Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
Poor Eugene. So earnest. So lame. He needs a crucible to toughen him up. Or a training montage 
Through the Looking Glass (Spider-Gwen/Spider-Man Noir Crossover)
- Thread starter Eratas123
- Start date
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
Okay I finally had time to read the omake and I must say
I LOVE IT !!!!
I love this fresh feeling of street-level heroing, and Eugene does have the heart necessary to be a hero, but just like Gwenpol(god help this team she is with them) he needs a bit of training...Gwenpol is going to be hit-girl to his kick-ass right?
I LOVE IT !!!!
I love this fresh feeling of street-level heroing, and Eugene does have the heart necessary to be a hero, but just like Gwenpol(god help this team she is with them) he needs a bit of training...Gwenpol is going to be hit-girl to his kick-ass right?
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Poor Eugene. So earnest. So lame. He needs a crucible to toughen him up. Or a training montage
Euegen's main problem is that he has a stilted idea of what being a hero entails. As his dream indicates he's kind of up his own ass and assumes being a hero is all about saving the damsels in distress, fighting easily beatable badguys and of course a cringy as hell romance with a hot superheroine. Until he can accept it's not all fun and games then he'll just be volume 1 Kick-Ass.
Chapter 92 - Spider Family
Happy early Christmas everyone This chapter was a tad faster than my normal, but I figured it was for the best.
Anyway, I read the Spider-Gwen. The entire issue from start to finish feels like something out of Kaine's Scarlet Spider run rather than just another Spider-Gwen issue, and I mean that in the most positive way possible: Gwen tails the corrupt cop who let Rhino beat her dad into a coma and she goes to town on him, scaring him within an inch of his life and and giving her the same ultimatum Kaine gives - either he turns himself into the police or she runs, and if he runs then Gwen can and wil hunt him down.
Granted it becomes a non-issue when Murdock has him killed, but points for effort. One thing I found interesting is that Gwen controlled spiders to swarm the guy, meaning she's either turned into the Other or she's gotten such fine control of her symbiote that she can make it appear like a swarm of spiders.
I don't wanna spoil everything, but let's just say it's all in all a very solid issue. The only complaint I have is that (as expected in many modern comics) the summary is complete BS. The cover and summary indicates that Gwen is being hunted down by the cops in a city-wide manhunt, but the only police officer seen in this fic is said corrupt cop who let George get beaten...and Gwen was the one hunting him. Punisher (a former cop) also tracks her down, but only to offer a team-up and she (justifiably) attacks him first while he tries to keep pushing the cooperation and never actually attacks her seriously.
Also, Gwen Stacy leaked for Spider-Man homecoming with the giant twist (their words) that she's...going to be either Russian or French, cause apparently that's a twist nowadays.
Anyway, enough yakking, let's start.
Chapter 92: Spider Family
When Gwen woke up to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling her first instinct was to panic. The events of last night were still fresh in her mind: her mother's resurrection, the talk at the cemetery, and then...
She sat up on the bed and winced when a sharp pain ran up her left side, "Ah..." She pressed her hand against her stomach and hissed, fingertips grazing against the gauze roughly. Her eyes shut by themselves and she let out another pained whimper, tongue darting out to try and wet her too-dry lips. Her mouth felt dryer than the Sahara desert and the ringing in her head made her want to puke her dinner out.
Despite it all she still felt the suit on her, so she had something going for her, at least.
"The fuck am I?" She blinked away the blurriness in her vision and looked around the room. Good news was it didn't look like a prison cell, so she could hopefully rule out being stuck in a S.I.L.K facility of some kind unless Moon had a weird fetish for making her prisons look like apartment bedrooms.
Licking her lips again, she looked down her chest and frowned when she saw the bandages that covered the length of her upper body. Her clothes were gone, replaced by nothing more than a pair of slightly oversized dull gray sweatpants. Besides that her feet were bare and the chest was covered by bandages at least to the point that she didn't have to worry about indecent exposure of any sort.
Gwen tried to stand, only to fall back on the bed with a weak groan. It'd been a while since she felt pain like this. It wasn't much of a stretch to say that Webster made most things feel like pinpricks on the off-chance that she wasn't able to avoid them, and that included bullets. The last time she felt like this was when Kasady tore the two of them apart...
"Ah..." Her suit stirred underneath the bandages and she sucked in a strained breath. She was in pain without a doubt, but more than that she was starving. The urge to jump into a vat full of chocolate felt dangerously out of place and cliche, but screw it. The more the suit ate the better it healed her, so it was a win-win.
Before she could put any kind of plan into action the door across from her opened and-
"Fuck!" Moon looked at her in surprise and yelped when Gwen grabbed the closest thing she could - a lamp - and threw it at her, the older woman ducking under the projectile with more speed than she expected, "Just the stay the fuck away from you, you crazy bitch!"
"Hey, what the hell! This is what I get for letting you crash at my place?!" She said, glaring up at her incredulously.
"Wait...Cindy?" she asked, eyes still narrowed. For all she knew this was still a trick of some kind.
"Yeah, who else could it-" She stopped suddenly and cursed, "Oh, damn it, you think I'm my evil twin, don't you?" She didn't wait for Gwen to answer before she grabbed onto the wall with her right hand and pulled herself up alongside it with her fingertips, "There, that enough proof for you?"
"...I guess." Gwen let out a relieved breath and let herself calm down. It still might've been a trick (hanging out with a certain someone made her way more paranoid...), but the fact that she was trying to calm her down at all was definitely a relief, "Uh...sorry about your lamp...and the wall." She winced when her eyes caught the cracks along the surface of the drywall, "...I can totally pay for that."
"Yeah, sure..." Cindy rolled her eyes and wiped her hands on her blue t-shirt, "Look, I didn't think you'd be awake yet. From what I saw of you last night you looked like you'd be out for the next week."
"Huh..." She looked down briefly before she managed to force herself up, "...Look, I know this might sound really fucking weird right now, but do you have any chocolate on you? I'll even take some of that nasty dark choco stuff if you have it."
"Dark chocolate is love and life, Gwen," Cindy said, smiling slightly at the absolutely terrible joke, "And yeah, I have some. Come on."
The other spider slung her left arm around her shoulder and led her to the licing room, setting her down on the couch before grabbing a bar of chocolate from the fridge, "Thanks..." She tore the wrapper away and bit into it hungrily, moaning in relief as soon as the first taste landed on her tongue. The pain was still there, but the sweet distraction was enough to make it less obvious.
"You know most people go for painkillers instead of chocolate," Cindy quipped, sitting on the other side of the couch. Gwen had to admit she found the sight of the other Spider lounging around casually in pajamas bizarre considering what happened last night. A (paranoid) part of her expected her to start cackling about her latest evil plan any second now.
"Most people don't have a weird super suit." She finished off the chocolate and tossed the wrapper into a nearby trashcan, "So...where'd you find me? Last I remembered I was..." Getting her ass kicked with Webster being torn away from her.
"I found you passed out on the street." Gwen gave her a skeptical look and she shrugged, "Hey, don't look at me. I mean I can guess from how you reacted that you saw my evil twin, but I don't have a clue what happened between you two."
"She-"
Her explanation was cut off when the front door suddenly opened and Harry rushed in, eyes wide and breaths frantic like the time Peter called for help after King's beating. The two's eyes met and he immediately calmed, mouth raising in a relieved smile, "Gwen..." He let out a pacified breath and stepped closer to them, "Thank God you're alright."
"Harry!" She stood and accepted her friend's embrace, cringing only slightly at the pain in her ribs and the fact that she was technically topless apart from the bandages. Still, the relief at seeing him again trumped any discomfort and embarassment she might have felt, "God, it's been a while..." They messaged and talked on the phone sometimes, but every offer she made to meet up was politely refused. She'd started to think she'd done something to piss him off.
Well...okay, she might have indicated she didn't share his feelings for her, but that couldn't have been it. They were friends; it took more than a slighted crush for them to cut off contact like that. It was nothing compared to Spider-Woman vs Green Goblin, at least...
"Yeah..." The hug lingered for a few more seconds before they parted, hands at her shoulders to keep her balanced, "I-I heard from Cindy that you got injured."
"And you rushed on over here without saying anything. Real nice, Gobby." Cindy said sarcastically. She could've interpreted it as a joke, but there was way too much bite in the words for her to fool herself, "Look, I said she was alright; you didn't have to come here."
"She's my friend, Cindy. Of course I'd be worried about her," Harry snapped back, his expression going from relief to slight annoyance.
"Then you could do that after she left without coming to my place," she countered. Gwen had to admit it was bizarre seeing her act like that. She didn't know Cindy as well as Kate or Peter, but she'd seen enough to know that the other Spider scowling was definitely not a normal, "It's bad enough that I have to deal with shittalk from the other agents, I don't need them shitting on me about you either."
"Hey, I'm not gonna-"
"Alright, guys, enough." Gwen held up both hands and stepped away from Harry's grasp. The two of them were giving her a headache, "Okay, I don't know what's happening between you two, but could you please cool it? You two sound just like Peter-"
...
'Peter!' She turned her back to the two of them and took the (thankfully undamaged) phone from one of her 'pockets'. How could she have forgotten about him? 'Moon said that Murderdock did something to him...' Peter got in trouble with him before, but Teresa's words rang in her mind again. She said that Murdock was possessed by the devil, and while she still had her doubts on that it only made her more worried thinking about it.
"Gwen, what's-"
"Shut up for a second." She shushed Cindy and turned her attention back to her phone. The phone rang once, twice, three times before it finally stopped and she heard a groan from the other side, "Peter! Peter, are you there?!" Her first thought was being captured and taken prisoner followed by managing to get away half-dead. Considering his track record so far she wouldn't have been surprised.
"Yeah, who the fuck is this?"
...That wasn't Peter.
"Where's Peter?" she asked, free hand clenching nervously. It took all she had not to run out there now and start searching for him.
"Who the hell's asking?" The other voice snapped back. Female, and groggy by the sounds of her. She could've sworn it was familiar, but she was too panicked to think on that now.
She was about to snap something back before she heard a brief scuffle on the other end followed by a much more familiar voice, "Gwen?" She instantly felt relieved when she heard his voice. He sounded tired, but that wasn't a cause for concern in and of itself, "Is something wrong?"
"No, I just thought..." Thought that Murderdock somehow did him in while she wasn't paying attention, "I-I heard that you got into a fight with Murderdock, so I got worried."
"Where'd you- nevermind," He sighed, "Look, it was hairy for a bit, but Moon Knight helped me out. Just...don't be surprised if you see a news report about some dead ninjas..." Was it good or bad that she didn't even care all that much when he said that? Or maybe Kate's constant complaints about said ninjas coming back to life numbed her to it, "Anyway, it's fine. Went back to my place and talked with Lana."
"Oh, so that's who that was..." She let out a relieved breath. Most people might have found it weird that their boyfriend(?) was living with a teenage girl, but she trusted him enough not to spaz out over it. Besides, last she checked the younger girl didn't feel that way about Peter, "Well, I'll see you later, okay?" She heard him yawn and mumble and affirmative before she smiled, "Hey, Peter?"
"Hm?"
"I love you too."
He sputtered and coughed at that while Lana said something she couldn't make out, but she cut the call before he could reply. That'd teach him to leave her hanging like that last night.
When she turned back to Cindy and Harry she found the former looking at her questioningly with a raised brow while the latter was looking away with an unreadable expression, "Your evil twin said that Peter was attacked by Matt Murderdock; I got worried," she said. It was a pretty basic explanation - she was pretty sure neither Cindy or Harry knew that said lawyer was apparently possessed by the devil - but it would do for now.
"Murdock? You mean that blind lawyer guy?" Cindy asked.
"Yeah, that guy..." Gwen ruffled her hair and let out a frustrated breath. She still had no clue why the two were apparently arch-enemies now, but in the end she guessed it didn't really matter. Why did he attack her all those months ago? She didn't know, and it didn't change anything.
"So..." Harry started, hands stuffed into his pockets in that awkward way every time he wanted to broach something uncomfortable, "You and Peter are...together now?"
Gwen blinked at the sudden question before she quickly righted herself. Of course he'd be curious about it; the last time she'd seen the two of them together they got into an argument about him and the serum, "Um...kinda?" She shrugged before quickly following up with a nod, "Uh, I mean we agreed an actual relationship was out of the table till we got that Octavius guy he was searching for, but after that..."
"I see." He nodded and smiled, though it was obviously forced, "Well, I'm glad you're happy, just...be careful. I know you trust him, but I'm not sure he's all there."
"Glass houses, Gobby." Cindy answered, getting an annoyed look in response, "Look, Gwen can date whoever she wants; it's none of our business."
"I was just giving her a heads-up, that's all..." he muttered.
"Sure it wasn't more than that?"
"Guys, remember me asking for the arguments to stop? Thanks." She rubbed her temples and sucked in a frustrated breath. She was still hurting all over, but at least she could walk now. The chocolate (and finding out Peter was okay) helped, "Look, Cindy, could I borrow some clothes? I gotta take off and I don't exactly feel like swinging back home looking like I just came out of a Die Hard film."
"Sure, lemme get something." She made her way to her room and started rummaging through her closest. Gwen watched her briefly before turning her attention back to Harry.
"And hey, don't be a stranger next time, okay?" She punched him in the arm (hopefully) lightly and grinned up at him, "Seriously, we need to hang out sometime and talk about what's up with you and Cindy or, you know, anything." Maybe if she was really lucky she could get him and Peter in the same room, but she didn't want to rush.
"Haha...yeah, sure. I promise."
Despite her words she didn't literally swing back home. She still didn't feel comfortable manifesting her costume and her joints still ached enough that she didn't want to see what web-swinging would do. With a borrowed hoodie and sneakers she trudged her way to the train and and paid with the money Cindy lent her. Adding that and the lamp and she felt distinctly guilty of feeling suspicious about her at all.
It was still early in the morning - her cellphone was flashing '7:10' at her - and the train was practically devoid of life save a hobo and a couple of guys in business suits. Gwen yawned and adjusted her place on the seat, her gaze focused on the passing view. A part of her was tempted to go back to the cemetary to try and get an idea of what happened, but an even greater part just wanted to go back home and see her mom and dad again.
In the end the latter won out and she found herself walking the familiar streets leading to her house. She thanked whatever luck she had that any bruises and wounds were stuck under her hoodie; she definitely didn't want to explain to either of her parents why she looked like she'd gotten into a bender.
She was about to enter her walkway before she heard Ben call out to her from the garden, "Morning, Gwen!" Her surrogate uncle gave her a smile and nudged her head to his house,"If you're looking for your mom then she's not there. She's having coffee with May."
Gwen blinked. Well...that wasn't how she thought this morning would go, "Uh..." she said (very smartly, thank you very much), staring at him like he'd grown a second head. The silence lasted long enough for Ben's smile to falter, which she took as a cue to continue, "Um, I mean...you know? About my mom, I mean?"
"Ah...yeah, she went up and re-introduced herself a couple of hours ago. May looked like she was going to faint." He laughed softly and picked up the shears lying on the ground, "Helen was looking for you too, so you might wanna check in on her."
"Uh...sure." She stepped past him and stopped. She had to ask, "You're...taking this really well, Uncle Ben. My mom coming back, I mean."
"Oh, suppose I am." His smile turned more wistful, "After finding out about your gifts and Peter coming back...well, I guess I miracles don't faze me anymore." He clapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, count your blessings, Gwennie. We got second chances; that's something everyone wants."
"I guess...thanks, Uncle Ben."
She found her mom and May sitting on the dining room, the former smiling widely and talking to the older woman about something to do with stars and dresses before she noticed Gwen, "Oh, Gwen!" Her face brightened and before Gwen could reply she stood up and pulled her in a bone-crushing embrace, "Nice of you to show up, kiddo!"
"Mmh, yeah." She did her best to mask her discomfort at the gesture. If she saw Moon again she'd make her pay for smacking her around like that, "So...you introduced yourself to Uncle Ben and Aunt May again?"
She kissed the top of her forehead - and she had to cringe at how weird having her mom tiptoe to kiss her was - and pulled back, "Yeah. George went to buy some better clothes and told me to stay put, but then I saw Ben trimming the lawn and..." She shrugged and grinned, "I thought it'd be better to re-introduce myself sooner rather than later. I thought I gave May a heart attack when I showed up."
"No such thing, Helen." May smiled sweetly at them and set down her cup of coffee, "Look, you two look like you need to talk so I'll head out for a bit. Make sure to call Ben if you two need anything."
Her mom watched May leave the room and let out soft hum as soon as she was out of sight, "God...it's been 10 years, but they haven't changed a bit...well, not where it counts." She sat back down, "When Ben saw me...he cried and hugged me, said that it was a miracle. I thought they wouldn't believe me at first, but they invited me in for coffee and May talked like it was 10 years ago. I almost forgot that...well, you know."
"Yeah..." Gwen took the seat May vacated and looked down at the table, "Is it weird? Seeing them again?"
"...Kind of." She moved her lips in an odd expression, "They have more gray hairs than I remember, but it's like they haven't aged any other way, you know? It's like with George; he's got more wrinkles than before but he's still the same man who put on the uniform to put the criminals in jail a decade ago." She took a sip of coffee and swallowed it down with an exaggerated grimace, "And Ben's still coffee still sucks, so that's something."
"I guess." Gwen giggled and felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Her mom could always cheer her up.
"I gotta say, though, they were a lot less surprised to see me than I thought they would. There wasn't even any doubt or denial; they just believed me when I told them I came back."
"Yeah..." She licked her lips and wrung her hands together nervously. There were a lot of things she had to tell her mom and she had to do it delicately, "It's just...the world's weird now, mom. Weird enough that coming back from the dead seems plausible."
"You mean Superheroes?"
Gwen opened her mouth, closed it then opened it again, "Wh-What?" She coughed, trying to regain her composure.
"Superheroes. They're real now," her mom replied, giving her a worried look.
"No- I mean, yeah, but how do you-"
"I read it online," she said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "George gave me one of those Upad things to try and keep me distracted and when I checked Giigle for the latest news they popped up. At first I thought it was a joke, but then they showed up again and again and...well, unless there was some serious worldwide pranking stuff going on I figured they were real."
"Yeah..." Well, that was easier than she thought. It didn't solve all her problems, but it was a definite start, "Um...okay, Superheroes exist. Captain America came back in 2008." Two years after her death, though she left that unsaid, "After that there were a bunch more. The Wasp, She-Hulk. " Her...
"I guess that explains it," Her mom said, "I mean I guess once you see one bizarre thing you see them all, right?"
"Sure, that works..." Gwen tapped her hands on her lap in a rapid tempo. Tell her, her mind screamed, tell her that you're a freaking Superhero. It wouldn't hurt anything. It couldn't have been any worse than her missing 10 years of her daughter's life, right?
Oh, God, her mom was gonna fucking freak...
"Is something wrong, honey? You look-"
"I-I gotta tell you something!" Gwen stood and slammed her hands on table, miraculously managing to avoid cracking the wood more than she already did, "Okay, mom, what I'm about to tell you...it might be kind of shocking and you might wanna freak, but just listen to me, okay?"
"Okay..." She looked up at her worriedly and nodded, "You can tell me anything, sweetie."
"Alright, alright..." She took a deep breath and rapidly clenched her hands, "Okay...well, s-some things have changed." She licked her lips and looked up at the ceiling, "I...I..." Tell her. Her dad knew, the Parkers knew, her friends knew - hell, even Felicia knew. Her mom deserved to know, "I'm-"
"Sweetie, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want-"
"I'm in a band!"
...Fuck.
Her mom blinked at the yelled declaration before her face immediately brightened up, "You are?" Before Gwen could say anything back to correct herself the older woman pulled her into another hug and beamed, "Oh, I knew you'd grow up to do something you loved! How did George take it? No, wait, don't tell me, I want to ask him myself. Oh, this is so exciting! How many gigs have you had? Who did you make it with? Is-"
"W-Wait, th-that came out wrong!" Gwen pushed her off and scratched her head in frustration, "Look, that's not what I wanted to tell you!"
"So, you're not in a band?" She looked a bit more disappointed than she thought she'd be at that.
"No, I am in a band, but that's not the news." She looked up at the ceiling again. Why was this so hard? "I...look, the reason Ben and May weren't that surprised at you coming back wasn't just because heroes exist but because...because they've interacted with Superheroes before."
"They talked with Captain America?"
"No, not her..." This wasn't going to work, not like this. Gwen could barely talk without feeling like she was making a huge mistake and at this rate she wasn't going to go anywhere. Taking a deep breath, she gave a quick glance around to make sure that the curtains were closed before she did her next course of action.
She jumped and clung to the ceiling.
Her mom's brief look of worry was replaced by complete and utter shock as soon as it became obvious gravity wasn't being her usual cruel self and that her daughter had indeed remained on the ceiling long after she should've been pulled down. Her mom stared up at her, wide-eyed and gaping, and Gwen could only give a forced smile back in response. Actions spoke louder than words and all that jazz.
"So...surprise?" Gwen tried to maintain the smile, but the gaping look she kept getting forced it back down, "Right, this position's probably not the best for talking..." She detached from the ceiling and landed on the floor with a small hop, "Alright, so...you know Spider-Woman?" Her mom didn't verbally reply, but she did manage a small nod, "Okay, well... I'm her. I'm...I'm Spider-Woman."
The silence was enough to make her uncomfortable, and maybe call Ben and May to try and get some help. Eventually her mom blinked and reached both hands to out to smush her face, "Mom, what are you doing?" Gwen's brows furrowed as her mom continued playing with her face, smushing and moving the skin like she was made of clay, "Mom, seriously, are you trying to see if I'm wearing a mask? Cause I'm not."
"No, just..." She moved her face one last time before pulling her hands back, "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming..."
"Normally you pinch yourself when you wanna do that."
"Yeah, well, normally your daughter doesn't turn out to age 10 years in the blink of an eye!" she countered incredulously, "Gwen, how did...just how?"
"A radioactive spider bit me when I was 15 and I got spider powers." Her mom's expression distinctly said 'bullshit', which caused her to frown, "Hey, look, I didn't make up the rules. A radioactive spider bit me and I got powers, that's what happened. Besides, it's not any weirder than what Peter deals with."
"Peter? You mean Ben and May's nephew? Does he know?"
"Yeah, but that's not the end of it..." How could she tell her mom that she wasn't the first one who'd come back from the dead, "Look, mom, I promise I'll explain everything, but I need you to promise not to spaz out or-or think I'm a freak-"
"A freak?" Her mom looked offended at that, "I mean am I freaking the hell out right now? Absolutely. But do I think you're a freak? There's no way in hell, Gwen." She looked her in the eye and grinned, "My daughter's a superhero! I've seen the things you've done on the news! Apparently you saved the U.N a couple of days ago?"
"Well, it was a group effort, but-"
She didn't get to finish before she was pulled into another hug, "My little girl's a hero..." Gwen shifted uncomfortably for a bit before she reciprocated the embrace. Who cared about those ribs, anyway? "Hah...no wonder Ben and May weren't surprised."
"That's not the only reason, but we can deal with that later." She separated from her mom reluctantly and reciprocated her grin. Of course her mom would've been thrilled she was a hero; she had no idea why she'd worried so much, "Alright, look, it's a long story, and before you ask dad does know, so let me just give you the basics, alright? As soon as dad gets back we can get into more detail."
"So you tell me you're a hero and now you're telling me I have to wait for the full explanation?" She pouted and crossed her arms, "I didn't raise you that way, Gwendolyne."
"Hey, I'm already in enough trouble as it is just telling you like this. Dad's gonna flip out when he finds out I told you without running it by him first." She laughed softly, "Besides, it's not just me. I gotta tell you about Peter..."
This was a mistake.
Peter realized that as soon as Cindy rung the doorbell and Mrs. Moon opened the door. He saw the resemblance immediately - the woman was a dead ringer for what he expected Cindy's mom would look like, and judging by the spark of familiarity on Cindy's eyes she felt the same.
It would've been almost heartwarming if the older woman wasn't glaring at her 'daughter' like her presence somehow personally offended her.
"...Cindy?" Her scowl somehow managed to worsen at Cindy's nod, her fingers holding onto the side of the door protectively, "Cindy, what are you doing here?" It was a question, but they both heard the unsaid accusation and bile in her voice clear as day.
"I-"
"Nari, what's going-" Peter looked past the older woman and found a middle aged man standing not far from where Cindy's 'mother' stood, his eyes widening from behind the rims of his glasses when he caught sight of them, "Cindy...is-is something wrong?"
"What? No, no!" Cindy held up her hands and cringed. She was dressed differently - a light green longcoat, a dark red sweater, black jean leggings, high heeled boots and gloves covering the entirety of her hands. It looked out of place on her, but she'd justified it to him earlier as what her counterpart wore. 'If I want to try and mend bridges I can't just spring everything on them, right?', she'd said.
Personally he thought it was a bad idea - pretending to be that psychopath to endear herself to (relative) strangers - but he'd kept quiet. He was there to support her, nothing else.
"Then what are you doing here?" Her 'mother' asked. So far she hadn't so much as glanced his way, and if he wanted to be honest he wanted to keep it that way.
"I just..." Cindy's hands shook and she looked about read to bolt out of there, but somehow she forced herself to remain still, "I...I wanted to see you guys, that's all..."
Nari's expression briefly made way for surprise before she scowled once more, "We haven't seen you in three years, Cindy, and now you're just-"
"Nari..." Her husband put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "Let's just hear what she has to say."
A few minutes later both Cindy and Peter found themselves sitting at the couch. To be honest Peter had no idea he was doing here - all he knew was that after Gwen's call (no, he hadn't sputtered, despite Lana's claims) Cindy suddenly chimed in that she wanted to meet up and that she really couldn't put off visiting any longer. Mary wasn't answering her phone and Lana said she had to visit her mom, so he figured it was as good a time as any.
He should've made an excuse.
Nari stood at one side of the living room and faced away from them, arms crossed tightly. Meanwhile her husband (Albert Moon Sr., if he was remembering right) came back in carrying a tray filled with tea. Despite the decor and drinks he felt anything but warm, and he could only wonder at how bad it was for Cindy. She'd prepared herself for this, read up on what to expect, but there was nothing quite like the reality.
Cindy took a tentative sip of her tea and stared at her mom's back. She still hadn't sat down, "So..." She looked around desperately for anything to break the silence until she spotted the stack of white envelopes piled neatly on the side of the table, "Wh-What are those for? You having a party?"
"Those are Albert's. He's having a graduation party." Albert Sr. said.
"O-Oh, I heard he got early admittance to college." She smiled slightly, though neither of her 'parents' reciprocated the gesture, "Th-That must have been great."
"Yes, we're very proud of him." Nari said, finally sitting down across them on the opposite couch and picking up a cup of tea, "Though I'm surprised you knew that."
"Of course I would..." She took another uncomfortable sip and gave Peter a sideways glance. So far he hadn't said a word, which meant that as far as support went he was pretty bad at it. Hell, he wasn't even sure if either of the two noticed he was there, "Is...Is he here?"
"No. And I'd rather he didn't see you." Nari replied without a single hint of hesitation.
"When you cut us out of your life he was...devastated. We all were." Albert Sr. added. He definitely looked more remorseful than her wife (though that wasn't exactly hard).
"Y-Yeah..." Cindy set her cup down, her eyes looking at anywhere but them, "I-I know she- I've been distant, but-"
"Distant?" It seemed like that was the last straw. Cindy looked up and pulled back on the couch when Nari suddenly stood, glaring down at her with enough intensity to put hardened criminals to shame, "Cindy, distant would've been moving to a new country and just giving Christmas cards. That's not what you did. You stopped returning our calls, didn't respond to any of our messages...when we went to your place we were turned away at the door. You weren't distant, Cindy; you cut us out of your life. You ran, just like you always do."
"I-"
"And now you come back after three years expecting, what, that things are suddenly the same? That you could just pick up where we left off?" The older Moon's gaze shifted to him and suddenly felt the urge to disappear in a wisp of smoke, "And you bring...who is this? Your assistant? Your boytoy? Did you want to rub our nose in it and see just how much you could insult us?"
"Peter's my friend. We work at the Fact Channel..." It was the cover story the spooks gave her, at least. Wouldn't hold up much here considering she was listed under a different name, but it was something, "Look, I just..." She sucked in a strained breath and looked a hair's breath away from breaking down into tears, "I...I don't know why I came here..."
"Cin..." He wanted to say something to help her, but there weren't any words. He'd seen firsthand how cruel her counterpart could be. Trying to fill in the void she left with her family was a fool's errand and she knew it, but she still wanted to try.
"Cindy-"
"I know it's fucked up that I just came back, but..." she said, cutting off her 'dad', "It's only been three years, but honestly it felt like ten and I...I missed you guys. All of you." She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her lap, "I'm sorry for leaving. For running. For...everything. I know that doesn't even come close to fixing it, but I...I wanted you guys to know that, at least."
It wasn't right. She was taken from her parents because of that bite and now here she was apologizing in that mad scientist's stead to try and get the closest thing she could to family back.
Nari's features softened by the barest amount, though whether Cindy even saw it he didn't know. With nothing more than a mumbled 'I have to go' she stood up and made her way to the door with Peter following after just as quickly.
She was nearly to the door before it suddenly opened and a young man stepped through with a leashed white terrier in tow, "...Cin?" His expression of surprise was brief and quickly replaced by a wide smile, "It's...It's you! What are you doing here?"
Cindy didn't even look up, "I don't know, but it was great to see you...and like I said to mom and dad, I'm sorry."
She practically ran out of the door and was halfway down the steps before her 'brother' quickly caught up to her, "Hey, wait up!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around, "Cin, it's been- God, I don't have to tell you, do I?"
"Yeah, I know-"
She was cut off when he pulled her in a sudden embrace, the dog yipping excitedly at his master's gesture. Cindy stiffened at sudden gesture and Peter saw her eyes widen from his place at the entrance, "Wait, does this mean you're back?"
"I...I don't think so, Albert." She pushed him off gently and did her best to smile, "Mom and dad...they weren't exactly happy to see me."
"They just missed you, Cin. We all do." He rummaged through his jacket pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope, "Hey, I was going to mail it after I walked Andi, but you can save me the stamp. Party's in a few days."
"Y-You actually invited me?" She took the invitation and stared at it numbly, "After three years?"
"Figured I had to try, right?" He rubbed the back of his head and grinned, "Hey, come back in a couple of days; mom and dad should cool off by then. Okay?"
"I'm...I'll try."
"I'm counting on it." He gave her one last quick embrace before making his way back inside, giving Peter a look as he went, "You a friend of Cin's?" he asked, which Peter replied to with a muted nod, "Heh...well, take care of her, alright?"
"Sure..."
Cindy didn't say anything for the next few minutes, but Peter could've sworn she smiled whenever she looked at the invitation that stuck out of her coat pocket; which was more of a relief than he wanted to admit. The silent walk lasted for a few more minutes before they stopped at a park. Cindy nudged her head to the closest bench and walked towards it before he could give any sort of reply.
He waited till they were properly seated before he finally spoke up, "...That didn't go so well."
"Yeah..." She took out the invitation and looked down at it again, "Evil me lived in a penthouse and had the freaking bellboy tell them to fuck off. God, what a bitch..."
"That address any useful?"
"Nah, S.H.I.E.L.D already searched her place as soon as they got finished grilling me; she packed everything up and left without a trace." She laughed bitterly, "I knew it was bad, but God...I didn't expect mom...her mom to be so angry. She looked at me like I was..." She shook her head softly, "I've hard arguments with my mom before, but I never thought it could get that bad."
"You fought with your mom?"
"Well, 'fought' is an overestimation; it's more like we argued, she won and I just shut her down. Mom and dad never really got into fights, so I didn't have much of a role model on what to do whenever I ended up arguing with someone. So I just shut people out until one of us eventually caves and apologizes; once spent an entire week ignoring my boyfriend because of something I can't even remember anymore."
"Yeesh, remind me never to get into a fight with you." The joke was poor, but the soft giggle he got in return made it worth it.
"Argue with you? Never." She put the invitation back in her pocket and sighed, "Hey...thanks for coming with."
"I didn't do anything."
"I didn't bring you because I wanted a White Knight, Pete." She propped one leg up on the edge of the bench and stared across the length of the park, "I brought you cause you know what it's like to be trapped in another world, to have family that don't exactly feel like family."
"Yeah..."
"And to be honest I just didn't want to be alone. Staying in that bunker for ten years...it kinda gives you issues. Sometimes I still wake up at night because I hear a clap of thunder or because a car horn passed by. The bunker was so quiet, but here..." She gestured to a kid running with a kite, "Never thought I'd see other people again. Sometimes I even talked to myself to try and put some noise into that place...still do, sometimes."
"I'm sorry." For what he didn't know, but it still felt like the appropriate thing to say.
"You weren't the one who put me in the bunker, dude." Her hand clenched at that. Despite her jokes and smiles she still carried the scars on her, "Anyway, we're both here and we're both still alive, so I'm not gonna spend it moping. I'll go back there in a couple of days."
"I can come with you if-"
"No, it's alright." She shook her head, "I can't rely on you forever, you know."
"Maybe not forever, but I do still owe you." He leaned back and looked up at the clear skies. It was still a couple of hours to noon but he already felt exhausted, "...I never asked before, but why did you save me? I know you said you couldn't take seeing the torture, but was that the only reason?"
"The main one, yeah. This was still early on, Pete. She didn't have as much experiments as she does now. And you...you were the youngest and longest. The others were bad, but I couldn't save them; they were like Edward, turned into monsters on the first go. But you...no matter what she put in you it didn't stop you from coming back, and every time you did you always begged her to let you see Gwen."
"I don't remember that..."
"I'm not surprised; you were pretty messed up when I rescued you. One second you were crying and begging that you wanted to see Gwen and the next you were growling that you were going to find Octavius. I..." She paused, considering her words, "Truth be told I didn't know what was happening with you. I thought that maybe I'd make a mistake and that the treatments completely broke your mind."
"I must have looked like a nutcase."
"You have no idea..." She took a deep breath, "I thought about leaving you behind."
"...Why didn't you?" He didn't hold it against her. She had nothing to gain and everything to lose freeing him at all.
"Same reason I didn't just let you rot in that cell. To be perfectly honest I thought you were like a kid, helpless without someone to drag you along by the hand." Her next smile was bittersweet, "I don't anymore, but it was definitely a surprise seeing you again back at the S.I.L.K base."
"All it took was for me to get memories that didn't belong to me." He looked down and pressed his hands together, "Brant was right, Cin. I'm not Spider-Man; I don't know who or what the hell I am, but I know I'm not him."
"How...How do you do know that?"
"I met him. The real one." It was easier to talk about now, though not by much, "When Gwen and I went into that factory to put that monster down...he and his partner helped us. Something happened and I saw his face..." he laughed, though the gesture held no mirth, "I know it sounds crazy, but-"
"It doesn't...I know." She pursed her lips and looked him in the eye, "I met the other Spider-Man not too long ago..."
"...You knew?"
"Yes, and I wanted to tell you, but..." But she didn't know how. He couldn't even muster up the energy to feel offended or annoyed, "Well, guess I'm not surprised. From what I gathered he's been doing things with that partner of his."
"Yeah...I could give you his address. Shadowcat - his partner - she gave it to me just in case something came up. You could...you know, talk to him."
"I guess I'll do that, thanks..." He shook his head and sneered, "You know what's messed up? That's not even the worst thing on my mind now. No, instead I have to worry about Gwen's family, Lana's issues with her dad, Mary's personal problem and the fact that I have the Goddamned devil after me trying to turn me into one his lieutenants."
"Wait, what?"
"Murdock. He's possessed by the devil, or at least that's what my 'sister' says."
"...You have a sister?"
"Yeah, Teresa Parker. I'm just as surprised as you are." He looked at her and paused. The furrow in her brow wasn't the same worry from before, "...What's up?"
"Teresa...brown hair, ponytail and blind?" Well...shit, "Cause if you're talking about the same then I think we've met, kinda. She gave me a video call and told me to help Gwen out, but Watson beat me to it."
"Mary? What happened?"
"Apparently my evil twin tried to attack Gwen, but Mary Jane managed to save her." She gave him a piercing look, "How long did you know she had S.H.I.E.L.D's symbiote on her?"
"Only for a couple of days. She told me to keep it a secret from Gwen and we've kept it under control with suppressants." Or at least they did. Peter grit his teeth and scowled. He found it pretty damn unlikely it was a coinciden that Teresa would send Cindy to try and help Gwen right after Mary saved her, 'Knew I shouldn't have trusted her...' Mary still wasn't answering her phone, but considering she hadn't heard news of the re-appearance of the 'Carnage Killer' he was willing to hope for the best.
"So let me get this straight: Watson got S.H.I.E.L.D's symbiote, your long lost sister came back into your life, you found out you're not really Spider-Man and you have the devil trying to turn you into his apprentice, Darth Vader style?"
"More or less...oh, and Lana apparently has a crush on me." That one he liked to think about the least. At this point he was about read to scream from the overwhelming weight of everything bearing down on him.
"...You know, this is why the weekly phone calls should be a thing. Next thing I know you and Gwen are getting married or something."
"Only if you agree to be my best man." He laughed wryly at the poor attempt at a joke, "'Sides, you're one to talk, Cin. You're partnering up with Osborn now?"
"Yeah, don't remind me." She clicked her tongue and waved a hand flippantly, "I wish I could say that's my biggest problem, but it's not even close. Right now I'm the world's most poorly paid spy: Agent Hill wants me to spy on the Avengers and give her info, but Cap knows that and she's giving me info that isn't dangerous for S.H.I.E.L.D to know. Meanwhile I also have to spy on Osborn and give info to Hill so they can blackmail his dad, which I'm pretty sure Norman knows cause he just offered me a position as Oscorop's officially sponsored hero when I talked to him at a party."
"...So why are you smiling?"
"Because despite it all this still beats being trapped in a bunker and dying alone," she replied without much fanfare, "I dunno, Pete, it just feels like the world's moving faster than I can keep up with. I mean don't get me wrong I like keeping busy since it beats being alone with my thoughts, but it feels like every time I blink I'm missing some kind of giant change."
"I know you you feel." He wondered if Spider-Man had to deal with these kinds of things.
"I mean last I checked Cap's trying to create some kind of initiative for some kind of hero team across all the states, cause apparently there are heroes everywhere like that Ladybug and Cat dude in France and that superhacker dude Aidan something from Chicago. Besides that Janet's trying to convince people to shrink prisoners down with the Dyne particles to reduce the chance of jailbreaks and I've been getting offers from people like the Make a Wish foundation to do some stuff for them."
"You're still smiling."
"Shut up." She punched his shoulder lightly, "...Our life's crazy, huh?"
"You don't know the half of it, Cin..."
"Well, like I said, weekly phone calls. If you need help with Watson or that whole...devil thing then gimme a call." He could tell she was legitimate, but something told him that Teresa would just make up more mumbo-jumbo on why involving her would somehow cause the city to explode.
"What I really need help with is Lana, to be honest-"
"Uh-uh, nope, not happening." She crossed her arms in an 'X', "Asking someone who's been trapped in a sinkhole for the last decade on romance advice is the last thing you wanna do, trust me."
"Point."
They said their goodbyes not long after that, though not before she wrote down the address on a piece of paper. Peter glared down at the written letters like they'd somehow personally offended him and tried to call Mary again. Nothing, as expected, and Teresa wasn't answering either. He really wished he could say it surprised him, "I just hope Mary's alright..." For both her and Teresa's sake.
In the end he ended up calling Gwen and she agreed to meet near the address at about noon without even bothering to ask him why. It only took her a little over an hour to arrive, but it felt like the longest in his life. This was it...
"Hey, Peter." She smiled and waved at him as she approached. She definitely didn't look like someone who got attacked just last night; then again neither did he, "What's with the sudden call?"
"I'm going to talk to Spider-Man and I was scared to do it alone."
She froze at that, smile fading from her face only to be replaced with complete and utter worry. Maybe he shouldn't have phrased it like that, "Um...what?"
"Spider-Man. He's there." He pointed to the house a fair distance and did his best to keep his expression neutral, "I wanted to talk to him."
"Peter...are you sure?"
"Am I sure I want to talk to the guy whose life I stole for 6 months? Not really, but it's gonna stay on my mind till I do." He took a deep breath, "Look, I get if you don't wanna come-"
She interrupted him by intertwining their hands together and squeezing gently, "I'm coming with. Just make sure you don't regret it, alright?"
"Sure..."
He took another deep breath and untangled their hands before he began the slow walk to the one-floor apartment/house. The last time they'd talked it was when that monster's girlfriend made them insane, but somehow he got the feeling this one wasn't gonna go much better, "Come on..." He stopped in front of the door and pulled it open, forgetting to knock or ring the doorbell in his haste.
Big mistake.
Regardless of his memories Peter wasn't what one would call a prude, but seeing Spider-Man buck naked on the couch while Shadowcat rode him was definitely enough to give him pause. The tan young woman, seemingly unaware of the interruption, continued to thrust up and and down, her face flushed and her body covered in a thin sheen of sweat while her hands wrapped around Spider-Man's neck in a tight grip.
For his part Spider-Man at least noticed them, his head turning to the side to meet their gaze and his eyes widening in complete and utter shock. At his side Gwen's face lit up a dark crimson and she turned away, both hands covering her ears; which probably did little to block out Shadowcat's moans and growls.
Peter shut the door and sighed. This was off to a great start...
This chapter dragged a bit, and there was less family focus than one might think, but hopefully it's alright. I had to cut some things out from Peter and Cindy's convo and Gwen visiting the cemetary again to avoid bloating too much, but I think it still works. Next chapter will be the Noir and Spider-Man talk followed by the Carnage!MJ aftermath, with some additional inspiration by Gwenom's current behavior
Anyway, I think the two contrast well enough: despite Helen's trauma and reservations she keeps up the 'cool mom' approach and is legitimately happy her daughter is a badass Superhero. Contrast Cindy where she's uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn while her mom browbeats her, her dad watches and her brother only manages a 'come back in a couple of days'.
The tone's also all over the place with characters jumping from angsty to cheerful to angsty again. While you can justify as them trying to avoid being depressed it might seem jarring nontheless. I'll try to be more consistent next chapter, especially where Noir and Spider-Man are concerned.
Side Note - To clear up a misunderstanding, Gwenpool won't actually appear a lot if at all; I was just taking the piss with The Protectors list, so don't worry.
Questions:
1. Should I devote a segment dealing with Jessica's reaction to the whole Helen resurrection or do I just have it happen off-screen with Gwen relaying how she feels about it later on? Note it probably won't be from her POV but rather from Kate or Noir's as they check up on her.
2. I'm thinking of a chapter just dealing with Lana's POV of what her school life is like with her dad holding her 'leash' and (depending on where I want to take the story) how much it changes if her identity possibly gets outed. Unlike the original side-story I mentioned this would be 'canon' to the fic's events, but I wanna know if like Jessica you guys want to see it or just have her refer to it.
This chapter was a tad faster than my normal, but I figured it was for the best.Anyway, I read the Spider-Gwen. The entire issue from start to finish feels like something out of Kaine's Scarlet Spider run rather than just another Spider-Gwen issue, and I mean that in the most positive way possible: Gwen tails the corrupt cop who let Rhino beat her dad into a coma and she goes to town on him, scaring him within an inch of his life and and giving her the same ultimatum Kaine gives - either he turns himself into the police or she runs, and if he runs then Gwen can and wil hunt him down.
Granted it becomes a non-issue when Murdock has him killed, but points for effort. One thing I found interesting is that Gwen controlled spiders to swarm the guy, meaning she's either turned into the Other or she's gotten such fine control of her symbiote that she can make it appear like a swarm of spiders.
I don't wanna spoil everything, but let's just say it's all in all a very solid issue. The only complaint I have is that (as expected in many modern comics) the summary is complete BS. The cover and summary indicates that Gwen is being hunted down by the cops in a city-wide manhunt, but the only police officer seen in this fic is said corrupt cop who let George get beaten...and Gwen was the one hunting him. Punisher (a former cop) also tracks her down, but only to offer a team-up and she (justifiably) attacks him first while he tries to keep pushing the cooperation and never actually attacks her seriously.
Also, Gwen Stacy leaked for Spider-Man homecoming with the giant twist (their words) that she's...going to be either Russian or French, cause apparently that's a twist nowadays.
Anyway, enough yakking, let's start.
Chapter 92: Spider Family
When Gwen woke up to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling her first instinct was to panic. The events of last night were still fresh in her mind: her mother's resurrection, the talk at the cemetery, and then...
She sat up on the bed and winced when a sharp pain ran up her left side, "Ah..." She pressed her hand against her stomach and hissed, fingertips grazing against the gauze roughly. Her eyes shut by themselves and she let out another pained whimper, tongue darting out to try and wet her too-dry lips. Her mouth felt dryer than the Sahara desert and the ringing in her head made her want to puke her dinner out.
Despite it all she still felt the suit on her, so she had something going for her, at least.
"The fuck am I?" She blinked away the blurriness in her vision and looked around the room. Good news was it didn't look like a prison cell, so she could hopefully rule out being stuck in a S.I.L.K facility of some kind unless Moon had a weird fetish for making her prisons look like apartment bedrooms.
Licking her lips again, she looked down her chest and frowned when she saw the bandages that covered the length of her upper body. Her clothes were gone, replaced by nothing more than a pair of slightly oversized dull gray sweatpants. Besides that her feet were bare and the chest was covered by bandages at least to the point that she didn't have to worry about indecent exposure of any sort.
Gwen tried to stand, only to fall back on the bed with a weak groan. It'd been a while since she felt pain like this. It wasn't much of a stretch to say that Webster made most things feel like pinpricks on the off-chance that she wasn't able to avoid them, and that included bullets. The last time she felt like this was when Kasady tore the two of them apart...
"Ah..." Her suit stirred underneath the bandages and she sucked in a strained breath. She was in pain without a doubt, but more than that she was starving. The urge to jump into a vat full of chocolate felt dangerously out of place and cliche, but screw it. The more the suit ate the better it healed her, so it was a win-win.
Before she could put any kind of plan into action the door across from her opened and-
"Fuck!" Moon looked at her in surprise and yelped when Gwen grabbed the closest thing she could - a lamp - and threw it at her, the older woman ducking under the projectile with more speed than she expected, "Just the stay the fuck away from you, you crazy bitch!"
"Hey, what the hell! This is what I get for letting you crash at my place?!" She said, glaring up at her incredulously.
"Wait...Cindy?" she asked, eyes still narrowed. For all she knew this was still a trick of some kind.
"Yeah, who else could it-" She stopped suddenly and cursed, "Oh, damn it, you think I'm my evil twin, don't you?" She didn't wait for Gwen to answer before she grabbed onto the wall with her right hand and pulled herself up alongside it with her fingertips, "There, that enough proof for you?"
"...I guess." Gwen let out a relieved breath and let herself calm down. It still might've been a trick (hanging out with a certain someone made her way more paranoid...), but the fact that she was trying to calm her down at all was definitely a relief, "Uh...sorry about your lamp...and the wall." She winced when her eyes caught the cracks along the surface of the drywall, "...I can totally pay for that."
"Yeah, sure..." Cindy rolled her eyes and wiped her hands on her blue t-shirt, "Look, I didn't think you'd be awake yet. From what I saw of you last night you looked like you'd be out for the next week."
"Huh..." She looked down briefly before she managed to force herself up, "...Look, I know this might sound really fucking weird right now, but do you have any chocolate on you? I'll even take some of that nasty dark choco stuff if you have it."
"Dark chocolate is love and life, Gwen," Cindy said, smiling slightly at the absolutely terrible joke, "And yeah, I have some. Come on."
The other spider slung her left arm around her shoulder and led her to the licing room, setting her down on the couch before grabbing a bar of chocolate from the fridge, "Thanks..." She tore the wrapper away and bit into it hungrily, moaning in relief as soon as the first taste landed on her tongue. The pain was still there, but the sweet distraction was enough to make it less obvious.
"You know most people go for painkillers instead of chocolate," Cindy quipped, sitting on the other side of the couch. Gwen had to admit she found the sight of the other Spider lounging around casually in pajamas bizarre considering what happened last night. A (paranoid) part of her expected her to start cackling about her latest evil plan any second now.
"Most people don't have a weird super suit." She finished off the chocolate and tossed the wrapper into a nearby trashcan, "So...where'd you find me? Last I remembered I was..." Getting her ass kicked with Webster being torn away from her.
"I found you passed out on the street." Gwen gave her a skeptical look and she shrugged, "Hey, don't look at me. I mean I can guess from how you reacted that you saw my evil twin, but I don't have a clue what happened between you two."
"She-"
Her explanation was cut off when the front door suddenly opened and Harry rushed in, eyes wide and breaths frantic like the time Peter called for help after King's beating. The two's eyes met and he immediately calmed, mouth raising in a relieved smile, "Gwen..." He let out a pacified breath and stepped closer to them, "Thank God you're alright."
"Harry!" She stood and accepted her friend's embrace, cringing only slightly at the pain in her ribs and the fact that she was technically topless apart from the bandages. Still, the relief at seeing him again trumped any discomfort and embarassment she might have felt, "God, it's been a while..." They messaged and talked on the phone sometimes, but every offer she made to meet up was politely refused. She'd started to think she'd done something to piss him off.
Well...okay, she might have indicated she didn't share his feelings for her, but that couldn't have been it. They were friends; it took more than a slighted crush for them to cut off contact like that. It was nothing compared to Spider-Woman vs Green Goblin, at least...
"Yeah..." The hug lingered for a few more seconds before they parted, hands at her shoulders to keep her balanced, "I-I heard from Cindy that you got injured."
"And you rushed on over here without saying anything. Real nice, Gobby." Cindy said sarcastically. She could've interpreted it as a joke, but there was way too much bite in the words for her to fool herself, "Look, I said she was alright; you didn't have to come here."
"She's my friend, Cindy. Of course I'd be worried about her," Harry snapped back, his expression going from relief to slight annoyance.
"Then you could do that after she left without coming to my place," she countered. Gwen had to admit it was bizarre seeing her act like that. She didn't know Cindy as well as Kate or Peter, but she'd seen enough to know that the other Spider scowling was definitely not a normal, "It's bad enough that I have to deal with shittalk from the other agents, I don't need them shitting on me about you either."
"Hey, I'm not gonna-"
"Alright, guys, enough." Gwen held up both hands and stepped away from Harry's grasp. The two of them were giving her a headache, "Okay, I don't know what's happening between you two, but could you please cool it? You two sound just like Peter-"
...
'Peter!' She turned her back to the two of them and took the (thankfully undamaged) phone from one of her 'pockets'. How could she have forgotten about him? 'Moon said that Murderdock did something to him...' Peter got in trouble with him before, but Teresa's words rang in her mind again. She said that Murdock was possessed by the devil, and while she still had her doubts on that it only made her more worried thinking about it.
"Gwen, what's-"
"Shut up for a second." She shushed Cindy and turned her attention back to her phone. The phone rang once, twice, three times before it finally stopped and she heard a groan from the other side, "Peter! Peter, are you there?!" Her first thought was being captured and taken prisoner followed by managing to get away half-dead. Considering his track record so far she wouldn't have been surprised.
"Yeah, who the fuck is this?"
...That wasn't Peter.
"Where's Peter?" she asked, free hand clenching nervously. It took all she had not to run out there now and start searching for him.
"Who the hell's asking?" The other voice snapped back. Female, and groggy by the sounds of her. She could've sworn it was familiar, but she was too panicked to think on that now.
She was about to snap something back before she heard a brief scuffle on the other end followed by a much more familiar voice, "Gwen?" She instantly felt relieved when she heard his voice. He sounded tired, but that wasn't a cause for concern in and of itself, "Is something wrong?"
"No, I just thought..." Thought that Murderdock somehow did him in while she wasn't paying attention, "I-I heard that you got into a fight with Murderdock, so I got worried."
"Where'd you- nevermind," He sighed, "Look, it was hairy for a bit, but Moon Knight helped me out. Just...don't be surprised if you see a news report about some dead ninjas..." Was it good or bad that she didn't even care all that much when he said that? Or maybe Kate's constant complaints about said ninjas coming back to life numbed her to it, "Anyway, it's fine. Went back to my place and talked with Lana."
"Oh, so that's who that was..." She let out a relieved breath. Most people might have found it weird that their boyfriend(?) was living with a teenage girl, but she trusted him enough not to spaz out over it. Besides, last she checked the younger girl didn't feel that way about Peter, "Well, I'll see you later, okay?" She heard him yawn and mumble and affirmative before she smiled, "Hey, Peter?"
"Hm?"
"I love you too."
He sputtered and coughed at that while Lana said something she couldn't make out, but she cut the call before he could reply. That'd teach him to leave her hanging like that last night.
When she turned back to Cindy and Harry she found the former looking at her questioningly with a raised brow while the latter was looking away with an unreadable expression, "Your evil twin said that Peter was attacked by Matt Murderdock; I got worried," she said. It was a pretty basic explanation - she was pretty sure neither Cindy or Harry knew that said lawyer was apparently possessed by the devil - but it would do for now.
"Murdock? You mean that blind lawyer guy?" Cindy asked.
"Yeah, that guy..." Gwen ruffled her hair and let out a frustrated breath. She still had no clue why the two were apparently arch-enemies now, but in the end she guessed it didn't really matter. Why did he attack her all those months ago? She didn't know, and it didn't change anything.
"So..." Harry started, hands stuffed into his pockets in that awkward way every time he wanted to broach something uncomfortable, "You and Peter are...together now?"
Gwen blinked at the sudden question before she quickly righted herself. Of course he'd be curious about it; the last time she'd seen the two of them together they got into an argument about him and the serum, "Um...kinda?" She shrugged before quickly following up with a nod, "Uh, I mean we agreed an actual relationship was out of the table till we got that Octavius guy he was searching for, but after that..."
"I see." He nodded and smiled, though it was obviously forced, "Well, I'm glad you're happy, just...be careful. I know you trust him, but I'm not sure he's all there."
"Glass houses, Gobby." Cindy answered, getting an annoyed look in response, "Look, Gwen can date whoever she wants; it's none of our business."
"I was just giving her a heads-up, that's all..." he muttered.
"Sure it wasn't more than that?"
"Guys, remember me asking for the arguments to stop? Thanks." She rubbed her temples and sucked in a frustrated breath. She was still hurting all over, but at least she could walk now. The chocolate (and finding out Peter was okay) helped, "Look, Cindy, could I borrow some clothes? I gotta take off and I don't exactly feel like swinging back home looking like I just came out of a Die Hard film."
"Sure, lemme get something." She made her way to her room and started rummaging through her closest. Gwen watched her briefly before turning her attention back to Harry.
"And hey, don't be a stranger next time, okay?" She punched him in the arm (hopefully) lightly and grinned up at him, "Seriously, we need to hang out sometime and talk about what's up with you and Cindy or, you know, anything." Maybe if she was really lucky she could get him and Peter in the same room, but she didn't want to rush.
"Haha...yeah, sure. I promise."
Despite her words she didn't literally swing back home. She still didn't feel comfortable manifesting her costume and her joints still ached enough that she didn't want to see what web-swinging would do. With a borrowed hoodie and sneakers she trudged her way to the train and and paid with the money Cindy lent her. Adding that and the lamp and she felt distinctly guilty of feeling suspicious about her at all.
It was still early in the morning - her cellphone was flashing '7:10' at her - and the train was practically devoid of life save a hobo and a couple of guys in business suits. Gwen yawned and adjusted her place on the seat, her gaze focused on the passing view. A part of her was tempted to go back to the cemetary to try and get an idea of what happened, but an even greater part just wanted to go back home and see her mom and dad again.
In the end the latter won out and she found herself walking the familiar streets leading to her house. She thanked whatever luck she had that any bruises and wounds were stuck under her hoodie; she definitely didn't want to explain to either of her parents why she looked like she'd gotten into a bender.
She was about to enter her walkway before she heard Ben call out to her from the garden, "Morning, Gwen!" Her surrogate uncle gave her a smile and nudged her head to his house,"If you're looking for your mom then she's not there. She's having coffee with May."
Gwen blinked. Well...that wasn't how she thought this morning would go, "Uh..." she said (very smartly, thank you very much), staring at him like he'd grown a second head. The silence lasted long enough for Ben's smile to falter, which she took as a cue to continue, "Um, I mean...you know? About my mom, I mean?"
"Ah...yeah, she went up and re-introduced herself a couple of hours ago. May looked like she was going to faint." He laughed softly and picked up the shears lying on the ground, "Helen was looking for you too, so you might wanna check in on her."
"Uh...sure." She stepped past him and stopped. She had to ask, "You're...taking this really well, Uncle Ben. My mom coming back, I mean."
"Oh, suppose I am." His smile turned more wistful, "After finding out about your gifts and Peter coming back...well, I guess I miracles don't faze me anymore." He clapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, count your blessings, Gwennie. We got second chances; that's something everyone wants."
"I guess...thanks, Uncle Ben."
She found her mom and May sitting on the dining room, the former smiling widely and talking to the older woman about something to do with stars and dresses before she noticed Gwen, "Oh, Gwen!" Her face brightened and before Gwen could reply she stood up and pulled her in a bone-crushing embrace, "Nice of you to show up, kiddo!"
"Mmh, yeah." She did her best to mask her discomfort at the gesture. If she saw Moon again she'd make her pay for smacking her around like that, "So...you introduced yourself to Uncle Ben and Aunt May again?"
She kissed the top of her forehead - and she had to cringe at how weird having her mom tiptoe to kiss her was - and pulled back, "Yeah. George went to buy some better clothes and told me to stay put, but then I saw Ben trimming the lawn and..." She shrugged and grinned, "I thought it'd be better to re-introduce myself sooner rather than later. I thought I gave May a heart attack when I showed up."
"No such thing, Helen." May smiled sweetly at them and set down her cup of coffee, "Look, you two look like you need to talk so I'll head out for a bit. Make sure to call Ben if you two need anything."
Her mom watched May leave the room and let out soft hum as soon as she was out of sight, "God...it's been 10 years, but they haven't changed a bit...well, not where it counts." She sat back down, "When Ben saw me...he cried and hugged me, said that it was a miracle. I thought they wouldn't believe me at first, but they invited me in for coffee and May talked like it was 10 years ago. I almost forgot that...well, you know."
"Yeah..." Gwen took the seat May vacated and looked down at the table, "Is it weird? Seeing them again?"
"...Kind of." She moved her lips in an odd expression, "They have more gray hairs than I remember, but it's like they haven't aged any other way, you know? It's like with George; he's got more wrinkles than before but he's still the same man who put on the uniform to put the criminals in jail a decade ago." She took a sip of coffee and swallowed it down with an exaggerated grimace, "And Ben's still coffee still sucks, so that's something."
"I guess." Gwen giggled and felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Her mom could always cheer her up.
"I gotta say, though, they were a lot less surprised to see me than I thought they would. There wasn't even any doubt or denial; they just believed me when I told them I came back."
"Yeah..." She licked her lips and wrung her hands together nervously. There were a lot of things she had to tell her mom and she had to do it delicately, "It's just...the world's weird now, mom. Weird enough that coming back from the dead seems plausible."
"You mean Superheroes?"
Gwen opened her mouth, closed it then opened it again, "Wh-What?" She coughed, trying to regain her composure.
"Superheroes. They're real now," her mom replied, giving her a worried look.
"No- I mean, yeah, but how do you-"
"I read it online," she said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "George gave me one of those Upad things to try and keep me distracted and when I checked Giigle for the latest news they popped up. At first I thought it was a joke, but then they showed up again and again and...well, unless there was some serious worldwide pranking stuff going on I figured they were real."
"Yeah..." Well, that was easier than she thought. It didn't solve all her problems, but it was a definite start, "Um...okay, Superheroes exist. Captain America came back in 2008." Two years after her death, though she left that unsaid, "After that there were a bunch more. The Wasp, She-Hulk. " Her...
"I guess that explains it," Her mom said, "I mean I guess once you see one bizarre thing you see them all, right?"
"Sure, that works..." Gwen tapped her hands on her lap in a rapid tempo. Tell her, her mind screamed, tell her that you're a freaking Superhero. It wouldn't hurt anything. It couldn't have been any worse than her missing 10 years of her daughter's life, right?
Oh, God, her mom was gonna fucking freak...
"Is something wrong, honey? You look-"
"I-I gotta tell you something!" Gwen stood and slammed her hands on table, miraculously managing to avoid cracking the wood more than she already did, "Okay, mom, what I'm about to tell you...it might be kind of shocking and you might wanna freak, but just listen to me, okay?"
"Okay..." She looked up at her worriedly and nodded, "You can tell me anything, sweetie."
"Alright, alright..." She took a deep breath and rapidly clenched her hands, "Okay...well, s-some things have changed." She licked her lips and looked up at the ceiling, "I...I..." Tell her. Her dad knew, the Parkers knew, her friends knew - hell, even Felicia knew. Her mom deserved to know, "I'm-"
"Sweetie, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want-"
"I'm in a band!"
...Fuck.
Her mom blinked at the yelled declaration before her face immediately brightened up, "You are?" Before Gwen could say anything back to correct herself the older woman pulled her into another hug and beamed, "Oh, I knew you'd grow up to do something you loved! How did George take it? No, wait, don't tell me, I want to ask him myself. Oh, this is so exciting! How many gigs have you had? Who did you make it with? Is-"
"W-Wait, th-that came out wrong!" Gwen pushed her off and scratched her head in frustration, "Look, that's not what I wanted to tell you!"
"So, you're not in a band?" She looked a bit more disappointed than she thought she'd be at that.
"No, I am in a band, but that's not the news." She looked up at the ceiling again. Why was this so hard? "I...look, the reason Ben and May weren't that surprised at you coming back wasn't just because heroes exist but because...because they've interacted with Superheroes before."
"They talked with Captain America?"
"No, not her..." This wasn't going to work, not like this. Gwen could barely talk without feeling like she was making a huge mistake and at this rate she wasn't going to go anywhere. Taking a deep breath, she gave a quick glance around to make sure that the curtains were closed before she did her next course of action.
She jumped and clung to the ceiling.
Her mom's brief look of worry was replaced by complete and utter shock as soon as it became obvious gravity wasn't being her usual cruel self and that her daughter had indeed remained on the ceiling long after she should've been pulled down. Her mom stared up at her, wide-eyed and gaping, and Gwen could only give a forced smile back in response. Actions spoke louder than words and all that jazz.
"So...surprise?" Gwen tried to maintain the smile, but the gaping look she kept getting forced it back down, "Right, this position's probably not the best for talking..." She detached from the ceiling and landed on the floor with a small hop, "Alright, so...you know Spider-Woman?" Her mom didn't verbally reply, but she did manage a small nod, "Okay, well... I'm her. I'm...I'm Spider-Woman."
The silence was enough to make her uncomfortable, and maybe call Ben and May to try and get some help. Eventually her mom blinked and reached both hands to out to smush her face, "Mom, what are you doing?" Gwen's brows furrowed as her mom continued playing with her face, smushing and moving the skin like she was made of clay, "Mom, seriously, are you trying to see if I'm wearing a mask? Cause I'm not."
"No, just..." She moved her face one last time before pulling her hands back, "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming..."
"Normally you pinch yourself when you wanna do that."
"Yeah, well, normally your daughter doesn't turn out to age 10 years in the blink of an eye!" she countered incredulously, "Gwen, how did...just how?"
"A radioactive spider bit me when I was 15 and I got spider powers." Her mom's expression distinctly said 'bullshit', which caused her to frown, "Hey, look, I didn't make up the rules. A radioactive spider bit me and I got powers, that's what happened. Besides, it's not any weirder than what Peter deals with."
"Peter? You mean Ben and May's nephew? Does he know?"
"Yeah, but that's not the end of it..." How could she tell her mom that she wasn't the first one who'd come back from the dead, "Look, mom, I promise I'll explain everything, but I need you to promise not to spaz out or-or think I'm a freak-"
"A freak?" Her mom looked offended at that, "I mean am I freaking the hell out right now? Absolutely. But do I think you're a freak? There's no way in hell, Gwen." She looked her in the eye and grinned, "My daughter's a superhero! I've seen the things you've done on the news! Apparently you saved the U.N a couple of days ago?"
"Well, it was a group effort, but-"
She didn't get to finish before she was pulled into another hug, "My little girl's a hero..." Gwen shifted uncomfortably for a bit before she reciprocated the embrace. Who cared about those ribs, anyway? "Hah...no wonder Ben and May weren't surprised."
"That's not the only reason, but we can deal with that later." She separated from her mom reluctantly and reciprocated her grin. Of course her mom would've been thrilled she was a hero; she had no idea why she'd worried so much, "Alright, look, it's a long story, and before you ask dad does know, so let me just give you the basics, alright? As soon as dad gets back we can get into more detail."
"So you tell me you're a hero and now you're telling me I have to wait for the full explanation?" She pouted and crossed her arms, "I didn't raise you that way, Gwendolyne."
"Hey, I'm already in enough trouble as it is just telling you like this. Dad's gonna flip out when he finds out I told you without running it by him first." She laughed softly, "Besides, it's not just me. I gotta tell you about Peter..."
This was a mistake.
Peter realized that as soon as Cindy rung the doorbell and Mrs. Moon opened the door. He saw the resemblance immediately - the woman was a dead ringer for what he expected Cindy's mom would look like, and judging by the spark of familiarity on Cindy's eyes she felt the same.
It would've been almost heartwarming if the older woman wasn't glaring at her 'daughter' like her presence somehow personally offended her.
"...Cindy?" Her scowl somehow managed to worsen at Cindy's nod, her fingers holding onto the side of the door protectively, "Cindy, what are you doing here?" It was a question, but they both heard the unsaid accusation and bile in her voice clear as day.
"I-"
"Nari, what's going-" Peter looked past the older woman and found a middle aged man standing not far from where Cindy's 'mother' stood, his eyes widening from behind the rims of his glasses when he caught sight of them, "Cindy...is-is something wrong?"
"What? No, no!" Cindy held up her hands and cringed. She was dressed differently - a light green longcoat, a dark red sweater, black jean leggings, high heeled boots and gloves covering the entirety of her hands. It looked out of place on her, but she'd justified it to him earlier as what her counterpart wore. 'If I want to try and mend bridges I can't just spring everything on them, right?', she'd said.
Personally he thought it was a bad idea - pretending to be that psychopath to endear herself to (relative) strangers - but he'd kept quiet. He was there to support her, nothing else.
"Then what are you doing here?" Her 'mother' asked. So far she hadn't so much as glanced his way, and if he wanted to be honest he wanted to keep it that way.
"I just..." Cindy's hands shook and she looked about read to bolt out of there, but somehow she forced herself to remain still, "I...I wanted to see you guys, that's all..."
Nari's expression briefly made way for surprise before she scowled once more, "We haven't seen you in three years, Cindy, and now you're just-"
"Nari..." Her husband put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "Let's just hear what she has to say."
A few minutes later both Cindy and Peter found themselves sitting at the couch. To be honest Peter had no idea he was doing here - all he knew was that after Gwen's call (no, he hadn't sputtered, despite Lana's claims) Cindy suddenly chimed in that she wanted to meet up and that she really couldn't put off visiting any longer. Mary wasn't answering her phone and Lana said she had to visit her mom, so he figured it was as good a time as any.
He should've made an excuse.
Nari stood at one side of the living room and faced away from them, arms crossed tightly. Meanwhile her husband (Albert Moon Sr., if he was remembering right) came back in carrying a tray filled with tea. Despite the decor and drinks he felt anything but warm, and he could only wonder at how bad it was for Cindy. She'd prepared herself for this, read up on what to expect, but there was nothing quite like the reality.
Cindy took a tentative sip of her tea and stared at her mom's back. She still hadn't sat down, "So..." She looked around desperately for anything to break the silence until she spotted the stack of white envelopes piled neatly on the side of the table, "Wh-What are those for? You having a party?"
"Those are Albert's. He's having a graduation party." Albert Sr. said.
"O-Oh, I heard he got early admittance to college." She smiled slightly, though neither of her 'parents' reciprocated the gesture, "Th-That must have been great."
"Yes, we're very proud of him." Nari said, finally sitting down across them on the opposite couch and picking up a cup of tea, "Though I'm surprised you knew that."
"Of course I would..." She took another uncomfortable sip and gave Peter a sideways glance. So far he hadn't said a word, which meant that as far as support went he was pretty bad at it. Hell, he wasn't even sure if either of the two noticed he was there, "Is...Is he here?"
"No. And I'd rather he didn't see you." Nari replied without a single hint of hesitation.
"When you cut us out of your life he was...devastated. We all were." Albert Sr. added. He definitely looked more remorseful than her wife (though that wasn't exactly hard).
"Y-Yeah..." Cindy set her cup down, her eyes looking at anywhere but them, "I-I know she- I've been distant, but-"
"Distant?" It seemed like that was the last straw. Cindy looked up and pulled back on the couch when Nari suddenly stood, glaring down at her with enough intensity to put hardened criminals to shame, "Cindy, distant would've been moving to a new country and just giving Christmas cards. That's not what you did. You stopped returning our calls, didn't respond to any of our messages...when we went to your place we were turned away at the door. You weren't distant, Cindy; you cut us out of your life. You ran, just like you always do."
"I-"
"And now you come back after three years expecting, what, that things are suddenly the same? That you could just pick up where we left off?" The older Moon's gaze shifted to him and suddenly felt the urge to disappear in a wisp of smoke, "And you bring...who is this? Your assistant? Your boytoy? Did you want to rub our nose in it and see just how much you could insult us?"
"Peter's my friend. We work at the Fact Channel..." It was the cover story the spooks gave her, at least. Wouldn't hold up much here considering she was listed under a different name, but it was something, "Look, I just..." She sucked in a strained breath and looked a hair's breath away from breaking down into tears, "I...I don't know why I came here..."
"Cin..." He wanted to say something to help her, but there weren't any words. He'd seen firsthand how cruel her counterpart could be. Trying to fill in the void she left with her family was a fool's errand and she knew it, but she still wanted to try.
"Cindy-"
"I know it's fucked up that I just came back, but..." she said, cutting off her 'dad', "It's only been three years, but honestly it felt like ten and I...I missed you guys. All of you." She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her lap, "I'm sorry for leaving. For running. For...everything. I know that doesn't even come close to fixing it, but I...I wanted you guys to know that, at least."
It wasn't right. She was taken from her parents because of that bite and now here she was apologizing in that mad scientist's stead to try and get the closest thing she could to family back.
Nari's features softened by the barest amount, though whether Cindy even saw it he didn't know. With nothing more than a mumbled 'I have to go' she stood up and made her way to the door with Peter following after just as quickly.
She was nearly to the door before it suddenly opened and a young man stepped through with a leashed white terrier in tow, "...Cin?" His expression of surprise was brief and quickly replaced by a wide smile, "It's...It's you! What are you doing here?"
Cindy didn't even look up, "I don't know, but it was great to see you...and like I said to mom and dad, I'm sorry."
She practically ran out of the door and was halfway down the steps before her 'brother' quickly caught up to her, "Hey, wait up!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around, "Cin, it's been- God, I don't have to tell you, do I?"
"Yeah, I know-"
She was cut off when he pulled her in a sudden embrace, the dog yipping excitedly at his master's gesture. Cindy stiffened at sudden gesture and Peter saw her eyes widen from his place at the entrance, "Wait, does this mean you're back?"
"I...I don't think so, Albert." She pushed him off gently and did her best to smile, "Mom and dad...they weren't exactly happy to see me."
"They just missed you, Cin. We all do." He rummaged through his jacket pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope, "Hey, I was going to mail it after I walked Andi, but you can save me the stamp. Party's in a few days."
"Y-You actually invited me?" She took the invitation and stared at it numbly, "After three years?"
"Figured I had to try, right?" He rubbed the back of his head and grinned, "Hey, come back in a couple of days; mom and dad should cool off by then. Okay?"
"I'm...I'll try."
"I'm counting on it." He gave her one last quick embrace before making his way back inside, giving Peter a look as he went, "You a friend of Cin's?" he asked, which Peter replied to with a muted nod, "Heh...well, take care of her, alright?"
"Sure..."
Cindy didn't say anything for the next few minutes, but Peter could've sworn she smiled whenever she looked at the invitation that stuck out of her coat pocket; which was more of a relief than he wanted to admit. The silent walk lasted for a few more minutes before they stopped at a park. Cindy nudged her head to the closest bench and walked towards it before he could give any sort of reply.
He waited till they were properly seated before he finally spoke up, "...That didn't go so well."
"Yeah..." She took out the invitation and looked down at it again, "Evil me lived in a penthouse and had the freaking bellboy tell them to fuck off. God, what a bitch..."
"That address any useful?"
"Nah, S.H.I.E.L.D already searched her place as soon as they got finished grilling me; she packed everything up and left without a trace." She laughed bitterly, "I knew it was bad, but God...I didn't expect mom...her mom to be so angry. She looked at me like I was..." She shook her head softly, "I've hard arguments with my mom before, but I never thought it could get that bad."
"You fought with your mom?"
"Well, 'fought' is an overestimation; it's more like we argued, she won and I just shut her down. Mom and dad never really got into fights, so I didn't have much of a role model on what to do whenever I ended up arguing with someone. So I just shut people out until one of us eventually caves and apologizes; once spent an entire week ignoring my boyfriend because of something I can't even remember anymore."
"Yeesh, remind me never to get into a fight with you." The joke was poor, but the soft giggle he got in return made it worth it.
"Argue with you? Never." She put the invitation back in her pocket and sighed, "Hey...thanks for coming with."
"I didn't do anything."
"I didn't bring you because I wanted a White Knight, Pete." She propped one leg up on the edge of the bench and stared across the length of the park, "I brought you cause you know what it's like to be trapped in another world, to have family that don't exactly feel like family."
"Yeah..."
"And to be honest I just didn't want to be alone. Staying in that bunker for ten years...it kinda gives you issues. Sometimes I still wake up at night because I hear a clap of thunder or because a car horn passed by. The bunker was so quiet, but here..." She gestured to a kid running with a kite, "Never thought I'd see other people again. Sometimes I even talked to myself to try and put some noise into that place...still do, sometimes."
"I'm sorry." For what he didn't know, but it still felt like the appropriate thing to say.
"You weren't the one who put me in the bunker, dude." Her hand clenched at that. Despite her jokes and smiles she still carried the scars on her, "Anyway, we're both here and we're both still alive, so I'm not gonna spend it moping. I'll go back there in a couple of days."
"I can come with you if-"
"No, it's alright." She shook her head, "I can't rely on you forever, you know."
"Maybe not forever, but I do still owe you." He leaned back and looked up at the clear skies. It was still a couple of hours to noon but he already felt exhausted, "...I never asked before, but why did you save me? I know you said you couldn't take seeing the torture, but was that the only reason?"
"The main one, yeah. This was still early on, Pete. She didn't have as much experiments as she does now. And you...you were the youngest and longest. The others were bad, but I couldn't save them; they were like Edward, turned into monsters on the first go. But you...no matter what she put in you it didn't stop you from coming back, and every time you did you always begged her to let you see Gwen."
"I don't remember that..."
"I'm not surprised; you were pretty messed up when I rescued you. One second you were crying and begging that you wanted to see Gwen and the next you were growling that you were going to find Octavius. I..." She paused, considering her words, "Truth be told I didn't know what was happening with you. I thought that maybe I'd make a mistake and that the treatments completely broke your mind."
"I must have looked like a nutcase."
"You have no idea..." She took a deep breath, "I thought about leaving you behind."
"...Why didn't you?" He didn't hold it against her. She had nothing to gain and everything to lose freeing him at all.
"Same reason I didn't just let you rot in that cell. To be perfectly honest I thought you were like a kid, helpless without someone to drag you along by the hand." Her next smile was bittersweet, "I don't anymore, but it was definitely a surprise seeing you again back at the S.I.L.K base."
"All it took was for me to get memories that didn't belong to me." He looked down and pressed his hands together, "Brant was right, Cin. I'm not Spider-Man; I don't know who or what the hell I am, but I know I'm not him."
"How...How do you do know that?"
"I met him. The real one." It was easier to talk about now, though not by much, "When Gwen and I went into that factory to put that monster down...he and his partner helped us. Something happened and I saw his face..." he laughed, though the gesture held no mirth, "I know it sounds crazy, but-"
"It doesn't...I know." She pursed her lips and looked him in the eye, "I met the other Spider-Man not too long ago..."
"...You knew?"
"Yes, and I wanted to tell you, but..." But she didn't know how. He couldn't even muster up the energy to feel offended or annoyed, "Well, guess I'm not surprised. From what I gathered he's been doing things with that partner of his."
"Yeah...I could give you his address. Shadowcat - his partner - she gave it to me just in case something came up. You could...you know, talk to him."
"I guess I'll do that, thanks..." He shook his head and sneered, "You know what's messed up? That's not even the worst thing on my mind now. No, instead I have to worry about Gwen's family, Lana's issues with her dad, Mary's personal problem and the fact that I have the Goddamned devil after me trying to turn me into one his lieutenants."
"Wait, what?"
"Murdock. He's possessed by the devil, or at least that's what my 'sister' says."
"...You have a sister?"
"Yeah, Teresa Parker. I'm just as surprised as you are." He looked at her and paused. The furrow in her brow wasn't the same worry from before, "...What's up?"
"Teresa...brown hair, ponytail and blind?" Well...shit, "Cause if you're talking about the same then I think we've met, kinda. She gave me a video call and told me to help Gwen out, but Watson beat me to it."
"Mary? What happened?"
"Apparently my evil twin tried to attack Gwen, but Mary Jane managed to save her." She gave him a piercing look, "How long did you know she had S.H.I.E.L.D's symbiote on her?"
"Only for a couple of days. She told me to keep it a secret from Gwen and we've kept it under control with suppressants." Or at least they did. Peter grit his teeth and scowled. He found it pretty damn unlikely it was a coinciden that Teresa would send Cindy to try and help Gwen right after Mary saved her, 'Knew I shouldn't have trusted her...' Mary still wasn't answering her phone, but considering she hadn't heard news of the re-appearance of the 'Carnage Killer' he was willing to hope for the best.
"So let me get this straight: Watson got S.H.I.E.L.D's symbiote, your long lost sister came back into your life, you found out you're not really Spider-Man and you have the devil trying to turn you into his apprentice, Darth Vader style?"
"More or less...oh, and Lana apparently has a crush on me." That one he liked to think about the least. At this point he was about read to scream from the overwhelming weight of everything bearing down on him.
"...You know, this is why the weekly phone calls should be a thing. Next thing I know you and Gwen are getting married or something."
"Only if you agree to be my best man." He laughed wryly at the poor attempt at a joke, "'Sides, you're one to talk, Cin. You're partnering up with Osborn now?"
"Yeah, don't remind me." She clicked her tongue and waved a hand flippantly, "I wish I could say that's my biggest problem, but it's not even close. Right now I'm the world's most poorly paid spy: Agent Hill wants me to spy on the Avengers and give her info, but Cap knows that and she's giving me info that isn't dangerous for S.H.I.E.L.D to know. Meanwhile I also have to spy on Osborn and give info to Hill so they can blackmail his dad, which I'm pretty sure Norman knows cause he just offered me a position as Oscorop's officially sponsored hero when I talked to him at a party."
"...So why are you smiling?"
"Because despite it all this still beats being trapped in a bunker and dying alone," she replied without much fanfare, "I dunno, Pete, it just feels like the world's moving faster than I can keep up with. I mean don't get me wrong I like keeping busy since it beats being alone with my thoughts, but it feels like every time I blink I'm missing some kind of giant change."
"I know you you feel." He wondered if Spider-Man had to deal with these kinds of things.
"I mean last I checked Cap's trying to create some kind of initiative for some kind of hero team across all the states, cause apparently there are heroes everywhere like that Ladybug and Cat dude in France and that superhacker dude Aidan something from Chicago. Besides that Janet's trying to convince people to shrink prisoners down with the Dyne particles to reduce the chance of jailbreaks and I've been getting offers from people like the Make a Wish foundation to do some stuff for them."
"You're still smiling."
"Shut up." She punched his shoulder lightly, "...Our life's crazy, huh?"
"You don't know the half of it, Cin..."
"Well, like I said, weekly phone calls. If you need help with Watson or that whole...devil thing then gimme a call." He could tell she was legitimate, but something told him that Teresa would just make up more mumbo-jumbo on why involving her would somehow cause the city to explode.
"What I really need help with is Lana, to be honest-"
"Uh-uh, nope, not happening." She crossed her arms in an 'X', "Asking someone who's been trapped in a sinkhole for the last decade on romance advice is the last thing you wanna do, trust me."
"Point."
They said their goodbyes not long after that, though not before she wrote down the address on a piece of paper. Peter glared down at the written letters like they'd somehow personally offended him and tried to call Mary again. Nothing, as expected, and Teresa wasn't answering either. He really wished he could say it surprised him, "I just hope Mary's alright..." For both her and Teresa's sake.
In the end he ended up calling Gwen and she agreed to meet near the address at about noon without even bothering to ask him why. It only took her a little over an hour to arrive, but it felt like the longest in his life. This was it...
"Hey, Peter." She smiled and waved at him as she approached. She definitely didn't look like someone who got attacked just last night; then again neither did he, "What's with the sudden call?"
"I'm going to talk to Spider-Man and I was scared to do it alone."
She froze at that, smile fading from her face only to be replaced with complete and utter worry. Maybe he shouldn't have phrased it like that, "Um...what?"
"Spider-Man. He's there." He pointed to the house a fair distance and did his best to keep his expression neutral, "I wanted to talk to him."
"Peter...are you sure?"
"Am I sure I want to talk to the guy whose life I stole for 6 months? Not really, but it's gonna stay on my mind till I do." He took a deep breath, "Look, I get if you don't wanna come-"
She interrupted him by intertwining their hands together and squeezing gently, "I'm coming with. Just make sure you don't regret it, alright?"
"Sure..."
He took another deep breath and untangled their hands before he began the slow walk to the one-floor apartment/house. The last time they'd talked it was when that monster's girlfriend made them insane, but somehow he got the feeling this one wasn't gonna go much better, "Come on..." He stopped in front of the door and pulled it open, forgetting to knock or ring the doorbell in his haste.
Big mistake.
Regardless of his memories Peter wasn't what one would call a prude, but seeing Spider-Man buck naked on the couch while Shadowcat rode him was definitely enough to give him pause. The tan young woman, seemingly unaware of the interruption, continued to thrust up and and down, her face flushed and her body covered in a thin sheen of sweat while her hands wrapped around Spider-Man's neck in a tight grip.
For his part Spider-Man at least noticed them, his head turning to the side to meet their gaze and his eyes widening in complete and utter shock. At his side Gwen's face lit up a dark crimson and she turned away, both hands covering her ears; which probably did little to block out Shadowcat's moans and growls.
Peter shut the door and sighed. This was off to a great start...
This chapter dragged a bit, and there was less family focus than one might think, but hopefully it's alright. I had to cut some things out from Peter and Cindy's convo and Gwen visiting the cemetary again to avoid bloating too much, but I think it still works. Next chapter will be the Noir and Spider-Man talk followed by the Carnage!MJ aftermath, with some additional inspiration by Gwenom's current behavior
Anyway, I think the two contrast well enough: despite Helen's trauma and reservations she keeps up the 'cool mom' approach and is legitimately happy her daughter is a badass Superhero. Contrast Cindy where she's uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn while her mom browbeats her, her dad watches and her brother only manages a 'come back in a couple of days'.
The tone's also all over the place with characters jumping from angsty to cheerful to angsty again. While you can justify as them trying to avoid being depressed it might seem jarring nontheless. I'll try to be more consistent next chapter, especially where Noir and Spider-Man are concerned.
Side Note - To clear up a misunderstanding, Gwenpool won't actually appear a lot if at all; I was just taking the piss with The Protectors list, so don't worry.
Questions:
1. Should I devote a segment dealing with Jessica's reaction to the whole Helen resurrection or do I just have it happen off-screen with Gwen relaying how she feels about it later on? Note it probably won't be from her POV but rather from Kate or Noir's as they check up on her.
2. I'm thinking of a chapter just dealing with Lana's POV of what her school life is like with her dad holding her 'leash' and (depending on where I want to take the story) how much it changes if her identity possibly gets outed. Unlike the original side-story I mentioned this would be 'canon' to the fic's events, but I wanna know if like Jessica you guys want to see it or just have her refer to it.
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Didn't know you have an account here. Hello it is I! One of your reviewers from the other site. I'd prefer if you made a segment from Jessica' pov personally, where she goes back to drinking, George pulls her out of it, they kick that other woman out of the house, and live happily ever after.
...Okay, I got your review in the other place, but I gotta bring this up: what's your problem with Helen Stacy? She hasn't even done anything yet and her limited appearance show she's pretty pleasant and accepting and yet it seems like you really just don't like her/want her to die again. Also, Jessica wouldn't drink on the basis that, you know, she's pregnant and she probably realizes drinking would screw this kid over.
Also, I made a response to your previous review on ff on Gwen and Noir being a pairing: "Yeah, but which Gwen? Gwen's character is so inconsistent across the media I have no clue which people refer to when they say 'Gwen Stacy'. Also, you call Gwen and Noir a good couple...need I remind you of the time he threatened to shoot her (and didn't only cause he was out of bullets) or the time she lied to his face and busted his lip open? Cause those don't seem very sweet..."
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Just don't like her ruining the harmonious atmosphere glimpsed at the second half of 91. Peter was happy, Gwen was happy, their family was happy. Everything was going good, hell it was going great! That was until that woman showed up. Every chapter featuring her just made me grimace at her presence.
I'm talking about Spider-Gwen, of course! The one featured in this fic is obviously different from the one in the comic verse. The slow burn with Noir Peter is nice.
I'm talking about Spider-Gwen, of course! The one featured in this fic is obviously different from the one in the comic verse. The slow burn with Noir Peter is nice.
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Blame Murdock for that; he was the one who brought Helen Stacy back just cause he wanted Peter all to himself, the selfish prick. Also, Gwen is clearly happy to have her mom back as seen when she tells her about being a hero, so at least one part of the family is happy.
Again, I have to bring up this scene:
"Peter, stop..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her hands shaky. It wasn't his fault. The serum, it must have been affecting him, "That's not why I-"
"Isn't it? You didn't care enough to keep tabs on me before you found out I had a dead kid's face. You didn't take my gun from me and treat me like a damn cripple until you saw what was under the mask." He scowled, "Well you know what? I'm not him. I didn't get jealous just because a friend asked out a girl I liked. I didn't crawl into my bed and cry myself to sleep when I got beat up. And you know what the biggest difference is?"
"Peter, don't-"
"I didn't turn myself into a Goddamn monster!"
She knew she made a mistake as soon as she'd done but, but hindsight was always 20-20. Before she could stop herself a hand lashed out, fingers curled into a fist and impacting right where his mouth lay hard enough to make him fall on his side.
Whatever anger she felt dissipated as she looked down at him. He pulled off his mask and coughed, his lower lip split open and bleeding profusely, 'Oh no...I didn't mean-' She looked down at her right hand, feeling her guilt worsen at the flecks of blood that lined her white fingers.
His blood. Peter's blood.
He looked up at her, shock and pain clear on his face before he replaced it with a scowl, "...Guess I should have expected that..." He looked away, the blood continuing to drip on the snow covering the rooftop, "That's what it boils down to, isn't it? I can't be who you want me to be, we both know that. So just...just stay away from me. I'll find Octavius on my own, all you have to do is leave me alone."
"No...no...no! Leave me...alone!"
"I...I didn't mean to-"
"Don't you get it?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper, "I'm not him. I'm not your friend, I'm not your victim, I'm not your second chance. I'm nothing to you. I'm not-"
"Peter, please-"
"I'm not your responsibility."
"Isn't it? You didn't care enough to keep tabs on me before you found out I had a dead kid's face. You didn't take my gun from me and treat me like a damn cripple until you saw what was under the mask." He scowled, "Well you know what? I'm not him. I didn't get jealous just because a friend asked out a girl I liked. I didn't crawl into my bed and cry myself to sleep when I got beat up. And you know what the biggest difference is?"
"Peter, don't-"
"I didn't turn myself into a Goddamn monster!"
She knew she made a mistake as soon as she'd done but, but hindsight was always 20-20. Before she could stop herself a hand lashed out, fingers curled into a fist and impacting right where his mouth lay hard enough to make him fall on his side.
Whatever anger she felt dissipated as she looked down at him. He pulled off his mask and coughed, his lower lip split open and bleeding profusely, 'Oh no...I didn't mean-' She looked down at her right hand, feeling her guilt worsen at the flecks of blood that lined her white fingers.
His blood. Peter's blood.
He looked up at her, shock and pain clear on his face before he replaced it with a scowl, "...Guess I should have expected that..." He looked away, the blood continuing to drip on the snow covering the rooftop, "That's what it boils down to, isn't it? I can't be who you want me to be, we both know that. So just...just stay away from me. I'll find Octavius on my own, all you have to do is leave me alone."
"No...no...no! Leave me...alone!"
"I...I didn't mean to-"
"Don't you get it?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper, "I'm not him. I'm not your friend, I'm not your victim, I'm not your second chance. I'm nothing to you. I'm not-"
"Peter, please-"
"I'm not your responsibility."
And this:
Her words stopped in her throat when she saw him raise the revolver and aim it at her, the barrel pointing right to her chest, "Don't take another step..." he snarled, "I rarely miss, so don't test me."
Her spider-sense was silent, as expected. She stared down the revolver and grit her teeth. She'd taken worse before - she could survive a bullet easily - but they both knew that wasn't the point. They'd had their arguments before, but this was more than that. Once he pulled that trigger there'd be no going back.
"I'm not going to let you die, Spider-Man..." She clenched her hands and took another step forward, ignoring the way her heart jumped when his finger inched closer to the trigger, "I've lost Peter and Harry to the serum already, I'm not going to lose anyone else to it." Another step, "So if you want to shoot me then go ahead, but if you think that's going to stop me from making sure you don't become a monster then you don't know me at all."
The last step was enough for her to stop right in front of him. She could feel the cold metal of the barrel press against her stomach and she shivered. At this distance she couldn't dodge the bullet, enhanced reflexes or no.
The pregnant silence lasted for another minute before he let out a frustrated breath and lowered the gun, putting it back in its holster. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back slightly, offering him a hand with a small smile on her face, "I'm sorry for what I did...I know that won't make up for it, but I hope that we can start over," She forced out a laugh which sounded strained even to her, "And hey, you didn't shoot me. That's something, right?"
Spider-Man stared at the offered hand before he accepted and pulled himself up, "I gotta tell you something..."
She blinked at his sudden closeness, "Y-Yeah? What is it?" She could see every fleck of green in his eyes, could feel his every breath against her skin, and she swallowed nervously. It reminded her way too much of what happened a few weeks ago, "Peter...do you-"
"...I didn't shoot you because I was out of bullets."
In hindsight she should have seen the headbutt coming, but there was no time for lecturing herself now. His forehead collided with the middle of her face and she stumbled back, one hand covering her nose while the other ejected a webline at his back to keep him from jumping off the rooftop, "God damn it, Spider-Man, stop!" She pulled him back, the male vigilante stumbling at the suddenness of the action, "I don't want to-"
"You honestly thought your little spiel would work, didn't you!?" He pulled himself closer to her, using the momentum to try and deliver a punch right at her face, "You must think I'm as stupid as the damn kid that idolized you!"
Her spider-sense was silent, as expected. She stared down the revolver and grit her teeth. She'd taken worse before - she could survive a bullet easily - but they both knew that wasn't the point. They'd had their arguments before, but this was more than that. Once he pulled that trigger there'd be no going back.
"I'm not going to let you die, Spider-Man..." She clenched her hands and took another step forward, ignoring the way her heart jumped when his finger inched closer to the trigger, "I've lost Peter and Harry to the serum already, I'm not going to lose anyone else to it." Another step, "So if you want to shoot me then go ahead, but if you think that's going to stop me from making sure you don't become a monster then you don't know me at all."
The last step was enough for her to stop right in front of him. She could feel the cold metal of the barrel press against her stomach and she shivered. At this distance she couldn't dodge the bullet, enhanced reflexes or no.
The pregnant silence lasted for another minute before he let out a frustrated breath and lowered the gun, putting it back in its holster. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back slightly, offering him a hand with a small smile on her face, "I'm sorry for what I did...I know that won't make up for it, but I hope that we can start over," She forced out a laugh which sounded strained even to her, "And hey, you didn't shoot me. That's something, right?"
Spider-Man stared at the offered hand before he accepted and pulled himself up, "I gotta tell you something..."
She blinked at his sudden closeness, "Y-Yeah? What is it?" She could see every fleck of green in his eyes, could feel his every breath against her skin, and she swallowed nervously. It reminded her way too much of what happened a few weeks ago, "Peter...do you-"
"...I didn't shoot you because I was out of bullets."
In hindsight she should have seen the headbutt coming, but there was no time for lecturing herself now. His forehead collided with the middle of her face and she stumbled back, one hand covering her nose while the other ejected a webline at his back to keep him from jumping off the rooftop, "God damn it, Spider-Man, stop!" She pulled him back, the male vigilante stumbling at the suddenness of the action, "I don't want to-"
"You honestly thought your little spiel would work, didn't you!?" He pulled himself closer to her, using the momentum to try and deliver a punch right at her face, "You must think I'm as stupid as the damn kid that idolized you!"
Honestly I thought these scenes would wreck any chance of a relationship but readers seem to either ignore it or think it's not that big a deal. I mean I know comic couples heap a shitload of abuse at each other - Batman and any of his live interests come to mind - but these are pretty glaring considering people think they make a sweet or cute couple.
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It's part of the slow burn! Plus they both regretted the stupid stuff they did. I can't really blame Murdock for anything. He's a villain with a cunning plan. If he didn't pull it off then I'd be disappointed. We tend to expect the worst from our enemies. Just annoying how Gwen's mom is disrupting what was otherwise a wonderful atmosphere. Damn it. Here I was thinking of the possibility of slice of life, then it all came crashing down when she showed up.
So...you don't blame the guy who caused the problem and even admitted to doing it with a smile on his face, but you do blame the woman who's clearly just struggling to realize she lost 10 years of her life and trying to reconnect with her family and friends without breaking down...seems legit
Slow burn...you know what, fine, I'm not gonna argue that anymore since I never win. I guess I'll just accept that people see romance where there wasn't any planned...even when the circumstances make it difficult and one of the people in question (Noir) may have been a psychotic little shit with entitlement issues.
Still, there is a possibility of slice of life; like Gwen bonding with her mom, Peter talking with her about what it's like to come back from the dead, George trying to explain that he kinda got another woman preggers so sleeping in the same room's a bit awkward now...hell, maybe even Helen and Jessica trying to establish a rapport and making sure there isn't some weird grudge on either side. Her presence doesn't derail the story completely.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
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Pretty relaxing chapter
Gwen opening up for her mother, reuniting with Harry and knowing he is okay, Peter getting some breathing space and having time to chill with Cindy and get some closure for Cindy plot about her family.
Welp I have some bad news for ya
1 + 2 - Hmm I am okay with seeing Jessica POV, but a whole chapter feels too much I think, maybe include Lana as well so you make the chapter feel like a spotlight for side characters.
But I am cool if you want to make each chapter focus on one of them.
Gwen opening up for her mother, reuniting with Harry and knowing he is okay, Peter getting some breathing space and having time to chill with Cindy and get some closure for Cindy plot about her family.
Welp I have some bad news for ya
1 + 2 - Hmm I am okay with seeing Jessica POV, but a whole chapter feels too much I think, maybe include Lana as well so you make the chapter feel like a spotlight for side characters.
But I am cool if you want to make each chapter focus on one of them.
George is a harem protagonist. Confirmed
Relaxing is...not how I'd put it. Originally there was a segment where Gwen returned to the cemetary and met up with Karen Page, but that was cut due to bloating. I might be able to put that in next chapter.
I don't think Gwen cares all that much. While she's not boastful or overtly proud, I think Gwen figures that between her and a 15 year old girl she's pretty much got this in the bag. That or she'd think it was 'cute' that Lana had a crush on an older guy since 'everyone goes through it'.
It actually wouldn't be from Jessica's POV; it'd be from either Kate or Noir trying to help her through it. As for Lana, the reason I thought it deserved its own chapter is because of the difference in tone: Lana's a snarky teenager in a highschool, which contrasts rather heavily with the (legally) adult protags dealing with more heavy shit in the real world. It's more character building and a show of how high school students react to a Gifted as a classmate.
Nah, man; the true harem protag is the great Frog-Man. Didn't you see his dream? He's got Gwen, Cindy, Lana and Kate after him...even though Kate's gay in this fic. Apparently he's just that good.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
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Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas everyone (if it applies to your time zone)
Chapter 93 - Twisted Reflection
As before, Happy Early New Years everyone In a few days it'll be 2018 and I'm definitely looking forward to some things like Marvel Rising, Into the Spider-Verse and the PS4 Spider-Man game. Also there are theories that Spider-Gwen will appear in Agents of SHIELD, though given her ownership by Sony and Gwen supposedly appearing in Homecoming 2 I have my doubts. Maybe they'll just give someone else a similar costume and powerset.
Anyway, I've been reading through oldie comics like Mayday Spider-Girl, and while I do like the character she just makes me cringe sometimes. I get thou shalt not kill, I do, but she and other heroes take it to such an absurd extreme. I mean she refuses to kill a remorseless villain when as far as she knows it's the only way to save her friends/allies from being mass-murdered. She even says at one point that 'Either every life matters or none do'...wow, Spider-Girl, and here I thought only Rorscach and the Sith dealt in absolutes.
Besides that I'm laughing at how accidentally accurate I was. In canon Noir's spider-sense can ping lies and danger and nothing else whereas here it's basically Eagle Vision, which Mayday basically has. Danger to her? Pinged. Danger in general? Pinged. Violent intent not related to her at all? Pinged Unknown stalker? Pinged. Lies? Pinged. This thing basically warns her of everything, and unlike Silk there's no overload problem. She can even use it to pinpoint weaknesses in enemies.
Oh, and Normie Osborn *bunch of greater than symbols* than every other Osborn ever. Feels like that's what they wanted Harry to be in Spider-Gwen and failed at it.
Side note - Everybody go out and buy the latest Moon Knight issue. Do it. I'm thinking off trying to incorporate some of the stuff I found there, particularly with the split personality dynamics and actions.
Chapter 93: Twisted Reflection
This wasn't how he thought this would go.
Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, trying and failing to ignore the headache that spread across his temples. He didn't know if it was just his nerves or some other kind of mystical claptrap about two spiders being so close together, but his spider-sense was going haywire. Every second that passed it pulsed and thrummed, ringing in a languid tempo that made him want to puke out what little breakfast he'd managed to swallow.
The fact that he could hear the two of them going at it from clear across the street wasn't helping. At all.
He let go of his face and sucked in a deep breath, elbows propped up against his legs as he leaned forward. There were a lot of expectations he had about how this chat would go, but walking on him - Parker? Spider-Man? - going at it with that partner of his definitely wasn't at the top of that list. His eyes shut tightly and he clamped both hands against his ears to try and block out the noise, even though he already knew it was impossible. He picked a bad day to forget his damn headphones.
Peter didn't know if it was funny or sad that he couldn't decide if this was better than the alternatives.
The grunts and snarls were nearly too much before he felt a hand at his shoulder and his head snapped to Gwen. She hadn't said a word, but the warm smile on her face and the earbuds she offered to him with her free hand calmed him down immediately. He reluctantly lowered his hands and she placed the buds against his ears before the latest Mary Janes song - 'Unchained', if he remembered right - came through the ends.
He was never one for their kind of music (regardless of who he was), but right now Mary's screamed lyrics sounded like the heavenly choir, "Thanks..." he said softly, which got him a slight smile and a casual wave. 'Don't worry about it', the gesture said. He wouldn't admit it if he was pressed, but he'd gotten used to her tics and expressions after nearly half a year of their 'partnership'.
Like the fact that it was clear as day from the way she looked away from the apartment and how her fingers occasional twitched that she was still reeling from what she saw.
At least two songs came and went before his spider-sense finally calmed down and he was able to lower the earphones down again, "...I don't hear anything. Guess they're done." Peter let out a relieved breath and gave her back the earphones, "...This wasn't how I thought it'd go."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that when we caught them in the middle and you closed the door..." She pocketed her phone and gave him a small smile, "You know, Peter...we don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"That's not what you said when you gave me that spandex monstrosity." She laughed at that. It was short and clipped, but he found it calming regardless, "...Being serious, though, I can't just leave it. I've run from too many things already."
"Alright..." She held his left hand with her right and squeezed, her thumb running over his knuckles like she did the night prior. After everything that happened he found it somewhat hard to believe that it'd been less than a day, "Ready when you are."
This time he made sure to knock, and when Spider-Man opened the door the relief that he was wearing clothes managed to punch through whatever trepidation he had. The two of them stared at one another in complete and utter quiet, their expressions unreadable. Seeing him again brought up a lot of feelings, most of of them negative. Standing in front of him was the most painful reminder that he'd been living a lie, that he was nothing more than a copy a giant spider somewhere else made as a joke.
Naturally Peter first course of action was to punch him in the face. Hard.
Spider-Man stumbled back and held his jaw with his right hand, a muffled groan escaping through his fingers. At his side Gwen gave him a wide-eyed look of surprise while Spider-Man's partner - who was dressed in nothing more than an oversized dress shirt and a pair of boxers - raised an eyebrow from her place in the kitchen and flexed her left hand to expose her translucent claws.
Gwen was about to enter a combat stance before the sound of Spider-Man's laughter cut through the impending fight, "Alright, kid, I'll give you that one. Figure that makes us even for what happened at that factory."
"Yeah...even." Truth be told the other Spider trying to choke him to death wasn't even on his mind when he'd done it, but he'll keep that to himself, "...Can we come in?"
"I get the feeling you'll kick the door down even if I said no, so sure."
The inside of the place small and what one would consider cozy if you weren't interested in fancy digs, so to him it was practically homey. Gwen stopped behind him and eyed the couch warily. He still smelled the aftereffects (sometimes he hated the Spider-God's 'gifts'), and the wide cuts on the covers were definitely eyebrow raising, but he didn't have time to worry about that.
His gaze shifted back to his counterpart (original? inspiration?). Contrasting his partner he was dressed fully and apart from the mussy hair he showed no signs of getting taken right there in that couch.
Peter looked at him - really looked at him - and frowned. He definitely saw the resemblance in their faces, but anyone outside looking in would only see a passing similarity at best. He was tall - at least 3 or 4 inches past 6 feet, which contrasted heavily with Peter's own 5'7 - and his pale skin was complemented by the slicked back black (not brown, oddly enough) hair and light stubble.
He was also built like a damn tank. Peter was more than a little annoyed that he looked like a scrawny upstart now that they were finally face to face. He would've thought all those experiments would give him less muscles, not more.
His partner seemed his opposite him. She was 5'1, if that, and judging by the tan in her skin and the slight curve in her eyes he had to figure there was Asian blood in there somewhere. Unlike him she didn't seem to care at all apart from the first punch, content to raid the fridge for beer while humming softly to herself, dark hair swinging. Still, he didn't let appearances fool him. Judging by the claw marks and bruises something told him it wasn't Spider-Man who had the pants in this partnership.
"...You gonna stare at me all day, kid?"
"Don't call me that," Peter bit back. Castle and the others called him that before, but there was something demeaning about the other Parker looking down on him that way.
"Hah, he sounds just like you!" His partner (Cat something) said, still not looking up from the fridge, "Here's a tip, cloney: if you wanna get under his skin then call him Petey. Really pisses him off."
"So glad you're enjoying this, Kat." Spider-Man rolled his eyes and cross his arms, his gaze shifting from Peter to Gwen, "Didn't expect you to bring a friend."
"Yeah, well, we didn't expect you to be screwing in the couch when we got here," Gwen shot back, which earned her a slight glare and another snickering laugh from Spider-Man and his partner, respectively, "...Look, I know I don't have room to talk, but this is really fucking awkward."
'Cat' finally fished the bottle of beer from the fridge and opened it with a quick pop of her claws, sitting down in the chair as she did, "Always is when it comes to clones." She took a large drink of the alcohol and raised an eyebrow at Gwen's sudden glare, "What? I'm a clone too, so I can say it without feeling like an ass."
"He's not a clone-"
"Yeah, yeah: he's a zombie, he has the wrong memories bla bla bla," she said without a care, "Seen it all before, Spider-Girly." Her mouth quirked in a lopsided smirk, "Speaking of, you might wanna calm down before that suit goes haywire. Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened with the red guy."
"You-"
"As interesting as this is, I don't think we're here to have our partners argue," Spider-Man cut in, giving Peter a severe look, "Look, kid, you want answers and I do too. So what's say you and me have a chat. Alone." He gave Gwen a pointed look when she walked closer to them, "I dunno what the deal is between you two, but I wanna do this without someone looking over my shoulder."
"...Fine." Peter nodded towards Gwen and nudged his head to the door, "Backyard works. We shouldn't be long, Gwen."
"Yeah, great, guess I'll just stay here with her then..."
"Aww, you don't wanna have a sleepover?" 'Cat' said mockingly, "Here I thought we were gonna paint each other's nails and talk about boys."
Gwen shot something back, but at this point all of Peter's attention was focused solely on the man (Spider?) next to him. Apart from the punch he hadn't actually planned out what he'd say, and something told him that another punch wouldn't be so well-received this time.
The backyard was small and poorly maintained, though he hadn't expected much; he was never one for gardens anyway. The two of them stopped at the edge of the stairs and leaned against the worn wood that acted as a barrier, "Nice place..."
"It's Kat's."
"That partner of yours...what's the story there?" It wasn't what he wanted to ask, but it was enough to fill the silence.
"She was sent to try and catch me after I got away from those 'Shield' guys. Nearly chopped my pecker off, too..." Peter gave him a questioning look and he just shrugged, "I've had worse. Castelione and Daredevil come to mind." Back then and here in this place, too, "Speaking of, who was your muscle back there? I mean I figure she's that Spider-Dame the news is always harping on about, but she looks kinda familiar."
"Gwen Stacy..." Would she have minded Spider-Man knowing? She came without a mask, after all... "That's Gwen Stacy."
"Stacy?" He looked back at the door and let out a single, wry laugh, "Hah, now I really have seen everything. Where's the snobbery and fancy coats? The Gwen Stacy I know hates my guts."
"We had our rough patches in the past few months..."
"Still better than how we ended off after old man Stacy and Brock..." He tried to hide it, but Peter saw the regret in his words clear as day, "This place really is a-"
"Madhouse? Yeah..."
He blinked at the interruption for his lips curled up in a sardonic smile, "Huh, we really are alike, aren't we?"
"Guess we are..." Peter took out a packet of cigarettes and lit one of the coffin nails with a quick flick of the lighter. He'd only managed one inhale before he noticed the other Spider giving him a wary look, "...What are you looking at?"
"Didn't know you smoked."
"Your partner over there drinks and she looks younger than either of us." Why did everyone always comment on it? Between all the criminals, maniacs and psychopaths they fought you'd think a little smoking wouldn't even be a blip, "Besides, knowing our luck we'll both catch a bullet to the head faster than any kind of lung cancer...not that people back then knew that."
"Heh, guess not." He shook his head and smiled wryly, "I just thought that after Urich-"
"I know what happened to Urich and his little habit." He remembered finding his body, remembered the grief and rage he felt when he realized his last words were made out of spite and anger...and it wasn't even his. It belonged to the one standing next to him.
"Yeah, guess you would..." He rubbed his fingers over his eyes and let out a tired sigh, "...How much do you remember?"
"Everything..." He took another drag of the cigarette and blew the smoke through the air, "I remember being beaten by King and his cronies, I remember Uncle Ben's stories about the trenches, remember seeing his body in that warehouse..." He watched the ash fall down and tried to keep his face passive, "The past six months I lived thinking I was someone I wasn't...I thought I was Spider-Man."
He nearly choked at the end, but he refused to break down. Not in front of him.
"...I woke up in a slab with someone about to cut me open," Spider-Man, head stubbornly facing ahead, "Only reason I managed to get out is because that monster suit broke through the spook's defenses. After that it's been...crazy."
"You died."
"So did you," Spider-Man said, "I gotta figure we're even there, kid."
"Spider-God's playing a joke and both of us are the punchline." He remembered its words when he got bitten the second time, 'You're mine now...' What the hell did that mean? So far apart from a few nightmares - which were getting rarer by the day - he still hadn't gotten a heads-up on exactly what their benefactor wanted. Hell, for all he knew he'd suddenly burst open full of eggs right this second...
"...You remember those 5 years under the Slant's care?" Spider-Man asked.
"Bits and pieces. Guess our boss didn't want me to be too messed up." Small blessings, though the nightmares were probably there to compensate, "Gotta say, you look pretty good for someone who went through all that."
"We each got our own benefits, I guess." He shrugged, the gesture stiff and not at all conveying the laxness he was hoping for, "You've been here for over half a year now. How was it?"
"In a word? Insanity." Peter scoffed, "You've seen the papers. Half this city hates me, I've got criminals and a devil on my case and..." He shook his head, "You don't need to hear the whole story, but suffice to say my stay here hasn't exactly been pleasant. I was trying to look for information on Octavius but then..."
"Then you got distracted." Peter didn't nod, but he seemed to take the silence as confirmation enough, "I dunno what to tell you there, kid. I've been here maybe two weeks and I already know where Octavius is gonna be."
"You...do?" Well...that wasn't what he was expecting. And here he was about to offer his help so that search could go faster, "That's impossible, I've been searching for months-"
"You just got finished telling me that you were being chased by the devil." Well, he was taking that information remarkably well, though after the Spider-God and coming back from the dead Peter probably shouldn't have been surprised, "Fact of the matter is I actually have been reading up on the things you've done. Mad artists, serial killers, that shitshow at Times Square...you've been a busy guy."
"What's your point?"
"My point is I'm wondering if you ever wanted to leave this place."
"Of course I did." He snarled, "It was the only thing keeping me sane most of the time..."
"Then why'd it take me two weeks to get what I need?" he shot back, "I don't blame you. I got no clue how much of me is really crammed in your skull, but every time I go to sleep and when I wake up the first thing I think of are Aunt May, Mary Jane and the Robertsons. I didn't let myself get distracted by every cry for help or every sob story someone gave me."
"Tch..." Peter took a long drag until he nearly choked on the smoke. Much as he hated to admit it the bastard had a point. For those first couple of weeks, sure, his thoughts were always on going back home...back there. But after that? He was weighed down with too many problems that he barely had time to breath. It was still the same now: Lana, Mary, Gwen's mom, Murdock...he would've screamed if he figured he could get away with it.
Retirement wasn't as uneventful as he thought it'd be...
"...Look, I dunno what your plan is, but I'm the one who's going back."
"Why? Last I checked New York's big enough for two Spider-Men." Not that he planned to go back at this point; even though rationality would indicate it would've been a good idea to get away from the damned devil trying to turn him into his brainless goon.
"Maybe, but there's only room for one Peter Peter."
The words weren't anything special by themselves, but he still felt a painful stab in his chest. Months he'd spent using the same justification, that he couldn't stay here because he wasn't their Peter and never could be. He wasn't sure if he could ever go 'back' to being that spiteful asshole, and he didn't want to. As painful as living a lie had been it was better than the monster 'he' was back then.
"...How'd you know? About Octavius, I mean."
"The spooks told me, said it was my reward for helping out with that monstrosity. I've been working for em with Kat for the past couple of weeks now to get information."
"They told you...?" They hadn't called him at all, not even to entice him with the information to get him to come back for more testing. Then again, a part of him said bitterly, why would they want the copy when the original was right there for the taking? "Wonder how long they've been sitting on that info..." Johnson said that they still had no clue last he checked, but it was pretty damn likely she didn't know if his spider-sense hadn't warned him.
"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that in a few weeks I'm going home and leaving this Madhouse behind," he replied, "You can do whatever the hell you want, just make sure that you don't get in my way. 'Brother' or not I'm not letting anything or anyone stop me from getting back to the people that matter most."
"You think I'd stop you?" Peter clicked his tongue. He really didn't think much of him, did he? "...When you go after Octavius, tell me. I wanna be there."
"Why? You coming with me, kid?"
"I'm not going 'back' at this point, Spider-Man, but I still want Octavius. Months I always kept him at the back of my head...hell, the first thing I did when I woke up was try to kill him." Before he broke down and started crying for Gwen, that is. After that Cindy's evil twin got her claws into him, "I'm not you, but I'm not Gwen's Peter either. I don't know who I am at this point and I probably never will, but weight of it's been on me ever since I woke up in that alley. When you get Octavius let me come with you."
The two of them looked at each other in total silence before the older Spider eventually scoffed and waved a hand through the air, "Fine...I've seen you in action and I know you can take care of yourself, and I doubt I'll be getting any backup from the spooks. Carter said he's gonna be in a place called Madripoor in a few weeks, so I'll call you then. If you're too busy playing Saint Paul to come then don't expect me to wait."
Peter wanted to joke, but after everything that's happened there was probably a pretty good chance that'd actually happen. He was almost tempted to ask the other Spider for help, but he bit his tongue. They weren't friends, and despite his words they weren't actually brothers any more than Cindy and her counterpart were sisters. Peter was sure Spider-Man had enough to worry about without having to add his own problems to the mix.
Besides, the last thing he wanted for another Spider to get tangled into Murdock's web...
"You look like you wanna say something, kid."
"...Just curious about the bruises on your neck," Peter muttered. He really wasn't - it was easy enough to figure where they came from - but anything was better than being stuck in his own thoughts.
Spider-Man raised his right hand and traced the tips of his finfers across the discolored skin with a wince, "Yeah...Kat can get rough." That seemed like an understatement. Why did Peter get the feeling he'd see claw marks under that shirt? "I actually wanted to stop when you interrupted us, but she wasn't exactly for it. Said that 'if they wanna talk they can wait 10 fucking minutes for me to get off'..."
"Real keeper you got there. You planning to take her with you?"
"Yeah, cause I really wanna explain to Aunt May where I've been and why I'm coming back with a teenager." He rolled his eyes, "It's casual, kid. You've got my memories, so you should know what that's like."
"If you mean Felicia then I remember you trying to make her your girlfriend." One good thing about his identity issues: technically he wasn't the one who made an ass of himself back then, and the last thing he wanted to do with the Felicia from this place was to get into a relationship, "...You know Felicia's here, too. She's one of those popstar singer gals that are popular nowadays." And Black Cat, though he kept that tidbit for himself
"Huh...well, if Stacy can be one of those 'Superheroes' then I guess it's not that odd." The next smile Spider-Man gave was light and amused, "I know Robbie and Urich are still kicking if the Bugle's any good, but what about-"
"Ben and May? Yeah, still alive and younger than they've ever been. Just had to lose their son." Still lost him, honestly, He was hardly replacement material, "Osborn's still kicking and he's not a criminal. Has a kid, too, but he got the nasty part of the family genes."
"I know, I talked to Osborn Jr. along with the Slant's twin. Guessing by the way he talked about you that there's some bad blood there."
"You got no idea..." Gwen wanted them all to be best friends again, but that wasn't gonna happen. They didn't even like each other that much back then, not since Parker realized that they both liked the same girl, "...Honestly I thought I'd have more to say now that we're face to face, but just seeing you makes my mind go in a blank."
"Not every day you meet your reflection from years back," Spider-Man mumbled back, "Truth be told if we both went back they'd probably recognize you more than they would me. I don't even know how they'd feel seeing me again. They must've moved on already..."
"Gotta try, right? If not you can probably stay with that partner of yours."
"Yeah...that's not much comfort, Parker." Peter raised an eyebrow and kept quiet. It was a hell of a lot better than 'kid', "Only reason she stuck around is cause Carter's paying her to babysit me." He shook his head, "Nah, even if they've moved on and buried me I'd rather stay somewhere that feels like home, and this place certainly ain't it."
"Home..."
"Hm?"
"Nothing." He sighed. No need for him to get mopey or nostalgic now, "...You know, this didn't go how I thought it would've."
"Expecting a fight?" There was that sardonic smile again. Was that what he looked like to Gwen? "Sorry to disappoint you, but I ain't interested in getting any more fights if that's what you were hoping for. You'll have to make do with that smack you gave me earlier."
"Poor me." He gave a wry smile of his own and stamped the cigarette underfoot. It didn't do much to calm him down, "...So, I know this might seem odd, but can I get your number?"
"Planning to make these talks a thing, are you?"
"Hell if I know, but I find it's always better to be prepared nowadays."
"Point."
They'd exchanged numbers and soon enough the odd pair made their way back to the apartment...only to run into the sight of Shadowcat lowered into a crouch with both her claws extended while Gwen was donned in her full suit sans mask, dark veins running along the sides of her jaws instead. Peter wished he could say he was surprised, but honestly it was a miracle nothing had been thrown yet.
"...Do we even wanna ask?" Spider-Man said.
"Don't look at me, partner." Shadowcat huffed and stood up properly, though her claws still remained drawn, "All I did was try to compliment her on the skewer job she did on that monster a few weeks ago and suddenly she gets on my case about killing people."
"No, I got on your case because you started offering me assassination contracts!" Gwen yelled back. Was it a good or bad sign that he didn't even register her fangs as weird now? "Oh, and let's not forget when you practically high-fived me for 'fooling everyone into thinking I was one of those goodie-goodies' even though I kept telling you to knock it off!"
"It was a compliment, Spider-Girlie."
"Sure didn't feel like one, 'kitten'."
She raised both eyebrows at the impromptu nickname before she sneered, "Oh, I get it, you're just pent-up. Sweetheart, it ain't my fault that yours is smaller and mine actually has something you can feel."
"Wha!? Fuck you-"
"Gwen, enough, she's just baiting you." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to ignore the not-so-subtle dick joke in her statement. That was something he really didn't want to think about, "Let's just go."
Gwen looked like she wanted to fight more, but eventually she pulled the suit back and the two of them left with Shadowcat's mocking wave at their backs. If he ever did call Spider-Man then he'd make sure it was when the two of them were far away from one another, that was for sure.
Two blocks passed before Gwen finally spoke, "So...how was it? Talking to...you know."
"...Calmer than I thought it'd be." The expectations scared him more than the reality, though it probably 'helped' that the day started off with him walking in on them, "I just...I dunno, it doesn't feel like the worst problem I'm dealing with right now." Spider-Man wasn't trying to kill him, at least...well, apart from the one time in the factory, but he didn't count that.
"Yeah, I know what you mean..." She blew up a tuft of hair and frowned, "I still have to go back to the cemetery cause- uh, well-"
"Cindy told me, don't worry." Peter stopped and looked down at the almost abandoned sidewalk. It wasn't normal for either of them to be so nonchalant about cheating death time and again, but he supposed that wasn't a surprise, "We live weird lives, don't we?" He smiled at her, which she returned after a bit of reluctance. He couldn't even imagine normal anymore, especially not after he came face to face with the reality of who he was.
The smile remained for a few more seconds before he felt the stinging at the side of his eyes and he cried. Gwen's expression shifted to surprise for a brief moment before she hugged him close, pressing his face against her shoulder. Peter held onto her like his life depended on it and cried, the choked sobs eventually melting into laughter despite the pain in his chest.
He was a fake...somehow it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.
Peter didn't know how long they stood there just holding onto one another, but eventually his crying laughter faded and he managed to pry himself away from her. It was so tempting to keep finding comfort in her warmth, '...Enough crying.' He wiped away his tears and coughed. He didn't have time to break down, not now.
"Peter..."
"Thanks, Gwen..." He couldn't smile; he hoped that his words were enough to show what he meant, "...Listen, I'm gonna take off. Clear my head."
"I could go with you if...you know, you wanted."
"Tempting, but no. I still have things I have to do, and so do you." No rest for the wicked...well, apparently the heroes like Gwen weren't allowed to slow down either, "I'll call you when I can, okay?"
"If you're sure."
She squeezed his arm and smiled before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. The gesture was fleeting and soon enough they found themselves walking in the opposite directions, "Come on, Mary..." He tried to call Mary Jane's cellphone again and frowned when he was met with no response. He was starting to regret taking her to Teresa and keeping her 'condition' a secret from Gwen.
He was about to shut off his phone before Lana's number popped up on screen.
"Lana?"
"Pete...?" Peter stopped, brows furrowing in worry. She sounded weak, "...I...that asshole did it."
"What? What happened?" His grip on the phone tightened and he found himself automatically running to his apartment. It might have been a vain hope that she was there, but it was all he had right now.
A hiccuped cry came from the other end of the phone before she said her next words in a bitter whisper.
"He outed me, Pete...everyone know who I am now."
"Lana...where are you?"
"...Your place."
He made it back to the apartment faster than he thought possible. Peter slammed the door open and stopped when he saw Lana sitting on the couch with her knees tucked to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs in a vice-grip. At her side he caught Dog whining and trying to nuzzle closer, but she paid him no mind. Her head raised and he felt another painful stab in his chest when he saw the fresh tears on her puffy eyes.
"Lana..."
He couldn't finish. All he could do was sit next to her and listen to her cry until she eventually left without a word exchanged between them.
Philip Watson wasn't a good man.
At first glance it seemed like he would've been the perfect husband and father: married straight out of college to his sweetheart with a promising career as a college professor. And for those first few years Mary Jane had to admit that she positively adored her father. Stern but fair, which was helped by his career in the liberal arts field. She'd honestly thought that there was no one else she'd rather have for a dad.
That all changed when he smacked her for standing up for Gayle.
She didn't even know the reason at this point. Maybe it was because he wanted to be a writer and he didn't have the skills, or maybe it was because he was drinking that night, but that changed whatever family love they had. He didn't apologize, not really; just made up some half-assed excuse that he hadn't meant it itand that her yelling startled him. Neither of them believed it, but they tried. It lasted for nearly three years before another smack while her mom was in the room broke the metaphorical camel's back.
That was nearly eight years ago, back when she was still 12 and willing to believe that her daddy could do no wrong.
From there contact was limited. They visited sometimes now that they were old enough to defend themselves and could see through his bullshit excuses, but it wasn't exactly what one would call warm and caring; especially not after he tried to sue mom and the rest of the family for desertion. The only reason she even kept contact is because she wanted to make sure the son of a bitch didn't kill himself yet. She hated him, but she didn't want him to die.
At least that's what she thought.
'Where is he?' Mary Jane clung to the ceiling and and snarled. She'd spent the night in an abandoned building and by the time she woke up it was nighttime and the only thing she could think of was her dad. Dear old dad, who probably wouldn't have given a shit if he found out she had a monster attached to her unless he could find a way to make money off it.
Dear old dad, who mom honestly thought was changing.
The apartment she'd slunk into was shabby at best, filled to the brim with old take-out and styrofoam cups with the remains of dried coffee or cheap booze. He'd mentioned that he managed to buy a decent house, that they could live together again, 'Fucking liar...' She batted away the cups and sneered when she saw the half page full of mediocre writing on the dim computer.
Still trying to be what he couldn't.
He'd quit his job, so even a place like this should've been impossible for him. She knew where he got the money: petty crimes and other general illegal means. He wasn't a criminal mastermind or a Supervillain like the kinds of trash Gwen and Peter tangled with, but he wasn't innocent either. He was sure he'd justified it to himself as a momentary infraction on the way to his big break.
The sound of the jiggling doorknob brought her back to the real world. Snarling, she let the suit cover her again before she slunk into the dark bathroom. She could leave right now, but she had to see. See with her own eyes what he was like when he wasn't dressed in his one good suit and plastic smile.
He was worse than he remembered. The flecks of white on her dad's dark hair and the wrinkles under his eyes made the signs of aging even more obvious than before. In his left hand he carried a a plastic bag full of chinese takeout while in his left, 'He didn't stop...' She eyed the can of beer in contempt. He promised that he cleaned himself up, that his days of drinking were behind him.
She didn't believe him, but she still hoped it might've been at least slightly true.
He almost tripped over one of the empty containers and groaned, "Shit, stupid fucking thing..." He tossed the plastic bag at the table and practically collapsed back-first on the couch, the beer spilling across his shirt at the clumsy gesture.
'Still a useless piece of shit.'
She didn't have to wait long for him to fall asleep and once he did she made her way to the edge of the room. It was supposed to scare her, how easily she moved in sync with the suit, but right now she all she could feel was a rising sense of enjoyment. She was strong. No one could smack her around, not her dad or anyone else.
And she was going to prove it.
It only took a simple twist of her hand for some of the red flesh to peel off and slither towards the waste of skin's sleeping body. He always hated bugs, diagnosed with entomphobia and everything.
Mary Jane grinned. She was going to enjoy this.
When Philip Watson woke up it was to the sight of an army of bugs slithering over him. Centipedes, spiders, cockroaches...anything else she could think of, really. It was child's play to manipulate the flesh to appear how she wanted, and his screams made the paltry effort all the more enjoyable.
"Fuck! Fuck!" He got up and tried to swat the bugs off, but they remained tightly bound to his skin. They'd only come off if he wanted them to, "G-Get the fuck offa me!" He screamed again, louder and more desperate this time, and stumbled into the bathroom. From her position she saw him try to douse himself in bug spray before he eventually tripped into the dirty shower and flipped the nozzle on in his panic.
It didn't help.
The 'bugs' covered him like a blanket and went into his mouth, muffling his screams till there was nothing left but choked, desperate sobs. Mary Jane's grin widened to show off more teeth and she slowly walked towards the bathroom. Her dad wouldn't recognize her, not like she was like this, but she still wanted to look into his eyes when he realized he was completely helpless, that for once in his life he couldn't get his way out of what he was due.
"Comfy?" she asked, her voice coming out in a distorted rasp. From beneath the mountain of 'bugs' she saw his eyes widen, tears somehow managing to push through the sides. She waited a few seconds before she gave him a mocking tilt of the head, "Quiet, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. You were never a good talker."
He tried to talk, but all that came out where the sounds of someone choking. Mary Jane opened her mouth and let her tongue lick along the front of her sharp teeth, "How's it feel to be on the other end, Mr. Writer man?" She grabbed his jaw with her right hand and laughed when her claws cut through his skin without any effort, "You know how easy it would be to kill you? All I'd have to do is flick my hand and," she made a popping noise, "Pop goes your head!"
His crying worsened and he tried to speak again, but all she managed to to make out was a half-formed 'please'. She remembered this; she was on the other end of it when her 'daddy' got into one of his moods. This was usually the time where he'd mutter something about her not being worth it and going back to his writing. Should she return the favor now that the tables were turned?
'Kill him now. He's useless, like you said.'
Everything inside her was screaming to do it, to make him pay for all the years of abuse and fear, but in the end her fingers remained bolted to his jaw without so much as a twitch.
'Something's wrong...' Did she really want to do this? To commit murder? The rapists in that alley and those bastards who tried to kidnap Gwen...that was self-defense, that was protecting her friend. Her dad was a piece of shit, but did he deserve to die like this? Suffocated by a swarm of what looked like bugs while his own daughter broke his head open like he was a damn piñata?
'He deserves it! You said it yourself! Kill him!'
The choice was made for her when she heard the knock that came at the door, "Watson, you there?" A female voice came from the other end, "Heard you screaming, man. You alright?" Seconds passed before she heard the doorknob jingling again, "I'm coming in, man."
'She's going to see us. You can kill her, too. No witnesses.'
"No!"
It was like she'd been doused with a bucket of of cold water. Before the door could fully open she pulled the flesh back and jumped out the window, rushing down the alley as fast as she could till the building was out of sight. She didn't know how long she ran, but by the time she'd made it to another deserted alley and pulled the suit back to look normal again she felt close to vomiting.
'Coward!'
"Shut up!" She pressed her hands against the wall and tried to keep herself standing. She'd nearly...she shook her head desperately and shut her eyes, "It wasn't me...that wasn't-"
'It was you.' It laughed, the sound reverberating throughout her entire body, 'You think I pulled that out of nowhere, 'MJ'? You hated that bastard, wanted to see him beg like he made you say sorry for standing up to him.'
"N-No..."
'You can lie to everyone, but you can't lie to me. I can see you for who you really are. I know that you enjoy this, that you want to be better than everyone else. You hated that Gwen got bitten instead. So close to power and fame and then skipped over because that murderer moved in line ahead of you. You hate her for it.'
"S-Stop..."
'And now you have power, so why not do what you want? Why not punish the people who wronged you? Like you said it'd be easy to do it. Just one twitch and you could've stabbed his eyes out of his sockets.'
"That's not what I want!"
It laughed again, 'Yes, it is! Think about what you can do now! That girl with the whip? You could make her pay for strangling you and taking the fame you deserved. The journalist? I know what you think about her, how it hurts you that she could never feel the same way. Think about it: it'd be so easy to make her do whatever you want and get rid of this lust you're holding in. She can't fight back.'
And then, for a fleeting, disgusting moment, she actually considered what it would've been like. It didn't last long before the thought made her vomit in disgust, the sounds of of her heaving and retching stretching across the length of the alley. She didn't let out much - lack of food tended to do that - but by the time she was done she felt like a complete mess, vomit dribbling down her chin while tears leaked through her shut eyes.
"I...I have to go back. Tiger'll know what to do."
She didn't know how but she eventually managed to stumble her way back to Peter's apartment with only a few people glancing her way. Mary Jane resisted the urge to crash through the door and knocked, wincing when the wood cracked at the impact.
Seconds ticked by before Peter eventually opened the door, his downcast eyes widening slightly when he caught sight of her, "Mary...you're back? Where were you?"
"Uh...just, walking around." A poor lie, but he didn't call her on it, "You...moving?" She looked down at the box in his arms.
"Yeah, actually, something happened and I'm not sure if it's safe to stay here anymore." He raised the box higher and sighed, "I don't have much stuff so it's not a big move, but it's why I kept calling you. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
"I-"
'He'll do.'
Before she could stop herself she pushed him harshly against the wall and smacked the box out of his hands. His eyes widened and he looked like he was about to say something before she she covered his mouth with hers.
It wasn't gentle, and she couldn't even say it was intimate. She pried his mouth open and attacked the inside, hands holding down his arms to keep him from pushing her off. It was wrong. She knew that, the rational part of her mind was screaming it, but she kept going even when her hands turned back to claws and the tongue she was shoving down his throat lengthened far enough to make him choke.
The sounds of his choking gasps were brief before she suddenly felt a burning pain at the side of her neck. Stumbling back, she raised her hand to pry the offending object off and looked down in mixed anger and relief at the sight of the empty suppressant in her palm.
She stumbled back two more steps before her legs finally caved and she fell on her back. Peter wasn't any better, falling on his knees and spitting out a torrent of sickly green saliva on the floor.
"Mary...what the hell...was that?" He forced out, his voice coming out in weak gasps. His shirt was in tatters and parts of his chest were covered in light cuts, "I thought...you were controlled..."
"I..." She looked down at her hands and cringed at the sight of blood on the pale skin, "I dunno, Teresa...she sent me to help Gwen and then..."
"Teresa...of course." He wiped away the last of the sick fluid and hissed when his other hand touched the fresh wounds, "Come on...we need to have a talk with her.
This chapter was kinda underwhelming, something both Noir and Spider-Man point out, but it's to be expected. Given their personalities and their personalities a big fuck you fight or a mental breakdown would be out of character for either of them, especially Spider-Man who was apathetic to Noir's existence. They might talk more in the future, but as Noir says 'They're the punchlines to the Spider-God's joke'.
Anyway, the segments end with Lana getting outed, Mary Jane losing more of her sanity, her nearly raping Peter, and Peter in response being rather peeved at how Teresa chose to try and 'stabilize' her symbiotic bond. All in all a rather fun go
Questions:
1. First question's the most obvious, that being which chapter do we go to first - The first one is a Lana POV on how school life is now that she's been outed as a Hero/Vigilante/Freak along with a second segment that either focuses on Cindy or Jessica. The second one follows up on the Carnage!MJ plotline with a follow-up on Gwen casing the crime scene for the LMD attack (and possibly visiting Jessica, if I can fit it into the word count.
2. I've looked over the arcs I cut out for a more streamlined story and one thing comes to mind. There was supposed to be a Weapon X arc with Spider-Man and Shadowcat at center stage, so I'm wondering if I should keep it cut or add it back in since I have no clue if these two grab the audience's attention enough. You guys decide.
3. This one's just for curiosity. Now I've talked about romance before, but one thing I noticed is that here Noir gets way more attention than Gwen on that front. Gwen's been shipped with Peter and Kate with a bit of MJ and Harry (and one Cindy, oddly enough) mixed in. Contrast that Noir's been suggested with Gwen, MJ, Cindy, Felicia, Norah, Bullseye, Lana, Jessica, Matt Murdock, Echo, Black Widow...yeah, you get the point.
I'm curious on the why, though. I mean personality and story wise it seems like Gwen's much more viable for pair-ups given that she's nice, friendly and heroic. By contrast Peter's much more of a reticent asshole and his personality doesn't seem like it lends itself to romance compared to Spider-Gwen.
In a few days it'll be 2018 and I'm definitely looking forward to some things like Marvel Rising, Into the Spider-Verse and the PS4 Spider-Man game. Also there are theories that Spider-Gwen will appear in Agents of SHIELD, though given her ownership by Sony and Gwen supposedly appearing in Homecoming 2 I have my doubts. Maybe they'll just give someone else a similar costume and powerset.Anyway, I've been reading through oldie comics like Mayday Spider-Girl, and while I do like the character she just makes me cringe sometimes. I get thou shalt not kill, I do, but she and other heroes take it to such an absurd extreme. I mean she refuses to kill a remorseless villain when as far as she knows it's the only way to save her friends/allies from being mass-murdered. She even says at one point that 'Either every life matters or none do'...wow, Spider-Girl, and here I thought only Rorscach and the Sith dealt in absolutes.
Besides that I'm laughing at how accidentally accurate I was. In canon Noir's spider-sense can ping lies and danger and nothing else whereas here it's basically Eagle Vision, which Mayday basically has. Danger to her? Pinged. Danger in general? Pinged. Violent intent not related to her at all? Pinged Unknown stalker? Pinged. Lies? Pinged. This thing basically warns her of everything, and unlike Silk there's no overload problem. She can even use it to pinpoint weaknesses in enemies.
Oh, and Normie Osborn *bunch of greater than symbols* than every other Osborn ever. Feels like that's what they wanted Harry to be in Spider-Gwen and failed at it.
Side note - Everybody go out and buy the latest Moon Knight issue. Do it. I'm thinking off trying to incorporate some of the stuff I found there, particularly with the split personality dynamics and actions.
Chapter 93: Twisted Reflection
This wasn't how he thought this would go.
Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, trying and failing to ignore the headache that spread across his temples. He didn't know if it was just his nerves or some other kind of mystical claptrap about two spiders being so close together, but his spider-sense was going haywire. Every second that passed it pulsed and thrummed, ringing in a languid tempo that made him want to puke out what little breakfast he'd managed to swallow.
The fact that he could hear the two of them going at it from clear across the street wasn't helping. At all.
He let go of his face and sucked in a deep breath, elbows propped up against his legs as he leaned forward. There were a lot of expectations he had about how this chat would go, but walking on him - Parker? Spider-Man? - going at it with that partner of his definitely wasn't at the top of that list. His eyes shut tightly and he clamped both hands against his ears to try and block out the noise, even though he already knew it was impossible. He picked a bad day to forget his damn headphones.
Peter didn't know if it was funny or sad that he couldn't decide if this was better than the alternatives.
The grunts and snarls were nearly too much before he felt a hand at his shoulder and his head snapped to Gwen. She hadn't said a word, but the warm smile on her face and the earbuds she offered to him with her free hand calmed him down immediately. He reluctantly lowered his hands and she placed the buds against his ears before the latest Mary Janes song - 'Unchained', if he remembered right - came through the ends.
He was never one for their kind of music (regardless of who he was), but right now Mary's screamed lyrics sounded like the heavenly choir, "Thanks..." he said softly, which got him a slight smile and a casual wave. 'Don't worry about it', the gesture said. He wouldn't admit it if he was pressed, but he'd gotten used to her tics and expressions after nearly half a year of their 'partnership'.
Like the fact that it was clear as day from the way she looked away from the apartment and how her fingers occasional twitched that she was still reeling from what she saw.
At least two songs came and went before his spider-sense finally calmed down and he was able to lower the earphones down again, "...I don't hear anything. Guess they're done." Peter let out a relieved breath and gave her back the earphones, "...This wasn't how I thought it'd go."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that when we caught them in the middle and you closed the door..." She pocketed her phone and gave him a small smile, "You know, Peter...we don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"That's not what you said when you gave me that spandex monstrosity." She laughed at that. It was short and clipped, but he found it calming regardless, "...Being serious, though, I can't just leave it. I've run from too many things already."
"Alright..." She held his left hand with her right and squeezed, her thumb running over his knuckles like she did the night prior. After everything that happened he found it somewhat hard to believe that it'd been less than a day, "Ready when you are."
This time he made sure to knock, and when Spider-Man opened the door the relief that he was wearing clothes managed to punch through whatever trepidation he had. The two of them stared at one another in complete and utter quiet, their expressions unreadable. Seeing him again brought up a lot of feelings, most of of them negative. Standing in front of him was the most painful reminder that he'd been living a lie, that he was nothing more than a copy a giant spider somewhere else made as a joke.
Naturally Peter first course of action was to punch him in the face. Hard.
Spider-Man stumbled back and held his jaw with his right hand, a muffled groan escaping through his fingers. At his side Gwen gave him a wide-eyed look of surprise while Spider-Man's partner - who was dressed in nothing more than an oversized dress shirt and a pair of boxers - raised an eyebrow from her place in the kitchen and flexed her left hand to expose her translucent claws.
Gwen was about to enter a combat stance before the sound of Spider-Man's laughter cut through the impending fight, "Alright, kid, I'll give you that one. Figure that makes us even for what happened at that factory."
"Yeah...even." Truth be told the other Spider trying to choke him to death wasn't even on his mind when he'd done it, but he'll keep that to himself, "...Can we come in?"
"I get the feeling you'll kick the door down even if I said no, so sure."
The inside of the place small and what one would consider cozy if you weren't interested in fancy digs, so to him it was practically homey. Gwen stopped behind him and eyed the couch warily. He still smelled the aftereffects (sometimes he hated the Spider-God's 'gifts'), and the wide cuts on the covers were definitely eyebrow raising, but he didn't have time to worry about that.
His gaze shifted back to his counterpart (original? inspiration?). Contrasting his partner he was dressed fully and apart from the mussy hair he showed no signs of getting taken right there in that couch.
Peter looked at him - really looked at him - and frowned. He definitely saw the resemblance in their faces, but anyone outside looking in would only see a passing similarity at best. He was tall - at least 3 or 4 inches past 6 feet, which contrasted heavily with Peter's own 5'7 - and his pale skin was complemented by the slicked back black (not brown, oddly enough) hair and light stubble.
He was also built like a damn tank. Peter was more than a little annoyed that he looked like a scrawny upstart now that they were finally face to face. He would've thought all those experiments would give him less muscles, not more.
His partner seemed his opposite him. She was 5'1, if that, and judging by the tan in her skin and the slight curve in her eyes he had to figure there was Asian blood in there somewhere. Unlike him she didn't seem to care at all apart from the first punch, content to raid the fridge for beer while humming softly to herself, dark hair swinging. Still, he didn't let appearances fool him. Judging by the claw marks and bruises something told him it wasn't Spider-Man who had the pants in this partnership.
"...You gonna stare at me all day, kid?"
"Don't call me that," Peter bit back. Castle and the others called him that before, but there was something demeaning about the other Parker looking down on him that way.
"Hah, he sounds just like you!" His partner (Cat something) said, still not looking up from the fridge, "Here's a tip, cloney: if you wanna get under his skin then call him Petey. Really pisses him off."
"So glad you're enjoying this, Kat." Spider-Man rolled his eyes and cross his arms, his gaze shifting from Peter to Gwen, "Didn't expect you to bring a friend."
"Yeah, well, we didn't expect you to be screwing in the couch when we got here," Gwen shot back, which earned her a slight glare and another snickering laugh from Spider-Man and his partner, respectively, "...Look, I know I don't have room to talk, but this is really fucking awkward."
'Cat' finally fished the bottle of beer from the fridge and opened it with a quick pop of her claws, sitting down in the chair as she did, "Always is when it comes to clones." She took a large drink of the alcohol and raised an eyebrow at Gwen's sudden glare, "What? I'm a clone too, so I can say it without feeling like an ass."
"He's not a clone-"
"Yeah, yeah: he's a zombie, he has the wrong memories bla bla bla," she said without a care, "Seen it all before, Spider-Girly." Her mouth quirked in a lopsided smirk, "Speaking of, you might wanna calm down before that suit goes haywire. Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened with the red guy."
"You-"
"As interesting as this is, I don't think we're here to have our partners argue," Spider-Man cut in, giving Peter a severe look, "Look, kid, you want answers and I do too. So what's say you and me have a chat. Alone." He gave Gwen a pointed look when she walked closer to them, "I dunno what the deal is between you two, but I wanna do this without someone looking over my shoulder."
"...Fine." Peter nodded towards Gwen and nudged his head to the door, "Backyard works. We shouldn't be long, Gwen."
"Yeah, great, guess I'll just stay here with her then..."
"Aww, you don't wanna have a sleepover?" 'Cat' said mockingly, "Here I thought we were gonna paint each other's nails and talk about boys."
Gwen shot something back, but at this point all of Peter's attention was focused solely on the man (Spider?) next to him. Apart from the punch he hadn't actually planned out what he'd say, and something told him that another punch wouldn't be so well-received this time.
The backyard was small and poorly maintained, though he hadn't expected much; he was never one for gardens anyway. The two of them stopped at the edge of the stairs and leaned against the worn wood that acted as a barrier, "Nice place..."
"It's Kat's."
"That partner of yours...what's the story there?" It wasn't what he wanted to ask, but it was enough to fill the silence.
"She was sent to try and catch me after I got away from those 'Shield' guys. Nearly chopped my pecker off, too..." Peter gave him a questioning look and he just shrugged, "I've had worse. Castelione and Daredevil come to mind." Back then and here in this place, too, "Speaking of, who was your muscle back there? I mean I figure she's that Spider-Dame the news is always harping on about, but she looks kinda familiar."
"Gwen Stacy..." Would she have minded Spider-Man knowing? She came without a mask, after all... "That's Gwen Stacy."
"Stacy?" He looked back at the door and let out a single, wry laugh, "Hah, now I really have seen everything. Where's the snobbery and fancy coats? The Gwen Stacy I know hates my guts."
"We had our rough patches in the past few months..."
"Still better than how we ended off after old man Stacy and Brock..." He tried to hide it, but Peter saw the regret in his words clear as day, "This place really is a-"
"Madhouse? Yeah..."
He blinked at the interruption for his lips curled up in a sardonic smile, "Huh, we really are alike, aren't we?"
"Guess we are..." Peter took out a packet of cigarettes and lit one of the coffin nails with a quick flick of the lighter. He'd only managed one inhale before he noticed the other Spider giving him a wary look, "...What are you looking at?"
"Didn't know you smoked."
"Your partner over there drinks and she looks younger than either of us." Why did everyone always comment on it? Between all the criminals, maniacs and psychopaths they fought you'd think a little smoking wouldn't even be a blip, "Besides, knowing our luck we'll both catch a bullet to the head faster than any kind of lung cancer...not that people back then knew that."
"Heh, guess not." He shook his head and smiled wryly, "I just thought that after Urich-"
"I know what happened to Urich and his little habit." He remembered finding his body, remembered the grief and rage he felt when he realized his last words were made out of spite and anger...and it wasn't even his. It belonged to the one standing next to him.
"Yeah, guess you would..." He rubbed his fingers over his eyes and let out a tired sigh, "...How much do you remember?"
"Everything..." He took another drag of the cigarette and blew the smoke through the air, "I remember being beaten by King and his cronies, I remember Uncle Ben's stories about the trenches, remember seeing his body in that warehouse..." He watched the ash fall down and tried to keep his face passive, "The past six months I lived thinking I was someone I wasn't...I thought I was Spider-Man."
He nearly choked at the end, but he refused to break down. Not in front of him.
"...I woke up in a slab with someone about to cut me open," Spider-Man, head stubbornly facing ahead, "Only reason I managed to get out is because that monster suit broke through the spook's defenses. After that it's been...crazy."
"You died."
"So did you," Spider-Man said, "I gotta figure we're even there, kid."
"Spider-God's playing a joke and both of us are the punchline." He remembered its words when he got bitten the second time, 'You're mine now...' What the hell did that mean? So far apart from a few nightmares - which were getting rarer by the day - he still hadn't gotten a heads-up on exactly what their benefactor wanted. Hell, for all he knew he'd suddenly burst open full of eggs right this second...
"...You remember those 5 years under the Slant's care?" Spider-Man asked.
"Bits and pieces. Guess our boss didn't want me to be too messed up." Small blessings, though the nightmares were probably there to compensate, "Gotta say, you look pretty good for someone who went through all that."
"We each got our own benefits, I guess." He shrugged, the gesture stiff and not at all conveying the laxness he was hoping for, "You've been here for over half a year now. How was it?"
"In a word? Insanity." Peter scoffed, "You've seen the papers. Half this city hates me, I've got criminals and a devil on my case and..." He shook his head, "You don't need to hear the whole story, but suffice to say my stay here hasn't exactly been pleasant. I was trying to look for information on Octavius but then..."
"Then you got distracted." Peter didn't nod, but he seemed to take the silence as confirmation enough, "I dunno what to tell you there, kid. I've been here maybe two weeks and I already know where Octavius is gonna be."
"You...do?" Well...that wasn't what he was expecting. And here he was about to offer his help so that search could go faster, "That's impossible, I've been searching for months-"
"You just got finished telling me that you were being chased by the devil." Well, he was taking that information remarkably well, though after the Spider-God and coming back from the dead Peter probably shouldn't have been surprised, "Fact of the matter is I actually have been reading up on the things you've done. Mad artists, serial killers, that shitshow at Times Square...you've been a busy guy."
"What's your point?"
"My point is I'm wondering if you ever wanted to leave this place."
"Of course I did." He snarled, "It was the only thing keeping me sane most of the time..."
"Then why'd it take me two weeks to get what I need?" he shot back, "I don't blame you. I got no clue how much of me is really crammed in your skull, but every time I go to sleep and when I wake up the first thing I think of are Aunt May, Mary Jane and the Robertsons. I didn't let myself get distracted by every cry for help or every sob story someone gave me."
"Tch..." Peter took a long drag until he nearly choked on the smoke. Much as he hated to admit it the bastard had a point. For those first couple of weeks, sure, his thoughts were always on going back home...back there. But after that? He was weighed down with too many problems that he barely had time to breath. It was still the same now: Lana, Mary, Gwen's mom, Murdock...he would've screamed if he figured he could get away with it.
Retirement wasn't as uneventful as he thought it'd be...
"...Look, I dunno what your plan is, but I'm the one who's going back."
"Why? Last I checked New York's big enough for two Spider-Men." Not that he planned to go back at this point; even though rationality would indicate it would've been a good idea to get away from the damned devil trying to turn him into his brainless goon.
"Maybe, but there's only room for one Peter Peter."
The words weren't anything special by themselves, but he still felt a painful stab in his chest. Months he'd spent using the same justification, that he couldn't stay here because he wasn't their Peter and never could be. He wasn't sure if he could ever go 'back' to being that spiteful asshole, and he didn't want to. As painful as living a lie had been it was better than the monster 'he' was back then.
"...How'd you know? About Octavius, I mean."
"The spooks told me, said it was my reward for helping out with that monstrosity. I've been working for em with Kat for the past couple of weeks now to get information."
"They told you...?" They hadn't called him at all, not even to entice him with the information to get him to come back for more testing. Then again, a part of him said bitterly, why would they want the copy when the original was right there for the taking? "Wonder how long they've been sitting on that info..." Johnson said that they still had no clue last he checked, but it was pretty damn likely she didn't know if his spider-sense hadn't warned him.
"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that in a few weeks I'm going home and leaving this Madhouse behind," he replied, "You can do whatever the hell you want, just make sure that you don't get in my way. 'Brother' or not I'm not letting anything or anyone stop me from getting back to the people that matter most."
"You think I'd stop you?" Peter clicked his tongue. He really didn't think much of him, did he? "...When you go after Octavius, tell me. I wanna be there."
"Why? You coming with me, kid?"
"I'm not going 'back' at this point, Spider-Man, but I still want Octavius. Months I always kept him at the back of my head...hell, the first thing I did when I woke up was try to kill him." Before he broke down and started crying for Gwen, that is. After that Cindy's evil twin got her claws into him, "I'm not you, but I'm not Gwen's Peter either. I don't know who I am at this point and I probably never will, but weight of it's been on me ever since I woke up in that alley. When you get Octavius let me come with you."
The two of them looked at each other in total silence before the older Spider eventually scoffed and waved a hand through the air, "Fine...I've seen you in action and I know you can take care of yourself, and I doubt I'll be getting any backup from the spooks. Carter said he's gonna be in a place called Madripoor in a few weeks, so I'll call you then. If you're too busy playing Saint Paul to come then don't expect me to wait."
Peter wanted to joke, but after everything that's happened there was probably a pretty good chance that'd actually happen. He was almost tempted to ask the other Spider for help, but he bit his tongue. They weren't friends, and despite his words they weren't actually brothers any more than Cindy and her counterpart were sisters. Peter was sure Spider-Man had enough to worry about without having to add his own problems to the mix.
Besides, the last thing he wanted for another Spider to get tangled into Murdock's web...
"You look like you wanna say something, kid."
"...Just curious about the bruises on your neck," Peter muttered. He really wasn't - it was easy enough to figure where they came from - but anything was better than being stuck in his own thoughts.
Spider-Man raised his right hand and traced the tips of his finfers across the discolored skin with a wince, "Yeah...Kat can get rough." That seemed like an understatement. Why did Peter get the feeling he'd see claw marks under that shirt? "I actually wanted to stop when you interrupted us, but she wasn't exactly for it. Said that 'if they wanna talk they can wait 10 fucking minutes for me to get off'..."
"Real keeper you got there. You planning to take her with you?"
"Yeah, cause I really wanna explain to Aunt May where I've been and why I'm coming back with a teenager." He rolled his eyes, "It's casual, kid. You've got my memories, so you should know what that's like."
"If you mean Felicia then I remember you trying to make her your girlfriend." One good thing about his identity issues: technically he wasn't the one who made an ass of himself back then, and the last thing he wanted to do with the Felicia from this place was to get into a relationship, "...You know Felicia's here, too. She's one of those popstar singer gals that are popular nowadays." And Black Cat, though he kept that tidbit for himself
"Huh...well, if Stacy can be one of those 'Superheroes' then I guess it's not that odd." The next smile Spider-Man gave was light and amused, "I know Robbie and Urich are still kicking if the Bugle's any good, but what about-"
"Ben and May? Yeah, still alive and younger than they've ever been. Just had to lose their son." Still lost him, honestly, He was hardly replacement material, "Osborn's still kicking and he's not a criminal. Has a kid, too, but he got the nasty part of the family genes."
"I know, I talked to Osborn Jr. along with the Slant's twin. Guessing by the way he talked about you that there's some bad blood there."
"You got no idea..." Gwen wanted them all to be best friends again, but that wasn't gonna happen. They didn't even like each other that much back then, not since Parker realized that they both liked the same girl, "...Honestly I thought I'd have more to say now that we're face to face, but just seeing you makes my mind go in a blank."
"Not every day you meet your reflection from years back," Spider-Man mumbled back, "Truth be told if we both went back they'd probably recognize you more than they would me. I don't even know how they'd feel seeing me again. They must've moved on already..."
"Gotta try, right? If not you can probably stay with that partner of yours."
"Yeah...that's not much comfort, Parker." Peter raised an eyebrow and kept quiet. It was a hell of a lot better than 'kid', "Only reason she stuck around is cause Carter's paying her to babysit me." He shook his head, "Nah, even if they've moved on and buried me I'd rather stay somewhere that feels like home, and this place certainly ain't it."
"Home..."
"Hm?"
"Nothing." He sighed. No need for him to get mopey or nostalgic now, "...You know, this didn't go how I thought it would've."
"Expecting a fight?" There was that sardonic smile again. Was that what he looked like to Gwen? "Sorry to disappoint you, but I ain't interested in getting any more fights if that's what you were hoping for. You'll have to make do with that smack you gave me earlier."
"Poor me." He gave a wry smile of his own and stamped the cigarette underfoot. It didn't do much to calm him down, "...So, I know this might seem odd, but can I get your number?"
"Planning to make these talks a thing, are you?"
"Hell if I know, but I find it's always better to be prepared nowadays."
"Point."
They'd exchanged numbers and soon enough the odd pair made their way back to the apartment...only to run into the sight of Shadowcat lowered into a crouch with both her claws extended while Gwen was donned in her full suit sans mask, dark veins running along the sides of her jaws instead. Peter wished he could say he was surprised, but honestly it was a miracle nothing had been thrown yet.
"...Do we even wanna ask?" Spider-Man said.
"Don't look at me, partner." Shadowcat huffed and stood up properly, though her claws still remained drawn, "All I did was try to compliment her on the skewer job she did on that monster a few weeks ago and suddenly she gets on my case about killing people."
"No, I got on your case because you started offering me assassination contracts!" Gwen yelled back. Was it a good or bad sign that he didn't even register her fangs as weird now? "Oh, and let's not forget when you practically high-fived me for 'fooling everyone into thinking I was one of those goodie-goodies' even though I kept telling you to knock it off!"
"It was a compliment, Spider-Girlie."
"Sure didn't feel like one, 'kitten'."
She raised both eyebrows at the impromptu nickname before she sneered, "Oh, I get it, you're just pent-up. Sweetheart, it ain't my fault that yours is smaller and mine actually has something you can feel."
"Wha!? Fuck you-"
"Gwen, enough, she's just baiting you." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to ignore the not-so-subtle dick joke in her statement. That was something he really didn't want to think about, "Let's just go."
Gwen looked like she wanted to fight more, but eventually she pulled the suit back and the two of them left with Shadowcat's mocking wave at their backs. If he ever did call Spider-Man then he'd make sure it was when the two of them were far away from one another, that was for sure.
Two blocks passed before Gwen finally spoke, "So...how was it? Talking to...you know."
"...Calmer than I thought it'd be." The expectations scared him more than the reality, though it probably 'helped' that the day started off with him walking in on them, "I just...I dunno, it doesn't feel like the worst problem I'm dealing with right now." Spider-Man wasn't trying to kill him, at least...well, apart from the one time in the factory, but he didn't count that.
"Yeah, I know what you mean..." She blew up a tuft of hair and frowned, "I still have to go back to the cemetery cause- uh, well-"
"Cindy told me, don't worry." Peter stopped and looked down at the almost abandoned sidewalk. It wasn't normal for either of them to be so nonchalant about cheating death time and again, but he supposed that wasn't a surprise, "We live weird lives, don't we?" He smiled at her, which she returned after a bit of reluctance. He couldn't even imagine normal anymore, especially not after he came face to face with the reality of who he was.
The smile remained for a few more seconds before he felt the stinging at the side of his eyes and he cried. Gwen's expression shifted to surprise for a brief moment before she hugged him close, pressing his face against her shoulder. Peter held onto her like his life depended on it and cried, the choked sobs eventually melting into laughter despite the pain in his chest.
He was a fake...somehow it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.
Peter didn't know how long they stood there just holding onto one another, but eventually his crying laughter faded and he managed to pry himself away from her. It was so tempting to keep finding comfort in her warmth, '...Enough crying.' He wiped away his tears and coughed. He didn't have time to break down, not now.
"Peter..."
"Thanks, Gwen..." He couldn't smile; he hoped that his words were enough to show what he meant, "...Listen, I'm gonna take off. Clear my head."
"I could go with you if...you know, you wanted."
"Tempting, but no. I still have things I have to do, and so do you." No rest for the wicked...well, apparently the heroes like Gwen weren't allowed to slow down either, "I'll call you when I can, okay?"
"If you're sure."
She squeezed his arm and smiled before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. The gesture was fleeting and soon enough they found themselves walking in the opposite directions, "Come on, Mary..." He tried to call Mary Jane's cellphone again and frowned when he was met with no response. He was starting to regret taking her to Teresa and keeping her 'condition' a secret from Gwen.
He was about to shut off his phone before Lana's number popped up on screen.
"Lana?"
"Pete...?" Peter stopped, brows furrowing in worry. She sounded weak, "...I...that asshole did it."
"What? What happened?" His grip on the phone tightened and he found himself automatically running to his apartment. It might have been a vain hope that she was there, but it was all he had right now.
A hiccuped cry came from the other end of the phone before she said her next words in a bitter whisper.
"He outed me, Pete...everyone know who I am now."
"Lana...where are you?"
"...Your place."
He made it back to the apartment faster than he thought possible. Peter slammed the door open and stopped when he saw Lana sitting on the couch with her knees tucked to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs in a vice-grip. At her side he caught Dog whining and trying to nuzzle closer, but she paid him no mind. Her head raised and he felt another painful stab in his chest when he saw the fresh tears on her puffy eyes.
"Lana..."
He couldn't finish. All he could do was sit next to her and listen to her cry until she eventually left without a word exchanged between them.
Philip Watson wasn't a good man.
At first glance it seemed like he would've been the perfect husband and father: married straight out of college to his sweetheart with a promising career as a college professor. And for those first few years Mary Jane had to admit that she positively adored her father. Stern but fair, which was helped by his career in the liberal arts field. She'd honestly thought that there was no one else she'd rather have for a dad.
That all changed when he smacked her for standing up for Gayle.
She didn't even know the reason at this point. Maybe it was because he wanted to be a writer and he didn't have the skills, or maybe it was because he was drinking that night, but that changed whatever family love they had. He didn't apologize, not really; just made up some half-assed excuse that he hadn't meant it itand that her yelling startled him. Neither of them believed it, but they tried. It lasted for nearly three years before another smack while her mom was in the room broke the metaphorical camel's back.
That was nearly eight years ago, back when she was still 12 and willing to believe that her daddy could do no wrong.
From there contact was limited. They visited sometimes now that they were old enough to defend themselves and could see through his bullshit excuses, but it wasn't exactly what one would call warm and caring; especially not after he tried to sue mom and the rest of the family for desertion. The only reason she even kept contact is because she wanted to make sure the son of a bitch didn't kill himself yet. She hated him, but she didn't want him to die.
At least that's what she thought.
'Where is he?' Mary Jane clung to the ceiling and and snarled. She'd spent the night in an abandoned building and by the time she woke up it was nighttime and the only thing she could think of was her dad. Dear old dad, who probably wouldn't have given a shit if he found out she had a monster attached to her unless he could find a way to make money off it.
Dear old dad, who mom honestly thought was changing.
The apartment she'd slunk into was shabby at best, filled to the brim with old take-out and styrofoam cups with the remains of dried coffee or cheap booze. He'd mentioned that he managed to buy a decent house, that they could live together again, 'Fucking liar...' She batted away the cups and sneered when she saw the half page full of mediocre writing on the dim computer.
Still trying to be what he couldn't.
He'd quit his job, so even a place like this should've been impossible for him. She knew where he got the money: petty crimes and other general illegal means. He wasn't a criminal mastermind or a Supervillain like the kinds of trash Gwen and Peter tangled with, but he wasn't innocent either. He was sure he'd justified it to himself as a momentary infraction on the way to his big break.
The sound of the jiggling doorknob brought her back to the real world. Snarling, she let the suit cover her again before she slunk into the dark bathroom. She could leave right now, but she had to see. See with her own eyes what he was like when he wasn't dressed in his one good suit and plastic smile.
He was worse than he remembered. The flecks of white on her dad's dark hair and the wrinkles under his eyes made the signs of aging even more obvious than before. In his left hand he carried a a plastic bag full of chinese takeout while in his left, 'He didn't stop...' She eyed the can of beer in contempt. He promised that he cleaned himself up, that his days of drinking were behind him.
She didn't believe him, but she still hoped it might've been at least slightly true.
He almost tripped over one of the empty containers and groaned, "Shit, stupid fucking thing..." He tossed the plastic bag at the table and practically collapsed back-first on the couch, the beer spilling across his shirt at the clumsy gesture.
'Still a useless piece of shit.'
She didn't have to wait long for him to fall asleep and once he did she made her way to the edge of the room. It was supposed to scare her, how easily she moved in sync with the suit, but right now she all she could feel was a rising sense of enjoyment. She was strong. No one could smack her around, not her dad or anyone else.
And she was going to prove it.
It only took a simple twist of her hand for some of the red flesh to peel off and slither towards the waste of skin's sleeping body. He always hated bugs, diagnosed with entomphobia and everything.
Mary Jane grinned. She was going to enjoy this.
When Philip Watson woke up it was to the sight of an army of bugs slithering over him. Centipedes, spiders, cockroaches...anything else she could think of, really. It was child's play to manipulate the flesh to appear how she wanted, and his screams made the paltry effort all the more enjoyable.
"Fuck! Fuck!" He got up and tried to swat the bugs off, but they remained tightly bound to his skin. They'd only come off if he wanted them to, "G-Get the fuck offa me!" He screamed again, louder and more desperate this time, and stumbled into the bathroom. From her position she saw him try to douse himself in bug spray before he eventually tripped into the dirty shower and flipped the nozzle on in his panic.
It didn't help.
The 'bugs' covered him like a blanket and went into his mouth, muffling his screams till there was nothing left but choked, desperate sobs. Mary Jane's grin widened to show off more teeth and she slowly walked towards the bathroom. Her dad wouldn't recognize her, not like she was like this, but she still wanted to look into his eyes when he realized he was completely helpless, that for once in his life he couldn't get his way out of what he was due.
"Comfy?" she asked, her voice coming out in a distorted rasp. From beneath the mountain of 'bugs' she saw his eyes widen, tears somehow managing to push through the sides. She waited a few seconds before she gave him a mocking tilt of the head, "Quiet, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. You were never a good talker."
He tried to talk, but all that came out where the sounds of someone choking. Mary Jane opened her mouth and let her tongue lick along the front of her sharp teeth, "How's it feel to be on the other end, Mr. Writer man?" She grabbed his jaw with her right hand and laughed when her claws cut through his skin without any effort, "You know how easy it would be to kill you? All I'd have to do is flick my hand and," she made a popping noise, "Pop goes your head!"
His crying worsened and he tried to speak again, but all she managed to to make out was a half-formed 'please'. She remembered this; she was on the other end of it when her 'daddy' got into one of his moods. This was usually the time where he'd mutter something about her not being worth it and going back to his writing. Should she return the favor now that the tables were turned?
'Kill him now. He's useless, like you said.'
Everything inside her was screaming to do it, to make him pay for all the years of abuse and fear, but in the end her fingers remained bolted to his jaw without so much as a twitch.
'Something's wrong...' Did she really want to do this? To commit murder? The rapists in that alley and those bastards who tried to kidnap Gwen...that was self-defense, that was protecting her friend. Her dad was a piece of shit, but did he deserve to die like this? Suffocated by a swarm of what looked like bugs while his own daughter broke his head open like he was a damn piñata?
'He deserves it! You said it yourself! Kill him!'
The choice was made for her when she heard the knock that came at the door, "Watson, you there?" A female voice came from the other end, "Heard you screaming, man. You alright?" Seconds passed before she heard the doorknob jingling again, "I'm coming in, man."
'She's going to see us. You can kill her, too. No witnesses.'
"No!"
It was like she'd been doused with a bucket of of cold water. Before the door could fully open she pulled the flesh back and jumped out the window, rushing down the alley as fast as she could till the building was out of sight. She didn't know how long she ran, but by the time she'd made it to another deserted alley and pulled the suit back to look normal again she felt close to vomiting.
'Coward!'
"Shut up!" She pressed her hands against the wall and tried to keep herself standing. She'd nearly...she shook her head desperately and shut her eyes, "It wasn't me...that wasn't-"
'It was you.' It laughed, the sound reverberating throughout her entire body, 'You think I pulled that out of nowhere, 'MJ'? You hated that bastard, wanted to see him beg like he made you say sorry for standing up to him.'
"N-No..."
'You can lie to everyone, but you can't lie to me. I can see you for who you really are. I know that you enjoy this, that you want to be better than everyone else. You hated that Gwen got bitten instead. So close to power and fame and then skipped over because that murderer moved in line ahead of you. You hate her for it.'
"S-Stop..."
'And now you have power, so why not do what you want? Why not punish the people who wronged you? Like you said it'd be easy to do it. Just one twitch and you could've stabbed his eyes out of his sockets.'
"That's not what I want!"
It laughed again, 'Yes, it is! Think about what you can do now! That girl with the whip? You could make her pay for strangling you and taking the fame you deserved. The journalist? I know what you think about her, how it hurts you that she could never feel the same way. Think about it: it'd be so easy to make her do whatever you want and get rid of this lust you're holding in. She can't fight back.'
And then, for a fleeting, disgusting moment, she actually considered what it would've been like. It didn't last long before the thought made her vomit in disgust, the sounds of of her heaving and retching stretching across the length of the alley. She didn't let out much - lack of food tended to do that - but by the time she was done she felt like a complete mess, vomit dribbling down her chin while tears leaked through her shut eyes.
"I...I have to go back. Tiger'll know what to do."
She didn't know how but she eventually managed to stumble her way back to Peter's apartment with only a few people glancing her way. Mary Jane resisted the urge to crash through the door and knocked, wincing when the wood cracked at the impact.
Seconds ticked by before Peter eventually opened the door, his downcast eyes widening slightly when he caught sight of her, "Mary...you're back? Where were you?"
"Uh...just, walking around." A poor lie, but he didn't call her on it, "You...moving?" She looked down at the box in his arms.
"Yeah, actually, something happened and I'm not sure if it's safe to stay here anymore." He raised the box higher and sighed, "I don't have much stuff so it's not a big move, but it's why I kept calling you. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
"I-"
'He'll do.'
Before she could stop herself she pushed him harshly against the wall and smacked the box out of his hands. His eyes widened and he looked like he was about to say something before she she covered his mouth with hers.
It wasn't gentle, and she couldn't even say it was intimate. She pried his mouth open and attacked the inside, hands holding down his arms to keep him from pushing her off. It was wrong. She knew that, the rational part of her mind was screaming it, but she kept going even when her hands turned back to claws and the tongue she was shoving down his throat lengthened far enough to make him choke.
The sounds of his choking gasps were brief before she suddenly felt a burning pain at the side of her neck. Stumbling back, she raised her hand to pry the offending object off and looked down in mixed anger and relief at the sight of the empty suppressant in her palm.
She stumbled back two more steps before her legs finally caved and she fell on her back. Peter wasn't any better, falling on his knees and spitting out a torrent of sickly green saliva on the floor.
"Mary...what the hell...was that?" He forced out, his voice coming out in weak gasps. His shirt was in tatters and parts of his chest were covered in light cuts, "I thought...you were controlled..."
"I..." She looked down at her hands and cringed at the sight of blood on the pale skin, "I dunno, Teresa...she sent me to help Gwen and then..."
"Teresa...of course." He wiped away the last of the sick fluid and hissed when his other hand touched the fresh wounds, "Come on...we need to have a talk with her.
This chapter was kinda underwhelming, something both Noir and Spider-Man point out, but it's to be expected. Given their personalities and their personalities a big fuck you fight or a mental breakdown would be out of character for either of them, especially Spider-Man who was apathetic to Noir's existence. They might talk more in the future, but as Noir says 'They're the punchlines to the Spider-God's joke'.
Anyway, the segments end with Lana getting outed, Mary Jane losing more of her sanity, her nearly raping Peter, and Peter in response being rather peeved at how Teresa chose to try and 'stabilize' her symbiotic bond. All in all a rather fun go
Questions:
1. First question's the most obvious, that being which chapter do we go to first - The first one is a Lana POV on how school life is now that she's been outed as a Hero/Vigilante/Freak along with a second segment that either focuses on Cindy or Jessica. The second one follows up on the Carnage!MJ plotline with a follow-up on Gwen casing the crime scene for the LMD attack (and possibly visiting Jessica, if I can fit it into the word count.
2. I've looked over the arcs I cut out for a more streamlined story and one thing comes to mind. There was supposed to be a Weapon X arc with Spider-Man and Shadowcat at center stage, so I'm wondering if I should keep it cut or add it back in since I have no clue if these two grab the audience's attention enough. You guys decide.
3. This one's just for curiosity. Now I've talked about romance before, but one thing I noticed is that here Noir gets way more attention than Gwen on that front. Gwen's been shipped with Peter and Kate with a bit of MJ and Harry (and one Cindy, oddly enough) mixed in. Contrast that Noir's been suggested with Gwen, MJ, Cindy, Felicia, Norah, Bullseye, Lana, Jessica, Matt Murdock, Echo, Black Widow...yeah, you get the point.
I'm curious on the why, though. I mean personality and story wise it seems like Gwen's much more viable for pair-ups given that she's nice, friendly and heroic. By contrast Peter's much more of a reticent asshole and his personality doesn't seem like it lends itself to romance compared to Spider-Gwen.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Never change Peter.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
Nice chapter! Really liked Peter and Spidey conversation, Lana part made me curious this is why I am itching for a follow-up to how she is feeling in her POV. MJ part was goooood, but I will not lie how I laughed when Peter ends up with another person kissing him xD.
Peter:"Should I be scary of Jack suddenly trying to force-kissing me?"
Jack:*Laughing madly*
1 - Lana because I am very curious because of the cliffhanger and Jessica to see how she is doing.
2 - Maybe push back a little bit, I think it would be for the best to focus on the plot of what is happening right now IMO, but I am open to reading about it later.
3 - People love Assholes/cold people in fiction who show soft spots from time to time, they use abridged glasses to see them like they are Tsunderes for those they are acting like assholes
...
Well I am the same as I am a sucker for the trope of 'Jerk with a heart of Gold', which I have been growing up after you post-chapter explanations, but male tsunderes are sooooo goood when done right and Peter does have the talent for it xD
Peter:"Should I be scary of Jack suddenly trying to force-kissing me?"
Jack:*Laughing madly*
1 - Lana because I am very curious because of the cliffhanger and Jessica to see how she is doing.
2 - Maybe push back a little bit, I think it would be for the best to focus on the plot of what is happening right now IMO, but I am open to reading about it later.
3 - People love Assholes/cold people in fiction who show soft spots from time to time, they use abridged glasses to see them like they are Tsunderes for those they are acting like assholes
...
Well I am the same as I am a sucker for the trope of 'Jerk with a heart of Gold', which I have been growing up after you post-chapter explanations
, but male tsunderes are sooooo goood when done right and Peter does have the talent for it xDOr Gwen.
Peter:"Should I be scary of Jack suddenly trying to force-kissing me?"
Jack:*Laughing madly*[/QUOTE]
You joke, but given Jack's personality I could honestly see him doing that, and considering he looks like this kissing is likely to be very uncomfortable:
Also, given that MJ had Carnage tongue when she kissed him I doubt it was very sexy for either.
[QUOTE="Loktarogar, post: 9878073, member: 8851"1 - Lana because I am very curious because of the cliffhanger and Jessica to see how she is doing.
2 - Maybe push back a little bit, I think it would be for the best to focus on the plot of what is happening right now IMO, but I am open to reading about it later.
3 - People love Assholes/cold people in fiction who show soft spots from time to time, they use abridged glasses to see them like they are Tsunderes for those they are acting like assholes
...
Well I am the same as I am a sucker for the trope of 'Jerk with a heart of Gold', which I have been growing up after you post-chapter explanations
, but male tsunderes are sooooo goood when done right and Peter does have the talent for it xD[/QUOTE]1. Lana got all the votes so far, which is kind of odd.
2. KK
3. I have to bring this up again, but neither Lana or Peter are Tsunderes
Characters of those archetype are usually shown to be hot and cold to people they're interested in, which doesn't apply here since the two are perfectly pleasant and nice to people they do like and are usually reticent/hostile when it comes to strangers or people they have no fondness over. Look at Lana; when she got along with Peter she never acted harsh or insulting towards him and only did so when he rather callously told her he didn't care about her. Noir was also pleasant to 'Gwen Stacy' when he wasn't aware of her identity and harsh to Spider-Woman because he legitimately didn't like her. So yeah, I'll say it once and I'll say it again but they're not tsunderes. 616 Gwen Stacy might have been when she first appeared, but Lana and Peter are straightforward: if they like they act nice, if they don't then they tell you to pike off. As far as I'm remembering we never see the two of them being assholes to the people they like outside of extremely stressful situations, and that's less tsundere and more human.
Chapter 94 - First World Problems
Okay, so quick note: I said I'd do a Lana and Jessica chapter, but Lana's school life thing got way out of hand so I couldn't squeeze in Jessica's part. This is a mixed blessing, though. I'll explain more in the later questions.
This chapter's tone is kinda all over the place and a lot of Lana's issues probably come across as wangsty, similar to maybe Frog-Man. If it does then that's intentional since as a relatively 'normal' teenager she's probably got the least larger than life baggage to her, powers aside. At the very least her life sucks less by comparison to the others.
Anyway, I read up on the latest Miles Morales and I have to say again: Bendis covers are balls. No spoiling anything, but I think it should be obvious by now that his covers have fuck all to do with the actual stories he's printing. On the other hand Lana's getting more spotlight and the story is picking up, so I can't complain too much.
I also checked out the All New Avengers Annual and I have to say, apparently I was accurate: the MU is full of shitty fanfics filled with sexism, bizarre love triangles, and Mary Sue self-inserts romancing the OOC heroes. Kamala's reaction to it all is freaking gold, especially the Ms. Marvel/Spider-Man/Nova love triangle someone (read: Miles) wrote.
Side Note - I found a Spider-Man Noir fanfic in ao3 called 'bleed me dry, I wouldn't mind'. It's kinda NSFW, but the way it shows off Peter, Mary Jane and Felicia's characters is astounding. I recommend everyone give it a read
Chapter 94: First World Problems
School was always a particular hell for most students and Lana was no exception. Sure, she didn't have to deal with sadistic teachers or pedophile gym coaches, but when your mom was a prostitute and everyone knew it the amount of 'your mom' jokes never let up. Most of them fucked off after she kicked the crap out of the biggest assholes, but when you're a poor street kid who's a hair's breath away from being expelled for not being rich or sporty enough punching assholes' teeth in didn't last long.
That wasn't to say it was completely shit. She had her share of friends and apart from one or two really persistent assholes - Brooke Foreman immediately came to mind - it was...tolerable. Sure she wasn't Ms. Popularity, but she wasn't at the bottom of the totem pole either. She was perfectly in the middle and apart from her mom's 'profession' and being friends with some of the more out-there kids she wasn't anything special.
Until now.
Lana tightened her grip on the straps of her backpack and gulped. The front of the school lot was nearly empty, which she could credit to the fact that she'd waited till the absolute last fucking second to show up. She didn't want to be here. Matter of fact she would've preferred her face getting fucked up again by that zombie monstrosity from a few weeks ago. Least that piece of shit was someone she wouldn't feel guilty about splattering to a million pieces.
"Get a fucking grip, Baumgartner..." She took a deep breath and made her way up the steps. So she got outed, so fucking what? She wasn't Spider-Woman or Spinerette or any of those big names with their names plastered on billboards. Who'd fucking care about the girl who could blow up cars with her hands and could go apeshit like Carrie if someone pissed her off? No one had any reason to worry.
...
Right, she didn't do sarcasm well. She'd blame Pete for that somehow later.
It didn't take her long between opening the door and stepping inside from the halls to go from annoyingly loud to stupidly quiet like one of those cliche lifetime horror movies. Lana kept her head raised and kept walking, pointedly ignoring the way people turned to look at her and the whispers they sent her way. All she had to do was make it through the first few days and people would start paying attention more to what one of the Kardashian's did. If there was one thing she could count on in high school it was that attention spans were monkey short for 90% of these assholes.
"Holy shit, it's her."
"You think it's true?"
"Has to be, right?"
"No way. I bet she's just faking like Dave last week."
Lana clenched her hands into shaky fists and kept walking. It would've been a good thing if they thought she was faking, right? That would put 'daddy dearest's' plans to a screeching fucking halt. Sure a bunch of assholes would get on her case for being a wannabe, but what else was new? She could deal with a few words thrown her way. After dealing with that bald psychopath it would be a relief.
She made it in class with enough time to spare. The teacher looked up slightly from his desk when she got into the room, but the look of utter boredom on his face remained and he looked back down at the desk without missing a beat. Good old Mr. Harrington; she could always rely on him to not give a shit about anything, which was probably helped by the fact that he'd been at this job nearing 20 years on now.
She'd barely sat down at her seat before she got an excited tap on her right shoulder, "...What?" She turned to her seatmate and tried her best not to look pissed off when she caught sight of Kamala's excited grin. The former New Jersey girl was one of the two friends she never felt the urge to punch at least once since she'd known her, but something told her that might change soon enough.
"...Yeah?" Maybe if she acted grumpier than usual she'd take the hint.
No such luck, "So is it true?" She whispered excitedly. Well, 'whispered' in the sense that Black Cat's leather bikini was subtle, which was to say not at all, "Are you, you know," She raised her right hand and made a whooshing noise, "Are you the trenchcoat girl? Exploder gal?"
"It's Striker," she shot back before she could stop herself. Kamala's eyes widened and she looked a hair's breath away from squealing before Lana covered her mouth roughly, "Shh! I'm not saying I am her, just that it's her name!" Lana (actually) whispered and looked to the rest of her classmates. All of them were fucking staring at her while Mr. Harrington droned on about reminders without a single crap given that everyone was ignoring him.
She waited a few seconds before she released her hold on the other girl and sunk into her seat with a sigh. Kamala was a Superhero fan...okay, that wasn't fucking rare in this place considering Spider-Woman fought her first 'Supervillain' here, but right now it pissed her off to no end. Back then it was just harmless fun, something to tease her friend over for being such a 'fangirly nerd', but that was before she realized she could blow shit up by pointing at it.
Class passed by agonizingly slow. She tried to pay attention, something about the French revolution and the contributions of some Arno Dorian guy, but she couldn't shake off the fact that her classmates (Kamala included) practically gaped at her the entire time like they were expecting her to suddenly shoot up through the ceiling like fucking Amazingman going off to save the world.
That wasn't the worst part, of course. It was one thing for people to gape, even if it was awkward as shit. No, that was nothing to the fact that at least a few of those same assholes either looked at her like she was wearing a fucking bomb vest or glared at her in something that she recognized as jealousy. She'd never been on the receiving end of it before - being the daughter of a whore tended to do that - and she really didn't like finding out what it was like to be on the other side.
The bell finally ringing was more relieving than she wanted to admit. Lana packed her notes and books and gave Kamala a half-hearted wave before trudging her way to the library. Next subject was free study (translation: don't even bother coming to the class) followed by gym, which meant that she had at least 60 minutes to find a place where people couldn't stare at her. Not a lot of places like that in Mindtown, but she knew at least one.
She turned the hall and stopped when she saw the entrance to the library. It was defaced as always, the poster with Peter's face at the front covered with a green spraypainted lizard while there were permanent marker additions all around the door. 'Monster', 'Supervillain', 'Freak'...back then she didn't think about it. Who cared, right? Just some dead kid who Spider-Woman stomped, it was none of her business.
Knowing what she did now the sight just pissed her off to no end.
Shaking her head, she faced ahead and ignored it. Peter - her first crush, said the annoying voice in her head that sounded a lot like Lily - wasn't the Lizard. He was Spider-Man, damn what the rest of this fucking city thought. It didn't matter that the Parker name was mud here or that even the teachers talked about him like those two assholes from Columbine; he didn't care about it and neither should she.
Lana opened the door leading to the back of the school with a frustrated scowl. Midtown had its fair share of petty criminals and troublemakers - she would know, considering she was friends with a lot of them - but even most of them tended to avoid coming back here. Back here was the 'turf' of the Serpent Skulls, though she knew for a fact that they didn't actually hang out here most of the time. Someone just spread a rumor and it took off, because of course it fucking did. People believed anything nowadays.
She was proven right when she found the place to be completely abandoned save for one. Lana recognized her immediately: Sasha Martin, one of the resident 'trouble children' (translation: just as bad but without a good name or money to get out of it) of Midtown High. There were a shitload of rumors about her, but Lana paid them no mind. If she believed everything someone said then half this school would be Superheroes in disguise.
The two of them shared a silent look before the other girl went back to smoking her cigarette. Lana let out a soft breath and sat on the steps, pointedly ignoring the constant vibrations of her phone inside the bag. Her mom made it clear that she wouldn't call until later tonight and Pete was the same. That meant it was either one of her friends or Lily, and as tempting as it was to talk to them she didn't want to deal with all that now.
No, instead she was hiding out at the back of the school like one of those Goddamned feelgood movie characters...
30 minutes of silence passed - Sasha going through at least three cigarettes while Lana caught up on her backlog of homework - before the so-called master criminal finally spoke up, "Any of that stuff actually true?" she said, Lana looking up to meet her curious eyes with a raised eyebrow, "That stuff with you being a super bomber."
"Would it matter if it did?" she muttered, a irritation seeping into her voice. She could understand people being scared - she'd be pretty freaked out if someone came to school waving around a belt full of grenades - but it wasn't that...well, not for most of them, at least. Thanks to Spider-Woman and the rest of her amazing friends suddenly having powers was like winning the lottery or getting a viral video out on the youwebs; everyone who was fine with ignoring you yesterday suddenly looked at you like you were the new member of the Kardashians.
"Just wondering why you're still here if it is." Sasha shrugged, staring her down coolly.
"Fuck are you talking about?"
"This place." She waved the cigarette around lazily and Lana coughed at the smell of nicotine in the air. A part of her was still tempted to smoke, and going cold turkey hadn't helped at all. She could blame Pete's girlfriend for putting his foot down on that front.
"What about it?" Lana snorted. This was gonna be good.
"Why haven't you taken it down yet?" Sasha's lips quirked up in a light grin while Lana gave her flat look, "No one here can stop you from tearing it all down, so why don't you?"
"Uh...because I'm not a dick?"
"Hey, don't look at me like that. Don't tell me you actually like this shithole."
"There's a difference between 'I don't like this place' and 'let's tear it all down'." Lana rolled her eyes. Okay, maybe the rumors about her weren't all wrong. Still, she shouldn't have been surprised. Practically every teenager raged against the world while sitting on their ass doing nothing; she'd done it herself more times than she wanted to admit.
"Hey, all I'm saying is that if I could blow things up by looking at them I'd have a much shorter list," she shot back, wiping the ashes away from her red tanktop and punk pants. Lana didn't know why she bothered; she still stunk of nicotine, "Just think about it, you could do whatever you want! Anybody pisses you off what are they gonna do? "
"Call the cops, who'll probably shoot you in the face?" Lana scoffed. This was less irritating than dealing with a staring crowd, but was it too much to ask for an hour of no one ragging on her? "Either that or the Superheroes come in and suddenly you're looking at life in supermax." And that was if it was one of Captain America's cheer squad. She knew for a fact that Punisher or Bullseye would just kill you and be done with it.
"Eh, it'd be worth it." She shrugged again, "If I had your powers this place would go down...then maybe Disney World. Always hated that shithole."
"Guess we're lucky you didn't get it then," Lana clicked her tongue and stuffed her notebook back in her backpack. Perfect, the day wasn't even half over and someone was already encouraging her to go full on school shooter.
"Parker had the right idea about this place, at least." Lana scowled, which the other girl ignored. It took a lot of effort on her part to not punch her right in that grinning face of hers "I mean, why are you even going out to do the Superhero thing? Can't imagine there's a lot of cash in it unless you join the president's goon squad. What'd they call em, Avengers?
Lana stood up and left without another word. Talking to Sasha was pissing her off and that was the last thing she needed right now, '...Why are you doing it?' She held onto her backpack tightly and weaved through the halls. Honestly she hadn't thought about it all that much. In the beginning it was because she wanted to make that sick fuck pay and the next it was because Pete got his ass caught like a fucking Disney princess.
After that...well, who fucking knew? She never wanted to be a Superhero when she was younger, never dreamed about being famous or all that shit. All she wanted was to make money so her mom would stop spreading her damn legs to put her through high school, but she sure as hell wasn't getting paid to beat up gangbangers and assholes like she did. Hell, it would've been easy to take their cash while they were out. What were they gonna do, call the cops?
The annoying, traitorous part of her mind was there again, 'It's because of him.' She grit her teeth and trudged her way into the locker room, once again completely ignoring the way most of her classmates stared at her. It wasn't like Pete told her to use her powers like that - he made it clear he didn't give a shit what she did as long as she didn't hurt anyone innocent - but watching him leave almost every night and coming back smelling like blood and sweat while the papers smeared him...it was hard to do nothing.
She stuffed her bag into her locker and pulled out her PE uniform, changing into it almost mindlessly. She hated this, hated that even now she still thought about him like the pining schoolgirl she really didn't want to be. Anyone else in her position would've considered it crazy: going after her mom's sloppy seconds? Yeah, that didn't scream desperate or fucked up or anything...
A part of her knew that she should've cared more about that little tidbit, but honestly she didn't. Her mom fucked him, so what? It was part of her (really regrettable) job. She knew enough from books and movies that sleeping together was supposed to be special and romantic and all that bullshit, but she couldn't see it. In Hell's Kitchen fuckbuddies were more common than boyfriend, so as far as she saw it there was nothing there for her to care too much about. it wasn't like they were kissing or holding hands while making plans for the future or anything...
Still, even if she had didn't give much of a shit about sex - growing up the way she did tended to do that - common sense told her that she should've picked someone more...not insane. Or at the very least someone she wouldn't have to compete with freaking Spider-Woman for.
She lined up with the rest of her classmates and listened to Coach Wilson blather on instructions like he was shouting through a damned megaphone. She liked the guy well enough, but he had a really annoying habit of treating the students like they were recruits at boot camp or something. She swore that it was only the principal looking over his shoulder that kept him from calling them maggots.
"Alright, you know the drill! Stretching first, then jogging and then you climb the rope!"
The rest of the class groaned and muttered curses to themselves as they got into position. Lana kept her mouth shut and followed the teacher's instructions before joining the rest with running circles around the gym. She used to dread PE before - mostly cause by the time it was over all of them smelled like walking gym socks - but now it felt almost relaxing.
She liked to think she'd just gotten better at exerting herself, but she knew it was because of her new add-ons. She had the 'physical aptitude of an athletic adult woman', according to the schizo; something about her body 'augmenting itself in order to avoid negative feedback from her powers'. All she knew was that it meant she could probably beat Black Cat in a fistifght if it came down to it, which was just fine with her.
The jogging lasted for about 20 minutes before they were forced to sit on the bleachers and watch one of Captain America's PSA's. Lana sat at one of the corner seats and rolled her eyes as she started rattling off about the 'Captain America Fitness Challenge'. She always found it hilarious how someone with super soldier serum talked about gym class like it actually meant anything, and getting powers of her own did little to diminish that.
The video lasted for 5 minutes before they were ushered one by one to the rope. Lana wiped her sweaty hands on her gym shorts and glared up at the lawsuit waiting to happen. Powers or not climbing wasn't her forte, and coach had an annoying habit of making the rope way higher than what was considered healthy. It was still a mystery to her how the parents hadn't sued the school just yet.
A few of her classmates reached the top, most of them didn't, and all of them suffered ropeburn. Lana watched the line grow shorter and eventually it was her turn, her classmates staring at her back; and not in the way most kids were looked at when they started climbing the noose. Were they expecting her to blow up the damn thing? It wasn't like Ross Lynch sung every problem away or something.
Climbing the rope was easier than before, though the sweat sticking to her palms and her classmates staring at her like hawks made it harder than it should have been. It didn't take her long to reach the top and she tried to reach out and ring the bell. Just this and she could make it to lunch.
The next few seconds would stick in her memory for a long time to come. Her hand barely brushed against the bell before she suddenly found herself falling. She could've blamed it on losing her grip because of the sweat, or maybe the fact that one of the 'pranksters' decided to spitball her to try and get a few laughs, but either way it didn't change the end result - her falling to the unforgiving gym floor about to get a facefull of maple wood.
Or at least she would have, if she hadn't dampened her fall.
Her right hand stuck out and she let out a quick blast of energy right before she made impact. The resulting boom was more muffled than her usual stuff, but it was practically deafening in the confines of the wide gym. A ring of light surrounded her briefly before it quickly dissipated, leaving her crouched on the floor without the expected sprain and trip to the nurse's office.
"Holy shit," someone in the crowd said.
Looking back on it taking taking the fall would've been just the thing she needed to have people stop staring at her - who ever heard of a Superhero eating it in gym class? Sure it'd be painful, but what was a sprained ankle and a few more people jeering at her? But no, instead like a fucking idiot she panicked and moved on instinct. Lana looked up and and grimaced when she found her classmates gaping at her with even the teacher giving her a wide-eyed look.
"...Fuck."
Class ended on the rather worrying note of coach saying he had to go talk to the principal. Lana shuffled along with the rest of her female classmates back to the locker room feeling worse off than when the day started. Before there was at least room for doubt, but now? Now she could kiss all that goodbye. By the time the day was done everyone on the fucking block would know who she was.
God damn it she hated William...
She managed to put on the checkered blouse and skinny cargo pants before someone finally spoke up, "Do you know Spider-Woman?" Her head snapped to the side and she was met with the (way too) excited eyes of Jenny Carson.
"...Nope." She finished putting on the pants and her flats.
"No, you totally do! I saw the vid of you working with her and Hawkeye on the youwebs!" Huh...guess Frog-Boy didn't count for anything. She almost felt sorry for him...almost.
"If you already knew then why'd you ask?" Lana rolled her eyes and closed her locker once she finished spraying herself with perfume. Anybody else might have taken advantage of the situation, but she knew how this worked. She was a passing trend, the new thing they could gawk and point at before they eventually got bored of her. She wasn't going to make an ass of herself (well, more than she already did...) just so they could bring it up later on when she was old news.
"I mean that proves it, right? You're the trenchcoat girl?" someone else 'asked'.
"It's Striker..." She was already in the hole, so why not dig herself deeper?
"You helped protect the city with the rest of the Defenders!Oh my God, this is so cool!" Lana recoiled at the excited squeals and cheers that came from around her. Before she knew it she was surrounded a throng of her classmates, each of them trying to speak over the other. How well did she know Spider-Woman? Were Spider-Man and Punisher really a couple? Did she know any other Avengers? And so on and so forth.
It took her 10 minutes to get out of there and by the end of it she felt like she'd been mashed into a sardine can, "Fuck's sake..." She held her backpack closer to her like a safety blanket and tried to fix her mussed up hair. She really shouldn't have gone to school, but her mom made her promise not to skip and Lana refused to let that bastard she had for a 'dad' win.
By the time she made it to lunch she already saw some of her other classmates circulating what happened in gym class. Thankfully there was no sudden silence when she arrived this time, though the stares remained. Lana did her best to (what else?) ignore them and lined up for the daily cafeteria slop, paying no attention to the people in front of her offering to let her go ahead of them. She refused to get a big head about this.
She spotted her usual group with a quick glance over and smiled slightly. The day was shit, sure, but she could at least count on the next 60 minutes to be halfway tolerable.
Or not. As soon as she sat down the entire table turned to look at her before they picked up their trays and left without another word, some faster than others. Lana's face shifted to a scowl and she grabbed Poey before he could completely bail, "Hey, dude, what the fuck?" She hissed. Was she suddenly a fucking leper? "What's with the reject treatment?"
The bastard at least had the decency to look bad before he replied, "Sorry, B, but we don't exactly, uh, feel comfortable sitting with you now that you're one of them big time heroes."
"I'm not a-"
"We heard what happened at the gym," he interrupted, "...Look, I think you're cool, but how's it look? You know me and the rest of the gang are into some shit and we don't want you calling down the rest of those crazy assholes down on us."
"I wouldn't do that! You know me!" So what if they slung a few bags and tagged some walls here and there? Pete didn't care about that stuff and she could give a fuck what the rest of their merry little group thought, "Come on, Poey, don't be an asshole. I've had a real shit day and I could use a friend..." This was pathetic. Here she was practically begging her friend to stay one...some fucking hero.
The look of regret came and went before he shook his head, "Sorry, B, can't risk it...take care of yourself."
And just like that she was alone. Lana's hands shook and she shoveled food into her mouth to keep herself from sniffling. So her friends thought she was some kind of snitch and didn't trust her anymore...sure, why the fuck not? It fit everything else that's happened so far.
She was tempted to go for another table, but she didn't like the way everyone else looked at her and the two who didn't - Gabriel Reyes and Michelle Jones - weren't exactly friends either, so there she stayed. This day sucked, and she had three more days left in the week before the weekend hit. Maybe it'd get better when she started sharing lunch period with Chat and Kamala again, but somehow she had her doubts.
The uncomfortable isolation lasted for about half an hour before someone sat across from her. Lana looked up and frowned when she saw Danika Hart's 'prize-winning' smile, "Fuck off, Hart. I'm not in the mood." Danika Hart...nothing much to say about her except that she was the biggest Cape Chaser in the entire school; and that was saying something considering how obsessed this place could be.
"Bad mood?" she asked in what she must've thought as being casual.
"No, I'm great. Just fucking perfect." Lana curled her lips up in a smile, the gesture all teeth and bite, "I just love the fact that everyone's looking at me like I'm wearing a mask and that my friends ditched me. Everything's going fucking great."
"Sarcasm...why are heroes nowadays so sarcastic?"
"You tell me, you're the expert on them." She looked back down at her beans and stirred them irately, "Before you ask, I don't know who Spider-Woman is and I don't have her fucking phone number, so just piss off and go back to stalking her fake tweeter pages."
"Ech, touchy." She clicked her tongue and leaned forward, her smile never wavering despite Lana's insults, "Actually, that's not what I'm interested in."
"Yeah? Then what?"
"You."
"You're barking up the wrong tree, Hart." Lana snorted.
"Aww, and here I had a candlelit dinner planned and everything." Danika flipped her purple dyed hair and sighed exaggeratedly, "Being serious, though, you know I make cape vids." Yeah and most of the school watched it, especially its '#1 fan' Gayle Watson. Lana was surprised the other brunette wasn't following Danika like a lost puppy right now. Something about her sister going missing or something.
"I do know that, so what?"
"Gimme an interview." It wasn't a question. Lana raised an eyebrow and almost stood up before the older teen quickly continued, "Look, people are wondering about you and they're never gonna stop asking. D'you wanna get mobbed for the rest of the school year - and that's if you're lucky - or do you want to make one vid answering the most obvious questions so you can get some peace and quiet?"
"And I'm supposed to think you're not doing this just to bloat your viewcount because...?"
"Who said I wasn't? I fully admit to wanting to bloat my views," she replied shamelessly, "But hey, we can help each other. I get to interview an actual Super and you get to clarify some facts that need changing. I mean given your comment about trees I have to assume that you don't secretly have a crush on Black Cat, but that's not what a lot of other people think."
"Fuck's sake..." She let out a frustrated breath and rubbed her temples. Sasha's suggestions from earlier were sounding more tempting by the minute, "Look, I'll think about, so would you just fuck off?"
"If you want, but I thought you should know." She leaned forward conspiratorially and Lana tempted to fling her beans at her face, "Your reputation is changing, Lana, and not just in the way you think. Last I heard Devin Stoddard says he's planning to ask you out and some of the 'big names' in this place have mentioned-"
"I said fuck off." Gossip? Really? Did Danika really think she gave a crap about that now?
Danika blinked at the sudden rejection before she shrugged, "Sure. You know my email."
Lana sighed down at her half-finished meal and disposed of the tray. Four more classes and she could be out of this place...granted she didn't have much to look forward to once she got outside, but it was still a shitload better than being stuck in here.
A feeling that got much worse once she saw the state of her locker.
She should've known something was up once she saw the crowd gathered around it, but seeing it for herself caused her blood to boil. She clenched her hands into tight fists and resisted the urge to let the rings out. There, spraypainted across the length of her locker in red, was the word 'FREAK'. Judging by the smell it was probably a fresh coat, probably just a couple of minutes back from when she left the lunchroom.
'Calm down, calm down...' She had an inkling on who did it, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of losing it. Taking a deep breath, she opened her locker and pulled out her books, thanking small fortunes that the inside hadn't been vandalized either, 'Just get through the rest of the day, Baumgartner.' The first day was always the worst, right? Just like every time she moved to a new school-
"Trouble, Lana?"
Lana slammed her locker shut with enough force to dent the metal. The crowd was still small - mostly because it was still in the middle of lunchtime - but she saw most of them cringe when the locker door bent and twisted at the impact. Just another reminder that it wasn't just her explosives that were new.
Her head snapped to the source of the voice she was torn between scowling and sighing when she saw Brooke staring down at her while her bitch squad backed her up like it was any other day of school. As fucked up as it was she found the looks relieving; if there was one thing she could at least count on it was that a few people would still look at her like she was street trash, powers or not. It wasn't nice, but it was familiar.
"Guessing you did this." She nudged her head to the words.
"Me? With spraypaint? I thought you knew me better than that." Lana pursed her lips and said nothing. Yeah, she was right there, at least. Brooke was more a 'ruin your social life on headbook' kind of girl than a spray tagger, "Heard about your little show in gym class. Couldn't resist showing off, huh?"
"It was an accident..."
"Right..." Brooke crossed her arms and quirked her lips up in a tight smile, "I'm just saying no one likes a show-off." Lana almost scoffed at that. That was fucking rich coming from the girl who wouldn't stop bragging about whatever little thing mommy and daddy were willing to buy for her on tweeter. She was half-convinced that the only reason she was even in this school was because it meant she was the biggest fish in a tiny-ass pond.
"Sure, whatever you say," she replied, "Look, would you piss off? I'm not in the mood for this today."
"For what? Just trying to help-"
"No, you're trying to start shit and I don't care." That actually caused the blonde teen to recoil back in surprise, "Look, I know we have our thing where you call me a street trash bastard and I call you a trust fund bitch, but I'm really not in the mood for this shit right now."
She was stunned silent at that, and for a second Lana thought that she might've been able to get away with just that before the trust fund bitch (hey, it was the truth) suddenly sneered. Right, she should've seen that coming, "Aww, what's wrong? Think you're better than us because you have a fancy costume?"
"No, I'm just tired of this." She sighed, "Do you honestly think that there's this big thing? That even before I turned into a freak that I stayed up at night worrying what you'd do to me the next day? Cause I didn't, and after this-" She jerked her thumb to the crudely painted words, "-I don't care. Maybe you got someone to do it or maybe you're just taking advantage, but go ahead, spread a rumor about me on Headbook or call me a slut on Tweeter, I'm not gonna stop you. Cause after all the shit I've dealt with you aren't even worth it."
Brooke looked like she wanted to say something to that, but nothing came. Lana let out a wry laugh and left without another word, pushing through the crowd on the way to her next class. It all felt so petty. Who fucking cared if the queen bee of the school had it in for her? After dealing with serial killers and mass murderers she'd fucking welcome people insinuating that she 'spread her legs like her mom'. Least that'd be easy to deal with.
Sadly she didn't make it to class before she heard the announcement.
"Lana Baumgartner to the principal's office. Lana's Baumgartner to the principal's office."
"...Fuck." She stopped and groaned. She knew it'd happen after her little episode at gym class, but she at least hoped that she could get through the rest of the day without getting called to the office again.
Seeing Lily sitting across from Principal Morita gave her mixed feelings. Normally she would've (not literally, but still) jumped for joy at seeing her again, but 'daddy dearest' outing her kinda killed that thought. Lana doubted Lily had anything to do with it, but her being here now after William made it damn clear what he thought about her and her mom made it kinda obvious what the play was.
"Ah, Ms. Hollister, please sit." Lana twitched at the name and balled her hands into shaky fists. It wasn't his fault - he was just doing his job - but she suddenly felt the urge to punch him in the face, "We're here to talk about your new circumstances."
"You mean that I'm a freak?" She scoffed and sat at the seat to Lily's left, arms and legs crossed. This wasn't the first time she'd been to the principal's office, but usually she was brought in for getting into fistfights or shouting matches in the halls. Hell, Principal Morita was usually better company than most of the school so she didn't complain all that much.
"You're not a freak, Lana," Lily said immediately, all kind smiles and soft words. It only made her feel worse.
"Yes, quite." Principal Morita let out a tired breath and wiped his glasses. A usual sign of when he was stressed, "I know that Midtown has a sordid history given Mr. Parkers...incident, but know that your new abilities won't be discriminated against."
"Really? You might wanna check my locker then, cause the word 'FREAK' sprayed all over it kinda feels like discrimination."
"This is...troubling; I'll have someone check on it." She had to give the old bastard credit for never cracking, at least, "Now, I've received a report from your father-"
"He's not my fucking dad." She snarled, completely ignoring Lily's look of shock and hurt.
"Regardless of who he is, he's given the school a basic explanation of your circumstances." He tapped the file at his desk, "Granted there wasn't much. From what I gathered he only recently found out about your new abilities and most of what we know come from scattered news reports, which can't be wholly trusted. I'd appreciate it if you could fill in the gaps in what we have."
"What, trying to decide if you're gonna send me to prison or not?" She knew she shouldn't have been so snippy with him, he was just doing his job, but she could't help it. Being here was a constant reminder of how William screwed her and her mom.
"Unless you attack a student, no. Last I checked was no law with regards to special abilities." Lana rolled her eyes at the stoic reply. She was pretty sure that if she blew the office up he wouldn't give a fuck and just ask her to clean it up, "Now, the first we of course must deal with is whether your abilities are completely in your control. You aren't at risk of discharging prematurely or out of your control?"
"Gonna ignore the sex joke there and just say yeah, I don't 'discharge' without my say so." Lily giggled under her breath and Lana's smirked slightly, "Look, you've seen some stuff on the news and that's really as much as it gets. I can blow things up, I can jump higher, I can take a better beating...that's about it, really. I don't have anything on the big names like Spider-Woman or She-Hulk or anything."
"Be that as it may your circumstances need clarifying. Now, there was something here about..."
The rest of the hour was spent on a Q and A session. To Principal Morita's credit he didn't so much as twitch even when she gave half-assed replies or told him that she didn't know the answer. He said something about possibly having to move her to alternate schedules and classes dependent on what the school board said, but she couldn't muster up enough anger to complain. As far as she was concerned she was lucky enough not get expelled for bringing a metaphorical gun to school.
He gave her the rest of the day off after that. Try to 'acclimate to her new circumstances', he said. Whatever, she wasn't gonna complain.
Lily waited till the school was almost out of sight before she spoke, "So...that's a thing, huh?"
"You mean me being a freak? Yeah..."
"Don't call yourself that." She sighed and reached a hand out to her shoulder before quickly thinking better of it, "... Lana, I know things are kinda messed up right now, but-"
"But nothing, Lily," she interrupted, "I know you love that asshole and I usually wouldn't say anything in front of you, but he went too far this time. Everyone in this city knows who I am now. Doesn't fucking matter where I go, now I'm just William Hollister's pet freak."
"...Sorry."
"It's not your fault." Stuffed her hands into her pockets to block out the rings of light. The last thing she needed was to draw more attention to herself, "I know what that asshole's doing."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean all this. Look, I'm not fucking stupid; the news reports show me working together with Spider-Man and the rest of those psychos, so the police should be arresting me right now and putting me in a deep, dark hole to interrogate me. But they haven't."
"You did help save the city."
"So did Spider-Woman, and they shit on her for three years. And she didn't even kill people like I have..." Lily gave her a pained look and she smiled back bitterly in turn. She stopped having nightmares long ago, but it still scared her somewhat how casually she could discuss it, "People die, sis, it's the way of the world. I just got a headstart."
"Do you even hear yourself? You sound like-"
"Like the perfect attack dog for your dad," she interrupted again, "And that's what he wants me to be. That's why the police aren't arresting me; because he wants someone he can point at the bad guys so he can show that he's a better mayoral candidate than Jameson could ever hope to be. Supers and Freaks are all the rage nowadays so he's banking on the people being stupid enough to fall for it."
"How could you know that?"
"A schizo told me." Anonymous reports and recordings of police officers meeting with police officers and exchanging money were left at her doorstep this morning. Moon Knight didn't say it was from him, but she certainly didn't think any of the other three did it, "William's the only reason I'm not in jail right now and I'm pretty damn sure he sent you over to the office to try and butter me up."
"I came because I wanted to see you."
"They aren't mutually exclusive-"
"Lana, I wanted to ask you to live with me."
Lana stopped and stared at her blankly, brows furrowed. Those ten words should've put her over the moon, but right now all she felt was a rising sense of bile in her gut. How many years had she spent wishing she could see her sister again, and now she had it in the palm of her hands.
"Did he ask you to do that?" she asked softly.
"No, no. I promise." Lily finally mustered up enough will to put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, I'm not gonna deny that dad screwed up with this, but I want to help you. I know dad and if I'm right he's gonna want you to live with him so he can keep an eye on you."
"So instead you're gonna keep an eye on me."
"Better than the alternative, right?" There were times Lana almost forgot that Lily wasn't as naive as she liked people to think she was.
"Tempting, but no. I'd rather not have that bastard know what I'm doing in my off-time." Lana looked up at the cloudy sky and frowned, "...I'll do what he says, stop crime when he says it and put a stupid fucking smile on my face while doing it, but tell him that I'm not gonna let him control my life. He can take it or leave it."
"I'll be sure to tell him, then." Lana hesitated for a moment before quickly pulling her in a tight embrace, "Take care of yourself, sis. I love you."
"Love you too..."
They separated on that awkward note, which left Lana wandering around aimlessly...and by 'wandering around aimlessly' she meant 'dressing up in the costume she stuffed in her backpack cause she was a fucking idiot'. It was stupid of her to do it, but she managed to save at least three people from being mugged, one from being kidnapped and even managed to take down a new asshole in a costume calling himself Bruiser. So all in all it was a good few hours spent.
"God, I need a drink..." She stumbled into a corner store in full costume and grabbed the soda from the fridge along with a bag of chips, completely ignoring (she'd been doing that a lot today) the slack-jawed looks from the cashier and the other customers. One good thing about having her identity outed; it cut down on her changing time.
"You're-"
"Really not in the mood for that song and dance." She dropped the stuff on the counter followed by a ten dollar bill, "Look, just keep the change, alright? This costume doesn't have pockets and I don't need anything else stuffing my bag."
"Uh...sure." The cashier took the money with a shaky hand and put it in the register, "I saw you on the news earlier."
"Yeah, vote William Hollister, whoop de do." She rolled her eyes and took a relieving gulp of the soft drink. She felt like such an asshole telling that to those cops and reporters earlier.
"C-Could I have your autograph?"
"I'm not Spider-Woman, dude. Maybe next time."
And with that she was gone, jumping her way to the roof as quickly as she came. The time on her phone told her that it was about thirty minutes past four am, so she knew where to go. A part of her was tempted to take off her costume and pretend to be normal again, but a passing news report about Bruiser's capture from one of the bigscreens cut that idea off. Costume or no it wouldn't change shit.
She found her mom at the agreed on meeting place (which was thankfully devoid of people). The cab driver raised an eyebrow when he saw her, but besides that he didn't have a single fuck to give. If there was one thing she could find comforting it was that the NYC cabbies never changed.
"Lana...why the hell are you dressed like that?" her mom asked, more amused than anything else. Lana wished she could share the smile, but the sight of the suitcase at her feet made it difficult for her not to break down.
She and her mom agreed to it last night: after that asshole outed her identity it wouldn't be safe for her mom to stay in Hell's Kitchen...hell, she couldn't stay in New York period unless she wanted to look over her shoulder every day. Hell's Kitchen had a population of 90% criminals, thugs and all around douchebags and if there was one thing they hated it was 'one of their own' turning states. New York wouldn't be safe for her now that her daughter was part of the Defenders (stupid fucking name).
That didn't make this any easier, though...
"So...you're really leaving, huh?"
"That's what we said last night." Her smile faded and she sighed, "I know it sucks, kiddo, but we don't have much of a choice."
"Yeah..." She could've said something about always protecting her and keeping her under guard, but she knew that was a load of horseshit. She was just one person and Pete was too busy with his own shit. Maybe when she was 18 and the deal that Captain America offered her was still on the table she could come back, but until now they both knew it was best if they stayed as far away from each other as they could.
"Hey, buck up." She nudged Lana's head up gently and winked, "I promise I'll keep in contact. It'll be like I never left."
"Bullshit..." She laughed, the sound shifting to a cry midway, "...This sucks. I just got you back and now you have to go...where the fuck are you even going, anyway?"
"I dunno, maybe L.A or Wisconsin? I heard they're nice this type of year." Lori looked back at the taxi and and frowned, "...I'm not good for long goodbyes, Lana. Never been much of a good mom either. So just listen: I've seen the things you've done on the news, the people you've helped. I wish I was there for you for those first two months, but you've done good...better than I or anyone else I knew could ever amount to."
"Mom..."
"And I want you to know that I'm so proud of you. You're gonna live through this and we're gonna see each other again."
Lana pulled her mom into a tight embrace and cried into her shoulder. She didn't want to let her go, didn't want to lose her mom again, but she knew it couldn't last. Eventually the two of them separated and Lana watched through bloodshot eyes as the taxi drove down the road away from view.
Which just left her standing in the cold street alone. Lana looked down at the ground, fists shaking, before she let out an enraged scream. It was all William's fault. His fault that everyone knew her face, that her mom had to leave, "Fuck..." She fell on her knees and punched the asphalt, uncaring at the jolt of pain that ran up her arm. It was so tempting go over there and break every bone in his body, but she couldn't. Not with Lily...
More tears stung her eyes and the drops fell to the ground. Anyone who saw her now would've seen how pathetic she really was, but she didn't care. Not after the day she'd had.
Eventually she dried her tears and stood up, ripping her mask off as she did. Screw hero work; she couldn't be sure she wouldn't put someone in the hospital, "...Damn it." She took her phone out of her bag and taped two on the speed dial, "Hey, Pete...I've had a real shit day. Let's meet up..."
Done. Like I said some parts probably came across as overly wangsty, but I gotta pull off that excuse: she's a teenager and they've generally griped out more petty stuff than losing physical contact with their mom and being mobbed at school/being ditched by their friends. Hell, she's lucky that people aren't constantly eyeing her for accidental explosions, but Gwen and the Avengers have done a lot to curb the power hysteria.
Anyway, there was supposed to be a part where Lana met up with Sophia 'Chat' Sanduval and found out she also had a power i.e talking to animals along with having a more extended conversation with Kamal. I couldn't fit it in, so maybe next time if we ever do this kind of chapter again.
Questions:
1. I mentioned Jessica before, so to clarify: whose POV should we use to tackle that next chapter? On one hand we have Gwen, and while it'd be more dramatic I really doubt Jessica would be completely honest with her given that it's her mom that's the subject. On the other we have Gwen or Kate, who have less drama potential but Jessica's less likely to walk on eggshells around. You guys decide.
2. Speaking of Jessica, I'm surprised that people care overmuch about getting a segment for her given that her shacking up with George Stacy wasn't really meant to be a focus point and more a joke. Truth be told I thought people would hate it. So I wonder, would you guys prefer if I use recent events to spring for a break-up between the two to avoid more crack pairs? ...Granted that baby's gonna be a problem, but I've written for worse.
3. Okay, this is a stupid question even by my standards, but I have to ask: do Noir and Lana come across as tsunderes to you guys? ...Yes, I'm really asking cause I keep getting comments from reviewers and even from people I Skype with who read the fic mention that these two fit the archetype, and I rather disagree since being snarky jerks does not equal fitting that anime trope in my view.
This chapter's tone is kinda all over the place and a lot of Lana's issues probably come across as wangsty, similar to maybe Frog-Man. If it does then that's intentional since as a relatively 'normal' teenager she's probably got the least larger than life baggage to her, powers aside. At the very least her life sucks less by comparison to the others.
Anyway, I read up on the latest Miles Morales and I have to say again: Bendis covers are balls. No spoiling anything, but I think it should be obvious by now that his covers have fuck all to do with the actual stories he's printing. On the other hand Lana's getting more spotlight and the story is picking up, so I can't complain too much.
I also checked out the All New Avengers Annual and I have to say, apparently I was accurate: the MU is full of shitty fanfics filled with sexism, bizarre love triangles, and Mary Sue self-inserts romancing the OOC heroes. Kamala's reaction to it all is freaking gold, especially the Ms. Marvel/Spider-Man/Nova love triangle someone (read: Miles) wrote.
Side Note - I found a Spider-Man Noir fanfic in ao3 called 'bleed me dry, I wouldn't mind'. It's kinda NSFW, but the way it shows off Peter, Mary Jane and Felicia's characters is astounding. I recommend everyone give it a read
Chapter 94: First World Problems
School was always a particular hell for most students and Lana was no exception. Sure, she didn't have to deal with sadistic teachers or pedophile gym coaches, but when your mom was a prostitute and everyone knew it the amount of 'your mom' jokes never let up. Most of them fucked off after she kicked the crap out of the biggest assholes, but when you're a poor street kid who's a hair's breath away from being expelled for not being rich or sporty enough punching assholes' teeth in didn't last long.
That wasn't to say it was completely shit. She had her share of friends and apart from one or two really persistent assholes - Brooke Foreman immediately came to mind - it was...tolerable. Sure she wasn't Ms. Popularity, but she wasn't at the bottom of the totem pole either. She was perfectly in the middle and apart from her mom's 'profession' and being friends with some of the more out-there kids she wasn't anything special.
Until now.
Lana tightened her grip on the straps of her backpack and gulped. The front of the school lot was nearly empty, which she could credit to the fact that she'd waited till the absolute last fucking second to show up. She didn't want to be here. Matter of fact she would've preferred her face getting fucked up again by that zombie monstrosity from a few weeks ago. Least that piece of shit was someone she wouldn't feel guilty about splattering to a million pieces.
"Get a fucking grip, Baumgartner..." She took a deep breath and made her way up the steps. So she got outed, so fucking what? She wasn't Spider-Woman or Spinerette or any of those big names with their names plastered on billboards. Who'd fucking care about the girl who could blow up cars with her hands and could go apeshit like Carrie if someone pissed her off? No one had any reason to worry.
...
Right, she didn't do sarcasm well. She'd blame Pete for that somehow later.
It didn't take her long between opening the door and stepping inside from the halls to go from annoyingly loud to stupidly quiet like one of those cliche lifetime horror movies. Lana kept her head raised and kept walking, pointedly ignoring the way people turned to look at her and the whispers they sent her way. All she had to do was make it through the first few days and people would start paying attention more to what one of the Kardashian's did. If there was one thing she could count on in high school it was that attention spans were monkey short for 90% of these assholes.
"Holy shit, it's her."
"You think it's true?"
"Has to be, right?"
"No way. I bet she's just faking like Dave last week."
Lana clenched her hands into shaky fists and kept walking. It would've been a good thing if they thought she was faking, right? That would put 'daddy dearest's' plans to a screeching fucking halt. Sure a bunch of assholes would get on her case for being a wannabe, but what else was new? She could deal with a few words thrown her way. After dealing with that bald psychopath it would be a relief.
She made it in class with enough time to spare. The teacher looked up slightly from his desk when she got into the room, but the look of utter boredom on his face remained and he looked back down at the desk without missing a beat. Good old Mr. Harrington; she could always rely on him to not give a shit about anything, which was probably helped by the fact that he'd been at this job nearing 20 years on now.
She'd barely sat down at her seat before she got an excited tap on her right shoulder, "...What?" She turned to her seatmate and tried her best not to look pissed off when she caught sight of Kamala's excited grin. The former New Jersey girl was one of the two friends she never felt the urge to punch at least once since she'd known her, but something told her that might change soon enough.
"...Yeah?" Maybe if she acted grumpier than usual she'd take the hint.
No such luck, "So is it true?" She whispered excitedly. Well, 'whispered' in the sense that Black Cat's leather bikini was subtle, which was to say not at all, "Are you, you know," She raised her right hand and made a whooshing noise, "Are you the trenchcoat girl? Exploder gal?"
"It's Striker," she shot back before she could stop herself. Kamala's eyes widened and she looked a hair's breath away from squealing before Lana covered her mouth roughly, "Shh! I'm not saying I am her, just that it's her name!" Lana (actually) whispered and looked to the rest of her classmates. All of them were fucking staring at her while Mr. Harrington droned on about reminders without a single crap given that everyone was ignoring him.
She waited a few seconds before she released her hold on the other girl and sunk into her seat with a sigh. Kamala was a Superhero fan...okay, that wasn't fucking rare in this place considering Spider-Woman fought her first 'Supervillain' here, but right now it pissed her off to no end. Back then it was just harmless fun, something to tease her friend over for being such a 'fangirly nerd', but that was before she realized she could blow shit up by pointing at it.
Class passed by agonizingly slow. She tried to pay attention, something about the French revolution and the contributions of some Arno Dorian guy, but she couldn't shake off the fact that her classmates (Kamala included) practically gaped at her the entire time like they were expecting her to suddenly shoot up through the ceiling like fucking Amazingman going off to save the world.
That wasn't the worst part, of course. It was one thing for people to gape, even if it was awkward as shit. No, that was nothing to the fact that at least a few of those same assholes either looked at her like she was wearing a fucking bomb vest or glared at her in something that she recognized as jealousy. She'd never been on the receiving end of it before - being the daughter of a whore tended to do that - and she really didn't like finding out what it was like to be on the other side.
The bell finally ringing was more relieving than she wanted to admit. Lana packed her notes and books and gave Kamala a half-hearted wave before trudging her way to the library. Next subject was free study (translation: don't even bother coming to the class) followed by gym, which meant that she had at least 60 minutes to find a place where people couldn't stare at her. Not a lot of places like that in Mindtown, but she knew at least one.
She turned the hall and stopped when she saw the entrance to the library. It was defaced as always, the poster with Peter's face at the front covered with a green spraypainted lizard while there were permanent marker additions all around the door. 'Monster', 'Supervillain', 'Freak'...back then she didn't think about it. Who cared, right? Just some dead kid who Spider-Woman stomped, it was none of her business.
Knowing what she did now the sight just pissed her off to no end.
Shaking her head, she faced ahead and ignored it. Peter - her first crush, said the annoying voice in her head that sounded a lot like Lily - wasn't the Lizard. He was Spider-Man, damn what the rest of this fucking city thought. It didn't matter that the Parker name was mud here or that even the teachers talked about him like those two assholes from Columbine; he didn't care about it and neither should she.
Lana opened the door leading to the back of the school with a frustrated scowl. Midtown had its fair share of petty criminals and troublemakers - she would know, considering she was friends with a lot of them - but even most of them tended to avoid coming back here. Back here was the 'turf' of the Serpent Skulls, though she knew for a fact that they didn't actually hang out here most of the time. Someone just spread a rumor and it took off, because of course it fucking did. People believed anything nowadays.
She was proven right when she found the place to be completely abandoned save for one. Lana recognized her immediately: Sasha Martin, one of the resident 'trouble children' (translation: just as bad but without a good name or money to get out of it) of Midtown High. There were a shitload of rumors about her, but Lana paid them no mind. If she believed everything someone said then half this school would be Superheroes in disguise.
The two of them shared a silent look before the other girl went back to smoking her cigarette. Lana let out a soft breath and sat on the steps, pointedly ignoring the constant vibrations of her phone inside the bag. Her mom made it clear that she wouldn't call until later tonight and Pete was the same. That meant it was either one of her friends or Lily, and as tempting as it was to talk to them she didn't want to deal with all that now.
No, instead she was hiding out at the back of the school like one of those Goddamned feelgood movie characters...
30 minutes of silence passed - Sasha going through at least three cigarettes while Lana caught up on her backlog of homework - before the so-called master criminal finally spoke up, "Any of that stuff actually true?" she said, Lana looking up to meet her curious eyes with a raised eyebrow, "That stuff with you being a super bomber."
"Would it matter if it did?" she muttered, a irritation seeping into her voice. She could understand people being scared - she'd be pretty freaked out if someone came to school waving around a belt full of grenades - but it wasn't that...well, not for most of them, at least. Thanks to Spider-Woman and the rest of her amazing friends suddenly having powers was like winning the lottery or getting a viral video out on the youwebs; everyone who was fine with ignoring you yesterday suddenly looked at you like you were the new member of the Kardashians.
"Just wondering why you're still here if it is." Sasha shrugged, staring her down coolly.
"Fuck are you talking about?"
"This place." She waved the cigarette around lazily and Lana coughed at the smell of nicotine in the air. A part of her was still tempted to smoke, and going cold turkey hadn't helped at all. She could blame Pete's girlfriend for putting his foot down on that front.
"What about it?" Lana snorted. This was gonna be good.
"Why haven't you taken it down yet?" Sasha's lips quirked up in a light grin while Lana gave her flat look, "No one here can stop you from tearing it all down, so why don't you?"
"Uh...because I'm not a dick?"
"Hey, don't look at me like that. Don't tell me you actually like this shithole."
"There's a difference between 'I don't like this place' and 'let's tear it all down'." Lana rolled her eyes. Okay, maybe the rumors about her weren't all wrong. Still, she shouldn't have been surprised. Practically every teenager raged against the world while sitting on their ass doing nothing; she'd done it herself more times than she wanted to admit.
"Hey, all I'm saying is that if I could blow things up by looking at them I'd have a much shorter list," she shot back, wiping the ashes away from her red tanktop and punk pants. Lana didn't know why she bothered; she still stunk of nicotine, "Just think about it, you could do whatever you want! Anybody pisses you off what are they gonna do? "
"Call the cops, who'll probably shoot you in the face?" Lana scoffed. This was less irritating than dealing with a staring crowd, but was it too much to ask for an hour of no one ragging on her? "Either that or the Superheroes come in and suddenly you're looking at life in supermax." And that was if it was one of Captain America's cheer squad. She knew for a fact that Punisher or Bullseye would just kill you and be done with it.
"Eh, it'd be worth it." She shrugged again, "If I had your powers this place would go down...then maybe Disney World. Always hated that shithole."
"Guess we're lucky you didn't get it then," Lana clicked her tongue and stuffed her notebook back in her backpack. Perfect, the day wasn't even half over and someone was already encouraging her to go full on school shooter.
"Parker had the right idea about this place, at least." Lana scowled, which the other girl ignored. It took a lot of effort on her part to not punch her right in that grinning face of hers "I mean, why are you even going out to do the Superhero thing? Can't imagine there's a lot of cash in it unless you join the president's goon squad. What'd they call em, Avengers?
Lana stood up and left without another word. Talking to Sasha was pissing her off and that was the last thing she needed right now, '...Why are you doing it?' She held onto her backpack tightly and weaved through the halls. Honestly she hadn't thought about it all that much. In the beginning it was because she wanted to make that sick fuck pay and the next it was because Pete got his ass caught like a fucking Disney princess.
After that...well, who fucking knew? She never wanted to be a Superhero when she was younger, never dreamed about being famous or all that shit. All she wanted was to make money so her mom would stop spreading her damn legs to put her through high school, but she sure as hell wasn't getting paid to beat up gangbangers and assholes like she did. Hell, it would've been easy to take their cash while they were out. What were they gonna do, call the cops?
The annoying, traitorous part of her mind was there again, 'It's because of him.' She grit her teeth and trudged her way into the locker room, once again completely ignoring the way most of her classmates stared at her. It wasn't like Pete told her to use her powers like that - he made it clear he didn't give a shit what she did as long as she didn't hurt anyone innocent - but watching him leave almost every night and coming back smelling like blood and sweat while the papers smeared him...it was hard to do nothing.
She stuffed her bag into her locker and pulled out her PE uniform, changing into it almost mindlessly. She hated this, hated that even now she still thought about him like the pining schoolgirl she really didn't want to be. Anyone else in her position would've considered it crazy: going after her mom's sloppy seconds? Yeah, that didn't scream desperate or fucked up or anything...
A part of her knew that she should've cared more about that little tidbit, but honestly she didn't. Her mom fucked him, so what? It was part of her (really regrettable) job. She knew enough from books and movies that sleeping together was supposed to be special and romantic and all that bullshit, but she couldn't see it. In Hell's Kitchen fuckbuddies were more common than boyfriend, so as far as she saw it there was nothing there for her to care too much about. it wasn't like they were kissing or holding hands while making plans for the future or anything...
Still, even if she had didn't give much of a shit about sex - growing up the way she did tended to do that - common sense told her that she should've picked someone more...not insane. Or at the very least someone she wouldn't have to compete with freaking Spider-Woman for.
She lined up with the rest of her classmates and listened to Coach Wilson blather on instructions like he was shouting through a damned megaphone. She liked the guy well enough, but he had a really annoying habit of treating the students like they were recruits at boot camp or something. She swore that it was only the principal looking over his shoulder that kept him from calling them maggots.
"Alright, you know the drill! Stretching first, then jogging and then you climb the rope!"
The rest of the class groaned and muttered curses to themselves as they got into position. Lana kept her mouth shut and followed the teacher's instructions before joining the rest with running circles around the gym. She used to dread PE before - mostly cause by the time it was over all of them smelled like walking gym socks - but now it felt almost relaxing.
She liked to think she'd just gotten better at exerting herself, but she knew it was because of her new add-ons. She had the 'physical aptitude of an athletic adult woman', according to the schizo; something about her body 'augmenting itself in order to avoid negative feedback from her powers'. All she knew was that it meant she could probably beat Black Cat in a fistifght if it came down to it, which was just fine with her.
The jogging lasted for about 20 minutes before they were forced to sit on the bleachers and watch one of Captain America's PSA's. Lana sat at one of the corner seats and rolled her eyes as she started rattling off about the 'Captain America Fitness Challenge'. She always found it hilarious how someone with super soldier serum talked about gym class like it actually meant anything, and getting powers of her own did little to diminish that.
The video lasted for 5 minutes before they were ushered one by one to the rope. Lana wiped her sweaty hands on her gym shorts and glared up at the lawsuit waiting to happen. Powers or not climbing wasn't her forte, and coach had an annoying habit of making the rope way higher than what was considered healthy. It was still a mystery to her how the parents hadn't sued the school just yet.
A few of her classmates reached the top, most of them didn't, and all of them suffered ropeburn. Lana watched the line grow shorter and eventually it was her turn, her classmates staring at her back; and not in the way most kids were looked at when they started climbing the noose. Were they expecting her to blow up the damn thing? It wasn't like Ross Lynch sung every problem away or something.
Climbing the rope was easier than before, though the sweat sticking to her palms and her classmates staring at her like hawks made it harder than it should have been. It didn't take her long to reach the top and she tried to reach out and ring the bell. Just this and she could make it to lunch.
The next few seconds would stick in her memory for a long time to come. Her hand barely brushed against the bell before she suddenly found herself falling. She could've blamed it on losing her grip because of the sweat, or maybe the fact that one of the 'pranksters' decided to spitball her to try and get a few laughs, but either way it didn't change the end result - her falling to the unforgiving gym floor about to get a facefull of maple wood.
Or at least she would have, if she hadn't dampened her fall.
Her right hand stuck out and she let out a quick blast of energy right before she made impact. The resulting boom was more muffled than her usual stuff, but it was practically deafening in the confines of the wide gym. A ring of light surrounded her briefly before it quickly dissipated, leaving her crouched on the floor without the expected sprain and trip to the nurse's office.
"Holy shit," someone in the crowd said.
Looking back on it taking taking the fall would've been just the thing she needed to have people stop staring at her - who ever heard of a Superhero eating it in gym class? Sure it'd be painful, but what was a sprained ankle and a few more people jeering at her? But no, instead like a fucking idiot she panicked and moved on instinct. Lana looked up and and grimaced when she found her classmates gaping at her with even the teacher giving her a wide-eyed look.
"...Fuck."
Class ended on the rather worrying note of coach saying he had to go talk to the principal. Lana shuffled along with the rest of her female classmates back to the locker room feeling worse off than when the day started. Before there was at least room for doubt, but now? Now she could kiss all that goodbye. By the time the day was done everyone on the fucking block would know who she was.
God damn it she hated William...
She managed to put on the checkered blouse and skinny cargo pants before someone finally spoke up, "Do you know Spider-Woman?" Her head snapped to the side and she was met with the (way too) excited eyes of Jenny Carson.
"...Nope." She finished putting on the pants and her flats.
"No, you totally do! I saw the vid of you working with her and Hawkeye on the youwebs!" Huh...guess Frog-Boy didn't count for anything. She almost felt sorry for him...almost.
"If you already knew then why'd you ask?" Lana rolled her eyes and closed her locker once she finished spraying herself with perfume. Anybody else might have taken advantage of the situation, but she knew how this worked. She was a passing trend, the new thing they could gawk and point at before they eventually got bored of her. She wasn't going to make an ass of herself (well, more than she already did...) just so they could bring it up later on when she was old news.
"I mean that proves it, right? You're the trenchcoat girl?" someone else 'asked'.
"It's Striker..." She was already in the hole, so why not dig herself deeper?
"You helped protect the city with the rest of the Defenders!Oh my God, this is so cool!" Lana recoiled at the excited squeals and cheers that came from around her. Before she knew it she was surrounded a throng of her classmates, each of them trying to speak over the other. How well did she know Spider-Woman? Were Spider-Man and Punisher really a couple? Did she know any other Avengers? And so on and so forth.
It took her 10 minutes to get out of there and by the end of it she felt like she'd been mashed into a sardine can, "Fuck's sake..." She held her backpack closer to her like a safety blanket and tried to fix her mussed up hair. She really shouldn't have gone to school, but her mom made her promise not to skip and Lana refused to let that bastard she had for a 'dad' win.
By the time she made it to lunch she already saw some of her other classmates circulating what happened in gym class. Thankfully there was no sudden silence when she arrived this time, though the stares remained. Lana did her best to (what else?) ignore them and lined up for the daily cafeteria slop, paying no attention to the people in front of her offering to let her go ahead of them. She refused to get a big head about this.
She spotted her usual group with a quick glance over and smiled slightly. The day was shit, sure, but she could at least count on the next 60 minutes to be halfway tolerable.
Or not. As soon as she sat down the entire table turned to look at her before they picked up their trays and left without another word, some faster than others. Lana's face shifted to a scowl and she grabbed Poey before he could completely bail, "Hey, dude, what the fuck?" She hissed. Was she suddenly a fucking leper? "What's with the reject treatment?"
The bastard at least had the decency to look bad before he replied, "Sorry, B, but we don't exactly, uh, feel comfortable sitting with you now that you're one of them big time heroes."
"I'm not a-"
"We heard what happened at the gym," he interrupted, "...Look, I think you're cool, but how's it look? You know me and the rest of the gang are into some shit and we don't want you calling down the rest of those crazy assholes down on us."
"I wouldn't do that! You know me!" So what if they slung a few bags and tagged some walls here and there? Pete didn't care about that stuff and she could give a fuck what the rest of their merry little group thought, "Come on, Poey, don't be an asshole. I've had a real shit day and I could use a friend..." This was pathetic. Here she was practically begging her friend to stay one...some fucking hero.
The look of regret came and went before he shook his head, "Sorry, B, can't risk it...take care of yourself."
And just like that she was alone. Lana's hands shook and she shoveled food into her mouth to keep herself from sniffling. So her friends thought she was some kind of snitch and didn't trust her anymore...sure, why the fuck not? It fit everything else that's happened so far.
She was tempted to go for another table, but she didn't like the way everyone else looked at her and the two who didn't - Gabriel Reyes and Michelle Jones - weren't exactly friends either, so there she stayed. This day sucked, and she had three more days left in the week before the weekend hit. Maybe it'd get better when she started sharing lunch period with Chat and Kamala again, but somehow she had her doubts.
The uncomfortable isolation lasted for about half an hour before someone sat across from her. Lana looked up and frowned when she saw Danika Hart's 'prize-winning' smile, "Fuck off, Hart. I'm not in the mood." Danika Hart...nothing much to say about her except that she was the biggest Cape Chaser in the entire school; and that was saying something considering how obsessed this place could be.
"Bad mood?" she asked in what she must've thought as being casual.
"No, I'm great. Just fucking perfect." Lana curled her lips up in a smile, the gesture all teeth and bite, "I just love the fact that everyone's looking at me like I'm wearing a mask and that my friends ditched me. Everything's going fucking great."
"Sarcasm...why are heroes nowadays so sarcastic?"
"You tell me, you're the expert on them." She looked back down at her beans and stirred them irately, "Before you ask, I don't know who Spider-Woman is and I don't have her fucking phone number, so just piss off and go back to stalking her fake tweeter pages."
"Ech, touchy." She clicked her tongue and leaned forward, her smile never wavering despite Lana's insults, "Actually, that's not what I'm interested in."
"Yeah? Then what?"
"You."
"You're barking up the wrong tree, Hart." Lana snorted.
"Aww, and here I had a candlelit dinner planned and everything." Danika flipped her purple dyed hair and sighed exaggeratedly, "Being serious, though, you know I make cape vids." Yeah and most of the school watched it, especially its '#1 fan' Gayle Watson. Lana was surprised the other brunette wasn't following Danika like a lost puppy right now. Something about her sister going missing or something.
"I do know that, so what?"
"Gimme an interview." It wasn't a question. Lana raised an eyebrow and almost stood up before the older teen quickly continued, "Look, people are wondering about you and they're never gonna stop asking. D'you wanna get mobbed for the rest of the school year - and that's if you're lucky - or do you want to make one vid answering the most obvious questions so you can get some peace and quiet?"
"And I'm supposed to think you're not doing this just to bloat your viewcount because...?"
"Who said I wasn't? I fully admit to wanting to bloat my views," she replied shamelessly, "But hey, we can help each other. I get to interview an actual Super and you get to clarify some facts that need changing. I mean given your comment about trees I have to assume that you don't secretly have a crush on Black Cat, but that's not what a lot of other people think."
"Fuck's sake..." She let out a frustrated breath and rubbed her temples. Sasha's suggestions from earlier were sounding more tempting by the minute, "Look, I'll think about, so would you just fuck off?"
"If you want, but I thought you should know." She leaned forward conspiratorially and Lana tempted to fling her beans at her face, "Your reputation is changing, Lana, and not just in the way you think. Last I heard Devin Stoddard says he's planning to ask you out and some of the 'big names' in this place have mentioned-"
"I said fuck off." Gossip? Really? Did Danika really think she gave a crap about that now?
Danika blinked at the sudden rejection before she shrugged, "Sure. You know my email."
Lana sighed down at her half-finished meal and disposed of the tray. Four more classes and she could be out of this place...granted she didn't have much to look forward to once she got outside, but it was still a shitload better than being stuck in here.
A feeling that got much worse once she saw the state of her locker.
She should've known something was up once she saw the crowd gathered around it, but seeing it for herself caused her blood to boil. She clenched her hands into tight fists and resisted the urge to let the rings out. There, spraypainted across the length of her locker in red, was the word 'FREAK'. Judging by the smell it was probably a fresh coat, probably just a couple of minutes back from when she left the lunchroom.
'Calm down, calm down...' She had an inkling on who did it, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of losing it. Taking a deep breath, she opened her locker and pulled out her books, thanking small fortunes that the inside hadn't been vandalized either, 'Just get through the rest of the day, Baumgartner.' The first day was always the worst, right? Just like every time she moved to a new school-
"Trouble, Lana?"
Lana slammed her locker shut with enough force to dent the metal. The crowd was still small - mostly because it was still in the middle of lunchtime - but she saw most of them cringe when the locker door bent and twisted at the impact. Just another reminder that it wasn't just her explosives that were new.
Her head snapped to the source of the voice she was torn between scowling and sighing when she saw Brooke staring down at her while her bitch squad backed her up like it was any other day of school. As fucked up as it was she found the looks relieving; if there was one thing she could at least count on it was that a few people would still look at her like she was street trash, powers or not. It wasn't nice, but it was familiar.
"Guessing you did this." She nudged her head to the words.
"Me? With spraypaint? I thought you knew me better than that." Lana pursed her lips and said nothing. Yeah, she was right there, at least. Brooke was more a 'ruin your social life on headbook' kind of girl than a spray tagger, "Heard about your little show in gym class. Couldn't resist showing off, huh?"
"It was an accident..."
"Right..." Brooke crossed her arms and quirked her lips up in a tight smile, "I'm just saying no one likes a show-off." Lana almost scoffed at that. That was fucking rich coming from the girl who wouldn't stop bragging about whatever little thing mommy and daddy were willing to buy for her on tweeter. She was half-convinced that the only reason she was even in this school was because it meant she was the biggest fish in a tiny-ass pond.
"Sure, whatever you say," she replied, "Look, would you piss off? I'm not in the mood for this today."
"For what? Just trying to help-"
"No, you're trying to start shit and I don't care." That actually caused the blonde teen to recoil back in surprise, "Look, I know we have our thing where you call me a street trash bastard and I call you a trust fund bitch, but I'm really not in the mood for this shit right now."
She was stunned silent at that, and for a second Lana thought that she might've been able to get away with just that before the trust fund bitch (hey, it was the truth) suddenly sneered. Right, she should've seen that coming, "Aww, what's wrong? Think you're better than us because you have a fancy costume?"
"No, I'm just tired of this." She sighed, "Do you honestly think that there's this big thing? That even before I turned into a freak that I stayed up at night worrying what you'd do to me the next day? Cause I didn't, and after this-" She jerked her thumb to the crudely painted words, "-I don't care. Maybe you got someone to do it or maybe you're just taking advantage, but go ahead, spread a rumor about me on Headbook or call me a slut on Tweeter, I'm not gonna stop you. Cause after all the shit I've dealt with you aren't even worth it."
Brooke looked like she wanted to say something to that, but nothing came. Lana let out a wry laugh and left without another word, pushing through the crowd on the way to her next class. It all felt so petty. Who fucking cared if the queen bee of the school had it in for her? After dealing with serial killers and mass murderers she'd fucking welcome people insinuating that she 'spread her legs like her mom'. Least that'd be easy to deal with.
Sadly she didn't make it to class before she heard the announcement.
"Lana Baumgartner to the principal's office. Lana's Baumgartner to the principal's office."
"...Fuck." She stopped and groaned. She knew it'd happen after her little episode at gym class, but she at least hoped that she could get through the rest of the day without getting called to the office again.
Seeing Lily sitting across from Principal Morita gave her mixed feelings. Normally she would've (not literally, but still) jumped for joy at seeing her again, but 'daddy dearest' outing her kinda killed that thought. Lana doubted Lily had anything to do with it, but her being here now after William made it damn clear what he thought about her and her mom made it kinda obvious what the play was.
"Ah, Ms. Hollister, please sit." Lana twitched at the name and balled her hands into shaky fists. It wasn't his fault - he was just doing his job - but she suddenly felt the urge to punch him in the face, "We're here to talk about your new circumstances."
"You mean that I'm a freak?" She scoffed and sat at the seat to Lily's left, arms and legs crossed. This wasn't the first time she'd been to the principal's office, but usually she was brought in for getting into fistfights or shouting matches in the halls. Hell, Principal Morita was usually better company than most of the school so she didn't complain all that much.
"You're not a freak, Lana," Lily said immediately, all kind smiles and soft words. It only made her feel worse.
"Yes, quite." Principal Morita let out a tired breath and wiped his glasses. A usual sign of when he was stressed, "I know that Midtown has a sordid history given Mr. Parkers...incident, but know that your new abilities won't be discriminated against."
"Really? You might wanna check my locker then, cause the word 'FREAK' sprayed all over it kinda feels like discrimination."
"This is...troubling; I'll have someone check on it." She had to give the old bastard credit for never cracking, at least, "Now, I've received a report from your father-"
"He's not my fucking dad." She snarled, completely ignoring Lily's look of shock and hurt.
"Regardless of who he is, he's given the school a basic explanation of your circumstances." He tapped the file at his desk, "Granted there wasn't much. From what I gathered he only recently found out about your new abilities and most of what we know come from scattered news reports, which can't be wholly trusted. I'd appreciate it if you could fill in the gaps in what we have."
"What, trying to decide if you're gonna send me to prison or not?" She knew she shouldn't have been so snippy with him, he was just doing his job, but she could't help it. Being here was a constant reminder of how William screwed her and her mom.
"Unless you attack a student, no. Last I checked was no law with regards to special abilities." Lana rolled her eyes at the stoic reply. She was pretty sure that if she blew the office up he wouldn't give a fuck and just ask her to clean it up, "Now, the first we of course must deal with is whether your abilities are completely in your control. You aren't at risk of discharging prematurely or out of your control?"
"Gonna ignore the sex joke there and just say yeah, I don't 'discharge' without my say so." Lily giggled under her breath and Lana's smirked slightly, "Look, you've seen some stuff on the news and that's really as much as it gets. I can blow things up, I can jump higher, I can take a better beating...that's about it, really. I don't have anything on the big names like Spider-Woman or She-Hulk or anything."
"Be that as it may your circumstances need clarifying. Now, there was something here about..."
The rest of the hour was spent on a Q and A session. To Principal Morita's credit he didn't so much as twitch even when she gave half-assed replies or told him that she didn't know the answer. He said something about possibly having to move her to alternate schedules and classes dependent on what the school board said, but she couldn't muster up enough anger to complain. As far as she was concerned she was lucky enough not get expelled for bringing a metaphorical gun to school.
He gave her the rest of the day off after that. Try to 'acclimate to her new circumstances', he said. Whatever, she wasn't gonna complain.
Lily waited till the school was almost out of sight before she spoke, "So...that's a thing, huh?"
"You mean me being a freak? Yeah..."
"Don't call yourself that." She sighed and reached a hand out to her shoulder before quickly thinking better of it, "... Lana, I know things are kinda messed up right now, but-"
"But nothing, Lily," she interrupted, "I know you love that asshole and I usually wouldn't say anything in front of you, but he went too far this time. Everyone in this city knows who I am now. Doesn't fucking matter where I go, now I'm just William Hollister's pet freak."
"...Sorry."
"It's not your fault." Stuffed her hands into her pockets to block out the rings of light. The last thing she needed was to draw more attention to herself, "I know what that asshole's doing."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean all this. Look, I'm not fucking stupid; the news reports show me working together with Spider-Man and the rest of those psychos, so the police should be arresting me right now and putting me in a deep, dark hole to interrogate me. But they haven't."
"You did help save the city."
"So did Spider-Woman, and they shit on her for three years. And she didn't even kill people like I have..." Lily gave her a pained look and she smiled back bitterly in turn. She stopped having nightmares long ago, but it still scared her somewhat how casually she could discuss it, "People die, sis, it's the way of the world. I just got a headstart."
"Do you even hear yourself? You sound like-"
"Like the perfect attack dog for your dad," she interrupted again, "And that's what he wants me to be. That's why the police aren't arresting me; because he wants someone he can point at the bad guys so he can show that he's a better mayoral candidate than Jameson could ever hope to be. Supers and Freaks are all the rage nowadays so he's banking on the people being stupid enough to fall for it."
"How could you know that?"
"A schizo told me." Anonymous reports and recordings of police officers meeting with police officers and exchanging money were left at her doorstep this morning. Moon Knight didn't say it was from him, but she certainly didn't think any of the other three did it, "William's the only reason I'm not in jail right now and I'm pretty damn sure he sent you over to the office to try and butter me up."
"I came because I wanted to see you."
"They aren't mutually exclusive-"
"Lana, I wanted to ask you to live with me."
Lana stopped and stared at her blankly, brows furrowed. Those ten words should've put her over the moon, but right now all she felt was a rising sense of bile in her gut. How many years had she spent wishing she could see her sister again, and now she had it in the palm of her hands.
"Did he ask you to do that?" she asked softly.
"No, no. I promise." Lily finally mustered up enough will to put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, I'm not gonna deny that dad screwed up with this, but I want to help you. I know dad and if I'm right he's gonna want you to live with him so he can keep an eye on you."
"So instead you're gonna keep an eye on me."
"Better than the alternative, right?" There were times Lana almost forgot that Lily wasn't as naive as she liked people to think she was.
"Tempting, but no. I'd rather not have that bastard know what I'm doing in my off-time." Lana looked up at the cloudy sky and frowned, "...I'll do what he says, stop crime when he says it and put a stupid fucking smile on my face while doing it, but tell him that I'm not gonna let him control my life. He can take it or leave it."
"I'll be sure to tell him, then." Lana hesitated for a moment before quickly pulling her in a tight embrace, "Take care of yourself, sis. I love you."
"Love you too..."
They separated on that awkward note, which left Lana wandering around aimlessly...and by 'wandering around aimlessly' she meant 'dressing up in the costume she stuffed in her backpack cause she was a fucking idiot'. It was stupid of her to do it, but she managed to save at least three people from being mugged, one from being kidnapped and even managed to take down a new asshole in a costume calling himself Bruiser. So all in all it was a good few hours spent.
"God, I need a drink..." She stumbled into a corner store in full costume and grabbed the soda from the fridge along with a bag of chips, completely ignoring (she'd been doing that a lot today) the slack-jawed looks from the cashier and the other customers. One good thing about having her identity outed; it cut down on her changing time.
"You're-"
"Really not in the mood for that song and dance." She dropped the stuff on the counter followed by a ten dollar bill, "Look, just keep the change, alright? This costume doesn't have pockets and I don't need anything else stuffing my bag."
"Uh...sure." The cashier took the money with a shaky hand and put it in the register, "I saw you on the news earlier."
"Yeah, vote William Hollister, whoop de do." She rolled her eyes and took a relieving gulp of the soft drink. She felt like such an asshole telling that to those cops and reporters earlier.
"C-Could I have your autograph?"
"I'm not Spider-Woman, dude. Maybe next time."
And with that she was gone, jumping her way to the roof as quickly as she came. The time on her phone told her that it was about thirty minutes past four am, so she knew where to go. A part of her was tempted to take off her costume and pretend to be normal again, but a passing news report about Bruiser's capture from one of the bigscreens cut that idea off. Costume or no it wouldn't change shit.
She found her mom at the agreed on meeting place (which was thankfully devoid of people). The cab driver raised an eyebrow when he saw her, but besides that he didn't have a single fuck to give. If there was one thing she could find comforting it was that the NYC cabbies never changed.
"Lana...why the hell are you dressed like that?" her mom asked, more amused than anything else. Lana wished she could share the smile, but the sight of the suitcase at her feet made it difficult for her not to break down.
She and her mom agreed to it last night: after that asshole outed her identity it wouldn't be safe for her mom to stay in Hell's Kitchen...hell, she couldn't stay in New York period unless she wanted to look over her shoulder every day. Hell's Kitchen had a population of 90% criminals, thugs and all around douchebags and if there was one thing they hated it was 'one of their own' turning states. New York wouldn't be safe for her now that her daughter was part of the Defenders (stupid fucking name).
That didn't make this any easier, though...
"So...you're really leaving, huh?"
"That's what we said last night." Her smile faded and she sighed, "I know it sucks, kiddo, but we don't have much of a choice."
"Yeah..." She could've said something about always protecting her and keeping her under guard, but she knew that was a load of horseshit. She was just one person and Pete was too busy with his own shit. Maybe when she was 18 and the deal that Captain America offered her was still on the table she could come back, but until now they both knew it was best if they stayed as far away from each other as they could.
"Hey, buck up." She nudged Lana's head up gently and winked, "I promise I'll keep in contact. It'll be like I never left."
"Bullshit..." She laughed, the sound shifting to a cry midway, "...This sucks. I just got you back and now you have to go...where the fuck are you even going, anyway?"
"I dunno, maybe L.A or Wisconsin? I heard they're nice this type of year." Lori looked back at the taxi and and frowned, "...I'm not good for long goodbyes, Lana. Never been much of a good mom either. So just listen: I've seen the things you've done on the news, the people you've helped. I wish I was there for you for those first two months, but you've done good...better than I or anyone else I knew could ever amount to."
"Mom..."
"And I want you to know that I'm so proud of you. You're gonna live through this and we're gonna see each other again."
Lana pulled her mom into a tight embrace and cried into her shoulder. She didn't want to let her go, didn't want to lose her mom again, but she knew it couldn't last. Eventually the two of them separated and Lana watched through bloodshot eyes as the taxi drove down the road away from view.
Which just left her standing in the cold street alone. Lana looked down at the ground, fists shaking, before she let out an enraged scream. It was all William's fault. His fault that everyone knew her face, that her mom had to leave, "Fuck..." She fell on her knees and punched the asphalt, uncaring at the jolt of pain that ran up her arm. It was so tempting go over there and break every bone in his body, but she couldn't. Not with Lily...
More tears stung her eyes and the drops fell to the ground. Anyone who saw her now would've seen how pathetic she really was, but she didn't care. Not after the day she'd had.
Eventually she dried her tears and stood up, ripping her mask off as she did. Screw hero work; she couldn't be sure she wouldn't put someone in the hospital, "...Damn it." She took her phone out of her bag and taped two on the speed dial, "Hey, Pete...I've had a real shit day. Let's meet up..."
Done. Like I said some parts probably came across as overly wangsty, but I gotta pull off that excuse: she's a teenager and they've generally griped out more petty stuff than losing physical contact with their mom and being mobbed at school/being ditched by their friends. Hell, she's lucky that people aren't constantly eyeing her for accidental explosions, but Gwen and the Avengers have done a lot to curb the power hysteria.
Anyway, there was supposed to be a part where Lana met up with Sophia 'Chat' Sanduval and found out she also had a power i.e talking to animals along with having a more extended conversation with Kamal. I couldn't fit it in, so maybe next time if we ever do this kind of chapter again.
Questions:
1. I mentioned Jessica before, so to clarify: whose POV should we use to tackle that next chapter? On one hand we have Gwen, and while it'd be more dramatic I really doubt Jessica would be completely honest with her given that it's her mom that's the subject. On the other we have Gwen or Kate, who have less drama potential but Jessica's less likely to walk on eggshells around. You guys decide.
2. Speaking of Jessica, I'm surprised that people care overmuch about getting a segment for her given that her shacking up with George Stacy wasn't really meant to be a focus point and more a joke. Truth be told I thought people would hate it. So I wonder, would you guys prefer if I use recent events to spring for a break-up between the two to avoid more crack pairs? ...Granted that baby's gonna be a problem, but I've written for worse.
3. Okay, this is a stupid question even by my standards, but I have to ask: do Noir and Lana come across as tsunderes to you guys? ...Yes, I'm really asking cause I keep getting comments from reviewers and even from people I Skype with who read the fic mention that these two fit the archetype, and I rather disagree since being snarky jerks does not equal fitting that anime trope in my view.
Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
I'm picturing TV Jessica, because that's what I know. I get the impression she'd be weak to people who are pre-emptively kind. Refilling her glass before she knows it's empty. Getting her aptment rewalled while she's out, unlaces her boots when she collapses in the armchair. It would make her flustered and unprepared for his love plan
I'm picturing TV Jessica, because that's what I know. I get the impression she'd be weak to people who are pre-emptively kind. Refilling her glass before she knows it's empty. Getting her aptment rewalled while she's out, unlaces her boots when she collapses in the armchair. It would make her flustered and unprepared for his love plan
George didn't have a love plan
As Jessica indicates they slept together and going by her wording and personality it's much more likely that she instigated it rather than George. Anyway, that still leaves me wondering if a break-up is in-character for the two of them, especially since Gwen is torn between her new casual step-mom and her old mom coming back wanting to pick up where they left off..
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
Sorry about not responding for some reason I was unable to access SV for days
Nice to see so many recognizable faces in the school...Gabriel Reyes name popping up made chuckle, and Lana needs a hug.
1 - I miss Gwen, so I wanted to see her POV, but Jessica POV is so rare...I will compromise I want to see Jessica POV!
2 - ...Well I was a shipper of those two Jessica and George, so I am cheering for George to tell his old wife that he is now in love with Jessica...so much drama.
3 - So I was not crazy!? It wasn't only me!?/jk like I said before I understand why you don't see Peter and Lana as tsunderes you have told me several times your reason, but in many fandoms just being an asshole with certain peoples and becoming softer after some time with them is enough to give the characteristic of 'tsundere' to a character, even if they are pushing a bit too hard.
Peter relationship with Gwen, Lana and the Parker family shows his less assholish side and there was progression Peter was a VERY/BIG Asshole with them in the past, but now he measures his words with them and do his best to treat them better, if you want a comparisson look how Peter treat the people I used as examples and how he treat the defenders a very big difference...poor Bullseye wants to be friend, but he is a psychopath and Peter finds difficult to hang around with him kkkkkkkkkkkk
Nice to see so many recognizable faces in the school...Gabriel Reyes name popping up made chuckle, and Lana needs a hug.
1 - I miss Gwen, so I wanted to see her POV, but Jessica POV is so rare...I will compromise I want to see Jessica POV!
2 - ...Well I was a shipper of those two Jessica and George, so I am cheering for George to tell his old wife that he is now in love with Jessica...so much drama.
3 - So I was not crazy!? It wasn't only me!?/jk like I said before I understand why you don't see Peter and Lana as tsunderes you have told me several times your reason, but in many fandoms just being an asshole with certain peoples and becoming softer after some time with them is enough to give the characteristic of 'tsundere' to a character, even if they are pushing a bit too hard.
Peter relationship with Gwen, Lana and the Parker family shows his less assholish side and there was progression Peter was a VERY/BIG Asshole with them in the past, but now he measures his words with them and do his best to treat them better, if you want a comparisson look how Peter treat the people I used as examples and how he treat the defenders a very big difference...poor Bullseye wants to be friend, but he is a psychopath and Peter finds difficult to hang around with him kkkkkkkkkkkk
1. I don't want to put in Jessica's POV since I wanted an outside reaction to her reactions and mannerisms.
2. I mean would he explicitly reject his old wife for her? He and Helen were married for at least 10 years and they had some good times, so rejecting her for another seems rather odd in this context.
3. Yeah, but again how is that tsundere? Punisher's an asshole to everyone and slightly more agreeable to Noir out of gratitude, so does that mean he counts as a tsundere? Likewise those character archetypes are usually categorized as being assholes to the people they like, but Lana and Peter are perfectly pleasant to the people they like once character development hits whereas tsunderes tend to act hot and cold regardless. Transitioning from dislike to like is also not a tsundere action and more of a character development one, provided its consistent and doesn't ping pong around.
TL;DR - I don't count either as the archetype simply because they tend to be consistent, being pleasant and friendly to people they do like and the opposite to people they don't. Despite her jerkiness Lana is perfectly friendly towards Peter and a few others who earn her trust, for example.
Chapter 95 - Poor Choices
Next plot chapter, so more drama with MJ and more angst with Gwen dealing with her family drama.
Anyway, at the suggestion of a friend I decided to list down the cut arcs: Morbius (Gwen and Wasp focus), Jackal (Gwen focus on a college setting), Kraven (Noir and Punisher focus), Tombstone (Noir and Norah focus), Hellfire Club (male Defenders focus), Weapon X (Spider-Man and Shadowcat focus) and an entire city-wide gang war arc (Defenders and Avengers 'cooperation' focus). There was also the Mysterio arc (Gwen and Kate focus), but that got relegated to off-screen during Sin Eater.
Other changes include Dr. Banner no longer playing a role (when I made it a point for Peter to know who he was during Sin Eater) and a mini-arc in France for Noir and Felicia about dealing with her remaining family. Your call on whether cutting these arcs was a good idea, but at least the story's more focused now
Oh, and I got another RL reader to read the fic and he made some comments. While he mentioned liking the story well-enough, he said that the antagonist placement didn't make much sense to him - specifically that Murdock seems more like Gwen's baddie given their canon history and being the Kinpgin analogue while 65-Cindy makes more sense as Noir's baddie due to the years of torture and the way both he and Cindy suffered from her experimentation.
I dunno, what do you guys think? I'll admit I've had my doubts on how Peter and Matt have interacted in the fic what with them constantly dancing around each other and Matt's sudden swerve of interest from Gwen to Noir without much explanation. Vids like this definitely don't help.
Side Note - I generally refer to 65-Noir as 'Noir' and the original as 'Spider-Man'. It's a minor thing, but people tend to use 'Noir' interchangeably between the two and it can get confusing at times.
Chapter 95: Poor Choices
The first thing Peter did when Teresa opened the door was punch her in the face.
Mary Jane's mouth parted in a shocked gape as the older woman stumbled back from the force of the blow, feet tripping slightly before she quickly righted herself, "Huh..." Despite the hit and her now-broken shades Teresa still managed to smile, though it only seemed to enrage Peter more given way his glare worsened. "...Well, that's one way to say hi." Her head raised and Mary Jane finally saw the clear irises previously kept hidden.
Definitely blind, then.
"I trusted you..." Peter hissed, looking Teresa square in the eyes, "I had my doubts, but I thought that you'd look out for her. Should've trusted my gut instead."
"Tiger-"
"I guess you know what I did, hm?" Teresa's smile twitched by the barest amount and she sighed softly. Mary Jane suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of guilt at telling Peter everything that happened the past couple of nights, "I know it all seems terrible now, but in the end-"
"'In the end'? I'm tired of your fortune telling, 'sis'." Peter's voice dripped with barely concealed venom at the word, "We aren't pawns in a game you can toy with, no matter what your damn visions tell you. We aren't your playthings."
"I'm not toying with anyone, Peter." She stuffed the glasses into the pockets of her coat and crossed her arms, her gaze steely, "I'm sorry. I'll apologize as much as you want, but it won't change anything. Mary Jane has been bonded to that symbiote and pretty soon even the suppressants will fail to keep her in check. You can pretend that she'll never lose control, but it's inevitable."
"Inevitable..." Mary Jane looked down and bit her lip, heartbeat rising to a quick tempo. The idea of turning into that monster sickened her to her stomach, it did, but a small, disgusting part of her almost looked forward to it. To be able to jump across rooftops, to be able to do what she wanted without anyone being able to tell her no. Besides Gwen and She-Hulk who could stop her?
Peter's voice cut through her sickening haze, "And how does that translate to you making her kill in that cemetery?"
"Would you have preferred I let Gwen lose what remained of Klyntar?" Teresa shot back, "You aren't the only one who has to make hard choices, Peter."
"Like you said, I made a choice. No one tricked me into killing anyone." Peter scowled and turned away from her, "You could've called me or Cindy or anyone else, but instead you dragged Mary into this...cesspit."
"She's already knee-deep in it, Peter. Has been ever since she went down that alley that night." Mary Jane's brows furrowed. She didn't tell her about how she got bonded to that monster and she doubted that Peter did given how he talked about her, "She needs to learn how to live with the symbiote before her time runs out. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but you can't deny what's right in front of you."
"So what, you did this to help her?" he asked incredulously, "Tricking her into putting her life at risk, to giving in to that monster save Gwen...that was all for her?"
"I nearly killed my dad..." Mary Jane mumbled, voice so weak she wondered if either of them even heard it, "I would've done it if his neighbor hadn't-"
"That wasn't his neighbor. I sent Anya there to give a bit of a jolt." Mary Jane's eyes widened and while Peter's scowl only grew worse, "I knew that would happen, but I also knew that you had enough self-control not to give in before you could cross any metaphorical lines." She paused slightly before she continued, "Though I will admit I've seen visions where Philip Watson died by your hands. It was still an easy sacrifice to make; no one missed him in the end and life moved on."
"That's..." Mary Jane shivered and hugged herself tightly. The way she talked...it was so detached, like it wasn't her life that she was talking about but rather a show with a script, "You can't just..."
"Stop dragging her into your games." Peter snarled, and Mary Jane could've sworn she saw a hint of yellow in his eyes before it quickly disappeared, "That's all that matters to you, doesn't it? The ending. It doesn't matter how much people suffer or lose or have to sacrifice as long as the end satisfies whatever damned vision you see."
"Necessary evils, Peter; I'd hoped you of all people would understand that." She pursed her lips, "I knew what she'd do and I knew that the trauma would be temporary. It's worth it if the good outweighs the bad, isn't it?"
"And that monster forcing her to try and rape me...was that part of the plan?"
Mary Jane knew he hadn't meant to, but the blunt words were like a punch to the gut. That was it was: rape, assault, violation...there were a dozen other words she could have used but the end was the same either way. The only thing that gave her comfort was the fact that he didn't blame her. As far as he was concerned she was much a victim of all this as he was - it was that monster's fault that they were both almost violated, not hers.
Teresa tried to hide it, but her mouth parted slightly and Mary Jane saw the way her hands clenched, "I...admit that's news to me. I'm still getting used to having such a glaring blindspot in my visions." She looked down at the ground and let out a soft breath, "Did she-"
"I managed put that monster down under before anything got too far, but I'm surprised you even cared enough to ask. Just another necessary sacrifice, right? Damn what happens." Peter's mouth curled in a sneer, "You don't know as much as you think, 'sis'."
"Perhaps not...I'll take that into consideration for next time-"
"Next time? You honestly think that I'll trust you again after what you did?" He shook his head, "Bullseye was right about you. Stay away from me and Mary, cause right now I trust you about as much as Murdock."
"Peter, you're being short-sighted."
She reached a gloved hand out, but he smacked it away as soon as it got close enough. Mary Jane winced at the audible sound, "Funny, coming from a so-called blind woman. I meant what I said: you come near either of us again and I'm shooting. This is your only warning."
"Peter, you can't fight the Hand without my help-"
Whatever plea or argument she might've had was cut off when Peter suddenly turned around and walked down the length of the hall towards the stairway leading down. Mary Jane gave Teresa one last look before she quickly followed after him. There was that inexplicable sense of guilt again. Why should she care so much? Teresa tricked her into going to that cemetery. She could go fuck herself...right?
Mary Jane shivered at the light drizzle of rain and buried herself deeper into the folds of her ratty jacket before quickly running to catch up to Peter's retreating back. She had no idea where they were going, and really she didn't care. Anything was better than getting caught up in her own thoughts again and focusing on how she could've avoided being in this mess if she just stayed at Norah's apartment or didn't go down that damn alleyway.
The silence lasted for another couple of minutes before Peter suddenly spoke up, "Hungry?"
"What?" She blinked. That was random.
"Are you hungry? There should be a place around here we can get some grub."
"Yeah...starving, actually." It was probably because of that monstrosity. Peter warned her that 'the kid' gave Gwen a bigger appetite than she already had and she shouldn't have been different. Mary Jane could practically hear Betty making a joke about being pregnant before she quickly shut it down; pregnancy was the last thing she wanted to think about after the absolute hell these last few days were.
They ended up passing Fazbear's pizzeria (the animatronics always creeped the fuck out of her) and the MgRonald's burger place before they eventually settled on the Dollar Dog. The place was normally bustling with hipsters and wannabe activists, but now it was abandoned save for Mr. Albie at the register and a couple of 'janitors' who were too busy typing something on their phones to even pick up the mop.
Mr. Albie grunted when the two of them arrived at the counter, "Welcome to Dollar Dog, where every dog is worth the dollar," he grumbled, "May I recommend our new Kiwi dog? Made from organically grown ingredients, so it's healthy and affordable." His face practically screamed 'kill me now'; probably had something to do with him having to sell out to the 'damned youngsters' to avoid growing bankrupt.
"Just give us one of everything on the menu." Peter dropped a handful of hundred dollar bills on the counter, "I get the feeling we're gonna need it."
"Whatever you say." Mr. Albie's stuffed the bills into the register and raised an eyebrow slightly when he met her gaze, "Hey, ain't you one of that blonde girl's friends? What's her name, Glenn Spacey?"
"Gwen Stacy," she corrected automatically, "She used to work for you, if you remember."
"Bah, I get a lot of people moving in and out. Wasn't like she worked too much; always late and making excuses, that one." Yeah, cause she was saving the damned city from Supervillains. Mary Jane bit her tongue; last thing she needed was to fuck things up even more, "Anyway, a couple of your friends were here earlier looking for you. Said you were missing or something."
"Um...who were they?" Mary Jane asked nervously while Peter gave her a sideways look.
"One of em wore glasses and had a cat wrapped around her head, I remember that, at least" Mary Jane cringed. That was definitely Betty, and if she had to guess then the other one was either Gayle or Glory. It wasn't too surprising - she'd been out of contact for at least a few days now - but it worried her all the same, "Anyway, they said they were thinking of putting posters up here, but I didn't let em. This ain't a police station."
"Yeah, that's a good sign...I mean, we just had a fight, I'm not missing. They're making something out of nothing." The lie was poor, but judging by the bored grunt she got in response he either believed it or just didn't care. Could've been either knowing him.
The news that her friends were out looking for her was bittersweet. It was touching to know that they cared, but what would she do if they actually found her? She was a monster now, someone who'd killed people...
15 minutes later she and Peter were sitting across one another and digging into veritable mountain of food piled on the table...well, she dug in; Peter seemed fine with nibbling on the one corndog like he was a damn mouse. She had to admit it was relaxing, at least somewhat, to just gorge herself like a teen that went through a bad breakup. Maybe those films were onto something.
She didn't know how much time passed, but when the pile was nearly empty she stopped and allowed herself to smile. Across from her Peter nursed a cup of burnt, steaming coffee and looked down at the dark drink without saying a word. A part of her was tempted to reach out and touch him, to make sure that he was alright, but she held back. After what happened not even a couple of hours ago she really doubted that was what either of them needed.
Instead she threw the assorted wrappers and containers into the trash on her way to the bathroom and turned on the sink as soon as she was inside, "God..." She cupped the flowing water and splashed her face. It was hard to believe that it'd only been a few days, that just last week the only thing she had to worry about was which of the numerous managers and offers the band had to take for the start of their big break.
Now she had a murdering parasite inside her...
She stared at her reflection in the mirror and leaned forward. A part of her almost expected something to jump out her like Jekyll and Hyde, but the only thing that looked back at her was her own face, droplets of water dripping down over the freckles on her pale skin, "I'm losing it..." She let out a tired breath and gripped the sides of the sink roughly. She still remembered the feeling of blood on her hands, the way the tips of her fingers turned into claws.
It should've been disgusting, so why did a part of her think about what she could do with all that? Her dad was just a scumbag, not someone who deserved to die, but trash like those rapists in that alley or the people who tried to kidnap Gwen...no one would miss them, right? 'No, no, no.' She shook her head roughly and splashed more water at her face. If she did do anything she'd leave them to the police, be just like that murde- like Gwen.
She tried to put on a strong face when she sat across from Peter again, but it only took a second of their eyes meeting for him to frown, "Something wrong?" It wasn't a question, not really. Mary Jane bit her lip and tried to stop her hands from shaking to no avail, "...You don't have to put on a tough front, Mary. These past few days have been hell for all of us."
"Yeah..." She sniffled and closed her eyes just before the first wave of tears hit. At this point she thought that she would've run out of tears to give, but even now she barely managed to dry her tears with one hand while Peter held onto the other. Mr. Albie and the two janitors stared at them briefly, but they quickly stopped caring and went back to what they were doing. They probably thought it was just a bad break-up or something.
Mary Jane cried until the tears finally ran dry and her throat grew hoarse. Peter didn't say anything, and she didn't want him to; the fact that he was even willing to touch her after what happened was enough.
"This is fucked up..." She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes puffy and red, "Things were looking up, Tiger. We had gigs planned, Gwen was finally balancing her time and then..." Then she and Glory got into an argument and she made the biggest mistake of her life, "God...I was supposed to go with mom and Gayle to San Fransokyo next week, but now I'm not even sure I can see them again."
"You will. I promise." He squeezed her hand tighter and leaned forward, a small smile on his face. It was strained, but she still appreciated the effort, "I don't care what happens. We're going to make it through this, Mary."
"Tiger..."
She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his in a kiss. He didn't pull away and she didn't deepen the kiss. Both of them knew it for what it was: a gesture of desperation, something she did in the heat of the moment when her emotions were running high and she need someone - anyone - to comfort her. It lasted for only a few more seconds before she pulled back, her gaze never leaving his. She found the uncompromising stare to be comforting in a way.
"...Sorry."
"It happens." Their hands finally separated and he refilled his cup of coffee, "We still need to know what to do about-"
His head suddenly raised higher and he turned to look outside. Mary Jane followed his lead and cringed when the door was kicked in by a couple of goons wearing green jackets topped off with jack-o-lantern masks, the smiles and eyes poorly and unevenly cut.
More 'costumed villains'. She knew why: ever since the Avengers were announced there'd been a rise of people putting costumes to trying to 'redefine the meaning of the everyday hero'. Of course that also meant that a lot of thugs, up-and-comers and general lowlives thought that they needed a costume to 'catch up'; or at least that's what the news outlets she'd read up on claimed. Considering how much BS it spread about Gwen and Peter she couldn't fully trust it.
"Alright, listen up! We're from the Jack-o-Lantern gang and you all know the drill!" One of them ran towards the register and waved a pistol in front of Mr. Albie's face, "Open the register, old man!"
"God, again with you fucking freaks!" Mr. Albie groused, seemingly uncaring about the gun aimed at his head. By contrast the janitors threw their phones down and kept their hands up. She didn't blame them; she was tempted to do the same thing.
"I said open the register, you old fuck!"
MJ turned back to Peter in a panic and found him...doing nothing. He took tentative sips of his coffee and kept his posture hunched in what she guessed was meant to be a non-threatening gesture, "Uh...Tiger?" she whispered, "Aren't you going to do something?"
"It's a robbery. Less risk if we just stay put."
She was about to argue before the other robber finally noticed their presence and stomped up to them, "Both of you, wallets on the table!" he spat, his voice needlessly loud.
Peter rolled his eyes discreetly and set the cup down, "Already spent all my money, pal." To prove his point he opened his wallet and dumped out what little change (a few cents) he had, "You're welcome to it if you want."
"Smartass." He took the coins anyway and turned to her now. Mary Jane grimaced at the way his eyes went from threatening to pleasantly (ugh) surprised when he saw her face, "Well now..." He played with the knife in his hands and leaned forward, mouth open in a grin that showed of all his teeth through the mouthole, "Didn't expect to see someone like you here."
"I-"
"You'll leave her alone if you know what's good for you." Peter said. There was a dangerous edge to his voice and she couldn't tell if he was threatening the thug or trying to warn him, "She's got something you don't want to mess with."
"Oh yeah?" He turned back to Peter with a cocky grin, "Well, so do we. You heard about that massacre at Times Square?" Peter's grip on the cup tightened and his expression hardened, "That's gonna be chump change when our boss makes his next plan! So you don't wanna fuck with us-"
Mary Jane had to admit the next few seconds scared her. Before the son of a bitch could finish his boast Peter threw the coffee straight at his face, the scalding hot liquid crashing through the mask's mouth and eyeholes and making him scream. Before he could so much as stumble back Peter slammed him on the table hard enough to knock him unconscious and grabbed his knife, throwing it at the other goon's hand when he turned to the source of the noise.
The knife went through the thug's right hand and made him drop his gun with an ear-splitting scream. The thug looked down at his hand, wide-eyed, before Peter was on him just as quick as his friend, smashing his head against the counter with a painful crack before he grabbed the fallen gun and pressed it against the underside of his jaw.
"Wh-What the fu-"
"How do you know Jack-o-Lantern?" At the thug's whimper Peter pressed the gun harder, "3 seconds before I blow your brains out. 1...2-"
"N-Nothing, we don't know nothing!" he cried out desperately, "We know a gang around here uses his name so we thought we could cash in and join if we got their attention! That's all we were doing, I swear!"
"Where do they stay?"
"I-I dunno, man! I dunno!"
Peter swore and under his breath and smacked the side of the thug's head with the butt of the gun to knock him out, "Useless..." He dropped him to the floor and unloaded the gun before putting it on the counter in front of a stunned Mr. Albie, "Call an ambulance and the police if you want, I doubt they'll be waking up for a while."
"Yeah...sure."
He turned back to Mary Jane and gestured outside. Soon enough they were once again walking side-by-side, sneakers and boots stamping against the rain-soaked roads, "...Are you okay?" she asked softly. It still shocked her somewhat: she'd seen him on TV and read the news reports, but seeing him go from calm and collected to...well, she wouldn't say angry, but definitely not peaceful. It was jarring, to say the least.
"Just another mistake I thought I'd never have to run into again..." he muttered, looking down at the street with a light glare, "...Sorry you had to see that."
"I've seen worse." Mary Jane licked her lips nervously. There was no reason for her to think that the 'show' - the violence, the screams and the brushes with death - was hot, but she couldn't deny that a part of her definitely did. It scared her more than she wanted to admit that it was probably one of the least fucked up things she thought about this past week, "...How do you do that?"
"Hm?"
"Go from being totally calm to..." Almost murderously violent without turning into a frothing maniac. The only reference she had was her dad, and he was anything but calm and collected when he got into one of his moods, "You go from one or the other so quickly...if you know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah...I dunno, Mary, I just do." He shrugged, "Why?"
"...What if your sister's right? What if this thing's getting stronger and the suppressants can't control it much longer?" She looked down at her right hand and clenched it into a tight fist, "Maybe...Maybe I should train- to try and control it, I mean."
"You want to use it?" He gave her a skeptical look.
"I want this thing to go die in a fire, but I doubt that's happening any time soon." She sighed, "It's not about want, Tiger. I can't have what happened tonight happen again. I barely held back this time...I'm not sure I'll be as lucky the next time I lose control." It wouldn't just be her dad next time. What if she'd attacked Teresa's friend? Or the actual neighbors that came to investigate the noise? She wouldn't be able to live with herself.
"...Alright." He scratched at his head and grimaced, "I'll see what I can do, okay?"
"Thanks..."
The rest of the short walk was spent in silence and by the time they got back to the apartment she felt like collapsing onto the bed. Peter stopped when they neared the dining table and looked at the fancy envelope lying next to the katana (that was new...) with a glare, "...So much for moving tonight." He sighed and opened the envelope, eyes scanning through the letter quickly.
"What's that?"
"Dinner invitation." Mary Jane couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Before she could say anything else he threw the letter into the nearby trash bin and let out a frustrated breath, "No point in moving now. Murdock'll know no matter where we are."
"Murdock? Wait, I heard about that guy from Gwen. Isn't he the Kingpin?"
"He's far worse than that." The resignation in his voice caused a shiver to run down her spine. That definitely didn't sound good, "...Get some sleep, Mary. I'll deal with this soon enough."
"If you want I could-"
"No." She shrunk back slightly at the sudden, intense stare before he quickly looked away, "I...look, I appreciate it, but you're dealing with enough as it is. I don't want to drag you into my problems."
"Says the guy who's gone out of his way to get involved in mine." He didn't answer. In the end she bit her tongue and trudged back to his room, cuffing her hands and legs with the vibranium cuffs before forcing her eyes closed.
She dreamed about killing her dad over and over again, and each time she did a little bit of the guilt disappeared.
"Well...this figures."
Gwen pulled her hood tighter against her head and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She expected the cemetery to be a clusterfuck, but the sight of the police cars, detectives and patrolmen milling around were a painful reminder of just how fucked up the last night was. She didn't really believe Cindy's claim of just finding her on the street; even without Peter's stupid good spider-sense she could tell something was up there.
Her first instinct was to leave and come back when the heat died down before she quickly remembered that, oh yeah, she was an Avenger now and that came with the added bonus of being allowed into police investigations...within reason. Cap told her that the charter was still undergoing changes, but she'd made it clear that she was allowed to intervene in situations that 'violated national and international law'.
She was pretty sure a terrorist leader who experimented on people counted for that.
It only took a quick duck into the alley for the costume to cover her again and she smiled. Was it bad that she felt more at home wearing the costume than she did anything else? Maybe she should visit the psychiatrist Cindy was seeing at the facility.
She swung back to the scene and and talked her way through one of the cops after she verified her Avengers Priority Identicard - specially made by Tony Stark to serve as authorization, identification, clearance, miniature computer and videophone with the added bonus of a 10% discount to all Starkbuck outlets.
"Thanks. Sorry about the hold up, just had to make sure, you know?" The officer jotted something down at his notepad as she put the card back in her 'pocket', "You'll be surprised how often criminals try to sneak in wearing costumes."
"Thanks, officer."
Most of the police officers (thankfully) paid her no mind, which left her free to retrace her steps back to where she was attacked. It was at least a day since what happened so she wasn't expecting much in the way of clues, but it was better to double check just in case.
The place wasn't as crowded as she thought it'd be, but seeing Karen Page (that was her name, right?) talking with DeWolff and Kate definitely wasn't what she expected, 'Probably explains why the officer Leary back there let me through so easily.' Kate turned to meet her gaze and beckoned her forward to join them with a lazy smirk. Only she could smile at a graveyard.
"Evening, ladies, why wasn't I invited to the party?" she said by way of greeting. Technically she knew all of them both as Gwen Stacy and Spider-Woman, but DeWolff wasn't in on the secret identity thing (even if she was grateful for that first olive branch those months back) and Gwen was still leery of just how much the prosecutor knew. Murderdock really soured her on mysterious lawyers.
"I sent you a message on your Identicard." Kate replied. Huh, that definitely explained the beeping then.
"I do have a phone, Hawkeye."
"Phones aren't secure, Spidey."
"Okay, as fun as it is to watch you two flirt, can we please get back on topic?" DeWolff cut in, "Karen, you were mentioning something about...robots?" The skeptical tone made it obvious that she found it absurd. Funny, Gwen would've thought that a cop who once moonlighted as a vigilante would have a higher tolerance for BS than robots.
"Not just robots, Jean - LMDs." Kate's eyes narrowed while DeWolff's expression shifted from skepticism to confusion, "Look, it'll take days to explain it all, but LMDs are basically robotic doubles. Useful for making a target or bait without having to put someone's life actually at risk."
"What, so you're saying they're like Eradicators? Are we gonna have to worry about groundweb sending them to the past to stop the rebellion?" DeWolff shot back sarcastically.
"LMDs only have basic AI at best when they're not remote controlle, detective; so no time travel last I checked," Kate replied before quickly turning her attention to Page, "I'm still confused on how a prosecutor knows all that, though. Last I checked S.H.I.E.L.D kept mum about that kind of stuff."
"Not as much as you think, Hawkeye." The smile the prosecutor gave her caused Gwen to wince. There was something just a bit too familiar about it for her liking, "Don't worry, I have clearance; you can ask Agent Hill herself if you don't believe me."
"Don't worry, I believe you. I don't think anyone's stupid enough to use her for an argument unless they were damn sure or they had a deathwish." Kate laughed softly, "That still doesn't explain what an LMD was doing here last night, though, especially with the amount of damage and casualties inflicted."
"Alright, I gotta cut in here," Gwen said. She was starting to feel out of place, "Look, I got attacked here last night by...uh." Was it alright to use Cindy's name? She never actually asked her about how her identity worked.
"Cindy Moon, leader of the terrorist organization S.I.L.K.," Page finished, which just made Gwen more leery. The amount of things she knew were beyond creepy, "That was the LMD in question, incidentally. All of the other men killed were wearing uniforms indicating membership in the organization, with the exception of the one we identified as Mary Walker, better known by her alias 'Typhoid Mary'.
'The one Peter killed and Murderdock brought back...' Undeniable proof that even besides the ninjas there was just something wrong with that prick.
"All of them dead, by the way." DeWolff sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Prints led nowhere for any of them, and both the men and the Supervillain had no families...this Moon came prepared, at least. No blowback."
"They're...dead?" Gwen asked numbly. Did she...no, Webster was dead; there was no way she did it after she got knocked it...right?
"According to the gravekeeper he saw a 'bladed monstrosity' cut through the men to save you, but considering how drunk he was I'm not sure how much we can trust that," DeWolff muttered back, "Either way the wounds inflicted on the men were severe and the the evidence we gathered showed no bullets or weapons around the area. I gotta assume we're either dealing with a Meta or an expert; probably both, knowing our damn luck."
So it was either she'd lost control or she had a killer guardian angel on her side. She couldn't be too ungrateful - whoever they were they did save her life - but the thought of a 'bladed monstrosity' running around the city definitely didn't bring back good memories.
"That's why you called in the big guns, detective," Kate said, which was quickly followed by a wink and a smirk.
"I didn't call anyone, she did." DeWolff sighed again and pointed to Page, "Speaking of, I get why you called Hawkeye over, but why me? I doubt I have some keen police insight to share that you can't get from the other officers."
"I needed someone who could be a bit more...flexible." Page smiled, "You already have a history of caring more about the spirit of the law than the letter. Isn't that right, Ms. Phantom?"
A heavy silence settled over the group. DeWolff's eyes widened and her hands shook, though she managed to keep her gaze steady. Gwen looked between the two warily while Kate stared on. Eventually DeWolff spoke, her voice soft, "...How do you-"
"Like I said before, I have my sources," Page replied coolly, "I don't plan to blackmail or threaten you over it, if that's what you're worried about, detective. Similar to Spider-Man and a few others there's a definite advantage to knowing when to follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter."
"I only did that once, Karen." DeWolff grit out.
"Then do it one more time for me, as a favor if nothing else." Page handed her an address on a piece of paper, "Check this location out, discreetly, before telling the rest of the department about it. If my hunch is right it could provide a lead to the source of these LMDs and we both know that your boss is corrupt, so I'd suggest getting proof before he can get his hands on it."
"I could-"
"No, Spider-Woman," Page cut her off, "I don't doubt your strength, but your sense of subtlety isn't something I'd stake a lot on." Wow...rude, "And I'd rather keep whoever is creating the decoys from being too paranoid. You and Hawkeye are Avengers; if he or she even catches a hint of you snooping around their holdings then it'll cause more of a panic than a singular vigilante. I'll contact Hawkeye on a lead in the next few days, but until then keep a low profile."
"I'm not a vigilante..." Despite her words DeWolff stuffed the paper into her coat pocket, face locked in a grimace, "Fine, I'll get back to you when I finish."
And just like that they went their separate ways, DeWolff going back to her patrol car while Page walked off, umbrella twirling in that self-satisfied way that gave Gwen a sinking feeling. Gwen and Kate gave each other a quick look before they both walked back to the entrance, "So...that was a thing," Kate said, stretching her arms above her head lazily, "I knew Ms. Page was more than just a prosecutor, but I didn't think she had S.H.I.E.L.D level clearance."
"Yeah..." There was definitely something off about her.
"So..." Kate said, dragging the word out in a way that made it obvious Gwen wasn't gonna like what she said next, "I hate to pry - no, really, I do - but did something happen between you guys and Ms. Jones? She went back to the office and she's been...I dunno, off?"
Gwen's breath stopped and she almost stumbled in her shock. After everything that happened she'd completely forgotten about how Jess was dealing with all this, "Shit..." Kate gave her a worried look, "Fuck...I almost forgot." Gwen pressed both hands against her eyes and groaned. She was an idiot, "Okay, look, I gotta check up on her, alright? Just make sure to call me if you find anything new."
"You want me to come with?"
"I...no, I need to talk to her on my own."
Before she knew it she was in the air again swinging to Jess' apartment, hoping beyond anything that for once she wouldn't get interrupted by a cry for help or another rampaging Supervillain. Thankfully for once luck was on her side and she made it to the apartment building without incident. She quickly changed back to her civvies in a nearby alley before running up the stairs in a full sprint.
The sight of Matt Murderdock stepping out of Jess' apartment caused her to freeze in her tracks. The smug bastard closed the door behind him with a slight flourish and walked towards her, mouth raised in a predatory smile, "Ah, Ms. Stacy. Here to visit Ms. Jones, I assume?"
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she snarled. It took all she had not to punch him in the face; even if she couldn't arrest him the thought of it was definitely tempting.
"I just wanted to hire Ms. Jones to investigate something for me, but she refused; though I don't know why. Maybe she has something against lawyers?" He twirled the cane in his hands and laughed under his breath, "Perhaps I'll have Mr. Parker do it. His rates are expensive, but the results speak for themselves."
A bubbling rise of anger shot through her and before she could stop herself she growled and slammed him against the wall, her wrist pressing against his neck hard enough to choke, "Stay away from him!" She was vaguely aware of the dark veins that spread up her neck, but she didn't care. The bastard's smug smirk didn't help at all, "I'm warning you, Murdock!"
"Yes, I got that. The overprotective girlfriend act's a cliche, but I suppose I can't fault you for the classics," he replied nonchalantly.
"If you don't stay away from him I'll-"
"You'll what?" His voice was mocking, challenging her to do something right then and there, "Kill me? Oh, no...you had more than enough chances for that, Ms. Stacy. You talk big, but there's a reason Mr. Castle and Ms. Hardy share a dislike of you." Without warning he suddenly smacked the flat of his right palm against her gut hard enough to make her stumble back and fall on one knee, "You had your chance to join me, and you squandered it. I can only hope your significant other isn't stupid enough to do the same."
"He'll never join you..." She glared up at him.
"Really? If you know anything about him, then you know he won't have a choice. Not if he cares as much as I think he does."
And with that he was off, walking down the hallway without a care and humming a song to himself. Gwen glared at his retreating back and stumbled into a stand. It was so tempting to chase after him, but last she checked beating up a scumbag with no proof was still a criminal act, even if she was damn sure that his list of crimes could make laps around the block twice.
And she still had to talk to Jess.
Gwen rubbed her gut gingerly and walked down the hall to the door leading to Alias Investigations. One 'bright side' was that the overwhelming nervousness she felt before was now replaced with a dull sense of anger. Seeing Murderdock always made her day worse.
The door wasn't locked and when Gwen stepped inside she was torn on exactly how to feel. On the one hand Jessica wasn't crying her eyes out or passed out drunk (and Gwen hated that she could even imagine that Jess would put the baby at risk like that), but on the other the sight of her hunched over her desk with a boatload of casefiles wasn't much better. It should've been normal, just another day at work...
Except the past couple of nights weren't normal. At all.
Jessica looked up to meet her gaze and Gwen frowned at the sight of the deep bags under her eyes. She didn't know everything about Jessica's powers, but she knew for a fact that it took a lot longer than one all-nighter for her to start showing signs of the dreaded raccoon eyes.
"...Gwen?" Jessica rubbed her eyes tiredly and stood up, jostling the messy stack of papers on the table as she did, "...Didn't expect to see you here."
"Yeah..." Gwen stepped closer to the couch and winced at the messy piles of Styrofoam coffee cups and take-out food. Considering it'd only been about a day since they saw her last the amount of stuff piled up really wasn't a good sign, "It's...been a rough day, huh?"
"You could say that." She let out a tired breath, "I've been running all over town since last night, trying to play catch-up on all the cases that have piled up." She grabbed a few of the cups and stuffed them down the overflowing trash can, "You know how it is."
"Yeah, I guess." Gwen swallowed nervously and considered her next words. Jess was trying to act normal, but there was something about her that was definitely, "Hey, Jess, are you...okay?"
Gwen cringed as soon as the words were out of her mouth. That was terrible. Jessica gave her a blank look for a few seconds before she nodded, "Yeah...why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you know...about last night." The older woman sucked in a sudden breath and Gwen cringed again. This going bad, "Um...well, how do I say it?"
"'My mom came back from the dead', would be a good start." She was trying to be sarcastic, but Gwen could tell how forced it was clear as day. She had enough experience from being on the other side to know that it never helped, "...Why are you here, Gwen?"
"I...I wanted to see if you were alright." Gwen bit her lip. This wasn't going how she thought it would. Granted she didn't expect it to be easy, but the stifling atmosphere was enough to make her want to turn tail and run, "After last night..."
"It hasn't been great," Jessica conceded. The P.I took a seat on the couch and sighed into her palms, "...Look, I have no idea what's going on, but I've seen enough bullshit to know what's real and what's not. That's your real mom, memories and all. Not like Parker." Gwen shut her eyes tight at the blunt reminder, "You should worry about yourself and George more than me."
"Jess..." Gwen hesitated briefly before she sat next to her on the couch. The two of them weren't as close as Jess was to her dad, but Gwen still liked to think that they knew each other well enough that they could talk about...she didn't want to call it a problem, but it definitely felt like it, "You know you can talk to me, right?"
"If you say so." Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something she couldn't make out. Right now she really wished she had Peter's enhanced senses; he was practically psychic with that thing, "...How's your mom?"
"She's, um...doing good. Trying to catch up to everything." And trying to understand how a radioactive spider could give her daughter superpowers while a magical(?) one could bring 'little Peter' back from the dead. It was a slow process, "Jess...have you talked to dad at all since last night?"
"He tried to call me this morning, but I was too busy trailing someone. Forgot to call him back." Right...that was a load of BS if she ever saw it, and she didn't need a magic spider-sense to know that. She had no doubt that her dad would try to call - that was how he was - but it was pretty damn unlikely she 'forgot' that by accident.
Gwen was tempted to call her out, but she bit her tongue. Being blunt here wouldn't do anything, "So...doing a case?" she said instead.
"Yeah, girl with a stalker. Nothing unusual." Jess rubbed at her eyes again and frowned, "It's been a bit difficult, going back to solo work with Kate and your dad being busy, but I'm getting used to it again. Have to be, right?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean this-" She gestured to her stomach, "-extra passenger that I'm going to have to take care of in a few months. If I can't handle a few cases solo then I'm definitely not going to be able to raise a kid by myself."
It only took Gwen a few seconds to realize the implications of her words. The teen's eyes widened and her hands shook, "What are you..." She knew what she wanted to say, but the words remained lodged in her throat, "You...You plan to raise it alone?"
"Well...not completely alone - Trish and Kate'll help when they can - but...yeah. Pretty much." Jessica refused to meet her eyes.
"...Why?"
"Do you really have to ask?" Jessica snapped back, her voice turning harsher and cold, "It's over, Gwen...I knew something would fuck up at some point, but I didn't think it'd be so soon."
"Stop talking like that!" It took all she had not to grab the older woman and shake her like a madman, "Jess...my dad-"
"I'm not going to make George pick, Gwen." Jessica's expression turned bitter, "I don't...he's a good man, one of the best I know, and I can't put him through any of that bullshit. Not after this."
"Jess..."
"This is the easiest way, because I don't want him to have to choose between me and the woman he buried." Her next words were softer, "You both can still visit if you want, but I don't want you to think either of you have to."
Before Gwen could say anything else Jessica pressed something against her hands. She looked down and felt like she'd been slapped in the face when she saw the wedding band at the center of her palm.
"The baby deserves to have both parents..." Tears stung the side of Gwen's eyes and she stubbornly wiped them away. She knew things would be bad, but this...it hadn't even crossed her mind that this could've been the result.
"So do you. 10 years old is too young to lose a parent; I know that from experience." She clenched her hands and took a deep breath, "...I don't hate him, Gwen, so don't worry about that." Jessica smiled, or at least she tried to. It looked more like a sneer, "Go on, go back home and talk to your mom. You have 10 years of catching up to do and I've got cases to-"
"No." Jessica looked up in shock as Gwen suddenly stood, glaring down at her though her tears, "This is bullshit, Jessica! You can't just-"
"What? Tell George that it's me or the woman he married? The woman who gave him the daughter he loves more than anything else?" She laughed, the sound soft and bitter, "No, I guess I'm a fucking idiot for trying to fix this!"
"You're not fixing it, you're running away!" This was wrong. Screaming wasn't going to help, but she couldn't stop herself. This was the only way either of them were going to get anywhere now, "Do really think my dad's going to just let it go like this because you're pretending to be alright? I thought you knew him better than that, but I guess not!"
"What did you-"
"Tell me you're fine leaving it like this! That if i just threw this ring outside you wouldn't give a shit! Tell me that and I'll leave!"
Jessica's expression morphed into something unreadable before she kicked the table with a frustrated yell, spilling cups and take-out containers across the floor in a messy heap. Gwen stood her ground even as Jessica rounded back on her. Jessica didn't cry, she knew that, but the look of anger and helplessness on her face told her all she needed to know.
"Of course I don't want to leave it like this..." she said eventually, "But what the hell else can I do? Do you really want to tell your mother that her husband knocked someone else up and proposed marriage right when she came back?"
"We'll think of something. It's better than this bullshit about being a glamorous single mom eating nothing but takeout and coffee," She eyed the pile distastefully, "...Look, I can't promise that things are going to go great, and I don't know what dad'll do, but fuck, we should still try, right? You did it when you got together with my dad and when you chose to kept my new baby brother or sister. Giving up now and settling for 'good enough' isn't like you, Jess."
"Tch...you sound like Trish." Jessica let out a tired breath and brought a hand through her face, "...Fine, I'll talk, but I need a few days and I'm thinking you do, too. Your mom's only been back for a day; not a good idea to tell her all of this."
"You'd be surprised how much she can take. She already knows I'm Spider-Woman."
"Finding out your daughter's a hero and that your husband moved on are two different things, Gwen." Jessica clicked her tongue, "Look, you convinced me, so would you fuck off for now? I need to clean this place up and explain to the landlord why I broke my table."
"Sure...oh, don't forget about this."
Gwen pressed the ring back into the other woman's palm and waited till Jess' hand closed around it before she pulled back. Jessica looked down at the golden band held it between her fingers with surprising gentleness, "...You're real stubborn, you know that, right?"
"That's how we Stacys are built." Gwen smirked back, "...Get some sleep, Jess; you look like shit. Just be sure to call me when you're ready to talk, okay?"
"Yeah...sure. Thanks, Gwen."
Well, that's that done. Originally Gwen was supposed to leave after Jessica gave her back the wedding ring, but I switched it around to end on a (slightly) more idealistic note given that character-wise Gwen's pretty unlikely to accept another bittersweet ending to things, especially not after recent events and her and Peter finally managing to push through (some of) their problems.
Granted she doesn't actually make a solution and just makes another obtuse promise to want to try, but hey that's in character for both canon and Looking Glass Spider-Gwen.
Besides that Peter cut off contact with Teresa for her blind oracle antics and Jack has apparently gathered a cult of personality for himself, which makes the Joker parallels just more and more obvious. Oh, and MJ's becoming more and more warped even while Carnage is suppressed, but that's boring
I did manage to put in a bit of interaction between Gwen and Matt, at least, though it wasn't much and she just (impotently) threatens him to back off Peter. Maybe I can put in more later
Questions:
1. Which chapter do we do next? We can have MJ training with the others like Noir, Felica and Norah and moving along her plotline of being MIA to her friends (except Gwen, who's been too distracted to really notice). Or we could go with Peter going on the dinner date with Matt for another one-on-one chat. In the latter case it's also the last extended talk the two will have before the inevitable Hand war, so no more filler talk about devils after this
So yeah, Eye of the Symbiote (training) or a Date with the Devil (Matt). Pick your poison.
2. Speaking of the Hand war, I wonder if you guys think it's a good idea to involve Carnage!MJ and/or Spider-Man (and maybe Shadowcat by extension) to it or if it's better if both are left off and it's just the Defenders, Teresa and the Chaste heavily involved in the arc? Current plan also doesn't involve Gwen taking part in it, though that's probably for the best given how bloody the conflict gets.
3. Would you guys be interested in a Cindy chapter? I've been thinking of making one for her that shows her daily life and also to help develop Harry so he's not just another karma houdini like Bullseye and Punisher. If not her are there any other side-characters that you'd be interested in exploring more?
Anyway, at the suggestion of a friend I decided to list down the cut arcs: Morbius (Gwen and Wasp focus), Jackal (Gwen focus on a college setting), Kraven (Noir and Punisher focus), Tombstone (Noir and Norah focus), Hellfire Club (male Defenders focus), Weapon X (Spider-Man and Shadowcat focus) and an entire city-wide gang war arc (Defenders and Avengers 'cooperation' focus). There was also the Mysterio arc (Gwen and Kate focus), but that got relegated to off-screen during Sin Eater.
Other changes include Dr. Banner no longer playing a role (when I made it a point for Peter to know who he was during Sin Eater) and a mini-arc in France for Noir and Felicia about dealing with her remaining family. Your call on whether cutting these arcs was a good idea, but at least the story's more focused now
Oh, and I got another RL reader to read the fic and he made some comments. While he mentioned liking the story well-enough, he said that the antagonist placement didn't make much sense to him - specifically that Murdock seems more like Gwen's baddie given their canon history and being the Kinpgin analogue while 65-Cindy makes more sense as Noir's baddie due to the years of torture and the way both he and Cindy suffered from her experimentation.
I dunno, what do you guys think? I'll admit I've had my doubts on how Peter and Matt have interacted in the fic what with them constantly dancing around each other and Matt's sudden swerve of interest from Gwen to Noir without much explanation. Vids like this definitely don't help.
Side Note - I generally refer to 65-Noir as 'Noir' and the original as 'Spider-Man'. It's a minor thing, but people tend to use 'Noir' interchangeably between the two and it can get confusing at times.
Chapter 95: Poor Choices
The first thing Peter did when Teresa opened the door was punch her in the face.
Mary Jane's mouth parted in a shocked gape as the older woman stumbled back from the force of the blow, feet tripping slightly before she quickly righted herself, "Huh..." Despite the hit and her now-broken shades Teresa still managed to smile, though it only seemed to enrage Peter more given way his glare worsened. "...Well, that's one way to say hi." Her head raised and Mary Jane finally saw the clear irises previously kept hidden.
Definitely blind, then.
"I trusted you..." Peter hissed, looking Teresa square in the eyes, "I had my doubts, but I thought that you'd look out for her. Should've trusted my gut instead."
"Tiger-"
"I guess you know what I did, hm?" Teresa's smile twitched by the barest amount and she sighed softly. Mary Jane suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of guilt at telling Peter everything that happened the past couple of nights, "I know it all seems terrible now, but in the end-"
"'In the end'? I'm tired of your fortune telling, 'sis'." Peter's voice dripped with barely concealed venom at the word, "We aren't pawns in a game you can toy with, no matter what your damn visions tell you. We aren't your playthings."
"I'm not toying with anyone, Peter." She stuffed the glasses into the pockets of her coat and crossed her arms, her gaze steely, "I'm sorry. I'll apologize as much as you want, but it won't change anything. Mary Jane has been bonded to that symbiote and pretty soon even the suppressants will fail to keep her in check. You can pretend that she'll never lose control, but it's inevitable."
"Inevitable..." Mary Jane looked down and bit her lip, heartbeat rising to a quick tempo. The idea of turning into that monster sickened her to her stomach, it did, but a small, disgusting part of her almost looked forward to it. To be able to jump across rooftops, to be able to do what she wanted without anyone being able to tell her no. Besides Gwen and She-Hulk who could stop her?
Peter's voice cut through her sickening haze, "And how does that translate to you making her kill in that cemetery?"
"Would you have preferred I let Gwen lose what remained of Klyntar?" Teresa shot back, "You aren't the only one who has to make hard choices, Peter."
"Like you said, I made a choice. No one tricked me into killing anyone." Peter scowled and turned away from her, "You could've called me or Cindy or anyone else, but instead you dragged Mary into this...cesspit."
"She's already knee-deep in it, Peter. Has been ever since she went down that alley that night." Mary Jane's brows furrowed. She didn't tell her about how she got bonded to that monster and she doubted that Peter did given how he talked about her, "She needs to learn how to live with the symbiote before her time runs out. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but you can't deny what's right in front of you."
"So what, you did this to help her?" he asked incredulously, "Tricking her into putting her life at risk, to giving in to that monster save Gwen...that was all for her?"
"I nearly killed my dad..." Mary Jane mumbled, voice so weak she wondered if either of them even heard it, "I would've done it if his neighbor hadn't-"
"That wasn't his neighbor. I sent Anya there to give a bit of a jolt." Mary Jane's eyes widened and while Peter's scowl only grew worse, "I knew that would happen, but I also knew that you had enough self-control not to give in before you could cross any metaphorical lines." She paused slightly before she continued, "Though I will admit I've seen visions where Philip Watson died by your hands. It was still an easy sacrifice to make; no one missed him in the end and life moved on."
"That's..." Mary Jane shivered and hugged herself tightly. The way she talked...it was so detached, like it wasn't her life that she was talking about but rather a show with a script, "You can't just..."
"Stop dragging her into your games." Peter snarled, and Mary Jane could've sworn she saw a hint of yellow in his eyes before it quickly disappeared, "That's all that matters to you, doesn't it? The ending. It doesn't matter how much people suffer or lose or have to sacrifice as long as the end satisfies whatever damned vision you see."
"Necessary evils, Peter; I'd hoped you of all people would understand that." She pursed her lips, "I knew what she'd do and I knew that the trauma would be temporary. It's worth it if the good outweighs the bad, isn't it?"
"And that monster forcing her to try and rape me...was that part of the plan?"
Mary Jane knew he hadn't meant to, but the blunt words were like a punch to the gut. That was it was: rape, assault, violation...there were a dozen other words she could have used but the end was the same either way. The only thing that gave her comfort was the fact that he didn't blame her. As far as he was concerned she was much a victim of all this as he was - it was that monster's fault that they were both almost violated, not hers.
Teresa tried to hide it, but her mouth parted slightly and Mary Jane saw the way her hands clenched, "I...admit that's news to me. I'm still getting used to having such a glaring blindspot in my visions." She looked down at the ground and let out a soft breath, "Did she-"
"I managed put that monster down under before anything got too far, but I'm surprised you even cared enough to ask. Just another necessary sacrifice, right? Damn what happens." Peter's mouth curled in a sneer, "You don't know as much as you think, 'sis'."
"Perhaps not...I'll take that into consideration for next time-"
"Next time? You honestly think that I'll trust you again after what you did?" He shook his head, "Bullseye was right about you. Stay away from me and Mary, cause right now I trust you about as much as Murdock."
"Peter, you're being short-sighted."
She reached a gloved hand out, but he smacked it away as soon as it got close enough. Mary Jane winced at the audible sound, "Funny, coming from a so-called blind woman. I meant what I said: you come near either of us again and I'm shooting. This is your only warning."
"Peter, you can't fight the Hand without my help-"
Whatever plea or argument she might've had was cut off when Peter suddenly turned around and walked down the length of the hall towards the stairway leading down. Mary Jane gave Teresa one last look before she quickly followed after him. There was that inexplicable sense of guilt again. Why should she care so much? Teresa tricked her into going to that cemetery. She could go fuck herself...right?
Mary Jane shivered at the light drizzle of rain and buried herself deeper into the folds of her ratty jacket before quickly running to catch up to Peter's retreating back. She had no idea where they were going, and really she didn't care. Anything was better than getting caught up in her own thoughts again and focusing on how she could've avoided being in this mess if she just stayed at Norah's apartment or didn't go down that damn alleyway.
The silence lasted for another couple of minutes before Peter suddenly spoke up, "Hungry?"
"What?" She blinked. That was random.
"Are you hungry? There should be a place around here we can get some grub."
"Yeah...starving, actually." It was probably because of that monstrosity. Peter warned her that 'the kid' gave Gwen a bigger appetite than she already had and she shouldn't have been different. Mary Jane could practically hear Betty making a joke about being pregnant before she quickly shut it down; pregnancy was the last thing she wanted to think about after the absolute hell these last few days were.
They ended up passing Fazbear's pizzeria (the animatronics always creeped the fuck out of her) and the MgRonald's burger place before they eventually settled on the Dollar Dog. The place was normally bustling with hipsters and wannabe activists, but now it was abandoned save for Mr. Albie at the register and a couple of 'janitors' who were too busy typing something on their phones to even pick up the mop.
Mr. Albie grunted when the two of them arrived at the counter, "Welcome to Dollar Dog, where every dog is worth the dollar," he grumbled, "May I recommend our new Kiwi dog? Made from organically grown ingredients, so it's healthy and affordable." His face practically screamed 'kill me now'; probably had something to do with him having to sell out to the 'damned youngsters' to avoid growing bankrupt.
"Just give us one of everything on the menu." Peter dropped a handful of hundred dollar bills on the counter, "I get the feeling we're gonna need it."
"Whatever you say." Mr. Albie's stuffed the bills into the register and raised an eyebrow slightly when he met her gaze, "Hey, ain't you one of that blonde girl's friends? What's her name, Glenn Spacey?"
"Gwen Stacy," she corrected automatically, "She used to work for you, if you remember."
"Bah, I get a lot of people moving in and out. Wasn't like she worked too much; always late and making excuses, that one." Yeah, cause she was saving the damned city from Supervillains. Mary Jane bit her tongue; last thing she needed was to fuck things up even more, "Anyway, a couple of your friends were here earlier looking for you. Said you were missing or something."
"Um...who were they?" Mary Jane asked nervously while Peter gave her a sideways look.
"One of em wore glasses and had a cat wrapped around her head, I remember that, at least" Mary Jane cringed. That was definitely Betty, and if she had to guess then the other one was either Gayle or Glory. It wasn't too surprising - she'd been out of contact for at least a few days now - but it worried her all the same, "Anyway, they said they were thinking of putting posters up here, but I didn't let em. This ain't a police station."
"Yeah, that's a good sign...I mean, we just had a fight, I'm not missing. They're making something out of nothing." The lie was poor, but judging by the bored grunt she got in response he either believed it or just didn't care. Could've been either knowing him.
The news that her friends were out looking for her was bittersweet. It was touching to know that they cared, but what would she do if they actually found her? She was a monster now, someone who'd killed people...
15 minutes later she and Peter were sitting across one another and digging into veritable mountain of food piled on the table...well, she dug in; Peter seemed fine with nibbling on the one corndog like he was a damn mouse. She had to admit it was relaxing, at least somewhat, to just gorge herself like a teen that went through a bad breakup. Maybe those films were onto something.
She didn't know how much time passed, but when the pile was nearly empty she stopped and allowed herself to smile. Across from her Peter nursed a cup of burnt, steaming coffee and looked down at the dark drink without saying a word. A part of her was tempted to reach out and touch him, to make sure that he was alright, but she held back. After what happened not even a couple of hours ago she really doubted that was what either of them needed.
Instead she threw the assorted wrappers and containers into the trash on her way to the bathroom and turned on the sink as soon as she was inside, "God..." She cupped the flowing water and splashed her face. It was hard to believe that it'd only been a few days, that just last week the only thing she had to worry about was which of the numerous managers and offers the band had to take for the start of their big break.
Now she had a murdering parasite inside her...
She stared at her reflection in the mirror and leaned forward. A part of her almost expected something to jump out her like Jekyll and Hyde, but the only thing that looked back at her was her own face, droplets of water dripping down over the freckles on her pale skin, "I'm losing it..." She let out a tired breath and gripped the sides of the sink roughly. She still remembered the feeling of blood on her hands, the way the tips of her fingers turned into claws.
It should've been disgusting, so why did a part of her think about what she could do with all that? Her dad was just a scumbag, not someone who deserved to die, but trash like those rapists in that alley or the people who tried to kidnap Gwen...no one would miss them, right? 'No, no, no.' She shook her head roughly and splashed more water at her face. If she did do anything she'd leave them to the police, be just like that murde- like Gwen.
She tried to put on a strong face when she sat across from Peter again, but it only took a second of their eyes meeting for him to frown, "Something wrong?" It wasn't a question, not really. Mary Jane bit her lip and tried to stop her hands from shaking to no avail, "...You don't have to put on a tough front, Mary. These past few days have been hell for all of us."
"Yeah..." She sniffled and closed her eyes just before the first wave of tears hit. At this point she thought that she would've run out of tears to give, but even now she barely managed to dry her tears with one hand while Peter held onto the other. Mr. Albie and the two janitors stared at them briefly, but they quickly stopped caring and went back to what they were doing. They probably thought it was just a bad break-up or something.
Mary Jane cried until the tears finally ran dry and her throat grew hoarse. Peter didn't say anything, and she didn't want him to; the fact that he was even willing to touch her after what happened was enough.
"This is fucked up..." She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes puffy and red, "Things were looking up, Tiger. We had gigs planned, Gwen was finally balancing her time and then..." Then she and Glory got into an argument and she made the biggest mistake of her life, "God...I was supposed to go with mom and Gayle to San Fransokyo next week, but now I'm not even sure I can see them again."
"You will. I promise." He squeezed her hand tighter and leaned forward, a small smile on his face. It was strained, but she still appreciated the effort, "I don't care what happens. We're going to make it through this, Mary."
"Tiger..."
She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his in a kiss. He didn't pull away and she didn't deepen the kiss. Both of them knew it for what it was: a gesture of desperation, something she did in the heat of the moment when her emotions were running high and she need someone - anyone - to comfort her. It lasted for only a few more seconds before she pulled back, her gaze never leaving his. She found the uncompromising stare to be comforting in a way.
"...Sorry."
"It happens." Their hands finally separated and he refilled his cup of coffee, "We still need to know what to do about-"
His head suddenly raised higher and he turned to look outside. Mary Jane followed his lead and cringed when the door was kicked in by a couple of goons wearing green jackets topped off with jack-o-lantern masks, the smiles and eyes poorly and unevenly cut.
More 'costumed villains'. She knew why: ever since the Avengers were announced there'd been a rise of people putting costumes to trying to 'redefine the meaning of the everyday hero'. Of course that also meant that a lot of thugs, up-and-comers and general lowlives thought that they needed a costume to 'catch up'; or at least that's what the news outlets she'd read up on claimed. Considering how much BS it spread about Gwen and Peter she couldn't fully trust it.
"Alright, listen up! We're from the Jack-o-Lantern gang and you all know the drill!" One of them ran towards the register and waved a pistol in front of Mr. Albie's face, "Open the register, old man!"
"God, again with you fucking freaks!" Mr. Albie groused, seemingly uncaring about the gun aimed at his head. By contrast the janitors threw their phones down and kept their hands up. She didn't blame them; she was tempted to do the same thing.
"I said open the register, you old fuck!"
MJ turned back to Peter in a panic and found him...doing nothing. He took tentative sips of his coffee and kept his posture hunched in what she guessed was meant to be a non-threatening gesture, "Uh...Tiger?" she whispered, "Aren't you going to do something?"
"It's a robbery. Less risk if we just stay put."
She was about to argue before the other robber finally noticed their presence and stomped up to them, "Both of you, wallets on the table!" he spat, his voice needlessly loud.
Peter rolled his eyes discreetly and set the cup down, "Already spent all my money, pal." To prove his point he opened his wallet and dumped out what little change (a few cents) he had, "You're welcome to it if you want."
"Smartass." He took the coins anyway and turned to her now. Mary Jane grimaced at the way his eyes went from threatening to pleasantly (ugh) surprised when he saw her face, "Well now..." He played with the knife in his hands and leaned forward, mouth open in a grin that showed of all his teeth through the mouthole, "Didn't expect to see someone like you here."
"I-"
"You'll leave her alone if you know what's good for you." Peter said. There was a dangerous edge to his voice and she couldn't tell if he was threatening the thug or trying to warn him, "She's got something you don't want to mess with."
"Oh yeah?" He turned back to Peter with a cocky grin, "Well, so do we. You heard about that massacre at Times Square?" Peter's grip on the cup tightened and his expression hardened, "That's gonna be chump change when our boss makes his next plan! So you don't wanna fuck with us-"
Mary Jane had to admit the next few seconds scared her. Before the son of a bitch could finish his boast Peter threw the coffee straight at his face, the scalding hot liquid crashing through the mask's mouth and eyeholes and making him scream. Before he could so much as stumble back Peter slammed him on the table hard enough to knock him unconscious and grabbed his knife, throwing it at the other goon's hand when he turned to the source of the noise.
The knife went through the thug's right hand and made him drop his gun with an ear-splitting scream. The thug looked down at his hand, wide-eyed, before Peter was on him just as quick as his friend, smashing his head against the counter with a painful crack before he grabbed the fallen gun and pressed it against the underside of his jaw.
"Wh-What the fu-"
"How do you know Jack-o-Lantern?" At the thug's whimper Peter pressed the gun harder, "3 seconds before I blow your brains out. 1...2-"
"N-Nothing, we don't know nothing!" he cried out desperately, "We know a gang around here uses his name so we thought we could cash in and join if we got their attention! That's all we were doing, I swear!"
"Where do they stay?"
"I-I dunno, man! I dunno!"
Peter swore and under his breath and smacked the side of the thug's head with the butt of the gun to knock him out, "Useless..." He dropped him to the floor and unloaded the gun before putting it on the counter in front of a stunned Mr. Albie, "Call an ambulance and the police if you want, I doubt they'll be waking up for a while."
"Yeah...sure."
He turned back to Mary Jane and gestured outside. Soon enough they were once again walking side-by-side, sneakers and boots stamping against the rain-soaked roads, "...Are you okay?" she asked softly. It still shocked her somewhat: she'd seen him on TV and read the news reports, but seeing him go from calm and collected to...well, she wouldn't say angry, but definitely not peaceful. It was jarring, to say the least.
"Just another mistake I thought I'd never have to run into again..." he muttered, looking down at the street with a light glare, "...Sorry you had to see that."
"I've seen worse." Mary Jane licked her lips nervously. There was no reason for her to think that the 'show' - the violence, the screams and the brushes with death - was hot, but she couldn't deny that a part of her definitely did. It scared her more than she wanted to admit that it was probably one of the least fucked up things she thought about this past week, "...How do you do that?"
"Hm?"
"Go from being totally calm to..." Almost murderously violent without turning into a frothing maniac. The only reference she had was her dad, and he was anything but calm and collected when he got into one of his moods, "You go from one or the other so quickly...if you know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah...I dunno, Mary, I just do." He shrugged, "Why?"
"...What if your sister's right? What if this thing's getting stronger and the suppressants can't control it much longer?" She looked down at her right hand and clenched it into a tight fist, "Maybe...Maybe I should train- to try and control it, I mean."
"You want to use it?" He gave her a skeptical look.
"I want this thing to go die in a fire, but I doubt that's happening any time soon." She sighed, "It's not about want, Tiger. I can't have what happened tonight happen again. I barely held back this time...I'm not sure I'll be as lucky the next time I lose control." It wouldn't just be her dad next time. What if she'd attacked Teresa's friend? Or the actual neighbors that came to investigate the noise? She wouldn't be able to live with herself.
"...Alright." He scratched at his head and grimaced, "I'll see what I can do, okay?"
"Thanks..."
The rest of the short walk was spent in silence and by the time they got back to the apartment she felt like collapsing onto the bed. Peter stopped when they neared the dining table and looked at the fancy envelope lying next to the katana (that was new...) with a glare, "...So much for moving tonight." He sighed and opened the envelope, eyes scanning through the letter quickly.
"What's that?"
"Dinner invitation." Mary Jane couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Before she could say anything else he threw the letter into the nearby trash bin and let out a frustrated breath, "No point in moving now. Murdock'll know no matter where we are."
"Murdock? Wait, I heard about that guy from Gwen. Isn't he the Kingpin?"
"He's far worse than that." The resignation in his voice caused a shiver to run down her spine. That definitely didn't sound good, "...Get some sleep, Mary. I'll deal with this soon enough."
"If you want I could-"
"No." She shrunk back slightly at the sudden, intense stare before he quickly looked away, "I...look, I appreciate it, but you're dealing with enough as it is. I don't want to drag you into my problems."
"Says the guy who's gone out of his way to get involved in mine." He didn't answer. In the end she bit her tongue and trudged back to his room, cuffing her hands and legs with the vibranium cuffs before forcing her eyes closed.
She dreamed about killing her dad over and over again, and each time she did a little bit of the guilt disappeared.
"Well...this figures."
Gwen pulled her hood tighter against her head and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She expected the cemetery to be a clusterfuck, but the sight of the police cars, detectives and patrolmen milling around were a painful reminder of just how fucked up the last night was. She didn't really believe Cindy's claim of just finding her on the street; even without Peter's stupid good spider-sense she could tell something was up there.
Her first instinct was to leave and come back when the heat died down before she quickly remembered that, oh yeah, she was an Avenger now and that came with the added bonus of being allowed into police investigations...within reason. Cap told her that the charter was still undergoing changes, but she'd made it clear that she was allowed to intervene in situations that 'violated national and international law'.
She was pretty sure a terrorist leader who experimented on people counted for that.
It only took a quick duck into the alley for the costume to cover her again and she smiled. Was it bad that she felt more at home wearing the costume than she did anything else? Maybe she should visit the psychiatrist Cindy was seeing at the facility.
She swung back to the scene and and talked her way through one of the cops after she verified her Avengers Priority Identicard - specially made by Tony Stark to serve as authorization, identification, clearance, miniature computer and videophone with the added bonus of a 10% discount to all Starkbuck outlets.
"Thanks. Sorry about the hold up, just had to make sure, you know?" The officer jotted something down at his notepad as she put the card back in her 'pocket', "You'll be surprised how often criminals try to sneak in wearing costumes."
"Thanks, officer."
Most of the police officers (thankfully) paid her no mind, which left her free to retrace her steps back to where she was attacked. It was at least a day since what happened so she wasn't expecting much in the way of clues, but it was better to double check just in case.
The place wasn't as crowded as she thought it'd be, but seeing Karen Page (that was her name, right?) talking with DeWolff and Kate definitely wasn't what she expected, 'Probably explains why the officer Leary back there let me through so easily.' Kate turned to meet her gaze and beckoned her forward to join them with a lazy smirk. Only she could smile at a graveyard.
"Evening, ladies, why wasn't I invited to the party?" she said by way of greeting. Technically she knew all of them both as Gwen Stacy and Spider-Woman, but DeWolff wasn't in on the secret identity thing (even if she was grateful for that first olive branch those months back) and Gwen was still leery of just how much the prosecutor knew. Murderdock really soured her on mysterious lawyers.
"I sent you a message on your Identicard." Kate replied. Huh, that definitely explained the beeping then.
"I do have a phone, Hawkeye."
"Phones aren't secure, Spidey."
"Okay, as fun as it is to watch you two flirt, can we please get back on topic?" DeWolff cut in, "Karen, you were mentioning something about...robots?" The skeptical tone made it obvious that she found it absurd. Funny, Gwen would've thought that a cop who once moonlighted as a vigilante would have a higher tolerance for BS than robots.
"Not just robots, Jean - LMDs." Kate's eyes narrowed while DeWolff's expression shifted from skepticism to confusion, "Look, it'll take days to explain it all, but LMDs are basically robotic doubles. Useful for making a target or bait without having to put someone's life actually at risk."
"What, so you're saying they're like Eradicators? Are we gonna have to worry about groundweb sending them to the past to stop the rebellion?" DeWolff shot back sarcastically.
"LMDs only have basic AI at best when they're not remote controlle, detective; so no time travel last I checked," Kate replied before quickly turning her attention to Page, "I'm still confused on how a prosecutor knows all that, though. Last I checked S.H.I.E.L.D kept mum about that kind of stuff."
"Not as much as you think, Hawkeye." The smile the prosecutor gave her caused Gwen to wince. There was something just a bit too familiar about it for her liking, "Don't worry, I have clearance; you can ask Agent Hill herself if you don't believe me."
"Don't worry, I believe you. I don't think anyone's stupid enough to use her for an argument unless they were damn sure or they had a deathwish." Kate laughed softly, "That still doesn't explain what an LMD was doing here last night, though, especially with the amount of damage and casualties inflicted."
"Alright, I gotta cut in here," Gwen said. She was starting to feel out of place, "Look, I got attacked here last night by...uh." Was it alright to use Cindy's name? She never actually asked her about how her identity worked.
"Cindy Moon, leader of the terrorist organization S.I.L.K.," Page finished, which just made Gwen more leery. The amount of things she knew were beyond creepy, "That was the LMD in question, incidentally. All of the other men killed were wearing uniforms indicating membership in the organization, with the exception of the one we identified as Mary Walker, better known by her alias 'Typhoid Mary'.
'The one Peter killed and Murderdock brought back...' Undeniable proof that even besides the ninjas there was just something wrong with that prick.
"All of them dead, by the way." DeWolff sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Prints led nowhere for any of them, and both the men and the Supervillain had no families...this Moon came prepared, at least. No blowback."
"They're...dead?" Gwen asked numbly. Did she...no, Webster was dead; there was no way she did it after she got knocked it...right?
"According to the gravekeeper he saw a 'bladed monstrosity' cut through the men to save you, but considering how drunk he was I'm not sure how much we can trust that," DeWolff muttered back, "Either way the wounds inflicted on the men were severe and the the evidence we gathered showed no bullets or weapons around the area. I gotta assume we're either dealing with a Meta or an expert; probably both, knowing our damn luck."
So it was either she'd lost control or she had a killer guardian angel on her side. She couldn't be too ungrateful - whoever they were they did save her life - but the thought of a 'bladed monstrosity' running around the city definitely didn't bring back good memories.
"That's why you called in the big guns, detective," Kate said, which was quickly followed by a wink and a smirk.
"I didn't call anyone, she did." DeWolff sighed again and pointed to Page, "Speaking of, I get why you called Hawkeye over, but why me? I doubt I have some keen police insight to share that you can't get from the other officers."
"I needed someone who could be a bit more...flexible." Page smiled, "You already have a history of caring more about the spirit of the law than the letter. Isn't that right, Ms. Phantom?"
A heavy silence settled over the group. DeWolff's eyes widened and her hands shook, though she managed to keep her gaze steady. Gwen looked between the two warily while Kate stared on. Eventually DeWolff spoke, her voice soft, "...How do you-"
"Like I said before, I have my sources," Page replied coolly, "I don't plan to blackmail or threaten you over it, if that's what you're worried about, detective. Similar to Spider-Man and a few others there's a definite advantage to knowing when to follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter."
"I only did that once, Karen." DeWolff grit out.
"Then do it one more time for me, as a favor if nothing else." Page handed her an address on a piece of paper, "Check this location out, discreetly, before telling the rest of the department about it. If my hunch is right it could provide a lead to the source of these LMDs and we both know that your boss is corrupt, so I'd suggest getting proof before he can get his hands on it."
"I could-"
"No, Spider-Woman," Page cut her off, "I don't doubt your strength, but your sense of subtlety isn't something I'd stake a lot on." Wow...rude, "And I'd rather keep whoever is creating the decoys from being too paranoid. You and Hawkeye are Avengers; if he or she even catches a hint of you snooping around their holdings then it'll cause more of a panic than a singular vigilante. I'll contact Hawkeye on a lead in the next few days, but until then keep a low profile."
"I'm not a vigilante..." Despite her words DeWolff stuffed the paper into her coat pocket, face locked in a grimace, "Fine, I'll get back to you when I finish."
And just like that they went their separate ways, DeWolff going back to her patrol car while Page walked off, umbrella twirling in that self-satisfied way that gave Gwen a sinking feeling. Gwen and Kate gave each other a quick look before they both walked back to the entrance, "So...that was a thing," Kate said, stretching her arms above her head lazily, "I knew Ms. Page was more than just a prosecutor, but I didn't think she had S.H.I.E.L.D level clearance."
"Yeah..." There was definitely something off about her.
"So..." Kate said, dragging the word out in a way that made it obvious Gwen wasn't gonna like what she said next, "I hate to pry - no, really, I do - but did something happen between you guys and Ms. Jones? She went back to the office and she's been...I dunno, off?"
Gwen's breath stopped and she almost stumbled in her shock. After everything that happened she'd completely forgotten about how Jess was dealing with all this, "Shit..." Kate gave her a worried look, "Fuck...I almost forgot." Gwen pressed both hands against her eyes and groaned. She was an idiot, "Okay, look, I gotta check up on her, alright? Just make sure to call me if you find anything new."
"You want me to come with?"
"I...no, I need to talk to her on my own."
Before she knew it she was in the air again swinging to Jess' apartment, hoping beyond anything that for once she wouldn't get interrupted by a cry for help or another rampaging Supervillain. Thankfully for once luck was on her side and she made it to the apartment building without incident. She quickly changed back to her civvies in a nearby alley before running up the stairs in a full sprint.
The sight of Matt Murderdock stepping out of Jess' apartment caused her to freeze in her tracks. The smug bastard closed the door behind him with a slight flourish and walked towards her, mouth raised in a predatory smile, "Ah, Ms. Stacy. Here to visit Ms. Jones, I assume?"
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she snarled. It took all she had not to punch him in the face; even if she couldn't arrest him the thought of it was definitely tempting.
"I just wanted to hire Ms. Jones to investigate something for me, but she refused; though I don't know why. Maybe she has something against lawyers?" He twirled the cane in his hands and laughed under his breath, "Perhaps I'll have Mr. Parker do it. His rates are expensive, but the results speak for themselves."
A bubbling rise of anger shot through her and before she could stop herself she growled and slammed him against the wall, her wrist pressing against his neck hard enough to choke, "Stay away from him!" She was vaguely aware of the dark veins that spread up her neck, but she didn't care. The bastard's smug smirk didn't help at all, "I'm warning you, Murdock!"
"Yes, I got that. The overprotective girlfriend act's a cliche, but I suppose I can't fault you for the classics," he replied nonchalantly.
"If you don't stay away from him I'll-"
"You'll what?" His voice was mocking, challenging her to do something right then and there, "Kill me? Oh, no...you had more than enough chances for that, Ms. Stacy. You talk big, but there's a reason Mr. Castle and Ms. Hardy share a dislike of you." Without warning he suddenly smacked the flat of his right palm against her gut hard enough to make her stumble back and fall on one knee, "You had your chance to join me, and you squandered it. I can only hope your significant other isn't stupid enough to do the same."
"He'll never join you..." She glared up at him.
"Really? If you know anything about him, then you know he won't have a choice. Not if he cares as much as I think he does."
And with that he was off, walking down the hallway without a care and humming a song to himself. Gwen glared at his retreating back and stumbled into a stand. It was so tempting to chase after him, but last she checked beating up a scumbag with no proof was still a criminal act, even if she was damn sure that his list of crimes could make laps around the block twice.
And she still had to talk to Jess.
Gwen rubbed her gut gingerly and walked down the hall to the door leading to Alias Investigations. One 'bright side' was that the overwhelming nervousness she felt before was now replaced with a dull sense of anger. Seeing Murderdock always made her day worse.
The door wasn't locked and when Gwen stepped inside she was torn on exactly how to feel. On the one hand Jessica wasn't crying her eyes out or passed out drunk (and Gwen hated that she could even imagine that Jess would put the baby at risk like that), but on the other the sight of her hunched over her desk with a boatload of casefiles wasn't much better. It should've been normal, just another day at work...
Except the past couple of nights weren't normal. At all.
Jessica looked up to meet her gaze and Gwen frowned at the sight of the deep bags under her eyes. She didn't know everything about Jessica's powers, but she knew for a fact that it took a lot longer than one all-nighter for her to start showing signs of the dreaded raccoon eyes.
"...Gwen?" Jessica rubbed her eyes tiredly and stood up, jostling the messy stack of papers on the table as she did, "...Didn't expect to see you here."
"Yeah..." Gwen stepped closer to the couch and winced at the messy piles of Styrofoam coffee cups and take-out food. Considering it'd only been about a day since they saw her last the amount of stuff piled up really wasn't a good sign, "It's...been a rough day, huh?"
"You could say that." She let out a tired breath, "I've been running all over town since last night, trying to play catch-up on all the cases that have piled up." She grabbed a few of the cups and stuffed them down the overflowing trash can, "You know how it is."
"Yeah, I guess." Gwen swallowed nervously and considered her next words. Jess was trying to act normal, but there was something about her that was definitely, "Hey, Jess, are you...okay?"
Gwen cringed as soon as the words were out of her mouth. That was terrible. Jessica gave her a blank look for a few seconds before she nodded, "Yeah...why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you know...about last night." The older woman sucked in a sudden breath and Gwen cringed again. This going bad, "Um...well, how do I say it?"
"'My mom came back from the dead', would be a good start." She was trying to be sarcastic, but Gwen could tell how forced it was clear as day. She had enough experience from being on the other side to know that it never helped, "...Why are you here, Gwen?"
"I...I wanted to see if you were alright." Gwen bit her lip. This wasn't going how she thought it would. Granted she didn't expect it to be easy, but the stifling atmosphere was enough to make her want to turn tail and run, "After last night..."
"It hasn't been great," Jessica conceded. The P.I took a seat on the couch and sighed into her palms, "...Look, I have no idea what's going on, but I've seen enough bullshit to know what's real and what's not. That's your real mom, memories and all. Not like Parker." Gwen shut her eyes tight at the blunt reminder, "You should worry about yourself and George more than me."
"Jess..." Gwen hesitated briefly before she sat next to her on the couch. The two of them weren't as close as Jess was to her dad, but Gwen still liked to think that they knew each other well enough that they could talk about...she didn't want to call it a problem, but it definitely felt like it, "You know you can talk to me, right?"
"If you say so." Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something she couldn't make out. Right now she really wished she had Peter's enhanced senses; he was practically psychic with that thing, "...How's your mom?"
"She's, um...doing good. Trying to catch up to everything." And trying to understand how a radioactive spider could give her daughter superpowers while a magical(?) one could bring 'little Peter' back from the dead. It was a slow process, "Jess...have you talked to dad at all since last night?"
"He tried to call me this morning, but I was too busy trailing someone. Forgot to call him back." Right...that was a load of BS if she ever saw it, and she didn't need a magic spider-sense to know that. She had no doubt that her dad would try to call - that was how he was - but it was pretty damn unlikely she 'forgot' that by accident.
Gwen was tempted to call her out, but she bit her tongue. Being blunt here wouldn't do anything, "So...doing a case?" she said instead.
"Yeah, girl with a stalker. Nothing unusual." Jess rubbed at her eyes again and frowned, "It's been a bit difficult, going back to solo work with Kate and your dad being busy, but I'm getting used to it again. Have to be, right?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean this-" She gestured to her stomach, "-extra passenger that I'm going to have to take care of in a few months. If I can't handle a few cases solo then I'm definitely not going to be able to raise a kid by myself."
It only took Gwen a few seconds to realize the implications of her words. The teen's eyes widened and her hands shook, "What are you..." She knew what she wanted to say, but the words remained lodged in her throat, "You...You plan to raise it alone?"
"Well...not completely alone - Trish and Kate'll help when they can - but...yeah. Pretty much." Jessica refused to meet her eyes.
"...Why?"
"Do you really have to ask?" Jessica snapped back, her voice turning harsher and cold, "It's over, Gwen...I knew something would fuck up at some point, but I didn't think it'd be so soon."
"Stop talking like that!" It took all she had not to grab the older woman and shake her like a madman, "Jess...my dad-"
"I'm not going to make George pick, Gwen." Jessica's expression turned bitter, "I don't...he's a good man, one of the best I know, and I can't put him through any of that bullshit. Not after this."
"Jess..."
"This is the easiest way, because I don't want him to have to choose between me and the woman he buried." Her next words were softer, "You both can still visit if you want, but I don't want you to think either of you have to."
Before Gwen could say anything else Jessica pressed something against her hands. She looked down and felt like she'd been slapped in the face when she saw the wedding band at the center of her palm.
"The baby deserves to have both parents..." Tears stung the side of Gwen's eyes and she stubbornly wiped them away. She knew things would be bad, but this...it hadn't even crossed her mind that this could've been the result.
"So do you. 10 years old is too young to lose a parent; I know that from experience." She clenched her hands and took a deep breath, "...I don't hate him, Gwen, so don't worry about that." Jessica smiled, or at least she tried to. It looked more like a sneer, "Go on, go back home and talk to your mom. You have 10 years of catching up to do and I've got cases to-"
"No." Jessica looked up in shock as Gwen suddenly stood, glaring down at her though her tears, "This is bullshit, Jessica! You can't just-"
"What? Tell George that it's me or the woman he married? The woman who gave him the daughter he loves more than anything else?" She laughed, the sound soft and bitter, "No, I guess I'm a fucking idiot for trying to fix this!"
"You're not fixing it, you're running away!" This was wrong. Screaming wasn't going to help, but she couldn't stop herself. This was the only way either of them were going to get anywhere now, "Do really think my dad's going to just let it go like this because you're pretending to be alright? I thought you knew him better than that, but I guess not!"
"What did you-"
"Tell me you're fine leaving it like this! That if i just threw this ring outside you wouldn't give a shit! Tell me that and I'll leave!"
Jessica's expression morphed into something unreadable before she kicked the table with a frustrated yell, spilling cups and take-out containers across the floor in a messy heap. Gwen stood her ground even as Jessica rounded back on her. Jessica didn't cry, she knew that, but the look of anger and helplessness on her face told her all she needed to know.
"Of course I don't want to leave it like this..." she said eventually, "But what the hell else can I do? Do you really want to tell your mother that her husband knocked someone else up and proposed marriage right when she came back?"
"We'll think of something. It's better than this bullshit about being a glamorous single mom eating nothing but takeout and coffee," She eyed the pile distastefully, "...Look, I can't promise that things are going to go great, and I don't know what dad'll do, but fuck, we should still try, right? You did it when you got together with my dad and when you chose to kept my new baby brother or sister. Giving up now and settling for 'good enough' isn't like you, Jess."
"Tch...you sound like Trish." Jessica let out a tired breath and brought a hand through her face, "...Fine, I'll talk, but I need a few days and I'm thinking you do, too. Your mom's only been back for a day; not a good idea to tell her all of this."
"You'd be surprised how much she can take. She already knows I'm Spider-Woman."
"Finding out your daughter's a hero and that your husband moved on are two different things, Gwen." Jessica clicked her tongue, "Look, you convinced me, so would you fuck off for now? I need to clean this place up and explain to the landlord why I broke my table."
"Sure...oh, don't forget about this."
Gwen pressed the ring back into the other woman's palm and waited till Jess' hand closed around it before she pulled back. Jessica looked down at the golden band held it between her fingers with surprising gentleness, "...You're real stubborn, you know that, right?"
"That's how we Stacys are built." Gwen smirked back, "...Get some sleep, Jess; you look like shit. Just be sure to call me when you're ready to talk, okay?"
"Yeah...sure. Thanks, Gwen."
Well, that's that done. Originally Gwen was supposed to leave after Jessica gave her back the wedding ring, but I switched it around to end on a (slightly) more idealistic note given that character-wise Gwen's pretty unlikely to accept another bittersweet ending to things, especially not after recent events and her and Peter finally managing to push through (some of) their problems.
Granted she doesn't actually make a solution and just makes another obtuse promise to want to try, but hey that's in character for both canon and Looking Glass Spider-Gwen.
Besides that Peter cut off contact with Teresa for her blind oracle antics and Jack has apparently gathered a cult of personality for himself, which makes the Joker parallels just more and more obvious. Oh, and MJ's becoming more and more warped even while Carnage is suppressed, but that's boring
I did manage to put in a bit of interaction between Gwen and Matt, at least, though it wasn't much and she just (impotently) threatens him to back off Peter. Maybe I can put in more later
Questions:
1. Which chapter do we do next? We can have MJ training with the others like Noir, Felica and Norah and moving along her plotline of being MIA to her friends (except Gwen, who's been too distracted to really notice). Or we could go with Peter going on the dinner date with Matt for another one-on-one chat. In the latter case it's also the last extended talk the two will have before the inevitable Hand war, so no more filler talk about devils after this
So yeah, Eye of the Symbiote (training) or a Date with the Devil (Matt). Pick your poison.
2. Speaking of the Hand war, I wonder if you guys think it's a good idea to involve Carnage!MJ and/or Spider-Man (and maybe Shadowcat by extension) to it or if it's better if both are left off and it's just the Defenders, Teresa and the Chaste heavily involved in the arc? Current plan also doesn't involve Gwen taking part in it, though that's probably for the best given how bloody the conflict gets.
3. Would you guys be interested in a Cindy chapter? I've been thinking of making one for her that shows her daily life and also to help develop Harry so he's not just another karma houdini like Bullseye and Punisher. If not her are there any other side-characters that you'd be interested in exploring more?