[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/krev7SC.png[/img][/center][center][b]Aubrey Adkins[/b][/center][center][b]Pacific Point, California[/b][/center][center][b]late May (less than 1 Months Before IC Starts)[/b][/center]
	It was a bright, sunny day in Pacific Point.  After my boyfriend and I had finished moving myself into the apartment that Viera was providing for me, we decided that it was perfect weather for a trip to the beach.  Will was the only one who had come down to help me get settled in.  My old roommates were going to fly in later this month before they have to actually find a job.  My parents were still trying to find a way to come to terms with what seemed like my decision (which I definitely did [b]not[/b] make).  I know that they still love me, since they were still supportive of me at my graduation.  However, parents love to brag about their kids and saying that their daughter took off her clothes for a magazine is not quite the statement that they thought they would be telling their friends at this stage of my life.

	Sometimes, I feel that it would be easier on me if I had told my parents about my metahuman status.  It would have saved me from having to lie to them all the time.  I could not say that someone impersonated me and signed me up for this job.  Instead, I had to utter some bull about how this would be a good opportunity for me, even though I probably will be the oldest, shortest, least thin (and this is sad because I’m thinner than the average person), and least experienced model there.  And when I had my little ‘extreme makeover’, instead of saying that my healing factor would make any breast reduction be pointless and a waste of money, I had to convince my parents that I was fine with how I was.  And I doubt that these will be the last times.

	But at the same time, how am I going to tell my parents that I’m a superhero?  The argument that keeping your loved ones in the dark about your activities in order to keep them safe is not stopping me.  In fact, I don’t really buy that because your family and friends will always be in danger while you go around playing superhero, whether they know it or not.  The true obstruction is that I’m not like the other heroes.  I’m not like Icon or Lyger or even those kids from Albany.  Icon and Lyger can just pull off their costumes and look like everyone else.  I, on the other hand, have to hide what I truly am.  While the Albany kids probably also have to conceal their powers, at least they are all still bipedal.  How am I supposed to tell my parents that I’m a octopedal metahuman (is that even a word)?  How do I tell my mom and dad that I practically have a giant spider where my lower body would be?

	However, this conversation is for another time.  Right now, all I need to worry about is soaking in some sun.  I cannot believe I am saying this, but I’m pleasantly surprised that my healing factor doesn’t instantly remove my tan.  While I’m not expert, I’m guessing that my powers are only healing the actual damage caused by the sun while leaving the melanin behind.  Which is great for me.  God knows how much skin damage I had accumulated up til I got my powers.  Now I can get all the Vitamin D and tan to my heart can desire without worrying about dying from skin cancer.

	It is just such a soothing experience when you’re lying down on a beach towel, basking in the sun while you listen to the ocean’s waves billow onto the shore.  With a book at your side, before you know it, an hour or two have already flown by.  After I had finished the chapter that I was on in my book, I sat up and turned my attention towards my boyfriend.  While I had been enjoying the warm rays of the sun, Will had been reclining in a beach chair under an umbrella, reading through a book that was probably for school.  He really needed that shade, or else the sun would have burn his pale skin to a crisp.  Unfortunately, WIll does not have the same luxury as I do with my healing factor.

	[color=b22222]“Want to go for a walk?”[/color] I asked as I peered over my sunglasses.

	Will saved his spot in his book with his bookmark and stored it away in a drawstring backpack under his chair.  Then, he rubbed on some sunscreen on his skin that was not already covered by his t-shirt and baseball cap.  After he had wiped off any excess sunscreen from his hands, Will stood up from his seat and walked over to where I was lying down on the ground, offering a hand to help me up to my feet.

	“I thought the plan was that whenever we stand together, my overall paleness would make you look ever tanner?”  Will joked as we walked towards the water.  I just rolled my eyes as we got closer to the water’s edge.

	The Pacific Ocean’s cold water felt refreshing on my feet as we walked in.  We stayed at the edge so that we would not have to walk on the hot sand.  Hand-in-hand, we strolled down the shore.  Besides the seagulls making a racket, everything seemed peaceful.  On our way back, however, I felt something slimy grazed my leg.

	[color=b22222]“Will, I think something touched my leg.”[/color]  However, when we looked down, there was nothing there, although there was some sort of residue on my foot.

	Freaked out by this, we both immediately started to head out of the water.  Nevertheless, whatever had first touched me finally burst out of the water again, wrapping what seemed like a tentacle around my leg, digging its suction cups into my calf.  It then yanked back, pulling me down to the ground and into the ocean’s waves.  I tried resisting, but my fingers just slide through the moist sand.  As I was dragged further and further into the darkness of the ocean, I discovered that whenever I tried to keep my head above the water, I would almost always get a face full of an incoming wave.

	Then, all of the sudden, whatever had grabbed a hold of me released me.  As I treaded water, I could feel my calf burning as the salt water came into contact with the wounds left by the suction cups.  My heart almost skipped a heartbeat when I realized that I could barely see the shore from where I was.  Below me, the ocean’s dark waters shrouded the seafloor far below.  I tried swimming back to shore, although I knew that my chances for reaching land were slim.  Even if I turned off my power nullifier, my spider-like anatomy would not help at all.

	Almost as soon as I began moving, whatever had first attacked me momentarily dragged me under the water.  I struggled to keep my head above the surface, but all of my efforts were in vain.  As I was pulled deeper and deeper into the depths of the ocean, I finally came face to face with what had taken me to what seemed like my watery grave.  The irony that the girl with the healing factor was going to drown.  

	I saw the silhouette of a woman as I descended into the dark ocean waters.  Her hair was billowing about in the water.  Below her waist, it appeared as if there were several snapping dog heads attached to the woman.  And below those, eight octopus legs were where a human’s lower body would have been.  One of these appendages had wrapped around my leg, while several others began to rush towards me, holding me down under the water.  This woman, if I could even call her that, when she had pulled me closer towards her where I could actually discern her face, placed a finger over her mouth, as if she was trying to tell me that I shouldn’t screw lest I want the seawater to rush into my lungs. Then, she proceeded to to constrict her tentacles around my body, choking the life out of me.  I tried to reach down to deactivate my power-nullifier, but my arms were both pinned to my sides.

	Suddenly, a bright, blinding light pierced through the dark waters, descending down from above the surface of the ocean.  The burst of light caused this monstrous woman to shrink back further into the depths of the sea.  However, instead of dragging me down with her, her tentacles loosened her grip on me.  As soon as I was free, I began swimming back up to the surface, hoping that whatever was up there was better than the woman down here.  

Once I reached the surface, I desperately gasped for air.  I’m not quite sure how much longer I could have held my breath under there, if whoever or whatever had not intervened.  But I still had one big problem.  How was I going to get back to the shore before becoming exhausted and drowning?  And what would stop that monster from attacking me again?

	“Give me some cover, ‘Siris.”  A robotic sounding voice commanded from above.  God, if that’s that Christopher Arthur jerk, I would rather deal with Ms. Tentacles down there instead.  However, when the figure had finally descended down into the water next to me, I saw that it was not Arthur.  Instead, it was another robotic looking hero.  However, this one had a sleek look to his armor, almost as if it was molded to fit his body.  Once in the water, he picked me up in his arms and took off into the air again.

	“So, what’s such a voluptuous woman doing all the way out here?”  He told me as we ascended above the water.  I was going to give him a piece of my mind, but my pursuer had returned, sending for her octopus-like appendages forth towards the two of us.

	“I’ll take care of this, Talus.”  I heard a second voice say.  But what was weird about this voice was that I did not hear it through my ears, but directly in my head.  Then, when I turned my head, I saw a second figure floating above the water.  This man was wearing a white, flowing robe with golden ancient Egyptian-styled armor on top of it.  In his hands, he held a long staff with an ankh attached at the end.  However, the most bizarre feature of this man was that he had what seemed like either an eagle or falcon’s head instead of a human’s.

	This man then pointed his staff down towards where the tentacles were arising from the water.  A beam of light, similar to the one that had freed me from my watery grave, fired from the ankh that was attached to the staff.  Once the light slammed into the water, the tentacles began to retreat once again.  At that moment, my rescuers took the opportunity to retreat from the open sea, where this woman had the upper hand, and returned back to the shore.

	When we had finally reached solid land, the superhuman, who was supposedly code-named Talus, set me down safely on the sandy beach.  At that same moment, Will rushed over to me, checking to make sure I was alright.  While I did not sustain any injuries that my natural healing factor could not heal, the only real problem was that I could not just deactivate my power-nullifier and allow everyone to see that I have the lower body of a spider.  The only thing that was really bothering me, besides a near-death experience, was the burning pain from where the tentacles’ suction cups had left behind circular bruises.

	Then, the man with the eagle’s head placed his hand on top of my head.  Although his mouth (or rather beak, because of the avian head) was not moving, I could still hear his voice mumbling in my head.  And as I heard his voice, I saw the circular bruises that had covered my body slowly began to shrink until there were no traces of them left on my skin.  The pain, too, had also disappeared.

	“We have alerted the Coast Guard about this incident and we will be remaining in the area for a little while just in case anything else might happen.  But please, remain calm and don’t panic.”  The bird-headed man said, or rather communicated via telepathy.  I don’t know about you, but I think telling people not to freak out via talking in their minds might not be the most efficient way to do that.  After he ‘spoke’, the bird-headed man raised his staff up towards the sky.  The ankh on the staff began to glow.  Then, he pushed off from the ground and jumped into the air.  However, instead of landing back on the ground, he continued floating in the air, as if he were flying.

	“I’ll rescue you any day, Vol.”  Talus joked as he pointed his fingers at me as if they were two pistols and he pressed down his thumbs as if they were part of a flintlock mechanism.  Then, he ascending into the sky, flying after his avian-headed ally.

	[color=b22222]“I hate iron men.”[/color]  I said as my two rescuers departed.

	“Spider-Men are way better, anyways.”  Will tried to complement me.  However, I rammed my elbow into his stomach, giving him a clue that he should not be casually making references that I’m a spider-themed superheroine.  Then, after I had calmed down, we packed our stuff up and headed back to my new apartment.  I had enough excitement for a single day.