Welcome back to the Vetinari Dualegacy! This is Chapter 13: Spider's Web!

I figured out how to make cool covers! Go me! Many thanks to the LJ crew for their advice on making it awesome!

"Uh, Aunt Styx? I do not feel that this is an appropriate conversation.""I see that plus sign, Chad, you're not fooling me!"

StyxLady writes Just Another Legacy; she's married to Raven's brother Wren, making her Indy, Chad, and Dora's aunt.

"How many nice points do we have?""Seventeen, cumulatively!""Is that not enough to have a civilized conversation?""Apparently it isn't!""I am SO going to double-minus you!""Likewise!""But I'm totally going to regret it!""Yeah!"

When he gets home and changes his outfit, Chad goes and autonomously checks himself out. I would never have pegged him as the type.

I like Chad. He's an oddball, but he's a FUN oddball.

"Dad, listen. Would it kill you to wear a swimsuit in the hot tub? Because I spent a few hours hitting the sandbag, and it would have been nice to be able to have a soak and relax a little, but you were there first.""Sorry, Chad, you've got to be a little quicker on the draw.""But... I'm shy!""In this neighborhood, you'll have to develop a thicker skin."

"It's okay. I'm sure someone will find your shyness irresistable.""I hope so, because I roll a lot of Date-related Wants for a Knowledge Sim."

Chad decides to gossip to Tom. His topic of choice? Colin.

Chad gossips about the cat. Presumably, gossiping about another person would tax those eight nice points.

And then I hear a very familiar sound...

Yup. Again. My little pyro lives up to her reputation. It's a really good thing I always throw a fire alarm above the stove.

"Hi, Tom.""I love you.""I love you too.""...You're kinda whiffy.""Set the kitchen on fire.""What, again?""I'm surprised you didn't come Firedance.""Chad was telling me some juicy gossip about the cat.""The cat?""He's trying, at least."

"Dora! Seriously! I'm nice, but I'm not an idiot! I'd totally have noticed the mysterious piece appearing in the middle of the board, seeing as how we haven't even started yet!""I guess I still need to work on my technique, huh?"

"Gah! I'm SO double-minusing you!""Oh, Chad... We both know you don't really mean it.""I do so mean it!"

"Wanna bet?""...So if we're best friends now, are you still gonna cheat?""Yup.""Aaaawwwww."

"Hey, Mom, can I go out with Rocky tonight? We want to go see that new Spielberg movie. ...Please? ...C'mon, I'll even let Chad come with us. ...I promise we'll be home before midnight. It's a Friday night, can't I go out? Please? Mom?"

"...Mom?"

"DAD!"

"Indy, what is it? What's going on?""Something's wrong with Mom."

"Raven? ...Indy, the garden needs tending. Take Dora and Chad with you.""But--"

"NOW, Indy!"

"Raven? Talk to me."

"The web is tangled and the spinner is the prey. The cloak of lies covers those who seek the truth. The future hangs from a fragile thread that the slightest shiver will snap. If the Olympian in silver grows, harm shall befall. The youngest chick will inherit the nest, or the forest will be razed. The darkness grows, and salvation is not certain; life and death rest in the choices of the few.”

"Tom? I did it again, didn't I? What did I say?"

"Some stuff that didn't make a lot of sense.""That's about par for the course. Anything that did?""Dora's the heir.""Dora? Really?""It's not like we have to tell her now. We can wait until she's a teenager.""I'm worried about how Indy will take it. Chad won't care, but Indy's a little less calm.""Indy loves his family. Your brother didn't mind it when you took the heirship from him, and I doubt Indy will care that Dora's heir from the start.""You're probably right. What else?""You're not going to like it."

"What won't I like, Tom? Tell me.""I can't age to Elder in platinum.""What?"" 'If the Olympian in silver grows, harm shall befall.' That's what you said. It's got to be me--I'm an athlete. Or possibly a god; honestly, I'm okay with either meaning.""This isn't a joking matter! Tom, I've been Permaplat since I was a teenager!""I know. We can't all be Knowledge dorks who can get Permaplat from skilling. It won't be too hard to grow up in gold--all I have to do is hold off on gaining that last Charisma point, and we can go on a date, and I can let my Aspiration drop to gold and meditate until it's time to grow up. Easy enough.""The mechanics of it aren't the point!""I know."

"I have to grow up in platinum. Even if I fulfilled every Fear I have a dozen times over, it wouldn't matter. I don't have a choice.""It's okay, Raven.""No, it's not! It's not okay!"

"Tom, you'll get to spend the rest of your life with me... but I won't get to spend the rest of my life with you.""I know. But the Legacy is more important than you or me. Don't we all have to make sacrifices? Some of us just have to make more than others.""Why do I have to sacrifice you?""I'm sure it'll become clear.""I love you. I don't want to lose you.""I love you too, Raven. And I certainly don't want to be lost."

"Dad, what's going on? Mom had one of those vision things, didn't she?""Yes. It's nothing to worry about. I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I didn't think you needed to be there.""What did she say? Is something bad going to happen?""When Dora grows up, she'll be the fifth-generation Prettacy heir."

"Dora? Really?""You're not going to throw a fit, are you?""Nah. It's just a shame this handsome face won't be moving back here after college. If Mom said Dora's the heir when she was doing that creepy eye thing, there's a reason for it, right?""That's the theory.""What else did Mom say?""I don't know what you mean.""I saw Mom upset. Naming Dora the heir wouldn't have made Mom upset. So what aren't you telling me?""Indy..."

"I'm not a little kid, Dad! I can handle it! Just tell me what's going on!"

"You can't tell Chad or Dora. In fact, don't even tell your mother I've told you this.""Okay. I promise I won't say anything.""I can't grow up platinum.""But Mom-- ...I get it. That means...""My tenure as an Elder will be foreshortened, yes."

"Dad...""It's still a ways off, Indy.""It's not fair.""If I wanted to live forever, I'd have stayed a Dormie. I gave that up for Raven and the chance to have a family. Once I left college, mortality was just a matter of math. And I wouldn't change a thing."

"Spider, come here. I need your help with my latest plot."

"I'm not interested in helping you.""I wasn't asking.""Neither was I.""The whole reason you're here is to help me take down the Dualegacy. You can be of use to me alive or dead; the choice is yours.""I'm pretty sure we've already had the 'stop threatening me' conversation."

"Even if I do help you, what's in it for me, huh, Dad? Great, you get your piddly little revenge on Grandpa and Uncle Larch. I get, what? Satisfaction of a job Eeevilly done? Yeah, there's some motivation.""Eeevil is its own reward.""Hardly.""I expect you to obey me. I'm your father, Spider Jerusalem, and you owe me your life."

"So you contributed a few chromosomes to my gene pool. Big deal. You're not a father; you never were. You're some spoiled little child throwing a generations-long tantrum because your brother got the shiny toy you wanted for yourself, and since you didn't get to play with it, you decided you're going to break it instead. You've been an adult for a really long time, Dad..."

"...don't you think it's time you grew up?"

"Aaaah!"

"Never speak to me like that again."

"Apologize."

"S-sorry. I-I'm sorry.""Good."

Sure, I'm sorry...

...but I don't have to be the only one.

"It's me. P.U.R.E. Twenty minutes."

"What's the matter? You sounded strange on the phone. We agreed not to meet too often, but you made it seem like an emergency.""I was arguing with Dad earlier. I called him a spoiled child and told him to grow up.""That was a bad idea."

"He hit me, Sycamore.""Are you all right?""Yeah, I'm fine. It shook me up more than anything. I never thought he'd go that far. I've seen him mad before, but he's never taken a swing at me. I guess I should have known there was no line he wouldn't cross."

"I'm sorry, Spider.""Nothing to apologize for. Sometimes he pushes me farther than he should, and sometimes I let my temper get the best of me.""I'm still sorry."

"Um... Spider? You can let go now.""Right. Sorry."

"This has got me thinking. You're on your side and I'm on my side, but maybe those sides don't have to be completely different.""You want to work with me?""I don't know. I'm not willing to go as far for the Legacy as you are. I don't owe them my life. Or anything else, for that matter. I'm still on the side of staying alive, and you're still on the side of kamikaze plot-stopping.""I wouldn't quite put it that way."

"It doesn't matter how you want to put it. I don't want Dad to win. He doesn't deserve to win. Those people in those two houses don't deserve what he has planned.""Agreed.""He wants me to help him. He wants me to be like him. I'm not, at least not totally, but that doesn't mean I can't pretend. I can help him as much as I can, and then sabotage whatever he's planning, and I'm pretty sure I can do it in a way that doesn't draw suspicion to myself. And if I can't? Well, better them than me, right?"

"And you'd let me know what his intentions are?""As much as I can, or as much as I need to. I'm not going to throw myself in front of any bullets for the Legacy, but that doesn't mean I can't throw as many wrenches into his plans as I can.""It'll be hard.""Story of my life.""You don't have to do this. If you don't want to risk getting caught, I'll understand."

"I think Dad's own arrogance will work to my advantage. He can't conceive of someone as mean as he is not actually being Eeevil, or that I might possibly not see things from his point of view.""If your mind's made up, I can't say I'm unhappy about your decision. I'll help you however I can.""Too bad you can't help me with the day-to-day trauma of dealing with Dad. The big stuff I can handle on my own, but I've never been good with the minutiae."

"Cypress is a bully. He always has been. If you want to keep him off your back for a while, you need to not back down. Challenge him. Make him think twice about going after you. Even if you won't really hurt him, make him think you will.""Threatening him—that'll work?""It should. You have one nice point, Spider Jerusalem. Maybe it's time you let it out to play. You never know; you might just like it."

"That's what scares me. ...I should go. When I figure out what Dad's up to, I'll let you know if I need your help.""I'll do whatever you need me to do.""I guess I should say thanks, Sycamore. It's good to have a friend.""I thought it might be."

Well, boss... Mission accomplished.

"I love it when a plan comes together."Machiavellian even in death, huh?"Did you expect anything less?"From you? No."Aahhhh, you know you love me."I dare you to prove it.

Rocky and Coco are still freakishly similar. It really is uncanny the way they roll the same Wants and their motives decay at the same rate.

"I won!""Blast that getting off the bus second!""I am so going to beat you to that next Logic point, too!""Not if I make it to the chessboard first!""Race you!""It's on!"

Where are you off to?"Sneaking Out with Indy!"He's such a bad influence on you and Rocky."We're going to look at Roman antiquities at the museum!"In the middle of the night?"Best time--no crowds!"

"What're you doing up so late?""I certainly wasn't Sneaking Out with Indy or anything!""Really? Because I could swear that 4 am was the time the limo came back after Sneaking Out.""Is it? What a coincidence that I should be up at this time, fully dressed and walking in the general direction of away from the front door.""I think you're up to something, Coco."

"WHAT? CAN'T HEAR YOU, MOM, DOGS ARE BARKING!""If you mean the puppies are yipping, then yes, they are.""WHAT?""...Look, just don't let me catch you doing it again."" 'Kay. Which is totally not the same thing as telling me not to do it.""I know.""You're, like, the best mom ever.""I hear my medal's in the mail."

Jesse grows up! He's cool-looking! Yay Jesse!

"Let's just say I'm really glad for the Well-Dressed Sims handicap, since it means I have at least one topic of conversation to talk about with everyone that won't result in mean faces and fingers in the ears.""I think we're all glad for that.""Yeah, but I'm nice, so I get to be extra-glad."

"So... Nice points... What's that like?""Well, I don't cheat at chess.""I don't either.""And I don't noogie.""I've never noogied either.""I gossip about the cat.""OK, you've got me there.""To be fair, you don't have a cat."

"Yeah, I'm shy too. No finger-gunning, I freak out when my dad's in the hot tub naked, and I hide my face when anyone tries to flirt with me...""Shy? Ick, gives me the chills just thinking about it!""It's not so bad. Except when I can't go in the hot tub. That's kind of rotten."

"Mom? It's hard to study when you're snoring. Mom?"...zzzzzzzzKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKzzzzzzzzzz..."It's a good thing Dad stargazes all night, because he'd never get a lick of sleep in the same room with you."

"We need some of these at home! Toy robots are great!"

Harmony finally grows up, and she's not nearly as cool-looking as Jesse. I've sort of grown attached to the Airedale head.

You know what this means!

"I get a new dog!"And this one's slightly less dumb than the last one! Hooray! ...But seriously, she's only slightly less stupid than Morgan.

I sold Darla to Zee. No reason for her to die, seeing as how Kendra and Snyder's graves are no longer on the lot.

GintasticNecat writes The Science of a Legacy; she's raising Cypress's accidental abduction spawn, Billy.

"Hi, Dad!""Hi, son.""Isn't skilling great?""Oh, I maxed out Logic ages ago. Believe me, I'm really looking forward to being six days from Elder, so I never, ever have to look through this stupid telescope again.""...Mom snores.""As long as I'm not glued to this eyepiece, I won't care."

"Coco? Are you just a glutton for punishment?""Why do you ask me that, Rocky?"

"Ow! Mom! What the freak?""Told ya, sis.""I bet Chad wouldn't punch me hard!""He probably wouldn't punch you at all."

Yeah, there's no point to this shot, other than to display the true horror of the Beaker-brows. How does Rocky see when he's annoyed? We may never know.

Indy? What are you doing here?"Ten outgoing points, remember? I'm friends with Rocky and Coco, so I can just let myself in whenever I feel like it! Just like Cypress, only with less Eeevil. And more hotness."

Rocky: "So I hear there are genie lamps with Free Time."Coco: "Crappy graphics card, remember? No Free Time, no Apartment Life."Cory: "Isn't there something else that usually accompanies the lamp speech bubble, particularly where hot tubs are concerned?"

"Only if you wanna end up dead because you talked about it in a hot tub full of teenagers!"

I looooove my neat freaks. Haven't had one at the Uglacy since Kest left, and I miss the autonomous cleaning. Indy did this on his own, and then Cory Influenced him to clean everything else. And you know the best part is that Indy enjoyed every minute of it.

"You know all those fish your great-grandma Juniper caught?""Um... no?""Yeah, me either. But here's a complete set to hang on the wall again. Free of charge. Tell your mom it's a thank-you for buying all those juicers.""Um... okay.""Oh, and you might wanna hang 'em rather than eat 'em."" 'Kay."

They walk alike, they talk alike, sometimes they even think alikeThey're siiiiblingsNot really identical but fairly similar siiiiiblings

Helen gets fired. She didn't care too much. Jonny cried like a baby for the rest of the night when he got fired; Helen threw a hissyfit and then went to bed.

Is it even possible to win with that Chance Card? Sorry, but I didn't think anyone wanted to see Helen streak through a party. No offense, Helen."None taken. I brought home the flu; can I just go sleep now?"Sure. And then you can job-hop for me! Hellooooo new Career Rewards!

Cory! You know what this is?"Please tell me it's my last night stargazing."It's your last night stargazing!"No one has ever been as glad to get old as I am."Are you going to give me a present of the Probulator sort?"No."*sadface*

Rosemarie's out!"Just taking a break from Finn. There's nothing like being dead to make a Romance Sim even more single-minded."I hear going in and out of the garage for six hours is fun if you're a ghost."Nah, just going to float around the yard and not scare anyone."Enjoy."I hear there's something happening over at Cypress's house."Thanks for the tip.

"You came back.""You'd just have come after me if I hadn't.""I shouldn't have hit you.""No. You shouldn't have."

"This is the part where you accept my apology."

"You didn't apologize."

"Consider that slap your freebie, Dad. If you want to go down that road, fine. Just make sure you're ready to accept the consequences. The next time you lay a hand on me, it had better to be to kill me, or you just might find out exactly what I'm capable of.""I...""I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."

And now to check in on another set of Vetinaris...

Hmmmm... Styx in her underwear wondering if she's pregnant... Survey says "Yes!"

Wren: "So, Jordan, if you should happen to see a robot wandering around town, don't talk to him, okay? He's a bad robot."Jordan: "Daddy, that's a spaceman."Wren: "...Dammit..."Cam: "Pancakes smell yummy!"Styx: "My Comfort Motive just went from bright green to red! Whine!"

WTF? Nobody here even knows you!

...You know what, I send Wren out there, he gets +1000 from Meet Someone New, and you can spend the rest of the day raking leaves due to Influence.

PWND.

"Cheesecake?"NO. And you are not allowed to give me natural twins, either.

Jordan: "We're dancing!"Cam: "I have Chess Arm Glitch!"Jordan: "...Freak."

"Not taking a lot of pictures here, are you?"You're sleeping, Wren's Influencing Townies to do yardwork, and Cam and Jordan are playing Cops 'n' Robbers. Don't really need pictures of that.

Jordan: "Pancakes smell yummy!"Cam: "I know!"Jordan: "We eat a lot of pancakes, don't we?"Cam: "Mommy and Daddy don't have a lot of Cooking skill."

Ever watched someone with Chess Arm Glitch play Red Hands? It's HILARIOUS. I'd fix it, but I am easily amused. Sorry, Cam.

"Jordan, your brother's having a rough enough day with that Chess Arm thingy. Stop glitching him through that chair too."

"BABY!"

Styx: "Hey, look at my Aspiration points!"Wren: "Hey, me too!"

Wren is awesome. He seriously rolled Have A Baby.

"Hi, honey!"

He has never done this before.

Wren is awesome.

*hearts Wren*

This is little Georgia! She got Wren's hair and Styx's custom skin and eyes.

...And yes, Georgia is too a country.

But, well, you all know my feelings about having babies in houses where I can cheat...

MOAR Stabby Death Nose!

Georgia's a pretty good personality mix--Vetinari outgoing, not particularly playful, and Styx's nine nice points.

Four active points, though. That'll be changing.

Georgia: "Kitty!"Amy: Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!

SimStyx proves to be a good mom. There wasn't a lot of this in the BC what with maxmotives and me just wanting to age the kids up ASAP.

Styx: "Autonomy is fun, huh?"Wren: "Me likey. Have a Baby?"Styx: "Have 10 Children?"

Gah, NO! You are done, do you hear me?

Wren gets himself Permaplat again. OK, he had some help from Pescado and autoyak. I guess he rolled the LTW of 20 Best Friends at the rebuild. I'd already cheated him Permaplat since he'd earned it, but he went and earned it again. And I know, in his little Popularity Sim heart, he's lamenting the loss of those original 20 friends.

Cam: "My Chess Arm Glitch finally went away!"Georgia: "I just maxed Charisma!"Wren: "I'm making something other than pancakes!"

I decided to go for a triple-birthday. Wren was rolling some serious Party Wants.

Styx: "So, Raven...? Yeah, totally hand-tilty!"SimNerd: "OMG, no way!"Styx: "I've heard that about you, too."SimNerd: "...It's a fair cop."

"Waiting for guests to assemble. Yup, just staaaanding here waiting for the guests to assemble. Gonna waaaaiiiiit some more."

Yeah, I invited Rhea. I don't know why. Kest brought Cardigan 'n' Glasses. Cory brought his Aunt Zinnia, and Rhea can't stop swooning over her. Raven and SimNerd came solo.

Rhea: "Kitty!"Georgia: "I still have Stabby Death Nose!"Rhea: "Yeah, that doesn't actually go away."

Cory: I got married. Or maybe Raven got married. Or maybe Wren and Styx got married. Or maybe Kest should get married. So hard to tell.Styx: "Wren! Hiiiii! Hi! Hihihi!"Wren: "...Uh... I'm over here, sweetie."Georgia: I maxed Charisma!SimNerd: Please let this be a Wren/Kestrel Is A Popularity Sim thought bubble and not a heart-fart. Is that too much to ask?

Jordan: "Me first!"Cam: "It's not a race."Zee: "No one here to WooHoo with... dammit..."Rhea's single and not a close blood relation.Zee: "Yeah, but it's RHEA."

...I blame Rhea...

O Wright, who art in corporate headquarters, presumably, hallowed be thy gigantic squishy brain that gives us the goodness of little fake people to play with...Please do not let Jordan's lack of face be a precursor to Total Neighborhood Meltdown. DO NOT WANT.Amen.DrSupremeNerd

Anyway. For a change, Cam and Jordan made it perfectly clear what Aspirations they'd like to be. Cam constantly rolled Wants to skill; Jordan constantly rolled Wants to make friends. Who am I to argue with that logic?

Georgia's pretty! I detect Wren's chin under there!

She's a Libra 5/9/4/5/9.

Jordan has a pretty good Smustle face.

He's an Aries 5/8/5/3/5 Popularity Sim. His LTW is to be Mayor. Since Rosemarie's dead, I guess there's a vacancy!

Cameroon's definitely got Wren's cleft chin. I love Wren's chin.

He's a Pisces 5/3/10/7/9 Knowledge Sim. His LTW is to Max 7 Skills.

He had a glitchy LTW for 6 grandkids, so I rerolled it with the Lot Debugger.

This better not be a sign of imminent meltdown.

But you didn't think I was gonna let you go without one more trip to Spiderville, did you?

"Dad.""What?""I've been thinking.""Am I meant to be impressed?"

"You said I was like you. Eeevil. Born to destroy.""I remember. You were quite insistent that I was out of my mind.""I was wrong. Yesterday... I got mad. Really mad. And it made me realize you were right. Destruction is my birthright.""I'm glad you've come around to my side.""Yeah. So. That plan you were talking about..."

"...What do you need me to do?"

"What indeed..."

Check back soon for Chapter 13.5--the rest of the Gen 5 teen years and the Elderfying of Gen 4, plus more surprises from Spider Jerusalem!

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Yeah, so when Spider Jerusalem was at P.U.R.E. with Sycamore, Kaiyah was there, and also one of the Grand Vampires. Spider Influenced the Grand Vampire to bite a Townie, and apparently Kaiyah dragged herself away from the Dance Sphere long enough to get bitten as well.

And she's a Knowledge Sim, so of course she's Fearing getting cured. In that case, you'd better get your undead butt in the house before you crispy-fry!

"Can I bite Spider Jerusalem?"No."Please?"No."I have a Want to bite someone."No biting!“Stacielee Wants to be a vampire.”NO BITING.

"Hey."'Sup?"Chad."Youngest Prettacy boy."That's the one."What about him?"He's adorable."Yeah."Age me down and let me date him!"If you make him cry, I reserve the right to whip out the Lot Debugger and make with the Smiting."Understood."

"Eeew. I look like Preppy Strawberry Shortcake."Yeah, I'll go fix it. But next chapter, mmmkay?"Wanna meet Chad!"It's 11am. He's at school. You're friends with Raven; call her in the afternoon and invite her over and have her bring Chad."You're totally sending me to college with him, right?"You and Cam and Jordan can have a house."Sweet!"

Yup, MichelleFobbs wanted to hook up with Chad. ...Larch gets to yell at Quinten in the Planetary Apocalypse now, right? :P