6 Web Shooters

A month and a half had passed since the tournament, and currently, Abella was in her room as she was on the verge of completing her web shooters.

On a wide table lay various pieces of equipment and materials needed to create Abella's web shooters. Resting on makeshift stands were twin devices designed to wrap around her wrists.

Crafted from stainless steel, the spinneret mechanisms were responsible for expelling the web fluid. The turbine component, which compressed the web fluid, was shaped from a Teflon block known for its low friction. Supporting the turbine, the turbine bearings were constructed from amber and artificial sapphire to minimize friction.

The wristlets housing the web shooters and cartridges containing the web fluid were mainly composed of nickel-plated annealed brass for strength and flexibility. They featured sharp steel nipples to puncture the bronze caps when cartridges were inserted.

The hand-wound solenoid-needle valve on each web shooter was activated by a palm switch, safeguarded by a spring steel band requiring a 65-pound pressure to activate. Positioned high on Abella's palm to minimize accidental firings, the switch required a double tap from her middle and third fingers to prevent misfires. A small battery compartment was shielded by a rubber seal.

Finally, the web shooters were lined with black leather for Abella's comfort and support. With the physical construction of the web shooters completed, Abella focused on perfecting the web fluid.

The web fluid is a shear-thinning liquid that remains solid until compressed, or sheared, and then forced under pressure through the spinneret holes, undergoing cold-drawing, a process that stretches it and increases its tensile strength fourfold. It is then extruded into the air, where it solidifies. On contact with air, the long-chain polymer knits and forms an extremely tough, flexible fiber with extraordinary adhesive properties.

As the web fluid emerges from the spinneret holes, it is electrostatically attracted to itself, enabling it to form intricate shapes. The spinneret holes feature three sets of adjustable, staggered openings around the turbine. It allows for a single, incredibly strong line; a more complex, spreading spray; and a thick, highly adhesive liquid.

The formula and construction were created by Abella with the help of comics, movies, and the research she's read over the course of the past month.

Abella was now placing two web cartridges inside the wristlets before they were locked in place.

"Finally...!" Abella wiped off the sweat building up on her forehead, and she went to take a sip of her soda. That's when she noticed in a table mirror that she had gotten heavy eye bags over the course of working tirelessly for the past month.

Ever since she saw how her sister Skye was beat down like that, the desire to get stronger and become more capable rose within her, which ended up progressing her progress by a large margin.

But, because of it, she missed out on certain things, like hanging out with her family or with Alice, since all she wanted to do was make these web shooters and prepare for the inevitability of crime fighting and the protection of her family.

Shaking these thoughts and feelings from her mind, Abella picked up the web shooters and placed them on her wrists, as they were now the final product of her creation.

She had tested these before, but that was a while ago, and they should be even better now that they are finished. Abella looked around the room and tried looking for test subjects to fire at, and her first subject was an empty soda can resting on the personal desk that was on the other end of the room.

Aiming at the can, Abella fired the web shooters, and she then saw like lighting that the web shooters shot out a sticky web before they stuck to the can with great strength, speed, and adhesive.

She then pulled the can toward her hand so that she could catch it and drink its contents, but because of that, she wanted to puke because this was old soda that she was drinking.

Setting down the soda can, Abella looked at her web shooters and thought, 'I should be good on web fluid for a while, but I should make them in bulk later on. I also need to make sure that I keep upgrading the web shooters and web fluid whenever I can to become even more capable.'

Giving a stretch, Abella wanted to check on her sister before doing anything else. She felt already bad that she spent quite a bit of time in her room alone and not spending much time with her when she could.

Luckily, she didn't need to take off her web shooters, as she could disassemble the trigger pretty easily and put them into her pocket. Now, they just look like black wristbands since Abella spray-painted them black to mask visibility.

Throwing a very thin sheet of cloth over the table, Abell then walked out of her room. She then went to one of the other rooms that was along the hallway, on the opposite side of the hallway bathroom. Knocking on one of the doors, Abella heard a "Come in!"

She then walked into Skye's room and saw that the room was rather clean, with a black and goldish yellow color theme. On a queen-sized bed was Skye, who was on her laptop watching some movies since that's all she could do.

Abella noticed that her nose was very swollen and bruised, and during the initial healing process, it required surgery, a nasal splint, and packing to make sure the healing process was smooth. As for her leg, she had a pink cast with black written names and phrases on it from her teammates.

"How are you doing?" Abella asked while walking over to her bed and sitting down right beside her. Skye smiled and waved her left hand while closing her laptop with her other.

She said, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just watching some movies for the time being. Not like I can do anything else, you know?" Her response carried feelings of disappointment, anger, and nervousness.

Abella knew that Skye wanted to start training again for the next tournament, but sadly, she might not get the chance to do so because of that Naomi Stone girl. Abella tried to find that girl and asked her why she did that, but it proved fruitless, as she couldn't find her at all.

"So, what's up? Did you need anything from your big sister? Oh, are you just here to see how I'm doing?" Skye asked while giving a cheeky grin, happy that her sister was talking to her for whatever reason.

Placing her hand on the back of her head, Abella gave an awkward laugh. "Aha, well, I did want to see how you were doing, but I did want to ask you something."

After seeing that Skye was listening with her undivided attention, Abella continued, "Well, I wanted to know if you could teach me Kung-Fu. I was inspired by watching you fight, and I have wanted to learn since then."

Hearing that she inspired her sister caused Skye to grin from ear to ear as she pulled her little sister into a hug. "Really?! That's amazing, Abella. How come you didn't ask me until now?"

Thinking of something clever to say, Abella responded, "I just thought that it would be really shitty of me to ask you something like that during your recovery process. I wanted to prioritize your health above all else, but now that you're better than before, I figured now was a good time to ask."

While what she said was true, Abella left out the part about creating her web shooters. She didn't want to involve her sister in that kind of life, and even just knowing about it could be a burden on anyone she shares her secret with.

And although Abella knew that Skye couldn't teach her physically, she could still tell her what to do and how to do it. After all, Abella was a very fast learner and could easily listen to and follow verbal directions.

Skye heard her heartfelt response and wanted to hug her one more time, but then a disappointed sigh escaped from her mouth. She explained, "As much as I would like to be the one who teaches you, I think that you should really ask Sarah. She would be a far better teacher than I could ever be."

Abella pulled back and looked at her with a confused expression. "Alice's sister? If you won't teach me, then wouldn't I just ask your teacher to teach me? How come you want me to ask her?"

Skye gave a chuckle. "It's because Sarah is much stronger and more capable than our teacher. He's just our teacher by name, but the one who really teaches us everything is Sarah. Trust me; if you want to learn Kung-Fu, you want to learn from her."

Abella then looked a bit down, as she really wanted to learn from her sister. But after looking at her to make sure that she was okay with that, since she knew that Skye really wanted to teach Abella herself, Skye nodded. "I'm fine, really. However, once I heal up, me and you will spar, alright?"

Abella saw that Skye was now balling her left hand into a fist before pointing it at Abella, indicating a fist bump. Abella smiled and pressed her fist against hers, and they both nodded.

"Alright, let me continue watching my movie that you rudely interrupted, hehehe~!" Skye joked and opened her laptop back up, while Abella chuckled and left her room.

Closing the door, she sighed and thought, 'I'll need to ask Alice if I can come over so that I can ask her sister.'

The reason why she wanted to learn Kung-Fu now instead of training with her web shooters was because she wanted to multi-task and learn as fast as possible. This way, she will be killing two birds with one stone.

She then walked back to her room, opened up her personal laptop, opened up a messaging app, and contacted Alice to see if she could talk with her sister.

[Alice: You want to talk to my sister? Yeah, you can come over. Here's the address...]

Seeing that the address was within walking distance, Abella wrote down the instructions to head over to her house. She then got up and closed her laptop before heading over to her door and putting on the same purple and black jacket that she wore to the tournament.

Leaving her room, she made sure to lock her door before telling Skye that she was going to head over to Alice's and that she would be back later. She also asked if she could relay this to Laura, as she was too busy in the bakery to talk with her right now.

"Yeah, sure! But you're going to have to work tomorrow, though! Make sure to be home at a reasonable time." Skye replied and returned to watching her movie.

Without further delay, Skye left the apartment and headed over to Alice's house, where she would ask Sarah to train her in Kung-Fu.

...

A half hour had passed by, and Abella had arrived at Alice's house, or rather, the very expensive penthouse that they lived in. The building was very large and made out of red bricks.

Going up to the intercom, Abella pressed on the "4" button, and she soon heard Alice's voice. "Abella?" to which she responded by saying, "Yeah, it's me."

Soon enough, she was allowed into the building and was able to walk to an elevator, which had several floors for her to choose from. Each floor would belong to a resident, and since Alice lived on the fourth floor, she pressed the number 4 button.

The elevator then rang and closed promptly, and Abella was now rising up to the fourth floor, where she could see a beautiful woman with blonde hair and green eyes waiting for her.

This was Alice, who was wearing a white and pink sundress with white stockings but no shoes. She said, "Take off your shoes before you enter, alright?"

Abella nodded and did just that, and after taking off her shoes, she followed Alice into their penthouse, and there she could see another beautiful woman with short blonde hair and green eyes practicing Kung-Fu in the middle of the living room.

Before she watched her further, Abella saw the amazing decor this penthouse had. The floors were black marble, while the furniture was a gorgeous white and beige. The walls still had their red-bricked material, but there were also tall and wide glass windows, allowing anyone to view into the beautiful city of New York.

Snapping her out of her thoughts, Alice giggled, "It's your first time here, huh? When you said that you wanted to come over, I couldn't wait. You've been practically ignoring me until now."

And then she pouted jokingly, "Well, what did you want to ask my sister, huh, Abella?"

Switching glances from both Alice and Sarah, who didn't bother acknowledging her presence as she was in the middle of training. She threw strikes, kicks, elbows, and all sorts of different techniques.

"So... I wanted to know if your sister could train me in Kung-Fu—" Abella was about to finish saying her sentence when Sarah practically disappeared from her vision and sprinted toward Abella with great speed.

Fwoosh~!

However, with Abella's great reflexes and spider senses, she was able to catch Sarah's punch with no problem. Abella frowned while Sarah looked at her with an amused expression. "Oho~? You were able to block that, huh~?"

After saying this, she then performed a technique so fast that Abella couldn't predict, and she was now flipped on her back with Sarah's foot inches away from her face.

She stared down at her as she said, "You have great potential, but you're lacking in many areas. Fine, I will teach you. Stand up."

"Yes... Ma'am..."

...