"Give me the heat! Uh-uh-uh, step right up just to get knocked off your feet! I wanna-wanna-take your shoulders and... daaaance, honey!" Julia sings in the cafeteria, not really caring about the other people around her. She has her black and red headphones on, bobbing her head to the beat as she looks at her computer. "Gimme, gimme, woaaaah!" She slides her finger across the table as if she was being a DJ.

There are a few clicks on the keyboard before she pulls up a blank document, scrolling the assignment over to the side so she can still read the directions. Blocking the music to the back of her mind, she reads out loud, "Write about a time in your life where you truly felt yourself. Describe what obstacles were keeping you from feeling this way and how you overcame them. Be detailed, but remember this is a fun assignment. Minimum of seven pages - due at the end of the semester. Wow, seriously? Seven?"

She decides that school is rigged, but knows she has to complete the assignment anyway so she doesn't end everything with a bad grade she can't fix later. Tapping her fingernail on her chin and staring at the blank document, she finds the right word to start off with and hovers her finger over the letter "T" on the keyboard. Suddenly, her spider sense goes off and she jumps as she turns around only to be tackled by one of her best friends. "AHH! G-Gwen, you scared me!"

"Ha ha! Mission successful!" the girl, Gwen, says, sliding off of Julia's lap. "You looked like you were in the zone so much I'm surprised you even turned around!"

"Yeah..." she chuckles nervously, not being able to explain her spider sense. "Must have gotten lucky. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I saw you through the window and wanted to apologize for not helping you move in. We had everything planned out and it was so dumb-"

"It's alright, girl. Maria and I were able to handle it ourselves, and some of the movers stayed back to help us with the heavier stuff," she lies, knowing that if she told Gwen the truth then she might think it weird the two girls were able to carry everything in themselves.

"That's nice of them! I bet you were starving afterward," Gwen says, sitting in the seat across from her and stealing one of her fries.

"We were, oh my goodness. We went to this new restaurant on campus to try it out, but then it was kind of destroyed by a giant piece of road," Julia explains.

"No way, you mean the Rhino fight? I saw it on the news; don't tell me you were in the square when that happened!" Gwen yells in a scolding tone.

"We were, just Maria and I. We stayed there and got people to safety, but we couldn't get everyone because of how badly Rhino trapped people from the debris he threw around."

"You two are going to give me a heart attack someday. It's bad enough my dad has to be there in the midst of all the action," Gwen says gloomily, looking down at her lap.

That's right, Gwen's dad is head of the NYPD and is usually the one who first jumps into the scene whenever us Spiderlings make a mess. I remember meeting him once, and he was really nice, Julia thinks to herself. She thinks of something to say quickly to make her friend feel better. "Well, the bad guys are usually aiming their fists at the Spiderlings anyway. Your dad has more backup than you think.

"You're right. Thank goodness Emmy Spider was able to outmatch that monster! He was so scary, mostly because of how strong he looked," Gwen says with a shiver.

"Eh, he wasn't that bad. Up close, those guys are just regular people if you think about it. But, there sure are a lot of them popping up around the city lately..." Julia contemplates that last part. It does seem a bit strange to her that more and more powerful villains are showing their faces. Why now? What kick-started this whole conundrum in the first place? First Jackal, then the Enforcers, the Rhino, and then I hear about this guy taking on Ollie yesterday. Maybe they're all linked, but my brain is too overheated to think of how.

"Maybe it's not good, then, that J. Jonah Jameson is thinking about creating a new super powered being," Gwen comments.

"He's what now?" she asks, immediately forgetting what she was thinking about.

"Yeah, my dad told me he's funding a research project to create a hero to take out the Spiderlings. He says after they're gone, these powerful villains will stop showing up and causing damage," she explains.

"Wow, that's... kind of hypocritical," Julia says, a tad annoyed that Jameson is going that far. Well, as long as it's just a research project and nothing more. "I mean, use power to overcome power? Isn't that the opposite of every life lesson?"

"Not according to Triple J," Gwen says with a laugh. "I don't know how I feel about it, but as long as nothing terrible happens then it shouldn't be that bad, right?

"Depends on your definition of bad..."

Theme song!

"You have GOT to be kidding me! I've worked here for over seven years, and this is how you're going to treat me?!" a guy yells at the top of his lungs. He's in a nice, brightly lit office with plants decorated around the corners. The walls to his sides are windows, and the door is as well so everyone can see his fuming red face yelling at the two people across the desk. He's not that tall, but he's still intimidating in a weird way (probably the tone of his voice). He has sharp, hazel eyes and wavy brown hair that flies around every time he moves his head too aggressively. The collar of his button-up shirt is lined with sweat and he seems to not be wearing a tie, but the flipped up corner of his collar suggests that he ripped it off at some point.

"Mr. Gargan, this is only one of the few allegations made against you during those years. Your temper we were able to overlook, but I only need to point out how you're behaving right now to prove my point," the woman across the desk says, opening a folder and reading over the pages inside. "One client complained you threatened them if they wouldn't buy from the company."

"That was an exaggeration," Gargan says, waving it off.

"This one says you told a client her home address over the phone, implying you knew where she lived, and she threatened you with a restraining order if you ever called her again," she says, looking up from the paper.

When he doesn't say anything back, the other person across the desk sighs and says with as much comfort as possible, "Mac, as you said, you've worked for us for a very long time. We can't keep giving you second chances and allow you to take advantage of our kindness. You have a week to clear your office, but after that you can't step foot in here again."

"Forget it, I don't need any of that crap!" His face becomes so red that the other two think he's about to actually explode. Instead, Mac rubs his hands over his face and storms out of the room, flipping a desk on his way to the elevator. Papers go flying and a few people scream in surprise, but there is nothing they can do about it as the elevator doors close behind him.

When he finally gets some fresh air, he calms down slightly. He starts stomping away in a general direction, looking back at the skyscraper where his office used to be after a bit. "Bunch'a idiots. I'll make them beg to take me back. I'll-"

He cuts himself off, not knowing what he can do to harm them. He could try to strom back in there, but security would be up to his chin before he could show his face through the window. There has to be something he can do to get his revenge, but how is he going to take down a huge company like that right away? He is a lot of things, but patient isn't one of them.

He passes a television store and stops when he hears the loud voice of J. Jonah Jameson yelling through the screen. "This maniac thinks he can beat the Olympic Spider by throwing rocks at him, but when are the good people of New York going to realize that the longer those five Spiders stay around, the more damage our city is undergoing?! I say enough is enough! Yes, I, J. Jonah Jameson, am starting a research track to find ways to give normal people, like you, power to take down the likes of the Spiderlings! Think about it, who wouldn't want to beat them up as much as I do?! Stop by my office if you want to talk shop!"

"Hmm... maybe not strong enough to stop the Spiderlings, but as long as I get powerful enough to get my revenge, then maybe I can consider it," Gargan says to himself, looking over his shoulder in case anyone from his work is for some reason following him. Seeing that he is safe, he starts walking in the direction of the Daily Bugle.

"Maria, I'm back!" Julia yells, kicking the door to their apartment open. "How you feeling?"

"Eh, could be worse," her sister yells in response from the living room.

Julia hears some shuffling and runs over to see her sister trying to sit up on the couch. She gasps, pushing her shoulder gently back onto the pillow, and says sternly, "Your fight with the Rhino really tuckered you out. Stay on the couch, please. I'll make you something to eat."

"I've been walking around all day, though! It's just getting up that's the hard part. My arms have never felt this drained," Maria responds, putting the back of her hand on her forehead.

"We are super strong, and now we know you're a lot stronger than the rest of us. You've never pushed yourself that far, so it's like using muscle that hasn't been used in years. Plus, you did fight a being twice your size," Julia reasons.

"Yeah... hopefully that's the only time I ever have to run into him," Maria says.

"Sure," she sarcastically remarks, glancing at the fourth wall. "On another note, what would you like to eat? I picked up steak from the store on my way back."

"Whatever you want, you're the one cooking the meal." Maria pauses, hearing the seering sound of butter being applied to a pan, and says, "Could you maybe make some asparagus, though?"

"I knew you were going to say that, so I got some of those, too," Julia responds with a knowing smirk.

"Hmm, thanks!" Maira smiles, snuggling into the couch and watching the television comedy network.

Julia quickly leaves the room while the first side of the steaks are cooking to change into her pajamas. They're comfortable, of course, and keep her cool as the kitchen gets hotter. Her pants are thin and plaid with the colors of ESU and her top is short sleeved silk with the ESU symbol on the front. She puts her long hair up in a messy bun, feeling a lot better as she continues to make dinner as the sun starts to set behind the skyscrapers.

Mac Gargan stops at an ice cream place before he heads into the Daily Bugle, having enough common sense to cool himself down so he can make a good first impression. He takes out his phone as he sits at one of the small tables, buttoning up his collar and spreading his shirt out to get rid of the wrinkles. His hair is messy, as it always is, but using the condensation from the side of his ice cream cup he is able to swoosh it to the side.

"Ohhh. you going to impress a lady?" a worker at the store with bright orange hair asks, walking over to him.

"If that reporter Jameson is a lady, then yes," he responds, only taking his eyes off the screen for a moment to look at who's talking to him. "I'm applying for a job."

"Ah, a man of business I see!" the worker says, giving him another ice cream and a water bottle. "Take those on the house for good luck. I know the workplace can get dicy, so hopefully this can give you some confidence."

"It can get dicy, you're right," Gargan agrees, tipping the worker a few bucks before heading outside.

It's starting to get late, and he doesn't need to look at his watch to know it's well past six o'clock. The sky is orange and beautiful, but that doesn't matter to Gargan at all. The only thing on his mind is if Jameson is still taking requests for the research job. He reaches the building and walks inside.

Mac is surprised to see this many people are still here working busily, typing up papers and making phone calls. That's why he never wanted to finish his degree in journalism, you never get to sleep. At least with sales, he got his nights off because people only answer the phone during the day. Shaking off the thoughts of his past, he goes straight back to where Jameson is at his desk writing papers frantically with a fancy looking pen.

"Mr. Jameson," Mac says right when he enters the room, the door closing and muffling the noise of the other workers.

"If you want an autograph, it's not happening, sir. You want a job, go talk to Leed!" he says without looking up from his papers.

"I'm here about the research opportunity," Mac explains, making Jameson stop what he's doing instantly.

He sprints out from behind his desk and grabs his hand, shaking it violently. "You're the man I've been looking for! What took you so long to get here? Wait, are you a cop?"

"A- no, I'm an ex-salesman," he responds, taken off guard.

"Ah, wonderful! The rotten dweebs of society are ready to join forces and take down the Spiderlings! Come with me, I'll show you our progress!" Jameson says, slightly offending Mac with the terms he used to describe him. Ignoring it, he lets himself be led to a giant picture of Jameson on the right wall. The reporter presses a button and it slides out of the way, revealing a dark staircase.

Mac thinks this is a bit excessive, but doesn't really mind how creepy it is. I've been in some shady places, so this isn't the first time. It does make me wonder though, why he needs a secret area like this to do his research...

His question is answered when he comes to a huge open room. It doesn't look like half of the stuff in here is legal, so maybe that's why Jameson asked him if he was a cop. There is a giant, horizontal tube that looks like an MRI scanner in the middle of the room, and above it is a green and black suit with claws and a tail. There are also a few scientists in white lab coats walking around, tinkering with the MRI tube and making sparks fly everywhere. Computer screens line the walls where some of the scientists are, looking at pulse readings and wavelengths of something Mac can't quite see.

"You put this all together... this morning?" Mac asks, remembering he hadn't heard about this project until he saw the television after he was fired.

Jameson laughs loudly and this quickly says, "No, you moron! I've been working on this for a long time coming, and now it's finally going to be completed! I just needed to publicize it so I'm the only one who gets credit when it's successful!"

"How did you get all the funds for this?" Mac asks, walking up to the MRI tube. "I know how money works, and these can't be bought off a junk yard."

"Hey, that's classified!" Jameson says, but everyone turns around when a new voice appears.

"Now, now, Jonah. He should know since he's going to be a huge part of this experiment." This guy is the strangest person Mac has ever seen. His suit is white and fancy with a light pink tie, matching the color of his eyes and mouth. His face is a mess of yellow and black shapes while his entire head looks to be metal. His mouthpiece doesn't move when he talks, and Mac doesn't think this guy ever has to blink. Other than that, he looks like a normal human being, the only thing strange about him being his robot head.

"Ugh, fine! Little man, this is Machine Head," Jameson grumbles out an introduction.

"Thank you for that, Jonah. I can take it from here," Machine Head says, turning to Mac. "I am ecstatic to have our first volunteer for our program."

"I know you," Mac says, only a tad worried. "You've slandered money all across California. It was a huge scandal. There's got to be something in this for you."

"Guilty," Machine Head says with a chuckle, showing off his strange voice. It's as if a robot is singing. "I want what every other crime boss wants: the Spiderlings' heads on a silver platter! They've taken down too many of my punks, and the Kingpin is already joining the fun in making powerful people to take them down. To put it simply, I'm bored and very impatient. Can you understand those feelings?" Mac stays silent, clenching his fists at his side as he's reminded of his boss. "I take that as a resounding yes," Machine head says, putting an arm around his shoulders and leading him to the machine. "This will give you power beyond anything anyone has seen. You'll be the top dog of Manhattan, and I can make you very very rich. Just put a few spiders out of commission, and I will give you anything you want."

"I have a few things in mind," Mac says, a devious smile widening across his face. Without further hesitation, he lets the scientists strip him down and he lies on the hard bed as if he was in a hospital.

Machine Head crosses his arms, leaning on one of the computer screens to see if this will even work. Jameson's excited smile has never left his face, and he rubs his hands together as his workers start pressing buttons and pulling levers. As the bed moves Mac further into the tube, one of them says, "Everything is stable. Proceed to phase two!"

The suit behind the tube is lowered to the point where no one can see it anymore except Mac. He watches, unmoving, as it opens before clamping around his body. It feels so tight, almost as if it's trying to connect to his skin. He hears another scientist say, "Phase three, activate!" before the pain starts.

It's as if he's melting but the suit is keeping him in place, not allowing him to die or turn to mush. This time, instead of it being a figure of speech, it really does feel like the suit is molding to become the outer layer of his skin. It's so hot that he thinks it's cold, like when you walk on your bare feet in the scolding sand. He screams, wishing that it would just end already and he can get out of this tube.

There is a huge ringing in his ears so he can't hear anything, but he can tell it's over because his muscles are relaxed, replaced by heavy breathing. He hisses when he comes out like a vampire seeing the sun, and he has to squeeze his eyes shut in order to keep his migraine at bay.

"Gargan! Gargan, you piece of... Gar... wake up!" he hears Jameson's voice screaming at him.

He tries to open his eyes again, but everything is still too colorful and bright. "TURN THE LIGHTS OFF!" he screams.

"Do what he says!' Machine Head orders, making the scientists turn off all their computers and lamps. It's pitch dark, the only lightsource is an eerie greenish-yellow glow coming from Mac's suit. It pulses when he stands up and as he looks at his hands Machine Head continues, "Glorious, I didn't think it would work on the first try."

Mac ignores him, staring down at his body covered in green armor. His hands have sharp fingertips, but the weirdest feeling of all is something swaying behind him. When he looks over his shoulder, he sees a very long tail also glowing with lights, a long stinger pointed at the end. He understands now, and he asks, "Why a scorpion?"

"It's the natural predator of a spider. Am I creative or am I creative?!" Jameson asks, clearly full of glee. He walks around Mac, who is now taller than him, and puts a hand on his chin. "This is perfect! You're stronger, faster, and have all the powers of the Spiderlings to take them down and outmatch them in their own sick game!"

"Scorpions don't have webs," Mac points out. "And there's five of them."

"Yeah, well..." Jameson stutters at first, but then regains his confidence. "You've got everything else! Plus, you don't have to take them on all at once. In fact, the more they suffer, the more content I can get of the Daily Bugle headlines! I'll leave you to it, Gargan!"

"You're forgetting one thing: I can't go out in the sunlight. You made me so hypersensitive to light that I can't focus," Mac says, reminding them of what happened when he got out of the tube.

"My people will work on that. In the meantime, get used to your new self. Don't want you freezing up when you face the siblings soon," Machine Head says, ordering his people to start making something to help with Mac's eyesight. Before he leaves, he turns his head over his shoulder and says, "Scorpion."

Julia finishes dinner for the two of them and sets the plates of steaming hot steak on the table. After preparing everything, she helps Maria stand up so she can walk over and eat, but the older sister makes a fuss out of it. "I'm not crippled, you don't have to keep treating me like it!"

"I know, but you're hurt. Brushing off injuries is my job, it's yours to rest and recover so you can take care of the rest of us," Julia says jokingly.

"That's probably why this sucks so much," Maria admits as she stumbles over to the table. "You're always the one to get hurt, not me."

"Ouch, that one hurt," she responds with a laugh and a pun, making the blonde roll her eyes.

They sit down and start eating the food before it gets cold, Julia digging in because she may have skipped lunch (allowing Gwen to eat the rest of her fries at the cafeteria) because of her essay she had to write. She ended up not doing that either, however, because she couldn't think of anything to write about. She could always make something up, she's rather good at that, but this is the type of thing she thinks needs to be a well thought-out story. Making up something on the fly will have to be very detailed if she wants to make the requirement of seven pages.

"So, Liz invited us over tonight to hang out for a bit. She just moved in with Gwen, and I think it'll be great if all of us can catch up before school starts getting hectic," Maria says.

"I'll have to pass on that. I got a paper that's seven pages long and I haven't actually started on it yet," Julia admits.

"You serious? When is it due?!"

"This Thursday, so in about two days," she lies with a sigh. That was only partially true. Of course I have the paper, but I'm not planning on working on it tonight. No, I have to work at 11:00, so going to Liz's place will only be an hour trip for me anyway. I could tell Maria that, but she doesn't like it when I work at night so I'll just keep this one to myself...

"Well, I'm planning on spending the night so don't be nervous if I'm gone until morning," Maria tells her.

"Even with your injuries? That's not a good idea-"

"It's been three days, girl! My body has healed mostly, I just have arm muscle pains. It's not like I'm planning on swinging there either," Maria teases, joking about her slight fear of heights.

"Yeah, you're right. I hope you have a good time, then. Tell Liz I say hello, and I saw Gwen earlier at the cafeteria so we were able to catch up a bit," Julia informs.

"Oh, really? What did you guys talk about?"

"So, apparently, J. Jonah Jameson is funding this research project..."

One of the scientists completes the lenses and places them on Mac's helmet over his eyes. They're tinted red to filter through all of the heightened colors, but to him he can't even see it. The lights are turned back on, and he can see everything normally again without being in constant pain. "Much better," he says to the workers.

"Now, Machine Head left some notes for you about the siblings-" one of the scientists gathers a pile of papers, but Mac swats them out of his hands.

"I don't care about them, I just wanted this power! And, now that I've got it, I'm going to accomplish my goals," he says, raising his hands to his face to look at his armored claws, thinking about what he can do to his former boss now.

"B-but, the Spiderlings-"

"I said," Mac spins around, slashing his tail across the scientist's chest and sending him into the wall. The tip of it drips with blood, and the poor guy isn't moving, "I don't care."

Mac, now known to them as the Scorpion, turns toward everyone else as he sees their faces light up in fear. "Can't have you ratting me out to the arrogant reporter and the crime boss, now can I?"

None of them can do anything, although they try to escape with their lives, but Scorpion is just too fast. The lights flicker as he jumps on the ceiling, slashing his claws at the people when he leaps off. At first he seems a bit hesitant, trying to hold himself back, but as he goes on he sees how easy it is, and he doesn't care what happens. Can't tell on me if they're all dead. It'll give me some extra time to take care of my affairs. The scientists all scream, some of them rushing to the only exit where the staircase is, but Scorpion catches them with his tail, pulling them closer to him and silencing them for good.

After a few moments, the only thing he can hear is his heavy breathing and the occasional drip of blood coming off his tail and claws. He looks at his hands, running his thumbs over his now slippery palms, and turns his gaze up at the mess he made. I did that? But... it was so... easy. I've never felt this before, but it's... amazing. He looks over his shoulder, making sure no one is coming to see what happened, and wipes his hands on one of the scientist's white lab coats. Then, he slams his tail against the opposite wall to make an escape route, knowing he can't use the stairs and risk running into Jameson.

It's seven now, and Julia is sitting at her computer waiting for time to tick by so she can swing to work. Maria is gathering all her stuff together, wanting to get to Liz's before the sun completely sets. Thankfully, it's still technically summertime so the sun is out late into the day. She makes sure she has all of her bathroom stuff in her sleepover backpack (Julia let her borrow her Castlevaina themed one because she can carry it on her shoulders) and says, "I think that's it. Okay, I'm heading out!"

"See ya tomorrow! Don't worry about me, I'll be sitting here all night writing my life away," Julia yells, reaching for the remote to turn off the television when the news pops up. "What the...?"

"Residents are calling him the Scorpion because of the green armor, rendering him bulletproof to any attacks sent by the cops. Currently, he is climbing the local telemarketer's headquarters in Northern Greenwich. It is still unclear who this man is and what he is aiming to accomplish here in Manhattan. The big question is: where did he come from?" the news lady explains, making Maria and Julia stop what they're doing.

"We have to stop him. That guy is going to hurt someone-"

"Nope, not we. I've got this, you go to Liz's apartment," Julia says confidently, running to her room to get changed.

"Juli-"

"You're going to overwork yourself if you get into another fight. Don't worry about me, you took down the Rhino! I can handle a measly... what was it again? Oh, a Scorpion," Julia shouts back, emerging from her room in her spider outfit. Tight, blue polyester, patches of black web designs on her arms, legs, torso, and mouth, and a grey hoodie with her water spider symbol on it. As she slips her mask on, she tucks in her long, brown hair as if it were a swim cap.

"Okay, okay. Call me if you need any help! Don't get carried away!" Maria shouts as her sister jumps out the window, swinging in the directions of Greenwich with her grey webs. She sighs and shakes her head anxiously. "This is not going to end well."

"G-G-Gargan! W-what are you doing?!" the woman who fired him stutters, backing herself against the wall behind her desk.

Mac scrapes everything off the table with his tail, including her name tag that reads: Deborah Mason, splitting when it hits the floor. He raises his fists and pounds them on the desk, cracking it clean in half and he says, "Showing you that no one can push me around, not anymore."

"This-this is insane! You're insane!" the woman yells, pointing right at him and screaming when he stabs his tail right next to her head.

"You didn't need to fire me, Deborah. I was your top seller. What, were you nervous that I was taking your position? Was the committee planning on promoting me?" Scorpion asks, stepping over the broken desk to get closer to her.

She shivers but is able to answer him, "W-we fired you because you're unstable! Look around you, Gargan! You got yourself fired because of the choices you made. None of this is the company's fault!"

"YOU KEPT ME FOR SEVEN YEARS ONLY TO THROW ME OUT LIKE TRASH! I proved my usefulness and this is the thanks I get? This place will never thrive without my help, but don't worry. You won't be around to see it fall, either," he growls, pulling his tail out of the wall and pointing it at her forehead. She turns her head to the side, closing her eyes and waiting for the impact as she presses her hands against the wall.

Something feels funny in the back of Scorpion's brain, making him pause. He feels something coming at him from outside, but he looks out the window too late as Aqua Spider crashes through, feet-first, kicking him in the side and sending him flying. She does a backflip, landing on her feet and one hand in that iconic spider-pose and says, "Mind if I cut in?"

"You couldn't have gotten here five seconds later?" Scorpion grumbles, getting to his feet.

"Nah, I got a good timeframe. Gotta give you villains your free five minutes of monologue before I come in and ruin your plans, right?" she asks jokingly, straightening her back. Her eyes widen as she sees the guy recovers quicker than she expected and he whips his tail at her. "Woah there, buddy!" She flips onto a wall. "Dang, that thing's got reach. Who gave it to you?"

"I got it for Christmas," he replies sarcastically, lunging at Aqua. He tries to slash at her throat but she jumps, putting her hands on his shoulders and flipping over him to land on the other side of the room.

"Wow, you're so lucky! All I got from Santa last year was a box of black rocks. Guess we can't all be goodie-two-shoes, can we?" Aqua responds, picking up a plank of broken marble from the top of the lady's desk. She turns to her and says, "You might want to get out of here for this one."

Deborah quickly nods, but as she bursts out of the office Scorpion shouts, "NO!" and sprays a green liquid out of his tail at her. Luckily, he missed, but it does get on the elevator buttons which start to melt from the liquid.

Aqua lowers an eyebrow in confusion and quickly points from Scorpion to the acid saying, "Uh, what was that?"

"That, Spider," he says slowly, turning to her with a smile, "is what I call an advantage."

He sprays more at her, aiming it a bit better this time now that he knows he can shoot poison out of his tail. Aqua holds up the piece of marble, blocking the strike, but a hole is burned through the middle. "Uh oh..." she says, looking up to see him running at her with his hands outstretched.

"You are such a nuisance!" he yells, successfully grabbing her this time. He wraps his hands around her neck, pushing his thumbs into her throat.

I clearly underestimated the strength of this guy! Holy moley how am I going to beat him? She thinks to herself, her mind starting to get hazy. Right when Aqua feels her eyes starting to close from dizziness, she raises her hands and thwips at his mouth, the only exposed area that she can see. Webbing keeps him from breathing for a moment, some of it even getting inside his mouth, and he has to let her go to rip it off. Aqua falls on her knees in a coughing fit, raising her hand over her head in a surrender motion. "O-okay. Do you feel like talking about it, or is that not an option anymore?"

"That was - ugh - never going to happen!" Scorpion yells, spitting up the last of the webs, and grabs the front of her hoodie. He lifts her up to his face, seeing her head lob to the side weakly since she is still recovering from the intense lack of oxygen. This girl really thinks she can beat him with how powerful he is now? Pathetic. Using all of his new strength, he tosses her out of the window she came from, making sure she crashes through the window again to add an extra punch. Scorpion watches to make sure she is falling, satisfied that he was finally able to get rid of her. Yet, as he turns around to get back to what he was doing, he realizes he can't walk forward.

He looks at his feet, seeing them tangled in grey webs, and he immediately knows what they are from. Rushing back over to the window and looking over the side, he sees Aqua Spider hanging there at the other end about halfway down the building. "Oh, hey there! Thanks for catching me!"

"And you said I have a long reach," he responds, grabbing the webs with both hands and pulling her straight up into the room. This takes her by surprise and she hits the ceiling with her back, cracking it (both the ceiling and her back crack simultaneously), and she falls face-first onto the ground.

"I nailed that landing... ow," she says, her words muffled by the floor, and she weakly gives Scorpion a thumbs-up.

"What a workout, but I think I'm done here," he tells her, his tone obviously annoyed by her persistence. Scorpion picks her up once again, this time with only one hand, and slams her body into the already broken table.

She picks up the biggest piece of marble she can find by her head and blocks his claws with it, chipping the end slightly so that it becomes sharpened. Scorpion knocks it out of her hands so hard that it goes flying out of the office and into the door leading to the staircase. He looks at where it landed, seemingly distracted by something, but Aqua takes this as her own advantage and jumps to her feet behind him. She webs one of his fists over his shoulder, and before he can turn around she pulls the webs, making him punch himself in the face. He stumbles, and she lifts up the leg of the desk, ramming it into the side of his head creating a loud metal clanking sound. He falls to the floor, groaning, and she secures him with webs to make sure he stays put for the police.

"I totally owned that fight... yep. Not one scratch!" Aqua says, out of breath and placing a hand on her back as if she was an old lady. Or I was just lucky that he got distracted by something. I wonder what happened.

Looking back to make sure he's knocked out, Aqua jumps through the hole in the wall and jogs to the staircase door. It's broken, the sharp piece of marble impaled right through the middle making it sway open, barely hanging on its hinges. She tilts it open more to allow herself to fit through, and is confused when she finds nothing out of the ordinary... until she looks down.

That lady who Scorpion was threatening when she came in is there, lying on a platform a few floors down motionless. Aqua gasps, putting her hands over her mouth as she feels herself about to be sick. Trying to pull herself together, she jumps down and inspects the body, placing two fingers on the woman's neck by her jawline. Nothing.

She bursts out of the building on the ground floor, shaking and holding the body in her arms. Quickly, the spider runs up to a familiar face, her voice desperate, "Help! I-I couldn't... there was no, I-I'm sorry I couldn't-"

"I need an ambulance, stat!" the captain says, waving the paramedics over and getting out of the way of the stretcher. Aqua lifts up the woman, making sure everything is straight.

"Th-thank you, Captain Stacey," Aqua says, turning to the guy. Gwen's dad really came to the right place at the right time. "There's a, uh, a man in a scorpion outfit. He's the reason why, um, the office is... yeah."

"You heard her, officers. Search the twenty-fifth floor for the oppressor," the captain orders and the officers immediately start rushing inside to apprehend the man. He turns to Aqua Spider, seeing she's still here. "You did good." She just nods, not looking away from the front door of the building. He puts a hand on her shoulder and asks, "Aqua, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry! Just got a broken back, it's nothing new," she responds, smiling behind her mask. "I'm going to go and... do some more spider things. See you around, Captain!"

Aqua webs the side of a building and gives him a salute before swinging off, ignoring the pain in her bones from the fight she just had. Hopefully I never have to see that Scorpion maniac again. Ouch, he packed a wild punch. I'm just going to go home and sleep for the rest of... shoot. I have work, don't I?

"I'll call in sick and offer to do an exclusive tomorrow night. That'll get everyone excited for sure," Aqua says to herself, swinging through the buildings. She takes a deep breath to compose herself, half distracted by what little of the sun is showing on the horizon, thinking about how beautiful it is instead of dwelling on the flashes of the office scene every time she blinks.

"How did he get that suit? There is something we are missing, and I'm not going to wait until there is another animal monster we have to fight off to find out what it is. After I heal, I'm looking further into the Scorpion's past and I'm going to find some answers," she says, determined. With that newfound motivation, she starts swinging home faster so she can rest and hopefully heal in time for an investigation.