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[color=red][h2]September 7th[/h2][/color]
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Caty and her brother Danny decided it would be best to head back home to be with their mom instead of their off-campus dorms after they got released from the hospital. She needed them and they really needed her now that their dad was gone. But for Caty being home reminded her too much of her dad and thinking about him made her remember "The Incident". Ugh. She hated how the media just simply dubbed it that. It just felt like they were making just a blip of an event like someone or some people out there didn’t plan to massacre a lot of people.

Her first night at home to say the least was terrible. She hadn't dreamt of anything the entire time she was in the hospital. It seemed her mind was just getting ready for the big one, because all she could dream about was the attack on ESU. She heard the deafening screams, saw people vomiting up blood and collapsing. She could feel the pain that she felt. The fear, the worry for Danny, and her… Before she could turn to see her dad in her nightmare she jolted awake. It was morning and the sun cast shadows of light through her blinds.

Caty groggily opened her eyes and saw four giant ass eyes staring curiously right back at her. She focused more on the rest of the creature and saw that it was a [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/e6/67/b5e6673434d7a57db48c3e5e895d7179.jpg]metallic blue jumping spider[/url]. Normally she wouldn't have been afraid of spiders. That was her friend Reyna's department. But for one to be right in front of your face the moment you awaken from a nightmare? Oh you bet she freaked.

Caty let out a shriek and jumped from her bed planning just to land on the floor but instead she came hurtling towards her right wall. Oh crap. She stuck out her arms hoping to push off the wall, but instead she clung to it? [color=E137E3][i]"What the hell is going on?"[/i][/color] She was able to free one hand and used it to turn herself around to search for the spider. That still being her priority and not the fact that she was clinging to a wall. She spotted the spider directly across from her on the left wall of her room. It was dangling half its body just like she was. Was it mimicking her? Could spiders even do that?

Caty decided to do a little experiment of spider see spider do to test her theory. She swayed her head as if she were a snake charmer grooving to their own music. The spider in perfect sync moved its head right along with her. It wasn't mimicking her. Somehow they were linked? Was that how she was able to jump so far and cling to the wall? What else could she do? Anything a spider could?

[color=E137E3]"Danny!! Get in here please!!"[/color] Danny had to see this. Was this a result of the red gas? And if so did he have powers as well?

Danny’s first night back from the hospital was awful. Apparently, they had deemed him and Caty healthy enough to return home, but Danny still felt awful. He felt dizzy, and nauseous. As if he were feeling the earth move beneath his feet. As soon as he got home, he crashed into bed right away. He didn’t have a particularly restful nights sleep either. He spent it having a horrible nightmare of the “incident” as they called it. He tossed and turned in bed all night.

He awoke with a start the next morning. Out of breath, and sweaty. He groggily reached for his glasses, and put them on, only for his vision to be blurry. [color=pink]“That’s weird…”[/color] He took his glasses off, and his vision was perfectly clear. [color=pink]“Hm, interesting…”[/color] His vision had improved overnight. Danny was too tired to actually address that. Instead, he set his glasses on the nightstand, and jumped out of bed. He took off his sweaty shirt to change into something dry. Then, he got a look at himself in the mirror, he was shocked by what he saw. [color=pink]“No way!”[/color] Apparently, in addition to his vision improving, he had gained muscle mass overnight. He had abs now! And he had defined arms too! Danny spent a few minutes flexing in front of the mirror. Until he heard his twin sister calling.

Danny immediately ran over to her room to see what the fuss was about, but also show off what happened to him. [color=pink]“Caty! What happened?! Did something weird happen to you too? I apparently got hot overnight…”[/color]

Wall-crawling Caty turned to see her twin as he entered her room. The first thing she noticed was that he wasn't wearing his glasses and she wasn't exactly sure but he also seemed taller. And were those muscles? It seemed Danny had blossomed overnight.

[color=E137E3]"Uh… hello."[/color] She said waving her free hanging arm out and about so that he could see that something weird did indeed happen to her and stopped once she got his attention. [color=E137E3]"I'm sticking to a wall. But that's not the freakiest part. Look."[/color] She pointed her finger to the wall across from her at her new spider friend. If Danny looked he'd be able to see the spider pointing back at her. [color=E137E3]"Now wave to my brother, Danny."[/color] She repeated the motion for a wave and pointed to her brother watching as the spider waved one of its forelegs right at Danny.

Danny’s eyes went wide as Caty demonstrated her newfound abilities. [color=pink]Fascinating! You seemed to have gotten superpowers, and I got abs.”[/color] Then he rubbed his chin for a second. [color=pink]“Hm, I wonder…”[/color] Then he pressed both his hands to the wall, and tried to climb up. Much to his surprise, his hands stuck, and it worked. He made his way to the ceiling. Then, he waved an arm to see if the spider would respond to him as well, but there was no response. [color=pink]“So, I can climb up walls too, but the spider seems connected to you specifically… This… couldn’t possibly have anything to do with… um… well… you know…”[/color]

When Danny discovered he too had the ability to climb walls, but not the ability to control spiders she realized her abilities didn't come directly from that spider. But two spider people and she did hear about a spider-like vigilante recently. But she had never seen him so she didn't think much about him until now. Could he have something to do with this?

Caty frowned at what both she and Danny were thinking. These powers came from the red gas during "The Incident". Great. They gained powers, but they lost their dad. Some twisted kind of alchemic exchange. She'd give her powers away in a heartbeat if it would bring her dad back. Caty sighed and climbed back down the wall to the floor. Her new spider friend followed suit and crawled over to her before going up her body until it reached her hand. She didn't tell it to do that but it seemed as if the spider was reacting to her feelings. Maybe it sensed she was in distress during her nightmare. [color=E137E3]"You know what they say about coincidences, Danny. The universe is rarely so lazy. That attack wasn't just an attack. I think it was meant to give people powers and I don't think we're the only ones that got them. Though I'm not sure if they're all spider-like or not."[/color]

Danny lingered on the ceiling for a little while. [color=pink]“What reason could anyone have to give other people powers?”[/color] He paused for a moment and shook his head. [color=pink]“Well, that’s a thought for another day. You know what this means don’t you? We’re scientists. We have to experiment. What we can do, the limits of our abilities, etcetera…”[/color] Danny was excited at the prospect of having superpowers, like the characters he read about in comic books. Although, he didn’t like having to lose his dad. That wasn’t fair.

At which point, Danny’s stomach growled loudly, and only then did Danny come down from the ceiling. [color=pink]“After breakfast though. I’m suddenly really hungry. Oh, but uh… maybe we shouldn’t tell mom about this? Not yet. Not until we have a better handle on this. She’s been through a lot.”[/color]

Caty wondered about Danny’s first question. She couldn't think of a reason to give a group of people powers while using the same stone to kill their friends and family. Did they have some kind of death wish of their own? She shook the thought out of her head for the time being and continued to listen to her brother.

The thought of experimenting just slightly lifted her spirits. Learning and doing any kind of experiment helped to lift her spirits. It's why she agreed to do the internship in the first place. Her spirit needed a lot of lifting.

[color=E137E3]"You're right. The last thing she needs to worry about is two super-powered teens putting themselves in danger."[/color] She walked over to Danny and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. [color=E137E3]"Now, let's go get that new body of yours some food."[/color]