"Well, nice to know we're not alone." Peni remarked, looking at Spider-Noir before turning her eyes to Peter, Miles, Gwen, and Spider-ham. "Right?"
"Yeah," nodded Gwen with sincerity.
"I've got the portal open, you first Peni." Miles let out, the holographic controls lighting up at his fingertips.
"Thank you Miles," she smiled before looking at the spider on her arm that let out his own little sound of agreement, "from both of us." She closed her eyes and gave a two finger salute before pushing herself off from Noir and over to the brightly colored portal, vanishing with the colors turning red briefly.
The sensation of the portal made her skin tingle with goosebumps, the flashing lights making her close her eyes and wrap her arms around her body as the spider held on by her neck. Her mind shifted from the amazing adventure with her new friends to what it'd be like to get back home. The memories of such a place made her squeeze herself harder.
Her aunt May and uncle Ben might say how glad they are to see she was ok, but that's all. Just a simple phrase without much feeling behind it. To them, she was just a pilot for the suit, without her and the spider sharing a bond to work together, they'd probably go out and find someone else to get involved with a different project entirely.
Not to mention the fact that being a hero wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sure she saved lives, which was good, but it always got in the way of her social life. Lack of one technically, but that's exactly what she meant. She tended to be a bit out there for some people, and with her time taken up by hero work, it made it that much harder for her to try and interact with people and make friends. Being friends with the spider wasn't bad, but having at least one human friend or two wouldn't be asking too much, would it?
And just like so many other heroes, she had to keep her work a secret. She'd wish she could be free to scream it from the tallest building who she is and maybe feel some gratitude from them. It wouldn't keep her from saving lives, far from it, but it'd still be the thought that counts.
(Another universe)
At a normal suburban house, one of the residents were still sleeping with the lights off and curtains drawn; snoozing away under the covers.
Besides the bed, the clock hit 6 AM before it started beeping. In the blink of an eye, a hand zipped over and hit snooze as the person groaned and grumbled, sitting up under the covers and rubbing their eyes.
"Ugh, here we go again." they mumbled before dragging themselves from the bed. They walked over to the dresser and grabbed some clean clothes out before getting dressed up. They went and opened the curtains, shedding some light inside. "Time to get my job in."
The person discretely headed out of their room and down the stairs to get to the front door so he didn't wake up his brother. When he got outside in the sun, he was shown to be a young teen who had lightish gray skin, short hair colored two-tone gray, wearing a pair of goggles on his head while decked in a black short sleeve with white accents, dark brown shorts with steel toed black boots, and a dog tag around his neck.
He cracked his fingers and began to do some light stretches before he took off down the sidewalk and down the road, getting started on his daily job. This was a routine he got started on ever since the school year began. He had gone with it when he did some studying on how to improve his body and get it more in shape. After all, if he was gonna pursue his dream of being like his older brother and upholding the family legacy.
His brother, Thunderlane, had been a high profile and well renowned track runner, which Rumble thought was amazing when he was smaller. So he had dreams of wanting to be just like him, if not a little better. He wanted to be a big time track and field champion, and he needed to keep his body running into overdrive to make it happen.
Even if it meant he had to cut back on so much junk food and sweets to get it done.
He made his way through town, the park, and eventually came back to his house, having worked up a sweat as he went inside and smelt breakfast already being made.
"Morning little bro, have a good job?" asked Thunderlane, an older boy who was bordering on college level with dark gray skin, blue-silver hair that was styled in a mohawk-esque style. He didn't wear any shirt and showed off his toned physique with a pair of long blue jeans over his legs that showed a storm cloud with a lightning bolt coming from it stitched on the pocket, setting a stack of waffles down on the table.
"Yeah, kinda warm out." replied Rumble as he walked over to grab a glass and fill it up with some OJ before he started chugging it down to satisfy his thirst. "Ah, needed that."
"Well go ahead and dig in, I'm making plenty."
Rumble sat down and took note of the huge variety that took up most of the table and noticed more than two plates. "Wait, what's with the extra plates?"
"Oh that? Flitter and Cloudchaser crashed here last night when they got off work. They had to deal with a last minute night shift."
"Aw man." he groaned, right before feeling someone rub and mess up his hair from behind. "Hey quit it!"
"What's that supposed to mean? Already getting tired of your two favorite babysitters?" teased a girl close to his brother's age with grayish-lilac skin, aqua green long hair that went down her back and partly on the side of her head with a pink bow on the back. She wore a short sleeved lilac colored shirt with dragonflies on the front, and a pair of blue shorts.
"I just got it brushed." he huffed as she pulled back and went to take a seat and add on to her plate.
"Hey, when you go out jogging, all that sweat is gonna make it messy anyway."
Rumble grumbled and bit into his waffle right as another girl walked out, but in less clothing. She had similar skin color to Flitter, albeit darker, with light blue hair that stuck up a little in the back while draping over her forehead on the front. She was draped in a long sleeved lilac colored t-shirt with a pair of blue panties, no pants on as she walked to the fridge with her eyes closed.
"Morning Cloud." Thunderlane greeted casually, unphased by the girl in her underwear as she grabbed a cup and filled it with coffee, with Flitter and Rumble noticing her state. Rumble blushed and looked away with Flitter face palming.
"Yo Cloudchaser! Pants!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry." she let out, looking down while sipping the coffee. "I kinda forgot them."
"Man, tough shift huh?" remarked Thunderlane as Cloud Chaser took a seat and smacked her lips.
"Why can't cafes be easy to work at? They make it so much less stressful on TV." remarked the older girl who popped a strawberry and looked at Rumble, still averting his gaze. "Morning Rumble, sleep well?"
"Y-Yeah, just fine." he replied, looking at his plate and trying to distract his attention.
"So, care to give details on how your shift went?" asked Thunderlane as he took his own seat.
"It was a huge pain, people were angry and arguing with each other for the dumbest reasons." remarked Flitter biting into some toast with Cloud Chaser perking up.
"Yeah, it was hard to get any orders with them being too distracted. Plus there were these girls who sat in a booth away in the corner who didn't want anything. Not even coffee or water. They even had their hoods covering their faces."
"Wait, you mean the ones who walked out after we were done?" asked Flitter.
"Uh huh!" nodded her sister. "You know how some girls have crazy hair? Well when we were clocking out, I saw them take their hoods off and their hair was enormous! I had no idea that hair that big could fit in hoodies so easily."
"In a way, it's kinda like magic." remarked Flitter rubbing her chin. "And weren't they the only ones not bickering or fighting? Almost like they were unaffected…"
"By what?" asked Thunderlane.
"Well, what if they were doing it?" she asked. "Everyone is acting weird, except those three, and they have weird hoods that can hide hair that didn't look messy in the slightest after getting pressed down under that tiny hood? That seems out of the ordinary."
"So…you think they were casting some spell?" asked Cloudchaser.
"Exactly!"
"Well if they're casting spells, maybe I should practice my card tricks." joked Thunderlane, him and Cloudchaser chuckling with Flitter pouting.
"Oh ha ha ha."
"Good hair doesn't automatically mean magic." remarked Cloudchaser with a shrug before looking at Rumble with a smile. "So Rumble, what are you up to today?"
"Just going to school, same old same old, nothing different." he replied, nothing sounding enthused or really excited. "It's just school."
"Wait, isn't there something going on this week?" his brother interjected, looking up in thought.
"Oh yeah! The Fall Formal." Cloudchaser spoke up in realization.
"Say, that's a pretty big deal, huh?" Flitter put her arm over Rumble's shoulder with a smile. "Sounds like a fun time to hang out and make some friends, huh?"
"I'm not going." he replied, drinking some juice. "I'm just gonna come back and do my usual stuff."
"Aw come on bro, why stay at home on such an awesome night? I mean, it'd be a waste not to cut loose." Thunderlane smiled with his brother rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, because that's worked out SO well so far." he replied sarcastically.
"But Rumble, you keep slipping away all the other events." Flitter spoke up with concern. "We just want you to-"
"Just forget it!" he cut her off, standing up with a huff before walking away. "I gotta go."
"Rumble, wait! We're just concerned!" Cloudchaser called out as he walked out before slamming the door behind him. "Oh man."
"Dang it, I really wish he could open up." sighed Thunderlane. "I know he's not the most social, but….I don't know."
"It'll be alright, maybe we could find someone to take him to the dance. There's still time." suggested Flitter.
"Which just might make things harder." her sister clarified. "If he's not gonna hear us out now, what do you think he'll do if we try to set him up with someone without his knowledge?"
All three of them collectively looked down, unsure how to go about this next as we cut back to Rumble who was riding his skateboard down the sidewalk, his mind brimming in annoyance.
"Not like I DON'T wanna go, but how the heck would it matter anyway? Every other girl acts like I'm some kinda creep every time I go near them…" he grumbled to himself, his body riled up.
It had been like this ever since he became a freshman. Out of nowhere, without any warning, people had been leaving him alone and giving him too much space. Whether it be the girls who acted like he was gonna do something sick, or the guys who acted like he was some kind of thug ready to start something. He did not remember doing anything out of the ordinary last year that would warrant the reasons, but at some point he decided to say screw it and just use the space to focus on what he wanted. If they wanted to be jerks about it? Then who needed them?
He was gonna be a great track and field star no matter what, for himself and for the family legacy. That would show everybody and make them regret giving him the cold shoulder.
(Later)
Rumble walked through the hall, having just wrapped up with history and bored so badly he felt numb. He passed by the various other students with many giving him space with a few odd glances and stares. He had gotten used to them, but that didn't mean each look didn't make him feel the need to tell them to take a picture while it lasted. All he wanted was to get this day done and over with.
Right as he rounded the corner, he bumped into someone and looked to see it was Thunderlane, this time wearing a muscle shirt with the same thundercloud icon from his pants across it with a smile on his face.
"Hey Rumble, glad I caught up with you, I wanted to introduce you to someone."
"Seriously bro?" Rumble gave a deadpanned look. "Please tell me you're not doing what I think you're gonna do."
"Aw don't be like that Rumble, I'm just doing what any good older brother would do."
"You mean-"
"Say hello to Applebloom." Thunderlane cut him off, gesturing to a girl his age who had yellow skin with large red hair, a pinkish bow, short sleeved green shirt with blue jean shorts, and orange boots. Said girl looked a bit awkward and gave a little wave. "I ran into her and thought maybe you two could get to know each other."
"I was on my way to class." Apple Bloom deadpanned.
"Thunder, not gonna happen." Rumble spoke flatly before walking past the two with a frown.
Later on, after finishing an excruciatingly annoying math test, Rumble dragged himself over to his locker, his mind feeling like mush given how hard he pushed it.
"Whoever made math should get drop kicked." he muttered before closing the door, seeing Flitter standing right there with a smile. "AH!" leading to him jumping back with wide eyes.
"Hey Rumble! Funny seeing you here."
"It's…my…locker…" he got out, holding his chest as he tried to get it to calm down before frowning at her. "Why'd you scare me like that?!"
"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to come by and introduce you to someone I know you'll like. Meet Scootaloo!"
"Uh…hey." greeted said girl who had orange skin with short purple hair, a black sweatshirt with blue accents, green shorts, and black boots with blue accents. She had a scooter with her and looked lost and like she didn't wanna be there.
"Flitter? Thunderlane already tried this." groaned Rumble with Flitter trying to look innocent.
"Tried what? I'm not trying anything, I just thought you and Scootaloo could get to talk and learn more about each other. I saw her by herself and thought of you."
"I was waiting for my friends actually." Scootaloo piped up, which Flitter seemed to ignore.
"She's really good on her scooter and loves speed, so maybe you two could have a few races, huh? Get some healthy competition out of it? Doesn't that sound nice?"
"Yeah, it would be, if you weren't putting her on the spot like a hostage." he remarked dryly with a raised eyebrow, making Flitter look away as Scootaloo stepped back.
"Yeah…I gotta go, later." getting on her scooter, she headed off quickly with Rumble giving Flitter a blank look before walking off.
"Just think about it!" she called out to him.
Soon, Rumble had gotten through to his science class, feeling better given how the lesson wasn't AS bad since there was no homework, which took some pressure off. He made his way down the stairs and rounded the corner of it, only to jump back when he nearly crashed into Cloud Chaser who had a big smile on her face. "Seriously?! That's the second time!"
"Now Rumble, I know you weren't open to the idea of meeting other kids-"
"Still not."
"But I found one that's perfect for you!" she reached over and yanked a girl beside her around his age. She had white skin with curly pink and purple hair held up by a magenta headband, a matching coat over a pink and white striped shirt underneath with a long yellow skirt underneath it. On her feet were a pair of magenta boots with two yellow straps around each. "Meet Sweetie Belle."
"I know who she is, she's Applebloom and Scootaloo's friend." Rumble answered with a blunt tone.
"See? You're already a headstart on getting to know her."
"What is up with you and Flitter kidnapping people?! I'm not interested already!" he declared before she could speak up, stamping away with a growl.
Cloud Chaser let out a sigh with Sweetie herself crossing her arms.
"So what was that about introducing me to a cute guy?"
Cloud Chaser gave an awkward chuckle with a sweatdrop.
Later on, after finally reaching gym class where he could finally stretch his legs and get to moving, he was hard at work on running the track. His heart was beating with his brow getting some sweat, but he felt alive and better than ever.
"Ok, just one more, just one more." he repeated to himself as he rounded the bend and poured on the speed. He came upon the finish line and slowed down, leaning on his knees to catch his breath with satisfaction.
"Way to go bro!"
'Oh come on!' his head whipped up to see Thunderlane, with Flitter and Cloudchaser on his sides walk over with smiles on their faces. He crossed his arms with an annoyed expression. "Seriously? Again?!"
"What? We just wanted to congratulate you." Flitter tried to feign ignorance.
"Looking good out there." Cloudchaser gave two thumbs up.
Rumble gave them a blank look and raised an eyebrow. "Alright, where are they?"
"Where's who?"
"The kid you dragged here to meet me."
"Dragged is a harsh word." Flitter stepped aside to show a girl, again his age. She had lavender skin and light blue hair with two pink stripes going down it with the front having an even cut across the top, with the rest resting behind her back. She wore a pair of black workout shorts, a tan short sleeved top with a pink horseshoe on the side of it in a blue gust of wind. Her expression showed she was not too happy either.
"Rumble, say hi to Wind Sprint. She's-"
"Getting out of here because she was busy." the girl cut off Cloudchaser before walking away from the three with a none too pleased grumble under her breath.
The older teens watched her before looking at Rumble who was shaking his head with a hand to his face.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine being on my own." he looked at them with a glower. "If people wanna act like I'm a freak, then go ahead. I don't need them; I just need to focus on my goal."
"But Rumble, you can't be that way the rest of your life."
"Sure I can, they don't seem to be bothered by it after all," he huffed, turning away from them right as the bell to signal the end was heard. "Look, just leave me alone, and drop it. I'm not going to that stupid dance and that's final."
"Rumble…"
Without turning, he walked away from them and headed back to the locker room to change back into his clothes, now fuming and really upset. He needed to use his time to focus on getting his body ready, not mingle with people who were jerks! How was that so hard to understand?
After splashing cold water on his face to help cool down, he stamped out of the locker room, face looking a little red at this point.
Later on, after the day was finally over, he made it back to the track and field, completely alone, and was doing some stretches at the starting line and getting ready to get to running. He needed to keep working and clear his head or else he'd go crazy.
"I don't need anybody, you hear me?!" he yelled out loud, his voice echoing around him as he took a starting position and gritted his teeth. "I. Don't. Need. ANYBODY!" before he shot right off down the track, adrenaline now coursing through his vein.
Right ahead of him however came a sudden rift in the air itself. It tore wide open, like ripping wrapping paper off a box, glowing and sparking across the air.
Rumble's eyes widened in shock, his body struggling to hit the breaks and headed right for it. His eyes picked up a shape however, coming out of it, and coming right at him! Before he knew it, it slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. The kinetic force knocked the air out of his lungs, leaving him gasping for fresh oxygen while the thing on top of him groaned.
"Oooohh…..what'd I hit?" came the voice of a young girl before he saw a face sit up and look down at him, showing it was a girl around his age with short black hair, pale tan skin, and a look down showed she was dressed up like a schoolgirl.
"Who…What….How…." she groaned, taking note of Rumble under her. "Oh! Sorry!"
"Rumble!"
Peni turned her head, spotting three other teens running over, the girls wide eyed and staring at the rift behind her.
"Are you ok bro?!" Thunderlane asked in concern.
Rumble took a deep breath and coughed, before giving a shaky thumbs up.
"D…D…Did she just-"
"I KNEW IT! I knew it!" Flitter cried out, jumping up and down with her fists pumped up. "I knew magic was around here!"
"Well actually, it was-" Peni stopped her talking, her mind registering something on her rear. She turned her head and went wide eyed when she saw Rumble's hand resting on the spot. Feeling her face heat up, her instincts kicked in. Letting out a growl, she turned and slapped Rumble across the cheek before jumping back and tugged her skirt down. "Hey! Watch it pervert!"
"Ow!" Rumble held the spot and sat up, glaring at the girl while regaining more of his breath back. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"
"You touched my butt!"
"I wasn't planning on it!" he threw back, getting back up on his feet with Thunderlane and Cloudchaser smiling before patting him on the back.
"Wow bro! You sure move fast, and me without a camera." joked Thunderlane with Cloudchaser rubbing his head.
"No wonder you were so picky, you just needed to find the right one. You've made us so proud."
"Shut up! It's not like that!" he denied with his face warming up.
Flitter however stopped cheering and went mouth agape. Rumble grabbing some random girl's butt? When he just met her from a hole in the air?! He was way too young to be THAT forward! He was growing too fast to already be pulling something like that off! Especially to a girl who was magical enough to pop out of holes!
"Sure looked like…it…to…me…." Peni started off before she began trailing her, her body swaying and eyelids drooping. Her body was losing energy, causing her vision to go black and fall forward.
Rumble's eyes widened; his body moving on it's own as he lunged and narrowly caught her in his eyes. He grunted, his body feeling stiff from the impact and making the sudden move harder on him than he expected.
"Good catch, Rumble." Thunderlane complimented, giving a thumbs up as Rumble got back on his feet, awkwardly holding Peni who was limp in his grip.
"Who the heck is she?" asked the young athlete.
"No idea, but maybe we should take her back to your place." suggested Cloud Chaser. "She looks really out of it, plus I'd like to know WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED!"
"Good call, and since Rumble here is such a casanova, he should carry her." Thunderlane proposed, making his brother gape.
"Are you kidding me?! You carry her!"
"Well you two already got close, so it'd be rude to split you apart."
"Forget it! Let's just take her to the nurse's office!"
"And just how do we explain she came from a random hole in the air?" asked Cloudchaser with Flitter seeing said hole shrinking.
"Which is closing up!"
The other three turned and saw the portal as it vanished without leaving a trace behind.
"Woah." Thunderlane let out.
"Freaky." Cloudchaser uttered.
"Like magic." Her sister got out with Rumble groaning and trying not to drop Peni.
"This is gonna suck…" he grumbled.
"Just carry her like a princess." Cloudchaser advised, smiling as Rumble had to awkwardly adjust his hold and lifted Peni in his arms. "Aw, now we definitely need to take a picture."
"And send invitations," chuckled Thunderlane before the four of them began to walk to the exit.
"No way! He's too young for that! Flitter jumped in with her cheeks puffed up.
"Too young for what?!" Rumble cried out, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore his face turning more red. 'All I wanted was to run track on my own, how did it lead to this?!'
The group of teens, with one unconscious girl, soon reached the brother's house with Rumble carrying the girl to the guest room with Cloudchaser following.
"Can you gently set her down, Rumble?" she requested.
"Sure," he leaned down and carefully maneuvered the girl off his back with Cloudchaser taking the backpack off the girl and setting it down to the side while removing her shoes. He laid her down on the bed with her head on the pillow before Flitter came over and held her chin while giving the girl a look over.
"Hey Rumble, me and Cloudchaser will take over."
"Works for me." He walked out and left the girls alone as Flitter held her fingers to the unconscious girl's neck.
"Hmm, her heart rate isn't erratic, and her temperature isn't too hot."
"And I don't see any cuts or blood, so that's a plus."
"Boy, having a doctor for a dad sure comes in handy sometimes."
"Well she doesn't look that bad so there's no sense sending her to the hospital."
"I can watch over her until she wakes up." Flitter volunteered.
"Sounds good to me." With that settled, Cloudchaser left her sister alone, but not before taking the girl's backpack with her. She rummaged through it as he headed back to the living room where Thunderlane and Rumble stood and looked at her with curiosity. "Flitter will watch her right now, but she doesn't look all that bad."
"Phew, had me there for a sec." Sighed Thunderlane with relief.
"And we can't take her to the hospital because….?" Rumble raised an eyebrow.
"Because what could we tell them? 'Hey, can you look over this random girl who came out of some weird portal and see if she's from the same planet?'" She gave a deadpan expression. She continued with her search through the unknown girl's backpack
"Ok, you got me there," Rumble as he turned his head. His eyes looked back at Cloudchaser. "By the way, should you really be lookin through her stuff?"
"Well we do need to figure out just who the heck she is and where she came from." Cloudchaser replied.
"Well I think it's pretty obvious when you think about it. She's probably from some alternate world, like from the movies. With how she dresses and looks? No way she's from the same world."
"That's just science fiction, bro." Rumble rolled his eyes with doubt. "Maybe she's just from the other side of the planet from a part we've never been to."
"Or a time traveler." Said Cloudchaser.
The brothers looked confused before Cloudchaser pulls out something from the girl's backpack
"I found this in her backpack. Check it out." she pulled her hand out, holding a plastic card in hand.
Rumble and Thunderlane leaned in and saw Peni's face with the girl smiling wide at the camera. She held up two fingers in a peace sign.
"Ok, so she has an ID, big whoop."
"Oh yeah? Then what about this, here?" Cloudchaser pointed to the side of it with a date that had the year labeled for 3145. "How many teens have an ID dated THAT far ahead?"
"Someone who knows how to make a fake ID obviously." Rumble dismissed while crossing his arms. "Anyone who knows what they're doing could do that. This just shows that she has no idea how to tell time."
Cloudchaser opened her mouth, before they saw the photo itself glow blue as a holographic projection of the girl rose out from the card. The young lady somehow held onto the ID card as all three wide-eyed in surprise with the projection showing a full 3D model of the mysterious girl that rotated in the air.
[Peni Parker. Gender: Female. Hair color: Black. Eye color: Brown. Height: 4 '11. Weight: 105 lbs. Niece to Ben and May Parker. Honor student of Class Z13D. Birthday July 14, 3131.] The hologram spoke a girl's voice from the card that seemed to match up with Peni's.
"...you were saying?" Thunderlane looked at Rumble whose mouth had dropped open in shock.
"See?!" Cloudchaser let out, giving a victory grin. "Future girl."
"Okay, so MAYBE she's from the future." Rumble relented, throwing his arms up. "Now what? Call the police and let them deal with her?"
"No way. I think we should keep this between us. We don't know what might happen to her if we go off telling others that she's from the future. Who knows what she's been through, the girl might be dealing with enough stress as is." Cloudchaser replied with concern. "Besides, if the government gets a hold of her, who knows what they'd put her through."
"Let me guess: because of the movies?" guessed Rumble with a deadpanned expression. It is situations like this that makes him glad that he no longer joins in their late night movie marathons.
Unfortunately for him, his brother brother agreed with her.
"Oh you know they'd be up to no good. Besides, telling people would make us seem pretty crazy and the last thing we need is getting locked up in the crazy house."
Right before they could keep going, they heard a high pitched scream from upstairs. They quickly recognized it as Flitter's and bolted up to the room. When they got there, they saw said girl jumping up and down, looking pale and horrified.
"What's going on?!" Rumble asked before the girl pointed at the floor.
"S-S-S-S-S-SPIDER!"
A spider was skittering around the floor and close to the girl.
Shockingly enough, even with Flitter screaming, Peni herself did not rouse from her slumber or even make a sound.
Thunderlane shook his head with Cloudchaser facepalming.
Flitter started grabbing random items near her to chuck at the spider who amazingly was managing to avoid them, but just barely. "KillitkillitkillitkillitKILLIT!"
The spider frantically ran across the floor and moved towards the other three kids near the room and managed to get on Rumble's shoe before climbing up his leg. It managed to get a spot on Rumble's shoulder where Flitter spotted it right when she held a chair in her hands with a crazed look in her eyes.
Rumble took notice and paled before he bolted with Flitter chasing after him while swinging the chair wildly. "FLITTER! CUT IT OUT!"
"DIE YOU EIGHT LEGGED MONSTER!"
"Oh crap." Cloudchaser winced when they heard a crash and ran after them with Thunderlane following.
"Cloudchaser! Put the chair down!"
"I HAVE TO SQUASH IT!"
"DO IT WHEN I'M AWAY FROM IT!"
CRASH!
"CRAP! NOT THE WINDOW! NO NO NO! WATCH OUT FOR THE TV!"
SMASH!
"CLOUDCHASER! GET YOUR CRAZY SISTER AWAY!"
"I'M TRYING RUMBLE!" Cloudchaser was trying to cut her sister off and save poor Rumble, but that's when her eyes focused on the spider that held onto the boy for dear life. The colors on it were oddly…familiar. Like she had seen that particular palette swap somewhere.
That's when Peni's face came to mind and it clicked. The colors were a match for the details on the girl's shoes!
"That's it!" she turned and ran to the guest room. She stood beside the bed and grabbed the glass of water on the nightstand before dumping the water right on the girl.
The reaction was instantaneous as Peni's eyes shot wide open before she let out a startled scream and nearly jumped right off the bed as she coughed and tried to shake the water off. She looked around in confusion before her eyes landed on Cloudchaser and took note of the pitcher. Right away she glared at the girl who set the glass down.
"HEY! What's the big idea of dumping water on me?!"
"No time! Your pet spider is about to get crushed by my sister if you don't do something!" she informed the confused girl quickly before the girl gasped and leaped off the bed and ran out of the room in the blink of an eye.
Peni followed the loud sounds and reached downstairs and saw Flitter with the chair in front of the couch with Rumble hiding behind it, with Spider on his head!"
"Flitter! Put the chair down!"
"Rumble? Get out from the couch, NOW." the girl ordered with an eye twitch. "The spider MUST die."
"I wanna keep my head!"
Peni gasped before narrowing her eyes, two black bars appearing above and below her face before suddenly vanishing away as she moved towards Flitter. Rumble took notice of her, but didn't say anything when she reached up and suddenly brought her hand down against Flitter's neck in a karate chop motion. The result was Flitter dropping the chair and passing out on the floor, unconscious.
Thunderlane was stunned while CC came downstairs and went wide eyed seeing her sister on the floor. Both of them ran over to check on her while Rumble moved away from the couch with a heavy breath of relief.
"OH my gosh! You're safe!" Peni let out, suddenly beaming with her eyes sparkling and holding her hands together in front of her.
Rumble blinked at the weird sparkles, but didn't pay it much attention and waved his hand. "Yeah, it was no big deal. I've had-"
"Not you!" she suddenly zipped up to him and reached up to snatch Spider off his head before looking at the airachnid in her palms with a wide smile. "I'm so happy you're ok! I was so worried!"
"...worse." Rumble finished, caught off guard as he saw Peni rub her cheek against the spider, which made him shudder at how weird that looked.
Peni looked back at the boy, recognizing him as the boy who grabbed her butt and frowned. She wanted to say something in regards to his grabby hands, but looked down at Spider and took a deep breath to keep it together. "Thanks…for saving Spider I mean."
"Oh, it was no big deal." he waved his hand dismissively. "I wasn't really trying anyway, just didn't want to get my skull caved in by Flitter. By the way, is she gonna be ok?"
"Oh yeah, she'll wake up in a few hours; I've done it plenty of times."
Rumble gave her a weirded out expression at how casually she said that, but didn't say a word.
Thunderlane came over and checked Flitter's pulse just to be on the safe side, and let out a sigh of relief before giving a thumbs up. "All clear. Thanks for stopping her, I didn't wanna explain to our folks why Rumble's head was flat as a pancake."
"And thanks for going easy on her." Cloudchaser spoke up before handing a broom to Thunderlane with a firm look. "Since she's unconscious, someone here can tidy things up."
"Aw what?" he groaned, looking around at the mess before letting out a resigned sigh.
"Since we're gonna tidy up, let's get introductions out of the way. I'm Cloudchaser and the girl you conked out was my sister Flitter. The big lug here is Thunderlane and this fella is his little brother Rumble, who you already know." Cloudchaser joked as she went to grab some furniture to put back into place.
Rumble blushed while getting a glare from Peni who crossed her arms. "I-I-I didn't mean to grab you! I swear!"
"Uh huh."
"Rumble? Why don't you make us some tea?"
Taking the chance to get away, he nodded and headed to the kitchen without a fuss.
Later on, Flitter began to come around and noted her position felt a bit weird. She shook her head and tried to move, but her body stayed there. She looked down and noted she was tied to a chair in the kitchen. Sitting on the other sides were the boys on one side, her sister on the other, and the new girl at the head of the table. Each of them were having a cup of tea before Cloudchaser saw she was awake.
"Well well, have any sweet dreams? Possibly the ones where you're less crazy?" she teased, getting a glare in return. "Sorry about that, but we had to tie you down to make sure you didn't go coo coo again."
"Or make a bigger mess, which we managed to clean up." Thunderlane pointed out before sipping the tea and sighed with a smile.
"That's crazy talk. I'm perfectly sane a-SPIDER!" she screamed when she saw Spider poke itself up from behind Peni's head. She started screaming in fear again and jumped up and down on the chair before her sister sighed and pulled out an airhorn before blaring it in her sister's face.
"Snap out of it sis!"
Flitter's hair blew back and stayed that way, blinking and momentarily dazed while Peni put her cup down and narrowed her eyes at the girl. Everyone felt a shudder down their backs as they swore they saw a fire surrounding the girl who folded her hands together in front of her front.
"I'm not going to repeat myself, so listen VERY closely. If you try anything and I mean ANYTHING to Spider, no matter how tiny or small it might be? And It'll be the least of your concerns. Nobody and I mean NOBODY hurts my friend; do you understand?"
Flitter broke into a cold sweat and gulped, nodding her head quickly with her throat not working due to fear.
Almost instantly, the fire vanished with Peni giving a cheerful smile with closed eyes. "Arigato!"
The rest watched as she resumed sipping her tea with Thunderlane seeing the others not saying a word, so he decided to take the lead.
"Uh, so….uh…Peni? Is it? Could you, you know ... mind filling us in on about you?"
"Well, it's really simple. I'm from another dimension where me and Spider are a superhero who fight bad guys," she replied with a calm and serious tone without snickering or looking like she was messing with them.
"...soooo…not the future."
"Nope."
"Dang it." Thunderlane snapped his fingers with Rumble raising up his hands.
"Wait, wait wait wait…so that portal you came out of, it lead back to your world, right?" he questioned, getting a sad look as she shook her head.
"No, that was a different dimension. It's a long story."
"Wow, a real life superhero." Cloudchaser got out with awe as Peni tilted her head.
"Wait, do you not have those here?"
"Nope."
"So that includes no super villains?"
"Uh uh."
"Um….what about someone with a spider motif?"
"Besides you? Unless you count cosplayers, then no."
"Wow, this is a first for me."
"So if you're a superhero, what's your power?" asked Rumble.
Peni perked up and stood on her chair. "Me and Spider share a psychic link that lets me pilot a mech suit that my father worked on." she replied while Spider raised his front legs up in a sign of pride.
Thunderlane and Cloudchaser went wide-eyed, amazed at the idea of a mech, but kept themselves composed, whereas Rumble did not look too impressed.
"So then where is this mech?"
Peni deflated and sat back down in the seat. "It got destroyed in the other dimension."
Thunderlane and Cloudchaser could see the news was personal to her and really made her down, so they chose to keep quiet. Flitter on the other hand had somehow managed to undo the ropes enough to where she could slip out. Without any of them noticing, she suddenly lunged across the table at Peni, making the girl let out a yelp of surprise and found the bigger girl wrapping her in a hug.
"THAT'S SO SAAAAAD!" Flitter cried out, holding Peni close to her chest. Her initial fear of Spider gone and replaced instead with sadness for the girl who seemed to have the charm of a little puppy that was whimpering.
Peni blinked; confused and surprised given the girl's sudden change in demeanor. She found the position actually warm and comforting, leading to her wrapping her arms around the girl in return. This jogged her mind into realizing she hadn't had a hug with someone who wasn't Spider via the mech from Spider.
The others wanted to say something and maybe pry the over emotional girl off Peni, but Flitter did that herself as she let out a sniffle and let go of the girl before getting off her.
"S-Sorry." she wiped a tear away and walked back to her own chair with Peni managing a nod of understanding, albeit wanting the hug to go on a little bit more.
"So…about the dimension you wound up in? How and why were you in it?" Cloudchaser asked.
"Well, let me try and give you the short version. There was a supervillain who created a supercollider that could open portals to parallel worlds and other dimensions. I was supposed to be sent back to my own world after me and my friends got it running the way we needed it, but since we were more focused on making sure it wasn't destroyed before we got home, we were relying more on hope that we'd find ourselves back home."
As soon as she finished, her eyes widened in horror as a sudden realization struck her.
"OH NO!" she cried out, loud enough to make the rest jump as Peni stood up suddenly. "IT'S GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN!"
"What?! What?! What's gonna happen again?!" Cloudchaser ask back in a raised voice of concern.
"How long was I out for?! Did you see me glitch?!" Peni asked frantically while shaking her body in an exaggerated way to mimic how she felt when her body glitched from being in the wrong dimension.
All four of them looked lost with Thunderlane rubbing his head.
"Glitch? You mean like in a video game?"
"Yes!"
"Uh….I don't know how it works in your world, but nobody glitches." Rumble spoke up. "You've been just fine."
Peni stared at him in confusion and surprise, looking down at her hands and body. "You're sure? Not even a little bit?"
"No, nobody here saw you 'glitch'. You were just unconscious up until you woke up to Flitter going psycho."
'That makes no sense. It should have already happened. Maybe I just haven't stuck around long enough for it to happen yet. Maybe it takes a little longer in this world.'
"Do you have any idea how you can get back to your world?" asked Thunderlane.
Peni sat down and shook her head. "No, not unless you've got access to a super-collider or are secretly super smart where you can rig one up."
"No way, I'm barely passing science." Cloudchaser spoke.
"Not even close." Flitter chimed in.
"I suck at that." Thunderlane tossed in.
"Don't look at me."
"So then….I'm stranded." Peni looked down at her lap, the situation finally settling in. No Mech, no way to open a portal, and having no idea just how different this world is compared to hers. The feeling sunk in and made her bite her lip.
Cloudchaser looked left and right, realizing the mood just got heavy and cleared her throat. "So Peni, where…where will you be staying at while you're here?"
"Heh heh, not really." she rubbed the back of her head with a blush and sweatdrop. "I'm completely lost on what to expect in this dimension, so….any chance I can stay with you?"
"Believe me when I say that my sis and I would LOVE to have you stay with us, we really would, it's just….well our folks might not be too keen on a freeloader sticking around." Cloudchaser poked her fingers together with her sister nodding.
"It doesn't help we maaaaaay have thrown a wild party without them knowing." Flitter tossed in with her own sweatdrop.
"That, and we'd have to work up some kinda believable story for you without them asking too many questions." Cloudchaser finished. "And we really suck at coming up with convincing lies when put on the spot."
"Hence why we don't bother with surprise parties between us." Thunderlane commented offhandedly.
"Oh…." Peni looked like she deflated, like a balloon, which made Thunderlane raise his hand up.
"You could stay in the guest room. I mean, you already technically claimed it when you were asleep, so it's pretty much covered." he turned to Rumble. "How's that sound, bro?"
"Hey, as long as she isn't bothering me, I can put up with her." he replied with a shrug.
"Wait, you're serious?" Peni perked up, her spirits lifting up. "Won't your parents have a problem?"
"Well most of the time they're out of the house and leave me in charge. They're pretty laid back and chill, so they wouldn't really worry if we had a guest stay over. So you're in the clear," he gave a thumbs up and wink.
"Really?!" she perked up with sparkles around her eyes before she jumped up into the air with her fist raised. "YATA! This is great!"
Spider raised his legs up as a sign of joy along with his friend, which Flitter took note of and got a sudden wave of goosebumps and had to keep from grabbing a fork to throw.
"This calls for a celebration toast!" Cloudchaser stood up and held her cup up. "To a new friend."
"To a new friend!" Her sister and Thunderlane raised their cup.
It took Cloudchaser lightly kicking Rumble's leg under the table to coax him. The young man sighs.
"...To a new friend"
They all clink their glasses together before drinking the tea down together.
It was at that moment they heard a ring at the front door.
"Oh! Sounds like the pizza is here. We figured it'd be better to order out tonight." Thunderlane chimed in before Cloudchaser went to the door with Peni shaking her fists at her side with a bright smile.
"Oooh! Pizza!"
"Pass." Rumble raised a hand, making Peni look at him in surprise.
"What? You wanna pass? On pizza!?"
"I'll just have something more healthy. You four can have pizza; I'll just eat by myself in my room."
Peni went slack jawed and stared at him in horror and like he just stepped on Spider.
"Come on guys, let's dig in!" Cloudchaser called out with a small stack of pizza boxes as she went ahead and set them on the coffee table with Flitter, Thunderlane, and Peni eagerly heading into the living room; the space looked much better than it had before with plenty of room around. Meanwhile, Rumble went into the kitchen and proceeded to grab some ingredients
Peni plopped down on the floor before inhaling the fresh pizza scent. She immediately felt her mouth start to drool a little.
But that was when she perked up and felt a sense of…deja vu. Like this was a moment she had experienced in the past. Her eyes widened as a brief memory flew across her eyes.
The memory showed herself, but much much more young, smiling and laughing while leaning against an older man on a couch who smiled and made her feel at ease and safe. He had short brown hair with glasses and was tickling her sides and making her laugh louder and louder.
