Chapter Text
Coco and Qifrey swing their way through the sky. Qifrey is leading Coco back to his flat as well as trying to teach the poor girl the basics of swinging along the way. Coco, while still losing her balance here and there, was doing better under his guidance. The two swung high in the sky to ensure people below would not make out Coco's features, even with the face mask, baseball cap, and hood up. Qifrey did not want to take any unnecessary risk of her identity being leaked. The green hair alone would be enough to give the girl away.
The pair land on a building close to where Coco lives. After all, Qifrey does not live far from Coco and her mother. “Alright, Coco, let's get you a proper mask. Can't have you being found out early, can I?” Qifrey poses the rhetorical question.
Walking to a backpack stuck to the fire escape, Qifrey pulls out a pair of sweatpants, a long-sleeve shirt, and slip-on shoes. Putting on the clothes and taking off his mask and gloves, no one would be any the wiser to think this man is Spider-Man.
The two walk down the stairs of the roof access. Coco has visited Qifrey's apartment before, but it has been quite some time. The halls of the complex are the same as she remembers. The smell of mildew, the outdated yellow paint, and the water stains on the roof tiles. Not to mention the musty feeling of dust and humidity; the building never seems to lose its stuffiness, no matter how much time passes. Coco always wondered what Qifrey did for work to live in such a place like this, but now it makes sense. The man doesn't have time for much work if he's always out saving the city. “This place isn't much, but it's enough to get me by. Not much I can complain about after couch surfing for so long,” he says, noticing Coco taking in the surroundings. They stop, Qifrey taking out his keys to unlock a door in front of them.
Walking inside, Coco spots things that now seem out of place for a man who lives in such poor conditions. Qifrey has a 3D printer and a high-end computer that looks to be making new cartridges for his web-shooters. On the desk, she spots soldering equipment as well.
Coco remembers Qifrey used to work at Zozah LabCorps under a renowned scientist, Dr. Beldaruit. It is surprising to her how much science equipment he still keeps around after leaving his position at the research institution. Qifrey was never fond of talking about his time there.
Peeling her eyes from the desk, she notices Qifrey also has quite a collection of photographs on his walls. The small touch helps make the small apartment feel lived in. Stopping to look at one of the photos, Coco realizes it's framed similarly to ones Olruggio has taken for her. The man has a distinct style of photography, making it hard to miss when looking at them. Moving to follow Qifrey, she can't help but smile, knowing the two men were definitely closer than they let on.
Qifrey walks into the bedroom of his one-bed, one-bath flat. He walks up to his quite large dresser. “Now just to get it,” he mumbles to himself. Placing his hand on top of the dresser, he lifts it with ease. Setting the furniture aside, Qifrey looks to Coco, who is staring at him, mouth agape, bewildered at what she just saw.
“How did you do that?” She questions the man, who shrugs the question off. Bending down to lift the floorboards, Qifrey pulls out an old box. From it, he pulls out an old suit. It is the same colors as his current ones, same light gray with black webbing, black legs, and gray boots. The only difference was the spider logo; it was much smaller than his current one.
“This was my first suit. I wore it when I first started. I think I was about the same size as you back then, maybe a little taller but not by much,” Qifrey explains, looking at the suit, lost in thought. “Though I think it's only fitting you make this suit your own. You are your own person after all. Do as you see fit to it. If I remember correctly, you are quite skilled at tailoring, aren't you?”
Taking the old suit from Qifrey, Coco feels a bit overwhelmed. The sense of impending responsibility is ever-present in her thoughts as she looks over the suit. It scares her. What if she isn't cut out for this? “How will I know I'm ready? I don’t even know what’s happened to me.” She says quietly, eyes never leaving the suit.
With a sigh, “Well, you won’t know when you're ready. I never did.” He then further explains, “As for what’s happening to you, that spider that bit you happened to modify your DNA. It gave you the genetics of a spider so you can do tricks like shoot webs, stick to walls, have superhuman strength, and incredible senses.” Qifrey places the floorboards back and places the dresser where it normally resides.
Qifrey turns to look at Coco. Seeing the inner turmoil in the girl, he decides to try to lift the mood. “You see,” he began before jumping up to the ceiling and clinging upside down. “The same thing happened to me,” he said, beaming at the girl.
Coco, laughing, imitates the action. Both of them cling upside down from the ceiling. “So it's not that weird if you're also like this,” she concludes, feeling more at ease at how calm Qifrey is.
“Not weird at all,” he assures.
The two jump down from the ceiling and return to the living area. Coco feels better after Qifrey’s reassurance but still feels the prickle of anxiety throughout her body. Shaking off her nerves, she smiles up at the silver-haired man. “Thank you for the suit, Qifrey. I'll definitely make it prettier than whatever you have going on here. This thing looks depressing…,” she insults the man's simple gray and black suit.
“Hey now, I'll have you know I worked a long time on that design!” he defends. “What do you know about designing superhero suits anyway?” He questions, jabbing his finger towards her forehead.
“I bet my suit will be more popular when I'm done with it,” she calls back to him as she walks back towards the front door of his apartment. It had gotten quite late, and Coco could feel the day's events catching up with her. “I need to get going now, gotta get started on my design early to make the people realize how bad yours is,” she teases.
Qifrey grumbles, “Fine, we'll just let the people decide whose suit is better then.”
Walking back up to the roof, Coco puts on the mask Qifrey gave her. It's a snug fit; she won't have to alter the mask to fit her, thankfully. After securing the suit, she gets ready to swing back home. “Remember, just keep calm, Coco. And keep yourself upright. You'll be just fine getting home.”
“Okay…no other way to do this,” the teen mumbles to herself, bouncing from foot to foot. Aiming for the neighboring building, she flexes her wrist.
Coco swings her way back to her bedroom, in much more control than her first attempt.
After leaving the suit lying on her desk for the night, Coco finds herself staring at it the next morning. She is having trouble finding ideas for what she wants her spider suit to look like. Truly, how does one make a good-looking superhero costume?
Sitting down, Coco pulls her laptop from her school bag. Opening a search browser, she looks up superheroes of New Ezrest in the hope of getting any sort of idea. She is flooded with pictures of Spider-Man, the infamous Witches Conclave, and other vigilantes. The Witches Conclave is a group of heroes who defend the whole country from otherworldly threats, though for some reason they all like to target the state of New Ezrest. Everyone is grateful for this group of heroes, but they seem to always leave a wake of destruction behind that leaves civilians scrambling. Coco couldn’t in good conscience design a suit inspired by them.
Sighing, Coco doesn’t find any of the pictures helpful. The Witches Conclave is much too controversial to be inspired by, Qifrey’s suit is much too bland, and everyone in between is just too strange. Maybe Qifrey was right; making a suit that is her own is quite a challenge.
Turning to her closet, the teen hopes maybe her clothes can help inspire an idea. Opening the door, she sifts through the clothing. She notices the color green is abundant. She knew she had a preference for the color but didn't think it ran this deep; it is nearly half the clothes she owns.
Having an idea, she returns to her desk. Grabbing a piece of paper, she sketches down a rough idea of a suit. Still using the same light gray color of Qifrey’s suit as a base, Coco adds a flair of green throughout. On the underside of the arms, around the wrists, coming down to cover the fingers. The green continues down the sides, connecting around the waist, forming a belt-like shape. Throughout the green, she adds a white webbing pattern to break up the simplicity. Around the eye lenses, she adds a layer of green without web lacing, adding color to the otherwise gray mask. She also adds a hood, the inside green with white webbing and the outside the same light gray as the rest of the suit. Looking at the legs of the sketch, Coco decides to keep them black, like Qifrey's, though she extends it all the way to the boots.
She looks at the spider on Qifrey's suit. She likes the design of the small spider but doesn't want people to think she is just a copy of him. Coco draws out her own. Qifrey’s spider on his suit was sharp and jagged. He continues the sharp look in his current design, only enlarging the spider. Coco decides to make her spider modestly sized, not small like Qifrey's first design, but also not large like his current one. To differentiate herself more, her spider is a little more rounded at the edges, the body not as sharp. She puts the spider design on both the front and back of the suit.
For the final touch, she walks back to her closet, looks at her shoe rack on the floor, and pulls a pair of beat-up green Chucks.
“These will do,” Coco mumbles to herself as she sets the shoes down by her desk.
Happy with the design, Coco gets to work. She removes the black web stitching on Qifrey's suit, leaving the gray fabric plain. Finding an old shirt in the color she wants, she sacrifices it to the cause, cutting away at it to give the suit some much-needed color. She embroiders white web patterns into the green fabric as she attaches it to the suit.
After a full day's work, and an occasional break to eat, Coco looks at the finished product in front of her. Her very own suit. Trying it on, it is the perfect fit for her. Now she just can't wait to take it out for a spin.
Classes are back in after the busy weekend for the green-haired teen. The day has gone by mostly normal, until she heads to the cafeteria for lunch. She feels a prickly sensation at the back of her neck. Turning around, she finds Tetia about to tackle her.
“Wha…, Tetia!” She yells before getting tackled to the floor. The pink-haired girl looks pleased to have caught Coco off guard, even if Coco saw her at the last second.
“That's for running off on us the other day!” Tetia says, getting up from the floor. She offers Coco a hand to help the other girl up, which the other gratefully accepts.
“Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just…” Coco tries to explain before getting interrupted.
Tetia smiles at her. “You don't have to say you're sorry. I think we all understand. I would be freaking out as well. Now let's get to the Cafe. I'm starving!”
The two walk together, talking about their earlier classes. Talking with Tetia has always been easy for Coco. The pair have always gotten along, effortlessly matching each other's energy. They have been inseparable since the moment they met volunteering for the same disaster cleanup event. Now attending the same high school, they are always glued together. Tetia and Coco know everything there is to know about each other. Though now the green-haired girl has quite the secret to keep from the other.
Walking into the Cafe, the pair find the other two in their usual entourage. Agott and Richeh were already seated at the table the girls sit at every day, with food in front of them. Tetia and Coco walk over to join them.
“Look who I found in the hall! It's our little runaway!” Tetia beams at the other two. She sits down across from Richeh, leaving Coco to sit across from Agott.
“I'm not a runaway, Tetia,” Coco counters, chuckling at the girl. She's happy to see her running off from dinner didn't affect Tetia too much.
“Richeh is glad to see Coco is okay, but she deserves five angricheh points for leaving without a proper goodbye,” the teen mumbles to the group. With a laugh, Coco accepts the new angricheh points and adds them to her weekly total. The group always says they will punish the person with the most points at the end of the week, but they somehow never get around to it.
Agott clears her throat. “Um, Coco, I have your purse here.” Leaning down, the curly-haired girl pulls Coco's purse from atop her backpack. Agott reaches across the table to give back the abandoned item.
Smiling widely, “Awe, thank you for grabbing it,” she takes the bag from Agott. Their hands brush together in the exchange, causing Coco to flush red. There is also a trace of red on Agott's ears, hidden by her hair.
“It was nothing. Just thought I would grab it so you didn't have to worry about it being stolen after,” Agott quickly explains, flustered.
Tetia leans over to whisper to Richeh, “Man, these two got it bad, don't they?” Richeh nods in response, watching the exchange. It's clear to everyone that the two liked each other. Clear to everyone but the two who mattered anyway.
Unbeknownst to the group, a boy was approaching the table. A teen with unkempt long black hair and a sluggish walk, almost like he was learning to walk again.
“What's up, guys? It has been a while!” The black-haired boy called from beside Coco and Tetia, the former still flustered, bumbling about the purse.
Ripped from the moment with Agott, Coco looks at the person speaking. “Custas! How are you back so soon? Weren't you still getting treatment for your legs?” Coco asks, looking at the teen’s legs. She sees no trace of the old injury that left him wheelchair bound.
Custas had suffered horrific injuries a few months back when the Witches Conclave got in a skirmish with a large leech creature. As usual, buildings were destroyed in the process, leaving people to their own devices to get to safety. Custas was one of the unfortunate people who didn’t make it to one of the many safe houses. This left him exposed to falling debris, which stole his ability to walk.
Now, however, he is walking as if the injury didn't happen at all.
“I'm doing great! My father hired a new scientist who made some kind of new prosthetics for me to use. Makes me feel brand new!” The boy explains, smiling. He is jumping from foot to foot, showing off that his legs truly are working as normal.
Coco is fascinated by this. “This is amazing, Custas! This scientist your father found… they can change the way prosthetics work forever. They can help so many people with this technology,” she rambles, thinking of all the ways an invention like this can be used.
“There you go, you got her brain wandering again,” Tetia says to Custas, laughing.
Custas chuckles, “I'm not sure how the thing works, honestly. Just know it lets me walk again. Now would you care to walk with me a moment, Coco?” He asks.
“Yeah, I don't mind. We'll be back soon,” Coco says over her shoulder as she rises to walk with Custas down a hallway. The pair stop along a row of lockers near the Cafe but out of earshot of anyone.
“I noticed you having a little moment with the Agott Arklaum there. Bold of you, Coco,” Custas says, lightly clapping his hands, smiling at Coco.
In shock, Coco refutes, frantically waving her hands in front of her, “What! No, no, no, you got it all wrong. It's nothing like that.” She can feel blood pulling to her face. Just what she needs when confronted with this topic.
Scratching the back of his head, “Now, it's clear you like her. You can't deny that.” Custas watched her reaction.
Dropping her hands, Coco let out a sigh of defeat, knowing full well he had already seen through her feeble lie.
“How about I give you some advice? This worked for me just the other day.” Custas says confidently.
“Fine, guess it can't hurt,” Coco reluctantly agrees.
Smiling big, “Alright, all you gotta do is go up to her and…,” Coco feels Custas put his hand on her shoulder. “Say hey~” The boy drops his voice an octave, making it sound deeper than it is. He also flashes a smirk at Coco, leaving the girl confused.
Coco stares at him a moment. “So it's like… hey,” she says, voice faltering as she doesn’t have much confidence in this plan.
“No,” He firms his grip on her shoulder, shaking his head. “It's like… hey~,” he repeats, purposely lowering his voice again and giving Coco a smirk.
Coco understands this time. She reaches out her hand to grab Custas's shoulder. “Okay, so like… hey~.” Coco lowers her voice slightly and mimics the smirk her friend gave her.
“Yeah, that's it, now just go out there and do it to her! I'm sure it'll work!” The boy exclaimed, boosting Coco's own confidence. The boy’s confidence in the absurd plan is enough to make Coco at least give it a try. What’s the worst that can happen anyway?
Walking back into the lunchroom, Coco goes straight to Agott. Sitting in the open chair next to her. Coco does not notice Agott looking pleased just to have the other girl sitting beside her. Instead, Coco reaches out, placing her hand on Agott's shoulder, making the two look at each other.
“Hey~,” Coco says confidently, flashing a smirk to the curly-haired teen. Coco is met with a blank stare and a very awkward silence. Even Tetia and Richeh stopped their conversation to watch. Coco wants to crawl into herself and disappear.
“Ah… okay,” Agott says awkwardly, turning back to continue eating her lunch, forcing Coco’s hand to fall in the process. Agott is clearly trying very hard to ignore whatever just happened. Poor Coco’s face flushes red. Why would she ever listen to Custas? That idiot had to have set her up for failure.
Peeling herself from the chair to walk back to her original spot, Coco sees Tetia gawking at her and Richeh holding her phone up, as if she had taken a picture of the situation. Coco knows she is in for it later once Tetia gets ahold of the picture Richeh snuck.
“Coco, you big dummy!” The teen yells to herself. Coco is currently swinging through some of the taller buildings of New Ezrest City in her newly fashioned suit. Large electronic billboards line the outside of the skyscrapers, making her afternoon swing session quite vibrant; however, the girl's mind is elsewhere entirely. “Why in the world would you ever listen to Custas? When has his relationship advice ever sounded good?” she continues grumbling to herself.
Perching on one of the electronic billboards, Coco pulls her phone from her backpack. She left in such a hurry after class she didn’t even think to drop off her bag at her home. Looking through her many notifications, she notices a new text from Tetia.
Tetia: my, dont you two look dashing together <3
Attached to the text is a picture. The teen groans, looking at the picture. Of course, it's Coco with her hand on Agott’s shoulder, saying that absurd pick-up line Custas told her would work. She could even see that smirk on her face in the picture. Coco wishes she could erase the moment from her memory forever. How could she ever get over the way Agott just stared at her? Like she just did the most stupid thing in the world.
Swiping away from the picture, Coco sees she also has a text from Agott. She opens it.
Agott: You mentioned the other day you wanted to study together. Do you still wish to do so? I have some time available this afternoon.
Coco completely forgot about that conversation. She was so focused on running away from the girl after lunch that Agott never got the chance to talk to her again. Filled with guilt, Coco responds.
Coco: yeah I still want to study, i completely forgot about it im sorry
Agott: It's alright. The past week has been busy. Would you be able to meet me at the coffee shop by the school around 4:30?
Looking at the time, Coco realizes she has only thirty minutes to get from downtown New Ezrest all the way back to East Side. She quickly shoots Agott a text back.
Coco: ill be there see you soon!
She throws her phone into her backpack, then launches off the billboard, heading in the direction of the school she fled from an hour earlier.
Landing on the roof near the coffee shop, Coco takes the clothes she had on at school out of her backpack. Her suit is fully hidden thanks to the hoodie and jeans. After changing, she looks down into the alleyway below her, making sure no one is lurking, which tends to be more common than she realized. Seeing no one there, she crawls down.
Exiting onto the main sidewalk, she walks into the coffee shop. Coco finds Agott already sitting in a booth up front close to the windows. She always preferred natural light to artificial light. Coco knew that just by observing the taller teen’s habits.
Having gone unnoticed, Coco takes a moment to steal a glance at Agott. She still has her hair perfectly done, even after a full day at school. Her purple eyes are transfixed on her notebook, looking over her previous notes and jotting things down here and there. It seems Agott can feel eyes on her, though, as she looks up to meet Coco’s gaze. Caught in the act, Coco flushes. The green-haired teen lets out a small cough and walks to join Agott in the booth.
Sitting across from each other now, there is a small, painful silence. Perhaps a consequence of the awkward moment at lunch earlier today. Letting out another cough, Coco breaks the silence. “Would you like a coffee or anything? To, you know, repay you for taking care of my bill the other night,” she asks, rubbing the back of her neck, feeling heat creeping up yet again.
Coco, dodging eye contact, hears Agott huff. “I would appreciate that; however, you don’t have to.” Looking directly at Agott, she sees a faint smile and a small blush on the taller girl’s ears.
“No, I want to. Do you still like cold brew with salted caramel cold foam?” Agott always orders the same thing here. It's no secret the girl loves her caffeine. But also secretly has a sweet tooth, so she finds a way to satisfy both with her coffee.
Receiving only a nod in response, Coco smiles as she gets up, going to order for the pair. At the counter, she orders Agott’s coffee along with a chai tea for herself. Behind the glass display, Coco notices a familiar pastry. It’s one of Agott’s favorites, mulberry pie! She orders a piece of it as well, making Agott paying for her dinner feel a little more even.
Walking back with their order, Coco smiles as she places Agott's coffee and a surprise piece of pie on the table. Agott is taken aback, not expecting a dessert to be placed in front of her. “You didn’t have to get me this,” Agott says quietly, looking at the pie.
“I wanted to. It's a thank you for paying my bill. Plus, you deserve something sweet after studying all the time as you do,” Coco counters, taking back her spot across from Agott.
Agott lets out another huff. This time, Coco sees her smile ever so slightly. “Alright, let’s get started, or we’ll be here longer than we need to be,” says Agott, pulling her notebook closer to begin their study session.
After an hour of review, Coco’s head is spinning. She loves Mr. Lagrah’s science class dearly, but cramming days' worth of information into one hour is a bit much. Not to mention she keeps getting distracted by Agott's eyes instead of listening to what she is saying. This is going to be a long study session for the green-haired girl, that’s for certain.
That was until her hair stood on end. Her newly bolstered senses picked up on talk of a robbery on the market down the street. Coco could pick out four different voices discussing a not-so-thought-out plan to rush into the building, holding the cashier at gunpoint.
Muscles coiling, Coco’s brain urges her to move, to stop anyone from being hurt. Looking around the coffee shop, all she can see is Agott still absorbed in her notes and a few stray customers far from their table. She grabs her mask and gloves from her backpack, hiding the items under her hoodie. Curtly, she excuses herself to the bathroom, leaving Agott alone at the table. Agott watches, noticing the strange change in mood and how tense the other girl had gotten.
In the bathroom, thankfully one reserved for just one person at a time, Coco removes her hoodie and jeans, hiding them in the ceiling. Putting on her mask and gloves, she looks to the window installed above the sink. Pushing it open, she finds herself in the same alley she snuck down into earlier. Shooting webs from both wrists, she slingshots herself to the top of the adjacent building. Honing in on her sense of hearing, she pinpoints where the four voices she heard earlier are.
She can see the four men walking into the store, the employee inside unaware of the danger in their near future. Coco attaches webs to a street light below. Leaning back, she tenses her new superhuman muscles, then tugs at the webs with all her might, launching herself toward the store and arriving in seconds.
After a not so graceful landing, Coco brushes imaginary dust from her suit and walks into the store. The men haven’t noticed her yet. They appear to be busying themselves by looking around aimlessly at items on the store shelves, like they are waiting for someone to give the command to start.
“Hey guys! What are you all up to?” Coco, now Spider-Woman, says to the group. They turn their heads, staring at the spider in shock. They had not expected to confront a superhero in their robbery, let alone the elusive new spider. The store’s cashier is also taken aback by the sudden appearance of Spider-Woman. Taking out his phone, the cashier starts to record the encounter.
“It's that new spider!” The presumed leader yells, reaching for the hidden gun from his jacket pocket. The hairs on her body stand up, sensing the danger of the gun before it is revealed. She moves to avoid the incoming shot.
“Hey! That’s not very nice of you. Someone can seriously get hurt.” Spider-Woman says. Shooting a web, Coco grabs hold of the gun, yanking it from the gang member's grip and throwing it to the floor. Furthermore, she shoots a web on top of the gun, ensuring it cannot be picked up again.
Now disarmed, the gang’s leader charges at Coco, fists raised. Before he can get close, the Spider goes invisible.
“Okay, that's weird,” She says, looking through her hands straight to the ground. Taking advantage of the newfound ability, she sneaks around the man, who had gotten quite close to hitting her. The invisibility drops as she hits the man, sending him crashing into the window of the storefront.
“Whoa…” The girl is surprised at her own strength. Just a few days ago she was struggling to open jars, and now she can launch a grown man multiple feet with just one punch. How could a spider bite change someone so much?
The man she punched is slow to get up. Tensing her wrists more than normal to fire off her usual web, she shoots off a condensed mass of webs around the man, pinning him to the ground. Mildly disturbing but useful to immobilize him.
The other three seem a bit more hesitant after the display of power from the new spider.
Now disorganized without someone to guide them, one man flees from the store. Coco webs a can from a nearby shelf and flings it at the running criminal. Hitting him in the back of the head, the man falls to the ground outside. Similar to what happened to the leader, she shoots webs at the fallen man, preventing him from moving.
The remaining two robbers stare at the spider. Both decide to charge her simultaneously, flanking both sides. This forces Coco to move instinctively. She jumps up, avoiding the volley of punches from the men. Landing on the right, the men are now aligned with each other. Throwing a punch of her own, Coco hits both of them, sending them into the store shelves. Her punch, though, is different this time. It was wrapped in bolts of electricity.
The two men, dazed, slump over, not moving from the mangled shelves. “That’s also new…” She mutters, looking at her fist.
Before she can think about the strange affinity for electricity, one of the men on the shelves groans, grabbing Coco’s attention. Webbing the two together, she ensures the two pose no threat to the worker anymore.
Coco, after dealing with the robbers, can hear police sirens in the distance. Her endeavor to deal with the men had clearly garnered unwarranted attention, and now she had to get out of the area before she had to speak to the police. Qifrey surely would not be happy if the girl got arrested. He probably already wouldn’t be pleased that the girl went out and fought without him beside her.
“Sorry about the mess, sir!” She says to the cashier, quickly fleeing the store. She zips up to the rooftops away from lingering eyes. Using cover from the alleyway, she makes her way back to the coffee shop’s bathroom window. After making sure no eyes are on her, she enters. She's grateful to find the bathroom still locked as she left it. She changes back into her clothes, hiding her mask and gloves back under her hoodie.
Walking out of the bathroom, she sees Agott isn’t in the booth anymore. Looking around, she sees no one is in the coffee shop anymore. They are all standing outside. Everyone was outside watching the show Coco had put on with the robbers. How was she going to swing this?
Walking outside to Agott, Coco inquires, “Did I miss something?” The taller girl startles at the sudden voice behind her. Agott had gotten fully absorbed in watching the spectacle of the new spider. It was rare to see heroes this close in New Ezrest. She didn’t want to miss the opportunity to watch one fight. While watching, Agott had forgotten all about Coco disappearing earlier.
Agott relaxes, seeing it is only Coco behind her. “You missed out on seeing that new Spider fighting. Looked like some people were about to rob the store down there, but the Spider stepped in before it could happen.” She explains the situation to the green-haired girl.
Coco, acting oblivious, “Wow, I’m jealous you got to see them. You’ll have to tell me all about it!”
With a huff, Agott says, “Alright, I will, but we have to finish our review first. Not even a superhero fighting outside can get you out of that.”
“Alright, alright,” Coco groans, remembering she still had a fair amount of review to endure. Walking back inside to their booth, Agott notices Coco’s shoes. Dark green Converse. Similar to what that new Spider-Man-esque hero was wearing. Shaking the thought from her head, Agott sits in the booth to continue where she left off, teaching Coco the material from their shared science class.
Back home, Coco gets a call from Qifrey. She has a feeling this call has to do with the news coverage of her escapade from earlier today. She might have avoided interacting with the police. However, she wasn’t able to avoid people passing by, taking videos or snapping pictures of the event. Grinding a hand into her eyes, she answers the call, preparing for the scolding she knows she will get.
“Hey, I know what you're going to say…” Coco starts, before being quickly cut off by the older man.
“Come to my apartment. Now.” There is no suggestion in Qifrey’s tone. He drops the call before she can respond.
Coco, pressing her phone to her forehead, lets out a shaky breath. She rarely hears Qifrey take on this tone. To make it worse, she’s never had it directed at her. It is quite terrifying, to say the least.
Getting up from her desk, Coco grabs her backpack, still storing her suit. She had not bothered to get it out after the fight. Looking out of her room, she sees her mom has already retired for the night. Now she doesn’t have to worry about making a dumb excuse to leave the house so late and worry the older woman. Coco’s mom already has too much to worry about with her campaign for mayor; anything more would probably push the woman over the edge.
Leaving the house, Coco opts to walk to Qifrey’s flat over swinging. Maybe the extra time will help the two calm down before the impending argument. Coco had seen the videos online. She honestly thought she looked cool in them. But looking cool wasn’t what mattered to her. It was that she stopped those men from hurting anyone. Would her father be proud of her if he were here to see it? Coco couldn’t help but wonder.
Arriving at the entrance to the now foreboding apartment complex, Coco rings the buzzer for Qifrey’s flat. The front door unlocks immediately for Coco, Qifrey not even making sure it was her beforehand. As she walks up the stairs, Coco’s stomach knots. Never has she experienced such bad anxiety. She would happily confess everything to Agott right now if it meant she could avoid this conversation. Anything would be better than dealing with an angry Qifrey.
Coming up to Qifrey's door, she pauses. Rubbing her sore knuckles, she mentally prepares herself for the ensuing conversation. Qifrey opens the door before she can knock.
“Come inside. We need to talk.” He stares down at the girl, clearly on edge. Coco makes it two steps inside the door before Qifrey clicks the door shut. Qifrey moves around Coco into the main room of his flat. Sitting down on his worn-down couch, he looks up at the tense teenager.
“Just what in the world were you thinking?” Qifrey’s hands gesture wildly around him. “You just got these powers two days ago, and now you think you're ready to use them to fight? You don't even know what you are fully capable of yet! Not to mention, you don’t know the first thing about fighting. You could have hurt those men more than you intended to.” His eyes bore into the girl.
Coco looks out the window behind the couch, avoiding Qifrey’s gaze. “I couldn’t just let it happen,” she says quietly. Her father wouldn’t have.
“Well, you should have left it to the cops,” he says, taking on a stern tone. “The public still doesn’t trust you. We don’t know what kind of fallout this will have. They could fear you, especially after that electricity punch thing!” His voice gets louder as he continues his tirade.
Coco can’t take any more. How could she just sit back and wait for the cops when she could be there faster? “You want me to sit on the sidelines while someone was in that store in danger? How can you just say that? Could you even do that? Did you just sit back and wait for the police to save people when you first got your powers?” Coco, now looking at Qifrey, is seething. It was such an appalling thing to ask of her.
“At least let me train you to fight first. We need to understand what you are capable of. That spider that bit you clearly gave you some powers that I don’t have. We need to understand them and…” Qifrey tries to explain his racing thoughts, but Coco interjects.
“Did you understand what you were capable of? When you first went out, did you know what all you could do?” She asks, staring at the man sitting in front of her. She can’t take any more belittling from him.
Qifrey, shocked by the question, freezes for a moment. “No, I didn’t.” He answers with a sigh. He pats the cushion next to him on the couch, inviting Coco to sit. “I’m sorry, Coco. It’s just…it’s just that I don’t want you to get hurt out there,” he confesses.
Coco settles next to Qifrey, leaning on the arm of the worn-down couch. Qifrey is now hunched over, pulling the hairs on the back of his head. A quiet settles over the pair as the argument weighs heavily in the room.
Qifrey is the first to break the silence. “I know I can’t stop you,” he admits to Coco. Sitting back up, he looks at the teen. “It's just that you’re sixteen. You should be focused on school, spending time with friends. Not worrying about swinging around New Ezrest fighting different gang members.” Worry laces Qifrey's voice as he speaks.
Coco huffs, “Didn’t you start at fourteen?” She poses the question. Spider-Man first appeared nineteen years ago. It wasn’t hard for Coco to figure out how old Qifrey was back then.
“Yeah, and I nearly got myself killed hundreds of times!” He grumbles. “I can’t let that happen to you.” He rubs the back of his neck. Sighing, he asks, “Did you happen to bring your suit with you?”
Coco is confused by the sudden question. What could he want with her suit? “I did. What do you need it for?”
“I just need your mask. I’m going to make it easier for you to contact me if you ever need to.” He walks to his desk, pulling out his soldering equipment and a worn-down dissecting microscope. Flipping Coco’s mask inside out, he positions it so the area where her left ear would sit is under the microscope's light. Opening one of the drawers of the desk, he pulls out a small earbud that wraps over the top of the ear.
Curious, she inquires about the odd piece of technology. “What exactly is that?”
“Just something I came up with after missing too many calls while swinging around the city. The earpiece connects to your phone, making answering calls easier. Speaking of…” Qifrey trails off, getting up from the desk and disappearing into his room.
Coco, taking advantage of the man’s absence, observes the earpiece. It looks simple. Just a normal earbud anyone would use, except this one looks reinforced. It also has an open-ear design that will allow outside noise through. Coco admires the work; it's simple but genius.
Emerging from his room, Qifrey hands Coco an old phone. “This phone only has three contacts on it: the chief of police, the mayor, and me. Do not add anyone you know personally to this phone. You can connect your other one to the earpiece as well to make sure you don’t miss any calls from your mother or friends. But this phone is strictly for spider work.” He turns back to sit at the desk. “I know I can’t stop you from going out. This is just to hopefully help keep you a bit safer.” Qifrey explains to her.
Coco is lost for words. She did not expect this after the argument they had just minutes prior.
The silver-haired man continues where he left off. He carefully connects the earpiece to the mask, after making sure it is aligned with Coco’s ear. Once connected, he moves to the girl’s eye lenses. He reaches back into his drawer, pulling out a pair of different eye lenses and a multitude of sensors and wiring. Coco leans over his shoulder, watching intently as the man works.
After a while, Qifrey hands the girl's mask back. Now having fully expressive eye lenses, a hologram inside to see who is calling, and an earpiece to answer such calls.
“I learned over the years that having moving eyes helps people trust you more. Makes you look a little more human as you swing and crawl around,” Qifrey explains, getting up from his chair and stretching. He had sat hunched over for a bit too long, leaving his back sore. “I just thought it would help a bit in that department for you.”
The green-haired girl is grateful to have Qifrey.
“Thank you, Qifrey. I really do appreciate this.” Coco says, looking up at the taller man.
“Just promise to call immediately if you need help, please.” Qifrey pleads.
Coco can see his brow is furrowed, worry lacing through his features.
“I promise.”
Qifrey releases a long, shaky breath. “Thank you. Now you should get back home. You do have class in the morning.”