Chapter 225 : Spider's parlor

The day had finally arrived for Sarah and her team to receive their official Hero suits, replacing the bland uniforms they had been given as

The day had finally arrived for Sarah and her team to receive their official Hero suits, replacing the bland uniforms they had been given as trainees.

Well, they were still trainees. There was no doubt about that. But the fact that they would now have their own original designs, exclusive to each of them, rather than the default templates of the Union, was proof that they all had come far since they first joined the program. By now, most of the rookie teams would have at least a few members drop out or be kicked out for failing to meet the Union's standards, so their entire little group's continued existence was as much a show of will as it was a sign of their abilities. If one were to ignore the rather unfortunate encounter they had with G433.

Saline had been very explicit in her disapproval of their choices, but she did applaud them for successfully surviving without anyone getting permanently maimed or putting civilians in danger. They had still been punished and reprimanded for disobeying orders and going after an unranked Villain, someone who had the potential to equal some of the greatest powers in the city, of course, but she was kind enough to forgive the slight after... Well, Sarah had a feeling her friends would never ignore the rules like that again, and the murderous robot who almost killed them all wasn't the sole driving force behind this change in attitude.

Luckily, the team healed faster than anticipated. Scareowl and Maledicta still fell behind a bit as they couldn't train for a while, and even afterward they had to take it slow, but it still reassured Sarah to see the crew get back on their feet earlier than the doctors predicted. They were stronger than they thought. And she'd rather have her colleagues at her side, not wasting away in a hospital bed.

At the moment, the whole team - including Maledicta, who mellowed out somewhat and had been warned she might be stuck with one of Arachnanny's original designs if she arrived late - was waiting in the, well, waiting room to the Hero Union's expert seamstress and costume designer. The spider lady also did Hero work, but she was on the older side and was deemed more valuable as support than an active force. If someone saw her out in the streets on duty, she likely was merely chaperoning trainees or helping another Hero for some fashion-related crime. Those were strangely more common than you'd expect, though thankfully still on the rarer side.

Elaimant was sitting on one of the available seats. Or, well, the floating upside-down crystaline pyramid in an iridescent bubble that was the true Elaimant had their scrap-made body sitting on a seat, the material of their current uniform stretching over all the sharp and irregular metal bits. They used the same large number of parts as usual, but following Serpent's training regimen, they had gotten better at manipulating them, which resulted in the magnetic puppet forgoing its usual bulky pseudo-muscular form to a more regular human-sizedn one, with the extra metal that would have normally been hidden in their suit instead serving as a pair of "wings", currently floating above even the real Elaimant's body, hovering close to the wall and ceiling. They weren't too worried about getting a costume, but they did admit they were curious as to what Arachnanny would make to incorporate their unique physical form and the way they used their powers when it came to their humanoid avatar.

Kopper, who had grown somewhat more confident and a little more muscular since their encounter with G433, though he was still on the thinner end of the spectrum, occupied another seat, tapping with one foot nervously as he tried to read one of the provided brochures to calm down. It was strange to see the usually calm young man be this active when nothing was happening, but Sarah had to admit that getting their suits made was... Well, it was a rite of passage. A threshold in their journey to becoming true Heroes and defending the city. She couldn't fault him for the agitation or the droplet of sweat running down the dark skin of his forehead.

Scareowl, for his part, was truly calm in his little corner of the room. He still had to wear a few bandages to help heal any damage left from their big fight, but he had no problem walking or running or flying or dismantling bots. If anything, the restrictions of his convalescence forced him to train even more into that martial art style he had picked up and, following Serpent's recommendations, the owl man was growing better and better at generating gusts of wind with the various parts of his body, including giving them a dangerous cutting edge. He still preferred using his talons for this, but he had grown to realize that he had to be prepared for someone grabbing and immobilizing his legs. He likely was the most excited of the group to finally get something that would fit him, since he'd finally be free of the trainee uniform that, quite frankly, flattened and puffed out his feathers in a very ridiculous way. Sarah was very thankful Maledicta hadn't been more cruel about that, not even before she grew to tolerate the team more.

Speaking of the drow, Maledicta was seated in a corner, too. Though whereas Scareowl was in a corner but still close to the rest of the team, she tried her best to stay as distant as possible. Yes, Maledicta was more and more open to teamwork and trusting her partners as time passed, but she was still a prickly, arrogant... Her. The rest had grown to ignore her hostility and... Well, Sarah wouldn't really say they were friends, but... Seeing Maledicta as a stray cat, mangy and angry and quick to attack, helped. Silently scowling in a corner of the room like she did was her way of socializing, even if she looked like she was planning the murder of everyone else in that room. And Sarah knew she cared too, from the way her remarks weren't as sharp and hostile, just aggressive. And she even gave her a backhanded compliment about their shared performance in the G433 fight! On a side note, the drow had been forced to learn a few tricks, including regular magic spells, so she wouldn't have to drain too much lifeforce for her sacrificial magic like she used to.

Sarah herself was seated between Kopper and Elaimant. She... Well, she was the same as usual. A little nervous too, she'd admit, but not as much as Kopper. She shared his worries and nerves about the importance of this moment in their career, but she preferred to focus on the positive. The white uniform had been a good theme for her light powers, and it'd be a lie to say she'd drop the look altogether even if she felt ridiculous wearing it at first, but this would be the chance to define who she wanted to be as a Hero, to show people her heart and soul. The same way they could tell that her uncle Doug was here to save them from the most dangerous of flames, she'd be a beacon of hope and safety. And she was maybe fangirling a bit about finally meeting Arachnanny. Her semi-retirement from the field and her duties meant it was rare to run into her, so it'd be her first time meeting such a legendary figure in the local community. She'd run into the big three before she did the elderly Hero!

And finally, there was Glicer Glitter. The short, fiery redhead was... How to say... Sarah would have liked to say that the youngest and most chaotic member of the group was behaving for once, that the near-death experience with the assimilating machine had quelled her childish, though friendly behavior... It would all be a lie. Mostly. Glicer had shown she could take things seriously when required, as she demonstrated in their last fight, but if anything, the reminder that her friends might not be here tomorrow just prompted her to try and have even more fun when it wouldn't pose problems, at least problems too big to ignore or gloss over. Uncle Doug had admitted that while most groups just got assigned whatever Legion was closest for classes, their robot had been the same every time to preserve the rest from the glittery curse that had befallen it.

No, while the rest of the crew was occupying seats calmly, even if a little nervous in some cases, Glicer was instead jumping all over the place, parkouring on the furniture and walls. She called it training when the others complained, and the fact was that no one would be able to grab and stop her without making a mess, something she miraculously avoided doing on her own so far. So, they elected to just wait for her to tire herself out.

Even if she was being very annoying right now.

And, as though hearing their shared thoughts, at last, granting them mercy, the large double doors to Arachnanny's workshop opened with cute little squeaks, revealing the genius costume worker in all her eight-legged glory.

Arachnanny was better known as Arachlady back in her youth. A drider with a large and powerful spider body, black as night, topped by a pale Amazonian human upper half, with hair red as blood and a confidence few could match. She was one of the big Heroes of her time, and many of her contemporary Villains, now too old for schemes and crimes, now had a healthy amount of arachnophobia wired into their brains. Of course, that was decades ago, and this description no longer matched the kind old lady smiling at them.

For one, gone were the muscles and physique of her youth. The human upper half now had wrinkles, was overweight, had supposedly lost height since her glory days, and looked more at home on a grandma than a mighty warrior, which made a lot of sense, really. Her skin had darkened somewhat with age, and Sarah could spot many age spots and blemishes, along with the beginning of a few scars on her chest, though those were hidden by her cute frilly light minty green sundress. The wild red hair was gone, replaced by a grey bun. Her eyes, all eight of them, once said to be burning with power and bravery, were now barely visible behind thick round glasses, all eight lenses joined in a singular contraption with web-like wiring.

Yes, there was no more crazed grin on those lips from which poked out chelicerae dripping with venom in the thick of the action, instead replaced by a warm smile. The chelicerae were still there, but the fangs weren't as obvious, and they were no longer involved with any toxic substance. And, like the rest of the woman's chitinous part, the intimidating black of the past had faded somewhat, becoming a duller dark grey. Sarah was fairly certain regular spiders didn't change color as they aged, but she was no expert, and the Heroin wasn't a mundane arachnid either. 

One thing Sarah did know was that some drider groups had full-on spider heads at the front of their lower body, while others only had smooth chitin there. Arachnanny fell into the second category, or at least Sarah assumed so because of the way the elder's sundress was so long and cut in a diagonal way to cover it. If it were her, she wouldn't do something like this if she had a second head under there. That'd be uncomfortable.

"Well, hello there, darlings. Sorry for making you wait for so long. Someone had the bright idea to start putting metal contraptions on one of my creations without preemptively telling me of their intentions. Again."

Her voice was warm and gentle, even as she complained about another Hero. If anything, the way she was retelling it was closer to a grandparent sharing an anecdote about a grandchild trying to do a grown-up thing and messing up, there was some exasperation beneath it all, yes, but there was also amusement and, more importantly, love.

"So? Time for you all to get your first costumes. I hope you took the time to think about what you'd like. Don't be afraid to tell me everything. I need to understand your preferences, even if they can't always be accommodated, to know the garment to make for you. And to prepare for any more technological gadgets you might like to have. I don't mind preparing a space for a grappling hook on your arm if you just tell me about it, ideally with measurements."

She paused as she looked around the room, staring at each of the trainees for a long moment. Her smile grew a little wider.

"Oh, we have a very unusual case today, I see. I can't wait to hear about your preferences, my crystalline friend. But I feel your avian friend may appreciate going first instead."

"Affirmation: Scareowl should go first, agreed."

"Delightful! Scareowl, was it? Come on, join me inside. Tell Granny Arachnanny everything you want or dislike about your suit. You can't be your best heroic self if you don't like your Hero attire!"