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across-the-web · 10 months

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Into the Artie-verse (pt 1)

Getting to know Artemis before the Spider-Verse

• name is Artemis, has a twin brother named Artem, who (in some other universe) was meant to be his world's spider-man. But in the current universe their world is in, Artemis is bit by a spider on her fourteenth birthday, when her brother screamed at the site of the thin-legged spider that was on his paper-plate, flinging the spider onto Artie's cheek, where she was bit, before she smacked herself in the face, ultimately killing the spider. (Sad.)

• Artie was shocked - angry at her brother for flinging the spider her way (what a wuss), but mainly traumatized when she realised that there was a dead spider on her face. And yeah she killed it, but she didn't realise that because all she could think of was - spider guts - on my face - in my mouth (it wasnt) - EWEWEWewewewew!

• Artie barely noticed her powers that manifested - in truth, she did notice the difference in her horrible eyesight, but attributed it to hormones and, ugh, puberty.

• needless to say, she kind of liked puberty, if it meant getting abs overnight - she always liked to shove that in her twin's face, that she was stronger than him, but... her boasting only landed her in the labs getting her bloods drawn and tested for drugs - well, steroids, because surely, early-morning runs could NOT lead to the development of abs.

• it's safe to say that Artie's blood showed no levels of steroids taht could make her buff - though, the family doctor did note that her white blood cell count was high, which was indicative of an infection in the body, and having noted that the spider bite on her cheek had went down with little issue, the doctor only prescribed her a short course of antibiotics, and told her to come in for another blood test after a week. Artie, like so many people, didn't complete her course of antibiotics, and, feeling better than well, didn't end up going to to doctor. (She never saw the doctor again. Not because he died, no, but because she never needed to see a doctor - unlike her brother, who suffered from asthma, like her, but she didn't have an episode since... forever.)

• regardless, Artie only realised her strengths and powers when she tried to climb the bricked wall of the house her parents were in the process of buying when they were moving to Ireland. (First, Artie and her family moved to Ireland, that was around a week or two after she got bitten, because her dad's work placed him there. Then when Artie finished her schooling in Ireland, she moved back home, South Africa, for the holidays, before deciding she'd like to see the America's, and moved to Manhattan or Boston or wherever they offer some cool sciencey-pharmacological-ceutics university thingies. I'm not editing this. My brain is hectic.)

• during her stay in America, Artie found herself held at mig-point on more than one occasion. But hey, she was a South African, and she didn't really worry or frighten easily - how could she, when she could so easily kick a villain into the next soccer field? So, Artie, at the encouragement of her roommate (who had witnessed Artie easily kick the ass of the mugger into the next universe), told her and filled her head with fun ideals of becoming a superhero. And, also, it didn't help that Artie wanted a distraction from whatever she was studying... and not to mention, she needed a little something more engaging that watching Netflix when she wanted to Procrastinate. So, being a Superhero it is! Or was. But whatever, it was going to be fun.

• turns out, being a superhero was not fun - especially when she wanted to do the right thing, but there were both good, and corrupt police chasing her (and the criminal she was pursuing) down. So, instead of being a superhero, Artie decided to call herself a vigilante, and her room-mate (her name was Cas) was ecstatic because the whole vibes of a Vigilante being named Lady of the Night, was way better than the vibes of a Superhero having that name. (Artie only accepted and used that name because, keeled over with laughter, she said it made her sound like she was calling herself a whore in fancy terms. Her brother thought so too - but, he didn't know that she was the Lady of the Night.)

• life was fun, she supposed, when she didn't really try her best to be a hero, or a student, and instead did what felt like fun - like sitting on the roof of a police car while in a chase (She was the one they were chasing - the police car, but they didn't realize she was on their roof, and Artie shooting strings of web, here and there to buildings didn't help the poor police officers.)

• but Uni was beginning to wear her down, and her friend had gotten a little loose with her tongue at the various parties she attended, spilling bots about Artie's night life, here and there, leading to some complicated issues for Artie. (Of course, they didn't suspect Artie to be the actual vigilante that came alive only at night, but rather, they thought she was a slut- a whore, someone with little to no respect for herself. And so, they treated her that way. Which only led to Artie punching them square in their faces, or twisting their wrist and breaking their thumbs - because thumbs were important.)

• but that only led her to getting in trouble with the dean, which led to her getting expelled. Clearly, her good days were over, and her parents, who didn't know much about her university life, only the little that they learnt from her brother (that she was tired and woke up late and got into fights mostly with people on campus), were worried for her and told ehr to come home. (They thought she was on drugs, and while her father believed it would be a phase, her mother demanded that she come home and go speak to them - and if not them, then a therapist.)

• and Artie was a student who on a very, very tight pocket (because she mostly needed bandages and alcohol wipes for when she came back from a fight - and even spandex or latex or exercise tights, which, were expensive, by the way. But she tried to make them last, by patching up the stretches and holes with her web, which was organic and sturdy, so long as she was well-hydrated. But then too, groceries were expensive, and Artie, who usually forgot to eat unless her alarms or enemies reminded her - by kicking her ass when she fought them - found herself having to eat huge amounts of food in order for her powers to properly function.)

• so, going home sounded like a good idea - sleeping for free with a roof above her head, not having to worry about there being food on the table after a very, very long day at uni, and then a very long night ahead of crime fighting, and not to mention, being treated with care (and like a baby) while she went for therapy, which, she assumed, her parents would pay for? Well, Artie couldn't have asked for a better break.

• but it wasn't as good as it sounded. Her mother gave her chores. Her father sat on her head about what she wanted to do with her life - and the both of them? Well, they wanted her to actually go to therapy, not just give her the money for it. So life became hectic, and Artie found herself becoming depressed, because in all honesty, those people, with all their insults and rude insinuations, deserved way more than blackened eyes, broken noses or fractured thumbs - and she deserved way less than expulsion. Yeah, maybe a probation or suspension, but an expulsion? No way.

• so at the advice of her brother (Artem, who she rarely ever listened to, because they were twins), Artie went to therapy. And she held nothing back - especially, being a person over eighteen years old (she was around twenty two years old, in the last year of her studies), whatever she told the therapist could not be told to anyone, because breach of doctor-patient-confidentialoty would obviously cause issues for the doctor. And Artie... who told ehr therapist, Dr Zinkerman, that by day, she was a struggling university student, but by night, she was a vigilante who tried to do good.

• So Dr Zinkerman was pretty cool, even when Artie threatened him with harm if anyone found out her secret identity, and they worked well together, with Artie listening to his advice, and Dr Zinkerman listening to her problems. They become something sort of friends - comfortable, the two of them, because Artie hadn't told anyone, besides her roommate, what her secret identity was,not even her twin, and yet she ended up telling Dr Zinkerman in a moment of, "I just need to get this off of my chest and you're contractually bound not to open your mouth to anyone else, so..."

• so they became friends, and Dr Zinkerman knew some people at the university that she went to, and because they were friends, and Dr Zinkerman had no kids, he decided to make Artie his nepo baby, and managed to get her a place in the university. Of course, there were strings attached, what with Artie having to get a certain grade in all of her modules (which honestly made Artie want to die), among other things, but Artie was grateful, especially since it meant going back to America, where the crime was rife, and Artie found much purpose in her alter-ego.

• her therapy sessions still continued, even when she reached the age of twenty five, and she completed her degree, and decided to work as a locum in a pharmacist (or I can't remember what she studied but she studied something nice where she could choose her working hours), which was perfect, because that meant she had enough time of the day to herself, and enough time of the night to kick ass.

• but the good stuff didn't take that long to last... because Artie found herself competing for a job that offered better pay and privileges, against her old roommate. Safe to say, Artie didn't get the job, and she had a feeling it was because her roommate brought up her old Uni records of punching a couple of guys and then getting expelled. Artie was not pleased. And she was partly Irish, so she declared war on her roommate... (and by war, I mean, Artie threatened her not so subtly, which led to more issues.)

• her roommate exposed who she was - Artie whatever her last name was, was actually the troublesome vigilante, the Lady of the Night.

• shit hit the fan, and Artie managed to get another law-fighting superhero to take on her case, when no one wanted to, because, well, Artie wasn't sure... maybe it had to do with the fact that the last time she fought some bad guys, she accidently caused more harm than good, when a tanker of acid or toxins fell in and poisoned a body of water. Yeah, Artie hated herself for a good while after that, and gave up fighting crime... before she spoke about it in therapy, and when Dr Zinkerman had her come up with a list of Pro's and Con's of being a superhero-slash-vigilante, she was asked if it was better to be the only person to help someone in need, or was it better to be among the people who turned a blind eye to a person in need.

• and while Artie didn't quite like people in general, she had a soft spot for people in need... so, she decided to say fuck off to her old roommate... and she went to court.

• but then her brother pitched up in court on the day she was meant to present herself - wearing her... suit? Which confused her greatly, until he started speaking in a very effeminate voice. He (somehow knew her identity? And while he was pissed off at her, afterwards, for having kept it from him, he) saved her life that day, proving that she was, in fact, NOT the slinging lady of the night, and was 9n fact, just your regular Boston/New Yorm/American citizen. (Of course, her brother got arrested, and was taken to the county prison, but he was broken out by some friends of his from Hell's Kitchen - or, well, rather than being broken out, he was actually kidnapped. Which led to Artie having to save him.)

• she had a somewhat good life after that, learning what it meant to be a superhero, and what it meant to NOT be a vigilante, even though she was more inclined to being a lawless person, she found that there was something sweeter to being called a superhero... while there was something equally spicy in being called a vigilante. (Her brother actually told her that if she was both, which she was, then that would make her an anti-hero, but she ignored him on that, as she did most things.)

• her being a vigilante/anti-hero didn't save her from the heart ache that came from being a superhero. She lost some friends (her asshole roommate was someone she did not count among them), and lost some mentors (the nice police officer who she was so sure knew her identity, but didn't tell anyone, only giving her hints and tips regarding... well, crime-fighting and er - life? - in general) and, afraid she was going to lose some family too, Artie kept them all at arm's length.

• but her brother listened to her only as much as she listened to him, which led him to nearly losing his life on plenty occasions, before the most recent one, where he was being choked by a thing piece of iron, led to him losing his voice, and uh, nearly his head.

• Artem ended up helping Artie from the shadows, then, making her a smart-watch with neat tracking/map apps that he create, because he was one of those nerdy, tech-ish genius characters, who like, hacked into NASA for fun. (Except, he didn't hack into NASA, that was a little too scary for him - but, he did hack into the police department and managed to listen into each of their calls, whenever he could, notifying Artie as fast as he could using the watch he made her.)

• the two of them decided it was okay like that - rarely ever meeting in person in the day, or at night, only ever conversing through video calls, because Artem himself had beef with the gangs from the poorer parts of wherever they lived. (Something about... Artem accidently stealing drugs or money from them? And not being able to pay it back because he used it all up? But apparently, it wasn't Artem, and was some other guy who looked - or, well, was dressed eerily like him.)

• now anyways, clearly, the losses that Artie faced in life (turns out her roommate wasn't one of her friends who died... she just fell out of grace with her, which was, sad, that she wasn't dead, and still alive, unlike a few close friends of Artie's), had an impact on her relationship with people. She became afraid of becoming too close to people - forming attachments, because any more losses of the ones she was attached to, would have sent her over the edge. And she was nearly sent over the edge every time the officer she was friendly-ish with, nearly die, from like, a gun-shot wound, or getting driven over, or getting pushed off a bridge for some fucked up reason.

• so Artie ended up a little lonely, only getting a cat and a bird, (an African grey, because they could speak), who got into the worst of fights, which made Artie a somewhat expert in breaking them up... I say somewhat because she mostly ended up covered in pecked skin and scratch marks and some patches of where hair used to sit on her head -

• (the African grey actually once clawed at her eye, missing it narrowly, but drawing enough blood that she was taken to the emergency room by her angry neighbour, because cats and birds were NOT allowed, which led to her getting stitched across her brow and brow-bone. Artie was sad, because she used to cover only half of her face with a mask, but now, the scar would give the police a better idea of who she was... so she either had to cover the top half of her face, or the entire thing... which Artie wasn't too keen on doing, so she just changed her mind and made a bunch of different type of face masks to match her mood for the day.)

• the most common types of criminals that Artie took to dealing with were the petty criminals (at the start of her career), but then, it escalated to bank/heists, and then kidnappings, where people were held for ransom. She decimated them, always, which was probably why the police didn't like her very much - but the people she helped... they liked her, enough that they made a donation box in her name - donation for what, to where? She wasn't sure, never daring to go near it in case it was a trap by... someone else.

• but still, Artie felt nice that there were some people who liked her, strangers, who wouldn't get hurt if she let herself get attached to them from afar.

• the other types of criminals she dealt with weren't necessarily - well, they weren't people who she'd call her main enemies. Rather, they were enemies of other heroes, who, when hearing they were in a scuffle or a fight (mostly in the early hours of the morning, when Artie wanted to get some extra hours of sleep, but couldn't because of all of that unholy noise), she decided to enter it and silence them both. (She didn't kill them, but just hurt the both of them enough so that they could shut up, before telling them resume their fight in the waking hours.)

• of course, that didn't always work out well for her, because there were certain bad guys that didn't take to getting beaten up very easily... especially by a mouthy girl like her - so, she often decided to actually team up with other heroes (or vigilantes, because they did some illegal stuff too), to bring the bad guys down. Most of the time it worked. And when it didn't work, Artie mostly found taht she'd have to drag her bloodied, tired, war-torn body, along with a whole other one, away from the fight and to safer grounds, where they could rest, and heal - and where the other battered hero/vigilante could convince Artie to help bring down the bad guy, when she moved to leave.

• and, well, that was who she was - a person who started fights, took part in fights, ended fights. A person who sadly knew the reality of being a hero, and what it meant to save and lose someone. She wasn't a villain, she wasn't a hero. But she was (a villain/a hero) when she eneded to be. And Artie was alright with that. If it made the world a better, safer place, then she was alright with that. She could live with it. She had to, because if she had powers - actual powers - and didn't use it to change her life (or another person's), then what was the use of being given it at all?

#wip: into the artie-verse #artie-verse #pt 1 #artie-verse part 1 #oc: artemis #oc: artie #oc: artem #oc: art #spiderman across the spiderverse

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