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"Target located?"
Hearing those words, Robin's heart skipped a beat. She tensed her entire body, trying with all her might to wrench her hand from the mysterious man's grasp. However, his palm felt like it was forged from solid iron; it didn't budge an inch.
Terror coloring her voice, Robin demanded, "What do you want!?"
"I just want to ask you a few questions. Please, cooperate with us," Luke said politely. His gaze remained fixed on the hand Robin had shoved into her pocket. Seeing that she hadn't had the chance to pull out the superpower medicine, he let out a silent sigh of relief.
He didn't want to witness another person's body exploding after consuming that volatile drug. She was currently the only lead they had left to follow.
Robin's fear turned to anger. "I don't know anything! Let go of me! Or else... I won't be polite!"
"I'm sorry, Miss," Luke replied earnestly. "This matter is extremely important. It concerns the lives of many people."
"I really don't know anything!" Robin lied, her voice cracking as she put on a pitiful facade. She looked up at Luke and pleaded, "Please, just let me go. I'm just a young girl who doesn't know anything about anything."
Luke shook his head firmly. "It will only be a few simple questions."
At that moment, three figures emerged from the shadows of the night.
As Robin saw them approach, her eyes widened with pure dread. Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and the Dark Demon... that meant the person holding her was...
She looked at him again, confirming Luke's identity. It was Purge!
These were the superheroes whose names had been rising in fame recently.
Superheroes... they found me!
No! I have to get away! If I get caught, it's all over! If I'm gone, who will pay for my mother's treatment?
Robin gritted her teeth. Before Luke's startled eyes, she opened her mouth and crunched down on the superpower pill she had been hiding under her tongue.
A burst of light, resembling a golden nebula, bloomed within Robin's mouth.
Luke's pupils contracted as he cursed under his breath, "Dammit!"
The golden light surged through Robin's veins, illuminating her body from within as a bizarre transformation took hold.
In the next second, she let out a piercing scream. A pair of black wings erupted from her back. Her hands and feet twisted into sharp, predatory talons, and patches of black feathers began to sprout across her face.
"Screee!"
With a shrill cry, her strength surged. She violently threw Luke aside, and with a powerful beat of her wings, she launched herself into the sky, fleeing at high speed.
"I'll go after her!" Harry barked. His flight glider roared, spewing flames as he prepared to give chase.
"Wait!"
Gwen quickly blocked Harry's path. She shot a web at Luke, who had also stepped onto a flight glider, stopping him in his tracks. "Don't chase her!"
The two looked at Gwen with confusion written all over their faces.
Peter sighed, explaining, "Don't push her too hard. If she panics and swallows a large amount of the drug, what happened last time will happen again."
Luke and Harry realized their mistake.
"But I didn't have time to plant a tracker on her," Luke said, sounding frustrated.
"It's fine," Gwen said with a knowing smile. "I already know who she is."
"Huh?" The others looked at her in surprise.
Gwen pondered for a moment. "When I heard her name earlier, I thought of someone. Now that I've seen her face, it confirms my suspicion."
"Who is she then?" Luke asked impatiently.
"Robin. She works at the supermarket closest to us—the cashier who loves to sing," Gwen explained with a grin.
"How come I don't remember her?" Luke looked completely bewildered.
"Because you don't go grocery shopping often," Gwen said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go straight to her house."
The three nodded and followed Gwen as they quickly disappeared into the night.
On the other side of the city, Robin—now a demi-harpy—was flying at top speed after escaping the scene.
While flying was usually an exhilarating experience, she felt no joy now. She was in a state of pure panic.
The superheroes had found her. She was ruined.
Her only thought was to get home and hide. She knew this business was dangerous, but she never imagined it would attract the attention of superheroes.
Superheroes! Those were actual superheroes!
This was the closest she had ever been to them, yet she had somehow become their enemy. Honestly, she was even a fan of Spider-Man.
Shaking her head to clear the chaotic thoughts, Robin timed her remaining strength and landed near her home just as the transformation began to fade.
Seconds later, the power vanished, and she reverted to her normal self.
Looking at her clawed hands as they returned to human form, Robin felt a shiver of fear. Why is my power this? It's so ugly.
Moreover, her clothes and shoes were ruined. Does every transformation have to be this wasteful? Robin looked at her tattered clothes with a pang of regret, checked her surroundings, and hurried toward her apartment.
Once inside, she locked the door and pressed a hand against her racing heart, feeling utterly exhausted. Today was the first time she had ever faced something like this.
"Is that you, Robin?" a weak voice called out.
Robin rubbed her numb legs and quickly replied, "It's me!"
She headed toward her own room, but the moment she pushed the door open, she froze as if struck by lightning.
Four people were sitting in her room. The moment she opened the door, all four of them turned to look at her in unison.
She nearly fainted on the spot.
"You're back, Miss Robin," Gwen said, standing up with a slight smile on her face.
Robin took two steps back, the urge to bolt nearly overwhelming her. But then, she thought of her mother. Her legs felt as if they were rooted to the ground, unable to move.
"Let's talk. You wouldn't want your mother to know what you've been doing, would you?" Gwen spoke softly, as if reading Robin's mind.
Robin took a deep breath, stepped into her room, and closed the door behind her. "What do you want to know?"
She had no choice.
Gwen pointed to a chair opposite her and smiled gently. "Relax, Robin. I know your situation."
Robin blinked in surprise as Gwen continued. "You're a good girl. You work three jobs a day for your sick mother. You love to sing, but you gave up your dream for her. Even what you're doing now is just to raise money for her treatment."
Robin bit her lip and remained silent. The Spider-Woman was right, but what shocked her was how detailed her information was.
Then, Gwen's tone shifted. "But do you realize that the things you're selling are hurting others?"
Robin gave a bitter laugh. "I have no other way. My mom doesn't have much time left. I can't just stand by and watch her die."
"So, if your mother's illness was taken care of, you'd stop doing this, right?"
Solve her mother's illness? Robin looked at Gwen in shock. A spark of hope ignited within her, and she became visibly agitated.
"That's right. If you cooperate with us, I will help you purchase the cancer treatment medicine."
If Gwen remembered correctly, Future Tech had recently released a drug for it. Because the production cost was high, the price was quite expensive.
"Do you know how much that medicine costs? You..."
Robin stopped herself. This was the only chance she had; she couldn't let them change their minds. They were superheroes, after all—they wouldn't go back on their word... right?
Thinking quickly, Robin said, "The medicine is given to me by a man named Newt. He's responsible for distributing the drugs to people like us. As for who he works for, I don't know. I've only been doing this for two weeks."
"Good," Gwen nodded. "Can you take us to find him?"
Robin shook her head. "He only contacts us when it's time to distribute the drugs. The location is different every time."
"When is the next time?"
"In five days. He distributes the drugs once a week," Robin answered obediently.
Gwen and the others exchanged looks and nodded.
"Alright, we'll stay in touch." Gwen left her contact information and took down Robin's number.
"Besides that, is there anything else you can tell us?" Gwen asked, testing the waters.
They weren't going to spend five days just waiting. They would try to find the source.
Robin thought for a moment. "I remember Newt mentioning something about 'Genesis,' but I don't know what it means."
That didn't tell them much.
Gwen looked helpless but said, "Let us know if you hear anything."
Of course, they wouldn't fully trust Robin yet. They would keep an eye on her for the next few days.
Robin nodded quickly. "Okay! I'll notify you as soon as I have news."
She paused, looking a bit embarrassed. "The medicine..."
"Once this is over, I'll buy it for you," Harry said casually, his tone dripping with the confidence of someone with deep pockets.
A smile involuntarily crept onto Robin's face. "Thank you so much!"
"No, you should thank yourself," Gwen said. If Robin weren't fundamentally a good person, Gwen wouldn't have considered helping her.
"By the way, where are the rest of the drugs?" Gwen asked.
Robin pulled a vial from her pocket. It was about half full.
"There are fifty pills in a bottle. He gave me three bottles. Besides this one, I have two more." Robin pulled two more vials from under her bed. "He said he only gives me three bottles at a time unless my sales reach a certain amount. Only then can I get more from him."
Gwen took the half-empty bottle. "I'll take this for research. You keep the rest. Over the next few days, you need to act normal, like nothing happened. Understand?"
"Understood!" Robin nodded, though she looked a bit pained as she watched the half-bottle of medicine go. Those drugs had cost her a lot of money.
However, thinking of the promise the four heroes had made, she could only bear the loss in silence.
"Be careful with your actions in the coming days. The police have already noticed you," Gwen warned. Robin nodded in surprise as Gwen led Peter and the others out the window, quickly vanishing.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, the group took turns watching Robin. She didn't do anything unusual; she followed Gwen's instructions and lived her life normally.
She worked her jobs and sold the drugs...
However, Gwen and the others made note of every person she sold to. Once the mission was over, they would go back and retrieve any unused pills.
According to the schedule, tonight was the night Newt would distribute more drugs to Robin and the others.
"Distribute" wasn't exactly accurate; it was more like a wholesale pickup. Robin and the others were the distributors, while Newt was the middleman.
While Gwen and the others waited, Robin finally sent them the address. The team, who had been stationed nearby, immediately moved out.
Robin walked through the darkness, humming a cheerful tune. Her mood was entirely different from the first time she had met Newt. With four superheroes backing her up, her sense of security was through the roof!
Moreover, she felt like a partner of justice now. She was acting for the greater good.
It felt completely different!
Robin happily hummed her song as she reached the rendezvous point. Ignoring the odd looks from others who thought she looked like an idiot, she warmly greeted a few other distributors before walking into a very ordinary-looking bar.
Meanwhile, in a dark corner not far from the bar, Peter whispered to the others, "Robin's inside. I need to follow her."
"I'm coming with you!" Gwen said, sliding down from above Peter on a strand of webbing.
Peter nodded. The two of them were agile and could infiltrate silently, rivaling any top-tier secret agent.
"Luke and I will wait outside for backup," Harry said. He and Luke were stationed on the roof of a nearby building. If Gwen needed them, they could strike at a moment's notice.
"Robin's surveillance feed is normal. The bar is a bit loud, but I'll keep you updated on her status," Mary Jane said calmly from the command van, her face flushing slightly at some of the sights flashing on her screens.
"Copy that. Peter and I are moving in!"
Gwen nodded to Peter. The two of them leaped, swinging on webs to land silently on the bar's roof. Moving like large spiders and utilizing their spider-senses to remain undetected, they slipped into the dimly lit bar. Guided by Mary Jane, they made their way toward Robin's location.
Finally, they caught sight of the man Robin had called Newt.
Newt had multi-colored dyed hair and a nose ring. The duo didn't alert him yet; they were there to ensure Robin's safety first.
Once Robin had successfully received her share of the drugs according to plan, she pushed the door and left the VIP room. Just as Newt was preparing to let the next person in, two figures flashed into the room with blinding speed.
Before Newt could even process what was happening or let out a scream, a thick clump of white webbing was plastered over his mouth.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
As his cries were muffled in his throat, two more bursts of expanding webbing hit him, wrapping his entire body into a thick, white cocoon.
(End of Chapter)