Chapter Text
Toni Shalifoe really thought things were finally working out for her. For the first time she had a family, the mother of her best friend had received court permission to adopt her. She had a house, a room to call her own, friends and someone to sign her permission to go on a school trip. And that's why Toni didn't expect the way things would go.
Getting bitten by a genetically modified spider and having her body's DNA altered was definitely not in her plans.
It all started on an ordinary morning, because everything always happens on the days we think will be as common as possible. Fate never warns, it arrives by surprise. In this case, in the form of an arachnid.
"Wake up Toni, we're going to be late again because of you." The sound of Martha knocking on the door had become Toni's alarm clock since she'd moved in, but that morning she was already awake.
Toni would never admit it out loud, but she was so excited that day. When Martha came to call her, Toni was finishing tying up her shoes and jumped out of bed.
Her room was small, just a bed, a closet, and a window. Bernice, Martha's mother and now her guardian – Toni still wasn't comfortable with the word “mother” even though it was followed by the word adoptive – had said that she could decorate the room however she wanted. But she still hadn't decided what to do, Toni kind of liked things the way they were. Simple, it suited her.
The door was opened quickly. "I’m already wake Marty." Martha stepped aside so Toni could leave the room, her face showing surprise. Toni waking up on time was a rare event.
"Well then let's go. I don't want to risk missing the bus.” Martha said already moving towards the stairs.
Toni ran past her and down the stairs, skipping a few steps. "Now you're the one who's late." Martha rolled her eyes and started walking faster to catch up.
"Girls, don't run on the stairs." Bernice's voice warned them from the kitchen. "Good Morning. Toni, good to see you in time, we should make a habit of it.”
"Good Morning. I don't think that will happen, sorry.” Toni said heading towards the table.
Bernice had already put a portion of cereal in a bowl and handed it to Toni as she sat at the table passing the milk carton afterward. Toni muttered a thank you rather shyly, she never knew how to react to these situations. Martha then came in saying good morning and sat down across from Toni. The 3 ate in pleasant silence with Martha's occasional comments about the dream she had last night and Bernice's warning about working late that day.
Bernice is a nurse, sometimes she needs to work a few extra shifts for the extra money. Even more so now with one more person to support. Toni didn't want to be a burden, so she tried to earn money as she could. It wasn't much, but enough to be able to help Bernice with whatever she needed. The woman never looked happy about it, but she didn't forbid it because she knew it was important to Toni. This was just one more detail that made her even more admirable in Toni’s eyes.
"We're leaving, i don’t wanna be late." Martha said getting up and Toni followed close behind. They both walked towards the door while Martha yelled “Bye Mom, I love you” and Toni said “See you later Bernice”.
They barely heard the answer and were already outside. Side by side walking towards the school where the tour bus awaited them as well as the other students.
"Are you excited?" Martha asked, almost bouncing with happiness. Her smile was impossible not to return, no matter how much Toni tried. "It's your first school trip and we're even going to sit on the bus together!"
It's not like it's the first time they've been on a bus together, but Toni would never spoil Martha's fun.
“Yes Marty, I'm excited, are you happy? I'm finally admitting it.” Toni said with a smirk. “But the Klein’s Corporation would not be my first choice of tour. I think I would rather go to the planetarium or maybe even a museum”.
The Klein’s Corporation also known as KleinCorps was very famous. It became known for its chemical manufacturing and its various areas of research that even included robotics. Toni had never visited KleinCorps in person, but had passed the building a few times on her way to work. It's hard to ignore one of the tallest buildings in New York, especially with the giant K on top of it.
"I think it's going to be cool. Plus, Nora works there, maybe we can finally understand what she does." Martha said and Toni could easily detect the note of curiosity in her voice.
The two had just entered the subway and due to the schedule, it was no surprise that it was crowded, which forced the duo to separate for a moment and interrupt the conversation. The ride to school wasn't long, within minutes they were off the subway and the topic of conversation had shifted to the guy in the weird hat who sat next to Martha the entire way.
Soon the Midtown Public School was spotted as well as the big yellow bus parked out front. Professor Young was standing in front of the vehicle door, checking and collecting permits before letting the students in and choose their seats. Toni felt her heart race for a moment as she pulled the permit out of her pocket and checked it once more as if Bernice's signature would disappear in the blink of an eye.
Martha didn't seem to notice her nervousness, absently handing her own authorization and greeting the professor. Toni internally thanked that she hadn't noticed, it was only a second, but she thought it was silly to have been looking forward this trip. It was supposed to be normal, and now it would be, Bernice had made a point of making that clear and her small but meaningful gestures had proved it to Toni every day since the adoption. So Toni allowed herself a small smile as the professor cleared her and she was finally able to get on the bus and sit next to Martha.
The drive to the corporation was noisy to say the least. All the students lost in their side conversations trying to outdo each other's voices to make themselves heard regardless of Professor Young's requests for silence. Toni and Martha were no exception, the entire path filled with conversation and laughter.
From where they sat further back, Toni could see most of the students. Although she wasn't interested in talking to most of them, she had other friends besides Martha. From her seat she could see Rachel Reid up ahead sitting with another girl who she assumed was on the varsity diving team as well.
Midtown school was notorious for the sport of diving, something quite unusual as most other schools preferred to invest in more team sports such as basketball, soccer and volleyball. And if diving was their favorite sport, then Rachel Reid was probably the most notorious student at the school when it came to that. Rachel always seemed to be surrounded by people, but even so, her friendship with Toni was something unusual.
The two ended up speaking for the first time in detention. Toni had been caught skipping class and Rachel had been caught cheating on a test. Being smart wasn't something Toni exhibited around, but she did get high grades in most subjects despite not having that much interest in attending classes. Toni was constantly caught out of the room or fighting in the hallways, people were afraid to talk to her, and because of that reputation nobody messed with Martha either. Toni was afraid that if they found out she was smart, maybe some of that fear would ease. Sounds silly, but that's how high school works. And somehow, Rachel knew that.
At first, Toni thought that Rachel was going to blackmail her into doing her homework, but Rachel ended up asking Toni to tutor her in some subjects and that she would pay for her lessons. Tutoring was the best job opportunity Toni had in a long time, even if initially reluctant, she couldn't refuse the offer. So twice a week, Toni would go to the Reid family's apartment to teach Rachel chemistry, physics, and math.
What started out as tutoring didn't take long to develop into a friendship. Although they didn't talk much at school, they both shared a passion for sports. Rachel with diving and Toni with basketball. She was captain of the Midtown basketball team, but the team, with the exception of Toni, was hopeless. As good as Toni was, she couldn't play alone and the other players didn't help much. The basketball team hadn't won a championship in a long time. As much as it bothered Toni, playing had always been one of her ways of escape, so as long as she could keep playing and especially have access to the court to train even if she mostly used just to be alone shooting hoops. Rachel understood the feeling of sport as a way of escape, but for her it was a different level than Toni.
Rachel has a twin sister, Nora, the family pride in Rachel's own words. If she wanted her parents to pay attention to her, Rachel would need to excel at something too, and since studies were out of the question, diving was the most important part of her life. Winning was a priority. Toni could understand that.
One voice that couldn't be ignored on that bus was surely Fatin Jadmani. If Rachel was popular for the sport, then Fatin was popular for being…well, Fatin. The girl played the cello since she was a child, but Toni always had the impression that her fingers would never be faster than her mouth. Fatin always seemed to have an answer for everything, and if she wasn't talking, she was definitely kissing someone.
Fatin never hid that she liked casual sex and making out with people simply because she felt like it. Toni respected that. And on top of that, the Jadmani family had a lot of money, Fatin's parents traveled a lot, which always resulted in epic parties. And it was in one of these that Toni and Fatin ended up hooking up once. Okay, maybe it was more than once. But they didn't really talk outside of it.
In the hallways, Fatin always greeted her and Martha. Sometimes they exchanged a few words, a few flirtations. Nothing personal, that was one more thing Toni liked about Fatin, she knew how to respect her space. And besides, it was something casual and didn't happen at all parties, only when they both had no interest in hanging out with other people. It was a silent and mutual agreement.
On Fatin's side was Dot Campbell, who Toni was sure she was running an illegal pill scam inside the school. Dot had been Toni's biology class partner since last year when Martha decided she would no longer take this class. Dissecting animals was against her religion as a vegetarian, she said.
Dot was nice. She was smart and always had a sarcastic comment up her sleeve. Her humour somehow complemented Toni's, so the biology classes were pleasant enough for Toni avoid missing them. Plus, she had a feeling if she let Dot do all the work by herself, she'd probably use the scalpel they used to dissect frogs to stab her. Dot had an aura intimidating enough for Toni to know she probably shouldn't push het buttons.
In the middle of the bus, in a silence that was nothing like the rest of it, was Leah Rilke. Alone, head down reading a book.
“Typical of Leah” Toni thought.
They met when Toni tried to recruit her to the basketball team. One of the players had been injured and they barely had any reserves, so Toni thought Leah could help since she was one of the tallest girls in school. At first the proposal was denied, but after her parents found the basketball team form among her stuff, they suggested - perhaps forced is the correct word - that she be part of the team because apparently Leah needed friends.
The trouble is, despite being 5'9, sports clearly weren't Leah's strong suit. She was terrible, but at least she was trying, even against her will, and Toni admired that. Leah was actually pretty easy to talk to, so they talked about pretty much everything. Toni genuinely enjoyed her company and it was mutual. So even after losing another championship, Leah stayed on the team.
Toni looked around, trying to see where Nora was sitting, but she couldn't find her. Before she could ask Martha about the girl's absence, the bus stopped.
Professor Young immediately got up and started passing out some warnings that, honestly, Toni wasn't hearing. After that, the professor instructed everyone to get off the bus slowly and stay by the side the person they sit with in the travel.
“You'll be a pair for the entire ride, try not to get lost,” he said watching the students leave. "Leah, you can pick any group to be a part of it”.
Leah didn't even had to answer, before she or Toni could even react Martha was already pulling her to join their group. Toni held back a smile, Martha and Leah barely talked, but this was Martha, always willing to welcome people after the first hello.
Toni's thoughts were interrupted in the moment she walked through the front door.
The Klein Corporation was a beautiful building inside, she had to admit that and as big as it was on the outside. Toni perfectly understood the teacher's warning about being careful not to get lost. Her eyes wandered over all the details of the building, from the walls to the huge columns and the details of the lights on the ceiling. The huge statue of the company's founder right in the center was a bit narcissistic in her opinion.
“Welcome students! My name is Gretchen Klein, I decided to come here personally and welcome you today.” Speaking of the devil, in front of her own statue, Gretchen Klein was opening her arms in an almost comical way and with the most false smile Toni had ever pretended to believe.
But what caught Toni's attention was the fact that Nora Reid, Rachel's twin, was standing right next to her wearing a white coat with the KleinCorps symbol and a huge smile on her face. Toni already knew that Nora was doing an internship at the corporation, they had talked a few times when Toni came to her house to help Rachel. Sometimes the diving practices end up being extended and Nora would always offer to keep Toni company while she waited.
Nora is a shy person except when she’s talking about things she liked, then she probably won’t stop talking. And the most intelligent person that Toni know, smart enough to win the scholarship at KleinCorps. Toni had already caught herself talking to Nora about some articles on robotics. But again, she would rather die than admit that she had those conversations.
Despite the complicated relationship, Toni could see how Nora cared about Rachel and how she had been a little upset with her sister for choosing to pay a tutor instead of letting Nora help her.
“I hope you enjoy your visit. Nora here is one of you, but I asked permission to steal her for today. As one of our best interns, she will help guide you through the tour and explain some of our projects with the help of one of our scientists, doctor Faber.” Gretchen smile looked like it was stuck in her face, it almost made Toni laugh of how fake that woman is.
Doctor Faber was standing a little bit behind Gretchen, but Toni hadn’t even notice him. He just said a quick hello when Gretchen said his name and Toni decided she didn’t like him too. It was not personal, she usually don’t like people when she first met them, especially if they are figures of authority.
"If you'll excuse me, there are some appointments that require my attention right now." And with that, Gretchen was gone.
The tour began and for someone who was so excited about it, Toni soon found herself quite uninterested in what was being said. Martha paid attention to every word and made a few comments with Leah who didn't seem all that interested too but tried to pay attention. Up ahead, Toni could see Rachel rolling her eyes at every word that came out of Nora's mouth. Fatin and Dot's voices and the occasional laughs didn't go unnoticed either. Professor Young had to ask the group of students for silence more than once.
But of course, at some point, things had to go wrong. Because nothing ever went right for long in Toni's life.
The problem started when Nora presented the second project the company was working on. A genetic cross of spiders. Basically, they took the DNA of 9 different spider species and combined it into one, culminating in a new specie of “super spiders”. While Nora excitedly explained about the result of the project and showed the 15 successful spiders exhibited in a kind of “aquarium”, Rachel pointed out:
“But there's only 14 spiders genius.”
Nora was visibly uncomfortable and nervous at being teased in front of everyone. She quickly looked at Dr. Faber who said that other scientist must be doing tests with the spider number 15th. "It doesn’t really matter, we’re going to terminate this project today. Let's move on please". He said already walking away.
As everyone left the room, Toni walked to a corner so she wouldn't get in people's way and bent down to tie her shoe. That was her big mistake.
Right on top of where Toni was crouched, a small spider descended from its web and by the irony of fate, it fell right on Toni's neck, who in fright, quickly tried to slap away whatever it was that had fallen there. But Toni wasn’t fast enough, the spider bite her before she could slap her.
"Motherfucker." she said feeling the pain her neck. She massaged the back of her neck trying to easy the burn sensation. “Fuck” she mumbled.
The spider was now dead on the floor, not being able to escape Toni slap after the bite. Toni barely gave a second look on her before running of the room to catch up with the rest of the group.
The rest of the trip passed in a blur. Toni didn't know exactly when her head started to ache, but there was no sign that it was going to stop anytime soon. She kept up appearances that everything was fine, it was easy since she didn't usually talk that much. Toni didn't want to worry Martha and possibly spoil the rest of the tour for her. Lucky for her, Martha was very excited even though she didn't understand half of what was being said, so Toni was able to hide her sudden indisposition.
Leah even asked when Martha wasn't looking if something had happened, but Toni quickly changed the subject after saying it was just a annoying headache. At that point she just wanted to go home.
But if you ask her, Toni can barely remember how she got home. She had vague flashes of walking back on Martha's side and hearing her ask repeatedly if Toni was feeling all right. She wasn't sure what her answer was, but she remembered Martha's worried eyes looking back at her.
The vague memory of walking through the front door was one of the last memories she had of that day. Her whole body ached, not just her head. She was sure she was covered in cold sweat, but Toni knew she wouldn't have the strength to shower. Her exhausted body falling onto the bed was the last thing she felt before everything went dark.
***
After that, Toni's life changed completely. Waking up with super powers can really change a person, believe it or not. She was faster, more agile and stronger than any other human being. She could jump impressively high and climb walls without having to hold on to anything. Not to mention her extremely heightened senses.
The decision to help people and fight crime in New York was pretty obvious to Toni after she found out what she could do. Before, she always felt like nothing she did could change anything meaningful to anyone. Now that she had the power to make a difference, she would.
It didn't take her long to realize that she couldn't do this alone. Turns out, climbing buildings wearing a black outfit, sunglasses and a ski mask wasn't as discreet as she thought. Toni spent more time having to evade the police because people constantly mistook her for a mugger than actually helping someone.
She really wasn't being as discreet as she thought, it only took Martha a week to find out by accident. Toni went out every night to "patrol" the city, sometimes she managed to prevent small robberies in small establishments and some pickpockets in the street. That night nothing much had happened, so she ended up deciding to come back a little earlier. Bernice was at home and Toni didn't want to risk someone looking for her if she wasn't there.
Toni came in through her bedroom window. Moving across the ceiling was becoming as natural as walking, so Toni was sitting on the ceiling taking off her mask in the moment the door opened, her senses were quick but nothing was faster than a happy Martha running into her room.
She saw the exact moment Tony jumped from the ceiling and before she could react and process what was happening, Toni was on her side, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Please Marty, don't freak out." Toni said taking her hand away from Martha's face when she saw she wouldn’t scream. "I can explain."
“You…were on the ceiling …like, on the ceiling.” Martha looked confused, but what she said only confirmed to Toni that she couldn't get out of this situation without telling the truth.
So Toni told everything. How all this had happened after the excursion, the spider bite, how her body had changed because of it. She was a little reluctant to talk about the idea of being some sort of “vigilant”, but she did anyway. And Martha, of course, could only react one way.
"You’re like a superhero!"
"I'm not." Toni said because she didn't feel like one, not when the most action she'd done that day was pulling a cat out of a tree.
“You can be, you have super powers! You walk on walls!" Martha said, not understanding how Toni seemed a little dismayed by the idea. "You can help people, and I can help you!"
"What? Absolutely not." Toni looked horrified by this idea. "I can barely help people, i can't risk you."
“Relax, I thought I'd be more like a sidekick, the woman in the chair. I can cover for you when you need to go out and stuff.” Martha's eyes practically sparkled as she spoke, and when her smile grew even wider, Toni knew she wasn't going to like what she said next. "I can make your superhero suit”.
"Hell no. I don't need a 'superhero suit'."
***
And that's how Toni ended up sitting on top of a building wearing a vibrant red and blue leotard outfit with a black spider on her chest. It wasn't that bad, she was much more mobile now, maybe the colors wouldn't be her first choice.
"But you love red!" Toni couldn't argue with Martha. She didn't know why she still tried when everyone knew what the outcome would be.
As the days went by, Toni managed to develop a system to help move from one building to another. It was tricky to make it work, so Toni couldn't even believe she had made it. Spider webs, that's how Martha called the device. Toni just rolled her eyes, but she had to admit she had designed it to look like a spider's web anyway.
At this point Toni knew that Martha put “spider” in the name of everything related to Toni just to tease her. From spider web to spider sense, Martha also said things like “quick Toni, put your spider shoes, we can't miss the spider subway”. She always knew the right way to annoy Toni.
So Toni can say that year was a busy year. It didn't take long for people to notice someone jumping around the buildings in daylight. Over time, Toni was able to organize herself better and solve bigger situations like bank robberies and rescue people from burning buildings. Some people liked the idea of having someone watching over the city.
The name spider-girl became well known. Toni preferred spider-woman, but one thing she soon learned is that she couldn't control the media. Daily Bugle reporter Linh Bach constantly released stories and reports defaming Toni's image. Talking about the destruction of public property and how it hurt more than it helped. The police didn't seem to like her presence either. But Toni was happy to be able to help and many of the citizens didn't share this negative view of her.
The highlight of the year besides gaining the powers had definitely been fighting a giant lizard. It turns out that Toni was right on not liking Dr Faber when they first met on the school trip. The man tested a serum made from the DNA of lizards on himself and ended up transforming into a kind of lizard man of 3 meters. Toni had to fight him a few times before she was finally able to defeat him.
This would not have been possible without Nora's help. She's the one who made the antidote for the lizard serum. She knew Faber was behind this and even though she only found out that the spider-girl was Toni after the last confrontation where Toni had her mask ripped off, she didn't hesitate to help. She even treated Toni's injuries after the fight.
So besides Martha, Nora was the only other person who knew the spider-girl identity. Both of them had become Toni's support system, and she was grateful for that. She needed them.
But every good super hero story has romance. The person who kiss the hero after she wins what looked like a lost battle. The person for whom the hero would give up everything. The biggest weakness and at the same time, the biggest strength. And this is the story of how the hero, Toni Shalifoe, found her love.
Shelby Goodkind.