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Chapter Text

       It was the day of nationals for the choir, Ocean was nervous but like always she masked those emotions and fear to everyone in sight. She was sitting staring at herself in the mirror of one of the private bathrooms trying to give herself a pep talk.

"You can do this, it's just like practice but-, more competitive? I like competitions! At least I think I do…" She mumbled to herself, sighing deeply. She had a deep fear of failure, and the last thing she wanted was to not bring Uranium city home with another shiny medal or trophy, even if the school was known for their usual losing streaks. 

She eventually decided to get some water to actually soothe her anxieties unlike her panicked rambling. Grabbing a cheap paper cup and using the water dispenser. What she didn't notice was what was on the cup, a small orange and blue spider. 

Ocean was none the wiser, as the spider crawled onto her arms, digging its fangs into her pale skin. Ocean jolted, nearly spilling the water she was drinking everywhere as the spider fell off from her arm's panicked shaking. She didn't notice that a spider bit her, and before she could even fathom what that stinging was she was interrupted by the rather annoyed knock at the door from Noel. 

"Ocean?? We're about to go on in 5 minutes. What are you even doing in there." He called out, annoyance clear in his tone.

"I'm coming, sorry!" She immediately responded in a panic, practically running out the door as it nearly swung right into Noel's face. He rolled his eyes in response, going out onto the stage before he could witness Ocean tripping on her own shoe laces. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The concert went by like clockwork, and they did come back finally with a trophy, a third place trophy but it was a trophy nonetheless. And even if Ocean was a little bit disappointed in herself like always, she at least had something to brag about. She fumbled with the keys to her house before opening it, of course it was empty as her parents were probably off smoking with a friend but she didn't care. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do after the long bus drive was collapse into her bed and get the rest she truly deserves. She trudged up the stairs to her room and collapsed onto her bed just like she wanted to. Falling asleep with not a care in the world. Until things started to get weird.

Ocean woke up at 4 am, wanting to get a glass of water as her throat was incredibly dry. Groaning softly, slipping out of bed and going towards her door until her hand stuck to it. "What the…" She stared at this situation in absolutely disbelief, thinking she had gone insane. Desperately trying to get her hand off and only did so after a minute of struggling. Though the impact of the force caused her to stumble right into her bookshelf, a multitude of books fell on top of her as she yelped. "Okay this is absolutely insane, I must be losing it". she thought to herself, trying to stand back up and hopefully regain a sense of balance. "I just have to walk down the stairs, not a big deal! People walk down the stairs all the time-, just feels-, weird. Everything is so- woah-". Her mind was scrambling looking down the stairs and felt like she was immediately going to fall down. She felt sick, oddly sick. In a sense of desperation, she ran down the stairs, she felt agile but also oddly stiff as her bare feet hit the ground. She sighed in relief finally getting to the ground but her instinct wasn't to get water. But was to find some sort of explanation.

Her first thought was to go to her girlfriend Penny, but she probably would just think she was insane and go back to bed. Constance would probably do the same, Noel would just make fun of her, and Mischa wouldn't even let her into his house. Then she thought about Ricky, he was into weird impossible things. It just made sense he could have the answer, she quickly grabbed her jacket and ran over to his house. She was quite faster than usual so it didn't take as long as she was expecting.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ocean knocked on the door, messing with her hands anxiously as she hoped that Ricky was even awake. There eventually was the sound of the wheelchair rolling near the door before the door opened to a very tired looking Ricky.

"Ricky! Thank goodness, I didn't expect you to be awake." Ocean mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"You woke up the cats. Can't ignore them." Ricky signed, giving her a slight look of annoyance, obviously a bit tired.

"I figured- I'm sorry-, but I desperately need your help, I'll explain when we get to your room." She sighed, Ricky contemplated for a bit before letting her in the house.

Ocean sat on the floor of Ricky's room, messing with the sleeves of her jacket. "Okay-, you're going to think I'm insane, but I'm pretty sure I was awake when this was happening- so it's not a dream, but." She paused, this all sounded insane, eventually picking back up. "I was like-, sticking? To everything? My hands at least-, I stuck to the door? And it's not like I could remove it easily, it took a lot of force. And everything just feels weird right now-, like I'm super aware of everything? It's insane." She rambled, digging her nails into her legs slightly.

Ricky paused, raising an eyebrow at that going into one of his drawers before coming back with an issue of a comic book. Ocean was quite skeptical, staring at the book "Uh? I don't think it's time to show me this-" She started before Ricky shook his head, flipping to a certain page and shoving it in the ginger's face.

She read the panel, only getting more confused by the second. "Huh… maybe it was a dream then? I have never seen this in my life though." She mumbled, getting a bit concerned that this Peter Parker character was going through just about the same thing when it came to sticking everywhere.

"Maybe it wasn't, you'd be surprised what is fiction and what isn't, here." Ricky singed, before he made a hand signal that put pressure on his wrist. Ocean only looked confused. "Make this hand symbol, maybe you could web sling." He quickly singed, a small smile forming on his face.

Ocean did as he asked, though nothing happened, looking a bit betrayed like Ricky tricked her to just make her wrist hurt. He shook his head "Wait no, he uses web shooters, so we'll never know." He shrugged much to Ocean's disappointment. 

He smirked, shaking his head slightly. "I have one trick up my sleeve though." He signed before grabbing something from his closet, coming back with a replica of Spiderman's web shooters "Test this out! Completely accurate to the comics, and you're probably small enough to fit it on your arm. Used to cosplay, still do, just not spiderman." He signed, putting the web shooter on Ocean's arm. 

Ocean looked at him like he was grasping at straws, but tried it again. Only for thin webbing to be flown out of it, slamming her into the wall of Ricky's room. Groaning in pain as she slid down the wall.

Ricky clapped in excitement, flapping his hands slightly as well. "That's it! You're really spiderman! This is insane!" He signed as he smiled widely, continuing to flap his hands.

"I-, I don't know-, maybe this is a dream! This has to be a dream, this is insane!" Ocean panicked, staring at her hands in disbelief. Only for Ricky to shake his head.

"Trust me this is not a dream, you felt pain so y'know not a dream. You really are spiderman! God that's so cool! You should be proud it is a really amazing title, especially to have in such a small town like this. Wait! I have some stuff so we can make a suit for you. And trust me my lips are sealed, no one's gotta know." He signed, wheeling over to his desk as he immediately rushed to start making her a very makeshift suit.

Ocean was a bit overwhelmed, but part of her liked this. She got to be important, and that's what mattered to her. "Hey… y'know what, maybe you are right? I can be Uranium's only spiderman! Well spider woman!"

Ricky shook his head "No there's another spiderman here I'm pretty sure, named Golden Weaver, there were rumors that they might be a kid here at school." He signed in response, continuing to make Ocean's suit.

"What??! That can't be right! I've never heard about this-, god this makes me think I need a name to stick out as well. So they'll be talking about me compared to whoever that guy is, I'm already class president being the class spider woman would be an even cooler title to have. Maybe people would finally respect me then!" She rambled, growing more enticed by this idea by the second. "Let's see… Ocean-, spider uh… Sea-, Sea spider! There we go! I can be the Sea spider of Uranium city! It does roll off the tongue a bit." She exclaimed, smiling widely.

"That's great but… wouldn't it be kinda obvious since your name is literally Ocean?" He signed, raising an eyebrow.

Ocean immediately shook her head "The sea and the Ocean are two entirely different things actually, seas are smaller than Oceans." She explained, as Ricky only rolled his eyes in response.

It took Ricky most of the night to make Ocean's suit; she ended up hanging out with him for the majority of the day, as there was no school until tomorrow. Even if Ricky's parents were a bit confused by Ocean's presence, they were happy he was at least hanging out with a friend so they let her stay for a while.

Eventually the suit was made, it definitely wasn't the most glamorous looking suit known to man. Being practically just an orange and blue recolor of Spiderman's original costume, but it stood out. Ocean excitedly tried it on, putting her jacket over the top of it since it made her look more professional. Apparently the ginger girl could not handle not looking like some sort of politician everyday and had to put her suit jacket on top to suffice.

"It looks amazing Ricky!" She exclaimed, trying to hug him only for him to awkwardly wheel away as he still did not like her that much, she didn't care much. "I'm going to make the headlines tonight! I'll see you at school where everyone is gonna be talking about the amazing sea spider." She laughed, web slinging out the window only to fly face first into a brick wall. Ricky just stared in disappointment before leaving his bedroom. 

~~~~~~~~~~

It was the dark of night, Ocean stood on top of a rooftop scouting for any sort of crime. Unfortunately Uranium city was not the type of crime ridden city that was typical in the comic books Ricky showed her. So she was really just sitting on top of a building's roof for what felt like hours. It hadn't even been hours, it had been 5 minutes and she already had gotten fed up with this. Maybe the whole masked vigilante persona wasn't for her? No, that couldn't be it, there had to be something going that she could stop. And as soon as that thought popped into her mind, almost immediately she saw something sketchy. Uranium was known for their marijuana business, Elysium being nearby only influenced it.

Two shady looking guys, doing what seemed to be a drug deal. And with a closer look Ocean could immediately tell one of them went to the highschool, meaning this was an underage person taking substances. Her eyes narrowed, moving so she could get a better look of the exchange.

"You got the goods lil E-Z?" A teenager mumbled, the hood of their gray sweatshirt concealing most of their face.

"Precisely, five milligrams of Ritalin and five milligrams of Dexedrine. 10 bucks a throw." The smaller one wearing what seemed to be a cape replied.

Ocean was disguised, the dealer looked like he could be 14! Who roped this poor kid into this? She made the ground stable, doing the same hand motion Ricky did, and aiming towards the other building. Hoping to knock both of the perpetrators out with a swinging kick, she started to web sling, swinging in the air.

"Dope, you the man-" The teenager started before being interrupted by water being splashed all over the two of them, completely ruining the product. "What the fuck? Did you set me up?! Picking this shitty ass location!" He snapped, glaring at the smaller child.

What they didn't see happen was Ocean missing the building completely, and crashing into the nearby lake.

"I don't set people up, suppose you just have bad luck. Bye now, no refunds by the way." The kid said before leaving the scene promptly. The other one was left standing in pure shock.

Ocean coughed harshly struggling to swim back up to the ledge, she couldn't swim so she was just doggy paddling her way up. Eventually flopping back onto the shore, breathing heavily. Her suit was nearly ruined, not sure how she'd explain that needed to clean something like that to her parents. But that was the least of her worries, since surprisingly, she was ecstatic. The drug deal was successfully stopped even if it was at the cost of her suit being ruined, and nearly drowning to death, but a win is a win regardless.

Ocean felt confident enough to web sling home, and even though she mainly just hit power lines the whole time. It was rather fun, and she was getting the hang of it, but her clumsiness definitely played a key factor in how each of her slings were executed. She climbed into her room, finding a safe place to put her suit, and so it could dry, and crawled back into her bed. Getting ready for the school day.

~~~~~~~~~~

Constance came by to walk to school with her, and immediately the only thing on Ocean's mind was to see if she was already making the news.

"Sooo-, Connie? Have you heard of like, masked vigilante but like-, a new one?" She asked, messing with the straps of her backpack.

"Hm, I'm not sure? Are you referring to a new TV show? Oh! Are you getting into those comics Ricky is obsessed with? That's really nice! I'm glad you're finally getting to know him better-" She started before being immediately interrupted, which was common.

"No-, no-, a real one? Really cool suit? Blue and orange? Stopped a really dangerous drug deal from happening?" She pried, though her friend only looked confused.

"No? Then again I don't really watch the news that often, I might ask my mom. She watches those police dramas from time to time." She replied, shrugging slightly.

Ocean sighed slightly at that. Okay maybe not Constance knows about it, there has to be one person… She thought to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~

They eventually reached the commons of the school, all of her friends congregating in their usual corner. Penny immediately showed concern to Ocean, a bit worried. Which didn't make much sense to her at first.

"Hey-, you okay? Your face is a bit-, bruised…" Penny mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

Ocean felt a bit embarrassed at that, she didn't have an awesome backstory to these new injuries, they were probably just abrasions from ramming into walls last night. Regardless, she had to come up with some excuse, since saying the real reason would be not only embarrassing, but hard to believe.

"Ohhhh-, that! Yeah I'm fine, I just-, fell down the stairs?" She mumbled rubbing her neck awkwardly. Noel snickered slightly at that only for Penny to shoot her a glare.

"Alright, if you say so." She replied simply, obviously a bit skeptical since that was the stupidest response you could give.

Ocean sighed before perking back up, "Oh! Have you guys heard about this new masked vigilante?? I heard they stopped a drug deal, pretty cool, pretty cool." 

"Uhh-, I heard about a drug deal being stopped, but not by a person? By like-, water.??" Penny shrugged simply.

Ocean raised an eyebrow at that, "Wait how'd you know about that. I MEAN-, how do you know about all the details??" 

"Oh I have-, connections? Not to drugs-, but like-, a friend of a friend?" She sweat nervously, not ready to reveal to her already critical girlfriend that the person was her literal younger brother.

"Oh… That's fair I guess, but anyways none of you have heard of them??" She mumbled, looking at the choir in desperation.

"Uh no, we haven't. I know about a masked vigilante, but not this new one that you're referring to. Both of them are probably dorks anyways." Noel scoffed, causing Ocean, Ricky, and Mischa? To slump down in disappointment. Immediately gaining suspicion from Ocean. 

Mischa noticed that, quickly coming up with an explanation. "No, no, I am simply just a fan! I think masked vigilantes can be cool, right Ricky??" He mumbled, quickly nudging him in which Ricky just nodded and gave a thumbs up. Smiling widely.

"Right… And who's this other masked individual that's so much better than the new one?" Ocean rolled her eyes slightly.

"You haven't heard of the Golden Weaver? He is a very respectable figure in this town, though I know you'd disapprove of his ways. Bit of an anti hero, like batman." Mischa crossed his arms.

"Oh please, I bet the new and improved masked vigilante can take your old one down in a second!" Ocean snapped back, putting her hands on her hips.

"You want to prove that little orphan a-hole?" He leaned down closer to her, sneering slightly.

"Alright alright, enough you two! God can we go one day without some made up sibling rivalry? We're going to be late to class, I have French this period and I would rather not miss it." Noel grumbled, walking off with Ricky. 

Mischa glared at Ocean before heading off, it would be a lie to say Ocean wasn't a bit intimidated. Seemed like he was really passionate about this topic, and Ocean really did not want to get on his bad side. 

"Well… I'm going to go to my class, please do not start a fight at lunch Ocean…" Penny sighed, giving her girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before heading to her class.

Ocean didn't have time to respond, her only thing on her mind was to make sure that the amazing sea spider was out there. And if it meant taking down whoever this golden weaver was, she was gonna try and do it. Her deep trance of thought was interrupted by Constance.

"Hey uh-, you gonna keep standing in the hallway?" She mumbled awkwardly.

"Oh! Shoot sorry Connie, wanna walk together?" She replied, quickly snapping out of her trance. As both of the girls walked to their class. 

Chapter Text

(Mischa's POV)

 Mischa washed his face in the sink, sighing deeply. Walking to school after seeing your parents crying due to your literal existence was exhausting to deal with. First period was always a drag when he got to school, despite having Penny in his class whom he was rather close to. It was also math, the class he failed the most at. Usually he'd text Talia to try and get his mind off things, but after the new phone policy, (which was only inflicted because of his notorious cell phone addiction) he couldn't seem to focus. Instead of attempting anything he usually tried to skip most of the class, it's not like his parents would even care. They already don't care, so there isn't much to lose.

His gaze at his own reflection persisted, readjusting his binder. He never had much trouble passing, and it was relatively easy to try and keep the secret since most of the residents in Uranium city didn't even know about the existence of trans people. Regardless of his current contemplation it would be bluntly ended by the doors to the boys bathroom slamming open.

"What are you even doing?" A rather annoying voice muttered from the doorway.

Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg, self proclaimed class president and newly elected hall monitor for St Cassian Chamber highschool. 

Mischa huffed, rolling his eyes in annoyance turning to face the smaller girl. "Well what are you even doing? This is a men's room, and you are no man." He crossed his arms, leaning against the bathroom sink.

"I may not be a man, but you are 25 minutes late to class! And that violates rule 7 of hallway etiquette." She shook her head in disapproval.

"How are there rules for hallways? You just walk." Mischa threw his hands in defense. "Regardless, who snitched?" 

"Your homeroom teacher. Now you better get to class or I'll have to escort you to the principal." She crossed her arms.

"Oh no, whatever will I do." He mumbled sarcastically, regardless he walked back to his class with Ocean.

~~~~~~~~~~

They walked back in silence for the majority of the walk, but Ocean eventually broke the silence in a rather unexpected way. 

"Sooo, what more do you know about the 'amazing' golden weaver… ?" She mumbled, mockingly quoting the hero's name. Like her names were any better.

Mischa raised an eyebrow "Surprised you want to talk about this. You seem more like, appreciating judges and politicians than superheros…" He mumbled rubbing his neck slightly.

"What's that supposed to mean? Ruth Bader Ginsburg is as heroic as whatever Batman spider thing you're defensive of." Ocean grumbled, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Who…?" He replied simply, which only gained a sigh of disappointment from Ocean.

"That's besides the point… I'm just curious about how special he is. No ulterior motive, I just want to know about them." She replied, shaking her head slightly.

Bullshit. Mischa wasn't that stupid, regardless he didn't want to act suspicious. "He has been protecting Uranium since I moved here. His main goals are mysterious, but some say he's here to make sure no accidents happen in the Uranium mining facility. Personally feel like he should just get on with it and rip those mines to shreds. Uranium is toxic, killed my mother. I don't have an ounce of respect for those using that waste for profit. And before you say anything, I don't give a shit if it's part of the economy. It does not need to be here, or anywhere near humanity." Mischa grumbled, balling his hands into fists.

Ocean looked a bit suspicious, like she just gained an idea. Earning an eyebrow raise from Mischa. "What? Y'know I agree actually, a bit… Maybe not in the violence driven ways, but I do feel like we should be more eco friendly. Less powerplants? But it is better when it comes to economy-" She was immediately cut off by Mischa.

"What did I just say about economy! It does not matter! You will never understand." He grumbled, eventually they reached his classroom. Not saying anything to the ginger, just harshly knocking on the door to his class. Putting his hood up.

His teacher came to the door with a sigh. "Ah, Mr Bachinski… You're late, please sign a tardy slip and for the last time put your hood down…" 

Mischa rolled his eyes, pulling his hood back down and scribbling his name spasticity on the slip before shoving it in the teacher's hands. Sitting down next to Penny.

"You… good??" She mumbled quietly as soon as the teacher wasn't paying attention.

Mischa just sighed "You gotta put your little girlfriend on a leash at this point. Lectured for being in the bathroom for too long. I mean yes, I was skipping class. But that's besides the point." He mumbled, snapping the end off of his mechanical pencil.

Penny just sighed "Did she bite you again?" 

He looked at her like she was insane "What?? When did she bite people… ?" 

"Oh that was Noel sorry, got in an argument with him like always and she bit his finger in a fit of rage. The match up is like a rabid Chihuahua and a feral cat, he even hissed at her once." She mumbled laughing quietly.

"Jesus Christ… but no, you really need to sign up for hallway monitor. She acts like a normal human being when she's around you, or at least human being who isn't a stuck up prick." He grumbled rolling his eyes.

"Y'know, that's probably not a terrible idea. I'll talk to her about it during lunch. Gets her off your ass and gives me an excuse to not be in class with a pretty girl." She smiled gently.

"I do not understand what you see in that woman…" Mischa mumbled bluntly, earning a playful nudge in the shoulder.

"Oh hush, you're dating two of the dorkiest guys in school and used to be an e-dater." She mumbled rolling her eyes.

"I will take both of those any day compared to being with little orphan a-hole… She looks equivalent to the nerd emoji on my iPhone." He mumbled absentmindedly, messing with his hoodie strings.

Penny just laughed at that, probably a bit too loud since the teacher shot them a glare. Immediately shutting them both up. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day dragged along, he got to escape from the extensional doom of being a highschool student in some of his classes. But regardless he always felt numb coming home. He opened the door to his for now empty house. Just taking in the surroundings.

He couldn't help but feel guilty, looking at all the pictures on the walls, empty. Memories his adopted parents wanted to have with him, but they couldn't. Since he was never what they wanted in their life. Part of him wishes he never got sent here, even though he made new friends. And felt relatively comfortable in his own skin. He would always be an outsider to most of Uranium. No matter what he does, no matter how much he tries to change. He's always going to be labeled as that one foreign kid with a criminal record.

He didn't realize how long he was staring at those empty picture frames, as his step dad soon came in. Looming in the background like a shadow of the past.

"What are you doing up here." His father's dull tone creeped up on the previous comforting white noise of the empty house.

Mischa tensed up, lost track of time. He was up here for around 2 hours as it was already 5 pm. It felt like it was only 5 minutes, and didn't even remember moving that much. 

"Get lost, back to your room. Your mother will be home any minute now, I don't want to have to wipe her tears today." He shook his head in disappointment. Immediately ignoring Mischa, walking past him like he was simply just a ghost.

Mischa didn't say anything, it didn't even feel like he was breathing at this point. He just started to stray down the steps to the cold basement that he called home. Getting the door slammed on him on his way down. 

Mischa just flopped onto the dirty couch next to his bed, the dusty basement he was supposed to call home only got darker as the sun slowly went down and the night creeped up on him. His dinner was placed at the top of the steps, untouched like usual. As soon as he could hear his parents footsteps creaking up into their bedroom, and the house finally falling silent. He scrambled out of the couch. Grabbing one of his bags where he kept his newly designed spider suit, as he was the aforementioned golden weaver most of the school was crazy for. Ricky and Noel were the only two who actually knew his secret. Other than Talia, who apparently spread the secret like wildfire, the golden weaver became a bit of a legend in his home country. Regardless of his desires of fame, he knew that keeping everything a secret was better than boasting about it like he did with his rap 'career'. 

~~~~~~~~~~

He quickly changed out of his uniform, putting on the tight suit, mask draping over his face lazily, he'd fix it once he actually escaped the hell hole he was forced to call home. Web Slinging out of the basement through the window well, which he altered to be easier to remove in advance. As he went off into the night, heading towards the mines, though despite his ambitions he needed a quick stop. Just so his boyfriend wouldn't grill him for skipping dinner, the mall was close by the mines anyways, both on the outskirts of Uranium. Landing on the window to the kitchen of the Taco Bell, knocking on it to get the usual worker's attention, that being his boyfriend Noel.

Noel was on his phone, immediately jolting in surprise at the sound of the window knocking, regardless he opened up the window. "Let me guess, nacho fries and a baja blast for the road." He mumbled simply, grabbing the bag before Mischa could say anything.

"Always, only thing edible at this establishment according to you." He replied laughing quietly, shooting a web and slinging the bag over to himself before Noel could hand it over, causing his hands to freeze awkwardly since he was just about to grab it.

"It's a very low bar of what's classified as edible here." Noel mumbled scoffing slightly, going back over to the counter where Mischa was hanging at. Pulling his mask down slightly to kiss him on the cheek gently, black lipstick staining the freckled boy's heated face. "Be safe, dunno if I can come up with an excuse for any broken bones." He laughed gently.

"No promises." Mischa replied simply, web slinging away and up onto a building near the mines where he could eat his food quickly. Though when he sat down he felt like someone was watching him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it however, but whenever he got closer to the mines. He knew someone was getting just as close. 

~~~~~~~~~~

He got closer to the mine's entrance, despite the gut feeling that something was off, he did his job. Shooting webs into the first batch of mining equipment to quickly destroy it. Though his worst fears came true, as he felt something hit the back of his head, it felt sticky… Similar to his webbing, that… couldn't be right?? There was only one spiderman, that just makes logical sense… unless… oh for fucks sake! He thought to himself, turning around and revealing the orange and blue spider person perched near the trees. Whoever it was, was very bad at their job. As webbing from the other attempts to hit Mischa were completely caking the ground below.

"The fuck is your deal!" He called out, scraping the webbing off the back of his head. But the person didn't respond, they attempted to get closer to him, but they were not as skilled as they looked. Pretty much just falling out of the tree they were perched upon, groaning in pain. Mischa laughed at that, eventually just ignoring them, as they probably weren't as much of a threat. Going back to the task at hand.

The other person got up slowly, looking a bit offended from the fact he was ignoring them. "Hey! Wait-, wait, stop!" They caught up, trying to charge at him but they were rather small compared to Mischa's figure. He didn't even look at them, grabbing them but the top of the mask leaving them running in place. Causing Mischa to break out into laughter. "This is not funny! Let me go! This is highly illegal and I have to stop you!" They wined, kicking their feet desperately.

Mischa continued to laugh "And what are you going to do? I'm doing this for the good of Uranium regardless, someone can get hurt in these mines. Better to remove them." He shrugged, not expecting the smaller one to kick his legs, causing him to drop them. "What the hell! Not cool!" He grumbled, trying to get up before they attempted to tie him down with their webbing. "Dude chill the fuck out!" He exclaimed, shooting a web to their body and practically throwing them into the street. Though they were a bit more resistant than he expected. Immediately charging back towards Mischa and tackling them to the ground. Both of them awkwardly rolling down the hill. Fighting like siblings, pulling hair and desperately trying to get one off the other. Eventually there was an advantage point, Mischa punching the other in the face "Off you little spider a-hole!" He grumbled, getting the other one to thankfully stop. Enough time to unmask the smaller one. His jaw dropped.

"OCEAN?" He exclaimed, quickly shoving the other off and standing up. Taking off his mask as well.

"God-, don't tell anyone!" She panicked, standing up quickly "At least I'm better at keeping my identity a secret compared to you!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms slightly.

Mischa was still a bit shocked, the answer was obviously right there but it was still surprising. The girl looked like she couldn't even lift her books without help, let alone she constantly tripped over her own shoe laces. "You only get to say that since no one would expect little miss perfect to know how to fight." He mumbled in response.

Both of them were pretty bruised, along with multiple abrasions from rolling down the hill. They would definitely need to try and explain so they wouldn't have to awkwardly do it at school in the morning. "Come on, let's walk. Penny's home is closest. And get out of your outfit so it won't cause any suspicions." Mischa sighed, walking away from the scene as Ocean followed.

~~~~~~~~~~

They got to the duplex that Penny's social worker let her rent out. She had to move out of the dorms last year due to relentless bullying. "Alright… do you have the excuse ready?" Mischa mumbled, Ocean nodding in response. He just sighed, ringing the doorbell. Penny came to the door relatively quickly, even if it was late she was usually up due to insomnia. Immediately looking unamused at the sight of her girlfriend and her best friend looking bruised up.

"Okay, what the fuck happened?" She mumbled simply, sighing in slight disappointment.

"We got attacked by a bear." They said in unison.

Penny obviously did not believe them. Letting them inside regardless. Despite it being easy to get inside, it would not be easy for them to come up with a better explanation.

Chapter Text

The Lamb's household always felt strange to most of the choir, they weren't usually allowed in the duplex that Penny somehow was allowed to rent out all by herself. Ocean always found that strange but never really questioned it. But here she was with Mischa of all people, sitting in the dingy living room at one in the morning at her girlfriend's house. Getting her wounds tended to while Penny's almost unnerving brother loomed in the stairwell, obviously confused as to why there were people in their house. 

Penny sighed, dabbing Ocean's cheek with gauze. "I'm not going to be upset, but I know you two are not being truthful. But considering Ocean literally never leaves her house… Mischa if I found out you are the cause of this situation I will beat your ass, I have experience." She mumbled her eyes narrowing slightly, causing both Mischa and Ocean to tense up looking at each other nervously.

"Uh-" Mischa stammered, immediately being stopped by Ocean's hand covering his mouth abruptly.

"He is not the cause! We uhhh… We got mugged!" She exclaimed, Mischa nodding slightly just going along with it.

Penny only sighed "We can not do this all night, please I understand if you don't want to tell me. But this is genuinely concerning, for both of you." She mumbled rubbing her temples in irritation.

Ocean sighed, she didn't want to lie to her girlfriend. She already sucked at lying to anyone in general, though her high moral compass after everything that happened was practically non-existent now. She needed to come up with something convincing, it didn't even have to involve Mischa. There were definitely older bruises still left over on her body from the last encounter with her parents. And it's not like she would feel entirely bad about lying about them, they didn't care. Even if it seemed wrong, it was the only way out at this point. After the awkward pause of Penny waiting for her response she eventually leaned over to her so she could only hear. Just mumbling a quiet "Parents…" She already felt awful about this, this wasn't a great thing to lie about, but it wasn't even entirely false. Of course Penny's annoyed expression eventually softened, Ocean now feeling even guiltier.

Though unfortunately the lack of context didn't do well, as Mischa was still not in the clear. He panicked for a second before blurting a quick "I got in a fight!" Which was unfortunately connected to Ocean's last statement, Penny immediately in shock.

"What…? You fought Ocean's parents…?" She mumbled in disbelief, raising an eyebrow. Ocean probably went pale, wishing Mischa did not say anything, immediately wanting to sink into the floor seeing Mischa's concerned face.

"Wh-, uh- Y-yeah-! They were outside having a smoke-, uh and I kicked their asses! And brought Ocean uh here…" He stumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

Penny just looked shocked "Well uh… okay? That's… surprising? Well anyways… Mischa you can head back I suppose. And Ocean-, you wanna- spend the night?" She suggested, finishing up wrapping the gauze on her arm.

"Y-yeah-, sure…" She mumbled in defeat, watching Mischa awkwardly back out the door in the background. Then she remembered something, her suit. Shit. She looked around the room frantically. How on earth would I be able to hide some like that here. She gulped "Uh-, Pen-, do you have any like-" She sighed "Room for like-, a bag or something…" She mumbled awkwardly.

"Huh? I mean you can probably just put it anywhere in my room, I don't know why-" She was immediately interrupted.

"Oh that's great, sorry! I just worded it awkward I guess! Uh, be right back!" She zoomed off, grabbing the bag with her suit from the front entrance. "Uhhh-, I gotta put this upstairs-, quickly…" She mumbled, Penny just nodded, too tired to deal with her girlfriend's random panic. Once she wasn't paying attention she quickly got up the stairs only to immediately be interrupted. By a loud sudden noise.

"BAH!" Ezra shouted from the top of the stairs immediately succeeding at Ocean nearly falling down the entire staircase.

Ocean clung onto the railing for dear life "Seriously?! What on earth is your deal anyways! I'm just trying to get upstairs, can you act like a real person for just 5 minutes." She sighed, quickly rearranging her bag.

"I would not want to be perceived as a real person to begin with." He replied dully, holding onto his sock monkey he seemed to always carry around. 

Ocean was obviously not amused "No, what is your issue actually? I've only encountered you twice and you act like you're not even from this dimension!" She sighed, slinging the bag back onto her shoulders.

"Ocean please do not antagonize my brother…" Penny sighed, leaning against the wall.

Ezra paused staring at Ocean as his eyebrows knitted together, bluntly and simply stating "Kill yourself." Before walking away.

"WHAT." Ocean was stunned, though the path was immediately cleared, as Penny probably scared him away as she chased after him. She just shook her head, putting her bag down in Penny's room before sitting down on her bed.

It was then she started to ponder, was any of this even right? Being a hero seemed so easy and fun in her eyes, but now there was competition. Which she actually didn't enjoy too much, at least the fact that the competition wasn't entirely beatable. It's not like there was even some major threat happening to such a small town like Uranium. Was she even needed? Mischa clearly had his own goal, and even if it was morally questionable, he at least had something going for him. She couldn't help but feel useless, there wasn't really a need for the title she was so happy to claim right away, and after everything, she just felt like shit.

The door creaked open Penny sighing and sitting down next to her. "Sorry about my brother, he didn't mean it, he's just… like that." She mumbled awkwardly, rubbing her neck slightly.

Ocean would have responded but instead her mind seemed to speak for her instead. "Penny… Am I-, useless..?" She mumbled looking up at her slightly.

She was of course taken aback by the sudden change in mood but immediately reassured "No-, no of course not? Why?" She asked, messing with Ocean's hair gently.

Ocean just shrugged "I dunno-, just-, y'know something I thought about I guess… Like-, y'know? Uranium is such a small town I don't really think I'm doing much of anything-, it's not like anyone cares." She messed with her hands anxiously, picking at her nails to the point where she was just ripping them off. Penny immediately grabbed them and held her hands instead.

"Rose-, baby-, you are not worthless. I don't know why this is all of a sudden coming across your mind, and you don't have to tell me. But I promise you-, anyone who thinks that is wrong. As much as this is a small town-, you are by definition the most successful one here. And I know you'll be able to get out of here one day and prove yourself even more." She reassured, smiling softly. 

That did make Ocean feel a little better, even if her head was screaming at her she at least had someone who would be there regardless. It didn't take long for her to get tired, laying back down and getting kissed gently on the forehead in response.

"It's getting late, you have school tomorrow. You don't want to be tired in class." Penny mumbled softly, messing with her hair gently. It didn't take long for both of the girls to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Morning soon rolled around and they eventually reached the commons of the school. The whole choir was already there as they ran a bit late much to Ocean's disapproval. Constance immediately showed concern about the bandages only to be greeted by Penny's morbid animal facts to not continue the conversation about Ocean's injuries. Ocean wasn't really paying attention to anything that was going on, immediately getting thrown out of her trance by the sudden grab of Mischa pulling her aside.

"Dude. You absolutely have to promise not to tell about the fight. Okay? Promise?" He practically begged, of course Ocean wouldn't brag about that she was already having her own mental debate about her whole entire life choices to care.

"Yeah I won't-, Mischa uh-, genuine question, how do you do it?" She mumbled vaguely, sighing deeply. 

"Do what?" He tilted his head.

"The whole superhero thing! I don't understand, there's literally nothing to do Mischa! The streets are so empty." She sighed, keeping her voice down thankfully.

"Ohh, well I dunno? I never took it as a superhero thing, more just a plus to make me more attractive." He laughed slightly, earning an eye roll. "Sorry… But! I can train you! I don't think being rivals would be best idea…" He mumbled rubbing his neck slightly.

"But that's so embarrassing-, to be a sidekick! I'm supposed to be number one!" She whined, messing with her skirt slightly.

"Oh my fucking god not this…" Mischa mumbled sighing deeply, rubbing his temples. "Look, I train you, you get stronger. And maybe head out to the city to solve crime like you really want alright?"

Ocean sighed in defeat "Fine."

He smiled widely at that, he already liked this idea, it seemed fun. "Perfect! Meet me after school, night time. Y'know where the fair grounds are? I'll pick you up and we can go, it's usually empty. Though some people say it's haunted, or cursed." He laughed winking slightly, earning and eyebrow raise. "Oh those are just rumors, tall tales, legends. It's fine trust me, people go out there all the time! Usually to do illegal activities… But! That means you can stop them! Ehh?" He nudged her shoulder slightly, though that did intrigue her.

"Alright, see you after school then." Ocean sighed nodding slightly, readjusting her bag slightly as the bell rang.

He gave her finger guns as she walked off now even more irritated much to his amusement. Though as both of them walked off, they couldn't help but both feel uneasy about what was expected later in the night. 

Chapter Text

The school day dragged on for Ocean, and her anxiety about whatever was going to happen after school at the fairgrounds was starting to get to her. It caused her to bounce her legs nervously in her seat, gaining attention of Noel giving her a glance of confusion instead of concern.

"Jesus Christ, you good? You're jittering like a crack addict." He mumbled, glancing up from his notebook. He had already gained a slight annoyance in his tone knowing he would most likely be interrupted in his favorite class, that being French, to deal with the ginger's issues. 

Ocean sighed, the wording in her head made it seem like Mischa was going to murder her or something. She shook her head, eventually formulating a less concerning sentence. "Have you ever been out to the fairgrounds? Not like-, when they're in function though…" 

Noel arched his eyebrows, a bit surprised Ocean would be asking him about places usually chock full with delinquents. "Uh, not really? I know Mischa used to hang around there with his old friends, sometimes the popular kids throw parties around there. Course I haven't been invited to those…" He mumbled rolling his eyes slightly. "Why are you even asking? I didn't even think you left your house to be fair." He chuckled slightly.

Ocean grumbled softly at that. "I'm not going there… But Mischa was going on about how it was cursed or something.?" She rubbed her neck slightly, not entirely true, but she wanted answers regardless. 

"What. You actually believed him?" Noel laughed quietly, earning confusion and slight annoyance from Ocean. "Sorry, sorry, but that's seriously something that just gets freshmen to not go to the ragers the seniors throw. They go on about a cursed fortune telling machine or something, which is obviously bullshit since that dumb thing doesn't even work. Acts more like a magic eight ball with how dull its answers are, probably some dumb setting the carnies set for the damn thing." He mumbled rolling his eyes slightly.

Ocean seemed to be a little less tense after that, relaxing back onto her seat and going back to doing her schoolwork. It couldn't possibly be anything right? Mischa was obviously just trying to have it get to her as a joke. Regardless the bell soon rang and Ocean would have to deal with the situation she was previously dreading. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Ocean decided to cancel the after school choir practice she usually forced her friends to attend today. Everyone was unsurprisingly relieved that they didn't have to deal with Ocean dictating them for an hour, though it did definitely put some suspicions on her. She quickly came up with the excuse of having to tutor Mischa since he was failing algebra 12, thankfully they didn't look further into it to realize Mischa would literally never get tutored by anyone regardless. Ocean and Mischa strolled to the parking lot where his, well, his mom's Honda Civic was parked. Ocean hesitantly got inside the front seat.

"You sure you like, are good at driving…?" Ocean mumbled, putting her bag down in the back.

Mischa rolled his eyes in offense "You can't drive so you shouldn't be the one to speak, it's not like I have alcohol in my blood everyday. Besides… surprised you don't need a booster seat." He smirked, starting the car.

"Oh shut up! You are like only a couple inches taller than me!" She scoffed, putting on her seatbelt and pouting.

"Ehhh it's definitely more than acouple…" He replied, silently hoping he wouldn't have to deal with Ocean's usually pissy and annoying tone throughout the entire drive.

Thankfully that wasn't the case, she wasn't exactly talkative, which Mischa didn't complain about. She'd already seem to be able to completely ignore her surroundings with studying, like the fucking dork she is. As soon as they got close to the fairgrounds it was already starting to get dark, and that's when they both started to feel uneasy. It's not like they were afraid of the dark, they were afraid of what lurked in it. And it wasn't uncommon for people to go missing in the darker forests in the outskirts of Uranium. The fairgrounds were not close to the town, as a way to gain more traction the management company that owned Wonderville tried to make the fair be located near several small towns including Uranium. So it was practically in the middle of nowhere, which just happened to be slightly closer to Uranium. 

Regardless as they edged closer everything just felt off, they felt like something was watching them. The forest was silent, other than the purring of the car on the dirt road. And regardless of superstitions it was never a good sign if something went completely silent. They couldn't help but think in the back of their mind that the silence meant the forest critters, usually bustling with soft background noise, were hiding from something out there. Thankfully, the headlights shined on the sign welcoming the two to the fall fair. Usually there would be nothing there, but due to it being late September they were probably just starting to set up. Mischa parked his car outside the fence, glancing at Ocean to make sure she was doing okay. Which she was, she just looked nervous.

"We're here, I know how to turn the power on so we can get some light, you want to uh-, stay here or come out with me?" He asked, grabbing her bag.

"I'm coming with you, I don't want to get kidnapped…" She mumbled awkwardly, quickly grabbing her bag and getting out of the car. Mischa thankfully packed a flashlight, getting out of the car as soon as he turned it on.

~~~~~~~~~~

The fairgrounds at night were anything but comforting. Every little sound that didn't come from the two of them made them go into a panic, though it didn't take long for Mischa to find the aforementioned power switch. He put the flashlight in his mouth to still have the necessary amount of light to see what he was doing. Ocean tugged on his sleeve nervously. She really had a bad feeling about this, it didn't help that as the power was turning on the faint sound of the attractions coming to life in the background was starting to drive her insane.

"- a minute dude." He mumbled his voice slightly muffled from the flashlight in his mouth, eventually the power was fully on. And the lights were all obnoxiously bright. Mischa turned off his flashlight, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "You ready for this!" 

"Uh… sure…" She mumbled, putting on her web shooters, as Mischa did the same.

They got into the field next to the entrance gate, standing across from each other. "Alright! First off we're gonna-" Mischa started only to be interrupted by one of the machines turning on.

"Y-y you have inserted t-t-t-t-two loonies!" A machine practically called out to the two of them, almost like it was luring them. 

Ocean and Mischa were frozen in fear, "Did you freaking touch something!?" She accused, tensing up slightly.

"No?? I haven't even gone back there! Look it's probably just busted, come on, I'll prove it." He sighed, walking towards the voice.

"I am not going with you." Ocean stated simply, getting flipped off in response.

Mischa grumbled under his breath, making his way into the tent where the fortune teller machine was tempting him to interact. The machine looked… off… it definitely seemed like it was tampered with slightly, the paint chipped and the glass caked in graffiti and dirt. It clearly wasn't in the best shape, which was strange of why it was even in the fair to begin with. Maybe management just forgot to clean it up. There was also something definitely off with the air in the small room, expecting there to be a gentle breeze from the wind outside. But instead it was stiff, stale, almost dusty. He coughed slightly, wafting away the musty stench of the air to the best of his ability. He couldn't tell if he was losing his mind, the floor looked like there was smoke emitting from the dirt, which was probably why the air felt so off. His attempts to waft whatever that smoke was away fell short, as one cough turned into a coughing fit. And he could swear that the dead rat on the floor was starting to move. 

"What the fuck even is this??" He mumbled, covering his mouth as he shined his flashlight on the wires of the machine. They looked like something was chewing on them, and unfortunately for him, there didn't seem to be any off switch for the machine.

He shook his head in disappointment, though he eventually caught something in his peripheral vision. Two beady red eyes, as something wet dribbled onto his suit. He almost stopped breathing, he didn't want to look back to see what it was but it was too late.

It looked huge, more rat than man, and it definitely did not look excited to see him. He gulped nervously, before it could swipe at him he quickly shot a web in its eye. As it let out a practically demonic screech, desperately scratching at its eye. He took this opportunity to run, but it didn't take long for it to chase after him.

"OCEAN! WE NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" He shouted sprinting back towards her directly hastily.

Ocean looked at him in confusion, before her eyes widened. She couldn't move, the beast was chasing after him on all fours. Slamming his body to the ground as he slid across the floor, desperately shooting it with his thin webbing.

"UH OKAY-, QUICK LESSON! YOU SEE THAT METAL SIGN?" He shouted to her quickly, trying his best to hold back the beast as his face got dragged across the dirt. "FUCK-, FUCKING ATTACH ONE OF YOUR WEBS TO IT AND TRY TO SWING IT LIKE A FRISBEE." He desperately explained, eventually being barrelled into Ocean causing her to stumble and land onto the floor, already gaining road rashes on her arms and legs. She wasn't even in her suit, unlike Mischa.

Ocean tried to do what he instructed, quickly shooting her web onto the sign advertising the cyclone roller coaster. But the beast only focused its anger on Ocean instead, swiping its clawed gnarly hands at the aiming arm. Ocean yelped loudly, but she wasn't going to let this stop her. She didn't want this to be her final moment, she knew this was a terrible idea, and she would lose Mischa or herself… knowing her motives mostly herself. She grabbed her hand harshly on the wound, trying to stop the blood flow so she wouldn't bleed out. Thankfully that added force gave her more strength, and with a grunt she was able to swing the sign towards the beast, it being flung and pinned against the fence with a loud screech.

Ocean breathed heavily, staring at her arm. She was starting to get dizzy, everything was just melting together into incoherent colors and shapes. She could hear Mischa yell her name, and the feeling of her body being dragged. Before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ocean didn't know how long it's been since the incident, she could hear people. A lot of them. She tried to ask what was going on but it only came out as a whimper, wincing her eyes as she adjusted to the lights. Eventually she registered where she was, the hospital.

The whole choir was there, most of them looked concerned, but it seemed like there was no way to excuse the situation. As Noel had her torn suit in hand trying not to laugh.

Ocean groaned in pain, turning over to face Mischa who just looked embarrassed more than anything. "Did you seriously break the literally only rule and tell them?" She mumbled her voice groggy. 

Mischa just nodded in response "How could I not? People are gonna think we're crazy if we don't." He sighed "Plus literally everyone but Penny knew about both of our situations." 

"No I knew" Penny deadpanned, she just looked drained more than anything.

"What??" Ocean sat up slightly, wincing in pain.

"I knew about Mischa, and of course when you started talking about the sea spider thing I knew it was just you. I just didn't say anything, cause I'd feel bad…" She mumbled awkwardly.

Ocean just huffed in annoyance "Well great… everyone knows and there's whatever that thing is trying to kill us…"

"And an ominous novelty machine." Mischa added,"But regardless I guess you got what you wanted? There's now a threat to Uranium that you can probably stop? I don't know, I don't have much faith in you, no offense." He mumbled laughing quietly getting elbowed by Penny. 

"Quit with the jokes she could've killed herself." She mumbled, earning a small embarrassment nod from the smaller boy. She sighed deeply "Look, I know you are not going to like this, but because of how severe whatever that situation is. Maybe us knowing isn't a bad thing, since we can help? I probably won't be much help though, I know how to deal with injuries though." She mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

Mischa's eyes lightened up "Ohhh… Yeah! And I can train you!" He exclaimed, motioning the rest of the choir to contribute.

"Uhh-, I can help make a new suit?" Constance suggested smiling slightly.

"Can I design it?? No offense but whatever Ocean suggested Ricky to make, since I know my darling wouldn't make something with that amount of clashing colors unless he was held at gunpoint." Noel shook his head, laughing quietly.

"It can be a group effort, I am much better at making outfits now, usually for cosplay purposes. I can also help train you, with the help of some of my comics. Which I'm not entirely sure would actually be helpful? But it would probably work somewhat." Ricky signed, nodding slightly.

"And these all apply to you two Mischa, since surprisingly you're better at something than her… But instead of having Ocean whine about being a sidekick, just work together evenly, since I can not stand that girl bitching and moaning." Noel sighed, crossing his arms.

Ocean looked conflicted, but eventually she just nodded. "Fine, we can all work together on this…" She mumbled in defeat, she never liked getting help, or asking for it. To her it was even more embarrassing to automatically need help from people.

"Great! Should we get a team name?" Constance tilted her head slightly.

"No, absolutely fucking not." Noel immediately shot her down much to her disappointment.

"We can think of one later, don't worry Connie," Penny reassured, smiling softly. "Now, Ocean, as much as I love you, I don't want you to immediately get sent back to the hospital. So you don't get physically burnt out as well as mentally, I am going to make sure you are not doing this everyday and completely wrecking your whole entire life. Alright?" 

"Alright…" She mumbled.

She definitely was not going to live up to that promise, or was willing to try to get out of her habits like that regardless however.

Chapter Text

After the confrontation with the choir she was quickly let out of the hospital, she already missed a day of school… great… and was having to stay at Penny's house instead, which she wasn't complaining about. However even if she was staying with her she immediately flew back into her usual habits, as she was currently desperately trying to do research on the fair and whatever attacked her. Piles of documents laid across Penny's desk, frantic notes leading to no answer. Ocean was most definitely losing her mind, she was hunched over on the chair, reading some legal document about Wonderville until Penny came in. She didn't look quite amused, the immediate deep sigh making Ocean lose her train of thought.

"Ocean-, baby-, it's 4 in the morning. Have you seriously been doing this the whole entire time you've been released from the hospital…?" Penny asked, staring down at her with concern.

Ocean didn't seem to be that focused on the time, as her reply was just as panicked. "I don't understand it Pen! There's literally no signs and no clues about any of this, not even reports related to the fair at all!" She mumbled, planting her head down on the messy desk. 

Penny sighed, she didn't want to see Ocean be like this. She usually had a habit of getting obsessed with work, but now it was becoming more of a fear when her job was outright dangerous at this point. "Look… we'll discuss everything in the choir room tomorrow- well tonight… right now you need to get some sleep." She shook her head, cleaning up the mess of papers Ocean had scattered on the floor.

"Can't sleep, what if something bad happens." Ocean muttered, practically her nails off only to be stopped by Penny grabbing her hands.

"Ocean, stop. You're about to go insane, listen to me. We'll discuss this in the morning, everything should be sorted out, you'll even get a new suit. Then you and Mischa can investigate again. Does that sound like a better plan?" She asked, thankfully the tinge of annoyance in Penny's voice got Ocean to shut up. Flopping into bed dramatically. "Sleep isn't going to kill you, trust me, you'll need it." Penny sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Despite how tired Ocean was she somehow managed to persist through the day without absolutely passing out due to exhaustion. Though unsurprisingly it seemed that the events that went down in the fairgrounds seemed to have caught up to the news, or at least the school gossip board. All of them were completely wrong about what actually happened, though she managed to pick up on a conversation that piqued her interest.

"Did you hear about what happened at the fairgrounds? They're closed but something big happened, guards are all over, some of the workers have to play some night shift role…"

"Yeah it's pretty shit, my brother works as a carnie there for extra cash. Every time he comes over to set shit up, it's like he loses complete control. Doesn't remember doing anything only knows that his shift is over when he gets to the gates of the entrance." 

"Weird as fuck dude, wonder if their boss is drugging them or some shit??" 

"Psh, nah, let's be real with that dumbass fortune teller around probably got fucking hexed or something."

Ocean narrowed her eyes at that, immediately sprinting into the choir room. She was lagging behind now due to her interest in the two boys' conversation. She slammed the door open, nearly causing Constance to fall out of her chair in surprise.

"YOU GUYS WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I HEARD." She practically yelled, she had a tendency to get annoyingly loud at times, especially when she was passionate about something.

"What? Did your library card speech win an award?" Noel teased snickering slightly.

"No! God take me seriously this moment, it's about the fair. Apparently the workers are acting weird." She mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"Can confirm, heard some freshmen talking about it in a panic." Mischa mumbled leaning against the wall. "Perfect timing since Constance and the Rickster just got you a new suit." He smirked, revealing a slight eager Ricky and Constance

They handed the blue and orange suit that was definitely easier on the eyes compared to the last clashing fabric sewn together the old one had. "And-, since Ricky revealed that you kept running into walls-" Constance started earning a snicker from Noel.

"Hey-!" Ocean grumbled unamused.

"Let me finish, I mean-, because you kept getting injured, Ricky installed some safety applications! And to make it easier for Penny." She smiled and laughed quietly.

Ocean smiled at that "Thank you for caring about the safety precautions, does Mischa have them too? I just think it's very important." She mumbled nodding slightly.

Mischa huffed "Begrudgingly, Noel and Ricky insisted…" He mumbled rolling his eyes slightly. "But! Now that you got your suit improvements, when we get down to the fair, we aren't going to use the car, If y'know what I mean." He smirked, motioning his hand slightly.

"I've-, only traveled with the webs once…" Ocean mumbled awkwardly.

"Oh you'll be fine, don't worry, it may look scary, but there are many more scary things, like commitment, and they are not in the sky at all." He nodded, giving the worst reassurance possible. 

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"Not meant to, but superheros don't travel by car!! That's just wack" 

"Batman does" Ricky signed, smirking slightly due to the one-up.

"Does not count to me." He replied furrowing his brows slightly. "Anyway, get ready to fuck shit up tonight!! After choir practice of course, I know how important that is to you." He mumbled, and speak of the devil Father Marcus eventually entered the room, the whole choir having to scramble to hide the probably odd looking gear from him before they had to answer any questions. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Choir went smoothly as always, and Ocean and Mischa were now on top of the roof of the school getting in their gear.

 "We can easily get to the fair before it gets dark this way, and trust me it's much more fun. Considering our uh 'training' session got ruined pretty quickly, take this as the actual training." Mischa mumbled, putting on his mask and stretching slightly.

Ocean nodded, she was already in her full uniform, gazing down at the view of the small town she called home. It looked much more sad from up top, set in place how tiny Uranium probably was for outsiders. 

"Alright, now starting first you need to get in a good stance. Atleast to make it easier for you of course, I am very much pro at this." He teased earning a slightly annoyed look from Ocean's eyes narrowing through the suit. Regardless they both got in a better stance. "Okay good, now go for the farthest option to swing to, for velocity! I think…? You know the big words, anyways see that water tower?" He pointed, "Aim for that, near the edge." He aimed his hand and shot out a web swing away before Ocean could even think.

"Mischa-!" She started, staring at him, as his silhouette started quickly fading into the light autumn fog. Shit… there was no way he could hear her now. She tried her best to collect herself, she wasn't afraid of heights, but she was afraid of literally dying. She aimed at the water tower Mischa went to. Starting to focus her aim, and before she could even think she went flying. It definitely wasn't graceful, she could swear she ran into a couple of birds. She didn't expect it to get this fast, it was honestly sort of jarring, expecting it to be more like a glide or a zipline. This is what she got for not paying attention to the movies Ricky was obsessed with… Thankfully she didn't fall or get remotely injured, nearly slipping on the slightly damp base of the water tower. Being greeted with a high five from Mischa.

"See? Isn't this shit dope!" He exclaimed, earning a slight nod and a giggle from Ocean. "Now we just repeat the process until we get to the fair, shouldn't take long at all." He said before free diving off the edge and swinging away. Ocean guessed this was her signal to follow, she wasn't as fast, or as graceful as him. He's definitely been doing this for a long time, compared to her two weeks of experience. 

It didn't take long, barely half an hour, for them to be perched on top of a small gas station near the fairgrounds. Unfortunately for them it seemed the rumors were true, as there were lots of workers about. They all seemed off, in their own world. Some of them even seemed to be synchronizing their movements, it was definitely eerie. Though something that was noticeably odd, enough to make Mischa shiver, was the ground. A thick mist of fog surrounded the fair.

The same type that Mischa encountered when they first got here. 

Chapter Text

"This is fucking insane" Mischa mumbled to himself pacing back and forth on top of the roof, "The fog, it's the same thing I saw when I was in the tent with that creepy old machine-, and now it's everywhere??" He mumbled to himself, as Ocean was taking notes on the whole situation, acting less like a superhero and more like a paranoid paranormal investigator. "Goddammit-, I can't see that damn rat thing over all this fog, if it's even out there." Mischa grumbled, eventually web slinging to a different area, Ocean stumbling along. 

"I don't think he's even out here-, do you want to get closer? Or just completely give up this whole situation-" Ocean mumbled awkwardly, looking at Mischa nervously. His expression was unreadable, though this was probably the first time Ocean saw the Ukrainian boy this deep in thought.

Eventually he sighed "I am not a weak little bitch, come on, we're going to the tent." He grumbled, Ocean immediately getting annoyed at Mischa's unnecessary profanity. She just scoffed, stuffing the small journal she was holding away and swinging over to the tent where the fortune telling machine was located. They weren't entirely graceful, as the material for the tent was cheap and thin, immediately upon landing on it they just fell through. Landing on the cold dusty dirt floor with a thud, definitely alerting some of the workers and guards. Mischa sputtered some dust out of his mouth as he got up, immediately becoming alert Ocean following with a groan.

"Couldn't we just have snuck in…" The ginger whined, looking around the dusty tent, there wasn't really anything interesting other than the fortune telling machine, which was still billowing out the strange fog.

"How can we sneak in when there's like a million guards who would most definitely kick our asshole." Mischa tsked, dusting off the nameplate the machine had. "Take a picture, you do have phone don't you?" He mumbled raising his eyebrow at Ocean.

Ocean fumbled around in her newly added suit pockets, added by her request since she thought it would be useful and not look horrid. Eventually she grabbed out her phone, taking a picture of the machine like he asked. "Couldn't we just write down the name and the company who makes these things?" She mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"Cause that's dumb." He replied plainly, gagging slightly at the sight of what looked to be blood, presumably from the last attack. Regardless he couldn't find out where the smoke was coming from, there wasn't any nozzle, or anything to even let out any air. "Maybe it is in the ground? Some sort of pump that's making everyone act weird." He mumbled, placing his hand on the ground, the fog felt oddly damp, like it was more of a mist coming out of a spray bottle, he shook the residue off his hand, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Are you implying this is some mass drug induced crime? I mean, Elysium is close by Uranium, but they're just hippies who only know how to get high, they don't mean any harm usually, unless it comes to Penny's parents…" Ocean mumbled rolling her eyes slightly, 

Mischa hummed in response "We need to get closer, see how they are acting, it could be. These things are more likely than you think, drug is very powerful." He mumbled slinging far off on top of a industrial crate, Ocean following slowly behind.

There was definitely something off about the workers, regardless of the fact the carnies of Uranium were notorious for being a bit too intoxicated to actually be working the rides, this was definitely different. There was a sort of haze in their eyes, one that made them emotionless and hard to read. It would've been an immediate answer if they were all focused on one thing, but they weren't. They were all assigned separate tasks despite it leading to the same area, it just seemed like it was a work in progress of a ride, nothing entirely sinister.

"Maybe we got them wrong? Maybe they are just really focused on their jobs." Ocean mumbled, rubbing her neck slightly.

"That does not explain the 6ft rat." Mischa replied simply, speaking of the rat, a small gray rat squeaked from underneath them. Mischa was immediately on guard, shooting a web in the direction of the squeak, causing it to be slung towards them. But it was just a rat, despite it looking awfully similar to the giant version they encountered not too long ago. He just rolled his eyes, tossing the rat far off into the fog. Which seemed to be a bad decision, as the zombie like workers came to a halt. Staring in the direction of where the rat was flung from. Staring right directly into Ocean and Mischa's eyes. They didn't say or do anything for over a minute, before they seemed to completely snap. The only thing they were focusing on now was trying to get to their location.

"Ah fuck!" Mischa mumbled, earning a slightly glare from Ocean, just to silently tell him how bad of a decision that was. He ignored her expression, quickly slinging the crates door open and towards the practically hoard of workers. Quietly fist pumping at his quick victory, which didn't do much. As there were hoards in both directions, and before they knew it, they were being dragged down from behind. Ocean screamed, kicking and punching the carnie who grabbed her, most definitely causing a black eye. Though something unexpected happened, he reacted.

"The fuck man?" The groggy voice came out of the young adult, rubbing his sore eye. He seemed out of it, though not in the possessed way like before. More so just a general confusion of why he was even here in the first place.

"Y-you're okay! Uh-, sorry! But you need to get out of here-, everyone's like possessed or something? It's weird but uh, we're here to help!" Ocean mumbled quickly, watching as Mischa desperately shot at the remainder of the hoard with his webs.

The carnie narrowed his eyes "The hell are you talking about dude? No one else is out here." The last part nearly hit Ocean like a dagger, her face turning pale, could he not see what was going on?

"What? No-, I get how confusing this is but all of your work friends are like crazy right now and attacking us, there's like this fog that's probably doing it-, I don't know I haven't really gotten that far…" She mumbled awkwardly, the man just looked at her like she was crazy.

"We don't work until 6?? There's no one out here, and I don't see none of this fog you're talking about. Just your other crackhead friend punching the air." He replied, crossing his arms slightly.

Ocean eyes widened, "No-, no he's not punching the air-" She started, but only got interrupted.

"Listen I'm not giving out any money or nothing, I just want to get home, sorry about your addiction or whatever." He waved her off dismissively. Ocean just stood there in shock. Was none of this even real?? Was she still in the hospital or something? Was this all just a bad dream? And then it hit her, immediately grabbing Mischa swinging him to the other side away from the crowd.

"Dude what the hell this is not time to stop!" He glared, but the ginger was just going to go into her usual panicked rambles.

"This isn't real-, Mischa it's not real-, I don't know if you were right about the drugs, but that fog? It's making people hallucinate, punching them knocks them out of their trance, and then they can't see anything anymore." 

"What? But I punched like 20 of them?" He mumbled, glancing over at the crowd, it was just a pile of delirious men, confused as to why they were here and why they were all incredibly sore. Mischa exhaled "Fuuckk", they had just beaten up a bunch of random people, some of them probably weren't even real. "That does not explain the giant rat." He shook his head.

Ocean thought for a moment "No… No it does-, it's a normal rat-, when it's in the fog-, it turns into whatever that thing was." She explained, you could almost see her smile through her suit, obviously excited. She wouldn't lie that this definitely fascinated her, even if it was definitely terrifying in nature. Though Mischa's expression immediately changed the ginger's happiness.

"Shit." He sighed 

"What?" 

"Osh I threw it into the fog." He mumbled, holding his head slightly, a bit embarrassed by his mistake as well.

"You… idiot!-" She started, the almost feral growl could be heard in the distance. "Go-, GO! MISCHA WE NEED TO GO-" She panicked immediately slinging away to the best of her ability, this time Mischa being the one to be trailing behind. The only thing going through Ocean's mind was to not look back, which she immediately failed. It was fast, it's claws could probably cause a dent in the road. Ocean was too panicked, her swings were starting to become sloppier, Mischa was getting ahead because of this. The creature practically roared trying to grab onto Ocean's leg, they were nearly out of the fair grounds. Ocean screamed, her foot nearly getting caught by the beast, before it started to fade away. Retreating back into the fog with a screech. She sighed in relief, catching her breath and unfortunately catching the telephone pole and crashing face first into it. She definitely needed to train how to actually swing efficiently.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ocean reached the window of Penny's house, Mischa had left for his own house. She sighed, knocking on the window as Penny eventually let her in. Though instead of greeting her girlfriend with a cheek on the kiss, her immediate question was-

"What on earth is wrong with your eye?" She mumbled, noticing the squinted eye from the unfortunately very expressive spider suit.

Ocean sighed "it's embarrassing…" She mumbled, now refusing to take her mask off.

"You ran into a wall didn't you." Penny deadpanned.

"No! Well-, uh-, yeah-, telephone pole-" She mumbled awkwardly, sighing shakily.

Penny just rolled her eyes, taking off Ocean's mask "You need to be more careful love, on another note did you find anything interesting?" She asked, getting out the first aid kit so she could at least distract her anxious girlfriend.

Ocean nodded, smiling slightly, immediately going on a long rambling about the whole entire day. Penny just nodded along, she didn't have the heart to tell Ocean she was going off topic every second, or the fact she was barely listening due to sleep deprivation. But she loved her and tried her best to listen regardless.