Chapter Four: Sirens
Some would say Tabitha Smith had been having too much fun as of late, she and some of the kids from Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted had been… teaming up. It seemed odd to say since she had been actually calling them X-geeks recently, but things change. She had lived with them once it turned out not to be the place for her, currently, her residence was a place called the Brotherhood House, it was kind of a dump. But that was primarily because several of the residents' lacked complete control of their powers. Not that she was any better.
Honestly, some days she would get out of bed only to realize she had sent out a few plasma orbs in the middle of the night due to her frequent nightmares.
Today she was strolling into 'Young's Electronic and Repair Shop' with her broken MP3 player. It was the latest victim of her night terrors, she had gone through many clothes due to those dreams and this time it was even worse than just messing up a sweater. Because it was her MP3 player. To most, It would be just an old and very much outdated MP3, but it was one of the only things she had left from her mother.
Tabitha knew she had to deal with her nightmares at some time but... she didn't know-how. She hated thinking about how helpless she felt in them, but the only thing she found that helped was alcohol and good old fashioned denial. Music seemed to soothe her savage emotions so being without her music was a major drag. Although tonight she intended to have a real blast with the girls, but come tomorrow she could really use her music back.
She noticed the blonde-haired guy working behind the counter was really too cute to for in a place like this.
'Lucky for me.' Tabitha internally thought.
"Oh hey, handsome! Do you suppose you could fix this for me?" She set the player on the counter it had a large crack on the screen from the impact. Luckily, it hadn't been directly hit with her orb or it would have been totally fried.
Ben looked up from the order guide on the computer screen absentmindedly. He had been designing a new project using old web-shooter designs as a base, he would need some fancy electronics to make it work. Presently he filed it away and turned his full attention to his customer. She was a pretty blond-headed girl. Her curls were cut short and she had it pulled back with a headband.
Her full lips were hung in a flirty smile and she was leaning against the counter causing her breasts to pop up a little.
"Well let's take a look...'' He examined the device, trying but failing to keep from looking down at her well-sized chest. Clearing his throat, he finished his inspection and nodded. ''Should be easy enough."
"Great! Can I come back to pick it up, let's say in... a couple of hours maybe? I've got a few things I wanna do."
"No problem. If you'll just fill out this slip.'' He printed up a form. ''Miss...?" Ben probed.
"Tabitha Smith... But my friends like to call me 'Boom Boom'...!" She winked flirtingly.
"Let me guess... You're the shy, introverted one in your family?"
Tabby let out a laugh. "Yep! That's me! Just a wallflower." She grinned and signed the paperwork. ''I should be back in a couple of hours or so if that's okay."
"I'm sure I'll have it ready by then." Reilly nodded.
"Well until then... Ciao cutie..." Tabby walked out.
Ben smiled and shook his head. That might just be the most dangerous person I meet today... Hopefully. He mused to himself as he contemplated tonight's test run...
A Few Hours Later...
In his attic bedroom, Ben Reilly slipped into his new costume. It was not exactly a simple task to maintain the spider motif and functionality of his ...err Parker's original design without ending up with something all too indistinguishable from the same... Or looking completely stupid. His first couple of designs had simply looked well... Just wrong. He was reminded of the time Peter was attempting to come up with his original costume, it was honestly just a pain. His next few designs looked just too much like Spider-Man's costume. Plain and simple. So he decided to go back to the basics. First, he removed the 'webbing' pattern from the suit, then enlarged the eyes a bit.
The new suit was deep crimson in color on both arms and legs, on the torso he attached a blue vest with a large black spider design on the chest and his favorite part was a hood that covered his head. His new web-shooters were now worn outside of the outfit and were larger than the previous ones. Each cartridge now held considerably more web fluid, which added some additional weight to the suit. It might still be a work in progress, but he felt satisfied as he checked himself over in a standing mirror he had inside his room. Sliding open the lone window to the attic he swung off into the night.
At approximately the same time on the other side of town, five teenage girls dressed in black leather and sunglasses gathered to plot out their strategy for the night. Tabitha had 'borrowed' Lance's jeep and Jean, Kitty, Amara and Rouge sat comfortably inside. They had been having nightly meetings for roughly a week and the routine wasn't really something Tabitha was really in favor of, she really just wanted to go out and get some action. But she liked the girls enough not to complain about it too much.
At the Brotherhood House, it was mostly boys that lived there so she felt outnumbered for the most part. Quicksilver had also started to get on Tabitha's nerves lately, he has been acting as if because he was the son of the leader Magneto he was in charge. So she didn't really mind getting away from there, and she was really starting to bond with the x-girls.
Kitty pulled out her Blackberry and called up a map of Bayville.
"This looks like a good place to start." She pointed to a spot in the downtown. It had become rundown in recent years due in most part to many of the old mainstream stores coming in and closing the mom and pop shops, and the recent recession had finished them off. The big retailers opening in the suburbs had left rows of abandoned outlets, which gave the criminal underground a chance to come in and swipe these older places for their own purposes. The mayor had been promising to rebuild the downtown for years but it stood neglected and overrun. Now the Sirens planned to help take it back.
Jean nodded. "I like it. Let's go.''
The next morning Ben awoke to the sound of an alarm going off way too early for his taste. The night had been moderately productive he supposed. A mugger, a couple of purse-snatchers. A carjacker. It had been a good night field testing his new gear and it had held up quite well. He would need to learn a bit more about Bayville's criminal undercurrents but it was a start.
"Might as well turn on the news..." He mused clicking on the remote as he poured himself a bowl of cereal.
"Good Tuesday Morning Bayville! Its 7:05 November 30th and the morning's top story is a fantastic and thrilling tale of a group of mysterious crimefighters that are being called the 'Bayville Sirens' by local authorities. Also, it's being reported that there are sightings of New York's vigilante hero Spider-man. When asked to comment, Bayville's Chief of Police had this to say...''
The picture went to a press briefing on the steps of Police Headquarters...
"This city cannot tolerate vigilante justice no matter how well-intentioned. These individuals must cease their activities or be arrested."
"Chief! What about the Spider? Is the Spider now operating in Bayville? Is there a connection with the Sirens?"
"At this time everything we have is merely spec..."
Johnny Turreno clicked off the TV in annoyance. "I don't care if the damned Avengers are in Bayville! This is my town! Nicky! Call all the boys in! We're gonna teach these broads a lesson and if the Spider gets in our way then we'll just have to do some bug squashing on the side..."
"Will do boss!" Nicky said as she went to her desk. Nicky smirked at Turreno's outburst if the Avengers did show up in this town he would be the first to hightail it out of this place. She doubted if he could handle these so-called 'Sirens' let alone an actual Superhero. 'It might be time for new employment.' She internally thought.