his head too hard. Right?

“Food!” JD cheered excitingly as he scurried around his food bowl patiently waiting for something to drop.

Virgil’s eyes widen in shock, completely frozen in place as he stared at his pet tarantula who was excitingly chanting “Food, food, food!”. He noticed that there were little waves of colors radiated off JD like a sort of technicolor halo. It was all getting to be a bit too much.

JD scuttled back to the front of the tank, a confused look in his eyes, “No food?”

Virgil yelped, accidently launching himself backwards towards his desk where he got stuck again. God damn it! Papers flew around were everywhere and Virgil couldn’t see, he stubbled around not knowing where he was going as he tried to desperately to get things to stop sticking to him.

“Stop sticking god damn it!” He growled as he finally got the last piece of paper off of his face. His relief was short lived because to his horror he was not in his bedroom anymore but on the standing perpendicular to the side of his building. “Keep sticking! Keep sticking!”

He was about a foot away from the fire escape near Logan’s window and Virgil contemplated weather or not he had enough courage to jump over or if his stupid sticky body would even allow that to happen. Still, he tried, carefully shifting one foot in front of the other until he had inched his way over the fire escape. Thankfully, it was only then that his stickiness decided to abandon him as he fell onto hard metal. Virgil groaned, it surprisingly didn’t hurt as bad as he thought it would but it still hurt pretty fucking bad.

He heard the window above him open up and his head tingled when he saw Logan poke his head out, looking around before finally spotting him below. The waves of color were back but this time they were brighter and loud like some sort of signal. Logan was a mesh of blue and cool grey and by the look he was giving him Virgil was just as colorful.

Logan seemed to think deeply for a moment, his mouth a straight line of concentration, “I can assume my theory was correct.”

“What theory?” Virgil groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbing his sore head. He’d be lucky if he didn’t get a concussion after all of this.

Ignoring his question, Logan grabbed Virgil’s arm before he could warn him and pulled, “Come inside.”

“Wait!” Virgil was pulled into the room quite effortlessly as if he weighed nothing to Logan. Which wasn’t all that hard to believe, Virgil had always been a thin guy plus he was a dancer so that wasn’t helping with anything. But not to say Logan was weak but seeing as the most physical activity this guy does is walk to and from school, he should have had at least a little trouble getting Virgil inside.

“You’re not gunna believe this but JD talked to me and I fell from side of the building because I got stuck!” Virgil blurted out in one breath.

“Yes, I know,” Logan said coolly “I need you to relax.”

“How the hell do you want me to relax?!” Virgil screeched “I just fell from the wall and I’m sticking to everything!” To emphasize his point, he shook his hand which was now stuck on too Logan’s arm.

“I know,” Logan repeated “it’s been happening to me too but you need to calm down if you want to get unstuck.”

“How do you know?” Virgil cried, thoroughly done with this whole day and it hadn’t even started.

“Because I’ve been testing myself since 5am ever since I woke up stuck to the head board of my bed frame then proceeded to fold it and unfold it like it was paper!” Logan shot back, seemingly frustrated as well “Now breath!”

Virgil finally shut up and listened, breathing in for four…hold for seven…out for eight…then again, a few more times until he was able to unstick himself from Logan’s arm. He leaned back against Logan’s desk, wrapping his arms around himself as he anxiously looked towards Logan for answers. “What’s going on?”

Logan looked tired, his hair was messy and he had bags under his eyes but he looked determined, “I have few theories, mainly surrounding the spider that bit us.”

“Spider?” Virgil said, it couldn’t possibly be the same one from yesterday could it?

“Yes,” Logan said, grabbing a jar from behind Virgil and thrusting it in his face. Inside was the same spider from yesterday scurrying around the now web filled jar. “It’s from the same spiders we saw at the lab at Oscorp. Most likely the one that escaped.”

Virgil tilted his head curiously, “I thought the tour guide said it was back in the lab?”

“Obviously not,” Logan said deadpan.

“Trapped! Free!” The spider hissed causing Vigil to jerk back, kicking his leg up at the jar as Logan fumbled to grab it again.

“It fucking talked!” Virgil shrieked.

“Yeah, no shit!” Logan snapped, placing the jar near one of the shelves furthest from the panicking teen “I thought we established that with your spider!”

“Why is it talking?” Virgil snapped back.

“It’s not,” Logan sighed, straightening himself out as he reached to adjust his glasses only to realize he wasn’t wearing them “our sense have been enhanced to see and hear things better which in turn means we can hear certain frequencies better. It has been theorized that insects have their own language but the frequency at which it’s at it too high for normal human ears to pick up. What we’re hearing is a weak and choppy frequency so we’re only able to make out a few words.”

“Ah-huh,” Virgil nodded, still slightly freaking out “so what does this have to do with, mmh, everything else!”

“Don’t you see?” Logan said “We’ve been enhanced with artificial spider DNA! The venom injected into us was supposed to kill us but it instead latched on to our genetic coding and mutated us!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Virgil rubbed his face anxiously “so, what your saying is we have spider-based superpowers like…like Rainbow Weaver?”

“Basically,” Logan shrugged “though all I’ve been able to find now is our abnormal adhesiveness, above average strength, slight sensitivity to radio waves, slightly larger range in frequency, faster reflexes, acute awareness and, as you’ve noticed, perfect eye vision.” He gestures towards his glassless face as evidence.

Virgil ran a trembling hand over the left side of his head, “This is crazy, this is impossible, this…this…” He tugged at his hair and realized “my hand is stuck.”

“Relax,” Logan soothed “you were able to get it unstuck before, you can do it again.”

“And if I can’t?” Virgil squeaked, panic beginning to rise once more.

Logan bit his lip nervously, “We’ll think of something.”

---

There was a note on Roman’s dresser from his mother when he woke, he tried to read it but he was stuck to his sheets and as well as a few other things when he came tumbling out of bed. Notebooks, scrap papers filled with important theater notes, dirty clothes, make up, and any other thing his body made contact with. At first, he thought it was a prank done by the twins but it seemed a bit excessive and a little to advanced. Plus, how would they even do that? Getting Roman to stick to everything without using some sort of glue?

Roman was able to rip most of the things off of him and finally walk over to the dresser. He didn’t risk touching it though, much too scared he’ll get stuck again, so he merely peered down at the note filled with his mother’s careful handwriting.

Descansa un poco, mi amor, el doctor dijo que tenías una enfermedad que había estado dando vueltas. Patton también lo tiene, pero he oído que ahora está bien, solo necesita descansar. No vayas a la escuela si no te apetece. Hay un caldo en el refrigerador para calentar si tienes hambre.

-Mamá

Roman squinted at the not confused, when had he gone to the doctor? When did Patton get sick? What the hell was going on? Billions of questions swirled in his head causing Roman a painful headache or maybe it was because he was super hungry? Either way he needed to get out of his room. Roman marched to the door and yanked it open but found that he was now stuck to the door knob.

“Pinche manos pegajosas!” Roman cursed as he tried to yank he’s hand off the door knob only to pull it off with him. He sucked a painful breath through his teeth though it wasn’t because he was hurt, more it had to do with the landlord finding out and charging them for the damage later. Roman fixed it the best he could for now before carefully side stepping around the door into the hall. He breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned back against a wall contemplating what was going on with him and how he was going to pay back the broken door knob.

How had he even done that? Sure, Roman liked to brag that he was athletic and junk, which he was, but even he wasn’t that strong to tear a door knob off it’s wooden frame. Also, he was really jittery, like there was a constant buzz at the back of his head that made him super aware of everything around him. Was this how his mother felt with four kids running around the house?

His stomach rumbled, train of thought gone and replaced with the want of food. So, Roman moved to stand from the wall, well, he tried, he was stuck again. A loud groan left his lips as he made the mistake to use his hands to push himself off. No surprise they stuck to so he used his feet…you see where this is going? Long story short he did end up making it to the kitchen but for some reason he ended up stuck to the ceiling, dangling by only his left foot. Which is how Patton found him.

“Roman?” Patton entered into the apartment dressed and ready for school with two bags of cookies neatly wrapped in clear plastic. There were swirls of baby pinks and blues radiating around him like a sort of weird halo of light. It buzzed and sang with in a weird yet familiar tune that was just…all Patton. Patton must have been able to see it too because he had this sort of curious looked as he continued to stare at Roman for a long time. Then Roman remembered the situation he was in, “Help!”

“Oh dear.” Patton sighed, snapping out of his trance and placing his cookies on the coffee table near the living room before heading over to inspect the situation. He grabbed onto his friends dangling arms and looked him straight in the eyes, “Roman, I need you to calm down.”

“How do you expect me to be calm right now?” Roman shrieked “I’m hanging upside down by my foot! From the ceiling! What even is going on?!”

“I’m not sure,” Patton replied calmly “but all I know is as soon as I started to calm down things started unsticking. So, I assume it’s going to be the same for you.”

“W-what? You too?” Roman asked a bit less panicked, it was good to know he wasn’t alone in this strange situation.

“Yes,” Patton soothed “then when I started stress baking everything stopped sticking. I’m guessing if you’re too anxious or tense it just gets out of control. So, I need you to try and calm yourself, deep breaths, you can sing a little bit if it helps.”

Roman took a few deep breath, trying to qualm his shaking nerves before starting to hum a little tune, “Isn't it lovely, all alone?/ Heart made of glass, my mind of stone/ Tear me to pieces, skin and bone/ Hello, welcome home.”

Finally, he unstuck and flopped right into Patton’s arms who, surprisingly, was able to carry him without any trouble. After being carefully set back on his feet once more Roman began to freak out again, “What the fuck is happening?!”

“I’m not sure,” Patton said, anxiously rubbing his hands “I just woke up sticking to everything and the world seems like it’s moving in slow motion and I can see without my glasses and none of my cute clothes fit me anymore!” He pouted, gesturing down towards his favorite jeans that had flowers embroidered at the cuffs and up the sides which used to fit Patton perfectly but now land few inches above his ankles.

Roman gazed sympathetically at his friend, had been ready to assure him that he still looked very cute only to be cut off by his rumbling stomach. “Dear God I’m starving.”

“I know what you mean,” Patton replied as his own stomach rumbled “I ate the soup my mom made me plus all the left overs plus the first batch of cookies I made and I’m still hungry!”

“I’ll be willing to share my soup and left over with you if you make me cookies later,” Roman bargained “I’d ask for those you brought over but I know those are special.”

Paton flushed red, quickly changing the conversation, “D-deal, we’ll eat then head off to school and…maybe find someone who can help us afterwards.”

“Like who?” Roman questioned “What other person has been going through the same shit we’ve been going through this morning?”

---

Virgil’s stomach rumbled as he and Logan made their way down the school halls, “For the love of god! We practically cleaned out all the left overs and snacks from both of our apartments and I’m still starving!”

“I’m guessing high metabolism should be added to the list,” Logan said, stopping by a nearby vending machine “Or maybe it’s the fact that our bodies are still going through puberty and the spider DNA has enhanced that as well, or maybe it’s a mixture of both.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Virgil grumbled, carefully pulling down the sides of his beanie “by the way, you couldn’t of thought of anything better to get me unstuck then mutilating my hair?”

Logan rolled his eyes, bending down to retrieve the various treats he had purchased “We tried to get you to calm down for thirty minutes but you still remained tense. What were you gunna do? Stay stuck and let someone find out?”

“You could have at least done a better job!” Virgil snarked, taking the chips and candy bars handed to him.

“I’m not hairdresser,” Logan stated plainly, stuffing half a chocolate bar in his mouth “I did the best I could.”

“Well if this is your best, I don’t want to see your worst,” Virgil grumbled, stuffing a hand full of chips in his mouth “what are we even gunna do after this? Can we do anything? Who can we even tell?”

“Calm,” Logan soothed, a careful hand placed on his friend shoulder “we’ll figure something out. Right now we need to focus on finding Patton and Roman, they must be having just as difficult a time adjusting to their new found abilities.”

“Are you sure they were bitten?” Virgil asked skeptically “What are the odds of the same spider biting all four of us?”

“Patton’s bug bite from yesterday looked similar to ours and I can only assume since Roman was in close proximity to us, he was bitten as well,” Logan explain, readjusting his glasses which now had no lenses “my theory is that he got bitten during detention yesterday, then Patton outside, then you when you arrived home and found the spider, and finally me after I finished talking to my parents. Tell me, when did you start feeling the effects of the venom after you were bitten?”

Virgil thought a moment, “I took a nap and scrolled through Tumblr, my mom called me out for dinner and I was talking to my grandma and then…nothing. It’s all fuzzy after that.”

“Interesting,” Logan hummed “I remember being called out too after I caught the spider, then I sat down and…it’s all a blur from there. From what my parents told me I assume I was somewhat coherent enough to eat and talk, although it was somewhat slurred, then I began to malfunction.”

Virgil snorted, “You’re talking as if you were a computer.”

“It seems the spider is learning with each victim and increasing it’s dosage,” Logan continued, ignoring Virgil’s comment “which would explain why the effects happened faster for me then for you. And I can only assume the same can be said with Roman and Patton seeing as when they were bitten earlier on. But like I said, it is only a theory.”

“A game theory!” Virgil quoted with a laugh causing Logan to quirk and eyebrow “This isn’t a game Virgil.”

“Yeah, I know but I cope with sarcasm and memes,” Virgil grumbled, stuffing more chips in his mouth “sue me…”

Logan sighed, unwrapping another candy bar, “This is going to be a long day.”

---

Down the hall on the opposite side of the school Patton and Roman were having their own conflict. Still hungry after downing all the left overs and munchies they bought at the corner store before coming to school they were currently emptying out the vending machine. They were discussing their current predicament while spitting their purchase.

“How we were able to get here in time I will never know,” Roman grumbled, struggling to stuff his food in his backpack “are you still sticking to thing?”

“Not as much as this morning,” Patton said, finally able to zip his bag before sling it over his shoulder “you?”

“A little, I guess, I don’t know,” Roman sighed, opening a bag of Skittles “it’s just I feel like everybody is staring at us.”

“But there barely anybody in the halls,” Patton said “but I know what you mean. It’s like you can feel them from the inside of the class.”

“Yes!” Roman exclaimed softly “It’s fucking weird!”

The first period warning bell rings and the two friends make the journey down the hall to their class as did the rest of the remaining students in the hall. This whole situation was like some weird fever dream they couldn’t wake from. Their skin buzzed, their ears rang, their senses were just all over the place, it was all very overwhelming. Roman usually reveled in being under the spotlight but at the moment it seemed like there were too many eyes watching him and all he really wanted was to curl up into the nearest dark corner and sleep. He hadn’t had the time or ability to get dressed properly or do his make up and he was still in shock from everything that happened this morning. Patton, the usually cheery social butterfly, didn’t feel so cheery or social at all today. None of his clothes fit him right, everything was either too slow or too fast, and he had to take out the lenses of his glasses which really upset him because they were cute round rose gold glasses with rose tinted lenses and now, they’re ruined!

So busy moping were the two friends that if it weren’t for the tingly sensation at the back of their head, they would have missed Virgil and Logan passing them by. Granted they were distracted by their own conversation as well and were basically snapped into attention by the weird and colorful tingly sensation pulling them towards Patton and Roman. They were all a melting pot of technicolor waves, blending and buzzing with each other in some weird kind of dance. Virgil was a foggy storm of blacks and purples and white lighting which in theory should be dark and hard to see but was for some reason bright and beautiful. Roman was a swirl of bright white with streaks of red and gold dramatically singing a beautiful melody. Logan was a cool blend of dark blues and greys, a normally dull combination but it structured itself with such formality and care it was an exquisite display of stars. Patton was a pop of cotton candy pinks and soft blues bursting with life and richness, they bloomed like flowers in the spring time.

“You’re like me!” They said in unison.

It was then that they noticed they were still in the hall and even though there weren’t that many people around there were still people. Logan, with his quick thinking, ushered them all into the nearby boy’s bathroom and corralled them into the large stall near the back. Everyone was freaking out.

“You’re all colorful!” Patton said in awe.

“What’s going on?” Roman hissed.

“Why the fuck would I know?!” Virgil snapped.

“Shut up!” Logan demanded and the room was silent “I have a few theories, first off-”

The sound of a toilet flushing caught their attention, finally realizing they weren’t as alone as they thought. They tensely waited for whoever was out there to finish washing up and exit. The sound of boots echoed throughout the bathroom as the faucet opened and close multiple times. The hand drier blazed to life and for a moment the four teens thought they’d finally be safe until a familiar slimy voice said: “I know you nerds are in here!”

“God fucking damn it!” Virgil mouthed furiously, Dolion messing with them again is the last thing they need right now.

“Don’t think I couldn’t here your whispering,” Dolion hissed “what, are you here to fuck me over again? I already have another detention because of you assholes!”

The bang of a nearby stall door was heard then another and another each getting closer and closer towards them. Dolion growled, “Come out, come out, where every you are! Fucking cowards!”

The group didn’t know what they were so nervous for, what would Dolion do? Take them all on? And even if he did, they would just tell Mr. Larry and he would get in trouble again. Maybe it was the fact that they were all kind of lowkey scarred of Dolion, dude was a big guy, or maybe, just maybe, it was because they had weird mutant spider powers that they didn’t know what to do with and wouldn’t know the outcome of what would happen if Dolion tried to fight them now. But just as Dolion was nearing the last stall door the tingly sensation in the back of their heads told them to jump and so they did without hesitation.

The last stall door was kicked open, Dolion entered with a sneer and saw that it was completely empty. He did a double take, looking around confused, so certain he had heard people come in, that he had heard them come in. Shaking his head in irritation Dolion left the stall and marched out of the bathroom with a huff.

Meanwhile, clustered up on the ceiling, right above where Dolion had stood, were Patton, Roman, Virgil, and Logan who all let out a sigh of relief. “That was close.”

Then there was a loud creek and Virgil gulped, “Oh no.”

They all came crashing down along with the flimsy white ceiling tile that held them up their in the first place. They landed on the filthy bathroom floor with a thwap while the ceiling tile crumbled in half.

Roman groaned, “This is the fucking worst.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Logan grumbled as he lifted himself from the floor “we shall further discuss the matter after school.”

“What do you mean after school?” Roman balked “I want to know what’s going on now!”

“Hey, genius, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t think a public restroom in a high school is the best place to discuss our…condition.” Virgil snapped.

“They’re right Roman,” Patton butted in before his friend could reply “who knows what will happen if someone were to find out. Especially, Dolion.”

“Ugh, fine,” Roman sighed, he couldn’t say no to Patton’s puppy dog eyes “where shall we meet then?”

“On the roof.” Logan said.

“Why the roof?” Virgil and Roman asked simultaneously.

“It’ll be empty and secluded once clubs are over everyone has gone home,” Logan replied coolly “which I’m assuming all of you have, right? A club to attend, I mean.”

“Yes, I have culinary club,” Patton said “we’re working on the bake sale for Friday night’s game.”

“Shit, yeah, I have dance,” Virgil said then groaned “Ms. Green is gunna make me work double time for missing yesterday.”

“You dance?” Roman asked surprised.

“Uh…yeah,” Virgil rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before snapping to the defensive “Is there a problem with that?”

Roman raised his hands up in surrender, “You think I, the theater geek, would be one to judge?”

“Well, you have with a lot of other things so excuse us if we’re a little surprised.” Logan chimed in.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Roman snapped.

“Exactly what I just said,” Logan said nonchalantly “anyways, I myself have debate club so we all should finish up at around the same time.”

“Hey, don’t just brush me off!” Roman said, frustration evident on his face.

“What use is there to continue on that topic?” Logan asked “It’s not important to our current situation.”

Ignoring Logan’s statement Roman continued his rant, “Are you saying that I judge people based on how they look and what they like to do?”

“Yes,” Logan said bluntly “now can we please move on?”

“It’s not true!” Roman cried.

“Speaking from past experiences talking to you that’s highly unlikely,” Logan huffed “especially with Virgil.”

Roman glared at the bespectacled teen, “I don’t-”

“Hey, now,” Patton stepped in once more “I know Roman can be a bit eccentric and talk a big game at times but that doesn’t mean he out right judges’ people without getting to know their character a little bit. You assuming that he does is a bit judgy of you now, isn’t it?”

Logan gulped nervously at the glare? Pout? Patton was giving him and he immediately felt guilty, “I…guess so.”

“And Roman,” Patton turned to his best friend with the exact same look “maybe sometimes you’re a bit too quick to assume certain things about people. Speaking your mind is one thing but sometimes you can be kind of rude.”

“You’re right, Pat,” Roman sighed, rubbing his tired eyes “I don’t mean to pick fights it’s just…I’ve had a long morning.”

“I know,” Patton said, eyes softening once more “so have the rest of us but that doesn’t mean we should start turning against each other. We need to stick together, we’re probably the only people on earth that know what each of us is going through right now. So, weather we like it or not we’re a team and we have to have each other’s backs.”

“Falsehood.” Logan said suddenly.

Virgil sighed, irritably, “Lo, don’t start up again…”

“No, I mean that we aren’t the only ones alone in this.” Logan corrected, all eyes were on him again, curious and anticipating.

The last warning bell rung and the four teens were uncertain if they should stay hidden and listen to what Logan had to say or start booking it to class. Thankfully, Logan decided for them, “After school, on the roof, don’t be late. Come on Virgil.”

And with that they all scurried out of the bathroom and raced to their first period.

---

It was almost comedic how none of them ever noticed how many classes they had together. Like aside from their electives they all basically had the same classes together. Roman and Patton usually sit in the back of the class near the window, easier to get away with napping and passing notes, while Logan and Virgil sat near the center where they could easily blend into the crowed and not be called on as often by the teacher. Though that still wouldn’t stop Logan from raising his hand and blurting out answers and corrections. Point being they’ve never noticed each other before, they were in their own world doing their own thing with other students filling in for background noise. But now with their new freakish mutant powers they couldn’t not notice each other, especially with their weird colored auras buzzing and lighting them up like a fucking beckon.

It was like that all day, in every class, they tried to play it off like it was nothing, like nothing has changed and they’re in their own world but it didn’t work. They just kept fucking staring at each other and it didn’t matter if they were subtle about it or not because that stupid zing at the back of their heads would go off every time, they would feel eyes on them, and they knew! They all knew but they kept doing it anyway! Why? Because what else could they do?

Lunch came and went, an internal struggle within each of them debating weather on not they should sit with each other. They had no reason to do so other wise unless they used the excuse of that school field trip project but even then, that was flimsy and suspicious. They did not need anyone else suspecting them of hiding something when Dolion was already on their case.

Speaking of which, Dolion had been keeping an especially close eye on all of them all day. He wasn’t in all of their classes but he was in most and aside from each other they could practically feel his eyes burrowing in to the back of their heads. It did not help that this mutant power made them feel ten times more aware of themselves and the things around them. Their skin crawled when someone would accidently brush against them, they’d flinch when the bell rang, they’d race to their next class to get out of the crowed halls because it was so jam packed with people and noise and smells and they just couldn’t breathe.

Virgil was having the worst time out of all of them. His anxiety got bad sometimes and even on good days it could sneak up on him and leave him with a shitty day but this…this was the fucking worst! He kept accidently sticking to things and Logan had to say behind and help him out and that just made him feel even worse and caused them to be even more late for class.

Roman and Patton watched them from the sidelines, out of sight but never out of range. They weren’t too sure if they should intervene or mind their own business so they just lurked around like creeps. They figured if Logan or Virgil needed help, they would ask them and in turn they would do the same. Still, the day passed and none of them said a word to each other. Not even Logan and Patton who were stuck as lab partners. What would they even say?

“Yeah, nice weather we’re having, also do you think we’ll grow extra limbs now that we have mutant bug powers?”

Electives were the only classes they had by themselves and some how that was an even worse distraction. At least with four other people flashing like beckons you knew someone was right there when you needed them because they would understand your situation. But being alone, surrounded by other students, trying to act normal when you know that is far from the truth, is just horrible. How the hell were they going to get through their club meetings?

---

Patton never thought he would dread going to culinary club but here he was hiding behind the nearby lockers debating weather or not he should just bail and wait on the roof by himself. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you look at it, he didn’t have to decided because one of the girls from his club spotted him.

“Hey Patton, it’s good to see you,” Her name was Valerie and she was the sweetest person Patton has ever met “we missed you yesterday, where’d you go?”

“Oh, uh, hi Valerie,” Patton fiddled bashfully with the end of his shirt “I-I got detention.”

“What? Why?” Valerie asked, quite shocked “Out of everyone in this school you’d be the last I’d ever expect to get detention.”

Patton became red with embarrassment, “Well…Dolion played a prank on me and I kind of freaked out. A friend of mine named Logan stood up for me and kind of scolded him but then Dolion got mad and wanted to fight him. Then me and my other two friends, Roman and Virgil, were trying to break them up but then Mr. Larry came in and saw. So, he gave us all detention but it didn’t go on our records and Dolion got extra detention this weekend.”

“Gosh, that must have really sucked,” Valerie said sympathetically.

Patton shrugged, “I just feel bad that I got all my friends in trouble because of something so dumb.”

“Hey now,” Valerie said sternly “it’s not your fault that Dolion was being a jerk and picking on you. Plus, your friends really care about you Patton, they don’t want to see you in distress.”

“Yeah, but I wish I could have done something more then just stand there,” Patton said glumly “if it hadn’t been for them I probably would of ran off crying.”

“Aw Patton,” Valarie sighed “sometimes you’re much too sweet for your own good. And sometimes that sweetness can cause you trouble but you have to remember, you’re worth standing up for.” she reached over and gently grasped his hand, “It’s okay not to feel happy all the time too.”

“Yeah I know,” Patton sighed “it’s just…”

“I know, I know, you don’t want to worry anyone,” She smiled sadly “you must have had a really bad morning to be able to rant to me.”

“I’m sorry.” He apologized.

“No, don’t be,” She assured “it’s good to talk about your problems, it’s a good way to help air out your feelings.”

“Well, thanks for letting me rant.” Patton chuckled.

“Any time,” Valarie replied “now we should get going, the meeting is going to start soon. Also, you never got around to teaching me that lemon square recipe.”

“Oh gosh, that’s right,” Patton said “I am so sorry, I was going to teach you yesterday but then detention and-”

“It’s fine, Patton,” Valarie soothed before he could continue “you have plenty of time to teach me to day if the meeting doesn’t run too long.”

“Absolutely.” Patton beamed, though it wasn’t totally genuine. He was still very stressed and anxious to be in a room full of people alone. Though out in the empty halls talking with Valarie had been nice so it gave Patton a little bit of hope he could do this. But that had just been them alone, what would he do when he was in room full of students and loud baking utensils? Patton gulped as he followed Valarie into the culinary class room and for once hoped for a short meeting.

---

“One, two, three! One, two, three! Virgil, you’re off again!” Ms. Green sighed as she turned off the stereo. The entire class groaned, this was the third time they had to start the routine over because Virgil kept missing a step or getting off beat or something. It was seriously starting to stress him out more then he already was. Usually doing ballet helped calm his anxiety but right now with all the weird shit happening to his body it’s doing the exact opposite.

“Take five!” Ms. Green announced and the class disbursed into mindless chatter.

Virgil sighed tiredly as he began to trudge back to his bag near the back of the dance studio only to be stopped by Ms. Green. “Mr. Storm, please come here a moment.”

Virgil whined pathetically as he slowly made his way over to his dance instructor who looked very frustrated, “Yes, Ms. Green?”

“What’s going on with you today?” Her frustrated frown morphed into one of concern once she saw Virgil’s distressed face.

“Uh,” Virgil tugged at once side of his beanie nervously “I’m just not…feeling too great. I-I mean, I didn’t feel great last night so it’s kind of…lingering?”

“Is it because of your detention yesterday?” Ms. Green asked, she didn’t look mad or disappointed as Virgil previously thought, just curious.

“Kind of,” Virgil fibbed “there was a bug, I mean, there is a bug going around the school. Not a real bug, of course, like a cold and flu bug. Yeah, like that. Uh, I was sick and the doctor said it was a bug.”

Nailed it.

Ms. Green corked an eye brow suspiciously, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Virgil said a little too quickly before sighing “I’m fine, just…gotta find my rhythm again. It’s still getting out of my system…the bug.”

“Ah-huh,” Ms. Green nodded slowly “you’re lucky you don’t compete in anything. Although you really should.”

Virgil gave her a weary smile, having had this conversation too many times before and not wanting it to have it today of all days. Ms. Green kept on insisting that Vigil enter in dance competitions or audition for the production of Swan Lake they’d be doing in the spring. But Virgil kept rebutting that if he could barely get through a simple dance recital without vomiting on stage there was no why he’d be able to last through a four-act performance.

“Still not my thing Ms. Green.” He replied with a tight smile.

Ms. Green sighed, quickly dropping the subject, “Alright, go take five. Stretch out and be ready to go again. Start getting focused.”

“You got it.” Virgil gave her a thumbs up as he began to walk backwards towards his bag. He heard his stomach rumble for the fifth time and groaned as he searched through his backpack for any more chips.

“Skip out on lunch?” A voice asked from behind.

Virgil turned to find Terrance smiling at him with an extra water bottle shoved near his face. He quickly took it before addressing his question, “No, why do you ask?”

“That is a lot of wrappers,” Terrance pointed towards Virgil’s bag which was overflowing with candy and chip wrappers like some sort of volcano “I’m guessing you’re the one that emptied out the vending machine near hall B?

Virgil flushed, embarrassed as he stuffed the wrappers back in his backpack, “N-no, this was breakfast.”

Terrence frowned disapprovingly, “That’s pretty unhealthy.”

“Don’t worry, that’s not the worst thing that’s happened today.” Virgil assured as he finally found one last candy bar and stuffed it in his mouth. Before Terrence could ask what Virgil meant by that Ms. Green was already calling everyone back.

---

Roman loved play rehearsal, seeing things get slowly piece together as the day of the play got closer and closer. And when you finally go on stage its even more amazing then you could ever imagen because you’ve spent months building this from the ground up, costumes, props, lighting, hours and hours of practice. It was all just great and amazing and Roman loved every minute of it!

“Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.” Roman recited.

“Cut!” His director, Mr. Bell, called out “Roman, your blockings off again.”

Just not today…

Roman groaned, “Sorry, sorry, sorry, let’s- can we do it again?”

“It’s okay,” Mr. Bell sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose “let’s all just…take five.”

And with that the house lights went on and the students disbursed to go do their own thing. Actors huddled together to recite lines, techs came down for their box for fresh air and socializing, crew fiddled around with stage and props, and Roman exited stage left towards the dressing rooms.

Roman hated this, his new abilities were throwing him why off balance in both the physical and mental sense. The stage lights burned his eyes, he could here the whispering backstage, the creaking from the catwalk, and all eyes on him. For once in his life Roman did NOT want to be the center of attention.

“Hey girl!” Roman paused to see Remy waving at him as he came down the latter one of the catwalks.

“Hey Remy.” Roman smiled tiredly, he was in no mood to put up a charming persona and thankfully Remy was the type of person that could care less about keeping up appearances. He liked to “keep it real” like that.

“Oh god, you look like shit,” Remy replied once he was on the ground, sipping on a Starbucks cup that he always seems to have with him “what happened?”

Roman inhaled deeply, “So many things that I can even begin to comprehend myself. But I’m fine, really.”

“Woof,” Remy said “must have been some bad shit that went down because you’re usually a one hit wonder out there. But five takes? You sure you okay, boo? I heard what happened yesterday with that dick Dolion.”

“Yeah, it’s all fine now,” Roman sighed as he stretched his arms “just got to shake it off and get centered again.”

“Mmh, okay,” Remy shrugged nonchalantly “but if you ever need me to beat a hoe just ask. I don’t mind dirtying up my new Doc Martens.”

Roman chuckled, “Thanks but no thanks, I’ll keep that in mind though.”

“No prob babe,” Then Remy smirked “also, I saw you and Virgil Storm getting along quite nicely yesterday. Anything going on there?”

Remy laughed as Roman groaned again, flushing a deep scarlet before scurrying away “I’m gunna go practice my lines elsewhere.”

---

“Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor and Director of the Center of Civic Media, stated that ‘Social media is critically important in giving voice to communities who’ve been systemically excluded from media – people of color, woman, LGBTQIA people, poor people. By giving people a chance to share their under-covered perspectives with broadcast media, social media has a possible role in making the media ecosystem more inclusive and fair’,” Emile Picani stated proudly “we are in an era where word gets around faster and problems can be caught early on to help fix them. We can share information and opinion that everybody can see and sort out issues much faster because of it.”

“Falsehood,” Logan said as soon as Emile finished “what about the manipulation of public opinion over social media platforms which can eventually lead to a critical threat to public life? Samantha Bradshaw, Researcher on the Computational Propaganda project at Oxford University, wrote a paper about how government agencies and political parties are exploiting the use of social media platforms to spread misinformation, exercise censorship and undermine trust in media, public institution, and science. Science Picani!”

“Yes, but where would we have learned any of this without social media,” Emile rebutted “not a lot of people are too keen on the idea of going to the library and reading research papers. Sometimes, small articles online talking about the issue can help spread awareness to others.”

“Yes, but can’t those same articles spread lies and slander at the same time?” Logan countered “Misleading people once more when they could have easily gotten the information from the source.”

“Who says there aren’t articles and groups dedicated to these ideas?” Emile said “In a hilarious state of irony, these groups came together because of social media, they made connections and helped raise awareness towards a common goal. Now, I’m not saying that social media is perfect but it is an important part of our culture. We should be working forward to improve it instead of tearing it down.”

Silence.

Logan chewed at the end of his thumb nail, absolutely stumped on what he should say. He hasn’t been able to think clearly all day. Everything was too loud and too quiet, to fast and too slow, it was driving him crazy.

The buzzer went off and the sound of Mr. Shelton’s voice boomed throughout the room, “Time. Picani wins. Brake time everybody, then we’ll choose teams for the next topic.”

Logan groaned, letting his head drop against the desk with a loud thud. A shadow loomed over him and he turned his head to the side and came face to stomach with Emile Picani’s yellow sweater. He lazily looked up to see the nervous yet concerned smile on Emile’s face.

“May I help you?” Logan mumbled.

Emile shook his head, “No, I was just wondering…are you feeling okay Logan? You were kind of…struggling to keep up back there.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Logan quickly defended, sitting up straight “I just…have a bit of a cold.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Emile quickly backtrack nervously “but, um, are you sure there’s not something else wrong?”

Curse Emile and his advanced human psychology classes. The kid was already super empathetic as it was as well as the second smartest student at the school. Logan being the first of course.

“What ever do you mean?” Logan said blankly, though inside he was panicking.

“You just seem kind of distracted by…” Emile made a vague gesture with his hands “Everything. Like, you’ve just suddenly realized the world is moving around you. Does that make sense?”

Yes, it did but Logan was not about to admit it because if he did Emile would be able to use that little amount of information to pull everything out of him. Emile wasn’t malicious by any means, next to Patton he was the kindest person you’d ever meet. He just had a way of making people feel comfortable enough to open up about their stress and (ugh) feelings.

So, he lied. “No, it does not make sense.”

Emile stared at him for a minute and Logan tried his best not to squirm under his intense gaze. It felt as if he was trying to search through the inner mechanisms of Logan’s brain just by scanning over his physical form. Finally, he blinked, sighing as he gave Logan a half-hearted smile. “You can be a tough cookie to read sometimes. Then there are other times where you’re an open book. It’s all very confusing.”

Logan didn’t know if he liked that metaphor or not so he just said what he thought was appropriate. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, no, you have nothing to be sorry about Logan,” Emile assured anxiously “I’m just being nosy and weird.”

“I don’t think you’re weird.” Logan said honestly. Yes, Emile was childish and liked cartoon but he was also extremally smart and one of the few people Logan can properly debate with without having to dumb down his vocabulary.

Emile blushed but gave a wide genuine smile, “Thanks for thinking so. Um, I’ll get out of your hair now.”

Logan nodded as he watched Emile walk away to socialize with the other members. His head returned to the desk, cheek pressed against the cool plastic wood, as he stared at the clock counting down the minutes left until he could meet the others.

---

They all bumped into each other on the third floor, literally, they were so jittery with nerves and excitement they were practically sprinting towards the roof. They were quick to collect themselves before silently making their way up the fourth floor towards the stairs leading to the roof. They didn’t have to stay silent but just as it’s been all day, they had no idea what to say to each other, plus the paranoia that someone could be listening in like in the bathroom this morning.

They quickly filed out onto the wide-open space of the roof top, each standing about five feet apart from each other, not moving just, not talking, just listening. They hear the construction happening down the street but not just the noise of the machine scraping against the pavement but the conversations between coworkers about getting a beer after work. They could sense the movement of scurrying students beneath them as they all hurried to catch up with friends and walk home. They looked into the distant skyline where the city clustered together and they could make out every detail of every building, tree, person, and sidewalk. They could smell the warm pretzels being sold down town, cigarette smoke in cafes, and cheap perfume from the boys locker room. They could taste the bile building in their throats, the world around them becoming too much, it frightened them.

“What’s happening to us.” Virgil whimpered, pulling his jacket tighter around himself.

“I-I have a theory,” Logan stuttered out, taking a deep breath to calm himself “we were all bitten by the same enhanced super spider which had previously gone missing during our field trip to Oscorp yesterday.”

“I thought the guide said it was back in the lab.” Patton squeaked out, frantically looking around for more spiders.

“Yeah, how can you be so sure it’s the same spider?” Roman said skeptically.

Logan slid off his back pack and began rummaging through it until he pulled out a jar full of webbing and a familiar little spider inside. Virgil gawked at his best friend, “You brought it to school?”

“I didn’t trust leaving it at home alone,” Logan stated simply “I feared it would escape.”

“Escape…” the spider hissed “Freedom…”

“It talked!” Roman and Patton shrieked, scrambling backwards a few steps.

“Technically, it didn’t,” Logan said coolly, readjusting his glasses “it’s just that we can now hear at a higher frequency and can now get bits and pieces of conversations from-”

“That’s great Einstein but what does that…thing have to do with how we are now!” Roman cut in, getting more and more frustrated as time went on.

Logan glared at him but decided he was ultimately right and should get to the point, not that he would ever tell Roman that. “If we compare our bug bites, I can assure you that they will all look similar. Assuming that we all suffered the same symptoms afterward, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, memory laps, and/or fainting, then woke up like…this, my hypothesis is that the spider’s venom caused a mutated our DNA.”

“How can you be so sure?” Roman asked, taking a step forward with Patton clinging to the back of his shirt like a koala. Roman was ninety percent sure Patton had gotten himself stuck but that was something to worry about later.

“I mean, the evidence is irrefutable,” Logan said “but to be truly sure I’d have to do a blood test but I currently do not have the equipment for that and neither does the school.”

“Of course, you checked for that,” Virgil sighed, wanting to rub his face but worried his hand would get stuck again “So, what now? Are we gunna take it back to Oscorp or something? Because I’m pretty sure it’ll be mighty suspicious when four teenagers walk up to the front desk carrying a multimillion-dollar spider inside a Crofters jam jar.”

“Cookies!” Patton announced loudly, startling everyone, especially Roman since it was right next to his ear. Patton whispered an apology to his friend before detaching, with a bit of difficulty, from his back and searching through his back pack. He pulled out two clear colorful baggies, one filled with scones and another filled with peanut butter cookies.

Patton stepped forward to gift his friends the cookies only to suddenly stop short, “Um, can you…” he gestured towards the jar in Logan’s hands “p-put it away?”

Logan blinked owlishly before suddenly realizing what he meant and quickly tucked away the creature in his back pack, “Oh, yes, right, your, um, arachnophobia. I apologize for my ignorance.”

“Wow, Logan apologizing,” Virgil gasped in fake awe “that’s a first.”

Logan glared at his best friend but was soon faced to face with a smiling Patton, “I hope you like them. I was going to make them last night but then…ya know, that happened and I was a bit…frazzled this morning. So, tell me if they turn out okay, okay?”

“I’m sure they’ll be quite…adequate.” Logan gulped nervously, Patton was way too close but this wasn’t anything new. Patton seemed to have very little personal space with people he deemed his friends but right now with their newfound abilities he was just a burst of color and energy.

“Let’s hope your right.” Patton giggled before moving towards Virgil who took about two large steps back.

“J-just…put ‘em- on the…the…I’ll get them on the ground.” Virgil stuttered out, his hands moving along with his words as if it would help convey his feelings in the situation at hand.

Thankfully Patton got the hint and smiled warmly as he carefully placed the cookies on the ground before stepping back towards Roman. With a relieved sigh Virgil returned to his spot and picked up the bag, wordlessly nodding his thanks towards Patton.

“So, what are we gunna do?” Roman said, suddenly bursting the friendly atmosphere. He was really on edge right now and it was an overwhelming crushing feeling that just kept growing with every passing minute. “You said earlier this morning that there was someone similar to our situation, who?”

Logan cleared his throat, pulling out his phone and tapping a few things, “Right, well, who is someone that is well known to the public who climbs walls, has super strength, and has sort of spider like tendencies.”

It was silent, the three other teens looked clueless and Logan was just a bit disappointed. He turned to Virgil with a look and said, “Seriously, Virgil?”

“Dude, I can’t remember half the things I’ve done today, okay, everything is just like…” Virgil groaned, waving his arms around “and if I’m honest I’m still kind of freaking out, like, internally and maybe a little bit externally too. I don’t know, give it time.”

“Rainbow Weaver,” Logan said blankly “Rainbow Weaver has these same abilities.”

“Rainbow Weaver?” The trio replied, the wheels finally turning in their head.

“Yes.” Logan nodded.

“Okay, wait,” Roman said “two questions: 1) What makes you think Rainbow Weaver will even consider helping us? And 2) Even if he did, where would we find him?”

Logan continued to tap on his phone before flipping it over to show the other, “According to his fan page on Twitter: on 5th street near main.”

“That’s ten blocks away,” Patton said glumly “we’ll never make it on time.”

“Even if we run that’s at least thirty minutes tops.” Virgil added.

“Anymore bright ideas, pocket protector?” Roman snarked.

“Just about,” Logan said coolly, as he began to collect his things before slinging his backpack securely on himself. He turned a whole 360 degrees before stopping in place and making his way towards the left side of the building. The other’s followed, curious as to what he was looking for, they peered over at a few smaller buildings next door clustered together with signs obscuring the view of the roof tops as they reached higher and higher the deeper you went into the city.

“This’ll do.” Logan said as he began to walk back.

“This’ll do for what?” Virgil asked but he wasn’t answered because Logan was now sprinting back towards them and he wasn’t slowing down.

The others, panicked, blocked his path screaming and begging for him to stop and explain what the hell was going on. But even that did nothing to deter the bespectacled teen because he simply jumped, high. It surprised everyone, including Logan himself, when he was able to leap clear over not only all of them but all the way to the next building. He stumbled on his landing, legs tripping his forward before he was able to finally find his footing. Stunted silence and open mouths were left in his wake before Logan snapped out of his stupor and laughed with all the giddy glee of a child who just met his favorite super hero.

“Oh my god, that was exhilarating!” Logan cheered, waving his arms over at his friends “Come on! Come on! You gotta – you gotta do this!”

“You’re fucking crazy!” Virgil wheezed out, gripping onto the side of the building for dear life.

Roman chewed at his bottom lip before finally sighing and running back, “Fuck it.”

“W-wait, Roman, kiddo!” Patton squeaked “Shouldn’t we think this over first?”

“I did think it over,” Roman said, setting himself up for a running start “and I’m not gunna let iDork get ahead of me.”

“You’re both crazy!” Vigil shrieked.

Roman didn’t answer, instead he charged forward, wind whipping his hair and adrenaline pumping throughout his body. He got to the ledge and quickly used it as leverage to leap up, floating in mid air for just a moment before he came rocketing down towards the roof. He didn’t land as far as Logan but he had a much better landing, legs bent as he shakily straightened himself out. Roman looked towards Logan who was smiling like a mad man and Roman couldn’t help but join in his excitement.

“Holy shit you guys!” Roman exclaimed, jumping up and down “You have to try it! It’s amazing!”

Patton gulped nervously before looking towards Virgil, who was just about ready to have an aneurysm. He extended a nervous hand towards the emo boy and asked begged, “Jump with me.”

“What?” Virgil’s voice cracked as he took a step back “Are you serious?”

“Yes, no, kind of…” Patton whimpered “I don’t wanna do this alone! I’m scared a-and you’re scared too. B-but Logan and Roman were able to do it and more then likely we’ll be able to do it too, s-so with both of us pushing us off we’ll have a better chance of landing safer. Right?”

Virgil looked at Patton like he was insane (which he was!) staring between his face and the hand extended towards him. Finally, after a long silence, Virgil sighed, “Screw it.” And firmly took Patton’s hand as they made there way back towards the center of the building.

“If we fall I’m using you as a cushion,” Virgil threatened, hand squeezing Patton’s tightly “I’m just joking, I’m just…really fucking scared right now.”

“It’s okay,” Patton said warmly, squeezing back just as tight “I am too but you don’t need to jump with me if you don’t want to. I’m sure we can figure another thing out.”

“N-no, no, it’s fine,” Virgil assured quickly “it’s just we gotta do it now before I psych myself out.”

Patton nodded firmly, looking ahead as he and Virgil prepared to sprint forward. They heard shouts of encouragement from Logan and Roman, who were still riding on their adrenaline high, as they began their charge. Blood pumped loudly in their ears, legs picking up traction much faster then they were expecting, and just when Virgil thought he was going to freeze up at the last-minute Patton boosted forward giving him a strong tug before they were finally soaring through the sky. They looked to the sky line, at the busy city and its scurrying people and for a moment it was as if they were flying.

They collapsed into a heaping pile on the roof next door, groaning as Logan and Roman rushed over to help them. Virgil was quick to dust himself off, laughing like a lunatic as he did. “That was awesome!”

“Yeah!” Patton chimed in, jumping to engulf Roman in an excited hug.

“We should be able to reach him if we head this way!” Logan cut in through the excitement, pointing towards the building roof tops heading towards the heart of Manhattan.

The boys looked at each other, momentarily questioning weather this was a good idea, before a sly determined grin spread across their faces and they began to sprint, throwing caution to the wind.

---

“Whooohooo!” Patton screamed joyously as he and his friends ran and jumped across the roof tops at a speed, they did not think was possible for a normal human.

They forgotten the map on Logan’s phone long ago and had no idea where they were going but somehow, they just knew they were going the right way. The tingling sensation at the back of their heads tugged them towards their destination as they enjoyed the rush of wind in their ears and adrenaline in their veins.

They reached their destination in no time but since they did not see their intended target anywhere, they decided to circle around a little to see if they could catch him. Though mainly the boys just wanted to see what they could do with their new-found powers. Climbing up the side of buildings, walking across utility wires, and using abandon construction sights as their own personal jungle gym. Somehow, they ended up on the roof of a pretty tall office building and decided to take a rest.

“Jesus Christ!” Virgil laughed hysterically “We’re so high up!”

“Are you okay?” Logan asked, he was concerned, really, he was, but Virgil’s laughter was contagious and the adrenaline was still buzzing in his system.

“No,” Virgil giggled as he laid down on his back “but give me a minute.”

“Deep breaths, kiddo,” Patton said as he flopped down next Virgil “this is a lot of excitement for one day, even for me.”

“I’ll second that.” Roman agreed as he too joined them on the ground.

Logan shrugged and settled himself between Virgil and Roman, all of them star-fished out in a circle watching the clouds roll by. Silence fell upon them once more as they began to soak in all that had happened to them that day. They weren’t as overwhelmed as they had been that morning, maybe running and jumping across buildings let them take out some of that jittery energy they had stored inside. Don’t get them wrong, they were still kind of freaking out but they were a little more calm about it. Especially since they knew that they weren’t alone in their endeavor. Sure, they might not be able to get Rainbow Weaver to help them but at least they had each other and that was a comfort that they were all truly grateful for.

“Do you think we can shoot spider webs like Rainbow Weaver can?” Roman asked, braking the peaceful silence.

“I’m not quite sure,” Logan said honestly “I tried at home but I just can’t seem to produce anything. Then again, not all spiders can make webs.”

“Hmm, true.” Virgil murmured, eyes closed as he practiced some deep breathing exercises.

Roman sat up, a determined look on his face, “I’m gunna try it.”

“How you gunna do that?” Patton asked, sitting up to face his friend with a slightly worried look in his eyes. Roman had that look again, he always got that look when he had a dangerous idea that would either get him in trouble or injured. It was the same look he had before he jumped off the school roof to chase after Logan.

“Well,” Roman began, hopping up to his feet “first I need to do a test shot. Uh, how does Rainbow Weaver do his…thing?” He began to flex his hand into various positions and poses.

Virgil, who was still on the ground, raised his arm up and did a sort of punk rock gesture, “Like this.”

Thwhip!

Virgil’s eyes snapped open when he heard the sound and felt a sliver of something eject itself from his wrist. He was surrounded by three pairs of shocked eyes as he slowly stood up, looking down at his hand with awe and slight concern.

“Do it again!” Logan said excitedly.

Virgil aimed towards a small utility shed near the other side of the roof and thwiped! A long string of…something shot out from Virgil’s wrist and stuck to one end of the utility shed while Virgil held the other end. “Holy shit!”

“Fascinating,” Logan gasped in awe as he tugged on the silk string “you’re able to create your own webbing and by the feel of it it’s exactly as the guide described it, like steel cables.”

“It feels weird.” Virgil murmured as he detached the end of the string near his wrist.

“I’ll bet.” Roman said, looking over Virgil’s shoulder to get a better look at the webbing.

Patton, meanwhile, was trying to test out if he could do it too, he couldn’t. “Aw, I don’t think it works on me. What about you Roman?”

“Uh, let’s see.” He replied, taking a stance next to Virgil and aiming his arm towards the same shed. He pressed down on his palm with his two middle fingers and…thwip! “Holy shit…that felt weird!”

“I know right!” Virgil chimed in as they all now began to look over Roman’s web string.

“It would seem that me and Patton are incapable of producing web,” Logan deduced “but I’m fairly certain we may be able to produce some sort of silk, as all spiders do. It’s just the means of figuring it out…”

“I’m gunna swing across the other building!” Roman announced suddenly, causing everyone to jump and stare as he raced towards the edge of the building.

They were quickly snapped out of their surprise as they realized what Roman had said and went to chase him down before he did something stupid. Unfortunately, they were not quick enough because Roman had already launched another string of web and was getting ready to jump.

“Roman, wait!” Patton cried.

“It might not be safe!” Logan warned.

“Get down from there you idiot!” Virgil shouted.

“Tally ho!” Roman hollered as he pushed himself off the building and swung through the air.

Roman seemed fine at first, swinging through the air above the busy streets like some sort of extreme swing set. But then he realized, as the building he attached himself to got closer and closer, he had no idea what he was doing or how to stop. The only thing he could do at the moment was shut his eyes, curl up into a ball, and wait for impact. He vaguely recalled hearing the others scream before he was suddenly wooshed up into the air again.

When Roman opened his eyes to see what he had collided with on his way to his impending doom all he could see was rainbow. A rainbow arm holding him tight against a rainbow clad body and when he looked up to see a rainbow masked, white eyed figure a familiar buzzing was felt at the back of his head and he then noticed that the masked figure’s aura was a multi colored light show.

“You’re just like me!” Was all Roman could think to blurt out.

The figure looked down at him, slightly confused, until his eyes widen in sudden realization and he said, “Holy shit, you’re right.”

Once safely back on top of the building Roman was promptly tackled down by a sobbing Patton, “Don’t ever, ever do that again!”

“Yeah, not my brightest moment.” Roman admitted sheepishly.

The reunion was cut short due to a very furious looking Virgil who came stomping over, separated the two friends, then proceeded to punch Roman’s shoulder, hard. The theater geek cried out in protest, taking a few steps back before Virgil could get another swing in, “Ow, what the fuck!”

“You could have gotten yourself fucking killed you moron!” Virgil growled.

“That was very reckless of you, Roman,” Logan added crossly “even for your standards.”

“Oh, sez the one that convinced us to jump off a building,” Roman snapped back “excuse me for trying to follow the ‘smart ones’ lead and thinking this was a good idea.”

“The buildings were closer together and I calculated the right momentum needed to get across!” Logan countered, taking a step towards Roman “Given our new-found abilities it was obvious to be an easy jump!”

“Yeah, for you! How could you have been so certain for the rest of us, smartass?” Roman rebutted, getting up in Logan’s face as well.

“Simple physics really, something that a half wit like you could never understand!” Logan growled.

“Was it really physics or one of your scientific guesses?” Roman sneered.

“It’s called a theory you brainless Neanderthal!” Logan replied.

“Erlenmeyer trash!”

“Drama turd!”

“Cotton headed ninny muggings!”

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“Jesus Christ there are four of you!” The masked figure said as he got in between the two fighting teens.

Silence overtook the group as they stared up and finally realized who was talking to them. Clad in a rainbow spider themed suit with a sort of glider/cape mesh between his arms, his aura a burst of bright colors, it was the one, the only…

“R-R-Rainbow Weaver!” Virgil squeaked out, completely star structed.

“Yeah, and who might you guys be? Also, what’s going on with…” Rainbow Weaver gestured towards the group as if pointing out the colorful aura he could also see around them “…everything?”

“R-Rainbow Weaver…” Was apparently all Virgil could say now.

“Is everything okay?” Rainbow Weaver said worriedly as he scanned over the group of teens frozen in awe. Not that he wasn’t use to this but he just kind of figured out that these boys might have super powers like him so he really needed answers like now.

“Um, m-mister Rainbow Weaver, sir, uh…” Logan stuttered out, uncharacteristically shy at the moment, “w-we were actually looking for you but we couldn’t – uh, we were searching the city and someone on Twitter said they saw you here – around here and, uh, we kind of, um, wanted to talk…to you…”

“Take your time kid.” Rainbow Weaver soothed gently, the teen looked like he was getting ready to have a stroke.

“We got bit by a spider!” Patton blurted out before covering his mouth shut.

“Okay, go on.” Rainbow Weaver said with an encouraging nod.

Patton bashfully removed his hands from his mouth, fidgeting in place as all eyes were on him now, “Uh, well, we went on a field trip to a science lab thing in Oscorp where they had these creepy, crawly mutant spiders and one of them had escaped but the tour guide said not to worry because it was probably back in the lab, but it wasn’t, so it escaped and some how bit all of us and then we woke up with weird powers like: we can stick to the wall and jump really high and everything is really loud and bright and we have these weird color auras and I couldn’t fit into any of my cute clothes and we didn’t know what to do so Logan said we should find you and ask cause you have similar powers to us so we jumped off the school building and ran around the city to find you but we couldn’t, then Virgil found out he can shoot web but me and Logan can’t so Roman tried to swing to the next building over and almost died and then you came and I’m really scared right now so can you please tell us what’s going on!”

Patton finally stopped to suck in a big gulp of air having been so nervous he said everything in one breath. Roman went over to rub soothing circles on his distressed friend’s back as Patton regained the ability to breath. Rainbow Weaver, meanwhile, was trying to process all that had been said but also make sure that Patton was doing okay.

“Okay, first, I need you to calm down for me,” Rainbow Weaver cooed, a firm hand on Patton’s shoulder “breath in for four…hold for seven…out for eight…good.”

Once Patton was calmed down some Rainbow Weaver continued, “Second order of business, how old are you guys and what are your names?”

“I’m Roman Marigold and I’ll be seventeen in a month,” Roman answered as he hugged Patton close “this is my best friend Patton Foster and he’s seventeen.”

“I’m Logan Quinn,” Logan pipped up, finally pulling himself together “I’m seventeen as well as my friend Virgil Storm here.”

Virgil gave a shy wave, somewhat hiding behind his taller friend, Rainbow Weaver waved back, a kind smile visible through his mask. It seemed odd how quick the boys were to trust him, even if he was a famous super hero, he was still a stranger. But be it because of their weird aura or the kindness in Rainbow Weaver’s voice the boys knew he could be trusted.

“Okay, third order of business, is the spider that bit you guys dead or still crawling around the city?” Rainbow Weaver asked.

“Oh no, I have it in my backpack!” Logan said, quickly removing his backpack and rummaging around for the jar he had it in earlier.

“Excuse me?” Rainbow Weaver said confused before a jar with a colorful, weird looking spider was shoved in his direction. He took a step back to get a better look at it and vaguely heard Patton whimpering fearfully in the background. He sighed, scratching the back of his head, “Well, that’s just great, Oscorp didn’t learn after the first time it happen.”

“First time?” Logan asked curiously, pulling the jar back towards his chest, the spider skittering nervously.

“How do you think I got like this?” Rainbow Weaver chuckled, hollow and devoid of enthusiasm “But, yeah, this has happened before. A few years back, when I was in high school actually, god only knows what they’ve been able to do now with all the technological advances throughout the years.”

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked, curiosity finally letting him find his voice.

“Well, I-” Rainbow Weaver began but was cut off by four loud rumbling stomachs. His eyes widen with surprise at the blushing teens before bursting out into laughter. “God, you kids must be hungry. Having mutant powers will take a lot out of you, I’ll tell you that, especially if you’re still a growing teenager. How ‘bout we go out and get something to eat and I’ll try to explain everything as best as I can?”

“But don’t you have to watch the city?” Roman asked.

Rainbow Weaver shrugged, “It ain’t going nowhere, besides I have my ways of figuring out if I’m needed or not.”

“Um, are you sure?” Virgil asked timidly “We don’t want to keep you from, you know, important things.”

“Kid, right now this is the most important thing on my list,” Rainbow Weaver assured “I know for sure I would have liked someone to talk to when I was going through all this mess.”

“Um, mister Rainbow Weaver,” Patton chirped “not that we aren’t thankful that you’ll help but wouldn’t we look suspicious walking together on the street or jumping across buildings with you?”

“Not if I’m in civilian clothes, which by the way, I should have a pack here somewhere.” Rainbow Weaver wandered off towards the utility shed across the building and opened it to reveal a plain black backpack squished under an electrical control panel.

“Civilian?” Roman said aloud before realizing what was happening “Wait, isn’t revealing your true identity against some sort of hero’s code or something? I mean, unless you’re the Avengers but-”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow Weaver cut in having already finished changed, they hadn’t even turned away for a full minute! He was wearing some worn, baggy clothes that had probably come from a thrift store and was now stuffing his Rainbow Weaver costume into his bag, all was left was the mask he still had on. “I mean you can’t expect us to have an open honest conversation with each other if I’m hiding behind a mask, right?”

Casually, as if he wasn’t just entrusting four teenagers with his biggest secrete, Rainbow Weaver removed his mask to reveal a familiar face that had Roman and Patton silently squealing, Virgil to be even more star struck, and caused Logan’s jaw to hit the floor. The man before them ruffled his peppered brown hair nervously as he gave a lopsided smile, “Uh, hi, my name is Thomas Sanders…we have a lot to talk about.”

Spanish Spoken:

“Rest a little, my love, the doctor said you had a sickness that had been going around. Patton has it too, but I've heard that he's fine now, he just needs to rest. Do not go to school if you do not feel like it. There is a broth in the refrigerator to heat up if you are hungry.”

“Stupid sticky hands!”

Song mentioned:

Lovely by Billie Eillish

Tag:

@immortaldystopia @metaphoricalpluto2 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @misunderstood-shadow @fairytailtwists @0callmevirge0

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #logan #patton #roman #virgil #logicality #prinxeity #princxiety #spiderverse #spiderverse au #fan fic #sander sides fanfiction #tobashiarg!#ch 2

371 notes · View notes