Chapter 1

This is the beginning of a new world.

Chapter One

Extra Steam

 

He was there, following her as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. She walked calm and slow, her heart beating steadily. Her long black leather coat, which extended as far as her ankles, swished behind her as she walked. Arachne’s ears almost perked. She heard more silent footsteps behind her.                               Easy, she thought. Wait until they close in on you.                             She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and continued to walk. Arachne’s long black hair flowed out behind her, blown all over by the soft night breeze. Her purple-red eyes flickered anxiously. There appeared in front of her a solid brick wall.                                      Perfect, she thought.                          “Hey, sweetie. Watcha’ doing out this late?” taunted the gang’s leader. He had greasy hair and bad acne.
            “Watcha’ doing, hot stuff?” grinned another gang member, smiling a toothless smile.
            Arachne placed her fists on her hips. She arched an eyebrow at them.                “F**k you.”                                        “Come on, guys,” the leader growled. Arachne lunged at the gang, kicking some and punching most.
            She shouted as she lunged her foot in the leader’s stomach. He collapsed to the ground grasping his stomach, struggling for breath. Arachne sensed another presence behind her and put her fist over her shoulder. She heard a thump and a grunt, and turned around and stepped over the unconscious figure. More guys were heading for her to crowd her against the wall.                                  This is too easy.                                                          Arachne backed up against the wall, turned around, and then began to climb in with the greatest of ease. At first, the gang members looked dumbfounded. When they recovered, their faces were grim with anger. They jumped up and down, trying to grab her ankles. She was too quick for them, getting away before they could even lay a finger on her.           
            Arachne climbed up the wall to a certain point where she stopped, arched her back, and did a sudden back flip. Landing square on her feet, Arachne leaped up and did a sidekick to one guy. She simply kicked the weakest and last one in the groin. He fell down, clutching his pelvis, groaning. In one swift motion, she swung her right hand out forward, slicking a delicate yet strong long string of spider silk all around the pitiful gang, trapping them all in a net made of spider silk. Arachne gracefully strode down the alley, the heels of her long, lavish boots clicking against the pavement, leaving the gang members writhing and groaning in pain. She swung one leg over her black motorcycle, which sported red fire decals on both sides. She revved the machine up and took off, speeding down the road and onto a freeway.
            Arachne’s silky black hair flew around her shoulders as she sped down the freeway. The strapless red shirt heaved up and down with the movement of her chest. She let herself relax, stopping at a red light and wiping the sweat from her naturally pale face.        Soon, she thought, more and more justice will be served.      She narrowed her eyes. Arachne sped off into the darkness of the night, almost not willing to return to her normal life as the real her: sixteen-year-old Willow Halliwell.

____

            “Hey, look at this,” Michael Stravinsky said pointing to the main article of Sunday’s daily paper the Crescent City Chronicle. Willow, curious, got up from her seat and looked over her foster dad’s shoulder. Oh, great, now I’m a celebrity. She simply rolled her eyes. The article showed a headline in bold that read:

THE BLACK WIDOW STRIKES AGAIN

            Her foster father began to read the article out loud.

“The Black Widow’ was previously classified as an urban myth until authorities were alerted by an anonymous tipster that criminals were tied up in an alley.”

            Probably some dumbfounded bystander who had been watching her beat up those goddamn punks.

            “Police say that the gang members were covered in a net made out of what appeared to be an overly large spider web.

‘It was just covering them. Keeping them entirely trapped. I touched the web and it felt sticky and clingy like a spider web should. I‘ve never seen anything so strange in my entire life. I’m inclined to believe that this is some kind of prank, yet this seems real enough for me,’ reports Police Commissioner Chief William Longhorn.

“There were no witnesses except for the criminals themselves, who either didn’t remember because of a concussion or because of merely shock. Authorities are still investigating this and the last incident that occurred the previous week in a different alley. They are still searching for connections as in who this mystery vigilante is. For now, a picture to as in who the vigilante may be is shown here in a depicted drawing confirmed by a witness.”

            Her eyes darted to the dark drawing of a tall, curvy girl wearing a long black coat, long dark hair down to her backside, shining eyes, black boots, long black pants, a belt with a red hourglass symbol embedded in a silver medallion, which was also black, and black fingerless gloves and a strapless red shirt.

She smirked. She would never stand in a position like that. It was too s****y.      “Sounds like some kinda female Spider-Man to me,” she mumbled, stifling a yawn.
            “Hmm. Cheesy. How do they come up with this crap?”

He threw the paper down on the kitchen table hard.
            “Bye, Mike.”
            Willow practically flew out the door away from him. It was somehow at night that Willow felt the most powerful, but she definitely wasn’t a morning person. Her tired mind instantly wandered to the days after her memory wipe.

            For three years, Willow trained and worked her hardest, determined to prove herself so that one day she might seek her revenge on her mother’s killer. She had mastered all the basic training extending from boxing to karate and tae kwan doe. Willow had also taken gymnastics and dance, making her body and walk gentle and graceful.The work may have been grueling, but it was worth the sweat and pain it had caused her. Willow had fallen so much during training and gained bruises over the years from all of it. She was now strong, but abnormally. Sometimes she despised it, but when she was fighting, Willow felt as if she could control the world.
            Muscles, which she had assumed were genetic, made her look like a total super-freak. Willow walked gracefully, muscles flexing, as her thoughts filled with utter rage against the killer.
            “Hey! Watch it!” yelled a kid on a bike that barely grazed her side.
            “You watch it, you jerk!” she barked, definitely not in the mood for kicking some pitiful kid’s butt. The kid stuck out his tongue and Willow raised her fist in return. He jutted out of there just in time as Willow instead hit a fence post.
            “God!” She slammed her first down hard, but shook it furiously from the immediate blast of pain.
            Willow sulked the rest of the way to Wayview High, and she lifted her head to inspect her surroundings. It looked as if the whole city might have been living here. Different accents, different skin tones, and different personalities flooded the school, a mix of different cultures and races. Yet, what was normal for a teen wasn’t normal for her.      

Willow was nervous because she had never seen other people her age before. Willow began to feel agitated and self-conscious about how she looked. She stood straight and confident as she walked, but still able to retain her graceful air. She stepped carefully on the concrete as if the ground were made from boiling hot lava. Willow fearlessly made her way into the entrance near the bike racks.

_____

            Allister chained his bike up carefully and listened to his friends’ antics. The sun beat down on that abnormally hot October day.
            “Hey, guys, look at that one.” Robby pointed to a perky blonde wearing low cut jeans and a strap t-shirt known as Teagan.
            “Yeah!” the whole group whooped and catcalled at her.
            Teagan, obviously enjoying the attention, flashed a flirtatious smile at the group and batted her eyelashes. Teagan joined her friends at the top of the steps at the entrance.
            “Man, is she something.”
            “Yeah. I wish I had her.”
            The group laughed hysterically at Jake’s pun as Allister looked up from chaining his bike and there she was. There, heading for the school entrance, was a girl. Not like any normal girl he had ever seen before, but some girl. Allister scanned her quickly. She was wearing camouflage cargo pants, beat up sneakers, and a black sleeveless t-shirt. The girl obviously appeared to not care about her appearance, but seemed beautiful in her own way, even with that scowl on her face. The scowl made her look even prettier, with the exception of her long raven black hair and her strange violet-red eyes.         She was obviously new to Wayview High.
            “Hey, guys, you know who that girl is over there?” he said pointing in raven-haired girl’s direction.
            “Don’t know. Never seen her before, but she sure is gorgeous.”
            Allister continued to stare and the girl turned her head in his direction. She narrowed her deep, black eyes at him. He felt them bore deep into his sockets. It sent a shiver down his spine.
            “What are you staring at?” she snapped.
            “Ooh!” his friends taunted.
            Without waiting for a reply, she made her way up the steps, leaving Allister baffled. Before he knew it, he was starting to follow her.
            “Wait!” Allister exclaimed almost out of breath from running up so many stairs. “What’s your name?”
            “Why?” she demanded defensively.
            “Because…well…I…”
            “Look, don’t you have something better to do? Like, say, I don’t know, go to class?” People, by this point, began to turn and stare at Allister and Willow.
            “Well, I…I haven’t seen you around here before and I-I just wanted to know your name,” he replied ruffling his hair with a hand.
            “Willow. Are you satisfied now?”
            “Willow. Yes, very, but, uh,” he stammered locking his hand around her forearm.
            “Get lost, loser!”
            She shoved his arm away and stormed up the last of the steps, practically knocking Allister over. Robby came over and helped him up off the ground. “Smooth move, Al.”
Allister shook free of his friend. “Wait! Willow! What’s the rush?”
            “I said GET LOST!”
            People gawked stupidly; Allister watched as Willow stormed away.


            “God, the nerve of some people!” she mumbled under her breath to herself. Willow was hunched over her new desk.
            “People. People! Quiet down!” said Mr. Montague, practically shouting. He cleared his throat. “Prom is hereby canceled!” he boomed. All noise immediately ceased and every student, mostly the girls, kept their eyes glued on him the whole time he spoke. He chuckled.
            “Now that I have your attention, let’s begin.” Mr. Montague started to write historic names on the front board.
            Willow copied down notes without hesitation. Being smart did have its advantages.
            “So, you’re new, huh?” Willow turned to see who was speaking. Behind her was a girl with short pink and purple hair slicked with gel to one side; a single silver nose glinted in the light piercing. Very cool.
            “Yeah. What’s it to you?”
            “My name’s Viola”
            “I’m Willow.”
            “Nice to meet you.”

_____

            Viola liked this Willow. She was definitely her type. Quiet, didn’t have a lot to say, which was good because Viola didn’t like those hyper-fast chattering types anyway. Willow seemed quite sensitive; weak in a way yet she seemed to retain a confident kind of air. She was serious about things and barely joked or cracked a smile. Only if she wanted to, then, yeah, she was fun to hang around with. It just was a pity that Willow preferred to eat alone at lunch.
            Willow took a courageous bite out of the cafeteria’s infamous mystery meat. She didn’t wince or anything, but just kept right on processing like a machine. Viola put her head in a hand and glanced around. It seemed as if the whole world came to see Willow, the new girl. Everyone seemed to be studying her as if she were a bug under a microscope. And a pretty one at that. Every boy in the room, from the stuck-up jocks to the laid-down Goths, had their eyes on her. It was no wonder that with that perfect porcelain skin, sad, lonely eyes, and cascading ebony hair, she was making every girl in the room jealous.

Weird thing is she doesn’t seem to know that everyone’s staring at her.
            Viola shifted her eyes to the cheerleader table. She had to practically cover her mouth to keep from bursting with laughter. All of the cheerleaders, especially her nemesis Teagan, were fuming teapots ready to hiss from all the extra steam. This was definitely gonna be one interesting school year.

_____

            At lunch, he saw her sitting all alone at an empty table. He couldn’t help thinking about her face, even though it was basically right in front of him. Allister observed her carefully. Willow was hunched over her lunch, carefully eating her sandwich. She lifted a pale hand to tuck a raven lock of hair behind her ear.

Why, he thought, is she sitting alone?

Someone so sad shouldn’t be alone, yet there she was, alone, right in front of him. Willow never once lifted her eyes to look around the bustling cafeteria. It seemed that she was totally oblivious to the entire world around her. She didn’t even lift her face to look at the people who passed right by her. She seemed like a real loner.

Allister stood up hesitantly from the table where he and his friends had been eating lunch and slowly, but bravely, walked over to Willow’s table.

“Hey, Al, where are you going?”

“Yeah! Where ya going?”

Al ignored his friends’ calls and jeers and wandered over to sit across from Willow. He clutched his Styrofoam lunch tray in one hand; in the other he held his backpack where it was slung over his shoulder Willow kept eating like a machine and didn’t acknowledge his existence at all.

“Hey…look…I’m really sorry about this morning.”

She finally lifted her big eyes up at him, glaring with such intensity at him.

“Why?”

“Because…I guess I was being a complete idiot towards you…and…anyway, I’m sorry…friends?”

He held out his hand to her.

She glanced at him and his open hand. Al pulled his hand back and he continued to eat. She looked up at him with a softer expression and forgiving eyes, but her scowl failed to resign from her lips.

And, the two ate in silence, quietly friends.

 

_____

            Willow tried to forget about the embarrassment at school until she reached the Academy, otherwise known as the Academy of Athletics.

Willow had been going there since the age of thirteen when the government contacted her foster parents saying that they would pay for it for some odd reason or another.
            “Hey, Willow,” called out Coach Gina Renerez, waving to her in welcome. Willow waved sullenly back, as was routine, not in the mood for talking to anyone, just kicking the crap out of them.
            As Willow finished dressing in her tank top uniform with long, black pants and boxing gloves, she headed out to the mats to do some serious training. Willow started swinging blows at the punching bag. She grunted; sweat poured down her face and neck. She stopped and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. She slowly removed the bulky gloves from her hands and started for the cafeteria for a break. Willow walked over to a drink machine, inserted fifty cents into the slot, and pressed a button for what she wanted. Out came a cold, crisp cherry Gatorade. Willow practically gulped down the whole thing. After her break she went over to Pierce, who was her rival in martial arts training.
            “Hey, Pierce. Good to see you.”
            “You, too, Willow. Nice to see that you’re still with us.”
            “Yeah, well, I need my exercise.”
            He chuckled. “Need help with something?”
            “Yeah. I need some help with my karate. Care to join me?”
            “Okay, but let’s make it quick ‘cause I’ve got another kid whose butt I’ve gotta kick.”
            Pierce and Willow both went to the mats.
            Willow folded her hands in front of her and bowed, Pierce doing the exact same.           Pierce and Willow splayed their legs and positioned both their right hands above their lefts above their chests. Both Pierce and Willow began chucking blows and kicks to each other.
            “So…how’s school?”
            Willow landed a punch in Pierce’s direction, but he dodged it.

“Fine, but…it was only my first day.”
            Swiftly, he swept his leg under Willow’s, but she then jumped up with both legs, barely missing it. “Really? Make any friends?”
            Other students gathered around to watch the fight, gaping at their expertise in what they were doing. Pierce tried to land a blow in her stomach, but Willow fell back on the floor.

“No, not really. No need to.”

Pierce tried to get her then, but she then jumped up, knocking him over with a kick that practically sent him flying.
            “Why not? You’re a nice girl,” he grunted as Willow rushed over and pinned him down on the ground.
            Pierce swung out a clenched fist into Willow’s face, landing her face-up on the mat. He pinned her.

“When you want to be, of course.” Willow kicked him square in the face. She leaned down, triumphant.

“I’m not one for friends, Pierce. I would much rather be alone.” She removed her hand from his chest and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. The students cheered and whistled as Willow left the mat, her long hair swishing behind her loyally.
            “God,” he said wiping a coat of sweat from his brow, “she is something.”

Pierce watched as she disappeared into the locker room.

Author's Note

I always admired superheroes. I still do. They have an inner strength no normal human being has. They are able to defeat their enemies within one fight. They are unique. I always wanted to have that kind of strength as a kid. Granted, not superhero strength but the ability to stand up for myself. Now I have that. :)

That's why Willow/Arachne is so kick-ass.