"Mom, you're a superhero!" Is the first thing I said when we got into the car after she dealt with the fanboy/aggressor who tried to scam me out of a win in the latest round of the chess tournament.
"Haa, I managed to keep it a secret for so long too." Mom sighed as if the world were about to collapse.
"Mom that's super cool. Why wouldn't you want me to know you're the world's coolest superhero!"
"Luna, you haven't even seen Spider-Gwen how would you know if she's the coolest or not?"
"Intuition. Plus it's you mom, who wouldn't pay to watch you beat punk-ass."
"Language- you know what, that's not bad compared to some other stuff you say. The reason why I kept it secret is more because of your brothers. The second they hear I play a superhero, they are going to want me playing her all the time."
"Then just don't tell them; I can keep a secret." I said and fully meant it.
I'd never expose mom... in a way that doesn't benefit me.
This clearly does not benefit me in any way, so why would I expose her?
"Really Luna?" Mom asked with hope in her eyes.
"Of course, as long as you let me watch all of the movies" I replied.
I mean, there's no way my triplet brothers wouldn't know about mom playing Spider-Gwen, they are chronically online and go to an all-boys school. From my experience, there'd be quite a few boys there addicted to superhero movies and comics and I'm sure they'd at least ask my brothers about behind-the-scenes.
It's probably just Ass or Ethan who told them not to let it slip that they know so that mom can have peace of mind.
"...Fine."
A few days passed and after the whole debacle with my last match, they awarded me the win and apparently suspended the kid from competing in chess for a year. While not as cruel a punishment as I was hoping for, it's better than nothing.
In the days after, I ended up winning all but one of the games easily and for the one that wasn't easy, it merely took an extra hour compared to usual, with a slow endgame which I eventually converted into a win.
After winning the tournament, I checked my quests through my status window and saw that I was awarded a full 5 IQ point increase. Honestly, this tournament was quite easy. I was afraid for a moment about this Cameron guy who was mentioned by both Ass and the guys at the chess club, but he didn't end up appearing.
Well, he might be too old, or maybe he just doesn't care for the trophy.
...Actually, I see why he wouldn't bother to compete. The total prize for winning in the nation in the open category is only $700!
I mean for a 5-year-old it's a lot of money, but for a teen, if they just worked for the 8 days instead of competing, they could probably make the same and you know, guarantee the money rather than risk losing and wasting 2 weeks of their time.
After getting home from the tournament later than usual due to the extra round and award ceremony, where Mom took away the money from me immediately upon returning to her, we ended up home and I went straight to my room, which mom seemed to find unusual but didn't seem to question much.
"Quest Window!"
Whoops, I ended up shouting it out loud.
High Placement in the Australian Junior Chess Championship - Completed
Reward: 5 IQ point increase (click to claim)
Well, don't mind if I do.
After clicking on the window and laying down flat on my bed I could feel a weird sensation in my head, almost as if someone was massaging my brain.
After about 5 minutes of this weird feeling, it suddenly stopped and the reward window disappeared from my eyes.
If before my thoughts were a mere trickle, now they are like a raging stream!
Well, not actually; it's more like... nothing at all.
Literally, I don't feel a bit different. Well, it was to be expected, it'll help me out subtly when trying to figure stuff out or when concocting new ways to tease (bully) someone.
So while useful, it's not like it changes all that much as I've said many a time before. Whether one's a genius or a dumbass, it don't matter if you can't read the question.
After sleeping with a certain trophy in my arms and a feeling of omnipotence due to my increased IQ, I woke up to a fresh new day, had breakfast with the family and after seeing my brothers off at the door, unlike usual, which my brothers were suspicious of for some reason, I asked mom, "So are we watching Spider-Gwen now?"
"N-no.... w-wait, yes." Mom quickly changed her mind the second I started to open the door.
It's not like I'd actually end up screaming 'Mom's Spider-Gwen!' out loud; that'd be crazy and only something I'd resort to if my demands aren't met.
"Yay, thanks mom! You're so awesome!" I exclaimed in pure glee.
After turning on the TV and going to Mom's go-to streaming service, I saw the trailer for it and damn, does mom look cool.
"Mom, if you showed me this earlier, I would have thought you were way cooler."
"Let's just watch the movie..."
And like that mom brought out a bunch of snacks: grapes, blueberries, bananas, watermelon. Well, it is was all fruit and maybe a few crackers with cheese.
At the start of the movie, we see the usual Spider-Man backstory: getting bitten by a radioactive spider and gaining supernatural powers.
After some twists and turns, like discovering where web fluid comes from, she embarks on her hero journey.
Well, maybe hero isn't quite the right word; she would just show off by swinging through the city, beating up random criminals and what could essentially be called aura-farming within the city.
At home, Gwen (Teresa) hears from her father, a police chief, about her own alter ego's exploits and hears, "Spider-Woman could do some real good and help this city." [AN: Spider-Woman is her hero name Spider-Gwen is the movie name.]
After that, she starts her journey, inevitably neglecting her best friend Peter Parker, a fellow high schooler, an isolated and bullied teen who had relied on her to feel safe.
After further trial and error, Gwen perfects her hero style and starts to take down bigger and bigger criminals, leaving her with less and less time to hang out with Peter.
At this time, Peter Parker, who is aware of Gwen's secret identity, creates a serum in the hopes of becoming like her.
After not so successfully creating the serum and injecting it into himself, he becomes The Lizard, or a close equivalent, and decides to go and storm the prom at his high school and get revenge on all those who bullied him.
Gwen at this time see's a monster attacking the prom venue just as she was about to take off her costume and change into her prom dress and steps up to fight off the monster unaware that this is Peter.
Peter himself is too fueled by emotion to call out to Gwen and instead fights back, eventually destroying a support structure within the building, then collapsing the building on top of his head.
Gwen, seeing the rubble fall directly on top of the monster, goes closer to look and confirm the kill, as she had struggled in the fight earlier and had to go at full force to even have a chance of saving her classmates.
Upon Gwen's closer inspection, she sees that the monster is slowly transforming into a human and recognises it as Peter Parker, her best friend. As he was dying, he let out his last words, "I just wanted to be special... Just like you."
After he finished speaking, he tragically passed away and at the same time, the police, including Gwen's dad, arrive at the scene and see the dead Peter Parker and Spider-Gwen over his dead body and then try and arrest her.
Gwen runs away from the scene with tears in her eyes as she questions what she has been striving for in her hero journey and eventually resolves to take her hero duties more seriously and to become someone who helps all those in need.
"Waaa...Mom you went through so much. Don't worry, Mom; as long as I am here, you'll be safe. I won't report you to the police." I cried out as Gwen was hunted down by her own father.
"Luna, baby, it's just a movie it isn't real." Mom tried to console me.
"Waaa... Mom it's ok. I might not be Peter, but I can help." I wailed continuously.
Looking back on my actions that day, I realised that my emotions could, in fact, get the better of me. I mean, even with past life experience, the chaotic mix of emotions a child's brain creates was too much even for me.